《Playing With Other Supernaturals》


 Volume 1 1 - Prologue

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 1 - Prologue</h4>


    ��


    ��


    .


    ''Where is this''


    A ck space with a viscosity of the water currently engulfs me.


    ''I''m pretty sure this isn''t Garganta since I don''t feel any Reishi.''


    Garganta is a featureless ck void connecting Hueco Mundo to other worlds that are mainly used by Arrancar and Hollows to move between Hueco Mundo, the Human World, and Soul Society.


    ''Now that I have taken a good look at myself, I''m naked and tattered. Benihime''s stitches are still there but I can''t feel or contact Benihime herself nor I can feel my Reiryoku.


    ''Hmm? This is��


    ''The Hougyoku?''


    At the center of my body, a crystal is embedded and giving of weak pulses of bluish-purple lights.


    The Hougyoku is my and Aizen''s invention in an attempt to blur or dissolve the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollow, allowing one race to attain the powers of the other. However, even us as its creator didn''t know its true power lies in its ability to sense the hearts of those around it and materialize their deepest desire until ater time.


    I had a bad feeling when I''vee across some clues and evidence of Quincys'' movements inside the Soul Society which shouldn''t be possible, so I decided to formte some ns in case of worst scenarios and one of those is with the use of Hougyoku.


    However extracting it from Aizen is almost impossible, hence I sought to create another one from my and Aizen''s datapleting an identical one with Aizen''s. It sounds ironic since I attempted to destroy or seal it, but I can''t be choosy with my methods now.


    I don''t remember however ever embedding Hougyoku within me.


    ''I wonder how that happened.''


    Thest thing I remembered is losing consciousness while inside Askin''s Gift Ball.


    ''Did I die?


    ''Looks like my insurance failed.


    ''I wonder if they manage to defeat Yhwach?


    ''And if they failed, I wonder how the world looks like now?


    While various thoughtse across my mind some changes happened within the ck space. Minute cracks are appearing all over the ce with some white light is shining through.


    ''What will happen to me now?


    ''Will I die for good once this space copsed?


    ''Or will there be an afterlife?


    ''An afterlife after and an afterlife, how funny.


    The cracks are now everywhere and some cracks also appeared on my body while the Hougyoku kept shining and shining brighter.


    A sudden pain assaulted his mind while space copses and he loses his consciousness.


    ��


    ��


    .


    "Kisuke, wake up now, it''ste!"


    A voice of a woman resounded all over the small house.


    *Groans* ''Ggghh, my head hurts.''


    Various memories appeared inside our young Urahara Kisuke and his first thought was��


    ''I''m a handsome and sexy candy store owner!''


    Thus the beginning of his new adventure in this new strange world.

 Volume 1 2 - A Strange New World

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 2 - A Strange New World</h4>


    Hello there, Urahara Kisuke here, 7 years old.


    I''m not the handsome and sexy store owner anymore, just your everyday handsome kid.


    It''s been exactly a year since I regained my memories of my old life and started studying my current life. And oh boy it''s been fun grabbing asses here and th*cough**cough* I mean having a family and living a carefree life though it''s me and my mother.


    We are currently living in the outskirts of the town called Kuoh Town a rtively normal town if not for the things or beings that asionally fly in and out.


    I''m not really sure what are those things but so far I''ve seen two types, first are those people with bat-like wings, they look like a human if not for those wings and some unknown, for me anyway, the energy they are emitting. Second are those people with ck feathered wings, probably some kind of angel? They also look like humans and with strange energy different from those I presume devils.


    So far I haven''t seen anyone or anything manipting or using Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) or any power derived from soul.


    ''Are they rare or just doesn''t exist at all?''


    Reiryoku still exists in the atmosphere along with strange energies like those non-humans are using.


    ''Does it mean that other than those two beings I witness, there are others to match the remaining energies in the air?


    ''I need more information.


    ''But not right now. I haven''t resolved the issue in my body.


    Things are a bit different now since I have a real flesh bag now, and like any human inhabitants of this world, they possess a strand of energy which doesn''t exist in my previous world. I will temporarily dub this energy as Mana.


    Now I have a few problems.


    First. My soul is a mess. It looks like my current body but has cracks all over it. Maybe because of myst fight and how I reincarnated. The Hougyoku which is embedded in my chest also has minute cracks in it. This is only temporary since Hougyoku is repairing itself and healing my soul over the course of the year. In my estimation, it''ll take decades to fully restore my soul, due to this, I can''t use any of my abilities except for my detection abilities. I can heal myself faster if I separate my physical body and soul body but that is where my second problem enters.


    Second. The reincarnation system of this world is different from my previous one. It is fully automatic, without the need of any Shinigami! How convenient. The problem is, souls that are separated from there bodies will be pulled by something after a few minutes and disappear somewhere, probably not in this ne. Hence I can''t pull my tattered soul out of my body since I don''t know how this reincarnation system will treat my soul. I might just cease existing and I have no ns of doing that just yet with my new life.


    Third. The mana in my body is somewhat rejecting my reiryoku and doing damage to my physical body. I can suppress this by controlling my reiryoku for it not to touch my mana, but this is also just temporary since while my soul heals the amount of reiryoku it produces also increases, and I can''t forever contain it within my body or I''ll just be damaging my soul instead.


    Those are my problems, but this past year, I already two have ns to ultimately solve all of this, and that is strengthening and fine controlling my mana and meld it together with my reiryoku. It is hard but feasible.


    Another one is by fusing my physical body''s matter and my soul''s reishi (Spirit Particles/Spiritual Matter), and that without dying, haha. It is very very hard and probably painful but I think the results will be worth it. Others may say that I''m insane and reckless, but I''ll just tell them that my genius self will do something about it.


    By controlling and strengthening my mana, I can match it with my reiryoku level and attempt to meld it together. After melding it together I will be able to stop my mana wrecking havoc in my body and facilitate the fusing of my body and soul. Although I will have to re-learn my kidous(Demon Arts) since my reiryoku will beced with mana.


    Fusing the physical body and soul might have been impossible in my old world, but here, with the existence of mana, it might be a tiny bit possible based on my initial tests on mana. Mana is derived from my physical body while reiryoku is derived from my soul, that is why leveling and controlling both mana and reiryoku is essential inbining body and soul. If I were to be sessful with my attempt, I will be able to use my Shinigami powers to there full potential without separating my soul from my body.


    Bncing my normal life and research is hard, but I''m enjoying myself to the fullest, especially those plump ass and tit.s of the aunties in the shopping district.


    Strangely though, sometimes I hear some rumor about ''The Perverted kid of Urahara Household'' and they will point at me. How rude.


    All I did was tap a few asses here and there and give them pointers on how to keep them in shape and retain its tension. I have some loyal fans you know.

 Volume 1 3 - Progress

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 3 - Progress</h4>


    Six more months passed by, I was able to control and strengthen my mana to the that I can manipte at as well as my reiatsu(Spiritual Pressure) without anyone''s assistance. Although that was just manipting mana and not how to use it as it is.


    My body also became stronger as I circte my mana through my entire body and in return, I get to house more mana to circte. This repeated several times in the past six months, but recently it stopped changing my body. It seems that I have to age more to continue this body strengthening.


    To know my strength, I did several tests on my muscles and bones and the result was, to quantify, I can contend with ten big-bodied adults in a tug of war, not that I tried it, just my educated guess.


    As for fusing my physical and spiritual body, I''m stuck. First of all, because of the wounded soul, I can''t do anything reckless until it is fully healed unless I want hidden dangers that can re up in the worst possible situation. My soul is healing at a faster rate each and every day though. How did that happen? Because of this cheaty Hougyoku, not that I hate it since it''s mine.


    The Hougyoku follows and grants the desire of the hearts around it and it just heard my wish of faster recovery rate. The Hougyoku is damage and can''t grant wishes as easily as it did with Aizen. Despite this, it is still the most overpowered item that I know. Just by giving it enough time, it can realize anything, probably.


    My kidou(Demon Arts) training is also not going well as I want. If I want to use it without separating my body and soul, I have to use mana to channel my reiryoku through my body, as a result, my reiryoku will beced with mana and the kidou will not activate properly. Melding both mana and reiryoku together is proving harder than I expected. With this problem, I can only use spells of number 30 and below in both Hadou(Way of Destruction) and Bakudou(Way of Binding). I don''t if that is enough for my safety as I never fought with anything abnormal yet.


    My body techniques, on the other hand, are progressing as expected. I can already use Shunpo(sh Step) in multiple session, but due to my body''s limit, I can only travel 5-10 meters per jump and a maximum of 5 session in every ten minutes before my legs give up. My Zanjustsu(Art of the Sword), like my Shunpo, is limited by my body and I can only disy less than half of its usual effectiveness.


    I need more training, but I can only do that every evening and in a ce without any eyes and ears. It''s not like I''m in a hurry anyway or in any immediate danger. I want to enjoy my second life to the fullest unless my curiosity kicks in, and that will probably happen in the future knowing me.


    Of course, it will not be me without my trusty gadgets. I already recreated my portable Gigai(Faux Body). I can''t really do without them, it just doesn''t feel right. I also added some new nifty features, the aura copier, and a simple A.I. From my observations, supernatural beings of this world can detect aura to pinpoint someone''s location, race, and to some extent, power. The aura copier, like its name, can copy the target''s aura for a few seconds to a few minutes. Those few seconds are enough to confuse and deceive someone in battle and change the tide for one''s favor.


    The second one is a simple A.I. for simple actions like walking, running, jumping or even facial expressions. I can''t have my Gigai just stand in ce while copying someone''s aura, that is just too fake.


    I also already recreated my Reiatsu-concealing cloak, though I should call it now aura-concealing cloak due to it being capable of hiding someone''s aura and imitating the surrounding energy flows to conceal a ''nk space'' created by concealing an aura. It can''t still hide sound and sight though.


    Now moving unto Benihime. These few months, I kept diving inside my soul to knock on the doors of an oldrge Japanese mansion. Inside of this mansion is Benihime, my Zanpakuto. I kept knocking on these doors in hopes to awaken her but not a single time I seeded. I know that she is inside since I can feel it, but it looked like she too has taken damage from reincarnation and not a small amount of damage since my connection to her is almost nonexistent. I hope I can see her soon. Despite her bad and sadistic personality, I still missed her ''cause she''s always there for me all the time for my whole life, an irreceable partner. She''s also probably the one who embedded the Hougyoku in me in an attempt to save my life.

 Volume 1 4 - Childhood Friends

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 4 - Childhood Friends</h4>


    "Kisuke! Wake up! It''ste!"


    A voice of a woman resounded throughout the old two-story house.


    *Groan* "Fifte- no, half an hour more please."


    Replied Kisuke back to the voice while clutching his nket over his head. He didn''t leave thefort of his bed yet since he was very tired from yesterday''s experiments.


    "Did you stayed upte against night? What were you doing anyway?"


    The voice of his mother from the first floor resounded again, but this time, Kisuke didn''t bother to answer back.


    Soft footsteps were heard from the stairs and Kisuke''s mother came up to his room on the second floor. She didn''t knock on the door and immediately opened it. Kisuke''s mother, Urahara Sakura, noted the messy room of his son with various tools and itemsying around. She has gotten used to this kind of sight by seeing it almost every day.


    At first, she reprimands him every time his room is messy. Although he will clean up, after a few days, it''ll end up in this kind of mess again. After this repeated a dozen times of so, she stopped scolding him and just reminds him to clean his room every now and then, in any case, he cleans his room himself whenever necessary and because she doesn''t think that every 8 years old kid can clean up their own mess, she is contented with her son even though leaving a messy room is not a very good trait in the first ce.


    She asked him one time is he wants to be an engineer or an inventor when he grows up because he loves tinkering with things, but she was surprised when he answered back that he wanted to be a candy store owner. She thought it was just a child''s whim and didn''t ask anymore.


    Sakura came to his bedside and nudge him a bit before saying, "Get up. It''s already 10 AM. I already told you not to stay up doing weird things, both Issei-kun and Irina-chan are downstairs. Aren''t you hanging out with them today?"


    Kisuke moved a bit before denying the things his mother said, "I''m not doing anything weird, I''m just tinkering with some things, and I don''t remember promising them anything. If they are there, let them wait for an hour more, they enjoy your sweets anyway, no big deal����" Then a snoring sound was heard.


    This ticked her mother off. "If you don''t get up in another five seconds, I promise that I will drag you to the shopping districtter and leave you in the hands of those aunties that you love so much."


    Kisuke heard a cheerful voice that didn''t match its contents from his mother. He immediately sprang up and tossed his nket aside while saying, "I''m up! I''m up, alright! I just remembered that I''ll be ying with Issei and Irina at the riverbank today." And he rushed for the door leaving his mother behind.


    "Go wash up first and brush your teeth. Your breakfast is on the table. I have to go first since I still have a meeting to attend. Lock the doors and the windows before you leave and don''t stay out toote, alright?" Sakura''s reminders reached Kisuke as he goes into the washroom.


    "Got it. Stay safe." Kisuke said before closing the door.


    While he was washing up, he heard his mother talk to someone before leaving, "You two, take your time. You can take those cookies when leave, treat it as a snack while having fun." Then he heard the door at the front close, after a while, a sound of engine revs up and his mother left for work.


    After washing up, Kisuke made a beeline to the living room, there he saw to kids of his age. The first one is Hyoudou Issei, a kid with short spiky brown hair, with two short locks of hair behind his head, and light brown eyes. He first met him at the Primary School. The second one is Shidou Irina, a kid with short chestnut-colored hair tied in ponytail and violet eyes. Although she acts and looks like a boy, she is, in fact, a girl and Issei probably still thinks she is a guy. He didn''t bother correcting his view because he thought it would be more amusing that way. Like Issei, Kisuke first met her at the Primary School, and this two are his childhood friends in this life.


    It might be weird for an old man like him to make friends with kids, but it would even be weirder for a kid if he didn''t make any friends of his age, and it would just make his mother worry unnecessarily. There are reasons, however, why he chose to make friends with this out of tens and hundreds of kids out there. Irina, while faint, emits an aura that is warm and calming which doesn''t exist in any other people except for her father. When Kisuke her father, he also emits the warm and calming aura but on a stronger scale. Issei, on the contrary, has normal parents, but Issei himself also emits an aura different from Irina, it feels overbearing and prideful. It is so faint, hower, that Kisuke wasn''t able to notice it until he is only a meter away from Issei.


    Although the reason why he approached this two is impure, he learned to enjoy theirpany and antics and treats them as his little brother and sister.


    "You two are early as always," Kisuke said while scratching his head and yawning.


    ""You just wake up way toote!"" both Issei and Irina responded while holding the cookies in their hands.


    Kisuke took a sit on the chair of the dining table while reaching out for his breakfast, a toast. After he took a bite at it he asks the two "So, what''s the n for today?"


    "Irina found an abandoned factory the other day and wants to y there today." Answered Issei after taking a sip from his juice.


    "Let''s go there and find some ghosts, then kick there asses!" Irina is excited at the thought of exorcising ghosts because of his family''s influence as a devote believer of Christianity.


    "Is that so?" Kisuke iscking any enthusiasm when he suddenly thought ''Maybe I can use it as my training field as delinquents started gathering at my previous spot.''


    "Okay, finish up and let''s go. I want to see this abandoned factory." Eating thest bit of his breakfast, he stood up and urge the two to finish up.


    "Ohh�� Looks like Kisuke is also excited to see a ghost." Irina also sprang up while cleaning up the table.


    "I don''t want to see any ghost." Only Issei is against their trip.

 Volume 1 5 - Vince, The Devil

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 5 - Vince, The Devil</h4>


    "So this is the abandoned factory that you found?"


    Kisuke inspected the factory and its surrounding area, "The building itself is in a pretty good state, why would somebody abandon this? Or maybe it''s for sale with no prospective buyer?" Hemented.


    "Let''s stop standing around and enter!" Irina excitedly ran for the door at the side, it''s probably the staff''s entrance, Kisuke thought.


    "Say, we shouldn''t be doing this. What if something jumped at us? Look, it''s too dark inside." Issei said while already regretting his decision of himing with the two.


    "You''re such a wimp, Issei, man up will ya." Irina shot a look at Issei and saw him trembling like a new chick.


    The trio entered the premise and the reached the what seemed to be factory proper from the side door. It''s dark but the lights of the sun entering from the windows and holes in the roof are enough to navigate around. There are no equipment or tools around that are used in its factory days, just some wooden boxes and metal drums.


    While they were wandering around and peeping at the empty wooden boxes and rusty metal drums, Kisuke suddenly got hold of a stench that doesn''t bring any good news, especially in a ce like this, the smell of blood.


    "Alright you two, there is nothing here, let''s leave." Kisuke immediately decided to leave. Even though he has the ability to protect this two frommon dangers, he didn''t want to pointlessly risk their safety and there is always a possibility that the situation is currently out of his league, in that case, he isn''tpletely sure if he can protect them from harm.


    "Ehh~? But we haven''t seen any ghosts yet. Let''s look around longer." Irina protested at Kisuke proposal. While Issei immediately seconded Kisuke''s decision, "Irina, Kisuke is right. We should leave. There is nothing here."


    While they were bickering around, Kisuke felt an evil aura entered the factory from where they came from. ''Toote, huh?'' he thought.


    A blond Caucasian man around the age of 30 wearing a white suit and white hat is at the door when they turned around and finally decided to leave.


    "Oho? What''s this? Some free food came running for me at a ce like this. Lucky~." The blond man muttered while looking at the trio and giving off a cold and chilling sensation that even the two kids felt. He also has this sinister smile on his face showing off his sharp teeth that isn''t very human-like.


    "Issei, Irina,e look this way for a bit," Kisuke called out to the two that were frozen in ce.


    The two awoke and mored to Kisuke "Kisuke! What is he!? What did he mean by food!? What''s with sharp teeth!?" Irina immediately panicked while Issei kept shaking and muttering "Is it a ghost!?"


    Kisuke put both of his hands over their faces, and whispered "Inemuri(Forced Slumber)." The fell unconscious and copsed to the floor kicking up dust. He drags them away for a bit, settling them at the corner. Kisuke returned and looked at the man in the western suit still smiling but with a clear look of confusion his face, although he still let Kisuke drag the two and see what happen.


    "What did you kid?" The man wasn''t able to his curiosity anymore and asked.


    "Oh, That? Just a technique to force someone to sleep, not anything impressive~." Replied Kisuke in a jovial tone that doesn''t match the atmosphere.


    The man''s smile finally disappeared and furrowed his brows, something is not right in the situation he thought, "Why are you happy? Is that magic? but I didn''t see any magic circle nor you used any tools. Martial Arts? But you didn''t touch them. You are obviously a human child and not some devil or angel hybrid nor some old human mage that has ess to chantless and circleless magic even at a low level. Who are you?"


    "Woah, take it, easy mister. I can''t answer all of that if bombard me with questions." Kisuke raised up his hands in mock surrender.


    "Let me introduce myself first. Urahara Kisuke, just a humble primary schooler. Pleased to make your acquaintance. " Kisuke reached out for his head and then suddenly stopped, ''Damn, I don''t have my hat. I should make my favorite hat if I got some free time.''


    "Are you mocking me?" Veins became visible on mister''s head.


    "I''m not lying though. You can check for my profile at Kuoh Academy. I''m first in my grade you know." Kisuke responded at the angry man.


    For a few seconds, the two stared at each other trying to find out more about the other.


    "Haah�� Well, it doesn''t matter." The mister sigh and straighten himself up. The smile returned to his face and said, "I guess it''s my turn to introduce myself. The name is Vince, Vince Pearce." His blue eyes suddenly shed red and a malevolent aura came from his form, crashing down onto Kisuke. "And I''m a devil."


    Vince looked at Kisuke shaking. Although he couldn''t see the look on his face since his eyes were covered by his light blond hair, the devil is pretty that he is shaking from too much fear and this gives him a lot of delight.


    "Pu��" A sound escapes from Kisuke''s mouth then, "PuHaHaHaHaHa, seriously!? What the hell!? Does someone actually do that in real life? How cliche, and this is obviously not your first time doing this." Kisuke is trying to rein in himself, but he clearly needed more time to stop shaking.


    "Ehem. Sorry to rain on your parade, but I fewments in your actions just now. First, is you clearly watched too many horror movies, please don''t copy those even though you thought it was cool, they are not. Second is what do you hope to achieve by scaring a child? Showing that you are the bigger bully? Just so you know, there is nothing more annoying than a bawling kid, you and your sh*t taste." Kisuke continued while trying to put on a serious face but failed miserably.


    Vince listened to those words and finally responded. A crazed look took on his face a shouted to the kid in front of him, "You bastard!!! I''m going to torture before killing and eating you!!!" He finally lost his cool.


    From Vince''s hands, ws of three inches with metallic sheen shoot out of his fingertips. He dashed towards Kisuke''s location and tried to swipe his ws to his left shoulder. But when he is about to hit, Kisuke suddenly disappeared. Before he could react, Kisuke''s voice suddenly resounded behind him, "Sai(Restrain)." His arms suddenly moved towards his back and he can''t control it.


    Scared of this unknown spell that controlled his body, he jumps forward in an attempt to shake off the ''devil'' behind him. But this is futile since Kisuke appeared to his front and nted a foot at Vince''s face.


    Vince somersaulted in the air a few times. While trying to regain his posture in the air, he was able to shake off the control over his arms. Before he could rejoice, the ''devil''s'' voice resounded again, "Byakurai(White Lightning)." And he saw a bolt of white lightning pierced his right shoulder.


    "WHAT!!!?" Vince shouted in disbelief.


    "Now then devil-san, please don''t suddenly die on me before I test a few things on you~." Vince listened to Kisuke in distress and he finally realized if he doesn''t give it his all, he might just really die today.

 Volume 1 6 - Vince, The Devil Part 2

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 6 - Vince, The Devil Part 2</h4>


    Thirty years ago, Vince Pearce is human and a mage, a criminal mage that is. He has a talent that is just below those who are deemed as a genius. But when experienced and acquired the power of magic, he got drunk on it real fast. He robbed, murdered, raped, and many more with the help of his magic.


    He got discovered when someone finally felt suspicious about him and reported to the Mage Association with some iplete evidence of his atrocities.


    Vince''s name is already high up in Mage Association''s list of suspected criminal but no evidence found when he was reported. So when they got a little bit of evidence, the Enforcement Department of the Association immediately took off and searched his whole mansion and few of his known safehouse.


    With everything searched, they found arge number of stolen items, in addition to this, they found many corpses; skeleton, rotten, and fresh, most are young women.


    The fresh corpses were easily identified as missing women, and all of them are, to some degree, pretty.


    The Association immediately issued a manhunt and arge bounty on Vince''s head. They almost had him, when he suddenly disappeared, but in fact, he was helped by a devil with considerable high rank.


    This devil is one of the believers of evil, those devils must strive hard to bring chaos to the world. He and Vince got along well due to their views in life. The devil Vince reincarnated as one of his own and took on the position of bishop in his peerage.


    Vince''s actions got obviously worst, but that didn''t take long when the other devils in the Underworld got fed of his master''s action and took action against him. He, without any hesitation, betrayed him and escaped. The Underworld dubbed him as a B-rank stray devil and another bounty was ced on his head.


    He returned to the human world and went into a killing spree, eating human flesh and soul to strengthen himself.


    It made himugh when he heard that a high ranking devil is in love with a human and an exorcist at that.


    He used the abandoned factory as his temporary base of operation while he is in Kuoh Town. There are already few people who trespassed this ce for all different reasons and he did all the same thing to all of them, killed and eaten.


    One day, when he is done investigating for the day, he notices three kids trespassed this time around and he thought everything would be the same as thest time. But a child, who introduced himself as Urahara Kisuke destroyed this notion. This child looks like an 8-year old kid with a kind of messy light blond hair, almost pale which is quite rare.


    Vince, despite his atrocities, is an experienced mage and fighter. He already fought with angels, fallen angels, youkai, and other devils. He knows for sure that to use magic, you have to construct a magic circle as the source of the spell''s ''logic'' and pour your mana, demonic power, or holy powers to activate it. Of course, there are exceptions to this, bloodline abilities which belong to a high ss or top noble beings of this world, Sacred gears that go with human reincarnation, Treasured tools that some factions keep, and Senjutsu(Sage Arts) that make use of natural energy in the atmosphere.


    This Urahara Kisuke justpleted a spell of a lightning system that is known for its destructive nature with a single word and easily pierced through his strengthened body. The fuel for this spell seems to be mana, but there is something different to it as just in the presence of this ''mana'' put pressure to soul directly, and this scared Vince since this is the first time hees across this kind of magic, not even from the records of magic in his master''s gigantic library.


    Maybe he only missed it and hasn''t read it yet, but it is impossible for this kind of magic which affected the soul just in its presence to remain unknown orpletely unheard of. Even in his new organization thatposes of different races, no one is capable of doing this.


    "W-What are you!?" Vince asked in a panic. "How did you that!" He added.


    "What are you talking about, devil-san?" Kisuke replied while slowly walking towards Vince, "I''m obviously a human child. As for how I did that, it is called Kidou(Demon Arts), and you don''t need to know the specifics about that, just think of it as the magic that is fueled by my soul."


    ''A magic fueled by your own soul!? That''s just one way of suicide! This bastard is really looking down on me.'' Vince thought at Kisuke''s answer.


    "Your face tells me that you don''t believe what I just said." Kisuke''s continued with a light smile on his face. "Whatever, you won''t live past today, just letting you know." Kisuke suddenly released his Reatsu(Spiritual Pressure) which weighs down everything in the vicinity.


    From Vince''s point of perspective, some unknown force suddenly tried pushing him to the ground and the feeling of imminent death became more pronounced. His instincts as a devil are already telling him to run away as fast possible and he had never been this close to death.


    "AHHHH!!!" Vince shouted with bloodshot eyes, circles of green colored lines and strange symbols appeared in front of Vince, with it, balls of green-colored mes of various sizes materialized a secondter andunched towards Kisuke.


    "Bakudou No.44, Sekisho(Barrier)" Kisuke silently muttered onto iing fireballs, and a wall of fuzzy light instantly appeared in front of him.


    The fireballs hit the wall and arge explosion ensues which destroyed a part of the factory. Vince didn''t look at the destruction and bolted towards Issei and Irina''s location. Vince knew if he escaped outside, Kisuke will be able to catch him easily with the speed that he previously disyed, so he hoped to take the other two kids as his hostage, that is the only way he thinks he could survive this cmity that fell on him.


    He easily reached the ce where Kisuke hid the two, but they were nowhere to be found. He tried looking anywhere near that area, but he didn''t even catch the glimpse of their shadow.


    "You won''t find them anywhere since I hid them well." Kisuke''s voice finally resounded behind him. Vince looked back and saw Kisuke walk towards him amidst of smoke and debris while giving him a mocking smile.


    Vince was shocked since even though he didn''t expect him to die he expected him to be seriously wounded ''cause he used almost all of his demonic power for that attack, but he came out with just his clothes dusty and wrinkled.


    "WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Just die with me then." Vince''sst strand of reasons was snapped and just choose to die with his hateful enemy. His body suddenly inted trice of its size and it started catching green mes allover.


    "Seriously? You gave up way too fast." Kisukemented while looking at Vince''s state. "Oh well, you could just go on your own, I don''t really have a hobby of dying with some strange old man. Hako Okuri(Farewell Box)."

 Volume 1 7 - A kitten

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 7 - A kitten</h4>


    *BOOOM!!* Arge explosion was heard at the distance several seconds after Vince''s overly grown body was forcibly teleported.


    "Whew, good thing I learned that Kidou from Hachi, it proved to be useful at times like this." Kisuke wiped his nonexistent sweat. Kisuke then started walking towards the ce where Vince first looked for Issei and Irina.


    This part of the factory is rtively unscathed, which is almost a miracle after those bombardments by the devil.


    After Kisuke reached the ce, he swiped his right hand in the air and a line of light was drawn in its trajectory. The line then split the air revealing both the unconscious Issei and Irina inside a pyramid-shaped barrier.


    "Kudos to me setting up barriers for these two," Kisuke said to himself while lightly smiling.


    Aside from the barrier for these two, he also set up an auditory, visual, repelling, and aura concealing barriers around the abandoned factory before he came out to face Vince, or else, waves of onlookers will be outside with the noises they made.


    "This is wonder though, more and more activities from these supernatural beings are urring all over the town. Maybe I should take a look, I need more information about them anyway, this is a good chance." Kisuke muttered while clearing the rubbles around the two children.


    ''I should move this two first.'' He thought to himself and started by carrying Issei to his back. He could carry the two with ease, but it is still broad daylight outside and carrying two people with his size will only attract unwanted attention.


    Kisuke chose Issei first because he is nearer than Irina''s and it''ll only take 30 minutes or so to go back and forth.


    While going back to the factory to get Irina, he saw people gathering towards the outskirts of the town, specifically, towards the wide in with only grass on it. That is where Kisuke sent Vince when he tried to self destruct.


    Increasing his pace, he got back 5 minutes earlier than estimated but he saw Irina already woke up with tears threatening to fall from her eyes and looking around in distress. ''Oh crap, I don''t have my memory-changer-kun yet, how should trick her?''


    Kisuke saw her not being able to walk straight and presumed that she tripped herself while looking for him and Issei in panic. ''I should remove the barriers first before she notices anything weird.'' Kisuke went out for a few seconds beforeing back in showing himself to Irina.


    "Kisuke-kun~!!!" Irina shouted in delight and run to Kisuke''s direction despite hurting her foot.


    Irina jumped in Kisuke''s embrace and he has no choice but to catch her or she might hurt herself again. "Kisuke-kun!!! Thank God, you''re safe. You didn''t know how worried I was when I woke alone in a ruined building. Right!! Issei-kun!! Where is Issei-kun!!?" Irina said all of this in one breather while bawling. Kisuke felt guilty leaving her all alone like this, though he really didn''t expect her to wake up so fast.


    "Issei is alright. I already sent him home while you''re sleeping, so you don''t have to cry, here let me wipe your face, your snot is everywhere." While reassuring Irina, Kisuke took out his handkerchief to wipe off the dust and tears on her face.


    "Mmh, that''s good�� wait, what!? You left me alone here?! Why!?" Irina manages to notice the hidden meaning of Kisuke words. ''So you get it huh.'' Kisuke thought.


    "Now, now, calm down will ya. I''ll exin everything to you. So for now, let''s get out of this ce first before people started gathering. You don''t want to talk to the police, do you?" Kisuke used the stern image police to scare Irina.


    Like most children, Irina immediately became nervous at the thought of talking to the police. "Let''s leave!" Irina tried to run outside but, "Ow! I forgot I sprained my foot."


    "Hahh,e here and climb to my back, I''ll carry you out." Kisuke thought that he should heal the sprain while carrying her.


    ---------


    2:00 pm at the park.


    The sun is the past midpoint, but it is still very hot. Irina and Kisuke are sitting on the chair with a tree''s shade. The wind is softly blowing and caressing their faces which is quitefortable.


    ''How should go with this? Hmmm�� Alright, let''s just go with a ridiculous tale and be done with it.'' Kisuke decides to concoct an unbelievable story that a child can bite.


    "Hey, when are you going to tell me what happened?" Even though Irina asked casually, the fear in her eyes didn''t escape Kisuke''s observation. Trauma is not a good thing, especially for a child, one reason why Kisuke opts for a ridiculous story.


    "Irina, what I''m about to tell you is a big secret. Can you keep a secret." Kisuke put on a serious look while look at Irina.


    "Secret? What will happen if I tell others?" Irina asked in wonder.


    "I will die." Kisuke gave stress to his words, and he continued, "Since you already know that I will die, you are already part of the secret, so if you tell others, I will die."


    "Die!? I promise! I promise I won''t tell anyone so please don''t die!!" Irina was obviously shocked at the revtion.


    "I won''t as long as you don''t tell anyone what happened." Irina looks like she is in danger of breaking her neck from nodding at Kisuke''s words.


    ''Part one, sess.'' Kisuke did a gut pose inside his head.


    "Now just keep quiet as I tell you everything that happened in there." Kisuke looks at Irina who is ready to listen.


    Kisuke inhaled deeply and started narrating, "The man in white snapped his fingers after entering, and the two of you suddenly lose consciousness. I was panicking when the man suddenly introduced himself as alien from Novarasc and he is there to confiscate my hair. I was really scared at that time since I love my hair, and I don''t want to lose it. He suddenly did something and the factory was destroyed before I knew it. He probably did that to show his powers. Since I can''t leave you two even though I love my hair so much, I gathered my courage and fought back. I threw everything that I was able to hold at him but that do anything to him until I managed to pick up a bottle of water with a little bit of water left. I threw it at him and the water hit him, he suddenly very hurt. I discovered that water is his weakness but there is no more water left. An idea suddenly hit me and I started spitting at him. After I hit him a few times, he got scared and immediately escaped riding his UFO while shouting that he will never return to this again. End of story."


    "�� W-What?" Irina is understandably confused, but Kisuke didn''t let her continue.


    "You see, before he left, he cursed me. I can only tell this to one other person or I will die, so please don''t tell this to anyone! I don''t want to die." Kisuke looked at Irina''s eyes while closing their distance.


    "I won''t!" Irina immediately answered putting a smile on Kisuke''s face. "It''s an alien? not a ghost?"


    Irina asked uncertainly.


    "Not a ghost, nor a devil and a youkai. It''s an alien" Kisuke replied back.


    "He will nevere back?" Irina asked the most important question for her.


    "Never. We have a lot of water after all." Assured by Kisuke, Irina sighed in relief, "Thank you, God."


    Looking at Irina, Kisuke thought that he was able to move his attention from the destroyed building to the ''nevering-back alien'' which also made Kisuke sighed in relief.


    "Then why did you leave me and rescued Issei first?" This sudden question of Irina caught Kisuke off-guard.


    "Well, because you know how scared and timid he is when he entered the factory and his house is nearer, I figured I should carry him back first. After all, you are tougher and more masculine than him." Kisuke just blurted out what is in his mind.


    "WHAT!!?? Who is more masculine!!?? I''m a girl!!!" Irina shouted at Kisuke''sment.


    "Issei probably thinks you''re a boy, even I''m not sure if you''re a girl until you told me just now." Replied back by Kisuke, which makes Irina more infuriated.


    "What did say!!!?? Dammit, I''m going home now! I''ll show you that I''m a girl tooter!" Irina runs off while tears are about to fall again from her eyes.


    "Hahaha, what a cute reaction," Kisuke said to himself.


    "I''m tired, I should go home too. I need to prepare a lot of things if I want to join in the fun." He continued muttering while stretchering his arms and yawning.


    But at that time, he felt something unbelievable. With his eyes wide opened in shock, he used Shunpo(sh Step) in quick sessions to enter the forest behind the park. 100 meters deep, he suddenly stops and looks in front of him.


    There he saw a kitten.


    A ck kitten with golden eyes that is releasing a very familiar Reiatsu signature. A signature that shouldn''t exist in this world.


    "Yoru��i��chi?"

 Volume 1 8 - Yoruichi

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 8 - Yoruichi</h4>


    "Yoru��i��chi?" Kisuke muttered in surprise. He couldn''t immediately believe the pleasant surprise. After all, this is another world and he got the help of Hougyoku and Benihime to reincarnate in one piece.


    "Kisuke��?" The kitten spoke, but contrary to its cute and small appearance, it has a distinctly male voice.


    "Yoruichi!!!" Kisuke finally believed what he is seeing and ran towards the small feline.


    "Kisuke!!!" Yoruichi has the same reaction and also ran to Kisuke''s direction.


    Kisuke was about to hug Yoruichi when she took out her ws. Before he could react, Yoruichi swiped Kisuke''s face leaving three lines of blood.


    "Ow ow ow ow. What was that for?!" Touching his face, Kisuke asks the kitten while grimacing in pain.


    "Oh, it''s just that I promised myself that if I ever run into you again, I''ll either nt a foot or w your face for letting me go into that form while we are fighting that Quincy," Yoruichi replied in a happy voice.


    Kisuke''s eyes kept twitching listening to her words, but he didn''t feel guilty even a little bit.


    "Haaah�� Way to ruin our reunion." Kisuke just sighed and let Yoruichi gloat for a moment, but then he suddenly noticed something. "Hey, since this is such a pleasant reunion, why didn''t you at least transform back into human form?"


    "That is my question! How can you use Shunpo(sh Step) so casually!? And from the way it looks, your body isn''t burdened by using that." Instead of answering, Yoruichi asked Kisuke about the use of Shinigami Arts.


    "Why are you asking about that?�� Wait, could it be?" Kisuke was hit by an idea.


    And Yoruichi just confirmed that idea, "Yes, I''ve been stuck in this form for thest two years."


    "How did you survive?" Kisuke asked wanting to ascertain something.


    "Of course the cute me can''t be resisted by those humans." Yoruichi put on a smug face while dering.


    "Pffft!!! AHAHAHAHA!!! The prestigiousdy of Shihouin Family and former Captain of Stealth Forces is stuck in acting cute in front of humans for food! How will Sui Fon and Byakura if they knew this I wonder. Crap, I really wanna see their faces now." Kisukeughed out loud at the kitty''s face in the middle of the forest without remorse.


    "Can you answer me now? How can you used that technique?" Yoruichi asked again, but this time, with a re.


    "*Cough* *cough* Ehem, I''ll teach you how, but not here let''s go to my ce first." Kisuke cleared his throat and suggested going home first. "By the way, don''t speak or you might scare others." He added.


    "I know what to do, let''s go now." The kitten replied while she nestled at Kisuke''s arms.


    Before leaving the forest, Kisuke first healed his wounds from the ''battle'' earlier.


    After 30 minutes of walking, they reached the Urahara household. Kisuke noticed that his mother already returned home and cooking dinner.


    "I''m home!" Kisuke shouted when he reached the door.


    "Take a bath! Dinner will be ready when you get out." Kisuke''s mom''s voice came from the kitchen.


    "Mom, I want to talk about something." Kisuke walked into the kitchen and saw his mom preparing to fry some beef patties.


    "What is it, sweety? Want me to wash you up? Then let me finish this first and I''ll be with you." Sakura replied while she busied herself at the counter.


    Yoruichi, in her cat form, is trying her best not tough and just kept banging her head on Kisuke''s chest. Yoruichi didn''t think that on the years that she didn''t see her perverted shop owner, he would be such mama''s boy.


    Kisuke just sighed because he already knew this would happen. "Haah, not that, please look over here."


    Sakura turned around and saw the ck kitten nestled in Kisuke''s arms. "Hmmm, this is?"


    "I want to take care of her," Kisuke said to his mother.


    Sakura was silent for a few seconds then asked her son, "Can you take care of it without my help."


    "Yes." Kisuke immediately replied.


    Sakura smiled at her son''s answer seemingly satisfied. "Now go take a bath. Take that dusty kitten with you. What''s her name by the way?"


    "It''s Yoruichi." Kisuke turned around intending to go to the bathroom.


    "Be careful while washing her alright?" Sakura reminded her son who is already at the bathroom''s door.


    "Got it." Kisuke closed the door, set aside Yoruichi and started undressing.


    "It''s amazing that you have the same body while we are younger in the Soul Society." The ck felinemented while looking at his body. Her gaze even stopped at Kisuke''s junior for a few seconds. "Even the same size." She added.


    "Don''t tell you''re interested in shota''s body." Covering his most important part, he looked at Yoruichi in disbelief.


    "That''s not it!! Idiot!! I''m just remembering the old times." The cat angrily defended herself.


    "If that''s the case, it''s fine then." Kisuke picked up Yoruichi and proceeded to the shower.


    Kisuke gently washed Yoruichi before moving to himself and both of them moved towards the bathtub. Yoruichi is inside the basin filled with hot water and enjoying the feeling since it''s been a while she took a proper bath. Kisuke also enjoyed dipping after a tiring day.


    The two were silent for a while. After a few moments, Kisuke spoke, "What is your story?"


    Yoruichi meowed for a bit a said, "I''m an orphan."


    Kisuke looked and urge her to continue.


    "I don''t know who my parents are. I regained my memories at the orphanage next town over when I was 4 years old. The treatment isn''t bad, but it isn''t very good either. I won''t go into detail about my life there. When I turned 6, I tried my transformation on a whim but I was not able to turn back and you know why. I''m probably considered as a missing person but I don''t think they will search for me for more than a month or two. I''ve been moving here and there until you found me in the forest." Yoruichi stopped there and continued to enjoy the bath.


    "Heh~, looks like I got lucky with my mother." Kisuke lightlymented. "Though it doesn''t really matter since you''ll be with me from here on out." He continued.

 Volume 1 9 - Yoruichi Part 2 (Edited)

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 9 - Yoruichi Part 2 (Edited)</h4>


    In Kisuke''s room, after dinner, the two are sprawled on the bed.


    "Should we start?" Kisuke stood up and walked towards the center of the room to set up some barriers to avoid some idents.


    "How are you going to teach me?" Yoruichi followed him and sat in the middle. "You aren''t going to lecture on this, are you? That''s going to take ages." She added.


    "I''m not. I''m going to pass you my mana-reiryoku mixture and you just have to imitate that for your whole mana and reiryoku. You can feel mana right? You should be able to control that like reiryoku." Kisuke extended his arm towards the cat and prepared to transfer some of his hybrid energy.


    "You mean that annoying energy thates from the physical body? I controlling it is pretty easy, but it hurts when it touches the reiryoku. How did you even think of mixing these two?" The kitten closed her eyes to feel the energying from Kisuke. After a few minutes, she started mixing the energies bit by bit. "Hooh, so you can really mix these two."


    "You''re doing great, just keep it up until you manage to do that to all of your reserves. It should stay that way when you''re done." Kisuke thinks that it would take a few weeks for Yoruichi to meld everything.


    He is about to withdraw his hands when he felt the Hougyoku releasing a huge amount of power and it flowed from his arms towards Yoruichi''s small form.


    Kisuke immediately activated the barriers that he put up before this. A sound barrier, impact dampening barrier, and aura concealing barrier.


    Both Kisuke and Yoruichi can''t move but both of their bodies are being attacked by intense pain. Even if both of them are being ravaged, the two of them are very experienced, and this a little bit of pain that can make any grown man cry isn''t affecting them much. They just endured it silently.


    After the whole ordeal, they were released and the Hougyoku returned to its natural state. Kisuke inspected his body and saw his energy reserves became more stable which would take him a few more months to do. With this, he can start fusing his physical and spiritual body to regain his Shinigami abilities in full.


    Kisuke looked at Yoruichi''s direction and saw the kitten explode into smokes. The smoke cleared up and there he saw a child with dark skin, golden irises and neck length ck hair with a cheeky smile on her face which is very familiar to him as she has the same appearance when they were young in Soul Society.


    "Now onto our second reunion." Before Kisuke could react, Yoruichi jumped on him and nted her lips to his.


    Kisuke was obviously dumbfounded at Yoruichi''s action but only for a few moments. He reacted and responded in kind. They were kissing like crazy, seeking warmth from each other''s embrace. His tongue gently slips inside her mouth, exploring each and every inch of her tongue. Yoruichi felt like she is melting at his touch but she doesn''t want to lose to him and used her tongue to entangle his. Both of their hearts are beating faster and faster but Kisuke got a hold of himself first.


    With thest smooch, he separated from Yoruichi, leaving a trail of saliva between them. Both of them are breathing hard from theck of air. He saw her zed eyes and his body felt hot, but he knew continuing would be bad.


    "Let''s stop now, both of us have a child''s body. Let''s do this again when you''ve bloomed in all sorts of ces." Shaking his head, he calmed himself down while gently embracing Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi didn''t say anything and just rested her head on his chest, slowly regting her breathing.


    "You''re the proactive type, but not the one who does this. What changed?" Having restored his state, Kisuke whispered beside Yoruichi''s ears.


    "I just don''t wanna regret again." Yoruichi just said one thing and Kisuke understands her point.


    The two rested for a bit, not separating. They just broke through their rtionship status quo and didn''t want to leave each other''s embrace for a while.


    "Seeing you in this world, I have a guess on why we''re able to reincarnate here." Kisuke suddenly said while stroking Yoruichi''s head.


    "Your Zanpakuto is more overpowered than I presumed." Kisuke continued.


    "Well, I can''t really control it, especially its Bankai''s ability." Closing her eyes, Yoruichimented on his words.


    "Space maniption, right? If not controlled, it can cut through dimensions. No wonder you were banned to use that since it''ll disrupt the stability of Soul Society and Human World." Kisuke sighed and continued stroking Yoruichi''s head.


    "Since you were able to change back, your mana and reiryoku were able to merge?" Kisuke inquired after taking a closer look at her state.


    "Thanks to that unknown power that came from you. What was that anyway?" Yoruichi curiously asked.


    "The Hougyoku." Kisuke casually replied.


    "The Hougyoku?!! Why do you have that?! Did you get it from Aizen?!" Yoruichi raised her head in shock and looked at Kisuke''s eyes demanding an answer.


    "I made another one. This is also one of the reasons why my soul didn''t copse from reincarnating. It is currently inside me." Kisuke answered.


    "Won''t you have any problem?" She was worried since she knows what the Hougyoku can do.


    "I won''t. I saw how Aizen used it in the past, so I''m ready for its tricks." Kisuke reassured her partner.


    "Is that so. Just be careful." Yoruichi didn''t ask anymore.


    "I will." Kisuke stood up and carried Yoruichi towards the bed,ying and covering her with a nket, giving her a final kiss to the forehead.


    "Where are you going?" Yoruichi saw him put on a ck cloak and a white nk mask.


    "I''ll be going out for a bit to investigate. The town is restless, I want to know what''s up and expand my knowledge about them even for a bit." Kisuke collected a few more things before heading to the window.


    "Want me to help?" Yoruichi asked before Kisuke could jump out.


    "I''m fine. You, on the other hand, can practice some of your Kidou, Shunpo or Hakuda(Hand to hand Combat). The floor, walls, and ceiling can take some beating because of the barrier I put up. Just be careful not to destroy my things." Kisuke said his piece and disappeared in the night sky.

 Volume 1 10 - Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 10 - Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki</h4>


    It has been four hours since Kisuke started gathering information. He looked at his wristwatch and saw that it''s already midnight. Besides some activity at the town''s center, most of the households have turned off their lights.


    The night sky is clear and you can see the stars clearly because today is a new moon making it pretty dark and moving around unnoticed very suitable.


    Kisuke has already taken note of some activities happening tonight as he looked around.


    There are a total of three groups and one individual. The first is a group of devils, the second is a group of human exorcists and thest is a pair of devil and human. The lone one is also a devil, he is only watching for now. This one is giving off a surprising amount of powering from him and it would be dangerous for Kisuke to take him head-on.


    "Now then, how do I mess with them? Hmmm, that one guy is giving me a dangerous feeling and doesn''t strike me as a good person. Especially on how he sneers and give a mocking smile at the pair protecting each other." Kisuke quietly muttered to himself. "Yosh, sounds fun messing with that guy." Having a grin on his face, he decided his course of action.


    Jumping from roof to roof while avoiding everyone''s gaze and blending his aura to the surrounding, he reached a three-story building. Behind it was an open lot with some construction materials scattered.


    shes of metal rang out and furious voices were heard. Kisuke took a peek below and saw 7 figures. The five humans who are holding a sword were surrounding the injured devil and man pair.


    The human man is protecting the critically injured devil woman from the five while being injured himself. It seems that these two were the rumored devil and human lovers that Kisuke was hearing about while investigating.


    The devil is Cleria Belial, a high-ss devil from a prestigious family and the current ruler of Kuoh Town.


    She is currently in a romantic rtionship with Masaomi Yaegaki, an exorcist from the Protestant Church.


    Masaomi Yaegaki is a man with long ck hair and the subordinate of the guy who leads the five-man team against the duo.


    Touji Shidou has light brown hair and wearing a priest robe. He is supposed to be the current leader of the Protestant Church of the town. Now he is currently chasing his subordinate that fell in love with a devil to stop their rtionship.


    "Masaomi!! Leave the devil woman alone. Do you want to destroy the status quo between Heaven and Underworld?!." Touji shouted at his subordinate who is stubbornly protecting his woman.


    Hearing this, Cleria who is already half unconscious and bloodied all over because of the battle with the other devils before they encounter the exorcists, opened her mouth, "Dear, just leave me alone. At least that way, one of us can survive."


    "Cleria, you know that isn''t gonna happen. Even If I died with you today, I''m never going to regret my choices because you''re the woman I love." Masaomi looked at her with his face full of cuts and blood. Despite that, the gentle and loving gaze he has for Cleria wasn''t masked.


    "Masaomi��" Cleria can only cry after hearing his words. The warmth that she felt superseded the pain of her wounds and was able to gain the power to stand up straight, albeit, temporarily. She wanted to at least face death with his lover standing strong.


    "You leave us no choice. Men�� Kill them." Touji grimaced at his own words. It is very hard for him to give the order for his subordinate''s death. He will regret this moment for his whole life, that, he was sure of.


    Actually, the Church already gave an ultimatum, and that is to kill both of them tonight, no matter what happens.


    The Church is already vaguely aware of the two''s rtionship and lets it go since it was also beneficial for them since this town is a devil''s territory.


    Ordinarily, just five of them aren''t enough to fight a high-ss devil head-on, they were just following the order. But to Touji''s surprise, when they found the two, the devil, Cleria Belial was already critically injured and won''t be able to fight, while Masaomi Yaegaki has multiple cuts, but not very serious is already beyond exhausted.


    Touji never actually intend to kill Masaomi. He just wants him to separate from the Cleria and capture him to bring him to trial. That way, he would at least live and have a chance to redeem himself even if Masaomi were to hate him due to killing his lover. The Church is obviously hiding something, especially after the devils'' "great" timing. He presumed that this isn''t just about the status quo of Heaven and Underworld.


    But Touji underestimated both of their feelings and waspelled to give the final order.


    While they were preparing for the final sh, a shadow fell from the sky and faced Touji.


    The intruder is very short, like a child, wears a ck cloak with a hood that covers his whole body while wearing a nondescript mask.


    The masked child-like man then started speaking, "Hello everyone, I''m totally not a suspicious person, nice to meet you all."


    Everyone was silent and wasn''t able to react due to many reasons. One being, only big idiots would believe someone who introduces himself as not a suspicious person while wearing a suspicious outfit. And two, that those were really the voice of a child. They were wondering why would a child fall from the sky and greet everyone?


    The child in the cloak, not minding their reactions, continued, "I came here because I was moved by these two''s love for each other and I wished to save them if you don''t mind."


    The exorcists finally have a reaction, they readied their swords increasing their vignce to the maximum. They wouldn''t underestimate someone just because he is a child, it could be just a spell to look and sound like a child.


    Kisuke then dered, "The y starts here! Sekienton(Red Smoke Escape)!"

 Volume 1 11 - Just being Silly

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 11 - Just being Silly</h4>


    "The y starts here! Sekienton(Red Smoke Escape)!"


    A small explosion urred in front of Kisuke and arge amount of red smoke engulfed the surrounding.


    The exorcists and the duo were caught off guard, but Touji Shidou immediately reacted and started giving orders, "Don''t panic! Stay in your positions and don''t let them leave through the gaps. Use wind magic to protect yourself and blow away the smoke upwards."


    Despite being exorcists, they know some basic spells that can be useful in many situations, and one such situation is here.


    They easily blow away the smoke and the area was cleared. In the middle, they saw the three are still there, but this time around, they were arguing.


    No, instead of arguing, the child is one-sidedly chiding the devil and human duo.


    "What the heck are you two doing?! Do you really wanna die that much?! I created such an opportunity yet you didn''t take it?!!" The child figure is fuming with anger.


    "We were shocked too! You didn''t even tell us what to do! You just abruptly release that colored smoke!" Masaomi got hold of himself and retorted to the unreasonable kid.


    "Fine! I don''t care anymore! I''ll just leave. Damn, I just wasted my time here." The child finally had enough and jumped over the exorcists that are surrounding them. He started running away afternding 10 meters behind Touji.


    "Sir, should we chase him?" One of the exorcists inquired.


    "No, our objectives are here and we don''t know if that kid is just trying to lure some of us away from him to give Masaomi an opening," Touji answered and renewed his stance slowly inching towards the duo.


    "Masaomi! This will be thest chance! Leave the devil ande with us! You can move on after this!" Touji urges Masaomi for onest time, but he knew that it wouldn''t change his answer.


    "Give it up Touji, I will either escape and live with Cleria or die with her today." Masaomi is already determined to fight until the end.


    "I see. That''s too bad then." Touji jumped towards Masaomi and shed at him. Masaomi was able to block the attack but he was thrown back for a few meters.


    "Kill the devil first while I hold back Masaomi." Touji gave his order to every one of his group.


    "TOUJI YOU BASTARD!!!" Masaomi was unsurprisingly furious and became more desperate.


    ��


    After a few minutes, Cleria fell into her own pool of blood not breathing.


    "NOOO!!! CLERIA!!!" Seeing this, Masaomi lost his mind and disregarded his own wounds and attacksnding to him in an attempt to go her side.


    Masaomi kneeled beside Cleria and cried with tears of blood. Touji approached him from behind and plunged his sword through his heart.


    Touji watched Masaomi slowly lose his strength and fell beside Cleria unmoving with deep regret.


    All of the exorcists just sighed at the demise of their formerrade. This is the first time they finished a mission leaving them with regret at the result.


    "Let''s leave. I will call the cleaners to take care of this." Touji said while they are still mourning.


    After a minute. Everyone has left.


    If Touji Shidou and his group were to see this, they would be shocked to the core because two of these figures were the ones they just killed, Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki.


    Of course, thest figure is Kisuke with his white mask and ck cloak.


    The trio approached the ''dead bodies'' and inspected it.


    "Hmmm, as expected of me. Pretty well done if I must say so myself." Kisuke didn''t forget to praise himself.


    Cleria and Masaomi inspected the bodies more closely.


    Cleria, who already healed most of her injuries while hiding with the help of Kisuke''s unorthodox spell and strange candy medicine, couldn''t contain her curiosity anymore and asked, "What are these?"


    "It''s called Gigai(Faux Body)." Kisuke nonchntly answered her question.


    "Gigai?"


    Cleria looks like in her mid-twenties. She has a long ash white hair thatplements her beauty. Despite that, she is a devil whose age somewhere around 50-70.


    She turned to her lover and asked, "Do you know this thing called Gigai."


    "No idea. It is also my first time hearing about it. I''m surprised that even you don''t know." Masaomi replied.


    "I''m also surprised. An item like this has a wide array of use, it''s impossible for something like this to be unknown, unless��" Cleria looked at the cloaked kid.


    "If you''re thinking that this is some relic or lost technology then I would have to disappoint you, they are not. I created this and this is only my second time using them."


    "You created this?! I''m not saying I know everything but, how about that strange medicine you fed me that restored my stamina? If that were to in the market, all big factions will scramble to monopolize it. And I''m sure that didn''t happen yet or any news about it existing. Where did you get that?" Cleria looked at Kisuke in shock forgetting her manners.


    "I also created it. I call it Stamina candies and it''ll be avable in my shop in the future." Kisuke still replied nonchntly while looking around seemingly trying to discover something.


    "W-what?" Both Cleria and Masaomi were dumbfounded with what they heard.


    "We can talk about thister. I told you, right? The y isn''t over yet." Kisuke finally looked at the two andughed a little.


    "Is there really something else?" Masaomi was not convinced, not until he heard a voice behind them.


    "If I didn''t surround this area with rm magic, I would have been fooled too. How did you do it, kid?"


    From the shadow of the building appeared a middle-aged man in his 40''s with long dark silver hair and hazel eyes wearing an extravagant robe with silver linings. This neer slowly walked to the trio''s direction with an arrogant smirk on his face not hiding his creepy aura and ill intent.


    This man stopped 7 meters away from the three and it seems that Cleria finally recognized him.


    "You are!? Prince Rizevim Livan Lucifer!!!" Cleria shouted.


    "What?! Lucifer?!" Masaomi also reacted to the name.


    "Right, he is the son of the original Lucifer and one of the three known Super Devil." Cleria exined while having a heavy expression. "Why is someone like him here?"


    "Well probably because he is the one initiating all of these?" Kisuke didn''t change his attitude even after knowing he is in front of a Super Devil.


    The couple doesn''t know is he is just brave and strong or just in ignorant.


    "Hoh, so you know that I''m watching from a distance? But you obviously don''t know anything about Super Devils, or else you wouldn''t stand there all calm and collected. Haah, it doesn''t really matter I guess since you already destroyed my ns. I can just test that thing somewhere else. For now, just die"


    After speaking his monologue, he disappeared from his spot. In both Cleria and Masaomi''s chest are spears made of pure demonic power.


    When Kisuke saw this, he tried jumping back but was shocked again when the devil appeared in front of him and impaled him with the same spear of demonic power.


    Rizevim acted like he just did something insignificant, which it is, dusted himself.


    "Now them, your face is making me curious, let''s see what is behind that mask." Rizevim approached the downed man in a cloak and move his hands towards his face to take off the mask.


    After taking off the mask, he stood there frozen. His smirk finally disappeared.


    What he saw after pulling the mask is his own face doing a silly expression.


    After a few seconds, five bodies, two Clerias'', two Masaomis'' and one the doing a silly face using Rizevim''s appearance popped like a balloon leaving only a small note on the spot where hest killed a body.


    ''Sorry, You didn''t hit the jackpot.


    Better luck next time :3


    Signed: The Kitty Lover


    P.S. How does it feel to kill yourself doing a silly face?''


    Rizevim finally reacted after reading the note.


    "YOU BASTARDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" His demonic power went out of control producing an explosion and destroying everything around him.


    A few kilometers from the explosion, three cloaked figures were running at inhuman speeds. Naturally, the three of them are Kisuke, Cleria, and Masaomi who already escaped some time ago.


    "Uwahh, That guy can''t take a joke huh," Kisukemented when he heard an explosion.


    "What did you do?" Masaomi asked.


    "I just tried being silly."

 Volume 1 12 - Rewards

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 12 - Rewards</h4>


    A few minutes after the explosion, the whole town was rmed. Multiple sirens of police, ambnce, and firetrucks are moving towards the source of the ident.


    A berserk aura of a devil that was roaming around the town can be felt. However, after ten minutes, various factions were alerted and started investigating and found out that the explosion was caused by demonic power and not just some ident. News of Cleria and her lover''s death also started spreading leading to more personnel dispatch by many factions


    The furious devil was forced to retreat due to many eyesnding on him and it''ll only be disadvantageous for him to remain. Before leaving though, he promised that he will one day return the favor.


    As for the trio that the humiliated super devil was diligently looking for, they were having a midnight snack at a 24/7 convenient store in the center of the town.


    Kisuke is enjoying a cup of instant noodles while both Cleria and Masaomi have a siopao and hotdog respectively.


    "He really wasn''t able to find us, amazing," Masaomi said while munching on his hotdog.


    "That guy is smart but too prideful and narrow-minded. He wouldn''t even take a nce at ces like this and only look for obscure ces where we might be hiding." Kisuke is slurping his noodles with great relish.


    "You yourself are incredible, to be able to determine how he thinks and what are his next actions." Cleria took a nce at Kisuke, who at this time already removed his mask revealing his appearance.


    "You give me too much credit. I just met a simr person in the past, that''s all."


    ''You''re too humble! Are you really a kid?!'' Both Cleria and Masaomi shouted in their heads.


    After finishing their snacks, Kisuke asked the two, "What''s your n next?"


    The couple looked at each other for a few seconds then looked back to Kisuke, "First of all, thank you. If not for your help, we would have fallen there and that Rizevim probably would have gotten what he wanted. Thank you very much." Cleria bowed her head towards Kisuke.


    Masaomi also followed suit while saying, "If not for you, I would have doubted myrades. When I saw their pained expressions when they killed ''me'', I realized that they really didn''t want that to happen. Thank you."


    "You don''t have to thank me for that much, you do know that I didn''t save you two because I have some selfless justice, right?" Kisuke revealed his true intentions.


    "I know, I have this inkling that you are not the type that helps others for no reason." Cleria answered him.


    "You''re wrong regarding that about me. Sometimes, I help others just because I''m interested, curious or just in whim." Kisuke replied while giving a teasing grin on his face.


    "I see, looks like I''m really mistaken about that. Let''s move on, what do you want us to do for you?" Cleria just smiled for a moment before returning her serious expression. Masaomi also became nervous after hearing her say that. They both can''t think of anything this unfathomable guy needs.


    "You two don''t have to be that nervous. I won''t let you do something unreasonable. I just need you to teach me some things, likemon sense in your world." Kisuke reassured the couple.


    "Only that?" Cleria and Masaomi are both dumbfounded yet again. He gets through all that trouble so just we can teach him somemon sense?


    Kisuke saw through their reaction and said, "You would need to teach me everything that I need to know about the supernatural world, of course, including some not somon knowledge. Easy right?"


    "Of course it''s easy. Just passing you my knowledge is not enough, I have many books on my mansion that you may be interested in. You can take all of that. I will even give you my hidden wealth in there since I have some anonymous ounts with tons of money, I won''t be needing it." Cleria enthusiastically agreed and even giving some suggestions of her own.


    "Alright, it''s settled then. I''ll take my leave here, let''s meet at the park tomorrow at 10:00 AM." Before leaving, Kisuke bought a vani ice cream for Yoruichi who is waiting for him.


    The couple waited until Kisuke disappeared from their sight. Masaomi started talking first after seeing him gone, "Have you not considered escaping?"


    "No, and I''m sure you would stop me if we really tried to escape. I''m very thankful to him, and besides, even if we escaped, he probably has some insurance. I don''t want to know or test what he prepared." Cleria answered.


    In reality, Kisuke really has something prepared if they were to escape the town, but not as gruesome as they imagine, just a tracker and a poison that can incapacitate them which can be activated remotely.


    "Let''s rest. A hotel is no good so let''s just go with an inte cafe room." Masaomi suggested after a few seconds of thinking.


    Back at Urahara household, inside Kisuke''s room, a figure of a buck-naked child with short ck hair can be seen shing here and there leaving multiple afterimages giving an illusion of she was teleporting. This moment is the rebirth of the sh Goddess and this moniker will once again shock the world, though a different world.


    Kisuke entered through the window carrying a stic bag with ice cream inside. He saw what Yoruichi is doing and a smile crept to his face.


    "Looking good, aren''t ya." Kisuke greeted her while cing her snack on the table.


    "I''m getting the hang of it. Is that for me?" Yoruichi stopped shing around and saw the stic bag on the table.


    "Eat it before it me-" Before he could finish his words, he saw Yoruichi already jumped and snatched the ice cream and eating it with great relish.


    "You would probably eat it even if it''s not yours." Kisuke just sighed at this sight.


    "Yeah, damn right. I really miss this vor. How did it go for you."


    "Better than I expected. Come with me tomorrow. I''ll probably need your views."

 Volume 1 13 - The Three Factions

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 13 - The Three Factions</h4>


    The day after the busy night, Kisuke, with a kitten on his arms were walking to the direction of the park.


    The weather is cloudy, dim and gloomy so there is no one in the park today. This is a stroke of good luck for the couple since they stand out too much with ck cloaks covering their body and aura.


    Kisuke arrived at exactly 10:00 AM while nursing the scratches on his face.


    Yoruichi tried waking Kisuke up at around 9:30 AM, but he wouldn''t budge with just some paw taps. Thus without much choice, she scratched his face.


    "Couldn''t you woke me up in a less painful way?" Kisuke asked the smug kitten.


    "I could, but too much effort. Try waking up earlier if you have an appointment, you won''t experience that again." Yoruichi said in her distinct male voice.


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at her answer.


    When they arrive at the park with no one but two cloaked figures at the corner of the park. If there are other people in the park, they would have been reported to the police for their suspicious attire.


    Kisuke approached the obviously who figures and Cleria asked first, "Why did you bring a kitten?"


    Kisuke smiled brightly and said, "She gets too lonely when I leave her alone."


    This earned him a cat uppercut to the chin but it didn''t really hurt him and it only made her cute for her antics.


    "��cute." Cleria muttered under her breath.


    She got hold of herself and feign coughing before continuing to speak, "Well then, since you''re here let''s move somewhere first. Follow me."


    Cleria started running to the forest intending to cross it. Masaomi who is silent all this time quietly followed Cleria.


    Kisuke before following, put on his aura-concealing cloaked and ced Yoruichi on his shoulder.


    After half an hour of running while avoiding many eyes, they arrived at a forest with lots of shrubberies. 100 meters away from their position, Kisuke can see arge mansion that only very rich families could have.


    "That is my residence, but it was probably already raided yesterday after my ''death''." Cleria spoke with the look of mncholy in her eyes. Her lover lightly patted her shoulder tofort her and it sessfully lifted her mood, albeit just a little.


    "What do you propose we do?" Kisuke inquired.


    "I have a hidden chamber underneath the mansion which contains a library and small museum." Cleria said while looking around at the surrounding.


    "Museum?" Kisuke couldn''t help but ask.


    "I say it''s a museum but it''s just a small collection of paintings, sculptures, and artifacts from several centuries ago. I just collected them in a spur of interest, but they are just gathering dust for a few years now. You can sell them one by one anonymously to get some cash." Cleria answered while still looking around her.


    After a few more seconds of looking around, Cleria found something, "There it is."


    Cleria moved to a spot several feet away from them, "You can''t enter the underground chamber from the mansion as there is no physical pathway. This spot here is the teleportation array that will take us directly in it, but the resulting light and fluctuation from its activation may gather some attention." She then looks at Kisuke.


    "Bakudou No.26 Kyakko(Curving Light)." Kisuke didn''t say anything else and started casting his modified Kyakko that can hide more.


    A dome made of thin blue film engulfed the group and hid them from the surrounding. This is the second time Cleria and Masaomi witness this spell and they are still in awe at how effective it was and how fast it was cast.


    Cleria didn''t wait for another second and activated the teleportation array. A magic circle 5 meters across and bearing the Belial n insignia shone in gray light.


    The group disappeared in granules of light and reappeared inside a small library with ten bookshelves full of books.


    Cleria started walking and the rest followed. She led them to an open area between the library and the museum. There is a round table with 10 chairs at the side. Near the table was a counter for drinks.


    The group sat down one by one starting from Cleria. She snapped her fingers and the utensils a jar of tea leaves started moving to the table. When they reached the middle of the table, a small magic circle manifested and the utensils began making tea themselves. After a few minutes, three cups of tea were served.


    "How convenient. I should also study how to set up these arrays." Kisukemented while his eyes were shining.


    After drinking a sip from her tea, Cleria started talking, "Alright, let''s start. First, I''ll be giving you the information on three races of the Three Faction��"


    Cleria began talking and Kisuke didn''t interrupt and just listened while taking sips of tea.


    Originating from Heaven, the Angels are powerful beings who serve the Biblical God, and have the powers to inflict pain upon Devils/demons and by extension the Fallen Angels, due to their light-based powers. After the death of the God from the Bible in the Great War of the Three Factions, the Angels were incapable of increasing their numbers. There are rumors that they made a system simr to the devil''s Evil Pieces System that can reincarnate other races in angels.


    Fallen Angels are Angels that have fallen from the grace of God, due to having "impure thoughts" that divert them from the teachings of the God in the Bible. The leaders of Grigori were tempted by human women and had fallen after having sex with them.


    Despite being cast out of Heaven, Fallen Angels and their subordinates have been known to upy churches and use them as bases. However, they go out of their way to destroy all of the religious icons in these churches in the process out of spite for their former leader.


    Currently, the Fallen Angels have the smallest poption among the Three Factions, but can increase their numbers by tempting existing angels.


    Devils are beings that originated from the Underworld consisting of the 72 Pirs of High-ss Devil noble families, the Extra Demons and the countless armies under them. The total life span of a Devil is approximately 10,000 years. The Devils were originally led by the Four Great Satans prior to their death in the Great War. Following the end of the Great War, the descendants of the original Satans apart from Rizevim wanted to continue the Great War, but were faced with opposition by other Devils, most prominently the Bael n, who assumed authority after the death of their leaders. This started a civil war between the Devils with the descendants of the original Satans losing the war and a new government was formed among the Devils. The new government then appoints four new Satans through strength and aplishment in the civil war.


    After the formation of the new Devil government, Ajuka Beelzebub developed the Evil Pieces system to help replenish the decreased armies of the Devils, eventually creating the Rating Games.


    "�� and that are the races that consist of the Three Factions. There are other races and mythological factions but you can read about them in my records." Cleria drunk some of her tea to rest for a bit.

 Volume 1 14 - Plans for the Future

    <h4>Volume 1 Chapter 14 - ns for the Future</h4>


    "As for the not somon knowledge, except for one, they are all recorded and written by me. You can find it buried 50 meters deep under this table." Cleria continued.


    "Except for one? Why would you make an exception? Hmmm�� Ah. Could it be that you didn''t have a chance to record it yet?" Kisuke yed with his empty cup while asking.


    "Really sharp. You''re right. I didn''t have a chance to write it down and keep it yet. It''s also probably the biggest reason that we were hunted down." Cleria just smiled wryly at Kisuke''s deduction.


    "What?!" Masaomi, on the other hand, was understandably shocked at the revtion.


    "I''m sorry dear, because of my knowledge, we put our lives into danger." Cleria faced Masaomi and bowed to him with tears about to fall from her eyes.


    Masaomi didn''t let Cleria to do that for long and immediately hugged her while whispering to her ears, "It''s okay, I already promised you that I will forever be with you."


    Cleria couldn''t stop her tears anymore as she has been hiding this piece of important secret, even if it is just a spection, from him since yesterday. A heavy weight in her heart was finally relieved along with her tears when she heard Masaomi''s words.


    Kisuke read the mood and didn''t interrupt them. He just yed with Yoruichi''s paws while waiting for them to calm down.


    Wiping her tears, Cleria apologized to Kisuke for the interruption.


    "The secret that I manage to uncover is about the existence of the King Piece." She continued exining.


    "Hm? Isn''t Evil Pieces system adopted the idea of chess? So the leader should have this King Piece. What is wrong with that?" Kisuke was quite confuse as the game of chess can''t happen without the king.


    "The problem is every young high-ss devil receive only fifteen pieces, without the King Piece. The master of the peerage can use his or her demonic power to brand the Evil Pieces they received. It ismon sense that there is no King Pieces." Making another cup of tea for everyone, Cleria continued to narrate.


    "Heh�� So this nonexistent pieces are?" Kisuke urges her to continue.


    "They exist, and only those in highest position are aware of them. I only identally discovered it."


    "Then what can these King Pieces do to warrant such excessive actions of hunting you down just because you know about?"


    "They can provide a power up to the master of the peerage. At least ten times to a hundred times of their base power." Cleria took a deep breath before saying this.


    The room was silent. Everyone was dumbfounded.


    "Ten to one hundred times?!" Masaomi shouted.


    "I see. Rating Game and Evil Pieces are the foundations of the modern devil society and the usage of this basically cheating or just in corruption. If came to light, various people will lose their sh*t." Kisuke muttered after being silent for a moment.


    "You''re right. That is why they can''t let me off, especially since I know that the top 3 rankers of rating game are King Pieces users. They made their way to the top through cheating. Just being one of the rankers give you various privileges." Cleriamentably agreed.


    Another silence descended among them.


    "What do you n to do now?" Kisuke asked after finishing his second cup of tea.


    "Hide. Let things cool down. Live a quiet life somewhere and establish a family with Masaomi." Cleria finally smiled and held Masaomi''s hand.


    "I see, then take that cloak with you. It''ll make you look like a normal human." Kisuke smiled back and give his blessing to the two.


    ""Thank you for everything"", The couple once again expressed their gratitude.


    Cleria passed a few more things and the method of activating the teleportation array to Kisuke before getting ready to leave.


    " Oh, one more thing. Just a piece of friendly advice. Don''t let the quiet and peaceful life dull your skills, on the contrary, improve it for unexpected rainy days." Kisuke said before they teleported away.


    The couple looked shocked for a moment before saying, "Are you really a kid? Why do you seem more experienced than us? Haaah�� Whatever, we''ll do just that. Thanks." Then they disappeared.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi were left alone in this wide chamber.


    "What do we do next?" Yoruichi''s voice resounded from Kisuke''s side.


    "We take a quick look at the books until 4:00 PM, then go home for dinner. I''m still tired from yesterday''s ordeal." Kisuke replied while walking through the bookshelves.


    "Don''t forget to buy my yogurt before going home." The cat didn''t forget her snack and reminded her partner.


    "Yes yes."


    ��


    ��


    .


    The next day.


    After eating his breakfast, Kisuke waszing on the sofa while watching the magical girl show being aired on television when their doorbell rang.


    "Kisuke, take the door for a moment." He heard her mother from the kitchen who is washing the dishes.


    "Got it." Kisuke got up and walk to the door. When he peeped through the pinhole, he saw two familiar figures.


    He opened the door and greeted the two, "Uncle Touji! And some girl I don''t know. Pleasee in, my mother is inside."


    "Who is some girl you don''t know! I''m Irina!" The young girl in frilly white dress and hair tied up in ponytail immediately reacted at Kisuke''s remark.


    "What?! Why are you dressing like a girl?!" Kisuke feigned a shocked expression.


    "I''M A GIRL!!!" Irina finally lost it and was ready to pounce on Kisuke.


    "Kisuke, stop teasing her so much." Kisuke''s mother, Sakura, appeared behind him and gave him a knock on the head.


    "Touji-san, Irina-chan, pleasee in. I''ll prepare tea and snacks." Sakura continued and invited the guests in.


    Touji just smiled at the kids'' antics but Kisuke can still see traces of exhaustion on his face, "We''ll take your offer, thanks for having us."


    The three sat in the living room while Sakura prepares the tea and snacks.


    Kisuke and Irina are still bickering and Touji just watched with a light smile.


    Sakura came out and joined them, "What brings you here today?" she asked Touji after she gave the cup of tea.


    Touji took a sip before saying, "Irina and me here to say our farewells."


    Irina became gloomy and stopped eating her snacks after hearing this.


    "Farewell? Are you moving out?" Sakura inquired.


    "Yes. Due to my work, we will be moving to Europe. Kisuke-kun has been a good friend of my Irina here, I also wanted to thank him before leaving." Touji patted his daughter''s head tofort her.


    Touji looked at Kisuke and said, "Thank you Kisuke-kun, for taking care of Irina."


    "You''re wee, uncle. We''ll probably see again each other in the future, and by then, I hope she isn''t a pain in the butt as she is now." Kisuke replied to Touji while grinning at Irina.


    "Who is the pain in the butt?!!" Irina was once again furious, but she didn''t have the gloomy aura anymore.


    The four talked about random things for about half an hour before Touji and Irina bid their goodbyes and saying that they still have to go to the Hyoudo residence.


    After seeing them off, the mother and son duo entered back to their house.


    "Will you miss her?" Sakura suddenly asked her son.


    "Of course, she''s like my little sister after all." Kisuke replied but didn''t stop walking towards his room.


    Sakura just smiled at him.


    Yoruichi looked at him and asked, "What''s the n from now on?"


    "Many!" Kisuke jumped to his bed before he continued.


    "First, we study everything in the library. I saw some books about magicians and mana maniption yesterday. That will help us fuse our physical and spiritual body.


    " After we aplish that, we''ll be able to regain our former abilities and with some improvement. We''ll also be able to materialize our Zanpakutous.


    "In my case, I think I''ll also be able to take out a hollow mask with the help of Hougyoku.


    " Andstly is the reopening of the Urahara Store.


    "All of this will take some years toplete."


    Kisuke finished speaking and looked at his cat for some input.


    "You still haven''t given up of that dested store of yours?"


    "It is my calling."

 Volume 2 15 - Back to Business (Updated)

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 15 - Back to Business (Updated)</h4>


    Afternoon, a pleasant wind is blowing and the weather is sunny but it isn''t too hot.


    A young man is walking through the quiet streets of the town''s outskirts. He is a tall, lean man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is messy and light-blond, with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes. He is wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform which consists of a ck zer with white ents over a white, long-sleeved button-down shirt with vertical linings, a ck ribbon on the cor, matching ck pants, and brown dress shoes.


    This man is, of course, Kisuke Urahara. He turned 17 this year and is now a second-year highschool of Kuoh Academy. He is currently walking back home after school.


    When he reached his ce, he didn''t enter his house, instead, he crossed the road and went inside a two-story building. This building is a cheap candy store with a signboard that says ''Urahara Shop''.


    Kisuke''s mother, Urahara Sakura, is currently on a 1-month business trip and left a week ago.


    Over the counter, you can see an olddy manning it. This olddy is actually not a human, but a Gigai(Faux Body) with a basic mod soul to tend to shop while Kisuke is not in. It automatically enters inside and disappears once Kisuke takes over and appear whenever Kisuke goes to school.


    Kisuke entered the shop from the side and said, "I''m home."


    "Wee home." A reply came from a ck cat with golden pupils that walked out from the corner. "How was today?" The cat continued speaking with a distinctly male voice.


    "Tiring! President Sh*tori is still hounding me for taking a photo of her when I identally saw her cosying as a magical girl." Kisuke removed his shoes at the door and proceeded to his room to change.


    "Oh, that sses girl? She is a devil, right?" Yoruichi followed him inside and continued asking seemingly curious.


    "Yeah. She is the leader of one of the two devil groups that entered the town two years ago and the current Student Council President. She even used the help of her hyperactive knight, Tomoe Meguri, too try to chase me when there is no one around."


    Kisuke changes into his signature attire which consists of a dark green Shihakusho(Garment of Dead Souls) without an undershirt. Over this, he wears a ck haori, which sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half, reminiscent of an inverted captain''s haori. He also wore wooden sandals and a striped dark green and white bucket hat that shadows his eyes. Thus the reemergence of Mr. Hat-and-Clogs at the world where mythological beings walk the earth.


    "How did you escaped then?"


    "Since I can''t show the strength of above ordinary humans yet, I choose to materialize Benihime in her cane form and striped the skirt of that knight to stop chasing me." The two then proceeded to the counter to sit, the fake olddy is already nowhere to be found.


    "As expected of one of the Perverted Quartet, your methods live up to its name, hehe." Yoruichi tried teasing Kisuke but suddenly remembered his words, "Wait, you used Benihime? Isn''t that worse than showing strength?"


    "In our old word, maybe, but not here. A human with extraordinary strength is not normal, but a normal human materializing a weapon is not unheard of. They will just think of me as a guy who is a bit skilled in swordsmanship and has a sword type sacred gear, nothing out ofmon sense." Kisuke exined to Yoruichi.


    "But still, is that fine?"


    "It is. When those two groups of devils arrive, the activities of supernaturals increased. There are even a few fallen angelsing in and out these days. It won''t be long before a conflict urs. We might not be able to hide anymore, especially since Issei''s left arm''s aura kept increasing day by day and will soon attract some attention. I want to see what will happen." Kisuke took out a fan and started fanning himself while having a grin thinking of the future.


    "What a bad smile. Well, he really does remind me Ichigo albeit a lot more perverted. If he is simr to Ichigo in our old world, then he will probably be a center of the maelstrom, in other words, a protagonist." Yoruichimented when she thought of the perverted kid who became best friends with Kisuke.


    "How did it go for you today?" Kisuke suddenly changed the subject and asked Yoruichi.


    "I''m done practicing everything and even improved some. I''m officially back to my heyday and stronger." Yoruichi replied happily.


    "Then we really don''t have any reason to remain hidden any longer. You probably already very bored, considering you''re a bit of a battle maniac~." Kisuke was happy for her partner but remembered something else. "You practiced everything? I''m pretty sure you didn''t even try yourst move. Shall we~?"


    "NO WAY IN HELL!!!" Yoruichi is acted like someone stepped on her tail.


    "Ohe on~, it is not that ba- OW!" Kisuke is tried to persuade the cat, but with an annoying grin on his face so Yoruichi scratched his face and ran away.


    Kisuke just smiled at his lover''s action while nursing his wounds.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi regained there full abilities plus more. They don''t know how strong are they in this world but they are sure that they are safe from random devils, angels or fallen angels. This is not them being arrogant but confident. And Kisuke''sparison of ''random'' devil is Rizevim who he encountered years ago, the ''self'' proimed super devil.


    To summarize Kisuke''s current abilities, full mastery of Kidou(demon arts)mon, modified and original; Shunpo(sh Step); Hakuda(Hand-to-Hand Combat); and Zanjutsu(Art of the Sword) for his Shinigami abilities.


    He also became a Vizard thanks to the Hougyoku giving him Hollow abilities, though he was more close to an Arrancar due to his move sets which are, Cero(Hollow sh); Gran Ray Cero(Royal Hollow sh); Cero Oscuras(ck Hollow sh); Bara(Hollow Bullet); Hierro(Iron Skin) which boost his defenses to arge degree; and Descorrer(Loosening Void) which allows him to use Garganta, but he modified it so that he can open a passage anywhere he has been.


    But due to this Hollowfication, his Zanpakuto, Benihime, became even more unreasonable and unmanageable. If the former Benihime is a prim and proper princess in yukata albeit sadistic, the Benihime now is delinquent who now wants to see everyone''s blood.


    Yoruichi has the same skill set as her former self but stronger due to mana. Kisuke can''t hollowfy her because of her very special Zanpakuto. Up to this day, she still can''t control her Zanpakuto, Byakko.

 Volume 2 16 - Koneko Toujou

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 16 - Koneko Toujou</h4>


    When the sky darkened, Kisuke decided to call it a day and closed the shop. Even though there isn''t much customer, he quite likes the atmosphere and peacefulness as he ponders on several things, both important or just some random thoughts.


    He walks towards the kitchen after he locked the doors to make himself and Yoruichi some dinner. Kisuke remembered that he will be having a guestter so he added another serving of traditional Japanese food which consists of soup, fish, and rice.


    The smell of the food attracted the angry cat and she entered through the window at the side of the dining table.


    She jumped to the counter and saw Kisuke preparing three servings.


    "Three servings? Ah�� You''re calling her again tonight? Are you sure your taste didn''t change over this past few years and became a lolicon?" Yoruichi teasingly said.


    "Nope~. I really want to summon that ck-haired devil with ridiculous tits~. But she seems so busy I just can''t get lucky." Kisuke replied while frying some fish.


    "Really, those are ridiculous, reminds you of Inoue and Rangiku. But why not choose the redhead or the sole guy?"


    "Gremory-san is a high-ss pure-blooded devil, and we already met someone like her long ago. Remember Cleria Belial?" Kisuke decided to add stir-fried vegetables in today''s menu and started preparing it.


    "Hmm, I can somewhat recall. Right, she is a high-ss devil. Then why not the guy?"


    "I''m also interested in Kiba-kun''s sacred gear but he''s still just a human when he reincarnated as a devil. Koneko-chan, before she became a devil, is not a human. If I were to guess, probably a nekomata. Even she tried to hide her characteristics, she can''t hide everything and those things she can''t hide matches some of the records in Cleria''s library." Kisuke finished making the food and immediately prepared the tes and utensils.


    "Hohoo�� A nekomata huh�� Any other reasons?"


    "Your n''s record states that your ancestors are from another world that decided to reside at Soul Society. I thought that maybe your lineage is somewhat rted to nekomata due to your strange ability to transform into a cat and your Zanpakuto that only appears in your n every few thousand years."


    After Kisuke finished setting the table up, a red magic circle appeared in the living room. A red light bloomed from it and there she appeared. A petite girl with white hair and hazel eyes. The front of her hair has two long bangs going past her shoulders and several loose bangs hanging over her forehead, while the back has a short bob cut. She also wears a ck cat-shaped hair clip on both sides of her hair. She wears the Kuoh Academy girls'' school uniform, without the shoulder cape. Her height is 138 cm (4 feet 6 inches), which makes her quite short.


    This young girl with a dull expression that appeared inside the teleportation is Koneko Toujou, a first-year high school student at Kuoh Academy and a devil who is here for Kisuke''s summons.


    "Good evening Kisuk- Pervert-senpai, Yoruichi-san." Koneko greeted the two who are already seared at the dining table.


    "You didn''t have to correct yourself there!" Kisuke immediately retorted.


    "It is your fault for being such a pervert! Don''tin!" Yoruichi bitched p Kisuke with her cat paws.


    "��" Koneko was just quiet at their exchange.


    "What is it Koneko-chan~? Can''t get used to a talking cat~?" Kisuke noticed Koneko''s behavior and asked in a frivolous tone.


    "What is there to be surprised about? Aren''t you a cat too?." Yoruichi alsomented on the petite girl''s behavior.


    "?!�� How did you��" Koneko is understandably shocked because only a few people knew of her history and lineage.


    "Ah�� You see, this guy here can use his head quite well and he just sort of guess it from his stalking you for the past two times you were summoned." Yoruichi exined.


    "Wrong! It is observation Yoruichi, OB-SER-VA-TION!" Kisuke immediately defended himself but didn''t manage to change Koneko''s expression.


    "Try peeking again senpai," Koneko didn''t continue speaking but gave Kisuke a threatening look.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and stood up. He goes in front of Koneko and stares down at her due to their difference in height.


    Koneko thought that he was angry for what she said, but his next actions left her dumbfounded for a moment.


    Kisuke suddenly crouches down and lifted her skirt with a wide smile, "Today is white and light blue stripe huh~. Very nice~."


    After a few seconds of silence, Kisuke earned a knee to the face from Koneko and he flew back for a few feet until he hit the wall with a loud thud.


    "The worst." Koneko still wants to pummel for a few more times but Yoruichi spoke up," Haah, stop messing around now, the food will get cold."


    "Right, let''s eat! Koneko-chan, stop standing there and sit down~." Kisuke stood up like nothing happened and happily invited Koneko to dine with them.


    "Haah��" Koneko just sighed at her shameless and perverted senpai and sat down, "Good thing Yoruichi-san didn''t get Kisuke-senpai''s pervertedness."


    "Oi oi Koneko-chan, take a look at Yoruichi. How the hell can you tell that she isn''t a pervert? She''s an exhibitionist." Kisuke replied to Koneko''s remarks.


    "A cat doesn''t need any clothes!" Yoruichi protested at Kisuke''s word


    Koneko just quietly ate her food and regret that she spoke too soon. She didn''t notice the discrepancy in Kisuke''s word. Yoruichi''s voice just gives too much male impression.


    They ate their dinner in relish while talking about random things and their daily lives.


    After half an hour, they finished dinner and move towards the living room and turned on the television. Kisuke prepared two cups of tea for him and Koneko and a cup of milk for Yoruichi. He also prepared some snacks to go with their drinks.


    "Kisuke-senpai, tell me why you called me over again. By the way, I won''t be doing any cosy for you anymore." Koneko munched on her snacks in great relish even after eating dinner.


    "That is regrettable, but I want to ask a different thing today."


    "What is it?"


    "Please tell me about you, devils. Anything you know will do." Kisuke took out her portable note and pen ready to listen.


    Even though Kisuke already read about devils in Cleria''s library, it doesn''t hurt to know them through the eyes of the devil herself, especially from a reincarnated devil point of view.

 Volume 2 17 - Evil Pieces

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 17 - Evil Pieces</h4>


    "You want to know about us?" Koneko tilted her head in question, "About what exactly?"


    "Hmm, let''s see�� Didn''t you say you''re from the Gremory Household when I first summoned you? Tell me about that." Kisuke asked as he chewed his snacks.


    "Will this be tonight''s contract?" Koneko wanted to confirm.


    "Yep. If it is some secret of the sort then I can ask for a different thing." Kisuke affirmed.


    "No. It''s not really a secret. Then I''ll start with��"


    Koneko''s master is a High-ss devil called Rias Gremory. Rias Gremory is the daughter and second child of the Gremory Family. She became the heir after her brother, Sirzechs, became the Satan Lucifer, losing his right as heir to the house.


    Koneko is Rias'' second devil servant with a position of the Rook.


    Currently, they use the ult Research Club as a front to gather do their activities. Rias'' other servants, aside from Koneko, are Akeno Himejima, the Queen, Yuuto Kiba, the Knight, and a Bishop which was sealed at Sirzechsmand.


    "What are these positions like ''Rook''?" Yoruichi asked after she''s done with her milk.


    "Before I tell you about the positions, you should know about the Evil Pieces first��"


    The Evil Pieces, also known as the Devil''s Pieces, are a set of 15 chess pieces given to top-ss Devils to increase their ranks by reincarnating other beings into Devils.


    The Evil Pieces were created by Ajuka Beelzebub to help replenish the number of Devils after the Great War which had caused the death of countless Devils.


    The creation of the Evil Pieces eventually lead to the creation of the Rating Game.


    Evil Pieces aremonly given to Pure-blooded High-ss Devils, so that they can gather servants of their own. Reincarnated Devils are also given the chance to receive Evil Pieces should they rise in rank and be a High-ss or Ultimate-ss Devil.


    When a Devil receives the right to obtain the Evil Pieces they are required to go to the Satan''s territory and touch a monument which functions as a recement King Piece to register themselves as King.


    Based on the game of chess, there are a total of 15 pieces (1 Queen ?, 2 Rooks ?, 2 Bishops ?, 2 Knights ?, and 8 Pawns ?) that are given to top-ss Devils (King ?) with a peerage. These pieces are used to reincarnate other beings into Devils and be servants of the top-ss Devil.


    The Evil Pieces can reincarnate those who died recently or anyone still living who chooses to be reincarnated.


    The strengths, talents, and skills of the being to be reincarnated ys arge role in determining how many pieces will be used for reincarnation. Different Evil Pieces cannot be used together. Evil Pieces can also be exchanged between top-ss Devils with a peerage.


    Queens possess all the characteristics of Rooks, Knights, and Bishops, making them the most bnced piece as well as the most powerful. Within individual peerages, Queens typically act as their master''s second-inmand, overseeing the rest of the peerage.


    Rooks gain superhuman strength, leading to high offense and defense. However, they are not very quick and can get beaten easily by a high-speed opponent. The King can perform castling with a Rook piece.


    Bishops gain enhanced magical abilities which they can use to conjure up a multitude of spells (offensive, healing, etc.). However, more powerful spells consume most of their magical power, which takes a long time to regain, forcing them to use their power carefully or risk bing vulnerable to physical attacks.


    Knights gain increased speed and mobility, enabling them to perform high-speed attacks and maneuvers. However, their main weakness is their low defense, making them vulnerable to powerful attacks if they are not careful. Another weakness among knights are their legs; if their legs are injured, their mobility is greatly reduced.


    The traits of Pawns is the ability to promote into a Queen, Rook, Knight, or Bishop in enemy territory or with the permission of their King.


    There are also special pieces known as the Mutation Pieces. If reviving a person requires more than one piece, then using one Mutation Piece would be sufficient in reincarnating that person instead of having to use several pieces. Mutation Pieces can be a Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop, or Pawn. They are said to be very rare, and only 1 out of 10 Devils possess the Piece. Normal Evil Pieces can also change into Mutation Pieces.


    Another feature installed in the Evil Pieces are the Unused Evil Pieces, which will undergo changes ording to the master''s growth, allowing the King to use fewer pieces when reincarnating other beings into Devils.


    "That''s one hell of a system, no pun intended," Yoruichimented.


    "Indeed, that Ajuka Beelzebub is one devilish genius, also no pun intended." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "Koneko-chan, you said that you are a Rook, right? Then your fighting style should be hand-to-handbat?" Yoruichi curiously ask Koneko.


    Koneko just nodded her head in confirmation.


    "Then how about a spar with this guy here?" Yoruichi suddenly suggested.


    "" Eh? ""


    Kisuke and Koneko are both dumbfounded.


    "What? Did I say something so shocking?" Yoruichi asked the two.


    "Why would you even suggest that?"


    "I want to see her fight. Don''t you also want to see a devil in action?" Yoruichi exined her motives.


    "But Kisuke-senpai might get hurt. He''s just a human after all." Koneko can''t still agree with her.


    "It''s alright. Even if he receives another thousand of those knees earlier, he would justugh it off."


    "But��"


    "And didn''t he introduced himself as a mage when he first summoned you? He can cast some body strengthening spells to bridge the gap between you two, albeit slightly." Yoruichi continued her persuasion.


    "��Still��"


    "Oh, I just remembered. I saw photos of you when you cosyed for the shop. Some of them are even a bit risque." Yoruichi hammered the final nail in the coffin.


    "Yosh, let''s do this senpai." Koneko''s aura suddenly red up and she started cracking her knuckles.


    "Wh-!! Yoruichi you traitor!!!" Kisuke who is just listening all this while was shocked at his cat''s betrayal.

 Volume 2 18 - Poking Galore

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 18 - Poking Galore</h4>


    At the back of the store, two figures were standing in the middle of 150 square meters vacant lot surrounded by a wooden fence two meters in height.


    The night sky is clear of any clouds. The moonlight and stars provide enough illumination for those who are wandering around.


    The first figure is a petite girl with white hair cracking her knuckles preparing for the iing fight. The second figure, however, just stands there looking up while scratching his head seemingly in deep thought.


    "�� Can we start?" The first figure, which is Koneko asked while still having a dull expression.


    "You can beat him up now." Yoruichi, who is sitting on top of the fence just a few meters away from them, answered.


    Koneko didn''t say anything else and just charged at him aiming to punch his gut.


    When Koneko''s fist is about tond, Kisuke suddenly moved to the side and held her stretched out arm them flinging her to the air, dropping a few meters away from Kisuke''s back.


    Koneko justy there on her back facing the night sky still can''t believe what just happened. Kisuke''s actions were just too fast for her to react.


    "It''s not that I''m too fast, It''s just that you''re too focused on pummeling me and the whole point of the of sparring was thrown out." Kisuke''s voice suddenly resounded.


    Kisuke is looking down on her with arge grin on her face, "Shall we start sparring for real now?"


    Koneko flipped towards Kisuke in an attempt to kick his face, but he just dodges by jumping back.


    Now standing face to face again, Koneko red at Kisuke, "You tricked me, senpai."


    "Hahaha~. Fighting isn''t just about battle prowess, it includes everything on the battlefield, especially your feelings and state of mind." Kisuke just pretended to be in deep thought when in reality, he is watching Koneko''s every move.


    "You also got too focused on the idea of beating me up when Yoruichi told you so." Kisuke continued exining.


    "And look, If you''re in a life or death battle now, you''d be struggling for your life now." Kisuke opened his hands and showed it to Koneko.


    "My hairclips�� when did you��!!" Koneko subconsciously touched the part of her hair where the hairclips are formerly.


    "About time to get serious, isn''t it?" Kisuke put her hairclips inside his pocket. He noticed something strange on one of them and want to check itter before returning it to Koneko.


    Koneko threw a storm punches and kicks while maneuvering around Kisuke but he just kept dodging while also asionally poking various parts of her body, like her forehead, cheeks, thighs, legs, stomach, and others.


    This infuriated Koneko to no ends and she stopped holding back which left many potholes on the ground in her wake.


    Kisuke just did the same as before, poking at various ces seemingly having fun.


    About ten minutes into their ''sparring'', Yoruichi had enough, "Stop!"


    At her words, Kisuke jumped back from Koneko for a few meters, but Koneko didn''t stop and still lunged at Kisuke.


    "Wait, Koneko-chan! We''re done sparring." Kisuke raised his hands in surrender.


    "No. I haven''t punched your face." Koneko replied and kept throwing punches at him, focusing especially on his face.


    "But I didn''t poke any ''very'' private part, did I?" Kisuke just dodges everything that Koneko throws at him without the retaliating poke anymore.


    "��Regardless, I still want to your face." Koneko was already blinded by rage but it isn''t that obvious because she only has pout and tears that are about to fall on her face.


    "Fine, here is my face." Kisuke suddenly stopped moving and offered his head.


    Koneko didn''t think much of it and go at it with her full force. She thought that Kisuke is messing around with her again.


    But to Koneko''s surprise, her fist connected to his face and sent him flying, punching a hole through the wooden fence only stopping after hitting a concrete wall of the building near the candy shop creating some cracks on it. Kisuke slumped down to the ground, unmoving.


    Koneko finally processed what just happened and dashed towards Kisuke, "Senpai!!!"


    She is very worried and nervous since the force that she used just now is enough to kill just any normal human.


    Koneko reached Kisuke and checked on him. His pulse is too slow and didn''t have consciousness. Evidently, he will die in a few minutes.


    Koneko panicked big time as she didn''t know any healing technique and the hospital is very far from where they are and very few cars, she won''t make it even she started carrying him now and run with all her might. Tears started flowing for real this time. Even though her senpai is a pervert, different from any man she met thus far, he doesn''t give any lustful feeling despite his actions, it was something different.


    Koneko, after spending a few days ying with him, finally found what it was. It was just pure admiration for beauty.


    In her curiosity, Koneko would sometimes spend some of her free time to go and purchase some snacks from Urahara Shop and watch the antics of the man and cat duo.


    Before long, Kisuke treated Koneko like his little sister, the same on how he treated both Ururu and Jinta in the past. And Koneko also considered him as one of her few friends, even if he always messes with her.


    When she was about to call Rias, ''Kisuke'' suddenly popped like a balloon. Koneko just kneeled not knowing what to do when she suddenly heard Yoruichi''s voice from behind, "You''ve done it now, Kisuke."


    Koneko didn''t understand Yoruichi''s words and didn''t intend to do so since she has a bigger problem of looking where her senpai''s body go before it is toote.


    "Even if you didn''t tell me that, I''d feel guilty." Koneko heard this voice and she snapped her head to look at the direction it came from. There she saw Kisuke beside the cat scratching his face with embarrassed look safe and sound. Her eyes widened in shock not knowing what to make of this situation.


    "Ummm��" Kisuke also didn''t know how to respond as he didn''t expect to get that much reaction from the stoic little girl.


    All he can do now is to make it as a joke. He took out his fan and put it over his face andugh, "Hahaha, you''ve been pranked!"

 Volume 2 19 - Dont scare the cat

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 19 - Don''t scare the cat</h4>


    "Hahaha, you''ve been pranked!"


    Silence descended on the three of them. Kisuke has cold sweat running through his back while he maintains his nonchnt expression.


    Yoruichi is snickering at Kisuke''s actions and Koneko is slowly walking towards the two with her head hanging down, her hair bangs were shadowing her eyes. Kisuke can''t see the face she is making right now and is just waiting for her to reach him and get pummeled for real.


    When Koneko reached Kisuke, she was just more than a foot away. Due to the height difference, Kisuke can only see her head still hanging down.


    Her next action, however, shocked not only Kisuke but also Yoruichi. Koneko hugged Kisuke and started apologizing with her sniffling voice, "��I''m sorry��I''m sorry��I''m sorry."


    Yoruichi gave Kisuke a ming look. Kisuke, on the other hand, panicked for the first time since he reincarnated here.


    He hurriedly patted Koneko''s head and said, "N-no, Koneko-chan. Don''t apologize. It''s my jokes that have gone too far. I''m sorry."


    ''Did I just opened some sort of trauma for her?'' Is what he thought, otherwise, she wouldn''t have such a reaction.


    But before he could contemte more on this idea, Koneko moved to his back while still hugging him. He felt his body became lighter and the next thing he knew was he is knocking his head to the ground.


    Koneko just did a german suplex on him and wiped her face of her tears.


    "Yoruichi-san, please let me borrow your bathroom and washing machine. I''m sticky from sweat and dust." Koneko faced the cat and started walking towards the shop.


    "Sure. I''ll show where is it." Yoruichi responded and followed Koneko inside.


    Kisuke was left all alone having an affair with the ground but he isn''t even mad as he thought that his punishment is pretty light.


    Koneko took an hour and a half long bath to clean and also calm herself down. Her uniform was also done with dry cleaning.


    Koneko dried her for another five minutes. She noticed that her hairclips are still not with her. Remembering her senpai still has those, she dressed up and went to the living room.


    In there, Kisuke is nowhere to be found. Koneko only saw Yoruichi on top of the sofa watching ate-night TV show, and a mountain of snacks situated on the center table.


    Koneko smiles a little at this sight but immediately returned to her stoic expression. She sat down on the sofa and started working on those snacks.


    "Kisuke-senpai?" Koneko asked Yoruichi while munching on cookies.


    "He said he wanted to check on something and returned to his room on the second floor. He''s been at it for more than an hour now." Yoruichi looked at Koneko, ''cute'' she thought.


    Koneko stopped eating and looked at the cat, "��Is he�� avoiding me?" She inquired in a low voice.


    "No way that''s the case. That idiot''s face is thicker than the wall of China." The cat retorted at her words.


    "Pfft." This is one of the rare times that Yoruichi saw Konekough, ''really cute'' is what on her mind.


    "Hey hey, Koneko-chan, you should at least deny that. You know I''m a wholesome senpai that gets embarrassed on many asions." Kisuke came walking from the stair a cheeky grin on his face.


    "Shut up, Ero-senpai." Koneko didn''t look at him and just continued eating.


    "Harsh!"


    Kisuke also sat down on the sofa and helped Koneko with the snacks.


    "How did you do it?" Koneko suddenly asked.


    "Hmm?"


    "How can you keep dodging and countering my attacks? I know for sure that I''m faster and stronger than you. Can you see the future?"


    "Haha~. No way. I''m not a fortune teller." Kisuke justughed at Koneko''s guess.


    "Then how?"


    "Koneko-chan, you''re strong, physically, but as a fighter, you''re very inexperienced."


    Koneko looked at him urging him to continue.


    "I can tell your next action based on how you move your muscles and how you re up your aura.


    "You''re too straightforward with how you fight and rarely use any feints.


    "After fighting you for a few minutes, I manage to figure your whole style. You didn''t notice that I was leading you to do some actions that I can easily counter.


    "Remember those ''pokes''? Those are your openings in which you wouldn''t be able to react in time and can be fatal if attacked with enough force."


    Koneko red at Kisuke when she heard the word ''pokes'', but Kisuke ignored it and just continued exining.


    "How were you able to do all of that?" Koneko pouted as she remembered their match. She received too many pokes and the thought of all of that can actually kill her scared her a little.


    "How? hmmm, let just say that I''ve been in some life-or-death battles and I had to learn that to survive." Kisuke stood up and walk to the kitchen to get the barley tea in the refrigerator. He returned with two sses and filled it to the brim.


    Koneko is silently contemting everything that Kisuke had just said.


    "You could have hit him if you stop holding back." Yoruichi who is silently watching the two all this time suddenly spoke.


    "I didn''t hold anything back at thest few minutes of our sparring." Koneko is confused at Yoruichi''s words. The cat sounds like he is very certain that she was holding back.


    "You''re holding back, and you know it," Yoruichi repeated her words.


    Koneko as if she remembered something shuddered.


    "��How did you��" Koneko just trailed her words in response.


    "I see�� So you are afraid." Kisuke immediately saw through her concerns.


    Koneko''s eyes widened. She was shocked yet again at Kisuke words.


    The only people who knew of her origins and real abilities are those of the Gremory Household. Due to a certain incident when she was young, she came to fear her powers and never used it again.


    She is worried that this power will take hold of her and hurt those around and important to her. Hence her reaction earlier when she thought that she almost ''killed'' Kisuke.


    Koneko looked up and saw Kisuke, eyes still shadowed by his hat but he has a gentle smile on his face.


    "Koneko, If you don''t want to use it, then don''t, if that is going to make you more at ease. But remember this, you have a power within you because you own it, not the other way around."


    "What does that mean?" Koneko wiped her tears and asked.


    "It means that power is something for you to control, and you don''t have to be afraid of something you control." It was Yoruichi who answered Koneko''s question.


    "Well, well. You can think about thatter, it doesn''t have to be now." Kisuke suddenly pped his hands to change the mood. "Koneko-chan, it''s prettyte. You should go." He reminded her.


    "Um�� Thanks for having me Kisuke-senpai, Yoruichi-san." Koneko stood up and bowed to the two. A red magic circle appeared below her.


    "Take this with you." Kisuke took out a paper bag and stuffed a bunch of snacks to it and gave it to Koneko.


    "If you want to train your hand-to-handbat and some fighting experience, you cane here. This guy will apany you." Yoruichi said to Koneko while she waves her paw.


    "Thanks, I will." Koneko disappeared in a burst of light, teleporting her away.


    "Aren''t you too soft on her?" Yoruichi directed a question to Kisuke.


    "Well, aren''t you the same? It feels like I have a little sister that I can spoil." Kisuke covered his face with the fan andugh.


    "Right, I have this strange urge to spoil her." Yoruichi agreed with him.

 Volume 2 20 - The Four Heavenly Perverts

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 20 - The Four Heavenly Perverts</h4>


    A week has passed.


    Koneko epted Yoruichi''s invitation to practice her hand-to-handbat. She came four times this week and Kisuke apanied her every time.


    Each sessionsts for about four hours and Koneko didn''t need any body and stamina training due to her Rook piece, so Kisuke focused on her technique training.


    Kisuke taught her different stances and the usage of light and heavy forces. He also taught her how to refine her demonic power to use it for attacks and active defense as her Rook piece automatically uses it to strengthen her body.


    Kisuke can see real improvements in her skills every session as she is very talented in this regard and takes her training very seriously. It is to the point that Kisuke can''t y around much anymore on their sparring matches if he wants to keep the force he is using.


    Koneko however, is very frustrated as she can still see her senpai very nonchnt at everything. She''s doing everything she could so just she could kick Kisuke''s face just even just once. She thought that she is not improving at all.


    But she still trying her best to learn everything her senpai taught her despite not seeing improvement from her perspective. And this is what both Kisuke and Yoruichi were happy to see, to persevere even not seeing much progress. That is also why Kisuke and Yoruichi are very enthusiastic at their teaching.


    Kisuke asked Koneko to keep their training a secret and use her former battle style when there is a fight which is like a brutal cat that smashes everything. It''s a pretty easy thing to do for Koneko what her senpai asked as she didn''t have to think much when fighting and just mow everything down, one of the reasons why Koneko can''t see her progress.


    Kisuke gave her a reason that he can''t use everything he taught her in a real fight yet as she hasn''t learned everything and might just hurt herself. In reality, Kisuke told her this as he didn''t want to grab the attention on the Gremory peerage yet. In their eyes, Kisuke is just a big fan of Koneko.


    --------------------


    Kisuke is currently walking along the hallway while yawning. He hadn''t had any proper sleep due to researching and decoding the data hidden on Koneko''s hairclip. The fruits of hisbor bore and he finished decoding everything.


    The data inside is a bunch of experimental logs about creating an artificial Super Devil, which of course surprised Kisuke quite a bit as experiments like this are often inhuman. The main theory about creating a Super Devil isn''t recorded but he can glean some aspects of it.


    The experimental logs mainly record the development of the ''ck nekoshou'' and its reaction to various catalysts projected by the main theory. The ''ck nekoshou''s'' magic improved by leaps and bounds but it had the price of deteriorating the body. The researchers then concluded that the ''ck nekoshou'' won''tst until the experiments were done and nned the future track of experiments on the backup ''white nekoshou''.


    But the logs abruptly stopped there. He didn''t know how Koneko got hold of this data but he is sure that it is not a coincidence as Koneko gives so much importance to her hairclips. Kisuke, however, can''t be sure what is its connection to her as the term ''nekoshou'' didn''te up in any books inside Cleria''s library. He isn''t even sure if ''nekomata'' and ''nekoshou'' are rted at all aside from the ''neko''


    Kisuke encrypted the data again and erased the traces of his ess to it. He nned to return it to Koneko by the end of the day.


    When he entered his ssroom, he heard some students arguing.


    "Kiryuu Aika! You don''t know the charm of Momo Momozono!" A guy with a shaved head and wearing his school uniform with an unbuttoned zer shouted, making all girls in the ssroom except for one reel in disgust.


    "Why should I understand the charm of an adult video actress? Are you asking me to understand the fetishes of you three?" Asked back the spectacled beauty which has gold-colored eyes and lightly messy brte hair tied into braids on each side. Regrettably, this beauty is also a pervert.


    """ Damn you Kiryuu Aika. """ The three guys opposite of her raised their voices.


    These three guys were Matsuda, Motohama, and his childhood friend Issei. They are one of the few male students of the Kuoh Academy since this school just became coed just more than a year ago. They are also known as the three of The Four Heavenly Perverts. As for thest one of the four? It is Kisuke himself due to some of his conduct and numerous girls witnessing the trio sharing their porn to Kisuke for him to give it a review.


    "You four sure are energetic early this morning~. *yawn*" Kisuke reached his seat and greeted the arguing students.


    """ Kisuke! """ The trio acted as if they found their savior.


    "Kisuke, help us enlighten her with Momo-sama''s greatness." The one who spoke is Motohama. Motohama has the ability to calcte a female''s body measurements just by looking, which earned him nicknames such as "Perverted sses" and "Three Sizes Scouter". It''s stated that he has a special body where his power level plummets down when he takes his sses off. Motohama is known to have better results than both Issei and Matsuda and appears to be the most level headed of the trio as he tries to keep his cool even whenmitting perverted acts.


    ''Why should I?!'' Kisuke thought about this outrageous idea of educating a high school girl about a porn actress.


    " Urahara Kisuke, the strongest of The Four Heavenly Perverts." The girl, Kiryuu Aika suddenlymented.


    "Haha, you overestimate me." Kisuke scratched his cheek and replied to her.


    "Overestimate? You have better photography skills than Matsuda, a more urate ''Scouter'' than Motohama, and more profound knowledge than Issei. You''re too humble." Aika smiled at Kisuke''s words while fixing her pink-framed sses.


    "Haha~. I''ll get embarrassed if you praise me that much."


    """She isn''t praising you! It means you''re of a pervert than the three of usbined.""" The trio retorted at Kisuke''s remark.


    "Anyway, just ''defeat'' her for us. We can''t deal with her." Matsuda is still frustrated by their earlier argument.


    "I don''t know what happened, but you just want me to make her feel shame again, right?" Kisuke inquired at the trio and they all nodded their heads in response.


    "Ugh�� Just so you know, even if show me again a photo of me being chased around by a group of dogs or even a picture of me just in my underwear I won''t get embarrassed." Aika flinched a bit but immediately regained her confidence.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and stood up. He walked towards Aika with a serious expression. Aika wanted to back up a bit but she can''t as there is a wall behind her.


    Kisuke reached in front of Aika with just a distance of a foot between them, then he suddenly mmed his right hand to the side of her head hitting the wall behind her. He then lifted her chin with his left hand to match their gazes and shed a predatorial smile before saying, "Then how about you and me have some funter?"


    Aika is dumbfounded, the three stooges are dumbfounded, everyone in the ssroom is dumbfounded. Silence prevailed for a few seconds until Aika erupted. Her face heats up and blushes, she then proceeded to give Kisuke a headbutt to his nose.


    Kisuke winced in pain and Aika escaped from his grasp. "Damn you Urahara Kisuke! I''ll get back at you for this!" She runs out of the ssroom while leaving her threats to Kisuke.


    """ Wh-wh-what!!!? """ The three perverts exploded.


    "Well you see, Kiryuu-chan might be a pervert and have a lot of knowledge regarding adult rtionships, but she doesn''t have any personal experiences on this. I assumed that she''ll get embarrassed if someone actually confronts her as I did earlier. It''s way more effective than I thought though. Ow-ow, that hurts." Kisuke exined while he nurses his nose.


    """ It makes us madder if you can easily do an ikemen move like that! """ The trio wanted to punch Kisuke''s face, but they refrained as he is quite ruthless when fighting back. They already saw it a few times.


    "But seeing Kiryuu Aika getting embarrassed like that makes her very cute, considering you can only see her with a sneer and very entric behavior," Issei said while the two are still seething in anger.


    Everyone in the ssroom agreed with him though nobody voiced it out.

 Volume 2 21 - President Shitori

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 21 - President Sh*tori</h4>


    The sses for the day ended. Throughout it, Aika can''t look at Kisuke''s eyes but she grits her teeth out of frustration and res behind his head. Kisuke just pretended that she didn''t notice her.


    Kisuke intends to go to ult Research Club''s room to return Koneko''s hairclip to her. But before he reaches the old school building where the club room is, he came across two people that he didn''t want to see now. The two, which is Sohna Sh*tori, the current Student Council President, and Tsubaki Shinra, her Vice-President also noticed Kisuke.


    Sohna Sh*tori is a young bespectacled woman with a slim figure, ck hair styled in a short bob cut and violet eyes wearing the Kuoh Academy girls'' school uniform. Her real name is Sona Sitri and the leader of one of the two devil group that uses the school as their headquarters.


    Tsubaki is a young bespectacled woman with long straight ck hair that extends all the way down to her knees, with split bangs and heterochromatic eyes, with a violet left eye and a light brown right eye. She also wears the Kuoh Academy girls'' school uniform and she is Sona Sitri''s Queen in her peerage.


    The two approached Kisuke but he greeted them first, "Yo, President Sh*tori, and Vice-President Shinra, fancy meeting you two here."


    "Indeed, fancy meeting you here. I''ve been trying to reach you for a whole week now but you seem to disappear each time. Meeting you today is a nice coincidence." Sona fixed her sses with her left hand and smiled at Kisuke which isn''t really a smile from his perspective.


    "Ahahaha~. It really is a nice coincidence." Kisuke just feigned ignorance, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss President?"


    "I want to talk about certain photos that you possess, specifically, photos that may destroy my image as the Student Council President." Sona red at Kisuke while saying this.


    "I would also like to extend an invitation to you. If you''re free now, let''s talk inside the StuCo room." She continued.


    "Actually, I''m no- *cough*�� Very well, it''s high time that we talk over a cup of tea." Kisuke was about to decline but changed his mind when he felt Sona''s aura red up.


    "Excellent. Follow me." She proceeded to walk in a certain direction without looking back. Tsubaki and Kisuke soon followed her.


    When they reached the StuCo room, Tsubaki opened the double-door to let the group in. The room is furnished in an old western style that gives stern feeling to the visitors. Inside the room is a desk at the head with a namete of the current Student Council President. In the middle is arge rectangr table with several seats at the side.


    Sona sat down at the head of the rectangr table and invited Kisuke to sit down beside her. Tsubaki meanwhile prepared two cups of tea and stood behind Sona after she is done.


    "President Sh*tori, you said you would like to extend your invitation. Invitation to what?" Kisuke took a sip of the tea prepared and asked. He already guessed what it is but wants to hear what the Sitridy want to say.


    "Going straight to the point, huh. Fine, we can talk about the phototer. Before I answer your question, let me confirm something. You''ve already summoned Koneko Toujou of the Gremory Household multiple times in this past few months, right?" Sona also took a sip and responded at Kisuke inquiry with a smile.


    Kisuke didn''t answer her and just continued sipping tea.


    "I''ll take that as a ''yes'' then." She looked at him for a few seconds and said.


    "Like Rias Gremory and her peerage over the ult Research Club, we the student council are also Devils." Sona and Tsubaki suddenly grew a pair of bat wings.


    "Heh~. That''s cool." Kisuke just lightlymented on their actions.


    "It seems that you already know about us, from Toujou-san perhaps? Well then, let me introduce myself, I am Sona Sitri, a High-ss Devil from the Sitri n, the ''King'' of the current Student Council. A pleasure to meet you." Sona stood up and introduced herself while extending her right hand.


    "Tsubaki Shinra, Sona Sitri''s ''Queen''." Tsubaki followed.


    "Since you already introduced yourself, it''d be rude if I don''t do the same. Kisuke Urahara, just a humble store owner. The pleasure is mine." Kisuke also stood and shake Sona''s extended hand.


    "With that out of the way, what do the Sitri n''s heiress wants from a lowly human me?" Kisuke directed the conversation.


    "You know a lot." Sona''s widened a bit but returned to normal soon after.


    "I just did my homework." Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders.


    "Homework, fufu, I see." Sona chuckled a little at Kisuke words.


    "Well then, I would like to invite you to my peerage to be my ''Knight''. It seems that you already know about the Evil Pieces so I''ll spare you the exnations on how." Sona Sitri finally revealed her motives.


    "Heh, why me?" Kisuke sat down again and continued sipping his tea.


    "From ourst encounter, you were able to fend off my ''Knight'' Tomoe Meguri who is a reincarnated devil with enhanced speed from my Knight Piece with your Sacred Gear and skills." Sona cited her reasons.


    "Hmm, my Sacred Gear isn''t that impressive though. Look, just a de hidden inside a cane." Kisuke materialized Benihime in cane form and took out its de for the two devils to see.


    "Still, what I treasure are your skills. Besides, your de is still a Sacred Gear even with itsmon looks and mediocre aura. It can improve or evolve in the future. Please be my knight."


    "I''m sorry, but I''ll have to decline your offer." Kisuke shook his head.


    "What do you want? Wealth? Power? Or is it women? You will also have an almost unlimited lifespan. Provided that you have aspirations and work hard, all of these are achievable when you be a devil. Mind you though, we devils aren''t necessarily evil, so you don''t have to worry if you think you have to do atrocities when you work for me." Sona still hasn''t given up and continued to persuade him.


    "Haha~. Truly a devil''s temptation. Sorry. I would still have to refuse your kind offer. I don''t want to surrender my humanity just yet." Kisuke still refused. ''Even if I were to ept it, I doubt those Evil Pieces can transform me. It might just get shredded by the Hougyoku when it enters my body.'' Is what is in his mind.


    Sona and Tsubaki are mildly shocked since it''s very rare for a human to be able to refuse temptation so easily. It may be underhanded, but Sona even used a bit of hypnotic magic to her voice for him to agree. Truly a devil''s temptation.


    "Fine, but I won''t give up just yet." Sona''s smile deepened and she wants him even more in her peerage.


    "Then let''s talk about the photos that you have, can you please destroy all of it?" Sona''s smile became chilly all of a sudden when she mentioned the photos.


    "No way! I already fell in love with it! I won''t delete it ever!" Kisuke suddenlyshed out.


    Sona and Tsubaki were both taken aback at his reaction. Sona''s eyebrow twitches at his remarks and she can feel the veins on her head pulsing. But she immediately calmed down as she expected him to refuse, though not this hard.


    "Then how about a game and a bet?" Sona already nned to envoke his final resort.


    "Game?" Kisuke confusedly asked.


    "Yes. We will make a bet and y the game of chess. Of course, this bet will be a magic contract so both of us have no way of rescinding the bet." Sona exined. Tsubaki at the side smiled a little but this didn''t escape Kisuke''s perception.


    "What are we going to bet on?" ''So this is the n from the start huh. Pretty confident aren''t yah.'' Kisuke thought about her suggestion.


    "If I win, you will delete all photos of me and you''ll join my peerage. What do you propose?


    "Hmmm, fine. I''ll y along with you. How about a cosy photoshoot with you as a model one time?" ''I don''t really want anything from her, so let''s just get another ckmai- Ahem, add some photos to my collection.''


    Sona''s eyebrow twitches even more now and she feels it is getting harder to calm down.


    "Is that what you want? I''m asking for a very big thing for you. You should change your demand and ask for something bigger." Sona warned Kisuke.


    "Nah, I''m fine with it. Let''s just get this over with. It''s gettingte." Kisuke drank all of the remaining tea on his cup.


    "As you wish. Tsubaki, please prepare it." Sona just sighed at his demand. ''You aren''t going to win anyway.'' Is what she thought.

 Volume 2 22 - The Top Two Beauties of Kuoh Academy

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 22 - The Top Two Beauties of Kuoh Academy</h4>


    More than an hour after they started ying chess.


    "Checkmate~. I won President Sh*tori. You have to fulfill your end of the dealter~." It is unknown when Kisuke took out a white fan and started fanning himself.


    "Wh-What?" Sona is still nkly staring at the board and processing how she lost.


    For the first half an hour of the game, Sona thought that she was ying with an amateur, but all of a sudden she found that his ystyle changed and all of the moves she made prior became opening for him to take advantage of. Sona tried to salvage the situation, but s, it was toote.


    "You baited me," Sona said after reminiscing the match.


    "Yep. You''re confident at this game and became even more so after you see me y like an amateur. You responded withmon moves to my amateur moves and I was able to set up the board in my advantage for thest half of the game." Kisuke chuckled at her.


    "How did you learned to do that?" Sona was askance.


    "I found some tips and tricks on the inte some time ago." Kisuke looked up and remembered some words from the tutorial in a certain streaming site.


    "Wh-What!?" She couldn''t believe that someone beat her using a trick from the inte. She felt that someone has just shot a magic beam through her.


    "��I lost." Sona''s shoulders slumped down in distress.


    "Well then President, it is gettingte and I would have to go home to prepare dinner for my family cat before she bes grumpy. Let''s do the photoshoot on ater date." Kisuke stood up and walked out of the StuCo room without looking back.


    Sona''s shoulder jumped when she heard about the photoshoot, now regretting betting and looking down on him.


    "P-President." Tsubaki who is silent all this while look worryingly to her ''King''.


    "Don''t say it Tsubaki. I let my guard down and I won''t happen again next time." Sona stopped Tsubaki from saying anything else.


    "B-But."


    "Not him Tsubaki. Anyone but that annoying pervert. I''ll beat him next time for sure." Sona gritted her teeth.


    This is the first time Tsubaki has this kind of reaction to someone outside of her family.


    "Understood." But Tsubaki thought that if this were to get out, the Underworld will have a big reaction due to the sudden appearance of this ''fianc��''.


    Kisuke, who is unaware of the consequences of what he has just done was happily walking towards the old building to go to the ult Research Club room to do what he nned to do before Sona and Tsubaki blocked his way.


    Kisuke reached Koneko''s Club room''s door and knocked.


    "Come in, it''s open." A melodic voice of a girl sounded behind the door.


    Kisuke opened the door without any hesitation and entered. The club room interior is a wood-paneled room with Victorian-style couches and chairs along the walls.


    This ult Research Club is very unique as it is the only literature club that gets to use a whole building as its base. The clubhouse is a three-story building, with the third story serving as a clock-tower. It has been painted white with a ck roof with vines creeping up to the second story. No one questions it, however, due to magic or the President and Vice-President are just too popr in the Kuoh Academy.


    Inside the room are two people, one sitting behind the desk doing some kind of paperwork and the other one is standing behind her silently.


    The one sitting behind the desk is Rias Gremory, the ''King'' of Gremory peerage and the President of the ult Research Club. Rias is a beautiful young woman with white skin, blue eyes, and a buxom figure. Her most distinctive feature is her long, beautiful crimson hair which she also inherited from her father, that reaches down to her thighs with a single hair strand sticking out from the top. Her hair also has loose bangs covering her forehead and side bangs framing her face.


    The one standing behind her with a light smile on her face is Akeno Himejima, Rias'' ''Queen'' and the Vice-President of the ult Research Club. Akeno is a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, very long ck hair and violet eyes. Her hair is tied in a long ponytail, reaching all the way down to her legs with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backward, with an orange ribbon keeping it in ce. Like most of the girls at Kuoh Academy, she wears the customary Kuoh Academy girls'' school uniform, along with ck calf-length socks.


    The two are known as the top beauties of the Kuoh Academy for obvious reasons.


    "Kisuke Urahara if I''m not wrong. Is there something you need from the ult Research Club?" Rias stopped what she is doing and looked up to Kisuke who just entered the room. Akeno also looked at his direction without a change in her expression.


    "I''m here for Toujou-san, but it looks like she isn''t here at the moment," Kisuke answered her preparing to take his leave.


    "She is indeed not here. Koneko needs to attend an appointment somewhere." Rias replied to him.


    "I see, I''m sorry for disturbing you then." Kisuke already turned back but was suddenly called out from behind.


    "Please wait a moment." Rias stood up.


    "Hmm?" Kisuke looked back at her.


    "I heard that you''re a mage from Koneko and she alwayses to your ce whenever she''s free. She sometimes returns home very tired, and there is even one time that she returned from your ce a bit out of it. She isn''t the type to think too deeply if it''s not something about her or those close to her." Rias kept looking straight to Kisuke''s eyes.


    "And?"


    "I hope you''re not doing anything to hurt or endanger her. If you are, you would be forcing my hand to be a little violent." Rias aura rose up as she threatened Kisuke.


    "Haha~. You''re really an overprotective one just like Koneko-chan said. You don''t have to worry about her. I''m not doing anything that will put you or your group at a disadvantage. For one, I treat Koneko-chan like my cute little sister." Kisuke just brushed off Rias'' threat.


    "I''ll believe you for now, but I''ll watch your actions around my family from now on."


    "That''s fine, but don''t set your eyes on my shop. That is my sole territory that I won''t allow you to step in." Kisuke warned Rias before leaving through the door. As for whether she heed his warning or not, Kisuke doesn''t really care as there are several barriers to keep information from going out. If she wanted to take a peek when Koneko is around, she''ll only see an illusion.


    When Kisuke left the clubhouse, Akeno spoke up, "Rias, do you really have to give him so much attention?"


    "If not for the fact that he is the only anomaly in this town then maybe not." Rias sat down and rxed.


    "Anomaly?" Akeno is confused.


    "When we arrived here, I followed my brother''s advice and set up arge scale detection spell to scan the whole town. And the results are there are no other supernatural beings left besides us who just entered the town after the assassination of the previous ruler of Kuoh Town. They all left after her fall."


    "What is the problem then?" Akeno continued to inquire.


    "He''s a mage remember? The spell should have detected him but no. I won''t question the spell''s uracy if he is some strong being that can hide his existence from high-level magic. But we only found out his existence after he summoned Koneko and introduced himself as a mage."


    Akeno prepared some tea for Rias to quench her thirst and waited for her to continue speaking.


    "After that, I reactivated the spell and it detected him this time which made me a bit concerned after he kept summoning Koneko, and Koneko even goes to his ce in her free time. I did a follow-up investigation on him and found out that he was born in this town and there is no reason for the spell to not detect him unless he only learned magic after I activated the spell for the first time or something is blocking the spell''s detection ability."


    "Maybe he really only learned it after the spell activated."


    "I really hope that is the case."


    "Are you worried about something?"


    "This is my first time seeing him today up close and my instincts rang out for the first time in many years in front of him, and you know I give importance to what my subconscious tells me."


    "Then let me keep an eye out on him."


    "Thanks, Akeno."


    "Fufu~. You''re wee, President."

 Volume 2 23 - Roaming Last Boss

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 23 - Roaming Last Boss</h4>


    It already 5:30 PM and about to get dark.


    Kisuke is walking along the usual road he takes to go home. When he is near the footbridge that he always uses, he saw his childhood friend Issei talking in a flustered way to a girl in a dark red jacket with the letter "P" embroidered in gold, a white undershirt, a red bow, and a green skirt with a thin white stripe around the lower end of it.


    Looking closely, Kisuke knew that the girl is actually a fallen angel in disguise. ''He finally caught their attention, huh.''


    Kisuke also felt another familiar aura who is watching the two interact. He used sh Step and appeared behind a white-haired petite girl licking a lollipop. Kisuke crouched down to match her head and proceeded to grab her left shoulder while his forefinger sticking out.


    The white-haired loli was shocked that someone manages to sneak behind her and grabbed her shoulder. She immediately turned around her head but a finger suddenly poked her cheek. She then saw Kisuke behind her with arge grin on his face.


    Without thinking, Koneko whipped out her fist and tried to punch his face but he jumped back. She is about to follow up she suddenly saw Kisuke put his forefinger in front of his mouth and made an ''shhhh'' sound.


    Koneko pouted and turned around to continue observing Issei and the disguised fallen angel. Kisuke arrived beside her and did the same.


    It seems that the fallen angel ''confessed'' her feelings to Issei and he happily epted it. Even though there is an obvious sense of disgusting from the fallen angel, Issei didn''t notice anything. The two talked for a while then separated their way.


    When the two were gone, Kisuke and Koneko came out of the corner of the nearby building.


    "So your master started keeping an eye out for Issei?" Kisuke asked first.


    Koneko nodded at his question and said, "President Rias wants him as her pawn."


    "Pawn, huh. I guess it is better for him to be your teammate rather than being hunted down by those crows left and right."


    "He is your good friend, senpai. Can''t you just take him in and protect him?" Koneko asked Kisuke as she knew that he has the power to do so.


    "Nope, won''t do that. And I''m sure he''ll be more happy to be with Gremory-senpai and Himejima-senpai with outrageous bodies than a fellow man like me~." Kisuke disagreed with Koneko''s suggestion.


    "Hmmph�� I forgot that he is a big pervert like you." Koneko scoffed at Kisuke.


    "Hahaha~. I won''t treat you to more sweets even if you praise me like that."


    "I''m not praising you!" Koneko did a flying kick at Kisuke direction but missed.


    "Your fuse is getting shorter and shorter each passing day." Kisuke chuckled at her actions.


    "It is because of you!" Koneko is fuming in anger contrary to her almost always expressionless face. If everyone who knew how Koneko acts were to see this, they will be shocked.


    "Ah, before I forget, here is your hairclip." Kisuke took out her hairclip and passed it to Koneko.


    Koneko took it and wore it on the left side of her hair, "What did you do to it?"


    "I discovered some pretty interesting things. Are youing to my ceter?"


    "I nned to. What interesting things." Koneko can''t contain her curiosity, especially it came from her hairclip that her big sister left behind long ago. She didn''t know at first if she should keep it as she felt betrayed when her big sister killed their master and left her all alone, but she can''t truly throw away thest memento she had with her family.


    "If you''re going then let''s talk about itter as it is some pretty serious stuff." Kisuke turned around and started walking home.


    "Then I''lle after making my report to the President," Koneko said to Kisuke who is already walking away.


    Kisuke waved his hand in reply and he disappeared from Koneko''s sight.


    When Kisuke is just about ten meters from his shop, he suddenly shuddered as he suddenly felt a terrifying aura and it disappeared a secondter. Yoruichi, in her cat form,es out of the shop and looked at Kisuke. Both of them has a serious expression. They nodded at each other, Yoruichi re-entered the shop and Kisuke hid his aura to utmost and disappeared after he used sh Step.


    Kisuke jumped building to building intending to go around the whole town in an attempt to find that massive aura that gave both Yoruichi and Kisuke goosebumps.


    He spent two whole hours searching but he couldn''t find. Kisuke assumed that it only passed by the Kuoh Town. This massive aura gave Kisuke a wake-up rm to not underestimate this world.


    He returned to his shop and saw a familiar pair of shoes that alwayse to his ce. He entered the living room and found Koneko already munching on some snacks on the table while Yoruichi is gazing at the night sky.


    "How did it go?" Yoruichi turned to Kisuke.


    Kisuke shook his head. "I just saw some devils and fallen angels scurrying around."


    "What was that anyway?" Yoruichi continued to ask as she still feels some goosebumps remembering that massive aura.


    "I don''t know. But I''m pretty sure that thing can give Yhwach a run for his money or even wipe the floor with him." Kisuke wiped the sweat he umted after running around the whole town.


    "That bad?" Yoruichi shuddered.


    "There is no point of thinking about it now as we haven''t encountered it yet. And I don''t think that it is hostile as we only felt its aura. It probably just passed through." Kisuke shrugged his shoulder.


    "If there is something like that running around in this dimensional ne, then I don''t know what to think of this Great Red and Ouroborous Dragon that we read about." Yoruichi continues to overthink things.


    "What are you two talking about?" Koneko is puzzled at their conversation as they are talking about those mythical being like something of that caliber is roaming around.


    "Nah, we''re just ying around. I''m sweaty all over, so I''m going to take a bath first before preparing dinner. Koneko, stop eating those or you won''t be able to eat your dinner." Kisuke returned to his room to prepare his clothes.


    Koneko didn''t ask for more detail longer and stopped eating the snacks following Kisuke''s instructions.


    "You two don''t look like brother and sister, more like father and daughter," Yoruichimented.

 Volume 2 24 - Konekos Past

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 24 - Koneko''s Past</h4>


    Eight o''clock in the evening. The three finished eating dinner and arezing on the couch in the living room. Koneko, seemingly had not enough, kept eating sweets.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi are reminded by a certain orange head girl from their old world. But it still makes sense as all the food that the girl eats bes nutrients for her bosom, while Koneko doesn''t seem to use any nutrients she gets.


    "Koneko-chan, this may seem a bit sudden, but can you tell me your story?" Kisuke spoke getting the attention of both Koneko and Yoruichi.


    "Story? What story?" Koneko is puzzled.


    "Life story. Who you are before you became a devil and how you lived your life. You can also refuse if you don''t want to. It''s just my curiosity got the best of me." Kisuke looked at Koneko with a serious expression.


    Koneko''s body shook and started shaking.


    "Does it have something to do with what you discovered in my hairclip that you mentioned earlier?" Obvious sadness fills Koneko''s eyes while she looked back at Kisuke.


    "I don''t know, but the chances are yes." Kisuke gave Koneko his guess.


    "Then can you show it to me first?" Koneko wanted to confirm it before talking.


    "No. What I discovered is pretty serious, I want to know the connection of it to you before I pass it to you." He refused her suggestion as she might change her story if she saw the log. Kisuke wants the story from how she perceives it.


    "Will you give it to me regardless of how my story goes?" She didn''t want to give up.


    "I''ll have to think about that." Kisuke hesitated and didn''t want to give any definite answer as he doesn''t know if it''ll be advantageous or disadvantageous for her to know the content.


    "This hairclip is thest memento of my family, it is probably rted to me. Senpai, please promise me that you will give it to me regardless." Koneko can''t give up because she can remember some discrepancies in her past and wants to confirm something.


    Kisuke closed his eyes for a minute and looked at Koneko again. He can see a longing inside those eyes.


    "Fine, I promised. But before that��" Kisuke snapped his fingers and a preset barrier activated around the house, "I activated a barrier against contingencies and eavesdropping."


    Koneko didn''t notice how out of ce Kisuke''s magic is as she still preparing to go through her life again.


    "Well then,��" Koneko started narrating.


    Born as Shirone, Koneko is a young Nekomata who is part of a rare species among her kind, called the Nekoshou. The Nekoshou are a special variant of Nekomata and are the strongest among their types. Nekoshou are high-level Youkai species that are capable of mastering both Youjutsu and Senjutsu. She was born between a human father and a Nekoshou mother, Fujimai. Her parents eventually died in an experiment ident.


    After losing her parents, she and her sister named Kuroka wereter taken in by an unnamed Devil from the branch family of the House of Naberius, who reincarnated her sister as one of the members of his peerage. Kuroka was reincarnated as the Devil''s Bishop using up two Evil Pieces. While serving her master, she became extremely talented in Senjutsu and Youjutsu, and her magical power as a Bishop became so great that she surpassed her own master in terms of magical power alone. However, Kuroka''s power as a Nekomata supposedly soon grew out of control, eventually causing her to kill her master and be a Stray Devil on the run from her pursuers.


    Following the incident and the failed manhunt that came after, Koneko was sentenced to death by the Devils in hopes of preventing another incident like Kuroka''s from happening. However, Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the Four Great Satans, protected her and left her under his sister Rias'' care. Due to the trauma, she experienced with her sister''s betrayal and murder of her master, she fell into a deep depression, eventually robbing her of nearly all of her emotions until Rias helped her out of it. It was around that time Rias gave Koneko her name and made Koneko her servant.


    Tears are already flowing on Koneko''s face when she finished narrating her story. It is still a big trauma for her to this day. And the reason why she didn''t want to use her innate power, which is Senjutsu and Youjutsu, is because she is afraid that she might lose control of her power and hurt her master and those around her. She didn''t want to be alone anymore.


    Yoruichi suddenly approached Koneko and begun giving off white light. This light covered her whole cat''s body. Koneko was taken aback, "Yor-." Before she could speak properly, an arm covered in light suddenly shoot out of Yoruichi''s position and wrapped around Koneko.


    The light dispersed and a beautiful naked woman is hugging Koneko. She is a slender and well-endowed woman of average height. She has dark skin, golden irises, and ck hair. She has waist-length hair with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face.


    "Yoru��ichi-san?" Koneko was shocked silly.


    "You can cry more, you know. There, its been hard on you. Let it all out." Yoruichi buried Koneko''s head on her bosom and started patting her head.


    Koneko wasn''t able to hold back anymore and started crying loudly. Yoruichi''s scent and aura with thebination of her soothing words rxes Koneko causing her to let go of her guard and pour out everything she''s been holding in.


    "Instead of big and little sisters, you two look like mother and daughter pair." Thisment earned Kisuke a jab to his face from Yoruichi.


    ''This is truly unfair.'' He thought while rub his nose.


    Koneko calmed down after a few minutes of bawling loudly.


    "Yoruichi-san?" Koneko looked up to her.


    "Yes?" Yoruichi beamed a smile at her.


    "You''re a human girl?"


    "Of course I am. There is no such thing as real cat speaking, and I didn''t have any balls attached to me even my cat form."


    "But your voice."


    "Just a side effect of me transforming."


    "Yoruichi-san."


    "Hmm?"


    "So you really are an exhibitionist just like senpai said."


    Kisuke, whose been eyeing Yoruichi''s bottom from behind with a serious expression for quite a while now, suddenly saw a foot, and it connected to his face sending him spinning in the air for a few times before dropping a few feet away.


    "Why?!" Kisuke protested.


    "It''s because of your unnecessary words." Yoruichi red at him.


    "Prepare my clothes and another set for Koneko. We''re taking a bath together." She continued and walked towards the bathroom with Koneko in tow.

 Volume 2 25 - Kitties Bathtime

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 25 - Kitties'' Bathtime</h4>


    After washing their bodies, Yoruichi and Koneko entered the bathtub.


    Yoruichi entered first then Koneko sat in front of her. They rxed for a few minutes without anyone saying anything.


    "Koneko-chan, I apologize in Kisuke''s ce. But knowing him, he must have some idea on what you went through if he thought that the one he discovered is somewhat rted to you." Yoruichi hugged Koneko from behind and whispered to her ear.


    Koneko''s white hair and light skin created a sharp contrast against Yoruichi''s ck hair and dark skin, too bad that nobody can appreciate this beautiful scenery.


    "Mmmh��" Koneko nodded at Yoruichi''s words, "I know that senpai is a bit selfish and a big pervert, but he is strangely kind to those close to him." She continued.


    "Indeed, that idiot is selfish and will do whatever he wants, but he takes care of those he took a liking to, and you''re one of those people, I can guarantee you that. He thinks of you as a little sister, by the way, just letting you know." Yoruichi agreed with her and supplemented her thoughts.


    "Muuh�� Somehow, that pisses me off. I don''t want a big brother like him." Koneko pouted and protested.


    "Ahahahaha, is that so? Then do your best to beat him up to assert your superiority. Make him call you ''Big Sis''". Yoruichiughed out loud at Koneko''s reaction.


    "Wonderful idea! I''ll do my best to beat senpai ck and blue." mes of determination suddenly lighted up in Koneko''s eyes as she pumped her fist.


    "Want me to help you out? In terms of hand-to-handbat, I''m a lot better than him." Yoruichi suddenly suggested.


    "Really!?" Koneko was shocked as she thought that only her senpai is an abnormal human who can y with a strengthened devil with ease.


    "Of course, I''m the one who helped him improve after all." Yoruichi ruffled her hair.


    "Please teach me, Yoruichi-san." She looked at Yoruichi with ever-growing resoluteness. ''With this, beating up senpai isn''t so impossible anymore.'' Is what she is thinking.


    Kisuke who is in the living room, arranging the experimental log that he is going to Koneko and piecing the whole story from it, suddenly felt goosebumps. He looked around to search where the feeling wasing from but failed, "Damn it. Who''s threatening the handsome and sexy me?"


    "Yoruichi-san, you mentioned that I''m like a little sister to senpai, but what are you to him."


    "I''m his lover, that means you''re also my little sister. But continue calling me the way you''re calling me until now." Yoruichi is beaming with a smile.


    Koneko felt happy but also a little sad at her words, but didn''t know why. She didn''t think anything of it and just threw it at the back of her head.


    The two continued soaking in the hot water while talking about some small things. They paused for a bit and Yoruichi suddenly asked. "Say Koneko-chan. Do you hate your sister."


    Koneko was not shocked at this question as she already expected it at some point.


    "��I don''t know." That is the only answer she can give even after contemting for a while.


    "Hmmm, then let me tell you this, as long as you didn''t answer yes to that question then you don''t hate your sister." Yoruichi grinned at her.


    "��Eh?" Koneko looked at her in confusion.


    "Listen here, if you really hate a person, then you definitely answer ''yes'' if you''re being honest to yourself. If you hesitated and can''t find a definite answer, then there is something within you that is stopping you from truly hating him. After all, hate is a very powerful feeling, you can''t deny it." She smiled at her gently and then patted her head.


    That smile gave Koneko somefort and she thought through the words she just said. When she was done, a light smile appeared on her face and said, "I guess it''s true. Aside from feeling betrayed, I also missed Kuroka-neesama. You can''t hate people you missed, right?"


    "Indeed." Yoruichi stood up and walked out of the bathtub, "Let''s go, Kisuke is probably done preparing what he will show you."


    Koneko nodded at her and followed her out.


    They saw two white shirts and two ck pairs of pants with different sizes. They knew that it was the clothes that Kisuke prepared for them after they bathed. Koneko wore her underwear first the moved to the clothes that matched her size.


    Meanwhile, Yoruichi directly wore the clothes that were prepared for her. She is goingmando.


    Koneko looked at her and asked, "Your underwear?"


    "I don''t have any of those. I''m always practically naked all the time anyway. Nothing wrong with it." Yoruichi said like it was a matter of fact.


    "Yoruichi-san, let''s go shopping on our next day-off." Koneko looked at her seriously.


    "Uhh�� Sure."


    After dressing up, they went to the living room where Kisuke is supposed to be waiting and there he was. They also noticed the stic bag of the nearby convenience store on the table. Inside it was two milk in a tetra pack. Yoruichi didn''t say anything, approached the table and took out the two milk passing one to Koneko.


    "Did you prepare it?" Yoruichi asked him while sipping at the milk.


    "It''s all in here." Kisuke raised his hand holding a bundle of papers, "All I can tell now is Koneko doesn''t know the whole story."


    "What?"


    "You can understand after carefully reading everything in here. Yoruichi, I''m leaving it to you if Koneko does something reckless." Kisuke passed the bundle to Koneko after letting her sit down on the couch. He also warned Yoruichi of what is about to happen.


    "Got it." Yoruichi saw Kisuke''s serious expression and also looked at the paper, reading it together with Koneko.


    After half an hour slowly reading and understanding the experimental log, Koneko''s body is shaking nonstop, her eyes widened to the limit and aura ring up. She suddenly stood up and ran towards the door, only to be blocked by Yoruichi who suddenly appeared in front of her and hugged her.

 Volume 2 26 - Patting a kitty to sleep

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 26 - Patting a kitty to sleep</h4>


    "Where are you going Koneko?" Yoruichi said to Koneko who is trying to wrest away her hands.


    "I have to go. I have to look for Nee-sama! Please let go of me!" Koneko continues to struggle.


    "And how are you going to do that?" Yoruichi tightens her hold on Koneko.


    "Huh?�� uhmm��" Koneko suddenly stops.


    "No ns, huh. How reckless." Kisukemented behind her.


    "��Uhmm, right!? Club President Rias! She has to have a way!" Koneko, who crying again for the nth time today, shouted loudly.


    "Calm down Koneko-chan, and don''t bother. She probably is as clueless as you." Kisuke patted her head trying to reign her in.


    "B-but�� what should I do? *sniffle*" Koneko is rubbing her eyes out unsure of what her steps from here on should be.


    Kisuke returned to the couch, took a seat, and patted hisps, "Come here Koneko-chan. Lay down on myp while I tell you a story I made just now."


    Yoruichi raised her brows at him but saw a grin on Kisuke''s face. She decided to leave her to him.


    "Koneko-chan, just do as he says." Koneko looked confusedly at Kisuke but she heard Yoruichi''s voice from behind, reassuring her.


    Koneko didn''t think much and followed Yoruichi''s word as the revtion about her sister is still clouding her mind. She sat down, lied her head on Kisuke''sp and just stare nkly in front until she felt a hand ruffling her head. That hand gave her warmth and peace of mind that she needed the most now.


    Such original skill was named in an unoriginal way, Soul Calmer. Kisuke didn''t exactly have naming talent.


    After calming Koneko sufficiently, Kisuke started speaking.


    "One day, a family of cats is living there lives in happiness. But that didn''tst long as the parent cat got involved in an unfortunate ident leaving just the two kittens behind.


    "The ck and older kitten promised to herself that she would take care of her little sister, the white kitten.


    "But they can''t survive on their own, luckily a kind person wants to take care of them. The ck kitten happily and naively followed him with her little sister.


    " It turns out that kind person is actually an evil person that likes to abuse those he had taken in.


    "She wanted to run away with her sister but that person already put a very strong leash on her and threatened to hurt her little sister.


    "Having no choice, she kept it secret from her sister and silently endured the abuses. Until one day she heard that evil person and his friend talking and nning to do what they were doing to her, to her precious little sister.


    " She snapped and the hate that is slowly umting inside her all these years all burst out.


    "Using the ws that she managed to grow due to the abuses, she killed the evil person and his friend in the heat of the moment.


    " Inevitably, she panicked the moment what she had just done sinks in. Her first thoughts were of her little sister''s safety.


    "She weighed her options and choose to run away alone. She thought that running away with her little sister would put unnecessary risk on her. She didn''t want her sister to be hunted down together with her. She naively thought that nothing very bad would happen to her as the white didn''t do anything wrong nor knows anything about the abuses.


    "Thus, she left the white kitten after entrusting a hairclip that contains the ck kitten''s experiences, hoping that one day, she would be forgiven for leaving her behind.


    "But the ck kitten underestimated the evil person''s friends. They were too angry at her that they want to kill her little sister for the sin shemitted. She tried everything she could possibly think of to save her sister, but the group was too strong for her sharp ws to reach them.


    " As ast resort, he asked the help of a very strong person to help her sister. Fortune finally dawned on the sisters, as that very strong person agreed to help after knowing their story. Though naive, she was sessful at the gamble she didn''t know she was taking.


    "As the strong person saves her sister, she was watching from afar, ready to make a move if needed. But when she saw her sister taken out of captivity, something broke inside her when she looked at the white kitten''s expression.


    "Despair, pure despair. Not a hint of hope. The ck kitten wants to go and take her sister back but seeing her like that, she lost all motivation. She mes herself at her sister''s misfortune. She, who killed her own master, didn''t dare to approach her sister.


    " After looking nkly at the silhouette of her sister that disappeared long ago with the strong person, she left carrying the regret that will scar her for her whole life."


    Kisuke stopped speaking and looked at Koneko who is lying down on hisp listening intently.


    "How was my story?" Kisuke didn''t stay quiet for too long and asked for Koneko''s impression.


    "��Bad. It didn''t have a good ending." Koneko slowly voiced out her opinion.


    "Right? But the isn''t finished yet. The ck kitten, who is a ck cat now, won''t be able to endure not seeing her sister. Sooner orter she will appear in front of the white kitten again." Kisuke chuckled at Koneko.


    "��Then what should the white kitten do while waiting for her sister?" Koneko looked up to Kisuke face.


    "Hmmm, let''s see. Maybe the white kitten can exercise a bit so she can punish her clumsy sister when they meet in the future." Kisuke stroked Koneko''s head while shing her a grin.


    "Good point." Koneko smiled at his words and slowly closed her eyes. A few minutester, rhythmic breathing was heard from her, she''s already fast asleep.


    That night, for the first time ever, Koneko dreamt of her sister, Kuroka, without it turning into a nightmare. She had a good dream.

 Volume 2 27 - The Kitty didnt go home.

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 27 - The Kitty didn''t go home.</h4>


    Next morning.


    Kisuke is preparing for breakfast. He heard footsteps from the stairs and turned around.


    There he saw two girls stepped out with very disheveled clothes. Yoruichi scratching her tummy while yawning making Kisuke take a peek on the semi-revealed dark skin of her. What surprised him was Koneko, a pair of cat ears and a tail that matched her hair-color are sticking out of her while she rubs her eyes out.


    Kisuke suddenly took out a DSLR camera out of nowhere, put it up on his face, and started smashing the shutter button like there''s no tomorrow, "Nice! Very nice!" He jumped around them taking pictures from different angles. Incidentally, this is how he is able to capture Sona''s Magical Girl cosy and other risque photos. Though he never takes any peeping or nude pictures.


    "You''re very energetic early in the morning Kisuke-senpai nyaa." Koneko looked at his behavior with scorn.


    "Nyaa!? You just said nyaa!? Woohoo! What a treat! I can only hear that from Yoruichi when she enters that form!" Kisuke became even more energetic at Koneko''s words.


    "That form?" Koneko looked at Yoruichi in confusion.


    "Don''t listen to him, he''s just talking nonsense. Kisuke, your food is about to get burned." Yoruichi can''t look at Koneko as she does really remind her of that form, Shunk��: Raiju Senkei: Shunry�� Kokuby�� Senkei (sh War Cry: Thunder Beast Battle Form: sh God ck Cat Warrior Princess). And it infuriates Yoruichi that Kisuke can activate it against her will if she enters Shunk��: Raijin Senkei (sh War Cry: Thunder God War Form). The only difference is that she loses all reasons but she can still remember everything she had done which she regrets every time, especially when Kisuke can y with her in that form.


    "Crap!" Kisuke returned to the kitchen and finished what he is doing.


    After setting the foods on the table, they started eating.


    "So what''s the n for today?" Kisuke asked the two.


    "Don''t you have school today?" Yoruichi looked at Kisuke while she gobbles on her rice and fish.


    "Considering what happened yesterday, Koneko probably isn''t in the mood to attend any sses today. Look at her, she''s rearing to go~." Kisuke then looked at Koneko who took small bites on her fish.


    Koneko nodded in response, "I already made a call to Buchou(Club President)."


    "Did you? She going to pissed at me~. Hahaha." Kisuke chuckled.


    "Uh-huh. Especially when I said I want to keep our activities secret due to contract nyaa," Koneko affirmed his words.


    "Pissed? Why?" Yoruichi looked at the two with confusion.


    "She''s very protective of her servants. Maybe she feels like I''m taking Koneko-chan away from her~." Kisuke took thest bite of his food and continued speaking, "Yosh, let''s use the training grounds today."


    "Traning grounds?" Koneko tilted her head in wonder.


    "You''ll see. We''ll go after eating." Yoruichi smiled at her.


    -------------------------------


    Walking through the quiet hallway of the old school building early in the morning, Rias put down her phone.


    "Was that Koneko-chan?" Akeno, who is walking beside her, asked.


    "Right. She didn''t go home yesterday and stayed the night in Urahara Shop." Rias answered in furrowed brows.


    "What!? That is Koneko-chan who is very vignt of other people alright. Did they be so close that Koneko-chan was able to willingly stay at his ce?" Akeno stopped walking and asked in surprise.


    "I don''t know. He even specifically signed a secrecy contract with Koneko." Rias also stopped walking and looked back. She couldn''t help but bite the nail on her finger in frustration.


    "Is that even possible? To the master of the house?" Akeno looked at her in wonder.


    "Yes, As long as Koneko judge it to be safe and will not put our house in harm, it is possible. I trust Koneko, but I can''t trust this Kisuke Urahara. It is very possible that he is tricking Koneko somehow, after all, even if she is very vignt, she is also very young." Rias turned around again and walked at a faster pace.


    Akeno didn''t say anything and followed Rias, but she has a very serious expression devoid of any nonchnce she shows earlier.


    "Akeno, investigate him more closely." Rias suddenly said after a minute of silence.


    "What about his warning?" Akeno wanted to confirm.


    "Disregard that. If you got some evidence that she is manipting Koneko and you think that he might be putting her on the harm''s way report it to me immediately. But if it is decisive evidence, your top priority is to secure Koneko''s safety, after that is capturing him. If capturing him proved to be dangerous, kill him!" Rias gave her orders to Akeno.


    "Yes, Buchou." Akeno stopped and turned around walking to the opposite direction of Rias.


    "I won''t let anybody to harm my precious servants," Rias said to herself after Akeno left.


    A knocking sound resounded at the door of the Student Council.


    "Enter." Sona Sitri looked up and answer, setting aside the paperwork she is doing.


    The door opened and Tsubaki Shinra entered through it carrying some papers for the Student Council to work with.


    "Kaichou(StuCo President), I have some reports." Tsubaki approached Sona''s desk and put down the paper she is holding.


    "Go on."


    "Rias Gremory-sama set her eyes on a student named Hyoudou Issei," Tsubaki stated the first point of her report.


    "Hooh? She finally found another member candidate for her peerage aftering here? I wonder what caught her attention?" Sona smiled and happy for her friend.


    "Saji Genshirou epted to be reincarnated as a devil and join your household." Tsubaki didn''tment on anything and continued her report.


    "Good. Invite him to the Student Council Room after the sses and ask everyone to wee our newest member." Sona looked at Tsubaki and gave her instructions.


    "Understood. Lastly, a report came in that Gremory-sama''s Rook spent a night at Urahara Shop." Tsubaki thought that she should report that information too while convenient, but she didn''t expect that it''ll warrant more attention from her Master than the other two reports.


    "What!? Is this urate!?" Sona widened her eyes after hearing her second-inmand''s words.


    "Y-Yes. This information directly came from the Gremory peerage. Koneko Toujou the school''s faculty that she won''t be able to attend today''s sses." Tsubaki answered her stuttering her first word.


    "What is happening? I know that little miss'' personality, she wouldn''t do it on a whim. Rias is probably thinking that Kisuke Urahara is manipting her Rook. Tsubaki, look closely into it. I''m interested in him for my remaining Knight Piece, but if he doing something isn''t good, report it to me. Rias will probably send Akeno to investigate, assist her." Sona fixed her sses and continues to think of any other possibilities.


    "Understood, Kaichou." Tsubaki left the room and started doing her Master''s instructions.


    "What will you do next, Kisuke Urahara?" Sona muttered to herself.


    Kisuke, who is unaware of the motions he set off just because he patted a cat to sleep is happily eating breakfast with the two beauties.

 Volume 2 28 - Kisuke & Yoruichi

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 28 - Kisuke & Yoruichi</h4>


    Kisuke led the two towards a dead-end wall at the back of the shop.


    Kisuke didn''t stop walking and passed through the wall leaving only ripples on the surface which surprised Koneko as she didn''t feel any signs of magic being used, especially so after releasing her nekomata form.


    Koneko''s senses when she reverted to a nekomata multiplied including her ability to sense magic power and aura since she isn''t stopping the use of her Senjutsu anymore.


    Yoruichi didn''t stop and followed Kisuke. After being left alone, Koneko braced herself and hurriedly followed.


    What she saw on the other side is a small room with an elevator door at the opposite side of where they came from.


    Kisuke already stepped inside the elevator with Yoruichi. Koneko followed suit and saw just buttons. One with an arrow symbol going up and another one with going down.


    Kisuke pressed the going down button and the door closed. Contrary to Koneko''s expectations, the didn''t move but thebel on the top already changed from ''G'' to ''B''. The door opened and Koneko still saw the same small room where they came from.


    She thought that something went wrong but Kisuke and Yoruichi exited the elevator and walked towards the opposite wall and passed through it again. Koneko didn''t think much at this point as she thought that they were returning.


    To her surprise, however, she didn''t go back to the shop''s interior and found herself in a chamber.


    This is the Urahara Shop training ground which Kisuke recreated from his old world. It is arge room with a ceiling and walls painted to resemble a cloudy sky over a floor of deste, brown, craggynd dotted with dead trees.


    Koneko stood there nkly for a minute before looking towards the amused expression of both Kisuke and Yoruichi, "Where is this?"


    "Wee to the Urahara Secret Training Ground." Kisuke introduced this ce to Koneko.


    "Secret training ground?" Koneko was dumbfounded. She thought that they will only be training in a rtivelyrge room or an open space when they mentioned going to the ''training ground''.


    "This is a 27 cubic kilometers underground training facilityplete with fortification. Even if you nuke it from the outside this ce will survive, probably. The north side has a small lodging that trainers can upy if they want to stay for a few days. The east and west side are the real training grounds. And the south side is for me and Yoruichi." Kisuke continued exining in great vigor.


    "Enough with that, let''s motivate Koneko-chan for now." Yoruichi cuts off Kisuke''s rumblings and suggested.


    "Motivate me?" Koneko tilted her head at Yoruichi.


    "Hoho~. Itching for a fight, aren''t you?" Kisuke started stretching his limbs.


    "It''s been a while since I returned to my human form after all. I want to let loose for a bit." Yoruichi did the same thing.


    "Uhmm, I know that you two are good at fighting, but how will that motivate me?" Koneko interrupted.


    "Koneko-chan, we aren''t just going to teach you how to fight, we''ll also teach you how to improve your overall strength. When your opponent is very strong then your fighting techniques can eat sh*t." Yoruichi slowly released her Spiritual Pressure.


    "W-what''s this!?" Koneko felt like all the hair on her body stood up when the aura Yoruichi released brushed past her.


    "Within the training ground, whatever you do, nobody will notice it from outside. We can y to our heart''s content if it''s here. If we do this outside, we''ll just end up disturbing our neighbors." Kisuke also slowly released his Spiritual Pressure that matched Yoruichi in intensity.


    ''Kisuke-senpai too!?'' Koneko was already speechless. ''Does that mean that he is holding back quite a lot at our sparring sessions?'' She thought to herself tightening her small fists.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t say anything else and stared at each other. Yoruichi made the first move by charging in.


    Yoruichi sent out a punch towards Kisuke face. He dodges it by shifting his head to the right andshed out his leg at the same time.


    Yoruichi jumped a bit and grabbed his leg using it to pivot her body sending out a kick of her own.


    Kisuke dodges it by bending his body backward. He flips his own body aiming to kick Yoruichi''s chin.


    Yoruichi blocked it with her hands but was sent flying for a few meters.


    They stopped and looked at each other again, now with a smile.


    Koneko didn''t know what face she should show. Their exchange onlysted for a few seconds. Even though she can see the moves they made, there''s no way for her to react to any of them.


    They did mention that they were a bit good at fighting, but not this good!


    "Done warming up?" Kisuke asked Yoruichi which finally draw out a reaction from Koneko, "That''s a warm-up!?"


    The two ignored the distressed cat and continued their staring contest until they both disappeared.


    Koneko thought that they teleported away, but she heard a sound of rock crushing. She looked to her left and saw a tall rock crumbling down sending loads of dust everywhere.


    Yoruichi reappeared near the crushed earth and waved her hand releasing a wind-like pressure sending away the dust. When it cleared up, Koneko saw Kisukeying down in the pothole.


    "Senpai!? What happened!?" Koneko dashed towards his direction intending to help him.


    Kisuke suddenly stood up and spat out some soil, "Damn it, I let my guard down. You''ve improved Yoruichi."


    "Of course. I can''t get left behind." Yoruichi is happy that seeing the results of her training were effective, "Up for the round 3?"


    "Bring it," Kisuke replied disappearing again.


    Yoruichi also used the sh step to chase after Kisuke.


    Koneko can only see after images and feel the shockwaves of their shes. It finally hit her after watching them for a few minutes, they were not using teleportation but only pure speed.


    This realization only put more cracks on Koneko''s crumblingmon sense. She decided to stop thinking and just enjoy the show.

 Volume 2 29 - Because Were Bored

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 29 - Because We''re Bored</h4>


    While Kisuke and Yoruichi are destroying the already bleak scenery in the training ground with Koneko watching all of this with a nk expression, three small figures entered through different points of the Urahara shop. These three figures are small Onis that are all different in color.


    The three Onis slowlyb the ce and after 30 minutes of searching every nook and cranny, they left where they came from.


    "Strange, did they go out? And there is nothing wrong with the shop. There''s also nothing with that old granny manning it, just a normal human." Akeno, who is overlooking Kisuke''s shop from a distance mattered to herself.


    Akeno suddenly felt a fluctuation of demonic energy behind her and turned around. She saw a magic circle for teleportation with the insignia of the Sitri n. Tsubaki Shinra appeared inside the magic circle and greeted the Queen of Gremory Peerage, "Good morning Akeno-san."


    "Good morning to you too Tsubaki-san. What brings you here?" Akeno smiled at Tsubaki.


    "Sona-Kaichou ask me to assist in your investigation." Tsubaki fixed her sses and answered her question.


    "Ara? Sona-Kaichou did? What for?" Akeno trusted the Sitri Peerage but still confuse of why would they also put attention on Kisuke Urahara.


    "Well, you see, Kaichou is interested in giving her Knight Piece to Kisuke Urahara." Tsubaki wanted say something else but was able to stop herself.


    "Knight Piece? To that guy? Why? From what we know, he is just a magician and even weaker than your two Bishops." Akeno didn''t noticed Tsubaki''s hesitation due to the content of her words.


    "We haven''t revealed it yet, but Kisuke Urahara has a sword type Sacred Gear and also skills to out run our Knight." Tsubaki got hold of herself and exined it to Akeno.


    "It''s this?" Akeno furrowed her brows and thinks that they would have to reevaluate Kisuke once more.


    "How was your initial scouting?" Tsubaki asked Akeno this time around.


    "They are not in at the moment. Also nothing wrong with the shop and the olddy. Very normal if I have to say something." Akeno replied.


    "How about the his house across the street?"


    "Same. His mother is also not around as she is on a business trip in Indonesia."


    Both of them stayed quiet for some time after arriving at the dead end of clues.


    "Have you investigated the ck cat that is always with him? Kaichou thinks that it is too smart to be a normal cat." Tsubaki suddenly asked after thinking for a few more minutes.


    "The cat? No, we haven''t. Is the cat really that strange?" Akeno shook her head as they really haven''t took a closer look at his pet.


    "Hmmm, You''re right. It also feels strange for me everytime I meet its eyes." Tsubaki nodded after recollecting her memories about the cat.


    "We''ll just have to include it in our investigation." Akeno smiled at Tsubaki.


    "So what''s the n?"


    "I''ll setup a number of surveince magic inside and around of both his shop and house. While you look around the perimeter and send me a warning if they are about toe." Akeno said it like it was no big deal.


    "Isn''t that too much? You''re invading his private life. And what if he notice it." It''s Tsubaki''s turn to furrow her brows.


    "If it is for my cute kouhai''s safety, I don''t really care about my methods." A sadistic glint shed through her eyes.


    "I''ll setup my magic circles prioritizing stealth that even high-ss devils like Rias-Buchou won''t notice it easily. If he were to notice it despite that, then we have more problems to worry about." Akeno continued speaking.


    "You''re very protective like Rias-sama." Tsubaki smiled in defeat.


    "You''re also the same. We are devils after all. Fufufu~." Akeno put her hand in front of her mouth andugh.


    --------------------


    "Stop! Timeout! I give up! Not the hat! Not the hat Yoruichi!"


    *Boooom!*


    Koneko heard arge explosion from a distance after she heard Kisuke''s cries. Kisuke''s current situation gives Koneko some happiness as this the first time she see her senpai in so much distress. Koneko is steadily developing a bad hobby due to Kisuke and Yoruichi.


    "How was it?" Yoruichinded near Koneko and asked.


    "Great. I want to learn soon." Koneko gave her a thumbs up and her honest opinion.


    "Hahaha, then we should start nning your training schedule." Yoruichiughed out loud at her answer.


    The dust settled down a bit and a shadow came out of it. Kisuke walked towards the two. A littleugh came from Koneko when she saw his disheveled state. She wanted tough more but stopped herself with all her might.


    "Damn it, so this what you meant when you say you want to motivate her. It''s pretty effective." Kisuke looked at Koneko and grumbled at Yoruichi.


    "Don''t sweat the small stuff." Yoruichi patted Kisuke back.


    "I didn''t know that you''ve improved that much." Kisuke looked at Yoruichi face.


    "Well, I have to do it if I don''t want to be left behind by you." Yoruichi smiled at him gently.


    Kisuke was stunned for a few seconds and returned a smile, "You know I won''t ever do that. I''ll even drag you with me wherever I go."


    Koneko looked at there interaction and felt a little jealous. She didn''t know to which side she''s feeling jealous though.


    "Uhmm, Yoruichi-san, even if you teach me techniques in hand-to-handbat, I won''t be able to do what you two just did." Koneko interrupted their sweet time and looked around her surroundings.


    Kisuke was thrown around multiple times by Yoruichi and created numerous potholes of different sizes the small one being a few meters across while the biggest one is a hundred meters across.


    She the fight is ongoing, escaping went through her head countless times as she thought that this underground chamber would caved in. And if that were to happen, she wouldn''t be sure if she can survive.


    "You don''t have to worry, only half of your training will be on techniques while the other half is improving your overall specs." Yoruichi assured her.


    "Improving my strength? How?"


    "If Kisuke was an expert in anything, it would be energy maniption. You two just have to study this Senjutsu of yours and Kisuke will improve it. Sooner orter you can beat him up like I do." Yoruichi gave Koneko a thumbs up.


    "Somehow, I don''t like how that sounded. Why do I have to teach her how to beat me up." Kisuke protested at her side.


    "You won''t be teaching her how to beat yourself up, I''m going to do that. You''ll only help her be strong."


    "Why y with words? Well, whatever, sounds fun."


    "Why would the two help me?" Koneko finally asked what is bugging her mind all this while.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other and then looked back at Koneko and said the same thing, "Because we''re bored."

 Volume 2 30 - Konekos training

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 30 - Koneko''s training</h4>


    "B-Bored?" Koneko was dumbfounded, but she thought again, ''Are they just taking care of me because they were bored?'' And made a sour expression.


    "Whoa there�� I know what you''re thinking but I assure you that you''re wrong." Kisuke was amused at Koneko''s reaction.


    "We won''t do this just on a whim. After Kisuke repeatedly summoned you, we took a liking to you. Remember, you''re like our little sister." Yoruichi followed up.


    Koneko believed them and sighed in relief.


    "Enough with that, let''s start nning Koneko-chan''s schedule." Kisuke dusted his clothes and hat which was almost destroyed by Yoruichi.


    "We will divide your training into two parts. The first part is your training with me, and the second part is your''s and Kisuke study time." Yoruichi exined to Koneko.


    "Study time with senpai? Why do I feel malicious intent from that?" Koneko covered her modest body and looked at Kisuke with scorn.


    "Hmmm? Ah! Don''t worry, I''m not interested." Kisuke shed a smile at her.


    "Muhh. It''s more annoying if you put it that way." Koneko pouted, approached Kisuke and kicked his shin. It only ends up hurting Koneko''s foot though, while Kisuke didn''t feel anything, "Why is your body so hard? I can block gun bullets with my bare skin but it hurts kicking you."


    "Oh, Hierro is still activated."


    "Hierro?" Koneko poked Kisuke''s forearm and noticed that the harder you poke, the stiffer his skin is.


    "Just a technique which hardens my skin proportional to my energy levels," Kisuke exined.


    "We''re getting off-topic here. Koneko-chan can only have 2-3 hours of free time every day if we consider her school and devil activities." Yoruichi interrupted.


    "Then let''s go with the 1-hour study session plus some time to practice and every other free time is yours. Of course, it still up to Koneko-chan how to spend her free time. We don''t want you to dedicate everything to training. You can still go and hang out with your friends." Kisuke suggested while looking at Yoruichi.


    "That''s a given of course. Also, I want to help Koneko-chan with her morning exercise if possible, but going to shop every day early in the morning will just tire her out." Yoruichi turned her sights to Koneko.


    Koneko took a deep breath and looked at Kisuke like she found her resolve, "Kisuke-senpai, please allow me to live here. I''ll help out with house-keeping and I''ll also pay my rent, so-"


    Kisuke didn''t let her finish what she is about to say by putting his hands up, "Stop right there, Koneko-chan. That really isn''t a good idea."


    "Why not? I''ll do everything to help around the shop, and I also live alone in a dormitory Rias-Buchou arranged for me. It doesn''t really matter if I move." Koneko pulls on Kisuke clothes while exining herself with a puffy look on her face.


    Yoruichi looked at Kisuke with a strange smile.


    "Ughh! Fine! But you have to convince Rias Gremory if that''s what you want." Kisuke was defeated.


    "Okay, I will." Koneko beamed a smile.


    "Good for you Koneko-chan. But I won''t ept any cking off if you want to do my training. You''ll get hurt for sure. Are you fine with that?" Yoruichi patted her head and gave her a final warning.


    "Yes. Please be strict with me." Koneko didn''t hesitate and gave her a serious look.


    Yoruichi nodded in satisfaction.


    "We''re done talking? Let''s go out for now. Koneko-chan probably wants to go and arrange a few things now. Koneko-chan, we''ll start your training tomorrow." Kisuke pped his hands and called it a day with the training.


    The trio started to walk towards where they came from and entered the room where the elevator door is located.


    "Senpai, why is this elevator so fast? I can''t even feel it." Koneko curiously asked.


    "It looks like an elevator but its technically a teleporting box." Kisuke continued walking and entered the elevator.


    They reached the hidden room of the shop and Kisuke suddenly stopped.


    "Really now?" Kisuke said in an exasperated voice.


    "Hahaha, looks like they took Koneko-chan staying the night here quite seriously," Yoruichimented.


    "What''s happening?" Koneko looked confusedly at the two.


    "Well, your friends are worried about you. Now let''s discuss how much you can exin them." Kisuke scratched his head as he didn''t expect that they were this protective of her. Though it makes him a bit happy that they can do something if it is for theirrade.


    "I''ll just tell them that you''re teaching me how to fight as you''re a lot better than me in techniques," Koneko decided.


    "That''s fine, but are you sure?"


    "Yes. It''s in our contract to keep your abilities and Yoruichi-san a secret, and you don''t want to attract their attention, right?"


    "Yep, and I feel like it''s going to be stormy these days so be careful. I''ll try to look around and see what''s going on, but if it''s something your group can deal with then I won''t interfere. You can show some the things you''ve learned but don''t use your Senjutsu if possible as it might attract your awkward sister~."


    "I understand. I miss Nee-sama and I want to see her as soon as possible, but I have to get as strong as possible to spank Nee-sama''s butt for causing so much trouble." Koneko nodded happily.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other andughed.


    "Then I''ll teleport ourselves outside. Where do you wanna go?" Kisuke asked the two.


    "Let''s go to a family restaurant. I''m hungry." Yoruichi suggested.


    "Then it''s decided." Kisuke pped his hands and cast a small Kidou that cleans himself and around him of grime and dust. I very convenient skill.


    They teleported in an unassuming alley and go to the direction of the Town''smercial district and eat their lunch and also both some items that Koneko might need when she moves in.


    Akeno and Tsubaki''s lookouts found them and tailed them for a while. Koneko already transformed herself back to being a human when they found them.

 Volume 2 31 - The Gremory Peerage

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 31 - The Gremory Peerage</h4>


    "Akeno-san, we found them." Tsubaki stood at the top of the building overlooking the while shopping district.


    "What are they doing?" Akeno asked while she sets up the magic circles inside Kisuke''s shop. She also inspected the whole ce one more time with her own eyes and found nothing except for how unmoving the elderlydy is while manning the shop. If not for her breathing, Akeno will think that thedy is dead.


    "They seem to be shopping for daily necessities and having fun for once in a while." Tsubaki fixed her sses and reported them.


    "A date? They skipped school to go on a date!?" Akeno couldn''t believe what she is hearing, especially the other person is the stoic Koneko.


    "No, there is another person with them. A dark skin ck-haired beauty that is the same age as Kisuke Urahara. If I were to give my honest opinion, it looks like a family outing as Koneko-san is also very close to this woman." Tsubaki can''t help but fix her sses again as she said that, after all, she also knows Koneko''s personality, and seeing herugh and smile with people outside the Sitri and Gremory Peerage is pretty unbelievable for her.


    "A family outing? Send me a video feed." Akeno''s mouth twitches.


    Tsubaki didn''t say anything else and manipted her magic circle to send a video feed to Akeno.


    "H-how?" Akeno saw three figures who are talking happily. Koneko, who is one of the three figures isughing and smiling like a normal kid of her age.


    She knows for sure that Koneko can''t express herself properly or even act due to her past trauma. She took a closer look at Koneko and saw that she is genuinely happy.


    Akeno felt happy for her and also a little jealous as someone they didn''t know managed to open her heart. The relieved expression Koneko puts up sometimes also puzzled her greatly. She would have to show this to Rias first before making any further decisions.


    Akeno finished up after hiding numerous magic circles all over the shop and went back to school to report what happened today.


    --------------------


    After school.


    Rias Gremory heard a knock on the door of the clubroom while she is doing some reports that will be sent to the Underworld.


    "Come in."


    The door opened and Akeno came in.


    "Rias." Rias looked up and saw Akeno''s serious expression.


    "What happened?" Rias furrowed her brows and stopped what she is doing.


    "Before I make my report, please take a look at this." Akeno snapped her fingers and the television in the room turned on by itself. The t-screen TV showed a video of Kisuke, Yoruichi and Koneko happily talking and ying around.


    Rias nkly looked at the screen until it turned ck and the video stopped ying.


    Rias turned to Akeno with an incredulous looked and asked, "How?"


    "Right? I have the same question as you." Akeno shook her head with a wryly smile.


    "Tell me everything that you saw." Rias stood up and looked outside the window.


    Akeno narrated everything from the moment she summoned her familiars. She showed up in front of them and released a magic wave to disrupt anyplicated spells that affected the mind.


    "I see. If all this is true, then I am happy for Koneko and I should be thankful to him and this unknowndy." Rias let out a long sigh and turned to Akeno.


    "What should we do now." Akeno was at lost.


    "Continue monitoring him. We didn''t get any evidence that he is manipting Koneko but we still can''t rule out the possibility. I don''t want to take any chances if it is about the safety of my precious servants." Rias walked back to her desk and sat back down.


    "And if we''re wrong?" Akeno couldn''t help but worry.


    "I''ll apologize personally and I''ll be in his debt for taking care of Koneko." Rias smiled lightly, "I really hope we''re wrong."


    Akeno also finally smiled and started preparing some tea for Rias and other club members that are about toe.


    After a few minutes, a knock on the door was heard. Getting permission to enter, a young man came in.


    He is a handsome young man with short blond hair, blue eyes and a mole underneath his left eye.


    He wears the Kuoh Academy boys'' school uniform, which consists of a ck zer with white ents over a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a ck ribbon on the cor, matching ck pants, and brown dress shoes.


    "Good evening, Buchou, Akeno-san." He greeted the two.


    "How did it go, Yuuto?" Rias turned her head towards the neer and asked.


    The young man sat down on the couch and Akeno ced a cup of tea in his front.


    This man Yuuto Kiba, Rias Gremory''s Knight.


    "Thank you Akeno-san. The fallen angel didn''t make a move but they are going to have a date tomorrow." Yuuto made his report and drank the tea.


    "Ara ara, fufu."


    "She''ll probably do it tomorrow." Rias leaned on her chair and smiled.


    "Is he going to be our newrade?" Yuuto asked his master.


    "It still depends on him," Rias replied.


    "By the way Buchou, it seems that this Issei Hyoudou is a good friend of Kisuke Urahara since childhood," Akeno spoke from the side.


    "Kisuke Urahara? You mean that guy?"


    "Hmm? You know him, Yuuto?" Rias also drank her tea.


    "Yeah, I mean only a few people don''t know about him. He''s pretty famous in school, though not in a good way. And Akeno-san probably knows the basics about him."


    "Tell me what you know." Rias urge him to speak more.


    "Let''s see, he''s the known leader of ''The Four Heavenly Perverts'' who is known to do all kinds of perverted things, most are petty things, however."


    "There is something like that in our school?" Rias looked at him with her mouth twitching.


    "Sona-kaichou probably knows more about him."


    "Sona?"


    "Right, I forgot to tell you something Rias-buchou due to Koneko''s issue. I heard from Tsubaki-san that Sona-kaichou wants to take him as her Knight." Both Rias and Yuuto are shocked after hearing this.


    "Why? I thought that he is a mage and her Bishop Pieces are already in use. I''ll understand if it is Room though." Rias is confused.


    "It seems that he has a sword type Sacred Gear, although a weak one, he is very skilled at using it that he is able to outrun Sona-kaichou''s Knight." Akeno continued.


    "Now that you mentioned Sona-kaichou, there are also rumors floating around that Kaichou also fell victim to his perverted antics," Yuuto muttered from the side.


    "W-what?" Both Akeno and Rias were speechless.


    "What the hell is this guy. He''s giving me too many headaches." Rias pressed her temple and sigh.

 Volume 2 32 - Koneko vs Yuuto

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 32 - Koneko vs Yuuto</h4>


    Another knock was heard on the door.


    The three looked over and Rias spoke, "Come in."


    The door opened and Koneko, with a refreshed look and clearly in a good mood, entered the room. Yuuto who didn''t know what''s happening is confused at Koneko''s changes.


    "Good evening, Rias-buchou, Akeno-san, Yuuto-senpai." Koneko greeted the three.


    "Good evening Koneko. Looks like you had fun today." Rias smiled at her.


    "Mmmh." Koneko nodded with a smile.


    Akeno prepared another cup of tea and some snacks and ced it on the part of the table in front of Koneko''s usual seat.


    Koneko sat down and started eating her snacks.


    The trio looked at her silently and Koneko noticed it but kept on eating silently and waited for them to ask.


    "Koneko, why didn''t you go home yesterday?" Rias first opened her mouth.


    "I stayed at Kisuke-senpai''s ce. I got tired and identally slept there." Koneko replied without much hesitation.


    Yuuto, who is listening to the side, was shocked, ''That Koneko!?''


    "You''ve be quite close to him. Can you tell me what you think of him?" Rias continued ignoring the shocked Yuuto.


    "Mmmh. He''s a pervert." Koneko nodded and only said one thing.


    The trio''s mouth were twitching, ''We know!''


    "But he also kind although a bit selfish. He kept on doing idiotic things even though he is very smart. He also has this natural capability to annoy everyone around him. He doesn''t care what others think of him and just do whatever he wants. Did I mention that he''s also a big pervert?"


    Koneko spoke with a gentle smile on her face which gave another shock to the three.


    ''What did you do, Kisuke Urahara!?''


    "I know that you can overpower him easily, but aren''t you worried that he might just assault you when you let your guard down? You did mention that he is a big pervert." Rias calmed herself and continued to ask.


    Koneko thought for a bit a said, "In a fight with, I can easily overpower him, but won''t be able to defeat him." ''This is technically isn''t a lie since he always only use strength lower than me when we spar.''


    "You''ve fought him before and lost? Did he use magic?" Rias expression became serious.


    "Yes, buchou. He did use magic to strengthen his body but I''m still stronger." Koneko said, but thought, ''That''s what he said to me when we first fought. I still don''t know how he strengthens himself to insane levels.''


    "How many times have you fought him?" Rias expression became even more serious.


    "I started sparring with him a week ago and we always spar when Ie over." Koneko continued eating her snacks as she spoke.


    "How did you lose? Did he use some tricks?"


    "I can''t really describe how I lose, but I lose to his skills."


    "Skills?"


    "Mmmh, Even though I''m stronger, he can y with me until I''m dead tired. I also nevernded a hit on him. Kisuke-senpai also teaches me how to fight along the way."


    "Never? Not at least once?" It''s Yuuto''s turn to be shocked now as he is also a closebat specialist and he can never do that to Koneko in a proper fight.


    "Buchou." Akeno looked at Rias who still deep in her thoughts.


    "If he is teaching you, why didn''t we see a change in your battle style?" Rias asked and Yuuto nodded in agreement, "Right!"


    "Because senpai stated that I should never use what he teaches me in a real fight until I reach a certain level of mastery. I can only use what I learned if I''m sparring with senpai, however, he already lifted that restriction earlier."


    "How much did you improved?"


    "I don''t know. I still can''t touch senpai even after using everything I learned." Koneko shook her head in disappointment, but she''ll never give up to get stronger for her sister''s sake.


    "How about a spar with me?" Yuuto suddenly suggested.


    Koneko didn''t agree immediately and looked to Rias for confirmation.


    "Good. Koneko, did you use your knuckle gloves when sparring against him?" Rias agreed and asked another question.


    Koneko nodded at her.


    "Then Yuuto, use your Sword Birth." Rias looked at Yuuto and instructed.


    "Buchou?�� Alright." Yuuto saw her serious expression and agreed.


    "Let''s move." Rias stood up and exited while the rest followed.


    They arrived at an opening in the forest beside the clubhouse.


    "Akeno, put up a barrier. Just in case."


    "Yes, Buchou."


    Koneko and Yuuto are facing each other with 15 meters between them in the middle of the clearing.


    "You can start now," Rias shouted at the two.


    Yuuto materialized a one-handed sword on his right hand while Koneko put up a stance.


    Yuuto made the first move by charging towards Koneko and making a swipe with his sword from left to right. His speed so fast that normal humans will only be able to see a blurred silhouette.


    Koneko dodges by flipping backward and sending a kick to his chin in the process.


    Yuuto blocked her foot with his left hand but he was lifted backward for a few feet due to the kick''s force.


    It''s Koneko''s turn to dash towards him and Yuuto readied his stance but shocked when she suddenly throws a handful of dirt and grasses to his face. At this unexpected situation, he panicked a bit and used his left arm to block the dirting to his eyes.


    When he looked in front of him, Koneko already disappeared and saw a white silhouette to his right side.


    Yuuto readied his sword to block the iing fist, but another unexpected thing happened that shocked everyone, even Koneko herself.


    When her left fist made contact with Yuuto''s sword, instead of brushing it away as she intended, it suddenly burst into pieces. Yuuto stopped moving as well as the two onlookers. Koneko remembered what her senpai said that never stop moving and thinking your next move even if something very unexpected happens. She stepped in andunched a punch towards Yuuto''s face only stopping when her fist is only about half an inch closer.

 Volume 2 33 - Miss Q&A

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 33 - Miss Q&A</h4>


    Rias, Akeno and especially Yuuto were dumbfounded at the turn of events. When Koneko jumped back they finally have a response.


    "H-how did you do that Koneko?" Yuuto reacted first.


    Koneko also puzzlingly looking at her hand and didn''t answer.


    "Did you learn that from him?" Rias approached them with Akeno.


    "Yes, Buchou," Koneko affirmed.


    "Did you manage to get stronger?" Akeno asked.


    "No, I didn''t get stronger. Senpai said that it''s just a trick to use more potential of the body."


    "T-trick? How does it work?" Yuuto almost tripped himself at Koneko''s answer.


    "Uhmm, you do this by consciously controlling and circting your demonic power throughout your body and suddenly concentrating it when you attack or defend. There''s is an even more advanced technique that requires more control and I can''t do it." Koneko exined.


    "C-control it while moving in high speeds? I can only do it if I''m stationary and all of my focus on it." Yuuto imagined doing it himself but the end result is just self-destruction.


    "What else did you learned from him?" Rias looked at Koneko as she didn''t expect that her servant will grow stronger without her knowledge.


    "That is, never stop moving in an actual fight even if something unexpected happens and just think of a way out,"


    Yuuto''s body shook as he did just that earlier leading to his easy lose.


    "Another one is, to not only use your body to fight as the terrain around you can change the tides of battle." Koneko continued.


    Yuuto was enlightened at her words and remember how she used her backflip to grab some dirt without his notice.


    "And the rest is Kisuke-senpai pointing out my openings in my stance and how to effectively move my body from different positions."


    "You learned all of that from him?" Rias couldn''t believe that a master like him lives in her territory but she knows nothing about it.


    "Yes, but starting tomorrow I''m going to learn under someone else who is better than him in hand-to-handbat."


    "There is someone else stronger than him? Who is he? Is he also living in Kuoh Town?" Rias is holding her head in frustration as information like this may attract other high-ss devils to invite them to their respective households.


    "She isn''t necessarily stronger than senpai, after all, senpai might be good at hand-to-handbat, but swordsmanship is actually his expertise."


    Rias held her forehead and let out a long sigh, " It actually slipped my mind that he has a sword type sacred gear so its only natural that he is a swordsman, but to think that he can teach you to this degree and his swordsmanship is still better, we underestimated him too much."


    "Koneko-chan, could you be referring to thedy with you two earlier at the shopping district?" Akeno from the side asked.


    "Yes, Akeno-san. Unfortunately, that''s all I can tell you about her due to the contract."


    "That''s fine. We know what she looks like. As long as she lives in this town and actively search for her, we''ll have information on her sooner orter." Rias, who is done sorting her mind, spoke.


    ''Sorry Buchou, but I doubt you''ll extend your investigation towards a cat with a male voice.'' Koneko pities them that they''ll only tire themselves out.


    "Koneko-chan, he thought you how to fight, but did he teach you any technique or skill?" Yuuto continued to ask about Koneko''s apprenticeship.


    "Yes, a short movement technique called ''sh Step''. However, I can only do half of it."


    "Can you show us? Even if it is iplete." Yuuto urges her as he got interested in the technique due to its name.


    Koneko looked at Rias and she nodded.


    Koneko turned her back towards them and said, "Please watch carefully."


    They watched her not carefully, but curiously. They thought it was just a high speed dash given its name. Before they knew it, Koneko already disappeared from their sights and heard a loud sound at the distance. They turned their heads towards where the sound came from and saw Koneko crashed, felling multiple trees in the process.


    All of them, without exception, had their mouth and eyes wide open.


    "W-what�� the hell?" Yuuto muttered.


    When Rias heard this, she dashed to Koneko to check her state, "Koneko!"


    The two followed and they saw Koneko stood up, with her clothes partially destroyed, dusting herself.


    "Are you alright?" Rias worriedly ask.


    "I''m fine Buchou." Koneko looked at her and smiled.


    Akeno proceeded to repair her clothes and Rias had a sigh of relief.


    "Yuuto, how fast was that?" Rias then faced her Knight.


    "I''m sorry Buchou, I didn''t see it clearly so I don''t know. But I at least know that I''m incapable of moving in such speed." Yuuto scratched his head in embarrassment.


    "Even you couldn''t see?" Rias felt another head acheing.


    "He is teaching you this insane technique that makes you a human bullet?" Rias then looked at this unbelievable little girl.


    "You''ve got it wrong Buchou. As I said, I only learned half of it. Senpai can disappear and reappear silently, although I don''t know how many times he can do that, as this particr technique put arge burden to the body." Koneko exined.


    Rias held her already throbbing forehead and looked at Koneko, "I still have a lot questions about him but I''ll set it aside for now, just answer this final thing I''m curious about."


    Rias fix her posture and gave Koneko a serious look, "Why is he doing all of this?"


    "Why?" Koneko paused for a moment and then smiled, "Because he''s bored."


    "Bored!?" Rias thought ''He caused as so much headache because he''s bored!?'' She let out another huge sigh.


    She looked at Akeno, "Akeno, check what is he doing right now."


    "Yes, Buchou." Akeno closed her eyes to connect herself to the magic circles she had setup earlier at Kisuke''s shop.


    After a few moments, she suddenly blushed and gritted her teeth.


    "What''s wrong?" Rias thought that something has gone wrong and hurriedly ask.


    "That bastard block the view of all audio-visual surveince magic circle with tons of porn magazines, and a sound of a moaning MAN is ying in the background. He even left a note in the middle saying, ''This is my treasured collection. Please enjoy it ;D P.S. That gay porn isn''t mine, I''m just curious.''" Akeno shut off her connection to the magic circle.


    Rias'' body was shaking beforeughing out loud, "Pfft, ahahaha. Akeno, please erase all those circles. He isn''t an enemy."


    "That damned pervert." Koneko couldn''t help but curse.


    Akeno did just that as those circles are already useless, "Are you sure of him not being our enemy?"


    "Yes, my instinct is telling that he''s not. No, that''s not it, more like my instinct is screaming at me not to make him my enemy." Rias turned around intending to go back to the clubhouse. The rest followed.


    "Uhmm, Buchou, I''d like to ask a permission for something." Koneko is fidgeting.


    "Hmm? What is it?" They continued walking.


    "I want to move into Kisuke-senpai''s ce." Koneko dropped the final bomb.


    All of them looked at Koneko in shock with their mouths twitching.


    "K-Koneko, I didn''t know you were that close to him. Be sure to let him take responsibility." Rias couldn''t think of anything else to say.


    Akeno and Yuuto just nodded along, they also didn''t known what to say.


    Koneko tilted her head in confusion at their reaction and it then finally hit her, "You''re wrong! We don''t have that kind of rtionship!" She frantically defended herself.


    "Then why do you want to move in with him?"


    "For my training. Yoruichi-san said that it would be convenient." Koneko let out a long breath and said.


    "Yoruichi? Is that the person who is going to teach you?"


    Koneko didn''t say anything and just looked at her master.


    "Haaahh, fine. Just be careful of him. Don''t let him ''attack'' you in your sleep." Rias gave her a stern warning.


    "" Buchou!? "" Akeno and Yuuto eximed at their master''s decision.


    " It''s fine Buchou. Even if I''m the one who ''attacks'' him, he''ll probably say something like, ''Stop little girl! I''m a man and also interested in those stuff. But you have to wait 10 more years�� No, wait. Looking at the pace you''re developing, prolly 20 more years.'' Or anything along those lines, hehehe."


    They all felt a chill on their spine when Koneko said that with a smile which isn''t a smile, ''This is Koneko!? Just what did that guy really do?'' They all thought.


    "Ahem, let''s go back for now." Rias immediately change the topic and resumed walking with notably increased pace.


    The two followed with their backs drenched in cold sweat.


    "We should prepare to take in Issei Hyoudou. I want him even more now that I know he has a connection with Kisuke Urahara." Rias continued.


    "Yes! Buchou." Everybody agreed.

 Volume 2 34 - Life Force

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 34 - Life Force</h4>


    Two weeks has passed.


    Issei Hyoudou became a reincarnated devil under Rias Gremory after he was killed by the fallen angel in disguise.


    They just let him do the odd job that their familiars do to let him gain experience.


    Issei also had some encounters with other fallen angels and almost got killed again if not for the Gremory peerage. But Kisuke thinks that it wouldn''t happen in the first ce if they do regr check up on the town''s state of affairs.


    Koneko moved in a few days after weing their new member and carried on her training.


    Koneko''s hand-to-handbat techniques improved continuously due to Yoruichi''s close and proper guidance. Just with half of her total strength and speed, she could defeat Yuuto Kiba in a spar.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke discovered something impressive while researching about Senjutsu with Koneko.


    The life force, which is the main driving force of Senjutsu is somewhat simr to reiryoku(Spiritual Power).


    Kisuke discovered that life force was derived from the physical body and everything alive from the surrounding. While reiryoku is derived from the soul body and everything with a soul from the surrounding.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi''s bodies have a life force of course, but they couldn''t really control it and it is rtively unknown to them of how they can use or take advantage of the life force.


    However, a new door opened for them when Koneko showed them how her body can naturally manipte life force.


    Kisuke hypothesized that maybe it''s due to her race being a nekomata and have a natural attunement to life force like how soul reapers like him and Yoruichi were attuned to reiryoku naturally. But then again, further research is needed.


    That didn''t stop Yoruichi from developing Shinigami Arts based on life force though and she manages to make a sh Step based on it.


    Only Koneko can use it currently as Kisuke and Yoruichi''s power source is still the mana-soul hybrid. They nned to change it to life-soul hybrid as it looks like morepatible with their skill sets due to the simr properties of both life force and reiryoku. Although they wouldn''t entirely discard mana as magic is a very versatile skill to use.


    Koneko''s sh Step is more or less has the same effectiveness as the magic counterpart. But do take note that this Magic based sh Step was developed and perfected over the years by both Yoruichi and Kisuke. Senjutsu based sh Step, however, only had less than two weeks of development time and only in its initial state.


    Even after taking into consideration the experience of both the former Soul Reapers in converting the skill, it''s still incredibly fast due to itspatibility with the energy source.


    Kisuke is also developing a training regiment for both him and Yoruichi to use Senjutsu in preparation to switch life-soul power. He also started redeveloping Kidou to amodate the change.


    If someone were to know what they are nning to do, they might say that they just wasted a few years of their life by discarding their current power and developing a new one. What''s important for both Yoruichi and Kisuke isn''t the time as they are destined to live a long life and just a few years are incredibly cheap to them, but potential. The potential height that they could reach increased significantly by only sacrificing a few years of hard work.


    Kisuke''s mother, Sakura, also returned a few days ago. She was obviously shocked when she heard and saw that Koneko, a cute high school girl, is living with her son.


    Sakura looked at her son weirdly and said, "I just left for a few weeks and your strike zone broadens. You even brought her home to live with you. You didn''t kidnap her, did you? Let''s return her, okay? I''ll apologize together with you and maybe they won''t put you to jail."


    Kisuke, of course, had to frantically exin it to her before she can calm down. While this is all happening, Koneko who is sitting beside him all this time is trying to stop herugh causing her body to tremble, which in turn, worsen the misunderstanding.


    After an hour of ''war'' with her mother, she finally epted his exnation, "So you''re Misha-san''s granddaughter. You''re also very quiet like her, did you inherit that?"


    "That''s rude, mom."


    Misha is the granny Gigai with a basic mod soul that tends the store when Kisuke is not around. Misha supposedly didn''t feel well in just sitting around and was asked to manage the store.


    And like that, the issue was resolved, except for Sakura suggesting to Koneko to be her daughter-inw every now and then.


    Kisuke looked at his mom carefully and sigh. There are also mysteries regarding her mother. Sakura has a faint trace of demonic power. It''s not a result of a spell as he already checked it. It''sing from her body, more specifically, her heritage.


    He also checked his body multiple times for a trace of demonic power but didn''t find any. He is sure that they are biological mother and son so Kisuke thinks that the blood of a devil entirely disappeared in his generation. He also doesn''t know who is his father, but he didn''t confront her about it as he didn''t really care about it.


    Kisuke also wanted to cast some protective spells for his mother but decided against it as it might just draw more attention to her.


    Late at night. Sakura is already asleep and she together with Koneko. Sakura decided that she should sleep with her in her room so the two of them could have a girl''s night.


    Yoruichi entered Kisuke''s room through the window in her cat form.


    "How is it?" Kisuke asked while he''sying on his bed.


    Yoruichi jumped down to his chest and yawned before giving her report, "Several crows and few bats."


    Yoruichi stretched her paws before continuing, "It''s still the same group of crows that killed Issei. As for the bats, they''re neers. When one of them used magic, I saw the insignia of the Astaroth Family."


    "Astaroth? What are they doing here?" Kisuke looked at Yoruichi.


    "They seem to be watching the movements of the group of stray exorcist under the crows."


    "The Gremorys'' can probably deal with them. How about those fuzzy presences?"


    Yoruichi furrowed her face in contemtion, " I''m not sure. If not for our ability to sense the soul directly I might not be able to notice them. If I were to base it on physical features and aura, they seem to be Grim Reapers."


    "Grim Reapers? And you almost missed them? Now that''s interesting. Let''s go on a night date tomorrow." Kisuke patted Yoruichi''s head.

 Volume 2 35 - The Church

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 35 - The Church</h4>


    Next day evening.


    A ck figure is shing in and out of existence, jumping from one ce to another.


    This figure is Kisuke wearing a ck-colored aura-concealing cloak. Under his hood was Yoruichi in her cat form scanning the area.


    The two felt a fluctuation of auras at the distance and Kisuke decided to take a look.


    Theynded on a tree branch near the abandoned church of the Kuoh Town and took a look inside.


    There they saw Koneko, Issei, and Rias'' Knight, Yuuto Kiba simultaneously attacking an exorcist with a gun and de made out of light.


    "The sh*tty priest!" Issei shouted at the appearance of the exorcist.


    "Up until now, I never had the pleasure of meeting the same devil twice! I''m super strong, so I usually just chop their heads off as soon as I see them!" The exorcist mouthed unceasingly.


    "But you lot have broken my pretty record and that ain''t good. You''ll pay for it by letting chop your bodies into pieces. That way I''ll have peace of mind." The crazy exorcist continued.


    "This guy is crazy," Isseimented.


    "That much is obvious from the start." Yuuto readied his sword.


    "You sh*tty lot came to save Asia-tan? I should have yed with that bitch before. Too bad its toote now." The exorcist sported a crazy smile.


    "You bastard! Where is she!?" On Issei''s arm, a red gauntlet with a green gem in the middle suddenly appeared.


    "Hmm? There is a staircase under that altar that leads to the ritual site." He answered honestly.


    "Y-you actually answered?" Issei''s mouth is twitching.


    "Huuunh??? That ''cos you lot are goin'' to die ''ere~~~.!" He started firing his gun in rapid session.


    Issei frantically dodges the bullets while Yuuto shed swords with him and Koneko just throwing stuff from the distance clearly holding back.


    "Bastards!" He kicked Yuuto away when he got a chance and aimed his gun at him, "Dance! Dance! Dance! HAHAHAHA!"


    Koneko stopped throwing things at him and run in front of Yuuto to block the bullets. The bullets destroyed parts of her clothes and the final bullet in his magazine hit her forehead leaving a red scratch.


    "Koneko-chan!? Are you okay!?" Issei shouted from the side still charging his sacred gear.


    "That hurt a little" Koneko said still in her usual deadpan expression.


    "Hyahaha, You might be tiny, but you''re tough." The exorcist was not scared of her intense defense.


    "��Tiny." Koneko touched her modest chest.


    Koneko suddenly disappeared from her spot and appeared in front of the exorcist sending a punch to his gut.


    "Wh-- Gehooo!" His eyes widened in shock of the unexpected speed.


    "W-what!? Oi Kiba, I thought Koneko-chan''s a Rook. Why is she as fast as you?" Issei was also shocked.


    "T-that''s�� She already mastered it? And


    He kneeled in pain and started salivating. He looked up and saw Koneko looking down on him with cold eyes, " Ah��" He knew that he was f***ed.


    Koneko started pummeling him like she''s letting out all her frustrations.


    Both Issei and Yuuto were speechless. They looked at each other in cold sweat and had a mutual understanding to never call Koneko ''tiny'' or anything synonymous to it.


    "It seems that Koneko won''t be finishing anytime soon, let''s go and save Asia-san," Yuuto suggested. He didn''t want to look at the brutal beating.


    "Right, let''s hurry." Issei has the same opinion.


    They headed to the altar and moved it to the side. They saw a staircase going down just like the stray exorcist said. They gave Koneko a final look who is still pummeling the poor exorcist and went through the staircase.


    After a few minutes, Koneko finally stopped and wiped her nonexistent sweat and let out a sigh of satisfaction.


    Kisuke who is watching all this while is also drenched in cold sweat after looking at the poor exorcist who is bruised all over and his manhoodpletely.


    "Say, Yoruichi," Kisuke spoke to the cat on his shoulder.


    "Hmm?" The cat is also watching in satisfaction at her student''s actions but didn''t give her full points because she didn''t kill the exorcist.


    "She wouldn''t do that to me of she got stronger than me, right?"


    "Who knows."


    ''Yosh, I''ll never let her be stronger than me!'' Kisuke made a weird promise to himself. Of course, he never thought of impending her progress.


    "They''ll be fine here. Let''s take a look at those two who seems about to get killed." Kisuke changed the topic and looked at a certain direction.


    Kisuke used magic simr to irvoyance to view what''s happening at the Gremory King and Queen. He saw them on the ground with tattered clothes trying to stand up.


    In the air in front of them is a fallen angel with ck hair and four pairs of wings signifying his strength as a vice-cadre level.


    The fallen angel is looking at the two beauties full of lust and is about to pounce on them. The two beauties were not scared an intended to end their selves with him if it really came to it making the naughty fallen angel stop on his tracks and hesitate.


    "What are you going to do?" Yoruichi asked Kisuke.


    "Help them of course. They are still Koneko-chan and Issei-kun''srades and their camaraderie are still one of the best I have seen." Kisuke replied.


    "How are you going to do that? Are you going to reveal yourself?" Yoruichi asked again.


    "I''ll just snipe him from here. I don''t care about the devils lurking around, but I still can''t pinpoint the exact location of those Grim Reapers." Kisuke gave Yoruichi a grin.


    "Right, I''m sure that they are watching all of this but I also can''t pinpoint their exact location. Maybe they''ll reveal their selves if something unexpected happens. Go and do it. Make it shy, it''s going to be fun." Yoruichi is patting Kisuke''s face to urge him.


    "You look like a cat who found a rat to chase. Haah, whatever. I''m going around." Kisuke used sh Step to go to another direction to avoid the town getting destroyed in his attack.


    He stopped at a certain spot 300 meters away from Rias, Akeno and the fallen angel. The fallen angel looks like he can''t wait any longer and was about to dive. Rias and Akeno amassed all of their demonic power for an all-out attack.


    Kisuke pointed his right palm at their direction and muttered, "Hadou No.88 Hiryuu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)."


    A beam of blue light with streaks of lightning more than five meters in diameter appeared in front of his palm like a giganticser beam sweeps across the sky and hit the fallen angel vaporizing him along with the beam''s path two kilometers long from Kisuke''s position.

 Volume 2 36 - Fallen Angels vs Gremorys

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 36 - Fallen Angels vs Gremorys''</h4>


    More than a quarter of an hour ago.


    Rias and Akeno teleported near the church and started walking towards it.


    "Look who''s here."


    A fallen angel blocked their way by jumping down from a nearby tree branch.


    The one who spoke up was a girl with blonde hair styled into twintails and blue eyes. She wore a Gothic Lolita attire, which consisted of a ck Lolita dress with white frills, arge ck bow on the front, and a green jewel embedded in the cor, white thigh-high socks, and ck shoes. She also wore arge ck bow on top of her hair.


    Rias and Akeno stopped and looked at her.


    She stood up and said, "People call me the fallen angel Mittelt! And I''m the most awesome angel in existence."


    "Oh my, how courteous of you. But aren''t you a bit into it?" Akeno smiled and said.


    "My servants sensed your presence. You must be scared of us being on the move." Rias followed up.


    "Nope, not at all." Sheughed, "It''s just that we don''t want devils interrupting our important ritual."


    "Well, we''re sorry about that. Our cheerful kids just went there." Akeno snickered at her.


    "Wait, what!? Are you freaking serious?"


    "Fufufu. Yes! Boldly through the front gate."


    "Damn it! I figured you''d be sneaking in from the back!" Mittelt repeatedly stomps her foot on the ground in frustration.


    After a few seconds, she stopped and calmed down by letting out a sigh, "Well, how manyckeys you bring doesn''t really matter anyway. It won''t be a problem. After all, you two are the only ones who actually stand a chance of interrupting us. Thanks foring all the way out here!"


    "It doesn''t matter. I''m not going to join them." Rias replied.


    "Oh wait, you''re abandoning them?" Mittelt looked at them stupefied.


    Before Rias and Akeno could answer her, two other fallen angelnded near Mittelt.


    "Hooh, what do we have here?" Dohnaseek, who Rias, Akeno, and Koneko met before when he tried to kill Issei as he thought he was a stray devil, muttered.


    Dohnaseek was a middle-aged-looking man with short ck hair and dark blue eyes. His attire consisted of a pale gray trench coat over a white dress shirt with a matching ascot, ck pants and shoes, a pair of ck gloves, and a ck fedora.


    "You want to interrupt Reynare-sama''s ritual? I''ll have to kill you both here. " Kwarner, thest of the fallen angels spoke up.


    Kwarner was a tall and buxom woman with brown eyes and long, navy blue hair that obscured her right eye. Her attire consisted of a maroon, trenchcoat-like top with a wide cor, a matching miniskirt, and ck heeled shoes. The trenchcoat top was open at her chest, giving a view to her breasts and cleavage. She also wore a gold ne around her neck. She appears to wear a white shirt underneath her top, but it can only be seen from the bottom.


    "Akeno." Rias calmly called out to her Queen.


    "Yes, Buchou." Akeno separated from Rias and raise her arm.


    Akeno''s demonic power surges up and her school uniform suddenly transforms into a traditional Miko attire, consisting of a white hair with red ents, a red hakama, and a pair of z��ri with white tabi.


    "Dammit! Why is a devil like you have a transformation scene!?" Mittelt couldn''t help but say.


    Akeno didn''t reply but spread her arms out and multiple magic circles appeared in the surrounding essentially sealing off the space around them.


    "Hey, aren''t we screwed?" Mittelt looked around in slight panic.


    "So this is what you nned from the start." Kwarner materialized a spear of light and aimed it to Akeno.


    "Ahh~. Don''t disappoint me you lot. I hope you can take a lot of pain" Akeno smiled seductively.


    "Hmmph, the stupid devil. This will only work if you can take all of us at the same time. And besides, the ritual is almost over and even youdy Gremory wouldn''t stand a chance against us." Dohnaseek sneered at the two devils. and started throwing spear of lights to both of them.


    "Haha, damn right." Mittelt managed to regain her calm.


    "I see, so your aim is that nun''s sacred gear," Riasmented.


    They threw a volley of spears at them and Akeno raised a magic circle as a shield to protect Rias.


    "Not bad! That shield is pretty strong to block spears of light. Pretty good for a devil." Mittelt nonchntly said.


    "But I wonder how long it is going tost." Kwarner threw another spear and two followed suit.


    "Sealing this space and putting up a shield, not a very good n." Dohnaseek gives them another sneer.


    The two just stayed silent not hearing any of their provocations.


    "Hey how about you leave and will let you go~. Just kidding. You''re apanying us here until everything is over. We''ll also turn you two into powder afterward. Hahaha. Your servants should be ck and blue now.


    "Especially the perverted kid that fell in love with Reynare-neesama! I''m sure he''s long been��."


    "Don''t underestimate Issei. He''s my strongest pawn, after all." Rias finally interrupted her annoying monologue.


    "''Pawn''? Oh right, you depict your servants as chess pieces. Pawns are the ones lining up on the front, aren''t they?" Mittelt continued on grumbling and throwing spears.


    "So, they''re basically sacrificialmbs," Kwarnermented from the side.


    "Oh my, our club president would never sacrifice any pieces!" Akeno has some bead of sweats running through her neck as she blocks their attacks. But theirst attack finally broke through her shield and she was thrown a few feet away from Rias.


    "You seem to be thinking that kid''s so capable, but he doesn''t stand a chance against


    Reynare-sama, no matter how good he is." Dohnaseek threw another line.


    "She''s his ex-girlfriend, after all!" Mittelt is already snickering as if she remembered something funny, "Reynare-sama told us about what she did to him. It was hrious!"


    Rias aura suddenly changed but the three fallen angels didn''t notice it.


    "Don''t go there, Mittelt. Just thinking about it makes meugh out loud!" Dohnaseek also started snickering.


    And Kwarner is also the same, "Well, I have to admit it was really funny!"


    They, at the same time, threw their strengthened spear of lights to kill Rias who is already defenseless.


    "Buchou! Watch out!" Akeno warned her master.


    But before the spearsnded on her, a surge of powerful demonic energy came out of her and destroyed all the spears.


    "It bounced off her?!" Kwarner was angst, especially from the terrifying energying off her. The two fallen angels also finally felt dread.


    "You made fun of my servant." Rias'' demonic powers, nowced with destruction element, surges up one more time.


    "Oh my, you shouldn''t have made her upset. You did a good job taunting her, you silly angels." Akenomented.


    Rias sent a wave of her Destruction power to all of them and they instantly disappeared from the face of the earth not even uttering a cry of grief.


    "Let''s go, Akeno. We shouldn''t let them wait." Rias dusted herself and started walking towards the church.


    "Yes, Buch--"


    "Now, now. Look at what you have done to my precious little pets." Akeno was interrupted by a sudden intruder and a sinister aura engulf them.

 Volume 2 37 - Half-Fallen Angle-Half-Devil

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 37 - Half-Fallen Angle-Half-Devil</h4>


    "Who are you?" Rias turned around and looked at him with a serious expression. The sinister aura he is emitting is giving them some dread.


    The is man is about 6 feet tall. He has blonde hair with streaks of purple and sharp red-blood eyes. This man is quite handsome if not for his smile full of malice, disdain, and lust.


    Upon closer inspection, they can feel both the aura of a devil and a fallen angel which gives Akeno quite a shock as it reminded her of her own heritage.


    The man saw her reaction andughed, "Hahaha, Don''t put me on the level as you, b*tch. I''m not a lowly reincarnated devil, spawn of Barakiel." He then spread four pairs of wings, half-devil and a half-fallen angel, "I''m a child from a high-ss devil and a cadre level fallen angel! Though I can''t really introduce them to you as I already have eaten both of them! Hyahahahaha."


    Hearing his story and seeing his crazed look gave Rias and Akeno another wave of dread.


    "Hahh!!!" Rias charged her demonic power and immediately attack the crazy angel. She didn''t want to hear more wordsing from him.


    "Lightning!" Akeno also did the same. She''s very pissed when he mentioned the name ''Barakiel''.


    "How rude!" He scowled at them and deflected their attacks with his bare hands leaving only a shallow cut to his skin, "Haahhh!?" He saw a small trace of blood from his hands and looked at the two of them with greater maliciousness.


    He snapped his fingers and a ball of light suddenly materialized in the middle of Rias and Akeno, "Ahhhh!" They called in grief as the ball of light suddenly exploded sending both of them away leaving them with multiple wounds and tattered clothes.


    "Oops, not good, not good. I can''t kill you both just yet." He took back his hands and said.


    "Can''t kill? Why?" Rias is trying to stand up.


    "Huh? Isn''t that obvious? I''ll take both of you as my meat ve." He took the air and dered like it was the most obvious thing to do.


    "M-meat ve!?" Both Rias and Akeno were stunned.


    "You see, that bastard Rizevim told me to look for an unusual individual." He suddenly started exining himself which made Rias and Akeno unable to respond.


    "And you know what description he gave me of this guy he''s looking for!? Annoying! Just annoying! How am I supposed to find this ''annoying'' guy!?" They can feel his frustration as he said those things.


    For a moment, a certain figure shed inside Akeno''s mind but brushed it off since that would be impossible. Why would someone send an almost cadre level angel to chase after some annoying human?


    "But he''s a lot stronger than me so I had to follow his order. I looked everywhere and didn''t find this guy which frustrates me to no end. Finally, fortune smiled at me and saw the two of you. The sister of the current Satan and the daughter of my former boss." When he reached this part, he licked his lips in delight.


    These actions of him gave the two beauties another chill in their spine and they had a horrible premonition.


    "How nice it would be to f*ck both of you silly in front of a Satan and my former boss. Hahahaha!" His craze demeanor disgusts the two but his threat is very real.


    "Rias. I''ll take him down with me. Run away if found an opening." Akeno''s aura surges. She is ready to self-destruct for her master and best friend to have a chance to escape.


    "That won''t do, Akeno. We''re together in this. I won''t leave you behind." Rias also resolved herself.


    "Rias---!!!" Akeno saw Rias'' determined expression and stopped herself from speaking.


    "I''d rather die than be that guy''s ything." Rias continued and her aura also surges up. Both she and Akeno are pooling everything they have to destroy the enemy.


    More notably is Rias. She pooling an insane amount of power of destruction which scared even the half-fallen angel-half devil.


    "W-wait, we can talk this out. Just have a one night stand with me and I''ll let the two of you go. Let''s have a deal, alright?" His words only infuriate the two of then and gathered power faster.


    "Fine. Before I die, I''ll first obliterate that annoying church." His words stunned the two and the energy they gathered faltered.


    The bastard used this opening to charge at them and disable them.


    But before he could dive, a horizontal pir of light that came from the town''s direction suddenly engulf and vaporize him along with the path the light took.


    Rias and Akeno were stunned yet again, but this time, only with pure astonishment devoid of any dread they felt.


    "W-what�� What was that!?" Akeno spoke up first and slowly stood up.


    "Akeno! Find where that attack came from!" Rias also stood up and suddenly ordered.


    "Y-yes Buchou." Akeno hurriedly took the air and flew towards the origin of that beam, but after a few minutes of looking, she found nothing significant.


    She looked at the distance and measured the ''line'' the beam drew, "About 2 kilometers huh, really, what the hell was that." She then returned to Rias reporting her findings.


    "What the hell is up with this town? We''ve been only here for two years yet strange events kept happening." Rias rubbed her forehead while Akeno fixes their clothes and healing their wounds.


    "Fufufu, we should be thankful that someone or something saved as from earlier." Akenoughed as she continues her work.


    "That''s obvious, but I''ll have to report this to Nii-sama. That beam instantly vaporized that bastard where we can only scratch him with our attacks. We don''t know how strong is that exactly but Nii-sama should be able to estimate it based on our ounts. We''ll have to coborate with Sona tounch another investigation in the whole town. So many things are happening without our knowledge, and that is fatal. Let''s go, Akeno. We can''t keep them waiting and we''ll have to wee a new member. Rias resumed walking towards the church after Akeno finished fixing her clothes.


    Akeno silently followed him still thinking of the events earlier and how they manage to get away from the worst crisis of their life yet.

 Volume 2 38 - The Grim Reapers

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 38 - The Grim Reapers</h4>


    "How was that? shy, right?" Kisuke wore a grin.


    "I''ll give it an 8/10." Yoruichi pped his face with her paw.


    "8/10? I didn''t a perfect score? Not even a 9/10? Why?" Kisuke is quite confused at her score.


    "You should''ve grazed them and burn some of their hair." Yoruichi looked at him seriously.


    "Hahahaha, you''re still pissed that they bugged every nook and cranny of our ce?"


    "I know that what they did is for Koneko-chan, but I''m still pissed. What are you going to do about it?"


    "I''ll pat you until you''re satisfied." Kisuke pats Yoruichi''s head with asional brushing to the side.


    "Not enough."


    "Then let me buy all your favorite food. Within the budget, mind you."


    "Fine, but let start chasing those rats. Your disy earlier startled them and they started moving."


    "Roger that. I''ll leave it to you to disable them. Be careful though, we know almost nothing about them and don''t touch those helmets. It doesn''t give me a good feeling."


    "Got it."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi tailed them silently for a while curious of where they are going.


    There are two Grim Reapers and they have contrasting build making differentiating the two easy. It took them half an hour to go to arge prairie outside of the town.


    The cloaked Grim Reapers finally stopped and therge guy looked around, making sure that no one followed them.


    "You''re too nervous, newbie." The small guy removed his hood and revealed his young appearance and a strange tattoo on his face, but Kisuke and Yoruichi knew that appearance means nothing for the long-lived races. He is also wearing a ck form-fitting helmet.


    Design-wise, it doesn''t really do its job to protect the head, but Kisuke and Yoruichi noticed that this thin helmet somehow blocks and stops the surrounding from recognizing its wearer.


    Therge guy also removed his hood and his appearance is like that of a war veteran., but his body is trembling like a newborn. He also wears a simr helmet as the small guy, "But Senpai, we were openly spying them. I can''t really rx, even more so after that ridiculous beam came out of nowhere."


    "You don''t have to worry so much, with Hades-sama''s newest invention, the imitation of [Hades'' Helmet], even though it can''t hide the wearer''s existence like the original, it is enough to hide even from those devil kings in in sight. Although that beam really came out of nowhere. We couldn''t even find its source. We have to report this to Hades-sama and see if it''s rted to our second mission." The small Grim Reaper patted the back of therger one in an attempt tofort him.


    "But there should be something or someone who these helmets can hide from, right?" Therge man calmed down and asked.


    "Well of course. God or Goddesses with special eyes or irvoyance abilities, mythical beings like the Ouroboros Dragon and Great Red, and maybe that Ajuka Beelzebub, from what I heard, if you stayed long enough in his presence." The smaller guy thought for a moment and replied.


    "That''s scary!!! If we encounter any of those, we''ll die instantly!" Therge baby is about to fall on his butt.


    "Damn you! Stop shouting to my ears! And stop being scared! We won''t encounter any of those guys in our mission." The small guy used his pinky to scrape the inside of his left ear.


    "I''m sorry senpai. But I''ve been scared ever since you recruited me. I was shocked you know, I thought you really died a few years ago." The big guy scratched his head in embarrassment.


    "I already told you, us, the Special Operatives answers directly to Hades-sama. But for us to join, we have to disappear from the world, so we have to ''die'' and never remove this helmet our entire lives. For Hades-sama''s ambitions." When the small guy uttered his final sentence, there is a crazed glint in his eyes.


    "Mmh, For Hades-sama''s ambitions!" The other one nodded and said also with a crazed expression.


    "Now then, I''ll send my report to Hades-sama. Give me a moment." The small guy returned to his usual demeanor and formed a magic circle in his hand.


    But before that magic circle able to send information, they heard a voice behind them.


    "ck Silence." A ck cube instantly encapstes them.


    The Grim Reapers found themselves in a lightless world and they panicked. But before they could do anything significant, both of them felt a fingertipnded on their foreheads, after that, a sh of lightning traveled from those fingertips through their heads robbing them of their consciousness.


    They fell down at the same time and the ck world vanished.


    That Kidou is an original of Kisuke based on Hadou no.90 Kurohitsugi(ck Coffin). Instead of impaling the enemy after trapping them, this Kidou enhances it''s trapping abilities to the point of no information cane in or out, hence, the ''ck Silence''. It''s very useful to momentarily block those insides from using any form ofmunication to outside.


    "Why are you trying to fry their brains? Wouldn''t their usefulness decrease if they''re brain-dead?" Kisukemented behind Yoruichi who is looking at the two twitching unconscious individuals.


    "It''s fine. I learned how to precisely control my power. They''re only unconscious and maybe in a bit of a pain after they woke up." Yoruichi gave him a bright smile.


    "As violent as ever, I see." Kisuke returned a grin.


    "So, what are going to do with them?" Yoruichi stretched her body since it''s been a while she was in her human form.


    "We''ll take them to the training ground. They don''t look like they have any good intentions. I''ll leave their interrogation to you as you''re more adept at it." Kisuke approached the Grim Reapers and stared sealing all of their senses by inserting his own energy to block neural activities.


    "Anything goes?" Yoruichi wants to confirm.


    "Anything is fine as long as they''re alive." Kisuke stood up and carried therger guy over his shoulder.


    "Alright." Yoruichi approached the smaller guy and also carried him on her shoulder.


    The two of them, along with the Grim Reapers disappeared from their spot, leaving nothing behind except for the disturbed winds of the prairie.

 Volume 2 39 - Sakura Urahara

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 39 - Sakura Urahara</h4>


    Back at the training ground on the same day.


    The two unconscious Grim Reapers are sitting side by side on a wooden chair and their limbs were tied to armrest and leg with some kind of metal bindings that Kisuke made.


    A few momentster both of them woke up at the same time and found themselves tied and looked around. They saw the surrounding rocky terrain and arge wall at the distance. Looking around some more, they knew that they were in a very big room due to the walls and ceiling.


    "S-senpai, are you awake?" Therge man started fidgetting trying to untie himself. He thought that the one who tied them up this way is pretty stupid, a simple chair can easily break just from surging their aura. But he was shocked that he can''t channel any of his strength. He looked at his bindings and notice that the moment they move, the little things instantly disperse any umted strength and energy.


    "Yes, I am, Bors." The small guy also tried the same and dispirited when they realize their situation.


    "Mir-senpai, who could have captured us?" The big guy named Bors asked his senpai again. He hadn''t stopped trying to escape but all he could do is to rattle the chair a little bit.


    "I don''t know. One thing is for sure though, he can detect us." Mir also tried channeling his magic to make a contact to anyone but still failed.


    "God level!? Aren''t we screwed!?" Bors stopped moving and shouted to his partner.


    "Damn right! He''ll probably interrogate uster so swear on Hades-sama''s name that you won''t reveal anything! Also, we failed sending our report on time so a rescue team is surely already on their way to us. Hold on until then." Mir warned hispanion on the uing situation.


    "Yes! Senpai. For Hades-sama!" Bors gives Mir arge grin and renewed his resolve.


    "Good," Mir replied lightly


    A few more minutes had passed, they didn''t speak any longer and they already tried everything they could think of to escape but none work due to the detestable bindings.


    When they gave up escaping and just silently waiting for the capturers, the voice of a man resounded behind them apanied by the sound of wooden sandals stepping, "Not gonna talk any longer? That''s a shame. I thought that the two of you would like to brag everything about yourselves. I guess I was wrong."


    He slowly walks to their front and saw him. A tall, lean man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is messy and light-blond, with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes. He wears a dark green Shihakush�� without an undershirt. Over this, he wears a ck haori, which sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half. On his head is a striped dark green and white bucket hat that shadows his eyes. He is also holding a white fan over his face but they could tell that he was smiling.


    Mir was silently inspecting this man and was shocked to the core, "W-How!? A human!? How are you able to detect us!?"


    "This guy is a human!? Not a hybrid? but pure human!?" Bors also reacted the same. He couldn''t believe what is he seeing as humans are the most basic and weakest species. Although there are exceptions, most of them are historical figures and Longinus users.


    "Don''t doubt my race now. I''m a bonafide human." Kisuke yfully pouted at them which made them think that he''s mocking them and being sarcastic.


    Mir wanted to say something but stop, and contemted for a bit and looked at Kisuke seriously, ''Is he the one we''re looking for?''


    This reaction didn''t escape Kisuke''s perception and started guessing what that reaction means.


    "This may be a bit sudden, but could you please answer a few of my questions? I''ll let you go afterwards." Kisuke continued observing their reactions to glean more clues about them.


    "You won''t get anything from us even if you torture us!" Bors growled at Kisuke threatening to bite him to death if he everes close to them.


    "My, how scary. Although I already got some pieces of information from you two before we even capture you. Like how this Hades guy needs ''dead'' minions and sending them out to stalk some young devils." Kisuke is trying to provoke them into speaking more but they stayed silent.


    "Hmm, continuing like this is unproductive. Yoruichi, your cue." Kisuke gave up and called his partner.


    "You gave up too fast." A beauty with dark skin, ck ponytailed hair and golden eyes wearing only clothing akin to a swimsuit suddenly appeared besides Kisuke which startled the two Grim Reapers, though the already resolve themselves to stay silent until their reinforcements arrive and didn''t say anything to react.


    "There is no point of wasting my effort asking them nicely so I''m leaving it to you," Kisuke answered her and folded his fan.


    "Alright. Leave it to me. Are you going to watch?" Yoruichi cracked her knuckles and reviewed what she had learned in her past life on how to interrogate someone effectively, also adding her umted knowledge in this world.


    "Nope, I''m going up and leave everything to you here. I still need to check on some things, and Koneko might get worried if both of us disappear for the night." Kisuke turned around and started walking away.


    "Prepare a good breakfast for me, I''ll probably take the whole night to crack their brain open." On Yoruichi''s hand were small lightning shing around giving of static sounds.


    "Got it. Be sure to leave them alive and don''t ever touch their helmets." Kisuke only waved his hand back and didn''t stop walking leaving only a warning and the sounds of his wooden sandals echoing.


    "I won''t. My instincts are also telling me to be careful of those." Yoruichi only muttered looking at his departing back, "Yosh, I won''t let you sleep tonight." She returned her attention to the silent duo but fear is prevalent in the eyes, but underneath those are their crazy resolution.


    "Let''s see how much you can take before opening up to me." Yoruichi gave them arge grin.


    His mother, Sakura, is also beside her sitting on the couch doing the same thing as Koneko. They are quite focused on the show which features a panda.


    They saw Kisuke entered the living room and greeted him, "You''rete sweety. Where did you go?", "Good evening, senpai."


    "I just walked around to get some fresh air and rx," Kisuke answered his mother with a smile and directly went to the fridge in the kitchen to get some drink. He also nodded back to Koneko.


    "Hmmm, you aren''t peeking on our neighbors bathing right?" Sakura looked at him with squinted eyes.


    Kisuke''s smile froze and his movements stopped, "Of course not. What I did when I was a kid, I won''t do it again." He remembered when he is only starting to practice sh Step but failed on his first attempts, and one of those attempts sent him to the bathroom of a neighbor where ady is having a good soak. He couldn''t exin himself back then and only epted the me. What else he could say in that situation?


    "What did he do, aunty?" Koneko stopped eating and asked Sakura.


    "When he was seven years old,te at night, he barges into the neighbor''s bathroom while Mira-san is taking a bath," Sakura answered Koneko''s question while still looking at his son. ''Why did he grew up to be such a pervert?''


    Koneko gave him a disgusted looked and said, "So you started young senpai. As expected of you."


    "Ahem, that was just an ident and didn''t want that to happen, but nobody believed me." Kisuke tried to defend himself.


    "The way you act, no one would believe you." His mother didn''t help him.


    Kisuke couldn''t say anything else and just got a juice from the fridge and walked back to the living room to sit beside them and also watch the television. The two didn''t tease him any further and also watched the show which is now featuring a pr bear.


    Kisuke didn''t stay silent for long and asked Koneko, "Ah, Koneko-chan, did you finish your business?"


    "Mmmh, although there are some mishaps, it is overall good." Koneko nodded and replied.


    "Hmm? Mishaps? Are you alright?" Sakura is the one who asked Koneko.


    "It''s nothing big, aunty. No one was hurt and I have a new friend." Koneko replied while she continues to eat her snack.


    "Is that so? Good for you then." Sakura patted Koneko''s head and smiled at her. Koneko liked it a lot, but if she were to be asked who''s pat is the best, she wouldn''t answer but her choice would be Kisuke because he is oddly used to it and is very skilled at it.


    Sakura saw that the show was over and urge the two, "Alright you two, time for the bed. You still have sses tomorrow. Brush your teeth before you go up."


    Sakura stood up and turned off the Television and gathered the tes and sses and carried them to the kitchen sink. Kisuke and Koneko followed her instructions and brushed their teeth before going up.


    "Goodnight, mom," Kisuke said before he went up.


    "Goodnight, aunty." Koneko did the same.


    "Goodnight you two," Sakura smiled at them and replied.


    She watched them go up and washed the dishes on the sink. After doing so, she sat on the porch with a ss of water in her hand and looked up at the stars.


    ''Something big happened tonight, the atmosphere was greatly disturbed. Probably something rted to Koneko since she is a devil and went out tonight.'' She drank her ss of water and continued contemting.


    ''I only know that the Gremory heiress, Sitri heiress, and their respective peerages entered the town a few years after big sis Cleria died. Koneko is probably one of its members. Although I don''t know how my son got close and know a devil. But she seems a good kid so that''s fine.


    ''I''m sure that my son is a pure human since I used my power of ''worthlessness'' to remove every bit of demonic blood on him when I was pregnant. But somehow, he attained power and I also don''t know how much. His perception is also very great if not for my power to hide my demonic energy, he''ll probably notice that I''m a half-devil.''


    ''Will he continue interacting with other supernaturals? I even left my family for my husband and gave birth to Kisuke as a human, but I guess that isn''t enough to live a normal life. Fate is really such a mysterious thing.


    ''My husband is already gone, I don''t want to lose even my son. I''ll everything to help him if he ever finds himself in danger, even if it means returning to my n.


    ''I need to get in touch more on to what''s happening in this town without revealing myself. The one who killed big sis Cleria is still atrge, I have to be careful.


    ''If only I told big sis Cleria that I was hiding in her town all along, maybe I could have helped her. Haaah, regretting now won''t do me any good. I have to focus on my son''s safety, also Koneko-chan''s while I''m at it.


    ''The next thing that is bothering me is�� Right! That ck cat that Kisuke adopted years ago. It''s giving me a weird feeling. Is it rted to Kisuke gaining power? I guess I have to add that to the list of what I have to investigate. And also that Misha-san, the aura she is emitting is of human, but I can''t think of her being one. Where did Kisuke found her?''


    Sakura entered the house and closed the door on the porch. She washed for a bit and went up to her room. When she opened the door, she saw Koneko, who is in her pajamas, already asleep on the side of the bed. She went up andy down and reached Koneko to fix the nket on her and then proceeded to hug her.


    ''I hope that peacests a little longer.''


    .


    .


    .


    A bright sunny day.


    Kisuke felt someone is tapping his face. He opened his eyes and saw a ck cat with golden eyes overlooking him, "*Yawn* Good morning Yoruichi." He sat up and stretched his body.


    "Good morning, *Yawn*" Yoruichi greeted him back, but it''s her turn to yawn and feels sleepy.


    Both of them don''t really need to sleep every day, but they kept the habit to keep the mental stress in check.


    "You really didn''t stop the whole night?" Kisuke stood up and scratched his head while looking and asking Yoruichi. ''I feel sorry for them.''


    "I already told you." Yoruichi stretched her body getting ready to sleep.


    "How did it go then?" Kisuke walked to his closet and started preparing the school uniform that he would use today.


    "They''re a tough nut to crack�� No, more like they are a crazy believer from a cult. Even if I cut off their limbs and overload their pain receptors they don''t speak. I gave up when they''re almost dead. I sealed all of their cognitive functions and left them there. If I don''t do that much, they find every opportunity to kill themselves." Yoruichi talked about some of the methods she employed to make them talk.


    "Is that so? Then I''ll have to use thest resort. Can you prepare the ritual site?" Kisuke is already done preparing and walk back to the bed where Yoruichi is. He already used magic to clean himself but he still wants to take small dips in the water in the early morning.


    "I''ve learned from you, so it should be fine. I''ll contact you if there is a problem." Yoruichi suddenly transformed back to her human form. She is naked, kneeling on the bed with her arm covering her crotch area and emphasizing her breast. She looked up and saw Kisuke already on the side of the bed with his one knee.


    "Got it. Goodnight, Yoruichi." Kisuke approached her without minding her state, on the contrary, he thought that she is very cute right now. He reached out his arm and held her chin lifting her head.


    They looked at each other and Yoruichi muttered while closing her eyes, "Mmmh, Goodnight." Kisuke kissed her lips. They had a short but a hot kiss.


    They separated from each other and smiled. Yoruichi raised the nket and covered herself,ying herself on the bed and closed her eyes with a satisfied smile.


    They always do this whenever Yoruichi pulls an all-nighter and had to sleep when Kisuke wakes up.


    Kisuke looked at her with a gentle smile and patted her head. He then walked out of the room to get himself ready, carrying his change of clothes downstairs.


    When he reached the bathroom he saw the tub already filled with warm water. His mother knew that Kisuke likes taking a dip every morning and always prepares it for him whenever she is around.


    After taking a bath, he dressed in the school uniform and went to the dining table. Koneko is already sitting on a chair while his mother is preparing their lunch boxes.


    "Good morning." Kisuke sat down and started eating his breakfast whichposed of steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, and various side dishes.


    "Morning," Koneko returned his greeting and continued eating her breakfast in great relish.


    "Kisuke, I''ll being homete tonight so take care of your dinnerter." Sakura packed three lunchboxes and set it on the table, "Koneko-chan, give this to your grandma." She pointed to one of the three lunchboxes.


    "Thank you, aunty." Koneko smiled at her caring actions which are still new to her since even if she was adopted by the Gremory n, it is very rare for her to have this kind of ''family'' atmosphere.


    "You''re always wee. Koneko-chan" Sakura smiled back at her.


    She removed her apron and went back to her room to prepare to go to work, leaving only Koneko and Kisuke on the dining table.


    "Ah�� Koneko-chan, we don''t have sses for the afternoon. What are your ns?" Kisuke suddenly asked her as he remembers today''s schedule.


    "I''d like to continue my training with Yoruichi-san. I getting better at controlling my life force and those in my surroundings. I''d also like to practice those life force-based ''Kidous'' you are talking about." Koneko answers as she finishes up her food.


    "About that, we''ll have to cancel it. Yoruichi and I will be busy with something. Also, don''te to the training ground as it might get dangerous. Understand? We''ll just do your training in the evening." Kisuke looked at Koneko seriously and warned her.


    "Dangerous? Will you be alright?" Koneko looked at him worriedly as Kisuke rarely mentions the word ''danger''.


    "We''ll be fine.~ It''s not that big of a deal. I''m just warning you in case something troublesome happens and you wouldn''t be drag along." Kisuke returned to his nonchnt face and patted Koneko''s head.


    "Alright, but please be careful Senpai." Koneko enjoyed her morning pat and stood up carrying the dishes with her to the kitchen.


    "I will. And just a reminder, never practice Kidou alone, as those spells are in the experimental stage and could prove dangerous without supervision." Kisuke also finishes up his food and stood up to follow Koneko to the kitchen with his dishes.


    Koneko nodded at him seriously as she remembered her senpai experimenting with this Kidou only to blow up and those around him. Good thing the training ground is big and sturdy.


    After setting the dishes, both of them went to the living room to get their school bags and went to the front door.


    "Mom! We''re leaving!" Kisuke shouted at the interior of the house.


    "Be careful out there!" Sakura''s voice answered from within.


    They both went out of the door and locked it and started walking to the direction of the school. As Koneko is inherently silent, Kisuke also didn''t say anything else and just enjoyed the morning breeze and some asional stare of envy and jealousy because of him walking the cute ''mascot'' of the academy.


    Halfway through their usual way, Kisuke felt a stare different from others. It is also apanied by a strange aura. He closed his eyes while walking and actively scanned his surroundings.


    On the right side behind them, 75 meters away, there is a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, long ck hair with split bangs, and hazel-gold eyes with cat-like pupils wearing a ck kimono, a yellow obi, a set of golden beads, and an ornately detailed headband. The kimono features a red interior and it is open at her shoulders, giving view to herrge breasts which rival those of Rias and Akeno in terms of size.


    There is also a pair of ck cat ears sticking out of her head and a pair of ck tails sticking out from her behind.


    Her sight alternates between Kisuke and Koneko, but she is looking at them very differently. While she is looking at Koneko lovingly and a trace of longing, she is looking at Kisuke with hostility and a trace of jealousy.


    Kisuke was confused for a moment when he remembered Koneko''s history. A smile bordering snickering appeared on Kisuke''s face. Koneko noticed his expression and asked, "What happened senpai?"


    "Nothing, I just remembered something," Kisuke replied.


    Koneko didn''t ask any longer as she is used to her senpai acting strange sometimes.


    ''So the awkward and clumsy sister finally appeared.'' Kisuke thought.


    "Koneko, good fortune ising to you real soon." Kisuke suddenly said.


    "Haah�� Senpai, are you also doing fortune telling now? Please stop it if it''s only for picking up girls." Koneko looked at him confusedly. She warned him nevertheless.


    Kisuke couldn''t say anything back.

 Volume 2 40 - Hades and...

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 40 - Hades and��</h4>


    Before Kisuke and Koneko reached the school, they encountered Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra on the way.


    "Yo! Good morning Sh*tori-Kaichou and Shinra-Fukukaichou! Nice day today isn''t it?" Kisuke waved his arm when he saw them and greeted them happily and pointlessly energetic.


    "Good morning." Koneko did the same but in a lot less intensity than Kisuke.


    "Good morning to the both of you too. And you''re awfully energetic again Urahara-kun." Sona greeted them back while also giving herments on usual Kisuke''s behavior. Tsubaki just nodded at the two of them and didn''t speak.


    "Well, it''s because I saw our beautiful StuCo President early in the morning and brightens my day.~" Kisuke replied teasingly. He really likes how this girl always keeps up her serious appearance and makes him want to tease her more.


    "W---, Ahem�� Please stop teasing your seniors Urahara-kun." Sona stuttered for a moment but immediately returned to her serious expression and fixed the position of her sses. Looking closely, there is still a faint blush on her face which she can''t cover.


    Kisuke and Koneko noticed this and both shocked, although in different meanings.


    Kisuke only talked to Sona for a few times this past week, but every time they meet, he would try to tease her to break that serious face of hers. And this time, it only took a single sentence to get that reaction from her which pleasantly surprise him, ''So she''s weak withpliments, note taken.''


    Koneko however, thought that this is inconceivable as she is looking at Sona Sitri, heiress of Sitri n and best friend of her master who she knows a lot stricter than her. Sona from her childhood had many pursuers and even had a fiancee one time because of her heritage and she kept receiving praises and tteries from them so she should be immune to such things. But looking at how she reacts when Kisuke teased her, she started to question herself if this is really Sona Sitri in front of her.


    Sona saw Kisuke''s grin and Koneko''s shocked face. She doesn''t know what Kisuke is thinking but she can somehow guess what is Koneko thinking which made her panic a bit, "W-Well then, we have to go or else we''ll bete." She chooses to escape.


    She turned around and walked briskly to the school building. Tsubaki followed her silently, she probably knows what her master is thinking. As if she remembered something, before she could enter the building, she turned around again and looked at Kisuke who is still grinning at her and this face tick her off.


    She approached him again with a renewed serious face and said, "I want a rematchter. Are you free this afternoon?"


    "Rematch?" Kisuke tilted his head in confusion and it suddenly hit him, "Ah�� You''re talking about another chess match? Sure, I don''t mind. But you still haven''t fulfilled your end of the deal."


    "Ughh! Damn it, why did I have to bet on that. I should have just bet something I could buy!" Sona faltered and muttered to herself in frustration.


    Koneko who is listening was confused, "A bet?" She directed this question to Kisuke.


    "Hmm? Ah, you see, Sh*tori-Kaichou here invited me to a chess match and whoever wins will get their proposed bet." Kisuke happily exined.


    Koneko was enlightened and continued to ask, "So, who won and what did you bet?"


    "If she wins, she gets me as her knight. But if I win, I''ll have her apany me in a cosy photoshoot. And just coincidentally, I won." Kisuke exined to Koneko.


    Koneko shuddered when she heard his first sentence, ''A knight? Sona-Kaichou will have an overpowered knight and we can''t hope to defeat him.'' But when she heard the rest of what he had to say, she sighed in relief. And after a few more moments of thinking, she looked at Sona with eyes filled with pity, ''You just had to mess with him.''


    The onlookers who are just coincidentally passing by also reacted, "What? So the rumors of the StuCo President is one of the victims of the final boss of the ''Four Heavenly Perverts'' is true!?"


    Such words started spreading to the surrounding students until almost all who passed by already heard of it.


    Kisuke''s mouth kept twitching as he wants to shout, ''What victim!? It''s a legitimate deal between us!!!'' But spared himself the effort as it''ll just have an opposite effect. ''Anyway, such rumors won''tst long as long as I just leave it be.''


    Sona also heard everything that is going around and she gritted her teeth and looked at Kisuke with hostility.


    "Wait, don''t look at me like that. I didn''t it''ll end up like this if I said that." Kisuke raised his arms in mock surrender.


    "Haah�� Anyway, are you free? You haven''t answered my question. As for my end of the deal, I''ll also do itter." Sona calmed herself down and said to herself that she shouldn''t me him as she is the one who proposed the bet and there is no lie in his words.


    "I have some business to attend this afternoon, so no. But if you''re fine with the evening, then you can talk to Koneko here to lead you to our ce." Kisuke answered and suggested to her.


    "Fine, the evening then." Sona thought for a while and epted his suggestion. She''s more active in the evening because she is a devil and will raise her chance of winning against him.


    "Then let''s talk the specificster at our ce or else we''ll all really bete," Kisuke said and started walking to the school building, bidding farewell to Koneko, Sona and Tsubaki.


    "I''ll seeter Sona-Kaichou." Koneko bowed to her and also walked to her ss.


    Sona looked at their departing backs and thought for a while back, it has been a week since Sona lost her chess match against Kisuke and what it entails slowly sinks into her. At first, she thinks nothing of it as she still thinking back on how she lost the game, but as time goes on, the realization of the fact she lost is a very big deal and every time she would encounter Kisuke, she became more and more aware of him, ''If everyone knows that I lost to him, do I really have to marry him? No, one thing for sure is my nee-sama will object and tell him that he has to be stronger than her. But I''m the one who made the promise to marry someone who beat me in the game of chess! Gggh, what to do?''


    Tsubaki is looking at her master making aplex expression and thought, ''Sona is finally being aware of him? That really took her long enough. She''s really very slow at things like this. I have to assist her and make sure she won''t do any mistakes in this regard whatever her decisions are.''


    "Kaichou, we have to go," Tsubaki called out to Sona who is immersed with her thought and startled her a bit.


    "I''m sorry, let''s go." Sona resumed walking with Tsubaki on tow. They still have a long day ahead.


    .


    .


    Somewhere in the Dimensional Gap, a ck sphere with the size of a football stadium in diameter is floating around aimlessly.


    Inside it is a dark spacious room with only floating balls of lights illuminating the ce. The only thing in it is a rectangr table 100 meters long and 2 meters wide and two luxurious chairs at each end of the table.


    Sitting on both chairs are two figures. The first figure''s appearance of a skeleton dressed in attire worn by high priests adorned in gold and red jewels which gives him a regal look. Despite his attire, however, he gives off a creepy aura. Despite having no eyes, his eye sockets can glow to give the appearance of eyes.


    The second one, however, is covered with a white cloak that blocks most of his features. The only thing that can see from him is his thin lips and some of his ck hair spilling out of his hood.


    The two of them are strangely silent and only looked at each other. The skeleton lifted his right hand and a purple magic circle materialized and with it is a golden pitcher and two golden sses of wine. He poured the wine from the pitcher to the wine sses and an aromatic smell came from the alcohol that can intoxicate even those with high tolerance to it.


    After pouring the wine in both sses, the skeleton raises one of them and released it in the air. The ss floated and moved towards the white-cloaked figure andnded in front of him. The white-cloaked figure nced at the ss and shifted his vision to the skeleton.


    "Why bother? You know I won''t be touching that." He said in an indistinguishable voice. His voice sounds like multiple voices of man, woman, old, and young ovepping each other. Whoever listens to his voice will be creeped out.


    "Fafafa, I don''t want you to tell me that I''mcking as a host." The skeletonughed and drank his wine, releasing a satisfying sign even though he just all bones. His voice is also one that will send chills to those who don''t have enough backbone.


    "So? Why did you call me here?" The white-cloaked figure rested his elbow on the chair''s armrest and rest his chin on his knuckles ignoring the skeleton''s antics.


    "The collection of the bats'' blood is going as scheduled." Mr. Skeleton set down his ss and nonchntly announced.


    "Enough with that crap. You won''t be calling me here with only that." Mr. White Cloak furrowed his eyebrows under this hood and seriously looked at the extravagant skeleton.


    The skeleton stared at him for some moments thinking of something. After a while, he spoke, "I''ve lost contact with two of my special operatives."


    "Hmm? That''s not good for both of you and me." He raised his brows and urged the skeleton to continue.


    "It''s not as dire as you think." Mr. Skeleton took another sip of his wine.


    "Tell me everything I need to know. We''re aplice now. I want to know how these ''special operatives'' of yours operates." The cloaked man leaned towards the table and waited for the skeleton to speak.


    "You already know about the imitation of my ''Helmet''. Every member of my special operatives is presumed dead to evade the eyes of other Gods and mythologies. Their number is limited due to his, but thanks to that, I was able to equip everyone one of these fake ''Helmets'' raising their effectiveness in intelligence gathering." The skeleton slowly narrated while swirling the wine in his ss.


    "Mind telling how many is that ''limited number'' is?"


    "No can do. Even if we''re in an alliance, I can''t release information like that. You''re the same, aren''t you? I also don''t know how much your so-called ''children'' you''ve amassed. Fafafa."


    "Then tell me at least how effective this ''Helmet'' of yours." The cloaked man sighed and gave up.


    "They can hide from Ultimate Devils, Minor Gods, and Seraph levels as long as they don''t stay too close for their presence to be revealed."


    "How about those Super Devils and Major Gods?"


    "If they are moving, they can realize their presence but won''t be able to tell where they are. They won''t even be able to tell the race of the wearer."


    "That is a very powerful force you''re hiding. Wouldn''t you able to assassinate Ultimate ss Devils in your leisure?"


    "That''s not possible, as even the original ''Helmet'' leaves traces when you attack someone."


    "Hmmm? Are you fine telling me this weakness?"


    "Fafafa, it''s fine. I''m not using them to attack others. We have a separate n for that, don''t we?"


    The cloaked man didn''t answer his question and leaned his back to the chair, "Aren''t you using them to collect the bats'' blood?"


    "Yes, only for intelligence, that is. My underlings will find someone else to the dirty job and dispose of them afterward to leave no evidence behind."


    "You''re not worried that they trace it to you? After all, no matter how careful you are, you can''t keep hiding in the dark forever without someone noticing you."


    "Even if they suspect me, as long as they don''t have any concrete evidence against me, I don''t really care. Besides, most of the bats I target are of those Anti-Satan Faction descendants. I can just me it to the Khaos Brigade who are getting more and more active these days."


    "Then what happened to the two of your operatives? Were they captured or killed?"


    "I don''t know. I sent the two of them to watch the town where the heiresses of Gremory and Sitri was assigned and snatch them if there is a chance."


    "So? The Gremory and Sitri girls manage to capture or kill your unseen operatives?"


    "No, I''m sure that it is not them. I know their abilities and they''re just kids ying around, much less they notice the existence of my Grim Reapers. Theirst report is the Gremory adopted another bat and on their way to deal with some crow. The Sitri girl is silently sitting at her headquarters lecturing her newest Pawn. There are also other devils from Astaroth n, but they''re just watching the proceedings. There is also an 8-winged half-crow and half-bat that entered the town some time ago, but even then, that guy won''t be a threat to the two."


    "Then how?"


    "Mind telling me that prophecy of yours again before I continue?"


    " ''A human will crush our ambition.'' "


    "Haah, really, how ridiculous."


    "Can you continue your story?"


    "Before all of this, I received a report from them previously that an unusual human is living in that town."


    The white-cloaked man instantly turned serious and asked, "Unusual? How?"


    "He is just a normal human ording to the earlier reports but my underlings took more notice of him when he made contact with a bat from Gremory."


    "Nothing unusual there."


    "Listen to me until the end. This human actually turned out to be a Sacred Gear user, albeit a weak one. But the real kicker here is when the bat from the Gremory kept on visiting him. They gave more attention to him after that." The skeleton drank another mouthful of his wine before continuing, "Not long after, the said bat started living with the human and strange things happen from then on."


    "Strange things?"


    "The bat, each and every day, the moment she started living there had a tremendous increase in strength that even my underling feel threatened and almost caught his presence." The skeleton stopped speaking and looked at the opposite man.


    "What? How strong is this bat exactly is before she started living with him?" The cloaked man raised his creepy voice a little.


    "An average young low-ss devil." Mr. Skeleton paused for a moment and said.


    "What!? How!? Aren''t your special operatives at least can deal with an average high-ss devil? And they felt threatened of her and almost caught their presence?" Mr. White-cloak felt very agitated as his divinity is warning him that something is very wrong. He already invested a lot on their n, and if he were to fail here, that will be the end of him.


    He calmed down and looked at the skeleton again, "How long did that bat live with the human before that report?"


    "One week."


    "O-one week?" The man was stupefied again at the almost impossible power jump at that given time, "How about this human? Did they report how strong this guy was?"


    "I tried sending multiple people to gauge him, but they all had the same judgment on him, He is weaker than a lower-ss devil even with his Sacred Gear."


    "Haaah, Hades, if you got a chance, use ''that'' on him." The man leaned back and let out a sigh while looking up.


    " ''That''? To a mere human? Even Gods can be killed with just a drop of that. And we only have four drops at that." It is the skeleton''s turn to be stupefied. Making just a single drop of that takes enormous amounts of raw materials, and some of it is very rare that they needed the help of some sealed beings.


    "I''m serious. Use two drops." The man looked at him with a craze looked that even the skeleton got a bit panicked.


    "Two!? Have you lose your mind?!? You know how much resources we needed just to procure that! And now you want to use two of them at once!? And to a human, we aren''t even sure if he really is a threat to us?" The skeleton can''t believe what is hearing. He wants to know the opposite party''s reasoning.


    "My divinity has been giving me rms the moment you mentioned that he might have been able to strengthen a lower-ss devil to a high-ss devil in just a week. And you know what that means as you are a God too." The cloaked man said this while gritting his teeth.


    "B-But even so. Using two drops is too much." The skeleton is still hesitant even though he understands what the other God meant.


    "I''ll pay for the cost of the two drops."


    "Still��"


    "I''ll also lend my research result about the homunculus to you. It''ll help your research on artificially making a Super Devil underling."


    "How did you�� Haahh, fine. But only if I saw a chance." The skeleton conceded to the god''s unreasonable request. Although he may seem disappointed, inside he is celebrating. For one, the one who''ll shoulder the cost will be the god in front of him, even though it is very hard to create ''that'', it isn''t possible as long as there are funds and time. He is also happy that this god is willing to share his research on artificial being creation that will help his own research on the subject.


    Hades drank the rest of his wine and poured himself another ss before saying, "Onto our next agenda. How did it go to your side?"


    The man calmed down when Hades agreed to his demands, but also felt bitter that he''ll lose a lot of things over this. But he isn''t regretting it at all as this is rted to his divinity which was never wrong.


    He heard Hades words and fixed his position in the chair before continuing, "Thanks to your concoction and the blood ritual, I was able to open another hole to the seal. We can only wait before we can remove the seal on Mt. Etna. We''ll need more blood to speed up the process. The husband and wife duo is already making a ruckus."


    "Tell them not to behave badly if they don''t want Zeus to notice the seal weakening. Fafafa" Hades is happy that his experiment was a sess. Now they only needed time to before they proceed to their next big step. "Anyway, it is amazing that you manage to convince that Aetna," Hadesmented.


    "It''s pretty easy actually. She had enough of Hera." The man alsomented lightly before asking Hades, "How did it go to your side? You didn''t fail, right? The seal over there is a lot stronger than the seal on the volcano."


    "Fafafa, I manage to punch a hole through the seal and the Titans are in the celebratory mood now." Hades creepyugh echoed to the surrounding.


    "With this, the advent of the new age is near."

 Volume 2 41 - Satan Lucifer

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 41 - Satan Lucifer</h4>


    In a certain castle in the Underworld where Domestic Affairs is being managed, Sirzechs Lucifer, the current ''Lucifer'' of the Underworld and the chief of Domestic Affairs is currently doing some paper works in his office.


    Sirzechs is a handsome man who seems to be in his early 20''s. He has shoulder-length crimson red hair and blue-green eyes inherited from his father, Zeoticus, simr to Rias.


    The room is consists of arge wooden desk with afortable but formal-looking chair, few shelves filled with books and arrange in a particr manner at the back part of the room, few framed paintings and photos hang on the left side of the room along with a sofa and small center table to entertain some guest with drinks and snacks, and a window overlooking a nice scenery of a town suggesting this office is in a very high ce.


    *Knock-knock*


    Sirzechs raised his head when he heard the knock on the door of his office, "Come in."


    The door opens and the one who entered is a 174 cm tall (5 feet 8 inches) beautiful young woman appearing to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is let down which ends in twin braids and red eyes who is wearing a blue and white French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head with red lipstick as a cosmetic essory.


    This woman is Grayfia Lucifuge, the wife and Queen of Sirzechs Lucifer, sister-inw of Rias Gremory, and the mother of their single son.


    "I heard that you called for me?" Grayfia asked her husband in confusion. She came all the way from the Gremory Mansion because Sirzechs suddenly summoned her without any prior notice.


    "Yes. I would like you to go to the human world, Kuoh Town specifically." Sirzechs set aside the papers he''s been working on and looked at his wife seriously.


    "Rias'' town? Did something happen?" Grayfia felt a bit worried since Sirzechs won''t ever send her on a mundane task and this is her sister-inw''s town they were talking about.


    "You don''t have to be too worried. I already sent my familiar to Rias and her servants ce to guard her from the shadows, it''ll also immediately inform me if there is a danger and I could teleport to her side instantaneously." Sirzechs reassured her wife with a smile. He had already taken some actions against contingencies.


    "That''s great. What exactly happened?" Grayfia sighed in relief and ask, returning to her serious face.


    "An 8-winged half-fallen angel and half-devil attacked Rias and Akeno," Sirzechs said with a glint in his eyes.


    "What!? You mentioned that they are fine. How were they able to fend the enemy off? From my knowledge, it''s still impossible for them. Are you sending me to chase and interrogate him?" Grayfia was shocked yet again as her sister-inw and her servant got so close to danger.


    "No. The assant has already been killed. Rias told me honestly that when they were about to self-destruct to bring him down with them, arge beam of light came from somewhere and instantly vaporized the bastard along with its path." Sirzechs clenched his knuckles every time he remembers the report given to him. He forced Rias to tell him everything that happened which resulted in him knowing what they actually nned if someone didn''t save them.


    "Self-destruct, huh. Their dignity is probably also in danger that is why they chose such action. They are very attractive women after all. You didn''t reprimand her too much right?" Grayfia manages to guess Rias and Akeno''s plight.


    Sirzechs didn''t answer Grayfia and avoided her gaze.


    Grayfia sighed at her husband''s actions and said, "Haahh�� Alright, I''ll help you apologize to her."


    "Thank you." Sirzechs gave his wife a grateful smile as he truly thinks that he scolded her too much after calming down. He really just loves her sister too much.


    "By the way, is this rted to the missing devils'' case?"


    "I don''t know. That''s why I want you to personally go and confirm this. Most of the Houses were getting restless and our only suspect is the Old Satan Faction, but this doesn''t seem that simple."


    "I have the same opinion. Whether it was abduction or assassination, it was too ''clean''."


    "We have to get to the bottom of this before those old folks do something reckless. Even though I''m the Devil King and have the support of other Devil Kings, we can''t pressure them too much or it might start another civil war which will be fatal to the current Devil Society. We might not be able to recover from that, and the Old Satan Faction will take advantage of that to return."


    The maid nodded at her, "Going back to the topic. The savior instantly vaporized an 8-winged being? That should be at least Ultimate-ss. You want me to investigate the identity of this individual?" Grayfia resumed inquiring.


    "Yes, but on the grounds that you won''t offend him, and if possible, create an amicable rtionship between him and the House of Gremory. Also, reward him on my stead."


    "Understood. I will do it to the best of my abilities. Is there something else?" Grayfia agreed and getting ready to leave.


    "Rias will be notified of her engagement to the son of the Phenex House soon. I want you to also watch her from the shadows while investigating the town. I''m sure she''ll do something drastic if it is to escape that marriage." Sirzechs yed with his fingers while contemting.


    "I will. But are you really fine with this marriage?" Grayfia asked Sirzechs, but she already knows his answer considering how big of a siscon he is.


    "Of course not. The Phenex boy will probably visit Rias before their engagement and surely there is going to be a conflict. Lead the talk to the Rating Game. We''ll give Rias a chance to get out of this on her own." Sirzechs leaned to his chair and revealed his n to Grayfia.


    "That will be easy. But we both know that Rias, as she is now, could never defeat Riser Phenex in a Rating Game." The maid is confused about why would her husband allow such useless acts?


    "I''m betting on her new servant, The Red Dragon Emperor." Sirzechs lightly smiled.


    "Red Dragon Emperor? She found and made its host her servant?" Grayfia was slightly shocked and asked.


    "Hahaha, Yes, coincidentally." Sirzechs is very happy about his sister''s good fortune.


    "Even then, if it is newly awakened, it won''t be that much stronger than a Twice Critical." Grayfia furrowed her brows.


    "I heard he is a funny kid, and you know how these Sacred Gears works, it is also one of the Longinus. We don''t know what kind of miracle he can show." Sirzechs smiled as he looks at the reports regarding the new ''Red Dragon Emperor''.


    "But you''re not the type to put all his eggs in one basket. What would you do if it doesn''t work?"


    "As thest resort, I''ll let Rias escape and help her hide until she is strong enough to shut the mouth of the geezers sitting on their rotten chair," Sirzechs smirks as he thought of those higher-ups that do nothing but scheme.


    They''re in for a surprise because of two unconventional beings felt bored and started spoiling a young cat and that cat is learning some crazy techniques.


    "Watch yournguage." Grayfia threatened to pinch his cheek with her vice grip like fingers.


    "Give me a break, we''re the only one here." Sirzechs lifted his arm in surrender with cold sweats running down on his back.


    "You intend Millicas to inherit the house?"


    Grayfia changed the topic.


    "That is what I intended in the first ce. Even though Rias is very intelligent, she is too emotional and not suitable for managing a house of a noble."


    "I see." Grayfia nodded at her husband''s decision as it is also her opinion of her sister-inw. Rias is too affectionate and hot-blooded even with those from the House of Gremory, which can be used against her.


    "But escape the marriage, huh. Reminds me of the young miss of the Belial House from years back." Grayfia was suddenly reminded of something and started reminiscing.


    "You mean the step-sister of thete Cleria Belial? Sarah Belial?" Sirzechs was also reminded when Grayfia mentioned it.


    "Yes. She runs away with her human lover to the Human World and never to be seen again. Is there any news on her?"


    "None whatsoever. But we have received information about her supposed human lover. He was found dead 17 years ago in Romaniannds. His name if I''m not mistaken is Ryouta Urahara. We don''t know if that is his real name, and we found some people with Urahara surname but aren''t rted in any way and all of them were humans, if the two had a child it''ll surely have at least some demonic blood in him, so we are stuck."


    "I feel bad for the Belial House for losing both of their daughters in unexpected ways."


    "The Belial House is also regretting what they had done to Sarah Belial and haven''t stopped searching. But the sudden death of Cleria Belial devastated them and poured almost all their manpower to investigate her death and some pieces of information are alreadying to light. It seems that the Church has something to do with this."


    "The Church? Looks like even Michael is having a hard time after the loss of their God."


    "That''s a given. Nobody from them can actually control the system he left to its full potential."


    What they didn''t know is Sarah Belial aka Sakura Urahara is happily doing her work as one of the managerial team leaders under one of the Gremory subsidiarypanies. And Cleria Belial is having a good time with her lover after being coincidentally saved by her nephew.


    "Well then, if there is nothing left, I''ll take my leave to prepare to go to the Human World." Grayfia bowed and turned around and exited the room.


    "Be careful out there," Sirzechs said to the leaving figure. Since today is not her day-off, he can''t act like a husband to his wife. Grayfia is a strange woman, but Sirzechs loves her regardless.


    .


    .


    After the morning sses, Kisuke is eating his lunchbox on thewn beside the track field with the perverted trio.


    Kisuke''s face is buried in his lunchbox when Motohama stops eating his bread for lunch and asked him while fixing his sses, "Kisuke, I will ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly."


    Kisuke lifted his head while still chewing on a piece of fried chicken, "What''s up, Perverted sses?"


    "Shut it! I don''t want to hear that from you, Perverted Hats." Motohama angrily shouted back.


    "Don''t be angry Motohama. Everyone in the school is already calling you with that name and half of those don''t even know your real name." Issei also stopped eating his lunchbox and looked at the Perverted sses.


    "What!? How did that happen!? I''m a very good student!!" Motohama held his head and shouted to the sky garnering some attention from the female students passing by coincidentally.


    "Is the Perverted sses up to something again?" One of them spoke up.


    Motohama heard this and red at her.


    The female student felt threatened by his gaze and immediately run away with her friends, "Let''s get going!"


    "Shut up and calm down!" Matsuda reprimanded him.


    "But��!" Motohama wanted to say something but Issei cut him off.


    "If it weren''t for you calcting and muttering in a loud voice the three sizes of the female students who pass by, they wouldn''t call you like that." Issei patted his back to console him.


    Motohama sat back down dejected.


    But Kisuke didn''t let him off, "With a face like that?"


    Issei and Matsuda stopped and looked at Motohama, then looked at each other and finally they both patted his back, "Our bad, even without doing that, they will still call you Perverted sses."


    "Damn you!!!" Motohama exploded again.


    "Calm down will ya, we don''t me you for having a perverted face." Matsuda poured more oil to the fire.


    "You Bast---!" Motohama wanted to punch his face but stopped when Matsuda suddenly took out an adult magazine.


    "This is thetest limited edition of ''Booby Paradise''! How did got hold of it?" Motohama was shocked to the core at the unexpected treasure.


    "I got my connections," Matsuda said with a smug look. "Take a look at it. It''ll help you calm down." He continued saying.


    Issei joined in their fun while Kisuke was speechless and thought, ''And how is that going to help him ''calm down''?'' But he also joined the viewing and appreciated the scenery while rubbing his chin and whistling now and then.


    "Having your perverted meeting again? Perverted quartet." A voice of a girl suddenly resounded behind them while they were enjoying the magazine.


    They all turned their heads around and the trio simultaneous shouted, "Aika Kiryuu!!!"


    Kisuke, however, just greeted her nonchntly, "Yo Aika-chan. We''re having a porn magazine viewing party while eating our lunch. Wanna join?"


    All of them looked at him speechless and their mouths twitching.


    Aika was the first one who reacted, "As shameless as ever, Urahara-kun" She fixed her sses and wore her signature smirk.


    "Come on Aika-chan, don''t be so distant. We were close enough to share a ''kabedon''. Just call me Kisuke." Kisuke smiled at her. He also likes teasing her as she is the same as Sona Sitri, very fond of putting up a strong front.


    "You''re the one who forced that into me!!" Aika lost her cool again. She can''t just win against him.


    Aika tried to regain her bearing by saying, "W-well, if you insist, Kisuke-kun." But a subtle blush is still on her face which was noticed by the perverted trio.


    "Stop flirting in front of us!!" They shouted in unison.


    "We aren''t!!" She almost loses her bearing again at the words of the trio.


    While at the side, Kisuke is having a good time watching their expressions.


    "What are you doing here anyway? Are you bored again and want to mess with us?" Issei squinted his eyes and questioned her.


    Aika turned around first, took a deep breath and sighed. She turned around again and her demeanor is back to normal.


    "I''m just wandering around after eating my lunch and coincidentally saw all of you here. I remembered something that happened this morning and wanted to as Kisuke-kun about it." Aika stated her reasoning to the four.


    "Right, I almost forgot! I also wanted to ask something about some rumors floating around. The Perverted Hats threw me off. Damn! Is this your n!?" Motohama suddenly remembered why he spoke up earlier.


    "You do? Then ask him first. It might just be the same question." Aika followed him up.


    "Well then, there is a rumor going on that the Perverted Hats, Kisuke Urahara and the mascot of the 1st year, Koneko Toujo has beening to school together almost every day." Motohama assumed a serious pose and asked.


    "W-what!?" Issei was shocked at the revtion as he is with Koneko almost every day during the club meeting and he knew how cold that loli is. Issei started to have a suspicion of Kisuke''s identity as even his Buchou kept asking if there is something weird about him.


    Aika''s expression didn''t change. She knows about it already but didn''t ask about it. It is like something is stopping her to inquire about it. But since she is here already, she might as well know what really is going on.


    Matsuda, on the other hand, has the face of a devil. The atmosphere around him immediately turns cold which was noticed by all of them. He looked at Kisuke with bloodshot eyes and waited for his answer before he passes down his judgment.


    They were scared at Matsuda''s reaction and suddenly remembered that he is a self-proimed lolicon.


    "Stop it, you lolicon! It''s not what you think!" Kisuke raised his arms in surrender.


    "Hooh? Then what is it?" Matsuda turned into a vengeful spirit.


    "I''m just living together with her! Hence, wee to school together every day." Kisuke blurted out, intentionally.


    "You bastard!!! That is way worse than what I was thinking!! I thought that you two were very close and at most, dating. But living together!? A cohabitation!? Die!!!" Matsuda evolved and be a malevolent god while crying tears of blood. He used his newfound powers to punch Kisuke in the gut with all his might.


    When the punch of extreme vengeancended on Kisuke''s stomach, a thud resounded. After a few seconds, Matsuda knelt and cried for real. He held his right hand up and said, "Damn it. I forgot his freak skill."


    Aika, who is still dumbfounded at the turn of events, asked, "Freak skill?"


    "One of the freak skills of Mr. Hat and Clogs, ''Iron Body''. The description of that skill also serves as a warning to others, ''Never use your bare body to attack him or you''ll get yourself hurt''." Issei answered absentmindedly.


    "Freak skills you say, there are others?" Aika continued to ask.


    "Yes, the ''Instant Camera Shot'' and ''irvoyance''. You can guess the effect from their names." Issei continued to answer absentmindedly.


    "And that Mr.Hat and Clogs?"


    "That''s due to his usual attire. He always wears a hat and wooden sandals. That''s the name he got out of respect for him."


    "Heh�� Not a very respectful name I say."


    "You''re right."


    "How is the two of you still talking calmly!?" Motohama finally interrupted them.


    "Ah�� F*ck! Kisuke! I never thought that your strike zone was so wide!" Issei got hold of himself and confronted Kisuke.


    Aika finally remembered what he just said and felt a little sour inside, but she didn''t say anything.


    "No, no, no. Don''t be ridiculous. She''s too far down my strike zone." Kisuke immediately denied his usation. But after he said this, an object came flying at high speeds towards his head. He leaned his head a little bit backward and the unknown object fly pass, almost grazing his nose. A loud thud was heard and they all looked at it. It was a shot put ball for men, embedded on the ground. They looked at where the ball came from and saw a petite student with white hair and hazel colored eyes.


    "Uhmm�� Koneko-chan? What was that for?" Kisuke asked at the approaching student with a deadpan expression.

 Volume 2 42 - The Rowdy School Lunch

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 42 - The Rowdy School Lunch</h4>


    "Uhmm�� Koneko-chan? What was that for?" Kisuke asked at the approaching student with a deadpan expression.


    "I just heard you dissing me," Koneko exined herself to him.


    "No, you got it wrong Koneko-chan. I''m not dissing you." Kisuke put on a serious look.


    Koneko didn''t speak and just urged him to continue.


    "Your stature is surely in-demand and a plus point for your cuteness. As a businessman, I guarantee it." Kisuke gave her a light smile.


    Koneko smiled feeling a bit happy at his words, but Kisuke next words froze the smile on her face.


    "But I''m sure as hell won''t purchase one though." Kisuke gave a brighter smile.


    Koneko''s expression turned cold and those around her has cold sweat on their backs. She didn''t say anything else and walked passed him. She grabbed the embedded ball and turned around to throw it again at Kisuke.


    "Die!" She only used a substantial amount of force but it''s still enough to create rough winds.


    Kisuke leaned to the side and jumped back to create more distance from the hulking cat.


    Koneko grabbed more stones from the ground and started throwing nonstop at Kisuke, while Kisuke seems to be having fun ying the ''Deadly Dodge Ball''.


    "Hey, aren''t you going toment on this ridiculous sight?" Aika asked the trio while looking at the unbelievable scene where a petite girl is throwing rocks like they were bullets cutting the air while the target does all the annoying poses to dodge the deadly bullets.


    "So you''re not aware of the saying in this neighborhood." Motohama fixed his sses and looked Aika.


    "Saying?" Aika was confused. ''How is that rted to this craziness?'' She thought.


    " ''Never question the freak''s existence.'' " The trio simultaneously said.


    "Kisuke is a freak of nature since he was young and most of the hoodlums in the town probably got a taste of his cane. And it looks like this Koneko Toujo is also a freak." Matsuda followed up.


    "What the hell?" Aika is, even more, confused now, but Aika knew she wouldn''t get anything from the three idiots and just choose to stop using her brain and watch the event unfold.


    Issei is thinking differently, however, ''I can understand Koneko-chan having an ability to do all of that, but what the hell is Kisuke? Buchou told me that he is a human, but can a human really move like that?''


    Koneko who saw Kisuke just ying around while dodging her rocks got pissed and started to think that she should just uproot a tree and hurl it at him.


    Kisuke who saw the changes in Koneko immediately shouted, "Wait, Koneko-chan, let me exin!"


    "You want to eat fruit and there are two avable at the store, an orange, and an apple. You like oranges but you don''t eat apples. It''s obvious which one you would buy right? See my point here?" Kisuke spoke fast.


    The four at side were once again speechless, but thinking again, he is absolutely right.


    Even Koneko can''t say anything against that, but she still approached the tree intending to uproot it and hurl it at Kisuke for real.


    Kisuke runs towards Koneko and shouted, "Stop! The tree has done nothing wrong!" He reached her side and grabbed her arm.


    Koneko suddenly turned around and jab Kisuke to the stomach. She is using Touki(Fighting Spirit) of Senjutsu to full power. Kisuke knelt as he felt the small fist got buried in his stomach. He didn''t use any defensive stance as he wants to appease Koneko even a little bit because he knew teased her too much.


    "Is teasing me really that fun?" Koneko looked at Kisuke with cold eyes while he writhes in pain and asked.


    "Y-Yes, very much so," Kisuke answered honestly.


    "Hmmph." Koneko just snorted at him, "I want some Japanese sweetster."


    "Got it." Kisuke sat up and smiled at her.


    "She managed to broke through Kisuke''s ''Iron Body'', really another freak," Motohamamented.


    ''That is all you want to say?'' Aika thought and looked at the two ''freaks'' again and felt a little jealous at their interaction. When she reached that point in her thought process, she pped herself awake, ''Wake up Aika! That''s just Kisuke and a big pervert. You don''t have to be jealous because of him. Stop being aware because of that little ''kabedon''.''


    Koneko sat down beside Kisuke and pulled out a transparent stic container with colorful macarons in it. She opened the container and picked up one of the macarons and started eating without minding others.


    Kisuke reached out to his unfinished lunchbox and continued eating it. The four who are watching felt incredulous at how fast these two change their pace.


    They approached the two and the trio also started eating their leftover lunch.


    Aika also sat down after Koneko offered her some of her macarons, "Thank you."


    They all kept quiet while they finish their food, while the two ''freaks'' are having a good time, the rest were feeling a bit awkward. Aika couldn''t take the silence and suddenly asked, "Are the two of you really living together?"


    "Hmm? Yeah. You didn''t believe me?" Kisuke finished his food and drank his tea from his tumbler bottle before he replied.


    "I believe you. You''re also known as the most honest person in school, it''s just that you choose what you say and tend to cause misunderstanding in your words." Aika also finished her macaron and answered Kisuke.


    "Kisuke-senpai told me that he would take care of me forever." Koneko suddenly blurted out.


    Issei, Motohama, and Matsuda all coughed out their food and said, "Isn''t that a proposal!?"


    Aika was speechless and her train of thought went into a sudden halt.


    Kisuke also spat out the tea he was drinking and looked at Koneko, "Did I word it that way?" Kisuke saw a weird glint in her eyes and followed up, "Eh�� well, whatever."


    Koneko raised a satisfied smug when she saw Kisuke back down.


    "Kisuke you animal! How does it feel!?" Issei shouted at Kisuke. He and the two perverts can''t take the injustice. Although Issei already has a good rtionship with Asia Argento who he just saves, he is a greedy guy.


    "Eh? Feel what?" Kisuke looked at them in confusion.


    "Don''t y innocent! We mean the u-union of the man and w-woman!" Motohama is very agitated.


    Kisuke remembered his experience with Yoruichi and absentmindedly said, "Feels great."


    "YOU BASTARD!!!" The perverted trio howled to heaven.


    Koneko just pouted slightly and didn''t say anything. Aika didn''t miss this small action though, ''She isn''t the partner? Then who? Toujou-san obviously has some feelings for Kisuke, but she is still somehow getting close to him even knowing Kisuke might have a girlfriend?''


    "WE THOUGHT THAT YOUR STRIKE ZONE IS ON THE MATURE SECTION!!!" They continue to cry out.


    "Don''t question my taste. I at least have a minimum threshold." Kisuke replied back in an attempt to defend his honor.


    "Hoho? And what is this minimum threshold of yours?" Matsuda asks while crying tears of blood.


    "Hmm�� Let''s see." Kisuke suddenly stood up and looked at Aika. He walked towards the ce where she is sitting and stopped beside her, "Aika-chan here has my minimum requirements." Kisuke rudely pointed to her.


    Aika didn''t know what to feel, she should be angry but she can''t find that emotion. Instead, she is feeling a little bit happy?


    "How!? It''s very obvious that Aika Kiryuu doesn''t have much to speak in terms of breast department." Matsuda stated the obvious�� rudely. The two others nodded in agreement.


    ''I''ll smack this perverted trioter with a wooden nk.'' Is what on Aika''s mind.


    "Tch, tch, tch. Kids, you still don''t understand." Kisuke shook his head at the three''s immaturity.


    "What?" The trio was obviously confused.


    "It''s the hips! It''s this wonderful hips!" Kisuke dered to the three.


    "Not the boobs?" Issei asked.


    "That''s why you''re still kids, you don''t know the wonders of the hips! Aika-chan might be a bit modest at the chest department. But her hips is the most exciting part of her!" Kisuke preached at the three making them stupefied.


    Koneko is looking at them like she was looking at an unbearable trash heap.


    Aika, on the other hand, is burning red. She''s too shy to face Kisuke.


    "Hmm? What''s this? You''re actually shy at this? Don''t you often talk about our manhood sizes?" Kisuke questioned her after he saw her state.


    Koneko looked at herself, then to Aika. She pours all her frustration onto the macarons in her hands.


    Aika noticed Koneko''s frustration and wanted to put on her usual smug face, but strangely she can''t seem to do it right now.


    The trio also saw Aika''s reaction and they thought, ''Damned Kisuke, another victim!?''


    Aika wouldn''t mind talking about this, but she is too aware of Kisuke giving her a new experience as an innocent girl she thought she would never be.


    "Kisuke-senpai, please die, twice over!" Koneko snarled at him.


    Kisuke returned to his seat and wanted to change the subject, he asked Aika, "Ahem�� Aika-chan, you mentioned that you want to ask me something, what is it?"


    Aika was woken up when Kisuke called her out. She is still blushing hard but she chooses not to think of what happened earlier for now, "Right, earlier this morning, a rumor is spreading around that you''re ckmailing the StuCo President to do you sexual favors."


    "What!!?" The trio shouted again. There''s just too many bombs around Kisuke today that they weren''t able to keep up, "Kisuke you bastard! You got hold of Koneko-chan and you still want to sink your fangs on our lovely StuCo President!?"


    "That''s nder!" Kisuke shouted back, "I''m just ckmailing her to tease her!"


    "Ah�� Is that so." The perverts conceded.


    "That isn''t any better! You''re still ckmailing her! And you three! Why did you stop!?" The sses girl said in disbelief.


    "Well, it''s Kisuke here we are talking about. We saw him ckmail other people before so we''re used to it. And if it''s anything not sexual, then we''re fine with it." Motohama exined.


    "This damned perverts." Aika gritted her teeth at the trio''s attitude.


    "Senpai, what material are you using?" Koneko joined the conversation.


    "Oh�� Are you curious?" Kisuke grinned at them and they all nodded like chickens pecking.


    Kisuke put down his tumbler bottle and put his hand under the zer of his uniform. He pulled out a photo and showed it to them, "It''s this!"


    "This is!?�� What''s this?" All of them looked confused as they looked at the photo. Truly, the photo has the StuCo President in it, but it''s all censored except the embarrassed face.


    "I coincidentally and fortunately saw our President in a secluded corner of the school cosying as a magical girl," Kisuke exined still with arge grin on his face.


    "So you used your ''Instant Camera Shot''. Your fortune is unbelievable." Matsudamented.


    "That''s really a thing?" Aika followed up.


    "Kisuke, why is censored? Kaichou''s embarrassed face is a treat enough, but can''t you show us the real thing?" Issei is intently looking at the picture and said.


    "Right, aren''t we best friends? Show us the whole thing." Motohama can''t wait any further.


    "You can get the real thing�� for a price of course." Kisuke did a money sign with his right hand.


    "H-how much!?" The trio was about to attack Kisuke.


    "Just 10,000 Yen and-" Kisuke revealed his price and the perverts didn''t let him finish speaking.


    "We''ll take it!!!" They all simultaneously pulled out a 10,000 Yen bill and shoved it in front of Kisuke.


    "-and Sh*tori-kaichou''s personal grudge.~~" Kisuke finished his sentence and the perverts were frozen.


    They remembered the super strict President and shuddered. Those eyes of her can freeze the soul of any student and have her personal grudge? No, thanks.


    "Too expensive, I''ll pass." Issei is the first one to give up.


    "We still value our lives more than a picture." Matsuda and Motohama agreed.


    Aika and Koneko sneered at them and continued eating the remaining macarons.


    "Don''t you have other pictures that won''t our lives into danger?" Issei still hasn''t given up and asked.


    "Hmm�� Now that you mentioned it, I do have one." Kisuke thought for a bit and said.


    "Really!? Show us!!" The perverts enthusiasm returned.


    "Hold on��" Kisuke rummages his zer again to look for something, and he took out another photo.


    "Kyaah!!!" It was Aika who first reacted.


    The photo shows Aika who is cuddling a calico cat with a blissful expression that you never expect to see from her because of her usual attitude.


    "Why do you have this!?" She grabbed Kisuke cor and shook his while asking.


    "Eh�� Good fortune?" Kisuke didn''t really know what to say as it is another fortunate encounter.


    "Hey, do we even need this?" The trio started discussing among themselves.


    "Right, it just Kiryuu. But that face is really a rarity." Motohama fixed his sses and said to the other two.


    "You two do know that Kiryuu has some strange fans, maybe we can resell this for 10,000 Yen and upwards." Issei suddenly reminded of something.


    "Your right, I personally knew some of them and we can easily fork out some cash from them. It''s also our chance to take revenge for all those humiliations." Motohama agreed and proposed.


    "So, even if we weren''t able to sell it, it should be fine to just distribute it to everyone." Matsuda had this enlightened face.


    "These bastards!" Aika heard them clearly as they didn''t try to conceal it. She gritted her teeth and promised to get back at them one way or another.


    "Let''s ask for the price first. Since it''s just Kiryuu, it shouldn''t be too expensive, but we still have to make sure that there are no strings attached." Issei suggested to the two and they nodded in agreement. They all face Kisuke who was still being grabbed by Aika and ask, "How much is it?"


    Kisuke thought for a while and a nasty grin appeared on his face, they couldn''t tell the difference though, only Koneko noticed it, ''This guy is up to no good again.'' Koneko saw Kisuke looked at her and gave her a wink, she just sighed and thought, ''I only have to help him?''


    "Since this a special asion, this picture is the only copy that can be bought but I''ll throw in another one as a bonus for the purchase." Kisuke for the third time rummages his zer again and took out another photo. It is a photo of Aika being chased by a rabid dog while crying.


    "Whaaat!!?" Aika was speechless and started beating up Kisuke but it has no effect whatsoever, "If you''re there then you should''ve helped me you demented bastard!!!"


    "Puhahaha" The three idiots startedughing their asses off, "We have to get this!! How much!?" One of them asked.


    "60 Yen." Kisuke named his price and all of them stopped moving.


    "Printing price!!? My picture is that cheap!?" Aika asked in disbelief. She already stopped beating Kisuke as her hands are already hurting, ''This pervert is too stiff.''


    "Ahahaha, what are you talking about, Kiryuu? That''s just the price of the photo paper and ink! There is no price for your picture!" Motohamaughed at her face.


    "It''s time for our revenge! We''ll take it!" Matsuda pulled out a 100 Yen coin.


    "I''m not letting you lot have it! 500 Yen!" Aika pulled money of her own.


    "What? When did this be an auction?" Issei asks and looked at Kisuke.


    "500 Yen from this dear customer, any higher bid?" Kisuke ignored him and said.


    "Damn it. But it''s still cheap for our revenge. 1,000 Yen!" Matsuda raised his hand.


    ''Crap, I only have 5,000 Yen on me. Maybe they''ll back off if I raise the price 5 times just like those tips from the inte?'' "I''ll bid 5,000 Yen!" Aika raised her voice.


    "5,000 Yen from this Miss! Anyone else?" Kisuke raised his fan. He is having fun now, ''I should do this more often.''


    "Kukuku, 5,005 Yen." Aika was shocked at this bid. She turned around to the source of the bid and saw Motohama fixing sses with a smile. ''Damn, he saw through me! He''s strangely sharp at times like this. What to do now?''


    "5,005 Yen from this gentleman. Any more bids for our item today?"


    "Toujou-san, can you lend me some money?" Aika turned to hisst resort. She knew the three idiots won''t let her bid any longer, and Kisuke is the one selling it so she can only ask Koneko for help.


    "I didn''t bring any money on me," Koneko answered. All she needs is good food, and she can get it from either the club room or Kisuke''s shop so there''s no need to bring any money.


    Aika was devastated at her answer and saw the trio''s smug faces. She gritted her teeth as she wants to bash it to oblivion. Ever since she met Kisuke, more and more thoughts of violence started to rise from her mind. She couldn''t win any minds game whenever Kisuke is around and her thought process is slowly proceeding to the not-so-peaceful side.


    "Can I payter?" Aika hasn''t given up and turned to Kisuke.


    "Nope.~~~"


    "Hahaha, Give it up Aika Kiryuu! Tomorrow, your weird fans will fantasize about you using these photos." Matsuda pointed at Aika and dered.


    Aika looked at the ground still thinking of the way out while biting her thumb.


    "Going once~~~." Kisuke started the countdown


    Koneko saw this and approached her side and whispered something to her ear. Aika looked shocked and conflicted at what Koneko suggested. ''Do I really have no choice?''


    Koneko returned to her seat and watched the proceeding of the perverts with a deadpan expression.


    "Going twice~~~~." Kisuke looked at Aika with a grin.


    ''Dammit, he''s already expecting this! I fell for his trap!'' Aika was finally aware.


    The trio started celebrating and imagining the expression of various students who will see the photos.


    "And s-" Kisuke was about to announce but Aika interrupted him.


    "Ahh geez! I don''t care anymore! I''ll cosy for you!" She shouted.


    "Sold to Aika-chan here!" Hence, the end of ''Doki-Doki'' auction.


    "WHAT!? What the hell Kisuke!?" Of course, the trio protested.


    "It''s the buyout price. Nothing I can do." Kisuke shook his head.


    "Bullsh*t!"


    Aika sighed in relief when she got hold of her pictures. Issei saw this andmented, "You do know that you may have stepped into deeper sh*t, right?"


    Aika''s face coagted after hearing this.

 Volume 2 43 - The Helmet

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 43 - The Helmet</h4>


    AN:


    Life Force --] Ki


    Magic Power (Human) --] Mana


    After the rowdy lunch with his friends, Kisuke said his farewells and went home, leaving them to their own devices.


    He went straight to the underground training facility under the candy store after changing into his usual outfit and taking out Benihime in her cane form.


    There he saw Yoruichi with her standard attire consists of a ck, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, arge beige sash around her waist, and ck stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes, which allow for stealth and easy use of sh Step.


    She is sitting on a protruding rock 50 meters away from their Grim Reaper captives while eating her frozen yogurt. Kisuke approached her and ask, "How are they?"


    "Sleeping like a baby. It looks like my interrogation took quite a toll on their minds." Yoruichi answered without turning around, "Do you want me to continue?"


    "Let''s not. They''re brainwashed to some extent. There''s no use questioning them." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "Then what? Just kill them? They''re hostile to the kids you know. We better find out who is behind this, at least we won''t be so blind." Yoruichi furrowed her brows at Kisuke''s answer. Of course, only Koneko who is like her little sister and Issei who technically grew up with her and she took some liking as she did with Ichigo deserves her worries.


    "I''ve developed a not so nice technique. I''ll test it to themter. For now, I want to examine those helmets they are wearing." Kisuke''s nasty grin returned.


    "Why are you so careful about them? I can''t feel anything aside from their power to conceal presence." Yoruichi sighed in relief as she knew she could leave this to Kisuke who already have a n. Yoruichi examined the helmets again and can''t see anything else aside from their supposed use. She already saw countless artifacts and even used some of them due to Shihouin n keeping a bunch of them, but that doesn''t mean she knows the inner workings of the said item.


    "You know I''m very sensitive to the energies, and half of the energy within the helmet isn''t being used. I''m sure that its use is not for something good as they too don''t have any idea about it." Kisuke gave the helmet another inspection from the outside.


    "How are you going to examine it?" Yoruichi crossed her arms and ask.


    "I''ll scan it with my Spiritual Power from a distance and try to see the inner workings of the helmet." Kisuke stopped going around the captives and prepared himself.


    "Can''t you remove it from them, first?"


    "I can''t. If I''m the one who made it, and they are for my secret forces, the first thing I would do is to make countermeasures against it being stolen by the other party."


    Kisuke released the limiter that he ces on himself to hide his Spiritual Power. To other people, it looks like he only has a bit of Magic Power, "Yoruichi grab the small one go to the entrance of the training ground."


    Yoruichi didn''t say anything else and grabbed the small grim reaper and sh Stepped towards the training ground''s entrance. She also put up a barrier just to be sure.


    Kisuke grabbed the big guy and move to the center. He then started concentrating his Spiritual Power and made a thin thread out of it. This thread slowly moves approached the sleeping Grim Reaper and it made contact with the helmet.


    Kisuke probed its outside and didn''t see anything of importance and he carefully prated the skin of the helmet.


    Once the thread went inside, Kisuke saw theplicated inner workings of the helmet and gained some enlightenment at how it hides presence with such effectiveness.


    But everything doesn''t go smoothly as long as you''re in the real world. After a few seconds of observation, a hidden mechanism in the helmet was triggered. This was noticed by Kisuke since all the energy reserves of the helmet started gathering in one spot.


    "Crap!" Kisuke''s face cramped and he immediately released Benihime to her first form, "Awaken! Benihime."


    The hidden de in the cane took the form of a sleek, medium-sized sword. It has a crimson tassel dangles on the end of the hilt, which has a gentle decorative bend. Instead of a crossguard, there is a U-shaped decoration that covers the first three or four inches of de, with a flower petal design right as it meets the string-crossguard. It also has a red decorative string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on one side and a folded paper decoration on the other. Benihime''s de is straight and slim, though somewhat short, with the tip ending in a nted razor-like edge instead of being tapered to a point.


    Kisuke pointed Benihime towards the Grim Reaper whose helmet is shining an ominous light, "Chikasumi no Tate (Blood Mist Shield)."


    A crimson hexagonal shield appeared in front of Kisuke. He also used sh Step to jump backward, but before he could leave the area, arge white explosion with a radius of 100 meters engulfed the area.


    "Kisuke!!!" Yoruichi shouted his name in worry. She felt the force of the explosion and wanted to go to where he was but she knew it would be useless and only put herself in danger, ''Kisuke is sturdy. He''ll only get some injuries if he put enough defense.'' Yoruichi reassured herself. She tried finding where Kisuke is but failed due to the swirling and chaotic energies meshing together because of the explosion.


    A figure shoots out of the explosion and smashed to the wall creating a small crater on it. Yoruichi saw this and sh Stepped towards it and saw Kisuke embedded in the wall. His clothes were in tatters and his hat is missing and he is still holding onto Benihime. What was different however is the broken ivory mask on his face, his eyes'' sclera are ck and his irises were glowing green.


    Kisuke jumped down from the wall, his eyes returned to normal and the ivory mask disappeared entirely, "Hey there Yoruichi, you got worried?" Kisuke gave his trademarked grin. He saw her reaction and felt gratified deep inside his heart. Ever since they opened up with each other, they seem to get worried about every little thing about each other which was unthinkable in the past. But it''s not a bad feeling, on the contrary, Kisuke feels immense satisfaction that a person he could call a lover worries about him, ''I should''ve opened up with her earlier in the past.''


    Yoruichi pouted a bit and approached him. She then gave him a quick punch to his nose.


    "Oww." Kisuke hastily covered his nose with his hands to nurse it, "You can''t hide your embarrassment by being violent, you know."


    "Shut it, if you can speak nonsense, then you''re fine." Yoruichi turned around and walked back to their remaining captive.


    Why is this? Yoruichi grew up as the heir of a big and influential n of the Seireitei, be a Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Forces and also a captain of the 2nd Division of Gotei 13, of course, she wouldn''t have any time or even allowed to fall-in-love.


    While Kisuke also followed the almost same track as Yoruichi who is his childhood friend. He also got into researching and inventing things throwing the notion of romance that could waste his time away.


    Until they were banished to the Human World, although there was already a budding feeling, it couldn''t bloom as Aizen''s threat is still looming on their heads and they had to keep nning and searching on how to thwart Aizen''s ambition.


    Even if they managed to take down Aizen, a hidden threat called ''Quincies'' is still in the corner, and Kisuke was aware of it shifting his focus on preparing for a big war. Yoruichi, who was given a heads up about the possible invasion of the Quincies also couldn''t stay still and had to go back to her n to prepare.


    You could say that even though they lived a long life, they were always fighting and couldn''t have time for themselves as they have responsibilities on their shoulders they couldn''t take off.


    But everything changes when they reincarnated to a different world. Without pressure from the peers or responsibilities to save the bnce of the world, they felt liberated. So when they found each other, all feelings that were repressed gushed out. They ''fell in love'' for the first time. A few years has passed, though they progressed, they were still kids in the act of romance. They couldn''t act like a reckless teenager as they are too old for that. Their mature mind stops them from giggling like idiots. But even then, tiny bits of a ''little girl'' from Yoruichi spills out sometimes, and Kisuke who has an uncontroble urge to tease other people became worse when ites to Yoruichi.


    "So? What happened?" Yoruichi looked at the destruction caused by that explosion. Everything 100 meters around the spot where the big guy Grim Reaper was previously on disappeared leaving only bits of moltenva.


    "A mechanism that activates its self-destruction feature triggers when an attempt to observe the helmet was detected." Kisuke used magic to repair his clothes and also materialized his favorite hat and fan, ''What a convenient skill.'' He thought.


    "I assume the same thing would happen when we attempt to remove it from the owner?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Most probably." Kisuke removed the remaining dust from his body and replied.


    "Then what now?"


    "I''ll use my newly developed technique and see what I can get. I only got to test it in someb rats but never in an intelligent being. If something were to me, smack me hard so that I can wake up." Kisuke approached the remaining Grim Reaper.


    "Leave it to me!" Yoruichi gave him a bright smile which froze Kisuke''s smile. Nevertheless, Yoruichi is still worried about him when he said that she would need to wake him up.


    "Well then, Take some distance from me again," Kisuke warned Yoruichi again and grabbed the unconscious beside the crater that was created by the earlier explosion. He didn''t want another ident to happen again but it does not hurt to take some precautions. He put up multiple barriers and arrange a teleportation array under his feet so he can instantly teleport to Yoruichi''s side no matter what happened.


    Yoruichi followed his instruction again, but this time, she is only 200 meters away from him instead of 1.5 kilometers from the entrance to Kisuke''s current position.


    Kisuke held out his right hand, touched the chest of the Grim Reaper and took a deep breath, "Soul Search." He muttered with a serious look on his face.


    Kisuke Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) poured into the Grim Reaper instantly waking up the sleeping beauty.


    "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" A shrill screaming came from the Grim Reaper as his soul body is forcibly being torn up into pieces and converted to Reiryoku (Spiritual Power), not that he knows any of that. He can only feel extreme pain which is originating from deep inside and also the faint feeling of being devoured by something.


    After a few moments, the helmet started to light up. Kisuke already expected this and teleported beside Yoruichi. Another explosion urred, but this time, due to barriers ced, it only expanded to 30 meters in radius. Although it created more pool of moltenva than the first one.


    Yoruichi noticed Kisuke''s haggard expression and asked, "Are you alright?"


    "Yeah, I already expected it to take a toll on my mind when I tried that to a sentient being." Kisuke just gave her a tired smile.


    "Let''s go to the hot spring and take a break," Yoruichi suggested.


    "Good idea, let''s go, but please carry me. My body is fine but I''m mentally tired of processing all those gibberish information. I also need some time to organize my thoughts." Kisuke agreed and he let his body fall into Yoruichi''s bountiful bosom.


    Yoruichi sighed but smiled thereafter, "Good work." She whispered to Kisuke who is already napping.


    She carefully adjusted position in ''Princess'' carry and carefully move his towards the hot spring in the training ground.


    The hot spring is the same one they had in their past secret training grounds. It uses Spiritual Power gathered by an array from the surroundings to heal wounds of the soul and body. A hot spring based on Ki is also under construction to help Koneko''s training. And Kisuke''s goal is to create a hot spring with three-way healing using Mana, Ki, and Spiritual Power.


    On the northern side of the training ground, aplete copy of White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell of the Qilin Pce also exist, although they don''t use it very often as they would only dip in that when they are seriously wounded or undertaking an insane training regimen.


    Yoruichiid Kisuke at the side of the hot spring and stripped him buck naked. She took a second nce at his junk and flicked it lightly, Kisuke grimaced a bit in his sleep a bit, ''If this were any other situation, I wouldn''t have let you off.'' Koneko''s developing sadistic tendencies may havee from Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi also stripped herself and carried Kisuke to the pool of hot water. Even though he mentioned earlier that his body is fine, but she knew from her experience that Kisuke''s threshold of ''fine'' is not the same as others by the long shot. He was able to defend himself from the first explosion, but his body still took some stress. He donned his hollow mask to increase the effect of Hierro is evidence of this. His energy reserves also might be plenty, but deploying all of those barriers in quick session and activating that unknown spell of him took a rtivelyrge chunk of his Reaitsu. Thus he still needs the healing effect of the hot spring.


    Yoruichi carried Kisuke to the side of the hot spring and entered from it. She first leaned on the rock after entering and adjust Kisuke''s position so that she is hugging him from behind. Yoruichi submerged him until his shoulders and rest his head on her bosom. She stroked his head and smiled before saying, "Goodnight." She then entered a dream world of her own while Kisuke is in her arms.

 Volume 2 44 - The World

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 44 - The World</h4>


    Kisuke woke up and saw a wooden ceiling, "Where am I?"


    "You''ve always wanted to say that, right?" A voice of a woman resounded beside him.


    Kisuke turned to his lower right and saw Yoruichi using his arms as pillows while naked with only a white nket covering the both of them, "Yep.~" He then proceeded to give her a light peck on her lips.


    Yoruichi tightened her hug before she sat up and stretched her arms while the nket slid through her smooth skin. She then went down the bed and grabbed her clothes to get dressed.


    "How long have I been out?" Kisuke also sat up and went down the bed. He went straight to the closet and opened it. Inside the closet is his usual outfit in bulk numbers. He got one set and started getting dressed.


    "It''s 6:00 PM right now, so around 5 hours." Yoruichi put on her ck panties and started working on the bra with the same design, "Help me hold my hair."


    Kisuke, who is already wearing his Shihakushou stopped what he was doing and went behind her and did what he was told. Kisuke thought for a while and asked, "You didn''t do anything to me while I was out cold, right?"


    "Fufufu.~ I wonder." Yoruichi finished wearing her bra and proceed to put on her orange outfit while giving Kisuke a teasing smile.


    "So you did nothing," Kisuke replied back. Based on Yoruichi''s response, he was sure that she did nothing of sort.


    "Hmmph, you''re no fun." Yoruichi snorted and finished putting on her clothes.


    "You put on some underwear now huh." Kisuke lightlymented while he resumed dressing up.


    "I had to get used to it now." Yoruichi chuckled lightly.


    "But you still had the same clothes from back then, don''t you want to wear something different as a change of pace?" Kisuke put on his hat as a final touch to his attire.


    "Maybe I should some other time. I don''t have any other clothes with me." Yoruichi went out of the room and Kisuke followed her. They were on the second floor of the wooden lodge on the southern part of the secret training ground in an exclusive room reserved just for the only two of them.


    They reached the living room of the lodge and Yoruichi walked straight to the kitchen area just beside it to prepare some snacks and tea.


    "Let''s go on a date some other time to buy you some clothes." Kisuke suddenly said behind her, which surprised her to stop what she is intending to do.


    "Alright, you n for it." Yoruichi turned around and gave him a warm bright smile. She then goes and get the tea and snacks and set it on the table in the living room.


    "Got it, but I don''t think it''ll be anytime soon as there are some things I need to prepare." Kisuke nodded and sat down to take a sip on the warm tea.


    "Because of what happened earlier." Yoruichi did the same and asked curiously. She isn''t mad that he would dy their date as they have all the time in the world they needed. On the contrary, she thinks that this kind of pace is just right for her as it isn''t too busy just like her and his past life and not too slow to justze around.


    "You''re correct. I guess trouble wille looking for us no matter what we do." Kisuke smiled wryly, but thinking about it again, if he didn''t reincarnate together with Yoruichi in this strange and troublesome world, they might not be able to get together.


    "Just what is that Kidou you just used on that guy?" Yoruichi set down her cup of tea and grabbed some cookies to nibble as she remembers the screaming Grim Reaper before he exploded.


    "It is called ''Soul Search''." Kisuke started exining, "It''s a technique I''ve developed thesest few months. It uses the versatility of mana to expand the use of Reiatsu outside of the usual offensive, defensive, healing, binding, and tracking."


    Kisuke sips his tea before continuing, "Soul Search, in particr, is a technique that uses the ipatibility of Mana and Reiatsu by pumping both of it to the target''s soul. I use Mana to guide the Reiatsu and have it wreak havoc inside the soul body. The soul body will then disintegrate fast and use the chance for the Mana to read the information that is spilling out while the soul body copses."


    "What a nasty and merciless technique you''ve got there." Yoruichi interrupted Kisuke exnation.


    "Hahaha, I did mention to you before that it isn''t a nice technique. Well, of course, there would be huge drawbacks. Aside from it only in the early phase of development, it poses danger to the user if he or she isn''t strong enough, both mind and body, as it''ll also wreak havoc on your body if not controlled properly and information may drown you making you forget about yourself entirely." Kisuke chuckled at Yoruichi''s words and continued.


    "It''s at times like this that you''re very reckless, even more so than Ichigo. You won''t ever change, huh." Yoruichi looked at Kisuke''s happy face and sighed.


    "That''s just how I work." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and resumed exining, "Even if everything spills out from the soul, I can''t read and retain everything. Most of it was lost in the process so the information in my head ended up bing gibberish most of the time."


    "And then? What did you get from that guy?" Yoruichi stopped thinking about the absurd technique he developed that may lead to his execution if they were in Seiretei.


    "Hmmm, let''s see." Kisuke went into deep thought for a few minutes before he spoke again, "Just a few seemingly important things."


    Yoruichi didn''t interrupt him this time and just waited for him to speak while nibbling on her cookies.


    "First, I was able to confirm that he is indeed working for an Olympian God called Hades."


    "Gods, huh. I was really skeptical about their actual existence, it turns out that there are true Gods in this world."


    "Well, an actual definition exist so the probability that they really exist in this world is big, no need to be surprised."


    "This makes it moreplicated. In our world, we only have the Human World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo."


    "Have I already exined to you how this world works?"


    "Just the basic information on Human World, Underworld, and Dimensional Gap."


    "Then before we continue, let''s have a short lesson." Kisuke took out a fan and a 4'' by 6'' whiteboard and hurriedly draw a simple illustration.


    Kisuke draws arge oblong epassing most of the whiteboard, and inside it is small bubbles of different sizes. Three bubbles arerger than the rest and he wrote something inside them and connected the two bubbles at the side to the center bubble by three lines.


    The bubble on the left side isbeled as ''Underworld'', the center bubble is ''Human World'' and thest of the three big bubbles on the left is ''Heaven''. The small bubbles are alsobeled with some names. ''Realm of the Dead'', ''Takamagahara'', ''Asgard'', and ''Olympus'' to only name a few. Kisuke also drew a line between these small bubbles and the ''Human World''.


    "Now then, to exin all of this," Kisuke pointed at the bubble containing the ''Human World''. "This is the space we are currently residing in." He then proceeded to point the ''Underworld'' and ''Heaven'', "This is where the so-called Three Factions resides. The Devils and Fallen Angels in Underworld, and Angels in Heaven. They are the strongest because they are the most populous of the bunch because of therge space they''re living in, well, at least in the past. Note that the size of the bubbles here represents the size of that space.


    "These three lines represent the strong connection of both Underworld and Heaven to the Human World. Which is also why they cane and go more easily to Human World than any other factions making their forces more prevalent. The smaller spaces are also connected to the Human World and to some other spaces. Although I don''t know how these connections were made, and why are all of them connected to the Human World."


    "So these smaller bubbles are the spaces where the other Gods resides?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Yes, and thisrge oblong here is the Dimensional Gap."


    "So you mean to say that if we have a way to navigate in this Dimensional Gap, we could go anywhere?"


    "Correct, but that would be almost impossible as there are no concepts of distance and direction in Dimensional Gap."


    "Almost? So you already have a n for that?" Yoruichi found the hidden meaning in Kisuke''s words.


    "Well, it''s just a theory for now so I would need more time to experiment and research this topic. To exin it, didn''t I told you that all the Mana in this world came from the Dimensional Gap that spills to various spaces, as for how and why? I don''t know. But I think that we can navigate it if we can just pinpoint and study the flow of Mana in Dimensional Gap, and I would need a bunch of equipment and time to do that." Kisuke excitedly exined.


    "Hoho~~. As expected of you. Anyway, you said Mana, but where are all the other energy typesing from?"


    "Ahem, as I said before, Ki (Life Force) came from every living thing, and Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) came from everything with a soul. Demonic Power, Holy Power, and other types all came from Mana itself. So you could say that there are only three main energy types."


    "Wait, Mana? How?"


    "It has something to do with their physique and how their individual space epts Mana. Demonic Power, for example, it came to be when a Devil absorbs Mana and his body automatically converts it Demonic Power that he can use, and the Underworld itself converts some of the Mana that came from the Dimensional Gap into Demonic Power. It''s the same case for Fallen Angels, Angels, Heaven and all other that uses Mana."


    "Then how are those humans able to use Holy Power themselves?"


    "They convert it manually by themselves or making a contract with an Angel to bestow them Holy Power, same case with Humans using Demonic Power."


    "Hmmm, is that also why Holy Power is the bane of Devils as it counters the Demonic Power in their bodies making it a neutral uncontrolled Mana that destroys their bodies from the inside?"


    "Yes, it''s also true in reverse if Demonic Power is stronger."


    "That makes sense now. Last question. What is beyond the Dimensional Gap?"


    "I don''t know. It''s also one of the things I want to find out in this lifetime." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders again and smiled wryly.


    "Looks like you''ll be busy again." Yoruichi sighed at her impossible lover.


    Kisuke approached and hugged her while whispering to her ears, "Of course I won''t cut the time that I could spend with you ever."


    "If that''s the case, then fine." Yoruichi smiled in relief.


    Kisuke sat down beside her and took another sip of his already cold tea, "Now back on what I got on that Grim Reaper, the second is, they seem to need blood sacrifices for a certain ritual. As for what kind of blood sacrifice and what ritual it is, it''s all gibberish or he might not have known it in the first ce."


    "They are watching the kids, so maybe something rted to that?" Yoruichi contemted on Kisuke''s words.


    "Maybe. That''s why we have to prepare. But I honestly only have few ideas to prepare, we don''t know their means other than their great stealth ability that we can''t pinpoint unless they make a move." Kisuke furrowed his brows. All this time, he has been thinking of countermeasures, but the information he has on his hands is very negligible that they might as well be blind.


    "I''ll patrol the whole town when I''m free. That should decrease our chances of getting stabbed in the dark." Yoruichi suggested.


    "Thanks for the hard work.~ Moving to the third andst point, they also have a second priority order, and that is to look for the human from the prophecy of some God. I also don''t know the details, and I don''t want to be sound conceited, but that could be us they are looking for. This is the reason why I said the trouble woulde looking for us no matter what we do." Kisuke patted Yoruichi''s head and returned to his serious expression.


    "Prophecy? That''s a thing? Sounds dubious and stupid." Yoruichi furrowed her brows. She couldn''t believe at something that predicts the future in the long run. Yhwach is the only one who can match this with his ''The Almighty'' ability that could the future in all of its branches, although he has the power to alter the future itself, which made him a more terrifying enemy.


    "I know right? They would take precautions and even attack us for something so obscure, but we really don''t know how the Gods'' ''Divinity'' works. It should also be based on Mana, but I have no clue how it turns into a concept that Gods use." Kisuke rubbed his chin and continue to think of ways to somehow evade this, but he seriously needs more time to research this topic.


    "Then we can''t do anything about that for now?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Nope, and probably suspects me now since I should just be an average human in their eyes and somehow, a low-ss devil keeps powering up in my ce. They''ll probably ce some sort of surveince on me, directly or indirectly. I can deal with the direct surveince, but indirect ones would be hard to even realize."


    "What do you n to do now?"


    "Hmmm�� I guess I should shift some of my research time to Sacred Gears, it may help us in the future."


    "That''s pretty vague. Although I also couldn''t think of anything else��"


    "Hence, we throw that problem to the of our minds for now. And for a bonus point, this guy is crushing hard on Hades'' ill-gotten wife, Persephone."


    "Ill-gotten wife? What is that suppose to mean?"


    "I also don''t know, but it could be a piece of useful information so I''m putting it out. Let''s go up. Those girls are probably waiting for some time now." Kisuke cleaned up the table and the dishes before going out of the lodging with Yoruichi.


    "I''ll go out a do some patrolling, I want to know if they are going to send another team to after the missing one." Yoruichi went ahead of Kisuke.


    "Okay, be careful." Kisuke reminded her and went up.


    .


    .


    .


    ''I finished my work earlier than expected, I should be able to cook dinner today.'' Sakura opened the door of their house and said, "I''m home." Koneko''s voice answered from the living room, "Wee back."


    Sakura then takes off her shoes and went to the living room, "I''ll be cooking today, Kone-��!" She stopped when she saw the other people in the room, ''What is the Sitri Princess doing here!?''

 Volume 2 45 - The Guests

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 45 - The Guests</h4>


    ''What is the Sitri Princess doing here!?''


    Sona saw Sakura entered the living room and greeted her, "Good evening, Ma''am. Excuse me for my intrusion. I am Souna Sh*tori, the Student Council President of the Kuoh Academy." She bowed gracefully to Kisuke''s mother.


    It took Sakura a few seconds to respond as she didn''t what was happening, "Ah�� Good evening and wee to our humble ce. My name is Sakura Urahara, Kisuke''s mother. May I know the reason for your visit?"


    "Please don''t be too formal with me, I''m here for my personal business. I have an appointment with your son for this afternoon and he told me that Toujou-san here can lead me here." Sona reassured Sakura but she is confused about why she is so nervous. After giving her a second look, she felt a little familiar to Sona, but can''t remember where she had seen her.


    "Sure, um, I''m sorry, but who are you?" Sakura directed this question to the third person in the room�� fidgetting.


    "Uhm, Good evening, Ma''am. My name is Aika Kiryuu, Ura- Kisuke-kun''s ssmate, I also have some business with him. Please excuse me for my intrusion!" Aika, who arrived with Sona and Koneko because she was dragged along by thetter flusteredly greeted Sakura.


    "Wee to you too, please take a seat, both of you. I''ll prepare dinner for all of us."


    "Thank you for your offer, but it''ste so I have to go. I don''t want to intrude too much." Sona bowed again getting ready to leave.


    "Now now, Kaichou. Since you''re already here, please join us for dinner. You too, Aika-chan." Kisuke''s voice resounded behind Sakura. Unbeknownst to them, Kisuke is watching their interaction from the moment his mother entered the house. He also noticed Sakura''s unnatural behavior but didn''t say anything. If her mother didn''t want to reveal anything, then he won''t ever force her. Kisuke thinks that she probably already has some inkling that her son is not a normal human from the way she looks at him from time to time.


    "Kisuke! Where have you been? It''s not good to make guests wait!" Sakura turned around and immediately berated her son.


    "I''m truly sorry. I had something to do this afternoon but I didn''t think it would hold me up for too long." Kisuke faced Sona and Aika and apologized sincerely, "Although, I didn''t know Aika-chan would also be here. What a pleasant surprise." He sent a grin to Aika who didn''t know what to do.


    "Ugh�� Toujou-san dragged me here and I also want to get over it fast." Aika stopped fidgeting and stared at Kisuke liked he owes her something.


    "Hahaha, is that so. Then you two sit down first. I going to help mom make dinner." Kisuke offered the two a seat.


    "No. You entertain your guest and I''ll prepare the dinner with Koneko-chan." Sakura disagreed with Kisuke''s words, "Enjoy your time. I going up to change first before I cook dinner. Koneko-chan, please prepare the veggies in the fridge for the time being." She then went up leaving the four in the living room.


    Koneko stood up and went to the kitchen to do Sakura''s instructions. She already helped out multiple times and even learned how to cook some dishes all by herself, a skill she didn''t imagine that she would have.


    Left alone, Kisuke is feelingpletely fine, but the two bespectacled beauties are feeling some awkwardness. Sona and Aika couldn''t exactly refuse Sakura''s invitation if she insisted so much. Aika, in particr, is feeling quite nervous as this is her first timeing to the house of a boy of her age. She always teases other girls about going to their crushes houses but she didn''t know that it would be this nervewracking, ''Is it supposed to be this hard? I always imagine myselfing to a boy''s house or even room, but this feeling is a lot different from what I thought.''


    Sona, on the other hand, thought that Koneko really became part of their family in just a week of staying here. Devils of high rankings are prideful individuals and being in one such household, you need to hold some formalities even with your family members. Koneko came from a small family before the tragic past befalls onto her. She was adopted by the Gremory Household and had a good upbringing. But maybe, all this time, she is craving for a familial love that she lost. Even now, she can see Koneko act more unreservepared to all those years that she is with Rias and other peerage members, ''If Rias and her family were to see this, they probably feel shocked and jealous. This Kisuke Urahara is really something else.'' She smiled lightly as she thought of this.


    "What shall we do while we wait for dinner?" Kisuke sat down on the couch opposite them, "Movie? Game?"


    "I''m going to finish some of my work for the Student Council." Sona fixed her sses and took out herptop and some files from her bag.


    "Do you even rest?" Kisuke''s mouth was twitching at this sight of this overly hardworking girl. Although if Yoruichi is here, she would probably retort and say, "You don''t have the right to say that! You''re even worse than her if you''re too focused!"


    "Let me help then." Kisuke offered a helping hand and Aika just couldn''t sit still, "I''ll also help."


    "Thank you, but these files would only take 15 minutes to finish. I already finished the majority of them while waiting for you." Sona replied while she started writing a bunch of notes on the paper, and from the looks of it, 15 minutes is really enough for her.


    "Then let reduce that to 10 minutes. I and Aika could help you arrange a few things to make it easier for you." Kisuke suggested and Sona didn''t reject for the second time and just thanked them for their help.


    The three didn''t say anything unrted to what they were doing and just faithfully do the job. After 10 minutes or so, they did finish everything and Sona started packing everything back to her bag. It''ll take some more time for the dinner to get ready and they already have nothing to do. Kisuke used this chance to let Aika rx more by talking about random things and he was sessful as Aika is back to her usual smug self, although she holds back because of Sona''s presence. Sona also enjoys talking about random stuff and especially about girly stuff with Aika as she didn''t have many chances of doing so due to her position and heritage. Even though the two of them absolutely disqualifies as ''modern teenage girls'' in terms of knowledge, they still enjoyed each other''spany.


    Kisuke, who is with them, also pitch some of his idea''s from time to time making the two sses girls thought, ''Why does this guy know so much about this?''


    Although this enjoyable and rxing time didn''tst long as Kisuke felt a presence that disrupted his train of thought. It is the same presence that both Kisuke and Yoruichi dub as ''The Last Boss''. This time, however, it didn''t go away and instead, it locked on its attention to Kisuke and everyone in the house. It didn''t even try to hide its gaze. Kisuke smile cramped and this was noticed by the two beside him as he stopped in the middle of saying something, "What happened?" Sona furrowed her eyebrows.


    Kisuke didn''t answer her and fell into deep contemtion with a very serious look on his face, ''What is it doing here? And why is it intently staring at this direction? Does it want something? I can''t fee; any hostility, but that could change anytime. For now, I should slowly activate the teleportation array ced on this house to get everyone into safety just in case. Yoruichi is also rushing here and will arrive in a few seconds. I should wait for her first before I decide my next step.''


    Indeed, after a few seconds, Yoruichi in her cat form jumped in from the windownding on the center table startling the two girls at her sudden appearance. She looked at Kisuke''s serious expression and turned her attention to the two girls with him with still astounded expression. Aika especially is feeling excited, she likes cuddling cats ever since she was a kid and one of her small joys as she grows up, "Is this your cat? What a beautiful ck fur, can I pet it?"


    Sona, on the other hand, felt incredulous as her sight intersects with the cat, ''Am I just seeing things? Why do this cat''s eyes give me pressure?''


    Yoruichi then looked back to Kisuke who is contemting, "What''s the n?" She said in her distinct male voice while she is in her cat form.


    Both of the bespectacled beauties'' expression froze.


    "It spoke!!!" Aika jumped into Kisuke''s arms unconsciously and shouted horrifyingly.

 Volume 2 46 - The Loli

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 46 - The Loli</h4>


    Yoruichi''s mouth twitched at the girl''s action and said, "Settle down little girl. I won''t eat you. And I''m talking to Kisuke. An important matter came up."


    "Are you a familiar? What important matter sprang up?" Sona was also shocked but recovered easily as she already saw more amazing things than this. A talking familiar isn''t exactly rare.


    "Kaichou!? What are you thinking, taking this so lightly? That''s a talking cat you know!" Aika''s hug on Kisuke subconsciously tightened.


    "Aika-chan, for now, please get off me. You''re strangling me." Kisuke finally voiced out his concern, and Aika finally realized what she is doing. She blushed and move to the back of Kisuke, still not letting him go.


    Yoruichi ignored Aika for now and said to Kisuke after noticing the slight fluctuation on the array under their feet, "You''re ready?"


    "Yes," Kisuke replied and switch back his attention on the stalkingst boss, ''It''s not doing anything? On the contrary, it seems curious? What is this all about? It already noticed me noticing her so I can''t pretend that she didn''t exist. I wonder why is it giving me a child-like vibe? Is it the same age as her appearance say? And what the heck is that outfit?�� Yoruichi is here, and I can hold it back for a few seconds, the teleportation array will activate and teleport everyone here in just one second. I won''t teleport everyone yet as it may agitate but I could take the risk.''


    Kisuke finished his train of thought and said to the two guests with a serious expression, "Please move to the dining table for a moment."


    "What is happening?" Aika is understandably confused and Sona, after thinking for a while, trusted Kisuke on this one because of the feeling he is giving her now. It is different from the usual casual and somewhat lethargic demeanor he has. It''s as if he is a soldier, ready to fight to the death with his opponents, "Kiryuu-san, let''s follow him for now." Aika nodded after being quiet for a few seconds as this time, she can also see and feel Kisuke''s seriousness which is the first time she witnesses. They then move to the dining table taking a seat.


    "Mom, Koneko-chan!" Kisuke called out to the two who are in the kitchen without standing up from his position.


    Koneko first came out and Sakura followed, "What is it? Did something happened?" She can tell the serious voice of her son and ask with concern. Koneko, due to being trained by Yoruichi, was finally able to feel that something outside is lurking, and a very strong one. She then tightened her fist awaiting for Kisuke instruction.


    "Mom, please make another portion of the dinner�� No, actually, make three more portions." Kisuke told to her mom making her confused.


    He then faced Koneko and said, "Koneko-chan, please be prepared to protect mom." Sakura is even more confused now from her son''s words. It''s also the same for the twodies sitting on the dining table, ''Protect?''


    This startled all three of them. Aika couldn''t help but shout, "Cat ears and tails!? What''s going on!? Am I actually dreaming!?"


    Sona asked in a moreposed tone, "Is it so serious that you have to reveal it to a normal human, like Aika and your mother?"


    Sakura looked at Koneko''s transformation and then switched her gaze towards his son with a serious look, "Three servings, right? Got it. I''ll also whip up some delicious side dishes." She then turned around trusting Kisuke. Koneko followed her back to the kitchen, still intending to help out.


    Aika faced Sona as she was also confused by her words, "Wait, a normal human like me?" But Sona just looked at her and smiled reassuring her, "Don''t worry about it for now. Let''s just see what''s going to happen for Kisuke to make such decisions." ''But what a surprise. I thought Toujou-san has some sort of trauma regarding her heritage, but to show it so decisively, Rias probably don''t know anything about this.''


    At the kitchen, Sakura is focusing on her task to make more additional food, while Koneko is fidgeting and stealing nces to her from time to time, "What is it, Koneko-chan?"


    "U-Uhm, I''m sorry for hiding this from you. I didn''t mean any harm to you and Kisuke-senpai." Koneko faced her and bowed 90 degrees. She is quite nervous about how Sakura will react to her ''monster'' form, as this sort of appearance can scare humans pretty easily. She didn''t want Sakura to hate her because she already thinks of her as her mother."


    A few seconds, which felt like a few hours for Koneko, has passed and Sakura is still looking at her silently. She was about to cry when a soft gentle hand stroked her head. She looked up and saw Sakura smiling gently at her, "I know, but I want to hear more about itter."


    Koneko couldn''t help but let her tears flow down. She jumped into Sakura''s arm and snuggled herself into her bosom while sniffling, "I''m sorry, Thank you."


    Sakura hugged her back and stroked her head for a bit and thought, ''What happened to her? She''s craving for some warmth? Oh well, I don''t mind having a daughter.''


    "Koneko-chan, let''s continue cooking. Kisuke looks like he really needs this." Sakura separated from her and said.


    Koneko rubbed her eyes to wipe away her tears and Sakura helped her with that, "Okay." She went back to her somewhat deadpan expression, but it''s obvious to Sakura that she got something off her shoulder and became a lot cheerful. ''Cute!''


    ------------


    "Yoruichi, please make sure that those four are safe." Kisuke smiled at Yoruichi and said.


    "Haah�� Fine, but whatever you''re nning, prioritize your safety." Yoruichi sighed and jumped to the dining table startling Aika again who is sitting on the side, "If this was a normal situation, I would be satisfied at your reaction."


    ''A talking cat can''t be found in any normal situation at all! But he felt satisfied when people react to him talking? Should I say, like master, like cat?'' Aika retorted in her mind, but she isn''t as scared as the first time.


    "Can you tell me what''s going on?" Sona, who is with them, can''t help but ask. She wants to analyze the situation but there are too little context clues.


    "We''ve got another visitor this evening, Devil girl. And you better not use any magic, your safety is already assured anyway." Yoruichi replied to her. But Aika''s mind became even more muddled, ''Devil? Magic? Is the cat sick in the head?''


    Kisuke ignored the trio and finalized his ns, ''Okay, three escape routes secured in case a battle broke out. She''s still staring straight here but seems to have any intention to make a move. I have to use this chance to get what she wants or every time she stalks us, we would be panicking like this.'' Kisuke took a deep breath.


    Yoruichi saw this and warned the two, "No matter what you see or happen don''t say anything." The two were confused but before they could ask, Kisuke spoke loudly.


    "Good evening, Miss. Since you''re already here, why don''t you join me for a cup of tea?" When Kisuke said this, a young girl suddenly appeared in front of him with a small smile on her face.


    ''What!!!?'' Aika retorted in her mind again while remembering Yoruichi''s warning. Sona, on the other hand, furrowed her brows at this sight, ''Urahara picked up her presence but I did not? And who is she?''


    It is a cute young girl with long ck hair down to her hips and ck eyes. Her ears differ from a normal human''s as they have pointed tips, although her long ck hair makes this feature difficult to notice. Her dark grey eyes have reptilian slitted pupils.


    Her attire consists of a ck Gothic Lolita fashion and exposed front, with her nipples only being covered by cross-shaped ck tape.


    ''That is some extreme outfit.'' Everyone who is looking thought.


    "Why don''t you sit down first? I''ll prepare some cookies." Kisuke gathered his bearings and offered with a big smile on his face.


    ''Kisuke! I know she looks like a little girl, but her aura is far from that! What are you going to do if she starts rampaging because you treated her like a little girl!?'' Yoruichi shouted in her mind wanting to do facepalm but stopped herself as she wants to see what would happen next.


    The little girl with an outrageous outfit tilted her head for a while and move to Kisuke''s opposite and sat down like she was told.


    Kisuke then generated a green magic circle to his front and his right hand went in. From outside''s perspective, it looks like his hand was cut from the elbow down. At this sight, Aika finally stopped thinking altogether to preserve her sanity.

 Volume 2 47 - Cute yet Scary creature

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 47 - Cute yet Scary creature</h4>


    When Kisuke pulled out his hand, he is holding a te of chocte chips cookies and set it down on the table. He also took out two cups of warm tea.


    The little girl looked at the te and cup with confusion in her eyes. She picked up one cookie, examined it closely and asked Kisuke, "What, is this��?"


    Kisuke stopped sipping his tea and looked at the little girl, "You don''t know cookies?"


    The girl shook her head and stared at Kisuke, ''This girl''s girls aura doesn''t match her demeanor. She''s acting way too innocent. This is too fake, why is she acting like this? Is she thinking that I''m just a kid? Or is this by any chance her real self?''


    Kisuke became confused at the way she''s acting. He didn''t know what is her motive in such an obvious act. He couldn''t think of any reason on how could someone remain innocent when she amassed that kind of power. For now, however, Kisuke decided to y along to glean more clues about her. ''She shouldn''t remain so calm if I do something unexpected and her act should fail, or at least some kind of reaction that contradicts her demeanor.''


    Kisuke picked up a cookie himself and started eating it. The little girl tilted her head and said, "��Food?" Kisuke just nodded, already expecting this kind of response.


    The little girl took a bite from the cookie in her hand, and in an instant, a glint passes through her widened eyes as she nibbles her cookie. After she finished her first one, she grabbed another and nibbled it like before. She''s too busy at her task of eliminating the cookies on the te that she doesn''t put any more attention to anyone in the house.


    Kisuke''s mouth twitched as he didn''t expect this kind of response, ''Isn''t this too much? She''s really not paying attention to us? She isn''t afraid that I would sneak attack her? No matter how strong you are, you could never be invulnerable. And should she have some idea of what kind of power I''m hiding.''


    After some time of silence, the cookies on the te were no more. Kisuke saw a moment of disappointment in her eyes but it immediately returned to normal. It is so brief that if Kisuke isn''t watching closely, he would have missed it.


    The little girl went back at her previous action, staring at Kisuke. Kisuke decided on his next steps. He stood up, his left hand reached out to her until he touched her right cheek and rubbing it for a bit, "Some cookie leftover on your cheek."


    ''Kisuke!?'' Yoruichi couldn''t help but retort again in her mind. She stood up in all fours, ready to move whatever happens.


    ''Hmm? No reaction whatsoever? The hell is she? Let''s how long can you endure.'' Kisuke thought as he failed to notice anything different from her. She''s still intently staring at him while he continues to rub her cheek. This continued for a few more moments until the little girl extended her left arm and opened her palm facing it upwards.


    Kisuke stopped for a while and stared at her hand then looking back to her eyes. It''s still tranquil, but mixed with a bit of anticipation? "You want more?"


    She nodded.


    Kisuke took back his hand, sat back down and sighed. He smiled wryly and asked his partner, "Yoruichi, a creature like this really exist?"


    Yoruichi went to his side and also looked at the little girl more closely, "Its also my first time seeing someone like this, it''s pretty cute, to be honest."


    "I really haven''t seen much of the world," Kisuke said to no one in particr. He then took another te of cookies and he could see some excitement at the little girl''s demeanor. She happily gobbled up everything.


    After she finished her second te, she intended to ask for another one. Kisuke sighed and didn''t think that someone of her caliber can be like this, "That''s enough for now."


    Dejection can be felt from her but didn''t ask any further. Kisuke wanted tough at her reaction but he stopped himself and resumed speaking, "We''re having dinner soon. We can''t spoil your appetite from eating too many cookies." Kisuke patted her head and just as he expected, she didn''t react from it, instead, she was more interested in his words, "Dinner?"


    Kisuke already knew how he should reply to her, "It''s food."


    She then resumed staring at him but with a bit of anticipation.


    Aika noticed that the mood lightened a lot and asked, "Uhm, can someone please tell me what''s going on? How did that little girl suddenly appeared in front of Kisuke and where did Kisuke pull out that te of cookies and teacups?" She has still many questions to ask but choose to ask these two first.


    Sona pinched the bridge of her nose and replied to her, "The normal procedure is to erase your memory of this happening."


    "Erase my memories?"Aika felt horrified. If this is any other day, she would justugh at them and think of them to have some screw loose and watched too much anime, but after witnessing what happened today, she just couldn''t brush it off as a bad joke.


    "This is what I would do to protect your normal life. But Urahara-kun may have a different opinion." Sona stood up and also inspected the little girl trying to see what made Kisuke and his cat so cautious.


    "Kisuke?" Aika looked at Kisuke in confusion.


    Sona also asked Kisuke, "What do you want to do, Urahara-kun?"


    Kisuke took back his hand from the little girl and rubbed his chin in contemtion, "What do you want to do Aika-chan? Memory erasure doesn''t have any side effects. It''s a magic that is taught to almost everyone on this side."


    "What do you mean what? At least tell me what''s going on." Aika is a bit dejected. She feels as if he is trying to push her away. Kisuke is one of the few friends she has and epted her the way she is. Although he''s a big pervert and the biggest troll in school, he never treated someone he considers a friend bad. He even helps them when they are in a pinch, although, always in a roundabout way that the one he helps can solve their problem on their own. And she is one of those he helped, but he doesn''t seem to think anything about it.


    Aika is also slowly realizing her budding feelings for him and being pushed back without any exnation hurt her a little bit, ''If only he would trust me more.'' Is what on her mind.


    "I guess I owe you some exnation. Let''s talk while we''re having dinner." Kisuke has a reason on why he didn''t immediately decide to erase Aika''s memories. It is because of the existence of the Sacred Gear inside her. It has been inactive all this time but now, on the little girl''s visit, it suddenly reacted. The mysterious little girl also took a nce at her which surprise Kisuke as she''s only been looking at him all this time.


    Aika epted his words and used the time before dinner to organize her thoughts and calm down a little bit. ''If I don''t like it, I can have my memories erased. But doing that, I''ll never be able to close the distance with him.''


    "Dinner is ready." Sakura and Koneko, who is still in her nekomata form, got out of the kitchen while bringing various appetizing dishes. They set it to the dining table and Sakura saw a little girl with a unique outfit. ''Who is she? Is she the one Kisuke is expecting? I wonder what''s special about her that it forced Kisuke to reveal himself?''


    Sakura read the mood well and set another set of various dishes on the center table of the living room.


    Ever since the food went out and its smell swept the whole room, The little girl locked her stare at it with curiosity. She followed the food with her line of sight and saw the woman who is carrying it put it in front of her. She didn''t know what kind of food this is, but after tasting that first cookie, she is taken by its taste as she never had anything like it before. This is because she doesn''t need sustenance called food and nobody actually offered her anything. The little girl looked back at Kisuke who has the same set of food as hers and waited.


    Kisuke saw her frustration and picked up another fried chicken. He then offered the chicken by moving it to her mouth. She saw his actions and took a bite at the chicken, she doesn''t mind the heat as it doesn''t affect her at all. Kisuke saw some excitement at her deadpan expression and felt an urge to give her another pat, ''What''s up with this cute yet scary creature?'' She finished her food and is looking forward to having another bite, and Kisuke didn''t disappoint her.

 Volume 2 48 - Devils are the Bad guys?

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 48 - Devils are the Bad guys?</h4>


    Everyone, who is sitting on the dining table saw their interaction and don''t know what to say. Yoruichi who is on the coach approached the dining table, more specifically, Sakura and asked, "Mom, can you prepare a cup of milk for me?"


    Sakura was startled when somebody with a manly voice spoke to her and calling her Mom, she panicked as she thought that she had another son she didn''t know. She looked around and only saw girls looking at her with a weird expression and the ck cat, who''s been a family for a decade now, Yoruichi is also looking at her, "Who spoke just now?"


    "It''s me," Yoruichi answered her, She really likes the expression on Sakura''s face right now.


    "Y-Yoruichi? You can speak?" The revtion just now is the most shocking of all the revtion for Sakura.


    "Yes, Mom." Yoruichi wanted tough but stopped herself.


    "M-mom!? Ahem�� For how long have you been aware and can speak?" Sakura shouted but rposes herself and asked. It rare but there are cases that animals who became self-aware may be able to speak. The exact reason is unknown, but it has a strong corrtion with Mana, that''s what the schrs believe anyway.


    "Since the first time I got here," Yoruichi answered.


    Sakura held her head and released arge sigh, "Whatever, you said you want a cup of milk? Warm or cold?"


    "Warm please."


    ''As expected of the mother of that Kisuke, she sure can take it well. I have to do better.'' Aika can only think of that for now.


    Kisuke continued to feed the little girl while also taking a bite for himself from time to time, "Now then, how should I exin this?"


    Everyone on the dining table looked over at his direction, especially Aika and his mother, Sakura.


    "For starters, let me ask something first. Mom, you know about the supernatural world, right?" Kisuke faced his mother and asked in a casual tone.


    Sakura put down her chopsticks and sighed, "So you really noticed. That''s right, I know some things. How did you know anyway?"


    "Well, from the way you act, your aura and your heritage as a Devil. Although I''m not sure how much Devil''s blood you have and but I''m sure I''m your real son and a pure Human." Kisuke looked up and thought for a while.


    Sakura''s eyes widened in shock at Kisuke''s words. Same with Aika and Sona while Yoruichi continues to relish her milk.


    "H-how did you know!? I''m very confident that I masked all of my devil''s aura!" Sakura stood up agitatedly. Even those high ranking Devils that she came across several times didn''t realize anything wrong about her, yet her son, who she thought that didn''t know much, was able to tell that she is a part Devil.


    "Oh�� Well, you see, I''m very sensitive to auras around me. I don''t really know how to exin it further." Kisuke is now ying around letting the little girl chase for the food.


    "Waitwaitwait! D-devils!? You mean those bad guys!? Aunty is a Devil!?" Aika caught up and asked hastily.


    "You got it wrong Kiryuu-san." It was Sona who disagreed with Aika''s remarks, "Devil is a race, and like Humans, a person can be either good or evil."


    Aika kinda gets it, but still couldn''t remove the image in her mind that devils are those who do atrocious things.


    Sona knew what she is talking about and sighed, "Urahara-kun, please let me exin a few things to Kiryuu-san here before you continue."


    "Sure, go ahead, Kaichou-san" Kisuke smiled at her and kept ying with the little girl. The little girl is also starting to enjoy their little game of ''chase the food''.


    "Kiryuu-san. I don''t what is Urahara-kun is nning, letting you chose whether or not letting step in this world, but I''ll exin to a few basic things to you for you to understand what we are talking about." Sona faced Aika while fixing her sses.


    Aika imitated her and also fixed her sses, "Please." She gulped audibly.


    Sona then proceeded to lecture Aika about the Three Factions. It took fifteen minutes for Sona to tell the basics and Aika is not slow enough to not understand it. The food is about to get cold so they ate as they talk.


    "So you mean to say that Angels propagandize that the Devils and Fallen Angels are the bad guys to get the support of the Humans for the Great War?" Aika poses a question based on her understanding.


    "Propagandize is a strong word. The Devils of that time indeed want to destroy the world to create a new one based on their desires and the Fallen Angels want to remove the Angels and take Heaven for themselves, the Angels just spread those words and it became the basis of what the normal Humans'' belief today." Sona corrected Aika.


    "What about now?"


    "After the Great War between the Three Factions, the Devils'' poption plummeted to dangerous levels and their leaders were all killed, but the supporters and loyal followers of those leaders still want to continue the war and that became the foundation for a revolution led by Anti-Satan Faction.


    "The Anti-Satan Faction won the civil war, but the damages worsen the condition of the Devil Society and the chosen new leader established a new government. Noble Houses still exist, but the highest position, which is the Devil King is elected and won''t be passed down to his or her descendants. The Devil King also has to leave his n and take a new name."


    Aika is trying to digest everything she learned just now, ''So the so-called Devils have a world and society of their own and I shouldn''t judge them based on my preexisting recognition of them. It like seeing a bald man full of tattoos and thinking of him as an ex-convict when in fact he is one of the better people in the world.''


    While Aika is deep in her thought, the rest finished eating their food and Sakura went back to the kitchen to serve some warm tea. Kisuke and the little girl also finished their food satisfied. Although her attention is now focused on Aika which sent Kisuke into wracking his brain for possibilities.


    Aika looked up and stared at Sona, "May I ask another question?" She gulped waiting for a reply.


    "Go on." Sona took a sip of the tea served for her, ''This is delicious.''


    "How did you know all of this?" Aika focused her eyesight on her.


    Sona first looked at Kisuke and saw him nodded andy her eyes back to Aika, "Because I''m a Devil." From her back, a pair of bat-like wings appeared, which naturally shock Aika.


    "K-Kaichou, You''re a Devil?" It took Aika a few seconds to ask this question.


    "Yes, I''m a proud one." Sona just smiled at her question as she already expects it.


    Aika stared nkly at her wings for a few moments. She then hardened her expression and said, "Then how do you expect me to believe everything you just said? There might have been a grain of truth from what you said, but since you''re a Devil yourself, you could have a very biased opinion about your race that might not be true from an outside perspective. I don''t even know if you''re manipting everyone here with the magic of yours for your own convenience. Although I''m very sorry if I''m wrong about everything, this is what I truly believe."


    Aika is very scared right now. If she''s right then Kisuke''s family and her are in grave danger and there is nothing she can do about it as she doesn''t even know the limits of ''magic'' and the Devil''s other methods, but she at least want to voice out her concern to disrupt Sona and find an opening to do something.


    Sona stood there nkly looking at her. When Aika saw this she immediately prepares to make a move, but something hit her forehead before she can make her move.


    Aika crouched down in pain holding her forehead, she then looks at the source of the unknown object, Kisuke, "What are you doing!? Are you really controlled!? Dammit! I''m correct after all?"


    "Ahahaha, I like your guts, but whatever you''re thinking of doing, stop it." Kisuke smiled at her.


    Sona also finally recovered and smiled wryly, "I can''t refute everything you just said as I don''t have any evidence to disprove you. Also, Devils like you describe also exist. Although I don''t have any persuasion power here, I can assure you I haven''t cast even a single magic since stepping in this house."


    Aika calmed down. She thought about it again and understood that if she can control everyone in here, then she wouldn''t even need to exin anything. But she''s still wary of her.


    "Great, that''s the right response. Although even Kaichou wants to do just that, she won''t be able to because of this little girl''s presence." Kisuke nodded in satisfaction at Aika while patting the little girl.

 Volume 2 49 - Ophis

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 49 - Ophis</h4>


    It was Sona''s turn to be confused, "What do mean? You probably don''t know, but I''m a high-ss Devil, even though I don''t specialize in mind control, someone on the same rank as me with that kind of skill can easily manipte everyone here. It''s not that I''m underestimating you, but although I''m surprised at your ability to distinguish auras at an unbelievable level, you''re still a human and I can''t feel any indicative feeling that you''re very strong. It''s also the same as that little girl. I don''t know how she suddenly teleported here, but there are some humans with simr inborn abilities."


    "If I were you, I wouldn''t put my trust so much on my sensing abilities right now. Your instincts are screaming at you, right?" Kisuke answered her with a serious tone.


    Sona stops and thinks again. Kisuke is right, even though she can''t feel any pressure from the little girl, something inside her is telling her to be wary of the girl. Sona always trusted her judgment, but seeing Kisuke being serious for once, and also remembering his ability to sense aura, she heeded Kisuke''s advice and focused on her instincts as a Devil right now. She didn''t know why, but she had a feeling that she should trust Kisuke in this one, "Who is she anyway? A friend of yours?"


    "Who knows? This is the first time I''ve seen her. I don''t even know her name." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and faced the little girl once again. Sona furrowed her brows again at his answer, ''He didn''t know her, yet he taking her very cautiously earlier. Just what did he feel from her?''


    The little girl already took back her sights from Aika and set it on him again. "You can call me Kisuke, what is your name, little miss?" Kisuke said to her while taking out another te of cookies.


    She tilted her and said, "��Ophis." She then grabbed the cookies to nibble. She hadn''t had enough of it.


    "Ophis-chan, huh. What a cute name.~ Do you want to try this pudding?" Kisuke took out a cold pudding and opened its lid. Ophis eyes'' shed, she now trusts Kisuke for giving her good food. Seeing that there is a new one, she couldn''t help but look forward to it.


    "Just where are you pulling out all of this stuff? And why do you have them?" Aika stood up, still nursing her forehead and asked while pouting.


    "It''s a separate space in stasis that I created using magic and it''s very convenient. As for the sweets, they are for Koneko and Yoruichi''s appeasement whenever I teased them too much." Kisuke replied while scooping the pudding with a teaspoon and feeding it to the excited little girl.


    While this is all happening, Sakura and Sona is both thinking of the same thing, ''Ophis�� Ophis�� Where have I heard it before?'' Then something shed in their minds, ''!? I couldn''t be�� right?'' At this time, they coincidentally saw each other''s eyes and noticed thetter''s expression.


    "Miss Urahara, could you be thinking of the same thing as me?" Sona first voiced out her concerns


    "If you''re asking me that, then it looks like it, after all not just anyone can have ''Ophis'' as her name," Sakura replied with a gulp.


    As for why Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t react to her name, it is because even though they have read the information about the ''Ouroboros Dragon'' from Cleria''s library, it''s an obscure one and the name of the dragon was never mentioned.


    "Then let''s confirm it." Sona approached Kisuke and Sakura nodded at her.


    Sona wanted to ask the little girl directly but when she saw her busy chewing and enjoying her pudding with great relish, Sona instead faced Kisuke and ask for a favor, "Can you ask what her race is?"


    "Hmm? Ah, sure." Kisuke scooped another serving of pudding and Ophis opened her mouth, but Kisuke stopped his hand in midair and asked, "What is your race, Ophis-chan?"


    When Sakura and Sona saw this, they shuddered and shouted simultaneously, "What the heck are you doing!?"


    "Eh? Just asking?" Kisuke tilted his head at their reaction.


    Ophis saw his hand stopped when he asked a question, she figured out that she has to answer to eat the pudding so she didn''t hesitate and immediately said, "Dragon."


    Kisuke ignored them and focused his attention back to the little girl who is anticipating the pudding in his hand, "A dragon? That''s cool, here is your pudding.~" He then resumed feeding her.


    "Why does it feel like you''re training her like you would to a pet��?" Sona couldn''t stop herself from retorting, but then she immediately remembered what she just said. Her thoughts halted and she faced Sakura, "Miss Urahara, do you know any other dragon named Ophis?"


    "I only know one such dragon. How about you Miss Sitri?" Sakura can''t take off her eyes from the little girl who is being yed by her son.


    "What a coincidence, I only know such one dragon too," Sona replied, also staring at Kisuke''s antics.


    Aika also approached the group and asked, "Dragon? Those giant liz- I mean those legendary beings? Those also exist?"


    "There is a Devil in front of you, so a dragon isn''t that surprising." Yoruichi also finished her milk and joined the conversation.


    Aika thought for a bit and also approached Ophis, picked up a cookie and also started feeding her. Now that two people are feeding her, she also started chewing faster and happier.


    ''This is a dragon? I kinda want one.'' Aika cleaned her cheeks with her handkerchief while thinking such a thing.


    Sakura and Sona, who is watching from the side, have their backs drenched in cold sweat while watching them, but they didn''t say anything as they don''t know how would Ophis react, ''Is that really the Ouroboros Dragon? Maybe we''re wrong?''


    Yoruichi noticed their nervous expression and asked, "Is there something wrong?"


    "Uhm, Yoruichi-chan. Doesn''t the name Ophis ring a bell to you?" Sakura asked Yoruichi hesitantly.


    "Hmm? No, how about you, Kisuke?" Yoruichi shook her head and asked her partner.


    "Me? First time I''ve heard of it." It was unknown when Kisuke took out a bunch of different desserts for Ophis, and He and Aika are nowpeting who the little girl will choose to eat from by employing various methods to attract her attention. And surprisingly, Aika is taking the lead. "Kuh�� So this is the rumored girl power. I''m no match for that."


    Aika finally regained her smug face and directed it to Kisuke in full glory, ''I finally won against this bastard.''


    Meanwhile, Koneko, who is forgotten, is sneaking some cookies for herself, but Ophis noticed her, so Koneko has no choice to feed it back to the little girl ''cause she got scared at the pressure she is emitting.


    "Ophis-chan, sharing your happiness with others can also make you happy," Kisuke said some nonsensical thing, but Ophis took it seriously as naive as she is.


    She looked again at Koneko and thought for a bit, Ophis then picked up a cookie and imitated what Kisuke was doing, putting the cookie in front of Koneko''s mouth. Koneko didn''t think much of it and just took a bite. She smiled as she finally got her snack.


    Ophis has a strange feeling, but it isn''t a bad one, so she continued feeding Koneko trying to figure out what she is feeling. Now we have a strange situation where, two perverts arepeting to feed the gothic lolita girl, while the lolita is feeding a catgirl.


    Sakura and Sona, who is rtively normal and aware of who the little girl is, are speechless.


    Sona couldn''t hold back anymore and asked Kisuke, "Urahara-kun, do you know something about the Ouroborus Dragon?"

 Volume 2 50 - Her Interest

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 50 - Her Interest</h4>


    "Ouroboros Dragon? Isn''t that the strongest existence along with Great Red or something." Kisuke absentmindedly replied, but after thinking about it for a few seconds more, he finally gets what they are trying to tell him, "Oh�� Ophis-chan, are you also called the Ouroboros Dragon?" He stops his hand in midair again after asking the question, and Ophis already knew the drill, "Yes." And she disyed a magic circle in a form of two snakes eating each other forming an infinity symbol


    "WHAT!?" Both Sakura and Sona shouted at them unintentionally which disrupt the ''cookie cycle''. Both of them already suspected that it''s really the Ouroboros Dragon, but until they can get a piece of concrete evidence or the little girl im that it''s really the Ouroboros Dragon, they don''t want to believe at their assumptions until the end. But now, after being shown by that unique magic circle which matches the records of their respective ns and is only avable for the Ouroboros Dragons or those it blessed, they don''t have any choice but to acknowledge the fact.


    Aika who is enjoying her newfound power over Kisuke was dissatisfied when the two interrupted them, but she isn''t rude enough to rebuke her crush''s mother and the student council president of her school especially now that she knows that Sona is a devil. Although she wants to continue feeding Ophis, she is curious why the devil seems so scared of the little girl being the Ouroboros Dragon, "Uhm, why are so surprised? What is an Ouroboros Dragon?" She asked.


    It was Kisuke who answered her question, in the simplest term he can, "The Ouroboros Dragon is the strongest existence, in other words, she can reduce the whole town into rubbles with just a snap of her fingers. Hmm, maybe even rubbles won''t be left behind."


    Aika was frozen and dropped the cookie she has on her hand. Her body moved like a machine that wasn''t oiled for years as she slowly pointed to the little girl still waiting for her cookie with an incredulous expression, "H-h-h-her? S-s-she can do that?"


    "Ahahaha~ No doubt. You see how serious I am earlier when I was inviting her over, right?" Kisukeughed and patted her shoulder.


    "You crazy bastard! And you''re treating her like a little girl! Wait, how old is she anyway? With the existence of magic, anti-aging magic should exist right?" Aika grabbed his clothes and started shaking it, again."


    "Anti-aging magic does exist, but she isn''t using one." Kisuke just let Aika do what she wants, it''s pretty amusing to see her all flustered after all.


    "Then-" Aika wanted to say that the little girl has the same appearance as her age if she isn''t using any anti-aging magic but Kisuke interrupted her.


    "Concept of time doesn''t exist for her, so if we want to quantify her age, it probably a few millenniums or even far back to the inception of the world. And a reminder for you, you''ve been treating her like a kid with me." Kisuke grinned at her as she knew what she is thinking about.


    Aika stopped grabbing Kisuke clothes and slowly moved the center table to the side. She then proceeded to kneel down in front of Ophis doing a dogeza, "I''M SO SORRY!!!" Aika treated a supreme being that can destroy towns like a kid. That thought led to her current actions.


    "In a way, that''s also the right response. Kiryuu-san is really amazing. If she had some ability or a Sacred Gear, I would have immediately invited her for my peerage." Sonamented at this sight while her mouth is twitching. She already recovered from her shock and started to gather information, ''If that really is the Ouroboros Dragon, what is it doing here? And how can Kisuke invite her just like that? I also remembered that ever sinceing in here, she only looked at two people and one animal, Urahara-kun, Kiryuu-san, and the cat, Yoruichi. She didn''t even take a nce at the rest of us with the exception of Toujou-san when she was ''lectured'' by Urahara-kun and started feeding her.''


    Ophis tilted her head at Aika''s action and remembered something, she said, "Don''t mind." She can''t remember where she learned of that phrase but she knew it was used for those who are asking for forgiveness and Aika has been feeding her great food with her bination tactics'' which caused her to like her a bit.


    Aika looked up and she thought she saw an Angel. She remembered all her interactions with her, albeit not that many, and thought ''She really is just a kid�� and an Angel. I''m healed!'' She stood up and hugged the unsuspecting Ophis while rubbing her cheeks against her, "Thank you very much, huehuehue." She started to sound like an old man.


    "This damn pervert! I also wanna do that!" Kisuke protested at the side.


    "Stop it you, idiots!" Sakura and Sona are in sync today.


    "There''s no harm done." Aika and Kisuke simultaneously said. The perverts are in great sync today too.


    Sona couldn''t believe what she is seeing, ''Are these idiots looking to die? Well, maybe because they are idiots? But it looks like the Ouroboros Dragon doesn''t mind it, so we should be safe?''


    As for Sakura, she couldn''t contain her curiosity anymore, "Uhm, what is the Ouroboros Dragon doing here anyway? Did you lure her here, Kisuke?"


    "I actually don''t know why she''s here." Kisuke rubbed his chin and asked Ophis again, "So what are you doing here, Ophis-chan?"


    While Aika is still groping her all over, she answered, "I''m, ever ''changing''. I, can be anything. But you, force ''change'' into others. We''re, simr, but different."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows at Ophis'' words, ''Is she talking about Benihime''s ''Restructure''? Did she saw through me even without revealing Benihime? Should I say, as expected of the Infinite Dragon.''


    "What is she talking about, Kisuke?" Sakura, as well as the rest, confused, except for his trusty cat partner.


    "I''m not really sure. Maybe she''s talking about my Sacred Gear?" Kisuke feigned ignorance.


    "You have a Scared Gear? And why would she be interested in it?" Sakura was only mildly shocked at the revtion due to all surprising things that happened today.


    "I don''t really know anything about my Sacred Gear, maybe she knows more than me." Kisuke directed his sentence to Ophis who is still restricted by Aika. She only tilted her head in response. Obviously, because Ophis doesn''t know anything about Kisuke''s Sacred Gear as he doesn''t own one, hence, her confusion. But the rest took it as her not wanting to answer.


    "Then, what about Kiryuu-san?" Sona also posed a question that was bugging her. She wanted to ask more about Kisuke''s Sacred Gear but Aika, who captured Ophis attention even for a moment is more interesting as she knew that she''s just a normal human.


    "Me?" Aika separated from Ophis as she wanted to continue feeding her asked.


    "It''s probably also about her Sacred Gear." Kisuke is the one who answered Sona''s question and Ophis nodded in agreement.


    "What!? She has one?" Sona was bbergasted. ''She has a Scared Gear? And it even captured Ophis'' attention? Do both of them have Longinus? No, I''m sure Kisuke doesn''t have one as I already saw it in the past. But Kiryuu-san?''


    Kisuke smiled at Sona''s reaction and said, "I don''t think it is a Longinus, but if you want to invite her over your side, you can''t force her." He saw through her thoughts, making Sona smile wryly, "I won''t. That''s just bad taste."


    "Scared Gear? Longinus? What are you talking about." Aika stopped her hand and asked, as this is about herself and she doesn''t know the terms they are using.


    Sona is still deep in her thought so Kisuke answered her instead, "Scared Gear is a tool born with the humans to give them power. Just think of it that way."


    "What can these tools do?"


    "All sorts of things. It can even develop into something unexpected."


    "And I have something like that? Why don''t I know about it?" Aika asked again now even more confused.


    "It can be awakened in many ways, but most of the time, it is awakened due to some life-changing events of the host or with some outside help." Kisuke resumed feeding Ophis when he noticed that she is still anticipating for her cookie.


    "Then can you help me awaken it?" Aika is feeling a little bit excited as her inner chuuni is shouting inside her heart. ''I hope it''s something rted to fortune-telling.''


    "Kiryuu-san, it''s not something easy to d- "I can." You can!?" Kisuke interrupted Sona in the middle of speaking, but his affirmation shocked her more than anger her as there are very few ways to activate a Scared Gear through outside means. Most of it requires someplicated ritual to actually do. She didn''t think Kisuke would have the ability to do it.

 Volume 2 51 - What it means to be in the Supernatural World

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 51 - What it means to be in the Supernatural World</h4>


    "You can!? Please do it!" Aika is also surprised at Kisuke''s answer. She was only joking when she asks that and didn''t would get a yes for an answer.


    "I will do it if only can agree to what I have to say." Kisuke became serious when he said this which made Aika quite nervous, but still intent on listening, "Please tell me."


    "First, activating your Scared Gear means stepping into this supernatural world. Basic memory erasure only affects ordinary people, once the Scared Gear was awakened, it''ll start gathering Mana to support itself and the host. Although minuscule, it''ll give the host some magic resistance which can deflect weak basic magics which mostly are only for ordinary people. We can still erase your memory, but we''ll have to use stronger magic and your body will try to reject it which may cause unknown side effects, and we don''t want that happening to you.


    " Second, stepping into the supernatural world means that you would be putting your life into danger."


    Aika shuddered when she heard of that and already wanted to back off, but Kisuke still not finished speaking. She can make her decisionter anyway, so she decided to continue listening.


    "If I would describe the current supernatural world, I would say that it''s civil, but still a strength-based society. There are some politics but if you''re weak, you would just be fodder for the strong. Of course, there are ways to survive, after all, most of the denizens the supernatural world are weak, not much stronger than a normal human. How? To go under someone''s influence and protection. Devil citizens of the Underworld are protected by their respective lords. Exorcists are protected by the Church. Magicians are protected by the Magic Association. Those are just a few examples but you know the idea." Kisuke stopped speaking to drink some tea.


    "Then how are you surviving?" Aika asked a very important question for herself.


    "Me? I''m just hiding. No one is interested in me anyway. I''m just a in old candy shop keeper after all.~" Kisuke suddenly took out a white fan out of nowhere and covered half of his face whileughing.


    "Is that fine? Aren''t you in danger too?" Aika felt a bit worried about her crush.


    "Yep, I have some aces hidden in case something not nice happens, but overall, I''m in a safe position."


    "There is another way for a Human Mage of Sacred Gear user to go under an influence, and that is bing a reincarnated Devil under a High-ss Devil," Sona suggested another way to Aika and this greatly surprised her, "Reincarnated Devil? You die and be a Devil?"


    "In a way, it is. When you reincarnate as a Devil, you''ll change inside out. The advantage is your lifespan will greatly lengthen, same as a normal Devil, if I remembered it right, it should be around 10,000 years." Kisuke affirmed.


    "10,000 years!? That''s one long life!" Aika shouted, ''That advantage is big enough, should I change?''


    "Almost no one reaches that age as Devils often die in battle or some sickness." Sona knew what she was thinking. She is interested as taking her in as a Rook is she truly have a Sacred Gear, but she doesn''t want to entice her to be a Devil just because of apparent advantage that almost no one can take advantage of.


    "D-die in battle?"


    "That''s a given. The Devils have a lot of enemies, including those families which oppose yours. The fertility rate of Devils is very low which is proportional to their long lifespan so a lot of grudges can umte in just one Generation. Joining them means stepping into the politics of these guys. You have to get used to an aristocratic life. And when a human reincarnated as a Devil, they will always be a Low-ss, and most of these guys hate Low-ss.


    "Another downside of bing a Devil is that they cannot go near/get involved with anything that has to do with the Biblical God, as they will suffer nasty side effects like headaches, immense pain and more. They are vulnerable to holy objects such as crucifixes, holy water, and the Bible, and can get killed easily by Holy Swords and Sacred Gears with divine properties. They are also susceptible to light which significantly drains them of their energy once hit. They are also susceptible to light which significantly drains them of their energy once hit.


    But if you want to stay in the supernatural world rtively safe, bing a Devil under a good house isn''t a bad choice." Kisuke narrated.


    "Sounds like it sucks to be a Devil," Aikamented.


    "There are so many disadvantages of being a Devil, that also why I didn''t want to be one," Kisuke replied.


    "Why do you sound like you could have be one?" Aika asked.


    "I tried inviting him to my peerage, but I failed miserably" Sonamented as she remembers the stake they had in there chess match.


    "I thought only High-ss Devils can turn someone into a Devil?"


    "Aika-chan, our President here a real and bonafide Ojou-sama from a Prince n."


    "What!? A real Ojou-sama? This is my first time seeing one! Please shake my hands!" Aika happily approaches Sona.


    "Ahahaha, Aika-chan, you''ve got the wrong response this time. Although I can''t say I hate it!" Kisuke isughing at Aika''s antics.


    Sona thoughts were all over the ce, ''Shouldn''t you be afraid of my position, or at least be awkward. The longer Ie in contact with her, the stronger she resembles Kisuke. Did the Ouroboros Dragon notice them because of this? Nonono�� That would be insane. Wake up Sona, you can''t keep following their pace.''


    "Ehem, What is your decision Kiryuu-san? If you want to reincarnate as a Devil, I can take you in." Sona feigned a cough to gather their attention and fixed her sses to get back herposure.


    "��" Aika went into thinking mode, analyzing her options, ''Bing a Devil isn''t a bad choice as Kisuke said if I can choose a good house.''


    "Kaichou-san, How do you take care of your servants?" Aika asked Sona.


    "I''m strict with them, especially on my peerage members." Sona didn''t sound positive nor negative and described her rtionship with her servant in just one sentence.


    "Is that so. Kisuke-kun, what do you think of what she said? You''re the best judge of a person of all the people I knew. I want your opinion on this one." Aika faced Kisuke this time and asked.


    Kisuke smiled at what she said and replied, "She''s telling the truth, and I can assure you that she means it in a good way. Although she''s hiding some things, I think you can trust her. But if I really want to say something, you should rely on your own judgement this time as it''ll change your whole life. Whether you regret it or thank yourself in the future, you will only have yourself to me. I''m just giving you the choice here."


    "My own judgement��" Aika repeated what he said and take it to her heart, ''Do I really want to step into this world? I''ll only be putting myself in danger. Aside from a pretty boring life I have, I don''t have any otherints in my current life. So should I just take a step back here��?''


    Aika looked at Kisuke who is staring at her with his annoying grin and thought, ''I can never close our distance if I step back here, but is it really worth it? I can probably find another guy in the future as I''m still very young. Haaah�� I guess I should refuse his offer of awakening my Sacred Gear and just forget everything happened here�� Wait�� Sacred Gear?''


    Something shed in Aika''s mind and reviewed everything she heard today, ''Kisuke can activate my Sacred Gear, but that''s just one way of awakening it. I can awaken it on my own just the same. If that happens, what will happen to me then? I would may have no support or whatsoever that particr time and I''ll be in deep sh*t. Since I''ll forget everything today, that means I won''t know anything when I identally activate my Sacred Gear and chances of someone chasing after is high if Sacred Gears are very rare. I need to confirm this first.''


    "Do I have a chance activating my Sacred Gear on my own?" Aika asked them.


    "Of course, that''s always a possibility," Kisuke answered, ''Looks like she already gets her situation, I wonder what she''ll do next.''


    Aika went back to her thoughts, ''So that''s how it really is. Then it''s a better choice to just step in today instead of finding myself at lost when the timees. Bing a Devil then? I don''t really want to quit being a human. And I still don''t trust Kaichou enough to entrust my life to her. Then my only choice is��''


    She suddenly shook her head, ''Stop it Aika! Don''t be reckless, It''s not yet sure if I really awaken my Sacred Gear and might regret this decision.''


    Aika''s vision wandered to the three people on eating snacks. It was unknown when Sakura overcame her fear and approached Ophis and started feeding her enjoying herself, ''If I step back now, I won''t be able to touch those cat ears and tail on Koneko. I''m really curious about it�� If I step back now, I won''t be able to hug Ophis-chan, my Angel, anymore�� ''


    Aika snapped her neck towards Kisuke direction and dered, "Activate my Sacred Gear now!"


    Kisuke''s mouth twitches and said, "Why do I feel like the lynchpin of your decision is very stupid."


    "You''re just imagining it."

 Volume 2 52 - Aikas Decision

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 52 - Aika''s Decision</h4>


    "Ahem�� So you decided to step in. Are you going to be a Devil then?" Kisuke ignored what just happened as he already what her decision would be. Well, he didn''t know that her hesitation would disappear because of her inner-old man.


    "�� I don''t want to be a Devil." Aika replied after being silent for a moment.


    "You just intend to awaken your Sacred Gear without looking for protection?" Sona furrowed her brows at Aika''s answer.


    "No��" Aika then looked towards Kisuke and said, "Please take me in."


    Kisuke then changes into his serious expression, "Tell me how you arrived at that decision."


    "As you said, I''m just a normal Human if not for this aforementioned Sacred Gear inside me, and you gave me an option of whether I awaken it or not. I would be able to continue my normal life if I refuse and forget all of this, but you also mentioned that I can awaken it on my own, wouldn''t I justnd in the same situation I am now? Or maybe even worse as I don''t know anything about it." Aika answered.


    "But I think that the chances of awakening it on your own are pretty slim that you don''t have to worried about it. Aren''t you scared that everything around you may change if you continue?" Kisuke showed a mocking smile. He''s making her understand that she could keep her normal life without much worry, that she''s just overthinking it.


    "That''s exactly the point, I''m scared. I''m scared that I''ll be in danger, but if I back down now, I might�� No, I''m certain that I''ll be in more dangerter if I don''t take this chance now." Aika clenched her teeth.


    "Hoo�� Oveing the fear of change this decision will bring. How admirable." Yoruichimented from the side. She has been listening to their conversation all this time.


    "If that''s the case, don''t you think that bing a Devil under Kaichou is a good choice? Why chose me?" Kisuke rubbed his chin waiting for her answer.


    "It''s really a good choice, however, I still don''t want to leave my humanity behind. And no offense, I still can''t trust Sh*tori-Kaichou even if you tell me to." Aika looked at Sona and bowed down a bit to apologize.


    "Oh? You''re giving me your trust, then?" Kisuke raised his brows and look at Aika with surprise.


    "Yes." A simple answer came from her, but it told arge amount of conviction.


    Kisuke stared at her eyes for a bit. He saw various emotions shing through, but he knew she already finalized her decision.


    "And you want me to take you in?"


    "Yes."


    "That''s indeed another choice��" Kisuke stopped for a moment and stared at her more seriously, "But what makes you think that I''ll agree to that?"


    "Ugh��" Of course, Aika didn''t forget that Kisuke is this type of person. Even though he helps his friends, his efforts must be worth it. That just how he is, a kind yet a selfish person. She already thought of some things to convince this guy, but she didn''t know if she''s going to be sessful. If she can''t convince him, then she''ll ask Sona to reincarnate her into a Devil, but, of course, after apologizing to her.


    Aika took a deep breath and said, "I can help you with whatever odd jobs you have."


    "I can find someone else better." Kisuke denied.


    "You can hire me for your shop for free," Aika mention another reason.


    "We are not hiring, I hate freebor, and that''s just the same as the first one." Kisuke still denied her.


    "Kuh��" Aika already expected that she would be denied, but Kisuke didn''t even hesitate to refuse her.


    "Why don''t you offer your body? A pervert like him will instantly agree." Sona intervene and suggested to Aika.


    "That won''t work Kaichou. You don''t know him, but I can tell you that he''ll refuse me outright and will be reprimanded about selling my body�� Even though he''s just a pervert. And I still want to keep my body for myself." Aika answered her.


    "I''m sorry for what I just said, and what a conceited pervert."


    "I agree."


    "I can hear both of you, you know. I may be a pervert, but I''m a gentleman."


    "Enough with that bullsh*t, pervert, let this girl continue what she has to say." Yoruichi stopped them from going off course.


    "Oi�� did you just say me being a gentleman is bullsh*t?" Kisuke retorted.


    "Stop going off-topic, Bullsh*t-senpai." Koneko also joined in dissing Kisuke.


    "��" Kisuke stopped speaking, opting for Aika to continue.


    ''This guy''s ce in their hierarchy is lower than I thought.'' Both Sona and Aika arrive in the same conclusion.


    Aika then resumed thinking of ways to persuade Kisuke, ''What else can I do?�� So I''m down with thest one. If I still can''t get epted then I''ll just have to ept Kaichou''s offer.''


    "I''ll let you study my Sacred Gear."


    "�� Go on."


    Aika did a gut pose inside her mind when she heard this.


    "I know your innate curiosity about the things that interest you. You said Ophis-chan is a very strong being and she got interested in my Sacred Gear, wouldn''t you be the same?"


    Indeed. Aika is correct to say that Kisuke is interested in her Sacred Gear. All this while, Kisuke hasn''t stopped inspecting Ophis, especially her soul, and Ophis didn''t do any attempt to hide it.


    As he examines it more, Kisuke was shocked to see some resemnce to one of the souls sealed inside Aika''s Sacred Gear with Ophis'' own soul.


    With this, Kisuke became interested in their connection, and it is also probably the reason she took notice of Aika. He also wanted to know the identity of the other soul existing alongside the soul that resembles Ophis''.


    "Correct, I''m indeed interested in your Sacred Gear, but are you sure that you want me to study it?" Kisuke gave out a smile which is tinged with cruelty, "I can guarantee your life, but I can''t guarantee anything else."


    Aika shuddered as this is the first time she saw Kisuke have that expression, ''If someone would ask me to guess who is the Devil between Kaichou and Kisuke, ten out ten I will point him out.''


    "So, what is it? I can take you in and even train you to use your Sacred Gear if you''re going to let me study it freely."


    "Can I add one more condition?" Aika hesitantly asks.


    "You can, but whether I''ll ept it or not is a different story."


    "It''s not that much. I want the safety of my parents."


    Kisuke stopped and thought for a while, ''I can do that easily if Aika doesn''t identally oppose someone strong. But just to be sure, I''ll hide Aika''s abilities from others. I need to have another bet with Kaichouter.''


    "I guess that''s fine."


    Aika sighed in relief after hearing this. It''s one of she was most worried about.

 Volume 2 53 - The Bet

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 53 - The Bet</h4>


    "Now that is out of the way, Aika-chan, call your parents and tell them that you would have to stay the night here. There''s still a lot of things that you need to know, and Koneko will help you into that." Kisuke sighed and gave his instructions to Aika.


    "Stay the night? You wouldn''t do anything unspeakable to me, right?" Aika covered her not so modest chest and red at Kisuke.


    "Nope~ Not interested." Kisuke grinned at her.


    "It''s more annoying if you put it that way," Aika pouted and muttered in low voice. Kisuke and the rest, of course, heard her as Aika still don''t know anything about their superhuman senses, but they still decided to ignore it.


    This time, however, Ophis suddenly stopped eating and stood up. Kisuke knew that she has to go and said with a smile, "You cane back for more sweets."


    "What? What''s going on? Ophis-chan is leaving? I haven''t had enough of my Ophinium!" Aika shouted like her suspicious dealer is leaving too few of her stuff.


    Ophis stared at Kisuke for a moment, without saying anything, she disappeared from her position leaving only some ck particles that only stayed for a few seconds. Kisuke actively scanned his surroundings but didn''t find anything out of ce. She teleported outside of his perception. He wanted to put a tracker on her but decided against it as the advantages are too little than the disadvantages.


    "So, what do we do now?" Sona asked and looked at the clock. It''s already 8:00 PM.


    "We''ll have a pajama party!!!" Kisuke dered, raising his fan in the air.


    "��" Everyone didn''t know how to react.


    Except for Yoruichi, "You just probably wants to see everyone in their pajamas."


    And Kisuke didn''t deny it, "Damn right."


    "Is there a cure for his head?" Aika asked everyone else nkly.


    "Maybe we can try mming his head to the wall repeatedly until he reaches enlightenment?" Koneko and her overly violent suggestion.


    "Nice! I like that idea. We can also try tying him up and dropping him under the ice caps of Antartica, it''ll let his head cool down�� probably." And Yoruichi whose suggestion isn''t much better.


    "I''m sorry that my son has some screws loose. As his mother, I should have tightened them a bit when he was young." Sakura couldn''t look at her son''s antics.


    "T-these people are harsh." Kisuke can only say that.


    "I''m sorry to break your fun, but I won''t be joining you. After ying a chess match with him, I''m going home." Sona interrupted them andid out her ns.


    "Come on Kaichou, I know that you won''t be satisfied with just a match. You can use your magic to conjure your pajamas."


    "Hoho�� Do you think that I''m going to y multiple matches with you tonight? Interesting, let me remind you that I only let my guard down the first time. I won''t be defeated by those tips and tricks that you learned through inte tutorials." Sona for the first time research tips and tricks to y chess on the inte and made aption of it inside her head. These tips and tricks can only win against those who let their guard down and she won''t be doing that this time around. She chuckled at the thought of finally getting back against the hateful pervert, though she didn''t voice it out, ''I wonder what I should ask for our bet?'' She has a small smile on her face, already anticipating Kisuke''s miserable expression.


    Due to Kisuke''s constant teasing and annoyingness, and all these people who are on the receiving end of his pranks want to see him fell down from his pedestal. This is especially true for the girls present today, they are thinking of things that normally don''t cross their minds.


    "Well then, let''s have a match." Kisuke took out a set of chessboards from his inventory and ce it on the center table of the living room.


    "Before we begin, I''d like to discuss this time''s bet." Sona sat down opposite of Kisuke and fixed her sses.


    "Sure, you can go ahead first." Kisuke readily agreed while he sets up the board.


    "First is my photos in your holding and to swear to never spread or use it.


    "Second, I''m taking back the right to wear a costume and be photographed in it that you got away withst time.


    "Third and thest is for you to ept my invitation to be my ''Knight''."


    Sona stopped speaking and waited for Kisuke.


    "I''m fine with that, my condition this time is, first, I want everything you witness and heard the moment you stepped into this house a secret." This became Kisuke''s priority as he didn''t want any information leak yet due to his knowledge stillcking.


    Sona''s eyebrows furrowed at his first condition. But she understands where he ising from and it isn''t an unreasonable condition even more so that this is a Devil contract binding.


    "Second is information." And this is Kisuke real intention after epting Sona''s rematch.


    "Information? My n has umted thousands of years of information, but if you''re aiming for secrets and only those avable for High-ss Devils, then I can''t grant you wish. Though I''m not saying that I''ll lose to you."


    "Basic information is fine. Magic, Senjutsu, Youjutsu, and other techniques that are rarely avable for public but prettymon for Middle-ss and up. Also, information onmon sense for your societies, Angels and Fallen Angels included."


    "Hmmm, that isn''t much, so I guess that''s fine. I believe that you alreadyid out everything you want?" Sona thought for a bit and agreed, while the techniques and skills are the family''s property it isn''t hard to ess it if it''s for Middle-ss and below. As for information onmon sense, it''s publicly avable in Underworld for visitors from other nes.


    "Onest thing."


    "What is it?"


    "I want another voucher to photograph you while wearing a different costume."


    "Wha-!? Grrr�� Fine." Sona greeted her teeth and replied, she already promised herself that she won''t lose.


    .


    .


    .


    "So this bet is where Kisuke almost bes a Devil?" Aika asked out loud while watching from the side.


    "Kiryuu-chan, call your parents first. They''re probably worried about you." Sakura reminded her.


    "Ah, I forgot. Thank you for the reminder aunty, but please call me Aika." Aika thank Kisuke''s mother for the reminder and also used this chance to get close to her. She became gustier after the events she went through just now.


    "Alright Aika-chan, just hurry up." Sakura easily agreed and urge her to make her call.


    "I''ll use your yard to make a quick call." Aika stood up and walk towards the exit.


    "Why not just here?"


    "U-Uhm�� My parents are probably going to scold me and I don''t want any of you to hear it as it may be awkward." Aika exined, but her eyes were darting all over the ce.


    Sakura noticed this and said, "I''ll speak with them for you and exin that you would be staying the night, that way, they won''t scold you anymore�� at least not as hard."


    "It''s fine Aunty! Even though they scold me often, they also dote on me! As long as I properly exin to them, they easily agree!" Aika practically ran outside while saying this leaving Sakura behind and not having a chance to say more.

 Volume 2 54 - Parents who you can get along with

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 54 - Parents who you can get along with</h4>


    Aika went out if the balcony and stepped on the yard. She took out her phone and dialed her house''s phone. After a few seconds of ringing, the voice of a woman answered the phone, "Aika, it''s prettyte. Are you going home now? Want me to pick you up?"


    "Uhh�� Mama, I''m sorry that this is sudden, but I''m going to stay at my ssmate''s house for tonight." Aika nervously talks on the phone.


    Aika''s mother was silent for a moment and then asked, "�� Is it a boy''s house?"


    Aika wanted to lie here, but figured that it wouldn''t do her any good if her lie was exposed, "�� It is." And she immediately regretted that.


    From the other side of the phone, she heard her mother shouting, " Papa~! Our hopeless darling daughter got a boyfriend! "


    "Wrong!!!" Aika blushed and shouted, but she remembered that there are other people inside, "He isn''t my boyfriend!" She controlled her voice, but it was still pretty loud.


    From the other side, she heard her father shouting in the background, "WHAT!? Honey! Ask her the address of her boyfriend! I want to make a quick visit now! By the way, have you seen my baseball bat? The one from our high school days, the nails on it has probably rusted, but it should do a fine job."


    "Stop it you idiotic father of mine!" Aika couldn''t help but shout again. This is the reason why she wants no one to listen to their conversation.


    "That''s right, Papa. You shouldn''t disturb your daughter now. She''s currently in his house and would stay a night." Her mother agreed to her, but for a different reason.


    "What did you saaaaaaay!!? Honey! Ask her the address now! Meanwhile, I''m going to take out my katana and harpoon from my weapon crate." Her father''s voice became deeper as he started talking about his weapons. Aika knew that her father went to somewhere as she can here some running footsteps going away.


    "Mama! Stop Dad! We''re just having a sleepover! And I''m not alone here! An underssman, and the Student Council President! So it''s not what you think!" Aika is panicking now because she knew her father wasn''t joking. Although her father won''t really hurt anyone, that doesn''t mean he can''t give psychological traumas.


    "�� Both are girls?" Her mother asked. Aika had a bad feeling but still answered, "Yes."


    "A foursome!? Damn, this guy is good. Are you sure that you want to give your virginity to him? I trust your judgment of people, but, don''t you think that''s too much for your first time?" Her mother asked her in a worried tone.


    Aika wanted to smash her head to the ground but she, fortunately, managed to hold it in, "We won''t have a foursome!!!"


    "So you have him all for yourself? Good going girl!" Aika''s mother cheered from the other side.


    "I''m not giving anyone my chastity!" Aika cried out loud The people from the inside probably heard her shouts but she doesn''t care anymore. She can just tell them that her parents are messing with her and nobody will know their true colors just from her words.


    "No need to be shy, sweety. I also went through that. By the way, do you want my advice? Reality and the knowledge you have from your books can be quite different after all. And you need some protection, want me to send my pills over? Hmmm, gotta go. Your father is already chanting his warcry."


    "NO! Thank you! And Goodbye!" Aika lost her patience about end the call. But before she can do that, she heard her mother from the other side, "Wait! Don''t forget to introduce him to u--"


    Aika looked up to the sky and sighed heavily. After calming herself down, she braced herself and think of excuses for the things she shouted earlier, ''What did I shout again? The dangerous ones are ''foursome'' and ''chastity''. Both are troublesome, but I can just say that my parents messing with me by staying at a boy''s house.''


    Aika reentered the house and saw their awkward expressions, well, except for Kisuke who has an annoying grin.


    But before she could exin herself, Kisuke''s mother, Sakura asks her awkwardly, "If you insist on doing that, you can use the shop. No one will bother you there. But you have to take those pills that your mother offered to you. You''re still young after all."


    "�� What?" Aika then thought of something, ''Aren''t these people either Devil, Cat Girl, Talking Cat, and Human Magician�� it couldn''t be�� right?'' A bad premonition overtook Aika and she asks, "How soft can you hear."


    Kisuke''s grin becamerger and almost confirmed Aika''s thoughts, "Almost all of the denizens of the supernatural world have superhuman senses."


    "Then?" Aika gulped still wishing that she was wrong.


    "Everyone here can at least hear a mosquito flying from 10 meters away. What do you think is louder? A phone speaker or a mosquito pping its tiny wings?"


    Aika slowly covered her red face and suddenly knelt, "UWAH!"


    Kisuke still couldn''t let her off, "Now I know where that personality of yours came from."


    "UWAAAH!!"


    "Uhm, Aika-chan. Should I prepare some tea? It seems like your parents areing over." Sakura asked the downed Aika.


    "Please don''t. They won''t."


    Kisuke hasn''t had enough and continues to say, "You shouldn''t let your mother worry too much for your future to the point that she is very happy at the thought of you having a boyfriend. Cut down on perverted things will ya."


    Aika stopped crying at his words and uncovered her face staring at Kisuke. It is the expression of someone who epted despair and has a crazy glint in their eyes, "If I can''t find a husband to marry, I will grab your leg and never let go of it. You''ll have to take care of me forever. Hehehehe."


    "��" Everyone else also looked at his direction. Kisuke didn''t expect that a cornered Aika would act like this so he hurriedly changed the topic, "Yosh, Sh*tori-Kaichou. Let''s do this! This match will change our destinies."


    "Ah�� He escaped." Sakuramented.


    "Senpai you wuss." Koneko followed up.


    "As usual, you can''t deal with those who are too straight forward." Yoruichi nodded knowingly.


    "Man up and take responsibility. You shouldn''t tease people so much in the first ce." Sona has a word of her own.


    But all of this was ignored by Kisuke and just calmly drank his tea, "Ahh�� Life is a mystery." And started talking nonsense.

 Volume 2 55 - The President is too Intense at night

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 55 - The President is too Intense at night</h4>


    Kisuke looked at the clock with weary eyes. He saw it was already 3:00 AM, "Say, Kaichou, Haven''t you had enough?"


    Sona, who also has the same weary eyes red at Kisuke, "Are you trying to impede my concentration? That won''t work on me. I won''t let you quit while you''re ahead."


    "I''m not just ahead of you, you couldn''t even win! The score is now 9:0 and this is the tenth match. I want this thest one, as their''s no merit for me any longer." Kisuke shook his head.


    .


    .


    .


    Sona and Kisuke has been ying chess ever since Aika called her parents. And they have been at it until now.


    After Sona loses on the first match, they all change into pajamas after taking a bath. Koneko has her own cat print pajamas which she always wears, Sakura lent Aika floral print pajamas and Sona conjured a checkered print with her own magic. They then move to Kisuke''s room as it is pretty big.


    Sakura prepared three sets of futon mattresses for Koneko, Aika, and Sona and sets it aside. She knew that Kisuke won''t do anything untoward to them even if they sleep in his room. After preparing the futons, she then proceeded to take out some snacks and make a tea to get along with it for them. This house has an unbelievable amount of snacks and teas.


    While Sona and Kisuke are focusing on their next game with new terms which are just some upgrades from Kisuke''s previous conditions, Aika and Koneko are ying with Kisuke''s game console while thetter exins a few things for the neer, Aika. Yoruichi, however, is already taking a nap on the top of Kisuke''s bed.


    When Kisuke and Sona reached their fifth game, Sakura retired to her bed long before and let the youngsters do their thing. Koneko and Aika also started dozing off and they cleaned the tes of snacks and cups of tea beforeying out two sets of futon to sleep. Sona is already biting her fingers at this point. And theirs no more bet in ce as Sona is afraid that she would lose everything she has if she continues betting. She already lost all of her confidence before they decided, and the only thing left is tenacity and determination to beat Kisuke even just one time to redeem her broken pride.


    On the tenth game, Kisuke finally lost his patience and we''re back at the beginning.


    "I''ve been improving real-time and the game is slowly bing longer and longer. I can also see your movements quite freely nowpared to the earlier games, I can''t stop now." Sona''s elegance disappeared and her strictness went up another level, although in a bad way. Now she doesn''t want to stop ying until she wins one game.


    Kisuke already somehow expected this after their fifth game, that she would be a very stubborn person after losing so many times on the game she was very confident in. In their sixth game, Kisuke slowly changed his strategy to lower his level a bit. He also did the same thing in the seventh and eighth games. The ninth one is a game where Kisuke is almost at the same level as Sona. Sona is already very tired so she didn''t notice what Kisuke is doing and got the wrong idea that she is improving very fast while ying with him. Kisuke thought that it''s about time that hey out the excuse that he thought of earlier, "Kaichou, you''re a High-ss Devil which is very active at night and superhuman specs, I''m just a human remember? Even though I know a bit of magic, my physique is still that of a normal human and I won''t be able to keep up with you if we keep ying like this. Are you fine with me losing to you just because your stamina is a lot greater than me?" Kisuke didn''t hesitate to use her own pride against her. He made his move and ended their game.


    "Kuh��" Sona''s thought process already slowed down due to tiredness, not just from ying chess, but the fatigue that kept umting working as Student Council President and nning that she is making to make her dreamse true is already taking a toll to her mind. She processed Kisuke''s words and thought that it was true that she didn''t want to win that way, "I''m sorry. Let''s rest for today."


    "Why are you so fixated on the game chess anyways?" Kisuke asked as he''s a bit confused at her apparent obsession with the game.


    "W-well, It''s something I have been ying as a kid andtely no one has been able to defeat me." Sona had a subtle blush of her face when she exined herself, ''No way in hell I can tell you the real reason.''


    Kisuke smiled and just epted her reason. He knew she''s hiding something else but it''s like he has any right to dig in on her personal history and Kisuke is not interested in doing so unless a situation calls for it. He collected the chessboard and pieces back to his inventory, he then took out two cups of milk and gave one to Sona who is rubbing the space between her brows to ease some eye strain, "What''s this?"


    "You won''t be able to sleep without calming down, drink it, and you''ll feel better." Kisuke drank his own cup of milk.


    "Thank you." Sona slowly drank her milk, "It''s delicious." A small smile appeared on her face, though the weariness is still apparent. It seems that she''s hiding her haggard face through some means or she''s just really good at controlling her facial expression, and that control slipped up just now.


    "Kaichou, you shouldn''t tire yourself so much like that. It won''t do you any good." Kisuke started an idle talk.


    "So you noticed, huh. I can''t rx even if I want to. I have so many things to think about that it just upies my mind. Problems that seem to have no solution unless I get on the top of thedder and things that I should do to climb thatdder." Sona smiled wryly, she felt a little better after letting out a bit of her pain.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything andid thest set of the futon mattress for Sona, She tried to stop him but he manages to set it down within just a few seconds and all she could do is thank him.


    "Finish your milk, and here is some water. Lay down and give me your hand." Kisuke gave her some instruction, but Sona became defensive at this, "What are you trying to do? Don''t think that I won''t fight back if you do anything funny to me."


    "Come on now, I won''t do something as tasteless as that. If you offer yourself though, that will be an entirely different story." Kisuke gave her arge grin, and Sona finally let her guard down and said, "Stop teasing me. I''m already tired." She then followed his instructionsying down and lending her left hand to Kisuke.


    "Well then, Soul Calmer." Kisuke used the Kidou that he used on Koneko when she was in an unstable state of mind.


    "Hmm? What''s this?" Sona is shocked at the strange energy flowing through her hand and spreading throughout her body. She wanted to take back her hand from Kisuke, but it felt like this energy is calming her nerves which almost never happens.


    "A little spell I created to calm your mind, just enjoy it and go to sleep."


    "�� Is that so? Then I''ll do�� just�� that����" Sona soon fell asleep with a smile as her fatigue psyche is being healed by Kisuke''s Reaitsu and Mana.

 Volume 2 56 - Plans

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 56 - ns</h4>


    "��Zzzz"


    Sona is sleeping peacefully on the futon mattress when the sunlight from the window hits her face. She slowly opened her eyes and saw an environment she doesn''t usually sleep in, ''Where''s this?'' Sona suddenly opened her eyes wide to look at her surroundings. Her mind finally woked up and remembered what happenedst night. She looked at the clock on the wall and it says 10:00 AM, ''I slept thiste!?''


    She looked around again and saw to sets of futon mattresses properly set aside and Kisuke still in his dreams on his bed, ''I''ve let my guard down. I couldn''t believe I would just fell asleep like that. Is it the milk? Did he put something in it? No, I remembered that strange spell he casts on me to forcefully calm me down.''


    She looked at his happy sleeping face again and she couldn''t help but smile too, "Thank you. I really needed that rest." She then looked at herself and saw the disheveled pajamas she was wearing that can entice any man. She hurriedly covered herself with the nket and looked around again stopping her gaze at Kisuke, "You''re awake, right!?" She asked him while blushing.


    Kisuke didn''t move and just continued sleeping with a contented face. Sona stared at him for a minute more and sighed in relief when she was sure that he was still sleeping. She fixed her beddings, cleaned herself and wore her school uniform again, all through the use of magic. She then looked back at Kisuke for onest time before exiting through the door to head downstairs.


    After Sona went downstairs, Kisuke suddenly opened his eyes and stretched to get up. Yoruichi who is on his side all this time also did the same.


    "I thought for sure that you would tease her after seeing her like that," Yoruichimented while she is yawning.


    "It feels like I''ll be stepping on and mine if I do that. It''s still early in the morning, I want some peace and quiet." Kisuke smiled and patted the ck cat.


    Yoruichi just snorted at his words, "It would be nice if it''s always morning."


    "Hehehe." Kisuke rubbed his nose a bit embarrassed.


    "What''s the n for today?"


    Kisuke stood up and went for the dresser to change to another set of his usual attire, "Let''s see�� Let Koneko-chan help Aika feel some Ki and you help her with some stamina training. Use the restorative hot spring if it''s necessary."


    "You won''t awaken her Sacred Gear first?" Yoruichi is a little confused as this is the whole point on why they allowed Aika to step into the supernatural world.


    "I won''t. Her Sacred Gear is a bit special you see, and I want her foundations on an appropriate level before we release it for her. That way, she can take the training that I''m nning forter without any problems. I want to see a Shinigami with a Sacred Gear."


    "I see, you want to see if the Sacred Gear will affect her Reiryoku as it is a tool embedded to the soul of the host. Will the Sacred Gear appear alongside a Zanpakuto? Or will the Zanpakuto ''eat'' the Sacred Gear and vice-versa? Good, it also piqued my interest. I''ll help her polish her foundation so that she can take any trauma that could happen." Yoruichi is also feeling excited at the prospect of a new type of Shinigami being born with thebined mystery of this world and their former world.


    "I''ll be using Benihime when that timees, so please take note that my Hollowfied Reiatsu will also flow into her and remove the division between a Shinigami and Hollow in her. Devise a training with that in mind."


    "Can''t we use my Zanpakuto?" Yoruichi asked.


    "We can, but your Zanpakuto is technically an unknown territory for us, you can''t even control it yet and we don''t know what it might do. An unknown variable is more dangerous than a known dangerous variable." Kisuke furrowed his brows in a bit of contemtion but still decided to use Benihime as Yoruichi''s Zanpakuto is too special for their own good.


    "Ugh, I understand. What are you nning on doing then?" Yoruichi conceded at his words and felt a little bit�� no, a lot of frustration is already umting because of her Zanpakuto, Byakko never listening to her.


    "I want to finish separating my Mana with my Reiryoku and fusing it with Ki today."


    "Finish it today? Isn''t that dangerous? You fused your Mana with your Reiryoku in a course of a few years and now you want to do it in just a day?"


    "I already have experience doing it, and fusing Ki with Reiryoku is a lot easier than with Mana. And we don''t exactly have that much time to do it slowly when those dickheads are looming."


    Yoruichi understood his point and had no choice but to agree, "Fine, but I have to be nearby when you attempt to do it."


    "Thanks." Kisuke patted the ck cat again before heading down to join the rest.


    Both of them went down and Kisuke used the bathroom first to wash first before going to the dining area to eat his breakfast.


    When they reached the living room beside the dining area, he can see that their''s another guest this morning, and that is Tsubaki Shinra, the Vice-President of the Student Council. She is here to get the Student Council President, Sona Sitri. She was still in a state of shock when she heard that her master spent a night in someone else house and a guy''s on top of that.


    Every morning, Tsubaki picks up Sona to start their day every 7:00 AM. Tsubaki arrived at Sona''s ce as usual but it was already fifteen minuteste after their usual schedule so Tsubaki started knocking at her door, but there was no answer or whatsoever. Tsubaki knew that Sona would always wake up at 6:00 in the morning no matter how tired she was the day before and she would be out by 7:00 AM. This schedule only changes unannounced when there was an emergency that she needs to attend, but Sona would always inform her ''Queen'' of such changes so Tsubaki was confused at the turn of events.


    Tsubaki couldn''t wait anymore so she opened the door of Sona''s room. Even though Sona and Tsubaki are best friends, they still came from an aristocratic family and there are still etiquettes that must be observed. Sona is Tsubaki''s master and she shouldn''t head inside her room without permission. Tsubaki intruded her room knowing fully of that, but her master''s condition is more important for her.


    Sona''s room is a typical luxurious western room with a King size bed. The room is very tidy, as one would expect from a very strict honor student. Tsubaki inspected the whole room, but she failed to find Sona. She noticed that her bag of paperwork for the Student Council is not here. Tsubaki started to recall where she brought it yesterday and remembered that she would go to Kisuke Urahara''s ce for a chess rematch, bringing with her the bag that contains the paperwork.


    ''Did she not go homest night?'' Tsubaki reached this conclusion but shook her head in denial, ''No! That''s impossible. This is the very strict Sona Sitri, she wouldn''t do that.'' But no matter how much she denies it, the more this thoughts burrow in her mind. ''I''ll have to contact her first.''


    Tsubaki raised her hand in front of her and conjured a magic circle with Sitri n''s insignia. She is using amunication spell that works simr to modern phones. But even after waiting for a few minutes, there was no answer. ''What''s happening? Is she unconscious? Did that Urahara did something to her?''

 Volume 2 57 - Tsubakis Dilemma (Edited)

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 57 - Tsubaki''s Dilemma (Edited)</h4>


    Tsubaki started panicking and about to make a call to the Sitri n and Sona''s big sister, but she managed to calm herself and check things on her own before making any drastic measures.


    She immediately made her way towards Kisuke''s ce to check whether the President is there or not. If Kisuke has something to do with the President''s disappearance, then she would have to make her move to secure all the information she needed.


    Tsubaki didn''t have to find the Urahara household as she already knows where it is when Sona first instructed her to help Akeno in investigating Kisuke. She reached the gates of the house and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds of waiting, the one who opened the door is Koneko. Koneko is wearing casual clothes when she opened the door. She already expected this but still shocked nevertheless, ''She really lives here, huh. To think that she of all people would get close to a human.''


    Tsubaki bowed first for the greeting and formality and said, "Good morning, Toujou-san. I''m sorry for visiting early in the morning, but I would like to ask if you have any news about the Kaichou. It seems that she didn''t go home yesterday. Do you happen to know where she might be?"


    Koneko stared at her for a few moments before saying, "Good morning, Shinra-FukuKaichou (Vice-President). If you''re looking for Kaichou, she''s still upstairs. Please enter as you may have to wait for a while." Koneko invited her in. She doesn''t know Sona''s habit of waking up early even if she put an all-nighter the previous day, but she knew that Kisuke and Sona slept veryte, so she thought that the both of them would need more sleep. Today is a day-off anyway so they can sleep as long as they want.


    ''She really stayed the night here? And still upstairs? What is she doing that I have to still wait for a while?'' Tsubaki is, of course, shock as she didn''t expect what she was thinking was true. She decided to ept her offer toe inside and see what''s going on. However, she didn''t enter without inspecting the whole house for a trace of magic and readied herself to fight if she needed to. She didn''t think that Koneko, a fellow devil and a peerage member of Rias Gremory would lie and prepare a trap, but it doesn''t hurt to be careful, for all she knows, the Koneko in front of her might not be the real one.


    As she entered the house, she kept examining everything she passes through until they reached the living room. In there, she saw another two figures. It was Sakura and Aika who are having breakfast.


    "Good morning. I''m sorry for interrupting your breakfast and intruding here." Tsubaki greeted them first.


    "You are?" This is the first time Sakura saw Tsubaki so she asked.


    "That''s the Vice-President of the Student Council." Aika is the one who answered Sakura''s question.


    "Ah, Sitri Princess'' Queen."


    When Tsubaki heard this, she immediately overreacted by jumping back taking out a naginata. A naginata consists of a wooden or metal pole with a curved single-edged de on the end; it is simr to the Chinese guan dao or the European ive. Simr to the katana, naginata often have a round handguard between the de and shaft, when mounted in a koshirae. The 30 cm to 60 cm long naginata de is forged in the same manner as traditional Japanese swords. The de has a long tang that is inserted in the shaft. She also started contacting the Sitri n for reinforcement.


    Tsubaki is already in a state of alert after Sona''s apparent disappearance, so when a supposed normal human from her prior investigation referred Sona as a Sitri and identified her position, she assumed the worst and readied forbat. But she has still enough patience to ask, "Who are you? And where is the President!?"


    But after she uttered those words heavy killing intent that almost made her nk out engulfed her instantly and disappeared just as fast, ''What was that!? Am I too paranoid!?'' Tsubaki looked around but didn''t notice anything different.


    Aika jumped back due to the pressure the Devil is emitting but her thoughts are different, ''Seriously, Everybody can learn that 4D pocket? I should ask Kisuke to teach it to meter. It looks really convenient.''


    "C-calm down! I understand your concerns, but the Sitri heiress is safe. She''s currently sleeping upstairs." Sakura hurriedly shouted at her before she can hurt somebody.


    "FukuKaichou, Kaichou is fine. I can lead you to her." Koneko followed up and reassured her.


    Tsubaki stopped her hostile behavior but she didn''t keep her weapon and calmly said, "I''m sorry. The Kaichou always tells me her schedule and this unannounced outing is new to me. Please forgive, but I would have to be rude to you until I can confirm her safety." But Tsubaki''s mind is anything but calm, ''Sona''s still sleeping at this hour? That''s almost impossible as her body clock would wake her up regardless of her condition unless something unforeseen happened.''


    Sakura, Aika, and Koneko all sighed in relief. Koneko gestured Tsubaki toe and follow her while the two remained seated and watch the two of them went upstairs. Sakura wishes that she won''t attack Kisuke when she saw her master sleeping in the same room as him, albeit not in one ce. She can only give her trust to Koneko if such a thing were to happen.


    Koneko and Tsubaki reached Kisuke''s room on the second floor, but before Koneko opened the door, she gestured to Tsubaki who is behind her to keep quiet. She nodded but her grip on her naginata strengthened.


    Koneko opened the door and let Tsubaki peeked through the door and she couldn''t believe what she saw. There are two people sleeping in the room, one on the bed and one on the floor with a futon mattress. Tsubaki immediately ignored the person sleeping on the bed and focused her attention on Sona, who is happily snuggling on her nket with a small smile on her face. Tsubaki thought that she looked like a very normal girl right now, free of any worries.


    She tried to confirm if she was seeing an illusion but failed. She then looked at Kisuke who is also sleeping with a ck cat on his side, ''Why would Sona sleep with a guy like him? Even if they were separated, It''s still a boy''s room!"


    Tsubaki looked back at Sona and thought that it''s nice to see Sona like this as she umting quite a lot of fatigue. Tsubaki wanted to ask Koneko what happened and refrained herself in fear of waking Sona up from her long-awaited good sleep. She closed the door silently and gestured to Koneko toe down. She already kept the naginata in her hand and canceled the call for the reinforcement.

 Volume 2 58 - Tsubakis Dilemma part 2

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 58 - Tsubaki''s Dilemma part 2</h4>


    Tsubaki is bowing towards Sakura, "I''m very sorry for my behavior just now. Please forgive for my rudeness."


    "It''s fine. We understand your concerns." Sakura held Tsubaki up.


    "Thank you, but I''ll tell Kaichou what I did just now to receive my due punishment." Tsubaki looked up and said sincerely.


    ''Strict�� and stubborn.'' They all thought.


    "May you please tell me what happened yesterday?" Tsubaki pleaded to Sakura while getting up.


    "Sure, but we''re having breakfast now, care to join us?"


    "Thank you for your offer, but I already had one beforeing here."


    "Then I''ll prepare some tea for you, please grab a seat." Sakura went back to kitchen without waiting for her reply.


    "Thank you." Tsubaki went to the living room and took a sit on the couch. She then noticed Sona''s bag with files in it. Tsubaki didn''t notice it earlier as she was too focused on looking for anything magical in nature, ''What a blunder, I shouldn''t disregard normal things just because they are normal. Maybe I could have reacted better if I noticed it. Or maybe worse.''


    Tsubaki already calmed herself down sufficiently before Sakura came out with tea on her hand. She expressed her gratitude again and started sipping on the tea to calm herself further and arrange what she knew on her head and concluded that Sona couldn''t sleep this long without outside help or intervention, ''I should confirm thister. I hope it doesn''t have any side effects.'' But based on her peaceful face, even if it had any side effect, it shouldn''t be big that a healing magic couldn''t fix.


    Sakura narrated what happenedst night to Tsubaki, of course, without saying anything about Ophis. All of them already received a warning from Kisuke that just mentioning her existence would bring them loads of trouble for them. Just imagine how would others react if they knew that the strongest being in the world is visiting them for some cookies. They''ll be the focus of attention of both good and bad fellows which is fatal for them who knew very little.


    "The President lost her chess match again? And she agreed to the pajama party that Urahara-san proposed?" Tsubaki asked in disbelief.


    "Sona-Kaichou lose so bad at their first match that she wasn''t able to ept it, but Kisuke-senpai told her that he won''t y with her if she doesn''t join the party." Koneko supplemented Sakura''s words.


    "��Seriously?" What Tsubaki is hearing right now seems like a fantasy to her, ''She lost so bad that the very strict President chose to follow his demands? How bad exactly is it?'' Tsubaki thought for a moment and asked, "How many matches did they y?", ''The President should have win at least once if they yed 3-4 matches, right?''


    "We don''t exactly know for sure as they''ve been at it until early morning. If we''re to calcte with the time they spent, probably around 8-11 games. I woke up a bit when Kisuke-kun is trying to persuade her to stop." Aika answered her while mulling over things.


    "�� How was their scores?" Tsubaki''s mouth is twitching while she imagine her master stubbornly refuse to ept defeat.


    "If I remember it right, Kisuke-kun totally destroyed Kaichou''s confidence." Aika said while tilting her head to the right trying to rack her noggin.


    "She didn''t win even once?"


    "Not even once." Aika assured her with a smile.


    "��" Tsubaki stayed silent and drank her tea to rearrange her thoughts and process the things she heard today. It is that surprising for her master to lose at the game of chess so badly that she couldn''t admit defeat as she is known in the Underworld as a genius chess yer that had lost to no one. Even the condition she set for her marriage is her defeat in chess. That testaments her confidence as a yer. Yet an unknown human suddenly appeared and yed with her like a child.


    Tsubaki sighed as she thought of how her master would deal with her supposed fiance, but she brushed it aside for now and ask another question that is bugging her, "How is the President sleeping until now?"


    "What do you mean how?" Sakura asked in confusion as she refills the tea on Tsubaki''s cup.


    "Ah, I''m sorry for not rifying it, but the President always wakes up 6:00 in the morning regardless of how her day went by or how tired she was the previous day. I just can''t believe that, she, who is thinking and nning a lot of things for her dreams, could sleep so peacefully right now." Tsubaki''s smile became warm as she reminisce how hard working is her master is just for the sake of the children of the Lower-ss in the Underworld to have a chance to achieve their own dreams. If not for her physique as a Devil, she would have copsed long ago.


    Sakura, Koneko and Aika looked at each other. They can see they can see how important Sona is to Tsubaki which trancends the normal rtionship of a master and servant just from that smile alone.


    "Kisuke-senpai probably used a certain spell on her." Koneko answered her question.


    "A certain spell?"


    "Yes, although I don''t know its name, I already experienced it. It was when my mind is in a mess due to a certain news I received. When he use that spell a strangely soothing energy flows throughout your body. It''s not the type of spell that forcefully removes your emotions to calm you down, it''s warm�� a kind warmth and reassurance that everything would be okay." Koneko narrated her experience. Truthfully, she wanted to experience it again, she just can''t ask Kisuke as there is real need right now for that spell.


    "How do you feel afterwards? Please tell me in detail." Tsubaki fixed her sses while intently listening to Koneko. If Kisuke really used this spell on her master, then she would need every information on it as it may have disastrous effect if not addressed. She haven''t heard Kisuke being particrly good at magic so being cautious for Sona''s safety is the right thing to do.


    "In detail? I can''t tell you that much as I didn''t notice any particr change in me even after using my senjutsu to scan my whole body. All I felt after waking up is feeling refreshed and my body in tiptop condition.


    " Thank you for telling me." Tsubaki thought that she has to confirm it from Sona just to make sure as she is still sceptical about a magic which affects the mind not having any side effect, especially for those with high magic resistance.


    "Then onest thing, Why can Kiryuu-san listen to this conversation? And she seems to know a few things. As far as I know, Kiryuu-san is just a normal human that came from a normal lineage." Tsubaki eyed Aika as she said this which made Aika take a step back due to the pressure she is emitting.


    "Due to my son''s recklessness, he identally showed her his magic."


    "Is that so? Then a simple memory erasure magic should suffice."


    "My son has special ability that can feel the aura of others very precisely. He already knew about the existence of the Sacred Gear inside her so she let her chose whether to stay or forget everything."


    "Hmmm? Did you get an invitation from someone for you to chose that?"


    "I got an invitation from the President, but I didn''t ept it. I trust Kisuke-kun more than the President so he has taken me under his wings." Aika looked at her straight by and answered her without cowering.


    "�� Is Urahara-san part of an organization?"


    "I think, no. He did mention that he''s by himself."


    "Then you and him would be considered as a stray. Since you''re acquainted with the President and Toujou-san here, the Devils of this town won''t do anything to you as long as you don''t do anything that will jeopardize the safety of normal humans and Devils alike. As for any other organization, it''s better if you don''t make contact in any of them. You''re in for a hardship, but I wish you good luck as a former human and a fellow sacred." Tsubaki stopped speaking and sip her tea waiting for her master to wake up.


    "Thank you."

 Volume 2 59 - An Affair

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 59 - An Affair</h4>


    When Kisuke reached the living room, he saw another familiar face and greeted her, "Isn''t this the Vice-President, Good morning.~ Wait, it''s still morning, right?" He looked at the clock and confirmed that it''s still morning, but not for long.


    "Good morning, Urahara-san. I''m sorry for intruding this early in the morning." Tsubaki has aplicated expression when she looked and greeted Kisuke, but it''s understandable due to what happened to her master.


    "And good morning to you too, Kaichou-san.~�� What''s up with her?" Kisuke also greeted Sona who is eating her meal that is toote for breakfast, but also too early for lunch. Sona is directly looking away from Tsubaki while chewing her food. After seeing this, Kisuke looked back at Tsubaki and asked.


    "What indeed, after greeting me one time, she hasn''t looked at my direction ever since." Tsubaki is almost ring at her master, her stare is putting an invisible pressure on her. Sona shoulder twitched a bit, but she didn''t say anything and continued on chewing her food silently still looking away.


    "Urahara-san, just what did you do?" Tsubaki transferred her gaze towards Kisuke.


    "Me!? You can''t me me!" Kisuke shook his head exaggeratedly and feigned a hurt expression.


    "Huh? What do you mean?" Tsubaki is confused at how Kisuke is acting and trying to think of a reason for his reaction.


    "It''s the President! She''s too intensest night and didn''t let me go until early in the morning!" Kisuke cried out loud like he was a victim of a crime.


    "What!?" This time, Sona finally reacted whipped her head towards Kisuke along with Tsubaki and shouted at the same time with a very surprised face.


    "What are you saying!? You bastard!" Sona mmed the table with both of her hands as she questions Kisuke for his very questionable statement.


    "You don''t remember? My ''that'' went limp after you''re done with me." Kisuke fake a cry and wiped it with his hand.


    "P-P-President, Y-you ''ate'' him? So you already epted him. To think that you would climb the stairway to adulthood just from a single visit�� President! I''ll support you no matter what your decision is! But you have to let the Lord Sitri, Lady Sitri, and Serafall-sama know about the apparent son-inw of the n.


    "W-WRONG!!! IT''S HIS LEGS! HE''S TALKING ABOUT HIS LEGS THAT FELL ASLEEP WHEN HE SAT FOR TOO LONG!!! URAHARA YOU BASTARD! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!?" Sona lost all her elegance and strictness as she shouts in defense. All that Kisuke can see is a little girl desperately trying to correct a misunderstanding because her crush might take it the wrong way, which is nice and he couldn''t stop himself from grinning.


    Kisuke returned to his usual ''my pace'' attitude with a grin still on his face. He sat down in front of Sona on the dining table. Kisuke looked at the prepared breakfast with a note saying, ''Re-heat it before eating. Koneko and Aika are with me to do a little shopping. We''ll be back before lunch. -Sakura.'' Kisuke noticed that the Omurice is still warm and he looked in front of him to see the still fuming Sona, ''She probably did it expecting me to follow soon after she came down.'' His smile grewrger and said, "What I''m trying to say is, you shouldn''t drag me in your games for too long. I can''t keep up with a Devil''s stamina. As for the misunderstanding, you''re on your own, I didn''t spit a single lie after all."


    Sona is ring at Kisuke while gritting her teeth like she wants to eat him alive, "I''ll one day get you for this!"


    "So you two aren''t having an affair?" Tsubaki asked nkly.


    "No! This pervert isn''t worth it!" Sona threw her ce to her and objected fiercely.


    "This is some peace and quiet you just mentioned." Yoruichi jumped to the chair andmented.


    "When I saw her acting all embarrassed and can''t look at her ''Queen'', I couldn''t help but poke fun of her. I''m satisfied now." Kisuke slowly eats his Omurice in relish.


    "The cat is talking!!!" Tsubaki backed away in shock.


    "That''s a nice reaction, little girl," Yoruichimented and approached the warm milk on the dining table and started drinking it.


    "A Familiar? Who is the master?" Tsubaki inspected her closely as this is the first time she saw a small scale familiar that can talk, and he can''t feel any magical energies from her which confuses her more.


    "It''s this damned guy''s familiar." Sona is still gritting her teeth but she resumed eating her Omurice.


    "I''ll put it out there, but I''m not Kisuke''s familiar."


    "That there is my partner for life." Kisuke smiled gently at the cat who is trying to assert her dominance.


    "Partner for life? Why are you talking about like he''s your lover? Could it be that on top of being a gay your also into bestiality?" Sona looked at him in disgust as she reached this conclusion.


    Kisuke almost spat out the rice on his mouth but manages to stop himself, although because of that he was choking on food his food and had to grab a ss of water to relieve himself, "What are you saying!? Where are you learning this terms?"


    Sona is gloating at his misfortune and wanted tough out loud because of her sess in her revenge but stopped herself when she heard hisst question. She just looked away with a bit of blush of her face.


    Seeing this, Kisuke said, "You shouldn''t go to that part of inte." He warned her.


    "I did not deliberately go there! I just stumbled upon it!" Sona tried to exin herself.


    "Heh�� What are you looking at before you stumbled upon it, I wonder?"


    "�� I''d like to exercise my right to remain silent." Sona didn''t look at his eyes anymore and just continued eating her food. Although she could clearly feel the stare of disbelief from her Queen, "President��"


    A few more excruciating minutes passed by as Sona hurriedly finish her food. After finishing her food, she stood up and took her tes to the kitchen sink, "Please pass my gratitude to Miss Urahara for the meal and letting me stay the night." She said while trying to maintain her deadpan expression.


    Kisuke also hurriedly finished his food and took it to the kitchen sink, "Sure, I''ll pass it. Are you leaving?"


    "Yes, thank you very much for your hospitality." Sona bowed slightly to express her gratitude.


    "Your wee. I won''t hold you back any longer as it looks like you still have a long day that awaits you." Kisuke smiled at her genuinely this time. Because he''s not really a hard worker himself, and only do things that interest him, he really likes hardworking people like her and wouldn''t mind to assist her in some things.


    Sona froze for a bit when she saw that smile as this is the first time she saw that kind of expression from him, all free from her usual casualness and ''my pace'' vibe. A very kind smile that is almost unbelievable for a person like him. She had a feeling that he''s somehowplementing her for all the hard work that she is doing and felt a warmth that is simr to the warmth she experienced yesterday. She feigned a cough to free herself from petrification caused by that smile, but she still can''t hide the little blush she had with her deadpan face.


    Even though Kisuke can somehow understand the demeanor of other people, but that''s only applicable for their motives and general intentions. As for theplicated feelings of a blooming maiden, he''s a beginner at reading it and his natural aura and attitude that he unconsciously releases when he is very sincere isn''t helping in any way. And miraculously, he''s not aware of it. The only one who''s aware of it is her partner who''s silently watching from the sidelines, ''Another one, huh.'' Yoruichi was reminded of her student who holds some affection for him but never admitted it. And Kisuke never actually noticed it and just became confused at her actions sometimes thinking on a different line of possibilities.


    Tsubaki, who is also silently watching from the side, took notice of Sona''s reaction, ''As I thought, Sona doesn''t actually hate him or she''ll just disregard him. I wonder what attracted her to him?''

 Volume 2 60 - The Black Beauty

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 60 - The ck Beauty</h4>


    After Sona and Tsubaki left, Kisuke and Yoruichi made their preliminary preparations for today''s schedule before the three who are out shopping came back.


    Kisuke strengthened the barriers over the secret training ground not only for defense and containment ability but also for concealment. Concealment is of utmost importance since the Grim Reapers still asionally roams around and both Kisuke and Yoruichi are having a hard time tracking them, even more so when they''re unmoving.


    Yoruichi looked over the data that Kisuke has gathered from his research on Ki and Mana. She''s also making the preparation to diffuse her Reiryoku and Mana and fuse her Ki with Reiryoku, but she wanted to wait for Kisuke''s attempt before she tries it because Kisuke specializes in energy maniption and his insights and experience would be a big help for her and will reduce the risk of something undesirable happening.


    The two busied themselves until the trio came back bringing with them some daily necessities, clothes, and some take out food from a certain family restaurant just before lunch.


    "We''re home."


    "Wee back.~"


    "Hmm? Where are the Sitri Princess and her Queen?"


    "They went back to their business. They''re busy fellows. They also asked me to pass their thanks for the hospitality." Kisuke answered his mother as she took the grocery bags from her and set it on the kitchen counter.


    "Is that so? They should have stayed for lunch. Koneko-chan, Aika-chan, help me take out the food and set the table. Kisuke, stop what you''re doing and wash your hands, we''re having lunch. Uhm, Yoruichi��kun, I bought another set of the meal for you, but can you eat it?"


    Kisuke took back the pendants on the table and put it inside his inventory space, "Mom, you don''t have to worry about that. Yoruichi, you can transform back."


    "Are you sure?" Yoruichi looked at him questionably. Even though it''s fine to tell them the truth, they still have to prioritize hiding, at least until they were able to convert their energy source and practice Soul-Ki based Kidou.


    "It''s fine. I already put up a field that can hide us." Kisuke grinned at Yoruichi waiting for her reaction.


    "A barrier? But why can''t I feel anything?�� Wait�� a field?" Yoruichi looked around and felt nothing out of order, she then looked back at Kisuke and saw his annoying grin again. A sudden thought went through Yoruichi''s mind and she looked around again in shock, "Did you seed!?"


    "Yep~. Well, in a way." Kisuke took out a ck token withplicated inscriptions from his haori and showed it to Yoruichi, "This thing here can simte how Aizen''s Zanpakuto uses Reiryoku to mimic its hypnosis ability. Although it has some drawbacks. First is that it has to simte the soul inside the Zanpakuto to simte its ability, but doing that is almost impossible without cutting out a lot of things. Because of that, the ability is iplete. This token here can produce hypnosis ability with range, time and effectiveness limit. For the range, it''s only capable of covering the entire house, the time limit is 2 hours and the token breaks apart and the effectiveness is it only is capable of hiding the true appearance of few individuals."


    "Even though I get what you''re saying, in practice that should be impossible, or at least that''s what I use to think before you took this out. Many people tried to do just that, even before the Seiretei even established by Yamamoto but no one seeded no matter how much of a genius they are at that time. If we''re still in Seiretei, you would probably be invited as one of the Royal Guards." Yoruichi couldn''t help but sigh at another crazy thing he invented.


    "Really? I thought for sure that they might hunt me down instead."


    Yoruichi couldn''t deny what he said as that is a real possibility, but there''s no point of thinking about any further because they are now living in a different world with different values.


    "What are they talking about?" Aika asks the other two after they set down the foods on the table.


    "Who knows. But I at least want to understand the things they were saying. Why do they sound like they were a part of an organization in the past? And it doesn''t seem like a good one." Sakura answered and wondered. Her son is only 17 years old this year and it''s almost impossible for him to join an organization due to his young age much less being a former member. She tried to remember if she noticed anything different from the past that may give her some clue, but all she could think of is that one time when he turned 7 and started acting like a perverted old man, his strange fascination to random things and adapting the ck cat which turns out to be a familiar. When her line of thought reached here, she suddenly remembered Kisuke''s words just now, "Wait, Kisuke, you said she can transform? Into what? A ck panther or something so he can eat easier?"


    "Hahaha, no Mom. Not a ck panther, but a ck beauty." Kisuke shed a smile to his mother.


    Both Sakura and Aika were confused, ''What ck beauty? Yoruichi is clearly a man. Wait, could Yoruichi be swinging that way that''s why Kisuke describes him as a ''beauty''?�� Could it be that he also swin�� -!?''


    Before they could finish their ridiculous thoughts, Yoruichi suddenly exploded to a puff of smoke. All of them backed away due to this and both Sakura and Aika has confused expression, "What''s happening?" Aika asks all of them.


    "Yoruichi-san is returning back to her normal appearance," Koneko answered her question and also prepared something on her hand. Unknown to them, Koneko is already holding a harisen**.


    When the smoke disperses, a naked slender and well-endowed woman of average height with dark skin, golden irises, and ck waist-length hair appeared behind the smoke which remains, "Greetings, Mom. This is the first time we met while I''m in my normal form��" Yoruichi greeted the master of the house first, ''Calling her ''Mom'' when in this form is more embarrassing than I imagined.''


    While the two people who don''t know anything were dumbfounded at Yoruichi''s appearance, A sound of something cutting through the air was heard followed by a loud smack, *Pack!*


    "MY EYES!!! Koneko-chan! What the hell was that for!?" They saw Kisuke rolling on the ground while covering his eyes and crying like a baby. The two were dumbfounded yet again, ''What happened?''


    "Because you were staring at her butt again. You don''t even conceal your gaze." Koneko answered Kisuke''s cries as she looks at him with derision as she grips the harisen. Koneko then looked at Yoruichi and said, "Yoruichi-san, you forgot your clothes again. You can''t greet Aunty while looking like that."


    "Oh, your right. I forgot it again." Yoruichi looked down on her body and snapped her fingers. Clothes suddenly appeared on her body which consist of her usual attire.

 Volume 2 61 - Mother and Son

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 61 - Mother and Son</h4>


    "Ahem�� Once again, nice to meet you, Mom." Yoruichi and the rest were sitting on the dining table to eat their lunch. She once again greeted Sakura.


    "Nice to meet you too�� I didn''t really expect that this is your real appearance�� and by the way, why are you calling me ''Mom''?" Sakura is inspecting Yoruichi and already guest her rtionship with her son but still chose to ask just to make sure.


    "As you probably already noticed, I''m Kisuke''s partner, girlfriend or lover�� Whatever you call it." Yoruichi smiled as she deres their rtionship. Kisuke at the side didn''t say anything and only eat his lunch.


    "You''re the mystery girlfriend?" Aika asks in a scrutinizing tone.


    "Hmm? You already knew about me?" Yoruichi asks in mild surprise. Kisuke is also surprised as he can''t remember giving it away himself.


    "Yes�� I just guest it though, but I didn''t think that I would be correct as I can''t imagine Kisuke-kun being together with anyone just looking at his personality that scares the girls away."


    Yoruichi then nces at Koneko who is stealing nces from her and Sakura, she then somehow understood how Aika guessed it. She then looked back at Aika and said, "Good perception, but for you to notice that means that you''re also giving this an abnormal amount of attention, I wonder why that is?" She chuckled as Aika looked away from with indistinct blush on her face.


    Sakura also understood what''s going on since she''s always with Koneko whenever she''s at home and things like this can be easily noticed by fellow women. She guessed that Aika is also in the same breath as Koneko in term of affection when Aika guessed the existence of a girlfriend just from how Koneko acts. Although it''s not Love, it''s still a good bud for future development if things go as they are or a strong catalyst push it to thest step.


    "Well then, let''s eat all this food first before we move to the heavy stuff." Sakura pped her hands and urge them to finish their meals so that they can talk about all the stuff that happened.


    .


    .


    .


    Sakura is looking at the four of them and a thought entered her mind, ''What''s this harem? And I don''t think that my idiotic son is aware of it as he''s only looking at Yoruichi and ignoring the other two in terms of romantic feelings. Well, whatever. Harems aren''t exactly rare so I''ll just leave him be and see how he''s going to deal with this as he realizes the current situation. The important thing, for now, is to know how Kisuke gained the knowledge to use magic and how strong he is exactly. Yoruichi might know more things as she''s already a cat when she joined us all those years ago and might be the reason Kisuke entered the supernatural world.''


    She only said a few words to Kisuke, but it''s packed with the strictness that you could find from a parent when she caught her son doing something dangerous, "Start talking."


    Kisuke already prepared what he should tell to her mother. As much as he hates it to tell a lie to his mother, Kisuke doesn''t want Sakura to know the fact that he has the memory of his past life. He doesn''t know how she would react or what conclusion she would reach, but Kisuke knows that it''ll forever change their rtionship. For Kisuke however, with the time they spent together, the care he received from her and the love of a parent that she gave to him, no matter how you twist it, she will forever be his mother no matter what happens. Yoruichi also has the same line of thought, even though Sakura is not her birth parent and she''s just a measly cat in her eyes, she experience what is it like to have a normal family with her help. So instead of treating her as mother-inw, Yoruichi sees Sakura as her real mother.


    "I''ll start the story when I met Yoruichi in the park, and that was 10 years ago.


    "She was already in her cat form when I met her when she talked to me in the park when their''s no one around. I''ll skip how I reacted when I saw a talking cat, but Yoruichi has some magic knowledge and she messed up her transformation magic and stuck at being a cat. Yoruichi pleaded me to help her get back to normal by reading some books regarding magic to revert the spell that was on her. That day, I also brought her back home and we adopted her. I hid the fact that she could talk as I naively thought that people who saw a talking cat might do some crazy experiments on her like what I read at some novels at that time."


    "You didn''t trust me back then?"


    "No, of course, that''s not the case. I just that we decided that we should be the only ones who knew of this."


    "Okay, go on."


    "I studied this book about magic and sessfully casts the elementary spells listed on it but it isn''t enough to undo the magic on Yoruichi, so we went to her hiding ce to find more books about magic. And over the years, I was able to learn how to dispell Yoruichi''s curse and teach her how to control such a spell. She already got used to being a cat so most of the time she''s in that form. As time passed on, it became harder and harder, to tell the truth about me but I also discovered my hidden talent at scanning the surroundings aura and I also became more proficient on magic."


    "Where are these books now?"


    "We decided to burn it after memorizing everything on it as it could be dangerous if someone else were to find that book in our possession."


    "Can you tell me some verses from the book that you memorized?"


    Kisuke then proceeds to recite some of the pages from the books from Cleria''s library.


    "Is that all?"


    "Yes."


    Sakura''s mind is processing her son''s story and concluded that he''s lying, ''His story doesn''t really match up from my memories of him and it''s also full of holes that can''t be exined. It''s obvious that he''s also aware of this, then why is he telling such ame story? Is it his way of saying that there are things that he can''t tell? This son of mine sure likes to y with words. I''ll just ask him directly and be done with it.''


    "Are you still hiding something?"


    Kisuke stopped for a while and saw that his mother wants a serious answer from this one. He smiled and said, "Yes."


    "Haah�� You do know how contradictory that answer of yours from your earlier story, right?"


    Kisuke just kept smiling and didn''t answer back.


    "�� Whatever, you''re a big boy now and you know how to take care of yourself. I trust you because regardless of how idiotic you act, you''re strange mature in serious situations."


    Sakura stood up and about to leave, "I still have some work to do, so I''ll be leaving you to your own devices."


    "Take care, Mom." Kisuke also stood up and followed her towards the door. The others also followed and say their farewells.


    When Sakura was about to exit through the door, she stopped and looked at everyone who came to see her off, "Kisuke, you took them in, so take responsibility and don''t ever leave them in danger." She then approached Kisuke and hugged him, "I love you, son."


    "I will take care of them. Love you too, Mom. Be careful on your way." Kisuke returned the hug.


    "If their''s something you can''t deal, or if you ever need help. Tell me about it and I''ll do something to help you." Sakura separated from him and left, but not until leaving these words.


    "I''ll remember that."

 Volume 2 62 - An Idiot

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 62 - An Idiot</h4>


    After sending off Sakura, Kisuke and the rest re-entered the house. The token imitating Kyouka Suigetsu is still active, but not for long. Kisuke urges them to hurry back inside so that they can start what they have to do for today.


    "I need to exin something to you two first." Kisuke looked seriously at the two residents of this world, he then continued, "I want the two of you to know that I and Yoruichi may have unknowingly attracted the attention of some hostile being. It may be dangerous staying with me but I can somewhat assure your safety. Although you still have to decide if you want to continue this."


    Kisuke then focused his attention on Koneko, "Koneko-chan, I already promised that I''ll help you reconcile with your sister and I do that when the right timees, but you can choose not toe anymore and avoid this danger that I brought to you." Kisuke knew that the hidden enemies already took noticed of Koneko, but if she back out now, it''ll reduce the risk of her getting targeted as she still has the support of the Gremory Household and the host of the Red Dragon Emperor which is bound to attract more attention from others, with that, the hidden enemies will think twice if it''s worth it to risk revealing themselves for someone who doesn''t have much interaction to their target.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi also nned to protect Koneko from the shadows if she chooses to turn around now, but Koneko didn''t even hesitate and eximed, "Are you looking down on me senpai!? I will not turn my back against you and Yoruichi. You already did so much for me that I don''t know if I''ll be able to repay everything in the future. Putting aside my reconciliation with Nee-sama, I still want to learn a lot of things from Yoruichi-san. So don''t throw me away! Even if you do so, I''ll shamelessly cling on you!"


    "Hahaha! Good answer! Girls these days really need more guts, although you''re stillcking in muscles, we can work on that!" Yoruichi crossed her arms and praised Koneko''s resolution.


    "Stop turning her into a muscle head. She''s not like you who have experience in political affairs from childhood and thus can think critically in all situations." Kisuke lightly reprimanded Yoruichi with her attitude.


    "You don''t have to be worried about that, I also teach her how to respond and think properly in most situations, although she really needs more experience with people, just interacting with you will give her enough edge not to get fooled by any random people." Yoruichi just returned a sneer to him and Kisuke doesn''t have aeback to that.


    "Well, whatever, I trust your judgment. How about you, Aika-chan? You can still erase your memories of this and live a normal life. This is the final warning for you." Kisuke transferred his attention to Aika who''s listening to their conversation intently.


    "I don''t know how dangerous is this ''danger'' you''re talking about, but I already made my decision. Don''t try to talk me out of it, I want in!" Aika gave Kisuke her usual smug smile and answered like Koneko, without any hesitation.


    "You''re stupid, but you also have guts! But I''m sure you''ll regret itter as I''ll be the one training you in your fundamentals and it won''t be a pretty sight from outside perspective! Do you still want to continue?" Yoruichi released a bit of her pressure to Aika while asking her. Aika suddenly felt like she''s deep underwater and had trouble breathing. Adding to that is Yoruichi''s smiling yet threatening expression. Her resolution crumbled, but she still chose to answer before shepletely changes her mind as she knew that she was just testing her, "I''m sure!"


    Yoruichi didn''t say anything else after hearing Aika''s answer and just continued to release her pressure for one more minute. Seeing that she still hasn''t changed her mind even after enduring it with a crumpled face, she smiled normally and released Aika from her pressure. Aika is heavily breathing and drenched with cold sweat. Yoruichi thought that she would look at her with a horrified expression, but contrary to her expectation Aika looked at her with admiration, "Wow! Will I be able to do that too?"


    Yoruichi is dumbfounded and pleasantly surprised. She turned her head towards Kisuke who is shing his grin to her, "Amazing right?"


    Yoruichi nodded at him andmented, "An idiot. Nevertheless, an amazing idiot."


    "Hey! Why the sudden insult!?" Aika protested from the side. Koneko, who also felt Yoruichi''s pressure, albeit weaker since she''s not the target, also looked at Aika in amazement.


    Kisuke didn''t answer her question but instead asked a question himself, "Aika-chan, what do you think is needed to be a full-fledged warrior and be one of the major yers in a world where strength is at utmost importance?"


    "Hmm? Talent?"


    "Wrong. Talent can be defeated by hard work and potential can even be improved with the right guidance. But what truly separates those normal fighters and really exceptional ones is idiocy."


    "You''re saying those strong guys are idiots?"


    "In a way, yes. Strong people are entrics in their own right. Normal people could never try what those on the top capable of doing. But remember that to be truly strong, you''ll have to risk your life to be strong and not everyone has that courage. That''s why there are a lot more normal people than the strong ones, it''s also because potentially powerful people die with their reckless affair. Well, there are exceptions to this and those are who are born powerful and didn''t have to work as hard. But there are also problems with those beings which is they can''t improve further, most of the time. They tend to underestimate their opponents with low background and ended up being killed by the same idiot because he or she didn''t expect the idiot to do something that would end his life any moment just to defeat his opponent."


    "And those idiots include you two?"


    "This guy would recklessly experiment on things and would even use his own body to confirm his research. Think about it, if this guy is not a genius, he would have killed himself long ago." Yoruichi patted Kisuke''s back while saying her piece.


    "And this girl would recklessly challenge strong guys without much thought. A big battle junkie in short. Though we know someone else who is a bigger battle junkie than her. That guy would catch a de with his bare body just to give his opponent a handicap." Kisuke alsomented on Yoruichi''s behavior and ended up remembering Kenpachi Zaraki.


    Both Aika and Koneko were dumbfounded at Kisuke''s statement and both eximed, "That''s not just idiotic! It''s just in brain-dead!"


    "Ahahaha. You might be right, but the point here is Aika-chan have the right ingredient to be strong, given that she won''t give up."


    Koneko looked downcast and said, "I don''t have that kind of quality."


    "Don''t worry Koneko-chan. Although not as big as Aika here, you also have what it takes. Don''t you want to challenge your sister who is an SS-rank wanted criminal just by yourself? After reaching that goal, we can work to thrash those on top of Underworld who put a bounty on your sister." Yoruichi patted Koneko''s head in consolement and also suggested something crazy.


    Koneko''s eyes lit up and said, "Good idea." Consenting to that crazy idea.

 Volume 2 63 - Accessories

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 63 - essories</h4>


    After confirming their decisions onest time, Kisuke took out two pendants that has a silver chain and blue gem embedded on a teardrop-shaped silver gem holder. He sets it on the table in front of Koneko and Aika.


    "These two pendants will be for you two and will be the point of entry for both of you to the training grounds from now on."


    "Training grounds?" Aika picked up one of the pendants, ''Pretty.'' Koneko also did and thought the same thing.


    "It''s somewhere you can break loose without minding your surroundings. Will get into thatter so let me first exin its functions." Kisuke answered Aika''s question as she fiddles with the pendant.


    "Wait! Where''s mine!?" Yoruichi red at Kisuke and pinched his side.


    "Ow ow ow! Of course, I can''t forget yours." Kisuke then took a golden ring withplicated yet mesmerizing inscriptions. The pitch-ckplicated lines created a very beautiful sight that will grab the attention of any women if they stare long enough.


    Even though Yoruichi doesn''t have any knowledge about the aesthetics of an essory, she couldn''t take her eyes off the ring. Yoruichi gazed at it for one more minute before reaching out her right hand towards Kisuke urging him to put it in her.


    Kisuke didn''t disappoint her and put it on her ring finger gently. Yoruichi took back her hand and stared at it for a few more minutes with a gentle smile on her face. She then saw the other two girls with envious and jealous. Yoruichi doesn''t know if they were envious of how beautiful the ring is or something else, but she disyed the smuggest expression she can which easily infuriated Aika.


    "What''s this discrimination!? I also want something like that! Although the pendant is very pretty and, thank you for giving it to me, still! I also want a pretty ring!" Aika protested after she saw Yoruichi smug face. Koneko also nodded at her words while intently staring at Kisuke.


    "It''s not discrimination. It''s a distinction. It''s obvious that my lover will get something special." Kisuke exined himself. From this, Yoruichi''s smile grew bigger. She''s enjoying the envious and jealous gaze of the two, maybe it''s something innate to a woman to be proud when in this kind of situation.


    "I also want that kind of distinction!" Aika blurted out loudly. The other two girls were shocked as they didn''t expect her to dere it so suddenly.


    Instead of being discouraged, when Aika saw Yoruichi''s blissful expression and Kisuke gentle smile directed towards his lover, something exploded inside her mind and she suddenly gained the courage to say her statement out loud. It was unknown whether it was due to her entricities or something else, but it''s no doubt that her feelings were amplified when she felt like she was being challenged.


    ''Maybe I shouldn''t have done that.'' Yoruichi slightly regretted her actions. ''Haah�� It doesn''t really matter. This would havee sooner orter. It just came a little bit earlier.''


    Koneko also felt something stirring inside her, but it was not enough to give the courage like Aika''s. She only pouted her mouth at Yoruichi''s provocation and admired Aika.


    Kisuke''s thought also halted for a short while when he heard Aika, "Ahem�� You''re free to try whatever you want, but I''ll tell you now, it''ll be futile."


    "Hmmph! We''ll see." Aika just snorted at Kisuke''s words.


    Kisuke chose to ignore her words as saying more would just push her more so he went back to the topic, "Anyways, The primary function of these pendants and ring is to teleport you to the secret training ground as we can''t enter it anymore in just one ce as it''ll put suspicion to whatever eyes that may be watching us.


    " Of course there are restrictions to reduce some of the security issues. First only you can activate the teleportation function. I registered your Mana signatures and some other variables in it to distinguish your identity from others. Even if someone else wanted to copy your Mana signatures to activate it, it''ll be useless and will just send a bacsh of destructive Mana to the one who attempted it.


    "Second is due to the overlyplicated magic form, it can only be activated when space is stable, meaning, no other space magic should be used in that area for about 24 hours. You also cannot activate it when there''s someone else 10 meters near you as there Mana will disrupt the magic form."


    "Why is the magic form unnecessarilyplicated?" Koneko interrupted Kisuke''s exnation. She has some knowledge of magic because Akeno and Rias would sometimes lecture her and Kiba about it so that can deal with it and its user to some extent.


    "This magic form consists of five magic circles, all teleporting the target to different locations."


    "And one of these circles will teleport you towards the training ground?" Koneko continues to ask.


    "Of course not. That would be too easy for someone who knows how to decode magic circles to know the target location. These five circles actuallypose the sixth circle which is hidden all across these circles. If someone were to decode it one by one, they could never find the existence of the sixth circle and even if they found it by ident, they wouldn''t know how to interpret it as these five circles can generate more than a thousandbinations and the sixth circle is hidden among those. It''ll take some years or some decades for someone to pinpoint the exact location of this magic form leads. Too bad, I would have probably changed how it works by that time. And they also have to search two random overseas locations, two random local locations, and a random ce in the Underworld if they try to track it. Buhahaha."


    "As expected of you. If it was a secret, you always go overboard. And Koneko-chan, don''t ask him how his sh*ts work anymore or else he won''t stop speaking. He really likes to exin things, especially to his opponents just to annoy them or see their surprised expression." Yoruichi held her forehead in surrender and warned Koneko.


    "I can understand his logic, but that should be impossible in practice, at least from my knowledge." Koneko nodded and said.


    "So his nonsense actually works?" Aika asks but no one answered her question as it might provoke Kisuke to exin again.


    "You lot are no fun." Kisuke was dissatisfied at their reaction but still continued what he has to say, "Well, anyway, no one 10 meters within if you want to teleport."


    "The third is you can only use it twice a day due to Mana consumption. It''ll take 20 hours to charge it fully."


    "Can''t you make it faster?" Yoruichi asks the question this time.


    "I can, but it''ll disrupt the flow of Mana in the surrounding and you''ll only end up attracting someone''s attention, which is what we don''t want at this point in time."


    "Makes sense."


    "And thest one, you two can''t teleport to the training ground if either I or Yoruichi aren''t present inside."


    "What? Why?" Even though Aika doesn''t know what this training ground looks like for them to be so secretive, she doesn''t understand why they needed to be inside just to go in. ''Is there something dangerous inside?'' She peeked at Koneko''s reaction, but she also has the same confusion.


    "It''s because we can''t let you train unsupervised." Kisuke looked at them seriously, "The techniques and skills that we are teaching you aren''t themon ones and is dangerous to the user without proper guidance. It can even damage your soul if you''re not careful which is tricky to heal. That''s why I also advise Koneko not to practice outside of the training ground."


    Aika knew that he was being careful with their well being and she nodded at him with the same serious expression.


    "Good. Now another reminder. Don''t ever think that this is a means to escape, I''ll make something different for that purpose in the future."


    "I want a ring!"


    "I''ll make some hairclips."


    "Che! Stingy!"

 Volume 2 64 - Training, Start

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 64 - Training, Start</h4>


    "Since Aika-chan still doesn''t know how to use magic, We''ll have to use our original path to reach the training ground." Kisuke stood up and is getting ready to leave.


    "Do I have to prepare something?" Aika also stood up to follow Kisuke.


    "Nothing really. Just make another call to your parents that you''ll being homete tonight" Kisuke reminded her that she haven''t called her parents sincest night.


    "I already did when you were still sleeping. I ask Aunty to speak with them so that I wouldn''t have to deal with them��" Aika remember what happened earlier and couldn''t help but avert her gaze from Kisuke.


    "Hmm? Did I miss something fun again?" Kisuke noticed Aika''s hesitation and he asked Koneko who should have also woken up early.


    "Her mother kept selling her daughter to Aunty," Konekomented simply.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi imagined Sakura''s expression while she avoids or divert the topic but was futile and ended up listening to Aika''s mother''s sales talk with an awkward expression, "If your mother really wants to hold her grandson, you should probably start looking for a good man now."


    "Hell no! Already found him." Even Aika is dumbfounded at her newfound courage, but she didn''t hate it. With this, she can express herself more and do a lot of things she''s previously afraid of.


    Unbeknown to everyone, not even Kisuke, inside Aika''s inner world, two eggs are circling each other. Both of them have the same dull gray color until Ophis visited them yesterday and one of the eggs started to have ck spots. If an intelligent dragon were to see Aika''s behavior now, they''ll be reminded of a dragon desiring of something.


    Kisuke didn''t pursue what Aika just said as he would just dig deeper for himself, ''I''m starting to regret epting her now, but it''s not like I can take back words anymore as I already promised her, and I''m more interested in her bing a Shinigami than her behavior. I''ll get used to it in the future and by then, she might just give up.''


    Too bad. He didn''t know that when a dragon decided on something, it''ll hard to change its mind especially if it''s regarding its desires.


    "Let''s go. We still have a lot of things to do." Kisuke walked out of the living room and Yoruichi transformed back to her cat form. The ring automatically adjusted itself to fit into her front right paw. Yoruichi then jumped to Kisuke''s shoulder while he''s leaving.


    Aika and Koneko wore their pendants and followed the two moving towards the candy shop. They went through the original path Kisuke has prepared but that would only be for today as he can''t feel the existence of the Grim Reapers roaming around even after some active scanning.


    When they reached the underground training area, Aika was gobsmacked at what she saw, "Did you find this ce or build it yourself?"


    "Built it myself of course. I wouldn''t find someone else to do this easy stuff."


    "Easy stuff you say. How the hell did you build something like this?"


    "With magic obviously," Kisuke replied to her question.


    "Magic is amazing. How long did it take to dig out all of this stuff?" Aika is looking around the bleak scenery and couldn''t help but admire it as she would never think that they underground if shees here normally.


    "One day."


    "One day!? Teach me magic! I''ll be rich through construction!" Aika thought that even though Kisuke used magic and made things easier to dig, she still underestimated the power of magic.


    Koneko wasn''t as shocked with the revtion, but still, a bit surprised nevertheless as from what she heard, ces like this made through the magic that is used for Rating Games'' arena takes several days toplete and with the cooperation of multiple strong Devils. To do this everything on his own in just one day has to be a big achievement.


    "Well then, Yoruichi already knows how to train you two. I have something I have to aplish so I won''t be joining you guys now." Kisuke faced them and said.


    "You''re leaving?" Aika couldn''t help but be nervous as truthfully, in this group, she''s only close to Kisuke.


    "Don''t worry about it. You''ll only have one thought are we start training and that awkwardness of yours will disappear." Yoruichi patted her shoulder in mock constion.


    "Uhmm�� I''ll achieve zen and my training will be more effective?" Aika nervously looked at Yoruichi and asked, but she has a very bad feeling about it.


    "Yes, it''ll improve your training efficiency and you''ll only be able to think, ''If I don''t run, I''m going to die.''" Yoruichi''s smile grew weaker as Aika started to tremble.


    Aika tried to get away from Yoruichi''s clutches but failed, "Kisuke!!! Save me!!!" But when she looked back, Kisuke is already nowhere to be found, ''He escaped!''


    "Aika-senpai." Koneko caught Aika''s attention and she said, "Give up." As she shook her head.


    "Noo!!!" She howled to the air.


    "Hahaha! Since you''ve got the energy, let''s start! And for starters, strip!" Yoruichiughed out loud at her misery and taken it as her being energetic. Yoruichi also instantly stripped her down to underwear.


    "Kyaaaaaah!!!" Aika crouch down when her body suddenly felt airy and noticed that she was already naked, ''I should have known. Since she''s his lover, she should also be a pervert.''


    "Well then, run!" Yoruichi released her Reiatsu which is iparable from earlier and pressed it on Aika.


    ''I''m going to die!'' Aika''s pupils shrank and she started breathing heavily. She suddenly remembered Yoruichi''s words.


    ''Run.''


    Like some hypnotic words, Aika stood up like a newborn deer, but she was able to stand stably,


    ''Run.''


    She then started to walk away from Yoruichi, already forgetting that she''s only wearing her cute pink underwear.


    ''Run!''


    Her walk started to speed up until it was already a jogging speed.


    ''If I don''t run, I''m going to die!''


    Her jogging pace turned into a full-blown sprint.


    ''I should have just continued my normal life.'' Aika slightly regretted her decisionst night and earlier.


    After she thought that she was able to outrun Yoruichi, she slowly slows down. But before she could go back to her jogging pace, a bolt of a sudden lightning struck down just behind her creating arge boom and almost ruptured Aika''s eardrums. Strangely though, she could still hear Yoruichi''s voice clearly, "If you don''t take this seriously, you might just really die. Kisuke already warned you about itst night. We wouldn''t be half-ass with our methods if you chose to follow us."


    Then another lightning struck beside her which scared the sh*t out of her adding the pressure caused by Yoruichi''s Reiatsu, she''s about to break into tears. But it surprised Yoruichi again when she managed to stopped herself from bawling, ''Thisss really have a big potential.''


    Although Aika was able to stop herself from crying, she''s still shouting at the top of her lungs.


    "NOOOOOOO!!!"

 Volume 2 65 - Senjutsu

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 65 - Senjutsu</h4>


    Yoruichi is continuously applying pressure on Aika''s body while she ran half-naked across the training ground. She wasn''t just pressurizing Aika, she''s also using a healing Kidou that restores her stamina and repairs muscle tissues so she can keep running. Yoruichi is not just training her stamina and muscle strength, she''s giving Aika a close to death experience so that she can get used to it that she won''t freeze in face of a real life-or-death battle that she may encounterter. Although she won''t push it to the point that Aika would be totally indifferent to the concept of death as that would create more problems for herself.


    Yoruichi is alsoying the groundwork for Aika to not to have any emotional distress and continue her top mental condition when in a fight or flight situation even if her clothing was identally stripped. In other words, if there is a danger and she has to choose the most optimal and efficient movement for her to either evade, defend or attack, she can let go of her shame of being naked. In short, Yoruichi is trying to make her not mind being an exhibitionist during a fight.


    Yoruichi only nned to this for 3 hours as she didn''t want to overtax her mind and she still has to learn how to sense Mana and Kiter, but she ns to extend this time every time her stamina improves. As Yoruichi press her Reiatsu and send some lightning strikes to Aika''s vicinity, she faced Koneko, "As for you, we''ll continue what we are trying to dost time. Sit down and meditate. Gather all the Ki you can and make it stay as long as possible inside your body while circting it."


    Koneko sat down afterying down a mantle on the hard floor and releasing her true form. She followed Yoruichi''s instruction and started gathering Ki from her surroundings. It was easy for her at first, but it became harder and harder as the time pass because she''s being saturated by Ki and her body is starting to scream in pain due to arge amount of pressure building up inside her. After reaching the point if she continues taking in Ki, she would explode and die in the process, she stopped and waited for Yoruichi''s next instructions.


    "Good. Now, even though you''ve taken all this Ki, it isn''t yours and it won''t follow yourmands aside from letting it circte and move it around your body. Your next exercise is to locate and separate your original Ki from Ki that came from the outside." Yoruichi instructed next.


    ''I could have done that while outside Ki is still in the low levels.'' Koneko thought which Yoruichi somehow guessed through looking at Koneko''s expression.


    "Indeed, you can do this easier if it''s done earlier."


    ''!?''


    "But what you need is practice for energy maniption. This will be a good exercise for you to control your inner Ki and outer Ki simultaneously regardless of how much of it is in your body."


    ''So that''s how is it.'' Koneko nodded while her eyes still closed.


    "You''ll probably need a lot of time to get used to it, but I want you to at least do it within a few seconds until we move to the next lesson, which is taming that wild horse called outer Ki for your own use."


    Yoruichi already did some research on Senjutsu through Cleria''s library. The information is limited but she and Kisuke understood the gist of it.


    Senjutsu is the power to control the flow of life energy or ki in living beings. Using it, one can strengthen both their internal and external bodies or even cause vegetation around them to bloom or wither. Senjutsu users are able to sense the Ki and auras of others thus letting them track targets from far away distances. Through disrupting the Ki of their opponent''s ki or severing it, it is possible to cause direct damage to their spirit and using this as an attack could result in killing their opponent. As such, there are very few ways to defend against Senjutsu.


    The most basic method of learning Senjutsu is through meditation by concentrating on their state of mind and to quietly release their own or inner Ki as well as to sense the natural or outer Ki of their surroundings. It is also the best way to develop one''s skills in Senjutsu.


    But Yoruichi and Kisuke were confused as to why Senjutsu users are only utilizing their inner Ki strengthen their bodies and to somehow control outer Ki from the outside and not taking it in for their use.


    Both Yoruichi and Kisuke experimented with it and surprised at their findings. Using outer Ki directly will cause the user to lose control of themselves and enter a berserk state. Now the two of them knew why nobody tries it, or maybe someone else had done it but lose any form of rationality from too much use. But Kisuke isn''t discouraged, on the contrary, he felt ecstatic as the berserk state from using the outer Ki is very simr to when a Shinigami or a Hollow removed the boundaries on their Reiatsu and gaining the power of each other. Notably in Shinigami''s case where they have to control their inner Hollows to make full use of its power.


    Although the berserk state is a cause for concern, it wasn''t able to stop Yoruichi and Kisuke to pass this method to Koneko as they will help her control it. It''s a small pricepared to the power she will gain and Koneko trusted both of them, so she epted and agreed on learning it when Kisuke proposed it to her.


    The Senjutsu skill that Koneko will learn is to draw the outer Ki inside of them, blending it with their own inner Ki. This adds a new dimension of power to the practitioner''s Ki, resulting in the creation of a more powerful Ki that is very close to nature.


    After three hours has passed, Yoruichi stopped tormenting Aika, and Aika regained her bearing. Remembering the traumatic experience earlier, she started shouting obscenities which dumbfounded both Yoruichi and Koneko, making the formerugh out loud.


    As Yoruichi is teaching Aika how to sense Mana and Ki, and Koneko has some sess with her training, all of them felt a sudden pressure that came from the distance. Yoruichi snapped her head towards the ce where a massive amount of Reiatsu was being released. She knew that something has gone wrong, ''Kisuke!''

 Volume 2 66 - Benihime

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 66 - Benihime</h4>


    Going back in time, Kisuke left Yoruichi and the rest to do his own thing. He went to the center of the training ground where there is a wide clearing.


    Kisuke looked around and took out 6 ck poles. They are 3 meters tall and 1 inch thick. There are also various inscriptions along its surface which gives it a mysterious feeling.


    Kisuke drove the poles to the ground one by one with only 1 meter left on the surface. After he was done, the poles created a hexagonal shape with 3 meters distance from the adjacent poles.


    He then went to the center and touched the ground with his palms to release his Reiatsu. Six Reiatsu strands were formed and it traveled through the ground towards the six poles lighting up the inscriptions on it with a blue hue.


    From the poles, a line of light ascended 10 meters. Those lines connected to each adjacent line and a thin film of the blue transparent screen on top and in between the lines creating a Hexa-cylindrical barrier.


    Kisuke put up this barrier just in case something undesirable happens as it''ll stop the shock generated from the inside to the outside surroundings. It was also made so that Yoruichi can power it up with her Reiatsu from the outside essentially trapping him inside the barrier.


    "This will do." Kisuke then proceeds to sit cross leg and took out Benihime in her cane form, cing it on hisp.


    Closing his eyes, he meditates for 10 minutes to empty his mind before focusing his attention on his energy reserves which are a mixture of his Reiryoku and Mana with Ki on the side not interacting with the two.


    Kisuke willed the mixture to stop circting and pooled it at the center of his body. He inspected it for a while to see anything different from the past but didn''t find any changes aside from its volume which increased several foldspared to his childhood. Ifpared to his Reiryoku in his past life, it''s thrice asrge, so he can already fully activated the Hougyoku if he wants to, but ifpared to Aizen''s, it wouldn''t even reach half. Although Kisuke will also reach his level eventually as the Hougyoku keeps nourishing his Reiryoku as time goes by in its half-awake state.


    Having examined it enough, Kisuke then proceeds to separate it bit by bit. Separating it is like unmixing a mixed paint. So it''s almost impossible to do it with an insane amount of control like Kisuke and Yoruichi has. Although they couldn''t have mixed it in the first ce without that much control to their energy. As he is doing this, Kisuke can feel his physical body weakening with the soul body separating from it.


    It took him about three hours to finish the whole process. When he was done, his physical body is just as strong as a Middle-ss Devil, but that is still without using his Ki, although he won''t be able to use most of his Shinigami abilities.


    He didn''t wait for any further and started fusing his Reiryoku and Ki. As he expected, it''s a lot easier and lessplicated to fuse the two as they are verypatible, though it still needed the same amount of control as before.


    Everything is going smoothly. Kisuke even entered a trance state of mind and is automaticallypleting the task. At this rate, he canpletely fuse the two in another three hours, but that didn''t happen as he was suddenly pulled to his inner world, although thanks to his trance, his body is still doing the work without his intervention.


    Kisuke opened his eyes and immediately saw a familiar Japanese castle. The castle is a nd castle very simr to Matsumoto Castle in Nagano Prefecture, but instead of the ck exterior, it''s sporting a blood-red exterior and if it appears in the real world, it would be dub as ''Blood Castle''.


    He didn''t look at it for long and turned his attention to the surroundings. It still the same, a world with no visible end and in perpetual sunset. The ground is submerged under 3 inches deep crimson water. There are no other features aside from the castle.


    Kisuke sighed and spoke out loud, "Benihime-chan, can''t you let me do my thing in peace?"


    A beautiful voice replied to his query, "This is a good chance. I just can''t let it go."


    Kisuke turned around and saw a woman with pale white skin, ck eyes and hair braided and arranged in loops on her head, wearing a red Kimono with a ck sash thatpliments her beauty greatly. This is Benihime.


    But Kisuke didn''t care about her appearance and more interested at what she wants to do, "A chance for what?"


    She chuckled and answered his question, "Fufufu. You should already know."


    "Want to kill me again?" Kisuke said in an exasperated voice.


    "Yep~." And Benihime''s smile grewrger. She then took out a sleek, medium-sized sword and shed it towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke parried it with the same sword. They exchange few more sword strikes with sounds of metals shing so loud that you wouldn''t expect iting from swords striking each other.


    "One of my biggest regrets after unlocking my hollow powers is that you became more unreasonable and radical in your ways." Kisuke adjusted his stance, aiming his de towards Benihime. Kisuke can''t use much of his abilities as although fusing his Reiryoku and Ki doesn''t need his full attention, he still needs to dedicate some of it for itspletion. As for why he didn''t stop the process yet, it''s because he would need all of his focus to safely stop or else, his body might just explode and die. But he knew Benihime wouldn''t give him a chance to stop.


    Kisuke really wished that Benihime won''t interfere with the fusing as she didn''t do so when the first time he did it.


    Kisuke also didn''t want to fight her because he can only do so with skills and nning ahead is almost useless as he can''t use any items or Kidou. Every time they battle, it''s always a close call for him.


    "I''ll have to thank you for that~. It really feels like I gained freedom." Benihime replied to him happily.

 Volume 2 67 - The Fight

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 67 - The Fight</h4>


    Loud shes of metals and explosion rang throughout the world submerged in blood-like water. Kisuke and Benihime have been battling for about an hour now and there''s yet clear winner from the two.


    ''It really feels like fighting my own doppelganger. I''m better when ites to energy maniption, but she can always use her de more versatile than me.'' Kisuke thought to himself as he takes a breather to analyze his situation, ''I hate fights like this.'' He added in his mind.


    "What? Thinking of a way out again?" Benihime smiled at him and spoke.


    "Isn''t that obvious? You know that I''m not a big fan of situations like this." Kisuke refocused on Benihime, "Are you trying to kill me for ''progress'' again?"


    "Yep~. If only you would use that head of yours to reach that state." Benihime dashed towards Kisuke and resumed shing at him.


    Kisuke continued to parry and return her attacks, "Progress. What a vague word. Isn''t it about time you tell me what you want?"


    After being sent flying away by Kisuke''s parry, Benihime flipped in the air and reorient herself and sent waves and waves of crimson-colored energy to Kisuke attempting to drown him with her attacks, "You should already know."


    Kisuke used sh Steps to repeatedly dodge the crimson-colored destructions, "The most stupid thing to do is to guess what a woman wants."


    "You see me as a woman? How funny." Benihime didn''t let up even after shended on the ground.


    "It''s true that I shaped you with my soul, but you''re still a separate entity from me. If you took the form of a woman, then you''re a woman, as simple as that." Kisuke used sh Step to close their distance and the two engage in another sword fight.


    "Heh�� Fair enough. Since you didn''t want to guess, let me ask you this. What is the most important thing for you? Of course, this is disregarding other people." Benihime''s sword dance is so graceful that her sword is like another finger in her hand as opposed to Kisuke''s very practical sword style that leaves his opponents in distress because of his apparent precognition.


    "Hmmm�� That would obviously self-preservation." Kisuke spoke in between their shes as he thinks and calcte the way to end this battle without exposing himself to danger.


    "Are you kidding me? That onlyes as second. You would even use your own body to pursue knowledge." Benihime tried to pierce Kisuke''s head with her sword. Kisuke tilted his head to the side to dodge and do a counter-attack but he felt something wrong.


    From the tip of Benihime''s sword, a crimson-colored energy de in the shape of a scythe suddenly extended. Benihime pulled her sword back and tried to lop off Kisuke''s head. Kisuke was able to dodge by ducking and flipping forward to drop an ax kick on her.


    Benihime blocked it with her arm, but another leg came towards her stomach. She managed to block it with her sword but was sent flying away again.


    ''That was close! I didn''t know she can do that. She really has some tricks on her sleeves.'' Kisuke has cold sweat flowing down on his back, "Benihime-chan, teach me that one. It looks cool and convenient."


    "Since you already saw it once, you can learn it yourself." Benihimended gracefully at the distance and didn''t continue attacking.


    Kisuke smiled and said, "You''re right."


    Kisuke rxed for a bit to recover his mental fortitude, "So? What does it have to do with what you want in my pursuit of knowledge?"


    "As you said, you shaped me with your soul and I inherited that trait from you. But instead of knowledge, I only want the next level." Benihime also didn''t move and just talk.


    "I see. But you know that I won''t be able to achieve that just by myself." Kisuke is already sure of want she really wants.


    "Fufufu~. I''m helping you right now. By pushing you to the brink of death, you may be able to show it to me." Benihime slowly walks towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke mouth''s twitches and asks, "I do need your help with that, but don''t you have any other way? And besides, If you sessfully kill me, then you would also perish."


    Benihime nodded in agreement, "Right if I kill you, I''ll also disappear. But as I just said, I''m like you and only put my self-preservation second. If you can pull out my ''True de'' with this, then I would be happy. Although if you fail and die, I can just call it bad luck. And I don''t have any other way than to do this. You don''t actively pursue it after all."


    Kisuke let out a derisiveugh, "How radical." And readied his sword for another sh.


    "Are you sure that you still want to waste time?" Benihime slowly sped up her walking pace turning it into a run.


    "What do you mean?" Kisuke''s expression turned serious as he has a bad feeling taking over him.


    "As we are fighting, the ''Hollow'' you are also rampaging." Benihime is just 15 meters away from Kisuke now, "Your precious cat is already quite beaten up."


    When Kisuke heard this, his mind went nk for an instant and an unquenchable rage fill him. Kisuke didn''t say anything else used sh Step to close the distance between him and Benihime. Benihime already expected that he would lose his cool at her statement so she shes down her sword even before Kisuke appeared in front of her.


    But what she didn''t expect is that he wouldn''t make any effort to dodge and just let the sword cleave from his right shoulder to his sr plexus. Because of this unexpected oue, Benihime nked out for a moment, but that moment is enough for Kisuke to pierce her heart.


    Benihime stared at ''Benihime'' that is impaling her with aplicated expression, "You''ve changed. To think that you would resolve yourself to die just because someone else is in danger of being killed. I couldn''t have expected it from someone as unfeeling as you."


    "It''s a wee change. I regret nothing." Kisuke replied with a tranquil smile.


    Benihime also smiled at him and closed her eyes, "Is that so? To be perfectly honest, I''m jealous."


    "You don''t have to. You''ll be connected to me forever even if you want it or not."


    "You have a point." At this time, Benihime is slowly turning into ash starting from her feet. "Remember this, if you don''t actively reach that state, I won''t stop doing this. At least propose a n for me." Before shepletely disappeared, she left such words.


    ''A have to rush my research on Sacred Gears.'' Kisuke has such thoughts before the entire world copsed and he returned to his body.

 Volume 2 68 - The Rampaging Kisuke

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 68 - The Rampaging Kisuke</h4>


    Yoruichi suddenly Kisuke''s rampaging Reiatsu and knew something just went wrong.


    Koneko and Aika also felt something very oppressive is pressuring them, "W-what is that!? Yoruichi-san! Are you still pressuring me!?" Aika cried out loud and looked at Yoruichi. Koneko stayed silent and also looked at Yoruichi. She guessed something was wrong from seeing Yoruichi''s facial expression.


    "You two leave the training grounds now." Yoruichi didn''t look at them continued to confirm the Reiatsu Kisuke is releasing, ''No doubt. This is a Hollow''s Reiatsu.''


    "No! Something happened to Kisuke-senpai, right? Please take me with you!" Koneko shook her head in refusal and raised her voice towards Yoruichi.


    "What!? Kisuke? Did something happen to Kisuke? What is it!? Are you going somewhere? If that''s the case, please also take me with you." Aika reacted at Koneko''s words and looked back and forth between Koneko and Yoruichi. If something really happened to Kisuke, she naively thought that maybe she could be some help.


    "No, it''s too dangerous. Kisuke probably lost control of his powers and on a rampage spree." Yoruichi didn''t want to take both of them, but she''s also conflicted as she wants to show them someone who lost control of themselves due to their powers, especially the both of them are bound to go through it too.


    "It''s Kisuke-senpai we are talking about here. He probably already predicted this and set some necessary safety precautions." Koneko reminded Yoruichi of Kisuke''s personality. She also really wants to see how someone loses control of themselves, as there might be some truth to her big sister''s rampage due to the use of Senjutsu even if it is for her little sister''s protection. Koneko thought that her mind was clouded at that time and she could have made a better decision for both of them. Although because of that, she met Rias, her peerage, and Kisuke, along with Yoruichi who is helping her gain strength, so she regrets nothing.


    Yoruichi might have been too worried about Kisuke and didn''t think of that. She gets hold of herself and said, "Fine. But be ready to use those pendants to get out of here when things get dicey. And both of you can only watch from the distance. Am I clear?"


    "Yes," Koneko affirmed.


    Aika is fidgeting while watching them converse. After they were done, she immediately suggested, "Shouldn''t we hurry? If I can do something to help, I''ll do it."


    "You can''t do anything as you are now. Be a good girl and follow Koneko''s lead. Also, remember that you may also experience what is happening to Kisuke right now, and you can''t back out anymore." Aika swallowed her saliva and she heard what Yoruichi said. Yoruichi then proceeds to put the two of them on her shoulder and used sh Step to arrive on an elevated rock 50 meters away from the barrier Kisuke put up earlier. Yoruichi then left the two of them there and approached the barrier to strengthen it further.


    Aika and Koneko saw Kisuke''s current state behind a hexagonal barrier and was shocked. Kisuke is howling to the air with his arms wide open, but this isn''t what shock Aika and Koneko, it''s the white matter that slowly enveloping his whole face and is forming a bone-like mask. Kisuke''s eyes also turned strange as his sclera turned pitch ck and his pupils turned it a glowing green color. But what worries them the most is the big hole in the middle of his chest where another batch of white matteres from and slowly consuming Kisuke.


    "W-What''s this?" Aika asked Koneko who is beside her clutching the pendant they receive from him earlier. Aika is feeling overwhelmed as this is the most supernatural thing she saw since yesterday, ''Is he turning into a monster? Yoruichi-san said that I will also go through this. I so wanna quit. But is he in pain? He started banging the floor now.''


    "I don''t know. It''s also my first time seeing Kisuke-senpai like this." Koneko replied to Aika''s question, but she is also asking herself, ''How can he stay alive even with that giant hole in his chest? Please be safe, senpai. I still want to learn a lot of things from you. And you still have to help me spank that big sister of mine if I''m still weaker than her when we meet.''


    They can all feel minute shaking throughout the training ground as Kisuke smashes the floor with his fist like a baby throwing a tantrum. Since the floor or ground inside the barrier is also strengthened by the barrier, there are only shallow potholes created with Kisuke''s monstrous tantrum.


    Aika and Koneko saw Yoruichi do some kind of gesture on the surface of the barrier and a small entrance opened allowing her toe in.


    ''The barrier won''t hold up for too long if he keeps rampaging like that. I have to divert his attention to me so he won''t damage the barrier any further.'' Yoruichi slowly walks towards Kisuke position and pointed her index finger to Kisuke to cast a Kidou, "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudou No. 61, Rikujoukourou (Six Rods of Prison Light)!"


    Six thin, but wide beams of light appeared around the rampaging Kisuke and mmed his midsection holding him in ce. Even though only his midsection was hit, he can''t move his whole body and what he can only do is howl and shake. But Yoruichi knew that this wouldn''tst long and she continued casting while pointing her palm towards the immobilize Kisuke, "Bakudou No. 62, Hyapporankan (Hundred Step Fence)!"


    From Yoruichi''s palm, a rod formed of energy is thrown towards Kisuke before it disintegrates into numerous short rods which impaled his limbs making it harder for him to move and sealing him further. Yoruichi wasn''t satisfied so she used another Kidou, "Bakudou No. 63, Sajou Sabaku (Ethereal Binding Chain)!" Yoruichi closes her hand into a fist and calls forth yellow energy, taking a form of very thick rope, which binds the upper body of Kisuke.


    "That''s magic!? That''s so cool!" Aika eyes were shining forgetting the current situation.


    "That''s indeed magic. But like Kisuke-senpai''s, Yoruichi''s magic is also weird." Konekomented when she saw Yoruichi''s binding spells.


    "Wierd? How weird?"


    "I''ve seen others cast magic and each spell is apanied by a magic circle which defines its logic. I never saw magic which doesn''t need a magic circle aside from those simplest of spells, innate magic or bloodline magic. But what they are doing isn''t any of those, I''m pretty sure."


    "I don''t really understand, but we''ll also learn it right?"


    "Yes. Kisuke-senpai already thought me some but I still can''t do it."


    "Look! Yoruichi-san isn''t done yet." Aika interrupted Koneko''s contemtion as she saw Yoruichi''s new movements.


    Yoruichi sps her hands and started reciting another Kidou, "Walls of iron sand," five small yellow orbs with skinny tails emerge from between her sped hands, "A priestly pagoda, glowing irond fireflies." The orbs move above Yoruichi''s head before forming a circle of five. Raising her sped hands above their head, Yoruichi ms them downward, sending the orbs into the ground, "Standing upright, silent to the end." As a bright light is generated in the sky above Kisuke, five tall and thick pirs, which are connected to each other by chains appeared, "Bakudou No. 75, Gochutekkan (Five-Pired Iron Weights)!" Pinning Kisuke to the ground.

 Volume 2 69 - The Rampaging Kisuke Part 2

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 69 - The Rampaging Kisuke Part 2</h4>


    "Did she just drop five gigantic pirs on Kisuke? Is she trying to turn him into paste?" Aika is gobsmacked at the turn of events. She is worried that Kisuke was killed with that move just now.


    "Kisuke-senpai is very sturdy. I think she''s just trying to stop him from moving." Koneko saw through Yoruichi''s intention but she''s still pretty worried about her senpai that hasn''t move for a while now.


    Both of them are very nervous at Kisuke''s situation and wants to approach the barrier as there are no movements from both Yoruichi and Kisuke. But as they are about to leave their position, Yoruichi suddenly kicked the ground and jumped back to gain some distance from Kisuke. Aika and Koneko were confused at Yoruichi''s reaction but chose to stay silent and watch unmoving.


    After a few seconds since Yoruichi moved back, the five giant pirs that are pinning Kisuke to the ground suddenly started shaking. The first few seconds were just minute movements but after a minute or two, the pirs started to crack and shake more fiercely. Soon after the pirs were sent upwards with Kisuke''s roar disintegrating it in the process.


    "Tch." Yoruichi clicked her tongue, but she already expected this to happen, though not as fast, ''I knew that my Kidou won''t seal him for long, but this is still too short. Sealing isn''t easy for me without my artifacts from my n. I would just be wasting my Reiatsu if I repeatedly do that and he kept getting stronger as time passes by. Is the fusion of Ki and Reiryoku still ongoing and strengthening him? I guess I can only trade blows with him."


    Kisuke''s appearance is already mostly covered by the white matter which doubled his size and made him look like a bodybuilder. A lizard-like tail appeared behind him along with spikes protruding from various parts of his body. Dark green tattoos also started appearing all over his body originating from the hole in his chest. His overall appearance would instantly think that he''s a monster that came out of a fantasy book. The only way to distinguish him is his light blonde hair and his usual attire that is already mostly destroyed.


    Aika and Koneko felt scared at Kisuke''s appearance. Although his physical appearance isn''t the stuff of the nightmares, the very aura he is exuding right now terrifying, especially to Aika who isn''t used to these things. She already sat down, trembling and couldn''t speak. Koneko is faring better, but she also couldn''t move from her ce.


    Koneko bit her lips and trail of blood flow down from her mouth, but she was able to regain herposure, even if it''s just a little bit. She clutches her pendant and went behind Aika who is about to lose her consciousness injecting a bit of her Ki to calm Aika. Although it isn''t as effective Kisuke spell, it still very much needed for Aika''s current state.


    Aika looked behind her having calmed down a bit and saw Koneko''s determined expression and the trail of blood from biting her lips. Aika woke up from that sight, ''This isn''t good.'' Inside Aika''s inner world, the ck-spotted egg suddenly rotated rapidly giving off strange energy that helped to calm Aika''s mind further.


    Aika thought that it was just Koneko''s Ki that helped her calmed down, "Thank you." She stood up and dusted herself, putting her hand on the pendant after she''s done, "Is that Kisuke? Is he going to be alright?"


    Koneko returned her attention to the two figures that started to trade blows shaking the barrier along with the whole training ground. This is the first time she saw Yoruichi wore a very serious expression and knew that Kisuke isn''t in a good position, "I don''t know, but Yoruichi will do something about it as it looks like this isn''t the first time she saw something like this."


    "Are they really the same age as us? How can Yoruichi-san take that auraing from Kisuke in a stride? I don''t know how it feels when you''re in frontlines of a bloody war, but maybe it''s almost the same from the terrifying aura that makes you think you''re about to die that Kisuke is emitting?" Aika hands are still trembling even though she recovered and asked a bunch of questions that Koneko can''t answer. She can''t evenment on the shy battle happening in front of her as she kept thinking about Kisuke''s pressure.


    "All I can say is that they couldn''t have attained that kind of power by just peacefully leaving." Koneko shook her head and stared at Yoruichi''s figure who''s shing in and out of existence and Kisuke wildly swing his sword while roaring.


    Yoruichi is maneuvering around Kisuke and sending out kicks and punches on Kisuke''s body, but the most it can do is leave some cracks on his ivory body which instantly regenerates, ''This won''t do. His body is too sturdy that I can''t leave any longsting damage. His Reiatsu is also on the rise which increases his defense further. Although I''m doing a good job buying time, if I can''t stop his momentum, he would sooner orter overpower me. I have to somehow disable him, maybe to the point of almost death. He''ll recover easily anyway.''


    "Shunko (Lightning)!" Yoruichi her orange over-shirt disintegrates leaving only her ck, backless, sleeveless undershirt and lightning dancing around her. She raised her Reiatsu further forming a pair of lightning wings generated from her back.


    Aika and Koneko were, of course, awestruck at Yoruichi''s sudden outburst.


    "So cool," Aika muttered absentmindedly and Koneko nodded in agreement and balled her fist, ''I''ll able to do something simr in the future.''


    Yoruichi didn''t wait further and rushed towards Kisuke and jumped upwards positioning him just below her, "Raiouken (Thunder King Fist)!" She sent a series of ultra-high-speed punches d in lightning delivered using both of her arms.


    The ground waspletely destroyed leaving Kisuke underneath it. The barrier is also mostly destroyed and Yoruichi retreated to repair the barrier. She deactivated Shunko and took a deep breath while repairing the cracks on the barrier.


    Yoruichi never let her focus leave Kisuke but she still underestimated him, as while she was busy repairing the barrier, Kisuke suddenly used Sonido to appear beside her without waiting for his wounds to heal. Kisuke''s body is cracking all over and half of his mask was destroyed, revealing his face devoid of any emotion other than rage.


    Yoruichi was able to react in time and used Ikkotsu (Single Bone) a Hakuda technique to hit him in his abdomen, sending him away with the almost destroyed stomach. But Yoruichi felt something wrong when shended her punch and she was right. Kisuke used a variant of Sonido, Gemelos Sonido (Sound Twins) creating clone-like afterimages, and Yoruichi precisely hit Kisuke''s afterimage and the real him is already behind her sting her with crimson-colored energy leaving arge wound behind her and sending her away like a meteor.


    Before Yoruichi hit the wall of the restored barrier however, Kisuke appeared in front of her again with another use of Sonido and grabbed her neck. Yoruichi grimaced in pain and tried to pry open his hand but with no avail. She couldn''t gather her Reiatsu as she still felt groggy from the st earlier. She saw the Kisuke started charging her dark green Cero (Hollow sh) from his mouth, ''I''m going to die if that hits me.''

 Volume 2 70 - The Rampaging Kisuke Part 3

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 70 - The Rampaging Kisuke Part 3</h4>


    "Yoruichi-san!!!" Aika and Koneko shouted seeing Yoruichi in grave danger. They weren''t able to keep up with the sudden switch in the situation.


    Koneko used her mostlyplete sh Step towards the barrier. Seeing Koneko disappearing from her side and appearing halfway the distance from the barrier, Aika ran with all her might to catch up.


    Koneko couldn''t use sh Step in quick sessions, so she ran the rest of the distance reaching the barrier. She already returned to her true form with a pair of white cat ears and two white tails. Koneko put up the stance she learned from Yoruichi and used all her might with Ki to punch the wall of the barrier, but the barrier only shook a little with most of her force disappearing with the ripples on the surface.


    Koneko didn''t give up and kept repeating what she is doing to the point that the veins in her thin arms are about to explode due to overexerting herself.


    Aika also reached the barrier after some time, but she didn''t know what to do. She wanted to stop Koneko from obviously hurting herself, but she knew that what she is doing is their only chance of opening this wall without assistance from both Kisuke and Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi saw what they are doing and was angry, "You sted fools!!! Stop messing around and escape now!!!" She''s still trying to pry open Kisuke''s hand while also trying to control her Reiatsu, but would still take some time. It is unknown whether she can escape from his grasp before being sted by a supercharged Cero.


    "No! I can''t leave you nor Kisuke-senpai behind!" Koneko adamantly refused and kept punching the transparent wall while gritting her teeth. Some of the veins in her arms were already ruptured and the blood sshes around as she swings her tiny fists.


    Aika, who didn''t know what to do, decided to drag Koneko away after seeing the rtively undamaged barrier and her almost broken arms, "Toujou-san! Stop! Let''s leave! We can''t do anything! We''ll only hold back Yoruichi-san! And we still have to warn Sakura-san about what''s happening! We''re under the ground of the candy shop, remember!?" Aika hugged Koneko''s waist and tried to drag her back but failed to even move the hulking cat.


    "Koneko! Listen to Aika and leave! You can''t break the barrier with just the two of you! I can survive, but after he''s done with me, you two wouldn''t even have a chance to activate your pendants!" Yoruichi was able to focus to activate her Shunko partially, but that is still not enough to let her escape.


    Koneko still wouldn''t budge. She opts to stay silent and just continued bashing the barrier while her tears are flowing down her face. It is unknown whether it''s from pain or desperation.


    Yoruichi is kicking Kisuke''s head to somehow change the trajectory of the Cero, but it was like a statue that wouldn''t budge. Until finally, the Hollowfied Kisuke finished charging his ball of pure destruction.


    All of them noticed this change.


    "Yoruichi-san!!!" Both Aika and Koneko shouted on top of their lungs


    Kisuke tightened his hand on Yoruichi''s neck. Yoruichi grimaced in pain and reached out her arm towards Kisuke, "Kuh�� Ki��su.ke��"


    At thest moment, before Kisuke''s Cero discharge, a trace of rationality returned to his eyes. Understanding the situation at hand, Kisuke turned his head slightly to the right.


    The wave of destruction just passes one centimeter to the left of Yoruichi''s head. The beam of dark green light hit the walls of the training ground in no time and instantly went through it.


    The Cero punched arge hole 100 meters across through many barriers protecting the training grounds from outside interferences like they weren''t even there. What''s only left is the moltenva from the rock wall and the scenery outside of the training ground which is a mix of colors that would be impossible to find in the real world.


    Aika and Koneko were shocked at the enormous destruction that theser from Kisuke did. Koneko was in even more shock as she saw the scenery behind and muttered loudly, "The Dimensional Gap?" But her focus didn''t stay too long from that and she ran towards the hole that was created after Kisuke''s attack. She couldn''t use sh Step anymore as her Ki reserves are almost depleted, "Yoruichi-san! Kisuke-senpai!"


    Aika also followed Koneko but not as fast as her. She''s still staring vigntly at Kisuke and trying to gauge the danger before approaching, ''The oppressive aura that''sing from him haspletely disappeared, and the ivory-like material that''s covering his entire body is slowly disintegrating. Is it safe now?''


    Yoruichi is staring straight to Kisuke''s eyes as he slowly let go of her neck. The hole in his chest closed and his bulky body is slowly dropping to the ground and reducing to ashes. Yoruichi finally saw his whole face filled withplicated emotions.


    "I''m sorry." Are Kisuke''s first words addressed to Yoruichi after he regained his sanity. Seeing her in a bad shape and the mark around her neck where his hand is formerly gripping, Kisuke approached and hugged her softly taking care not to worsen the wound on her back. Partially activating the Hougyoku, Kisuke let her borrow some of his regeneration ability. He learned to this after years of studying the Hougyoku and precisely controlling the strange energying from it.


    "I''m sorry." He repeated his words and whispered it to Yoruichi''s left ear. His voice contains self-loathing, worrying, dejected and loving tones. Kisuke ignored the other two who are calling out to him in worry and solely focused on Yoruichi and sharing his regenerative ability.


    Yoruichi returned his hugged and also whispered to his right ear, "It''s okay�� Wee back." Her voice, contrary to Kisuke''s, contains relief and dness, but also like Kisuke''s, a loving tone.


    "Ah�� I''m back." Kisuke closed his eyes and fell asleep, but he kept the Hougyoku activated and didn''t separate from Yoruichi. He''s even more tired than both Yoruichi and Koneko as his mind is also damaged from Benihime''sst attack. Kisuke''s body is also a mess, even though he sessfully fused his Ki and Reiryoku, it looks like a dumpster and needs fixing, but he can''t do that now.


    Yoruichiid him down to herp and just let him sleep. She could have brought him to the healing hot spring but she didn''t know how it would affect him at his current situation, so Yoruichi opts to not move him any further and just wait for him to heal sufficiently.

 Volume 2 71 - Another Visitor

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 71 - Another Visitor</h4>


    Seeing the peaceful look of both Yoruichi and the sleeping Kisuke on herp, Aika and Koneko slowly approach them, "How are you and Kisuke-senpai, Yoruichi-san?" Koneko crouched down to examine Kisuke and Yoruichi, especially therge wound on her back, "We got a new member that can heal. Do you want me to call her?" She continued.


    "It''s fine. Take a closer look." Yoruichi didn''t look at her and just caresses Kisuke''s pale blond hair with a gentle smile on her face, ''I''ll have to scold themter. If they''re in Onmitsukidou (Stealth Force), they would have been kicked out with heavy punishments.''


    Aika and Koneko followed her words and look at her at therge wound on her back. The edges of the wound are slowly moving inside leaving only pure and unblemished skin, "It''s healing so fast!?" Aika shouted in disbelief and a few secondster, sighed in relief along with Koneko, ''I guess everything is settled.'' They sat down near Yoruichi and Kisuke and waited for him to wake up.


    Once Yoruichi regained her full control of her Reiatsu, she took out four throwing knives withplicated inscriptions on their handles. The two spectators were disturbed again as they thought something hase up again. Yoruichi ignored the two''s questioning gaze as she charges the knives with her Reiatsu. When the knives are fully charged, without looking back, she threw them towards the hole on the wall of the training ground that Kisuke created with his Cero which unknowingly expanded to 150 meters across the short time they weren''t looking. The Dimensional Gap is slowly ''eating'' the training ground from the outside because of the barriers being broken, although not entirely as they''re still keeping the whole training ground from disintegrating.


    The knives are traveling together at very fast speeds and halfway through their destination, they separated into four different directions and hit four corners around the hole. A line of light connected them and conjuring another transparent wall of light, covering the entire hole and effectively stopping it from getting bigger.


    "Amazing�� There are so many tricks that you know. Anyways, why does the outside look like a kaleidoscope world? Is that a barrier too?" Aika was awestruck and voiced out her curiosity.


    "That''s not a barrier. That''s the Dimensional Gap." Koneko was the one who answered her question and asks another one to Yoruichi who''s wound is almost fully healed, "The training ground is in Dimensional Gap?"


    Yoruichi looked at them for the first time and nodded at Koneko, "You''re right. This ce is in Dimensional Gap. Since young, Kisuke goes overboard with his secrets. He gave you a false impression that this is underground as he calls this ''The Secret Underground Training Ground'', but in reality, he stabilized a piece of space inside the Dimensional Gap to serve as location of this ce and ced various barriers to hide it''s existence as he doesn''t know if some other being is traveling within this Gap but he assumed that there is. Well, it''s not like anyone can find this ce as ording to Kisuke, the Dimensional Gap space''s rules are messed up and the only thing working properly is the temporal dimension. You have to deliberately look for this ce to find it."


    Koneko looked down on contemtion, but Aika didn''t understand what they are talking about, obviously, "Wait, what is this Dimensional Gap?"


    "You can think of it as space separating many worlds where the supernatural things in a normal human''s point of view reside," Yoruichi answered her question patiently. This free time can serve as lecture time for Aika.


    "Many worlds where supernatural things reside? You mean those Devils and Angels have their own worlds?"


    "Yes. They are called ''Underworld'' for Devils and Fallen Angels and ''Heavens'' for Angels. These two are thergest worlds as they exceed Earth in size for who knows how many times. That''s ording to some books that are avable to us. Kisuke can''t confirm this and wants more records of this topic. That''s where the bet with the StuCo Presidentes in. She''s an ojou-sama after all and would have ess to certain topics that aren''t avable for the public."


    "That makes sense. I thought that those beings were just blending with humans to live. It''s amazing that they haven''t invaded the Earth yet if they have this kind of power." Aika looked back at the hole that Kisuke created and muttered.


    "It''s not like they don''t want to, it''s just that there are too many factions that would fight for it and will only end up destroying themselves and the Earth in the process. They don''t want that to happen as Earth is a very special existence because all other worlds are somehow connected to it as serves as the transport hub for them. And we don''t know why that is the case. But we''re sure of one thing, outer space doesn''t exist in any other worlds."


    "Outer space? Only Earth has ess to the universe? That pretty cool. So, have you gone to anywhere besides the Earth for you to know all of this?"


    "Yep~. We sneaked to the Underworld to have some fun in the past." Yoruichi''s smile grew bigger as she remembers the past.


    "Please take me with you to y if you''re going there again! One more thing, what do you mean when you said that the space rules in Dimensional Gap are messed up?"


    "It means that direction doesn''t exist. You can move around but you don''t know which way is left, right, up and down as you can''t designate anything as a point of reference. Distance is also nonexistent because you can travel as far as you can but still not move from your ce."


    "It''s hard for me to imagine how that works. Can I try going there?" Aika faced the hole and asks.


    "If you want to disintegrate to nothing, then you''re free to try. That ce is more merciless than outer space."


    Aika scratched her head in embarrassment, "Hehehe, I''m just joking."


    Aika continued to ask more questions and Yoruichi patiently answered her and sometimes Koneko would chime in.


    Fifteen minutes into their discussions, Yoruichi''s eyes suddenly grew wide open and Kisuke was woken up from his stupor and hurriedly got up. The both of them stared at the hole that leads to Dimensional Gap.


    Aika and Koneko were both happy that Kisuke already woke up but saw something wrong at their expression as they have a very serious one that they don''t often have. Both of them also stared at the hole to see what''s going on and what they saw scared the hell out of Aika again.


    "A giant flying liz---!" Aika eximed but Koneko was able to shut her mouth with her hands before shepleted her sentence.

 Volume 2 72 - A Cute? Dragon

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 72 - A ''Cute?'' Dragon</h4>


    "A giant flying liz---"


    "Aika-senpai, shut up for a moment," Koneko whispered to her ear as she covers her mouth.


    Yoruichi and Kisuke turned their heads on Aika with their mouths twitching but didn''t say anything. They then refocused their attention to the gigantic red dragon that is flying to their position.


    The dragon is a massive red Western Dragon with a horn on his snout and has two sets of wings. His overall length measures around 100 meters.


    "Hey, Kisuke." Yoruichi opened her mouth and asks.


    "Hmm?"


    "Are the boss encounters thismon? Justst night, a dragon in a form of gothic lolita that can be regarded as the strongest we''ve ever seen visited us. Now we caught the attention of another one of the same level. Are we really that eye-catchy for these guys?" Yoruichi asks in an exasperated voice. She also wants to do a facepalm but stopped herself as she can''t lose focus now.


    "Maybe our power system is just that entric for them? Or maybe it caught sight of my Cero and got curious? Anyways, Koneko, Aika, when I say leave, teleport back to shop with your pendants. I and Yoruichi will also follow behind but don''t move, for now, it isn''t hostile yet." Kisuke answered Yoruichi''s question with more of his questions and gave instructions to Koneko and Aika.


    Koneko already separated from Aika and they nodded silently while also staring at the big dragon.


    The red dragon approaches the hole and stared at the four of them. Kisuke and Yoruichi increased their vignce as the dragon''s gaze pass through them.


    The dragon kept staring at them for a minute and two when Kisuke noticed something. Due to itsrge size and reptilian eyes, he couldn''t easily pinpoint its focus in a short amount of time, but now he''s sure that most of its attention is on Kisuke and Aika, ''It''s understandable if it''s just me or Yoruichi, but Aika?�� Wait�� Aika also caught Ophis'' attention, maybe its rted to her Sacred Gear too? Dammit, my senses are still in mess and I can''t gauge the dragon''s soul urately. And it isn''t even trying to hide it either.''


    The dragon saw Kisuke''s expression something change in its eyes. If not for his very powerful observation skills, Kisuke wouldn''t have noticed it, "It''s�� gloating?"


    "Hmm? What did you just say?" Yoruichi thought that she heard him wrong as his words don''t match the situation at all.


    "I said that it''s gloating while looking at me�� No, more like it is showing off? I also can''t believe what I''m seeing right now. Its demeanor also doesn''t match its appearance and power level like Ophis-chan." Kisuke unconsciously rubbed his eyes, but what he saw didn''t change, ''Seriously?''


    "It looks cool!" Aika muttered, but that level of volume is enough for the dragon to here.


    Kisuke noticed the subtle action of raising its chin a little, "Oh? It likes yourpliment."


    "Really!?" Aika also felt a bit shock.


    "Tough on the outside but cute in the inside?" Yoruichi couldn''t help but say.


    "Hey!" Kisuke felt helpless after hearing his partner and is getting ready to escape, ''I hope it doesn''t follow us to the Human world.''


    The dragon also heard her and snorted. The snort took a form of arge shockwave that broke the temporary barrier the Yoruichi put up with four knives and almost lifted all of them into the air. Kisuke was about to give his signal to escape but halted as he saw the dragon ignore Yoruichi and didn''t have any further action.


    Now the dragon is just staring at Aika and it''s unknown what it is thinking, although only Kisuke can tell this and Yoruichi to some extent.


    Aika can also somehow tell that the red dragon is staring at her as she suddenly left something squirming inside her and lock eyes with it.


    Kisuke''s mind is trying to calcte the things he could do and gain and just chose to wait and see. Another few seconds of silence prevailed and the tension increased.


    The silence was broken when Kisuke, Yoruichi and Koneko noticed a ball of red light 10 centimeters across suddenly manifested in front of its snout. The ball of light suddenly shoots out and traveled to Aika''s direction. Koneko and Yoruichi wanted to block it for her but Kisuke stopped them. Both of them were bbergasted at Kisuke and looked at him smiling, they decided to just trust him.


    Aika wasn''t able to react and the red ball of light hit her disappearing inside her. She panics and touch all over her body but didn''t notice any change, "What the hell was that!?"


    Kisuke also inspected her but didn''t notice anything different aside from a subtle change in her aura and his senses which aren''t working properly isn''t helping either, ''I''ll have to thoroughly examine herter to see what exactly is that ball of energy. I''ll probably have my answers instantly if I start with her Sacred Gear.''


    Kisuke returned his attention to the dragon who is seemingly satisfied and turned around with a small snort and slowly flew away. A portal appeared in front of it leading to another part of the Dimension Gap and went through it, ignoring the stares of the rest. And before long, the portal disappeared along with it.


    "Why does it feel that it wants a cool exit?" Yoruichi learned from her previous experience and only spoke up after it surely left.


    "What a coincidence, I also feel the same." Kisuke agreed with her.


    "Are all great beings this childish?" Yoruichi faced Kisuke and ask.


    "If you ask me that, who should I ask? And are you suggesting that there are more of them out there? If that''s the case, it''s a mystery why the worlds are still existing." Kisuke stretched his body as it''s still sore from earlier events and wanted to rest early, "Koneko-chan, Aika-chan, you two return for now. We''ll follow you after we''re done here. We still have to fix that hole or this training ground would disappear and that would be a shame." Kisuke returned to his nonchnt self and made them sighed in relief.


    Koneko and Aika nodded at him and activated the pendants to return to the shop.


    "Now then, It''ll take an hour or two to fix everything. Yoruichi, help me by supplying Reiatsu as I can''t use mine properly yet." Kisuke started walking towards the hole while thinking of the ways to fix the broken barriers.


    Yoruichi skipped towards him and followed behind him, "You have to treat meter after you''re all fixed up."

 Volume 2 73 - Time to Mess with Supernaturals

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 73 - Time to Mess with Supernaturals</h4>


    Kisuke and Yoruichi spent an hour to fix everything. The barriers are now renewed with some additional security including restricting the spatial fluctuation and some concealing formations. The additional features are probably useless to the massive red dragon as it already found this ce and teleporting the training ground to some other point in Dimensional Gap would also be a useless effort as the dragon seems to know how to navigate in Dimensional Gap with rtive ease and that would only increase their visibility for others that can detect spatial fluctuation. It''s for those who are also thriving inside the Dimensional Gap that may have been alerted and will probably look into it.


    "Are we done with everything?" Kisuke asks as he yawns.


    "I think so." Yoruichi looked around to check onest time.


    "How long have I''ve been sleeping anyway?"


    "Just about fifteen minutes. By the way, that''s the worst uncontrolled Hollowfication you''ve ever had. What happened?"


    "As always, it''s Benihime. She wants her Shinuchi (True de) and she''ll keep attacking me whenever I''m weakened or in some kind breakthrough just to push me forward. And when I''m fusing my Reiryoku with my Ki, my strength is in all-time low as I have to manipte it precisely that I can''t do anything else." Kisuke looked at Benihime in her cane form while contemting.


    "Shinuchi? Isn''t that Bankai''s (Final Release) old term and just the same thing?" Yoruichi also gazed at Kisuke''s Zanpakuto. She thought that they really have the most problematic Zanpukutos in the history of Soul Society. Her''s wouldn''t listen to her, and would only lend its strength depending on its mood so she practiced her Hakuda (Hand-to-Hand Combat) as much as she could not relying on her once in a while power. Well, Byakko is already special to begin with as it is a spirit that descended on her Zanpakuto when she received her Asauchi.


    In Kisuke''s case, Benihime inherited too much of Kisuke personality and would always ''help'' Kisuke to strengthen him and herself to the point that it''s more important than Kisuke''s own safety contrary to most Zanpakuto that wants to protect its partner Shinigami.


    "That''s what I thought too, but Benihime is sure that it is something different and wants me to achieve that."


    "If that''s the case, until you achieve it, you''ll keep losing control whenever you weaken or your hollow side became too strong. What''s your n?"


    "I have some ideas but I''ll have to test it first before proposing a deal with Benihime. For now, I want to forge an Asauchi for her and your Byakko as they are just mana construct in their current form and won''t improve much."


    "Sacred Gear, is it?"


    "Correct. But I would need more data. Aika''s Sacred Gear is a good fortune for us."


    "I see, so that''s why you epted her so readily even though you just want to see a Shinigami wielding a Sacred Gear. You could have done that by injecting your Reiatsu to her and throwing her to Sona." Yoruichi muttered loudly and Kisuke just smiled at her thoughts.


    "If only I can talk to someone who knows many things about the Sacred Gears�� or maybe the creator himself. That would be great."


    "I don''t think that''s easy if you don''t get out there."


    "That''s why I''ll start meddling with those Devils at school after I stabilize my Reiatsu-Ki in a week or two. They have the highest status in this town and the two of them are the little sisters of two Devil Kings. If someone would know a substantial amount of information on Sacred Gear, that would be someone on the higher-ups of a faction." Kisuke has a nasty smile on his face when he said this.


    "Meddle? Do you mean to annoy them? Could you just do something good for them and they might pay you back?" Yoruichi scratched her head.


    "Yoruichi, this is something I learned from experience. To catch someone''s attention, you would have more chance if you annoy them rather than get their goodwill. And we don''t have to get their goodwill, I want to strike an ''equal'' deal with them."


    "That theory sounds like a kid bullying their crush for attention."


    "Ahahaha~~~. It''s effective nevertheless. Tried and tested by me~."


    "This is also why no one wants to deal with you back in Seiretei even though you''re a captain." Yoruichi shook her head and sighed.


    Kisuke ignored Yoruichi''s statement and continued speaking, "And besides, it''s about time we flex some of our muscles to the world. I think we''re ready to draw some attention."


    "Right. Even though we''ll get involved in some politics that we really hate, showing that we can fight a bit will make them think twice before dealing with us. But standing in the limelight will also make others attack us easier from the shadows." Yoruichi closed her arms and voiced out her concerns.


    "We can n and do some precautionary measures for that but we''ll have to share that limelight with someone else somehow. How about Issei?" Kisuke suggested.


    "That perverted kid that is even somehow worse than you?" Yoruichi narrowed her eyes.


    "That kid has just some cliche taste." Kisuke blurted.


    "Why are youpeting with him?"


    "Anyways, Issei''s Sacred Gear seems to be a Longinus and has an unimaginable amount of potential. And Sacred Gears respond to their host''s desire to level up. He can go and gather split some attention for us with his perverted antics as a plus."


    "This Longinus'' are really cheating. As long as you want it, you can get stronger?"


    "It''s really some nonsensical equipment. I want to meet its maker. How did hee up with it I wonder? And its borated system that automatically goes with Human reincarnation."


    "To think that what would push you to reveal yourself is Benihime. And here I thought that you would want to live in obscurity for another decade or two."


    "Nothing I can do. Benihime will keep pestering if I don''t do something and something is already brewing in the shadows that will probably affect us. So, for now, We''ll take it slow and I''ll pester that overly serious StuCo President and see what happens." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders at Yoruichi''sment.


    "Don''t annoy her too much that she would want to stab you," Yoruichi warned him.


    "That''s the point! I won''t get anything great if I act the nice guy."


    "Whatever, let''s go. Koneko and Aika are still waiting for us at the shop. After those two calmed down, the scene earlier will probably haunt both of them. I already told them that they might experience it in the future." Yoruichi started fiddling with her ring.


    "You told them? Hmmm�� I have to prepare an exnation that won''t traumatize them too much, or else it might be a disadvantage for them when they reach that point." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "You should also exin to them that power isn''t easily attainable without much hardship. I don''t care if they''re geniuses. I''ll push them harder so they won''t be conceited." Yoruichi then activated the teleportation spell on the ring bringing Kisuke with her who still thinking of what to say.

 Volume 2 74 - Another Discussion Part 1

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 74 - Another Discussion Part 1</h4>


    Kisuke and Yoruichi appeared inside the room where the mock elevator is in. They saw that Koneko and Aika are still waiting for them.


    "Senpai." "Kisuke-kun." Koneko and Aika approached the two of them, but hesitation could be felt from their movements.


    ''They calmed down and started thinking a lot of things huh,'' Kisuke and Yoruichi simultaneously thought.


    "Let''s go back to the house for now. I''ll talk there." Kisuke ignored their apparent hesitation and fear and walks towards the exit along with Yoruichi.


    Koneko and Aika looked at each other and hurriedly followed them. It''s alreadyte afternoon outside and once they reached the Urahara household, Kisuke urges the two of them to sit down on the couch while Yoruichi went straight to the kitchen to prepare some beverages and some snacks.


    Kisuke also sat down on the couch but didn''t speak and just stared at the two of them who are looking at the ground, though they would sneak some peeks from time to time.


    Yoruichi arrives with cups of tea and snacks that''s enough for them, but she doubts that the two girls would have a mood to sip some freshly made tea. She sat down beside Kisuke and stayed quiet.


    Kisuke took a sip of his cup of tea and let out arge sigh, "Where should I start?"


    Aika and Koneko looked up, waiting for him to speak.


    "Are you scared of my form earlier?" Kisuke started with a question. They looked at each other and with some hesitation, nodded.


    "Well that''s normal and you should be. Because in the future, if you continue your training under us, you''d probably experience something simr." Kisuke narrowed his eyes and told them in a very serious tone.


    "Can''t you do something so we wouldn''t experience that?" Aika meekly raised her voice.


    "We can probably do something so you won''t have to experience that."


    "Then��" Both of them looked up with hope in their eyes. When they remembered how Kisuke rampaged earlier, they didn''t want to experience it themselves. They thought if something goes wrong, they wouldn''t be able toe out of that madness.


    "But it''ll take some time for you to get stronger. Months, years or even decades if we take it slow."


    Both of them stayed silent after hearing this, especially Koneko as she wants to get stronger as soon as possible so that she could take on her big sister.


    As for Aika, she''s contemting if she wants to get stronger fast, ''Is it worth the risk?'' She kept questioning herself but couldn''t find the right answer.


    "Let me exin first why we have to experience that before you make your decisions.


    " I train in all facets of a certain power system. Meaning, I train in both the positive and negative sides of that system. The advantage is, I''ll have ess to both sides'' power making me stronger than those who trained in only one side. The disadvantage is, it creates a conflict within me and if I can''t contain or restrain it, I''ll fall into madness like what you saw earlier and there''s a chance that I wouldn''t wake up forever and would just try to destroy everything around me. That''s what happens if I failed to control my power or upset the bnce between two sides."


    Kisuke saw them make difficult faces andughed a bit.


    "What so funny? Is this still a joke for you?" Aika pouted andined and Koneko agreed with her by nodding and ring at Kisuke.


    "Nah, I''m just appreciating your funny faces."


    "Why are you still nonchnt, senpai? You almost killed Yoruichi back there." Koneko continued ring at Kisuke with more intensity.


    "Yoruichi is certainly in danger back then, but she could survive that." Kisuke''s smile didn''t disappear at her words.


    Truthfully, Yoruichi has multiple ways to escape but all of them would disregard Aika and Koneko''s safety which she was about to do if Kisuke didn''t wake up in time. She could have escaped using her ring and leave the two alone with the Hollowfied Kisuke which would spell their doom if they couldn''t activate their pendants in time. She could also have punctured the Cero and its damage would spread out and not a concentrated one. She would only get hurt but the two spectators would have died.


    "Right! These two idiots didn''t believe that I would be just fine! You only made it harder for me! In our lessons, I will properly ingrain in your thick heads how important prompt decisions are! Especially you! Koneko! What you did earlier is just a futile effort!" Yoruichi stood up and suddenly reprimanded the two.


    "But-" "No buts!" Koneko wanted to say something but was interrupted by Yoruichi.


    "You''re still too weak to worry about me!"


    "�� I''m sorry." Seeing the fuming expression on Yoruichi''s face, Koneko''s head dropped down and apologized.


    "That''s enough, Yoruichi. She''s still a kid and you know that she''s strangely affectionate of this she deemedrades. We can''t push our militaristic view on her and especially on Aika, who is just a normal person until yesterday." Kisuke spoke up and patted Koneko to console her.


    "Huuu�� You''re right. I''m sorry. I think of her as my disciple so a forgot for a moment that she isn''t from the same organization as me. I just remembered how I would scold Sui Feng when she did something wrong." Yoruichi let out a big breath to calm down and also apologized to Koneko.


    "Please don''t apologize. It''s really my fault and I also dragged Aika-senpai to danger by not listening to you. Even though I guess that you have a way to survive, I just couldn''t leave after seeing you and Kisuke-senpai like that."


    Seeing that she knows her fault and admitted her mistakes, Yoruichi smiled slightly and shoved Kisuke''s hand away to pat her herself, "It''s fine. I know your personality and knew how you would act, but I''m pushing my ideals in you too much. But we have to fix that attitude in the future." Yoruichi gently consoles Koneko but herst sentence has a trace of strictness to it.


    Koneko has aplicated expression when she heard thest thing she said. Yoruichi guessed what she''s thinking and continued speaking, "I''m not telling you to disregard yourrades if you ever encounter a situation like that again, I''m going to teach you how to n and decide properly without your emotions intervening with your logic. That way, you''ll also have arger chance to turn your situation."


    Koneko finally understood her and nodded. A trace determination appeared in her eyes and she faced Kisuke, "Senpai, I want to get stronger faster." ''If I''m strong enough, I would have a lesser chance of dealing with a situation like that.'' Koneko thought as she deres her decision to Kisuke.


    "Going back to the main topic, finally?" Kisuke already finished his cup of tea before they even finished talking.


    "It seems that Koneko wouldn''t change her mind anymore. How about you, Aika-chan" Kisuke stared at Koneko for a while and assumed as such, so he turned his head towards Aika, who''s still in deep contemtion.


    "Let me hear what you''re about to say first." She said.


    "Sure."

 Volume 2 75 - Another Discussion Part 2 (Chunni Names)

    <h4>Volume 2 Chapter 75 - Another Discussion Part 2 (Chunni Names)</h4>


    "Did I mention that I lose control when I can''t control both sides of my power or upset the bnce between them?" Kisuke rubbed his chin and asked.


    "You did," Aika answered him.


    Kisuke nodded and continued saying, "But I''m very confident at my control skills and losing control shouldn''t happen to me."


    Aika is now even more confused, "Then why?"


    "Because of this partner of mine." Kisuke materialized Benihime in her cane form.


    "Is that a Sacred Gear?" Aika looked closely at the cane, ''How does he use it? Smash heads with it? How fitting for him.''


    "Are you thinking something rude?" Kisuke''s mouth twitches as he asks.


    "Do you bash heads with that?" Aika honestly asked him.


    "Pffft-" Even Yoruichi spat out some of her tea she is drinking.


    Kisuke''s hand shed, taking out and taking back the de in a sh that Aika wasn''t able to see, but he left a bit of de out of the cane for Aika to see.


    Aika thought that he only took out a bit of his de for her viewing, but suddenly, her pink rimmed sses fell off her face and split into two pieces, "MY GLASSES!!!" She cradles the broken pieces of sses in her arms.


    She then red and shouted at Kisuke after understanding what just happened, "Damn you Kisuke! You just killed half of me! I hope the Goddess of sses smite you!"


    "Now, now. Calm down. Here. I fixed it for you!" Yoruichi reached out to her sses and fixed it with magic while trying to calm her down.


    "Thank you! May the Goddess of sses bless you!" Aika gave Yoruichi her sincerest gratitude for what she has done.


    "No. Please don''t bless me with bad eyesight." Yoruichi retorted.


    Kisuke acted like he had done nothing and continued exining, "This de''s name is Benihime and she''s a bit different from Sacred Gears. She also has her own thoughts. She''s the main reason I lose control of myself every time."


    Aika pouted a bit at how Kisuke acted like nothing but she nevertheless listened carefully, "This hidden sword? Why?"


    "Well, we would always fight. And every time we do that, this body rampages." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and refuses to exin more.


    "Are all Sacred Gears have thoughts of their own?"


    "No, very few actually possess a being inside it."


    "Does mine have it?"


    "Yes."


    "Then I would also lose control of myself even if I bnce my powers properly."


    "Normally, you only have to convince the one residing it and you wouldn''t even need to fight. This girl here is a special case. So you would only lose control of yourself once until you convince it."


    "Is that so?" Aika took her cup of tea for the first time and drank it.


    "Then please continue as you''ve nned." She set down the cup and expressed her decision to Kisuke and Yoruichi.


    "So readily? I thought you would hesitate more." Yoruichi stared at her intently and thought, ''She''s really different.''


    "It''s not as risky as you made it be and you''re probably trying to scare us so we wouldn''t let our guard down even if we gained enough strength.


    " And you also probably won''t let us take unnecessary risks. If you want us to aplish something, surely, you''ll only let us do so if we can actually do it." Aika expressed what she thought.


    "Good. You can use your brain a little bit better than others. You could assist Kisuke in many things in the future." Yoruichi praised her.


    "You really trust me that much?" Kisuke asks.


    "Yes, I''m betting my all and giving you all my trust. So don''t do anything ridiculous like throwing me away. I probably won''t be able to recover from that." Aika grinned at him.


    "You really are an idiot." Kisuke shook his head at her response, "Is that all?" Kisuke, however, wants to know more.


    "There''s onest thing." Aika did a fake cough before continuing. She looked at everyone else, and finally, rest her gaze on Kisuke, "If Koneko is doing it, why shouldn''t I? Besides, I don''t want to be left behind and just watch you back getting further and further away. I at least want to walk just a few steps behind everyone else and if possible, side by side. If I''m going to step into this dangerous world, I want to do my best�� along with some trustypanions." Aika slowly stood up, ce her hands on her hips and put on her signature smug face as she finishes her words.


    "Great! Hahaha~" Kisuke also stood up and pulled out his white fan and waved it around, "You really can''t start your great adventure without some livelypanions. From now on, you''ll be part of my greatest organization, the ''Urahara Shouten (Urahara Shop)''!" And he dered.


    "You can''t be serious! What''s up with that name!? That''s just the name of your shop! Do you really like it that much!? Change it! Change it to something cool like ''Mugen Legion'', ''Armageddon Dominator'', ''Dragon Gene'' or maybe ''Hellme Reverie'', ''Hollow Ronin'' and ''Devil ArmsMerchant'' are good too." Aika instantly protested and suggested names of her own.


    "Where the hell are you getting these names? By the way, I like ''Devil ArmsMerchant''���� Wait! No! I won''t change it! We''ll be known today as members of ''Urahara Shouten'' and forever!" Kisuke was taken aback at Aika''s sudden outburst and almost agreed to her, but manage to hold himself just in time.


    "Who cares about some stupid name? Finish this up Kisuke!" Yoruichi interfered before the topic goes in the wrong tangent again.


    "It''s important!" Kisuke and Aika shouted at the same time.


    "Then we''ll just discuss this next time! And Kisuke, don''t get so worked up! Your body is still aching, right!?" Yoruichi shouted back in even more vigor stopping the two.


    "Aching?" Koneko who''s silently listening to the side spoke up.


    "This idiot hasn''t recovered from what happened earlier and needs to rest. So we shouldn''t take this long." Yoruichi exined Kisuke''s state to Koneko making her worry again.


    "Do you really not want me to call our new member who is a healer?" Koneko asks for confirmation again.


    "No need. I just need a good long sleep." Kisuke patted her head again to reassure her.


    Seeing her nod, Kisuke sat back down on the sofa to finish this meeting, "Now that I have you two''s consent with the training that I n for you to do, I don''t need to feel guilty."


    "Guilty? What do you mean?" Aika is confused yet again, ''What the hell is this idiot up to again?''


    "What I mean is regardless of your answers just now, I would have push on training you the way I want it. In short, you''ll still lose control of yourself at least once even if you refused." Kisuke has a nasty grin on his face again.


    "Then why did you still ask us!?" Aika really doesn''t know how this idiot''s brain works.


    "At least you knew something instead of being in the dark the whole time." Kisuke is now forcing his logic on them and Aika and Koneko can''t answer back for how ridiculous his reason is, ''Are we really in good hands?''

 Volume 3 76 - The Rumors

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 76 - The Rumors</h4>


    They ended their discussion and Aika went home without staying for dinner with the reason being, "My mom is fine with it, but my dad will probably storm this whole ce with his old overly customized and beloved nail-spiked baseball bat. He''s too old for that."


    "Her dad sounds like a very fun person. I''d like to meet him at least one time." Kisukemented.


    "You also can''t underestimate her mother who manages to tame a guy like her dad," Yoruichi added.


    .


    .


    .


    For the next few days, Kisuke ''peacefully'' spent his time on school while recuperating and stabilizing his Reiryoku-Ki. He only needs a few more days to recover his raw power. Kisuke''s research time is also focused on Reiryoku-Ki based Kidou and sessfully converted up to level 90. After he''s done with Kidou, he''ll practice a bit of his Hollow Transformation to make sure nothing is amiss with this new kind of power source. And if no problem came up, Kisuke will have a talk to Benihime to propose some of his ideas to reach her ''True de'' state. Then he''ll focus on Sacred Gears and some of his free time on the Hougyoku which now only have a few cracks in it. Kisuke doesn''t know when will it fully recover as its recovery rate varies from time to time.


    Sona, on the other hand, couldn''t have a very quiet time with Kisuke''s ''peaceful'' days. Sona kept losing and losing to him not just in the game of chess. She asks for a game of Go and Shogi but still couldn''t win. Sona kept hounding Kisuke for games to the point that rumors of Kisuke ckmailing the StuCo President to be his servant became so pronounced that everyone on the school already knew of it and still adding vor to the rumor like Sona is pregnant with Kisuke child and won''t take responsibility.


    Sona''s peerage members were, of course, outraged at this rumor. They set out to quell the fire that is already very hard to put out. They also asked their Master of what''s going on, but she wouldn''t give them an answer. They asked Tsubaki who is her right hand but only let out a few words, "She wants to win against him or else her future is only with him."


    Her words shook the members and even Rias'' group when they heard about it and they let their imaginations run wild with all sorts of fantasies drilling into their minds. The most affected of these words was Saji Genshirou, Sona''s newest servant and her pawn.


    Saji is a young man with short blond hair and grey eyes. He wears the Kuoh Academy boys'' school uniform, albeit without the zer and his sleeves are rolled up. He is the possessor of the Dragon-type Sacred Gear known as Absorption Line, the main reason Sona took him in.


    Saji''s most admired person is Sona, so when he heard the ambiguous rtionship between his Master and the top pervert in the school''s history, he challenged him to a duel. Saji and the rest of the peerage already knew that Kisuke is an inhabitant of the supernatural world and they also heard from Tsubaki that Sona even tried inviting him to be her servant.


    When Saji proposed a duel, Sona and Tsubaki were not around to supervise him as they returned to Underworld for some quick business that needs her presence and his fellow members didn''t stop him, on the contrary, they seem to support it. They also want to know what''s the deal with this guy who came out of nowhere.


    .


    .


    .


    "Urahara Kisuke! I challenge you to a duel!" Saji invited Kisuke to the old school building to say such. There are already quite a few people who want to spectate. In the front seat are Sona''s peerage members and surprisingly, all of Rias'' Group, including the new transfer student who entered the school a few days ago, Asia Argento. She''s quite close with Issei and apparently, she''s also living with him now, making Issei gloat at both Motohama and Matsuda. Aika is also quite close to Asia and kept suggesting sexual stuff that can end up corrupting the innocent maiden.


    "And what do I get if I win?" Kisuke ignored the spectators and crossed his arms asking Saji of the stakes. But what caught the audience''s attention is the ck cat silently sitting on his head.


    "President, why are we watching them fight?" Issei who only knows about Kisuke and Saji being a normal people along with the rest of the Student Council members asks Rias. He wanted to ask Kisuke why he brought ''Yoru'' to school but he''s more curious about what''s happening and didn''t want to interrupt them. Asia also has the same confused expression and opened her ears to listen. Kisuke is one of the people who weed her kindly and wants to know the reason, but more importantly, she wants to stop the fight because someone might get hurt.


    "We haven''t introduced each other''s new members yet so it''s understandable that you don''t know about them," Rias answered Issei with a smile on her face also anticipating the fight, her focus is especially on Kisuke, this anomalous guy.


    "New members?" Issei and Asia simultaneously ask.


    "Sona-Kaichou is a High-ss Devil like Buchou and her peerage is all of the Student Council members. Their newest member is that Genshirou Saji, a pawn like you." Akeno replied to the question this time.


    "They are also Devils!? I didn''t know that we this many Devils at School!" Issei and eximed and Asia also has a simr expression.


    Issei thought of something and ask again, "So Kisuke is a Devil too?" He didn''t know how he would react to this as one of his best friends turns out to be a Devil.


    "No, you''re wrong. As far as we are concerned, he is a Human." Rias narrowed her eyes and said.


    "A Human? Then why is a Devil asking him out for a duel?" Issei is already prepared to intervene but wants to know more about the situation so he kept asking.


    "Because of the rumors about Sona and him I presume," Akeno replied, her attention is also on Kisuke trying to gleam more about him.


    "Then we should stop this! Kisuke would only get hurt! He may be sturdy, but that''s about it. I''m sure he won''t fare great against magic!" Issei is about to go between them but Koneko grabbed his shirt''s cor dropping him to the floor.


    "I never said that he''s a normal Human. We only discovered him not long before we found you. Remember Koneko''s instant eleration technique? Someone close to him taught her that, am I correct, Koneko?" Rias exined and asks for confirmation with Koneko.


    "Yes, Buchou." Koneko replied simply, but inside, she wanted tough, ''That person who is close to him is really ''close'' to him right now. She''s sitting on his head.''


    "There''s something like that?" Now Issei gave up the idea of intervening as he too, wants to know more about his, now, mysterious friend.


    Only Asia wants to stop the uing fight but everyone ignored her.

 Volume 3 78 - The Duel

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 78 - The Duel</h4>


    "If I win, I want you to stay away from Kaichou!" Saji pointed at Kisuke who''s still nonchnt about everything which pisses him off.


    "If I win?" Kisuke asks. He wants to yawn but stopped himself as that would be rude and will aggravate the young man more.


    "I will stop getting in your way," Saji said in all seriousness, but he''s confident that he''ll win, after all, the opponent is just a human with nameless Sacred Gear.


    "And If I refuse?"


    "I won''t stop pestering you!" Saji clenched his fist and teeth to dere.


    "That certainly is annoying. Let''s do it! When and where do you wanna go?" Kisuke imagined his days being annoyed by the young man whenever he''s with Sona and didn''t like it one bit, ''I''ll wee you if you''re a pretty girl.''


    "Let''s do it now! As for where��" Saji was about the ce he thought of earlier when Rias suddenly interrupted him.


    "There''s a clearing in the forest near hear. You can use that space if you put up appropriate barriers." Rias pointed outside the window where the direction of the clearing is. It''s the same ce where Koneko sparred with Yuuto and defeated him cleanly.


    "Thank you, Rias-sama. We''ll take your offer." Saji thinks that ce is more suitable than what he nned earlier.


    "You don''t mind us watching, no?" Rias asks Saji and the rest of Sona''s peerage.


    "Please look after us and be our referee, Rias-sama. I don''t want him going after his words, so please take appropriate measures to enforce the bet."


    "I can do that. Follow us, we''ll lead you to that ce." Rias turned around to exit the building along with her servants.


    The rest and Kisuke also followed them until they reached a rtivelyrge clearing in the forest beside the old school building.


    Rias invited the two to the center and spoke, "If Saji wins, Urahara will stop any form of contact with Sona Sitri and if Urahara wins, Saji won''t give Urahara troubles regarding Sona anymore. The first one to admit defeat or be incapable of fighting loses. Is there any objection?"


    "No," Saji answered first and equipped his Sacred Gear, Absorption Line on his right hand. It has the appearance of a small ck bracer in the form of a small and cute ck Chameleon-like lizard with violet eyes and a deformed face that appears on the user''s hand.


    "I have." Kisuke raised his arm in objection, however.


    "You don''t agree with the terms?" Rias give Kisuke a questioning look.


    Kisuke, in return, just sneered, "Don''t look at me like that. It''s your fault alright. I know both of you are Devils and the leaders are quite close too, but you shouldn''t give such obvious favorability."


    Rias narrowed her eyes and asks in a deep voice, "What do you mean?"


    "You know what I mean. Change the terms now." Kisuke also stared at her. If he backs down now from a spoiled little girl''s stare, Yoruichi, who''s in his head wouldn''t stopughing about it and will tease him for a long while.


    The two of them had a staring contest with the rest not understanding what''s happening.


    "Akeno-san, What''s Kisuke is talking about? And why the mood suddenly became heavy?" Issei asks Akeno who is also wearing a serious expression.


    "It''s Rias fault this time. She underestimated Urahara-kun." Akeno replied briefly making them even more confused.


    Rias was the first one to remove her gaze and briefly apologizes, "I''m sorry. I''m changing the terms. If Urahara wins, Saji won''t give Urahara any trouble for any given matter. Are you fine with this."


    Kisuke returned to his nonchnt smile and agreed, "Yep.~"


    Everyone now understood why Kisuke strongly disagreed with Rias'' terms. If Kisuke were to win with the terms earlier, Saji can still pester him as long as the reason isn''t ''Sona''. They all looked at her with differing expressions, but Rias already expected this when he exposed her little wordy.


    Rias ignored the rest and just continued her job as the referee, "If there are no other questions you can start now!"


    Saji returned to himself after Rias'' go signal. He shook his head to focus on his duel and already nned his move, ''I''ll grab him anywhere with my Line and swing him around with my strengthened physique as a Devil until he admits defeat and or lose consciousness. Even with his sword-type Sacred Gear shouldn''t be able to cut my Line.''


    Yoruichi jumped down and went to Koneko''s direction jumping on her head instead. They thought that it was one strange cat but didn''t ponder more as their attention is on the uing fight.


    Saji pointed his Sacred Gear towards and from the head of the chameleon, a tongue-like line shoots out of its mouth and headed straight for Kisuke. Kisuke smile didn''t disappear nor even move until the line is only a few centimeters away from his waist. Everyone thought that if he''s caught, the chances of him winning are almost nill, except for Koneko of course.


    The Line wraps around Kisuke and Saji already celebrated, ''I won.'' He then prepares to pull the line to smash him around until he admits defeat. With his newfound strength as a Devil, he can easily lift a grown man. But the moment he pulled the line, he didn''t feel any feedback that should be present with Kisuke''s weight. He then noticed that Kisuke already disappeared with his Line still wrapping around the air. Saji felt something wrong and looked below him. There he saw Kisuke crouching down looking up to him with the same smile he had since earlier. "Wh-!!!?"


    Before Saji couldplete what he was about to say, Kisuke''s palm suddenly shoots out from below and hit him square to the sr plexus. The force lifted Saji three meters off the ground and he dropped two meters away from Kisuke who is already standing idly. When Saji touched the ground, he winced in pain for a bit, his eyes already rolled to the back of his head and fell unconscious with his mouth frotting. If examined closely, Saji isn''t breathing.


    "Saji!" Everyone from Sona''s peerage rushed towards him and checked him. But to their dismay, he isn''t breathing. All of them lose their minds and very dumbfounded. They were just talking to him happily a moment ago yet he abruptly died now. One of them reacted particrly violent and rushed towards Kisuke.

 Volume 3 79 - Warning

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 79 - Warning</h4>


    Ruruko Nimura is a first-year high school student at Kuoh Academy and one of Sona Sitri''s Pawns. Ruruko by chance, happened to learn about Sona and her peerage being devils and willingly asked to be reincarnated into her peerage. Sona did so and she joined the Student Council in the process.


    Ruruko is a short girl with brown hair in long twin ponytails and green eyes. She wears a pair of green clips in her hair and she also wears striped green stockings.


    Ruruko has a crush on Genshirou Saji and her crush on him began when he started giving lots of help once he started doing Student Council work. She has a hot-headed wanting to solve problems through violence, rather than negotiation. So when she inspected that Saji isn''t breathing after taking Kisuke''s attack, she already jumped into a conclusion. Brandishing her fist, she rushed towards Kisuke with hate-filled expression, "YOU BASTARD!!!"


    Kisuke dodge by sidestepping and took out his cane. Ruruko wanted to turn around to rush to him again, but just as she turned around the tip of Kisuke''s cane hit her forehead with enough force for hery down on the ground with her back, "Kuh��"


    Kisuke flipped forward,nding near Ruruko''s head suspending the tip of his cane just a few millimeters away from her face. Ruruko tried to stand up but found her whole body pinned to the ground, ''I can''t move!'' She looked up towards Kisuke who is now wearing a nk expression, looking down on her and fear finally began to creep on her as she notices strange energying from his cane. It feels like a sharp sword is about to drop to her face killing her in the process.


    Kisuke just used a Zanjutsu technique called Sh*tonegaeshi (Cushion Return), which aims to subdue an opponent and immobilize them on the ground using coercion alone. Kisuke suspends the tip of his cane millimeters from his opponent''s face after he has already struck them down.


    "Ruruko!!!" When Sona''s peerage members saw that Ruruko is now in danger, they all took out their respective weapons and most of them rushed towards Kisuke to help Ruruko, but they stopped their steps when an unexpected person went in between them.


    "Koneko!?" Rias, Akeno and Issei shouted as they wake up from their stupor. In just a few seconds, a lot of things happened that they weren''t even able to react properly.


    "What''s the meaning of this? Toujou Koneko! We know that you''re very close to him, but we won''t let him go for killing Saji and taking Ruruko as a hostage! Even if you''re from Rias-sama''s peerage!" Without Sona and Tsubaki, Momo Hanakai is acting as their current leader. She is a second-year high school student at Kuoh Academy and one of Sona''s Bishops. And she''s fuming with anger as one of her preciousrades in not breathing after getting hit by Kisuke''s palm and another one is being pinned to the ground by the same assant with a fearful expression on her face. She''s also panicking because she doesn''t know how she would exin this to Sona. And now one of Rias'' peerage members blocked their way to save Ruruko, she almost lost her mind.


    "Koneko! What are you doing!?" Rias shouted and about to drag her away.


    "Please calm down, all of you. Genshirou-senpai isn''t dead. He isn''t even hurt that much." Koneko spoke with her deadpan expression and slowly walk through the group and towards Saji who''s unconscious. She ignored everyone''s stares and used the coercion technique that Yoruichi taught her that pressures those around her by using her aura alone.


    Everyone in Rias'' group is also dumbfounded at Koneko''s pressure. ''What the heck!'' And they all have the same thoughts.


    Koneko reached the fainted Saji and crouched down. Tsubasa Yura, who''s left behind to guard Saji wanted to block her but can''t move from her spot due to the unknown pressure she is releasing, "What are you doing!?"


    Koneko ignored her and raised her left arm, "Eyy." She brought it down, pping Saji''s chest. After that, Saji coughed out and regained consciousness. He looked around in confusion and noticed everyone''s dumbfounded expression looking at him, "What''s happening?"


    Koneko stood up and walked away while saying, "You lost."


    Saji heard her and it all came back to him now. He took one strike to the sr plexus from Kisuke''s palm and wasunched into the air. Before he hits the ground, he already fainted, "I lost." Saji let out a big sigh and became frustrated with his own weakness.


    "Saji-senpai!" It was unknown when Kisuke lets go of Ruruko and she rushed to the awakened Saji, hugging him while crying.


    "Ruruko-chan!? What''s happening?" Saji doesn''t know what to do and looked around to look for help and try to understand the situation, but he noticed that everyone still has the same dumbfounded expression, ''Really! What''s happening?''


    Kisuke, who''s being silent all this while suddenly spoke up, "Well then, Gremory-san. Please enforce the bet we had just now."


    They all looked at him withplicated expression while he dusts his school uniform. It took Rias a while to reply to him, "I will certainly do that."


    Yoruichi jumped to Kisuke head again, "Since we''re done here, I''ll be taking my leave if you don''t mind."


    Momo Hanakai wanted to stop him and apologize for what happened earlier but didn''t know what to say so she hesitated. As she was about to call out to him, Kisuke suddenly stopped walking and turned around to face all of them.


    "Right, I forgot to say." Kisuke looked at everyone before smiling, "Since I''m already revealing myself like this, I don''t want any more snooping around my house or my shop. And no more investigating those around me." Kisuke then focused his sights on Rias and Akeno, "I let you do so earlier because you''re just worried about Koneko-chan and no real harm was done, but I won''t permit it anymore. My house cat is getting restless you know~."


    Rias and Akeno narrowed their eyes and thought, ''Isn''t he getting too full of himself just because he can fight a bit better than the rest?''


    Rias opened her mouth and said, "And what if we don''t listen to you? You probably don''t know, but I''m the supervisor of this town and someone dangerous as you can''t go off my radar."


    Kisuke''s smile grew deeper and said, "I don''t care if you''re the supervisor, the Mayor, or the Devil King''s little sister, but I already gave my word, so please don''t disregard it so readily."


    As he finished his words, a sudden pressure enveloped them except for Issei, Asia, and Koneko and they almost dropped to the ground.


    "All I can tell you is that you wouldn''t like it very much."

 Volume 3 80 - Warning Part 2

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 80 - Warning Part 2</h4>


    "All I can tell you is that you wouldn''t like it very much."


    ''W-what is this!? What did he do!?'' All of them started panicking and Yuuto was able to take out his sword, but that''s all he can do as he can''t move from his position. He''s doing his best just to keep standing up.


    Kisuke only maintained the pressure for a few seconds and let them go, ''They''ll probably take my warning seriously now.''


    After he lets them go, all of them were panting hard and cold sweat drenched their backs.


    Issei and Asia were confused when they all went quiet for a few seconds before panting hard and sweating bullets, "Buchou!? Akeno-san!? Kiba!? What happened to all of you!?"


    They didn''t answer Issei''s question and just continued staring at Kisuke with apparent fear in their eyes.


    Saji is also panicking, ''I challenged someone like that!? Just that pressure is enough to make me admit defeat.''


    "Of course, there are exceptions. Everyone is not allowed toe without permission except for Koneko-chan, Issei, Asia-chan, Sona-kaichou, and Tsubaki-fukukaichou." Kisuke included Asia and Tsubaki for free ess. Asia, because he really likes the innocent and kind her that can''t even scheme against her enemies. She''s a refreshing and a wee person for Kisuke and Yoruichi who came from a world full of wars.


    Tsubaki is included because she''s been a big help for Kisuke and very thankful for her for reigning in the almost uncontrolled Sona. Who knew that the overly serious Student Council President is such a child that hates losing. How much she hates losing? It''s to the point that shepletely ignored the rumors around and just kept looking for Kisuke if she has free time. And why not lose on purpose? Kisuke pride won''t allow it. If not for Tsubaki''s periodic reminder of Sona''s schedule, Sona would have another all-nighter with Kisuke. Tsubaki became one of the regr guests of Urahara Household, mostly to pick up Sona.


    "Alright, I already said what I want. I''ll be taking my leave now for real. Have a good day.~" Kisuke, with Yoruichi on his head, turned around disappeared among the foliage with no one stopping him. Nobody spoke as they are still trying to process what just happened and how can Kisuke pressure them like that. Even the three who are not affected by the pressure stayed silent because of the heavy mood in the air.


    The silence was broken by the new arrivals, "What are you all doing here? And Saji, Ruruko, what are you doing on the ground? Stand up. You''re dirtying your uniforms."


    The neers were Sona and Tsubaki who came from the opposite direction where Kisuke left.


    Rias woke up from her stupor and turned around, "S-Sona��"


    "Hmmm? Rias, what''s wrong? You don''t look too good." Sonamented on her appearance. After some more inspection, Sona and Tsubaki both noticed that all of them don''t look good and like they just saw something terrifying, except for the three. Issei and Asia are still confused about why are they all making that face and Koneko is sighing putting her palm on her head.


    "Rias, tell me everything happened." Sona approached Rias with Tsubaki behind and fixed her sses putting on a very serious expression, ''Just what happened to them?''


    Rias took a deep breath and calmed herself, shaking off the lingering feeling of fear. She starts telling Sona everything from the moment Saji challenged Kisuke to a duel until Kisuke pressuring and warning them before taking his leave just now. She also told Sona her attempt to trick Kisuke with the bet.


    "Haahhh����" Sona held her head and let out arge sigh, "Saji, I''ll be talking to you aler. All of you, return to the StuCo room for now. I''ll be there after I talk more with Rias. And Momo, Ruruko, you''ll being with me and Tsubakiter to Kisuke-kun''s ce."


    "��Yes, Buchou��" They''re still out of it but they followed her instruction and left first. Ruruko helped to Saji to walk as he''s still feeling weak all over. But before he left, He looked at Sona and clenched his fist.


    Seeing them left, Sona urges Rias to continue.


    "Koneko, can you tell us what magic he used earlier? It seems that you also know how to use it." Rias faced Koneko who is already waiting for her questioning.


    "It''s a technique that utilizes your own aura to pressure your enemies," Koneko exined briefly.


    "Technique that utilizes aura? Senjutsu?" Akeno asks in shock.


    "A human that trains in Senjutsu?" Rias muttered.


    "Buchou, is there something wrong with human training in Senjutsu?" Yuuto asks as he wants to train in it too. He''s now a reincarnated Devil but he''s a former human too. He wanted to know what''s wrong for a human to learn it.


    "I don''t know much, but Senjutsu is different from magic and sorcery with the biggest difference is that it stresses the importance of chakra, their aura, the great original power that flows in ones'' spirit, e.i. their life-force and turning it into a constant current.


    "Senjutsu is a power that is simr yet different from the magic of Devils and the light power of Angels. Despite it being incapable of matching the direct destructive power of magic or light, Senjutsu makes use of the unknown parts hidden in nts, animals, and people. For example, if one learned Senjutsu, it is stated that they excel at reading the flow of someone''s aura, thus letting them grasp their movements from a far distance to a certain degree.


    "Senjutsu, however, has a fatal w, as while it lets the user read and handle spirit power, it could also take in the malice and ill will that flows in the world therefore if an amateur used it in an incorrect manner, then the malice will end up corrupting the user.


    "All those you can use and practice Senjutsu has to be very close to nature and can meditate for long periods of time. Humans aren''t known for those traits and it''s easier for them to use Magic. Koneko can naturally use Senjutsu because of her lineage as a Nekomata." Rias ended her long exnation.


    Yuuto thought that he wanted to try learning it and see what he could get out of it.


    Sona didn''t speak but her mind is running for all sorts of possibilities, ''Senjutsu�� Although I don''t know his real fighting ability, if he can really use Senjutsu well, he can contend against adult Middle-ss Devils and not lose�� But there should be more than that as he caught the attention of Ophis�� Someone who forces change on others�� I wonder what that means.''


    "Wait, Rias. There''s something more important than that." Akeno interrupted them and asks Koneko, "Koneko-chan, you can already use Senjutsu?"


    "Yes," Koneko answered without hesitation and simultaneously reverting to her nekomata form with a pair of white cat ears and two white tails.


    "What?" "Cat ears!" Asia and Issei shouted at the same time.


    "��You already got over your trauma?" Rias was dumbfounded yet again. She didn''t know that the servant that''s always with her already surmounted her fear of her origins and is freely using it, ''What did that guy do?''


    "How can you�� Does it have something to do with that guy?" Akeno asks Koneko with a slightly agitated voice. She''s also someone like Koneko, struggling with her identity and kept denying her other half. Even though she didn''t want to acknowledge her own origin, she also wants to know what changed Koneko''s mind.

 Volume 3 81 - The Maid

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 81 - The Maid</h4>


    "How can you�� Does it have something to do with that guy?"


    "Yes�� Kisuke-senpai helped me face reality." Koneko smiles brightly as she admits it.


    Rias and her group are now amazed because Koneko always had this deadpan expression as her default and it''s very difficult to get some other expression from her due to her trauma�� Especially that smile that looks like it came from the bottom of her heart.


    "Is that really Koneko-chan?" Issei muttered but no one answered him as they also have the same question in their heads. They didn''t know that she would change this much by just spending some weeks with an unknown guy that suddenly became a mysterious person. Rias especially, she''s more willing to believe that Kisuke used some kind of magic to manipte Koneko''s mind as even she can''t make Koneko open up with her with the years they were together.


    "What did he say exactly?" Akeno was also affected by her smile and calmed down.


    "Many�� But I guess there is one that made me lose all hesitation of using Senjutsu." Koneko looked up in contemtion and suddenly remembered that one thing Kisuke said, "He said that ''If you''re afraid of your power or just inly hate to use it, that''s fine. You can just do what''s mostfortable you''re with. But remember this, with the reluctance to use the power that''s within you, you might regret that you''ll lose something more important in the future. After all, beingfortable doesn''t equate to being safe. That''s just how is it in the world we live in.'' "


    Akeno understood what she said, but still can''t ept it as she''s been denying her other half since her childhood and it isn''t easy for her just suddenly change minds.


    "Alright, let''s stop there for now. We''ll discuss thister. For now, I want to know how we should act around him. Sona, you''re very friendly with him. What do you think we should do." Rias knew that they won''t go anywhere if they talk about their traumas now, so she immediately changes the topic when she got the chance.


    Sona stayed silent for a minute before answering Rias, "Do not provoke him for now. I don''t know much about him, but I knew from his personality that he isn''t joking this time. From all the time I spent with him, I at least can tell that he has a ton of secrets that may or may not threaten us."


    "Isn''t it too dangerous to leave him alone?" Rias couldn''t help but shudder every time she remembers the pressure he released earlier, ''Even, my brother can''t release that kind of pressure. It''s probably only a coercion technique.''


    "I''ll be keeping an eye on him, so you don''t have to worry. You only need to think about your own problem for now. You still don''t know how to get out of it, right?"


    "�� I''ll be fine�� I can surely think of something." Rias made an ugly face. Akeno knew what they''re talking about and didn''t have any change in expression. But the rest of her peerage members were confused.


    "Is that so�� Good luck then�� I''ll being to Kisuke''s ce to apologize for what just happened. Any message you want to send?" Sona sighed and moved on.


    "Please send my apologies for what happened earlier. But tell him I don''t regret doing it." Rias turned around to leave with nothing more to say. Akeno and the rest followed her towards the old school building.


    "I will," Sona answered her and turned towards the new school building with Tsubaki in tow.


    .


    .


    Going back in time a bit earlier, Kisuke is walking along an animal trail to exit the forest, but after reaching 100 meters away from the clearing, he suddenly stopped and spoked out loud, "Devil-san, if you''re looking for directions, I''m happy to assist."


    Waiting for a minute and two in silence, someone went out from the tree''s shadow, a woman.


    The neer is a beautiful young woman appearing to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is let down which ends in twin braids and red eyes. she is wearing a blue and white French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head with red lipstick as a cosmetic essory.


    "I''m not exactly looking for direction, I''m just a bit curious about you." The maid answered.


    "Iyaa~~ I''m ttered. It''s my honor to catch the interest of a beautiful woman such as you. May I know how can I serve you?" Kisuke is still speaking nonchntly.


    The maid narrowed her eyes and released her own pressure to Kisuke and the cat on top of his head using her Demonic Power. Although it''s a pressure, it doesn''t affect anything physical and just stresses the psyche of the target.


    ''She''s looking down on us. Should we strike back?'' Yoruichi sent a telepathic message to Kisuke.


    ''No. Although she''s really looking down on us, she isn''t hostile and she''s just testing us. Just ignore it, she''ll let up after a few seconds if there is no change in my countenance. We sessfully caught their attention, but we can''t reveal all our cards yet as we still know almost next to nothing about them. We can''t start a proper conversation in that manner. For, I''ll be a mysterious but with limited threat kind of youth in their eyes.'' Kisuke replied back and exined the situation to Yoruichi.


    Just as Kisuke expected, the maid stopped pressuring him after failing to draw any changes from his expression or demeanor, ''It''s either he already saw a real battlefield or he''s just really good at hiding what''s he''s thinking. I confirmed that he''s just a 17-18 years old kid, so the former is very unlikely. Rias also didn''t take note of any abilities until thiste so more evidence points to thetter, but I still can''t make my conclusion here until I observe more.''


    "Now that you''re done testing me. Mind telling me what you really want?" Kisuke asks her while she''s still contemting on possibilities of his identity.


    The maid looked at him and said, "I just have a few questions that I hope you can answer."


    "I don''t have any obligation to answer you, but I''ll think about it after hearing it. Shoot away."

 Volume 3 82 - Grayfia Lucifuge

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 82 - Grayfia Lucifuge</h4>


    "Let me introduce myself first. I''m Grayfia Lucifuge, head maid of the Gremory household." The maid introduced herself without being overly courteous.


    "Urahara Kisuke, just a student and a humble store owner of a candy shop. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Kisuke did the same.


    "�� Urahara?" Grayfia muttered under her breath but it didn''t escape Kisuke hearing. Kisuke didn''t react to it outwardly but in his mind, he''s confused, ''She''s familiar with my surname? Urahara isn''t exactly amon surname. A coincidence? I have to look into itter, chances are, it''s rted to my mother. I''m fine with her not telling me anything if she''s not ready yet, but that doesn''t stop me from investigating.''


    "Urahara-kun was it? Do you mind telling me what you did to Rias and the rest?" Grayfia continued speaking, rousing Kisuke from his thoughts.


    "It''s a Senjutsu technique that I coincidentally learned in the past," Kisuke answered her without any hesitation.


    "Hooh�� Senjutsu. Can you do it on me? I wanted to know why they made such a terrified face."


    "Sure. Well then, excuse me." Kisuke manipted the remaining pure Ki in his body to imitate what his Reiatsu did earlier to the young devils. Although the pressure is the same, it doesn''t affect the soul of the target which is the most dangerous of all. Ki pressure doesn''t alsoe close with Reiatsu''s when ites to intensity on the higher levels.


    Ki pressure can only affect an individual so much, wherein Reiatsu pressure, with high enough level, you can even disintegrate any weak opponents just bying in contact with it.


    Kisuke used the same intensity that he used on Rias'' group and StuCo members, but to Grayfia, she wasn''t affected that much, and that''s exactly Kisuke wants to do.


    ''It''s really a pressure using Ki�� In Rias'' level, they would really be scared of it but that''s all there is to it. This level wouldn''t even hurt or affect them as long as they can ignore the fear effect. Since it''s Senjutsu, that exins why he could find me. I didn''t really try to hide either.'' Grayfia thought as she inspects the Ki in her surroundings.


    "As you can see, it can only be used as bluff up to those who are maybe twice as strong as me. And it totally has no effect or whatsoever for very strong individuals, just like you right now." Kisuke exined to her.


    "Bluffing can be useful in a lot of things. It can even save your life." Shemented and nodded as Kisuke lifted the pressure, "Why did you use it on them?"


    "Are showing my capability, they''ll probably run another in-depth investigation on me. I allowed them once, but not twice. And that redhead looks like someone who wouldn''t listen to someone like me, so I had to scare them a little bit."


    "I see��" Grayfia didn''t say anything else, but there is slight contempt in her eyes.


    ''Hey, Kisuke. I want to scratch her face.'' Yoruichi sent another telepathic message with an annoyed tone.


    The smile in Kisuke''s face didn''t disappear but she replied to Yoruichi, ''So do I. If my Bankai is released, Benihime would immediately cut her up to pieces without me doing ormanding her. But endure it. In her perspective, I''m just a lowly human with a bit of skill in Senjutsu, and I''m acting all high and mighty in front of her and even threatened the heiress of their household. She''s already being kind by not forcing me to answer her questions.''


    "Onest thing, have you noticed anything strange is past few weeks?"


    "If these Devils in school are not anything strange, then I do not. I''m too busy being a good student and tending to my shop to notice anything different���� Oh right, I remembered, some nights ago, there''s a huge ruckus near the abandoned church, although I didn''t really check it since it looked dangerous." Kisuke answered immediately to not raise too much suspicion on her side, ''She''s probably talking about that night when the Gremory heiress almost died. I did make it shy because of Yoruichi''s request, but I doubt they''ll trace it to me.''


    Grayfia stayed silent whileing up with a decision, ''I can''t tell if he''s telling the truth or not as answered so readily. It''s either he grabbed it from his memory of that day or prepared an answer long before. If it''s the former, then there isn''t much cause for concern and maybe I can help Rias take him in her peerage, a human Senjutsu practitioner is truly rare after all. If it''s thetter, what does it have to do with him? I highly doubt that he''s the one who cast that blue beam of light to save Rias and her ''Queen'', he''s too weak for that. I''ve been scanning his Mana and Ki but it''s at most on the level of a young Middle-ss Devil. I should look more into him when I get some free time.''


    "I understand. Thank you for your cooperation. I''ll be taking my leave." Grayfia didn''t wait for Kisuke to reply and immediately used teleportation magic disappearing in the motes of light.


    "Kisuke," Yoruichi spoke up.


    "Hmmm?"


    "I want a situation where I can disy my smuggest face to her."


    "Don''t worry. A situation like that is bound to happen." Kisuke resumed walking intending to go home, ''If Sona returns today, base on her personality, she''ll probably bring some of her members to apologize for what happened earlier after hearing about it.''


    "I''m going to buy some groceries first. You go first. Koneko and especially Aika are probably waiting for you to enter the training grounds." Kisuke grabbed Yoruichi from his head and set her on the ground.


    One of the prices he got from Sona is unused ssrooms where only He, Koneko, Aika and both Rias'' and Sona''s peerage can enter are allowed to enter. These rooms serve as teleportation spots for both of the trainees and also return points. Aika would still alwayse to Kisuke''s house after the training to take some lectures from both Yoruichi and Koneko about themon sense in the supernatural world. Due to this, Aika and Sona, who''s always disturbing Kisuke became good friends and would sometimes help Aika with her studies, both as a normal student and Devil.


    "Okay. Don''t forget my pudding, yogurt, ice cream vani vor, and some fresh milk." Yoruichi ran to another direction after reminding Kisuke of her snacks.


    "Got it."

 Volume 3 83 - Inventory and Possibilities

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 83 - ''Inventory'' and Possibilities</h4>


    It took Kisuke two hours to get everything he needs and the sun is already setting by the time he reached home.


    "I''m home!" Kisuke shouted tiredly and noticed that his mother is already home with her shoes on the shoe rack. ''How are those housewives have so much energy. They almost squeezed me to death. I shouldn''t shop for a while to recover my ''wounds''.''


    "Wee back." Sakura took a peek at Kisuke while she is wearing her apron. She noticed the big stic bags that he''s carrying and asks, "Groceries? And their''s a lot. Any guesting tonight?"


    "Well, probably. Please make at least ten servings for tonight." Kisuke took off his shoes and carried the bags of groceries, setting it down on the dining table before taking out everything in it.


    "Probably? I can cook for more, but what if they didn''te? The food will be wasted." Sakura asks as she helps Kisuke sort the ingredients for the dinner.


    "I can take it inside my separate space for food. Just like what you saw when Ophis visitedst time." Kisuke beamed a smile towards his mother like he was bragging.


    "That magic of yours is really strange. How did you learn it? I doubt there are books pertaining to stopping time inside an enclosed space." In the past, Sakura is some sort of researcher as well. Although space and time magic isn''t her forte, she knew how hard it is to manipte the two especially ''time'' as there are no other people she knew who were able to stop itpletely.


    "I said it''s a time stasis for simplicity''s sake, but stopping or separating time from space itself is impossible�� or maybe possible, I just don''t know how to do it yet. I added a rule where the energy transfer or entropy in the space I created moves slowly, 1,000 times slower to be exact, so it has the same effect of slowing time. But any more and the Mana requirement goes too high that the Dimensional Gap around it can''t provide it. It''s possible to stop the time of the target itself and not space, but doing so increases theplexity and energy consumption that it''s not very practical. Maybe for some emergency thing, but not for everyday use." Kisuke narrated to his mother as he finishes sorting the ingredients for dinner.


    Sakura stopped her hands and her mouth agape, "Did you know that a lot of geniuses in history tried to manipte time but is only capable of elerating or slowing it for a few times."


    "It''s either they thought that space and time are a separate thing and tried manipting it individually or they used the slowing and elerating effect on the space itself which is difficult. And I can''t believe that I''m the only one who discovered this. There are probably a few guys who were hiding their research results for their own gain, or maybe the higher-ups of each faction are trying to hide it. It''s not exactly a very good magic to spread to the public because even though it''s very hard to perform without proper and in-depth knowledge, it''s more dangerous than spaces without time maniption as you can do some devastating things with it, like carrying an already activatedrge scale destruction magic that needs a lot of time to cast to drop it in some important city or ce." Kisuke kept talking, ignoring his mother''s shock.


    "That''s a possibility, but I doubt that anyone can insert an already activated magic inside an artificial space and taking it out. Although some research on it is probably happening right now as it is a very good ace to have���� I knew that you''re smart, but I didn''t think that you''re such a genius�� Maybe you could even take the world with that head of yours?" Sakura''s mouth is twitching as she replies and jokes to Kisuke. And the thought of someone might be developing the magic that''s capable of storing ritual-ss destruction spell gave her shivers, ''What the hell? Isn''t that too likely?''


    "Hahaha. What are you talking about, mom? I''m just a handsome and humble candy store owner. Taking over the world? Too much trouble. I''d rather read some random novel on the inte." Kisuke went up to change from his uniform to his usual attire plus the hat and wooden sandals.


    Sakura just shook her head at her son''s attitude, but she''s feeling proud of his achievements, ''I hope you can see this Ryouta. I''ve been observing him moretely and I knew he''s also a researcher at heart, but I can''t see any indication that he''s taking the path I took in the past. If he goes beyond to the point of doing anything just for knowledge, then I''ll stop him myself, even if it kills me. But I doubt that would happen as he has people who can apany him on his journey, which is something I don''t have that time before I met you.''


    He went down and saw his mother is already starting to prepare dinner, "Mom, I''m going to Aika and Koneko''s ce and see how are they doing. We''ll return before dinner."


    "Be careful, and who are you expecting again?" Sakura busied herself and asked without turning around.


    "Sona and some of her peerage members. I got into an argument with them." Kisuke casually exined before going to the door.


    "What? Is that fine? And why are theying over if you had just a fight with them?" Sakura turned around in shock and chased him to the door.


    "It''s not my fault, and knowing Sona''s personality, she''s probablying to apologize." Kisuke opened it and exited.


    "I see." Sakura sighed in relief as she too new how is Sona''s attitude because she''s beening here almost every day and gets a chance to interact with her


    "I gotta go. Bye."


    "Don''t forget to bring Aika home for dinner."


    Kisuke didn''t answer her and just waved his hand before closing the door.


    He checked his surroundings and entered his Candy Shop across the street and went directly to the training ground. What weed him is Aika''s wailing while Yoruichi is chasing her and grazing Aika with her attacks�� while in her white underwear.


    Aika noticed Kisuke''s arrival and ran towards him, "Waaaahhhh!!!!! Kisuke!!! Save me!!! Yoruichi is more unreasonable today!!!!!" She did mind her attire when Kisuke saw it the first time and crouch to cover her body in embarrassment, but she was mercilessly hit by Yoruichi''s lightning by doing so and that didn''t feel too good. Over the time, she stopped minding Kisuke''s stare at her underwear because she got used to it and being hit by Yoruichi hurts like hell. Although she makes sure to only wear cute lingeries so as not to ''embarrass'' herself further.


    ''She''s still probably pissed at what happened earlier.'' Kisuke used another sh Step and arrived at Koneko''s position, ignoring Aika.


    "Kisuke you bastard!!!"

 Volume 3 84 - Power Collector

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 84 - Power Collector</h4>


    Kisuke ignored Aika''s curses towards him and inspected how Koneko is fairing, "Koneko-chan, how are you doing?"


    Koneko heard him but didn''t answer him as she''s concentrating very hard on melding her inner Ki with the outer Ki she gathered. But every time a substantial amount of Ki have fused, she would lose control of it and the outer Ki would escape outside.


    Kisuke didn''t mind her not responding and went to the center of the training ground where three arrays were arranged thirty meters apart from each other.


    Each of these arrays is elevated one meter from the ground using a cleanly cut rock. The inscriptions on the rock are faintly glowing with various colors. Floating on top of each rock are rotating cubes in the size of basketball giving off different colors of light.


    These cubes are the ones Kisuke has been working on these past few days. They are purified Ki, Mana, and Reiryoku which the array below them filters and gathers. This purified energy forms can be useful for a lot of things he is nning to do in the future. It can also be fused with the food so he can get a simr effect when Kirio Hikifune cooks her Reiatsu rich food that can help trainees develop further, but without using any of Kisuke''s energy reserves.


    It can be said that he created something ridiculous as he just essentially created an unlimited power generator.


    "It can only gather so much and the rest would start to disperse back to the atmosphere. I also have to do something with the waste it creates. Looks like my initial estimate of only 10 percent of each energy type can be injected into the body without much repercussions. The temporary strengthening effect should be enormous but strains the body. If I want something permanent without side effects, then I have to take it slowly for the body to adapt. With this, the foundation training of both Koneko and Aika should speed up considerably and it can also help Yoruichi train the next level of her Shunko."


    Kisuke muttered under his breath while he ns his future schedule. ''I have to halt my study on Sacred Gears for a while due to theck of data. I didn''t think that even the books that should contain information that is not known to the public which I won from the bet wouldn''t even contain a bit of information on how these Sacred Gears works. I have to wait for Aika to mature or some Sacred Gear user that would want to kill me.''


    After contemting for a bit more and inspecting the array onest time, Kisuke turned around to go back. He saw that Aika is still being chased around by Yoruichi''s lightning and swearing which can get her banned in any T.V. stations. Koneko is also still sitting crossed legs while meditating with furrowed brows.


    He waited for a good timing before shouting at them, "Dinner time!"


    "F*ck! Finally!" With a jump, Aika evaded Yoruichi''sst big attack. Koneko opened her eyes and silently stood up with a dejected expression.


    Kisuke ignored Aika''s brass actions and just patted Koneko''s head to cheer her up a bit.


    "Hey�� What''s up with this difference in treatment?" Aika asks displeased as she put her clothes back on.


    "Sorry. I just have this really strong urge to ignore you." Kisuke nkly answered her.


    "What does that mean!!? It''s you who made me like this! Take responsibility and take me too while you''re at it!" Aika immediately protested.


    "Yoruichi is the one who turned you like that. Go ask her to make you her concubine or something." Kisuke didn''t wait for Aika''seback and directly faced Yoruichi with furrowed brows, "Isn''t her change a bit too much?"


    Aika was about to say something, but when she heard Kisuke''s words, she stops herself to listen as she feels like it''s something important. Aika herself noticed the fast change in her disposition and wanted to know more about it.


    "That''s what I think too. There''s probably something happening that we can''t see. And we know what''s to me." Yoruichi touched her chin and said.


    "The giant *ss dragon from before?" Aika muttered.


    "Right. It''s the biggest possibility, but since we don''t know what exactly did it do to you we can''t just point that way without any hard evidence. I already examined you before, but aside from the unique aura that the red dragon left on you, I didn''t see anything else." Kisuke also rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "What should I do?" Aika asks. After thinking about it more, she''s afraid that she''ll be someone who isn''t herself.


    Kisuke grinned at her and asks, "What do you think of this change?"


    Aika felt a bit annoyed at his grin, but thought to herself, ''What do I think of this change?'' She reminisces all her experiences since the day the supernatural world opened to her. Aika noticed that she started to behave differently when she saw the ring that Kisuke gifted to Yoruichi. After thinking for some more, ''Is it really ''different''? No. I would have acted like that, but only in my fantasies. I didn''t change and just became more ''open''.'' Aika opened her eyes wide in realization and saw that Kisuke is still grinning at her.


    She returned a grin and said, "I don''t hate it."


    "Hahaha~. Is that so? But let me tell you this just in case you started to doubt yourself again. Itpletely impossible for someone else to change another person''s personality or psyche. At least that''s what I know from all of my experiences." Kisuke patted Aika''s shoulder as he reassures her, "And if it''s my honest opinion, I like this aggressive you more than the in old pervert you."


    Aika''s eyes twinkled at his words, "Really!? Then marry me?"


    Kisuke, without hesitation, answered her with the biggest smile she had ever seen, "Hell nah~."


    "Tch!"


    Yoruichi suddenly grabbed and hugged her from behind resting her head on Kisuke''s shoulder, "Stop flirting with my hubby and let''s go. The food might get cold."


    "Just a bit more?"


    "No."

 Volume 3 85 - Unexpected Guest

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 85 - Unexpected Guest</h4>


    Kisuke went home with the three in tow. It''s already dark outside and there is almost no one on the streets as this is the outskirts of the town. As they near the house, all of them felt other presences other Sona, Tsubaki and Sakura, even Aika, "Three other people?"


    "Good. Looks like your detection skills are now a little bit better. But Kisuke, why is that one here?" Yoruichi is already in her cat form leading the way. She praised Aika''s improvement but she''s confused at the unexpected person present.


    "I also don''t know�� Koneko-chan, do you have any idea?" Kisuke is also confused and turned to Koneko for some answers.


    "I''m sorry Senpai. Without reverting to my nekomata form, it''s still hard for me to distinguish an individual person from the distance. Who came?" Koneko shook her head.


    "Akeno Himejima," Yoruichi replied.


    "Akeno-senpai?" Koneko is also confused but remembered what they just talk about earlier and her origins that she can''t ept ording to her Master, Rias.


    "You mean the top 2 most beautiful student of Kuoh Academy? Why is she here?" Aika, who''s curios asks.


    "Aika-chan, how many Devils do you think is currently attending the Kuoh Academy?" Kisuke turned his face to Aika.


    "Hmm�� Five I guess?" Aika touched her lower lip with her finger and answered after thinking for a little bit.


    "Wrong, it''s fifteen."


    "What!? That many!? And here I thought they''re very rare. Wait, are you trying to say that this student with the biggest rack is a Devil? So that exins her unnaturally big chest." Aikamented on the wrong thing�� again.


    "That''s your concern!? And by the way, those are natural without any enhancement from magic." Kisuke did a facepalm at Aika''s words.


    "What!? Natural!? That''s inhuman! I thought for sure that it''s a fake!"


    "She''s a Devil, remember."


    "So being a Devil gives you a natural advantage for the endowment. Should I reincarnate as one?"


    "It''s true that the Demonic Power inside their body can move ording to their unconscious desire and somehow grant it as long as it isn''t ridiculous and only simple things like physical growth," Kisuke recalled some information about the Devils he managed to uncover.


    "Do you think Sona-kaichou will still reincarnate me after this long?" Aika asks hopefully.


    "I think she would. She still has some space for her peerage and she''s not that choosy with her servants."


    "Then��"


    Before Aika can finish her sentence, Kisuke continued speaking, "After you be her servant, We''ll have to stop training you and you would have to spend most of your time with her to learn things as a Devil."


    "Kisuke, please take care of me forever." Aika threw out the idea of bing a Devil for just physical appearance enhancement and used this chance to ''attack'' Kisuke again.


    Kisuke stopped speaking and ignored her.


    "Tch!"


    "Koneko-chan, do you know why she''s here?" Yoruichi knew that Kisuke wouldn''t speak any further and did the questioning to Koneko when she noticed that she has some changes in her expression.


    "I''m not sure. But earlier, they asked me how I can use Senjutsu again and I told them that Kisuke-senpai helped me ovee my trauma and fears. Akeno-senpai is probably curious about senpai since she has a simr fear of her origin. But I don''t think she would admit it and just tell you that she''s there to apologize in Buchou''s ce."


    Aika wanted to ask Koneko about her trauma but figured that this isn''t the right time for that. She knows that even though she said that she overcame it, it should be still hard for her to tell others about it.


    "What? Another traumatized person among your group? Nope! Not gonna help! I''m not bored enough to do that. I''m not really familiar with her and I don''t have any intention of getting close to her." Kisuke opened his mouth again after he heard Koneko speak.


    "What if she intends to get close to you?" Yoruichi asks.


    "�� I just have to piss her off so much that she wouldn''t like seeing my face. And coincidentally, it''s one of my fortes." Kisuke did a fist pump.


    "That''s your biggest forte," Aika added.


    "Anyways, let''s just see what she''s up to. I doubt she''ll make any move outside observing today." Kisuke increased his pace, and in just a few minutes, they reach the Urahara household and entered it, "We''re home!" They simultaneously said.


    "Wee back! Change your clothes first. We''re about to have dinner." Sakura''s voice came from the living room where the guests are.


    Koneko and Aika went to Sakura''s room to change from their school uniforms, while Kisuke and Yoruichi went straight to the living room to greet the guests.


    The people inside the living room all gathered their attention to Kisuke when he entered the room, "Good evening schoolmates. Sona-kaichou, you brought them here for what reason?"


    The one who came, in addition to the regr visitors Sona and Tsubaki, are Momo Hakanai who led the group earlier in Sona and Tsubaki''s absence, Ruruko Nimura, the first one who overreacted and attacked him when they thought Saji died and Akeno Himejima, Rias'' Queen which shouldn''t have any reason toe here.


    Akeno Himejima is a third-year high school student at Kuoh Academy. She is Rias Gremory''s Queen as well as her best friend. Akeno is one of Kuoh Academy''s Two Great Ladies alongside Rias. Akeno is a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, very long ck hair and violet eyes. Her hair is usually tied in a long ponytail, reaching all the way down to her legs with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backward, with an orange ribbon keeping it in ce.


    Aside from Sona and Tsubaki, all of them have a trace of fear in their eyes after remembering the scary pressure that Kisuke lets them experience.


    "Good evening Kisuke-kun, you should already know. I heard from Sakura-san that you even bought groceries for tonight''s dinner because you''re expecting some guests." Everyone stood up, but Sona is the only one who spoke.


    "I did expect you and some of your peerage members because I''m somewhat familiar with your overly serious personality. But I did not expect her toe." Kisuke smiled and eyed Akeno who has the same smile as him.


    "I asked Sona-kaichou to take me with her to visit this ce and apologize for what happened in Rias'' ce." Akeno was a bit shaken when Kisuke stared at her but managed to hide it by saying her prepared line.


    "I guess that''s fine." Kisuke then proceeds to ignore her, which didn''t bode well with Akeno.

 Volume 3 86 - Apologies

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 86 - Apologies</h4>


    "Kisuke, do you have another set of table and chairs?" Sakura came out of the kitchen while wearing an apron carrying with her the hot pipping food and setting it to the table.


    Kisuke took out a table and extra chairs from his inventory and cing it on the space between the dining area and living area.


    "You really do have one�� You just have everything inside that pocket of yours, don''t you?" Sona was agape with all the random things inside Kisuke''s pocket dimension that he kept putting out for various purposes these past few days.


    Tsubaki gave up on thinking about it and just turned to Sakura and following her inside the kitchen, "Please let me help." Tsubaki tied her hair up into a ponytail.


    "Thanks." Sakura smiled at her and continued readying the dinner.


    The first timeers and Akeno were all dumbfounded at how Tsubaki seems to be so familiar with helping out.


    Akeno called out to her and asks, "Tsubaki, have you always done this?"


    Tsubaki turned around with a wry smile on her face, "Kaichou and I always intrudes and helping out is the least I can do."


    They looked at Sona and turned in the opposite direction.


    "Kaichou, you shouldn''t let Fukukaichou work too much." Kisuke grinned andmented.


    "I tried helping out you know!" Sona''s head snapped towards Kisuke direction and defended herself.


    "But you''re too clumsy. Even Yoruichi''s paws has more dexterity more than you." Kisuke''s words were like a sharp knife that went through Sona''s pride.


    Sona pouted with a bit of blush on her face and didn''t say anything else.


    The rest of the guests are dumbfounded yet again, ''They''re this close!? That President who''s always frowning can make a face like that!?''


    Akeno is in more shock because she knew her since she was young through her best friend and Akeno is pretty sure that only her sister can pull out an expression like that from her, ''I wonder how Rias would react if she were to see this. Even someone like Sona was able to open up to him with just a few days of interacting��''


    After a few moments of silence, Momo and Ruruko looked at each other and then faced Kisuke, "Urahara-san." "Urahara-senpai."


    Kisuke knew what they''re about to say and put on his deadpan expression while staring at them.


    They got nervous at his gaze but they still continued by bowing down, "We''re very sorry for what happened!"


    Sona returned to her normal expression and also stared at them. She wanted to punish them but figured that they should apologize first and hear Kisuke''s opinion in this matter. Although Saji, the instigator of all of this, would get at least 500 magical spanks.


    Meanwhile, The rest of Sona''s peerage members are in the StuCo room reminiscing what happened earlier. Saji, while staring nkly at the wall, suddenly felt a chill crawl on his back, ''I''m a dead meat!''


    Even though Kisuke isn''t releasing the same pressure earlier, Momo and Ruruko can feel his gaze pressing down on them. They''re probably just overthinking it but can''t help but fear for themselves and their backs are now drenched with cold sweat but they didn''t get up and just waited for him to speak.


    Kisuke continued staring at them for a few more seconds before wearing arge smile, "Get up~. I don''t mind it that much~. Although you two easily jumped into conclusions because of your poor observation skills, I still think that your response is very understandable. But I want to say something, if something like that were to happen again, revenge shouldn''t be the first thing in your mind but to revive the downed person."


    They both looked up to him and didn''t know how to respond to a sudden change of mood. He even gave them advice. Although that''s annoying under any circumstances, they really should have tried helping Saji first before confronting him. Both of them sighed in relief and noticed that Sona already have a smile on her face, ''Why does it feel like she became such a good wife?'' Such thoughts shed in their minds, including Akeno, but they discarded it as fast as it came.


    "Thank you. We''ll remember it." Momo and Ruruko said at the same time.


    They both stepped back and Akeno stepped in with both of her hands in front of her. She has a neutral expression and bowed slightly, "We''re also sorry for what Rias-buchou tried to do. Please do find it inside you to forgive us."


    Without even thinking for a bit, Kisuke instantly replied the moment she finished speaking, "Okay." He then proceeds to call out to Aika and Koneko who just arrived in the living room, "Yo, Koneko-chan, Aika-chan, both of you look cute today."


    Akeno didn''t feel well after the tant disregard and gritted her teeth a bit hiding it behind her forced smile.


    Sona also furrowed her brows when she noticed this, ''What is this annoying bastard nning to do again?''


    Koneko and Aika didn''t saw Akeno''s expression because her back is facing towards them. Koneko smiled when she heard him and Aika felt incredulous, "Why are you on the attack today? Not that I hate it. Tell me more!"


    Ruruko and Momo also noticed this but ignored it as they didn''t want to have anything to do with it and just busied them the ying with the ck cat loitering around by carrying it and pressing its soft paws.


    Before things get out of control due to awkwardness, Sakura and Tsubaki finished setting up everything on the table and Sakura called out, "Everyone, find a seat. Dinner is ready."


    Sona is the first one who responded by approaching Sakura, "Thank you for the trouble, Sakura-san. But you shouldn''t have prepared anything as we didn''t n to stay long."


    "It''s fine. And Kisuke already bought everything, and I just had to cook it." Sakura smiled at her.


    "What do you mean? It''s cooking harder rather than shopping for ingredients?" Sona tilted her head in confusion because cooking for her is like formting very hard magic while shopping is just taking off the items from the shelves.


    Sakura''s smile grew bigger and said to her, "Really? Why don''t you ask him."


    Sona turned around and saw Kisuke wearing a very serious expression, "Kaichou, if you want to experience real war, go shop for ingredients for sale with a bunch of housewives." Kisuke shuddered as he talks about his experience earlier.


    ''Is this the same guy who just scared us to death!? He''s scared of the housewives!?'' The neers all thought. Even Tsubaki and Sona has simr thoughts. But they truly don''t know the horrors of rush hour sales shopping.


    Aika, Koneko and Yoruichi all saw how Kisuke battled the housewives in the past and nodded sagely.

 Volume 3 87 - Loli Dragon; Hunting for Food Again

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 87 - Loli Dragon; Hunting for Food Again</h4>


    After eating the sumptuous dinner and cleaning up the table, everyone iszing around while drinking their preferred beverages and sitting on either couch or wooden chair. Kisuke also took out various sweets for dessert which were enjoyed by everyone.


    Sona was about to say her thanks and goodbye but stopped herself after she saw Kisuke sports arge grin suddenly. Kisuke suddenly took out another te of cookies and ced it on top of his hand.


    ''It can''t be, right?'' Sona thought as a certain little girl in gothic lolita fashion emerges in her mind.


    And just as she thought, Ophis, still in her gothic lolita fashion, appeared with motes of dark purple lights.


    Everyone is shocked, though differently, except for Kisuke and Yoruichi.


    Sakura and Koneko are still concerned about the danger of her presence. She is, after all, the legendary Ouroboros Dragon that is said the strongest in the world. But they still can approach and y with her.


    Sona is acting like the first time she met Ophis, her movements became rigid and cold sweat started to appear, ''Why is she here again!?''


    Sona is doing everything to stay calm but Tsubaki still noticed her out of sort expression. Tsubaki looked back and forth between the little girl and Sona and wondering why Sona''s face kept twitching minutely from time to time. Tsubaki''s interest in the unknown little girl spiked up, ''Who is she? A rtive of Urahara? She teleported here without using any magic circle, how did she do that? And why are they allowing her to wear something like that? Urahara Kisuke''s interest? Didn''t think he would drop so low�� I have to warn the President about her security around him.''


    Akeno, Momo, and Ruruko are also a bit curious, but that''s all. They were also questioning how she could teleport without the use of a magic circle, but the world is big and all sorts of abilities aside from magic floats around that are hard to exin.


    Ophis looked around and saw that all seats are taken, so she opts for an alternative by walking towards Kisuke and sitting on hisp. Kisuke''s smile grew bigger when she did this and started feeding her with cookies on his hand.


    Aika, who is sitting beside Kisuke, saw Ophis sat and started munching on the cookie in Kisuke''s hand and immediately protested, "No fair, I also wanted to do that! Come here, Ophis-chan. This Nee-san will feed you something better�� Oi Kisuke, take out the rest."


    Ophis ignored Aika for now as she''s still enjoying the sweet taste in her mouth.


    Tsubaki can''t contain her curiosity anymore and asks Sona who almost turned into stone in her seat, "Uhmm, Kaichou. Who''s she?"


    "I know her, but you should ask Kisuke if you want to know about her more. Don''t ask why I can''t answer and I also suggest to just ignore her." Sona is now regretting not leaving early. If she knew that Ophis would being today, she would have postponed this apology trip.


    Now all of those who saw her for the first time today are shocked at Sona''s response which isn''t like her at all. After inspecting her closely, they all noticed that Sona''s back is already drenched in sweat and it seems that all her attention is on the cute little girl with a weird attire munching happily on her cookie.


    "Urahara-kun, can you tell us who is this little girl?" Tsubaki didn''t follow Sona''s advice as her curiosity currently peaked. Akeno, Momo, and Ruruko are also listening intently as this might be something important.


    "Hmmm�� Let''s see, how should I exin this? For starters, her name is Ophis." Kisuke didn''t even look at them and focused on feeding the little glutton.


    "Ophis? Her surname?" Tsubaki continued asking.


    "No surname, just Ophis."


    ''Someone who doesn''t have a surname? Chances are she has a troublesome past so better not dig into it deeper.'' Tsubaki thought to herself, "How are you rted? And what is she doing here thiste at night? Wouldn''t those who are taking care of her be very worried?"


    "We are not rted in any way. I don''t know who''s taking care of her, but she would sometimese here to get some share of sweets."


    ''Hmmm�� I can''t think of anything to ask for me not to go deeper. Why did the President have that kind of reaction�� If I were to choose one, it''s fear?'' Tsubaki stopped asking questions as it seems like Kisuke didn''t really want to tell her anything. Tsubaki thought that she should just ask Sonater to get some answers.


    When Ophis finished the cookies on Kisuke''s te, Sona found the courage to say what she wants to say all this time, "Kisuke, Sakura-san. Thank you for your hospitality. Since we have aplished what we ought to do, we would like to say our goodbyes leave. I''ll bring something next time as thanks." Sona hurriedly stood up and urging the rest of the guests to stand up too. But too bad for her, since this night would be one of her most unforgettable memories.


    Kisuke looked up and was about to reply but he felt some disturbance on Ophis'' aura. He looked at her again and saw that she''s staring at Aika and remembered the strange energy the red dragon nted on her a few nights ago.


    Ophis finished the cookies but still unsatisfied, so she looked for the next target that would feed her and remembered that there is another one who can. She switches her vision to the te of cookies on Aika''s hand but notices something weird on the person holding her favorite food. She then transferred her attention to Aika and her eyes opened a little bit, but this small action is a testament to her shocked feeling as there is almost nothing that can draw her attention.


    Ophis noticed the energy of her hated nemesis resting inside Aika''s Sacred Gear and she pouted. Like a child who doesn''t want to be outdone by her hated ymate, she suddenly conjured a ck snake made of pure energy from her and it flew towards Aika''s chest disappearing inside it.


    Everyone stopped moving and put all of their attention to Aika, and Aika herself is nkly staring at her chest.


    A few seconds after the ck snake entered Aika, a sudden heartbeat was heard. It wasn''t loud, but strangely enough, everyone heard it clearly and it''s apanied by the regal aura of a dragon. This heartbeat resounded throughout the whole town and adjacent parts of the next towns. All denizens


    of the supernatural world, whether they are hiding in the town, peacefully enjoying their lives or just coincidentally passing by, all heard the heartbeat with its aura that spread everywhere instantly making it very hard for someone even with highest skills in detection to pinpoint where it came from, but it''s only a matter of time before they find it.


    "Kisuke!" Yoruichi shouted, rousing everyone from their stupor and the neers had another shock, ''The cat talked!''


    At the same time, Yoruichi called him, Kisuke tapped his foot to activate a multiyered barrier to stop the aura from spreading to outside.

 Volume 3 88 - Grayfias Frustration

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 88 - Grayfia''s Frustration</h4>


    In the forest around the abandoned Church, Grayfia Lucifuge is standing at the starting point where Kisuke casts his Kidou. The terrain already returned to its former appearance with the help of magic. Grayfia has beening to this ce multiple times to inspect it because she wants to look something else other than her initial findings.


    Grayfia is checking the lingering mana that the beam left. She has done this already several times but still can''t believe the result of her investigation, "The attackposes two types of energies, half is mana and the other half is soul power�� Who the hell is insane enough to use his or her own soul to fuel a magic attack. I can only think of it as a suicidal spell that brings down the opponent with him."


    Just after inspecting the ce again, Grayfia suddenly heard a heartbeat. It is soft but very clear, then a sudden wave of oppressive dragon aura came from nowhere and disappeared just as fast, "What!?"


    Grayfia eximed and looked around to find its source but failed. She flew up to get a vantage view of the whole town. There she saw all sorts of beings flying up and looked around the town, ''Did they also hear that heartbeat? So it epasses the whole town? How strange, I felt that it''s only beside me. And that aura�� A dragon''s? but the only thing qualified as a dragon in this town is the Boosted Gear�� I have to check him��''


    Grayfia flew across the sky while hiding her aura. Shended on the roof of the Hyoudou residence and took a peek inside using magic. Grayfia saw that Issei Hyoudou and Asia Argento are looking around confused. She focuses her attention on Issei''s left arm where the Boosted Gear resides. She didn''t notice anything out of ce but just to make sure, she scanned it with her Demonic Power.


    Grayfia still couldn''t find anything, but after a few more seconds of inspecting, something tugged on her Demonic Power and an archaic voice entered her mind, "Little Devil, what is your purpose?"


    Grayfia was shocked and was about to disconnect her power, but before that happens, the voice resounded in her mind again, "Don''t panic. I meant no harm. Something came up that''s why I decided to talk to you."


    Grayfia stopped her intended action but still stayed vignt. She didn''t speak out loud but she replied using her thoughts, "Are you one of the two legendary Heavenly Dragons?"


    "��Yes."


    "Excuses me for my rudeness. A very brief dragon''s aura spread throughout the town and you and your host are the only ones I know capable of producing something like that. So I inspected it immediately. I''m sorry if I disturbed your rest." Grayfia spoke formally after the voice confirmed its identity.


    "��Were you able to hear the heartbeat?"


    "Yes. It came just before I felt the aura."


    "So it really wasn''t my imagination��" The archaic voice softly muttered.


    "It wasn''t you, sir?" Grayfia asks.


    "Haahh�� I guess I can tell you about it." It let out a huge sigh and then continued speaking, "There were actually two heartbeats that resounded at the same time, and the aura that followed it signifies the birth of two dragons."


    "Two dragons�� but shouldn''t be any other dragon present here."


    "That''s also one of the mysteries as too should have felt something if a dragon is nearby."


    Grayfia didn''t speak further and just waited for the archaic voice to continue.


    "But really�� how strange�� Little Devil, do you know how dragons are born?"


    Grayfia tried to recall the information from the books about the dragons and now also find it strange, "There should be a beat every one minute with a total of three beats. The first beat is the weakest and thest beat is the strongest. A few minutes has already passed, but there is only a single beat."


    "And the aura suddenly disappeared. Someone must have blocked it after it spreads for the first time."


    "Fuuhh�� Such a shame. Witnessing the birth of a dragon should be a fine experience." Grayfia sighed, not understanding the archaic voice''s dilemma.


    "You''re making light of this situation."


    "What do you mean, sir?"


    "A dragon''s birth is apanied by their first three heartbeats but how loud it determines its natural potential. A normal dragon''s beats can''t be heard without listening to it intently. A superior dragon''s first beat can be heard one meter around it and the third beat can be heard ten meters around it. Now imagine the potential of these two dragon''s first heartbeat. If my guesses are right, the second beat would resound throughout the whole country and thest one would be heard throughout the Human world."


    Grayfia was speechless at its words. It took one whole minute before she could respond again, "�� How strong are those dragons when fully mature?" In her mind, she''s calcting how would the current Underworld be disrupted by these dragons, ''From the way he speaks about it, these two dragons should be on the same level as them, the Heavenly Dragons�� A birth of Heavenly Dragons in flesh and blood, how will it affect the current thread of the world?''


    The archaic voice guessed what she is thinking and said, "No. Those two aren''t on the same level as both Albion and me."


    After hearing this, Grayfia sighed in relief as she and her husband don''t want additional variables to these turbulent times where war can easily break out.


    Seeing her reaction, the archaic voiceughed out loud, "Ahahahaha!!!"


    Grayfia was shocked at hisugh and thinking if she did something worthughing, ''Dragons are really strange, especially the strong ones.''


    The archaic voice is still snickering at her but Grayfia didn''t mind it, because, even though it''s currently sealed, this dragon is a lot stronger than her in its heyday.


    "Little Devil, I forgot to tell you something." The voice calmed itself and spoke again.


    "What is it, sir?"


    "The auras that apanied those heartbeats can only remind of both Great Red and Ouroboros Dragon. I don''t know if they are their spawn or what, but a thousand years or less to the future, we may have two additional overlords of this world. How mysterious, someone would actually hide the birth of these two." The archaic voice then released Grayfia''s Demonic Power and went back to inactivity.


    "��������W-WHAT!!!?" Grayfia then notices that she was already disconnected from the voice. She tried inserting her Demonic Power to Issei''s left arm again, ''Please, please answer. Sir!�� Dammit!'' She gave up after a few minutes because she knew that the dragon won''t answer any further questions.


    Grayfia took off and flew around the town while hiding her aura. She kept scanning every building she could find to at least get some clues to the new dragons'' whereabouts and the mysterious guy who actually went and tried hiding it, ''What is this guy nning? Why would he hide those two dragons that can be on par with those legendary beings? Is he trying to take over the world?'' Such questions kept rising up from her mind as she searches the whole town.


    She eventually reached the Urahara Household and Candy Shop. Grayfia noticed that Sona, her servants, Rias servants, the boy she encountered earlier and two other humans. One of the human women is somewhat familiar to her but she couldn''t think about it now, ''What are they doing here? They are just having a lively conversation? I can ask Rias about itter. This isn''t the time to observe them. I have to look for more clues.''


    Grayfia then scanned the whole house and shop one time before moving to the next one.


    After searching for the whole night, she found nothing and felt frustrated. She immediately returned to Underworld and report to her husband what just happened and the dragon within the Boosted Gear''s words.

 Volume 3 89 - Sacred Gear Awakening

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 89 - Sacred Gear Awakening</h4>


    "Kisuke!" Along with Yoruichi''s shout, Kisuke taps his right foot to activate the multyered barrier he previously set up just in case something like this happens. He also activated the token which imitates Kyouka Suigetsu''s hypnosis ability to hide the fact that a barrier is active around the house to the outside.


    After seeing a barrier being activated and a very strong concealment type one at that, the guests became a bit defensive, especially Akeno.


    Sona and the rest of her peerage members took a stance to either attack or defend themselves, they also activated the Demonic Power in their body to strengthen their defense. Meanwhile, Akeno directly transforms into her Shinto priestess clothing and conjured several magic circles crackling with lightning and hovered it around to attack or defend in hermand.


    As they are readying, Yoruichi''s voice resounded again, this time, however, her voice sounds a little pissed and with pressure even worse than what Kisuke released earlier, "Nobody move!"


    They were all forced to sit back down destroying their resistance. Even more, pressure came to Akeno since she''s the one who took it far. All the magic circles she conjured were destroyed by the pressure and she almost lost her consciousness after sitting down. If she didn''t go to the toilet earlier, she would have soiled her skirt and the chair she is sitting on.


    Akeno is desperately gasping for air and already bit her lower lip just to stay awake. Although she is very scared and feels like a God of Death is breathing down on her neck, she still looked at where the deathly pressure ising from, ''What is that cat!?''


    Sona and her peerage members are fairing better, but they also felt that a God of Death is standing behind them and was about to bring down his scythe. Sona also looked at the cat, ''Yoruichi is capable of something like this!? What is he!? Is this the same pressure that Kisuke used at them earlier? If it is, what the hell is Kisuke!?''


    Tsubaki is also thinking of the same thing, but she''s still trying to rouse her Demonic Power to at least defend Sona if something were to happen.


    Momo and Ruruko are now questioning their life choices as they were in the worse situation now than earlier, ''Why did this happen again!? And now it''sing from the cat we were just ying with!'' Both of them wanted to cry.


    After a minute which felt like a very long time for these guests, Kisuke''s voice resounded, "That''s enough, Yoruichi. You would have also done the same thing if you''re in their position."


    "Hmmph!" Yoruichi removed the pressure, albeit, notpletely. Although the pressure is not scaring them anymore, it still restricts their movement and can''t cast magic.


    They all sighed in relief, most notably is Akeno. She''s been trying very hard to stay awake and now she could rest easier with this. Although she never dared to do anything that might aggravate either Kisuke or the cat, ''Wait�� Yoruichi? Isn''t that the name of thedy who is teaching Koneko how to fight that we are looking for all this time? But that''s a male cat��''


    Sona gathered her bearings, but she didn''t confront Yoruichi, she instead turned to Kisuke who is watching Aika intently as she grabs her chest and struggles to breathe with a very red face, "What''s happening? And what do you n to do with us? If you don''t want any of this going out, I can promise you and even sign a stronger contract to enforce it. But you have to let us leave."


    Koneko and Sakura also turned to Kisuke and also wondering why he isn''t doing anything at alleviating Aika''s pain. The two of them are very worried about her wellbeing and they would shoot a concerned look towards Ophis who started all of this.


    Kisuke didn''t look away from Aika but he answered Sona, "I don''t know what Ophis did, but it looks like Aika''s Sacred Gear is about to awaken."


    Sona and everyone''s eyes went wide open. Sona asks in a stuttering voice, "T-this is S-s-sacred Gears awakening? That can''t be! Awakening someone''s sacred gear isn''t this exaggerated even whenpared to the Longinus. Isn''t this more like a very strong dragon waking from its slumber!?"


    Sona knew what a dragon aura feels like as she already went to the valley of the dragons in the Underworld when she still young. And even Tannin''s aura, a former dragon now an Ultimate-ss reincarnated Devil, isn''t as impressive as the dragon aura that is Aika is releasing, albeit a lot weaker than Tannin''s.


    She then remembered that the one who started this all is the Ouroboros Dragon standing beside Kisuke also silently watching Aika. She understood that this over the top awakening has something to do with her and didn''t question it further.


    Sona didn''t wait for Kisuke''s answer and asks another important question, "I know that you don''t want us to get involved with this as it may have something to do with your secrets. Can''t you just let us leave? I swear in my name and power that not a single soul outside of this house would know about this."


    Sona also didn''t want to get involved as it has something to do with the Ouroboros Dragon, it''s too dangerous for them. Although she is also worried about Kisuke, she has to prioritize her servants'' safety.


    "Even if I wanted to let you leave, I can''t, because I already locked the space around us just to contain the aura Aika is releasing." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "Then what do you n to do? We honestly don''t want to get involved with this." Sona still hopes that he would let them go.


    After Sona spoke, however, another heartbeat was heard and it was a lot stronger than the first one. The concealment barrier that Kisuke ce creaks as the aura multiplied many times over. Kisuke looked around and looked back to Aika who''s still building up the aura and concluded that the barrier won''t be enough to stop the next heartbeat.


    Kisuke looked at her for the first time a grinned.


    All of Sona''s hope was dashed after seeing that expression, ''This bastard�� Dammit! I just have to grit my teeth and get over this mess. I''ll have you pay for this one day, Kisuke.'' She red at Kisuke without voicing out her thoughts but he understood her.


    "Ahahaha~. Alright, let''s move to a better location." Kisuke took out his fan and waved it around.


    "Are you serious, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asks unsure of his decision.


    "Yep." Kisuke then pped his hands and arge magic circle appeared under everyone''s feet. After a few seconds, all of them were teleported away.

 Volume 3 90 - Sacred Gear Awakening Part 2

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 90 - Sacred Gear Awakening Part 2</h4>


    After Kisuke taps the floor with his foot and activating the barriers he ced in the past. He started thinking of things that could happen, ''I was able to stop the aura from getting out but a wisp of it got away. Those guys are probably panicking out there if that heartbeat traveled far.''


    Kisuke felt the disturbance in mana inside the room but ignored it as he knew that Yoruichi would do something about it, "Nobody move!"


    He let her release her pressure for a whole minute before speaking up, "That''s enough, Yoruichi. You would have also done the same thing if you''re in their position." ''You''ve scared them enough.'' He added internally.


    "Hmmph!"


    Kisuke knew that she actually had fun pressuring these Devils as frustration is starting to build up inside her.


    ''This is actually the best time to convert her into a Shinigami, but what should I do with these guys?'' Kisuke started contemting his possible moves from this point on.


    ''Since I already locked the space, teleporting them outside will open up the barrier for a bit and those people outside might be able to pinpoint the source of aura towards here. I don''t want to attract too much attention because of this as it looks like it''s rted to Ophis and that big *ss dragon. It''s impossible for the people of power in this world to not know about them.''


    "What''s happening? And what do you n to do with us? If you don''t want any of this going out, I can promise you and even sign a stronger contract to enforce it. But you have to let us leave." Kisuke heard Sona''s voice from the side and answered her nkly as he still calcting things and weighing the pros and cons of the situation, I don''t know what Ophis did, but it looks like Aika''s Sacred Gear is about to awaken."


    "T-this is S-s-sacred Gears awakening? That can''t be! Awakening someone''s sacred gear isn''t this exaggerated even whenpared to the Longinus. Isn''t this more like a very strong dragon waking from its slumber!?"


    ''I know right, this is amazing~.'' Kisuke wanted tough but stopped himself.


    "I know that you don''t want us to get involved with this as it may have something to do with your secrets. Can''t you just let us leave? I swear in my name and power that not a single soul outside of this house would know about this."


    "Even if I wanted to let you leave, I can''t, because I already locked the space around us just to contain the aura Aika is releasing." Kisuke rubbed his chin and started thinking of what he should do now, ''Should I just drag them to this mess?''


    "Then what do you n to do? We honestly don''t want to get involved with this."


    Kisuke looked at her for the first time a grinned. ''It''s decided. Let''s drag them in. I could show them some things and let them sign a stronger secrecy contract. Even If they broke it, it''s fine since I''ll have more maneuvering ability in the future''s diplomatic talks. If they don''t break it, I can scare them and the way they would act would give those higher than them some clues that something is wrong with me and I can use that hesitation for a lot of things too.''


    "Ahahaha~. Alright, let''s move to a better location." Kisuke took out his fan and waved it around.


    "Are you serious, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asks unsure of his decision.


    "Yep." Kisuke then pped his hands and arge magic circle appeared under everyone''s feet. After a few seconds, all of them were teleported away.


    "��Where are we?" Sona asks nkly.


    "Somewhere we won''t be disturb. Oh right, before we leave this ce, we''ll have to sign a secrecy contract." Kisuke took out his cane and taps the floor with it, sending his Reiatsu towards the existing barrier strengthening it.


    When Sona saw him took out his ''Sacred Gear'' and sending a weird pulse of energy towards the ground, she became warier, "Didn''t we already signed one not long ago? We could just update its terms and both agree on it."


    "I want a new and stronger contract."


    Sona furrowed her brows at his words, "You know that a stronger binding contract isn''t ideal even for a Devil like me. There is just no merit for us."


    "Hmm�� You can discuss the new terms among yourselves after we''re done with everything here. Of course, I have to agree to it."


    Sona nodded at him, "I got it. We''re going to watch for now. What else do we have to do?"


    "Nothing else. Yoruichi here will set a barrier here, just don''t step out of it." Kisuke then pointed to the ck cat sitting on the ground.


    They finally remembered the scary feline again and shuddered, ''He''s going to leave us with this cat!? What if we get eaten!?''


    Kisuke grinned and replied, "It''s going to be shy whether we like it or not."


    "I like that." The ck feline replied showing her fangs.


    Yoruichi suddenly exploded into smokes which startled everyone except for Sakura and Koneko who knew of her true form.


    From the smokes, a slender and well-endowed woman of average height appeared. She has dark skin, golden irises, and ck hair. Her hair is waist-length and kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face. She''s currently wearing her backless, sleeveless tight-fitting undershirt and tight-fitting ck stretch pants.


    Akeno silently reacted, "That''s her!"


    Sona and the rest where dumbfounded, ''Where did this beautye from!? And that cat with manly voice is actually a ''she''!?''


    Sona then remembered Kisuke''s wordsst time, ''This one here is my partner.'' She even joked about him being gay and have a weird fetish. But after seeing this form of hers, she suddenly felt a tinge of jealousy��'' What the hell are you thinking, me!? He''s only a fiancee candidate!'' Although Sona didn''t know how weird it is to consider him a fiancee candidate because beating her in a game of chess is just one of the conditions to be a candidate.


    Yoruichi is enjoying their shocked stares when she notices Sona''s look, ''Goddammit! Another one!? Why does this always happen when I tried to show off!?''

 Volume 3 91 - Just Some Standard Stamina Training

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 91 - Just Some Standard Stamina Training</h4>


    After Yoruichi transformed, Aika spoke for the first time, "��Ugh�� K-Kisuke, please stop ogling on her legs and do something to help me. My whole body is in pain and I think I might explode or something��"


    Ever since the energy in the form of a ck snake that came from Ophis entered her body, she felt that she became bloated and her whole body is on fire.


    She didn''t have the time to speak as she is concentrating on controlling the rampaging energies inside her body. Aika is using the method that Koneko and Yoruichi taught her to control Ki. Although it isn''t Ki, it can still alleviate some pain. But her control skills are not enough to tame the dragons inside her and ever so slightly, she keeps losing control some parts her body.


    When the second heartbeat resounded, she panics greatly as her situation became worse because, although she is standing, she can''t move her limbs at all and the bloated feeling is so great that she wanted to vomit but can''t. Aika couldn''t even discern her surroundings as she keeps focusing on controlling herself.


    Aika then looked at Kisuke who is watching Yoruichi transform and got pissed so she called out to him. He knows that she''s in danger and she has already given all of her trust to him, yet he''s still in the mood to appreciate some legs.


    Kisuke looked at her and smiled, "It''s not your imagination. If you didn''t go through that insane training of Yoruichi, you would have already exploded into pieces."


    "That''s not aughing matter! Do something!" Aika clenched her teeth and red at Kisuke.


    "Now isn''t the time yet. Endure it for as long as possible. I''ll make my move once you can''t take it anymore." Kisuke reassured her.


    Yoruichi nodded in satisfaction when she saw this, "That''s why it''s worth teaching her."


    Out of curiosity, Sona asks Yoruichi after calming herself down, "What kind of training did she go through?"


    "Hmm? Just a standard stamina and control training." Yoruichi answered energetically.


    "Kisuke wouldn''t call it insane without reason. It couldn''t have been just some basic training." Sona immediately retorted and she has a point.


    "But it''s really just a stamina and control training�� Hey Kisuke, back me up."


    "Aika would just run around here all day while dodging Yoruichi''s magic. But with a twist."


    "What twist?"


    It''s Yoruichi''s turn to sh a bad grin, "She had to run under this pressure."


    Yoruichi repeated what she did earlier but twice as strong. These past few days, Yoruichi kept increasing the pressure that Aika had to endure to make sure she won''t be able to tell that she''s adapting to her pressure and killing intent.


    "Don''t relieve your frustration on them. Look, you scared them too much�� What if it became a trauma?" Kisuke slightly reprimanded Yoruichi and released a Kidou that soothes the mind which was repeatedly stressed tonight. If they can''t think properly even before the main event happens then they''re just useless audience that epts everything it sees.


    All of them slowly recovered and was able to think properly again. Momo and Ruruko didn''t wake up but they both had a very peaceful face, they were relieved of their nightmare.


    Kisuke took out enough chairs for all of them and Sakura assisted Sona and Tsubaki to sit down to calm themselves further. Koneko helped Akeno stand up and sit down on one of the chairs. All of them looked at Yoruichi with aplicated expression. Most are fear but there is also some resentment. But they knew that they couldn''t mess with her.


    Akeno is panicking because they are totally unknown people with unknown intentions and they have this kind of power. She suddenly remembered Koneko is also training under them and learned some amazing techniques, "Koneko-chan�� Do you also do your stamina training like that?"


    Akeno''s question caught the attention of even Sona and Tsubaki. They all thought that there is something special to Aika that''s why she was able to endure that, and if it is the same Koneko they knew from before, she couldn''t have endured it too.


    And Koneko answered like it wasn''t a big deal, "I got used to it."


    "What!? You can get used to that!? Aren''t you just going to die if you try to endure it!? They are putting your life into danger!" Akeno shouted as hold onto her. Koneko is her precious underssman and she treated her like a sister better than Rias, and the fact she goes through that kind of training which she can''t even endure for a few seconds worries her greatly. Due to this, she found the courage to confront the two which can end her life even without touching her, "Please stop putting Koneko into danger!"


    "Akeno-senpai, you don''t have to worry about me."


    "But��!"


    "Then��!"


    "I epted knowing it. Since I already made my resolve, I can''t stop now. Beside''s Yoruichi-san is just messing with you."


    "Messing with us? What do you mean?" Akeno became confused at her words.


    "Yoruichi will only apply the appropriate pressure that both I and Aika-senpai can endure and continue our training. At first, the pressure is only as strong or even weaker than what Kisuke-senpai did earlier. And as time goes on, the pressure increases and now apanied by killing intent. What Yoruichi-san did earlier is the only pressure that I and Aika-senpai can endure now." Koneko exined the whole thing.


    The three recipients of the pressure finally understood it and they all looked at Yoruichi, who had both of her hands on her head while watching them. Yoruichi eyes widened a bit and then looked away and whistled like it was none of her business, "hwee-hwoo~"


    They wanted to say something but before they could open their mouths, the third heartbeat resounded with almost drowning aura of a dragon. They focused their attention back to Aika.


    "Kisuke! Kisuke-san! Kisuke-sama! I can''t take it anymore! Please do something! I''m going to explode!!!" Aika opened her eyes and shouted towards Kisuke.


    "So it seems~," Kisuke replied.


    "Damn you! Stop being so nonchnt! I''m dying here! SAVE ME~~~!"


    "Hurry up and get your nasty a*s here, Kisuke-sama!!!"


    Kisuke suddenly took out Benihime from its sheath and stabbed Aika in the chest, "The color of a Shinigami''s Reiryoku is red."


    Everyone except for Yoruichi is dumbfounded. Koneko shouted at him, "Kisuke-senpai! What are you doing!?"


    Even his mother is panicking, "Kisuke! Stop it!"


    Ophis who is watching Aika silently from the start had her eyes opened wide as she suddenly felt an aura which she never felt before.


    Kisuke poured the same amount of Reiatsu-Ki as the dragon aura wreaking havoc inside her body to offset it. After inserting the appropriate amount and kick-starting her transformation, he suddenly kicked her to the stomach sending her flying and smashing to the nearbyrge boulder.

 Volume 3 92 - The Impossible Game

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 92 - The Impossible Game</h4>


    After smashing Aika to the boulder about 50 meters away, Kisuke continued by generating a burst of crackling yellow energy in his palm and uses this energy to draw an inverted yellow triangle, which generates solidified energy in the shape of smaller triangles from its three points.


    "Bakudou No. 30 Sh*totsu Sansen (Beak-Piercing Triple Beam)." The smaller triangles fire and hit Aika, pinning her against the surface of the boulder in three ces in the shape of a perfect triangle and immobilizing them.


    Aika at this point already loses her consciousness, but her attire is slowly changing into something that is very familiar for both Kisuke and Yoruichi, a Shihakusho (Garment of Dead Souls), although some white matter is also slowly oozing out from the orifices of her head and a big hole appeared on her chest, signifying her simultaneous transformation into Shinigami and Hollow. Just as Kisuke expected, her soul and body are changing from the fundamental level to adapt to the use of Reiatsu-Ki when introduced to his own Reiatsu-Ki by creating a pseudo-Saketsu (Binding Chain) that a Shinigami has to boost the Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) and connecting to Hakusui(Soul Sleep) which is the source of Reiryoku. However, the process of creating a pseudo-Saketsu also introduced the Encroachment to the soul. If she can''t be a Shinigami, she''ll turn into a Hollow. Those from this world can''t be a Shinigami or a Hollow without the help of a fellow Shinigami with sufficient skills, so the three of them could be considered unique existences from the world''s perspective. There are also some changes in other aspects, like being removed from the reincarnation system that was set in ce. Whether it''s an advantage or a disadvantage for Aika is unknown.


    When Aika fell unconscious, she entered her inner world and opened her eyes for the first time in it. She looked around and saw wherein every direction, there is a mix of iridescent colors. Just looking at them makes her dizzy, but she''s familiar where she is, "Isn''t this the Dimensional Gap that Yoruichi is talking about? What am I doing here?"


    She looked below, although she can feel that she is stepping on something, it is still an empty space with kaleidoscopic colors at the distance, "What am I suppose to do here? And it doesn''t look like I''m dying as Yoruichi described. Ugh�� my head hurts��"


    Aika then remembered what happened before she awoke here, "Right! That damned Kisuke stabbed me in the chest! Strange�� where is the wound?" She touched her chest and even removed her clothing to check the hole Kisuke opened for her.


    While she''s checking her state, Aika suddenly heard an explosion behind her. She immediately turned around and shouted, "What now!?" Aika saw two silhouettes shing against each other, a red and ck silhouette.


    As she is trying to figure out what are those outlines are, Aika noticed that they are approaching her position and each of their sh''s shockwave brush past her face. She can now clearly see the outlines after enough time has passed. They are two little girls and both of them are wearing a cloak cape.


    The first one is a little girl around the age of ten with red shoulder-length hair which waves around giving her a very wild feeling, two crimson-red straight short horns on her head pointing backward which isplimenting her hair and red-blood reptilian eyes with golden slits that are full of vigor and energy. She is wearing a cape with the same color as her hair.


    Both of them are very cute in Aika''s opinion but they kept ring at each other like they were each other''s most hated enemies. She also felt a strange connection to them so she called out. Either way, Aika doesn''t know what to do in this strange world, "Uhmm�� Fighting is bad you know�� Why don''t the two of you get along?"


    Both stopped ring at each other and looked at her direction and shouted at the same time, " "Mother!" "


    Aika needed a few seconds to process the kids'' words and started fuming, "I''m not your mother! It''s impossible for me to have kids as big as you! And more importantly, I''m a virgin!!!"


    " "But you''re my mother." " Both of them now looked dejected.


    Aika panicked as she didn''t want to see them dejected, strangely enough, "Okay, okay�� Don''t make that face�� How did I be your mother in the first ce?"


    Both of them tilted their heads in confusion.


    "You don''t know?" Aika sighed as she easily understood what they meant. She thought that she should ask Kisuketer about these two. Aika looked at them again and asks, "Anyways, what are your names?"


    " "***** *****" " Both of them answered at the same time again, but Aika wasn''t able to hear it.


    As Aika is trying to recall what they just said, the two little girls started shouting at each other, " "That''s my name! And isn''t yours!" " And they started shing again.


    " "You can''t hear my name?" " The little girls tilted their heads again.


    " "Strange, there is weird knowledge inside my head." " They continued speaking, " "Mother, you have to look for your own power before this world copse or you''ll turn into a monster." "


    Then both of them suddenly disappeared.


    "��What?" Aika was startled at theirst words and tried looking for them again for another confirmation of what they just said, ''If I can''t find my own power, I''ll be a monster?'' She then suddenly recalled Kisuke appearance when he''s rampaging, ''It can''t be, right?''


    She then noticed a movement above her head and looked up. The iridescent world is slowly being consumed by a ck hole and from it, thousands upon thousands of boxes fell. Aika then gets what she has to do, "You''re telling me that I have to look for my power among these boxes before that ck hole consumes all!? Impossible! I can''t open them all even if you give me decades! Dammit! Who designed this impossible game!? I wanna sue them!!!"

 Volume 3 93 - Just A Chance

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 93 - Just A Chance</h4>


    After pinning Aika to the boulder, Koneko, and Sakura wanted to rush towards Kisuke to stop him from doing anything further. But just as they take their first steps, Yoruichi blocked their way.


    "Yoruichi��" Sakura furrowed her brows as she said her name.


    "You''re misunderstanding things here, Mom. Kisuke isn''t trying to hurt Aika-chan." Yoruichi calmly said.


    "Then what is he doing?" Sakura didn''t back off and continued to ask.


    "He''s giving her the chance to control her abilities and increasing hertent potential," Yoruichi exined.


    "A chance?" Sakura''s brows furrowed deeper.


    "Yes, just a chance." Yoruichi nodded.


    "What if she failed?" Sakura''s voice is now growing colder.


    "She''ll turn into a monster that can''t think." But Yoruichi continued to look at her eyes and spoke calmly.


    "Then what are you nning to do if that were to happen?" Sakura''s aura is now ring up, and some of her Demonic Powers are also leaking out.


    "You��!" Sakura was shocked at her words as she didn''t think they are capable of initiating this kind of n and can be so cold-hearted when it fails.


    Obviously, the onlookers are also shocked by her words. Akeno is especially worried about Koneko, ''Are they going to do something simr to her!? No! This won''t do! I have to stop her froming here!''


    Yoruichi ignored their reaction and smiled, "You misunderstand again. We wouldn''t proceed to do this if Aika is in real danger. Although all of what I said is true, chances of that happening are very minimal."


    Sakura looked at her eyes and can''t tell if she''s lying, but she can at least tell that Yoruichi is very confident with her words.


    Sakura sighed after a few seconds of contemting, "Haahh�� I''ll trust you two this time. Don''t mess it up and put Aika in danger. Let''s go, Koneko-chan. We''ll watch from the sidelines."


    Yoruichi''s smile grew bigger and answered, "We won''t mess up."


    She then turned around and pulled out four knives with inscriptions and threw it to the four corners of their location encapsting her and the rest inside a transparent blue barrier.


    "This is��?" Sona asks in wonderment.


    "A barrier just in case a battle broke out." Yoruichi found a seat and took it, taking out her yogurt to watch the uing show.


    "What''s happening to her?" It was Akeno who ask this time.


    "Well�� To make it easier to understand, that''s her power going out of control. If she can''t control it before shepletes her transformation, that will be permanent." Yoruichi answered her despite not liking her very much.


    Outside the barrier, Kisuke is intently staring at Aika and her changes. He is constantly scanning her with his soul and see how will her Sacred Gear affect the formation of her Zanpakuto. And Kisuke was intrigued at what happened.


    Aika''s Sacred Gear absorbed the Zanpakuto while it is forming and went to its ce to be the Shinigami''s ''Zanpakuto''. Her Sacred Gear even helped her fuse her physical body and soul body to help facilitate and adapt to the Reiatsu-Ki mixture. When Kisuke saw this, he felt cheated, ''Just like that? What the hell am I doing with my time��''


    Kisuke continued watching, and just as he expected, the Reiatsu-Ki consumed all the dragonic aura to strengthen itself.


    Inside the barrier, Ophis is also watching this unfold, although not as much as Kisuke. She can only see that there are some unknown changes to the Sacred Gear that it is now using some kind of energy that she is not familiar with.


    Ophis had another shock today when she noticed that the strange energy is slowly consuming the dragonic aura which includes her energy until itpletely disappeared. She tried looking for her snake and control it but failed. Ophis looked at Kisuke and became curious about the man himself for the first time as he is the instigator of this event.


    When the dragonic aura inside Aika was fully consumed, her Hollow sidepletely took over covering her upper body with white matter together with the newly forming Shihakusho.


    "W-What is that!?" Sona shouted. Akeno and Sakura also has the same question running in their minds.


    "Sona-chan�� Have you ever heard of a human transforming like this?" Sakura asks.


    "Never heard of it�� Akeno-san, what about you?" Sona passed the question towards thest conscious outsider.


    "I''ve studied a lot of things on various topics to help Rias but I''ve also never heard of it. Tsubaki-san, do you know something?" Akeno then turned to Tsubaki.


    "I would have to disappoint all of you, but if it is about that, you should ask these two." Tsubaki then pointed to Yoruichi who is happily eating her fifth cup of yogurt and Koneko who is watching worriedly. Both of them looked at Tsubaki but didn''t say anything. Sakura and Sona sighed as they won''t be getting anything from them.


    Kisuke finally made his move and held his palms away from himself, with their arms extended out to the sides, before sping his hands together, with the fingers intertwined intricately, "Bakudo No. 99, Kin (Prohibition)."


    An invisible force swiped Aika''s arms towards her back and several ck spiritual fabrics tied it up and impaling it with iron shafts.


    Due to the sudden movement and strangely heavy fabrics and shafts, Aika fell to the ground groaning. But she didn''t give up and tried to stand up again.


    Kisuke knew that it wouldn''t take long before she breaks it so he continued. He mmed his fingers into the ground and released white spiritual energy, "Bakudou No. 99 Bankin (Full Prohibition), Prologue - Halting Wraps."


    "Refrain - Serial Hundred Bolts." Several metal bolts suddenly appeared in front of Kisuke andunched towards Aika impaling different parts of her body.

 Volume 3 94 - Names

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 94 - Names</h4>


    Aika is nowying on her back watching the world decay. She already opened a hundred or so boxes but found nothing.


    "What the hell is this? Isn''t there some sort of clue?" Aika muttered nkly staring at the ck hole.


    " "Are going to give up?" " Aika suddenly heard two contrasting voices of the little girls who disappeared earlier.


    Aika looked up and saw them standing five meters away from each other, "I guess I shouldn''t. I don''t want to be like ''that''." Aika stood up and proceed to open boxes again and again.


    " "Are you just going to ignore Father''s advice?" " The two spoke behind her.


    "Father?" Aika tilted her head in confusion. The only figure thates to her mind that these two are calling father is the bastard who threw her in this situation, "Wh-" She wanted to ask the little girls who are they referring as father, but she suddenly remembered Kisuke words as he stabs her in the chest, ''Get the red string?''


    Aika looked around and found no red string, ''All of these are boxes! How useless!'' She then recalled Yoruichi''s lesson and training regarding detection, ''If it''s my power, I should be able to detect it right? Yosh, let''s do it.''


    But as she scans the boxes ording to Yoruichi''s method, all of them felt the same to her and nothing seems to be different in all those boxes. She''s getting frustrated as the world is now about to disappear when suddenly she noticed a bunch of white stringsing from the boxes.


    Aika was enlightened. She focused her detection skills on those strings and they became more apparent. As she is doing this, a red string is sticking out like a sore thumb, and she understood what Kisuke meant.


    Aika pulled it along with the box it is attached and opened it. She saw a hilt of a Japanese sword and questioned if the whole sword is here or just the hilt because of the box''s size.


    Aika put her hands on the handle and pulled it but it''s stuck so she has to use all her might to pull it.


    " "Hurry! Hurry! The world is about to copse!" "


    "Ugh�� I�� KNOW!!!" Aika used all her strength to pull it onest time and she seeded, pulling out a two-meter long nodachi.


    The moment she pulled it out her attire suddenly changed into a Shihakusho and the world instantly returned to its former appearance.


    "Wait�� I''m not going to attend some funeral now, do I? When can I get out?" Shemented as she inspected her new attire.


    " "Congrattions, Mother. Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Aeternam Somnium (Evesting Dream)." " The two of them spoke the same time again, but when they heard each other''s name again, they started another war by throwing red and ck balls of energy against each other, creatingrge amounts of explosions.


    "STOP!!!" Aika shouted at the two ballistic little girls and they stopped, "Why are you fighting? Aren''t you two siblings?"


    " "She took my name!" " They pointed at each other as they exin their reason.


    "Although I somehow understand what that name means, but why are you fighting over such ame name?"


    "Who gave you that name?"


    They looked at each other and then looked back to Aika shrugging their shoulders, " "I don''t know." "


    Aika stayed silent for a moment before making her decision, "Come here, you two."


    Both of them approached her with a confused look and waited for her to speak.


    "I somehow knew that that name is very important, but I really think that it soundsme. Since you two have the same name, don''t fight over it." Aika patted both of their heads, but they look unsatisfied. They don''t want to agree to her.


    "But it''s going to be annoying differentiating you two with the same name, so I''m giving you two a new one." Aika continued.


    " "A new one? You want to discard my name?" " The two of them didn''t feel well and was about to send Aika back outside and never let her use their name again.


    "Of course not. I know how important that name to you two if you''re both fighting for it. Since the two of you consider me as your mother, I''ll give you additional names so the two of you will have a different set." Aika exined.


    Aika faced the red-haired little girl and said, "You will be Akane (Brilliant Red)."


    Akane and Kaguya looked at each other and smiled. They turned to Aika and eximed, " "We like it." " For the first time, the two acknowledged each other.


    "Great." Aika is happy that they stopped fighting as she has a feeling that she has to resolve it. After they epted their new names, Aika felt light as a strange power started to course inside her body.


    " "Mother! Show Father our true selves!" "


    Aika then loses consciousness as she returns to the outside world. She still wanted to know who are they referring to as ''Father'' and why, but she subconsciously knew it and just let herself be taken by the flow towards outside.


    .


    .


    .


    "What is that spell? It looksckluster but somehow, I feel that I won''t be able to make any move if that cloth binds me, not to mention those bolts." Sona furrowed her brows as she inspected Kisuke''s ''magic''


    "It''s not from any popr system�� It''s not even using a magic circle�� How does that work?" Akeno muttered which was heard by all of them.


    Sakura was also thinking of the same thing, more or less. She didn''t expect that her son is hiding something this big and didn''t know what to think of it. ''We should have a proper talkter. But I doubt that he''ll tell me everything just like the first time. I have to remind him that he shouldn''t go too far in towards the dark side, or else, he''ll regret it. I should at least that much as his mother even though I knew that I''m not doing a very good job in it.''


    "Are you going to do the ''Final Song''? You might end up killing her." Yoruichi suddenly spoke after seeing Kisuke still not taking back his Reiatsu-Ki.


    "I''m not, but just in case�� Hmm?" Kisuke then suddenly smiled at Aika''s change in the aura, "Looks like she seeded��" After inspecting closely, his smile suddenly froze, "And she did it all the way�� Damn�� That''s cheating�� She''s way worse than that strawberry."

 Volume 3 95 - Twin Fang Dimension Piercer

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 95 - Twin Fang Dimension Piercer</h4>


    "Are you going to do the ''Final Song''? You might end up killing her." Yoruichi suddenly spoke after seeing Kisuke still not taking back his Reiatsu-Ki.


    Aika, who already transformed most of herself into a Hollow and bounded by the spiritual fabric and iron shafts, suddenly stopped struggling.


    "I''m not, but just in case�� Hmm?" Kisuke then suddenly smiled at Aika''s change in the aura, "Looks like she seeded��" After inspecting closely, his smile suddenly froze, "And she did it all the way�� Damn�� That''s cheating�� She''s way worse than that strawberry."


    Yoruichi also saw this and hurriedly stood up and ran towards the barrier to strengthen it.


    The onlookers are confused at their sudden reaction when Aika stopped moving when suddenly a geyser of intertwining ck and red energy suddenly erupted from her rupturing her bindings.


    The Hollowfied Aika stood up and howl at the sky releasing her Reiatsu-Ki as pressure. Yoruichi''s barrier creaked but aside from that, nothing else happened to it.


    "W-What!? Did she fail!? And what the hell is that monster!?" Tsubaki shouted in fear as her pressure is somewhat reaching inside the barrier despite blocking most of it.


    Sakura looked at Yoruichi and asks, "When will you stop this!? If this continues, Aika won''t be able to go back!"


    "Rx�� Kisuke said it, right? She seeded." Yoruichi replied calmly.


    "Seeded? That monster?" Sona is also feeling scared.


    Yoruichi didn''t speak any longer as they will see the result.


    The Hollowfied Aika suddenly froze and the geyser of energy receded, making everything and everyone quiet. Her bloated ivory body full of spikes cracked all over and slowly disintegrated, leaving the Human Aika behind.


    Aika suddenly stretched her arms upwards and shouted in delight but her voice became a mix of her own voice and something else making it scary, "I finally returned!�� What the heck, my voice!!! And what is this mask? Cool! Wait�� my voice returned to normal. I got a free mask with a voice changer! Sweet~." Aika kept removing her mask and putting it on again while testing her voice.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t know what to say, ''This girl is way too energetic for someone who is just about to lose herself.''


    Sona and the rest didn''t move from their positions but they examined Aika''s appearance. Sona''s attention is specifically drawn to her mask and eyes which is still Hollowfied, "What happened to her eyes?"


    Aika heard herment and asks, "Eyes?"


    Sona nodded in response.


    Tsubaki took out a small mirror from her pocket and was about to throw it to her but she remembered the barrier is still in ce.


    Yoruichi noticed what she wants to do and removed the barrier as it is not needed anymore and urge Tsubaki to pass the mirror to Aika. Tsubaki threw it with some force due to Aika''s distance but Aika didn''t have any problems catching it.


    Taking a peek in the mirror, she eximed, "Thank you�� What!!? Hey, Kisuke! What happened to me!?"


    Instead of answering her, Kisuke asks a question, "Can you unsummon the mask?"


    "How does it feel?" Kisuke continued asking her.


    "Feels great. But although I''m feeling light, it''s harder to move." Aika hopped around and test her body.


    "That''s only natural as you''re still not used to it. Some training can help you fix that." Kisuke smiled at her actions.


    Aika stopped what she''s doing and stared at Kisuke, "Kisuke, I''m still feeling very bloated and I just knew a way to release all of this pent up energy." She then gave him the brightest smile she could.


    Kisuke knew what she is nning to do and felt intrigued, "Hooh�� Looks like you''re very confident. Try me."


    Yoruichi reactivated the barrier because she felt that Aika is underestimating the excess Reiatsu-Ki in her system and wants to release all of them. All of them are once again confused at their actions as they thought that everything is already over.


    "Okay! Here I go!" Aika pulled out the long nodachi from her back and held it in front of her. She took a deep breath and muttered, "Aeternam Somnium."


    As she muttered those words, ck and red Reiatsu-Ki started swirling around her and her nodachi suddenly shone the same light as her Reiatsu-Ki. After a second, it split into two different smaller double-edged curved swords around 70 centimeters each. The first one has a red edge and ck body while the second has the same color but inverted.


    The onlookers reacted when Aika uttered those words which caught the attention of Yoruichi and Kisuke, "Aeternam Somnium? Isn''t that the ''Last Sacred Gear''? Does Aika have that? But ording to the records, it is a set of dull gray twin dagger which only gives the host some boost on speed and physical strength." Akenomented.


    "Then the only possibilities are that''s not the real Aeternam Somnium or it mutated in some way or another in Kiryuu-san''s hand," Tsubaki said something of her own while fixing her sses.


    They stayed silent after Tsubaki spoke up and continued to watch the situation. Although because of Yoruichi''s barrier, they still haven''t realized the gravity of the aura Aika is gathering.


    Kisuke pointed her palm towards Aika and readied himself to block whatever she sents on his way.


    Aika''s smile grew bigger realizing this and raised her arms which are holding the swords, "For the name of this move�� Hmm�� Let''s go with that." She took a deep breath and subconsciously gathered all the Reiatsu-Ki within and outside of her and channeled it towards the sword.


    "Twin Fang Dimension Piercer!" As she shouted, Aika first swung her left sword downwards towards right forming red crescent energy in front of her and swung her right sword in the same manner just the opposite side forming ck crescent energy which oveps with the first one crosswise and sending it towards Kisuke''s direction with extremely fast speeds.


    Kisuke is shocked, not because of its speed and also not because of its strength as it is still within his calction. What caught his off guard is the sudden stagnation of space itself around him which made him put some effort just to move about, ''Interesting��''


    As the cross shape wave about to hit him, Kisuke muttered, "Mill��n Escudo" and a small fluctuating green hexagonal shield in front of his palm. Mill��n Escudo is a Kidou developed by Aizen in the past and Kisuke knew how useful it is in many situations and recreated it. Mill��n Escudo is a stack of approximately one million Escudo (Shield) Kidou that can block even the most powerful attacks. The downside is, you can''t stack Escudo while in battle as it needs concentration from the user to do. And it also takes some time to stack it. It took Kisuke quite a hefty time to stack his shield and he also had to convert it to Reiatsu-Ki from Reiatsu-Mana.


    When the cross-shaped wave hit the small shield, the ck and red energy engulf Kisuke whole covering his whole body.


    When Aika saw this, she became worried, "Kisuke!"


    "What!?" Aika hurriedly ducked to the ground as she saw her attack being returned to her.

 Volume 3 96 - A Lovable Candy Storekeeper

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 96 - A Lovable Candy Storekeeper</h4>


    Aika''s attack went passed just above her head and all the way towards the wall gouging out the bleak terrain and drilling a hole in the wall continuing until unknown depths.


    Aika stood up and looked at the destruction she caused, "The hell? That''s stronger than I thought it would��" She was finally reminded that her head almost disappeared from her neck due to her own attack. She turned around and saw his teasing smile and immediately protested, "Kisuke! I know that I''m at fault for doing that without even thinking and I''m sorry, but couldn''t you have just sent it sideways instead of in my direction? You almost fried my hair!"


    "Hahaha~ But you''re fine~." Kisukeughed at her and praised himself inwardly for teleporting the whole training ground to a backup location which is an actual underground somewhere unknown beforeing here if not, it''ll be revealed to these people where the actual location of this training ground most of the time and he didn''t want that as this training ground could be their oasis when there is an emergency. The fewer the people who knew where is this ce is located, the better.


    As Aika was about to continueining, she suddenly stopped and dropped down to the ground without even muttering a word andpletely losing consciousness.


    Her twin swords reverted back to its former form, a two-meter long nodachi and her Shihakusho receded and was reced by her casual attire.


    "Well, that''s to be expected. You used everything in that one shot." Kisuke then turned around, "Koneko-chan, take care of Aika here. She''s fine, just exhausted."


    Yoruichi took down the barrier again and looked back at the guests. They are all frozen in ce and had their mouths open in shock, including Sakura.


    Koneko nodded and ran towards Aika''s position and carried her back in a princess carry.


    Kisuke also returned while thinking, "She actually destroyed about one hundred thousand shields with just that much Reiatsu-Ki�� Looks like that strike has multiple special nature in it. I can slowly figure that one out."


    Kisuke took out a sheet andid it on the ground, prompting Koneko toy her down.


    Kisuke stopped walking as he almost forgot the little girl who started all of this. He turned around and saw that she is following while intently staring at him, ''What is she thinking, I wonder? Oh well, she''ll get bored after some time and leave me alone. I can''t really do anything to her and it doesn''t look like she ns to do anything else.''


    He wanted to discuss the terms with Sona''s group but he notices that they are still staring at the sleeping Aika agape, "Uhmm, excuse me. I want to discuss the terms now. I also want to go home and take a dip in the bath as soon as possible."


    ''Kisuke. Do you really have to discuss terms with them? Just force them not to say anything or erase their memories. Why do you have to go and give yourself some trouble?'' Yoruichi suddenly sent him a telepathic message questioning his decision.


    ''Then it''s useless even if she knows that we''re dangerous for her, on the contrary, she might get us to involve even more.''


    ''That''s where her Queenes in. This Akeno is the careful type of person. Rias would probably listen to her not to mess with us even if she can''t tell her everything. This Akeno will probably give some false report just to protect her spoiled master.''


    ''I see. Then what about Sona?'' Yoruichi furrowed her brows


    ''We need a connection to the Underworld and Sona-chan fits the bill. You also know that she has a good head on her shoulders although a bit prideful but not as much as that redhead. She''s theplete opposite of that brat, and our choices are only Sona and Rias. Since we also get along with her pretty well, the choice is already obvious. Andstly, I just love teasing her.''


    ''How big is thest criterion?'' Yoruichi sighed, already expecting his answer.


    ''About 90%.''


    ''That is so like you.''


    ''If you gotta do something, you might as well find a way to enjoy it.'' Kisuke grinned.


    It took some seconds for Sona and the rest to react after Kisuke spoke, "Kisuke! What the hell is she!?"


    "Kuhh�� I know that she''s a human and formerly a normal one at that. How is she capable of doing that in just a matter of days of training under you!?" Sona pointed at therge hole created by Aika''s attack. Tsubaki and Akeno also has the same question.


    "She''s a bit special you see. But as for special she is, you don''t need to know. We should discuss the terms now."


    Sona took a deep breath and calmed herself down, "I''m sorry Kisuke-kun. If possible, I want a few things before we proceed to our talks. I don''t want to be into many disadvantages. The fact that someone like you is hiding in this little town we are overlooking is big news for us. And I also want to establish a friendly connection between us."


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Sure thing, but I won''t promise you that I would answer everything, but I can at least assure you that I won''t lie. Ask away."


    Sona stood up and said, "Thank you. That''s enough. First thing, what happened to Aika-san back then?" Sona knew that Kisuke won''t answer her if she asks him ''How'', so she instead changes the question a little bit to try her luck.


    Kisuke understood her train of thought so he stopped for a bit to think of his answer, "That''s what happens when the soul is corrupted."


    "Corrupted? How is the soul being corrupted?" Sona asks a follow-up question, but this time Kisuke didn''t answer her and just stayed silent.


    "Haah�� Fine. So that transformation is like an evil spirit being born?" Sona immediately gave up her previous question and move on the next now.


    Sona asks more questions regarding Aika and what she has done these past few days but Kisuke didn''t give any substantial answers.


    "Onest thing. Aika''sst attack isparable to the peak firepower of a strong mature High-ss Devil up to weak Ultimate-ss Devil. That''s is very surprising considering that she''s just a normal Human a few days ago, but what surprises me more is how were you able to casually return her attack. Urahara Kisuke, what are you?"


    Due to Aika''s very surprising attack, Tsubaki and Akeno almost forgot that Kisuke received it and deflected it back. They shuddered at the thought that they''ve been ignoring someone so strong that they would need the two peerages to work together just to defeat him. Akeno is the most affected as she and her master ''offended'' him on multiple asions.


    Kisuke''s smile grew bigger at her question and used his prepared answer, "These days, I''m just a lovable candy storekeeper."

 Volume 3 97 - Deal

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 97 - Deal</h4>


    "These days, I''m just a lovable candy store keeper~."


    Sona stared at him and Kisuke knew those stares means that she''s pleading for more answers.


    "Haah�� It isn''t as easy as you thought you know��" Kisuke then lifted his right hand and opened his palm. A fluctuating hexagonal green small shield appeared on top of his palm, "This spell is called Million Escudo."


    Kisuke then lifted his left arm and pointed it sideways. A green hexagonal transparent shield one and a half meter wide appeared in front of his palm, "And this is called Escudo. Even you can easily destroy it and breach it. Million Escudo is a stack of this Escudos and took me a few years to stack one million of it. And Aika just destroyed a year worth of effort." Kisuke exined. Although he didn''t exin that he only stack Escudo in his free time when he''s bored and nothing else to do, any Sona and the rest misunderstood it as he works very hard toplete this self-protection spell because Kisuke made a pained expression when he exined it.


    "What a strange spell, like the rest of your magic. I doubt you''ll exin how it works further so I''ll stop here." Sona fixed her sses and continued, "Kisuke-kun, you''re strong. If you can do the same thing for an offensive spell, you''ll be able to contend against an Ultimate-ss Devil, but that''s only if you have a single opponent. If you''re besieged by multiple enemies, you''ll have a hard time getting away. So please do be careful and don''t make too many enemies." Sona didn''t say all of these to threaten Kisuke, but to assure the two, namely Tsubaki and Akeno that he isn''t as dangerous as it seems. Truthfully, she didn''t know how strong Kisuke really is, but she needs to establish a friendly connection with him and if the two behind her are too scared toe in contact with him, that would only make it difficult for her.


    Kisuke knew her intentions and yed along with her as that is also his goal, "You''re right, Kaichou-chan~. I can only fight after stacking my spells, so I''ll be doomed if I run out of ammo." Kisuke took out his fan and covered his face as heughs.


    Akeno and Tsubaki visibly sighed in relief due to Sona and Kisuke''s words, although Kisuke thought that they are too naive to easily believe that ruse.


    "Moving on, let''s discuss the terms now. I presumed that you need us to keep quiet of what we witness here?" Sona pushes forward the conversation.


    "Yep. What do you want in exchange for that?"


    "Be my Knight." Sona expressed her intention strongly.


    Kisuke''s smile didn''t break and smiled, "No can do, Kaichou. And you know that I wouldn''t agree with that."


    Tsubaki and Akeno were shocked at Sona''s first proposal, but after thinking about it again, someone like Kisuke is very wee in any peerage of High-ss Devils.


    "Then help me one time." Sona immediately changes her condition since she''s just trying her luck on him.


    "Regarding what?" Kisuke furrowed his brows.


    "I won''t do anything."


    "That''s fine. You can decide whether you want to ept my request or not when the timees."


    "�� Just that?"


    "That''s everything. Knowing more about you today is enough for me." Sona gave him a beautiful smile.


    "Can I think of it as you trying to get on my good side?" Kisuke reached out his right towards Sona.


    "Feel free to." Sona smiled and shook his hand, sealing the deal.


    Sona then turned to Akeno, "It''s your turn."


    Akeno nodded at her and faced Kisuke, "Please be Rias'' Knight." Akeno, contrary to Sona''s casual demeanor, bowed down in front of him.


    "I have no intention of bing a Devil and going under someone." Since she''s asking nicely, Kisuke answered her.


    Akeno returned to her serious expression and said, "Well then, with my real condition. I want you to stop Koneko froming here and training her."


    "Akeno-senpai!?" Koneko reacted greatly at her words as she didn''t want to cut her connection with Kisuke.


    "Koneko-chan, you can still live and hang out in his ce and I don''t have the right to stop you from doing so. But regarding him training you, I would like you to stop. It''s too dangerous! Look what just happened!" Akeno turned to Koneko and gently exined.


    "But�� I still have a lot to learn from both of them." Koneko looked down dejected. Inside, she''s feeling fear from witnessing two instances of transformation, ''What if I can''t ovee it? Will Kisuke-senpai and Yoruichi-san confine or kill me? What if I hurt those who are important to me because I lose control of myself. What if��'' Various what ifs went through her mind cementing the already festering fear inside her.


    "If you want to get stronger, I''ll ask Rias to look for someone more suitable for your skills, like someone from Kyoto''s Youkai Faction. With Rias'' connection, it''s very possible."


    "��" Koneko wanted to say something but can''t find her words.


    "And besides, from today''s events, I''m sorry to be rude�� But they are the type of people that would even risk their lives just to gain power. Do you really desperately need power?"


    That question of hers reminded Koneko of what she is doing her. Earlier, she''s feeling confused at Akeno''s sudden deration of stopping her froming here. And since she has been a big sister for a big part of her life, she ended up listening to her words and almost following her because it''s always like this, and both her and Rias just wanted what''s best for her. But isn''t it about time for her to decide for what she wants regardless of their opinions? But what about her fear? She remembered the scene where Kisuke loses control and hurt Yoruichi. That time, Kisuke could forgo his concerns because there is someone he could trust with his life, and that''s exactly Koneko is looking for. Herrades are good especially her master since she took great care of her regardless of her origin. But deep inside, Koneko knew that Rias also fears her a little due to some possibilities of losing control of herself so she couldn''t let go of everything and just trust anyone. That''s why she didn''t open up with anyone. She too wanted a kind of rtionship like Kisuke and Yoruichi''s rtionship. Maybe if she follows them more, she''ll know more about it and find one for herself.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi already gave her a chance to be independent from them and do things on her own will. Even though she is slowly bing dependent on them, she wanted to learn more so that one day, she can return their goodwill and more. Of course, she not being rebellious, it''s just that she knew that she couldn''t keep up this way forever and has to take a step forward for herself.


    "But you might turn into a monster if you follow them!" Akeno said askance.


    "That''s fine. They already warned me about it before then even train me for real and I already agreed to it." Koneko is reprimanding herself inwardly as she already made her resolution, but she allowed Akeno''s words to sway her, ''I can''t be hesitating at every step I take.''


    "Why are you doing this?"


    "To take back my sister!"


    "Sister? What do you mean? But your sister is-" Before Akeno could finish her sentence, Kisuke suddenly interrupted her.


    "That''s enough~. Here is my answer. No."


    "But-"


    "If she doesn''t agree, then I''ll do the same. Just propose another one. We can''t be here forever." Kisuke interrupted her one more time, but this time, with more force, shutting her up.


    Akeno took a step back and decided not to pursue it any further. She''ll have more chance of persuading Koneko at ater time. She stayed silent for a while before opening her mouth again, "I have two conditions."


    "First is I want you to help the Gremory Peerage when they are in danger one time."


    "Hmmm�� Okay." Kisuke agreed easily as he would help them anyway if they''re in deep sh*t because of Koneko, Asia and Issei.


    "The second one is�� Allow me to watch while you train Koneko."


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and stared at her, a trace of fear and worry is still in her eyes, "You can''t reveal anything regarding your time here."


    Akeno sighed in relief, "I ept, and thank you." She extended her hand for a handshake and Kisuke epted it.

 Volume 3 98 - Engagement

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 98 - Engagement</h4>


    After sealing the deal with magic, all of the guests went home and retired for the night. Sakura called Aika''s parents and informed them that she''s already sleeping and won''t be able to go home for tonight. Of course, this created a new wave of misunderstandings but Sakura already gave up correcting them as they wouldn''t listen anyway.


    Ophis also left a few minutes after the guests left. Nobody knows what is she thinking as she kept staring without a word at Kisuke.


    Sakura and Koneko apanied Aika to sleep as they are already too tired from today''s events even though they didn''t do much.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi, who is back to her cat form, returned to their room and also nning to retire for today.


    Laying beside Kisuke, Yoruichi asks, "That strike from Aika is pretty strong, can she keep doing that?"


    "Nope. What she used as fuel for that is the Reiatsu-Ki that I injected her to stimte and transform her energy source and both the energies of those two dragons. Her potential is big, but currently, she weaker than all of official Shinigamis or maybe even weaker than the students of the academy. She doesn''t know any swordy or Kidou, she doesn''t even have the mindset of a fighter. All she knows is some basic energy control. With that said, I''ll leave her training for you. She could be our hidden ace in the future." Kisuke slowly muttered as he went to sleep.


    "I''ll leave her Zanjutsu training to you." Yoruichi also closed her eyes and slipped into dreand while feeling Kisuke warmth.


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, Akeno went to the clubroom early in the morning. She wasn''t able to report yesterday to Rias since she was not avablest night and had to do something.


    Akeno entered through the door and saw Rias sitting on the desk with a crumpled face. It seems that she didn''t notice Akeno entering so she called her out, "Good morning, Rias. Are you okay? Did something happened?"


    Rias looked up and saw the concerned look on Akeno''s face and made a wry smile, "Right�� But I''ll tell you after I hear your report. What happenedst night? It seems that you took longer than expected."


    Akeno inadvertently made aplicated expression, "Nothing�� really. I asked Sona-kaichou to take me with her to apologize for what happened and she allowed me. After that, we reached his ce and we had to wait for a while since he''s out. When he returned, he''s already with Koneko and another second-year student named Kiryuu Aika. Sona-kaichou apologized first and we followed suit and he epted it."


    "Then what seems to be the problem?" Rias furrowed her brows at Akeno''s expression?


    "What��?" Rias didn''t know what to think of it, "How did that happen?"


    "I also don''t know the full story but from their words, it seems that Sona-kaichou kept bothering Urahara Kisuke that Tsubaki has to chores because she''s feeling guilty."


    Rias'' mouth is twitching after hearing this, ''Really, how did that happen?'' She decided not to ask further as it''s better to hear it from the person herself, "What else?"


    "I mentioned about a second-year student named Kiryuu Aika and investigated her a bitst night when you''re not around and found that she only a normal person, but in Urahara''s house, she seems to know about the existence of the supernatural world and also quite close to Sona-kaichou and Tsubaki."


    "A normal person? Yet Sona didn''t erase her memories? On top of that, she''s pretty close to her? Is that everything?"


    Akeno wanted to say more but she''s already under a contract to keep what happened on the underground space a secret, so she just nodded.


    "That''s really strange�� And all of this is happening around Urahara Kisuke and Sona. I have to set up a meeting with her sometimeter. Anything else?"


    Akeno took a deep breath and said, "Onest thing. Urahara Kisuke, we can''t underestimate him. Sona-kaichou already formed a friendly rtion with him, I suggest that we do the same."


    "Why?" Rias stared intently at Akeno as she knew that she wouldn''t do something just because a friend or an acquaintance is also doing it.


    "Something happened that you can''t mention?" Rias continued staring at her without a change in her expression.


    Akeno didn''t answer and just looked out of the window.


    "Haah�� Fine. We won''t antagonize him any further. But what about Koneko? We can''t just leave her to him." Rias rested on her chair as she let out arge sigh. She trusted her best friend and Queen.


    "Don''t worry about it. Urahara Kisuke permitted me to watch over Koneko while he train her when I asked him, although he won''t allow anyone else aside from me because he said that he doesn''t want more people watching them." Akeno sighed in relief at Rias'' decision.


    "How about I ask him too?" Rias asks.


    And Akeno shook her head immediately, "I doubt that he''ll agree. Between you and me, it seems like he doesn''t like you more."


    "Well I don''t like him either, hmmfp" Rias snorted at Akeno''s words.


    "How about you? What happened?"


    When Akeno asked this, Rias expression turned downcast, "It''s about my engagement."


    "They did! But the detestable third son of Phenex wants it to happen now! And the elders of both families also couldn''t wait any longer!" Rias gritted her teeth in frustration.


    "What about Sirzechs-sama? Did he try to stop this?"


    "He didn''t! On the contrary, it seems that he also wanted to proceed with these arrangements." Rias pped her right hand down to the table.


    But Akeno is confused. If she only receives the news, then there is no reason to be out all night, "What did you dost night?"


    Rias looked away and muttered, "I t�� to�� m����sei."


    "What? I didn''t hear you."


    This time, Rias spoke in a louder voice, "I tried to give my virginity to Issei."


    "You what!? Then right now�� you''re��" Akeno didn''t doubt her as she knew that Rias might really do something like that.


    Rias gets what she''s trying to say and refuted her, "No. Grayfia stopped me at thest moment."


    "Yes."


    "Then what''s going to happen now?"


    "It seems that Riser Phenex willeter and will try to persuade me."

 Volume 3 99 - Porn Magazine

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 99 - Porn Magazine</h4>


    Early morning, aftering to school, Issei dragged Kisuke along with Asia in a secluded corner of the hallway where there are only a few students passing by.


    "Kisuke, why didn''t you tell me?" Issei made a serious expression along with Asia as he whispered to him.


    "Hmm? What are you talking about?" Kisuke immediately feigned ignorance.


    "You know what I''m talking about! We''re friends, aren''t we? You can trust me you know." Issei raised his voice but it still trying to whisper.


    Kisuke stared at him and made a serious expression, "Your right, we''re friends. I should have told you long ago." He then patted Issei''s right shoulder. Issei stayed quiet and waited for his confession.


    "That day, It was me who put in those super-fine super chili powder on you three''s porn magazines." Kisuke made a pained expression as he confesses.


    "That''s not what I was talking about!�� Wait�� It was you!? YOU BASTARD!!! WE THREE ALMOST BECAME EUNUCH THAT DAY!!!" Issei didn''t care anymore about the mor he is making and threw a punch towards the already grinning Kisuke. Kisuke easily dodges it by shifting his body to the side a little bit.


    "Then don''t just leave those things lying around for everyone to see." Kisuke kept dodging Issei''s attack.


    From the side, Asia suddenly raised her voice, "Uhmm, what are you two talking about?"


    Both of them stopped moving at Asia question and Kisuke suddenly started exining, "You see Asia-chan when a boy reached a certain age, he would always want tofort himself if he got hold of a porn magazine. And coincidentally, it''s also Issei''s second favorite thing after boobs."


    "Damn you! Stop talking!" Issei resumed attacking him with greater vigor and Kisuke also resumed dodging, now making annoyingughs.


    "What''s a porn magazine," Asia asks as she tilted her head to the side.


    Both of them, once again, stopped what they are doing and they gave Asia an incredulous look. After being stunned for a moment, Kisuke''s grin grew wider.


    Before Issei could react, Kisuke suddenly took out a porn magazine out of nowhere and threw it away, "Quick, Asia-chan! That''s a porn magazine! Get it before Issei does! He won''t let you see his second most favorite thing in the world if he gets it first."


    Issei finally reacted to his words, "Like hell, I would let you!!!" And dashed towards the flying porn magazine. Since Kisuke threw it some force, it flew across the hallway and onlynding 70 meters away from their original position.


    But after he turned around, expecting Asia to follow him to take a peek on this porn magazine, despair overtook him.


    Kisuke is nowhere to be found and Asia didn''t actually move from her position and is now holding the same copy of porn magazine in Issei''s hand while reading it with flushed face, "Awawawa�� H-how could that fit? That''s impossible!"


    Kisuke threw the first magazine to distract Issei and handed the second copy to Asia after he took the bait. After doing all of that, he ran away to escape.


    "KISUKE YOU BASTARD!!!" Issei''s howl was heard throughout the building and they started to gather attention and most of them are curious at what Asia is reading as she has a very flushed face.


    Realizing the situation, Issei hurriedly snatched the porn magazine from Asia''s hands which already stopped moving because of too much information that she didn''t know possible and tucked it under his clothes, "Asia-chan! Forget what''s inside this book. It isn''t for you. Let go back to the room, the ss is about to start. We can''t bete." Issei decided to be a good student to dodge the issue and dragged Asia back to the ssroom. They returned to the room while avoiding the gaze of onlookers. When they entered they both saw Kisuke grinning at them from his seat.


    "Damn you, Kisuke." Issei clenched his fist and red at him.


    "ssmate Issei, the ss is about to start. How about you sit down and review some notes to prepare for the ss?" Kisuke replied as such and ignore them altogether.


    Issei sighed and returned to his own seat. He knew that Kisuke won''t be talking about the things he wants to know. But he knows for sure that he''s a friend�� a good friend. That''s enough for him.


    Issei looked around and saw that there are three downed students, namely Matsuda, Motohama and Aika. He understood the reason for Matsuda and Motohama''s deted mood but he''s confused at what can make this rowdy perverted sses quiet.


    Both of them slowly turned their heads towards Kisuke and cried out loud, " "Kisuke! Why didn''t you go with us!?" "


    "Huh? Go where?" Kisuke tilted his head in wonderment.


    " "To the mixer, Issei has prepared!" " Both of them continue to cry as they shake and grab Kisuke''s uniform.


    "Mixer?�� Ah�� that one with Mil-tan? As I said, I''m busy yesterday. What happened?" Kisuke asks while inwardly, ''I just had a very bad feeling seeing Issei''s smile so I didn''t risk it.''


    " "That bastard Issei set us up to a body builder! And even worse, the big guy likes cosying as Magical Girl!!!" " The perverts let out all their grievance to Kisuke.


    Kisuke sighed in relief, ''Good thing I missed it. I can''t imagine that nightmare.'' "Then you just have to escape right?"


    " "That''s what we nned. But it was all thwarted when a wave of them suddenly appeared behind us! It was our worst nightmare!" "


    "A wave of them!? Lucky me!" Kisuke wiped his cold sweat forming on his forehead. No matter how strong Kisuke is, he can''t handle that kind of pyschological attacks.


    " "Lucky you!? Comfort us you bastard!" "


    " "Hmm?" " The perverts followed the direction Kisuke is pointing and saw the primary criminal for their suffering, " "Issei! So you''re here! Die for our sake! Bastard!" " Motohama and Matsuda then chased him out of the ssroom after Issei started running away.


    "What a rowdy bunch~." Kisukemented as he chuckles.


    "You don''t have the right to say that�� Ugh��" Aika, while diving on her desk, quietly retorted. Her whole body is sore from yesterday''s events and the demonic cat didn''t allow her to skip sses.

 Volume 3 100 - The Chosen Hero, Sona

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 100 - The Chosen Hero, Sona</h4>


    The school went by without any further incident, but Kisuke knew that it wouldn''t be long before someone bothers him.


    After the sses ended, Kisuke exited through the window leaving only a letter on his desk. The teacher tried to reprimand him but Kisuke ignored him and went on his way to have some fun. The teacher just shook his head in resignation because he can''t really do anything against him as he is one of the top students of the school although ''a bit'' entric.


    After a few minutes when the teacher left the ssroom, as Kisuke expected, the one who will bother him came.


    Sona stopped at the door and peeked inside. Noticing that Kisuke is not inside she asks one of the remaining students, namely Issei, "Hyoudou-kun, Do you know where did Urahara go?"


    Issei, Asia, and Aika are also confused at why Kisuke exited through the window and only leaving a note on his table, "Kaichou�� I don''t know where he went. He just suddenly jumped through the window. When the ss ended leaving only a piece of paper." Issei pointed at where he went through.


    Sona suddenly had a bad feeling so she immediately approached Kisuke''s desk and read the note on it.


    [Legend says that there exist magical treasures so powerful that they can change the world scattered throughout the continent.


    Due to some undesirable coincidence, the Demon King (Me) managed to get hold of some of these magical treasures (Cosy Photos) that can plunge the world (the school) into disorder (social).


    The Demon King spread these treasures throughout the world and is waiting for the right time to activate it. You are the chosen Hero (Sona) to stop the Demon King''s evil n. You would have to go through a series of quests and riddles to gather all the treasures and seal it for all eternity.


    Dear Hero, please defeat the Demon King and save the world from the impending disaster. You''re our only hope!


    *Ding* The Hero Sona found some clues to the whereabouts of the first treasure (Maid Cosy). Please proceed to the Gymnasium for your first quest.


    Main Quest:


    You have to find all treasures before others find it.]


    Sona tore the paper into many pieces before jumping through the window and running towards the Gymnasium direction while shouting, "Kisuke! I''ll skin you alive!"


    That day, many students would see the Student Council President walking briskly around the whole school with a re and asional cursing under her breath. They all thought the same, ''Who will die today?''


    .


    .


    .


    Late in the afternoon, when most of the students went home already, Kisuke is looking around to find the final destination of Sona''s quest.


    He found the teacher''s lounge a suitable ce, but when he''s about to ce Sona''s picture, he suddenly felt an aura of a Devil that he haven''t encounter suddenly appear at the old school building. Specifically, the ult Research Club''s room, "Hmmm? Is something happening? Koneko-chan is also there including that not so pleasant maid�� Yosh, change of ns."


    Kisuke scraped the paper he is holding and used sh Step to go back to the previous room and change some things on the handwritten note that is posted under the table of the room.


    Kisuke then went to the old building and stopped outside while carefully hiding his aura. He went around it and the window of the ult Research Club room entered his vision. He looked around before deciding a spot and set up a magic circle with discement function. Kisuke then used sh Step to enter through the window sitting on one of the chairs and enjoying the drama that is currently ensuing.


    .


    .


    .


    "The President is worried about something? Must be trouble in the house of Gremory." Kiba Yuuto replied to Issei when he asks about Rias'' strange behavior these past few days.


    Issei, Asia, and Yuuto are walking through the hallway of the old school building. They got a summon from the ''Queen'' Akeno Himejima that they have an important meeting today.


    "You think Akeno-san would know what''s going on?" Issei continued to ask.


    "Akeno-san is the President''s confidante. Of course, she would know."


    Issei scratched his head and thought, ''I know it''s not right to pry, but I have to wonder aboutst night�� It''s not like I can tell anyone about it, though.''


    As they are nearing the door of the Clubroom, Yuuto suddenly stopped and muttered, "Hmm? This is the first time I''ve felt this presence."


    "Hmm? What''s up?" Issei turned his head to Yuuto in wonderment while opening the door.


    Inside the room, with the addition of the members of the Gremory peerage, a maid is standing beside Rias, ''That''s the maid who stopped us yesterday.''


    The maid turned her gaze at them and Asia hid behind Issei due to the presence of someone unknown and is looking for security. Issei patted her head tofort her, "It''s okay."


    "Great, everyone''s here. Before we get to the Club business, we need to talk." Rias announce when thest three entered the room.


    "Mdy, shall I begin?" The maid, Grayfia spoke as she asks for permission to do the announcement.


    Rias raised her hand towards her to stop her. She then took a deep breath and said, "The truth is, as it happens-"


    But before she could speak further, an orange magic circle suddenly appeared in the middle of the room bringing with it surges of fire and wind.


    "That''s the crest of Pheonix��" Yuutomented as a man appeared inside the circle.


    "Hmph. Long-time no see, Human world." The man snorted as he walks out of the circle.


    The man is a tall and handsome young man in his early 20''s with short blond hair and dark blue eyes.


    His outfit consists of a burgundy zer with gold embroidery on the right with matching pants and ck dress shoes. Underneath his open zer is a white dress shirt that is not fully buttoned (just one button short), giving a slight view to his chest.


    "I''vee for you dear Rias."

 Volume 3 101 - Riser Phenex

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 101 - Riser Phenex</h4>


    "I''vee for you, my dear Rias." The gaudy man approached Rias in a very casual manner. He then put his arm over Rias'' shoulders and continued speaking, "The date''s also been decided. The sooner the better, I say."


    Rias immediately shook him off and eximed, "Get off me! Riser."


    "Oh�� Hahaha, your so easily flustered Rias." The man Rias called Riser justughed at her reaction.


    Watching all of these happening in front of him, Issei didn''t like it and he confronted the neer, "Hey! You! Stop being rude to Buchou! I mean what kind of guy treats ady like that!?"


    Riser transferred his attention to Issei and red at him, "Huh? Who the heck are you?"


    "I''m Hyoudou Issei, a ''Pawn'' serving under Rias Gremory-sama!" Issei introduced himself with great vigor.


    "Hooh�� Is that right." But Riser just replied to him with a deadpan expression. His interest in Issei disappeared.


    Issei also didn''t like that so he asks, "Who are you, anyway!?"


    "Tch." After clicking his tongue, he faced Rias, "Huh? You haven''t told your servants about me, Rias? I mean, is there anyone who doesn''t know who I am? Or did you revive this one?"


    "I didn''t tell them because there is no need! Hmmph!" Rias snorted at his words.


    "Oh dear�� As hard on me as ever huh�� ha-ha-ha��" Riser was pissed at her attitude but he didn''t show it and it''s pretty obvious that hisugh is fake.


    Grayfia noticed that every member of Rias'' peerage except for Akeno are confused at the appearance of the man, so he introduced him instead of Rias, "This is Riser Phenex-sama. He is a High-ss pure-blooded Devil and the third son of the venerable house of Phenex. And�� He is to be groom to the heir of the Gremory House."


    Issei didn''t quite get her words so he confirmed again, "Huh? Groom? Isn''t Buchou the heir of the Gremory Household?"


    "Yes. He is engaged tody Rias." Grayfia changed her words for Issei to easier to understand it.


    " " "EHHH!?" " " Except for Akeno and Koneko, the three remaining members reacted the same to the revtion.


    Rias looked away as she didn''t really want to acknowledge it, but Riser continued to pester her, "Enough! Riser, I''ve already said, I won''t marry you!"


    Riser didn''t immediately retort to her, he walked over the sofa and sat down, "But isn''t your family already at their wits'' end over this?" Grayfia prepared a cup of tea for him and set it down on the table in front of him.


    "They worry too much! As the sessor, I should be free to choose my own husband!" Rias won''t back down as her future is in line, "They are all in such a hurry. I was promised freedom up until the time I began college in the Human world." She muttered as she shot a ce to Grayfia, but she ignored it.


    Riser picked up the cup of tea and smelled it for a bit before speaking, "Sirzechs and your parents are worried about the survival of your family line. We lost many purebloods in the three-way war between God, Fallen Angels, and Devils. And several houses were driven to extinction."


    Rias paused for a bit and took a sip of his tea before continuing, "Haah�� So it''s only natural for the name-bearing purebloods to join together to preserve our house and bloodlines, no? Surely you understand why children born to High-ss purebloods are so valuable.


    "Revived Devils just like your servants have been filling the ranks as ofte, but that hardly does anything to strengthen the positions of our esteemed pureblood families. New blood is good, but we can''t very well allow the pureblood to all die off, can we?


    "Your brother Sirzechs-sama already left your house, that leaves you, Rias, the only sessor of the Gremory Household. As more of so-called ''Seventy-two Pirs'' fall, you must see that the future of all Devils is tied to our impending marriage." Riser then stopped speaking and continued to enjoy his tea.


    Issei almost knew nothing so he asks Yuuto who is beside him, " ''Seventy-Two Pirs'' What are those?"


    Yuuto looked at him and answered, "Long ago, There were seventy-two rank-holding ns that prided themselves on their power, but most were eradicated during the three-way war. The distinguished house of Gremory and Phenex are two of the small number that survived."


    Issei touched his chin, looking worried, "I got pissed when I heard about this engagement, but it looks like the situation in the Underworld is prettyplex��"


    Rias stayed silent for a while before speaking, "I won''t let my house fall to ruin. I n to bring a son-inw into the fold eventually."


    Riser like what she said and he stood up, approached her again and pointed to himself all confident, "Well then, marry m-"


    But before he could finish his words, Rias snorted at him and said, "But I won''t marry you. The one I''ll marry will be of my own choosing. As a member of a reputable family, I have at least that much right." She then turned her back to him.


    This angered Riser greatly who is already prideful, "Tch, I too bear the reputation of House Phenex�� I won''t have it sullied." Riser''s aura suddenly red up and Rias was forced to look at him again with a furrowed brows, "Though I came all this way just to meet with you, I don''t much care for the Human world��"


    Wings of mes sprouted from his back generating unbearable heat, "The wind and me of this realm are foul! To a Devil whomands wind and me, it''s intolerable! I will take you back to the Devil Realm, even if I have to incinerate everyst one of your servants."


    From the side, Asia cowered behind Issei andmented, "Those mes�� just a touch, and we''d be burned to ashes��"


    Rias faced him and didn''t back down from his threat, "Just try it, if you think you can, Riser."


    Grayfia, who''s been silently watching all of this unfold red up her Demonic Power putting pressure on all those present in the room, "Mdy, Riser-sama, please calm yourselves. I will not be able to stand by idly should you take this any further. And for the sake of Sirzechs-sama''s honor, I would not hold back." She then red at both of them.


    Riser and Rias stopped what they are doing as they felt her seriousness in those words. They didn''t want to take on the one who is known as the so-called ''Strongest Queen''. Riser took back his wings and Rias stepped back a bit to calm herself.


    Riser is about to speak again and he was interrupted by a cup of tea hitting its ter strangely resounded throughout the room and was followed by the voice of a young man full of casualness who shouldn''t be in the room, "Whew�� That was scary. I almost spat out my tea��"


    Everyone looked over in shock, except for a certain white-haired little girl, to where the voice came from and the young man continued speaking, "Oh hey, good day to all of you and I''m sorry for intruding. I know it''s not my right to speak, but I have a suggestion. How about you do this Rating Game of yours that I hear so much about to resolve your issue?"

 Volume 3 102 - Watching a Real Life Drama

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 102 - Watching a Real Life Drama</h4>


    Everyone looked over in shock, except for a certain white-haired little girl, to where the voice came from and the young man continued speaking, "Oh hey, good day to all of you and I''m sorry for intruding. I know it''s not my right to speak, but I have a suggestion. How about you do this Rating Game of yours that I hear so much about to resolve your issue?"


    The young man, Urahara Kisuke is sitting on the chair set beside the Rias'' desk with a piping hot tea on it. He''s wearing the standard issued uniform of the Kuoh Academy and also a green and white striped hat that doesn''t match his attire at all.


    Grayfia''s wariness suddenly shoots up and asks, "Why are you here? And how did youe in here without anyone''s notice?" She red at him and focused her pressure on Kisuke.


    Kisuke raised both of his arms in surrender but the smile on his face haven''t disappeared, "Wait wait wait! I''m just here because I''m looking for a refuge."


    "Refuge? What are you running away from? And why here?" Grayfia didn''t ease up her stance as she continues to question him.


    "A certain bob-cut hair sses Devil girl is currently out for my neck. And because she''s a Devil too, I thought that other Devils can stop her and talk some sense to her." Kisuke spouted his impromptu excuse without stuttering or hesitating.


    When Kisuke describes his pursuer, all of them had the image of Sona in their heads. Rias, a good friend of Sona wanted to confirm this and asks him, "Are you referring to Sona Sitri?"


    "Yep~." Kisuke put his hands down and answered.


    Grayfia eased up her aura but she didn''t let her guard down around him, especially after he sneaked in without her realizing. She also knew the youngdy and heir of the Sitri House and how she acts. She knew that she wouldn''t be chasing someone without a good reason if this man is telling the truth, "Why would she chase after you?"


    "Because where currently ying the game called ''The Hero''s Road''. Sona-kaichou is ying the Hero role and I''m acting as the Demon King and the final boss she has to defeat. But she got so into it that now she wanted my head of my shoulders." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and sighed in resignation, though deep inside, he''s having a good time.


    All of them were confused especially those who knew Sona personally because they are very sure that she would never y such silly games as serious as she is.


    Grayfia didn''t inquire further about the game they are ying as she thought that Kisuke is trying throwing her off by focusing the subject to something ridiculous and unbelievable, "If that''s the case, why did you hid your presence to all of us?"


    "You got it wrong, maid-san. I didn''t hide my presence from all of you. Who did you think served me this tea?" Kisuke defended his ''innocence''.


    Rias, Akeno and Yuuto reacted to his words. Due to their superhuman senses, they got a whiff of the fragranceing off the tea, then the three of them looked over Koneko in shock as the tea has the same fragrance when she makes it, "Koneko�� Did you serve him that tea?" Rias asks.


    Koneko nodded to her question which made Grayfia furrow her brows more in contemtion, ''He capable of manipting his aura to the point that he can reveal it only to some selected individual? Even though he isn''t strong, his talent for control is monstrous.''


    "When did he appear here?" Akeno followed up with another question. She knows what Kisuke is capable of and only she and Koneko knew of it so she is quite concerned about his presence.


    "A minute or two after Riser-sama arrived," Koneko answered her without changing her expression.


    "He''s been here that long!? Why didn''t you tell us he entered the room!? And how did he hid his presence that even Grayfia didn''t notice it!?" Rias didn''t like how someone else easily entered her domain without her notice.


    "He told me that he''s just here to watch the drama and kill some time. He will leave if Sona-kaichou is about to arrive. As for how he hid his presence�� I don''t know." Koneko didn''t break her expression as she answers her because she''s already expecting these things when she noticed that Kisuke invaded the room with a grin while wearing his favorite hat, even though it doesn''t look good with his uniform.


    "D-drama? Kill some time!?" Rias'' mouth is twitching at the unexpected answer.


    But before she could react further, Kisuke spoke, exining how he hid his presence, "I''m quite confident with my Senjutsu skills and maid-san over here is not actively searching her surroundings. I came here without any ill intent so she failed to detect me."


    "Even then, it shouldn''t be possible to hide from her." Rias red at him.


    "Please�� Even if you have the strongest detection skill, you wouldn''t really mind a harmless insecting to your range, would you? And beside, I can''t do it for long. See how my concentration broke when she released her Demonic Power so wildly?" Kisuke''s smile grew bigger with her re.


    Grayfia didn''t let Rias say more as she noticed that she''s getting agitated around his presence more than Riser''s and supported his im, "He right. His Senjutsu is powerfull enough to imitate the aura of a mosquito. I detected a mosquito entering but paid it no heed."


    "��Who is this guy? Why is this human meddling with our business?" Staying silent for a while, Riser finally raised his voice.


    "Oh, how rude of me. Urahara Kisuke, just a humble candy store owner. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Kisuke lifted his hat for a bit as he introduces himself and put it back on, "As I said earlier, I just seeking refuge in this room please don''t mind me. Me suggesting the Rating Game is just because I''m quite curious about it."


    Riser snorted at him andpletely ignored him. He is already underestimating him because he''s just a mere Human.


    Issei and Asia are confused with Kisuke presence but they got over it fast because they knew that he would just haphazardly appear just about everywhere like a ghost. What caught their interest is the Rating Game he is talking about. Issei asks his senpai at bing a Devil, Yuuto, "What''s this Rating Game?"


    "A contest that pits teams of servants against each other." Yuuto didn''t fail his expectations and continued, "These games affect the hierarchy in Devil Society so it has to be taken seriously. But I Buchou still can''tpete in it because she isn''t a fully grown Devil yet."


    Grayfia put Kisuke aside first as this is the chance to continue their discussion, but her attention didn''t leave him entirely as he might do something, "As you say, Mdy cannot participate yet in the formal games, but underage Devils may engage in unofficial matches. There are many such instances. And just like Urahara said, a Rating Game is also a choice as ast resort. Mdy, if you insist on having it your way, then how about you settle this with a Rating Game."


    Rias also ignored Kisuke for now and continued exining after Grayfia, "What!?"


    Even Riser was shocked at her words as it''s not easy to get permission to start a Rating Game even unofficial, ''Did she just agreed with the human?�� No, that''s impossible. It''s already prepared beforehand.''

 Volume 3 103 - Arrival of the Hero

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 103 - Arrival of the Hero</h4>


    "In other words, Father didn''t just anticipate my refusal but he also went ahead and prepared for these games�� Will they ever stop interfering with my life!?" Rias let out a huge sigh of resignation.


    "Mdy, do I take that you refuse the game as well?" Grayfia stared at her.


    "Hardly! I''ll never have a chance like this, so I consent." Rias got her energy back. She then faced Riser, "We''ll settle this with a game, Riser."


    "Hmm? You''re going for it? It makes no difference to me, but you should know I''ve participated in official matches many times and have a number of wins. Still so eager, Rias?" Riser just shrugged his shoulders at her deration.


    "Of course! I''m going to blow you away!" Rias red at him.


    "Fine, then. Should you win, you do as you please. But when I win, you''ll marry me immediately, Rias." Riser returned her red with a slight smirk.


    "I, Grayfia, have received consent from both of you. As the mediator between your houses, I will handle the operations of this game. Is this understood?" Grayfia interrupted them and dered.


    "Yes." "Sure." And both of them agreed while ring at each other.


    "This looks interesting~. Where do I get a ticket? I''ll even pay for a VIP seat you know~. By the way, do you allow pets inside?" Kisuke suddenlymented ignoring the mood.


    Both Riser and Rias transferred their res and threatened him. Even Grayfia didn''t like how he speaks so casually and red her Demonic Power again.


    Kisuke raised his hands again and quickly said, "Okay okay! No tickets! Geez�� I''m just a lowly Human and a small-time business owner, no need to get that angry. Just a simple no is enough and I wouldn''t even insist it."


    Even Grayfia was surprised at her reaction and questioned herself, ''Am I this easily provoked? Or is it just his natural ability to attract hostility?''


    Then they heard her muttering, "Now then, how should I ckmail Sona-kaichou for letting me watch��"


    Rias and her peerage members are having cold sweats as they knew that not just anyone could casually mutter about ckmailing Sona.


    Riser couldn''t take it anymore and confronted him, "You bastard! You said you''re going to ckmail her!? How dare you shame someone who is a pureblooded High-ss Devil! I won''t allow more insultsing from you!" The me wings suddenly appeared on his back again and his aura fluctuated greatly.


    "No no no! You misunderstand! That''s just a friendly joke! I said I''ll ckmail her, but in truth, I''m just going to beg her for a seat." Kisuke hurriedly exined.


    "Friendly!? You a lowly Human bing friendly with someone like her!? Don''t joke around! I''ll burn you to ashes today!" Riser didn''t back off and slowly approach Kisuke. Inside Kisuke''s mind, he''s contemting whether he should burn this fried chicken or just freeze him.


    Grayfia didn''t interfere as she''s curious about what''s about to happen and that''s the same for Rias and Yuuto, although Grayfia intended to help him when he''s about to get killed as he really is a very good seedling for Rias'' peerage.


    Akeno is worried, not for Kisuke but for Riser and she already saw what he''s capable of. If Sona''s guess about him being able to stack offensive spells is right, then he can even hurt an Ultimate-ss Devil is he get''s a good chance. She wanted to warn Riser but didn''t do it as she hates him more than Kisuke.


    Koneko is not worried at all because she knew that Kisuke can y around Riser like he''s an actual small bird. The only people who are panicking are Issei and Asia, "Please stop this. He didn''t mean to insult you! Please forgive him!" Asia mustered her courage and spoke up. But her pleas were ignored as they just stand there unmoving. Issei is about to rush out when the door suddenly opened.


    "Hold it right there. He''s right. It''s just a friendly joke. I don''t feel insulted at all as we''ve always joked about things like this." Sona appeared behind the door and stopped Riser. Although she spoke calmly, beads of sweat are forming on her forehead and her breathing is slightly haggard. It''s obvious for all of them that ran hurriedly before entering the room and all of them had the same question inside their heads, ''She hurried over just for him?''


    Unbeknown to them, however, Sona is only haggard because of Kisuke''s sh*tty quests that she has to run around the whole school. Sona red at him and sent him a message through her eyes alone ''We have to talkter!'' Of course, everyone just thought that she''s reprimanding him due to his rudeness.


    "You''re going to vouch for this Human, Sona?" Riser transferred his gaze to Sona.


    "Yes. So step back, and let me handle him." Sona replied.


    "Hooh? What if I insist on burning him no matter what?" Riser smirked at her as he wouldn''t even think that a High-ss Devil like her would strongly defend this Human. She''ll probably plead for leniency.


    But contrary to Riser and most of the people in the room''s expectation, Sona red up her Demonic Power with greater vigor ignoring their reactions, "Then I would have to drown you today." Snakes made of water started forming all over the room dropping the temperature considerably, "Don''t test me, Riser."


    Riser is bbergasted at her reaction, "Are you insane!? You would prioritize this Human over me? A fellow pureblooded High-ss Devil!?"


    Sona in return, just sneered at him, "I''m prioritizing a good friend over an acquaintance. Fair enough?"


    Before things could go any worse, Grayfia goes in between the two of them, "Please stop it you two. I would really have no choice but make a move myself if you go any further." She then shot a nce to Kisuke who is in the middle of all of this, "Please mind your words at the presence of others. You should just do it in private."


    Sona dismissed her Demonic Power and walk beside Kisuke while eyeing Riser. After making sure that he won''t make any move, she sighed in relief and gave Kisuke a kick to his shin. But because Kisuke''s body is harder than normal, Sona wince in pain and red at Kisuke, ''It''s not my fault.'' Kisuke did a wronged expression in response.

 Volume 3 103 - You Shouldnt Get Too Violent~

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 103 - You Shouldn''t Get Too Violent~</h4>


    Seeing their interaction, it''s very obvious that the two of them don''t have a normal rtionship, "Tch��" Riser clicked his tongue and turned around ignoring the two. He doesn''t have the time and energy to mess with the two. He knows that he wouldn''t be able to touch Kisuke with Sona around so he refocused her attention to Rias who is making aplex expression while looking at the two, "Rias, I suppose this ragtag group of brats is all the servants you have?"


    Rias shook her head and turned to Riser with furrowed brows, "So what if they are?"


    "HAHAHA! Well, it won''t be much of a fight, then! Only your ''Queen'' even begins to measure up to my own precious servants." Riser then snaps his fingers and a magic circle with a crest of the Phoenix appeared in the room, "Allow me to show you. These are my dear servants." Fifteen beautiful girls appeared inside it.


    Issei already ignored Kisuke''s issue when the girls appeared, ''ALL GIRLS!?'' He then clenched his fist and red at Riser while tears are running down his face, ''What a bastard�� What a man��''


    Riser was creeped out by Issei''s intense stare and asks Rias, "Er�� Rias�� That servant of yours is staring at me and crying his eyes out."


    Rias also noticed Issei''s reaction and can''t help but rub her forehead, "His dream is to have a harem�� I think seeing your servants has moved him to tears�� Ugh, whatever will I do with that boy��?"


    "E." "Riser-sama, That kid is gross, also that guy with a hat. He kept staring at Yubelluna-san''s ass." The twin from Riser''s Peerage spoke up and immediately confronted the two perverts in the room. The twin is two very young girls with turquoise hair, which they keep tied to one side of their head with a yellow ribbon and blue eyes. Both of their outfits consist of gym uniforms, which consist of white t-shirts with blue ents, ck leggings, and blue sneakers over knee-high socks, simr to the Kuoh Academy''s girls'' gym uniforms, albeit without the logo.


    Hearing this, Sona looked to her side and saw that Kisuke is really staring at Riser''s Queen''s bottom without any intention of hiding it. She got pissed and elbowed his side quite hard, but instead of Kisuke wincing in pain, Sona flinched back and nursed her elbow with tears threatening to fall from her eyes and gave Kisuke another re, "Are you okay?" Kisuke ignored her pained expression and asks.


    "Let me bite you one time and I''ll be okay, physically and mentally," Sona muttered.


    Kisuke looked away and said, "It seems that you''re okay." He then resumed leering at mature members of Riser''s peerage.


    Riser sneered at both of them, especially at Kisuke, "Haha, It''s only natural formoners to gape in envy at the upper ss."


    Kisuke didn''t mind hisment, it didn''t even register in his mind as he doesn''t care what Riser thought of him and just continue taking in the eye candies. But Issei is not the same andshed out, "Commoner!? The hell do you think you are!?"


    Riser didn''t mind his outburst and grabbed a busty woman with long, wavy purple hair that falls all the way down her back and matching eyes. At the front, the right side of her hair falls over her breast and covers her right eye, while the left side falls near the top of her skirt. Her attire is a dress consisting of a navy blue tunic top with gold ents and a pale blue skirt with open sides, ck shoes and over matching thigh-high stockings with garter belts. The top reveals much of her cleavage and is held with a gold choker with blue and red jewels. Over this, she wears a white overcoat with ck and gold ents and matching pauldrons. For essories, she wears a ck headband with a red-orange jewel over her forehead to keep her long hair in ce and wields a staff-like scepter in battle. For cosmetics, she wears purple lipstick and nail polish, matching her eyes and hair. The twins called her ''Yubelluna-san'' earlier, "Let''s give them a show." Riser then proceeds to give her a hot kiss while grabbing her boobs in front of everyone.


    Innocent Asia immediately covered her eyes and goes ''Hauh hauh awawawa.''


    Issei is gawking on this scene and can''t help butment, "�� so hot."


    Rias and Sona rubbed their foreheads at the same time and thought the same, ''Haahh�� My head hurts just watching.''


    Issei is staring and at the very long hot kiss and saw Riser mocking gaze pass through him and Kisuke, ''H-he''s mocking me�� It''s almost like he''s saying that I''ll never have what he has!''


    "You''ll never have what I have, you Low-ss Devil." Riser finally separated from Yubelluna who is breathing heavily from the show of affection.


    "Dammit! Don''t go and say exactly what I was thinking!" Issei shouted at him and pointed his finger, "A yer like you''d make a terrible match for Buchou!"


    Riser couldn''t stop sneering at him and asks, "Hmmm? I thought you admire yers?"


    "Ugh�� Sh-shut up! I bet you''d go around messing with other girls even after marrying Buchou!" Issei doesn''t have aeback for that and chose to evade the issue by mentioning another one.


    Riser then hugged the twins, "I''m their hero, their patron. This is just the rtionship we share. Loving them all is a burden I must bear."


    "Hero my a*s! You''re just a seed-scattering bird bastard." Issei then pulled out a bamboo stick out of nowhere and continue speaking, "A Phoenix huh? A firebird? More like fried chicken! Here, let''s make a kebab outta you."


    Riser finally couldn''t take it anymore, "Fried chicken!? Y-you Low-ss Devil!" He then furiously turned to Rias'' direction, "Rias! Haven''t you taught you minions any manners!?"


    Rias just ignored him and muttered for everyone to hear, "He''s right though."


    Seeing the support from his Buchou, Issei took a fighting stance and called out his Boosted Gear, "Fried chicken bastard! I''ll take you down with my Boosted Gear right here and now!"


    Kisuke shook his head after seeing this, ''Guess I have to help him a bit, and let out a bit of my awesomeness for them to witness. Behold this candy shop owner as he messes with you.''


    Sona noticed him sh a nasty grin and knew he was up to something again but didn''t stop him because she knew he has some abilities and he always ns ahead.


    "Haah, what a pain�� Mira, you go." Riser stepped back and lets out a big sigh losing interest.


    "Yes, Riser-sama." A young girl with blue hair and light brown eyes stepped out. Her hair is styled with four short ponytails, with two of the four-pointed up and the remaining two pointed down. The front of her hair features split bangs going across her forehead, with side bangs framing her face. Her outfit consists of a white haori with a red obi, which is worn under a red happi coat. She wears bandages on her forearms and shins and wears ck guards over her hands. For footwear, she wears a pair of zouri.


    She took a stance and Issei gets ready to receive her attack, ''I don''t want to hurt a little girl, so I just gotta nab that staff��''


    But before he could finish her thoughts, Mira dashed and reached him with inhuman speeds. Issei wasn''t able to react, all he could do is let out a small ''eh!?'' before her wooden staff appear in front of his abdomen. But instead of hitting him, a cane suddenly appeared in front of it and stopping it in ce, "Now now, you shouldn''t get too violent~."


    Kisuke suddenly appeared between them that even Grayfia wasn''t able to respond, ''What!?''

 Volume 3 104 - Dont Play with Fireworks Indoors

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 104 - Don''t y with Fireworks Indoors</h4>


    "Now now, you shouldn''t get too violent~."


    Everyone in the room was dumbfounded at his sudden appearance, especially, Grayfia who didn''t let up her focus on him all this time, ''What!? What was that technique!? He moves faster than most Knights even from peerage of Ultimate-ss Devils�� I underestimated him too much�� Such a blunder!''


    Riser opened his eyes wide at this scene but his expression immediately turned serious after, he signals one of his ''Knight'' to assist Mira.


    Mira didn''t know how he appeared on her side and used his cane to block the tip of her wooden staff. His eyes were shadowed by his bucket hat but she can clearly see the grin on his face and out of anger, she attacks him instead. Mira took back her wooden staff a bit and swings it sideways in a wide arc. The attack connected but she felt no feedback and is confused. She suddenly heard a voice behind him and Kisuke''s body disappeared, "It''s good to be energetic, but you should let the heat of the moment to get to your head~."


    Everyone is dumbfounded yet again because after swinging her wooden staff in a wide arc from her front to her back, Kisuke disappeared for the second time and he''s now stepping on the tip of the wooden staff sitting while hiding his face with a white fan and twirling his cane. Mira is finally scared at this scene because even though he''s sitting on the staff she is holding, she can''t feel any additional weight. Grayfia''s brows furrowed even further watching all of this.


    Without waiting for anyone to recover, a girl suddenly rushed from Riser''s side with even faster speed than Mira and arriving behind Kisuke. She''s a tall young woman with long ck hair with a dark blue tint and brown eyes. Her hair features five thin ponytails going around her head, which are held up by a golden hair essory on top of her head. Her outfit consists of a white top with ck ents that is modeled after a Chinese cheongsam, red shorts, and armored, knee-high boots with matching gauntlets. The top features a diamond shape on the chest area, giving a view of her breasts and cleavage.


    She''s wielding a giant Zweih?nder and thrust it towards Kisuke''s head. Issei, who is watching it all from his VIP space, shouted at him, "Kisuke! Watch out!"


    "Geez, these people are too violent~. I''m not even retaliating." While saying this, his smile didn''t break and when the enormous sword is about to touch his head, Kisuke shifted his head to the side and the Zweih?nder went through his previous position. The ''Knight'' could have continued her attack by bringing down her sword and shing his shoulder and that''s what most of them are thinking. But a second and two went by she didn''t move any further after her initial thrust. They all remove their focus on Kisuke with a sword threatening him and transferred it to the girl wielding the Zweih?nder, and they were in for another shock as they notice Kisuke''s cane''s tip is already pointing on her neck without him turning back and her making a very ugly face.


    Riser''s ''Knight'', Siris is screaming internally because of the cane. The pressureing from it is no joke as she felt that if she moves even a little, the little wooden cane would punch a hole in her neck instantly killing her. She ended up making a very ugly face out of nervousness and cold sweat drenched her back.


    Riser didn''t stay silent witnessing all of this and sent a pir of fire towards his direction. Kisuke used another sh Step to appear behind him while twirling his cane, "You shouldn''t y with fire indoors. It''s dangerous~."


    "You bastard��" Riser''s arm lit in mes and he swung it behind him before turning around. As he looks back, he failed to find Kisuke''s figure from where his voice resounded. Looking around the room again, he saw the detestable face hiding like a little kid behind Sona.


    "Please save me, Sona-kaichou-nee-sama! I don''t want to be burnt alive!" Kisuke had a panicked expression and pleaded to Sona while crouching behind her peeking at Riser from her waist.


    Sona too was shocked at Kisuke''s capabilities, but not as much as the rest who doesn''t know him. She ended up chuckling at his antics and patted his head, "Yosh yosh~ Don''t worry, this nee-sama will protect you from bullies." Sona then faced Riser with a sneer, "Oi Fried Chicken, stop bullying this little brother of mine if you don''t want to drown on drynd." Because this is the first time Sona ying along with his antics, she ended up acting like a delinquent girl.


    Grayfia, Akeno and especially Rias were all dumbfounded that the current heir of Sitri n who is known for being overly serious is acting like this.


    "You really wanna have it, you bitch!?" Riser raised his voice along with his mes after Sona''s provocation.


    "Wait wait wait! I just blocked an attack for my good friend over there and they ganged up on me! Where is my fault their!?" Kisuke immediately protested at this unfair treatment.


    Sona and Riser couldn''t speak as they are scared at the threat that''sing from the magic circles pointed on them, yet this Kisuke is seemingly unaffected by three of her lethal magic circles, ''Is he just an idiot unafraid of death? Or he''s really confident enough to get away unscathed? Because of that instant eleration of him? If that''s the case, he''s too naive.'' Grayfia thought.


    "Please stop interfering with this meeting," Grayfia warned him.


    Kisuke nodded at her words, "Please have it your way. I won''t speak anymore."


    After a few more seconds, Grayfia dismissed all of the magic circles making Sona and Riser heave out a sigh of relief.


    Riser red at Kisuke but Sona blocked her view with a sneer, she isn''t done acting yet. Riser wanted tosh out again but remembered Grayfia''s threat and didn''t continue, ''I''ll deal with youter.'' Riser thought as he gives Kisuke a final re.


    "Rias, shall we make the game ten days from now on?" Riser went back to the topic of his engagement.


    "��Trying to give me a handicap? Hmmph!" Rias also recovered from the shock and answered him. She wanted to ask Sona about Kisuke but set it aside for now as her future is more important.


    "Offended? You''ve seen what happened just now. If that annoying Human didn''t interfere, Boosted Gear''s host will be on the ground now wincing in pain. He couldn''t even react from the attack of our weakest member. If we fought now, it wouldn''t be any fun." Riser shrugged his shoulder.


    "Assuming that you can win a rating game with passion alone is naive. A ''King''s'' true value is reflected in the ability to empower his or her servants. I''ve seen countless ''geniuses'' go down because they couldn''t lead properly." Riser started walking towards his Peerage.


    Rias couldn''t say anything back as what he said is all true, "�� I understand." She looked down as she replied.


    "With ten days, you should be able to do something about your servants. Yubelluna, were leaving, make the preparations."


    "Yes, Riser-sama."


    Riser then face Issei who tried to provoke him even though he''s too weak, "Hey you. As Rias'' ''Pawn'', don''t bring shame to your ''King''. Everything you do reflects on her."


    "Ack��" Issei flinched at his words, ''�� He''s worried about her honor. I''m so pathetic.''


    When Riser is about to leave, a rang all of sudden and it caught everyone''s attention, "Yes Mom? Soy sauce? Alright, I''ll get it." Kisuke answered his phone breaking the serious atmosphere.


    "I still have to buy some soy sauce so I''m taking my leave here. See you around Sona-kaichou, Gremory-san." Kisuke then walks towards the window where he went in and jumped outside.


    Riser is still pissed at how he acts and seeing him casually leaving, he shed a grin and snap his fingers. Kisukended on the ground and walked away slowly, but after he took some distance, arge ball of fire suddenly chased after him. Kisuke didn''t look back and just stepped to the side. The ball of fire hit the magic circle with discement effect he left earlier and his attack disappeared.


    Inside the room, a magic circle appeared above Riser''s head and the ball of fire he sent after Kisuke suddenly appeared after it hitting Riser square in the face. He wasn''t hurt but his visage is disheveled.


    But before he could curse out, multiple notes appeared after the fireball andnded on all over the floor of the Clubroom. Each one of them picks one to read. Issei, in particr, read it out loud, "Please only use fireworks when there is a bucket of water near you for safety reasons. A friendly reminder from your handsome shop keeper."


    "YOU BASTARD!!!"

 Volume 3 105 - Dont Touch him. Hes mine.

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 105 - Don''t Touch him. He''s mine.</h4>


    Riser left after failing to catch Kisuke much to his dismay. All of his elegance went down the drain because of him and he won''t ever forgive him for this slight.


    Seeing Riser left for good, Sona was about to bid her farewell too when Grayfia stopped her, "Sona-sama. May I please asks a few questions?"


    Sona knew what she''s going to asks but she can''t refuse outright, ''I wonder how should I tell her?'' Sona nodded in response.


    "Rias-sama, please answer too if you knew some things." Grayfia also lets her in the conversation.


    "Alright. But I doubt I can help you." Rias nodded. She also wants to hear more about him from Sona.


    "Well then, Sona-sama, who is he?" Grayfia had an obvious shift in mood as she turned really serious.


    Sona didn''t mind it and replied with her prepared answer, "He''s a human and a friend of mine. Aside from that, I can''t tell you anything else as I signed a contract to protect his secrets."


    "A contract you say? It seems that he''s hiding a lot of things." Grayfia furrowed her brows as she didn''t expect this answer, ''Is she covering up for him?''


    "He sure is, but it''s not our right to pry on his private life," Sona answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    "Is that so? Too bad then." Grayfia then turned to Rias, "Mdy, do you know the technique that he used earlier?"


    Rias nodded and this surprised Grayfia as she was just asking just in case, "Did he tell you anything about it?"


    Rias shook her head in response, "From Akeno''s observation, he isn''t too fond of us. He has no reason to tell us about it even if we ask nicely. But Koneko here knows how to perform it as he took a liking to her and taught it to her."


    "What!?" Grayfia transferred her sights towards Koneko and asks, "Why did he teach you something like that?"


    Koneko didn''t hesitate to answer, "''Cuz he just felt like it." She didn''t lie as it''s technically the first reason he took her in.


    Grayfia didn''t know what to say after hearing that answer as it was too random so she instead asks her to perform it in front of her.


    Koneko agreed as she couldn''t see anything wrong with it. Koneko used sh Step and reappeared behind Issei and Asia. Grayfia was astounded yet again at this skill.


    Issei and Asia looked around as she suddenly disappeared and was scared out of their wits when they heard her voice behind them, "��boo��"


    "Uwahh!�� When did you!?" Issei and Asia almost fell back.


    Koneko ignored them and looked back to Grayfia, prompting Grayfia to ask a question, "Can you use it sessively as he did?"


    Koneko shook her head and said, "It put''s too much strain on my body. It''s Kisuke-senpai who is strange. It probably hurts using it continuously but he can still smile and act so casual about it."


    She didn''t lie when she said that it puts so much strain on the body especially on her legs as she''s experiencing it right now. She just misunderstood Kisuke and Yoruichi. Koneko thought that Kisuke is just sucking it up and didn''t know that his body in whole another level that even he hugs a bomb and it explodes, he would only get a little hurt.


    Another thing is sh Step isn''t perfectly tranted to Senjutsu yet that Koneko needs to learn as Kisuke and Yoruichi are focusing on the development of the Reiatsu-Ki variant.


    "So it''s really a Senjutsu skill, but why does it feel out of sort when he uses it?" Grayfia muttered and tried to recall how Kisuke moved earlier.


    "Out of sort? What do you mean?" Akeno asks because she''s more sensitive on Kisuke''s techniques than the others due to Koneko learning it. The more she knows the better it is for Koneko, she thought.


    "They way he used it is a bit different from Koneko, although this can be attributed to differing mastering degrees. But the way he uses Ki is too different, almost as if he''s using it in conjunction with other energy systems, while Koneko is just using Ki. As for the other energy system�� I''m not sure what it is��" Grayfia replied to her as she continues contemting, ''That unknown energy�� although very weak, it almost like I''m instinctively fearing it�� Just what the hell is that?''


    "Do you know anything else about him?" Grayfia asks Koneko.


    "Yes�� I know more about him, but I''m also under a strong contract and I don''t intend on breaking it like Sona-kaichou." Koneko voiced out resolutely. If she doesn''t do so, she knew that Grayfia and Rias would try to get it out even if it means breaking the contract.


    "Is there something he is hiding that can prove a disadvantage for the Gremory Household?"


    "None." A simple and confident answer from Koneko.


    "Haah�� I guess I have to investigate him personally." Grayfia stared at her for a while continued speaking as she prepares to go away. She wouldn''t get anything new anyways and the talk about rating game is already done which is her main objective. She intends to stalk Kisuke for a few days.


    "I can''t allow you to do that, Grayfia-san. I already promised him that I''ll protect his secrets." Sona stopped her from leaving and let Grayfia know her stance in this matter.


    "We''ve already noticed earlier, but why are so protective of him?" Grayfia is now very curious, along with Akeno and Rias who knew her from childhood. They knew that Sona wouldn''t act like this without a very good reason.


    "��Why?�� Hmmm�� Let''s see�� Let''s just say that he may be a member of the Sitri n in the future." Sona thought that it would be funny to see their reactions if she tells them about Kisuke like this, and she wasn''t disappointed. If Tsubaki is here, she''ll probably cover her face and say, ''Urahara-kun already influenced you this much.''


    This revtion shook all of them to the core. And Rias couldn''t help but asks, "W-what do you mean by that, Sona?"


    "I''m telling you that he''s a candidate for being my fiancee." Sona shed a smile at them, "So I''m reminding you all, don''t touch him. He''s mine." Sona shed a bigger smile. She now can understand why Kisuke wanted to tease others somehow due to a variety of expressions her friends don''t normally show.


    In her mind, she''s just using herself to shield Kisuke''s secret, but she didn''t know that her using herself to protect Kisuke is already weird enough, hence, their reactions.

 Volume 3 106 - Giving Kaichou Recommendations

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 106 - Giving Kaichou Rmendations</h4>


    The next morning, Kisuke is scratching his head while yawning as he opens the front door of his house, "What''s up? It''s still too early�� And why the luggage?"


    The target of his inquiries is two of the members of the Gremory Peerage who arrive just now, Koneko and Akeno. Koneko didn''t go home yesterday as she understandably needs to attend their meeting for the uing Rating Game.


    Rias andpany nned a 10-day training in some secluded mountains to up their nil chances of winning and make Issei use his Boosted Gear more effectively. But Koneko wanted to continue training with Kisuke because she knew she could get much stronger with him rather than training with them, though she didn''t voice that out loud.


    Rias and Akeno wanted to stop her but her insistence on this matter is something they couldn''t change.


    Inviting them over for a breakfast, Kisuke heard their ns, "I heard you�� But why are you here? I know that I allowed you to watch Koneko train but aren''t you more needed over their? Especially your new members as they have no idea how to control Demonic Powers, and that''s your specialty."


    Akeno expressed her gratitude to Sakura who served them breakfast and answered Kisuke, "I know that, but I would like to watch for five days. I''m still worried about what might you do to her. If I can''t see what''s happening to my precious junior and I know that she may be in danger while training with you, I won''t be able to focus on my own training. Not telling Rias all about this is already touching my bottom line, so I can''t let this pass."


    "I see, so you want to watch for 5 days to see how she is doing andfort yourself that something won''t happen to her�� But why not stay for 10 days if that''s your goal? I can only think you''ll only feel worse if you leave in the middle." Kisuke took a sip on his miso soup.


    Akeno bit the bottom of her lip and replied, "I know that�� But even though Rias can substitute me for a while with teaching, she has her own thing to do and I also have to help her finalize everything on thest day of training�� Please tell me, are you nning to do something big for her training?"


    ''Hmmm�� Koneko all needs to control the natural Ki and meld it in her own Ki. That''s what she has been from the start. And aside from polishing her sh Step, maybe some real battle training��'' Kisuke faced her with a smile and said, "None whatsoever." ''From my current ns anyways�� Something might changeter but I''m not going to tell her that.''


    Akeno sighed in relief. She knew that it''s foolish to believe him just like that, but she doesn''t really have a choice but to believe him. She can''t stop him anyway if he chose to do something else after she left.


    "What about school then?" Kisuke asks as he looks at the clock. It''s just about half an hour before sses start.


    "We asked to be excused for 10 days," Akeno answered.


    "Hmmm��" Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion before pulling out his smartphone and dialing a number. After a few seconds of ringing, Sona''s voice resounded from the other side, "What do you want this early in the morning?"


    "Kaichou, I don''t want to go to school for ten days," Kisuke replied in a jovial tone.


    "Haah�� Couldn''t you just say that you had to do something important for ten days that you wouldn''t be able to attend school." On the other side, Sona is holding her forehead in frustration.


    "It''s somewhat important, but I just don''t want to attend school."


    "Aren''t you a very honest kid?"


    "It''s one of my virtues~."


    "�� Fine then, I''ll take care of it." It can be heard in the background that Sona started typing with herptop.


    "Thank you very much, Kaichou-chan~. Ah�� please add Aika-chan while you''re at it."


    "No problem, but this isn''t for free. I want something in exchange, but I''ll leave it to you whatever you want to give me."


    "Heee�� I thought for sure you won''t ask for something."


    "I''m giving you favors, but I need to reap some benefits myself. I don''t need anything fancy, just give me something useful. I know you have some things in that pocket of yours. I look forward to it~." Sona chuckled for a bit. Kisuke thought that she''s getting more cheerful each passing day, ''I guess that''s a good thing.''


    "I''ll think about it�� By the way, Kaichou. Don''te looking for me for these next 10 days. I n to hole up in my training ground and I won''t be able to entertain you."


    "�� Could you let me peek once in a while?" Sona pleaded as she continues to work on her report.


    "Nope~."


    "That''s too bad then��"


    "Onest thing Kaichou." Koneko and Akeno saw that Kisuke is now wearing his nasty grin again.


    "Still have something to ask?" Sona wondered.


    "Remember the real-life RPG I devised yesterday?"


    "��You bastard! Of course, I haven''t forgotten about that! We''ll have to have a long talk about itter��" Sona''s hands stopped moving and her anger was transmitted over the phone.


    "Isn''t one of the locations of the quest is on StuCo room?" Kisuke didn''t mind it and advance their conversation.


    "�� Yes�� and what about it?" This time, Sona had a bad feeling and didn''t really want to hear what he has to say, but she has no choice but to listen to it as it might be something important pertaining to the Student Council.


    "You see, I have to search the whole room to find where is the most appropriate corner to ce your picture��"


    "Yes�� and you ced it on the face of the clock which I almost overlook��" Sona now believes that he must have found something, but the question is, what is it.


    "While I''m at it, I, fortunately, find a hidden space under the floor tile under your desk��" Kisuke suddenly stopped there to give suspense.


    "You��" Now she knew what he is referring to. Inside the Student Council room, Sona is doing her daily report while she is talking with Kisuke over the phone. When she heard what he said, she instinctively looked below her desk and checked the floor tile with her feet.


    "If you''d like, I can rmend some titles that are targeted to the female audiences. I also know some that has the same genre as your ''Even though I''m the Student Council President, I can''t stop doing it with my junior!'' " Kisuke said in a very serious tone.


    "��UWAHHHH!!! YOU GOT IT WRONG! THAT''S NOT MINE!!!" After a few seconds of silence, Sona shouted at the phone that Kisuke had to take it away from his ear.


    "I understand, everyone has their own needs�� I''ll send you a linkter where you can order online those paperback versions of those erotic novels. They''ll deliver it discreetly and you can even request a delivery girl if that''s what you''refortable with." Kisuke continued to give his ''advice'' while ignoring her cries.


    "I DON''T NEED IT! AND LISTEN TO ME!!! YOU BASTARD!!!"


    "Ah�� look at the time. I have to go, Kaichou-chan. Catch youter~." Without listening any further, Kisuke cut the call and turned off his phone. He then faced Koneko and Akeno who are wearing a dumbfounded expression, "Let''s go! Before Kaichou arrive and hack me to death."


    "I''m surprised that she hasn''t stabbed you after doing all of this��" Akenomented as her mouth twitches, ''Aren''t they too close?''


    Kisuke justughed at her words, "HAHAHA, I always escape before that happens."


    Kisuke stood up and called out to his mother, "Mom!"


    "Hmmm? What is it?" Sakura came out of the kitchen while wearing an apron.


    "Sona-kaichou is going toe here stressed out and I won''t be able to entertain her as we have to go."


    "Where are you going?"


    "Some training, 10 days. I''lle back once in a while. By the way, please serve her some calming tea once she arrives. After that, please give her this note."


    Sakura opened the small paper that Kisuke gave her and read it, but it''s all just a bunch of nonsense, "What''s this?"


    "Tell her that it''s my rmendations."


    "You''re going to calm her down then agitated her again? You''re a Demon��" Kisuke heard Akeno''s voice behind him and he can tell Koneko is nodding with her words but he ignored them.

 Volume 3 107 - Training For the Rating Game

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 107 - Training For the Rating Game</h4>


    Arriving on the training ground, all three of them heard a wail of despair, "Forgive me!!! Yoruichi-sama!!!"


    Akeno finally understood that she still underestimating how hard Aika''s training is. She thought that she only had to run while under Yoruichi''s pressure, but the sight in front of her made him shudder in fear even though she should be a bit of a sadist.


    Aika is now enduring a heavier pressure but instead of running and dodging at the same time, Aika only needs to dodge this time. But even Koneko who is watched all of Aika''s training is shaking in fear at this new regimen.


    Aika''s ''ying field'' is 30x30 meters of t ground. At each side of it are machines that resemble an automatic baseball pitcher that you can see in a batting center, but instead of ''soft'' baseball, it throws iron balls of the same size.


    These machines are side by side and around Aika that she has to dodge or a broken bone would be the least of her worries. At first, Aika got hit multiple times that Yoruichi has to her to the Regenerating Hot Spring to recover. This repeated so many times that Aika just wanted to faint, but she can''t due to the pressure that Yoruichi is emitting. She became so allergic to the iron balls that she would never get near one even if it is break time, "WHO INVENTED THIS DODGEBALL OF DEATH!"


    Kisuke raised his hand at her question and answered energetically, "Me~."


    Aika turned to his direction like a vengeful ghost and threw one of the two dull gray daggers she is holding, "Then die!"


    Currently, Aika can''t transform into a Shinigami on her own due to most of her Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) are dormant and can only strengthen her body for a bit. She can temporarily activate it if Kisuke infuses his own Reiryoku to wake up the dormant power. But this, in turn, will put a huge burden on her body and could even cause her death if it''s used for a long time.


    The two daggers in her hand is the original appearance of her Sacred Gear, but in Kisuke''s eyes, it already lost its spirit, although it managed to retain some of its abilities and one of those is when Aika threw the dagger, it missed Kisuke but instead of hitting the rock behind him, it teleported to her hand.


    "Tch!" Aika then continues dodging the death balls with rtive ease because she already got used to it. She''s now properly utilizing her detection skills and it''s improving in real-time.


    Akeno knew that her physical attributes are stronger than Aika''s based on her movements, but she could never move the way she is doing that looks like she knows everything that is happening within a meter of her, ''Is this the result of her training? She became a lot weaker than yesterday, but I assume that''s only because it''s her initial transformation, but even then, how can a normal human improve to this degree in such a short amount of time?''


    Kisuke''s sudden p woke Akeno up from her deep contemtion and he started speaking, "Koneko-chan you can find a ce to start your training. You''ll be doing the same thing, gathering natural Ki and melding it with your own Ki without it influencing you, but this time, you''ll be doing it for three days straight."


    "Three days straight? Without sleep?"


    "Without doing anything else, including food or any kind of breaks."


    "Not even toilet breaks?"


    Kisuke nodded agreement.


    Obviously, someone would react at his arrangement, and that isn''t Koneko, "Hey! That''s too much!"


    Kisuke looks at her and said, "This is just a bit of hardshippared to what is she doing." He then pointed to Aika who is now dodging twice the number of balls.


    She is getting hit, but she wasn''t buckling up. Kisuke and Yoruichi are already pretty sure that something is influencing her personality, maybe her Sacred Gear/Zanpakuto. She became so resilient that even though Yoruichi kept pushing and pushing the training to an absurd level that it''s just torture to see where exactly is her breaking point, but she just never buckled up, which surprised both of them greatly. Yoruichi is even starting to enjoy training her because whatever you threw at her, she''ll take it. Although Kisuke stops her from time to time and always reminds her not to go overboard and actually kill Aika.


    "You think just sitting and gathering energy for three whole days is easier than dodging balls that cane at you at multiple directions and easily break your bones if you''re not careful?" Kisuke appreciates her worries over Koneko, but he didn''t like how overprotective she is to the point that it''s shackling Koneko''s development, ''Is this how they do it? If that''s the case, then they have no chance of winning against that Riser guy even if you give them three months of training much less, just ten days.''


    Akeno wanted to say something, but she couldn''t think of anything to refute him.


    Seeing this, Kisuke continued speaking, "If you want to get strong fast enough, you first have to change that conservative thinking of yours."


    "What are you��" Akeno didn''t know how to reply to his words.


    "What I''m trying to say is that the way you are now and the way you''re going, you lot wouldn''t stand a chance against that Fried Chicken," Kisuke said it straight to her face and before she could say anything back, he left her to her own devices and used sh Step to instantly arrive at the lodging to prepare some things.


    Akeno is stuttering when Koneko grabbed the hem of her clothes, "I don''t know what Kisuke-senpai and Yoruichi-san went through in the past, but I can tell that it becamemon sense for them to gain strength even if it means risking their lives."


    "But then, that doesn''t mean that we have to be like them! They''re just crazy!" Akeno eximed.


    "That''s what I thought too at the start, but maybe, they started to influence me too that I don''t think their line of thinking is strange. In this world where strength is the basis, something as nice as freedom life can be easily taken away by the simple whims of someone strong."


    "Strength doesn''t constitute of only personal power but also influence. We have Gremory Household behind our backs, we don''t have to worry about it."


    "I also said that to senpai, and you know what he said?"


    "��What?"


    "Why would you leave your fate to somebody else? Even if you''re lovers you shouldn''t depend entirely on someone else. What you should do is walk beside him, not behind."


    "��" Akeno was speechless because it also makes sense to her.


    "I''m very grateful to Rias-buchou and Gremory Household, but after staying with him for a while, I too wanted to stand up on my own and not depend too much on Buchou and her family. I may be currently depending on senpai, but I at least want to learn how to be independent of him."


    "��" Akeno looked down and bit her lips.


    "And one more thing, I was reminded, Rias-buchou doesn''t want her to be treated as a connection to the Gremory family. You know that well, Akeno-senpai. So please stop saying that we have the Gremory family behind us."


    "That''s!�� " These words of Koneko has shaken Akeno, ''That''s right, Rias wants others to see for who she is and not her family�� What am I doing?'' After being silent and remorseful for a few minutes, she apologized to Koneko�� and Rias in her heart.

 Volume 3 108 - Demoted to Apprentice Maid

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 108 - Demoted to Apprentice Maid</h4>


    On the third day of training, Akeno is preparing breakfast for everyone in the training ground. Ever since the talk she had with Koneko on the first day they arrive here, she became meek and only watch Koneko from the side and prepared all living necessities for everyone. Kisuke doesn''t know what happened to her and Koneko when he left them, but he wouldn''t refuse free help. He even started teaching her some techniques in housekeeping to elevate her efficiency.


    Akeno did everything is was told and listened to every word he spoke which almost creeped out Kisuke, but with Aika trying her everything to pour the frustration of her training to Kisuke because of the machines that he invented to elerate training, Kisuke didn''t mind Akeno much. Aside from ''Dodgeball of Death'', Yoruichi also used ''Treadmill of Death'', ''Jumprope of Death'', ''Obstacle course of Death'', ''Bnce ball of Death'', ''Stress ball of Death'' and many more which are all devised by Kisuke and all named by Aika.


    In between the ''Death Sentences'', Yoruichi would teach Aika sh Step, basic Zanjutsu and basic Hakuda. Due to her awakened nature as a Shinigami, she''s learning everything at a remarkable pace. Although all this time, she hasn''t transformed into Shinigami due to hercking Reiatsu-Ki she can use.


    Kisuke also made some candy pills that he infused with his own Reiatsu-Ki for Aika to take and temporarily activate her Shinigami powers but he chooses to hide it first as she doesn''t need it now.


    Throughout Koneko''s meditation, if she''s not doing anything, Akeno is always 20 meters around her. During her watch, Akeno would sometimes witness Koneko''s cat ears would catch some white mes. Akeno immediately asks Kisuke about this phenomenon and thetter onlyughs and found it intriguing which frustrates Akeno more. Kisuke apanied her to watch how is Koneko and also witnessed these white mes, "Hooh~�� So that''s it�� It looks like she already has some sess which is good news. Don''t worry about her too much, Himejima-san. She''s doing great."


    "What are those white mes?" Akeno couldn''t help but asks.


    "I''m not really sure�� But if I have to say something, it''s probably the attribute which she is most adept with." Kisuke rubbed his chin as he answers.


    "Why are you letting her do this if even you don''t know about this?" Akeno turned to his direction and felt incredulous at this reckless guy.


    "Because I think it''s the most effective way to prime Senjutsu. Remember this, No matter how strong you be, you shouldn''t neglect control as that is more important. As for why, you have to think about it yourself." Kisuke replied to her and turned around to get back to his Power Collector and check some of its properties and if they''ll be useful for something.


    "What if you can get stronger but you have to use a power that you don''t like?" Akeno suddenly asks at Kisuke''s leaving back.


    Kisuke stopped walking but didn''t turn around, "Set your priorities straight. Like any other adults tell you, separate what you want and what you need. If you can have or protect what you need by using a power that you hate, then the answer for me is pretty obvious. You''re extremely fortunate that you have a choice like that. Others don''t even get a chance to protect what''s left of them. Don''t be a spoiled brat." He then resumed walking.


    Akeno was pissed at hisst words and about to call out to him, but as she processes his first words, she stopped her self and fell into another deep contemtion about herself. As her thought process advances, she bit her lips and clenched her fist. Akeno understood what he means but she still can''t ept it. She really is a spoiled brat.


    Koneko finished her training session and opened her eyes which was greeted by Akeno''s frustrated face, "Akeno-senpai, what''s wrong?"


    "N-nothing! How are you? Are you done? I''ve prepared food for you, but if you want to bath first, Urahara-kun said that you can use the hot spring." Akeno stood up and immediately returned to her normal expression.


    "Then I would like to take a bath first." Koneko didn''t think more about it because she felt Kisuke''s aura slowly moving away from here, ''Kisuke-senpai probably said something to her again.''


    .


    .


    .


    On the fifth day of training, Akeno prepared to leave but only Koneko and Kisuke are present to send her off. Yoruichi and Aika are still ying their death games. Aika would even sometimes provoke Yoruichi to release some of her stress. Kisuke thinks that she''s getting addicted to the stimulus that near-death situations produce, "She''s broken." Yoruichi couldn''t disagree with Kisuke.


    "Koneko-chan�� I have to go�� Please take care of yourself." Akeno patted Koneko''s head and she nodded. Akeno then faced Kisuke, "Thank you for taking care of me these past three days. I won''t forget your words." Akeno bowed slightly towards him.


    Kisuke nodded with a serious expression and said, "As your teacher, I have nothing else to teach you with the way of housekeeping. But this isn''t certainly the end of your journey. Go forth and start your adventure Master Maid. Wherever you go, you''ll be a fine maid."


    "Wait! That''s not what I talking ab---" Before she could say more, Kisuke, with a wave his fan, sent Akeno outside with teleportation magic.


    "Kisuke-senpai�� I think she wants to say something." Koneko''s mouth twitches at Kisuke rude act.


    "Dun wanna heart it." Kisuke grinned and started walking back, "Let''s go Koneko. Ignore that Apprentice Maid for now. You''re the only one who has the possibility to beat that Fried Chicken. We''ll start your training now."


    "Apprentice? Didn''t you say she''s already a master?"


    "She doesn''t deserve it due to the way she acts."


    Koneko tilted her head in confusion.


    "�� bout!�� Where is this?" Somewhere within the Kuoh Town, Akeno suddenly appeared inside a cosy shop that specializes in maid attires. Akeno was dumbfounded at her situation and recalled Kisuke''sst words to her, ''That bastard seriously thinks that I''m a maid now!?'' A note suddenly dropped in front of her and she picked it up. Written in it is Kisuke''s message, "Before you start your adventure, an armor that will apany you to your countless battles. By the way, I rmend you take the one at the corner of the shop 2nd item from thest one on the 3rd aisle."


    Out of curiosity, she followed his direction and saw a skimpy maid outfit that reveals her underboob and plump legs is she is to wear it. "That bastard! And how did he know such obscure shop like the back of his palm?" Akeno then proceeds to read the rest of his message, "I discovered it by chance and I thought that it''ll be useful for something like this. Praise me!"


    Akeno wanted to spit on the paper but due to her upbringing, she can''t do such uncouth action, "F^ck you! What useful!? You pervert!" But she couldn''t stop herself from cursing out loud. "The first thing you have to do is to keep that temper of yours. Your master wouldn''t like it unless he/she has some special hobby."


    Reaching this point, Akeno crumpled the paper without reading further and incinerating it with her lightning. Strangely enough, as the ashes fell to the floor, it formed words, "Geez, don''t use magic in public. That''smon sense! I shall demote you to Apprentice Maid Akeno-chan for this act! I hope you learn your lesson!"


    "AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Akeno''s shout filled with anger echoed throughout the shop and the street it is in. She had to use magic to erase the memories of those who witness her and walked out of the shop with flushed face, "I''ll remember this, you damned pervert!"

 Volume 3 109 - Fear

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 109 - Fear</h4>


    "Start my training? Aren''t I already training for these past five days?" Koneko asks Kisuke while they''re walking back towards the ce where Koneko would always meditate.


    "Well yeah�� But the way you are now, you won''t be able to touch that Fried Chicken even if you caught him off guard. You can take a few hits from his ''Queen'' but that''s about it. You can''t count on that master of yours. She might be able to strategize but she can''t beat the Fried Chicken. Himejima-san might be able to do it with her holy power, but something is stopping her from using it and I doubt she''ll be able to ovee her fear without a good catalyst. Issei is too weak to pull out the power of his Scared Gear. Kiba-san, although he has potential, he''s a normal fighter right now. Lastly, Asia-san is a pure healer and can only be beside one of you, and that will be your master''s side for sure. In other words, your group has no chance of winning as the trend goes." Kisuke didn''t change his pace and exined the situation to Koneko.


    "�� Then what should I do?��" Koneko stopped walking and looked down biting her lips and clenching her fist.


    "That''s up to you�� How much do you want to risk it?" Kisuke also stopped walking and faced her.


    Koneko looked up and saw his serious expression without a trace of his former nonchnt attitude. She shook when she looked at his eyes which contains rare strictness, "�� How much should I risk?"


    "Haah�� Koneko�� Why are you asking me that? Didn''t I tell you that it''s up to you?" Kisuke let out a sigh but he continued to look at her.


    "But-" Koneko started to shake under his stare as fear slowly surfaces.


    "Koneko, I won''t be here forever to decide for you. I''m giving you this chance now to do something you yourself decided without me pushing you to a choice." Kisuke interrupted her and continue speaking. He has to remind Koneko now that her future is hers and should not be easily given to others.


    "��" Koneko is speechless. Since the beginning, even though she''s trying to distance herself from the others, she''s been looking for something or someone to lean on. But when she finally found it, she''s being tossed away. Her thoughts halted into a full stop as she stares at Kisuke nkly.


    Kisuke already expected this, but he didn''t expect that she''ll be this dependent on him which isn''t good. "You''ll be walking this path on your own in the future as even I don''t know what lies ahead. All I can do is give you asional guidance, but even that would certainly stop as you move beyond the realm that I can''t understand."


    "��Senpai��" Koneko called out to him be she still doesn''t know what to say.


    "Don''t mistake me as your master. As I said since the start, Yoruichi and I started this out of a whim to see where you could go. I''m just someone who shamelessly meddled with your life and give you a startup push in a certain direction."


    "��" Koneko now felt that he''s getting farther away from where she couldn''t reach him. Now he''s even denying the rtionship she thought they have. ''What is he saying!? What''s happening!?'' Aside from fear, doubt is also starting to take root on her mind. No matter how much she tries to resolve herself to continue what she''s doing despite the chances of losing control of herself, it''s still the trauma that shaped her childhood and couldn''t discard it easily even after knowing the truth about her elder sister.


    "Are you scared? Of which one? Are you are not mistaking it for being scared of losing control yourself to the fear of the unknown future?"


    "��What��?" Just as she''s about to lose grasp of reality, his words awaken her, ''Fear of the future?''


    "Every time you look at Aika gritting her teeth to continue her training, whates to your mind?"


    "I''m jealous of how she could let go of her worries and do what she wants regardless of the consequences that might haunt her further in the future," Koneko answered nkly without thinking too much about his question.


    "Right? You''re jealous, but of what? Think about it again."


    "Of how she let''s go of her worries?"


    "In other words, your jealous of that idiot''s ability to forget about things and just do what she wants."


    "��" Koneko stayed silent but she could now understand a little what he''s trying to say.


    "You never got jealous of her ability to ovee her training nor her luck for not losing control of herself even though you two are on the same boat that can sink anytime."


    "I''m scared of the future?" Koneko muttered.


    "It''s true that it became your trauma when you thought that your elder sister became insane and killed you, former master. But what scared you the most is the fact that your sister suddenly left you and you didn''t know what to do."


    "Ah�� I get it��" Koneko got a glimpse of light in the dark hallway, ''I''m just hiding behind the fact that I''m scared of hurting others when the truth is I just want someone to carry me and lead the way so that I wouldn''t have to think about it again��''


    Koneko wiped the tears that are umting in her eyes and looked straight to Kisuke''s eyes, "Yes�� senpai. I''m scared of what would happen in the future. I don''t know if I can still be with Buchou and the rest the way I am. At the start, I thought that I''m just scared of hurting them if I use Senjutsu, but it looks like what you said is the truth, I''m afraid that they would turn their backs on me if I be like my sister�� I don''t want to be left alone again��" Even though she just wiped her tears, it started falling again.


    Kisuke finally smiled and patted her head, "Now that you finally know and admitted it to yourself, that means you already started on something instead of running away from it. I''ll be honest, I''m no psychiatrist, so I don''t really know how to cure your trauma aside from pointing it out to and force you to face it."


    Koneko wiped her tears again and shook her head, "No�� I''m very thankful for what you''ve done. So please don''t call involving with me shamelessly meddling with my life. If not for you I''ll be running away all this time without me even knowing it. I just have a request, senpai."


    "Hmm? Go ahead."


    "Please don''t ever turn your back at me."


    "Hmmm�� let''s see�� I guess I shouldn''t do that if you''re asking me." Kisuke pretended to be hesitating, but for Koneko, it''s the most reassuring answer.


    After a few moments of silence that calmed her down, Koneko once again faced Kisuke, "Senpai, please teach me how to beat up that Fried Chicken."


    "It won''t be easy~." Kisuke knew that Koneko would still depend on him but she already started moving forward which is already enough for him.


    "Yes, I know�� By the way, senpai. I want to experience losing control of myself once under your watch. If I can''t run away from it, I''ll just embrace it."

 Volume 3 110 - Sage Mode

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 110 - Sage Mode</h4>


    Last day of the ten-day training that Riser gave the Gremory Peerage. Koneko is standing in front of Kisuke, Yoruichi and the haggard Aika.


    Koneko is currently in her nekomata form but with some difference from the usual. Her cat ears and tails have embers of white mes on their tips. Her eyes were surrounded by a blue pigment that looks like a thick eyeliner. And her pupils are shining with golden light and her irises are slit and jet-ck in color.


    In this form, Koneko has the physical abilities of a Middle to High-ss fully mature Devil. Her defensive level was also boosted to another level that even without her Rook piece, which is honestly just holding her back at this point, Koneko can stand still and let Yuuto Kiba hack at her and she would only get some rashes. She also got ess to an ability to generate white mes that directly burns vitality or life force, though she couldn''t use it repeatedly. Since this is the result of Senjutsu (Sage Techniques), Kisuke called this form Sage Mode.


    Sage Mode is of course not all advantages, in its current stage, there are also some huge drawbacks. First is Koneko has to gather Natural Ki first before she can enter this form and while gathering, she wouldn''t have much freedom. If she wanted to gather it faster then she would be to bepletely still. Second is she can only gather Natural Ki that is the same amount as her Inner Ki at most or there would be a chance that she would lose control of herself if too much outside influence is gathered that would essentially affect her mind. The third is it gives a big burden on her immature body that she can only use it 10 minutes tops. Any further and she would damage her body.


    As such, Koneko''s Sage Mode could only be considered as ast resort if she wanted to end the fight quickly or if she wanted to catch her opponent off guard especially if they are not aware of her capabilities.


    It''s a skill that is not useful in a big battlefield, but in something like Rating Game, where you only have to take the King''s head ording to the rules, then this will be her sharpest weapon.


    "You can rest now, Koneko-chan. The game is scheduledter this evening. Let''s eat first before heading to the Academy." Kisuke reminded Koneko. In all truth, Kisuke was surprised at Koneko''s progress. She also started to think and innovate on her own slowly modifying the Sage Mode to fit her more. Koneko doesn''t take Kisuke''s advice for granted anymore and would always test it herself and what she can do to further improve it which delighted both Kisuke and Yoruichi, though they didn''t voice it out loud as they want Koneko to think that this is the most natural thing to do and not something worth putting attention to.


    Koneko took a deep breath and she returned to her normal nekomata form.


    "Can I also watch?" Aika asks. These past 10 days, she trained even harder than Koneko due to Yoruichi''s arrangements. Her dormant Reiryoku didn''t improve much but her technical skills improved to another level that she can go toe on toe with Yuuto Kiba if they have the same specs. She''s even better than him at some skills like detection and movement. What she needs now are some real-life battle experiences that Yoruichi kept giving her.


    "Not on the venue. I''ll set some viewing tform in the house so that you and Mom can also enjoy the show." Kisuke replied to her.


    Koneko bowed in front of them and expressed her gratitude, "Kisuke-senpai, Yoruichi-san. Thank you for everything you''ve done for me. I''ll be sure to return the favor one day."


    "Just don''t disappoint me. Give that Fried Chicken a good beating." Yoruichi patted her head. Although in her and Kisuke''s calction, she wouldn''t be able to defeat Riser even if she uses her Sage Mode�� Unless she does something reckless. They won''t tell her that though. It''ll be up to her whether she''ll go for it regardless of the dangers.


    Kisuke helped her teleport to the school and she left the secret training ground.


    After thest motes of light from the teleportation circle disappeared, Aika voiced out her concern, "Can she really defeat that Fried Chicken guy?"


    ''As expected, she has some strong intuition regarding these matters.'' Kisuke thought before replying, "If she does not do something stupid, she won''t win."


    "Something stupid? Do you mean overloading her Sage Mode? How is that stupid if that''s the only way to win?" Aika faced Kisuke in curiosity.


    "Koneko is very careful unlike you. Of course in a normal person''s perspective, discarding your sanity just to defeat your opponent is a stupid move. You don''t know if you''ll only hurt your enemy or you might end up hurting those who are important to you. This will be an important decision for her."


    "You''re trying to say I don''t think like a normal person?" She retorted.


    Kisuke didn''t respond but for Aika, that''s an affirmative.


    "Whose fault do think that is?" Aika felt dismayed.


    "Your entric behavior."


    "I don''t want to hear that from you!!!"


    .


    .


    .


    The same day, 11:30 PM. Riser is having a good time with his ''Queen'' Yubelluna when his sister Ravel Phenex interrupted their fun, "The game to decide the fate of your engagement is about to begin, and yet�� here you are,id back as always, Onii-sama." She sighed in resignation.


    Her outfit consists of a light purple dress with dark purple ents and a blue bow at the front. At the back, three feather-like extensions mimicking a bird''s tail protruding from the dress.


    "Tch, it was just getting good." Riser muttered as he faces his sister, "Of course, Ravel. Our victory is assured, after all."


    "I''ve heard that they''re not wasting their ten days. They''re getting stronger." Ravel continues to remind Riser, "And they have that wild card Sacred Gear on their side. If we get careless, they might just��"


    Riser didn''t let her continue and said, "There is no ''might''." He gave his sister a re which sent Ravel a chill, ''I guess I don''t have to worry much.'' "Haah�� Don''t turn your anger on me."


    "Kuhkuhkuh�� No matter. I feel sorry for Rias, but we won''t be holding back. This won''t be all fun and games." Riser chuckles at his sister''s reaction.


    Ravel knew that she doesn''t have to say more, but just as she turned around to leave the room, she suddenly remembered something, "Oh right�� I also investigated that Human who humiliated you."


    Riser is about to continue his fun with Yubelluna but Ravel''s words caught his attention and soured his mood, "What about him?"


    "Nothing much�� Which is honestly strange. Up until now, he poses as a normal human and only became close to Sona Sitri and Rias'' Rook recently. He''s also the childhood and best friend of the Boosted Gear user, which exins his actionsst time. It seems that he''s helping Rias'' Rook these past ten days to train. So she might know how to do that instant eleration technique that he exhibited that day."


    "Hmmph! Still a weakling. No matter how fast she bes, she won''t be able to hurt me or even you."


    "In any case, please take note of her once you''re in the game." Ravel finally left him alone, ''I can''t say to him that this information is giving me some bad feelings��''

 Volume 3 111 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 1

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 111 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 1</h4>


    The day of the Rating Game against the Phenex Peerage, 11:20 PM. Issei wore his school uniform and conditioned his mind to enter a full alert in his room when suddenly, he heard a knock on his door.


    "Issei-san, may Ie in?" Asia''s voice came from the other side.


    "Yeah, sure."


    She opened the door and stepped in, "Kyahh!" Only to slip on a banana peel lying on the floor.


    "Whoa!" Issei managed to catch her before shepletely fell on the floor, "Phew~."


    "Sorry, I was practicing my secret battle techniques." Issei excused himself.


    "I understand, but why bananas?" Asia sat up with the help of Issei.


    "I don''t really know. Ever since I became a Devil, no, more urately, when I activate my Boosted Gear, I would have strange cravings for banana. I also don''t understand why�� But never mind that, Asia, those clothes��" Issei tried to exin but chose to change the subject to Asia''s current outfit.


    She''s currently wearing her dark teal nun outfit with light blue ents, but without the white veil over her head with light blue ents, a brown satchel slung on her right hip and brown boots with ck straps in an X-shaped pattern.


    "I was told to dress as I pleased�� After some thought, I decided that this outfit suits me the best��" Asia closed her eyes with a smile on her face and continued speaking, "I may be a Devil now, but I haven''t forgotten my faith."


    "Yeah, you were wearing the nun outfit when we first met too. Guess it''s natural for you." Issei gave her one of his brightest smiles, "It looks really good on you."


    Asia felt happy at hispliment and started fidgeting, "Thank you�� Uh�� Issei-san. May we just sit here for a minute?" She gets close to him and grabbed one of his arms.


    "W-what''s with you all of a sudden?" Issei is confused at Asia who usually makes cheerful expression and is now wearing a disgruntled face. But after some time, He felt her shaking body�� from fear.


    "�� I can''t stop shaking at the very thought of the scary battle that''sing up�� But as long as you''re around, Issei-san, I know I''ll be okay."


    "Asia��" Issei patted her head tofort her.


    After some patting, Asia immediately recovered her energy and jumped on Issei, "Eh-heh-heh~. I''m not afraid of anything when you''re by my side."


    "Whoa!!!" Issei didn''t know where to grab her.


    A few seconds of snuggling, Asia spoke again, "Can we stay like this until it''s time to leave?"


    "Sure��"


    "Would it be okay to stay with you forever, Issei-san?"


    Issei didn''t think much and just replied, "Yeah. Together forever."


    "�� I''m d."


    .


    .


    .


    Approximately 11:40 PM, just 20 minutes before the start of the game.


    All of Rias'' Peerage assembled in the ult Research Club room. Yuuto is warming up. He''s also wearing his school uniform, but with additional steel arm greeves which can be used to block weak attacks.


    Koneko is also wearing her school uniform but without zer as usual. In addition, she also equipped her paw-printed gloves and is currently meditating.


    Akeno served everyone a cup of tea and Rias is finalizing her ns written on the paper.


    "Um, Buchou," Issei called out to her.


    Rias put down the paper she is reading and faced Issei, "What is it?"


    "You have another ''Bishop'', don''t you, Buchou? Who is that exactly?" Issei curiously asks as he hasn''t met thest member of the group.


    Rias sighed and answered, "Unfortunately, my other ''Bishop'' can''t join us now. I''ll tell you more some other time.


    Just as she finished speaking, a familiar magic crest appeared in the room and brought the maid of Gremory Household with it, "The game will begin in ten minutes. Have you all made the necessary preparations?


    "This rating game will be broadcast to all members of both houses. The Devil King Lucifer will also be watching. Take care not to forget this. And as the request of the Sitri n, this game will also be broadcasted in the Student Council Room of the Kuoh Academy."


    "So Onii-sama is going to see this first hand. And Sona? So that guy must be watching too��" Rias muttered after her words.


    Issei heard this and was shocked, "Huh!? Onii-sama!?"


    "Buchou''s older brother is a Devil King, Lucifer-sama" Yuuto was done warming up and exined to Issei.


    "WHAA!? Wait�� Lucifer!? I thought Buchou was from the house of Gremory??"


    "The previous Devil King perished in thest Great War. However, Devils cannot be without a King�� So the title of Devil King was granted to several immensely powerful Devils. Presently, there are four of these mighty Devils. each of whom inherited their names from the Devil Kings-- Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus. So Buchou''s big brother was chosen as a sessor to the Devil King. Sirzechs Lucifer, also known as ''The Crimson Satan'' is Buchou''s brother and the strongest of the Devil Kings." Akeno exined further.


    Grayfia interrupted their conversation, "It is almost time. Everyone, please proceed to the magic circle. In a moment, I will send you to an alternate ne that will serve as your battlefield."


    All of them started walking towards the magic circle while Grayfia continues to exin, "Everything in the space is entirely expendable, so fight to your heart''s content. Moreover, once you arrive on the site, teleporting out via magic circle will be impossible until the game has ended."


    Everyone stepped on the magic circle and Isseimented with a crumpled face, "So there''s noing back until the game''s been decided��" All of them disappeared from the room.


    When they reappeared, they are still on the same spot which confused Issei, "Huh? The clubroom? We didn''t make it?"


    Grafia''s voice suddenly resounded from the speakers throughout the school which removes Issei''s confusion, "Greetings, all. I, Grayfia, servant to House Gremory, will be your referee for this game. In the name of my master, Sirzechs Lucifer, I shall closely observe this fight. For the battlefield, we have prepared a replica of Rias-sama''s school -- Kuoh Academy.


    "Wow! So this is all fake!? It seems so real, though!" Issei grabbed Asia''s stuffed toy Ratchuu-kun which was also replicated.


    "Indeed. Look out the window." Riasmented from the side.


    Issei and Asia look out of the window and he eximed at the sight, "The sky''s color is all mixed up! Devil Power sure is something, to be able to create a perfect replica in another dimension!


    "In regards to each team''s base�� the teleportation destination of each team is its base. Rias-sama''s base is the ult Research Club room in the old school building. Riser-sama''s base is the student council room in the new school building. Pawns aiming for promotion, please proceed to the perimeter of the enemy base." Grayfia''s echoed from the speakers again.


    "Please wear thismunicator in your ear." Akeno distributed an earpiece for everyone.


    "We need these to stay in touch on the battlefield, so don''t break it." Rias proceed to walk towards her replicated desk and sat down.


    "The game is about to begin. The match ends at daybreak in the human realm. Now then, please begin." Grayfia signaled the start of the game.

 Volume 3 112 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 2

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 112 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 2</h4>


    Inside the Student Council Room of the Kuoh Academy of the Human Realm, three people are present, namely Sona, Tsubaki, and Kisuke. Since this is an unofficial match, not everyone is allowed to watch it. But that''s only for live viewing. If requested, one can purchase the recording of the match which is already edited by themittee of the Rating Games.


    Sona requested only three slots for live viewing which is why there are only three of them. Kisuke, however, is secretly pirating several screens and sending it real-time to his house and he doesn''t feel any guilt in doing so. Normally, such actions would have been detected, but Kisuke''s concealing technology can easily hide this fact.


    Tsubaki serves some tea and snacks for the three of them while taking asional nces towards the multiple screens floating around.


    "What do you think about this game?" Sona asks Kisuke who is sitting beside her while she sips her tea. It is very rare for them to sit together without the chessboard on the table.


    "Magic is really amazing�� The technology here very advanced, especially that automatic retirement when a yer receives a certain amount of damage. How do they keep track of the yer''s health? Is it those Evil Pieces that are inside them?" Kisukemented and he added mentally, ''These Pieces are really sophisticated. Although I don''t like how it works, the who invented this is a real genius.''


    "Yes, but I don''t really know how this Evil Pieces works and even the inventor himself won''t reveal all of its qualities to be discovered by the users themselves." Sona replied, "By the way, what do you think their chances of winning?"


    "Gremory''s chances? Taking out Koneko out of the equation, their winning chances are just 5%." Kisuke took one cookie and started nibbling on it.


    "That low huh�� And here I thought they had at least a 15% chance of winning. Without Koneko, of course. I don''t know how to add her into the equation. How much are their chances if you add Koneko?"


    "Then they have around 25% chances of winning if Koneko moved out normally."


    "Normally you say? Then what about the abnormal situation?"


    "I hope good fortune woulde to Fried Chicken, or else, he''ll be killed~."


    "What!? Are you pulling my leg!? That''s the immortal Fried Chicken."


    "Hahaha~. Perhaps. Let''s just watch the show and see what miracle they could bring."


    "Hmmm�� I guess that''s right�� We''ll know the resultter."


    .


    .


    .


    Gremory Mansion in the underworld. Sirzechs is watching the proceeding along with his parents, Zeoticus Gremory and Venna Gremory, and his son, Milicas Gremory.


    Zeoticus has the appearance of a middle-aged, handsome looking man with long crimson red hair that is tied in a loose ponytail with a ck hairband. He has bright blue eyes just like his two children, Sirzechs and Rias Gremory. He also has a short and red beard or stubble. While Venna looks very much like her daughter with shorter xen hair and violet eyes much like the natural-born members of the Bael n. Due to her devil lineage, she appears around the same age as her daughter and her son who appears to be in his early to mid-twenties. Millicas, on the other hand, is a cute young boy with short crimson red hair inherited from his father, Sirzechs, and red eyes which he inherited from his mother, Grayfia.


    "So it''s starting�� Sirzechs, Is it really needed to go through all this farce?" Zeoticus muttered while he stares at the screens showing her daughter instructing her peerage members.


    "We have to give her some chance is you want her to ept the marriage voluntarily. And who knows, maybe she''ll really win this game." His son, Sirzechs replied to him.


    "I don''t see any chances of her winning�� Why do you think she can win?" Venna asks this time.


    "Rias luckily took this generation''s Red Dragon Emperor. Maybe a miracle could happen�� And besides�� There is also that nekomata��"


    "You mean Koneko-chan? What about her?" Venna''s attention was caught by the child who grew up in the mansion instead of the appearance of the Dragon Emperor.


    "Grayfia reported that a human with the same age as Rias is helping Koneko train." Sirzechs rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "A human you say�� What so special about it?" Zeoticus narrowed his eyes in scrutiny.


    "Let''s just watch the game�� We''ll see how it goes as even I don''t know how to interpret Grayfia''s report." Sirzechs didn''t speak any further and focused his attention on the screen.


    Zeoticus and Venna looked at each other in confusion but after a while, they returned their attention to their daughter who already moved out and is approaching the new school building.


    .


    .


    Rias'' n is to lure and eliminate all of Riser''s ''Pawn'' first as it won''t be good for their team if even one of them promotes to ''Queen''


    Rias splits the group into four. The first group is Issei and Koneko. The second is only an individual which is Yuuto. Third is Akeno and thest are Rias and Asia.


    Issei and Koenko will serve as a lure to attract the enemies towards a certain point. Yuuto will act with guerri tactics in mind reducing their number further. Akeno will be a high powered moving artillery that will eliminate the groups that Issei and Koneko gathered while Rias and Asia will look for the chance to sneak towards Riser and confront him while his servants are busy.


    Issei and Koneko arrived at the gymnasium where they would confront some of Riser''s servants. Koneko easily defeated her opponent who is a fellow Rook with a single strike and watched Issei deal with the other three Pawns. Truthfully, Koneko could easily deal with four of them at the same time, but she followed Kisuke''s advice not to help hisrades if he/she can deal with it. They also need experience he said.


    Thanks to Issei''s training, he was able to deal with Riser''s three Pawns�� Is what they chose to believe when they witness him incapacitate the three girls with his self taught magic called ''Dress Break'' which removes all forms of clothing worn by the target.


    "You''re the worst! A menace to all women!" The twins shouted angrily while covering their bodies.


    "You beast! You deviant incarnate!" Mira is shaking from cold wind grazing her bare skin.


    "How disgusting��" Even the Rook Koneko took downmented between her pained groans.


    "�� I''ve lost all respect for you." Even Koneko, who is used to see Kisuke''s perverted antics, was put off by this magic.


    Issei looked away from Koneko''s hurting gaze, "Ha-ha-ha�� Say what you want�� Kisuke can even strip female underwear without thetter''s awareness even with her clothes on."


    In the StuCo room, Sona and Tsubaki gave Kisuke a disgusted look.


    But Kisuke ignored those stares and muttered, "What a fascinating magic. It''ll take me a few days, but I can make my own version that wouldn''t need any touch or gesture��"


    Both Sona and Tsubaki shuddered at his words.

 Volume 3 113 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 3

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 113 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 3</h4>


    Issei and Koneko left the gymnasium while their opponents were incapacitated. After a few seconds, Akeno arrives, bombarding and annihting the whole gymnasium with lightning along with Riser''s servants.


    "Three of Riser Phenex-sama''s ''Pawns'' and one of his ''Rooks'' have been retired." Grayfia''s announcement echoed throughout the whole battlefield.


    "It''s just like what Kiba said before�� It makes sense that Akeno-san is called ''Priestess of Thunder''��" Issei is in awe at the sight of destruction Akeno casually concocted, ''Amazing�� Better remember not to piss off Akeno-san�� Kisuke�� rest in pieces��''


    Issei turned to Koneko and initiated a high-five, "We did it, Koneko-chan!"


    "Please don''t touch me!" Koneko took a step back, still remembering his disgusting magic.


    "Hahaha, I''ll never use it on an ally." Issei awkwardlyugh.


    "��It''s still a nasty move." Koneko started walking away, but just a few steps, her senses started warning her. She used her inner Ki to cover herself and arge explosion happened in front of her sending her flying to the woods.


    .


    .


    .


    "Looks like their n works," Sonamented after the Akeno dropped her attack on the building.


    "Yep. That Fried Chicken is not taking it seriously when ites tomanding his servants. He''s just that confident to win even with just himself." Kisuke added. Then they witness the explosion which sent Koneko to the woods with unknown faith.


    .


    .


    .


    Sona furrowed her brows at this and asks Kisuke, "Is she going to be okay?"


    "So that''s how is it�� She wants the opponents to think that she''s already taken out." Kisuke muttered, "She''s going to be fine�� You see, she needs a lot of alone time to execute her secret technique. This is a good chance to reduce the attention she''s getting."


    Sona returned her sights on the screen and focused her attention to Koneko who is lying on the ground, disheveled and ''unconscious'', ''Let me see this secret technique of yours.''


    .


    .


    .


    "Well done. Building up that lightning attack takes some time for Akeno, so while we''re waiting for her to recharge, we''ll move on to the next operation." Rias'' voice resounded on theirmunicator.


    "Got it, Buchou!" Issei turned to Koneko and tried to catch up to her, "We''re supposed to meet up with Kiba on the Sporting Grounds, right? Let''s move, Koneko-ch---!" A sudden explosion interrupted his words and he saw Koneko''s bodyunching away to the woods dropping out of his vision, "Ko-Koneko-chan!!!"


    "Take." From the sky, Riser''s ''Queen'', Yubelluna'' appeared. She just cast that bomb magic, "Fufufu~. All your struggles are for nothing. You''ll never beat Riser-sama." She then faces the direction where Koneko was thrown away. She saw her lying on the ground rtively fine, but unconscious. The game''s judge deemed her still capable ofbat, ''I used quite a lot of force in that one since Ravel-sama warned me about her. Surprisingly, she wasn''t taken out instantly, but I should finish her off.''


    Yubelluna wanted to follow Koneko, but Akeno blocked her way, "Issei, don''t worry about Koneko-chan. She''ll be fine. Proceed to follow Rias'' orders for now." She red at Yubelluna and also followed her line of sight, ''This is not the end for her�� right?''


    "B-But--!" Issei still didn''t want to leave just yet.


    "Issei-kun." Akeno put more force in her voice, "You have your role to y, and this is mine. Do not fret, I''ll avenge Koneko-chan. I''ll give everything to crush this one."


    "Kuh!!" Issei turned around and ran away, leaving the two ''Queen''s'' battlefield which is now filled with explosions.


    "Hah��hah��hah��" Issei ran from destructions with all his might and stopped at the corner of the building just before he reached the Sporting Groups.


    As he tries to calm his breathing, Grayfia''s announcement was heard again, "Three of Riser Phenex-sama''s ''Pawns'' have been retired."


    "Three ''Pawns''? But Buchou is still in the base and Akeno-san is in the middle of a fight��" Issei muttered when a hand grabbed his shoulder, "!?"


    Issei turned around to retaliate but saw it was Yuuto Kiba doing a silence gesture, "Oh�� It''s just you." Issei is now trying to calm his beating heart.


    Kiba was the one who defeated the three ''Pawns'' and the two talk for a while to rest. After reaffirming their resolves to get stronger, they started to argue who''s going to be on ''top'' which inevitably attracted Riser''s remaining pieces to their location.


    "I am Kamine, a ''Knight'' serving Riser-sama. I''ve had enough of sneaking around and feeling each other out. ''Knight'' of Rias Gremory,e and pit your de against mine! Knight on Knight!" A young woman with light brown hair and green eyes called out to Yuuto. Her outfit consists of a full set of silver armor with ck ents that appears to be a cross between a European Knight (chest te, gauntlets, and greaves) and a Japanese Samurai (hip tes and shoulder guards), and wears a headband that goes across her hair and forehead. She is equipped with a broadsword and a dagger, both of which are held with brown belts slung across her hip. The broadsword is slung on her left hip, and features a red jewel on the pommel and has bandages across the handle for grip. The dagger, which is located behind her hip, features a gold hilt with bandages on the handle.


    Yuuto opened the door of the storage room they were in and epted her invitation, "Hmmph�� I can''t keep hiding after being called out like that." He pulled out his sword from his hip and took a stance, "As a Knight, that is."


    "What!?" Issei didn''t know what to do, but he had no other choice other than following him outside of their hiding ce.


    "I am Yuuto Kiba, a Knight." Yuuto first introduced himself and Issei did the same, "And I''m Issei Hyoudou, a Pawn."


    Kamine chuckled, "Always a joy to meet fighters who boldly step out, front and center. You''re my favorite type of idiots! Hahaha!"


    "That''s riching from you!" Issei retorted.


    "I''ll give you a fight that is anything but ordinary." Yuuto pointed his sword towards Kamine.


    "Well said, Knight of Rias Gremory!" They started their sh leaving Issei gawking at the sidelines.


    But he wasn''t alone for too long and the rest of Riser''s servants appeared one after another surrounding him.


    .


    .


    .


    "That''s some interesting Sacred Gear. Can he create any sword with any effect?" Kisukemented on the scenes ongoing on the screens.


    "Who knows. It''s said that throughout history, countless variations of this Scared Gear appeared. And each one of those has their own specialties." Sona replied while she rests her head on her hand.


    A few more moments, they witness Issei use his ''original'' magic on Riser''s Rook and retired her through the use of an attack he calls ''Dragon Shot''.


    Rias is already confronting Riser on the top of the roof of the new school building along with Asia.


    "He even has his little sister in his harem!? Damn�� I lost!" Kisuke gritted his teeth just like Issei when Ravel reveals herself.


    "Why are youpeting with him?" Sona gave him another disgusted look.


    Kisuke looked at her and smiled, "Right�� Why am Ipeting with him? I already have Sona-kaichou."


    Kisuke''s words caught Sona off guard and nkly stared at him. A few secondster, her face flushed red with embarrassment, "Who''s yours!? You damned pervert!!!"


    Sona kept shouting at him but he just enjoyed Sona''s tantrum and embarrassed face.


    Issei and Yuutobined their Sacred Gear to create a field of des which impaled all of Riser''s servant around Issei and Yuuto, the only one left is Riser''s little sister, Ravel who already healed her wound.


    She gritted her teeth and muttered, "Is this also the Dragon''s power?"


    Just as Issei and Yuuto are feeling proud of their aplishments, another announcement from Grayfia resounded, "Rias Gremory-sama''s Queen has been retired." This announcement understandably shocked everyone in Rias'' peerage.


    "Just with those words and they''re letting their guard down? It''s not like she''s dead." Kisukemented, and as he expected, it''s Yuuto''s turn to be charcoal from an explosion while they are processing those words.


    "Rias Gremory-sama''s Knight has been retired." Grayfia''s voice resounded again waking them up from their stupor.

 Volume 3 114 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 4

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 114 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 4</h4>


    "Queen and Knight, take." Yubelluna appeared behind Issei floating in the air.


    "It''s just like with Koneko-chan�� Now Akeno-san and Kiba too!" Issei gritted his teeth and taunted Riser''s Queen, "Get down here! I''ll avenge them all!"


    "Heh!" But Yubelluna just sneered at him and flew away to Riser''s side where he is confronting Rias and Asia.


    "Sh*t! Hold it!" Issei chased after her and neared the new school building which is the base of the opposing team, but before he could enter, he is shocked that Riser''s little sister is still fine and exined that she too is an immortal Pheonix and also exined the existence of Phoenix Tear that helps Yubelluna to defeat Akeno. Ravel tried to talk to him and make him give up the game, but she instead was ignored and threatened back.


    Issei entered the building and promoted himself to ''Queen'' increasing his overall strength.


    "Sona-kaichou, How does that ''Promotion'' works?" After seeing her calm down sufficiently, Kisuke asks Sona about the ''Pawn'' piece.


    "Ehem�� Every piece is connected to the King registered in it. When we use a piece on someone, it uses our Demonic Power to promote our servant''s strength. Queen promotes overall strengthrgely, Bishop promotes Magic Power, Knight promotes speed, Rook promotes defense and power and Pawn promotes overall strength but in smaller quantities. But Pawns have the potential to be any of the other pieces at the expense of the King''s Demonic Power." Sona exined cleanly.


    "Heh��" Kisuke turned his focus back to the screen and thought, ''So unless Koneko-chan gets away from Gremory-san''s influence, it''ll be hard for her to promote her strength stronger than Gremory-san''s Demonic Power. There is still a big leeway as Gremory-san''s potential is mostly untapped, but it won''t be like that forever.''


    On the screen, Riser started beating up Issei who is already overloaded with magic due to his Boosted Gear and coughing blood. Asia tried to heal him but Yubelluna blocked her ability. Rias could only help Issei by throwing balls made out of Power of Destruction, but even though she wound him enough that others would instantly die from it, Riser kept regenerating even if his head was blown off. Truly an immortal Phoenix.


    Kisuke, without a word, stood up and walks towards the door to exit.


    "Where are you going?" Sona also stood up and ask him. She thought that Kisuke already gave up watching as it is painfully obvious that Rias couldn''t win. But she still wanted to see it through the end.


    "I already know the result, so I have to leave."


    "Have to leave? Couldn''t you stay until the match ends?"


    "Nope, I have to go and asks Yoruichi to help that Fried Chicken not to get killed. After all, if he dies under that hulking cat''s hands, it''s going to be a pain in the *ss." Kisuke didn''t turn around and continues walking outside without waiting for Sona and Tsubaki''s reactions.


    Sona stared nkly on the door where Kisuke just left, "��What��?" Afterprehending what he just said Sona looked at the screen which features the woods, but the lying Koneko is already nowhere to be found. Sona and Tsubaki looked around and saw her walking openly on the Sporting Field while her eyes are closed and she is already in her nekomata form.


    Sona furrowed her brows as Koneko is now giving off a different aura, like that of a wild beast. She didn''t want to believe that Koneko can actually kill Riser because if she''s really capable of it, then she would have to reevaluate Kisuke and Yoruichi. And they will inevitably gather attention which she didn''t want to happen at this point.


    .


    .


    .


    In the Gremory Mansion, Millicas sighed at his Aunt''s defeat. Even though his grandfather wants to see this result, he still wished from the bottom of his heart for Rias to win this game and attain freedom. Venna was also disappointed at the result but didn''t say anything as she already expected this.


    Only Sirzechs furrowed his brows at what''s happening which garnered Zeoticus and Venna''s attention, "What''s wrong, Sirzechs?" Zeoticus asks, ''So he didn''t really want to see this marriage happening.'' Venna, after looking at his expression also thought the same.


    Sirzechs shook his head, he knew what they are thinking and denied it, "That''s not it�� I told you since the start of the game, right? There''s an interesting Human who trained Koneko and looking at her right now, he''s more than interesting now.


    Both of them had a confused look and looked for Koneko who they thought is already out of the game. And just like Sirzechs, Zeoticus and Venna furrowed their brows because of the feeling she is giving them right now. Even though Koneko is walking slowly and peacefully, she''s like a drawn sword, lusting after the blood of her opponent.


    .


    .


    .


    Riser is grabbing Issei''s head, who is already ck and blue from the torture Riser gave him, and raised him in the air, "Hmmph, give it up. You have no way of winning."


    "Issei!" Rias shouted in dispair while Asia couldn''t do anything but cry in the background.


    Riser turned his head to Rias, "Resign now. Don''t drag this any longer."


    Rias couldn''t answer him but she''s already thinking of resigning. But Riser thought that she''s still hesitating, so he raised his free arm and d it mes ready to obliterate Issei''s head who''s still ring at him, while already unconscious. His tenacity shocked even Riser. As he is about to bring his arm down, Rias shouted, "Riser! Stop! I--"


    Before she couldplete her words, however, she notices that Issei already disappeared from in front of Riser�� along with his arm which is holding him.


    "What!?" Yubelluna and Ravel eximed and looked around. They saw Koneko with her eyes closed carrying Issei in princess carry as she slowly walks to Rias and Asia who are crying their eyes out.


    Koneko put him in front of Asia and removed the bindings that Yubelluna cast of her to stop her from moving with a wave of her hand. She then faced Rias and said, "I''m sorry for beingte, Buchou."


    "Ko��Ko-neko��?" Rias stuttered as she called her name. She may be speaking calmly and has a neutral expression, but she can somehow feel her unprecedented fury. This is the first time she has seen her like this and certainly wouldn''t imagine that she''s capable of giving away this kind of demeanor.


    "Koneko Toujo�� Yubelluna, I thought I told you to deal with her�� What is she doing here?" Ravel eyed Koneko and the bad feeling she''s getting from the start is getting worse.


    "Even though I wasn''t able to retire her, I''m pretty sure that she took considerable damage and couldn''t get up for a short time." Yubelluna defended herself.


    "It doesn''t matter�� No matter how fast she is, she can''t hurt me. And I doubt she can keep that kind of speed up. Although I must say that it caught me off guard�� For a Rook to be able to move that fast. What if you''re a Knight instead?" Riser casually spoke and stopped them from arguing. His arm already returned to its previous state before Koneko even reach Rias.


    "You''re about to resign, Rias? Just say it and--" Riser was interrupted yet again, but this time he saw clearly Koneko appeared in front of him in a strange form and grabbed his head and threw him towards the center of the Sporting Field creating arge explosion of soil and dust.

 Volume 3 115 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 5 (Konekos Change)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 115 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 5 (Koneko''s Change)</h4>


    The dust which covered the Sporting Ground scattered and a huge crater was revealed with Riserying in the middle without his head, but soon enough it regenerated like nothing happened. He stood up and dusted himself and gazed at his assant.


    Koneko is currently in her Sage Mode, but with some additional physical features from when shest transformed in Kisuke secret training ground. The white mes are clearer, the blue pigment around her eyes extended a line to her cheeks. Her ws extended by an inch. Her pupils are still golden but her slitted irises are blood-red which gives anyone who stares a chill. And the most striking addition is the third tail which is purely made out of her white mes.


    "�� What''s this?" Riser couldn''t help but frown at this sight. As experienced as he is, he never saw or even heard of something like this. What he is sure of is that, as she is now, Koneko is a real threat to him.


    Koneko didn''t speak and used sh Step to instantly appear in front of him. With a swipe of her w, Koneko obliterated Riser''s left arm and leg instantly. Riser reactedte but his ming wings materialized and brought him away with an ugly face. After a few seconds, he returned to his former state.


    Riser flew at high altitudes to escape her pursuit. He knew that his advantages are in an aerial battle, especially against a Low-ss Devil who can''t utilize their wings effectively. But to his dismay, Koneko didn''t need her wings as she created invisible footholds to jump several times in the air. And within just a few jumps, she instantly reached him again and smashed her tiny fist to him. Riser tried to block it with both of his arms but that was futile as even his arms exploded into mincemeat doing almost nothing to the force behind it. Riser got his head destroyed yet again and the force sent him towards the old school building, demolishing it and creating anotherrge crater.


    This happened for a few more times making the whole battlefield, the artificial Kuoh Academy, unrecognizable. Asia and Issei has long been retired by Rias because she has a feeling that Koneko right now is a different person and she might prove to be dangerous to those around her. She suddenly remembered her history and her elder sister who is currently wanted, "�� It can''t be�� That Urahara�� just what did she do to her?" Rias couldn''t help but crumple her face.


    Sona and Tsubaki are staring nkly at the screen and the destruction the rampaging Koneko made, "This�� She''s pushing back a High-ss Devil�� An immortal Phoenix at that��" Tsubaki muttered in awe.


    Sona didn''t voice out her thoughts. She is, nevertheless, shock at Koneko''s performance, ''She''s overpowering Riser, but it''s far from actually defeating him. Although Riser is getting haggard from repeated use of his regeneration, Koneko is also in bad shape herself. Her body is bloodied from ruptured veins due to overexerting herself and she is already struggling to breathe. But what''s this? She getting wilder and wilder��''


    In the Gremory Mansion, Sirzechsmented, "This is more amazing than I initially thought��"


    "Isn''t she going out of control? She''ll just be killing herself instead of defeating Riser." Venna voiced out her concerns because Koneko is like a daughter to her along with Akeno as Rias'' first servants and live in the Mansion for a while.


    "Should we stop it, Sirzechs?" Zeoticus asks his son.


    "�� Maybe we should watch longer. Something is still bothering me." Sirzechs replied.


    Back to the battlefield, Koneko is wheezing and staggering. Even though she is attacking him wildly, she still has a bit of her sanity remaining. Koneko observed her enemy and although he''s a bit pale, he is still rtively fine. She is sure that his regeneration skill is getting slower and slower each time he ''dies'', but even then, she''s already reaching her limit, ''Kisuke-senpai lied�� It is not enough to defeat him�� What should I do?''


    Riser is very tired from countless regeneration, but he knew that she wouldn''tst long, and just as he expected, she stopped moving. Riser used this chance to counter-attack. He used his fastest speed to fly towards her and d his right arm with arge swirling me. Koneko wanted to dodge, but her leg gave up in the most unfortunate timing and could only block his attack head-on with her frail-looking arms.


    With a ming punch, Riser sent Koneko downwards like a ming meteorite crashing down to the ground creating a craterrge enough that five big elephants could fit.


    But Riser is not the only one in this game. After their initial shock, Yubelluna and Ravel recovered and attacked the downed Koneko, Yubelluna with her charged explosion magic and Ravel''s three-meter wide ball of me.


    Koneko, after crashing, couldn''t move anymore and started coughing blood. As if her situation isn''t dire enough, two magics of great strength hit her burning and aggravating her already serious wounds. Koneko can hear her master calling out to her in grief as she slowly fell into a stupor, ''In the end�� I wasn''t able to do anything to change the result��


    ''I''ve failed Buchou��


    ''I''ve failed Yoruichi-san��


    ''I''ve failed Kisuke-senpai��


    ''��


    ''��


    ''��


    ''No�� I haven''t done everything yet�� There''s onest thing that I can still do��


    ''��


    ''Strange�� Now that I''vee to this point, I think that being fearful of my own possibilities is very stupid��


    ''I should just let it go and see where will it take me�� Just like Kisuke-senpai said��


    ''��


    ''Yoruichi-san, Kisuke-senpai, I''ll be troubling you��''


    With that, Koneko''sst bit of reason went into slumber as she lets go of every hesitation she has.


    "Rias Gremory-sama''s Rook has been�� " Grayfia''s voice was heard again but she suddenly stopped when she noticed something strange. She didn''t expect that the retirement system didn''t activate after taking those heavy hits.


    From the crater, a heartbeat echoed. It''s very faint but it was heard by everyone who is watching. They knew it came from Koneko but are confused as to why she suddenly produces a sound like that. Grayfia was reminded of the birth of the dragons but shook her head as it is very different from what she felt and heard that day.


    With all of them focusing their sights on the crater, they kept hearing a faint heartbeat as dust and soil started to settle revealing Koneko''s real condition. But what they saw isn''t Koneko but a ball of white mes. The ball is five meters in diameterpletely enveloping Koneko and hiding her from their visions and as the heartbeats echo, it growsrger and more turbulent. Ravel is not liking where this is all going and initiated another attack.


    Throwing a big ball of Phoenix fire, Ravel shouted at both Yubelluna and Riser, "Don''t let finish whatever she is doing!!!"


    Riser and Yubelluna followed her steps and also started attacking the white mes, while Rias tries to stop them with her own Power of Destruction disrupting their attacks in midair. But even then, more than half of the attacks went through and touch the white mes. Against their expectation, however, the white mes extended towards iing attacks as they neared and ''devoured'' them.


    Witnessing this scene gave all the yers a chill, including those who are awake and currently recuperating at the medical facility.


    Even those old and experience people watching on Gremory Mansion had their eyes wide open, "What''s that!?" Zeoticus asks both Venna and Sirzechs. But both of them failed to give him an answer.


    Feeling their Demonic Powers disappearing, Riser, Ravel, and Yubelluna retreated and didn''t continue attacking.


    After a few minutes, the ball''s size increased to ten meters and suddenly started shaking. It then receded towards the center revealing the figure in the middle of it. All of them gasp in shock at her appearance.


    The ''Koneko'' standing in the crater is a 5''8" tall woman which is as tall as Rias. She has a flowing white hair that extends up to her waist. Her bosom is ample enough that they are only smaller than Rias and Akeno. She also has her white cat ears but her the number of her tails became 8 which are swaying gently around her. Her pupils are mesmerizing wine-red in color but are cold and unfeeling. She still has the blue hue around her eyes that supplements her beauty more. And the most eye-catching of all is her dress which is made out of beautiful white mes that also covers her limbs.


    The epassing bleak scenery contrasted her almost divine-like appearance, ironic for a Low-ss Devil like Koneko. And a single sentence went through their minds, ''A Goddess descended.''

 Volume 3 116 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 6 (Konekos Rampage)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 116 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 6 (Koneko''s Rampage)</h4>


    "W-What is that!?" Tsubaki stood up from her chair and eximed to Sona.


    "�� I don''t know. We could ask Kisuke if he''s here. But he already knew that this would happen and escaped." Sona reclined on her chair and sighed, "He said he''s going to get Yoruichi-san to stop Koneko. It looks like she''s already unconscious because she''s already giving me a very dreadful feeling despite her otherworldly appearance."


    Tsubaki also sat back down and stared at the screen, "How is Yoruichi-san going to stop her though? The restrictions on the space of around an ongoing game are very strong that only administrators and those approved by them could get in."


    "Who knows, maybe Yoruichi-san has a way to do it remotely. But that''s not my concern�� These higher-ups may deem Koneko dangerous and kill her outright. Moreover, her sister has a simr history of rampaging, it''ll surely affect their judgment�� Tsubaki, contact the Sitri House and ask them to petition to stop the game before everything gets worse. Meanwhile, I''ll contact Grayfia-san to withhold the game."


    "Yes, Kaichou!"


    .


    .


    "Sirzechs, This isn''t good. Riser and Ravel can survive, but Rias and Riser''s Queen will die if that little girl rampages in her current state. I don''t know how strong she is currently but just looking at her right now, I feel threatened. Stop the game now, before an irreversible ident happens." Zeoticus narrowed his eyes. He didn''t like Koneko''s current demeanor as it is too cold and unfeeling. She might turn her ws to her master like her sister did in the past.


    Sirzechs is the only one who knew what really happened to Koneko''s older sister and he just helped her out of pity and Koneko being a good addition to Rias'' Peerage. He didn''t reveal anything about this though and just followed his father''smand because he too knew that it''s already getting out of hand, "I already sent a petition to stop the game, but it''ll take some time for it to be approved unless multiple parties made the same request."


    Just in time, two small magic circles appeared in front of Sirzechs and a hologram of a figure appeared in each circle.


    The first one is the familiar maid, Grayfia and the other is one of his fellow Devil King, Serafall Leviathan. Serafall is a beautiful girl looking in herte teens with ck hair, tied into twin tails and blue eyes. She also has a child-like body, albeit withrge breasts.


    Like Sirzechs, Serafall is a former member of a high-ranking House, Sitri House. And the older sister of Sona Sitri.


    "Sirzechs-chan! Good day! So-tan requested the Sitri House to send a petition to stop the game and I noticed that you along with Gremory and Phenex Houses also wanted to stop the game. What''s happening?" Serafall asks with a confused expression, but her bubbly personality is very apparent.


    "I''ll exin the whole storyter. For now, watch this live feed. Grayfia, why did you contact me?" Sirzechs did some gestures with his hand and sent a live feed directly to Serafall and he then faced Grayfia.


    "Sona Sitri-sama directly sent me a message to hold the game. The administrators are still busy with something and can''t answer for now. What should I do?"


    "So-tan? It looks like she''s very concerned with this white cat. Who is she? A new member of Rias'' Peerage? Pretty strong for her current level."


    "That''s Rias'' Rook, Koneko Toujou. We don''t know what happened for her to be like that but that''s not important right now. Grayfia, get ready to pull all of them out there--" "Onii-sama!!!" "Riser-sama!!!" Before he could finish his words, however, they heard Ravel''s and Yubelluna''s distressed shouts and saw that Riser is bounded by rings of white mes, "Grayfia! Get all of them out there now!" Sirzechs also shouted seeing what''s happening.


    "I''m on it�� This is bad! Sirzechs-sama! Those rings of mes are somehow devouring the teleportation magic before they can activate!" Grayfia flusteredly reported.


    .


    .


    .


    "��What is she��?" Ravel muttered while gazing at Koneko''s current form.


    "Rias�� What''s up with your servant? Although she''s very beautiful, I''m having goosebumps just from the dreadful auraing from her." Riser increased his vignce and thought, ''What are the higher-ups thinking about after seeing this? Is the game still ongoing? If so, defeating that thing would be very hard.''


    "�� I also don''t know�� Damn you Urahara Kisuke! What did you do to Koneko!?" Rias gritted her teeth because she noticed that Koneko is just staring nkly on the air and even her, as her master, is feeling threatened which is almost impossible if the servant is still loyal.


    Riser wanted to say more but he saw Koneko suddenly move and raised her head and looked straight at him with a nk expression. Staring at those captivating unfocused eyes, he suddenly felt terrified and he instinctively crosses his arm in front of him. Thanks to that, he was able to block Koneko''s right hand when she suddenly appeared in front of him and reached out her hand d in white mes.


    With an hammer-like impact, Riser is once again fell and adding a crater to the numerous ones on the ground. Blocking that attack, Riser''s arms caught in white mes and he tried healing it. But to his shock, the white mes only kept growing and is now eating his shoulders. "What!!!" Understandably, Riser started panicking but before he could do something else, five rings of white mes appeared on his torso and four limbs binding him in ce. He tried flying upwards but failed.


    Without changing her posture, from Riser''s previous spot, another ball of me appeared in front of her extended hand and pointed it at Riser. Rias and the rest finally reacted and noticed that Riser can''t heal nor escape. Ravel and Yubelluna resumed attacking Koneko with all they have. Rias is still hesitating but sent her own non-lethal magic towards Koneko. To their dismay, however, once their magic neared Koneko, it suddenly catches white mes and burned to nothingness before they could reach her.


    Seeing it didn''t work, Ravel and Yubelluna decided to help Riser instead as the ball of me on Koneko''s hand is growing bigger and bigger every second, like a charging bomb. The white me started to have some blue tint in it which rose the very dangerous feeling it is giving off, "Onii-sama!!!" "Riser-sama!!!"


    Although with Sirzechsmand, they weren''t even able to approach Riser and were teleported to the medical ward where everyone who is awake is also watching.


    Rias rushed to Akeno who is already awake and shaking at Koneko''s current form. Rias asks her, "Do you know what''s happening?"


    Akeno could only shake her head in dismay and internally ming Kisuke for turning Koneko into something like that.


    Off the side, Ravel is talking to her mother and asking her to help Riser who is struggling to escape.


    Rias also contacted her brother and was told that they are doing something. Her marriage is not on her mind now.

 Volume 3 117 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 7

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 117 - Gremory VS Phenex Rating Game Part 7</h4>


    Being left alone, Riser started panicking even more and struggled without any regard for his body. As he tries to whisk away his bindings, he is staring at the ball of fire which already covered Koneko from his view. He knew if that ball of white mes has the same properties as the ones ''eating'' his right now, then that would spell his doom, "S-Someone! Anyone! Help me! P-Please, save me!!!" He swallowed his and pleaded to the empty space where the organizers of the games are watching.


    As if answering to his pleas, two distinct phenomenons caught the attention of all the viewers. The first one is a blue magic teleportation circle where a beautiful woman with straight and long beautiful pale blue hair, dark blue eyes, and a cold atmosphere that radiates from her beauty appears. Even though in humanoid form, the audience knew that she is a dragon due to powerful dragon aura radiating from her.


    Zeoticus and Venna were shocked at her appearance, "Who is she? Such a powerful dragon aura��"


    "Tiamat��" Sirzechs answered simply with furrowed brows.


    "Tiamat? One of the Five Great Dragon Kings? What is she doing there?" Venna voiced out her curiosity. Even though she''s still a bit worried about Koneko, she already sighed in relief when her daughter was teleported out to safety.


    "Indeed. Ajuka managed to hire where for something to be a secret judge for the Rating Games. It seems that this event''s strange urrences are enough to warrant her presence." Sirzechs exined and answered the calling from Rias and told her that the higher-ups are already doing something and the only thing she could do is watch. Rias couldn''t ept it and requested to be teleported back to the battlefield but all of those in Gremory Mansion denied her request which distressed her greatly.


    "Please! Onii-sama. Please save Koneko!" Rias pleaded with her tears bordering her eyes. She is ming Kisuke for he might have done something to Koneko for her to turn like that, but she hates and ming herself more for her weakness that her own servant was forced to use something clearly forbidden just to win the match for her, ''I shouldn''t have hesitated to resign.''


    Just as Tiamat appeared, a ck line was suddenly drawn in the sky not far from her. This strange phenomenon stole the attention of the audience from Tiamat and Tiamat herself narrowed her eyes from this. The ck line suddenly split the space and opened a pathway to the Dimensional Gap which a slender and well-endowed woman of average height walked out from it stepping on the air instead of flying just like what Koneko did. She has dark skin, golden irises, and ck hair. Her hair is waist-length and kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face. She''s wearing an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, arge beige sash around her waist, and ck stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes. Yoruichi hase with a big smile to take the crazy cat home.


    Everyone from Gremory, Phenex, and those in the medical ward are confused and shocked at the neer''s appearance. They already received the news about Tiamat''s appearance but thedy with dark skin didn''t seem like she came from the Rating Games Committee as even Tiamat is ring at her arrival.


    In the medical ward, of Rias'' servants, only Issei ispletely unconscious while Asia is treating him with her Twilight Healing. They are in a veryrge room with some medical equipment and multiple beds for someone to rest on. Rias and co are staring at the big screen where their game is held and canceled along with Riser''s servants who are in the same room as them.


    Ravel and the rest of her group let go of some of their worries after Tiamat''s arrival but get''s nervous again when an unknown variable appeared. Contrary to them Rias and the rest became concerned as to what might happen to Koneko as the decision-makers might send out an order to kill her to preserve a High-ss Devil like Riser. When Yoruichi appeared, Akeno couldn''t help mutter her name, "�� Yoruichi��-san."


    "Akeno? What did you say? Do you know her?" Rias hurriedly questioned her and all eyes in the room transferred to her.


    Akeno is now regretting uttering her name without thinking and could only sigh, "If there is someone who could keep Koneko safe from the Dragon Lady, it might be her."


    "Yoruichi�� Isn''t that the one Koneko mentioned who is teaching her martial arts and the one we are looking for?" Rias looked back to the screen and stare at the beautiful dark-skinned figure andmitted her appearance to her memory.


    "Yes��" Akeno nodded.


    "What are you talking about? Who is that? Save Koneko? Then what is she going to do with my brother? And you think she has the capability to go against the strongest among the Five Great Dragon Kings?" Ravel sent out a barrage of questions to Akeno.


    "I don''t know anything outside her name and appearance. I''m sorry to disappoint you, Ravel-sama."


    Ravel gritted her teeth at her useless answer but didn''t pursue it and just decided to watch what''s going to happen.


    In the Gremory Mansion, the magic circle that Rias used to contact Sirzechs is still connected and heard everything Akeno said in the ward, "It seems like this human you are referring is more than just amusing, Sirzechs." Zeoticusmented.


    Sirzechs could only smile wryly at his words and said, "Sadly, she isn''t the human Grayfia reported about. Although I can''t deny her connection to him after seeing all of this."


    "What? Then who is this you''re talking about?" Zeoticus'' and Venna''s eyes widened.


    "Someone who is attending the same school as Rias and was born in the town she currently overlooking, Urahara Kisuke."


    "�� Is he an enemy?" Zeoticus asks the question that concerns him the most.


    "I don''t know. Although, from Grayfia''s report, he seems to be not very fond of Rias and Akeno for their multiple attempts to investigate him."


    Zeoticus didn''t say anything more and looked back at the screen where the two beauties are having a face-off. Internally, he''s contemting the actions he could take.


    "Hey hey, Sirzechs-chan. Why is this Urahara Kisuke seem so familiar? What did he do?" Serafall asks while trying to remember where she heard of him.


    Sirzechs nodded at her, "That''s right. You should be familiar with him as he is very close to your sister and appeared quite protective of him, ording to Grayfia."


    "What? Is that true Gray-chan?" Sona turned to Grayfia who is silently watching and also contemting where she had seen Yoruichi as her eyes are somewhat familiar.


    Grayfia faced Serafall and confirmed, "Yes, Serafall-sama. She even imed that he''s a prospective fiance of hers and dered ownership of him."


    "WHATTTT!!!??? SO-TAN SAID THAT!? I won''t ept him as long as he isn''t stronger the Sirzechs-chan!" Serafall eximed, "Why So-tan isn''t answering my calls? Is it because of him!?"


    "Don''t think too much about it, It''s just the usual." Sirzechs chuckled at her antics.


    "Hmmph," Serafall didn''t deny him as it is true but didn''t give up contacting her sister.


    Back to the former artificial Kuoh Academy, Tiamat released her dragon aura and questioned the neer, "Who are you?"


    Yoruichi wasn''t fazed. Her smile grew bigger and she released her Reiatsu-Ki Pressure which caved the ground below her and said, "I''m that cat''s caretaker and I''m here to bring her home because she had too much catnip and is now going crazy in this neighborhood~."


    Tiamat flinched at the pressure she is emitting and her expression became more serious.

 Volume 3 118 - Taking the Cat Back

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 118 - Taking the Cat Back</h4>


    "I''m that cat''s caretaker and I''m here to bring her home because she had too much catnip and is now going crazy in this neighborhood~."


    Tiamat flinched at the pressure she is emitting and her expression became more serious, "��The Devils will put a bounty on you for intruding a restricted space."


    "I don''t care~. You''re about to kill Koneko-chan just to save that Fried Chicken, right?" Yoruichi didn''t back down from her threats, on the contrary, she intensified her pressure.


    Tiamat didn''t say anything for a few seconds, but seeing that Koneko is about to unleash her attack, she hade into a decision. The dark-skinneddy isn''t someone she could easily dealt with from her initial estimation so she took a step back, "As long as that child of Phenex is alive, you can do what you want with that nekomata."


    Yoruichi eased up her pressure after hearing this and said, "That''s would be the best for both of us." Without waiting for Tiamat to speak, Yoruichi used sh Step to arrive in front of Riser instantly and faced Koneko who already threw her attack which is a 10-meter wide bluish-white ball of me.


    Tiamat was shocked yet again at her speed which is almost instant teleportation. She already saw Koneko do it, butpared to her, she''s very much a toddler at this skill''s mastery.


    Riser started losing himself at this sight and almost lose all hope of surviving even when someone appeared in front of him to block it. Riser knew how terrifying those mes areas they feed on energy-based attacks and shields and directly blocking it with the body isn''t a viable option either.


    Yoruichi''s expression didn''t change and thought that Koneko''s mes are very interesting, but it''s Kisuke''s job to analyze these things and she doesn''t have much time, "Shunko." Yoruichi muttered and a towering pair of lightning wings appeared behind her along with six balls of pure lightning in the size of baseball circling around her.


    Everyone is astounded at this sight of pure elementing to hermand.


    Just like Koneko, Yoruichi pointed her right arm towards the ball of fire and one of the balls of lightning went in front of her hand. Unleashing an attack of her own, a sh of lightning hit the ball of fire without anyone being able to react and scattering it throughout the battlefield.


    The former Kuoh Academy now looks like a white hell. Tiamat grabbed one of the mes and inspected it. She''s shocked to know that these mes are more dangerous than she thought and hand to use a sizable amount of her dragon power to expel it from her hand. She looked at Yoruichi with cautiousness, ''For her to instantly scatter that kind of me instantly��'' Although Tiamat is vignt against Yoruichi, she also thought that she found a worthy opponent and can''t help but think of shing against her.


    Without waiting for Koneko to make another move, Yoruichi took out a gauntlet and remembered Kisuke''s words when she received it from him earlier, ''Use this gauntlet to expel all of the natural Ki from her body. This will damage her body for a little bit but we have no other choice as the situation is urgent.''


    Wearing the gauntlet on her left arm, Yoruichi reappeared in front of Koneko with the use of sh Step and punched her to the gut before she could react.


    From Koneko''s back, arge geyser of white me erupted and hit the dome of the sky, slowly melting the restrictions and barriers ced in order to facilitate the game. A few moments, white mes entirely disappeared from Koneko but she didn''t return to her former childish form and is now buck naked. Yoruichi pulled out a white nket and wrap it around the already unconscious Koneko.


    While carrying Koneko in a princess carry, Yoruichi slowlynded to the ground near Riser. Tiamat is also arrived beside him and inspecting the rings of mes that haven''t disappeared, "This will be a bit tricky. I didn''t know those mes that came from her could be so potent. What do you call this forbidden technique?" Tiamat asks Yoruichi while looking at Riser.


    "Sage Mode. It''s not a forbidden technique. The kid just doesn''t know how to handle it. Didn''t I tell you right? She had too much catnip (natural Ki)." Yoruichi approached Riser and put Koneko on her shoulder. She then took out a knife without a handle.


    "What are you doing?" Tiamat furrowed her brows and ask.


    "It seems that you can''t teleport him out of here without putting out those mes. I''m here to help." Yoruichi smiled and stabbed the knife she is holding in Riser''s chest. Riser couldn''t care less at her actions as he''s trying his best to stop the white mes from spreading. A single knife couldn''t hurt him anyway. Too bad, he underestimated the nondescript knife. Once its de entered his body, it sent out a pulse of energy that stimted all of his Demonic Power, "AHHHH!!!" And like a bomb, he exploded into his own mes, drowning Koneko''s mes making it disappear entirely.


    After the ordeal, Riser loses his consciousness due to the sheer pain he felt with all of his energy reserves used up in the process. The current Riser can be easily killed if he doesn''t recover his Demonic Powers.


    Tiamat''s mouth twitches, "��H-how crude."


    Yoruichi just shrugged her shoulders and started to walk away, "It''s not like you have another way to do it without wasting time."


    "Wait," Tiamat called out to her.


    "What? Going to stop me?" Yoruichi didn''t stop walking but answered.


    "The name''s Tiamat��"


    "Yoruichi." With that, Yoruichi used sh Step and arrive in the opening in the space that Kisuke created for her toe here. The loosened space closed as she went through it.


    Tiamat''s head kept ringing from all the messages that she''s receiving to apprehend Koneko and the intruder but she ignored all of them. Unless it''s Ajuka who directly requested for their capture, she won''t move as she already secured her objective which is Riser.


    Inside the StuCo room, Sona reclined on her chair while Tsubaki served a fresh tea in front of her, "To think that Yoruichi-san is this strong��"


    "Yes�� It won''t be easy for you, Buchou. But don''t worry, you don''t lose in terms of charm." Tsubaki followed up.


    "Hmm? What are you talking about?" Sona is puzzled with her words, but before she could process it more, Tsubaki continued speaking, "By the way, Kaichou. Won''t you answer that calling from Serafall-sama? She''s been at it since earlier."


    Sona looked away and took her tea, "Not now. I''m too tired to deal with her. She probably already know that I imed Kisuke as my fiancee. I won''t hear the end of it if she started."

 Volume 3 119 - An Inspection

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 119 - An Inspection</h4>


    The medical ward is in total silence even after Tiamat retrieved Riser and Yoruichi left. When the big screen finally disappeared, so was the silence, "��That''s a human?" Someone from Riser''s camp muttered sparking a lively discussion.


    "Are humans that strong these days?"


    "Impossible! If that''s the case, the warmonger humans would have already invaded some realms!"


    "Did she sign-up a contract with a High-Ranking Devil? I can''t think of any other way for her to use that much power. Think about it, she didn''t use any Sacred Gear!"


    "Now that you mentioned it, she only used that weird skill that Rias-sama''s Rook disyed and some weird magic that can generate that much lightning. A magic circle didn''t even appear. What was that again? Shunko?"


    "Can someone tell which system of magic was that derived from?"


    They looked at each other and Rias suddenly remembered that Akeno joined Koneko in her training and might know something, "Akeno, do you know what system it uses?"


    Akeno thought for a while and shook her head, "But I do know Urahara and Yoruichi calls their spells."


    Everyone stared at Akeno and waited for her to finish, "They call it Kidou (Demon Arts)."


    "Demon Arts? So it''s really rted to Demonic Power?"


    "No�� As far I can tell, it''s not. They do not use Demonic Power." Akeno wanted to say more, but she knew it was the limit of the contract ced on her so she stopped speaking.


    Rias kept asking questions and Akeno finally told Rias that she''s under a contract same us Sona and Koneko and she can''t afford to break it now.


    Rias gritted her teeth in frustration. She never felt so weak before. She wanted to return to the Human realm and look for Kisuke to see Koneko''s condition. But even though she didn''t like it, she can only trust Kisuke and this unknowndy to take care of her in the meantime since she would have to get busy so the higher-ups wouldn''t punish Koneko for what just happened.


    The discussion about Yoruichi kept ongoing. She even has some fans from Riser''s servants. But it was until Yuuto noticed something strange that such discussions halted. Yuuto saw that Asia is preparing tea but he didn''t know who is it for since no one would have an appetite for tea with the current state of affairs.


    "Asia-san, For whom is that tea?" Yuuto asks her with a smile since he thought that she''s preparing it for Rias.


    "This? For Kisuke-san. He''s helping me inspect Issei-san." Asia answered like it was a matter of fact.


    Since there are only about 20 people inside the ward, and everyone is trying to lower their voice for others to rest, they all heard Asia''s words clearly.


    Everyone stopped talking and looked at the direction of Issei''s bed where he is sleeping peacefully. The bed is in between Akeno''s and Yuuto''s bed and they are now questioning their entire worth as they didn''t notice Kisuke standing on the top of Issei''s bed staring down on him while rubbing his chin seemingly in deep contemtion.


    Nobody was able to react at this ridiculous sight. Asia approach Kisuke with a cup of tea on hand and offered it to Kisuke, "How is he, Kisuke-san?"


    "Oh, how thoughtful of you. Thank you." Kisuke didn''t mind the stares he is getting and jumped down from the bed. He epted Asia''s offer and took a sip before continuing, "Hmm�� Let''s see�� All the damage he received is superficial for a Devil like him and with your healing, his body should be fine, but his mind took a toll and would need some time to rest. He''ll probably wake up around evening. So you don''t have to worry about him so much."


    "I see. Thank goodness." Asia sighed in relief.


    Kisuke drank all the tea from the cup in few gulps and expressed his intention to leave, "Well then, since he''s fine I''ll go home now. Take care, Asia-chan~."


    Asia bowed down, "Thank you very much, Kisuke-san."


    Kisuke started walking towards the door intending to exit when Rias finally got hold of herself, "Wait! Urahara! Don''t leave!" Rias ran over to him.


    Kisuke turned around and visibly eximed, "Oh! Isn''t this Gremory-senpai? I didn''t notice you there. Please do forgive me."


    Rias almost tripped and fell to the ground when she heard him, ''Dammit�� Rias, calm yourself down, if you react to his antics he''ll win. And that''s not important right now.'' Rias continued walking and reached in front of him, "How did youe here? No�� more importantly, where''s Koneko? How is Koneko doing!?" By the time she asks herst question, she''s already grabbing Kisuke''s clothes.


    "Calm down will you. She''s already stable. I know you want to see her right now, but you have things that you have to do." Kisuke grabbed her hands and put it down.


    Rias took a step back and sighed in relief, ''Urahara is right, I have things that I must do for Koneko to stay safe��''


    Kisuke then faced Akeno with still dumbfounded face, "Yo, Apprentice Maid Akeno-chan~. Have you fix your issues?"


    "You''re the one with issue!!! And I''m not an Apprentice Maid!!!" Akeno wanted to rush to Kisuke and bite him to death but stopped herself as there are many eyes watching her movements.


    "Obviously not. Haahh�� You still have a long way to go." Kisuke shook his head in disappointment and resumed walking towards the exit.


    "F*ck you!!!" This is the first time or ever heard Akeno swearing with all of her feelings, ''This guy is indeed amazing�� Better not annoy him.'' Is what on everyone''s mind except for Asia and Ravel.


    Ravel got curious and asks, "Are you as strong as thatdy who stopped Rias-san''s Rook?"


    "Hahaha, no way I''m that awesome~. I''m just your average Candy Store Owner~. By the way, you''re all wee toe and try some of our merchandise ~."


    Ravel wants to pinch his annoying face but decided against it because he''s abilities are stillrgely unknown and she doesn''t want to make him her enemy if possible.


    Kisuke reached the door and stop as he suddenly remembered something and turned around again to Rias, "Gremory-senpai, If you can''t protect Koneko''s ce beside you, she still has one beside me. I''m not trying topete with you but that''s what I already promised her."


    Rias nkly look at him who already exited after saying his piece. She tried chasing him again to ask more about it but when she went through the door, but Rias couldn''t find Kisuke''s figure.


    In the Gremory Mansion, Sirzechs sighed and asks one of the maids to prepare some snacks and beverages for everyone.


    "Sirzechs-chan, how strong do you think she is?" Serafall asks. She already stopped pestering Sona.


    "Seeing how Tiamat became so vignt against her, we can safely assume that she''s at least Ultimate-ss."


    Serafall stayed silent and nodded, "I''m going to take some days off. I want to visit So-tan."


    "Okay." Sirzechs agreed immediately. He knew that Serafall wanted to ascertain if these humans are enemies or not.


    "Alright, I''ll take my leave. I have to prepare my magical girl costume for myself and So-tan." With that, she disconnected the magic circle leaving only those from Gremory Household.


    "I should I do, Sirzechs-sama?" Grayfia inquired.


    "Assist Rias for now. She''s going to get busy for the next few days."


    "Understood." Receiving her order, Grayfia too disconnected the magic circle.


    "What are you going to do now, Sirzechs?" Zeoticus stood up along with Venna.


    "Watch from the sidelines for now. Father, Mother, please do help Rias cover for Koneko. She might be the only one who we can use as a bridge for a better rtionship with such humans."


    Zeoticus nodded, but Venna is against the idea of using Koneko. At least, she didn''t want them to help Koneko with this kind of mindset.

 Volume 3 120 - Konekos State

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 120 - Koneko''s State</h4>


    After taking a look at Issei''s condition, Kisuke went straight to the lodging inside the secret training ground.


    Entering a wide room for medical purposes, Kisuke didn''t speak. In the center of the room is Koneko,ying on arge bed and sleeping with a pained expression. Koneko already returned to her previous petite form, but her body is full of bandages with some blood seeping out. Aside from that, most of her skin is also covered in bruise.


    Kisuke already inspected her condition and the results are a hundred times worse than Issei''s injuries. Her external wounds are one thing and can be easily fixed, but her internal injuries are a lot trickier to solve due to the result of her overloading herself several times. And it doesn''t help that her vitality is at the lowest point that someone else will easily mistake her already dead.


    Surrounding Koneko is an orange oval barrier. It is Kisuke''s attempt to recreate Inoue Orihime''s ability to reverse injuries, but it''s still in the experimental stage and won''t be as effective as the original. Although it''s enough to close all her external wounds and stabilize her internal injuries if left alone for a whole day, which is what Kisuke ns before doing a more extensive treatment.


    Kisuke could have used Asia''s help to heal Koneko but her strange me''s ability is still lingering and could devour all kinds of Mana around her which in turn worsen her condition. Kisuke also didn''t want to bring Asia here nor Koneko outside because of the turmoil she created.


    Besides Koneko is Aika who is sitting and making a sour expression as she watches Koneko, "Will she be alright?" Aika asked without turning to Kisuke''s direction. Even Aika won''t be able to joke around with the current situation.


    "She''ll be fine. Though she probably won''t be able to use Senjutsu for a few months if we don''t find a way to speed up the healing process." Kisuke walked beside her and answered.


    "Can I do something to help?"


    "As of now, no."


    "Then let stay by her side to closely watch her condition. You and Yoruichi will probably very busy. That''s the least I can do."


    "�� I''ll leave it to you then." Kisuke patted her head before turning around and exiting the room. Kisuke already put up numerous barriers to rm him if there are any changes in Koneko''s state, but watchful eyes as an addition won''t hurt and may prove useful at some urrences.


    Left alone, Aika clenched her teeth and recall how the game went, ''It just a game. But you may lose your life if you let your guard down��''


    Aika knew that if there is no Kisuke or Yoruichi who''s helping her, she''ll be at the mercy of others, and obviously, she didn''t like that, ''Since I already entered this world and toote to get out, I have to at least make sure that I have the power to defend myself and Koneko who is in this state even if Kisuke and Yoruichi aren''t around. It seems that there areplicated things going on around the Devils and I''m sure Kisuke won''t entrust her to them if there is some danger.''


    .


    .


    .


    Leaving the room, Kisuke went straight to hisboratory to continue developing the medicine that will help Koneko recover. He isn''t ming Koneko for what she''s done, on the contrary, he''s happy that she was able to let go of herself. Although he really didn''t expect that Senjutsu would this be dangerous to its user. Even Hollowfication won''t have much strain on the body and only massive stamina consumption.


    But with the data he gathered from Koneko''s Sage Mode and further transformation, it''s likely that herst form will be easier to controlpared to Hollowfication.


    Kisuke is very excited at these developments and thought that maybe he could use some of its data to further enhance Reiatsu-Ki and Hollowfication. But right now, he has to help Koneko recover before the damages in her body bes permanent.


    Yoruichi meanwhile is patrolling the perimeter of the house and escorting Sakura secretly in case that the Devils or any other beings attack them. Yoruichi also reminded Sakura that she shouldn''t go out as much. Sakura also agreed as she also watched the rating game and knew that Koneko and Yoruichi are sensitive topics for the Devils. She filed an indefinite leave in thepany she''s working at and only goes out when she needs to buy some groceries.


    .


    .


    .


    On the third day after the Rating Game, Koneko woke up. Although all of her external wounds are healed her internal injuries just stabilize and would need some more time to recover even with the help of Kisuke''s newly developed medicine specifically tailored for her physique.


    On the Devil''s side, The Underworld decided that they''ll only watch Koneko carefully, along with Kisuke who is supposed to be connected to her training and the mysteriousdy, Yoruichi.


    The higher-ups of the Devil''s society wanted to apprehend Koneko along with Yoruichi due to some unclear and longwinded usations, but several Houses refused this decision, namely the Gremory, Sitri and strangely, the Belial House. They were shocked that the Belial House wanted to vouch for Koneko but the said house didn''t reveal anything aside from wanting to help the nekomata in this case.


    To their dismay, however, when the inspection team arrives, they only saw Kisuke and his mother, Sakura along with azy ck cat. They never saw their real targets and choose to ask Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri as they also received amand to only watch from a distance and don''t make contact with the said humans.


    Rias Gremory gave them an excuse that Koneko is recuperating somewhere due to her serious injuries she incurred and won''t be able to appear in public for a week or two. While Sona Sitri, who they knew could answer their questions, refused to entertain them on the grounds that she''s very busy because her sister, the Devil King, is about to visit and wants to stay in the Human realm for some domestic affairs work and she has to prepare for it.


    The afternoon of the third day, in Urahara Household, Kisuke, with Yoruichi on hisp in her cat form and Sakura beside him, is facing the current leaders of the Kuoh Town in the supernatural world. Namely Rias Gremory with her Queen, Akeno Himejima and Sona Sitri with her Queen, Tsubaki Shinra. Kisuke, Sakura, Rias, and Sona are sitting while facing each other while Akeno and Tsubaki are silently standing behind their masters.


    "�� and that''s the current state of affairs." Sona finished reading and exining the documents in her hands.


    "Just watch, huh�� I guess that''s good." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion, ''I didn''t have to reveal some of my cards and I didn''t have to make a move on my own,''


    "It''s thanks to the Belial House. Although it''s really strange for them to get involved in this." As Sona said this, she sends a nce towards Sakura, but Sakura ignored it and just smiled while drinking her tea.


    Kisuke knew what she''s talking about and it''s also his guess that his mother has some connection to the Belial House, ''Now that makes it easier. I should start my investigation there.''


    Seeing that they are done, Rias opened her mouth, "Ura- Kisuke-kun, How is Koneko doing? We haven''t received any additional news from you starting from the day you went to the medical ward to check on Issei. Can we see her?" Rias'' voice is filled with worry and Kisuke can see her very haggard, maybe due to doing everything to protect Koneko''s ce on their side. Akeno also has the same expression.


    Kisuke thought that he should tell them the truth seeing that they working so hard for their little junior.

 Volume 3 121 - Another Bet

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 121 - Another Bet</h4>


    "Honestly speaking, Koneko''s condition when we first got her is�� how do you say this�� almost dead?"


    "What!?" Rias stood up from her seat and eximed, "How is she now!? I want to see her! Please lead me to her!"


    When Rias suddenly stood up, Kisuke couldn''t help but stare at her bouncing bosom. Rias and Akeno didn''t notice his gaze as they''re too worried and their thoughts are filled about Koneko to think about something else.


    ''This bastard.'' But it didn''t escape Yoruichi''s and Sona''s notice. Sona gave him a mean look while Yoruichi became physical, wing his chin.


    "Oww�� Calm down you two. I still haven''t exined everything. And Yoruichi, I still don''t have a beard for you to shave��" Kisuke took back his gaze and nursed his chin.


    "Maybe there are already some under your skin, after all, you''re too thick-skinned." Yoruichi retorted.


    Kisuke didn''t reply back and just ruffled her head, earning him w swipes. But he''s already using Hierro so it had no effects which annoyed Yoruichi more and started wrestling with his hand, biting and wing it.


    Rias wanted to say more when he started ying with his cat but Sona stopped him, "Sit down, for now, Rias. If he can still y around like this, then the situation probably isn''t so bad." She ced down her cup of tea.


    Seeing that they are already ready to listen, Kisuke continued, albeit, still wrestling with Yoruichi, "Her injuries outside aren''t good, but it''s still easy to heal those. The problem is her internal injuries and her low vitality which prevents her from healing naturally even with her Devil''s physique." Kisuke stops for a moment and picked up his tea with his other hand and drunk it, ''Though it''s that Devil''s physique that''s preventing her from healing faster. Even though she has the traits of nekomata, she''s still a Devil inside. I should think of a way to remove this Evil Pieces safely and give Koneko an option, though she probably won''t ept it.''


    "Then what happened to her now? Why didn''t you tell me? I could have sent Asia to her. You might not know, but her healing capabilities are topnotch." Rias asks calmly but she''s still barraging him with questions.


    "Asia-chan is indeed a good healer and still has a lot of potentials, but she won''t be able to help Koneko much because her circumstances are a bit special."


    "Special? How?"


    "Koneko is rejecting anything magic-based, as for why is that, I won''t go into detail. But you don''t have to worry. Her external injuries are already fully healed. Although her internal injuries are still a problem, it won''t hurt her anymore. She can still do activities as your Rook but any Senjutsu-based techniques are out of question�� Well, she can still technically use them, but it''ll worsen her condition so I''m banning her to use it until she''s fully healed."


    Rias and Akeno heave arge sigh of relief, "I''ll also ban her from using it�� Thank goodness." Rias picked up her cup again and sipped it.


    From behind her, Akeno voiced out her thoughts, "Can we see her?"


    "You ca-��" Kisuke agreed, but he suddenly stopped speaking and another nasty smile appeared on his face. Yoruichi stopped ''ying'' with Kisuke''s hand and sat straight up.


    Sona, Tsubaki, and Akeno are very familiar with that smile of Kisuke as they are already victims of it.


    "What''s wrong? Why did you st--ummp!" Rias is confused at his sudden change and asks but she was stopped by Akeno who is behind her by blocking her mouth.


    "Stop it, Rias! You shouldn''t agitate him if he has that kind of smile if you don''t want to regret it!" Akeno gave her a stern warning, not as her servant, but as her best friend who only wants the best for her.


    Seeing at the three''s reaction, Kisuke''s mouth twitches, "Is this my fault?"


    "Obviously." Yoruichi agreed.


    "Even if that''s the case, they''re too honest�� and rude."


    "They couldn''t care less about your face anymore after all the pranks you''ve done to them. Stop minding them and decide what do you want to do with ''that''."


    "Hmm�� Did you already get a get well gift for Koneko?"


    "No, I haven''t�� You want ''that'' as her present?"


    "Nothing more suitable, right?"


    "Well, you''re right. She''ll probably be happy with it too."


    "Hey, what are the two of you talking about? Are you nning something dubious again?" Sona narrowed her eyes as she questions the couple.


    They look at Sona, then to each other and back to Sona again, "Is gifting a cat with another cat dubious?"


    "What are you��" Sona''s eyes widened and both Rias and Akeno are also confused.


    Yoruichi jumped down from hisp and Kisuke stood up, "Yosh, you want to see Koneko, right? We''re going now. But first, do you have a gift for Koneko?" Kisuke faced Rias as he asks this question.


    "A gift? Why?" Rias asks curiously, "Yes��" She, however, still answered him.


    "Want to make a bet? Whichever gift Koneko-chan likes the most wins. As for the stakes, if I lose, I would teach Yuuto Kiba and Issei-kun magic-based sh Step." Kisuke grinned.


    "What!?" Rias and Akeno eximed. His stakes for the bet is really attractive for them, including Sona. Rias stopped moring and asks, "What if I lose?"


    "Let''s see�� How about Himejima-senpai here be a maid here for a week or two? And Gremory House will cover for my mother in case something happens."


    Sakura opened her eyes wide at Kisuke''s condition, ''So he has already some clues��''


    "What!?" Akeno, of course, reacted at his words, "Why me!?"


    "Well, you''re the maid! By the way, you have to wear a uniform of my choosing~."


    "I''m not a maid!"


    "If you''re not confident, then it''s just fine to reject it. I wouldn''t insist on either." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders.


    Akeno wanted to say more, but Rias signaled her to stop, "We ept."


    "What!? Rias?"


    "His skill is really attractive and if he can teach Yuuto and Issei a magic-based agility skill, then it''ll promote our strength considerably. And besides, he''s overestimating himself. We knew Koneko since our childhood and we know what makes her happy the most." Rias is feeling confident at this bet and thought that it''s an easy win. She winked at Akeno, reassuring her and she could only sigh, ''I really have a bad feeling. I hope I don''t have to be a maid for him. He''s too annoying to serve!''


    Sona, however, thought otherwise. She already learned her lesson not to apany Kisuke in any bets if he''s on the opposing side, no matter how confident you are with your chances of winning. Especially when he makes that nasty grin of his. Sona wanted to warn Rias against it, but after thinking all of her sufferings, it''s not so bad to share it with others. And besides, Kisuke''s real intention might be for the protection of her mother and he''s only using Akeno to mask his real intentions. Rias probably thought that Sakura is just an ordinary human and didn''t mind arranging her safety, ''I should also prepare to help arrange a few things for Sakura-san in case some things go wrong.''


    "Yosh~. Let''s seal the bet with a contract!" Kisuke forced the conversation to move forward before they could change their minds.


    After sealing it with a contract, Kisuke suddenly took out a rope and Yoruichi took out a red ribbon. The five others looked at them confused, and just as Sona was about to asks what are those ropes and ribbon are for, a ck figure suddenly appeared behind Kisuke and swiped his arm towards him. Kisuke disappeared and shocked the ck figure, but just as he''s about to turn around and escape, his world view suddenly rotated and it dropped down to the ground�� in a turtle shell bondage. Yoruichi approached the ck figure and p the red ribbon on his forehead using its paw.


    "Yosh~. Gift acquired!" Kisuke dusted his hands and smiled in satisfaction.


    "Should we go with a blue ribbon instead?" Yoruichi muttered as she stares at the ribbon she ps.

 Volume 3 122 - Kuroka

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 122 - Kuroka</h4>


    The four visiting Devils and Sakura couldn''t quite catch up to the sudden turn of events. And Sona was the only one who was able to mutter, "W-what''s happening?"


    Sona looked closer at the lewdly tied up figure and thought that she''s a bit familiar. Rias and Akeno also looked closely and eximed at the same time, "Kuroka!"


    "What!? Kuroka!? The SS-ss wanted criminal and the older sister of Koneko Toujou?" Tsubaki retorted at their words.


    The ck figure tied up in a turtle shell bondage and with a red ribbon on her forehead is Kuroka.


    Kuroka is a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, long ck hair with split bangs, and hazel-gold eyes with cat-like pupils. Her attire consists of a ck kimono, a yellow obi, a set of golden beads, and an ornately detailed headband. The kimono features a red interior and it is open at her shoulders, giving view to herrge breasts which rival those of Rias and Akeno in terms of size. And like Koneko, she also has a pair of ck cat ears and two ck tails.


    Kuroka sneaked to Kisuke so she could abduct him. She received a piece of news that her sister, Shirone, used something forbidden, almost killed a son of a high-ranking family of the Underworld and received a very serious injury in the process. Kuroka knew how the Underworld works. If something threatened them or their position, they wouldn''t hesitate to dispose of anyone and that might just happen to Shirone.


    Kuroka arrived at Kuoh Town without telling anyone she knows after she received the news. She already came here multiple times to check up on her sister''s wellbeing and knew where she is staying most of the time. But to her dismay, she hadn''t had a glimpse of her sister since three days ago and is now losing patience. And without much thinking, she chooses to abduct the human who seems to know where her sister currently is. Although she failed spectacrly and was captured instead.


    She struggles to remove her bindings, but the rope only digs deeper on her skin and stimtes her private part. Her face flushed and without hesitation, she used Senjutsu to break free, but to her shock, just as she was about to unleash it, her Ki scattered away. She tried a few more times and gave up. She now noticed that something strange with the rope. But she hadn''t given up on escaping and instead used Youjutsu, but to her dismay again, the same thing happened, dispersing the gathered Mana.


    With both of her Senjutsu and Youjutsu rendered useless, Kuroka faced Kisuke while baring her fangs, "Untie me! Human!"


    But Kisuke unceremoniously ignored her and did a fist pump, "Yosh, it''s working great! Good thing I prepared this rope for days like this. But my skills in binding someone needs more work. Even though her face is flushed, most of it is probably out of anger."


    "Hey, Kisuke, she''s too noisy. The surprise effect would decrease if we don''t shut her up." Yoruichi is thinking of the other issues.


    "Don''t ignore me and untie me��" Kuroka kept struggling, but the knot of the rope is ced very well and kept rubbing on her sensitive part, "��Please untie me." She pleaded with her voice toned down and she started breathing harder. Kuroka''s kimono is also starting to slip and threatening to let go of herrge boobs. A little peek would be enough to see the pinkish flower.


    The onlookers watched dumbfounded and Akeno even swallowed a gulp, but shook her head in a hurry.


    The two main offenders ignored Kuroka''s plight and continue their discussion, "How about putting her on a box?" Kisuke asks Yoruichi.


    "Good idea! Stun her while you''re at it so she wouldn''t shake the box." Yoruichi suggested.


    "Okay~." Kisuke took out his cane and pressed its tip on Kuroka''s forehead. Kuroka froze up and the expression in her eyes tells that she couldn''t believe what''s happening. She forgot the slight pleasure she is feeling and was reced by fear. Kuroka tried to move but failed. She also tried to speak, but that also failed.


    Kisuke, from his inventory, took out a 4'' by 4'' by 4'' white box and ced the unmoving Kuroka inside it before closing it and tying a red around it making it look like a big gift box. Kisuke then took out a card and wrote, ''Get Well Soon~. Pull the ribbon to open.'' and ced it on the lid of the box.


    Kisuke took a step back and admired the box, nodding in satisfaction, "Good! My gift is ready!" He then faced Rias and Akeno who still had a dumbfounded expression, "I look forward to our bet~."


    "We''ve been had��" Akeno muttered, waking Rias from her stupor.


    "How could you�� Whatever�� You wouldn''t answer anyway." Rias took a deep breath to calm herself down. She''s getting the feeling that she wouldn''t be able to rest easy as long as Kisuke is around, "You think that Koneko would like to see the source of her trauma?"


    Kisuke was about to initiate the teleportation magic but stopped at her words, "Oh�� Could it be that you''re still in the dark?"


    "��What do you mean?" Rias furrowed her brows and his words didn''t make her feel good, ''He knew something about Koneko that I don''t?"


    Akeno is also confused at his words and both Sona and Tsubaki are curious as to what Kisuke is referring to.


    Kisuke smiled and tap the box, "This sexy cat girl didn''t really lose control of herself and just killed her master to protect her little sister''s wellbeing."


    "WHAT!?" Rias and Akeno yelled. Sona and Tsubaki were also shocked as they didn''t expect it was something like this.


    "B-but how can that be!?"


    "You can go confirm it to your brother. He''s the one who saved Koneko-chan from execution, after all." Kisuke waited for Rias, they aren''t in a hurry anyway, and Aika is doing her best to take care of Koneko.


    Rias held her hand up and a magic circle materialized, after a few seconds, a small holographic image of Sirzechs Lucifer appeared, "It''s rare for you to call me on your own, Rias." He spoke with a smile.


    Rias didn''t have the time to entertain him and went directly to the point, "Onii-sama, Can you tell me the truth about Koneko?"


    Sirzechs'' smile disappeared and looked around in the room. He saw that a human with a green and white striped bucket hat is waving at him with a smile, ''Urahara Kisuke, was it?�� So he knew about Koneko. I wonder how.'' He sighed and started telling Rias everything.

 Volume 3 123 - Shirone and Kurokas Childhood

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 123 - Shirone and Kuroka''s Childhood</h4>


    The story is just like what Kisuke has expected.


    A branch family of Naberius House is researching something forbidden and they coincidentally got hold of a very rare member of nekomata lineage, a nekoshou, there are even two of them. It''s precisely Kuroka and Shirone, who is now known as Koneko Toujou of the Gremory House.


    The master of the branch family and his aide took great care of both of them for the next few days until they offered a way for Kuroka to be strong. But they were shocked that she refused and said that she only needs her sister''s safety, which was Kuroka''s biggest mistake.


    They used the reason that Kuroka needs the power to protect Shirone in this dangerous world and she reluctantly epted. At first, they only did some tests and exercises to gauge her natural abilities, but as time goes on, they slowly escted to the point that she has to endure some physical traumas. This is all fine as Kuroka can see that Shirone is having a peaceful and fulfilling time and would always spend time to y with her. She also never told Shirone and abuses she''s receiving as she truly believes that time that it is getting stronger.


    It all changed when they started administering drugs on Kuroka after a few months of ''training''. Kuroka didn''t feel anything in the first few sessions aside from her Demonic Power rising slightly even without her doing anything. Her opinion was changed, however, when they suddenly instructed her toy down on a metallic bed and strapped her on it very securely. When the new drug entered her system, she felt unbearable pain that was akin to someone repeatedly stabbing her all over her body. Kuroka shouted and struggled wildly but she only noticed a smile from the master and his aide. It was then she realized that her good times end here.


    That day, Kuroka returned to her''s and Shirone''s room but she ignored Shirone who is waiting for her and anticipating their ytime. She went directly to her bed and cried herself to sleep. Since that day, she stopped ying with Shirone, not because she didn''t want to, but because of the lingering pain after each session being too horrible that it is unbearable to move even a little. Kuroka didn''t want to let Shirone know her sufferings as she didn''t want to worry her and Shirone might even confront the master which isn''t very good in their current position.


    Kuroka naively believes that all of this would end one day and keep on enduring. Her power visibly skyrocketed, but she learned how to downy her abilities when they tested her. She did this because every time they knew her abilities improve and reached a certain point, they''ll switch to a stronger drug. However, Kuroka couldn''t hide her abilities forever as they would strangely switch their attention to Shirone which gives her a bad feeling. She thought that if she doesn''t improve, they would the same thing to Shirone.


    This would continue for a few more months and the rtionship between Kuroka and Shirone became awkward. They still cared about each other, but they rarely talk now. Shirone is just a small child, so she was just throwing a tantrum.


    On the fated day that Kuroka killed the master and his aide, they injected a drug to Kuroka so strong that it slowly melts her body and resulted in a pain which she hadn''t experienced before. She already built up some resistance to incredible pain, but the pain of thest drug just puts a test on her willpower and vitality. The effects of the drugs subsided after a few hours but it left her life hanging on the thread and she pretended to sleep to rest a bit but still have awareness of her surroundings.


    The master and his aide really thought that she''s asleep due to her apparent weakness, so they started talking about their ns without moving to their usual heavily guarded room.


    Kuroka overheard them and was shocked at the contents of their talks. The master thought that Kuroka is already reaching her limit, but their research is far from over. The aide then suggested disposing of Kuroka and using her little sister as her substitute to continue their research.


    Those words are thest straw that broke the camel''s back. She didn''t care about her wellbeing and didn''t react much from being disposed of, but the safety of her little sister, Shirone, is on the line and she couldn''t imagine her sister suffering the same pain she did in the hands of both of them. Without thinking about the consequences, and incredible power welled up from her inside despite her almost dying body and manage to overpower the High-ss Devil and his aide, killing them. But not until they were able to call their reinforcement.


    The power that propelled her already disappeared and she has to escape with Shirone. But she stopped and think again, is it okay to bring Shirone with her? She didn''t do anything, it was her crime and bringing Shirone with her will just make her an aplice. If they''re caught, Shirone would die with her. With an answer in her mind, Kuroka escaped alone with her failing body.


    Fortune would be on her side as she was able to escape alive and also heal somewhat. But the same blessing didn''t apply for her little sister as she was captured as a suspect and was immediately put into death row.


    She panicked and didn''t know what to do and was about to rush to her execution site to save her even if she dies trying to. That''s where she coincidentally met Sirzechs and Grayfia who are also going to attend the execution as the representative of the Devil Kings.


    Kuroka tearfully beg for their mercy and told them the whole story. But like any normal people, they wouldn''t easily believe the ount of one person especially on something as ridiculous as this case so they set a ceremony to read all her memories to confirm everything she experienced. After the ceremony, both Sirzechs and Grayfia were convinced but although they can help Shirone and take her in, they can''t prove Kuroka''s innocence as they have no physical evidence. A memory reading ceremony was already banned a century ago and if others were to know he used it, his political opponents can take advantage of this point and attack him.


    They first saved Shirone from execution and immediately went to the branch family of Naberius n to investigate and gather evidence but they were already toote as the scene was already cleared up.


    Sirzechs didn''t have a choice but to let the little Kuroka escape after healing all of her injuries as the higher-ups already put a bounty on her head. If there is no evidence to back him up, she won''t be able to save Kuroka as saving Shirone who has done nothing to aide her sister killing their master his limit.


    "And that''s how the SS-ss wanted criminal Kuroka came to be. I don''t know where she is now as there is no news of her ever since." Sirzechs finished his narration.


    Rias is clenching her fist while Akeno is covering her mouth with her hand after hearing all of it.


    "Why!? Why didn''t tell me all about this!?" Rias raised her quivering voice.


    Sirzechs expression didn''t change and answered her simply, "Because you don''t need to know about it. There''s nothing you can do."


    "B-But--"


    "And it''ll only put you and Koneko in danger. You might even do something stupid as confronting the Naberius House." Sirzechs didn''t let her finish her sentence.


    "��" Rias wasn''t able to say anything about that as she''s really thinking of doing so.


    "Haah��" Sirzechs heave a sigh and faced Kisuke who''s still smiling at him, "Good day, Urahara Kisuke. This is the first time we meet. I''m Sirzechs Lucifer, the Devil King who''s in charge of domestic affairs.


    "Good day to you too. Urahara Kisuke, a shop keeper."


    "��" Sirzechs didn''t know how to react to that so he just chooses to ask what he wants, "How did you know about Koneko''s history?"


    "I didn''t know of it. It''s just my spection that her older sister didn''t really lose control like they''re told."


    "Hooh�� So you found evidence?"


    "Hahaha�� I wonder if that''s a piece of evidence, but it''s not on me right now and I can''t give it to you." Kisuke replied with augh and thought, ''That evidence may prove useful to me in the future, no way I''m going to give it to you. And I don''t really know about this Kuroka to help her. I only promised Koneko-chan to let her meet her.''

 Volume 3 124 - The Ultimate S&M Device

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 124 - The Ultimate S&M Device</h4>


    Sirzechs is a very busy man so he didn''t insist on asking about the evidence and disconnected the call.


    Everyone is silent until Kisuke muttered to himself, "I really look forward to the bet~. I hope Koneko-chan likes my present."


    Rias and Akeno reacted to his words, "You''re cheating!"


    "I''m not. You agreed to my terms, confidently at that. It''s not my fault that you can''t win." Kisuke smugly replied.


    "N-no�� But��!" Rias couldn''t think of anything to refute his ims.


    "G-Give it up, Rias." Sona on the side is stopping herself fromughing but she''s failing at it miserably.


    "Sona!?"


    "If there is one thing that I learned from interacting with him, that is betting with him is just giving him benefits without return." Sonaposes herself and exined to her the futility of her actions.


    "Why didn''t you warn me then?" Feeling bitter, Rias med Sona.


    "Don''t take it out on me. I''m also the victim here. But I must say, seeing others suffer from his tricks makes me feel quite good." Sona heaved a sigh of satisfaction.


    Rias pointed at Sona and face Kisuke with her mouth twitching, "Urahara�� What did you do to her?"


    "Do what?"


    "She''s acting strange! This isn''t the Sona that we knew!" Rias eximed and off to the side, Akeno is nodding with great vigor.


    "She always acts like that around me though. At first, she likes acting tough, but as time goes, she became more honest to herself." Kisuke recalled Sona''s attitude when he first met her.


    "No no no. She didn''t be honest! Although you''re correct to say that she likes acting tough, that is her true and default personality. But now, she can act like a delinquent and she''s even started to like seeing others suffer!�� You''ve infected her��"


    "How rude! Don''t call me like I''m some sort of disease!"


    Rias ignored Kisuke and grabbed Sona''s shoulders, "Sona! Wake up! That guy is messing with your head!"


    "That''s wrong, Rias. I''m fine. In fact, I never felt so free before. Fufufu~." Sona is feeling funny after seeing Rias'' expression, ''This sort of thing isn''t so bad.''


    "Y-you��!" Rias was speechless and red at Kisuke.


    "Yoruichi, I make sure I clean myself properly every time I exit myb, but are there still some of the drugs still on me? Now that I look closely, Kaichou is indeed acting funny." Kisuke crouched down and asks the cat beside him.


    "Don''t worry, no drugs are on you. And don''t act like you''re meless here. It''s clearly on you."


    Kisuke didn''t refute her words because he has some inkling that it really is his fault and he just didn''t want to admit it.


    "Alright, let''s stop this. The day will end without us aplishing anything if we keep doing this. Let''s go to Koneko-chan. She''s getting restless." With that said, Kisuke disconnected the magic circle that transfers sound he secretly activated before Sirzechs even started talking.


    In the medical ward, Koneko is crying her eyes out and kept muttering her sister''s name, ''Nee-sama�� Kuroka-neesama��"


    Aika isforting Koneko and looked where Kisuke''smunication magic formerly is and sighed, ''To think Koneko-chan has such a tragic story�� Compared to me�� Just a normal person on top of being annoying��''


    While they were all bickering, Kuroka, who''s having a hot time alone, heard everything that Sirzechs said and end up crying a little remembering her childhood. But after all of this, from her understanding, Shirone should already know what really happens back then. Kuroka stopped struggling and kept on thinking what this entails, ''Will Shirone forgive me? How did she react when she first time heard it? What if she never forgives for what I had done? What if she doesn''t care about me anymore? What if��''


    Kuroka ends up getting emotional from anticipation and fear. Shepletely disregards what is happening outside until she felt someone carrying the box she is in, ''Am I going to see Shirone now? What if she still hates me?��''


    Kuroka felt a pulse of magic and the air in the surrounding suddenly change. It''s the same feeling she has when she uses teleportation magic.


    A few minutes of traveling, Kuroka heard a knock on the door followed by the voice of the hateful human who tied her up ''nicely'', "Koneko-chan! Underrated gift or your lovely visitors?"


    From the other side of the door, Kuroka heard Shirone''s voice, "Gift!" Kuroka has been watching Shirone throughout the years secretly and this is the nearest instance that she heard her voice, ''She knew!?''


    Aika opened the door and let Kisuke entered the room, leaving behind the four Devils, Sakura, and Yoruichi. There''s an obvious disappointment to Rias'' and Akeno''s face when Koneko unhesitantly chooses the ''Underrated'' gift over her ''Lovely'' visitors.


    Kisuke saw Koneko''s puffy but excited eyes, "Yo~. Koneko-chan! How have you been?" Kisuke gently put down the big white box tied in red ribbon.


    "Good. But I''ll feel a lot better after hearing everything." Koneko didn''t even look at Kisuke as her gaze was already attracted to the box which she guesses that her older sister is in.


    "It seems that you can''t wait anymore. Well then, We''ll leave you alone for now. Goodluck~" With that, Kisuke left the ''hungry'' cat alone with its ''food''.


    After Kisuke exited the room, Koneko slowly approached the box with excitement and fear taking over her heart and say a note on top of it, ''Pull this ribbon to receive your gift.''


    With both of her hands shaking, she reached out for the ribbon but wasn''t able to pull it immediately, ''What should I say? What if Nee-sama hates me? Because if not for me, she didn''t have to suffer so much�� What should I do? Why is Nee-sama aren''t making some noise? Did Kisuke senpai did something to her?''


    One question after another kept popping up in her head and she slowly pulled back her hands from the ribbons. But just as she did, she noticed a note written on it, ''Don''t think too much. If she starts getting angry at you, I''ll help you spank her~.''


    Getting back her smile, she pulled the ribbon with all her might and the lid of the box flew up with the sides of the box falling outward. Kuroka, who is tied up lewdly with a flushed face appeared in front of her.


    The effects of Kisuke''s binding spell already disappeared so Kuroka inevitably ended up moving quite a bit to find afortable position, but she regretted it now because the knot is really well ced that it kept attacking her sensitive ce. Even though she knew that she has to appear serious in their long-awaited reunion, she couldn''t help but get turned on a little bit.


    When the boxed opened, Kuroka saw Shirone''s face directly for the first time in years, but her heart fell when she noticed that Shirone is giving her a cold look. Kuroka avoided her gaze and her tears are already welling up, ''So she hates me after all��''


    Kuroka closed her eyes because she felt that Shirone approached her. She thought that Shirone would p her due to her actions in the past. But contrary to her expectations, Shirone tugged the rope which is binding her and tried to break it using brute force. Although it only ended up digging on Kuroka''s various ces, "Ahn~."


    Both Kuroka and Koneko opened their eyes wide at the sensual voice that Kuroka released.


    With throbbing forehead, she exited the room. Kuroka heard the hateful human''s voice after a few seconds, "Yo, Koneko-chan! You got out earlier than expected. Did something happen? And why are you carrying a giant harisen? And please stop ring at me�� I''m starting to get scared."


    A loud p was heard and it was followed by Kisuke''s voice again, "Ow�� ow? Ow! ow! ow! What the hell!? Why does it hurt so much!? Hey! Where did you get that harisen!?


    "Yoruichi-san��" Koneko answered simply followed by another loud p.


    "Ow ow ow!!! Yoruichi!? What the hell is that thing!?"


    "Hehehe�� I''m learning from you every day and I created a device that hits you harmlessly but it multiplies the pain. Only masochists can tolerate the kind of pain it produces."


    "You created the ultimate S&M device!?"

 Volume 3 125 - Shirone and Kuroka Reunion Part 1

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 125 - Shirone and Kuroka Reunion Part 1</h4>


    Kisuke is currently untying Kuroka who is ring at him menacingly, but there is also some curiosity within her eyes.


    Kisuke finished untying her and face Koneko, "Koneko-sama, I''ve done your order. Please let me off. If you want to hit someone with that, please go to Himejima-san. It seems like she''ll wee it."


    "What!? How did you-- I mean, what are you talking about!? Are you saying that I''m a big masochist!?" Watching from the door with everyone else, Akeno protested. Everyone ignored her im though.


    "Akeno-senpai, I can lend it to you for a few days." Koneko looked at her with aplicated expression. She didn''t really want to lend it as it''s her weapon against the biggest pervert of the Urahara Shop, but since it''s her Akeno-senpai who took good care of her, she''s willing to loan it for a few days.


    "Koneko-chan!?"


    "Wait! She can''t enjoy it if there is only an M, I nominate myself as the S!" Kisuke said seriously. But it earned him another hit from the harisen.


    "��Koneko-chan�� If you want to volunteer yourself, then I wouldn''t insist any further. I''m just giving Himejima-san a choice here." Kisuke rubbed his butt to nurse it.


    "I''m not choosing either of you! And I won''t be borrowing it!" Akeno couldn''t take it anymore. Even though her shame tolerance is quite high, against Kisuke, however, she might as well just a little girl. Although deep inside, she thinks that the offer is quite attractive. And if she were to be perfectly honest, she also wanted to take Kisuke''s offer if he can tie her up like what he did to Kuroka. It just couldn''t escape her mind after witnessing Kuroka''s hidden ecstatic expression.


    "Alright then, let''s go out and leave them alone," Kisuke said as he walks out of the room and everyone followed him.


    Making sure that they went away for sure, Koneko faced Kuroka for the second time who''s also looking at her eyes without making a word. Because of Kisuke''s perverted antics, all of Koneko forgot her fears and only relief and happiness have remained, ''Did he know that this would happen? I''m very thankful, but even I can tell that I''m being spoiled��''


    Setting aside this issue forter, Koneko, without warning, jumped towards her sister and hugged her, burying her head on her bosom, "Kuroka-neesama! I missed you��"


    Kuroka could have dodge Koneko''s tackle but why would she do that? Her problem is she didn''t know how to react when Koneko suddenly hugged her and became awkward. But when she heard her call her name and told her that she missed her, tears flowed down through her cheeks and returned the hug, "I missed you too, Shirone."


    Fear and uncertainty disappeared entirely from Kuroka and was reced by relief and happiness. She felt that as if arge boulder on her heart was lifted after a few years of silently enduring it.


    The two nekoshou cried in each other''s arm for a half an hour as they try to brand the aura and smell of thetter to their memories. Theyy down on the ground and stopped crying and slept just like that. Even if they''re on the cold hard floor, with each other''s warmth, it''s the best sleep they ever had for ages. They returned to their childhood time they were craving for, albeit, a bitte.


    .


    .


    .


    Rias and Akeno said their farewells after they reached the surface. Kisuke didn''t stop them and asked, "What about your gift? Are you giving up? Even if that''s the case, you still have to honor your part of the deal."


    Akeno shivered slightly at his words since it''s technically her that would suffer, but somehow, there''s also a strange feeling welling up from inside her, though she can''t tell what it is.


    "Our gift is just a bunch of her most favorite snacks, but it''s pretty obvious that she wouldn''t like our gift more than her long lost sister. Of course, we''ll honor our part of the deal. I''ll arrange some things for the protection of your mother and you can talk to Akeno about the other part��" Rias sighed and conceded.


    "Okay~. I won''t ask for Himejima-san service for now as I can see that you''re still pretty busy. Although I look forward to your service, Himejima-san~."


    "Kuh!�� I won''t surrender to you!"


    "Stop speaking like some stereotypical female knight in an erotic game." Kisuke grinned andmented.


    "Wha!? You bas---!" Akeno was furious at his words but before she can take it out on him, Kisuke teleported her away�� sending her again in the previous maid uniform shop.


    "�� Do you really have to piss her off too much?" Rias asks Kisuke. She wasn''t worried about Akeno as this isn''t the single instance Kisuke did this to her.


    "Hmm�� I swear I promised myself that I would piss her off as much as possible�� As for why�� I actually forgot." Kisuke looked up and touched his chin trying to recall it, but gave up after a second. "But kudos to myself still keeping my promise." He gave her a thumbs up and a bright smile.


    With the Gremorys'' out of the way, Kisuke faced Sona and Tsubaki, "How about another cup of tea?"


    "Heh�� so you''ve guessed that I still have something else to say?" Sona looked at him in awe, ''I really want him in my peerage.''


    "It''s just a guess. I don''t know if you really know something, but you should have noticed that the Underworld gave up pretty easily on Koneko''s case."


    "Hmm�� I see. Thank you for the offer but we have to go, I still have to prepare for the inevitable headacheing for me. (And for you.)" Sona rubbed her forehead but she didn''t say thest part, "What I want to say is that the Underworld is getting restless due to the disappearance of some Devils with noble lineage. The higher-ups are busy cracking this down and can''t send more of their men to deal with Koneko''s case."


    "Hmm�� Is that so? Thanks for the info~."


    "You''re wee. Tsubaki."


    "Yes, Kaichou."


    Tsubaki cast teleportation magic bringing Sona and her back to school.

 Volume 3 126 - Shirone and Kuroka Reunion Part 2

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 126 - Shirone and Kuroka Reunion Part 2</h4>


    Koneko and Kuroka woke up after eight hours of peaceful sleep. Even after they woke up, they kept cuddling each other silently for another hour until they heard Aika''s voice beyond the door, "Koneko-chan and older sister, Yoruichi-san said that both of you are already awake. Please get up and have some meal, or would you rather take a dip in the hot spring?"


    They looked at each other first and Koneko answered Aika, "We''d like to take a bath first�� Are you the only one here, Aika-senpai?"


    "No. Kisuke and Yoruichi-san are also here. Sakura-san returned back home. They said that they''ll attract more attention if she disappeared for long periods of time."


    "Then please join us in the hot spring. I''d like to introduce my sister to all of you." Koneko said as she arranges her pajamas.


    Kuroka was startled at her words, "Kisuke? Is it that hateful human, Shirone?"


    "Umm. He''s technically a good guy if you were to know more about him and ignore his perverted antics." Koneko dragged Kuroka''s hand as they went to the door.


    "I''ll be the judge of that. And that''s not my concern! Are you letting him take a dip in the hot spring with you?" Even though they haven''t talked much, after their ''reconciliation'', her protective nature towards her little sister is resurfacing, ''Anyone who can tie someone up like that isn''t a good person! I have to protect Shirone against that beast!''


    Koneko opened the door and saw Aika who''s curiously looking at Kuroka and introduced herself, "Aika Kiryuu, Koneko-chan''s good friend and U.S. #3." Aika extended her right hand for a handshake.


    "Hi~. You can call me Kuroka-nya~. I''m Shirone''s older sister. But what does U.S. #3 means?" Kuroka epted her hand but she asked Koneko about the unknown term.


    "Who knows, Aika-senpai, like Kisuke-senpai, has some screw loose. Understanding them is a futile effort." Koneko, without hesitation, dissed Aika.


    "What!? Please don''t group me with that pervert! He is so much worse!"


    ''So you''re not denying the fact that you have some screw loose?'' Koneko and Kuroka thought to themselves.


    "Then what does this U.S. #3 means?" Although Aika is saying some nonsense, Koneko is still curious about what she means when she calls herself U.S. #3.


    "You know how Kisuke is strangely stubborn on keeping this group named ''Urahara Shop (Urahara Shoten)''? I''ve been thinking these past few days how we should call ourselves when it''s time to introduce ourselves to the enemies, but all I could think of are ''Owner'', ''Clerk 1'', ''Clerk 2'', ''Manager'' etc. But that sounds some! So I just settled with the U.S. and a number." Aika narrated with all her feelings.


    "Aika-senpai, I''m surprised that you still have the energy to think about these things while taking Yoruichi-san''s training." Dumbfounded, Koneko actually found her amazing.


    "Hehehe�� If I don''t do this, my sanity will slowly slip out of my grasp��" A cold chuckle escapes from her.


    "I see. So you wanted to escape reality. And? What does this number mean?"


    "It''s nothing fancy. Thetest addition will have the highest number. Kisuke is 0, Yoruichi is 1 and you''re 2 while I''m the 3."


    "Did Kisuke-senpai agreed to your naming scheme?" Koneko dubiously looked at Aika.


    "I haven''t told him yet."


    "And yet you just introduced yourself using it�� Amazing." ''An amazing idiot.''


    "Don''t look at me like I''m some big idiot. I intend to ''persuade'' him and I''m not taking no for an answer this time. I don''t want me shouting to the enemy before the start of the fight "Aika Kiryuu, Urahara Shop Clerk 2". "


    "You''ve got a point but do you really have to introduce yourself to your opponents?" Koneko can now somehow agree to her ims.


    "It''s just proper manners, but after that, you can raise your middle finger at him. At least you tried to be polite, right? The easiest way to piss your enemy I must say." Aika nodded satisfied as she imagines herself in that kind of scenario.


    "�� Let''s go. I''m sweaty." ''Not good. Kisuke-senpai''s way is infecting her too much.'' Koneko immediately changes the topic. Anyways, she won''t be able to address the issue as the only one who could do that would even support her.


    Aika separated from Koneko and Kuroka to inform Yoruichi and Kisuke of their ns. Since the location of the hot spring is about one kilometer from the lodging and they took their time walking. They started talking about things that happened to Koneko after they separated.


    Koneko told her everything that happened to her until the day she met Kisuke. It''s a bitter experience at first but it gets better as time goes. The Gremory Household took great care of her despite the past she has, although they are also one of the reasons why she didn''t want to use Senjutsu. Koneko stopped telling her story after the point Kisuke took her in. Throughout her story, Kuroka held Koneko''s hand and would sometimes squeeze it depending on the content of her story.


    "Thanks to senpai, I was able to sort out my feeling about you. And I''ll say it again, I missed you, Nee-sama." Koneko stopped walking and faced her.


    Kuroka wanted to leap in joy but stopped herself and smiled brightly, "I also missed you so much�� Shirone."


    After a brief hug, the two resumed their pace and Koneko tried to ask Kuroka about her time when she separated from her, but she refused with an apologetic expression, "I''m sorry, Shirone. I promise I''ll tell youter, but not now."


    "Is it dangerous?" Koneko looked straight to her eyes.


    Kuroka neither denied nor confirmed her question.


    Koneko returned her gaze forward, "If you ever need help, please tell me."


    "Are you going to ask that strange human to help?"


    "No. I''m very thankful for him, but I can''t ask him everything. It''ll only be me."


    "Hmm�� Shirone, do you understand what it means to haverades-nya?"


    "They are people who you can trust and depend on?"


    "You''re right, so you shouldn''t say it''ll only be you-nya~."


    "��Why?"


    "Regardless of what you do and as long as you don''t stray away, they''ll be there to assist you in your venture. So don''t disregard their will to help you. Aren''t you the same? If they need assistance, you wouldn''t hesitate to give it, right?"


    Koneko''s eyes were wide open after hearing her words, "But I''m too in debt to them that I can''t possibly ask for more��"


    "That''s a good indicator for you not to depend too much on yourrades. But too much of that will not make yourades, but business partners. It may have started as a deal or a whim, but two or more people coulde together without a reason you know." Kuroka smiled because she ends up remembering her rowdy friends.


    Koneko understood her words and her smile, "Nee-sama, looks like you have some goodrades."


    "We may be just a bunch of problem children, but you''re right. They''re my preciousrades-nya~."

 Volume 3 127 - Hot Spring Part 1

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 127 - Hot Spring Part 1</h4>


    Kuroka and Koneko reached the hot spring and Kuroka felt something amiss, "This the hot spring you''re talking about-nya?"


    "Yes." Koneko stopped and looked at Kuroka''s reaction.


    Kuroka furrowed her brows and get around the hot spring. Still not satisfied with her inspection, she crouched down and dipped her finger in it. However, just a split second, she took it back in shock, "This!? What this Shirone!? Such pure Ki! How did it gather so much in this ce!? Where are we anyway!?"


    "Everything here is Kisuke-senpai''s creations."


    "His creations!? I can understand this ce, but not this hot spring infused with pure Ki!"


    Koneko didn''t speak but pointed at the other hot springs in the vicinity.


    Kuroka followed where she pointed and saw other hot springs at the distance, "Could that also be��" Kuroka wanted to say Ki but stopped herself when it felt very different from the first hot spring. She inspected the other two hot springs like she did with the first one and was shocked again at the result, especially from thest one, "Pure Mana!? and the other one is�� What this!? Scary!" She already forgot her ''nya'' at the end of each of her sentences.


    "I also don''t know thest one. Only Kisuke-senpai and Yoruichi-san seem to use it."


    "Ne Shirone, Are really sure that he made all of this?"


    "Yes. I sometimes watch him do all sorts of weird things."


    "��This is bad-nya��"


    "What is it, Kuroka-nee?"


    "This is a big secret, and you just led me here. If it were to be known to the whole world he has technology like this, then all sorts of troublesome and dangerous things will chase after him��"


    "��That bad?"


    "Of course! Any attempt gathering pure energies like this is are very rare, not to mention, those who seed. And the utility of pure energies is very tempting ranging from domestic to military use!"


    "Hooh�� It''s good that you know a lot of things. It makes things easier for us." Behind Kuroka, A ck beauty suddenly appeared.


    "!?" Kuroka turned around and jump backed bring Koneko with her, How did she sneak behind me!? I''m constantly using Senjutsu to scan the surroundings!'' Her back is drenched in cold sweat at the thought of she could have assassinated her without her being aware. Due to the nature of her group, she can''t help but think that way.


    "Who are you!?" Kuroka red at the dark-skinned beauty and held Koneko''s hand tighter. However, Kuroka didn''t wait for her to reply and immediately cast teleportation magic which she is proud of, but to her dismay, her magic was canceled as there is a mysterious force broke the magic circle while it was still forming, ''What!?'' She panicked even more but didn''t move from her spot and just readied herself for thetter''s further movements.


    "Teleportation is restricted in this space. If you can''t use any circle that isplicated enough to confuse the system in ce, then it''ll just be broken up like what happened earlier." The dark-skinned beauty grinned at her.


    Kuroka became even more vignt against her, ''What the hell was that!? I never heard of something like that before! At most just a restricted space that teleportation magic can''t prate, but messing up the magic circle while it''s still forming? Impossible!''


    "Oh, and just because I''m speaking in front of you and I have an obvious threat to you, you shouldn''t neglect your surroundings." While the dark-skinned beauty is still standing from her position, Kuroka heard her voice behind her, scaring the heck out of her. She hurriedly turned her head and a finger poked her cheek as she did. Kuroka is now having a nervous breakdown, as the figure in front of her melted away and the dark-skinned beauty is now behind her, still grinning, ''H-How is she doing this!?''


    Before she could retaliate, however, Koneko''s voice rang out waking her up, "Yoruichi-san, please stop messing around Nee-sama. I followed your instruction and have her see this ce not for you to prank her."


    Yoruichi took back her hand and jumped back, "Hahaha, my bad. Talking to people who work in the darkness just excites me."


    "Darkness?" Koneko tilted her head in confusion.


    "Yep~. Your older sister is probably some assassin or a scout for a small team that works in obscurity." Yoruichi, without regard towards Kuroka''s changing face, answered Koneko honestly.


    "W-what are you saying!?" Kuroka retorted in trepidation. She still wants to keep Koneko in the dark as her work right now is not very admirable and she didn''t know how she should tell her. Should she tell her sister that she''s part of a terrorist group?


    "Nee-sama��" Koneko looked at Kuroka dumbfounded.


    "Shirone��" Another anxiety is taking over Kuroka. Just as they make up, this revtion is now threatening to break it up again. If it were to be the past her, she wouldn''t actually mind Koneko knowing the truth as she thought that Koneko still hates her, but now, she didn''t want to risk it.


    "Don''t look at her like that, Koneko-chan. Sometimes, some people have no other choice but to choose this kind of path to survive. And considering her history and experiences, it''s understandable." Kuroka is trying to find the right words to exin the situation to Koneko or try to cover it up, but her mind nks out trying to think of a way out. Yoruichi this time, however, helped her out to her surprise.


    "��" Kuroka stared at Yoruichi suspiciously but she''s still mindful of Koneko''s reaction. Koneko is currently looking down looking troubled and this worried her.


    "Kuroka was it? Wee to the Urahara Shop''s Headquarters�� Now that I said it, Aika has a point. The name''s toome." Yoruichirgely ignored their reactions and go on her own pace.


    "I''ll exin things to you and to Koneko here. Follow me. I lead you to the proper hot spring." Yoruichi continued.


    Kuroka still wanted to ask many questions, but choose to follow her first as she didn''t seem hostile. She didn''t let go of her guard though. On the contrary, she increased her vignce to the point that it''s putting stress on her mind, but this is all needed, especially in this unknown ce filled with mystery.

 Volume 3 128 - Hot Spring Part 2

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 128 - Hot Spring Part 2</h4>


    They reached the hot spring and saw that Kisuke is already snoozing off while Aika is still at the side hesitating with a flushed face and only a towel around her.


    Even before Koneko decided to take a dip in the hot spring first, Kisuke is already helping himself to ease his mind a bit after a few experiments about Sacred Gears with the help of Aika.


    Yoruichi saw that Aika is still fidgeting and ask, "Aren''t you going toe in?"


    "I''m strangely feeling embarrassed right now."


    "Hmm? What''s the big deal? Aren''t you always running around almost naked every day while he''s watching? Why feel shy now?"


    Kuroka looked closely at Aika and notice that contrary to the two, Yoruichi and Kisuke that feels too ''Human'', something strange is emitting from her, ''Now what is this pervert?''


    Aika noticed Kuroka''s expression but ignored her for now as she needs to refute Yoruichi''s words, " ''Almost'' naked! I''m notpletely naked! I feel that I shouldn''t cross that line."


    "I don''t really understand you. Just go in with a towel wrap around you." Yoruichi gave up understanding her and started to undress. She did it within just a few seconds and unhesitantly went to Kisuke''s position and leaned her back towards his chest. Kisuke didn''t react or whatsoever and continued to sleep peacefully. Although he''s aware of everything happening, he chose to leave everything to Yoruichi as this is her field of expertise.


    "Is it okay to not clean ourselves first?" Kuroka asks when she saw Yoruichi directly went to the pool of hot water.


    "It''s fine, nee-sama. This hot spring has an automatic cleaning function that can help wash our bodies." Without further ado, Koneko also started undressing and wrap a towel around her before getting in. She''s also a bit vignt against Kisuke''s stare. But seeing that he didn''t have a bit of reaction disappointed her as she knew he''s aware of his surroundings. Also one of the reasons why Aika is being hesitant.


    Aika followed after her and Kuroka, after a few moments of hesitation, went in like Yoruichi, without wrapping herself with a towel and sat down beside Koneko. Kuroka was shocked yet again but not as much as the first three because of the effect of the hot spring, rejuvenation. She can feel her tiredness melting away in realtime.


    "Are you okay without covering yourself?" Aika asks Kuroka and pointed towards Kisuke, "Even though he''s sleeping like that, he''s pretty much aware of what''s happening around him. In other words, he can see without using his eyes or even while sleeping."


    Kuroka looked at Kisuke curiously and remembered how he instantly tied her up pervertedly and blushed a little, ''He''s like that Yoruichi. He can instantly elerate without any indicator. He and that dark-skinned woman may be very well even faster than Vali, but in terms of firepower and ability, they wouldn''t stand against him. They are the type that moves in secret and deals a devastating blow on unsuspecting opponents��'', "I don''t really care about being seen." She replied.


    "��A pervert." Aika muttered softly but it was heard by Kuroka quite clearly.


    "I don''t really want to hear that from someone who runs around almost naked every day." Kuroka retored.


    Without minding them, Yoruichi faced Koneko, "Koneko-chan, make sure to take a dip in this hot spring for four hours every day for the whole week. It''ll help you recover some of your injuries."


    Koneko nodded silently but Kuroka immediately reacted at her words, "Injuries!? What do you mean by that!? Shirone, what happened and you became injured? Where is it? Let me see and heal you using Senjutsu."


    Even though Kuroka knew that Koneko was involved in a troublesome incident that the devils may chase after her, she didn''t know the full story as the higher-ups of the Underworld used some of their authority to lock the information down and one of the reason is Tiamat''s appearance who is the secret judge of the game and the fact that a young Low-ss Devil trashed a mature High-ss Devil which wouldn''t bode well for their positions if leaked to the public.


    Aika first looked at Koneko but saw that she didn''t want to speak as to her memories of the Rating Game is hazy at best. She then looked at Yoruichi and Yoruichi nodded to her. Getting her confirmation she asks Kuroka, "You didn''t know? Koneko-chan came back from the Rating Game almost dying you know."


    "What!? Shirone! Where are your injuries!? Hurry up and show them to me!" Kuroka started to slowly grope Koneko''s whole body to check if there is something amiss but failed to find anything. She then looked back to Aika to confirm if what she is saying is true but Yoruichi beat her to it.


    "You won''t find anything with a check like that. All of her superficial and external wounds are already cured. The only problems remaining are those hidden and hard to reach areas. It was already stabilized but a bit of stimtion can worsen it. With that said, Koneko-chan, you''re not allowed to use Senjutsu until you''re fully healed."


    "H-how can that be? Just what happened for her to incur that kind of damage? Did the retiring system not work?" Kuroka didn''t give up and kept checking Koneko regardless of what Yoruichi said and that bore fruit as she noticed that Koneko''s real vitality is hiding behind the vitality of a Low-ss Devil and is abnormally low, like a sick person. Kuroka didn''t know how she hid her vitality but now she knew the problem, she could try solving it.


    But before she could proceed, Yoruichi''s voice rang out to stop her, "Alright. Stop right there. You only knew one part of the problem and just going with what you want will only worsen her condition."


    Kuroka furrowed her brows and questioned Yoruichi, "What could possibly wrong with Senjutsu users nursing the vitality of other people? And I''m pretty confident with my skills too."


    "Hooh�� Then watch this." Yoruichi suddenly pulls a smartphone from her inventory and tossed it towards Kuroka. Kuroka caught it and took a look at it. On the screen is the Rias Gremory peerage having a meeting on how they would go and defeat Riser.


    "What''s this?"


    "The Rating Game between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex. Everything is in there."


    With her words, Koneko leaned closer to her older sister to watch as she''s also curious of she has done to get such injuries. Aika also approached them because she wants to watch it again.

 Volume 3 129 - Black Catfight

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 129 - ck Catfight</h4>


    It started off as a rtively normal Rating Game and Kuroka doesn''t get how could Koneko get so injured in this kind of game unless she confronts the Phenex boy directly.


    With that in mind, Kuroka continued watching but when Koneko suddenly changes into Sage Mode and cornered Riser Phenex, she eximed, "What''s that!? Senjutsu!? And using that weird instant eleration technique��"


    Kuroka looked at Koneko but thetter is still intently looking at the screen, ''Right, from the looks of it, it''s not the real reason she got injured.'' Hence, she turned her attention back to the screen.


    Even though Koneko is pushing the Phenex boy to the corner, it''s not enough to defeat him. And as Koneko slowly lose stamina, Riser initiated his counter attack along with his peerage members. It pained her seeing Koneko like this and wanted to stop watching now, but she knew she could get the answer she is looking for if she continued watching.


    When the referee wanted to announce Koneko''s defeat, the unthinkable happened. Getting engulfed by her own mes,ing out as an adult. Kuroka was speechless at this sight. Koneko then proceeded to defeat Riser but was stopped by Yoruichi before killing the boy. This gave Kuroka another shock and a bunch of questions surfaced in her mind.


    ''How did Shirone do that!? What are those mes!? And this Yoruichi is that strong!? She can control lightning like her own arms and its intensity is no joke. I could hardly defend against that. I grossly underestimated her! What about that guy? Is he also that strong?''


    The video stopped ying and waking them up from their stupor. Aika is the first one who reacted, "It is amazing no matter how many times I see it. Although, it also has an equivalent nasty side effect."


    "�� I did something like that? I can be an adult?" Koneko muttered.


    "So that was the one that caught your attention? As expected of Koneko-chan~." Aika patted her head but was feeling envious inside, ''I also want that kind of form that will multiply your breast size once achieved.''


    "Aika-senpai, what you''re thinking is written on your face��"


    "W-why are you taking this lightly!? That form is very abnormal! Although it''s indeed possible to take an adult form to adapt to your own Ki, what Shirone did is let her Ki forcefully change her body which is very dangerous! And based on the intensity of Ki, it''s actually amazing that you''re alive right now!" Kuroka grabbed Koneko''s shoulders and shook her.


    Koneko didn''t know what to say, but she''s very happy that her older sister that she missed so much is worrying about her to this degree and ended up smiling like an idiot.


    "What''s funny!? This isn''t a joke! Who taught you that kind of Senjutsu!?" Kuroka misunderstood her little sister''s smile.


    "Hohooh, as expected of a real Senjutsu expert. So I guess you also knew what will happen if Koneko''s Ki which isced by that kind of me forcefully transforms her body." Yoruichi''s voice suddenly rang behind her.


    "��" Kuroka red at Yoruichi. She guessed that Yoruichi has something to do with the Senjutsu that Koneko used and also noticed something amiss with her words, "Real Senjutsu expert?�� Could it be��?" Kuroka''s eyes widened at the realization and bared her fangs towards Yoruichi, "You taught her something like that even though you''re not a Senjutsu user!?"


    "Oi oi�� Don''t look at me like that. I''m a Senjutsu user alright�� Even though I''m self-taught." Yoruichi just snickered at her reaction.


    "Wha-!? Do you know how dangerous it is to experiment with Ki!? And how did you achieve that kind of effect anyway!?" Kuroka stood up with Koneko behind her.


    "You can guess. Do you think Koneko has enough Ki within her to propel that kind of transformation?" Yoruichi is still unphased.


    "��You! Are you crazy!? Messing with natural Ki is dangerous enough! Yet you''re saying that you used that as an alternative power source!? Do you want your mind to be corrupted!? I don''t care about you but you put Shirone in danger!" The atmosphere around Kuroka became cold and threatening.


    Yoruichi grinned at her and ask, "And what are you gonna do about it?"


    Kuroka red both of her Senjutsu and Demonic Power, "I''m going to get away from this ce with Shirone, even if it means putting my life on the line!"


    "Kuroka-neesama��" Koneko wanted to stop them from arguing but Aika grabbed her shoulder. Koneko saw her shake her head at her and looked back at Yoruichi who still has the same smile as Kisuke when he''s nning with something.


    Yoruichi released her Reiatsu-Ki and a pressured dropped down on Kuroka, shocking her out of wits, "Good. You''re free to try~."


    But instead of sumbed to the pressure, Kuroka circted both of her Ki and Demonic Power to the maximum degree to fend off the pressure''s effects.


    Yoruichi was pleasantly surprised at this sight and praised her internally, ''Good thinking! And without hesitation at all. Even though she''s almost the same age as those Devils in school, she''s miles ahead in terms of ability and experience. Looks like she''ll be useful.''


    Without waiting for Yoruichi to move, Kuroka d herself with Ki andunched herself towards Yoruichi using her sharp ws to swipe at her.


    Yoruichi in response just chuckled and stood up. She caught Kuroka''s hand and tossed her away, sending her flying and onlynding after reaching the 100 meters mark.


    Kuroka, afternding, didn''t immediately resume attacking and just fixed her stance. Around her, violet mist gathered and just as she expected, Yoruichi came after her with insane speed. Kuroka was able to see Yoruichi strikeing to her and managed to block it with her arms.


    Just as Yoruichi is about to make her next move, she noticed that her feet were buried under ayer of hardened earth and would need half a second to shake it off but that''s what Kuroka would ever need.


    Changing the trajectory of Yoruichi''s attack, Kuroko crouched down and made a hand-knife, aiming for her throat.

 Volume 3 130 - Black Catfight Part 2

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 130 - ck Catfight Part 2</h4>


    Yoruichi dodges by bending back. Her legs were freed and did a backflip kicking Kuroka away in the process and gained some distance from her. Standing up straight, Yoruichi praised Kuroka for her abilities, "You''re pretty good. You know how to use your skills and not the type who neglects battle awareness just because they have pretty strong magic. And, is that Touki (Fighting Spirit)?"


    Kuroka took another stance, "And you brushed it off like they were nothing. I thought I already caught you off guard but who would have thought that Poison Mist I concocted for humans wouldn''t have any effect on you. Even those descendants of heroes would have some reactions. Are you really a human? And yes, it''s Touki."


    "Yep~. I''m born from human parents, so technically, I''m a human too. So that''s Touki, huh. You let out your Ki and let it cover your body to increase your offense, defense, and speed drastically. Couldn''t you just meld your Ki to your muscle tissues? That would be a lot more effective."


    "Do you really not know anything? Indeed that theoretically possible, but doing so would need extremely fine control over your Ki and constantly circtes it on your muscle tissues. If you can do that then you would be called a historical genius in Senjutsu. But even if you can do that, just moving a bit will disrupt that cirction and you would only hurt yourself in the process."


    "Is that so? Koneko directly uses her Ki on her muscles though."


    "What!?" Kuroka turned her gaze towards Koneko, "How is that possible!?"


    "You saw that form right? Weird pigments would appear all over her body instead of ring Ki like you''re doing now. She does this using both her Ki and natural Ki."


    Kuroka stayed silent after that. She sets it aside for now as the important thing now is to take Koneko away from this ce. Listening to her talk about melding Ki directly on muscle tissues reminded her of how dangerous the technique she taught Koneko. Kuroka calcted her chances of winning, ''She''s still isn''t using that weird magic that controls lightning. Underestimating me? I only have one shot.'' Kuroka simultaneously and silently disrupted the Ki in the surrounding and cast illusion magic creating six mirage copies of herself. Yoruichi was intrigued by her skills and just let her do what she wants. Although she looked unphased and nonchnt to the point that it looks like arrogance in Kuroka''s eyes, she never let her guard down. Like Kisuke, she won''t ever look down on someone just because they seem weak. Yoruichi kept scanning her surroundings and picked up some clues on what she''s trying to do and with that, she also started to prepare some countermeasures based on her observations.


    Kuroka and her clones stomped on the ground at the same time and the earth around Yoruichi rose up and covered her entirely effectively burying her under a mound. Yoruichi was able to st if off within just a second but she saw that she''s already surrounded by six Kurokas'' and is attacking from different angles essentially sealing off her movements. Yoruichi''s demeanor didn''t change and dealt with the attacks with her own expertise in hand to handbat. With a single strike for each, the clones dispersed but the real Kuroka was nowhere to be found. Yoruichi looked up and saw five big wheels made out of ck mesing for her. Kuroka is smiling at Yoruichi from above as she watches those wheels of ck mes hit her.


    Kurokanded on top of a protruding rock as she watches Yoruichi burn. Yoruichi, however, didn''t try anything else to shake of the ck mes aside for the first defense, "Heh�� A spiritual type of attack. Pretty good, though you got the wrong opponent to use this on."


    "Wh-- Tch!" Kuroka couldn''t believe what she is seeing but she has no time to stare in awe. She activated thest spell she prepared, a spatial barrier. Kuroka set this up when her clone approached Yoruichi to disrupt her attention. A sphere of transparent multicolor barrier appeared and engulfed Yoruichi as she burns. This barrier is a cumtion of her skill in space magic. Even if an Ultimate ss Devil was trapped it would take him or her a whole day to breakthrough it.


    Confident with her magic, Kuroka turned her attention back to the hot spring where Koneko is staying, intending to escape and noticed that the only guy is already awake and filming the whole scene with arge grin and camcorder that appeared out of nowhere.


    Kuroka''s steps faltered and wanted to cover herself. She really didn''t mind being seen but the way he looks at her is different from other men she had ever met. Every one of them would have at least some trace of lust no matter who it is, but this guy with arge grin sends shivers to her back. Instead of looking at her as a woman, he is looking at her like an object that needs to be inspected, ''How can someone give me that kind of look!?'' Without being a narcissist, she''s very confident with her appearance and figure that allows her to seduce her opponents and give her an opening.


    Koneko and Aika noticed Kuroka''s reaction and looked to the side. They saw Kisuke recording the scene with arge grin and they proceeded to attack him. Koneko sent out a kick while Aika activated her Sacred Gear and threw it to him, "Kisuke-senpai�� What are you going to do with that recording?" "Kisuke-san�� Will you use it for your own happy time alone?"


    Kisuke dodges by using sh Step and reappearing on the top of a rock near the hot spring with a towel wrap around his waist, "Koneko-chan, Who wouldn''t want to record a ck catfight? And Aika-chan, Yoruichi can always apany me in my alone time so I don''t need it."


    "What!?" Both of them were dumbfounded at his words. Although they knew that they were lovers, both of them didn''t expect that he would admit openly that they already crossed the line. They thought that they can naively believe that nothing would happen to them as they were always around the two, but thinking about it again, that kind of belief is truly naive and unbelievable. They always hoped that they don''t cross the line as they could still catch up to Yoruichi who appeared before them. But the situation now is different and tiny mes of passion started to burn inside them.


    ''Huh? What now? Did I step on andmine somehow? They should have known that Yoruichi and I are lovers and something like this is very normal.'' Kisuke was dumbfounded at their reaction. As smart as he is, he couldn''t process everything inside the woman''s head. It''s already a big achievement that he has some understanding of it.


    Kisuke ignored them for now and turned his attention back to Kuroka who started to move again, ''Did she notice the look I''m giving her? Pretty sharp eh��'' "Kuroka-san, if I were you, I wouldn''t take away my attention from Yoruichi."


    With those words, Kuroka stopped again, "Eh?"


    From behind her, she heard a voice that shouldn''t havee near her, "My turn~."

 Volume 3 131 - Black Catfight (Final)

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 131 - ck Catfight (Final)</h4>


    "My turn~."


    Kuroka hurriedly turned around and focused her Touki around her arms for defense. Crossing her arms in front of her, she caught Yoruichi''s fist with it and grimaced after feeling the force behind her punch. Kuroka jumped back to reduced the impact, albeit, only slightly. But that was enough for her to fix her stance midair are being sent flying away.


    Yoruichi didn''t let up and pointed her finger towards her, "Byakurai (Pale Lightning)." From her fingertips, a bolt of white lightning emerged and hit Kuroka''s still crossed arm covered in Ki. The Ki where the lightning hit was sted away and touched her skin, charring it. Kuroka''s Touki immediately recovered but the charred skin remained. Kuroka used another illusion spell to generate more clones and disrupted the flow of Ki around her to hide the real her, but Yoruichi just sneered at this and cast another Kidou, "Hadou No. 31, Shakahou (Red me Cannon)." A ball of red-colored energy sted Kuroka and her illusions along with the terrain.


    "Nee-sama!" Koneko wanted to rush in but Kisuke blocked her way and patted her head, "Yoruichi knows what she''s doing. Your sister might get hurt but she won''t gravely injure her."


    Koneko stopped her steps and hesitated for a moment before letting Yoruichi do what she wants. But if ites to the point that she can''t endure watching anymore, she''s rush to Kuroka without hesitation regardless of what Kisuke and Yoruichi say.


    Kuroka''s clones disappeared along with terrain and a bunch of scratches is on her body but nothing serious. Her Touki is fluctuating a bit but still going strong, she can take a few more of that red-colored ball of energy st. Kuroka red at Yoruichi and kept thinking of what just happened, ''How did she escape my barrier?'' She then nces at the barrier that is still up and a figure covered in ck mes.


    Guessing what she''s thinking, Yoruichi answered the question in her mind, "Gigai (Faux Body) and a portable one."


    "Gigai?" Kuroka furrowed her brows. She chooses to entertain her small talk to recover a little bit and she''s also interested in what she''s saying.


    Yoruichi took out a ck marble from her inventory without a word and hold it in front of her mouth to blow it like a balloon. That ck marble expanded until the size of an adult and it suddenly popped leaving behind another ''Yoruichi''.


    "What!?" Kuroka, ckjawed, didn''t know what to think of the scene in front of her.


    Yoruichi caught the other ''Yoruichi'' and swung it around, "It reads the spiritual signature of the user and creates a copy of the user''s body to be used for various applications. You can even use this to house a soul temporarily."


    "House a soul!? You mean you can revive someone as long as there is a soul!?"


    "Well�� technically yes, but that''s only possible for those who are able to resist the pull of reincarnation system set by who knows who."


    "��You''re kidding��"


    "Maybe~." Yoruichi just smiled and pressed the ''Yoruichi'' with both of her hand deting it.


    This is the first time Aika saw this invention of Kisuke and a ''great'' idea went through her head, "Kisuke, give me one of those."


    "Hmm? Sure." Kisuke answered but her eyes are still on the fight while he''s recording.


    "And while you''re at it, please blow it for me." She added another request


    "��What for?" Kisuke finally faced Aika after hearing that. And he noticed that she has a very resolute face.


    "I sometimes get very lonely at night with my ''alone'' time. That portable Gigai is a very goodpanion when I''m feeling lonely. And it''s also a good practice for the real thing." Without batting an eye, Aika stated her reasoning.


    "�� Sounds like a very dangerous idea�� so no." Kisuke refused after a bit of hesitation. He actually wants to see how Aika would y with his ''body'' if left alone, ''Should I just eat this meat she kept offering to me?'' Such thought started to surface on his mind.


    "Please reconsider it. I''m willing to pay the pric- oww��" Aika still wanted to persuade Kisuke but a small rock hit her head. Aika traced where it can from and saw Yoruichi looking at her coldly, "I''ll double your trainingter."


    "I won''t be scared of that! Come to me!" Aika returned a re of her own. But Aika would fully regret this exchangeter.


    When Koneko heard Aika''s idea, she also wanted her own. But seeing how Kisuke and Yoruichi rejected her, she kept it to herself, ''I first need to master that adult form. That way, I''ll have more chances in the future.''


    Yoruichi turned her attention back to Kuroka who is taking this chance to rest and recover her Demonic Power and Ki, ''Kisuke would sooner orter eat that free meat in front of him. As he''s a man and a pervert by nature, stopping him would only make him go do it in secret. So instead of stopping him, I need to take control. The only good thing here is that he would never actually do it with those he is unfamiliar with and those girls who he doesn''t have much favorable impression. Another thing is his sex drive actually kept getting strongertely and there will be a day that I wouldn''t be able to take all of his energy. If I''m going to get someone''s help, I should be the one who should choose.''


    Yoruichi isn''t really against the idea of polygamy as she also came from arge n where his father and grandfather have a mistress or two. It didn''t help that in the supernatural world, a strong man having a harem is a prettymon sight. And one more thing is that Yoruichi herself has some lesbian tendencies that she wanted to try herself.


    Setting these thoughts aside forter, Yoruichi noticed that Kuroka is ready for another round, ''I should end this. I pretty much know her capabilities except for those things she is still hiding. Her abilities are enough to be our eyes in the darkness.''


    Yoruichi lifted her palm towards Kuroka and cast another Kidou, "Bakudo No. 61, Rikojoukourou (Six Rods of Light Prison)." Yoruichi summons six thin, but wide, beams of light around Kuroka. Without being able to react due to its sheer speed, the beams of light mmed towards Kuroka''s midsection, holding her in ce.


    Kuroka tried to move to remove the beams of light, but found her whole body paralyze, ''What''s this!? Sh*t.''


    Yoruichi used this chance to approach her and touch her forehead sending a pulse of Reiatsu-Ki to her andpletely paralyzing her. What she used is the improved version of Shibireyubi (Numbing Finger) that allows her to paralyze even someone as strong as Kuroka as long as she''s tired and a bit weakened.


    Kuroka wanted to retaliate but the strange energy inside her didn''t allow it. Yoruichi dismissed the beams of light and carried Kuroka on her shoulders, "Now that we''re done ying. Let''s do the talking now. Oh, and by the way, no matter what you do, as long as that guy is here, you won''t be able to leave this ce if he doesn''t want to."

 Volume 3 132 - Change Back

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 132 - Change Back</h4>


    Back in the hot spring, Kuroka kept ring at Yoruichi while she''s hugging Koneko from the back with no intention of letting her go or whatsoever. She would give Kisuke a curious nce once in a while but she couldn''t find the inspecting look she saw earlier, ''Is it just my imagination?�� No, I''m pretty sure of what I''ve seen. He gave me a simr look those bastards have when they are still experimenting on me. Although there is something different about him�� Something that separates him from those detestable Devils. But it doesn''t change the fact that this guy is the most dangerous fellow here. I really have to take away Koneko from this ce�� But how? Communication magic is blocked and I can''t call those guys to rescue me�� For now, I''ll listen to what they have to say. Maybe I can find a chance or more information by then.''


    "Done nning?" Kisuke spoke after waiting for a while. All of them went back to soaking themselves on the hot spring. And the reason Kuroka is behaving ''nicely'' is because Kisuke sealed both of her Ki and Demonic Power temporarily.


    "Yes�� You can start talking." Kuroka replied, intently staring at Kisuke, ''He''s the one that will do the talking?''


    "Ughh�� Guys? Are you just going to ignore me!? Kuhook!!!" Off to the side, Yoruichi is currently doing a sleeper''s choke on Aika while her other hand is touching all sorts of ces.


    "Please!!! I don''t want to lose my purity like this!! Someone, please take this pervert off me!!!" Aika begged Kuroka, Koneko, and Kisuke but they ignored her plight and would only give curious nce once in a while.


    As Aika is started to let out a voice that won''t be allowed unless it''s in the restricted channel on television, Kisuke started talking to Kuroka, "Let''s see, for now, you can ask questions."


    "I see�� Then are you the same type of person who experimented on me years ago?" Kuroka''s question shocked both Koneko and Kisuke. Kisuke didn''t think that it would be her first question. With a smile, he nodded and answered, "Yep. I''m the same kind of person. I won''t make any excuses. Feel free to see me like that."


    "Haah�� So it''s not my imagination. Although I can tell that you''re a bit different from them." Kuroka sighed as shemented and tightened her hug on Koneko.


    "Hmm? How? Not to brag, but I can do some nasty things without batting an eye."


    "Don''t phrase it like doing nasty stuff is a good thing��" Kuroka went silent for a while but her gaze didn''t leave Kisuke''s eyes, "You''re cold and selfish�� but unlike them, you know affection��"


    ''Affection�� is it?'' Kisuke subconsciously nced at Yoruichi who is still ying with Aika, ignoring the mood. Yoruichi noticed his gaze and returned it with a bright smile. It would have been an amazing sight if not for the flushed Aika in her arms. It is still an amazing sight, in a different meaning, however.


    "Well�� I guess you''re right~."


    ''That''s right�� This guy is different�� I can tell that he truly cares about Shirone, that sses girl and especially that Yoruichi��'' Kuroka remembered the master of the branch family of Naberius n. He is an unfeeling demon that doesn''t see anyone beyond their utility value andpared him to Kisuke who is in front of her right now. Although he could do what he did, he can at least see people as they are. Kuroka has seen all sorts of people when she roams the darker side of the world and someone like Kisuke is truly rare, ''But that''s what makes him even more dangerous. If he somehow lost the target of his affection, he''ll descend into something more terrifying than those Devils, especially if his abilities are what they make out to be.''


    "You''re too dangerous��" Kuroka spoke what''s on her mind.


    Kisuke somehow guessed what conclusion she came up with and replied with great confidence, "That''s why I have to prepare thousands upon thousands of ways to keep her safe. Much like how I prepare for war."


    Kuroka can feel his resolution in those words and contemted the move she should take, "We aren''t going anywhere with these questions so let me ask you directly, what do you want from me?"


    Kisuke''s smile grew bigger at her question, "Simple, I want you to be our eyes on the other side of the coin."


    "Couldn''t you do it yourself?" Kuroka narrowed her eyes at his answer. Based on the abilities she had seen them use, it wouldn''t be hard for them to move around secretly.


    "We could, but Yoruichi and I are bound to gather attention and we wouldn''t have as much freedom as now." Kisuke could use Gigai to evade detection but having another pair of eyes working for him is more convenient in some situations.


    "Is that why you showed me what you can do? For me to agree to your demand? I could just spread the news that you can gather pure energies and trouble wille for you and I wouldn''t even lose anything as they are almost useless for me." Kuroka sneered at his apparent n.


    "That''s one, but I showed it to you because I want you to know some of my capabilities. After all, I have an offer for you that you might not believe without seeing what I can do first." Kisuke didn''t mind her reaction and replied confidently.


    "An offer? Do you think that it''ll be more important than my little sister''s safety?"


    "Let me clear this misunderstanding. Koneko-chan took that form because she took inrge amounts of natural Ki that she wasn''t able to control it. It''s actually a very safe technique aside from initial training that can be dangerous without supervision."


    "And how do you expect me to believe your words?"


    "That technique is called Sage Mode and you can achieve it by melding your own Ki with the natural Ki effectively controlling it like your own. And one of my offers is teaching you that technique."


    Kuroka thought for a bit and recall all her knowledge in Senjutsu but still came to the same conclusion, "Most of the Senjutsu users the past thought that they can use natural Ki around them to power their techniques, but the malice in it affects the mind that it can destroy it if used too much. Are you saying this isn''t the case?"


    "What you''re saying is true." Kisuke unhesitantly agreed with her.


    "Then��"


    "But only if you take in natural Ki as it is."


    "???" Kuroka tilted her head in confusion, ''What else you can do?''


    "What we''ve thought Koneko-chan is how to process the natural Ki before she can meld it with her own Ki. You''ve seen it in the game. Normally, it doesn''t take that much time to absorb natural Ki, but instead of just absorbing it, most of her time and concentration are used in ''cleansing'' natural Ki for her own use."


    Kuroka''s eyes widened in shock, ''So that''s the weird feeling I''m getting. I thought that Shirone is strangely slow in gathering natural Ki.''


    Kuroka looked down and saw that Koneko is also looking up to her, "What he''s saying is true, Nee-sama. If Yoruichi-san didn''t ban me from using Senjutsu, I could have shown it to you."


    At this moment, Kuroka hesitated because if this is all true, then this technique could help her get stronger faster. And if it''s really safe for Koneko, then she wouldn''t have much reason to take her away from this ce aside from Kisuke himself.


    "If you can''t still agree after my second andst offer, then I don''t have any other ways to convince you ''nicely''."


    Kuroka''s vignce rose up again after hisst words but she still chooses to listen as she''s pretty curious about the second offer.


    "I can change you back to a Nekomata."

 Volume 3 133 - Terms

    <h4>Volume 3 Chapter 133 - Terms</h4>


    "I can change you back into a Nekomata."


    Kuroka''s mind nked-out after hearing Kisuke''s offer. Kisuke didn''t say anything else and just enjoyed the hot spring while he waits for her to properly process what he means. Koneko was also dumbfounded as she didn''t think it would be possible to go back after reincarnating into a Devil. Yoruichi and Aika stopped what they are doing because they don''t want to interrupt what seems to be an important decision for Kuroka.


    After a minute or two, Kuroka finally made a sound, "H-how��?" She didn''t want to believe something preposterous could happen. As far as she knew, being reincarnated into a Devil forever changes your physique and won''t go back even if you remove the Evil Piece embedded. The only way for you to change ''back'' is discarding your current Devil body and move your soul to a new non-Devil body.


    Creating a new body is already a very huge problem as only a few beings can do it wlessly, but messing with a soul another thing entirely. Just touching it will risk it from being dispersed and nevering back. The only proven ways you can transfer your soul into another body or container is with the use of a certain Longinus or with the help of another being with a powerful soul that also resides on your body.


    With all of this, Kuroka can''t believe that he could casually utter those words but she also hopes that he''s capable of it as being a Devil is some sort of trauma for her and wanted to get rid of this stigma. So instead of questioning its possibility, she asks him how it would work.


    "Well, the whole process is still in the works so I can''t do it now. But I should be able toplete it within a few weeks of time. I can make it shorter if I focus on it, but I still have other things to prioritize. As for how it''ll go, I would first remove the influence of the Evil Piece from your body and soul and transfer your soul to another container. After that, I would ''fix'' your body to how it was before you be a Devil and return your soul into it."


    "Fixing the body�� That''s hard enough yet you sound like you can handle souls just fine. I can hardly believe your words. What gives you so much confidence?"


    "I do not dare im that I''m the best when ites to souls but I''m confident with my skills. Look at that embarrassing sses girl. What do you think of her?"


    "Who''s embarrassing!?"


    "A normal human?"


    "Why don''t you try using those ck mes of yours on her?"


    "What!? The moment my Kasha touches her, her soul would be burned to oblivion!"


    "Don''t worry about it~. I''ll take responsibility~."


    Kuroka hesitated for a few seconds but still agreed to him. A small wheel surrounded by ck mes materialize on top on her fingertips and it flew over to Aika.


    "I don''t have any say in this!?"


    Once it hits Aika, she groaned�� she tried to, but noticed that even though the ck mes are burning him, she doesn''t feel anything from it.


    "What!? How is that��" Kuroka suddenly remembered back when Yoruichi also took it head-on and said that she chose the wrong target. She then turns her attention back to the grinning Kisuke and waited for his exnation.


    "This Kasha of yours is a spiritual attack that damages the soul directly. It won''t work on those people who have a more powerful soul than you. Aika-chan may seem a normal person, but her dormant soul power isrge enough to offset your attack."


    "What!? How is that possible!? A normal human has a more powerful soul than me!?" Kuroka eximed but thinking about it again, "You''re the reason? You can manipte souls like this!?"


    "Yep~. Transferring souls are actually pretty easy for me. The only hard part is removing the soul from the body as the body has Mana or Ki that can resist it. Therger the Mana or Ki the harder it is. And fixing the body is actually the hardest part as I would still need few data regarding Devil physique and Nekomata physique."


    "��"


    "So what would it be?"


    "That offer is everything that I would want aside from the safety of Shirone, but I''m still having a hard time trusting you. After all, you''re very simr to those guys I loathe."


    "True enough�� Then I would have to resort to a more drastic measure~."


    Kuroka obviously didn''t like his words and prepared herself.


    Kisuke stared at Koneko and Koneko also stared at his eyes, ''What are you nning now?''


    "At least you believe in my expertise in the soul, right?"


    "�� I suppose."


    "Then you do know that it''s possible for me to nt something nasty directly to the soul."


    It finally hit Kuroka what he''s trying to say, "You bastard!!! Did you do something to Shirone!?" The seal on Kuroka has weakened sufficiently that she could now fight back but didn''t do so in fear that he activates something that''ll hurt Koneko.


    "Yup~." I indeed nted something inside her. I need insurance after all~." ''Although it''s not as you think. It''s just some protection spell I conveniently ced.''


    "You scoundrel!" Kuroka released Koneko and stood up revealing her voluptuous body.


    Kisuke wasn''t affected by this and replied, "I won''t deny that. So? What''s your decision?"


    "Fine! I''ll be your pawn! I don''t care about your other offers! Just don''t hurt Shirone!"


    Kisuke pped his hands, "Cool! Since you''re still a Devil, we can create a binding contract. And with my expertise of the soul, I''ll be able to make something that binds that too."


    "I don''t care! My first term is you''re to protect Shirone from harm to the best of your capabilities! Second is you have to remove everything you nted on Shirone''s soul. Andstly, you''re not allowed to nt anything further on both Shirone and me!" Kuroka is very worried about her little sister that she didn''t think of any loopholes that Kisuke can take advantage of in her terms. The only thing inside her mind is that remove the threat inside Koneko as fast as possible.


    "Great. My turn then. First is that you''re to all the information that you have. Second is that you''ve to gather information for me. The third is that you can''te near and reveal any association between you and everyone from Urahara Shop openly unless I agree to it. Fourth is that you have to take the same training as Koneko-chan. Andstly, you''ll allow me to change you back into a Nekomata when I''m ready."


    What Kisuke and Yoruichi want is just an eye in the darkness where they can''t conveniently alwayse. The fourth term is for Koneko. Both of them didn''t like that Koneko is virtually threading an unknown path alone, so they wanted her older sister to apany her. As for thest one, Kisuke wanted to try it first on Kuroka before he proposes the same thing to Koneko in the future.

 Volume 4 134 - Somewhere On the Other Side of the Globe

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 134 - Somewhere On the Other Side of the Globe</h4>


    Kuroka wanted to remove the fourth andst terms but she doesn''t have any advantages over this deal as long as Kisuke is taking Koneko as ''hostage''.


    Finalizing the deal, Kuroka has a bitter face and Konekoforted her while patting her back, "Now removed what you''ve nted on Shirone''s soul! Everything!"


    "Now, now. Don''t be hasty. I''ll be doing it." Kisuke approaches them and puts his hand on Koneko''s head. After a few seconds, a ball of green light appeared when Kisuke pulled away his hand from Koneko''s head. He then crushed it with his hands in front of Kuroka making her sigh in relief.


    "Nee-sama�� You still don''t know Kisuke-senpai. He didn''t mean any harm."


    "What are you saying, Shirone! All he has done is enough for me to judge him a scoundrel. And why are you defending the guy who''s technically taking you as a hostage!?" Kuroka immediately and angrily refuted her words.


    "What do you think he nted on me?" Koneko didn''t back down and continued speaking to her older sister gently.


    "Something that can hurt you if you defy him?" Kuroka is starting to have weird feelings about the situation.


    "No��"


    "�� Then what?"


    "A simple protective spell and an rm spell." Koneko let out the truth. Kisuke told her that he''ll be giving her some memory reading defensive spell and an rm that would apany it in case it activated.


    "��What?"


    "In other words, he just tricked you."


    "Y-you��" Kuroka snapped her neck back to Kisuke who is scratching his head.


    "All I told you is that I nted something in Koneko-chan''s soul and didn''t tell anything about it being harmful to her. You''re the one who filled in the nks. It''s not my fault." Shrugging his shoulders, Kisuke denied the usatory look.


    Kuroka couldn''t speak anymore and fell into self-loathe, ''Did I just let this guy trick me?''


    "Damn scammer. Couldn''t you live without scamming anyone?" Aika sessfully escaped Yoruichi''s grasp and help Kuroka to verbally assault Kisuke.


    "Grrr�� Dammit! I couldn''t take it anymore-nya! It''s not on our terms that I''m not allowed to hurt you!" Kuroka stomped her foot in fury and rushed towards Kisuke. But just she''s about to get near him, in split second, she tied up in turtle-shell bondage.


    "N-not again!"


    "Give it up. That guy is stronger than me. And adding his unconventional head, he''ll just annoy you to death." Yoruichi gave her a friendly reminder.


    "No!!! I won''t give up!" Kuroka shouted with a flushed face.


    The day went by without Kuroka being able to take even a bit of revenge. Every time she would attack Kisuke, there would only be one end, and that is being tied up in turtle-shell bondage. Kisuke even thinks that Kuroka has some weird kink that Koneko isn''t aware of, ''Why am I always surrounded by perverts. What did I do to deserve this?''


    Kuroka gave up for today and went away, but not after giving her ess to the training ground. She''s not allowed toe to Urahara Shop or his home, just the training ground. Kuroka epted it since Koneko is always in it anyways.


    As for the information she knows, only Kisuke and Yoruichi listened to it and were given a shock at its contents but they didn''t let Kuroka know about it.


    After Kuroka left, all of them returned to the surface. Aika still has to go home to cate her father and Koneko with her long-overdue reunion with the whole Gremory peerage. Kisuke and Yoruichi, meanwhile, went back to their room andid down on the bed.


    "What do you think about Kuroka''s information?" Yoruichi cuddled in him and asks.


    "Moreplicated than I expected but still within tolerable levels. Although, I didn''t really expect Ophis-chan to lead a terrorist group." Kisuke yawned as he wraps around his arms on Yoruichi.


    "Someone like Ophis, if it''s the same being, couldn''t possibly lead an organization. It''s probably just a give and take rtionship."


    "You''re right. Someone as strong as her could easily give power to those weaker than her. And those weaker guys can propose to kick out Great Red out of Dimensional Gap. Someone like Ophis would easily agree to that if that is her goal without thinking much about it."


    "Ophis-chan is too innocent. This won''t end well for her."


    "As much as I want to help, I can''t do much about her situation. Let''s just prepare to pull her out if something happens. But as strong as she is, I doubt that would ever happen, unless��"


    "Unless what?"


    "There is a cheating item out there that could actually hurt her. This is the world where you can power up almost infinitely as long as your emotion and body are strong enough after all."


    "If you say it like that, then that cheating item really must exist."


    "Haah�� Let''s stop thinking about this for now. We have enough in our tes. Splitting our focus more won''t do us any good."


    "Goodnight." Kisuke used his hand to part Yoruichi''s hair and kissed her on the forehead.


    "Goodnight." Yoruichi buried her head on Kisuke chest and closed her eyes to rest.


    .


    .


    .


    Aegina Ind, Greece.


    A modest one-story house lies not from the Aegina''s Port. Living within is a family of three and currently having a nice dinner on their dining table.


    "ire, it''s almost your birthday. What do you want as a present?" The father figure asks his daughter.


    The small girl with short shiny gray hair and sparkly ck eyes stopped eating and looked up to her father, "Uhmm�� Can I ask for anything?"


    "You can, but mommy has to agree with it first." The father smiled gently and use his hand to wipe the sauce stuck on her cheek.


    "Then I want to meet big brother Kisuke!" With a bright smile, the little girl stated her wish.


    The mother and father figure looked at each other in shock and the mother asks her daughter, "Why do you want to meet him?"


    "Because you kept talking about him and I want to meet and y with him!"


    The father figure sighed and the mother figure chuckled at their daughter''s wish.


    If Kisuke were to see the parents, he''ll remember the day when he saved the couple''s life. It''s precisely Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki. And now they have a very cute daughter after moving to Aegina Ind in Greece.


    "I''ll right an invitation. It''s also about time to meet and thank him again." Cleria continued her meal as she agreed to her daughter''s demand.


    "Yay!"


    "Alright, finish your veggies. Big brother Kisuke likes obedient children."


    "Ughh�� o-okay��"

 Volume 4 135 - Kaichou... Please Dont Destroy the House

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 135 - Kaichou�� Please Don''t Destroy the House</h4>


    The next day, Kisuke still didn''t want to go to school and slept until noon with Yoruichi. They only got up because Sakura kept calling for them to wake up.


    Kisuke created an app for his smartphone to check who is inside the training ground and currently, Koneko, Kuroka, and Aika are in it. Kuroka and Koneko are currently in the rejuvenating hot spring, while Aika is currently running around throughout the whole training ground. Instead of just jogging, she''s running around in full sprint and eachp she would drop dead tired on the rejuvenating hot spring. She would do this for the whole day if she doesn''t have any other business and if Yoruichi isn''t personally training her.


    "It amazing she can keep this up every day," Kisukemented in awe.


    Yoruichi took a peek on Kisuke''s phone, and saw Aika''s position moving around the perimeter of the map, "Even the students of Shinigami Academy won''t be able to take this kind of beating." She added.


    "Well, if she wants to catch up, she has to do at least this much. Sooner orter, her body would be able to take the stress of transformation."


    "What I like about her is although she wouldn''t stop whining that it''s annoying, she would still do her training without cutting corners. I wonder what pushes her to do all of this?" Yoruichi gave Kisuke a mean look as she asks this question.


    "I wonder about that too." Kisuke didn''t return her gaze. Kisuke has an idea, but even if Aika confronts him about it he would just y dumb it.


    "Oh right, there is arge aura that appeared in Sona-kaichou''s cest night. I wonder what is that all about?" Kisuke changes the topic as he can''t take Yoruichi''s gaze anymore.


    Yoruichi snorted but allowed her to escape, "Probably the so-called Devil King. Do you know anything about her?"


    "All I know is that she''s in charge of foreign affairs and the weirdest out of all Devil Kings."


    "Weirdest? How?"


    "It seems that she''s a big fan of magical girls in anime. Beyond that, I don''t know anything else. We can ask Kuroka for additional info. Let''s go eat breakfast first."


    They ate their brunch and apanied Sakura for a bit before bidding their farewell and moving towards the training ground.


    But just as Kisuke was about to cast his teleportation spell he notices that therge aura that appearedst night is now approaching their ce.


    Yoruichi also noticed this and looked at Kisuke, "What are we gonna do now."


    "Although I can feel something''s not right since she''s with Kaichou, let''s hear them out for now." Kisuke couldn''t pinpoint the exact feeling that he''s getting from the so-called Devil King. He can tell that there are some hostilities targeted at him, but that''s all. She isn''t hostile to anyone else ''What''s up with that.'' Kisuke started rubbing his chin in contemtion.


    "Mom, please prepare some tea. We have guests." Kisuke stopped thinking about that and just reviewed all of his escape routes just in case the Devil King unreasonably attacks him, ''She got the ''Weirdest'' reputation after all.''


    "Who is it?"


    "Sona-kaichou, and probably her older sister."


    "Her older sister?" Sakura is boiling water but as sheprehends Kisuke words she eximed, "Her older sister!? Isn''t she one of the Devil Kings!? What is she doing here!?"


    Kisuke shrugs his shoulder and replied, "Who knows��"


    Seeing that her son doesn''t mind it much, her worries reduces and focused on the tea she''s making.


    Just a few minutes, hey heard their doorbell rang and Kisuke stood up from the couch answering the door, "Who is it? If it''s a newspaper, we don''t need it. Or is it the delivery girl that I requested to deliver my porn? Please wait a minute. I get the camera to capture your reaction and add it to my collection of ''Delivery Girls handing out Porn.'' "


    Sono''s eyebrows twitch at his response and wanted to reprimand him. But she stopped herself as she always loses in the argument. Sona already gave up long ago to understand how his headworks, "It''s me."


    "�� I didn''t think that ''It''s me, It''s me.'' scam would still exist today. Society is scary. Begone scammer! You won''t fool anyone here!" Kisuke eximed from the inside.


    Sona clenched her teeth and wanted to kick down the door, but her older sister is watching from behind so she can''t do any udylike, ''Why did he choose this time to mess around when my sister is here?�� No. Knowing him, he chose this time because my sister is here! Damn despicable bastard!''


    "It''s me! Sona Sitri! Stop messing around! I have something to talk about!"


    "�� Yoruichi, this guy is so damn good. He can even imitate Kaichou''s voice and impersonate her." A sigh came from the other door, "If only they would use these skills for the betterment of the world."


    Those words almost broke her patience and her temple started throbbing. She closed her and took a deep breath to calm herself, ''Strange�� Am I always this irritable? Or is it just because he''s in annoying?''


    "Damn you Kisuke! Open the door now or I''ll break it down�� and repair itter!" Sona couldn''t care less anymore that her sister is watching and just wanted to smack Kisuke on the face.


    "Getting violent just because your scam didn''t work, huh? But fear not as I would give you a chance to prove yourself. If you''re really Kaichou then I have a question that only she can answer."


    Sona has a bad feeling but if she can open the door by just answering a question and she would take it. What''s the worst could happen if she would just answer his question, "Fine�� Ask away��"


    Sona, as always, regretted her decision, "What the title of the erotic book that Kaichou has hidden in the hiddenpartment under the table of Student Council room?"


    "What!?"


    "I''m just giving you 5 seconds to answer. If you can''t, then get lost."


    "Wait, Kisuke! Can we talk this out?"


    "5."


    "Ughh."


    "4."


    Sona didn''t want to look at her sister''s reaction so she kept facing the front door.


    "3."


    She gritted her teeth and with a flushed face, she started muttering, "E��n th��h I''m the S��dent����l P����nt, I��" She tried but still can''t finish it due to embarrassment.


    "2."


    ''Why do I have to listen to his sh*ts!? I just have to break down this door! And maybe I tten his face who''s probably snickering behind the door!'' With that in mind, Sona resolutely took a step forward and lifted her right foot to kick down the door. But just as her foot was about tond, Kisuke suddenly opened the door from inside, "Just kidding~. You cane in, Kaichou."


    As expected, Sona lost her bnce when the expected foothold disappeared and fell forward face first and the skirt flipped.


    "��" Everyone is silent at this scene. After a few seconds, Kisuke opened his mouth, "What a unique way of entering��������Uhmm�� Kaichou��? Please don''t destroy the house�� I beg you."

 Volume 4 136 - Serafall Leviathan

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 136 - Serafall Leviathan</h4>


    Kisuke is currently standing beside the flushed and fuming Sona. After sessfully cating her and stopping her from destroying the ce, Kisuke invited the guess in and did his best to serve the still angry and embarrassed Sona.


    Beside her, sitting on the couch is her older sister and one of the current Devil Kings of the Underworld, Serafall Leviathan, formerly known as Serafall Sitri. Serafall is a beautiful girl looking in herte teens with ck hair, tied into twin tails and blue eyes. Sitting beside her younger sister, her child-like body in more apparent, but you would never think of her as Sona''s little sister because of her bosom which is muchrger than Sona.


    Serafall is the older sister of Sona Sitri and the oldest sibling of the Sitri Family. During the war between the Old Satan Faction and Anti Satan Faction, she was part of the Anti Satan Faction that opposed the Old Satan Faction, which ended in their victory, and she was eventually promoted to the position of Satan Leviathan, losing her right as the heir of the Sitri n in the process. Much like how Sirzechs of the Gremory Household became a Devil King.


    Unlike her serious younger sister, Serafall is cheerful and possesses a childlike personality, but the situation right now is different as she couldn''t get into her usual pace after seeing how these two act in front of her. If those people from the Underworld were to know that Serafall is just sitting silently beside her younger sister as she ''flirts'' with some unknown guy, they would first doubt if it''s really Serafall and after confirming it, they would still shake their heads at such ridiculous situation. That''s the siscon that would even attack the Heavens if something were to happen to her little sister.


    What''s worse is that Serafall is currently dressed in her usual magical girl''s clothing and the guy ''flirting'' with Sonapletely ignored her after the initial greeting. Serafall just ended up dumbfounded and also curious at the guy wearing green traditional Japanese clothing and a bucket hat that casts a shadow over his eyes. Mainly because this is her first time seeing her overly serious little sister, Sona, show such rich expression.


    It''s not that Kisuke wanted to ignore Serafall, it just that he didn''t expect Sona would fell like that and is feeling a bit guilty. Earlier, his focus is entirely on the so-called Devil King even before they arrive. He didn''t open immediately open the door because he wanted to gather some information first. He intended to understand the rtionship between the two and since it''s Kisuke, his only option is to tease Sona to get a reaction out of the Devil King. But he didn''t expect that she would just stand there dumbfounded at the whole ordeal like she can''t believe what''s happening in front of her and wanted to escape reality.


    Seeing that he isn''t getting much reaction from her, he intended to stop joking around before Sona exploded�� But he was toote. He didn''t really think that she would kick down the door base on her personality and ended up falling down disgracefully after opening the door, ''Is this a change? Or just her true self? Girls are really hard to understand, especially the one hitting puberty.''


    "Sona-kaichou, please forgive me, okay? I didn''t intend for that happen too. Here some cookies, or do you like some cake instead?" Kisuke offered her a te of cookies intended for when Ophis decided to hunt for some free food again.


    Sona, still flushed and some tears pooling in the corner of her eyes quietly epted the cookies and nibbled at it as if to take out her frustration on it.


    "So? Would you not introduce me to this prettydy beside you?" Kisuke, trying to brush away what just happened, pushed the conversation.


    Sona flinched. She almost forgot that her elder sister is still with her. Now that she thinks about it, her sister is strangely quiet all this time and took a peek at her. Sona noticed that she''s making a difficult expression which is quite refreshing to see considering how she normally acts around people, ''This is bad. I''m getting addicted to seeing people make that kind of expression. Kisuke''s antics is rubbing too much on me.''


    Shaking those thoughts, she introduced her sister, "This is one of the current Devil King, Serafall Leviathan-sama." Albeit a short introduction. She''s still sulking from earlier events. Sona continues to help herself with some cookies to ease some of her worries and ignored the two, a decision she would regret yet again.


    Seeing that Sona''s mood won''t improve for some time, Kisuke decided to leave her alone for now. He went over Serafall''s position and stretched out his right hand and introduced herself, "The name''s Kisuke Urahara. I''m very pleased to meet such a beautifuldy."


    Serafall woke up from her stupor when Kisuke approached her and returned to her usual child-like behavior. She set aside Sona''s issue for now and focuses her attention on the interesting human, "Oh my, thank you, Kisuke-chan. I''m Serafall Leviathan. You can call me Levia-tan~��." With a wink, she shook Kisuke''s hand.


    This is the first time then looked at each other''s eyes and suddenly there was a spark between them. They somehow understood each other. Sona looked at there direction when she suddenly noticed that they were strangely quiet. She saw that they were staring at each other''s eyes without a word while holding hands. A sh of jealousy instantly took over her and wanted to separate them but before she could do it, Kisuke suddenly separated from and took out a photo, "As a sign of goodwill, please ept this." It was the first cosy photo he got from Sona, the ''Magical Girl'' Sona, and handed it over to Serafall.


    "Wh-!?" Sona almost fell over again but manages to regain her bnce. She''s already prepared for Kisuke to act like this even beforeing here, so before Serafall can touch the photo, Sona snatched it from Kisuke''s hands and tore it up to many pieces before burning it with simple fire magic.


    "Nooo!" Kisuke cried out for the loss but recovered immediately, "Whew~. Good thing I still have some copies under my pillow." He muttered softly, but Sona heard him loud and clear.


    "You bastard! Why do you have multiple copies of this!?" Sona shouted as she runs upstairs unreservedly. Sona reached Kisuke''s room and intruded it unhesitantly and reached out for his pillow on the bed. But after lifting the pillow, she didn''t find any photos of her, only a porn magazine with the cover model slightly resembles her. Sona''s head heated up and got tempted opening it, ''Why would Kisuke have something like this? I know he has tons of porn magazines, but why someone who resembles me?'' Sona''s head got preupied with the porn magazine in front of her that she almost forgot her original objective.


    ''Huh!? What am I doing!? I need to look for those photos first! It''s not under the pillow like he said!'' Sona got hold of herself and started searching the things under his bed but she suddenly remembered something important, ''Why would he hid it here if he got a separate space for this?�� I got tricked again!!!''


    Sona rushed back downstairs and the worst thing happened. Her elder sister, Serafall, is now holding not one but three of her cosy photos.


    "Ki-tan! I love you!" Serafall rushed to Kisuke and gave him a big hug.


    Meanwhile, Sona was watching all of these and fell to her knees, defeated, "Nooooooo!!!"

 Volume 4 137 - Ill let you marry So-tan

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 137 - I''ll let you marry So-tan</h4>


    Both Kisuke and Serafall took turns tofort Sona who started crying.


    "Sona-Kaichou�� Here�� drink this and calm down." As smart as Kisuke, he didn''t know what to do in this situation. He tried enlisting Yoruichi''s help who is in her cat form silently watching them since earlier, but she only gave him gloating smile, ''I didn''t think that she would break down to tears.''


    Kisuke also asks for his mother''s help but she replied with, "Go attend to Sona-chan''s needs. Maybe this will teach you not to tease others so much." But knowing Kisuke, Yoruichi highly doubts that.


    Serafall also didn''t know what to do as whatever she has done in the past, at most, Sona will just run away in embarrassment, "So-tan, please stop crying, okay? Here, let this big sister hug you until you feel better."


    Sona continues to sniffle while covering her whole face with both of her hands. Kisuke and Serafall are already running out of options to cate Sona when she suddenly spoke up, " *sniffles* P-please give me�� the photos that Kisuke gave you�� *sniffles*" She''s obviously talking to Serafall.


    Serafall and Kisuke looked at each other again andmunicated using their eyes for a split second.


    ''What should I do, Ki-tan? I don''t want to hand it over!''


    ''No worries! I still have a bunch of copies! Just think of it as a small sacrifice to keep it to your collection!''


    ''Just how many copies do you have? But great. I''ll expect itter!''


    Although theymunicated extremely fast, Sakura and Yoruichi still noticed it, ''These two��''


    Serafall, without hesitation, handed the photos over to Sona and Sona tore it up before burning it with basic fire magic. If Sona is in the proper state of mind, she would have noticed that something isn''t right.


    Kisuke offered his handkerchief and Sona used it to wipe her face. After doing so, her expression returned but her eyes are still red. They didn''t point it out though.


    "Ahem�� Now then, moving on. Sona-kaichou, what is the purpose of today''s visit? You even brought someone like Levia-tan." Kisuke move the topic before Sona could think more about what just happened and spoke in a very serious tone, but was destroyed when he called Serafall ''Levia-tan''


    While Serafall nodded in satisfaction, Sona cringed. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn''t call a Devil King like that but his question finally reminded her of their purpose in this ce and she started to get nervous, "Eh�� U-uhmm�� You s-see�� The t-thing is��"


    "Hmm? What''s up? This isn''t like you to start stuttering with words." Kisuke furrowed his brows as Sona started acting weird, ''She''s�� panicking? What happened? Is it an emergency? But looking at confused Levia-tan, it couldn''t be a very bad thing.''


    Serafall is seeing so many things that Sona hasn''t shown to her today, ''Is this his influence? I couldn''t see it as a bad thing as she started expressing herself more. But why is she panicking now?�� Wait�� Could it be that Ki-tan isn''t aware of what it means beating So-tan in a game of chess? But knowing her, she wouldn''t panic like this as he''s only a candidate and nothing more�� I see�� So you like him, huh? You''re afraid that he''ll outright reject you�� Hmmm�� What should I do? I do trust So-tan judgment, but should I really give her to Ki-tan?�� Yosh, it''s decided. I''ll figure if Ki-tan is really for So-tan in the future but for now, since Ki-tan gave me such wonderful things and I like him a lot, I would help you out this time. Be grateful to Nee-chan, So-tan."


    Sona still didn''t know how to exin things, ''What should I say!? That Nee-sama is here to confront my so-called fiance candidate and make him give up?�� In the first ce�� What will be his reaction to this issue? Will he despise me? Will he justughed it off? And he already has a lover! Although having multiple wives in the Underworld is pretty normal, he grew up in human society! What should I do!? What the hell? Why do I feel like crying now?��''


    Kisuke saw that tears are starting to pool again on the corner of Sona''s eye and thought, ''What? Did she finally remembered that I still should have tons of copies of those photos in me? What excuse should I make next?''


    Yoruichi, however, notices the difference from earlier and now, and Serafall who is making an ''I understand'' face, ''Oi oi oi�� Why make a ''Maiden in-love frustrated'' face now? What''s happening?''


    Without waiting for Sona to speak any further, Serafall faced Kisuke and asks, "Ki-tan, what do you think of Sona-chan?"


    ''Hmm? Why did that questione up now?'' Regardless of his doubt, Kisuke still answered wlessly, "I think she''s very cute and hardworking��"


    "Hmm�� I see�� I see��" Serafall closed her eyes and contemted for a bit.


    Sona felt like a big load was taken away from her shoulder and sighed in relief. She also felt ''a bit'' of happiness from his words, ''Wait�� Why am I feeling happy when in fact I keep hearing suchpliments from others?������ No, I don''t think that''s it��'' Sona finally has an idea why should feel that way, but kept denying it as ''It couldn''t be.'' or ''It''s that pervert, you know?'' But once this idea started to surface, Sona became even more aware of it and ended up blushing. Although she didn''t have any time to contemte more as she suddenly felt a piercing gaze through her. Sona looked to the side and saw a ck cat ring at her, ''Yoruichi-san!? Since when was she here!? Why are you ring at me like that!? Stop! It''s not what you think!''


    Yoruichi understood what she''s thinking from her look, but just snorted at her, ''Hmmph�� The moment you can''t keep such thoughts away is the moment you cemented those feelings�� Damn Kisuke��'' Yoruichi would never me Sona for falling for Kisuke as he''s the man Yoruichi herself fell for. Why would she me the girl who fell for her charming boyfriend? On the contrary, she would feel prideful.


    Serafall opened her eyes again and looked seriously at Kisuke, "Ki-tan�� I''ll let you marry So-tan if you can go through my ''Groom Training Course''."


    "Nee-sama!?"


    "Wait�� What? Where did thate from?"

 Volume 4 138 - Sona Ran Away

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 138 - Sona Ran Away</h4>


    "Did you beat So-tan in a game of chess?" Instead of answering Kisuke''s question, Serafall asked a question of her own.


    Kisuke started thinking what her words mean and answered, "I did."


    "And So-tan probably made a fuss over her loss." Serafall looked over at Sona who started fidgeting with a flushed face. Sona is now enduring everyone''s gaze in addition to Yoruichi''s mean gaze.


    "�� You''re right." Based on Serafall deration on marriage and the current trend of the talk, Kisuke already has some clue on what''s going on but he still needs to hear itpletely before jumping into a conclusion.


    "Did you know that a few years ago that a certain young Devil, to avoid being engaged to someone she doesn''t like announce and swore to her name that she would only marry those who beat her in a game of chess? Many young men from different backgrounds tried to beat her but no one seeded." Serafall picked up a cookie and happily ate it, ''Not as delicious as Sona''s sweets though.''


    "�� I see�� So you''re saying that a young man like that appeared?" Kisuke was now sure of what''s going on and looked at Sona who is now staring at the floor not daring to lift her head.


    "That''s why I''m here." After some cookies, Serafall calmly sips some tea.


    Serafall didn''t speak any further and waited for thetter''s reply.


    A strange silence took over the room. Sakura is nkly looking Sona and kept thinking, ''Another daughter-inw? Not that I''m against it as like Sona-chan quite a bit�� But Kisuke grew up in human society and he already has Yoruichi�� Even though he''s a big pervert, I doubt that he''ll agree.''


    Yoruichi sighed as she already knew what would be the result of this. She is sure that Kisuke will reject this marriage but she also knew that Sona wouldn''t be able to take it well.


    After a few more seconds of silence, Kisuke smiled and said in a jovial tone, "Hahaha�� No way. It''s Kaichou here we are talking about. Even if I beat her in chess, she wouldn''t want to marry someone like me~. She even tried very hard to defeat me. Though she failed, her perseverance to defeat me is a testament to her resolution not to marry me. Why would even Kaichou like someone who''s only a pervert and kept harassing her? We are notpatible at all~. And besides, she already knew that I have a lover and would never��" In the middle of his awfully long rejection statement, Kisuke stopped speaking as he saw Sona looking nkly at him with a neutral expression and slightly open mouth�� whilerge amounts of tears gushing down through her face.


    Serafall''s eyes widened in shock. Sakura also has the same expression as her. And Yoruichi used one of her paws to cover her face, ''Kisuke, you idiot! That''s too much!''


    "Eh? What this? Why am I crying?��" Sona noticed her tears gushing out after a few seconds and tried to wipe it away but just as she did, her face would be drenched again by its nonstop flow.


    "�� Strange�� My tears won''t stop." Figuring out that wiping isn''t enough and all of them are still staring at her, Sona tried just tough it off.


    "�� Did I got cursed without me noticing?��" But that also failed as her expression slowly contorted, "Uuuu��" She knew she couldn''t hide it anymore so she stood up hurriedly without regard to her manners, ran towards the door and only left a few strangely heart-wrenching words, "�� I''m sorry��"


    "Sona-chan!!!" Serafall also stood up and chased after her. But before she leaves entirely, she gave Kisuke who is still dumbfounded aplicated nce.


    Yoruichi jumped on the head of the startled Kisuke and scratched the bridge of his nose.


    "��Ow��" Kisuke unenthusiastically reacted.


    Ignoring his reaction, Yoruichi asks, "Aren''t you going to chase after her?"


    "What for?"


    "Yep. Chasing after her is a bad idea if you have nothing else to say. Wait for a few more days before approaching her. Anyway, How does it feel to witness such a cry?"


    "��Terrible�� I''m not a fan��"


    "Is that so?" Yoruichi jumped down and approached Sakura who wanted to say something but stopped by her, "I''m going to the training ground to look after the kids. You can go take a small walk by yourself."


    Kisuke let out arge sighed and stood up, "Thanks��" And disappeared from his position with the use of sh Step.


    "Is that alright?" Sakura asks worriedly.


    "It''s fine. At a time like this, it''s better for him to think on his own. It''s his specialty anyways." Yoruichi transformed back to her human form and shrugged her shoulders.


    "�� You sure do know a lot about him�� A lot more than I do�� Are you his mother?" Sakura couldn''t help but feel jealous.


    "Ahahaha�� I could fill the role."


    .


    .


    After gaining some distance from the Urahara household, Sona used teleportation magic to directly appear in her room at her mansion situated at the corner of the Kuoh Town. Sona jumped to her king-size bed and covered herself with a thick nket. Sona kept sobbing and sniffling. Serafall followed after her in worry and arrive beside her bed.


    "�� Sona-chan��" Even the usual cheerful mood of Serafall was gone without a trace. She didn''t know how tofort her sister as this is the first time she saw her beloved sister being so helpless. But somewhere in the corner of her mind, she felt a small relief that Sona can still act like this, not the emotionless robot that she kept portraying at home to show the dignity of the heiress of the house, ''But what will happen now?''


    As Serafall paces around thinking of the words she could say, Sona''s voice resounded under the nket, "�� Nee-sama�� *sob* *sob* Why�� why does it hurt so much?"


    Serafall stopped pacing around and looked at the bundled up Sona and heaves arge sigh. Shey down beside her on the top of the nket and patted where Sona''s head would be on the nket, "I don''t know�� I haven''t experienced it myself."


    "�� Nee-sama�� This feeling is very strange�� *sob* *sob* I''ve endured much more intense words from our elders jeering at my dreams which is supposed to be the most important thing for me. Their words hurt, but I can endure it and move forward�� But why do a few simple words of rejection reduced me to this state *sob* *sob*"


    Serafall continued patting Sona''s head and didn''t say anything. It''s not like she has something anyway.


    Sona suddenly gets out of her cover and faced her sister. Serafall felt the need to attack the Heavens when she saw her face full of tears and swollen red eyes, ''Dammit, Ki-tan!''


    "What should I do, Nee-sama!? I don''t like this feeling! I want to forget it! I hate myself for thinking that maybe we could be together! Uwaahhh!!!" Sona wailed loudly as she asks her sister.


    Serafall grabbed her and hugged her, burying Sona''s head in her bosom, "Just cry it all out. You''ll feel betterter�� (I guess)"


    "Wahh!!! Uwaahhh!!!" Feeling the warmth of her sister enveloping her, Sona didn''t stop herself from letting it all out. She has the same thoughts as her sister. If she can let it all out now, maybe she''ll forget about itter and go back to her normal self.


    On the top of the mansion''s roof, Kisuke heaves arge sigh and disappeared.

 Volume 4 139 - Getting out of the Old Shell

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 139 - Getting out of the Old Shell</h4>


    Yoruichi arrived at the training ground, specifically, on the hot spring where the three girls are resting.


    Aika looked up and around before returning her gaze to Yoruichi, "You alone?"


    "Kisuke needs some time alone." Yoruichi removes her clothing and directly jumped down in the hot spring.


    Aika wanted to say a dirty joke but noticed the gentle smile on Yoruichi''s face and stopped, "What happened?"


    Yoruichi gently wipes her body before answering, "Well�� Sona confessed�� Technically, I guess."


    "What!?" Aika found the energy from her tired body to suddenly stand up, but she staggered soon after. Koneko was also shocked at Yoruichi''s words and pointed her cat ears towards her direction to listen further while her tails slowly sway left and right and Kuroka started ying with it, ignoring their conversation entirely.


    "Why are you surprised? Didn''t you already know that this would happen sooner orter?" Yoruichi reclined on the rock and sigh.


    "Oh�� you''re right." Aika sat back down, "They why isn''t Kisuke here? Could it be that he epted her and is now having a fun time with just the two of them!?"


    Koneko''s tails stood straight up when she heard this, hitting both of Kuroka''s eyes, "Gyaahh!!!" Koneko didn''t have to care about her though as she continued listening to them.


    "�� What do you think?"


    "Right�� That''s impossible. If he can move that fast, then he would have eaten me whole long ago."


    "See? Even you know Kisuke won''t be epting any of you."


    "As of now."


    "��"


    "Then? What happened to Kaichou? If it''s her, she could take this kind of set back easily."


    "As it turns out�� No. She ran away bawling."


    "What!? At most, she''ll cry a little then brush it off and try again next time. What happened, really?"


    Yoruichi proceed to narrate the whole story to the three of them.


    "�� Is he an idiot?" Aika couldn''t help but ask.


    "He''s an idiot." And Yoruichi didn''t hesitate to answer.


    "Laughing it off is one thing, but to deny Sona-Kaichou''s feelings itself like that�� It would have been better if he just outright rejected her�� If he''s not an idiot then he''s a total jerk."


    "Well�� he''s a big idiot and a little jerk." Yoruichi chuckled as it''s too fitting for Kisuke.


    "Then what''s up with your creepily gentle smile from earlier?" Aika finally asks what has been bothering her since earlier.


    "What creepy? Don''t call a maiden''s gentle smile creepy!" Yoruichi waved her right hand sshing the water around her. The sshes then hit Aika''s face with great force.


    "My eyes!!!" There are now two people wincing in pain as they cover their faces.


    Yoruichi didn''t my the noise the two created and answered Aika''s question, "It''s just that I''m happy."


    "I know that you have the right to feel so, but couldn''t you at least pretend to be sad for Kaichou?" Aikained.


    "That''s not it, you idiot�� I''m happy for Kisuke."


    "That he rejected someone so mercilessly?"


    "�� Listen here, what do you think of me?"


    "A Demon."


    "��"


    "So? Why are you happy for him?"


    "Because this is the first time he experienced something like this."


    "It''s not a good experience though."


    "You''re right�� But it also means that we''re already living a different life from before. If it''s the Kisuke in the past who is too busy with other things, he wouldn''t even notice Sona''s feelings and much less, care about it. He wouldn''t have any time to contemte love and much less, experience it. Kisuke and I wouldn''t even be together now if we didn''t ''escape'' that ''ce''. I''m just really happy that he''s able to experience all of this."


    "Hmmm�� This is the first time he experienced something like this, huh? And you''re really d about it. Yoruichi-san, couldn''t you tell us your past? I''ve been curious about it all this time. You would slip sometimes and it would sound like you two experienced something�� not nice."


    "I won''t talk about our past, neither Kisuke would. And there is already no point it in."


    "�� Anyways, Is it fine to leave Kisuke alone? Don''t you need tofort him or something?" Aika knew that she wouldn''t get anything out of her so she decided to switch the topic.


    "He''s not a kid anymore. And even though we already have a different life from before, he''s still the Kisuke that I know. It''s better for him to contemte alone so that he could convince himself."


    "Then what if he decided to chase after Kaichou and ept it?"


    "�� I''ll think about it after that actually happens."


    "Aren''t you afraid that he would toss you aside for some other girls."


    "Of course I''m afraid. This world, after all, has too many beautiful women, and my lover is a big pervert. But more than that fear, I trust and love him."


    Few unconvincing words. But Aika can feel Yoruichi ease and confidence when she said those, ''So this is the woman he fell in love, huh? I still have a long way to go.''


    "�� My break is done. I still have a few moreps for today." With a sigh, Aika stood up and exited the hot spring. Within a minute, she dressed up and started sprinting away.


    Yoruichi stared at her silhouette until she disappeared in the horizon, ''You don''t actually have to try so hard to get his affection��''


    .


    .


    .


    The sun is already setting and Kisuke is walking slowly along the street where his house is located. His walk took a few hours to finish and his head felt a little bit clearer, ''It''s my fault for avoiding it all this time.''


    Sona''s reaction from his words prompted him to think about the things he did, both in his old world and this new world.


    "To think that something like this would be my problem�� That''s unthinkable if I''m still in my old world��


    "I keptparing the two so I got stuck at my old mindset�� What a blunder��


    "This isn''t the old Earth where I have to n a countermeasure to save Soul Society, nor the world where it is my responsibility to participate in the war to save the world.


    "In here�� Someone else could do that�� Yoruichi and I are irregrs�� We could just do what we want�� We''re already free of our responsibilities�� Isn''t that the reason I was able to get together with Yoruichi?


    "My options aren''t limited anymore. I don''t have to confine myself in my old thinking. To think that I have to see something like that for me to think of my current lifestyle. How could I forget something basic like that?��


    "Ahh�� because Yoruichi suddenly appeared when I thought I was all alone��"


    Kisuke helplessly chuckled to himself. Because of Yoruichi who is his partner, he unintentionally started nning ahead for unseen enemies and made himself too busy again. Although not as busy as his past life because he can still y around with the ''kids''. Leading him to the current situation.


    "I should apologize to Sona-Kaichou after she calmed down sufficiently�� And Yoruichi, for letting her stay in the dark for too long when she doesn''t need to."


    Kisuke was about to reach his home when he noticed a man in front of the house, "Excuse me~. Do you something from this ce?"


    The man turned around and said, "Ahh�� I''m looking for a man called Kisuke Urahara."


    "Why are you looking for him? And who are you, mister?"


    "Oh�� I''m sorry. I''m a delivery man from XXX Company and we have a letter for him that needed to be handled personally. But the sender didn''t know his exact address so we were asked to look for him in Kuoh Town." The man took out his I.D. and introduces himself.


    "I see. I''m the one you''re looking for. Here''s my I.D. Card." Kisuke took out his own.


    "So you''re the one. The client paid for a pretty hefty sum to look for you and hand this personally." The man took out a small envelope which is the letter he is referring to.


    "Ah, thank you for your hard work." Kisuke took and inspected it. He didn''t notice anything wrong with it aside from he can''t think of anyone who would send him a letter and doesn''t know his address.


    "Please sign here."


    The man left after Kisuke signed.


    "From Cleria Belial? That''s a very familiar name�� Where have I heard it before?"

 Volume 4 140 - Invitation

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 140 - Invitation</h4>


    Kisuke greeted her mother who also just came from shopping with Yoruichi.


    "Make sure you settle things between you and Sona-chan. It''s your fault why this happened." Those are Sakura''s first words when her son greeted her.


    "I will��" Kisuke smiled brightly.


    "Looks like you''re fine now, but Sona-chan is not��" Sakura gave him a reprimanding look.


    "I''ll properly apologize to herter. But I think that chasing after her right now won''t do me any good. I''ll wait for her to calm down for now."


    "�� Well�� That''s fine I guess. But you shouldn''t do that kind of thing in the future. Rejecting someone is alright, but trampling over the innocent maiden''s feelings are forbidden."


    "I know, mom. I understand my fault now."


    "Good. Let''s head inside. I''m going to prepare for dinner. Help me with it." Sakura shoved the bags she''s carrying to Kisuke.


    "Okay~." Kisuke helped her with the groceries and entered the house.


    After their dinner, Kisuke asks Yoruichi, "How''s the three?"


    "Hmm? They''re fine. Koneko is healing faster than predicted. Kuroka is still understandably cautious of both of us and Aika is still trying too hard as ever."


    "Hmm�� Warn herter. Her body could recover easily but not her mental health."


    "I intend to. But let her do what she wants for now. In any case, The basic Zanjutsu that she got from getting her own Zanpakuto should be enough for now."


    "Great. Now that is out of the way�� Mom! I''ll be going somewhere for a week or two. I''m taking Yoruichi with me." Kisuke said to Sakura who is preparing dinner beside him.


    "Hmm? To where?" She didn''t look at his direction and continued what she''s doing.


    "To Greece."


    "��Why?" Sakura finally looked over at his direction with a baffled expression. Yoruichi also has the same expression.


    "A friend invited me over for her child''s birthday," Kisuke recalled the contents of the letter he received earlier and stated her reason.


    "Who is it?" Sakura went back to what she''s doing and asked casually.


    "Well�� I can''t really tell as her identity is a bit special and some people are after her. So the fewer people knew about her the better." Kisuke shook his head in refusal to answer, ''I finally remembered her. She''s the Devil with a Priest lover who was hunted down by their ownrades. She''s already thought of as a dead person. I can''t go attending the birthday party of a 7-year-old daughter of 10 years ''dead'' person.''


    "�� Is that so? Just be careful, alright?" With a sigh, Sakura agreed but didn''t forget to remind him.


    "Got it. Maybe by the time that I return, Sona-Kaichou would have calmed down sufficiently to listen to my apologies." Kisuke chuckled and arranged his n for the future.


    "When are you going?"


    "Tomorrow."


    "That''s a bit sudden. What about school?"


    "I can take care of thatter. I don''t need it anyways. I only attended because that''s the most normal thing to do. And now that you know about me, I couldn''t care less about it anymore."


    "What about the friends you made there?" Sakura understood his reason. Someone who can formte veryplicated magic without the help of a Devil is already beyond the realm of genius. Someone like that would only need to read some textbooks and reference books and they''ll be done with high school. But school isn''t all about just studying, it is also what shapes the students'' personalities and rtionships in their limited time as a youth.


    "�� I''lle once in a while." Kisuke remembered the rowdy trio, Asia and finally, Sona. He would like to y with them again to rx.


    They finished their dinner and retired early to their rooms. Sakura is now alone because Koneko has to stay with her peerage for two reasons. Koneko can''t go out alone without protection from someone in Gremory House or they''ll risk her get kidnap because of her ability. They locked down the information regarding the Rating Game, but there are no absolutes in this world. They had to be careful. The other reason is that Koneko might inflict harm to the Urahara Household by gathering attention to them and someone might think that they are the reason Koneko gained such power. Kisuke, Yoruichi and Sakura agreed as they also don''t want needless trouble if it can be avoided.


    When they reached their room, Kisuke locked the room with his barrier andid down on the bed with Yoruichi sitting on his chest, "So? Who did you receive that letter from?"


    "Cleria Belial�� Remember her?"


    "��Cleria�� Cleria�� Ah! That poor Devil with a Human lover who was almost killed by those around them?"


    "Yep." Kisuke then took out the letter from his inventory and gave it to Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi transforms back to Human andid down beside him using his arm as a pillow. She took the letter and started reading it. Most of the letter''s contents are thanks and a summary of what happened to both of them. They also now have a seven-year-old daughter and very happy with their current lives. They are inviting Kisuke toe for a vacation in Greece and it''s also their daughter''s birthday. They mentioned in the letter that they kept telling the story of what happened a decade ago to their daughter that''s my she got interested in this ''Big Brother Kisuke'' and wants to meet him.


    Yoruichi closed the letter and gave it back to Kisuke for safekeeping, "If this is the normal you, You wouldn''t have epted this invitation? What changed?"


    "Well, I just figure out that since it''s already our second life, we shouldn''t live it like the previous one."


    "Hooh? No more being overly cautious and hiding to the best of your ability?"


    "Yep. I don''t anymore care if more people were to know more about me. We don''t have an enemy that we must take down and silently n for everything. Though I won''t showcase my abilities willy nilly and I also won''t cut corners in some disguises of mine. After all, showing everything we got would only attract unwanted attention to us."


    "Hehehe�� I''m very thankful to Sona for showing you something like that. It woke you up."


    "She won''t be happy with your gratitude though."


    "I don''t care. Anyways, what are you going to do with her, yboy?" Yoruichi sneered at him.


    "�� I honestly don''t know. Her feelings were too heavy for me." He smiled wryly in response.


    Yoruichi looked at his serious face and thought, ''It''s only heavy because you aren''t carrying it properly.''

 Volume 4 141 - Touch Down

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 141 - Touch Down</h4>


    The next day, Kisuke in casual wear and a backpack on his back. There are just a few necessities inside it and most of the space is for Yoruichi. He doesn''t need luggage anyway as he already has all he needs in a separate space, includingrge amounts of portable Gigai that can be useful in many situations.


    "Do you have everything you need?" Even though Sakura already knew the answer to this question, she still wanted to ask him this as his mother.


    "Yep~. We''ll be going now. It''ll probably take a week or two."


    "Take care." Sakura gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.


    "You too, take care. I''ll bring back some souvenirs." Kisuke also returned the hug.


    "All right. My expectations aren''t that high. I wouldn''t even mind if you bring me another daughter-inw." Sakura is of course just joking when she said this.


    "�� I don''t think that''ll happen�� I''m just going to for a short vacation."


    "Hehehe�� Who knows? Your antics are very charming for some girls. You might snag one by just walking through the streets." Sakura is still indeed joking, but remembering the girls around him, she wasn''t so sure anymore, ''I didn''t jinx it�� right?''


    "W-well then mom, I gotta go! Or I might miss my ne." Kisuke didn''t want to agree to her words, but he also couldn''t deny her as it goes against his pride of handsome shopkeeper that charms(annoys) alldies.


    Kisuke took a taxi like a normal person with Yoruichi in her cat form peeking from the bag. Since Yoruichi essentially doesn''t ''exist'' in Human society, she can''t take any flight to anywhere without proper identification. They could easily request the Devils for it but it''ll take some time and Yoruichi didn''t really want to deal with them aside from her acquaintances which is Sona, Tsubaki, and Koneko. Yoruichi, however, can easily bypass the security measures of the airport without much effort so the need to get an I.D. reduces further.


    The Devils in the airport spotted Kisuke and reported it to their higher-ups as he is one of the persons of interest connected to Yoruichi who are they looking for.


    Kisuke noticed them and their actions but ignored it because they didn''t do anything beyond recording information and Kisuke can easily manipte that.


    Kisuke boarded the ne while Yoruichi is brazenly standing on his head, but no one noticed her as she''s being hidden by Kisuke''s invention that is a small scale illusion generating choker equipped on her neck.


    This is actually their first time to board an airne and quite excited about it. Kisuke and Yoruichi just had to explore the whole ne''s every nook and cranny.


    Just this experience is worth their whole trip. The two got tired and rested the rest of the flight and only woke up when theynded on Athens International Airport.


    Kisuke didn''t contact Cleria so she doesn''t know that he would arrive today. Kisuke and Yoruichi wanted to go around by themselves. A date in other words.


    The first thing they did is to go to the money exchanger booth for some local cash that they can spend. After that, they looked through the brochure that they got when at the airport to n their route. Since they aren''t exactly like a normal couple that kept giggling at each other like an idiot, they chose the ces where they could experience things that they can''t do normally.


    It''s about 6:30 in the morning and the first thing they decided to do is fishing. Both of them haven''t experienced it and wanted to do it now that have a chance.


    They didn''t want to waste time by going through the fishing tours and since Kisuke already have all they needed in his inventory including diving and fishing equipment, they only had to choose the ce to fish. And they chose to go to the Port City of Athens, Piraeus.


    Until now, Kisuke is still being tracked by the Devils but they haven''t realized Yoruichi''s existence. Entering a random street after exiting the airport, Kisuke took out a gigai he can control remotely when his trackers weren''t looking and left the scene using sh Step. He intended for the gigai to stay in a random hotel for the whole duration of their trip.


    Now that the eyes that were following him were out of the way, Kisuke changes his outfit to blend in with the locals. He also used illusion magic to dye his hair ck and finally took out a small candy. This candy is another one of Kisuke''s creations that can temporarily change the takers'' magical signature to avoid pinpoint detections. Itsts about 3 hours each take and you can eat the next one before the effect disappears for another 3 hours of the magical signature change. There are, of course, limitations. First is, you can''t take it 10 times a row and have to rest for 3 hours or else the Mana inside the body will start to wreak havoc due to constant change. And second, the use of magic within a certain threshold will render this candy ineffective. However, even with limitations like those, it''s certainly is useful for situations like these.


    Kisuke can actually change his own magical signature without the candy''s help, but he would have to dedicate a certain amount of focus on it, taking away some of his enjoyment in this trip.


    Using sh Step and covering his tracks, Kisuke only took a few minutes to reach Piraeus from the vicinity of the airport. Although he moving too fast for humans are most of the supernatural beings, he still didn''t forget to appreciate the metropolis of Athens with Yoruichi peeking from his backpack.


    Athens is the capital andrgest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world''s oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence started somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennium BC.


    The heritage of the ssical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a keyndmark of early Western civilization. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of Ottoman monuments.


    Finding another secluded alley and setting up a concealing barrier, Kisuke prompted Yoruichi toe out from his bag.


    Yoruichi transformed back to her human form, "Finally! Where do we go!? Let''s go!"


    "For starters, put on some clothes." Kisuke took out a set of clothes for Yoruichi.


    "Oh�� Thanks." Yoruichi happily put a show in front of him. Kisuke wanted to ''attack'' her but figure that he could do thatter and much more.


    Yoruichi could have conjured clothes for herself but the clothes Kisuke handed to her is another one of his creations. Its effects are simple, it can change both of her Reiatsu-Ki and magical signatures. Since she''s technically a wanted woman, Kisuke put more focus on her concealment. But due to a small time frame, he could only create one set of this clothing, so Kisuke put as many extra features in it as possible.


    The first extra is the ability to change its appearance. There are multiple presets that Yoruichi can choose from and some of the designs are cosy which is Kisuke''s interest. Another extra is the ability to clean itself automatically. Other extra features are just some small convenient things like temperature control and automatic repair.


    After putting it on, Yoruichi jumped to Kisuke like a little girl and grabbed his left arm, "So? Where do we go?"


    Kisuke smiled and pinched her nose yfully, "We book a hotel first."


    "We aren''t going to Cleria''s ce today, bad boy?" Yoruichi replied with a yful smile.


    "What? You don''t want to stay a night first with just the two of us?"


    "Who said that? Let''s go!"

 Volume 4 142 - Date

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 142 - Date</h4>


    Piraeus is a port city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area, 12 kilometers (7 miles) southwest from its city center, and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf.


    The city provides a wide variety of entertainment. Piraeus is famous for its tavernas and restaurants, renowned for its cuisine. Most are spread along the coasts of Mikrolimano and Piraiki, specializing in seafood and attracting many visitors, including tourists. The nightlife of the city is vibrant, with numerous bars and nightclubs. Plenty of major shopping areas can be found on the central avenues of Piraeus, Iroon Polytechneiou and Grigoriou Labraki.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi move fast. After booking a room in a nice hotel, they immediately went to the fishing spot they decided, 30 kilometers off the coast of Piraeus. In the middle of nowhere, Kisuke took out a boat for both of them and they suddenly started a contest of whoever can catch most fish. They did this contest while restraining themselves to a normal human with above average Mana''s level but somehow they still manage to get the attention of some beings.


    Kisuke tried to track where are these stares areing from but failed, mainly because he isn''t using his Reiatsu-Ki nor Mana, "They''re under the sea�� Some intelligent sea monsters? Yoruichi and I don''t feel any hostilities��" Hence they ignored it and continued their fun.


    They caught many fishes but released most of them and cooked what remains for their lunch. They returned to the coastal area through the use of some simple magic to move the boat. They waited for the stares to disappear and Kisuke took back the boat. They used sh Step to escape the area and reappeared back to the city proper.


    The next thing they did y at the amusement park named ''Allou! Fun Park''. Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t care about ''extreme'' rides and focused more on the small game booths like ''shooting game'' where they continued their contest. They yed for 4 hours in the amusement park before moving on to another location.


    It''s still a bit early, but they went to a restaurant called Ithaki. An outdoor restaurant with a magnificent sea view. Great atmosphere, ssy, elegant and romantic. It''s a very pricey ce but they don''t care about money anyways and ordered pasta and seafood. The restaurant''s service is great and they enjoyed their quiet time while sipping on a ss of fine wine.


    They left after an hour and decided to move on to their next location because they didn''t want to waste a rare day like this. Their next destination is the outdoor movie night at Niarchos Cultural Center. One of the most popr events in Athens is the summer outdoor movie nights.


    When they arrived, the venue was already full of people but they still manage to find a spot andid down a nket to sit on it. The movie nights are ideal for those looking for an excuse to cuddle in front of a good movie without having to stay in, so they did. While feeling each others'' warmth, they ate the snacks that Kisuke prepared.


    Their day didn''t end on the movie not, however, as they move to another location. The time is already 10:00 in the evening and today is Monday. Following the instructions on the guide they have, they arrived pedestrian street at the end of Ermou. There they found couples dancing the tango. This is the Milonga Dromou, a weekly rendezvous for tango lovers in Athens and the atmosphere is very rxed and free. Kisuke and Yoruichi watched for a few minutes before joining in the fun.


    "Thanks for today, Kisuke," Yoruichi whispered to her lover as they dance to the tune.


    "No need for any thanks�� Yoruichi, I''m sorry." Kisuke chuckled before returning to his serious countenance.


    "Hmm? What for? Did you finally eat one of those girls? Who is it? Why haven''t I notice?" Yoruichi then proceeds to bite his right ear.


    "Ow! No not that! And why do you sound like you''re already expecting that to happen?" Kisuke separated his head from Yoruichi.


    "Hooh�� Are you saying that there are no chances of that happening at all?" Yoruichi gave him a doubtful look.


    "O-of course! Anyways-" Kisuke remembered his thoughts of ''eating'' Aika up and stuttered or a bit, ''Sh*t'' and tried to change the topic.


    "Hmmph!" Yoruichi, of course, noticed his slight hesitation and stepped on his foot.


    Yoruichi used a bit of her Reiatsu-Ki to prate his defenses but he didn''t welp even a little bit as he noticed that she isn''t really angry, ''What the hell?'' Shaking his head, he changes the topic, "Ehem�� What I want to say is sorry for letting you do all the things I ask you. You could have a rtively normal life as a human if I didn''t instruct you to hide your existence so that we would have a hidden ace against are ''enemies''."


    "Heh�� Right, you should be sorry."


    Kisuke sighed and wanted to say more but Yoruichi blocked his lips with her finger, "But since you''ve apanied me throughout most of my second life, I don''t really care about living a normal life. So I forgive you."


    "Yoruichi��" Kisuke''s eyes widened at her words.


    "What? Falling me yet again?" Yoruichi holds onto his face and smiled seductively.


    "Yes~," With a bright smile, Kisuke affirmed her words without any hesitation.


    "Haha, you should be. Competition is getting fierce around you. I can''t give anyone the lead."


    "Ahaha�� haha.haha." Kisuke could onlyugh wryly. But after a few seconds, he gave her a soft kiss to her lips.


    "That isn''t enough~." Yoruichi then tightened her hold onto his head and gave him a hot kiss.


    The people in their surrounding cheered for them for their disy of affection. And like an infection, their action spread to other couples. The impromptu tango dance turned into dozens of couples kissing each other.


    The two ran away when the ce started to gather attention due to the weird atmosphere and they slowly walk their way towards the hotel appreciating the ambient air of the streets.


    Kisuke is getting impatient as the fire in his heart kept rising so they took a shortcut through the dark alleyway to reach their hotel earlier.


    But just as they entered, A running figure bumped into Kisukeunching her back. Kisuke''s detection is only focused on beings with a certain amount of Mana or Ki so all normal human beings were out of his and Yoruichi''s radar.


    Although they could instantly detect it if someone even a normal person puts attention to them. Kisuke didn''t notice the ck figure running through the dark alleyway and bumped into him. He reached out his hand and said in perfect English, "I''m sorry. I didn''t notice you. Are you alright?"


    Taking a close look, the figure is a tall woman with only has a tattered ck cloak that covers most of her body. He can see a bit of her purple hair spilling out of the hood which is strangely glossy for her overall appearance. Her eyes were blindfolded with a white dirty cloth but she acts like she can see those around her because when Kisuke reached out his hand towards her, she reeled back and bared her teeth towards him. He can tell that she''s wounded but not a cause for concern. And although she''s aggressive, fear is very apparent from her demeanor.


    She ignored Kisuke''s hand and stood up with some difficulty on her own. She then ran away exiting the dark alleyway.


    Kisuke chased her with her gaze which prompted Yoruichi to ask, "What''s wrong? Something about her?"


    "Well, she''s obviously in trouble but more than that�� When I looked at her�� I feel disgusted��"


    "Hmmm?" Yoruichi tried to look at the woman again but she already disappeared around the corner, "You aren''t going to help?"


    "Nope�� But maybe yes if we ever meet again. I want to know why I feel this way." Kisuke became interested in her as he would never feel disgusted towards other''s outward appearances. But although he''s interested in her, he wouldn''t exchange his time with Yoruichi with just mere curiosity.

 Volume 4 143 - Yaegaki Family

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 143 - Yaegaki Family</h4>


    The next morning, they went to another restaurant for breakfast before going to the port to take a Hydrofoil ferry to Aegina Ind. And they arrive after 40 minutes of travel.


    Aegina is one of the Saronic Inds of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, 27 kilometers (17 miles) from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the ind and became its king. During ancient times Aegina was a rival of Athens, the great sea power of the era.


    Aegina is one of the Saronic Inds of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, 27 kilometers (17 miles) from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the ind and became its king. During ancient times Aegina was a rival of Athens, the great sea power of the era.


    Aegina is roughly triangr in shape, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) from east to west and 10 km (6.2 mi) from north to south, with an area of 87.41 km2 (33.75 sq mi).


    An extinct volcano constitutes two-thirds of Aegina. The northern and western sides consist of stony but fertile ins, which are well cultivated and produce luxuriant crops of grain, with some cotton, vines, almonds, olives, and figs, but the most characteristic crop of Aegina today is pistachio. Economically, the sponge fisheries are of notable importance. The southern volcanic part of the ind is rugged and mountainous, andrgely barren. Its highest rise is the conical Mount Oros in the south, and the Panhellenic ridge stretches northward with narrow fertile valleys on either side.


    The beaches are also a popr tourist attraction. Hydrofoil ferries from Piraeus take only forty minutes to reach Aegina; the regr ferry takes about an hour, with ticket prices for adults within the 4-15 euro range. There are regr bus services from Aegina town to destinations throughout the ind such as Agia Marina. Portes is a fishing vige on the east coast.


    "Anything else you want to do first?" Kisuke asked Yoruichi after disembarked from the vessel.


    "Nah. Let''s go greet this Cleria Belial first. She''s going to show us around anyways."


    Kisuke took a look at the letter again to confirm Cleria''s address and since they still got plenty of time, they choose to walk their way there. Along the way, they tried various snacks that can be found on the small stalls.


    After a few hours of walking and enjoying the scenery which they don''t see often, they reached a modest one-story house on the outskirts of the Aegina Town which has some distances from other houses.


    With a knock on the double doors, the voice of a woman answered in Greek, "����??"


    A homely woman with long grey hair tied in a ponytail and grey eyes opened and peek from the door and saw a man with ck hair and a woman with dark skin, ''Eastern descents? Someone who got separated from their tour group?'' "What can I do for you?" Cleria then asked in English.


    "Yo~! It''s been a while~!" The man with ck hair said in Japanese with arge grin.


    Cleria furrowed her brows as she stares at the man, ''What is this guy talking about? Did he mistake me for��'' But as she stares more at his grinning face, Cleria was suddenly reminded of the unusual child that saved both of her and Masaomi from the brink of death a decade ago. Although he has a different hair color from that day, she couldn''t forget that grin of him, "�� You�� You came!?" She shouted in surprise voice which alerted the other people in the house.


    "I came to y~!" With a chuckle, Kisuke confirmed his identity.


    "Mama, Who''s on the door?" A voice of a man came from the inside of the house.


    "Honey! Come here and see who came!"


    "Hmm? What''s up? It''s my turn in our Monopoly game now. I at least wanted to be richer than ire!" A man with a ck crew-cut hair peek on the door and saw Kisuke and Yoruichi, "Hmm? Just take that street and you''ll reach the main street after 20 minutes of walking. You can ask people on the way for further directions."


    After the man said that, he earned a knock on the head from Cleria, "They aren''t tourists! No�� Maybe they are but do you not remember him!?"


    Kisuke''s grin still hasn''t disappeared and the man, Masaomi Yaegaki finally remembers his face despite being a babyface ten years ago, "K-Kisuke Urahara!?"


    "The one and only~."


    "Ah�� Forgive us! We didn''t that you''reing today. We thought for sure that you''ll onlye three dayster for my daughter''s birthday. Pleasee in." Masaomi opened the door wide and invited them in.


    "Thank you for having us," Yoruichi said in a bright smile.


    "Uhmm, I''m Cleria Yaegaki and this is my husband Masaomi Yaegaki." Cleria introduces herself and her husband to the unfamiliar woman who''s with Kisuke.


    "Yoruichi, just Yoruichi. I''m Kisuke''s wife~." Yoruichi took Cleria''s hand and introduced herself.


    "His wife? Great! Kisuke-kun, you manage to get yourself a beauty!" Masaomi patted Kisuke''s back and congratted him.


    "I''m handsome and charming. Isn''t this an obvious result?" Kisuke proudly proimed.


    "Too charming that others are gunning for him even with me around." Yoruichi gave him a sneer.


    "Ahahaha! Isn''t that great!? You got a husband that is so good that others just wanted to take a bite!"


    "Ehehe��"


    Hearing theughs from the living room, a small girl came out from the bedroom and said, "Mama, Papa!" She then hurriedly hid behind her father and took a peek at the guests. The little girl inherited her mother''s hair and eye color while her face is a bit more of an eastern descent she inherited from her father, "Who are they?"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi already knew about the little girl as she''s the reason they are here in the first ce. Her name is Cleria and she''ll seven years old in three days.


    Kisuke put on a ''big brother'' image and he crouched down to meet her eyes, "Nice to meet you. I''m Kisuke Urahara. I heard that your parents keep telling you stories about me." He spoke in crooked but understandable Greek.


    "Big brother Kisuke?" Cleria asks she stares at Kisuke.


    "Yep~."


    Cleria first looked up to her father and mother for their confirmation. As they nodded, she smiled brightly and jumped out from Masaomi''s back and arrive in front of Kisuke, "Yaay! Big brother Kisuke! Let''s y!"


    Kisuke picked her up and said, "Sure! What do you want to y?"


    "Monopoly!"


    "Why that?"


    "Because Papa can''t beat me!"


    "Pfft-." Yoruichi tried to stop herself fromughing but failed, "Ahahaha!"


    "By the way, When did you learn Greek?" Yoruichi changes the topic and asks something she''s curious about all this time.


    "The moment I received their letter. I thought it would be convenient."


    "Seriously? You just received that letter 2 days ago."


    "What!? You learned anguage within just 2 days?" Cleria and Masaomi eximed.


    "Well�� I have to understand what your daughter is saying at least."


    "Haah�� What the hell is your head made out of? Anyways, you could just speak Japanese to her just fine. She''s a half-Devil after all and she has ''Language'' skill."


    "�� I forgot about that�� And that''s a lot more convenient than learning anguage. I should start replicating that skill."


    Cleria''s mouth twitches when she heard him mutter something unbelievable, "That''s a Devil''s innate skill you know��"


    Kisuke smiled brightly and replied, "If it''s happening, then it''s possible. I just have to find out how it works."

 Volume 4 144 - Lonely Kid

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 144 - Lonely Kid</h4>


    Kisuke yed with ire for the whole day until she copsed from exhaustion. As Cleria sets her on her bed gently, ire has a satisfied smile as she sleeps. After smiling gently and kissing her on her forehead, "Goodnight sweety." Cleria left her and went to the dining area where the other three are.


    Masaomi waited for Cleria to sit down beside him and bowed his head towards Kisuke, "Once again, Thank you for saving our lives. Without you, Cleria and I would have separated forever and we would never have ire on our side. She''s the pir of our current lives."


    Kisuke drank the coffee they served for him, "You don''t have to mention it. I already got my thanks from you years ago and it helped me and Yoruichi in a lot of things. And that''s enough for the work I did back then."


    "Even then, thank you. If there is something else that you need and if Cleria and I can provide it, we''ll give it to you."


    "Drop the formalities, old man. Where just here for a vacation. If you can provide a room for us to stay in then we would be happy."


    "We already cleaned an extra room for you. Although we didn''t think that you would bring someone else with you, the bed should be enough for two people."


    "My thanks."


    "I also want to thank you for ying with ire all day."


    "What? You didn''t have to give your gratitude for something like that. I also enjoyed myself so much so that I want a daughter for myself now." As Kisuke said this, he looked at Yoruichi with arge grin. Yoruichi in response just rolled her eyes and looked away but the three of them can see a minute blush on her face.


    Cleria ignored their tant flirting and continued speaking, "It''s a big favor for me as ire doesn''t have very many friends of her age. Most of the schools around here are Catholic Schools and she can''t attend those as they are under the influence of Heaven. Even the remaining non-Catholic Schools are under someone''s influence and it can''t ire attend those schools and is currently being home-schooled by me. I chose this ce because Devils doesn''t have any influence here but that decision backfired on us." Cleria sighed as she remembers the envious look of her daughter when she saw kids of her age going home from school. Cleria and Masaomi can''t risk their daughter''s safety and it''s a good thing that she''s very obedient and very understanding for a kid but it also pained both of them. Cleria and Masaomi could only spend as much time as possible with her to ease her loneliness. This is also the reason why ire longs for the ''big brother Kisuke'' in their stories.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t speak after that as even though they aren''t entirely good people and knew that some other children have it way worse, they still felt pity for the child of their friend longing for ymates, ''Even someone like me wants to help the kid after hearing something like that. I can bring her with me back to Japan but she''ll end up separated from her parents which is worse��''


    Cleria and Masaomi guessed what Kisuke is thinking seeing him rubbed his chin and stare at the distance, "You don''t have to do anything else as I only wanted to exin to you my we are very grateful for being her ymate. And if it isn''t much, please y with her for as long as you stay here."


    "That''s a given. Tomorrow will go out and y." Kisuke smiled and set aside this problem for now.


    "Is that so? Would you like us toe with you or would it be just the three of you to explore the ind?" Masaomi chuckled in delight and ask for their n.


    "Hmm�� I guess we would like to explore the ind on our own pace so it''ll be just the three of us."


    "Then I''ll write down some ces that are good to visit." Cleria smiled happily and pulled out a pen and a paper asking Masaomi for his inputs.


    "Are you fine leaving your daughter to me?" Kisuke is a bit perplexed at their reaction, ''Aren''t they trusting me too much?''


    "It''s alright. We took your advice and trained ourselves and we''re very confident that we''re the strongest on the ind. But even then, I can only see you as a normal human which shouldn''t be possible unless you''re a lot stronger than us." Cleria released her demonic power and contained it within the house. She tried to pressure Kisuke with it but failed to even get a bit of reaction from him and Yoruichi.


    "It''s also possible that I''m not as strong as you think and only skilled in hiding." Kisuke just chuckled at her actions.


    "Someone like you who can y with a Super Devil?"


    "Seriously? That guy is really a Super Devil? I only got lucky."


    "Hahaha. Either way, we trust you. We''re already intruding in your good time with your wife by letting our daughter apany you. And besides, we didn''t stay here for nothing as we already have ''eyes'' all over the ind so if something happens, we would immediately rush towards you." Cleria pushed her point as she continues to write good ces for them to visit tomorrow.


    "Then it''s decided. And I would like ces with good food."


    "Alright, noted. And you also need to know the power factions here."


    "I''m listening."


    "Most of the people here including those in Athens are Catholics so you can imagine the amount of influence Heaven has here."


    "Figures�� There are too many churches here, both old and new. And each one of them has some supernatural beings guarding it."


    "Right. They are strong, but the most dominant force here in Greece is not them, but the descendants of the Greek Heroes who fought alongside the Olympian Gods."


    "Hmm�� Interesting. Tell me more."


    "I don''t really know about others but most dominant force here in Athens is the Perseus n, the descendants of Perseus himself."


    ''I''ve also heard the myth about Zeus'' son, Perseus in my old world, but I didn''t think that those myths would be reality here�� Well, I guess with the existence of Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, I shouldn''t be surprised.'' Kisuke thought and he also wanted to confirm the myth from his old world so he asked Cleria, "Perseus, as in the guy who killed Medusa?"


    "Yes. It already happened long ago, but the records of these events are still on my family''s archive. And otherrge ns should also have a copy of it." Cleria confirmed his thoughts.

 Volume 4 145 - Perseus Clan

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 145 - Perseus n</h4>


    "The Perseus n is divided into four parts. Each one of these parts signifies one of the four divine armaments that Perseus received from Athena and Hermes when he started his quest to y the Gorgon, Medusa.


    "These four armaments are the Harpe which said to have an ability to cut down immortals, the Bronze Mirror Shield, acting as a sort of detector that possesses sonar and radar functionality, it reflects the surroundings onto itself, showing theyout of an area and the heartbeats of any life present in the location, the Winged Boots that gave the user unimaginable speed and flight, and the Cap of Darkness which hides the existence of the user." Cleria took out another piece of paper to illustrate what she is saying.


    "Cap of Darkness?" Thest item immediately caught Kisuke and Yoruichi''s attention as they might have encountered it.


    "Yes. It''s a replica of Hades'' Helmet of Invisibility, and the only known replica of it." Cleria exined as she thought that they are just curious about it.


    "Is that so? Please continue your story." Kisuke smiled and urges her to continue while concealing his frown, ''The only replica, huh? That''s bullsh*t. I saw at least two goons wearing it. Is it a hidden fact that only Olympians should know? Or is it just Hades trying to hide its existence. The second possibility sounds like trouble and this Hades guy might have already focused one of his eyes in Kuoh Town. I should know more about him.''


    "Moving on, the Perseus n elects one Main n from the four Minor ns and it only happens once every three generations. The current Main n is the one representing the Bronze Mirror Shield As for how they elect one, it''s unknown to outsiders."


    "You should have some clues, right?"


    "��Indeed. Especially when it''s this generation that they have to elect a new Main n. But what I''m hearing isn''t anything good."


    "Let''s hear it."


    "It''s not confirmed, but it seems that the current generation of that n is currently hunting some kind of monster. But ording to some reports I''ve received, they''re chasing after a human."


    Kisuke was suddenly reminded of the blinded folded woman who he came across yesterday, "Any description about this human?"


    "None�� The one being chased is always cloaked. I didn''t try to look after this human as I might catch the Perseus n''s attention." Cleria shook her head.


    "You''re afraid of them?"


    "No, I can easily defeat the current n head as long as he doesn''t use the Shield."


    "He has the shield?" Kisuke''s eyes opened slightly in surprise and got an urge to examine it, ''If it''s the same from the myths, then I want to know how it reflects magical attacks.''


    "Yes. One of the benefits of bing the Main n is that Athena or Hermes would grant them the treasure they are representing for three generations."


    "I see�� So you''re not afraid of the Perseus n but the Gods behind them�� Are they really that strong?"


    "Yes. ording to the records, Hermes is on par with a very strong Ultimate ss Devil and Athena could even rival her father Zeus who is the strongest Olympian God terms of battle prowess, which should be as strong if not weaker than Super ss Devils."


    "So these Olympian Gods are very strong so how are they pushed aside by Heaven?"


    "They don''t really care about gathering beliefs as Heaven does. Heaven didn''t do anything directly to gather beliefs so the Olympians didn''t have any reason to take it out on them as it is Humans who is spreading the word of God."


    "That shouldn''t be the only reason as it is too weak."


    "You''re right. Another reason is that they''re not the only Mythological Faction that exists. Asgard and Tagamahara are watching the Olympus closely as they are known for doing something really stupid for their desires."


    "Hahaha�� So it''s true that Zeus is the true source of all the problems that the Olympians face today?" Kisukeughed as he remembers the things that Zeus did.


    "Yes! You''re damn right! If he was able to keep his genitals in his pants, other races and mythologies wouldn''t have so much problem against the Olympians!" Cleria clenched her teeth as she hates these kinds of men the most which gave shivers to Masaomi who is beside her, ''I''m not that kind of person�� I''m not that kind of person��'' Masaomi started chanting in his mind.


    "They''re that bad?" Kisuke is perplexed at her reaction, ''They are on top of the world. They aren''t that stupid, right?''


    "If other mythologies describe them as ''more Human than Humans'', what do you think?" Cleria sneered, but she directed it to the said Olympian Gods.


    "That''s pretty bad��" Kisuke''s mouth twitches when she heard her, ''There is no worse description that you can give some Gods as more human than Humans.''


    "Indeed�� Even Devils at least tries to pretend that they''re elegant and noble. But these guys would im a human if she or he like their appearance. Some are even jealous of a mortals appearance and would curse them just because of it."


    "So like this Athena?"


    "Hmm? I''m surprised you know that version. The Olympians tried their best to hide that incident from the public. The only known records of what really happened are on the forbidden archive ofrge ns as this information might incur the wrath of the Goddess if it spreads."


    "I just identally stumbled upon it." In Kisuke''s mind, however, ''It''s the mostmon version in my old world. She got jealous of Medusa''s beauty and cursed her when she found a chance.''


    "We''ve trailed off quite a bit. Going back to the topic, the Perseus n''s younger generation wouldpete with each other to be the Main n Head. And whoever is sessful would receive the divine armament that they represent and the power to control the whole n.


    "In some ounts, if a God or Goddess took a liking to the sessful n Head, they can be taken in as their lover and would get some of his or her divinity.


    "The effect of divinity for Humans are enormous as they can grant superhuman strength, increased affinity to magic and most importantly lifespan of up to 300 years."


    "What the possibility of that being true?"


    "Around 80%, I guess�� Divinity is a mysterious type of energy after all."


    "Hmm�� Anything else you know?"


    "That''s all�� Ah, I just remembered. It seems that some of my ''eyes'' saw that one of the younger generations of Perseus n from the House of Harpe was seen chasing after a cloaked figure."


    Kisuke was reminded yet again of the blindfolded woman that she saw, "What if I get involved in all of this?"


    "�� Why would you do that?"


    "I have my reasons." Kisuke smiled and thought, ''I''m interested in the woman and why would she disgust me. And I need to gather more information on this Olympian Gods, especially on Hades�� I think we''ll sh sooner orter. He''s different from Devils that don''t know my existence. I have to arrange my cards against him just in case.''


    Cleria furrowed her brows as she can feel Kisuke confidence from his smile so she asks, "How confident are you to go against the Gods and Goddesses?"


    "Hmmm�� Let''s see�� If it''s just spanking a naughty Goddess'' ass, then I can manage."

 Volume 4 146 - Proposition

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 146 - Proposition</h4>


    "��Pardon?" Cleria and Masaomi thought that they are mishearing things.


    "You heard him right. He really likes asses. Mature women''s asses." Yoruichi who''s been quietly sipping on her coffee all this time spoke.


    "Hey now�� Don''t reveal my fetishes. It''s embarrassing." Kisuke scratched his head with a bashful smile.


    "No. You just revealed it yourself. And you''re not even trying to hide since back then. Try harder next time." Yoruichi pinched his cheek as she reprimands him.


    "Nononono�� That''s not the problem! Are you saying that you can easily deal with a Goddess!? And Athena at that!?" Cleria wanted to p down on the table but she remembered that ire is already sleeping and stopped herself just before her hands hit the table. She knew that he can easily escape from a Super Devil who isn''t serious, but she''s questioning whether he''s strong enough to y with someone who is as strong as the highest ss Devil, ''He''s indeed a genius, but is a decade enough to surmount that kind of gap in power level?''


    Kisuke looked up and think for a moment before saying, "Maybe if I try my best?"


    "Now you aren''t sure!?" Cleria and Masaomi didn''t what to think anymore.


    "Isn''t it just spanking her? I could do that if I really want to." Kisuke then gave them a perplexed look.


    "Honey�� Help me�� I don''t understand him��" Cleria looked to her side and thought, ''Am I the weird one here?''


    "If you''re going to ask me, who should I ask?" Masaomi shook his head not wanting to join in.


    "Don''t listen to his nonsense. He''s just messing with your heads." Yoruichi reached out her arm again to pinch Kisuke''s cheek.


    "I''m n-"


    "Shut it."


    "Yes, ma''am!" With a re from Yoruichi, he stopped talking, ''Is it really that hard to believe? Hmmph, watch me do that if I have a chance.''


    Yoruichi sighed as she can''t really change his hobby of bragging of things he can do that others normally can''t. Although, that''s also one characteristic of him that she loves, ''It''ll only get worse from now on now that he won''t hide his abilities anymore��''


    "Ehem�� Moving on�� I''m not really against you getting involved with them but��"


    "You''re worried about your safety?"


    "Yes��"


    Kisuke stayed quiet and started calcting the pros and cons of letting Cleria and her family back to Japan, ''The real reason she''s being chased around is not the fact she''s together with an exorcist, but the fact that she knew about the existence of the King piece that the old-timers in the Underworld use to control the results and rankings of the Rating Game. It also seems that the Governor of the Fallen Angels is pushing for peace between the threergest factions ording to Kuroka, so sooner orter they can''t use the fact that they together to bring them harm to them. And most importantly, the kid needs to go to a normal school��''


    "��Do you want to go back to Japan? Specifically, back to Kuoh Town." Kisuke figured that he could just disguise them and let them leave near their house. He also thought that Cleria and his mother, Sakura would get along pretty well if he introduces them to each other, ''If they''re discovered, I can just use the data in Koneko-chan''s hairpin to ckmail some of the old-timers. It''s impossible for the small branch family of the Naberius House to conduct such experiments on their own after all. A few old fogies should have supported that project secretly and researching ''weapons of mass destruction'' won''t do any good for the current Underworld as they can''t afford another civil war breaking out.''


    "��What?" Both Cleria and Masaomi could only stare at Kisuke nkly.


    "You heard me. So? What will it be?"


    "�� But we''re still wanted. Even if we can hide, it won''t be for too long as Kuoh Town is a Devil''s territory." Cleria and Masaomi are both happy because their daughter could live a better life there. If it''s just their daughter, then they can just grit their teeth and let her go so that she can experience things that any normal child could. But Kisuke is talking about bringing all of them.


    "I can disguise both of you."


    "Appearance is easy to disguise but my Demon Power and Masaomi''s Holy Power are hard to hide."


    Kisuke didn''t speak and just tapped Yoruichi''s shoulder. After a few seconds, Cleria and Masaomi''s eyes widened in shock, "H-how!?"


    What Kisuke did is deactivate the concealing effect of Yoruichi''s dress temporarily and with another tap from him, Yoruichi''s aura and energy signatures changed, "Give a day or two and I can make apact version like a bracelet with simr effects."


    "�� H-How?�� Haahh�� Nevermind�� It''s your technology and I can''t pry on that." Cleria let out a big sigh while holding her forehead. They only met twice but both times put a toll on Cleria''s and Masaomi''smon sense.


    After nursing her headache, Cleria looked at Masaomi and held his hand under the table. Masaomi also did the same and tightened his hold on her hand. They nodded at each other and turn their faces back to Kisuke who is waiting for their answer. But instead of answering him, Cleria asked, "Why are you doing this? Please don''t take it the wrong way. We are very grateful for your offer and easing our worries, but what do you get from all of this?"


    "Just a few things actually. But the biggest reason is Yoruichi and I just like the kid. As simple as that." Although what he said is the truth, letting her meet his mother is one of his goals as she''s from Belial House and he might get some answers from this meeting and he heard from Kuroka that the Belial House is most famous for their affection for their family members. He wanted to confirm that and maybe pull the Belial House to his side.


    "That''s��" Cleria wanted to say something else but stopped herself and shook her head. She then stood up along with Masaomi and the two simultaneously said, "Thank you very much. We will never forget this kindness." while bowing.


    "Don''t thank me. As I said, I have other reasons but I won''t tell them to you. It might be a bad thing for you, you know." Kisuke gave them arge grin.


    "But we trust you�� Almost blindly. So it''s up to you to break it." Cleria answered with a smile while Masaomi justughed loudly which earned him another knock on the head from Cleria, "ire will wake up!"


    "I better take care of that trust then. So here is the thing, if I get involved, use this teleportation circle to escape back to Japan. Don''t use it until you have my toys though." Kisuke passed them a bond paper with aplicated magic circle drawn on it.


    "Why is this overlyplicated?"


    "To keep away trackers."

 Volume 4 147 - *Title at the end*

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 147 - *Title at the end*</h4>


    After polishing their ns for the next few days, they all retired to their beds. Yoruichi transformed back to her cat form and exited the house through the window. She can''t keep calm without surveying her surroundings first so she left Kisuke in the room who started working on disguise equipment for the family of three.


    Yoruichi ran ap throughout the whole ind to see some interesting things, though she didn''t approach the temples of the Olympians due to it emitting some detection spell. The only other thing she found strange that night is the fluctuation of Mana in the direction of the port of Piraeus.


    .


    .


    .


    "Haa�� Haa�� Haa��" Sitting and wheezing on the corner of a dark alley in the port of Piraeus, the ck figure is looking around to locate her pursuers.


    She''s the same person that stumbled onto Kisuke yesterday night. Still with her ck cloak that blends with the night and a dirty white cloth as a blindfold. Her pursuers have been chasing her for a few months now and she''s already reaching her limit. She contemted if she should just use her powers but doing so will only drag innocent people into her problem. And she already regretting doing so in the past. She didn''t want to lose her humanity the second time.


    "There she is! Surround her!" The voice of the burly man resounded from the top of the building the ck-cloaked person is resting.


    She turned her head in shock as she didn''t detect him approaching, ''What''s happening!?'' A few seconds after that shout, multiple figures appeared around her.


    The figures are both men and women and each one of them is wearing casual civilian clothes but all of them are wearing a in white mask and are holding various weapons ranging from swords to guns, ''When did they!?''


    "Hahaha! We finally cornered you, monster! Don''t let it out of the encirclement. I''ll call Sir Dennis to cut her head off!" The same burly voice resounded.


    "No need for I''m already here. Let''s get this over with. I''ll be busy to take over the work of the n Head after this." A young man in a white suit and a rapier on his waist walked out from the crowd. The young man is about 20 years old. He has short dark red hair and dark red eyes sporting an arrogant smirk on his face as he looks at the cloaked woman.


    "Sir Dennis! It''s the House of Harpe''s turn to control everything! Please don''t forget us, your loyal subordinates! Hahaha!" The burly man wearing civilian clothes and a white mask jumped down from the top of the building to the side of the young man.


    "Of course. After this, we''ll celebrate for three days and you can get whoever woman you fancy in this town."


    "Hahahaha! Thank you, milord!"


    The young man named Dennis, then looked back to the blindfolded cloak woman who is baring her teeth at him, "You must be confused on how we were able to get near you without you detecting us."


    Dennis then slowly swaggered towards her while she took a step back, "Did you think that I''m just pursuing you blindly?�� Well, maybe. But as long as I sessfully trap you inside Pireaus, it''s my win."


    The tattered woman continued to step back until she hits the wall but she never turns her face away from the young man.


    "Still not speaking? How boring�� Aren''t you curious?" Dennis then took out the rapier on his side. But seeing that the ''monster'' is still not begging for its life, he got bored, ''I guess this is what you get by repeatedly dying countless times.''


    With a sh of his hand holding the rapier, Dennis aimed for the woman''s neck. Of course, the woman wouldn''t stand still while others try to behead her, so she ducks down to dodge the rapier and rushed towards her assant.


    "Haah!" With a shout, the woman clenched her fist and sent out a punch towards the arrogant young man. It was blocked by Dennis'' other hand, but even then, he was sent skidding away and leaving to long marks on the ground due to the force behind her punch.


    "Is see that you still have the energy to spare. Looks like the poison didn''t do much on your physical abilities as they did on your senses." Dennis waved his hand that he used to block the punch around to ease the bit of pain, "But you became too weak. Looks like you aren''t eating well. Hahaha. It would really be funny if the legendary Gorgon starved to death. Should I just really confine you, cut off your limbs and wait for your death before cutting your neck? And maybe I can y with you for a few days. After all, you''re very known for your beauty before you were cursed. I would like to have some taste of that! Hahaha!"


    The deviant''sugh sent a shiver to the woman''s spine, ''I don''t want to die! I don''t want to be tormented for another three generations!�� But what I hate the most are men like him! If I''m going to die today, then I have to bring him with me to hell.''


    With a deep breath, she resolved herself to die today. It isn''t her first time anyway. She just hates the time she''s dead. She was tempted to relieve ''Breaker Gorgon'' but decided against it as it might hurt the other people who has nothing to do with this affair. Pooling all the Mana in her body, she strengthened her body to limits and rushed towards Dennis for a second time, but her speed from the previous attack is vastly inferior to her speed now which shocked Dennis and the minions in white masks, "Sir Dennis!" The burly man shouted.


    "Kuhh��" Dennis saw that her fist ising for his face so he hurriedly blocks it with both of his arms, but that was the cloaked woman aiming for. Like a snake, her other hand which formed a knife, aim straight towards his heart much faster than the punch she sent out.


    But just a few inches from his heart, the woman staggered slightly due to her senses going haywire. The woman is physically and mentally at her limits and adding the poison that she unknowingly contracted, she lost consciousness for an instant in a very crucial time, resulting in her to miss his heart just a half of an inch to the left.


    Panicking greatly, Dennis kicked her away, "Damn you!!!"


    The burly man instantly pulled out a sk with transparent red liquid inside it and poured it on Dennis'' wound.


    Although the would still look nasty, it stopped bleeding. Dennis only needs to get some medical attention to return to his previous state.


    After inspecting his almost fatal wound, Dennis red at the woman who''s cloak was blown away which revealed her appearance and is currently struggling to stand up.


    Although her eyes were covered by dirty cloth, and her attire is consists of what you call a rag, it can''t hide her beauty especially her long purple hair which reflects the moonlight.


    Her appearance, however, didn''t ease Dennis rage, "I''ll kill you, you damned monster!"


    With those words, he raised his rapier and dozens of white magic circle appeared around the woman blocking all her routes.


    "Die! Medusa!" With his shout, Dennis brought down his rapier and multiple rapier-like spikes appeared on the magic circleunching itself towards the woman.


    Title: Medusa

 Volume 4 148 - Elder Sisters

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 148 - Elder Sisters</h4>


    As the rapier-like lights neared her, Medusa refocused her mind and dodges the attacks that areing from all directions.


    Medusa sessfully dodges the lights, but not all. Multiple cuts and holes appeared on her body and the only silver lining is that none of were fatal.


    Medusa is already beyond her limits and is struggling to even breath so when Dennis raised his rapier one more time and the number of white magic circles doubled from earlier covering more of the sky.


    Seeing this, Medusa resigned to her fate, ''I guess I have to endure some years of being tortured again��''


    While watching the magic circles with her other senses aside from sight, however, she heard indistinct voices, ''��e��sa��M��sa''


    ''What?'' Medusa tried to find where the voice wasing from. She also trembled slightly as the voice is slightly familiar. She noticed that the time has slowed down and could ''see'' everything around her clearly but she ignored this change as she keeps looking for the indistinct voice. She then thought of something and focused her mind in her inner world and just as she expected, the voice, or rather, the voices grew louder that she could now hear it properly.


    ''��Medusa��'' Two beautiful voices filled with affection and worry called her name.


    Medusa was frozen in her ce and tear silently gushed out from her eyes. She finally remembered whose voices are those. It the sound that she thought would never hear again no matter how many incarnations she''s born into. The voices she promised to protect but failed miserably. The voices that forever disappeared due to her own actions. Along with the extreme joy of hearing those voices again is the self-loathe and regret that threatened to break her.


    She didn''t want to believe it as she thought that this is the same ''nightmare'' she saw when she was beheaded for the first time. But like an addicting poison, she kept seeking it. She''s about to die anyway, so she wanted to hear it more. At least it''llfort her for the next 100 years or so, "Elder sister Stheno�� Elder sister Euryale��"


    ''��Medusa�� There is hope�� to escape�� this cruel fate�� Survive�� Survive until you see the light��'' The voices resounded again which gave Medusa a confusion, ''What''s this? This is a dream�� isn''t?''


    Medusa just wanted to brush it off as wishful thinking. Who is she kidding? Her dearest elder sisters already disappeared and would never appear in front of her again. But then, the next thing that happened gave her the shock of her life. A wave of power she''s very familiar with filled her and it came from her heart, ''This is!? Elder sisters'' powers!? Why!? How!?''


    Stuck at how unbelievable things are happening, Medusa has frozen in ce yet again and her mind is nk as she doesn''t know how to interpret all of this. But she woke up after hearing thest vestiges of her elder sisters voices, ''Please�� Survive�� For your happiness��''


    "Elder sister Stheno!!! Elder sister Euryale!!!" With her shout, the time returned to its normal speed and those around her were dumbfounded at her sudden shout.


    "Huh!? Are you asking for help from your monster sisters, you monster? Hahaha!" Dennis ridiculed her actions.


    "You!!!" For the first time, she truly felt rage. He can insult her or whatever, but Medusa wouldn''t let go of anyone who insulted her dearests sisters.


    Medusa ignored the magic circles directed at her and wanted to rush towards her hateful enemy but there was a change in the situation prompting her to halt her steps.


    From a distance, a finger wide beam of light came and hit Dennis'' forehead. It didn''t go through his head but the force was enough to flip his whole body and dispelling the magic circles around Medusa.


    "That won''t do, my dear cousin. And here we thought that you''re just a dunce for trying to blindly chase this monster. Who would have thought that you''re hiding a poison like that? When did the House of Harpe develop something like that?"


    On the top of the building where the burly man jumped from an effeminate man appeared with the moon on his back. He''s wearing a maroon suit but without necktie and the top two buttons lose showing his chest. His hair which is dark red is a bit longer than Dennis and curly. He''s also holding a dark red whip with a rose motif on its tip which is floating and pointing towards Dennis like it has a mind of its own.


    People with a white mask with violet markings on it also started toe out after him prompting Dennis'' minions to aim their weapons at them.


    Dennis slowly stood up and red at the neer, "��Theodore."


    "You think that we would ignore you just because you tried to act the fool? You''re too naive, cousin. You''re really an idiot, in a way." Theodore chuckled at his expression.


    Dennis gritted his teeth as he knew that the chances of him killing Medusa just became a lot lower now that Theodore is here. He also knew that the other twopetitors woulde sooner orter reducing his chances further.


    Dennis wanted to rush towards Medusa and kill her instantly before they coulde closer. But just as he took his first step, he heard Theodoreughing out loud and stop to look at him, "Did you think that you''re close at killing her?"


    Dennis furrowed his brows and ask, "What do you mean?"


    "You never had a chance�� Because he''s been watching you closely." Theodore pointed to his back and Dennis turned around. His face became sour as he did, "When did youe here?"


    Dennis directed that question towards the man with lean build leaning on the wall while hugging a spear and staring at him, "Before you even step into this ce."


    His deep voice gave Dennis dread, ''What!?''


    The man is also one of the descendants of the Perseus n. He''s wearing casual clothing unlike the two and his shoulder-length hair is also dark red, the trademark of those from Perseus n.


    "Didn''t you say that you''re not interested in the position of the n Head? What are you doing here!?" Dennis knew that his chances are already over with his presence.


    "I''m not. But I also told everyone that I want to go against that monster in her full power. If you kill her now, you''ll be taking away my entertainment." The man said in a deadpan face.


    "See~. You''re just an idiot who thought you already have everything~. You didn''t even realize Petter''s presence." Theodore sneered at Dennis as he ridicules him.


    Dennis ignored him and continued questioning him, "What are you nning to do then!?"


    "Simple�� Capture her, nurse her to her full strength andstly, kill her."


    "��This damned battle maniac��" Dennis and Theodore muttered as their goal is to kill her to get the position of the n Head. Dennis hesitated if he should continue to rush towards Medusa as he didn''t want to face Petter from the House of Invisibility who is known to be the strongest of their current generation. Another reason is that if both him and Petter sh, Theodore will surely use that opening to aim for the kill which he absolutely didn''t want to happen.


    Petter also didn''t want to initiate a move. He could defeat even if both of them goes against him at the same time but that would only give a chance to Medusa to escape. He''s now regretting the fact that he just stands there without doing anything while Theodore isn''t here. He could have captured Medusa long before he came. But his innate curiosity towards battles stopped him from making any move while Dennis and Medusa fight.


    It now became a stalemate between the three with all of them watching each other''s move and keeping Medusa in their vision.


    The heavy and quiet atmosphere was destroyed when thest of the eligiblepetitors arrived�� alone while trying to catch her breath, "Please stop this all at once!"

 Volume 4 149 - Picking up a Beauty

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 149 - Picking up a Beauty</h4>


    "Please stop this all at once!"


    The newester is a petite woman with long dark red hair. She''s wearing a white one-piece dress with a ck jacket over it.


    She came running and stopped in between Medusa and Dennis, "Please stop this! This tradition is inhumane and should be abolished!"


    Theodore sighed, "Here we go again��"


    "Enough with your nonsense, Elexa! That isn''t a human, but a monster that devoured countless lives in the past! So what you are saying isn''t applicable to her!" Dennis'' headache worsen when thest of thepetitors from the House of Shield appeared.


    It''s not that she''s a threat for the seat of n Head as she''s the weakest of them all. She''s so weak that she would lose even to a normal ruffian on the street. It''s just her unending preaching that annoys Dennis the most, "Besides, it doesn''t really matter as she''ll revive again after a hundred years or so. And killing her is mistress Athena''s order. Our n just used that chance to select the next Head."


    "That''s��" Ex wanted to refute him, but she''s afraid of antagonizing Athena as you might never know when she is listening.


    "See? It''s has been like this since our predecessors. Nothing needs to be changed." Dennis didn''t let up and continued speaking.


    "But we can change it now! She doesn''t have to suffer for our benefit!" Elexa though is very stubborn and wouldn''t really change what she believes is right. In other words, after seeing Medusa suffering for countless years, the Hero Complex inside her awakened and wanted to stop this tradition of selecting the n Head even with her weak abilities.


    "Gah!!! Useless! Speaking with her is useless! She''s normally a very intelligent kid but when ites to this matter she''s strangely stupid!" Dennis scratched his head hard due to frustration.


    While they were all doing this, they noticed a movement from Medusa who has been staying quiet all this time.


    .


    .


    .


    Back to when Theodore first appeared, Medusa managed to cool her head and think straight, ''I almost lost control again. In addition to insulting my sisters, the poison also dulled my mind that I rage after hearing it. I should be careful�� My sisters wanted me to survive this life�� I don''t know if they''re still alive but I have to confirm itter�� For now�� survive��'' Gritting her teeth, Medusa controlled the remaining mana inside her body to guide the power her sisters left her. She instinctively knew how to use and prepared it for the best timing she can get.


    ''Next is the escape route�� Going through the city''s street is not as good as they have men everywhere in this ce. The only ce I can go to is�� the sea. But that is Poseidon''s domain�� Well, I guess it''s fine. Ever since my first beheading, I didn''t meet any of them directly or they did anything to hinder me when faced against the Perseus�� In any case, I won''t be able to escape Greece so they are confident that I won''t go anywhere that they can''t reach��'' Remembering her situation again, she felt despair, ''If only I can rest in peace��''


    Medusa calmed her breathing and circted her Mana. After a few minutes, Medusa rejoiced that all of thepetitors for the current generation are here. If she''s sessful in her escape, she didn''t have to worry one of them assaulting her in the dark.


    When they started arguing, Medusa couldn''t care less about what the girl is saying as she already saw many others who did try to stop the tradition but failed. She puts her n into action gathering the attention back to her and that''s just what she wanted.


    With a deep breath, Medusa let out a shrill scream and all the minions and thester, Elexa, lost their consciousness. While the three staggered and lost their bnce dropping to the floor while holding their heads. She just used the power those voices left her.


    "What!?" Unlike the two, Petter is still capable of speech and helplessly stared at Medusa as she jumps and escapes towards the sea, "Dammit!"


    Petter shook his head to ease the pain that the scream gave him and aimed his spear at the escaping Medusa.


    As Medusa jump down to the sea, Petter threw his spear. But due to the lingering effects of the scream, Petter missed his target and only hit Medusa''s leg instead of her chest like he intended to.


    Medusa ignored the burning pain from the spear and swam away. Her destination is nowhere as her only thought is to escape and survive. The poison has dulled her mind to the point that she didn''t even think of what to do after jumping down the sea. And with her tattered body and mind, she lost consciousness in the middle of the ocean after swimming a mile from the coast.


    .


    .


    The next day, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and the small ire went out early to enjoy their day.


    They started walking around the neighborhood and ire pointing at things while happily introducing the ce, like where she would get her candies or y with the other kids.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi are attentively listening but they noticed something peculiar when they saw the other children in the yground give ire a weird look. Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other and urge ire to move to the next ce. They decided to set it aside for now and ask Cleriater for further rification. But Kisuke already resolved himself to bring ire back to Japan.


    After going around the neighborhood, Kisuke put ire on his shoulders to which thetter enjoyed very much and they move to farther distance.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi consulted Cleria''s notes to go around and most of the ces listed in the paper are those with good food and snacks.


    Normally, all this snacking would bloat the little girl before she even had a chance to have her lunch, but Kisuke, with his ingenious use of Reiatsu-Ki, manipted the food inside her body to instantly dissolve and released through breathing and sweat, resulting in her unending appetite.


    They had their lunch in a restaurant with a seaside view. The chefs were dumbfounded at the amount they can eat. They almost ordered every item on the menu.


    In the afternoon, they went sailing and another round for Kisuke''s and Yoruichi''s fishingpetition and this time, ire acts as the judge. There is no clear winner though as ire justughed happily at everything they caught.


    Returning to the shore, the sun is already setting and they decided to walk along the coastline to enjoy the evening breeze.


    The three of them reached a ce where there are no people so they decided to return home as it''s already prettyte. But just as they turn around, Kisuke and Yoruichi halted their steps and looked at each other.


    "What are you going to do?" Yoruichi asked Kisuke.


    "Hmm�� For now�� Keep her alive I guess��" Kisuke answered her and faced ire who''s looking at them in confusion, "ire-chan, stay with Yoruichi-neechan for a minute, okay?"


    "Are you going somewhere?"


    "This Nii-chan will do some good deeds." Kisuke cheekily smiled at her before disappearing from her sight. She already got used to this scene as he already did it in front of her multiple times today, but her hand still reached out for Yoruichi''s hand and held it tightly.


    Yoruichi smiled and patted her head, "It''s alright. He''ll return immediately."


    "Uhm." ire cutely nodded at Yoruichi that she couldn''t help but pinch her cheeks, ''After my body matures in few more years, I should also have a kid��''


    A minute has passed and Kisuke returned�� with an unconscious woman in his arms.


    With a bright smile on his face, Kisuke said, "Let''s go home~."

 Volume 4 150 - Patching up the Beauty

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 150 - Patching up the Beauty</h4>


    Erasing their tracks, Kisuke and Yoruichi used sh Step to go home. Kisuke is still carrying the tattered unconscious beauty while Yoruichi is hugging ire as she looks around curiously at the everchanging scenery. Yoruichi is using her Reiatsu-Ki to elerate ire''s body to adapt her to the speed they''re traveling.


    Unlike the soul body that can take the stress of traveling at the speed of sound rtively easy, the physical body works on different rules. This is why Kisuke and Yoruichi have to train their physical body, not only to match their overly powerful soul, but also to take the stress of their techniques put on them.


    They reached the Yaegaki Household within just a few seconds and before entering, Kisuke set down the token that imitates Kyouka Suigetsu''s ability.


    "We''re home~." Without regard to their current state, Kisuke greeted the people of the house normally.


    "�� I have a lot of questions to ask, but for starters, wee home." Cleria went out of the kitchen to greet the three but almost staggered at the sight of the fourth person.


    She already knew that arguing with someone like Kisuke, especially with a big smile on his face, is futile. Cleria instead faced her daughter, "Did you enjoy your day, Sweety?"


    Yoruichi sets ire down and she happily ran towards Cleria with her small steps, "Yes! Today is very fun!"


    While Cleria is patting ire''s head, Kisuke muttered while nodding, "As expected of a housewife��" Instead of being disappointed at her reaction, he felt satisfied that someone out there aside from Yoruichi can keep a straight face at his antics.


    Cleria turned to their direction, "Thank you for apanying my daughter today."


    "Hahaha. It''s no big deal~. We also enjoyed ourselves. By the way-"


    "You can use that room." Before he could even finish his words, Cleria pointed at the direction of an unused room.


    "Thank you~." Without further ado, Kisuke and Yoruichi entered the room and put up another barrier to keep the fluctuation of energies inside.


    The room only has the necessary furniture, a bed, a table with a drawer, and a closet. A typical room for a guest to stay in.


    Setting her on the bed, Yoruichi stepped in without a word and removed the tattered cloak she is wearing that still reeks of blood. Kisuke has been using his Reiatsu-Ki the moment he got her to keep her blood from flowing out and cover her smell.


    Still, without any word, Yoruichi continued to remove her articles of clothing, only leaving her underwear and the dirty blindfold that both her and Kisuke didn''t dare to touch due to some weird spell on it. Yoruichi then went out of the room with dirty and tattered clothing to dispose of it and ask Cleria for new clothes. Why would Yoruichi leave Kisuke alone with an almost naked beautiful woman? It''s simple because she trusts him.


    Ignoring how she looks, Kisuke touched the woman''s forehead. After a few seconds, he frowned and move his hand towards her stomach. With his second inspection, his frown grew deeper and sighed, ''Let''s patch her up first.''


    Kisuke then nned to teleport her with him to the training ground as all of his medical equipment is there. But just as he is about toplete the teleportation spell, his eyes widened in shock and hurriedly stopped the spell before reinforcing the barrier around the room.


    ''What the hell? I can''t teleport her? Something is tethering her in this ce�� I could forcefully break it but that''s not a good idea. I can''t break something I don''t know or else it might just worsen the situation��''


    Thinking for a few seconds, Kisuke pulls out a token that imitates Inoue Orihime''s ability ''Reject'' and activated it.


    He hesitated for a few seconds whether to it because it''s very hard to recreate Inoue''s ability to a portable token and he only created one due to time constraints. Although, even with additional time, Kisuke is doubtful if he could sessfully create a second token. Her ability is to reject the ''cause and effect'' so one can imagine how powerful it ispared to Aizen''s hypnosis.


    Being enveloped with an orange barrier, Kisuke exited the room and add further fortification to the barrier now that he saw the intriguing case of her body.


    Yoruichi returned with new sets of clothing and ask, "Isn''t this too much? I knew that she might escape if she wakes up but isn''t that fine?"


    "The situation is��plicated. For now, let''s wait for her to heal up and after that, we should get her trust." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion as he presents his n to Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi noticed his demeanor and asks after a few seconds, "Is it really that interesting?"


    "Yes. Very much so."


    With an exasperated sigh, Yoruichi walks towards the room, "Open it up for a bit. I can''t let her stay in just underwear."


    "Okay~." Kisuke opened a temporary hole in the barrier to let Yoruichi in, "Oh, by the way, make sure to not touch her blindfold. It''s more amazing than we thought."


    "Got it." With a wave of her hand, Yoruichi closed the door.


    Kisuke then went to the dining table to join the family of three in their dinner, "Kisuke-nii! Sit here!" Cleria happily invited him to her side.


    Sitting down, Masaomi asks, "How about your wife?"


    "She''ll join us in a minute. Thank you for the food~."


    Masaomi nodded and started eating along with his family. And just as Kisuke said, Yoruichi joined them soon after. They all happily talk about their they, although, most of the talking is done by ire who''s recounting the activities they did today.


    They finished their dinner and no matter how energetic ire is, she still got too tired after ying for the whole day and retired to her bed after taking a bath.


    And just like yesterday, the four are now sitting face to face with a coffee in front of them.


    "I''ve been dying to ask, what''s up?" Cleria stared at Kisuke wanting to ask many questions but she figured that she should just let him talk for now.


    "You''ll be going back to Japan sooner than I thought~."

 Volume 4 151 - Result of the Inspection

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 151 - Result of the Inspection</h4>


    "You''ll be going back to Japan sooner than I thought~."


    "What? Why? Did you finish making those disguises already? I thought it''ll take a few more days to make those?" Cleria furrowed her brows in the sudden change of n. Although they would like to return to Japan, they are still in the midst of preparing things to leave.


    Kisuke drank his coffee first before speaking, "I can rush it if I focus on it. It''ll only take a day or two if I do that."


    "So you''ll be going to rush it? Does that girl change your mind? Who is she?" Masaomi gets what he''s hinting.


    "I just want to make sure that you''ll be able to escape in time and unharmed before things go out of control." Kisuke chuckled.


    "Things will go out of control? Why do you sound so happy?" Yoruichi asks him, although, she already knew his answer.


    "Of course I''ll be happy. First of all, this isn''t our backyard and I can do whatever we want as long as they don''t know it''s me!"


    "Uhmm�� Yoruichi-san�� Please trante." Cleria turned to Yoruichi for her to help her process his words.


    "He just means that this isn''t his territory."


    "And?"


    "He''s just a jerk that doesn''t care if he destroys other people''s house just because he intentionally joined the ruckus."


    "The worst��" Masaomi and Cleria both muttered.


    "Hahaha~. Please don''t praise me! I easily get embarrased~." Kisuke scratched the back of his head genuinely embarrassed.


    "We''re not praising you!" The husband and wife both gritted their teeth and thought, ''Dammit! Why is it so easy to loseposure in front of him!?''


    "Well, setting that aside, I want to rify one thing." Yoruichi reached out to his thigh and pinched it slightly.


    "Not the thigh, Yoruichi�� Not that part because it hurts like hell!"


    Ignoring his pleas, Yoruichi slowly tightened her pinch as she asks, "Based on your words just now, it''ll only be you who can let loose. What about me? Why can''t I do it?"


    "Yoruichi-san? Yoruichi-sama!? Ow! It hurts! It really hurts! Ow! Ow! Please don''t use so much force just to pinch me! I can exin!"


    "Go on�� I''m listening��"


    "Huuu�� Haaa�� First of all, ow ow ow�� Everyone already knows how you look like and your main technique. Huuuuhaaaaa�� So letting you out there will only reveal our identities! Owowow! Please stop now! It won''t leave a mark, but it seriously hurts!"


    Yoruichi let go of Kisuke''s thigh, but still unsatisfied, "But I also want to let loose! It''s a good chance to destroy stuff without feeling guilty!"


    Kisuke sighed and rubbed the part where Yoruichi pinched, "I know how you feel but you already got your turn in the Rating Game."


    "That doesn''t count!" Although Yoruichi understood his point, she didn''t want to give up this ''great'' chance.


    "Not now Yoruichi. I want to try some of my abilities this time. And remember that the terrorist group that Kuroka is part of is now having some interest in Kuoh Town. I''ll let you have your turn then." Kisuke then brought out some yogurt to calm her down.


    "�� Fine. I hope those terrorist don''t disappoint me." She epted his offering and back down while thinking that she can''t really hide her technique, ''I should learn some other things in the future. My techniques are strong but it''s easy to recognize and I also don''t want any responsibility after destroying stuff.''


    "I can now understand why she became his wife��" Masaomi couldn''t help but say.


    "I understand you, but please do say it out loud�� That''s rude." Cleria followed up, though, she''s also being rude with that kind of reply.


    "Ehem�� We can speed up our preparations. In two days, we''ll be ready to move." Masaomi forcibly changes the topic.


    "Now that is out of the way, what does this girl have to do with all of this." Cleria is referring to the woman that Kisuke brought in earlier.


    Kisuke entered his thinking mode and muttered, "Let''s see�� Her situation is a bit special."


    "Special? How so?"


    "First is her body is artificially created."


    "�� That''s indeed a bit special."


    "But not enough to be really special as artificial bodies aren''t exactly rare these days."


    "What if I said that her body ispletely made out of pure Mana?"


    "What!? That may be possible but there are many things that won''t add up if that is the case! First is constructing a body out of pure Mana would require huge amounts of effort!"


    "Hooh? It''s a public thing that you can create a body out of pure Mana?"


    "Someone tried it in the past. It took them their whole lives to research about it and managed to create one body. Due to its enormousplexity, just creating one would take 300 years or so."


    "That''s long��"


    "It is, and it isn''t even the biggest drawback."


    "Hooh�� So this reason why things don''t add up. What is it?"


    "It is impossible to house a soul inside a mana constructed body."


    "��I see. If what you''re saying is true, then it really doesn''t add up. I''m pretty sure that girl has a soul." Kisuke muttered and thought to himself, ''Even from those years ago, Mana and Reiatsu reacts violently if it touches each other. I have to carefully weave both of them so they wouldn''t explode. But then again, I was sessful atbining them, so it isn''t entirely impossible, just very hard.''


    "That''s why I want to ask, is it really a body made out of Mana?"


    "Yes, it is. And there is another thing special about her. Her body is modeled after a human body but her soul is anything but human."


    "Soul? What kind of soul is it then? A Devil''s? Or some other being?"


    "Not sure. That''s the first time I''ve seen something like that. But I''m sure that it isn''t a soul of a Devil, Fallen Angel or a nekomata."


    "Well, it''s not like I have the power to peek at souls like you do�� But seriously�� How are you doing that?"


    "Trade secret~."


    "Haah�� Moving on, what else makes you think that we have to move ahead of schedule."


    "Although I don''t have any evidence right now, she''s probably the person this so-called Perseus n is chasing."


    "Is that so? Then we really have to speed up our preparations. Well then, if you''ll excuse us. We have to use every time we could get."


    "Then I won''t disturb you both~."


    They all stood up and went to their respective rooms. This night and next will be a very busy time for them.


    Returning to their room, Kisuke put up another silencing barrier andid down on the bed. Yoruichi followed him andid down with him before asking, "What else did you find out? From the reasons you stated earlier, you could just nurse her back to health and study her for a bit before letting her go again."


    "As expected of my wife~. You really know how I do things~."


    "Enough with that, tell what else you found out."


    "Another two things. The first one is there are two other souls residing inside her. They''re very weak, almost to the point of dissipating. Good thing I found on time or else those souls would have disappeared."


    "So you help those two other souls�� Why?"


    "How do I say this�� It feels like they are protecting the core of that woman''s soul? Or trying to keep something from getting out?"


    "Hmmm�� What''s the second one then?"


    Kisuke demeanor suddenly became cold after Yoruichi ask this.


    Yoruichi thinks for a while before speaking again, "So it''s rted to the fact you felt disgusted when we encounter her before��"


    Furrowing his brows, Kisuke nodded, "Ah��"

 Volume 4 152 - Claires Incident

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 152 - ire''s Incident</h4>


    The four adults in the house didn''t rest and kept doing what they needed to finish. Cleria and Masaomi are busy packing up while making calls to their various contacts about their ns to leave Greece. Although they didn''t tell them that they are going to Japan.


    Yoruichi was assigned to take care of the purple-haired beauty, while Kisuke busied himself with the Yaegaki family''s disguise equipment.


    The sun rose up and temporarily stopped whatever they are doing to have breakfast.


    Masaomi, Kisuke, and Yoruichi sat down on the dining table with a smile on their face, "Japanese breakfast? I missed this��" Masaomi couldn''t help but say.


    "Thank you for the food~." Kisuke and Yoruichi expressed their gratitude and both took the miso soup.


    "Haaah�� The seafood here is great, but nothing beats the taste of your hometown~." Kisukemented while Yoruichi started eating the dishes in front of her in great relish.


    Before eating, Masaomi turned to Cleria who''s still cooking some additional dishes and asked, "What about ire?"


    "I''m letting her sleep for a bit longer. She had a long fulfilling day yesterday." With a gentle smile, Cleria answered.


    Swallowing his food, Kisuke suddenly asks, "Right�� I forgot to ask due to a lot of things happening but what''s up the other kids'' reaction when they saw ire at the park?"


    The husband and wife stayed quite but Kisuke waited for them to answer. After a minute or two of silence, Cleria spoke, "We told you that we didn''t let ire go to school because of the danger, but we also tried to find a school where it isn''t in any influence of other factions. We failed to find it, however. At that time, we really want ire to experience school so we opted for the next best thing, a school where there is almost no influence of the supernatural world."


    "We took a long while to search for such school and we eventually found it and happily enrolled ire in it. But we overlooked one thing which is important."


    "And that is?"


    "The subject taught to the students. As part of Good Conduct and Right Manners, the school we chose, like any other school teaches Religion subject. And you already knew how will that affect a Devil like ire even if she''s just a half."


    "Right�� And even if you warn her not to listen or skip the subject itself, an ident is bound to happen."


    "It''s as you said. She can''t always avoid it so she has to sit down and listen. Just listening wouldn''t have any effects on her as I already told her that those things really exist and they aren''t as amazing as they portray it in the book so she won''t build up faith in them.


    "But then again, the teacher would always say that all Devils are bad and evil. I didn''t hide the fact that I''m a Devil to ire and the fact that she is a half-Devil herself. So when she heard her teacher saying bad things about Devils, she couldn''t help but ask a question to him, ''Are all Devils bad?'' And that the start of everything."


    When ire asked her teacher this, her teacher in return question her, ''Why wouldn''t they be?''


    Knowing her mother is a Devil and very kind, she replied, ''Because not all of them are bad?''


    The teacher thought it was just this child''s curiosity and asked such a question. He onlyughed and patted her head while praying for her. As a person with Devil''s bloodline, Heaven, with their system, wouldn''t allow anyone with demonic bloodline receives any prayer in the name of the Biblical God.


    Patting her head, ire suddenly screamed in pain and fell unconscious. The teacher panicked and immediately brought her to the infirmary, calling her parents after. The nurse said that she couldn''t see anything wrong and she needed to be brought to a hospital to be formally examined. Cleria and Masaomi arrived and thank the teacher and the nurse for taking care of her.


    Although it''s a small incident, the teacher couldn''t help but doubt a little. From her question and reaction to prayer, he thought it''s all just a coincidence. But he couldn''t reign in his curiosity and tried it again, patting her head and praying for her when they are alone. To his shock, the same thing happened and as religious as he is, he immediately called ire ''an evil Devil spawn'' attracting the attention of other teachers.


    ire and Masaomi, again, arrive at ire''s school, with her on the ground while the other teachers are looking at her ghastly. The teacher who started all of this, in particr, pulled out a sword. It isn''t a secret for them about the existence of Heaven and Underworld. They even have the freedom to kill someone from other factions.


    Seeing the situation, Masaomi rages and released all the holy power he is saving for thest decade and beat all the teachers who are just watching the scene unfold. Cleria, on the other hand, dealt with the sword-wielding teacher.


    "So, what happened to those teachers?" Kisuke asks.


    "We left them their with most of their memories erased. We also set the ce up so that it''ll look like a gas leakage happened and the teachers falling victim to it. Of course, this excuse will only work on normal people, so we set another trap to attract the roaming fallen angels so they would take the me for it."


    "I see�� So you used this chance to ''reasonably'' pull out ire from the school."


    "Exactly�� But we can''t exactly hide everything about that incident. We don''t know how it started, but a rumor ire being a Devil started spreading around a year ago. Although the real yers of the supernatural world didn''t give any attention to such rumor spread around by normal people, it reached to the point that the parents didn''t want their kids to y with ire."


    "So that exins the reaction she garnered when she approached the park�� Why didn''t you tell us about this?" Yoruichi spoke this time.


    Cleria shook her head and replied, "It''s useless even if you were to know about it. And we also nned to move to another ce after her birthday, so your offer is our biggest fortune."


    After hearing Cleria''s words, Kisuke stood up from his seat, "It''s time to go back to work��"


    Yoruichi in response grinned in his direction, "Rushing even more? I''ll give you a massageter~."


    Two more days went by, and everything is already prepared. But since the woman is still unconscious and nothing else is happening, Kisuke and Yoruichi decided to postpone their move and y as much as possible on this ind.


    At night, Yoruichi would give Kisuke the duty of looking after the woman and would roam around at night to gather information.


    On their fifth day on the ind and the third they since they rescued the woman, she finally woke up.

 Volume 4 153 - Woke up

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 153 - Woke up</h4>


    "Ugh��" Groaning, Medusa reached out for her head, ''��What happened?''


    Her senses are still blurry as she tries to remember what happened before she loses consciousness. And a few secondster, she manages to remember the night she was able to escape from Perseus'' descendants, ''��Where am I?''


    "Oh�� So you''re awake. How are you feeling?"


    A voice of a man suddenly resounded beside her and awakened her forcefull, pushing her vignce to the maximum. With a quick scan with the surrounding after her senses slightly returned, Medusa jumped away from the source of the voice.


    "I wouldn''t move so much if I were you." Kisuke put away the smartphone he is using tomunicate with his mother. His mother was invited to the wedding ceremony of her former co-worker and a good friend over Hokkaido and she would spend a few days there. She''ll probably return the same time Kisuke and Yoruichi returns from Greece.


    "Ugh!" Medusa gritted her teeth due to unbearable pain that ran through her body. She slumped down and leaned against the wall. She didn''t speak, however, as she inspected the state of her body, ''My wounds�� are patched up? I''m wearing different clothes, but my blindfold wasn''t touched�� Did this man help me? Why? What does he want?�� I have to escape first!''


    With that in mind, Medusa focuses her mind on her senses to get aplete picture of the surrounding. Confirming the locations of the exits, she chooses to go through the windows where it would lead her directly outside. Her goal is to escape a be alone so she could think of her next actions. Whether the man in front of her has good or bad intentions, she didn''t care as she could think about itter after she secures her own safety.


    Circting the pitiful amount of Mana left in her body, Medusa rushed towards the windows with inhuman speed. But just as she is about to hit the windows, the man in the same room as he appeared in front of her instantly, ''!''


    Medusa wanted to change her direction and maneuver around the man, but with a speed that she can''t follow, Medusa was flipped over andnded on the arms of the man doing a ''princess carry'' on her.


    Medusa, of course, wanted to struggle but was shocked yet again when she found out that she can''t move her body aside from her head. She bared her teeth and shouted at Kisuke, "Let go of me!"


    Not letting her, Kisuke raised one of his feet and aimed at the windows, "Now, now. Calm down. If I let you crash on the windows, you would only end up embarrassing yourself in addition to a broken nose~." After saying that, Kisuke kicked the windows but his foot was rebounded by an invisible wall.


    After demonstrating that, Medusa imagined what would have happened if she indeed crashed to that invisible barrier, ''��Why can''t I feel that barrier? Are my senses still failing me?'' Rechecking her senses and noting that it still isn''t as sharp in the past, she snarled at Kisuke again, "Let go of me!"


    "Sure, but don''t do any moving for now. Your external wounds might be healed but your internals is messed up and would take some time to heal. And give up the idea of escaping. As long as I''m here, you won''t be able to escape, especially in the state you''re in."


    "��"


    The woman''s reaction didn''t change, but Kisuke took her silence as affirmation and he gentlyid her down back to the bed before going back to his seat while staring at her confirming some of his deductions.


    After a few seconds of silence, Medusa spoke out, "Why did you help me? What do you want?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately, ''It''s normal to be vignt, but she''s too vignt. It looks like she had her fair shares of trouble. Getting her trust will be harder than I expected so being honest here would be more positive.'' "I indeed need something from you, but not in your current state. I want you to heal up first, though that too will take some time so let''s move with introducing ourselves first. I''m Kisuke Urahara, a tourist."


    Kisuke didn''t just spend his time ying with ire and finishing the disguise equipment, as he also kept practicing the Greeknguage that he could now speak it fluently. Although learning the Devil''s Language is the best, it isn''t what he needs now.


    "��Ana. My name is Ana." From a distant past in this lifetime, she remembers a certain girl and used her name.


    "Ana, is it? How are you feeling?" Kisuke knew that she''s lying but didn''t point it out.


    "��It still hurts when I move around��" Medusa then hesitated for a while before muttering while looking down, "��Thank you��"


    Kisuke inadvertently smiled, "You''re wee, but as I said, I need something from you. Anyways, are hungry?"


    "Not real-" Medusa was about to refuse when her stomach suddenly growled. Medusa ended up shrinking back with a slight blush on her face.


    "Pfft. Haha. How cliched." Kisuke chuckled ignoring her reaction, "Stay here for a while. The barrier will block any energy fluctuation so those who are chasing you won''t find you. I''ll go get some food."


    Medusa didn''t say anything and just looked away. Kisuke stood up and went to the door, tapping it several times to create a temporary hole in the barrier before exiting.


    With Kisuke gone, Medusa, or Ana, got the time to properly inspect everything. She didn''t do so as her focus is entirely on Kisuke''s every movement and readying to defend herself in case something happens.


    The first thing she did is to enter her inner world where she tried to find her sisters but disappointedly exited as she failed, ''Just how did they��? I''m sure that it isn''t a hallucination as the power they temporarily gave me is real.''


    After that, she inspected her surroundings properly and noted that her senses can''t get through the walls of the room making her feel suffocated. She reached out for the wall beside her bed and hit it gently. From that, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to break through it with her current condition.


    Medusa then inspected her body next and noticed that her clothes were really changed, including her underwear. Her body is also very clean. Medusa gritted her teeth as she hates the idea of any man seeing and touching her body even if he is her benefactor.


    Medusa grabbed the nket and cover herself with it tightly. Just as she did this, the door opened and a woman and a small girl entered the room while carrying some food. Although her senses were aside from sight were enhanced to limit, she still couldn''t see color.


    Yoruichi noticed her reaction and the distressed demeanor as she covers herself with a thin nket, "Nice to meet you, Ana. I''m Yoruichi who took care of everything pertaining to your body. That guy didn''t touch you anywhere besides your forehead and in the middle of your chest for inspection."


    Yoruichi didn''t know how to speak the Greeknguage so she had ire trante it for her.


    Medusa didn''t fully believe her but it put some rest to her emotions.

 Volume 4 154 - A Meal

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 154 - A Meal</h4>


    Yoruichi pulled out a table and three chairs. With the help of ire, they set the food down on the table.


    "I heard from Kisuke that you have enough energy to jump around. Come here and join us for breakfast." Yoruichi and ire sat down after everything is done.


    "Come here, big sis!" ire patted the chair beside her with a big smile.


    "No need." Medusa, of course, refused. She didn''t have the guts to eat food from unknown people. When she did, however, Medusa was shocked that her refusal would lead ire to have some tears in her eyes, "You don''t want to eat with me, big sis?"


    "Wha-!? Why are you crying!? Fine! I''ll join you, so please don''t cry." Medusa panicked a little. She couldn''t win against an innocent child''s tears, so she slowly stood up and sat down on the open chair.


    "Nice one ire~." Yoruichi and ire suddenly did a high-five after wiping her tears.


    "What!? You tricked me!" Medusa gnashed her teeth in frustration and was about to go back to bed.


    ire in response grabbed the hem of her clothing, "No! Please don''t go! Big brother Kisuke said that you won''t eat if I don''t do that. I''m sorry."


    "Kisuke? Do you mean that guy who just exited? Why does it sound like he knows me?" Medusa sat back down.


    "Well�� Because it''s big brother Kisuke?" ire answered.


    "Hahaha�� You have too much faith in Kisuke. You really do like him a lot huh?" Yoruichi patted ire''s head and continued speaking, "Alright, enough talking. Let''s eat."


    Yoruichi then grabbed a bunch of food towards her te and ire followed her example. Medusa, however, just watched the two of them eat.


    "Based on your reaction from earlier, you can understand Japanese, right?" Yoruichi spoke after eating a mouthful.


    "Yes," Medusa answered in Japanese.


    "Good. Then ire didn''t have to trante for us to talk. First thing first, the food doesn''t have anything harmful to you."


    "So you''re saying that it has something that won''t be harmful to me. It makes me even less inclined to eat it."


    "Right. It won''t harm you. On the contrary, it''ll be helpful for you."


    "��How will I know that it''ll really be helpful for me?"


    "I don''t have any evidence, so it still up to you. And when I said it''ll be helpful for you, I mean it, but not directly."


    "Not directly?"


    "Yes. It''s for the two other souls residing inside you. Those two seem to be protecting an important thing for you, so helping those two souls are indirectly helping you."


    "What!? Two souls!? Are you certain!?"


    "What? You''re not aware? If Kisuke didn''t found in you in time, those two souls would have already dispersed due to how weak they are."


    Medusa started to ''stare'' nkly at Yoruichi unnerving her, "W-What? Even if stare me like that, I won''t feed you." Even though she''s blindfolded and couldn''t see, Yoruichi can tell that her other senses are fully focused on her.


    Medusa still didn''t respond at Yoruichi''s words. She''s about to say something again when tears suddenly overflowed from her blindfold.


    "H-hey�� Are you okay? Does something hurt so much that you had to cry? Wait for me. I''m going to call Kisuke. He knows what to do."


    Before Yoruichi could leave though, Medusa grabbed her while crying her eyes out, "��Thank you�� Thank you very much��"


    "��For saving those two souls?" Yoruichi finally gets what she''s crying for, ''She didn''t know about the existence of those two souls, but it seems she''s pretty sure who are those two.''


    "Uwahh�� Thank you�� huuu��" Slumping down, Medusa bawled like a kid who experienced sudden relief while she holds Yoruichi''s hands.


    Yoruichi sighed and crouched down, hugging her, "Everything is fine now�� Those two are already safe."


    Medusa kept sniffling and thanking Yoruichi for a few minutes until she calms down.


    Medusa wiped her face and said in embarrassment, "I''m sorry that you had to see such disy."


    "No prob here. But if you want to thank someone, thank that guy. He''s the one who got you out of the sea and noticed the state of those two souls after all." Yoruichi helped her stand up.


    "�� I will��"


    "It looks like those two are really important people for you."


    "Yes�� They are the most important for me and I thought that I would never hear their voice again."


    "Is that so? Let me hear about them in the future. For now, let''s eat. It''ll also replenish your Mana."


    Medusa agreed and sat back down on her chair. The food on the table is a standard Attica cuisine. With a bit of hesitation, she grabbed her utensils and started gathering food with the help of Yoruichi and ire.


    Taking a deep breath, Medusa first chooses to eat the fish dish. Putting it in her mouth and chewing it a little, a gentle happy smile surfaced on her face, "��It''s good�� It''s been a while since I''ve eaten a proper meal."


    After swallowing it, Medusa can feel a dense amount of Mana flowing out from the food and sipping inside her body. Along with Mana is a wisp of strangely calming energy that went straight inside her heart, disappearing entirely, ''Is that the thing which is beneficial for elder sisters?''


    "What? Why didn''t you say so? Since it''s been a while for you, we should celebrate." Yoruichi took out a token. It''s formunication that is unimpeded by the barrier, "Kisuke, go cook for some more food. The more variety the better. And also take out some of your sweets."


    From the token, Kisuke''s voice resounded, "Gotcha~. Anything else?"


    "Can you prepare some cold deserts as well?"


    "No problem~. I''ll be their after a few minutes. Though I won''t be adding Mana and Reiryoku to the food."


    "That''s fine. We have enough here for Ana." Yoruichi then disconnected the call.


    "Uhm�� What is this ''Reiryoku''?" Before eating the rest, Medusa wanted to know more about what she''s eating. She knew about Mana as it''s the basic energy source of almost everything supernatural in this world, but she hasn''t heard of this Reiryoku.


    "It''s the most basic energy that the soul uses," Yoruichi answered honestly and briefly.


    "I noticed this ''Reiryoku'', but why does it go straight to the heart?"


    "Hooh�� So you can see that much�� Well, to put it simply, your heart is the gateway to your soul. Kisuke had to put extra care to the Reiryoku as it doesn''t go well with Mana without proper control."


    "It doesn''t go well? How?" Medusa started eating and enjoying her food at the same pace as ire.


    To demonstrate, Yoruichi raised a finger in each hand. On the tip of the finger of her left hand, Mana started spewing out, while on the other hand, it''s Reiryoku which is spewing out.


    Yoruichi pointed it away from the table and slowly brought her hand together. As the Mana and Reiryoku touched each other, a small but violent explosion urred. Yoruichi, however, already muffled it''s sound through her Reiatsu-Ki so that it wouldn''t startle them so much.


    "W�� what!?" Medusa imagined something like that entering her body and something going wrong on it. She doesn''t care if she dies, but what if her sisters, who she thought had disappeared forever, disappear for real this time? She shuddered at such thoughts.


    "No need to be rmed�� Kisuke and I already has enough control over our Reiryoku so that it won''t react with Mana."

 Volume 4 155 - Not Common Sense

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 155 - Not Common Sense</h4>


    "No need to be rmed�� Kisuke and I already has enough control over our Reiryoku so that it won''t react with Mana." Yoruichi calmly exined after seeing her expression.


    Seeing that she not yet convinced, Yoruichi continued speaking, "His expertise is in energy maniption. He won''t fail at something as simple as this."


    Medusa has already eaten quite an amount of food with Reiryoku and nothing bad happened yet. So she put her worries down and ask, "��Why did he do this? Why are you all helping me?�� Don''t get me wrong. I''m very grateful for your help, especially pertaining to those two souls, but I''m just a stranger�� And I doubt I could help you with something. In fact, a dangerous group is after me and I''ll only end up dragging you to my problems instead of returning this gratitude."


    Yoruichi stayed silent for a while before speaking, "Did you also ask this question to him?"


    "��Yes."


    "What did he say?"


    "He said that he needed something from me."


    "That''s all?"


    "That''s all��"


    "That guy really didn''t exin anything�� You don''t have to worry. That guy is only interested in you because of the knowledge he could get."


    "��Just because of that? Aren''t you all afraid of getting hurt? Is it really worth it to put yourselves at risk just because of some knowledge?"


    Yoruichi wanted to answer, but the door of the room suddenly opened and Kisuke entered, "Seeking knowledge is one of my biggest joy in life. As simple as that. It doesn''t matter if it''s dangerous. On the contrary, the harder it is to get, the more rewarding it is�� no matter how small the actual knowledge I can get."


    Medusa then faced him, "I don''t understand��"


    "You don''t have to. You have your own life and you have to find joys in it yourself. You also don''t have to justify it to others. Just exining it once is enough�� whether they understood it or not, it doesn''t matter." Bringing out the food and an additional table and chair from his inventory, he sat down to join them.


    Medusa somehow gets it, but still, don''t understand most of it.


    "Don''t think about it. It''s just me, rambling nonsense." Kisuke then grabbed a handful of food before continuing to speak, "By the way, who are the guys chasing you?"


    Medusa got her mind off from Kisuke words as she contemted what answer she should tell them. If she tells them the truth, there are only three things that could happen. First is that they would present her to the Perseus n to gain some benefits from them.


    Second is they let her go, not wanting to mess with her or the Perseus n chasing after her.


    Third andst is they wouldn''t care about the Perseus n and continue detaining her here.


    The first possibility is the worst one and the most likely as she already experienced it several times. Second is the second most likely thing to happen. If they are a bit vignt, they wouldn''t want the Perseus n to think that they took care of her as even if they present her to them, the Perseus n would only erase them to reduce the number witnesses. Thest possibility is the most unlikely as only those idiots or incredibly strong individuals can decide something like that. But even then, after knowing her true identity, they would immediately discard her or present her to the Olympian Gods, more specifically, to Athena.


    If she lies to them, however, it''ll only bring harm to them down the road as even though she''s extremely vignt, she can recognize good intentions as like even though most of her experiences are the worst, there are bits of good in it. Like the name, she borrowed from a certain girl who helped her in the past. She''s very thankful that she was able to escape early enough that the girl, Ana, wouldn''t feel any bacsh from her interaction with the ''criminal'' of the Perseus n.


    After a few minutes pondering, Meduse chooses to tell the truth but hide her identity for now, "�� The Perseus n��" She was expecting a shock or at least a concerned look from them after hearing her words, but her assumptions werergely wrong.


    "Heh�� Those guys, huh. Well, we already expected it, so it''s not really a big deal." Kisuke continued eating in great relish after muttering those few words.


    Yoruichi is the same, she kept eating after saying a few words of her own, "So we move ire and the rest back to Japan now?"


    "Nope�� It''s just the Persues. They can still stay here and y for a few days." Kisuke replied, still eating his food.


    "When do they move?" Yoruichi had enough of the dishes and moved to the deserts.


    "Hmm�� Let see�� After I confirmed that an Olympian Gods are going to get involved?" Kisuke stopped for a moment to think.


    "Then I guess we have a few days to spare�� What do you want to do?"


    "Let''s see�� Let''s tour the whole ind, after that, we go back to Piraeus or Athens to roam around. If we still have time after that, we roam around the whole Attica Region, I guess?"


    "I want to go too!" ire chimed in. Even though she doesn''t understand what they are talking about, but she''s sure that they are going out to have some fun. She couldn''t miss it.


    "W-wait a minute! Why are you taking the Perseus n so lightheartedly!? And you even sound like everything is fine even if you meet a god!" Medusa dropped her spoon and finally reacted at their words. She didn''t know if they''re just idiots that don''t know the power of gods or idiots that are courageous enough to face the gods.


    Yoruichi looked at her and exined, "Perseus n isn''t really a big deal. I''ve already investigated them and I focused on their manpower and individual power. And the result is they aren''t a big deal."


    "What!? You''re underestimating them too much! They have at least one of the weapons that the original Perseus to y the Gorgon! And those are bestowed by the gods!"


    "Oh right�� Now that you mentioned it. There is indeed a weird shield in their treasury."


    "Why didn''t you steal it?"


    "I''m not a burr and I''m not even interested in it in the first ce. From what I remembered from Cleria''s words, that shield is used to detect all life in the vicinity. I can do that too."


    "You''ve got a point. It''s basically useless for us."


    "Wha-!?" Medusa was speechless at their interaction but set it aside first as there is something that bothered her in their words, "Anyway, why are you so sure that the Olympian Gods would get involve?"


    "Well�� Perseus n is a patron of Olympian Gods, right? If they are on the verge of annihtion, they would surely call their big boss." Kisuke looked at Medusa and make an inquisitive expression. Even though she can''t see, Medusa is sure that that expression means, ''You didn''t know this?''


    ''What the hell are these people? Why do I look like the weird one here? Should I believe their words? Wait�� I haven''t asked the most important question��'' Medusa took a deep breath to calm herself down. She wanted to forget the earlier exchange as she didn''t have the energy to process them, "What if you really faced a god? What will you do?"


    "Hmm�� I don''t know."


    "��" Medusa was speechless yet again.


    "I don''t really know much about the gods and the full extent of their abilities. So I guess we''ll just wing it?"


    "I''m sure that you already prepared a bunch of escape routes in case something goes wrong?"


    "Yep~."


    "Then let''s just decided as the situation unfolds~. It seems more fun that way."


    ''Lunatics�� They''re lunatics�� Elder sisters, please give me the strength to face my future with them��''

 Volume 4 156 - Too Vigilant

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 156 - Too Vignt</h4>


    Kisuke and Yoruichi kept talking and nning for the near future, but Medusa couldn''t make sense of what they are talking about.


    It''s not that the wordsing from their mouths are hard to understand, it''s just that their statements are too unbelievable that they might as well be dreaming. Without much choice, Medusa just copied ire and started eating without a care in the world.


    After eating, Medusa feels so much better due to her restored Mana, though she''s still pretty weak because of her wrecked body.


    Cleaning up the table, Yoruichi and ire exited the room again leaving only Kisuke and Medusa to talk again.


    "Ana-san, how are you feeling?" Kisuke went back to speaking Japanese when he figured that she could understand it.


    "��Much better��" Medusa started fidgeting, opening and closing her mouth trying to say something.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong?" Kisuke pulled out a set of tea and put one in front of Medusa.


    "Uhmm�� Thank you very much!" Following the Japanese tradition, Medusa bowed down in front of Kisuke. She wanted to do a dogeza but she wasn''t sure if that''s appropriate.


    Kisuke chuckled and replied, "Hahaha, No need to be so formal. I just patched you up and I would get my paymentter."


    "I''m thankful for that too, but that''s not what I''m referring to."


    "Not that? Ah�� you mean those two little girls inside you?" Kisuke then took out some cookies and started munching on them.


    "Yes�� that�� Wait! How did you know how they look like!?" A possibility then emerges in Medusa''s mind. Without thinking much about it, Medusa red up her Mana and materialized a Harpe connected to a chain. At first, she wanted to attack Kisuke, but regardless of what he did, he still helped her survive so she decided to direct her attack to the windows to break the barrier.


    She pushed her body to the limits again and she ended up coughing blood. Medusa threw her Harpe with all her power but to her dismay, it only bounced off, ''Such a strong barrier?''


    Gritting her teeth, Medusa grabbed her Harpe again and put up a stance while facing Kisuke. Vignce and hate are emitting from her.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, just watched her actions while calmly sipping on his tea, ''What''s up with her now? Well, I guess it''s good that she''s energetic?''


    Without much choice, Medusa opened her mouth as she couldn''t stand his stare and silence, "You�� Did you go through my memories?"


    Kisuke slowly put down his cup of tea, "Oh�� So that''s you''re concerned about. Don''t worry, I didn''t go through your memories."


    "��Then how?" Medusa abated some of her hateful aurae but her vignce spiked up instead, ''Did he hypnotized me while I was asleep that I ended up telling him my secrets?''


    "Think about it, I can tell that there are souls within you, so it isn''t impossible that I can also see what they look like." Kisuke spoke calmly as he analyzes the situation, ''Her reaction about her memories is weird. Looks like the secret she''s carrying is bigger than I thought. Well, considering the state of her soul, that much is normal, I guess? But one thing is for sure, those so-called Gods are the one responsible.'' He didn''t show it outwardly, but remembering Ana''s soul state makes him very angry as a Shinigami who guides the souls to their rest.


    Medusa didn''t speak and just stared at him. Kisuke didn''t know what she''s thinking but he continued speaking, "I don''t care about your past whether you''re a monster or whatever. I''ll judge you base on what I will see from you." He didn''t really know what to say, but he guessed that she reacted that way because she didn''t want to be judged based on her previous actions.


    After a minute or two, Medusa cleared her head and dematerialized her Harpe, ''Thinking about it, he wouldn''t have that kind of reaction if he truly saw my memories. He might even kill me outright if he knew my true form.''


    Medusa slowly stood up and bowed down again, "I''m very sorry. I rashly jumped into a conclusion." After saying her piece, the pain she has been ignoring came back all at once. She staggered forward and was about to fall when Kisuke suddenly appeared in front of her and caught her.


    "You really like pushing yourself to limits, huh? Just what sort of life did you lead until now?" Kisuke assisted and led her to the bed.


    Due to her tired mind, Medusa ended up letting out a bit of her frustration. She smiles wryly and said, "Not a very good one�� I wished I wasn''t born." Medusa then loses consciousness again.


    "You might not have a very good life, but I think those two would disagree with your wish as they kept protecting you even after death," Kisuke muttered.


    As if she heard him in her sleep, Medusa''s wry smile change into a bit happy one.


    After putting a nket over her and casting some healing Kidou on her, Kisuke left the room. He couldn''t use the ''Rejecting'' token anymore as it is already broken and he hasn''t found a chance to make one again so he could opt for these basic healing techniques.


    Yoruichi and ire are ying some kind of board game and are enjoying themselves, while Cleria and Masaomi are busy taking some calls.


    Kisuke joined Yoruichi and ire until Cleria approached them, "How is the girl doing?"


    "She''s too vignt. Even though she acts calm most of the time, when you touch some specific topic, she''ll react violently." Kisuke replied.


    "I see��" Cleria then looked at Yoruichi who''s ying happily with ire.


    Understanding what she meant, Yoruichi grabbed ire''s attention, "I''m tired of this! Let''s y hide and seek! I''ll start counting, 1�� 2�� 3��" Yoruichi covered her eyes as she starts counting.


    "That''s unfair!" ire protested but she immediately stood up and ran somewhere to hide.


    With ire out of the picture, Cleria started reporting, "Half of the Perseus n''s manpower is searching the seas and the surrounding inds and coastal areas for something."


    "They''re searching for Ana, alright? And do you know why they are searching for her?"


    "�� We know what they want from her��" Cleria crumpled her face as she''s also confused at the information she and Masaomi got.


    "What?"


    "A quest for the current direct descendants of Perseus. Whoever who can kill the girl they are searching for will be the head of the n."


    "��Just for what reason? What did this Ana do to get that kind of recognition from an ancient family?"


    "That�� we are stillbing through our channels to see if we can get more information regarding that. But it seems to be a top-secret of the Perseus n as even if we ''ask nicely'' one of their members who is a known criminal, he didn''t give us any substantial information."


    Yoruichi uncovered her eyes and looked at Kisuke, "What are you going to do now?"


    "For now�� Let''s just wait and see. Remember that this isn''t our problem, so we don''t really want to help that much. I want to see how are they going to find her and where would this story goes. And if the Gods really appear, that''s where I will enter the stage for real." Kisuke then thank Cleria for everything she has done.

 Volume 4 157 - Wont Escape

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 157 - Won''t Escape</h4>


    It''s the evening of the same day when Medusa regained her consciousness. After that further rest, her body doesn''t hurt as much as this morning, but her Mana reserved was also depleted due to it being used for her automatic restoration.


    There was no one in the room when she woke up so she used this chance to do some thinking without the pressure of any other people. She recalled what happened earlier, including the nonsensical talk that those who saved her did. She took a closer ''look'' at her surroundings and thought, ''If he can set up this kind of barrier, I guess he really has the right to brag. But this barrier can''t hide my existence for too long. As long as Athena help that Perseus n to locate me, there is nothing that can be done to impede it.''


    Medusa then stood up to further check the condition of her body. Her attire was changed yet again while she''s sleeping, although, she didn''t know how she''ll feel about it. She grateful that someone takes care of her but also kept help but keeps thinking what they want in exchange, ''I have to confirmter what do they really want from me and if possible, escape this ce. Athena wouldn''t help the Perseus n all the way as it would be ''too boring'' for her taste. She would only point my general direction and would leave it to them how to pull me out, so I still have time�� I should also ask if that is possible�� If he can do it, I''ll let him do whatever he wants with me�� What''s the worst thing that could happen?''


    Confirming her ns for the future, Medusa stretched for a bit to ease some of the soreness she''s feeling and just after she did, the door of the room opened, "Yo~. It seems that you''re doing good. Wear this."


    Kisuke barged in without even knocking and threw a pendant in her direction. Medusa caught it with one of her hands and ask, "What''s this?"


    "Something that can hide your aura and Mana signatures. You can go out of the room after wearing it." Kisuke passed her the disguise equipment that he made for the Yaegaki family. Due to having an extra day, Kisuke decided that he should make one for the unconscious girl too.


    With a bit of hesitation, Medusa wore it around her neck. The pendant is a shiny purple gem that is attached to a silver chain, "As expected of me. It goes well with your hair." Kisukemented as he stares at her while rubbing his chin.


    Even though thepliment is praising himself, Medusa felt embarrassed after hearing his words. However, she immediately shook her head to shake off such feelings, ''Don''t get caught up in his pace, Medusa!''


    To be honest, though, This is the first time she felt embarrassed since time immemorial so she didn''t hate it. On the contrary, she felt refreshed. Even the food earlier reminded her that being alive isn''t so bad. But she knew that these things woulde to an end sooner orter and would only regret it she became too attached to these feelings.


    "But I''m pretty sure it''ll look better if you take that blindfold off." Kisuke, disregarding Medusa''s reaction, continued his words.


    "That''s impossible��" An immediate answer from Medusa, "Once I took this off, only misfortune would arrive those who are around me��" She calmed down after saying this, ''Right�� These eyes are the start of everything�� Because of these eyes, I can never hold those who are close to me anymore��''


    "Is that so? That''s a shame��" Kisuke sighed in disappointment.


    "Anyways�� Aren''t you afraid that I would escape from this ce once I exited this room?" Things are getting awkward so Medusa changed the subject.


    "Nope~ Not at all!" Regaining his smile, Kisuke answered energetically.


    "��What makes you so sure?" Medusa wasn''t so sure how to react from his words, ''Did he put a trap somewhere? Or is the entire house covered in this kind of barrier too?�� That''s�� too suffocating��''


    "That pendant has a built-in tracker." Against Medusa''s prediction, Kisuke answered her question honestly.


    "��What the hell? Why tell me that?" Medusa staggered after hearing him, ''Medusa�� Don''t get caught in his pace��'' Letting out a mock cough, Medusa proceed on speaking, "Ehem�� I''ll just toss it away then."


    "What!? That''s cheating!"


    "��"


    "Well, whatever. I''m still sure that you aren''t going to escape. After all, you''re pretty concerned about those two souls inside you and you didn''t know about their existence until recently. You probably wanted to ask me something regarding those." Kisuke finally took a serious tone, erasing the yful tune he is ying earlier.


    "!? Then��!" Medusa abruptly took a step forward.


    "I won''t answer any of your questions through~. Not until after dinner~." But surprisingly�� Or not, Kisuke didn''t answer her expectations.


    "You��" Medusa was speechless yet again, ''This bastard! Is messing with me that fun!? Now I can''t think of anything else aside from that topic! How can I enjoy my dinner!'' Without her notice, Medusa was already caught up with his pace.


    "Alright, let''s go before the food gets cold." Kisuke disabled the entire barrier before exiting the room.


    Medusa gritted her teeth and followed him outside. For the first time, Medusa met the other two people in the house. But the husband and wife noticed the frustrated expression she is making and the happy smile on Kisuke''s face. Cleria approached her and patted her shoulder, "It''s alright. I understand how you feel. But it''s no use thinking of getting back at him. He''ll only y with you."


    Medusa faced Cleria and noted the pity directed at her. Instead of getting angry, however, she gave her gratitude, "Thank you�� I''ll remember that. My name''s Ana. Nice to meet you."


    "Cleria Yaegaki, nice to meet you too." Cleria smiled and shook her hand. She then pointed to her husband, "And this is my husband, Masaomi Yaegaki."


    Masaomi nodded at her, "Nice to meet you, Miss Ana. I hope you enjoy your stay here in my humble abode. By the way, that is my daughter ire Yaegaki. You already met her earlier."


    "Big sis! Let''s y!" ire called out to her.


    "No sweety. We are about to eat. Go wash your hands." Cleria immediately reminded her. She''s very happy for her though, as she became very lively ever since Kisuke and Yoruichi arrived, ''Inviting them over is our greatest decision in life.''


    "Okay~." Medusa watches as she took small steps towards the washroom.


    "I''m back~." From the entrance of the house, Yoruichi entered.


    "Wee back~. How is it?" Kisuke asks.


    "Still the same. That n is still searching for her randomly."

 Volume 4 158 - Ahnn~

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 158 - Ahnn~</h4>


    Medusa kept fidgeting and sneaking ''nces'' to Kisuke throughout the entire dinner. Although they can''t see her eyes, they know that she''s focusing her attention on Kisuke from time to time, except for ire of course.


    Yoruichi couldn''t contain her curiosity anymore and asked Kisuke while she stabs him with her elbow, "Oi, what did you do this time? Another seduction? Quit it will you! There are already too many women around you."


    Kisuke coughed after hearing her question and he noticed that Cleria and Masaomi are looking at him weirdly, "Hey! I didn''t seduce anyone��" He really didn''t seduce anyone but he also remembered that there are too many women around him and their target of affection is him, "For as long as I remember��" Kisuke added.


    "Then what''s up with her?" Yoruichi tantly pointed Medusa. Medusa, knowing that she was caught acting weird, stayed quiet. Although there''s a bit of blush on her face as she is embarrassed at the way she''s acting.


    "See!?"


    "Ehem�� Yoruichi, it is a misunderstanding. I didn''t do anything. Maybe I''m just too handsome?" Kisuke spouted what he thought the most well-thought reason.


    Like a snake, Yoruichi''s fingers found its way towards Kisuke''s thighs, "I surrender! Let me speak!" Kisuke didn''t hesitate to stop messing around.


    ''Go wife! Make him regret it!'' Inside her mind, Medusa cheered, unbefitting of her cold exterior. It seems that Kisuke''s antics are already affecting her with the short time they interacted.


    Yoruichi didn''t put any force in her pinch yet and gave him a chance, "Go on."


    "It seems that she really wants something from me but I told her that I won''t answer any of her questions until we finish our dinner." With a serious expression, Kisuke answered her without hiding anything.


    Yoruichi stared at his eyes and asks, "Why did you do that?"


    "��Because I can?" Kisuke honestly didn''t know how to answer that question and responded as such.


    Yoruichi sighed as she''s already expecting that kind of answer and just wanted to ask to confirm it, "Will you ever stop messing around?"


    "Try asking that question to yourself��" He didn''t answer her question this time and returned it to her.


    nking out for a second, Yoruichi let go of his thighs and replied, "Fair point."


    ''What!? What are you doing, wife!? At least reprimand even a little bit! Misfortune�� Such misfortune to be caught by this kind of people��'' Medusa sighed in defeat but after thinking more about it, this is a lot better than being caught by her mortal enemies. Medusa then just focused on the food in front of her as she can''t really do anything else aside from hurrying.


    Cleria and Masaomi didn''t butt-in and just pampered ire throughout the whole dinner. But would give Medusa a pitying nce from time to time.


    Medusa is the first one to finish her food, then the rest followed�� except for Kisuke. He took his sweetest time to enjoy his food, slowly moving his food to his mouth and slowly chewing it, savoring every bit of vor in it. And after each mouthful, Kisuke would give his opinion, as if he''s a veteran critic. To top it off, there''s still a bunch of food in front of him that it would already be daybreak when he finishes everything.


    Cleria''s and Masaomi''s mouth twitches at his actions, ''This guy��''


    Yoruichi and ire got some iced deserts from Kisuke and ignored him.


    Medusa, on the other hand, wanted to pull her hair in frustration, ''This bastard��!''


    If it''s the normal her, she wouldn''t care even he took a century to finish his food or he chokes to death, but the question she wanted to ask is about her sisters who she thought had disappeared forever and became her greatest regret that whenever she would have happy dreams about them, she considers it her greatest nightmare as she knew that she won''t be able to hold them again.


    But all of that change when she saw hope in this hateful guy, so without thinking much about it, Medusa snatched the fork and knife from Kisuke''s hand and grabbed a portion of food with it, "Here, open your mouth."


    Everyone looked at her in shock, especially Kisuke. He could have stopped her from snatching his utensils but he got curious about what she''s about to do. He thought that after getting it, she would start cursing at him but he didn''t expect that she would feed him instead.


    Kisuke nked-out so Medusa called out to him again, "Open up." She didn''t think much of her actions as her goal is to let him eat faster than what he is doing earlier, and this is the best she could do.


    Seeing the food in front of him, Kisuke smiled and opened his mouth to ept her gesture, happily eating it without saying any nonsense anymore.


    The rest is just nkly looking at them as Medusa continuously feeds Kisuke, ''Now that I think about it, this is the first time someone feeds me�� It''s not bad�� I should let Yoruichi do this for me sometimeter.''


    They all recovered but still didn''t interrupted them. Yoruichi knew that Ana is only doing this to ask her question earlier and it seems that Kisuke is enjoying himself so she didn''t stop them, ''I should do this tooter.''


    It didn''t take too long for all the food to finish, "Haahh�� That was good~." Rubbing his stomach, Kisuke sighed in satisfaction.


    Cleria started cleaning the table while Medusa is holding her head in regret, ''What the hell am I doing!?''


    Without minding her, Kisuke patted her shoulder and said, "I would really be grateful if you could do that againter~."


    "Damn you!" Medusa finally cursed out.


    "Hahaha. Well then, you want to something, right? Go ahead." Kisuke just brushed her angry look and changed the subject.


    ''Right! I don''t have time to get angry at him�� I''ll do thatter!'' Medusa took a deep breath while anticipation and nervousness are starting to catch up to her.


    "Can you�� let me talk with my sisters?" Medusa voiced out her question, but she regretted it immediately. Due to nervousness, she had a slip of a tongue.


    "Sisters? So that''s how is it�� No wonder you''re too concerned about them." Kisuke rubbed his chin after hearing her question, ''I wonder how did they end up inside her?''


    "A-anyways! Can you let me talk to them?" She already let it out and there''s no use regretting about it. She wanted to know if it''s possible to talk to them.


    "�� I can''t."

 Volume 4 159 - Dream

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 159 - Dream</h4>


    "Y-you can''t?" Medusa nkly muttered, ''Then what was that all about for?''


    Medusa teared up a bit after processing his words. Both anger and disappointment suddenly filled her. She was angry at Kisuke for giving her false hope, but more than anything, she angry and disappointed in herself for grabbing that hope, ''I already knew that the result will be like this, but hearing their voices again after a long time made me so happy that I became desperate��''


    "Now, now. Don''t go crying on me now~. I not that bad to give you false hope. I only do that on my enemies~." Kisuke took out and spread his fan to cover his smiling face.


    "W-what do you mean?" A bit of hope returned, but Medusa already learned her lesson so she suppressed it.


    "Technically, I can let you talk to them, but to do that, I have to forcefully wake them up from their dormant state and it wouldn''t do any good for them�� Or do you want to go with this?"


    "No!" An immediate answer from Medusa. The safety of her older sisters is her top priority. She already failed once and didn''t want it for the second time. "Please don''t do it��"


    "Well�� It''s not like that''s your only choice~." Kisuke chuckled as he closes his fan.


    "Huh?"


    Without waiting for her to respond further, Kisuke suddenly thrust his fan towards Medusa''s forehead and said, "I expect your full cooperation after this~."


    Medusa wanted to dodge but found herself locked in ce, ''What!?'' The moment his fan touched her forehead, she lost consciousness after hearing hisst words, ''What cooperation!? I won''t do everything for you!''


    Kisuke caught the falling Medusa and delivered her to her room. Kisuke calcted that she''ll wake up in the morning, but still put up the barrier for security.


    "How is she?" Yoruichi approached him after he exited the room.


    "She''s having a good dream right now~. We''ll be going out tomorrow with her. Let''s see if they can still find her while moving around."


    "And your real intention?"


    "Shopping for souvenirs ~. I can''t go home empty-handed."


    "You also have to find something to appease Sona-chan."


    "Ugh�� Now that you mention it��"


    .


    .


    .


    Medusa woke up in a cold dark space floating, ''Where is this? What did that guy do to me��?'' She started moving around to inspect her body. Medusa notices that she isn''t wearing any article of clothing and instinctively covered her private parts, ''What''s going on!?''


    She then finally noticed that she doesn''t have a blindfold and her jewel-like purple eyes with rectangr pupils were revealed, ''!?'' She touches her face to make sure that her blindfold isn''t really there and started panicking after confirming it.


    She didn''t have time to think of what''s going on as a dot of light appeared at a distance. For the first time in countless years, she saw light.


    Normally, she would panic more at this sight as there might be other people in this ce due to the existence of that light.


    Memories of the past started surfacing in her mind and she felt like she has returned to her childhood where she living a carefree life with her sisters.


    Although she''s always been bullied by her older sisters, those times are the happiest for her. And even after a certain goddess cursed her existence, theirpany became her only harbor of peace.


    As she gets near, her surroundings started to change and it became a certain ce she and her sisters were exiled, the Shapeless Isle. On the tiny ind, there were only the ruins of a temple, the sound of crashing waves and the beautiful blue sky. There were no bountiful forests or loving animals. This is the ce where the three sisters lived in tranquility after the youngest was cursed.


    Yet Medusa''s focus wasn''t on the scenery but on the middle of the ind where there are two figures lying down, side by side, with their hands intertwined and a golden orb giving off a warm golden light between them. The two figures are little girls of around 130cm tall wearing a white gothic dress. Both of them has the same color as Medusa''s hair, glossy purple.


    "E-elder�� sisters��" Medusa muttered, stunned at the two''s appearance. A secondter, she bolted into a run towards the lying figures but was stopped when an invisible wall 3 meters away from her elder sisters rebounded her away.


    "Elder sisters!" Medusa stood up again and went to the invisible wall to try and breach it but failed. She used everything she had to break it but every single one of her methods failed, "Elder sister Stheno! Elder sister Euryale!" Medusa started banging the wall out of frustration until she suddenly remembered Kisuke''s words, ''Technically, I can let you talk to them, but to do that, I have to forcefully wake them up from their dormant state and it wouldn''t do any good for them�� Or do you want to go with this?''


    Medusa''s mind cleared up after recalling it. She slumped down to her knees with tears running down on her cheeks. This isn''t tears due to her being unable to talk to them, but tears of happiness because of their presence, ''I see�� So that''s how is it��'' Relief overtook her as she lost her strength andy down on her back to look at the blue sky. Peacefulness which she hadn''t felt for a while came.


    The first time she heard their voices when the Pursues n chases after her, she thought that it was just her hallucination due to being in a near-death situation. But when she felt their power filling her, she had a conjecture that it''s theirst will, not believing that they are still ''alive''.


    Even when she heard about the two souls inside her being saved by Kisuke, from the bottom of her heart�� she didn''t believe that they are her elder sisters. Nevertheless, Medusa thank him as she firmly believes that he save thest will of her sisters.


    After seeing this, however, she has no doubts that it''s really her sisters due to the existence of the golden orb that they are protecting. That orb is very familiar to her. It''s her Divine Core which is the source of her divinity and misfortune. It''s a wless golden orb, but she knew that it could be dyed with corruption instantly.


    Her sisters sacrificed themselves to seal the ''Gorgon''. She finally understood why did they allow her to eat them.

 Volume 4 160 - Enjoying Life

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 160 - Enjoying Life</h4>


    Medusa woke up with the sun shining through her window. She slowly sat up and heaved a sigh. After having that ''dream''st night, everything feels light. All her worries seem so insignificant. Her outlook on life also changed, instead of surviving just for her not to experience that ''hell'', she now wanted to survive to find a way to be together with her sisters again. An impossible wish in the past.


    Medusa waited for a few moments before standing up. She noticed that although the same barrier from yesterday is up, the door and windows of the room are unlocked. If she wanted to, she could escape right now, ''Is he really that confident that I wouldn''t escape?''


    Medusa got tempted to escape just because she didn''t want to go with his expectations and see how would his face look like, but brushed that thought as she really needs his help for her sisters. But imagining that kind of scenario makes her feel kind of giddy. Obviously, it''s Kisuke bad influence.


    Opening the door, she was weed by Kisuke''s cheeky grin, "Good morning~. How wasst night~?"


    Medusa wanted to get angry, but she recalled her ''dream'', for the first time, she smiled gently at Kisuke, "It was wonderful, thank you."


    Kisuke was a little bit shocked at her response, but recovered immediately and smile again, this time without the cheekiness he had earlier, "That''s great. Come here and have breakfast. We will be going outter."


    Medusa followed his steps towards the dining table and curiously asked, "Going outter? Where will we go?" She has mixed feelings about going out as her enemies are still searching for her. She can finally be sure that the pendant that he gave her earlier is working as he described.


    "Since I won''t be here for too long, I want to explore as much as I can. And besides, I want to know if they have other ways to track you outside of your energy signatures."


    They arrived at the dining area and the people of the house greeted Medusa. They noticed that herplexion and demeanor is a lot better than yesterday.


    They ate their light breakfast and the four, Kisuke, Yoruichi, ire, and Medusa went out soon after.


    Kisuke helped Medusa disguise using illusion magic. Now her knee-length hair is dyed ck tied in a ponytail while wearing a ck turtle neck and gray pants. As for the blindfold, Kisuke did extra care for it with illusion magic, adding normal eyes on her face. Her temporary eyes match her hair and it moves depending on her focus, but to those observant people, it''ll still feel a bit inorganic, so Kisuke gave her arge sunsses to cover it.


    Once they were out of the house, Medusa couldn''t help but look around due to nervousness. This is the first time she has gone out openly.


    "You don''t have to be worried. We''ll just be going around today. If someone else managed to see through your disguise, we''ll be escaping immediately." Kisuke said after he noticed that she kept looking around making her more conspicuous. He''s currently carrying ire on his shoulders while she points at all sort of things that catches her attention.


    Medusa nodded meekly and reduces her frequency of looking around. Kisuke understood that she wouldn''t be able topletelyy down her worries and just let her do what she wants.


    They went around for the whole day and the only one who didn''t enjoy their trip is Medusa as Kisuke and Yoruichi kept going to the ces where a member of Perseus n is searching. Every time they woulde across one, Medusa would always tighten her muscles and get ready forbat resulting in her not being able to enjoy the air outside. Doing this multiple times tire her out more than battling itself.


    They went back when the sun started setting. On the way, Kisukemented, "I guess they can''t find you with this much concealment."


    "I guess not�� But it won''t be for too long." Medusa replied as she looks down.


    "Won''t be for too long�� is it? Do you know how else they could find you?" Kisuke continued walking as he asks.


    "As long as a God interferes, they would easily find me no matter how much you hide my existence." Medusa smiled wryly. It''s only a matter of time when a certain Goddess gets bored.


    "I see�� As long you''re tied up, you can''t escape��" Kisuke muttered.


    Medusa stopped walking and look at Kisuke in shock, "You��!"


    "Alright, let''s stop talking about this. Even I wouldn''t be able to do something about it right now��" Kisuke also stopped walking and faced her.


    "So you knew�� Right�� Nothing can be done about it�� Unless a miracle happens��" Medusa looked down and smiled in defeat.


    "��"


    "So if you want something from me, make it fast. I can''t stay with you forever�� I just want a single thing from you��"


    "Continual safety of those souls?"


    "Yes��"


    Kisuke suddenly smiled and replied, "Okay~."


    Medusa sighed in relief at his answer and thought, ''Should I reveal my true identity to them?�� No�� It''s isn''t necessary. I''ll only be a passing figure in their life. No need toplicate it. As long as my sisters are safe, everything is fine.''


    Medusa then would spend and experience the most peaceful times of her life after her battle with the original Perseus for a few days. She would learn a bunch of things like cooking and sewing. And in that time frame, she will discover some hobbies that can bring joy to her.


    First is riding bicycles. After oveing the initial fear of being discovered by roaming around outside, she started to enjoy riding bicycles and would do it for an hour or two every day. The second is reading. Kisuke gave her some novels to pass time while he examines her by injecting his own Reiatsu-Ki and getting some blood and tissue samples. And thest one would be alcohol. Every night, she would go down drunk. Truly enjoying her life to the fullest.


    The most thing she is thankful for, however, is that Kisuke would allow her to meet her sisters every time she goes to sleep. Even though just a few days passed, Medusa would be cheerful, although her serious, cold, and quiet exterior would be there most of the time.


    At that time, Medusa recalled her sisters'' words, ''Please�� Survive�� For your happiness��''


    "I guess this is what they are talking about?" She muttered quietly to herself with a gentle and happy smile on her face. She almost forgot that there still a looming threat approaching her. What she didn''t know though, is that because of a certain guy''s decision to meddle with her affairs looking for kicks, the whole Greek Pantheon will shake.

 Volume 4 161 - Evening Talk

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 161 - Evening Talk</h4>


    Standing on the balcony of the room in a certain mansion located just outside of Athens. A petite woman with long dark hair wearing a nightgown is staring at the moon while enjoying a cup of tea. It didn''t take too long for this serene scene to be interrupted by a knock on her door. Without looking back, she answered, "Come in."


    A tall lean man wearing a white suit and a nondescript white mask entered the room, "Good evening, Miss Elexa. I''m sorry to interrupt your rest, but I''m here for my daily report."


    "��" The woman continued staring at the moon before saying, "Go on."


    "There is still no news regarding the target. But we were able to narrow it down on the Inds on Saronic Gulf." The man proceeded to bow as he reports today''s findings.


    "Is that all?"


    "��Yes."


    "You may leave."


    "Understood. Goodnight, Miss Elexa." The man walked back to exit before closing the door gently.


    A mild night summer wind blew into the room chiming the bells hanged on the windows. Elexa took her cup of tea and drank it before speaking, "Petter�� I told you not to sneak to my room."


    From the shadow in the corner of the room, a man wearing casual clothing with shoulder-length dark red hair while holding a spear walked out, "What do you n to do next, Teny."


    Elexa, who was called Teny looked back and red at him, "I told you not to call me by that name!" Along with her words, a dense amount of Mana spilled from her and crashed down on Petter.


    Petter had to take a step back and swallow his saliva at the same time of dropping his spear and raising his hands in surrender, "Alright! I won''t call you by that name!" If anyone from the Perseus n could see this scene where the ''Strongest'' of this generation is surrendering in front of the ''Weakest'', they would question their sanity.


    Elexa took back her gaze along with her Mana and faced the moon again.


    Petter sighed in relief and thought, ''This sadistic bitch is too scary��'' He picked up his spear again before saying, "What do you n to do now?"


    The real reason why Petter didn''t participate in thepetition for the n Head is that he knew how much of a monster is hiding under the skin of that petite woman. Petter isn''t really scared of her fighting prowess as he wees it greatly. Challenging her to a battle is one of his wishes if he truly wants to be strong. What scares him the most, however, is the fact that she would do anything, as in anything just to achieve her goals. She wouldn''t even hesitate to eat human flesh if that what she needs to do.


    "For now�� Wait." Elexa answered as she poured another cup of tea for herself.


    "Couldn''t you have dealt with that monster a few days ago? Why let her escape?" Petter finally asked what has been bothering him since that day.


    "It''ll be too boring��"


    "What?"


    "Athena wouldn''t like a show like that. If I had finished her off back then, I wouldn''t get what I want." Elexa chuckled for a bit.


    "��What are you talking about? You want to entertain Athena? Why would you want to do something as troublesome as that?" Petter couldn''t fathom her reasoning at all as she could already get most of what she wants if she bes the n Head.


    Elexa sat down on a chair before saying, "You really have no interest in thispetition, huh?"


    "��" Petter kept his silence and let her continue.


    "Aside from the weapons of the respective house that won in thepetition, you can receive an additional reward." Elexa rested her chin on her right hand as she looks at Petter with a smile.


    With his curiosity piqued, Petter asks with a little enthusiasm, "There''s more? What is it?"


    "Think about it yourself. Why do you think there are only four Houses in Perseus n?"


    "Because��" Petter muttered but a certain idea shed in his mind, "Ah��! You couldn''t be referring to that, are you!?"


    Chuckling, Elexa affirmed his words, "Hehe, yep. I want the Kibisis that contains Medusa''s head."


    "What!? Why would Athena even think of handing over something as dangerous as that!?" He couldn''t understand her words. Something as dangerous as a God''s head should nevernd on the hand of a human. Adding to his confusion is Elexa is so sure that Athena could grant this thing.


    "It''s indeed dangerous, but it''s not impossible to find those you can handle it." Elexa leaned back on her chair and stated her opinion.


    Petter finally got the gist of what she wants to do, "So you''re saying you want to put on a show for Athena so that she would grant you the Kibisis?"


    "Bingo~." Elexa yfully answered, but it only gave Petter a shudder.


    Petter hesitated for a bit before asking another question, "��Why would you even want something like that?" In all honesty, Petter didn''t want to ask this question as he would get involved with her schemes deeper. He only visited her tonight due to some curiosity but he didn''t expect he would get these kinds of answers. But no matter what, he already heard her goal for letting Medusa go and he wanted to make sure what are ns further as it would inevitably involve him and his House.


    "Because a great change is about to happen~. I want the strongest card I can get so that I would have a ce in it." This vague answer of her only gave Petter a bad premonition.


    "��You''re not making any sense��"


    "You''ll understand it in the future."


    "And why are you telling me all about this?"


    "Aside from the few people who knew me, I also want some subordinates when war broke out. I can''t participate in it with just me alone after all. That''s just suicide~."


    "Damn it! I got involved in something I shouldn''t have!"


    "Now, now. Don''t be too hard on yourself. Because of your skills, I would have pulled you in sooner orter~. By the wa-��" Elexa was happily speaking but stopped all of sudden.


    "Why did you st-��!?" Petter who wanted to ask what happened heard a woman''s voice inside his head.


    ''Aegina Ind.''


    "What was that!?"


    "Are you an idiot? That''s Athena''s voice. She got tired of waiting and now pointed us the direction of where the monster is."


    "��"


    "Ah~. It''ll be hard to pull her out even if we know where she is." Elexa suddenly pped her hand twice and a cloaked man suddenly appeared beside her without Petter''s notice. Petter tightened his hold on his spear to get ready to battle.


    "Shadow. Prepare that woman. It''s about time for her to take the stage."


    "Understood, master." With those words, he disappeared as fast he appeared.


    "Who''s that?"


    "My precious pawn~."

 Volume 4 162 - Eyes

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 162 - Eyes</h4>


    "Ana��" Kisuke is fiddling through his portableputer. He''s currently arranging the data he got from Medusa. He feeling excited with all the stuff he got from her ranging from theplicated arrangement of Mana inside her body and a bit of data about Divinity. He already got some clues for who truly she is, but also wondered if the legends are true and what did she do for her to deserve this kind of punishment.


    "What is it?" Medusa answered while she reads a book. With Kisuke''s help and teaching her magic to differentiate colors without using her eyes, Medusa was able to read books like a normal person. Although it''s not a substitute for vision, Medusa is very happy about it.


    Kisuke closed hisptop and faced Medusa who is sitting beside him, "Let me take a look at your eyes."


    "Wha!? No!" She removes her focus on the book and answered him immediately.


    Putting away hisptop, Kisuke pulled out snacks, "Eh? Didn''t you say I can do anything?"


    Medusa hesitated for a bit but after shaking her head, she answered, "��Still! No!"


    "Why though? I don''t think it would be that bad. From what I can tell, you aren''t actually blind. Are your eyes scarred or something that it looks ugly? I can probably create some kind of ointment to fix that. I just need you to show it to me."


    "It doesn''t have any scar�� But it''s ugly�� and most of all, dangerous!" Medusa can''t fully control her eyes. Although she can control its potency, she didn''t have a way to turn it off without sealing it offpletely. And it''s already been too long since thest time she relieved these eyes and didn''t know if she can still control it. If unlucky, she thought that she could instantly petrify Kisuke which is something she won''t like and would regret. After all, he is her savior and he let her experience all these things even if temporary, ''There''s also a chance that he''ll guess my identity and origin if I were to take it off.''


    Aside from her concern about his safety and those around him, deep inside, she didn''t want him to hate her because of her origin. If it''s the first time they met, she wouldn''t really mind if they were to know her identity, but as the days go, her reluctance grew bigger. Although she only stayed with them for a few days, each day, she would keep thinking about the time she inevitably leaves and would keep telling herself, ''One day�� Just one more day��'' until it became a form of torture for her.


    Medusa knew that if her identity were to be revealed to them, she would have to escape this cozy and happy ce. She''s a bit hopeful that Kisuke wouldn''t treat her a monster, but she knew how dangerous this feeling is if she was to fall for it. After all, the feeling of loneliness by leaving is a lot better than the feeling of despair when one is betrayed.


    "Dangerous? How? What does it do? I''m pretty confident with my ability, so I can probably deal with it." Kisuke kept insisting as his curiosity kept bothering him, ''If she''s really the Medusa or someone rted to her, then her eyes must be the petrification eyes�� I want to see it!''


    Looking at his eyes full curiosity, Medusa hesitated again and looked down, ''It''s also unfair if I keep hiding like this�� I guess this is the end��'' She decided and steeled herself, ''Dragging this any longer would only make it harder for me and for everyone else��''


    Medusa recalled the time she spent here and heaved arge sigh. She already knew that Kisuke can indeed resist her mystic eyes if he only gazes at it for a few seconds. The time she spent with them didn''t just end with her enjoying life, but also gathering information for herself. Even though she didn''t think that Kisuke and Yoruichi has enough capability to face a God, she knew that her weakened self and petrifying gaze wouldn''t be able to affect them fast. As long as she seals it again before she could do further harm, it''s fine to show it to him.


    But she didn''t immediately remove her blindfold but says, "Please tell me the state of two other souls inside me before we proceed."


    Kisuke partially knew what she''s thinking about after observing her actions, ''Hahaha~. Is she really that worried?'' He pretended that he knew nothing and answered without hesitation, "They are fine now even if left alone. They would recover their strength and would one day wake up if there are no idents that befall them."


    Medusa, this time, sighed in great relief, "Is that so?�� Thank you very much for everything you''ve done�� If I got in the chance in the future, I''ll repay this kindness hundredfold."


    "What are you talking about? This is all part of our deal. As long as you let me examines you, everything is already fine."


    "Right�� And thest thing you wanted to inspect is my eyes�� Understood��" Medusa stood up and gestured for Kisuke to follow her. She went straight to her temporary room and sat down on her bed. "Before we proceed, please set up a barrier�� A strong one since I don''t know what might happen to others if we don''t do so."


    "Gotcha~." With a snap of his fingers, Kisuke activated the barrier that he already ced inside her room just in case something happens.


    Medusa smiled wryly at his actions, "Fully prepared, aren''t you? Also, please make a hole on the barrier just in case you would need to escape if anything goes wrong and seal me inside." Although incredibly bothered, Medusa is making a way out for herself just in case Kisuke became hostile against her. Medusa ns to stun him using her eyes to make enough time for her to escape.


    Kisuke wanted to point out how naive she was but stopped himself as he knew where she ising from, "Okay~." With another snap, a small opening was created on the window leading outside.


    Medusa stood up from her bed and checked the whole is she really can go through it and after confirming that she could, she returned to her bed to prepare to remove her blindfold. Her actions garnered some admiration from Kisuke, ''It''s great that she wasn''t blinded by how we are treating her and would still check things herself.''


    "Well then��" Medusa took a deep breath before touching her blindfold. She first removed the restriction spell ced on it and the amount of Mana in the surrounding noticeably became denser. Next, she removed itpletely, revealing her whole face for the first time in many�� many years. Medusa''s heartbeat skyrocketed due to nervousness, and cold sweat started pooling on her back. She also started to regret doing this as this will inevitably change the way he looks at her. But she''s already in this stage and she can''t keep secrets forever. Before opening her eyes, she circted her Mana through her entire body and cleared her mind, entering a trance. Opening her eyes, Medusa, for the first time, clearly saw Kisuke''s face.


    Kisuke''s eyes widened when he saw her eyes and stopped moving because his mind started working in numerous ways to analyze what is in front of him. This, however, caused Medusa to misunderstand and thought that he was being petrified faster than she thought and was about to seal her eyes again before escaping for good.


    Before she could do so, however, she heard him say something she thought impossible if someone looks straight at her eyes, "��Fascinating��"

 Volume 4 163 - Embarrassing

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 163 - Embarrassing</h4>


    "��Fascinating��" Kisuke muttered with a big smile on his face as he intently stared at Medusa''s purple-jewel like eyes with rectangr pupils.


    It took Medusa a few seconds to respond due to how unexpected his response was, "Huh��?"


    If she didn''t know any better, she would think that her mystics eyes became normal eyes. But then again, she wasn''t so sure anymore and checked it. The results just gave her more confusion as she knew that her eyes were working properly�� sadly.


    Kisuke didn''t mind her reaction and kept staring straight to her eyes. Kisuke can feel his blood flow slowing down significantly if he didn''t try to resist her gaze. As an experiment, he stops resisting her power on the index finger of his left hand. The petrification started from the blood before going to his muscle tissues until it reaches his skin.


    Medusa was finally aware that her gaze isn''t affecting him in any way. Inside, she''s feeling happy at his apparent immunity, but she''s still worried about him knowing her real identity. Because of the way he''s acting, she didn''t know if Kisuke already has a clue or not, but chances are he didn''t know as she''s confident that he would make a disgusted face if he knew. So, with much hesitation, she asks to confirm, "��Aren''t you afraid of me?"


    Kisuke''s still staring at her as he answers, "Why would I?"


    Medusa gritted her teeth and said, "��Because of my identity��" She closes her eyes and waited for his answer.


    Kisuke raised his hand on her forehead and flicked it.


    "Ow!" Medusa was startled. She raised her hand to cover her forehead and looked back at Kisuke who has a cheeky smile, "What identity? Aren''t you Ana? Did you read too much fantasy book that you developed a chuunibyou case?"


    Her eyes widened at his answer, ''��He knew��''


    "��Why?" Medusa asks while she stares back at him.


    "What do you mean why? I''m too busy to go along with your antics" Kisuke still pretended that he knew nothing, but it was too obvious for Medusa.


    "Pfft��" Medusa feltpelled tough. She already put down her worries and felt relieved.


    "You''re weird��"


    "I don''t want to hear that from you!" Medusa retorted at his words as he is not qualified tobel others weird, "Thank you��"


    "Enough with that and let me take a look at your eyes more." Kisuke fixed her head in a position where he could easily examine her eyes from different angles.


    With her nervousness and worries gone, Medusa''s mind finally caught up to what''s happening. Their faces are only a few inches apart and she became extremely conscious of him. More so than normal because she has trauma andplex with her eyes. A few more seconds of staring contest has passed and Medusa''s face is now dyed red. Due to embarrassment, she covered her face with both of her hands as she can''t take his stare anymore.


    "Oi oi�� What are you doing? I can''t see your eyes if you cover them up."


    "��Please don''t stare at me�� It''s embarrassing��" Medusa bashfully muttered in a very low voice but Kisuke, who is in front of her managed to catch it.


    "What? I''ve been staring at you for a while now, and only now you''re getting embarrassed?"


    "��Please forgive me��" Medusa pleaded for mercy while still covering her face. Her ears were beat-red remembering what happened earlier.


    "For a cool beauty, you sure get shy about strange ces."


    "It''s not strange!"


    "Well, whatever. I''m done anyway." Kisuke then examined his petrified finger.


    Medusa felt his gaze moving away from her and uncovered her face. But what she saw almost gave her a heart attack, "Your finger!"


    "Ah�� Don''t worry about it�� But really�� This is amazing. I can''t revert its effects. I have to study the process of petrification and theposition of the petrified part." Kisuke then started muttering to himself.


    Without regard to his reaction, Medusa suddenly stood up and grabbed Kisuke''s hand with a petrified finger and touched it gently, "�� W-what should we do!?"


    If it''s just in the semi-petrified state, Kisuke''s Mana inside his body could automatically heal it as long as the source of petrifying ability was cut off. But apletely petrified part like this is impossible to heal from her knowledge. Even the greatest heroes in the past died with their bodies petrified. She doesn''t know if a God can reverse it but she''s sure that Kisuke is a human and doesn''t have a God''s physique.


    "Nah�� Don''t worry about it." Kisuke took back his hand and to Medusa''s shock and dismay, he suddenly broke off his finger effective cutting it from his hand. Due to this, Kisuke blood splurted out like a mini fountain.


    "What are you doing!? Are you insane!?" Medusa hurriedly grabbed his hand back with one hand and the other one tore her shirt to get a piece of cloth. She hurriedly wraps it around his hand to keep the blood from flowing out, "What are you spacing out for!? Hurry! Use some healing magic to stop the blood flow!"


    Kisuke ignored her instructions and asks, "I''m d that you''re worried about me, but you didn''t strike me as the protective type."


    "What the hell are you talking about now!? This isn''t the time! Ah�� This is my fault! I shouldn''t have agreed to this! Because of this mistake, you lost your finger! And why is your finger the only thing affected?" Seeing that Kisuke isn''t doing anything to heal his wounds, Medusa then crudely transferred her Mana to the stump of the severed finger to temporarily stop the blood flow.


    Kisuke wanted to poke more fun from her, but seeing her worried expression, he stopped himself and patted her head, "Thanks�� And as I said, don''t worry about it." Kisuke then separated from Medusa, "Ah!"


    Without waiting for her to move further, Kisuke discarded the cloth soaked in blood and suddenly donned his hollow mask.


    When the bone mask with green marking suddenly appeared, Medusa stopped herself from chasing Kisuke. She noticed that his eyes changed along with his aura. She took a step back as Kisuke''s current aura is very malevolent. She didn''t know what to do aside from watching him.


    In the part where his former finger is ced, Medusa noticed a white matter bubbling out and after less than a half of a minute, it formed a white w-like finger. Kisuke put his hand on his mask and it disappeared as he swiped up. And the w-like finger suddenly cracked with its shell-like structure falling down revealing the new finger inside it, "See? You don''t have to worry~." Kisuke then showed it in front of her and Medusa unconsciously grabbed it to examine it, "��How?"


    "One of my tricks~." Kisuke then took another look at the petrified finger and said, "This is a good specimen�� I have to go and break this down into pieces." Without waiting for her, Kisuke hurriedly exited the room to experiment.


    "��What is that all about?" Medusa muttered to no one.

 Volume 4 164 - Bad Guy

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 164 - Bad Guy</h4>


    It was only the evening of the same day that Kisuke went out of his room with his eyes shining as if he found his new toy.


    "Looks like you had your fill." Yoruichi saw his expression andmented.


    Kisuke looked at thezing dark beauty and smiled, "Yup~. Just this amount of data is already worth the trip here." Chuckling, he sat beside her andid down on herp, "How is your side?"


    "They are all gathering on this ind��" Yoruichibs his hair to get it out of the way.


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "How?"


    "No clue. Just a moment they were searching blindly, then an order from each of the current generation suddenly gathered most of their forces and is currently making its way to this ind. By tomorrow morning, they would all arrive here." Yoruichi shrugs her shoulder. She tried to trace where their information came from but failed.


    "Hmm�� I guess these so-called Gods are already trying to get involved�� I wonder how much information they shared with these guys?" Kisuke stretches his arms and legs.


    "What do you want to do next?"


    "Move the Yaegaki family back to Japan early in the morning tomorrow for now. After that, let''s see how much info they have on her location. If it''s just the general direction, then I want to know how would they pull her out. If it''s specific, we''ll back off and see how Ana would deal with it."


    "You''re just going to let her be?" It''s Yoruichi''s turn to furrow her brows. She already took a liking to the unfortunate beauty and didn''t want anything bad to happen to her, ''Seeing her genuinely enjoy every little thing in life makes me want to protect her.''


    "I want that ''thing'' to manifest and letting her be is the easiest way to achieve it." Kisuke knew what are her thoughts and smiled at her.


    "Couldn''t you just pull it out of her?"


    "I can�� But that''ll take a very long time and so much effort. Those ''things'' are already fused with her soul but from my tests, I hypothesized that it''ll temporarily separate from her when it tries to pull her down and that will be our chance to remove it."


    "Pull her down you say�� Then she would have to die once, huh��"


    "I already got that covered~. Preserving her soul should be easy, and why do you think I''ve been gathering information regarding her body these past few days?"


    "To create a new body for her?"


    "Correct. Although the same as before, her body would be a Mana construct. If I want to create it with flesh and blood, I would need something that has herplete DNA and integrate it with the new advance Gigai that I''m working on. But as expected�� That''s impossible." Kisuke sighed. It would be a lot easier if he has her original body part.


    "��" Yoruichi stayed silent for a moment before asking, "Do you n to kill that Goddess if she''s really the one who did it?"


    "�� No." Kisuke sat up, "She''s one of the main gods of the Greek Pantheon, and killing her equates to dering an all-out war with them. We don''t want that on top of being pointless."


    "Figures��" It''s Yoruichi''s turn toy down on hisp.


    "And besides, we can''t judge her just because we saw one side. We still don''t know her side of the story. My guess is that this is rted to the Gods'' divinity." And just like what she first did, Kisukebs back her hair.


    "Then how are you going to deal with them then?"


    "I''ll be hiding behind my Hollowfication. I also need to test my abilities in that form, especially the unique effect I got after transforming."


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened at his words as this is the first time she heard of it and her eyes twinkled, "You have something like that? Show me!"


    "You can watch when the timees, and that''s the main reason why I want to mess with them~."


    "Unbelievable�� No�� Should I say as expected of you?"


    "Precisely~."


    "After that? Even if you''re able to hide your identity, you can''t keep it forever. Sooner orter, we''ll be discovered and by that time, they woulde after us."


    "I''ll create a situation where they would have to strike a deal with me." Kisuke then shed a bad grin.


    Yoruichi''s mouth twitches, "�� Knowing you�� Kidnapping? Hostage? Or is it Poisoning? Which is it?"


    "Just what do you think of me?"


    "A guy who has an obsession with keeping things under his control and likes to infuriate others"


    "��" It''s Kisuke turn to remain silent.


    "What? I got it right?"


    "Two of those��"


    "Bad guy��"


    "Thank you~."


    This time, from the dining area, they heard Cleria''s call, "The food is ready!"


    Both of them stood up and Kisuke dispelled the basic one-way sound-insting magic that he put up before he sat down beside Yoruichi, "We''reing~."


    They reached the dining table and saw that they are the only ones not sitting. Off to the side, Medusa, who is already wearing a clean white blindfold, abruptly faced Kisuke when she noticed him arrive and Kisuke also unintentionally looked at her. A few seconds, however, she suddenly blushed because she remembered what happened earlier, and thinking about it further, they did something really embarrassing in her opinion. She hurriedly turned away from him.


    The husband and wife looked at Kisuke in shock but didn''t exin himself as he can feel some hostility manifesting beside him. Kisuke braced himself but didn''t put any defensive stance. A split secondter, a fist was buried in her stomach, "Gufuu!"


    "What did you do!?" From his side, Kisuke heard Yoruichi''s menacing voice.


    "I didn''t do anything�� Wait, that''s wrong. I didn''t do anything risque!" Kisuke raised his hands in surrender.


    "I''m asking what you did, not what you didn''t." Yoruichi stared down on him.


    "Wait! It''s a misunderstanding! Your husband didn''t really do anything weird to me!" Medusa was stunned at what just happened but immediately recovered and tried to vouch for Kisuke.


    Yoruichi then faced Medusa but she didn''t change her expression, "I''m listening."


    Medusa staggered backward due to the intensity of her gaze but still answered, "Earlier, he asked me to show him my eyes and I did. But I didn''t know that someone staring straight to my eyes is that embarrassing. I just recalled what happened earlier when I saw him approach but still felt pretty embarrassing after thinking about it the second time."


    "Hmmm��" Yoruichi continued to stare at her and Medusa wanted to buckle from it. After a moment, however, Yoruichi suddenly smiled, "I see. Well, let''s eat! I''m hungry."


    After hearing that, Kisuke immediately shoots straight up and followed, "Oh~. What do we have here? Such a luxurious lineup! I don''t know where to start with." He spoke as if nothing happened andmented on therge amount of food originating from many different countries.


    Cleria also recovered from what happened and chose not to dwell on it, "Ehem�� It seems that Miss Ana enjoyed the food I made no matter what it is, so I decided to make as much variety as possible for her to try." Cleria exined to Kisuke. He also received the news that the Perseus n is gathering their forces on this ind and figured that he would ask them to move tomorrow. The Yaegaki family also liked Medusa and noticed how shallow her happiness is so they tried to make something good for her before the inevitable conflict.


    "��Thank you��" Medusa tears up a bit because these people who took care of her these past few days treated her like she''s part of their family. Escaping from Perseus n''s pursuit for uncountable years, she developed an instinct that would tell her that the end is near. Her gratefulness couldn''t be expressed fully through words but she didn''t know what else to do, ''If I can survive this ordeal, I promise I''ll return this kindness a hundredfold�� Now, this is the second promise I made after that girl took care of me��''

 Volume 4 165 - Leaving for Japan

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 165 - Leaving for Japan</h4>


    The next morning, Cleria, Masaomi, and ire are all packed up and is ready to go. Most of their luggage is in a separate space. Everyone is gathered in the living room and are doing their final preparations.


    "Did you get everything?" Kisuke asks while he sets up the magic circle for the teleportation magic. The portable circle that he gave them is capable of doing the work just fine but those are designed for immediate escapes. Working on the magic circle himself will make it much more secure.


    "We got everything we need and ready to go." Cleria replied after doing the final check.


    ire walked over to Kisuke''s side and grabbed the hem of his clothes, "Kisuke-niichan, aren''t you gonna go with us?" is wearing a white one-piece dress with a ck backpack containing all of her toys.


    Kisuke did the finishing touches on the circle and crouched down to match ire''s height, "Nii-chan still has to do something. But don''t worry, it won''t take long. We''ll y when I get back." He patted her head andforted her. He knew that she''s feeling nervous because she''s going to an unknown ce and worried that she might not do well.


    After enjoying the head pat, ire nodded, albeit, reluctantly. She then went back to her mother and father''s side.


    "Now then. With this, I can teleport you any moment now, but before that, I just have a few reminders for you." Kisuke dusted his hands.


    Cleria and Masaomi nodded and were ready to listen.


    "First is that you should activate the bracelets that I gave you before going. Last night, I was able to improve a bit. The first improvement is appearance change. It''ll change your hair and eye color along with some contour of your face." Kisuke exined.


    "Didn''t you already put that feature in it?"


    "I changed it. I thought that using illusion magic will only attract the attention of those who are sensitive to Mana. What changed is that it''ll directly shape the muscle on your faces, so even if someone noticed that you''re using illusion magic to change the color of your hair and eyes, with a different face, they wouldn''t be able to connect you with anyone."


    Masaomi touched his chin and muttered, "Indeed�� If someone thought that we used illusion to change our hair and eye color and saw that there are no illusion over our face, they would think that we didn''t change our face at all." This is the most convenient scenario but not the only possibility. Nevertheless, it''s more effective than just using illusion magic all over.


    "That''s the idea. But it''ll feel ufortable for a few hours so you need to activate it now to get used to it."


    Cleria and Masaomi easily activate their bracelets and their appearance was changed slightly but in a clever way. Even with small changes, someone who knew them wouldn''t easily spot them.


    Cleria''s silver-gray hair became ck along with her eyes, while Masaomi''s hair became brown along with his eyes.


    ire took some time to activate it, but due to Kisuke simplifying it as much as possible, it''s possible for someone who can only emit their own Mana or Demonic Power to activate it. And like Cleira''s change, her eyes and hair became ck.


    Cleria and Masaomi noticed something when they activated the magic equipment, "This is��?"


    "The second change. I removed the Mana storage entirely. I was able to improve the Mana efficiency so instead of rechargeable power source, it now works entirely only with the excess Mana you''re emitting. Another reason why I chose to do this is that it''ll help to reduce the Mana you''re unconsciously emitting and you''ll only look like a normal human with that. There is a disadvantage doing this, of course. It''ll reduce your natural Mana regeneration speed. And if your Mana levels are in critical, it''ll stop working to prioritize regeneration."


    "��You just did all of that in one night?"


    "Well, I can improve it in that time frame, so why not?"


    "You''re more unbelievable than I thought��"


    "Moving on, I''m teleporting you outside of Kuoh Town for obvious reasons. Here''s a map. Written there is your teleportation location and my house''s address. You can take a bus after reaching the highway." Kisuke then handed over a piece of paper to Cleria.


    Cleria received and memorized it before burning it with magic, "We''re staying at your ce?"


    "Not exactly. You''re going to stay in my shop on the opposite road. But you have to go to my house first as there would be a guide and helper for you there. I hired a temporary maid, you see, so she''ll help you out with unpacking things." Kisuke then handed over a sealed letter. Inside it is the letter itself and some photos of Akeno''s blunder while doing housework that he took remotely with magic, ''I wonder what will be her reaction. I can''t wait for it~.''


    Kisuke is making a nasty smile so Cleria felt a bit nervous as she took the letter from him. Seeing that nothing happened to her, she pitied the receiver, ''Poor maid��''


    "Andstly, here. You can contact me through here." Kisuke took out a brass token which is smaller than the palm and gave it to Cleria.


    "Why not just use magic?"


    "That''s more secure and it actually uses telepathy so there will be no sounds emitted. You can also reply through telepathy."


    "That''s indeed better. Though we''ll have to carry this around, we canmunicate secretly if there is an emergency." Cleria nodded and secured it inside her pocket.


    "With that, you can go~." Kisuke then activated the teleportation circle and within a few seconds, they will be teleported away to start their new life.


    "Thank you everything you''ve done. Looks like my family gained another debt from you." Masaomi bowed down towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke, not a typical good guy, replied, "Then I expect full paymentter~."


    "Hahaha. That''s better!"


    "Miss Ana�� Take care of yourself too." Cleria faced Medusa who is silently watching all of this happen.


    Medusa bowed down, "Thank you for taking care of me these past few days. I''ll never forget this kindness." She feeling sad because this is probably thest time she would see them.


    "You should thank Kisuke-kun as we are just passing the kindness he bestowed us��" After Cleria spoke, they disappeared along with the magic circle.


    They stayed silent until thest motes of lights disappeared.


    "Now then��" Kisuke faced Medusa, still nkly staring at where the family of three disappeared, "Yoruichi and I will be in our room and won''t get out as we have a lot of things to do. Go enjoy yourself outside."


    After saying that Yoruichi dragged Kisuke towards their room and locking it within a barrier.


    Medusa stood on her ce silently for a few minutes before going to the side of the house to take out her beloved granny bicycle. She felt strangely lonely when she was left alone just like that, ''I should enjoy my remaining time as much as possible.

 Volume 4 166 - Bait

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 166 - Bait</h4>


    With nothing else to do, Medusa just roamed around the whole ind with her bicycle while stopping here and there for food and a good reading spot.


    It''s already 3 PM and she still didn''t want to return home as she might disturb the love birds activity. With nothing else to do, Medusa left her bicycle locked in a certain ce before going off to enjoy the summer breeze in the streets of Aegina.


    Walking slowly, she just let the crowd around her to lead her anywhere without thinking of anything in particr. This is one of the rare chances that she could let go of everything and have a peaceful mind.


    Although it didn''t take too long for this peace to be broken when she suddenly noticed that members of the Perseus n are gathered in the park while giving out flyers to everyone who passes by.


    She wanted to turn back and return home after seeing this, but the paper they are giving out gave Medusa a very bad feeling. Without much choice, to satisfy her curiosity, she waited outside of the park to look for a discarded flyer that they are distributing. It''s a lot better than walking up to them to receive one.


    After a minute, she found one in a rtively clean bin and fished it, ignoring the reactions from her surroundings.


    But as she looked at what''s printed on it, her face visibly paled and her body started shaking due to nervousness and bad premonition.


    On the flyer is a very familiar face for her. She a young girl with braided brown hair and a caucasian face with freckles on the bridge of her nose giving an initial of a country girl. The young girl who took care and gave kindness to her just like what Kisuke andpany did a few years ago, ''What''s going on!? Why do they have a photo of her!?''


    Medusa started panicking and went through the entire flyer. Other than the photo a ce and time are also written, ''Temple of Aphaia? 6:00 PM? Could it be��!?''


    A certain possibility went through her mind and she exploded into rage. She wanted to immediately behead all the members of the Perseus n who are distributing her photo but stopped herself as she would just be ying in their hands if she were to reveal herself now.


    Medusa first intended to go back home to inform Kisuke of what''s happening but she stopped her steps when she noticed how ridiculous her thoughts are, ''What the hell am I doing!? I almost dragged my benefactor to danger��''


    Deciding against it, she looked at the clock and it''s now half past 3 in the afternoon. Recalling the path to the temple, Medusa went back to the ce where she locked her bicycle and rode it to the ce which is obviously a big trap designed for her without hesitation, ''How dare they! Before I die, I have to make sure that she''s safe and if I can''t survive past tonight, I have to bring as many of them with me to the afterlife�� Though I won''t be able to apany them to hell.''


    It only took her around 30 minutes to arrive at the northeastern part of Aegina Ind from her previous location. She could have arrived earlier, but doing so would attract the lookouts'' attention.


    Several hundred meters away from the Temple of Aphaia, she disembarked from her bike and hid it in a random corner. She then looked around to search for some tour group. She finds one that is heading for the Temple. Medusa approached the group and pretended to be a tourist herself that got separated from her group but didn''t want to go back without going to the Temple. She proposed to pay the tourist guide to include her in the group and the guide happily epted her for some easy cash.


    It''s already around 4:30 PM when the group reached their final destination before going to a restaurant, the Temple of Aphaia.


    Medusa appears to be appreciating the surroundings while discussion her thoughts with other tourist but in fact, she''s meticulously gathering information. There are a lot more people than normal but that''s probably due to curiosity because of the group of people distributing a flyer regarding this ce. Members of the Perseus n are dime a dozen but she couldn''t see any high ranking member, ''So that''s it�� The real thing is on the separate space and the entrance is at the center of the temple.''


    After another 30 minutes. She left with the tour group and separated from them when got 1 kilometer away from the temple.


    "I still have an hour�� I should prepare." Medusa muttered and started hunting for the hateful n''s member with known criminal records, ''I hate to do this�� But I don''t have any other choice anymore�� As long as I keep my sanity in check, I shouldn''t descend to that form.''


    .


    .


    .


    After Yoruichi dragged Kisuke to do their ''nightly'' activity, they only finished the afternoon. While Yoruichi is breathing hard and her face flushed with satisfaction, Kisuke, who is lying beside her, almost didn''t break a sweat.


    "Damn you! Your stamina is getting even more ridiculous these days!" Yoruichi wrapped her arm around him as she calms her breathing.


    "I can utilize Hollowfication now, and it needsrge amounts stamina to keep it activated. I at least need it tost until forever~." Kisuke chuckled and pinched her butt under the nket.


    Yoruichi pped his hand away not because she didn''t like it, it''s because they still have something to do after this and once they get started again, they wouldn''t stop until a few hours more, "At least? That''s the longest possible time you can activate it. Do you n to live forever?"


    "Hmmm�� That actually isn''t impossible. If there are always interesting things, I guess living forever isn''t such a bad idea." Kisuke then looked straight at Yoruichi''s eyes.


    "What!? You already solve the problem with senescence!?" Yoruichi grabbed his head and asked him intensely.


    "Well�� sort of, but I''m still far from it. It isn''t impossible, though. Give me a few decades and I can probably do it~."


    "��Really�� You''ve exceeded my expectations again�� What are you going to do with such a long life anyway?"


    "Search for interesting things? There should be many to keep me entertained for a while. And if only there would someone who could apany me is such a long life��"


    "Hmmm�� Let me think about it��" Yoruichi then pretended to contemte her condition, "I''ll apany you if you behave yourself." Yoruichi inserted as many meanings as she womanly can.


    Too bad though, Kisuke isn''t exactly a woman and even more so, he isn''t entirely aware that his antics are a fatal attraction to some people. He thought that she was just referring to his usual attitude, "No can do~. Messing with other people is one of my ''few'' joys in life~."


    "Well�� Figures�� Fine then. I''m just too kind, I''ll apany you until you''re tired of living." Yoruichi sighed and said while looking at him seriously.


    "Hahaha~. Then let''s die together~!"


    "That''s the worst proposal I''ve ever heard�� But sure, if both of us are already tired, let''s die together~!"


    The unconventional couple has there own unconventional way of expressing their love with each other.


    "Let''s talk about thister. What about Ana? We''re pretty much sure that they are going to make their move today." Yoruichi sat up and the white nket slid on her smooth skin. She then used magic to clean Kisuke and herself.


    "Oh�� Let''s see��" Kisuke opened a holographic map in front of him depicting the whole Aegina Ind. The most noticeable thing is the red dot on the Aegina Town moving slowly with no particr direction, "It looks like they haven''t contacted her yet. I''m going to prepare and check a few things first." Beside the map, a bunch of live feed appeared featuring Medusa in many different angles as they follow her every step, "So please watch her for now."


    "You stalker��"


    "��It''s observation."

 Volume 4 167 - Watching Ana

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 167 - Watching ''Ana''</h4>


    Kisuke did the final test on his ''trump card'' to make sure that it would work as expected.


    While busy, Yoruichi suddenly called out from behind him, "Kisuke, looks like they made their move and Ana was hooked in immediately."


    "Oh?" Kisuke stopped what he''s doing and peeked at the screens. He saw Ana reading a flyer that one of the Perseus is distributing, "Yoruichi, do you have any information on the woman on the photo?"


    Yoruichi shook her head in response, "Teach me how to control these cameras."


    Kisuke taught her the basic controls of the camera and after a minute, Yoruichi mastered its use. She then controlled everything except for one to go around the whole ind. The one left kept its focus on Ana who is now shaking in rage while the rest tried to capture the faces of the people who are distributing the flyers.


    "How is it?" Kisuke asks while he prepares some tea for both of them.


    "These guys are Petter Perseus'' men��" Yoruichi furrowed her brows as she recalled the information she gathered these past few days, "But he supposedly not interested in the seat of n Head��"


    "Maybe it''s all just a ruse to throw-off other candidates?" Kisuke tried to guess but even he knew how unlikely this is.


    "If that''s the case, then he would have used this move long ago. I can''t think of any reason why he would want to postpone this." After getting the faces of those distributing the flyers, Yoruichi then gathered half of the cameras towards the location written on the flyer, the Temple of Aphaia.


    Kisuke took note of Medusa''s movement and got interested in what she''s doing, "Let''s watch for now�� It seems that Ana-san got some ns."


    "And that n doesn''t include us," Yoruichimented.


    Kisuke chuckled in response, "I guess she too kind�� I wonder what her connection with that girl?"


    "Whatever it is�� it''s not a shallow one." Yoruichi nodded at his words, ''She important enough that she could risk her life�� But why did she only appeared now?''


    "Right." Kisuke has the same question in his mind but knew nobody from both of them knows the answer so they didn''t voice it out.


    They watch how Medusa pretended to be a lost tourist to join one group to get near the temple until she went away from it. Yoruichi nodded in satisfaction on the way she moves, "Though there are some things that she can improve on, she did a great job at that one."


    "What do you think of her as your helper?" Kisuke suddenly asks.


    "Hmm�� If I can teach her a few things, then she would be a huge help when there is too much going on. And the greatest thing about her is she''s an outcast. As long as we rout this n and make sure that the Olympians wouldn''t touch her, she can do a lot of things. But you asking this�� You decided to take her in?"


    "No better choice, right? Especially now that we need manpower that isn''t rted to the Three Factions."


    Yoruichi sighed. She didn''t refute him as he''s right about them needing more manpower, but they have too many secrets and can''t recruit just about anyone. They can only do so by chance, such as this, "I also think that she the type of person that wouldn''t stop until her ''debt'' is paid after everything is over."


    After discussing taking Medusa in, Kisuke and Yoruichi heard a beep from the screens which are showing the temple, "What''s that?" Yoruichi asks.


    "Oh�� Those are additional sensors that I attached to those things. Those sensors are for scanning the surroundings'' Mana levels,position, and flow. And just one, it''s done analyzing the environment on the temple." Kisuke then approached the terminal and strike some keys. The screens then changed its disy to a bunch of numbers. Only Kisuke can understand these numbers as he deliberately didn''t put anybels on it, "Hooh�� I see��"


    "What''s up?"


    "They are hiding on a separate space." Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion.


    "Can you check inside?"


    "They''ll probably detect these things if we do that. We should only do it if I''m about to enter."


    "So you''ll be announcing your entrance?"


    "They know that someone will enter anyway so I''ll do it as shy as possible."


    "Why though?"


    "I''ve just thought of a way to make things easier~."


    "Hmmm�� Well, whatever. Do what you want."


    "That''s settled then. Yoruichi, gather everything except the one on Ana. I''ll do some modifications now."


    "Roger that~. Oh, and modify one so that it wouldn''t be detected so that I can watch the fun too."


    "Sure thing��" Kisuke wanted to say more but he noticed something peculiar at the way Ana is moving after separating from the tourist group.


    Yoruichi also noticed this and put back her attention to the screen, "What is she doing?"


    Medusa is currently stalking one group from the Perseus n who''s patrolling the area. Kisuke and Yoruichi are watching her movement closely because she currently emitting a hint of blood lust.


    When the group entered an alley where there are no other people, Medusa immediately pounced on them and knocked them all out, ''This ispletely unnecessary. Those are just minions of the real deal��''


    Just as both Kisuke and Yoruichi tried to guess the reasons behind her unseemingly useless effort, both of them furrowed their brows when they saw her next actions.


    Medusa walked towards one of the knocked down men and after a minute or two of hesitation, she took out her dagger and slit his throat. The man''s blood spurted out like a fountain and died in his sleep. What made Kisuke and Yoruichi took a serious expression is when the blood from the man floated up and gathered on Medusa''s hand like an orb. After getting everything, a tendril emerges out of the blood orb and went to Medusa''s mouth for her to drink it. The orb of blood slowly loses its volume until Medusa consumed everything. Once she was done, she burned the corpse with simple fire magic and left the scene where she stalked another group from Perseus n.


    "What was that?" Yoruichi voiced out her concerns.


    Kisuke didn''t speak and just kept looking at the screen featuring Medusa, ''What''s going on?''

 Volume 4 168 - Gathering Mana Goes Wrong

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 168 - Gathering Mana Goes Wrong</h4>


    ''What''s going on?'' Kisuke kept watching Medusa as she moves around and did another round of killing but also leaving the others alone, ''She selecting who she is killing? Why?''


    Yoruichi also stared at the screen thinking of themon denominator of all she had just killed. After a few minutes, she suddenly got an idea, "Kisuke, can you get in and take a look inside Athen''s Police Database?"


    Kisuke instantly understood her thoughts and without a word, took out hisptop. It only took him some minutes to get in and view the confidential police files of Athens.


    After that, he rewound the recording to crop the faces of Medusa''s victims to do some image search on the database. And just as he and Yoruichi expected, they got a hit on most of them.


    Medusa''s first kill is a man with multiple **** and murder cases but was dismissed due to somezily thought out excuses.


    The second is used of torturing random people that he grabs on the street, but then again, he was not convicted due to the ''absence'' of evidence.


    "Well�� That clears things up. How can she tell which one is a criminal?" Kisuke put down some of his worries. He didn''t care about the ''freaky'' way she drinks other''s blood because he knew that there are way worse things out there. And besides, it''s the way you use power is the most important thing. For Kisuke, there are no ''evil'' or ''good'' abilities.


    Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders and also let go of some of her worries, "Who knows�� Maybe she developed some kind of sense for that. It isn''t impossible. Adding that kind of sense will only make our assessment of her soar. That''s very useful for a lot of things, but I doubt that''s effective for real pieces of sh*ts out there."


    Kisuke then started modifying his ''drones'' when they arrive and left Yoruichi to watch Medusa closely.


    Half an hour after Medusa started her killing spree, however, Yoruichi called out to him again, "Kisuke�� Come here."


    He can tell Yoruichi''s seriousness from her voice and dropped what he is doing to take a look at what''s happening.


    Kisuke''s expression also turned serious after seeing Medusa''s current state. After her 13th kill, a malevolent aura suddenly exploded from her. It seems that she knew that it''ll happen so she immediately searched for a secluded corner and sat down unmoving. Gritting her teeth, the malevolent aura started circting her. After a minute the aura is now slowly moving back inside her, but Medusa''s expression kept getting worse.


    "Change of ns. I''m moving ahead of schedule." Kisuke stood up and gathered all of his ''drones'' back to his inventory.


    "I also won''t be watching from here. I''ll go ahead and watch the temple. I''ll secretly enter after you two. It seems more interesting to watch in person and some things are also outside of our expectation so having me near you will increase our safety margin." Yoruichi also stood up and transformed back to a ck cat.


    "Got it." Kisuke opened the window and faced Yoruichi onest time, "Enjoy the show~." He used sh Step and disappeared from his position.


    Yoruichi smiled and replied back even though Kisuke is not there anymore, "Give them hell~." The same with Kisuke, she used sh Step and disappeared.


    This will be thest time they would be stepping on this house.


    .


    .


    Medusa developed a way to easily distinguish what type of person is in front of her. Every time a person murders, they would get the victim''s resentment which they can''t notice and each resentment is different from each other based on how they are killed. The one Medusa could detect is resentment from victims of heinous and sadistic crimes.


    But even then, she wouldn''t target those people who did this crime for one or two times. Her minimum threshold for this killing spree is those who has resentment of five or more people.


    At first, she doing alright absorbing other people''s blood for Mana. But after her tenth kill, the ''Gorgon'' inside her started acting up. She was shocked that it was stimted earlier than expected but she still can''t stop because she knew that the Mana she gathered is still not enough to against the Perseus n, ''I have to endure it�� As long as I''m careful, I shouldn''t lose control of myself easily.''


    With that in her mind, she continued to kill and absorb blood, but after the 13th kill, her Divine Core suddenly released a massive malevolent aura and its color became a mix of crimson and gold hue that is swirling around, ''What!?''


    Normally, Medusa has a good grasp of her limits as she has already done this multiple times in the past. But she failed to consider one thing, and that is the existence of her sisters protecting her Divine Core. Without her knowledge, Medusa''s sister has been controlling and taking care of her Divine Core so that it won''t be corrupted which gave her a false impression regarding her limits.


    But due to a certain encounter with someone who has a very strong soul in a certain alley, they gambled and gave Medusa their remaining power to save her from death�� for her to get a chance to meet that person again.


    By giving Medusa most of their remaining power, they almost disappeared, but with sheer luck, they were saved by the person they are hoping to meet Medusa.


    Although not everything is good fortune as before they were saved by Kisuke, Medusa''s older sisters were forced to ''sleep'' and has been dormant ever since, even after recovering most of their usual power.


    Due to that, Medusa''s Divine Core got out of control a lot earlier and spontaneous than she expected. This change alerted the sister but it would still take some time for them to wake up from their deep ''slumber''.


    "Guhh!" Medusa hurriedly looked for a secluded corner and sat down to try to control everything. She was sessful at containing and reabsorbing the malevolent aura back to her Divine Core, but that only made it more vtile.


    Although Medusa still wanted to take her core''s control, violent thoughts started filling her mind freezing her intended actions, ''KILL! KILL EVERYONE!''


    ''No!''


    ''DRINK THEIR BLOOD AND EAT THEIR FLESH! ALL THOSE WHO TOOK AWAY OUR ''PEACE''!''


    ''No!''


    She''s fighting those invasive thoughts with all her might but it''s all for naught. Scales are starting to form throughout her whole body and her hair is now forming a head of a snake, ''This can''t go on! I have to end this!''


    Using all of her willpower, she conjured her dagger and immediately aimed it on her neck. In a sh, the tip of the dagger arrive in front of her neck but a hand suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping it from piercing her neck. Soon after, another handnded on her head and warm energy suddenly poured out from it and soothed her tired mind.


    "Don''t be hasty~. That''s not the real solution."

 Volume 4 169 - Friend

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 169 - Friend</h4>


    Kisuke arrived at Medusa''s location before she could even take out her dagger. Kisuke hid his presence and didn''t do anything as he wants to visually examine her first, ''This is weird�� Where did this aurae from?''


    Kisuke is a genius, and with his sophisticated methods, he can examine almost everything. But one of the things he couldn''t see through is the Divine Core inside Medusa. He''s not even sure about its existence as the sisters are blocking its view with their own Divinity.


    ''This is different from what I expected�� This aura did not materialize due to that blood-sucking skill�� But more of an innate origin�� Interesting.'' Kisuke focused on the malevolent aura that is slowly receding but also bing purer.


    When Medusa took out her dagger with a desperate expression, he instantly guessed what she''s about to do and made his move. Grabbing her arm which is holding the dagger with his left hand and patting her head with his right hand, he sent a soothing Reiatsu-Ki directly towards her soul. That is when Kisuke finally got some clues as to what is currently happening, ''Hooh��? That aura ising from the two souls? No�� Somewhere they are covering? Hmmm�� I''ll be breaking my promise if I forcefully remove them to see what''s going on, but I can''t let go of this chance. If I can use that as a catalyst, removing that ''thing'' would be a lot easier.''


    "Don''t be hasty~. That''s not the real solution."


    Kisuke kept sending his Reiatsu-Ki until Medusa sufficiently calms down. Although she still can''t open her senses as she still needs to focus topletely seal the malevolent aura, she can think clearly now.


    ''Hmm�� I guess I can do that. This will be another insurance. Though a trigger would be needed to activate it�� Maybe that girl in the photo can do it?'' Kisuke finalized the changes in his ns and immediately started working on it.


    Medusa, on the other hand, is doing her best to gather her aura. She could do it with enough time, but when she noticed that the strange energying from her head started helping her seal it up, she immediately epted it without thinking much about it. She trusted the hand that saved from the earlier predicament.


    Kisuke smiled when she epted his Reiatsu-Ki without much thought, ''All set~.''


    After a few more minutes, Medusa reopened her senses and the first thing she noticed is a grinning man, "Oh~. The sleeping beauty is finally up? Did you have some nightmare? Want some milk to calm your nerves or watch someedy shows to forget it?"


    Medusa blushed when she heard his words. Kisuke, on the other hand, is visibly confused, ''Hmm? Did I say anything embarrassing?''


    Medusa ignored everything that he said except for the first one and felt strangely embarrassed about it, ''What is he saying!? After seeing that? He still thought of me as a beauty? Is he blind?''


    She then took a deep breath to shake it away from her mind as there are more important things to do than entertaining her ''maiden''s heart'' that bloomed far toote, ''How much did he know and see?'' Medusa didn''t say anything and only ''stared'' at Kisuke with a worried expression. Deep inside her, she didn''t want him to know what she was just doing as it would surely result in him hating her. After all, her method of gathering Mana isn''t very ''nice'' and would reel anyone who sees it in disgust.


    Because Kisuke also didn''t speak further, Medusa was forced to start the conversation, "Thank you." She first expressed her gratitude because, without his help, she would have killed herself before she transforms into a monster.


    "I just lent out a bit of a helping hand. No need to worry about it~." Kisuke replied with a smile, but he still kept staring at Medusa because he''s still inspecting her condition.


    Medusa felt nervous at his stare but continued to ask, "W-what are you doing here?"


    "I told you right? I ced a tracker inside your pendant and it would also warn me if something weird is happening to you." Kisuke pointed at the purple gemmed pendant that is hanging on her neck to help her disguise her energy signature. Although he didn''t tell her the truth, he also didn''t tell a lie as the pendant do have those features.


    Medusa subconsciously touches the pendant while ''staring'' at Kisuke. Remembering those things she did earlier, she got more nervous, ''How much does he know!?''


    She wanted to ask that question to him but she''s too afraid to confirm the truth. Holding her shaking hands, Medusa hurriedly stood up and tried leave to escape this ce and do what she intends to do in the first ce. Although she ns to leave the ne in a safe ce before going to the temple and return to get it if she can get out alive.


    "Wait." To her dismay, Kisuke suddenly called out to her from behind. She wanted to ignore him but his next words froze her in ce, "There should still be a quarter of an hour before the arranged time and you also don''t have to follow their arrangements to letter. You can go after an hour or twoter and it''ll still be fine. For now, you should do something about the smell of blooding from you, especially your breath or else you''ll attract even the attention of normal people."


    Like a stiff unmaintained machine with rusted joints, Medusa slowly turned to face him in despair, "��Why did you save me��?" Is the question that came out from her mouth. Confirming that he indeed knew that she killed and drank the blood of her victims, his smile from earlier now looks like a sneer in Medusa''s memories.


    "Hmm? What do you mean why? I already consider you as a friend of mine, so why not?" Kisuke approached her and patted her shoulder whileughing.


    When she saw that Kisuke''s hand is reaching out for her, she got scared, but she also didn''t move to do anything, ''Ah�� This is the fate of a monster like me��''


    Giving up resisting for this is an inevitable result, she was onlyforted by one important thing, ''At least I know that my sisters are safe��'' Medusa flinched when Kisuke touches her shoulder, but his next words confused her, ''Friend? That''s a very familiar word�� But what does it mean again?'' Not associating with that word for a few centuries, Medusa eventually forgot what it means. And Kisuke speaking in Japanese didn''t help her understand either.


    "Friend?" Medusa asked out loud.

 Volume 4 170 - Hotel

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 170 - Hotel</h4>


    Medusa is nkly standing in front of a mirror which she hates so much while warm water is showering down on her, ''What''s happening?''


    The situation is too nonsensical for her to process everything that just happened. Medusa is currently taking a shower in a nearby hotel because Kisuke said that she stinks and dragged her here, ''Really�� What''s happening?''


    Going back a few minutes earlier, "Friend?" Medusa asked out loud.


    "Yep~. Friend~. Could it be that you don''t understand?" Kisuke thought that it is a problem ofnguage as Japanese isn''t her nativenguage. He then started enumerating the word ''friend'' in many differentnguages.


    As Kisuke recites the word ''friend'', Medusa gradually remembers what it means, ''Wait�� Friend means��!?'' Something clicked in her mind and she shouted at Kisuke, "Are you insane!? Why would you treat me like a friend!?" Medusa was dumbfounded after understanding what he means, ''Why would he even me a friend? Could it be that he the same type of person? Nonono�� That''s impossible! He wouldn''t have a good rtionship with kids if that''s the case. Although he is indeed entric like his wife, he doesn''t strike me as a bad person. I can feel some resentment attached to him, but not the type the criminals would have.''


    Medusa''s mind went overdrive thinking of possibilities or reasons why he would even think that way.


    Kisuke wanted tough at her indescribable expression but stopped himself as he would only confuse her more, "Don''t overthink it~. The moment you stayed in that house, I already considered you a friend. What you just did isn''t enough to consider you otherwise."


    Hearing those words, Medusa felt incredibly happy, but due to her cautious nature, she couldn''t help but ask, "But��why?"


    "You should have known what type of person I am from those few days you''re with us. I know you have that much ability or else you couldn''t have survived this long. Do you think that I''m the type of person that would categorize a power or ability as good or evil?" Kisuke removed his hand from her shoulder, took out a pair of sses from his inventory and started fiddling with it.


    Medusa also knew that but she also knew that in another perspective, what she just did is just some random killing and drinking their blood for Mana. Although she can tell her reasons to him, she doesn''t have any evidence.


    Guessing what she''s thinking after taking a nce at her Kisuke resumed speaking, "Those are criminals, right?"


    Medusa''s body shook and asks, "How��?"


    "I have my ways~. Although the credit should go to Yoruichi."


    Medusa felt that a stone was lifted from her heavy heart and was able to breathe a bit easier. But even then, there''s still arge boulder weighing down on her and that is she almost transformed earlier and Kisuke should have seen it clearly. She gained some confidence so this time, she wanted to ask him what he thought about it, "Then when-."


    But before she could say it, Kisuke suddenly interrupted her, "Ah, geez! Too many questions! Are you really that worried? And besides, even though I did say that you shouldn''t be punctual to your enemies, it isn''t a good idea to arrive toote. You need to calm down and a good shower and food should be effective."


    After saying that, Kisuke tossed the pair of sses he''s fiddling back to his inventory and suddenly scoped Medusa to a princess carry.


    "Eh!? W-what are you doing!? Ehh!?" Medusa panicked at his actions. She wanted to struggle for her freedom, but another strange feeling welled up from her stopping her from moving. She felt like not moving from this position, ''What''s going on!?''


    Before Medusa could say anything further, Kisuke used sh Step to arrive at a nearby good hotel. Arriving at the counter, Kisuke shed a smile to the girl behind it, "Give me the best room."


    There are two service representatives over the counter and both of them are girls. When Kisuke suddenly appeared with a blindfolded ck haired beauty in his hands and asked for the best room, they were both dumbfounded but their service smile immediately returned, "I would need your identification cards, sir."


    Although they looked like a couple, the girl is blindfolded and being carried. The two of them couldn''t help but doubt their rtionship and one of them readied her hand to call the police in case they needed to.


    Kisuke knew what they are thinking behind those fake smiles and said, "Ana�� Our passports are in my chest pocket, please get it as my hands are full."


    Kisuke instantly transferred the ''Just-in-case-we-needed-it-passport'' from his inventory to the chest pocket of his vest.


    Medusa is feeling embarrassed from all the stares they are getting from everyone passing by, but she still felt like not moving so she just followed her instructions and grabbed the passports from his pocket. In curiosity, she took a small peek inside the passport and saw the photos of both of them with fake names and addresses. Medusa gave him an incredulous look but obediently gave the passports to the clerk.


    Based on how Medusa acted, they now knew that there isn''t anything obviously illegal going on. They thought that they are just a couple with a weird fetish. It took the clerk a minute to record everything down before giving their passports back to them with the key to their room, "Please enjoy your stay~."


    "Thank you~." Kisuke expressed his gratitude and urge Medusa to grab their things. Without looking back, they went straight in the elevator and pressing the top floor.


    Before the door closes, however, Medusa, with her super senses, heard the people from the front desk talking about them, "Hey, what do you think about that couple just now?"


    "Both of them has a weird fetish! Do you think it''s normal to show up in front of the hotel while blindfolded? The girl is strangely used to it. Remember the way she moves without hesitation despite having her eyes covered? I must say that they have done this countless times already!" Replied the other one.


    The door closes with Medusa''s face beat red.


    They arrive at their room and set down Medusa who felt strangely disappointed. Kisuke pointed at a certain door and said, "That''s the bathroom. Take a shower to calm yourself while I order food for us. We''ll go to the temple after two hours."


    "What!? Why are-" Medusa got interrupted again.


    "Questions are forter. Go take a shower first. You stink." Kisuke took the pair of sses again to fiddle with it.


    Medusa was shocked yet again, but in a different manner, ''I stink�� I stink�� I stink��'' Those words kept repeating on her mind as she unknowingly walked to the shower and took off her clothes.


    And now, we''re back to the present, "Really�� What''s going on?"

 Volume 4 171 - Busted

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 171 - Busted</h4>


    Kisuke is currently fiddling with a pair of sses while sitting on the table beside the bed and talking with Yoruichi through theirmunicator.


    "How is your side?" Kisuke asks.


    From the token ced on the table, Yoruichi''s voice resounded, "All of them are gathering. With the exception of the current n Head and his personal forces."


    "Are they still outside of the separate space?"


    "Half of them including the current leaders of each House are already inside." Kisuke can hear the rustling of leaves from Yoruichi''s side along with her voice.


    "Anything else?" Kisuke is too focused on what he is doing with the sses and asked absentmindedly.


    "The Mana from the surrounding is gathering. I''m not sure since I''m not an expert, but my guess is that they set up arge scale formation throughout the whole Ind." Yoruichi was sure that Kisuke is already aware of it but telling him won''t hurt either.


    "I also know that. As from as I can tell, it''s just a formation for gathering Mana towards the temple. More specifically towards that separate space. The real trick is probably there but we can''t know for sure without going inside ourselves." Same as before, Kisuke answered absentmindedly.


    "Got it. I''ll continue my watch for now and report everything I find weird."


    "Thank you for your hard work~."


    "You better be. I''m just wondering where are you right now��" Yoruichi''s tone which is jovial until now suddenly took a deep dive towards the abyss.


    ''Ah�� Crap�� I forgot!'' Kisuke''s mind started running thinking of a way to exin his situation. But before he could say anything, Yoruichi ice-cold voice came again, "The distant sound of cars, the whistling blow of the winds hitting the ss window and the indistinct sound of a shower from the background�� A hotel�� isn''t it?"


    "Yoruichi-sama�� You don''t have to say anything further! I have my reasons!" Although Kisuke doesn''t have a guilty conscience, getting caught like this is still bad.


    "I know you have�� you always have reasons. If not, you won''t be making any move. But as kind as I am�� I''m allowing you to speak" Yoruichi''s voice took a deeper dive.


    Kisuke knew that panicking here would only make it worse, "Ehem�� It''s not what you think. She needs to clean herself, so she has to take a shower! And hotels just have what she needs!"


    "You can aplish it with magic within a few seconds��" Even with his exnation, Yoruichi''s voice only grows colder.


    "Ehem�� It''s not that simple, Yoruichi-sama. Although magic is really convenient, it''s not a recement for everything. She''s too stressed out with all that is happening and she just needs a good hot shower." Kisuke tried one more time.


    "YOU can do that with magic��" Yoruichi''s voice, with an addition to its cold tone, a fiery tone was also added.


    Kisuke still isn''t giving up. Not until he sees the light, "Ehem�� Yoruichi-sama, that''s only good for immediate result and she would be stressed out again after some time. While in the shower, she should be able to sort out her feeling which is a lot better than forcefully calming her using magic."


    "Hooh�� Be honest with me�� How much of your desire took over with your reasoning?"


    Kisuke hesitated before saying, "��50%?"


    "��" That silence is the most effective scream that woke up Kisuke


    "I''m sorry that was a lie. It''s actually 70%." Kisuke surrendered and told the truth.


    "��" Yoruichi stayed silent for a bit before saying, "I''m pretty sure that it''s at least 90%"


    "No no no�� Yoruichi, I''m not that big of a pervert."


    "��"


    "I guess I am, but please believe me! I really needed her to calm down by herself so that she can tolerate more thingster! I can''t have her breaking down early in the fight. I won''t be helping her unless a god or goddess decided to make a move." This is his final card. If this doesn''t solve the case, then he would have to start kneeling in front of her.


    "�� Haahh�� So? How much of that 70% is for seeing her ''just out of the shower'' look?" With an exasperated voice, Yoruichi gave up, ''I sure this pervert won''t cross the line, so I guess it''s fine to let him indulge a bit? Though I really have to punish himter.''


    Seeing that Yoruichi already epted his reason and let go of this matter, Kisuke regained his confidence. And like a reckless and fearless bull charging ahead, he said energetically, "20%!"


    "And the rest?"


    "All-in for the maid uniform!"


    "That damned fetish of maid uniform only developed when we reincarnated, right?" Yoruichi gritted her teeth and cursed internally, ''Whoever gave him that magazine, I hope you trip and knock all of your teeth!''


    "I couldn''t see its beauty before��" Kisuke closed his eyes and recalled the time when he first saw a maid fetish magazine in his childhood. Ever since then, his interest in maids skyrocketed. Although he also has an interest at other cosy, his interest with the maids surpasses the rest. This is the reason why Kisuke chooses a maid uniform for Akeno.


    "��Well, whatever. I''m going to cut my call. I can''t move much with you yapping around."


    Sighing in relief, Kisuke wished her luck, "Take care~."


    "Don''t do anything any further than the maid uniform, understand?" Even though she knew he wouldn''t do it, Yoruichi still has to remind him.


    "Y-yes! Ma''am!" Kisuke unintentionally stood up and salute.


    "Good." With that. Yoruichi cut her call.


    "Whew~. Good thing I have such a nice and understanding wife~."


    After muttering that, Kisuke heard the doorbell on their room, "Coming~."


    Opening the door, Kisuke let the service crewe in and ce the food he ordered on the table. Kisuke then gave him a small tip before letting him leave. Since he knew that Medusa would still take some time under the shower, he covered the food with his Reiatsu-Ki to keep it warm. Thinking that it isn''t enough, Kisuke took out a wine of his choosing from his inventory along with two of its sses.


    It only took 30 minutes more wait for Medusa toe out of the shower. Kisuke has enough decency not to use his detection abilities in the bathroom so he didn''t know and expect that Medusa woulde with just a towel wrapped around her, "Uhmm�� Kisuke-san�� I don''t have a change of clothes��"


    Medusa used the door of the bathroom to hide, but half of her is still peeking out to call out to Kisuke. When Kisuke saw her attire, he nked out a bit, ''Crap�� Because of that talk with Yoruichi, I forgot to give her the change of clothes��'' Kisuke burned the image of the embarrassed and timid blushing Medusa into his mind and also stealthily captured a photo, ''Good job, Yoruichi!''


    "Uhmm�� I have nothing to wear��" Medusa thought that Kisuke didn''t hear her so she asked again despite feeling embarrassed.


    "Ah�� a-hahaha! Sorry about that. I forgot~." Kisuke recovered from his ''stupor'' and took out a box containing her change of clothes. He then passed it to her through magic.


    Catching the box, Medusa hurriedly ran back in the bathroom and immediately closed the door.

 Volume 4 172 - Glasses

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 172 - sses</h4>


    "Uhmm�� About these clothes��" Although a lot better than her previous attire. Wearing the frilly ck and white maid outfit is still a bit embarrassing.


    "It''s a maid uniform. The first time you''ve seen it?" Kisuke feigned ignorance while still fiddling with the pair of sses in his hands.


    "��I know what a maid uniform is�� but why?" Medusa sat down on the chair opposite of Kisuke.


    "It''s because that''s the only clothes I have on me." Kisuke lied with a straight face. If she didn''t know better, Medusa would think that he''s telling the truth. Although it''s also useless if she were to point that out. One thing is bothering her but can''t ask though, ''How about the underwear? Why do you have a set of white underwear just right for my size!?'' She was too afraid to ask.


    Kisuke sighed in satisfaction and put down the pair of sses he working on the table. Curious, Medusa asks, "What''s that?" She can feel the residual strange energy that Kisuke uses from it. Although it''s already dispersing, she can tell that there is aplicated formation embedded on the sses.


    Kisuke didn''t answer her question, and strengthened the barrier around them, "Take off your blindfold." He instructed.


    Medusa furrowed her brows and asks, "Why?" She didn''t want to take it off as much as possible because she doesn''t know what kind of ident might happen.


    "Just do it~. You''re going to like it." Kisuke replied. When Medusa started wearing her maid uniform, Kisuke already secretly called room service for additional food. He was sure that he could finish the sses in time so he moved forward the n in his mind.


    Still confused but she already trusts him greatly. Medusa already decided not to talk about what happened earlier when she almost lost control. Without asking further questions, she removed her blindfold and the eyes that petrifies everyone was revealed to the world yet again. Mana started gathering to her eyes again without regard to her will. A secondter, the petrifying gaze returned to its full power. Medusa already knew that Kisuke can resist its effects as long as she doesn''t strengthen it deliberately. Although looking at him again with her eyes made her recalled the events yesterday and felt embarrassed by it again, ''Is it my fate to get embarrassed every time I''m with him?''


    Ignoring her reaction, Kisuke then grabbed the pair of sses again and passed it to Medusa, "Wear it."


    Medusa grabbed it in confusion while Kisuke walked towards the door, "What is this for?" She asked out loud but still wore it as he said.


    The moment she put it on, Kisuke snapped his fingers and the barrier around them suddenly disappeared, "What!? What are you doing!?" Medusa was, of course, shocked at what he did.


    Kisuke didn''t stop there, though, as the doorbell suddenly rang right after the barrier was removed. Without hesitation, Kisuke opened the door and let the service crew in.


    "Wait!��!!!" Medusa dashed towards the door to stop Kisuke but she was already toote. Without hesitation, she decided to seal her again. But just as she was about to reach out for her blindfold to cast her ''Breaker Gorgon'', a needle flew from Kisuke''s direction and it embedded itself on Medusa''s left shoulder paralyzing her in ce.


    Fear crept up to her face as she inevitably looked at the grinning Kisuke and the man with a cart full of food, "This is the food you have ordered. Where do you want me to ce it."


    Instead of looking at Kisuke who opened the door for him, he is more inclined to ask the beautiful woman who is in a maid uniform, ''Damn�� This guy has some good taste! Such a beautifuldy! Celebrities had to move away from her or else they''ll bepared to her��''


    He noticed that thedy isn''t moving and has an indescribable face, "Uhmm�� Ma''am? Where do you want me to ce your order?" He asked again while mentally, he is cursing, ''What''s with that face? If you don''t want to be disturbed, then don''t ask for room service! Sh*t! This guy is too lucky! I also want a girlfriend like her!''


    Medusa first looked at Kisuke to confirm that everything that is happening isn''t a dream. In response, Kisuke nodded at her with a grin still stered on his face, "��You can put it on the table��"


    The service crew followed her instructions and put all the food on his cart to the table. The food they ordered before is still untouched but that isn''t his problem. As long as they are paying, it''s fine, "Well then. Enjoy your stay." The man left after receiving his tip giving Medusa a nce before closing the door.


    Kisuke approached the unmoving Medusa while chucking. He removed the needle and sat back down on his chair. Even though the paralyzing effect of the needle was removed, Medusa still didn''t move from her position and only stared at Kisuke dumbfounded.


    "How do you like it~?" Kisuke opened the cork of the wine and poured on the two sses.


    "��H-How?"


    "Although it took some effort, I manage to create a formation that would only nullify the effects of your petrification, of course, within certain limits. If you strengthen your eyes on your own ord, it''ll break. But this, unlike your magic that seals everything including your eyesight, is more convenient." Kisuke exined.


    Medusa then nkly walked towards the window and looked at the view below, "��Beautiful��" This is what she longed for�� Looking at everything and not worrying about everyone that looked back at her turning into stone. A single tear flowed down from her eye. ''Convenient'' like Kisuke said couldn''tpare to what she is experiencing right now.


    "Right~. It''ll be more amazing while eating good food. Come here and join me." Kisuke urges Medusa to sit down with him to eat. He started working on the food with great relish. It''s also his way of replenishing his concentration that was consumed when he rushed to make the sses.


    "Thank you�� I don''t really know how can I ever repay this��" Medusa put her hands together and bowed down in front of him.


    "Your wee. But this isn''t for free~. You have to pay it backter." Kisuke wanted to say ''pay it back with your body'' like any other ''normal'' person but stopped himself as it''ll cause a huge misunderstanding in the future, ''I don''t want her telling Yoruichi that I''m asking for a sexual favor from her.''


    "I know��" Medusa wanted to tell him that she didn''t know if it''s possible for her to survive tonight. The Mana she gathered isn''t enough to go against everyone in the Perseus n. She wanted to gather more, but any further would only result in the awakening of the ''Gorgon'' which the most undesirable consequence.


    "Eat more. I injected Mana in those foods. It should help youter."


    "��What?�� Ah��" Medusa recalled the first meal she had with them and the Mana inside the food which was unbelievable. To inject that amount of Mana inside the mostmon ingredients is known as an impossible feat, but against that notion, he seeded. Medusa already stopped questioning everything he does as it is the most futile thing to do, "This will really help��"


    "Help me clean this upter."


    "Okay."


    "Let me study your eyes more in the future."


    "Okay."


    "Teach me how you materialize your chains and daggerster."


    "Okay."


    "And I''m going with you to the temple~."


    "Oka--�� What!? No!" Medusa almost agreed and mmed the table in agitation.

 Volume 4 173 - Deciding for the next Hairstyle

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 173 - Deciding for the next Hairstyle</h4>


    A few hundred meters away from the Temple of Aphia, Kisuke is seen happily walking and whistling towards the temple and Medusa following behind him in a maid uniform with a gloomy expression.


    "Uhmm�� Won''t you change your mind?" Medusa asks from behind.


    "Nope~. I''m not gonna miss this fun." Without turning back, he answered.


    "It''s not going to be fun! It''s dangerous enough that you can easily lose your life!" Medusa grabbed his hand to stop him from walking.


    "We already talked about this. I said I have a way to escape unscathed and I wouldn''t hesitate to leave you behind if my life is in danger. I''m not that kind after all~. I''ll still prioritize my life before yours."


    Medusa felt a bit sad from the way he worded it, but also felt relieved that he''s not the ''hero of justice'' type of person, ''Just why did Yoruichi-san have to go back in Japan without taking him with her? If it''s her, she''ll be able to change his mind.''


    Kisuke convinced Medusa by showing off his sh Step numerous times that she got dizzy just from looking at him.


    Kisuke looked at the ck-haired beauty with purple-colored eyes in front of him and contemted for a bit. Even though the disguise didn''t affect her beauty, Kisuke felt that her hair and eyes are incredibly mismatched when he looks at her, especially when he knew of her real hair color, "Hmm�� Since you''re going to the enemyir, you don''t need that disguise anymore. You can take off the pendant now."


    Thinking about it, she doesn''t really need the pendant anymore, but somewhere inside her, she didn''t want to separate from it, "�� Could you just remove its effects?" Covering the ce where the pendant is with her hand, she unintentionally used puppy eyes on him.


    ''Damn that''s cute!'' Kisuke internally thought without showing it on his face, "I could do that. Let me see the pendant."


    Taking it out, she held the purple-jeweled pendant in front of her, "��Please."


    With a touch of his finger, Kisuke instantly removed the initiatingmand on the formation ced on it. Her original appearance returned with her aura. Since her spell isn''t suppressing everything around her eyes any longer, a bit of divinity also started to radiate from her.


    The formation of the pendant didn''t just cover her aura and Mana signature but also has effects of turning away people from her if a certain number of them is around her. So when her disguise was removed, all the people''s attention was gathered to her. In addition to her aura and a bit of divinity, she appeared very regal and elegant in front of normal people.


    "What? Why didn''t I notice someone like her beside me!?" A man near them muttered in shock and confusion as it is impossible to miss Medusa in her original appearance in the crowd.


    A simr muttering was heard all over the ce and people started gathering around her and Kisuke due to curiosity and awe, "Hey��Is that a celebrity? Why can''t I remember someone like her?"


    "I''m pretty sure she isn''t. I''m sure that there isn''t any celebrity with long purple hair and eyes anywhere. And someone as beautiful as her would be a worldwide sensation�� But why is she wearing a maid uniform?"


    "Isn''t it obvious!? It''s because of the man beside her! Look at how close they are! If he''s not her master, then they are probably a couple with weird fetish!" The words from this guy spread around and instantly, Kisuke drew the ire of all single men, some of the men in a rtionship and a handful ofdies.


    If it''s the normal Kisuke, he would show the smuggest smile he could ever have but he can''t do it due to a ck cat with golden eyes perched on a tree not from them happily sharpening her ws while ncing at Kisuke from time to time which gives him a chill on his back.


    Medusa, on the other hand, felt very ufortable with all the attention she is gathering due to most of it being lustful and unconsciously grabbed Kisuke''s hand forfort.


    This action of her, however, only put Kisuke in a more precarious situation, ''Ah�� I have to protect my cool shaggy hair from the iing storm of ded wster.''


    Kisuke hurriedly cast magic to turn away all normal people and after that, there is a handful left. All of those are from the Perseus n which are staring at them with killing intent and lust. Most of them targeted Medusa. Revealing her true appearance was only a pleasant surprise for them and started thinking of a way to somehow convince their masters to spare her life for a day or two.


    Medusa''s expression instantly turned cold after guessing their identity and was about to take out her weapons to deal with them but was stopped by Kisuke, "Not now. They aren''t going to attack without instruction from their master anyway. Ignore them and let''s walk straight to the temple."


    "We''re going straight? Without even sneaking? We''re going through the front door?" Medusa almost staggered hearing his words.


    Kisuke chuckled, "It''s not like we have any other choice anyway. The moment I removed your disguise they already locked down your position."


    "��I''m sorry��"


    "Don''t beat yourself to it. It isn''t your fault. There is only one entrance and most of these guys are already inside, so it''s useless to hide. Let''s just go with a bang~." Kisuke reviews inside his mind what''s currently in his inventory that he can use.


    Looking at him with suspicion, Medusa asks,"�� What are you nning?"


    "Nothing much~. I first need to see the entrance before deciding."


    Ignoring the hostilities around them, Kisuke suddenly snapped his finger and a ck cube covered both of them. The hostile forces were alerted and took out their weapons.


    A few secondster, the cube disappeared. Medusa is still the same, wearing a pair of sses and a maid uniform, but the man beside her suddenly changed. Instead of a man with ck hair and civilian clothes earlier, what appeared is a man with a white bone mask with green markings. His attire also changed into a ck suit and his hair turned light blond, tied in a pigtail. But what caught their attention the most is his eyes. ck sclera with glowing green pupils.


    As they are wondering whether the man beside their target suddenly changed or not, A wave of malevolent aura came from him engulfing all of them. Fear instantly took over their hearts and they all knelt down not capable of even looking at his eyes.


    Even Medusa felt a bit fearful, but aside from that, a sense of security suddenly bloomed in her.


    Gathering back his pressure, Kisuke urges Medusa to walk along, "These pests won''t bother us~. Let''s go~!"


    Medusa was taken aback for a bit due to the difference in his demeanor and aura, but smiled after hearing his words, "Umm."


    Whether they noticed it or not is unknown, but ever since Medusa grabbed Kisuke''s hand, they didn''t let go of each other.


    ''Hohoho�� What hairstyle should I go for? Bald in one spot? Or Two spots? Mohawk? Maybe I should draw something funny��'' The ck cat watching from the distance thought while sharpening her ws.

 Volume 4 174 - Inside the Temple of Aphaia

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 174 - Inside the Temple of Aphaia</h4>


    The arranged time ording to their n, at 6 o''clock in the evening. Inside the separate space found in Temple of Aphaia, The current generation of the Perseus n is sitting around a stone table with a small statue of an owl which is Athena''s sacred animal.


    Dennis has a frown on his face as he stares at his only rival at this point he has, Theodore, who is currently polishing his nails.


    "Don''t look at me like that. We can settle thister." Theodore stopped polishing his nails and eyed the one who started and gathered all of them here, Petter, "I''m more curious as to where you got that country girl and why you thought that she can lure that monster here. If you make that kind of fanfare, she''ll know for sure that this is just a big trap for her. See? It''s already 6 o''clock and she''s still not here."


    Theodore is referring to the blindfolded, gagged, and unconscious brown-haired girl lying on the ground beside the table.


    Petter has his eyes closed while leaning on his chair holding his spear with his right hand. He opened his eyes and nced at his captive then transferred his sight to Theodore, "The fact that some of our members have their blood drained is proof enough that she''sing for us."


    Theodore didn''t speak after that and just continued polishing his nails.


    Dennis, on the other hand, stood up and approached the girl. He stared at her for a bit before kicking her away, "How is this trash connected to that monster."


    When Petter saw this happen, the corner of his eyes twitches and he gulped, "You don''t need to know that." He red at Dennis.


    Theodore didn''t miss this reaction of him and started to have some suspicion.


    Dennis flinched at his re and sat back down. Petter then proceeded to ignore him and closed his eyes to rest.


    "Uhmm�� Shouldn''t we stop this?" Elexa who is quietly sitting with them all this time suddenly spoke, "It''s already 6 o''clock anyway�� She probably won''t show up."


    "Shut up and just wait! What are you doing here anyway? You''ll just hinder us so go home before you get hurt!" Dennis snarled at her, pouring his stressed mind on her. Ever since he failed to kill Medusa that night even with the use of their House''s poison which they developed through several generations in secret, his father kept ming and beating him up for failing to meet expectations. And among those who''re currently present, he can only take it out on his subordinates and Elexa, ''If she really blocks my way to kill that monster again, I''ll break both of her legs this time.''


    "Hiih!!!" Elexa reeled back to her seat due to the immensity of pressure is releasing towards her.


    "Stop this nonsense!" Theodore red at Dennis and took out his weapon, a whip, "If you want to go at it, then you can invite me! I''ll be happy to oblige!"


    "Do you think that I''m scared of you!?" Dennis pulled out his rapier and circted his Mana, "And why are you standing up for this bitch!? Isn''t she just a hindrance!?"


    "None of your business, sh*thead! If I want to protect her, then that''s up for me to decide!" Theodore in response, also released his Mana, ''Although she''s a hindrance, she''s also one of the rare naive and kind person in this fucked up n. I want to protect this flower or else the whole n will be one more step into depravity.''


    With his spear, Petter cut the table into half, "If you want to fight, do it outside. It seems that both of you aren''t interested in that monster anyway."


    Dennis and Theodore''s face became dignified. They both red at each other before sitting back down. Elexa gave Theodore a gratified nce but he ignored it.


    The stone table they are using is situated in the center of a stadium akin to that of the Roman Empire''s. Around the stadium is the boundary of the space which looked like a kaleidoscope of colors. It''s a small artificial space owned by Athena and was lent after someone from them asked for permission to use it.


    On the audience''s stand is the Four Houses'' subordinates with their current leaders except for the n Head.


    The House of Harpe has around 150 people and at the center of them is an old dignified man standing at 6 feet tall holding a greatsword in front of him. He''s still fuming after the fact that his son failed to kill the monster on top of revealing their House''s secret weapon against it.


    On the side of the House of Flight, there are only around 80 people which is only more than half of the rivaling House. Same as the first one, the current leader is standing in the middle of them. She''s a middle-ageddy wearing a ck nightgown and a ck fan held over her face. She''s Theodore''s mother, but instead of watching the movements of the seemingly strongest force, her attention is on the House of Shield where Elexa came from. There are surprisingly only two people present from them. One of them is a girl of the same age as Elexa and is currently wearing a worried look for her master. She has blonde hair and currently wearing a full te armor covering most of her body. On her side is a short sword and attached on her left arm is a small shield.


    The other one is a tall figure covered in a ck cloak. Just from his aura, he looks mediocre but Theodore''s mother thinks otherwise as her instincts are screaming at her whenever she looks at him.


    The House of Invisibility is the second House with the least member present numbering only 10 of them. All of them has a stupid look on their faces still wondering what they are doing there.


    Just as Dennis and his father started to lose their patience, a report came in loudly, "Medusa was spotted along with a Human man!"

 Volume 4 175 - Special Bombs

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 175 - Special Bombs</h4>


    Kisuke and Medusa have reached the center of the ruins of Temple of Aphaia. Some time ago, people have started leaving this ce making it devoid of any walking tourists or locals, "So this is the ce�� Are we supposed to enter this magic circle?" Kisuke wandered around inspecting the ce for any clue that he can get. The only other people left hanging around are those from the Perseus n. They are staying a few hundred meters away from them and both Kisuke and Medusa ignored them entirely.


    "It seems so�� Are you really going with me?" For onest time, Medusa asked Kisuke.


    "I''ve already decided. Even if you ask me a thousand times, I won''t change my mind." Kisuke kept looking around. He already has a clue as to what''s inside the alternate space, ''Hmmm�� So if we enter that space, it''ll automatically lockdown? And the Manaing from inside is weird�� Divinity? So a god or goddess is already inside? Hehehe. Great, I''ll be able to test it for quite some time.''


    From the corner of the temple, a small shadow jumped towards Kisuke''s position. Medusa was about to retaliate but Kisuke stopped her by raising his hand. Kisuke caught the ck figure in his arms and said, "Oh my�� What a cute kitty~." Then proceed to pet it.


    The ck cat, Yoruichi, however, doesn''t want any of it and started wing on his chin, ''You bastard kept seducing everyone! Taste my wrath!'' She shouted internally and jumped around his shoulders and back to try to reach his hair.


    "What is this cat doing here? Did it get lost? Let''s bring her out of this ce first before going." Medusa wanted to touch the cat too, but she can feel that the ck cat is somehow emitting hostility to Kisuke and is trying to w on his hair and she hesitated. Although Kisuke kept waving his head to dodge her ws.


    "Nah�� We''re bringing her with us~." Kisuke then caught Yoruichi and stopped her from moving by hugging her in his arms.


    "�� Don''t bring it in if you can''t escape with her."


    "I can and I will, alright?"


    "Fine��" Medusa let out a sigh and asks, "What do you n to do now? Do we enter just like this?"


    Yoruichi stopped struggling as she knew this isn''t the time for that and she would better chancester when Kisuke is outside of his Hollowfied mode, "Hmm�� Let see�� Our choices are limited if we''re outside��" Kisuke stared at the magic circle to study it and found a loophole. Normally, this magic circle won''t transport non-living things only. They have to be apanied or carried by a living being with a certain amount of Mana, "Yosh~. Let''s do that!" Kisuke said and started rummaging his inventory with arge smile on his face.


    Medusa took a step back and watch him with vignce. Although she can''t see his face right now due to his mask, she can tell that he has a big grin from her short interaction with him, and whenever he makes a face like that, someone is bound to suffer. Kisuke then took out 5 balls made out of paper which is as big as a baseball and ced it on the magic circle. Kisuke ces his hand on the magic circle and it automatically activated. Seeing this, Medusa immediately runs to his side and grabbed his shoulder. If Kisuke would be transported, she would be included too. But to her surprise, instead of doing what it is supposed to do, the light of the magic circle started blinking and after a few seconds, the five balls of paper were transported.


    "��What did you do?��" Medusa nkly stared at him.


    "If you touch it, it''ll automatically draw Mana from the surroundings to transport you. But if you can control that intake of Mana and only activated certain logic gates in it, you can modify its effects or remove its restrictions to some extent." Kisuke exined like it wasn''t a big deal, which is true for him.


    Medusa, however, held her forehead and sighed, "Although something like that is possible in theory, no one can actually do it! How can you finely control Mana which didn''te from you!? If you can do that, then you''ll be able to cast magic even with your own Mana depleted!"


    "Eh?�� Well�� With the power of friendship, everything is possible!" Kisuke randomly thought of a reason.


    "That''s not how it works!" Which immediately earned him a retort from the normally ''cool'' beauty.


    "Hahaha~. Just think of it as me being me~."


    "��" Medusa wanted to say something but can''t find the right words, "For some reason�� I find that actually a good reason�� What the hell��" Medusa kept muttering to herself until she calms down and asked about the second thing she is curious about, "What are those paper balls? Why did you send it away?"


    "Ah, those? Just some special stink bombs~"


    "��Why?" Her head started hurting again trying to find the reason for his actions. She wanted to ask why he has something like that or if he created it himself but save herself from frustration in hearing his answer.


    "It''s to lower their fighting spirit and concentration~," Kisuke exined. Although that really is one of his reasons, his main goal lies elsewhere but he didn''t tell it to Medusa. Kisuke could have sent a bomb that is strong enough to kill everyone inside the alternate space, but he didn''t do so for multiple reasons. First is, Medusa''s goal is to save the girl from the flyer. Second, he doesn''t know if everyone inside deserves to die, and he didn''t want to cross the line of killing everyone to kill the thief hiding among them. The third is they are all just small fry and killing them is useless to him. Andstly, even though the Perseus n acts that way, they are still a powerhouse in the region. Removing them entirely would create arge vacuum of power where other powerhouses will try topete with each other to take their territory. Only innocent small-timers of the supernatural world will suffer from that and even normal people could be affected which is something he definitely didn''t want to happen.


    Hearing his senseless words, Medusa gave up immediately and only waited for him to go in. Kisuke waited for a few minutes before stepping on the magic circle with Yoruichi in his arms while Medusa holding one of his arms. She didn''t want to get separated from him during the transport and physical contact is a good measure for it. That''s the reason she used to convince herself.


    Once they were transported, they appeared in the middle of the arena. The first thing Kisuke noticed is not the people inside the arena and on the audience stand, but the owl statue in the middle of a stone table. He didn''ty his eyes on it for too long though as he pretended not to notice it. His first words, however, drove the people around with great rage, "Nice to me-�� Damn! Who the hell just farted!? And this smell? Whoever you are, a suggest you go see a doctor! You''re probably constipated for a few years now! Or maybe this is how you wee your guests? Is this a cultural thing? Quite unique�� and smelly if I were to word it nicely."


    A man with a rapier instantly reacted, "You bastard!!!"


    Kisuke''s eyes opened wide and said, "So you''re the constipated guy. You can die from that you know~."

 Volume 4 176 - Not in the Plan

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 176 - Not in the n</h4>


    "Medusa was spotted along with a Human man!" A man came in from the outside world reported.


    "Finally? Where is she? You guys! Let''s go and get her before she escapes again!" Dennis asks andmanded his subordinates simultaneously.


    The same man hesitated for a bit before saying, "Sir, we''re sure that she''s Medusa due to the aura she is emitting, but there''s something wrong with her��"


    Dennis, along with the other three furrowed their brows, confused at why this guy is fidgeting while reporting. "What''s wrong?"


    He stayed silent for a moment as he''s still trying to recall what he just saw, thinking if it''s real, "She''s dressed in a maid uniform��"


    "What��?" Dennis nkly asked. Their minds started running at full capacity trying to guess the monster''s intention of doing so.


    He knew that it''ll hard for them to believe his words because even with the long record of hunting Medusa, this has never happened before, "It''s true! And most importantly, she isn''t wearing a blindfold but a pair of sses instead!"


    " "What!?" " Along with his words, Dennis and Theodore stood up in shock. It''s understandable since never in their records Medusa revealed her eyes after her first beheading. And, indeed, Medusa never revealed it again due to her hate for it and strange reluctance to use it.


    Elexa and Petter were also shocked at his revtion but calmerpared to the two.


    Theodore calmed himself and thought for a bit and asks, "What about the man with her? What''s up with him?"


    "Sir�� We don''t know anything about him. All we can tell is that Medusa seems to follow his directions��"


    Theodore, Dennis, and Petter now are making ugly faces. They couldn''t imagine someone like Medusa would follow someone, a human man at that. It''s pretty well known in their n that Medusa, along with her sisters, has abnormal hate for men.


    The man has nothing else to report, so he stepped aside to let these young masters think of their next course of action.


    After a few minutes, another man entered the space and reported, "I''m here for another report! We wanted to pressure Medusa along with the man, but he suddenly changed his appearance and wore a white bone mask with green markings and pressured all of us instead! We judged that even if all of us who are outside goes against him, we wouldn''t stand a chance!"


    ''Where did this guy came from? What''s his goal? Why is he helping that monster? He is pretty strong, alright�� But all of those stationed outside are the weakest of the n. Even I could do something like that easily.'' Theodore thought to himself and eyed Petter to gauge his reaction. He can tell that he''s a bit shock at this development, but returned to his normal demeanor. But seeing this, Theodore''s suspicion grew�� Petter is giving him a feeling that he doesn''t want to get involved in this, but he''s the one you set all of this up, including asking Athena to use this ce. Theodore then transferred his sight to Elexa. As he expected, she''s still concerned about Medusa. Although Elexa is the one closest to him if it''spared to his other cousins, she''s also the weirdest as sometimes, she would give him apletely different feeling�� as if she''s a different person from time to time.


    Shaking the unnecessary thoughts off, Theodore focused on the said man apanying Medusa, "Where are they now?"


    "�� They areing straight here."


    "Hooh? If that''s true, I don''t care if Medusa''s eyes were relieved or some unknown guy is wiping her ass for her, they''ll both die here." Dennis looked at Theodore but thetter didn''t react to his words, ''Heeh�� Your confidence will be your downfall. You all thought that the poison is the only secret of our House? I''ll ''identally'' cut your head along with that monsterter.''


    After a few seconds, Dennis and Theodore both noticed that Elexa has been strangely quiet. Normally, if Dennis started saying something like that in front of her, she''ll refute his words immediately, but they only saw her look of concern while looking at the point where people appear after they are teleported inside.


    ''Big sister�� I wish you luck on saving them�� I hope you seed.'' Elexa earnestly thought, ignoring the words of her cousins.


    "Dennis! Don''t f*ck this up!" From the audience''s stand, the old man in the middle of the members of the House of Harpe shouted.


    Clenching his teeth and fist, Dennis answered, "I won''t let you down, father!"


    "Theodore! I know you want to get the seat of the n Head for our House andte father�� But don''t risk your life for something like this��" Instead of shouting like the old man, thedy from the House of Flight, Theodore''s mother sent a telepathic message to her son.


    "��Got it, mother. I know what to do." Theodore replied the same way and his expression became serious. Like Theodore, his mother noticed something unusual. They feel that this won''t end with just thepetition for the n Head, though they can''t tell where the bad feeling ising from.


    Everyone inside became busy as they prepare for the iing monster. After their preparations, they waited for a few minutes before the magic circleing from the outside lit up. Everyone on the audience''s stand drew their weapons and kept quiet, but instead of the anticipated Medusa and the unknown man, five balls of paper appeared which put a question mark on everyone''s head.


    A secondter, the balls lit up in white light. Petter and Theodore, with the sharpest instinct in the crowd, yelled, "Get down!!!"


    Arge explosion that shook the entire space came. Strangely though, it didn''t do any damage beyond a meter of the balls and it just spread a cloud of yellow smoke.


    The smoke immediately spread throughout the arena and the people started cursing. The loudest of them all is Dennis, "*Cough* *Cough* What the f*ck!!! What the hell is this!!! Smells like fart!!!"


    The bomb is actually a smoke bomb that spreads nasty smell.


    Everyone who can block the sense of smell immediately did it with the use of magic. But they underestimated the stink bomb, as the nasty smelly fart actually went through their barriers and directly assaulted their sense of smell. Even if they physically cover their nose or even if they stopped breathing altogether, they could still smell the strange fart. Truly a horrifying weapon of mass difort. The one who made it is a genius without equal, but he used his smarts in such a nasty thing.


    Everyone thought that they should evacuate the ce as there are no winds to blow away the bad air, but soon after, they noticed that the smell is slowly disappearing along with the yellow smoke. After a few more minutes, it disappeared entirely as if it''s all just a bad dream. Although there are still lingering smell, it''s a lot better than the saturated smell of doom.


    Everyone felt relieved except for four people, Petter, Theodore, Theodore''s mother and the cloaked figure in the House of Shield. They all thought that if the enemy is capable of sending something like that despite the restrictions on the magic circle, then it''s also entirely possible that they could just send a nuke to kill them all without even being able to retaliate. Cold sweat started to flow from their backs.


    A few secondster, the magic circle lit up again and everyone felt scared of another round of stink bombs and prepared to obliterate it with magic before it can even explode.


    To their relief, no stick bomb appeared but a man with a white bone mask wearing a ck suit along with their target, who is wearing a maid uniform, Medusa. They all stared at them nkly until the man spoke up, "Nice to me-�� Damn! Who the hell just farted!? And this smell? Whoever you are, a suggest you go see a doctor! You''re probably constipated for a few years now! Or maybe this is how you wee your guests? Is this a cultural thing? Quite unique�� and smelly if I were to word it nicely."


    Dennis instantly reacted and pulled out his rapier, "You bastard!!!"


    The masked man ckened eyes opened wide and said, "So you''re the constipated guy. You can die from that you know~."

 Volume 4 177 - Fight

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 177 - Fight</h4>


    Dennis drew her rapier and dashed towards Kisuke''s direction. However, before he could travel half of their distance, the maid from his back intercepted the enemy like a loyal retainer defending her master.


    With daggers attached to a chain in both of her hands, Medusa met Dennis'' de with ease. Seeing that he can''t overpower her anymore like thest time they met, Dennis frowned, but smiled after a few seconds, "Nice to see you alive and well, monster. This time, I''m going home with your head on my rapier."


    "Such bad taste. No wonder nobody likes you." Medusa''s cheap provocation instantly enrage the muscle head.


    "You dare insult me, Medusa!? Fine! Before you disappear in motes of Mana, I''ll let my subordinates do whatever they want with your headless body!" Dennis took back his rapier and thrust it in a different angle, using the full force of his body strengthening to speed up his attack.


    Waiting for this moment, Medusa flicks her left arm and the chains attached to the dagger danced and coiled around Dennis'' arm which is holding his rapier. With another flick, she changes the trajectory of his arm and used his own strength to throw him away, "What!?"


    Medusa just exhibited speeds that they never saw before and now they knew that she''s almost back to her full strength with just a few days of her going out of their radar.


    Dennis flew like a baseball who was just struck andnded on the audience''s stand near his own house members creating a crater and spreading clouds of dust and debris, "Gah!!"


    "Dennis! You useless son of mine!" Dennis'' father went after him to check his state.


    Medusa didn''t watch this though as her attention is on Kisuke because Dennis just called out her real name. Peeking a nce at him, she noticed that his expression didn''t change despite being covered by a mask. She smiled and sighed in relief, feeling arge boulder disappearing from her shoulders which she has been carrying for quite some time.


    Medusa then looked around the saw a blindfolded and tied up girl. She is Ana, the one who took care of her a few years ago for several days. Medusa doesn''t know how they find her, but it''s probably because she left some clues or maybe a god is watching her back then and gave this information to them. Either way, it''s her fault why shended in this predicament and she would even give up life just to save her. Life is a cheap price for her anyways.


    Medusa dashed towards her but stopped by a whip and a spearing after her. She jumped back a few meters before taking small jumps back to Kisuke''s side who is currently enjoying the show while petting a ck cat in his arms.


    Medusa gritted her teeth and red at two people who appeared beside the bounded girl, Petter, and Theodore.


    "Petter�� Looks like your bait is really effective. I''m sorry if I doubted you before, but could you let me have a go with her first?" Theodore said to the man who took back his spear.


    "I can''t let you do that. I want to enjoy a show, and it seems that she recovered quite arge amount of her strength so this is good timing�� Men, bring it out." Refusing Theodore, Pettermanded the handful of his subordinates who are present to proceed on what they nned.


    Theodore''s brows furrowed even more as this is contrary to what he wants to do just a few days ago. He looked at his mother and both of them nodded at each other before Theodore decided to back away without a protest. He slowly walks towards his mother to regroup. He also partially already gave up on the n Head seat due to the weirdness of the situation and chooses to just watch from the sideline. Theodore also grabbed and dragged Elexa who is strangely quiet but also very flustered at what is happening. This is also one of the points he is suspicious of, but he can''t ask her directly because he has a feeling that something will go wrong if she answers him honestly, and he trusted his instinct in times like this more than his reason as it already saved his life multiple times in the past.


    Medusa ignored Theodore who is moving away and kept her sights on the man with a spear, "Release her! She has nothing to do with this! Your goal is met, and here I am."


    "I want to fight you in your full strength, but after thinking for a bit, that''s too dangerous. It seems that you managed to gain some of your powers when you''re being hunted by a multitude of heroes. Although I can fight you in that state, I want to see what you can do about these guys first." Petter snapped his fingers to signal his subordinates to do what they agreed earlier.


    From the numerous entrances of the arena, arge thud was heard along with shes of chains. A few secondster, a creature came walking and roared to the sky with its three heads. This is a being that is an amalgamation of goat, lion, and a snake�� A Chimera. It has a lion''s body with two heads, a lion''s and a goat''s. Its tail is arge serpent that is longer than its body. While the lion head doesn''t seem to have any special ability, it''s in full control of the body except for the head and capable of using its strength to full potential. The goat head has red eyes and it''s spewing bits of fire from its snout while the snake tail mouth is releasing venomous fumes. All of its eyes were focused on Medusa with its full-blown hostility.


    "What!? Why do you have something like that!?" Medusa took a step back. She started thinking of the strategy to fight it.


    "It''s something that Athena lends us. As for where it came from, I don''t know, but you''re to y with it for a bit." Petter sat down back to his chair dragging along the unconscious girl, "If you were to win, I''ll give this girl back to you unharmed."


    Medusa was about to dash forward to meet the bizarre creature, but Kisuke stopped her by grabbing her shoulder, "You don''t have to meet it alone~. I''m going to help~." Yoruichi in her cat form jumped down from his embrace and went to a shadowy corner to watch.


    Medusa hesitated for a bit. She could deal with the Chimera, albeit with some difficulty. But she needed to stay alert against the man with a spear''s other plots so having him as a back up is a big help, "Thanks."


    "You''re wee~." Kisuke then took out a katana. It''s Benihime but he let her took the form from when he was still an active Captain of the Gotei 13 instead of a cane, "Though if things got too dangerous, I''m going to escape by myself, okay?"


    "That''s fine�� That''s what I hope for you to do��" Medusa nodded and agreed with his words, but deep inside her, she''s feeling a bit lonely that he could readily say something like leaving her behind. She tossed those thoughts in the back of her head to focus on the uing fight.

 Volume 4 178 - Chimera and Manticore

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 178 - Chimera and Manticore</h4>


    The goat head of the Chimera spewed fire on Medusa and Kisuke''s direction. They easily dodge the attack by jumping to the side and the nked it on both sides.


    Medusa manifested her chains and threw the dagger towards the lion body. Although she sessfully hit it, its thick hide stopped the daggers from impaling it more than an inch. This, however greatly enraged the lion head and chased after her.


    Using her superb agility, Medusa dodges its pounces and kept throwing her daggers at it. She wanted to weaken it first before trying to tie it up with her chains because if she didn''t do so, it''ll only break free due to its monstrous strength.


    Medusa took a peek at Kisuke''s side with some worries. Although the lion is dangerous, it isn''t as dangerous as the two other heads spewing me and venom at him.


    With a single nce, she took back her sight andined internally, ''He''s still in the mood to y?''


    What Kisuke is doing is going to ces where it is most crowded. He''s chasing after the Perseus n members with dementedughter while dodging the mes and venoms. Numerous wails of agony were heard throughout the entire colosseum as the coteral damage increases as Kisuke jumps around.


    ''I doubt they''ll release Ana after defeating this guy, but I should finish this immediately.'' With Ana blindfolded and Kisuke has resistance against petrification. Medusa removed her sses and stared at the lion head.


    The lion head also inadvertently stared at its prey, but it didn''t know the danger of those beautiful crystalline eyes. A few secondster, the lion body slowed down. After a while, its hide slowly turned into stone as itpletely ceased its movement. The only ones who can move are the snakehead and the goat head. Due to its focus on killing Kisuke because he kept provoking, they failed to notice the predicament they are in. They only noticed it once the lion head and bodypletely stopped moving.


    Unknowingly, they also looked at Medusa''s eyes and slowly turned into stone. Medusa increased the potency of her eyes by injecting it with Mana. Although the consumption isn''t ideal, it''s a lot better than slowly dealing with the Chimera and risk losing even more Mana.


    Without any cue from each other, Medusa and Kisuke dashed towards the frozen stiff Chimera and started cutting off its three heads. A momentter, they killed the Chimera for good and Medusa wore her sses again.


    Both of them looked around and saw that more than half of the people alive turned into a stone statue. With them in an isted space, Medusa doesn''t have any remorse in turning them into stone. She only hesitated using it outside due to some innocent people or bystanders getting caught in her gaze.


    Even in those who are alive, not all of them got out of if fine. Some of their body parts turned into stone and would take some time before they could heal or even move. Others are only lucky due to them not looking at Medusa''s eyes when she used it. It was due to them busy saving their lives while running away from the creepyughing man chasing after them with deadly mes and venom behind him.


    Those who are on the upper echelons of the n arepletely fine due to them receiving Athena''s blessing beforeing here.


    On Petter''s back, cold sweat started pouring as he didn''t expect the strength and potency of the infamous petrifying gaze. Although he sighed in relief soon after as thankfully, he only has to follow the nid out for him. Fighting Medusa one on one is not on his mind anymore as he''s afraid that Athena''s might fail some way of another.


    "G-Good job�� But I didn''t say anything about it being your only opponent. I already predicted that you would use your eyes, but as expected, it isn''t as strong as the Gorgon''s." Petter only followed the line he''s supposed to say and thought to himself, ''When did I be an actor?''


    With another snap of his fingers, another Chimera emerges from the entrance of the arena, but this time it isn''t alone. Along with it is another monster from the ancient world. It also has a lion body but unlike the Chimera, it only has a single human head that doesn''t have any traces of sentience. Spikes are growing from its back, a tail of a scorpion and a pair ofrge bat-like wingspletes its body, a Manticore. Compared to the Chimera which is the


    amalgamation


    of different animals, its human head with three rows of sharp teeth and overflowing with acidic saliva increases its grossness level by a few folds. Even Kisuke winced at this sight as even hollows don''t have such disgusting appearance, ''The other world is really amazing��''


    "Can you deal with that thing?" Kisuke pointed at the Manticore and asked Medusa.


    "The Chimera isn''t a problem since it''s slow despite having a lot of strength. The Manticore, however, although weaker than Chimera in strength, it''s very fast and capable of flight. Not only that, it''s range is a lot longer than the Chimera for it can shoot out the spines on its back with a very wide angle. And the most dangerous of its abilities its venom which is a lot stronger than the snakehead. That scorpion sting is also the fastest part of its body. Its other abilities are weakpared to the one I mentioned before, but it''s also capable of weak mind interference with its voice. To a normal person, they wouldn''t have any resistance against it." Medusa exined its abilities in one breath.


    "Thanks for the info~. You take care of the Chimera, and I''ll deal with the Manticore." Kisuke proposed.


    "No! I''m going to take care of the Manticore. As long as I freeze it with my eyes, I can easily take care of it."


    "You better not use those eyes anymore��"


    "What? Why?" Medusa knew Kisuke''s observation ability and asked.


    "Unlike the first one, I can tell that those two has advanced resistance against your eyes�� They are designed to go against you."


    "��" Medusa gritted her teeth in frustration, ''I knew that they would eventually find a way to resist my eyes effectively, but this came in a very wrong time�� Is it Athena?''


    "So let''s stick with my n. Kill the Chimera first so that you can assist me with the Manticore." Kisuke ran towards the Manticore. He took out a simple dagger from his pocket and threw it on his face which sessful in angering the monster locking its attention to Kisuke despite not damaging any part of it.


    Medusa wanted to stop him but is toote. All she can do is deal with the Chimera as soon as possible. For starters, she manifested 12 chains attached to a dagger and controlled it telepathically to attack the Chimera.

 Volume 4 179 - Bellerophon

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 179 - Bellerophon</h4>


    Medusa kept running around the Chimera. She imitated Kisuke''s actions and led it around the whole stadium, killing some of the n''s members along the way. Although dead members are desirable results, that isn''t her main goal. Unknown to everyone but Kisuke who saw what she''s doing, Medusa is secretly setting up magic circles for her magic for future use.


    Although she needs to kill it as soon as possible, she still has to n for their future actions and nting possible trump cards could be their key to victory. Medusa also didn''t forget their real goal of securing the blindfolded girl. If she''s sessful in getting her, they didn''t need to fight any of them and just escape.


    After a few minutes, she''s done setting up her magic and controlled the 12 chains to attach to different parts of the Chimera''s body.


    Using the chains, she kept shing and going around the monster which enrages it greatly. Medusa is waiting for a single moment that it''ll lose its patience and put all of its Mana to an attack. And just as she expected, when she put herself opened for an attack, the beast immediately took the bait and put all of its Mana to its ws intending to cut her into pieces.


    Before it could do that, however, faster than the beast Mana gathering, four chains wrapped around the two necks and tail. Pulling it with all her might and transferring the sharpened Mana to the chains she pooled inside her before, the chains dug to its flesh and eventually beheading all of its head at the same time.


    The Chimera stopped all of its movement with its heads dropping on the ground with a loud thud. Everyone is silent. Even the Manticore who is chasing Kisuke around stopped for a moment. The Chimera died before it can even let out a cry.


    "!?" Watching all of this, Petter felt relief that he didn''t have to fight her. He underestimated her too much. Although he can also defeat the Chimera, he can''t do it as fast or as easy as Medusa did, ''But she used a lot of her stock Mana�� That unknown guy is also a problem�� But as long as I can push her to use that, everything will be fine. I guess should just bring out everything and scare that guy�� It looks like he the type that wouldn''t hesitate to abandon her if things get dicey?''


    Medusa first looked at Ana before deciding against saving her for now as Petter tightened his hold on her. She turned around to help Kisuke deal with the Manticore but she stopped her steps when she heard Petter spoke, "Not so fast��"


    Another snap of his finger, arge number of shing chains was heard throughout the whole area and one by one, a bunch of monsters appeared ughtering everyone in their way. A total of 7 Chimeras and 3 Manticores.


    "I-Impossible��" Medusa muttered, "Where are you getting all of this extinct beast?"


    "I don''t have any obligation to answer your question�� Just defeat all of this and I''ll give this girl to you." Petter replied with a sneer.


    Instead of entertaining him, Medusa immediately went to Kisuke''s side to help him retreat and stayed quiet to wait for him to speak.


    "I don''t think I can do this��" Kisuke spoke with a frown on his face. The ck cat, Yoruichi jumped back to his arms.


    Medusa already expected this and sighed, "Go�� I''ll cover your back. The teleportation circle isn''t far from here��"


    "��Thanks��" Just a word of gratitude and Kisuke turned back to run to the direction they entered. Medusa did her best to fend off the monsters'' attacks from all side and she received several wounds from it, some of which are intended for Kisuke.


    They reached their target and Kisuke immediately stepped on it. He turned back and saw Medusa''s disheveled appearance with multiple cuts all over her body. Her maid uniform already turned into a rug and can only cover her important parts. The only unharmed part of her is the pair of sses and the purple gemmed pendant hanging on her neck, both of which are a gift from Kisuke.


    "��Take care��" With a sad smile on her face, Medusa said her final goodbyes. Chances of her surviving this ordeal are low and if she wants to save Ana, she''s going back to ether state where she would suffer for another three generations.


    There are so many things that she wanted to say to him as he showed her a new door where she can go and enjoy life even for a short period of time. Although she wanted to try and discover more things, what she had this past few days are already enough for her to remember for multiple lifetimes. Looking back, she''s already more indebted to him than Ana multiple times.


    "Thanks�� And this isn''t the end." With those words that don''t seem a goodbye, Kisuke disappeared in motes of light still with arge grin on his face.


    Medusa was dumbfounded, but shook her head and smiled wryly, ''It''s probably just his way offorting me��'' She wanted to talk to him more, but that''s already impossible. Now that she''s sure that Kisuke is safe, She can stop holding back. ''I have still two cards left�� I''ll use one to disrupt everything and the second one to escape. If I can toss Ana on the magic circle, I can bring everyone here with me to the afterlife.''


    ''This is it!'' When Petter saw this, he immediately turned around to flee bring with him the unconscious girl. The other who saw this also started fleeing. Heck, if the strongest guy from them started fleeing after seeing what Medusa is doing, why wouldn''t they?


    From the magic circle, she summoned her Divine Beast which has been sleeping inside her Divine Core all this time, a Pegasus. Medusa''s Pegasus is incredibly weakened due to her state, but it''s still a Divine Beast and wouldn''t lose to any of the monsters in front of her.


    Along with the appearance of the awe-inspiring beast, from Medusa''s both hands, appeared a shining golden bridle and a whip as a set. She immediately put the bridle on Pegasus and rode it, flying with it to the sky.


    Pegasus shined in white light along with Medusa, "Bellerophon!" And as if a bolt of divine lightning, they descended with extreme speed leaving a trail of white light. A split secondter, they swiped down in the middle of the roaring and fleeing monsters, killing them in blood and gore along the white light''s wake.


    A few secondster, everything settled down and everyone peeked from their hiding ces to the devastation created by Medusa''s magic. All of them shuddered at its might that it might as well as strong as a big missile that annihted everything.


    Although it''s strong, it''s still on the level of a normal mage capable of castingrge scale magic. High-ss Devils or Humans with strong Sacred Gear is capable of the same destruction.


    These people have never seen arge scale battle that shaped the terrain so they were in distraught after witnessing one. But unknown to them, Medusa already approaches Petter''s side and impaled the arm which is holding Ana. In an instant that their mind became upied, Medusa used that chance to snatch her goal, the one she''s indebted for and shouldn''t have been in this situation if not for her.


    While carrying Ana in her arms, Medusa bolted with all of her remaining strength towards the magic circle to exit this ce. She didn''t have any reason to use her second trump card as it isn''t needed. Thinking that she could meet him again, she ran with all her might. Even though the scenery is grotesque, her heart is light as a feather.


    But her wishes were popped like a bubble when she suddenly felt a burning sensation in her chest and she instantly lost control of her body and let go of Ana. She tumbled down and rolled for a few meters before stopping. With difficulty, she turned her head and looked at her chest. There is a knife sticking out of it and the only person who could have stab her is the one she''s trying to save, Ana.

 Volume 4 180 - Entry (Kisukes Thoughts)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 180 - Entry (Kisuke''s Thoughts)</h4>


    Going back in time before they enter the isted space, Kisuke checked and revised the ns in his head. He started simting different scenarios inside his mind and kept thinking of the easiest ''solution'' of each of them. Byying down the foundation that is the stink bombs he sent earlier, he formted multiple ns to respond to a variety of things that could happen.


    ''The first thing I need to make sure is to reduce the number of watching eyes�� If possible just to a single one�� After that, trapping that guy and force him or her to make a deal with me.'' For this goal, Kisuke started thinking of ways to achieve this and plotted his actions to enter some scenarios he wanted.


    ''But the easiest way is still letting them do what they want�� It seems that they are obsessed with ''Ana'' and I want to know their reason first before making a final decision. For now, I''ll stick to my first n of watching and controlling some things in the background.'' Waiting for a few minutes more, they entered the isted space which isn''t that big. Just enough to fit this whole colosseum with some free space at the side.


    Kisuke''s mind started running at full capacity after taking in the information he got from his senses the moment he stepped in this ce.


    Even though Kisuke can probably finish all he needs to do by just using brute force, it''ll leave a lot of loose ends which could tie him upter in the future. Despite his overwhelmingly strong abilities, he didn''t want to underestimate his opponents because he could never tell what they can actually do as he doesn''t know all and every ability that exists in this ne. And most importantly, using just muscles isn''t his style.


    Kisuke first notice the statue of the owl on the stone table, ''Hmm? A gazeing from it? And multiple intents�� That should be where those guys behind this are watching.''


    Taking care not to let it notice his intent, he transferred his focus on the surrounding space, ''The space closed after we entered? Can I use Descorrer (Loosed Void)?'' Kisuke swayed his left hand in front of his mask and put his right hand on his back, "Nice to me-�� Damn! Who the hell just farted!? And this smell? Whoever you are, a suggest you go see a doctor! You''re probably constipated for a few years now! Or maybe this is how you wee your guests? Is this a cultural thing? Quite unique�� and smelly if I were to word it nicely." While saying this, he stretched his forefinger and a fourth of an inch ck opening in the space appeared, but Kisuke immediately dispelled it before it can drill a hole through the Dimensional Gap, ''Good, One escape route acquired.''


    "You bastard!!!" A guy with a rapier shouted at him.


    With a smile, though it can''t be seen behind his mask, he said, "So you''re the constipated guy. You can die from that you know~."


    Sessfully provoking him, Kisuke was about to intercept when Medusa arrived and did it for him. He didn''t think much of her actions as he needed to focus on other things for now. Ignoring their fight, Kisuke inspected the magic circle that didn''t disappear even after closing the whole space. Taking a quick nce at it, he instantly burned it to his memory and looked forward. Kisuke then started calcting where the magic circle leads and found that it goes to a random point in the Dimensional Gap. To any normal person, stepping on this magic circle will spell doom, ''We can''t use this as escape route with her friend over there�� Should I tell her?''


    "You dare insult me, Medusa!? Fine! Before you disappear in motes of Mana, I''ll let my subordinates do whatever they want with your headless body!"


    These words caught Kisuke attention, ''Hooh? Considering her artificial body, she''s the real Medusa from the legends?'' Kisuke already has a few guesses regarding her identity, but he''s a bit surprised that it''s Medusa who should have died countless years ago, ''So those two souls are really Stheno and Euryale? Great, now I just have to know their true goal�� Or maybe Athena''s true goal. From Cleria''s ount on records, the three sisters manifested and became goddesses due to human beliefs, I wonder how are they different from the Olympian Gods? Or maybe they''re the same? Hahaha, more mystery to uncover. Just like what I wanted! This trip is really fruitful! I can get information on the physiology of gods plus a maid!''


    If Medusa were to know what Kisuke is thinking right now, she would haveughed at herself for worrying needlessly, constantly burdening herself of what would happen if he were to know her real identity. The right answer is ''he couldn''t care less''.


    Ignoring them again, Kisuke transferred his attention to the people inside. He first looked at the girl they are supposed to save. He confirmed that she''s really unconscious but she''s not giving Kisuke any good feeling. Increasing his vignce against her, Kisuke looked at the others. The guy with a rapier is an idiot. It very clear that he''s nning something. Being knocked out on their first exchange Kisuke judged that he should put a bit of attention to him in case he drew out something nasty.


    Next is the guy with a whip. Kisuke can tell that he''s suspicious at what is currently happening and frowned, ''That guy should have a pretty high position but he''s also suspicious? Of what?'' Noting his hidden expression, Kisuke looked at the next guy who stopped Medusa from approaching Ana.


    ''Now this guy''s demeanor also doesn''t match his actions�� It feels like he''s just following a script. Hehehe�� Interesting�� I wonder how will this story unfold~.''


    Lastly, he looked at thest of the supposedly current generation, ''Heeh�� This girl is concerned about Medusa? But why isn''t she doing anything? Is she waiting for something?''


    Kisuke also noted some of the notable characters, including the two leaders of each of their respective houses and the figure in a ck cloak. Everything is unclear, but he intends to watch the proceeding from the sidelines and started to look for a chance to retire. He doesn''t like being watched after all.


    After the Chimera appeared, Kisuke wanted to dissect it very much as he wanted to know how its neuralwork works but stopped himself as this isn''t the time yet, ''I should capture er�� It seems that there''s a lot of those at the back.''


    Kisuke grabbed Medusa''s shoulder and said, "You don''t have to meet it alone~. I''m going to help~." Internally though, he''s thinking how to y with it.


    "Thanks."


    "You''re wee~." Kisuke then took out a katana. It''s Benihime but he let her took the form from when he was still an active Captain of the Gotei 13 instead of a cane, "Though if things got too dangerous, I''m going to escape by myself, okay?"


    "That''s fine�� That''s what I hope for you to do��" Medusa nodded and agreed with his words.


    Kisuke noticed her lonely look but didn''t say anything about it as he won''t truly abandon her. Because he already decided to help her, he wants to see through it until the end.

 Volume 4 181 - Dead?

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 181 - Dead?</h4>


    Medusa turned her head towards Ana who is already standing without her bindings and blindfold, "��W-why?" She asks with apparent confusion in her eyes.


    "Really�� What a monster�� Even with your neck sliced and your heart pierced, your still alive. I even added a strong paralyzing agent in that knife and you can still talk�� As expected of a former goddess I guess?" Ana walked towards her slowly and muttered.


    Medusa heard everything she said but what caught her attention is her voice. Her memory is pretty good, and even if a few years has already passed, she can still remember Ana''s voice clearly, but that isn''t the same as the current ''Ana'', "��W��who are�� you?" Medusa couldn''t move her body anymore and could only speak, albeit, with great difficulty.


    "Oh?�� You can still remember her voice?" ''Ana'' started chuckling. Even though it''s the same face, Medusa couldn''t find the demeanor she remembers.


    "Y-you�� What did you do�� to Ana?" Medusa tried standing up but failed. She knew that the chances of Ana still alive is nill so she med herself for her fate. Medusa then started circting her forcefully halted Mana to activate herst card that will bring everyone in here to their deaths. She''s really thankful that Kisuke already left or else she wouldn''t have the confidence to exclude him from her magic''s effects.


    "Of course we were able to find her after you momentarily disappeared from our radar a few years ago." ''Ana'' started exining with a sneer on her face, "We tried to get information from her ''nicely'' but who would have thought that she''ll insist that she didn''t know you until the end~. We even informed her your true form but she just brushed it off as nothing more than a parlor trick."


    Hearing all of those, Medusa gritted her teeth and a wave of intense guilt washed over her. Adding to that is another wave of rage that she hasn''t felt for a while. Resolving herself, she activated the final sequence of her magic.


    Seemingly unaware of what she''s nning, ''Ana'' continued speaking, "��You aren''t even going to say anything back? How boring~. Since it already serves its purpose, I should remove this disgusting skin."


    After saying that, various ck lines appeared all over her body and bloody skin started to peel off from her. This disgusting sight winced everyone who noticed it and only one person reacted differently after revealing the person behind the bloody skin, "Elder sister!? What are you doing!!? Why are you doing this!!!?" Elexa shouted from the audience stand while being covered by her escort, the armored knight and her cousin, Theodore.


    Theodore was also shocked at the turn of events more so when ''Ana''s'' true face was revealed. She''s the spitting image of Elexa, "You have a sister!?"


    But Elexa ignored him and kept shouting at her sister, "Elder sister Teny!!! Why are you doing this!? Didn''t you say that you wanted to stop this messed up tradition!? Why!!?"


    From their side, the cloaked figure jumped down and went to Teny''s side carrying a towel, "Mistress, please clean yourself."


    "Thanks, Shadow~." Grabbing the towel, she wiped the blood off her face.


    "Y-you!�� What did you��" Medusa couldn''t believe what she is seeing. Then a possibility went through her mind�� No, it''s almost confirmed.


    Ignoring her sister''s outburst, Teny faced Medusa again, "Ah�� Did I forget to tell you? It became a habit to torture her and I only killed her a few days ago. I skinned her alive and used it for my disguise. After all, I have to be cautious of your eyes and I thought you''ll be able to see through me instantly if I use illusion magic. It''s a shame though, I really liked her scream of agony~."


    "You bitch!!!" With her rage reaching new heights, Medusa activated her magic, "Blood Fort Andromeda (Outer-Seal, Blood Temple)!!!"


    Simultaneously activating the magic circles she ced earlier, Medusa created a Bounded Field that cuts the space from the rest of the world. With the size of the isted space, the field instantly covered it entirely dying the whole space blood red.


    A ck eyeball appeared at the center of the arena and everyone around started panicking and wailing, especially those who has low magic resistance as they can feel that their life force is being slowly drained from them and is going to the ck eyeball.


    The weakest of those alive lose consciousness after a few seconds of Medusa''s magic activation and their body started to melt into a pool of blood slowly gathering towards Medusa replenishing her Mana and slightly healing her injuries, including the paralyzing poison that has been injected into her.


    At this rate, only those in the higher hierarchy will survive Medusa''s magic. And with the gathered Mana, she''ll use everything she can to take down the rest as a chance like this wouldn''t easilye to her.


    That was the n, however, just as most of the Perseus n gave up resisting, with a snap of a finger, Teny manifested a seed. She then threw that seed towards the ck eyeball and it disappeared inside. A momentter, a nt sprouted from it and started covering the eyeball with vines and branches. The vines became tree trunk and stretched to the ground digging through the ground. A few more seconds and the eyeball was squeezed to nothingness and what''s left is the olive tree that sprouted from it.


    "��W-what?" Medusa muttered in disbelief and understood what just happened, ''Athena''s olive tree��''


    Medusa''s magic was broken. Although she was able to heal for a bit, she''ll only survive for a few more minutes against their assault before being killed in vain.


    "Surprised? That''s Athena''s olive tree. Though if I must confess, I didn''t expect that I would have to use it so early�� I guess this girl''s death is not enough to push you." Teny sighed in disappointment, "Athena should have enjoyed the show so I guess its time to end this." Teny stopped in front of Medusa and pulled out a sword from her own inventory and pointed it towards her neck, "I can only ask Athena to lend me the Kibisis."


    Medusa can tell that she''s actually the strongest of the bunch here and the cloaked guy next to her isn''t far from her in terms of ability. She quietly lied down and closed her eyes in disappointment and guilt. The only thing she is thankful for is the fact that Kisuke escaped earlier. Medusa subconsciously held the pendant hanging on her neck.


    From the distance, Elexa escaped from Theodore and her escort''s cover and jumped down to the arena. She ran until she''s only a few meters away from Teny. Theodore and the armored woman hurriedly followed after her, "Elder sister! Please stop this!!! This isn''t what you promised me!"


    Teny turned her head to face the wheezing Elexa, "Of course it is�� If I were sessful then I would have stopped this tradition. But sadly, I failed to pull it out from her."


    "What are you talking about? Shouldn''t we stop this to stop the tradition!?"


    "No�� You misunderstand me. Athena wanted a certain condition to be met and the mission of the Perseus n is to achieve this condition. But through the years, it became a contest who can kill this monster first, forgetting their initial goal."


    Gritting her teeth in hate, Elexa asks, "And what is this condition?"


    "It''s useless even if I tell you. I already failed."


    Theodore grabbed Elexa from behind and red at Teny, "I didn''t know Elexa has a twin sister�� Is this the House of Shield''s trump card? Now that exins why ''Elexa'' sometimes seems like a different person."


    "Oh my, Theodore. Your instinct is really outstanding. Adding your intelligence, you''re a great asset~. Say, why don''t you work for me?"


    Theodore knew that refusing her in this situation is bad. His instincts are screaming at him that he shouldn''t involve himself with this lunatic, "Let me think about it after I calmed down. And since things here are finished, Our house would like to take leave first."


    Without waiting for her reply, he dragged the whining Elexa with him towards the magic circle where they entered and signaled his mother to leave this ce. The rm in his head still hasn''t and wanted to leave as soon as possible.


    "Since I like you, I would suggest that you don''t leave," Teny called out from behind. She already removed the sword from Medusa''s neck and started twirling it yfully.


    Theodore stopped walking and asked, "��Why?"


    "You see, as one of Athena''s condition, one of the rules of this space is that, as long as Medusa is still alive when she entered this space, nobody is allowed to leave."


    This caught Medusa''s attention and roused her from her lethargic pace.


    "Didn''t the guy that entered with her just left?" Theodore asked and it''s also the question that Medusa wanted to an answer to. Although a bad feeling is already creeping up to her.


    "Oh, that guy? This magic circle actually leads to the Dimensional Gap. And that guy who just jumped in without proper preparations and with just his human flesh, what do you think will happen?"


    "��He''ll be consumed by the ''nothingness'' of the Dimensional Gap." Theodore answered.


    "Bingo~! In other words, he''s dead~." Teny happily replied.


    "��What��did you say��?" They then heard Medusa''s voice which is out of sort.

 Volume 4 182 - Transformation

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 182 - Transformation</h4>


    ''He''s�� dead?'' Medusa kept repeating this question inside her mind. After processing her words and the cause of his death, an unprecedented swirl of emotions welled up inside her. The series of self-me, hate, rage, and grief left her in the bottom of abyss heartbroken.


    "No��" Refusing to believe what Teny just said, she desperately looks for reasons that could turn around such a conclusion, "No! That isn''t true��"


    Teny looked back to Medusa who is making a desperate face and was taken aback, "Hmm? What''s this? Why are you so desperate now?"


    "No�� He isn''t dead�� It''s Kisuke after all�� He could walk out of the Dimensional Gap just fine��" Medusa ignored her and kept muttering to convince herself, but it''s not very sessful. For one, Kisuke never showed her any technique or ability that could help him survive the Dimensional Gap. Second is she knew how terrifying that emptiness is due to that is the ce where she would suffer for the next three generations after she dies.


    "��Wait��" Teny inspected her more closely with gleaming eyes, "Could it be that�� you fell in love with that guy?"


    "��What?" Medusa unconsciously muttered.


    A few momentster, Teny started shaking andughed out loud, "Ahahahaha!!! Now, this is the best! Who would have thought that a man-hater like you would fell in love with some random man!?" Alongside with herughter and mockery, she started seeing a bit of light to achieve her goal. She didn''t think that Medusa would react greatly after saying that some random man died but immediately used this chance to aggravate her emotions more. If she''s sessful at drawing ''that'' out, Athena would take over and she would only harvest her bountyter, "What? Can''t believe that he just died? That guy isn''t even a Sacred Gear user. And to survive that empty space as a human, you have to at least have a Longinus. And Longinus is impossible to find just anywhere~."


    "No�� Kisuke can survive�� He can find a way to survive��" Medusa refuted her words but her voice is minuscule. Even she doesn''t have much confidence.


    ''How annoying�� Well, it''s not like I have to tell the truth. Even if he survives, it''s impossible to return to this space with Athena''s olive tree present.'' With arge smile, Teny continued speaking, "Hmm�� Let''s say that he did survive��"


    "Then��" Medusa found a bit of strength and stood up and waited for Teny to finish her words.


    "Then Athena would finish the job~. He is, after all, an outsider that knows far too much~. Erasing him is just a matter of fact."


    "��" Medusa stared at her nkly. Her mind went empty trying not to ept those words.


    "You could say that because he got involved with you, he died miserably~." Teny hammered the final nail in the coffin.


    Medusa''s head dropped down and they couldn''t see her reaction anymore, ''What? It''s not enough? Should I insult that guy more?''


    Just as Teny was about to say more, they noticed that the air around Medusa started to change and ck and golden scales started to appear on her limbs while her long purple hair started to form snakeheads, "Everyone! To the olive tree!" Teny shouted as she hurriedly retreated towards the olive tree with the cloaked figure. Theodore dragged Elexa who still trying to resist so he knocked her out and signaled her mother to follow suit. Petter not far behind them reached the olive tree first and golden specks of dust suddenly burst out of the olive tree.


    Just as they retreated, the silent House of Harpe suddenly made their move. The father and son duo rushed towards the unmoving Medusa while both of them is carrying arge Harpe, "Hahaha!!! Idiots letting this chance pass by! The House of Harpe will take their victory with this replica of the legendary Harpe!" Dennis shouted with great vigor. His father and he are already waiting for this chance to snatch a kill. This replica of their House''s Harpe has 10% ability of the original. It''s not enough to kill an immortal but it''s sharp enough to cut almost everything. This is the trump card they''re hiding all this time. Even if Medusa uses all of her chains to block the Harpe, she would only be cut along with her weapons.


    Thinking that their victory is in their hands they rushed, using all of their strength for a single strike. It''s not like they didn''t notice Medusa''s changes but they were confident that they could end her with a single sh.


    However, before they could even reach her, Medusa''s hair, in the form of a snake, opened its mouth towards them. Both Dennis and his father couldn''t react when a beam of purple light suddenly went through them. Next moment, the spectators witness them tumbling down�� headless. Even the de of the Harpe was destroyed by the purple beam.


    Everyone reeled in shock, including Teny as she knew from the information she has how good and durable is that replica actually is. With theirbined effort, they wouldn''t be able to nick its de. But in an instant, it was destroyed by a seemingly casual attack of Medusa.


    "What''s that!?" Theodore asked out loud. Even though they can feel Athena''s protection from the olive tree. They can''t tell if it is enough to actually defend from that purpleser beam. Seeing Medusa''s transformation, Theodore got a clue, "Is this your goal!?" He directed this question towards Teny.


    Now that she''s under the olive tree, Teny heaved a sigh of relief, "Yep~. I didn''t think that I would seed though after the initial failure. Now we know that the monster is actually in love~. That''s hrious~."


    "Why are you still so calm!? Those idiots just got instantly killed! Aren''t we also in danger here!? Let''s leave now!!!" Theodore shouted. Petter nodded from the side having the same suggestion.


    "No need~. Athena would be here soon. And this olive tree is enough to block her attacks for quite some time. I already said it earlier, right? You can''t leave. Even I can''t survive in the Dimensional Gap for more than a minute. Let''s just wait here and watch the show. Later, I''ll give you some constion prize when I get rewardedter."


    ''This crazy bitch�� How did she be Elexa''s sister?'' Theodore silently thought. If he were to know everything else that Teny did in the shadows, he''ll question if she''s still a human.


    They all witnessed Medusa''s strange transformation. Medusa grew a golden snake tail with a ck underside on her backside and her limbs and sides of the neck got covered by golden scales with ck tint on all of her hands and feet On her head, five snakes formed from her hair which is ck in color with red outlines. Her attire is still the same tattered maid uniform which gave her an alluring look despite her monstrous appearance.


    Medusa looked up and towards her hateful enemies with two streaks of tears on her face while wearing a crazed smile. Her left hand is covering her chest, more specifically, the pendant that Kisuke gave her. Despite losing most of her rationality after her transformation, she still wanted to subconsciously protect it.


    "Die!" Medusa suddenly shouted and all of the snakes on her head opened their mouths and shoot outser beams towards the group huddling around the olive tree.


    "Crap!!!" Theodore held Elexa tightly ready to dodge any time if theserse closer to him and her. But outside of his expectation, the beams of the purple light curve after reaching the olive tree''s influence diverting it towards outside leaving them unharmed.


    Seeing this, Medusa''s crazed smile change into an unfathomable rage and kept attacking, "Die! Die! Die!" But all of her attacks were diverted away, making Medusa rage even more.


    Hitting the limit of her patience Medusa suddenly castrge scale magic without preparations, "Thousand Demon Eyes, release.


    "I will return unto you your curse. Be melted down.


    "Pandemonium Cetus! Fuhahahahahaha!"

 Volume 4 183 - Athena

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 183 - Athena</h4>


    "Thousand Demon Eyes, release.


    "I will return unto you your curse. Be melted down.


    "Pandemonium Cetus! Fuhahahahahaha!"


    Renouncing herst vestige of Divinity, epting the curse which turned him into a monster, Medusa, cast a spell that is many times stronger than her previous ''Blood Fort Andromeda'' with any prior need for setup.


    Everyone is already in the vicinity of the olive tree, but those around more than 3 meters away from the tree instantly liquefied into a pool of blood and gore before gathering towards Medusa for consumption.


    She continuedughing maniacally with a tear-stained face while absorbing the life force of everyone who died and converting it to Mana.


    Those who are inside the 3-meter boundary are the important people of the n and was able to survive. But even then, they can feel that their life force is being robbed at a faster rate each second and sooner orter, they too would turn into a pool of blood and gore despite the protection of the olive tree is providing.


    "Dammit!!! Are we going to die here!?" Theodore muttered and used his Mana to resist Medusa''s magic and also using some of his Mana to protect Elexa and his mother.


    Teny and Petter kept quiet but they too also started to lose their cool, ''When will Athenae!? The monster she''s been waiting for already appeared!''


    Just as they thought that they would die for real, a golden light came from the owl statue which is on the stone table and it then transformed into a woman in golden armor.


    The woman is as tall as Medusa when she''s still in her human form. She has waist-long slightly wavy ck hair that reflects light. She has a pair of red-wine eyes and a slightly childish face contrasting her height. Despite that, she has a beautiful face that could captivate any normal man. Her chest would be on the slightly smaller side which is the same size as Sona Sitri''s.


    Teny cheered internally at her appearance, ''Finally! Thiszy bitch is moving herzy ass!'' Changing her expression instantly, Teny faced Athena with an aggrieved expression, "Goddess Athena! Please save your loyal followers from this demise!"


    The golden armored woman, which is Athena, furrowed her brows for a bit before instantly returning to normal. With a single leap, she arrives and floated above the olive tree and raised her shield without any words.


    The shield gave off a warm golden light that enveloped those who are still alive andpletely protected them from Medusa''s Pandemonium Cetus.


    Gritting and showing her fangs, Medusa red at Athena and tried to use her petrifying gaze. Transferring the effects of Pandemonium Cetus back to her eyes, Medusa was able to petrify bits of Athena''s hands.


    Raising her brows, Athena propelled her Divinity to shook of Medusa''s mystic eyes'' effects, "Hooh? It''s amazing that you still have this much strength in your eyes."


    "You bitch!" Knowing that her eyes won''t have any further effects on her, Medusa then attacked directly. She flew towards Athena and brandished her ws.


    Athena used her shield skillfully to fend off her attacks without much effort. Loud shes of metals were heard throughout the devastated colosseum.


    Not gaining any advantages, she started using her tails to attack her from tricky angles. Athena then was forced to use her sword to meet her tail.


    Athena could have finished her off if she revealed her true strength but she wanted to confirm something before killing her, ''Hmm�� Her Divine Core is already mostly converted to a Corrupted Core, but one percent of it is still hanging on�� She still can''t give up on something? Is it that man she came with? Did she really fell in love as that two-faced human said?�� Too bad�� You can''t experience something like that as you''re a threat to us gods and the whole world�� If you three sisters didn''t manifest as goddess through beliefs, then maybe, we could have been friends.''


    Athena kept fending off no matter what kind of attack Medusa throws at her to wait for thest one percent to be converted. But no matter how long she waited, it didn''t happen, ''No choice then�� I have to use those chains again�� I''m sorry, but you''ll have to suffer more.''


    Athena''s sword shone brightly after she raised it up. Swinging it down, a wave of golden energy shoots out from it and hits Medusa squarely dropping her to the ground like a meteor creating arge crater, "Gah!!!"


    Cloud of dust and debris rose up when Medusa hit the ground. With another wave of her sword, Athena conjured a wind to blow the clouds of dust off and revealed the lying Medusa coughing out blood.


    Not letting her recover, Athena threw her sword towards her, impaling her to the ground through her stomach, "Ahh!!!"


    Those from the Perseus n cheered loudly to Medusa''s apparent end.


    Athena slowly descended towards Medusa. She grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out spraying Medusa''s blood everywhere.


    Medusa cried out in pain. In desperate attempt to retaliate, she infused most of her Mana to her cry making the remaining weak members of the Perseus n lose their lives instantly. A wail of death forced them into a forced slumber that they would never wake up from.


    Athena ignored those who just died and just stared at Medusa while she retreated. A few secondster, from the wound on her stomach, 9 silver chains came out from it that made Medusa scream in pain again.


    Those silver chains hovered around Medusa before coiling around her, effectively restraining any type of movement from her. Soon after, blood-like veins appeared on the surface of the chains and renewed Medusa''s screams.


    Medusa, however, hasn''t given up. She pooled everyst bit of her Mana for one final attack. The driving force behind these actions is her desire to take revenge for the man she could never see again and who died because he got involved with her. Although she''s regretting that she ever met him, she was also very thankful for the fact. A contrasting feeling that would never get resolved due to the man''s fate.


    Athena was shocked that she was still able to attack with that much vigor and used her shield to block the attack. Receiving it directly, she was thrown off and hit the edge of the isted space destroying everything in her path.


    Medusa was not able to celebrate because she now knows what these chains are for. Ever since it first tied her up, she thought that it was just there to keep her in thisnd. But now the chains suddenly revealed a new feature which is to corrupt her Divine Core.


    Due to her rage and despair, Medusa''s Divine Core started corrupting itself and she descended to a monster known as Gorgon. As her Divine Core kept getting corrupted, thest vestige of her rationality slowly disappears until it stops at the very end. That''s where she keeps the memories of her sisters and she doesn''t know when, but her interactions with Kisuke too. Desperately holding on to thisst Divinity of her so that she won''t ever forget those precious memories.


    But these chains are now forcefully corrupting her that her sessful attack against Athena became a trifling matter.


    She tried resisting it but she knew that it wouldn''t take long before shepletely loses all those memories along with her emotions and be just a killing machine until her end, ''No! No! I don''t want that! Please! I don''t want this.'' She desperately shouted in her mind.


    Athena recovered from a bit of damage she received and waited for Medusa''splete corruption before killing her, ''Atst�� Without her Divine Core, she wouldn''t be able to gather herself back��''


    ''Elder sisters�� I don''t want this'' Medusa started tearing up.


    She suddenly remembered Kisuke''s face with a cheeky smile that gave her reassurance that somehow, everything is going to be fine, ''Kisuke�� Please help me! I don''t want to forget you!''


    "Hey~. What''s up with the snotty face? Who made you cry? Want this big brother to kick her butt?"


    "Ki��suke?"


    "Yep~ It''s your lovable and handsome shopkeeper~."

 Volume 4 184 - Permission Granted (Kisukes Side)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 184 - Permission Granted (Kisuke''s Side)</h4>


    Kisuke noticed that Medusa is secretly nting magic circles all over the ce while she leads the Chimera to where there are most people like he is doing. Kisuke already warned her that she can''t use her petrifying gaze because he can tell that there is some sort of Divinity inside these monsters that specifically protects them against Medusa''s eyes. She may be able to go through the protection if she strengthens her eyes, but with Mana that it would take, it''s not worth it, ''So are these guys Athena''s pets? Maybe I should ask for er?'' Kisuke thought as he dodges the Manticore''s sting while he continues to inspect the ce and putting more focus on the owl statue.


    ''Hmm? What''s this? The number of intent from that statue is decreasing? Are they leaving?'' Kisuke attention was caught because he can tell that the number of spectators is decreasing. But he set it aside for now because he''s more interested in what Medusa is doing. After a few minutes, Medusa ced thest of the magic circle and started fighting the Chimera for real, beheading all of its heads in a minute.


    She also tried to save Ana while they were all watching the corpse of the Chimera fall down but failed due to Petter''s tight hold on her.


    Petter then signaled his remaining subordinates all the remaining monsters that he got from a certain someone. A total of 7 Chimeras and 3 Manticores.


    "I-Impossible��" Medusa muttered, "Where are you getting all of this extinct beast?"


    ''Extinct? If that''s true, did they hid a number of them in secret or did they artificially manufactured these beasts? Either way, it sounds like they''re preparing for something if not for simple hobby or amusement.'' Kisuke contemted after hearing Medusa''s words. Although these beasts are pretty weak individually, if they can create an army of it, then they could dominate the lower levels.


    "I don''t have any obligation to answer your question�� Just defeat all of this and I''ll give this girl to you." Petter replied with a sneer.


    ''Well�� Isn''t that convenient? What are they trying to achieve?'' Kisuke thought for a moment and a few possibilities surfaced in his head, ''Hmm�� They''re aware of Medusa''s abilities and they want her to push it to use it?'' With that in mind, Kisuke made some changes in his n, ''Adding this to the fact that that spear-wielding guy almost has non-existant killing intent�� Things just got a lot easier~. Now I only have to prepare for a god''s appearance.''


    "I don''t think I can do this��" Kisuke spoke with a frown on his face. The ck cat, Yoruichi jumped back to his arms.


    Medusa sighed, "Go�� I''ll cover your back. The teleportation circle isn''t far from here��"


    ''She''s already expecting this, huh? Well, that''s better.'' "��Thanks��"


    Kisuke turned around to run towards the magic circle which leads to the Dimensional Gap but not before secretly releasing some stealthy surveince cameras.


    He and Yoruichi knew that Medusa is taking the damage intended for Kisuke by fending it off with her chains and daggers. And if it''s unavoidable and or can''t be blocked by her weapons, she''ll use her own body to do the job. Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t say anything witnessing this, but Kisuke can feel that Yoruichi''s ws are digging into his skin and he patted her head tofort her.


    ''You better help her escape this hell��'' Yoruichi sent a telepathic message to Kisuke using their body contact as the conduit. That way, it won''t be detected by anyone.


    ''Got it��'' A simple answer came from Kisuke but Yoruichi knew that that''s the most reassuring answer she could get.


    As they stepped into the magic circle and it started to transport them, they gave Medusa onest look. Her uniform is in tatters but she still has a smile on her face, albeit, a little bit sad, "��Take care��"


    Kisuke can tell that she already resolve her self to die in this ce. He wanted to knock on her head but stopped himself because he can do thatter, "Thanks�� And this isn''t the end." Those are the words he left her before he was transported to the Dimensional Gap where no ordinary being could survive.


    Yoruichi had to cover herself with Reiatsu-Ki to resist the ''pull'' of ''nothingness'', but she didn''t transform herself back to human form and kept staying in Kisuke''s arms.


    Kisuke didn''t have to cover himself with Reiatsu-Ki like Yoruichi because his Hierro can protect him just fine. Pointing his finger in mid-air, Kisuke used Descorrer to immediately transfer himself and Yoruichi to a different point in Dimensional Gap just in case someone or something follows them.


    He checked his surroundings again for onest time before taking out the projector in the form of a ball projecting holographic images of what is happening inside the colosseum. Just as he was about to settle down, Kisuke felt the disturbance of space beside him and immediately strengthened his Hierro to the maximum level and taking out Benihime. Yoruichi transformed back to her human form and immediately activated Shunko to prepare to retaliate any given second.


    But who appeared beside them is very familiar and both of them sighed in relief. Kisuke shook his head wryly as she still managed to follow them here despite being careful with their movements, ''How did she follow us?''


    Without minding their reactions, the gothic lolita, Ophis approached them and curiously look at Kisuke, more specifically, his hollow form. She curiously touched his mask with her tiny hands and Kisuke just let her be. After a few seconds, she lost interest and removed her hands from it and said, "��Cookies��" While looking straight to Kisuke''s ckened eyes.


    Kisuke chuckled and patted her head. He sat cross-legged and invited her to sit on him. Ophis immediately followed his intents and sat down. Kisuke took out a te of chocte chip cookies and started feeding her with his left hand while his right hand sets the projector in front of them to watch what was happening on Medusa.


    Yoruichi also transformed back to her cat form and propped on Kisuke head. Unlike Ophis, she doesn''t have the appetite to enjoy some cookies while Medusa suffers.


    Currently, Medusa summoned her Pegasus to deal with devastating damage to all of the beasts reducing them into mincemeat. Although it is strong, she had to use her own blood for the catalyst and most of her Mana to perform that feat. Now it only left her a tiny amount of Mana enough only to strengthen her body for a bit.


    Medusa didn''t waste her chance when everyone was disgruntled by her attack and snatched Ana and ran towards the magic circle. Kisuke and Yoruichi knew that something is wrong with the girl Medusa is trying to save as the impact of her attack earlier woke her up and is now radiating ill intent towards Medusa.


    And within their expectations, Medusa was stabbed through the heart by ''Ana'', "Kisuke��" Yoruichi called out to him.


    "Not now�� They aren''t intending to kill her yet, and it looks like she won''t die from a stab to the heart�� Is it because of god physiology?" Kisuke replied and calmed Yoruichi down.


    They winced when it was revealed the ''Ana'' is actually using the skin of actual Ana to disguise, "Now I understand how she managed to evade our detection�� Although it''s disgusting, it''s very effective."


    When Medusa activated her Blood Fort Andromeda out of rage, Kisuke''s cameras lost its signal. In split second deliberation, he drilled a very small hole through the field Medusa set up by using Descorrer to re-establish the connection with the cameras. Although doing so would risk revealing their existence and position, but he did have any other choice.


    Yoruichi asked, "Is this the magic she''s setting up earlier? The effect is strong and it can lock up space quite effectively�� but it''s too troublesome to set up."


    When Teny revealed the olive tree to resists Medusa''s magic, it immediately caught Kisuke''s interest, "Did I bring a shovel?" And started rummaging his things, "Oh�� I got one~."


    "What the hell are you putting in your inventory. Although it''s almost unlimited space, you shouldn''t horde things too much��" Yoruichi''s eye twitches.


    "No can do! Look at how convenient it is!? I got a shovel just for situations like this!"


    "��"


    "Elder sister! Please stop this!!! This isn''t what you promised me!" Kisuke and Yoruichi paid attention after hearing these words.


    Teny turned her head to face the wheezing Elexa, "Of course it is�� If I were sessful then I would have stopped this tradition. But sadly, I failed to pull it out from her."


    "What are you talking about? Shouldn''t we stop this to stop the tradition!?"


    "No�� You misunderstand me. Athena wanted a certain condition to be met and the mission of the Perseus n is to achieve this condition. But through the years, it became a contest who can kill this monster first, forgetting their initial goal."


    "Do you have any idea for what that is?" Yoruichi asked Kisuke who started thinking.


    "No�� But surely, it''s rted to those disgusting chains." Kisuke answered.


    "Ah�� Those chains that has the same effect as the ''Chains of Hell'' but more disgusting?" Yoruichi is referring to the chains that bind those whomitted heinous crimes as a Human in their previous world.


    "Right�� But these chains are like a curse that binds someone for no reason and I think there''s also a hidden ability that is rted to the gods�� Every time Medusa dies, her soul would be dragged to Dimensional Gap and you know how harsh this ce is. For someone who is just a soul, it''s amazing that Medusa survives it and revive every time." Kisuke muttered.


    "And Medusa doesn''t really deserve Hell as all the killing she has done is to protect herself and her sisters�� I guess this is part where our Shinigami powers whisper to free this unfortunate soul?" Yoruichi chuckled, but herugh is far from being amused.


    "Yep�� As a Shinigami�� we can''t turn a blind eye to this�� Even Aizen would probably free her if it''s convenient for him�� He wouldn''t try to take the Soul King''s position if he doesn''t care about these things after all~." Kisuke sighed as he reminisced his days back in his previous world. Although they were enemies, they don''t hate each other as they were only on the opposite side of ideals.


    "Hey, Kisuke�� Stop daydreaming and look at this~." Yoruichi tapped his head to catch his attention.


    Teny is just telling Medusa that Kisuke died because of her.


    "��What��did you say��?" They then heard Medusa''s voice which is out of sort.


    "What''s up? Did she have to react that much with the guy who just left her alone to fend for herself?" Kisuke questioned Yoruichi who is more proficient than him in terms of understanding women.


    "You idiot~! Just keep listening." Yoruichi already knew where this conversation going and instead of listening, she just watches as Kisuke reaction changes.


    "No��" Refusing to believe what Teny just said, she desperately looks for reasons that could turn around such a conclusion, "No! That isn''t true��"


    Teny looked back to Medusa who is making a desperate face and was taken aback, "Hmm? What''s this? Why are you so desperate now?"


    "No�� He isn''t dead�� It''s Kisuke after all�� He could walk out of the Dimensional Gap just fine��"


    "��Wait��" Teny inspected her more closely with gleaming eyes, "Could it be that�� you fell in love with that guy?"


    "��What?" Medusa unconsciously muttered.


    A few momentster, Teny started shaking andughed out loud, "Ahahahaha!!! Now, this is the best! Who would have thought that a man-hater like you would fell in love with some random man!?"


    "Hey, Yoruichi. She guessed it wrong, right?" Kisuke was dumbfounded.


    "Nope~." Yoruichi chuckled, "I know you already have some inkling that this might be the case."


    "That''s not true��" Kisuke tried to refute her words, but deep inside, what she''s saying is the truth.


    "Is that what you truly believe? All this time you have been subconsciously averting your eyes to their feelings. Despite knowing how they truly feel, you kept refusing to believe it inside your head. Isn''t this reason why Sona-chan ran away like that?"


    "��" Kisuke wasn''t able to say anything.


    "And you''ve been trying to keep your hands off them��"


    "��"


    Seeing that he still can''t reply, Yoruichi asked, "Is it because of me?"


    "Yes. I can''t do that since I already have you��" Kisuke didn''t hesitate to answer.


    "Yet they are slowly breaking down your defenses."


    "��"


    "Sooner orter, you won''t be able to refuse them anymore."


    Kisuke knew what she is saying as these days, it''s getting harder and harder for him to deny their advances, "�� I''m sorry�� Are you still going to stay with me despite that?"


    Yoruichi suddenly transformed back to her human form and hugged Kisuke from behind and bit his right ear before whispering, "I''m angry�� you know?"


    "Of my unfaithfulness?"


    "No�� I''m angry because you asked me that question�� What are you going to do if I say I''m going to leave you?"


    "Uhmm�� Even if you say that, I''m not going to let you go no matter what�� unless you don''t love me anymore��"


    "Good�� And I won''t ever not love you�� Remember that."


    "Do you have to say that in double negatives?"


    "Who cares about that. The content is what''s important��"


    "So in other words�� I''m allowed to touch them? Why though?"


    "It''s really getting hard to see you hold back yourself when we''re supposed to enjoy our life to the fullest." Yoruichi sighed, ''And I knew that this day woulde sooner orter when those girls started gathering around you�� And they aren''t exactly normal girls either that would give up.''


    "Wait! Based on your words, are you going to find other men for yourself!? I know I''m being a hypocrite here, but I''m not going to allow that!!!"


    Yoruichi used her elbow to knock on Kisuke''s head, "You idiot! Of course not! I don''t have that kind of tendency!"


    "Hehehe�� of course, I know that."


    "Just one more thing."


    "Go on, my beloved~."


    "No can or ever will rece me as number one!"


    "I won''t ever rece you for anything."


    "Good! Let''s talk about thister in our alone time. We should first focus on what''s happening to Medu-chan. It doesn''t look good."


    Ophis ignored their bickering and just enjoyed her cookies.

 Volume 4 185 - Preparations (Kisukes Side)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 185 - Preparations (Kisuke''s Side)</h4>


    On the screen, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Ophis witness how Medusa mutates. Ophis momentarily stopped eating her cookies and stared at the screen a bit interested in the form Medusa is taking in. I might be due to her concept represented by the ''Infinite Serpent'' that she got curious at the ''Snake''.


    They all ignored how two guys with a Harpe got instantly killed and discussed among themselves.


    "Snake��" Ophis muttered.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other, "Is this their goal?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Probably��"


    "What''s happening to her?"


    "I don''t know�� I wish I''m there to see this in person but my guess is that it''s probably rted to her Divine Core." Kisuke adjusted the camera angle to get a better view and noticed that Medusa is still protecting the pendant he gave her, ''What am I going to do with this now? I didn''t think after reincarnating I would have problems with women�� I''m already living a different life, huh��''


    "Divine Core?"


    "That what I call it�� It''s something that is part of her soul that supports her soul and body. It''s radiating the same energy that Cleria described as Divinity so I just called it Divine Core."


    "Does that mean Medusa is a goddess?"


    "I''m not sure how you should ssify a god so I don''t know. But I''m sure that it isn''t the thing that is Aizen trying to be."


    "So you''re saying that gods are just another race just like humans?"


    "That''s more like it. But they are called gods for a reason due to their unreasonable power especially those gods of which represent concepts that give them destructive powers."


    "Then is it rted to ''Medusa''s Curse'' from the legends?"


    "Probably�� But this became a problem��"


    "What?"


    "I have to remove those chains, right?"


    "And?"


    "Those chains areing and going inside her Divine Core. If there are changes in her Divine Core then most of the things I prepared became useless. I knew that about this malevolent aura since it really came from her Divine Core when she tried suicide earlier, and I thought I could use it to bring out those chains�� But clearly�� It changed to something beyond my predicted model."


    "Can you still remove those despite that?"


    "I can�� But I would need some time to inspect the changes and use appropriate measures but we don''t have that kind of time. I have a feeling that it won''t end well for Medusa if I still let this progress."


    "What are you nning to do then?"


    "��" Kisuke stayed silent for a moment and after a moment of contemtion, he looked at Ophis who already resumed eating her cookies while watching Medusa ughter the members of the Perseus n using magic that is the same as she cast earlier but much more powerful and doesn''t need any preparations, "Ophis-chan~. Mind lending a hand for a bit? I''ll give you some chocte-coated marshmallow as thanks~."


    Ophis looked up and tilted her head in confusion, but after a second, she nodded her head. She doesn''t know what is a chocte-coated marshmallow, but the word chocte is also present in chocte cookies she''s currently enjoying so she agreed even without knowing what he wants for her to do.


    "What are you nning to do?" Yoruichi asked curiously.


    "Nothing much~. Just some additional insurance~. Good thing Ophis-chan came to us. We''re super lucky~. Without her, it''ll be troublesome and I''m not even sure if it can go smoothly." Kisuke watched Medusa for a while who startedughing crazily with a tear-stained face and clenched his fist.


    A few secondster, the camera monitoring the owl statue alerted Kisuke of some changes to it and he immediately scanned the data gathered, ''An increase in Divinity level? And the intents�� There''s only one left. Is it the famous Athena? Did she chase the others away? Why?�� Whatever�� This is a lot more convenient for me.''


    A momentter, the owl statue suddenly shone in bright golden light and it transformed into a golden armored woman which radiates Divinity. She helped the Perseus n by transferring her Divinity to the olive tree to strengthen its protection against Medusa''s Pandemonium Cetus.


    Confirming that it''s indeed Athena from the Teny''s words, Kisuke faced Ophis again and said, "Ophis-chan, I heard that you can bestow power in a form of snakes. Can you create a snake that strengthens the user but also consumes the soul?"


    "What!? What are you trying to do asking for that?" Yoruichi was shocked at what he''s asking for.


    "You know the saying bat poison with poison''? I''m aiming for that."


    "Isn''t that too dangerous?"


    "It is�� Not if with my supervision~. Who do you think is your lover is?"


    "A genius pervert."


    "Exactly~!" Kisuke agreed without any hesitation and turned to Ophis again, "Oh�� And please make it so that it''s transferable and removable."


    Ophis nodded and looked down at her hands. A ck magic circle with an infinity symbol appeared on it. From there, she conjured a pitch ck snake with red eyes and it shoots towards Kisuke''s right arm. The snake coiled around his arm and shrunk into a tattoo. With that done, Ophis extended her open hands towards Kisuke asking for her payment.


    "Hahaha~. Here''s the chocte-coated marshmallow." Kisuke took out a tetra pack from his inventory containing the snack but before he gave it to her, he asked for another thing, "One more thing, Ophis-chan. Transfer some of your powers to this pill." On his other hand, a pill in the size of candy sat.


    Smelling the snack from the tetra pack, Ophis'' eyes lit up and hurriedly transferred some of her powers to the pill. Kisuke took the pill back and patted her hand after handing her prized snacks.


    "What was that for?"


    "It''s for disobedient children to be obedient~."


    "?" Yoruichi wanted to ask more, but the fight between Medusa and Athena is ending with Medusa pinned down to the ground with a sword in her stomach. Athena pulled her sword out and 9 silver chains bore out from her stomach coiling around her while she screams in pain.


    "!!!�� So she really has a way to activate those chains! Yoruichi, Ophis-chan, I have to go." Kisuke sets Ophis down and Yoruichi separated from him. Kisuke was about to open a portal towards the isted space when Yoruichi suddenly called out to him from behind.


    "Wait! You know you can''t kill everyone from the Perseus n, right?"


    "I know�� We''re lucky that someone from there has some sense." Kisuke replied. Even if Elexa didn''t exist in the Perseus n, they can''t rashly exterminate that n as they are a big powerhouse in the region. Their sudden disappearance would only create arge power vacuum that other influences would try topete to acquire. In those kinds of wars, only innocent people suffer, supernatural or not. They want to avoid that situation as much as possible. So as much as they want to exterminate that n, they can''t do it suddenly without establishing another influence that could take over them peacefully.


    "Onest thing. Make sure that you take her out alive and well."


    "No problem~. With Ophis-chan''s assistance, it became easier~." Kisuke then opened a whole in the space directly transferring him to the isted space leaving the two behind to watch the screen.


    Kisuke appeared in front of Medusa who is desperately crying and said, "Heya~. What''s up with the snotty face? Who made you cry? Want this big brother to kick her butt?"


    "Ki��suke?"


    "Yep~ It''s your lovable and handsome shopkeeper~."

 Volume 4 186 - Saved

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 186 - Saved</h4>


    Athena''s eyes shook when the man who supposedly dead suddenly appeared out of nowhere, ''How did that guye in here? I just strengthened the space''s restriction so other gods couldn''t see or enter this ce��''


    "Who are you?" Athena asks in a threatening tone.


    Kisuke faced her and replied, "Just some random human trying to recruit a maid~."


    Athena didn''t take his nonsense and raised her hand towards him. A yellow magic circle appeared and shoots out a spear of golden light.


    Seeing this, Medusa reacted, "No!" And tried to shield Kisuke with her body, but she was not able to move due to the chains restraining her, "No!"


    "Geez~. Don''t move. You''ll only hurt yourself." Kisuke turned back to Medusa without minding the iing projectile. In an instant, the golden spear reached him, but even without looking, Kisuke pped it away using his left hand. The spear''s trajectory was altered and it hit the northern part of the colosseum,pletely obliterating it.


    Athena''s pupils shrank in shock but didn''t make any further move to gather more information.


    Kisuke inspected the dumbfounded Medusa for a bit before nodding to himself, "Good�� It''s not as dire as I expected." He then turned his attention towards the remaining members of the Perseus n, "I''ll have you lot retire for now~."


    Kisuke released his pressure which shocked Athena even more and promptly increased her vignce against him. The main target of the pressure, the Perseus n, all lost their consciousness.


    "��Who are you?" For the second time, Athena asked.


    "Just like I said, I''m just a random human trying to recruit a maid~."


    "Bullsh*t! What do you want? Just so you know, you invaded a goddess'' private space."


    Kisuke ignored her question and raised his right arm, "This is going to hurt for a bit, but trust me�� this is going to free you~."


    Kisuke stabbed his right arm towards Medusa''s wound where the chains areing from, "Gahh!"


    The snake tattoo that he got from Ophis suddenly became alive and using Kisuke''s Reiatsu-Ki, it drilled its way towards Medusa''s inner world, "Ahhhh!!!"


    Half of Kisuke''s consciousness arrives at Medusa''s inner world, the Shapeless Isle. Contrary to the scenery when Medusa first arrive here a few days ago, the sky is now crimson red while the sea is blood red. The raging waves are trying to drown the whole ind but there is a small protective film around the ind that protects it from the sea. Kisuke only stopped for a moment because Benihime reacted to this bloody world. He leaped to reach the middle of the ind where the are two little girls with the same face and purple hair gritting their teeth as they use their aura to keep the creepy chains from approaching.


    The little girls are protecting the floating orb which is already mostly dark red with only some of it tinted gold which is in between them. The chains are only surrounding them but every few seconds, it''ll inch closer.


    Seeing the situation, Kisuke manifested Behinime in her Shikai form, "Kamisori, Benihime (Razor, Crimson Princess)." With a sword swing, Benihime fired off a crimson energy arc which cut through the chains allowing the little girls to gain some standing.


    Kisuke used sh Step to arrive beside them. The moment he entered, however, the chains recovered and trapped him inside.


    "Who are you!?" The little girls simultaneous asked.


    "That''s not important right now. What''s important is that I''m here to help."


    The little girls gave him a suspicious look.


    "You have no choice but to ept my help. And even if I''m nning something nasty, you''re doomed either way with the way things are going."


    The little girls crumpled their cute faces but after a moment, they eased their aura around Kisuke and focused on the chains, "Please help our little sister��" They both muttered.


    "Got it~." Kisuke put away Benihime and approached the floating dark red orb with some golden tint. He examined it for a bit before putting his right arm forward and aimed it to the orb. The snake tattoo became alive again and shoot out from his arm towards the orb coiled around it. Kisuke touched the orb but it burned him with dark red me.


    Although the burning sensation is intense, Kisuke didn''t remove his hand and sent his Reiatsu-Ki to control the snake. The ck snake then started consuming the dark red bits of the orb while the golden tint started to shine brightly. Kisuke controlled the snake so that it would strengthen the remaining Divinity while it eats the corrupted parts as fuel, ''How convenient�� It''s really a good thing that Ophis arrive. If I''m just me alone, it couldn''t go this smoothly.''


    Kisuke kept staring at the changes the orb is going through. A few secondster, it''s size decreased by half but the golden area of the orb started to expand, ''But this isn''t going as I expected�� If I can''t strengthen the orb further, it''ll only copse after the snake consumes every dirty bit�� No choice then�� I would have to use my own energy reserves. I hope I still have enough to fight that goddess.''


    When there is only a bit left of the corruption, Kisuke stopped, ''This corruption is probably Athena''s curse, but it isn''t exactly detrimental for Medusa. If she can control this, it''ll be a big boost to her abilities, so I should leave a bit of it here.''


    The snake returned to his arm and faced the dumbfounded little girls, "Y-you really did it?" Said the little girl on the right.


    "Heh~. It''s nothing much. Let''s deal with those creepy chains first."


    "Y-you can also take care of these!?" The little girl on the left side asked dumbfounded. Their shock is understandable because they knew how nasty and durable these creepy chains are for having to deal with it for countless years already. So someone iming that he could deal with the chains sounds like a fantasy story to them.


    Ignoring their reactions, Kisuke puts forward his right arm again, and the snake shoots out towards the chains as hemands. The snake started consuming the chains in great relish. The chains are being converted into pure energy inside the snake''s stomach, the energy that Ophis uses.


    Kisuke already predicted that the snake would be saturated and won''t be able to eat anymore, but he only needed the connection between Medusa''s soul and the chains to be severed so he controlled it to eat only those points which he found.


    And just as he expected, the snake became bloated and couldn''t eat anymore, but the chains'' connection to Medusa was weakened severely that he could now pull it out from her, "Well then, little girls. I have to return to pull this nasty thing out. Be sure to rest since I don''t my future maid worrying about the state of the two of you that she won''t be able to work effectively~."


    Without waiting for their reply, Kisuke''s consciousness became whole again on the surface. He left half of his consciousness to defend against Athena, but surprisingly, she''s only watching curiously, ''Hehehe�� So you''re that confident with your chains? Too bad, it''s me~.''


    With his arms still embedded inside Medusa''s stomach who kept screaming and crying in intense pain due to the forceful changes to her Divine Core.


    Kisuke''s expression turned serious and used a bit of his strength to pull out his hand, "Ahhh!!!"


    In his hand is the root of the chains, a dark red orb pulsing an ominous light. Attached to it is the 9 chains that started coiling around Kisuke.


    "WHAT!!!?" Athena yelled out loud not believing the sight in front of her, "How did you do that!!!?" After cing it to Medusa, even Athena couldn''t pull those chains out, so her shock is understandable. She also guessed that Kisuke wanted to remove the chains and didn''t do anything, but the result instead gave her the shock of her life.


    Kisuke looked at the orb in his right hand that is now trying to attach to his soul, ''So it acts as a parasite��'' He lifted his left hand and pointed his index finger at it. On the tip of the finger, a ball of destructive energy started to charge and after a few seconds, Kisuke muttered, "Cero."


    The ball of destructive energy turned into a green beam and annihted the orb in its entirety. The chains attached to it started disintegrating until it was reduced to dust disappearing from this world forever, "Impossible!!!? That''s a soul matter! How did you destroy it instantly!?"


    Due to the unexpected burden of nourishing her Divine Core and removing the chains from her soul, Kisuke''s Hollowfication was dispelled and his mask disintegrated, revealing his true face, ''Good thing I put those guys to sleep first. Now I only have to deal with this Athena.''


    Kisuke still ignored Athena and looked back to Medusa who already stopped screaming but was about to lose consciousness, "��Ki��su��ke?"


    "Yep~. It''s me. You can rest now." Kisuke replied with a gentle smile on his face.


    "��" Medusa''s eyes are already hazy and her mind isn''t running correctly. She subconsciously reached out to Kisuke with both of her arms and wrapped it around his neck. Kisuke thought that she can''t see him properly and just let her be. But she did next shocked Kisuke.


    Medusa nted her lips on his.

 Volume 4 187 - Kisukes Transformation

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 187 - Kisuke''s Transformation</h4>


    "!?" Kisuke was startled, but in an instant, he decided to just let it be and enjoy the moment, ''Yoruichi already gave me the permission anyway~.''


    It is not a hot kiss since Medusa only touched Kisuke lips with hers and after a few seconds, shepletely lost her consciousness.


    Kisuke caught her and gentlyid her down on the ground. He used some healing Kidou to ease her wounds, although she isn''t in the danger of dying anymore, her wounds still looks nasty.


    While Kisuke is healing Medusa, a spear of golden light a lotrger than the first one shoots towards him, threatening to impale his head.


    However, Kisuke continuously ignored the attacker as he focused on healing Medusa. A small pulsing, green hexagonal shield appeared behind his head. And when the spear was about to hit him, it expanded and absorbed the spear and simultaneously dispersing it to the surrounding area creating small destructions all over the ce.


    "!?"


    "How rude." Kisuke first pulled out a nket from his inventory and putting it on top of the sleeping Medusa before facing the goddess, "Shouldn''t you at least wait for me to get ready? You''re wearing a knight''s attire after all."


    "In a fight to death, you''d only die a lot easier following such manners and tradition��" Athena replied.


    "Heh~. So this is a fight to death."


    "Although if possible, I want to capture you alive and ask you how you did that�� Even us gods can''t do that easily."


    "How scary~. Sorry, but I''m going to decline your invitation. Although if possible, I want to capture you alive and ask you a few things~." Kisuke snickered, ''Sorry, Benihime, but this won''t be your time to shine.'' Muttering inside his head, he materialized his hollow mask again and it instantly changes his aura.


    Athena furrowed her brows, "Impudent!" She flew towards Kisuke and shed down her sword.


    Kisuke used sh Step and Athena missed. He reappeared behind her and did an ax kick, "!?" Athena hurriedly used her shield to block the iing attack, but to her surprise, he disappeared again and she suddenly felt a blunt object hit her side. She flew across the colosseum and hit its wall, destroying it.


    Athena stood up without much damage and red at Kisuke, ''This bastard is using some unknown technique to elerate. I couldn''t catch his movements. Is this guy really a human? And what''s up with that mask? It''s giving me, a goddess, a bad feeling��''


    Kisuke knew that things would only get messier so he opened a portal to the Dimensional Gap and tossed Medusa their for Yoruichi to take care of her.


    Seeing this, Athena didn''t think that Kisuke tossed Medusa to the Dimensional Gap to die, ''So he has an aplice, huh? Great�� Now I lost my target, and the chains on her were removed. She won''t be tied to thisnd anymore�� I really have to capture this guy alive. Letting Medusa out there is too dangerous.''


    Athena stood straight up and took a stance. Her body started to glow in golden light and the aura she is emitting became sharper.


    "Getting serious now, huh? Good~. Let me take a look at a god''s capabilities." Kisuke is no way insulting Athena as this is just his honest thoughts. Athena can tell that much and smiled for the first time, "Get ready then."


    After she spoke, she kicked the ground and instantly appeared in front of Kisuke from 50 meters away. Kisuke''s eyes shoot wide open due to her sheer speed. There is no time to use sh Step due to Athena''s glowing sword already bearing down on him. He can only use his skin that is strengthened by Hierro to deflect her attack.


    For both of them, the world''s time instantly halted to almost stop as Kisuke hurriedly positioned his arm to catch her sword. Seeing this, Athena put more strength to her swing, intending to cut off his arm.


    Kisuke''s arm met Athena''s sword and sparks flew, but the next instant, Athena''s sword dug through Kisuke''s skin so he hurriedly flicked his arm to change the sword''s trajectory.


    The sword hit the ground and 50 meters deep valley was created along with the sword''s path. Kisuke didn''t mind this and immediately retaliated by sending a punch towards her, ''Ikkotsu (Singe Bone)!''


    Athena reacted and put forward her shield to block his punch. But to her surprise, the strength behind his punch is way beyond what she expected. For her, it feels like she was pped away by one of the two Heavenly Dragons.


    Even with her strengthened body using her Divinity, she was sent flying again hitting the boundary of the isted space making it ripple multiple times.


    ''Oops�� Destroying this space is bad. I don''t want to make my preparations useless�� I guess this isn''t the time to be testing the limits of my abilities.'' Sighing in disappointment, Kisuke thought back to when then shed, ''Her sword is too sharp. It instantly broke through my Hierro and I can tell that it isn''t the sword which is sharp, but her ability�� Should I say as expected of the Goddess of War?''


    Athena stood back up again, but this time, she''s a bit disheveled, ''What was that!? His skin is too tough! Even if it''s a well known strong armor, they would be cut before my sword could even touch it! And that strength�� It''s impossible for a human body to contain that much even if you use Ki! Is this guy really a human? He''s so much stronger than the heroes of the past.''


    "Athena�� was it? Mind telling me why you cursed Medusa and nted something nasty in her?" Kisuke suddenly asked.


    "Hmmph! Isn''t it because I''m jealous of her hair?" Athena answered while she tries to recover from the damage she took.


    "No way~. Now that I got to meet you personally and fight you on top of that, you don''t strike as that type of person. There must be another reason, more specifically, regarding Medusa''s Divinity."


    "��" Athena stayed silent and thought for a bit, "It''s amazing for you to know that much�� But why did you think I''ll tell you that? Why don''t youe with me peacefully, maybe I''ll tell you the whole story."


    "No thanks~. I don''t want a leash on my neck. And if you don''t want to tell me, then I can only force you to do it."


    Athena stopped for a moment beforeughing out loud, "Hahaha! Are you kidding? I''ll be honest. You''re very strong, but you''re still nowhere close to me. If I want, I can kill you within a few minutes. Don''t underestimate a Main God, human." Her final sentence was apanied by her re.


    ''Good�� Looks like she''s still underestimating me~. I should finish this before she can pull out her full strength and destroy this space.'' Kisuke decided and propelled his Reiatsu-Ki startling Athena.


    ''What is he trying to do now? Powering up? Just how?'' Athena increased the output of her Divinity to match Kisuke. Her pride won''t allow her to use a much stronger force than a human.


    A whirlwind was created around Kisuke and the dust-covered him. Athena wasn''t able to see what''s going on inside the whirlwind but braced herself for the third round.


    The whirlwind slowed down and the dust started to settle. Athena was finally able tond her gaze at him again, but looking at him, Athena was shaken. At the same time, a huge pressure came crashing down on Athena. His white mask became a bone helmet with two angr horns pointing upwards. His nails grew to be sharp ws, hid pale blonde hair grew long until his waist and his skin became pale white. Most importantly was the top of his suit waspletely destroyed revealing his white body with green marking along with a giant hole on his chest.


    "��W-what are you!?" Athena asked nervously as she never saw a being like this that gives so much pressure, ''What is he!? I''ve already seen so many beings in this world but this is my first time seeing a human transform like this!''


    Kisuke didn''t answer�� More like he couldn''t as he is taking care not to lose control. This is only the second time he released this form and the first time, Benihime immediately tried to take control of his body. But this time, after the talk and deal with her, she didn''t try anything else. But even then, he won''t be able tost long in this form as violent thoughts kept popping in his mind. He predicted that he can only keep in control 10 minutes at most, ''I should really try this more often�� It seems that suppressing these violent thoughts can improve with practice.'' Since Kisuke entered the Vasto Lorde mode, using Sonido would be more effective in this form than sh Step. Using Sonido, he instantly appeared in front of Athena.


    Athena is still shaken with his transformation, so when he suddenly appeared face to face with her, she panicked and used the strongest attack she could manage now. The sword she''s holding was suddenly covered by golden energy which increased its destructive and cutting power multiple times. Athena then swung it with all her strength while backing away, ''I can''t hold back anymore! I have to kill him before he could actually kill me!''


    She that her attack was enough as her attack could even cut the space itself even if it is protected by a very strong ceremonial barrier magic. But she was in for another shock when Kisuke extended his hand towards the sword and caught it mid-swing, "What!!!?"

 Volume 4 188 - Trapped and Defeated

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 188 - Trapped and Defeated</h4>


    Kisuke caught the sword but it didn''t remove the force behind it. Half of the colosseum was totally destroyed after that swing and the boundary of the space rippled intensely like it is on the verge of being destroyed. Some of the Perseus n members are also killed after that attack, ''Ah�� Crap. They''ll all end up dying if they stay here further.''


    Kisuke then hurriedly tossed out a token to where they are and it activated a barrier around them. Instantly after, Kisuke remotely activated Descorrer and opened a pathway to the Dimensional Gap beside them. The opening sucked all of them, removing them from this battle. He noticed that Athena still wasn''t able to react so Kisuke strengthened the space temporarily while at it so that it can take the beating of their battle.


    Athena is only nkly staring at him as he does all these things. Her mind became chaotic after he caught her sword with ease. That attack is far from the strongest attack she could do, but she also hasn''t met anyone that could catch her sword and never thought that there would be one. She thought that even if it''s the Great Red, there would be a nick on its scales after that kind of attack, "��What are�� you?"


    After voicing her question out, Athena recovered a little bit and felt very stupid to just stop in front of such an enemy that could take her life, "Guh!!" She tried to retrieve her sword but his grip is too strong that she can''t even move the sword. She promptly discarded the sword to retreat but she saw that his other hand ising for her. Putting up her shield, Athena nned to bash away his wed hand, but it spectacrly failed as Kisuke''s hand went through the shield breaking it into pieces. Athena is finally scared and tried to retreat further but his hand reached out and grabbed her pretty face.


    Kisuke then threw her to the other side of the colosseum with great strength that Athena instantly broke through the sound barrier. But just half-way through the colosseum, Kisuke reappeared on top of her and did a roundhouse kick. Athena crossed her arms and focused on everything she had for defense. The kick hit her and it instantly broke the bones in her arms into pieces. Her armor was dented inwardly and she broke most of her rib bone, some of them puncturing her internal organs. Athena hit the ground and created arge explosion and crater. No one would ever think that a colosseum existed in here as it was reduced to fine rubbles.


    Athena cough out blood and felt her head ringing. She wasn''t able to think straight and only saw her monster enemy preparing for another attack. Kisuke charged a small Cero and sted her with it. That Cero just left her on the verge of death.


    Kisuke slowly descended and picked up Athena by the neck while she''s still coughing out blood and her bloody body just hanging. Raising her up, Kisuke figured that she won''t be able to fight any longer and dispelled his Hollowfication. The bone helmet disintegrated into dust and his body returned to normal after a few seconds including therge hole in his chest.


    Kisuke heaved arge sigh. He''s feeling a little bit weakened because Medusa''s ordeal and his Hollowfication took arge chunk off his reserves, ''Currently, my reserves are only as much as Ichigo''s so I shouldn''t push myself too much before I can improve my capacity.''


    "��What are you doing? Why did you stop?" Athena noticed that his aura subsided and looked down from above. He could have killed her instantly but now she has a chance to escape. She secretly propelled her remaining power to activate a Magic that she could use in times like this.


    "I''ll have more advantages with you alive than dead," Kisuke answered her with a smile.


    "Hoh? What do you want?" Athena sneered at him, ''I only need to buy a few seconds and I''m out of here.''


    "A just a couple of questions, including what I ask earlier."


    "No way I''m answering any of your questions. Just kill me. Though if you do that, the stigma will be branded onto you and other Olympian Gods would easily find you. It''s technically dering war to the whole Greek Pantheon. I know you''re strong, but you can''t fight an army of gods by just yourself."


    "And you think I''ll have it better if I just release you?"


    "Of course not."


    "Then what do you propose we should do?"


    "Let me go and return Medusa to me. And if you decided to work for me, I''ll forget this ever happened. Naturally, I would have to bind you since I can''t have you betraying me." Athena''s magic is already ready and she could escape anytime now, but she saw an opportunity to negotiate with him and dyed her escape, ''It''ll be a lot easier for me if he can just hand over Medusa and having him beside me will boost my forces. Now that the gods are getting restless due to some unknown feeling, I need to gather as much manpower as I need.''


    "The second sound like a really good idea~!" Kisuke replied with a big grin. If those who know him were to see him right now, they would stay clear from him.


    Athena was surprised that he readily agreed. The issue with Medusa can be solvedter, so she decided to focus on acquiring his cooperation first, "Then��"


    However, Kisuke cut her off and took out a ck pill, "But it''s going to be the other way around~."


    Athena shuddered after seeing the pill. Although she doesn''t know what it does, being so close to it, she yelps in surprise, "Ophis'' power!? Why do you have something like that!?"


    Athena then immediately retracted the thoughts of taking him as subordinate and activated her magic to escape. A golden light then enveloped her. The light pushed out which made Kisuke let go of Athena. After he was pushed out, a golden pir then enclosed Athena while she slowly floated upwards, "I don''t know what you just took out, but it looks dangerous. Too bad for you, I have a way to escape."


    Kisuke took back the pill and punched the transparent pir, but it only absorbed the force behind his attack, "It''s useless. Even if you transform into your earlier form, you won''t be able to destroy this barrier for a short period of time. In just a few seconds, I''ll be teleported out of here." Confident of her trump card, she sneered at Kisuke once again, "You should have killed me earlier when you got a chance. The stigma that I''m talking about is just a deception to buy me some time to activate this magic. You could have got away with killing a god if you didn''t get too greedy."


    "Hmm�� Is this powered by your Divinity? Amazing�� It really works differently than Mana. Any normal means out there really won''t be able to destroy this barrier." Kisuke admired it from afar, ''It''s simr to Negaci��n��''


    "Hmmph! Praising me won''t reduce the amount of headache you''ll sufferter. Be prepared to take on the whole Greek Pantheon." Kisuke''s air of casualness doesn''t give Athena any good feeling. She could only leave such words and speed up the process of her teleportation, albeit, it was already toote.


    Kisuke, with a grin, snapped his fingers and some of the dust lit up in red light. A few secondster, the pir of golden light disappeared and Athena dropped down back to therge crater, "What!?"


    "Hehehe~"


    "W-what did you do!?" Athena''s confidence came crashing down along with her and the feeling of fear came back with greater effect. The tattered golden dame took a step back, but her body is still a mess with multiple bones broken so she fell down on her butt. Still, she tried to get away from Kisuke.


    "Hehehe~. Nothing much~. I took consideration of the possibility that you would escape and prepared a cage for you~." Kisuke slowly walked towards her which induced more fear into Athena.


    "P-prepare!? When did you��" Athen then remembered the red lights before her magic was dispelled. She then suddenly recalled one useless thing he did before entering the isted space, he sent a number of non-lethal bombs inside, "I-it can''t be�� Those stink bombs!?"


    "Bingo~! As expected of the Goddess of Wisdom! You guessed it correctly with just a single try!" Athena is right. Kisuke included some particles that could inhibit Divinity for a short time in the bombs.

 Volume 4 189 - A Pill that turns (Almost) Anyone Obedient

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 189 - A Pill that turns (Almost) Anyone Obedient</h4>


    "Bingo~! As expected of the Goddess of Wisdom! You guessed it correctly with just a single try!" Athena is right. Kisuke included some particles that could inhibit Divinity for a short time in the bombs.


    These particles came from when he is researching about Medusa''s Divinity. Although it did its job of inhibiting Athena''s Divinity, it''s only for a short amount of time. If she''s also in her full strength she can easily bypass this inhibition and that''s why Kisuke has to beat her up first. But then again, it''s only in its early phase of research and still can be improved drastically, given enough time.


    With that said, Kisuke is still cautious of what she can do despite her appearance so he only activated half of the Divinity inhibiting particles in anticipation of her doing it again. But looking at her panicked and fearful expression now, he doubts she still has a card in her sleeves. In fact, he''s feeling a little guilty seeing her about to cry. But he won''t ever let his guard down for an enemy, ''This is taking too long�� I should be done with this or the chances of something going wrong will increase.''


    Kisuke used sh Step to instantly arrive in front of Athena, "Hih!! No! Don''te near me!"


    ''Hmm? What''s up with her? Earlier she acts mature with a high and might attitude, but now things are dire, she''s acting like a little girl?'' Thinking for a bit, Kisuke thought that threatening her is more effective than forcing her to swallow the pill.


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Now then, Athena-chan~. You have two options in front of you."


    "A-Athena�� chan��?" Athena muttered but she doesn''t have any strength or courage to refute him.


    "First is you die here��"


    Athena audibly swallowed her saliva but it felt painful due to her injuries.


    "And the second is you shallow this." Kisuke took out the ck pill again.


    She didn''t want to die so her choice is obvious, but still couldn''t take it without asking about it, "W-what is that going to do with me?"


    "You''ll know once you''ve done it. So? What is it? I don''t have much time. If you don''t choose within a few seconds, I''ll default your choice to the first one~."


    Gritting her teeth, Athena answered, "�� I''ll swallow it��"


    "Good~! Now open up! Ahhh~."


    Athena felt ufortable with his hand getting near her, but she doesn''t have much choice, so she sucked it up, took the pill from his hand with her mouth and swallowed it. She waited for a few seconds but there was no reaction. Even after waiting for a minute or two, nothing happened, ''No response?''


    Athena was about to ask about it when she suddenly felt pain, but not from her body. She hurriedly descended to her inner world and was shocked to see that her Divine Core, which is shining brightly until now, has a ck snake with a white bone mask coiling around it, "What!?" She tried to grabbed it but her hands went through, though she can touch her own Divine Core. The snake is immaterial. She tried everything to destroy or even just move it but to no avail.


    Figuring out that her attempts are futile, she hurriedly surfaced and shouted at Kisuke, "What did you do!?"


    "Oh? It a sess? Great. I thought that I would still need to do some adjustments, but I guess that snake did most of the small task."


    "I''m asking you what did you do!" Although she''s shouting with all her might, she still didn''t have the courage to approach Kisuke.


    "Right�� It''s effects haven''t activated yet�� So basically, it''s something like this." Kisuke snapped his fingers again and Athena suddenly felt an unbearable pain and something constricting her. She hurriedly took a look at her Divine Core again and noticed that the snake is now trying to crush it, "No!!!"


    "Well, something like that~." After saying this, the pain disappeared and the snake stopped constricting her Divine Core.


    Athena panted heavily and thought, ''I''m doomed!'' She almost wants to cry. She just handed over her life to him. But the light inside her still didn''t disappear, ''I should ask father to remove thister.''


    Guessing what she''s thinking, Kisuke immediately warned her, "That snake won''t be visible to anyone else and every time someone inspects your Divine Core, I''ll also know about it. And if by chance that someone was able to find it they won''t be able to do anything to it�� Well, technically they can, but think of it as a password, one wrong input and it''ll immediately self-destruct�� along with your Core, that is."


    Athena''s mouth twitches at his words, "Y-you''re joking�� right?"


    Kisuke grinned and replied, "Of course I am~! You''re free to ask someone to remove it for you~!"


    Athena knew he wasn''t joking. Even though she doesn''t know if it''s really possible to do something like that with her Divine Core, she won''t take chances as it is her life which is at stake here, "What do you want with me?"


    Kisuke stood up and patted her pants, "Now, now. Don''t make a face like that. I won''t ask anything unreasonable. And that pill is only for insurance. I already said it. I only need you to answer a couple of questions."


    "��Are you serious?" Athena didn''t know what facial expression she should be doing now, ''Is my life only worth that much?''


    "Yep~! And we can''t talk to you like that." Kisuke put forward his hand towards her and cast a healing Kidou to repair some of her injuries.


    Athena couldn''t feel any ill intent from his technique and just let him be. She was surprised that he also knows an effective healing spell. She then unconsciously examine his spell and found something peculiar about it, "Wait�� This doesn''t use Mana�� not Demonic or Holy�� It''s a bit simr to Ki�� What''s this!?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer her question and just kept healing for an hour until only the major injuries are left. Athena still felt pretty weak, but she can now move properly. She didn''t thank Kisuke for the assistance though as she still views him as an enemy. However, she''s pretty interested in his ''magic'' that she wanted him to keep healing her. Thinking back, those energy sts he used on her also doesn''t use the conventional energy systems, ''Just who the hell is this guy? Where did hee from? I refuse to believe that he''s human.''


    "Alright, get up. You can heal up on your ownter." Kisuke turned around and ttened a part of rubbles before taking out a table and few chairs. After that, he put out various tes of snacks along with several cups of tea. Kisuke sat down on one of the chairs and invited Athena to do the same.


    Athena was confused but followed what he wanted regardless. She sat down and looked towards Kisuke, not touching the snacks or the tea in front of her.


    Kisuke then donned his Hollow mask again which put Athena into the edge. He pointed his finger outward and used Descorrer to open a pathway towards the Dimensional Gap a few meters away from the table. The next moment, a wild gothic lolita suddenly ran out, sat down on Kisuke''sp and started attacking the snacks on the table.


    Athena knew who she is and was surprised by her appearance, "Ophis!?" She thought that Kisuke is just someone who received Ophis'' blessing, but it clear that it''s more than that based on the way she acts around him.


    "Well then, Let''s start this~."

 Volume 4 190 - Origin

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 190 - Origin</h4>


    "What do you want to know?" Athena picked up the cup of tea and drank it, ''What could possibly worse than the pill he just fed me?''


    "For starters, tell me why Medusa has to go through all of that?" Kisuke asked calmly. The previous smile on his face already disappeared.


    Kisuke''s stare gave Athena an invisible pressure and she stuttered a little bit, "B-because it has to be done!"


    "Hooh? Tell me the reason then."


    "��" Athena contemted for a little bit before replying, "It''ll be easier to understand if you knew the whole story��" She sighed before continuing, "Do you know which came first? Humans or Gods?"


    "Don''t know." Even though Kisuke has theories who came first, he doesn''t have any supporting evidence.


    "It''s the Gods��"


    "What does it have to do with Medusa''s case?" Yoruichi from the side asked. Athena''s brows twitched but she has no further reactions, "Let me finish first��"


    ording to Athena, the Primordial Gods first arrive from a different star system when Earth is still unhabitable due to unknown reasons. But after they arrived, they didn''t settle down but instead started fighting among each other. The fight is on the scale of a war where it kept changing the face of the Earth every day.


    After a long while, they stopped fighting due to many casualties and injuries. However, instead of returning where they came from, they decided to stay on Earth due to the discovery of the Dimensional Gap. They discovered that if you split up space near the Earth, they would open an entirely different Dimension. With remaining Primordial Gods, they split the Earth into many regions ording to their factions and that''s the birth of many different Mythological Factions here on Earth.


    With their power, they terraformed the Earth to suit their needs. They also started creating basic life forms with the help of their technology from their star system. The Primordial Gods has an almost infinite lifespan so they took their time to shape the Earth. From basic microorganisms until they beplicated life forms, they waited. They even annihted the life they created multiple times due to it not reaching certain standards.


    "Wait�� So you''re saying that these Gods can create whatever they want?" Kisuke interrupted her. A certain being then surfaced from his mind, the Soul King, ''Is he the same as these guys she is talking about?''


    "Of course not. They can only create basic lifeforms and their evolution would depend on their initial settings and the environment they are in. And besides, there is a resource that they need to create a life which is limited."


    "And that is?"


    "In this day�� It''s called Soul or Spiritual Power."


    "��"


    "Even inanimate objects need some of it to keep its form."


    "So you''re saying that these Gods can manipte Spiritual Power?"


    "Not quite�� They needed their technology just to gather and inject it into something�� And that''s my biggest question�� Just how did you remove those chains from her? Just so you know�� those chains are from the age of Primordial Gods."


    "You''re not the one asking questions here,dy. Continue your story." Kisuke narrowed his eyes from her question, ''It seems like soul maniption is more amazing than I thought�� Good thing I got this information here. Or else, I''ll be in hot water if some of my inventions regarding souls spread.''


    "Ehem��" Athena averted her gaze and continued her story.


    After more beings evolve with moreplexity, the Gods decided to move away from Earth so that they wouldn''t influence life on it too much. Their solution is to open an isted space inside the Dimensional Gap and create their own living spaces that are connected to the Earth. And that''s is the origin of Mount Olympus, Asgard, and many more.


    It wasn''t long before they discovered the existence of Ophis which is floating around aimlessly in the Dimensional Gap.


    Athena stopped speaking and eyed Ophis and noticed that she didn''t have any reaction from her story as she''s too busy with her snacks, ''Is that really the Ouroboros Dragon?'' She wanted to believe otherwise but the aura she is currently emitting is too familiar for her. Shaking off these thoughts, Athena went on speaking.


    The Primordial Gods tried to capture Ophis to study it but failed as it is too strong. And even if then can overpower it with their number, she could escape easily and finding her in the infinite Dimensional Gap isn''t very feasible. They only gave up when a few of them got killed by it.


    They then quietly watch as the life on Earth grew, but it wasn''t long before a certain species slowly took the image of Gods.


    "So that''s when the first humans appeared��"


    "Right�� They don''t know how they came into being but one popr belief among the Gods of that time is that their Divinity influenced their development. At first, they got scared due to the assumption that they are as strong as them and tried to destroy them promptly. But some of the Gods stopped them and proposed that they would check about these beings in their form themselves."


    Athena stopped and drank her tea again while Kisuke and Yoruichi patiently waited for her to continue since they didn''t have any urgent matter.


    The first contact between Gods and Humans is sessful. They now knew that they don''t have any threat to them and these Humans even started worshipping them as the Gods watch them from the sidelines.


    What they didn''t expect though is the fact that Humans started developing very fast in terms of technology. This is where the theory of humans are being influenced by the Divinity of Gods gained more traction.


    This unexpected development gained the Gods'' interest and started to actively get involved with them seeing where these Humans would go. It''s only around this time that Ophis started roaming Earth. It wasn''t untilter that a new being roams the Dimensional Gap, which is now called the Great Red. And along with its appearance, a wave of Spiritual Power came from who knows where.


    Maybe due to Ophis and Great Red''s influence and the abundance of Spiritual Power, all sorts of creatures with power were born and threatened the existence of Humanity. This is the part where they started giving blessings and helping humans defeat these creatures. It''s also this time that they discovered that Humans can conceive their child birthing the first Demi-Gods who are going to lead Humanity to fight back against the bizarre creatures which will be known today as Heroes.


    But it''s also around this time that a certain being came into existence and that being will be called the Biblical Godter.


    "The Biblical God? How?" Kisuke and Yoruichi''s eyes widened at this revtion as they thought that the Biblical God is among those who came here from another star system.


    "It''s the collective thoughts and wishes of the Human Race��"

 Volume 4 191 - The Real Reasons (End of Volume 4)

    <h4>Volume 4 Chapter 191 - The Real Reasons (End of Volume 4)</h4>


    The being which will be known as the Biblical Godter was ignored by the Gods and only found his existence as amusing. As he came from Human thoughts his existence must be unstable, they thought.


    That being only kept wandering around with neutrality and just watch the world. What they didn''t know, however, is that it''s gathering power through belief.


    Then one day, it suddenly disappeared. The Gods thought that it cease existing, but what really happened is that it escaped to Dimensional Gap due to its unstable consciousness.


    In the first ce, Human thoughts and wishes couldn''t be all good or bad. Its neutrality is due to the bnce of ''ck'' and ''white''. But that bnce was broken when ''white'' dominated the ''ck'' inside it.


    The theory is that the ''white'' expelled the ''ck'' from its body and became the Biblical God while the ''ck'' became the Demon. The Gods are still unaware of this event and kept on ying around the Earth.


    Both of the Biblical God and Demon created their own domain in the Dimensional Gap, and that is the birth of Heaven and Underworld.


    With the abundance of Spiritual Power, Biblical God and Demon birthed to beings that aligned with them, the Angels and the Devils. Although they can''t use it, they both frantically gathered almost all the Spiritual Power to their domains to birth more of their Angels and Devils.


    This is when the Gods realized that something is wrong as the abundant Spiritual Power became thin in a very short time while the poption of the creatures remains the same. They searched the Dimensional Gap for an answer and they found it.


    Two big factions emerged. The Biblical God and Demon already has an army of billions at their disposal.


    Seeing an unknown strong force suddenly emerge, most of the Gods attacked them but they lost horribly and half of them were killed. The Angels and Devils aren''t strong per se, but they are too many that they can instantly overpower a God.


    There are also exceptions among the Angels and Devils, the first children of both Biblical God and Demon. They can match some of the Gods in terms of strength.


    On top of that, the Biblical God and Demon became so strong that they can contend against multiple Chief Gods.


    It didn''t take them too long to give up as they would only destroy both of themselves so they made a pact not to interfere with each other.


    With the pact in effect, they continued to boost their faction until one day, the Demon was betrayed by his children and was eaten, gaining his power and will be known as the four original Devil Kings.


    On the Biblical God''s side, the ''white'' inside him wasn''t able to expel all of the ''ck'' which he also passed to his children making them susceptible to corruption. Thus the Fallen Angels were born.


    Spreading his words and virtues, he managed to gather a veryrge amount of beliefs and he, along with his Angels was empowered. Although some of the Angels were also fell into corruption due to Fallen Angels, increasing their forces too. They also nned to join the war between the Devils and Angels to gain some domination.


    Everything is on the verge of erupting when suddenly, the Biblical God felt an intruder from the Dimensional Gap with veryrge evil intent, an intruder that is as dangerous as both Ophis and Great Red. Those who are strong enough also felt its presence, including Athena herself.


    The Gods prepared for war but they wouldn''t mind the damage they can cause. Due to his alignment and love for Humans, the Biblical God couldn''t let it reach Earth so he left for the Dimensional Gap and meet it with only a handful of Angels on his side. He did this because facing such enemy,ing to fight it without a certain level of strength would only mean death, and with the uing war with the Devils and Fallen Angels, he didn''t want to expend his forces.


    The Biblical God manages to seal the being which is now called the Beast of the End. And soon after he returned, the war started with the Gods only watching from the sidelines wishing for both sides'' mutual destruction.


    In the end, the Biblical God was victorious killing the four Devil Kings and billions of other Devils. Although they also incurred arge amount of damage that they won''t be able to recover for a few millennia. The Fallen Angels'' side has the smallest lost, but onlypared to the two other sides.


    After the war, some of the Gods proposed that they should attack the weaken Three Factions, but most of them disagreed as they are not certain of victory. They also discovered long ago that it''s almost impossible to kill the Biblical God due to the nature of his existence.


    "And hence, the current state of affairs�� I oversimplified the story so just take it with a grain of salt. The real thing is veryplicated due to the many schemes and coincidences. There''s is also the existence of other beings like dragons, but that how it goes more or less." Athena ended her story.


    "That''s an amazing story. I do have some questions I want to rify regarding that, but I wanted to ask first, what does it have to do with Medusa?" Kisuke refilled everyone''s tea and take out more tes of snacks which greatly overjoyed the emotionless Ophis.


    Athena first looked at Medusa before saying, "Medusa, along with her sisters, were born from Human beliefs."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi finally understood where Athena ising from, "Then��"


    "Yes�� We don''t want another Biblical God or Demoning into existence."


    "They why did she have to through that? Couldn''t you just kill her?" Yoruichi asked.


    "��We already tried�� Multiple times. But they came back soon after each death. And some of the Gods are against killing her, especially Poseidon. It seems that he''s quite eager to be in good terms with Medusa and even gifted her that Pegasus." Athena sneered when she uttered Poseidon''s name, "His wife also helped me ''taking care'' of Medusa."


    "Then the fact that the Biblical God is almost impossible to kill came from her and her sisters?"


    "Yes��"


    "And you said almost�� So you found a way?"


    "I found it when I secretly inspected her Divine Core. Unlike us, Gods, Medusa, and her sisters'' Divine Core are susceptible to corruption.


    "The only thing that can cause corruption to their Cores is that set of chains. It''s originally intended for confining and punishing Gods by directly damaging their Divine Cores, but we found out that it can corrupt their Cores instead of damaging it. We only have one set of these chains so we choose Medusa to test our theory and also bind her to thisnd when she revives.


    "Corrupting her Core was sessful, but only a small part of it. No matter how many times we pushed it, it won''t corrupt further so we assumed that this is the chain''s limitation.


    "Although we still killed her after that to see if there is any difference and indeed, something different happened. It took her much longer to revive. With that, we hypothesized that if we canpletely corrupt their Divine Cores, then we will be able to kill herpletely.


    "But actually doing it is hard, but I still found a way to do it!" There is a bit of pride when Athena said this.


    "You cursed her, huh? You shouldn''t really be proud of that��" Kisuke interrupted her.


    Athena pouted and can''t say anything back so she just continued her exnation, "Yes�� But it''s not exactly a curse as it just disturbs her mind and strengthened her ''non-human'' qualities.


    "After that, I expelled the sisters to the Shapeless Isle and started a rumor of a monster kidnapping two goddesses. That resulted in Heroesing after her head."


    "Your aim is not for these Heroes to vanquish her, but for her to get addicted to the act of killing? And it''s a sess, I guess?" Kisuke stirs his tea as he asks.


    "Yes�� And it''s an unexpected fortune for us that Medusa ate her sisters and further corrupted her while also getting rid of the more troublesome sisters. This is only possible since her elder sisters fused their Divine Core with her in an attempt to return Medusa back to normal. But they failed and their Cores got corrupted too.


    "Making sure that she''s finally corrupted, we sent the Hero that would kill her. Perseus."


    "Why didn''t you do it yourself?"


    "It''s because of our own Divinity that might affect the fully corrupted Core and somehow return it to normal. We couldn''t take that kind of risk aftering that far, so we sent him along with weapons that could help to kill her."


    "And it failed�� How?"


    Athena gritted her teeth after recalling what happened that time, "It''s due to greed. Some Gods proposed that we should take her head as her eyes are really useful if strengthened. With that in mind, I gave Perseus the Kibisis that could contain and preserve the head.


    "The Kibisis is another item from the Age of Primordial Gods and has the ability to trap things and reflect the abilities of those inside it. And one of Medusa''s abilities is to induce the worst nightmare you could think of.


    "Perseus couldn''t go against this ability, but using Kibisis, he was able to reflect her ability back to her. In this case, Medusa would see her worst nightmare. I don''t know what she experienced after getting hit by her own ability, but the instant that Perseus was about to cut her head, a single part of her Divine Core suddenly got purified. We failed. And when we retrieved that head, her expression is that of extreme sadness while tears are running down on her face"


    "So after several millennia, you still kept trying to corrupt her��"


    "Yes�� Until this happened��" Athena suddenly stood up and seriously said, "I''m telling you, she''s too dangerous! You should get rid of her!"


    "Dangerous? How? For you guys'' position? And what does it have to do with me?" Kisuke sneered at her words. What they want is too obvious. They just don''t want anyone threatening their positions.


    Athena wanted to say something, but she couldn''t deny his words.


    Without waiting for her, Kisuke stood up and said, "I''m taking Medusa with me. Just tell those guys that she died. I can also hide her existence, so you don''t have to worry about your lieing to light as it will also be disadvantageous for me."


    Kisuke then separated on of the snacks from the table and handed it over to Ophis before cleaning everything up.


    "Where are you going?" Athena asks, dumbfounded.


    "We''re going home~!"


    "What? I thought you have more questions?"


    "I didn''t say anything about asking them now, did I?" Kisuke still has to process everything she said and cross-check it from his own resources. He wouldn''t blindly believe her words even though he is holding her life.


    "You''re leaving just like that?" Athena couldn''t figure out his motives. He''s currently holding her life and isn''t asking for more benefits. She couldn''t help but think that there is a trap somewhere.


    "Yup~" Kisuke then started setting up simple teleportation magic that would take them outside.


    "What about them?" Yoruichi pointed at the unconscious members of the Perseus n. There are only ten or so people left alive after the whole ordeal.


    "Ah�� I almost forgot. Just kill who you think should be killed. You''re more proficient in this area than me." Kisuke replied and unhesitatingly ordered.


    "Hmm��" Yoruichi took out a kodachi from her own inventory and started beheading, "This one�� and this one�� I guess I should also include this guy." She killed a total of three people which is Teny, her clocked grotesque manservant and finally the guy wielding a spear, Petter, "Yosh�� That should be enough."


    "What''s going to happen to me?" Athena couldn''t care less even if all of them died here and asked Kisuke. Those three who Yoruichi killed have other dealings with other Gods anyway, so she would have killed them even if Kisuke and Yoruichi let them go.


    "I''ll contact youter. Just do your best to act like normal. Remember, I''m not really your enemy. I''m just doing this for my own safety."


    "��" Athena stayed silent after she heard him.


    Kisuke started the teleportation magic with him carrying Ophis, still munching on her snacks and Yoruichi carrying Medusa. Before they disappear, however, Kisuke said his final words to Athena, "Oh, and by the way. You can''t trust Hades." After saying those, they''re teleported out.


    Athena furrowed her brows at his words and tried to guess his meaning. She didn''t discard Kisuke''s words as she also found some suspicious activities from Hades'' side, ''Does he knows something?'' While thinking of the her next steps, she teleported to Mount Olympus.


    .


    .


    .


    When they reappearing in the center of Aphaia Temple it''s already the middle of the night, Kisuke took in a breath of relief, "Finally~! We can go home! This trip took longer than expected, but the harvest is worth it~!"


    Kisuke then started working on the teleportation circle that would take them home. Kisuke''s and Yoruichi''s Gigai could take care of the formalities of boarding the ne and going home. But before he could even finish the circle, hismunication token suddenly rang. He scanned it for a bit to see who the call ising from. Surprisingly, it''s Cleria.


    "What''s up?" Kisuke casually answered.


    "Just a few things. When we arrived this morning, your maid received and guided us. But this afternoon, she suddenly ran off due to some emergency and now I''m helping the Sitri Household to maintain the barrier around the Kuoh Academy so that it could hold the fight which is happening right now. The one fighting is the Gremory Household and Sona Sitri who entered after I took care of the barrier. And their opponent is Kokabiel, one of the leaders of the Fallen Angels��"


    "What!?" Kisuke was dumbfounded by this news and Yoruichi is the same.


    "Currently, there is only one standing defending everyone, a girl with traditional Japanese clothing used for funerals while using a twin sword. But even then, she''s only standing barely. At this rate, they''ll all be killed within a minute or two."


    Without hesitation, Kisuke took out a token and crushed it. They then all disappeared from their position.

 Volume 5 193 - Strange Expectations

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 193 - Strange Expectations</h4>


    After Kisuke and Yoruichi left the same day, Aika came to the Urahara Household and only met Sakura who is reading an invitation card.


    "Good morning, Sakura-san."


    "Ah, Good morning to you too, Aika-chan. Do you need anything? Don''t you have school today?"


    "I skipped it. I want to at least do a proper sh Step today, but do you know where Kisuke or Yoruichi-san is? Koneko and I tried to enter the Training Grounds but we can''t use our pendants to teleport." Aika asked after she was invited inside the house.


    "Why can''t you enter the Training Grounds?" Sakura prepared some tea for both of them.


    "There''s a restriction to the teleportation device. We can''t go there and train if they are not around or inside the Training Ground itself. He put it there so that we won''t train secretly which is dangerous." Aika took her tea after a small thank you.


    "�� So he really didn''t tell anything about his ns to all of you��" Sakura sighed. Kisuke left letters addressed to Koneko and Aika, but she thought it was just some notes and reminders.


    "Hmm? What do you mean?" Aika tilted her head in confusion.


    Sakura stood up from her seat and opened the cupboard in the kitchen to get a letter and candy. She handed it over to Aika and said, "Maybe you''ll understand if you read this. That candy is also for you."


    With apparent confusion, Aika silently opened the letter and read its contents.


    "Dear Aika,


    I''m currently on a honeymoon with Yoruichi.


    Sincerely, Kisuke"


    "Huh!? On a honeymoon!? And that doesn''t really exin anything!" Aika shouted after reading the strangely short letter.


    Sakura''s mouth twitches when she also saw the letter, ''Why did he even write it?''


    "Sakura-san! Please tell me where they are!"


    "What are you gonna do? Follow them?"


    "Of course not! It''s their precious time. I don''t want to disturb them now. I''m just curious about where they went�� For future reference."


    Sakura chuckled and replied, "They''re in Greece. They just left this morning." Sakura kept quiet about someone invited him toe over. However, strangely, she suddenly remembered joking about him bringing her another daughter-inw, ''It can''t be�� right?''


    Aika''s voice roused Sakura from spacing out, "Just this morning!? Is it so hard to at least leave a text message that they going somewhere like a normal person!?"


    "Did you think that my son is a normal person or capable of thinking like a normal one?"


    "�� You''ve convinced me, ma''am�� You''re his mother, without a doubt." Aika nodded sagely and asked, "When are theying back?"


    Sakura thought for a bit before replying, "He said around a week or two��"


    "��Sakura-san�� Should we expect your grandchild nine monthster?"


    "I''m fine with that~. Though that probably won''t happen and anytime soon. Despite how perverted he is, Kisuke is really careful with things like this�� What I heard from Yoruichi anyway."


    "Figures��"


    Sakura pointed at Aika''s letter and said, "Continue reading the letter, something is still written at the bottom of the paper."


    Aika looked down at the paper again and read a sentence at the end of the paper, "P.S. Use the candy if things get a bit dicey."


    "What does that mean?"


    Aika took the candy with a pink wrapper and carefully kept it inside her pocket, touching it several times to make sure it''s secure, "I''m not sure��" Although Aika isn''t indeed sure what the candy does, she has a clue when she saw the words ''a bit dicey''.


    Sakura didn''t pry further as she probably knew what she should do with that candy, if not, Kisuke wouldn''t purposely leave those kinds of words, "What do you n to do now?"


    Aika used her minimal control on her Reiatsu-Ki to shred her letter, "Well�� I have nothing to do so I''m going to school to attend the remaining sses and maybe take a look at Sona-kaichou��" Aika drank the rest of her tea and stood up to say her farewells, "Thank you for the tea. I''m leaving now."


    Sakura didn''t mind her actions as she''s only being careful like Yoruichi taught her, "Be careful on your way. And please pass this to Koneko-chan. It''s also from Kisuke." She then passed another letter to Aika, this time, without a candy.


    She raised it up towards the light bulb to see the shadow from inside and noticed that Koneko''s letter is quite longpared to her, "What''s up with this difference in treatment? Can I cry?"


    Sakura chuckled at her words andforted her, "Just think of it as Kisuke trusted you that he didn''t have to say anything more."


    "I see�� Thanks~," Aika left for school.


    ''I also need to prepare�� It''s been a while since I''ve been to Hokkaido��'' Sakura took a look at the invitation card that she received earlier. It''s an invitation to the wedding of her co-worker which will take ce in Hokkaido. She was also invited to stay for a few days to have a get together with her close friends at work.


    Sakura left the house after lunch to take care of somethings along with the groceries and only got backte in the afternoon. She realized that she bought the normal amount of groceries, ''Ah�� It''s just me tonight��''


    Just as she was about to reach her house, she saw someone pacing around her doorstep while wearing a maid uniform, "A-Akeno-san?"


    Akeno turned around with a bit of blush on her face, "Um�� Good evening, Urahara-san��" She''s feeling embarrassed with the maid attire she''s currently wearing.


    "What are you doing?"


    "�� I got a call from Ura- Kisuke-san this early morning and said that I should start my maid duties today."


    Sakura recalled that Kisuke indeed won a bet that will let Akeno serve as a maid in their house for a week or two, "Ah�� I see�� Come in~." Sakura invited her inside, ''That son of mine�� Couldn''t he properly remind people of his ns?�� Well�� I guess I won''t be alone tonight~.''


    "Excuse me. Thanks for having me over, and please take care of me for thising week." Akeno set her luggage down and bowed in front of Sakura.


    "Don''t worry about it. Do you n to stay here for a week?"


    "That''s what Kisuke-san said earlier. But he also said that I''ll only do my maid duties before and after sses or when it''s day-off in school."


    "Good~. Be sure not to neglect your studies. There won''t be much work here aside from regr cleaning so you can have the rest of your time for yourself."


    "Thank you." Akeno started fidgeting and looking around, "Uhm�� Where is Kisuke-san?"


    "Oh? He didn''t tell you?" Sakura mouth twitches at her question, ''This guy�� At least tell her!''


    "What is it?"


    "He and Yoruichi are on a vacation in Greece and they won''t being back for a whole week. They just left this morning��"


    "Ha?" Akeno was frozen in ce, "H-he left? And won''t being back for a week?"


    "Yes�� It might take two weeks it is long��"


    "They why did he want his reward for bet now?"


    "Eh? Maybe to apany me and help me out with some chores?"


    Akeno''s tense feelings suddenly went away and her shoulders slumped. She came here thinking that she has to follow Kisuke''s ridiculous orders but he isn''t even here�� She felt a bit disappointed.


    "Could it be that you want to work for him?" Sakura noticed her reaction and asked.


    "Ah? N-no! I''m only here to honor our bet! Nothing else." Akeno defended herself but her eyes kept swimming around.


    "�� Do you have some strange expectations?" Sakura hit the mark with that question.


    "O-of course that''s not true! I''m only here for work, ma''am!" Akeno frantically replied.

 Volume 5 194 - Planning for Revenge

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 194 - nning for Revenge</h4>


    Akeno and Sakura had an awkward but lively dinner with Sakura doing the most questioning while Akeno continuously tried to defend herself from her onught.


    After having their fill, Sakura showed her to the room she would be using for the next week, "Well then, rest for today. There is nothing else you need to do."


    "Uhmm�� But I need to do the dishes��" Akeno meekly replied. After the battle on dinner, Sakura, unintentionally, showed her who is the boss.


    "It''s okay, I can do that for now. You can start your real work tomorrow. Take a good bath and rest for now. Goodnight~." Sakura also felt a bit guilty for teasing her and tiring her out, ''I now somehow understand Kisuke''s point of view�� Messing with these kids is really fun if you have nothing else to do��''


    "��Okay." Akeno easily epted her offer as she''s really tired and wanted to calm herself, ''She''s really that guy''s mother��''


    Akeno unpacked her luggage and went to the bathroom. While taking a dip on the hot bath, Akeno ended up remembering Sakura''s words about having strange expectations, ''No! I don''t have those! I just think that maybe I could take revenge while I work for him! Damn guy! Why did you leave!''


    Akeno frustratedly kicked around the bath while she recalls Kisuke''s grinning face, ''Damn you! I''ll wait for your return! And until then, I have my chance to find out your weakness!''


    Akeno got out of the bath after almost an hour of venting some of her stress. Since it''s just her and Sakura who are in the house, she went back to her room with just a towel wrapped around her, almost spilling the buns on her chest. Any normal man that could see this scene would have their blood rushed to their two heads.


    She rummages through her clothes and took out the white robe that she always uses when she sleeps. But just as she was about to wear it, Akeno noticed the purple nightgown that she included in her luggage beforeing here. She took out the semi-transparent clothing and thought, ''Now that I''ve calmed down, it''s pretty bold of me to bring this�� But since it''s already here, I should push forward my n of dumping him after seducing him. I guess it''s my good fortune that he isn''t here right now so that I can practice and simte how I should act around him�� Be prepared, damn bastard! I will tease you until you explode your balls from the frustration of not being able to touch me! I should also get that erotic maid uniform for a better variety��'' Akeno was too desperate to think that she nned her revenge full of holes for Kisuke to take advantage of.


    The next morning, Akeno woke up early in the morning and prepared breakfast. Sakura came out a quarter of an hourter and saw that there is already a hot breakfast for her to eat.


    Sakura sat down on the dining table and put her hands together, "Thank you for the food." And started eating. After taking a few bites, Sakura invited Akeno to join her since she noticed that she''s already down preparing two lunchboxes, "Come here and join me. You''re a great cook~. Where did you learn it?"


    "��From Ura- Kisuke-san��" Akeno replied.


    "Oh? That guy is really a good cook. Although it''s a shame that he rarely does it and leaves it to me most of the time because he said he''s toozy to do it."


    Akeno felt a bit surprised to get new information about him, ''Right! I could get close to Sakura-san and get some info about him! Or maybe, even some embarrassing past! But before that��'' "Sakura-san, I''m sorry for taking liberties, but I prepared lunchboxes for you and me."


    "No problem~. In fact, I would have to ask you if haven''t done it yet. Thank you. Oh�� And by the way, I''ll be leaving for Hokkaido tomorrow."


    Akeno was shocked. One of her ns and most promising results just went up to smoke, "Then��"


    "I''m sorry, but you''ll have to be alone for the rest of the week if you still want to continue your job�� Why don''t you ask Kisuke to postpone it?"


    Akeno saw a light and said, "I''m fine. I also want to honor this bet as soon as possible."


    "You''re right�� You wouldn''t want to deal with that son of mine any further��" Sakura took a peek on Akeno''s expression and thought, ''What is she nning? I know she wants revenge�� Well, I don''t really care. It''s Kisuke''s fault for teasing her too much anyway��''


    "If you''re going away for a while, can you give me the permission to clean everything around here? Including your rooms?" Akeno asked. However, her real target is Kisuke''s room but it would be weird if she asks only that.


    "It''s fine~. You''ll be bored with nothing else to do if you don''t." Sakura unhesitantly agreed, ''There''s nothing important in those rooms anyway. It''s either in Kisuke''s inventory or in the Training Ground.''


    "Please leave it to me!" Akeno did a guts pose inside her mind, ''I''ll slowly figure out your secrets! Be damned with privacy! I''m a devil and I want my revenge!'' Stressing the fact that she''s a Devil, she wanted to be guilt-free even slightly for what she''s about to do. She also threw to the back of her mind the consequences if she were to be caught. Or maybe, deep inside her�� she wanted to get caught.


    "Alright, I''ll leave it to you." Sakura noticed the strange glint in her eyes but didn''t point it out, ''Kisuke�� The number of pervertsing after you just increased.''


    They ate their breakfast with thoughts of their own. Akeno left first since she needs to meet Rias every morning in their Clubroom.


    Akeno reached the school and went for the old building directly. Knocking on the door of the Clubroom, Rias'' voice came from inside, "Come in."


    Akeno entered and greeted Rias, "Good morning, Rias."


    Rias look up from her desk, "Good morning, Akeno. How did it go?"


    "�� That bastard went on a vacation!" Akeno gritted her teeth along with the seconding of stress-relieving.


    "Ha?�� He called you there and he''s not even in? What the hell?"


    "I know right! That guy just thinks of me as just a convenient housekeeper while he''s out! Damn bastard! And here I am all prepared to receive all kinds of humiliation from him! Hehehe�� But despite that, this is also my chance to prepare for my revenge!" When Akeno got alone with her best friend, she went all out with venting.


    "Uhmm�� Y-yeah�� Just don''t overdo it." Rias was taken aback with her sudden outburst and could only say such, ''First is Sona�� And now Akeno�� I should reduce my contact with that guy as much as possible��''

 Volume 5 195 - Drowning Herself with Work

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 195 - Drowning Herself with Work</h4>


    It has been a few days since Kisuke and Yoruichi went to their merry vacation and Sona has busied herself with schoolwork every day without even being aware that they left the country.


    "�� And that will be everything for today." Tsubaki finished reporting to Sona who is still typing down some documents.


    "��Thank you�� You may go." Sona briefly replied.


    Ever since Sona and her sister, Serafall, came back from Kisuke''s ce, she has been like this. Although Sona tends to work hard, this particr case is much worse to the point that Tsubaki and the members of the student council can easily tell that Sona is very tired which doesn''t happen.


    Tsubaki especially knew that she pushing herself too hard because she noticed the rings around Sona''s eyes that she tried to hide with makeup. This suggests that she hasn''t been getting any sleep these past few days.


    Tsubaki even sneaks in her house to see what she has been up to, but to her surprise, it''s more work and she''ll do it until morning. She will only stop if she about to go to school.


    Tsubaki knew that there couldn''t be that much work and checked what Sona is working on and saw that she''s already nning everything for the school she wanted to establish in the Underworld instead of letting the experts do it for her. She hasn''t even got the permission of the elder to build it so one can say that she''s working on something that can prove useless in the future.


    Tsubaki wanted to ask what happened back then, but she couldn''t find the right timing or the courage to directly confront her about it. She''s trying very hard to hide it after all. Asking Serafall didn''te to her mind due to her position.


    But today is different since she receives information from the House of Sitri that monitors the general trend of Underworld. Since Kisuke is one of the people of interest and the one who defeated Sona in chess along with her apparent eptance of her loss by dering that he may be her fiance in the future, he''s also under the surveince of the House of Sitri, "Kaichou, a news came from the House of Sitri that you might be interested in." Tsubaki hopes that she could get some reaction from Sona with this information and try to guess what really happened.


    Sona looked up to Tsubaki with a deadpan face and replied, "What is it?"


    "Urahara Kisuke was seen in Greece a few days ago." Tsubaki stared intently at Sona and answered.


    Sona was shaken at her words and hurriedly looked back down on her work. This is the first time since a few days ago that Sona reacted strongly. Tsubaki can even see that her hands are trembling a bit, "I-is that so?" Sona resumed typing but she kept making mistakes with what she''s doing and kept hitting the backspace button.


    "Yes��" Tsubaki waited for a while but Sona didn''t ask a follow-up question which confused her greatly. All this time, she would always be interested in Kisuke''s actions for reasons like wanting to invite him in their peerage.


    After a few seconds, Sona spoke up because the silence is getting awkward, "By the way, how are the preparations for the Athletic Meet?"


    ''She changed the topic!? And in such a bad way!'' Despite being shocked inwardly, Tsubaki answered straight, "Although there are some dys, everything is fine and we''ll be done before the meet." Tsubaki already reported this earlier but she didn''t point it out, ''Kisuke-san�� Just what happened?''


    "Good�� I''ll take my leave now. I want to rest." Sona stood up and went straight for the door.


    Before she could exit, Tsubaki called out from behind, "Kaichou��"


    Sona turned around, "What is it?"


    "��Please�� rest." Tsubaki emphasized the word ''rest''.


    "��" Sona nkly stared at her for a moment before smiling gently, "Yes�� I will. I''m sorry for worrying you and the rest." Sona then went on her way, ''The sleeping drug that I ordered from the Underworld would arrive today in any case�� I should be able to sleep tonight.''


    Tsubaki stared at the door even after left. She then took out her phone to call a number, Kisuke''s number. She got it from Aika who wanted to ask about Sona''s state. Although she seems to know something about what happened, she didn''t tell her anything.


    She failed to call Kisuke as it didn''t even ring. She gave up after a few tries and gripped her phone that it almost broke, ''What should I do?��'' Tsubaki sighed and left after locking the room.


    .


    .


    .


    Rias, in defiance to her family''s will, move into Issei''s house. They had no choice but to allow her due to her stubbornness, but Sirzhecs strongly supported this move thinking that Rias would be happy with the Red Dragon Emperor with the determination he showed in the Rating Game. He''s hopeful that Issei would reach far with his Sacred Gear despite him being a normal human in the past.


    " --Well, that about sums it up. It looks like I''m also going to be living in the Hyoudou House from now on." Rias exined to Issei''s parents with a smile, "I hope my ignorance is not too much of a bother, Father, Mother."


    It was decided that the Rating Game they had is invalid and they would have a rematch. But their opponent, Riser Phenex, hasn''te out of his room after he almost lost his life. They are even saying that he now has a phobia of cats, white cats in particr and would flee if he sees one, even if it is a kitten, like a chicken who met its worst predator.


    Rias convinced Issei and Asia to let her move in by saying that she''d like to strengthen her bond with her servants.


    "Oh~. I couldn''t be happier! With Asia-chan and Rias-san, now I''ve got two daughters." Miki, Issei''s mother, pped her hands in delight and weed Rias'' stay.


    Gorou, Issei''s father, took off his sses and wiped away his tears, "You said it, dear! It''s every man''s dream to be surrounded by girls! Issei, you just might aplish my boyhood fantasy!"


    Issei is currently making a difficult face and thought, ''Yup�� No doubt about it. I''m this guy''s son. We''ve even got the same dream��''


    Issei recalled the night that he woke up after having a dream talking to a dragon that ims to reside inside his left hand. He also recalled the moment when they received the news that they would have a rematch against the Riser. That time, he remembered what Kisuke would always say to him whenever he hesitates on what he wants to do in his childhood, ''Just go for it!''


    So he stood up, with everyone watching him, dered that he would do everything to protect Rias even if he has to sacrifice his body trying. Issei even imed that if Rias were to have an Engagement Party or Wedding itself that she''s not in favor of, he would crash it and take her away.


    Those words prompt Rias to hug him tightly as she cried lightly. Since then, they have been very close and now Rias decided to live with him despite what her family says.


    Though it didn''t take long for Issei to return to his perverted self as he enjoys Rias'' breast which led to Asiaining about it and Koneko almost wanting to kick his face away.

 Volume 5 196 - Photo Albums

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 196 - Photo Albums</h4>


    That night, Issei and Rias almost crossed the line if not for Asia interfering. Because the atmosphere between them isn''t right, Asia became alert and prompted her to follow Rias to Issei''s room. If not for Issei''s control and not wanting to touch Asia, that night, it might have been a wild one.


    The next day, they all went to school tired and sleepy due to them not being able to sleep. Asia and Rias watched each other not wanting thetter to make a move while they sleep while Issei controls himself to the utmost level while he chants some Buddhist scripture while heys down beside two nakeddies. But once in a while, Kisuke''s grinning face will enter his mind saying, ''Just do it!'' Which almost made him attack both of them if not for him remembering how innocent Asia is which makes her unsure of what is really about to happen even though she read the porn magazine that Kisuke passed her and the fact that he doesn''t have any ''protection'' or ''armor'' to use which also something that Kisuke would always remind him if he was to be in a situation like that, ''I should buy some if I get a chance!''


    The day went by with the three of them thinking about what happenedst night. They won''t home even more tired than this morning. It''s a good thing that they are Devils, or else they would have copsed from fatigue.


    A few minutester, the doorbell rang and the rest of the ult Research Club arrive, "Pardon us." Akeno greeted Issei with a smile.


    "Huh? Why are you all at my house��?" Issei scratched his head in confusion, though he still invited them inside.


    Rias came from behind him and said, "Didn''t I tell you? They are cleaning the old school building that houses our Clubroom today, so our meeting has to be here."


    "Oh�� Now that you mentioned it��" Issei did recall something like that happening but he honestly forgot it due to the incidentst night.


    And while he contemtes what else he might be forgetting about, he heard his mother speaking from the living room, "And here we have Issei when he was in elementary school."


    "Hnn?" Issei took a peek and saw that her mother took out their photo albums for the ult Research Club''s member to feast on.


    "Oh my. He''s all naked at the beach." Akeno chuckled while she looks at the photo''s that Miki showed her.


    "C''mon, Akeno-san! I mean, stop showing her, mom!!!" Issei protested but he noticed that each one of them is already holding a photo album.


    "Issei-senpai''s raw and uncut past�� Pfft." Koneko muttered while looking at the photo of Issei while he''s trying to form boobs in the middle of a sandbox.


    "You too, Koneko-chan!? Cut that out!"


    From the corner of the room, Issei heard a muttering, "Young Issei�� Little Issei�� Little Issei�� Little Issei�� Little Issei�� Little Issei�� Little Issei��"


    "Uhmm�� Buchou��?" Issei called out to her softly, not wanting to disturb the hungry lion. A momentter, Asia joined her and agreed to her sentiments, "I understand your interest, Buchou! Don''t worry! Look here. This Issei is cute too!"


    "Aww�� C''mon��" Issei gave up.


    While she was viewing the photo album, Akeno noticed a boy with a pale blond hair wearing trunks while he gave those in bikinis with sagely look as he rubs his chin, "T-this is��?" Akeno pointed at the photo and asked Issei''s mother.


    "Hmm? Oh�� That''s Kisuke-kun. He''s always been with Issei since their childhood�� Though I must say�� He''s really a strange kid." Miki sighed as she recalls the past, "Even back then when Issei still hasn''t developed his perverted tendencies, Kisuke-kun would have some philosophical views that we don''t really understand but all in all�� He''s just a pervert�� He would only act like an innocent kid when he wanted to trick some mature woman to care for him��"


    Akeno''s and everyone''s mouth twitches when they heard Miki''s story, ''So it that guy''s fault that Issei turned out like this?'' They all thought.


    A secondster though, they all recovered and Akeno and Koneko started to frantically search for Kisuke''s photos. Kisuke was never the focus of the photos but each of them caught him doing some random things like sitting on a maturedy''sp while being fed, ying with a maturedy in the river, trying to carry a maturedy on a piggyback despite his small frame, and more antics with maturedies. The only different thing is the photos of him being chased around by an angry ck kitten which they both knew is Yoruichi, "That pervert��" They both muttered.


    But soon after, Koneko''s motivation in mastering her ''adult'' form strengthened and Akeno''s confidence in seducing him increased after seeing these photos. Akeno even started tough strangely but nobody approached her due to the weird atmosphere around her. The once cool and collected onee-sama was gone��


    Issei turned away his attention and noticed Kiba also looking at the photos, "Hey, Kiba! Stop looking!" He''s fine with thedies looking through his photos but not a pretty boy.


    Issei tried to snatch the album from Yuuto but he easily dodged it, "What''s the matter? Let me have a bit more fun."


    Yuuto kept dodging him until he suddenly stopped and called Issei with a serious tone, "Issei-kun�� This photo��" Yuuto pointed at one photo where Issei, Kisuke and a boy with hazel hair posing.


    "Huh?�� What about it?" Issei took peek and recalled the past, "Ah. That''s the kid who used to live in the neighborhood. We were always ying together. But one of his parents was transferred for work, so they moved abroad before we started elementary school."


    Yuuto then pointed at the ornamental sword hanging on the wall in the background, "Do you ever recall seeing this?"


    Issei rubbed his chin in few seconds of contemtion, "Well, I was pretty young. Can''t say I do��"


    "I see�� That happens sometimes. A faded memory that you can''t quite ce�� But this�� is a holy sword!"


    "Holy sword?" Issei muttered, ''There is something like that?''


    "Well�� It''s nothing�� Really��" Yuuto brushed it off and continued looking at the photos.


    Issei wants to continue stopping him but Rias suddenly spoke up, "Ehem�� Let''s start the meeting��"


    They started discussing the Interclub Tournament that will happen in the Athletic Meet and how they should practice. I didn''t take long before Rias dismissed them after their discussion, "��and that''s it. If you have a contract you can go to."


    "Yes, Buchou." They all answered. Akeno stood up and used magic to transform into her maid outfit as she about to go to Kisuke''s house. One of the conditions is that she has toe to their house in a maid uniform.


    "A-Akeno-san��?" Issei asked. Asia is also looking at her with apparent confusion.


    Rias then exined what happened and the bet they had with Kisuke.


    After hearing the story, Issei gulp as he looks at Akeno, ''That''s Kisuke''s taste for you��'' However, he sighed afterward, "So you joined him in a bet, huh?"


    Rias turned to him and asks, "Issei? What is it?"


    "Well�� He never lost a bet�� It looks like its the same even if he goes against the Devils�� We already learned not to oppose him in any gambles since every time he does it, he''ll we some way or another�� And Even if he did lose�� There''s a trick to it that you''ll end up gaining nothing but him gaining everything��" Isseiughed wryly.


    "��Don''t worry�� We already learned our lesson��" Rias nodded, ''I don''t want to end up bing like Sona and Akeno.''

 Volume 5 197 - Too Busy

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 197 - Too Busy</h4>


    "Yo, Issei. Got club again today?" Motohama and Matsuda approached Issei after the ss ended.


    "Yeah. We''re preparing for the Athletic Meet." Issei while packing his things.


    "Really now�� So the ult Research Club is good in ball games, is it?" Motohama pulled a chair and sat down in front of Issei''s desk.


    "Figures. All the members are in tip-top shape." Matsuda also did the same.


    "I guess��" Issei replied lightly, ''That''s because Devils are naturally stronger than humans.


    Motohama expression suddenly turned serious and fixed his sses, "Issei, there are some nasty rumors cirction about you, so watch out. Kisuke also has some rumors circting, but he isn''t here right now. Although we doubt if he would even care about it."


    "W-what are you talking about, Motohama?" Issei gulped as he has a really bad feeling about it.


    Motohama grinned and exined the rumor, "Word has it that you''re Issei Hyoudou, "The Beast", who steals away young beautiful one after the other.


    "You''re holding some sort of secret of Rias-senpai and Himejima-senpai and ckmailing them into entertaining your brutish and perverse whims. ''Hehehe. You two are usually such elegant, refined flowers, but before me, you can''t help but give in to your basest desires! You fine pair of boobies!'' --You say as you abuse them. Forcing them into one act of debauchery after next."


    Issei stood up and mmed the table, "Hey!!! What the hell is that about!? Only Kisuke can do that!"


    Motohama put up his hands to calm him down and said, "Wait. That isn''t all. They said that your sexual urges even to our recent angle of a transfer student, Asia Argento. You made your move the day she transferred in and now you slowly corrupt the poor angle during the twilight hours��


    "Lastly, you lock these beauties up in your own little world inside your house, bending them to your will until they break. The brutish Issei Hyoudou''s lust for young flesh knows no bounds!


    "And well, that''s what they say~!" Motohama finished his words and Matsuda followed up, "Geez, you really are the worst."


    Issei held his head not knowing what to do with the rumor, "Seriously? Do people really think that about me?"


    Issei looked around the ssroom and saw that the girls are giving him a fearful and disgusted look, "Eww�� He''s looking over here." "He''s on the hunt for his next victim." "Don''t lock eyes or he''ll get you for sure." "Scary��" "Those are the eyes of an animal�� How creepy." Is what he heard they are saying.


    "Dammit! Who the hell spreads these rumors!!!" Issei cursed to the heavens.


    "Well, we''ve been spreading it for one." Motohama suddenly said.


    "Yup, yup. We even got Kisuke''s help one time." Matsuda followed.


    Without saying anything, Issei gave each one of them a lump on the head.


    "That hurt you brute!" "Yeah! Stop hitting us! You fiend!" Matsuda and Motohama immediatelyined.


    "Screw you guys! I should kill you for the things you''ve said about me! And Kisuke helped you!? How!?" Issei asked since that''s what he''s most worried about.


    "Well�� He just distributed a photo of you and Kiba reaffirming your love for each other in a darkly lit storage room. It''s especially popr with a certain group of girls." Matsuda snickered.


    "HE WHAT!?" Issei eximed loudly. He suddenly remembered him and Yuuto talking in the storage room about winning the game, ''That time!? How!?''


    "You even go as far as to lust after that pretty boy!" Motohama didn''t answer his question but raised his voice which gathered more attention from the surrounding students with some of them has sparkling eyes while looking at Issei.


    "Kyaaa~! Are you the top or the bottom? The world wants to know!" Matsuda did another follow up.


    "Well, that''s another we''ve been spreading anyway. And we''ve got some hefty cash due to some variation of that photo fetch some good amount of money in the school''s ''ck Market''."


    "Die! Just die already!" Issei gave them a kick on their faces and left them whining on the floor. He only stopped beating them up with the club practice time approaching, "Ah, it looks like clubs are about to start. Time to go."


    "You sure are gung ho. Who knew you were such a jock?" Matsuda recovered for a little bit.


    "You''ve really changed. Eat anything oddtely? Or did your life turn around when you saw bare breast for the first time?" Motohama cleaned his sses and said.


    "I''ll say this�� No matter how many times I see boobs, it never gets old." With a smug face, he left them.


    "Die!!!" Matsuda and Motohama grief at their inability to see bare boobs in real life.


    Issei grabbed Asia who is receiving some ''night'' lessons from Aika and went to the clubroom for practice.


    Once they reached the room, there are two guests inside, Sona Sitri and Saji Genshirou. It seems they are here to formally introduce the new members of each Household to each other.


    "Issei, Asia. Allow me to properly introduce you to Sona Sitri. As you already know, she academy''s student council president and the leader of her peerage just like me." Rias introduced Sona after they entered the room.


    "Pleased to meet you, Hyoudou-kun, Asia-san."


    "We''re pleased to meet you too, Sitri-sama!" Issei and Asia simultaneously bowed. They heard from Rias that she''s the heir to the Sitri n which is another big noble family in the Underworld like their master. And as Rias'' servants, they have to show proper respect for her.


    "No need to be formal. I''m just here to introduce our newest member, Saji." Sona gestured towards Saji. It''s apparent that he subdued and less energetic than their first meeting. If it''s the normal him, he would have issued a challenge to Issei as someone who has the same position as him in a peerage, "This is Saji Genshirou. A pawn in my peerage. I hope you get along with him."


    "N-nice to meet you too��" Issei replied, but due to the awkward atmosphere, he stuttered a bit, ''Although Kisuke did beat him up, that''s already happened long ago! So what''s up with this weird atmosphere.


    Sona also noticed the gloomy atmosphere Saji is putting out, but he can''t me him as he is just worried about her. Although she''s trying to act like it''s normal, it obvious for her servants that she isn''t doing well these past few days. Saji confronted her about it and Sona just brushed it off as nothing. He did this multiple times that Sona got fed up and unintentionally raised her voice against him. She apologized to him, but she couldn''t do anything to lift his mood.


    "��You should meet sometime�� Well then. I have no other business so we''re going to leave��" Sona stood up and headed straight to the door.


    "Sona��" Rias called out to her and wanted to ask her what''s wrong, but she knew her attitude and knows that she would pretend that nothing is wrong, so instead, she asked about theirpetition on the Interclub Tournament, "�� I''m looking forward to our game��"


    "�� I''m sorry, Rias�� I won''t be able to join you as I''m too busy with something�� You can have the slot for this month to catch a familiar for your new members��" Sona left without waiting for her to reply.


    Rias watched as the door closed and face Koneko soon after, "Koneko-chan�� Do you know anything?"


    To her surprise, Koneko nodded, "Then��"


    "I''m sorry, Buchou�� It''s not my ce to talk about it��"


    "��I see��"

 Volume 5 197 - Holy Sword Project

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 197 - Holy Sword Project</h4>


    The day of Athletic Competition arrived, but much of its excitement died down due to the Student Council not participating in any events. Much to the new students'' surprise, the ult Research Club dominated the Interclub Tournament instead of a sports club. Due to that, many tried to apply to join such club but they were immediately rejected much to their despair and disappointment to get close to hot girls.


    Although the ult Research Club dominated the games, Issei didn''te out of it unscathed, in particr, the game of Dodge Ball where the enemies only aimed at him for reasons being they can''t touch the girls and Yuuto Kiba due to his fangirls. To these people, the only person they can let out their resentment is Issei and did it quite happily. Due to Yuuto not paying attention, Issei had to take a hit for him and the ball ended up striking his crotch which caused some concerns from both Asia and Rias.


    That day, it rained, Yuuto left the school after the events ended and Rias scolded him, "Sorry about my performance today. I wasn''t feeling well. Can I go now? The tournament is over at this point��" Yuuto turned around not waiting for Rias'' reply, "I''m pretty tired, so I think I''ll be skipping club today too."


    Yuuto already gained some distance when Issei and Asia caught up to him despite the weather, "Kiba! You''ve seriously been acting weirdtely." Issei has to grab his shoulder to make him stop walking.


    Yuuto shook off his hand, "It has nothing to do with you."


    "��That doesn''t mean we''re not worried��"


    "Worried? Why would you be worried? Devils lead inherently selfish lives." Yuuto resumed on walking through the rain, "But it''s fine if you think poorly of me for disobeying our master��"


    Issei gritted his teeth at his words, "Hold on now��" He then grabbed his cors, "Why pull this bad attitude just when we were starting toe together as a team!? Did you forget all the sh*t we faced when we fought Riser''s group!? If we don''t stick together and back each other up from now on, things aren''t going to end well!�� We''re friends after all��"


    Yuuto shook off his hands again, "Friends�� Hmm��? Stop getting so worked up. Issei-kun, I recently remembered something essential."


    "Something essential��?"


    "Yes�� I recalled what I''m fighting for."


    "You mean you''re not fighting for Buchou?"


    "No�� I''m not." Yuuto''s pretty face suddenly contorted to hate, "I''m only living for revenge�� The only reason I continue to fight is to destroy the Holy Sword, Excalibur." He then walked away with Issei and Asia not being able to do anything else.


    Yuuto kept walking in the rain as he reminisces his childhood, ''I never really forgot my revenge against the Holy Sword, Excalibur. I just let myself get wrapped up in school life�� My friends, my lifestyle, even my name�� It''s all been granted to me by Rias Gremory. I have no right to strive for any more happiness than this. I can''t be at peace living on for myrades until I carry their will��''


    As he kept thinking to himself what should he be doing now, Yuuto suddenly felt a threat against him, a strong Holy Powering from behind him, "!?" In instant, he activated his Sacred Gear, Sword Birth and took out a sword from his palm. He blocked the iing sword from behind him.


    As the sh of metals urred, Yuuto hurriedly retreated to see who attacked him. To his surprise, he knew the attacker, it was Freed who Koneko has beaten to half-death state in the Fallen Angels incident.


    "Yahoo~! Long-time no see!"


    "Freed Sellzen! So you''re still alive��"


    "Huh!? Why would you think that I died!? Is it because of that shrimp!!! Damn it! Just remembering her face makes me want to cut her up!!! For my future generation, I shall take my revenge!!!" Freed''s mouth took off.


    Instead of reacting to his words, Yuuto''s attention was caught by the sword he''s holding, "��That sword is --!!!"


    "Hehehe�� It seems that you''re familiar with my toy." Freedughed creepily, "How about you and me see which is better -- your devil swords or my Excalibur? The loser gets to die of course!"


    .


    .


    "The Holy Sword Project?" Issei asked Rias who is currently staying in his room along with Asia.


    "It existed until just a few years ago. The goal was to cultivate individuals who were capable of wielding the Holy Sword Excalibur." Rias took a sip of her tea before continuing, "Yuuto was the only survivor of the project."


    "And the Church was running it?�� This is the first time I''ve heard of it��" Asia muttered.


    "Holy Swords are terrifying weapons for us Devils�� But they say that every few decades will only yield a single potential wielder. The same is true of the Holy Weapon ''Longinus''. The Sacred Gear that resides in you, Issei. I suspect that your Longinus, as a potential God-killer got its name from the infamous Holy Spear ''True Longinus'' that was used to kill Christ."


    "��Longinus." Issei stared at his left hand thinking of the dragon that imed that resides in it.


    "Yuuto was one of those raised and trained to be a user of Holy Swords. Excalibur in particr. The organization in charge of training designated Yuuto and hispanions, who could not adapt to the swords, ''defective goods'' and disposed of them."


    " ''Disposed''��? You don''t mean��?" Asia innocently asked, "��It couldn''t be�� No one working in the name of the Lord could do something so awful."


    "Those with the Churchbel the very existence of us Devils evil, but�� I think humans possess quite enough malice themselves." Rias sighed, "When I turned Yuuto into a Devil, he was swearing an oath of vengeance, despite being on the brink of death. Due to the very fact that his talent had been warped by the Holy Swords wince birth�� I believed I could put him to use once he became a Devil. It''s just a shame that his specialized talents for swordy are particr to Holy Swords."


    Issei remembered how Yuuto acted earlier and muttered, "But he hasn''t forgotten the revenge he swore against all those involved with Holy Swords�� Those members of the Church�� So that''s why he hates priests and Holy Swords so much. No wonder��"


    "In any case, I think we just have to observe him for now. His obsession with the Holy Swords seems to have returned to him ofte�� I hope he manages to get back to normal, but��" Rias'' head started to ache thinking of Yuuto''s problem.


    Issei recalled the moment this all started and took out the photo album that Yuuto was looking at when they had a meeting in their house, "Ah, now that you mentioned it. I think it started with this picture." Issei then showed a photo of him along with two boys.


    Rias took a peek at the photo and the sword in the background also caught her attention, "You have rtives affiliated with the Church?"


    "No, not rtives." Issei pointed at the boy with hazel colored hair, "But this kid was a neighbor of mine when we''re little. I think the family was Christian."


    "I see�� To think that there was a Holy Sword in this city just a little over ten years ago. How terrifying."


    "So you''re saying the sword in the photo is really a Holy Sword?"


    "Yes. One of them anyway. It doesn''t look like Excaliburm but it''s still a true Holy Sword. I''ve heard that the previous Devil inhabitants of this city were annihted�� Makes me wonder��" Rias put down the album and stood up, "In any case��" She then started undressing, "What do you say we call it a night?"


    "Why are you taking your clothes off!?" Issei also stood up. Although he didn''t try to stop her.


    "What do you mean ''why''? You of all people know that I can''t sleep unless I''m naked." Rias didn''t care about his protest and undid her underwear.


    "No, no, I mean��! Why in my room!?" Issei kept looking at her, ''Asia is here! I can''t do anything!''


    "Because I''m sleeping with you, of course." Riasid down on the bed and invited Issei to join her.


    Asia couldn''t stay quiet anymore and also started undressing, "Then I am too! I''m also sleeping with Issei-san!"


    "Asia-san!?" ''See!? I can''t do anything!!! Though I don''t have any protection with me right now�� So I can''t do it either way�� And after that heavy topic�� It''s impossible��''


    "Asia, please let me have him tonight."


    "No can do! I think I too have the right to fawn over Issei-san a bit. So I want to sleep with him!"


    "Well, let''s have Issei decide then." They both turned to Issei who is having eye candy.


    "Issei-san, won''t you please sleep with me?" Asia pleaded.


    "You''re obviously picking me, right?" Rias red at him.


    ''How am I suppose to chose!?''


    .


    .


    "Phew." Issei left them after they got tired and slept peacefully, ''In the end, I picked both of them, but as Iy sandwiched between the two, I was going nuts not being able to touch either one, so I got out of bed.'' After washing his hand he cried to himself, "I''m so pathetic. It makes me wanna cry��"


    On his left arm where he''s wiping his snot, a regal voice resounded, "Hey, partner. Apologies for catching you at a bad time."


    "!?"

 Volume 5 198 - Issei and Ddraig

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 198 - Issei and Ddraig</h4>


    "Phew." Issei left them after they got tired and slept peacefully, ''In the end, I picked both of them, but as Iy sandwiched between the two, I was going nuts not being able to touch either one, so I got out of bed.'' After washing his hand he cried to himself, "I''m so pathetic. It makes me wanna cry��"


    On his left arm where he''s wiping his snot, a regal voice resounded, "Hey, partner. Apologies for catching you at a bad time."


    "!? That voice�� The giant red lizard!?" Issei pushed away his left arm leaving a trail of snot.


    The poor dragon instantly went into rage mode, "Who are you calling a lizard!!! Damn it! You got influenced by that guy too much! And the name is Ddraig! Remember it, kid!"


    "That guy? Who?" Issei is more interested in the guy the dragon is talking about instead of his name.


    "The one you call Kisuke��" The voice sighed and thought, ''I knew he would end up this way��''


    "How did you know about him?" Issei became suspicious and recalled what he knows about Kisuke, ''Aside from the time he beat up Saji�� There''s also the fact that he trained Koneko-chan to fight that much�� What the hell is he�� really��''


    "Well, I already had a talk with him in the past��" The voice suddenly chuckled at his thoughts.


    Issei''s eyes shoot wide open, "What!? How?" From what he can remember from the lessons he took about Sacred Gears, It''s almost impossible to talk to the spirit of the Sacred Gear without the knowledge of the wielder.


    "I promised him that I won''t reveal what we talked about and you don''t have to be worried. It isn''t about you."


    "��" Issei frowned, ''Should I believe it?''


    "Hahaha! Great question, but for starters�� Stop smearing me with your snot��"


    "Oh�� right��" Issei went to the sink to wash his arms, "So? Why did you start talking now? Couldn''t you have done that before I got beaten up by that chicken? Probably for not anything good?"


    "Heh�� Usually, your head is filled to the brim with perverted thoughts, but in these times, you knew how to set those aside�� I guess that guy really did a good job. Though you''ll still probably get triggered by some unusual things."


    "What do you mean? That guy? As in Kisuke? What did he do?"


    "Let me ask one thing first just to be sure�� What do you think of the Fallen Angel incident that you got pulled in?"


    "��About Reynare?"


    "Yes�� about the whole ordeal concerning that Fallen Angel��"


    "What I think, huh?�� Honestly�� Nothing much��"


    "You got betrayed, went through some painful experience, killed and reincarnated pulling you away to your normal daily life�� And you think that event that changed your whole life is nothing?"


    "Well�� I''m really scared and disgruntled for a few days, but I got over it. Reynare''s betrayal took a hit on me more than the fact she killed me but thinking again, it''s me who fell into her trap. I''m fine being a Devil or whatnot and I also got a very hot master and a very cute and innocent former nun with me right now, but I also sometimes wished that the thing with Reynare never happened�� I mean it would have happened regardless." Issei sat down on the sofa of their living room, "If there is a need to me someone, then that would be you for attaching yourself to me."


    "Fuhahahaha! That''s right, partner! This wouldn''t have happened if not for me. So, do you hate me?"


    "What? Of course not! If not for you, I can''t experience all of this! Those tit.s�� those curves�� I can''t have enough of it!�� And besides, I found something I really want to protect��" Issei looked at the direction of his room and clenched his fist.


    "Hehehe�� That''s indeed a change. Although, your perverted side didn''t cease."


    "And? What does Kisuke have to with all of this?"


    "You have not noticed, but in from perspective and experience, it pretty obvious."


    "What is?"


    "From your childhood, he conditioned your mind to easily ept all of this."


    "H-he did that? Why?" Issei didn''t know how to react from this revtion.


    "Probably he realized my existence early on? And he knew that you''ll get dragged on something supernatural for your world."


    Issei tried to recall all of his interactions with Kisuke but found nothing out of sort.


    "Of course you won''t find anything as yourmon sense was slowly molded by that guy. You don''t find it strange that even after you became a Devil, you still think that you can''t win a fight against him even before knowing that he''s also a citizen of the supernatural world, do you?"


    "��No, I don''t"


    "That''s not a capability of a normal human being. He ingrained in your mind that something like that is possible and it became easy for you to ept the concepts of the supernatural world."


    "��" Issei thought for a while and remembered the time that he was murdered by Reynare, ''If he''s so capable, where is he at that time?''


    Knowing what he is thinking about, Ddraig immediately answered his confusion, "He''s also around you that time."


    "��Then why didn''t he save me?" Issei couldn''t help but ask.


    "He didn''t tell me what he wants to happen, but probably he knew that a Devil wants to take you in and didn''t interfere."


    "Why?"


    "Because he didn''t want to babysit you."


    "��"


    "He told me one time that for you to survive in this world, you have to struggle for yourself to grow"


    "��"


    "And besides, would you want to be with a perverted storekeeper rather than a hot master?"


    "Alright, you''ve convinced me! I''ll take the hot master any time of the day!" Issei chuckled. He doesn''t have any bad feelings for Kisuke. In fact, he''s extremely thankful if the dragon''s words were true. He was only curious as to what Kisuke wants. He chuckled and continued speaking, "So it''s a lie that you two didn''t talk about me��"


    "Well, we talked about you for a bit, but that''s not our main topic. Either way, the way he ''raised'' you is a very good thing for me and you. If you have a dream of some sort, it''ll be easier to achieve."


    Issei suddenly clenched his fist and raised it to in the air, "Right! My dream is to be a High-ss Devil and be the Harem King!


    "I''ll have a bunch of girls as my Devil servants and raised an army of beauties! Just for me!"


    "Hahaha! You''re the first one of my host to ever hold such a dream. You can bathe yourself in my power or tremble from fear of it. Whichever you choose, your life will be anything but ordinary."


    "Huh? So you''re saying I''m weird?"


    "Be that as it may, you''re still an emissary of a dragon." Ddraig stopped for a bit and thought, ''That guy is still weirder than you.'' But didn''t voice it out, "Dragons inevitable and unwittingly enchant those around them. Whether those who came to admire you or challenge you, know that they are attracted by my power, the power of the dragon."


    "��I''m not sure I like where this is headed. Are you saying that a bunch of people is gonnae after me?"


    "Don''t be pessimistic though, that includes the fairer sex."


    "F-for real!?"


    "Those who have hosted me in the past have always been surrounded by the opposite sex. There were some who slept with a different woman nightly."


    "Ohh! That''s awesome. I didn''t know you''re such an amazing Sacred Gear�� Thank you for the blessing~!"


    "Quite a fair-weather friend you are, but you better be stronger fast since it won''t be for long before you encounter that ''White Bastard''. If you want your dreams to be fruitful, you first have to avoid being killed by him."


    Issei felt a little bit scared at his words, "��Hey. I''ve been wanting to ask you. Who''s this ''White Bastard''? You also mentioned him when we first met."


    "The White Dragon, ''Vanishing Dragon''."


    "V-Vanishing Dragon?"


    "You know of the great war that took ce between Heaven, the Fallen Angels, and the Devils long ago?"


    "Yeah."


    "During the war, all sorts of beings lent their strength to each of the three powers. Fairies, youkais, western monsters, eastern spirits, and even humans�� Only dragons refused to ally with any one side."


    "Why is that?"


    "By nature, dragons are extraordinarily powerful embodiments of free will. We are inherently selfish. There were a few who joined up with the factions, but most dragons saw the war as none of their concern."


    "They sound like trouble�� That''s freedom fanatics for ya."


    "However, two dragons began a fight of their own during the war. They were dragons of the highest power ss,parable to even to God and Devil King. Completely indifferent to the war going on around them, their violent battles resulted in casualties on all sides. There was no greater nuisance to the three powers."


    "They are the worst, huh? What was the fight about anyway?"


    "Hmm, it was no doubt a trivial thing. One I cannot even recall. Most likely an argument about something or other being amusing or not.


    "In their fury, the three powers decided to join forces for the first time. ''There will be nothing left to fight over if we don''t take care of these two dragons first! We should cooperate to take them down.'' So they decided."


    "So the three warring powers made an alliance�� All just to get rid of these fighting dragons."


    "Enraged at having their fight interrupted, the two dragonsshed out against God, the Devil King, and the leader of the Fallen Angels. But that just would not stand.


    "In the end, the two dragons were cut to pieces and scattered to the winds, their souls locked away inside the bodies of humans, as a Sacred Gears. Using the humans in whom their souls had been sealed as intermediaries, they would sh time and time again throughout the ages.


    "Whenever their respective humans died, the dragons would also temporarily cease to function. Their spirits would wander the earth until the next human vessel fit to contain them was born."


    "So I''m guessing you and this Vanishing Dragon are the two in the story?"


    "Indeed, I came to dwell within you, and then you became a Devil. Its been quite a while since I''ve upied one. So I''m rather looking forward to our rematch. I wonder how things will turn out this time?"


    "But your story sounds ridiculous so there must be more to that than what you''re telling me."


    "Of course there is, but it''s up for you to discover it. It''s no fun if everything is just given to you, right?"

 Volume 5 199 - Childhood Friend

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 199 - Childhood Friend</h4>


    The next day, Issei and Asia went home from their school activities without Rias as she has an urgent meeting with the Student Council President.


    Just as they''re about to open the door to their house, both suddenly froze. They felt a very familiar auraing from the inside of the house, the aura of an exorcist.


    Issei hurriedly opened the door and called out to his mother in a panic due to remembering the first time he met Freed who killed someone who made a contact with a Devil, "Mom!!!"


    He and Asia ran through the corridor and reached the living room. They were greeted by Issei''s mother and two unfamiliar girls who wore a standard priest clothing with one of them has a sword-like item covered in a bandage, "Oh, wee home Issei, Asia. What''s with that look?"


    "M-mom?" Issei checked the condition of his mother first to see if she''s hurt anywhere. Asia from behind sighed in relief after ensuring that Issei''s mother is safe.


    Issei then switched his attention to the two guests, ''Are they, exorcists?'' He raised his vignce to the maximum and got ready to call out his Boosted Gear if something is about to happen.


    One of the girls stood up and greeted Issei with familiarity, "Hi there, Issei-kun~."


    ''She knows me?'' Issei looked at her with a serious expression and confusion, "Nice to meet you��"


    The girl a beautiful young woman with violet eyes. She has long chestnut hair that is usually tied into twintails, each held with a blue scrunchy.


    Beside her, sitting quietly is a simrly beautiful young woman with chin-length blue hair with a dyed green fringe on the right side and dark yellow eyes.


    The girl with twintails noticed Issei''s confusion and pointed to herself, "Huh? You don''t remember me?"


    Seeing that Issei is struggling to remember her, Miki put up the photo album they are view just a moment ago and pointed to the picture with the Holy Sword, specifically, the boy aside from him and Kisuke, "This girl here is Irina Shidou-chan. She might have been a tomboy back then, but she''s grown into quite ady. I was surprised too."


    "��Huh?" It took Issei a few seconds to process her words, ''Girl?''


    "Remember now~?"


    "What!? I was sure you were a boy!!!" Issei couldn''t believe it.


    "I guess there was no helping that. I always liked ying with boys and I was kind of a trouble maker." Irina smiled wryly at his expression but it''s her turn to be confused, "But I remembered that I dressed like a girl just a day before I went overseas."


    "Ah�� that�� I thought for sure that you have some strange hobby like Kisuke��"


    "What!? How rude! Stop putting me on the same level as that guy!" Irina retorted but she calmed down immediately, "Ehem�� Anyway, a lot has happened since I left." The girl with blue hair beside her suddenly stood up prompting Issei to call out to Ddraig in his mind to materialize the Boosted Gear the moment they make a move. But as much as possible, he didn''t want to do anything in front of his mother.


    ''I don''t know how strong they are and looking at them makes my skin tingle. But the real danger here ising from that wrapped up item. It feels like it''ll kill me if that thing hits me.''


    Irina saw Issei''s expression when he looked towards the bandaged sword and said, "It''s true. You never knew what will happen when people reunite."


    ''She knew that I''m a Devil�� If she''s anything like Freed, then I would have to risk my life to take away Asia and my mother out of here.'' Taking a stance, he waited for their next actions.


    Irina chuckled at his actions and said, "Don''t worry. We''re heading out now. I haven''t been back to Japan in a while, so I''m feeling nostalgic and just had toe by and say hello." Irina faced herpanion, "But it''s about time we left, isn''t it, Xenovia?"


    "Yes." Xenovia answered curtly.


    They then both faced Miki and bowed down as a standard Japanese ethic and thank her for her hospitality.


    "I wish you could''ve stayed longer." Miki escorted them to the door.


    "Oh, we''ll probably be by again at some point. But until then, see ya, Issei-kun~." They turned around and left. But before they could leave the backyard, Xenovia turned around while holding the wrapped sword and eyed Issei, "I''ll be ready at any time." There wasn''t any interruption this time and they left for good.


    Thosest words of her gave Issei a chill and now he knew he couldn''t win against her. They went back inside and Issei hurriedly reported what happened.


    A few minutester, Rias came running after them, "Issei! Asia!" She hugged both of them tightly, "Thank goodness you''re all alright. Are you hurt? What did they do to you?"


    It took a few minutes to calm Rias down. She exined that Sona called her earlier because some church affiliates made contact with her. They hoped that they could talk and negotiate with the Devils running the town which is them.


    "Why would people of the Church negotiate with Devils?" Issei asked.


    "In all honesty, I have no idea what they want. They are going to meet us in the clubroom tomorrow after school."


    "Is that really a good idea?"


    "I heard that they vowed on their God that they won''t attack us. For members of the clergy toe to Devils for help, they must really be in quite a pinch." Rias sat down on Issei''s bed and put on a serious expression, "I''ve also heard that priests that visit the town were massacred. I wonder if they''re here about that bit of trouble." She muttered.


    .


    .


    "Where do you want to go next? Should we find a ce to stay?" Xenovia asks Irina as they walk on the streets on the outskirts of the town.


    "I want to go to another ce. I was surprised that Issei-kun became a Devil and I hope that''s not the same case with him. And more importantly, I want him to make something clear." Irina replied with a disappointed face, ''I guess we''re enemies from now on�� I hope Kisuke didn''t be a Devil��''


    "Is it the other childhood friend of yours? What do you want to ask him?" Xenovia looked at her curiously.


    "Remember that time we first encountered a Devil and a stray one at that?"


    "Yes�� We almost died from that thing."


    "I''m pretty sure that isn''t the first time I met one�� And one with more hostility from the one we first met."


    "What��? Then why are you still alive? Did the Devil let you go? Why did you keep this a secret?"


    "Because I also don''t know how to interpret that event on my own��"


    "I see�� So you wanted to ask that another childhood friend of yours who I assumed is with you that time?"


    "Yes�� Issei-kun is also with us but it seems that he doesn''t remember something like that ever happening��"


    "Tell me your story��"


    "When we''re still small, I always yed around pretending to be a priest like my father and would go around ''exorcising ghost''."


    "So you''ve been like this ever since you''re small."


    "Let me finish!"


    "��"


    "There is one instance that I dragged Issei-kun and Kisuke with me to go to an abandoned factory that I identally found. And as usual, I pretended to be a priest while the two acted as my assistants. It''s also served as a test of courage for us. Although it''s really annoying that Kisuke would always walk around a scary ce with a nonchnt attitude�� He''s a strange kid." Irina ended upughing a little as she reminisces the past.

 Volume 5 200 - Dont Fight

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 200 - Don''t Fight</h4>


    Xenovia didn''t interrupt her this time as she can see how much she treasures those memories. It''s one of the rare instances that they can be at peace aside from praying and meditating.


    "We entered the abandoned factory but it isn''t scary at all. It only has a creepy atmosphere due to the state of the building and some items that were left behind to degrade. Although I remember Issei-kun shaking his toes.


    "Everything went on normally until a man in a white suit entered the premise. He said something but I can''t remember it anymore. What I can clearly recall is his wide creepy smile and the malevolent aura that woulde to know in the future�� A Devil''s aura.


    "I didn''t know what to do. I''m shaking all over and the world felt like it slowed down as the man in a white suit suffocate me with his overbearing presence.


    "At the corner of my field of vision, I can see Issei shaking with a terrified face. I''m probably also making a face like that. I wanted to move my body to run away but I can''t. I don''t know how long I''m in that state but I suddenly lost my consciousness."


    Xenovia was intrigued at her story and urge her to continue, "Then? What happened?"


    "I just woke up with the building barely standing, all alone�� Thinking about it now, with my experience, I can tell those damages are from a fierce battle.


    "I panicked, obviously. I looked around to look for Kisuke and Issei-kun. When I can''t find them anywhere, I started to remove the rubbles and stones with my bare hands thinking that they might have been buried. I wanted to call someone''s help but at that time, I didn''t know what''s the right thing to do and I also didn''t want to leave them if they are really in there.


    "I searched for a few minutes and that time, I also couldn''t hold back my tears anymore. Just as I was about to descend into a crying pit, Kisuke came back�� I ran into his embrace due to how scared I was and felt relief for his safety that I didn''t even notice that I sprained my foot.


    "I asked him where Issei-kun is, but it turns out that he already carried him home and only came back to get me. I got so pissed that I forgot how scared I was�� Maybe that''s also his way offorting me?" Irina sighed recalling the face Kisuke is making trying hard to find an excuse for leaving her alone.


    "Did you ask him for an exnation of what happened?"


    "I did�� And he told me a story that I believed and hidden until my ''first'' encounter with a Devil." Irina started fidgetting as she knew how ridiculous the story she believed for long.


    "What story?"


    Irina hesitated for a bit for telling her the truth, "He told me that man is an alien from a faraway gxy and he came here to take children�� But his biggest weakness is water and Kisuke conveniently have a bottle of water with him and used it to defeat and drove it away, swearing noting back again to this��"


    Xenovia''s mouth is twitching when she heard the end of her story, "��A-and you believed him?"


    "I''m just a little kid, you know!!!" Irina blushed due to embarrassment and tried defending herself but it isn''t very effective.


    "Setting that aside, for now, you''re suspecting that he''s the one who fought the Devil?"


    Irina nodded at her question, "You''re right, but that might not be the truth. Someone else might have fought the Devil and a possibility that he''s also unconscious when some drove the Devil away."


    "I see�� Where is he staying then? I also kinda want to meet him now, but since this is a Devil''s territory, I won''t raise my expectations and neither you should. If he''s someone with capability, he''s already probably taken in by one of those guys."


    Irina shook her head and said, "It''s alright�� I''m already not expecting much after seeing Issei-kun again��" They kept walking for a few more minutes before Irina pointed to a certain ce, "That''s his ce if he didn''t move anywhere. It''s only him and his mother, Sakura-kaasan should be there."


    "You''re calling her your mother?"


    "That''s what I got used to since I alwayse to his ce to y. Sakura-kaasan ended up bing my second mother if my parents are too busy with work. My parents are also grateful for her for taking care of me."


    They walked for a few more seconds and reached the gate of the house, but just as Irina was about to press the doorbell, she and Xenovia suddenly felt an aura that irritates them, a Devil''s aura.


    "Looks like he got the same ending as your other childhood friend��"


    Irina''s face becameplicated but she wanted to greet him regardless. She can''t back down now. The Devil inside should have also felt their presence due to the Holy Swords they are carrying. Pressing the doorbell, she waited for either Sakura or Kisuke toe out, but contrary to their expectations, a beautiful young woman with ck hair tied in a ponytail while wearing a maid uniform opened the door of the house.


    Knowing their identities, the maid red at them, "What do you need?"


    Xenovia took hold of her weapon but didn''t do anything else and waited for Irina to speak, "Good evening, is the Urahara family still living here~?" Despite facing a Devil, Irina didn''t lose her cool and kept her cheerful demeanor, though deep inside her, she''s wishing that they moved and only the Devil maid is living here. But seeing the te that says ''Urahara'', that''s very unlikely.


    "Who are you looking for specifically?" Akeno came out with a stressed aura.


    "Kisuke Urahara. Tell him that his childhood friend is here~!"


    "He isn''t here. You may go now." She immediately answered.


    Irina stared at her for a bit before asking again, "��Then how about Sakura-kaasan?"


    ''S-Sakura-kaasan?'' Akeno staggered a bit after hearing her calling Sakura with such familiarity, "S-she isn''t here too."


    Irina took the maid''s stuttering the wrong way, ''Is she hiding them?'' "Then do you have Sakura-kaasan or Kisuke''s number? I want to make a call to them."


    "No." A simple rejection. Akeno truly didn''t know their contact information but she acted like she didn''t want to give it to them.


    That word, however, became thest straw to Irina''s patience and she unwittingly released her aura. Xenovia beside her also supported her actions.


    A stand-off between the two opposing factions, but Akeno forgot that this is Kisuke''s territory and their auras shing is enough to activate certain magic sequences ced in the whole house by Kisuke.


    Three magic circles suddenly appeared above their heads and they looked up. They wanted to react to it but the magic is strangely fast as three stainless steel buckets materialized from the magic circles and dropped down to their faces without being able to dodge. A series of drumming sounds were heard and silence imed the ce thereafter.


    With all of their noses bleeding, a note dropped down from the magic circles before disappearing with each of them taking one.


    "If you want to fight, do it somewhere else! --From your lovable candy store owner~!


    "P.S. Don''t let your blood drop on the tatamis. It''s a pain in the ass to clean it." Is what is written on the note with a stamp of caricatured grinning Kisuke while wearing a striped bucket hat.


    The first one to react is, obviously, Akeno, "Ahhh!!! Fuck!!! Why is this house full of traps!!! What are you trying to achieve you perverted bastard!!!"

 Volume 5 201 - Routine

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 201 - Routine</h4>


    The two exorcists were confused about what just happened. If it''s an attack with even slight mal intent, they would have felt and reacted to it, but the magic is too sudden and silent that they fell victim to it.


    Even now, they didn''t know how to react, especially when the Devil maid started cursing and losing it at, presumably, the one who wrote the notes.


    "��Irina�� What''s happening?" Xenovia wiped her bloodied nose and asked herrade. She didn''t even know what to feel in this situation.


    "��No clue�� But that Devil seems to know about it��" Also wiping her nose, Irina stares at the hysterical Devil, ''That face stamp with shaggy hair is all too familiar�� Is it Kisuke? He knows magic? Then that probably means that he was also converted into a Devil.'' Complicated feeling bubbled up inside her as she didn''t really want to be enemies with the person she''s very close with in the past and saved her, ''��Is this also the Lord''s trial?''


    "Should we ask her?" Xenovia suggested.


    "Probably after she calms down a bit."


    "Good call."


    It took Akeno a few minutes to calm down. Sakura already left for Hokkaido a few days ago and she was left taking care of the house after school.


    She''s excited at the prospect she''ll have a chance to find out Kisuke''s weakness so she went overboard at searching the house, putting more effort in searching Kisuke''s room in the guise of cleaning it.


    But instead of his weakness, what she found is annoying traps everywhere. It ranges from in annoying up to borderline sexual harassment. At first, she didn''t mind it as she already knew that this is the case, but as time goes on, her patience was slowly deteriorating and stress piling up.


    She felt like she''s a hero of a sh*tty RPG crawling thest dungeon where the Demon King lives and every step is andmine making it impossible to clear.


    Due to stress piling up and unclear mind, she ended up using the only thing she found, Kisuke''s porn stash�� by forting'' herself.


    Of course, she regretted it immediately after her mind cleared up a bit. But despite how she looks and acts, she doesn''t have any experience and it''s not often she cany her eyes on a porn magazine. So seeing Kisuke''s diverse collection, it caught her attention and unwittingly read all of it when she knows that no one is watching her.


    What caught her attention the most is magazines with S&M themes and the book that she ''used'' is from this category. It''s a very effective method to relieve nevertheless.


    Another day has passed and stress piled up on her mind again and ended up doing it again, but with lesser regret this time thinking that no one can see her anyway and she always cleans up the scene for any evidence that others might take a clue from.


    From then on, it became a routine for her after falling victim to many of Kisuke''s traps yet not finding anything useful. It even came to the point that she won''t leave Kisuke''s room anymore to take the porn magazine and doing it there. Of course, she took extra care not to leave any evidence. It''s the room she searched the most anyway and she''s sure that there isn''t any hidden camera or any sort to capture her activities in the room�� How wrong she was.


    When Irina and Xenovia came, she''s just about to start her routine and was interrupted with her stress-relieving time, so when she answered the door, she''s more feisty than usual. If it''s the usual her, even if she''s facing exorcist who seems to be carrying dangerous weapons for the Devils, she''ll justugh it off and show them a bit of courtesy. Too bad�� They really came at the wrong time. She''s already in the mood and ended up suppressing it, so when Kisuke''s annoying trap came, she instantly lost it.


    "Uhmm�� What''s happening?" Irina didn''t know what to ask so she just chooses to ask the general idea of what just urred.


    After calming down, Akeno wiped her nose clean and said, "You im to know him but you don''t know how that bastard''s mind works?"


    "T-That bastard?"


    "Of course I''m talking about that Kisuke Urahara!"


    "You Devils don''t go along with each other?"


    "Hmm? What Devil?"


    "I mean, didn''t he be a Devil?"


    "Devil? That guy? No way! No one can control that bastard!"


    "He isn''t a Devil?"


    "He isn''t."


    "Then what are you doing here?"


    "��" Akeno didn''t know how to answer that question. She didn''t want to reveal her funny situation she''s in because they lost a bet against Kisuke.


    "Why are you staying si--��" Before Irina could finish her question, Akeno''s phone suddenly rang.


    Akeno took out her phone from her pocket and saw an unknown number calling her, "Hello? Who''s this?"


    "Ah, Akeno-chan! Good evening~!" From the other side, she heard a familiar voice, "Sakura-san?"


    Thanks to their training and control of Holy Power to strengthen their bodies, Irina and Xenovia can easily hear Sakura''s voice.


    "Yep, it''s me. How are you doing?"


    "I-I''m fine��"


    "��Did you activate any traps?" Hearing her reluctant answer, Sakura immediately guessed.


    "��"


    "I''m sorry�� I forgot to tell you that Kisuke put some gimmicks in the house and will only activate whenever both of us aren''t home. Though I don''t know what gimmicks are those, I can tell that those are just some nasty traps."


    She didn''t know why, but Akeno has a feeling that she didn''t tell her on purpose. However, Akeno is more curious about other things, "Sakura-san�� How did you know my contact details?"


    "Ah, right. Miki told me that Irina-chan arrived from overseas and visited her and Issei-kun. I got your contacts by asking Rias Gremory who is staying at their ce. She''ll probably arrive at our ce tonight so I want you to entertain them in my ce. By the way, Irina-chan is Kisuke''s childhood friend and they''re pretty close back in the day."


    "��They are in front of me right now?"


    "Really? Great, can you pass your phone to them for a few seconds?"


    Akeno hesitated for a few moments butplied in the end, "Sure." She then threw her phone towards Irina''s direction.


    Irina caught it and examined it for a moment before putting it before her right ear, "Sakura-kaasan?"


    "Irina-chan! It''s been so long! How are you doing?" She heard the familiar jovial tone on the other side and sighed in relief.


    "I''m doing great~! How about you?" Irina and Sakura exchanged pleasantries and talked about what they missed for a bit. But it didn''t take for them to talk as Sakura needs to attend to something, "I''m sorry, but I have to go, I would like to talk to you more but I''m busy here in Hokkaido and my good for nothing son is currently in a vacation in Greece so he can''t entertain you either. How long are you gonna stay in Japan anyway?"


    "Just a few days or maybe a week if my business takes some time."


    "Do you have a ce to stay already?"


    "No, I don''t."


    "Great~! Then you stay at my ce for the duration of your stay in Japan!"


    "Huh? I''m sorry, but I can''t impose myself with you too much!" Irina rejected her offer, ''And besides�� A Devil is here!''


    Even Akeno was shocked after hearing Sakura''s words but felt relieved when Irina instantly rejected her offer.


    "It''s fine~. And I insist. That''s the only thing I can do for you."


    "No. I can''t. I appreciate your offer, but I''m with someone else and there is also another reason that I can''t take your goodwill."


    "The fact that you''re an exorcist, and the maid in front of you is a Devil?"


    "!?�� How?"


    "I heard it from Rias Gremory."


    "So you know about the existence of the supernatural world��"


    "Yep~. I also heard that you vowed not to attack the Devils under the Gremory and Sitri, and Akeno-chan here is the Queen of Rias Gremory. And I can assure you that she won''t hurt you in any way�� Right? Akeno-chan?"


    Akeno stayed silent for a bit before eventually answering, "��Yes."

 Volume 5 202 - Cant Escape the Traps

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 202 - Can''t Escape the Traps</h4>


    After a few more persuasion from Sakura and the fact that they are broke after being scammed, they conceded and epted her offer. Sakura talked to Akeno again for a bit before hanging up the call to attend to her business.


    "This way, please." Akeno invited them inside and guided them towards the room that they''ll use, "You can use this room. You''ll probably never eat the food that I''ll make so I ordered something from a family restaurant and should arrive a few minutester. In the meantime, you can arrange your things here and wash up in the bathroom. The bathroom is the second door from the end of the hallway."


    When they reached the room, Xenovia, who is staying quiet up until now spoke, "Are you really fine with this?"


    "Ara~. I wonder what you''re talking about?"


    "We could hurt you, you know? I''m surprised that you would trust our words not to hurt any of those in Gremory and Sitri Household. We indeed promised that, but there''s still a limit to it."


    "Is that so?" Akeno then gave them a big smile, "Why don''t you try attacking me then and see if you could really hurt me."


    Xenovia stared at her for a while before unwrapping the big sword she''s carrying and just as Akeno thought, it''s a Holy Sword and a strong one at that, "I assume that''s a challenge?"


    Akeno only kept smiling, unfazed of Xenovia taking a stance.


    Seeing that she looked confident, Xenovia red up her Holy Power and transferred it to her Holy Sword making it glow in a golden hue.


    But just as she did, a green magic circle suddenly materialized in front of her and an arrow with a head of a suction cup. Xenovia already expected something like this happening after falling victim to the first one, ''Is this why she''s confident? How naive��''


    With a swing of her sword, she shed the toy arrow into to, but to her surprise, the shaft of the arrow is hollow and is containing green fluids. Xenovia couldn''t dodge in time and ended up bathing in it.


    She thought it was acid and braced herself to the burning feeling she''s about to feel, but even after a second, that feeling never came and instead, she Irina calling out to her, "X-Xenovia!"


    Irina is not looking at her face but her body so Xenovia also looked down. Most of her clothes were already melted by the fluid and a few seconds more, she would be in her birthday suit.


    "Did you think that something like this would faze me? Especially when we''re the only people here?" After saying that, Xenovia resumed her assault, but she miscalcted something.


    After seeing that the fluids just melted her clothes, she thought that it wouldn''t have any other use, but as she took a step forward, she slipped and fell forward. She underestimated how slippery the fluid is.


    Although she fell for the trap, with her reaction, slipping wouldn''t be a big deal for her�� If not for the pitfall suddenly appearing in front of her where. Without anywhere to grab, she fell in the dark pitfall. Even Irina couldn''t react to how fast things moved. No matter what Xenovia did to react to the situation, she still wasn''t capable enough to escape the series of traps in a single activation of magic.


    After a few seconds, they heard arge ssh of water from the end of the hallway and a scream from Xenovia, "Wahh!!"


    "Xenovia!?" Irina ran through the hallway and opened the door where Akeno pointed earlier as bathroom and saw Xenovia in the bathtub�� shaking as she was dunk in the ice-cold water-filled tub. Irina also noticed a note posted on her forehead saying, "Cool your head, will ya~?" Along with the familiar face stamp on it.


    Irina''s mouth twitches, "What the hell? Why such sophisticated, non-lethal trap inside the house?" She muttered a question.


    Akeno came from behind and answered her question, "It''s that bastard''s hobby�� He''s using his smarts in all things that are only useful to annoy others." She then walked towards the side of the tub and heated up the water with her magic, "I can''t have my guest catching a cold, so please be careful~."


    "You already knew about that trap��" Xenovia gritted her teeth in frustration and isn''t a bit thankful for her gesture. After all, she''s the one who led her to the trap by provoking her. Although she knew there would be a trap, she didn''t expect that she has to react to it every single turn and still fail in the end.


    "Nope~. I don''t know about that trap at all~." Akeno said in a lightugh. She can now understand Sona''s point of view of wanting others to fell victim to Kisuke''s traps after experiencing it countless times. Xenovia''s frustrated expression is just what she needs, ''Too bad, I can''t invite others in this house without Sakura-san and that bastard''s permission.''


    "Huh? Then how did you��" Irina and Xenovia looked at her with confusion.


    Akeno''s smile suddenly froze and became a forced one. She looked at the distance with nk eyes and said, "Because I already fell for all sorts of traps in this house that I already trusted it of doing the same for both of you�� You can''t imagine how many times I tried to outsmart those traps." She answered honestly.


    "��Irina�� Staying here is too dangerous if there are traps everywhere�� Let''s just go to that abandoned Church that you mentioned."


    Irina was about to agree when Akeno interrupted her, "If it''s about that, then you don''t have to worry. As long as you live here normally, you wouldn''t activate any traps."


    They wanted to ask her how did she im that she fell in countless traps if that''s the case but stopped themselves when they saw a strange glint in her eyes along with her smile which isn''t.


    ''Kisuke''s antics became worse, huh? That''s fine though. As long as he doesn''t be a Devil�� Everything is fine��'' Irina thought, "Xenovia, I think it''s fine to stay here."


    "��I-I guess you''re right."


    "Then I would have to leave you alone now as I still have to clean some rooms. After washing yourself and taking care of your luggage, you can wait for the food in the living room." Akeno didn''t wait for them to answer and left the bathroom. After all, she doesn''t n to change what she initially nned. Even though she was able to release a bit of her stress after seeing Xenovia''s ''downfall'', it wasn''t enough. On top of that, it became a routine for her to do it to the point that she won''t feel right if she skips it.


    After Akeno left, Irina and Xenovia looked at each other, "You''re childhood friend is�� interesting��" Xenovia wanted toment on Irina''s supposed childhood friend but didn''t know how to describe him.


    "He''s always been an entric guy�� But looks like it worsened these past few years." Irina replied, "I''ll go get some change of clothes. I''ll join you in the bath."

 Volume 5 203 - An Awfully Specific Urge

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 203 - An Awfully Specific Urge</h4>


    The next day after school, Rias Gremory and her servants formally faced the two exorcists. Rias and Akeno were sitting on the sofa while the rest stands at their backs. On the other side, Irina and Xenovia are also sitting on the sofa with only a center table separating them.


    Rias and Akeno has contrasting expression. While Rias is wearing a serious expression, Akeno, on the other hand, wearing a smile that doesn''t reach her eyes.


    Due to some incidentst night after the bath, they only looked Rias and ignored Akeno�� or more like they didn''t want to look at her due to how awkward it wasst night.


    Yesterday night, after their bath, they unpacked their luggage and went to the living room to wait for the food to be delivered. They want to be the ones who receive the food. And after a few minutes, the delivery guy arrives and they don''t need to pay since Akeno already took care of it.


    But just after they finished dinner with a satisfied expression, they heard a weird sounding from upstairs. Curious to what it was, both of them looked at each other and decided to take a peek. They slowly and silently made their way towards the second floor.


    It''sing from a certain room and as they approach that room, the sound became clearer for them. It''s the sound of Akeno''s voice�� the sound of moans�� of ecstasy. The two looked at each other again, confused with what''s happening on the Devil maid and what she''s doing right now. Nodding at each other, they proceeded and reached the door where the sound ising from. Using their Holy Power, they used simple sound-insting magic so that they could open the door without any noise, but to their surprise, their Holy Power dispersed when it hit the door, but there is a feedback that it was sessfully cast.


    They looked at each other again in confusion, not knowing what happened. Irina tried it again, but this time, only around them. A small transparent barrier covered them both before disappearing into thin air. This is the normal activation of sound-instion magic. The barrier magic produces indeed disappears after it covered the target so that it wouldn''t be too obvious for others to see. But they can at least tell that the barrier wasn''t dispelled.


    Irina then tried to expand its radius until it hits the door. But as they expected, it was dispelled. The strange thing is, they only confirmed it through vision and there''s still feedback that the barrier is still expanding. In other words, something or someone is feeding false information about the state of their magic. If they didn''t see it for themselves, they would have really thought that the magic is still in effect.


    Irina and Xenovia shuddered at the thought that someone is controlling their magic senses and they didn''t even realize it. If not for their instincts telling them that there are no danger or any malintent, they would have retreated instantly. But they became more curious as to how is this possible and thought that Akeno has something to do with this.


    From the gap of the door, they simultaneously took a peek and what they saw blew their minds�� A maid isying on the floor with a disheveled attire with her left hand holding a magazine while her right hand is rubbing her intimate part. A few secondster, she increased the pace of her right hand as she arcs her body upwards apanied by a silent scream. Momentster, she stopped and dropped back to the floor breathing heavily with a flushed and satisfied face.


    Due to how shocking the scene was, Irina immediately closed the door but she forgot to be secretive about it and made a loud noise which instantly caught Akeno''s attention, "Ah��"


    "Who''s there!?" Akeno hurriedly stood up and almost tumbled down in panic as she fixes her clothing while running towards the door. She opened it and saw the two exorcists having differing expressions. Xenovia is looking at her with a puzzled expression, while Irina has a flushed faced covering her mouth with her hands.


    "Y-you saw��?" Akeno already got her answer from their expressions, but she asked regardless of hoping for a miracle.


    "What were you doing?" Xenovia asked, trying to understand her actions earlier.


    "Xenovia!?" Irina didn''t know what do to do with this awkward situation. She just wished that she could escape and forget about all of this.


    Instead of answering her, Akeno returned her question with another question, "What are you doing here?"


    "Well�� You''re making a lot of noise and we had to check it." Xenovia answered honestly.


    "Noise!? Impossible! I cast a sound-insting barrier around the room! There shouldn''t be any sounding out of the room!"


    "You don''t believe me? Try doing it again, but this time, from the outside." Xenovia suggested.


    "That''s impo��" Akeno was about to refute her again, but she finally remembered where she is�� She''s currently in a ''Demon Lord''s Dungeon''. Akeno stepped out of the room and with her shaking hands, she tried to cast a barrier around the room, but just like with Irina''s barrier, it was dispelled with the feedback that the magic kept ongoing. Realizing this truth, Akeno dropped down to her knees and covered her face with both of her hands, "Wahhh!!!" She screamed in despair.


    Using this chance, Irina dragged Xenovia with her to escape to their room. The wails of despair and hopelessness kept on ringing for a few more minutes, but it seemed that the Devil maid won''t follow them as they suddenly felt her Demonic Power moving away and disappearing in the distance.


    Irina sighed in relief, but she forgot another problem, "Irina�� What is she doing earlier?" Xenovia asked her.


    She then has to exin to her, reluctantly, what Akeno is doing. It took most of the night for her to introduce Xenovia in that sort of thing.


    So when they met again in the clubroom, both of them are trying their best to ignore the threatening atmosphereing from Akeno.


    "Akeno? What''s wrong?" Rias already knew how Yuuto would react and just like what she expected, she can hear Yuuto grinding his teeth while revealing a murderous aura. But she''s baffled with Akeno''s apparent hostility with them even after considering that they are from pr opposite factions, ''Did something happened yesterday? They did stay with Akenost night, after all��''


    "Ara~. It''s nothing, Buchou. I just have a really strong urge to strangle a grinning man wearing a bucket hat with white and green stripes pattern~."


    "T-that''s awfully specific, but cease it�� There is no one like that in here right now."


    "That''s too bad~."

 Volume 5 204 - Meeting

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 204 - Meeting</h4>


    Ignoring the awkward atmosphere, Irina spoke first, "Ehem�� Three of the Excalibur Swords maintained by the Church were recently stolen."


    "Wait�� You mean the Excalibur from the legends were multiple swords?" Issei voiced out his confusion after hearing her words.


    "Yes�� Issei-kun. The true Excalibur Sword was broken in a war long ago."


    "How could such a famous de be broken?"


    "It ended up thus." Xenovia replied while unwrapping her sword, "The fragments of the broken Excalibur was gathered and reforged into new seven des." She then raised the great sword with golden outlines for everyone to see, "This is one of them�� Excalibur Destruction."


    Everyone can feel Yuuto''s mood turning for the worse when she revealed the sword but this isn''t the time to react to that now.


    "The Catholic Church is responsible for this one." Xenovia set the sword beside her as she exined.


    Irina didn''t want to be outdone and untied the white string on her left arm and it slowly transformed into a Japanese sword, a katana, "And here''s mine, Excalibur Mimic�� in a form of a Japanese Katana~." She then started to y around with its transformation abilities, "It''s really convenient because I can change its form however I want~."


    "��So what exactly do you want from us?" Rias got to the main point, "And in the meantime, would you mind sheathing those?" She and everyone in the room can feel Yuuto''s tense increasing by the second so theyplied easily.


    "So you two hope to retrieve the swords from Kokabiel on your own? That seems reckless�� A good way to get yourselves killed."


    Irina closed her eyes, "Indeed we do. The Church has determined that the Excalibur swords are better off destroyed rather than utilized by the Fallen Angels. The goal is to render them unusable by the Fallen at any cost."


    "To that end, we volunteered to take this mission. The only thing that can go against the Excalibur is another Excalibur" Xenovia followed up, but even she knew that this isn''t exactly the case. They had to hide their cards for now.


    "Your faith is blind as ever. Will the two of you really be enough to pull this off?" Rias has some idea how strong someone from the top brass of each faction is, but she doubts that they''ll be totally clueless of what they are fighting, "You''re confident, I''ll give you that. Do you have some sort of secret weapon."


    "Well�� Let''s just leave it to your imagination. And besides, we don''t need to actually face Kokabiel himself. Retrieving the swords and retreating is our n." Xenovia stood up since they already said what they want, "We''re done here. Let''s go, Irina."


    "Oh, wouldn''t you like some tea?" Rias also stood up. Akeno went to the tea set at the side and started brewing some.


    "No need��" Xenovia immediately refused.


    "Sorry�� But no, thank you. Pardon us." Irina also stood up and followed Xenovia''s steps, ''That maid is the one making the tea�� She might use this chance to silence us��''


    As they are about to reach the door, Xenovia suddenly stopped and looked at Asia, "I had my suspicions when we met Issei Hyoudou''s house, but�� You''re the ''Witch'' Asia Argento, aren''t you?"


    Asia''s whole body shook and her face took a paler color as she tries not to meet her gaze.


    Irina also curiously looked at Asia, "So you''re the ''Saint,'' huh? I''ve heard rumors about you. They say that you were emunicated and that you wound up roaming the world. Never thought you''d be a Devil, though."


    "O-oh�� Well�� I��" Asia took a step back and tried to say something but her voice is shaking and couldn''t think of anything.


    Irina thought that she''s scared that the people of the Church would hunt her down, "Don''t worry. We won''t tell anyone we found you here. I''m sure that it would shock those who knew you as ''Saint'' Asia to find out how you ended up."


    "��"


    Seeing that she isn''t saying anything, Xenovia continued speaking, "But a Devil, really? That''s about as far as a Saint could fall. Do you even still believe in our one true God?"


    "How could a Devil possibly maintain her belief in the Lord," Irina whispered to Xenovia but as they all have super senses, everyone easily heard it.


    "That said, There are those you betrayed the Lord and chosen to live in sin but have notpletely forgotten their faith�� I feel that you may be such an individual."


    "�� I could never abandon my faith. It brought me this far after all��"


    "Is that so? Then it''s only fitting that we end your life." Xenovia unwrapped her greatsword again in front of Asia, "Show your conviction in the name of the Lord. Sinful though you may be, the Lord will reach out and save your soul."


    Not letting her took another step, Issei blocks Xenovia''s path with full-on rage, "Screw you! When Asia needed help, not a single one of you came to save her, did you!? If you''re one of those bastards who can''t see the kindness that Asia has, then you''re morons too!"


    Xenovia stopped moving and were a bit moved with his resolution to protect her. It''s a shame though that he''s a Devil and all of those positive feelings went aways just as fast, "A Saint has no need of friends. All that matters is untaintedpassion and love. If God truly loved her, she could have gone on living."


    Issei became more angry at her words, "So if someone you went and called ''Saint'' turns out a bit different from what you''d hoped, you just go and abandon her!? How fucked up is that!? None of you could ever hope to understand Asia''s pain! Don''t you dare to throw God and love in my face! It''s disgusting!" This is the first time Issei truly understood Kisuke''s words in the past that there is no absolute good or evil in the world. Everything regarding feelings is subjective and someone has to decide which is good or bad. Hearing Xenovia justify her faith by contradicting the ''God loves everyone and everyone has to do the same'' which is the foundation of their belief pissed him off greatly. When Asia''s ''love'' expanded to ''everyone'' they branded her as a heretic and had no choice but to be a Devil after being chased and almost killed by the enemies of the organization that threw her away. Truly, a blind faith is a faith that can''t see anything else.


    Xenovia took a stance and didn''t waste any more of her words on him, "Who are you to her anyway?"


    "Her family! Her friend! Her ally! And that''s why I have to protect her even if I have to fight the whole damn Church!"


    Asia, who''s behind Issei, was moved to tears. Even though she has already epted that she became a Devil, she still has some misgivings about it as she grew up in Church. But seeing Issei stood up for her, ease most of those misgivings and started thinking that being a Devil isn''t so bad if you havepanions that truly see for who you are and support you in your beliefs.


    "You dare challenge the Church? This little Devil sure has a big mouth on him."


    After being silent for the whole ''meeting'', Yuuto spoke up for the first time, "This is perfect. I''ll be your opponent."


    "And who are you?"


    "Your senpai�� Though a failed one, by all counts."

 Volume 5 205 - Duel

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 205 - Duel</h4>


    They left the old school building to have their match on the clearing in the forest. But just as they stepped out, someone came to them, "Ah�� Koneko-chan~! There you are!" Aika came running towards the group, "Good afternoon Rias-senpai, Himejima-senpai. I would like to have a talk with Koneko-chan if that''s fine with you."


    Before Rias could answer, Issei and Asia reacted, "Kiryuu-san?" "Kiryuu? What are you doing here?" Both of them, including Yuuto, don''t know about Aika''s involvement with the supernatural world because Rias, Akeno and Koneko didn''t tell anything about her to them. In their eyes, Aika is only a normal human, and that''s also the same for the two exorcists who kept quiet for now.


    "Just like I said, I have something to talk about with Koneko-chan," Aika answered Issei''s question.


    "But we''re busy with something�� Juste back tomorrow, okay?" Issei tried to persuade her because he doesn''t want someone ordinary like Aika to get dragged in this dangerous situation.


    "It''s fine Issei��" Rias finally said something and faced Aika, "Aika-san, you cane with us. I''d like to hear your input in some things."


    "Buchou!?" Issei, Asia, and Yuuto looked at her in shock. Even Irina and Xenovia changed the way they looked at Aika. Based on Rias'' words, it seems that this ordinary human has some dealings with the Devil''s side and seeing something like that in person for them is an unpleasant affair.


    Aika noticed the way the two new people looked at her and became confused, "What''s going on?"


    "Just follow us for now. It might be interesting for you." Akeno followed up and they started walking towards the clearing where they would have their duel with Aika in tow. Issei, Asia, and Yuuto were, of course, still confused about why would Rias and Akeno allow someone like her see their fight.


    Aika leaned on Koneko and asked, "Really�� What''s going on?"


    "A fight." A simple answer came from Koneko. Aika didn''t speak any further and just quietly followed. This will be the first time she would see how others fight and would like topare it with her own experience with Yoruichi and Kisuke''s training so she''s looking forward to it.


    They reached their destination and the fourbatants got into positions. Xenovia and Irina simultaneously took off their cloaks and revealed the ck tight-fitting bodysuit which reveals their womanly curves, "��Perverts?" Aika couldn''t help butment on their attires.


    "Hmmph, how rude�� This is the Church''stest battle suit that helps us easily augment our Holy Powers with our bodies." Irina immediately retorted.


    "So it''s in the same line up as Bikini Armors��" Aika muttered, but the two exorcists didn''t know what she meant by ''Bikini Armor'' and didn''t ask further.


    Issei, on the other hand, is trying not to drool while staring at them. He''s also trying not tough after hearing Aika''s words. He''s probably the only other person who understood herment.


    Xenovia faced Rias and said, "Before we begin, allow me to confirm. This is a fight over a private matter that needn''t concern the Church atrge. We won''t make anything more off it, and neither will you? Is that correct?"


    "Yes." Rias answered, ''Yuuto won''t rest easy until this is over after all��''


    Getting her answer, both Irina and Xenovia took their stances, "The power of Rias Gremory''s peerage, and that of one of our alleged ''seniors''�� I shall test both of them."


    "Hehehe��" Yuuto is very excited to finally face against someone who wields the legendary sword and couldn''t help butugh creepily.


    "��Youugh?"


    "I''ve wanted to destroy them so badly, and now here they are in front of me. I could not be happier." Even though he said he is happy, his face couldn''t be any grimmer.


    "I heard one of that one of the test subjects from the Holy Sword project escaped, so that was you?" Xenovia''s words ended up worsening Yuuto''s mood even though she didn''t intend to.


    ''Whoah�� This isn''t a battle to the death. Let''s just make this a casual match! I''m begging you, Kiba��'' Issei wished inside her mind.


    "Issei Hyoudou-kun��" Irina caught his attention back, "We finally see each other after so long, and it turns out you''ve gone and became a Devil. I''m shocked!"


    Issei scratched his head in embarrassment. After he cleared up his head, he also understood their actions as they are trained by the Church as soldiers. Even Asia had a hard time adjusting to her Devil life despite not having much intervention from the Church itself, "Well�� Irina Shidou�� I said what I wanted to say about you guys badmouthing Asia, so we really don''t have to fight. It''s not a big deal."


    Irina, however, ignored what he just said, "I was shipped off to Ennd after discovering my attitude for Holy Swords. All I''ve wanted since then is to be useful in my role as an agent of the Lord. How cruel is fate to turn my childhood friend into a Devil! Perhaps, this is merely another trial from God! I will ovee this too! Once more, I''ll allow my faith to lead me down the path of righteousness!" She then proceeds to point the tip of her katana towards Issei, "Now then, Issei-kun! My Excalibur will judge the weight of your sins! Amen!"


    Issei is gobsmacked at her monologue, ''Huh!? It seems that she''s the type of girl that just can''t say no to a fight��''


    "Issei! This is no ordinary fight! Take great care not to get hit by those Holy Swords!" A warning came from Rias.


    "I don''t know what''s up with you, but here we go!" Issei raised his left hand, "Boosted Gear! Let''s go!" "BOOST!" Transforming his hand into a gauntlet.


    "��Longinus." Xenovia muttered after seeing it.


    "That''s the Boosted Gear? To think we would encounter it like this��" Irina became a bit more serious.


    Using this chance, Yuuto dashed towards Xenovia and initiated an attack. Thus, their duel started.


    A few seconds after they started, Rias asked Aika who''s watching intently, "What do you think?"


    "��Honestly�� It''s underwhelming��" Aika replied after watching for a few more seconds, "Kiba-kun is�� too impatient with his movements even though it seems that he can overwhelm his opponent with just techniques. Even if the girl that is swinging a big sword like that is a power fighter, with a clear head like that, she can easily take advantage of his movements.


    "Hyoudou-kun, on the other hand, is normal. A normal ruffian with a strengthened body�� Even though he can dodge his opponent''s attacks, she''s clearly holding back. And to top it off, he kept making that creepy face. What is he doing anyway?"


    And just after she said that, Issei used the umted power of the Boosted Gear to boost his physical abilities and started to retaliate. However, his movements are too creepy for the audience. He kept trying to grab his opponent''s chest in the guise of an attack.


    Seeing this scene, all of them suddenly remembered one of his techniques. As a member of the female legion, Koneko warned herrade, "Please watch out. Issei-senpai has a move that lets him tear away the clothes of any girl he touches."


    "Koneko-chan!?"


    Irina instinctively covered her chest while giving him a fed up stare, "How awful! Oh, Lord! Please save your forgiveness for someone more deserving than this sinful pervert!"


    "Hey, Don''t look at me like that! With those pitying eyes!" Issei still has some embarrassment left in him, so he felt awkward being looked like that.


    Asia who is watching silently, suddenly shouted from behind, "Issei-san! If you crave for naked female flesh so much, please just ask me!"


    "How can you tell me something so important at a time like this?"


    Even Xenovia and Yuuto temporarily stopped their sh due to this, "I see. So he''s truly a personification of lust. From the start, he did strike me as a particrly lewd Devil."


    "I''m sorry about him��"


    "Oi, Kiba! Don''t apologize for me!"


    Yuuto then conjured two demonic swords with fire and ice attribute and resumed attacking. However, with just a swing of Xenovia''s Excalibur Destruction, it destroyed both of the swords. And it didn''t stop with just that, as after it hit the ground, it created an explosion which gouges the ground, generating arge crater.


    ''No way�� Damage like that just from a light swing? Kiba�� Destroying those swords seems harder than you initially thought��''


    "Don''t look away, Issei-kun. I think we''ll be done over here soon too." Irina swung her katana at Issei but the pervert easily dodged it thanks to her strengthened body.


    With a glint in his eyes, Issei started moving around Irina at a faster pace, "Time to strip you down. Sorry~."

 Volume 5 206 - Xenovia VS Aika

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 206 - Xenovia VS Aika</h4>


    In the end, both of the Devils lost their fight. Issei got a light scratch from Irina''s katana on his abdomen which saps his entire strength, Yuuto got hit on the sr plexus and got immobilized due to him trying out a technique or move which isn''t suitable for him creating arge opening for Xenovia to attack.


    After losing the fight, Yuuto tried to leave and said his goodbyes to Rias and the rest. Rias knew that she had to stop him, "Hold on, Yuuto!" She grabbed his hand to stop him from walking away, "You''re a ''Knight'' serving the House of Gremory. You''ll be making serious trouble for me if you go ''Stray''!"


    Yuuto didn''t turn around but Rias heard him grinding his teeth, "It''s thanks to myrades that I was able to escape from that ce." Gently removing Rias'' hand from his arm, Yuuto resumed walking away at a faster pace, "That''s why I have to honor their grudge and fight on��"


    Rias didn''t know what she should say to him and during that hesitation, Yuutopletely left their vision, "��Yuuto."


    With nothing to do here anymore, Irina put on her cloak again, "Well, then! If you ever feel the urge to be judged, just let us know. Amen~!"


    "Wait, Irina�� I still have something I want to do." Xenovia grabbed her cloak to make her stay in ce.


    "What?" Irina asked her partner, but instead of answering her, Xenovia turned towards Aika''s direction, "I don''t know what''s your connection with this Devils, but it seems that you''re capable of analyzing our fight. It''s strange though, as I can''t feel anything from you aside from being a normal human��"


    Aika didn''t really know what to say as this is her first time interacting with people of the supernatural world aside from the Devils and Urahara Shop. Before she could say anything, however, Akeno spoke up, "She''s being trained by Urahara Kisuke."


    Those words of her caught Xenovia''s and especially Irina''s attention, ''He trains people now?''


    Aika looked at Akeno''s smiling face and tried to discern her goal of revealing such a thing. Although it isn''t exactly a secret, being revealed just like that doesn''t feel good.


    What Akeno really just wants is to let them spar as it seems that the one holding the Excalibur Destruction has muscles for the brain. She also wanted to see Aika''s capabilities and if she can do what she did when Akeno saw her transform into something strange, then they stand no chance against her. She also did this partly because she wanted to get back to Urahara by involving him in this case. And just like Akeno expected, Xenovia was hooked, "Hooh�� Do you mean the owner of that Trap House? Interesting."


    "Trap House?" Rias and Issei asked simultaneously. Aika, on the other hand, has an understanding face, ''Figures�� I heard that she''s currently living in that guy''s house. She''s probably too frustrated and wanted to drag those around him into problems. Not that it''s justifiable��''


    Akeno''s smile broke for a moment but she immediately recovered, "It''s nothing, Buchou."


    Xenovia ignored them and took her stance again while facing Aika, "Let''s spar."


    Aika stood up for a moment to think of her next actions. She doesn''t have to fight her or go along with her but she''s curious how she would go against her. Akeno thought that she could freely use her power but she''s wrong as she can''t even tap into it without outside help. Compared to just watching, fighting herself would give her a more urate view of her battle prowess. It''s true that she''s been sparring with Yoruichi, but that can''t be used topare to those ''normal''batants. In the end, she decided to ept it since this will be just a spar and not anything close to death ''spar'' that she always has with Yoruichi or Kisuke, "Sure, let''s go." Two dull-gray daggers then appeared in both of Aika''s hands.


    "Sacred Gear?"


    "Yep~. Though it''s nothing impressive." Aika answered her, ''The ''spirits'' of this Sacred Gear became my Zanpakuto now so it''s really nothing impressive.'' Aika knew that she''s at a disadvantage due to her ''normal'' parameters so she waited for her opponent to attack and only respond to it as responding to things happens to be one of the specialties she developed by participating at the idiot couple''s ''Death Games''.


    Xenovia kept on gauging Aika''s aura but failed to notice anything impressive or even something different from a normal human, ''Is this it? Is she still hiding something?'' With those in mind, she epted Aika''s attack invitation and dashed towards her with the Excalibur Destruction in tow. Xenovia intends to push Aika into revealing more so she used a bit of power when she swiped her sword from left to right towards her.


    Aika wanted to try blocking it with her daggers to test it but decided against when she figured that she''ll fly away if she did that. Aika dodges by backing up and reentered her range when the sword passes by her. Aika thrust her dagger towards his chest but Xenovia easily blocked it with the hilt of her sword. Letting go of her left hand on the sword, Xenovia countered with a punch and Aika dodges by backing up again. This type of exchange happened multiple times until both of them retreated.


    "It''s amazing that you can keep up with me despite being weaker and slower." Xenovia said.


    "It might not be obvious, but my Sacred Gear is already boosting my body, you know. Though, not by much." From her sh with Xenovia, Aika learned a few things. First is that even though Xenovia is a lot stronger and faster than her, she can predict her path and dodge easily, after all, she didn''t y those ''Death Games'' for nothing. Second is, she didn''t know how to initiate an attack properly! Sure she can dodge all day, but she didn''t learn how to take advantage of the gaps that her opponents created. It shows howcking she is in experience against those near her level and skewed Yoruichi''s lessons are. Thinking about it again, what she learned from her is only how to dodge and run away, trying to control her locked up Reiatsu-Ki, and the sh Step which she can''t do perfectly yet. The reason why she''s seeking out for Koneko is to get her advice regarding the technique, ''I already know what Ick�� Now�� How should I win this? If I can''t take advantage of the openings she makes�� I should just make one for myself! Let''s do the good ol'' Urahara Style, messing with other people''s head!''


    Koneko and Akeno saw a familiar smile emerged from her face and thought, ''The birth of another one?''


    "Iya~. Well, to be honest, I''m not really that good at fighting, only dodging and running away! If I can''t do that, I''ll lose my life instantly." In this past week of training with Yoruichi and Kisuke, she already retracted the trust she gave them as it seems that she''ll really be killed if she doesn''t push herself, "But there''s one thing that I''m confident I can do right."


    Xenovia thought nothing of her smile and her ''joke'' about losing her life but she got interested in her words, "And that is?"


    "Throwing knives~!" With the swing of her left arm, it looked like she''s aiming for Xenovia, but the knife flew off to apletely different direction and it ricocheted on the rock nearby before embedding itself to the ground near Xenovia.


    "��"


    Aika stood there proudly like she didn''t mess up, "I taught myself~!"


    "��Why do you act like you just seded?"


    "Because I did!" Aika initiated the attack this time now with a single dagger in hand. Xenovia thought that she''s just trying to mess with her concentration since she''s apparently trained by ''that'' house''s owner. Not wanting to be dragged in her pace, Xenovia increased the rate of her counters until Aika can only dodge and run around. Aika ran and led Xenovia around the clearing for a few minutes until she stopped and threw her second andst dagger towards Xenovia''s face.


    "!?" Xenovia was shocked at how she suddenly was able to throw urately after disying such skill earlier, ''She really knew how to throw knives?'' She was shocked, only because it was too sudden. The knife doesn''t actually pose any danger to her. Using the hilt of her sword, she blocked the knife''s path and tossed it away, "Now then�� What are you going to do without your kni-!?"


    Aika suddenly arrived below her and sent out her right fist towards her face. Xenovia was shocked yet again because she thought that she would retreat now that she doesn''t have any weapon. Regardless, it''s still easy for her to dodge her punch due to herck of speed. Xenovia bent her back over to dodge it just slightly so that she could end this spar already. Throughout the whole fight, she felt disappointed that she only knew how to dodge and run away.


    But just as she was about to counter, the dull gray knife suddenly reappeared on Aika''s right fist. The punch is actually a sh and at this rate, it''ll reach her neck. Without much choice, Xenovia bent her back further and sessfully dodged the knife. She took a step back to control her bnce but to her surprise yet again, her foot was stopped by something and tripped. Midair, Xenovia looked down to see the culprit that tripped her, ''The knife she threw the first time!?'' Completely losing her bnce, she dropped down on the ground. She wasn''t able to recover anymore because Aika''s knife is pointing at her throat, "Told you, right~? I''m pretty good at throwing knives~." She said with arge grin on her face.

 Volume 5 207 - Not Joking

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 207 - Not Joking</h4>


    Everyone is nkly staring at Aika, except for Koneko, of course. She knew that Aika would win but still a little bit surprised at how she did it, ''Kisuke-senpai''s way of doing things�� I want to try it too.''


    "W-what��?" Xenovia nkly muttered at the sudden turnaround. She didn''t expect that their fight would be over in an instant.


    "Well then. We''re done here so I''d like to take my leave. Koneko-chan~! I want you to look at something." Aika then separated from the dumbfounded Xenovia and started walking towards Koneko to do what she''s here for.


    "W-wait! I want a rematch!" Xenovia hurriedly stood up.


    Aika turned around and replied, "No way~!"


    "I won''t lose the second round!"


    "That''s exactly it! I won''t win the second round through another trickery as I already showed my cards to you! So, no way!"


    "B-but��!" Xenovia was taken aback at her willingness to admit losing for the second round and was tongue-tied.


    Aika didn''t wait for her to say anything more and dragged Koneko away in a secluded corner, "Gremory-senpai, I''ll be taking Koneko-chan for a moment."


    "Ah�� S-sure." Rias could only stare at the two retreating figures, "Akeno�� What sort of training did she go through?"


    "��I really can''t say anything, but at least I can tell you that she wasn''t joking when she said she''ll instantly die if she wasn''t good at dodging things." After seeing how she won, Akeno calmed down sufficiently that she was able to reflect on her actions just now. Just because she''s very frustrated at Kisuke, she dragged someone rted to him to a problem which shouldn''t have happened, ''What the hell am I thinking?�� I should apologize��'' Akeno then started walking to the direction they left.


    "��She wasn''t joking?" Irina muttered this time.


    "Out of those who were here, it was only Akeno who saw how Kisuke Urahara trained those two��"


    "You mean to say that he''s even training your servant? Doesn''t that mean that servant of yours would have a better chance of winning? Why didn''t she fight?" Xenovia faced Rias and asked.


    Rias sighed, "First of all, it was Issei and Yuuto who has a problem with you two and second, I forbade her from doing anything strenuous due to her injuries that haven''tpletely healed."


    Xenovia stayed silent after hearing that. There''s no use in fretting over a single loss and what Aika said that she won''t win for the second time is true. She just has to remember that even those weaker than her, is capable of killing her if she falls for their tricks.


    "Issei-kun��" Irina approached Issei who is being healed by Asia, "Just what happened to Kisuke?"


    Issei looked up to her and thought about her question. A few secondster, he shook his head, "I don''t really know�� It seems that he''s already capable of amazing things since long ago and the more I discover about him, the more his mysterious side deepens�� In fact�� I''m scared of him." Issei then smiled, "But one thing is for sure though, he''s my good ol'' buddy."


    "��I see�� Now I look forward to meeting him again~!" Irina smiled brightly.


    Issei then put on a serious expression, "Be careful of him though�� I don''t know what he did, but it seems that Akeno-san is very stressed these days due to him. I even heard her sometimes muttering undescribable things and kept hearing Kisuke''s name along with it��"


    Irina''s mouth twitches and she recalled the dangerous house they are staying right now, ''It won''t do anything to us if we don''t provoke it�� right?'' "I''ll remember that��"


    After a few more words, the two exorcists left for good.


    .


    .


    .


    "Kiryuu-san." Akeno chased after the two and called out to Aika.


    The two members of the Urahara Shop stopped and turned back, "What is it, Himejima-senpai?"


    Akeno stopped for a moment before bowing down in front of Aika, "What I just did is out of the line. Please forgive me."


    Truthfully, even though what just happened ended up bing a good thing for Aika, she still doesn''t feel good when Akeno did something like that without prior notice or permission. But seeing her bow down and apologize soon after, most of the ill feelings disappeared, "��Can you tell me your reasons?"


    "I have no other excuse aside from getting back it Kisuke Urahara��" Without getting up, Akeno stated her reasons.


    "You really hate him, huh?"


    "��Yes." Akeno answered.


    Aika noticed that bit of hesitation from her, ''Really now��'' Aika sighed, "Well, I don''t really mind what just happened, but it would be great if something like this won''t have a second time."


    "I promise you. Thank you." Akeno left after letting out a sigh of relief. She still has her maid duties, and she also has to make sure that those two exorcists won''t spread her secret�� especially to Kisuke, as she might just kill herself if that happens.


    "Now then, Koneko-chan. Take a look at my sh Step and tell me what I''m doing wrong. My control of my measly Reiatsu-Ki is good but I''m getting a hard time timing my feet." Aika and Koneko spent the next two hours practicing sh Step and Aika was able to do it without tripping up or being blown away. Though she can''t do it continuously like Koneko as there is a limit of what she can teach her due to the difference of energy source of their techniques.


    Just as Aika is about to leave, Koneko grabbed the hem of her clothes, "Aika-senpai�� Can you look after Issei-senpai?"


    "Why?"


    "He''ll probably do something to help Yuuto-senpai so I want you to help him�� I want to do it myself but I won''t be able to get away from Buchou for long periods of time as she''s still worried about my injuries."


    "Sure�� But what''s going on anyway?"


    Koneko then proceeds to tell her the situation.


    "Isn''t that dangerous? Shouldn''t we stop him if he wants to do something stupid? I don''t know about those exorcists, but it seems that they''re confident enough but Hyoudou would just be yed around before getting killed."


    "Knowing him, he''ll do it even though it''s incredibly stupid and dangerous to help hisrade. So I want you to instead supervise him instead of stopping him so he won''t do anything too dangerous."


    "Hmmm�� Okay~! I''ll do it in your stead~." Aika agreed easily as she''s also partially interested in these Holy Sword-wielding exorcists and Fallen Angels.

 Volume 5 208 - Joined Forces

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 208 - Joined Forces</h4>


    Just as Koneko expected, Issei suspiciously made contact with Saji to discuss something. But before Issei could say anything, Aika interrupted him and joined the fun.


    Issei intended to help the exorcists destroy the Excalibur Swords. When he said this, Saji tried to ran away but failed when Aika got hold of him. Aika and Issei were able to convince him to join the discussion with the exorcists. Since they knew where they are staying as Akeno aren''t didn''t keep their whereabouts secret, Aika took the initiative to call them out.


    When Aika arrived at the door of the Urahara Household, she started to hear weird noises, ''What''s going on now? If I remember it right, only Himejima-senpai and the two exorcists stay here�� If they make that kind of ruckus, the house will ''punish'' them��''


    While baffled, Aika still pressed the doorbell and waited for a minute before pressing it again. It''s clear that there are people in the house due to the noise they are creating but it still took Aika five times to rang the bell before someone finally opened the door. It was not Akeno like she expected, but one of the exorcists named Irina, "W-what can I do for you?"


    "��Why are you the one answering the door?" As far as Aika knows, Akeno should be the one weing her.


    "You''re Aika Kiryuu��" Irina''s eyes widened when she saw the visitor. Hearing her words, Xenovia also came out, "Do you need something from that Devil?"


    "Answer my question first�� Himejima-senpai should be the one answering the door instead of your guests�� What happened? And what''s that noise?" Even they opened the door for quite some time, Akeno still hasn''t appeared and Aika still kept hearing small banging noises all over the house, "Are you doing some renovation work here? I suggest you don''t as you''ll only end up miserable."


    "You know about this house?"


    "Though it is mostly Kisuke''s ideas, three more people''s idea was in it��"


    Irina and Xenovia looked at each other and said at the same time, "That maid is being thrown around the house trying to ''silence'' us because we discovered her secret." They answered vaguely but honestly.


    "��" Aika knew that Akeno messed up and she won''t be able to escape from the series of traps for quite some time. On the contrary, since Issei wanted to keep this secret from his master, it''s a good chance to invite the exorcists out while Akeno is still busy enjoying the traps, "A friend of mine wanted to discuss something about your mission. It would be great if you can at least listen."


    "Let''s go!" Irina and Xenovia unhesitantly followed Aika. They were about to go out anyway as they don''t want to stay with a ''hostile'' maid.


    They arrived at the cafe where they would meet and saw that Issei and Saji already drinking some cold beverages. While Issei is acting nonchnt, Saji is nervously looked around as someone who knew him to witness him talking with members of the Church. It won''t end well for him especially when her master who''s constantly in a bad mood for some time now knows about this meeting, "Hyoudou! I should really go! I''m going to get killed after getting tortured!"


    Saji still wanted to get away but before he could do so, Aika put her hands on his shoulder and released a pressure by controlling her minimal Reiatsu-Ki, "Didn''t you promise you''ll at least listen?" She said after giving him a ''kind'' smile, "Yes! Ma''am!" Saji unintentionally saluted to her. He still has some traumas regarding this type of pressure from Kisuke.


    But due to her not yet mature control, she ended up putting Issei, Irina, and Xenovia in her range too. Irina and Xenovia almost pulled out their weapons. If not for Aika retracting her pressure, they might have attacked her out of instinct. Even now, they don''t know what just happened.


    "Dammit! Kiryuu! If you know that technique, at least say something before you use it! It''s really bad for the heart!" Isseiined loudly attracting the attention of other customers so he sat back down in embarrassment.


    "W-what was that!?" Xenovia and Irina asked at the same time.


    "Oh�� That? Just some coercion technique. Nothing impressive. More importantly, we should proceed with our talks." Aika just brushed it off like it was nothing and initiated the meeting, dodging the questions about her and what she just did.


    Irina and Xenovia knew that they won''t get anything much from her while Issei and Saji aren''t saying anything about it either so they started their ''negotiation'' instead of just wasting time as they still have to patrol the town to gather more information about the stolen swords.


    When Issei let them know his intention of helping them destroy the Excalibur, Irina mored but Xenovia agreed after a few moments of thoughts. The two ended up arguing about getting help from Devils pointing out each other''s weird faith. Xenovia, however, stressed the point that they are borrowing the Dragon''s power instead of a Devil and the fact that they don''t have much chance of retrieving the swords even with their trump card, after all, destroying those swords is easier than retrieving it. They would rather have the swords rendered useless than being used by the Fallen Angels.


    After reaching an agreement, Issei first decided to call Yuuto before they polish the details of their n.


    .


    .


    .


    "I see��" Yuuto arrived a few minutester and heard the situation, "To bepletely honest, I regret that I would have toe crawling to a couple of Holy Swords users and ask for help."


    "You''ve got quite a way with your words." Xenovia closed her eyes and drank her coffee.


    "We get your grudge against the ''Holy Sword Project'', but thanks to the work performed back then, researched on Holy Swords users has progressed by leap and bounds." Irina followed up, "It''s only because of those efforts that Xenovia and myself among others manage to achievepatibility with the swords."


    Yuuto scowled at them, "You think that''s enough to make me forgive of the ughter of all those test subjects!?"


    "It''s regarded by the Church as a regrettable crime. The individual responsible for it wasbeled as a heretic and emunicated. He''s now working with the Fallen Angels."


    "The Fallen Angels? What is this guy''s name?"


    "Valper Galilei, a man known as ''The Archbishop of ughter''."


    "So if we go after the Fallen Angels, I''m sure to run into him�� You know the other day I was attacked by a Holy Sword wielder. It was Freed Sellzen�� Ever heard of him?"


    "You mean that sh*tty priest!? That guy can still move around!?" Issei eximed.


    "��Though it seems that he''s looking for Koneko-chan to avenge one part of his body."


    "��Seriously?" Issei got a shiver down on his spine when he recalled how Koneko beat him up in the abandoned church.


    "What did she do?" Aika who kept quiet until now suddenly asked.


    Issei hesitated for a bit before saying the truth, "Well�� Koneko-chan destroyed that guy''s balls��"


    "Wow~!"


    "Koneko? You mean that white-haired little girl? She did that to Freed Sellzen?" Xenovia didn''t know how to react to that piece of news. Although they came from the same organization, she doesn''t feel anypassion with him due to his actions, but she knew how skilled this sadistic guy.


    "Yes�� Instantly that is��" Issei supplemented.


    They then remembered that she was also apparently trained by Kisuke Urahara and looked towards Aika''s direction.


    "She''s a lot stronger than me, alright?"


    The two exorcists thought that they could at least gauge the strength of the Devils in this town, but because of this ''Kisuke Urahara,'' it became out of their understanding.


    They then exined who Freed Sellzen is. He''s a genius fighter that was raised up by the Church but he never had faith only fought beings that he considers a monster. He crossed too many lines that his trial is just a matter of time but he was able to escape. They didn''t expect that they''ll receive news of him wielding one of the stolen Excaliburs here.


    With this information, they decided that Issei and thepany would have to hide their identities while dressing up as a priest to lure out Freed Sellzen who seems to be the person behind the priest ughters in the town. They would split into two groups and call the other one if they meet Freed. The mission seems easier now since they knew that only a human is using the Holy Swords.


    Their meeting is over so they had to go on their own ways to initiate their n. After getting out of the cafe, the Devils plus Aika discussed what they are going to do. Aika decided that they would fight if there is only the human present and if any Fallen Angels were sighted, they would have to escape.


    Done with that, Saji finally voiced out his confusion of what''s Yuuto''s connection with the Holy Swords despite being a Devil. Yuuto then decided to tell them his story of the only survivor from the ''Holy Sword Project'' because his fellowpanions used their lives to shield him for him to escape.


    After hearing his story, Saji cried his eyes out and promised that he would help him despite the risk of ''dying'' in the hands of his own master.


    It took them another two days to lure out Freed.

 Volume 5 209 - New Guests

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 209 - New Guests</h4>


    The day of their meeting, after they patrolled the whole town, the two exorcists returned midnight to the Urahara Household to take some rest.


    They didn''t really want to return as they didn''t want to end up like Akeno, tripping in traps everywhere. But they remembered Aika''s words that they won''t trigger any traps as long as they don''t do anything outside of their role as a guest.


    They reached the house and directly entered it. The light in the living room is still on so they knew that the maid is still awake. They had to be more careful against Akeno since Devils are more active at night, but they don''t intend to take action as they want to see if the real reason she is triggering the traps is that she''s doing something outside of her role as a maid.


    And just as they expected, as they reached the living room, from the dark corner, Akeno tried to grab both of them. But before she could reach both of them, she triggered a trap that ended up her being thrown back to the bathroom. Devil or not, if you''re suddenly dunked in an ice-cold bath, you''ll scream which Akeno inevitably did.


    Irina and Xenovia looked at each other and sighed in relief, "If we think about it carefully, this is the safest ce we could ever stay in this town�� I really want to meet your childhood friend now."


    "I really want to meet him now too, you know? Although not for the same reason as before we arrive in this town."


    They ignore the screaming Devil and went to the kitchen to quench their thirst. Although she''s creating a lot of noise, the neighbors seem to be not reacting to it and they arrived at the conclusion that there is some barrier keeping the sound from getting out this time of the day.


    As they went to the living room and arrive at the dining table, they saw cooked food with a note on it, "Please eat this if you''re hungry."


    They looked at each other again in confusion, "What do we do?" Irina asked her partner. Both of them are concerned with poison, but they remembered that they really haven''t eaten anything aside from the food they had in the family restaurant earlier.


    After few moments of hesitation, Xenovia steeled herself, "I''ll taste test it first to see if there is poison�� If there is, both of my Holy Swords should be able to help me expel it from my body. And besides, if this food hasn''t triggered the trap, it''s probably safe?" A baseless belief but she wanted to bet on it.


    She ate the food, it is delicious and nothing happened to her even after a few minutes. They waited for another half an hour just to be sure but Xenovia didn''t feel like she is poisoned. After looking around and making sure that no one is spying them, Xenovia took out her Holy Sword, not the Excalibur Destruction, but another great sword, the Durandal, aplete Holy Sword, and their trump card. She channeled her Holy Power to it and took it back. Her Holy Power didn''t have any violent reaction to it and now they are sure that she isn''t poisoned.


    They then ate the food with great relish. At some point, they felt Akeno''s stare at them from the entrance of the living room but she left immediately after they saw they are eating the food she made. They also noticed that she had a small smile on her face before she left, but not the ''evil'' smile they are expecting.


    Despite her attempts to ''talk'' to them into silence, Akeno never cut corners with her duties as a maid and would always prepare what the needs of the guests from the shadows.


    Even the next day after they returned from their search, Akeno prepared food and bath for them without a word. She already gave up going after them as the house won''t allow it.


    On the fourth day of their stay here, just after they left for their usual search, three guests arrived on the doorstep. A human couple with their child.


    The woman pressed the doorbell and Akeno walked out soon after, "Yes? Is there something you need."


    "Good morning. We just arrive from another overseas and a friend of mine told me that we can stay at his ce temporarily while we look for permanent residence in this town. His name is Kisuke Urahara by the way, and he pointed us here as there is a maid who would show us around." The woman then took out a letter and handed it over to Akeno, "And it seems that your the maid he''s talking about. Here a letter for you from him."


    Akeno skeptically looked at them before taking the letter and opening it. Written inside, "Yo~! Akeno-chan~! How are you doing? Me? I''m doing great over here! The view is nice and the food is awesome! So you don''t have to worry about your dear master! And I hope you didn''t trigger any of the security measures that I put up~! You don''t have to worry though, as long as you don''t do anything sketchy, you''ll be fine~!"


    Just a few lines from the letter made one part of her body throb�� her head. She wanted to tear apart the letter but she knew she can''t, ''This really came from that bastard?''


    "I would like you to lead the family of three to the shop. There should be arge room enough for them in there. And please help them take care of their necessities and after that, the price of the bet will be fulfilled and you''ll be free to go. You don''t like working for me anyway~."


    Akeno has aplicated feeling that is hard to describe when she read the next lines, ''Right�� I don''t like working under him�� I should be happy that I could escape this hell. But the way he worded it pisses me off! That bastard just wanted to throw me away after using me!''


    "Well then, that''ll be all. I''ll be going back soon. Have a good day~!" After reading thisst line, if this is really Kisuke, then she would have to throw the letter away�� and she did. In mid-air, the letter suddenly exploded into pieces. If she''s holding it, it would have exploded on her face.


    "Ohhh~!" The mother and father figure pped their hands in admiration, "She''s really Kisuke''s maid. She understands him." The woman said.


    Akeno felt a strange sensation of satisfaction and achievement. A proud feeling welled up from her when she heard them say that she understands Kisuke. Her mood became good for the first time in a while and introduced herself, "My name is Akeno Himejima. I''ll be taking care of your needs."


    "I''m Cleria Yaegaki. This is my husband, Masaomi Yaegaki and our daughter, ire Yaegaki. We''ll be in your care." The woman introduced herself along with her family.


    Akeno didn''t know their connection to Kisuke and she still hasn''t trusted them but she intended to use the house to judge their authenticity as it won''t allow anyone in as long as they don''t have permission from either Sakura or Kisuke. Akeno still wonders how does that works but even if she tries to study it, she can''t find anything.


    If they are the real deal, the house won''t reject them so she invited them inside, "I''ll prepare some tea first, pleasee in."


    Seeing that the house didn''t reject their entry, Akeno sighed in relief and prepared some tea and snacks for them. She then went to the Urahara Shop to clean thergest room where they would be staying.


    For the whole day, Akeno helped them unpack their things and when she got nothing to do, she helped taking care of the little girl by ying with her.


    For dinner, Akeno made food enough for six people anticipating the arrival of the two exorcists. The family of three ate their food first when Akeno suddenly received a transmission from Rias. She went to a secluded corner of the house and answered the call. Rias told her that they met Kokabiel after sending the injured and unconscious Irina back. Kokabiel threatened to destroy the whole town if the two heiresses of the tworge ns from Underworld who is currently staying in this town don''t arrive at school. Rias intended to take him on since no one else can.


    Hearing her decision, she tried to persuade her against it but failed. Rias ended the call after saying that they should gather outside the Kuoh Academy to n their assault. Akeno, however, didn''t hesitate to call reinforcement from Rias'' older brother, Sirzechs Lucifer. She received an order that they should buy half an hour for the reinforcement to arrive as the Devil King and his peerage isn''t allowed to make sudden movements that might result in a full-blown war.


    Akeno hurriedly said her goodbyes to the three and went to the school. Unknown to her, however, Cleria and Masaomi heard everything. They were shocked to know that Kisuke''s maid is the Queen of the current heiress of the Gremory Household.


    "What should we do, dear?" Masaomi asked his wife.


    "�� I''ll take look at what''s happening." Cleria replied. Since Kisuke took Akeno as his maid, she should have some importance for him and wanted to help out if possible.


    "It''s Kokabiel�� Be careful and don''t show up in front of him. And trying to contact Kisuke and tell him the situation. I''ll take care of ire here." Masaomi didn''t really want her to mess with this situation, but he also wanted to help Kisuke. And besides, Cleria is a lot stronger than Masaomi as an Ultimate-ss Devil. She won''t lose to Kokabiel in a direct fight, although, it won''t be easy to win either.


    "Got it��"

 Volume 5 210 - Punishment

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 210 - Punishment</h4>


    Issei, Yuuto, and Saji are wearing a priest attire while Aika is wearing for the nun''s as they go around the town. It''s alreadyte in the evening of their second day of searching but still not a glimpse of the Holy Sword wielder.


    Saji sighed, "Looks like nothing today either��"


    Issei patted his shoulder, "I''m sure we''ll run into him sooner orter if we keep wearing this priest disguises��" Issei''s attention was then caught by their other twopanions, "��What''s wrong, you two?"


    Yuuto and Aika are looking at the top of a certain two-story building with serious expressions, "We found him�� I guess��" Aika replied to Issei. She can feel an aura that is the same as the aura Xenovia and Irina emitting, but this aura is noticeably more sinister even though it''s supposed to be a ''holy'' item, ''So aura can be affected by the disposition of the person and not just their use of basic foundation?'' Unbeknown to Aika, however, Kisuke and Yoruichi taught her how to sense aura differently from those in this world.


    A few secondster, a figure appeared on the building the two are staring, "Hey, you priestly paupers! Allow me to guide you to Heaven��" Freed then noticed something amiss, "Oh?"


    "Freed!" Issei immediately took out his Boosted Gear.


    "Well, well, well? If it isn''t Issei-kun~!? Another queer reunion for the two of us I see�� Even the handsome boy toy is here~! Now, where is that white chibi!? I need to cut her up with my new toy~!"


    Aika got pissed at his words but reminded herself of her goal here, to keep Issei and Yuuto from doing something reckless. Although she doubts she could stop Yuuto even with her single-use sh Step. And besides, there is still someone hiding from the shadows and something dangerous lurking around, so she can''t move carelessly. If it''s Koneko, she''ll do everything to help or save her, but if it is just Yuuto, she''ll prioritize her life over him.


    Before their sh, Aika secretly sent a message to the two exorcists about their situation.


    Yuuto became the vanguard while the other three became support. They had a hard time due to Freed''s Holy Sword kept smashing Yuuto''s sword into pieces.


    Although it became easier when Saji was able to bind him with his Sacred Gear and weaken him by absorbing his life force. Though the odds tip against them yet again when a man known as Valper Galilei appeared from the shadows and taught Freed how to properly use the Holy Sword.


    But soon after, Xenovia and Irina arrived to support them prompting the two of them to escape. Xenovia, Irina and Yuuto chased after them by leaping over the building. Issei tried to follow but she was stopped by Aika.


    "What''s going on here?" A menacing voice came from Rias who just arrive with Sona.


    ''Figures�� After all the ruckus we made, these two would be attracted�� Time to bail!'' Aika thought and used sh Step to leave the Devils.


    "W-what!? Kiryuu!?" Issei and Saji were shocked that Aika suddenly escapes without a word, leaving them to their own not so bright fate.


    Issei and Saji told their masters what they are up to, and understandably, they are not impressed.


    "So this Excalibur destruction n was your idea��" Rias sighed not knowing what to do.


    "Such troublesome children. You even dragged Aika in your activities." Sona followed up.


    "You got it wrong, Kaichou! It was me who got dragged by her in this!" Saji immediately defended his side, "Well�� Technically, it was Hyoudou who invited me, but it was Kiryuu-san who persuaded me! She even used that scary pressure that I have no choice but to concede."


    "She did? But why?" Rias asked.


    "�� I don''t know�� But if I have to guess, it''s probably of Koneko-chan as she''s the only one who would want to assist us if it means helping out Kiba." Issei already heard from Rias Aika''s rtionship with Koneko and Kisuke.


    Rias intended to ask Konekoter for confirmation but she has to ask other things first, "So then Yuuto went after Valper?"


    "Yes�� Along with those two from the Church." Issei scratches his cheek in embarrassment, "I told him to contact us if things go south��"


    "Yuuto got nothing but revenge on his mind. You think he''ll really reach out to us?"


    "I-I guess your right��" Issei evaded her gaze and sighed.


    Rias crouched down towards Issei''s position, "��No use crying over spilled milk, I suppose. But what you guys have done could have serious implications for the world atrge. Do you understand that?"


    "I''m sorry�� Buchou��"


    Sona then released an aggressive aura after hearing them out. That aura is specifically aimed at Saji, "And now you must be punished."


    "Oh no!!! I''m sorry! I''m sorry! Please forgive me, Kaichou!!!"


    "Out of the question. One thousand magic-powered spanks for you."


    Issei thought that he was fortunate enough to escape that kind of punishment, but Rias didn''t let that happen as he experiences the same pain as Saji. The two became butt buddies in a literal sense.


    .


    .


    Rias and Issei went home after the punishment. He wasn''t allowed to receive any healing from Asia or it won''t be called a punishment. When they entered the house, they were greeted with Asia, who is only wearing an apron�� without any other article of clothing.


    It led to anotherpetition between Rias and Asia to get Issei''s attention with this attire until it''s about time to call it a day and sleep. They decided that they would be sleeping together again tonight and Issei would have another sleepless night. But just as theyy down on the bed, they suddenly felt an aura irritating for Devils, an aura that Issei just met earlier.


    They all hurriedly looked outside the window and saw Freed provoking them to go outside before running away. Rias helped Issei and Asia to change their pajamas to school uniform with magic before deciding to follow Freed. They arrive at a deserted park with only the moon giving off light.


    "Howdy, Issei-kun, Asia-tan. Splendid night, ain''t it? You kids doin'' all right? Did I catch you in the middle of a fuck?" Freed stopped running and greeted them his way, "My bad. Freed-chin''s not so good with readin'' the moment, see?"


    "You son of bi-" Issei was about to rush towards him when Rias stopped his charge, "Calm down, Issei. The one we need to be concerned about is up there." She then pointed upwards and Issei and Asia saw a winged silhouette blocking the moon, "!?"


    "Pleased to make your acquaintance, daughter of Gremory. Your crimson hair is as lovely as they say."


    The man blocking the moon has the appearance of a young man with long ck hair and red eyes, and unlike other Fallen Angels that they had met, he has pointy ears. He wears a ck robe with detailed essories. He possesses five pairs of ck wings, signifying his rank and strength. He''s also carelessly carrying another person with him.

 Volume 5 211 - Too Stupid

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 211 - Too Stupid</h4>


    "It reminds me of your troublesome brother, though, so pardon me if it makes me sick to my stomach." The Fallen Angel chuckled as he looks down on the Devils.


    "How do you do, Kokabiel, leader of the Fallen Angels?" Rias instantly guess his identity and greeted him back with pride.


    "That''s Kokabiel?" Issei became very vignt and went in front of both Rias and Asia as he takes out his Booted Gear.


    Unfazed of this, Kokabiel threw the person he is holding towards them, "I have a present for you."


    Issei hurriedly dashed towards the falling person as she''s very familiar to catch and just as he guessed she was someone he knows, "I-Irina!"


    Irina is unconscious and wounded allover with her battlesuit torn apart revealing some parts of her body, "Asia!" Seeing the situation, Issei immediately asked for Asia''s help.


    "That one made it all the way to our stronghold, so we gave her a fitting wee. The other two managed to get away." Kokabiel chuckled at their reactions.


    "Tch!" Rias turned away her attention from Issei and face back Kokabiel, "The Devil King may be my brother, but he no longer shares a political connection with the rest of my family! If you''re looking to make some sort of diplomatic deal, your efforts are wasted!."


    "As if I would try something so stupid as negotiating with the Devil King. Still, if I ravished and killed his little sister, Sirzechs might turn his fury on me, which could have its own merits."


    Rias was peeved by his words, "�� What are you after, then?"


    Kokabiel then proceeds to cackle and exin his motives behind his actions. What is want is another three-way war and prove that the Fallen Angels were the supreme being. He was dissatisfied that Azazel pulled out from the war when they are practically winning. At first, he tried to ease his boredom by collecting and studying the Sacred Gears like most of the Fallen Angel bigwig is doing now, but he got bored of it soon too, so when Valper approached him with his research on Excalibur, he found his chance. He nned is to provoke Heaven by stealing the Excaliburs but the Church only sent some puny priests and Holy Sword-wielders.


    He then switched his n to mess up the territory where two little sisters of the current Devil Kings to provoke them into sending their forces, effectively initiating the war.


    There is only one question remaining in Rias'' head, "Why are you still collecting the Excaliburs, then!?"


    "Come after me if you want to know so badly! Let''s start a war! You and I, Rias Gremory, sister of Devil King Sirzechs Lucifer!" Kokabiel then flew off towards the Kuoh Academy with almost instantaneous speed. Freed on the other hand used his shbang to escape again.


    "Sh*t!" Issei stomped his foot in frustration, "That bastard pulled one on us again!"


    Rias then immediately instructed the two, "Asia, when you''re done with the first aid, bring her somewhere safe to rest."


    "R-right!"


    "I''m going to contact Sona and Akeno. Issei, go get Koneko, we''re going to meet outside the school. Don''t bete!"


    "Understood!"


    "We''ve got to protect this Academy��"


    .


    .


    .


    "First, we on the Student Council will try to abate the damage to the barrier over the school. But to bepletely frank, if you Kokabiel releases his full power, let alone the school, he can instantly destroy the whole town. And it would appear that he already made some preparations to do just that. My servants spotted him releasing some of his powers on the schoolyard." Sona narrated the situation.


    "T-the whole city��? He''ll destroy our homes and school just to start a war!?"


    Sona nodded at Issei''s words.


    "We can''t let him! He picked the wrong Devils to mess with!" Even though he said that he isn''t exactly optimistic. Even if he charges his power until the limits of his body, he''s only capable of destroying a mountain and he would bepletely drained after. He''s only trying to rouse everyone''s morale in this bleak situation.


    "In order to reduce the potential destruction to the outside world, we will be reinforcing the barrier from appropriate spots. I hate to think of our Academying to harm, but our foe is an elite among Fallen Angels. We have to prepare for the worst��" Sona and her servants started backing up to go to their positions.


    "Thank you�� Sona�� Leave the rest to us." Rias dered.


    But before all of them could leave, a voice from afar resounded, "Don''t you think this is too stupid?" Aika came walking from the shadows. She has been doing her own survey of the situation and it isn''t looking good for her. So before she came to the school where everyone is gathering, she first let her parents leave Kuoh Town for a period of time, "Why don''t you call or wait for enforcement? Aren''t you all too confident? Or are you just that confident to die? And Sona-kaichou�� What''s up with you?" A bunch of questions came from her and thest one is directly confronted Sona who can''t seem to look at her eyes when she asked that question.


    "Oi! Kiryuu! Don''t talk to Kaichou like that!" Saji immediately flipped out to defend his master.


    "What? Are you thinking that this is some incredibly smart move? Are you an idiot?"


    "Guh!" Saji has nothing to say back as what they nning is really too reckless. They couldn''t possibly go against someone who survives a war with the Biblical God and Devil Kings.


    "I understand why you don''t escape because you don''t want to abandon this town, but from what I just heard from your conversation, none of you seems to bother calling for reinforcement�� Are you mocking an enemy of that caliber? Or do you think that this is some shounen manga that can be solved with the power of friendship? Get real!"


    Aika is getting really frustrated at their actions that seem too childish, and she isn''t done yet, "I got it that your older sibling won''t make their move personally as it might escte things quickly, but don''t you think that you should at least call an army that is capable of at least repelling that guy in the name of self-defense? And you''re from influential families from what I heard so something like this should be doable! Or are you thinking that you want to be independent of your families? That''s bullsh*t! Please choose another time to act like that when there is an actual need for it if there is one!"


    Aika is panting hard as she finishes her words and nobody could say anything back at her outburst.

 Volume 5 212 - Planning

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 212 - nning</h4>


    From the quiet crowd, Akeno slowly took a step forward, "You don''t have to worry, Kiryuu-san�� I''ve already called for reinforcement from Sirzechs Lucifer-sama and they should arrive in an hour."


    "A-Akeno?" Rias looked at her in disbelief as she did this without telling her anything.


    "Rias, what she just said is right. I understand your reluctance to bother him after the recent troubles with your family�� But this is clearly isn''t something we can ovee on our own. At most, we could only buy time for the reinforcement." Akeno gave her a grave look. As her Queen, she just can''t be a servant, but someone who can be her right arm. Since Rias didn''t want to get help, Akeno has to do it on her own for everyone''s safety.


    "Haah�� I''m sorry for my outburst, then�� With all of this happening, I''m pretty stressed out. Add the fact that I can''t seem to contact both Kisuke and Yoruichi." Aika held her forehead and sighed. On her other hand is the token that can be used to contact both Kisuke and Yoruichi in an emergency. She kept inserting her Reiatsu-Ki as they instructed in it, but there is no response.


    Koneko, who kept quiet all this time, also took out her own token. She also has been trying to contact the two of them as she knew they could fight off Kokabiel. She even wanted to call for her sister, but she left a few days ago for some mission in her organization and won''t being back anytime soon. Since she can''t contact all of them, she chooses to secretly contact the Gremory Household for help. So while indeed Aika just had an outburst, it''s not directed to her, as she knew Koneko knew the right thing to do in this situation. After all, it wasn''t just her who receive training from Yoruichi.


    Although Koneko contacted the Gremory Household, like the Devil King, they are tied and won''t be able to move personally, so they can only send some help. But it''s still a lot better than the one-hour arrival of the Devil King''s forces as they coulde as early as thirty minutes if they ignore some of the sanctions that they would incurter, and Koneko is pretty confident that Venna Gremory would do just that.


    Aika''s words, however, caught someone''s attention, "��Can''t contact them? What happened?"


    Aika looked at the source of that question and saw Sona''s haggard face with a trace of worry, "I don''t know�� I''m only sure that something happened on their side that they can''t respond to any call��" Aika saw Sona''s face be visibly paler. Not only her everyone around noticed this too. Saji in particr pouted and started muttering some unknown things.


    "You don''t have to worry about him though. Knowing him, he''s probably messing around somewhere and someone probably isn''t having a good time." Aika shook her head andforted Sona, ''Is this really the Sona that I know�� It seems that all her silence is just a brave front��'' Heaving a huge sigh again, she continued, "What you should be worrying about is the current situation. We can''t afford to worry about that pervert."


    "N-no�� I''m not exactly worried about him. I''m just thinking that should really have contacted my sister." Sona faked a cough and turned around, "Tsubaki, we''re going. And while you''re at it, please contact Leviathan-sama and tell her the situation, but also make sure to tell her that doesn''t escte anything. If it''s her, she''ll probably disregard everything ande here and by then, we''ll have bigger problems than Kokabiel."


    "Yes, Kaichou!" Tsubaki then immediately opened themunication line directly to the office of the Leviathan.


    "Rias�� We''ll do our best to hold the barrier. So I leave everything else to you."


    "Got it��"


    Sona and the rest of the Student Council surrounded the whole school and set up a huge barrier that will contain the inevitable destruction that would ur.


    Rias then faced those who remained, "Are you going to help us, Kiryuu-san?"


    "What else could I do? I want to take Koneko-chan away from here but I doubt she would agree." Aika shrugs her shoulder and Koneko gave her a gratified nce.


    "��Thank you��" Rias expressed her gratitude, "With Sona defending the town, that leaves offense to us. We have to keep Kokabiel busy so he wouldn''t direct any kind of attack outside�� This isn''t the same as our fight with the Phenex. Our life is on the line this time. But I don''t give you any permission to die! We''re going to survive and protect our beloved town!"


    "Yes! Buchou!" Akeno, Asia, and Issei answered with enthusiasm. They then started walking towards the schoolyard.


    "WAIT!!!" Aika shouted at the leaving figures. She and Koneko stood at their spot dumbfounded.


    "What is it, Kiryuu-san?" Rias asked. Akeno, Asia, and Issei also has a puzzled expression.


    "What do you mean by what is it!? Do you n to charge ahead without even having a concrete n!? Or is it that your ''concrete n'' is to deal with whatever that Kokabiel throws at us!?" Aika stomped the ground in frustration, ''Dammit! They''re really acting like some shounen manga protagonist!'' Aika shouted at them in frustration, "That Kokabiel dude can push the ''Game Over'' button anytime he wants and we won''t be able to do anything about it, you know!"


    "What else can we do then? We can only respond to what he has for us��" Rias gritted her teeth as she can''t also think of any strategy against Kokabiel.


    "A strategy doesn''t have to beplicated. A simple framework is a lot better than just ''responding'' to what is happening.


    " Ahem. First of all, our goal is to buy an hour until reinforcements arrive, but we have to remember that his goal is to start a war so he just has to kill you all for it to happen.


    "Then what do we do?" Asia asked nervously.


    "I must say that Valper whatever his full name is presence is our luck."


    "What? Why? Isn''t an additional enemy suppose to be bad?" In their group''s behalf, Asia kept asking the questions they wanted to know.


    "Normally, it is. But Kokabiel is someone who doesn''t need help to annihte us. And the fact that he''s just letting this guy do whatever he wants means that we won''t need to face him in the first round."


    "How can you be so sure?"


    "What do you think is his other reason aside from wanting to prove that Fallen Angels are supreme?"


    "��H-he''s bored?"


    "Exactly. He wants some amusement and we could use that to gain some time so don''t go finishing the minions off. Just put up a shy struggling fight."


    "So that''s it. Let''s go!" Issei clenched his fist and got ready to charge.


    "Hold up, dimwit!"


    "What? I thought we already have a n?"


    "Don''t take what I just said as something that would surely happen. Heck, that guy might just st us into oblivion the moment we enter his sight!"


    Issei went silent for a moment before crying out loud, "Then strategizing is useless!"


    "It''s not, you idiot. That''s just the instant ''Game Over'' that I talk about earlier. Ahem�� Anyway, my point is, there''s also a chance that he''ll only give us a limited time which won''t be enough for the reinforcements to arrive."


    Everyone is having a headache now.

 Volume 5 213 - Vali and Azazel

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 213 - Vali and Azazel</h4>


    "Don''t get too nervous now. What I''m proposing is very simple. If something like that happens, then you all have to take out the big guns without holding back and release it at the same time." And while it seems really simple, Aika thought that she has to mention it to them or they''ll just be an unorganized mob trying to attack the big boss out of panic and hurry, ''And while they are at it, I try to find a chance myself��'' "With that said, you know what to do with your abilities, right, Hyoudou-kun?"


    "��Yes. I''ll charge my Boosted Gear and transfer it to either Buchou or Akeno-san." Issei knew his limitation and his actual utility in this fight. Ddraig also brought up an offer that can power him up but it takes quite an amount of price, and even then, he probably still won''t be able to repel Kokabiel.


    "Good." Aika nodded in satisfaction and turned to Rias, "I''m sorry for taking your role, Gremory-senpai. I just have to do it since I saw you people charging in without much thought."


    Rias shook her head, "No. It''s okay. On the contrary, I''m grateful. It''s thanks to you that I realized that I still have a lot to work on."


    Aika nodded at her and faced Koneko, "And onest thing�� I don''t have to warn you, right?"


    Koneko knew what she''s talking about. It''s about the use of her Senjutsu. She''s still in the middle of healing her wounds so she can''t use without risking her own life. She only nodded in response.


    "��" Aika knew that if ites down to it, she won''t be able to stop her, ''This is a lot harder than I thought! Who brought thest boss here anyway!? A newbie like me isn''t prepared!'' Closing her eyes, she emptied her mind for a few seconds, ''I have to kill.''


    Yoruichi and Kisuke already warned her about her, being a normal human not long ago, not having an experience of killing someone and the dangers of hesitating to do so when needed. They intended for Koneko and Aika to kill someone to at least experience it once but this situation came up abruptly that they haven''t done it. Though Yoruichi gave them a workaround, and that is self-hypnotism. It''s only effective on the first few uses and is intended for beginners who are very hesitant about killing. The withdrawal effects are worse than just getting a kill for the first time but one can get used to it too like normal.


    All of them noticed Aika''s sudden change in the aura and shuddered as she is now giving a very cold and indifferent demeanor. Koneko called out to them to exin what is happening, "It''s a certain technique that Yoruichi-san taught us so that we, who haven''t killed before, can unhesitantly kill if needed."


    Everyone gulped audibly and Rias released a fake cough, "Ahem�� Let''s go. We don''t want Kokabiel to rampage around just because we''rete." And off they go.


    .


    .


    "Azazel, Kokabiel already made his move." A handsome young man with light silver hair and light blue eyes, wearing a dark green V-neck shirt with a high-cored ck leather jacket over it. He also wears burgundy jeans with a silver chain drooping down over them and ck leather chaps with three bands encircling his right calf, and ck shoes with ck buckles. He is currently watching what is currently happening on the schoolyard from a distant building with a white magic circle in front of him showing a hologram of a certain man.


    "It seems so��" The man on the hologram sighed. He is a tall man appearing to be in his twenties with an average build, ck hair, golden bangs, and ck goatee. He is wearing a V-neck maroon long-coat with a wide, open high-cor that opens up at the hem. The long-coat also featured two ck belts around the waist and four ck bands on each arm, two of the bands at the wrist and the other two near the elbow.


    "Do you want me to step in now?" The young man asked.


    "Not yet. Don''t you want to see what your ''rival'' is capable of, Vali?" The man called Azazel chuckled.


    "I was so excited when I heard the news about the appearance of the Boosted Gear�� But looking at him now, it''s a huge disappointment. He''s just a normal kid not long ago. I shouldn''t have put any expectations." Vali clicked his tongue as he and Azazel watch the Gremory and Sitri heiresses meet.


    "Don''t be like that. You of all people should know that you shouldn''t underestimate a Longinus possessor regardless of his race and way of life. You never know, his will might be equal or stronger than yours and if that is the case, even if it''s just a fraction of a second, he might overpower you."


    It was Vali''s turn to chuckle, "If that''s really the case, then I really want to see it."


    Azazel sighed at his adopted son''s addiction to battles. They watch the two peerages n for things and it was rtively normal when they were given a shock. A very normal human girl suddenly appeared near them, "!?"


    "Vali�� Did you notice her?" Azazel only has visuals on his side but he trusted Vali''s senses and instincts as one of the strongest members of his organization.


    "��No." Vali''s expression became serious.


    "Maybe you didn''t notice her due to her being very ''normal''?"


    "Even then, I would have noticed her before she can evene near them��"


    "��" Azazel only put on a thinking expression and a glint shed through his eyes in a brief moment, "How about the White Dragon Emperor? Did he notice anything?"


    From Vali''s back, a voice as deep as Ddraig''s resounded, "Yes�� I already noticed her since earlier. She has been going around that facility prior to her contact with those Devil kids."


    "!?" They were given another shock as Vali has been surveying around Kokabiel''s position and didn''t notice the ''normal'' human girl walking around which is suppose to be unconsciously repelled by therge magic field in the area. And the fact that she''s talking normally and even reprimanding the Devils due to their foolish actions of taking on things outside of their abilities clearly suggests that she isn''t normal at all despite the ''normal'' human aura she''s giving off.


    "What''s up with her, Albion?" Vali asked.


    "I only noticed her because she''s supposed to be a normal human but she''s walking around everyone being unnoticed. And what''s different about her is that she has a Sacred Gear."


    "Sacred Gear?" Vali somehow already guessed the situation, "So it''s her Sacred Gear''s ability."


    "You''re wrong."


    Azazel and Vali became puzzled at his words and Albion continued speaking, "When I said different, I mean her Sacred Gear is ''dead''."


    Vali became even more confused while Azazel''s eyes widened in shock, " ''Dead''? You mean there''s a spirit in that girl''s Sacred Gear but it''s already dead?"


    "That''s all I can say�� The red bastard over there might have some more answers as he''s closer in proximity."


    Azazel thought for a few moments before muttering, "Interesting��"

 Volume 5 214 - Cant Defeat Him

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 214 - Can''t Defeat Him</h4>


    Vali and Azazel watched the Devils as they approach the schoolyard. They were understandably shocked when they say Valper''s intent tobine all the stolen Excalibur swords. On the other hand, Kokabiel is very disappointed that either Sirzechs or Serafall didn''t arrive and destroyed the whole gymnasium in a single attack in a fit of fury. Nevertheless, Kokabiel calmed down as they probably called for reinforcements and he might as well amuse himself as he waits for their arrival.


    With a single snap of his fingers, Kokabiel summoned multiple beasts, the Cerberus, which is only suppose to be in the Hades'' domain.


    "��Are those real?" Vali asked Azazel.


    "Most likely not as they are too weak�� But how did Kokabiel get his hands on these things? Looks like the situation is moreplicated than I thought." Azazel replied with a furrowed brows.


    Rias and her peerage followed Aika''s advice on prolonging the battle as much as possible but what they are doing is too obvious for trained and experienced eyes. They instantly guessed their goal but Kokabiel didn''t do anything about it as it is amusing at its own right. Kokabiel also took notice of Aika with her ''very normal'' aura of a Human and her Sacred Gear but disregarded her immediately after seeing what she''s holding, the Aeternam Somnium. It''s thest Sacred Gear that the Biblical God created and it acts like a Longinus by only having one host each generation despite its veryckluster abilities like enhancing the physical attributes of the possessor and returning to the owner when thrown. The only mysterious ''ability'' it has is the fact that the possessor would always get dragged to the supernatural world before it can even awaken.


    Azazel, however, has a different opinion as he has a clue on what''s the true capability of that Sacred Gear, "Albion�� Are you sure that Sacred Gear is ''dead''?"


    "Yes," Albion answered him briefly.


    "��Impossible. Aeternam Somnium''s spirit could never die." Azazel asserted.


    "Hmm? Aeternam Somnium? That ''fake'' Longinus?" Vali was a bit surprised at Azazel''s words.


    "Vali�� You can never call that Sacred Gear as fake Longinus."


    "Why? Because it''s strong? But from all the records of its possessor, there had never been one that manages to step on the ranks of even Middle-ss Devil."


    "It''s not because it is strong�� It''s because it just shows how much technical skills God has in his arsenal. And I doubt anyone could control and tap into that Sacred Gear''s potential which isparable to True Longinus." Azazel ended his words there, ''And father''s greatest masterpiece before his fall.''


    "And what sort of creature resides in that, that you said it could never die. Something like that must be on the level of two Heavenly Dragons."


    "I can''t tell you that yet. And I doubt that information would be useful at all. If Albion is saying that the Sacred Gear is ''dead'' then some changes might have happened in its inner workings. The spirits might have even escaped or were imed back."


    "Spirits? There are more than one? Escape? That''s impossible as even the Heavenly Dragons can''t do so. And imed back? What?" Vali became even more confused at her nonsensical words.


    "That''s why I said you don''t need to know yet." Azazel chuckled but deep inside, he''s nning on how he should contact the girl in question.


    Vali knew that he wouldn''t be able to get more information from Azazel and just focused on the ongoing ''childish'' fight. He would put more attention to Issei and Aika than the rest.


    As they are fighting the fire-breathing, triple-headed beast, supports came in as Xenovia and Yuuto made their appearance and killed one Cerberus each.


    But just as they are ''ying'' around with the Cerberus, Valper finished fusing the four Excalibur swords and the residual magic from the ceremony is threatening to explode within just 10 minutes and it would affect the whole town if that were to happen.


    Aika already tried assassinating Valper before he could even finish fusing the swords, but Kokabiel put up a barrier around the ceremony making it impossible for her to even approach him. Aika thought of using the ''candy'' Kisuke gave her some time ago but immediately discarded that idea as the real enemy here is Kokabiel, and that ''candy'' of her would probably only give her a limited amount of time and she''ll be retired after that.


    The barrier hasn''t disappeared even now so all of them can''t do anything about the ceremony circle continuing to gather mana from the surrounding. They had no choice but kill the remaining Cerberus'' and deal with Kokabiel. Aika has the same idea as a living flesh is easier to pierce than a hard barrier. The problem is, it would be an aerial battle and she only has one chance.


    Freed then came out to control the fused Excalibur. Valper then revealed the real goal of the experiment where Yuuto is part of. By extracting the essence necessary to control the Excalibur, Valper was able to create an artificial user. He even tossed a crystal of this extracted essence to the disgruntled Yuuto to mock him.


    To everyone''s shock, however, Yuuto managed to fuse with it, and his Sacred Gear, Sword Birth, achieved an irregr Bnce Breaker where opposing forces were fused into one sword, ''Sword of Betrayer'' as he called it.


    Yuuto was able to fight Freed evenly with his Excalibur which gave Valper another shock. Xenovia, however, won''t stay silent and revealed her own trump card, the Durandal. Xenovia is a natural Holy Sword wielder and against the iplete Excalibur, Durandal easily destroyed it. Using this chance, Yuuto gave Freed arge wound across his chest, taking him out of the battle.


    Valper was cornered and an idea came to him, but before he could say it out loud, Kokabiel killed him.


    Kokabiel slowly flew down, "You were a great man, Valper. It''s beyond impressive that you were able to figure it out in the end. But I should have eliminated you from the start and forged ahead alone." Kokabiel then looked towards the tired Devils, "Now then, let''s end this. Go ahead and transfer the Red Dragon Emperor''s power to someone. Hurry it up!"


    Issei red at him and looked towards his master, "Buchou! I''m ready!" Issei knew that out of all them, Rias has the most destructive power. He knew the difference in power and didn''t hesitate to call out to her for the transfer.


    After the transfer, Rias'' Demonic Power shoots up multiple times, impressing even Kokabiel, "Hahaha! Good, good! Your power is almost as strong as the Devil King''s! You and your brother have truly been blessed with nigh unbelievable abilities!


    Rias'' conjured the most destructive attack she can in the form of a gigantic ball of Power of Destruction, "VANISH!"


    Kokabielughed out loud and intended to take it head-on, "What fun you are, sister of Devil King Sirzechs!" The power of destruction crashed onto him, "NNNGH!" And he''s enjoying the sensation.


    Akeno took this chance to get behind him and attacked with her lightning, "Hooh�� You must be Baraqiel''s��"


    Without letting him finish, Akeno increased the intensity of her attack, "Don''t you dare speak of him and me in the same breath!!!"


    "It can''t be��" Rias couldn''t believe that she can''t even wound him despite all of that magic. She and her peerage sorely underestimated him, "All that magic power still wasn''t enough to beat him��"


    Aika clicked her tongue at what just happened. She already expected that Kokabiel won''t be defeated with just Rias'' attack, but she didn''t expect that Akeno would also attack him from behind making her lose her chance to stab him at the back, ''I''m really too inexperienced for this��''

 Volume 5 215 - Azazels Interest Piqued

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 215 - Azazel''s Interest Piqued</h4>


    Seeing that pure brute force won''t cut it, Xenovia and Yuuto charged at Kokabiel to engage in closebat battle. Kokabiel only sneered at them and conjured two swords made out of light and fought the two.


    Xenovia and Yuuto were, of course, not his match. By just having superior physical attributes and experience, Kokabiel utterly destroyed them despite their strong weapon. Xenovia managed to draw blood from his cheek but was kicked away while all Yuuto''s conjured Sword of Betrayers were smashed into pieces with his five pairs of ck wings.


    Koneko used this chance to sneak up under him by using a bit of Ki to use sh Step. Kokabiel was shocked that a white silhouette suddenly appeared and tried to punch his throat, ''What? Instant teleportation?'' However, even though he was caught off-guard, he still managed to calmly react and used his arms to block her attack and kicked her away, making her cough blood.


    "Koneko!!!" All of them called out, and Akeno caught her mid-air and hurriedly brought her to Asia''s side. Most of the damage she took is not from Kokabiel''s kick but from her forceful use of Ki.


    Kokabiel was about to praise her for her actions when he suddenly felt a killing intent behind him. With his intuition kicking in, Kokabiel shifted his body to the left a little bit without looking back and a knife went through his body just missing his heart by a centimeter or two, ''What!?'' Still not looking back, he used his wings to cut up whoever sneaked up behind him. He felt feedback, but not much.


    Aika took the chance when Kokabiel is a bit distracted on Koneko''s actions and sneaked up behind him using sh Step and aimed for his heart. But who knew that he was still able to react from something like that. Aika knew that she failed so she tried to retreat. Since she still can''t use sh Step consecutively, she jumped backward with everything she got but still got hit by de-like wings even after blocking a few of them with her Sacred Gear. Due to trying to catch his wings, Aika flew off and was about to crash to the wall of the school building. If that were to happen, she doesn''t know if she can still breath after.


    However, luck is on her side as a ball of water suddenly appeared on her path and cushioned her fall. The ball of water dropped down to the ground with Aika gently and she suddenly heard someone calling her name, "Aika!!!"


    "Kaichou?�� What are you doing here?" Aika is currently enduring the pain of the cuts all over her body. She''s wondering why someone who should be maintaining the barrier is here.


    "Some unknowndy is currently maintaining the barrier and she''s a lot stronger than me. Nevermind that you''re not in good shape!" Sona scanned her with her eyes multiple times and confirmed the cuts are quite deep. She carefully looked where she could carry her and put her in her arms. She hurriedly flew towards Asia who is currently healing the groaning Koneko.


    Sona gritted her teeth at this sight, ''These are two people important to him�� This battle is impossible�� Kisuke��''


    .


    .


    "Hmmm? There''s an unknown robed human approaching the school��" Vali reported.


    "So many strange things going on today�� Let''s watch a little longer. It seems another variable is about to join the alreadyplicated situation." Azazel replied.


    The cloaked human approached the heiress of the Sitri Household and talked with her for a moment. A few secondster, the cloaked human touched the barrier and Vali can now freely feel that the human is injecting a huge amount of Demonic Power into the barrier, strengthening it, ''!?''


    Azazel also saw what the human did but he can''t feel the aura from the other side so he''s puzzled at his reaction, "What''s up Vali?"


    Vali didn''t answer her and just modified the magic circle of theirmunication to let some of the aurae from the surrounding to go through themunication line. Once he''s done, Azazel eximed, "What!? That''s clearly a human! How the hell he can release that amount of Demonic Power!? That on the level of High-ss to Ultimate-ss!�� Too many strange things today��"


    "What should I do?"


    "Let''s watch, of course! I want to know what the hell is going on too!"


    They watch as Sona hurriedly went inside the schoolyard despite her peerage''s protest. But before she could reach the schoolyard, Vali and Azazel saw something amazing. The Rook of the Gremory peerage found an opening in Kokabiel''s defenses and instantly elerated. The speed she traveled isparable to the speed Vali is capable of while in his Bnce Breaker, "What!?"


    But before they could get any answers, something bizarre happened again as the human girl they are putting a focus on suddenly did the same thing and ambushed Kokabiel from behind and managed to pierce his body, "Azazel�� What''s that?" Vali couldn''t help but ask. He was dumbfounded by the instant eleration without any sign or fluctuation in magic. And to top it off, two of them simultaneously used them, including a ''very normal'' human. Since the only things he uses in battles are his Sacred Gear and his Demonic Power, he doesn''t know how to judge that, so he immediately asked Azazel.


    "��I don''t know��" Azazel''s eye''s lit up after seeing it. Although more and more questions kept popping up from his mind, he didn''t hate it. On the contrary, he''s excited to see such a spectacle, ''Since a Devil and a Human can use it�� It''s probably a technique or some sort of magic�� But what system is that?''


    .


    .


    .


    Kokabiel nkly looked at Aika who is being carried by Sona towards Asia for a few seconds beforeughing out loud, "Fu�� Fuhaha�� Fuhahahahaha!!! I didn''t think that a mere human would be able to wound me using a broken Sacred Gear! HAHAHA! And it seems that you''re not from any factions! Amazing! HAHAHA! Too bad, you won''t be able to fight in your state anymore. Although what you used is an assassination, you''ve impressed me! You can take that honor to the afterlife!"


    Kokabiel calmed himself down and remembered that he also received a cut from the exorcist wielding the Durandal, "Kuh kuh kuh�� Although not as amazing as that girl over there, you two fight well. Even after having lost your trusty Lord��" While his right hand is covering his wound on his chest which already started healing, he used his left hand to feel the cut on his face.


    They were taken aback by Aika''s actions, especially Xenovia, who sparred with her not long ago. She didn''t think that she''s hiding a card like that and if their spar is a life or death battle, she would probably die without even knowing it. She wanted to ask Aika about it, but Kokabiel''s words caught her attention more, "��What are you saying?" She asked while having a bad feeling.


    "BWAHAHAHAHA! I suppose they don''t tell you maggots much, do they? Now''s as good a time as any, you should know��" Kokabiel then shed a cruel smile, "God is dead�� It wasn''t only the Devil Kings who perished in the Great War. God was also killed."

 Volume 5 216 - Fight Back

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 216 - Fight Back</h4>


    "But it was hardly in the best interest of the three ravaged powers to inform Humans of this. After all, Angels and Devils alike rely on Humans for the endless faith and propensity for Devilish deals. Only the top brass of each faction was aware in the first ce. Valper realized it too a moment before I killed him." Kokabiel fixed his clothes as he watches their ''funny'' reactions.


    "��There''s no God��?" Yuuto nkly muttered, "Then what was it we believe in as we wasted our lives in that facility��?"


    Xenovia felt weak on her knees, "��Y-you lie��"


    With a chuckle, Kokabiel continued exining, "And it''s not as if another war will break out unless someone schemes to cause one. Each of the powers suffered heavy losesst time, after all." Then gritting his teeth, "That bastard Azazel proimed ''There will be no second war'' and that was the end of it. I couldn''t bear it! If only we Fallen Angels could take over, we wouldn''t have to rely on Humans anymore!"


    Asia couldn''t believe what she''s hearing so she asked again to confirm, "God is�� dead? Then are we not really blessed by his love��?"


    "That''s right. You supposed pawns of God. There is no love! How could there be!? God is gone and so his grace!


    "Well, the system God put in ce to provide the power of blessings, exorcists, and the likes continue to function, butpared to when he still lived, the current era has seen a marked decrease in the strength of that divine protection and all those who utilized it."


    Kokabiel then pointed to Yuuto, "That you were able to produce a Holy-Devil sword at all is proof. With God and Devil King dead, the bnce between ''Good'' and ''Evil'' has crumbledpletely."


    Asia slumped down and forgot her duty to heal herrades, "��N-no��"


    Issei grabbed and supported her, "Asia! Keep it together!"


    ''I feel her pain�� She''s devoted the greater part of her life so far to God�� I myself wasn''t so different at one point.'' Kiba thought as he saw Asia getting lost in her own thoughts.


    Ignoring the reactions, Kokabiel madly proimed, "War ising! I''ll take your heads and show Lucifer and Michael that Fallen Angels reign supreme!"


    They can''t hope for the reinforcements anymore because they can tell that Kokabiel won''t waste any more time. Almost everyone already lost their hope�� ''Almost.''


    With everyone staying silent, Issei slowly separated from Asia and walked in front, "You gotta be kidding me! You''re over there running your mouth about starting some war but all you''re really doing is interfering in my grand n!"


    Kokabiel felt amused and asked, "Hooh�� And what is it?"


    Without hesitation, Issei pumped his fist and dered to the world, "I''m gonna be the Harem King!"


    Everyone except Kokabiel was dumbfounded. They didn''t know what to think about Issei''s promation.


    "Hehehe�� Harem? That''s your desire, Red Dragon Emperor? Then juste with me and you''ll have what you want! You can have all the women you desire!"


    Issei would be lying if that offer didn''t tempt him even a little bit, but he knew that there are much more important things than that and it''s not his type to receive women from somebody else, "F*ck you! I don''t need your women! I''ll get them myself!"


    "Heh�� Then die!" Kokabiel conjured another spear of light and was about to throw it to Issei who is preparing to sacrifice his body to Ddraig to power up. Before Kokabiel could do that, however, a dull gray knife flew straight to his face and he used his bare hand to fend it off, "Little girl�� you still haven''t given up?"


    After she received first aid from Asia, Aika is already feeling a lot better despite her remaining wounds, "Giving up? Even that idiot still hasn''t given up. But in all honesty, we can only hope for a miracle to defeat you, and that idiot might be able to do it. But something as shady as a miracle, I don''t like it, and I still haven''t done everything. Why would I give up?"


    "Hahaha! You still have something you can do? Fine. Show it to me!"


    .


    .


    "Azazel�� Should I step in?" Vali already put on his Bnce Breaker in a form of white armor with blue gems apanied by bluerge mechanical wings on his back.


    "��Not yet�� My intuition is telling me that something amazing is about to happen. But get ready to retrieve Kokabiel and Freed if something happens without waiting for mymand." Azazel replied.


    "��Understood."


    .


    .


    .


    Aika took a deep breath and looked around her. Asia is still lost in her thoughts and Xenovia already lost her will to fight. Yuuto is in a better state, but he''s already disgruntled. Rias, on the other hand, still haven''t given up too, but she''s too too tired to continue. As for Issei, she doesn''t know what he''s nning, but she''s sure won''t depend on something unknown.


    The only people who could fight properly are her, Sona, Akeno and�� Koneko, who already started gathering Ki inside her body despite receiving res from her, ''Haah�� Too tight�� And I still don''t know his full capabilities�� I can escape, but I also have to bring Kaichou and Koneko with me, but I doubt they''ll agree�� I can only hope for a quick fight.''


    "Hyoudou-kun�� Have you charged up?"


    "Huh?�� Ah, yeah."


    "Then transfer that to Kaichou and Akeno."


    Issei first looked at Rias and she nodded, "Sure." He doesn''t know what she''s nning, but he thinks that it''s better than his unsure stupid move.


    Sona and Akeno silently agreed and waited for Aika''s further instruction. The fact that Aika is just a normal human not long ago already escaped their mind. Though they don''t have any n either way, so they can only agree.


    "Kaichou, full power, please�� And Himejima-senpai�� That''s the same for you." Sona nodded immediately while Akeno hesitated and gritted her teeth before nodding. She remembered Kisuke''s words about her priorities and she doesn''t n to hold back any more despite her trauma, ''Right�� my friends are more important for me than me remembering and using that man''s power��'' Clenching her fist, determination filled her eyes.


    Aika sighed in relief after seeing this. She heard from Yoruichi that she''s holding some of her power due to some unknown reason, and that power can create a difference in this situation.


    The reason why she chooses to transfer Issei''s power to Akeno and Sona instead of to her or Koneko due to the nature of their power. First, Koneko is already having a hard time controlling her Ki and increasing it would only increase the burden in her body and she might just die before she can even move. In her case, her power is not magic-based. She doesn''t know how it would affect her and choose not to take the risk. And besides, she''s also going to overload her body with what she''s nning and any further increase in strength would only be detrimental.


    "Kaichou! Himejima-senpai! Put it all in one shot!" Aika grabbed the ''candy'' in her pocket and popped it into her mouth, swallowing it, "Koneko-chan! If you''re doing something, you''re up next!"


    Sona put almost all of her Demonic Power to the magic circle in her palms and a few secondster, a gigantic serpent withrge fangs appeared behind her. Akeno, on the other hand, took a deep breath and her pair of odd Devil and Fallen Angel wings appeared on her back, shocking all those who don''t know her story.


    Pointing their hands on him, they bothmanded their magic to crash into him. Midway, the water serpent and therge lightning fused with most of the lightning fusing to the serpent''s fangs, "Good, good! But still not enough!" Kokabiel shouted in delight as he put up his hands to meet it head-on.

 Volume 5 217 - Fight Back Part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 217 - Fight Back Part 2</h4>


    "AHAHAHA!!! GREAT!" Kokabiel caught the serpent by its fangs and he was dragged away for a few tens of meters before stopping. Sona''s and Akeno''s magic might have been weaker than Rias'' individually, butbined and in addition to elementalpatibility, it put Kokabiel into most pressure since the start of this fight.


    As strong as it might be, it''s only enough to burn Kokabiel''s hands a little bit, "Is this all?" After saying those, Kokabiel ripped the serpent into two with only his bare hands and it slowly dissipated into the air, "��N-no way��" Sona and Akeno said at the same time. They both looked towards Aika''s direction and noticed that she closed her eyes and a strange aura is emitting from her. They also noticed that Koneko already disappeared from her position and they suddenly heard Kokabiel''s shocked voice, "What!?"


    They looked back and saw Kokabiel flew backward and hit the wall of the school building, going through it and hit the barrier he coughed up blood and all of them saw Kokabiel''s chest caved in, ''What just happened!?'' All of them are asking inside their head.


    "Koneko!" Rias'' voice woke them up and looked at the former spot where Kokabiel is standing just now. Koneko, in her nekomata form, isying on the ground unconscious with blooding out from her orifices. Asia, already bawling, hurriedly ran over to her spot to immediately heal her.


    What happened just now is just a few microseconds after Kokabiel ripped Sona and Akeno''s magic, Koneko, in her nekomata form with her ears and tails caught in white me, sh Stepped in front of Kokabiel. Koneko threw a punch and normally, Kokabiel could have easily blocked it but to his shock, her fist instantly elerated and reached his chest. The attack resulted in his caved-in chest and pretty much-destroyed lungs.


    Koneko''s attack isn''t a normal punch but a Hakuda technique that Yoruichi taught her called Ikkotsu (Single Bone) that focuses all of her strength into her fist and transfer it to the target''s body to wreck it. Yoruichi taught her this to serve as the secret technique that she can use in desperate times. Although she did that much damage to Kokabiel, she hasn''t mastered the technique at all, resulting in her entire right arm that she used invalid and not being able to kill Kokabiel who doesn''t have much defense in the first ce.


    After such an attack, Koneko dropped down unconscious and convulsing with blood all over her face. Her internal wounds worsen and a failed use of Ikkotsu made it worse. Asia''s healing is helping a lot but it''s only enough to keep her state from further deterioration.


    "Kah! Kah!" Kokabiel coughed out blood and his body already started healing. Despite the grave look of his injury, it''s far from fatal for beings of his caliber. He gave Koneko a surprised look after inspecting his injuries, "What was that just now?" Still not believing what just happened, Kokabiel asked. He couldn''t get how he was suddenly hurt and the power of that punch is off the charts for a Low-ss Devil like her.


    Kokabiel wanted to finish off Koneko because he felt threatened by her but before he could do so, another thing caught his attention and those around.


    The air around Aika became heavy and started swirling. The next moment, a pir of bluish-white light ascended from her and her tattered school uniform slowly change into a ck and white attire. The attire isposed of a white sh*tagi, a ck kosode and hakama, a pair of white tabi, a pair of waraji, and a white obi(sash). A shihakusho, uniform worn by all Shinigami from Gotei 13. Along with her transformation is a two-meter long nodachi materializing behind her.


    What shock those around her, however, is not her appearance nor her nodachi, but the aura she''s currently emitting now. It''s far from the Human aura she''s radiating until now and it''s giving them chills, the fearful kind. But they couldn''t also point out what kind of aura is this as this is there first time feeling this kind of aura, except for Sona and Akeno, of course.


    Kokabiel is once again, dumbfounded at what is happening. His vast experience andmon sense couldn''t keep up with two ''unnatural'' beings, namely, Koneko and Aika, "What are y--!?" He tried to ask a question again but Aika disappeared and reappeared in front of him holding her nodachi high up and threatening to bisect him into two. Fury is very obvious on her face, "Your enemy, obviously!"


    Aika brought down her nodachi with all her might and Kokabiel immediately responded by conjuring two swords made out of light to block her attack. Kokabiel sessfully met her nodachi but to his dismay and shock, just after a few seconds of the struggle between them, her nodachi went through his swords. Kokabiel jumped back to avoid her nodachi''s trajectory but he was still cut from her right shoulder until his left waist, "Kuh!!!" Using this chance, however, Kokabiel kicked Aika away while she''s trying to recover her stance from the attack. Aika blocked his foot with her nodachi but she was still sent flying away and made a hole through the wall of the school building.


    "Aika!" Sona eximed and she left Koneko''s side and ran towards her, "Aika! Are you alright!?" Sona used her remaining magic to remove the rubble that is pressing on Aika.


    "I-I''m fine�� Just a little bit dizzy��" Aika stood up with Sona''s help and touched her head, ''Feels damp�� Crap�� I''m bleeding!'' She looked at her hand and saw a ssh of blood on it.


    "You aren''t okay at all!" Sona also saw her hand and shouted at her. Sona gritted her teeth and grabbed Aika''s face towards her. Meeting her eyes directly, Sona pleaded, "Aika�� Take those who are important to you away and escape from this town."


    Aika looked at her for a bit before giving her a big smile, "I doubt those important friends of mine would agree to go with me, so no~!" Aika separated from Sona to meet Kokabiel who already closed his wounds using her Holy Power.


    Sona stared at Aika''s back nkly for a few seconds before understanding what she meant. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, ''Where is that bastard when you need him the most?��'' But she immediately shook her head the threw those thoughts away, ''No�� It''s better that he''s not here�� He might just die with us��''


    "Who are you?" This is the first time Kokabiel made a grave face. Although he has been holding back a lot to gain more amusement from this fight, repeatedly getting thrown around couldn''t make himugh at all. Especially this girl who he thought just a normal human but turns out to be a different existence that he never met before, thus, his question.


    Aika let out a big grin and put her nodachi over her shoulder before replying, "Aika Kiryuu U.S. #3~."


    "What��?" Everyone couldn''t make sense of what she''s saying.


    Seeing Kokabiel''s and other''s confusion she exined, "Well, I''m just a regr employee from the Urahara Candy Shop on the outskirts of the town."


    "Urahara Candy Shop?" Kokabiel only thought that it was a quirky name from a quirky character as those individuals aren''t very rare, "What is your organization''s goal?" He wanted to know what he dealing with first and why would she involve herself with the Devils, ''She''s clearly isn''t a human�� Where did shee from?''


    "Duh~! Of course, it''s to sell as much candy as possible! Are you dumb? Didn''t I just say that I''m an employee in a candy shop?" Aika rolled her eyes on him.


    Kokabiel temple throbbed after hearing her, "��Are you mocking me?"


    "Oh~! You finally got it, you clever oaf?" Aika pointed her nodachi at him with arge grin. At this point, she''s only trying to rile him up to see more openings.


    "You bitch!!!" And it''s a great sess.


    "Round two, then." Aika took a deep breath again, "Aeternam Somnium."


    "Huh? Why are you calling the name of your Sacred Ge--!?" Before Kokabiel could finish his, however, Aika''s aura rose up to terrifying levels, but instead of bluish-white light from earlier, she''s now releasing a swirling ck and red pir of light. It only took few seconds before the pir disappeared again and Aika''s nodachi change into ck and red inverting color twin single-edge swords.


    "Round two, start!" Aika disappeared from her position and appeared on top of Kokabiel''s head, sting a wave of ck and red energy to him.

 Volume 5 218 - Senkaimon

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 218 - Senkaimon</h4>


    "��Azazel�� Please exin what''s happening��" Vali couldn''t believe that the people he was looking down on just now started to push back Kokabiel, a leader of one of the biggest factions in the world. He couldn''t fathom how they suddenly powered up as he could tell it isn''t from a Sacred Gear or something he could see.


    "�� I don''t know�� tch." Azazel is currently staring at Aika''s current form. Koneko also caught his interest, but not as much as Aika. He has a clue on what Koneko had be, but in Aika''s case, it is totally unknown to him. He wouldn''t dare think that he knew everything in the world especially those on top of the powerdder, but Aika is only a normal human in his eyes not long ago and even after her transformation, she isn''t that very strong, ''Did a new power rose up somewhere and didn''t notice it until this point? And where did that nodachi came from?''


    As he is currently watching him taunt Kokabiel, Azazel also managed to pick up some information, "Urahara Shop�� is it? I need to take a look at itter�� No that I think about it, there are also some rumors about a powerful but unknown individual with never before seen power system appeared in the Underworld�� It seems that there is some truth to it.''


    Azazel smiled at the prospect of a new yering in, ''Now then�� It seems they have some power and they could be useful. Sooner orter, someone would think of unsealing that thing, if not, then I would have to make someone do it��'' Thinking of his future ns, Azazel''s smile suddenly froze when Aika''s aura suddenly raised multiple times and her nodachi suddenly changed into twin swords which are emitting two very distinct familiar but also unfamiliar aura, "Impossible!"


    "What!? What happened?" Vali is also surprised by Aika''s sudden second transformation, but he''s more surprise at Azazel getting ''too'' surprised.


    Azazel didn''t answer him and his mind started running at full speed, ''I can''t be wrong! Those are Great Red Dragon and Ouroboros Dragon''s aura�� They are�� but somehow, it''s also different�� very different.'' He didn''t know how to judge the current our emitting from her, but he knows one thing for sure, ''She was able to awaken those two partial souls from Great Red and Ouroboros�� I already tried and studied it in the past multiple times and I already gave up, but somehow, she managed to do what I can''t all those years�� Dammit! I want to go, but I can''t step on Kuoh Town yet! I should have sent those Peace Conference invitation earlier!?''


    They watched in fascination as Aika suddenly appeared on top of Kokabiel''s head and sted him with a ck and red wave of energy.


    Kokabiel blocked it with his spear of light quite easily, but to his shock, his spear of light was being corroded and consumed by the wave of energy. He also noticed that his movements are a bit sluggish like something is trying to lock him in ce.


    She threw off Aika using his superior strength and renewed the spear of light in his hand. From there, they had multiple exchanges which resulted in some of the school buildings copsing from their shes. Using this chance, Aika also destroyed the magic circle from fusing the four Excaliburs using her energy st to stop it from gathering mana.


    "W-what''s this?" Xenovia nkly asked. She''s still thinking if this the same girl she just sparred before, ''She''s been holding back this much?'' She felt funny boasting her ''trump card'' in front of her.


    They are matched at the start of their second round, but as time goes, Aika started coughing blood and her movements became sluggish until she finally took a clean hit from Kokabiel and dropping to the ground like a meteor creating a crater.


    "Aika!" Sona called out for her in worry for the second time today. She tried to catch her fall again by using her magic, but their battle is too fast for her to react and next moment, Aika alreadyying on the crater, coughing up blood, and trying to stand up but couldn''t, ''What to do? What do I do��?'' Tears are already threatening to fall from her eyes as she reaches Aika. She noticed that these past few days, all she can remember doing is crying silently so she tried to hold it in. She didn''t think that it would be this easy for her to cry as this wasn''t the case in the past.


    Sona helped Aika stood up while still coughing blood, "What happened? Why did you suddenly start coughing blood?"


    "Well�� I pushed myself forgetting about the side-effects of that candy��" Aika answered.


    "Candy? What candy?"


    "It''s something Kisuke gave me to forcefully pulls out my potential to fight. And as you might have expected from hearing that, It also damages my body with prolonged use." With Sona''s help, they went out of the crater and gathered with the rest.


    Koneko is still unconscious while being healed by Asia and being carried by Akeno. The rest are just looking at Aika with differing expressions.


    "What? The first time you see someone so cool?" Despite her appearance and her inability to stand alone, Aika was still able to joke around. It''s not that she still has confidence, but she already resigned herself to fate. Due to the self-hypnotism, she was able to see life lightly, including her own. Although she still knew the importance of her friends and allies that''s why she didn''t escape alone.


    "Kuh Kuh Kuh. I see you still have the guts to joke around. Do you still have something you haven''t shown?" Everyone looked towards the floating figure. Although he''s a bit tattered, he still very energetic and they can feel a more intense aura than before. Kokabiel already stopped holding back.


    "I''m really surprised that you were able to push me this far. I didn''t expect that someone of your caliber would appear here, though it seems that there are limits to what you can do." Truthfully, Kokabiel became a bit fearful of Aika. Although he is one of the strongest in Grigory, his strength doesn''ty on himself and a one on one fight isn''t his forte.


    "This has gone for too long. Time to end this." Kokabiel then conjured thergest spear of light he ever did in the duration of the battle intending to annihte them in one shot.


    Sona, Akeno and Rias went in front of everyone and used thest bit of there remaining Demonic to create a barrier that will shield all of them from his attacks, ''��Is this the end?'' Sona thought as she knew that despite their best effort to defend, they won''t be able to take that, ''��Kisuke��'' Sona thought of the guy who gave some ''excitement'' to her monotonous life of chasing after her dream despite the short time they have met and ended up tearing up again. She at least wanted to meet him onest time, ''I shouldn''t have run away�� I should have followed what I want�� At least, that way, I wouldn''t have to regret my actions until now�� I''m a failure of a Devil��''


    .


    .


    "Vali, go take Kokabiel now. And don''t forget about that Freed. I have a few questions I want to ask him. Make it fast before the host of the Red Dragon Emperor finishes surrendering his whole body to the dragon." Azazelmanded seeing the situation. He''s also staring at Issei as he tries to seal the deal with Ddraig but he won''t be able to make it in time before Kokabiel sts them into pieces. He already lost his initiative.


    "Understo��" Vali was about to take off but he suddenly stopped in ce.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Someone ising��"


    .


    .


    .


    Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning suddenly pierced the barrier on the school and itnded behind the group of youngsters. Everyone looked behind to see what''s going on and from it, a door made out of wood and transparent paper or a shouji suddenly materialized. From behind it, they can see a very familiar shadow with a bucket hat andrge kimono.


    Just from this, they knew who had juste in an unbelievable way. Meanwhile, Sona is panicking, ''What is he doing here!?''


    The traditional Japanese door opened and the rhythmic sound of wooden sandals hitting the ground was heard all around. And they all saw Kisuke with a grin that didn''t reach his shadowed eyes, "Thank goodness. Looks like I''m still notte at the party~. Since I''m already here, let''s make it, even wilder~."

 Volume 5 219 - Sonas Side

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 219 - Sona''s Side</h4>


    The day after Kisuke ''rejected'' her, Sona arrived at school fifteen minuteste and this shock everyone from the Student Council. After all, Sona would always arrive first before everyone else along with Tsubaki, but today, she''s alone andte.


    Everyone looked at Tsubaki to get some answers but she only shook her head. Meanwhile, Sona acted as if nothing out of order happened and just went through the whole day normally. They even noticed that Sona started to work harder with her duties and thought that she''s only doing this to make up for herteness and just let it go.


    The next three days, however, they noticed that Sona kept increasing her workload and the bags under her eyes became more obvious. Saji confronted her about it but she just brushed it off and the next day, everyone was once again shocked when they saw Sona wore a light make-up to cover her haggard face. She ignored their stares and instructed them for the days work and she startedboring through her ever-increasing amount of paper works.


    .


    .


    .


    ''This won''t do�� I can''t let them worry any longer about me��'' Sona thought as she looked out of the window for a brief rest from her work.


    ''All these paper works is unnecessary, but it''s fun working on them.'' Sona looked back to what she''s working on. Various ns, regtions, and theories on the Rating Game School that she wants to establish, not just for nobles but for everyone regardless of their status to attend in the Underworld.


    ''But sooner orter, I''ll run out of ideas��'' The real reason why she wanted to serve as the Student Council of the Kuoh Academy is that she wants to experience it first hand how to manage a school and she can do to improve it. But truthfully, she can just hire a professional to do most of the nning for her and she could just change some details that suit her needs. She doesn''t need to n for the whole school from scratch, hence, this is practically useless as professionally made ones are more beneficial and convenient for her.


    But regardless of its utility, it fun for her to n from scratch all the way up to the operations as this is her childhood dream.


    She then remembered why she''s currently working this hard, ''That damn Kisuke! I hope he chokes and mistake soy sauce for some c and drinks it!''


    She knew that getting angry at him for ''rejecting'' her is unreasonable because it''s only natural that the feelings won''t be mutual and he already has a girlfriend, but she couldn''t help herself ranting and cursing at him inside her mind. Sona already cursed and sentenced him to uncountable petty misfortunes.


    ''��I really like him, though.'' She thought as her tears are threatening to fall again, but wiped it immediately. No matter how angry she bes, it won''t change her realization of her feelings and it won''t go away easily, ''Dammit! Why did you suddenly leave!? At least try tofort me a little! Although I would probably listen to you, but still��!'' Since she''s currently alone in the Student Council room, Sona started to act like a shy little girl throwing a small tantrum by biting her lips and stomping her feet.


    ''And you went on a honeymoon with Yoruichi the day after I ran away crying my eyes out!? I know you have the freedom to do whatever you want with your girlfriend, but if you''re trying to make me jealous, DAMN YOU! It''s a big sess! I''m officially jealous!'' Sona wanted to scream out her rants but held in that temptation.


    ''If I meet you again, I''m going to smack you so hard that you won''t be able to forget about it! For the love of hell! Why do my thoughts keep gravitating towards him!? Sona, wake up and stop thinking about him! It''ll only make you sad and cry!'' To throw away these thoughts, she resumed drowning herself with work, like a broken-hearted adult drowning him/herself with alcohol to forget and escape their problems.


    A few more days has passed, and the Student Council members became more worried about Sona. The tipping point for Saji is when she suddenly rejected the tennis match with Rias Gremory as both of them are looking forward to it. Saji confronted Sona once again, but this time, Sonashed out with her words a bit which shocked everyone. Due to her constant bad mood and tired mind, she unintentionally shouted at Saji in anger when he kept nagging her about taking care of herself and asking what really happened. After calming down for a bit, she immediately realized her mistake and apologized to him and everyone promptly and asked to be left alone for a while. They didn''t know how long is ''for a while'' but Sona only kept the business and work conversations with them since then.


    When the exorcists from Catholic and Protestant Churches arrived and requested a meeting with the leader of the town, she didn''t think much of it after making sure that they don''t mean any harm and immediately referred them to Rias.


    Soon enough, though, she received another piece of news that one of the exorcists is Kisuke''s childhood friend and is currently staying at his house, ''A childhood friend!? A ck cat, a white cat, a pervert, a maid, and now a childhood friend!? Why are there so many girls around him!? And here I am, agonizing over him�� Unfair!'' Sona threw another small tantrum when she was left alone after she heard about it.


    A few more days has passed and cursing at Kisuke inside her mind became a habit. It became so bad that even though they are having a formal meeting in the Student Council, Sona would make a very serious or frowning face when in fact, her mind is busy punishing Kisuke in various way and no one knew about it. Although Tsubaki can somehow tell that she''s not paying any attention despite wearing a serious face.


    She found a chance to relieve more of her stress when she came to know of Saji''s activities assisting the exorcists by giving him two thousand magical spanks. Although after that, she knew that the situation with the exorcist is more serious than they thought and they might get dragged into it.


    And just as she expected, the situation got a lot worse when Kokabiel made his appearance and threatened to destroy the whole town.


    Sona wanted to call her sister but decided against it because she knew how her sister would react and things would only escte from there. She also instructed Tsubaki not to call her before she could do it, though, soon after, she regretted this decision as Aika told her how stupid her decision is, ''She''s right�� I could have persuaded my sister to only send some of her forces and reminded her not toe here��''


    Instructing Tsubaki to call her sister, Sona and the rest went outside the school to set up the barrier that will stop the damages from inside to go outside.


    Even though they are outside, they can all see what''s happening inside through magic. It''s all going great until Valper sessfully fused the four Excalibur swords and they had to rush before the residual magic explodes. They can''t wait for the reinforcements anymore.


    And everything went downhill when Kokabiel finally made his move, ''This is bad! He''s too strong! A lot stronger than we anticipated!'' Sona started panicking and looked for a way to assist them but failed. Sona is fine, but the rest of her peerage is already tired from powering the barrier and if she leaves, the barrier will disappear in only a few seconds.


    Not knowing what to do, she suddenly heard someone calling to her, ''Heiress of Sitri Household, it seems that you need some help. I can take care of the barrier here. But that''s all I can do. I won''t confront Kokabiel.'' A robed human approached the barrier and ced her hand on it. All of sudden, a huge amount of Demonic Power entered the barrier and it strengthened multiple times.


    ''What!? But I thought he''s a human? How can he use Demonic Power? And this intensity? Above High-ss?'' Sona is, of course, vignt and could not trust this unknown figure, "Who are you? What''s your goal?"


    Cleria in disguise understood her vignce, ''Hmm�� What should I do�� Ah. There''s that method. I wonder if it could work?'' Cleria looked at Sona and replied, "I''m Kisuke Urahara''s friend."


    "��K-Kisuke?" Sona was dumbfounded when she suddenly heard his name.


    ''Oh? Did it work? She knows the guy and basing it her reaction, it seems that are not enemies? Though I wonder what happened between them for her to make this kind of reaction?'' Cleria thought as she stares at Sona''s conflicting expression of happiness, sadness, and confusion, ''Looks like my decision to help them is the right one. But I wonder what happened to Kisuke�� He isn''t answering any of my calls�� I can''t be that he''s really spanking a Goddess ass right now, right?''


    Those words are like magic to Sona as she hesitated for a bit before calling out for Tsubaki, "Tsubaki, withdraw for now! Let him maintain the barrier and wait for reinforcements!"


    "Kaichou!? What about you!?"


    "I still have quite a bit of my power so I''m going to assist Rias."


    "Then we''re going with you!"


    "You can''t! All of you are already tired and would just be sitting ducks for Kokabiel! I can protect myself! Go!"


    "Kuh!!!" Tsubaki wanted to say more, but her master is right that they can''t continue any further and would only hold her back. Gritting her teeth, Tsubaki instructed everyone to retreat. Saji tried protesting but he was dragged away by two girls in their peerage.

 Volume 5 220 - Sonas Side Part 02

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 220 - Sona''s Side Part 02</h4>


    Seeing them leave, Sona heaved a sigh of relief, ''He won''t be able to touch them easily if he wanted to stab us in the back.'' Sona didn''t fully believe Cleria''s im and chose to go to a safe side and let her peerage leave first, ''Besides, if he wanted me to die, he only has to wait for Kokabiel to do that. No need for this kind of scheme of getting close by helping.''


    Sona went through the barrier and saw the fight between Kokabiel and the rest. As she gets near, she saw Aika suddenly appearing behind Kokabiel and stabbed him in the chest, ''She did it!?''


    However, that was only her wishful thinking as Aika was sent flying soon after. Sona panicked and hurriedly conjured a ball of water with her magic in her flight path to cushion her. She sighed in relief after knowing that she seeded and ran towards her side to check on her.


    Aika has multiple cuts all over her body and as a Human, this could prove fatal if not treated immediately. With Sona''s Devil''s physique, she was able to easily carry her towards Asia''s side to heal her.


    Sona also saw that Koneko isn''t doing great and a certain thought entered her mind, ''These people are important to him�� This battle is impossible�� Kisuke��''


    Kokabiel then revealed God''s death. Sona was a bit shock but wasn''t affected like those who worked for the Church.


    With Kokabiel about tond the finishing blow to them, Aika suddenly threw her knife towards Kokabiel which amused him instead.


    ''She hasn''t given up? I remembered that she has that strange form but from what I heard from Kisuke, she can''t do that on her own�� What does she n to do?''


    Sona then followed Aika''s instruction and received a power-up from Issei. An omnipotent feeling came to her, but she knew that this is just an illusion of a sudden surge of power and might not be enough to defeat Kokabiel.


    She was once again shocked when Akeno revealed her Fallen Angel part because she heard from Rias that she really hated that part of her and would rather lose all of her power than to use it, ''Is this also his influence?''


    Both of them nced at each other and had a tacit understanding. Using almost everything they got, theybined their attacks against Kokabiel but to their dismay, he only ripped it apart after taking it barehanded.


    The next moment, she saw Kokabiel being sent flying away and Rias'' call for Koneko and saw her lying on her own pool of blood, ''No!'' She remembered his face again and shouted internally. She wasn''t happy at all seeing Kokabiel injured.


    But before she could react further, Aika suddenly transformed and her attire change into a ck kimono with two-meter long nodachi and attacked Kokabiel, ''She can use it? How?''


    Aika was able to further injure Kokabiel but she also took an attack from him resulting in her going through some walls of the school building.


    "Aika!" Sona eximed and she left Koneko''s side and ran towards her, "Aika! Are you alright!?" Sona used her remaining magic to remove the rubble that is pressing on Aika.


    "I-I''m fine�� Just a little bit dizzy��" Aika stood up with Sona''s help and touched her head, ''Feels damp�� Crap�� I''m bleeding!'' She looked at her hand and saw a ssh of blood on it.


    "You aren''t okay at all!" Sona also saw her hand and shouted at her. Sona gritted her teeth and grabbed Aika''s face towards her. Meeting her eyes directly, Sona pleaded, "Aika�� Take those who are important to you away and escape from this town."


    Aika looked at her for a bit before giving her a big smile, "I doubt those important friends of mine would agree to go with me, so no~!" Aika separated from Sona to meet Kokabiel who already closed his wounds using her Holy Power.


    Sona stared at Aika''s back nkly for a few seconds before understanding what she meant. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, ''Where is that bastard when you need him the most?��'' But she immediately shook her head the threw those thoughts away, ''No�� It''s better that he''s not here�� He might just die with us��''


    Aika then faced Kokabiel again despite her bleeding head and even tried to taunt him. When Aika called the name of her Sacred Gear, she was covered by a pir of red and ck light and her nodachi changed into twin swords that Sona sawst time, ''Can she do it?''


    Sona intently watched their fight and tried to help Aika but to her dismay, she couldn''t find a chance as they are fighting at a very fast pace that she can''t even react to. So when Aika''s condition suddenly deteriorated and took another strong hit from Kokabiel, she wasn''t able to react in time and could only watch her fell and created a crater.


    "Aika!" Sona called out for her in worry for the second time today. She tried to catch her fall again by using her magic, but their battle is too fast for her to react and next moment, Aika alreadyying on the crater, coughing up blood, and trying to stand up but couldn''t, ''What to do? What do I do��?'' Tears are already threatening to fall from her eyes as she reaches Aika. She noticed that these past few days, all she can remember doing is crying silently so she tried to hold it in. She didn''t think that it would be this easy for her to cry as this wasn''t the case in the past.


    Sona helped Aika stood up while still coughing blood, "What happened? Why did you suddenly start coughing blood?"


    "Well�� I pushed myself forgetting about the side-effects of that candy��" Aika answered.


    "Candy? What candy?"


    "It''s something Kisuke gave me to forcefully pulls out my potential to fight. And as you might have expected from hearing that, It also damages my body with prolonged use." With Sona''s help, they went out of the crater and gathered with the rest.


    Aika was still able to joke around but Sona knew from her eyes that there is nothing she can do. She then looked at Kokabiel who started preparing arge scale attack that will annihte them all. She along with Rias and Akeno put up a barrier to at least resist the gigantic spear of light he is preparing but they doubt if they can even block it for a few seconds, ''��Is this the end?''


    With their life already in danger, Sona''s memories started resurfacing as she reminisces before she dies. From her childhood and how she idolizes her big sister Serafall who saved many and they built the most advanced hospital for everyone to use in her name. How she wanted to chase after her steps and dreamt of creating and building her own facility to help those who are less unfortunate and give them the power to defend themselves so she chooses a school centered around the most popr activity in the Underworld, the Rating Game.


    At first, she thought it was easy to do, but as she grows and gets in contact with those who manage the Underworld, the more she understood that they won''t easily give power tomoners and only nobles couldmand a peerage. She felt disheartened but she kept on going because she really wants to be like her sister where she helped everyone regardless of their status. So much so that status doesn''t mean to her anymore.


    She worked hard so that she could go to the Human World to experience their culture and system where the power is on themon popce instead of few individuals who inherited it from their ancestors. She just wanted to attend the Human world''s school and get inspiration from it for her own school and she seeded by going with Rias who very much wants to escape her family due to her betrothal to Phenex Household.


    Her school life isn''t exactly fun because she kept focusing on her work and research. But one day, this monotonous and tiring, but fulfilling life ended abruptly by someone''s appearance. At first, Sona is only interested in that man''s Sacred Gear and evasion abilities and wanted to invite him to her peerage. But each time she tries, she only failed and kept failing until she finally lost a chess match against him.


    If she keeps her promise to her family, then she has to take Kisuke as her fiance if no one else manages to defeat her in the game of chess. Not epting this, she kept challenging him and she repeatedly loses.


    She didn''t know when, but she started to develop some feeling at some point for Kisuke despite his constant teasing and pissing her off, ''Now that I think about it�� Those are actually the fun times�� Because of him, I learned how to enjoy life more�� I learned how it feels to be a normal girl��'' Those thoughts made her tear up, ''Ah�� I actually miss those times�� Kisuke.''


    Putting more Demonic Power to her barrier, Sona gritted her teeth and red at Kokabiel, ''I shouldn''t have run away�� I should have followed what I want�� At least, that way, I wouldn''t have to regret my actions until now�� I''m a failure as a Devil�� If I''m given another chance, I''ll make sure that I won''t regret things anymore�� If it''s really something I want, I won''t step on the brakes anymore. After all, I''m still a Devil, a personification of desire�� s�� That won''t happen�� It''s already toote�� There''s no medicine for regret��'' A single teardrop from her eyes went through her face.


    Just as Kokabiel was about to throw his spear of light, a bolt of lightning suddenly hit the spot behind them and they all turned around only to be met by a ridiculous sight of a traditional Japanese door appearing out of nowhere with a familiar silhouette behind it.


    When Sona saw this, her heart started beating faster and louder and various thoughts went through her mind, ''Is that him!? Why!? Why is he here!?''


    The door opened with a bit of smoke and Kisuke came walking out from it with his usual attire of green kimono with a bucket hat and wooden sandals to go along with it while holding his beloved cane. He did a quick scan of the surroundings and looked at Kokabiel, "Thank goodness. Looks like I''m still notte at the party~. Since I''m already here, let''s make it, even more, wilder~."


    Before he could do anything else, however, Sona left her position and ran towards Kisuke. He thought that she would give him a big hug because she missed him, but contrary to his expectations, Sona sent a punch towards his guts. He froze and didn''t evade, ''She''s still angry after all.''


    Sona is expecting her fist to sink into his stomach but she forgot that Kisuke has an annoyingly tough body and she felt like she hit a few inches thick steel sheet. Sona grimaced in pain and red at Kisuke while nursing her shaky hands, "What are you doing here!?"


    "Well, it seems like some fun and interesting going on here and I thought that I can''t miss this," Kisuke answered nonchntly.


    "There''s nothing fun and interesting here!!!" Sona frustratedly shouted at him, ''This bastard is going to get killed because something is fun is going on!'' Sona still doesn''t understand Kisuke''s power, and him showing up here only endangered himself, ''Isn''t this my chance? I did say to myself that I won''t hold back anymore��'' She then grabbed Kisuke''s face and stared intently on his eyes.


    Kisuke was a bit unnerved at her suddenly bing quiet and staring at him, "What? Did you forget my handsome face? You can stare at itter. I still have some things to de--!?" Kisuke tried to joke his way out, however, before he could even finish his sentence, Sona suddenly closed her eyes and nted her lips on him.

 Volume 5 221 - Determination

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 221 - Determination</h4>


    Going back for a bit, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and the unconscious Medusa teleported inside the Urahara Household. The first thing he did is to strengthen the defenses of the House while Yoruichi sets Medusa on a guest room bed before transforming back into a ck cat.


    With everything done, Kisuke first returned to his usual attire and took out Benihime in her cane form, "I''m sorry, Yoruichi. But I''m still taking this."


    "It''s fine. I''m also angry at what''s happening but I know that you''re protective of them more than I do so I''ll be on the sideline for now." Yoruichi sighed, "Remember. This is technically your debut, so don''t embarrass yourself."


    "In other words, make it shy?" Kisuke grinned as he looked at her.


    "Yep~!" Yoruichi chuckled for a bit and suddenly, her voice bes cold, "Just also make sure that the bastard suffers."


    Kisuke''s smile became bigger but also colder, "No worries. I''ll do just that~." He then stabbed Benihime in front of him and it went through space. Kisuke turned Benihime like a key and space in front of him distorted before a shouji materialized.


    "Oh. And before I forgot." Kisuke then looked towards a certain direction and saw a young girl in a gothic outfit silently eating her cookies, "Ophis-chan, please go home first. I''ll give this to you." Kisuke then pulled out a te of butter biscuits.


    Seeing a new variation of food, Ophis'' eyes lit up and grabbed the te before disappearing into nothingness. Kisuke and Yoruichi ended up chuckling at her actions and some of their cold atmospheres disappeared.


    The door automatically opened before him and he met another shouji. Kisuke went through the first shouji with Yoruichi following behind and it closes. The second shouji then opened and they both saw the devastated Academy and everyone''s shocked faces.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi first did a quick scan of the surroundings and took note of a few things, ''Koneko-chan Ki and wrecked her body again�� Well, I can''t me her as it''s really a desperate situation. Aika also overloaded her body�� Can''t me her too with that. I can leave both of them to Yoruichi.


    ''Next is Issei�� the Dragonic Aura is going out of control and making his body forcefully adapt to it. I should address this first as there are no real benefits in this other than a one-time temporary power boost. Himejima is�� Hoh~. She finally stopped holding back? Well, considering the danger they are in, that much is normal.


    ''Sona seems to be fine other than tired. Same with Gremory. Kiba-kun is holding some interesting thing but I can take a look at itter.


    ''I wonder who is this female pervert in a tattered tight bodysuit holding a Holy Sword? It seems that she''s an ally so I''ll ignore her for now.


    ''Now onto the important parts. That Fallen Angel preparing his ultimate is the enemy? Not that strong, but I can tell that he''s still hiding something and my intuition is telling me that it isn''t something good.


    ''Cleria is�� Outside the school and maintaining the barrier. Andstly, that guy in the distance with gaudy white armor�� He''s the strongest of the bunch and his aura is simr to Issei. Dragon-based Sacred Gear? Interesting�� I wonder what his goal is watching all of this unfold? Though if interferes, I won''t hold back.''


    "Thank goodness. Looks like I''m still notte at the party~. Since I''m already here, let''s make it, even more, wilder~."


    Kisuke thought that the first one who would react to his words is the enemy. But to his surprise, Sona is the first one who approached him with an angry-looking face and wordlessly sent a punch towards his stomach. Kisuke didn''t do anything and received it silently, ''She''s still angry after all.''


    Sona grimaced in pain and red at Kisuke while nursing her shaky hands, "What are you doing here!?"


    "Well, it seems like some fun and interesting going on here and I thought that I can''t miss this," Kisuke answered nonchntly.


    "There''s nothing fun and interesting here!!!" Sona shouted at his face with a frustrated expression, ''I misjudged her. It seems that she isn''t that tired.''


    Sona then suddenly grabbed his head with both of her hands and stared at him like she''s looking directly to his soul through his eyes, "What? Did you forget my handsome face? You can stare at itter. I still have some things to de--!?" Kisuke tried to joke his way out, however, before he could even finish his sentence, Sona suddenly closed her eyes and nted her lips on him.


    ''Where''s the shy Kaichou that I knew!? And It seems that I''m getting a lot of kisses today.'' Kisuke also recalled that he also got ''vited'' by Medusa earlier.


    Kisuke was about to unconsciously separate from her when he suddenly felt Yoruichi''s stare. He took a quick peek at her and immediately got the message of her intense stare, ''Don''t mess it up again!''


    ''Welp. Might as well enjoy the moment.'' Kisuke then grabbed Sona''s waist with his right hand and her cheek with his left hand. Sona was shaken a little bit, but she intensified her attack in response. Kisuke, on the other hand, more experienced than her, used his tongue to explore her mouth, attacking in various ces, "Nnggh~?!"


    Sona felt weak on her knees. While her head is already muddled from anticipation, joy, and pleasure, she fought back fiercely, using all the strength she still has, wrapping her arms around his neck so that she wouldn''t fall.


    Aika wanted to shout ''unfair'' but she knew that this is Sona''s moment and wouldn''t disturb her, ''So she''s already epted? When is my turn?''


    Everyone else aside from Koneko, who''s currently unconscious, were speechless and dumbfounded. Rias is staring at her friend and rival who she has known since childhood in shock, ''When did she be this bold!?''


    Akeno, on the other hand, has a strange feeling that she couldn''t describe but she knew that she didn''t want to look at them so she turned her sights towards Kokabiel, who''s only staring at the neer, Kisuke. Although he hasn''t put down the gigantic spear of light in his hands.


    It took them almost half a minute before they separated with a trail of saliva from their mouths. Sona''s eyes were zed over and she stared at Kisuke''s face for a few seconds before jumping on his arms silently. Kisuke also didn''t say anything else and quietly hugged her. This time, they only went at it for 10 seconds before Sona separated from him with a determined look at her eyes, "That''s one big regret out of the way. I really wanted to see my sister, but I''m fine with just this." Sona said with a big smile on her face, but a tint of sadness in evident on her eyes.


    Sona turned around and deployed multiplerge barriers intended to receive Kokabiel''s attack, ''Strange�� I felt totally drained earlier, but now, I feel that I can take him on even if it''s just me��'' After Kisuke''s eptance, she felt she could do anything now and pulling out her potential became much easier, "Kisuke�� Take Aika with you�� along with Koneko and escape from this town. You have nothing to do with this problem. It''s a good thing that Sakura-san isn''t here."


    It seems that Sona became blinded by her fiery feelings to protect Kisuke that she already forgot the existence of the overpowered cat that could help them.


    The only other person who knew about Yoruichi''s existence aside from Aika and Koneko is Akeno, but she''s already focusing on Kokabiel that she didn''t notice the unassuming ck cat and she also wasn''t expecting for her to save them.


    Rias was dumbfounded at Sona''s words yet again, but she also understood where she''sing from. She faced Kisuke and bowed down, "Please take Koneko along with you." She pleaded to Kisuke. Rias wanted Kisuke to take everyone else with him but she knew she would be asking for too much. And the situation is partly their fault because they overestimated themselves and underestimated the enemy.


    Rias didn''t wait for him to reply and turned around to use everything she got to put up a barrier in hope that they''ll be able to defend long enough for the reinforcements to arrive.


    Kisuke is keeping a straight serious face but deep inside, he wanted tough but he''s also impressed by their determination, ''I''ll still scold themter, though.''

 Volume 5 222 - The Talking Cat

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 222 - The Talking Cat</h4>


    Sona is focusing her everything on the barrier and waiting for Kokabiel to continue his attack when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She took a peek and saw Kisuke still hasn''t moved from his spot, "Go now! I hold him back. Escape while you still can!" Sona returned her sights in front after her words that contain urgency.


    Kisuke smiled wryly at her reaction and tapped Sona''s shoulder again. This time, Sona turned around furiously and said, "Escape now! This has nothing to do with you! We''ll wait for reinforcements from the Underworld and you''ll only hold us back!"


    Instead of replying, Kisuke made a big grin and ce his curled up finger in front of Sona''s forehead and flicked it so hard that it immediately left a mark and her magic barriers disabled, "OW!" Sona fiercely jumped at him leaving her position, "What are you doing!? Do you want to die!?"


    "What about you? Do you want to die?" Kisuke asked her.


    "Of course not. But I already fulfilled one of my biggest regrets so I''m fine with dying today if you can escape from this predicament!" Sona answered without any hesitation.


    ''She likes me that much?�� Well, it''s not like I can''t understand her as I''d do the same if Yoruichi is in my ce.'' Kisuke thought.


    Akeno takes a look at them again who started bickering with each other seemingly unaware of the danger in front. As she did, she finally caught a glimpse of a ck cat silently watching them all, "Yoruichi!?" She shouted in shock and delight, ''If it''s her, then maybe��'' But she has conflicting emotion whether she should ask her help or not, ''�� As payment, I''ll just work as a maid for the Urahara household for a few months.''


    While Akeno is deciding in her mind, Rias also eximed, "Yoruichi!? Where!?" She looked around but she couldn''t see the figure of the dark beauty from her memories. She intended to ask for her help as she knew what she can do from the Rating Game Incident. Of course, she wouldn''t ask without anypensation for her. Although she wanted to negotiate with her, she can''t find her and kept looking around, "Akeno, where is she?" After looking around for more, she couldn''t find her and thought that Akeno only mistook her for something due to desperation.


    Asia and Yuuto also started looking for Yoruichi''s figure but also couldn''t find her and has the same belief as Rias. Xenovia, on the other hand, only looked at them confused.


    Sona finally reacted and also looked behind Kisuke in shock and saw the ck cat staring at her. Instead of thinking about the help Yoruichi can provide to them, the first thing that went inside Sona''s mind is, ''Yoruichi is here!? Wait�� I just kissed her boyfriend in front of her! A long French kiss on top of that!'' Sona finally processed what it means to have Yoruichi around them. They are saved.


    Sona recalled how she acted and boldly kissed Kisuke thinking that it would thest time they would see each other, ''How did I forget about Yoruichi!? They are always together! How can I forgot something as basic as that!? Is it because of the fatigue that I umted over this week? Or is it just my wishful thinking?'' Sona is very confused and covered her red face to hide her embarrassment, ''Please don''t look at me!''


    "Hey, where is Yoruichi-san?" Rias instead asked Kisuke. But instead of him, she saw the ck cat from the Urahara Household slowly walked towards Issei. The cat then pounced on Issei''s head. Normally, something the size won''t affect Issei even if it dropped on his head, but the moment itnded on his head, Issei dropped down to the ground face-first as if something heavy dragged his head down, ''!?''


    Issei is in the middle of overloading his body with Dragon Powering from Ddraig to forcefully transform his body to adapt to the Bnce Breaker of the Boosted Gear even for a short moment and has been enduring the pain it apanied. It''s also the reason why he hasn''t said anything right until now as he couldn''t focus on what''s happening around him.


    But when the cat stepped on his head, he immediately came to his senses, though he''s already on the ground when he figured that Kisuke''s cat is already standing on his head, "What!? Yoru?" Issei tried to stand up but he found out that his whole body is paralyzed and the pain of transformation already stopped bothering him. He finally understood the absurdity of the situation, ''What''s happening!? Why can''t I move!? Why did Ddraig suddenly stop what''s he doing!?''


    Issei started panicking so is Rias, Asia, and Yuuto. But before they could approach Issei to help him, the cat suddenly spoke in a masculine voice, "You brats finally did something so stupid that you almost got yourselves killed."


    Those who don''t know about Yoruichi''s cat form were frozen in ce. There were a few minutes of silence before Issei finally spoke, "Yoru can talk!?" Issei was more shocked than the rest as he knew the ck cat since childhood and would always apany Kisuke and him to their antics. It''s a strangely smart cat. So instead of questioning the cat, Issei turned to Kisuke, "Kisuke! What did you feed him to talk!?"


    Although instead of Kisuke, Yoruichi answered him with a tap of her paw on his head feeding dirt to Issei''s mouth, "Settle down, boy. Although I stopped what you''re doing, it''s only a temporary measure."


    Issei finally remembered the situation they are in and choose to ignore the fact that the cat he always yed within his childhood is now talking, "What!? You stopped it!? Why did you do that!? It''s the only way we cane out of this situation alive!" Issei tried struggling for freedom but failed miserably, ''How is Yoru doing this!?''


    "I said settle down!" Yoruichi increased her power to further immobilize Issei, "I can see where you''reing from, but the situation has already changed. And besides, what you''re trying to do won''t exactly help you much. Even if you sacrifice everything you have, you still won''t be able to defeat him. That''s how weak you are now."


    Issei gritted his teeth as what the cat said is true. Ddraig even told him that the most he can do are to fend the opponent off for a few minutes before his body gives up, "Then what are we suppose to do!?"


    "I already said it, right? The situation has already changed."


    The rest are still dumbfounded at the talking cat and most of them are thinking that Yoruichi is some kind of familiar as talking familiar which is pretty rare even in the Underworld.


    Just as Rias was about to speak again and ask how the situation has changed, Sona, who already somehow recovered, feigned a cough, and looked straight at Yoruichi before speaking, though her gaze would waver every now and then, "Yoruichi-san, as the representative of the Sitri n, please defeat Kokabiel. Of course, we''ll give you the rightpensation for saving us."


    Rias, Issei, Asia, and Yuuto were frozen stiff again after hearing her words, "Wait! You mean Yoru is Yoruichi!? I thought Yoruichi-san who saved Koneko-chan is a girl? This cat is clearly masculine!"


    With another pat from her paw, Issei ate dirt again, "Just because I sound like this, I''m a man? You''ll garner a lot of hate from a certain group. And besides, I never had balls to begin with��" Yoruichi stopped for a moment before pping his head again, "Don''t make me think such disgusting things."


    ''It is you who thought of that!'' Issei wanted to cry from eating so much dirt.


    Rias and the rest still couldn''t believe that the person they looking for so long is only around them pretending to be a pet cat.


    Ignoring their reactions, Yoruichi faced Sona again, "As for your offer�� It''s tempting since you''re willing to use your position as a guarantor�� But sorry, I can''t help you today��"


    "W-why��?" Sona stuttered at her unexpected answer.


    Rias recovered from the shock by tossing the questions she has for the cat and thought that Sona''s offer isn''t enough for her service so she chipped her own like she should, "As the representative of Gremory Household, I also ask you to please help us. And the same with Sona, I''ll provide a suitable reward for you."


    Hearing her words, Yoruichi still shook her head, "No�� I still can''t help you." She resolutely answered.


    Sona can tell that Yoruichi is serious, ''Is she going to escape with Aika and the rest of their group?�� That''s possible�� They probably don''t want to get involved in this problem where the Underworld and Grigori can sh and devolve to war��'' Sona bit her lips, ''At least�� I know that they would be safe with her protection��'' Sona sighed after a few seconds and replied, "I see��"


    "Sona!?" Rias eximed because she can tell that Sona already gave up.


    Yoruichi figured what she''s thinking and wanted tough, ''Ahaha�� She fell hard for you�� Kisuke�� too hard.'' Feigning a cough, Yoruichi gathered their attention again, "I won''t do anything, but Kisuke would probably do something about it��"


    Sona was startled and immediately shouted, "What!? No!"

 Volume 5 223 - Kokabiel vs Kisuke

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 223 - Kokabiel vs Kisuke</h4>


    "What!? No!?" Sona immediately rejected her words and faced Kisuke, "I don''t why Yoruichi doesn''t want to help, but if you''re going to get involved in this, then I won''t allow it! Although you''re pretty strong for a human, I can''t let you against that guy!" Sona then grabbed Kisuke''s kimono, "So, please�� Escape�� I don''t want any harming to you because of my mistake��"


    At this point, Sona''s concern is only his safety and how not to get involved with their problem. Kisuke, in response, only smiled wryly and wiped the tears that are threatening to fall from her eyes while patting her head. He then faced Yoruichi, "Is this really how they see me?"


    "It''s your fault. No other reason." Yoruichi chuckled at his question.


    Everyone is confused at what they are talking about but it seems that the neers aren''t nervous at all since they can stillugh. So looked up to him and asked, "What do you mean��?"


    "Well�� Just watch." Kisuke then separated from her and walked while facing Kokabiel who is still silently watching his movements. He already dispelled the giant spear of light in his hand long ago.


    "Wait! Where are you going!?" Sona tried to stop him but found herself frozen in ce, ''!?''


    "Sona-chan, it seems that you''re misunderstanding something��" Yoruichi grinned at the unmoving Sona.


    "Misunderstanding?"


    "Yes�� It''s true that I''m on a different level than Kisuke."


    "Then why are you not stopping him from doing something so reckless!?"


    "Listen�� When I said I''m on a different level, I meant I''m way below him."


    Before everyone could process Yoruichi''s words, Kisuke started talking to Kokabiel, "How kind of you to just let us talk like that."


    "Hmmph. I just amused on the way you teleported. Did you think that you''ll be able to bluff your way out with that kind of show?" Kokabiel sneered at him. He''s referring to Kisuke''s Senkaimon.


    "No no no�� I wouldn''t bluff my way out. In fact, I won''t let you escape." Kisuke sported arge grin and his eyes were shing ominous lights.


    Kokabiel already knew that he shouldn''t underestimate his opponent after going against Aika so he readied himself. Despite that, however, the pride in his bone as a high ranking Fallen Angel couldn''t be suppressed, "Hooh�� So you''re saying that I''ll be the one escaping? I''d like to see you try."


    "With pleasure~." Kisuke then suddenly disappeared, but unlike Aika, who would leave a bunch of clues where she would bending and the fact that Kisuke''s sh Step is already polished, Kokabiel wasn''t able to react despite watching his surroundings carefully. Kokabiel suddenly found the sole of wooden sandals in front of his face and he was kicked away so hard that his face deformed, ''!?''


    Kokabiel only stopped when he hit the barrier over the school and could only let out screams of pain and yells of rage, "Ahhh!!! You bastard!!!"


    "Now, now. I''m not yet done." Kisuke is standing on air where Kokabiel is previously floating, "This de of mine wants to y, you see. And I''d really like it if you can apany her." Kisuke pulled out the de from his cane. And as if he''s dering to the world, Kisuke muttered in amanding tone, "Okiro(Awaken), Benihime(Crimson Princess)"


    Kisuke''s cane with a hidden de suddenly transformed into a sleek, medium-sized sword. It has a crimson tassel dangles on the end of the hilt, which has a gentle decorative bend. Instead of a crossguard, there is a U-shaped decoration covers the first three or four inches of de, with a flower petal design right as it meets the string-crossguard. It also has a red decorative string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on one side and a folded paper decoration on the other. Benihime''s de is straight and slim, though somewhat short, with the tip ending in a nted razor-like edge instead of being tapered to a point.


    Along with his sword''s transformation, Kisuke stopped holding in his Reiatsu-Ki and just let it out naturally. Simr to Aika, the aura around Kisuke also suddenly changed to that of a non-human, but this time, the pressure he is emitting is so heavy that the Devils could only barely breath. Even if they want to say something, they couldn''t voice out their thoughts. Sona and rest could only look at him in shock and their minds nked out. Kokabiel, on the other hand, stopped screaming and started to get nervous as he stares at Kisuke. Fear is slowly taking root in his heart, ''What''s that!? What the hell is that!? Simr to that abnormal human!? But this is so much dangerous! And even if face one of the Devil Kings, I wouldn''t get this nervous! Who is he!? Where did hee from!?'' Unbeknown to him, Kisuke''s spiritual pressure is weighing down directly on his soul.


    "What''s the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The surges of wind eased down, but the heavy atmosphere is still around Kisuke, threatening to suffocate anyone whoes close.


    Kokabiel gritted his teeth and suppressed his fears, ''It might only be the aura he''s emitting is incredibly unusual and I''m instinctively fearing it, but that doesn''t mean he stronger than me. And besides, I still have a trump card�� I prepared it for the Devil Kings�� But if my life is any danger, then I won''t hesitate to use it. I can escape anything and someone is already expecting me to their side��''


    Since he already gathered his Holy Power once this evening, gathering it again to rematerialize the gigantic spear of light, Kokabiel didn''t wait for him to attack and threw the spear in Kisuke''s direction with all of his strength. He also made sure that the path of his attack will hit the Devils behind him if he decided to evade with his unbelievable speed, "Die!"


    "Kisuke!!!" Seeing this, Sona managed to find a strength to shout at him in concern.


    "Don''t worry about it him, girl. Just watch." The cat tried to ease her concerns but it didn''t work. And just like Yoruichi said, everyone watched closely.


    Kisuke''s grinning expression didn''t change and he only raised his de in front of him before saying, "Chikasumi no Tate(Blood Mist Shield)." A hexagon-shaped crimson barrier formed in front of his de.


    In no time, the giant spear of light capable of destroying the whole town hit the crimson barrier. From the contact, arge shockwave spreads that destroyed the remaining school buildings and ttening the ground. Yoruichi has to form a shield around them so that the Devils and Exorcist won''t get hurt.


    Kokabiel was shocked by how strong Kisuke''s instantly formed barrier that it was able to block his attack. However, he isn''t very worried as he can tell that his barrier is starting to crack all over and Kisuke himself is being pushed back. The grin on his face already transformed into a serious expression.


    ''I didn''t think that it would be this strong. I''m pretty good at Reiatsu control. In my previous world, I only has to study the variations of it, but in this world, all sorts of power systems with all sorts of energy sources are in ce. I ended up underestimating Holy Power which is under Mana�� I almost forgot that Mana and Reiatsu are on the same level and I would also need a good amount of time to study its variation. Good thing this happened.'' Kisuke analyzed the spear which is currently breaking his barrier and reassessed its power. Pinpointing its weakness, Kisuke charged his Reiatsu-Ki on Benihime while also keeping the shield active. In the past, he can only do one technique at a time, but after studying Ki andmunicating more with Benihime, he was able to remove that limitation to some extent.


    Kokabiel rejoiced as even though the spear already weakened considerable, his barrier is also about to break. But before he could smugly dere himself as the victor, he was frozen in his ce.


    "Nake, Benihime(Sing, Crimson Princess)!" With his shout, the moment that his crimson barrier broke and the spear went through, Kisuke''s de released arge arc of crimson energy effectively deflecting the spear upwards. The spear went through the barrier over the school easily and it disappeared in the night sky.


    "What!?" Kokabiel''s strongest magic was defeated, ''This is bad! He''s more dangerous than I thought.'' Without further thought, Kokabiel released his trump card.

 Volume 5 224 - The Legion

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 224 - The Legion</h4>


    "Another human? Is he the same as that strange girl?" Azazel muttered in question, "And his entrance is damn nice." He also let out his honest admiration for Kisuke''s Senkaimon.


    Vali also stared at the man who entered the scene with his pet cat. He''s a few miles away from the school and keeping his aura in check, but strangely enough, Vali''s eyes met with the young man in kimono for a split second and this made him shudder. Along with the chill that entered his spine, he smiled wildly.


    "What''s wrong, Vali?" Azazel asked in wonderment.


    "He noticed me. And I can tell that despite the normal human aura he is emitting, he''s many times more dangerous than that strange girl." Anticipation filled Vali''s heart. It''s very rare for him to receive a sudden chill just from a stare and as a battle maniac, at this moment, he wanted to have a sh with him.


    Azazel knew what he''s thinking and reminded him, "Just be sure to secure Kokabiel. I have a lot of questions for him. But for now, let''s see what this guy is capable of."


    Vali nodded in agreement as he wouldn''t blindly go against someone who has unknown abilities.


    They were surprised that Kisuke was able to use the instant eleration technique with much more finesse and proficiency, although not by much.


    What really made Azazel stood up from his seat is when Kisuke released Benihime, "Really�� What the hell are these people? And is that a Sacred Gear? Why haven''t I heard of that dangerous type yet?" Aside from the strange and more intense aura, Azazel, Vali, and even Albion''s attention were caught by the young man''s strange weapon.


    "That''s not a Sacred Gear. Although something is also residing inside that de." Albion suddenly spoke.


    Azazel also has the same thoughts but he can''t believe it fully, ''A tool that is attached to a human yet not a Sacred Gear? And it also has a spirit residing in it�� What the hell is that?''


    They watched as Kisuke blocked Kokabiel''s spear and tossed it upwards and Azazel immediatelymanded Vali, "Take Kokabiel before he''s killed now. He doesn''t have any way of fighting any-!?"


    Azazel''s words were cut short when Kokabiel suddenly pierced his left arm with his right hand and let his blood form a magic circle, "What!? How!? I already sealed those things! Vali! Create a barrier 2 kilometers around the school. Cooperate with that robed Human and make it as strong as possible!"


    "What''s so dangerous that we have to set up such arge barrier? Couldn''t we just stop Kokabiel?" Vali started moving while asking Azazel. He instantly arrives beside Cleria in disguise.


    "It''s already toote. He already opened the gate connecting to that dimension." Azazel gritted his teeth as he watches Kokabiel.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke only let Kokabiel do his stuff as his instincts are telling him that he''s about to pull out something disgusting. And if it''s really a disgusting thing, he would want to destroy it. He also noticed that the guy with a gaudy white armor approached Cleria, He was about to move towards them but he saw that the armored guy doesn''t have any hostility and started talking to Cleria about something. They also started casting arge barrier away from school making all of the civilians inside it move outwards unconsciously, ''That guy knows what this crow is trying to do?'' Kisuke then decided to ignore them for


    Seeing that Kisuke is looking at him silently, Kokabiel sighed in relief and sneered at him, ''Underestimating me, aren''t you? I''ll drown you in despair in a moment.'' With him concentrating on his magic, Kokabiel failed to notice what''s happening outside.


    A few secondster,rge amounts of dark red magic circles, 2 feet in diameter, suddenly appeared all around. They numbered around 10,000.


    Even Kisuke and Yoruichi were shocked at this scene and he immediately retreated besides the Devils. A few more secondster, the magic circles are now numbering around 50,000, covering the sky with its creepy light.


    "Oi, Kisuke�� It looks dangerous�� What are you nning to do now?" Yoruichi asked her partner with a bit of concern.


    "I can''t really do anything about it now. The magic he''s trying to do is already somehow disconnected from him so even if I kill him it won''t stop. On the contrary, it might make it worse." Kisuke carefully watches the magic circles and tried to decipher it, ''It''s a pretty simple magic circle�� It''s connected to somewhere trying to summon something. If it''s really something like that, then I doubt one of he''s trying to summon is strong individually if he can call a legion of them." Kisuke doesn''t really care about the danger it poses and just wanted to know what he''s trying to summon.


    A minute after Kokabiel started casting his magic, heughed out loud, "AHAHAHA!!! Behold, my legion! Be honored that you''re witnessing this before your deaths! It''s something that I prepared for the Devil Kings!"


    As he deres, grotesque humanoid figures started emerging from each magic circle. These human figures look like humans who received intense torture that they almost look like zombies in the movies. Another thing about them is the ck halo on the top of their heads radiating creepy light.


    Each of the dark red magic circles was able to pull out 5 of these ''zombies'' so their number was blown to 250,000.


    Witnessing the cloud of zombies, the Devils and the exorcist lost all hope, "N-no way�� How are we suppose to fight that?" Asia muttered dropping down to her knees. In the Great War, this legion of his what made him a fearsome enemy for the two other factions despite being weak by himself overall.


    Sona went to Kisuke''s side and grabbed his kimono. She now knew that Kisuke is a lot stronger than she thought and wanted to ask about it but right now isn''t the time. She unconsciously went behind him as she peeked at the gross zombies, "What should we do?"


    Kisuke only patted her head to ease her concerns. Sona looked up and saw an expression that she has never seen before. Kisuke isn''t sporting any kind of expression, but she can tell that he''s at his most serious. She ended up staring in this rare expression of his.


    "Kisuke�� Let me beat him up." Yoruichi could only stare at this spectacle while gritting her teeth, I''ll make sure that he won''t have an easy death."


    "No�� I understand your feelings but I need you to protect these guys." Kisuke replied. Not a hint of his usual frivolous tone was found.


    "You''re still going to fight!? We need an army to go against that! Let''s just wait for the reinforcements! Now that something like this happened, the Underworld would speed up the process of their dispatch! Why do you want to fight against that anyway?" Despite knowing how strong he is, Sona still couldn''t let him take such arge risk. They would have more chances if they only defend themselves in this spot while waiting for the Underworld to send their own army.


    "Why?" Kisuke gently put down the hands grabbing his kimono and slowly walked forward, "Because whether they are evil spirits or not�� If they want to rest, they deserve to rest." Kisuke stared at the zombies who are actually evil spirits that are former human souls. They were forced to be one and as a Shinigami, he can hear the voices of those tortured souls wanting an eternal rest from this eternal torment. This is also why Yoruichi wanted to have a go despite promising Kisuke that she would leave everything to him.


    Sona and the rest didn''t understand his words, but those who knew how he usually acts can tell that he isn''t in the mood for some jokes.


    "Hooh~. You still have the guts toe forward despite seeing my legion. I couldn''t praise your bravery as it is just a foolish act." Kokabiel chuckled now that he was able to summon the remains of his oncerger legion, he isn''t afraid any more even if all the Devil Kings arrive. His evil spirits might be weak individually but they are all almost immortal with Holy Power or Demonic Power having almost no effect on them. They can only be killed they were sted into nothingness.


    Not replying to his words, Kisuke raised Benihime and his aura shoots up again, "Kamisori, Benihime (Razor, Crimson Princess)!" With a swing of his sword, a crimson energy arc fired from the de and approach the first batch of the zombies.


    "Ahahaha! Something like that is usel- What!?"


    A hundred or so zombies were cut into half and they didn''t regenerate as Kokabiel expected but they only dispersed into motes of light.

 Volume 5 225 - Zombie Spear

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 225 - Zombie Spear</h4>


    "What!? What the hell did you do!?" Kokabiel was askance. He didn''t expect that the evil spirits he is most proud of would easily be killed. Even the Devil Kings and Biblical God of the past had a hard time killing his ''immortal'' army. Even after the war, Azazel is apprehensive against this power of his that he has to seal it.


    So when Kisuke just casually killed them with a single sword wave, a bit of the fear he had felt earlier started to return, ''No! I just have to overwhelm him with numbers!'' Kisuke stepped on the air and slowly walked towards Kokabiel. Every three seconds, he would fire the sword arc and it''ll remove a hundred or so zombies from their ranks.


    Setting aside his question, Kokabiel gritted his teeth and flew higher up and sent thousands of zombies in his position. But Kisuke only used sh Step to get away from the crowd and restarted his killing spree. Despite their overwhelming number, they couldn''t catch him.


    Kokabiel still has some hidden moves but it requires sacrificing arge amount of these zombies so he didn''t want to use it yet. Thinking of other ways to subdue Kisuke, Kokabiel caught sight of the Devils he''s ying with earlier and sent a horde of zombies to where they''re standing.


    Sona, Rias and the rest were startled when they saw the horde of zombiesing to them and started casting their magic once more while Xenovia and Yuuto came forward to serve as the vanguard. Issei is still pinned down on the ground by Yoruichi and used her Kidou to seal his mouth so the only thing he can do is squirm about.


    Sona, Rias, and Akeno bombarded the first of the zombies with their magic and managed to st them away. They immediately celebrated because fighting them isn''t that hard and they only need to pace themselves with the usage of the power and wait for reinforcements. To their dismay, however, the zombies immediately returned to their original form and restarted their advance, "What!?" Rias eximed. The only difference is that Rias'' Power of Destruction managed to slow their regeneration, albeit, only slightly.


    They resumed their bombardment of magic but the result is still the same. The horde reached the vanguard so Xenovia and Yuuto started bisecting them but they only regenerated the same even with their Holy Sword and Holy-Demonic Swords. The horde kept gettingrger that they are going to be overwhelmed in a few seconds when Yoruichi spoke, "Get back here."


    Without hesitation, Rias and Sonamanded the others, "Everyone, regroup!"


    Once they gathered around Yoruichi, the ck cat started to glow in blue light as she muttered, "Kyoumon(Mirror Gate)"


    A barrier in the shape of a cube surrounded them and its surface is akin to the surface of the water. The Devils and exorcist were doubtful if such a thin barrier could stop the advance of the zombie horde and readied themselves again to intercept them once the barrier broke.


    The zombies reached the barrier and the first one brandished its fist against the barrier but what happened next is out of expectation, including to Kokabiel, whomanded them. The arm of the zombie it used to attack the barrier burst open and it didn''t regenerate. However, the zombie doesn''t have the capacity to think and didn''t stop its assault until it disappeared�� forever. The same thing happened to the other zombies and only after the hundredth zombie died, Kokabiel recalled them seeing that they hadn''t done anything to damage the barrier, ''Dammit! What''s happening!? What''s up with that cat!?''


    "Don''t get too distracted." Kokabiel heard Kisuke''s voice and he suddenly felt a pain in his left arm When he looked at it, from the elbow and below is already missing and saw that his arm is already flying upwards, "AHHH!!!"


    Even during the Great War, Kokabiel never had this kind of injury as he always fights from the back, so this sudden pain blocked his thoughts for a moment before an unprecedented rage surface from deep inside him and his own voice resounding in his head saying, ''KILL! KILL! KILL!'' All of his thoughts of escape suddenly disappeared and was reced with destruction.


    ''Hmmm? Strange�� Something doesn''t feel right�� What is it?'' Kisuke temporarily halted his assault and inspected Kokabiel''s state but couldn''t tell what''s bothering him.


    After his scream of pain, the sudden change in his mindset made him startedughing like a maniac, "AHAHAHA! GATHER!!!"


    Raising his only arm, the 50,000 zombies gathered above him and their flesh started fusing to form a monstrous spear of flesh with ck halos surrounding it.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi furrowed their brows at this sight. The Devils and exorcist are also disgusted and their stomach rolled. Asia, who is very fragile, directly loses her consciousness.


    Vali and Cleria were also shocked at what is happening but they didn''t have much to worry since they were able to finish evacuating everyone and decided to increase the radius of their barrier. Azazel, on the other hand, started cursing at Kokabiel and he also started to regret the fact that he didn''t let Vali take care of Kokabiel earlier that the situation had gone to the point of uncontroble, "Vali! Assist that guy!"


    Kokabiel threw his spear of rotten and mangled flesh consisting of 50,000 corpses at Kisuke. Vali was about to fly over to block and try to ''Divide'' it when he felt the aura around Kisuke shooting up again, ''He can still power up? Interesting�� Let''s watch first.''


    ""Kisuke!!!"" "Uraharaha!!!" Sona and this time, with Akeno and Aika shouted at him. They can tell that this attack is very different from the other ones and don''t know if he can take it, "Yoruichi! Please help Kisuke now!" Aika even started pleading Yoruichi who only watch the spear approach her lover.


    "You lot are still underestimating him�� And besides, if those things has a nemesis, it is us. It''s that Fallen Angel''s bad luck that they met us. Look~." Yoruichi replied and pointed at Kisuke.


    Raising his free arm, he pointed his palm towards the iing spear and spoke, "Hadou 88: Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon (Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho)" From his palm, a beam of blue energy 5 meters across emerged and met the spear head-on.


    The gigantic ray is very smallpared to the spear of flesh but it managed to pierce it the moment of contact and it went through the whole thing within just a few seconds. Normally speaking, such a puny attack couldn''t have done that much damage to the spear to destroy it, but after a few seconds that the spear was pierced, it imploded and exploded in sequence.


    The explosion was so strong that every building within the barrier was destroyed and ttened. The two people who are maintaining the barrier felt the shock and increased the power they are inputting on the barrier but they can still some cracks appearing all over.


    Kokabiel''s remaining zombies and himself were blown away but are still fine. Kisuke didn''t move from his spot and just let the wind hit him making his attire p around in the air.


    Yoruichi''s barrier also has some minute cracks on it but still overall fine. Sona and the rest were only looking nkly on the scene, but two of them, namely Rias and Akeno is thinking of an entirely different thing as the beam of light reminded them of what happened not long ago, ''That''s��''


    The shockwave subsided after a few minutes with the barrier around them taking care of most of its force. The battlefield now became a dested piece of tnd. Everything went silent.


    The first one to make a noise is Kokabiel, but instead of disappointment, his maniacalughter continued and spoke hismand again, "GATHER!!!"


    This time, instead of a spear, the remaining 200,000 thousand or so zombies started fusing with him instead.

 Volume 5 226 - Reinforcements

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 226 - Reinforcements</h4>


    It only took a few minutes before all of the zombies fused andpressed with Kokabiel, and the end result is horrifying. A 100-meter blob of rotten meat in the shape of a deformed baby with 5 pairs grotesque ck wings and several ck haloes stacked upon its head.


    "What the hell��?" Even Azazel is dumbfounded seeing Kokabiel''s current state. Even in the duration of the Great War, Kokabiel never did something like this, but he also understands why he never used this form, ''He also became a sacrifice�� But why? What''s pushing Kokabiel to do this?''


    Kisuke sent a ''Razor'' towards the deformed baby. He was sessful in wounding it, but instead of it staying wounded like what happened earlier, it was able to regenerate its cut from Kisuke''s attack, ''��The cohesion between the spirit particles strengthened. Adding to that is the fact it''s now passively absorbing spirit particles to aid its regeneration�� It became an annoying thing.'' Although aside from being annoyed, a part of him wanted to take a look at how it works, ''No no no, Kisuke�� This isn''t the time. I need to free those unfortunate souls first.'' Shaking his head, he nned his next steps.


    Of course, ''Kokabiel'' won''t stay silent taking an attack from Kisuke, "KAAHHH!!!" Along with its shrill scream that threatened to burst everyone''s eardrums, a ball of ck light suddenly manifested in front of its mouth. It got bigger and bigger until it became a beam of ck light.


    But instead of Kisuke, the ''Kokabiel''s'' target seems to be Rias'' group. Using sh Step, Kisuke instantly reappeared in front of them and muttered, "Danku(Splitting Void)." A thin transparent rectangr wall in between the beam and Kisuke, blocking the beam entirely and deflecting it to the side, gouging the ground, making two 2 meter deep canals on both of their sides.


    "Want my help?" Yoruichi asked after the beam passed.


    "Well�� I''m pretty tired, so I guess��" Kisuke was about to ask for Yoruichi''s help when both of them suddenly felt multiple presences appearing from some distance and they both smiled.


    "What? Why are you two smiling?" Sona asked when Kisuke suddenly stopped speaking. The others though has a different question for Sona in their mind, ''How can you tell a cat is smiling?''


    ''Kokabiel'' is preparing another attack when half of its body, starting from its waist and upwards, was suddenly covered in ice, effectively canceling its attack.


    "Magical Levia-tan is here~��." All of them suddenly heard a bubbly and cheerful voice. They all looked at the direction where the voice came from and they saw a short but busty twin-tailed beauty in a magical girl attire flying towards them. The magical girlnded near them and the first thing she did is dashing towards Sona''s location but ended up kissing Yoruichi''s barrier, "Gah!"


    "Ah�� Sorry." With a wave of his paw, Yoruichi dispelled her barrier and as if nothing happened, the magical girl resumed running, intending to tackle Sona, "Sona-chan!!!"


    Sona wanted to dodge, but she''s already toote. The magical girl and Sona dropped to the ground, "Sona-chan!!!"


    "Nee-sama�� Please don''t be like this. At least not in public!" Sona tried to separate from Serafall who started rubbing her face on her modest chest.


    "Sona-chan!!! I was so worried!!! I''m sorry for beingte!!! Those geezers can''t do anything aside from talking! They only reluctantly agreed for me to personally when this thing suddenly appear!" Serafall didn''t listen to Sona''s pleas and started exining herself thinking that Sona must have been so scared facing such a monster.


    "Levia-tan, you still have something to deal with." Kisuke helped out Sona by pointing to the baby that is starting to escape from the ice encasement.


    Serafall indeed separated from Sona, but instead of facing the abnormal monster, she went in front of Kisuke with a serious expression, and since she''s a lot shorter than Kisuke, she has to look up to him, "Ki-tan! I still haven''t forgiven you for making Sona-chan cry!"


    Kisuke can feel the intensity of her gaze and he honestly didn''t know what to say, ''How should I exin this?''


    However, Serafall isn''t looking for an answer, "I''ll confront youter about it, but for now�� Let''s deal with this thing. It seems you''re hiding some of your abilities, better use it now." Serafall faced the ''Kokabiel'' who is already shaking away the ice on its body and resumed attacking.


    Multiple balls of cklight manifested around its body and it fired beams of destruction indiscriminately, "Let''s go!" Serafall was about to fly again when Kisuke stopped her by grabbing her shoulder, "Wait. It seems someone else wanted to join in the fun."


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall looked in a certain direction and saw a white meteoring to them. The meteor instantly arrives and pierced through ''Kokabiel'' creating arge hole in his chest.


    The meteor slowed down andnded near them, revealing a guy in a gaudy white armor with blue crystals embedded in various parts of the armor, "Let me assist."


    Vali wanted to take it alone but the moment he touched ''Kokabiel'' he knew that his Dividing Powers won''t work on him and he didn''t really want to reveal the extent of his abilities now.


    "White Dragon Emperor�� What are you trying to pull? You are part of the Grigori and Grigori is also the source of this mess." Despite Serafall''s friendly demeanor, the aura around her is saying the opposite thing.


    "I understand your concerns, Devil King Leviathan. But this is Kokabiel''s own actions and has nothing to do with Grigori. Azazel sent me here to stop him." Vali replied.


    "And you expect me to believe that? Do you want me to freeze and break you into pieces? Did you think no one would notice you watching from afar? If you wanted to stop him, you could have done it without letting the situation devolve into this." Contrary to her smiling face, the chilling aura Serafall has started increasing in intensity and the ground is starting to cover in frost.


    Without minding this, Vali didn''t hesitate to answer, "That is indeed the n, but we also want to know who''s supporting Kokabiel''s actions as he could never have done this alone." He then looked towards Kisuke''s direction, "In addition to that is some unknown interesting characters that I lost my chance to interfere."


    Serafall only stared at him without saying anything. ''Kokabiel''s'' wound in the chest is already healed and he restarted his bombardment. They can''t really afford to waste more time so he immediately sent a signal to Azazel. A few secondster, a private telepathy message was sent to Serafall and after hearing it, she sighed, "If that''s how is it, then fine. Ki-tan, are you fine with this?"


    "I''m pretty tired and I''d also really like it if there is no giant creepy baby crawling around the neighboorhood. Its cries would be annoying as heck." Kisuke went back to his casual tone.


    Serafall sent arge spear of ice towards ''Kokabiel''s'' head and pierced it, "That''s good, but honestly, it''s going to take a lot of time and manpower just to destroy that thing." Serafall is referring to the manpower need to keep the barrier operational for a few days of intense battle, ''It would have been a lot easier if Sirzechs-chan is here, but only one Devil King is allowed to be present or else it''ll look bad for the Underworld.'' The icicle spear already started disappearing because it''s being consumed by the ck Holy Power and the hole in his face also begun regenerating.


    Vali is also prepared for a few days of battle to kill this ''immortal'' monster, but Kisuke can''t have that, "So you have no way of destroying that thing instantly?" Kisuke asked, ''How can I sleep peacefully!?''


    "I can, actually. But I''m going to destroy the whole Kuoh Town and maybe the neighboring towns along with it. And the people in it won''t be safe either." Serafall''s normal smile returned and her eyes twinkled when she replied to Kisuke. Kisuke can tell that she''s trying to show off and it wouldn''t be strange if she thinking along with these lines, ''Big sister is strong, you know~?.''


    "How about you?" Kisuke then turned his attention to Vali.


    "I can only go along with Devil King Leviathan''s n." He replied curtly.


    "Haaah~~~." Kisuke released an exasperated sigh after hearing his answer, ''What the hell are these people doing here then? To y around? Asking for Yoruichi''s help is a lot better and maybe I should do just that�� But I can''t exactly ignore them�� Especially this Devil King�� She sounds like an unreasonable person.''


    Staying silent for a few seconds, Kisuke reopened his mouth, "Yosh. If you have nothing, they let''s try it my way~."


    "Okay~?!" Serafall immediately agreed while Vali only nodded his head after thinking for a few seconds, "What should we do?"


    "Buy me some time. That''s all."

 Volume 5 227 - Scream! Benihime!

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 227 - Scream! Benihime!</h4>


    Serafall is very curious about what Kisuke is trying to do, but she didn''t ask about it as she''s about to see it the same. With a have of her ''magical'' wand, multiple dark blue magic circles appeared around ''Kokabiel'', "Magical Icicle Lance~?!"


    From the magic circles,rgences of ice shoot out and pierced ''Kokabiel'', "KAAHHH!!!" Releasing a shrill scream, he tried to shake off the protruding ice but thences didn''t just pierce him but also started to spread frost all over his body.


    "This�� This is the power of a Devil King?" Xenovia muttered under her breath. She''s feeling bitter after seeing the power of her supposed enemy, ''No human can go against that��'' She thought and already forgot that Kisuke is a human. Well, in the first ce, she hasn''t considered Kisuke as a human.


    The young Devils are also in awe at her disy of magic�� except for Issei. He has been staring at the guy with a white armor, ''Ddraig�� Could he be��''


    ''Yes. That''s the white bastard.'' He answered his question, ''But now is not the time to watch him. Be sure to take a closer look at what your friend is capable of. I have a feeling that it''ll be something amazing.''


    Issei breath out to calm his nerves. He already stopped resisting and watch the battle unfold, ''One day�� I''ll be also standing beside them�� But to do that, I have to train more.'' Ambition started to gush in his heart.


    ''This guy finally has more motivation aside from being a Harem King. I look forward to the future.'' Ddraig thought to himself, ''Albion�� It seems like we''ll have another epic battle in the future.''


    Even with Serafall''s magic, ''Kokabiel'' still was able to recover and started beaming around again, further destroying the already unfamiliar ce.


    This time, Vali came in and flew around the deformed baby with amazing speed. Each time he approaches ''Kokabiel'', he''ll be removing a sizable amount of meat off him making the baby rampage more. Hundreds of tentacles even started to sprout all over his body and acted like a giant whip that destroys everything it touches.


    "Hmmm�� This is bad�� I underestimated its vitality. Even if I try erasing it along with this town, I doubt I could kill it�� Ki-tan, is your n still feasible?" Serafall kept casting her magic and stopped calling out ''magical'' names for it as the situation is more serious than she thought, ''Should I switch with Sirzechs-chan?''


    Vali is also furrowing his brows inside his armor. He loves battles but he doesn''t like this one-sided beating up of an undying enemy. It has no thrill to offer or whatsoever. He also kept using his Divine Dividing, but it only has a minimal effect against ''Kokabiel'' and Vali is pretty sure that ''Kokabiel'' is also recovering the energy reserves he has lost, ''But how? The mana in the surroundings isn''t enough to feed this guy��''


    Kisuke didn''t answer Serafall as he only kept staring at ''Kokabiel'', ''I can''t blindly use Kidou�� If I don''t hit the right spots then it''ll only regenerate again. But I can''t properly see from here�� To see its insides�� I guess cutting it up is the best choice I have~.''


    Inspecting ''Kokabiel'' for a few more seconds, Kisuke finally spoke, "I want to see what''s inside of it first~!"


    "Huh?" Serafall temporarily stopped casting magic and looked at Kisuke. Even Vali stopped in his tracks trying to understand his intentions. Off to the side, Yoruichi and Aika did a facepalm, "Kisuke! It''s not the time for that!" Yoruichi shouted at him.


    "No no no, my dear Yoruichi. This is the right time for that!" Kisuke retorted.


    "Uhmm�� Look from inside? Do you want me to drill a hole for you to enter its body?" Serafall asked, "But I advise you against it�� Getting inside that thing won''t be a pleasant affair and you might get trapped if that thing started healing."


    "Nah�� I don''t need it. For now, please step aside�� Including the guy in a gaudy white armor." Kisuke replied.


    Vali wanted to say something for calling him that way but stopped himself when he noticed his aura shooting up again. Serafall also stepped aside and curiously looked at Kisuke.


    Raising Benihime, the wind started to circte around him and he has to hold his hat to keep it from flying off. Kisuke then released the majority of his Reiatsu-Ki which unintentionally manifested in a form of pressure and was felt by all of those who are around.


    The young Devils instantly dropped down to their knees with pale faces and had to use their hands to keep them from dropping to the ground. Yoruichi has to use her own Reiatsu-Ki to offset Kisuke''s pressure so that the young Devils and the single exorcist could breath again, "Be careful, will ya."


    "Ah�� Sorry, I got too into it." Kisuke just chuckled and kept on channeling his Reiatsu-Ki to Benihime.


    Serafall''s smiling face entirely disappeared and only stared at Kisuke with a very serious expression that doesn''t match her personality, ''We have been overlooking a guy like him?�� I failed as the leader of Foreign Affairs��''


    Vali became apprehensive of Kisuke, but his battle intent also soared up that he has to greatly control himself from suddenly attacking him. Although the smile in his face couldn''t disappear.


    A crimson aura started spilling from Benihime and when it reached a certain level, Kisuke brought Benihime down in a swing, "Nake! Benihime!"


    A crimson wave manifested, apanied by a high pitched whistling sound that rang through everyone''s ear making themand ''Scream!'' very suiting.


    The crimson wave instantly arrives on Kokabiel and it went through him, splitting his 100-meter tall body in half, "KAAAHHH!!!"


    The wave kept traveling until it almost hit the barrier, now 3 kilometers away. Once it disappeared, it only left a divided baby and a straight crevice with an unknown depth.


    "N-No way��" Xenovia and Yuuto muttered. Both of them are sword user so when Kisuke showed them how he used his sword, they nked out.


    Serafall''s mouth is twitching as she looks at the result, ''That''s a lot stronger than I thought�� I can''t gauge its full power just from the destruction it brought to thendscape��''


    Vali only kept quiet. It''s unknown what he''s thinking.


    Kisuke ignored their reactions and only stared at ''Kokabiel''s'' inside. He also started healing himself so his time of observing is only limited, ''There�� there�� there�� and there�� Good, I can deal with this thing now.''


    Kisuke didn''t act immediately and started to modify the Kidou he''s going to use in his mind. The moment ''Kokabiel'' healedpletely, Kisuke also finish his slight modification.


    Although ''Kokabiel''pletely regenerated, he''s a lot less energetic and he couldn''t even properly use his beams of light but Kisuke knew that this is only temporary.


    "Levia-tan." Kisuke called out to Magical Girl that didn''t stop staring at him, "Y-Yes?"


    "Could you please stop its movements for a bit?"


    "O-Okay." Serafall couldn''t understand Kisuke. He just did something unbelievable for a human with unknown ''Sacred Gear'' and still kept a nonchnt expression with a Devil King who''s eyeing him with vignce. She didn''t notice that she already fell in Kisuke''s pace.


    Casting the first magic she did when she arrived, Serafall froze half of ''Kokabiel''s'' body. After doing so, she looked back to Kisuke who already pointed his index finger upwards and started chanting.


    "The crest of turbidity, seeping out. An insolent vessel of madness. Boiling up, denying, numbness, blinking, obstructing slumber. The steel princess who creeps. The mud doll, ever disintegrating. Unite! Oppose! Filling the earth, know your own impotence! Hadou no 90, Kurohitsugi(ck Coffin)!"

 Volume 5 228 - Instant Kill

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 228 - Instant Kill</h4>


    "The crest of turbidity, seeping out. An insolent vessel of madness." Once Kisuke started his chant, a chilling atmosphere different from Serafall is releasing spreads. ck films then started to appear all around ''Kokabiel'', slowly building up to enclose him.


    "Boiling up, denying, numbness, blinking, obstructing slumber. The steel princess who creeps. The mud doll, ever disintegrating." The ck films enclosed ''Kokabiel'' in a cube which befits his size so, from afar, it looks like a pitch-ck building. Silence then followed as ''Kokabiel''s'' cries entirely disappeared. The only noise can be heard is the rustling wind and the gulping sound of other people.


    "Unite! Oppose! Filling the earth, know your own impotence!" From the gigantic ck cube, hundreds of gigantic sword-like figures sprouted all over its surface. After seeing this, everyone watching already has some idea about how it is going to end.


    "Hadou no 90, Kurohitsugi(ck Coffin)!" Kisuke then dered ''Kokabiel''s'' Death Sentence which was clearly conveyed through everyone. After the entire chant, everyone felt a chill on their spine. And as they expected, the swords suddenly shortened, giving an illusion that it''s stabbing the ck box.


    "��Iron Maiden��" Someone muttered but everyone can tell that it''s modeled after the infamous torture device from the past.


    After that, the swords disappeared and the ck cube slowly receded, revealing ''Kokabiel'' inside. The baby has hundreds of holes around his body but unlike their previous sh, ''Kokabiel'' is unmoving, as if he was frozen in time. A few secondster, bits of meat started to drop from ''Kokabiel'' and as time goes, more and more rotten meat is separating from him. However, instead of piling up on the ground, the meat disintegrated in mid-air disappearing in motes of light.


    What remained is the skin and bones Kokabiel. He''s still alive and unprecedented rage is still present in his blood-red eyes. Although all he could do is quiver and it seems that he can''t think straight as he kept saying random things like ''kill'', ''die'', and along those lines. Even though he''s technically disabled, he still hasn''t given up on his destructive impulses.


    The first one who moved after all that happened is Vali. He started walking towards Kokabiel intending to secure him for questioning as it''s essentially his goal and he''s d that he can still do it despite everything going against his expectations.


    But halfway through, he heard a whistling sound approaching him and he immediately turned around and met the crimson-colored sword arc with both of his hands and used his Divine Dividing until the arc disappeared. He turned his sights towards Kisuke and asked, "What are you doing?"


    With a neutral expression, Kisuke replied, "That''s my question. What are you doing?"


    Vali thought for a moment before answering honestly, "My first and foremost goal is to secure Kokabiel after he has done something that will endanger the Grigori and he just tried to start a war. And the second goal is to scout the current host of the Red Dragon Emperor and power of the current heiresses of both Gremory and Sitri. I''ve already fulfilled the second one�� And I even got some bonus. Now I only have to retrieve Kokabiel to question him."


    Kisuke lowered his hat and eyed Vali, "Setting aside the possibility that you might not be able to question him anymore, why did you think I would allow him to get away after what he has done in my neighborhood? And for all I know, you''re just covering for him."


    Vali didn''t around in the bush and released his aura, "I don''t care what you think. I only have to retrieve him. If you want his head, why don''t you take it away from me with force? Of course, I won''t go down without a fight."


    "Listen here�� A lot of things already happened to me today, and I''m already very tired. I don''t have the time to y around with you. And you should really be careful, as I might identally kill you." After the cast Kurohitsugi, Kisuke resealed his Reiatsu-Ki and as he replied to Vali, his aura didn''t change but his demeanor became cold.


    Serafall off to the side just watched the two. Since her goal is only to keep the younger generation safe, she won''t interfere. But if by chance that Kisuke actually starts losing, she would immediately assist him. Although she doubts that would happen after seeing what he''s capable of. However, she also wasn''t sure to what extent Vali can use his Divine Dividing so everything is possible.


    "Hooh�� I''d really like to see that. Come! I won''t allow you to touch Kokabiel as long as I''m still standing!" Vali''s smile under his armor grew bigger and he took a stance while increasing his vignce. He couldn''t care less about Kokabiel as battling is more important for him.


    "Haah��" An exasperated sigh escapes from Kisuke as he touches his forehead in resignation, ''��Let''s finish this�� I''m tired and hungry��'' He then removed his hat and passed it to Serafall who is silently watching both of them beside him, "Please hold this for a moment."


    Kisuke lifted his right hand over his forehead again, but instead of touching it, he suddenly swiped it down and a white bone mask with green markings came into existence. Changes then instantly happened to some parts of his body, namely his eyes and arms. His eyes'' sclera became pitch ck and his pupils became glowing green. His arms, on the other hand, became covered in a bone-like matter and his hands, in particr, changed into something more akin to a w.


    Along with physical changes, his aura was released yet again, but this time, it''s giving off an entirely different feeling from earlier. His aura became malevolent and berserk, closing into the ''evil'' side. Everyone except for Yoruichi and Aika froze and fear took root in their hearts, including Serafall, ''What''s this!?''


    Vali, who''s the target of Kisuke''s hostility was stunned at this sudden change but recovered immediately since not doing so could potentially take his life. He''s now taking this battle as a life or death one. However, even though he got ready in time, he still wasn''t able to react in time.


    Kisuke suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Vali with his ''evil'' eyes staring down at him giving Vali unprecedented chill. He felt like he''s suddenly dunked in a bath full of ice without any clothes or magic to defend himself. Vali can only hear him say something apanied by his creepy voice, "Ikkotsu(Single Bone)."


    Vali''s intuition and instincts managed to kick in time and he was able to cross both of his arms in front of him. Not even a split secondter, Vali suddenly felt something hitting his arms with so much force and it even traveled throughout his body.


    As fast as his fastest flight speed, Vali flew back and instantly hit the barrier which is still in ce. The barrier is now being taken care of hundreds of Devils that Serafall brought with her. Cleria also already escaped long ago.


    When Vali hit the barrier, the shock is so strong that the barrier was almost broken all the Devils were shaken. Some of them were even knocked out. The barrier they are holding is supposedly capable of taking on an Ultimate ss Devils'' attack without much problem but this happened with just a single punch.


    Vali''s armor was broken into fine pieces revealing his true appearance. His blue wings are still there but it doesn''t have its former shine and it also has numerous cracks on it. Normally, he would have a very dashing appearance and demeanor but after taking an attack from Kisuke, he kept coughing blood with his face''s other orifices bleeding. Both of his arms were mangled and unusable and his chest caved in. Vali is on the verge of death. A magic circle also appeared below him, intending to teleport him out of the danger.


    "Hooh�� Still alive I see�� You''re pretty tough." Kisuke spoke with his chilling voice. But instead of going after Kokabiel, he pointed a finger towards Vali and from the tip, a green ball of destructive energy started to pool. A few secondster, it grew to be as big as a baseball.


    "Cero." Kisuke muttered and the green ball of destruction became a beam. However, just as he muttered the name of the technique, a panicked voice rang in his head, ''Please don''t kill him! Kisuke!''


    This resulted in him flicking his finger upwards and the beam that would take Vali''s life went through the space a few feet above his head. The magic circle then finished its preparatory work and was able to transport Vali away leaving only a pool of blood, ''I expect a full exnationter, Kuroka.''


    ''I understand�� I''ll tell you everything. Thank you for sparing him.'' Kuroka replied in his mind and her connection was disconnected as she didn''t want to risk being discovered.


    Kisuke swiped up his hand on his face and the mask disappeared and he walked towards Kokabiel, "Hadou no 54 Haien(Abolishing mes)." He sent a purple ball of me and incinerated Kokabiel, not leaving even ash behind.


    He turned around and said, "Let''s go home~! I''m hungry!"

 Volume 5 229 - The Aftermath 1/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 229 - The Aftermath 1/7</h4>


    "Let''s go home~! I''m hungry!" Kisuke walked towards the still stunned group. They''re still processing what just happened, including Serafall.


    Kisuke first went to Yoruichi who is stepping on Issei. Kisuke touched Issei''s forehead and sent two strands of his Reiatsu-Ki. The first strand is towards Issei''s mana circuit and the second one towards Ddraig to help him rein the Dragon Power currently rampaging around his body, ''Dragon-san, please be careful with this guy''s body more.''


    ''You can''t me me. It''s him who asked for power. I''m just going with what my host wants.'' Ddraig replied.


    ''��Fair enough.''


    ''Anyways, you really did a number to the white bastard. I don''t know you changed your mind in thest moment but it''s good that you didn''t kill him.''


    ''Oh�� You care about him that much?''


    ''Yes. But not the way you''re thinking. I can''t have my rival dying before we could have fun.''


    ''Well, you two deal with him in the future.'' Kisuke circted his Reiatsu-Ki for a few more seconds before disconnecting with Ddraig. He then looked towards Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi nodded and solidified her Reiatsu-Ki to carry both the unconscious Koneko and the unmoving Aika. The man in ripped kimono and the ck cat dragging the two injured fighters started to walk away, ignoring everyone.


    "W-wait! Ki-tan!" Serafall is the first one to recover and speak.


    "Hmm?" Kisuke stopped walking and turned around.


    "Y-you''re going to leave just like that?" Serafall''s usual demeanor is already gone and she started stuttering on some words.


    "Well, I have nothing else to do here. I know you want to ask some questions but is it really the time for that? You still have a lot of work to do." Kisuke replied and pointed to their surroundings, "You lot still have to fix a lot of things."


    "Guh�� True��" Serafall heaved arge sigh, "Then I''ll be visiting youter for official business."


    Kisuke smiled brightly and said, "Got it~. You''re wee anytime~." After saying that, however, his smile became cold, "And before I forgot, please make sure that they will learn their lesson. If not, they will really die without being able to fight back the next time they meet someone like that guy."


    All the young Devils, along with the exorcist, shuddered and look down in shame. They really fought someone terrifying without much thought. Although they did it to protect the town, the way they handled it is the worst. The moment they received the information about Kokabiel''s machinations about the Excalibur, they should have ryed that information to the higher-ups so that they could have sent a scouting squad to gauge the situation, after all, this is a Devil''s territory.


    "I understand. I''ll make sure that they learn their lesson. But before you go, I want to ask you one thing."


    "Go on�� I''m listening." Kisuke knew Serafall''s seriousness and faced her properly.


    "��Are you an enemy?"


    "Nee-sama!?" Sona looked towards her sister in shock. But Serafall uncharacteristically ignores her and only stared at Kisuke. Her stare is bordering re.


    Kisuke looked at her eyes and didn''t speak. After which, he fixed his hat and smiled, but instead of Serafall, he turned to Sona, "At the very least, I''m not Sona-kaichou''s enemy."


    Sona suddenly turned to Kisuke and saw his gentle smile. The heat then rose up to her head and her face became red from embarrassment. She hurried looked down as she can''t take his stare but it''s obvious for everyone that she''s trying to stop her grin and failing marvelously.


    Akeno on the side felt a pang of jealousy but didn''t know why�� She refuses to admit it.


    "I see��" Serafall''s bright smile came back and epted Kisuke''s answer. If he told her that he''s an ally, she would have a hard time believing him, but since he expressed his intentions to distance himself from the factions, she nodded in satisfaction as it''s more believable, "That''s great. Although I must say, you''re going to attract a lot of attention after this. The Underworld will wee someone like you anytime and you don''t have to be a Devil either~?."


    Kisuke chuckled, "If it''s convenient for me, then why not~?" He didn''t wait for her to say anything else and turned around and continued walking. After getting a certain distance away from them, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Aika, and Koneko disappeared in a sh.


    ''That''s really some insane speed�� I could hardly follow it�� And the strange cat can do it too.'' Serafall stared at the direction they disappeared for a while before turning her attention to Rias, "Rias-chan, are you fine with him taking Koneko-chan?"


    Rias smiled wryly, "Yes�� I''m extremely thankful to him for taking care of Koneko. It''s my fault that Koneko suffered those injuries and if he can help her, then I wouldn''t hesitate to ask for his help�� Even if it cost me an arm and leg��" Rias already knew her shorings and due to her wrong decisions, she was almost killed along those who are important to her. Even then, she''s still willing to ept her punishment.


    "Alright~?! We still have a lot of things to clean up. We have to finish before daybreak so you lot can''t go home yet~?!" Serafall signaled to the forces she brought with her to start working on the damaged part of the town. Their night is still long, "How about you, Miss Exorcist?"


    "!?" Xenovia was startled when she was suddenly called out by the Devil King, "I- I intend to look for the scattered pieces of the Excalibur and bring it to the Church."


    "Hmm�� Those fragments of that Holy Sword will affect the restoration magic that we''re about to cast so you can take those with you." Serafall then started her magic to restore the town. Since it''s their territory, they have the blueprint of everything in the town that they can follow.


    "T-Thank you��" Xenovia didn''t expect that she''ll easily agree. She''s even ready to be executed when she caught her attention.


    Xenovia was able to gather all the Excalibur''s fine pieces with the help of the Devils. She knew she can''t report this experience to the Church or they might just expel her. Little did she know that she''ll get expelled either way due to the knowledge of God''s death.


    She then said her goodbyes and went to Irina''s side. Xenovia also contacted the Church to report her sess in retrieving the Excalibur. She also wanted to confirm if what she heard from Kokabiel is true. She left the Devils to restore the town and waited at Irina''s side while reporting.


    With so many hands helping with the restoration, The town, the Kuoh Academy, in particr, was restored overnight and the residents aren''t even aware of what just happened.

 Volume 5 230 - Aftermath 2/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 230 - Aftermath 2/7</h4>


    "We received aprehensive report from Serafall-sama regarding the incident." Grayfia, in her maid outfit, entered Sirzechs'' office. Sirzechs is currently buried in paperwork after what happened with Kokabiel. He has to contact a lot of people to keep them informed of what''s happening especially their rtionship with Grigori.


    Sirzechs massages the bridge of his nose before looking up, "Great. Let me have it." Grayfia passed the papers she''s holding to Sirzechs for him to read. Both of them were able to watch what happened on theter part of the incident through the video feeds that Serafall sent them, but getting the experience of someone who''s actually there is a lot better. Although, even now, Sirzechs and Grayfia couldn''t still believe that someone like Kisuke is living in the town where Rias is overseeing. They are thankful to him for saving Rias and the rest, but also a bit scared at the prospect that he''s an enemy.


    Sirzechs read through the whole report and put it down after a heavy sigh, "Grayfia�� Have you read this?"


    "No." Grayfia immediately replied and she saw Sirzechs signaling her to do so. Grabbing the papers from the table, she read through it and she couldn''t help but furrow her brows and make a serious expression, "Is this true?"


    From the report that both of them just read, they knew that they still underestimated Kisuke�� greatly. Since they are only watching visually, they couldn''t tell the intensity of Kisuke''s ''magic'' and could only estimate its strength through the destruction it wrought. And true enough, there are some parts that they couldn''t understand like those instances that Kisuke was able to damage Kokabiel despite his ''weaker'' ''magic''.


    Although they still don''t know the answer about that, they knew from Serafall that he''s using an entirely different system to cast his magic. Something obscure that even Serafall can''t tell where it originated even after feeling and analyzing it.


    "Inhuman, huh��?" Sirzechs muttered as he recalls the word Serafall kept using to describe Kisuke''s abilities.


    "I''ve already investigated his history and the result is that he''s really born in Kuoh Town and lived as a human." Grayfia started preparing tea for Sirzechs.


    Scanning the report again, Sirzechs asked, "No signs of memory maniption?"


    "None whatsoever�� If we based it on ourmon sense, anyway. Now that we got a glimpse of what he''s capable of, I''m not so sure anymore�� Although if thinking logically, I doubt he will manipte anyone''s memories." Putting the cup of hot tea in front of Sirzechs, Grayfia replied and inputted her own thoughts.


    "Why is that?" Sirzechs thank Grayfia and sips his tea.


    "He''s famous in the whole town of Kuoh as a petty pervert. And as someone who wants to manipte memories discreetly, he wouldn''t choose such a background. I also found out that his mother is worked for a subsidiarypany of the Gremory Household for less than a decade, and we have some High-ss Devils stationed there and it''s impossible to manipte their memories." From her personal space, Grayfia pulled out a variety of snacks to apany the tea.


    Sirzechs caught her words and asked, "Hmm? Worked?"


    "Yes. She quit after the Gremory and Phenex Rating Game, probably for her safety. And soon after that, she got the protection of the Sitri n and the Gremory n through Sona and Rias so that the investigators regarding the Rating Game won''t be able to approach her. She''s currently in Hokkaido to apparently attend her friend''s wedding." Grayfia stands to the side after setting everything.


    "A protection from Gremory? Why? And why don''t I know anything about it?"


    "Rias-sama apparently lost to a bet against Kisuke Urahara and asked for his mother''s protection. As for how it happened, I have no idea as she didn''t want to say anything about it. And it''s only a small amount of manpower for a human''s protection."


    "What about the Sitri Household? Did Sona also lose a bet?"


    "From what I heard, she voluntarily requested her household to send some protection because it''s apparently for her ''fiance candidate''."


    "What? So it''s true? I thought it''s just Sona''s way to get away from marriage proposalsing to her."


    "The reason why Serafall-sama went to the Human Worldst time is to meet this ''fiance'' and it seems that some incident happened and Kisuke Urahara went to Greece and only came back in the middle of Kokabiel''s rampage."


    "��" Sirzechs stayed silent for a moment before sighing again, "I have to meet this Kisuke Urahara in personter�� Setting him aside, what about the ck cat?"


    Grayfia made aplicated expression after hearing about the cat, "The cat seems to be the Yoruichi were are looking for ording to Rias-sama."


    Sirzechs noticed this change in her expression and asked, "What''s wrong?"


    "�� I met both Kisuke Urahara and cat prior to the Rating Game�� And I''m ashamed to say that I offended them for a little bit." Grayfia replied, ''No wonder the cat is giving me that weird look.''


    "What happened?"


    "Because Kisuke Urahara threatened the youngsters, I had to return the favor��"


    "From the reports, it seems that he''s not the type of person to do that without any reason."


    "Yes, you''re right. Rias-sama and Akeno forcibly intruded his privacy and he''s not happy with that."


    "��" Sirzechs took a sip of his tea again and said, "We can''t change the past so stop thinking about it anymore. As an Ultimate-ss Devil and a servant, it''s only natural that you''d retaliate against those who go against your master. What we should be thinking is how can we pull him and this Yoruichi to our side. If I remember it right, he''s pretty close with Issei-kun and Koneko-chan, so we can assume that he''s not our enemy�� for now."


    "Understood. I''ll prepare something as thanks for saving Rias-sama and her peerage."


    "Oh�� And before I forgot, what about the other human? Aika Kiryuu, was it? I heard that she was able to go toe to toe against Kokabiel even for a short period of time. What''s her story?"


    "I''m still investigating, but from my preliminary investigations, she''s only a normal Human until recently."


    "��" Sirzechs furrowed his brows after hearing Grayfia, "A normal human recently? And she was able to go against Kokabiel?"


    "It''s really a strange case that is why I want to investigate more, but it''s safe to assume that it has something to do with Kisuke Urahara as I heard directly from Serafall-sama that she had a simr aura with Kisuke when she suddenly transformed. Furthermore, she''s the host of the ''Last Sacred Gear'' which is known to be a useless Longinus, and it seems that she can change the form or this daggers�� A bnce breaker, perhaps."


    "Haah�� Too many unknowns in that small town�� Maybe I should pull out Rias?"


    "I doubt she''ll agree to that. And besides, the Red Dragon Emperor''s family is currently living in that town as normal citizens and couldn''t be moved."


    "��I know��" Sirzechs finished his tea and instructed Grayfia, "Grayfia, continue your investigation and avoid touching Kisuke Urahara''s and Yoruichi''s bottom line. We need more information if we want to further our rtionship with them."


    "I''ll work on it."


    "In the meantime, I''ll deal with Azazel''s invitation first." Sirzechs intended to contact the current leader of Heaven to ask if he received the same proposition from Azazel.

 Volume 5 231 - Aftermath 3/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 231 - Aftermath 3/7</h4>


    In the middle of very bright space, there ten figures sitting around arge stone round table discussing something. They are all Angels of high standing, Seraphim, and each one of them has twelve has six pairs of wings with nine of then having resplendent white wings and one has dazzling and magnificent golden wings.


    As they are discussing, a golden magic circle suddenly appeared ten meters away from them and all of them stopped speaking. A secondter, a flustered Angel with four pairs of wings appeared, "Michael-sama! It''s an emergency!"


    "Calm down. What''s wrong?" The one with golden wings stood up and asked the panicking Angel. He has the appearance of a handsome-looking man with long blond hair and green eyes. He wears a red robe with a gold cross on the front of his white alb. He has golden shoulder tes with a white sash and a golden halo set above his head. This is the current leader of Heaven after the Biblical God died in the Great War.


    The Angel, however, acted like he didn''t hear Michael and said in still flustered expression, "Arge influx of souls suddenly came to the Third Heaven!"


    Michael, including everyone around, furrowed their brows at this news, "What happened? And how many souls is this to make you panic like this?"


    "The cause is still unknown but we''re all trying our best to find it. The number of souls that arrive in the Third Heaven is around 250,000." The Angel replied."


    "What!?" Michael is evidently shocked after hearing his words. The other twelve-winged Angels in the rooms also stood up in shock, "What else do you know!? And why didn''t we know about it until the souls reached the Third Heaven!? We should have been alerted when they appeared in the Purgatory to be purified!"


    Of course, they would all panic. Such a number of souls arriving in the Third Heaven means that the same number just died in the Human World and the only thing capable of producing such a result is a weapon of mass destruction. They know well enough that if such an attack happens, another one is soon to follow in retaliation, and such an event will result in Humanity''s extinction.


    "We don''t know anything aside from the souls came from a small town in Japan where Devils are overlooking and the souls only went through the Purgatory without being purified. However, we already checked the souls and we can assure you that they are ''clean'' and are ready for reincarnation!" The Angel got some of his bearings and reported cleanly.


    Michael was about to give his orders to his fellow Seraphim when another golden magic circle materialized beside the reporting Angel and decided to wait. Another Angel with four pairs of wings appeared and immediately said, "Michael-sama! We have confirmed that Kokabiel has just died!"


    ''Kokabiel died?'' Michael then started thinking as he suddenly got the connection, ''250,000 souls appeared and Kokabiel died�� Could it be?'' He faced the second Angel and asked, "Where did he die?"


    "Kuoh Town, Michael-sama. It seems that he got personally involved with the Excalibur incident."


    "What!? Then what about the exorcists that the Church sent to retrieve the stolen Excaliburs?" This is Michael''s first worry as he didn''t expect that Kokabiel would put his hands in this Human conflict himself.


    "They are still both alive. And currently, one of them is reporting to the Church."


    Michael sighed in relief and went silent. After a minute of thinking, he started giving orders, "You two are to go back and keep an eye in Kuoh Town."


    "Yes!" Both of the Angel then teleported back to their posts.


    After seeing them gone, Michael then faced his fellow Seraphim, "Metatron, Sandalphon, gather a few of your elite forces and go to the towns adjacent to the Kuoh Town. Wait for further orders there."


    The two of the Seraphim nodded without question and teleported away.


    "Uriel, Raguel, and Sariel. Go around and start arming our forces. I really hope that we don''t go to war but we can''t get caught unprepared."


    Just like the first two, three Seraphim nodded and teleported away.


    "Raphael, Remiel, and Remiel. Go to thergest Churches and gather more information on what''s really happening and ry them to Gabriel. Gabriel, you are to remain here and ry information to us so that we could move more effectively."


    "What about you?" Gabriel asked. Gabriel has the appearance of an extremely beautiful woman with curly blonde hair and a voluptuous figure and is known as the most beautiful woman in Heaven. She''s also the only female in the Seraphim.


    "I''m going to Kuoh Town."


    "Wait, isn''t that too dangerous? At least go with one of us." Raphael asked.


    "It''s fine. I''m only going to take a look and immediatelye back. I''ll also contact the Devil King in charge of Foreign Affairs as it''s a Devil''s territory. We all know that the current Underworld and Heaven doesn''t want to go to war so I doubt they''ll attack me." Michael smiled and ease their worries.


    "But��"


    "Although that Devil King is really entric, she''s not unreasonable so it''ll be fine." Turning around, Michael left and teleported to the First Heaven where he could teleport to the Human World.


    Michael brought two Angels with him as assistants and they teleported to their nearest territory to Kuoh Town. They then flew towards Kuoh Town in almost speed of sound. Once they arrived, however, they were shocked at the town''s state, ''Am I wrong? Are those souls inhabitants of the Kuoh Town and not Kokabiel''s evil spirits?''


    Michael first observed the town. Hundreds of Devils are going around fixing the devastated town and in the middle of all of it is a familiar figure, ''Serafall? What really happened here? I thought the one overlooking this town are two heiresses of noble households in the Underworld.''


    It didn''t take too long for Serafall to notice the Angels'' arrival and turned to their direction, ''Michael? What is doing here? Even though this is a big event, it shouldn''t warrant his presence.''


    Both of them stared at each other for a little while before Michael decided to approach and greet Serafall, "Good day, Devil King Serafall Leviathan. I''m sorry for my sudden visit, but something happened in Heaven that I need to confirm something."


    Serafall smiled and greeted him back, "Good day too, Michael-chan~! I''m also interested in why you''re here. Let''s go over there and have a sit." She then pointed and walking over to a temporary lodging that they made for resting purposes.


    Michael silently followed her and when they reached the entrance, he signaled his assistants to stay on the entrance. Once both of them entered, the assistants noticed a strong barrier appearing around the lodging.


    "Can you tell me what happened first?" Without beating around the bush, Serafall asked him directly after putting up the barrier.


    Michael nodded and said, "Around 250,000 souls arrived in the Third Heaven, and I heard Kokabiel died here."


    Serafall''s eyes widened, ''Is it Ki-tan? But how? And Third Heaven? Does it mean that they are already purified? But it''s not even an hour��''


    "Judging from your reaction, it seems that those souls really came from Kokabiel."


    "Probably�� Someone eradicated those evil spirits�� But I never thought they''d arrive at your ce."


    "That''s my reason foring here. How? You and I both know how troublesome Kokabiel''s evil spirits are and the only way to fight them is to either eradicate or seal thempletely. 200,000 of those evil spirits were eradicated and the rest are sealed by Azazel. And now we have a situation where those 250,000 evil spirits came back to the reincarnation cycle�� How?"


    Serafall stayed silent and started thinking, ''Now then�� How much should I tell him? I didn''t think that today will be a long day�� Hah�� Ki-tan, you owe me some snacks!''

 Volume 5 232 - Aftermath 4/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 232 - Aftermath 4/7</h4>


    After being teleported, Vali was greeted by multiple figures with ck wings and all of them started caring for his wounds. They then slowly and carefully transferred him to a room and started casting healing magic on him.


    From the entrance of the room, Azazel came, "Still alive?"


    The other Fallen Angels greeted Azazel and continue on their work and attached various medical types of equipment on Vali.


    "��" Despite his injuries, Vali isn''t groaning in pain. It is as if he''s already used to such abuse, "��He let me live, didn''t he?"


    After doing everything they can, the Fallen Angels left the room to let Azazel and Vali talk in private.


    Azazel grabbed a chair and sat beside Vali''s bed. He took out a cigarette and lit it up. After blowing the smoke, he replied, "He did�� Although even I''m not sure why he did that." Azazel recalled the scene where Vali was about to be killed. At that point, due to its suddenness, he couldn''t have done anything but watch, ''That was a big mistake�� I could have lost Vali just like that��''


    "I could only see thest attack, but tell me, did he pity me?" Vali asked.


    "Nope. Not at all. Something suddenly changed his mind. His killing intent is real."


    "��" Vali stayed silent after that. A few minutes of silence, he closed his eyes to rest.


    Azazel finished his cigarette and stood up to leave, ''Still got a lot of work to do�� I should really think of ways I can retire.'' Reaching the door, Azazel gave his adopted son a final look, ''I should meet that guy��''


    Half an hourter, Vali suddenly opened his eyes and with the snap of his fingers, he sealed the room using his magic.


    A few secondster, a purple magic circle suddenly appeared not from his bed and from it, two figures emerged. The first figure is the familiar ck-haired golden-eyed nekomata, Kuroka. The second one a young man with short light-colored hair. He is dressed in ancient Chinese armor that was used during the Three Kingdoms period. This man is a monkey Youkai and the descendant of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong.


    The two of them approached Vali and the first one to open his mouth is the young man, "Yo, Vali. I heard that you almost died, but it seems that you''re doing fine."


    Vali in response only chuckled, "I found myself a strong opponent. I looking forward to our rematch in the future. Bikou, you should also train and have a match with him." Instead of being discouraged after almost being instantly killed, his motivation rose up.


    "Hah�� I should have known��" Kuroka heaved arge sigh.


    "Kakaka! That''s the Vali we knew! What else did you expect? But is he really that strong?" Bikou asked.


    Vali smiled, "He is�� Too strong even�� I''ve already met a bunch of strong people but he doesn''t give me a good feeling. I already asked Albion and he confirmed that he''s a human."


    "A human!? The one who did you in is a human!? Not some reincarnated Devil or Youkai!? Did he have a bunch of Longinus?" A barrage of questions came from Bikou. He just couldn''t believe that the one who defeated the strongest person in their group is a human. Even if it''s a hero of ancient times, he wouldn''t be defeated to the point of almost dying.


    I also asked Albion about that and he''s sure that what he''s using isn''t a Sacred Gear, ''And that mask�� Even Albion doesn''t have a clue to what it is. All Albion can tell is that something like that shouldn''t be existing.'' Vali thought. He didn''t let out these thoughts as it is too absurd. Howe something that shouldn''t exist suddenly just appeared out of nowhere. He doesn''t understand Albion''s reasoning on why he judged it like that.


    Bikou, as a fellow battle maniac, grinned, "I want to meet him."


    Kuroka, who''s silently watching the two of them finally spoke, "You better not mess with that pervert too much."


    Both of them suddenly stopped and looked towards Kuroka with widened eyes, "Why do you sound you personally knew that guy?" Bikou asked.


    "Due to an unfortunate�� Wait, maybe it''s fortunate? I met that guy." Kuroka replied, but she too wasn''t so sure how she would describe her rtionship with Kisuke. Unfortunate because she met the most infuriating person and she was tied up in the most humiliating way. Remembering it again made her grit her teeth. Although, those turn of events also made her and Shirone make up. There is still an awkward atmosphere between them, but this is a lot better than in the past where she couldn''t talk to her little sister that she loves so much.


    Vali stared at her for a moment until something shed in his head, "�� You''re the one who asked him to spare me?"


    Kuroka stared back at him and put on a serious expression, "Yes."


    There was silence between the three of them. After a minute or two of silence, however, Vali smiled again, "Thank you."


    Kuroka smiled back, "You''re wee~." Although Vali is a battle maniac and wouldn''t hesitate to put his life on the line to get stronger, he would never me someone who just saved his life. It''s true that he enjoys the adrenaline, but Vali''s motivation isn''t from battling itself but from the desire to get stronger to achieve his goal�� his revenge. So he couldn''t die just yet.


    Bikou then scratched his head, "But what should we do? Since those from the Old Devil Kings Faction already received the information about Azazel''s n, they wouldn''t miss this chance to attack when the leaders of the Three Factions gathered. Are you going to postpone revealing yourself?"


    "I can''t postpone it. It''ll be disadvantageous for us to keep hiding as they also started contacting those in different factions and already got the support of some of the Gods. We can''t miss the opportunity to get Fenrir. And we won''t be able to focus on looking for Gogmagog if I''m under Azazel''s eyes." Vali sighed. With the help of Fallen Angel''s medical facility, his life isn''t in danger anymore, but it also means that he won''t be able to do a full recovery before their anticipated battles.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. I asked that guy to send some medicine to assist in your recovery." Kuroka grinned and said.


    Vali and Bikou simultaneously looked towards Kuroka in confusion, "That guy?"


    Kuroka''s grin grewrger, "Kisuke Urahara. The guy who almost killed you~."


    "Ha��?" Vali and Bikou were dumbfounded at her words. The first one to recover is Vali and feigned a cough, "How? Why? How much does he know? And aren''t you a bit too close to him if you can ask him for medicine?" Vali didn''t question the authenticity of Kuroka''s aforementioned medicine, but he''s confused about why this Kisuke Urahara would agree. Just a while ago, they tried killing each other, though it''s pretty much one-sided.


    "How? I can contact him and ask for some things in exchange for some benefits. Why? I don''t know really know how he thinks, but my guess is that outside of his emotional barrier, being an enemy or an ally only means how much benefit he could get. How much does he know? I told him all the current members of the Khaos Brigade. And I''m too close to him? No way! That perverted bastard only knows how to annoy and mess with people''s heads! If not for Shirone, I wouldn''t even want to talk to him!"


    Vali somehow understands Kuroka''s words and chooses not to ask anymore. This is also the first time Vali and Bikou see her became so agitated and both of them thought with honest admiration, ''This guy is amazing��''


    "Ehem�� So? Where is this medicine?" Vali didn''t want to dig deeper so he pushed the conversation.


    "Uhh�� He told me that it''ll be delivered once he prepared it. He''ll probably send it to me through space magic so I''m just waiting f--." Kuroka is exining when the three of them suddenly felt a tiny fluctuation in space signifying that someone wants to teleport in that spot.


    "Oh. That''s probably�� it?" Kuroka and the two guys looked towards the spot where space is fluctuating, but instead of the medicine they are expecting, a loli in gothic outfit appeared, "O��phis?" All of them dumbfoundedly muttered.


    Ignoring their reaction, Ophis went to Kuroka with her small steps and reached out for her pocket. She then pulled out a test tube with a red liquid inside it and passed it to Kuroka, "The lecherous guy with a bucket hat asked me to pass this to you."


    Kuroka nkly received the test tube from Ophis. After doing what she''s asked to do, she immediately went back to the Urahara Household with teleportation to receive her ''reward'' for this ''quest''.


    It took them a minute after Ophis left to recover and the first one to speak is Vali, "��What the hell?"


    "Did he just ask the big boss of our organization to do a delivery to us?" Bikou followed up.


    "�� I didn''t expect him to know Ophis personally�� But you see what I mean? I''m right when I said that he likes to mess with people''s heads��" Kuroka didn''t really know how to react to what just happened, "So I''m warning you again�� Messing with him isn''t worth it�� Being injured or wounded is the least of your worries��"


    Vali and Bikou both shallowed their saliva and nodded. They now realized that there is something more terrifying than raw power.

 Volume 5 233 - Aftermath 5/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 233 - Aftermath 5/7</h4>


    Somewhere in the Dimensional Gap, a ck sphere is floating silently. Inside it is two figures sitting on each end of the table with only a single candle stand on the center. The first figure is a tall skeleton dressed in attire worn by high priests, gives off a creepy aura. Despite having no eyes, his eye sockets can glow to give the appearance of eyes. The second one is a man dressed in ck cloak hiding most of his features.


    Hades, the tall skeleton spoke, "You heard the news?"


    "I did, and it''s surprising�� But this is still within our predicted oue. It''s a lot better for us that he came out now. Although, it''s a shame that we lost Kokabiel before he matured." The man in the cloak started tapping his fingers on the table.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong? Something bothering you?" Ignoring Kokabiel''s death, Hades conjured a wine for himself and started drinking it.


    "You have not heard the rumors?" The cloaked man looked at him in surprise.


    "What rumors? I''m in myboratory as ofte toplete that ''that'', and I''ve onlye out now to meet you." It''s Hades'' turn to be confused. He doubts that any rumor would bother him but observing the other party''s reaction, it''s a fairly serious rumor.


    The cloaked man wanted to ask about the status of ''that'' but chose to answer Hades'' question first, "Athena locked herself in her private quarters."


    "Knowing her, that''s indeed strange, but to confirm that as a rumor should be easy and it isn''t such a big deal."


    "That part is not a rumor as I personally confirmed that it''s true. What I can''t confirm is that before she locked herself up, someone, I don''t know if it''s a fellow God or a servant, noticed her injured�� almost fatally even."


    "��Didn''t Zeus try to confirm this? Her precious daughter being injured, it''s impossible for him to not act." Hades became serious after hearing that Athena got injured, ''That little girl? Only a few people can do that��''


    "He did enter her room with his authority, but he also came out soon after without any changes and never been back since then. He also isn''t taking any strange action and just goes on with his original duties."


    "Then the chances of that rumor being true is almost none. We know Zeus. If someone were to hurt her precious daughter, he wouldn''t take it silently. But then again, Athena locking herself up is a strange point."


    "Right, so I investigate her recent actions." The cloaked man then stood up and paced around, "It seems that she went to do her usual duty of sealing Medusa."


    Hades stared at the man silently before saying, "And it failed�� If that''s what you''re trying to say."


    "Yes. I''ll skip to the results as there isn''t much story either. First, the Perseus n, which is overseeing Medusa for countless generations were almost annihted. The only ones remaining were one current leader, two of the direct descendants and a quarter of their original forces.


    "Their strongest forces were killed in the separate space were Athena descended, but most people were killed in the Perseus n''s own bases. ording to the reports that I received, the survivors said that it was Teny trying to raise a coup killing her own father in the process and stealing the bronze shield."


    "Teny? Howe that name sounds familiar?" Hades asked.


    "It''s the twin sister of Elexa and the one hiding to provide us information from the Human World. In some instances, she also reports Athena''s movements to me."


    "Oh right, the crazy little human," Hades remembered the Teny, but not due to her achievements, but because of her crazy little head, "What else?"


    "Another piece of information I received is Medusa disappeared." The cloaked man sat back down and watches Hades'' reaction. He can see the blue mes that are serving as his eyes were fluctuating.


    Hades first grabbed something under his cloak and sent his Divinity to it. A few secondster, it responded, "Hmm?�� I can''t track her?"


    "��Did she die or did she escape?" Hades became troubled after figuring that he can''t track Medusa''s position, ''Why now of all times? I manage toplete ''that'' so this time, I wanted to take hold of her for my research�� It''s impossible for her to escape or die on her own�� Athena? Did she finally found a way to kill her? No�� Even with the chains'' help, it currently impossible for her. The most she can do is push her soul to an almostpletely corrupt level. And Athena might think that she was able to kill her but I''m responsible for a small amount of corruption of Medusa''s soul so even after killing her pletely'' she would secretlye to my side. As for escaping�� That''s even more impossible�� at least from my knowledge.''


    "That''s unknown. I also tried searching for her soul but I failed. Only Athena should know of her fate since she should be near her before her apparent disappearance."


    "��How troublesome�� The possibility of something lurking that could threaten us without our knowledge became apparent. We should be more careful." Hades and the man in cloak didn''t connect Kisuke to this incident because they knew how powerful Athena is and the seal on Medusa. Based on their assumptions, Kisuke''s power is only at the Satan-ss at most, but that itself is already surprising, "By the way, what happened to your prophecies that we would fail?"


    "It''s already gone. That means our actions are correct. We also targeted the correct person. It seems that the poison you''re making is so potent that it can even bend fate. No one should be immune with that crazy thing you made and the only question is the doses." The man in cloak chuckled. Ever since he stopped seeing their future bing a failure due to a single human, he became more cheerful.


    "Fafafa! Of course! I had a hard time mixing all those vtile things before I canplete it. Although I only have a few drops of it, I still consider it as my trump card."


    "So? When are you going to make a move? We can''t keep this long unless you want a change in my prophecy."


    "It seems that big crow Azazel is cooking something up. I''d like to see it first before I deal with that human."


    "Great. I''ll be waiting for your result. And while we are at it, I''ll also deal with Zeus and investigate more about Medusa''s disappearance. It''ll be too much of a shame if she really is killed."


    Hades only chuckled before teleporting away. The man in cloak also teleported away after seeing him leave.


    Little they did know, however, Kisuke went off their radar. Due to his involvement with the delinquent dragon and loli dragon who''s always out for his snacks, these two transcendent beings, Kisuke''s fate, including those around him became muddled to the point that any prophecy regarding them became obsolete.

 Volume 5 234 - Aftermath 6/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 234 - Aftermath 6/7</h4>


    After Kisuke asked her to leave before his battle with Kokabiel, Ophis just wandered around with the snacks on her hand with nothing to do. At first, she intended to return to the Khaos Brigade''s hideout but decided against it after a few seconds of thinking, "��They might take biscuits."


    Ophis then wandered the whole Earth while slowly eating her biscuits. But soon enough, the biscuits on her te were gone without her realizing it. And even if she was able to decrease her eating pace, the biscuits onlysted for about an hour.


    The moment her tiny handnded on the te but failed to grab a biscuit, she got a bad premonition. She hurriedly looked down on her dested te and her heart sank a little bit, "��Gone��"


    Ophis stared at her empty te with a nk expression for the whole ten minutes while standing on top of Mount Everest. The Infinite Dragon God, mourning the fact that her te is empty. If others who know her were to witness this scene, the people who don''t have enough nerve would shout, "What the f*ck!" and the rest would question their reality.


    Ophis, however, didn''t feel disheartened and a glint shes through her eyes. In an instant she, teleported. When she reappeared, in front of her is a door and behind her is a hallway. Without hesitation, she opened the door and a certain scene entered her mind. It''s the scene she kept seeing in Japanese homes and she thought of imitating it, "��Wee home." She said with a small smile on her face.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi who just arrived using sh Step along with the now unconscious Aika and Koneko in front of their house were dumbfounded. But both of them saw the empty te on her hand and instantly understood what''s going on. Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other andughs escaped from them. Moving forward, Kisuke patted Ophis'' head and entered the house, "We''re back~!"


    Ophis nodded and followed them inside. She nced at the two injured girls and looked towards Kisuke. Without turning around, Kisuke said, "They''re fine."


    They then reached the living room and set both Koneko and Aika on the sofa. Since Kisuke just did something big, he knew that a lot of eyes would focus on him and the first thing he did is to reinforce the defense and stealth mechanism of the house. He couldn''t carelessly teleport to the Training Ground as he didn''t want to risk it getting exposed at this stage. Beside''s Medusa is also currently resting in his and Yoruichi''s room.


    Kisuke then proceeds to heal both Aika and Koneko with the help of Yoruichi. After the first aid, he remembered something, "Oh right�� I promised Kuroka that I would give her medicine for that white guy."


    "Is that alright? Even though that guy is weaker than you, his intent to kill is still pretty obvious." Yoruichi asked.


    "It''s fine. He''s just a typical battle maniac. Even Zaraki would release bloodlust if it''s about a good fight and he wouldn''t hold back even if it''s a friend. Besides, if it''s as Kuroka said, we can strike a deal with them." Kisuke grinned as he pulled out a test tube with a cork containing a red liquid.


    Seeing the test tube, Yoruichi''s mouth twitches, "The hell? An HP potion? You yed too many games."


    "Since you know what it is, you also yed quite a bit of RPG."


    "Well�� I have too much time sometimes and they''re a bit�� amusing. Anyway, how will you give it to her?" Yoruichi felt a little bit embarrassed and changed the subject.


    "I intended to teleport it to her side, but��" Kisuke transferred her sight to Ophis who is still staring at him while holding an empty te, "That intense stare and empty te kept bugging me��"


    "True��" Yoruichi also nced at Ophis and instantly agreed.


    "Uhmm�� Ophis-chan�� Let me have that empty te first." Kisuke reached out his hand towards her and Ophis silently passed her beloved te to him.


    After getting the te, Kisuke returned it to his inventory, "Ophis-chan, I can''t keep giving you snacks for free."


    Hearing this, Ophis'' eyes widened. She, who was supposed to be an apathetic being, felt the world crashing down. The lights in her eyes were gone.


    "What are you doing, you idiot!?" Yoruichi immediately smacked his head.


    Kisuke just let Yoruichi smack him, but inside his mind, ''Crap�� This loli is too cute!''


    "Ehem!" Feigning a cough, Kisuke looked back up to Ophis, "Ophis-chan, you misunderstand. It doesn''t mean that I won''t give you snacks ever. It''s just you have to ''work'' for it."


    Ophis'' eyes lit back up and an ted feeling spread through her whole being. For Ophis, this is the first time she ever felt like this so she''s a bit confused and curious. But the allure of the snacks is a lot greater so she ignored it for now and tried to understand what Kisuke means by ''work''. Thinking for a few seconds, she understood what she has to do and immediately conjured several ''snakes'' that can strengthen people. For her, ''work'' is just the same as the ''wish'' those guys from her organization always ask her. She looked back to Kisuke, feeling proud of her ability.


    Yoruichi stopped moving and whispered to Kisuke, "Kisuke�� This loli is too cute."


    "I know right!"


    "��I want to protect her��" Yoruichi followed up.


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke replied, "Great! I fully support you!" He then looked back to Ophis, "And Ophis-chan, I don''t need your snakes."


    Ophis was shocked yet again. This is the only ''work'' she knew, after all. Not knowing what to do, she''s feeling down again.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi both wanted tough. Kisuke showed her the test tube with red liquid and asked, "Do you know Kuroka? She should be in your organization."


    Ophis tilted her head in response. She doesn''t know anyone like that.


    Understanding what she wants to say, Kisuke supplemented her with information, "It''s the ck cat. She should be with the guy with white armor."


    Recalling a certain figure, she nodded.


    "Great. Give this to her, and I''ll give you a box of doughnuts."


    Immediately after hearing what she has to do to get a box of her favorite, she grabbed the test tube and turned into nothingness in an instant. A few secondster, she returned. Kisuke and Yoruichi can tell her anticipation from her demeanor, ''This loli is getting easier and easier to read as time goes��'' They both thought.


    Without letting her wait, Kisuke took out a box of assorted doughnuts. Ophis immediately grabbed it and set it on the table. She opened her treasure box and got conflicted about which one to attack first. She then decided to get the chocte zed doughnut. But just as she was about to grab it, a certain message shed through her mind stopping her mind midway.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi noticed the change on Ophis but they only looked at her silently. Ophis stared at her treasure for a minute before closing the box again. She then gave it back to Kisuke.


    "What wrong?" Kisuke asked.


    "��Meeting��"


    "Can''t you eat it while in the meeting?" Kisuke knew which meeting she is talking about.


    "I can''t�� They might get my doughnuts." For Ophis, snacks are the ultimate pleasure. If others in Khaos Brigade see her with a box of doughnuts, they might ''wish'' for it and she won''t be able to reject it.


    Kisuke chuckled and received the box, "Good. I''ll give it to youter."


    Ophis nodded and she turned into smoke, leaving the two to take care of the injured people.


    This time, she reappeared arge hall with a single luxurious seat on the podium at the end of the hall. Ophis is not the only one inside the hall as there are multiple others waiting for her arrival, "Wee back, Ouroboros Dragon-sama." One of the figures greeted her with mock respect but Ophis is too innocent to notice this.


    Ignoring them, Ophis slowly walked towards the podium and sat down on the only seat. She didn''t say anything and only waited for them to talk. The rest didn''t mind this as she never voiced out her thoughts even though she''s the leader of their organization.

 Volume 5 235 - Aftermath 7/7

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 235 - Aftermath 7/7</h4>


    Originally founded with the purpose to create an opposing force to the growing alliances of mythologies, the Khaos Brigade was built as a cooperation between the Fallen Angel Satanael and the Wizards of Oz. At some point, it was handed to Ophis, the Dragon God of Infinity, who has the sole purpose of removing the Great Red, one of the most powerful Dragons in existence known as the True Dragon, out of the Dimensional Gap.


    A few minutester, few more people arrived, including Kuroka and Bikou who are looking at Ophis strangely, "It seems that everyone who will attend is here. Let''s start the meeting. The main agenda is about the Tri-Faction Alliance that is Azazel is proposing." A young handsome looking man appearing in his early twenties with silver hair that is tied in a braided hairstyle spoke. He wears a silver robe with detailed essories.


    "Where is Rizevim?" A good looking man with ck hair tied up in a small ponytail and violet eyes as the silver-haired man.


    "Creuserey-sama, Rizevim-sama is currently busy with something and won''t be able to attend this time''s meeting." Replied the silver-haired man.


    "Tch! It''s always like this! He''s too busy toze around! If he had joined us to fight the Anti-Satan Faction, we would have won! Euclid! You should ''fix'' that master of yours!" Creuserey''s Demonic Power rose up and disturbed the surroundings. He always has hot blood for Rizevim, who is the strongest Devil among the Old-Satan Faction and didn''t participate in the Civil War against the Anti-Satan Faction led by Sirzechs Gremory.


    Euclid only ignored him as he''s already used to his countless provocation.


    "Stop this. We should be talking about the actions we should take against the leaders of the Three Factions." A tall bespectacled woman with a voluptuous figure went in the middle of them to stop their fight. She had tan skin with long brown hair tied into a bun with a headset and she has blue-grey eyes.


    "Katerea! Aren''t you upset about how he acted during the war!?" Creuserey then focused his anger on the fellow descendant of the Original Satans.


    Katerea fixed her sses and replied with a re, "Of course I am. But what you''re doing is only wasting time. Instead of regretting the past, you should use your head to think of a way to deal with those fake Devil Kings."


    Creuserey gritted his teeth because he can''t say anything about that. Seeing this, Katerea ignored him and looked towards Kuroka and Bikou, "The Hero Faction isn''t here and there are only two from your group?"


    "Vali is injured and the others are still on a certain mission for the organization," Kuroka replied.


    "I see." Katerea looked away from them and addressed everyone in the hall, "We''ll discuss Vali being injuredter. For now, we''ve confirmed that Azazel is indeed trying to initiate an alliance between the Three Factions. For this alliance to happen, leaders of each faction has toe together. I want to use this chance to take down those leaders."


    "Understood. Since you''re the one who initiated this meeting, we already figured that you do something yourself. But you must understand that we can''t focus all of our manpower for this as we still have a lot of things to do and we are already behind the schedule in some of them." Euclid voiced out his thoughts.


    "I know. I only need the participation of your magicians and Vali''s cooperation to deal with the barrier that would be ced. As for dealing with the leaders, I already have a n."


    "Is that so�� Then I''ll lend you some of the stray magicians. You can use them however you want."


    "Great." Katerea looked back to Kuroka and Bikou, "Will Vali be able to do his work? We already nned this some time ago so I can''t have him back out now. He''s the biggest key bypass the barrier without notice."


    "No worries~. He''ll be up and running before you know it. His injury isn''t that big of a deal after all." Kuroka lied through her teeth.


    "Hmm? That''s not what I heard from the Fallen Angel spies�� I heard that he almost got killed by an unknown individual."


    "The fact that they reported you the wrong diagnostics means that Vali sessfully fooled you all."


    "Hooh�� So you mean to say that unknown individual who is currently staying in the Kuoh Town isn''t that much of a threat? Why would Vali try to pretend to be hurt? And if he''s not really hurt, they why isn''t he here?"


    "Does he have to? He already knows what to-" Kuroka, however, was interrupted in the midst of exining, "You don''t have to exin it to her Kuroka." Vali came walking from afar.


    "��" Katerea and the rest of the people in the room stared at him for a while to check if he''s really healed, "Hmmm�� Good. Now that you''re here, let''s discuss in detail what we have to do."


    For the next hour, they discussed how will they trap the leaders of the three factions and eventually freezes them in time using the hidden servant of Rias Gremory who holds the Sacred Gear ''Forbidden Balor View''.


    "Now that is out of the way, how should we deal with that unknown guy? Kisuke Urahara, was it? Even though Vali only pretended to be seriously injured, the fact that he was able to fool everyone means that he''s really injured to some extent. Am I right, Vali?" Katerea led the topic towards Kisuke.


    "That is indeed the case," Vali replied.


    "Even though he isn''t as strong as the leaders, he could be a pain in the a$s, so we need someone to deal with him in case he gets involved." Katerea then looked towards one of her underling who is a High-ss Devil and understood what she meant.


    Not everyone could receive a ''snake'' from Ophis. Only those who act as leaders can receive one and those who propose something to achieve her goal in the long run. As long as you can connect what you''re about to do to Great Red leaving the dimensional gap, Ophis will always and with certainty grant you the power to achieving it.


    With that in mind, the High-ss Devil faced Ophis who is currently nkly staring forward, "Ouroboros Dragon-sama, please grant me the strength to remove this threat called Kisuke Urahara. Just like those in the Three Factions, he will stop us from achieving our ultimate goal of removing Great Red from the Dimensional Gap. If we don''t deal with him now, he will surely do something to impede us."


    Understanding what he is trying to do, two more High-ss Devil hurriedly stood up from Asmodeus and Beelzebub to ask for the same thing, "Ouroboros Dragon-sama, please grant us the strength to remove this threat. Since Vali Lucifer was injured, he would be a hard enemy without your blessing."


    They knew that the limit Ophis would grant her blessing is three for today. There was never the case that she granted more in the single day. If not, it wouldn''t only be these three that would ask for her blessing. The others who were a bit slower and still don''t have her blessing regretted and they couldn''t ask for the same reason even if she can grant another set of blessings tomorrow. That is Ophis'' unwritten rule. Despite how naive Ophis is, she never changed this rule.


    Vali, Kuroka, and Bikou off to side didn''t do anything and only watch them. They wanted to know if Ophis will react differently since Kisuke Urahara apparently has a connection with her.


    After a few seconds, Ophis silently lifted her hand and a magic circle in the form of infinity symbol emerged and three ck snakes came out from it. The three High-ss Devils rejoiced after seeing this and the trio couldn''t believe what''s happening, ''So she would give blessing to those who could help her remove Great Red from the Dimensional Gap even if it means you''re close to her?'' Vali thought.


    The High-ss Devils already witness this sight multiple times so they already know what they need to do. Each one of them opened their mouths to receive the snakes. They knew that Ophis'' snakes would reside inside their stomachs to give them incredible power. And just as they expected, the snakes entered through their mouths and rested inside their stomachs.


    The High-ss Devils then tried to feel their newfound powers, but even after a few seconds, nothing came to like how it is described by those who received her blessing. Even though who are watching were confused as they can''t feel any form of fluctuation of power from them. A few more secondster, they finally felt something and they all smiled. But that smile onlysted for a fraction of a second before it turned into panic and then into despair.


    The snakes sitting on their stomachs became active and started eating their intestines before moving towards their internal organs. The pain they''re feeling couldn''t be described as all of them started rolling on the ground screaming in despair. The snakes then drilled out of their stomachs and swallowed them whole from the outside before dispersing into ck smoke.


    Their gruesome death turned the hall intoplete silence. A few seconds passed and the first one to break this silence is the initiator, Ophis. She stood up without minding everyone''s stare of horror and she dispersed into ck smoke like her snakes. Ophis left the scene with a dumbfounded and horrified audience.


    Vali, Kuroka, and Bikou were sweating bullets while thinking, ''Who the hell is Kisuke Urahara!?''


    They wouldn''t have believed that the right answer to their question is ''Ophis'' doughnut keeper.''

 Volume 5 236 - The Start

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 236 - The Start</h4>


    After Ophis left, Kisuke checked Aika and Koneko''s conditions again. Although the damage to their bodies was immense, they are already in a stable condition.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi still didn''t want to risk their ''escape route'' so they didn''t teleport to the Training Ground and they opted to set the injured girls in the spare room in the house. Until they are sure that no one is watching, especially Hades'' minions, they wouldn''t move them there.


    Now that they are done with Aika and Koneko, the couple decided to check on Medusa. However, when they reached her bedside, both of them staggered and stopped, "Yoruichi�� When did we kidnap a kid?" Kisuke asked.


    "Don''t ask me�� But it does sound something you''d do." Yoruichi replied without pausing.


    "Hey! I wouldn''t do that!�� Probably."


    Yoruichi ignored Kisuke and jumped on the bed to take a closer look at the sleeping child. Her appearance is that of a lovely girl simr to Medusa''s sisters inside her core, "What do you think happened?"


    Kisuke touched Medusa''s forehead and sent a pulse of his Reiatsu-Ki to gather information from her body. He separated his hand and rubbed his chin to think for a moment, "I removed everything corrupted in her core, as a result, her core was reduced by a sizable amount. Since her core is a lot smaller than usual, it couldn''t support herrge body and she became like this�� I guess. That''s how I understand it now but I could be wrong and might be something else entirely. We won''t know for sure until I do an in-depth examination."


    Yoruichi nodded in understanding but asked in concern, "Is that a good or a bad thing?"


    "As I can see it�� It''s a good thing. Unlike how we met her for the first time, not just her body, but her entire existence became ''one''. If you understand what I mean."


    "In other words, those things that are preventing her from keeping it together were already gone?"


    "That''s the idea, but it is also not that simple." If Kisuke wants to exin everything to Yoruichi, he would have to delve deeper into the schematics of the soul and body integration. Adding the fact that Medusa has a ''Divine Core'' that ys a big role in her existence, the topic would be even moreplicated.


    "Well�� As long as she''s okay." Yoruichi jumped down from the bed and transformed into her human form, "I''ll be patrolling and see what broke loss after your disy. After that, I''ll get mom."


    "I see. Be careful and don''t touch any of them yet." Kisuke kissed her forehead as a good luck charm. But Yoruichi wouldn''t be satisfied with just that and grabbed his face before nting a sensual kiss on his lips. They went at it for a whole minute and separated with a trail of saliva, "That''s just a primer. I''ll overwrite those girls'' smell with mer~."


    Even though Yoruichi epted the fact that Kisuke would have more partners in the future, she still couldn''t help but get a bit jealous when she saw Medusa and Sona took a bite from her cake, ''It''s a different story if they all became the cake though.''


    Kisuke pressed down the heat building up in his body and grinned, "Is that so~? Then I''ll look forward to it~."


    Without saying anything further, Yoruichi left through the window and disappeared among the shadows.


    Kisuke stared at the shadow for a few seconds before turning around, "Now then�� I should reinforce the house more and contact mom." Although it''ll attract more attention if his house looks like a fortress, after what he has done earlier, he doesn''t care anymore. Their safety is more important. Besides, if others see the house in full-blown defense mode, most will try to avoid it.


    Kisuke then contacted Sakura and asked her to stay where she was until Yoruichi gets to her location. She asks why, but he only told her that he''ll exin once she''s home. Sakura could only reluctantly agree.


    "Now that is out of the way��" After doing everything he can, for now, Kisuke took out a lump of curding ck blood contained in a ss bottle, "Time to check this guy''s problem." This bad blood is from Kokabiel and Kisuke wanted to inspect it. Before he incinerated Kokabiel, he secretly took this out from him. Based on Kisuke''s observation, Kokabiel should have tried to escape, but he didn''t. He only gave Kisuke a weird feeling so he suspected something is up and investigating it wouldn''t hurt.


    Instead of eating or sleeping to end his day, Kisuke experimented with Kokabiel''s blood and only stopped in the afternoon the next day, "Whew~! That sure took a lot of time." Kisuke wiped the sweat on his forehead. Now that he has the time to rest, Kisuke immediately noticed a cute intruder. Beside him is Ophis who has been quietly staring at him for who knows how long, ''Oh right�� I made an exception for her in the barrier.''


    "Have you been waiting long?" Kisuke put away all of his tools and cleaned himself up with magic.


    Ophis, in response, only silently nodded.


    "Hahaha�� Sorry about that." Kisuke patted her head, "Go sit on the couch of the living room first. I''ll bring the doughnuts and some other snacks with drinks as an apology after I check on those girls."


    Ophis'' eyes lit up when she heard him say that there will be additional snacks and she turned around walking briskly towards the living room to wait. Kisuke chuckled at her reaction and proceed to check on the sleeping girls.


    They''re still sleeping but their condition is now a lot better, especially the two injured girls, "I have to develop another healing method�� Kidou isn''t very effective for those with a physical body even if it''s


    using Reiatsu-Ki. There is something different about it and I have yet to know what it is. Orihime''s ''Reject'' ability is powerful, but I can''t always have that. Besides, it''s effectiveness is reversing fatal injuries and it would be a waste to use it on anything else."


    Kisuke thought for a while and reached a conclusion, "I should either develop one using Mana or study a Hollow''s High-Speed regeneration�� Either way, it''s going to take some time." He muttered while he walks towards the living room where Ophis is staying.


    Even before Kisuke was able toy down all of the snacks on the center table, Ophis started attacking them like she has some sort of grudge to it. Kisuke, on the other hand, filled the table to the brim with all sorts of snacks and started filming Ophis''s battle like he''s a dad who''s recording his daughter''s precious memories.


    As peaceful as it is now, Kisuke''s actions stirred the whole supernatural world in action. And in the far future, Kisuke would look back to this event as his lucky break. If he had chosen to stay silent and hidden like he originally intended to, he probably couldn''t have protected everyone important to him.


    If he didn''t came out, those in the shadows wouldn''t have eyed and moved against him which will lead to various incidents and coincidence that will truly shape his future and prepare him for the enemies that he won''t be able to defeat alone.

 Volume 5 237 - Wait, Youre Wrong!

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 237 - Wait, You''re Wrong!</h4>


    As both Ophis and Kisuke enjoying themselves, Kisuke suddenly felt someone approach the house. He took a quick peek and smiled. Kisuke saw Cleria, Masaomi, and their little girl ire, in their disguises,ing from the opposite side of the street. He immediately deactivated parts of the barrier to let them through.


    Cleria and Masaomi immediately noticed the changes in the barrier and they went straight to the door. Before they could knock on it, however, they heard Kisuke''s voice from, "It''s open. Pleasee in~."


    Cleria and Masaomi looked at each other. But before they could open the door, ire beat them to it and ran inside, "Kisuke-niisan!" She shouted in delight. Cleria and Masaomi were shocked but both of them smiled wryly and followed her inside. They were confused, however, when they saw ire stopping at the entrance of the living room. They were about to ask what''s going on when ire suddenly turned to their direction and ran back, hiding behind Cleria and Masaomi.


    Confused, they slowly walked towards the living room and saw the familiar figure of Kisuke�� along with an unfamiliar little girl who is around ire''s age and is currently eatingrge amounts of sweets that would make any parent shudder in fear, "Kisuke�� Good afternoon�� I wanted to thank you, but it seems that you''re busy." Cleria said after she saw the camera in Kisuke''s hand and Ophis'' strange outfit, ''Did he kidnap her? Lured by sweets? And what''s up with that getup?'' She wanted to trust Kisuke, but after seeing this, she wouldn''t let her daughter alone with him.


    "Wait! I know what you''re thinking, but you''re wrong! I didn''t kidnap her, I didn''t lure her, and most importantly, I''m not a lolicon!" Kisuke stood up and defended himself.


    "Then just what is she wearing?" Cleria gave him a re.


    "Don''t ask me�� She alwayses like that."


    Cleria and Masaomi finally inspected Ophis and were shocked that they couldn''t get anything out of her aside from her appearance. They aren''t even sure if she''s a human, "��Who is she?"


    "I can''t tell you that yet. Just think of her like a stray cat thates and goes whenever she felt like it." Kisuke sat back down and waved towards ire who is silently watching Ophis eat all the snacks.


    Seeing that Ophis isn''t looking at her she slowly approached Kisuke and sat beside him. After thinking for a bit, Kisuke grabbed one of the tes containing chocte-coated marshmallows and ced it in front of ire. This action of him finally awaken Ophis from her trance and stopped her assault to look at Kisuke and ire. As a result, ire became scared a little and grabbed Kisuke''s arm and hid behind it.


    "Phis-chan, it''s more fun if you have someone you can share your snacks with." Although Kisuke called her differently, she understood that he''s referring to her, "��Fun?"


    Ophis thought for a moment before remembering something. She remembered that Kisuke and Aika would always feed her and misunderstood it ''sharing''. Wanting to see what is ''fun'' Ophis stood up and picked up a te of cookies and she approached ire. ire, in response, tried to hide more. Even though she didn''t know who Ophis is, she''s fearing her instinctively.


    Ophis ignored her reaction and picked up one of the cookies and imitated what Kisuke and Aika did for her by cing the cookie in front of ire''s mouth. Seeing this, ire looked up to Kisuke to ask for help, but she saw him only smiling gently at her and most of her fear melted away. Somewhere inside her mind, she knew that Kisuke would be protecting her if something where to happen like those stories told by both her mother and father.


    Strengthening her resolve, ire received the cookie with her mouth, albeit, shaking. Slowly chewing it, she looked up to Ophis and her fear begun to return as she can see a weird glint in her eyes.


    Feeling something weird and wanted to experience it again, Ophis repeated her action of feeding scared ire. It seems her ''sharing'' led her to a discovery. She kept repeating it until the weird feeling finally became a bit clear and it should be something in the same breath of ''achievement''. But then again, just her feeding ire with her precious snacks doesn''t sit well with her, so she stopped the feeding spree and pointed to the cookie, "��Share." And then pointing to herself.


    ire''s fear also left her and she instantly understood what she wanted. With a bit of hesitation, ire picked up a cookie and ced it in front of Ophis'' mouth. Since she''s already used to it due to her ''training'', Ophis immediately took a bite and relished the cookie. Now we have a weird scene where two cute lolis were silently feeding each other. This is Ophis'' idea of ''sharing'' and this is also the start of their friendship, a friendship born from snacks proving that anyone could be friends regardless of their status.


    Kisuke left the two of them and joined the dumbfounded Cleria and Masaomi. They''re not dumbfounded at the current scene but to Ophis'' apparent innocence. To both of them, Ophis looks like a child who started to learn things just recently and trying to adapt that knowledge in her own weird understanding, "Could you tell me where she came from?" Cleria asked. As a mother, seeing a child like that made her a bit concerned.


    "She came from nowhere. But you don''t have to worry. I''m already taking care of her." Kisuke invited them over the dining table.


    Cleria didn''t ask anything further as she can tell that the situation is a bitplicated, but she''s also happy for her daughter that she found a friend in an unexpected ce. For the next half an hour, Kisuke, Cleria, and Masaomi talked about what happenedst night and filled Kisuke with more information since both of them arrived earlier than he did and they also watched the activities after the battle, unlike Kisuke who only focused on his research.


    "Hmmm�� So that''s the strong aura I felt, huh. I didn''t expect the leader of Heaven woulde personally. If I would take a guess�� It''s the souls, huh. If they have ess to the number of souls passing through the reincarnation process, of course, they would freak out. It could mean arge number of people died all at once, after all." Kisuke muttered to himself, ''I did something really big, huh��''


    "Now that is out of the way. I wanted to ask you. What happened to Ana?" Cleria drink her tea and asked. It has been bothering her and Masaomi ever since they entered the house and haven''t seen her anywhere. Despite the short stay they had with ''Ana'', they were quite fond of her.


    "Hmm�� Ah. She''s fine. She''s currently��" Kisuke was about to say resting, but he suddenly felt a movement in the room where Medusa is resting, "It seems that she woke up��"


    Despite just waking up, Kisuke can tell that Medusa is quite energetic as she immediately wandered around the room. After a few moments, she exited the room and went downstairs. At her pace, she''ll reach the living room in just a few seconds.


    "I see�� So her problem was solved?" Cleria sighed in relief.


    "Ye-��!?" Kisuke kept looking at the entrance to the living room and anticipated Medusa''s arrival. But when she arrived, he was gobsmacked, ''Oh crap! I forgot!''


    Seeing his reaction, Cleria and Masaomi also looked over to the entrance and saw a little girl with long beautiful purple hair who only has a nket covering her naked body and panting slightly.


    Without any word, both Cleria and Masaomi took out their mobile phones and dialed the emergency hotline.


    "Wait! You got it wrong!"

 Volume 5 238 - Freedom

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 238 - Freedom</h4>


    Kisuke had to use the whole ten minutes to exin that the almost naked and panting little girl is in fact ''Ana''. The little girl in question had to sit on a free couch and only watched silently as Kisuke fiercely defended himself. She likes to watch Kisuke panic more than the two lolis feeding each other.


    Even then, they still couldn''t believe himpletely as there is a precedent known as ''Phis-chan''. They then ''politely'' asked Kisuke to stay silent as they interviewed ''Ana''.


    "You''re Ana�� right?" Cleria carefully asked.


    "Yes." Medusa nodded without hesitation.


    "What happened to you?"


    "I don''t know�� Thest thing I remembered is that Kisuke and I entered a certain space and from then on, my memories were hazy at best. I don''t even know if it''s a dream or not." Medusa replied. It''s true that her memories ofst night are hazy at best but due to a certain scene that she remembers quite ''clearly'', she wanted to brush it off as a dream, ''That''s just a dream�� right? I couldn''t possibly do that! So that must be a dream!''


    Cleria and Masaomi wanted to know what happenedst night as they couldn''t contact Kisuke in that timeframe too, but they didn''t ask since they know their boundaries. Now that they confirmed that the little girl is indeed Ana, they immediately apologized to Kisuke.


    "It''s fine�� You did the right thing. It just shows that you care for children." Kisuke didn''t really mind their actions as it didn''t really hurt him and they were just concerned for a little girl.


    Kisuke then faced Medusa and grinned, "I can help you regain your memories. Would you like me to do that?"


    Seeing that usual grin, Medusa got a bad premonition and she started blushing and tried not to meet his gaze, "N-no�� Please let me remember it on my own��"


    This reaction of her prompted the two adults to look at Kisuke strangely. But it didn''t really affect Kisuke as he''s not doing anything overtly strange to Medusa, "You''ll catch a cold if you keep wearing that." Kisuke then took out a set of clothing just a bit bigger than her, "Here. Wear this."


    "��Why do you have something like that?" Masaomi asked.


    "I''m ready for almost everything~."


    "Including a little girl''s clothing?"


    "Yes." Kisuke answered with a straight face, ''Though it''s just a coincidence that her current figure is only a bit smaller than Koneko-chan.''


    Cleria and Masaomi decided not to ask anything further as he has an answer for everything. They just joined the two lolis having fun with their snacks.


    Medusa returned to the room where she''s sleeping to change into the clothes that Kisuke passed her which is a navy blue cardigan, a in white t-shirt and a pair of long shorts. Fortunately or unfortunately, Kisuke didn''t give her a pair of underwear.


    Medusa went downstairs after a few minutes and saw that the Cleria already stopped her daughter ire from eating snacks as it''ll spoil her appetite for dinner. Though strangely enough, the other little girl kept eating like there is no tomorrow, ''Is it fine to not stop her?''


    Medusa then asked Kisuke what exactly happened inside the Aphaia temple, but she very careful not to touch the topic of her ''attacking'' him.


    Kisuke only supplemented her with the general idea and Medusa can recall it on her own, although it''ll take some time for her to remember everything. After arranging the information inside her head, Medusa asked her final question, "How did I escape that ce?"


    "I''ll tell you about itter, but for now, do your best to recover. The only thing I can tell you now is that you aren''t tethered to that ce anymore and you can do whatever you want from now own." Out of habit, Kisuke reached out for her head and patted it.


    Medusa didn''t mind this. In fact, she likes the warmth of his hand. If not for her rationality, she would have asked him to do it more. After hearing his words, however, her eyes widened. But soon after, it changed into a bright smile apanied by tears as she says, "Thank you."


    Kisuke smiled gently and wiped the tears off her face using his hands, "You''re wee."


    Medusa couldn''t take it anymore and jumped into his arms and buried her face in his stomach, sobbing as she repeats the words ''thank you'' over and over again.


    After countless years of ''captivity'' and ''torture'', she''s finally free and for the first time, she appreciated that she''s alive. Just like what her sisters hoped for her, Medusa''s fate has changed for the better. They won the bet and now enjoying their prize.


    The Cleria and Masaomi don''t know what happened or Medusa''s burden, but seeing her like this, they feel warm inside. ire who doesn''t understand what''s going is smiling happily. Even Ophis, who seems won''t be moved by anything other than her snacks looked over curiously. Something inside her seems to like this scene although she doesn''t know what exactly that is. For the time being, all she can do is to remember this sight of Medusa''s contrasting actions, crying yet grateful. Slowly but surely, the Dragon God of Infinity is learning what emotion is and itsplexity.


    Medusa kept sobbing for a few minutes and separated with Kisuke with her eyes red, "��I''m sorry for such disy." She tried to wipe her face with her hands but she isn''t doing her job right.


    Kisuke took out a handkerchief and helped her gently wipe her messed up face, "It''s fine�� It''s okay to be happy. You don''t have to hold back anymore."


    Medusa''s face became red, but this time around, she only stared at his eyes exuding gentleness with a nk expression as she lets him clean her face.


    ''Thisdy killer!�� No�� In this case, loli killer?'' Cleria and Masaomi both thought.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, isn''t aware of what he''s doing. All he thinks is that Medusa''s genuine happiness is worth the trouble of releasing her and ended up smiling gently.


    Medusa recovered from her trance and hurriedly took a distance from Kisuke with a still bright red face, "Ehem�� Thank you, but please refrain from doing that�� It''s really bad for my heart."


    Kisuke thought that she''s just embarrassed at him cleaning her face so he didn''t mind her reaction.


    Medusa took several deep breathes before she could regain herplexion and faced Kisuke again, "If I remember it right�� You''re looking for a maid?" In her memories that are quite clear, is the time when Kisuke appeared in front of her iming that she is his maid.


    "You''re correct. Although there is a maid working for me, it''s only a temporary thing, and I highly doubt that she''ll evere back."


    "Is that so?" Medusa chuckled, ''Figures, I also doubt that any would work for you because of your antics.'' She thought.


    "Since you said that I can do whatever I want now, can I take that position?"


    "I''ll be very d if you do. In fact, I reserved that position for you in case you don''t know what to do next. Being granted sudden freedom is a troublesome affair too, after all."


    Medusa chuckled for a second time, "Thank you for thinking of my wellbeing. And please take care of me in the future too�� Wait, since I''ll be serving you, I''ll take care of you, master." She put out her right hand in front of Kisuke.


    Kisuke epted her handshake andughed, "Hahaha, It''s going to be hard taking care of me, but please bear with me�� And ''master''? Sounds nice~!" He unabashedly epted her calling him ''master''.


    Kisuke then instructed her to rest for a while and she would have to be checked up by him to see if there are other problems that are currently not visible.


    Kisuke and Cleria decided to start making dinner for tonight. Medusa joined the other little girls and ''yed'' with them. Although she doesn''t know anything about Ophis, since she''s staying at Kisuke''s ce, it''s her duty to entertain her. Andstly, Masaomi had nothing to do and only silently drink his tea.


    A few minutester, Kisuke suddenly felt someone pacing around in front of the house, ''Hmm? A twin-tailed girl? Why does she look familiar?''

 Volume 5 239 - Childhood Friend

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 239 - Childhood Friend</h4>


    Irina is already healed with the help of Asia and her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing. Although she''s has a bit of apprehension being healed by a Devil, she is, nevertheless, thankful. It''s also a lot better for her to be healed by a former member of the church instead of a pure Devil.


    But not everything turned out fine for her as when she woke up, she received the news that Xenovia was emunicated because she epted Rias Gremory''s offer to be her servant, effectively making her a reincarnated Devil.


    At first, sheughed it off and told others not to make such a bad joke, but the atmosphere seems to tell otherwise. She tried to question her goodrade in arms if they are joking only to be met with silence. Confirming it from that, she ran away with the Excalibur fragments in tow and this morning, she received an order to return to the Vatican the next morning.


    With her thoughts jumbled up, she wandered around the whole town until it was finallyte in the afternoon and she unknowingly arrives at the ce she stayed for a few days which is her childhood friend''s house.


    She looked around and noticed that the lights were on, ''Huh? Did hee back? Or maybe Sakura-kaasan?''


    Irina hesitated whether she should call out or not, ''I''m leaving tomorrow morning�� So maybe I should say hi before I go?'' Deciding the next action, she rang the doorbell.


    A few secondster, a voice came from inside and the door opened, "Yes~? If it''s the newspaper, I don''t need it. The Inte is much more convenient so spare me of your sales talk." Kisuke came out with his usual green-themed shihakushou with a kitty printed apron over it.


    "I''m not a saleswoman! Do I look like one!?" Irina was about to greet him ''Long time no see'', but Kisuke''s intro is too much for her not to retort.


    "Hmm? Wait�� If I''m not wrong, that''s a priest outfit. Are you here to teach me about your lord the savior? Spare me with that too. The only thing I believe in this world is ''cuteness'' and that won''t ever change!." Kisuke replied proudly.


    "Talking about my Lord is tempting, but that''s not also the reason I''m here! And what''s up with that weird faith!? You''ll worship someone as long as they are cute!?"


    "And what of it!? Of course, my criteria for cute is very strict! Throughout my entire life, I only worship two Goddesses!" Kisuke dered, ''Namely Yoruichi and Ophis-chan.'' He thought. Yoruichi is his lover so it''s a given. Ophis, on the other hand, is the Dragon God of pure cuteness so she automatically passed. There are other candidates, but it''s still not yet enough for Kisuke to elevate them into Goddess.


    "You''re weird!" Irina shouted.


    "I don''t wanna hear it from a weirddy who kept pacing around my home!"


    "I''m not weird! I''m here to meet you!"


    "Wait�� Meet me? You''ve been loitering around for some time now��!?" Kisuke stopped to think for a moment and then as if he discovered something shocking, "Could it that you''re my stalker!?"


    "��Huh?" Irina''s mind nked out.


    "Haahh��" With an exasperated sigh, Kisuke continued, "I''m such a sinful man attracting a woman I don''t know anything about��" He then faced Irina with full sincerity and said, "I''m ttered by how you feel, but I don''t know anything about you so I wouldn''t be able to respond to your feelings. I''m sorry."


    Irina was mindblown. Before she knew it, she was rejected, and for any good reason. Irina looked down and her hair shadowed her eyes. Without a word, she took a step forward and started to walk towards Kisuke''s direction slowly. She stopped when there are only two feet of distance between them.


    "Miss? You haven''t given up? I''m sorry, but I already have a number of lovers so I can''t just ept you." Kisuke felt a bit proud when he said ''a number of lovers''.


    After being rejected for the second time today, something snapped inside her mind and suddenly threw a punch towards Kisuke, "Go to hell!!!"


    Kisuke is already ready for it and flipped her over. Irinanded on her back and groaned in pain. Oddly enough, Kisuke felt something nostalgic from that and a certain figure suddenly shed inside his head. Looking at the girl on the ground closely, he finally figured out who it was, "Oh, isn''t this Irina~. Long-time no see~! And you''ve grown big!"


    Irina in response red at him, "Likewise! And you''ve also grown 100 times more infuriating!"


    Kisuke rubbed the bridge of his nose in embarrassment, "You don''t have to praise me. It''s only obvious that I would mature!"


    "You''ve matured in the wrong way!"


    Kisuke helped Irina to stand up, "Don''t act like I''m the weird one here. You''ve also matured to be so girly. You''ve broken my expectation of you bing a hulking woman."


    "You have such a strange expectation!?"


    Kisuke chuckled and looked at her again, "Well�� Although you''ve be a finedy, you still act like a tomboy. Don''t go breaking innocent boys'' expectation, ya hear me?"


    Irina''s eyes widened, "I��" She finally noticed how she has been acting around Kisuke. When Irina left for Ennd when she''s still small, she remembered Kisuke''s mockery of her being ''girl'', so she tried her best to act like a real girl. As time goes, acting all cute became her second nature and no one would ever doubt her feminity again.


    But just after a short banter with Kisuke, she returned to her old ways. Her years of hard work were broken just like that. However, strangely enough, she doesn''t feel bad about it. In fact, it''s like she returned to those peaceful times of just ying around, away from all the battle that she grew ustomed off. Thanks to him, she''s feeling extremelyfortable�� Afort she needed after all the things that happened.


    Within that silence, Irina''s stomach suddenly growled and she immediately covered her stomach out of embarrassment. But when she saw the cheeky grin on Kisuke''s face, her awkwardness disappeared.


    Irina pped Kisuke''s shoulder and ordered him in a bossy way, "I''m hungry! I haven''t eaten since this morning. Go make some food!"


    Kisuke chuckled and answered, "Yes, boss." And turned around to enter the house.


    Seeing that, Irina let out a bright smile. She temporarily forgot about the issue with Xenovia and happily followed Kisuke. For now, she wanted to relish this feeling of nostalgia, ''He hasn''t changed�� Thinking about it, I didn''t need to change either, right? But then again, he wouldn''t call me a finedy if not for that.'' After calming down and recalling his words earlier, Irina''s face became beet red, ''At least my hard work paid off! Now he won''t be able to see me like a man!''

 Volume 5 240 - A Friend From Long Ago

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 240 - A Friend From Long Ago</h4>


    Irina didn''t expect that there would be other people inside the house which is almost deserted yesterday. She immediately went back to her cutesy act and greeted everyone, "Good evening. I''m Irina Shidou, Kisuke-kun''s childhood friend~!"


    The loli trio ignored her entirely as they are busy with ying around. Cleria turned around to see who it is and introduced herself using a fake name, "Good evening. I''m Kyoko Seo and a friend of Kisuke Urahara." She then pointed towards Masaomi who is staring nkly at Irina, "And that is my husband, Takuma Seo�� Dear? What''s wrong?"


    Masaomi immediately woke up from her wife''s call and shook his head, "I just didn''t expect that I would meet the daughter of an acquaintance." He stood up and took a closer look at Irina, "Are you Touji Shidou''s daughter?" He asked just to be sure.


    "Ah�� Yes. How did you know my father?" Irina stared at his face trying to figure out if she knew him herself as he immediately recognized her as her father''s daughter. But due to the use of a disguise and fake name, she couldn''t make any connection.


    "He''s a friend of mine from long ago and he probably couldn''t remember me anymore. There was just one time that he showed off his daughter to me and others and I couldn''t forget about how proud he is." Masaomi chuckled and patted Irina''s head while reminiscing the past. A wave of nostalgia brushes over him, ''I wonder if the leader is ming himself for ''killing'' me and Cleria�� Knowing him, he probably would�� I hope I could have a chance to show myself to him and apologize for tricking him. But then again, that would only endanger everyone who is involved in that incident.''


    Irina didn''t mind his hand. She can tell that there is something that he isn''t telling her but she can''t feel any ill feelings. Instead, she''s somehow getting the same vibe from him as her father, which is weird considering his words of "a friend long ago", ''I should ask father about him�� Something isn''t right here, but I also think that he isn''t dangerous. In fact, I think I know him but I couldn''t recall��''


    Irina smiled in response to his words, "He''s always been a doting parent. And I''m sure father still remembers you, Seo-san~!"


    Masaomi just chuckled and sat back down. He always regrets the fact that he couldn''t talk to his formerrades anymore.


    Kisuke noticed this and thought for a bit before saying, "After you''ve found a ce to stay for good, you can invite him for a drink."


    Masaomi and Cleria''s shocked at his words, "What? Are you serious!?"


    "Yep~!"


    Masaomi nkly stared at Kisuke beforeughing uproariously, "Puhahaha! Is that so!? Then we should find a good ce soon, honey!" Masaomi wanted to ask why, but he trusted Kisuke and he knew he wouldn''t joke about these things, ''One thing is for sure though. Something big is about to happen. Big enough that enemies can sit in one table and share food.''


    Cleria smiled, happy for her husband, "Sure, but go get us some groceries first. I want to make a lot of good stuff today."


    "Okay!" Masaomi was about to run out, but Kisuke stopped him, "No need. I have all you need with me." He then proceeds to take out loads of raw ingredients from his space magic storage.


    "Y-you�� Just how much do have in that space of yours?" Cleria''s mouth twitches. Her shock is understandable, after all, no matter what they need or what they ask, he always has it, ''Are you a talking cat robot?''


    "Isn''t this normal? I have all I need here. Just food alone canst us for a decade." Kisuke is genuinely puzzled. Such convenient magic. Why wouldn''t anyone do this much?


    Everyone, except for Ophis and ire, who doesn''t understand the scale of his words, only quietly stared at Kisuke. They are trying to recall an instance of someone doing the same thing but couldn''t.


    "A d-decade you say��" Cleria wanted to ask him why he needs so much and what he would do if those food be rotten, "No�� Nothing�� Thank you for this. Now I can make more." But she shook her head. Since it''s Kisuke, she stopped thinking about it and only thanked him, ''I don''t want to hear something like ''stopping time''! It''s bad for ire''s education. I don''t want her to have some strange expectations.''


    Masaomi, Medusa, and even Irina just let it pass for a reason ''It''s Kisuke'' and didn''t ask about it any further.


    It took half an hour for everything to be finished and served. Since the dining table is not enough for all of them, Kisuke took out another set of table and chairs, and everyone magnificently ignored it. However, all of them thought, ''Due to the limits of magic, others could only fit the bare necessities, but this guy seems to be ready even for pic and camping trips.''


    Kisuke introduced the three lolis to Irina, although the only one who greeted her properly is ''Ana'' and ire. Ophis ignored her and only stared at the food.


    They had a fun dinner. However, there is some tension between the lolis. Since Ophis didn''t know how to use the utensils, she decided to sit on Kisuke''sp and waited for the food. Kisuke, in response, happily fed her, asking her every now and then how was the food and Ophis would answer, "Delicious." or "The doughnuts are better."


    ire also wanted to ask Kisuke to feed her but she could only stare at Ophis with envy. Although most of her fears were gone, she still has a feeling that she shouldn''t disturb Ophis.


    Medusa, on the other hand, is facing a dilemma of whether she should ask for the same treatment, ''I''m a little girl right now, so it''s okay to ask for it, right?�� No no no, Medusa! You''re already old enough to be his grandmother multiple times over! He would onlyugh at you if you ask such a childish thing!��'' Medusa took a peek at the happily chewing Ophis again and thought, ''��But I want that too��'' while pouting from time to time. It seems that not only her body returned to a child but some of her repressed childish thoughts started to resurface.


    ''W-what is this?'' Irina was dumbfounded at this scene, especially at Medusa who is trying her hardest to hide her envious peeking but didn''t know she''s failing miserably at it, ''When did Kisuke be so popr with little girls?'' Irina then proceeds to re at Kisuke, ''He doesn''t have any weird preferences�� right?''


    Cleria only sighed at this sight and then she suddenly remembered something, "By the way, where is Yoruichi?"


    "She''s picking up mom. You know, for security reasons. And she''s only gathering information on the way. They should return tomorrow if nothing elsees up." Kisuke didn''t stop feeding Ophis. Sooner orter, there will be a spoilt Dragon of Infinity.


    "I see. I''ll greet your mother tomorrow."


    "Uhmm�� Who is Yoruichi-san?" Irina asked.


    Masaomi answered absentmindedly, "Kisuke''s wife."


    "W-WHAAATTT!!!?" Irina shouted.


    Medusa on the side, the moment she heard ''Yoruichi'' from Cleria, her body started shaking and her face paled. She finally remembered Yoruichi''s existence.

 Volume 5 241 - Medusas Move part 1

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 241 - Medusa''s Move part 1</h4>


    "You''re married!?" Irina shouted to his face. She didn''t know what to feel after this revtion.


    "Hahaha. Of course not." Kisuke chuckled.


    Irina then felt relieved, ''Huh?'' As she''s trying to figure out why she''s feeling that way, Kisuke''s next word pulled her back to reality, "We''re not eighteen yet, so we couldn''t register even if we want to."


    "Wh-�� But that''s��" Irina didn''t know what she should say. Her mind nked out but she tried her best to think of a proper response, and she sessfully found one after a struggle, "C-congrattions��"


    Even Kisuke didn''t expect that Irina would act this way. He somehow understands why Medusa is currently shaking in fear but in Irina''s case, thest time they met is a decade ago and even if she has a childhood crush on Kisuke, it couldn''t have carried on until this day. The disappointed and forced smile she''s making is painfully obvious. Kisuke could only respond with, "T-thanks��"


    Irina ignored him thereafter and only focused on her meal. But everyone on the table could hear her whispering, "He''s getting married�� He''s getting married��"


    The atmosphere around the table became awkward�� Except for one who is somehow already expecting this kind of result, Cleria, ''Heh�� So he really isn''t well versed in this kind of thing. I finally found something normal from him. But I just can''t leave it like this. This bittersweet feeling is very tempting�� In that case, let''s add more fuel in the fire~!''


    Deciding her next course of action, Cleria turned to Medusa who stopped eating entirely, "What''s wrong, Ana? Something bothering you?"


    Medusa nervously trying to find a solution to her problem and her focus on her surroundings almost be nonexistent, ''W-what should I do!? How did I forget Yoruichi!? Or is it my subconscious trying to forget about her? Is it my fantasies at work again!?�� In any case, what should I do? Yoruichi might just kill me�� But wait, it might just be my imagination or dream that I kissed Kisuke, so perhaps I haven''t done anything bad yet?�� But the way he''s acting earlier suggests that it really happened! Is he going to ckmail me? Considering his personality, this is very possible! But what does he wants?�� M-my bod-!?'' Before she could finish her train of thought, she suddenly heard Cleria''s voice and she let out a very cute surprised yelp, "Hiih!?�� W-what?"


    "I said if there is something bothering you. You''ve been shaking for a while now. Are you okay?"


    "Y-yes! I''m perfectly fine!" Medusa ended up raising her voice in fear.


    ''Cute~!'' Cleria honestly thought, "Is that so? Don''t push yourself, alright?"


    Medusa nodded vigorously.


    Cleria then decided to initiate her final attack that would to a bomb, "Kisuke-kun. How about the heiress of the Sitri Household, Sona Sitri?"


    ''She saw it, huh�� What is she trying to achieve here?'' Kisuke thought and smiled. He''s curious at what she''s aiming so he just let her be.


    "I saw it, you know. Sona Sitri�� well�� vited your lips with her and you responded in kind." Instead of looking at Kisuke, Cleria dropped the bomb waited for the reaction of two girls and they didn''t disappoint her.


    " "WHAAT!?" " Both Irina and Medusa stood up. Noticing each other''s reaction, they locked eyes. In an instant, they understood each other.


    ''A rival?'' Medusa thought.


    ''A little girl?'' Irina became confused.


    "And all of that while Yoruichi is watching just beside them~!" Cleria finally detonated the bomb, ''Now then, show me something amazing~!'' She isn''t an old Devil for nothing.


    Just as she expected, both of their eyes shed and they immediately turned to Kisuke. The first one who said something is Irina, "What''s the meaning of that, Kisuke!? Isn''t Sona Sitri that Devil Student Council President!? Are you cheating!? Did you just cheat!? The Lord willnd a Divine Punishment on you! Confess your sins now and correct your mistakes! I''m ready to listen!"


    Medusa, on the other hand, didn''t confront Kisuke but asked Cleria a question, "Cle- ehem�� Kyoko-san, is this Sona Sitri still alive? If yes, what is her fate now?" This is the first thing she wanted to know. Deep inside her, she wanted a certain result.


    "Hmm? If I were to guess, she''s probably skipping in delight." Cleria smiled answering her.


    Medusa swallowed her saliva and took a peek on Kisuke. At this point, he escaped from Irina''s assault by feeding Ophis who doesn''t care how rowdy it bes as long as she stays fed.


    Even Irina is surprised at her words, ''Delighted? Did Sona Sitri know that Kisuke already has a lover?''


    Still didn''t want to jump into conclusion, Medusa changed her question, "Did Yoruichi do something about her? Or is she nning to?"


    "I don''t know what she''s nning. But as far as I can tell, she doesn''t particr seems against his actions." Cleria''s smile grew bigger and bigger. This is what she wanted to see, ''Ana-chan~! I wonder what''s your next move is?''


    Medusa closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Everyone is now silently watching her. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes which now turned into slits and she sported a smile. The snake found its prey.


    Kisuke felt a shiver when he looked at her eyes, ''Uhmm�� Is this perhaps what she is aiming for?''


    Irina is a bit concerned with her inhuman eyes, but something else bothered her greatly. She understood what that expression with a tint of seductiveness meant, "Wait wait wait! You''re just a little girl! You''re too young and it''s a crush at most! So stop making that expression! And most importantly, it''s a crime!"


    Medusa pouted her mouth after hearing her words. She''s indeed a little girl like now and she likes it very muchpared to her previous tall form as she just looks like her unaging sisters. But now she thought about it, it''s bad for her to stay in this form if she wanted to pursue Kisuke. And she knew that Kisuke has a strange fascination on butts and maid uniforms which won''t be able to achieve very well in her current appearance. Nevertheless, she just couldn''t let Irina''s words slide, "I''m older than you!"


    "What!? You''re going to force your self with that obvious lie!?" Of course, Irina isn''t going to buy that.


    "Guh��" Medusa knew that she couldn''t prove herself without showing her that form. This is her first step so she didn''t want to lose, so she tried to think of a way to return, even temporarily, ''How can I achieve that? In the first ce, why did my body shrink in the first ce? My mana capacity is only a fifth of my normal so maybe it has something to do with that? If I can overload myself with mana, maybe I could return, even it''s temporary. Although there are risks in that, I''m just controlling the amount of Mana I originally have, so it should be fine�� Now the question is how can I have that Mana.''


    While thinking of a way, Medusa inadvertently nced at Kisuke and a certain idea dawned upon her, ''There is that!�� No, no, no. I would look too desperate if I were to do that�� But�� Since I''m already in this mess�� It should be fine?''

 Volume 5 242 - Medusas Move part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 242 - Medusa''s Move part 2</h4>


    Taking a deep breath, Medusa did a double fist pumped which looks so cute in her current form. Even Irina couldn''t deny that fact.


    "Kisuke, do you still have those sses?" Medusa first wanted to get hold of the sses that seals her petrifying ability. In her current child form, her petrifying ability is nonexistent but she''s sure that it won''t be the sameter.


    "Yep. Here." Kisuke is curious about what she decided to do so he yed along and passed her the sses.


    Medusa tried to put it on, but in only slipped on her face since it''s too big for her face. She then decided to ce it on her shirt above her chest.


    She stepped forward and went to Kisuke''s side. As she approaches him, each step she took raises her pulse and cold sweat started to form from her nervousness. Everyone became curious about what she''s about to do and kept quiet. Irina has a bad premonition, but her curiosity surmounted that. She wanted to learn their rtionship and she knew she would know it if she just let them be.


    Even with Kisuke sitting on the chair, their eyes were on the same level. The first thing she did, however, is to address Ophis, "Phis, could you let me have Kisuke for a moment?"


    Ophis stopped her eating frenzy and looked towards Medusa. She thought for a moment before jumping down from hisp and joined the audience.


    With her out of the way, Medusa took a deep breath again and locked eyes with Kisuke which increased the thumping in her chest and the heat rising up to her head, ''What is she up to now?'' Kisuke is genuinely curious. He knows that her goal is to regain her previous form and show Irina that she isn''t a child but he doesn''t know how she''s going to achieve that.


    Before doing what she nned to do, Medusa asked Kisuke a question first, "Is it true that Yoruichi just let you kiss another girl? And if it''s possible, may you please tell me the reason for that?"


    Kisuke didn''t expect her to ask him straight to the point but he smiled before answering, "That indeed happened and as for the reason�� Well�� Let''s see�� It''s because Yoruichi allowed me. As simple as that."


    "I see." Medusa closed her eyes before opening them again. Her eyes are now filled with determination, "Then I just have to get Yoruichi''s acknowledgment ~."


    Before Kisuke could say anything, with both of her hands, Medusa grabbed his face, closed her eyes, and suddenly kissed him on the lips. Unlike their first kiss, however, Medusa merely let their lips touch as she has no courage to do something further especially in a crowd like this.


    The first one to react is, of course, Irina, "W-what you doing!?" She shouted while blushing hard, "That''s cheating! No�� I mean that''s not allowed! You''re going to get Kisuke arres��ted��?"


    Irina''s voice trailed off at the end of her sentence as everyone noticed a sudden but gradual change in Medusa''s body.


    Cleria then looked at her gobsmacked husband, "Honey, go get some ice cream for the kids."


    Masaomi instantly understood what''s going on and Cleria might just dig his eyes out at the rate things are going, "Of course! I''ll go get it now!" But before he left for good, he gave Kisuke a thumbs up, ''Way to go, kid!''


    Medusa gradually grew to her previous form. Her cute form was reced by a tall, voluptuous woman with godly beauty. And just as Cleria and Masaomi expected, due to her clothes not for her current size, the t-shirt and shorts were stretched to the limits. Her t-shirt couldn''t cover her stomach while her already short shorts could only cover half of her butt. And to top it all, it became very obvious that she isn''t wearing any kind of underwear as two flower buds were visible.


    Medusa separated with Kisuke with a blushing face. She couldn''t look into his eyes so she immediately turned around to face Irina. But before that, she first put on her sses just to be sure and said, "With this, you can''t say I''m lying anymore. This is my real form." Although she isn''t very fond of this figure at first, she learned to love it and besides, this is the only weapon she could use right now.


    "H-how?" Irina absentmindedly asked.


    "That doesn''t really matter. The important thing here is that you can''t be saying anything about me being a child."


    "��Just who are you?" Irina is now sure that she isn''t a human as humans can''t grow like that just from a kiss but she''s also sure that she isn''t a Devil, Fallen Angel, or an Angel for that matter which greatly confuses her, ''Just who and what is she? And what is her rtionship with Kisuke?''


    "Right, I haven''t properly introduced myself." Medusa smiled, proud that she seeded, "My name is Ana and I''m the maid of the Urahara Household and Kisuke Urahara is my master."


    "��M-maid?" Irina couldn''t keep up with her and could only ask nkly.


    "Yes~. And by the way, I have the full intention of having a forbidden rtionship with my master!" From then on, Medusa would have a strange habit of dering her ''forbidden love'' to her potential love rivals.


    "I don''t think that it something you just announce or dere when you want to��" Cleria shook her head and didn''t continue, ''She''s also weird�� Is this because of Kisuke? Or is it because she''s attracted to Kisuke? A chicken or egg question��'' She then nced at Irina who is currently speechless, ''I wonder if she''s weird too?'' Cleria''s rude nces went unnoticed.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, instead of calming the situation down, used this chance to stare at Medusa''s bubble butt, ''She won''t be able to keep this form for long so I have to burn it my memories!'' Kisuke is acting like all of these has nothing to do with him.


    And just like Kisuke has expected, a few secondster, a gust of Mana escaped from her and she instantly returned to her child from, "I�� I couldn''t even keep it for a minute?"


    Funnily enough, Kisuke and Medusa are now both sporting a depressed expression, although for different reasons�� Or maybe the same reason. Irina sighed in relief when Medusa returns to being a loli as she knew she couldn''t win against that. She understands why Medusa is disappointed but she couldn''t let go of Kisuke making a disappointed face too, "What the hell, Kisuke!? You pervert! I didn''t expect you to grow into such a pervert!"


    "Correction! I never grew to be a pervert! I''ve always been a pervert! A perverted gentleman!"


    "That''s not something to be proud of! And what the hell is a perverted gentleman!?"


    "It''s a kind of pervert that everyone likes~!"


    "There is no such thing! And based on your personality, nobody likes you for how annoying you are!"


    Kisuke felt like he was a stab in the chest and fell on his knees with his hands on the floor, "W-what!? Nobody likes this handsome candy store owner?"


    Irina was shocked at how ''effective'' her words are and immediately felt guilty. She crouched down to his level and patted his shoulder, "W-well�� That''s just my angry rumbling�� Most�� Some people like you." Irina wanted to say ''most people'', but she highly doubts that and couldn''t say it even if it''s a lie so shepromised with ''some''.


    Kisuke looked up to Irina and tearingly asked, "R-really?"


    "O-of course. (Some) people like you."


    "Including you?"


    This question caught her off guard. Irina''s ''like'' is only for general people, but when Kisuke asked if she ''likes'' him, she immediately thought of something else and blushed, "Y-yes. I like you, so cheer up?"


    Kisuke wiped his ''tears'' and stood up, all cheered up, "Iyaa~. I''m really such a sinful man. Even my childhood friend couldn''t help but get attracted to me~!"


    Irina stood up while shaking. She looked towards Kisuke with a red face from both embarrassment and rage, "Die! You bastard!" She forgot about Medusa.

 Volume 5 243 - Reunion part 1

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 243 - Reunion part 1</h4>


    It took some time for Kisuke to calm Irina down, and that night she slept peacefully forgetting about Xenovia''s issue and Medusa''s move after Kisuke''s provocations and getting tired of reacting to his antics.


    The next morning, Irina left after eating her breakfast, swearing that she would being back and Kisuke asking for souvenirs.


    After staying a night in Kisuke''s ce, Irina calmed down a lot and is now capable of thinking clearly so she once again recalled Xenovia''s conversion, ''No matter how weird her faith is, she shouldn''t have easily discarded her beliefs�� Someone or something forced her to ept Rias Gremory''s offer and the only thing major that happened at that timeframe is that night where Kokabiel apparently died�� What happened when I was unconscious? I''m also pretty sure that Xenovia is hiding something based on how she acted��'' Irina went back to the Vatican with those in mind.


    Just before lunch, Sakura and Yoruichi got home via taxi and Kisuke is already expecting the two of them, "Wee back~."


    Sakura went down of the car and happily greeted Kisuke, "We''re back~!" Sakura missed his only son and hugged him tightly, "Did you miss me?"


    "Of course. I missed my dear my mom and her cooking~." Kisuke chuckled and returned her hugged.


    "Hooh~. Do you want me to cook lunch for you? Even though I just arrive, I''m not tired yet." Sakura separated from his son and pinched his cheek yfully.


    "Such a wonderful proposition but I want to introduce someone to you. She''s currently cooking for lunch and we''re already expecting you." Kisuke just let her be. Although he feels like she''s treating her like a small kid, he doesn''t hate that at all.


    Sakura eyed him with suspicion, "Hmm�� You couldn''t have both another daughter-inw, did you?"


    Kisuke thought of Medusa and ended up evading her gaze, "O-of course not. Aha-haha��" While sweating a bit, Kisuke thought, ''Does a maid counts?''


    Sakura sighed loudly, "You really did it? Although I''m fine with you epting others as long as Yoruichi allows it, at that time before you left, when I said that you could bring a daughter-inw, I''m mostly joking you know. And you even asked her to cook lunch. Is this trying to get into my good side?"


    "No way~. She has a husband after all." Kisuke blurted without much thinking. Due to that Sakura ended up misunderstanding his words.


    The atmosphere around Sakura suddenly turned cold and Kisuke noticed it immediately. That''s is when he realized his mistake of not exining properly. But before he could further exin, Sakura grabbed his head with an iron grip and raised him in the air while ring at him, "Oi, you sh*tty brat�� What was that again? She has a husband? You touched someone with a significant other? Or is she divorced or her husband is resting in peace? Depending on your answer, I might have to crush your skull."


    Yoruichi, who is currently unloading Sakura''s luggage from the trunk of the car and watching the scene unfold, wanted tough, ''Go mom~! Make him bleed!'' She cheered internally.


    It''s been a while since Kisukest saw her mother became angry. Although all of those times were resolved with a proper exnation from Kisuke, it''s still a bit scary for him, "Wait! Mom, you misunderstand!"


    Sakura paused for a moment before saying, "��I''m listening."


    ''I would really appreciate it if you could put me down though.'' Kisuke wanted to say but he knew he would only be wasting his breath unless he directly exins the whole situation, "I want to introduce you 4 people and the 3 of them are a family consisting of parents and a kid. The one currently cooking is the mother!"


    Sakura slowly put him down and took a deep breath before expelling it. She then suddenly looked back to Kisuke with a big smile, "What? Is that so? You should have exined it earlier. Geez, don''t make your mom worry too much about you."


    Her cold atmosphere instantly melted like it was all a lie but Kisuke knew how serious she is, ''I was about to, but your iron w beat me to it.'' Kisuke wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and saw that Yoruichi is snickering at them, "You could have exined it to mom though."


    "No way~. Such a juicy scene. Why would I interrupt it?" Yoruichi chuckled, "And mom, you could have poked a few holes in his body and he''ll be fine a minuteter."


    "Although that is true�� I don''t want new holes in my body, especially holes big enough for blood to spurt out." Kisuke approached her and gave her a light peck on her lips, "But still, wee back."


    "Umu. I expect my rewardter." Yoruichi happily hugged him.


    "Ehem�� You two can continue flirtingter. I want to meet these people first, and I''m hungry." Sakura feigns a cough to wake them up from their own world.


    The three of them hurriedly unload the rest of the luggage and thanked the driver. And the first one to enter the house is Yoruichi, followed by Sakura and Kisuke.


    From inside the house, ire knew that Yoruichi will being back but didn''t know anything about Sakura. She has been waiting near the entrance peeking at the door from time to time. When she saw Yoruichi entered through the door, she immediately bolted towards her with arge grin on her face, "Yoruichi-neesama!" She then proceeds to hug her waist.


    "Oh, you seem energetic, ire. That''s good." Yoruichi couldn''t help but smile at the kid and patted her head. ire is enjoying Yoruichi''s pat when she suddenly noticed a stranger looking at her curiously.


    "Hih!" ire ended up getting startled and ran back towards the leaving room like a scared rabbit and hid behind her father''s back.


    "What a cute kid," Sakuramented. She curious about the family of three that Kisuke wanted to introduce to her but she''s more interested in the fourth person because this person is most likely her ''daughter-inw'' if she didn''t guess Kisuke''s reaction earlier wrong.


    The three of them reached the leaving room and three people were waiting for them, Masaomi, who is already standing up waiting for them, ire who is timidly hiding behind him, peeking from time to time, and Medusa who kept fidgeting around nervously thinking of how to greet her ''mother-inw''.


    The first one to step forward is Masaomi, "Nice to meet you, Sakura-san. I''m Takuma Seo and this is my daughter ire. I''m sorry for my daughter''s attitude. She''s always been scared of strangers."


    Sakura bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you too, I''m Sakura Urahara. Your daughter is cute so it''s fine." Sakura smiled and waved towards ire.


    It''s Medusa''s turn to introduce herself but she still hasn''t thought of a good way. She wanted to tell Kisuke''s mother that she has intentions to pursue her son but didn''t know how to go with it.


    While Medusa is hesitating, Cleria came out of the kitchen, "Oh, you''re here. Nice to meet you, Sakura-san. I''m Kyoko Seo, I hope�� we��" Cleria is happily introducing herself to Sakura but looking at her face for more than a few seconds, a certain person shed in her mind. A person that disappeared long ago. Her precious little sister, "��Sa�� Sarah?"

 Volume 5 244 - Reunion part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 244 - Reunion part 2</h4>


    Cleria heard themotion in the living room and figured that Kisuke''s mother, Sakura Urahara returned. She did some final adjustments to what she''s cooking and turned down the heat to let it simmer.


    Cleria then put away her apron and exited the kitchen to see who seems to be Kisuke''s mother and introduced herself, "Oh, you''re here. Nice to meet you, Sakura-san. I''m Kyoko Seo, I hope�� we��"


    But as Cleria carefully inspects Sakura''s face while she introduces herself, a certain someone with a simr face shed in her mind, and she started trembling. A person that disappeared long ago. Her precious little sister, "��Sa�� Sarah?" And due to that, she ended up calling her name while reaching out her arms to her.


    ''Although she''s a lot more mature now and her hair is now pale blond in color, I can''t mistake that face! Although some corners of her face changed due to aging and her demeanor is nowpletely different, I can''t mistake her! Although she is now emitting a human''s aura, I can''t be mistaken! Sarah!'' Cleria kept trembling in anticipation and nervousness as she tries to reach out to her face with tears starting to gather from the corner of her eyes, ''Is this real?''


    However, Sakura doesn''t share her feelings. Due to her identity and the nature of how she escaped from her previous life, she very sensitive to those who knew her. So when the guest suddenly called her with her previous name, she instantly reacted. For the first time in many years, she released her sleeping Demonic Power and her aura instantly changed.


    Kisuke also reacted when he suddenly felt Demonic Power surfaced from his mother and sealed their whole house with a concealment barrier. But instead of stopping his mother, Kisuke chooses to observe what will happen. Although he''s ready to intercept any harming towards Cleria and the two, he trusts his mother that he wouldn''t have to do that like Sakura trusts Kisuke will do something when she released her Demonic Power and he did.


    With the surge of Sakura''s Demonic Power, multiple magic circles surrounded Cleria and one each pointed against Masaomi and Medusa, "Who are you!?" She also wanted to point a magic circle on ire but she couldn''t bear to do so.


    Cleria stopped her steps and nkly looked at Sakura. She didn''t expect that she would instantly threaten them, and based on the amount of Demonic Power gathering, it won''t be easy for her to survive. But instead of getting scared, she''s feeling happy, ''This Demonic Power�� It''s really her!''


    Medusa wanted to assist Cleria to block the impending attacks but Yoruichi unknowingly arrived beside her and blocked her path resulting in Medusa then gave her a questioning re. Although it''s Kisuke''s mother who she is going against, she''s indebted to Cleria for taking care of her so it''s obvious that she would take her side.


    Yoruichi understands her intention so she sent her a telepathic message, ''It''s fine. If something bad is about to happen, that guy would be the first one to stop it.''


    After hearing her message, Medusa calmed down but she didn''t put down her guard and watched the situation carefully in case she needs to do something.


    Masaomi, however, doesn''t know what''s going on and panicked. He immediately secured ire in his arms and called out to his wife in concern, "Cleria!"


    But instead of his wife, Sakura is the one who reacted to his call, "Cle��ria? Cleria!?" She immediately looked back to Cleria who''s still staring at her face and thought, ''No�� That isn''t Cleria-neesama! It was already confirmed that she died a decade ago so it''s impossible! Besides, she looks so different and she isn''t even using magic to hide her appearance!�� Wait�� Appearance?�� Disguise��?'' When her thought process reached this point, she suddenly remembered that Kisuke brought them here and knowing how his son works, an idea shed in her mind, ''��Could it be��?''


    Sakura nced at her son who is currently watching from the side carefully, ''If that is true, does he knows something and decided to let the two of us meet? Or is it just a coincidence?'' But instead of thinking about this, she shook her head and looked back to Cleria, ''But how could that be? Everyone in the Underworld knew that Cleria-neesama died�� Fake news?''


    Cleria could see the confusion in her precious little sister when she heard her name and remembered that she''s still wearing the face-changing device and aura concealing bracelet that Kisuke gave them. Cleria first inspected the surroundings and finally noticed that Kisuke already deployed a barrier. She then first gave Masaomi and her daughter a reassuring look before removing her disguise, revealing her true appearance and aura. Cleria doesn''t know why she would meet ''Sarah'' here, but instead of approaching her like what she''s doing earlier, she''s letting ''Sarah'' decide.


    Seeing the ''real'' Cleria, it''s Sakura''s turn to tremble. The magic circles started to disappear one by one and Sakura''s Demonic Power also subsided. As if mimicking Cleria''s actions earlier, Sakura slowly approached Cleria while trembling and reaching her arms out, "Cleria-neesama��?" She muttered.


    Cleria smiled brightly while tears flowing from her eyes, "Sarah�� It''s really you." She couldn''t take it anymore so she immediately jumped in Sakura''s arms while sobbing, "Sarah!"


    Sakura, in turn, also hugged her tightly while sobbing, feeling the nostalgic warmth of her sister, "Cleria-neesama!"


    The two of them called each other''s names over and over again for a good few minutes to reassure each other''s existence. Masaomi and Medusa are dumbfounded at this sight as they didn''t expect it at all. From a normal meeting to a verge of battle and then to a happy reunion. Who could expect that at all? They both looked at Kisuke and Yoruichi and they both have differing expressions.


    Yoruichi has a simr expression as she didn''t expect this at all, ''Seriously? It turns out that one of the people Kisuke saved coincidentally a decade ago is his aunt!? What are the chances!?'' And she then nced at Kisuke who is now furrowing her brows and seems to be thinking of something else already, ''T-this guy�� He already knew of this possibility and is now thinking of the future.'' She couldn''t help but smile wryly.


    And indeed, Kisuke already saw this possibility, but that doesn''t mean he isn''t shocked by this. It''s just that he recovered faster than everyone and started thinking of what could this newfound knowledge for him and those around him, ''Hmm�� Though this one of the possibilities, it''s still surprising to confirm it. Now then, a lot more questions opened up with this, mainly my mother''s lineage. She''s so good in hiding her aura that I can''t confirm that she''s really a Devil from the Belial House.


    ''Now that I confirmed that she''s really a Devil, the question is how she managed to hide it from me. Although I didn''t specifically try to pry her secrets, I''m pretty confident with my senses.


    ''The next big question is whether she''s a Half-Devil or a reincarnated Devil like Asia and Issei. Although their aura is a mix of Human and Devil, something is different from mom. If she''s really a Half-Devil instead of a reincarnated one, then what about me? I know my body well and I''m sure that I don''t have a trace of Devil''s blood in me�� So how?''


    Kisuke kept thinking for a few minutes for the possibilities and theories but still can''t find something that would fit his situation, ''I''m overlooking something here�� Although it''s possible to weaken a lineage to the point of almost non-existent, it''s impossible to remove itpletely. So where is my Devil''s blood? And how was it removed without me being aware?�� Wait�� That''s it!''


    Kisuke tried to recall the first time he became aware of himself and that is a few months after his birth, ''That''s should be the time that something happened to me without me being aware. And the one who can help me answer my question is��''


    ''You rang~?'' Before he could finish his thoughts, Benihime''s voice resounded in his head.

 Volume 5 245 - What Really Happened

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 245 - What Really Happened</h4>


    Benihime''s cheerful and yful voice came ringing from the depths of Kisuke''s soul, ''You rang~?''


    ''Based on your tone, it seems that you really know the reason.'' Kisuke sighed.


    ''And you won''t ask why I didn''t tell you?''


    ''Because I didn''t ask anything about it.''


    ''Right. And you''re too busy with your other projects.'' Kisuke can hear Benihime chuckling.


    ''So? What happened back then?''


    ''I just witness what happened so I''ll just tell you that as I''m also not entirely sure about what exactly happened.''


    From Benihime''s words, it seems that she''s already awake before Kisuke is even born and has been taking care of his injured soul due to ''transfer'' ever since. Back then, the father figure of the Urahara Household is already missing but Benihime isn''t really interested in that.


    What caught her attention is Kisuke''s mother, Sakura Urahara, has been using a strange technique she has never seen before on the baby in her womb. Benihime was, of course, very rmed at what she''s doing and safeguarded Kisuke''s soul more. She nned to forcefully materialize herself if it''s needed and wouldn''t hesitate to do so as Kisuke only needs his soul to survive.


    However, soon enough, she dropped her worries as the technique Sakura is using only affects Kisuke''s physical body. In the duration that Sakura is changing Kisuke''s physique, Benihime only watched carefully for the changes.


    Since she''s only an expert on soulposition, she isn''t exactly sure what''s happening on Kisuke''s physical body nor Sakura''s goal. Benihime, however, also has keen eyes so she can tell that a certain ''part'' of Kisuke is being pushed towards his heart and from what''s Kisuke is guessing, it''s probably his ''Devil''s Lineage''.


    ''Pushed to my heart? Then where is it now? Did it go out somewhere else?�� No�� As far as I know regarding the physical bodies of this word, it can''t go anywhere. Although trapping or cornering a ''lineage'' is theoretically possible, it shouldn''t be possible for it topletely separate from the body. Else it''ll be an iplete body and it would breakdown sooner orter.''


    ''You''re still forgetting something here. Remember, it is your heart.'' Benihime soothing voice gave him another clue.


    ''Heart�� heart�� heart!?'' Finally, Kisuke was able to piece the puzzle together and an idea that could exin what exactly happened sh in his mind, ''Could it be�� the Hougyoku!?''


    ''Correct. That scary toy of yours took it.'' Kisuke can hear Benihime chuckling again. She then continued her story.


    Sakura managed to gather all of his ''Devil Lineage'' in his heart before he is born and locked it in his heart. Benihime tried to inspect it but the lock is strong enough for her to not be able to mess easily so she just ignored it and continued nursing Kisuke''s soul. She wants his soul topletely recover or at least, mostly before he''s born in this strange world and she''s sessful in doing that.


    However, a sudden change urred when Kisuke is about to be born. The Hougyoku, which is has been inactive all this time after safekeeping Kisuke''s soul through the interdimensional transfer, suddenly started devouring what''s inside Kisuke''s heart from the gate of his soul.


    Benihime doesn''t know what happened to that thing which is locked up but she can tell that Hougyoku''s cracks worsen and the integration of Kisuke''s soul to his physical body became a lot better.


    ''And that how it disappeared. I don''t know if it''s forever lost or the Hougyoku is only keeping it. Either way, the fact that this thing could do something without anyone''s consent is scary. I can understand your reluctance to use something like this that has a will but no intent.''


    Benihime is correct. Kisuke didn''t want to use the Hougyoku as it can initiate actions regardless of the user''s will or intention so he can only seal it in the middle of his soul so that it wouldn''t affect him if it moves on its own.


    He already saw an example of it in the past when Aizen''s Hougyoku suddenly stopped supporting him and Ichigo was able to weaken him sufficiently that Kisuke was able to seal him. Though Aizen is still pretty much a monster due to the raw Reiatsu that he possesses that is probably only lower than that of the Soul King which holds the worlds together.


    Another reason why he didn''t want to touch the Hougyoku after his initial use of breaking down the barrier between his Shinigami part and the Hollow part is that there is really no real use for it. It''s true that he can gain unimaginable power in using it, but he has other options to get stronger without the risks of the Hougyoku brings.


    But now that he knows that the Hougyoku is holding onto his ''Devil Lineage'', he intends to make room in his schedule to search for it.


    ''And what happened after that?'' Kisuke decided to push it into the corner of his mind for now and hear the rest of the story from Benihime.


    ''After that, nothing really happened much, but your mother seems to be very surprised at the fact that you''repletely human. From what I can tell in those times, it seems she''s very knowledgable regarding physical bodies or else it would be impossible for her to push that into your heart and sessfully lock it. She could have examined your body with much more precision and uracy but I guess she doesn''t want to do that to her child. You really got lucky in this life.''


    Kisuke smiled gently while remembering how his mother took care of him, ''I''m really lucky�� And I''m thankful�� But after this revtion, things got a lot moreplicated and I have to make a few security measures.''


    ''Oh right�� The thing we talked aboutst time. How is the progress of that?''


    ''Not great. I need a lot more data to actually make a working prototype.''


    ''Then that''s not good. You already revealed yourself and more annoying things will being, not just for you but also for those around you.''


    ''I know�� But there are also advantages of revealing myself. Now can also get the attention of those who can help me. Besides, I technically saved the heiresses ofrge Devil Households so I can ask a few things. That way, my research can progress.''


    ''That''s true�� Then I''ll be waiting for that time. But let me warn you. You would have to separate me from your Hollow side at that time. It''ll result in more violent reactions if you use it.''


    ''I know. It''ll also be a good time for me to actually control it, so it''s not really a bad thing.''


    Kisuke and Benihime finished their conversation. Instead of returning to reality, however, Kisuke kept thinking of the possibilities and the paths he could take. Sorting out his priorities in his head, he decided for his next course of action, ''Safety first. I have to finish Benihime''s thing first before anything else.''


    As he''s running simtions in his head, he suddenly felt someone pulling his right ear which dragged him back to reality, "Eh?"


    "You brat�� It seems that you''re already somehow aware of our rtionship and escaped to your own world. You still have a lot of exining to do." Sakura is looking down on his troublesome son who seems to be already nning something else. She noticed that Kisuke is the only person in the room who isn''t affected by what just happened.

 Volume 5 246 - Plans for the Future

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 246 - ns for the Future</h4>


    "Ehem." Kisuke figured that before he could start working on his projects, he first has to settle the current situation, "I not really sure of your rtionship until now. But before you hear anything from me, you two have to talk properly first. Do you want to do it here? Or do you want me to set up a private space for the two of you?"


    Sakura first looked at Kisuke for a few seconds before sighing, "I doubt you''d tell more than Cleria-neesama. Furthermore, talking with her would save me from having a headache since she has more sense than you."


    "So want the private space~. The guest room in the right is where you should go."


    "��Dammit��" Sakura could only grit her teeth in frustration, "Why does it feels like you already have prepared everything?"


    "Because I did?"


    "Haah�� Whatever�� Who doesn''t want such a capable son?" Sakura smiled wryly and dragged Cleria with her to the guest room that Kisuke pointed out. They still have a lot of things to talk about and didn''t want to spend more time making sense of Kisuke''s actions.


    Kisuke then faced Masaomi, ire, Medusa, and Yoruichi, "Well then, let''s have lunch."


    "Cleria will probably call for me and ireter so we''ll the one to bring them the food." Masaomi put down ire and started serving the food for everyone. And just like he expected, just a minuteter, they were called in.


    The only people left in the room to share the table is Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Medusa, "So? What''s the n?" Yoruichi asked.


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately to arrange his thoughts while eating, ''From Yoruichi''s reportst night, contrary to what we expected, those invisible guys retreated�� Did they retreat because of therge influx of Devils and Fallen Angels? But based on how they act, it''s very unlikely for them to retreat just from this�� Are they up for something bigger or are am I just overthinking it? Either way, I can now safely move the girls to the training ground and continue their treatment there.''


    Kisuke kept tapping his fingers on the table as he eats and Yoruichi and Medusa didn''t interfere with his contemtion.


    ''I first have to sort out my priorities. The most urgent thing I have to do now is to stabilize Aika and Koneko''s conditions. If this is prolonged further, it could have a potentially detrimental effect on their future development.


    ''Next is to examine Medusa''s state. I can''t have her breaking down suddenly without a warning. After that is�� Hmm�� Information gathering. I have to contact both Kuroka''s group and the Devil side and maybe get my reward while I''m at it.


    ''And thest thing for now is�� Benihime''s container�� I heard the Governor of the Fallen Angels likes to mess with Sacred Gears�� I wonder how I can contact him?�� Ah�� right�� That guy with a gaudy white armor. He was sent by Azazel to retrieve Kokabiel and it seems that he has a connection to Kuroka. I should start with that. I also have to sort my projects and separate them between what I can show and what I can''t.''


    Polishing the n in his head, Kisuke finished his food, "Yosh~. Here''s the n. Yoruichi, same as always, you''ll be going around to gather info but you have to do it differently this time."


    "Different? How?" Yoruichi and Medusa also finished their food and started cleaning up the table.


    Kisuke gave her arge grin, "You''ll be transferring to Kuoh Academy."


    Yoruichi stopped what she doing and stared at Kisuke nkly, "��Seriously?"


    "Yep~. I''ll ask Sona-chan to arrange it for us. It should be easy for her to do this."


    "��Your reason?"


    "You can get close to the Devils and gather more information from them. And while you''re at it, we can establish a connection to their government through them. Although we don''t like some of them, that isn''t a reason to make an enemy out of them."


    "��Let me change the question a little bit�� What''s your real reason?"


    Kisuke suddenly stood up and without hesitation, he dered, "Of course it''s because I want a school uniform date!"


    Medusa is dumbfounded at his actions, ''No, no, no. You got it the wrong way! The former should be your main goal instead of thetter!'' She thought. But after a few seconds, she epted it because this is Kisuke. It''s pointless to question his goals. Nevertheless, she felt slightly jealous.


    Yoruichi chuckled and agreed to his n, "Fine. I would also like to roam around the school and enjoy the atmosphere."


    "Good. I''ll give Sona-chan a callter. You''ll be transferring in after a few days when all themotion settled." Hence, another ''Demon'' is about to descend in the Kuoh Academy.


    "Next is, I''ll be moving Aika and Koneko to the training ground and elerate their treatment. Ana, you''ll being with me. We still don''t know if you have hidden dangers on your body so I have to examine your body, core, and soul thoroughly."


    Medusa flinched after she was called but she nodded meekly.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong? I won''t be doing something strange to you, so rx."


    "N-no�� That''s not it��" Medusa fidgets around while ncing at Yoruichi from time to time.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other and understood each other''s intention instantly, "Well then. I''m going to transfer Aika and Koneko. Yoruichi will be leading you to training groundter."


    "W-wait!" Medusa tried to catch him but Kisuke already used sh Step to escape. This action of his made her very nervous, ''Why leave me alone with your wife!? Even though that Sona Sitri didn''t suffer anything from Yoruichi-san, it doesn''t mean that I''ll have the same treatment!''


    Medusa nervously looks back at Yoruichi who is smiling at her. However, this smile of her gave her the feeling that she''s just a small prey in front of a very ferocious predator, "Ana�� No, it should be Medusa. Let''s talk for a bit."


    Medusa''s heartbeat shoots up. Although she knew that Yoruichi won''t be hurting her, she couldn''t help but think negatively, ''Am I going to die today?'' And she nodded timidly.


    Yoruichi patted her shoulder and gave her a gentle smile this time, "Rx. I won''t be doing anything to you. You and I just have to talk."


    Medusa stared at her face for a few seconds before taking a deep breath, "Okay. I''m going to prepare some tea. Please sit down and wait for me for a moment."


    "You don''t have to do that though."


    "No. I have to do this. After all, I''m a maid of the Urahara Household." Medusa said while beaming a bright smile.


    Yoruichi smiled and only thought, ''Well�� As long as she''s happy.''


    .


    .


    .


    As the two groups are having their own talks, Kisuke finished transferring Aika and Koneko, "Now then. What should I do next? Right, I should adjust the examination room for Medusa."


    It''s not that Kisuke doesn''t care as he knew that these talks center around him, but he too doesn''t want to influence their decisions just by being there.


    Why? Because if he''s present in their talks, he wouldn''t be able to stop himself to manipte the course of conversation to benefit himself and he doesn''t really want to do that. In cases like this where ''logic'' isn''t everything and his scheming head isn''t wanted, he would leave everything to his queen.

 Volume 5 247 - That Nagging Feeling

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 247 - That Nagging Feeling</h4>


    A few days has already past since the battle against Kokabiel. Aika and Koneko can already do normal daily activities, but anything that can stress their bodies would immediately put them in pain so they are now free of Yoruichi''s training and happily living their normal life.


    "Aren''t youing to school?" Yoruichi asked while she wears the Kuoh Academy''s uniform.


    "Maybe some other time. I still have things to do." Kisuke yawned as he snuggles in his nket. He looked towards Yoruichi who is already finishing up and said, "As I expected. It really suits you."


    "Really? It''s too girly for my taste."


    "It looks great~. It gives you a youthful feeling."


    "I know, right? But don''t you dare attack me right now. I won''t be able to go to school once you''re done."


    "Hehehe�� Then let''s postpone it in the evening."


    "If that''s the case, then I would bete on my second day of school�� But I''m also looking forward to a student role-y~."


    "Then I should dress for the asion~."


    While their conversation is starting to heat up, Sakura''s call from downstairs came before they could throw away their ns for today, "Yoruichi, you''re going to bete!"


    "Ehem�� I''m going, dear~." Yoruichi got hold herself and gave Kisuke a quick peck on his lips before leaving in a hurry.


    Kisuke could only chuckle at his lover''s antics. That quick peck, however, gave him enough energy tost for the whole day, "Now then, it''s time to work hard today again." Stretching up, he cleaned himself with the use of magic and materialized his shihakushou.


    These days, since he''s not going to school and his experiments are potentially dangerous, he kept wearing his actual shihakushou instead of normal clothing for additional defense.


    Kisuke, however, did not go down immediately as he wanted to check the progress of his running experiments through his terminal first, "Hmm�� The new Gigai''s soul integration is 238% better. But that is still far from my goal of using soul techniques without separating from the Gigai.


    "For the Sacred Gear prototype, if I want it to contain a soul, then capacity is a problem. And even with that solved, the soul''s ability won''t be able to easily transfer to the user. I have to keep running this experiment for more data but I don''t think this is the right concept for the real Sacred Gear. I guess this is as much progress I could get by continuous trial and error.


    "As for healing magic, Asia-chan''s Sacred Gear is a good reference, but that is only for normal injuries as it only boosts the regenerative power already inside the target. If there is a problem in the regenerative system itself then it''ll do more harm than good. Although attacks that disrupt regeneration itself shouldn''t bemon, it isn''t impossible to encounter something like that. I guess if I want something that would work for everything then I should focus on making a magic version of Orihime''s ''reject'' powers. But then again, that''s currently impossible for me."


    Kisuke scratched his head in mild frustration due to his projects not progressing as fast as he would like, "I know I shouldn''t be rushing these things, but I have a nagging feeling that if I at least don''t do Benihime''s request, then I would dearly regret itter."


    Normally, even things don''t go as he scheduled, he wouldn''t have minded it as it''s pretty normal, but now, a nagging, almost unbearable feeling keeps pushing him. Hisck of progress is not the real cause of his frustration, but this strange feeling that directly shouts in his instinct, "I hate this�� This is the first time something like this happened. And even I thoroughly inspect my body and soul, nothing wronges up��"


    Even though this is the case, he already came up with a few possible reasons, "My first guess is that something changed in me when I transferred to this world which makes me detect something I don''t know. Although this is also highly unlikely because it only came up now and Yoruichi doesn''t feel anything like this.


    "Second is the Hougyoku itself. I''m starting to think that someone or something I don''t know about intervened so that Aizen and I were able to create something like this.


    "And myst guess is due to my involvement with transcendent being, namely Ophis. I don''t know much about the transcendent beings but their influence on fate itself should be enough reason for something like this."


    Kisuke finally shook his head, "There is no point in thinking this. I don''t like that I''m being influenced by something but it also doesn''t hurt to prepare for the future. Either way, it''s already something I nned, and I just have to hurry it up."


    It took Kisuke half an hour to review everything before he came down for food.


    "You''re finally up. Your breakfast is in the oven. You can reheat it for a bit." Sakura is currently happily getting ready to go out.


    "You''re going again today?" Kisuke asked.


    "Yep~. But this time, Cleria will be bringing her whole family." She then took out a familiar bracelet and wore it. Within a few seconds, her face changed along with her aura. This is the same bracelet that Kisuke gave to the family of three to disguise themselves.


    These past few days, Sakura and Cleria kept going out on their ''dates'', enjoying their reunion. Kisuke, however, gave Sakura a condition to go out and hang out with her sister, and that is by disguising herself and using teleportation magic toe to their meeting points. This way, Cleria''s family wouldn''t attract as much attention as Urahara Household is.


    "Be careful. Call me if somethinges up. I''lle immediately." Kisuke turned on the oven to reheat his food.


    "I will." Sakura then stepped on the magic circle that Kisuke made for her. The magic circle lit up and within just a few seconds, she would be transported to the location she set earlier. But before she disappears she called out to Kisuke onest time, "Honey, don''t push yourself too hard. Make sure that you don''t lose yourself in the middle of your job�� Maybe you will, but make sure that you''re ready to pull out anytime. It''s too dangerous if you''re not aware of your surroundings however secure your space is."


    Kisuke smiled at his mother''s reminder, "I''ll remember that. Enjoy your day~." He replied before his mother went away.


    After finishing his food, Kisuke was about to go back to his projects when he suddenly felt someone near the house, "It''s alright. No one''s here."


    A secondter, a purple magic circle appeared in the living room and Kuroka appeared, "Good morning nya.~"


    "Good morning. Have you had breakfast yet?"


    "Not yet nya~."


    "I see. Let''s go to the training ground first. We can talk while you eat."

 Volume 5 248 - News From Kuroka part 1

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 248 - News From Kuroka part 1</h4>


    Arriving at the lodging in the training ground, Kisuke served Kuroka steamed fish for her breakfast, "Thank you for the food nya~." Without any hesitation or reservation, Kuroka took a mouthful of fish.


    "It seems that you''re busy these past few days. Mind telling me what you''re up to?" Kisuke then took out a tea for himself and sat in front of Kuroka.


    "We''re really busy, nya. But thanks to certain someone attracting everyone''s attention, some jobs became easier for me."


    "Hehe, then you ought to thank me."


    "Fine�� I''ll tell you what you want to know without hiding anything. You can also request me something as thanks for saving Shirone and sparing Vali."


    "Great. Then please start with the general movement of everyone."


    "Let''s start with the Fallen Angels. Due to Kokabiel''s actions, the two other big factions are trying to corner them. However, Azazel is already expecting this and his move is to propose a tri-faction conference to exin his side to the other leaders personally."


    "Heh�� So due to his subordinate''s actions, he was able to strengthen the reason for initiating a conference. This way, he would have more chances of signing a peace treaty with the other leaders if that is what he really wants. That exins why he didn''t take any action in stopping Kokabiel. From what I heard, it seems that he''s an intelligent and cunning person, so a suspicious activitying from his direct subordinate shouldn''t have escaped his eyes."


    "D-don''t you think that it''s just a coincidence?"


    "No way~. If that''s the case, then that Vali guy wouldn''t have the leisure to watch my employees get pummeled to the ground~." Kisuke smiled.


    But to Kuroka, this smile of his is far from agreeable and gave her chills, ''This guy is still pissed at what happened��''


    "Ehem�� Anyway, if what you''re saying is true, behind that carefree attitude of his, is a cunning snake�� Still�� I can''t believe it�� From Vali''s story of him, Azazel seems to be azy leader who is only interested in his hobbies and would always act carelessly��" As Kuroka reached this point, she finally remembered someone who also fits the bill, ''Dammit! I have an example of a carefree guy who''s only interested in his projects but the worst enemy you can make in front of me!''


    "See my point?" Kisuke chuckled at her difficult expression.


    "��Yes�� I''m thoroughly convinced." Kuroka sighed and just resumed eating, "Should that be the case, then chances of him knowing Vali''s alignment with Khaos Brigade is really high. Why hasn''t he already done something?"


    "Who knows? Maybe he still has other goals and Vali''s activities will be better for him."


    "��" Kuroka only stayed silent. Just by listening to Kisuke, the situation just became deeper than what she currently understand.


    "Don''t think about it too much. What I said is just conjectures from the information I have. The real situation might be entirely different from what I guessed." Kisuke took out another cup and poured hot tea on it for Kuroka.


    "Even if you say that, I couldn''t take it off my mind now. It feels that we''re only moving on someone''s script without our knowledge." Kuroka thanked him for the tea and let out her concerns.


    "As I said, no use thinking hard about it. You can just think of something you can actually do."


    "��What I actually can do�� Is it?" Kuroka then looked directly into his eyes, "What you need is information, right?"


    "Yep~. That''s what I need the most right now."


    Kuroka sighed and said, "Good. I''ll actively gather information around from now on."


    "Oh? You aren''t going to question the way I led this conversation? You do know that I''m trying to get your cooperation without me needing to force you to do my bidding, right?"


    "Nope, nya~. Although I''ll be dancing in your tune, you''re actually someone who takes care of Shirone which is someone I''m more than willing to sacrifice my life for. Besides, If I''m going to go against a cunning snake, then all I have to do is to get the help of a more cunning and annoying snake, nya~." With a bright smile, Kuroka drank the rest of her tea.


    "Hahaha~. You''re overestimating me~. I''m just a candy storekeeper. How can I scheme? See my shop? It has been in red for a few months now."


    Kuroka rolled her eyes on him, not buying his nonsense, "Whatever. Let''s continue. The next one is the Devils. As you already know, their attention is on you, especially after your disy of strength of unknown origin. Some of them are interested in inviting you to their household while some are also seeing you as a threat that has to be eliminated, though thetter is just an extreme minority."


    "That is some unreasonable hate�� Do you know something else about those guys?"


    "Indeed. I knew some information about them, mainly their reason for such an extreme conclusion. Have you heard about the disappearing Devils of prominent households?"


    "Yes. I heard from Sona-chan that there are some missing Devils and it''s unknown whether they were kidnapped or left on their own as most of them are those in lower stratus of their family despite being a pureblood."


    "That is correct. But to the recent activities of my group, I was able to gather more information regarding that, and it''s worst than those in rumors." Before continuing, Kuroka nced at her empty up and Kisuke understood what she wants. He poured her another cup of aromatic warm tea.


    "Thank you, nya~." After taking a sip from her tea, Kuroka continued, "First of all, I discovered that it''s not only purebloods that are missing. All those who are documented to have disappeared have some sort of blood connection to these prominent households. It doesn''t matter whether they''re are almost purely human, as long as there is some ancestry from these houses, even those houses that already extinct, he or she could be a target since that''s the onlymon denominator among all of those who already disappeared."


    "Documented, is it?"


    "Yes. In reality, there could be more that has gone missing but are unknown to the Devils."


    "What are their higher-ups are doing then?"


    "I''m not really sure, but it seems that they are trying to block this news to prevent panic among the citizens. Thest thing they want is the rumor of another civil war ising."


    "I see. What you want to say is that those minority wanted to me me for those Devil disappearances due to my unknown origin?"


    "Exactly. And the strength you showed that night, along with your connection to this enigmatic Yoruichi became the biggest reason why they thought of this. And although I did say that only the extreme minority thinks of this, they kept getting more and more numerous as the incident of disappearances suddenly went away the moment you revealed yourself."


    "Hmmm�� So someone is targeting me." Kisuke scratched his chin in contemtion, ''The only one who could do this without getting caught as far as I know is Hades with his minions with invisibility helmet, but I could also be wrong. However, now I''m sure that someone is targeting me whether they want a scapegoat for their actions or something else�� That nagging feeling�� Could it be rted to this?''

 Volume 5 249 - News From Kuroka part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 249 - News From Kuroka part 2</h4>


    "Please keep track of these rumors and update me of any changes."


    "Will do." This is one of the few things Kuroka likes about Kisuke, the way he asks for things. He would always use a polite regardless of who is talking to and would only give order-likemands when things are very urgent, "Moving on, I don''t have much information on Angels'' side, but it looks like they are also interested in you, specifically, the Seraphim. Although it seems their interest stems from a different angle other than the fact you defeated Kokabiel."


    "Where did you hear this? It should be impossible for you to infiltrate their headquarters and this information shouldn''t even reach the church if it''s just some interest of their leaders. They need to maintain an aloof-like image, after all."


    "I just coincidentally heard it from some members of the Khaos Brigade. When you asked me to gather information for you for the first time, I also started investigating the organization that I''m in thinking if I can exchange the information that I would get for something from you."


    "If some of your members know about this, then there is probably an Angel traitor or two from their ranks."


    "How is that possible? If that is the case, they would have ''Fallen'' long ago."


    "Now that the Biblical God who made the system in Heaven is gone for a very long time, it isn''t impossible for some to find some loophole in that system."


    Kuroka scratched her head in frustration, "Nyaa!!! Why is everything soplicated all of a sudden!?"


    "Because you listened to me?"


    "That''s that, nya! But an Angel acting against Heaven without falling is unheard of! If something like that is really possible, then there is a ticking time bomb in their ranks!" Kuroka couldn''t have careless about this in the past, but now there is a threat to her precious little sister''s protector, it became a headache for her, ''If the case with the Devils is somehow rted to the Angel traitor, then due toplex web of connections, finding the real enemy would be harder than ever!'' Kuroka might just be overthinking it, but the possibility is still there.


    "We''re not yet sure if that Angel traitor would be our enemy so let''s set that aside first." Kisuke smiled and took a sip from his tea, ''Should I ask Yoruichi to teach her some covert operation skills? Her affinity with the ''shadows'' is pretty high and it would be a waste if that is not used to its full potential.'' Kisuke thought.


    "Haah�� You''re right. Then let''s move to thest one. This one is from the spies in the Mount Olympus. Although I don''t know if this is useful information at all. Athena, one of the Chief Gods of the Greek Pantheon is apparently grievously injured and is currently in aa due to unknown reasons."


    Kisuke kept his poker face but inwardly, he shocked and confused, ''How? I clearly remembered that she not in danger despite her injuries. Now news of her in aa came?''


    Kisuke closed his eyes and checked his connection with the snake no Athena''s Divine Core and shocked him for a second time today. Although the snake is set to rm Kisuke when something happens to it directly, it doesn''t tell him anything if there are changes in the Divine Core, ''Corruption!? She clearly told me that unless a god is born from mass belief, it''s impossible to corrupt the Divine Core��''


    "What''s wrong?" Kuroka somehow noticed Kisuke strange demeanor and asked him.


    Kisuke shook his head and replied, "Nothing. I just remembered something. Do you have anything else?"


    "None. That''s all for now."


    "I see. Thanks for the hard work~." Kisuke stood up and is about to leave to continue his experiments.


    "Uhmm�� Kisuke." But just as he turned around, Kuroka called his name.


    Turning back again, Kisuke asked, "Hmm? What is it?"


    "Could I use the hot spring? I really need a good dip after that few days of nonstop work."


    "Sure. Go ahead and take your time. If you want some snacks, you can get it from the fridge in the kitchen."


    "Yay~. Thank you, nya~!" Kuroka jumped in delight and ran towards the direction of the kitchen. Ever since her first time, she would always ask for permission to use the hot spring and dip in it for a few hours.


    Kisuke couldn''t help but let out a smile seeing her like this, ''Well, it good that she can still enjoy something after staying in the dark for long.'' Walking towards his workshop, Kisuke kept examining Athena''s Divine Core through the snake but couldn''t get additional information, ''Coincidence? Most likely, but if by any chance that she was attacked because of me, then I really need to rush my projects.''


    Kisuke entered his workshop and the first thing he did is adjust the currently running experiments based on the data he got this morning. After spending an hour to readjust every parameter in his console, he sat on the table nearby to watch the data entering his terminal.


    "This won''t do. Now that I know that the chances of someone is trying to harm me and those around me is high, this kind of progress isn''t good��" Kisuke scratches his head trying to think of a solution, "Everything here could help me in the future, but in turn, the progress of each slowed down due to my limited resources. I guess I need to postpone some of this to focus on one or two experiments."


    Deciding his next ns, Kisuke turned off most of his running experiments, "My priority right now is safety and most vulnerable is not me nor Yoruichi, but mom. So I should focus on that first."


    .


    .


    .


    Hours went by before Kisuke decided to get out of his workshop, "What should I get for lunch? Hmm? Kuroka is still here?"


    Thinking that she passed out in the hot spring again, Kisuke walked towards the hot spring, but he would slightly regret this decisionter.


    As he neared the hot spring, a shadow suddenly sprang from a nearby rock and ambushed Kisuke. In response to that, Kisuke grabbed her arm and used the force behind her jump to toss her away. The shadow somersaulted andnded on all fours. The one who attacked him is Kuroka and she did it while buck-naked.


    Without minding her current appearance, Kisuke asked, "What''s wrong with you? Wait�� This smell��" Kisuke looked around and around the bank of the hot spring, there are several empty bottles of his self-brewed sake. Adding to her flushed face and wobbly movements, Kisuke rightfully concluded, "You''re drunk?"


    Kuroka didn''t answer him but instead, asked her own question, "Kisuke nya~! You''re a lot stronger than what you currently show, am I right, nya~?"


    Kisuke stopped for a moment, not knowing why she would ask this question. Nevertheless, she''s already arade so it doesn''t hurt to acknowledge her so he nodded.


    "Right~?" Kurokaughed out loud with asional hup before attacking Kisuke again, "Then make kitties with me, nya~!"

 Volume 5 250 - Customer

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 250 - Customer</h4>


    "Then make kitties with me, nya~!" Kuroka pounced on Kisuke again while dering such.


    Obviously, Kisuke is dumbfounded after hearing her, but he still calmly received her attack and tossed her away again, "Yep. You''re drunk." This time, she fell on the hot spring.


    Kuroka immediately got up and stared at Kisuke with unfocused eyes, "What, nya? Hic! You don''t want to do it, nya? A pervert like you, nya? That''s strange, nya!" Still not giving up, Kuroka attacked him again but ended up with the same result of being tossed away, "Hic!�� I''m fine with practice too, nya!"


    "What the hell is wrong with you?" Kisuke is thoroughly confused with her actions, but he still answered her straight, "No way I''m having kitties with you. If I really did that before Yoruichi, she will be the first one who will kill me and multiple times at that."


    Kuroka''s goal is not just Koneko''s protection but also the revival of her tribe, the Nekoshou, so she''s searching for a young man with strength and great potential as a mate. What she wants is her ''kitties'' or children inheriting the strength and potential of the father so that they can survive better in the supernatural world.


    Kuroka already requested the same thing from Vali, but she was rejected. Although Kisuke also fits the bill, in fact, he''s much better than Vali, Kuroka would never ask Kisuke for ''kitties'' due to her fear of him.


    But due to her getting drunk and unintentionally going into heat, Kuroka forgot her fear and her hesitation instantly disappeared, "You don''t have to worry about that, nya~! I can keep secrets!"


    "That''s not the problem at all!" Tossing her away again, Kisuke asked, "Why are you doing this anyway?" Although Kuroka is drunk, it seems that you can still somewhat talk to her so Kisuke kept the conversation going. However, he couldn''t this for long as he might just attack her for real.


    Kuroka suddenly stood up straight causing her perky breast to bounce multiple times, "For my Nekoshou family, nya~! I need your genes, nya~!"


    "I see��" Kisuke understood her motives but he still won''tply with just that, "Why not that Vali guy? It doesn''t have to be me if it''s just genes."


    "I already asked him but he kept rejecting my advances, nya~�� Besides��" Kuroka stopped for a moment and looked straight in Kisuke''s eyes before giving him a bright, beautiful smile which doesn''t suit her current behavior, "Compared to him, and others that I met in the past, I think you''re the one that will take care of our kitties the best, nya~!"


    Kisuke''s eyes widened after hearing her words, ''Figures�� It''s her child, so she would want the best treatment for them.''


    "An opening, nya~!!!" Kuroka''s eyes sh in strange light as she noticed that Kisuke is a bit out of it and used this chance to attack again.


    However, Kisuke also instantly reacted to her actions and tossed her away again. Although this time,nded with her freedom taken away from her. She now tied in turtle bondage with knots cleverly ced on her sensitive spots, "Nyaa~[3!"


    "I''m hungry so I don''t have time to apany you with your antics, so just be satisfied with that and sleep after you''re done." Kisuke turned around without minding her seductive moans and teleported outside of the training ground.


    Kuroka was mercilessly abandoned while she kept squirming and unintentionally started pleasuring herself, "Nyaa~[3!"


    Arriving in his room, Kisuke went out of the house to get some fresh air. He decided to just have some meat buns for lunch and walked around the neighborhood for a few minutes.


    Instead of going back to his experiments, he decided to check his ever so dested candy store first.


    Once he entered the store, he noticed the first Gigai with a basic mod soul he made in this world. The olddy that he tasked to man the dested store.


    Kisuke already told everyone that the olddy is actually a ''robot'' without any will and only programmed to respond to many different situations.


    Sakura couldn''t believe it when he revealed the truth as she would sometimese and talk to this olddy and apany her to drink. But after Kisuke demonstrated that it''s really just a ''robot'' by detaching the olddy''s head and returning it without a problem, she finally believed him after a punch to his gut for scaring the heck out of her.


    The olddy quietly stood up and disappeared inside the store after Kisuke came in. He sat down on the counter of the store, closed his eyes and dived in his thoughts of his current experiments, his ns for the future, and his shorings while he eats his meat bun.


    While deep in his thoughts, Kisuke suddenly felt the fluctuation of space. Opening his eyes, he looked towards the direction it originated from, ''200 meters aways from here? And he''s walking towards here?''


    Confirming that someone just teleported nearby and is currently approaching his shop, Kisuke gulped down his meat bun and took out his trusty cane.


    After a few minutes of waiting, his guest finally arrived. Entering the store is a tall man appearing to be in his twenties with an average build, ck hair, golden bangs, and ck goatee. He is wearing a knee-length dark blue zer with a light blue dress shirt, a ck waistcoat, and a red tie. He wore faded-purple cks and ck dress shoes.


    "Wee~. If you have something you want, please take it to the counter, although I doubt that this gentleman here would be interested in any of these." Kisuke brightly weed him as he carefully inspects him, ''This is�� Azazel? I already that I gathered a lot of attention from the leaders of each faction but I didn''t expect that he would be so free that he can just wander around.'' Kisuke thought as he recalls the photos that Kuroka gave himst time, ''He''s a lot stronger than Kokabiel, alright.''


    The man didn''t reply to any of his words and only silently eyed him for a few seconds before transferring his sights towards the disyed candies and sweet treats disyed on the shelves.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything further and the man walks around the shop grabbing a handful of these 10 - 50 Yen treats.


    After a walk around the shelves, the man brought everything he got to the counter where Kisuke is, "I''ll take these."


    "Understood~. That would be 520 Yen in total~." Kisuke instantly checked everything he bought.


    "Here." The man then gave Kisuke a 1000Yen bill prompting Kisuke to give him his 480 Yen change, "Thank you for your purchase~."


    "Mind it if I sit and eat here?" The man pointed on the elevated wooden floor where Kisuke is sitting too.


    "It''s fine. You can take your time to enjoy your snacks." Kisuke agreed immediately, "By the way, mind joining me for a tea?"


    "That would be lovely, thank you." The man smiled and sat down.


    Kisuke then took out two cups of tea and the tea itself. Setting it down and pouring it for both of them, Kisuke gave one cup to his rare customer.


    Thanking him again, the man took a sip of his tea without hesitation, "Ah~. It''s a good tea. This is probably a lot more expensive than what I just purchased."


    "It''s good that you like it, but aren''t you worried that it''s poisoned?"


    "Nope~. I think you''re the type of guy that won''t do that."


    "Oh my~. You sure are confident in your observation skills."


    "Of course��" The man then looked at Kisuke again, "But despite my good observation skills that I''m so confident of, I can''t see through you beyond that."

 Volume 5 251 - Customer part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 251 - Customer part 2</h4>


    "Of course��" The man then looked at Kisuke again, "But despite my good observation skills that I''m so confident of, I can''t see through you beyond that."


    "Well, I''m ttered if someone like you says so~. I really put effort into secrecy, after all, ~." Taking out his paper fan, Kisuke covered his mouth and did an embarrassedugh.


    The man smiled, "I see�� So you already knew me. But for formalities sake, let me introduce myself." The man stood up and put forward his right hand towards Kisuke, "The name''s Azazel, the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels. Nice to meet you."


    Kisuke also stood up and took his hand with his right hand, "Kisuke Urahara, as you can see, I''m just a humble candy store owner. The pleasure is mine~."


    Azazel''s mouth twitches and he retorted, "If all the humble candy store owner in the world is like you then we would be living in a very terrifying world."


    Kisuke ignored hisment and pushed the conversation, "I wonder what''s the purpose of the esteemed leader of Grigori''s visit today?" He separated from him and sat back down.


    Azazel did the same and took another sip of his tea before replying, "Well, nothing really. I''m just curious about you."


    Hearing his words, Kisuke suddenly made a difficult expression, "I''m really ttered, but�� I''m sorry. I don''t swing that way."


    Azazel was dumbfounded and could only let out a confused noise, "��Huh?"


    Seemingly misunderstanding him, Kisuke continued, "I''m sorry. I can''t really be with you! I already have a wife! If you want, however, I can introduce you to someone who might be interested."


    ''I should ask Isseiter to introduce him to Mil-tan.'' Kisuke rudely thought.


    After getting rejected for the second time, Azazel finally reacted and blew up, "That''s not it, you bastard!" Due to Kisuke''s very real expression and concern, what he is saying seems to be the truth and Azazel couldn''t take it. The always carefree, calm and collected Governor of the Fallen Angels is not a match to Kisuke''s innate passive skill of annoying everyone.


    "��What? Aren''t you curious about me�� Ah��" Kisuke then made another embarrassed smile, "So that''s what you mean~. Geez, you scared me there! I thought that my charm and charisma already broke the gender barrier. Thank goodness that''s not the case."


    "Normally, the first thing you should have thought is that I''m interested in your identity�� I don''t know how you reached that conclusion!" Azazel rubbed the bridge of his nose.


    "Well, you didn''t exin it properly! This is not my fault!" Kisuke wouldn''t admit his fault, "By the way�� If you''re really interested, my offer from is still valid as a sign of goodwill~."


    ''Screw your goodwill! I don''t need it!'' Azazel wanted to shout but stopped himself just in time. He looked at Kisuke again who is now sporting arge grin, ''Dammit! I already regreting here! What the hell is this guy!?''


    Azazel then took a deep breath to calm his nerves, ''Calm down, Azazel. Don''t get dragged into his pace. At this rate, you''ll be in a losing ground if you can''t calm down��''


    "Ehem." Feigning a cough and ignoring Kisuke''s ''offer'', Azazel got back his bearings, "What I''m saying is I''m interested where a human like you came from. And are you really a human?" Knowing that he won''t go anywhere by just talking around the bush, he asked him directly.


    "You''re not the first one who asked me those questions, but I won''t change my answer no matter how many times I''m asked. I''m born in Kuoh Town and yes, I''m a bonafide human~." Kisuke properly answered him this time.


    "I see." Azazel resumed eating his candies and drank his tea, "Well�� That''s not really important at this point. What I really want to know is your goal. I''m sorry if I''m prying into you too much, but as a leader of one the Three Factions, I can''t ignore someone like as strong as you without any visible affiliation. Moreover, there is this Yoruichidy that seems to be connected to you and is capable of going against the strongest of the Five Dragon Kings."


    "Goal, huh�� If there is something, then my goal is safety and living my life to the fullest~. So when there is something noisy in my neighborhood, then expect me to do something about~."


    "I understand��" Azazel epted his reasons for dealing with Kokabiel. He won''t ask why he didn''t just live quietly without bothering anyone for safety, but he knew he wouldn''t answer that and would go against his goal for today''s visit if he pissed him off,


    "Then is that Rating Game ''noisy'' for you and Yoruichi?" Azazel is referring to the Phenex and Gremory Rating Game that happened not long ago and ended up getting canceled at the end due to Koneko''s rampage and Yoruichi''s intervention.


    Kisuke''s answer is, however, simple, "If I can do something about the noisy neighborhood, then I can do more for my household."


    Recalling some of the Devils'' connection to him, Azazel nodded, "True enough." Drinking thest of his tea, Azazel continued, "Since there will be a partyter and noise is inevitable, and for you not to intrudeter, I would like to extend an invitation to you in the conference between the leaders of The Three Factions that will happen here in Kuoh Town."


    "Conference is it?�� What''s the main agenda?"


    "Peace treaty between the factions," Azazel answered simply.


    "Heh�� So your goal is to let others see that I''m on your side. No way I''m going to such a troublesome party. I''m just a small business owner, what can I do if others target me because of that? There is no advantage for me at all~." Kisuke smiled, but that didn''t reach his eyes at all.


    As the target of Kisuke''s cold stare, Azazel received a chill in his spine, ''��This guy is a lot more dangerous than I anticipated. He''s not even releasing a bit of his aura but just his killing intent is potent enough for me not being able to ignore it.''


    Feigning another cough, Azazel continued, "Of course there is something in it for you. We will give you resources."


    Kisuke''s ''smile'' didn''t ease up and he also didn''t speak. He only waited for Azazel to continue.


    "Of course we won''t just decide on what resources you will be receiving. We can discuss it and reach an agreement before the actual conference. That way, if you don''t want it, you can still choose not to attend."


    Kisuke smile finally disappeared and spoke in a serious tone, "You already know that I could ask the same thing from the Devils for saving their heiresses."


    "You indeed can, but it''ll be limited."


    "You mean to say that my attendance at this conference is more important than saving those kids?"


    "That''s not the case at all. But even if you didn''t save them, they would have been safe. Once Vali steps in, Kokabiel wouldn''t be able to react or release his power."


    "��"


    "I truly apologize for what happened back then. Due to how interesting the kids under your care are, I ended up dying Vali''s entrance."


    "��"


    "Come on, don''t look at me like that. I can at least tell that you''re simr to me. Don''t tell me that you don''t understand my perspective. And besides, you already gave my kid a good beating so let''s call it even."


    "�� I guess you''re right." Kisuke sighed, "But I expect a betterpensation for those kids. After all, it''s your kid that picked a fight so that can''t be my fault."

 Volume 5 252 - Trade

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 252 - Trade</h4>


    "I''ll certainly arrange it." Azazel sighed. He had no choice but to give in to what Kisuke wants. His abilities are really that attractive to him including those under him with simrly unknown abilities.


    "Great~." Kisuke finally eased up his serious atmosphere and poured tea on Azazel''s empty cup again, "But it seems that you''re misunderstanding something here."


    "Hmm? What is it?" Azazel picked up his tea again and asked.


    "What you really want is the ''organization'' behind me. And it''s obvious that someone who uses an unknown power system couldn''t be alone. What you want is the fact that others could see that my ''organization'' is supporting the Three Factions. But it''s a shame that my ''organization'' doesn''t support me anymore. I''m technically a solo man now."


    "��That doesn''t really matter. Their imaginations can fill in the rest in regards to your rtionship with your organization. What''s important is that they think there is an unknown group behind you. By the way, how will they react if they knew your involvement with the Three Factions? You''re not a wanted man, by any chance, right?"


    "You don''t have to worry~. The Seireitei (Court of Pure Souls) won''t really mind it and won''t interfere with anyone~." Kisuke chuckled and thought, ''They won''t receive such news in the first ce as they are literally worlds away.''


    The reason Kisuke used the Seireitei is for more stability. If he admitted that he''s a lone man, it''ll be hard for others not to make a move against him. But with a connection to an unknown organization, it''ll give others second thoughts. A big bluff in simple terms.


    "Seireitei��" Azazel muttered as he tries to search for that name in his mind, ''Haven''t heard of it before�� Is he lying? Or is this organization enclosed themselves in Dimensional Gap like the Wizards of Oz?''


    "About those resources�� Could you give me a few days to decide?" Kisuke didn''t want him to think about it any further and pushed their conversation.


    "Sure. Send me the list after your done and I''ll talk about it with Sirzechs." Azazel replied.


    "I see. So the leaders already decided to ept this Peace Treaty."


    "Of course. This conference couldn''t happen if not for that. Although we already agreed to it, we still need the formality of deciding it over a table and we have to show to our factions that we''re properly doing it."


    "But even then, I doubt everyone would agree. Kokabiel couldn''t be the only one who thought of starting a war."


    "You''re correct. But those guys started gathering and there is nothing better than amon enemy for an easy peace treaty." Azazel let out a coldugh.


    Kisuke also chuckled, "True enough~."


    ''So he already knew about them.'' Azazel thought. Drinking thest of his tea, Azazel stood up, "Well then, I''ll be contacting you in a few days."


    "Leaving already?" Kisuke, however, poured tea on his cup again, "We can still talk."


    Azazel stopped for a moment and stared at Kisuke, trying to guess his intentions. But Kisuke is too much of an unknown for him to guess anything effectively, "Do you still have questions?" For now, he decided to sit back down and grabbed the cup of tea again.


    "I do. And it''s regarding the resources that I can get." Without beating around the bush, Kisuke directly told him what he wants, "I heard that you like tinkering with Sacred Gears. And I just wonder if you can share some of your data with me."


    Azazel didn''t immediately answer but drink his tea first, ''Data on Sacred Gears? It''s not like I can''t but that doesn''t mean that I would share it with just anybody without getting anything back. Besides, not everybody could make sense of that data��''


    "No�� It''s my personal property and hobby that doesn''t have anything to do with the Three Factions�� But if you really want it, I can share it with you if you have something of equal that you can offer. Anything is fine, be it material, technique or whatever. As long as I deemed it equal to what I can give then I''ll exchange it to you."


    "Anything, huh?" Kisuke then took out a stack of bond paper with fine text on it from his storage, "How about this?"


    Azazel is, of course, skeptical of what is written on the paper. But once he received and started reading it, his eyes widened in shock. Five minutes after he started reading, he started muttering under his breath with his eyes sometimes shing in excitement and somethings clouding in confusion.


    Kisuke didn''t do anything further and just waited for Azazel to finish reading everything while he enjoys his tea, ''Did I underestimate the value that data? Those are just basic soul theories andw that everyone who studied in Shinou Academy (Spiritual Arts Academy) and some intermediate knowledge that everyone in the Research and Development Department of the Soul Society knows�� I really don''t have a good grasp of the value of soul knowledge in this world.''


    It took Azazel about an hour to read everything, but instead of being happy, his face is full of frustration, "Dammit�� You gave me something unbelievable��" Scratching his head, Azazel continued, "So I have to present data that is equal to this to get those key information?" Although Kisuke gave him a big stack of papers, the key points of those in the paper is missing and made the whole thing confusing and outright useless. Azazel has some background on soul studies due to his research on Sacred Gears, but it is still not enough to fill in the missing pieces. Hence, his frustration, ''Do I have to exchange everything I know?�� That''s how valuable this information is! With this, I can advance my own research by several centuries or more? Where the hell did this came from!?''


    "I can only give you a number of key points depending on the quality of information I can receive. By the way, I''m also doing Sacred Gear research on the side so you can''t just randomly give something basic or intermediate~." Kisuke isughing internally, ''Hehehe~. Let me suck you dry~�� Wait�� That sounds wrong.''


    Azazel didn''t reply and grabbed his already cold tea. Reheating it with magic, he drank it while thinking for ten whole minutes before deciding to say something, "I would like to hear your progress on Sacred Gear first."


    Kisuke, this time, didn''t hide anything and told him what he knew about the Sacred Gear, minus the soul rted stuff. Azazel understood why he didn''t tell him one of the most important parts, Sacred Gear spirit since that would reveal some of the key points he''s trying to get.


    "I see�� You''re only doing preliminary research and still very far frompletion. Once I pass you my own research results, I promise you that you will be able to create your own artificial Sacred Gear."


    "But?"


    "But if I need consultations regarding these papers, then you have to help me." Azazel paused and nced at the papers again, "This topic is too advanced for me and I know how dangerous it is to mess with soul matter."


    "Sure, but only when it''s convenient for me~."


    "Convenient�� That''s too vague."


    "I know. But I also can''t answer your call all the time, but you don''t have to worry. I also don''t want you to go to dangerous territories regarding the soul. Once you go there, you''re lucky if nothing happened to you, a bit unlucky and you die immediately, if your really unlucky, you might just die while create something terrifying with wrong notions that you might have."

 Volume 5 253 - Yoruichi as a JK

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 253 - Yoruichi as a JK</h4>


    Azazel nodded in understanding. He also knew the dangers of research regarding the soul. If it''s not dangerous, he could have progress his own research without relying on anything or anyone, "Thanks��"


    Standing up again, Azazel intended to leave for real this time, "I need to gather everything first in myb. I''ll be done by evening and I''ll send it to you by that time."


    "I''ll look forward to it~." After registering each other''s Mana signatures, they bid farewell. Azazel couldn''t wait any longer so he immediately teleported to the Fallen Angel base in the Underworld directly.


    ''Although he seems a carefree and decent guy, he''s brewing big hate�� I wonder where his hate is directed? In any case, it''ll be a good thing for me to establish a good connection with him�� I should give him more benefits.'' Kisuke thought as thest light of the teleportation circle disappeared. Kisuke is a firm believer in, ''There is nothing more expensive than free.'' With that in mind, he intends to give Azazel more benefits and assistance to gain moreter.


    Stretching all of his limbs he also stood up from the counter, "Yosh~. Time to go back to work. I wonder how''s Yoruichi doing? She didn''t make a mess, right?"


    .


    .


    .


    The moment she reached the Kuoh Academy, Yoruichi is weed by Sona in the school gate, "G-good morning, Yoruichi-san."


    "Good morning, Sona-chan~. You''ll be the one guiding me?" Yoruichi replied. She noticed that Sona is being awkward around her but she knew the reason for, though she didn''t point that out. After all, it''s fun to see her being distressed by something she shouldn''t worry about.


    "Y-yes. Please follow me in the faculty room. I''ll introduce you to your homeroom teacher." Sona tried her best to make a poker face, but she couldn''t help but slip up from time to time, ''She''s acting normal!? I know that it already happened a few days ago, but this is still our first meeting after that k-ki�� that incident!'' Confused by her actions, Sona started walking towards the school building while worrying about her future. Her future with Kisuke and Yoruichi specifically.


    Obviously, they gathered a bit of attention from the students, but they ignored it and just silently walk towards the faculty room.


    Those few minutes were the most painful for Sona as she can feel Yoruichi''s inquisitive stare on her back. She wanted to say something but don''t know what to talk about. The only thing she can do is to shorten her ''suffering'' by moving a bit faster.


    Reaching to where the teachers are, Sona knocked on the door before opening the door, "Excuse me. I''m here with the transfer student."


    Walking towards the middle-aged male teacher, Sona introduced Yoruichi to her homeroom teacher, "This is Yoruichi Shihouin, please take care of her." After that, she bowed bid her farewell to Yoruichi before leaving immediately.


    But before she could exit through the door, Yoruichi called out to her, "Sh*tori-senpai, can we talkter~?"


    Sona shuddered and stopped her steps but she didn''t turn around, "I''ll be waiting at the Student Council room."


    ''Am I really that scary?'' Yoruichi asked herself as she watches Sona leave like she''s on fire.


    The homeroom teacher introduced himself and they both left for the homeroom ss. In the ssroom, Yoruichi can hear the rowdy bunch, namely Aika, Asia, Issei, and his friends. Yoruichi also noticed the bodysuit woman from the Church. She already heard that she became a Devil under Rias Gremory so she isn''t confused by her presence.


    "Alright, settle down! I''m going to introduce a new transfer student." Entering the room, the teacher immediately said. Everyone sat down and voiced their confusion, "Another transfer student? Didn''t we just have yesterday?"


    Ignoring the students'' question, the homeroom teacher invited Yoruichi in, "Shihouin-san,e in."


    Entering the room, multiple gasp and multiple mutterings were heard, "Another beauty? Great!" "Tanned beauty is here!"


    While the boys are enthusiastic, the girls could only sigh as three beauties already transferred in this ss, ''Why in this ss?'' They all ask inwardly.


    Those who knew her, however, were frozen in ce, "I''m Yoruichi Shihouin. Nice to meet you~." Only after she introduced herself, they managed to get a hold of themselves.


    "Yoruichi-san!? What are you doing here!?" Aika eximed.


    "Why are you asking that? Of course, it''s to study." Yoruichi replied with a smile.


    ''No sh*t! If told me that you''re only here to mess around I would believe it more!'' Aika thought.


    "You know each other? Good. Kiryuu, guide Shihouin around the school after the sses. Shihouin, your seat is beside Kiryuu."


    Yoruichi thanked the teacher and moved to her seat, "Please take care of me, Aika-chan~."


    Aika could only sigh, ''She won''t be like Kisuke, right?''


    The ss started, but Yoruichi immediately got bored of it, ''Dammit, I need to get away from this! Kisuke''s random rumblings were more interesting than this!''


    Looking around, she tried to find what she can do to get out of the ss. She already thought of excusing herself for thefort room but she still wanted to find something better than that, ''That''s it!'' And she found it.


    A few seats away from her is a flushed female student. Nobody seemed to notice it, but Yoruichi is sure that she has a fever right now. Not wasting any time, she stood up and interrupted the ss, "What''s wrong, miss transfer student?"


    Yoruichi didn''t answer the teacher immediately and approached the female student. Without any word, Yoruichi put her face in front of the female student prompting her to reel back in shock, "W-what is it?"


    Grabbing her head, Yoruichi touched her forehead with hers to feel her temperature with a serious expression. Due to her actions, however, the female student ended up flushing more, "W-w-what!?"


    Separating from her, Yoruichi faced the teacher, "Teacher, I noticed that she has a cold. Allow me to bring her to the infirmary."


    The female student finally understood what she did and instinctively refused her offer out of embarrassment, "No, no. You don''t have to do that, I''m fine."


    Yoruichi faced the female stood again and lifted her chin using her hand to make direct eye contact, "That won''t do. You have to take care of yourself more." She said while sporting a gentle smile.


    The female student froze as if an invisible arrow went through her chest. She could only absentmindedly reply, "��Yes."


    The other female students who are watching this scene covered their mouths in shock and admiration while the male students could only nkly stare at the ''ikemen'' in female form.


    "Great~. Come here." Yoruichi then grabbed her arm and gently lifted her. The female student, without her knowledge, is already in a princess carry which froze her again, "Well then, teacher. Please excuse us. Thisdy needs some rest time~."


    Ignoring the shocked stares of her ssmates and teacher, Yoruichi exited the room with grace.


    On this day, a new legend is born in the Kuoh Academy.

 Volume 5 254 - Kurokas Regret

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 254 - Kuroka''s Regret</h4>


    AN: Slightly R18 Chapter.


    After leaving the flushed female student in the care of the school nurse, Yoruichi started to wander around. Since it''ll be troublesome to be caught, she masked her aura, ''Wondering around while walking with my two legs is really different than when I''m a cat.''


    It didn''t take too long for the bells to rm, signaling the end of the sses and the start of lunch. Since there will be no sses and only club activities in the afternoon, the students took their time for lunch.


    Taking out a handful of food from her storage, Yoruichi went and looked for a spot to eat, but not just any spot. She wanted to join some students to get more information regarding their daily life in school for her to fit in better.


    Finally, she found familiar ssmates on the courtyard and approached them, "Mind if I join you?"


    The pair of girls were startled when Yoruichi suddenly appeared beside them and they suddenly remembered what happened in the ssroom earlier. Giving her an admiring look, the girl with brown hair and tied in a ponytail, "Please join us!"


    "Thank you~." Yoruichi sat down beside them and introduced herself again prompting the girls to do the same. The two girls were Maruyama and Katase and both of them are members of the Kendo Club.


    That day, the two of them would be the first to be Yoruichi''s loyal followers as she ''conquer'' the school. And also that day, Kisuke would be the enemy of almost all female students without him knowing.


    .


    .


    Done with his trade talk with Azazel, Kisuke went back to the training ground to gather every data he has regarding Sacred Gears. Continuing his experiment right now would be almost useless so he stopped it. However, he didn''t resume the other experiments because he would need all of his equipment to verify Azazel''s datater.


    Once he entered the training ground, however, he finally remembered the heated ck cat that he left alone, ''Has she calmed down?''


    Curious about her current state, Kisuke approached the hot spring again to check on Kuroka. Contrary to his expectations, however, Kuroka wasn''t able to calm down and instead became even more flushed than when he left her, "O-oi�� You alright?"


    Wheezing and squirming, Kuroka looked up with her hazy golden gaze to the source of the voice, "��Kisuke��?"


    "What happened to you? I''m pretty sure that you should have already calmed down after an hour." Kisuke asked. What he didn''t know is that once a nekomata goes into heat, it''s hard to stop it without reaching great satisfaction. Kuroka is capable of stopping it, but she identally went into it after happily drowning herself in alcohol and couldn''t negate it without her clear mind.


    "��I-Itchy�� So itchy�� Kisuke�� Help me�� It''s itchy!" Kuroka muttered in between her deep breaths as she kept squirming and rubbing her private parts on the rope trying to find the relief which seems so close yet so far.


    "I-itchy, you say��" Kisuke''s mouth twitches. He didn''t expect that the almighty nekoshou would be reduced into this mess, ''But it really looks dangerous. Her body temperature kept increasing and shows no sign of stopping. I can forcefully stop her rise of temperature but without knowing what''s really happening, I would risk injuring her and that might causeplications in the future�� Then the next easiest solution is to grant her the relief she wanted�� And to do that��'' Reaching that point of thought, he looked at his hands, ''I guess it''s time to use my skills~.'' With an evil grin, Kisuke approached Kuroka.


    But before he won''t into action, Kisuke asked her first, "Before we begin, I know that you would regret this after this, but do you still want to continue?"


    "It''s itchy�� Please scratch it, nya!" Kuroka only said such.


    Kisuke first removed her bindings and as a result, Kuroka immediately attacked him. Obviously, that failed and Kisuke used his Reiatsu-Ki to seal his movements and made hery down on her back on the ground, "Now then, let''s begin~."


    Kisuke didn''t immediately touch her sensitive spots but started to massage her body to ease her stressed and tensioned muscles, "Unya~~." Kuroka let out a strange voice of mix frustration and bliss. Although the heat in her body didn''t decrease at all.


    Once that is done, Kisuke started working inwardly, slowly approaching her twin peaks. Kuroka''s voice, in response, started change into high pitched one, "Unya~�� Nya!"


    Each stroke of his hands is only grazing her peaks which builds up more frustration and heat on Kuroka which made the area below her smooth pubic region drenched in aromatic nectar.


    Seeing this, Kisuke immediately lightly grazed the bud in thather region which resulted in Kuroka slightly arching her back despite the restrictions in her movement, releasing a high-pitched voice, and squirting with great force, "NYAA~~?!" Kuroka had her first release.


    Not letting her rest, Kisuke used his left hand to rub her stomach and started sending pulses of his Reiatsu-Ki while his right hand started to gently rub her slit which is now covered in her juice.


    A few secondster, Kuroka reached her second release which is greater than the first one, "Funnya~~~???!!!"


    Still not letting her rest, Kisuke suddenly inserted his finger into her precious hole and through his finger, Kisuke sent another set of pulses to her G-spot which resulted in immediate fourth and strongest release yet, "Bad! This is bad, nya!!! I''m going to get insane, nya!!!"


    This time, Kisuke finally gave her a rest and released her restrictions, "That bad? Should I stop now?"


    Kuroka''s head cleared up a bit after that four consecutive releases. And the first thing she did is to cover her face in embarrassment with both of her hands. But that doesn''t mean that ''in heat'' mode subsided as she can still feel thepulsion of it.


    She can immediately quell her desires but when she heard his question, she started to have second thoughts and remembered the pleasure she was subjected to, ''I should stop now!�� But�� Anyhow, it doesn''t really matter anymore as I would regret thister all the same!''


    Giving in to the temptation of pleasure, Kuroka made her decision and muttered in a soft voice while still covering her flushed face, "��Please continue." This decision of her, however, would leave an entirely different reason for regretter.


    "What~? I didn''t hear you~." To Kuroka''s misfortune, however, Kisuke''s bad habit of tormenting others suddenly surface.


    Kuroka knew of this and gritted her teeth, "Please continue, nya!"


    "Continue what? What do you want me to do? If you don''t be more specific, I wouldn''t what to do!"


    Shaking, Kuroka peeked at Kisuke through the space between her fingers and saw his nasty grin, "Please continue what you''re doing earlier!"


    "What am I doing earlier?"


    Throwing all of her shame, for now, Kuroka suddenly grabbed her right hand and ced it on her crotch, "Please rub it, nya!"


    "Hehehe~�� As you wish~!"

 Volume 5 255 - Recordings

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 255 - Recordings</h4>


    Three hourster, Kisuke stood up, used magic to clean his hands, and admired his work. On the floor is Kuroka in a sloppy and twitching mess with her eyes rolled back, unconscious, "I overdid it��"


    Kuroka couldn''t take the countless climaxes that she was subjected to. In the middle of it, Kuroka already wanted to stop Kisuke but he won''t hear it as every time she tried to speak, Kisuke would use his hands to shut her up. In thest 30 minutes of this session, Kuroka couldn''t think straight anymore and all that ising from her mouth are unintelligible or gibberish noises until she passes out.


    Later, Kuroka would regret the fact that she allowed Kisuke to touch her despite giving in to temptation because the poor cat would never forget this day as she discovers that her desires could never be satisfied with just her anymore.


    Not thinking of any consequences, Kisuke picked her up and used magic to clean her. He then transferred her to a guest room and let her rest peacefully. Kisuke left the room after putting a thick nket over her, "Now then, Azazel-san would probably still take some time and Yoruichi probably already got home. Medusa is also probably done with touring the town and already preparing dinner."


    Teleporting back to the house, Kisuke felt more presence aside from the usual crew, "Sona, Shinra, Gremory, and Himejima? It seems that they are already free enough toe here."


    Kisuke arrived in the living room where all the guests are sitting and chatting. Yoruichi is happily talking with Sona, Tsubaki, and Aika, Koneko is being checked by Rias, andstly, Akeno quietly staring at Medusa in her child form and maid uniform preparing dinner in the kitchen.


    "Good evening~. It''s nice to see all of you lively~. Though I must say, this room full of flowers is splendid and stunning scenery that will make anyone pay a fortune just to stand right here~." Kisuke entered and greeted everyone with a big smile.


    Everyone stopped what they are doing and the first one to speak up is Aika, "Is that mouth of his the reason why he has all of these problems?"


    "That''s one, but not all of it. This pervert has a lot more to offer that make others go crazy for him, though he doesn''t show it often which is a good thing." Yoruichi replied to her words.


    "Kisuke-senpai might just get a stab in the back sooner orter from his stalker or something," Koneko added.


    Kisuke''s mouth twitches as he heard them, "U-um�� Girls? Could you at least return my greeting?"


    Sona, in a hurry, stood up and greeted him, "G-good evening! Thank you for having us!" Ever she calmed down after the incident of kissing him in front of everyone, her calm demeanor always disappears when ites to Kisuke. Although she already had a good talk with Yoruichi earlier, she still couldn''t help but feel nervous when Kisuke entered the room.


    "Calm down, Sona-kaichou. I won''t sue you for assaulting me~." As usual, Kisuke didn''t let go of the chance this chance to mess around.


    "Guh!��" Sona was, of course, startled and put both of her hands up to cover her face which is now beet red while also letting out small cute noises.


    Everyone in the room except for Yoruichi and Kisuke who are only admiring this sight was dumbfounded and were trying to figure out if this is really the Sona who is always calm and collected whatever happens.


    "��S-Sona�� I didn''t know you can do this kind of expression�� It''s cute." Rias couldn''t help butment as this is the first time she saw her childhood friend and rival be like this. Deep inside her, however, is a bit of jealousy, ''So you''re already capable of expressions like that��''


    Everyone nodded in response to her words but Kisuke suddenly said, "What? You don''t know? She''s always making this kind of expression, you know? That is why it''s so fun teasing her~."


    ''That''s only you!'' They all shouted internally and red at him.


    "Now, now. Calm down. Kisuke, stop teasing her." Yoruichi stopped them from bursting and faced Sona tofort her, "You don''t have to worry about what he said, Sona-chan. Besides, you''re not the only one who assaulted him. And to top it off, that girl is also a repeat offender." Although what she said if far from calming the situation down.


    "What!?" Sona, Koneko, Aika, and even Akeno asked in shock while looking at Yoruichi. Yoruichi only smiled in response and they looked at Kisuke intending to ask what happened but coincidentally, something shed in their minds at the same time and they all simultaneously looked towards the direction of the kitchen to see the purple-haired loli in a maid uniform, happily humming while cooking dinner.


    "It can''t be�� right?" Sona is the first one to ask. Aika, on the other hand, subtly took out her phone and put it behind her as she dial''s a certain number that will summon a squad of blue-uniformed men.


    "Aika-chan? What are you doing?" Kisuke already knew but he still asked.


    "Something that any normal person would do in this situation." She answered with a straight face when suddenly, her phone started vibrating and took it out to look at it. It turned off by itself, "Tch! Damn you and your ''trap house''!"


    Tsubaki and Rias weren''t interested in who assaulted Kisuke and asked what pique their interest, "Trap house?"


    "That damned pervert remodeled this house to have countless traps and functions that would suit his needs!" Aika exined while grinding her teeth, while Akeno nodded in understanding as she already experienced it firsthand. Although she suffered, she''s not ming Kisuke because it''s her own actions that activated the traps.


    "Traps and functions? Like what?" Tsubaki asked.


    "Hmm�� It''s better if I show it to you. Kisuke, please activate it for a bit." Aika stood up and walked towards the wall.


    Kisuke nodded and snapped his fingers, ''Hooh~. Trying to challenge it again? Hehehe.''


    Aika took a stance and exin, "If you try to damage this particr wall," She let out a punch and a magic circle immediately appeared to intercept it, "A disgusting white sticky liquid will suddenly squirt from it."


    And just as she said, a white sticky liquidunched at her and Aika dodged to the right, "After that, a pitfall will appear in the direction that you dodge." She exined calmly as she used a manageable amount of Reiatsu-Ki to create a foothold below her feet to jump away.


    "That isn''t the end, though, as another squirting magic will attack you from behind." And she docked while thinking, ''Perfect~!''


    But just as she looked down on the floor, she noticed a small hole from it and thinking what it is when a sticky white liquid suddenlyunched from it and hit her face in point-nk, "Dammit! Since when there is a mechanical type of this disgusting thing!?" Since she''s relying on her magic perception to locate where they areing from, she failed to notice a purely physical one and fell for it.


    Kisuke nodded in satisfaction, "The house evolves everyday~."


    "That wasn''t praising!" Aika shouted and she sighed in resignation, "Sona-kaichou, please."


    "Sure��" Sona used magic to clean Aika''s face and Aika faced Tsubaki and Rias, "As you can see, the traps here are range from annoying to dangerous, and most of which are in sexual harassment depending on who activates the traps.


    "I-I understand the dangerous ones for safety, but annoying? Sexual harassment? What for?"


    "Forughs! Everything that happens here is recorded!"


    Hearing Aika''s words, Akeno suddenly shook but immediately tried to calm herself down while maintaining a smiling face. Although cold sweat is starting to pool in her forehead.


    However, this didn''t escape Kisuke''s notice and an evil grin crept into his face, "Now that I think about it, I still haven''t seen the recordings when Yoruichi and I were on a vacation."

 Volume 5 256 - The Birth of a Stalker

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 256 - The Birth of a Stalker</h4>


    Akeno''s expression instantly crumbled down but no one noticed it except for Kisuke and Yoruichi as she was as able to recover immediately after.


    "Buchou, I forgot that I still have something urgent to do so I would like to take my leave first." She stood up and faced Rias.


    Rias finally noticed that Akeno''s expression isn''t what looks to be as the corner of her eyelids kept twitching and she''s sweating profusely, "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing, Buchou. I just remembered something and I need to leave now." Not waiting for her answer, Akeno started to walk towards the exit, "Urahara-san, Shihouin-san, thank you for having me." Akeno nned to disappear for a few months without telling anyone. She knew that her ''activities'' as the maid of Urahara Household, more specifically, her activities in Kisuke''s room would be revealed tonight and she would rather die than watch it with everyone.


    "Ana~." Kisuke then called out to his maid.


    "Understood." Without a need for further instruction, Medusa materializes her chains and grabbed the escaping Akeno with it.


    Biting her lips, she immediately started struggling with all her might. She already expected that Kisuke would stop her from leaving but she didn''t expect that the one who would be doing it would be the maid she''s interested in.


    However, Akeno couldn''t remove the chains with just her strength and she knew that using magic would only activate the traps in the house making her more miserable. Without any choice, she pleaded, almost crying, "Please! Urahara-san! Let me leave!"


    Everyone, especially Rias, was surprised at how Akeno is acting and didn''t know what to say.


    "Come on~. It isn''t that bad. We''ll just watch you being thrown around by traps~. You don''t have to react that way." Even Kisuke is confused at why she''s reacting a little bit more exaggerated than he expected.


    "If you aren''t going to let me go, then please at least kill me first!" Akeno shouted in desperation.


    Now even Kisuke and Yoruichi were dumbfounded and curious as to why she''s acting that way, but instead of stopping and feeling guilty, they immediately proceeded with the movie viewing, "Kisuke! Turn off the lights!" Yoruichi said that while arranging the seats so that everyone can watch properly.


    "No! Please let me go and I''ll kill myself! Do it after I''m done!" Bit by bit, Akeno started to lose hope. She''s tried to think of any other way to convince Kisuke and thought of one. But due to her disturbed mind and desperation, she thought that her idea would reel back Kisuke, "If you watch it, then you would have to take responsibility!"


    "Responsibility? What responsibility?" Kisuke asked. Seeing how desperate she is, Kisuke''s already having a bad feeling but due to his nature, the curiosity will torment him if he doesn''t do it now.


    Akeno thought that she''s finally getting through him and continued, "You''ll have to take me! And even if you push me away, I''ll chase after you until the end of earth! Be prepared to be bothered every day!"


    "Are we witnessing the birth of the most desperate stalker?" Aika asked.


    "Akeno!? What''s happening to you!?��" Even Rias is disturbed by her best friend. But even if that is the case, she chooses to side with her, "Umm�� Urahara-kun�� Can we stop this?"


    "Don''t bother. The more others want him to do a certain thing, the more he''ll do it the opposite way." Yoruichi answered her.


    "Damn right~! Let''s start this." ying the recordings, they started the screeny.


    For the first twenty minutes, Kisuke and Yoruichi keptughing without any remorse, but the others couldn''t do it easily as Akeno''s wailing cries are drowning the sound of video recordings. Although they wanted tough, they tried not to as Akeno on the screen is just too pitiful to be thrown around, though it''s her fault to begin with, activating the traps trying to investigate Kisuke.


    However, they still couldn''t understand what makes Akeno so desperate. Although it''s embarrassing, it''s nothing to kill yourself over it.


    Akeno''s cries then suddenly stopped and everyone looked curiously. She''s now lying on the floor, still with chains binding her. Her tears dried up and her eyes were that of a dead fish signifying losing all hope she has. They also noticed herughing creepily while muttering something under her breath.


    "She broken��" Aikamented.


    "Why? It isn''t that�� ba��d��?" Yoruichi asked, but before she could finish her words, it started to trail off as she suddenly hears moans of pleasureing from the speakers.


    As if they nned it, everyone turned their heads like a rusted joint towards the screen and saw Akeno, in a maid uniform, pleasuring herself in Kisuke''s room.


    Due to how unbelievable this scene is, everyone is frozen in ce with their minds nked out. The first one to recover is Kisuke, but it''s already when Akeno reached a climax and has a smile of satisfaction as if all of her frustration went away.


    Immediately taking back the projector and turning on the lights, Kisuke pretended that he didn''t see any of that, "I know why all of you came here, but first, let''s have dinner and we can talk about it. Ana, prepare the table."


    "Y-yes!" Ana was startled at the sudden change and immediately ran towards the kitchen to serve the food.


    Akeno, who is now free, slowly stood up with her head down and her hair casting a shadow on her face obscuring her eyes. She then suddenly smiled while letting out a creepyugh, "Hehehe��"


    "Uhmm�� Himejima-san. You''re proficient in using lightning magic, right? Yoruichi here is a master, how about she teaches you about the proper way to control lightning?" Kisuke is now feeling guilty so she offered her such. But in the corner of his mind, he''s thinking that he saw something amazing, ''Is there a continuation?''


    "R-right! I can control lightning directly as opposed to you trying to control it through magic. I can give you some tips." Yoruichi is also feeling guilty, but not as much as Kisuke. Contrary to everyone, she wanted tough at Kisuke''s sh*tty techniques at trying to pacify a girl. Though, even experts would find themselves in predicament in this situation.


    Giving up on the notion of pretending not to see it, Kisuke tried to convince her to calm down, "Y-you don''t need to feel that way. We understand you! Everyone has their own needs! No need to think about it any further! No one would judge you here!"


    Still ignoring his words, Akeno suddenly hugged Kisuke which prompted him to ask, "Is this the responsibility you''re talking about? We need to follow certain steps for that to happen! And besides, no one here would gossip about what they just witnessed. On top of that, you''re a beauty! There are many out there who would do everything to be with you!"


    In response, however, Akeno just started tough like an evil character. One Devil wing and one fallen angel wing sprouted on her back. She then flew off, breaking the ss door on the veranda, while carrying Kisuke with her.


    "Is she nning to elope with him?" Tsubaki suddenly questioned everyone.


    "What!? That can''t be!" A flustered answer came from Sona.


    "No�� Seeing that most of her sanity is gone�� I would say that isn''t impossible." Aika followed up.


    "We have to follow them!" Rias took out her wings and was about to fly but Yoruichi blocked her way, "Let''s just wait for them here. It''s impossible for her to take Kisuke away."


    They then remembered his power and nodded in agreement.


    A minuteter, Kisuke came back using sh Step while carrying the unconscious Akeno in his arms.


    Rias ran towards them to check her best friend, "What happened!?"


    "She''s fine. I just forcibly made her sleep since she tried to self destruct with me."


    "What!?"


    "You don''t have to worry so much, though. She indeed tried to self destruct, but she''s still afraid of death since the power she pooled isn''t enough to kill herself. She probably just wanted some form of stress relief."

 Volume 5 257 - The Power of Main Wife

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 257 - The Power of Main Wife</h4>


    Everyone calmed down and sat on the table to eat dinner. But a few momentster, it became awkward as they unavoidably recall Akeno''s glorious disy. Everyone has a flushed face as they eat their food and would asionally look towards Akeno, who is currently sleeping on the couch, with exceptions, of course.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Aika, the thick-skinned people, are acting like there is nothing wrong, "Mmm~! Ana, you''re getting better and better~." Kisuke is vocally enjoying the food.


    "Thank you for your praise, master," Medusa replied in a calm manner, but the jovial tone in her voice couldn''t be masked and her twinkling eyes were pretty obvious. If she has a tail to wag, it would be wagging almost to the point of breaking.


    "I''ve been meaning to ask�� Who is she? You didn''t have a maid aside from Himejima-senpaist time. And she''s even calling you ''master''! How low can you fall, you pervert?" Aika asked and insulted Kisuke while she''s at it.


    "Don''t me me! She''s the one who insisted on calling me that way!" Kisuke defended himself but it isn''t very effective as they all knew how he usually acts, and him asking a loli maid to call him master is highly likely.


    Seeing the stares of distrust, Kisuke knew that further exining himself would only make the situation worse so he continued instead, "Ehem�� Her name is Ana, and due to some circumstances, she has nowhere to go so I took her in."


    "A child without a ce? And you took her as a maid?" Koneko gave him a skeptical gaze.


    "Well, believe it or not, she''s actually the oldest one here."


    "Really? How old?"


    "��Let''s just say that no one in the Kuoh Town is older than her."


    "��A loli granny?" Aika nkly asked, "Damn�� This girl has so many attributes now that I took a closer look, a loli granny, a maid, a cool beauty, and since there are sses secured on her uniform, also a sses girl? Good thing she''s a loli, though." She muttered.


    Medusa instantly guessed what she''s thinking after hearing that, ''Good thing I prepared for things like this~!''


    Without saying anything, she suddenly circted her mana throughout her entire body and everyone felt it. She then opened the lock on the mana she stored in her Divine Core and added it to the mana that is already circting inside her body.


    A few secondster, she grew up, showing her real form as she did with Irina, but this time, without assaulting Kisuke for mana.


    As everyone who doesn''t know her stare in shock at the sexydy that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Medusa introduced herself, "It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Ana, the maid of Urahara Household�� and Kisuke''s number 2."


    But due to herst words, a certain someone snapped, "Huh?�� Number 2? Aren''t you dreaming?"


    Despite their apparent difference in ''firepower'', Sona slowly stood up as cold and calm demeanor returns for the first time, "If there is number 2, it would be me!"


    Although she''s pretty timid in front of Kisuke, as a High-ss Devil that grew up on the upperyers of the society, her pride won''t allow a neer''s deration of number 2.


    "A little girl like you who can''t even be honest with her feelings is number 2? Please stop joking." Medusa didn''t want to lose and gave her a sneer.


    "Guh!��" Sona greeted her teeth as what she''s saying is true, but it''s not enough for her to back down, "Heh~. So you''re saying that someone who only aims for number 2 is enough?"


    "Guh!��" Medusa also felt her words. She knew that she should be aiming for number 1 but she can''t get out of the mental barrier she created herself.


    The two then proceeded to re at each other, ignoring everyone else on the table.


    "Whew~. It''s getting hot in there." Yoruichimented as she watches the two try to overpower each other. She then faced Aika, who''s strangely being quiet, "What''s up? I thought you''d be the one to first jump at that chance."


    Aika is also watching the two of them while thinking of something and when she heard Yoruichi''s question, she only smiled wryly and shook her head, "There is no ce for me to butt in�� I�� can''tpete with them��"


    Yoruichi can tell that even though she hasn''t given up, there is some resignation in her tone, ''Is she overthinking things again?''


    Kisuke, the star of the two beauties fighting, choose to ignore the situation and focused on his food because he has a feeling that if he interrupted them, it won''t end well for him.


    The others who are also not involved also did the same as Kisuke, ignore the situation. They don''t want to be caught in a crossfire between the two.


    Since nobody will stop them, Yoruichi took the role and stood up, "Alright, that''s enough. Number 2 or whatever, it doesn''t really matter right now. We still have some things we need to settle."


    Due to their heightened tension, however, they simultaneously turned to Yoruichi and red at her, "Shut up number 1!"


    Yoruichi felt her head throb for a moment and she smiles, not the amicable smile that she always has, but the smile that sends chills to someone''s spine. Before speaking, she also let out a bit of her Reiatsu-Ki onto the two of them, "Ho~. You aren''t going to listen?"


    Both of them shook in fear and finally remembered who''s the big boss here. Sona and Medusa looked at each other and instantly came into an agreement through their eyes. They both grabbed each other''s right hand, "Ana-san, it''s a pleasure to meet you. Let''s get along in the future."


    "Same here, Sona-san. Let''s get along."


    "Drop the formalities. Please just call me Sona."


    "Then just Ana for me."


    Everyone who is watching this scene didn''t know how to react to the two that are just provoking each other a minute ago to bing good friends, "So this is the power of the main wife." Koneko muttered and everyone nodded in agreement with her.


    Yoruichi went back to her usual demeanor, "Great~. Let''s finish our dinner first and we''ll talk about why you all came here."


    Rias sighed in relief in Yoruichi''s suggestion. She and Tsubaki are already very tried at reacting at everything happening in this house, ''They''re�� too lively! Are they doing this everyday?�� Now I miss my cute Issei.''


    They finished their dinner after half an hourter and now they are sitting on the table with tea in front of them, "Sona-kaichou, Gremory-senpai, what''s the purpose of today''s visit?" Kisuke started.


    Rias first stood up and bowed slightly towards Kisuke''s direction, "First of all, I would like to thank you for saving me, my servants and the whole Kuoh Town from Kokabiel. Honestly, I don''t know how I canpensate you so I''m here to discuss it with you. Please don''t hold back."


    Sona also stood up and did the same as Rias, "I also would like to express my gratitude. The Sitri Household will also amodate your request as long as it''s within a reasonable limit."

 Volume 5 258 - Kurokas Problem part 1

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 258 - Kuroka''s Problem part 1</h4>


    The discussion went on and Kisuke didn''t hold back. The first thing he asked is more protection for his mother as they are attracting a lot of attention.


    He also requested for Aika''s parents'' protection. Even though they aren''t gathering as much attention as Sakura, they''re still at risk and it''s also one of Aika''s worries, which is why she spends more time at her home in these past few days in case an uninvited guestes in.


    The second thing he asked is books, one copy of every book which isn''t forbidden from the respective families. It doesn''t hurt to have more material for reference especially for Kisuke whocks knowledge outside of his own radar. Besides, small snippets of knowledge can give him inspiration that he can use to improve or further progress his projects.


    Thest thing he asked is materials. Materials that only those with a vast amount of connection can procure.


    After hearing everything, Rias has a wry smile on her face, "You really asked for a lot of things. I guess that''s expected of you?" Shaking her head, she stood up and looked at Kisuke directly, "Regardless, I''ll do my best to get everything that you need. That''s the least I can do."


    "Thanks~. That helps." Kisuke smiled.


    "Then I''ll be taking my leave. Thank you for having us." Rias bid her farewell and went to the sleeping Akeno''s side. With a final nce of gratitude, she used teleportation magic on both her and Akeno to go home.


    After they went away, Sona and Tsubaki also stood up, "I''ll make sure that you get everything. Different from Rias, I don''t have any remorse using my Household''s power to get what I want."


    "Thanks~. And make sure not to abuse that power."


    Tsubaki cast teleportation magic on both her and Sona but before they went away, Sona, for the first time, directly faced Kisuke with a resolution, "This time�� I won''t be afraid!" And they disappeared.


    "��W-what''s up with that viin-like exit?" Aika couldn''t help but say.


    "At least she''s moving forward," Yoruichi muttered to no one in particr, but Aika gritted her teeth after hearing it.


    Kisuke also noticed Aika''s reaction but he knows that Yoruichi already knows what''s going on and he trusted her that she can do something about it. But that doesn''t mean he will leave all of his woman problems on her as he also intends to understand the situation, "Let''s clean up and go to the training ground to rx in the hot spring." Kisuke proposed.


    "Please leave it to me. You can go to the training ground first and I''ll be following behind youter." Medusa already returned to her child form as she still couldn''t keep the transformation long enough.


    But just as she was about to start cleaning, she felt a tug on her uniform and saw Koneko behind her, "Ana-san�� I would like to ask a bit of adviceter. Can I bother you?"


    "And you are?"


    "Koneko. Koneko Toujou. Nice to meet you."


    "Nice to meet you too. And advice is it? I don''t know what you want to ask me, but I''m free after I''m done with all of my duties."


    "Thank you very much! I''ll look forward to it!" Smiling brightly, Koneko teleported to the training ground first.


    "Is that fine? She''s probably going to ask how to transform into her adult mode." Yoruichi asked.


    "Hmm�� I guess it''s fine. We just have to watch them closely. We can''t be deciding on what they want or need to do all the time so this is also a good chance for her start improvising for herself." Kisuke replied.


    Yoruichi, Kisuke, and Aika also followed Koneko soon after and went to the hot spring. Before they reach it, Aika first separated from Yoruichi and Kisuke and went behind arge rock. When she came out, she only has a towel wrapping around her naked body, but this is also the most she can do when Kisuke is around.


    The trio arrived at the hot spring and so that two contrasting figures are already dipping in, ''Oh crap! I forgot!'' Kisuke thought as he saw Koneko asking Kuroka in worry as thetter has a flushed face and kept fidgeting around, ''Should I escape? No�� I should just take it like a man! It''s not like I did anything further with her�� It also won''t look good if I escape now.''


    Kuroka noticed their arrival and she immediately red at Kisuke, "What''s wrong, nee-sama? Did Kisuke-senpai do anything to you?" Koneko asked in concern as she thought that it''s another misunderstanding.


    "How long have you been here, Kuroka?" Yoruichi undressed and jumped on the hot spring. She was followed by Aika and Kisuke who wrapped his waist with a towel to hide the sleeping dragon.


    Kuroka didn''t stop ring at Kisuke but she still answered Yoruichi, albeit, gritting her teeth, "I arrived this morning."


    "What''s wrong? Did this pervert do something to you?" Yoruichi is also confused at the way she''s acting, ''Flushed face�� Uncontroble shaking of the body�� And unconsciously covering her private parts�� This pervert�� Did he do it?''


    Kuroka wanted some sort of revenge, so instead of being ashamed, she revealed the truth, "That pervert�� Kisuke�� He�� He did it so much that I almost went insane! He didn''t stop even after begging him for mercy and I couldn''t even remember how many times I came!" It became worse when Kuroka remembered that pleasure hell and her beet-red face worsen while she started breathing heavily�� in a sensual way.


    Instantly after that, three different projectiles from three different directions came aiming for Kisuke''s face. He''s already prepared so he easily caught that one stone that came from Koneko and two knives that came from both Yoruichi and Aika respectively, "Wait! Don''t say it like I went all the way!" He tried to exin.


    Yoruichi looked at him coldly, "Are you saying that you didn''t use your junk?"


    Kisuke sat straight up as this is the start of interrogation from his wife, "Yes! I only used my hands, ma''am!"


    "And how did it came to the situation where you had to use your hands?"


    "That horny cat tried to assault me!"


    Yoruichi then faced Kuroka, "Is that true?"


    Kuroka looked down, ashamed, "��Yes."


    "I doubt you''d suddenly attack Kisuke without any reason, what happened?"


    "I went in the hot spring while bringing sake with me and got drunk. But in an unfortunate timing, I went�� in heat�� Which is normal for us, the nekomata race. If it''s the normal me, I could have to stop myself from going in heat but I drunk and can''t think straight. After that, I saw Kisukeing and attacked him��" Kuroka exined without hiding anything.


    "Are you saying that you could have attack anyone passing by just because you''re in heat?"


    "Of course not!" Kuroka immediately refuted her, "Even if I couldn''t think properly, I would never assault someone who I don''t favor!" But soon after, she processed what she just said and looked down embarrassed.


    "I see��" Yoruichi sighed, ''I''m already expecting this to happen, it''s still too fast�� Although it isn''t very far, Kuroka is still not yet in love with Kisuke and only views him favorably, so there must be something else.''


    "��I''m sorry�� It''s my fault�� I shouldn''t have let my guard down." Kuroka suddenly apologized.

 Volume 5 259 - Kurokas Problem part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 259 - Kuroka''s Problem part 2</h4>


    "��I''m sorry�� It''s my fault, nya�� I shouldn''t have let my guard down." Kuroka suddenly apologized.


    "Wait!" Kisuke stopped her from continuing, "Don''t apologize. I''m also at fault here."


    "Then tell me what happened."


    "After she assaulted me, I tied her up and went out for an hour. I thought that it would calm her down as long as she''s left alone, but I''m wrong.


    "When I got back, her body temperature is at a dangerous level. I thought of forcefully cooling her down but I hesitated since I don''t know what that would actually do to her.


    "She then asked me for it. And I thought this is a much safer way since the source of her heat is her libido and I just have to satisfy it�� I did manage to satisfy her, but��" Kisuke voice trailed off at the end.


    However, Yoruichi continued it for him, "But, as usual, you went overboard."


    "Yes."


    "Haah��" Yoruichi touched her forehead, "Your habit of overdoing things really has both sides of the coin�� In any case, both of you are at fault so if it''s possible, you can just move on without minding it�� but��" Yoruichi then looked at Kuroka, "Is there something else you want to say?"


    Kuroka hesitated, but in the end, she shook her head, "No�� There is nothing, nya�� Let''s just move on."


    "You don''t have to hold back. Just say it." Kisuke urged her.


    "He''s right, you don''t have to hold back. One of this guy''s few redeeming qualities is he knows when he''s wrong and wouldpensate you for the trouble." Yoruichi gave him a follow-up, ''I already have a guess to what she wants to say. Kisuke doesn''t know the full extent of his abilities regarding his hands and would always underestimate it�� Those hands are truly terrifying, and even more so if he overdid it. I need someone else''s help with that as I really don''t know until I can endure that alone��''


    Kisuke still hesitated but Koneko held her hand to give her support. A minute passed, Kuroka sighed and decided to be honest all the way as they might have a solution, "It''s not a request per se�� But a small problem, nya��"


    "What is it?" Kisuke naively asked.


    "Uhmm�� After experiencing that�� I could never forget it, nya��"


    "And?" Kisuke didn''t like where this is going, but since he''s already too deep to back away, he continued to listen.


    "I�� tried doing it myself earlier and I never reached it!"


    "In other words?" Aika asked.


    Kuroka gathered her courage and closed her eyes before shouting, "Because of what happened earlier, I could neverfort myself again! What should I do if I''m feeling horny!!!"


    "Eh?" Kisuke could only make a dumbfounded face.


    And due to his reaction, Kuroka got angry, "What do you mean ''Eh?'' This isn''t a simple problem at all! Don''t you know how painful it is to endure!? And even if you can''t endure it andfort yourself, you still can''t do it because your body is looking for a better stimulus!"


    "I-I understand your feeling��" Kisuke knew the feeling of enduring isn''t good so he empathized with her, "Ehem�� Do you have any suggestions or anything you want to solve this problem?"


    "That''s the bigger problem! I don''t have any idea how to solve this problem, nya!" Kuroka, already almost crying, shouted.


    ''Hmmm�� The best solution is to erase her memory and her muscle and nerve memory. The first one is already troublesome enough, but the second one is hard! Erasing muscle and nerve memory is not as simple as resetting the muscle movements but one would need to delve into the unknown territory of the brain to aplish and I''m not at that level yet. Making it worse, she''s a half Devil and half Nekomata�� What are my other choices��'' Kisuke started tapping his chin trying to search for a solution but failed.


    "I have a solution~." Yoruichi''s voice suddenly woke everyone up from their thinking daze and Kisuke asked, "Solution? What is it?" Although he should be grateful, he can tell that it seems that everything is going ording to Yoruichi''s n.


    "Please tell me, nya." Kuroka gave her a hopeful look and urged her.


    "It''s simple~. Just let Kisuke take care of your urges~!" Yoruichi said as if it was the best solution in the world.


    " "Huh?" " Kisuke and Kuroka asked at the same time.


    "What? Is it not a solution?"


    "No, no, no, Yoruichi-san. Why would you even suggest something like that?" Kisuke didn''t know if she''s joking or not.


    "Why you say?�� It''s because you don''t know how terrifying it is to be yed by you. This will also teach you a lesson and a reminder for you not to carelessly use your techniques."


    "Wait! Aren''t you his girlfriend, nya? But instead of getting angry at me, you''re even suggesting something like, nya?"


    "Indeed�� I should be angry, and in all honesty, I am a little bit angry."


    "Then why, nya!?"


    "It''s because I''m already resigned to the fact that I won''t be alone."


    "That''s��"


    Yoruichi then smiled and sent her private telepathy, ''Besides, among those who are aiming for him, there are currently no one other than me who takes care of his urges. And I really want a helper regarding that hands of his. If he can satisfy his naughty hands with you, then I would be thankful. I don''t really want to go insane.''


    ''I don''t want to go insane too!'' Kuroka retorted back.


    ''No worries, after this, that guy will be holding back a lot and so he won''t break any of us.''


    ''How can you be so sure?''


    ''It''s because I''m his wife, and that''s just how he does things~.''


    ''��''


    "So, what is it?" Yoruichi asked Kuroka.


    "Hey�� Do I not get input in this?"


    Yoruichi eyed Kisuke before smiling, "No~!"


    "��Seriously?"


    Kuroka also looked at Kisuke having a troubled expression and because of that, "I agree with Yoruichi''s suggestion, nya~! Please take care of me, nya~!" Apanied by arge grin.


    "The hell? Why are you agreeing with her?"


    "It''s because it seems that it''ll trouble you. Is my reason good enough, nya?"


    ''Do the people around me like to see me suffer?'' Kisuke thought.


    The two people who are not involved with this could only stare at this scene dumbfounded. They didn''t know how they should react especially when Kuroka suddenly agreed with Yoruichi''s proposition.


    "Nee-sama�� How does it feel?" Koneko suddenly asked her sister.


    "Eh!?" Kuroka didn''t know how she should answer so for starters, she honestly answered, "Well�� It feels good, I guess, nya?"


    "How good?"


    "How good you say�� Shirone, you shouldn''t be curious about these things. It isn''t good for you."


    Koneko pouted at her answer, and seemingly reaching a decision, Koneko faced Kisuke, "Senpai, please do the same with me!"


    Not letting this chance go, Aika also raised her hand, "If you''re going to do it with them, then let me in too! I don''t want to be left behind!"


    "No! I''m not going to do it!" Kisuke shouted in frustration and swear that he would never randomly use his techniques again, ''Damn it! Why did ite to this!? Although I also enjoy it, it''s freaking hard enduring not going all the way!''


    If those who are trying their best to find a partner were to know his thoughts, they would all be crying tears of blood while wishing that lightning drops on his head, making him explode.


    It took about an hour to convince Aika and Koneko with the help of Yoruichi and Kuroka. Thest thing they want now is increasing the number of victims.

 Volume 5 260 - Makoto Shihouin

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 260 - ''Makoto Shihouin''</h4>


    More than a weekter, ever since receiving Azazel''s experimental data, Kisuke cooped himself inside of his workshop, forgoing any sleep and would onlye out for an hour each day.


    However, each of those days will have ''random'' lightning drops down on his head whenever he goes out for some fresh are. And sometimes, from the corner of his vision, he would see a ck-haired beauty smiling with a dark aura around her. Though Kisuke''s solution is just to ignore her.


    "Kisuke�� Are you still busy?" Yoruichi, in her school uniform, asked when Kisuke came out of his workshop early in the morning.


    Kisuke stopped and thought for a moment, ''I still have a few things to do�� but I should use this time to spend some time with Yoruichi,'' Kisuke smiled at her and replied, "Nope~. I''m mostly done and I can leave it alone for now. Wanna go somewhere today?"


    "Today is the academy''s Parent''s Day. Will youe?"


    "Hmm�� Parent''s Day is it? My mom can''t go as she might get recognized by someone considering that the academy is run by a Devil�� Yep, I''ll go~."


    "Great~. Let''s go on a date after school!" Yoruichi chuckled and bid her farewell, "I''ll be waiting for you."


    "Now then�� What should I do?" But since it''s Kisuke Urahara, he wouldn''t just simply going to school without messing anything up, "Right! I should go with that!"


    Deciding on an idea, Kisuke cleaned his shihakushou and put on his favorite bucket hat and wooden sandals before taking out his trusty cane. And to finish off his attire for school, he took out and pped a beard matching his hair color on his face, "That should do it~."


    An hourter, he arrived at the academy with other parents who are here to watch their child in the ss. Walking confidently, he ignored the students who instantly recognized him and went inside the school building where the parents will be guided to their children''s sses.


    And since Kisuke is famous in a certain way, the teacher in charge of guiding them also instantly recognized him, "Kisuke Urahara of ss 2-A�� What are you doing? And I heard that you haven''t beening to sses."


    Pointing to himself while sporting a confused expression, Kisuke asked while using a natural deeper voice, "Teacher�� Are you perhaps referring to me?"


    The teacher is taken aback but he continued, "Of course! Who else? And what are you wearing? Go change back to your uniform and go back to your ss! I''ll be asking the Guidance Councilor to talk to your parentster."


    "Huh? Teacher, aren''t you mistaking me for someone else?"


    "How could I mistake you!? Everyone who attends and works at this school knows who you are in one way or another! And what game are you ying this time!? Come with me to the Guidance Office! I''ll have the principal talk to you!" Losing his patience, the teacher chooses to deal with him directly.


    Kisuke started from shaking and he loudly tapped his cane on the floor gathering everyone''s attention from the vicinity, "Huh!? Why are you stopping me from going to my favorite niece''s ss!? And who the hell is this Kisuke Urahara bastard that you kept mistaking me to!? I just wanted to see my cute niece Yoruichi attending her sses! Why are you stopping me! Don''t you know who I am!? I''m Makoto Shihouin!"


    The teacher and those around the vicinity were surprised at his sudden outburst and they all have one question in my, ''Who is Makoto Shihouin?''


    However, they couldn''t ask. Due to his confidence and charisma, they don''t dare to ask. The teacher then immediately bowed down in front of him, "I''m sorry, mister Makoto Shihouin! It''s just that your appearance is almost identical to one of our students who haven''t beening to school! I hope you can forgive me!" Although he doesn''t know if he''s telling the truth or not, he didn''t want to risk it and get in trouble, ''And who the hell would disguise as a guardian by just putting on a thin beard on their face and reprimand a teacher? No one is that crazy!''


    Too bad for him, that crazy guy just did it.


    "I''m sorry for the hold-up. I''ll be guiding you to the ssroom. Please follow me."


    .


    .


    .


    Inside the ssroom, Yoruichi kept turning her head to the door, "What''s wrong, Yoruichi-san?" A female student with chin-length blue hair beside her asked.


    "My sweet potato said he''lle today��" Yoruichi answered absentmindedly.


    "He''lle today?" Aika, who is also beside her, asked.


    The other girls who heard Yoruichi''s also reacted, violently, despite some of the parents already inside the ssroom, "Yoruichi-neesama!? What do you mean by sweet potato!?"


    The blue-haired girl, Xenovia, asked again in confusion, "Sweet potato? Is that how you call your parents or guardian?"


    Hearing her question, the girls calmed down, "Oh�� Right�� Her guardian! We almost misunderstand her!" Each one of the female students sighed in relief, "After all, no one in this school deserves Yoruichi-neesama!" One of them said and all of them agreed.


    ''Now that I think about it�� They still don''t know that the goddess they are worshipping has a boyfriend�� And a disappointing pervert at that��'' Aika thought as she recalls Yoruichi''s ''conquest'' this past week, ''He''sing, right? I can''t wait to drop the bomb~!''


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, patted her forehead when she heard Xenovia''s question, ''That idiot! He''s noting as a student! But a guardian! He might be already here in disguise!'' She then started eyeing the parents trying to see through them.


    Seeing her actions, Aika also came to the same conclusion since it''s Kisuke and asked, "Couldn''t you just feel his aura?"


    "When ites to hiding, although not as good as me, he''s still disgustingly good." She sighed. After checking the parents, she knew that he''s still not here and would probablye with the second batch of the parents.


    A few minutester, the second and final batch of parents entered the ssroom. And just as Yoruichi and Aika expected, Kisuke is among the parents. What they didn''t expect though is that he''ll just stered a beard on his face to disguise and those who knew him good enough that it''s his usual attire.


    "How did he��? Did he hypnotize the teacher or something?" Aika nkly asked.


    "N-no�� I don''t feel any mana or Reiatsu around the teacher�� He probably convinced him, though I don''t know how��" Yoruichi replied, also dumbfounded.


    "Kisuke Urahara! What are you doing!?" Their teacher asked.


    Kisuke turned towards the teacher in front with a crumpled face, "Like I said, who the hell is this imbecile, Kisuke Urahara, that you kept mistaking me for!? Is he as handsome as me!?"

 Volume 5 261 - Makoto Shihouin part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 261 - ''Makoto Shihouin'' part 2</h4>


    The teacher in the ssroom is, of course, dumbfounded, "Excuse me!?"


    The teacher who guided the parents then immediately intervened, "Sir, please mind yournguage." He first reminded Kisuke before facing the ssroom teacher, "Miyura-sensei, I understand your confusion, but this is Makoto Shihouin, Yoruichi Shihouin''s rtive. Her uncle to be exact."


    "What��? Seriously?" The teacher asked and the students also has the same question, "Aside from that stupid beard, he looks almost the same as him��" He muttered unintentionally and loudly.


    "What was that, you damned chalk pusher!? Stupid beard!? Do you want me to beat you until your mother can''t recognize you!? Just so you know, my wife thinks my beard is sexy!" Kisuke raised his cane with a red angry face to protest, "Damn you! Don''t you know who I am!? I''m Makoto Shihouin! Let me talk to your director!"


    The teacher who guided them became pale, "Miyura-sensei!!!" He immediately warned his colleague, ''He wants to talk to the director!? Does he know him personally?''


    Seeing the reaction of the fellow teacher, Miyura''s face also paled after thinking what he just said out loud, ''Why is he so scared of him? Who is this Makoto Shihouin? A big shot? Is that why he''s scared of him?'' He immediately tried to think of a way to extract himself from this situation, "You got it wrong, sir. You didn''t hear everything I said. What I said earlier is, ''Aside from that ''STUPIDLY COOL'' beard, he looks almost the same as him��'' And what I meant is your beard is too cool that I can''t find the proper word to praise it." Crossing his fingers, he the first idea that came into his mind but even he is not confident.


    ''No way that''s gonna work!'' Everyone thought.


    Contrary to their expectations, however, Kisuke face suddenly turned bashful, "Ehehe~. Is that right? To be honest, I''m proud of my beard~! Thank you for your praise, kind teacher." His earlier expression of rage is like a lie.


    ''It worked!?''


    Returning to his serious expression, Kisuke continued, "Ehem�� Teacher, please forgive me for disturbing your ss. I''m just here to watch my good niece Yoruichi."


    "No, no, no, sir. It''s my fault for mistaking you for somebody else. Please do forgive me."


    Ignoring the teacher altogether, Kisuke faced Yoruichi''s direction, "Yoruichi, my sweet potato~! Hang in there~!"


    "That�� works?" Aika asked and faced Yoruichi and was shocked at what she saw. Yoruichi is currently facing away from Kisuke while covering the faint blush over her face, "��I didn''t know you had this cute side in you��"


    "Shut it!" Yoruichi retorted, "I didn''t know that it would be this embarrassing!"


    Aika wanted tough but stopped herself as she would be the one who would sufferter if she didugh. Without much choice, she steered away from that topic, "What do you think he''s thinking? Doing a y like this."


    "He probably thought, ''You can be anything, as long as you''re confident enough!'' " Yoruichi replied.


    .


    .


    .


    "Oi, Issei! Is that really not Kisuke?" Motohama fixed his sses and asked.


    "Knowing him�� That''s probably the man himself��" Issei answered while admiring Kisuke''s work.


    "Seriously!? So you can get away with anything as long as you confidently scold the teachers!?" Matsuda grabbed his bald head in disbelief.


    "If you want to die, then you can also try that."


    "No way�� My face isn''t that thick to scold the teachers with convincing expression. Also, add him calling himself imbecile."


    "Right�� You shouldn''t imitate his stunts if you want to live longer."


    .


    .


    .


    The ss went on not so quietly as Kisuke would keep pacing around with his camera trying to capture photos of his ''niece'' from different angles. To Yoruichi''s dismay, he''s like a doting parent, shamelessly bragging about his ''niece'' to other parents in the room, ''That bastard�� I''ll kick his family jewelster.''


    Kisuke only stopped messing around when he suddenly felt a cold wind passing through his crotch.


    After the ss, Yoruichi and the rest of Kisuke''s friends and acquaintances went after him. But when they turned around, they only saw a balloon, quietly floating and emitting his aura, and written on it are ''Smell yater~!''


    Grabbing the ballon, Yoruichi thought, ''Kisuke is getting good��''


    "What do we do, Yoruichi?" Aika asked.


    Shaking her head, Yoruichi answered her, "Nothing. That guy is probably already wandering around messing with people. In any case, I''ll be able to solo himter."


    "��A date, huh?"


    "Yup~. Since there will be no further sses, let''s go before those girls surround me and bombard me with questions regarding my overly zealous ''uncle''."


    .


    .


    .


    Since they have nothing else to do, Yoruichi and Aika joined Rias'' group, consisting of Rias, Akeno, Issei, Asia, in wandering around.


    While walking around and chatting, Aika asked Koneko, "By the way, where is Himejima-senpai?"


    "When he heard that Yoruichi''s uncle looks exactly like Kisuke-senpai except for the beard, she immediately took off to search for him. It''s probably her daily lightning drop." Koneko answered. She also doesn''t know what to think of Akeno developing a strange hobby.


    "It already became a routine, huh? Oh, speaking of the Devil." When they are about to reach the gymnasium, Aika pointed towards the familiar ck-haired beauty who is looking around with a sharp gaze. The group also noticed that there is amotion going on inside the gym.


    Approaching her, Rias asked her, "Akeno, what''s going on?"


    Akeno turned around and replied, "Buchou? Nothing much. There is a Magical Girl cosyer over there and that bastard is most probably here. That pervert wouldn''t let go of the chance to capture some photos of a Magical Girl."


    "Indeed�� I can feel his presence shifting around through the whole ce." Yoruichi agreed with her with a smile.


    "I knew it!" Smiling excitedly, Akeno faced Rias again, "I''m sorry, Buchou. I just can''t calm down without dropping a bolt of lightning on that bastard''s face at least once a day. So I''m off!" Without waiting for any reply, she dived in the crowd to search for her ''enemy''.


    "��How did my best friend end up like that?" Rias asked in dismay.


    "It''s because she carelessly gets herself involved with Kisuke. Moreover, she went against him from the beginning and has some nice expressions when teased. For Kisuke, that''s all the reason he needed to mess with her." Aika exined.


    "�� I hate myself for agreeing with you." Rias honestly thought that this is all her fault, ''If I just didn''t order Akeno to investigate him, maybe she wouldn''t end up like this�� However, despite all of her ''misfortune'', it seems that she''s livelier and happier than she is in the past where she would always wear that fake smile to hide her troubles�� It also seems that she already has no reservation when using her Holy Power and would even take out her Fallen Angel wing from time to time, signifying that she already epted her past. What should I do?�� Should I be happy and thankful?''


    "In any case, a magical girl, right? Since today is the Parents Day and rtives are invited, isn''t there a certain someone who you can think of?" Yoruichi''s question rose Rias up from her contemtion.


    And just as Yoruichi said, a certain figure appeared in her head, "That''s most probably it�� Let''s go greet her."


    Everyone remembered a certain Devil King except for Asia, who is unconscious at that time, and Issei, who is struggling to control his transformation.


    "Magical girl?�� Somehow, those words are reminding me of some bad memories��" Issei muttered while shivering. The only figure he can think of is Mil-tan.

 Volume 5 262 - A Great Customer

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 262 - A Great Customer</h4>


    With Saji arriving, "Hey! Hey! You can''t have unauthorized photo shooting here! Break it up, break it up! It''s an open house today! Such amotion in here is unsightly!"


    The crowd of cameramen/students dispersed with unsatisfied ramblings, "Dammit�� It''s the Student Council�� Now the fun is over, tch!"


    Ignoring the students, Saji turned to the Magical Girl, "And you. You can''t wear that here�� Unless�� Are you a parent or a guardian? Even so, that outfit is not exactly appropriate."


    The Magical Girl pouted, "Aw�� But this is my uniform~?!"


    "Oh�� It''s really her��" Rias muttered as she approaches them.


    "Buchou? Do you know her?" Issei asked confusion.


    "Well�� Only Asia and you probably who don''t know her��"


    "What��?"


    Just as Rias about to resolve Issei''s confusion, another person entered the gymnasium, "What''s going on here?" Sona appeared from the entrance, "Oh�� I''ve found you, Rias. I was just giving a tour to Sirzechs-sama and your father." She then pointed behind her showing two men with matching crimson hair.


    "Father�� Onii-sama��" Rias and her peerage bowed slightly in greeting, but both of their attention is on the addition of Yoruichi and Aika with the former just smiled as a greeting.


    However, before they could say anything else with each other, Sona started reprimanding Saji, "And you, Saji! I''m always to resolve the situation quickly and without any inci--!"


    "Sona-chan~?!" Although before she could finish her words, the Magical Girl suddenly jumped on Sona and gave her a big hug, "Found you~?!!!"


    Recognizing her, Sona panicked, "Ahhh!!!"


    "Huh? Kaichou knows her?" Saji asked Issei.


    "Beats me�� Though it seems that Buchou also knows her��"


    "Ah�� It''s Serafall. I didn''t know you''de today." Sirzechs is the first one who greeted her.


    "��Serafall�� Why does it seem so familiar?" Issei muttered.


    "She''s Leviathan-sama", Koneko supplemented him.


    "Eh?"


    "Serafall Leviathan-sama. One of the Four Devil Kings and Sona''s big sister." Rias exined.


    "Oh~. Rias-chan! It''s been a while?!" Serafall separated from Sona but didn''t let go of her arms, "And you too, Yoruichi-chan, you''ve grown from a cat to a fine youngdy~?!"


    "Devil King Serafall, it''s also nice to see that you''re still as lively as ever." Yoruichi chuckled and replied.


    However, they didn''t continue their greetings and both of them looked towards a certain direction, more specifically, below Serafall, and said at the same time, "Ki-tan(Kisuke), what are you doing?"


    With a click of the camera, Kisuke, who currently lying on the ground and aiming the camera''s lens towards Serafall''s butt, replied with a serious expression, "In every cosy photoshoot, a panty shot is an absolute essential! And whoever disagrees with me, I''ll pluck their nipple hairs out one by one!"


    ''What''s up with that strangely terrifying threat!? Though I agree with him.'' Issei and Saji thought as they cover their chest.


    To the young Devils who are already used to his sudden appearance only has a slightly surprised reaction, except for Sona who immediately tried to stomp on him with all her strength, "You bastard! What are you doing to my sister?"


    Dodging by using sh Step, he appeared behind Yoruichi, "Geez~. Sona-chan is too violent."


    Sirzechs, Serafall, and Zeoticus, on the other hand, felt a chill on their backs.


    ''Serafall�� How long has he been here?'' Sirzechs sent a telepathic message to both his father and Serafall.


    ''He''s always been here!''


    ''Why didn''t you tell us?''


    ''I thought that you two are just ignoring him! He never hid his aura from my perspective!''


    ''I see�� So he can selectively hide his aura, and as long as he doesn''t do anything drastic, it''ll be impossible for us to know his presence passively�� How terrifying��''


    "Good day~, Sirzhecs-sama and Lord Gremory. Forgive me for myte greetings as I''m too taken aback by Serafall-sama''s beauty that I just had to capture every moment of it~." Kisuke addressed the two crimson-haired dude.


    "Ehehe~." Being praised like that, even if Serafall isn''t easily embarrassed, she ended up blushing a bit. Seeing this, Sona suddenly had a bad premonition, ''It won''t happen�� right?''


    "This guy''s glib tongue is at work again. Before you greet them, why don''t you remove that beard first?" Aika pointed out.


    "Oh, right�� I still have this stupid beard on." Ripping it off from his face, he ced it back to his inventory for future use, "It''s nice to finally meet you, Sirzechs-sama, Lord Gremory. The name''s Kisuke Urahara, the owner of the Urahara Store. I hope we can get along in the future~."


    Sirzechs, Zeoticus, and Serafall calmed their nerves. If Kisuke is capable of getting near them without their notice, then it''s all the more reason to establish a good connection with him, "It''s also my pleasure to meet you. Since you already know me, I''ll skip my introduction."


    "And I''m Zeoticus Gremory, the current head of the Gremory Household. It''s an honor to finally meet the human who defeated Kokabiel. I would also like to express my gratitude for saving our younger generation."


    "You don''t have to be formal, Lord Gremory. I already received mypensation~."


    "Ki-tan~! Thank you for taking care of my adorable little sister~?! As thanks, I''ll force her to wear a Magical Girl outfit and you can take pictures of her~?!"


    "Nee-sama!?"


    Closing into Sona, Serafall whispered to her, "Don''t miss this chance! You can have him all by yourself by saying that you can only do it if you two are alone. And maybe get on with it when the mood is right!"


    Although Serafall is already old by human standards, her mind is still on the innocent side regarding the man and woman rtionship, so when she said, ''get on with it'', she actually means a simple kiss. However, Sona didn''t take it that way and instantly thought of the scenes she saw when browsing the ''mature'' side of the world wide web. As a result, her face instantly flushed. She covered her face and ran away, "No! I can''t do that yet!!!"


    "Ah! Sona-chan! Don''t leave Onee-chan behind~?!" Serafall called out to her but she ignored her. Although she wanted to follow her, Kisuke is here and she wanted to get what they agreed on.


    Understanding her reluctance, Kisuke took out three photos, "Serafall-sama, this is your items~!" It''s the photo''s of Sona in Magical Girl cosy.


    Instantly cheering up, Serafall grabbed the photos, "Thank you, Ki-tan~! And call me Levia-tan?!"


    "You''re wee. And I can''t do that since this isn''t exactly a private ce."


    "Geez�� You don''t have to worry about anything about that! By the way, didn''t you have more? Can''t you share more of them?"


    Kisuke thought for a moment and when he nced at the crimson-haired dudes, he suddenly got an idea. Kisuke, without saying anything, moved to the side and took out a ck nket and a small chair. Hey down the nket and sat on the chair before taking out various photos, "Dear customer, why don''t you take a look and maybe you''ll see something you fancy~."


    Guessing his intents right, Serafall hurriedly went through all his photo merchandises, "I want this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this! How much?" She grabbed nine photos and all of them are Sona''s.


    "That would be 90 million Yen ($823,610)~. Since you did a bulk purchase, I''ll give you a 10 million Yen ($91,512) discount~!"


    "What?!!!" Issei, Asia, Saji, and Aika were dumbfounded at Kisuke sky-high prices for these pieces of paper.


    "Great~! I''ll take it all! Give me your ount number. I''ll transfer it now!" Serafall''s agreement became a bigger shock for them, ''What the hell?''


    Curious, they all took a peek on the photos on Serafall''s hand and saw that it''s Sona''s various cosy photos. But before they could stare at it, Serafall put it in her dimensional storage for safekeeping.

 Volume 5 263 - A Successful Story

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 263 - A Sessful Story</h4>


    While Serafall is transferring the money to Kisuke using her smartphone, the rest approached Kisuke''s ''stall''.


    Since all of Sona''s photos are already taken by Serafall, there are only a few pieces left and Kisuke''s intended target is the men of Gremory Household. And as Rias took a peek at the rest of his merchandise, she was frozen on the spot and terrified to the core. The rest of it is photos of herself, "W��What the hell is this��?"


    Kisuke then pointed at the unmoving Rias and said, "Employee #1 and #2, hold her tight."


    From behind her, two figures instantly appeared and grabbed each of her arms, "W-What!? Kiryuu!? Koneko!? What are you doing!? Let me go!? I have to destroy those things!!!" Rias shouted as she recovered and tried to resist.


    "I''m sorry, Gremory-senpai. This is our duty as his employees." Aika feigned a regretful face.


    On the other hand, Koneko is making a more genuine regretful expression, "I''m sorry, Buchou. But this is the only few instances that Kisuke-senpai can actually make some money. Please bear with it for our livelihood."


    "What livelihood!? I''ll take care of it no matter how many years, so let me go!"


    "An enticing offer. Too bad for you, though, as we can''t leave that charming idiot." Aika chuckled in response and dragged her away, while Koneko only nodded silently and did the same.


    Zeoticus and Sirzechs first made sure that Rias is safe and after confirming it, they also approached Kisuke''s stall. When theyid their eyes on his merchandise, they lit up and instantly decided that they''ll purchase it no matter what.


    "What do you think about my Rias Gremory series?" Kisuke asked with a grin, "If you can''t choose then I''d rmend you this." Pointing on certain photos, he exined, "The [Rias'' Lethargic Afternoon sses Set] which consist of three photos. The [Yawning Rias], [Sleeping Rias], andstly, the [Almost Falling off the Chair Rias]!"


    Rias heard everything from the distance and shouted, "What the hell was that!!? And when did you took it, you crazy bastard!? Besides, that''s illegal! I''m suing you!"


    Issei is also staring at Rias'' rare moments that are impossible to catch due to how high her guard is around other people, "Don''t worry, Buchou! I''ll use all of my savings to get these photos of you!" He is naively thinking that Kisuke won''t price Rias'' photos like Sona''s for the possible repercussions that he would incur from her father and brother. After all, he knew that they are different from Serafall.


    Sirzechs crouched down and took a closer look at these photos, "Why are those photos Serafall bought so expensive?"


    Kisuke''s smile didn''t break and answered, "Because it won''t appear from my store again~."


    Sirzechs and Zeoticus looked and nodded at each other. Sirzechs then looked back to Kisuke and asked, "How much is all of this?"


    "230 million Yen ($2,104,781). But for you, I''ll take out 30 million Yen ($274,536) from it~!"


    Everyone nked out when he called out the price and the first one to react is Issei, "What!? Kisuke! Why don''t you just rob the bank! It''ll be easier!"


    Kisuke ignored him and only looked at Sirzechs who''s furrowing his brows, "The reason why it''s so expensive is that there is an additional service that you might like."


    "��What service?"


    "You''ll have the right to purchase Rias Gremory''s photos first whenever they are avable~! Of course, for regr price! So, how is it?"


    Sirzechs face became more serious and said, "Give me everything you have!"


    "Alright~! Thank you for your patronage~!"


    Off to the side, Serafall has already finished transferring money and saw Rias'' photo and pouted, "Ki-tan! All I have are Sona-chan''s cosy photos. I also want those embarrassing photos!"


    "E-embarrassing��" Rias, who heard it clearly, almost lost her consciousness.


    Kisuke''s face crumpled and he hesitated, "I do have one�� But it''s pretty rare��"


    Determined, Serafall immediately replied, "I don''t care about money!"


    As if it''s a lie, Kisuke''s hesitating face melted and was reced by a bright smile. He took out a paper and passed it to her, "Here is [Sona-chan Drooling while Sleeping] for 50 million Yen ($457,561)~!"


    "I''ll take it~?!" As she said, she doesn''t care about money and immediately tried to grab the paper in Kisuke''s hand to take a look at it. But before she could touch it, a spear of water suddenly went through it and obliterated it. They all looked at the source and saw Sona panting hard with her arm stretched out, "You bastard! It''s really not a good idea to leave you alone with Onee-sama! And where did you get that!?"


    "It''s that night when you didn''t let me go to y your chess games. I figured that I had to at least get something." Kisuke replied to her.


    "M-my [Sona-chan Drooling while Sleeping]��" Serafall, on the other hand, is still shaken and nkly staring at the pieces of paper on the floor.


    "Ah�� Don''t worry about. That''s actually a nk paper. Here''s the real deal." Kisuke patted her shoulder and gave her a photo of messily dressed and sleeping Sona with an obvious trail of drool from her mouth.


    "I love you, Ki-tan~?!" Just like the first time they met, Serafall hugged her in gratitude.


    This time, however, Sona wouldn''t let it go the way they wanted it and slowly walked towards her sister, "Onee-sama�� Please give that to me��" Unlike her bashful self earlier, she''s now looking at Serafall with a cold re.


    "S-Sona-chan? That''s the first time I''ve seen that face of yours�� Are you okay?" Since this is the first time Serafall received that kind of look from Sona, she got scared.


    Smiling coldly, Sona replied, "I''m fine, but I''ll be a lot better if you had that over~."


    Kisuke wanted to do something but he saw Yoruichi moving beside Sona and wrapped her arm around Sona''s shoulder, "Now, now. Calm down."


    "No! I can''t let this go!"


    "Then how about this." Yoruichi then took out a photo from her inventory and put it in front of Sona so that she''ll be the only one who can see it, "10 million Yen ($91,512)~."


    When she saw the photo, Sona did her best to keep a poker face, however, she couldn''t help but do a big gulp. The photo depicts Kisuke who just came out of the bath drying his hair with only a small towel wrapping around his waist which highlighted his incredibly toned abs. In other words, a sexy photo of Kisuke, "Is there a ''sister'' discount?"


    "Then I''ll give it to you for 5 million Yen ($45,756)."


    "Deal!" Sona hurriedly secured the photo and kept it in her uniform to enjoyter. Facing back everyone, Sona bid her farewell, "Well then, everyone. I still have some arrangements that I have to attend. I hope you all have a good day." Without waiting for anyone, she turned around. She''s afraid that if Kisuke sees this photo, he''ll confiscate it.


    "What was that?" Kisuke curiously asked Yoruichi who walked back.


    "Nothing much~. Just think of it as a wife thinking of a way to help her husband with her business." Yoruichi chuckled and didn''t say anything else further.


    Although curious, it doesn''t really matter as he trusts Yoruichi. However, just as he was about to take out Asia''s clumsy photos for Issei to buy, he suddenly felt something, ''She destroyed my decoy? She''s getting pretty good.''


    "I''m sorry everyone, but that would be all for today. Until next time~." Kisuke then suddenly said his goodbyes and used sh Step the moment he spoke hisst word.


    A split secondter, a bolt of lightning dropped down on his former position and Akeno is seen running towards the crowd with an angry expression, "Damn it! He escaped again!"


    Thus, closing the day of the Open House.

 Volume 5 264 - Delivery

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 264 - Delivery</h4>


    On the day of the conference, 11:00 in the evening, Kisuke and Yoruichi are getting ready.


    "Are you sure that you''re going to leave us here?" Aika asked.


    "Kisuke-senpai�� Even if we can''t use all of our abilities, we can still fight to some extent." Koneko followed up.


    "Kisuke�� It''s too dangerous to get involved with them. Why don''t you just stay put here?" Sakura came out from the kitchen bringing some snacks to the living room.


    "Mom, it''s actually more dangerous for us if I don''t show up. Chances are, they''ll consider us a neutral force. But that doesn''t remove the chances that they''ll consider as hostiles. Besides, Azazel promised me that I can have some input and I have some things to ask from them, primarily, the surveince that they are putting on us." Standing up, Kisuke walked towards the door and Yoruichi, in her cat form, jumped on his shoulder.


    He then turned around to the two other people in the living room, "And I''m living the two of you here to take care of mom."


    Aika and Koneko could only sigh and nod their heads. Sakura, however, knew that he''s actually leaving the both of them to her care since ability-wise, she''s a lot stronger than the two of them.


    "Well then. We''re leaving. Don''t go out of the house right now. And I also temporarily relocated the Yaegaki family and they are currently with Ana. She''ll immediately contact me if something amiss is going on, so you don''t have to worry about them, mom."


    "Okay. Be careful. But remember�� No matter which side you take, I''ll be with you." Sakura approached him and hugged him.


    "Thanks, ~." Kisuke also gave her a hugged and as if remembering something, he took out a pendant from his dimensional storage and passed it to his mother, "This should be a good time to give you a gift~."


    "What''s this?" The pendant is a blood-red oval jewel attached to a silver chain. After a few seconds of staring at it, she trembled and asked in surprise, "This�� is Sacred Gear!? How!?"


    "This is a little something that I made for your protection. It should activate automatically when you''re in danger." Kisuke smiled and didn''t exin further, "Put a drop of your blood on it to initiate the contract."


    Sakura curiously peeked at Kisuke and knew that he won''t tell her anything further, ''A little something? But it''ll save me when I''m in danger? That''s not little!''


    She then followed Kisuke''s instructions and drop blood on the pendant. When her blood touched it, the pendant lit up in blood-red light and instantly absorb her blood. A secondter, it suddenly sank inside her hand and any trace of it disappeared, "Good. It''s working~."


    Sakura inspected her hand where the pendant disappeared but no matter how she looked for it, she couldn''t feel its existence. She tried searching her whole body with the techniques she knew but still failed to find it, "Where did it go?"


    "Somewhere secure��" Kisuke replied with a smile.


    ''My soul?'' Sakura instantly guessed. She wanted to ask her son how it works but she knew that he''s already running out of time and she figured that she could just do thatter. So instead, she asked, "How do I use it? And what are its abilities?"


    "I made this in a rush so there are some drawbacks and design ws in it. First is that it''s actually dormant now and would take some time to awaken you won''t be able to use until then. Although, there is a way for you to awaken it forcefully and that is your life is in danger, but I don''t rmend risking yourself just to test it. You can think of it as a trump card�� Thest line of defense.


    "Second is, even if you were able to use it, It''ll take some effort to control it�� It''s also possible that you won''t be able to control it in any way and would just move based on what it thinks the best."


    "It can think on its own�� Then that means there is a spirit in this Sacred Gear?"


    "Yes�� A fickle one at that��" Kisuke sighed, ''I hope I didn''t make the wrong choice��''


    Shaking his head, Kisuke continued, "Moving on, the third drawback is that you won''t be able to use it for long due to the nature of its ability andpatibility issue. At most, you can safely use it for 10 minutes before it negatively affects the constitution of your soul. But even if you pushed it past that, it''ll automatically deactivate once danger levels exceed a certain threshold."


    Sakura nodded in understanding, "Those drawbacks from an artificial Sacred Gear is understandable. It''s already amazing that you manage to create a working one when others tried and failed again and again without seeing any sess. What are its abilities anyway?"


    "You''ll instantly understand it once you activate it~." Kisuke just chuckled.


    "Won''t it be safer if I at least know what it can do?"


    "That''s true�� But its abilities were something hard to exin by words. If you got some wrong understanding regarding it, it''ll only negatively affect your chances of controlling it, so the best way is to observe it properly and feel how it uses the ability. The spirit should also transfer the knowledge of its abilities once it awakens and it''s more effective that way instead of misunderstanding its power."


    "So it''s not a simple power-up or defensive Sacred Gear��" Sakura muttered.


    "We''ll be going now. We''re going tote." Kisuke exited the house and used sh Step to disappear from their sights. But before leaving, he activated the defenses of the house, ''That should hold out for a few minutes against a Satan-ss Devil.''


    .


    .


    .


    Standing behind Sirzechs is his maid and ''Queen'' Grayfia Lucifuge. Behind Serafall is her little sister, Sona Sitri and her ''Queen'' Tsubaki Shinra. Michael''spanion is a familiar exorcist and also Xenovia''s former partner, Irina Shidou. Andstly, behind Azazel is the stoic silver-haired young man, the host of the White Dragon Emperor, Vali.


    Xenovia instantly noticed Irina but she couldn''t look at her in her eyes and ended up looking away which saddened Irina. Irina already knew the whole story so she couldn''t me her anymore, but she''s still a bit upset about the fact she didn''t trust her with the truth. Although it''s for her own good, it still doesn''t really bode well with her.


    Sirzechs nodded at his little sister who just entered the room and faced everyone sitting around the table, "Now that everyone is here. Let''s begin."


    "Wait��"


    "What is it, Azazel?" Sirzechs asked.


    "I''ve invited one more guy��"


    "Who��" Sirzechs couldn''t say the rest of his question when they suddenly hear a knock on the door.


    "Excuse me~! I have some delivery for Azazel-san~! 50 sets of assorted candies��"


    "Come in and bring it here," Azazel replied before he could even finish what he''s saying.


    "And 100 sets of assorted AVs~!"


    Azazel almost fell off his chair when he heard this.

 Volume 5 265 - Pat-Worthy

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 265 - Pat-Worthy</h4>


    "You bastard! I didn''t order for that!" Azazel stood up and opened the door himself.


    Beyond the door is Kisuke with his usual attire and a ck cat on his shoulder, "Really? I thought you''re interested in my nt-based venison? And here I brought 100 different variants for you��"


    "nt-based venison?" Azazel thought back and he indeed was interested in it after tasting it, ''But what does it have to do with AV!?''


    "Right~! nt-based venison! But it''s too mouthy so I just call it Artificial Venison, AV for short~!" Kisuke chuckled as he exined.


    Azazel did a facepalm as he recalled how this man thinks, "You could have stuck with PV!"


    "Promotional Video? No way~! It''s too misleading!"


    "And AV is not!?"


    "It not!" Kisuke answered with a straight face, but a secondter, he seemingly remembered and understood something, "Ahh�� AV�� That AV�� Azazel-san�� Aren''t you visiting those shops too often for you to instantlye up with that kind of understanding?"


    Azazel could feel his head throbbing but he couldn''t snap at Kisuke right now where the other leaders of the two other factions are watching. So he did the most sensible action he could take against Kisuke, and that is to ignore what he just said.


    Turning around, he introduced Kisuke to everyone in the room, "This is Kisuke Urahara and all of you probably knew about him."


    Changing his gears, Kisuke immediately followed up, "Kisuke Urahara here~! It''s a pleasure to be present in such a monumental summit that will affect the whole world."


    The first one to wee Kisuke is the ever so bubbly adorable Devil King, Serafall, "Ki-tan~! You came!? Why didn''t you tell me that you''reing?" Standing up from her seat, she also approached Kisuke. Currently, she''s wearing an office-like attire so both Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at her like an alien descended upon them.


    "Ah, Serafall-sama. This is the first time I''ve seen you outside of your Magical Girl uniform. Although your former attire makes you look cute, the current you give a mature feeling which is very refreshing. In other words, from very cute to very beautiful~!"


    A very faint blush appeared on her face and she couldn''t stop herself from grinning, "Ehehe, is that so? I won''t fall for that obvious lip service though~! And call me Levia-tan~! Or maybe Se-tan? Sera-chan? Whatever you fancy~!" Serafall didn''t know why, butpliments from Kisuke is inherently different from what she used to hear.


    The biggest reason is how others see Serafall. For others, she''s the Devil King Leviathan and most of them are afraid of her while some are looking at her for the potential benefit for themselves, but for Kisuke, she just a bubbly girl who is passionate about Magical Girls.


    Sirzechs, Grayfia, Sona, Tsubaki, Rias, and Akeno looked at Serafall in shock. They knew her well and although she would often ask others to call her Levia-tan, she wouldn''t allow just anyone to call her a pet name using her first name unless she really likes that said person. The only people who could call her like that are her parents, Sona and Serafall''s ''Queen''.


    "That won''t do, Serafall-sama. We''re in a formal setting. But we can talk about that when there''s just the two of us." Kisuke replied. He couldn''t really see her as a Devil King and ended up smiling gently as he pats her head. Due to the pat-worthy difference in height and the pat-worthy cute expression Serafall is making, he ended up doing it subconsciously.


    "Eh��?" The very faint blush on her face became very obvious as she was frozen in ce by that hand with her mind nking out.


    Kisuke can feel three res from the moment he startedplimenting Serafall and ignored it. But when he patted her head and saw Serafall blushing for the very first time, they snapped and each of those ring people sent an attack. One lightning bolt, one spear made out of the water, and one circr de made out of Holy Power.


    Kisuke removed his hand from Serafall''s head and blocked the attacks with it, "Hey�� That''s dangerous."


    "You''re the dangerous one here!!!" Three voices simultaneously retorted and they looked at each other. A second after their gazes met, an interfaction alliance was born even before their respective leaders agree on it.


    Through their woman instincts, they decided that they should deal with Kisuke before he couldy his vile ws on the Devil King.


    Akeno, Sona, and Irina already forgot the presence of their leaders as a certain goal entered each of their minds, ''Teach the vile guy a lesson so that he would repeat the same mistake again.''


    The first one to move is Irina. She took off her robe and she materialized a halo-like de made out of Holy power in both of her hands while dashing towards Kisuke. She already heard about Kisuke''s abilities so she didn''t have to hold back.


    Sona covered Irina''s side by materializing spears of water that will help her defend and assist in attacking.


    And the most surprising is Akeno as she took out both of her Devil and Fallen Angel wing and started charging up for a big move.


    Kisuke didn''t wait and dashed to meet Irina with amazing speed. Irina was surprised that the distance was instantly closed but she reacted immediately and swiped one of her des towards Kisuke. Following her movements, the spears of water spread out as they lock Kisuke in position and is ready tounch depending on his movements. Initially, it was aimed towards his body, but she hesitated and changed its trajectory towards his arm.


    However, all of these were useless as Kisuke''s hand grabbed Irina''s wrist and flipped her over, sending her to the wall. The spears then moved and sessfully pierced him.


    Sona didn''t think it would be so easy. After the initial happiness for sess, however, she instantly got worried as she might have injured Kisuke and was about to call out to him. As she opens her mouth, though, Kisuke''s grinning face suddenly appeared in front of her which gave her big scare before suddenly feeling a mildly sharp pain on her forehead.


    Kisuke flicked her forehead and the spears disappeared along with the afterimage of him that it pierced.


    Still not done, Kisuke used sh Step and appeared behind Akeno who is about to unleash her lightning which consists of both Demonic Power and Holy Power and if sessfully released, the whole room would be reduced into rubble. She has a crazed smile on her face and is clearly isn''t thinking of the consequences.


    Since she''s going overboard, Kisuke decided to use a bit of his strength and opened his palm, "Ahhh���� ~! A loud p echoed throughout the room as the onlookers looked at Kisuke in shock. He just gave Akeno a big p on her butt that is enough for her to fly off for a few meters beforending on the ground face first. What shock them the most, however, is Akeno''s scream of pain with a hint seductive tone in it.


    The ending result is Irina nursing the back of her head after she hit the wall, Sona ring and gritting her teeth at Kisuke as she covers her forehead with her hands and tears about to fall off due to pain, and Akeno on the floor, with a faint blush and breathing heavily as she nurses her sore buttocks.


    Everyone automatically ignored thest one and looked at Kisuke who is looking down on them, "Girls! What are you doing!? This is the sacred summit of the Three Great Factions. Don''t make anymotions here."


    ''You''re thest person we want to hear that from!!!'' They retorted inside their heads.

 Volume 5 266 - Report

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 266 - Report</h4>


    Serafall, who isn''t paying any attention to themotion, is only nkly touching her own head where Kisuke''s hand was formerly on, ''What was that?''


    She''s still trying to understand what she''s feeling back then. When Kisuke patted her, after the initial shock, she felt strangely warm as she looks into his eyes and ended up blushing. Aside from that, an impossible feeling apanied it, the sense of security from him, which she can only feel from her parents when she''s a child and is already almost impossible for someone of her caliber. This nostalgic and strange feeling ended up confusing her.


    "Nee-sama!!!" Serafall woke up from her daydreaming when someone suddenly grabbed her shoulders and called her, "Sona-chan? What happened to your forehead?" Serafall noticed that there is a small bump on her forehead and asked it first.


    ''You''re asking that!? You''re daydreaming all this time!? And you''re daydreaming hard enough to not to notice such a bigmotion caused by that idiot!?'' Sona looked at her big sister in surprise and asked, "What are you thinking about?"


    Serafall took a quick peek on Kisuke who is now sitting beside Issei looking forward with a serious expression. He''s now behaving like a good and disciplined student. She then took back her gaze and answered Sona, "Nothing~!"


    Although she went back to her usual attitude, Sona didn''t miss it, ''That peek�� Although just for an instant, she looked at him differently! Bad! This is bad! If nothing changes, my big sister will also fell into that wolf''s mouth!''


    "Ehem�� Serafall. We''re already behind the schedule. Let''s start this conference." From behind Sona, Sirzechs'' voice sounded. When they looked at him, he''s wearing a wry smile.


    "Yes~!" Serafall returned to her seat and Sona did the same. Although everyone already returned to their positions, there is an awkward atmosphere lingering around.


    Even the stoic and quiet Vali has cold sweats on his forehead and is trying his best not to make anyment, ''What the hell is he!? I already received a warning from Kuroka, but this is much worse! Although fighting him would be fun, the disadvantages of involving myself with him are too much�� Better avoid him��''


    "Let''s ignore that guy for now and continue with what we must to do." Azazel is not affected by the weird atmosphere and pushed the talk.


    Sirzechs nodded and started, "All here today are aware of the highly ssified truth�� That God is dead. We will begin our talks with that as given."


    And that''s how the Three Great Factions conference began.


    They talked about the effects of God''s absence in each faction, the possibility of leaked intelligence on hostile forces, and their current developments towards ruin if nothing is done. The talk went on until the topic reached Kokabiel''s actions.


    "Well, Rias." Sirzechs looked towards his little sister, "Could you tell us about the events of the other day?"


    Rias stood up, "Yes, Lucifer-sama��" She then exined exactly what happened and it was followed up by Sona''s statement.


    "Thank you. Be seated." Sirzechs nodded at them, "We would also like to hear it from you Kisuke Uraha��ra?"


    Sirzechs wanted to ask Kisuke but when he looked at him closely, he''s already snoring away. At some point in this conference, Kisuke fell asleep.


    Sona and Akeno were about to wake him up by flicking his nose and electrocuting him when a manly voice was heard, "I''ll be the one who''s going to speak on his behalf. I already have his note." The forgotten ck cat spoke. Due to Kisuke''s antics, they already forgot the existence of the ''pet''.


    "Y-Yoruichi�� is it? Then please." Sirzechs already met her a few days ago but still can''t get used to the form of a talking cat with a manly voice she always takes.


    However, for Michael and Irina, this is the first time they encountered Yoruichi, "A talking cat? Wait�� Yoruichi? Why does that name sound familiar?" Irina asked to no one in particr.


    "Oh, right. The Heaven Faction still doesn''t know about Yoruichi''s existence��" Azazel muttered.


    "Yoruichi? Mind telling me a little bit about him?" Michael also curiously looked at the cat.


    "If there is someone who knows more about her, it''s the Devils, but from the information I gathered, it seems that she''s on Ultimate-ss level," Azazel replied.


    "All Ultimate-ss beings are recorded due to the power they have and now there are two people of this level that is unknown until now?" Michael furrowed his brows, ''Someone who would hide their strength is either a hermit or those living in the shadow�� Can we really trust them?''


    Azazel, Sirzechs, and Serafall guessed what Michael is thinking but didn''t point it out. Although they are nning to establish an alliance, that doesn''t mean they wouldn''t want to strengthen their own factions. Both the Underworld and Grigori wanted to take Kisuke and Yoruichi in for their abilities and they are fine with Heaven not participating in it.


    "Another thing�� That cat is also Kisuke Urahara''s lover." Azazel then revealed another information that shocked both Michael and Irina.


    "What!? That cat!? I don''t know about species since he can probably transform to humanoid�� but the gender��" Irina eximed and she started shaking, "I never knew that Kisuke swings that way�� I''ve been gone for too long to correct his ways��" She muttered.


    Xenovia wanted to correct her misunderstanding but Yoruichi spoke first, "Do you still want to hear what he wants to say?"


    "Ah�� I''m sorry. Please go on." Michael signaled Irina to calm down.


    "Okay�� Please wait for a moment." Yoruichi then went inside Kisuke''s shihakusho and rummage around in it for a few seconds beforeing out with a piece of paper in her mouth andying it down in front of him, "Ehem�� This is what he wanted to say, ''I came back from a vacation and I saw a stupid crow pummeling my employees to death so I hacked it into pieces.'' That''s all."


    ''That''s all!? All of that suspense and that''s all!?'' They all wanted to retort loudly but they are afraid that if they did, it''ll end up badly for them. They already saw Azazel, Sona, Irina, and Akeno suffer from it.


    Seeing all of them are staying quite, "Tch!" Yoruichi clicked her tongue loudly, "How boring." And then she proceeded toy down on Kisuke''sp to apany him to sleep.


    The rest didn''t know how to react after that but they already learned the best way to deal with this, ''Let''s ignore it.''


    The conference continued with Azazel exining that Kokabiel''s actions has nothing to do with Grigori and he even tried to solve the problem by sending Vali in. If not for the strange man interfering, they would have dealt with Kokabiel themselves before it even devolved to the situation back then.


    They then proceeded to ask him why he''s gathering the Sacred Gear users under his care and he exined it with it just his hobby of researching the said things and even offered some of his findings. Waging war? He has no interest in it.


    Since the conference is going nowhere with other leaders just kept sounding him out, Azazel directly proposed a peace treaty between the Three Factions.


    Sirzechs, Serafall, and Michael thought for some moments but they still agreed to it as needless hostilities would only negatively affect everyone.


    They went on discussing the terms and asking for Issei''s and Vali''s opinions as they are the hosts of Dragon Emperors and could potentially be powerhouses of each faction.


    After that, Issei asked Michael about Asia''s and Xenovia''s situation and there need to be exiled from the church. Irina also looked at Xenovia and Asia apologetically.


    But just as they are closing the conference, Kisuke and Yoruichi woke up with a start and smiled, "Finally, something interesting happening~."

 Volume 5 267 - Terrorists

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 267 - Terrorists</h4>


    "Finally, something interesting happening~." Kisuke stretched his limbs and Yoruichi did the same in her cat form.


    The leaders furrowed their brows in Kisuke''s actions and increased their awareness. A few secondster, they also felt the slight fluctuations of Mana and immediately put up a barrier.


    The next moment, they all felt a wave of magic passing through them, but thanks to the barrier that the leaders put up in a hurry, they were able to offset most of it.


    "What''s happening!?" Issei asked in surprise.


    "That power just now�� Time stop? If that''s the case, then��" Rias muttered.


    Interrupting Rias, a gigantic golden magic circle appeared in the skies of the Kuoh Academy, shocking the youngsters.


    "Whoa! What now!?" Issei took a peek outside and saw robed people descending down from the magic circle.


    "Terrorist," Azazel started speaking as he also took a peek outside, "In every era, whenever the powers sue for peace, you can be sure there''ll be some who get in the way. In this case, they''re Magicians."


    "Magicians?"


    "The legendary magician Merlin Ambrosius unraveled and reconstructed the system of magic used by Devils, resulting in all other magics of the world." Rias exined to Issei as she watches them attack the room they are in with magic but to no avail, "��Judging by the power they''re putting out, I''d guess that each has magical abilitiesparable to a Middle-ss Devil."


    "They shouldn''t be able to hurt us here, thanks to the barrier that Michael, Sirzechs, and I put up. And also thanks to that guy," Azazel then pointed to Kisuke, who''s admiring, the sight outside, "We were able to put up the barrier early enough that you won''t be affected by the time stop. But it does seem like we''re stuck in here."


    "Time stop�� So that familiar feeling earlier is��" Issei then looked towards his newly acquired crossdressing underssman.


    Azazel nodded at him and exined, "I''m thinking that they forced ''Forbidden Balor View'' into its bnce breaker mode using either magic or power transferring Sacred Gear. The bnce breaker form is only temporary but it would let him freeze everything in sight�� I guess that little half-vampire has great potential even if he couldn''t freeze us."


    "So they''re using Gasper against his will��" Issei clenched his fist in anger.


    Rias'' Demonic Magic also started ring up, "The terrorists are in the old school building, using my precious servant as a weapon�� Unforgivable�� I won''t let them get away with this."


    "Looks like our forces stationed outside were frozen." Raising his hand up, Azazel summoned tens of spears of light and it rained down on the enemies, killing them instantly, ''We didn''t bring any strong people since it''ll rm the Takamagahara�� Though if we wait long enough, the ring leader would surely lose patience and show himself and once we''ve dealt with him, they should back off.''


    Issei took a big gulp as he watches the massacre outside, "��Took them in a sh��"


    However, it isn''t the end as more and more Magicians are descending from the gigantic magic circle.


    Azazel rubbed his chin in contemtion, "They''re appearing inside the barrier. That means one of them must have made a gate connecting this territory to outside.


    "If they manage to power up ''Forbidden Balor View'' any more, it might even freeze on of us, who erected this barrier. Given how intensely they''re concentrated here, I''d say they''re ready to ughter us all the second the barrier goes down.


    "They''ve also dedicated a considerable force to this attack. Look--- reinforcements. As soon as one wave falls, another appears. Given the terrorist''s timing and tactics, it almost like they know who''s here and why. Maybe we''ve got a traitor in our midst?" Azazel chuckled as he ended his sentence.


    ''That''s not a joke! That''s terrifying!'' Issei thought, "Can''t we get away somehow?"


    "As long as the barrier around the school is active, one can''t leave," Sirzechs replied.


    "And taking down the barrier would bring harm to the Human World which is thest thing we want." Serafall followed up.


    "I say we wait for themander to show himself. If we endure the siege, he''ll probably get impatient and make a move." Azazel proposed.


    Sirzechs nodded and agreed, "We leaders should bide our time until more is known, but the top priority is securing Gasper-kun from the terrorist in the old school building, which seems to be their base of operations."


    Rias stepped up, "Onii-sama! Please let me do it! My servant is my responsibility! I''ll get him back!"


    Sirzechs nodded at her, "I thought you might say that, but the way there is crawling with Magicians. What''s your n?"


    "I have unused ''Rook'' piece stored in the clubroom over there��"


    "I see�� ''Castling''��"


    ''If I remembered it right, ''Castling'' is a trick where the ''King'' and ''Rook'' switch ces. I learned that from studying for the Rating Game.'' Issei thought.


    "Yes�� You can catch the enemies off guard, but going alone is reckless," Sirzechs then looked at his maid, "Grayfia, if my magic form is applied, can ''Castling'' transfer more than one more person?"


    Grayfia didn''t answer immediately but she hold out both of her hands and a three-dimensional magic circle appeared between them. Analyzing the magic and the movements of the Mana in the surroundings, she answered, "Yes, it can. I can''t performplicated rituals in here, but it should be enough to transfer mydy and one additional person."


    "Rias and one more. Then��" Sirzechs looked around.


    Raising his hand, Issei presented himself, "Sirzechs-sama! I''m going too!"


    Sirzechs looked at Issei and asked, "But can you control the Red Dragon Emperor''s power?"


    "W-well��" Issei could only scratch his head. He has been trying, but he can''t enter the Bnce Breaker as the White Dragon Emperor did.


    "Hey, Red Dragon Emperor." They then heard Azazel voice from behind and saw him holding onto two armlets, "Take this with you. These armlets can suppress the Sacred Gear powers to a certain extent. The reason why you can''t enter Bnce Breaker is that that power is too wild for your body. One is for you and the other one is for the half-vampire.


    "Keep it short, and you should be able to enter Bnce Breaker mode without sacrificing any of your body. The armlet will act as a sacrifice instead."


    "For real!? This little trinket can do that!?"


    "But the seals in you will be broken as a side effect. Your ''Pawn'' power is sealed, is it not?"


    "How did you know that?" Rias furrowed her brows at his words.


    Azazel ignored her and continued exining to Issei, "So think of this as ast resort. Using your Bnce Breaker eats away at stamina and magic power like crazy.


    "Once you transfer, promote yourself to ''Queen'' and start from there. Remember this. You''re still little more than a human with a devilish tinge to him. Let that power run rampant and you''re dead."


    Azazel''s warning reminded Issei when he tried to sacrifice himself to Ddraig to fight against Kokabiel. If sessful, he could have note out of that alive even if he was able to repel the enemy, "G-got it��"


    Azazel turned around and left them, "Vali, can I have a word?"


    Issei watches his back and muttered, "He really is like a teacher��"


    "His levelheaded analysis and smooth adaptability irritate me, but I admit he''s a great coach," Rias replied.


    "Mdy, pleasee here so that I can conduct the ritual." Grayfia grabbed Rias'' attention.


    "Does it have to be thatplicated? And just the two of them is still risky." They then heard the manly voice of the ck cat.


    Everyone, including Azazel who is currently talking to Vali about something, turned around to look at her.


    "Do you have a better way?" Grayfia furrowed her brows and asked her.


    ''Yoruichi really doesn''t like this maid, huh?'' Kisuke thought as he knew that even though Yoruichi is acting like she''ll do something about the situation, it''ll be him who will be working in the end.

 Volume 5 268 - A Mistake

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 268 - A Mistake</h4>


    "Do you have a better way?" Grayfia furrowed her brows and asked her.


    "I don''t!" Yoruichi answered proudly.


    The ever so serious maid''s mouth twitched, "Then why did you interrupt us?"


    "Because Kisuke can do something about it!" The proud cat jumped on top of Kisuke''s head and disyed her smuggest expression at Grayfia.


    Grayfia''s twitching mouth worsen, ''Is she looking down on me? And why is she the proud one?''


    "Ehh~? So I''m really the one doing the work?" Kisuke scratched his head, "If you''re bored, why don''t you just y with those magicians outside?"


    Yoruichi looked down and exined to herself, "You know me�� I hate grinding mobs! I''ll only move for boss fights!"


    Getting impatient since they are already running out of time, Grayfia urges them, "If you can do something, then please do it now. If not, please don''t interrupt us."


    Sirzechs wanted to stop her, but he can feel his maid''s frustration and just choose to watch from the sidelines.


    "Haahh�� Fine�� Gremory-san, please bring everyone from your group and get ready."


    "Everyone? Are you sure?" Rias asked in confusion. Even with the help of her big brother, who is a Devil King, and his ''Queen'', they can only bring one more person due to restrictions and that is using ''Castling'' which is a convenient method.


    "Yep~." Kisuke was about to don his Hollow mask but stopped first to warn everyone, "I''m injured and my aura control as of now is sh*tty so please beware as it might go wildly~."


    "Even if you release your aura, the only people you can scare are the youngsters. The rest where veterans of war so you don''t need to worry." Grayfia replied. She trying to tell that he won''t affect the leaders and her so his warning is useless.


    However, the only people who knew what he really can do is Serafall, Azazel, and Vali. So they stayed quiet and braced themselves.


    "Is that so~? Then please excuse me~!" Putting his hand over his face, he swiped over it and a white bone mask with green marking appeared.


    ''!!!?''


    However, due to a piece of his soul missing, Kisuke wasn''t able to fully control his Hollow powers, so at the same time that the mask appeared, his Reiatsu-Ki exploded outwards and a heavy pressure engulfed everyone.


    The pressure is so heavy, everyone, except for the four leaders and Grayfia, were instantly pushed to the ground as if the gravity increased multiple times.


    The leaders wanted to help them, but they couldn''t move carelessly as they needed to watch the person who is emitting this kind of malevolent aura. However, they still released their own auras to offset Kisuke''s aura lightening up the load on the youngsters.


    But not only them were shocked as both Yoruichi and Kisuke were surprised at this result too. The first one to move is Yoruichi as she transformed into her human form and immediately cast a binding spell, "Bakudou #61: Rikujoukourou (Six Rods of Light Prison)!"


    Six thin, but wide beams of lights appeared around the unmoving Kisuke and mmed into his waist holding him in ce.


    Yoruichi watched the quiet Kisuke carefully and noticed that the Reiatsu-Ki that he''s releasing is already easing up until some of it is only present, "You okay now?"


    Kisuke looked up with his mask on and spoke with ovepping voices, "Yeah�� I''m fine now. But that was a mistake��"


    Yoruichi sighed in relief, "Whew�� You did say that your control won''t be what it used to after creating that Sacred Gear but I didn''t know it would be this bad�� You almost lost yourself back then."


    "Right�� Looks like I underestimated Benihime''s control over the Hollow Powers��" Shaking his head, he started reflecting on his mistake that could have been disastrous to those around and himself, "Anyways, since I can only hold out for a few minutes with this, let''s get this done��" Kisuke then looked back to others and saw their current states, "��Oops�� My bad."


    Although nothing much happened on all the leaders plus Grayfia, they are warily looking at Kisuke with cold sweat on their backs. Although just for an instant, they glimpse of what seems to be Kisuke''s true power, ''Can I win?'' For the first time, Grayfia asked this to herself after witnessing that.


    ''So he''s still holding back when he fought Kokabiel and Vali back then��'' Serafall and Azazel thought as they recalled the much terrifying and heavy aura he released just nowpared to thest time he put on that mask.


    Kisuke first cast a soul-soothing Kidou to the young Devils and they all recovered and managed to stand up after a bit of difficulty. They all gave Kisuke varying expressions. While most of them are fear, Sona is giving him a resigned expression while shaking her head, ''This idiot really knows how to mess up.'' Only she, who knows Kisuke better than anyone except Yoruichi, can understand that he didn''t intend to do that. Sona only felt a bit of fear when he released his Reiatsu-Ki and all of it disappeared when he reigns in his aura, ''Is this an improvement?��'' She asked herself as she looks around and observes others'' expressions of fear and wariness, ''This much is needed if I want to stay with him.'' While thinking such, Sona ended up smiling.


    Sona''s smile, however, didn''t escape the notice of three leaders, Grayfia and Vali and they all thought, ''Is she crazy? How can she still smile?''


    Serafall and Akeno also noticed her smile and the former could only nkly stare at her little sister''s nerves, while thetter didn''t know what she''s feeling and could only grit her teeth in frustration.


    Kisuke looked out and felt something. He then looked back to Rias and her peerage, "We don''t have much time anymore so get going." Kisuke raised his hands and from his fingertip, the void split open like a jaw opening with apanying static sound. From the other side, they could all see the hall of the old school building, ''Forcefully splitting the void in this restricted space!?'' Those who understood what he just did were shocked again.


    Yoruichi is staring at the standing still youngsters and urges them, "What are you waiting for? You have something you have to do and you should focus on that first."


    Rias recovered from daydreaming and took a deep breath and led her peerage, "Everyone, let''s go and save Gasper! We can''t dy things anymore!"


    "Yes, Buchou!" Issei, Asia, Yuuto, Xenovia, and Akeno then followed her and arrived at the other side of the split-open void.


    After they went through, Kisuke immediately closed the void and removed his mask, "Whew~. I didn''t expect it to be that tiring! I shouldn''t have done it!"

 Volume 5 269 - Yoruichi vs Katerea part 1

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 269 - Yoruichi vs Katerea part 1</h4>


    Silence engulfed the room as they look at him with different expressions and the first one to talk is Serafall, "Ki-tan�� What was that?"


    In response, Kisuke just smiled at her, "Hmmm? Who knows~?" He then turned to Azazel and changed the subject, "By the way, Azazel-san. It seems that you knew a great deal about this terrorist, Do you mind sharing your knowledge to us here so that we can understand a bit of the situation?"


    Azazel stared at his smiling face for a while before sighing, "Haah��" Shaking his head, he thought, ''No way he''s gonna just answer that.'' He then faced the other leaders and stated a name, "Khaos Brigade."


    Sirzechs knew that he won''t be getting anything out of Kisuke so he turned his attention to Azazel, "Khaos Brigade?"


    "I only recently learned the organization''s name and background. They''re gathering dangerous members from each of the Three Factions. And I confirmed that they''ve already got a number of Bnce Breaker and Longinus users." Azazel narrated.


    "What are they after?" Michael asked.


    "Ruin and chaos. They''ve no interest in the peace on Earth. Nasty bunch of terrorists. and their leader is-" Azazel words were interrupted when a magic circle appeared on the corner of the room and a voice of a woman came from it and finished his sentence, "Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis."


    "That crest!�� I see. These terrorists'' string-puller is��" Sirzechs instantly recognized the crest on the magic circle and gritted his teeth, ''Does that mean the rest of the Old-Satan Faction is also in this Khaos Brigade?''


    From the magic circle, a tall bespectacled woman with a voluptuous figure. She had tan skin with long brown hair tied into a bun with a headset and she had purple eyes. She wore an extremely low-cut dress and it had a high slit which exposed arge portion of her breasts, "Greetings, current Devil King Sirzechs-dono. I am Katerea Leviathan, kin to the previous Leviathan."


    "A rtive of the previous Devil King? The millennia of fighting have left Devils on the ropes. The very species faces extinction if another war breaks out�� But those with the blood of the old Devil Kings were determined to keep fighting. From what I heard from Onee-sama, they were chased into the shadows of the Underworld." Sona exined to Kisuke and Yoruichi.


    Katerea smiled hearing her, "The majority of us Devil King descendants have decided to cooperate with Ophis and the Khaos Brigade."


    Azazel''s expression didn''t change at her appearance as if he''s already expecting her, "I never imagined you all would join Ophismitting these acts of terror."


    Katerea started releasing her Demonic Power andughed, "As a symbol of power himself, he''s perfectly suited to bring different powers together. And by that power, this world will be destroyed and then rebuilt. We will be the ones to rule over that new world!"


    Azazel''s response to her words is just a sneer, "So Ophis is your patron, then?"


    The innocent Serafall couldn''t stop herself from speaking anymore and asked, "Katerea-san! Why are you doing this!?"


    Katerea red at Serafall with apparent hate, "A shameless question, Serafall. You''re the one who stole the Leviathan title from me! Today is the day I kill you and be the rightful Devil King Leviathan! This world is rotten and needs to change! So when Ophis bes the God of the new world, we will create a system that governs it! Your era hase to end!"


    "Pfft! Look at that Kisuke! This is gold! Someone actually says that in real life? Just because things don''t go her way, she''ll me the world for it! That''s just a loser''s thought!" Within the serious atmosphere, Yoruichi''s voice resounded.


    Kisuke nodded at her in agreement andmented on his own with a serious expression, "Right! Only hormonal teenagers and people who already gave up on themselves can have that kind of thinking! It''s just like those people who can''t win in a game of chess and just choose to flip the board over!"


    After hearing their words, Azazel startedughing out loud and added ament of his own, "Ahahaha! That''s really it! She sounds like a viin from a B-rated movie and the first viin who dies!"


    Katerea instantly lost in when she heard them, "How dare you mock me!" ring up her Demonic Powers, she turned to two unknown humans who''re strangely in this room where the summit is held, "Who are you!?"


    Yoruichi ignored her and faced the leaders, "Hey, how about leaving her to me?"


    The four leaders looked at each other. They also wanted to see the power of the mysterious human and they all agreed. But before agreeing with her, Sirzechs first asked Katerea, "I don''t suppose you''ll surrender, Katerea?"


    Katerea ignored him and kept ring at the two humans and took out her weapon, a wand, "Haah!? Someone like you!? Didn''t you hear what they just call me!? I''m the descendant of thete Devil King Leviathan!"


    Sirzechs sigh and signaled Yoruichi that she can go.


    "Great~." Yoruichi smiled and stretched her limbs for a bit.


    "Are you listening!? How dare you go against me when you just a measly hum-!?"


    Yoruichi didn''t let her finish her words and used sh Step to instantly appear in front of Katerea and sent a kick towards her face. The kick connected without her being able to react and the force behind it sent her flying away outside, destroying the wall on her way, "You talk too much."


    "��"


    "Well then, I''ll be going first~!" Yoruichi waved her hand towards Kisuke before jumping off the window to follow the still flying Katerea.


    "Hey�� Sirzechs, Serafall, Michael��"


    " " "Hmm?" " "


    "Did any of you catch that?"


    The three leaders shook their heads at Azazel''s question.


    "How the hell did we miss something like these two?" Azazel asked again.


    "��Well, there are still a lot of things that we haven''t discovered yet in the world. And those two are one of those. But one thing is for sure�� We shouldn''t make them our enemies. It''ll be a lot dangerous if someone like that can move around us." Sirzechs muttered to the other three and his maid.


    "Haah��" With a sigh, Azazel proposed, "Let''s go outside first and clean those things."


    Everyone nodded in agreement and started exiting the room through the whole that Katerea made.


    Thest one to get out is Serafall and she looked back only to see Kisuke is still not moving from his position and just watching everyone, "Aren''t youing?"


    "Nah~. I''m too tired already. I''ll just be here to rest and cheer for you. Besides, you probably won''t need me there."


    "I see�� Then rest well." Serafall went out after saying such.


    Kisuke sat down on the chair and just watch his lover have fun with the Devil. However, he still a bit worried so he sent her a telepathic message, ''Yoruichi, that woman has Ophis-chan''s powers. You better not let your guard down.''


    ''I know. I wouldn''t want to be killed by that adorable humanoid dragon''s power.''

 Volume 5 270 - Yoruichi vs Katerea part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 270 - Yoruichi vs Katerea part 2</h4>


    Rias'' group managed to rescue their ''Bishop'', Gasper, in a short amount of time and immediately returned only to find a Devil battling with Yoruichi.


    "That''s�� Katarea Leviathan!" Rias eximed, "I see�� So it''s the Old Satan Faction who''s behind this!"


    But as they get close, they noticed that this isn''t exactly a battle as Katerea couldn''t evennd a hit on Yoruichi who is only dodging her magics with a small margin, as if she knew what Katerea was about to do.


    "This bitch!" Katerea muttered in frustration, ''Where the hell did this bitche from!?�� I''m not yet facing one of the leaders, but I guess I should stop holding back.''


    Reaching a decision, Katerea startedughing wildly, "Ahahaha! You''re strong! But still not on my level! Die!" From her back, multiple shadows in the form of snakes emerge from her back andunch towards Yoruichi attempting to devour her.


    The four leaders furrowed their brows after seeing this and Sirzechs muttered, "So this is Ophis'' power�� Just get that and she''s already on the level of the current Devil Kings. If used properly, she''ll be as powerful as the previous Devil Kings."


    Already expecting this, Yoruichi immediately released her Reiatsu-Ki, "Shunkou!"


    Just like when she previously used this technique at Gremory-Phenex Rating Game, a pair of wings made out of lightning manifested behind her.


    Making use of the concentrated lightning behind her, Yoruichi pointed both of her hands onto Katerea unleashed her attack towards the snake, meeting them head-on, "Shunshin Raijin (shing Lightning God)!" A beam of lightning went through the snakes and directly hit Katerea without being able to react much.


    "GAAAH!?" Katerea shouted in pain as most of her body was burnt. She''s only alive after she subconsciously directed some of the snakes in the path of Yoruichi''s attack. Wheezing in pain, Katerea looked at Yoruichi in terror, "W-What are you!?"


    Even the four leaders and Grayfia were asking the same question in their minds. That attack just now, although it does not look very impressive of grand, it still tore threw Ophis'' snake with ease and that kind of strength is almosting close to a Devil King.


    "That form�� This intensity�� And examining it further, it''s not magic but it''s simr to Touki (Fighting Spirit). So we''re still underestimating them�� Just how much are they still hiding? I doubt that''s the extent of her powers." Azazel muttered and the rest who heard him could only stay silent and contemte on their own, but they all reached a certain conclusion that just the two of them, in terms of pure fighting prowess, could go against some small Mythical Factions in the world and the fact that they are too dangerous especially when they don''t know their motives.


    From afar, Akeno is watching and admiring how Yoruichi ''elegantly'' controls her lightning with ease and thought, ''Should I ept her offer back then?''


    "Does that really matter now? We''re trying to kill each other, right? Let''s just focus on that." Yoruichi just smiled at her, ''Even though she''s burnt, it''s not much of an injury�� Her endurance is way beyond what I expected. Is this her own power or Ophis?''


    Katerea gritted her teeth, ''She''s at Devil King level and the fact that she''s here means that she''s also part of the Peace Treaty��'' Her Demonic power then red up along with Ophis'' snake using everything she has, ''The four leaders are eyeing me now, the n of using the Forbidden Balor View already failed and I can''t expect anything from Vali as he already did his job of creating a gate inside the barrier so there not much chance of me getting out of here alive. I should at least bring her down with me and the faction behind this bitch should retaliate against the Three Faction for not protecting her properly!''


    Reaching a decision, she flew, with the fastest speed she can manage, towards Yoruichi and let the snakes lunge at Yoruichi again. In response, Yoruichi just materializes a spear made out of lightning and hacked away at the snakes.


    Katerea used this chance to get closer but Yoruichi won''t allow her and threw the spear towards her chest. Yoruichi expects that she would dodge but her crazed smile got even crazier and she didn''t do anything about the spear, resulting in it piercing a big hole in her just and surprising Yoruichi, creating a small opening for Katerea.


    Both of Katerea arms split into many tentacles and coiled around Yoruichi. Yoruichi tried increasing the output of her Shunkou but it still couldn''t destroy the tentacles, "It''s no use trying to get away! These arms of mine can''t be severed!" Katerea body then started to bloat and red veins emerged from her skin.


    "Trying to take me down with you?" It''s then Yoruichi''s turn to sport a crazed smile, "I''m sorry, but I already promised to die with someone else."


    ''Uhmm�� Dear leaders, I advise that you strengthen the barrier around the school�� No, I strongly suggest that you do it if you don''t want any damage to reach the world outside! That idiot will overdo it, I guarantee it!'' The leaders then received a telepathic message and the voice they heard inside their heads was unmistakably Kisuke''s.


    The first one to react is Azazel as he shouted to the other three, "This is my first time hearing him actually panic! Let''s do it! I also have a bad feelinging from that woman!" Raising his arms up, he sent his Holy Power to the barrier to strengthen it.


    The other three didn''t say anything else as they also felt something bading from Yoruichi and immediately supported Azazel''s actions. The young Devils and Angel have a confused expression as they watch their superiors try to strengthen the barrier which is already strong, to begin with. Even if a bunch of Ultimate-ss beings started a war here, they wouldn''t be able to damage it easily unless they specifically target it.


    The lightning wings behind Yoruichi suddenly disappeared and the lightning emitted from Yoruichi''s back creates a circle of electrical energy in the shape of Raijin''s drums behind her, "Shunkou! Raijin Senkei! (sh War Cry! Thunder God War Form!)


    Yoruichi then unleashed a giant column of concentrated lightning energy engulfing Katerea and 10 meters around her. Katerea couldn''t even scream as she''s directly vaporized along with her surroundings, leaving only the severed arms that are around Yoruichi which also turned into dust a few secondster.


    On the ground, a deep chasm was created and although the leaders strengthened the barrier, that gigantic lightning just now still punched a hole through it. Thankfully, the damage is only that and didn''t affect the Human World that much.


    "Hey�� Serafall�� How much time do you need to charge an attack with the same kind of intensity?" Azazel asked as he stares at the unbelievable scene.


    "O-our abilities are of different attributes so I can''t do that kind of destruction in an instant, but I would probably need a few minutes of uninterrupted casting to achieve the same destruction. Although I might be capable of the same damage to the surroundings, that''s not really a good measure of power." Serafall answered.


    "��You''re right�� I''m sorry for asking something silly. I just really can''tprehend how she was able to unleash something like that in an instant."


    "If it''s pure destruction, then Sirzechs-chan is capable of that�� But he''s also in a different dimension from the normal Devil Kings��"

 Volume 5 271 - Valis Betrayal

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 271 - Vali''s Betrayal</h4>


    Yoruichinded on the ground and all of the lightning energy she has before already disappeared along with the sleeves of her clothes, "That was close!" Yoruichi just didn''t expect that Katerea will take the suicide route when she''s not even fatally injured or anywhere near that.


    Kisuke jumped down from the room and walked beside Yoruichi, "That''s too much�� You didn''t even leave a speck of dust��" Kisukeined as he watches the remnants of the destruction still crackling with lightning.


    "Well�� What should I say�� She''s strangely durable that she reminded me of Askin Nakk Le Vaar�� Maybe I do have some trauma regarding that guy." Yoruichi sighed, admitting her mistakes.


    "My~. If someone like him is here, it''ll really be annoying�� and dangerous." Kisuke understood Yoruichi''s feelings. Although she and he has experience going against strong opponents like Aizen, Askin Nakk Le Vaar is not a particrly good memory for both. He''s the primary reason that they ''died'', after all.


    While the two are talking, Azazel approached them with a serious expression, "Kisuke�� You do know that the power she just showed is on the Devil King level, right? Although a lot of beings are on that level or even stronger, most of them are leaders of their respective factions. And to top it off, you probably has simr abilities��"


    Kisuke turned to Azazel and took out his white fan to cover half of his face, "I''m ttered, but I''m afraid that''s just a gross overestimation. I''m just a humble cheap candy seller."


    Azazel scratched his head in frustration, "So you''re going to insist on that�� Fine then. Let me get straight to the point. What is it that you want?" Azazel has a feeling that even if he didn''t extend his invitation to him for this summit, he might have still barged in for all the ridiculous reasons he could think of. And with them showing what they can really do, he guessed that Kisuke is giving them a warning.


    Kisuke smiled but it''s different from all the smiles that Azazel saw from earlier, "I thank you for making it easier for me. To be honest, I don''t have the guts to justy down what I want with all these prominent people present."


    ''Bullsh*t! All you have are guts!'' They all simultaneous thought.


    Ignoring there apparent reactions to his words, Kisuke continued, "I only want two things. First is a free and fair exchange of information between me and the Three Factions and the second one is the removal of all surveince ced on me and those around me�� I don''t have a hobby of exposing myself, you see? But before we talk further, I''ll let you people deal with ''that'' first. We won''t be getting involved this time."


    "What are you-" Before he could finish his question, Azazel suddenly felt a huge blownding on his back and he was sent flying a few meters. He stood up and took a look at his assant in white-winged armor, "Vali�� Turning on me now?"


    "W-what''s going on?�� Why is Vali attacking Azazel?" Issei mumbled. He then recalled Azazel''s words earlier that there might be a spy among them, "I see�� So he''s part of the terrorists."


    Azazel dusted his clothes and asked, "Mind telling me why you betrayed me, Vali?"


    "Sorry, Azazel. These guys are just more fun." Vali replied.


    "So the great Vanishing Dragon is submitting to Ophis?"


    "Nah. Just cooperating. Ophis asked if I wanted to fight Asgard, and it seemed like a nice way to test my strength. I don''t imagine you''d allow me to oppose Valha and the Earth Gods, right, Azazel?"


    ''This muscle head still thinks that I don''t know what he really wants? But it seems that he''s hellbent on getting revenge on his own�� Some adjustments to my n should keep him safe from certain beings��'' While thinking of this, Azazel kept talking to him to make him not get any idea, "I did tell you to ''get stronger,'' but I also said not to contribute to the Earth''s destruction.


    "Like I care. I just want to fight forever."


    "Is that so?�� Well, when I learned that Katerea and the old Devil King Faction had joined up with the Khaos Brigade, I had sneaking suspicion��"


    "Wait�� What does that mean?" Rias asked.


    "I''m a half-breed born to a human mother and the grandson of an old Devil King."


    "You''ve got old Devil King blood in you��?"


    "Yes. I inherited that royal blood and my human side harbors the ''Vanishing Dragon.'' If fate and miracles do exist on this earth, I''m the living proof of them." Flying higher up, Vali formally introduced himself to his rival, the Red Dragon, "My name is, Vali Lucifer. I bear the blood of the previous Lucifer."


    ''This kid still hasn''t gotten over his inner Chuunibyou��'' Azazel thought.


    .


    .


    Kisuke and Yoruichi just watched the ongoing drama. They are already expecting Vali to betray Azazel since they already got the information from Kuroka. Though they didn''t really think that he would do it openly.


    Azazel exined to Issei that Vali is the strongest host of the Vanishing Dragon in history. While Vali just mocked Issei for being the weakest host for being a normal human from top to bottom before stepping in the Supernatural World.


    But even then, Vali knew that Sacred Gears, especially the Red and White Dragons, doesn''t get all of its strength from the host''s physique and most of itstent power lies in the will of the user. So he got the idea of threatening Issei with killing his normal parents, which in response, angering Issei to the point of immediately entering into Bnce Breaker.


    The two shed and Vali kept halving Issei''s power while Issei kept doubling his to keep up with him. Although Vali has an overall advantage with his abilities, Issei has a trump card which is the Dragon yer Sword, Ascalon, he received earlier from Michael as a sign of goodwill to the Red Dragon Emperor.


    Issei was able to catch Vali off-guard and destroyed his white scale mail. However, Vali onlyughed out loud praising his rival and immediately recovering and reactivating his Bnce Breaker.


    Issei knew that he won''t be able tost long due to the limits of the armlet that Azazel gave him and is troubled how he would defeat his opponent when he saw the blue gem that came from Vali''s destroyed armor in the corner of his eyes, giving him a crazy idea.


    Issei grabbed the blue gem and tried to infuse it to his Boosted Gear like what he did with the Ascalon. Vali on watch in amusement as he tried to fuse twopletely opposite attributes. He''s also disappointed that the Red Dragon would die this early and not from fighting the White Dragon, but by attempting the impossible.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi also watched him closely and are ready to jump in if something goes wrong, "That crazy kid�� Only Zaraki can match him." Yoruichi mumbled.


    "��Let''s see how it goes first. Just help me watch the condition of his soul." Kisuke replied to Yoruichi, ''It looks like he really has what it takes�� I should invest in him.''


    After screaming in pain, Issei was able to sessfully steal his rival''s power, but with the price of his lifespan. Vali and Albion are both dumbfounded that he actually seeded, prompting Vali to take this fight more seriously.


    Vali''s next move is ''Half Dimension'' where it halves everything within his reach, including sizes.


    And when Azazel suggested that it''ll halve even Rias'' breast, Issei lost it�� even more so than it did when being threatened with his parents.


    With Issei''s power doubling again and again beyond Vali''s expectations, and add the usage of the stolen Divine Dividing, Issei beat the crap out of him for the second time.


    Getting more excited, Vali now intends to go further before being interrupted by a new person arriving.

 Volume 5 272 - Going Home

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 272 - Going Home</h4>


    The young man in an ancient Chinese armor appeared from a teleportation magic circle and moved in between Issei and Vali, "Vali! I''m here to get you!"


    Vali stopped chanting his Juggernaut Overdrive and looked towards the young man, "Bikou? But why?"


    "We''re smacked-dab in the middle of a fight with the Earth Gods. You gottae and help." Bikou replied and looked around, "So Katerea failed here? That means your job is done too."


    Vali is still unsatisfied but he knew the importance of their fight with the Earth Gods, "Haah�� Right. Time to go then."


    "��Who is that guy?" Issei asked Azazel.


    "Descendant of the victorious fight Buddha. You probably know him as that damn infamous monkey from the Journey of the West, Sun Wukong."


    "S-Sun Wukong!? The Monkey King is actually real!?"


    "Well, He''s actually just a monkey spirit who inherited Sun Wukong''s power."


    Bikou looked at Azazel and snickered, "My ancestor might have achieved Buddhahood but I''m just a free spirit. On that note��" Bikou raised his stick and tapped one end of it on the ground, instantly creating a magic circle below him and Vali.


    Issei didn''t want to let go of his enemy, "Wait! You won''t get away!" But just as he took his step forward, his Scalemail disappeared signifying the end of his Bnce Breaker, "W-what��?"


    "That''s what you get for loosing such explosive power in an instant. This is your limit for now." Azazel spoke behind Issei.


    "Our next fight will be even more brutal. So let''s both get both stronger before then." After saying such, Vali and Bikou teleported away.


    After they disappeared, Issei wobbled but Rias was able to catch him in time, "Issei!"


    While his head lying on her bosom, he muttered, "What a relief��"


    "Hmm��?"


    "Your boobs are untouched�� Buchou��"


    Seeing his injuries from the fight that was too much for him, Rias only smiled gently on his remarks as she hugs him close, "��Dummy."


    "Issei! Buchou!" Asia and the rest of the Gremory Peerage came running in to check on their state.


    Azazel left them alone and turned towards the other leaders, "I take it that the rest of the magicians were out ofmission?"


    "Yep~. We''ve taken out the rest of the trash~!" Serafall replied while hugging Sona.


    Sirzechs also approached them, "So Vali betrayed you?"


    Azazel closed his eyes in contemtion, "He''s always been after nothing but power. It''s my fault that I didn''t catch on sooner."


    "For now, let''s discuss peace terms and counter-strategies against this ''Khaos Brigade.'' Michael is worried ever since Azazel told them that Khaos Brigade is people who came from the Three Great Factions, ''If that is true�� Then we might have a traitor in our midst. Someone probably found a loophole in the system so they could avoid ''Falling.'' I have to smoke them out somehow�� But how should I do that?''


    "Then you do that first. I''ll go make a trip to Valha and exin what happens. Pissing off Odin is thest thing we want. I''ll take care of Mount Sumeru too." Azazel revealed his ns before turning his attention to Kisuke and Yoruichi, "About the things you want��"


    Kisuke raised his hands up and stopped him from continuing, "No need to rush. I know that you''re busy after what just happened. We can discuss my terms tomorrow." He then faced everyone, "Since I have nothing else to do here, we would like to take our leave so we wouldn''t have to disturb your work. Good night everyone~!" After bidding his farewell, Kisuke and Yoruichi turned around to leave.


    "Wait! Ki-tan~!"


    "Hmm? What is it, Serafall-sama?"


    Serafall approached Kisuke with Sona in tow, "Take Sona-chan with you. You can discuss your terms with her and she can send it to us tonight so that we can process it immediately. By tomorrow morning, there shouldn''t be any eyes on you from the Three Factions."


    "That would be great~. Is that fine with you, Sona-kaichou?"


    Sona fixed her sses while looking all serious, "Of course."


    "That settles it then~!" Serafall gave Sona some final reminders before turning around to do her work.


    "Do you want me toe with you, Kaichou?" Tsubaki, who has been listening to them asked Sona.


    "No, I''ll be fine by myself. You should help out with the restoration of the school as it''s going to be some work." Sona then nced at Yoruichi, "Especially that big hole with an unknown depth."


    Yoruichi just shrugged her shoulders when she heard of this.


    "Got it, Kaichou." Turning her attention to Kisuke, Tsubaki bowed before continuing, "Please take care of Kaichou, Urahara-san."


    Kisuke smiled and responded, "I will."


    Sona''s serious facade almost broke but she was able to hold onto it, though she could stop herself from blushing.


    "Thank you." Tsubaki left them and went to her work.


    "Ah�� Before I forgot��" Kisuke suddenly remembered something and called his childhood friend "Issei!"


    Issei, who has been talking to Michael regarding Xenovia, Asia, and Yuuto, looked at Kisuke in confusion and approached him, "What is it? It better be not something nasty."


    "Oh my~. Just what do you think am I?"


    Issei chooses not to answer, not because he didn''t want to hurt his feelings, but because it''ll only be his loss if he did so.


    "Well, whatever�� Follow me for a minute."


    Issei is wondering what he''s about to do but instead of asking, he followed him silently.


    After separating from everyone, Kisuke put up a silencing barrier and an illusion barrier around them to prevent eavesdropping. After checking that everything is working correctly, he faced Issei, "Issei�� Are you satisfied with what happened?"


    Although Kisuke worded it vaguely, Issei instantly understood that he''s referring to his battle with Vali. Clenching his fist, Issei answered, "��No. Far from it�� If not for Azazel and everyone present, I might have really lost my parents."


    Kisuke knew the frustration he had when he was threatened by Vali and knew that his real motivation when Vali used ''Half Dimension'' is Kuoh Town might get destroyed and hurt his parents. So he asked, "Why do you think you''re weak?"


    "��It''s because prior to this, I''m just a normal human�� Just like what that bastard said."


    "Do you want to get stronger?"


    "��Are you trying to say that I should leave my humanity behind?�� Well, that''s fine too. How?"


    "You just have to follow what''s written on this notebook~." Kisuke took out a notebook with a pale green cover. Written on it is ''Issei''s Suicidal Training Method'' along with a skull and bone mark.


    Issei shuddered and his mouth twitches when he saw the cover. Nevertheless, the frustration he felt back then will stillpel him to do whatever written in the notebook, "And? What''s the catch?" As his childhood friend, he knew Kisuke wouldn''t just give away things just for the heck of it.


    "Nothing much." Kisuke smiling face disappeared and was reced by a serious expression that Issei rarely sees, "If by any chance that I wouldn''t be around�� I''ll leave the safety of some people to you�� That''s all."


    "��I see��" Issei could tell that Kisuke is warning him about something and took it to his heart, "I understand. But let me tell you this first. Even without this, if it''s within my capabilities, I''ll also protect those who are important to you."


    Kisuke''s smiling face returned, "One more thing. Ddraig-san, you around?"


    "You do know that I''m always around Issei, right?" Ddraig answered when he was called.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything further and took out a ck pill oozing out with ck smoke from his inventory.


    Seeing this, Ddraig immediately reacted, "Ophis'' power! How did you get hold of that!? And what''s this? Something else is mixed in here��"


    The ck pill''s true identity is the ck snake that consumed Medusa''s corrupted Divinity, "I want you to absorb this."


    "Are you insane!? Absorbing the white bastard''s power almost put him to death! And now you''re asking him to absorb something even more vtile!?"


    Issei stared at the ck pill before reaching out for it. Witnessing his actions, Ddraig sighed in resignation, "Are you sure about this, partner? Even with your stupidly strong will, you won''t be able to contain this thing! And the primary reason is that your body is not capable of taking something like this!"


    Issei still ignored Ddraig, "Do I just fuse with it?"


    "Yep~. And after you wake up, start practicing what''s written in the notebook. Hey Ddraig-san, take this notebook within the Boosted Gear. Remember that it''s only for Issei''s eyes."


    "��I''m not a storage device."


    "You still haven''t discovered this notebook''s gimmick?"


    Ddraig took a closer look at the notebook, "What wrong wi--!? Wait! Is this soul matter!? How!?"


    "Stop with the questions. Just take it!"


    "Guhh��" The poor legendary dragon of the past couldn''t understand what''smon sense anymore. Without much choice, Ddraig took the soul matter inside of the Boosted Gear for storage.


    Issei fused with the ck pill and he felt pain so extreme that absorbing Vali''s powers seems to just an ant bite. What''s worse is that he couldn''t shut down his consciousness and be hit by all the pain it brought.


    Kisuke used his own powers to assist him for a bit and mask Ophis'' power from Issei. After that, he took down the barrier he put up.


    Issei''s shouts of pain and his writhing on the ground immediately caught everyone''s attention.


    "Issei!!!" Rias immediately ran towards him and noticed that his screams are getting worse as time passes by. ck veins also started to appear all over his body, painting creepy lines on Issei.


    "You bastard! What did you do!?" With where lover on the verge of death, Rias red and used Kisuke.


    Everyone also approached themotion and Kisuke immediately got res from three of the four leaders plus the maid. If he isn''t able to exin or revert Issei back to normal, they will force him to do so.


    Kisuke ignored their pressure and just spoke, "Ddraig-san, I''ll leave Issei to you."


    "You crazy bastard�� You''re worse than a Devil offering something like that to Issei." Ddraig replied and he made sure that he''s heard by everyone and it shocks all of them as this is the first time for most of them to hear the voice of the actual Red Dragon Emperor.


    "Really now, you overestimate me. I just gave him something suitable and it''s up to him whether he could take it�� Shouldn''t you have stopped him before epting it?"


    "��" Ddraig stayed silent for a while before sighing, "Haah�� Whatever�� This is his choice and it might prove interesting where this will take him�� Thank you." Ddraig chooses to express his gratitude to Kisuke for opening a new path for Issei.


    "You''re wee~. But it''s still up to him if he could stay alive. Make sure to watch over his life closely." Kisuke then turned around and walked back to Sona and Yoruichi, still ignoring the dumbfounded expression everyone is making, "Let''s go home~!"


    Yoruichi yawned and nodded. She then transformed back to her cat form and jumped in Kisuke''s arms to take some rest. Sona is also dumbfounded at what just happened, but understanding that Issei choose this himself from their conversation, she immediately recovered and followed the leading duo. She''s the first one to recover since she''s already used to all the surprising things that Kisuke always pulls out from who knows where.


    The rest only recovered when the trio left their sights and they choose to attend to the still screaming Issei.


    Serafall, Irina, Akeno, and Tsubaki continued to look at the direction they disappeared with differing thoughts and ns for the future.


    Little they did know, it''ll be thest time they would be seeing the three of them for a long�� long while, effectively changing their lives.

 Volume 5 273 - Kidnapped

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 273 - Kidnapped</h4>


    "So that would be everything?" Sona asked as she arranges her notes regarding Kisuke''s terms.


    "Yep~. I wouldn''t want to strain my rtionship with the Alliance by asking too much." Kisuke replied as he sips his tea.


    "Understood." Sona took away her notes and stood up from the couch, "I will be passing this to Onee-sama now since she''s probably the one who would do her best to establish a good rtionship with you two."


    "That would be wonderful. Thank you for your hard work."


    "If you''re thankful, treat me to some dinner some other time." Sona chuckled and turned around.


    "It would be an honor to treat a beauty to a dinner~." Kisuke also stood up and apanied her to the door.


    Strangely enough, Sona isn''t feeling embarrassed right now and only smiled at him, "I hold onto that�� Well then, Good night~."


    "Yep~. Good night."


    Sona is tempted to ask for a goodbye kiss, but her courage is still not enough for that, so she started walking away without looking back.


    Seeing her slowly went away, Yoruichi jumped out from the house andnded on Kisuke''s shoulder, "No goodbye kiss?"


    "Spare me with that. It''ll be awkward." Kisuke then turned around to re-enter the house.


    "You coward."


    "Yep, yep~. I''m a coward, so let''s go back to the training ground. I still have a lot of things to do." Kisuke reached the living room and saw Medusa cleaning up the center table, "You''re still up?"


    "I can''t sleep with you still working."


    "If you keep that up, you''ll end up not sleeping for a few weeks."


    "I''m fine with that. I don''t need much sleep either."


    "Well�� If you''re happy with that." Kisuke could only scratch his head. Even though he wanted a maid, he''s still not used to someone taking care of every little thing for him.


    But just as he and Yoruichi about to transfer to the training ground, both of them shuddered, "Ana! Go to the training ground first and wait for our return!" Kisuke hurriedly shouted before using sh Step to leave the house.


    Medusa was dumbfounded at the sudden order as she could feel Kisuke''s genuine panic, but she immediately followed his instructions and teleported to the training ground without finishing her work.


    A hundred meters away the house, Kisuke and Yoruichi arrived at a certain spot and caught a glimpse of a magic circle before it disappeared.


    Kisuke, however, was able to memorize it and immediately started calcting its destination coordinates, "Yoruichi�� Call mom. Tell her that a Non-Aggression Alliance was sessfully established between the Three Great Factions. After that, tell her to bring Cleria and her family with her back to the Belial n in the Underworld�� If they ask why, tell them just in case something happens to us."


    "��Got it." Yoruichi transformed back to her human form and took out a token that would only be used to contact Sakura in case of an emergency.


    Five minutes into unstop calction, Kisuke finally figured out the teleportation magic''s destination and his brow furrowed further, "��Yoruichi, stay here."


    "No." Yoruichi red at him.


    "Chances are, this is just a big trap, but I have no choice but to dive in and save Sona. The problem is, I don''t have any idea what will happen once I entered and all I know is that Grim Reapers are the one who took her away and they brought her to a small realm somewhere around the Dimensional Gap."


    "All the more reason for you to take me! We would have more options for working together!"


    "But��"


    "No buts!" Yoruichi knocked his head, "I''m happy that you''re protective of me but remember, I''ve always been beside you when there is a big battle and I don''t want that to change!"


    Kisuke sighed, "Fine�� Are you ready?"


    "Anytime."


    "Good." Kisuke then devised his own magic circle that has the same destination point as the one he calcted earlier and a few secondster, both of them disappeared.


    .


    .


    Inside of arge stone dome, a gigantic andplicated magic circle, glowing in dim red light, is etched on the floor. In the middle of it is a stone altar and lying on it is the unconscious Sona.


    Blood continuously flows out of her to the magic circle below, powering it, due to the slits on the main arteries of her limbs. Even with her strong Devil physique, it wouldn''t take 15 minutes before she dies from blood loss.


    Around the magic circle are ck-robed Grim Reapers chanting and controlling the sacrificial spell in thisrge dome.


    "Who''s that?" Ask the beautiful young woman with the cute face of a child that has long ck hair and with pointy ears to the Grim Reaper beside her. She wears a cute frilly dress that has a corset jumper skirt. Her body is also giving out a tremendous dark aura.


    "Nyx-sama, she''s the heir to the House of Sitri, a Prince Rank in the Underworld." Answered the Grim Reaper in dark robes decorated with ornaments and what was described as a ''clown mask'' on his face.


    "Heh��" Nyx let out a slightly impressed voice, "Are you not afraid of others finding out what you n to do now that you targeted someone from a prominent house?"


    "Not at all, Nyx-sama. We have already arranged our scapegoat."


    "How much of the seal can be removed after her draining all of her blood?"


    "Since she''s from a prominent house, a pureblood Devil, and the little sister of the current Devil King, 7% of the seal should be relieved."


    "That much? Wow�� I guess you can reallyplete this n�� By the way, I came here to deal with a human, but will he reallye here? This is a pretty secretive ce after all."


    "He wille. Hades-sama already arranges everything and he''s surelye."


    "But what''s taking him so long��" Nyx then saw a magic circle appearing below them, and with it, a man with pale blond hair wearing a bucket hat and traditional Japanese clothing and a woman with purple hair and dark skin appeared, "Looks like they''re here."


    Without any hesitation, Nyx sent a wave of ck energy towards Kisuke and Yoruichi.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi got out of the way and the ck wave of energy heat the floor, but it didn''t damage it.


    When both of them saw this, they didn''t think that the ck energy is weak at all, on the contrary, it''s very strong and should be enough to destroy most of the Kuoh Town. What''s strange is the durability of the ce.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi immediately scanned everything in the room and ascertain Sona''s condition. When they finally confirmed it with their eyes, Kisuke and Yoruichi instantly raged, but that didn''t let it cloud their judgment.


    ''What''s this ritual? And this room�� it''s strangely durable. Whatever�� The first priority is to secure Sona and get out of this ce. Dealing with all of these cer.'' Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other and nodded.


    "Shunko!" Yoruichi disappeared from her spot and started massacring every Grim Reaper working on the ritual. She could have gone straight to Sona and pull her out, but she doesn''t know the inner workings of the ritual and she might just do Sona more harm so she left it on Kisuke who is capable of analyzing the situation better.

 Volume 5 274 - Kidnapped part 2

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 274 - Kidnapped part 2</h4>


    The first thing Kisuke did is to don his Hollow mask and used Descorrer to split open the space. He''s already expecting it when he entered this space, but he couldn''t help clicking his tongue when he confirmed the result, ''Tch�� 5 minutes to open. This space is a lot tighter than those set by the Perseus n��''


    Kisuke could focus on splitting the space and only do it for 1 minute, but he would have to dedicate all of his attention to it and that''s not a very good move with enemies aiming for your neck. He could also devise a magic circle that could bypass the restrictions in this space, but it has the same problem as the first one, he would have to dedicate his calcting prowess to it and it wouldn''t be idle when Sona is still in the middle of the unknown ritual.


    ''I can leave the Descorrer alone once activated so let''s focus on securing Sona first before anything else.'' With that in mind, Kisuke out Benihime in her Shikai form. However, those who have seen this de of his before would notice that everything about it seems pale inparison to thest time he took it out. Yoruichi knew that reason for this and only took a quick nce at it before resuming her killing spree.


    Nyx doesn''t care about the Grim Reapers being massacred and only focus on what she thinks a threat, "Hohh~, Interesting�� That mask�� is not an artifact�� but what is it?" She muttered.


    Since he''s still analyzing Sona''s situation from afar, he''s not in the mood to talk to his enemies like he used to and only waved Benihime towards her, sending a whistling, blood-red energy wave.


    Nyx only sneered at his attempt and summoned a cloud of dark aura in front of her to meet the energy wave. After deflecting it away, she saw that the masked man is only staring at her, "What? Done already? That guy and Hades put a lot of attention to you, but is that all you can do? How disappointing."


    Kisuke didn''t respond and only shifted his gaze around from time to time. When Nyx is about to lose her patience, Kisuke suddenly started barraging her with waves and waves of the same attack as before. And Nyx only did the same thing, deflecting his attacks everywhere.


    "What''s this? Are you even trying? From what I heard, it seems that you''re pretty close to that Devil and I thought you''d be more desperate." Kisuke still chooses not to respond to anything she said and kept attacking and attacking. All the blood-red arcs of energy flew in a random direction and when it hit the wall, ceiling or the floor, it only left a small nick, a testament on how resistant to damage the entire hall is.


    Pluto only watched from the sidelines and when he saw that Yoruichi is almost done killing the Grim Reapers, hemented, "It''s no use. The ritual is already half done and even if you kill everyone here, it''ll only slow down the process. You can also just choose to drag that Devil off the pedestal but it''ll only slice her to pieces since her blood is already bounded with the magic circle."


    Just like Kisuke, Yoruichi didn''t respond and only continued killing everyone working on the ritual.


    "What''s up with these two? Are they trying to buy time? Don''t get your hopes up since the moment you entered this space, no one is allowed to exit or enter until the two of you are dead." Nyx tried to get guess their intention but she still wasn''t able to get a different reaction and she''s starting to lose her patience, "Hades sent me here to deal with you and even asked me to use ''that'' to make sure you''re dead. I don''t know what he has against you, but he overestimated you."


    Yoruichi is already on thest Grim Reaper and taking that as a cue, Kisuke instantly changes gears. For the first time since entering this space, Kisuke let loose the massive killing intent he has been keeping.


    This change in demeanor caught Nyx off guard and she wasn''t able to react fast enough when Kisuke suddenly appeared in front of her and swung down his de. She was able to back off but she sustained arge wound across her chest, spurting out blood everywhere.


    Pluto was also shocked at this scene and tried to help Nyx escape, but before he could do so, Yoruichi suddenly appeared behind him with her heels dropping down on him so he has no choice but to raise his arms to defend himself. However, he underestimated the force behind her ax kick as it immediately broke both of his arms and he dropped down from the air like a meteor. Landing on the floor back first, Pluto coughs out blood but he didn''t wait there and immediately got out of the way with another attack from Yoruichi.


    He didn''t want to underestimate her strength anymore and dodge her attack which was confirmed to be a good call when he saw minutes of cracks appearing on the floor when her fist hit it. He knew how durable the floor where the magic circle is sitting and even he has all day, he wouldn''t be able to destroy it. When he took a closer look at his assant, he noticed something different as six drums made out of lightning were hovering behind her which made him remind of the God of Thunder.


    Hence, the battle between the God of Thunder and the Ultimate ss Grim Reaper begun.


    On Kisuke side, he''s defending against Nyx''s bullets made out of darkness by deflecting it to the side like what she''s doing earlier while also decreasing the distance between them, ''Dammit! How the hell is this guy so strong all of a sudden? Pretending to be weak? But why?''


    Although Nyx has a lot of questions, she became careful and started to take him seriously. Seeing that her bullets don''t have much effect, the dark aura around her started spinning and panning out, engulfing everything in its way. Kisuke stopped for a bit to observe what is this before turning around to leave, "Hey! Where are you going?" The cloud of darkness spun and formed into spears,unching towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke then turned around and pointed his finger towards Nyx, "Juugeki Byakurai (Heavy-Strike Pale Lightning)��" With a mutter, a dark red beam of light, more than an inch of diameter, suddenly manifested in front of his finger. The beam caught Nyx off guard again but she''s was still able to react, though her shoulder was pierced by it, "Tch! You sure have a lot of tricks under that hat!"


    Nyx took a quick nce at her wound to see if there is anything amiss, which she confirmed that it''s only a small normal wound. She looked back to Kisuke and noticed that he''s already beside the Devil, but instead of stopping and following him, she only sneered at him, "Didn''t you hear? Forcefully pulling her out would only kill her much faster."


    Kisuke ignored her once again and swung his de towards a certain direction, letting off another blood-red sword wave and it hit a certain part of the magic circle, however, just like what happened earlier, it only left a small crack on the floor, "What? Trying to destroy the magic circle? Although it''ll really save her, you would need to destroy this entire ce for you to s-- What!?"


    The light of the magic circle started dimming, ceasing its function.

 Volume 5 275 - Poison

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 275 - Poison</h4>


    Nyx and Pluto were both shocked at this scene as they knew that even if you destroy 1/4 of the magic circle, it''ll still function just fine due to its self-rerouting function.


    They couldn''t think of any reason why would the ritual suddenly stop with just a single attack from him, ''Hmm? Single attack!?'' Then a certain possibility shed in Pluto''s mind, "Could it be!?"


    "What''s happening, Pluto!?" Nyx asked in distress. A slight fear is already seeping in her mind after Kisuke did something out of their expectations.


    Yoruichi already stopped pursuing Pluto and went beside Kisuke and Sona to defend them from iing attacks. Pluto use this chance to fly beside Nyx and shared his guesses, "Didn''t he just blindly sent waves and waves of his attacks earlier to you?"


    "And? What of it?" While listening, Nyx released a vast amount of darkness to surround both her and Pluto. She wanted to make sense of the situation first before continuing her assault.


    "You deflected it��" Pluto just gave her a hint as even he couldn''t believe that Kisuke is capable of something like that, but that''s the only exnation he could think of.


    "Deflected��!? Wait! What!?" Nyx understood what Pluto is trying to say. She then tried to recall every attack that she deflected and indeed, some of them hit the magic circle below, "Are you trying to say that he predicted where I''m going to deflect his attack used that chance to destroy the ritual!? You do know how absurd that is, right!? That''s not a prediction, but precognition! And besides, how was he able to destroy the ritual with just a few attacks! Didn''t you say that it''s almost impossible to destroy!?"


    "That''s the only possibility that I could think of�� And besides, if he''s capable of predicting the way you deflect his attacks, isn''t he also capable of analyzing the magic circle in this short amount of time? He only needs to find a way to separate the Devil from the ritual and it''ll effectively cease its functions��" Pluto stared at the three of them while exining his reasons. The dark-skinneddy is eyeing both of them while the masked man is busy saving the Devil, "Nyx-sama�� I know that it''ll go against your pride as one of the primordial Goddess, but we have to use that�� We don''t know if they''re also capable of escaping this space, but chances are, they do�� We don''t want enemies like them. They''re too dangerous."


    "Tch!" Nyx clicked her tongue loudly, ''That guy prophesized that it''ll be a human who would stop their ambitions�� But didn''t that about to happen when you picked a fight with someone like him? In any case, we really can''t afford to let him escape. His strength is nothing much, but his analysis is in a whole lot level, we don''t know what else he''s capable��'' She thought to herself.


    "Nyx-sama��" Pluto called out to her to hurry her decision.


    "Fine!" Nyx then snapped her fingers and blood-red mist ejected from the walls of the dome. The mist spread in no time and reached Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Sona, who''s in the middle.


    Yoruichi''s first reaction when seeing this is to cast a barrier to separate them from the rest of the dome, "Bakudou no 73: Tozanshou (Inverse Mountain Crystal)." Yoruichi created a pyramid-shaped barrier around them.


    What she didn''t expect, however, is when the mist touched the barrier, it eroded it instantly, "!?"


    This also instantly caught Kisuke''s attention but they are already toote to react to it as it already reached them.


    The moment the mist touched Yoruichi, she started coughing blood and crying tears of blood, "Yoruichi!!!" Kisuke called out to her in panic and grabbed her to his embrace.


    "Gaha��! I''m�� fine! I�� can s-still�� resist! Sona�� she c-cant! Gah!" Yoruichi did her best to speak and closed her eyes to concentrate on resisting this poisonous mist.


    The mist also reached Kisuke and Sona, although Kisuke has better resistance than Yoruichi, the poison is still strong enough to destroy several of his internal organs and blood seeping out from his mouth. Kisuke then started to use his Reiatsu-Ki to eject this poison but instead of ejecting it from his body, he was only able to push it away slightly and most of his Reiatsu-Ki were consumed by the poison, ''What''s this!?''


    Sona, on the other hand, started coughing blood even unconscious and all of her orifices were seeping with blood. In addition to that, her skin is starting to turn ck from her limbs. At this rate, she would onlyst for the next 10 seconds.


    Seeing this, Kisuke instantly made his decision and chopped Sona''s two arms and two legs before injecting her with his own Reiatsu-Ki to help her resist the poison and close the wound he inflicted her.


    Kisuke didn''t just chop off her limbs, but he also chopped off its soul body counterpart as he noticed that the poison affects the soul the most. When he looked at the limbs on the ground, it was already reduced to ck ashes.


    Kisuke next step is, he took out white pills and ate a few of them. He then faced Yoruichi and passed the pills to her, "Eat this first."


    Yoruichi didn''t respond but Kisuke still shoved the pills made out of pure Reiatsu-Ki he gathered using the power generator he had on the training ground to her mouth. Since he doesn''t know the properties of the poison and doesn''t have any time to study it, he could only fight it crudely, by drowning it with Reiatsu-Ki.


    There are still two minutes until the Descorrer he set earlier to split open the space, but he couldn''t wait that long anymore. His focus is already divided between resisting the poison for him and Sona and inspecting Yoruichi''s condition every second, so he could only reduce this time for the Descorrer to take effect in 30 seconds. And so he did.


    Nyx and Pluto were both dumbfounded at how Kisuke is still moving around and helping others resist the poison. They know how strong the poison is and it would only take a few seconds for it to kill them if they didn''t take the antidote in advance.


    "H-how?" Nyx muttered.


    "Nyx-sama! He''s really too dangerous! Let''s kill him ourselves!" Pluto then took out his ck Scythe and flew towards Kisuke, shing his back. But due to his Hierro and Shihakushou, he was only able to damage a few bits of his clothes and a small nick on his skin, "What!?"


    He tried again and again but still failed to do any considerable damage. Even the special effect of his weapon doesn''t seem to work on him.


    Nyx followed suit and sent a barrage of magic bullets not only targeting Kisuke, but also the two girls beside him.

 Volume 5 276 - Escaped

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 276 - Escaped</h4>


    Feeling that attacksing for both Yoruichi and Sona, Kisuke embraced them closer and used his own body to block the attacks. He could have deflected it away but he much rather sped up the opening of the space than retaliate. Kisuke would rather lose a few limbs than lose these women in his embrace.


    Nyx and Pluto didn''t let up and kept attacking, however, there is some reservation in their attacks, thinking that Kisuke is preparing something big and they are watching his actions closely so they could evade whenever necessary.


    Twenty-five seconds has passed, Yoruichi is already unconscious and wheezing, Sona is already pale and ck bits are appearing all over her skin once again, while Kisuke already lost his right arm and has deep wounds all over his body. The only rtively intact part of him is his head which he put more effort into protecting than the rest of his body.


    ''What''s up with him? He isn''t even fighting back�� What is nning?'' Suspicious started to settle in the minds of both Nyx and Pluto and started attacking Kisuke with renewed vigor, however, when the thirty seconds mark since disabling the ritual has passed, a split in void suddenly appeared in front of the three, "What!?" Nyx and Pluto simultaneously eximed.


    Kisuke, while holding the other two, jumped in, "Don''t let him escape!!!" Nyx started panicking for the first time. She now knew that if someone of his caliber is able to escape from all of this, then they wouldn''t have any good ending. She then sent thergest attack she capable of in a short time frame, a gigantic javelin made out of darkness, intending to kill him before the portal closed.


    Since he already opened the space, Kisuke''s spells are now avable to him again and this time, he activates Millon Escudo (Million Shields). The green pulsating hexagonal barrier appeared behind him and it expands to cover the three of them. The javelin was stopped by the shield and the portal closed.


    But before it could closepletely, Kisuke looked back to both Nyx and Pluto and his eyes were something that they would never forget in their entire lives, the pure, clean, calm and unabated killing intent, which immediately sent chills to their backs.


    The javelin of darkness pierced through the hexagonal barrier but the targets are long gone, "��What sort of monster have we made an enemy out of?" Nyx muttered as she recalled those eyes.


    Pluto stayed silent for a few moments before speaking, "��It''s alright, Nyx-sama�� They couldn''t possibly survive the poison. As long as it entered its victim''s body, it''ll only get stronger the more time has passed." Instead offorting Nyx, Pluto is saying this tofort himself.


    "Report everything that happened here to Hades�� And send some people to repair the ritual site. I''ll be supervising them. We can''t have it not functioning for a long time." Nyx chooses to forget about Kisuke after hearing Pluto''s words as she truly believes how terrifying that poison is.


    "Understood." Since the restriction in space is already broken, Pluto directly teleported to their headquarters to report everything to Hades.


    After he disappeared, Nyx was left alone in this deadly quiet dome and sighed. She held her chest which is still beating quite fast, ''Will it really be fine? I shouldn''t have epted this work��'' With her regrets and worries, she teleported away to rest.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, along with the unconscious Yoruichi and Sona arrived at the training ground near hisboratory. Medusa, who''s waiting diligently, instantly felt their presence and came in running. But before she could approach them, Kisuke shouted at her, "Stay away!"


    Medusa saw everyone''s state, especially Sona''s and Kisuke''s missing limbs. She wanted to approach them but she followed Kisuke''smand and used her fastest speed to gain distance from them. She doesn''t know what happened, but the desperation in his voice is enough for her to follow whatever he says. Medusa moved away until she reached the edge of the training ground and a secondter, she saw a very strong barrier suddenly activating around hisboratory.


    A few seconds more, she felt another barrier activating outside the training ground, isting it from the Dimensional Barrier, effectively cutting off anything that cane through it.


    Although very much worried, she knew that all she could is to wait for her master''s further instructions or when he takes down these barriers.


    Inside the first barrier, Kisuke set both Yoruichi and Sona on different operating tables and took off all their article of clothing, leaving them stark naked. However, Kisuke isn''t in the mood to appreciate this scene and used his only remaining arm to start treating both of them. He doesn''t have enough energy or time to regenerate his wounds or missing limb so he could only make do on what he has right now.


    Three days has passed and Kisuke was able to stabilize Yoruichi''s condition. Although she''s already on the rtively safe side, Kisuke couldn''tpletely remove the poison from her, and her body could deteriorate at any time, so he still has to watch her closely.


    Kisuke tried to use Orihime''s ability of ''Rejection'', the poison has some weird properties that make the ever so powerful ''Causality Maniption Ability'' almost rendered useless. Although it could be also med for Kisuke''s inability to utilize such a technique properly.


    His biggest problem right now, however, is Sona. Since she has a weaker body than both Kisuke and Yoruichi, her life is always hanging on the brink of death even with Kisuke''s help. But now that Kisuke could focus on her, and the fact that he already analyzes a bit of the poison, he could strengthen Sona''s treatment.


    Another ten days has passed, Kisuke gently smiled at both the unconscious girls as there is no trace of the poison left and Sona''s limbs are back. The only downside is they should be a lot weaker than they used to be, but they can gain it back with a bit more treatment and training.


    Kisuke then finally focused on his own injuries and poison. Pushing his condition aside for the two girls made more injuries for him but he doesn''t regret it even for a single bit. Before he starts on himself however, he checked the barrier if it''s still properly working or there is something that hit it. The first barrier he set around hisboratory is to stop the spread of the poison and the second one is to prevent pursuers that mighte after them.


    Although nothing is amiss with the barrier, it''s strangely quiet and it''s giving Kisuke some weird feeling. But he couldn''t focus on it now as he needed to stay alive first.


    Kisuke diagnosed his condition and figured that his overall abilities were reduced by 50%. He clenched his fist and swore that he would take his revenge, not for himself, but for hurting his women.


    Kisuke took down both of the barriers and he saw Medusa excitedly running to him.

 Volume 5 277 - S-Class Wanted Criminals

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 277 - S-ss Wanted Criminals</h4>


    "Master! Are you alright!? How about the other two!?" Medusa arrived at Kisuke''s location and barraged him with questions. More than two weeks of Kisuke, Yoruichi and Sona''s istion, Medusa''s worries kept getting worse. She also already guest why Kisuke needs the second barrier after going home injured so she braced herself for the iing enemies chasing after them, resolving to sacrifice even her life to protect the first barrier. And now that she was able to see her mastering out in one piece, most of her worries disappeared.


    Kisuke noticed her haggard countenance and smiled, ''She''s probably on alert ever since we arrived.'' Kisuke patted the head of the little girl and reassured her, "We''re already fine. How long has it been since we arrived?"


    Medusa thinks that all of her efforts are worth it for this head pat of his and felt that all of her tiredness flying away. However, she didn''t let this blissful feeling show in her face, "More than two weeks�� 16 days to be exact."


    "Two weeks, huh�� That''s more than I thought�� Let''s get out first." But before he could cast his teleportation magic, a teleportation magic circle suddenly appeared beside Medusa and Kisuke. Three people manifested from it and two of them suddenly jumped on Kisuke, "Kisuke!!!" "Kisuke-senpai!!!"


    Aika and Koneko were crying their eyes out as they hug Kisuke. Kisuke is, of course, dumbfounded, but that didn''tst as suspicions started to surface in his mind. He just let both of them rub their tears-stricken face on his shihakushou as he can tell that they''re genuinely worried and he can see the bags under their eyes. Patting the two of them, he asked, "What''s wrong, you two? I just didn''te out for two weeks and you were reduced to this?"


    Koneko and Aika looked up at him with surprised expressions but the first one to reply to his question is Kuroka, who also arrived with them, "C-could it be�� that you don''t know what''s happening?"


    Kisuke stayed silent after hearing this and reviewed every information he has. A minuteter, he looked back at Kuroka with a serious expression, "Someone pinned a crime on me? More specifically, the disappearance of some Devils?"


    "��Why are you acting clueless when you already know what''s going on?" Kuroka''s mouth twitches. However, what she''s curious the most is the fact that Kisuke is acting like this is some normal urrence.


    "��So that''s what happened, huh. They got me��" The rage that Kisuke''s nursing all this while leaked out.


    Feeling the small amount of rage he identally let go, the four of them shuddered, "Kuroka-san�� Tell me everything happened this past two weeks."


    Kuroka gulped while nodding and started narrating everything she knows.


    After the Kuoh Treaty was sighed between the Three Great Factions, Khaos Brigade attacked them, hoping to destroy this treaty or at least kill one of the current leaders to bring their much-sought chaos.


    They were repelled, however, and the treaty became even stronger. The restoration after the battle begun and Kisuke, along with Yoruichi and Sona went away to discuss something.


    An hour after that, multiple Devils from small and formerrge houses suddenly appeared in Kuoh Town with Sirzechs or Serafall''s knowledge. And instead of meeting them, they went straight to the Urahara Household and started attacking it.


    Everyone who attended the conference was dumbfounded and once they noticed the ce they were attacking is where Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Sona supposed to be, Serafall exploded and froze half of the Devils attacking the house.


    Before she could stop everyone however, the Urahara Household copsed, revealing an underground zone along with the smell of blood oozing from it.


    Everyone who is at the scene, including those from Grigori and Heaven, were surprised once again and immediately checked what''s inside the basement.


    What they discovered is horrifying. Loads of dried-up corpse of Devils were found and soon enough, one of those who came to attack the Urahara Household cried out loud as he hugged one of the corpses, shouting that it''s his son.


    Soon enough, everyone found their missing family members or friends. Serafall has no choice but to defrost everyone and let them search the whole basement.


    The leaders looked at each other with difficult expressions and started searching for the owner of the house, Kisuke Urahara. Serafall''s focus is searching for her strangely missing little sister.


    But before they could find them, Gods and soldiers from Mount Olympus led by the God of War Ares and guided by Chief God of Tamahagara, Amaterasu. The leaders of the Three Great Faction had to stop their search and meet these big shots.


    Ares'' main reason for visiting is to arrest someone named Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin with their crimes of releasing a very dangerous criminal and hurting one of their Main Gods, Athena, who is currently in aa due to her injuries.


    The leaders finally couldn''t keep up with all that''s happening and once the Devils who came to attack heard Ares saying Kisuke''s name, they all reacted, demanding the leaders to search for this heinous criminal who used and sacrifice their deceased family and friend for him to gain power.


    When asked where they got this information, they told them that an anonymous informant gave them the information of Kisuke''s activities and told them that his next target is the current heiress of the Sitri Household, Sona Sitri.


    Serafall was about to rampage yet again, saying that all of that isn''t true but Sirzechs managed to stop her in time. Regardless of the truth, there is evidence against Kisuke and they couldn''t help defend him.


    For the current leaders, the informant they mentioned reeks of suspicion, however, they can''t point that out now that they found evidence in Kisuke''s own house.


    The leaders looked at each other and decided that the best they could do is to hide Kisuke''s other rtionships, namely Aika, Koneko, and Issei.


    For the next few days, nonstop searches were done in Kuoh Town and once they knew that they wouldn''t be able to find Kisuke in the Kuoh Town anymore as he already ''escaped'' they tried searching for family members, which is Sakura. But her too, they couldn''t find any trace of her.


    With his apparent ''escape'' and pieces of evidence, Kisuke Urahara, along with Yoruichi Shihouin, were officially dered as criminals and terrorists with a bounty that is higher than most S-ss wanted criminals.


    The Sitri Household also released an official statement in response to the growing suspicions that Sona Sitri is also one of Kisuke Urahara''s aplices that they will do their best to search for the criminals and let them pay for kidnapping their heiress. They also showed that they''rementing the fact that their heiress wouldn''te back as she probably suffered the same fate as those who were sacrificed for their blood.

 Volume 5 278 - Revenge

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 278 - Revenge</h4>


    These past two weeks, search for Kisuke and Yoruichi kept going until Aika and Koneko''s rtionship with him was revealed. The current leaders did their best to protect the two by denying their rtionship with Kisuke and Serafall even used her connection to hide Aika''s parents from all of this.


    Denying rtions worked since a lot more rumors and small usations against Kisuke that most of them can''t be taken as true.


    Still, Kisuke''s name would sooner orter be a household name that would scare off children in the Underworld.


    Aika and Koneko were under the care of Rias Gremory and kept trying to teleport to the training ground, but with restrictions in ce, they couldn''t and they also have to be careful so that others couldn''t see what they are doing.


    And earlier today, Kuroka arrived and tried to help both Koneko and Aika with their token, but even with her extensive knowledge in space magic, she also failed.


    It was until they gave up that the restriction within the training ground was suddenly lifted and both Koneko and Aika felt it with their tokens. Kuroka finally got something with her expertise as she was able to include herself when Koneko and Aika were teleporting away.


    And that is how they all arrive here.


    "That''s all I''m aware of��" Kuroka ended her story.


    "Wait! At least tell us what happened? And where are Yoruichi-san and Sona-kaichou?" Aika shouted at him.


    "They''re inside, and they are already fine��" Kisuke didn''t turn back and continued walking away.


    "What about you? Where are you going?" Aika asked again.


    "I''m fine�� Well, maybe not so much. And I''m about to do something stupid��"


    "Something stupid�� is it? Then make sure that youe back before dinner!"


    Kisuke waved his hand back, "I will�� And Medusa, I''m craving for some sushi."


    Medusa smiled with her real name being called. She bowed towards him and said, "You can expect arge variety of sushiter, master."


    Kuroka, Koneko, and Aika were surprised when Kisuke called her real name and suddenly recalled the infamous monster called Medusa from Greek legends and the Mount Olympus using of releasing a very dangerous criminal. If what they are thinking is correct, then the criminal of Mount Olympus is such a cute little girl.


    Before he goes away, Kisuke sealed the training ground again since he already knew that it isn''t safe outside and he would probably take some time to prepare here in the training ground.


    One thing that he can''tpete against Aizen is ''emotion''. And ''emotion'' is a big key in activating the Hougyoku properly. Aizen''s ambitions gave him enough ''emotion'' to let Hougyoku read his deepest wish of transcending and that is something Kisuke couldn''t do as he would always calcte everything based on their value.


    Which is why he''s afraid to use something that uses his own ''emotion'' to function. But this time, it''s different. Pure and unbridled rage will help him utilize this cheating gem, ''For hurting my women�� I''ll annihte you.''


    Kisuke teleported away and arrived at the ce they were poisoned and almost died.


    All the Grim Reapers working on the damaged ritual site stopped and looked towards the uninvited guest.


    Nyx, who is supervising the restoration, shuddered when she saw the familiar figure that she firmly believes already died, "Y-you�� How are you still alive!?"


    Manifesting every darkness she could, Nyx got ready for a life and death battle. However, she didn''t attack immediately as she has this weird feeling that she shouldn''t make him her enemy at any cost, and she trusts these instincts of her that already saved her life multiple times.


    They are already enemies but she still tried to talk to him, hoping to jump ships, "H-hey�� Why don''t we talk for a moment��?"


    Kisuke looked at her for a second which gave her another chill and suddenly ignored her entirely. Kisuke then materialized his cane and pulled out its hidden de, aiming its tip on his chest before plunging in it.


    "What are�� you?" Nyx then started questioning her sanity after seeing him stab himself in the chest but when he''s about to approach him, thinking that hemitted suicide, she suddenly felt the atmosphere getting heavy�� unbearably so.


    Nyx looked around and the Grim Reapers are already kneeling and panting hard. Confused at what''s going on, they tried to resist the heavy atmosphere but every single one of them failed to do so.


    When Nyx looked up to Kisuke again, confusion took over her�� along with fear.


    Nyx''s reaction is due to Kisuke''s drastic change. Long pale blonde hair without its former shagginess. A white bone mask that is now covering all off his head and now with angr horns pointing upwards. Under his shihakushou is the same whiteness as his mask and a hole big enough for an arm to go through is on his chest. And floating inside this hole is purple gem exuding unknown power, ''W-what is�� this!? No one told me that he''s this terrifying! I have to escape!''


    Nyx then tried to use teleportation magic to escape but after trying, she knew that this method wouldn''t work due to Kisuke''s aura causing too much fluctuation in space that most of the space magic would be rendered useless.


    Kisuke ignored her efforts and started charging the biggest Cero (Hollow sh) he can manage. From the tip of his horns, a darkness that is even darker than Nyx''s darkness started to gather like an expanding ck hole.


    Seeing this, Nyx started to shake from fear and did the second best thing she could do which if forcefully tearing the space, ''This is bad! This is bad! Hades, you bastard! We''ve stepped on something we shouldn''t have!'' Nyx then allocated all of his abilities in tearing open space and in a few seconds, she would be able to escape, ''If I can make out of this ce alive, I''ll make sure that you''ll never know his real identity!''


    The ck hole''s size then erged to 5 meters in diameter before Kisuke stopped charging it. But instead of shooting it, Kisuke used Descorrer and left immediately, leaving the now unstable Cero behind.


    Nyx was extremely rmed by this and doubled her effort, "Please let me out of this ce!!!" She shouted and that''s thest thing she could say before the Cero expanded in an instant, engulfing the whole ce, reducing everything it touches into nothingness. That day, a small realm disappeared.

 Volume 5 279 - A Note

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 279 - A Note</h4>


    A few minutes earlier, Serafall is doing all the work she has set aside to look for Kisuke and Sona in her office in the Underworld. Although she''s doing her official duties, she still hasn''t stopped her search and has been receiving reports from all of her connections.


    A minuteter, three holographic images appeared in front of her. Those images are the other leaders who attended the Peace Conference more than two weeks ago.


    "Serafall�� you should rest." It is the first thing Sirzechs said after seeing the usually cheerful and bubbly friend of him all haggard from the current events.


    "I''m fine�� And even if I''m not, I won''t stop. Every second and minute they are gone, the chances of something bad happening to them goes up��" Serafall replied with a dark tone.


    The three other leaders could only sigh, "Let''s move with today''s schedule. On my side, I made contact with various Gods and presented them with our initial terms for them to sign the Peace Treaty. Asgard is up for it while the others are still contemting and will send their envoys sooner orter." Azazel knew that they wouldn''t be able to convince Serafall and pushed forth their meeting.


    "The problem is, as expected, Mount Olympus. When this whole issue exploded, Zeus, as strange as it is, stepped down from his position as their chief for the reason of taking care of her beloved daughter. Zeus apparently rmended Apollo to take the position he just left and is now managing the whole Mount Olympus.


    "Of course, I also sent them the proposal for the Peace Treaty, but Apollo only replied with, ''If you don''t bring us Kisuke Urahara''s head. It''ll be hard to pursue peace with our members dissatisfied.''


    "I also tried contacting Zeus, but strangely enough, he can''t be bothered right now�� It smells fishy but I can''t just openly meddle with their affairs." Azazel ended his report.


    "That''s indeed suspicious��" Michael muttered.


    "And that Apollo is even more so!" Serafall gritted her teeth as her instincts were telling her something when she heard someone other than Zeus is now leading Mount Olympus.


    They all looked at Serafall and thought that she''s just overthinking things since she would want someone to take the me for her little sister''s disappearance. Although Serafall firmly believes that Kisuke has nothing to do with all they are using him of, the other three don''t share the same thought. They don''t know Kisuke enough to trust him as Serafall does. Although there is also a possibility that Kisuke''s goal is Serafall''s trust, and he''s using it for things like this.


    "Moving o--!? What''s that!?" Sirzechs was about to present his findings when they suddenly felt a massive malevolent aura pressing on them.


    Azazel and Serafall, who are both familiar with this aura, shouted, "Ki-tan!" "Kisuke Urahara!"


    Serafall stood up and tried her best to pinpoint which direction is the auraing from, but failed.


    "So he''s currently in the Underworld?" Sirzechs muttered as he also tries to search the origin of Kisuke''s aura, but someone refuted him, "You''re wrong�� He isn''t in the Underworld." Michael corrected him.


    "Hmm? What do you mean?" Sirzechs asked and both Azazel and Serafall looked towards Michael with confusion.


    "Because if you''re feeling a strangely violent aura from there�� I''m feeling it too�� And I''m currently in Third Heaven. Everyone is panicking, thinking that someone is attacking us��" Michael exined.


    "What!?" The three, who are listening, simultaneously eximed, "How is that possible!?"


    Before they could further their discussion, however, Grayfia''s holographic image interrupted them, "Sirzechs-sama! Kisuke Urahara''s aura is felt in the Human Realm, please send reinforcements to search for him!"


    Instead of agreeing with her request, Sirzechs asked, "What''s going on?"


    The other leaders also has the same question but nobody could answer them.


    While they were at loss, the aura suddenly exponentially got heavier before disappearing in that same second. Everyone in the meeting is brimming with cold sweat as they all look at each other, "If that is really Kisuke Urahara, then we underestimated him�� severely." Michael muttered.


    "Grayfia�� Bring others with you and search the Dimensional Gap��" Sirzechs gave his orders.


    "Understood." But before she could leave, arge earthquake suddenly shook them and this earthquake is felt in Heaven, The Underworld, and Human Realm. Chances are, it''s also felt on other secret realms which don''t normally feel any earthquakes, "This is insane�� Just what did he do?" Azazel asked nkly.


    Grayfia was about to leave when she was interrupted yet again, not by Kisuke, but tworge aurae shing and all of them are familiar with those aurae, "Great Red and Ophis!? Really, what''s going on!?" Azazel stood up from his seat and looked in a certain direction.


    "This is bad�� If they really start their sh, it''ll only be people of this world who will suffer, but it''s not like we can do anything about it!" Michael clenched his teeth in frustration.


    Then they started giving orders to everyone in theirmand to stay on alert and watch if any powers of both Ophis and Great Red spills out of the Dimensional Gap. Their main goal is to stop any destruction that they''ll cause towards the surrounding realms.


    Just after they all finish giving their preliminarymands, while the sh of Great Red and Ophis were happening, arge wave of space fluctuation resonated throughout the realms, "What now!? Just who the hell died for all of this to happen!?" Azazel couldn''t help but curse out. They really couldn''t keep up with all that''s happening in dimensional scale anymore. Aside from having no manpower to respond to all incidents, they also don''t know how to properly respond to what''s happening, which is bing the source of frustration and fear for everyone. And the first thing that happened before everything followed is that they felt Kisuke''s aura, which makes him the center of all of this.


    Scratching their heads and not knowing what to do, the fluctuation in space suddenly stopped and a few secondster, Great Red and Ophis'' aurae started ceasing as if taking that stop in fluctuation a signal.


    When they thought everything is done, a few secondster, a split in void suddenly emerged beside Serafall, shocking everyone, "That''s Kisuke Urahara''s spell��" Grayfia muttered.


    But instead of Kisuke himself, what came out of it is a bucket hat with white and green stripes pattern, a photo, 20 bars of chocte, and a piece of note.


    Serafall caught everything and the split in the void closed. She first looked at Kisuke''s favorite hat and the photo which features her and Sona before putting it on the table along withrge number of chocte bars. She then proceeds to read the note, ''Good day Sera-tan~! Are you doing fine? Though their''s not much time for me a longer note, I want to tell you that Sona-chan is already safe in my hands, and due to some ident, We won''t be able toe back for quite some time. That includes me, Sona-chan, Yoruichi, Aika, Koneko, and Kuroka, so don''t bother searching for us. Take care of yourself~!


    PS


    You might feel lonely, so here''s your and Sona-chan''s photo along with my favorite hat to apany you in your journeys~!


    PSS


    By the way, It looks like Ophis-chan is pretty peeved, so I want you to give all of these chocte bars to her. I''ve included my own aura in those choctes so she should be arriving soon.


    PSSS


    Don''t trust the Mount Olympus, especially that boney guy. However, don''t openly go against him. Gather information from the shadows. You can get Belial Household''s cooperation and if that is not enough, try to find Athena. She shouldn''t be in aa as the news says.''


    Serafall nkly stared at the note for a few seconds after reading it before Sirzechs spoke, "What does it say?"


    Hearing this, Serafall instantly burned the note which shocked everyone, "It says that Sona-chan is already safe and they will go in hiding for a while��" Although they don''t show it, Serafall could tell that they don''t actually trust Kisuke and someone who can''t trust him can''t be trusted with the content of that note.


    Serafall ignored their further question by saying the same answer over and over again. Everyone sighed at her stubbornness but they couldn''t do anything. And just as they''re about to discuss what just happened, in front of Serafall, a little girl in gothic lolita outfit appeared.

 Volume 5 280 - Transfer~

    <h4>Volume 5 Chapter 280 - Transfer~</h4>


    A few minutes earlier, Kisuke returned to the training ground and everyone ran towards him. But as they approach, Kuroka gradually stopped everyone until they reach twenty meters away from him.


    "��Kisuke?" Kuroka vigntly called out as the person in front of them is far from the Kisuke they know. The one in front of them could only describe as a monster.


    Kisuke ignored them as he''s busy trying to reign in his Hollow side. When he just put on the Hollow mask at the conference, he almost lost control and now he pulled out a full Vasto Lorde form with the help of Hougyoku to power it up, violent and destructive thoughts kept invading his mind.


    But with his will and ego, he only needs some time to suppress these thoughts and deactivate his Hollowfication.


    One minute into suppressing it, Kisuke finally found a chance to break through and smashed the Hollow mask with his fist. Soon after that, the hole on his chest slowly closed, engulfing the purple gem and his skin color returned to normal. The only thing left from his Hollowfication is the long hair that is also gradually shortening.


    Kisuke looked at everyone and smiled despite his pale countenance from overexerting himself and said, "I''m back~! I''m hungry, but let''s check on Yoruichi and Sona first."


    Everyone sighed in relief and said, "Wee back~."


    Kisuke is telling them what really happened the moment they disappeared as they walk towards the room where Yoruichi and Sona are resting. Kisuke wanted to visit them first because he can feel Yoruichi''s unsettled aura, signifying that she''s about to wake up.


    Kisuke managed to finish his story the moment they stepped into the room and the girls looked at them with worried expressions, "Are they really fine already? Although I''m not saying that I''m good at reading an aura, it feels like Yoruichi-san and Sona-kaichou weaken considerably. Especially Sona-kaichou, it feels like she''s on the same level as Saji Genshirou who only turned Devil not long ago." Aikamented as she looked closely at the sleeping patients.


    "The poison is already out of their system and they''re on their road to recovery. We just need to n out what we should do in the future." Kisuke then took out a table and chairs enough for them to sit around before taking out snacks for all of them.


    With everyone seated down, Kisuke continued, "First, I want you to know that involving with me or Yoruichi would put you on the same side as me. Meaning, you will be going against the world once you join me. So here''s my question, Are you fine with that? I can let you go outside and you can pretend that you''re not rted to me. You can go with your lives normal��ly�� with�� that��"


    Before he could finish what he''s trying to say, however, Kisuke receives everyone''s re.


    Aika mmed the table and angrily told him off, "Why do you act stupid at times like this!? We already came, so there is no point in pushing us away! Aren''t you d that you have a harem of beautifuldies willing to go with you everywhere!?"


    Kisuke''s mouth twitches at Aika''s remarks, "H-harem you say�� Please don''t say something scandalous."


    With another table m, Aika stood up, "Haaah!!!? Scandalous!? Don''t try to deny it now! You do know that everyone here is already willing to let you eat them up! Multiple people at the same time are even possible! Heck! Even if it is now with everyone, I doubt anyone here would fully disagree!"


    Hearing Aika''s shameless remarks, Koneko, Kuroka, and Medusa blushed hard. However, not a single one of them actually corrected Aika. Though, they would want a one on one course first before trying out a more advanced course.


    Seeing their reactions, Kisuke couldn''t help but swallow his saliva and choose to ignore it for now as it is not important�� Well, it''s important but it shouldn''t be discussed right now.


    Feigning a cough, Kisuke continued, "Ehem�� I see that you won''t leave�� Right�� So before we decide the things we should do, I would like you to know first our current state." Kisuke tried to awkwardly change the subject.


    "Currently, Yoruichi and I were considerably weakened like what happened to Sona but we should be back to our form in 2 - 3 months, granted that nobody disturbs us.


    "I''ve locked the space around the training ground so there shouldn''t be any pursuers and they shouldn''t be able to sniff us out�� Of course, except for someone like Ophis-chan. That loli dragon will probablye begging for sweets again in a few days.


    "However, there is a downside to this kind of lock too. We won''t be able to receive any kind of information from outside. I know you''re worried about yourpanions and I''m also worried about my mom but I have to do this so we can recover our strength as fast as possible." Kisuke ended his exnation there.


    "I see�� So if any of us exit now, it would risk you of being discovered�� I guess that''s fine." Kuroka muttered.


    Kisuke nodded at her, "In the meantime, as we recover, I''ll also devise a training regimen for all of you so that you''ll be able to somehow deal with all the dangers that you''ll be taking once we''re out of here."


    "That''s fine with us, but can we really get that much stronger in just 2-3 months? Based on your story, it seems that we''re against Gods and they''re no joke. Even a Satan-ss wouldn''t unnesseraly deal with one." Kuroka continued.


    "You can�� Though we won''t be taking the conventional route. It''ll be a bit dangerous but it shouldn''t be something impossible."


    "�� I understand�� I''ll follow your instructions."


    "Great~. The next now is��" Kisuke then was interrupted by movements behind him. He looked back and saw that Yoruichi is waking up. However, he''s very confused as a pool of sweat is starting to gather on her forehead. He stood up and approached her to check her condition.


    But before he could touch her, Yoruichi suddenly opened her eyes in panic. Kisuke furrowed his brows and asked, "What''s wrong?"


    With a difficult smile, Yoruichi replied, "Kisuke�� Byakko is acting up again��"


    A bad feeling instantly took over Kisuke, "��What?"


    "Remember when we first came here?" Yoruichi continued.


    "��What of it?"


    "What''s themon thing that happened to us when Byakkost acted up?"


    Kisuke''s mind ran at full speed and in an instant, he understood what Yoruichi mean by ''When we first came here.'' Kisuke gulped and answered nervously, "We''re poisoned back then��"


    "Bingo~!" Yoruichi smiled brightly.


    "SH*T!!! This isn''t the time to joke around!!!" Kisuke instantly loses his cool and immediately deployed all the strongest barrier he knew and could do even at the cost of depleting his remaining Reaitsu-Ki.


    Everyone in the room was dumbfounded at the panicking Kisuke as it the first time they saw him acting like this. The always calm and collected Candy Store owner is now frantically deploying all sorts of barriers for unknown reasons, "Are we under attack!?" Kuroka asked in worry.


    "I wish! This is way worse! We could actually die because of that damned overgrown cat!" Kisuke shouted as he replies. And just as he finished putting up thest barrier he could, he then felt the space starting to fluctuate with Yoruichi as the epicenter, ''Damn it! It''s here! I didn''t think that I would experience this again in this lifetime!''


    Still not confident, Kisuke used Hougyoku''s power to power every barrier up and while he''s at it, he wrote a note.


    The fluctuation then suddenly increased in intensity. It''s so strong that everyone except for Yoruichi and Kisuke instantly lose their consciousness.


    Due to this, the lock outside of the training ground was also destroyed and we felt two familiar aurae shing, ''Great Red and Ophis-chan? What are they doing?''


    Still, he didn''t have time to dwell in this question and just added a few notes on the paper in his hand before opening Descorrer and sending it towards a familiar aura from afar along with a photo, chocte bars, and his favorite hat, ''I hope that reaches Serafall��''


    After the Descorrer closed, a pir of bluish light suddenly emerged from Yoruichi''s forehead, drilling through the Dimensional Gap without much effort, ''Damn it!''


    Kisuke then proceeds to grab everyone and ced them beside him, anchoring them with his magic and Kidou, ''Here goes nothing!''


    The hole in which the pir of light made suddenly expanded and swallowed Kisuke and the rest.


    The hole went through the entirety of the supposedly infinite Dimensional Gap and arrived at an unknown region beyond it. Kisuke has to use everything he has to keep everyone safe from the chaos of space and nothingness threatening to tear them apart.


    After an hour of battling the natural forces, Kisuke and Yoruichi finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and when they went through it, they were ejected from the sky.


    Withst barrier standing, Kisuke strengthened it just enough to cushion their fall. Falling like a meteor, Kisuke immediately set another set of barriers against the unknown environment. He and Yoruichi looked around. They are currently standing in the middle of a meadow. Behind them is a dense forest while in front is a walled city. And the thing that caught both of their attention the most is the imposing tower in the middle of it.

 Volume 6 281 - Plans for the Future part 1

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 281 - ns for the Future part 1</h4>


    The moment theynded, Kisuke immediately put up an istion barrier around them, "Yoruichi, sorry for asking this after you just wake up, but please check everyone''s condition as I check the atmosphere�� If it''s the same thing that happens to us the first time, then we''re probably on the whole other universe��"


    "Got it�� But I can only do basic checks on everyone��" Yoruichi nodded and ced everyone side by side to monitor their conditions. Since they arrived here with their own bodies, they don''t know if the atmosphere is suitable for them despite the apparent simrities in the appearance of this world has from the previous worlds they have been.


    Thirty minutes into inspecting, Kisuke turned around, "The air ratio is more or less simr and we should be fine. This world also has Mana and its density is lesser than the previous world�� As for spiritual energy�� it''s strangely dense. Almost half of the spiritual energy density of Soul Society�� No�� There must be almost infinite worlds out there of something like this should be normal��"


    Yoruichi nodded and reported her findings, "Nothing out of ordinary from everyone. Normal pace of breathing, normal temperature, and no weird rashes or color on their skin�� But I can''t tell if there is anything wrong with just that."


    "That''s enough for now. Our problem, for now, is the microbes and viruses. For you and I, it''s not a problem, but for others, especially for Sona, who is very weak right now, it could be fatal." Kisuke put down the barrier as it''s no use for blocking micro-organisms.


    "So what''s the n?"


    "We don''t have any information and entering that city more than 20 kilometers away isn''t ideal and we don''t even know if we look the same as the inhabitants of this world. So for now�� Yoruichi, please scout the forest behind us and see where we could build a temporary lodging. I''ll do some in-depth checks on the girls'' conditions and make sure that nothing is amiss or anyplications."


    "Understood."


    "Be careful��"


    "I will��" Yoruichi then turned around and entered the forest to do her search.


    Ten meters inside the forest, Yoruichi used her Reiatsu-Ki to scan her surroundings and find any living beings. The moment she used it, she immediately found multiple readings while most of them are insects and small animals, Yoruichi detected strange creatures and approached them by silently jumping from tree branch to tree branch.


    A few secondster, shended on a certain branch that can overlook the creatures from above and hid her body behind the trunk. Peeking, Yoruichi saw three green and plump humanoid creatures withrge red eyes. They are short and they have razor-like yellowish teeth. Each one of them is carrying rusted short swords and are only wearing loincloth to cover their lower bodies, ''If this is like those games and animes�� They would be goblins�� But since this is another world, I''m probably wrong.'' Yoruichi thought as she first saw them and continued her observation.


    ''Those short swords�� Iron�� no�� It''s steel. So there is someone capable of forging those. But then again, after seeing that city from afar, that should be obvious. But these little green creatures don''t know how to maintain it so chances are they''re not the ones who made it�� I guess they are not intelligent enough to take care of their weapons and all of those are probably stolen. They''re most probably hostile creatures but let''s leave them alone for now and properly search for arge clearing.''


    With that in mind, Yoruichi used sh Step and disappeared from her spot to continue her search. It took her an hour or so to find a suitable ce and within that duration, she found multiple groups of green humanoid creatures but didn''t engage in any of them. She also found another creature which is an upright standing dog. Although curious she ignored it for now and returned to where Kisuke and the rest are.


    Yoruichi led Kisuke while both of them are carrying everyone with Kidou to the spot she found. After checking the ce and the surroundings, Kisuke started his construction. Using his technology, the trees around, and random things that came from his inventory that he miraculously preserved through that dimension travel, he was able to build a simple two-story building with enough rooms for everyone within just half an hour.


    "Whew~. Looks like everything is in ce." Kisuke muttered as he and Yoruichi ce everyone in a big room to easily monitor their conditions, "If nothing goes wrong, they should wake up tonight."


    Kisuke then faced Yoruichi and said, "You should rest. I''ll take care of everything for now."


    Yoruichi shook her head and answered, "No�� Before we came here, all I did is sleep so I don''t want to return to bed just yet."


    "Is that so? Then take a hot bath first to refresh yourself. I''ll prepare food while you''re at it."


    Yoruichi stood up from her chair and nodded, "Good idea~. Even though I was able to remove my sweat through magic, I still can''t settle down without water running through my skin."


    After her bath, Yoruichi went to the kitchen area and Kisuke is already done preparing the food for both of them. Sitting down, Yoruichi started attacking every dish on the table as this will be her first meal since she was poisoned more than two weeks ago, "What should we do now?" She asked after swallowing the fried chicken.


    "Our first and foremost objective is recovery, but that will take months even if we focus on it. So in between rests, we''ll gather as much information as possible." Kisuke replied.


    "Should I go to that city?" Yoruichi suggested.


    Kisuke immediately shook his head, "No. Although you can move more stealthy than me, I can respond to more things than you. So going to an unknown city with unknown inhabitants, I''m more suited."


    "Then leave the forest to me. You''ll probably create another underground base under this so while you''re at it, I''ll look around. There are many interesting things in here, after all."


    "Got it. Our next immediate objective is strengthening everyone. This world could be dangerous so we need to teach them how to defend themselves even when both of us are not around. Although I can''t see that happening now, it''s still a possibility that we should watch out for."


    "You arrange their schedule and I''ll do the supervising�� Enough with that for now. I want your ns for the long term."


    "Of course, that is finding a way to return."


    Yoruichi stayed silent for a bit before asking, "To where?"


    It''s Kisuke''s turn to stay silent.


    "We should return where your mother is so that we could return the favor those bastards has done to us, but ever since arriving here, I can tell that you''ve be restless. Now that the possibility of returning to the Soul Society rose, you''ve been thinking about it all this time, right?"


    Kisuke smiled wryly in response, "I really can''t hide things from you��"


    "I''m not your lover for nothing��" Yoruichi chuckled, "So? Tell me. It''s not like you to be like this at the thought of returning to his former home. Although I can understand your excitement, it shouldn''t warrant this kind of reaction from you."


    "��" Kisuke stared at Yoruichi for a while before answering, "The world we came from�� and this world�� Is very stable��"


    "?" Yoruichi looked at him with confusion.


    "Let me get this straight then. As long as the Soul King exists, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the Dangai, and Material World will forever be an artificial existence that could copse any time."

 Volume 6 282 - Plans for the Future part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 282 - ns for the Future part 2</h4>


    After hearing the origin of the Soul Society, Yoruichi frowned deeply, "I''m the master of Shihouin n�� But I didn''t know any of this."


    Kisuke sighed, "Figures�� It''s a very closely guarded secret of the Four Noble Household and you''re not a master of one for a very long time. I only discovered it due to my innate curiosity of things and didn''t take the existence of the Soul Society for granted. Aizen probably also discovered it that way."


    "So that''s why both Aizen and Yhwach wanted to destroy the three worlds. One is aiming for a utopia while the other wants to return things to its proper ce�� Why didn''t you tell me any of this?"


    "No use talking about it. As it''s not a problem that could be solved and I don''t think things are that bad where death is inevitable."


    "I see�� And you wanting to return now�� You found a way to solve this?"


    "No�� I haven''t�� But remember all the worlds including this we have been�� For thest two, do they need a lynchpin to hold everything together?


    "I know it''s an incredibly small sample of worlds but I couldn''t help but be hopeful. That may be�� This is a natural thing�� Even if things that the Soul King artificially established are fake, it just because he doesn''t have another way to do things. He probably traveled through multiple dimensions and seeing the state of our world, he sacrificed himself to establish the samews as other worlds. Although that''s just my initial guesses. It could be a moreplicated story or I''mpletely wrong. Either way, I want the world where we came from not to be dependent on a single entity." Kisuke didn''t notice it himself, but his eyes started gleaming in bright light.


    Yoruichi smiled at the childish face he''s making and felt relieved, ''Perhaps it''s our fortune getting wound up here.'' Chuckling to herself, Yoruichimented, "You make it sound like it was just some troublesome errand, but you do know what kind of existence Soul King is, right? If he can''t do it without sacrificing himself, what makes you think that you can do it? Either way, I just happy that you found something that you really wanted to do." Kisuke finding a goal aside from staying alive and discovering things are a big boon for him and Yoruichi who will apany his journey, ''It seems that the stagnant fire has been fed with fuel��''


    "Why not? It''ll be boring if it''s an easy thing to do. Besides, I''m not doing it alone."


    "Right�� I''m stuck with you so I need to walk by your side regardless of what you do."


    "There''s that but regarding that, I n to get some help."


    "Heh�� Someone out there capable of helping, aside from Ophis-chan and Great Red, nothinges to my mind. Please enlighten me."


    "Hmm? Did you forgot about Aizen and Yhwach?"


    "��Um�� What?"


    "Aren''t they the most reliable allies we could find?"


    "��You''re crazy�� But I can imagine you tricking them to work for you��"


    "Hahaha~! What are you talking about? No way I could trick them. But I only have to establish a fair trade with them to get their help. They aren''t unreasonable enemies, after all. We''re just on the opposite side of ideals."


    "Well�� You''re right. But as we are now, there''s no way we could convince them to anything. Even if you have a concrete n, I doubt they will cooperate with you properly."


    "I know, and that''s why let me present to you our ultimate goal~! Aside from returning home, of course."


    "Hooh~�� What is it?"


    Kisuke put on arge grin and said, "We have to transcend."


    "Transcend?" Yoruichi asked curiously.


    "Meaning, we have to reach the same level as Ophis, Great Red, Aizen, and Yhwach. A transcendent being."


    "Transcendent�� How are you going to do it?"


    "Probably simr to Aizen�� A being which is neither a Hollow or a Shinigami, but beyond them."


    "Then I should do that too."


    "No! You''re not suitable for it. You have to find your own path. Although I did say that my path is simr to that of Aizen, I won''t and never would absorb Benihime to get her abilities as Aizen did to his zanpakuto. So in a hindsight, I take apletely different path from him, though, still with the help of Hougyoku."


    "Then what should I do? I don''t have a clue where I should go�� Unlike you, I don''t have something like Hougyoku and I doubt you''ll make something simr for me��"


    "I could probably guide your transcendence once I transcendent myself, but I don''t want to do that as much as possible." Kisuke shook his head, but after he looked at the dejected Yoruichi again, he smiled, "Don''t go making that face now�� You also have something that could help you."


    "Hmm? What? I have something like that?"


    "Of course�� Don''t you remember? Your zanpakuto didn''te from you."


    "Are you trying to say that Byakko could help me? But I can''t even hear him most of the time and he never listened to anything I said�� It''s already a miracle that I reached Bankai form with him��"


    "If I were to guess again, Byakko is probably a transcendent spiritual being that descended into your Shihouin n from long ago. For how you should go about it, it''ll be up to you. I can only support you from the side."


    Yoruichi sighed yet again and smiled, "��No�� I don''t need any support. I''ll do it myself. Just you pointing on the direction I should take is already a big help��"


    "Hehehe�� As expected of my girl~. Let''s eat everything first before we further discuss our future activities." Kisuke patted Yoruichi''s head and ruffled it a bit while Yoruichi did nothing and only enjoyed his petting.


    The two ate their dinner and continued discussing everything that they should do untilte at night. In the middle of it, Kisuke suddenly stopped talking and looked at the room where the other girls are resting, "It seems that they''re awake."


    "Let''s go check on them first." Yoruichi stood up and slowly walked towards the room, but before she reached it, she turned her head towards Kisuke, who''s following her steps, "And you should stop running away from them�� Just embrace it."


    "I-I''m not running away anymore."


    "Heh�� Is that so? They just throw away all your reservations. If you want my opinion, then you should start with either Sona-chan or Kuroka."


    "Ehem�� Let''s just talk about thister."


    Yoruichi smiled at the awkward Kisuke and continued, "��Fine�� But first things first�� You''re not allowed to reduce the time you spend with me."


    Kisuke smiled and embraced Yoruichi from behind, "Of course that''s a given~. You''re my queen, after all."


    In turn, Yoruichi nodded in satisfaction, "Good, good."


    "You two�� It''s fine to flirt, but if you''re going to check on us�� Do that first." Suddenly, from the door, Aika is peeking with jealous eyes.


    With a straight face, Kisuke replied to her, "Flirting with my wife is always one of my top priorities."

 Volume 6 283 - Plans for the Future part 3

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 283 - ns for the Future part 3</h4>


    Everyone except for Sona is already awake and Kisuke made more food for them, "How are you feeling? Are you feeling any difort?"


    "Nothing wrong with me, master," Medusa answered first.


    "I''m fine nya. How about you, Shirone?" Kuroka followed.


    "I''m fine too�� But��" Koneko answered but hesitated and looked at Aika.


    Aika nodded at her and continued her words, "It feels slightly heavy for us. I thought it was just my imagination at first, but it seems that Koneko is experiencing it too."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "Please stand to the side, you two. I''d like to take a closer look at you."


    Following his instructions, Aika and Koneko stood to the side and waited for Kisuke. Kisuke approached them and touched both of their foreheads to send a wave of his Reiatsu-Ki to both of them.


    After a minute or two of examinations, Kisuke''s brows further furrowed, "I can''t see anything wrong��"


    "Looks like you first have to set up some proper facilities for examinations before everything else," Yoruichimented. Both her and Kisuke knew that now they''re in a new world, even the slightest difort could prove fatal, especially when there is no apparent evidence of the difort.


    "You''re right�� I should��" Kisuke nodded seriously.


    "Where are we anyway? I took a peek outside and saw that was surrounded by forest." Aika asked.


    Kisuke sat down and said, "Another world." And drank his tea calmly.


    "Another world?" The four of them asked, "We''re in the Underworld-nya?" Kuroka continued.


    Kisuke shook his head.


    "If we''re not in the Underworld, then some other realm-nya? Where exactly? And aren''t we in danger of being discovered if we''re out in open-nya?"


    Kisuke still shook his head.


    "��What are you trying to say-nya?"


    "We''re not in the Human Realm, the Underworld, or any other realm��"


    "��What-nya?"


    "When I said another world, what I mean is that we''re on a world in a different universe from ours."


    "��What!?" Everyone eximed, "Hey�� You expect us to believe that?" Aika still couldn''t believe it.


    "You''ll know in a few days of staying here."


    "The hell��" Aika and everyone knew that Kisuke doesn''t have a reason to lie about this and they could discover the truth on their own, "What? We''re we summoned to be heroes and defeat the demon lord? That''s cliche!"


    "And what will you do if that''s the case?"


    Aika''s eyes gleamed and she eximed, "Of course escape from the trashy King and find the loli Demon Lord to pamper her!"


    "That''s cliche!" Kisuke retorted.


    "I love cliches!" Aika answered with all of her confidence.


    Kisuke only chuckled in her response and continued, "Well, we''re not summoned. We came here because Yoruichi''s power got out of control and drilled a hole through the Dimensional Gap, letting usnd in this ce."


    "What? So we''re not even sure if there is an intelligent being here?"


    "No. We spotted a city before we came to this forest so there should be an established civilization."


    "Then let''s go there now!" Aika excitedly suggested.


    "No. We have problems that we have to solve before we could even approach or live in that city. First is we have to confirm that their appearance isn''t very far from us."


    "I see�� If they''re quadrupedal, then we would have to live that way too if we want to stay there�� Moreover, what if they''re not humanoid? Then we can only stay away from them��" Aika muttered.


    "Correct�� Next is we have to adjust our microbiome first before we could make contact. Thest thing we want is to bring unknown diseases to the innocent inhabitants of this world from us, invaders."


    Everyone nodded as they understood Kisuke''s point.


    "Then assuming that we can blend with the inhabitants of this world and can make contact with them, we still have a problem which is thenguage and cultural barrier. As for the culture andmon sense, it could be easily learned but before we could learn that, we first have to master theirnguage."


    Kuroka then raised her hand, "What about the Devils'' and Angels'' innate skill, ''Language''-nya? Wouldn''t that work?"


    Kisuke shook his head and exined why, "Devils'' and Angels'' existences are connected to their believers, which are the humans. So it''s only natural for them to instinctively know thenguage of their believers. Obviously, it won''t work in this world where there not a single believer present."


    "I see-nya�� So our only choice is to learn thenguage-nya? How long would that take-nya? Especially when we don''t have anything to reference theirnguage-nya? And you''re not thinking of staying here for a few years just to learn and decode theirnguage-nya, right?" Kuroka asked worriedly.


    "We have to learn theirnguage, but it won''t take that long to learn it. Besides, I''m the only one who needs to actually learn it."


    "What do you mean?" This time, it''s Yoruichi who asked him a question.


    "I learned how the innate skill ''Language'' works so I also know how to directly insert anguage skill into someone''s mind. And I don''t think it would take that long for me to learn anguage as the environment is almost the same as our world."


    "��R-right�� I remembered when you learned Greek up to speaking level in just a single night�� Looks like we''re in good hands��" Yoruichi''s mouth twitches as she remembered that one instance that Kisuke suddenly talked in Greek.


    Aika then suddenly grabbed Kisuke''s arms and said, "Sensei! No�� Master! Please teach me English!"


    "After we return home. So behave for now."


    "Yes!"


    Kisuke then proceeds to ignore Aika, "Where are we? Right�� The problems. For now, those are the problems that I can see. There will be more in the future if we want to return but let''s focus on that for now.


    "Then the schedule, for now, is everyone''s recovery and microbiome adjustments with my help and after that, training to adjust your bodies in this world''s atmosphere.


    "While you do that, I''ll be sneaking in that city to gather information. Any questions?"


    "Will you be going alone, master?" Medusa asked.


    "Yep. I can move easier with me alone."


    "But that''s still dangerous. We don''t know what''s out there."


    "Don''t worry. I won''t go in without any preparations."


    With that, Kisuke ended the meeting and let everyone rest again.


    .


    .


    Three dayster, Kisuke finally discovered the problem of their world transfer, and it isn''t a small one, "The world itself is rejecting us��"

 Volume 6 284 - World Rejection

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 284 - World Rejection</h4>


    On the second day that they arrived, Kisuke was able to set all the essential diagnostic tools. And a few hourster, Sona woke up.


    However, when Kisuke came to her to exin the situation, Sona is a lot weaker than he thought so before he exined anything, she became the first patient that Kisuke would diagnose.


    Sona is, of course, confused with all that''s happening and her memories of the night when she discussing with Kisuke regarding his terms and conditions are blurry at best. But she still followed Kisuke''s instructions and trusted herself to him.


    Kisuke spent a few hours to check everything and still couldn''t find the cause of her too much weakness. He then remembered Aika and Koneko feeling heavy ever since arriving in this world and called both of them to get examined.


    Spending another few hours, Kisuke finally got a clue on what''s going on, but he still isn''t sure about his findings so he spent the whole day of the third day they arrived to examine everyone including himself. And at night after sorting all of his data, he reached in a conclusion, "The world itself is rejecting us��"


    Yoruichi stopped eating her dinner and furrowed her brows, "What do mean? Something as grand as a world is rejecting us?"


    Others also stopped eating their dinner to listen to Kisuke, "I didn''t notice it at first but it seems the world is slowly pressuring us, the invaders."


    "What exactly is happening?" Sona asked. She already heard what happened and profusely apologized to both Kisuke and Yoruichi for dragging them to her problem and almost getting killed. It took them some time to exin that both Kisuke and Yoruichi were the ones targeted in the first ce and they should be the ones apologizing to her. Sona then promised that once they return, she would spare no effort in clearing their names, even if it means leaving the House of Sitri. Kisuke and Yoruichi could only sigh at this overly serious, but adorable sses girl.


    "I''m not exactly sure what''s happening but it seems that the Mana, Ki, and Spiritual energy of this world are slowly pressuring, not just Koneko, Aika, and Sona, but all of us. Although the rest of us can''t feel it now since is strong enough to naturally resist it, it won''t be too long until notice it." Kisuke continued exining.


    "What will happen if this goes on, nya?" Kuroka asked seriously.


    "The best-case scenario, if we don''t do something, is the world will eventually stop rejecting us if we stay long enough. At worst, starting from the weakest of us, we''ll slowly die one by one."


    "Then we should return as soon as possible��" Aika spoke.


    "We will return, but it isn''t easy as just splitting the space and go through it. First is we need to find an anchor to our previous world to ascertain its coordinates. Without doing that, we may end up in apletely different alien world, and at worse, we''ll be stuck in between dimensions and that would be a death sentence. And another thing is to create a stable path to our world and that would take an enormous amount of energy that we might need months or years to gather."


    "So in other words, we might have to stay here for a few years��" Sona muttered.


    "Correct. But you don''t have to worry about the ''Rejection'' for now as I could set a sanctuary for all of us around this ce to neutralize the pressure from the atmosphere.


    "However, it''s only a temporary solution and we''ll need to let the world consider us as its inhabitants to solve this problempletely."


    Yoruichi started tapping the table in contemtion, "And your n is?" Since earlier, she wanted to ask Kisuke why are they not rejected in the previous world but hold herself back as they have a tacit understanding that won''t talk about their own world with others around.


    Kisuke looked at everyone first before speaking, "We''ll move the schedule ahead of time. After I set the neutralizing barrier tomorrow, I''ll leave for the city and try to gather information." ''The previous time we''re transferred, the world didn''t reject us and that''s probably because we''re born in that world with physical bodies. And because of that, the world didn''t treat us as something foreign. In other words, I have to find a way to integrate ourselves into this world.''


    "How long will you take?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Minimum of one day and a maximum of three days. If I don''t return by day five, follow the trails that I''ll leave. If there is an emergency, I''ll use themunication token to contact you."


    "What''s wrong with telepathy ormunication token?" Koneko asked.


    "We can use those, but we shouldn''t. We still don''t know if someone can intercept ourmunication through that. Even if that someone might not be able to understand any words we say, it''ll still raise suspicion. And being tracked now would be fatal for us."


    "Then we should rest early today. Everyone, finish your dinner and let''s all go to bath~." Yoruichi suddenly suggested.


    "W-what are you saying!?" Sona instantly reacted and blushed to her words, "We''re going together!? T-that''s shameless!"


    "Ehem�� Yoruichi-san, Sona-chan is here, so it might be awkward for her. So not today��" Kisuke tried to give Sona a follow-up.


    But once she heard it, Sona''s demeanor became cold and she stared at Kisuke with cold eyes, "Not today? So this isn''t the first time?"


    Noticing his slip of the tongue, Kisuke sweated and looked towards the rest to ask for assistance.


    However, he should have known that no one in this room would help him. Rather, they''ll do their best to let him suffer, "Oh~. We should totally go take a bath together~. That way, you could also check on my and Koneko''s growth~." Aika grinned and said.


    "��Kisuke?" Sona''s eyes became colder.


    Raising his hand in front of him, Kisuke tried to exin, "Wait! It''s true that we always take a bath together. But it''s already an everyday urrence and you shouldn''t get angry at something we normally do!"


    ''That''s not an exnation!'' Everyone aside from Sona thought.


    Sona, on the other hand, stared at Kisuke for a while before pouting, "You should have invited me back then��" She muttered.


    ''You would probably try to trash me if I really invited to take a bath with me.'' Kisuke thought, but he sighed in relief after Sona calmed down a bit.


    Those who are watching are disappointed that Sona didn''t press further. However, Koneko suddenly got an idea, "Kuroka-neesama, Kisuke-senpai disappeared for more than two weeks and he''s going away again tomorrow, so you should ask him to satisfy you again today."


    "Shirone!?" Kuroka stood up and tried to cover her mouth but she''s already done speaking.


    "Satisfy you?" Sona confusedly asked.


    Seeing this chance, Aika pours more fuel, "Because Kisuke molested Kuroka-san too much, she can''t be satisfied anymore without Kisuke''s touch. As atonement for what the irreversible thing he has done, Kisuke would periodically satisfy Kuroka-san. And when I say ''satisfy'', I meant sexually~."


    "Aika!?" It''s Kuroka''s turn to blush from embarrassment.

 Volume 6 285 - Stairway to Adulthood (R18)

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 285 - Stairway to Adulthood (R18)</h4>


    Blood rushed through Sona''s head as her imagination ran at full speed, "B-b-b-b-but that''s indecent! Kisuke!"


    Kisuke didn''t know what to say. The almighty shopkeeper who kept his enemies running around his palms was speechless in the face of a cute girl, ''People of the Seireitei would surelyugh at me if they were to see this��'' In fact, Yoruichi has been suppressing herughter since earlier.


    Kisuke tried to ask for Yoruichi''s assistance but she didn''t do anything, but he can tell what she''s thinking through her eyes, ''Solve this yourself~.''


    He looked around and saw each of everyone''s reactions. Kuroka is panicking, not knowing what do but the blush on her face is pretty obvious. Medusa only looked away, but Kisuke can also see a faint blush on her face, while the remaining two, Aika and Koneko were snickering at him.


    Kisuke then felt his forehead throb. Feeling annoyed, he suddenly recalled Yoruichi''s ''advice'' earlier and he suddenly grinned. Aika and Koneko thought that they would be punished and put up a defensive stance. Although they knew that Kisuke wouldn''t get violent, they couldn''t help but do it.


    However, Kisuke''s actions were far from what they expected, ''Since it came to this, I''ll just have to do it~!'' With that in mind, Kisuke stood up and instead of going to Aika and Koneko, he approached Sona and pinched both of her cheeks, "Hue?" She could only let out a confused noise.


    With her imaginations still running wild, confusion took over her mind as she felt Kisuke''s touch, "Since you''ve been imagining things all this while, why don''t I show you the real deal?" Still in the middle of processing his words, Kisuke suddenly carried Sona in his arms and started to walk away towards one of the rooms. Thinking that this might be ''it'', Sona''s processing core instantly overload and felt dizzy. However, any thoughts of resisting didn''t surface her mind and only let Kisuke carry her away with a confused red face.


    Everyone is dumbfounded at his actions and the first one to react is Aika. Standing up, she shouted towards his receding back, "Wait! Where are you going? And what are you going to do with Sona-kaichou!?"


    Kisuke didn''t look back and onlyughed out loud, not hiding the truth, "I''ll apany Sona-chan to the stairway to adulthood~." Closing the door, Kisuke and Sona disappeared from their sights.


    "W-w-what!?" Aika, Koneko, Kuroka, and Medusa all reacted the same.


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, stood up and started dragging everyone to take a bath, "Now, now. Let''s not disturb them."


    "Wait! Yoruichi-san! Are you just going to let them go and do it!?" Aika struggled and questioned Yoruichi. Everyone is also looking at her with confused expressions and trying to guess why Kisuke''s ''wife'' would allow something like this to happen in front of her.


    "It''s bound to happen sooner orter and I already gave him my permission long ago. I''m already surprised that he didn''t cross the line all this time despite giving him my green light." Yoruichi then looked at Aika and Koneko and grinned, "Well, thanks to you pushing him to do it~." In hindsight, this is their ''punishment''.


    Realizing this, Aika and Koneko could only stare at the air nkly while being dragged by Yoruichi while Kuroka and Medusa would give the door an asional peek while following them to the bath.


    .


    .


    Inside the room, Sona started panicking when it''s just the two of them. She wanted to say something but she couldn''tplete any coherent sentences but Kisuke was able to piece her words to form a question, "Are we really doing this?"


    Kisukeid her gently on the bed before answering, "I will never force you. If you hate the idea, then I could just leave." Patting her head, Kisuke gave her a kiss on her forehead. Although he did it in the heat of the moment, he would never do it with her if there is a lot of hesitation from her. And seeing her eyes swimming around and protecting her private parts with her arms, he only gave her a gentle smile before trying to stand up.


    Bing aware of his intentions, Sona''s head cleared up and she hurriedly grabbed Kisuke''s neck before going in for a deep kiss. Separating after a few seconds, Sona stared straight at him with zed eyes, "Don''t go��"


    Kisuke''s eyes widened for a bit before chuckling and nting a deep kiss of his own, "Mmmm~?!" However, his kiss is a lot more intense than hers as she can feel their tongues wrap around each other making her mind nk out again.


    While his left hand is holding her face, Kisuke''s right hand slowly explored Sona''s body starting from her belly through her white polo shirt. Feeling his touch, Sona shivered, but let him do as he pleased and wrapped her arms around his neck while she focused on fighting back with her tongue despite the difficulty of breathing, "Mmm~! Hmmm~?!"


    Enjoying their ''fight'', Kisuke dialed up the intensity which made Sona''s whole body jerk up trying to keep up with him. Kisuke''s hand slowly moved towards the buttons of her shirt and started undoing it, revealing her cute frilly purple bra and begun massaging one of the modest peaks which made Sona further go in as she tries to stop her body from squirming.


    Sona separated from him as she''s already running out of breath. She looked up at Kisuke with a flushed face and panting before looking down on his hands, "I''m sorry for having a modest size."


    Kisuke suddenly stopped what he''s doing and used his left hand to lift her chin and looked straight at her eyes, "Don''t apologize. You''re very beautiful the way you are."


    "I won''t fall for such obvious ttery." Despite her words, Sona felt very happy and wrapped her arms around his neck again, "Another one~?!" Still not satisfied, Sona resumed their ''fight'' with renewed vigor and confidence.


    Kisuke weed her and restarted what he''s doing with his right hand. This time, however, Kisuke unhooked her bra and lifted it up, revealing her twin peaks with pink tips. Kisuke couldn''t resist himself from pinching one of the tips and so he did, earning arge reaction from Sona who couldn''t withstand it and separated from Kisuke, giving arge moan, "Ahnn~?!"


    Kisuke then noticed something dripping from her legs. Sona achieved her first climax for tonight with a single pinch from Kisuke.

 Volume 6 286 - Entering the City

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 286 - Entering the City</h4>


    The next morning, Kisuke woke up early, refreshed. And beside her is Sona, who is deep asleep with a small satisfied smile painted on her face.


    Kisuke cleaned all the traces of their activityst night except for one thing, the patch of blood on the bedsheet. He knew that Sona will find it and maybe keep this particr bedsheet for herself.


    Kisuke then left the bed and dressed up, but before he left the room, Kisuke gave the sleeping Sona a forehead kiss. The smile on Sona''s face deepened but she didn''t wake up.


    Exiting the room, everyone is already on the dining table and each one of them has a funny expression. Starting from Yoruichi who is giving Kisuke a smug smile and he didn''t know why, Kuroka has a flushed face while squirming around, while thest three have almost the same expression, looking into the air with obvious bags under their eyes.


    "What''s this? Didn''t I tell you to rest early? Why stay up all night?" Kisuke asked as if he didn''t know the reason.


    Medusa blushed and looked away while the other two red at him, "Kisuke-senpai�� Sona-kaichou is too noisyst night��" Koneko gritted her teeth wanting to bite him.


    "You intentionally didn''t bother to put up a soundproofing barrier and we had to listen to Sona-kaichou''s seductive moans all night long! How do you expect us to sleep in a situation like that!?" Aika angrily stomped her feet, but more than angry, she jealous. However, she couldn''t say it out loud because somewhere inside her, she thinks that she doesn''t match Kisuke and those around him. Thus, her frustration.


    Kisuke didn''t mind their disy and only smiled, "Well, I honestly forgot~! Sona-chan is too captivatingst night that I had to use all my focus on her."


    "Bullsh*t!" Everyone simultaneously said.


    Kisuke only shrugged his shoulders and sat down to eat his breakfast. They then choose to set aside Sona''s first night and discussed what they''ll be doing today.


    After their breakfast, Kisuke immediately started working on the barrier that will neutralize the pressureing from their surrounding and he was able to finish it before lunch.


    Everyone ate their lunch except for the still sleeping Sona. Kisuke soon told them what they all need to do while he''s gone and after their lunch, Kisuke immediately left for the city after bidding his farewells with a brown robe over him and a big backpack for his essentials.


    Kisuke recalled the construction of the city and figured that the civilization isn''t very advanced yet so this sort of attire should give him more chances of blending in case he was discovered. For therge bag pack on his bag, it is to avoid any suspicion of traveling without supplies and also to avoid using his storage magic.


    Kisuke used multiple sh Steps until he exited the forest and just started running towards the direction of the city. From the forest, Kisuke needs to travel around 25 kilometers until he reaches the city. With his running speed, he should be able to cover it with just a few minutes but he didn''t do that and only used the same speed as a normal human from his previous world.


    This is for him to be able to react to everything that ising for him and not to catch so much attention. While scanning the surrounding with his Reiatsu-Ki, Kisuke reached a spot whererge boulders are located which is only 3 kilometers away from the city.


    With his eyesight, he was able to see clearly what''s going on and saw a gate with lined up people, trying to enter the city.


    Kisuke heaved a huge sigh of relief as he can see humans from the midst of people lined up. Although there are some who seem like elves and beast people from the games he ys back in the previous world, his worries about blending in were lifted.


    Kisuke then proceeded to scan her surroundings of any that might be able to spot him between the rocks before observing everything happening on the gates.


    ''First is the guards, while most of them are humans, there are some people with animal features and should be normal around here. They''re wearing simr metal armors and swords signifying that there''s a proper organization that is maintaining them. But what''s this? It seems that they are all connected to one thing�� As if they are tethered to something��


    ''Well�� Setting that aside, for now, the people entering the city can be divided into two, the individuals and those with carts. It seems that individuals only has to pay a certain amount and a short inspection to enter while those with carts, in addition to payment and inspections, they also had to present some sort of certificate, probably, before they could enter.


    ''As for powers�� Most of the people entering the city are on the level of a normal human being back in the previous world, however, those guards are strong�� Too strong perhaps. Is it because they are guards? And now that I took a closer look, there are no anti-air weapons on top of the walls, which means that air battle is underdeveloped or almost nonexistent�� Or maybe they''re only hiding it to avoid tearing from the weather�� But, weirdly, there''s not a single one of it��''


    Kisuke used the whole afternoon to observe from his hiding ce and through it, he was able to spot some individuals who are very strongpared to everyone else. Although Kisuke is very curious at how such a power gap came to be, he isn''t here for that and waited until night to make his next move.


    Night came and therge gate closed, ''It seems they stopped epting the entry of carts while a small gate is still open at the side for individuals to enter, albeit, a stricter inspection.


    Kisuke first noted everything before making his move. He decided to leave his bag pack and change into a ck robe, blending himself in the darkness.


    Kisuke approached the wall, a kilometer away from the gate, and looked around before scaling the 15-meter wall. Arriving at the top, he first surveyed his perimeter before peeking on the city itself, ''Hoh~. This is a lot brighter than I thought.''


    Kisuke expected it to be very dark once night arrives because of the apparent level of civilization, ''Those street lights are using mana, huh. And people are still active because of the lighting system. It seems that the technology of this world is centered around magic tools.


    Kisuke stopped admiring the city and found a dark spot to jump down. Landing, he immediately spotted people who seem to be homeless, but he immediately ignored them after figuring out that they aren''t observing him.


    Leaving the dark area, Kisuke approached the main street until he could hear people talking. Of course, he couldn''t understand what they are talking about but he memorized everything he heard. But that isn''t enough as he also needed to see the gestures they are making to understand them easier. However, instead of revealing himself on the street, Kisuke used his Reiatsu-Ki to scan everything around him.


    That decision immediately backfired as few individuals immediately noticed when his Reiatsu-Ki passed through them, ''!?''


    Instead of pulling it back, Kisuke dispersed it and immediately left the area. He then ran around to find a ce to see what''s happening. Peeking, he saw few individuals looking around with a confused expression, ''I didn''t notice it immediately, but although they look human, they aren''t human, huh�� What a blunder. It seems that they sensitive to either ki or spiritual energy so I can''t use any of my techniques without a way to hide its aura��''

 Volume 6 287 - A Peeping Lady

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 287 - A Peeping Lady</h4>


    Bing more careful, Kisuke watches from the sidelines. Although it''s inefficient as he could only focus on a few conversations, it''s a lot better than attracting those curious beings.


    After listening and watching for an hour, Kisuke had enough and thought of walking down the street on his own, ''I just have to pretend I''m deaf or some snob prick, ignoring everyone.''


    But before that, he looked around and spotted what he needs. Grinning to himself, Kisuke started walking in front of two individuals and ''identally'' shed a golden ring with a purple gem on his finger before turning around in a quiet alley.


    The two men in armor saw his ring and looked at each other before shing a greedy smile and following Kisuke at the dark alley.


    ''I didn''t think it would be this easy�� Could it be that they don''t know that there are very strong people hiding in this crowd? Or are they famous or something that someone unknown like me couldn''t be that strong?'' Kisuke thought as he walks deeper into the alley.


    A minuteter, the two men following him became impatient and one of them suddenly ran with inhuman speed and arrived before Kisuke.


    "**** *** **** **" He tried to say something when Kisuke stopped his steps and of course, he didn''t understand a single thing he said.


    Kisuke looked behind him and saw the second man grinning at him saying something. And after a minute of talking and not gaining any response, both of them got incredibly angry and attacked Kisuke.


    Another minuteter, Kisuke walked out of the dark alley, reaching the main street as if nothing happened. However, the two men who attacked Kisuke were crying their eyes out as he left them with only their underwear. Their clothes are good samples for his microbiome research.


    He then searched the clothes and found a pouch with bronze coins and few silver coins in it. He didn''t know how much it is but he watches others buy all sorts of things on the stalls.


    He then put all the clothes on the pre-treated pouch that he bought leaving only a few bronze coins in his hands. Kisuke then approached one of the stalls selling some skewered meat. He grabbed a few of the merchandise before tossing the appropriate amount of money, entirely ignoring the vendor. Kisuke started eating one of them and tossed the rest inside the pouch.


    Just as he''s enjoying the atmosphere while looking around and listening to everyone, Kisuke suddenly felt a piercing stare and shuddered.


    Tracing this invasive stare, Kisuke hurriedly looked towards the tower and locked eyes with a very beautiful woman with long silver hair and purple eyes sitting on an elegant chair looking. Same as Kisuke, The incredibly beautiful woman is also staring at Kisuke wide eye.


    ''Crap!'' Kisuke shifted through the crowd and entered one of the alleys before using sh Step, taking care not to leak any of his Reiatsu-Ki and left the ce, ''What the heck! Someone who could see the soul directly is bad news!'' Not waiting for anything, Kisuke retreated and exited the city and arrived where he hid his bag pack. He took his things and ran away from the city.


    .


    .


    .


    On the upper floors of the Tower of Babel, a Goddess is looking over the town of Orario which became a habit for her. It was a normal night looking at the crowd of souls while drinking her favorite wine and nning for the future of her Familia until she saw a bright crimson light drowning every soul around it with its own radiance.


    Freya was shocked and tried to look at this soul more closely, but before she could do saw, she was shocked yet again when she saw him looking at her with the same discerning eyes.


    Her shocked face then turned into an amused smile, "An interesting individual appeared after the ''gold''. Ottar, look for this amusing person. He should be pretty strong but rtively unknown. I want him."


    From behind her, a tall and muscr man with rust-colored hair and eyes along with a pair of boar ears appeared. He wears a dark blue sleeveless top with a cor like part, grey pants, and brown and gray shoes.


    With a seemingly uninterested tone in his voice, he answered, "Yes, Freya-sama." Ottar left the room leaving his Goddess behind.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke stopped moving when he''s about ten kilometers away from the city and decided to camp for today. His camp, however, isn''tposed of tent our any outdoor equipment as he took out a red pearl with some inscriptions on its surface.


    He tossed the pearl away and when itnded on the ground, it submerged as if it''s on water. After a few seconds, Kisuke heard a small explosion from the underground and dug through the ce where the pearl disappeared.


    Thirty meters below the ground, a room with about 50x50x50 meters was instantly made, making it his makeshift hideout and personal room.


    He then locked the ce with magic which stops fluctuation of his Reiatsu-Ki leaking. After that, he pulled out the necessary items from his dimensional storage. He doesn''t n to sleep tonight as he has a lot of data to arrange and decode. He hopes that when he returned to the city tomorrow, he could understand some of its inhabitants'' words.


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, Kisuke only got ready to go into the city again when it''s already afternoon. What took most of his time are examining the clothes of the two people who kindly gave him their clothes and the countermeasure against that rude perverteddy with a peeping hobby.


    "Yosh~! Let''s try it again today! I hope I can somehow speak theirnguage tomorrow." Kisuke pumped himself up. Although if someone were to hear him right now, they would want to spit on him as he''s trying to learn an unknownnguage with little to no reference in just a few days.


    "Though I wonder how much thatdy saw? I did cover my soul from prying eyes but she was still able to go through it without any trouble, but I guess she couldn''t have seen the deepest part of my soul. If she did, that probably won''t be her only reaction since she''ll also able to see the Hougyoku, the Hollow, and the Shinigami part of me��" Kisuke thought to himself as he exited his hideout.

 Volume 6 288 - Flipping Habit

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 288 - Flipping Habit</h4>


    Arriving inside the city again, it''s alreadyte in the afternoon. He went in with an attire that matches the crowd while also draping a brown cloak draped over him. He also attached a normal unassuming sword on his waist as it seems those with weapons can walk or run without eliciting much attention from the surrounding because they seem ''busy''.


    ''Now then~! Let''s continue acting like a snob and observe everyone. By tomorrow, I should be able to understand a few of their words.'' He then took a peek towards the tower for a split second before immediately leaving the area, ''So the peepingdy is still there�� Does she has nothing better to do?''


    Kisuke''s countermeasure against the peeping eyes is a simtion of a fake soul that matches average souls around. This way, he can cover his real soul without appearing ''soulless'' by showing the fake one.


    Kisuke spent the whole second day observing and listening to everything. He would also write down letters that he sees and note down where they were written to give further clues on what their meaning is. Kisuke also never stays in one ce for long periods of time and would move to another location every hour while also changing his attire. And while he''s on the move, he would get some random stuff from the stalls and store it for future inspections. Kisuke would also lure thieves in the dark alleys to acquire some funds that he can useter on.


    When it''s midnight, he exited the city again and looked for another random spot several kilometers away from it to make another underground hideout.


    Kisuke only did some minimal data processing this time as he has to return today and wants to gather as much information as possible.


    On the third day morning, his target is what seems to be a public library where anyone can enter by paying a certain amount and writing their name on a logbook. All this while, Kisuke avoided entering any establishments as he wouldn''t be able to avoid interacting with people, but this time, it''s actually easy for him to enter a library, bypassing the paying and writing process, and it should be normal to be quiet inside.


    Kisuke arrives in front of a three-story stone building with arge front door. He first waited until the queue became a bit longer before queuing himself. He then checks if there are those randomly strong individuals around before proceeding with the next step.


    Once there are only three people in front of him, Kisuke took out a small pebble from his sleeve and double-checked the surroundings. He then flicked it towards one of the bookshelves in the distance, hitting it on the corner and falling over which resulted in a domino effect and pushed over other shelves.


    The woman on the counter, of course, panics and shouted something to one of the attendants. The attendant then exited the library in a hurry, probably to call for some help. Due torge sound the falling bookshelves created, however, many onlookers gathered to see what''s happening and using this chance, Kisuke sneaked in and directly went to the second floor when there''s no one looking before thinning his presence so that no one could easily notice him. If by chance that someone actually noticed him, he would just ignore them as he isn''t exactly hiding and therefore, he''s doing nothing wrong. And if he somehow vited a rule, he would just run away when they wanted to capture him.


    Kisuke then set the modified body camera he prepared for this asion and started flipping books in front of him. He could use this body camera to record the scenery outside and that would be easier for him. But easier doesn''t mean it''s not risky. Since he''s capable of detecting any camera pointed at him, be it electronically or magically, it isn''t impossible that such individuals also exist in this world and he didn''t want to risk being discovered by them as most likely they would be hostile if they knew that their image is being recorded without their prior knowledge.


    Since it''s all just physical work, he started processing and learning the words he has collected while he flipped books and he only stopped when it''s already lunchtime. And by that time, he can already understand some of their words but he still has to go out and keep refining his understanding which he intends to do for the rest of the day.


    Exiting the library, he approached the market ce again and got some food to eat and keep. As he walks around, he noticed three particrly strong people and all of them are young girls. Two of them have the same skin tone as Yoruichi and ck hair while also wearing simr revealing attires but with contrasting body types. The third one is a beautiful stoic golden-haired girl that seems to be curiously looking at a certain stall that sells fried potato.


    He intends to ignore them but when he passed by them, a very drunk man is also passing by and in intoxication, he touched the butt of one of the dark-skinned women with long ck hair and big boobs. The woman angrily shouted and sent a spinning kick towards the drunk man as she turns around.


    Her twopanions also noticed what happened and turned around. However, the woman''s kick range is so wide that the brown cloaked man is also about to get hit at the back of his head. All three of them noticed it and the enraged woman wanted to stop but it''s already toote. Thinking that they have to apologize and part with some of their precious healing potions made them sigh as it''ll be an unwanted expense.


    But they were shocked when the cloaked man suddenly lifted his hand and caught the woman''s foot without even looking behind him. However, the woman who sent out that kick was in for another shock as she felt the man''s hand moved in a weird way and most of the force behind her kick was suddenly reflected back to her legs in a form of spinning force.


    Before she knew it, she''s already spinning in the air andnded on the other side of the street. Her twopanions were also looking at her with a dumbfounded expression. The first one to recover is the golden-haired girl and she looked back at the man who flipped and threw herpanion. However, the man is already running away as he shifted through the crowd and a secondter, he already disappeared from her sight. But she was still able to get a glimpse of his hair, peeking out from his robe.


    .


    .


    .


    "Whew~. That was close. That is one feistydy. Though I can tell that she wanted to stop, it''s already toote when she noticed me. And before I can think it through, I already flipped her away instead of just dodging. I should fix this bad habit of flipping others around." Kisuke sighed as he moves to another location.

 Volume 6 289 - A Bad Premonition

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 289 - A Bad Premonition</h4>


    Night, in a certain pub that sits on a brick-lined street, the top adventurers of the Loki Familia including their patron God, Loki, is celebrating their sessful return from a dungeon expedition. It is a two-story building made of stone that has the depth of a neat inn. As it is located along the Western Main Street, it is filled with a lot of customers.


    The front entrance has a set of double doors with wood carvings decorating the frame. Carvings can be seen in various ces on the front of the pub. The Hostess of Fertility sign can be seen on the left side of the entrance, as well as on an overhanging sign with a crossed fork and knife.


    Among their group is the three women who Kisuke came across this afternoon.


    "Fuahh~! What''s wrong with Tione? We should be celebrating, so why the long face and aggressive drinking?" Loki asked after drinking a big gulp from her fruit liquor which is this pub''s specialty.


    Tione Hiryute, the ck long-haired Amazoness with a mature body and only wears clothes that cover the bare minimum of her skin, didn''t answer Loki''s question and sulk.


    Tiona Hiryute, Tione''s twin sister, and has medium length ck hair and petite body but simr outfit, could onlyugh wryly and scratch her head, "Well, this afternoon. Someone touched her butt."


    "Huh!? Who the hell has guts to touch my girls!?" Loki eximed and asked, "And why are you sulking? Did he got away?"


    Everyone automatically ignored Loki''s first sentence and looked towards Tiona as this might be a potentially amusing story because there is only a handful of men who could get away from the three.


    "No. It''s just a random drunk man and he didn''t get away."


    "Then what''s the problem?"


    Tiona first looked at her sister who''s still sulking and continued, "It''s when Tione tried to kick away the drunk man but a bystander is about to get caught."


    Loki caught the way Tiona worded it, "About to get caught?"


    "Yes. The man in the brown cloak was about to get hit at the back of his head and it''s already toote for Tione to stop. We thought that we would have to pour some of our elixir on him and apologize but the man suddenly caught Tione''s foot instead without even looking back and tossed her across the street, seemingly without much effort, and ended upnding in one of the food stalls. We had to pay for the damages."


    Everyone in their group stopped what they are doing and looked towards the sulking Amazoness. Despite this silence, however, the pub is still being drowned by noisy and merry adventurers.


    The first one to react after hearing Tiona''s narration is a gray-colored hair Werewolf, along with amber eyes, as well as a sleek tail. He has a blue tattoo on the left side of his face and a muscr physique. His features are described to be handsome, and he appears cool to others. But right now, he''s too drunk to even act cool.


    He pointed towards Tione andughed at her face, "Fuhahaha! A hulking woman like you was tossed around!? Find that guy and let me see it happen again!"


    Tione''s temple throbbed and she snapped. She stood up and approached the intoxicated wolf. Tione then grabbed his leg and threw him towards the open double door of the pub, "SHUT UP!"


    The poor wolf couldn''t even react as he flew across the street andnding on the nearby dumpster.


    The captain of Loki Familia, Finn Deimne, a Pallum with medium length scruffy blonde hair and blue eyes with a fair skin tone, and the vice-captain, Riveria Ljos Alf, an Elf with jade-colored hair tied in a tail that reaches to her waist, same color eyes, and Elf ears could only sigh at this sight, while a top executive, Gareth Landrock, a Dwarf with brown eyes and long brown hair along with facial hair of the same color that is long enough to form a beard,ughed out loud thinking that this is a merry scene.


    "And? What happened next?" Riveria asked with a poker face.


    Tione gritted her teeth and answered her, "He ran away. So fast that I didn''t even get a glimpse of his face."


    Riveria and Loki looked towards Tiona, "I also didn''t see his face nor his build, but it seems Ais did."


    Ais is quietly drinking her fruit drink when she suddenly heard her name and looked up. Before she noticed, everyone is already looking at her.


    "Ais. Who is the guy who countered Tione''s kick? Someone who can overpower her should be pretty famous." Finn asked with interest.


    Ais thought for a bit and tried to recall the man''s face that she only saw slightly, "��I don''t know. All I know is that he has pale blonde hair."


    "Pale blonde? That isn''t very rare and I don''t recall any top adventurer with that feature. Maybe he came from other powers outside of Orario?" Finn muttered.


    "But there is something that you''re wrong about." Ais suddenly said gaining other''s confusion except for Tione and Tiona.


    "What is it, Ais-tan? Something that caught your attention?" Loki opened her slightly closed eyes and looked at Ais carefully.


    "He never overpowered Tione," Ais answered with a straight face.


    Even more confusion covered everyone''s face, but Tione exined more about Ais'' answer, "He rebounded the force behind my kick back to me. I don''t know how he did it, but I''m sure that it isn''t magic as we didn''t feel any movements in magical power that moment."


    "In other words, it''s a purely technical skill�� So he might even be just a level 4." Tiona supplemented.


    The top executives and Loki''s expression became serious, "Then he must havee from outside of Orario. Someone like that should be famous if he lives here." Riveria muttered. But then she noticed something wrong with Ais''s expression, "What''s wrong, Ais?"


    Ais stayed silent for a while but she then decided to answer honestly, "I want to learn that��"


    It should have been a perfectly normal desire to learn and get stronger especiallying to Ais, however, for some reason, Riveria shivered and a part of her instincts is screaming at her to stop Ais at all cost. But as a type of person that thinks and decides logically, if she couldn''t find a good reason to stop her, she wouldn''t be able to convince Ais.


    All she could do is make a difficult expression as she looks at Ais, ''What''s this feeling? It''s my first time�� Just what is this unease?'' Riveria then promised to herself to watch Ais more closely from now on so any ident wouldn''t happen.

 Volume 6 290 - A Clue to The Path

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 290 - A Clue to The Path</h4>


    Late at night of the third day that Kisuke arrived in the city, when everyone else is already going home, Kisuke also decided that he should head back.


    Although there are still a lot of activities happening around this time, he still doesn''t want to get involved in it just yet.


    Quietly exiting the city and looked back to it, ''The only ce I didn''t get to explore is the vicinity of that tower. That seems to be the ce where the strong people are gathering and I''m curious to the strange auraing from it, but my goal, for now, is to learn theirnguage and acquire some samples for my research.'' Kisuke thought.


    It only took him ten minutes using sh Step to arrive back in the forest where everyone else is staying. However, instead of going in, Kisuke stopped at the edge of the barrier that he put up three days ago.


    Everyone is already outside the temporary lodging and is waiting for his arrival when he came back, "Wee home~." Yoruichi first greeted him.


    Kisuke smiled brightly and replied, "I''m back~."


    "Wee back~. Where''s my souvenir?" Aika asked in anticipation.


    "Wee back, Kisuke-senpai." Koneko has the same feeling as Aika.


    "Wee back, Master~." Medusa only sighed in relief after seeing her mastering back from an unknown ce.


    "W-wee back�� Kisuke��" Sona also tried to greet him, but the shbacks from the night they did it prevented her from looking straight to his eyes and could only blush fiercely.


    Kuroka has the same expression as Sona, but for a very different reason, "Uhmm�� Kisuke�� I know this isn''t the right time, but could you lend me some of your time now-nya?"


    As they greeted him, they''re also trying to approach him but Yoruichi stopped them from their tracks, "Did you forget? You can''t approach him for now. We don''t know what he brought back with him so he''ll be doing a self-quarantine for a few days."


    "Ah��" All of them stopped walking.


    Kisuke smiled at their reactions, "It''s alreadyte so rest up. I won''t being up for the next few days, so Kuroka�� Endure it." He then turned around, intending to set another underground space. Kisuke is bing a fine mole.


    "Ah!? Wait, Kisuke! I can''t endure anymore-nya!"


    Kisuke kept walking away and only waved at her without looking back, "Then ask Yoruichi for some relief." He disappeared among the dense foliage of the forest.


    Kuroka could only stare at his departing back with a dumbfounded expression. A few secondster, she suddenly felt an arm wrapping around her nape, "You heard the guy~. Although I''m not as good at him, I should be able to relieve some of that stress until you can endure for a few more days~." Yoruichi whispered to her.


    "Eh?�� Eh!?�� But we''re both girls!" Kuroka shouted.


    Yoruichi then started dragging Kuroka with her despite her struggling, "I have the same number hands as Kisuke~. The same number of fingers too~. So no problem~!"


    "That''s not the problem!" This is Kuroka''sst shout before Yoruichi closed the door for her ''treatment''.


    Sona, Aika, Koneko, and Medusa could only look at the two of them with speechless expression. They were in for another sleepless night.


    .


    .


    Three dayster, Kisuke finally emerged from his makeshiftboratory and workshop and stretched his arms, taking in the fresh morning air, "Finally done~!"


    Kisuke took back all of his equipment and closed the entrance to the underground hideout before going back to the girls. When he arrived, he saw that everyone is busy with their own activities.


    Aika is currently swinging her two-meter long nodachi to practice her Zanjutsu. She already learned how to only take out her Zanpakuto without going into her Shinigami form.


    Koneko is currently working and studying under Kuroka on how to properly control her Ki and thetter is also teaching her little sister some Youkai magic that might prove useful in the future.


    Sona and Medusa, on the other hand, are assisting each other. Sona is trying to figure out her current limitations as she hasn''t recovered yet and Medusa is beside her to watch over her so that she wouldn''t push herself too much that it might cause an ident.


    Kisuke then turned his attention to Yoruichi, who got arge boulder from who knows where and sitting on top of it while basking in pleasant sunlight. Sitting cross-legged and eyes closed, she''s trying tomunicate with her Zanpakuto, Byakko. But with her brows furrowed and some sweat gathering around her forehead, Kisuke figured that it isn''t going well.


    The moment he stepped into the barrier, everyone stopped what they''re doing and excitedly ran towards him. But the first one to arrive is Yoruichi with her sh Step, "Me first~!"


    With another sh Step, Yoruichi carried Kisuke away. The rest only looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and chuckling. Aika, Koneko, and Kuroka returned to what they''re doing while Sona and Medusa entered the lodging to prepare some breakfast.


    When they heard Sona is going to help to prepare breakfast, everyone shuddered. Aika, Koneko, and Kuroka looked towards Medusa with pleading eyes and Medusa didn''t betray their expectations, ''I won''t let her touch the cooking process itself!'' Her eyes seem to say and the three understood it.


    .


    .


    .


    Midway of their on the spot excursion, Kisuke carried Yoruichi in his arms and continued using sh Steps. About a minuteter, they arrived at a small clearing with a small patch of beautiful and colorful flowers in the middle.


    Kisuke put her down beside the patch of flowers and took out a nket toy it out. After taking out a basket of sandwiches and some various fruits, both of them sat down to enjoy the otherworldly view while enjoying the mellow sun.


    "Having a hard time?" Kisuke first asked and Yoruichi nodded quietly as she took a bite out of her sandwich.


    "Don''t rush it��"


    Yoruichi stopped eating and looked at the colorful flowers, "I know�� But I can''t help but do just that�� Even though I know you''re not going to leave me alone, it feels that you''re running further and further away from me��"


    Kisuke tapped her shoulder to get her attention and when Yoruichi looked at him, Kisuke is tapping hisp. Smiling, she took on his offer andid down her head on hisps.


    While gently brushing her hair, Kisuke spoke, "I know that you don''t need any verbal confirmation about me not leaving you and I can understand your impatience since I can imagine it if our positions were switched. But I also can''t help you with this one since I want you to have a breakthrough on your own."


    Yoruichi closed her eyes to enjoy his gentle and warm hands, "Right�� I don''t know how far you''ll travel on this path and I can''t have you babysit me on just the first step�� If I did that, I feel that I might just trip and fell behind further."


    Yoruichi''s insecurities were her blurry path as opposed to Kisuke''s clear path. If she can''t find her path soon enough, she''s afraid that she won''t be able to stand beside her beloved if there is danger, and she absolutely hates it.


    To Kisuke, however, more than just tripping, he hates it more if she were to be in danger if she rushes things, but he also knows noforting will pull her out from such frantic feeling, so instead, he let his mind run. He wanted to at least give her a clue on where she should look.


    After a few minutes of silence between them, Kisuke finally thought of what he should say, "Hear me out. Why don''t we explore this world first and set aside the thought of returning immediately? I, however, won''t stop looking for the way toe back, but we should also see what this world has to offer us."


    Yoruichi looked up to him and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"


    "Remember when I said that Byakko might havee from a different dimension from our original world and already hopped through worlds? Although I don''t have proof, with just its abilities to travel through worlds, I have a feeling that this is the case"


    Yoruichi only quietly stared at him.


    "What I mean to say is that we arrive in this world, and the previous one might not have been random. Byakko probably wanted to show us something by bringing us here."


    After hearing Kisuke, Yoruichi''s eyes widened and she stood up. That line of thinking didn''te to her at all, after all, "Then��"


    "Although it''s just a guess, maybe there is a way for you to a breakthrough in this world."


    Yoruichi can feel her clouded mind clearing up. Although she can''t still far ahead, something inside her lightened up and she couldn''t help smiling. She then threw herself to Kisuke, whispering to his ears, "Thank you."

 Volume 6 291 - Problems with Mana

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 291 - Problems with Mana</h4>


    Kisuke and Yoruichi only came backte in the afternoon and everyone weed them. Although they didn''t expect that they woulde back thiste.


    However, once they got close, they noticed something about Yoruichi. In particr, her jolly mood and glossy skin.


    Aika, suspicious of this, suddenly asked, "Did you enjoy it?"


    Everyone didn''t know why Aika would ask that kind of question. Of course, they would enjoy each other''spany and there''s no need to ask such a question.


    Yoruichi, however, disyed a big grin, "I enjoyed it more than I thought. Apparently, doing it outside really feels different. We didn''t have to clean the mess we made too as we can just cover it with dirt."


    "��You damned perverts��" Aika could only mutter such words with a twitching mouth.


    Everyone didn''t know what they''re talking about until Aika called them perverts. The two cat sisters could only react the same as Aika, while the other two only blushed slightly.


    "Let''s not stay here and get inside. I have a lot of things to talk about." Kisuke then pushed Yoruichi and prompted the others to follow.


    Since it''s alreadyte, they decided to have an early dinner and while everyone is eating, Kisuke started to talk about his experience in that city and his findings.


    "I see�� So the intelligent species are humanoid��" Yoruichi muttered.


    "And there are a lot of races living together such as humans, elves, and beast people." Aika did the same.


    "A fantasy world in the medieval period�� And a technology that centers around magic tools��" Sona followed.


    "What about those that look like humans but aren''t, nya?" Kuroka asked.


    "I also don''t know much about them but luckily, theirnguage is easy to learn due to some amazing coincidence that I didn''t notice earlier and I managed to pick up some sort of maybe history books from the library that I visited."


    "What coincidence?" Sona curiously asked.


    Instead of answering her, Kisuke took out his modified smartphone and on the screen, it disyed one of the pages he got from the book in the form of a hologram.


    Sure enough, they didn''t know what''s written on it, except for one person, "Is this�� Latin? But there are some differences like how the way they''re written. However, it''s still mostly the same from what I know. Kisuke�� could this be��?"


    "Yup~! This world''snguage~. Well, at least in that city. Amazing, right?"


    "No, no, no! That''s not just some amazing coincidence! What''s this!?" Sona couldn''t understand how Kisuke could describe this just as a mere coincidence.


    "Even if it''s not a coincidence, we don''t have time or manpower to investigate the origin of this world''snguage and even by doing so, it won''t help us much so just think of it as a ''mere coincidence''."


    Sona stared at Kisuke nkly for a few seconds before sighing, "Haah�� You''re right�� I''m sorry for interrupting you. Please continue."


    Nodding at her, Kisuke continued, "The writtennguage is Latin and the spokennguage is some weird mix between English and Latin with some pronunciation sounding different. I didn''t notice it at first since I already marked theirnguage in my mind as something entirely different. I clearly failed in that regard."


    Kisuke stopped for a moment to look at everyone, but seeing that they don''t have much reaction, he continued, "Once I figured this out, several names were mentioned in between the people''s words such as ''Loki'', ''Freya'', ''Hephaestus'', ''Ganesha'' and more."


    "Norse, Greek, and Hindu Mythology, huh�� Is it this world''s religion?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Well�� Sort of�� These Gods, however, isn''t some unseen being by the masses. These Gods descended from Heaven and is currently living with the mortals by leading their so-called ''Familia''. If my guesses were correct, these guys who look likes humans were Gods in the mortal ne. And there''s a lot of them."


    "So Gods are walking on earth? It feels like we''re in ancient times. Do they nurture heroes too or wage wars like the stories in our world?" Medusa joined their conversation as she''s very interested in the topics of Gods.


    "They do something simr. These Gods give their blessings to mortals and these mortals would fight monsters to strengthened the blessings they received, or something like that, based on my understanding of all these texts."


    Yoruichi instantly caught Kisuke words, "Blessings�� you say�� Did you find the answer to our problem now?"


    Kisuke smiled at her, "Probably�� But I would need to do some more stalking if I want to confirm this. With that, I''m leaving again tomorrow morning to continue my investigation and refine the decodednguage. This time, I would like to stay there for five days beforeing back�� That reminds me, Yoruichi, Aika. Don''t use any of your techniques with Reiatsu-Ki unless you can contain any resulting energy release to the surroundings as these guys seem to be very sensitive to it. I almost got caught because I carelessly scanned the surrounding with my Reiatsu-Ki."


    "Got it. I''ll be careful." Aika answered while Yoruichi nodded at him and asked, "Is magic fine?"


    "Yep. Just not so much. We don''t want to attract attention when we still don''t have any foothold."


    "Uhmm�� Kisuke�� There seems to be some problem with my magic." Sona then caught everyone''s attention.


    "Hmm? What is it?" Kisuke''s expression became serious.


    Sona nodded at him and arranged her thoughts before speaking, "Although I can recover normally by converting this world''s Mana to Demonic Power, I can''t do anything beyond it.


    "I can use my magic fine if I use my Demonic Power, but when I tried to actively gather Mana to recover, the Mana suddenly became very vtile that I had to stop. After discovering that, I tried to control the Mana directly by moving it slightly ording to my will, but it took me several minutes just to do that. And as you can guess, the Mana also bes vtile when directly controlled."


    Instead of speaking, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa directly tried to test the Mana in the surroundings.


    The four of them who tested it was able to control it with Kisuke and Yoruichi the fastest who was able to do it, "Indeed�� This is a lot harder��"


    "It''s not just a lot-nya! It''s a hundred times harder-nya! We won''t be able to use magic properly once we''re depleted!" Kuroka corrected Kisuke.


    "That''s not right either, Kuroka-san�� You shouldn''t be able to use magic properly with Mana depleted�� Please don''t adapt theirmon sense." Sona then corrected Kuroka''s statement.


    "Ah��" Kuroka held her head and started reflecting, "What''s happening to me��? That''s right�� It shouldn''t even be possible to use magic without Mana reserve in your body�� But these guys are directly controlling the Mana in the atmosphere to cast their magic if they''re out of Mana�� When the hell did I start thinking that it''s a normal thing?"


    Ignoring Kuroka''s ''crisis'', Kisuke issued them his n, "All right, here''s what we should do. I will go to that city again tomorrow and while I''m out, you girls will be practicing how to control this Mana. I know it''ll be hard, but it isn''t possible. If you''re already confident about your control, try absorbing some Mana into your body or casting some simple magic first to test it out. And that includes you, Koneko and Aika as you can''t use the techniques that Yoruichi and I taught to you. Any questions?"


    "None." Everyone except for Kuroka, who''s still mulling over hermon sense, answered.


    "Alright~! Dismissed!" Kisuke then walked towards Kuroka without wasting any time and grabbed her by the waist and started carrying her over to her room.


    Kuroka immediately snapped back to her senses and asked in a panic, "W-wait! W-what are you going to do, nya!"


    "Something you want me to do," Kisuke answered simply.


    Kuroka''s mind finally caught up and understood what he''s nning, "Please wait a moment! I''m not ready yet, nya!"


    "Then get ready within five seconds."


    "That''s impossible, nya! At least let me set back mymon sense, nya!"


    ''So that''s what she''s worried about��'' Everyone thought as Kisuke closes the door to Kuroka''s room. A secondter, Kisuke put up a sound dampening barrier but if you''re close enough, you''ll still be able to hear what''s happening inside.


    Curious about it, Aika, Koneko, Medusa, and Sona approached the room and put their ears on the wall. A minuteter, they finally heard Kuroka''s moan of ecstasy, "Ahhnn~?! M-more~?! Here�� This ce~?! Ahnnn~~?!"


    They immediately went away with hot faces but they are all thinking of the same thing, ''It''s just a minute and all of her shame is already gone.''

 Volume 6 292 - Library

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 292 - Library</h4>


    The next morning, Kisuke arrived at the city again and he finally learned its name from listening to the guards, Orario.


    ''Let''s see�� My objectives this time are, refinement ofnguage, the feasibility of receiving a blessing from a God to avoid the world''s rejection, and the ''Dungeon'' that I saw in the books.'' Kisuke arranged everything in his head and decided to take his time to avoid any mistake that willpromise his activities.


    ''Now that I''ve already adjusted my body''s microbiome, and I can already understand the most they are saying, I can move a lot freely�� Where should I start, I wonder��'' Kisuke thought as he walks down through the street and peeking on the peepingdy from time to time, ''Hmm�� I should go back to the library first and take a proper look at the books there.''


    Kisuke then went to the library again and this time, he intended to enter properly. When he reached the counter where he has to pay for entrance, Kisuke gave the proper amount and asked in his newly learnednguage, "Good morning. I came here to Orario without knowing much but can you perhaps give me some rmendation on what this city has to offer? I''m sorry if my dialect is too heavy. I came from a nomadic tribe and this is my first timeing to a ce this big."


    Thedy on the counter was a bit shock since this is the first time she encountered someone like Kisuke, but she immediately recovered and smiled, "Good morning. It''s alright. Although I didn''t catch everything you said, I understood that you want information about Orario as a neer, correct?"


    "Yes. You''re correct." Kisuke answered with a smile.


    "Then you can take a look at the 2nd shelf in the 1st row from the right. From there, you can find various basic information about the city. If you''re looking for work, then you can try going to the market ce as help is always needed there." Thedy instantly ''guessed'' Kisuke intention foring to this city from his tribe, and that is to look for a living.


    But since this city is known for its Dungeon, she has to warn him now in case he went for the most popr job without knowing anything about it, "However, the most popr job in Orario is an Adventurer. It''s a very risky job that you may lose your life, but it''s very profitable. If you''re confident in fighting monsters, you can try that job. For you to qualify, you have to be in a Familia and be registered in the Guild�� I''m saying this again�� It''s a very dangerous job so only take it if you really can."


    Kisuke chuckled at the kinddy, "Thank you very much for your reminder~. As thanks, please take this." He pulled out a small opaque bottle with a cork and passed it to thedy.


    Thedy curiously looked at the bottle and asked, "What''s this?"


    "A certain delicacy from my tribe~." Kisuke lied through his teeth and opened the bottle, revealing hard candies of various colors. He took one out and put it in the hand of thedy.


    The naive and kinddy didn''t think much about it and popped it into her mouth when she heard it''s a delicacy. A secondter, her eyes shined and she excitedly asked Kisuke, "What''s this!? It''s sweet and delicious~!"


    "It''s just a normal treat~. I''ll probably open a shop that sells this and I''ll be inviting you to our opening day~." Kisuke then passed the whole bottle to her, "I should get going. I don''t want to hold the line further."


    Thedy grabbed the little bottle as if it is her little treasure and waved to Kisuke, "Please do invite me~!"


    After waving back, Kisuke went to the spot where thedy pointed him to. Kisuke then reviewed each of the book''s spine and it''s indeed the information he needed. Grabbing several of these books, he started reading.


    Closing time, around 5:30 in the afternoon, the library staff asked everyone to pack their things and leave. Taking books out is prohibited as the paper is not a verymonmodity. When Kisuke reached the entrance, thedy who guided him earlier isn''t there anymore and was reced by a man in his thirties.


    Now that he''s done with the library, he intended to enjoy a meal and asked various people about the restaurant or pub they rmend. And after that simple survey, the most answer he got is the Hostess of Fertility where adventures gather at night.


    Arriving at the ce, Kisuke is surprised at how lively the pub is. Evenpared to other stores, the ruckus inside is on a different level. Entering, Kisuke was immediately assaulted by the smell of various foods and beverages which are mostly alcohol. Since he''s alone, he went straight to the bar counter. Seeing the one who''smanding the waitresses, Kisuke immediately thought, ''What a tough proprietress.'' The proprietress has brown eyes and long brown hair. She wears a different colored version of the uniform the waitresses are wearing.


    Sitting down, he was immediately asked by her, "What do you want, kid?" As if looking down and pressuring him. However, Kisuke knew that isn''t her intention as he can''t feel any malice or hostility from her.


    With a smiling face, Kisuke asked back, "What do you rmend?" But contrary to the face he''s making, he''s already scheming, ''A mysteriously strong proprietress, skilled waitresses, and a ce where Adventurers gather�� I wonder how can I make a connection to this ce��''


    She, however, just replied, "Just choose from the menu. I''m not going to rack my head for you."


    "Ahahaha. Then I''ll have this, this, and this." Kisukeughed out loud at the proprietress'' attitude and pointed at random pasta, meat, and soup.


    "How about your drink?"


    Suddenly, an idea shed in Kisuke''s head, "Can I take out my drink instead?"


    Since it isn''t rare for others to bring a drink for them to enjoy, she allowed him, "Go ahead." Turning around, she passed Kisuke''s order to the kitchen. And just a few minutester, the proprietress delivered Kisuke''s food.


    But instead of eating it, he took out an opaque bottle covered with cork. The proprietress is already expecting that it''s alcohol but when Kisuke opened the cork, she asked curiously, "What is that?" She asked because she couldn''t smell the expected alcohol but instead a mysterious fruity smell that she never encountered before.


    Kisuke smile became a grin and answered her, "C."

 Volume 6 293 - Cola

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 293 - C</h4>


    "C?" Mia heard an unfamiliar word.


    "Please pass me a ss." Kisuke requested.


    Without a word, Mia gave him an empty ss and Kisuke proceeded to pour the contents of the bottle into the ss, "A ck�� beer?"


    One of the waitresses, who is free in the meantime, approached Kisuke from behind when she heard the boss of the pub saying something, "ck beer? What''s that?"


    Kisuke turned his head and saw a waitress with bluish-gray hair that she keeps tied with a small knot in a ponytail style. Her eyes are the same color as her hair and she has a light peachy colored smooth skin, "What to try some?"


    The waitress looked at him and answered apologetically, "I''m sorry. I''m not allowed to drink any alcoholic drink while I''m on work."


    Kisuke then turned to the proprietress and said, "Miss~! Two more sses please~!"


    Mia already knew that the beverage that Kisuke poured doesn''t have any alcohol content from the smell, and since it''s just a drink and Syr, the waitress who is talking with Kisuke just now, is rtively free, she took out two more sses and Kisuke happily poured C on it.


    "Mia?" Sry asked in confusion.


    "It''s fine. I''m also a bit curious." Mia replied as she took one of the sses.


    After getting permission, Sry took the other ss without hesitation. Kisuke started drinking his c while the two only took a sip.


    "!?" When Sry tasted it, she proceeded to drink a mouthful of it. However, this is the first time she had a carbonated drink aside from beer and the carbon dioxide content in Kisuke''s c is a lot higher than naturally carbonated beer in this world,


    "Kuha�� Kah, Kah�� This is��?" Sry was surprised by the fuzziness of the drink and ended up coughing until some tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.


    "Well, if you''re not used to it and suddenly gulped it down, that will happen~." Kisuke grinned at her.


    "You should have warned me!" Sry protested. However, she took another sip of the c, "But it''s sweet and delicious! What is this vor? What fruit did you ferment to achieve this? And where is the alcohol that came from fermentation?"


    "Trade secret, miss~." Kisuke smiled and started eating his food, "Oh, and by the way, this drink is a lot better if it''s ice cold."


    "Really? I''ll go get some ice!" Sry didn''t mind Kisuke answer as this is a normal response and ran towards the kitchen.


    Kisuke then puts his attention to Mia who is quietly drinking her c, "How is it?"


    "It''s good. Those who can''t drink alcohol would like this. Did you make this?"


    "Yep~!"


    "Then how about supplying this to our pub? Since I haven''t heard a drink like this, you probably haven''t supplied anyone with this. We can discuss the terms in ater time."


    Kisuke stopped eating for a moment and pretended to think hard about it before replying, "I don''t have a base of operation yet so maybe after that."


    Mia smiled and patted his shoulder happily, "Hahaha, that''s fine! Some of my loyal costumers are looking for a new addition on our menu and this drink will save us from all the troubles!"


    Before long, Sry returned with a bowl of ice and put it in front of Kisuke and Mia, "Why do you look disheveled?" Mia asked after noticing Syr''s crumpled clothes.


    "I let Anya drink it�� It was fun��" Syr replied with only that and Mia could only sigh after hearing that.


    With some chunks of ice, they were able to enjoy the c better. After some time, Kisuke finished his food and passed his payment to Mia, "And here are some more of that c. Share it with everyone and some of your good customers." Kisuke took out another three bottles of c from his robe.


    Mia stopped for a moment before smiling wryly, "So it''s your goal from the start to strike a deal with me�� However, it''s truly a good drink so I''ll be taking it." Mia thought that is his original goal as he readily pulled out more bottles of c.


    Kisuke only smiled at her and left the premise.


    .


    .


    .


    Near closing time, the patrons of the Hostess of Fertility started leaving and just as everyone is starting to clean up, a group entered the establishment, "Mia! Don''t close the pub yet!"


    Mia looked towards the neers as she wipes the sses clean, "Loki, it''s near closing time."


    With Loki are the top executives of her Familia, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and Ais, "Sorry about that. We just finished our meeting and we''re hungry. No one would cook thiste at night. And Ais-tan here just got out of the Dungeon too. We''ll treat everyone in the back too so please extend your time for a bit."


    Mia sighed and looked towards one of the waitresses which is an Elf, "Tell May to start the fire again." The Elf nodded and went to the kitchen.


    "Thanks~!"


    The Loki Familia''s food arrived after just a half-hour of waiting. Mia also instructed the waitresses to close the entrance to prevent others froming in.


    And since it''s the Loki Familia''s treat, The waitresses also gathered on the table nearby to enjoy their dinner. In the middle of it, Syr suddenly said something that caught everyone''s attention, "Mia, please bring that out!"


    The waitress with brown hair, eyes, cat ears and a tail of the same color instantly reacted, "The ck beer, nya!? No way, nya!"


    "Hmm? ck beer? Do you have new liquor, Mia?" Loki became interested.


    Mia took out the bottles that Kisuke left and set one on each table, "It''s not liquor. It''s just a strange fruit drink that I got hold today."


    Loki and Gareth suddenly lost interest when they heard it''s just a fruit drink while Riveria and Ais became interested. However, all of them are still curious about why would Mia call this a strange fruit drink.


    Syr, on the other hand, went to the kitchen to get some ice for everyone, while the Elf waitress took the empty sses from Mia''s counter and gave it to everyone.


    Syr returned with two bowls of ice, "It''s best served on ice." She then popped the cork of the bottle on their table after putting some ice in her ss and pour its contents in it. The small sizzling sound and bubbling appearance immediately attracted everyone''s attention.


    "Now I see why you would call this ck beer�� But are you sure it''s a fruit drink? It looks bitter��" Lokimented.


    "That''s not the case at all, Loki-sama. It is, in fact, very sweet." Syr then took a mouthful and carefully gulped it down.


    "H-how can you drink something like that, nya? My throat hurts every time I remembered when let me drink that, nya!" The cat person muttered.


    "Anya�� Syr is just messing around with you�� If you''re not used to it and just suddenly drink it, it''ll hurt your throat�� It also happened to Syr when the guy who brought it earlier didn''t warn her. Now that I think about it, that guy has a simr personality as Syr." Mia spoke as she continues cleaning the sses that she needs to store.


    "Mia�� You didn''t have to say that��" Syr pouted but still continued sipping on her c and eat her free dinner.


    "Hurts your throat? And you''re still drinking it?" Loki asked, but she''s not expecting for an answer as she did the same as Syr, pouring some of the c on sses with ice. Seeing the bubbling drink once again, Lokimented, "It really looks like beer minus its color." She then didn''t follow Syr''s example of drinking slowly and gulped it straight down.


    Mia knew that she would do this and smiled as she watches Loki tried her best to swallow her drink before coughing, "Hack! Ka! Ka! What the hell!?"


    "Are you okay?" Riveria passed her a ss of water. She and the rest of herpanions didn''t expect Loki to react like that as they knew that she''s used to strong drinks.


    Loki took the ss of water and replied, "I''m fine�� I was just caught off guard."

 Volume 6 294 - High Wifey Level

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 294 - High Wifey Level</h4>


    The five days Kisuke allocated for himself to explore the town of Orario was used up and left. After he went back, he spent another three days to prepare everything they needed to migrate.


    By now, the effects of the barrier that Kisuke put up is already almost useless and even Kuroka could already feel the effects of the world''s rejection.


    "Alright, everyone, take this." Kisuke gave each one of them candy in various colors.


    "What''s this?" Yoruichi asked as she inspects her yellow colored candy.


    "Eat it and it''ll adjust your microbiome to match of this world," Kisuke exined.


    "What will happen when we''re about to return to our world? Do we have to have another adjustment?" Sona didn''t hesitate and ate her blue colored candy.


    "It took extra care about it. Our microbiome would bepatible in both worlds so no need to worry about that."


    Of course, except for Yoruichi and Sona, they don''t understand how amazing that feat is, however, the two didn''t say anything about it as they just attributed with ''just Kisuke things'', "Why candies, though?"


    "It''s my upation~."


    "��"


    After taking the candy, everyone started preparing the luggage to bring and that didn''t take too long as they don''t have much, to begin with.


    Next is Kisuke gave them attires that would match this world. But instead of wearing it immediately, They all stared at the clothes he passed around. As Kisuke looked at them in wonderment, Yoruichi suddenly spoke, "He can sew��"


    "He can cook��" Sona followed.


    "He can clean��" And Medusa.


    "He can shop��" And Aika.


    "He can take care of us��" And Koneko.


    "His wifey level is beyond us, nya." Kuroka finished it.


    Kisuke scratched his head in embarrassment after hearing them, "Iya~�� My dream after bing a shopkeeper is to be a house husband. So this much is only a given."


    "Looks like I have to find work to support this family," Yoruichi muttered and everyone nodded in agreement. Whether they agree with Yoruichi working or they themselves working is unknown.


    "Ehem��Before we set out, allow me to remind everyone a few things. First, no use of spiritual abilities unless you can contain the resulting energy spread.


    "Second, no use of magic until we can properly deduce the system of magic they''re using."


    "Third, you''re only allowed to use passive scanning to watch your surroundings.


    "Fourth, once we arrived at the town, we''ll immediately join a Familia. Although I''m only 95% sure, joining a Familia would allow us to enter this world''s system and we can say goodbye to the world''s rejection."


    However, before Kisuke could continue, Aika raised her hand and Kisuke nodded in acknowledgment.


    "I assume that you already choose a God to join, but how did you choose? What''re your criteria?"


    "Most important of all is that she doesn''t have any member. Other points are that she''s trustworthy, her alignment is on the good side, andstly, she''s desperate for members."


    "Why do I have a feeling that it isn''t everything that you just said?"


    Kisuke staggered a bit andmended Aika''s intuition in his head, "Ehem�� There''s another thing�� The moment Iid my eyes on her, I ended up staring at her for a good few minutes��"


    "And how could she get the attention of the pervert like you?" Koneko squinted her eyes and looked at Kisuke.


    "Well�� Let''s just say that she one of the rarest archetypes in the world�� You''ll understand once you''ve seen her��" Kisuke feigned another cough and change the topic, "Anyway, moving on, the fifth point is you''re not allowed to use more than three times of a normal human''s strength. We have to hide our strength since we have to start as weak adventurers."


    "By the way, I''m just curious, nya. How did you gather this information, nya?" Kuroka suddenly asked.


    "How else? I observed her for three days."


    "�� So you stalked her for three days�� As expected of you." Yoruichi muttered.


    Everyone nodded in agreement.


    Kisuke ignored them and continued, "And thest thing you need to remember is if you feel that you''re in danger or you''re caught off-guard and you had to defend yourself�� Fuck hiding your strength! Start by destroying the threat with full force!"


    After hearing hisst reminder, everyone smiled and simultaneously shouted, "Gotcha~!"


    Since Kisuke already passed them the knowledge for this world''snguage, they immediately set out towards the town. Before leaving, Kisuke put up a concealing and warding barrier over their temporary lodging.


    .


    .


    Once they arrived in the town, except for Kisuke, everyone acted like they''re some country bumpkin and they immediately attracted most of the people''s attention, especially men. However, before they can approach the group of beauties, who obviously don''t know much about this ce, they were deterred when Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa let out a bit of their killing intent.


    "Oh�� I forgot one more thing." Kisuke suddenly spoke, "If you feel a gazeing from the top of that tower, be sure not to look. A peepingdy is over there and I don''t really wanna mess with her now. She shouldn''t be attracted to us because of the bracelets that I give you masks your real souls."


    Everyone nodded at him. And just a few minutes, they really felt a gazeing from the tower passing through them but it was only for an instant. If they didn''t hear about Kisuke''s warning earlier, they would really look at the gaze''s origin.


    With a goal in mind, Kisuke led them to a certain part of town where almost all of the buildings are abandoned and arrived at an abandoned church.


    ''Since it''s still early in the morning, she should still be here.'' Kisuke thought. As they reach the entrance of the church, Kisuke shouted, "Excuse me, Hestia-sama! Are you around?"


    "Wait for a moment! I''ming out!" A voice from the inside.


    "I wonder what she looks like that you had to stalk her for three days?" Sona asked curiously.


    "I observed her, not stalked. There''s a big difference in that��" Kisuke corrected her.


    "If it''s you, those two words are just the same when targeted towards women." Aika corrected him.


    Just as Kisuke about to protest, a small figure came running towards them, "Sorry for the wait, human-kun. What do you need?"


    As she approaches, three people from Kisuke''s group instantly reacted, namely Aika, Koneko, and Sona, "This is injustice!"


    "What''s wrong with them?" The small figure asked Kisuke.


    "They''rementing theirck of harvest. Don''t mind them. They''ll get over it after a few minutes." Kisuke grinned. This is the reaction he''s expecting from them. He doesn''t really care whether they''re bountiful or bare but that won''t stop him from poking fun on them. Besides, he''s in ass and thigh faction. However, messing with them is one of the criteria to choose Hestia to be their patron God.

 Volume 6 295 - Hestia

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 295 - Hestia</h4>


    Hestia is a beautiful and petite Goddess with a youthful appearance. She has blue eyes and mid-thigh length ck hair tied into two twin tails which reach down to her mid-thighs. Her hair is tied with hair essories that feature blue and white petals along with bell-shaped ornaments. She has a small frame (4'' 7"), which further emphasizes her breasts, hence the nickname "Loli Big-boobs." Her usual attire is a white mini dress with a blue ribbon around her neck and one tied under her breasts around her arms, and a pair of white gloves.


    ''Now I understand why he said she''s one of the rare archetypes�� a Loli Big-boobs�� And that attire�� That ribbon�� it''s beyond amazing��'' Everyone thought.


    "Allow me to introduce myself first. I''m Kisuke Urahara. It''s a pleasure to meet you." Kisuke asked for a handshake and Hestia took it. "And from my right is Yoruichi Shihouin, Kuroka, and Medusa. And those who are in the ground are Sona Sitri, Koneko Toujo, and Aika Kiryuu."


    "Nice to meet you too~! My name''s Hestia. Now that is out of the way, Mind telling me why are you looking for me, Kisuke-kun? If it''s going to take long, then can we discuss itter? I still have to go to my part-time job." Hestia went straight to the topic.


    "Even if it means all of us wanting to join your Familia?" Kisuke grinned.


    "Let''s take all the time we need!" Hestia shouted. But secondter, she realized something and held her head, "Crap!!! We don''t have a ce to discuss!"


    "You don''t have to worry about that Hestia-sama. Since no one is around, we can also discuss here."


    "But��" Hestia hesitated as she looks around the dirty abandoned church. She didn''t want her chances to get her first Familia members reduced. She already failed thirty-nine times!


    "It''s fine. You only need to answer a question and we''ll discuss everythingter at a better ce that I''ll provide."


    "You have a house?"


    "Yep~!" Kisuke answered, ''In the middle of a forest.'' He already knew about the Gods'' ability to discern the lies of those from the lower world. He doesn''t know if that also applies to them but considering that these Gods are already alive for countless years, seeing through him shouldn''t be impossible for them, no matter how careful he bes.


    Hestia reimed herposure and stood straight up and emitted the dignity of a God, however, to everyone''s eyes, her petite stature only makes her cute instead of dignified, "Very well. Ask it, Kisuke-kun. What do you want to know?"


    Kisuke looked into her eyes and his expression became serious, "Are you willing to keep a secret? Willing enough to protect our secret even if others threaten to destroy you��"


    Hestia''s expression also became serious, but instead of answering his question, she asked her own question, "Why did youe to me?"


    Kisuke didn''t hesitate to answer, "Because I genuinely thought that you can provide us what we need."


    "Are you admitting that you''re here to use me?"


    "Yes."


    That simple concise answer caught Hestia a bit off-guard. She tried to find any traces of lying but she can only see determination bordering madness in his eyes which made her shock yet again, "Why are you going so far?"


    A sudden jumped in question, but Kisuke knew that Hestia just saw through him and answered her truthfully, "It is to protect these girls�� Who I consider my family."


    The girls behind him couldn''t help but smile gently at him after hearing his answer and Hestia couldn''t find any traces of falsification from them. And aside from gentleness, although in differing degrees from each of them, all of them has the same determined expression to support the man in front of them.


    Hestia sighed. Although it seemed like their very casual, as a Goddess who already lived for millions of years, she already saw most of the world and can see through their veil of casualness, ''For family, huh��''


    "After confirming your resolution, my authority over hearth, home, and family wouldn''t allow me to refuse you. I wee you to the Hestia Familia�� though it''s only me right now��" Talking about her authority, her real demeanor as a Goddess surfaced without the trace of earlier childishness, "However, I have to warn you, Kisuke-kun. You''re already bordering madness and it''s possible for you to descend into something terrifying anytime. What makes you think that you''ll be able to keep yourself?"


    Kisuke smiled with confidence, "It''s because I''ve been always this way and I doubt I''ll ever change." Kisuke has always been carrying his madness from his previous world his and Yoruichi''s original world. Although the nature of this madness has change when he and Yoruichi got together, it won''t ever disappear. A man who would do reckless things like it''s the most obvious thing to do for his goal.


    Hestia held her aching head as she confirmed yet again that he''s not lying. Heaving another sigh, Hestia asked, "So, Kisuke-kun�� Are you going to tell me your secret now? Or should I give you my Falna first?"


    Kisuke then took out a pouch full of coins and passed it to Hestia, "Please show everyone around."


    "��Hah?"


    "It''s their first time here."


    While confused, a shadow suddenly jumped on Hestia and grabbed her arm, "Now, Hestia-sama! Please show us the good ces!" Aika already set aside her regret as she wanted to explore the town as soon as possible.


    "E-eh?"


    Koneko also approached her and said, "I want to taste the local snacks."


    "I want to take a look at the local ingredients." Medusa followed.


    "E-eh? Why all about food?"


    "Then I want to visit the Dungeon." Sona also stated her desire.


    Hestia then looked towards the remaining two, Kuroka and Yoruichi, "What about you two?"


    They both looked at each other and grinned. Ever since hearing Kisuke''s story about the town, they''ve been wanting to visit a ce to gather some funds, "The casino!"


    "Ehh!?"


    The girls dragged Hestia and went away, leaving only Kisuke behind, "Now then, let''s start�� The other side is Hestia-sama''s room, so let''s use the other side."


    .


    .


    When the girls returned, a whole day already went by and Hestia is already being carried by Yoruichi on her back because she''s already too tired.


    As they approach the abandoned church, they saw Kisuke weing them, "Thank you for the hard work, Hestia-sama~!"


    Hestia got down and stood straight up, "Ehem�� As long as you join my Familia! And? What are you up to the whole day, Kisuke-kun?"


    "I said I''ll prepare a ce for us to talk properly, right?"


    "And you prepared it? Where should we go?"


    Kisuke grinned and said, "Please follow me."


    Hestia became confused when she saw him entering the abandoned church. However, when she saw others following him, she also did the same saving her question forter.


    They arrived at the opposite side where Hestia''s room in the basement which was provided by Hephaestus after she kicked her out and saw stairs going downwards, "Huh? Has there been a staircase on this side all this time? Why didn''t I noticed it?"


    Kisuke didn''t speak and went down and everyone kept following him. More and more questions surfaced on Hestia''s mind but still chose to save it forter.


    When they reached the end of the staircase after walking for about fifty meters, they were greeted by a wall, "A dead-end�� Is this the ce you''re talking about? It''s a bit cramped�� Why don''t we move to my room?"


    Still not replying to her, Kisuke put his palm on the wall and suddenly, a wall appeared behind them and shocked the heck out of Hestia, "What''s happening!?" They then felt the room move downwards.


    Hestia kept asking questions but nobody is answering her and it''s starting to make her nervous, ''What are they nning to do?''


    A few minutester, the room stopped moving and the wall that Kisuke touched suddenly moved to the side, revealing the other side.


    Once Hestia saw this, she couldn''t help but ask while nkly staring, "Did a God of Earth used his Arcanum here?"

 Volume 6 296 - A Dream... Not

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 296 - A Dream�� Not</h4>


    "Did a God of Earth used his Arcanum here?" Hestia asked in a stupefied manner after witnessing the one cubic kilometer, well lit, underground space with various rock formations in it.


    "That didn''t happen, Hestia-sama�� It''s just this guy''s strange impulse to create a secret underground base wherever he is." Yoruichi exined to her from behind.


    "Nonono! Even if you such a strange impulse, it''s impossible to dig this much earth in a short amount of time!" Hestia, of course, protested at the exnation that didn''t exin anything. She''s very sure that a God just released his Godly Powers in here as that''s the only possible way to create this space.


    "I wanted to expand it further but it seems that it''ll be too much for now and I''ll hit the space around the Dungeon on the eastern side which is weird. I expanded the space westward so I can create an entrance outside of Orario." Kisuke muttered for everyone to hear it.


    "Why are you trying to sound like you''re the one who did this!?" Hestia shouted. Since everyone else is already used to this and most of the Mythical Factions in their previous world can do something simr, they didn''t mind this space. However, they do pity the poor Goddess as her understanding of the world was about to get overturned. And the worst one who could do so is Kisuke with his strange, even for them, creations.


    "Before everything else��" Kisuke ignored Hestia for now and set up his final preparations for this secret base. He raised both of his arms and from them, severalplicated magic circles manifested in thin air with the smallest of being one meter in diameter while thergest being two meters in diameter.


    "Hmmm�� Controlling the Mana directly is indeed hard, so this will take some time." Kisuke spoke to others.


    "How long are you talking about exactly?" Sona asked.


    "Two minutes."


    "That''s not much time then, nya!" Kuroka wanted to kick him.


    Sona fixed her sses to get a better look at the magic circles that Kisuke is manipting, "We Devils have innate ability to control magic with just our minds and wills, but seeing this amazing disy, I couldn''t help but think about the legendary mage, Merlin who adapted our magic for general use�� Now that I think about it, I should stop relying on my innate ability and start studying magic seriously."


    For the duration of two minutes, Hestia couldn''t hear any discussioning from behind her and could only stare at what is Kisuke doing with a nk expression, ''So this is a dream�� And here I thought that I''ll finally have my own Familia, but it turns out I''m just dreaming. If not for this ridiculous scene of multiple no chant magic spreading in front of me, I wouldn''t have noticed! Hestia�� It''s time to wake up. You still have to go to work.'' And from then, Hestia kept trying to ''wake herself up''.


    Kisuke finished setting up multiple barriers that will protect and conceal this underground base. He then turned around and noticed that Hestia is mumbling to herself with her eyes closed, ''This Goddess is seriously thinking that this is a dream? It looks like our abilities were more ridiculous than we thought. We have to be careful more.''


    When Hestia opened her eyes again, she saw another unfamiliar scene and said, "Eh? I''m still dreaming? I''ll bete for my work if this goes on��"


    Seeing this as a chance, Yoruichi suddenly pinched both of her cheeks and pulled it, "Hestia-sama�� It''s time for you to stop daydreaming. We still have a lot to talk about~."


    "Ow ow ow! It hurts!��" Hestia then realized something, "Wait�� It hurts!? Why!? Is this not a dream!?"


    "It''s not." Everyone replied to her question.


    "��" Hestia looked at everyone who has a grinning expression and cold sweat started to appear on her back, "It''s not?"


    "It''s not~!"


    Hestia then mmed the table in front of her in agitation, "Then how is that possible!?�� Ow ow ow��"


    "Remember what we agreed on earlier? You have to keep our secrets~." Kisuke reminded her.


    While nursing her hands, Hestia swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "I was so sure that you got some troublesome past or some wanted criminals that you wanted to hide in Orario��"


    "Ahaha~ There''s also that, but there are much more~."


    "��Did I bite more than I can chew?"


    Kisuke gave her his brightest smile and said, "You can''t spit it out~."


    .


    .


    .


    "Ehem�� So in summary, you came from a farawaynd and was identally expelled from it. And now that you arrive at Orario, you immediately noticed that there is something different about the way you use magic and came looking for a God that will help you adapt to this strangend while also keeping your secrets. Did I get all of that right?" Hestia shortly narrated what she heard from Kisuke.


    "Yep~."


    "Although you''re still hiding a lot of things."


    "Yep~."


    "�� Seriously�� You''re troublesome�� You don''t lie but you also don''t tell the whole truth�� You might as well be lying!"


    "So you''re going back to words?"


    "Of course not! On the contrary, I''ll be happy to have children like you! We Gods came down to the Lower World because of eternal boredom! So unique children like you are weed by every Gods! More like, every God will try to fight to acquire you! So even if you don''t tell me to keep your secret, I''ll keep it and ask you to keep it from others as well so that I can keep you for myself!"


    "Pretty blunt, aren''t you, Hestia-sama?" Yoruichi chuckled and continued, "But you''re in for another surprise."


    "What? More secrets? Bring it on! Something like that is food for my wellbeing!" Hestia, however, will regret ever saying that.


    "Let me introduce myself and others again. I''m Kisuke Urahara, this is Yoruichi Shihouin and this is Aika Kiryuu. We''re humans."


    Hestia nodded, "Wait, human? Yoruichi-kun is not an Amazoness but a human? I see�� So five of you are humans and two are cat people."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi only grinned and Kisuke continued his introduction, "This is Kuroka Tojou and Shirone Tojo. You can call theter by her nickname, Koneko. And both of them are Nekomata�� More specifically, Nekoshous, a tribe from the Nekomata family."


    Kuroka and Koneko were both shocked when they heard Kisuke and looked at each other. The next moment, however, they both smiled happily and choose to quietly ept it. Although they really wanted to tell Kisuke that he should remind them first before saying anything like that.


    "Nekomata? They''re clearly cat people�� What are you�� talking�� about? Eh?" In the middle of her sentence, Kuroka and Koneko showed her their multiple tails.


    Not letting her process everything yet, Kisuke continued, "This is Medusa, a being of Mana. But the closest definition of her I found in the books is a spirit."


    "��Eh?"


    "And finally, this is Sona Sitri�� A Devil."


    "������Eh?"

 Volume 6 297 - Released From Their Shackles

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 297 - Released From Their Shackles</h4>


    "������Eh?" Hestia''s mind stopped working.


    "Oi~. Hestia-sama? Are you still there?" Kisuke waved his hand in front of her nk eyes.


    Hestia woke up from that but she attributed what she heard and saw earlier as hallucinations. However, when she rubbed her eyes and looked at Kuroka''s three tails and Koneko''s two tails, "Why did you attach more tails?"


    "They''re real, nya~!" Kuroka swayed her three tails and Koneko did the same.


    "Although they''re simr to the cat people, they''re fundamentally different. That''s all I can say."


    "Ugh��" Hestia held her aching head and choose not to think much about it and moved to the next one, "I heard you called her a spirit earlier, but all of the spirits already disappeared for unknown reasons since ancient times. Besides, spirits should have distinct aura different from everyone!"


    Without a word, Medusa then released the aura she''s hiding and the Mana in her surroundings became heavier.


    "W-What!? Is she really a spirit!? Wait�� Although they''re rare, it not something to be shocked about. Dammit, I reacted before I can even process what I heard."


    Kisuke didn''t mind Hestia''s reaction and continued, "Well, not exactly, but something simr."


    "��Ugh!" Hestia held her head again and choose not to think about it for now and also moving to thest one, "She''s a Devil? What''s a Devil?"


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a bit, "Hmmm�� Let''s see�� Also simr to the spirits, however, they have flesh and blood."


    "��Right�� I don''t understand!" Hestia gave up.


    "In other words, they''re spirits that can procreate with other races," Kisuke exined further.


    "That''s more ridiculous than normal spirits then!!!" Hestia wanted to hit her head on the table but she hates pain. But then, she pumped her fist, "Yosh! I got the right reaction!"


    ''What a weird person��'' Everyone thought.


    "With our introductions done, please take care of us~."


    Hestia wanted to cry. She did tell them that secrets can make her happy, but only if limited to things that can be exined. She got way more than what she bargained for.


    "Gah!!! Dammit! Fine! Let''s get this over with! Line up! I''ll give you my Falna!!!" Hestia gave up entirely, but deep inside her, unprecedented excite rose and heat up her body. Despite getting more what she asked for, she looking forward to the future and what sort of story can these children bring her.


    "Wait, before that." Kisuke stopped the excited Hestia and looked towards Kuroka and Koneko, "Let''s remove that thing inside you first."


    .


    .


    .


    The next morning arrived and Kisuke came out of theboratory he built in the western part of the underground base along with Kuroka and Koneko who both have a noticeably weaker aura but a relieved expression.


    Last night, Kisuke removed the Evil Pieces in their body and restored their original body. Although they got weaker, they felt light as the restrictive feeling that they don''t even know suddenly disappeared. It''s as if they''re breathing heavily polluted air and then suddenly teleporting to ce with clean air. The difference is very big.


    Koneko has some hesitation as she will be essentially betraying Rias but Kisuke reminded her that due to the nature of the technique she''s using, it''ll only hold her back if they don''t remove it sooner. So after some careful thinking, she agreed to Kisuke proposition.


    "Good morning~." The rest are already having their breakfast when they arrived.


    "Good morning~." With the rest greeting them, Medusa prepared another three sets of food for the neers.


    "What did you? And seems to be different today." Hestia asked as she looks towards the two Nekomatas.


    Kisuke sat down on the table and started eating the food served to him, "I just released them from their shackles."


    "Hmmm�� Well, I won''t ask further. Although I already epted your strangeness, I still can''t take multiple surprises so please let me rest for a bit before dropping another bomb." Hestia resumed eating the hearty breakfast that she didn''t have for a while. And then remembering something, she asked, "By the way, I could have given my Falna to others first. Why didn''t you allow? Are you minding about the order of granting? You don''t have to worry about that as all Falna is just the same."


    "Nope. Not that. I just don''t want to have an ident."


    Hestia froze as a bad premonition struck her after hearing Kisuke''s words, "Not letting me rest, huh��"


    After their breakfast, everyone gathered in the center of the base. On it is arge magic circle written on the ground for the purpose of energy containment but will still allow the outside force to affect what''s inside. In the middle of that magic circle is arge bed where Hestia will give her Falna to everyone. Kisuke already knew the process due to his prior investigation and put that bed.


    Undressing his top, Kisukeid down on her chest and Hestia proceeded to sit on his back.


    Seeing this, Aika immediately took out her smartphone which is still with her to check the time and finally found a good use for it. Opening the camera app, she took a photo of both Hestia and Kisuke, "Kisuke getting a massage from a Loli-Big-boobs." She muttered softly. But everyone beside Hestia heard her.


    Kisuke''s mouth twitched when she heard him and her camera clicking but didn''t speak up as he needed to focus the gamble he''s making as he isn''tpletely sure if he can really ept the Goddess'' blessing.


    Hestia removed the glove on her right hand and pricked her index with a needle to let her blood out. She then started writing something on his back and a soft light emerged from it.


    While she''s doing this, Kisuke is focusing on the thing she''s writing and the movements of energy in his surroundings. A few secondster, he suddenly felt spiritual energying from above and connected to Hestia and then to Kisuke. Just as the spiritual energy made contact with Kisuke''s own Reiatsu-Ki, it became extremely vtile and both of them weren''t able to react.


    When the two energy shed, a small shockwave knocked Hestia, "Wha--!"


    However, Yoruichi was able to get behind her and sessfully caught her, "Are you okay, Hestia-sama?"


    Hestia immediately nodded, "I''m okay! What about Kisuke-kun!?" She didn''t expect that her Falna will suddenly react that way and is worried that she might have hurt Kisuke.


    "He''s fine," Yoruichi reassured her and helped her stand up.


    Kisuke also stood up and instead of talking with others, he started rubbing his chin and entered a deep contemtion. Hestia heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that, "What happened? Why did my Falna reject him?" She asked, but nobody could answer her question. But it seems that Kisuke is thinking of something and decided to stay quiet for now and wait for him.


    Kisuke stayed quiet for the whole ten minutes before sighing and looking towards Hestia, "Hestia-sama, I''m sorry for what happened earlier, but could you try giving me your Falna again?"


    "I''m fine with that�� But are you alright?"


    "Yep. I''m pretty sturdy so you don''t have to worry. However, you may have to try it multiple times before we could seed."

 Volume 6 298 - An Invitation

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 298 - An Invitation</h4>


    Hestia and Kisuke did it for another five times but they also failed five times. Each time Hestia and Kisuke fail, Kisuke would use a longer time to contemte. After the fifth time, Kisuke spent an hour in deep contemtion.


    Kisuke sighed and looked towards Hestia, "Hestia-sama, let''s postpone this for now."


    Hestia nodded in agreement, "Alright. I''m pretty tired too��"


    "I just have one request to make."


    "What is it?"


    "May I have a bit of your blood?"


    Hestia frowned and asked, "Where are you going to use it?"


    "To help me ept your Falna," Kisuke answered.


    Hestia sighed in relief after hearing him say the truth. She has to be careful where her blood goes as there are not good uses for it like the Status Thief, "Here, take some." Hestia gave her hand which already flowing with some blood after poking a needle to it.


    "Thanks, ~." Kisuke took out a pipette and used it to grab some of her blood and put it on a small bottle before sealing it, "Well then. I don''t know when I''lle out, but for now, enjoy yourselves." He then started walking towards hisboratory to start his research.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke only came out the morning after a week went by and he noticed that no one is around. In the duration of a week, Kisuke already returned to his original attire, green-themed shihakushou, white and green stripe bucket hat, wooden sandals, and toplete it, his cane with a hidden de, ''Whichever world am I, this is the mostfortable attire for me. But wearing this again makes me want to set up my candy store��''


    Since everyone is out, he decided to go out too to get some fresh air. Once he got out, he immediately noticed the mark Yoruichi left that is only detectable by him and would expire after a month has passed. Kisuke can tell how long has the mark been sitting so he choose to follow the most recent one.


    Following the mark slowly, he enjoyed the scenery and bought some snacks for himself. And since he''s already running low on funds, he went and gathered some from ''kind souls''.


    After an hour of wandering around, he finally caught up with Yoruichi, but it''s only Hestia who''s with her and the short but bombastic Goddess is currently arguing with a tall but aerodynamic Goddess.


    Such contrasting attributes made Kisuke stopped his steps for a moment.


    "Chibi! Are you eating properly? I got a bit worried when I heard that Hephaestus kicked out the freeloading Goddess~!" The t Goddess grinned at her.


    Hestia only smirked at her and made hereback, "Why are you worrying about me, Loki? Shouldn''t I be the one asking you that? Are you eating properly? You haven''t grown at all! I can see that they''re still as dested as ever!"


    "What was that!?" Loki snapped. Then they started their brawl that looks so childish. Kisuke is amazed that despite rolling on the ground, they''re not getting any dirt on them, ''I see�� So this what they mean when they said that the Divines are pure.''


    Yoruichi and Loki''spanions has to grab both of them to stop their fight, "Ais-tan, unhand me! I have to teach this poor Goddess a lesson!"


    "Yoruichi-kun, release me! I have to give this t Goddess some pounding!"


    "Who are you calling t!?"


    "Who are you calling poor!?"


    The two of them still went on despite being held back. Kisuke then decided to approach Yoruichi and Hestia''s side, "What''s going on?"


    Yoruichi already knew that Kisuke is around due to the smell that only she could detect and said, "They bumped into each other and started arguing."


    "So they''re good friends��" Kisukemented.


    "They''re good friends��" Yoruichi agreed.


    " "Who''re good friends!?" " The two Goddesses stopped and shouted towards Yoruichi and Kisuke in protest.


    "Now, now. Calm down. If you don''t, it''ll look like you two are getting along."


    " "We''re not getting along!" " Both of them shouted at Kisuke again.


    "See?"


    " "Ugh!" " And they reacted the same. Noticing that, they both red at each other before doing the same thing, looking away and snorting, "Hmmph!"


    Two of Loki''spanions wanted tough at this scene but tried their best to stop. Contrary to that, however, Yoruichi didn''t stop herself from giggling.


    "Yoruichi-kun!? This isn''t funny!" Hestia protested.


    "Tione, Tiona! I dare you tough!" Loki also did the same.


    Loki tapped the golden-haired girl''s arm which is holding her and she was released. Looking back to Hestia, she gave her another snort and ignored her to inspect the two people who''re with her.


    Looking towards Yoruichi, Loki was a bit surprised that Hestia was able to invite an Amazoness. It''s known that the only ce where an Amazoness coulde from is Telskyura and all those who left their country are at least Level 2s.


    Yoruichi noticed Loki''s inquisitive gaze and understood what she''s thinking. After all, by going around the town, she kept being mistaken as an Amazoness due to her skin color, "I''m not an Amazoness, Goddess-sama."


    Loki was surprised along with the other two Amazoness.


    "I came from a n that has this skin color. It''s an elusive n so we kept being mistaken as Amazoness despite having male members in our family." Yoruichi exined.


    "I see��" Loki couldn''t detect any lie from her and believed her, "Either way, so you''re this chibi''s new Familia members��"


    "Yoruichi Shihouin. Nice to meet you." Yoruichi introduced herself.


    Still, Loki couldn''t settle down when she looks at her. She has a feeling that there is something else about her, ''The chibi got lucky and got someone interesting��'' She then transferred her attention to the new person in eastern clothing. However, the moment sheid her eyes on him, her eyes shown and said, "You, I don''t know what this chibi offered you, but I''ll triple it! Join my Familia!"


    When Loki looked into Kisuke''s eyes, she felt like she found arade and decided to invite him. Herpanions became shocked when she suddenly invited an unknown man. It would be more understandable if she invited a cute girl due to her interest, but to invite a man instead and not going through an interview or background check, it''s an impossibility if they were to base it on their understanding of Loki.


    "Hah!? What did you say!? Are you actually poaching my members in front of me!? Yoruichi-kun, release me! I''ll end her!" Hestia immediately protested. Deep inside her, she''s panicking that Kisuke might actually ept her offer.


    Loki ignored Hestia and just stared at Kisuke''s eyes.


    Kisuke was also surprised by this but he just smiled and took out his fan to cover half of his face, "I''m really ttered by your invitation, Loki-sama, but I already promised Hestia-sama and I''m not very keen on breaking my promises."


    Loki sighed and started to walk away, "Well, that''s a shame then. However, if you change your mind, I can ept you anytime~." The three people with her then followed her in a hurry.


    "Thank you~.", Just as Kisuke about to leave with Yoruichi and Hestia, he suddenly felt someone staring at him and looked towards the source of that gaze. He then saw a golden-haired girl intensely staring at him. Just as he''s wondering what''s up, Kisuke thought that Loki''spanions seem familiar and a secondter, he finally remembered, ''Aren''t they the group where I tossed one of them?�� Did she recognized me?''


    Kisuke then signalled Yoruichi to walk towards the opposite without minding her, ''I can always deny it.''


    .


    .


    .


    "Loki, why did you suddenly invited him?" Tione asked curiously. She and the others still couldn''t think of any reason she would invite him.


    "I just felt that he could be a good general in the future," Loki answered. However, they still couldn''t understand her reasoning and she didn''t have to exin it further. She then noticed Ais in deep thought and asked, "What''s wrong, Ais-tan?"


    Staring forward, she answered after a few seconds of thinking, "It feels like I''ve seen him before�� But I couldn''t tell where��"

 Volume 6 299 - Gods, Falna, and Adventurers

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 299 - Gods, Falna, and Adventurers</h4>


    "Where are the rest?" Kisuke asked as they walk back to the abandoned church.


    "Kuroka, Koneko, and Aika are going around gathering information about the daily life here in Orario while Sona and Medusa are gathering information on cuisines avable here," Yoruichi answered.


    "��Hey�� Kisuke-kun��" Hestia then suddenly called out to Kisuke after staying quiet for the good half of the trip.


    "Hmm?"


    "Are you sure not epting Loki''s offer? I think she can give you more than me who has nothing to offer aside from my Falna��"


    Kisuke looked at her for a few seconds before looking forward again, "If we join a top group just like that, we''ll attract more attention than we wanted. We wanted to adapt and gaining everyone''s gaze isn''t good. Another thing is a lot of people would know our secrets. In big groups like that, there are bound to be one or two spies for other Familias and even if there''s actually none, I still wouldn''t be able to believe it. And most important of all, just like what I said to her, I already promised you."


    Hestia stared at Kisuke for a few seconds before painting her face with a big smile, "Is that so~? You''re a better guy than I thought~! Ehehehe."


    Kisuke only chuckled in response to that. A few minutester, they reached the abandoned church and Kisuke and Yoruichi checked their surroundings first before entering their underground hideout. Instead of going to the Japanese mansion, they immediately went to the center of the hideout and set the barriers again for Hestia to grant Kisuke her Falna again.


    But before they actually started, Kisuke faced Yoruichi and asked, "Did you do your own investigation?"


    Instead of answering him, Yoruichi just passed him a small notebook from her pocket. Kisuke looked through it and it''s the information on adventurers that even the Guild doesn''t have. Yoruichi got all of this by infiltrating the small Familias and copied their records regarding their members. This is a piece of important information for Kisuke as this can confirm some of his hypotheses regarding the nature of Falna and the Gods in general, "I see�� So that''s really how it works��"


    "What did you found out?" Yoruichi asked curiously and Hestia also looked towards him to hear what he''s going to say.


    But before he answered, Kisuke first reminded Hestia, "Hestia-sama. What you''re about to hear is just a rumbling of a mad man so you don''t have to take me seriously. However, I would like to ask you somethingter and do something about it. I would also like for you to keep what you''ll be hearing a secret."


    ''Rambling of a mad man? Yet you want me to keep it secret?'' Despite her doubts, Hestia nodded her head in agreement.


    "First of all, based on the result of my short research�� Let''s see�� To exin it easier, Tenkai could be likened to a Cloud Service while the Gods serve as the Servers�� Well, that''s not the whole story but that''s the closes analogy I could think of."


    "Cloud Service? Servers?" Hestia asked in confusion. However, Kisuke didn''t entertain her question as he continued his exnation to Yoruichi, "The Tenkai that hosts and links all the Gods and the Gods that manages all the data. Then the children of the Lower World who receive their blessing or Falna are the End Users."


    "Which means, the Falna serves as the connection between the Serves and End Users." Yoruichi understood what Kisuke is trying to say, "How does that strengthen the Adventurers?"


    "Hmm�� Just think of it as actions like fighting, crafting, and many more as gathering data for the Servers and the Servers will reward them the processed data which will be embedded to the Adventurer''s soul and body. However, this is only effective if a Server or a God is connected to an Adventurer. Once they lost that connection, their status will be dormant, although this can be reactivated if the Adventurer manages to get his connection back to the Cloud, in other words, receive a Falna again."


    Yoruichi furrowed her brows and asked, "Why would it need to be dormant if you already have it?"


    "I''m not really sure�� But if I would have to guess, it''s because the Gods themselves are the one processing the Adventurer''s abilities."


    "What do you mean?"


    Instead of answering Yoruichi, Kisuke asked, "What do you think about the information that you just gave me?"


    Yoruichi contemted for a minute before giving her answer, "Magic�� Skill�� Developmental Abilities�� They''re too limited�� And the way it''s learned, it''s too easy. As if this is an RPG where you can get a new spell by just leveling up."


    Kisuke smiled, "Exactly~."


    "Wait! I haven''t been able to follow what you two are talking about, but skill acquisition, isn''t it normal this way?" Hestia suddenly interjected.


    Kisuke then faced Hestia, "Remembered my magicst time?"


    "��Y-yeah�� More than three magics and all at the same time�� Isn''t that a unique skill?" Hestia replied and that''s what she firmly believes even after introducing to her a unique race and inability to receive Falna. She thought that the God who gave him Falna before did something special.


    "Nope~. I learned all of that by myself�� And by the way, I never received a Falna in my whole life."


    "What!? That''s impossible!" This gave Hestia another shock.


    "From the ce where we came from, nobody did��"


    "��You''re kidding��" Hestia then started staring into the distance.


    "Nope~."


    Hestia held her head and pulled her hair a little bit as she shouted in frustration, "What the hell!? Did you guys came from another world or something!?"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi immediately looked at each other and seamlessly resumed their conversation to avoid answering that question, "Ehem�� In other words, if you severed your connection with God, as an Adventurer, you''ll lose someone processing your abilities."


    "I see��" Yoruichi muttered, ''If this is the case, then it''s understandable that people of this world would be very dependent on God''s Falna instead of developing their own technology and magic. Due to this world''s Mana''s vtility, they have no choice but to focus on Falna to fight monsters that threaten to kill them��''


    Kisuke knew that Yoruichi came up with her own conclusion and didn''t further borate. He instead looked towards Hestia, who is muttering to herself about the world she knew, "Hestia-sama, about the thing I wanted to know��"


    "��Yes?"


    "Is Falna always have been this way? From a thousand years ago��"


    Hestia was forcefully forced out of her self questioning to think about his answer, "A thousand years ago�� Right, I heard that there is a different version of Falna a thousand years ago�� However, almost all of those who received it failed to learn any magic or skill."


    ''Bingo~.''

 Volume 6 300 - Status

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 300 - Status</h4>


    "Can you perhaps perform that Falna?" Kisuke asked.


    "Hmm�� I heard from the guys in Tenkai how to do it and it''s a lot more simple than today''s Falna." Hestia replied after thinking for a few minutes, "Do you want me to do it to you instead of a normal Falna?"


    "Yep~. Let''s start~." Kisuke then proceeds toy down on the bed after reactivating the barriers that will keep the energy fluctuations from going outside.


    Hestia has some doubts but she still followed what Kisuke wants. Although she has many questions, she can tell that he''s doing all of this for hispanions and couldn''t find any malicious intentions from him. Hestia sat back on Kisuke''s back and did the same thing as before, but this time, she wrote a much simpler rune on his back.


    On Kisuke''s side, he again felt the spiritual energy descending from above andnding on him, but this time, it isn''t the same intrusive feeling he''s feeling back then, ''So I''m right�� That intrusive spiritual energy governs the skill acquisition.''


    This time, instead of directly entering his soul, the spiritual energy started enveloping his soul while also gathering it to his heart. However, due to his strong soul and it''s actually melded to his body, the spiritual energy failed topress it and another small explosion happened, "Kya!!"


    Yoruichi appeared Hestia caught her again, "Still not possible?" She asked.


    Kisuke stood up and tried to recall the feeling from earlier, "�� I think I got it now�� Hestia-sama, one more time."


    "Okay."


    They then repeated the process and when the spiritual energy started moving his soul again, he helped the energypress it, however, he didn''t let any of his Reiatsu-Ki to be trapped. Once his soul went into his heart, the Hougyoku reacted and started devouring some of the spiritual energy that came from above.


    Kisuke only watched when this happened. He wanted to know what the Hougyoku would be doing but to his disappointment, aside from eating a bit of the spiritual energy, it did nothing else. Once his soul settled in his heart, the spiritual energy started creating connections from it towards the physical body and outside world. The world''s mana started gushing in and used this connection to nourish his soul which he didn''t expect. And the nourished soul started supplying Mana to different parts of his physical body essentially strengthening it without even getting on a sh with his Reiatsu-Ki.


    A light signifying the sess of Falna shined and settled after a second. Hestia sighed in relief and read his status.


    Level 1


    STR: I 50


    VIT: I 50


    DEX: I 50


    AGI: I 50


    MAG: I 50


    The first thing that Hestia noticed is that there are nobels for any skill or magic and his too bnced status. She still doesn''t know what he''s capable of so he didn''t think much about it and the absence of skill and magic matches of what she heard from her friend about the first version of Falna. Hestia then got a piece of paper that is already prepared earlier andid it on Kisuke''s back which is now covered by her own symbol. With a single gesture, she copied his status and tranted it to thenguage that everyone knew from thenguage of Gods.


    "Here it is�� It''s more normal than I imagined�� But are you fine not having any skill or magic? You can''t learn anything normally with that Falna you know."


    Kisuke took a look at his status andpared it to the current status of his body. First of all, It didn''t take into ount the real status of his body and his other energy reserves. What''s only written here is the amount of Manaing from outside and nourishing the body through the soul. Although he didn''t expect it, it seems that he''s capable of getting stronger through this, ''I wonder what will happen if I reach level 5 or beyond? And I wonder what happens when I gather excelia?''


    Kisuke finally noticed that the World''s Rejection that keeps pressuring him with Mana suddenly became docile and is now helping him. He then faced Yoruichi with a big smile, "This is a lot better than I expected�� You may perhaps find your answer here��"


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened andughed, "I''m next~!"


    Kisuke instructed Yoruichi on what she needs to do and also sessfully received Hestia''s Falna. Different from Kisuke, however, Yoruichi felt her Zanpakuto, Byakko, stir around as if telling her that it''s d. Inadvertently, Yoruichi smiled, ''So this is what you really want�� Fine�� I''ll take this path. You would have to recognize me in the future even if you don''t want to.''


    Yoruichi Shihouin


    Level 1


    STR I 50


    VIT I 40


    DEX I 60


    AGI I 60


    MAG I 40


    Aika Kiryuu


    Level 1


    STR I 30


    VIT I 20


    DEX I 30


    AGI I 30


    MAG I 30


    Shirone Toujou


    Level 1


    VIT I 40


    DEX I 30


    AGI I 30


    MAG I 10


    Kuroka Toujou


    Level 1


    STR I 40


    VIT I 40


    DEX I 50


    MAG I 40


    Sona Sitri


    Level 1


    STR I 10


    VIT I 10


    DEX I 10


    AGI I 10


    MAG I 20


    Medusa


    STR I 20


    VIT I 20


    DEX I 30


    AGI I 30


    MAG I 20


    Dinner, Hestia is happily devouring her meal which she hasn''t tasted anywhere else. It''s only after thest bite that she remembered something, "Right�� We to register to the guild tomorrow so that we could be an actual Familia."


    "We''ll do that early in the morning, but there is something we need to talk about before we do that," Kisuke spoke as he took a sip off his tea.


    Everyone looked and wait for him to speak.


    "First of all, we have to report that this isn''t our first time to be in a Familia."


    "Why''s that?" Aika asked.


    "What is the record for the fastest level up?


    "Uhh�� If I remembered it correctly, it''s within a year, Ais Wallenstein from Loki Familia reached level 2."


    "Right�� A year�� And I have a feeling that we won''t be taking that long. And if we break that record, all sorts of unsavory eyes wouldnd on our group. Although dealing with them won''t be impossible, it''s just unnecessary work."

 Volume 6 301 - Registration

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 301 - Registration</h4>


    The next morning, all of them went to the Guild building which is near their area. The main building of the Guild is called the Pantheon. It is a wide space with counters for adventurers to talk with their advisors and also has an exchange area. There are also small meeting boxes where adventurers can talk one on one with their advisor without anyone else hearing them.


    From the information they gathered, the main goal of the Guild is to manage the monster threat created in the dungeon. Aside from this, the Guild buys magic stones, drop loot, and adventurer created maps of the dungeon. The Guild also provides weapons and armor to new adventurers who are just starting out.


    Entering the building, the group didn''t attract attention beyond some curious nce. The Guild employees are wearing the standard Guild uniform which is a set of ck vest and pants with a white cored long sleeve shirt underneath and a grey bow tie. The only distinguishing feature between the two genders is having ck and brown boots for males and ck shoes for females. While the adventurers'' attires vary widely from tunic to steel armors.


    Leading the way, Hestia went to the registration area and a male human employee entertained them, "Wee to the Guild. Are you here for registration?"


    "Yes. I''d like to register for a new Familia. My name''s Hestia."


    "Understood Hestia-sama. Please wait for a moment as we pull some of our records."


    The registration process just took around 20 minutes and they didn''t forget to tell the guild employee that this is not their first time receiving a Falna and they''re about to level up.


    "Everything is taken care of. Congrattions, I-rank Hestia Familia, for your registration. One final thing before you start your adventure, You would need an advisor. The Guild staff also take the position of advisors for adventurers, often suggesting at what depth an adventurer should go in a dungeon in ordance to their level and skills, as well as warning them of any special dangers of certain floors and how to prepare against them. A staff member may be in charge of one or more adventurers. Since you''re a group, would you like to only have one advisor?" The Guild employee looked towards Kisuke as he''s the one registered as the Familia''s captain.


    "We''d like just one advisor. Thank you."


    "Understood. Pleasee with me and I''ll show you to a private booth. Once there, I''ll be inviting your advisor." Leaving his spot, the staff led them to a room and exited soon after.


    Ten minutester, a silver-haired Elf entered the room and introduced herself, "I''ll be your advisor starting today, Sophie. Pleased to meet you." As she introduces herself, she did it in a monotone voice and she didn''t even give any effort to hide her unenthusiasm.


    Hestia was about to protest but Yoruichi immediately stopped her. The rest didn''t mind her attitude and Kisuke immediately introduced himself and the others.


    "Urahara-san, do you n to enter the Dungeon today?" Sophie asked with her still t tone.


    "Yes. We''re just new to Orario and we would like to make some money for living as soon as possible."


    "Very well��" Sophie then proceeded to exin everything about the first few floors. Despite her attitude and tone, she didn''t hold any information and put more effort into giving them the warning about the dangers of the Dungeon.


    Everyone except for Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Medusa was surprised at her contrasting demeanor and ended up smiling during her exnation.


    Sophie furrowed her brows at their reactions, "What? There''s nothing funny about the Dungeon. You could lose your life even from some weak monsters if you let your guard down, so please remember everything I''m saying."


    Kisuke also wanted to smile but stopped himself and immediately exined, "Please don''t mind them. They''re just feeling excited because they''ve been hearing about the Dungeon and the things it could give them even before arriving in Orario.


    Sophie sighed and epted his exnation, ''Did I choose reckless adventurers to advise?�� Dammit�� Those guys would start betting on how long they''ll survive again��''


    "Still�� Be careful�� Or better yet, please extinguish that excite of your as it might hinder your judgment in there." Sophie continued.


    "We understand."


    Sophie then nodded and stood up, "And finally, take this." She passed Kisuke a booklet and when he took a peek inside, it notes what she just exined, ''Even though she could just give this to us from the start�� She still took the effort to exin it properly. What a good girl.'' Kisuke thought.


    "Thank you."


    Leaving the Guild building, Kisuke faced Hestia, "What''s your n, Hestia-sama?"


    "Hmm�� I''ll go to my part-job in the northern part of the city."


    "I see. Then good luck with your day."


    "You too, Kisuke-kun, Yoruichi-kun, Aika-kun, Kuroka-kun, Koneko-kun, Sona-kun, and Medusa-kun. Be careful in there�� Don''t you dare die." Hestia said seriously before walking away.


    The group first decided to go back to the hideout to change their attires to the standard of Adventures. For Kisuke, minimal steel ting with a short sword on his side. Yoruichi wearing the same armor as Kisuke but she has a long sword behind her. Kuroka, Koneko, Aika, and Medusa has light leather armor on them and each one of them uses daggers. While Sona also has leather armor, she''ll be using a bow. A skewed party without any tank and magician.


    .


    .


    .


    "So this is the Dungeon�� Fascinating��" Those are Kisuke''s first words when they took a step on the first floor of the Dungeon, ''The Mana is flowing through the walls, ceiling, and floor�� For now, all I can see is its random movements, but I doubt that. The system is probably so big that I can only see one nonsensical part of it. In addition to that, there are also traces of spiritual energy around�� Although the monsters here can grant excelia to the Adventurers, why does it feels like it''s disconnected from the so-called Tenkai?"


    Due to abruptly entering into deep contemtion, Kisuke stopped moving. Hispanions waited for 10 minutes while other Adventurers are clicking there tongue at them, annoyed by the fact that they''re blocking the traffic.


    Losing her patience, Yoruichi elbowed him on his side with a bit of force, "Gah!"


    "I know that you''re curious, but not now!" Yoruichi then started dragging Kisuke with her to go deeper into the Dungeon. The rest could only smile wryly at Kisuke and followed them.


    After ten minutes of walking, they encountered their first monster. It''s the first monster that Yoruichi saw when they arrived in this world, "Goblins�� huh��" A group of four Goblins.


    "Seeing one in person makes me think that we''re really in a fantasy world," Aika muttered.


    "I''m pretty sure that there are also Goblins from our world." Sona reminded her.


    "Seriously? Ah�� Right�� It''s also fantasy back at home, just the modern type��"


    Just as they''re about to pounce on the poor Goblins, Kisuke stopped them, "Wait�� I want to test how the Falna and gathering of excelia work first before anything else. So just restrain them for now."


    Hearing his instructions, Medusa conjured her chains and tied one up. Sona used her water magic to tie one and Kuroka used her Youjutsu to restrain one. Thest one, however, met the most brutal restraint from Yoruichi and she picked up some stones and threw it towards its limbs, blowing them off.

 Volume 6 302 - Monster Hunting

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 302 - Monster Hunting</h4>


    The first floor until the fourth floor, the walls are light blue colored, and ording to the Guild, the monsters that appear are Goblins or Kobolds. There is also a wide hallway on the 1st Floor known as the Beginning Road. Newbie Level 1 adventurer with a status of I to H in their basic abilities normally spend time on these floors.


    "C-couldn''t you have restrained it in a more peaceful manner?" Aika reeled back a bit after seeing the gruesome scene.


    "We''re going to kill it, regardless. So don''t think much about it. Others probably stab it multiple times before it could kill it."


    Kisuke didn''t mind their conversation and slowly walked towards the restrained goblins and the first thing he did it to stab the one Yoruichi restrained in the head, causing it to reduce into ashes and leaving behind a magic stone which they could use to trade with the Guild for some Valis, the currency in this ce.


    Kisuke carefully observes his body for any changes and spotted one very tiny change. While the Mana from the Goblin immediately dispersed to the surrounding, returning to the Dungeon, a very small part of the spiritual energy came to him and strengthened the ''nerves'' that were created to supply Mana to his body by a tiny margin, almost nonexistent even, ''I see�� so these ''nerves'' expands and more Mana coulde in once you''ve gathered enough ''excelia'' which results in getting stronger��''


    He then continued his experiment and pointed towards one of the Goblins, "Byakurai (White Lightning)." Firing a bolt of lightning towards the Goblin''s head, he utilized his own Reiatsu-Ki for the kill. What he found out, however, is contrary to his expectations, ''I didn''t get anything?''


    The next thing he did is to unleash a bit of his Reiatsu-Ki and it boosted his body. He then beheaded another Goblin. Same result from before. He didn''t get anything out of it. Resealing his Reiatsu-Ki and only utilizing the Mana from the ''nerves'', Kisuke beheaded thest Goblin and he finally got the ''excelia''.


    Kisuke stopped for a bit before facing hispanions, "Let''s look for more monsters. I want to kill at least a hundred of it today."


    Kisuke then started his all-day killing spree of Goblins, Kobolds, a dog-headed monster, and Dungeon Lizard, arge lizard. The group reached the fourth floor when it''s already afternoon. Within that duration, the girls are very bored because it''s only Kisuke who can take action due to his ''research''.


    "How many did he kill again?" Aika asked with a fed-up expression.


    Yoruichi also has the same fed-up expression and replied, "Let see�� 145 Goblins, 121 Kobolds, and 63 Dungeon Lizards��"


    "How many monsters can an average Level 1 party kill in a day again?" Aika continued to ask.


    "If I remember it right, a party of five new adventurers can kill around 10-15 Goblins and have a ie of 25,000 Valis��" Sona answered her this time.


    "Who said about not drawing attention again, nya?" Kuroka muttered.


    "Kisuke-senpai�� And that''s probably thest thing in his mind��" Koneko followed.


    "As expected of master��" And only genuine admiration can be seen from Medusa.


    After killing thest Goblin, Kisuke turned around and faced them with a very satisfied expression, "I think it''s about time we go home~!"


    Everyone except for Medusa gave him a re.


    Pretending to be oblivious to their stares, Kisuke started walking towards them but just as he was about to take his third step, Kisuke felt arge fluctuation of Mana from the surrounding. The girls also felt it and put up a stance to meet anything that is thrown to them.


    A few secondster, around the group, the wall of the room where they are started crumbling and three different monsters started appearing from the wall, "Is this the infamous Monster House?" Kisuke muttered as he observes the flow of Mana and Spiritual Energy. Aside from therge influx of energies, he didn''t notice anything else.


    When the Dungeon finished birthing the monsters, the total number of monsters that appeared is around 200. If the adventurers or Guild were to know this event, they would immediately panic as never in the history of Dungeon where a Monster House consisting of more than 30 monsters on the upper floors.


    Before the monsters started attacking, Kisuke reminded them, "Guys, leave this to me��"


    "But we wanted to fight too!" Yoruichi protested.


    "We''ll go somewhere with more challenge next time so leave these monsters for my data gathering for now."


    "��Fine." Yoruichi then signaled everyone to take distance, "Let''s go away first. It''s like what he said, there''s no challenge fighting these guys."


    True enough, using their real strength, these monsters truly don''t pose any challenge for them. So they agreed when Kisuke promised them that he''ll take them to somewhere better.


    Once they got some distance, everyone turned around to watch.


    Kisuke, without using any of his real strength, danced around the crowd of monsters, killing them with a single stab to their vitals.


    "��Hey, Yoruichi-san�� Why don''t I feel any of his Reiatsu-Ki for scanning his surroundings?" Aika asked curiously.


    "Because he isn''t using any."


    "Hah!?" Aika''s eyes widened, "Then how is dodging those attacks as if he can see from everywhere!? Is he using Mana then?"


    The rest of the group also felt curious and waited for Yoruichi''s answer.


    "Indeed, those scanning and awareness techniques are convenient, but when you used them, it''s also easy for others to track you."


    "��Then how?"


    "Aside from sight, which can confirm the movements of your opponents down to muscle tensions, and hearing to locate the proximity of his enemies, he uses his sense of touch to feel the air around him. With others moving around, depending on the environment, he can confirm movements from the air being pushed around. In conjunction with senses of taste and smell, he can make a virtual map in his head and plot his actions from there.


    "Of course, if you''re against someone strong or someone who can manipte senses, the sixth sense ys a bigger role in detecting a bunch of things that your conscious mind can''t."


    "��That''s insane�� How can he focus on so many things? If I focus on my hearing, I would certainly discard my sense of smell��"


    "Practice, a lot of practice. But not just some normal practice as you need to put your own wellbeing at risk for it to be effective. You can also train it using safe methods like meditating and trying to feel your surroundings, but you would need a long time to achieve something through that. What you need to know is that people can achieve a lot of wonderful things if there are risks.


    "I know you lot can use some sort of detecting abilities, but if you want to improve your foundation, you have to learn like you have no power at all."


    After hearing those words, the girls could only stare at Kisuke dancing around, not even letting a single drop of blood smear his attire. They all thought that it''s beautiful, but then, a sense of urgency reawakened from everyone. They finally remembered that Kisuke and Yoruichi are too far ahead from them and if they want to join their journey, they at least need to put more effort than what they''re doing.

 Volume 6 303 - The Mysterious Incident

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 303 - The Mysterious Incident</h4>


    Kisuke managed to kill all two hundred monsters and collected their magic stones. He returned to his group with a big smile over his face, "That is some good harvest. Let''s go home~."


    Everyone sighed and agreed with him and they started walking towards the exit of the Dungeon. As they walk, they noticed a decrease in Adventurers around and attributed it with everyone just going home.


    However, they were proven wrong when a group of Adventurers led by a beautiful azure-haired woman and they came to them, ''If I remember it right, that woman should be Shakti Varma of the Ganesha Familia��'' Kisuke thought as he wonders why they''reing to them.


    "Excuse me. Let me take some of your time. Have you noticed something different on the upper floors of the Dungeon?" Shakti asked.


    Kisuke''s mind started running and few possibilities emerged in his head but it didn''t change his expression and answered Shakti with a straight face, "We''re sorry, but we''re new Adventurers who just entered the Dungeon today, so even if there is something different, we wouldn''t be able to notice it."


    Shakti nodded in understanding, "I see. I''m sorry for taking your time and thank you for your response. There are reports of monsters'' appearance from the upper floors are very rare or even disappeared and any changes in the Dungeon aren''t a good thing. Retire for today as this situation may be dangerous. Be careful on your way up." She then walked away along with her crew, not waiting for any responseing from Kisuke and his group.


    The group is quiet for a minute or two until Kuroka spoke up, "You overdid it, nya."


    "��I''m reflecting," Kisuke replied.


    "I doubt you''re going to change how you do things��" Sona then followed up.


    Kisuke grinned, "I''m doing this in deeper floors where nobody would notice~.


    "However, you lot are going to stay on these floors for at least a week or two."


    "Huh? Why''s that? With our abilities, it won''t be a problem if we go to a deeper floor and fight stronger monsters." Aika asked.


    Instead of answering her, Kisuke asked a question to everyone, "Did you notice anything from watching my fight?"


    "��Master is holding back a lot. You could have annihted those monsters with a single spell." Medusa answered.


    "Correct~. And it isn''t for the sake of challenge like all of you are thinking." Kisuke guessed what they''re thinking and they''re correct. He didn''t need to spend so much time with those monsters if he has nothing to gain.


    Yoruichi furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"


    "You won''t gain any EXP if you use any cheat code," Kisuke exined such.


    "Ah��" Everyone except for Sona, Kuroka, and Medusa understood what he meant.


    Seeing their confused expression, Koneko further exined, "It seems that we have to use the strength that the Falna provided us to level up��" Thanks to that, they finally understood it.


    Yoruichi sighed, "This is also good. You can train your foundation. However, you''ll only be training half a time in the Dungeon because the fights in here hardly teach any interpersonal battle."


    Once they reached the surface, even though it''s already afternoon, it seems that it''s a lot busier in the Dungeonpared when they came this morning.


    Conversations about what''s happening in Dungeon can be heard all around with most prominent theories being, a mutation is happening inside the Dungeon or a terrifying spawned on the upper floors and annihted all the other monsters.


    The culprit, Kisuke, just passed by them without a change in expression, as if he has nothing to do with the situation.


    "That is some thick face��" Aika muttered.


    "He can scam others without feeling guilty. What do you expect?" Sona supplemented.


    "He''s just a pervert in a guise of a shopkeeper, nya," Kuroka added.


    However, thatst line of her caught Kisuke''s attention, "Hold up there. I never disguised as a shopkeeper. I''ve always been a shopkeeper!"


    "So it''s fine to scam others but not when they question your identity as a shopkeeper?" Koneko asked.


    Without any hesitation, he answered, "Yes."


    Yoruichi only chuckled while the rest could only sigh.


    As they got home, everyone saw Hestia sitting in front of the abandoned church, staring at the distance while waiting for them.


    "Hestia-sama, we''re home~!" Kisuke waved his hand and called out to her.


    Hestia immediately turned her head towards the source of his voice and she smiled widely, "Wee home~! How''s your day?"


    "It''s great~!" Kisuke answered with satisfaction while the others could only smile wryly.


    Seeing this, Hestia asked, "What happened? And I heard that there is some incident in the Dungeon about the monsters disappearing."


    "Ahahaha�� It seems that''s the case��" Kisuke scratched his head in embarrassment.


    Hestia looked at him with confusion and then transferred her sights towards hispanions, "What happened?"


    The girls then proceeded to describe what Kisuke did in the Dungeon in detail.


    After their story, Hestia is holding her head with both of her hands while writhing in ce, "You said you''ll just be doing a light exploration of a floor or two�� But you came back after annihting more than 500 monsters? And to top it off, you did it alone even if there''s a monster house of more than 200 monsters which is unheard of in the upper floors? Can you please tell me a more believable lie?" Instead of asking them to tell her the truth, however, she hinting them to please tell her it''s a lie.


    Without any word, Koneko took out arge pouch from her backpack and showed it to Hestia. Inside it is a lot of magic stones. If someone were to tell her that there are around 500 magic stones in that pouch, she would believe it.


    Giving up on her establishedmon sense, she asked, "Why are you a Level 1 with I-rank abilities?"


    "Because physical abilities aren''t everything~."


    "��This is bad�� If others were to know about this incident, I might not be able to hold into you��" Hestia''s worries about the future became more apparent.


    "What do you mean, Hestia-sama?" Sona asked.


    "If your abilities were to be revealed, other stronger Familias would be able to force me to transfer you by initiating a so-called War-Game��"


    "A War-Game? Sounds fun~." Yoruichi muttered.


    "It''s not! Although you''re strong, you won''t be able to go against those strong and established Familias!"


    Kisuke, without thinking, patted Hestia''s head to ease her worries, "We''ll think something about it when that time is about toe. For now, let''s go out for dinner."


    "This bastard is doing it again��" Everyone couldn''t help but mutter.


    "Eh?" Hestia became confused when his hand suddenly touched her head gently, but she immediately reacted, "Don''t treat me like a child!"


    Kisuke only chuckled at her reaction and turned to everyone, "I''ll be done within two hours so you guys can wander around for now. After Ie out, I''ll lead you to a pub with great food." Kisuke then walked towards their hideout to initiate his experiments on the magic stones.

 Volume 6 304 - Negotiation Part 1

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 304 - Negotiation Part 1</h4>


    The sun already disappeared the light from the streetmps covered the whole Orario. Everyone is already ready with their casual clothes and is only waiting for Kisuke toe out.


    After a few minutes, Kisuke came out with his usual attire of Shihakushou. With him is a cart with 50 one-liter bottles.


    Pulling the cart, Kisuke arrived in front of everyone.


    "What''s that?" Yoruichi asked in curiosity.


    "My merchandise~."


    "Kisuke-senpai�� We''re going to eat and not sell your dubious products��" Koneko gave him a dubious look.


    "No worries. I managed tond a deal with the proprietress of the pub. Since we can''t exchange those magic stones for Valis, I have to sell something to support this Familia."


    "And whose fault do you think it is that we can''t trade the magic stones for money, nya?" Kuroka gave the culprit a mean look.


    Ignoring this, Kisuke started walking, "Let''s go~! We celebrate the establishment of our Familia~!"


    Since it the celebration of her Familia, Hestia also became excited and immediately followed Kisuke, "I''m not going to hold back tonight~!"


    They arrived at the Hostess of Fertility and Hestia abruptly stopped, "��Kisuke-kun, are we in the right ce?"


    "Hmm? Yeah."


    "I know I said that I won''t be holding back, but the food here is very expensive�� A meal here is around 500 - 1,000 Valis and that doesn''t include any liquor!"


    "You don''t have to worry about that Hestia-sama. We''ll have enough money, and by chance we got none, we can just let Aika work there for a week or two." Kisuke replied with all seriousness.


    "Why me!?"


    Yoruichi dragged Hestia inside and ignored Aika. As if they agreed with it beforehand, everyone else also ignored her and entered the pub with merry faces, "I''ll go get the most expensive wine, nya~!" Kuroka started.


    "I heard seafood is a rare delicacy here�� I''m going to try some lobsters. And of course, the most expensive wine." Yoruichi muttered.


    "Rare fruits are a must, so I''m ordering deserts made from them." Sona also eyed something.


    "I wonder how much I could eat while also processing all the food with Senjutsu��" Koneko did the same.


    "Master has a food storage facility�� I wonder how much take-out order I can request until this pub closure?" Medusa won''t be outdone.


    Hearing all of this, Aika snapped, "You bitches!"


    "��They''re joking, right?" Hestia asked Kisuke who''s also watching this in amusement.


    "Given a chance, they''ll probably do it��"


    "��Why do my worries about other Gods seem so insignificant?"


    "Because it''s insignificant��"


    "I pity whoever God will challenge us for a War Game�� Even if we lose the battle, I highly doubt they''ll win the war��" Hestia finally realized it. Her children are all nuts. However, she started looking forward to the future more, ''How much upheaval will these children create? However, that itself looks fun.'' Despite only meeting the crew recently, slowly but surely, Hestia is adapting.


    "Kisuke! What are you selling!?" Aika faced Kisuke when the rest of the girls already entered the pub.


    "C�� Why?"


    "C? Does that exist in this world?" She whispered to him.


    "I couldn''t find any records of it existing, at least."


    "Great! How much are you going to sell this for?"


    "Around 800 Valis each bottle?"


    "So you don''t have an exact number yet?"


    "I''m going to go negotiate it with the proprietress and what we''ll be getting is what we can spend on our celebration dinner."


    "Wonderful! Leave the negotiation with me! If I don''t gather enough money tonight, I''ll probably be going to work for a long time here to pay-off the dept that those bitches will incur!"


    "��Go ahead."


    "Introduce me to the proprietress."


    "��Follow me."


    Kisuke, along with Hestia and the overly eager Aika, finally entered the establishment.


    The first thing that Kisuke and Aika saw is their group ordering food as if there''s no tomorrow and confusing the poor Cat person waitress. However, they also noticed Yoruichi watching Hestia as if waiting for something amusing to happen.


    Hestia, on the other hand, immediately recognized an acquaintance, "Huh? Why is she here?"


    Loki, on the other side with her top executives, also noticed Hestia and smiled, "Oh~. Looks who''s here! Isn''t this the poor chibi Goddess? I didn''t expect to see you here. How many months worth pay will you spend tonight?"


    Before she could respond in anger, Kisuke covered her mouth to prevent her, "Ah, fancy meeting you here, Loki-sama. Good evening~." With a iling loli Goddess in his arms, he greeted Loki.


    Loki smiled and responded in kind, "Yeah, good evening, uhmm��"


    "Kisuke Urahara."


    "Kisuke�� It seems that you have more mannerspared to that chibi."


    Kisuke only chuckled in response. He can feel two different kinds of stare from Loki''spanions. The first kind is curiosity which ising from three girls who''re apanying Loki before and the rest were stares of wariness.


    Kisuke then decided to ignore them for now and looked down to Hestia, who''s still iling, "Hestia-sama, please go with others first. Aika and I will follow you." Seeing her nodding despite the mes in her eyes, she let her go and she obediently went to Yoruichi and the rest without minding Loki which surprised her.


    "Kid! Did you bring it?" A call came from the counter and Kisuke knew he''s the one being called. He faced the direction of the counter and smiled, "I got some, Mia-san." He then started walking towards her and continued speaking, "However, she''s the one who''s going to negotiate the price." He then pointed to Aika who''s following him.


    The Loki Familia already finished what they want to talk about so when they heard someone is selling something to Mia, who they knew the real identity, it caught their interest and decided to watch them.


    Getting the cue, Aika took out a pen and paper and wrote something before passing it to Mia.


    Mia took a look at the paper, ''10,000?'' She then looked towards Aika who gave it to her.


    Aika grinned and said, "The price for one bottle~!" Even Kisuke who saw it admired her guts, ''Even though I said 800 Valis per bottle is enough��''


    Mia understood why she wrote the number since she also didn''t want to everyone the price of something she''ll be selling, "That''s ridiculous, are you trying to rob me?" She then passed back the paper containing a new line, ''1,000''. In this regard, Aika already seeded. However, she knew that it isn''t enough for herpanions.


    Not being discouraged by this, Aika started her barrage, "To create this C, a lot of advances and modern techniques are put into it. The first thing you need to do is creating carbonated water. To get carbonated water, carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in water at a low concentration of 0.2 - 1% which creates carbonic acid. This can be done in multiple ways, but we use the most advanced method of directly injecting the water with carbon dioxide within a controlled environment.


    "The acid gives carbonated water a slightly tart vor. This bite is caused by the acid when the carbon dioxide dissolves in the water and then reacts with it forming carbonic acid. Although this type of acid is weak, it is an essential part of the carbonation process and is how we get that fizziness and that bite we crave.


    "And all of that just for the carbonated water which is only part of the long process to achieve this kind of taste!" Aika finished her narration and wrote another number on the paper, ''9,900'', ''Good thing I remembered those random articles on the inte.'' She thought.

 Volume 6 305 - Negotiation part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 305 - Negotiation part 2</h4>


    Mia, some of the waitresses, and even the Loki Familia were stuck in their ce.


    "R-Riveria�� Did you understand anything from what she just said?" Tiona asked as she couldn''t even remember the words Aika used, "Why does it sound like magic terms?"


    "All I can understand is she injects something into the water�� I don''t know why she would use the word ''inject'' when the word ''mix'' should also work��"


    Aika heard this and faced the Elf, "Can you mix water and air?"


    Riveria doesn''t know why she would ask something obvious but she still answered her, "No."


    "Right�� So to make carbonated water, you need to inject air into the water."


    "Huh?" Riveria wouldn''t dare to say that she knew everything, but her hobby of reading books on all subjects for almost a century gave her confidence to know most things. And she knew for sure that air and water couldn''tbine.


    Aika then smiled and turned her head back to Mia, "See that, Mia-san? Even the Elf who seems to know a lot of things can''t understand the technology that we use~!"


    The corner of Riveria''s mouth twitched. She wanted to say something because of her pride, however, she truly doesn''t understand what she''s talking about.


    Even herpanions didn''t know what to say to the brazen Aika since technically, she did or say nothing wrong.


    Yoruichi and the rest wanted tough but also felt a bit of pity towards Loki''s group. Aika randomly shot her gun and it randomly hit a bystander.


    "Why does it sound so impressive when it''s actually isn''t?" Sona asked. She knew that as long as you know how it works, you can make carbonated water even with primitive materials.


    "It sounds impressive because she just threw them unknown terms and she makes it sound that she knew all of it�� She probably just saw it from some random inte post." Yoruichi answered.


    Mia stopped and thought for a moment before writing another line on the paper, ''3,000'', "It sounds impressive, but that''s all I can offer for that drink. More than that, I won''t be able to sell it."


    Aika knew that throwing more random terms would not be effective anymore so she went to her second approach. She wrote down a ''9,400'' on the paper before saying, "Mia-san, you must understand, we''re not just selling this C to you."


    Felt intrigued, Mia asked, "What do you mean?"


    "We''re selling a potential brand and a monopoly!"


    "?"


    "Yes! Due to the highplexity of making these, we can only supply you with a limited amount and we won''t be able to sell it to other shops nor we have the intention to sell it ourselves! In other words, your pub will be the only one selling this even if it bes popr! That''s a monopoly. And for the brand, whenever someone thinks about the C, they also remember the only pub that sells it!"


    "Hmm�� You''re right�� But I can''t trust just your words. We have to sign a contract through the guild regarding exclusive sales." Mia then wrote a ''4,000''.


    "That''s fine�� No, that''s better!" A ''9,000'' from Aika, "However, it''s not just exclusive sales that I''m offering~! I know that not everyone would like the taste of C but still like the bite it brings. So not just C, we also n to create new vors like oranges and such~! If you can ept this price, then we can also add in the contract that we have to bring our new carbonated drinks to you first~!"


    ''5,000'', "That''s the highest I could go."


    Aika stared at her for a moment and decided, ''I guess that''s it�� The final push then.'' She approached Mia''s side and gestured her to drop down a bit before whispering, "Since you''re the only one who knew the price I''m selling this, you can even double it when you sell it to your customers. Since the quantity is limited, we can''t expect arge volume of sales from this. In that regard, you can just sell this as a limited edition drink and I''m sure that there''ll be fans of this kind of drink from wealthy adventurers. 6,000�� That''s our final price. If not, then I would have to negotiate with other shops and surely, someone out there would ept this price for the products and services that we offer."


    Mia got back up and closed her eyes for a moment, ''Indeed�� Riveria and Ais girl are a big fan of this drink since they''re not a fan of alcoholic drinks and there should still be lots of people who want it��'' "Fine�� I ept. How many did you bring tonight?"


    Aika did a guts pose with her sess, "The cart on the side of the pub. There are a total of 50 bottles in it."


    "Good�� Go to the Guild tomorrow and ask them to write a contract based on what we agreed on today. Bring it here and I''ll sign it." Mia then turned to one of the waitresses, "Ryuu, get that cart and bring it in the kitchen and tell Sry to prepare the ice."


    The Elf waitress nodded at Mia and exited the pub.


    Aika then grabbed the menu on the counter and celebrated. She then ran towards Yoruichi and the rest, "You guys! I got the money! So order what you want! However, no take-outs and order only what you can eat! And no Senjutsu either!"


    Kisuke could only chuckle at her actions, "I''m sorry about her Mia-san�� Looks like she ripped you off."


    "Don''t worry about it�� The price is justified. I''m selling this for 10,000 Valis per bottle." Mia replied with a small smile.


    "Ahaha~. Thank you for buying it for a good price~. Since we''re only Level 1 Adventurers and couldn''t hunt in the upper floors due to some incident, our only money would be from the sales of these drinks~!" Scratching his head, Kisuke thanked Mia.


    Mia was about to say something when both of them heard something, "Haaah~? Since you can make money by selling things, just stop being an Adventurer, weakling."


    So after, Kisuke also heard Loki''spanions, "Bete! What are you doing!?"


    Kisuke''s happy smile turned into a hollow one as he turns around and faced the red face Werewolf man, "My, I didn''t think someone would bark at my decisions."


    The drunk Bete didn''t like what he heard and stood up, "What did you say, weakling?"


    "Why do you care? You egoistic mutt."


    Finn, the captain of the Loki Familia warned Bete, "Bete, sit down! Don''t make trouble here!"


    "You''re drunk! Come back here!" Riveria also followed up.


    Seeing this scene, Yoruichi tapped the table with her finger multiple times, and everyone went into alert, ready to move at any given moment.


    Mia also wanted to stop themotion, however, she''s also curious about this Level 1 who seems to be able to see through her strength.


    And the rest of the people in the pub went quiet and waited for a good show. Mainly, beating the arrogant man in Eastern attire for going against a Level 5 as a Level 1.


    "You''ve got guts�� Don''t you know me? I''m reminding you, I''m a Level 5. Someone who just became an Adventurer won''t be able to touch me." Ignoring hispanions, Bete stepped towards Kisuke and only stopped in front of him to stare at his eyes.


    "Oh~. Level 5~. Sounds impressive~. And a Level 1 won''t be able to hurt you? Did you get a skill that makes you invulnerable to any damage? Shouldn''t you get an alias like, ''Immortal Dog'' or something?"

 Volume 6 306 - Ultimate Weapon

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 306 - Ultimate Weapon</h4>


    When everyone heard Kisuke''s provocation, they didn''t know what to say. Even the drunkards had their eyes wide open not believing what they heard. Bete''spanions, the Loki Familia, were also gobsmacked at this gusty Level 1.


    "Wait! Stop it, you two!" Riveria stood up from her seat.


    Normally, even with not so friendly attitude, Bete would only ignore others who don''t bother him. However, due to alcohol and Ais Wallenstein, who he has a secret crush for, kept looking at Kisuke with intrigue and curiosity and that didn''t sit well to him well. And surely, he would regret opening his mouth after sobering up.


    The drunk Bete''s face bes even redder and responded, "Haah!? Do you want me to burn that stupid hat of yours along with your head?" But with this statement, he will regret evening to the pub today.


    Yoruichi did a facepalm, "Yikes~." However, there''s a smile on her face, "Kuroka, get ready to silently move."


    Kuroka nodded and slowly blended herself to the surrounding using minutes of Ki.


    Hestia, who was stopped by Yoruichi from interfering, asked with a worried face, "What''s wrong?"


    But instead of Yoruichi, Koneko answered her, "Of all the insults you can throw Kisuke-senpai, don''t ever do it with his beloved hat."


    "Is it a memento from someone dear to him?"


    "No�� He really just like that hat��"


    "��What?"


    The moment Kisuke heard about his hat being stupid, his hollow smile became a nasty smile.


    "Aiya~�� That guy is done for��" Aika muttered and everyone nodded in agreement. They love seeing that smile�� As long as it isn''t directed at them. After all, none of them have any weird preferences.


    "Say, Level 5-san�� Are you certain that I won''t be able to hurt you?" Kisuke asked.


    "Isn''t that obvious? I can block anything you throw at me!" Bete replied with confidence.


    "Even with my ultimate weapon?" Kisuke''s nasty smile grewrger.


    Bete stepped closer to him and red at him, "Even if you have some sort of legendary weapon, it would be easy for me to block a swing from a weakling like you."


    "Great~. Then why don''t we make a bet?"


    Hearing this, Bete startedughing out loud, "You sure are confident, rookie! Sure, why not!?"


    Riveria looked towards herpanions and they''re only watching in interest. Although she knew that they would step in if Kisuke was about to get hurt, it still gave her a headache. But she also couldn''t deny the interest to where the unknown guy getting his confidence because, in this world, levels are almost absolute in fights and there''s just no way that a Level 1 could go against a Level 5.


    Since no one is going to stop them, Riveria sighed and said, "It seems that both of you won''t back down�� Fine�� A bet it is��" She at least wanted to control things for being the referee. She didn''t want to see Bete hurting a rookie Adventurer.


    "Then allow me to facilitate this bet. Here are the rules. Kisuke Urahara-san here will attack Bete and Bete would have to block it. Kisuke-san only has three tries and can use any weapon while Bete isn''t allowed to retaliate in any way or move from his spot. And since we''re in a pub, we don''t want to trouble the owner so both of you are not allowed to destroy anything in here. If you do so, you''ll automatically lose and you''ll take responsibility forpensation. Is that clear?"


    "That''s fine~," Kisuke replied happily.


    "Haahh! He can even try the whole day and it won''t change a damn thing!" Bete sneered at Kisuke.


    "Good." Riveria then faced Kisuke, "What does the winner get?"


    "Since we''re in a pub, we shouldpensate them for themotion we''re making. So whoever loses will pay for everything that the winner orders�� without limit until closing time."


    Riveria and turned to Bete, "Is that fine with you?"


    However, instead of answering her, Bete faced his otherpanions, "Heard that guys? Start ordering. You can''t refuse free food and wine!"


    Riveria sighed and stepped away, "Alright�� You can start��"


    The moment Riveria and the word ''start'' and Bete still looking towards hispanions with a big smile on his face, Kisukeunched his foot towards Bete''s groin without any change in his demeanor. It isn''t fast as he''s limited to a Level 1''s physical abilities, however, it caught Betepletely off-guard as he used his hands to block Kisuke foot in panic and only managed to stop it when it''s less than a millimeter away from his balls.


    Seeing such a short distance, cold sweat appeared in Bete''s forehead.


    The people watching this, especially the men, felt like closing their groins and one of them even muttered out loud, "Without even letting his opponent prepare, he aimed for the guy''s family jewels without any hesitation�� What a nasty guy��"


    The top executives of the Loki Familia, on the other hand, became more serious as they reviewed Kisuke''s movement in their heads, "Finn�� What do you think?" The Dwarf, Gareth, asked the Pallum beside him.


    "Although that''s indeed the physical abilities of a Level 1�� His execution is way more than that. We didn''t even notice his intentions�� If he has the same physical abilities as Bete, I''m afraid we would be pouring a High-ss Elixir on him now��" Finn replied after thinking for a few seconds


    "H-how''s that even possible?" The Amazoness, Tiona, asked in bewilderment.


    Finn shook his head, "I don''t know�� All I can tell is that despite being a rookie Adventurer, it seems that he has gone through many battles��"


    "Heh~. As expected of a Level 5~! Your reflexes are good!" Kisuke sneered at his panicked expression.


    Bete pushed away his foot with an angry expression, "You still have two tries�� Do your worst." This time, he won''t let him catch him off-guard and watched his movements carefully.


    "Well, I guess it''s time to pull out my ultimate weapon~." Kisuke then started rummaging the inside of his sleeves to look for something.


    Bete''s expression became even more serious and Riveria also got ready to intercept if something bad happens.


    Finally, Kisuke took out a can with a spray nozzle, "Ta da~! My ultimate weapon~!"


    Bete and the rest who are watching are confused at the unknown item they took out. When Kisuke said he''ll be taking out a weapon, they were all expecting that it''s a dagger or some other small weapon when he started going through his big sleeve.


    Due to this, Bete didn''t know how to react but he saw that Kisuke pointed it on his face and figured that it''s some sort of projectile. He immediately put both of his arms in front of his face to block the iing attack while also watching his movements through the gaps of his arms.


    A secondter, unknown material spews forth from Kisuke''s weapon and it immediately covered Bete''s hand and reached his eyes and nose.


    "AHHH!!!" A split secondter, Bete reeled back in pain and covered his eyes with his hands, but doing that only intensified the pain he''s feeling and he dropped down to the group, rolling, "AHHHHH!!! MY EYES!!!!!"


    Instead of stopping there, Kisuke didn''t let up and continued spraying his ''weapon'' on the poor mutt as if he''s some sort of insect Kisuke intended to exterminate with a big grin on his face, "How is it? My ultimate weapon, ''Pepper Spray: Ultra Strength''~? It''s especially effective against annoying fellows~."

 Volume 6 307 - Ultimate Weapon part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 307 - Ultimate Weapon part 2</h4>


    Everyone in the pub, except of course from Yoruichi''s group, were frozen from their spot with their mouths open as they watch Kisuke spray his ''weapon'' towards the face of his rolling enemy with arge smile which now they rightfully assumed an evil one.


    It took the Loki Familia a few seconds to react and the first one to move is the Amazoness sisters as they immediately jumped from the seats and instantly arrived at Kisuke''s side. Within a split second, they both pointed the knife used for their food on his throat and shouted, "Stop!"


    Kisuke immediately stopped but just as the sisters finished speaking, they were both startled when they suddenly felt a sharp object touching their throats. Before they knew it, Yoruichi and Kuroka are already behind Tione and Tiona respectively with their daggers across their throats.


    The sisters shuddered as they didn''t feel anything before the daggers threatened them and thought that it''s an ambush from an enemy Familia. Even though they''re Level 5s and their skin is a lot tougher than normal, they''re not immune to des and will still get hurt by sharp objects, so they didn''t move and waited for the next development.


    The rest of the Loki Familia stood up from their seat and even Mia became alert as nobody from them expected this kind of oue.


    The tension in the pub became suffocating that other Adventurers didn''t even dare breathe loudly and the only noise that is being created is a scream of pain of the poor drunk mutt.


    Kisuke slowly fixed his posture and raised his arms up. Tiona and Tione also moved as they kept their knives close to his throat. But despite all of this, Kisuke is still sporting the same grin and turned his head towards stunned Riveria, "How''s that, Miss Referee? I won the bet~!" Kisuke said it in a jovial tone as if nothing is happening out of ordinary.


    His words sent another wave of astonishment towards everyone, but thinking about it, he indeed won their bet and should be rewarded ordingly. However, he ''destroyed'' his opponent''s eyes, in which anyway you put it, going overboard.


    Before Riveria could respond, however, someone ran through and stopped in front of Kisuke and faced the Loki Familia, "Wait! Please stop this! We''ll apologize and will pay for the medical fee! So please let''s just drop this here!" Hestia came in pleading.


    Kisuke could only smile wryly when Hestia used herself to block the Loki Familia and even started pleading. With his free hand, he patted Hestia and said, "Hestia-sama. No need to worry~. That''s not needed."


    Hearing this, Loki frowned, "What do you mean by that? Although my child started the quarrel and I apologize for what he did, what you did is still too much. Isn''t it just right for us to ask for somepensation?"


    Finn, on the other hand, signaled Gareth with his eyes and Gareth nodded. He then took out a vial containing Elixir and started walking towards the writhing Bete, intending to pour it into his face.


    But before he could do that, Kisuke spoke again, "Don''t waste it. He''s fine."


    Gareth stopped his movements and looked towards Kisuke before turning his head towards Loki and the rest of her Familia also turned to her. Loki stared at Kisuke for a few seconds signaling Gareth toe back.


    This instruction of her shocked all of them but Gareth choose to trust her Goddess. And a minuteter, Bete stopped screaming and slowly opened his eyes and red at Kisuke before pouncing on him, "You bastard!"


    Before he could reach him, however, Ais made her move and pushed him to the floor, "Ais! Unhand me!"


    Seeing him fine, Riveria sighed, "Ais, tie him up outside."


    Ais nodded and dragged the intoxicated iling wild dog outside.


    Loki felt intrigued at these supposedly Level 1s, ''Where did the chibi get these kids?'' But more than that, she''s curious at Kisuke''s ''Ultimate Weapon'', "Can you let me take a look at that?"


    Without hesitation, Kisuke tossed it towards Finn and he caught it. Finn observed the pepper spray for a few seconds before passing it to Loki.


    Loki looked at the can of pepper spray carefully as she slowly walks towards a certain direction. She then stopped in front of Hestia and without any warning, she sprayed it on her eyes, "GYAAHHH!!! MY EYES!!! IT BURNS!!!"


    This time, it''s Hestia''s turn to roll around. Seeing this, Loki startedughing out loud, "Ahahaha! This is some good stuff~! Hey Kisuke. Let me have this~!"


    "Sure~."


    Everyone, even those from Loki Familia was dumbfounded at her actions and more so with Kisuke immediate response.


    But unlike Bete, Hestia recovered only after ten seconds. A testament to the saying ''the Divines are pure.'' The pepperpound was cleared from her eyes. However, instead of going after Loki, Hestia started protesting to Kisuke, "Why did you give it to her!?"


    Of course, no amount of words could exin his actions so instead, he passed her another can of pepper spray he pulled from out of nowhere.


    Hestia stared at it for a second before swiping it from his hand. Seeing this Loki took a step back with a panicked expression, "Oi, chibi�� Let''s talk this out��"


    "Die!" They then started a game of chase, aiming the pepper spray at each other''s face. However, due to them only having almost equivalent physical and dodging abilities, the only damage was the coteral damage.


    Soon enough, a bunch of bulky Adventurers started cleaning the floor with their bodies as they experience Kisuke''s ''Ultimate Weapon''.


    "Aren''t they such good friends~?" Kisuke muttered with a smile.


    "Yep~. They get along well~." Yoruichi nodded in agreement.


    ''How is that getting along with each other!?'' Is everyone''s legitimate question over their statement as they watch Loki and Hestia decimate the brawny Adventurers with their war.


    However, just as they thought it ended in quite a ''peaceful'' mood, it happened.


    Hestia dodged Loki''s assault and in just the right time, Ais entered and took the full brunt of Loki''s pepper spray, "Ah��"


    Due to sudden burning pain assaulting her eyes, Ais couldn''t help but cover her eyes and rub it. But due to that, it only worsens the pain and she could help but drop down to her knees.


    The ever so stoic Ais Wallenstein, also known as the ''Sword Princess'', is now silently screaming due to a weapon which is designed for little girls��

 Volume 6 308 - Free Food

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 308 - Free Food</h4>


    After the fiasco caused by the pepper spray, Loki decided to invite the Hestia Familia to their table.


    A few minutes after Loki identally attacked Ais, she recovered, and the first thing is she did is swiped the can of pepper spray from her and sprayed it on Loki''s face�� until she emptied the can. Although it''s fun watching outside, it''s really nasty when you experienced it yourself. That''s what Loki realized and gathered everyone except for Bete, who''s already sleeping outside.


    And due to seeing Loki roll around while screaming in pain, Hestia became satisfied and epted the invitation of her ''frienemy''.


    The top executives also didn''t mind it as they''re very curious about the group, especially about the two girls who managed to escape their detection.


    However, Finn, Gareth, and Riveria realized that the mood is a lot lighterpared to earlier that seems to be ending in a bloodbath. They then recalled what happened in its entirety, including Loki''s strange request of borrowing Kisuke''s weapon. In that regard, they all thought that it might be Loki and Kisuke''s move to deescte the situation.


    A Human who could instantly get along a Goddess of Trickery''s ns, along with two mysterious girls who im to be Level 1s but still was able to sneak behind First-ss Adventurers. They''re not sure which is more impressive.


    "Ehem�� Riveria, the results." Loki started speaking.


    Riveria finally remembered that won the bet, "Right. Kisuke Urahara, you managed to hurt Bete and won the bet. As we agreed on earlier, you can start ordering food until the closing time."


    "Great~!" Kisuke then stood up and faced Mia who''s furrowing her brows, "Mia-san, everything on the menu~! Including takeouts~!"


    Riveria could only smile wryly after hearing this. However, Koneko suddenly spoke after seeing her reaction, "You still don''t know Kisuke-senpai��"


    Confused by her remark, Tiona asked, "What do you mean?"


    But before Koneko could reply, Kisuke continued speaking, "And since I''m feeling generous today, all of you guys~! As an apology for the disturbance that we created earlier, your meal is on me~! So order everything you want~!"


    Another silence engulfed the whole pub before a loud cheer from everyone, "YEAH!!!" They''ve been unsatisfied with what happened earlier as most of them got caught with the pepper spray that they didn''t even want to get close to the damned thing. But thanks to Kisuke''s sudden offer, most of their dissatisfaction disappeared. Who doesn''t like free food?


    "Wait!" Riveria immediately protested, "The bet is about your order!"


    "Right~! And I ordered their food." Kisuke answered.


    "But that''s��" Riveria couldn''t say anything about that. She finally realized that if he ordered food for them, then it''s still under their agreement.


    Loki then patted her shoulder, "Let it be, Riveria. It''s Bete''s fault for running his mouth."


    Riveria could only sigh, "Haahh�� True�� He would wake up with few hundred thousand Valis tab��"


    The petite Amazoness, on the other hand, could onlyugh at Bete''s misfortune, "That''s what he gets! Ahahaha. I wonder what sort of reaction will he make tomorrow~?"


    But then, Koneko spoke again, repeating her words but with more intensity, "You still don''t know Kisuke-senpai."


    "Mia-san~! After everyone''s food, please bring out everything from your stock~."


    "Kid�� I don''t appreciate wasting food."


    "I know some orphanage around here. I''m bringing them some."


    "��"


    "And by the way, please also set aside food for your staff. They''re going to work extra hard, after all, ~."


    "�� If you didn''t say that, I would have smack your skull." Mia finally smiled and since the other customers are also satisfied with Kisuke''s treat despite what happened earlier, she let go of themotion that he and Bete started.


    Kisuke then caught sight of the cheering Syr, "Syr-san, please also bring five bottles of that."


    Syr stopped for a moment before understanding what he meant, "Understood, I''ll bring it now with some bowls of ice."


    Turning to back to his table, Kisuke continued, "Ehem�� Loki-sama and people of Loki Familia, please also order what you want. It''s on me~."


    The Loki Familia didn''t know how to react at his generosity and Tiona could only mutter, "It''s not your money, though."


    "That''s the point�� I''m treating because it''s not my money."


    "��"


    Ais finally voiced out her thoughts, "I don''t think Bete would wake up with only a few hundred thousand Valis in his tab."


    The Loki Familia chooses not to think about it anymore as it''s also Bete''s fault, to begin with.


    The food was swiftly served to everyone thanks to the extra hard work of the waitresses. Along with it, five bottles of C were brought to Hestia and Loki Familias'' table by Syr. Before she went away, however, she asked Kisuke, "Uhmm�� Kisuke-san, could we also get some of it?"


    "Sure. But just drink moderately. It has high sugar content and sweet things can make you fat."


    "Ugh�� I''ll remember that��" Syr swayed a bit before going away.


    Curious with the bottles, Loki asked, "What''s this?"


    "A fruit drink." Kisuke popped the cork of the bottle and poured its contents on his ss with ice.


    " "ck beer!" " Riveria and Ais instantly reacted when they saw it.


    "Oh~. You know about it?"


    "Of course�� It a drink that you can only have here�� But I heard the supplier isn''t ready�� Wait." Riveria then recalled the weird negotiation that took ce earlier and she even got used to increase the value of the product, "Could it be��?"


    "Yep. We''re the ones supplying it, so drink up." Kisuke then proceeds to drink one ss without pausing, "Fuah~."


    The rest of the Hestia Familia then started devouring the food in front of them using secret techniques to aid digestion. They abruptly started an eating contest and even Sona, who came from a noble n, joined in the fun. This caused the Loki Familia to be unable to ask any question as they watch the group grapple with food as if they haven''t eaten for a few months.


    Manners? Free foodes first!


    Impression? After interacting with Kisuke and Yoruichi, they don''t even care anymore!


    "O-oi chibi�� Maybe you''re eating better than these guys?" Loki asked.


    "I-I''m also trying to figure that out��" Hestia answered.


    "Ahahaha! It''s good that they can eat!" Gareth onlyughed at this scene, but he still hasn''t seen what they''re truly capable of.


    "Kisuke-san�� May we have some of this ck beer?" Riveria asked. That''s her only concern for now.


    Giving her a thumbs up, Riveria and Ais immediately poured some in their sses.


    ''I wonder how''ll they if I present them junk foods? Burgers? Fries? Or maybe potato chips? Right, a pizza! Maybe I can bribe them with food?'' Kisuke is now nning how he would throw them towards the inescapable pool of junk foods after watching them happily drinking the c.

 Volume 6 309 - Hes Dangerous

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 309 - He''s Dangerous</h4>


    The Hestia Familia didn''t let the Loki Familia ask any question as they could only stare in awe at the group of hungry wolves as they kept devouring the food to the point that the waitresses has to keep bringing out food and take away tes in front of them. Even the Adventurers at the side could only stay quiet as they watch Kisuke and the rest.


    Sona shouldn''t be able to do this, but with Kuroka and Kisuke''s help, she was able to process the food to utmost limit of her body. Hestia also tried to copy them as she didn''t want to be left behind, but she could only keep up with their pace for a few minutes before giving up with a bloated stomach. She and the rest couldn''t understand how could they fit all the food they eat in their stomach.


    As they continue to watch, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, Koneko, Aika, Medusa, and Sona simultaneously finished thest batch of their dinner, "Thanks for the food~."


    Immediately after that, Mia spoke, "Great. Its closing time so you lot should go home!"


    Not waiting for the others to recover from the sudden change, all of them stood up and Kisuke carried up Hestia before saying his goodbye, "Well then, we''ll be going ahead~. Good night~!"


    Only when they exited the pub, Loki Familia finally sobered up and the first one to speak up is Tione, "What the hell was that?"


    Her twin sister, Tiona, asked, "Why didn''t you asked them?"


    "��It feels like they''ll suddenly attack me if I interrupted them�� Are they really Level 1s?" Tione answered.


    Ais, on the other hand, could only mutter in admiration, "��Amazing�� If I can do that, I can eat all the Jagamarukun I want without worry��"


    Riveria did a facepalm, "��Don''t go there, Ais��"


    Despite the warning from Riveria, Ais is still genuinely interested.


    Gareth then asked everyone while grooming his beard with his hand, "In any case, just how did those two sneak up to Tione and Tiona?"


    Tiona and Tione became silent as they try to recall what happened.


    "Let''s discuss it as we walk��" Fin then stood up and the rest followed his steps towards outside. Since their dinner is Bete''s treat, they didn''t have to worry about paying. As they go, Gareth didn''t forget to carry the unconscious wolf over his shoulder.


    "So, Finn�� What do you think?" Loki continued their earlier topic.


    Finn stayed silent for some moment to think about it before answering her question, "�� I don''t feel any threat��"


    Riveria and Gareth''s expression became serious, "Is that something bad?" Tiona asked.


    "I don''t know�� It''s either they''re not really a threat, they''re not hostile�� or they''re capable of hiding their intents to a terrifying degree�� How did you feel it, you two?"


    The Amazoness stayed silent for a while and Tione took the initiative to answer, "We didn''t feel anything, captain�� And now that I think about it, that''s strange��"


    "So the possibility is only either they''re not hostile, or they''re really good at hiding��"


    Riveria then spoke, "Then their Levels doesn''t make sense. They imed to be Level 1s, after all. Did they lie to the Guild?"


    "Probably��"


    "Then what should be our next course of action?" Gareth asked.


    "Nothing�� We don''t have to do anything regarding them as long as they don''t antagonize us. We continue our preparation for our next expedition."


    "That settles it then~." Loki then ended the topic.


    But Finn still wanted to ask something, "What about you, Loki? What do you think about this group?"


    "Want my honest opinion?"


    The Loki Familia didn''t think that Loki would ask such a question and became even more serious. Finn then nodded at her.


    "He''s dangerous��"


    With everyone surprised, Finn continued to ask, "How?"


    But Loki only shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows~? The girls beside him exude an aura of mystery but only him exudes danger. Even I don''t know where this feeling ising from so I could only advise you to be careful around him. However, as you said, he isn''t hostile and creating a connection to such a child should be interesting. It''s up to you if you want to befriend him, though."


    That night, after Loki''s words, the executives of Loki Familia made their own guesses to the meaning of her words. Some didn''t want to get involved, some are only curious, while some also wanted to know more about the group.


    .


    .


    .


    The next morning, after their morning training and exercise, Hestia Familia, without Hestia who''s still sleeping away, gathered in the living room as per Kisuke''s instructions


    "Ehem, now that everyone is here, I want to say a few things before we start our day.


    "First of all, as I said earlier, it''ll take some time to go back to our world or even formte a working theory regarding the transfer. Not to mention the required amount of energy.


    "And since we''re going to stay here for quite some time, I would like for you all to explore this world�� this city at your own pace and decisions. Whether you explore the Dungeon or make friends with this world''s residents, it''s up to you.


    "But remember, I don''t want you to think that this world will only be a temporary stop and consider the rtionships that you''ll be making as something trivial and superficial. Now that we''re living here, let''s properly live our lives with them. After all, this world can expand your horizon and let you experience events that may shape your future."


    Everyone became silent as they quietly contemted on Kisuke''s words. All this time, they''ve been acting that everything in this ce has nothing to do with them as they would also leave soon. But after Kisuke pointed it out, they finally realized that it''s fatal to have that kind of mindset as they might turn into unfeeling individuals that might affect them even after they returned to their former lives.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi smiled after seeing this. They both noticed that they all had a dreamy expression in which they figured that they might be not treating this world as something ''real''.


    After a few minutes, their expression cleared up as if they woke up from their dreams which both Kisuke and Yoruichi are hoping for.


    "Now then, the Dungeon, I want to stress the fact that leveling up will help you with your current problems. For Koneko, if you reach around Level 3 or 4, from my estimations, you should be able to use that ''growing up'' mode freely. However, some limitations will still be present."


    Koneko''s eyes glowed in anticipation after hearing that and decided that she have to level up as soon as possible.


    "For Aika, with boosted physical abilities from level-ups, you should be able to freely take out both of you Zanpakuto and Shihakushou."


    Aika is already expecting this when she heard about Koneko''s case and just like the former, she decided to do her best to level up.


    Kisuke continued to exin the benefits of using this world''s power system and stressed the fact that they can use it in conjunction with their real abilities. Aside from that, it''ll also help them recover their injuries as he noticed that there is some auto-correction function from the Falna they received that restores the body which is what they desperately needed.

 Volume 6 310 - Status Update

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 310 - Status Update</h4>


    After their short meeting, Hestia woke up and greeted everyone before asking for their ns for today.


    While Kisuke will be staying in their underground hideout to continue his work and Medusa would be helping him take care of a few things, Kuroka and Yoruichi would be roaming around the town to get more information and Sona, Aika, and Koneko would be entering the Dungeon.


    Hearing their decision, Kisuke gave the group entering the Dungeon a token each, "If you break this, Yoruichi and I will be able to detect it so use this when you''re in danger. We''ll immediatelye to your side. But keep in mind that there might be some ident and we won''t be able to detect it even after its activation or environment that prevents signals from going out. And even then, we would need a minute or two to arrive."


    This is the disadvantage of having someone very strong on their side. If Kisuke and Yoruichi don''t deliberately leave them alone, they won''t be able to experience the hardships of life and death experiences which is essential in the kind of world they live in. Even though both of them are worried, they had to do this if they want to follow their steps.


    The girls received it and clutched it in their hands. They don''t want to rely on Kisuke forever and save them whenever they''re in danger. But even then, they knew there are things that they can''t be stubborn about and their lives should be their top priorities, "We won''t be using this until we exhaust every option we have��" Sona said after looking into Kisuke''s eyes.


    Kisuke nodded at her and patted her head, "That''s fine�� However, before you dive in, make sure that you''ve prepared everything." What he didn''t tell them, however, is the fact that the token has emergency features that could block fatal and strong attacks for a minute or two and would inform both Kisuke and Yoruichi of its activation without them breaking it. He didn''t tell them because he didn''t want them to think that their lives are not in immediate danger, making them not careful enough.


    "Before you go, why don''t you wait until I update Kisuke-kun''s status?" Hestia stopped them from leaving.


    Curious, they decided to stay behind and see what sort of improvement Kisuke will receive after an update as they heard that the excelia only takes effect after it.


    Agreeing to her proposal, Kisuke took off his upper garment andid down on his chest. Hestia did the same when she''s granting them Falna but instead of writing hieroglyphs, she just pulled out his status and activated the dormant excelia to be part of his Falna.


    After feeling what''s happening, Kisuke''s guesses were further affirmed that the act of updating is in fact Gods processing the data and giving it back to the Adventurer in the form of strengthening their physical abilities. And since the Falna he has doesn''t have Magic, Skill, and Developmental Ability sections, all the excelia that supposed to go their went to his status resulting in another boost. So when Hestia finished updating his status, her mouth couldn''t help but twitch, ''I already heard from others how much a child could improve in a certain amount of time�� But this is just�� ridiculous�� If others were to know of this, they will all scramble to invite him��''


    Hestia then gave him his update status which read,


    Kisuke Urahara


    Level 1


    STR: I 50 --] H 179


    VIT: I 50 --] I 98


    DEX: I 50 --] G 202


    AGI: I 50 --] H 198


    MAG: I 50 --] I 68


    His overall stats increased by 495 points in just a single day.


    The moment his status was updated, Kisuke immediately noticed the changes in the ''nerves'' that the Falna created. The stocked up excelia, which is in the form of Mana, immediately disappeared as it nourished the body along with the ''nerves'' bingrger. These changes intrigued Kisuke so much that he wanted to study the logic behind it immediately, but he knew that he can''t do that right now as he needs to finish his other projects first. The only thing he could do is to make sure that there isn''t any hidden danger from all of this.


    "This is a pretty skewed improvement��" Yoruichimented when reading his status.


    "Well, all I did is to dodge and strike, so this is expected."


    "Do I have to aim for a build?" Aika asked. She''s thinking that there''s some sort of limit and she only needs to increase the parameter most useful to her.


    "No�� It''s better if you increase everything. Although it''ll take some time, that''s not a problem for us who can control Mana directly. If you can control the Mana that the Falna provides to do some burst of strength and speed or casting some random magic that matches the situation, you can go against much stronger monsters, which in turn, provides you more excelia."


    "I see�� If you want to improve your strength, you can just focus you Mana on brute strength and that should be the same with others except for Magic which will increase as long as you control your Mana." Sona muttered.


    "So the problem is increasing Vitality�� If it follows the same logic as others, then we could have to take some damage for us to actually increase it." Koneko added.


    "There are two approaches you can take regarding that. First is to boost your defenses using Mana and the other is to keep fighting monsters until you use up your stamina�� Both are dangerous so only increase your Vitality when other parameters are already high so that you can react whenever there is something wrong. If your Magic parameter is high, you could also dedicate more defense powers."


    Sona then started plotting the actions that the three of them should take in regards to the Dungeon, but there''s still one point that is bothering her, "Say, Kisuke�� It''s impossible for us to hide the fact that we could use Mana directly from others forever�� What''s your opinion on teaching it to others?"


    Kisuke smiled at her question, "Nothing, really�� In fact, the more people who know this method, the less unique we''ll appear from others�� But still, I''ll leave it to you a lot on how you''d decide on things."


    "I''m happy that you''re trusting us that much, but what if we bring you trouble? A trouble so big that we would have no choice but to rely on you?"


    Grinning, Kisuke replied with confidence, "That''s fine~! Go make some trouble~! Making mistakes is part of the learning curve. Once you''ve experienced trouble, you would know what to do. Just remember, we always got your back no matter what you do." An adventure of their own, that is what Kisuke wants.


    "Wait�� Although decreasing your uniqueness is good, but don''t you think it''s a bad idea to teach others your trump card?" Hestia asked in concern.


    "That''s not the case at all, Hestia-sama~. Mana control is just a basic technique for us~. So it''s fine if they knew how to control directly the Mana." Kisuke replied, ''It''s not really a great thing�� After all, it''s the Gods that stopped the people of this world to develop such a technique�� Their over-reliance on Falna is what stops them from advancing their technology despite having a thousand of years of history��''

 Volume 6 311 - The Trio

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 311 - The Trio</h4>


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko left for the Guild after Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka''s lectures. Kuroka also wanted toe with them, but she knew that despite their supposed simr physical abilities, her experience is much above them and she couldn''t help them improve on the upper floors.


    They met Sophie, their advisor, on the counter and the first thing she asked, "Where are the rest?"


    "They''re busy with something so it''ll only be the three of us today," Sona exined.


    "Haahh��" With a sigh, Sophie continued, "How did you do yesterday? I heard that there is some incident on the upper floors yesterday about monsters disappearing."


    "We could only find a few Goblins yesterday even after going down to the 4th floor." Sona lied without hesitation.


    "Well, it''s good that you didn''t encounter something dangerous. Although the upper floors returned to normal, there are still strong adventurers from Ganesha Familia patrolling the area so if you encounter something out of ce, you should immediately look for them.


    "And by the way, although you''re already on the verge of leveling up, I suggest that you girls don''t go beyond the 7th floor. What you need is to experience what the Dungeon has to offer as it''s very different from monsters outside since they can spawn en masse that can suddenly catch you off guard that may result in your lives taken away." While reminding them, Sophie also pulls out some documents about the 5th to 7th floors, "Also, read this carefully before you dive in."


    Sona received the documents with a grateful expression, "Thank you very much."


    "Andstly, before you go, invest some of your money to some potions as it could be your life-saving item."


    "Understood. We''ll be going, Sophie-san~." Sona then bid farewell with Aika and Koneko.


    "Go. I''m still busy." Shooing them away, Sophie returned to her work and proceeded to ignore them.


    The trio only smiled at her contrasting attitude and exited the Guild building, "She''s a good girl��" Koneko muttered and the two nodded in agreement.


    "Is it fine to show an attitude like that?" From behind Sophie, a voice of a girl resounded and she turned around, "Eina."


    A beautiful Half-Elf with a slim body, pointy ears, shoulder-length brown hair, and emerald-colored eyes appeared behind Sophie, "You don''t have to worry about how I treat the Adventurers assigned to me�� What about you? You epted that white-haired rookie that nobody wants due to how he acts yesterday."


    "Those guys won''t stop betting on how long he could survive�� Isn''t it the same for you?" Eina replied with a frown.


    "Now you understand why I show that kind of attitude�� Those who came from outside with prior experience from getting Falna tend to be arrogant because they''re strong from where they came from. They''re the type that would suddenly lose their mind if things be a bit dangerous�� So I doubt they''llst��"


    Eina could only smile wryly after hearing her coworker''s words, "That''s pretty harsh�� Still, you don''t ck from giving them the advice they need."


    Sophie stopped her actions of sorting the documents for a moment before replying, "��Maybe I''m hoping that they''ll at least survive long enough that they could make a name for themselves�� After all, it''s really tiring to see people you''re just talking to, suddenly dying��"


    .


    .


    Following Sophie''s advice, the trio went to a potion seller that Hestia rmended and also helped her when she''s having a hard time after being kicked out by Hephaestus, Miach, the God of Medicinal Familia, Miach Familia.


    The home of Miach Familia, the Blue Pharmacy is located in the same district as the abandoned church where they''re staying and they arrived there after a quarter of an hour of walking from the Guild building. They were greeted by a Chienthrope with long brown hair, purple eyes, dog ears, and a tail, "Wee. What do you need?" She greeted with a t tone.


    "Good morning. We''re in need of potions and Hestia-sama rmended this ce." Sona replied.


    The Chienthrope was a bit surprised but she immediately recovered, "So you guys are her children�� I didn''t expect that she telling the truth��"


    Sona could only smile wryly. Although she''s being rude, she can''t feel any annoyance from her tone, so Hestia might be actually really close friends with the Miach Familia if they can joke around like that, "I''m Sona Sitri, and the two behind me is Aika Kiryuu and Shirone Toujou. Nice to meet you.", " "Nice to meet you." "


    "Naaza Erisuis, nice to meet you too. Do you need potions? You can choose from this." Going straight to the business, Naaza pulled out potions with different potencies.


    "Then we''ll take five of these." Sona pointed to the most expensive one.


    "That would be 3,000 Valis in total."


    No haggling, Sona immediately passed her what she asked for.


    "Thank you very much." Naaza packed the five potions. She''s truly grateful for them as it''s rare for a Familia of their size to sell two or more potions as most of their customers are also from poor Familias.


    "You''re wee~. Since Hestia-sama is in debt to you, it''s only normal for us to return the favor."


    Naaza finally smiled for the first time, "Even then�� Thank you."


    "We''re going~. We''ll see you next time."


    "Alright. I''ll be expecting you. Be careful." Naaza then remembered something, "Oh right�� I would like to ask a favor."


    "Hmm?"


    "If you ever encounter a young Adventurer with white hair and red eyes and he''s in danger, please assist him if possible. He''s a rare new member for us. I''ll give you potions for a good price if you can assist him."


    "No problem. However, we''ll only do that if there''s no danger in doing so��"


    "Of course. That''s understandable. You should prioritize your life more than others." Naaza nodded in understanding.


    .


    .


    .


    Arriving in the Dungeon, Sona, Aika, and Koneko immediately went to the fourth floor and started their hunt.


    Since Sona doesn''t need a staff when casting magic, she''s using a short bow which is created by Kisuke. It''s only a normal short bow that is more polishedpared to the cheap options in the market and is enough to reach monsters from 50 meters or so. While she has a short bow, Sona also has a small dagger strapped to her side that she intended to use after studying the movements of the monsters.


    Aika, on the other hand, chooses to wield two short swords to practice her style in Zanjutsu while Koneko chooses metal knuckles.


    For today, they intended to gather excelia while also practicing their own techniques. Magic for Sona and sh Step for both Aika and Koneko.


    sh Step is very hard to use with the Falna''s provided Mana, but if they can use it, they would have more means of escape and more maneuverability in battle which they decided to be the top priority rather than stronger attacks. After all, strong attacks can be achieved if you have strong weapons.

 Volume 6 312 - The Trio part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 312 - The Trio part 2</h4>


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko directly descended to the 4th floor and started looking for monsters.


    The first one they encountered on this floor is a group of 3 Goblins. Nodding at each other, Sona nocked an arrow to her bow and did a preemptive strike.


    The arrow flew and it went through the right eye of one of the Goblins and it instantly died along with its screech.


    Aika and Koneko thenunched towards the remaining two Goblins while strengthening their upper bodies with Mana. With a single sh from Aika and a punch from Koneko, the first Goblin was bisected while the second one has its head crushed and they were reduced to ashes, leaving only their small magic stones.


    Picking up the magic stone, Aikamented, "This is too easy�� Why don''t we move a floor lower?"


    Sona thought for a moment before saying, "Let''s explore this floor for a bit more�� We need to get used to the monsters first."


    "�� Kaichou�� You''re the type that grinds monsters and level up too much before moving to the next area��"


    "I always like being prepared. You, on the other hand, is the type of person that just follows the storyline regardless of the level rmendation."


    "Isn''t it more exciting to kill monsters above your level?"


    "Please stop talking about RPGs�� This isn''t a game." Koneko finally interrupted the two.


    Sona and Aika could only feign a cough out of awkwardness. However, Koneko knew that the two of them, including her, were in full alert despite the casual conversation so she isn''t really ming them.


    The group then explored the 4th floor for another hour before going down to the 5th floor. The walls change to a light green color and the structure of the Dungeon begins to change with the halls bing wider and longer.


    From Sophie''s reminder, the fifth floor''s monsters are a mix of Dungeon Lizards and Frog Shooters. While the former is only a gigantic lizard and doesn''t have much threat, the former is a frog monster that has onerge eye. It attacks by shooting out its long tongue which can catch a newbie off-guard if they''re not paying attention.


    Just a few minutes into the floor they immediately encountered the new monster, Frog Shooter. The monster also noticed them and immediately shoots out its tongue with Aika as the target.


    Aika stepped to the side and swiped her sword upwards, cutting the frog''s tongue short. The Frog Shooter immediately took back it''s tongue due to pain and couldn''t help but screech. Soon after, an arrow impaled itsrge eye and a few secondster, it died and reduced to ashes.


    "Kaichou�� It''s not much of a fight if you use the bow and I doubt you gain that much excelia doing that." Konekomented.


    Sona nodded in agreement, "Right�� We can''t call this a practice." She then put her bow on her back, "So from now on, I''ll be using magic. That way at least, I can improve my control and increase my MAG parameter."


    Just as she said that, cracks started to appear on walls and three Frog Shooters emerged from it which immediately started attacking the group,


    "Cover me," Sonamanded as she put up her right hand and pointed it towards the Frog Shooters. A magic circle with Sitri''s insignia appeared and from it, three balls of water emerged before it stretched into something resembling ance.


    Aika cut two of the tonguesing for them while Koneko stepped on one. Soon after, thences of waterunched towards the three Frog Shooters. One of them hit one of the frog''s stomach, one frog got its leg impaled while thestnce missed the frog entirely.


    "�� Kaichou�� Did your eyesight worsen? Why don''t you ask Kisuke to change the prescription of your sses?"


    A hint appeared on Sona''s face but nevertheless, her poker face didn''t break down, "I didn''t expect that my magic is that uncontroble��"


    Koneko and Aika then dealt with the monsters. When there''s only one left, Aika signaled Koneko to leave it to her.


    Ten meters away from thest frog, Aika used sh Step to close the distance�� and failed spectacrly.


    The moment Aika circted her Mana and used the magic-based sh Step, the Mana she has suddenly violently fluctuated. Not expecting such a big reaction, Aika failed to control her Mana and she widely propelled forwards.


    The only silver lining is she was able to put up defenses using her Rieatsu-Ki before her face nted on the wall, "Guhh!"


    "Aika!" "Aika-senpai!" Sona and Koneko immediately called out and Koneko ran towards thest frog, killing it before going to Aika''s side.


    Aika stood up and cleaned her face which is smeared by blooding from her nose.


    Seeing that she''s okay besides the bleeding nose and obviously red legs, Sona couldn''t help butugh a little, "Aika-san, did you fell for an illusion and saw a path there? And of all the body parts that you could have used to stop yourself, you used your face. I''m impressed~."


    "Ugh!��" Aika doesn''t have aeback and just drank half of the potion that they bought earlier and poured the rest of it on her legs which eased the pain she''s feeling.


    Still not willing to end like this, Aika turned to Koneko, "What about you, Koneko-chan? Don''t you have something to show us? We still have four potions."


    Koneko looked away and started walking, intending to further explore the 5th floor, "I''m good."


    Aika and Sona used a few minutes to persuade her. Since she can''t improve if she doesn''t use it, Koneko used sh Step when there are no enemies on sight and ended up the same fate as Aika. Unlike her, though, she''s already anticipating her failure despite being careful and was able to use her hands to stop herself from going forwards.


    And since she''s very careful, her legs didn''t hurt that much and only used a bit of the potion to restore it to peak condition.


    "Let''s continue and kill some monsters using these techniques. That should earn us some hefty excelia. And finally, no more teasing each other! We''re all in the same boat." Sona proposed.


    " "Yes!" " Aika and Koneko answered.


    However, despite only using the potions if they can''t take the pain anymore, all of their potions were used up after an hour of exploring.


    "Didn''t expect that we would need potions to practice�� What should we do? Go back and purchase another batch? Or get some magic stones first to trade?" Aika asked after consuming thest bit of potion.


    They also have an option of asking Kisuke for some home-brewed potion, but they didn''t really want his help for something this trivial.


    "If only we have a healer in our party��" Koneko muttered.

 Volume 6 313 - Saving a Damsel in Distress

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 313 - Saving a Damsel in Distress</h4>


    Since it''s still a few hours before lunch, they decided that they should get some more kills for magic stones so they can buy a good batch of potions and go out by noon.


    Aiming for more lucrative magic stones, the group descended to the 6th floor where War Shadows, the strongest monster of 5th to 7th floors starts appearing.


    A War Shadow is a dark humanoid monster that has long arms with three ws that are sharp like knives.


    "For a small fry, it sure has a cool name," Aika muttered as she recalled the monsters appearing on the 6th floor.


    As they move, they kept encountering the frogs and ughtering them. It''s only after half an hour they were able to see a War Shadow.


    Since it''s only one, Aika and Koneko decided who would go first by doing rock-paper-scissors and Koneko won the match.


    Since she wanted to try fighting it normally, Koneko didn''t use any of her Mana for boosting physical abilities.


    As Koneko approaches the War Shadow, it swiped its ws downward but Koneko deflected it to the side using her handguards.


    Sparks flew and Koneko grabbed the War Shadow''s arm before kicking its ankle, effectively throwing its foot into the air.


    Using the arm she''s grabbing, Koneko pulled downwards. The foot which she used to kick the War Shadow''s ankle is still in the air and Koneko redirected its position on top of the War Shadow.


    The moment the War Shadownded on the ground is the moment Koneko''s foot descended with all the strength she got.


    The stomp crushed the War Shadow''s neck and its body and head separated before turning into ashes.


    "That''s cool�� Maybe I should only try unarmedbat?" Aikamented.


    "You''re a swordswoman, Aika-senpai. Let''s keep the roles for now."


    "I should ask Kisuke to teach me some closebat techniques��"


    "You can also ask Yoruichi-san, Kaichou. After all, we''re all required to attend her anti-personnel battle lessons."


    "Now that you''ve mentioned it�� She did say that��"


    "After all, monsters are not the only threat here," Aika muttered.


    The next War Shadow they encountered is dealt with by Aika. Unlike Koneko''s approach of an instant kill, however, Aika chooses to dodge all of its attacks and tries to get used to it. During that time, she suffered a fewcerations due to some miscalctions. Since she can''t use her Reiatsu-Ki to scan the surroundings, something like this is bound to happen.


    Five minutes into dodging spree, Aika decided to kill the War Shadow by impaling its chest.


    "You''re too reckless��" Sona approached Aika and took out some antiseptic and bandages to patch her up, "You just had to do that when we don''t have potions."


    Aika went silent for a while before speaking, "I also didn''t expect that I would get hurt�� It seems that I''m too confident in my abilities that I failed to properly reflect on myself��"


    Sona sighed and fixed her up, "Should we continue?"


    "Yep~. The wounds are properly cleaned so I can still go on."


    "��"


    "Don''t worry. I won''t do anything like that again�� Not until I know my limits."


    While the group is resting, the walls cracked again but this time, instead of just three monsters, seven War Shadows emerged.


    They were shocked at the number, but they didn''t panic. Aika and Koneko immediately attacked one of the War Shadows to break the encirclement. Thest thing they want is to be attacked from all sides.


    Sona hurriedly followed them as she conjures two 3-meter long snakes and bonded two of the other War Shadows that are near their path of escape.


    Killing one, the group sessfully gained some distance from the remaining six monsters.


    Not holding back anymore, Aika and Koneko strengthened their bodies and cooperated to kill them one by one. While the former would block the War Shadow''s ws, thetter would go for the finishing blow.


    Instead of fishing for kills, Sona chooses to support them by controlling the remaining monsters with her water snake.


    After killing two War Shadows, it became a lot easier for the group to dispatch the remaining War Shadows. Their abrupt battle ended with a few cuts on both Koneko and Aika, but it was nothing serious.


    "��I''m sorry for calling them small fries��" Aika apologized to no one.


    "Should we continue?" Koneko asked.


    "Let''s go back," Sona answered and the two agreed.


    However, before they could even turn around, they heard a panicked scream and sounds of hurried stomping not far away from them.


    Looking at each other, they decided to check it out. They ran through the corridor for half a minute before they saw a girl being surrounded by four War Shadows.


    Despite the panicked expression of the girl, she''s doing her best to wave around her staff in hopes of hitting the monsters.


    The group also noticed that her physical abilities are way above the three of them, but despite that, her movements are clumsy at best and it''s just a matter of time before a War Shadow could hit her.


    Without hesitation, Aika grabbed Sona''s dagger and threw it towards the nearest monster from the girl and she sessfully impaled its head but she wasn''t able to kill it.


    Clicking her tongue, she then threw her long sword for a second strike and finally killed it.


    The girl rejoiced when she saw a flying dagger impaling the War Shadow in front of her but she also panicked when she saw a long sword following after. After all, who in their right mind would throw a weapon not meant for throwing?


    After the War Shadow went down, from the peripherals of her vision, she saw a white-haired cat person engaging the monster on her right so she immediately turned left to smash the monster there.


    There''s still one monster left unattended so she gave some of her focus on that but before she could notice it, a spike made out of water went through the monster''s head, instantly killing it.


    After a few seconds, she was able to kill the War Shadow she''s fighting by bashing its head.


    The girl then turned to the group that helped her and bowed down, "Thank you very much! If not for you, I could have died there!"


    The girl with a bob-cut hair and sses stepped forward, "I''m happy that you''re fine."


    "Really! Thank you very much. Allow me to return the gratitude somehow!"


    "It''s fine. It''s only natural to help one another in the Dungeon. So please stand up." Sona then helped her stand up, "By the way, I''m Sona Sitri of the Hestia Familia. Nice to meet you."


    "Nice to meet you too. I''m Line Arshe of the Loki Familia."

 Volume 6 314 - Line Arshe

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 314 - Line Arshe</h4>


    Line has brown eyes and long ck hair that she had braided in a tail. She''s wearing a brown and white top, a brown skirt, dark leggings with a white band and light brown borders, a white headband, sses, pale arm cover with light brown borders, white gloves, and a white belt with pouches. She also has a wooden staff that amplifies her magic and it''s durable enough to bash through a War Shadow''s head.


    "Nice to meet you too. I''m Line Arshe of the Loki Familia."


    "I''m Aika Kiryuu from the same Familia. Nice to meet you~."


    "Shirone Toujou�� Pleasure to meet you."


    Line immediately noticed the two girl''s bandages and asked, "Do you mind if I heal you? I may not look like it, but I''m a healer."


    "Oh? Is that fine?" Aika asked back. She then recalled Koneko''s muttering earlier about having a healer in their party, ''This is some amazing coincidence.''


    Sona and Koneko are also thinking of the same thing and the three of them nced at each other and reached a conclusion, ''Let''s see how this goes��'' They also remembered Kisuke''s words about establishing connections to the inhabitants of this world and his willingness to ept trouble. Although he did say that he''s fine with them causing trouble, they won''t blindly create problems. Since they in need of a healer, they would have to decide if this Line Arshe could fit the bill.


    Line then scratched her head in embarrassment, "Although I did say that I''m a healer, I''m mostly a supporter for the main party of the Loki Familia. My healing magic is only marginally better than those cheap ones sold in the store. I''m just a Level 2 after all��"


    "It''s fine~. We''re grateful, regardless. Please." Sona smiled at her. As she closely looks at Line, the more she closely resembles one of the Rias Gremory''s Bishops, Asia Argento.


    Of course, that aura and demeanor didn''t escape Aika and Koneko who''s close to Asia. The only difference is that Line gives a more mature feeling contrary to Asia''s innocent and naive demeanor. However, that''s just the initial impression they''re getting and won''t decide with just that.


    Line nodded and started chanting, "[Oh light, healing light, bring me peace this very hour, Heal!]" Along with her chant, a white magic circle appeared below Line and it expanded until it reached Aika and Koneko. The light intensified and both Aika and Koneko can feel a slight burning feeling from their cuts before it disappeared entirely, along with the magic circle.


    Aika and Koneko unwrapped their bandages and checked their wounds, which is their anymore, "So this is healing magic��" Aika muttered.


    "This feels slightly different from Asia-senpai''s Twilight Healing." Koneko alsomented.


    Line didn''t mind Koneko''s words. Although a healer is pretty rare, top Familias always have a couple of them.


    "Thank you for healing them." Sona initiated the conversation with Line again.


    "No. I didn''t do much. I still want to thank you in a different way." Line replied earnestly, "So if you want something, please don''t hold back and I''ll listen."


    "Hmm�� I do have something in mind��" Sona tapped her chin a few times with her finger and said, "But if you don''t mind, I would first like to know what are you doing here alone and in danger. Especially when you said you''re from the Loki Familia. Of course, I won''t mind if you don''t answer. I''m just a bit curious."


    "Well�� It''s not really an interesting story and I also don''t mind telling you about it��" Line then started narrated.


    Line joined the Loki Familia when she''s just 14 years old, two years ago, when she''s just a newly promoted Adventurer. The Loki Familia epted her due to her rare healing ability, but beyond that, she''s below average. Even now, her only role is to support the main party and carry their luggage.


    For Line, it''s not actually a bad thing as it''s a pretty lucrative job, especially when the main party goes into expeditions and brings her as far as the 50th floor. The way she''s treated is not bad too. In fact, it''s pretty goodpared to the other supporters that she saw in Orario.


    However, she has a dream. It''s to be a sessful Adventurer that could actually make her own story and not just stand at the sidelines. But it''s been two years since her leveling up to two, and since then, there''s not much improvement in her basic attributes and her healing magic is only mediocre at best. And all of those who came with her to join the Loki Familia is already Level 3s and only a few Level 2s who''s already on the verge of leveling up.


    Line thought of two ways to improve herself and the first one is to study and try to improve her healing ability. She spent her time studying and consulting doctors about a person''s body and gained significant knowledge and understanding about the topic to the point that those who teaches and advise her to apud her genius ability.


    But all of that was for naught as she wasn''t able to improve her healing magic at all since she didn''t know how she should integrate the knowledge and wisdom she earned to her magic itself. It was already toote when she noticed this fact. If not for having innate interest at the topic itself, she would have dubbed it a useless effort.


    Not giving up, she went towards the second solution. To have a secondary role. She''s thinking that if she works hard in the Dungeon fighting, she could gain fighting experience and level up while at it. But she also underestimated this part. Although she was able to breeze through the upper floors, when faced by War Shadows who can dodge her attacks and surround her, she''s helpless if not for the group''s help.


    She finally realized that she doesn''t have any talent in fighting. Giving up all hope, she now only intends to support herrades from the backlines with her not so effective healing and marginally stronger body as a supporter.


    With tears threatening to fall from her eyes, Line immediately apologized and wiped it, "I''m sorry for telling you such a depressing story."


    Sona sighed in response, "It''s really a depressing story, but not an umon one either��"


    Line could only smile wryly at her words, "You''re right�� It''s not umon and there are other people there you has it harder��"


    "So you''re giving up?" For some reason, Sona couldn''t just leave her like this, ''It''s probably because she reminds me of my servants�� My family��'' Unlike Rias who has unique servants, Sona''s servants are mainlyposed of those who want to go against their fate.


    Line thought for a moment and looked up, "How strange�� Even though I''m about to lose my life earlier and the most logical thing to do is to stop�� Even though I already told myself that I should give up and spare myself some useless effort��"


    "Didn''t you want to go on a great adventure?" Sona asked.


    Line''s eyes opened wide, ''How could I forget?�� How could I as for a great adventure when I''m already giving up at the starting line?��''


    However, despite realizing that, Line is still unsure, ''Which way should I go now?'' She knew that sooner orter, she would lose her life at the futile attempt of searching her path sooner orter. But even then, she can''t give up. At least, she wanted her dream to keep on burning.


    "How about I show you the way?" Sona suddenly said which roused Line in her deep thoughts. Sona''s expression is a Devil who''s tempting a mortal to wish for something in exchange for his or her soul.

 Volume 6 315 - Which Fantasy Hole?

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 315 - Which Fantasy Hole?</h4>


    Line could tell that there is something wrong with her ''offer'', but not having any option to start with, she became curious, "They way?"


    "Before I answer that, I would like to ask first. Can you keep secrets?"


    Line''s expression became serious after hearing that, "Why would you let me keep your secrets?" Even though she''s truly grateful for saving her from the monsters, she''s not a naive idiot that would ept everything they say to her.


    "Not much of a reason, really�� I just thought that you''re the person we''re looking for." Sona replied.


    "After only telling you my story? I might just be lying to get you to trust me."


    "Indeed�� I can''t tell if you''re lying or not. I don''t have a God''s ability to tell apart lies."


    "They why?"


    Sona smiled as she reminisced her servants, "I at least can tell that your frustration regarding your present situation is real. After all, I''m used to it and I also experienced it firsthand."


    "So you''re trusting me with your secrets?"


    "Yes."


    "What if you''re wrong and just reveals it to everyone? Or at least, to my Familia? As a top Familia, we took importance to information gathering and if your secret is important, I might just tell them everything I know."


    "�� Then it''ll be my mistake and I would take responsibility for whatever going to happen next." Sona smiled confidently. She didn''t like gambling, but if her instincts are correct, then Line would be great assistance for them in the future.


    Line sighed after hearing that and thought, ''Well, if she can take responsibility that confidently, it shouldn''t that much of a secret. And beside''s they should be around Level 1 or 2 since they''re exploring this floor. What could they know that a top Familia like Loki Familia doesn''t know?''


    "Alright, I can keep secrets. I promise that I won''t tell anyone. Even if Loki-sama asks me about it, I won''t answer." She finally relented.


    Hearing that, a smile that resembles Kisuke''s emerged from both Sona and Aika. Koneko could only shake her head after seeing that and look at Line in pity.


    Line didn''t know why, but she suddenly felt a cold breeze passing up her spine. She looked around as she thought that a monster appeared but failed to find any.


    As for Sona and Aika, they didn''t care if there secrete outs and they''re not really worried as it''s the Loki Familia they''re talking about and would probably want to keep the information for themselves. And on top of that, Loki seems to be good friends with Hestia.


    "For now, join our party as we explore this floor," Sona instructed.


    "Sure�� But what about the way you''re talking about earlier?" Line asked.


    "It''s rted to our secret and as we hunt for monsters, you''ll slowly realize it. We only ask you to please heal any of our injuries."


    Since she already sailed the boat, Line didn''t hesitate anymore, "Let''s go." What she didn''t you, however, is that due to her decision today, she won''t just be having a ''great'' adventure but more on a ''grand'' one.


    Getting ''free potions'', the trio decided to stay in the Dungeon and go practice their magic and sh Steps.


    "By the way, Line-san. How much minor injuries or cuts can you heal in an hour?" Sona asked.


    "Sustainable? That would be around 20 times if it''s just minor injuries or cuts."


    "Great! So Koneko and I get 10 tries per hour!" Aika happily cheered as that is equivalent to 5 potions per hour.


    Confused on why they''re acting like they would be injured a lot, Line wanted to ask, but before she could do so, they spotted two War Shadows and a Frog Shooter from the distance.


    Line just got ready when Sona suddenly pointed her hand towards the monster, ''Magic?'' What she didn''t expect, however, is that a magic circle instantly emerged in front of her hand and ance made out of water materialized after it, shooting towards the Frog Shooter, killing it before it could even realize what''s going on, ''Hmmmm?�� Did she ever call out the name of her magic?�� Weird�� I didn''t hear anything. Maybe she just whispered it?''


    A few seconds after that, however, she suddenly saw Aika and Koneko disappearing in front of her and before she realized it, both of them are already in front of the two War Shadows�� Crashing into them, ''Hmmm?�� What''s going on? Since when did they arrive there? There are at least 20 meters from our position to the monsters�� And why did crash onto the monsters head-on? Isn''t that dangerous?''


    It was this moment that Line slowly realized that something isn''t right and an unknown premonition in her is starting to surface.


    The moment they made contact with the monsters, Aika and Koneko killed them in an instant by aiming at their magic stones. And aside from throbbing legs, both of them have their nose bleeding, "What are you doing nting you face on that guy, Koneko-chan?"


    "I could ask the same, Aika-senpai��"


    "Well, I got too excited when I heard about the heals��"


    "Right�� Free heals�� We don''t have to buy potions�� Kisuke-senpai''s stingy mindset is affecting us."


    "W��What?" Line could only mutter such as too many questions surfaced in her mind so it took her a few seconds to gather her thoughts and arrange it, "What are you doing on this floor?" Is her first question.


    Sona started walking towards Aika and Koneko, "What do you mean?"


    Line followed her steps and exined her question, "Aren''t those two at least Level 3 if they''re capable of that kind of speed? I, however, don''t understand why they would bash their heads on the monsters."


    Sona didn''t answer immediately, "Please heal them first."


    Line nodded and healed their legs and their bleeding nose. She understands why their nose is bleeding but she doesn''t get how they injured their legs.


    " "Thank you." " Giving their gratitudes, Aika and Koneko dusted their clothes.


    "You''re asking why we''re on this floor? Simple, we''re all Level 1s."


    "What��? But how could they��" Line was about to ask then a certain possibility entered her mind, "Ah, I see�� So you''re Level 1s who''re already on the verge of leveling up. Now I understand why their legs are injured. It probably due to some skill that boosts your speed in exchange for stressing your legs each use."


    Aika smiled and said, "No way''s that''s the case. Although you''re right about our technique putting stress on our legs, it''s because we haven''t master it yet. And besides, we only became Adventurers yesterday and received a Falna a few days ago��"


    "What are you��"


    "In other words, we only have I-rank basic abilities so we''re still pretty far from leveling up." Koneko continued.


    "��Hah?"


    "By the way, Kaichou. Shouldn''t you call out a cool name when you cast your magic?" Aika suddenly asked.


    "No way I going to do something as embarrassing as that!"


    "E-embarrassing?" Line finally recalled the weird magic, "Chanting, which is required for all magic, is embarrassing?" Line didn''t know what kind of fantasy hole she descended today.

 Volume 6 316 - New Member

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 316 - New Member</h4>


    Sona decided to have lunch first before continuing after seeing that Line''s not ''functioning'' properly. Aika and Koneko took out a nket and lunchboxes from their bags which taken up the most bulk from their bags.


    Seeing that, Line finally got hold of herself and asked the easiest question first, "You''re in the Dungeon�� Why are most of your supplies is dedicated for lunch?"


    The three looked at each other and recalled Medusa''s words when she passed them their lunchboxes and repeated it to Line, "Because we can''t a good meal pass��"


    Line couldn''tprehend their logic. It''s as if they''re speaking anothernguage. As one of the logistics support of the Loki Familia, she knew the importance of items that could save your life in the Dungeon and it''s better not to bring too much as to not hinder their movements. A single lunchbox is fine but she took a peek at their bags, it still has simr boxes of what seems to be food, ''They ran out of potions yet their bag is still full of food��''


    "Stop standing there and join us." Sona also sat down and waited for Line.


    "��Thank you." Line choose not to think about their answer. If she did, she won''t have the processing power for the next kinds of stuff she''s curious about.


    Their lunch consists of sandwiches, fried chickens, vegetable sds, and warm soup, ''Are we still in the Dungeon? And why is this soup still warm?'' A question that Line didn''t voice out.


    While they were eating, Line finally gathered her wits to ask, "You''re lying when you said that you''re just a Level 1 with I-rank basic abilities�� right?"


    The three stopped eating and looked at her, "It''s really hard to believe that?" Aika asked.


    Line, without hesitation, answered, "Yes."


    "��Magic reinforcement seems a lot more effective than we initially thought." Koneko muttered.


    "Magic reinforcement? Is that your skill or magic?"


    "No," Koneko replied simply.


    "Then how��"


    "Let me rify, Line-san. Each one of us doesn''t have any skill, magic, or developmental abilities listed in our Falna." Sona finally revealed it.


    "That''s impossible!" Line immediately refuted it. After all, in this world, although casting magic is possible even without Falna, it would need rituals and long chants. And in Sona''s magic, which she showed earlier, it''s impossible for it to be cast without a significant amount of time and chant, not to mention, the magic that reinforces the overall abilities and movement skill that Aika and Koneko used. All of that is impossible by the standards she knew.


    "Of course it''s possible. Who decided that it isn''t?"


    "This��" Who decided? No one. But it''s also true that no one is capable of what they''re iming to do, "Unless�� You''re controlling Mind directly��"


    "Mind? Ah�� That''s how you call Mana��" Sona muttered.


    Hearing that, a light emerged from Line''s mind, "The secret you''re talking about is��"


    "Yep~. As you have guessed. We can control Mind directly without the assistance of chants or rituals. And due to that, we can do a lot of things outside of what Falna can give." Sona then started demonstrating her magic by conjuring water on her left hand and igniting a fire on her right hand.


    "��It means that as long as you know how to control Mind�� Then the magic you can use is theoretically unlimited as opposed to just three slots from Falna��" Line finally realized that this is their secret, "This is ridiculous��"


    "Eh? Not really. It''s just you guys decided that it''s impossible when it''s perfectly achievable. It''s hard but never impossible. After all, magic is just the way Mind moves."


    "Why tell me this? Honestly, this is beyond my expectations�� far beyond." Line started to get nervous as she didn''t think it would be something this big that would surely change the way people look at magic. She just couldn''t think of all the consequences this knowledge will bring to everyone, but she''s sure it''ll be world-changing.


    "As I told you earlier, you''re the person we''re just looking for. We need someone to heal us in case we got injuries practicing our magic. As you can see, it isn''t to do and chances of Mind going out of our control is a lot higher than just using magic granted by the Falna."


    "��" Line finally understood her role in the group, "So anyone is fine as long as they can heal�� But why me? There''re are a lot of people with better aptitude than me."


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko won''t tell her that she''s the first healer they met for now. So Sona told her another reason, which is the main one, "Because you want to be better�� As simple as that." Sona took a liking to her as most people would just give up when they realized that they''re not talented and would forever live their lives giving up on their hopes and dreams while Line kept trying and searching for the path she could take.


    "And the way you''re talking about earlier is��"


    "Right. Aspensation for keeping our secrets, we''ll teach you how to manipte Mind directly. If you can manipte Mind directly, you''ll have more chances of modifying your healing magic or even create your own using your own understanding. The time you spent studying and grueling through the books that could help you understand a person''s body won''t be wasted." Sona then began her temptation.


    "��" Line went silent trying to process everything that she heard.


    But Sona nailed the final nail in the coffin, "And not just that, we''ll also introduce you to someone who knows so much about bodies that as long as someone isn''t dead, they won''t die even if they want to. He also the type a guy that would suddenly pull out unknown magic for his own convenience. What do you think?"


    That, without a doubt, caught Line''s interest. Because of all the doctors she knew, no one would dare im that they can keep their patients alive even if he or she wanted to die, ''Why am I hesitating? Even if they''re not telling the whole truth, just the way they use magic is already outside of everyone''smon sense. This is my chance to finally improve like I always wanted��''


    Line closed her eyes and took a deep breath several times. A minuteter, she opened her eyes, and the trio can see that she already decided on what she wants to do, "Please�� Teach me how to improve��"


    Sona smiled and put out her right hand, "Understood�� But how much you can improve will still depend on you."


    Line looked at her hand for a moment before grabbing it with both of her hands, "Thank you very much. I''ll do my best."


    "Wee to the crew. Let''s work together from now on~."

 Volume 6 317 - New Member part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 317 - New Member part 2</h4>


    "What should I do?" Line asked.


    "For now, follow us and cast your healing magic whenever necessary. And while you do that, instead of passively focusing on gathering Mind�� I''ll call it Mana instead of Mind if you don''t mind."


    "I don''t mind."


    Sona nodded and continued, "Instead of passively focusing on gathering Mana, you should detect its movements inside your body. How it enters, how it circtes, how it exits your body, and form your magic. Once you''re able to do that, we''ll think of the next step to actually control your Mana. What''s important for now is for you to know Mana''s properties."


    Line nodded seriously and answered, "I got it." All this while, her magic training consist of only gathering the right amount of Mind for the chant of her magic and any modification is done through changing the incantation and the amount of Mind she''s gathering. So focusing on the Mind itself and how it behaves is a new perspective for her.


    It''s understandable that Line wouldn''t try controlling the Mind directly as it''s already amon knowledge that doing that would only result to Ignis Fatuus, or Mind going out of control and hurting the caster. On the contrary, there is some sess in modifying the incantation itself in terms of changing the magic.


    The group, which is now the quartet, moved to search for more monsters and by the end of the day, they hunted more than 50 War Shadows and more than 30 Frog Shooters, most of which came from a monsters house.


    It''s alreadyte in the afternoon when they decided to stop. The first three could still continue but they really pity Line who''s already on the verge of Mind Down for a few hours now but still intending to continue. They underestimated her tenacity, but this is more good news than a bad one.


    They rested for a few minutes before ascending and going to the Guild counter to trade in their magic stones and drop items.


    Theyted around 90,000 valis from their today''s hunt which also shocked the Guild staff but didn''t question it. He just recorded the unusual amount of War Shadow and Frog Shooter magic stones they gathered and moved on to the next Adventurer.


    Once they got out of the Tower of Babel, Sona passed a pouch, containing 40,000 Valis, to Line, "Here, take it."


    "No!" Line immediately refused, "I didn''t do much aside from healing. And you''re even teaching me something amazing, so I couldn''t receive any of that. In fact, it should be who''s giving something back to you after all you''ve done for me."


    "Take it. It''s an investment." Sona insisted.


    "Investment?"


    "Purchase all the magic potions you can with those 40,000 Valis and use them to practice."


    "But��"


    "No buts. If you can improve, it won''t just help yourself but for us too who''s expecting your healing as we''re going to get hurt more in the future if we want to practice our other techniques. And besides, it''s only 40,000 Valis and I''d rather give it to you rather than our family''s Kisuke to invest to his always redline shop."


    "Shop?"


    "And on top of that, that guy seems to be very fond of setting up his shop in the most dested ce he can find," Aika added.


    Line wanted to ask more as she got curious at such an entric businessman, but someone called out to her, "��Line?"


    Coming for them is a golden-haired beauty, "Ais-san! Good evening. Did you just got out of the Dungeon?" Line greeted the neer.


    Ais nodded at her and looked curiously at herpanions.


    Seeing her gaze, Line immediately introduced them, "Ah, this is Sona Sitri-san, Aika Kiryuu-san, and Shirone Toujou-san from the Hestia Familia. They''re helping me with something and formed a temporary party with them."


    Ais nodded at the three who are introduced and Sona immediately greeted her, "Good evening, Wallenstein-san. I''m sorry for the ruckus that our Kisuke causedst night."


    Ais shook her head and replied, "It''s fine�� It''s Bete''s fault."


    This exchange confused Line, "Eh? You two know each other? Andst night? I heard Bete-san incurred a million Valis of debt in Hostess of Fertility��"


    Hearing this, Sona, Aika, and Koneko immediately looked away.


    Not minding the trio, Ais exined, "Bete lose a bet to their captain and they asked Mia-san to cook nonstop in Bete''s expense." She then pointed towards the group, "They ate a few hundred thousand Valis worth of food."


    Line could only look at the group in utter shock. If not for their way to use magic which they revealed earlier, Line would question the validity of Ais'' ims even if she knew that Ais doesn''t know how to lie.


    "Ehem�� It''s free food. No need to hold back if it came from someone rude." Sona feigns a cough and justified their reason, "Anyway, it''ste. See you tomorrow, Line-san." Sona decided to escape. Even though she knew that they''re on the right side, her face isn''t as thick as Kisuke.


    But before they could leave, "Uhmm�� Wait." Ais stopped them.


    "Hmm? What is it, Wallenstein-san?"


    Hesitating for a moment, Ais finally asked, "��Could I perhaps buy one of those pepper sprays?"


    "��For what?"


    "��For convenience�� It''s a very useful thing." Ais replied with a very serious expression.


    "I see�� A countermeasure against perverts��" Sona guessed.


    And Ais nodded in agreement.


    "Kisuke will probably set up his shop within a few days in the eastern part of Orario near the abandoned church. He should sell you a few of those. But be prepared as instead of money, he might ask a favor instead. Think carefully before you ept his offer." Sona warned the Sword Princess.


    However, Ais didn''t think much of it and just nodded.


    "Well then, goodbye."


    "Thank you for today and see you tomorrow."


    The trio then separated from Line and Ais. Since both of them are going home too, they walked together towards the Twilight Manor, Loki Familia''s home.


    "You partied with them? Why?" Ais suddenly asked while they''re walking.


    Line understood what Ais really wanted to ask, "Why not with other Loki Familia members? We only met each other today and got along well�� And it seems fun being with them, despite how unconventional they act."


    It''s unknown whether Ais understood her or not and they went home silently after that.


    Back at the underground Hestia Familia base, Sona, Aika, and Koneko immediately noticed some changes from the Japanese Mansion which is a chimney. At the farthest side of the Mansion, a chimney is sticking out from one of the rooms. When they approached it, the room has been modified to match as those from the western living room from their previous world. This room emphasizes the firece of the room, but despite that, it seems that Kisuke was able to integrate it without destroying the atmosphere and look of the Japanese mansion.


    In the room, they saw Hestia sitting on the sofa while eating some snacks and they greeted her, "Good evening, Hestia-sama. We''re back."


    Hestia turned to the trio, "Ah, Sona-kun, Aika-kun, Koneko-kun~! Wee home~."

 Volume 6 318 - Joining

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 318 - Joining</h4>


    "A new room?" Koneko muttered as they enter.


    "Yes~!" Hestia happily answered, "Kisuke-kun said that since I''m a Goddess that represents the Hearth, he created this ce for me~!"


    "Oh, you''re home. How''s today?" Kisuke came from behind them, still with a bath towel on top of his head since he just came out of the bath.


    "It''s great. We get to practice my magic and their sh Step." Sona answered happily.


    "Looks like you had fun," Kisuke smiled and patted her head.


    "Yep~." With a big smile on her face, she enjoyed Kisuke''s warm hands.


    "That''s unfair! We also worked hard!" Aika immediately protested at the difference in treatment and Koneko nodded vigorously.


    Kisuke only smiled and gave them their head pats, "Good work out there~."


    "��Say�� I''ve been curious all this while��" Hestia suddenly spoke while watching them, "What''s your rtionship? I know Kisuke-kun and Yoruichi-kun were couples, but what about the others?"


    "Ah�� About that��" But before Kisuke could exin himself, the three girls simultaneously answered, "Harem."


    "I see�� Ha��" Hestia was about to put the cookie in her mouth but not expecting such answer, she dropped the cookie and eximed, "Harem!? You mean all of you are his wife!?"


    Even Kisuke didn''t know how he would deny that when the three of them answered so surely, "Ehem�� Anyway, Medusa and I will being with you tomorrow. We also need to raise our parameters." He changed the topic instead.


    "W-wait! Answer my question!" Hestia is still not satisfied.


    But this time, Sona decided to help him since he didn''t deny anything today like what he''s doing in the past, "Sure. But we have a bit of situation here."


    "Hmm? What is it?" Kisuke happily asked.


    "Uhmm�� Hey? Why are you ignoring me?" Hestia muttered from the background.


    "We epted someone else in our party," Aika answered Kisuke''s question, still ignoring Hestia.


    "Hmmph, fine! If you don''t want to answer, then don''t! No need to ignore me!" Hestia then started sulking on the sofa while nibbling on her cookies.


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at her actions, "Hestia-sama, stop eating those snacks for now. It''ll spoil your appetite for dinner. Medusa is cooking some food and should be done any minute now."


    Hearing that, Hestia immediately stopped sulking and finished the cookie in her hand before setting aside the rest, "Great! I look forward to it!" She then happily ran towards the dining room.


    "So you decided to add someone to your party�� That''s a lot earlier than I thought�� But that''s fine." Kisuke resumed their conversation.


    "You''re already expecting it?"


    "Of course. And I did tell you it''s fine to make friends. Aside from that, you guys are still practicing and I doubt you''ll ask for potions from me when it seems you''re trying to be independent. However, potions are not enough or too expensive for your team, so I thought that you''d hire a healer sooner orter. Although I have some concerns about the trustworthiness of that person, I trust that you three can help each other figure out the other party."


    "��Are you stalking us, Kisuke-senpai?" Koneko suddenly said.


    Kisuke only chuckled at her words, "Hehe, so I got it right."


    "��You''re really terrifying��" Sona muttered, "I also want to learn that��"


    "It''ll take you some time," Kisuke replied.


    "Time is what I have the most�� Remember, I''m a Devil."


    "Right. By the way, here," Kisuke then passed them potions, "Drink it."


    Receiving one bottle for each of them, Aika asked, "This is?"


    "It''s a medicine that I based on this world''s high-quality potions. Those things are amazing. It''s really hard to believe that they managed to create something like that. But I guess this is thanks to Falna and Developmental Ability, Mixing, which should be the umtion of an insane amount of data and passing it to the skill user through the subconscious part of the mind."


    "Right�� We don''t really understand�� What will this do to us?" Aika ignored his rumbling as he would continue forever if entertained.


    "I modified it so that it helps you guys with your specific conditions. Although this will cure some of the problems in your body, it''s mostly for stabilizing your conditions for better treatment in the future. I would also like to get a hold on to those highest quality Elixirs first before I start your treatment in earnest."


    Hearing that, the three immediately drunk the potions for them.


    "Good. Then going back to the topic. You hired a healer?"


    "Yes," Sona answered after wondering why the potion is strawberry vored, ''Did he really needed to do that?''


    "How''s she?"


    "How did you know she''s a girl?" Koneko asked.


    "Would you ept a man in your party?"


    The three thought about it and instantly rejected that idea. Aside from the fact that they already dedicated themselves to Kisuke, they didn''t want other men entering their mini girl group.


    "Her personality resembles Asia Argento but she''s not naive and she gives a more mature feeling than her," Sona answered.


    "And I assume that she already knows about you guys controlling Mana directly."


    "Yes�� Watching her expression change from this to that is fun��" Aika answered him this time.


    "Due to her circumstances, we managed to strike a deal with her and asked her to join our party to heal us in exchange for teaching her how to control magic directly or even modifying it. And in addition to that, I also promised her that I would introduce her to a doctor that can teach her medicine and healing magic." Sona added.


    "A doctor? Who?"


    Sona looked at her in confusion, "Huh? Aren''t you a capable doctor? You can treat us, after all."


    "Listen here,dy�� I''m a candy store owner and not a doctor�� I won''t change my profession�� Ever." Kisuke answered with all seriousness.


    "��I''m sorry that I ask." Sona finally recalled how he seems so proud as a candy store retailer when he''s clearly not good at it, ''He can earn a lot more if he just scams people��''


    Sona then proceeds to tell Kisuke Line''s story.


    "Hmmm�� Someone with an interest in medical knowledge�� I''d like to see her for myself first. And if she''s really good that like you describe her, then maybe I''ll teach her the few things that I know."


    "You can save someone extremely poisoned and on the cliff of death�� But you only knew a few things?"


    "I''m a storekeeper, a businessman and not a doctor or a medical expert," Kisuke emphasized his profession again as if bing something else besides a candy storekeeper is a great downgrade.


    "��"


    .


    .


    The next morning, Sona, Aika, Koneko, and now with new additions, Kisuke and Medusa met Line in front of the fountain near the tower of Babel.


    "Nice to meet you, Arshe-san. I heard a lot about you from the girls. I''m Kisuke Urahara, the captain of Hestia Familia, and this is Medusa. We''ll join you for today''s exploration."


    Line is a bit shocked when someone else will be joining them today but still greeted them properly, "Good morning, Kisuke-san. I''m Line Arshe from Loki Familia. Nice to meet you too."

 Volume 6 319 - Common Sense, Not Found

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 319 - Common Sense, Not Found</h4>


    Since Kisuke and Medusa are with them, the group went straight to the 8th floor, bypassing the 7th floor where the Killer Ants and other insect type monsters spawn.


    The amount and size of rooms from 8th to 9th floors increase and the length of the hallways between them bes shorter. Also, the ceiling changes height from three to four meters from the floors above to nearly ten meters above. Moss covers the brown-colored walls and the ground below bes a short grass in. The strong light from the phosphorescence above is simr to the light from the sun. No new monsters appear, however Goblins and Kobolds are stronger than above. It''s rmended for Level 1 adventurers to have the status of at least E in their basic abilities to explore these floors.


    "Is it fine to just jump to this floor? Even though our group becamerger, it''s still dangerous because aside from stronger monsters, the spawn rate is also a lot faster and can overwhelm us." Line asked in concern. She doesn''t know anything about Kisuke and Medusa''s capabilities, but she assumed that their abilities are also around the level of the trio, "And why are you not wearing armor? That attire is from easternnds, right? Even if you''re fond of that attire, you should at least wear some steel tes that could protect your vitals! Are you underestimating the Dungeon? On top of that, where''s your weapon? Why are you bringing a cane?"


    "Arshe-san, I heard that you''re learning the way we use magic." Instead of answering her questions, Kisuke asked.


    Line wanted to pursue her issue about their armors but when she looked at Kisuke eyes which is shadowed by his strange hat, she could help but focus on his question instead. It''s as if he has strange powers that do not allow you to go against him, "��Yes." Line answered briefly, ''Their whole Familia use magic this way as expected��''


    "What do you think about it?"


    "What, you say�� I still think it''s ridiculous�� Even now, I still don''t fully believe if I can really do the same thing you''re doing��" Line stopped walking and looked down at her own hands, "But�� I hope this would be the key to my dreams. For letting me know about this kind of magic, thank you very much." She gave her gratitude to Sona''s group again.


    Kisuke smiled at her response, ''She''s earnest and it seems that she''s a hardworking too.'' Kisuke thought as he noticed the bags under her eyes and traces of turbulent Mana inside of her, signifying that she''s been using magic to the point that her Mana kept moving even after stopping.


    Line wanted to say something else, but a group of 6 Goblins and 4 Kobolds came.


    As if remembering something, Aika grinned and looked towards Kisuke, "Kisuke, have you started practicing your sh Step?"


    Kisuke looked back at her and answered, "I''m too busy with some things and couldn''t do any practice. Since I''m free today, I figured I can do it today."


    "Then go~! We''ll give you this first batch of monsters!"


    Kisuke then peeked at Line reaction, ''Although she''s confused on what we''re talking about, it seems she''s aware of sh Step�� But not the real thing. Oh well, it''ll be harder for her to ept thingster so better show her some of it now.''


    Facing forwards, Kisuke used the Mana the Falna provided and directly got hold of it. Circting the Mana ording to the technique, Kisuke wlessly performed sh Step and appeared behind the group of monsters 10 meters away.


    He then pulled out the de in his cane and did arge swing, beheading all ten monsters in an instant, ''So you can really gain excelia as long as you power yourself up with the provided Mana. And they gave a lot more than the upper floors even though they''re not much stronger.''


    "W-w-what was that!?" From behind them, Line eximed in confusion, "How did he suddenly appear there in an instant!?"


    However, the girls didn''t humor her, "Hmm�� Here I thought that he would fail at least for the first time��" Aika pouted as she muttered.


    "That''s the difference between him and us�� His handling is a thousand times better than us." Koneko followed.


    "��Looks like we have to speed up our training." Sona also inputted.


    "Eh?" Line then looked around in shock, "Eh? Is that normal? Am I the weird one here?" Line felt like she entered the wrong neighborhood. A dangerous neighborhood that threatens to undermine her understanding of the world, ''No way he''s level one! He should be at least level 4 or 5 with special skills!''


    But they still couldn''t attend to her as another batch of monsters approached them the opposite direction Kisuke went.


    The first one to react is Medusa as two daggers connected to a chain suddenly manifested in her hands. Without waiting for anyone, she dashed towards the monster after strengthening her body to the limit of her Mana. From that dash, Line estimated that she has the same speed as a Level 4 or an Agility focused Level 3.


    Medusa went through the group of monsters and during the time she passed by them, she instantly beheaded two Goblins and while at it, her chains be longer and entangled two Kobolds, throwing them towards the 6 remaining monsters, destroying their formation.


    Medusa turned around and threw both of her daggers towards two different monsters. The daggers then went through the targeted monster''s throats. Medusa held the chains to control the dagger''s flying direction and beheaded another two monsters. With another pull, the daggers went through thest two monsters. She killed the remaining monsters just through her finesse control of chains and daggers.


    The chains became shorter and the daggers returned to her hand as Medusa pick up the magic stones and went back walking nonchntly to the group. During this time, Kisuke also returned after picking up the magic stones.


    "Dang it�� It seems like we''re really in the bottom of the hierarchy in terms ofbat strength�� Who would have thought that she''s that strong? And she only used the Mana provided, right?" Aika muttered with twitching lips.


    Koneko couldn''t say anything after seeing that and only clenched her little fist as determination and desire burned brightly within her.


    "��We should really speed up our training��" Sona became surer that they''re falling behind�� by a lot.


    "��Someone�� Please�� Exin what''s going on��" Line couldn''t process the events that unfold in front of her anymore. She heard from Sona and the rest that their whole Familiaprises only of Level 1 new Adventurers. But after seeing this, she firmly believed that they''re lying to her and to everyone. After all, what Sona and the rest showed her yesterday is already the limit of her understanding.

 Volume 6 320 - More Dungeon Crawling

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 320 - More Dungeon Crawling</h4>


    During the abrupt break, Line had to take in everything she had seen while drinking the offered warm tea.


    She dare not to think where the warm tea came from as she had enough.


    "��Is that magic too?" Line asked her first question.


    "Since everything that constitutes maniption of Mind or Mana is Magic, yes, it is," Kisuke answered while enjoying her troubled expression.


    "��How is that even possible?"


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment to think of a way to exin the logic behind body strengthening, "Imagine a normal Adventurer. He goes to the Dungeon to gather excelia. After that, his God would update his status raising his parameters ording to the amount of the excelia he gathered.


    "The act of updating the status is the act of converting those excelia to Mana�� or Mind, that will permanently mix with your body to strengthen it. Hence, your parameters are raised."


    Line nodded as she somehow understands his exnation.


    "Of course, not every Mana goes to the body to strengthen it as some or more of them just floats around the body and you could probably guess what represents those."


    Line thought about it for a moment and her eyes lit up as she came into a realization, "��The Magic parameter��"


    "Correct. It''s probably due to the way the excelia is gathered or the said Adventurer''s aptitude that Magic parameter increases. But this is the main reason why a Mage''s physical ability is a lot weaker than a Warrior counterpart. And there''s just so much Mana you could fit in the body in a Level."


    "I see!" It is as Kisuke said. Everyone already epted that it''s due to aptitude and the way they fight in the Dungeon is the reason for a Mage''s development in the Magic parameter. However, no one thought of it as just excess excelia that couldn''t strengthen the body like Kisuke is saying.


    "Obviously, it''s a lot moreplicated than that due to the existence of Skills, Magic, Developmental Abilities, and most importantly, the Level ups themselves."


    "Level ups? Ah�� So it''s like adding another barrel to the body when the first one is already full��" Line muttered.


    "Haha," Kisuke chuckled and patted her head after hearing her words, "Looks like you''re gullible enough for me to teach you some magic."


    Line was startled and felt embarrassed when his handnded on her head, but when she heard what he said, Line pouted, "At least call me open-minded." Strangely enough, though. She doesn''t mind his hand.


    "Yosh! That''s enough!" Aika then suddenly interrupted the two of them and goes in between, "Let''s go hunting!"


    "Would you please stop patting other people''s head randomly?" Sona added.


    "We don''t want another victim��" Koneko muttered.


    "W-well, it''s just my habit�� My bad."


    "Uhmm�� How should I return the favor? Since you''re going to teach me your magic, it''s only natural that I shouldpensate you in some way, but I don''t know what should I do��" Line suddenly asked after fixing her hair which was ruffled by Kisuke.


    "For now, just help the girls explore the Dungeon. That should be enough."


    "There''s no way that''s true! You''re teaching me something that could undermine the whole world''s take on magic so how could that be enough!?"


    "Simple~. Because I said so!" Kisuke chuckled as he started walking.


    "T-That''s ridiculous��" Line could only mutter that as she follows the group while also thinking a way to return the favor by herself. In this regard, she''s really too earnest.


    Since the monsters here are still too weak for Kisuke''s taste, he asked Line to lead them directly to the 10th floor, which she immediately protested against. But after a minute of persuasion from him, she agreed after making them promise that they''ll immediately retreat if things get too dangerous. This is after knowing their capabilities. It''s really hard for her to suddenly change her outlook.


    Navigating through the mist for a few minutes, they came across a huge pig-headed monster that reaches about three meters in height. It wears old hide at the waist like a skirt. An Orc.


    "��An Elf female knight�� Why does that enter my mind after seeing that?" Aika asked.


    Sona blushed and red at Aika, "Don''t go there, Aika-san!"


    Koneko looked at them curiously and innocently as she asked, "Why?"


    Kisuke put his hand over to her shoulder which made her look at him and he said seriously, "They''ve delved deep on the inte�� Don''t mind them."


    Although still curious, Koneko finally gets it when Kisuke said it like that. Koneko could only sigh and think, ''I''m surrounded by perverts.''


    "Not the time to be talking. What should we do?" Medusa asked as she watches the Orc starting to run towards them.


    "Since this is the first time we encounter this monster, Aika, Koneko, you two take care of it. It''s good for you to learn how to respond to something unknown." Kisuke instructed.


    "What about me?" Sona asked.


    "You better off learning how to assess your surroundings. Later, you''ll have to take the lead andmand everyone when a bigger scale of the battle starts."


    Sona nodded in understanding and watched Aika and Koneko as they approached the Orc''s nks.


    The Orc, in response, swung its arms around to deter the two Adventurers. Aika didn''t expect the speed that the Orc''s arm and ended up stopping on her tracks while Koneko immediately reacted by ducking under the arm''s trajectory and she arrived at the monster''s left leg.


    With a single huge swing of her fist, "Haah!" Koneko broke the Orc''s knee cap, then retreating after the attack.


    "Graahh!!!" With its scream of pain, the Orc came crashing down and Aika used this chance to pierce the monster''s throat, killing it.


    "Whew�� It was unexpectedly fast. Although it''s not agile, the swing of its arm is enough threat." Aikamented.


    "Aika-senpai, are you still not used to move around without your scanning abilities?" Koneko went to her side after picking up the Orc''s magic stone and asked.


    "��Yes. But I can feel some improvements so I should be fine after some more training." Aika answered as they walk towards the rest of the group.


    "Good work out there~." Kisuke greeted them with a small smile while Medusa passes each of them a towel to clean themselves from some dirt they got.


    "By the way, Kisuke. Why did you stop us from updating our statuses?" Sona suddenly asked. Last night, they asked Hestia to update theirs but they were stopped by Kisuke. Updating their parameters should make things easier for them to fight monsters.


    "I want you to get used to your current strength first. Once I think that your control should be enough, then you can update your status. However, whates next is more important. And that is adapting to a sudden gain of strength.


    "I want you to experience it at least once. Due to the nature of Falna, it could give you sudden strength which will actually do more harm than good. Aside from worsening your control, it may go over to your head and unable to make a sound judgment of the situation because you have a wrong perception of your own power."

 Volume 6 321 - Practice

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 321 - Practice</h4>


    After a few more monsters like Orcs, Imps, and Bad Bats, Sona, Aika, and Koneko decided to take on groups of these monsters that only Kisuke and Medusa are fighting. Kisuke asked Medusa to supervise them as she has a lot more experience than the three young girls and it would be helpful for them if she can pass them some of her knowledge regarding responding to different situations.


    After the four left, Kisuke and Line became alone. Due to this, Line became slightly nervous as she anticipated Kisuke''s next instructions.


    "How far have you practiced magic?" Kisuke asked first.


    "Sona-san asked me to feel the flow of Mind�� Mana inside me when I cast magic. I practiced untilte at night yesterday until I can properly observe the movements of Mana without risking myself causing an Ignis Fatuus."


    "Mind showing me your magic?"


    Line nodded at him and cast healing magic on him. Kisuke observed the magic and Line herself and nodded at her, "Good. Now I have an idea where you are. And I have a way for you to improve fast, however, it''ll be dangerous. Of course, there''s an easy and safe way, but that would take months or years of hard work. What will it be?"


    "Which would you rmend?" Instead of deciding by herself, Line asked. Although she''s tempted to do the hard and fast method, she doesn''t actually know if that''s the best for her and her future.


    ''Hooh�� This is great. She can be an asset sooner than I expected. She''ll also help me create connection to the Loki Familia. Sona and the rest really found someone interesting.'' Kisuke thought and said, "Either is fine as it would result in the same thing."


    "Then I want to improve fast! I''m already hovering around level 2 for a very long time now."


    "Great. But don''t ever bring that impatience when you actually practice. That''s one of the dangers of this method. It''s fast but you can''t be impatient."


    "I understand. Please tell me what to do." Line nodded eagerly while also taking a deep breath to calm herself down.


    Grinning, Kisuke gave her the first thing she should do, "First, deliberately cause an Ignis Fatuus."


    "Huh��?" Line asked in confusion as she doesn''t understand how losing control would help her control the violent Mana. And on top of that, Ignis Fatuus, if extremely unlucky, it may injure her permanently and her path towards magic will be forever closed.


    "I told you, right? It''ll be dangerous and you can''t be impatient, or else, it could make you retire being an Adventurer." In Line''s perception, Kisuke grin became that of a mad man which he is actually.


    Swallowing her saliva, Line asked nervously, "But why Ignis Fatuus?"


    "Not specifically the Ignis Fatuus, but the way you''ll be casting your magic which will cause you to lose control of your magic. I assume that you already memorized some parts of your healing magic?"


    "Yes."


    "Then what you''ll need to do is to cast your healing magic and while at it, you''re going to catch one of this Mana strand and move it yourself ording to the original movement."


    "I see�� It may sound simple but the moment you try to grab Mana, it''ll revolt despite following the original path of the magic which will cause Ignis Fatuus."


    "Right. You have to try and try again to find a way for you to actually control it. Hence, the contents of your training will be causing an Ignis Fatuus, and if you be injured, you''ll use your magic normally to heal yourself and try to memorize more parts of your magic. I''ll be watching you while you do it so that I can give you more instructions depending on your progress."


    "I understand. I''ll start now."


    Kisuke just nodded at her and sat down on a protruding rock to watch her.


    Line took another deep breath and closed her eyes as she cast her healing magic on herself. After a few seconds, however, the light which was supposed to heal her suddenly sted her with shockwave which sent her flying backward, "Kyahh!!!"


    Line thought that she would be rolling on the ground in pain and scratches but that didn''t happen as she suddenly felt someone catching her in midair.


    Kisuke, with Line on his arms,nded on the ground. Realizing their position, Line''s face heated up and felt embarrassed. However, Kisuke immediately put her down and said, "Continue," with a t tone that roused her from embarrassment.


    Seeing how serious he is in teaching her, Line shook her head and threw away her useless thoughts and answered with renewed determination, "Okay!" Since he''s properly teaching her, she should take it very seriously. That''s the only she can do for now.


    For the next three hours, Line would be thrown away by her own magic which would sometimes injure her greatly that she had to use some of her expensive potions as her healing magic isn''t enough.


    She also got used to Kisuke always catching her so she focused entirely on her magic without minding much about her safety while also following Kisuke''s advice of not being impatient so that she won''t cause a fatal Ignis Fatuus.


    The group who''s hunting for monsters also returned for lunch but what they saw after returning to Kisuke and Line make them stopped their steps, "��K-Kisuke�� What did you do?" Aika asked while her mouth is twitching and the rest of the girls also has simr expressions.


    "Hmm?�� Ah��" Kisuke looked towards them and became confused at their expression. He then looked back at Line who also just opened her eyes. Since he''s only focusing on her progress and the movements from his surroundings, he didn''t realize Line''s appearance after being repeatedly activating Ignis Fatuus.


    Line''s clothes, after countless shockwaves that hit her, became so tattered that it revealed her underwear, hence, the reaction of the girls.


    Line looked at them, who''s looking at her like something is wrong with her. Now that her mind has been taken off from the training and Kisuke''s serious atmosphere already disappeared, she finally felt the cold draft grazing her body. She then looked down and her mind nked out before she screamed on top of lungs as she covers her body, "Kyaah!!!"


    Kisuke immediately pulled out a nket from his inventory and draped it on top of Line, "Ehem�� Let''s rest for now and eat our lunch��" He tried to diffuse the awkward position. But feeling the other Adventurersing due to them being attracted by Line''s scream, he suggested, "Let''s go somewhere else before that."


    The girls also realized that it''s a misunderstanding and sighed in relief. Medusa approached Line and help her stand up while also offering her to fix her clothes.


    Thankful with Medusa''s offer, Line sighed. But her mind went back to her training and her progress, ''I already memorized 3/4 of the overall magic circle of my healing magic and I can only write my own lines of Mana, albeit, only slightly�� But it means that it''s really possible to control Mana��" Clenching her fist, Line promised herself to work harder after seeing a visible achievement and improvement.

 Volume 6 322 - Plans

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 322 - ns</h4>


    The group resumed their activities after their lunch and went on exploring for the rest of the afternoon beforeing out.


    Since it would be too attention-attracting if they exchange all the Magic Stones they gathered for today, they all traded-in a quarter of their total earnings. However, it still earned them around 160,000 valis due to the sheer amount of monsters they killed.


    The figure surprised the Guild staff again but not so much this time as the 10th to 12th floors are a lot more lucrative than the monsters from the 6th floor where the group of girls is exploring yesterday. But it''s still an impressive amount since they''re all level 1s.


    After getting the money, Kisuke immediately passed 100,000 valis to Line, "W-wait! Wait! Why are you giving me this!? I didn''t even join the group that hunted monsters! On the contrary, I should be the one paying you for the tuition fee!"


    "Take it. You went through all of your potions and magic potions today. Go buy something better with this." Kisuke didn''t listen to her and just pushed the pouch of Valis into her hands.


    "��But."


    "I''ll tell you what you can doter as tuition fee. I never thought of this as a free tutorial, so be prepared."


    Line looked at him for a moment before sighing in relief, "I understand. Thank you very much."


    "Good. Then we''ll go ahead. Once you return home, don''t ever try to control your Mana directly. You still need supervision as your proficiency in it is almost nonexistent. You are better off memorizing your healing magic first."


    "I''ll do that."


    Kisuke nodded and started walking away and the girls followed him after bidding their farewells to Line. But then, Kisuke suddenly remembered, "Ah, Arshe-san." He called out to her departing back.


    She turned around and looked at him curiously, "What is it, Kisuke-san?"


    "Don''t update your status for now."


    "��Okay."


    .


    .


    .


    After today''s hunt, they realized something and that is there''s a limit on how long they could use Mana to power up. From today''s experience, Aika and Koneko could only do a power-up across the basic ability for about five minutes before they start experiencing debilitating headaches for the overuse of Mana. If they save it and only power up what they needed depending on the situation, they canst a lot longer.


    However, switching between the parameters they want to raise has noticeable gaps or ''cooldowns'' that anyone a bit proficient can take advantage of. And if it''s monsters, a wrong switch would potentially expose them from a fatal attack.


    So for the rest of the day, they intended to polish their Mana control and body control.


    After reminding them not to overdo it, Kisuke went directly to hisboratory to get some results from the currently running experiments. He first approached a two-meter tall cylindrical tank with a terminal in front of it. Checking the progress through the terminal, Kisuke muttered, "I only need to adjust it for a bit and I''ll be able to extract clean Mana from the magic stones." He then went into work mode.


    Kisuke only came out when the dinner is ready and coincidentally, Yoruichi and Kuroka returned from their own activities.


    Since it''ll be a few minutes before the dinner is set, Kisuke invited the two of them back to hisboratory to hear them out.


    After giving Yoruichi a small peck on her lips, Kisuke asked, "How is it?"


    Yoruichi and Kuroka sat down before the former started speaking, "We''ve gathered most ofmon sense here and I''ll be able topile it after a day or two for you to read. The only part of the town that we haven''t explored much is the so-called Daedalus Street."


    "I already did some preliminary investigation on the said ce, nya." Kuroka took over, "But there are so many hidden parts and hidden paths that it''ll take a while to investigate and map out even just a small area without me revealing my abilities, nya. And a ce like that is, obviously, a gathering spot for unsavory individuals, nya. On top of that, it seems that there is some sort of eyes watching the area. I can''t tell where it is but I feel it, nya."


    "Hmmm��" Kisuke rubs his chin in contemtion, "So that ce also has some sort of surveince in it��"


    "What do you mean?" Yoruichi asked with furrowed brows.


    "I didn''t notice it immediately but there is also some sort of surveince in the Dungeon. Although it''s only some parts of it like the entrance or some rooms, it''s still surveince."


    "But why we didn''t feel anything when we entered the Dungeon the first time?"


    "It''s because there''s no one watching us at that time. But earlier today, I felt a gaze on me despite having no one around our group."


    "Then what should we do?"


    "We don''t want to alert them so we do nothing. But that doesn''t mean we''ll stop our Dungeon exploration. Basic techniques that the girls use will be fine but if we want to do something serious inside the Dungeon, then we would have to avoid it. I''m going to the Dungeon again tomorrow to figure out how to do that and find every point where they can look through."


    "Understood. Then Kuroka and I will continue gathering more information for a few more days before we enter the dungeon."


    "No�� You can take it slow. Go gather information for a whole week."


    "Why?"


    "I have to supervise the girls for this whole week, but after that, you, me, Kuroka, and Medusa will go to the middle floors or beyond. I assume that we could at least take care of monsters down their despite our limited physical abilities and if we cooperate and use our techniques to the fullest we should be able to kill stronger monsters."


    "I see�� That way, we''ll immediately reach the ''counter stop'' of our parameters."


    Kisuke grinned and continued, "Right~. And it''ll be more exciting fighting those than ying with low-level monsters."


    It''s only possible because this group has experience fighting terrifying monsters and can control their Mana at will. In addition to the most versatile use of magic and skills that are unknown to this world, no monsters from the middle floors could actually threaten them.


    It''s also around this time that few individuals would notice their umon existence. However, they wouldn''t realize how terrifying Hestia Familia really is until muchter.

 Volume 6 323 - Successful

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 323 - Sessful</h4>


    For the next few days, Kisuke, Medusa, Sona, Aika, Koneko, and Line from the Loki Familia continued delving deeper into the Dungeon until they reached the 12th floor where the visibility is too bad due to thick mist.


    However, the girls are also getting used to it because they can now use Mana to strengthen their senses. But before they can reach the state where it''s actually useful in a real battle, Kisuke and Yoruichi had to teach them how to process the information that is entering their senses. If not, even with stronger senses, it would just be noisy information for them instead of useful information.


    During this time, Line was also able to memorize her own magic circle and can now almostplete the spell without the assistance of her incantations.


    And with a final push from Kisuke, before lunch of their 5th day in the Dungeon, Line finally cast her healing magic after a few minutes of concentration.


    "I did it!" Line cheerily jumped and eximed, "I did it, Kisuke-san!" And due to her sheer happiness, she ended up hugging Kisuke in delight.


    It''s only a few secondster that she finally realized what she has done and she immediately separated from Kisuke with a blushing face, "I-I''m sorry!"


    Kisuke didn''t mind it as he chuckled and ruffled her hair, "Congrats~."


    Still feeling embarrassed, she moved his hands away, "Geez�� Please don''t treat me like a child��" Line muttered as she pouted. But after that, she looked straight at him with still slightly flushed face, "And thank you very much~."


    "Still, you are only on your first step. Although you seeded, It took you a few minutes to cast simple magic and in addition to that, your control isn''t very precise yet as most of your Mana were wasted. It''s as if you cast your magic 7 times."


    "I know. But now I actually did it, I''ll work even harder!"


    "Your enthusiasm is good but you shouldn''t cast magic continuously. I allowed you to do it these past few days because I figured that it won''t do any warm on you for now. But now, I can see that you''re very tired so you should only do that for a few hours a day."


    "��" Line went silent as she indeed intends to do it nonstop even after going home. She would only stop when her Magic Potions were gone or she entered a Mind-Down state.


    "However, you also shouldn''t waste your free time," Kisuke continued and took out a book and passed it to Line, "Take this and study its contents."


    Line grabbed the book and scanned a few of its pages, "This is?" The book is all sorts of magic circle diagrams that are making her dizzy just by looking at it.


    "Those are the basic magic forms that would help you create your own magic. Try reading and casting the first example."


    Following Kisuke''s instructions, Line went to the first page of the book and memorized the simple magic circle. Opening her left hand, she carefully weaved Mana on top of it and drew the magic circle from her memory and a small me sprouted in it, "��I did it�� Magic not provided by my Falna��" Line muttered as she watches the me dance on her hand.


    At this time, the hunting group returned, "Oh, it seems that you seeded. Congrattions." Sona first said.


    Line couldn''t reply as she kept staring at the me on her hand. All this while, even after seeing them do it, she actually still has some doubt. But now that she cast magic not listed from her Falna and she didn''t have any skill that allows her to do so, all of that was blown away and were reced by an unknown feeling that she didn''t know how to describe.


    And during this time, her consciousness started drifting away as she entered in some sort of trance.


    .


    .


    Underneath the Guild is the Room of Prayer. Sitting on a throne is white hair and blue eyes old man. He wears a white robe with a ck hooded cloak and sandals. While sitting quietly, the old man''s eyes suddenly widened as if he was startled.


    From the darkness of the room, a figure that wears ck robes that cover their face, making it impossible to tell their gender or any other features, appears, "What''s wrong, Ouranos?" The figure asked with a ghastly voice.


    "Fels��" Ouranos muttered his aide''s name, "For an instant�� I thought I felt the Dungeon�� expressing happiness��"


    Fels didn''t really understand, but before he could ask more Ouranos continued, "It''s probably just my misconception�� Anyway, what happened with the Xenos?"


    "Some new members arrived."


    "I see�� What about the Ganesha Familia?"


    "Their captain, Shakti is taking care so that no information leaks. However, I also discovered that some Adventurers are deliberately searching for them."


    "Do you have any ns?"


    "For now, I asked Ganesha to be careful of these individuals�� However, we really need more people regarding this."


    "��It''s hard to find someone who would willingly ept a monster as a friend��"


    Hearing that, Fels became quiet.


    With their conversation regarding the ''Xenos'', Ouranospletely forgot his misconception which actually isn''t.


    .


    .


    .


    Twilight Manor, the home Loki Familia, which is located in the northern part of the Labyrinth City Orario, is described to be a huge structure built on a small area ofnd. Multiple tall towers ovep and support each other, with the middle tower being the tallest. The home is also described as being carved out from mes.


    In a certain room, all the top executives gathered, along with Loki, are talking about their next uing expedition in five days.


    "How are the logistics?" Finn asked Riveria.


    "Food, supplies, potions, and weapons are all already prepared."


    Finn nodded, "Good. Now then, the quest we received the Dian Cecht Familia. The quest is to gather a certain amount of Cadmus Spring from the 51st floor. Other than that, all the other quest is to gather some materials from the Lower Floor and we can leave that to other low-level members.


    And finally, our main goal�� The exploration of the 59th floor where the only Familias who were able to reach it is the Zeus and Hera Familia."


    Everyone nodded with a serious expression. Finally, they were about to reach the deepest floor recorded in the history of the Dungeon.


    "With that said�� All of you need to rest and condition yourself. So no more entering the Dungeon, especially you Ais."


    Ais head dropped down, "��Yes."


    "Now, now, Finn." Seeing Ais'' reaction, Loki immediately interfered, "Don''t go too hard on her."


    "Loki�� you can''t spoil her��" Finn answered.


    Ais became even more depressed after hearing that.


    This time, Riveria sighed, "Haahh�� Finn, please allow her."


    As if an angel descended, Ais'' eyes lit up as she looked towards Riveria.


    "Even you, Riveria?"


    "At least postpone the mandatory rest until two days until the expedition." Riveria then looked towards Ais, "And Ais, you can''t go alone. Take Tiona and Tione with you. That''s the condition."


    "We''ll apany you, Ais~!" Tiona energetically answered.


    "If the captain allows it, then I don''t mind." Tione followed.


    Sighing, Finn agreed, "Fine. Let''s go with that." At least, it''s better than let Ais secretly enter the Dungeon.


    "Now that''s decided, let''s have lunc---!?" In the middle of speaking, Loki''s eyes suddenly widened in shock.


    Finn, Riveria, and Gareth furrowed their brows at her, "What''s wrong?"


    Loki went silent for a moment, making everyone slightly nervous, before smiling wildly and muttering, "It seems that something very interesting is happening out there�� I wonder what is it��?"

 Volume 6 324 - Lines Status Update part 1

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 324 - Line''s Status Update part 1</h4>


    Somewhere beyond the Heaven(Tenkai), a space of chaotic elements where no being could possibly survive even a God with their Arcanum, suddenly stirred up. Among the vast space, a voice suddenly resounded, "Is it that little tiger��? Or someone with it��?"


    The voice sigh, "I never would have thought that the person who could have better potential saving dealing with that once it awakened below more than Zeus'' prot��g�� would be some invader��


    "I look forward to our meeting in the future."


    .


    .


    .


    Late in the afternoon, everyone is gathered around Line who''s still nkly staring at her me magic unmoving.


    "It''s been five hours now�� Are you sure that she''s fine?" Sona asked in concern.


    Kisuke didn''t immediately answer as he observes Line''s current state. Aside from unmoving, the Falna of Goddess Loki is also shining behind her. The Mana in the surroundings, on the other hand, is gathering around her and entering her body little by little, "��It looks like she''s fine�� It seems like the world is helping her because she achieved something��"


    Even Kisuke didn''t expect this oue and is already trying to think of the events that could possibly happen in the future because of this. However, it only served as a headache as he doesn''t have much information to begin with, ''With the Falna reacting alert Loki too? And is there any record that this happened in this world''s history?��'' All sorts of simr questions kept popping in Kisuke''s head.


    But since it already happened, he could only do his best to turn this to his favor, ''It seems like Yoruichi and Kuroka would need more time gathering information.''


    A few minutester, Line''s eyes suddenly blinked and her consciousness returned. Her me magic was suddenly dispelled and she looked around, "Eh? Since when did everyone arrive?"


    "��You don''t know what happened?" Kisuke asked.


    "��What happened?" Line asked back in confusion.


    "First�� Tell me what you''re doing. Don''t hide anything."


    Line noticed the seriousness in his voice and didn''t hesitate to answer her teacher''s question, "Let see�� The moment I cast that small me magic, I was immediately attracted to its magic circle. But when I stared at it, it seems that I can see and feel that inner intricacies of the magic circle. Thanks to that, I''m now able to control Mana better."


    Kisuke went silent for a moment before asking, "How long do you think you''ve stared at the magic circle?"


    "Erm�� I think it should be only a minute or two."


    "You''ve been staring at it for at least five hours."


    "Eh?�� Five hours?"


    "Five hours."


    "Eh�� Eh!? That''s impossible!" Line immediately retorted. She couldn''t even go unmoving for an hour or two, let alone five hours.


    "Let''s go out for now." Kisuke decided. It''s useless to exin it to her since it seems that she''s unaware of the most things that happened to her.


    The group exited the Dungeon and went outside of the tower, "�� It''s already thiste?�� Did I really stand there for five hours?"


    "Well then, Arshe-san�� Please tell me if you''re feeling any different."


    Line stopped for a moment and did a self-reflection and she was surprised at what she found out, "�� I can perceive Mana much easier��"


    "Hmmm�� Let''s go home for now."


    "What should I do?"


    "For now, inspect anything you can do��" Kisuke then suddenly thought of something, "You can''t really escape it so ask Loki-samater to update your status and find out what''s different."


    Line nodded in agreement, "Okay�� I have to do it secretly, right?"


    "If possible, convince her to keep quiet about your status before you get an update," Kisuke added.


    "Alright." Line then bowed to everyone, "Thank you very much for today."


    "Take care. And don''t forget to study the book."


    "Understood�� But what if someone sees this book?"


    "Well, it won''t be that much of a problem. Only you would be able to understand that because of my lessons these past few days. Maybe someone out there could do so like Riveria Ljos Alf from your Loki Familia, so be careful around her."


    After a few more reminders and instructions Line separated from Kisuke''s group and immediately went home.


    The first thing she did when she reached the Twilight Manor is to look for Loki. Along the way, Line came across an Elf with jade-colored hair that reaches her waist, "Riveria-sama, good evening."


    "Line�� Good evening. Did you go to the Dungeon today?" Riveria looked towards the girl who greeted her.


    "Yes. I just came home."


    "I see. Then you must not have heard the announcement yet."


    "Announcement?" Line tilted her head in confusion.


    "No one is to go to Dungeon until our next expedition in 5 days unless you have special permission, so get some rest or hang out with other kids."


    Line was a bit surprised, but she already expected it, "��Thank you for your reminder." ''Special permission, is it?'' Line thought as she bowed down in respect, "By the way, Riveria-sama. Have you seen Loki-sama? I need to talk about something with her."


    Riveria thought for a moment before answering, "I think she''s in the lounge with other girls."


    "Thank you very much, and good night." Bidding her farewell, Line immediately left.


    Unbeknownst to her, Riveria followed her with her eyes until she got out of her vision, "Something''s different about her�� But what is it��" Riveria muttered.


    In the lounge, Loki is having a small talk with Ais, Tione, and Tiona when Line entered the room.


    The moment she stepped in, all their gaze went to her and she became nervous because of it. While Ais, Tione, and Tiona''s stare are that of curiosity, Loki''s expression became serious as she opened her eyes slightly to get a better look at Line.


    However, she didn''t let her children the change in her expression so her face immediately reverted back, "Yo~, Line-chan~! What brings you here?"


    As the only one who saw her change of expression, Line swallowed a mouthful of saliva, ''She noticed something��'' While keeping herposure in check, she asked, "Loki-sama, may I have a bit of your time?"


    "Yay~. A cute girl is inviting me for a night date~! Let''s go!" Running towards her, Loki suddenly grabbed her waist and brought her away leaving the dumbfounded trio.


    "Eh~~~!?" Line could only let out a confused and frustrated noise as she is dragged away.


    "��Is it okay to leave them?" Tiona asked.


    "Well, nothing bad will happen, probably." Tiona didn''t really care.


    Ais only stared at the door where the two left but immediately returned her attention to the two Amazoness to discuss their Dungeon exploration tomorrow.


    .


    .


    .


    Inside her room, Loki let down the disgruntled Line and closed the door before sitting on the couch.


    "Tell me what happened? Why did you suddenly awaken the Mage developmental ability without your Falna being updated?" Loki went straight to the point. She immediately noticed the Mana or Mind surrounding her as if she''s the same as any other high-level rearguard Adventurers.


    "Mage developmental ability?"


    "You don''t know? Well, let''s update your status before we talk so that we could see what really happened." Loki demanded her to sit and strip down.


    Line didn''t move, "Loki-sama��"


    "Hmm?"


    "Before that�� Please promise me that you won''t leak anything regarding my Falna to anyone."


    Loki''s expression became serious once more, "Why?"

 Volume 6 325 - Lines Status Update part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 325 - Line''s Status Update part 2</h4>


    "Why?"


    "I can''t tell." Line immediately answered honestly. Since Loki can tell if she''s lying, her only choice is to answer truthfully even if Loki bes mad at her. That''s the least she can do for her benefactor.


    For Loki''s reply, it''s the same question, "Why?"


    Line looked straight into her eyes, "Because I promised�� That''s the only I can give for anything regarding this." She knew that Loki would be able to discover Kisuke''s group with just a bit of investigation, but if she could promise not to tell anything regarding her Falna, it''ll also automatically hide Kisuke''s existence to a certain extent. And maybe due to her interest, the Loki Familia could also give them some protection as the top Familia.


    Loki didn''t speak and only stared at her.


    "I can promise you that it won''t be detrimental for the Loki Familia." Line continued.


    "Haah�� Fine. I promise that I won''t leak anything regarding your Falna or the cause of its changes." Loki relented, ''I can see her achievement through a status update so it''s fine.'' Loki thought.


    "Thank you very much." Line then started undressing and sat down on Loki''s bed.


    Loki approached her back and instantly noticed it, ''My inchor is undone!?'' The spell that locks the Adventurer''s status is gone so she immediately asked, "Line, did anyone used Status Thief on you?"


    "Eh?" Line recalled that there is supposed to be a searing pain when someone used a Status Thief on you. And besides, her clothes weren''t moved in any way when she regained her consciousness, "I don''t remember anything like that being used on me."


    Since Loki knew that she''s not lying, she didn''t ponder on it because it''s useless. Cutting a bit of her fingertip, she activated Line''s Falna and her excelia immediately came to her.


    A few secondster, Loki''s scream resounded to every corner of the Twilight Manor, "WHAAATT!!!???"


    "Loki-sama!? What''s wrong!?" Line also panicked due to her reaction.


    "How did you��"


    But before she could finish her question, Riveria, Ais, Tiona, and Tione arrived at her front door, "Loki! What''s wrong!?" Riveria shouted from the other side as she opens the door. Since it looks like an emergency, she didn''t hesitate to barge into her room.


    What came into view when they entered the room is Loki fondling the flushed and topless Line while wearing a dirty old man expression, "Damn, girl~. I thought that your boobs became twice asrge as before~!? What was that illusion!? How did I fall for it!?"


    "Kyahh~!!!" Line immediately covered her top with both of her hands and escaped from Loki''s clutches.


    Those who came for her rescue immediately regretted doing so. Ais came close to Loki without any expression and smacked her head, "Ouch!? Ais-tan! You''re too violent!"


    Ais left the room without minding her and Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya did the same after sighing.


    Riveria was the only one left, but instead of looking at Loki and her antics, she kept observing the embarrassed Line and asked, "What happened?"


    Loki immediately stopped her acting and smiled, "Not telling~."


    Riveria looked at Loki and then sighed, "As long as you''re okay with it." She then left the two of them.


    ''If you knew that Line could cast any magic as long as she knew the logic behind it, then you wouldn''t be this calm.'' Loki thought as she found the situation funny, ''Let''s meet that poor chibi''s childrenter.''


    Taking out a sheet of paper, Loki pasted it on Line''s back and did a gesture to copy the Falna''s contents to it.


    Taking a look at it, Loki chuckled before passing it to Line, "This has be interesting. Are you going to the Dungeon tomorrow?"


    Line grabbed the paper but before she looks at it, she nodded at Loki''s question.


    "Then I''ll give you special permission until the day of the expedition. Use that time well." Loki then exited the room and went to find the girls to have some fun. She also intended to tell Finn her decision of allowing Line to enter the dungeon. Although Loki didn''t know what exactly happened, she''s pretty sure that someone is assisting her, ''I look forward to the future~.''


    Seeing Loki leave without many words, Line wondered what she''s thinking by just letting her go easily. She then took a peek at her status.


    Line Arshe


    Level 2


    STR: F 359


    VIT: D 623


    AGI: F 301


    MAG: B 802


    Magic: Healing Light (Obsolete)


    Skill: Magia Imperium (Limit) - Ability to control Magic at will. Boost the acquisition Magical parameter as long as the user doesn''t rely on any assistive system in ce. Improves memory and rity of magic lines.


    Developmental Abilities: Mage


    The moment she finished reading her status, she couldn''t believe its contents. She thought that Loki might have made some mistakes, but remembering her confident expression, she shook aside that possibility.


    The first thing she notices that changed drastically her VIT, DEX and MAG parameters that improved to frightening levels. But even then, she has some ideas why is that the case. First of all, her VIT improved because she repeatedly took damage from Ignis Fatuus and DEX probably improved due to her trying to control Mana directly instead of relying on her chants. While MAG is through the endless practice that always puts her into a Mind Down these past few days.


    A small change happened on her Magic as her Healing Light has an additional line which is ''Obsolete''. She didn''t know what it means but she''s worried that her magic disappeared so she immediately chanted her healing magic but contrary to her worries, it works perfectly fine.


    And finally, thergest change that appeared, a skill that she didn''t have before, Magic Imperium (Magic Control).


    Reading its description, she can easily understand what it does. But although it''s listed in her Falna as a skill, she has a feeling that it''s only telling her what she can do without. She thinks that the Falna only gave it a name and describe what it can be controlling Mana directly do to herself. In other words, it isn''t a skill that came from Loki''s blessing.


    Clenching her fist, a wave of gratitude for Kisuke''s group took over her and she promised to return this favor in the future. But for now, the only thing she can do is to improve herself so that she wouldn''t let Kisuke down. Line didn''t want Kisuke regretting the fact that she taught her something very important.


    Running towards her room while carrying the bag containing the book that Kisuke passed to her earlier, she intends to study it for the better half of the night before resting. Now that she took her first step and probably herst chance, Line doesn''t intend to waste any more time.

 Volume 6 326 - New Branch

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 326 - New Branch</h4>


    For the next four days, Kisuke''s group became busy with the Dungeon until they reached the 15th floor where the Minotaurs spawn, a cow-headed humanoid monster that is one of the strongest monsters for Level 2 adventurers.


    Although Sona, Aika, and Koneko could fight someone stronger than them, the difference in basic abilities won''t allow them to fight a Minotaur one on one.


    The trio could only defeat a single Minotaur with their cooperation. It''s also thanks to Sona''s effective use of magic by drowning the Minotaur''s head with muddy water that they were able to deal with it.


    However, the fact that they were able to deal with a Minotaur, which is a nightmare for most Level 2 Adventurers, while only having I-rank abilities, is already a miracle in this world full of Gods.


    This is also thest day that they''ll be exploring the Dungeon with Line for a while since she would have to go with the rest of the Loki Familia as a supporter in an expedition that aims to reach the deepest floor reached by any Familia, the 59th floor.


    So instead of taking a lesson from Kisuke, Line joined the trio to act as auxiliary support and heal for everyone.


    Finding a single roaming Minotaur, they immediatelymenced attacking. Koneko ran in front of the Minotaur, baiting it to attack.


    The moment the Minotaur swung its arm towards Koneko, she disappeared in front of it and reappeared at its side. Although not as fast as a sh Step, it''s enough for a Minotaur.


    Swinging its other arm, it intended to a follow-up attack to Koneko but before it could do that, the Minotaur felt pain under its armpit.


    Unknown to it, Aika sneaked on the other side, rendering the Minotaur''s arm useless by cutting it on its armpit where most of its tendons are.


    "Moo!!!" In a rage, the Minotaur''s attention switched to Aika. However, the moment it stepped towards Aika, it lost its bnce and broke its ankle. A small pitfall appeared that trapped the Minotaur''s feet below it.


    While falling, Koneko used this chance to give the monster a good whack on its head, disorientating its senses. Now that the Minotaur won''t be able to react fast, Aika put forward her long sword and stab its left eye until it reached its brain, killing it.


    "And that''s our fourth Minotaur for today," Aika muttered.


    "It became easier to read its movements." Koneko also muttered while picking up the magic stone from the dead Minotaur.


    The two returned to the group and Aika immediately wrapped her right arm around Line''s shoulder, "That''s pitfall''s timing is perfect~!"


    "I still have a lot to learn." Although Line said that, she couldn''t hide the smile on her face. Finally, she could use magic aside from her healing magic to help her teammates despite it only being a small and weak kind. She then recalled Kisuke''s word''s the other day, ''Magic''s effectiveness is not about firepower or unique effect, but the way you use it. Even the weakest of magic could turn the tides against the strongest opponent if used correctly.''


    "Looks like you don''t need my help anymore against a Minotaur." Sona chuckled and also happy for their improvements, "Let''s defeat a few more single Minotaurs and Lygerfangs before we take on a pair."


    Aika, Koneko, and Line expressed their agreement with Sona''s arrangement.


    "It seems that you guys will be fine now so I''m going back to the surface now to check on the progress of my shop." Kisuke suddenly spoke. While diving in the Dungeon, Kisuke also hired some carpenter to build his ''Urahara Shoten'' and today will be the day it''ll be finished, "Medusa, I''ll be leaving them in your care. Be sure that they don''t do something too reckless."


    Medusa nodded at him, "So a bit of recklessness is fine? Understood."


    Kisuke was about to leave but Line grabbed the hem of his clothes and stopped him. Kisuke looked towards Line who is already bowing down, "Kisuke-san. Thank you very much for this past week. I''ll treasure everything that I learned from you."


    Kisuke only smiled and patted her head, "You still need to learn a lot of things, but you''re doing great. A lot better than I thought, in fact. As for your gratitude, I did say that I might need your assistance in the future, but for now, take care of my girls."


    Line already got used to his handnding on her head as he would do it abruptly from time to time and every time he does, Line would only enjoy the strangely warm and gentle hand.


    Although something doesn''t feel right when Kisuke said, ''my girls'', she didn''t ponder on it. For the past week she has been with them, she still doesn''t know Kisuke''s rtionship with the other girls. All this time, she thought that they''re only a normal Familia outside from ridiculous and strange use of magic.


    When he arrived in front of his shop, five Dwarves approached him from behind, "How is it?" Asked the brown-haired Dwarf in front.


    Kisuke didn''t turn around and went inside, "Let me check it first."


    It took Kisuke half an hour to check every nook and cranny of the shop the Dwarves build and came out satisfied. He could have built it on his own but he wanted to see this world''s technology in action and it would be incredibly suspicious if a wooden building suddenly appeared despite the surrounding being mostly dested. He also has a choice of doing it slowly but he''s too busy with some other things to take care of it on his own, so he hired some experts.


    Kisuke then took out a slip of paper. Written on the paper is the contract from the Guild for the project with Kisuke''s signature. By giving it to the Guild, the Dwarves will be able to withdraw their payment from Kisuke''s deposit, "Thanks, everything is amazing."


    "It''s also a very interesting project for us. It''s not often we get to work on eastern type building in this city." The Dwarf in front received the paper and put it in his pocket.


    But just as they''re about to leave, Kisuke stopped them, "Wait! Let me give you something else." Kisuke then went to the abandoned church. The Dwarves are confused but they choose to wait.


    A minuteter, Kisuke came out while carrying a sealed barrel with him and putting it in front of the Dwarves, "This is?"


    Kisuke then popped open the small opening on top of the barrel and a certain smell whiffed out, getting the attention of the liquor loving race, "This is!? Ale!? And such high quality too��" The leader Dwarf then looked towards Kisuke, "What is this for?"


    "A small gift~. I would rely on you in the future as well."


    "Buhahaha! Then we ept this small gift! Be sure to call us if you need anything else. We''ll prioritize your needs!" The Dwarves felt happy with this gift as it''s very rare for their customer to give them any additional gift and some might even try to haggle after the said project which infuriates them.


    After their farewells, Kisuke faced his shop, "Urahara Shoten: Orario Branch, now opens~!"

 Volume 6 327 - Goliath part 1

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 327 - Goliath part 1</h4>


    Early morning, everyone is gathered around the firece with Hestia and Kisuke standing in the middle.


    With everyone looking at him, Kisuke feigns a cough and started speaking, "Ehem�� Well then. Yoruichi, Kuroka, Medusa, and I will be going deeper into the Dungeon and we''ll probably stay there for a few days. So for the three of you, limit yourself until the 12th floor only. Better yet, stay on the 7th floor and try defending yourselves from the siege of Killer Ants for as long as possible. That way, you can train your endurance and the way you manage your reserves in a drawn-out battle."


    The three nodded at him as they also think that is for the best. The 15th floor is still too dangerous for them especially when the Dungeon suddenly spawns multiple monsters around them.


    Done with what he had to say to the three, Kisuke then faced Hestia and passed her a booklet, "Hestia-sama, please take care of the shop in our absence." Written inside it is Urahara Shop''s snack merchandise along with its prices ranging from 10-50 Valis.


    "Hmm�� Even if you gave me this, I don''t know most of this and won''t be able to tell apart your snacks��" Hestia scratches her head as she looks at the list.


    "No worries. I already putbels on everything on the shop so you just have to consult the list for the price and handling method."


    "Alright~. I''ll take care of your shop."


    "Great." Kisuke then picked up the bags they are going to carry. It only contains some food and potions as it only serves as a disguise. It would be incredibly suspicious if they aren''t carrying anything if they''re on the deeper floors, "We''ll leave now."


    Sona also stood up and approached Kisuke, "Take care��" She then leaned forward to give him a quick peck on his lips before separating with him with a small smile and blushing face, "I want to get another one after you returned."


    Kisuke was a bit startled but he only chuckled and patted her head, "Okay~."


    Aika and Koneko both pouted their mouths as they also want a goodbye kiss, but they knew that both of their rtionship with him is not yet at the level where they could ask the same from Kisuke.


    .


    .


    .


    Arriving at the Dungeon, Kisuke and the rest first rushed towards the 12th floor where the mist is very thick. They then immediately find a spot where there are no eyes on them before Kisuke distributed a ck cloak and white mask to everyone to wear, "Hiding our identity is a must as we''re just Level 1s. If someone out there managed to recognize us, we would be in a lot of trouble that is a pain to deal with."


    Wearing everything, Medusa then spoke up, "What floor should we start, master." But as she finished her sentence, she was shocked that her voice became muffled and unrecognizable.


    "It''s that mask''s sole function. It''s a basic thing but it''s pretty effective." Kisuke exined, "For now, let''s go down to the 18th floor safe zone and see what''s in there."


    Since everyone already memorized the map until 50th floor that Yoruichi and Kuroka got during their investigation and infiltration, they moved, following the shortest path that will lead them to the 18th floor, including the holes in the floor that goes straight down.


    It wasn''t long until they reached the 17th floor where the Monster Rex, Goliath spawns and stopped in front of its entrance, "Say�� Why don''t we deal with Goliath�� The Loki Familia is the one that is supposed to deal with that boss-type monster, but it doesn''t hurt to kill it ourselves." Yoruichi suggested after seeing a big crack on the wide 17th floor. If anyone passes through that, the Goliath will suddenlye out of it.


    ''It''ll be hard for us to actually damage, more so, to actually kill it if we''re just going to rely on our current basic abilities�� But it should be fun~.'' Kisuke thought before agreeing with Yoruichi, "Yosh~! Let''s do it!"


    "Are you sure, nya?" Kuroka asked in concern. The Goliath doesn''t stand a chance against even one of them, but that is if release their powers. And she didn''t really want to break that rule early in their exploration. It feels like she would lose.


    "It''s fine. If we can''t kill it, we retreat." Kisuke answered her while taking out several long swords and strapping it on his back. In total, Kisuke is now carrying 10 swords.


    "What is that for?" Medusa asked curiously.


    "For killing it~."


    Yoruichi guess what he''s nning and asked for long swords too, "Give me five~!"


    Kisuke gave Yoruichi five swords and asked the two other girls if they want it too. But both of them refused as it''ll only hinder their mobility if they''re carrying something that heavy. They also don''t understand how they would use it against the gigantic monster.


    With a roar, the Goliath spotted and charged towards the group. The Goliath then swung itsrge arm towards them, prompting the group to separate in different directions. The first one to make a move is Kuroka. Using Youjutsu, she summoned multiple white balls of mes andunches it towards the monster''s face. However, the moment it hit, it didn''t do anything aside from leaving a few burn marks on its skin.


    Despite its ineffectiveness, Kuroka managed to catch its attention which is her goal from the start.


    Unknown to it, Yoruichi and Kisuke already sneaked behind it and both of them shed the back of its knees. But despite getting a free shot, they only left a small cut on its skin and Kisuke and Yoruichi decided to retreat. They both looked at their swords and saw that there are some nicks on the de of the sword, "That guy''s skin is a lot tougher than I thought." Yoruichi muttered.


    "Well, it won''t be a boss monster if that is capable of ying a group of Level 3s if it can be dealt with Level 1 stats," Kisuke replied and pulled another sword from his back.


    However, this disadvantage only added fuel to the mes in the group''s heart. Even though they can''t let loose, the adrenaline in a fight like this makes them happy. They, who grew up in the battlefields, want peace and the safety of those important to them. But they also don''t mind excitements like this from time to time.

 Volume 6 328 - Goliath part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 328 - Goliath part 2</h4>


    After Kisuke and Yoruichi retreated, the Goliath turned to their direction and opened its mouth. From its throat, bluish Mana started gathering. Seeing this, Kisuke immediately used sh Step and just as he disappeared, the ground where he''s just standing exploded into pieces.


    However, the Goliath is done yet as it continued shooting out invisible bullets at both Kisuke and Yoruichi, who''s jumping from ce to ce in response to this, "Highlypressed air bullet�� Effective as a surprise attack but that''s a big weakness there��"


    Calcting the attack''s interval, Kisuke strengthened his arms to the limit of his basic parameters using Mana. While the Goliath is aiming at Yoruichi''s position, Kisuke suddenly threw the long sword he''s holding towards its mouth.


    The Goliath sessfully sent the air bullet but Yoruichi already dodged. And just as it started charging its next air bullet, Kisuke''s long sword arrived and pierced through the turbulent Mana, creating a big explosion and reducing its head into lumps of flesh, sending it everywhere in the room.


    Kuroka, who''s holding a chain suddenly asked, "Did we do it?"


    In response, Kisuke started running towards the headless Goliath and shouted, "Yoruichi! Kuroka raised the g!"


    "I know!" Yoruichi also dashed towards the Goliath while pulling out two long swords from her back and covered them with osciting Mana effectively turning them into sonic des. The Goliath started moving again and sent its fist towards Yoruichi after feeling the threat from its swords.


    "I-is that my fault?" Kuroka muttered while carrying Medusa''s chain and ran around the Goliath''s feet. On the other side, Medusa did the same while carrying the same chain, "What is a g?" She asked curiously. The two of them started pulling the chain and it wrapped tightly around the Goliath''s leg. With its leg tied, the monster lost its bnce and fell forward while swinging its fist.


    "We''re probably the only group who can talk casually about inane things while fighting a monster a lot stronger than us." Yoruichi jumped andnded on the arms of the falling Goliath and ran through it to reach its back. She shed it with both of her swords leaving a cross-shaped deep wound on its back. Yoruichi then jumped back to avoid the stter of blood. She looked at the swords that already started crumbling, ''Hmmm�� I''m not really good at fine controls.''


    "Well, isn''t that just fine? I think it''s a lot better than talking about some philosophical things in the middle of a fight trying to justify your actions." Kisuke then appeared above the back of the Goliath via sh Step and did the same thing as Yoruichi, converting the long sword into a sonic de before throwing it in the intersection of the wound. The sword flew in subsonic speeds, leaving a whistling sound and embedded itself inside the Goliath, destroying its magic stone.


    The Goliath finally fell down on the ground and a few secondster, it exploded into lights and ashes, covering the whole room they are in, only leaving the magic stone which is now in pieces.


    Kisukended and let out a deep breath, "That was a good warm-up~."


    "You consider that as a warm-up? That guy is probably one if not the strongest monster we''ll go against in this whole outing, nya��" Kuroka could only sigh. But she also likes the feeling of sweating up a bit. It''s really a good warm-up.


    Yoruichi then walked towards the path leading to the 16th-floor while Kuroka and Medusa went to the other path leading to the 18th-floor to check if there are iing Adventurers. It''s not really important if others were to witness that they defeated the Goliath, however, what Kisuke is about to do is something different, something that is not known in this world, and that is Space Magic. While there are records of gravity magic and some rumors of resurrection magic, space magic is unknown territory for the inhabitants of this world.


    Signaling Kisuke that no one is around, he then started gathering the magic stones and tossed it in his personal subspace. Although they can''t sell it, it''s a valuable specimen for Kisuke''s research. It took him a few minutes to gather everything and they decided to move to the next floor.


    The 18th Floor is a safety point where no monsters are born, though some monsters cane up from the floor below. It is also called the Under Resort. The floor is filled with crystals and nature. Large forests andkes cover the floor. Within the forest are blue crystals of different sizes that reflect the light from above, causing the forest to be filled with a pale blue glow.


    The exceptionally high ceiling is filled with brilliant shining crystals of two colors, white crystals in the center that resemble the sun, and blue crystals surrounding it that resemble the sky. The amount of light from the crystals depends on the time and cycles throughout the day.


    On the eastern side of the ind facing theke stands the city of Rivira. It is located 200 meters above theke on a cliff. Level 2 adventurers would need to be extremely capable to reach this floor solo.


    "This Dungeon''syout doesn''t make sense�� This is just the 18th floor and the deeper you go, therger it bes. The deepest explored floor is the 59th floor and there should be more floors beyond that so that should be in quite a deep ce in the earth��" Kurokamented after seeing the scenery.


    "It''s actually easy to exin that. The space around the Dungeon, especially on the deeper floors are warped. This is the reason why it took me a few minutes to gather the magic stones earlier as it''s very hard to control space magic in this ce." Kisuke replied.


    "How about teleportation magic?" Yoruichi asked.


    "I''m still observing the ce, but based on what I gathered now, it would be advisable not to use it as it might just send us to some different ce. However, it''s not that we can''t use it, but I have to find a location to set up a teleportation array. While I have to calcte how much the space is bent to set a proper location as a destination, it isn''t possible."


    "In other words, we can''t use teleportation magic to immediately get out of the Dungeon?" Medusa asked.


    "Yes. We have to find a proper base inside the Dungeon where we could set and hide the teleportation array. And finding that base will be hard as not every ce in this Dungeon could be an anchor point."


    "Enough withplicated talks. We''ll leave it to you so let''s go see this Rivira where the outcast Adventurer''s gather. Maybe we could find something interesting." Yoruichi then led the group and started walking towards the direction of Rivira.

 Volume 6 329 - Hunting

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 329 - Hunting</h4>


    The group decided to leave for the 19th floor as after reaching Rivira, nothing is really worth seeing as it''s just a gathering of people who can''t go up and people who''re just resting.


    The 19th through 24th Floors are known as the Large Tree Labyrinth. The walls, ground, and ceiling are made out of wood making it seem like the inside of a giant tree. Instead of phosphorescent light, radiating moss grows across the floor and gives off blue light. These floors contain arge number of unexplored areas and arge variety of insect-type monsters. Having the abnormal resistance development ability is key to safely passing through these floors due to arge number of poisonous monsters on these floors. But with Kisuke around, he could easily analyze the monster''s poison and could create a Mana cirction that allows them to resist its effects.


    The nt diversity on these floors often provides ingredients used to make healing items which result in many resource gathering quests being issued for this area. Gathering these materials is also one of Kisuke''s goal for this exploration for his own concoctions. He also intends to give the Miach Familia some of it because they actually have a good mixing ability. The only problem they have regarding making higher quality potions is the absence of good materials.


    The 24th Floor, in particr, is very close to being considered as one of the lower floors of the Dungeon. It is muchrger than the previous floors, being at least half the size of Orario. There are rare trees that produce valuable gems that can be sold at a good price. The monsters on this floor arerger in number, more frequent to encounter and some of them are stronger than Level 2 adventurers. It''s rmended for Level 2 adventurers to have the status of at least C in their basic abilities to reach this far.


    From here on out, the group intended to slowly work the way down to the 24th floor and the first monster they encountered after stepping into the 19th floor is a group Bugbear. It''s a monster with a considerably bigger head than the rest of its body and resembles a bear with pointy ears. This bear monster that is faster than it looks. Its strength and defense are on par with a Minotaur.


    There are around 5 Bugbears and they didn''t hesitate to engage. Medusa made the first move by throwing both of her daggers towards the monsters'' eyes, immediately disabling the two of them.


    The three others then ran towards the bears while carrying their sonic des and dodged the monsters'' wild swings and piercing through their throats when they got a chance. Before a minute passed, all the bear monsters already turned into magic stones and a drop item, a Bugbear nail.


    "It seems that we have to limit ourselves only until the 24th floor for this outing," Kisuke muttered.


    "Yep�� It''ll be too hard for us to go further with our current abilities." Yoruichi also agreed.


    "That''s obvious�� There shouldn''t be a group of Level 1s hunting in this ce and more so beyond that��" Kuroka added.


    The group came across more monsters like Lizardmen, humanoid lizard monster covered in red scales, Mad Beetles, medium-sized monsters that walks on two legs, Sword Stags, stag monsters, and Trolls, another humanoid monster that has regenerative capabilities.


    It''s the evening of their first day they managed to reach the 24th floor where monsters are considerably stronger and more frequent than the previous floors.


    Since it''s alreadyte, Kisuke decided to camp down. Even though they can keep going without sleep, Kisuke needs to process and record the data he got today from hunting the monsters. At this point, Kisuke is already pretty sure that the Dungeon is not just some sort of system but a living being.


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, they resumed their hunting, but they didn''t go further down. Using all the extra time he hadst night, Kisuke improved his long sword, Yoruichi''s short sword, and Kuroka''s daggers so that it could withstand the Mana injected in them and make itst longer against the enemies of this floor.


    A few minutes of wandering around and picking up herbs they met for the first time a Mammoth Fool, arge elephant-type monster seven meters tall with dark red fur and long, curved, spear-like tusks. And as its name suggested, it''s an idiot as it only knew how to charge in a straight line. The monster is a free pin cushion and excelia when it''s turning around.


    It took a whole day for the group to meet all monsters except for a Vouivre, female humanoid dragon monster. They have a red stone in their forehead known as the Vouivre''s Tear. They are very rare, on par with unicorns and Green Dragon, a dragon that protects a treasure tree which is said to be worth at least a few ten million Valis.


    It''s aroundte afternoon that they felt another movement that doesn''t seem to being from monsters. Everyone looked at each other and decided that they should take a look.


    And after a few minutes of walking, they found arge group of Adventurers systematically moving through the forest.


    "That insignia�� Loki Familia huh�� So this is their expedition party." Kisuke muttered. He also spotted Line, who''s carrying a big backpack in the middle of the pack.


    "Do we greet them?" Yoruichi asked.


    "With our attire? As if that''s totally not suspicious."


    "So we follow them." Yoruichi found her answer.


    "No. Let''s quietly grind for excelia for now."


    "I understand�� We''ll follow themter." Yoruichi said as if she understood Kisuke''s intention.


    Kisuke could only pinch her cheeks, "We do thatter��"


    "Please stop flirting right now, nya. It isn''t the time for that." Kuroka finally reminded the two.


    The group became so familiar with the movements of the monsters that they split into two groups with Kisuke and Kuroka partnering up and Yoruichi and Medusa going together.


    Before they separated, Yoruichi faced Kuroka and said, "Ah right. Kuroka, you can''t ask for relief�� Don''t do it in the Dungeon."


    "I won''t ask for that, nya!" Kuroka immediately retorted, "�� Just a bit curious�� Why not in the Dungeon?"


    "Cause I''m calling dibs for the first time!"


    Kuroka''s eyes widened and nodded in understanding after a few seconds before walking away, ''So I can ask it after her��''


    "��That perverted cat is too obvious." Yoruichi muttered. She then faced Kisuke, "Oi Kisuke! Don''t follow the Loki Familia without me!"


    Kisuke smiled wryly and followed Kuroka, "I know, I know."


    The reason why they split up is so that they can have more challenges when going against monsters. Another important reason is that each group has its own secondary objectives. For Kisuke and Kuroka, they''ll be searching for a way to use Ki with Mana that the Falna produces as it is too much of a waste if they can''t use it.


    Yoruichi and Medusa, on the other hand, will search for the way to integrate the strength that the Falna bestows them on their original strength. Kisuke and Yoruichi noticed that Level ups aren''t just simple body strengthening as it''s probably more of a body and soul refinement. If that''s not the case, it''ll be hard to exin why the parameters return to almost zero after a Level up.


    If their guess is correct, it would mean that it could also help both Kisuke and Yoruichi reach further heights that they didn''t know. After all, Kisuke''s hypothesis in Transcending is about stepping into a new realm whereas every build up in foundation could prove useful.

 Volume 6 330 - The 50th Floor

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 330 - The 50th Floor</h4>


    Three dayster, Kisuke already decided to put an end to their ''excursion'' after ying almost a thousand monsters and filling up the excelia they needed to level up. They don''t know what will their basic parameters end up with but they don''t really care as they wouldn''t level up if it''s not par to their expectations and will try to fit more excelia in their bodies even if it''s already full.


    As for the Ki utilization, Kisuke and Kuroka were sessful and were able to let their Falna generate its own Ki by letting it mix when they''re gathering excelia. Although it isn''t much, it should change when they updated their status as they''ve been using it more than magic.


    With Yoruichi and Medusa''s objective, they didn''t get that much aside from every time they gather excelia, the Falna''s connection with their soul strengthens. Kisuke also noticed this long fact but he has been actively suppressing this because he doesn''t know how it''ll affect him. However, in Yoruichi''s case, when she tried to suppress it, Byakko forcefully reactivated the connection making her and Kisuke question its intentions.


    "What do you think?" Yoruichi asked.


    Kisuke didn''t answer because he doesn''t know. He doesn''t have any information regarding this connection, but he also knew that he wouldn''t get any if he keeps suppressing it. After a few minutes of silent contemtion, he decided to gamble and allow the Falna to connect to his soul, "Let''s see where this would take us." However, Kisuke isn''t leaving anything to chances. Although he would allow the connection, he would also keep the core of his soul where his sentience is located.


    Kisuke then faced Kuroka and Medusa, "Before we level up, I''ll teach both of you and the rest how to protect the core of your souls. That''s the onlypromise I can''t let go before we go with this."


    The two of them nodded, "You''re not going to take the both of us with you, right?" Kuroka suddenly asked.


    "Yep~. It''ll be just me and Yoruichi. I ask you two to take care of the trio upstairs." Kisuke replied with a smile.


    Kuroka sighed, "Fine�� I also have to teach those girls how to use Ki." She then faced Medusa, "Let''s go, Medu-chan~."


    "We''re already leaving?"


    "We don''t have anything else to do on this floor. Let''s just teach those girls how to fight properly."


    Medusa nodded and faced Kisuke and Yoruichi, "We''ll be going now, Master, Yoruichi-san. Please take care of your safety."


    Kisuke patted her head and replied with a smile, "Take care of yourself too. Be sure to rest properly."


    Medusa smiled brightly and nodded, "Umu, I will~!"


    After Medusa and Kuroka left. Kisuke turned to Yoruichi, "Turn around."


    Yoruichi didn''t say anything as she followed Kisuke''s words. Kisuke put his right hand on her back and sent a pulse of Reiatsu-Ki to her, "Remember this pattern. I''m worried that if we release our Reiatsu-Ki, it might destroy the Falna and everything we just worked for would the least of our worries if that were to happen. This should segregate the Falna so that it won''t be affected by our Reiatsu-Ki temporarily."


    Yoruichi nodded, "Ah, I''ve guessed that actually may be the case so I''m also a bit worried. Thanks."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi spent the next three days to catch up with the Loki Familia because Kisuke kept getting distracted by a lot of things and would inspect it for a few minutes if it''s short and a few hours if it''s long.


    And when they reached the 50th floor which is supposed to be safe zone, the saw the Loki Familia''s camp being besieged by countless giant caterpir monsters, "��What going on?" Yoruichi asked.


    "No clue�� But I can tell that they''re not having fun."


    "Obviously�� Those bugs are creepy and disgusting��"


    "Yeah�� And it reminds me of Mayuri."


    .


    .


    Half an hour ago, the executives are gathered in the center of their camp discussing their next n, "Let''s review our n moving forward!" Finn gathered everyone''s attention to himself and continued, "This expedition''s goal to trailze unexplored areas of the Dungeon remains unchanged. However, before pushing to floor 59th, there is a quest toplete."


    "Quest�� You mean the one issued by Dian Cecht Familia?" Tione asked who sat beside Finn.


    "Yes. They want us to collect arge amount of water from the Cadmus Springs on floor 51st. Unfortunately, each spring only allows for a small yield. So to be efficient as we can, we''ll split into two small parties. " Finn stood up, "Tione, Tiona, Ais, and Lefiya will be the first party while the second one will theposed by Gareth, Bete, Raul, and me. We''ll head for the two springs at once."


    "Eh!? You want me toe!?" Raul instantly reacted at Finn''s instructions.


    Ignoring Raul''s question, An Elf with long golden yellow hair, round dark blue eyes, and pointy ears asked in a panic, "Wh-Why was I chosen to go over Riveria-sama!?"


    Riveria just closed her eyes and answered calmly, "I shall remain behind to protect the camp. Lefiya, you are the only one who shall eventually follow in my steps. Go in my ce."


    "That�� That''s true, but��" Lefiya understood Riveria''s reasoning so she couldn''t think of anything else to say.


    On the other hand, Tione started protesting the group arrangement, "I should go with the captain!!!" However, Tiona was able to hold her down, "No, no�� The captain already gave his instructions. Just follow it."


    Moving on, Finn continued, "Cadmus Spring go its name for a reason. A Cadmus dragon calls it home. With the exception of floor bosses, it''s the strongest monster ever discovered in the Dungeon." Finn then looked towards the group of girls with a smile, "Even so, I strongly believe all of you will absolutely seed."


    Finally epting their task, the girls answered in unison, "Yes, sir!"


    Moving to the 51st floor after their briefing, the first party immediately made their way towards the Cadmus Spring ording to the map that Lefiya is carrying. And on their way there, arge group of ck Rhinoceros, rhinoceros monster that walks on two legs, appeared in front of them.


    Tiona, carrying her custom made weapon, Urga, immediately charged towards the group of monsters, "Hi-ya!!!" With arge swing from herrge double-ded sword made from the finest adamantite, she instantly bisected several monsters around her.


    As the tasked group leader, Tione started giving instructions, "Ais! Give that idiot some cover! Stay close, both of you!"


    Ais immediately joined the fray with her Desperate, a rapier with Durandal property, which makes indestructible, allowing the continuous use for the wielder. It Ais'' weapon of choice for her to continuously fight monsters without worrying about her weapon.


    "Ais, I call the right side!" Tiona passed by her.


    "Okay." And Ais nodded in agreement.


    "Both of you are too far out! Don''t forget that you''re the front line!" Tiona shouted at them as she threw her daggers towards the iing monsters, instantly killing them, "Lefiya! Signal us when you''re ready!"


    Lefiya, who only started chanting after hearing Tione, answered, "O-okay."


    However, while in the middle of her not so great chanting, A monster suddenly emerged from the wall beside her, a Deformis Spider, arge spider monster that is red and purple. It has eight legs and multiple eyes. Due to its appearance, Lefiya stopped her chant and was frozen in fear.


    But just as it''s about to reach Lefiya, a flying dagger went through its head and was killed instantly, "Keep casting!" Tiona shouted at her.


    But due to fear, Lefiya could only look at the dead monster with teary eyes, "Lefiya!!!" Another call from Tione finally emerged her from being stunned, "Ah��!? Eh, um�� Where? Where was I��?" However, her magic circle already disappeared, signaling her failed chant, "Ah�� My magic circle!" Until she heard Tiona''s jolly voice, "That''s thest one!" Lefiya looked up and saw no monsters standing, "Eh!?"

 Volume 6 331 - The Loki Familia

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 331 - The Loki Familia</h4>


    Lefiya had to apologize repeatedly after failing to meet their expectations. Ais tried tofort her because it''s normal for people to be afraid of monsters a lot stronger than them when they approached. However, it ended up backfiring when Ais couldn''t think of anything to say and only stared at Lefiya.


    The group then resumed their track towards the Cadmus Spring and stopped at the corner where the Cadmus Dragon respawns. Crouching down, the group tried to feel where the exact location of the monster through the sounds it makes. However, Ais noticed that it''s too quiet and came out of their hiding ce.


    Tione and Tiona tried to stop her but it''s already toote as Ais already entered the room where the dragon is supposed to be. But when they followed Ais, they too noticed that the dragon is nowhere to be found and their''s only a hill of ashes and melted boulders.


    "!?�� Is this perhaps the remains of a Cadmus!?" Tione asked. But all of them already knew the answer to that question.


    "Perhaps another Familia slew it before us?" Lefiya questioned.


    Tione examined the ashes closely and found an item hidden beneath it, "Very few parties can make it this deep. We would have heard if any of them were on an expedition at the same time��" Tione then pulled out the buried item, "��And the drop items are still here��"


    Tiona took a closer look at the drop item that is in Tione''s hand and eximed, "Oh, wow! Cadmus hide!? That stuff''s worth a lot!!!"


    "No Adventurer would leave something this valuable behind��" Tione continued as she looked around for more clues, "Something was here�� Something strong enough to kill a Cadmus. Something other than Adventurers."


    The group took out their weapons and looked around for potential beings that could have killed the dragon but found nothing, "I''ve got a bad feeling about this��" Tione then started giving orders, "Hurry and collect the water. We should get out of here as soon as possible."


    Lefiya collected the quest goal and the group hurriedly backtracked back to their supposed meeting spot, "So? What do you think?" Tiona asked her older sister.


    "Logically, this has to be the work of another monster��"


    "A monster that can kill a Cadmus?" Tione couldn''t believe it as it''s the strongest monster aside from Monster Rexes.


    Tiona couldn''t also believe this and muttered, "There shouldn''t be a floor boss around here�� And even a swarm of the monsters of this floor wouldn''t stand a chance�� Then most probably��"


    "An irregr��" Ais continued her words.


    But a few minutes of walking in alert, they heard a shout of paining from someone familiar, "AHHH!!!"


    The group faced the direction where the shout came from, "That voice!? Raul!!"


    They then ran towards that direction and a minuteter, they met the second party with them running away from what seems to be giant caterpir monsters. Raul, who the voice came from, is being carried by Gareth while wincing in pain.


    "C-caterpir!?" Lefiya felt grossed out by the monsters.


    "Captain!" Tione called out in worry but also wondering why they''re running away from the monsters. They are, after all, the top Adventurers of Orario.


    Tiona, on the other hand, didn''t hesitate and charged at the caterpir monster with her Urga. Seeing this, Finn hurriedly warned her, "Stop! Tiona!" But it was already toote as Tiona already stabbed the monster on its head with her Urga. Since it''s already useless, Finn gave another instruction, "Don''t let that stuff touch you!!"


    Finn is referring to the caterpir''s blood which already spurting out from the would Tiona made, "Eh?" She immediately pulled out to retreat, "Uwah!" And didn''t let its purple blood touch her, but then, she noticed that her Urga became light, too light even. And as she looked at it, her beloved Urga''s de already melted and gone, "What!?" Tiona then hurriedly threw away her weapon as the erosion didn''t stop, "It''s melting!? No!!!" Her important custom made weapon is now gone.


    ''A never before seen monster�� a new breed��? More importantly, its a bomb of corrosive sludge!'' Ais gritted her teeth as realized how dangerous the monster is, not to herself, but to herpanions.


    Tiona wasn''t satisfied with what happened to her weapon and still wanted to fight, "Damn you!!! How dare you! My precious Urga!!"


    Seeing her staying behind, Bete immediately warned her, "Run for it, you moron! There''s more of them!"


    "Huh?" Tiona then saw what''s on the back of the giant caterpir, and they''re giant caterpir monsters, a whole lot of them, chasing after them with their corrosive liquid, "UWAAHHH!!!" Tiona then ran with all her might and arrive at the front of the group, "What are those!? Just what are those!? This isn''t funny!"


    "I don''t know. They came out of nowhere." Finn exined, "The first one popped up after we took down the Cadmus and got the water. After losing our weapons, we had no choice but to retreat."


    Tione then asked in concern, "Captain, are you hurt?"


    Finn shook his head, "The three of us are okay. But Raul took a direct hit of that stuff."


    "It ain''t gonna be good if we can''t heal him soon." Gareth followed up.


    As they run away, ck Rhinoceros also kept spawning but the caterpirs seem to be more interested in devouring them than chasing after the Adventurers.


    "Eh��? They''re killing other monsters too!?" Tiona eximed as this is the first time she saw monsters fighting each other and the other members also has a serious look on their faces.


    "This new species attacks anything that moves, not just us. If anything, they seem to go after other monsters first."


    Tione then passed the Cadmus hide to Finn, "Captain, we discovered a in Cadmus dragon at our spring. The drop item is intact." Tione then passed the second item, a part of Cadmus'' magic stone that is already melted, "As well as this��"


    Finn grabbed the melted magic stone and couldn''t help but smile wryly, "Hmm�� That settles it. These things can kill a Cadmus��"


    "Finn," Ais then called out for Finn, "Can they be beaten?"


    Finn looked towards Ais and answered, "Our attacks inflict damage, but at the cost of a weapon�� for each hit. It''s not worth it, and facing that swarm would be nearly impossible." He then looked towards Lefiya, "But magic is a different story. Buy enough time for an incantation, and unleash a spell powerful enough to wipe them out all at once."


    Everyone else also looked towards the sole Mage in their team.


    "Eh��? Ehhh!!?"


    But before they could say anything, another swarm of caterpirs appeared in front of them, "Everyone, turn right now!" Finn was forced to move the group to the only path.


    "Tione, how is your stock of weapons and items?"


    "Eh�� oh yes. Everything''s here�� Except for Tiona''s weapon."


    "Good. Pass them around. The room ahead is a dead end. Take Raul to the rear and heal him."


    Tione then started passing around the weapons and Bete couldn''t help butin when he received a small dagger, "Hey! The hell am I supposed to do with this toothpick!?"


    "Captain''s orders! So shut up and take it!"


    Ignoring themotion behind him, Finn muttered while biting his right thumb, "My thumb''s tingling�� It probably means they''reing."


    The Dungeon is filled with the ''Unknown.'' Why does it exist? Why does it heal itself? No one knows why some walls emit light or why the hallways are soplex. Only one thing is certain. The Dungeon is alive�� And birthing monsters.


    And when they reach a dead-end room, a monster party of ck Rhinoceros appeared�� Around two hundred of them. A monster party room in front of them and a swarm of dangerous monsters behind them, the Loki Familia is trapped.


    But as First-ss Adventurers they immediately reacted and moved with teamwork in mind, "Bete, Gareth, Tiona! Hold them off and protect the rear!


    "Ais and I will take on the new species! Keep your distance! Attack!"


    "On it!" "Aye!" "Okay!"


    Their n is simple, hold the monsters back until Lefiya finishes her incantation and release a magic bombardment. Lefiya has enough firepower to annihte the monsters but her fear became her Achilles'' heel.


    However, with a bit of motivation from her idol, Ais Wallenstein, Lefiya was able to gather enough courage to trust everyone and ignore the monsters as she focuses on her incantation.


    And with that, Lefiya was able to sessfully casted her most powerful spell with almost all of her Mind, ''Fuside Farica'', a fire element wide-area attack magic, and annihted every monster in the room.


    But just as they started celebrating, Finn gathered their attention, "Before escaping to this room, monsters came at us from the front�� That path leads directly to the 50th floor, our route back to camp."


    Everyone understood what he''s trying to say, "Back to camp! Full speed!" With his deration, the group speedily ran back to theirrades and a few minutester, they reached the 50th floor.


    The group is already expecting that the camp is being besieged by the caterpir monster, but what they didn''t expect is that two ck-cloaked people are going around, killing the monsters. They can understand someone killing the dangerous bomb-like monsters, but the way they''re doing is so out of the mood, "Hey, Totallynotsuspicious! I already got my hundredth kill~! And by the way, your name is too long!" One of them shouted at the other while swinging his sword which is a sleek, medium-sized sword. The hilt''s grip, which has a gentle ck-decorative wrapping, bends forward at the end, with a pommel shaped ovep three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base.


    "Don''t be proud, Totallylegitimatemerchant, I''m already at my hundredth-sixth kill~! And I don''t want to hear that from you! Calling yourself a legit merchant is too much, you scammer!" Replied by the other figure, who seems to be a woman, as she punches the torso of the caterpir. What''s strange is that a hole suddenly appeared behind the said caterpir, killing it.


    "W-what''s going on?" Tiona asked.

 Volume 6 332 - The Loki Familia part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 332 - The Loki Familia part 2</h4>


    A few minutes before the main group of the Loki Familia arrived, the Loki Familia is being besieged by the new species from all sides and Riveria kept issuingmands to keep the team functioning.


    "Close the formation! Don''t let a single drop of that liquid through!" Riveria shouted seeing that the formation is already started crumbling, "Leene, Amis, Litt! Take the injured to the rear! Supporters! Take out all the potions we have!


    "Anyone who can still move, grab pots, cutting boards! Everything and anything that can be used as a shield!


    "Mages! Cast small magics to lighten up the load on the vanguard! However, keep the mind usage to a minimum!" Riveria has her hands tied. She is supposed to be already casting a bombardment spell but she kept stopmanding the others.


    ''Our vanguard is too weak�� The rearguards couldn''t do a focused fire on the enemies because they''re too close.'' Riveria gritted her teeth as she tried to think of a way to push the monsters away with their current members but failed so she could only opt for the next best thing, buying for time, "Finn, Ais, and the others are due back from their quest any moment! We must hold out until they arrive!!! Those who can already move from the back! Get back to front after grabbing a shield!"


    Line, who''s at the rear, treating the wounded by pouring high-ss potion as if it''s some cheap water knew that the situation is bad. While the rate of vanguards being sent to the back due to being injured is increasing, the amount that the rearguard and supporters can treat kept dwindling because they''re already running low on potions. If this keeps up, sooner orter, the frontline will copse and the rearguards will be sitting ducks from the corrosive bombs, ''What should I do!? What should I do!!?'' Line kept asking herself in panic.


    But then, she suddenly remembered the spell she has been working on but fails to realize it each time, ''Should I do it? But if I fail, I''ll do more harm�� But then again, at this rate��''


    However, at the time she''s hesitating, it''s as if she heard Kisuke''s voice, ''Desperate situations call for desperate measures~.''


    Line looked around in shock but didn''t see Kisuke, ''Of course! Why would he be here? I''m just hallucinating�� But I do remember him saying something like that��'' Shaking her head, she smiled wryly before clenching her fist and reaching a decision, ''Even if I fail�� I trust Riveria-sama would do something before that happens.''


    After sending the Adventurer she is treating back to the frontline, Line stood up and closed her eyes while holding her wooden staff close to her as if she''s praying. A few minutester the Mana from her surroundings started circting around her and a golden magic circle is being drawn in a span of 50 meters in diameter, covering the whole Loki Familia.


    Immediately noticing this, Riveria shouted at her, "Line! What are you doing!?" She didn''t expect that someone from them would do something reckless when they''re already in the middle of a dangerous situation, ''Controlling the Mind directly and trying to cast a spell? Just what is she��'' Riveria''s thoughts, however, stops as the golden magic circle became increasinglyplicated.


    ''One of the easiest modifications that you could do to your magic is increasing its area of effect. So instead of just healing a limited amount of people, you could heal everyone around you.'' Line recalled Kisuke''s words. Since that, she has been studying and practicing how can she expand the range of her magic. She was able to find the part where she could modify to increase the range but she hasn''t seeded yet in casting it. Kisuke also told her that she''s in the right direction and what she only needs to seed is more finesse control on Mana.


    Ignoring all the distractions around, Line focused only on her magic as she weaved the magic circle. Failure doesn''t only mean that she''ll disrupt the other members but the resulting Ignis Fatuus of this scale could injure her gravely. And that''s another reason why Riveria didn''t want to interrupt her.


    A minuteter, the rate of vanguard being injured increased to the point that Riveria didn''t already know what to do but also at that time, Line finished her magic which envelops everyone from the Loki Familia, "Heal!" Opening her eyes and raising her staff she shouted the effect of her magic.


    Putting all of her Mana into that spell, she managed to heal every wounded person to a certain extent that they''ll be able to join the fight again, "S-she�� did it?" Riveria muttered in shock. Although she''s capable of control Mana to a certain extent, the only thing she could do with that is to cast a very weakened version of her own magic which is theplete opposite of what Line did, ''How did she��?''


    "Thank�� good��ness��" Seeing that her magic is effective, Line smiled in satisfaction as she slowly falls down along with her eyelids closing.


    But before she could fell on the ground, a hand caught her and Line heard a whisper, "Good work~."


    Putting her all into opening her eyes, she looked up to the masked person who caught her. But somehow, this unknown person is giving her a very familiar feeling and after hearing his words, her smile grewrger as she lost her consciousness.


    .


    .


    .


    "Uwah~. That stuff is gross. You could only see that melting slime in porn." Kisukemented seeing the scene where the Loki Familia''s camp, situated on top of a hill, being besieged by thousands of giant caterpirs, spewing out corrosive sludge, from all sides.


    "No no no. You could only see that stuff in horror movies! What the hell is a kind of slime that also melts flesh in porn!?" Yoruichi immediately retorted.


    "Well, there is some really gross stuff out there, especially in the doujinshi section of porn. I don''t know if they have intended audience though."


    "I seriously hope none��" Yoruichi shuddered as she didn''t know that part of the inte existed, "Anyway, what should we do?"


    "Let''s help them so that I can send an invoice to the Twilight Manorter."


    "Then why aren''t we moving yet?"


    "I want to see if Arshe-san could do it."


    "Arshe? Ah, you mean that Line Arshe that you have been teaching? Where is she?"


    "That girl in sses and braided her who''s pouring a potion on her fellow Adventurer."


    "Oh�� So that''s the one�� But it seems that she''s hesitating a lot."


    "I''m giving her a push." Kisuke then sent her a telepathic containing, ''Desperate situations call for desperate measures~.''


    After that, Kisuke and Yoruichi noticed that Line became determined and started casting her healing magic with a better range. And Kisuke knew that due to the situation, Line was able to focus more than normal and her previously clumsy handling of Mana became a lot better, but still on the clumsy side. However, that is enough for her to seed.


    As she started falling down, Kisuke used sh Step to arrive behind her and whispered, "Good work~."


    He could see a satisfied smile on her face, but too bad for her, as Kisuke is thinking of making a harder training schedule as she was able to reach a milestone.


    A secondter, Yoruichi also appeared beside him with sh Step and both of them startled everyone from the Loki Familia, "Who are you!?" Riveria shouted as she gritted her teeth. She didn''t know if the arrival of the strangers is a good or a bad thing for them, but she''s already expecting the worse.

 Volume 6 333 - Totally Legit

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 333 - Totally Legit</h4>


    "Who are you!?" Riveria gritted her teeth, ''This is the worst�� Someone unknown went inside our perimeter while we''re being besieged��'' Those who recovered thanks to Line''s healing magic are now surrounding the two cloaked and masked people instead of going back to the frontlines. What everyone wanted to know is how they suddenly appeared in the middle of their camp without anyone noticing, ''Invisibility? But I should''ve felt their presence because of the magic they used.''


    The first one to speak is Yoruichi, with her deep muffled voice, "Hi~! I''m totally not suspiscious~!" She said it while wearing something that would toast a normal person in summer.


    Kisuke looked at her and said, "What? You''re going with that?" He then looked back to Riveria while feigning a cough, "Ehem�� Hello there, Alf-san~! I''m Totallylegitimatemerchant!"


    "Eh? That''s not what I mean�� Well, whatever�� I suppose it''s a good enough name. What should we do?"


    ''What''s up with these two?'' Riveria became even more confused at their motives.


    But instead of answering Yoruichi''s question, Kisuke asked Riveria, "Want some help?"


    "Help?" Riveria furrowed her brows.


    Kisuke nodded, "Of course, it won''t be for free~. I''ll ask someone to take the payment from the Twilight Manorter."


    "And what if I disagree?"


    "You don''t really have a choice, do you?" Riveria could tell that the unknown individual is giving her arge smile despite his face being covered. And just what as he said, she doesn''t have much choice, but she still couldn''t agree.


    Understanding what she''s thinking, Kisuke reached a decision, ''It''s better to move than just waiting for her. We''re going to help them, regardless.'' He then turned to Yoruichi, "Push those guys away, please~."


    "What are you��?" Riveria''s eyes widened and she took a stance, ready to wave her staff around. The other members also did the same but didn''t attack immediately as one of them is still holding Line who just healed them.


    Yoruichi didn''t wait for Riveria''s question to finish as she raised her right leg and stomped it with a shout, "Haah!!!"


    A small earthquake manifested after her move and minute cracks appeared all over where they are all standing. The Riveria was about tomand everyone to restrain them but before she could do so, she heard shouts of surprise from the frontlines. Looking back, the ground between the fighting Loki Familia and caterpir monsters rushed up with spikes, piercing through some monsters and pushing away the rest, "��What?" Riveria could mutter such a question and, obviously, nobody could answer her.


    "That''s some fine control~." Kisuke giggled and stabbed his sword, two inches, to the ground before muttering, "Kyoumon (Mirror Gate)." Transparent walls of iridescent colors suddenly erected from the space created by Yoruichi. When the walls reached around 5 meters high, the same transparent energy film covered the top.


    Both Kisuke and Yoruichi''s expression changed under their mask as they suddenly felt the Dungeon reacting to the barrier. However, the Dungeon didn''t do anything further than the Mana in the surrounding became more turbulent. They looked at each other and decided to continue what they''re doing and observe as it seems to be a good chance to observe the Dungeon.


    The caterpirs got back up and splurted their acids towards the wall. However, the moment it made contact, the acid bounced back with greater velocity towards the caterpir that released it and melted under its own attack, "Hmmm�� It''s effective, but it won''tst for an hour under these kinds of attacks." Kisuke evaluated the situation.


    Riveria was shocked at the effectiveness of his ''magic'', but she''s more surprised to the fact that this ''magic'' doesn''t seem to be emitting any Mind like all magic she encountered in her life. And more so the fact that he only muttered a few words to cast such a strong barrier which would take her a minute of incantation to do the same, ''Who are they��?'' Aside from obvious cautiousness, curiosity arose from her. She then recalled the strange thing that Line did and their sudden appearance to catch Line, ''Are they rted��?'' Although very unlikely, Riveria couldn''t throw away this line of thinking for some reason, especially after remembering Line''s smile.


    Pulling out his sword from the ground, Kisuke then pointed it upwards, and a small hole was created on top of the barrier. Yoruichi first jumped out and Kisuke set Line down slowly before following Yoruichi outside and closing the hole.


    Riveria became nervous when she saw them leave and close the hole and was about to instruct others to break the wall even if it seems to be protecting them. She just couldn''t put her trust in the unknown individuals with unknown abilities, "Don''t." A single word from Kisuke, however, stopped her from her tracks, ''W-what''s this pressure!?''


    After scaring Riveria for a bit, Kisuke and Yoruichi then started ughtering the monsters at their own pace. Yoruichi used her Hakuda (Hand-to-Hand Combat) techniques to destroy the monsters'' insides before moving away so that their acids won''t be able to touch her. Kisuke, on the other hand, used his sword normally to kill the monsters as their acid doesn''t really affect it as its a Mana construct.


    And a minuteter, they managed to kill about a hundred each, "Hey, Totallynotsuspicious! I already got my hundredth kill~! And by the way, your name is too long!".


    "Don''t be proud, Totallylegitimatemerchant, I''m already at my hundredth-sixth kill~! And I don''t want to hear that from you! Calling yourself a legit merchant is too much, you scammer!"


    Despite the tense situation, the two started a verbal conflict and Riveria doesn''t know how to take it, "Seriously�� Where did these twoe from?"


    Then a secondter, a figure rushed to the crowd of monsters while enveloped by sharp winds, reducing the monsters that came in her way into pieces, "Ais!" Riveria shouted the name of the neer.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi also looked towards the golden-haired Adventurer, who is followed by the rest of the Loki Familia members who came down to get the water of the Cadmus Spring.


    Kisuke stopped ying the monsters and waved at them, "Hi there, Wallenstein-san and friends from Loki Familia, My name is Totallynotascammer and that over there is Miss Sexybutt, and we''re here to he��" Before he could finish his sentence, however, a rock flew over and hit the back of his head with a loud thud, "Ow! What are you doing, Miss Sexyass?" The rock broke into pieces from the force of the impact, "If you hit other than me, then they''ll sue you!"


    "I''ll sue your ass! Stop talking about my butt to everyone!" Yoruichi threw another rock towards Kisuke but he dodged it this time.


    Finn and the rest of the main party didn''t know what to make out of their greeting but they are cautious against them and didn''t return their greetings. Finn immediatelymanded everyone to go back to the camp where the rest seems to be trapped inside a barrier.


    Since Ais focused on ying the monsters, the first ones to arrive at the camp is Bete, Tiona, and Tione, and their first move is to attack it.


    "Wait! Stop!" Riveria tried to warn them but it''s already toote as their attacksnded on the surface of the barrier and immediately sent them away, "Eh!!?" It''s a good thing that they were able to hold their attacks back when they heard Riveria, or else, they won''t be just sent away without any injuries.

 Volume 6 334 - Insane Characters

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 334 - Insane Characters</h4>


    "Hey~. Are you alright?" Kisuke asked.


    Bete couldn''t take it anymore and shouted at him, "Shut up you bastard! Is this your doing!?"


    Kisuke, however, happily replied, "Damn right~! Amazing, right? This barrier could reflect attacks~! Although it''s pretty weak when you attack it from inside." Aside from telling its features, the masked man also revealed its weakness which is, without a doubt, a stupid move.


    "Huh?" Of course,ing from someone who''s cloaked and masked with obviously fake voice, Bete and the rest of the Loki Familia became confused. For all they know, he might be tricking them to attack the barrier from inside.


    Finn approached the barrier and inspected it, "Riveria, what''s going on?"


    Riveria shook her head as she''s also confused, "But so far, their actions are helping us. This barrier is indeed protecting us from the acids." Despite having doubts, she wouldn''t deny the help that Kisuke and Yoruichi gave them.


    Finn nodded at her and faced the those outside the barrier, "Ais, Bete, Tiona, Tione. Take care of the monsters. Gareth, Lefiya, stay near the barrier while you treat Raul."


    "Yes, captain!" Tiona energetically got back on her feet and started assaulting the monsters while the rest also followed his instructions.


    Watching them fight, Kisuke and Yoruichi estimated their power levels, "If it''s from our previous world, just their physical strength alone could let them contend with a mature High-ss Devil." Kisuke muttered.


    "Comparing them to our original world, they''re around lieutenant-level. And if they were able to use Mana properly��" Yoruichi added.


    "Yep�� Falna is amazing�� But too bad, they''re too dependent on it�� And that Ais Wallenstein, although she looks like a human, she''s far from one."


    "Hmmm? That golden-haired girl? How so?"


    "Not sure, but she''s giving me the same feeling as Medusa and Sona."


    "I see�� So that''s the weird feeling she''s giving�� What?" In the middle of her sentence, Kisuke and Yoruichi felt another movement from the Dungeon.


    "Something ising��" Kisuke looked around as the Mana and Spiritual energy started gathering on one spot of the Dungeon wall.


    "We should hurry it up then." Yoruichi then separated from Kisuke and went to the southern part of the safe zone.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, called out the Loki Familia, "Hey~. This is getting tiring, so we''ll take care of this in one fell swoop."


    "Huh!? Just stay where you are! We don''t need your help!" Bete didn''t like Kisuke''s idea.


    But instead of giving them another warning, Kisuke just made his move, "Shibari, Benihime (Bind, Crimson Princess)." With a wave of his sword, Kisukeunches several long condensed energy in a form of the tangible blood-red to multiple directions. Thes then dropped on the monsters binding them.


    Continuing, Kisuke stabbed the intersection of alls and muttered, "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi (Fire-ying Crimson Princess Beaded Mesh)." From each intersection of the, a bead on the size of a baseball emerged.


    Seeing this, Finn''s thumb was pierced by a prickling pain and hurriedly shouted, "Everyone! Get back! Now!"


    Everyone was shocked at the flustered Finn, but they didn''t hesitate to follow his orders and gathered beside Finn, Gareth, Lefiya, and Raul.


    "What''s wrong Finn?" Bete asked him in confusion and the rest also has the same expression.


    While biting his thumb, Finn answered with a serious expression, "I don''t know what he''s trying to do, but that is dangerous."


    They then watch as beads emerged until the end of the and a secondter, all the beads exploded, creating a tremendouslyrge and devastating explosion.


    The explosion is so powerful all those outside the barrier had to drop to the ground to keep their position against the onught of the shockwave created.


    "W-what the hell?" Tiona asked in dumbfounded expression.


    "D-did you hear him chant?" Lefiya asked with a terrified expression and Riveria also has the same question. After all, the magic of that scale is only possible if all of the rearguards of the Loki Familia started a barrage with all their Minds.


    "Maybe the sword he has is a very strong magic weapon?" Bete muttered. But he too couldn''t believe it as he knew that even the famed Crozzo Magic Weapons doesn''t have that kind of potency.


    "��" Ais only stared at the unknown figure quietly. It''s unknown what''s on her mind.


    Finn could only smile wryly after seeing this, "It seems like an insane character just arrived in Orario.


    However, even though they still haven''t recovered from Kisuke''s disy, another one started.


    "Limit of the thousand hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky." When they looked behind them, the second figure, who is obviously a woman from her figure and the one the other one refers to her, started chanting�� while floating in mid-air.


    "S-she''s floating!?" Lefiya eximed. She and the rest tried to find a magic item that gives her the ability to fly but couldn''t find any.


    Yoruichi ignored them and continued, "The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders." Several spheres of red light then started appearing all around her and each of them possessed a tremendous amount of energy which everyone from the Loki Familia could feel.


    "O-oi�� Isn''t that woman a fighter!? Why is she suddenly casting what seems to be veryrge scale magic?" Bete mouth''s twitches.


    Different from this world''s incantations which only allows the Mana to move around to a predetermined logic, incantation from Kisuke and Yoruichi''s world is not just an assisting tool but are words that empower the will and consciousness of the caster resulting to a more effective art, "Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired."


    Pointing towards the spot where the most monsters are gathered, Yoruichi shouted, "Hadou no 91, Senjuu Kouten Taihou (Thousand Hand - Bright Heaven Culling - Spear)!!!"


    The nine orbs of red lights that Yoruichi summoned then became spears of light andunched towards the monsters where she''s pointing.


    On Kisuke''s side, the towers of mes subsided and what''s left on the ground is just a pool ofva. Yoruichi''s side, on the other hand, is arge hole spanning a few floors below.


    "��You overdid it��" Kisuke muttered out loud.


    "It''s been a while, so I forgot to hold back�� And can''t me me�� That pool of magma is probably flowing until the 51st floor."


    Due to their actions, another point in the Dungeon wall started gathering Mana and Spiritual Energy much faster than the first one. But due to the limited amount of Mana in the air, both of them arepeting, which ended up slowing the process.


    But before the emergence of the two big monsters, one other monster appeared which brought the entire Loki Familia back to their senses.


    "Iya~. After those big moves, we''re tried." Kisuke jumped on top of the barrier and Yoruichi followed him, "If someone from you wants to take care of that thing, then please."


    The monster that appeared is a giant, 50-meter tall, standing monster that seems to be in the middle of transforming from a caterpir to a butterfly. Its upper body reminisces of a woman''s figure but it only made the whole thing more disgusting.


    Stepping out, the mostly silent Ais spoke after Kisuke, "��I''ll go."

 Volume 6 335 - Leave if you dont like whats coming next~

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 335 - Leave if you don''t like what''sing next~</h4>


    "��I''ll go." Ais stepped out with a deadpan face.


    "Ais-san!?" Lefiya eximed.


    "If you''re going, then I''ll go too!" Tione also stepped out.


    "Of course, you''re including me!" Bete felt some sense of rivalry against the masked man and also stepped forward.


    "Don''t forget about me." Tiona couldn''t let herself be excluded.


    "Eh? Eh!? T-that�� Me too! I''ve also recovered some of my Mind!" Lefiya was dragged by the flow.


    "��Wait." As all five of them about to go, Finn stopped their advances, "Ais�� You go alone."


    "Captain!?" Everyone except Ais eximed.


    But instead of Finn, Kisuke answered and supported Finn''s decision, "Deimne-san is right. She should go alone."


    "Huh!? Who are you to butt-in!?" And as always, Bete has something to say against Kisuke.


    Kisuke, however, didn''t mind him and continued speaking while shrugging his shoulders, "I''m just stating my opinion~. And if you want to know why, putting it nicely, Wallenstein-san is enough with her magic. And putting it badly, you''re just going to hold her back."


    "What was that!?" Bete couldn''t take it anymore and was about to attack Kisuke when Finn blocked his way, "Finn! Move away!"


    Sighing, Finn agreed with Kisuke, "He''s right. Ais should be safe from its corrosive attacks with her Ariel. However, you lot are not the same. Ais would have to protect you lot from that acid which will just hold her back."


    Bete stopped with an ugly expression on his face, "But��!"


    "I''ll be fine�� I''ll go alone." Ais then tapped his shoulder and looked towards the girls, "I''lle back."


    "Be careful, alright?" Tione understood what the masked man and Finn meant and didn''t push forward the idea of her joining any further.


    Ais nodded and turned to the monster, "Ariel." With a gust of wind, Ais flew straight towards the giant monster.


    Seeing her leave, Finn then turned to Kisuke, "What''s your goal?"


    "Eh? Well, nothing much. We''re just on our own exploration when we saw your camp being overrun by disgusting monsters. As fellow Adventurers, we choose to help~." Kisuke exined herself.


    "And I assume that this isn''t for free?"


    "Of course, I already told Alf-san that I''ll be sending an invoice of the service rendered to the Twilight Manorter. Whether you pay or not, it''ll be up to you."


    Finn stayed silent and looked at Riveria who nodded at him. He then turned his attention towards Gareth who also nodded at him. All three of them reached a consensus that rather than making an enemy out of them, they''d rather have a friendly rtionship. That way, they would also have a bigger chance of uncovering the identity of the two.


    However, that doesn''t mean they trust him and put an appropriate cautiousness against them.


    Kisuke was about to say something else when the movement of Mana around sped up which was also noticed by Riveria, "What''s going on?"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi jumped down from the barrier and dispelled it. Finally out, the Loki Familia members rejoiced while the leaders looked at him in puzzlement.


    "If you don''t want what''sing next, then leave." Kisuke only said such before he resumed watching the fight between Ais and the monster that is now releasing explosive powders that Ais easily dealt with using her wind.


    The always friendly Tiona then asked, "Hey, what do you mean?"


    "What? Could it be that you forgot?" It was Kisuke''s turn to asked in confusion.


    "What?" Still not getting it, Tione asked again.


    Kisuke then pointed at the hole on the ground which was created by Yoruichi, "Miss Totallynotsuspiscious here just punched a hole through several floors��"


    The trio, finally getting it, immediately reacted and Gareth shouted, "Curses! A Juggernaut is about to spawn! A 50th floor Juggernaut!!!" They couldn''t believe they forgot something so simple just after seeing that much destruction.


    Hearing him, everyone shuddered. A Juggernaut of floor 50 is unheard of, but if they were to estimate it''s strength, it should be at least a Level 7. But that''s still underestimating it as it''s most probably a Level 8.


    "Take the bare minimum and withdraw as fast as possible!" Finn immediately ordered everyone while Riveria shouted at Ais, "Ais! Either retreat now or finish it off!"


    Ais don''t know what''s happening as she focusing on her battle but when she heard Riveria, she started charging for thest big attack.


    While everyone is moring, Tiona noticed that Kisuke and Yoruichi haven''t move and were only watching Ais, "Why are you still not moving!? Could it be that you don''t know!? A Juggernaut of the 50th floor could be a Level 8! In the history of Orario, only the Hera Family had ever had someone like that! And most important of all, boss-type monsters are generally stronger than an Adventurer with the same level!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi then looked at each other, "Hey, Miss Sexybutt�� Level 8 she says��"


    "Yep, Totallynotascammer, I heard her�� And it sounds dangerous��"


    When Tiona thought that both of them understood the dangers, she suddenly heard both of them chuckling while simultaneously saying, "How exciting~."


    The top executives of the Loki Familia stopped momentarily to take a look at these two crazy people. But then, a sudden possibility emerged from their minds and Tiona asked them, "Are the both of you Level 8s?"


    "Hmmm�� Let see��" Kisuke then pretends to think deeply.


    Yoruichi elbowed him in response, "Stop putting on airs�� You''re still far from bing a Level 8."


    Yoruichi''s words made everyone else more confused but they couldn''t question it as they suddenly heard the cries of the monster Ais is fighting. When they looked in that direction, everyone saw a big hole in the middle of the monster''s chest. A few secondster, it dropped down, spilling all acid inside its body. But thanks to the hole that Yoruichi created, it acted as a funnel and the acid went down on the deeper floors.


    Ais sighed in relief and satisfaction after seeing the monster go down, however, herpanions don''t have the same feeling, "Ais!!! Behind you!!!" Riveria shouted in extreme concern. The fastest of the Loki Familia also tried to reach Ais''s position.


    Hearing Riveria''s shout and seeing herpanion''s actions, she looked behind and saw a giant hand threatening to tten her. Ais panicked and tried to get away but it''s already toote as the hand is too fast.


    Ais crossed her arm and controlled the strongest wind she could to receive the impact. She doesn''t know if she can survive after being pped away, but she can''t give up. Not yet when there are still things that she has to do.


    For the first time since her reawakening, she experiences shingnterns of memories. Ais gritted her teeth as she hates this feeling because it''s the same thing that happened to her before she lost something very important.


    But just as the giant hand is a few meters away from her and nobody could possibly reach her, Ais suddenly felt a tug behind her as someone grabbed the cor of her clothes, "Geez, don''t let your guard down just because you defeated a boss. You don''t know if it still has a second or third form~."


    A tone of voice that doesn''t match the situation, but also strangely calming even though she doesn''t know what he''s talking about.


    Within a split second, she saw his arm and sword appearing in front of her from over shoulder and she felt her backnding on something soft before hearing, "Chikasumi no Tate (Blood Mist Shield)."

 Volume 6 336 - A Proper Sound

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 336 - A Proper Sound</h4>


    The moment the hand appeared, however, Yoruichi already started casting a kidou, "Bakudou no 37, Tsuriboshi (Suspending Star)!" A stretch of a star-shaped film with its tips anchored to various rocks appeared. However, everyone ignored what she''s doing as what''s happening to Ais is more important.


    For a brief moment, everyone saw something appeared behind Ais. However, the monster inside the wall didn''t care about that and pped them with its whistling hand away, "Ais!!!" "Ais-san!!!" "No!!!"


    They saw the figure which is suppose to be Ais flew across the 50th floor, almost breaking the sound barrier. Not even a split secondter, ''Ais''nded on the cushion that Yoruichi prepared a few seconds ago.


    However, the cushion instantly stretched to its limits and was punctured immediately. Although it''s not obvious, it reduced the force ''Ais'' is traveling by quite an amount. ''Ais'' thennded on the wall, creating an explosion of earth and dust, "AIS!!!"


    Just from the amount of force shended, Finn, Riveria, Gareth and the rest knew that Ais is at least heavily injured. At worst, she''s fatally injured or died instantly, "AIS!!!" The Loki Familia did their best to reach the ce Aisnded and with Lefiya already crying her eyes out.


    Contrary to the Loki Familia, however, Yoruichi only calmly called out, "You alive?"


    A small shockwave erupted from the wall that blew away the dust, revealing ''Ais'' fate, "Yep~. Though I probably broke some bone." The muddled voice of the strange man resounded.


    The Loki Familia stopped on their tracks and where shocked at what they saw. Ais is currently had her eyes wide open in shock while he''s being held by the cloaked man from behind who apparently cushioned her fall, ''When did he catch her?'' All of them have the same question, but some of them remembered seeing something appearing behind Ais before she was attacked and couldn''t imagine what kind of speed is needed for the unknown man, who''s just talking with them, to suddenly arrive beside Ais, who''s at least a few hundred meters away.


    "Uhmm�� Wallenstein-san? I''d really like to move now, but I can''t do it if you don''t move away first." Kisuke said to the still shocked Ais who came close to death. Since they''re embedded in the wall, Ais has to move away first before Kisuke.


    However, the moment before and after being pped away is still reying inside Ais head making her deaf to those around her. Seeing her not reacting and the monster is already half outside of the wall, Kisuke made a decision.


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke grabbed her waist and threw her towards the rest of herpanions, "Catch~!"


    The entire Loki Familia was dumbfounded that someone would throw a maiden without any remorse. Tiona, the nearest among them, jumped in panic and caught the spinning Ais in mid-air and once theynded, she immediately checked her condition but didn''t see anything very serious, "Ais! Ais!"


    Finally, Ais recovered after Tione''s repeated calling and the rest of the Loki Familia also arrived, "��Tione? Guys?"


    Finn took a look at her condition and gave instructions to Lefiya, "Lefiya, give the rest of the Elixirs to Ais."


    Lefiya nodded while wiping the tears on her face, "Ais-san, please drink this."


    To reach Yoruichi''s position, Kisuke has to walk pass by the Loki Familia and he reminded them once again, "If you want to leave, make it fast."


    This reminder made them look back at the monster emerging but as they recognized the monster, they were shocked yet again, "W-Why��? Why is the Balor here!?" Riveria muttered as cold sweat started to pour out from her back as she can tell that this isn''t the usual Balor that they knew.


    The Balor is the Monster Rex of the 49th floor and the strongest Monster Rex ever discovered as of yet. Just like the Fomoires of the same floor, Balor is a goat-headed humanoid monster except for a few big differences. Contrary to 2-meter tall Fomoires, the Balor is a full 40-meter tall monster and while the former only has a pair of horns, the Balor has 4 pairs which made some of them sprout from its back. And the biggest difference is the presence of the Balor''s third eye which is the leading cause of death for the top Adventurers despite knowing its powers.


    However, the current one is very different from what they knew. This one is at least 10 meters taller than the one on the 49th floor. On top of that, it has ck skin and gray fur contrary to the usual light brown skin and dark brown fur. However, the eye-catching change it has is the extra pair of horns on tow of its head which made the total count of 10 horns.


    A few secondster, the full form of the Balor is revealed along with its Landform weapon, a bone club, which is befitting of its size, "RAWRRRR!!!!!!"


    Another piercing pain attacked Finn''s left thumb, but even without that, he knew this different variant of Balor is bad news, "Riveria! Start casting your strongest defensive magic! Gareth, Ais, Tione, Tiona, Bete! Stand by for any iing attack the rest of you, hurry it up with the essentials, and retreat!"


    The members of the Loki Familia resumed taking down the camp, while the top executives nodded at Finn''smand solemnly. Ais doesn''t have any time to rest or think about what happened earlier and only looked at the monster nervously with her sword drawn out.


    "Hey�� Minotaur, Fomoire, and this guy�� Couldn''t they let out a more normal sound? Why do they sound like a tiger or a lion when they''re just a cow and a goat?" An out of cement was suddenly heard throughout the panicking Adventurers.


    "I''m wondering about that too�� But say, do you think we could be friends if I give it some of my high-quality hay grass?" Kisuke replied to Yoruichi''s question while also asking something of his own.


    "Hmm?�� Probably?�� Wait�� Why the hell do you have hay-grass in your inventory!?"


    "I told you, right~. I''m always ready for anything~!"


    "Having a fucking grass is your inventory is beyond being ready!"


    "Correction, I only have high-quality hay grass. By the way, I have several types like Alfalfa, Bahiagrass, Timothy, Bermuda, Orchard, Oat, and Straw."


    "Stop the grass talk! I don''t care!" Yoruichi held her forehead over her mask in frustration, "Anyway, you''ll take care of that?"


    "Yep~." Kisuke then started walking towards the Balor.


    "Wait!" Tiona couldn''t take it anymore and call out to him. Doing her best to ignore the nonsensical talk about grass, she asked Kisuke, "You''re not retreating!? And you''re going alone!? Why!?"


    Kisuke stopped walking and turned to her, "It''s probably our fault that that thing appeared, so we have to take responsibility. I''m a responsible man, after all."


    "I don''t get it! And even if you wanted to fight, why are you going alone!?"


    "It''s because we don''t have much choice."


    "But there are two of you!?"


    "Well, there are two of them too."


    "What do you�� mean?" In the middle of Tiona''s question, another part of the wall burst open and a skeletal dragon monster came out of it much faster than the Balor, "RAWWWR!!!!!!"


    "T-the�� Juggernaut!!?"


    "Now that''s the proper sound!" Chuckling, Yoruichi dashed towards the Juggernaut.

 Volume 6 337 - Balor and Juggernaut VS Kisuke and Yoruichi part 1

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 337 - Balor and Juggernaut VS Kisuke and Yoruichi part 1</h4>


    "T-The�� Juggernaut!?" Tiona eximed.


    "Now that''s the proper sound!" Chuckling, Yoruichi dashed towards the Juggernaut.


    The moment the Juggernaut appeared, the Loki Familia also finished packing up and started moving towards the 49th floor. And soon after, Riveria also finished her spell, "Surround us, be a great barrier of forest light and protect us - my name is Alf! Via Shilheim!"


    In the lead are Raul and the rest of the Level 4s as they exit the 50th floor while the executives reached the stairsst. However, just when everyone is about to escape, Ais suddenly stopped.


    Everyone immediately noticed this and turned back, "Ais! What are you doing!?" Tiona shouted at her.


    Ais stayed still for a while as the roars of battle erupted behind her. She looked up with determination and said, "I want to watch��"


    "No!" Bete immediately rejected her idea, "It''s too dangerous! Even though they sound confident, I doubt they could really defeat both monsters at the same time! And once they''re done with them, the Juggernaut will be chasing after us!"


    "Right!" Tione also joined in, "And even if we can fight the Juggernaut, it''s not now when we don''t have weapons and potions!"


    But instead of listening to them, Ais only looked at Finn who''s also staring at her intently.


    A few secondster, Finn sighed, "Fine��"


    " "Finn!?" " Gareth and Riveria shouted at him in surprise.


    "Captain!? Why!?" Tione asked.


    "It''s as Bete said. If they can''t defeat those monsters, then the Juggernaut will be chasing after us."


    "Then why!?"


    "If the Juggernaut came to us with everyone else around, forget about fighting, protecting others would prove to be harder and casualties would be inevitable. With that said," Finn then looked towards Gareth''s position, "Gareth, Bete. Lead everyone to the upper floors first�� Riveria, what do you want to do?"


    Riveria closed her eyes and said, "If Ais is staying, them I''m staying too."


    Finn nodded, "Alright. Please maintain the barrier. Once the two of you sessfully led them up,e back to us."


    Bete understood Finn''s reasoning and nodded after gritting his teeth. He and Gareth then went up to catch the other and the only remaining Loki Familia are Finn, Riveria, Tione, Tiona, and Ais.


    "��Thank you�� Finn." Ais gave her gratitude to their captain.


    "It''s alright. I''m also curious about how much they can do�� And ever since we stepped on the stairs leading to the 49th floor, the pain in my thumb has subsided by a lot��"


    Back to the battlefield, Yoruichi came face to face with the 30-meter long skeletal dragon and the first thing she did is to rush to it using sh Step. Yoruichi reappeared on top of its head and was about to break its skull with a kick.


    However, just as she''s about to unleash her attack, the skeletal dragon moved in subsonic speeds, throwing off Yoruichi''s stance just the shockwave generated alone.


    It''s then the Juggernaut''s turn to appear behind her and threatened Yoruichi with its ws, "RAWWR!!!"


    Yoruichi was shocked at its sheer speed and dodged using sh Step, retreating for good, "Oi, honey�� This guy is fast��" Although her burst speeds are much faster and quieter, the Juggernauts movement is much nimbler.


    On Kisuke side, "Kamisori! Benihime! (Razor! Crimson Princess!)" After sending out multiple blood-red sword arcs towards the Balor''s face, he answered, "We''re already expecting this��"


    The Balor was able to block a few of Kisuke''s sword arcs but the rest changed their trajectories and sessfully hit its face. Multiple small explosions resounded but the result only cut a bit of the Balor''s face which already started regenerating. In a few seconds, it''ll be back to its former appearance.


    "This is going to be hard��" Although their injuries are already fully healed, they still haven''t recovered all their strength after almost being poisoned to death. And due to releasing so much of his Hollow Reiatsu-Kist, Kisuke couldn''t use his Hollowfied form. On top of that, he also can''t use his Bankai (Final Release) due to certain reasons, "Try not to die, dear��"


    While saying that, Kisuke dodged the Balor''s club swing by jumping upwards. But due to its size and speed unbefitting of that size, just a single swing from it created an air pressure that is enough to uproot the boulders around.


    The barrier ced by Riveria on the stairs towards the 49th floor got some cracks on it after being hit some of the boulders and everyone from the Loki Familia didn''t know what face they''re making as Riveria''s barrier is capable of taking on the strongest of magic.


    "T-this is insane��" Tiona muttered.


    "I-I know�� How can they still keep their calmposure in the face of that?�� And how are they floating anyway?" Tione asked.


    "Instead of floating�� It''s more like they''re stepping on air�� Though I also don''t know how they''re doing it. Their boots are probably some kind of magic item." Finn answered her.


    "And that guy''s sword�� A magic sword? But how is he able to use it like a normal sword? And that chant, it''s my first time hearing thatnguage��" Riveria also said something of her own.


    Ais, on the other hand, could only stay quiet while also clenching her fist, ''How��? How are they keeping up with those monsters? And aren''t they afraid of dying?''


    Kisuke and Yoruichi met each other in the middle of the 50th floor with both of their backs on each other, while the monsters both kept their distance watching both of them from afar. Although the monsters'' instinct is telling them to ughter the humans in front of it, some of their instincts also tell them that the two floating humans are very dangerous.


    Even the watching Loki Familia was surprised yet again with a sudden stalemate. All their experiences tell them that Monsters aren''t capable of strategizing but it seems to be a different case for these monsters who''re at least Level 8s.


    "Can you really not activate you Hollowfication?"


    "Maybe for a minute if I really want to��"


    "Taking more time will be dangerous. We don''t know what else the Dungeon is cooking for us."


    "I know�� Like the Gods and Goddesses, it seems that the Dungeon is reacting to our spiritual abilities. Once we sealed up our Reiatsu-Ki, it shouldn''t do anything else."


    "So? What''s the n?"


    "Put those guys on the same ce and restrain them for a few seconds."


    "The Juggernaut is not a problem since it''s fragile against physical attacks. If I put everything out, I''ll be able to chase after it easily, however, the Balor still hasn''t opened its third eye. From the information I gathered, it seems to be capable of energy beam attacks."


    "However, this guy is a different variant�� That energy beam might have some more tricks in it."


    "Regardless, we have to move now. Those guys are getting impatient."


    "Alright! Let''s go!"


    With Kisuke''s deration, Yoruichi immediately released everything she had, "Shunko! Raijin Senkei!"

 Volume 6 338 - Balor and Juggernaut VS Kisuke and Yoruichi part 2

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 338 - Balor and Juggernaut VS Kisuke and Yoruichi part 2</h4>


    Releasing her Thunder God War Form, six orbs of pure andpressed lightning materialized behind Yoruichi. Also along with it is her cloak being reduced to ashes.


    However, Kisuke and Yoruichi are ready in case their cloak was destroyed. Even before entering the Dungeon, Kisuke created two chokers that they can use to magically change their appearance.


    For Yoruichi, it changed her skin color to pale white and her hair to snow white. While Kisuke got his skin to be tanned and his hair ck.


    Using sh Step, Yoruichi closed the distance between the Juggernaut and her. The Juggernaut, however, did the same thing as their first engagement and went around Yoruichi.


    But Yoruichi is already expecting this, so she chased after it using another sh Step. Thanks to her transformation, she was able to temporarily removed the limit of her body of usage of sh Step. One should remember that due to having a physical body, sh Step and other physical techniques put both enormous pressures for Kisuke and Yoruichi because they can''t match their soul''s strength. And even though they managed to train their bodies, they were only about to do it in for a decade which is not enough for their centuries-old souls.


    But now they''re in this world, that is about to change.


    Catching the Juggernaut off-guard, Yoruichi attacked with a wild smile on her face, "Shunretsugeki (shing Fierce Strike)!" One of the lightning orbs behind her disappeared and her right fist became covered in lightning before unleashing a punch towards its head. Although Yoruichi is only aiming for it to be disabled, it doesn''t hurt to kill it outright.


    However, the Juggernaut is still fast enough to move its head to the side out of a fatal situation, "�� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��!!!" A roar of pain resounded from it as half of its ribs were reduced to pieces from the punch that carried concentrated lightning strikes. But the Juggernaut won''t go down without retaliation and used its tail, breaking the speed of sound, to attack Yoruichi from behind.


    Yoruichi instantly felt something threatening behind her but she just finished a pretty big move so she can''t immediately use sh Step. So instead, she jumped sideways to create some distance got one of the lightning orbs to her side before detonating it.


    With arge explosion of lightning, Yoruichi was able to slow down the tail and thanks to the force behind the explosion she was able to get away from a seemingly fatal strike.


    But also thanks to the explosion, Yoruichi flew off uncontrobly beforending on a clear transparent film, cracking it.


    Behind the barrier, the Loki Familia was taken aback when Yoruichi suddenly smashed to their barrier further cracking it.


    "A-are you okay?" Tiona couldn''t help but asked seeing that half of her body is scorched and full of cuts with blood flowing out inrge quantities. If any of them got this sort of injury, they could only retire after one more desperate attack.


    However, contrary to their expectation of her grimacing in pain, Yoruichi stood up normally and looked back, "Oh. You guys are still here��"


    "I-it seems that you''re fine." Tiona''s mouth twitches. Ais, who''s watching all of this closely, clenched her fist harder.


    Yoruichi was about to go back when she suddenly thought of something and turned towards the Loki Familia again, "You know�� Fighting those things isn''t easy and we''re giving away our lives here�� And all of you are just watching such a great show without doing anything! With that said, I require some payments. Give me all the Elixirs you have!" Yoruichi only intended to exin her point but she thought it''s a pain and she sounded like a female bandit at the end of her sentence.


    ''Why is someone as strong as she sounds like some random hoodlum on the streets?'' Riveria questioned her sanity. But while contemting that, she rummaged her pockets and was able to take out thest two of her Elixir that is supposed to be used on emergencies, "Here''s our payment."


    Yoruichi smiled happily and took it away from the small gap from their barrier. Although they can''t really see her face as it''s still covered by a mask, "Thanks~!"


    Tiona, Tione, and Ais looked towards Riveria with some admiration from their eyes, "As expected of Riveria�� She''s still unfazed by what''s happening! I already stopped thinking long ago!" Tiona expressed her admiration.


    Riveria ignored their stares as she''s feeling guilty about it. She also stopped thinking about what''s happening long ago and focused on everything she has to memorize everything that is happening so that she could review and contemte on themter.


    Yoruichi drank one of the Elixir and poured the other one over her injuries, "Fuah�� An expensive Elixir is really different!" After the two Elixirs, most of her injuries are cured but the expended energy didn''t return.


    While she''s healing, Kisuke, who''s keeping the Balor at bay and waiting for Yoruichi''s cue, suddenly reappeared beside her and started casting healing Kidou which further fixes her injuries.


    "Wait! What are you doing here!?" Yoruichi asked and looked towards the monsters. The Loki Familia members also did the same in panic as they thought that he left the monsters unattended, which means, both of them would attack to where they''re standing.


    But when they processed what''s happening, a second ''Kisuke'' is flying around the two monsters, provoking them.


    Seeing this, Yoruichi understood, "Ah�� A Gigai�� But since when were you able to control them remotely?"


    "I''m improving everyday~!" Kisuke grinned at her and he then turned serious, "That was too reckless."


    "��I''m sorry. I got too impatient." Yoruichi knew that he''s angry so she immediately admitted her fault. But also deep inside, she felt happy for his concern which isn''t very obvious when they''re still fighting for the Soul Society.


    Kisuke sighed and patted her head, "Just be careful next time."


    Yoruichi nodded meekly.


    "Well then�� What do you want to do?"


    Yoruichi looked up and without hesitation, she dered, "I want to finish it off!"


    Kisuke smiled wryly, "I see�� Remember to be careful. I will seriously start a rampage here if you got hurt again."


    "Ugh�� Please spare me with that! Cleaning up after your mess won''t be funny. Even more so if you get too hurt doing that." Controlling the two of the remaining four orbs of lightning, Yoruichi shaped both of them to short swords and took hold one for each of her hand, "I''m going."


    Sighing, Kisuke refocused himself. He''s been very passive since the start of the battle because he doesn''t know what the Balor could do and has been trying to uncover its abilities. But thanks to that, he took too much time that Yoruichi got hurt without him being able to do anything.


    ming himself, he tried to change his mindset, ''In this case�� I should just go at it like a big idiot! Isn''t my forte adapting to changes? I should just improve on it on every second or split-second basis!''


    Deciding on the next course of action, Kisuke started spamming Kidou like a broken game character, "Hadou # 48, Gaki Rekkou!


    "Hadou # 58, Tenran!


    "Hadou # 63, Raikohou!


    "Kaizou Kidou, Jugeki Hyappo Rankan!


    "Bakudou # 63, Sajo Sabaku!


    "Bakudou # 75, Gochu Tekkan!"

 Volume 6 339 - Balor and Juggernaut VS Kisuke and Yoruichi part 3

    <h4>Volume 6 Chapter 339 - Balor and Juggernaut VS Kisuke and Yoruichi part 3</h4>


    "Hadou # 48, Gaki Rekkou (Raging Light Fang)!"


    While pointing his sword towards the Balor, Kisuke cast his first spell. From the tip of his sword, a circle of energy appeared, before firing sts of green light from its center in a cage-like formation.


    "Hadou # 58, Tenran (Orchid Sky)!"


    Kisuke didn''t wait for it to hit as he pulled out his another spell. Still from the tip of his sword, a widening tornado-like st is fired towards his first spell adding a spinning force to, resulting in a more destructive force. However, the main aim of the tornado is to give Yoruichi an edge against the Juggernaut by using it as a foothold.


    "Kaizou Kidou (Modified Demon Arts), Jugeki Hyappo Rankan (Hell Hundred Step Fence)!"


    Kisuke still didn''t wait for the result of his spell and fired his next one, his own modified version of Bakudou number 62. Instead of short rods like it normally should, Kisuke''s modified version changed it into long blood-red metal spikes.


    As the first two Kidous hit the Balor, it only backed up a bit. However, the concentrated fire of Kisuke first Kidou burnt some of the Balor flesh on its chest making it screaming in pain, "GRRROAARR!!!"


    And on the same spot of the burnt flesh, tens of blood-red metal spikes embedded themselves in it.


    "Hadou # 63, Raikohou (Lightning Roar Cannon)!"


    With his fourth spell, Kisuke generated a ball ofpressed lightning simr to that of Yoruichi''s and fired it like a cannon. Normally, the Balor''s flesh is enough to block the attack, albeit, incurring some heavy damage, but nothing it can''t recover from. However, due to metal spikes that are embedded in the specific ces where nerves gather, the lightning cannon didn''t just st away its flesh but was also able to paralyze it for a short period of time. As a bonus, it''s regenerative capabilities also slowed down


    "Bakudou # 63, Sajo Sabaku (Winding Binding Chains)!"


    Not wasting this chance, Kisuke used sh Step to decrease his distance from the Balor before tying up its left leg with chains of light that appeared between his fingers. He could have tied both of its legs and pulled it to make it drop to the ground, but for Kisuke, that''s too much effort and there is a much more effective method.


    Turning his attention towards the Juggernaut, who''s having a dog fight with Yoruichi, Kisuke waited for the right timing and sent the other end of the chains to wrap around its tail. The skeletal dragon, whose full attention is to catch and evade the hateful human, was caught off-guard when its body became unbearably heavy. It then looked back subconsciously to search for the tugging force and saw its tail tied to something and tried to bite it down.


    Since this is a huge opportunity, Yoruichi didn''t let it pass and her twin lightning swords became whips of lightning.


    Feeling the threat behind it, the Juggernaut chooses to forego the chains and tugged it forcefully to dodge Yoruichi''s attacks. Although she wasn''t able to catch its head, Yoruichi was able to get its other arm and now the Juggernaut is just a skeletal dragon with arms that forced it to walk on its hind legs resulting to reduced speed and maneuverability.


    Because its leg was suddenly tugged, the paralyzed Balor lost its bnce and started falling down, back first. Seeing the desired result, Kisuke didn''t let up, casting his sixth spell


    "Bakudou # 75, Gochu Tekkan (Quintet of Iron Pirs)!"


    Kisuke summoned five thick and tall pirs of iron connected by chains and each one of them dropped on the Balor''s limbs. Four for legs and arms and one on its forehead where the still closed third eye is located. Although the big pirs are incredibly small for the giant Balor, it did its job of temporarily adding anotheryer of control on the Balor.


    Kisuke then stepped on the air and pulled Benihime to his side before pooling most of his Reiatsu-Ki for one final attack. As the air bes heavier, spiraling blood-red energy envelopes Kisuke sword.


    The Loki Familia is ''calmly'' watching everything beyond theirmon sense unfold when a sudden pressure was put on their shoulders which woke them up with a great start. They could ignore the physical pressure being put on them, but the real shocker and terrifying one is the mental pressure that is emitting from the masked man.


    While watching in horror, the masked man muttered in anguage that they don''t understand, "Tsukisasu, Benihime (Pierce, Crimson Princess)."


    The spiraling energy then solidified as it created a gigantic spike andunched towards the unmoving Balor with great speed. Kisuke intended to finish it off by destroying its magic stone after disabling its defenses. He''s been on guard on its third eye but nothing as of yet. However, he won''t let his guard down just because he''s about to win in the next second.


    And just as he expected, the lids on its third eye moved. As it moves, every Mana of the Balor gathered on it. The pir of iron which is pinning it suddenly exploded into smithereens as the golden slitted eye fully opened.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi became guarded as they waited for their effects to be shown. Kisuke already guessed what sort of abilities it could possess and already formted a n against most of those. A few secondster, the air suddenly bes heavier.


    ''No�� This isn''t just some atmospheric pressure maniption!��'' Kisuke tried to think of any other possibilities as he watches his attack slows down, ''Dammit! This is Stagnation!''


    Kisuke guessed it right. It''s not that the air really became heavier but the time itself became slower for their surroundings. Although everyone''s perception is still the same, everything, including their bodies were reduced to 1/50th of the normal speed.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and the Loki Familia trying to break free from the effects of time maniption, the Balor lifted its head and looked towards Kisuke before turning to Yoruichi, all in a normal speed. The gray skin and ck fur then started receding towards its third eye, leaving the Balor pale white as the effect of stasis became much stronger.


    Its third eye then started glowing brightly before it releases arge beam of golden light aimed at Yoruichi. This is the Balor''s final attack using everything it has and intended to take down at least one of them with it. It determined that Kisuke could still have some ways to dodge or defend from its attack but it already saw Yoruichi getting injured before so it targeted her.


    On the way of the beam is Kisuke''s piercing attack, but as the two collided, the crimson spear was pierced by the golden light instead, ''Fuck!!! It has annihting properties!''


    Kisuke knew that Yoruichi still has some ways to defend herself, but he didn''t want to risk it so he immediately decided to use two of his few trump cards that could instantly turn the situation.


    His first trump card is to force himself to shook of the effects of stagnation. He transformed himself into full Hollowfied form, the Vasto Lorde form.


    Due to this, his cloak and mask burst open as his Reiatsu-Ki shoots up and became malevolent. His choker''s ability to disguise was also rendered useless. From the Loki Familia''s perspective, a monster in humanoid form just appeared. Although it isn''t asrge as the Balor and Juggernaut, they have a feeling that it''s more terrifying than them.


    Thanks to his Reiatsu-Ki pressure, Kisuke was able to move normally and hurriedly used Sonido to arrive in front of Yoruichi.


    Putting his free hand forward, Kisuke intended to use his second trump card, but the beam of light ising fast, ''Looks like I have to sacrifice more than an arm��''


    As he braces himself, two orbs of lightning suddenly flew past him and detonated, dying the golden light for only less than a second, but for Kisuke, it a very valuable time bought.


    "Hadou # 96, Ittou Kasou (Single de Cremation)!"


    Fiery-red light like veins emerged from his pale white-wed arm as it starts to burn. A split secondter, A huge pir of me burst out from his the said arm in the shape of katana shed through the golden beam of light and divided the Balor in half, ending the battle.

 Volume 7 340 - 340 Going Back

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 340 - 340 Going Back</h4>


    As the giant pir of mes in the form of katana tip bisected the Balor, the effects of stagnation disappeared.


    Kisuke''s transformation was also undone and his enamel-like skin started to ke off as he falls to the ground.


    Yoruichi hurriedly caught him as thest visage of his Hollowfication disappeared and hurriedly covered his face with reminders of the broken up cloak, only revealing his eyes. The choker also started resuming its functions and change his skin into healthy tan and his hair to ck.


    However, not everything returned to normal as his left arm is still charred ck with a wisp of mes on it. But despite its looks, his arm is still so hot that is capable of burning Yoruichi''s skin despite theyer of protection from her Reiatsu-Ki.


    But even then, Yoruichi didn''t mind it one bit and carried him on her back to go towards the rest of the Loki Familia.


    With a fewrge jumps, Yoruichi reached them andid down Kisuke on the ground, "Do you still have any potions in you?"


    The Loki Familia is still stuck in their ce as they watch the Balor reduced to ashes and only leave behind therge bisected magic stone and only came to it when Yoruichi arrived and asked them for potions.


    The first one to react is Riveria and she looked towards her fellow Elf, "Tione, give her the remaining high potions."


    Tiona also recovered after being suddenly called out by her superior and hurriedly looked towards Finn and saw him nod before taking out the remaining five high-ss potions and seven mid-ss potions from her bag that Lefiya passed her earlier.


    "Thanks." Yoruichi them started pouring everything on Kisuke''s charred left arm and left shoulder.


    As the potions touch Kisuke''s arm, it immediately evaporated but Yoruichi determined that her guess is correct as it''s much more effective than just pouring water on it.


    After the potions, Kisuke''s arm''s temperature was reduced to a bearable level and the fiery veins and wisp of mes already ceased existing.


    Sighing in relief, Yoruichi asked, "Can you move?"


    "I can move�� But I don''t really want to��" Kisuke answered in a hoarse voice as he scanned his surroundings, ''I guess that''s the limit of the Dungeon�� After spawning those two monsters, the Mana from the surrounding became depleted that I can''t feel any monsters being spawned.''


    "How about your arm?"


    "I can''t feel it�� However, if I must say something, although it''s my first time using it, it seems to be very effective~."


    "Well, it wasn''t known as a sacrificial spell for nothing. But if you can still speak like that, then you''re fine�� Though I didn''t expect it to suddenly pull out time slowing ability just like that."


    "I already expected that though�� That''s why I was able to react quickly. However, this really reminds me of one of Rias Gremory''s Bishop, Gasper di��"


    "Oh�� right�� That trap�� Forbidden Balor View was it?" Yoruichi then faced the Loki Familia, "Mind if we join you to the trip outside?"


    Yoruichi''s decision stemmed from the fact that Dungeon seems to respond to their spiritual energies so, in addition to the Juggernaut, it also spawned a special variant of Balor.


    She could sneak her way out but she would have to use her Shinigami abilities so instead of guessing the Dungeon''s intentions it''ll be a lot easier for both Yoruichi and Kisuke to guess other people''s intention.


    Hearing this, Finn was about to refuse as there are no advantages for them to let some unknown strong stranger join their group. In fact, it''ll only put them in danger.


    But before he could refuse, Yoruichi continued, "We''ll sell you that magic stone from Balor for half the price. You can sell it to the guild and we''ll only take half of the selling price."


    Finn hesitated, but after a few seconds of contemting, he thought that its just money and still couldn''t justify the fact that they might be dangerous for them even if they helped them earlier.


    Seeing that he still won''t agree, Kisuke added, "I can tell you why everything slowed down earlier~." Despite his hoarse voice the jolly tone still couldn''t be hidden. And instead of Finn, those words are for the fidgetting beautiful High-Elf.


    "Finn, let''s take them with us." Riveria immediately suggested and Finn could only smile wryly, ''Well, I also want to know what just happened��'' Finn determined that it''ll be valuable information if they can exin the Balor''s ability so that they could create a countermeasure against it in case that they faced something like that in the future.


    "Fine��" Finn then faces their otherpanions, "Tione, Tiona. Gather those magic stones and we''ll leave."


    " "Roger." " The twins ran towards the magic stones buried in ashes. While running through the destruction that was created by their battle, they still couldn''t believe something like that was possible. Ever since they became level 5s, they can already see their limits and surely, it was far from this.


    After Tione and Tiona returned, the group then left the ce.


    While walking through the 49th floor, Riveria couldn''t stop herself from asking anymore, "Can you tell us now what sort of magic the Balor used?" She wanted to ask about his magic too but figured that he won''t answer anything about it. A secret so that you could cast more than just three magics, very attractive, but Riveria knew her boundaries, ''I''ll just find a way to ask about itter��''


    Kisuke, who''s on Yoruichi''s back, answered, "Hmm�� Let''s see�� There are two parts on the Balor''s third eye''s ability. The first one is Time Stagnation and the other one is a beam with annihting properties."


    "Time Stagnation? Annihting properties?" Riveria asked again. This is her first time hearing such terms used in magic. After all, the mainstream is elemental magic and the rare one consist of healing and curses magic.


    "Let me exin the annihting magic first as it is easier to understand. Basically, annihting magic is simple magic that reduces everything it touches to elementary particles upon contact."


    "A-a magic like that exist? How do you defend against it if it destroys everything it touches?" Riveria continued to ask. Contrary to her usual demeanor, herpanions can tell that she''s excited which surprised them, especially Ais.


    But before Kisuke could answer, Tiona interrupted them, "How does that magic look when it works?"


    Kisuke asked Yoruichi to pick up a rock and replied to her first, "Imagine that this rock is you."


    "Uh-huh." Tiona looked towards the rock on Yoruichi''s palm and nodded.


    "Then when you''re hit by that magic without being able to defend," Kisuke then gave Yoruichi the cue and she suddenly crushed the rock on her hand reducing it into dust, "That happens~!"


    As she did imaging herself in the position of that rock, Tiona shuddered and cold sweat appeared on her forehead.


    "This type of annihting magic weakens or destroys the link that is keeping your body together so when you''re hit, you''ll be reduced to blood and gore if the magic is weak or you''ll be reduced to ashes�� Same as those monsters when they die." Kisuke continued.

 Volume 7 341 - Two Birds in One Stone

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 341 - Two Birds in One Stone</h4>


    Finn furrowed his brows and asked the same thing as Riveria, "How do you defend against it?"


    "There are multiple ways but the easiest and simplest ones are just to use the same amount of Mana to offset its effects, barrier magic that replenishes instead of sustained one if you''re a group, or just dodge it, though if it''s the same situation as earlier, you don''t have a choice but to face it head-on." Kisuke happily continued and Yoruichi thought for the nth time, ''This guy really�� really loves exining things.'' Though Yoruichi doesn''t say anything about it as Kisuke really seems happy doing so.


    Riveria understood about the first and third methods, but she''s confused with the second one, "Barrier magic that replenishes instead of sustained one? Can you borate more on that?"


    Kisuke looked at her for a moment and suddenly recalled one thing, "Oh, right�� you guys only knew how to divide barrier magic between two types, against magical attacks, and against physical attack."


    Riveria felt her pride being chipped away hearing his words. But she couldn''t get angry as what he said is true asmon sense dictates that there are only two types of barrier magic. One magical and one physical which can be divided into more sub-categories depending on element and type of physical attack. However, the man and woman in front of her don''t seem to be in the scope of thatmon sense.


    Seeing her reaction, Kisuke felt something tickling his inner bully but kept it to himself for now as it isn''t the right time and continued speaking, "You can keep the durability of a sustainable type of barrier by pumping more Mana to it, but against a type of magic that can annihte everything, the structure of the magic itself could be erased or corrupted so even if you pump more Mana, it''ll only go nowhere. On the contrary, the replenishing type is by creating a multiyered barrier with eachyer has its own structure. When the first one is destroyed, the second one is still intact and while theseyers are being destroyed, you can create newyers from behind, thus, replenishing it."


    Hearing it, Riveria''s eyes lit up and the sour mood from earlier disappeared as her curiosity and interest drowned it, "I see�� If sustainable is like a shield that you enchants, then the replenishable type is having multiple shields stacked together��"


    "Well, that''s basically it." Kisuke nodded at her while thinking inside, ''Hehehe�� Looks like I found a great customer�� I should give more teaser��'' Deciding on how he should lead things, Kisuke continued speaking, "And barrier magic isn''t only just about blocking attacks. That''s just the most basic use of it~."


    Kisuke sessfully caught Riveria''s attention and thetter immediately asked like an excited child while also closing the distance between her and the duo, "Such as?"


    Finn wanted to push the conversation towards the next ability of the Balor''s third eye, but he''s also curious about the other uses of barrier and didn''t stop Riveria. It''s also has been a while that he saw Riveria excitedly talk about magic, ''The path towards the exit is still long, so I guess it''s fine. He''s also giving us free information.''


    The trio, Ais, Tiona, and Tione, who''s following silently behind, however, were shocked as this is the first time they saw Riveria happily ask others about magic.


    Despite being carried by Yoruichi and lethargic since his tired, Kisuke became energetic as he let Yoruichi hold Benihime and started his ''sales pitch'', "For example, you can do this~." Raising his right arm, a magic circle suddenly appeared on top of his hand before a thin film of translucent barrier manifested around the group.


    Riveria is very, very curious at his ability to cast seemingly any amount of magic and doing it without chanting but stopped herself from asking about it, ''I can do thatter�� The trip is still long��'' She then started inspecting the barrier along with others, "So this is a barrier that doesn''t block attacks? What does it do?"


    Instead of answering her, Kisuke turned to Ais, "Wallenstein-san, can you please walk out of the barrier?"


    Ais looked at him for a moment before turning around and went through the barrier, arriving outside and she then looked back to wait for further instructions.


    "Now then, Alf-san, please call back Wallenstein-san."


    Riveria couldn''t guess what he wants to do but still did what he told her to do, "Ais,e back here."


    Contrary to their expectations, however, Ais didn''t move and just continued to stare at them with a confused expression.


    "Hmm? Ais, what are you doing?" Riveria asked but still got the same response as before.


    Thinking for a moment, Finn guessed the barriers function and he himself got out of the barrier before turning back, "Riveria, try to say something."


    Seeing Finn''s actions, Riveria also finally guessed it and spoke out loud, "I see�� So that''s how it is��"


    "Eh? Eh? What''s going on?" Tiona asked while Tione kept observing also trying to guess what''s happening.


    Witnessing their mouths move but not hearing anything, Finn nodded and went back with Ais, "You can''t hear anythinging from the inside of the barrier."


    Tione and Tiona''s eyes widened and went outside immediately and tried to talk to Ais but to no avail.


    Ignoring the antics of the three girls, Kisuke continued, "This barrier blocks the sound waves froming out. This is very useful for secret meetings."


    "H-how? How can you cast these types of magic with great versatility? Is it a rare skill?" Riveria couldn''t stop herself anymore and asked, breaking the unwritten rule of the Adventurers, asking for the other''s skills.


    "Riveria!" Finn warned her. Although he''s also curious, he didn''t want her to break this rule. They can do their own investigation to guess the Adventurers skills but asking directly is a no go.


    Riveria got hold of herself and immediately apologized, "I''m sorry. Please forget what I just said."


    Kisuke only chuckled and waited for something before continuing to speak, "Ahaha, it''s fine. I don''t mind�� But�� It''s not like you can''t learn it yourself~."


    As Riveria and others heard those words, they nked out and took more time to process what he meant, ''you can learn it yourself''.


    Not waiting for them Kisuke went on as if he just drop trash on the roadside instead of a bomb, "Now then, let''s talk about the second ability of the Balor''s third eye~."


    "W-wait! What do you mean by-" "Finn! Ais! Tiona, Tione! And Old Hag! Are you okay!?" Before Riveria could finish her question, however, a certain wolf came and shouted at them.


    Interrupting something very important, Riveria became very frustrated, and added to that is the idiotic dog calling her old hag, making Riveria instantly hit the boiling point. She then threw her very sturdy staff towards the oing dog, catching it off-guard with a sudden attack, and being unable to judge, resulting in him being hit square on the forehead, "GAH!!!"


    Despite telling himself not to let out his inner bully, Kisuke''s ''malicious'' intents couldn''t be stopped from leaking and Yoruichi could only sigh andugh wryly at that.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, is cheering while watching all of this happens, ''This is what I call two birds in one stone~!''

 Volume 7 342 - Time Magic

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 342 - Time Magic</h4>


    "So? What''s going on?" Gareth came back with Bete after leading the rest of the Loki Familia on the 39th floor, a safe zone, in a hurry.


    Finn exined the situation to Gareth while Riveria is berating Bete for suddenly interrupting something important.


    Understanding the situation, Gareth came over to Kisuke and Yoruichi and greeted them, "It''s great that you came out alive. Though I should say, you''re not in very great shape. Here, have this. As thanks for keeping the camp safe earlier. I heard it from our supporters." Gareth took out an Elixir set aside for himself and gave it to Kisuke.


    Kisuke smiled and epted it, "Thanks~. Although I won''t be able to use it now since I need to recover some of my strength naturally first."


    Gareth didn''t mind it and only nodded back at him, "Let''s go."


    The group then resumed walking and a minuteter, Riveria went beside Kisuke and Yoruichi, "Uhmm�� About what you said earlier��"


    As if remembering it now, Kisuke replied, "Oh�� Right�� The second ability of the Balor''s third eye."


    "N-no�� Before that�� You mentioned that I can learn what you just did too��"


    "Ah�� About that�� Loga-san''s arrival reminded me of someone and I thought I should not really tell these things."


    "W-why?" Riveria doesn''t know that she currently making a face that''s Kisuke enjoys with all his soul. And although not as much as Kisuke, Yoruichi also wanted tough, ''So this is this guy''s goal.''


    Kisuke stopped himself from grinning and put on a very serious expression despite the fact that his face right now is covered by a piece of clothing and nobody could possibly peek through it unleash they have x-ray visions, "I''ll tell you about itter before we separate."


    "��Okay��" Riveria then proceeded to give Bete a cold stare before continuing, "Please continue on to the next ability of that Balor."


    ''This Elf is really fun�� And that horny dog will get itter~. Too bad, I can''t watch it.'' Kisuke thought before clearing his throat with a fake cough, "Ehem�� As I told you earlier, the other ability of the Balor''s third eye is the Time Stagnation."


    Riveria''s expression went back to normal as she furrowed her brows, "Time Stagnation�� Could it be magic that maniptes time?"


    "Huh!? Old H--!?" Bete spoke while nursing his whacked forehead but before he could finish, she received another re from Riveria, "R-Riveria, could it be you really believe him that magic that maniptes time itself is possible!? And if something like that is really possible, then it''s only for the Gods!"


    "Indeed, it''s easy for Gods to cast a time-rted spell, but it''s also one of the most useless spells for them because it could only affect those a lot weaker than them and against other Gods, it''spletely useless as they can''t be affected by it because their flow of time is a mess. As you probably know, those guys are eternally unchanging beings."


    Bete wanted to say more, but the Amazoness twins shut his mouth forcefully.


    Seeing this, Kisuke continued, "That said, it isn''t just Gods who can use them. Although space and time types of magic are veryplicatedpared to other types of magic, it''s possible. What the Balor used is Time Stagnation which slows down the time flow of everything around it.


    "However, there are obvious limitations on it as it can''t slow down our perception that''s why we can easily feel it."


    Everyone became silent after hearing Kisuke''s words. Except for Riveria, they can''t wrap their heads around the concept of time maniption easily, "Isn''t slowing down time too much? What if the Balor just made everything heavier, hence, became harder to move?" Finn asked and Bete wholeheartedly agrees.


    "In your perspective, that''s indeed the case. But that''s only because you''re not familiar with the unique feeling that time magic gives."


    "So you''re saying that you''ve already experience time magic multiple times that you''re already familiar with it?" Riveria''s brows furrowed deeper as her suspicions grow, but more than that, her interest in curiosity is growing faster. There''s nothing else she wanted to do now than to sit down and talk about magic with Kisuke. She also has lingering thoughts if she should ask him to take her as his disciple.


    Sessfully leading the conversation, Kisuke smiled widely, "Yep~. I''m a bit familiar with it. And if you want proof, then I can at least tell that Wallenstein-san came out of a time stasis long ago�� About a decade ago?"


    After this revtion, everyone from the Loki Familia stopped walking with shocked faces, especially Ais, who, in addition to shock, a hint of fear crept to her face, "��H-how!?"


    Yoruichi also stopped walking and faced everyone with Kisuke, ''What is this guy nning now? I really wish he would inform me of things he wanted to do.''


    As if not noticing their expressions, Kisuke answered Ais nonchntly, "I told you, right? I can tell if time magic is cast. Especially in your case. I can tell that you''ve been in a pretty strong time stasis. How long have you been asleep? 10 years? 30? 100? Or perhaps a 1,000 years?"


    Ais shuddered and slowly took a step back, "H-how!?"


    And as if only noticing it now, Kisuke looked everyone with widened eyes, "Ah�� Is that supposed to be secret?�� My bad�� It''s just that her situation really bothers me. You''re abruptly woken up and there were some parts of your physique that are not working quite right. If that can be fixed, then you''ll be stronger than you''re now and you''ll have an easier time with your training."


    Ais'' fear subsided for a bit as she listens. Now instead of fear of being seen through, she''s now more interested in the fact that she could be stronger. But before she could ask about it, she finally noticed that her fellow Familia members are looking at her with shocked expressions, "A-Ais�� Is what he said true?" Riveria asked.


    Ais herself didn''t know about this time stasis that Kisuke is talking about, but she indeed woke up in a different era she presumed a thousand yearster and the only people who knew of this are Loki and the unknown people who woke her up and sent her to Orario nine years ago.


    She didn''t want to lie to herrades so the only thing she could do is to stay silent and look down in guilt for hiding it from them which is the same as admitting it.


    The rest of the Loki Familia doesn''t know how they would process this information but the first one to calm down is Riveria as she approached Ais and gave her a hug, "It''s alright. Nothing really changes even if we knew that. You''re still the Ais that I watched growing up." Riveria whispered to her lovingly.


    Ais didn''t know what to say or to do, but she hugged her back so that she can feel Riveria''s warmth more. Along with it, is some sort of weight disappearing from her chest. Although she''s still hiding a lot of things, it''s a big relief for her that someone could still ept her despite her being different from others.

 Volume 7 343 - An Adventurer

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 343 - An Adventurer</h4>


    From then on, the group could only stay silent on their track until the reached the next safe zone, the 39th floor, where everyone else is waiting for the arrival of the main party.


    Raul and Lefiya came running to the group, "Finn!" "Ais-san!"


    Lefiya came running towards Ais with a crying face, not noticing the strange atmosphere, "Are you hurt!?"


    And while Lefiya is bothering Ais with her concern, Raul reported to Finn the status of their members. While some got injured pretty badly by the acid that came from the irregr monsters, none died or would be left disabled. But because of that, all of their supplies that shouldst until the 59th floor were depleted.


    "We''ll rest for 10 hours before we start moving. Tell everyone that this will be thest long break we will be getting until we reach the surface. Also, those who''re level 4s will party up with some level 3s to gather food." Finn gave his instructions after hearing the damage report.


    "Understood." Raul ran off after a quick peek towards the two strangers. He''s curious but he already received his orders and that takes priority.


    As Finn look around, all those who just came all agreed not to talk about Ais'' situation. He then faced Kisuke and Yoruichi, "You can use one of the tents. Riveria, please lead them."


    Riveria nodded at him and turned around, "Please follow me."


    Yoruichi, with Kisuke on her back, followed her, but not just her, Ais also started moving along with them while peeking at Kisuke.


    "Eh��? W-what''s going on?" Lefiya asked in confusion, however, nobody answered her and not just that, Tiona and Tione decided to follow them without a word. Seeing this, Lefiya also followed, wondering what''s happening.


    Bete also wanted to follow, but Gareth and Finn stopped him since they can tell that the unknown man isn''t very fond of the werewolf. And adding to that is Bete''s unstoppable mouth which is why they decided that they shouldn''t be together as much as possible.


    They then reached a tent at the edge of Loki Familia''s temporary camp. The tent is big enough to house around 10 people so Yoruichi is thankful and both of them also knew that they won''t be leaving the two of them alone, so arge space is better.


    Putting down Kisuke, both of them checked the state of his arm, "If there''s something else that you need, don''t hold back and tell me." Riveria followed them inside and offered.


    Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya also entered the tent and saw what they are doing. Lefiya then finally noticed the status of Kisuke arm and eximed, "W-what happened to that?" At first, she just thought that it was painted ck and didn''t pay attention as Ais ''needs'' her attention more. But now that she took a closer look at it, it looks like charcoal.


    "Just got a little bit burnt~. Nothing too serious." Kisuke answered nonchntly as he continued to inspect his arm.


    But hearing his word, Lefiya couldn''t help but retort, "If that''s not serious, then what''s serious!? Here! A high potion!" Lefiya then took out her remaining potion.


    Yoruichi smiled and took the potion without any hesitation, "Thanks~. This is just what we need." She then turned to Kisuke, "So we do that, after all?"


    "Yes."


    While wondering what''s their conversation is about, Yoruichi turned to Riveria, "Can I please have some bandages?"


    Riveria and the rest thought that they wanted to wrap his arms with it. Riveria then faced Tiona, "Tiona, please get some."


    "Okay~." Tiona ran out cheerfully to get the bandages.


    "How can she still be cheerful after all that happened?" Her sister, Tione, muttered but nobody could answer her. Perhaps, that''s just how her sister is.


    A minuteter, Tiona came back with several rolls of bandages along with some clips and passed it to Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi then took out her knife, but before she could do what she intended to do, she warned everyone watching, "Can you take some blood?"


    The girls looked at each other. Her question though, for them, sounded like she''s underestimating them. What''s a bit of blood for them, who''s already been to countless battles in the Dungeon? Everyone shook their head and watch what is Yoruichi without blinking their eyes. They thought that Yoruichi is only about to scrape off some of the man''s skin to see what''s inside.


    However, contrary to their expectations, Yoruichi suddenly pulled Kisuke''s arm and brought down the knife to his shoulder�� Severing his burnt arm.


    Riveria, Ais, Tiona, and Tione''s eyes widened and frozen on their spot witnessing this, while Lefiya outright screamed, "Kyaa!!!"


    Hearing her scream, Finn, Gareth, and Bete instantly arrived at the tent, "What''s happening!?" Finn asked before meeting their guest''s arm missing and his shoulder spewing out blood which also froze him on the spot.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi''s expression didn''t change as thetter pours out the high potion that Lefiya gave them earlier. Yoruichi only poured enough potion so that the blood would only stop flowing and not outright heal it. She then slowly wrap the bandages around the stump of the shoulder.


    "W-why!? Why did you suddenly cut your arm?" Lefiya asked. She couldn''t think of any reason to give up on an arm easily as they did and the rest also has the same question in their minds.


    But instead of Yoruichi who cut the arm, Kisuke answered them while grabbing his severed arm, "Why? It''s because it''s essentially useless." He then proceeded to break the arm''s pinky and showing it to them, "See? It''s already brittle and burnt until the bone. No way to heal something like this where all the cells are already destroyed."


    Riveria took a closer look at the finger and indeed, even it''s inside is burnt, "��I understand why you came to that decision, but�� is losing an arm something trivial for you?"


    "Trivial? No way that''s the case. I lost a freaking arm here, you know."


    "��Then why? Why do you seem so nonchnt�� Even more so�� you look happy?"


    Kisuke didn''t immediately answer as he looked towards their surprised faces, "��Why are you guys looking at me like that?"


    "��What?"


    "I mean�� You''re Adventurers, right? Even though you might not agree, I thought that you guys would at least see my point."


    From surprise, their eyes became clouded in confusion.


    "Seriously��? You still don''t get it? You guys are focusing on the fact that I lost an arm, but aren''t forgetting something? I didn''t lose it for nothing!"


    Slowly, realization starts dawned on them.


    Smiling from his makeshift mask, Kisuke continued, "I lost my arm for saving my partner and for the life of that guy. I must say, even just one of those is already worth the price. And besides, I earned some valuable knowledge that I can use in the future, so why shouldn''t I be happy?


    "You guys are Adventurers, seeking adventure in the Dungeon. No matter your reason is, it''s for getting stronger, seeking knowledge or looking for excitement if you''re here��


    "Or maybe�� I''m just getting it wrong. The top Familia of the Labyrinth City Orario is already proud after getting out of the Dungeon unscathed.


    "If that''s the case, what are you guys doing here? Did you know that you could lose your life here?"


    The Loki Familia, after processing his words, were frozen in their ce again, but one of them could take it lying down, "You bastard! Are you insulting us!?" Bete shouted at him.


    "I''m sorry if that came out strongly�� It''s just that�� I might have been expecting more. You guys only focused on my injury and not what I have achieved." Kisuke shook his head in disappointment, "If you''re only entering the Dungeon in hopes that you can get out safe, then you better quit being an Adventurer."


    "What was that?!!!" Bete wanted to say more, but he suddenly felt a heavy hand dropping on his shoulder stopping him before hearing a loudugh that echoed throughout the camp.


    "FUHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Gareth''sugh woke everyone else from their stupor, "Indeed! It seems that we''re forgetting something very important! I still don''t want to stop being an Adventurer, but it seems like my spirit is slowly whittling away. Thank you,d! For reminding me of my me!" He then walked out of the tent while loudly muttering, "It seems tonight''s drink will be tasty~!"


    Seeing this, Finn sighed before chuckling. The wisping me from the bottom of his heart so started to regain their former glow. He then looked towards Kisuke with a smile, "I also thank you. It seems that we''re really forgetting something important. And I''m sorry. I can''t quit being an Adventurer. Not yet when I haven''t aplished my goal." Not waiting for anyone, Finn also turned around and exited the tent. He intends to join Gareth''s drinking party.

 Volume 7 344 - New Customers

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 344 - New Customers</h4>


    With their blood boiling, Tione, Tiona, and Bete left intending to bash some monsters. What Kisuke said just let them realized that they''re indeed declining and that isn''t a very good sign for top Adventurers like them.


    And since they want to talk alone, Riveria asked Lefiya to leave to get her duties done. With that, the only ones left in the spacious tent are Riveria, Ais, Kisuke, and Yoruichi.


    As Yoruichi bandages Kisuke, Riveria asked Ais to get some drinks and snacks for all of them. When everything is ready, Kisuke took a sip on his drink, Ale, and said, "What can I do for you, Alf-san?"


    Riveria wanted to ask a lot of things but she first pointed out something, "You still haven''t told us how can we counteract this Time Stagnation."


    "There are two ways, an easy one and a hard one. The easy one is to overpower its effects�� Well frankly, as long you''re strong enough, you always have a choice of overpowering everything."


    Riveria knew that the easy method is impossible for them so she asked, "Then what''s the hard one?"


    "Setting up a space where it''s harder to manipte time. There are many ways to do it. From setting it up beforehand to carrying catalyst around for mobile usage. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages but one thing is a must. You need to have knowledge about how to set up one and learning it is pretty hard as you would need many prerequisite subjects before you could dive into making that space. After all, you''d want something that affects the veryw of the world."


    "��That''s impossible for us." Riveria muttered as she gritted her teeth. She didn''t even know it''s possible to use magic that is outside of your own Falna, so how is she supposed to set one up? "Are there no other ways?"


    "Barriers. But then again, you need to be strong enough and at least basic knowledge of time magic."


    "Then how are we suppose to face that when we encounter it?" Riveria asked in frustration.


    "Run. Escape. Retreat. Whatever you fancy. But if by some chance you wanted to fight or who have no choice but to fight, then fight using your all. Maybe with your willpower, a miracle can happen."


    Riveria smiled wryly, "Willpower? If you don''t have real power, then what''s the point?"


    Kisuke, however, just smiled happily, "Don''t underestimate it. I''ve seen some people never giving up even in face of death and actually surpassing themselves in the process with a crazy smile on their faces."


    Ais, who has been silent until now, muttered a word while clenching her fist, "��How?"


    Kisuke, Yoruichi and Riveria looked at her and the former answered while rubbing his chin with his remain hand, "Hmm�� There''s really no concrete way how to do it as it''s always up to you, but if you want some sort of advice, all I can tell you is, ''single-minded pursuit without losing sight of those around you.'' On how you interpret it? It''s up to you."


    Hearing those words, Ais became lost in thought but before she could make a wrong decision, Kisuke continued, "However, never mistake your that willpower as your real power. You''ll only get killed faster. Nothing beats the good ol'' effective training regimen."


    Riveria nodded at Kisuke''s words and then she asked, "It''s really hard to believe that someone could surpass themselves just because of single-minded pursuit. For the long years that I''ve been alive, I never saw someone like that. What sort of motivations can lead to that?"


    Hearing her question, Kisuke and Yoruichi inadvertentlyughed as they remember a certain someone.


    "W-what''s funny?"


    "Ah�� I''m sorry about that. We just remembered someone surpassing himself because of a very stupid reason, proving that as long as your willpower is strong enough, almost anything is possible."


    "What sort of reason?" Riveria curiously asked while Ais also perked her ears up. She doesn''t intend to miss anything that could potentially help her.


    While chuckling, Kisuke proceeded to tell them the story, "There are these two guys and we''ll call them Red and White.


    "White is an enemy that Red could never contend with due to sheer difference in power. However, when the White guy threatened to shrink the Red guy''s woman''s breast, all hell broke loose."


    Riveria and Ais thought that they''re listening to a serious story, but they didn''t expect it to be a vulgar one.


    Despite this, however, Kisuke still continued, "In his desperation, however, Red guy came into an idea and that is to absorb a power that is diametrically opposite of what he has. Just bybining these powers, his body should have been exploded into pieces and died on the spot, but the determined guy just gritted his teeth endured all the stress his body is taking and sessfully absorb the power. And with that, he pummeled the White guy into oblivion until he escapes�� All of that for his beloved woman''s boobs."


    While Ais has a faint blush on her face, Riveria could only reply with a twitching mouth, "��T-that''s really stupid."


    "It is�� But it''s effective, nevertheless." Kisuke closed his eyes as he wondered what''s happening on the other side right now.


    Riveria went silent. If this is true, then she has to find her own motivation or goal, ''What is it again that I wanted to do?'' She asked herself.


    Ais, on the other hand, is still contemting on Kisuke''s word, ''Single-minded pursuit but not losing sight of those around you.'' She already has a goal that she wanted to achieve no matter what, but she lost with ''not losing sight of those around you.''


    After thinking for a bit, Riveria chose to set it aside first and asked what she wanted to ask in the first ce, "About the magic which I can learn too�� Can you please tell me more about it?"


    "Regarding that�� I can''t really help you."


    Riveria gritted her teeth and asked, "Why?"


    "I''ll be leaving Orario sooner orter," Kisuke answered simply.


    If that''s the case, then there''s really nothing she can do as she can''t follow him.


    Seeing the beautiful Elf making a difficult expression and he can already properly move, Kisuke knew that it''s already the right time, "However, there might be someone who can teach you some stuff."


    Riveria''s eyes widened in delight, "Really? Who?"


    Seeing her expressions today, this is the first time Ais saw her so many faces in just a day.


    "All I can tell you is that he''s in Orario and will be staying for a while. It''s up to you if you can find him." Kisuke then stood up and started walking towards the exit of the tent while picking up his sword while Yoruichi also did the same and picked up his severed arm.


    Riveria also stood up in a hurry and chased them, "Wait! How can I find him within thousands of people!?"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t stop walking but Kisuke still answered her, "You already have a clue on how to find him."


    "I�� already have a clue?" Riveria stopped her steps as she suddenly recalled the other strange event that took ce today, ''Right! Line cast magic without her usual incantation! And more than that, she changed and improved the effect of her magic!''


    Before leaving for good, Kisuke turned around for onest time and faced Ais who is beside Riveria, "As for your time stasis problem, that guy can also help you to some degree. But remember, if you''re going to ask him something, then get ready for his demands." Kisuke and Yoruichi then started running towards the stairs leading to the 38th floor, leaving the Loki Familia behind.


    On the way, Yoruichi finally asked Kisuke, "What was that for?"


    With a grin, Kisuke answered, "Customers that we can milk."


    "Spare them a little bit, alright? They''re good people. Though I don''t care if you scam that dog to death."


    "Don''t worry, I won''t milk them dry. It''s a different story for that dog though��" Kisuke giggled before his expression turned serious, "And besides�� Something about Ais Wallenstein is wrong."


    "Wrong? What is it?"


    "I don''t know yet�� But it''s something dangerous that could actually threaten us��"


    "So the reason why you wanted her to go to you is��"


    "Right�� To investigate that malevolent thing inside her."

 Volume 7 345 - A Maou Shoujo and A Loli Dragon (DxD Side)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 345 - A Maou Shoujo and A Loli Dragon (DxD Side)</h4>


    Serafall ignored the questions the other leaders are asking regarding the note that suddenly appeared from Kisuke''s rift splitting spell by saying the same answer ''It says that Sona-chan is already safe and they will go in hiding for a while'' over and over again. Everyone sighed at her stubbornness but they couldn''t do anything. And just as they''re about to discuss what just happened, in front of Serafall, a little girl in gothic lolita outfit appeared.


    Everyone was stunned of the sudden appearance of the little girl and even more so when Serafall recognized her aura and muttered, "O-Ouroboros Dragon?"


    "What!?" The three leaders simultaneously eximed, "What is he�� wait, he''s now taking a form of a little girl, so she? Anyway, what is she doing here?" Azazel asked and he also recalled that thest time he saw Ophis, he''s taking a form of a middle-aged man.


    Serafall couldn''t answer his question until she noticed that the little girl is intently staring at the chocte bars in her hands which made her recall the contents of the notes again. Picking up one of the chocte bars, Serafall asked, "Want this?"


    The other three leaders were dumbfounded at Serafall''s sudden question. After all, the one in front of her is the Dragon God of Infinity which is feared by almost all and the leader of the terrorist group threatening the peace across the realms. However, contrary to their expectations, the feared dragon suddenly snatched the chocte bar from Serafall''s hand. She already learned from Kisuke that she couldn''t take snacks without permission so she waited for Serafall to offer her the chocte bar. Ophis then started looking around, however, seeing that there''s really nowhere she could sit on, Ophis chooses the next best ce where Kisuke''s aura and scent are present, Serafall''sp.


    The dumbfounded leaders how they should react at the supposedly transcendent and strongest being, silently nibbling her chocte bar on the Devil King''sp.


    "S-Serafall�� How did you do it?" Sirzech asked curiously.


    "I also don''t know��" However, Serafall does know that it has something to do with Kisuke and she wanted to ask her where is the guy now but afraid to do so now as it might just reveal his location to others who''re listening in, ''I have to ask herter.''


    While the leaders are contemting what should they do with this ''assault'' of the Dragon God, Ophis stopped nibbling her chocte bar and looked up to Serafall, "��Doughnuts? Cookies?"


    Caught off guard with such a question, Serafall immediately answered without thinking much, "N-nothing�� He just gave me those chocte bars."


    ''Is this really that Ophis?'' It is the question they can''t answer. They would rather believe that she''s just an innocent child who didn''t get all of her snacks like she''s promised.


    Taking a deep breath, Serafall came into a decision and faced the other leaders, "Let''s postpone the meeting for now. I have things that I have to do."


    "What do you n to do?" Sirzechs asked.


    "Taking care of her," Serafall answered before disconnecting her magic circle with the rest without waiting for what they have to say.


    "Ophis-chan, is it?" Without standing up, Serafall asked.


    "Um," Ophis only nodded and kept on nibbling on her chocte bar.


    "��Where is Ki-tan�� Kisuke Urahara?"


    Ophis stopped eating and looked forward before speaking, "��Somewhere�� Far�� Very far�� I, can''t reach."


    "��I see��" Serafall answered absentmindedly as she looked out of the window, ''For the Dragon God who can travel all the realms to say that�� Just where are you��'' Although what Ophis said isn''t anything good, Serafall is positive that no one can find them and will be safe from their pursuers, ''I�� At least should create a ce for them when they return.''


    .


    .


    Inside a certain house in the Belial Territory of the Underworld, four people are eating on the dining table. They''re Sakura, Cleria, Masaomi, and ire. They escaped to this ce two weeks ago in ordance with Kisuke and Yoruichi''s instructions. Thanks to Kisuke''s disguising artifacts that we set aside in times of emergency, they were able to live peacefully with their time here.


    "Still, How was he able to secure this ce?" Cleria asked while eating the familiar of her territory''s cuisine she hadn''t had for years.


    "Who knows? But I want to know what happened to him�� I worried. I hope he''s alright." Sakura sighed. She doesn''t have much appetite these days.


    "He''s probably fine�� That guy is terrifying, you know. I doubt they could actuallynd a hit on him." Masaomi tried tofort his sister-inw.


    However, Sakura red at her and said, "Don''t call my cute son terrifying!"


    Masaomi raised his arms in surrender, feeling the pressure from her re, "I''m sorry!"


    Giggling, Cleria chooses to help her husband, "Masaomi is right, Sarah. Kisuke is probably alright. Just imagine what more he can do when he was able to provide this ce and seven other ces for an emergency. He even gave us the way to contact big brother Diehauser discreetly. By the way, did you contact him already?"


    Sarah nodded at her sister, "It''s already been two weeks and we still haven''t heard anything from him. I think he''s in a ce he can''t leave or else, he would have visited us already. And I can''t wait any more when I heard those rumors about a dangerous terrorist that killed the offsprings of noble Devil houses for a strange ritual named Kisuke Urahara."


    Cleria furrowed her brows and became silent after remembering those rumors. It''s obviously not true but they can''t do anything about it and it''s probably the main reason why Kisuke and Yoruichi asked them to escape. They have already foreseen this kind of result.


    While Masaomi is entertaining ire so that she wouldn''t put attention to their conversation, a knocked suddenly resounded from the front door.


    The three adults looked at each other before Masaomi escorted Cleria back to their room. Inside their private rooms are magic circles that would teleport them to another location and it''s their means of escape if they needed to.


    The sisters waited for Masaomi and ire to leave before Sakura answered the door, "Who''s there?"


    "��I''m from the Belial house. Lord Diehause Belial sent me here to pass you a message." The hooded figure from the other side of the door spoke after a little bit of contemtion.


    Hearing his voice, Sakura and Cleria looked at each other before they started giggling to themselves which confused the person outside. While wondering what''s wrong, the door suddenly opened and Sakura, using her different face, greeted the hooded person, "I didn''t expect that big brother Diehauser would sent himself to pass me a message~."


    "Big brother? Who are you? Not just anyone can call me that." The hooded person furrowed his brows and tightened his guard, although her voice is somewhat familiar, he hasn''t seen her before in his life.


    "Oh? You already forgot my voice, big brother?" While asking, Sakura removed the bracelet on her right arm that is disguising her appearance. Once it was removed, Sakura returned to her former appearance, but instead of her usual pale blond hair and ck eyes that Kisuke usually sees, her hair and eyes are now colored grey, which is the hereditary appearance of most of the people from Belial n.


    It was only for his curiosity that he chooses to meet the person that ims that he had seen her cousin who disappeared long ago with her lover, Sarah. As for anticipation, he didn''t have much as there are already countless reports of something like this and none of it turned out the truth. He came by himself since it came from the same person that ims that Kisuke Urahara and Sakura Urahara are rted to Sarah Belial. Even though they have the same surname as the man who took away his cousin, Ryouta Urahara, there have been simr reports of those with the same surname but it turns out that only the surname is the same and not rted to the man himself. So he couldn''t just base it on the name.


    He already helped the guy named Kisuke Urahara when he messed something up with the Rating Game between the Phenex and Gremory Houses since he wanted to investigate this im. However, no matter how much he looks into not much info came out. The only substantial information that came is from those in Khaos Brigade as he heard something unusual which is Ophis protected him. And now that he was announced as a terrorist, he doesn''t want anything to do with him and nned to uncover the person who sent him such information in person and deal with him.


    However, he didn''t prepare for what came next. Although, even if he prepared himself, he couldn''t possibly saw this happening, "S-Sarah!?"

 Volume 7 346 - Reunion (DxD Side)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 346 - Reunion (DxD Side)</h4>


    "S-Sarah!?" Diehauser eximed.


    "The one and only~!" Sarahughed at his reaction before realizing what she had just done, ''Crap�� My son''s antics are already infecting me�� But I guess that''s not bad since it''s fun?''


    Diehauser, a big man with a graceful face who has grey hair and grey eyes, simr to Sakura, started shaking, "A-are you really Sarah?"


    "Yep~."


    Ignoring the other person, Diehauser gave Sarah a big hug, "Thank goodness�� You''re alright and came back."


    Diehauser separated for a bit to take a closer look at his cousin''s face with a gentle smile. Although her demeanor is opposite of that of the past it''s indeed the face he recalls, "It''s been so long�� And during that time, it seems that you became more cheerful. Although I miss your former apathetic expression, this suits you a lot better. It seems that Ryouta took great care of you."


    Hearing herte husband''s name, Sakura could only let out a sad smile, "Indeed�� He took great care of me�� Until the very end."


    Diehauser''s eyes widened but his expression became disappointed as he gave Sakura another hug, "I see�� I at least wanted to talk and thank him for taking you away all those years."


    Sighing at the missed opportunity, Diehause continued, "Now�� If only Cleria is still with us��"


    Hearing her name, Cleria finally interrupted them, "Ehem�� Please don''t go killing me off, big brother~."


    Diehauser looked towards the other person present and became confused again when another one called him big brother. But when he saw Sakura tittering and noticed the same bracelet that she removed from her wrist, a possibility emerged from his mind as he started shaking again in delight, wishing that he''s correct, "Y-you��"


    With arge grin, Cleria removed her disguising artifact and she returned to her former appearance, "It''s been a while, big brother Diehauser~."


    "Cleria!!!" With a shout of delight, Diehauser ran towards her and gave her a big hug while tearing up, "You''re alive!!!"


    Cleria also teared up a little as she returns his hug, "Yes, big brother�� I''m alive. I''m sorry for not telling you sooner."


    "It''s fine�� As long as you''re alive�� It''s fine."


    After letting them hug for a few seconds more, Sakura finally interrupted them, "Let''s go inside first. We don''t want someone recognizing you here. You also have to meet two more people."


    Diehauser agreed and entered the house with the sisters. Sakura then started preparing another set of utensils for Diehauser for him to join them in their dinner. While Cleria called back the duo, who''re ying in their room.


    Coming out, ire noticed that there''s a new person and immediately hid behind her father. Masaomi, on the other hand, immediately recognized the neer and after seeing the smiling faces of the sisters, Masaomi also removed his disguising bracelet, revealing his true appearance and putting his hand forward, "It''s very nice to finally meet you, cousin-inw. I''m Masaomi Yaegaki. I hope you can bless mine and Cleria''s rtionship and get along in the future."


    Diehauser didn''t immediately reply and only stared at Masaomi silently with a nk face.


    However, that didn''tst as Diehauser can feel an intense re from behind himing from Cleria. Smiling, he epted his hand and introduced himself, "Diehauser Belial. Thank you for taking care of my cousin. I too hope that we can get along in the future." He doesn''t really care that he''s a human as his ownte aunt, his uncle''s second wife, and Sakura''s mother is a human.


    Diehauser then finally transferred his sights towards the little girl behind Masaomi. Seeing this, ire hid her bodypletely from the stranger.


    Sakura, Cleria, and Masaomi could only smile gently after seeing this. Masaomi then turned around and kneeled in front of his daughter to match her sight and gently told her, "ire, it''s your uncle, a new family member so you don''t have to be afraid. Greet him and introduce yourself."


    Despite being nervous and shy, with just a pat to her head from her father, ire nodded with a determined expression. Moving in front of Diehauser with small steps, ire introduced herself, "Good evening, U-uncle D-Dieh-hauser! I''m C-ire Yaegaki, 7 years old. N-nice to meet you." Even with some stuttering, ire managed to do it.


    Diehauser startedughing at her adorable figure and also kneeled down to match her gaze and patter her head, "Nice to meet you too, ire. Let''s get along~."


    ire then smiled happily and looked back at her parents with a proud expression.


    Seeing this, Diehauser is liking this niece of his more. He then grabbed ire and carried her, letting her sit on his arm, "My dear niece, I''m sorry that uncle doesn''t have any gift, so how about this? We go around the town tomorrow and browse some toy stores and I''ll buy any toys for you."


    Thanks to the gentle aura he''s emitting, most of ire''s anxiety also disappeared and when she heard that they''d be strolling around tomorrow, she became excited. However, she also remembered that she still hasn''t gotten her parents'' permission so she looked towards her mother, Cleria, and asked, "Mom, Can I go with uncle?"


    With a smile, Cleria approached them and pinched ire''s chubby face, "Of course, honey. You can have fun tomorrow, but first, we have to finish our dinner."


    Cheering loudly, ire asked her uncle to put her down and sat back down to her chair to finish her food.


    Cleria then signaled her husband and Masaomi understood what they want to do so he went to ire''s side and said, "ire, why do we go watch some TV shows while you eat. Mommy, aunt, and uncle have something to talk about so I''ll be joining you."


    Sessfully luring ire away, Diehauser sat on the dining table with the sisters while food also served in front of him, "Thanks." After eating some of it, Diehauser immediately went directly to the topic he wanted, "Can you please tell me everything that happened and how you came to this ce?"


    The sisters then started talking about what happened, starting from the day that Kisuke saved both Cleria and Masaomi from the exorcists of the Church and Rizevim''s apparent participation.


    Half an hourter, Diehauser drank the warm tea served to him and sighed, "I see�� So Kisuke Urahara is my nephew. And he coincidentally saved his aunt and her husband and also managed to fool everyone that you two really died. On top of that, yearster, he brought back your family after he and his lover made a mess in Mount Olympus'' territory."


    For some strange reason, Sakura didn''t want to talk about her time when she and Ryouta just escaped and how her husband died. However, if she didn''t want to talk about it, Diehauser won''t ask.


    "So the im of Ares from the Mount Olympus has some truth to it. That Kisuke Urahara helped a heinous criminal escape." Diehauser continued to mutter.


    "What!? No! Ana could never be a heinous criminal! In fact, she just escaped their eternal torment! Kisuke saved her! She''s a good girl!" Cleria immediately refuted his words.


    "Calm down, Cleria. There''s nothing we can do regarding that. Especially now that he''s missing and everyone wants to find him. By the way, do you know what happened?"


    Sakura tapped her sister''s shoulder prompting her to calm down. Although she''s also angry, she really can''t do anything right now, "We have some idea, but since we''ve been staying here for thest two weeks, we don''t really know what''s happening and we don''t dare venture out for news as some might find us."


    Diehauser nodded and told her what happened on the day of the Three Great Faction Alliance Conference.

 Volume 7 347 - Really Strange~

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 347 - Really Strange~</h4>


    By rushing without using their Reiatsu-Ki aside from strengthening their bodies so that they wouldn''t provoke the Dungeon any further and avoiding monsters while also searching for a suspicious or great spot for teleportation magic, they got back on the surface two dayster. But beforeing out of the Dungeon, Yoruichi and Kisuke stopped on the 4th floor and looked for a secluded area.


    Once both of them settled down, Yoruichi helped Kisuke unwrap his bandages while he takes out a 5mL syringe containing a liquid with intertwining red and white colors.


    While unwrapping her bandages, Yoruichi asked, "Can you tell me now what you found out?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately as he first arranged his thoughts before speaking, "I''ve confirmed that the Dungeon is alive but I also found out some surprising things��"


    "Like?"


    "The Dungeon isn''t a single entity."


    Yoruichi finished unwrapping the bandages and furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"


    "There are at least two intents or wills in this Dungeon and from what I can tell, those intents don''t get along. Of the two intents, one is predominant while the other one is very weak which is why I didn''t notice it immediately." While exining, Kisuke injected the medicine he developed using his own Hollow part to regenerate the lost limb. While it''s still an experimental drug that only works on him without any side-effects since it came from him, Kisuke used the same drug on Sona when her limbs were severed because of the poison due tock of options. Because of that, he''s keeping close attention to Sona''s body condition by examining her almost every day.


    From Kisuke''s words, Yoruichi formted a few guesses of her own, "Are you suggesting that there''s a battle of wills in the Dungeon itself? And the dominant one is the one producing these monsters which are hostile against people?"


    "Right�� But I don''t have any solid evidence yet�� However, if I''m correct, then somewhere in this Dungeon are monsters that are produced by the second weaker will, and chances are the monsters of the first dominant will are hostile against them. If they''re hostile against people, I don''t know�� I don''t have enough information." As he speaks, the stump on his shoulder started bubbling with a white matter before it slowly grew into an arm in Hollowfied form. Once it regeneratedpletely, the white shell started peeling off, revealing his new unblemished arm. However, a few secondster, crimson me-like veins started crawling on his skin and his arm''s temperature started rising rapidly, ''I guess it isn''t that easy�� It''ll take a few days to fully heal this.''


    While Kisuke is taking out a new set of bandages and applying heat resistance magic on it, Yoruichi talked, "So we have to watch out for any strange monsters that will appear, huh�� Let''s leave that with others." After Kisuke finished applying enchant magic on the bandages, Yoruichi helped him wrapped his arm again, "Anyway�� Should we continue our trips to the deeper floors?"


    "No�� Even if we''re in our full strength, the Dungeon, which can spawn something like those is more than we can chew if we identally go against it. So for now, let''s focus on recovering our strength and leveling up. If we can reach around level 8 or 9, we should be able to have a strength that isparable to what we can use when we''re using our Reiatsu-Ki and even more so when webine both of them."


    Yoruichi nodded and didn''t speak any further. After Kisuke''s arm, Kisuke then started healing the rest of Yoruichi''s wound she sustained when she detonated her own technique to use as propent.


    Once they''re done, they put on new sets of cloaks and exited the Dungeon and returned to their base of operations. Since it''s still early in the afternoon, nobody is in the underground base. Hestia is manning the still deserted shop while the rest are exploring the dungeon.


    It''ste in the afternoon when others returned and noticed that Yoruichi and Kisuke got home too. And since Kisuke still hasn''te out of hisboratory, they started pestering Yoruichi.


    "Yoruichi-kun, why didn''t you even tell me that you guys already returned? I''m just outside, rolling on the shop''s tatami floor!" Hestia immediately protested.


    "Well, we don''t want to disturb you rolling around happily so we just walk pass by��" Yoruichi replied while scratching her face.


    "Disturb me! Disturb me because I''m bored that I can do nothing else than roll around!" Hestia wanted to cry at her answer. She didn''t want to enjoy rolling.


    "Hestia-sama, calm down. Yoruichi-san is just messing with you." Sonaforted Hestia. Due to her stature, natural endowment and cheerful nature, she''s reminding her of her beloved sister, Serafall.


    While Sona isforting Hestia, Aika approached Yoruichi and asked, "Where is Kisuke? Did he went straight to his research again aftering back?"


    Yoruichi nodded and answered, "Yep. But his goal this time is creating medicine for his wound."


    After hearing that, everyone''s face suddenly took a turn for the worst, "What, nya!? He''s wounded!?"


    "Is Kisuke-senpai alright!?"


    "Just what did you fight for him to be wounded!? Even if he''s partially weakened, he still someone who yed around with a Cadre level Fallen Angel!" Sona also stoppedforting Hestia and asked in a hurry.


    "How long has master been in there?"


    "What about you? If he''s wounded, then chances are, you''re too��" Aika looked around Yoruichi''s body to spot her wounds.


    Yoruichi raised her hands to stop their question, "We''re fine. We just really didn''t expect that the Dungeon can spawn something like that. And you know Kisuke, he probably got sidetracked while doing his study, but he shoulde out soon."


    The girls sighed in relief but they still couldn''t calm down without seeing the man himself, so they sat down to wait for him toe out while Medusa started preparing the dinner.


    However, one of them didn''t want to end it this way and asked, "��Answer me, Yoruichi-kun�� Just which floor did you go?" Hestia didn''t really want to know as she has a feeling that she wouldn''t like the answer, but she still has to ask and do her duty as the Goddess of their Familia.


    Yoruichi let out a big smile and answered, "The 50th floor~. We saw that the Loki Familia is having trouble so we gave them some assistance. But in the middle of it, a Monster Rex and Juggernaut spawned so we had to fight more~."


    Hestia stood there unmoving and a few secondster, she slowly covered her face with both of her hands and her back started bending over while she lets out a strange noise, "��Ahhhh�� Ahhhh�� Ahhhhhh�� Strange�� Really strange�� I didn''t hear anything from Hephaestus about two Level 1s going down to the deeper floors on their own and helping out a very strong Familia against monsters�� And she said she already told me everything I need to know�� That''s clearly a lie."

 Volume 7 348 - A Mad Mans Plan

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 348 - A Mad Man''s n</h4>


    Just as Hestia is doing her reality check, Kisuke came out and greeted everyone, "Oh, everyone''s already here~. How are y''all doin''?"


    They all simultaneously looked at him after he spoke up. With a quick look up and down, the only thing different at him is the bandages around his left arm. Seeing his usual perpetual grin, they all finally sighed in relief and their worries entirely disappeared.


    "You told us not to be reckless and here you two are the first one to charge against a strong enemy��" Sona approached him and took a closer look at his arm, checking it for herself.


    Kisuke then patted her head and said, "Not really�� We have multiple ways of going out of that situation. We''re just caught off guard and blood rushed through our heads. Either way, it''s just a minor injury, nothing you should all worry about."


    Kisuke then looked towards the rest and asked, "Want to update your status now?"


    Aika, Koneko, and Sona looked at each other before deciding. Stepping forward, Koneko ryed their decision, "We would like to hold it off for a few days more. We''re only starting to get used to it, and we want to master the proper way of controlling Mana first before we move on."


    Kisuke nodded at her, "I think that''s good. What about you Kuroka?"


    "I''ll wait for Shirone and the rest''s update first."


    "If it''s like that, then let''s postpone it until the three decided to update." Kisuke decided that he and Yoruichi''s status update shoulde after the trio so that they would not have any unrealistic expectations.


    "Yoruichi and I will be resting for a few days, so you guys continue what you do. And Kuroka, we have to talkter."


    "Okay, nya~. You can assist me while at it, nya~."


    Hestia, who has been listening quietly all this time, asked, "I''ve been wondering for a while now�� What''s Kuroka-kun doing that she always needs Kisuke''s assistance?" However, her question didn''t result in any answer from anyone, "Eh? What''s with the silence?"


    Thankfully, Medusa came in time and extracted them from the awkward topic, "Dinner is ready~."


    While thanking Medusa internally, the girls gave Kuroka a look of me while Kuroka herself just looked away whistling.


    After their dinner, Kisuke talked to both Kuroka and Medusa. He wants the two of them to follow the three girls in their Dungeon exploration and try to push them to their limits. He knew how dangerous this is, but it''s needed. If they want to get stronger and follow their steps in the future, they would need some hardships. Of course, Kisuke won''t just leave them without protection and the three of them took about an hour to work a n that will lead them to dangerous scenarios without them knowing about it.


    "I know that you''re worried, Kuroka. But we can''t always baby them and this will be a valuable experience for them. You know that it''ll be more dangerous if we don''t do it now. Especially when we return to our previous world where all sorts of being going after us. If by chance that we''re not on their side when something really dangerous happens, that''ll cost them their lives."


    Kuroka gritted her teeth but she understood Kisuke''s point. Even if he didn''t point it out, she already knows that she can''t forever protect her sister and it''ll only be dangerous if Shirone couldn''t protect herself in time of need, "I''ll follow the n�� But do you have any life-saving items�� In case the worst happens?"


    "Of course. I''ll give you some experimental drugs that will save them as long as they still have a single breath in them�� We could give them items for protection, but they''re smart enough to figure the usage of such item and I also n to disable their current protective charms in this instance so you have to watch them closely but without being discovered."


    "Experimental�� you say? What are the side effects, nya?"


    "I''m not yet sure. But I already used it on Sona so it should work for others as well. However, I would also prefer it if you don''t use this."


    "I know. It''s only for extreme situations�� But what if anything fatales to them without any protection�� That even this drug of yours fails to save them? After all, this n is crazy�� We would lead monsters to them with just enough numbers and strength capable of killing them. If they don''t go over their limits like we are expecting, they would probably die."


    Medusa at the side nodded in agreement. She wanted to tell Kisuke that he''s a mad man but a lot of people probably told him this and her telling him that is useless.


    "I know. But I have appropriate measures in ce�� Even if their bodies die, as long as their soul is intact�� I can save them�� That I can guarantee you. I know it may sound crazy but you know my skills regarding souls, so trust me with this one��"


    "You''re really asking for something insane�� You''re telling me to only watch even if my sister is about to get killed?"


    Kisuke looked straight to her eyes and answered, "Yes."


    Kuroka returned his stare, trying to figure out if there are any lies from his answer, "You know that Sona, your woman, is also going to get killed if this fails."


    "I know."


    "Then why are you so confident?"


    "Because I already prepared everything I could think of. For cases of them instantly dying, their souls dispersing in the air, the Heaven suck up their souls and many more�� I prepared for all the scenarios that I could think of." Kuroka and Medusa can tell that this is the only instance that Kisuke became very serious aside for when he went out for revenge before they transferred in this world.


    "You''re going to get hated, nya."


    "Better than them dying if they kept following me."


    Kuroka scratched her head in frustration before letting out arge sigh, "Fine, nya! I agree!" She then stood up and shouted at his face, "But by any chance that Shirone dies for real, nya��" Then arge amount of killing intent crashed into Kisuke, "I will kill you�� Even if it kills me trying to."


    Kisuke closed his eyes and nodded, "Fair enough."


    Kuroka then sat back down and said, "Let''s continue revising, nya! I don''t want anything wrong to happen! And let''s do this after the three got more used to manipting Mana so that we can properly gauge their abilities, nya! And on the day this will happen, I want you and Yoruichi to be around!"


    "Then start giving me your suggestions. And it''s a given that Yoruichi and I would be around, though we will be only showing ourselves if they ''die''." While saying so, Kisuke took out theplete profile of Aika, Koneko, and Sona. In the next few days, Kuroka and Medusa would help them train in some survival techniques and they would need their profiles to properly give them efficient training before they would be thrown to the real thing.


    It took them all night to n out everything, but they would have to revise it again depending on the trio''s performance in the next few days.

 Volume 7 349 - Commencing Plan

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 349 - Commencing n</h4>


    Four dayster, Kisuke already fully healed his right arm and called everyone for a meeting first thing in the morning. And that does not include Hestia as she''s still sleeping.


    "I called everyone today because there will be a change of schedule." Kisuke started.


    "This is sudden�� What happened?" Sona asked. She knew that Kisuke wouldn''t easily change his schedule and today is the day they are supposed to update their status so that they can move away from the I-rank parameters.


    "Some of my scanning instruments detected some strange activities in the Dungeon and Yoruichi, Kuroka, Medusa, and I will be going to investigate it as it might be something that urgently needs attention," Kisuke exined without a change in his tone, "With that, we will be postponing the status update for today�� What about you three? What do you want to do?"


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko looked at each other. They''re already satisfied with their control in Mana but since the update is not going to happen, it''s not bad if they can improve more, "We''ll continue our exploration. But since it might be dangerous if you detected something, then we''ll only stay on the ninth floor to practice."


    "Alright. Be careful." Kisuke then dismissed the three of them so that they can buy some potions and head to the Dungeon early.


    Once the three of them left, Yoruichi faced Kisuke, "Are you sure about this?"


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before answering seriously, "I am."


    Yoruichi sighed and face the two other people left in the room, "Let''s review the n. ording to their capabilities, the optimal monsters that they should face are Minotaurs."


    Kuroka nodded and added further, "Sona can, at most, hold three Minotaurs at once with her muddy water while the Shirone and Aika can run around one each. With that, we need six Minotaurs to��" Kuroka was about to say ''kill them'' but stopped herself but the rest understood what she meant.


    "So here''s the n. Yoruichi and I will be keeping a close watch on their souls while you Kuroka and Medusa will lure the appropriate monsters. I already change the effects of their protective charms. Instead of protecting them from fatal attacks, its effects are now to seal their real powers so that they would only able to use their Falna to defend themselves. Thanks to that, it should be easier for them to take the Falna''s abilities for themselves in the future."


    "What about those that will protect their souls?" Kuroka asked.


    "Aside from the existing protection that I gave them before, these past 4 days, I didn''t sleep to add more protection. Nine moreyers to protect their souls from any damage, six moreyers of protection against the influence of the world itself, and three moreyers against the Gods'' prying eyes. Of course, even with all of those, it''s not possible to cover every possibility. That''s why Yoruichi and I will be focusing on their souls'' states.


    "And in case that they really die, I already prepared three Gigais or fake bodies that aim to preserve their souls before I fix or remake their existing dead bodies."


    "I-I''m relieved to hear that�� But you really know how to revive the dead, huh��" Kuroka still couldn''t believe that someone is capable of something like this.


    Kisuke smiled and corrected her, however, "It''s not reviving the dead. I can''t revive the dead. The ''death'' you''re talking about is just a state of existence. And ''true death'' for me is when someone ceased existing�� And I can''t revive that."


    Kuroka finally understood his point of view. It turns out that they''re perceiving ''death'' differently. Medusa, on the other hand, only nodded at Kisuke''s words. After all, she already ''died'' countless times and tried to find a way to cease herself existing before.


    "Now then�� Let''s go. I''ll leave it to the two of you to decide how you should proceed�� But remember�� No matter how hard it is to watch them, don''t help. You''ll be defeating the entire purpose of this n."


    "I hope this goes well��" Yoruichi muttered while watching them leave.


    "I really do hope so�� I don''t want them to be added to our growing amount of weak points�� Even though I can take revenge when something happens, it''ll be long over for regretting." He also didn''t want to resolve in this method too, but with how fast things are moving, he can''t just let them naturally grow.


    Hearing that, Yoruichi couldn''t help but smile, ''He has changed�� He''s already afraid of losing the things he has now��''


    .


    .


    .


    Kuroka and Medusa went in the Dungeon''s 1st floor and put on a robe to hide their overall figures before putting up an optical barrier that lets them blend in with the walls. Kuroka also used her Ki techniques to hide both of their aurae and waited for the arrival of the trio.


    Half an hourter, the trio arrived and went pass them without them noticing. After allowing some distance, the Kuroka and Medusa started following them discreetly. The two of them also took care not to stare at them directly as they might get noticed. As an alternative, the duo followed them by following their traces. And since they''re taking their time, it took them about an hour to arrive on the 9th floor where they would be practicing their techniques.


    The three girls then started ughtering the Kobolds and Goblins on their way. Kuroka and Medusa gained some distance from them and started talking about their next step. And once they predicted the path that they would take, Medusa proposed that she''s going to the middle floors to lure the Minotaurs they are going to need while Kuroka will keep track of the group.


    When Medusa sessfully lured the Minotaurs, she''ll give a signal to Kuroka when they arrived at the 9th floor and Kuroka will let out a signal of their exact location and where Medusa should go to trap the girls with the Minotaurs.


    Verifying their n, Medusa hurriedly went down to the 13th floor to look for Minotaurs. However, once she started her search, all Minotaurs here are alone and figured that she would need to be on floor 15th or 16th to at least get a group of six Minotaurs.


    Without wasting any time, Medusa descended towards the 15th floor, but once she arrived, the number of Minotaurs on this floor is lower than she expected and descended one more floor. It was then that she noticed themotioning from the 17th floor and decided to take a look. If things don''t look good, she would need to cancel this n and put it on hold.


    When she arrived in the big room which is the 17th floor, she saw a horde of Minotaurs, around a hundred of them. And in front of those monsters are the Loki Familia who just arrived and came across the monster horde.


    She decided that there wasn''t much threat and intended to gather the six Minotaurs that she needed from the 16th floor, but before she could leave, the horde of Minotaurs suddenly started running away from the Adventurers of the Loki Familia after their initial sh.


    ''Should we cancel?'' However, seeing that the horde is running towards her position, the entrance of the 16th floor, Medusa decided to push on. ''No�� I''m already here so I should just get 6 monsters from that horde.''


    Hiding from their sights, Medusa took out a candy which is made by Kisuke. Inside this candy is arge amount ofpressed Mana attuned to her own so that she can make use of it.


    After swallowing the candy, from her child form, Medusa returned to her very mature form that is more beautiful and graceful than most Goddesses in Orario. She then materialized the blindfold that can stop her eyes'' abilities because she didn''t bring her sses. Since her attire is also a problem, she constructed her former attire before.


    With everything ready, Medusa appeared in front of the running Minotaur horde and the Loki Familia group who''s chasing after them.

 Volume 7 350 - Mystic Eyes

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 350 - Mystic Eyes</h4>


    After six days of marching, The Loki Familia reached the 18th-floor safe zone and decided to split their group when going further up as it would be too crowded if they all went at the same time.


    The first group consists of Finn and Gareth along with some injured in their Familia and some higher-level supporters. While the second group consists of Riveria, Ais, Tione, Tiona, Bete, and Raul with most of the supporters carrying their supplies.


    Finn''s group left first as they need to bring the injured to the Dian Cecht Familia for treatment. And an hourter, Riveria''s group started moving.


    On the 17th floor, while walking, Tiona isining, "We could have kept going!!! I didn''t have enough fun yet! Especially after hearing that!!!" She''s talking about the strange man''s definition of an Adventurer.


    Her sister, Tione, already had enough of her whining and told her off, "Enough already! You''re testing my patience!"


    Dropping her hands down, Tiona became a deted balloon, "But we worked so hard just to get to the floor 50��" She then recalled the fighting figure of the two unknown individuals, "But really�� Where did theye from�� If just one of them is needed to y that unknown variant Balor by just exchanging an arm, the guy at least should be a lot stronger than the ''King'', right?"


    "That''s correct. Finn, Gareth, and I already had a few run-ins with the King and he couldn''t even match the pressure the strange man can emit." Riveria confirmed her guess.


    "Old H-" However, just with a single re from Riveria, Bete stopped. She still hasn''t forgiven him from interrupting their talk on the 49th floor, "R-Riveria�� Just what is that magic he''s using? Aside from those weird barriers, I heard from Finn that the strange guy used at least 7 different magics and that''s not counting the variety of magic that his ''magic sword'' produced. And on top of that, although you lot didn''t see it properly due to how fast and far it is, he transformed�� What''s up with that?"


    Riveria didn''t answer immediately as she tried to guess to that question too, however, she failed to evene up with any theory that makes his ''magic'' possible from themon stand of view, "��I don''t know�� But maybe�� He''s using an entirely different system with his magic�� A system that doesn''t rely on a God''s blessing. And a system different from those who didn''t receive any blessing." Riveria then took a nce toward''s Line, who''s carrying arge bag, doing her supporter job, and taking it off just as fast, "Either way, I don''t have the answer you''re looking for. I intend to ask Loki if she knew anything about this��"


    "And if she doesn''t know about it��?" Ais suddenly asked.


    Riveria looked towards her eyes for a few seconds before answering with a serious expression, "Then that''s a very big issue��"


    From the side, Lefiya raised her hand timidly, "Uhhmm�� Maybe he has a simr skill or magic to mine?" Known as the ''Thousand Elf'' due to her rare magic, ''Elf Ring'' Which allows her to cast any magic that an Elf cast as long as she knew the said magic''s effect and chant.


    Riveria shook her head, "There''s that possibility�� But something tells me that that isn''t the case at all. In the first ce, when he used those ''magic'' of his, except those barriers, I didn''t feel any movements from Mind. And the ''enchant magic'' that the woman used to d herself in lightning�� I also didn''t feel any Mind in it."


    "That!�� How''s that possible!? Riveria-sama, any magic should have fluctuations in Mind but you didn''t feel any?" Lefiya asked for another confirmation and she got the same answer from her.


    They met the dead-end of their topic regarding the two enigmatic figures.


    With nothing else to do Ais looked around, looking for Minotaurs that should appear on these floors, but she first saw, Line, having a hard time with her luggage and sat down for a quick rest. Ais approached her and offered her help, "Need help, Line?"


    Line stood up in a hurry and refused her offer, "You''re a first-tier Adventurer, Ais-san! Carrying the bags is a supporter''s job!"


    "��But-" Ais wanted to insist, but Bete approached and stopped Ais, "Don''t bother, Ais. Don''t worry about the small fry." He then gave Line''s bag a small soft kick to get her to move on, "Get going." Facing back Ais, he continued, "Getting involved with weaklings is a waste of time. Even if they mess up, don''t go helping them." Bete then passed by her, "Do you best to look down on them. You should stay the way you are because you''re strong."


    Ais looked at his departing back and thought, ''Bete Loga-san�� Just as strong as to be expected�� Maybe even more so for someone who takes pride in power. Perhaps that''s why he treats me, a fellow first-tier Adventurer, differently from the Familia members." She then started to look around and noticed the space created around her, "��But�� Though not as much as they do with Bete, it seems like everyone is very reserved with me��" If there''s a mirror right now, Ais would want to look at her reflection, "Am I scary��?"


    From the distance where Bete went, Tiona intercepted him after seeing Ais''s troubled expression, "Hey!!! Don''t upset Ais, you idiot!"


    "Shaddup! A weapon-less pigeon brain like you should just go help the supporters!"


    While the two are growling at each other, a horde of monsters suddenly appeared in front of them when they''re about to reach the stairs towards the 16th floor.


    "Enemies sighted ahead! Minotaurs! And a whole horde of them!" Raul immediately announced.


    Tiona then elbowed Bete, "See? They came to shut you up."


    In response, Bete only rolled his eyes at her, "Yeah sure, dimwit."


    "Riveria. There''s quite a few, so can we join in?" Tione asked.


    "Yes, that''s fine." Riveria then turned to Raul, "Raul, orders from Finn. You''ll takemand during this battle for the experience."


    "Y-yes, ma''am!" Assuming his role, Raul immediately issued instructions, "Supporters, fall back! Stay in tight formation and conserve the remaining supplies as much as possible!


    "Also, Tione-san! Tiona-san!! Bete-san!!! The middle levels are for lower-ranking members to gain experience, that''s the rule!" However, seeing their faces, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to stop them, "Don''t go breaking it." He warned them nevertheless.


    The still frustrated trio found the best outlet of their stress, a horde of monsters, "Hee hee hee, no prob~. No prob~."


    "Hahaha, a fistfighting eh? Better give them a handicap~."


    Tione couldn''t even answer as she just keptughing strangely.


    And not even a minute of their sh, the horde of Minotaurs got scared because of the strangely violent Adventurers, who''re either swinging them around with just an arm, crushing their throats barehanded, or crushing their limbs barehanded, started running away from the group.


    "Whaat!!? No way! They''re running!?" Tiona got the shock of her life today as this is the first time something like this happened.


    "O-Oi!? You call yourselves monsters!?" Even Bete got a bit peeved at the monsters'' strange behavior.


    Seeing this, Riveria immediately shouted and reminded the group, "After them! All of you! There''s no telling what a panicking monster will do!!"


    "!!"


    Realizing this, the whole Loki Familia started chasing after them, "Um, I''m not good at hand-to-handbat��" Lefiya let out her concern and she got a reply from Bete, "Just whack them really hard with that stick! Got it!?"


    ''There are other Adventurers in here��! If any of them run into a horde of stampeding Minotaur�� Most wouldn''t stand a chance!'' Ais thought as she rushed to cut the running monsters.


    However, the monsters are too many and they didn''t stop as they desperately run away, "Wait! The path upstairs! Damn!! There are tons of rookies up there!" Tiona eximed. Without her Urga, she''s limited with her bare hands which slowed down her killing rate considerably.


    "A blind woman!? Hey!!! Out of the way if you don''t want to die!!!" Bete shouted. However, he and her fellow Familia members how the woman would evade if she''s blind.


    The purple-haired woman ignored them and took off her hood and put her hand on her blind-fold, removing it which revealed her otherworldly beauty. Tione and the rest didn''t have time to appreciate this as they were about to warn her again and Ais was about to rush in using her Ariel, but suddenly, the ''blind'' woman opened her eyes, revealing her beautiful gem-like purple eyes but with strange inhuman square irises which are a darker shade of purple in color.


    All of them couldn''t help but be attracted to those eyes, but suddenly, they discovered the horror of focusing on those eyes as everyone''s blood started to run cold. The Loki Familia inadvertently stopped on their tracks while some of them started muttering, "W-what''s is�� that��?"


    They didn''t have time to question each other regarding those eyes as they noticed the Minotaurs also started slowing down, but different from the Loki Familia who stopped due to unknown dangerous feeling, the Minotaurs are being ''stopped'' and slowly but surely, the Minotaurs'' limbs started to have strange colorations and it has the same shade as the walls around.


    After the Minotaurs'' limbs became petrified except for six that she needed, Medusa put on her blindfold again let the six Minotaurs pass by her before following them upstairs.


    When the purple-haired woman disappeared, Riveria immediately recovered and hurriedly gave out hermands, "Ais, Tiona, Tione, Bete, follow her!!! The rest of you! Kill these Minotaurs but save one! Raul! Chose someone to fetch Finn!" Riveria then started running towards the 16th floor with the executives of the Loki Familia.

 Volume 7 351 - VS Minotaurs

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 351 - VS Minotaurs</h4>


    While leading the Minotaurs using her chains andrge scythe, Medusa ''looked'' back and ''saw'' that the executives of the Loki Familia are following her while recalling Kisuke''s reminders, ''We need witness, right?''


    Kisuke reminded Kuroka and Medusa that they can''t hide their abilities forever, especially when they can fight those beyond their levels which seems to be a very rare feat, and it''s better to have someone vouch for them in case of someone questions them. And that someone would be better if they have real power in Orario, which, in this case, the Loki Familia.


    Medusa then took out a token and broke it. Once she did, it should send a signal to Kisuke that Loki Familia would be the witness and he will be sorting out things on the Goddess'' side.


    After informing, Kisuke, Medusa then secretly sent a message to Kuroka so that she wouldn''t needlessly expose herself to the Loki Familia. For her, since this is not her usual form, she would act like she''s rted to the two unknown people that they met on the deep floors that has an unknown goal.


    A few minutester, Medusa got Kuroka''s signal pertaining to the trio''s exact location and the route that she has to take to lead the Minotaurs because Kuroka will be blocking some paths so that the girls would be trapped.


    "Hey, you!!! What are you doing with those Minotaurs!?" Bete shouted from behind Medusa. Due to the speed that is the Minotaur is running, they are moving quite slow for their levels, however, since they''re guarded against Medusa, they couldn''t carelessly approach her, "These are the newbie''s zones! You can''t bring those monsters up here!!"


    Simr questions came from Riveria, Tiona, and Tione, however, Medusa only ignored them and kept on diverting the Minotaurs path towards the upper floors.


    A few minutester, the mixed group of monsters and people arrived on the 9th floor. Medusa also took care not to meet any Adventurers and would take the roundabout way to reach certain destinations which were also noticed by everyone from the Loki Familia. Now they wondering how she is navigating through the Dungeon and figuring out where the Adventurers in advance while blindfolded.


    When the Loki Familia was about to lose their patience due to how dangerous this stunt for Adventurers on the upper floors and about to stop the Minotaurs, Medusa guided them to a certain hallway which leads to arge room and she stopped running, prompting the others to stop too.


    A few secondster, Medusa herself entered the hallway and stopped before the entrance of therge room ahead before taking out another token. The Loki Familia also stopped not far away from Medusa wondering what she''s trying to do and what is the Minotaurs doing in the room ahead before they heard a shout of desperation, "Dammit!!! Kaichou! Koneko-chan! We have some pass by them and run towards where we came from!"


    Before the members of the Loki Familia could react, however, Medusa dropped the token in her hand. When the token touched the ground, it emitted a small light before a small shake in the ground happened which shocked everyone and put up their weapons against it.


    Still not having enough time to properly assess the situation, another cry of desperation came from the room, "Wh-What!!? The tunnel copse!!? How!?"


    "��It seems that we''re trapped in here."


    "Aika�� Koneko�� We have to fight to survive�� Or at least, until Kisuke notices what''s going on here��"


    Riveria and the rest finally figured out its rookies that are in the room, trapped with the Minotaurs, "This is bad�� Ais, Tiona, Tione, Bete! Save them immediately!" The High-Elf decided to ignore the strange woman for now and prioritized saving the Adventurers. She doesn''t know what the girls inside the room meant by trapped when there''s clearly a path towards them, but she can just figure this outter.


    Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Bete immediately moved but before they could reach the entrance, Medusa suddenly swung herrge scythe towards them, prompting them to jump back to evade, "Hey! Are you trying to kill those girls!? If then, we won''t have a choice but to fight you!" Tiona growled at her while the rest got ready for a fast sh to open up the path.


    Medusa then faced them and said, "They won''t die�� So please don''t interfere." To their surprise, therge scythe on her hand suddenly disappeared into motes of light including the chains that are connected to it. After this, Medusa walked towards the entrance to the room and stopped there, watching the sh that is happening in the room.


    While the four are contemting on what they should do, Riveria suddenly walked pass them, and to their surprise, she stopped and stood beside Medusa to watch what''s happening, "Riveria!?"


    However, contrary to their expectations, Medusa didn''t do anything and just continued facing the room to ''watch'' what is unfolding. After a few seconds of hesitation, the rest also followed suit and saw what''s inside the room. Currently, there are three girls and six Minotaurs duking it out, but the first thing they noticed is the other entrances to the room are blocked with their hallways copsed into rubbles which only made the entrance they''re standing the only path to escape.


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutes earlier, Sona, Aika, and Koneko are roaming around the 9th floor, looking for Goblins and Kobolds that they could practice their moves on when suddenly, from the distance, they heard some roars of the monsters, "What was that?" Sona asked.


    Koneko, who has the best hearing among them, answered, "��It sounds like the roars of the Minotaurs."


    "Huh? But there shouldn''t be any Minotaurs on this floor��" Aika asked in suspicion.


    However, the roars kept getting nearer as time goes on and even Aika and Sona could confirm that those are indeed the roars of the Minotaurs, "Let''s move to the room ahead. There should be multiple pathways leading to that room. We can decide which one we can take once we confirm those Minotaurs actions." Sonamanded and hurriedly entered the room in the room.


    However, the three other paths that they''re expecting are blocked by rubbles, as if the hallways copse, "W-What''s going on?" Sona asked in bewilderment while the group got closer to the blocked paths to inspect it.


    However, before the other two could answer her, the roars of the Minotaurs suddenly sounded much nearer and they can already hear the hoofs hitting the ground, sending out tiny vibration through the floor.


    When they turned around, they saw six Minotaurs, two of them withndform weapon clubs, came entering the room, blocking their only path to escape.


    Assessing the situation is very dangerous for them, Sona instantly decided, "Aika, Koneko�� Release your powers." She whispered to them while eyeing the monsters.


    But when they released their powers, nothing happened. Something is blocking it. The three of them looked at each other in surprise and suddenly recalled Kisuke''s words this morning, ''The Dungeon is strange today.''


    If the strangeness of the Dungeon is blocking their real powers from manifesting, then they''re now in a very dangerous situation as they can''t take on six Minotaurs at the same time.


    Looking towards the Minotaurs, Aika gritted her teeth and shouted, "Dammit!!! Kaichou! Koneko-chan! We have some pass by them and run towards where we came from!"


    But due to bad luck, thest hallway copsed on their watch, trapping them with the Minotaurs in thisrge room, "Wh-What!!? The tunnel copse!!? How!?"


    "��It seems that we''re trapped in here."


    Sona knew that they became restless, including her, because their situation just became worse from very dangerous to life and death situations. So in response to that, she tried tofort them, "Aika�� Koneko�� We have to fight to survive�� Or at least, until Kisuke notices what''s going on here��"

 Volume 7 352 - Dangerous Situation

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 352 - Dangerous Situation</h4>


    The three girls don''t really know what to do in this situation and the fact that they can''t use their real powers added significant stress on their mind in addition to the fear of death.


    "What should we do Kaichou?" Aika asked as they watch the Minotaurs frantically running towards them and readied their weapons.


    "We would be at a big disadvantage if we put up a defensive fight so we have to take initiative. Put down the bags and put on every dagger and potions we have on your bodies. One dagger could only slice a bit of their flesh before it breaks so be sure to only use them on critical moments." Sona instructed and opened fire towards the oing Minotaurs with her short bow. However, just as she expected, her bow is ineffective as it was easily blocked.


    Aika and Koneko hurriedly threw down their supplies and took out small pouches to strap it on their bodies along with daggers in their holsters. While the potions are strapped on their legs, the daggers went around their waist as another means of protection on top of their existing armors.


    "I''ll hold off those three with weapons! Go!" Sona then aimed her hands towards the heads of three Minotaurs holding a club each and muddy water immediately started gathering when three small magic circles appeared in front of her hand , covering their sights and drowning them which made them panic and threw off their weapon so that their hands can be used to remove the ball of mud on their heads.


    At the same time, Aika and Koneko started running towards the other three to disrupt their momentum, buying them the much important time for either help to arrive or the first three Minotaurs drowns to death. While it''s unknown when will the help arrive they knew that it would take around 15-20 minutes for a Minotaur to drown to death. If they canst that long, then they would have a chance to kill them all.


    "O-oi�� Another incantation less magic? And is she using three of them? How''s that possible?" Tiona asked the others due to another unbelievable sight. Although the magic is simple and weak, the fact that it appeared without even voicing a single word and three at the same time at that is already a ridiculous notion.


    Riveria, the leading expert among them, couldn''t answer her question. Although she too can use smaller versions of her actual magic, she can''t do it cast it multiple times at the same time.


    "Maybe they''re rted to that strange man and woman that we met on deep floors?" Tione muttered while also taking a peek at Medusa but failed to get any reaction from her.


    "What''s this��? Can''t they see us? And Riveria, can you tell me whatnguage they''re using?" Bete asked and Riveria only shook her head. All this time, they can''t understand the thing they''re saying because the girls are talking in Japanese, "However, the fact that they can''t seem to see us and has to be because of that." Riveria then pointed at the token that Medusa dropped while looking at her.


    Medusa, in response, nodded and exined, "It''s a stack of two different barriers. The first one a sound-blocking barrier while the second one is a light-bending barrier that paints a fake image for those who''re outside of the barrier. The small tremor earlier is just a small bonus so that it''ll be more believable."


    Riveria didn''t think that she would exin it for real so she could only ask again, "Are you rted to a man name�� Uh�� Totallylegitimatemerchant?�� Or was it Totallynotascammer?"


    "Pfft�� Hehe��" Despite looking all serious, Medusa couldn''t help but giggle a little bit at Riveria''s words, "It''s very likely that I know the guy you''re talking about. I won''t give any more answers beyond that."


    While they''re talking, Aika and Koneko kept running around the three Minotaurs and baiting them. Although they can''t beat the Minotaur in any parameters, even if they boost themselves, the barbaric ways of the Minotaurs put them on a slight advantage. Aika and Koneko thought that it''s easier than they thought and they only had to wait for the other three to drown before theyunch their attack.


    But because of this, Medusa and the Loki Familia furrowed their brows while Betemented, "Tch�� They''re gettingcent�� Woman! Stop with this nonsense! Once they''re caught off guard, they are going to die! And it would be toote to save them!"


    And just as they expected, the Minotaurs, as if they nned it, suddenly behaved differently. Instead of thepletely chaotic moves until now, as if someone justmanded them, the three Minotaurs suddenly covered each other''s back. This sudden change of pattern immediately caught them off-guard and the Minotaurs all focused on the faster one, Koneko.


    In a blink of an eye, the Minotaurs pivoted themselves and trapped Koneko in the middle of their formation, "Koneko!!!" Aika shouted at her.


    Koneko wanted to use the sh Step, but if she did so, the sudden unnned use of it would damage her legs and it''ll be harder for her to move again. In addition to that, if she got a bit wrong with her execution, she''ll smash towards one of the Minotaur and her situation will be a lot more dangerous.


    Those two reasons added up and became the reason for her to hesitate, and that hesitation became her undoing. Even if she wanted to use it now, it''s already toote as the Minotaurs suddenly attacked at the same time.


    Koneko was able to dodge the first three attacks, but she had no choice but to escape to the air by jumping straight up. Although she became more vulnerable, she intended to create a foothold using Mana. However, that too is already toote as one of the Minotaurs suddenly grabbed a stone as big as a fist and threw it to her. Without being able to dodge, Koneko was hit straight to her stomach breaking the daggers covering it and recoiled back for a few meters, "!? Guhah!!!!!"


    " "Koneko!!!" " Another shout from Aika and Sona came, but that can''t do anything.


    To make it worse, Konekonded and rolled just behind one of the Minotaurs and it immediately turned to her direction, intending to kick her head away. If this hit, Koneko would be lucky if she could keep her head on her shoulders.


    Aika immediately used sh Step without any regard to the consequences it would do to her legs and reappeared between the Minotaur''s foot and Koneko. She wanted to drag Koneko away, but because of the rashly used sh Step, her legs couldn''t move properly for a short amount of time so she could only use one of her short swords, aligned with her arm, to block the iing attack.


    When they''re about to make contact, a blue magic circle suddenly appeared in front of Aika''s sword and blocked the foot. However, the hastily created barrier was immediately shattered and hit Aika''s sword. Although it reduced some force behind the kick, it still immediately broke the sword and Aika was left to block it with her own arm which immediately broke too, but was enough to protect her and Koneko as both of them flew away. Due to an awkward angle that Aika is positioned, she and Koneko flew to different locations and hit the wall.


    Sona wanted to help them, but due to her casting barrier to help Aika and Koneko, one of the Minotaurs she''s holding back was released and it immediately grabbed its weapon. It knew that it would be dangerous to be drowned again so instead of running towards Sona, the said Minotaur instead threw its weapon towards her.


    Sona then hastily released the remaining muddy water from the other two Minotaurs and did her best to cast the strongest barrier she can in front of her head where the flying club is aimed.


    The club made contact with her barrier but it didn''tst more than one second and shattered it. But thanks to that, she was able to significantly reduce the force behind it. However, she was also left unguarded and the club hit her head which made her fall to the ground with broken sses and arge amount of blood flowing to the ground.


    The situation was instantly turned against them.

 Volume 7 353 - Retaliation

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 353 - Retaliation</h4>


    "Great! They''re still alive!" Tiona shouted. All of them, except, of course, of Medusa, don''t know what exactly happened back there. At the moment that cat person got done in, the whole party should have died without them being able to help since it''s already toote. But because of their strangely fast movement and strange instantly appearing barriers, they were saved. However, they don''t have time to contemte that as they need to save them first since this will be theirst chance to do so.


    But as they''re about to jump out, Medusa blocked their way again and took out her scythe for the second time today, "It''s obvious that they can''t fight anymore! What are you trying to do!?" Riveria, for the first time, shouted at her, "Ais! Get them with Ariel!" Shemanded the fastest among their team.


    Ais nodded and muttered, "Tempest!" The wind started gathering around her body as she readied her rapier.


    Medusa wasn''t having any of that and finally removed her blindfold while also secretly contacting Kuroka toe to her position as she won''t be enough to stop all of them if they still insist to save them.


    Seeing her reveal her eyes again, Riveria warned the others, "Don''t look at her eyes!"


    To bad for them, Medusa''s Mystic Eyes of Petrification doesn''t work that way. The moment they witness her eyes for the first time and even they turn away from that gaze, the moment they thought about her eyes, they''ll be affected as long as they''re within Medusa''s line of sight. So when she turned to them and they evaded her eyes, everyone from the Loki Familia still felt their blood run cold and they immediately their bodies slowing down.


    "!?"


    The Loki Familia noticed the slowing effect isn''t that much, however, when they recalled the fate of the Minotaurs on the 17th floor who''s limbs turned to stone, they shuddered and didn''t move. Riveria was about to give a cruel order of retreat, leaving behind the three girls to their death as their members are much more important to her than those unknown Adventurers, when the slowing effect started disappeared.


    They all looked up and saw that Medusa returned her blindfold again and said, "Please don''t interfere�� This is just the start." Medusa then turned back to the three girls while gritting her teeth, "They have to surpass this�� Or else�� They''ll be following behind forever."


    They don''t know what Medusa is talking about, but they can easily tell that those words has more emotion than her apathetic actions until now.


    Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Bete looked towards Riveria to wait for her decision. Riveria, in response, could only sigh in defeat, "We watch."


    .


    .


    .


    While a Minotaur is approaching her, Aika tried to stand up but as she did, an unbearable pain suddenly stabbed her left arm that she used to block the Minotaur''s kick and couldn''t help but scream "AAHHH!!!"


    When she took a look at it, she was horrified that her upper arm is broken with sharp bones sticking out and only flesh is keeping her hand from falling off from the rest of her arm, "Ah!�� Ahhh!!!�� Guh!"


    Even with Yoruichi and Kisuke''s brutal training, this is her first time being almost dismembered and she got dizzy and wanted to vomit after seeing her arm''s sorry state like any normal person who lived most of their life in peace back on Earth.


    With the Minotaur looming over, tears started to paint Aika''s whole face as her life seemingly started to sh before her eyes, ''Am I going to die here?''


    When a big shadow covered her, she unconsciously looked up with her tear-stricken face and saw the Minotaur who she could only imagine sneering at her, ''Ah�� I''m going to die�� Kisuke�� Save me��''


    ''Save me�� Save me�� Save me��'' Aika kept repeating those words inside her head, but then she suddenly realized something, ''Sa��ve�� me��? Again��? Do I have to hide behind him again��?'' Aika recalled Kisuke''s smug face, ''Although he will surely save me again when needed�� Isn''t this the main reason why he hesitated on taking us with him��?''


    Aika remembered the fact that they can''t join Kisuke''s group when they went deeper in the Dungeon and it''s because they''re weak. Because of them, the three of them tried their hardest to catch up to them, but apparently, the distance between them is still increasing and sooner orter, they might just be so far away, they couldn''t even see his back.


    While staring nkly at the Minotaur, who started preparing its fist to finish Aika off, she muttered, "��Hardest?�� I have already tried my hardest��?"


    The Minotaur then brought down its fist to st Aika''s head away.


    From Aika''s perspective, the world suddenly became slow as her thoughts elerated. Seeing therge fist about to hit her face, she gritted her teeth and shouted while backing away and gripping her remaining short sword, "I see that I''m just deluding myself that I already worked hard!!! That''splete bullsh*ting from me to myself!!!"


    The Minotaur was shocked when she suddenly moved and evaded its attack, but it wasn''t able to think more when a short sword suddenly pierced through its hand and pinned it to the ground, "GRAAHHHH!!!"


    After carefully stabbing the hand of the Minotaur so that it wouldn''t break the sword, Aika jumped towards the Minotaur''s head, "And I''m not going to die!!! Not now!!! Not anytime soon!!!" She then took out one of the two remaining daggers she had on her waist and shoved it inside the Minotaur''s wide-open mouth, "And not when he hasn''t taken my virginity yet!!!"


    Along with her arm, Aika shoved the dagger on its throat and immediately took out his arm before the Minotaur closes its mouth. She was able to wound its throat, but she knew that it wasn''t enough so after dropping down, she jumped again and gave its throat a good punch.


    The dagger inside its throat broke into many pieces, however, it was able to pierce through its nape and a few secondster, the Minotaur dropped down without being able to cry before turning into ashes.


    Everyone became silent after this. Even the Minotaurs stopped their advancement when they saw one of them was suddenly killed. Unbeknownst to Aika, her golden colored eyes became more pronounced along with her irises bing slits.


    "S-she killed it��" Tiona muttered, "But where did she pulled that sudden explosion of strength?"


    Ignoring, the shocked expressions of everyone from Loki Familia, Medusa sighed a huge relief and said, "This is it��"

 Volume 7 354 - A Fine Weapon

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 354 - A Fine Weapon</h4>


    Koneko is mping down on her stomach while Sona is about to lose her consciousness when they heard Aika''s shout. Thanks to her, they were reminded of what they are doing here in the Dungeon. They contemted if they had really worked hard enough to follow him and they realized that they went down without even putting up much of what they''re capable of if they give it all�� until they copse from exhaustion.


    And strangely enough, despite being ridiculous and vulgar, thosest words of Aika calmed the fears in both Koneko and Sona.


    While two Minotaurs stopped in front Koneko, she stood up while gritting her teeth, "��Me too�� I can''t die yet��" She then looked up at the two Minotaurs who started to run towards her. Her eyes, instead of normal golden color, became wine-red with blue hue appearing around them. "Not yet when he hasn''t epted me!"


    Koneko right now is also feeling desperate, simr to that of what happened on the Rating Game of Phenex and Gremory Households, but more intense. Instead of fear of disappointing her master, right now, she fearing the fact that she would be left alone again. And thanks to that, she entered some sort of trance that allows her to take in Ki in the air more efficiently and integrate it with her Falna. Due to that, although she didn''t grow up, simr aura to when she''s rampaging on the Rating Game emerged as her ears and tail caught on white mes.


    When Koneko looked up towards the two Minotaur running towards her, the monsters abruptly stopped their charge. It is as if a predator just put them in her hunt list and the Minotaurs instincts started kicking in and desperately charged towards her.


    Inside Koneko, aside from power emerging, a violent feeling is also welling up, so instead of her usual style of hit and run, she returned to her former style, bulldozing her way with brute force. Koneko crouched down andunched herself like a bullet towards the two Minotaurs, cracking the ground she is standing on, which caught them off-guard.


    Spinning herself in mid-air, Koneko gained momentum as she punched one of the Minotaurs on the snout, sending it flying backward with broken nose and teeth. However, this attack also destroyed her gloves and her fist started bleeding as it can''t take the stress it went through. But still, Koneko ignored this.


    Instead of attacking the one beside her, Koneko ignored the other Minotaur and chased after the one she attacked and pulled out the remaining two daggers on her back. Just as the Minotaurnded, Koneko proceeded to pounce on top of its neck and stabbed the two daggers on her hand in its eyes, "????!!!" The Minotaur could only roar in pain as it loses its sights.


    "What was that!?" Tiona eximed, "Why does it look like she multiplied her strength!?"


    "And what are those mes? Some sort of enchant?" Bete asked curiously.


    "Her eyes became red and her demeanor also became more violent�� A magic that is probably simr to the Captain''s Hell Finegas�� That''s probably she''s pulling that kind of strength�� But for a Level 2 Adventurer to have that rare magic�� Where did they came from?" Tione voiced out her thoughts.


    On the other hand, Riveria and Ais stayed quiet as they continue to observe the battlefield. As a magic-user and enchant-user, both of them knew that it isn''t that simple as Tione says it to be. It''s as if they''re looking at something very foreign.


    Now that the Minotaur was disabled, Koneko decided to change her target to the other one. But before that, she positioned herself on top of the Minotaurs head and grabbed both of its horns with her two hands before pulling it apart with considerable force and breaking it off, "?????!!!!!"


    She could have pulled out the two daggers on the Minotaurs eyes, but its horns are a lot sharper and more durable than all the weapons they brought today, hence, it''s the best weapon around.


    Hearing the shes from Koneko''s location, Sona slowly stood up as she wipes away the blood on her face, clearing her vision, "Geez�� You two are amazing�� As your senior at school and also ''experience'', I can''t fall behind." Despite her calm demeanor, simr to the two, a scalding hot vigor also lighted up in her chest. And even though she just had a dangerous concussion, her mind is strangely clear as she too entered some sort of trance simr to Aika and Koneko.


    Using this clearheadedness, she started something that is very dangerous for her current skill, and that is controlling the Mana outside of her body directly to cast magic, "Aika-san�� Please help me hold them back a bit."


    Aika came running with her dangling arm and answered with a smile, "With pleasure~. But you don''t mind me killing them off instead, right?"


    Sona closed her eyes and replied, "If you can, then go ahead. But I would have to disappoint you because I''m going to annihte them before you do."


    "We''ll see about that." Aika, with her remaining short sword and small dagger, charged towards the three Minotaurs. She first chooses to approach the Minotaur without a weapon and thrust her short sword toward its left eye but the Minotaur was able to evade by bending over. However, using this chance, Aika used sh Step, but the failed one, and only on her right leg. Using this failed technique, she managed to elerate her leg faster than she could normally and kicked one the Minotaur''s leg.


    The first Minotaur tipped over and Aika continued her attack by targetting the monster''s eye again. This time, she was able to pierce it, however, she failed to reach its brain as her short sword couldn''t take the stress anymore and broke into pieces. In exchange for blinding one of the Minotaur''s eyes and disabling it for a few seconds, Aika lost one of her weapons and fractured her leg. However, she thinks that it''s a good trade and immediately went to attack the other Minotaur holding a club, ignoring the pain from her leg and arm.


    The Minotaur, in response, swung its club on the iing Aika. Normally, Aika would have already retreated, but she now knew that that is more dangerous and she couldn''t create an opening doing that. So instead, she ducked low and pushed forward. The club brushed the top of her head, but Aika was able to approach the Minotaur and touched its chest.


    While Koneko is duking it out with the other Minotaur, the Loki Familia''s attention was caught by Aika''s charge and when she reached the second Minotaur, they couldn''t help but disapprove of her decision.


    "Tch. What is she doing? She did a good job disabling one of the Minotaurs, but what is she going to do with just one small dagger and one arm? She can''t even reach the Minotaur''s head from that position!" Bete muttered in frustration. He doesn''t really like what''s happening right now. He''s imagining if he can do the same if he''s on their position�� And the answer is no.


    "Right! She could only aim at the softest part of the Minotaurs if she wanted a chance against those! And she only has a small fragile dagger which can only be used to blind it and maybe disable it for a few seconds!" Tiona added.


    While dealing with the first Minotaur, Aika thought of something good and wanted to try it right away. Using the same principle as the ''failed sh Step'', she cast it on her hand and using the Minotaur''s chest as ''foothold'' Aika was able tounch her fist upwards, dragging including her whole body.


    The ''rocket uppercut'' sessfully hit the Minotaur''s chin and its feet were lifted by a few feet off the air. As Aika continued to soar for a bit longer than the Minotaur, the monster firstnded on the ground and whileing down, Aika endured the pain of her broken knuckle and pulled out herst dagger and dropped it down on one of the Minotaur''s eyes, giving it the same fate as the first one.


    "What the hell!? What''s up with that strange movement!? These guys are weird!" Tione couldn''t believe what she''s seeing. Since Aika stood back up, they have been breaking all of their expectations. However, they couldn''t stop predicting the battlefield as that is already second nature for them, "I guess she would retreat now since she doesn''t have a weapon any�� What!? Is she trying to die!? What she is going to do without a weapon!?"


    "No weapon?" Medusa suddenly giggled, "She still has some though." Because of the turn of events, Medusa could already let go of the nervousness that she''s feeling. Even though only one of the Minotaurs is killed, Sona was about to change that.


    Everyone from Loki Familia then tried searching for the weapon that Aika could use but couldn''t find any from her vicinity so they were confused about the weapon Medusa is talking about.


    Due to itspanions going down in quick session, thest Minotaur became scared. But it still swung its club downwards towards Aika. However, Aika stopped in time and was able to step back a little bit before charging forward again, using the Minotaur''s club and arm path towards its head.


    As the Loki Familia was wondering what will Aika do without a weapon, Aika leaped forward and grabbed her disfigured arm and ripped it off, "AHHHH!!!!!" Due to pain, she couldn''t help but scream, but despite that, using the tip of the sharp broken bone of her upper hand, she stabbed one of the Minotaur''s eyes.


    " " " She''s mad!!! " " "


    Medusa chuckled and said, "Sharp bones make a fine weapons too~."

 Volume 7 355 - Won

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 355 - Won</h4>


    "No, no, no! Don''t say it like it''s something natural!" Tiona couldn''t help but retort.


    Tiona, Bete, and Ais couldn''t agree more to her words. They didn''t think that there would be someone crazy enough that they''ll use their own broken bones.


    Riveria, on the other hand, already switch her attention to thest of the three girls and furrowed her brows, "��What is she doing? Does she want to die?"


    With Riveria''s words, everyone also put their attention to Sona who had her eyes close and hands together. While Tiona and Tione don''t know what''s going on, Riveria, Ais, and Bete could subtly feel a considerable amount of ''Mind'' gathering around her hands. In essence, what she has now is a bomb and could blow up at any moment.


    "W-what''s with these girls��? Ever since they went down for the first time, they''ve been doing nothing but suicidal acts��" Bete muttered.


    "Suicidal acts? Don''t be stupid. What they''re trying to do is survive. If they wanted to die, then they could have just stayed and let those monsters bash their heads." Medusa replied with a cold tone.


    Bete wanted to get angry, but he couldn''t as he can also see that. However, as an Adventurer that explore the deep floors of the Dungeon and always put their safety into consideration. Fighting like a dying warrior when their''s no hope anymore is always at the bottom of their list.


    But then, they recalled the mysterious mans'' word about being an Adventurer. Although they don''tpletely agree with his logic, this is the prime example of the Adventurer he''s talking about. And seeing it in person ispletely different than just hearing and seeing it from a single person.


    Without being aware that they''re stirring the hearts of everyone from the Loki Familia, Sona opened her glowing violet eyes, "Aika, move away!"


    From her hand, which has been gathering Mana all this while, a magic circle that is bearing the Sitri n''s insignia appeared. The magic circle then started summoningrge amounts of water andpressed it. A few secondster, after Aika moved away, the water in Sona''s hands suddenly shoots out towards the three Minotaurs, who Aika disabled.


    While in midair, the water instantly solidified its shape and it became arge serpent whose head is asrge as a Minotaur.


    The serpent opened its mouth and revealed its tworge fangs, biting a Minotaur and leaving tworge holes in its body. The serpent then coiled around the two other Minotaurs, squeezing it to death while the head went for the Minotaur that Koneko blinded.


    And as this is all happening, Koneko managed to kill thest Minotaur she''s against by stabbing the two horns on its chest.


    In an instant, all the Minotaurs that are threatening to kill them died.


    "T-they did it��" Tiona muttered, "They actually did it!"


    "What is that magic? Arge water snake? And aside from the strangely familiar and ridiculous incantation-less instant magic, that scale of magic is for Level 3 or 4�� Why is she so physically weak?�� I just noticed it now�� She doesn''t even have a wand." Tione followed after analyzing the situation better.


    Once the Minotaurs became ashes, Sona fell down and lost her consciousness. Aika did her best to catch her and was sessful before dragging Sona and her beaten up body towards the center of the room.


    Koneko''s eyes also returned to their former color and the blue tattoo around her eyes disappeared along with the white mes as she felt all of her strength leaving her body. But she still did her best to walk towards the Aika and Sona. They both knew that this isn''t the end and they could only rest easy once Kisuke and the rest rescue them and got off the Dungeon.


    And just as they both expected, the Dungeon wouldn''t let them rest and started spawning arge amount of Goblins and Kobolds from the walls. Aika and Koneko could only smile wryly at each other as they prepare for the next round despite their bodies already screaming for them to stop moving.


    While wondering what''s happening and putting up their guard more, the water serpent also copsed as it already lost support from its summoner for some time now and almost flooded the whole room.


    Aika and Koneko then noticed that instead ofpletely flooding the ce, the water went through the three entrances without being impeded and realized that those rubbles are just illusions. It is then, Aika realized more. Although the scythe is unfamiliar, the chains it''s attached to are very familiar and she sighed in relief before closing her eyes. But before she loses consciousness, she muttered, "��Kisuke�� You bastard��"


    After hearing Aika''s words, Koneko also somehow understood what''s going on and sighed in relief and closed her eyes to rest.


    With three of them huddling with each other and left for their dream worlds, Medusa took back her scythe and faced the still dumbfounded Loki Familia, "Everyone from Loki Familia�� Please keep what happened here a secret."


    Riveria looked at her and replied, "And what if we announce what we just saw to the whole world?"


    "If you do that. Then you wouldn''t be able to benefit in any way."


    "So you''re saying that there''s a benefit in keeping this a secret? And what would that be."


    "You''ll be able to understand itter. And besides�� We already arranged it with Loki-sama��"


    "��With Loki? When?"


    Medusa didn''t answer her question and said something else, "Of course, there are some things that I request you to announce."


    Riveria sighed and figured that she should just ask Loki herself regarding this, "And what is it?"


    "Even if we keep what happened today a secret, they won''t be able to hide their abilitiespletely and would attract more attention than necessary. So I''m requesting you to announce that the party of three girls defeated two Minotaurs."


    "That isn''t much better than just saying they didn''t encounter Minotaurs at all. They''re Level 2 or 3 so defeating 2 Minotaurs is only a normal achievement��"


    Medusa didn''t reply and started walking past them, intending to go back, "Also, please bring them up for treatment. Thank you."


    The Loki Familia followed her with eyes, however, as they turn around, someone else is standing behind them which made them shudder, "Who''re you!?" Bete shouted at the masked and robe individual.


    The robed figure didn''t answer her and only waited for Medusa to walk pass and followed her without a word.


    "A-apanion��? But since when is he standing there?" Tiona mumbled with a hint of fear in her voice.


    "It seems that unbelievable individuals arrived at Orario��" Riveria whispered as she watches them leave, "Everyone. Clear the remaining monsters and I''ll heal the girls. Finn and the others should being soon."


    Everyone nodded at her instructions and started killing the Goblins and Kobolds that are still spawning.


    Before going to the three girls, Riveria first picked up Aika''s severed arm and frozen it with her magic. She then started healing the three girls with the first level of her healing magic, Fil Eldis.


    A few minutester, Finn and some supporters arrived while the Riveria, Tiona, Tione, Bete, and Ais are watching the three girls sleeping peacefully, "Riveria, what happened?" Finn also saw the petrified Minotaur on the 17th floor and became a bit worried so when he heard that Riveria and the rest followed a person who had done that, he immediately chased after them. But seeing that all of them are alright, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Riveria was about to answer him and a shout of exmation came from one of the supporters that came with Finn, "Sona-san!? Aika-san!? Shirone-san!? What happened!?" Line came running in after seeing the familiar faces.


    "Line, you know them?" Tiona asked.


    "Yes! I''ve joined their party a few times. Please tell me what happened!" Line replied while also taking out some potions and poured it on Aika''s inmed leg and arm. She didn''t want to touch the severed arm as the potion might just do more harm than good since she saw Riveria holding a frozen arm.


    "Minotaurs�� Two Minotaurs attacked them��" Tiona recalled what Medusa told them and choose to abide by it first.


    "Two Minotaurs!? That''s impossible!" Line kept pulling out potions from her bag and pouring it on the three and no one stopped her, "Even though they''re just level 1s, two Minotaurs shouldn''t give them any problem! Is it a strengthened species!?" In panicked, Line blurted out without thinking.


    "What!? Say that again!?" Bete shouted.

 Volume 7 356 - A Rude Kid

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 356 - A Rude Kid</h4>


    Medusa and the robed person, which is Kuroka, decided to walk slowly towards the surface as they talk about the battle earlier, "It seems that Shirone managed tobined her Ki with her Falna without us even teaching her, nya~!" Kuroka happily voiced out.


    Medusa nodded in agreement, "While Sona also managed to circumvent her fear of failure�� It''s good that she thinks about everything carefully, but because of that, she too afraid to try something if it''s too dangerous."


    "Aika''s change, on the other hand, might not be obvious, but her improvement should be the best�� After all, of all three of them, she''s the most normal. With this, she shouldn''t treat anything like a game anymore as a means of escape, nya."


    "Right�� It''s really bad that she isn''t taking reality seriously�� There are other ways of making her realize that, but I guess, this is really the most effective method�� And we didn''t have to do it multiple times."


    Kuroka then started chuckling, "But after all of those, I really look forward to Kisuke''s reactions, nya~. That guy, despite being such a smartass, is not really very good with the man and woman rtionships. Kisuke is probably thinking that the girls will be hating his guts after this."


    "Well�� I can''t deny that�� Master is really strangely slow in this type of thing�� However, after this, he won''t be able to find any reason to push them away anymore."


    As they are talking, they soon reached the 5th floor when they suddenly felt a movement from the ground, "Hmm?" Both Medusa and Kuroka stopped to watch their surroundings carefully.


    "Something is drilling from below?" Medusa muttered.


    "It''sing this way, fast�� Did you attract it when you used your abilities?" Kuroka asked.


    "I don''t know�� But that''s probably it�� However, it seems that it can''t pinpoint my location, although it''ll still reach the 5th floor in a few seconds."


    Just as they expected, they felt a small tremor but along with it, they also heard a scream of terror, "This is bad, nya!"


    Medusa immediatelyunched herself towards the source of the scream while also taking out her scythe. A few secondster, after turning a corner, she saw a white-haired Adventurer being chased by a gigantic snake, "A Worm Well?" Medusa recalled the information about this monster that seems to drill through the Dungeon but they shouldn''t havee on the Upper Floors. But when she ''saw'' that the snake monster immediately locked on her, she became sure, ''So it came for me�� I feel sorry for that kid, so I should end this.''


    With the Adventurer and the snakeing towards her direction, Medusa threw her scythe towards the snake, but the snake easily dodged it. However, with a pull of her chains, she immediately recalled the scythe and the snake didn''t even notice its de is already on the back of its head before it was beheaded.


    The white-haired Adventurer, who''s below the snake, was bathed with its blood and stopped running as looked towards Medusa, dumbfounded.


    "Are you alright, boy?" Medusa asked, but instead of her expected thanks, the white-haired kid screamed and ran away from her.


    "��" Medusa was speechless.


    Even Kuroka, who just arrive, couldn''t help but mutter, "What was that?"


    "��A rude kid��" Medusa answered, "Let''s forget about him. I still have to prepare for lunch." She didn''t really mind the boy''s actions as he was probably too scared and choose to forget about it as there is more important thing aside from that, and that is what she should prepare for lunch.


    "You''re right. I also have to find something to gift for Shirone since she''ll be sulking for a while��" Kuroka agreed with her.


    .


    .


    "What!? Say that again!?" Bete shouted at Line.


    However, thetter only focused on pouring potions on the three girls and ignored the nonsensical question. Normally, Line would be too afraid of her secret crush, but right now, that doesn''t matter.


    Bete exploded when he was ignored. All the frustration he has been feeling was about to drop down on Line, "Hey! Answer my question!!!" As Bete was about to grab Line''s shoulder, Ais intercepted him by grabbing his arm, "Stop that."


    "Bete. Calm down! You can''t push your frustration to others!" Riveria also reprimanded him.


    "Tch!" Realizing what he''s about to do, Bete clicked his tongue and walked away. He acknowledged that he''s in the wrong this time but couldn''t apologize so he just left.


    "Wait�� Aren''t they familiar to you?" Tiona suddenly asked.


    "Companions of the guy who scammed Bete," Ais answered. She along with Riviera already recognized their faces but aren''t sure if they''re really the same people since the aura they''re giving now is very different from when they''re in Mia''s pub.


    "Ah! So they''re that! Why haven''t I noticed it!?"


    "Because you''re drunk."


    "��"


    "Three Level 1s against two Minotaurs? That very impressive�� Although not without some sacrifices." Finnmented after observing the unconscious girls'' injuries. However, he noticed that the other''s expression doesn''t add up, "What''s wrong?" And now that he thought about it, Bete''s reaction is also weirdly intense.


    Riveria shook her head and said, "I''ll tell you about itter." She then faced Line and asked, "Are they really Level 1?"


    "Yes�� I''ve seen their Falna�� Although I can''t Hieroglyphs, I can at least read Levels."


    Riveria''s face became even moreplicated along with others.


    Finn wanted to hear what''s going on now, but something must have happened that they''re keeping it secret, "Take out the stretchers. We''ll take to the Guild''s treatment facility."


    The Loki Familia brought the three girls to the Guild''s clinic in a hurry and the first one that was notified is their advisor before the Guild sent out a messenger to notify the Hestia Familia of what happened.


    Before leaving, Riveria told their Advisor, Sophie, that they were injured because two Minotaurs managed to escape from them but they were also managed to defeat them on their own which shocked Sophie.


    The Loki Familia soon left, leaving everything to Sophie and went back to the Twilight Manor. Although it''s not the usual turn of events, they were happy that they returned, "Wee back~!!!"


    Loki weed everyone, but on her face is a palm mark.


    "We''re home!" But they choose to ignore that she as probably groped one of the members when they got back.


    If it''s the normal Loki, she would immediately pounce on Ais after her return, however, an urgent matter came to her earlier and wanted to talk to Finn about it, "Finn, let''s talk inside first�� There are probably things that you want to talk about."


    "Indeed�� I do have some�� But did Gareth already told you what happened on the 50th floor?"


    "50th floor? No clue! I want to know about the rookies that you supposedly bring out of the Dungeon."


    "What?" Finn furrowed his brows, "How did you know that?"


    "A certain annoying short Goddess uncharacteristically came to me earlier about that�� It seems that the other side is already expecting you to bring those rookies out."

 Volume 7 357 - Emergency Meeting

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 357 - Emergency Meeting</h4>


    Calling for an emergency meeting, Loki, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, andstly, Ais. Riveria wanted to bring Line in too but decided against it.


    Inside Finn''s office, Finn sat on his desk chair, Gareth and Riveria sat on the chairs in front of his desk, while Ais and Loki sat on the sofa.


    "Finn, start by telling me everything."


    Finn nodded at Loki and started narrating from the moment they reached the 50th floor and set a camp. Once he reached the part where they returned to the camp and saw it being besieged, Finn passed the baton to Riveria.


    Riveria''s narration started when the irregr monsters started appearing from the staircase to the 51st floor inrge numbers. When she mentioned the part where the two mysterious people appeared to help them with unconventional techniques and magics, Loki furrowed her brows in contemtion.


    And while listening to her narration of the battle against the Juggernaut and Balor, Loki''s eyes widened in disbelief and interrupted her, "Someone like that could be from the Poseidon Familia who''re clearing the seas�� But it''s useless to make guesses as they could be from anywhere�� But it should be easy to find them with their techniques. It''s impossible for someone like that to remain unknown. Finn, gomission someone to investigate it."


    "Will do," Finn answered and continued their story. Loki became intrigued by the mysterious man''s exnation regarding the Balor''s magic but when he reached the part where he guessed that Ais came out from a Time Stasis, Loki became silent and wore a very serious expression.


    Finn didn''t continue and only waited for Loki to say something. She knew that she couldn''t just brush this under the rag and sighed, "What he said is true�� However, I don''t know much more than that and I don''t intend to force Ais to tell me more."


    "It''s fine, Loki. We just wanted to confirm it from you as this is truly unbelievable. Nothing will change the fact that Ais is a precious and irreceablerade." Finn then faced Ais, "However, how do you intend to take his suggestion?"


    "Suggestion? What suggestion?" Loki asked.


    "The mysterious guy told her that there is some problem in her body that is keeping her from being stronger because of this Time Stasis and told us that someone in Orario right now could do something about it."


    Everyone then looked towards Ais, "��I''d like to go." She answered.


    Everyone in the room already knew that she would answer like that and no one could actually stop her, so Loki, as a concession, said, "Fine. But you''re to never go alone�� Besides, he didn''t tell you exactly who''s this person, right? How are you going to find him?"


    "I''m going with her," Riveria stated.


    "Oh? You already know where to find him?" Finn asked.


    Riveria nodded and answered, "It''s rted to those girls that we brought to treatment."


    While Finn and Gareth are confused, Loki muttered, "So that''s it, huh�� That brat couldn''t possibly have this kind of connection so it should be her children which are strange��" She then smiled mischievously, "How wonderful~."


    Finn sighed after seeing Loki''s expression and turned to Riveria, "Could you exin?"


    Riveria nodded and started, "Before you and those unknown people arrive, Line did something unbelievable. Without any incantation, she summoned a magic circle on her own and healed people in arge area. Line, despite being slow, is a genius, however, that kind of thing should have been impossible. I, for one, could only use a very weak version of my magic without incantation." Even if she didn''t show it to others, they knew that Riveria is proud of that achievement. But now that someone did something beyond her skill, that pride was chipped away.


    Hearing those, Finn connected the dots, "I see�� She said that she has been partying with those girls who defeated two Minotaurs, who''re rted to another unknown individual who can turn others to stone."


    "Wait�� What!? Someone who could turn others into stone? What''s up with that!?" Loki interrupted.


    "We don''t know much�� We only know that her eyes seem to be the main source of her power and we couldn''t stop its effects even after looking away. Aside from that, she could make her weapon and disappear at will. We can also assume that she''s rted to the man and woman we met on the deeper floors." Riveria exined, "And Finn, you''re wrong about the two Minotaurs."


    "Hmm?"


    "The reason why we couldn''t believe that they''re level 1s is that it isn''t just two Minotaurs that the unknown woman led to them, but six�� And those three girls killed them all, by themselves."


    "W-what?" Finn and Gareth''s eyes widened in shock, "They can''t be level 1 then��" But Finn already heard that Line already confirmed that they''re level 1, "How is this possible��?"


    Riveria shook her head, "I don''t know�� But what''s sure is that they have something different than anyone else��"


    "I see�� That''s why that chibi asked me to announce that her children defeated two Minotaurs�� I thought that she''s just looking for fame and reprimanded her, but it seems to be the opposite��" Loki rubbed her chin while contemting before chuckling, "I don''t know what kind of game they''re ying�� But I''ll y along, Kisuke Urahara~!"


    Loki recalled the words that Hestia told her earlier before she left, ''My children don''t have any intention to harm your Familia.''


    ''It seems that the future will be interesting~. I need to prepare my children.''


    They continued their meeting untilte evening, figuring out what steps they should take in the future.


    .


    .


    .


    Soon after the Loki Familia left, Kisuke and Yoruichi arrived at the room where Sona, Aika, and Koneko are receiving their treatment. The only one in the room aside from the three of them is their advisor, Sophie, "Thank you for the hard work, Sophie-san."


    Sophie faced the captain of Hestia Familia and gave him a reprimanding look, "You''rete."


    "I''m sorry." Kisuke apologized simply before saying, "I''d like them to be discharged."


    Sophie red at him first before asking, "Why? Is it because you don''t want to go into debt because of the price of the treatment? If so, then go ahead�� It''ll be your fault if they stop being Adventurers." These kinds of situations are just toomon. Small Familias who couldn''t afford the treatment for their Adventurers mostly abandon those Adventurers. So when Kisuke asked them to be discharged, she became disappointed at him, ''Looks like I have a wrong impression of him��''


    Kisuke only smiled at her questions. He didn''t angry because he knew where she''sing from so instead of answering her, Kisuke just pulled out an Elixir from his shihakushou and showed it to Sophie.


    Sophie''s eyes widened in shock but a few secondster, she gave him a sneer, "I''d like to see you actually use it."


    Kisuke put back the Elixir he got from the Loki Familia and said, "I don''t need to do that. However, I can promise you, they''ll being to you again in a few days to get more information about the Dungeon and listen to some of your advice."


    Sophie frowned, but a few secondster, she sighed, "I''m looking forward to that day." She then arranged their discharge documents.

 Volume 7 358 - Necessary

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 358 - Necessary</h4>


    It took Kisuke half an hour to restore and cure everyone''s injuries that they sustained fighting those Minotaurs. Once he got out of the clinic he built in their headquarters, Hestia is looking at him with a cold expression, almost grim, "Kisuke-kun�� Mind exining to me some things?"


    Kisuke nodded and asked, "What would you like to know?"


    "Are you the one who put them in this situation?" Hestia went straight to the point.


    "Yes." Without hesitation, Kisuke confirmed her guess.


    Hestia furrowed her brows and asked, "Why?"


    This time, Kisuke didn''t answer and just stared at Hestia.


    For a few minutes, the two of them only stared at each other before Hestia sighed, "Haah�� Let me change the question�� Is it necessary?"


    Kisuke smiled slightly and answered, "Yes."


    "I see��" Hestia then turned around to go back to her firece, "I don''t know if it''s your madness or kindness�� Or maybe both? But please don''t do this again."


    "��I''m sorry�� I can''t promise anything. This might happen again or it may not�� I don''t know what the future holds."


    After Hestia left, Yoruichi came out from the corner of the room, also looking at the spot where Hestia disappeared, "She''s naive and innocent�� But when ites to those in her ''family'', she''s very sharp."


    "I guess that''s what you could expect from someone who''s Divinity is about home and family."


    .


    .


    .


    A whole dayter, the first one to wake up is Aika. The moment she opened her eyes, the first thing she recalled are the Minotaurs that are about to kill them, "AHHH!!!" She immediately sitting up on her bed with cold sweat running on her back and forehead and tears threatening to fall from her eyes.


    But soon after, she recalled how the three of them managed to kill those six Minotaurs and sighed in relief, "It seems that you have calmed down."


    She looked towards the source of the familiar voice and saw Kisuke sitting beside her bed in his usual outfit but without his beloved hat. Seeing his face, all the memories from that time returned, including the giant scythe that went through the ''blockage'' and mowed down the Goblins and Kobolds that appeared after the Minotaurs.


    Aika took a deep breath and asked while looking down on her hands, "It''s not right for me to get angry without confirming it, so I''ll ask, are you the one who did it?�� No�� That''s not the right question�� Are you the one who nned it?"


    "I did not n everything. But that doesn''t mean that I''m trying to shrink my responsibility. I just wanted to tell you the truth. The one who had this idea is me. It''s also me who pushed through things despite the disagreement of others. So you could say that I''m solely ountable for what happened to you, Sona, and Koneko."


    Aika gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. A few secondster, she removed the nket on top of her and went down of the bed, revealing her current appearance. Aika, the same with the rest, only has a white robe over their bear bodies. Different from her usual appearance, Aika''s hair was let down that reaches below her shoulder and she doesn''t have her sses.


    She stopped and stood up in front of Kisuke. Kisuke couldn''t see her eyes because of her bangs, but he could see her gritting her teeth.


    Aika then took a step back and went into a stance before using all of her strength to punch Kisuke''s face. For Kisuke, the punch is slow�� very slow, however, he did nothing to dodge it. If he could abate a bit of the hate she''s feeling, then he could keep going all day.


    Aika''s punchnded on his face, but Kisuke didn''t think that she would hold back and didn''t feel much force from her punch that it didn''t even move the position of his head. He then looked up to her face and felt something inside him stir. Aika''s looking at him with zed eyes and tears running through her cheeks.


    Kisuke then told her what''s on his mind, "I know that you hate me, and even if it''s for your own good, it doesn''t change that I need to apologize�� I''m sorry."


    Aika took back her fist, but instead of keeping, she straddled on him, sitting on hisps and wrapped her arms around her neck, hugging him and putting her chin on his shoulder, while sobbing, "You bastard�� sniff sniff�� You miserable idiot�� sniff sniff�� I''m very mad right now��"


    Kisuke put his arms around her back in response, "I know�� It''s my fault��"


    Aika stayed on her position until she stopped sobbing a few minutester. She then whispered in his ear, "This is why I''m calling you a miserable idiot." Aika then straightened up her back, putting her face in front of Kisuke''s face.


    Kisuke noticed that the fear enveloping her already disappeared and despite her eyes red from crying, she''s now giving him a smile, "?"


    "I''m angry about what you did�� Even though you did it''s for our good�� I couldn''t help but be angry."


    "That''s normal."


    "However, what makes me angry the most is the fact that you actually thought that I''d hate you�� You miserable idiot."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened, "You don''t?" If Kisuke is in their position, he would, for sure, hate the person who set him up. However, what he failed to consider are the feelings of the girls and their apparent understanding of his personality and antics. After all, he always categorizes ''emotions'' as an uncalcble variable that could change anytime without rhyme or reason.


    "Of course not�� Even if you ask the other two, you would only get a p each and a date, and you would get their forgiveness��"


    Kisuke would be really happy if he could just get away with something like that, but he first chooses to focus on the girl straddling on him with her robe about to be undone and asked, "Aren''t you afraid? Just now, you had a nightmare, and I know for sure that you would be suffering from that for a while."


    "True�� I''m afraid�� But the fear that I''m feeling is from the possibility of not being able to y with Sona-kaichou and Koneko-chan anymore�� The possibility of not being able to receive Yoruichi and Kuroka''s teaching anymore�� The possibility of not being able to eat Medusa-chan''s cooking anymore�� And finally�� The possibility of not being able to stand beside you��


    "Cheesy, right? But that''s what I genuinely felt when I was able to disregard my fear of those Monsters. I never thought that I would be that desperate for your embrace while on the verge of death.


    "I really sorry for being such a pervert~. However, I would also like to use this chance at least to remove some of that fear~." To the speechless Kisuke, Aika closed her eyes nted her lips on him and even used her tongue to explore his mouth. A few secondster, Kisuke reacted and tightened his arms around her before responding in kind.

 Volume 7 359 - Reasons

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 359 - Reasons</h4>


    Kisuke and Aika''s solo world went for one full minute before they separated from each other, "��I''d really like to continue, but��" Aika then looked towards the door and saw four pairs of eyes watching the two of them.


    While Medusa is giving Aika an encouraging look, Yoruichi and Kuroka are making these smug cat expressions on top of each other and Hestia is at the bottom and peeking through her fingers with a faint blush on her face.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, Look behind Aika and saw Sona and Koneko already awake, intently staring at the two of them whileying on their beds. From this, Kisuke heaved a big sigh of relief as he could now believe what Aika said about them nothing hating him as he anticipated, ''A woman''s heart is truly a mystery�� But I don''t think I should study it�� Maybe it''s something better when vague.''


    Aika got off hisps and sat back down on her bed, crossing her legs and not even bothering to fix her almost undone robe.


    Since they knew nothing is happening any further, the four people watching from the door entered, "And here I thought you''d pull out his junk while you''re at it~." Yoruichi kept her smug and said.


    "I would if not for all the eyes on me. I wouldn''t mind if everyone undresses with me though~." Aika answered. Different from the past where she would just avoid or react ndly to Yoruichi''s remarks, she now how confidence.


    Hearing that, however, Kisuke immediately interrupted them, "Let''s not go there. Not now." Before they could say anything else, Kisuke changed the topic and faced both Koneko and Sona, "I apologized for what happened. Although I deemed it necessary, what I did is still over the top. I hope that you could forgive me."


    Sona and Koneko looked at each other before both of them turned to Aika, who in response, just shrugged her shoulders.


    Sone sat up on her bed and faced Kisuke, "I want to know what pushed you to do something like this. Although I can guess, I would like to hear your reasoning first."


    Kisuke nodded and exined his actions, "There are multiple things that I want to achieve when I nned for this to happen, however, the main and biggest reason is for you to experience what it feels like to participate in a losing battle and experience the real horrors of the battlefield where those important to you could die.


    "And aside from that, I want you to push yourselves more. The more time passes, I can see that you''re gettingcent. Even though it''s not much and you''re still working hard, for the most part, you girls are already afraid to risk yourselves.


    "I''m not saying to put yourselves in danger but you should really think of ways that you could improve yourselves by yourselves. It''s true that we are going to be together for a long time, but that doesn''t mean that you have to depend on me, or to any of us, to teach you things that you should be the one discovering.


    "We can only give you advice or point you to a direction when you''re confused, but it should never reach the point where we had to lead you by hand.


    "And once I noticed that you girls are walking the path of a dead end, I had to correct your mentalities because it''s my fault in the first ce for spoiling you.


    "I watched the three of you fight those Minotaurs and I honestly thought that you did a lot better than what I could hope. You should think back when you felt cornered and you''ll understand what I''m talking about.


    "There are some other things, but those are just minors things that I prepared for the future."


    Sona, Koneko, and Aika recalled their battle again and sure enough, it pushed them to their limits that they didn''t know possible.


    For Koneko, since she can''t ess her own stock of Ki due to Kisuke''s sealing, she was able to go around this by forciblybining the surrounding''s Ki to her own Falna and use it. Although it''s a very crude method, it opened paths for her own development.


    Aika, on the other hand, had the least improvement ability-wise, but as the most normal of all of them, her mentality had a big evolution. Ever since Kisuke took her in, somewhere in her mind, she thought all of these is just a dream that she would wake up from one day. She had lived most of her life as a normal human and even though Kisuke and Yoruichi has been trying their best for her to adapt, it couldn''t happen abruptly without a big catalyst. Her battle against Kokabiel doesn''t really count as she''s under her self-hypnosis that Yoruichi thought her and that only allowed her to escape reality further, but and the battle to the death against the Minotaurs is just what she needed.


    After a minute of contemtion after hearing Kisuke''s exnation, Sona sighed, "Please don''t apologize. Although what you did is cruel, it''s for our own good."


    Koneko also nodded in agreement, "She''s right, Kisuke-senpai�� You''re a jerk, but a very kind jerk. However, because of this, you''ve also lost all the reasons for you to kick us away�� Although it hasn''t happened yet, you''re not allowed anymore to keep us out when you''re going against something.


    "Once we return to our w-�� our hometown, your position won''t be good and everyone will probably being after your head, but you can''t leave us out anymore. We could now help you no matter how small the help we could provide��


    "Thank you, senpai�� For granting us this chance. The chance of fighting beside you and not just watch as a bystander."


    Kisuke truly didn''t expect this as he''s only hoping for them to be safe when his enemiese after him. However, he didn''t refute Koneko''s words because aside from Yoruichi and Tessai, they are the only ones who expressed their intention of joining him without his maniptions. He might have manipted them from the beginning, but he never did so that they would join him.


    Kisuke then noticed that he cared for them more than he should have. But then again, he would never regret it. After all, because of them, his world expanded.


    Shaking his head, Kisuke proposed, "Let''s have our status updated."


    "Oh! It''s finally my turn? Let''s go!" Hestia finally spoke up. She didn''t want to interrupt their important talk but now they''re done, they don''t have to ignore her anymore and it''s her time to shine.


    Hestia then started walking towards the door, however, once she reached the exit, she remembered something, "��By the way�� Kisuke-kun�� Do I have to prepare?�� Mentally I mean��"


    "Hmm�� Let see�� Have you seen other''s status, Hestia-sama?" Kisuke asked.


    Hestia shook her head.


    Kisuke then grinned, then there''s nothing to worry about~. You don''t have anything topare it to so it shouldn''t be weird from your perspective.


    However, the girls knew enough that when Kisuke said there''s nothing to worry about with a sh*t-eating grin of his, something or someone had to take the brunt force of his antics.

 Volume 7 360 - Second Status Update part 1

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 360 - Second Status Update part 1</h4>


    "So? Who should go first?" Hestia asked.


    "Hmm, Let''s go with Aika, Sona, and Koneko first." Kisuke set another barrier that keeps energy from going out in case something doesn''t go as expected and attract other''s attention.


    Once he''s done with the entire set up, the first one to update her status is Koneko as the three of them decided to go from youngest to oldest.


    Before getting on the bed with Hestia, Koneko disrobed, revealing her developing buds and smooth crotch. Although she has a faint blush on her face, she doesn''t mind Kisuke''s eyes anymore and unceremoniouslyy down on her chest.


    Hestia knew how strange this is but didn''t say anything and only focused on her job of updating their status. Pricking her finger with the prepared pin, Hestia''s blood dropped on Koneko''s back, revealing her Falna. While updating her Falna, Hestia''s face kept changing, but she didn''t say anything. Although she has nothing topare it to, she knew the abnormalities of what she''s seeing.


    Once Hestia finalized the update, the surrounding Mana, Ki, and Spiritual energy of the world suddenly revolved and entered Koneko''s body before Hestia closes the Falna. Kisuke and the rest were stirred by this phenomenon but didn''t do anything as they can see that the status update ended peacefully.


    Hestia, while making a weird face, put a sheet of nk of paper on Koneko''s back to copy and trante her status tomonnguage for anyone to see before giving it to Koneko. And not just Koneko, everyone approached to see her status.


    Shirone Toujou


    Level 1


    STR: SS-1059


    VIT: SS-1069


    DEX: S-998


    AGI: SS-1010


    MANA: A-872


    KI: E-596


    Magic:


    Hohou (Movement Techniques)


    Hakuda (Hand-to-Hand Combat Techniques)


    Senjutsu (Sage Arts)


    Sage Mode: Devouring White mes


    Skills:


    Nekoshou Bloodline: Increase the effectiveness of Youjutsu and Senjutsu.


    Sage Mode: Meld Inner Ki and Outer Ki to be one with the world. Boost and release special ability of Nekoshou Bloodline. Affects the user''s state of mind.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 4:1


    Ki Exceed: Convert Ki parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 2:1


    "This is more amazing than I thought, nya��" Kuroka felt amazed after seeing her little sister''s status, "The MAG became MANA while KI parameter also appeared." She added.


    "It seems that Falna amodated our perception," Kisukemented as he rubs his chin, "And those skills and magic�� Instead of granting them, the Falna only told us what she can already do. However, it seems that it can''t tell the mastery over the said magic or skills."


    "Another thing is it didn''t include anything isn''t major��" Yoruichi muttered, "It didn''t include the ability to manipte Mana directly to cast simple magics which Koneko should be perfectly capable."


    While the group is analyzing Koneko''s status, Hestia didn''t speak. She can tell something is very wrong with her status but don''t have anything topare it to so she doesn''t really know which part. What she didn''t know is that everything about it is wrong.


    "How do you feel, Shirone?" Kuroka asked.


    Koneko stood up and tried moving around before answering, "��Ufortable�� My body feels light�� It''s hard to bnce��"


    "Well, figures�� Your parameters just jumped multiple times and before we came here, your actual strength is only around Level 2 or 3 so the status is already catching up to you." Kisuke exined.


    Koneko put on her robe again, "I''ll go exercise for a bit." Before exiting the room. She wanted to see everyone''s status, however, she wanted to get rid of this ufortable feeling first.


    "While you''re at it, try to gauge the limits of your strength," Yoruichi said before Koneko exited the room with thetter nodding in understanding.


    "My turn~." Aika then removed her robe without any hesitation, revealing her breast which is a big as Sona''s and also not a single hair down there beforeying down on the bed for Hestia to update her status. During the update, Hestia also didn''t speak, however, everyone can tell that as the time goes, her expression kept getting weirder and they knew that she''s just holding it in as much as possible. They then started guessing when will Hestia start cursing and breaking down.


    When the status update was about to end, the same thing happened when Koneko is updating her status, Mana, Ki, and Spiritual Energy started gathering and entered Aika''s body.


    Trying her best to keep a poker face, Hestia gave them Aika''s status.


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SS-1001


    VIT: S-989


    DEX: SS-1092


    AGI: SS-1002


    MANA: A-898


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: B-703


    Magic:


    Hohou (Movement Techniques)


    Hakuda (Hand-to-Hand Combat Techniques)


    Zanjutsu (Sword Art Techniques)


    Zanpakuto (Soul yer): Aeternam Somnium [First Release]


    Shihakushou (Soul Garment)


    Dragonification [Partially Activated][Depends on Dragonic Aura]


    Hollowfication [Hollow Mask Materialization][Unavable]


    Skills:


    Shinigami with Body: Allows the Shinigami''s soul to merge with the Physical Body using Ki. Generates Extra Parameter: Reiatsu-Ki.


    Soul Transformation: Allows the Shinigami''s soul to use another power source: Hollowfication. Temporarily doubles Rei-Ki parameter.


    Blessings of the Dragon God and the True Dragon: Allows usage of body strengthening and transformation: Dragonification


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 4:1


    Reiatsu-Ki Exceed: Convert Rei-Ki parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate 1:1


    "What the hell? I didn''t know I have this much��" Aikamented at her own status.


    "Oh�� So it can read this much��" Kisuke muttered after seeing Aika''s status. "You also got those extra parameters�� Maybe that''s the system''s way of amodating other power systems? And Dragonification? I guess that the other result of absorbing your Sacred Gear''s spirits to your Zanpakuto."


    "Reiatsu-Ki, I have an idea�� But how do you even increase that Dragonic Aura? Should I spam Dragonification? How do I even use it?�� Looks like I''ll be busy��" Aika muttered. Instead of asking Kisuke or Yoruichi, she wanted to try things on her own first as she had learned from Kisuke, "And now I understand why Koneko said it''s ufortable��"


    "Are you going?" Sona asked.


    "Nope~. I want to see everyone''s status first."


    "Alright, it''s my turn." Like the other two, Sona removed her robe without any hesitation, "Hestia-sama, please."


    Hestia nodded. But before she gets on the bed, she first took a deep breath�� Trying to recover herposure which is about to be depleted, ''Don''t say anything for now�� Hestia�� You can askter! As a Goddess and leader of this Familia, I can''t loseposure!'' Shy psyche herself.


    For the third time, the Mana, Ki, and Spiritual energy gathered and entered Sona''s body.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa couldn''t describe the face Hestia is making but they can tell that she trying her best to keep a straight face. However, because of that, she''s making a weirder expression if she just let her natural expressione out.


    Sona Sitri


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: C-698


    VIT: A-901


    DEX: S-925


    AGI: C-699


    Extra Abilities:


    DEM-POW: SSS-1302


    Magic:


    Sitri Magic


    Devil Hollowfication [Unavailble]


    Skills:


    Noble Devil Lineage: Mana parameter will be exchanged with Demonic Power. Allow usage of Sitri Magic. Improves physical abilities slightly.


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in user''s injury or death.


    Leviathan: Depending on the user''s understanding, it allows the control of all water-based magic. Enough mastery, allows the user to control any hostile water-based magic.


    Hollow Factor: [Description unavable]


    "Sona��" Kisuke called out.


    Sona couldn''t look at him, "Don''t say it."


    "You shouldn''t skip leg day��" Even though Sona''s parameters are supposed to be the normal one, they''re the group that exceeds normality and Sona''s basic abilities can only be seen as below average.


    "You haven''t been abuse enough�� You should join Koneko and Aika''s training and gain some muscles." Yoruichi added.


    "��Alright�� I really need exercise��" Sona then looked at her status again, "However, what''s this Devil Hollowfication and Hollow Factor? Is it the same thing as yours and Aika''s?"


    "Hmmm�� Since it''s ''Devil'' Hollowfication, it''s probably something simr�� or something very different�� I''m not really sure." Kisuke answered.


    "And why do I have it?"


    "I used my own Hollow powers to heal you in desperation. Back then I didn''t even know if it''spatible with you Devils, but I don''t have much choice at that time.


    "The only other contender is separating your soul from your body and create a new one. However, that will create crippling damages to your soul so I instead used my own regeneration factor to heal you."


    Sona smiled happily and said, "I see~! Thank you for saving me that time. And I don''t think this is a bad thing. I was worried that I''ll be too normalpared to all of you. I''m d that I have something like this, and it''s even rted to you!"


    Kisuke smiled wryly and patted her head, "I''m sorry for telling you thiste."

 Volume 7 361 - Second Status Update part 2

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 361 - Second Status Update part 2</h4>


    Sona also decided to stay and watch the proceeding.


    "So I''m next, nya~." Kuroka got on the top of the bed and as if she''speting with others, instead of just undressing the top portion of her kimono, she unwrapped her obi and dropped the entirety of her kimono, revealing her voluptuous body.


    "��Everyone''s modesty is already down the drain, huh�� And why are you not wearing any underwear?�� Ah�� Sorry for asking�� I just remembered that you never wear those." Kisukemented.


    Kuroka ignored Kisuke''s remark andid down on the bed. After a minute, Hestia''s face is already nearing the breaking point but she''s still holding on. They didn''t say anything about this but every one of them wanted tough. However, they didn''t do so as they didn''t want to disturb her working hard.


    Kuroka Toujou


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SSS-1349


    VIT: SSS-1401


    DEX: SSS-1203


    AGI: SSS-1304


    KI: SS-1027


    Magic:


    Youjutsu (Demon Arts)


    Senjutsu (Sage Arts)


    Space-Time Magic


    Skills:


    Nekoshou Bloodline: Increase the effectiveness of Youjutsu and Senjutsu.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 2:1


    Ki Exceed: Convert Ki parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 1:1


    Looking at her own status, Kuroka muttered, "I got to have Shirone teach me that Sage Mode and sh Step��" Although her basic parameters and some skills arergely better than Koneko''s, she doesn''t have the stronger skills that Koneko has.


    "Right�� You have enough muscles, but you don''t know how to swing your fist�� You''ll be joining me with my practice." Yoruichimented.


    "��Understood."


    When it''s Medusa''s turn, different from the previous girls, she just opened the back part of her maid uniform and showed Hestia her Falna. The oldest and youngest looking among them turned out to be the one with most modesty.


    Medusa


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SS-1099


    VIT: SS-1058


    DEX: SSS-1401


    MANA: EX-1500


    Magic:


    Nameless Dagger (Mana Construct)


    Harpe [Immortal ying Scythe] (Mana Construct)


    Chains (Mana Construct)


    Magic Detection


    Bellerophon


    Blood Fort Andromeda


    Breaker Gorgon


    Skills:


    Cybele: Mystic Eyes of Petrification


    Riding: Allows the user to mount creatures on the level of Phantasmal Beasts and Divine Beasts.


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in the user''s injury or death.


    ?????(Corrupted): [Description Unavable]


    Blessing of the Dragon God: Authority over ''Snakes [Monster]''


    Mana Construction: Construct weapons that are closely linked to the user''s identity using Mana.


    Mana Body: Changes body ording to the user''s state. Passive basic parameter boost depending on avable Mana. Can infinitely heal itself as long as there is Mana avable and the core isn''t destroyed. Greatly reduces the avable Mana for usage to keep the body intact.


    Finally, they saw what seems to be the Counter Stop of a parameter.


    "1,500, huh�� Just ording to my estimation." Kisuke muttered.


    "Cybele? So those eyes has a name? And I didn''t know that scythe has that kind of effect." Yoruichimented.


    "Uhmm�� Is that Mana body what I think it is?" Sona asked.


    And Medusa nodded her head to her question, "Yes�� I don''t have a physical body."


    Sona, Aika, and Kuroka gave Medusa an incredulous look. They never expected that their loli maid is closer to a ghost than a living person.


    "Either way, this is the second time we saw Ophis'' blessing. Do you think I have one too?" Kisuke changed the topic and asked while pointing at himself.


    "Let me check mine first." Yoruichi undressed and showed her back to scarily quiet Hestia, "Hestia-sama, please~."


    Before updating Yoruichi''s status, however, she took another few deep breathes to calm her nerves, ''It won''t be worst than that�� right?'' She thought. And she''s gravely mistaken.


    Yoruichi Shihouin


    Level 1


    STR: EX-1500


    VIT: SSS-1390


    DEX: SSS-1403


    AGI: EX-1500


    MANA: SS-1002


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: EX-1500


    Magic:


    Shinigami Arts: [Hohou][Hakuda][Zanjutsu][Kidou]


    Shunko (sh War Cry): [Shunkou: Raijin Senkei (sh War Cry: Thunder God War Form)][Shunshin Chouhengen (sh God Super Transformation): Shunkou: Raiju Senkei: Shunryuu Kokubyou Senkei (sh War Cry: Thunder Beast Battle Form: sh God ck Cat Warrior Princess)]


    Zanpakuto (Soul yer): Byakko [Space-Time Maniption][Unavailble]


    Shihakushou (Soul Garment)


    Beastification: [Tiger][????][Unavable]


    Feline Transformation


    Skills:


    Shinigami: Allows the usage of Soul Arts with the Soul. Grants Zanpakuto and Shihakushou


    Shinigami with Body: Allows the Shinigami''s soul to merge with the Physical Body using Ki. Generates Extra Parameter, Reiatsu-Ki.


    Contract with the Wandering Sovereign: Grants [Beastification][Space-Time Maniption][Feline Transformation]


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in the user''s injury or death.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 2:1


    Reiatsu-Ki Exceed: Convert Rei-Ki parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate 1:1


    Looking at her status, Kisuke''s mind ran through possibilities, "It looks like we found the reason for your strange transformation and inability to control your super transformation��"


    "��It seems like it�� But thanks to that, I now know what I should do�� Coming to this ce is really not a mistake." Yoruichi smiled happily. Thanks to the system reading her status, she was able to discover the things she''s wondering.


    "Now I''m excited what it''s going to say about me. My turn, Hestia-sama~! You can do it! I''m thest one!" Kisuke undressed the top portion of his shihakushou andid down. However, he didn''t forget to cheer up the shaking Goddess. He knew that after his turn, she''ll be barraging them with questions and he already thought of some answers. He also has a choice of not answering if that is more convenient for his group.


    "Ugh!" Hestia slowly straddled on his back and proceed to update his status. After this, she can finally explode.


    Kisuke Urahara


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: EX-1500


    VIT: EX-1500


    DEX: EX-1500


    AGI: EX-1500


    MANA: EX-1500


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: EX-1500


    DEM-POW: I-10


    Magic:


    Shinigami Arts: [Hohou][Hakuda][Zanjutsu][Kidou]


    Zanpakuto (Soul yer): Benihime [Absent]


    Shihakushou (Soul Garment)


    Hollowfication [Hollow Mask][Vasto Lorde]


    Skills:


    Shinigami: Allows the usage of Soul Arts with the Soul. Grants Zanpakuto and Shihakushou


    Shinigami with Body: Allows the Shinigami''s soul to merge with the Physical Body using Ki. Generates Extra Parameter: Reiatsu-Ki.


    Soul Transformation: Allows the Shinigami''s soul to use another power source: Hollowfication. Temporarily doubles Rei-Ki parameter.


    Soul Merge [Initial Stage]: Merge of the two power source, [Shinigami] & [Hollow]


    Possession of the Dragon God: Grants slight authority over the concept of [Infinity]


    Hogyouku: [Description Unavable][Noble Devil Lineage (Sealed)]


    Noble Devil Lineage (Sealed): Unlocks extra parameter, Demonic Power. Allow usage of Belial Magic. Improves physical abilities slightly.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 2:1


    Reiatsu-Ki Exceed: Convert Rei-Ki parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate 1:1


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in the user''s injury or death.


    After being updated, Kisuke felt that he''s being liberated, ''I see�� For each level up, my original abilities and the Falna''s abilities will be merged further.


    ''And damn�� This system can even read what''s sealed inside the Hogyouku! I underestimated it.''


    "Hey, Kisuke��" Yoruichi suddenly called out to him and pointed at one line on the paper, "It seems that Ophis-chan really likes you�� You damned lolicon��"


    "��" Kisuke couldn''t say anything. All this time, he''s only expecting a blessing from the Loli Dragon and maybe get something out of it. He didn''t see iting that the Loli Dragon would possess him instead, ''Is she a ghost?''


    But regardless, he became very interested at ''Grants slight authority over the concept of [Infinity].'' However, before he could ponder more on that, he suddenly felt a tug on the hem of his clothes and when he turned around, he saw Hestia giving her a bright smile before it contorted to almost crying face, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT??!!! EVEN THOUGH I DON''T KNOW MUCH ABOUT WHAT IS NORMAL, I CAN SEE THIS IS STRANGE!!! VERY STRANGE!!!" She exploded.

 Volume 7 362 - Family

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 362 - Family</h4>


    Kisuke shut and calmed Hestia down by shoving a lollipop in her mouth, "Hestia-sama, just one by one."


    And indeed, Hestia was able to calm down and arrange her thoughts. She sighed and said, "I have so many questions�� But I don''t think I''ll understand any of it even if you exin it to me. It''s enough for now that I know that you and your group are strange��"


    "Do you regret taking us now?" Kisuke asked. If she didn''t want to ask, that''ll be a lot better for Kisuke as Hestia is right. Even if he exins it to her, nothing will be clear as all of their abilities are literally out of this world. Not bound by this ce''smon sense.


    Hestia immediately shook her head, "It might be too much for me, but I don''t regret it." She then stared intently at Kisuke, "Did you know? I didn''te here just because I''m bored in Heaven��"


    Kisuke and the rest looked curiously at her and asked, "Then why?"


    She then looked at everyone with a smile on her face, "It''s because I got tired of protecting my ''empty home''~! I went down hoping that I would be able to find something ''real''�� something ''full of life''��"


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at her words, "And I suppose you found that something?"


    "Yep~."


    "I don''t think that we''re qualified for that�� Considering that we have too much strangeness��"


    "So you''re aware that you''re strange��"


    "��"


    "However, I know for sure that I became closer to you all of you after knowing some parts of your secret~. And that''s enough for me to consider you guys as my family."


    Kisuke sighed and sat down beside her before patting her head, "Please don''t make me feel guilty for tricking you��"


    Hestia didn''t mind his hand on her head and replied with a small smile on her face that doesn''t match her childish stature, "I didn''t really care about that. I judged that you people are ''genuine'' and that''s enough for me.


    "Which is why, even though you guys are very capable, it feels like I''m too useless. I can''t even think of a way to help you aside from granting you with my Falna."


    "You didn''t have to worry about that though��"


    "As this Familia''s Goddess, I want to contribute something." Hestia then stood up and went in front of Kisuke with a serious expression, "So if you need something, please tell me! I know you have things that you want to achieve but don''t have any means now, but try telling me about those. Maybe I''ll be able to do something about it!"


    ''So what she wants is to contribute something so she doesn''t feel left out�� She''s too childish for someone of her age�� Well, not that I haven''t met someone like that before��'' Kisuke then proceeded to think of things they needed right now, ''Hmm�� What we really need now is�� Weapons�� I nned to make Sacred Gear for all of us, but this world''s weapon forging is also fascinating�� Alright, let''s go with that.''


    Kisuke looked at Hestia''s eyes and replied, "I really need someone who could show me some high-level cksmithing-"


    But before Kisuke could finish his sentence Hestia''s eyes lit up, "I know someone who could help you~!"


    "Ah�� Is that so��" ''Does she know some high-level cksmiths?'' Kisuke thought and said, "In that case, I''ll leave it to you to introduce us, Hestia-sama. And please choose someone who''s trustworthy."


    "Leave it to me! I''ll go to meet her tomorrow!" Hestia thumped her chest which made her chest jiggle in a deration.


    Kisuke wasn''t really expecting much from his request as he already nned to do it himself in the future after they level up to 2, "Well then. Let''s go and follow Koneko and get used to the update. After that, we''ll also go to the Hostess of Fertility to celebrate~."


    "Ohh~!"


    It only took Kisuke and Yoruichi a few minutes while Kuroka and Medusa needed an hour or two to get used to the changes in their bodies. Meanwhile, Sona, Aika, and Koneko would need the whole afternoon to move normally so Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa help them by sparring with them.


    On the other hand, Kisuke used the whole afternoon to prepare some non-alcoholic drinks that they could enjoy since the three from them couldn''t drink alcohol and the fruit drinks in Mia''s pub isn''t very appealing for the girls who''re used to the modern society where they could get innovative and cultural drinks just about anywhere.


    And since he''s going to bring some, he also made enough so that the waitresses could have some and more. It''s also so that Mia couldn''t say anything about bringing their own drinks.


    Evening, the group decided to stop what they are doing and made their way towards the Hostess of Fertility.


    On their way, while pulling a cart with arge wooden jar on it, Kisuke asked everyone, "I would be leveling up tomorrow. What about you guys?"


    "The three of us, especially me, would need to gain more excelia," Sona answered.


    "Same with them, Kuroka, Medusa, and I would dive deeper to get some more of that tasty EX stats�� How did you get a full Counter Stop anyway?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Ah! I know the answer to that, nya!" Kuroka raised her hand, "That guy, when we''re on the middle floors, would happily jump in a group of monsters alone even if he can''t kill any of them and a single hit from those could end his life. I even witness his limbs fly around a few times�� That guy really likes living on the edge."


    With a twitching face, Hestia asked, "Aren''t you afraid to die? You really are a mad man�� I''m worried that you can''t go out of the Dungeon, so please stop doing that��"


    "I always go for maximum efficiency~!" Kisuke justughed it off.


    "I''m sorry for being proud after just experiencing just one hardship and one flying limb!" Aika suddenly said.


    "Aika-chan�� Don''tpare yourself to this idiot�� Even I won''t do anything like that." Yoruichi patted Aika''s shoulder tofort her.


    "She says that, but Yoruichi-san would always go one on one with strong monsters. It''s really heart-pounding to watch her always almost getting hit." Medusa added.


    "��Either way�� It seems that our hard work isn''t even that hard for you." Sona muttered, but at the same time, motivation filled her while thinking, ''Although I can''tpare, I should at least close the distance further.''


    While discussing their respective ns, the group reach the ever so lively Hostess of Fertility and when they entered the premise, they instantly attracted the attention of a certain group and each of them is giving them an inquisitive gaze.


    Without hesitation, Kisuke gritted the group, "Good evening, Loki-sama and everyone from the Loki Familia~. Fancy meeting you here~."


    Within just a few days, the top executives of the Loki Familia changed on how they look at Kisuke''s group.

 Volume 7 363 - Meeting the Loki Familia Again

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 363 - Meeting the Loki Familia Again</h4>


    Putting his white fan over his face, Kisuke greeted the group whose looking at them, "Good evening, Loki-sama, and everyone from the Loki Familia~. Fancy meeting you here~."


    Loki put down her drink on the table and smiled while slightly opening her eyes, "It''s really a fancy meeting you here~. A celebration for recovery I presume?"


    Before Kisuke could answer her, however, a certain individual came running to them and grabbed Sona''s hand, "Sona-san, Aika-san, Shirone-san! You''re alright! Thank goodness! I came to where you''re staying, but nobody''s around."


    Sona didn''t mind her actions and just smiled brightly at her, "We got treated somewhere else. Thank you for your concerns."


    Tipping his hat, Kisuke stated, "It''s thanks to the Loki Familia~. I heard it from our Guild Adviser~. I wonder how I could thank you."


    Loki rested her elbow on the table and invited the group, "For starters, why don''t you join us since both of us are celebrating. The more the merrier, right~. But that shorty over there�� You can just leave it behind the counter."


    "Hmmph! And here I thought you''re seeing your imaginary boobs that you can''t see me!" Hestia immediately retaliated.


    Loki immediately stood up after hearing that and looked down on Hestia, "Huuh???! If you aren''t such a shorty and irrelevant, do you think I''ll miss you down there?"


    "Hahhh!!! I''m really shortpared to you! So tall and straight! Even if I''m directly below you, I''m confident that I''ll be able to see your nose hair!"


    While ring at each other, a white fan suddenly went in between their faces and Kisuke''s voice came from their side, "Alright~. That''s enough of your besties greetings~! We''re here to celebrate~. And Loki-sama, thank you for your offer~. We''ll take upon it."


    " "Who''re the besties!!!?" " Both of them retorted before going back to ring at each other.


    Ignoring them, "Syr-san, menu please~!" Kisuke called out to the waitress that is sitting beside a white-haired kid. Ever since Kisuke and Yoruichi entered the pub, both of them noticed the kid and thought, ''Such a pure soul.''


    Kisuke in addition also noticed something familiar, ''That aura�� It reminds me of Kurosaki-kun and Issei-kun�� With all of this coincidence�� Could it be��?''


    The two cat-person waitresses arranged the additional tables and chairs beside the partying Loki Familia and Syr came running with the menu on hand, "Good evening, Kisuke-san. I assume you brought something new?" Her eyes are on the wooden jar that Kisuke brought inside.


    Kisuke sat down and nodded before facing Mia''s direction who''s already giving her a re, "I prepared everyone''s share~!"


    It was then, Mia smiled slightly and continued her work but he can tell that she paying attention at him, ''Well, that''s to be expected. Our group got invited by Loki Familia for the second time. And this time, the Loki Familia is obviously observing our group.''


    Kisuke ignored the stares that are the executives of the Loki Familia are giving him and put his attention to the trio who hasn''t sat down after talking with Line, "We saw an acquaintance, so we''ll greet him first."


    The three then walked towards the white-haired Adventurer that caught Kisuke and Yoruichi''s attention.


    "Cranel-san, good evening. It''s nice to see here, but��" Sona looked around but couldn''t find the person she''s searching for, "Is Miach-sama and Naaza-san with you?"


    Bell Cranel, a young teenager with white hair and red eyes, oftenpared to a rabbit based on his appearance is the newest and only other member of the Miach Familia aside from Naaza Erisuis where they always buy their potions.


    Bell is staring at the Loki Familia that he didn''t notice the trioing up to him and was startled, "Y-yes!? Ah, Sona-san, Aika-san, Shirone-san! You''re here. About that, Naaza-san said that she and Miach-sama have a dinner date so I''m here after being invited by Syr-san."


    "Ah, is that so? Then please enjoy yourself. We have to get going. I don''t know when will our captain be attacked by those hungry ''wolves''." Nodding slightly, Sona turned around and left.


    "You should find apanion when youe to ces like this�� Well, being alone is fine too. Anyways, enjoy your evening~." Aika added before following Sona while Koneko only nodded at him before following the two.


    Bell curiously followed them with his eyes and was shocked when they sat among the Loki Familia members. He then saw a man with a bucket hat looking at him. The man smiled and nodded at him in the form of greeting before turning around to face the Loki Familia, ''Is that their captain?''


    Kisuke finally faced the Finn, Gareth, Riveria, Ais, and Lefiya who''s intensely looking at him while Bete, Tiona, and Tione are looking at the trio.


    Smiling wryly, Kisuke voiced out his ''concerns'', "Please stop staring at me like that~. The poor me will be weak-kneed if the top Adventurers of Orario continue to give me so much attention~."


    Still not cutting his stare, Finn replied, "But you don''t seem scared at all to me." Riveria already told Finn, Gareth, and Ais that Kisuke might be the mysterious man he is referring to. However, they couldn''t easily believe it as the man just arrived not long ago with hispanions in Orario and just a level 1 who ims to be on the verge of a level up after a quick investigation regarding him. But the reason Lefiya is staring at Kisuke is that Ais is giving him an uncanny interest which also interested her�� in a bad way.


    Without changing his expression, Kisuke replied, "Aside from being an Adventurer, I''m also a businessman and one of the basic skills of a good businessman is to keep their fakeposure. If I can deceive you with my bluff, then I''m doing a good job." Hispanions, however, only gave him a nk look. Far from being a good businessman, this always in red merchant still has a gal to pat himself at the back. That''s not fakeposure but just in shamelessness.


    Feeling the stares from the girls, Kisuke feigned a cough and continued, "Ehem�� First of all, I thank the Loki Familia for saving our members. If you need anything, please tell me. The destitute me will find a way to fulfill it."


    Finn chuckled, "It''s fine. It''s also our duty to save the lower level Adventurers if they''re in danger and wee across them. However, myrade here indeed has something to ask, but let''s set aside that forter as we''re here to dine and drink."


    Kisuke nodded at him and started ordering food. After getting his orders, Syr asked, "Should I bring some ice and empty sses?"


    Before answering her, Kisuke faced everyone, "Does any of you want some fruit drinks? Non-alcoholic."


    While most of them shook their heads and thank him for his offer, Riveria and Ais became interested as someone who doesn''t drink alcohol, "Could I have some? For Ais and Lefiya too, if possible."


    "No problem~!" Kisuke then faced Syr, "Just the sses. We don''t need the ice."


    "Got it. Ten extra sses." She then went to the kitchen with hurried steps.


    "Make it eleven." Kisuke didn''t forget about Line.


    "Alright."


    "Kisuke-kun." While waiting for their food, Finn suddenly called out.


    "Hmm?"


    "If you don''t mind me asking, how did you cure those girls? I heard you pulled them out of the Guild clinic."


    "Oh, about that, I''m a bit of a doctor myself and I got a much-needed Elixir from an acquaintance." Kisuke then pulled out an empty vial of Elixir which Gareth, who gave him the Elixir, instantly recognized.


    "An acquaintance�� I see��" Finn nced at Loki and got her signal that he isn''t lying.

 Volume 7 364 - Otherworldy Drinks

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 364 - Otherworldy Drinks</h4>


    Thanks to that empty vial and Loki''s confirmation of truth, they can now be sure that Kisuke Urahara is the guy who could supposedly help Ais''s condition and tell Riveria more about the magic she didn''t know existed.


    Kisuke''s statement passed through Loki''s test because he indeed told the truth. He received the Elixir from Gareth, which he considers an acquaintance and everyone from them didn''t even consider the possibility that Kisuke is the mysterious man himself�� except for one which is Loki herself. She''s the sole individual who didn''t drop this possibility, however, she also didn''t have any evidence or anything that could support that possibility so she didn''t tell it to everyone. But for her, the suspicion is enough to be on guard.


    ''It''s really hard to trick a God�� And it''s the Goddess of Mischief on top of that�� Well, I should be happy that she didn''t point out the obvious w.'' Kisuke thought after feeling Loki''s stare and keeping the empty vial.


    During this time, Tiona, the petite Amazoness, started interviewing the trio with a jolly attitude, "Hey�� Sona, Aika, and Shirone, was it? How did you do that?" Of course, she''s referring to the time they fought the Minotaurs. And since Tiona didn''t have any motives in asking that question aside from genuine curiosity, the trio didn''t mind it.


    And aside from the executives and Line, everyone knew that the three of them defeated two Minotaurs which Sona, Aika, and Koneko has to be mindful of when they answer.


    "How you say�� We just followed the saying, ''Desperate situations call for desperate measures.'' We had to stake everything just to defeat those and we''re lucky enough to pull it off and getting out alive of that situation." Sona answered after thinking for a few seconds.


    "Desperate situations call for desperate measures?" Those words didn''t just attract Tiona, but everyone listening to it. After staying silent for a moment, Bete snorted, "Hmmph! That really sounds nice�� But don''t make it sound like everyone can see through it!"


    The three already know how this mutt runs his mouth and decided beforehand to just ignore him as they didn''t even look at him which in turn, infuriated Bete, but he can''t say anything about that, "Hmmph!"


    Smiling wryly, Tiona continued asking and this time, her question is directed to Aika, "How about you? Why did you think that you could use your own bone as a weapon?"


    But thanks to that question, she got a smack at the back of her head from her twin sister, "What the hell are you asking!? Can''t you see we''re eating!?" Although both Amazoness is fine with this topic to be discussed over a meal, it''s not the same for everyone, especially the Elves who''re now making a pale face as they already heard the story of Aika ripping off her own arm to use it as a temporary dagger.


    And as if not understanding the situation, Aika answered normally, "I mean, what choice do I have back then? A broken fist, or a sharp bone? I think we both know which is better."


    "I''m convinced��" Tiona muttered.


    "Alright! Stop that topic, the food ising." Yoruichi interrupted them and received the food from Syr and the Elf waitress named Ryuu.


    During the meal, Riveria would keep sounding out Kisuke for what he knows about magic and Ais'' condition indirectly while Kisuke would only give answers that would add more fuel to her curiosity which would look like he''s doing it in purpose which he is.


    And also during that time, Loki and Hestiapeted to who can drink more and no one could stop them. And it''s not like they''ll die from intoxication or poisoning as they''re bodies automatically cleanse all the substances that enter it.


    Another reason why Loki tried topete with Hestia is to ask her some questions regarding Kisuke and the rest. Although Hestia isn''t very good at keeping a straight face, and would always reveal how she''s feeling on her expressions, she knew how to keep secrets and no one could pry it from her mouth even intoxicated. Loki already knew that much as she knew Hestia from way before but it doesn''t really hurt trying.


    They finished their meals with Kisuke''s group satisfied while Riveria is bing increasingly frustrated. Even Lefiya, who looks up to her as her teacher felt incredulous as she can read her mood which she isn''t even very good at.


    As Finn and Gareth decided to leave this they could only to the increasingly pouty Riveria. At this moment, Riveria herself is very tempted to drink alcohol which she doesn''t like to drown her frustration.


    But just in time, Syr came with the empty sses that Kisuke requested after their meal, "Kisuke-san, here are the sses that you requested~." She then left without asking for their share as that would be rude.


    Kisuke then stood up and brought up the wooden jar on the table and attaching the two mechanical levers on top of it to serve as the pump. The wooden jar is divided in the middle so there are two types of drinks that Kisuke prepared that should also serve as dessert.


    Everyone stopped talking and curiously looked towards the jar. Although they aren''t interested in the drink itself, the strange device attracted their attention.


    Without minding them, Kisuke asked Yoruichi first, "Strawberry Cda Smoothie or Frosted Lemonade?"


    "Frosted Lemonade~." She answered.


    Due to the strange choices, however, some became interested in the drink itself.


    Ignoring them, Kisuke picked up one ss and ced it under the nozzle before pumping the lever. What came out is a milky-white foamy drink with a sweet and citrus scent, "Here you go~." He then ced it in front of Yoruichi and gave her a metal straw that he already prepared earlier.


    Yoruichi happily grabbed her ss and took a sip on it, "Great~. Just what I needed~. However�� It''s not very cold any more." She then faced a certain individual, "Sona-chan, please~."


    Sona nodded and pointed at her Frosted Lemonade, "I''ll get Strawberry Cda Smoothie." As she stated her request, a magic circle appeared on top of Yoruichi''s ss and instantly chilled the drink.


    "Thanks~."


    As someone who''s an aspiring mage, and witnessing it for the first time, Lefiya asked the High-Elf, "Riveria-sama�� Her chant or magic activation is weird. Why is that?"


    "��That''s not a chant."


    "Huh?"


    While confused, the rest of the girls also asked for their own drinks and Sona chilled them all which confused Lefiya even further, "Continuous activation after a single chant?" She couldn''t consider the possibility that Sona didn''t need a chant at all.


    "What about you four?" Kisuke asked the four girls who requested the non-alcoholic drink.


    "We''ll get the Frosted Lemonade." Riveria answered for all of them. And since there are no rejections, he served them their drinks, "Thank you."


    "Do you want it chilled?" Sona offered.


    "Please��" Riveria didn''t remove her hand on the ss as she wanted to feel and see the magic circle closer and the instant it appeared, she immediately tried to memorize it. However, of all the magic circle she had seen, not a single one of them even remotely resembles Sona''s magic circle.


    "Could it be that she didn''t need to chant?" Lefiya finally discovered the truth and looked towards Sona, "H-how?"


    However, thetter only smiled at her and didn''t answer her question.


    Since she couldn''t find any clues regarding her magic circle, Riveria became even more frustrated that she''s no regretting attending this celebration party. But as she sips on her Frosted Lemonade, her eyes opened widely and looked at it, "T-this is!?"


    This is the first time she lost herposure over a drink which shocked everyone.

 Volume 7 365 - Drinking Constest

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 365 - Drinking Constest</h4>


    Seeing Riveria''s unexpected reactions, Ais, Lefiya, and Line immediately took a sip on their chilled Frosted Lemonade, "W-what''s this��? It''s sweet, creamy, and citrusy�� Such a strangebination yet I can''t get enough!" Lefiya muttered while Ais and Line just happily sip theirs.


    "Never had anything like that?" Kisuke asked.


    Lefiya was startled that Kisuke suddenly talked to her but still answered, "N-no��"


    While taking a sip on his own drink, Kisuke exined, "It''s actually easy to make. It''s just thebination of lemonade and vani ice cream."


    "Vani ice cream?"


    "Hmm? You don''t know about the ice cream?"


    Lefiya shook her head.


    "I see�� So ice creams don''t make their rounds here�� Another one added to the menu~." Kisuke muttered as he celebrated the new addition to his totally-not-a-scam product lineups of overpriced items.


    "What''s that? Kisuke, give me some too!" Loki approached the girls after knocking Hestia out with liquor. The other girls of the Loki Familia also wanted to ask for some but they don''t know Kisuke or anyone from his group so they just watch the four from their enjoy it.


    "Ah sure~. Syr-san! Another ss please." After receiving the ss, Loki asked the same as the four girls from her Familia.


    "Woah!�� Did you invent this?" Loki asked after taking a sip from the otherworldly drink.


    "Nope. It''s amon drink from the ce where I came from."


    "Hmm��" While sipping, Loki saw Riveria''s rare frustrated expression and decided toe to her ''rescue'', "Alright! The night is still young so let''s have a drinking contest, Gareth!"


    Gareth chuckled at her invitation and epted, "Very well. I''ll best you at your own game."


    "By the way, the winner gets to do whatever they like with Riveria''s boobs!!" Loki suddenly dered and it was followed by cheers.


    "I''ll join!" "Me too!" "And me!!" "Same!!!" Since everyone already had their drink all of them were a bit tipsy, including Finn who Tione kept giving drinks for some reason, "Then me too~."


    "Captain!?" Tione grabbed his shoulder and tried to dissuade him.


    "R-Riveria-sama��" Lefiya called out to her superior in concern.


    Riveria only closed her eye and sip her drink, "Let them say what they will��" Riveria didn''t really care as Loki always wins and she could just bash her head when she tries something funny. However, Loki''s next words made her realized her ns.


    "What about you, Kisuke-kun? Want to join?" Loki suddenly invited him to join in the fun.


    "Oh? I can join? But is that fine with Riveria-san?" Kisuke asked.


    Loki looked at Riveria, and Riveria nodded, "Do whatever you want��" Riveria isn''t considering the consequences that she''ll be put on if Loki lost as she trusts her and nobody in the whole Orario could actually match her in drinking. Her focus is also on thinking of the questions she can as while Kisuke is intoxicated and putting herself on the risk is a small price to pay.


    "Then let me in~! Cheers!" Grabbing a mug of ale, Kisuke chugged the entirety of it, "Fuahh~! The winner will be me~!" But just after that one mug, Kisuke''s face became very red making the Loki Familia think that he''s a lightweight. However, Yoruichi and co only gave Riveria a pitying look. Riveria noticed this but didn''t mind it much as she knew Loki better than them.


    Seeing Kisuke became tipsy after just a mug, Bete sneered and suddenly proposed, "Beforepeting, why don''t you make a bet with me?" Ever since being scammed for the first time, he has always been looking for a chance to redeem himself when Kisuke arrived in the pub.


    Kisuke grabbed another mug and chugged on it, "Fuah~! Yeah??? Sure~!"


    Bete internallyughed thinking that he''s an idiot, "A drinking contest! If I win, you''ll give me that pepper spray of yours and I''ll empty that entire bottle on your face!"


    Kisuke looked at him with widened eyes and asked, "What if I win?"


    "What do you want?"


    Kisuke looked around with swimming eyes before answering with a big smile, "You pay for everyone''s drink~!"


    "Buhahaha! Fine! Drink up!" Bete took a mug full of ale and chugged it.


    And Kisuke did the same, "Great~!"


    Riveria was worried that Kisuke would go down immediately trying topete with Bete before she could even ask her questions, however, those worries are proven to be useless as, after half an hour of chugging, Bete fell down with his mouth frothing and his whole body convulsing. Seeing this, everyone from Loki Familia was dumbfounded because despite being on the lightweight side, it looks like Bete could easily handle Kisuke.


    But after the initial state of being tipsy, no matter how much Kisuke drink, it only worsened a little. They couldn''t tell if he''s really a lightweight or not.


    Swaying a little bit, Kisuke crouched down and called out for the frothing puppy, "Oi~. Bete-san~? *HIC*�� It''s your turn~! What are you doing down there?"


    Bete is already unconscious so he can''t answer but Kisuke pretended not to know that and gave a good loud p across his face, "Oi~! Bete-san! It''s your turn!"


    They were about to dere Kisuke the winner, but thanks to that loud and clear p, the everyone from the Loki Familia became frozen.


    "What~!? *HIC* Are you pretending to sleep so that you can skip a turn~!? That''s not good!" Bing ''infuriated'' with the ''cheating'' dog, Kisuke suddenly pulled a funnel out of nowhere and shoved it in his mouth and proceeded to drain a mug of ale on it, "You can''t skip your turn!" The poor mutt is being drowned in alcohol.


    Tiona immediately reacted and pulled Kisuke away from Bete, "Stop! Stop! Stop! He already can''t continue!!! You''re going to kill him! You already won! And why do you have a funnel with you!?"


    "I always have it with me just in case~," Kisuke answered while hanging on Tiona''s arms.


    "Just in case of what!?"


    "Some idiot pretends to sleep and skip a drink in our contest! It''s very convenient, you know~!"


    "Why are you prepared for that!!!?"


    Kisuke then proceeded to ignore her and stood up on his own, "So it''s my win~! Cheers! For all the drinks are free!!!"


    After his deration, everyone, including the members of the Loki Familia, cheered, "YEAH!!!"


    Leaving behind the dumbfounded Tiona and the almost drowned dog, Kisuke went to Loki and Gareth''s spot with swaying steps, "Now then~! *HIC* Whoever goes on my way to Riveria-san''s boobs will go down! Riveria-san''s boobs are mine!!!"


    Riveria almost choked on her drink after hearing Kisuke''s ''manifesto''. This is the first time she met someone who could spout such things aside from Loki and ended up blushing a bit while coughing. She then recalled the stares of pity that she received from Kisuke''spanions, ''It can''t be�� right?''


    While the men of Loki Familia didn''t know how to take that it, Loki and Gareth only bothughed out loud.


    "That''s riching from a brat who''s about to fall over! Riveria''s boobs are mine!" Loki said after downing a mug.


    "Fuahaha! I like your spirit, kid!" Gareth did the same and invited Kisuke to drink another one.


    Because of the question she kept asking Kisuke, she would regret ever agreeing to Loki''s proposal.

 Volume 7 366 - AHH~

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 366 - AHH~</h4>


    Concentrating on her current goal, while the Loki, Gareth, and Kisuke were drinking themselves to oblivion, Riveria would insert some questions for Kisuke about magic and even though he''s still guarded, more and more information is being revealed and that is making Riveria excited that she already forgot that her boobs are at stake.


    Thirty minutes in, Riveria already refrained herself from asking questions because Gareth was already out of their game among all other contenders from the Loki Familia including Finn. She''s now nervously staring Loki who looks like she''s already reaching her limit while Kisuke still looks the same since earlier.


    Loki, gauging herself, knew that she wouldn''tst long. However, she already forgot the contest they are having because she''s having fun talking to Kisuke and dissing Hestia who woke up and joined their little game.


    "By the way, *HIC* I''ve been meaning to ask~. Who among them is your lover? One of them is your lover, right? Who is it? I''m curious~." Loki asked.


    But instead of Kisuke, who''s thinking on how he should answer that question, Hestia stood up straight and blurted out for everyone to hear, "All of them!!! All of them are his lovers!!!"


    Everyone who''s still in the pub, including the waitresses and Mia herself, stopped what they are doing and looked towards Hestia before their gazes gravitated towards the ''drunk'' man with a bucket hat. And unprecedented silence covered the Hostess of Fertility for the first time since it started its business.


    Loki sobered up a little and looked towards Kisuke with a surprised expression, "��Is that true?"


    Kisuke continued chugging down his drink ignoring the weird atmosphere and answered casually, "Well, something like that~."


    Loki and everyone then looked towards Kisuke''spanions and didn''t see any weird reaction or rejection, "A harem�� This is my first time seeing one��" Someone muttered.


    "I''ve also heard one, but that''s a God�� This is the first time I''ve heard a mortal having a harem��" Someone else nodded.


    "He stepped on Gods'' domain��"


    "Fuahahaha! Is that so? Good job on that~!" Loki patted his shoulder inmendation, "Let''s continue drinking!!!�� Now that I think about it�� Riveria''s boobs are on the line! I''m not gonna surrender it to a pervert like you!!!"


    "Hahaha! That''s riching from a Goddess who sounded like a perverted Old man! I''m going to have Riveria-san''s boobs!" Kisuke couldn''t let go of Riveria�� Especially after all those questions. She has to pay.


    His lovers, Yoruichi, and co, already knew that Kisuke is only baiting Riveria so they could only give her a look of pity.


    Seeing those gazes again, Riveria became extremely nervous and for the first time, she begged Loki, "��L-Loki�� Don''t lose this one�� Please��"


    The girls of Loki Familia are looking back and forth between Kisuke and Loki anticipating the fate of Riveria''s boobs. They know that Loki wouldn''t lose but they still couldn''t help but be nervous. Some of them, however, is thinking of what would happen if Loki indeed loses this game. Since Kisuke confirmed if it is fine for Riveria, she can''t go back to her words because of her pride.


    Thirty minutester, the only ones left in the pub are Kisuke''s group, the Loki Familia, and the staff of the pub because Mia drove the people away who wanted to watch their game end. They didn''t put up much resistance because they knew Loki''s reputation of never losing in a drinking game and only wanted to watch how long the newbiest.


    However, contrary to their expectation, Kisuke is still swaying but he has been like this since hepeted with Bete while Loki is already gritting her teeth and already realized something, "Uhmm�� Riveria?"


    "Y-yes��?" The already pale Riveria answered.


    "We''ve been had��" Loki smiled wryly.


    "W-what do you mean, Loki? Stop joking�� This isn''t funny��" Riveria put another mug of ale in front of Loki as it is her turn now.


    Drinking all of its contents, Loki replied, "Guhh�� This bastard is never drunk from the start! How were you able to lie to me?"


    Since it''s his turn, Kisuke happily drunk through the mug of ale before answering, "That wrong, Loki-sama~. I''m drunk~." The sharpness in his eye then returned and he grinned, shocking both Riveria and Loki, "It''s just that�� My clear-headedness never went away like you thought it would~. It''s your turn now, Loki-sama~."


    "I see��" Loki finally understood the weird feeling he''s giving all this while, "Sorry�� I give up. I''m going to pass out with another one."


    "Loki!?" Riveria eximed.


    "L-Loki-sama lost? What will happen to Riveria-sama now?" Lefiya muttered with a mortified expression.


    Being reminded, everyone looked towards Riveria and Kisuke who''s chugging hisst ale to seal his victory, "Yay~. I won~."


    Struggling to sit straight up, Loki said, "Sorry, Riveria�� But you gotta let go of your boob rights for a few seconds."


    ''What the hell is boob rights?'' Everyone thought.


    Hearing this, Riveria started gnashing her shiny white teeth and is considering going back to her words, "��"


    Seeing this, Kisuke threw his final bait. He stood up and got ready to leave, "It''s fine. It''s fine. I''m already expecting that this won''t happen. After all, she''s proud Elf and wouldn''t let anybody touch her."


    After Kisuke''s words, blood rushed through Riveria''s head, ''What!? He''s already expecting this!? Hasn''t it been going ording to his expectations all this time? And me going back to my words is also included!? Damn him! I''m not going to break your expectations this time!'' Thanks to nervously watching earlier, Riveria had a few sips of alcohol which she doesn''t normally do and now that alcohol hindered her from realizing that Kisuke is only baiting her.


    Standing up, Riveria put on a serious expression, "You don''t have to leave yet! I''m not going back on my words!"


    "Riveria!?" Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya eximed as they''re expecting Riveria to disagree with this.


    Thinking that her choice is right since the girls are also expecting her to reject Kisuke''s advances, it boosted her confidence and urged the still standing Kisuke, "What are you waiting for? We don''t have all evening!"


    Kisuke''s grin became wider but he still asked for confirmation, "Are you sure?"


    "Yes! Get on with it!"


    He then suddenly approached her which startled her and making her back off a bit but Kisuke didn''t do anything further. Kisuke instead reached out for his sleeves and pressed a button hidden in it before he positioned his hands to as if he''s about to grope something.


    Seeing this, all of Riveria''s confidence disappeared and she closed her eyes while gritting her teeth and blushing for a bit. This is the first time that a man would ever touch her. She didn''t think it would happen today or this way.


    As Kisuke''s hands approach Riveria''s chest, everyone who''s still awake from the Loki Familia and the staff of the pub watched on the edge of their seats and didn''t dare to speak.


    A few inches away from her breast, Kisuke''s groping gesture suddenly changed into a pointing gesture. Thanks to observation ability, which he uses for all the inane things, Kisuke was able to identify where are Riveria''s nipples.


    Finding his targets, Kisuke immediately poked Riveria''s nipples which startles her greatly and blushing even more. However, she didn''t move or opened her eyes, thinking that it''s all of it.


    Of course, it''s Kisuke we are talking about and wouldn''t leave with just a targeted poke. Utilizing his Reiatsu-Ki, he sent a wisp of it in a particr way towards Riveria''s nipple. That wisp of Reiatsu-Ki is the culmination of his research with Yoruichi and Kuroka''s help.


    In an instant, Riveria felt the energy that Kisuke sent to her through her nipples running throughout her body anding back to her breasts.


    With a sleight of hand, Kisuke immediately pulled back his hands and took out a camera from his sleeves and did a burst shot.


    A secondter, Riveria''s blush deepens and became weak on her knees. She unconsciously closed her legs and covered her chest with her arms before letting out a sensual moan, "AHH~?!"


    Riveria fell down on her chair and realized what she just did and covered her mouth with her mouth.

 Volume 7 367 - The First Customer

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 367 - The First Customer</h4>


    Silence�� Different from the anticipatory silence from earlier, the pub is now covered in awkward silence. Even those who are downed due to alcohol except for Bete all instantly woke up with mouths wide open.


    Everyone''s stare is congregated on the High-Elf which is the source of that seductive moan and now covering her mouth with a red face not knowing what to do.


    During this time, they suddenly heard clicking sounds from the person who started all of this and gathered everyone''s attention. On his hand is a ck box with strange protrusion and buttons.


    The man himself has arge grin on his face and said, "Yay~. I got something good~."


    After saying so, Kisuke took back his camera and decided to leave. Signaling the girls, they all stood up and started walking towards the exit while ignoring everyone''s stares. Yoruichi grabbed the unconscious Hestia via princess carry and followed everyone.


    Seeing that Kisuke was about to leave, Riveria muttered while shaking, "W-what d-did you�� do?" Her question pertains to several things including the function of the ck box, his method of reducing her to this state, and his goal.


    Before exiting the pub, Kisuke turned around and smiled, "Did you think that you could get away with those questions for free? Then let me tell you this, there''s nothing more expensive than free. That man told you, right? Be wary of my prices and this is the price for those information and trying to trick me in answering your questions." He then followed his girls outside to go home.


    The silence continued for a few minutes and Riveria was able to calm herself down sufficiently and stood up, intending to leave, "I''m going first." She hurriedly exited the pub to escape with a still blushing face.


    "R-Riveria-sama!" "Riveria!" Ais, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione and some other girls immediately chased after her.


    Finn couldn''t stop himself from asking anymore, "What was that?"


    "W-who knows��" Loki replied, "But that''s the first time I''ve seen Riveria make that kind of expression. I don''t know if I should be happy or pissed that someone else pulled out that expression from her." After hearing Riveria''s first-ever moan, she instantly sobered up.


    "To reduce the prideful Elf just like that�� He''s a terrifying kid��" Garethmented.


    "I told you, right? That kid is dangerous." Loki added and Finn and Gareth indeed recall those words from her.


    That night, Riveria didn''te out of her room no matter how much the others call for her.


    The next day noon, Riveria finally came out but she pretended that nothing out of ordinary happened yesterday and when she caught someone talking about the events of thest night, she''ll use her authority to send them to annoying errands or ask them to train by running around the whole Twilight Manor fifty times. Just an overnight, she became a tyrant.


    However, not everyone is afraid to poke fun of her as Loki kept pestering her despite her bad mood.


    Whileying on the floor after being smacked on the head, Loki asked as she noticed that Riveria is getting ready to leave, "Where are you going?"


    "To that man, Kisuke Urahara''s ce," Riveria answered simply.


    Loki looked at her with a dumbfounded expression before descending intoughter, "Ahahaha! Great! I assure you that you''ll finally break that guy''s expectation! But be sure not to kill him~."


    "No way I''m going to do that. I''m going there for a proper business."


    Loki could only smile while watching her leave.


    .


    .


    Early in the morning, everyone woke up pretty early, including Hestia, which shocked everyone, "What? Is it so surprising that I woke up early!?"


    "Yes." Everyone simultaneously answered.


    "Ugh��" She can''t really say anything back as she''s living a pretty carefree life, "I''m going out to invite the cksmith that I know. It might take some time, but it shouldn''tst for three days."


    "That long? Where are you going?" Kisuke asked.


    "She''s a very person so it might take some time to convince her."


    "I see�� Please be careful."


    After breakfast and dressing up, Hestia went away with jolly steps.


    "What about you girls?"


    "We''re all going to the Dungeon. I''ll be leading them to the 16th and 17th floor where they could bash the heads of the Minotaurs to removed their lingering fear of them." Yoruichi answered.


    "Then I''ll be manning the shop today while I arrange some of the data I got from the Dungeon." Kisuke then gave her kiss to the forehead.


    Smiling brightly, Yoruichi replied, "We''ll be back early in the afternoon~." Before walking away.


    However, instead of following her, the girls lined up in front of Kisuke, "I can understand Sona and Medusa�� Even Aika and Koneko�� Why even you, Kuroka?"


    "I don''t want to be left out, nya~! And besides, you should just ept me! You know I''m not going to let anybody touch me anymore, so you gotta take the responsibility, nya~!"


    "Don''t want to be left out? But you''re in front of the line��"


    "It''s called preemptive strike, nya~. They''re too slow."


    ''Well, it''s not like I''m not expecting this to happen�� I guess I''m blessed enough in this life to have everyone''s affection.'' Kisuke sighed and gave her a kiss on her forehead.


    "Thanks, nya~!" Kuroka wanted to ask something of another level like a kiss on her lips but stopped herself since there''s still a long line behind her. But before separating from Kisuke, Kuroka gave him a wink and said, "I''d like to schedule a sessionter~." She then hurriedly followed Yoruichi.


    Kisuke has a feeling that they will be going all the wayter and could only smile wryly, ''My first world problems��''


    Kisuke then proceeded to give everyone a forehead kiss and watch them leave before leaving for his Candy Shop that he''ll be manning for today.


    The whole morning went without any disturbance which is good for Kisuke''s research and bad for his business. But it wasn''t until noon that an unexpected guest or customer arrived, "Oh my�� I wasn''t expecting this after what happened thest night�� Good afternoon to you, Riveria-san."


    Riveria blushed for a bit after hearing him mentioning thest, "Good afternoon to you too, Kisuke Urahara-san. But it''s really hard to believe that you''re not expecting me�� After ying with mest night."


    "Please just call me Kisuke. And believe me that I''m not really expecting you toe today. I predicted that you''ll onlye a week or twoter. After all, what I did isn''t very ttering."


    Riveria''s blush grew deeper and said, "Please stop mentioning thest night. It was also my fault for trying to trick information from you and I sincerely apologize. So please forget what happenedst night."


    ''That''s impossibel~. But since you apologized, I won''t be mentioning it for about an hour~.'' Kisuke thought but he didn''t say it out loud, "What''s the purpose of your today''s visit, I wonder? I doubt it''s for the candies on my shelves that attracted you."


    Riveria is unsatisfied that she didn''t get a reply of promise from Kisuke but set it aside for now and answered his question, "I''m here for a formal business�� Regarding your magic��"


    "I see��" Kisuke then stood up, "I''m about to have lunch. Please join me." He then invited her to the inner portion of the shop for lunch and private talks.


    Riveria finally remembered that she hasn''t had lunch or breakfast yet as she''s too busy ''silencing'' people in the Loki Familia and reluctantly agreed to Kisuke''s offer, "��Thank you."

 Volume 7 368 - Isnt Magic

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 368 - Isn''t Magic</h4>


    Inside the living space of the store, Riveria looked around curiously and asked, "Did you came from the Far East?"


    "Something like that," Kisuke answered vaguely and led Riveria to the dining area, "Please sit down. I''ll prepare for lunch."


    But instead of sitting down, Riveria asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"


    "You''re a guest, Riveria-san. You can take it easy."


    "Well, I came uninvited and you''re treating me to lunch so maybe I could assist you with something."


    "Thank you, but I can manage." Kisuke brought a warm tea for Riveria to help her wait.


    Riveria didn''t insist anymore and just sat down quietly and watched Kisuke do his work on the kitchen through the counter while sipping on her tea. And since it''ll be boring and awkward to just wait in silence, Riveria initiated a conversation, "Forgive for asking, but where are your lo-�� I mean the other members of your Familia?" She was about to say ''lovers'' but figured that it was a bit inappropriate so she changed her question.


    Kisuke didn''t mind her consideration and answered honestly, "They''re in the dungeon. They''re aiming to reach Level 2 within a few days. Arshe-san should be with them too."


    Riveria is interested in how Line joined their party and learned her magic, but she''s more curious about another thing, "T-they''re not yet Level 2 after that battle? How? That achievement should be enough to instantly push them to a level up."


    "Because they''re not yet satisfied�� There''s no need to level up if you can improve further at that level."


    "But it''ll be extremely slow and hard to gain more excelia after that. Since they were able to defeat Minotaurs, their status should be on top than others of the same level. It would be faster to just level up and gain more excelia easier."


    "Riveria-san�� They''ll be only level 1s once and they wanted to gain every benefit they can. True, it''s more efficient if they just level up as it''ll really be easier that way�� But you see, in considering the future, efficiency isn''t always the answer. In addition, we really don''t like taking the easy route if we can do better at the harder path." Kisuke then faced Riveria with a smile, "And most importantly, we don''t care how others level up. We''ll do what we think is best for us. Even if we take years for a single level, if that can help us in the future better, then we''ll work hard for those few years."


    Riveria''s eyes widened hearing that. She then smiled wryly, "I''m sorry�� I just realized how stupid that question was�� What you said is true�� One shouldn''tpare oneself to others and just do their best in their field that they enjoy. And truly�� Efficiency isn''t about everything when getting stronger. It seems that my years of adventuring blinded me of something that should be obvious��"


    "Well, I can''t really me you. Withpetition everywhere, you just have to get strong faster so that you won''t be overtaken. And feelings of impatience due to some goals should have added to that. There are ways to get stronger faster but one should never get impatient."


    "You''re right�� And you just reminded me of someone who''s on the verge of impatience."


    "Then you should immediately warn that guy�� He''ll only get killed faster."


    "I''m always doing it�� It''s just that she''s really too impatient to achieve her goal�� And it isn''t even a very good goal."


    Kisuke knew that she''s referring to the Sword Princess but didn''t say anything about it, "Whether the goal is good or bad, it''s only the person who has it can decide that."


    Riveria looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, "Your words are like that of an old man who had already seen most of the world�� Just how old are you?"


    "Ahaha, please don''t call me an old man~. I''m just a 17-year old business man~."


    "��" Most of the time, Riveria feels like she''s talking with a child when conversing with Kisuke, however, from time to time, it feels like she''s asking advice from a senior. Shaking that out her mind, Riveria asked another thing she''s curious about, "You said there are other ways to get stronger aside from leveling up��"


    "Ah, about that, its- "Wait!" ", In the middle of his sentence, Riveria suddenly interrupted him, "I don''t want to hear it without hearing about the price first!" She already learned from her mistakes�� the hard way.


    Kisuke couldn''t help but chuckle thinking that he had traumatized the poor Elf of acquiring free knowledge, "You don''t have to worry about that. It isn''t much of a secret and you could just answer my questions in exchange."


    "��No hidden charges?"


    "None!"


    Riveria sighed in relief, "Then please go on."


    Feigning a cough, Kisuke continued, "Ehem�� To tell you the other way to get stronger, let me ask you this first. It seems that all of the Adventurers that I came across are only relying on the Skills and Developmental Abilities they have to progress their technique�� Why is that?"


    Riveria tilted her head and rubbed her chin in contemtion, "Why you ask�� Aside from relying on those, what else can you do?"


    "Are you serious?" It was Kisuke''s turn to be dumbfounded, ''Are they this reliant on the system? Isn''t that pretty bad if you want to reach the higher levels? After all, the stats that each level provides isn''t enough to fight in the higher levels.''


    "��Yes�� What''s wrong with that?" Riveria is confused with his reaction.


    "How do people practicebat?"


    "Sparring and monster hunting. Either of those."


    "��Are there no systematic art or school of martial arts being practice anywhere?"


    "Systematic art? School of martial arts? I''m not very well versed with frontline fighters so I''m not sure��"


    "Okay�� I already figured it out with that answer." Kisuke wanted to do a facepalm but he''s currently frying some chicken so he can''t, ''So they went full practical and didn''t even develop any martial arts? No�� That''s impossible�� There should be some but it should be incredibly rare. I guess you can''t defeat an Adventurer who devoted 10 years to reach a high level just with a master ss martial artist who devoted his whole life to the art.


    "What''s wrong with it?"


    "Nothing�� Nothing is wrong about that�� It''s just that�� I can''t really easily exin it with words." Kisuke then looked around the room and decided to just show it to her, "I guess I have to sacrifice that cup�� Please throw that cup to me." Kisuke pointed at the empty teacup in front of Riveria.


    Riveria is still confused about his reaction and wanted to know what he wants to do, so without hesitation, she tossed the cup towards Kisuke.


    When it''s about to reach Kisuke, he raised the wooden chopstick that he''s holding and as slow as possible, he cut the iing cup into two using it before catching the broken cup with his other hand, "This is what I''m talking about! For your information, this isn''t magic."


    "W-what!?" Riveria couldn''t believe what she just saw.

 Volume 7 369 - The Sixth Basic Parameter

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 369 - The Sixth Basic Parameter</h4>


    Riveria stood up and approached the counter where Kisuke ced the bisected cup to continue his cooking.


    Riveria grabbed the cup and examined it carefully, "How did you do it? Is it not really magic nor skill?" She also looked towards the chopstick that Kisuke used to cut the cup and figured that nothing is special about it.


    "It''s a technique known as Suikawari (Watermelon Splitting). A simple sword art that focuses on cutting."


    "Suikawari?" Riveria knew that if Ais, who''s the best swordsman among them, did the same, she''ll just smash through the cup instead of cutting it.


    Kisuke didn''t answer her as he didn''t need to and ced thest chicken being fried on the te he prepared and proceeded to make some soup.


    Riveria sat back down and stayed quiet for a moment to think of what she just witness, "So you''re saying that this isn''t a skill or magic that is granted by a God''s blessing?"


    "Yep�� It''s a skill that doesn''t rely on Falna�� Even without it, I can still perform it��"


    "Although it''s possible for magic�� I didn''t know that it''s also possible for martial arts�� I didn''t even know that this branch of power exists. I''ve read it from some books, but I thought those are just fantasies and myth��"


    "Fantasies�� huh�� If you think that''s the case, then these kinds of arts must be almost extinct if not entirely."


    "But how can you use it? Although it isn''t magic, if it''s a technique, there should be some energy fluctuation from the Mind��"


    Kisuke stayed silent and Riveria thought that that particr information already has a price and she''s right. A few secondster, Kisuke turned his head to her and said, "Say, why don''t we exchange basic parameters. More specifically one of my Familia member''s basic parameters with your basic parameters from Level 1 to 6."


    Riveria furrowed her brows at Kisuke ridiculous offer. Why would she trade her basic parameter information from levels 1 to 6 for the basic parameter information of a rookie? However, she didn''t immediately reject the idea as she knew that Kisuke''s offer isn''t that simple, "Is that the price?"


    "Yes�� And I don''t think you''ll regret this trade." Kisuke asked for her parameters because he wanted to estimate the strength of those in the higher echelons of Adventuring.


    Riveria didn''t agree immediately and contemted silently for a few minutes. She then reached a decision and asked, "Do you have any parchment, pen, and ink I can use to write on?"


    "I don''t have parchment, but I do have something you can use." Kisuke then pointed at the corner of the room, "Please open that drawer and you''ll see what you need."


    Riveria followed Kisuke instruction and opened the table drawer in the corner of the room and found two things, "This is�� paper? Such great quality�� Where did you get this? And�� What''s this cylindrical object?" Riveria brought both of them back to the table as they''re the only items in the drawer.


    Kisuke did a taste test of the soup and thought that it''s already enough and turned off the me. He then took off his apron and approached Riveria to show her how it''s used. Kisuke grabbed the cylindrical object and removed its cap, revealing the tip of the ballpoint pen before giving it to Riveria, "This is a pen. Use it like how you would a dip pen."


    Riveria inspected pen which is very different from the feather quill pen that she knew. Momentster, she inspected enough and tried writing her name on the paper provided. She''s amazed at how clean and thin the resulting ink is and even tried to touch it but it didn''t even smudge, ''Did he use monster blood for this?''


    However, that is not important right now and continued writing while Kisuke went back to the kitchen to prepare everything else so that they could have lunch. A few minutester, Riveria finished writing and waited for Kisuke.


    Everything is already done and all that is needed is to set the food, however, Kisuke thought that it would be a good idea to write Koneko''s basic parameters first and exchange it with Riveria so that they would have something to talk about during their meal.


    Kisuke wrote Koneko''s parameters and gave it to Riveria and Riveria gave hers to Kisuke. She didn''t know why, but she trusted Kisuke more than those who disy themselves as perfect gentlemen. Maybe she preferred Kisuke''s straightforward personality, although she doesn''t really like his tricky side.


    Kisuke read through her status andmented, "So you have more bnced parameters on lower levels while you be more and more focused on Magic parameter in yourter levels."


    However, Riveria didn''t listen to a thing that he said and just nkly stared at Koneko''s parameters, ''What''s this!? It''s very surprising that she went through the supposed limit of parameters but why is there a new basic parameter!? What does this mean!?''


    While waiting for Riveria to arrange her thoughts and respond, Kisuke brought their meal on the table.


    It was until Kisuke ced a te and utensils in front of her that she reacted, "What''s this!? This is impossible! I know all of the Adventurers only has five basic parameters! Why would someone have six!?"


    Not minding her energetic reaction, Kisuke responded casually while also starting his meal, "Did you think that Mana�� or this case, Magic is the only superpower in the world?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Mana�� Or Mind is how you call it, is the energy that gives power to Magic or most of the supernatural thing. Ki, on the other hand, is the life force itself. It''s the innate power of almost all living beings has and emit. Tapping on this power also gives you strength."


    "Could it be�� Another power system that we aren''t aware of? And the sh you did just now?"


    "Correct. It used Ki�� My own vitality to perform it."


    "Why��? Why haven''t we discovered it until now?"


    Kisuke just smiled, "Hmm? Dunno~. It''s probably because it''s harder to detect what''s already part of you as opposed to the shy things magic could do."


    Riveria then proceeded to calm herself down and started eating the food in front of her, "Thank you." Aside from shock, an unprecedented amount of excitement started to fill Riveria as a new and unknown path of knowledge opened in front of her. And aside from that, fear also started to take root on her because she got it ''too cheap'' and is horrified by Kisuke''s non-mary price.


    A few secondster, she said, "My basic parameters isn''t enough�� Would you like to see the rest of my status?"


    "Oh? Is that fine?"


    "It''s fine�� And honestly, I would really be happy if you would take a look at it! I''m really afraid now because maybe you have hidden charges for this!" Information about the sixth basic parameter, her own status information is a cheap price to pay.


    Kisuke chuckled, "Well, I''ll be taking your kind offer~." And Riveria happily wrote down her magic, skills, and developmental abilities. It''s a dangerous move for her, but she wanted to gain some trust from him as she needed him to teach her more than just about the sixth parameter.


    But before she could finish writing, Kisuke perked up his head and smiled, "Looks like I have some more guest today~."


    Riveria looked at him curiously and a few secondster, a voice she''s familiar with came calling from outside, "Excuse me~! Anyone in there?"

 Volume 7 370 - Treasuring Feelings

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 370 - Treasuring Feelings</h4>


    "Excuse me~! Anyone in there!?" Tiona''s voice rang out from the outside of the shop.


    "How did you notice her before she even called out?" Riveria faced Kisuke.


    "I told you, right? Ki is an innate power that almost all living being has and emit."


    "So you''re also able to detect other''s Ki? That''s very useful�� I don''t know why she''s here, but what do you want to do?"


    Kisuke stood up and went back to the kitchen, "Invite them in. They''re going to know sooner orter that you came here and it''s better to just show yourself to them." He then grabbed more chicken and some shrimp from the fridge to fry more to amodate the additional guests.


    Riveria nodded and stood up and exited the room.


    .


    .


    .


    Ais has been overthinking the mysterious man''s words who they met on the deeper floor, ''Single-minded pursuit without losing sight of those around you�� But I don''t have anything left or any time for other things aside from getting stronger as soon as possible��''


    Tiona noticed her staring nkly towards nothing in particr and if this is the Ais that she knows, she''ll be diving in the Dungeon as of now. She doesn''t know what she''s thinking, but she doesn''t like the expression Ais is making so without further ado, Tiona suddenly invited her to go shopping with her along with the forcefully dragged Tione and Lefiya.


    "Why''d you force me toe with you?" Tione asked her sister while yawning.


    "Isn''t it nice once in a while? Nothing like shopping to get you going!" Tiona replied with a carefree smile on her face.


    Lefiya then curiously asked, "Tiona-san, what do you n on purchasing?"


    "Clothes! Let''s go clothes shopping! You okay with that, Ais?"


    "S-sure." Ais could only agree.


    "There''s a ce that Tione and I go to all the time~."


    "Eh-!?" Lefiya suddenly got a bad feeling, "A ce you two often visit��" And just as she expected, they arrived at the shop called Terra Frime, "This�� This ce is��" Lefiya muttered with a shaking voice. They just entered a shop that sells clothes for Amazoness and Amazoness clothing doesn''t really cover very many skins. By just looking at the line up of clothes, Lefiya and Ais couldn''t help blushing.


    "It''s been ages. Maybe I could let loose a little~." Tionemented and came to Ais''s left side.


    "Ah, new designs are in! Come on, Ais, Take a look!" Tiona came to the other side of Ais.


    Since she''s just standing in front of the store, Tiona and Tione dragged Ais to enter the shop, "A-Ais-saaan!!!"


    Tiona and Tione kept offering Ais ''clothes'' and Ais could only mutter iprehensible words in embarrassment while Lefiya used her own body to block the two Amazoness. The group ended up not buying a single thing because Ais is very reluctant in wearing any of them so Lefiya suggested the shop she''s frequenting.


    Opposite of the Amazoness shop, the Elf shop is full of frilly dresses. Lefiya kept grabbing heavy clothes and pushing them to Ais. Although Ais could wear them, she thinks that those clothes are actually heavier than her armor.


    While Lefiya is looking around for more dresses, Ais sneaked out of the shop and started walking aimlessly thinking about Kisuke''s words again, trying to understand them, ''I don''t know this area�� I always head right back into the Dungeon even after expeditions�� So this is new to me�� Why am I not in the Dungeon now? Getting stronger should be more important than anything��''


    In the middle of her contemtion, Tione, who''s standing in front of a certain shop and product suddenly called out to Ais, "Oh Ais, what''s wrong?"


    Ais was pulled out of her thoughts, "��Tione��"


    "This street really has all kinds of shops so I went exploring." Tione took back her gaze and put it back on the disyed dress in front of the shop, "See any clothes you want to try?"


    Ais looked down, "�� I don''t know. I''ve only ever thought about how to get stronger�� I don''t know anything else��"


    Tione could only smile wryly hearing that "I see."


    Ais then looked towards the dress that caught Tione''s attention, "Isn''t this�� A wedding dress? Do you want to wear one, Tione?"


    "Hmmm? Back in the day, I wasn''t interested in men either. My sister and I were considered strange among the amazons. Even the first time I saw the captain, I thought he was just some Prum."


    Ais nodded in agreement, "Mm�� But Finn''s really strong."


    Tione continued her story, "There''s a tapestry of a Goddess hanging in his office. Her name is Phiana, a mythical Goddess that many Prums believed in with all their hearts.


    "Eventually, a group of Prum knights united under her banner despite never seeing their Goddess. And of course, when the real Gods descended, there was no sign of her.


    "The Prums were devastated, spirits broken, their civilization fell into ruin almost overnight. Nowadays, you don''t hear many stories about Prum heroes or legends. Even as Adventurers, most of them end up as supporters or working in the rear. The entire race is in decline.


    "The captain came to Orario on a mission to revitalize his people. He''s fighting for the sake of every Prum in the world and every Prum that will be born in the future. He''s risking his life for a chance to be their new pride."


    Tione then smiled brightly towards Ais, "Once I learned about the enormous burden he carries�� For the first time in my life�� I fell in love with a man. I wanted to be special to him. That''s why my goal now is to someday wear this dress next to the captain~!"


    Just for a moment, Ais thought that she saw Tione wearing the wedding dress on disy and she''s shining brightly.


    "��Ais�� Once I met the captain�� I found a goal other than bing strong within Loki Familia. Tiona and Lefiya are spreading their wings�� Finding things just as important to them as their own growth. So there''s only one thing that I can tell you now, why don''t you try finding something that you can treasure aside from your singr wish of getting stronger?"


    Ais'' eyes opened wide but she immediately closed it again, "Is that so�� I see�� Maybe�� But for me��" ''For me, I''ve already lost everything�� Only getting stronger is left��"


    Tione figured that Ais is thinking that she doesn''t have anything else aside from getting stronger, so she added, "You know, I really think the reason we go into the Dungeon as a party isn''t just because it''s more efficient. Everyonees with their own reasons and history�� But no matter the situation, no matter the ce�� If we''re together, we can fight without throwing that away."


    She brushed Ais'' cheek with her hand, "Ais, we''re here with you. You were never alone. It would be really wonderful if don''t just consider us as fellow Familia or party members, but friends that you can rely on and share your feelings."


    "My feelings?"


    "Yep~. Your feelings! You should be more vocal about it so that we can understand each other better! And maybe down the road, find a man that you can be with�� Wait�� Scratch that�� Loki will probably kill that guy. Look, what I mean is, I can fight at least 50% stronger whenever the captain''s around. Doubling when he''s watching me!"


    Ais touched her cheek where Tione brushed, ''Single-minded pursuit without losing sight of those around you.'' She then looked towards Tiona and Lefiya who''re running towards their direction and identally bumped into a short twin-tailed Goddess who''s carrying a white and blue dress, ''Somehow�� Although not entirely, I understood what he meant��''


    "My bad, Amazon-kun! I''m in a hurry!"


    "Ah�� Hestia-sama�� Okay��" Tiona could only blindly stare at the leaving figure.


    "Are you all right, Tiona-san?" Lefiya asked in concern because she suddenly stopped, "Look, Ais-san is right over there."


    "That''s Hestia-sama�� Right? The one we met in the pub?"


    "��Yes."


    "I didn''t notice it until now�� The cute little Goddess�� Her chest was so huge!" Tiona cried out.


    Tione and Lefiya ignored Tiona''s cries and nned for their next destination.


    "Grrr!! Don''t ignore me! The two of you betrayed me once already!"


    "What are you even saying��?" Tione asked in an exasperated tone.


    "Like I care! Because our next stop is the lingerie sho ''Nudist''!"


    Just the name of the shop startled Ais and was pulled from her thoughts again as she watches the rowdy bunch.


    "I refuse to be seen at such obscene establishment! If we must, we should go to my usual ce, ''Pure White Lingeries''!" Lefiya immediately retorted.


    "If it''s underwear, I know a good store too. Lots of sexy one for grown-ups." Tione suggested.


    Ais honestly think that what they''re doing is very embarrassing and couldn''t help but look around to change the topic. By doing so, a dress caught her attention, ''Everyone is with me�� So I''ll try�� To treasure my feelings and find that important thing��'' She then called everyone''s attention, "Uhmm�� I want to go to that shop."


    Ais came out of the shop wearing a white one-piece dress with golden linings which heartened her golden hair. Looking at the group of girls watching her, a smile went up to her face and said, "Thank you, everyone."


    Because of that smile, they descended into the chaos of who should hug Ais and a few minutester, they decided that they hadn''t had enough and continued shopping for all sorts of things since this is also a rare chance for Ais to take it easy.


    Around noontime, because of Ais insistence, the group arrived at the deserted eastern shop that is near the abandoned church on the east side of Orario.


    But even after Tiona called out, nobody came out.


    Outside, Tiona, Tione, Ais, and Lefiya are peeking through the door of the shop but saw no one inside, "Are they closed?" Tiona asked.


    "But the doors are open�� So the shopkeeper is probably just inside getting something." Tione replied.


    "Ais-san�� Just what do you need from this ce?" Lefiya asked.


    "��Pepper spray." Ais answered. But more than that, she wanted to know more about the effect of the time stasis on her body.


    "Pepper spray? Why does that sound familiar?" Tiona asked.


    "That''s the first time I''ve heard of that though? What''s pepper spray?" Lefiya asked again in confusion.


    "Did you seriously forgot?" Tione sighed at her sister''s poor memory, "It''s the thing that blinded Bete and the reason he''s in debt."


    Tiona indeed recalled a scene like that, "Ah�� The pepper spray! Wait�� Isn''t the owner of that��"


    Tione nodded as she knew who is she thinking, "Right�� The pervert who�� did that to Riveriast night."


    "What!?" Lefiya eximed, "Let''s go home now and not disturb him! There''s no one here anyway, so he''s probably in the Dungeon."


    The three indeed thought that maybe Kisuke is in the Dungeon and was about to go home, however, before they can turn around, someone, who they are never expecting, came out of the shop, "You''re making too much noise, Lefiya."


    Then all of them simultaneously eximed, "R-Riveria!!?" "Riveria-sama!!?"

 Volume 7 371 - Insurance Material Acquired

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 371 - Insurance Material Acquired</h4>


    The group of four followed Riveria inside the shop while staring nkly at her and now they''re inside the living room when Kisuke came out of the kitchen bringing food, "Have you had your lunch yet?"


    The ever so honest Tiona immediately answered, "No, we haven''t"


    "Great, please join us. This is too much for just the two of us."


    The four girls looked at each other not knowing what to do and then looked towards Riveria who sat down on the dining table to continue her meal, "Can we sit there?" Tione pointed at the group of a couch with a center table at the center.


    "Sure, go ahead." Kisuke then proceeded to ce the food on the center table and gave everyone enough utensils to use.


    The girls then absentmindedly thank Kisuke for the meal and quietly sat around the center table. They all grabbed their foods in an awkward while also quietly staring at Kisuke''s retreating back until he sat back down in front of Riveria to finish his food.


    "Are you sure you don''t want to say something?" Kisuke asked the Elf in front of him.


    Riveria finally had a chance to taste the food as the arrival of the girls made her put her thoughts back in ce and is now enjoying the simple but richly vored fried foods, "Let them be. If I say something now, it''lle out as me being defensive. By the way, how can you pull out this kind of vor?"


    ''I wonder if that''s a good idea��'' Kisuke thought, but he instead entertained Riveria''s question because he knew that Riveria doesn''t want to talk about their previous topic with others around, "I used some herb and spices on the batter. If you want I can give you the recipe."


    "That would be wonderful." Riveria smiled as she likes cooking in her free time if she''s not studying. It''s one way she relieves her stress.


    While the two are casual talking, Tiona couldn''t help but whisper to Lefiya, "Hey�� Lefiya�� Do the Elves have a strange tradition that they could only be touch by one man in their whole life?"


    "As far as I know�� There''s nothing like that��"


    "They why is she talking casually to that guy? Shouldn''t she hate his guts?"


    "I-I don''t know��"


    Tione then suggested something absurd as she recalls the events ofst night, "��Could it be she finally awakened her sexual urges and here for the continuation of that?"


    Ais and Lefiya were heated up when the image of Riveria seductively moaning entered their heads, ''A continuation of that?''


    However, their heads instantly cooled down when they suddenly felt an unnaturally but familiar stare. They then looked towards the source of it who''s Riveria, "Stop saying that nonsense. I''m here for official business."


    If re could kill, there would be multiple holes in their bodies. They couldn''t meet her re so they just focused on the food which they found delicious and just kept eating it to forget about the ''predator'' watching them.


    Riveria didn''t continue ring at them for long and asked, "Anway, what are you doing here?"


    Since the other three are still afraid, Ais answered her, "��I want pepper spray. I heard that I could get it here."


    "Pepper spray?" Riveria turned to Kisuke, "You''re selling it here?"


    "I don''t�� But if she got a referral, then I can." Kisuke then asked Ais, "Wallenstein-san, who told you could buy it here?"


    "Sona Sitri�� I met them outside the dungeon along with Line and asked if you''re selling those."


    "What are you going to use it for? I doubt that you need it."


    "It''s very hard for me to hold back and I didn''t want to hurt people�� so��" Ais voice trailed off, but she''s hoping that Kisuke would understand her plight.


    And indeed, Kisuke understood her problem, "I see�� So even as strong as you are, you''re still a very beautiful maiden. You''d be the target of rude gazes all the time."


    Ais felt a little embarrassed beingplimented straightforwardly and nodded, "I can''t hurt them�� I''ll cause trouble for everyone��"


    Hearing this, the Hiryute sisters immediately reacted, "What are you talking about Ais!? If you don''t like it, just give them a punch on the face! No need to hold back!"


    "That''s right! If anyone aside from captain took liberties from me, I''ll beat them until I broke all of his limbs!"


    "Ais-san! You could also tell Loki-sama about those guys! I''m sure she''ll do something!" Lefiya also suggested.


    Ais then told Lefiya with a straight face, "I''ll also use it against Loki."


    She couldn''t say anything back after that.


    Kisuke chuckled and said, "I can give it to you."


    However, like Riveria, Ais doesn''t want to fall for his tricks and asked, "For what price?"


    "Don''t worry about it. Riveria-san will cover the cost."


    "Huh? Wait! I want to hear how much it cost first!" Riveria wouldn''t ept it.


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Just think of it as an addition to things that will stop you from tricking me."


    Riveria''s mouth twitches and muttered, "Tricking you�� you say��"


    "Yep. I''m just a small business owner, after all, and you''re from one of thergest and strongest Familia in Orario. I need some insurance."


    "Wait�� You mentioned one of the things��" Riveria finally noticed something wrong with his words, "What are the others?" She asked nervously.


    Pretending that he only remembered now, Kisuke took out a small ck box with several buttons on its surface, "Oh�� oh right�� You don''t know about this�� I forgot."


    Even though she doesn''t know what this box does, bad premonition entered her mind and asked, "W-what''s that?"


    Kisuke''s smile became bigger and pressed the button in the middle of the box, "Something I saved for posterity."


    They were all wondering what he meant but a few secondster, they were all frozen on their spots as a familiar voice came out of the ck box, "AHH~?."


    It repeated for a few more times before the shaking and almost teary-eyed Elf jumped on Kisuke to grab the ck box without regard to herself, "Stop!!!" The image that Riveria built this past few decades was broken with just a single recording by the nefarious shopkeeper.


    Kisuke dodged the Elf by stepping the to the side before she could even make her move and kept the high-definition sound recorder.


    Gritting her teeth and ring at grinning Kisuke, Riveria spoke, "What do you mean insurance? That''s ckmail!"


    "Insurance and ckmail�� I hear the same thing. For someone like me who has a very weak positionpared to you, it''s essential."


    Riveria agreed to what he said. Right now, she needs something from him and with their position, she has the power to push him around. Although she wouldn''t do it, it''s a real concern and to promote proper exchange between them with ssified information, it''s essential to have almost the same position or power.


    However, she still couldn''t calm down despite that. Even if that recording couldn''t hurt her, her image would be and even if she doesn''t care about her image, she''d be too embarrassed to go out if that were to spread.


    Kisuke just got hold of one of the weaknesses of the prideful Elf.

 Volume 7 372 - Basis of Trust

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 372 - Basis of Trust</h4>


    Thanks to Riveria''s urging and threatening re, the group of four girls hurriedly finished their meal. Within just a few minutes, the girls finished their food and took turns to say their goodbyes. They don''t want to get involved whenever Riveria is angry.


    Before they left, however, Kisuke passed Ais the pepper spray that she wanted along with a white envelope, "Please pass this to Loki-sama once you got back."


    Ais received both things and inspected the envelope. There seems to be a letter inside but it sealed so she can''t check what''s inside. Ais looked towards Kisuke, who''s still receiving a scary re from Riveria and still has a big smile over his face, and nodded, "I''ll deliver it��"


    "Thank you." Kisuke was about to turn to Riveria when Ais suddenly called out to him, "Uhmm, excuse me��"


    The other three girls looked at her curiously while Riveria could only sigh, "Hmm? What is it?" Kisuke asked.


    "I''d like to consult you about something some other time��"


    "Ah�� I can see what you need and that guy probably told you toe to me. Don''t worry about that. Riveria-san and I will be discussing that so you just have to wait."


    Ais looked towards Riveria and saw she nodding at her. She then turned back to Kisuke and expressed her gratitude, "Thank you. I''ll be looking forward to it."


    After that, the girls left for good and once they got a good distance from the shop, Lefiya asked in concern, "Will Riveria-sama be fine? Do we really have to leave them alone?"


    "She should be fine. A level 6 vs a person around level 2. It shouldn''t even be a contest." Tiona assured Lefiya with a big smile.


    Tione then goes ahead and smack her sister''s head, "Idiotic sister, you shouldn''t underestimate him just because he''s a low level. Didn''t you see how he yed around Riveria and she couldn''t do a thing?"


    While nursing her head, Tiona''s expression change, "Uh�� you''re right. Let''s go back!"


    "Well, either way, I think she''ll be fine. It''s Riveria we''re talking about. And that Kisuke Urahara is probably saying the truth about needing insurance because he can''t go against the whole Loki Familia with their small group."


    "Eh? Are we that type of group?"


    "Of course we aren''t. But that doesn''t mean the opposite party doesn''t think that way. He''s just being careful. Although I don''t think what he has on Riveria is a big deal�� It''s just a moan, right?"


    Lefiya immediately responded to that in an angry voice, "Of course it''s a big deal! Think about Riveria-sama''s position among the Elves and their conservative thinking! If this were to spread, it''s not an understatement that it''ll affect the whole race of Elves!"


    "I-is that so��" Tione, along with the other two, was taken aback at her sudden outburst. Tione then feigned a cough and changed the topic, "Ehem�� For now, let''s report what happened to Loki and deliver her that letter. We''ll just let her decide what should be done."


    The three girls nodded in agreement and hurried their steps back to the Twilight Manor. The other three still wanted to ask what Ais wanted to consult with Kisuke but didn''t ask about it as it seems to be one of her secrets.


    After the girls left, Kisuke started cleaning up and Riveria helped him with it. After everything is done, Kisuke served Riveria another tea and both of them sat down. The first one to spoke is Riveria, "Why did you let them in?" She''s wondering if there''s a need to invite the girls when they could have just pretended that they''re not inside if the situation would only devolve into that. She can''t see the point of their presence aside from Kisuke asking them to deliver something to Loki.


    Filling his own cup of tea, Kisuke answered, "Another insurance."


    Riveria''s body shook for an instant after she heard the word ''insurance''. As time goes, she''s hating and hating that word more, "Insurance? How?"


    "It''s so that even if you wanted to do something to silence me it''ll be harder for you to do it. You might be all from the same Familia but I can see that you all have their own ideas and can move differently depending on the situation. Even if you want to silence me through violence, those girls won''t turn a blind eye to it. Especially Wallenstein-san who needs me for something. That much, I can tell."


    "I see�� You''ve been closely observing all of us ever since you first saw us�� You''re terrifying��" Riveria sighed. As much as possible, she doesn''t want him to be the Loki Familia''s enemy. And it would be better if they can invite him to their side.


    "Hehehe, I get that a lot~. However, I''m just an adorable and friendly candy shopkeeper. I don''t get the fear."


    ''If you''re adorable, then there''s nothing terrifying in this world!'' Riveria retorted inside her mind. She doesn''t know how he can spout such nonsense with a straight face but she doesn''t want to dwell on it and asked, "Am I really that untrustworthy?"


    Drinking his tea, Kisuke replied, "My trust must have a basis and I''m just creating that basis to trust you."


    While furrowing her brows, Riveria also said, "But thanks to that, I also can''t trust you."


    "Well, I''m actually a very trustworthy person as I never break my promises but you don''t know that." Kisuke then stood up and went to get a book under the center table of the living room and ced it in front of Riveria, "However, I''m hoping that I can buy your trust with this."


    Riveria looked at him suspiciously and opened the book. What Kisuke gave her is a book about magic and the basics of the basics. Contrary to Line''s book that is an exercise type and focuses on practicality, the book in Riveria''s hands focuses on basic theories and simple magic equations.


    A few minutes into reading the book, Riveria''s palms are starting to get covered by cold sweat. Half an hourter, Riveria put down the book and heaved arge sigh. She wanted to drink the tea, but it''s already cold. Kisuke, however, noticed that and reheated it using magic.


    Used to the strange magic, Riveria grabbed the cup and drank it, "Thank you."


    "So, what do you think?" Kisuke asked with a grin.


    Riveria really wanted to pinch that nose, but stopped herself, "It''s mortifying, but if what written here is true, then I have no choice but to listen to your words." After reading the book, instead of answering questions, it only served as an appetizer, an appetizer so effective, she couldn''t wait for the continuation of the book to answer her ever-growing number of questions.


    Kisuke then proceeded to refill her cup and said, "Since that is the case, let''s proceed to the formal discussion of terms."


    "Then let me start. I want you to please teach me about magic and help with Ais''s condition."


    "That''s going to cost you a lot."


    "I don''t care. I''ll do everything to meet your demands if you can meet mine. Of course, those demands must be within reasonable limits."


    "Don''t worry, we''ll also discuss those limits."


    Riveria smiled wryly after hearing that, ''It looks like I''m going into a big debt��''

 Volume 7 373 - Agreement

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 373 - Agreement</h4>


    "Then let me present what I want. The Loki Familia''s aid when I requested it."


    Riveria''s furrowed brows grew deeper and said, "That''s too vague. You do know that''s impossible without a proper guideline."


    "We''ll discuss that inter time as we both need time to properly gauge each other. However, the main thing I want to ask when I said Loki Familia''s aid is information and partial treatment of my Familia."


    "Information, I understand�� But partial treatment? If this agreement pushes through, then we''ll basically be in an alliance. You don''t want to announce that?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "An alliance with a big Familia like yours will only attract unnecessary attention to us. Knowing that you guys will decide things with us in mind is enough. And it''ll be beneficial for you too not to announce our rtionship in public."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Not to brag, but we''re experts in information gathering. I know your Familia has smaller unknown groups that manage your intelligence gathering, but having us share the information we gather will prove to be useful. That way, it''ll also easier for you to impart the information that you have."


    "��I see. What else do you need?"


    "Materials�� I need materials."


    "So instead of money, you want materials�� Including the rare ones, I suppose?"


    "Yes."


    "Have you estimated how much those materials would cost?" Feeling thirsty again, Riveria picked up her cup of tea.


    Waiting for Riveria to start drinking, Kisuke answered, "I''m not yet very familiar with the market prices especially those rare items�� But I guess it''s around a few hundred million to a billion Valis."


    Thanks to that, Riveria almost spat out her tea and choked on it, "*Cough* *Cough*"


    Kisuke ''generously'' offered her a tissue paper and Riveria epted it right away with her left hand while she uses her right hand to hide her face, "Pardon me��" After wiping her lips, she asked, "Can you repeat that?"


    "Around a few hundred million to a billion Valis."


    Riveria massaged her forehead as a massive ache is currently attacking it, "I''m the one shouldering that cost since I''ll be the only one benefitting greatly from our trade, but that''s too much even for me."


    "I don''t really need all the materials at one go and you can also ask Wallenstein-san to shoulder some of that for you."


    "That''s a good idea�� But it still isn''t enough."


    "I think you''ll be able to gather enough funds if you teach others what you''ll learn from me."


    "��What?"


    "You heard me. You can teach others the things you''ll learn from me."


    "Why?��" However, she recalled Kisuke''s position and the uniqueness of his Familia, "I see�� You want to spread this knowledge so that you people wouldn''t stand out as much."


    "Yes. And I won''t be able to do that myself. It''s a lot better if this knowledge came from the greatest mage of Orario."


    "But doing that would make me look like I''m the one who discovered these things."


    "I don''t care and I think that''s better."


    "��" Riveria then sighed, "Well, if I were to teach others, then I''ll just announce the origin came from an ancient book that I''ve been researching��"


    Kisuke smiled and refilled her cup, "That''s fine."


    "But we have a bit of a problem."


    "What is it?"


    "Although I''ll be shouldering the cost, I still can''t unterally decide on this. I need everyone''s agreement with a deal this big. I don''t know how valuable your magic in knowledge is, but do think that it''s priceless just looking at this book. However, others might not think the same so I would need something else to ''bnce'' this trade."


    Kisuke started tapping his finger as he considered her request. He then thought of something and stood up to leave for a moment, "Please wait for me. I''m gonna go get something that you might like."


    Riveria nodded and waited for him for a few minutes. When Kisuke returned, he''s carrying a pouch that can be used to carry potions in the Dungeon. He then ced it in front of Riveria, "Check its contents."


    Riveria examined it closely before peeking through its opening to check its contents as Kisuke told her to. However, the inside is strangely dark as she can''t make out a single thing from it, so without thinking much about it, she stuck her hand inside it. But once inside, her hand couldn''t find anything, including the bottom part of the bag and she then pressed her hand more to find anything. It was then she realized that the space inside the bag is so muchrger than the pouch itself.


    That realization scared her and she immediately pulled out her arm before cing the pouch back to the table, "W-what''s this!?"


    "A pouch with expanded space inside using space magic," Kisuke exined.


    "Expanded space? Space magic? What?"


    "Those are something that I''ll be teaching you in the future." Kisuke then grabbed the pouch, "Just imagine this thing as a pouch with a stretched out inside so that it could fit more things but without the disadvantage of weight. I think it''ll be useful to you."


    Riveria chooses not to dwell on space magic for now, but even then, a massive headache came, "Not just useful! It''s a must magic item of expedition groups!"


    "So? What do you think? It''ll be enough to get you to discuss these terms with the rest of the Loki Familia? By the way, each one of this has a half of cubic meders of usable space and I can create a few of this a month."


    Riveria felt tired discussing things with him but she''s also happy with the oue, "It''s enough�� More than enough! I don''t think they can disagree with this trade." Riveria then drank the rest of her tea and stood up, "If that''s everything, I would like to take my leave. I need to discuss this with others as soon as possible."


    "Before you go, there''s just onest thing."


    "Please tell me."


    "The confidentiality issue."


    Riveria nodded in understanding and said, "I know. The one who''ll being here will only be me and Ais. With that, I''ll promise you that we''ll keep your secrets from everyone�� Including those from the Loki Familia and Loki herself. And if I want to bring someone else, I''ll be sure to tell you beforehand."


    "Oh? You can do that?"


    "Yes. As long as I promise Loki that your secrets won''t endanger the Familia or its members, it should be fine."


    "Well, I don''t really have any n to do something harmful to myrades so it should be fine."


    "Thank you. And I also want to establish a good rtionship with you�� Frankly�� You''ll be one of the worst enemies we would have��"


    "I feel the same~. I don''t really wanna piss Loki-sama off~! Please take care of me in the future."


    "Thank you for having me over. Once I''ve discussed this with others, I''lle back to present you the finalized deal."


    Kisuke then led Riveria outside of the shop and before she left, Kisuke passed her the pouch.


    "Ah�� right�� Before I forgot. Here." Riveria then passed her a piece of paper that contains her status information that she failed to give because the four girls from her Familia arrived.


    Receiving the paper, Kisuke nodded, "Thank you. This will be useful."

 Volume 7 374 - Better Potential

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 374 - Better Potential</h4>


    When Yoruichi, Kuroka, Medusa, Aika, Sona, and Koneko reached the fountain in front of the Tower of Babel, they saw Line quietly waiting for their arrival, "Good morning, everyone! I''ll be in your care today!"


    "Yo~. Line-chan~. Are you ready?" Yoruichi greeted her. They already went through their introductionst in the pub while Kisuke is busy dealing with the entire Loki Familia.


    "Yes!" With her staff and shoulder bag, Line answered energetically.


    Sona at that time suddenly asked, "Is it fine not going to Sophie-san first?"


    "It''s fine. Let''s just focus on you people leveling up." Yoruichi then started walking towards the Tower of Babel while also reviewing their n for today. It was then the girls except for Line suddenly felt a piercing stare and did their best not to react to it and just hurriedly followed Yoruichi, ''Such inquisitive stare�� I guess she already received the news about the Sona, Aika, and Koneko�� But aside from that�� A trace of confusion? Why?'' Yoruichi thought as she silently gauges that gaze.


    "You haven''t leveled up yet even after that?" Line curiously and confusedly asked. Afterward, however, she suddenly recalled something that she''s has been evading, "Uhmm�� May I ask how many times did you update your status?"


    Medusa then silently went behind Line and Aika answered, "Only a single time. Remember when Kisuke asked us not to update our status until he said so? We followed that and just updated yesterday."


    At the same time, Medusa used her hands to cover Line''s mouth, "----------!?"


    A few secondster, Line was able to get a hold of herself and profusely apologized, "I''m sorry! I''m so sorry! I almost blurted out something important!"


    Patting her back, Konekoforted Line, "It''s fine�� Line-san��"


    "Let''s talk about this when there''s no one around," Kuroka suggested and they all quietly followed Yoruichi until they reached the sixteenth floor.


    Making sure that no one is around, Line finally couldn''t take the curiosity anymore and ask, "Did you fight those Minotaurs with just I-rank basic abilities!?" Since she''s so focused on receiving Kisuke''s teachings, she forgot this very important fact.


    "Yeah�� I guess it''s really a miracle that we survived that." Aika answered while scratching her cheeks, ''Thinking about it again, Kisuke really did put us in a ridiculous situation.''


    Line looked down and stopped walking, "What''s wrong, Line-chan?" Kuroka asked while the rest also stopped walking and looked towards her.


    Taking a deep breath, Line looked up to everyone and with gleaming eyes, she shouted, "Please teach me how to get strong too!"


    "Isn''t Kisuke teaching you magic?" Yoruichi felt a bit interested and asked.


    "Yoruichi-san�� It isn''t enough! Although I know that I don''t truly belong with you guys, I still couldn''t stop myself from being hopeful! True, Kisuke-san is teaching me magic and I can barely follow, but if Ipare myself to any of you, it feels like I haven''t tried enough! Even Sona-san is a lot better than me when ites to physical abilities! I finally learned that if I truly wanted to be strong, I need to learn everything I can despite my apparent weakness and ipatibility with them! One day, I''ll reach the limit of my magic and I don''t want that to be the end of my journey, so, please! Teach me how to get stronger! I''ll do everything I can to return this favor!" After shouting everything she wanted to, her throat hurts but she didn''t mind it and didn''t break her determined gaze with Yoruichi. She figured that she''s the one who holds the group together aside from Kisuke. And if someone could give her an answer, it would be her.


    Yoruichi''s smiling face disappeared and was reced with an indifferent expression along with the manifestation of a bit of her pressure, "Everything? Even if it means leaving the Loki Familia?"


    Due to the unexpected pressure that came down crashing to her, Line became scared and her face started contorting due to her fear. But despite this, Yoruichi''s question came loud and clear to her head and without thinking much, she answered her question, "N-No! I can''t do that! I would be really thankful if you can teach me, but I can''t leave the Loki Familia! They''ve taken care of me all these years and I can''t return that favor by betraying them just because I wanted to get stronger!"


    Yoruichi eased up her pressure and smile returned to her face, "That''s fine~."


    "W-what?" Line was confused, but before she could think through it more, Yoruichi asked another question, "If by some chance both the Loki Familia and Hestia Familia became enemies, which side are you on?"


    Line nked out on her question, "T-that''s��" She honestly doesn''t know how to answer that but she still tried her best to think of one since Yoruichi seems to be waiting for her answer. She knows that she''s being tested right now but she also wanted to pass by being herself so after a few minutes, she arrived at apromise, "I don''t know."


    Yoruichi and everyone else looked at her with a surprised expression as her answer is too simple for the time she spent thinking, "That''s it?"


    Feeling confident, Line continued, "Yes�� I can only decide which side I''m going to be on when that actually happens and I figured what each group is fighting for."


    Yoruichi approached her and put her arm around her neck, "I''m actually just messing with you when I asked that question. You already passed the moment you answered the first one."


    "Eh!?"


    "Well, that''s also a good answer. If you''re torn between two things that you like and fight for, you first have to learn the whole story before you could decide. Although it isn''t as simple as that in reality, it''s a good mindset."


    "Does that mean I pass and you''ll teach me?" Not minding Yoruichi''s closeness, Line happily asked.


    "Yep~. Since Kisuke is already investing in you, I figured that I should do the same and see where are your limits."


    "Thank you very much! I promise that I''ll do my best!"


    Separating from her, Yoruichiughed out loud, "I''ll ept your gratitude for now since you''ll probably regret thister on."


    "W-what do you mean?"


    Not entertaining her question, Yoruichi continued, "However, as I see it now, you have more potential than that Ais Wallenstein��"


    Line became even more confused when she''s suddenlypared to the ace of the Familia, "W-what?"


    "Either way, I would need you to sign a magic contract before we start. We''ll need Kisuke''s help for that so for today, just watch and see what you can do." She then proceeded to give her instructions to the girls, "The three of you need to shake off any of your trauma against this Minotaurs so you''ll be separated and fight Minotaurs on your own. Sona, you''ll go Medusa and Line. Koneko, you''ll go with Kuroka, And Aika, you''ll be going with me."


    The three of them became serious and nodded in understanding while Line frantically followed their steps not knowing what she just subjected herself to.

 Volume 7 375 - The Kittens Frustration

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 375 - The Kitten''s Frustration</h4>


    The group separated ording to Yoruichi''s instructions. Sona, Medusa, Line, Kuroka, and Koneko stayed on the 16th floor while Yoruichi dragged Aika to the 17th floor. The two groups on the 16th floor separated in opposite directions so that they''ll both have some privacy which is Yoruichi is aiming for.


    While evading the monsters, Kuroka and Koneko reached the other end of the 16th floor where arge ''room'' is situated. Rumors has it that this room spawns more monsters than any other parts of the 16th floor and it''s also thanks to this that Kuroka and Koneko chose this spot to do their hunting.


    A few seconds after stepping in the room, five Minotaurs immediately spawned from the walls, "Shirone, can you do it?"


    Watching the Minotaurs drop on the floor, Koneko nodded seriously and closed her eyes. Kuroka jumped away from Koneko for her not to disturb her. As the Minotaurs run and growl towards the white cat girl, Koneko is slowly melding a small part of her Ki onto the world to activate some of her Sage Mode abilities.


    In about a few seconds, the Minotaurs would reach Koneko and it was then she opened her now red-wine eyes. Her canines grew longer and ears and tails caught on small white mes. The blue pigment around her eyes didn''t appear since it''s only partial activation of the Sage Mode.


    Kicking the ground, Koneko jumped in the middle of the Minotaurs and used most of her strength to punch the monster in front of her. The targeted Minotaur tried to block her fist with both of its arms but it couldn''t do anything to the cannon-like punch as it broke both of it instantly and the Minotaur itself flew back to the wall it respawned, on the verge of death.


    Koneko, however, didn''t watch the result of her attack as she immediately went for the next monster and it was in this fashion that she annihted the Minotaurs, a minute after they spawned.


    But instead of being happy with her progress, Kuroka frowned and asked, "What''s wrong, Shirone?" She noticed that she''s putting too much strength in each of her attacks which is something Koneko shouldn''t do after her first punch almost killed the Minotaur despite its blocking. Instead of adjusting her power release, her attacks became more and more violent, ''Is the Sage Mode affecting her mind again?''


    However, instead of answering her, Koneko faced Kuroka with her mes getting stronger and the blue pigment around her eyes manifesting along with her third tail made out of white mes, "Kuroka-neesama�� Please spar with me."


    "Shirone?" Kuroka became confused and slightly nervous at her behavior, "D-Did I do something wrong?"


    Koneko shook her head, "You did nothing wrong, nee-sama��" However, her battle intent became more intense that Kuroka had to be alert to receive any iing attack. And just as she expected, Koneko started attacking even without waiting for her to agree.


    With the use of sh Step, Koneko reappeared on Kuroka''s right side and threw a punch towards her face. Nevertheless, Kuroka didn''t panic. She didn''t even face Koneko and just shifted her head backward before grabbing her arm and redirected the force behind it to another direction, resulting in Koneko vaulting and spinning uncontrobly in the air.


    Still, Koneko was able to find her bearing andnd on her feet thirteen meters away from Kuroka, "At least tell me what''s going on, nya��"


    Koneko stopped her assault and stood straight up while looking on the ground and inaudibly muttering, "Unf��"


    Kuroka didn''t catch it so she slowly walked towards Koneko, "Hmm?"


    With a grieving expression, Koneko looked up towards Kuroka, causing her to stop approaching, and shouted, "It''s unfair!"


    "What?"


    "It''s unfair!" Koneko shouted again and this time, she resumed attacking, "It''s unfair! It''s unfair! You''re unfair!"


    While dodging the flurry of attacks, Kuroka kept thinking about what she has done wrong for Koneko to act this way causing her to act passively which resulted in Koneko bing more infuriated, "You''re unfair! I''m the one who got close with senpai first!"


    It was then that Kuroka finally understood where she''sing from. She knew that Kisuke and Yoruichi would be able to notice her intentions, but she didn''t expect that her sister would notice it too. Kuroka is a bit happy that her sister is watching her but also sad and frustrated that she didn''t notice her state, "S-Shirone�� It''s not a big deal�� He''ll also ept you in the future�� I''m sure."


    Kuroka is correct. Koneko also noticed Kuroka''s intention to go all the way with Kisuke and she also knew that he won''t be rejecting her advances any longer, "It''s not a big deal!? Maybe for you! Not for me! I''ve been working so hard for him to ept me! However, even my small advances that took all my courage to do but he only brushed it off to the side! He only sees me as a ''little sister''! But you! You only came recently and you''ve already advanced your rtionship with him at that point!?"


    "That��" Kuroka tried of thinking of something to say but failed. She can see the frustration written on her face and she probably has been keeping all of this feeling bottled up until it exploded today.


    Still not yet done, Koneko let out everything without holding back, including what she doesn''t mean to say, "Do you even like him that much!? Aren''t you just using your body to tempt him!? Do you even like him that much!? What you want are just his genes! Anyone strong could do!"


    It was this point that Kuroka stopped dodging and slipped through one of Koneko''s attacks before giving her a loud p across her face which caused her to flew back. Koneko wasn''t able to catch herself this time as she''s feeling dizzy and crashed to the ground.


    It took her a few seconds to stand up while gritting her teeth and tasting the blood in her mouth. She''s about to resume attacking but when she looked back to her, almost all of her will to continue disappeared. She then recalled the words she just said in the heat of the moment and immediately regretted it.


    "N-nee-sama��" Koneko tried to say something, but Kuroka''s mixed expression of rage, sadness, and disappointment nked her head out as this is the first time she ever showed this kind of expression towards her. For the first time, Kuroka became angry at Koneko and started approaching her.


    True, Kuroka has these kinds of intentions before and disyed herself as such. But as she is now, Kuroka threw those dirty intentions away so she couldn''t help but be angry. She''s also disappointed that apparently, Koneko couldn''t see that change and became sad that she was able to say all of those things, "True�� I do have those intentions and tried to seduce Kisuke. However, I knew he wouldn''t fall for it so I gave up. But then, I was able to interact with him more easily thanks to giving that up�� I don''t know when it started, but imagining myself being touched by men other than him makes me want to puke!


    "True! It all started unconventionally! With the pleasure of the body! But I won''t allow you to say that I don''t like him! That I didn''t learn how to love him! I won''t allow you to say that my feelings only came from the pleasure of the body! I like and love him for who he is! For how he takes care of us! For how he takes care of me! And most importantly, for his genuine concern for you!" Kuroka stopped in front of Koneko with only sadness remaining on her face, "��I won''t allow you�� Even if you''re my beloved sister��"


    Koneko''s Sage Mode deactivated as she nkly looked up towards her sister. A few secondster, tears started rolling from her eyes, "��I-I''m s-sorry�� *sob* nee-sama�� *sob* I''m sorry�� I''m sorry��"


    Kuroka now understood that she didn''t mean what she just said about her but her frustration and jealousy towards her are real. Sighing, Kuroka hugged Koneko in her bosom and whispered, "It''s alright�� It''s alright��"


    Despite Kuroka''s consoling, however, instead of stopping, Koneko''s crying became worse as she buried her face in Kuroka''s chest and hugging her tightly, "I''m sorry! *sob* I''m sorry! Kuroka-neesama!"


    It took a few minutes of patting before Koneko calmed down and stopped crying. Also during that time, few Minotaurs appeared but Kuroka burned them with her Kasha.


    "I''m sorry, neesama�� I didn''t mean what I said." For the nth time, Koneko apologized.


    "It''s fine. I also understand your frustration�� and jealousy."


    Koneko looked down to avoid meeting Kuroka''s eyes, "��"


    Kuroka, however, continued speaking, "In fact�� I''m also jealous of you."


    Covered in confusion, Koneko looked up to Kuroka''s smiling wryly face.


    "I''m jealous of you because he''s more concerned about you than me��"


    "Nee-sama��"


    "So don''t be sad�� Both of us are jealous of each other��"


    "��But we shouldn''t��"


    "��Right�� we shouldn''t��"


    "What should we do?"


    "Hmm�� For now, let''s think like this. What''s yours is mine�� And what''s mine is yours�� We''re sisters, so something like that isn''t too farfetched."


    Koneko doesn''t know if she should agree to that, but she''s also wasn''t against it. While fighting the Minotaurs, the two cat sisters had a long talk.


    ''Is this the reason Yoruichi separated us?'' Kuroka couldn''t help but think so.

 Volume 7 376 - Whispers part 1

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 376 - Whispers part 1</h4>


    While both of them are walking through the 17th floor, Aika asked Yoruichi, "Why did you separate us?"


    "I already said it before, but I need you three to be separated and kill some Minotaurs on your own."


    "We could do that without going to different directions."


    "Well, there are some issues that need to be resolved."


    Aika thought for a moment and said, "Koneko''s issue?"


    Yoruichi looked towards her in interest, "You noticed?"


    Aika nodded and replied, "I''m not sure of what''s going on, but I can at least see her frustration. Sona noticed it too but we don''t know what to say since she isn''t telling us anything."


    Yoruichi resumed walking and said, "Hmm�� Well, it''ll be fine. Kuroka and Koneko can manage their issues so let''s just wait and see."


    "I see�� So Kuroka-san is involved�� Anyway, what else needs to be resolved? You separated me from the rest after all."


    "While there''s no problem in Sona''s group. You and I have a problem��"


    Aika stopped walking and asked, "Problem?"


    Yoruichi also stopped walking and gazed at Aika with a serious expression, "Yes��"


    Aika stayed silent and only waited for Yoruichi to continue her words but she couldn''t help herself from swallowing a mouthful of saliva.


    "You three passed Kisuke''s sh*tty test�� However, while Sona and Koneko exceeded his expectations, only you performed underwhelmingly��"


    Hearing this, Aika bit her lower lip and looked down. It''s true that despite her crazy move, she didn''t pull out the power she''s supposed to be able to use. Even though Medusa and Kuroka didn''t notice this, Kisuke and Yoruichi who''re watching their fight from somewhere else noticed it.


    "And remember�� You''re the one who has supposedly biggest potential among you three�� What happened?"


    Aika didn''t answer and stayed silent.


    "Are you afraid?" Yoruichi suddenly asked.


    Aika hurriedly nced up to Yoruichi''s face before nodding silently.


    "Haahh��" Sighing, Yoruichi patted her head, "Well, we both guessed that much��"


    "Are you not angry��? Despite us being in mortal danger�� I still held back��"


    "We don''t have the right to get angry at you as we abruptly put you three in that situation�� However, you could say that we''re a bit disappointed." Yoruichi then looked around and found a rtively t rock where they could sit on. Yoruichi held Aika''s hand and dragged her towards that rock and took a sit before asking, "Can you tell why are you so afraid to use your powers?"


    Aika nodded after sitting down and proceeded to tell Yoruichi her fears. When she''s practicing with her Zanpakuto no problems urred until one day when she heard two whispers. She''s very familiar with this whisper as those are her Zanpakuto which she hasn''t heard in a while since Kokabiel''s fight.


    She''s happy that she was able to hear them again, however, those whispers are actually very faint that she can''t hear most of it and can''t understand what they''re saying. Nevertheless, she kept practicing her Zanjutsu and each day, those whispers would grow stronger and stronger and she''s happy with the result.


    However, once those whispers got strong enough that Aika is able to understand them, she shuddered as it''s actually whispers of violence which urges her to follow the path of destruction. At that point, she got scared and stopped summoning her Zanpakuto and just practiced with the long sword.


    At this point, Yoruichi nodded. She indeed noticed that she has already stopped summoning her Zanpakuto and kept using the long sword. She thought that she just wanted to get used to it. She didn''t expect that this is the problem. However, Kisuke already has some inkling to this and sent her to take care of Aika. He could have done it himself but he thought that Aika might hold back because she thought that she''s holding them back and she didn''t want to be added to the problems they are already facing.


    "And the reason you held back is��"


    "The Shinigami powers within me suddenly manifested when I felt desperate but along with that, are the whispers that I''ve been avoiding. I could have summoned my Zanpakuto back then to help me with our battle, but I''m afraid that once I did that�� I won''t being back."


    While she''s talking, some Minotaurs started spawning around them but Yoruichi silently dealt with them with her thrown weapons, "Didn''t Kisuke already told you that even though it''s possible for the Zanpakuto to affect how you think, it could never alter your fundamentals�� I assume that you''re afraid that you''ll be imprisoned by your own Zanpakuto and take control of your body?"


    Aika nodded again, "I might be overthinking it but I just can''t remove that possibility in my mind�� What if that really happen? What if I can''t get out? What if instead of imprisoning my consciousness, they erase it entirely? All sorts of questions and possibilities emerged from my mind that I couldn''t dare to use the power that Kisuke imparted to me��" Aika gritted her teeth and clenched her fist in frustration. It''s a very important ''gift'' that came from the one she admires yet she can''t properly take advantage of it. She already promised that she''ll do her best but fears like this limit her ''best''.


    "I see��" Yoruichi then became silent to contemte her words, ''This is really a problem�� But there''s also a chance that she''s looking at this wrongly and is just drawing the wrong conclusions due to her fears�� Either way, I have to see it for myself first.''


    Deciding on their next step, Yoruichi separated from Aika, "Take out your Zanpakuto."


    "B-but��"


    "Trust me. If you can''t trust me, trust Kisuke as he''ll surelye running if there''s something wrong." Yoruichi reassured Aika.


    Aika shooked her head and smiled wryly, "No�� I trust you, Yoruichi-san. If I can''t trust you, then I don''t deserve to be included in this group." Taking a deep breath, Aika materialized her Zanpakuto, a two-meter long nodachi.


    At that moment, whispers started emerging in her mind, trying to drown her with their voices,


    ''Destroy it~!''


    ''Break it��''


    ''Ruin it~!''


    ''Annihte��''


    ''Smash it~!''


    ''Dismantle it��''


    Two distinct voices of children. They were the dragon girls that Aika named Akane and Kaguya.


    Along with the manifestation of her Zanpakuto, Yoruichi saw that Aika''s eyes became golden and slitted reminiscing that of a dragon. She also noticed that Aika started shaking and her face slowly being contorted by fear.


    "Aika! Don''t listen to them! Stand your ground! You''re the master here!" Yoruichi shouted at her.


    Aika instantly woke up and became determined as she endured the urging of those whispers.


    "Good�� See? It doesn''t affect you that much. Just think of it as background music."


    As she said, Aika noticed that it really isn''t affecting her that much and all the fear that she''s feeling seems like a joke.


    "However, we can''t stop at that�� Aika�� Don you Hollow mask��" Yoruichi gave her the next instruction.

 Volume 7 377 - Whispers part 2

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 377 - Whispers part 2</h4>


    "However, we can''t stop at that�� Aika�� Don you Hollow mask��" Yoruichi gave her the next instruction.


    "The Hollow mask��?"


    "You know how to put it on, right?"


    Aika nodded at her as after learning from Kisuke and the full extent of her powers, she instinctively knew how to release her Hollow powers. However, she had never released it before aside for the first time since Kisuke warned her against it, "Is that going to be fine?"


    "It''s fine�� You''re with me�� And let me tell you this, a Zanpakuto can''t erase their owner''s will as they''re connected to them. They''re a part of you not the other way around. And even if they''re able to trap your consciousness, I can do something about it."


    Aika nodded again and took another deep breath. She put her right hand over her face and with her index finger and middle finger, she taps her forehead. Hollowfied Reiatsu-Ki started gushing out from her and from her forehead, a white bone skull mask with two tiny horns on its forehead materialized over her face. Aside from the ckening of the sclera of her eyes, a thumb-size red scale on her right hand and ck scale on her left hand appeared.


    However, Aika couldn''t dwell on these changes as the whispers in her head became much worse. She tried to ignore it as Yoruichi told her but those voices aren''t just some sound now as her body wants to move ording to those whispers, "No no no! I can''t do this!" Aika cried out with her mixed voice and tried to remove her mask but failed.


    As Aika is panicking how to revert herself back, a warm embrace suddenly enveloped her making Aika stop moving, "Y-Yoruichi��?"


    "I told you, right? It''ll be fine��" Yoruichi whispered to her ear.


    Through that, Aika was able to calm down. Even if the voices were ever so clear, thepelling feeling behind them isn''t as strong as before.


    Discerning that she was able to settle down, Yoruichi separated for a bit but didn''t remove her hands on her shoulders, "For now�� Take some deep breaths and get used to this state. Close your eyes and meditate. I''ll give you a whole hour for you to endure this."


    Nodding, Aika sat in a cross-legged position and proceeded to empty her mind. However, she can''t do it.


    "Don''t try to ignore those voices. You''ll only think about those more. Instead, just think about your breathing. Inhale and Exhale manually. Time it as best as you could."


    This went on for a full hour with Yoruichi killing all the monsters that are spawning around, "Good work�� That has been an hour."


    Aika slowly opened her eyes and there''s obvious rity in it. Thanks to this exercise that Yoruichi gave her, most of her fear is gone along with thepelling feeling that the voices give. Aika finally understood that it''s her fears that gives birth to this situation and now has an idea of how to proceed from here on.


    Yoruichi smiled and said, "I don''t need to say what you should do next, right?"


    "If you did�� I''d really be too useless�� Thank you." Aika smiled and expressed her gratitude, ''Really�� I''ve been too stupid�� They''re dragons, alright?''


    Aika closed her eyes again, but instead of ignoring the voices in her head, she chose to face it head-on. As she focuses on the voices, the destructive impulses threaten to consume her again, however, she didn''t stop and continued listening to these voices. A few secondster, Aika opened her eyes and saw the world around her change. A space simr to that of the Dimensional Gap, but she knew exactly where she is, ''My inner world��''


    Aika looked around but couldn''t find the figures that she''s looking for. However, she didn''t give up and started floating aimlessly in her kaleidoscopic world. Aika wasn''t able to find them, instead, they ''found'' her, " "What are you doing here, mother?" "


    Two distinctive voices called out from behind. Aika immediately turned around and saw the figures she has been looking for all this while, "Akane�� Kaguya��?"


    Behind her appeared Akane, a little girl around ten years old with a red pixie cut hair, a pair of short crimson horns pointed backward, and blood-red eyes and golden slitted pupils that are full of vigor and energy. And Kaguya, also little girl, shorter than the previous one with waist-length ck hair, a pair of obsidian horns simr to the first girl, and jet-ck eyes and golden slitted pupils that give a lethargic and apathetic feeling.


    They are as Aika remembered, but with one small difference. The sclera of their eyes is ckened which reminded her of her own eyes when in using her Hollow powers, "W-what happened to you two?"


    The little girls looked at each other before turning back to Aika while tilting their heads, "Nothing?"


    "Nothing��?" Aika muttered, ''But�� They''ve been whispering their destructive impulses on me�� And those eyes�� Did the Hollow powers do this?�� What should I do?''


    While Aika is pondering, however, Akane and Kaguya jumped to each of her sides and happily said, "But wow~! Mother is finally here! You heard our voices!"


    "Ah��" At that point, Aika''s eyes widened as realization dawned her, ''I messed up��'' She''s confused why would the dragons who originated from both Great Red and Ophis would be affected by the Hollow or if the Hollow is just that powerful. But now, she finally understood that is not the case of which is stronger, ''They took in the Hollow to send their voices outside�� to me��''


    Regretting her inaction and fear, Aika embraced her ''daughters'' in her arms, ''I''ve been neglecting them��''


    Since they''re calling Aika their mother, they would want her attention as children and since Aika doesn''t really put on effort in conversing with them, both of them decided to use the Hollow to talk to her at any cost�� Even if their mindset is affected, "I''m sorry�� Mom iste."


    " "Mom?" " Akane and Kaguya looked at each again before shouting that word again, " "Mom!" "


    Tightening her hug on then, Aika repeated herself, "I''m sorry, Mom iste." She then started patting their head, "You don''t have to this anymore�� I won''t forget the two of you anymore."


    .


    .


    Two hourster, Yoruichi finally noticed a change in Aika''s aura as her Hollowfied Rieatsu-Ki started receding. Along with it is her Hollow mask disintegrating into the air and her Shihakushou recing her Adventurer attire. A few secondster, Aika opened her eye and a smile crept up to her face, "I see that you seeded."


    Aika stood up and shook her head, "I didn''t seed�� I just resolved something important�� It shouldn''t havee to this if I did something early on, after all."


    "I see��" Yoruichi then patted her head, "Good work. Now let''s do what we''re supposed to do here. Kill some Minotaurs."

 Volume 7 378 - Soul Merge

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 378 - Soul Merge</h4>


    Kisuke is supposed to close his shop around lunchtime but Riveria arrived messing with his schedule. He truly didn''t expect that the prideful High-Elf would arrive the next day he messed with her which Kisuke also finds interesting.


    More than two hours past lunchtime, Kisuke closed his shop and went back to their underground base. But instead of going to hisboratory as he used to, he went straight to a simple detached stone building on the west side of the training ground.


    The stone building has nothing in it except for the lighting system and walls, ceiling, and a floor full of magic circles. Closing the entrance, Kisuke proceeded to the center and sat cross-legged. Before he started with what he needed to do, Kisuke activated the magic circles which serves as concealing and defensive barriers.


    The magic circles shone brightly with different colors before disappearing a few secondster to serve its purpose. After checking that everything is working as expected, Kisuke closed his eyes and dived into the inner world where the visualization of his power is located.


    Arriving at the world which is constantly flooded by blood, Kisuke went straight towards the Japanese castle which is the center of everything here. He didn''t bother looking for Benihime as he won''t be able to find her here so his steps led him to the top floor of the castle where there are three different colored and sized orbs that are floating side by side.


    Previously, there are only two orbs whichposed of his Shinigami and Hollow Reiryoku-Ki which are crimson red and dark green respectively and the source of his powers. Now, however, is a third small golden ming orb that Kisuke knew the core of the Falna he received from Hestia. He doesn''t know if every Falna core looks the same or if only Hestia has this kind of core. Nheless, that isn''t important right now.


    Kisuke then went to the center of these three powers and sat down cross-legged. Closing his eyes again, he then began feeling these three orbs. Kisuke focused on the tworge orbs and started his work.


    The moment Kisuke focuses on them, the crimson-red orb and dark-green orb started shaking and two threads of their respective colors came out and met in the middle of the two.


    A shockwave then sted out, shaking the whole mansion and almost uprooted Kisuke from his sitting position. However, despite this, Kisuke continued what he''s doing,bining his two power sources into one, Soul Merge, as the system calls it.


    A few secondster, a small dark golden orb manifested in the middle of these two big orbs and continues to grow slowly as the threads continuously feed it.


    He doesn''t know how long he has been doing this as he had to use his full attention just tobine the power sources and now the dark golden orb which is radiating with cold aura grew to an inch in diameterpared to a foot big orbs.


    Once he thought that it''s enough, Kisuke stopped the process and slowly disconnected the two orbs from the newly created one. It was then the ming golden orb, that represents Hestia''s Falna, which is two inches in diameter suddenly moved and swallowed the newly created dark golden orb.


    Kisuke already knew that this might happen so he just carefully watch the process. As the ming golden orb ''devours'' thebine Shinigami and Hollow power source, it grew colder and wisps of its me disappeared, but instead of dimming like Kisuke is expecting, it grew brighter, leaving on the shiny golden orb.


    Although a small part of the dark golden orb still remains, it stopped absorbing it and separated from it. Kisuke immediately understood what it means, "The limits of Level��"


    Kisuke then stood up and observed the Falna extensively before touching it. As his finger touches it, his mind suddenly became connected with someone else, more specifically, his patron Goddess, ''Eh? Eh!? What''s going on!? What''s this?'' Kisuke immediately the familiar and panicking voice.


    ''Hestia-sama?''


    ''Eh? This voice�� Kisuke-kun?''


    Once he confirmed that he''s connected to Hestia, he immediately assumed the worst, ''Hestia-sama. It''s me, Kisuke. Please calm down�� I''m sorry for suddenly disturbing you, but you can talk by just thinking about what you want to say to me�� For now, please tell me who''s with you right now.''


    ''Eh�� Ah, okay. I''m currently with Loki and Hephaestus and they''re asking why I''m using my Inchor but I don''t know what to say. A little while ago, Freya is with us and she already has separated from us, but she''s currently looking over here with interest��''


    Since it hase to this, Kisuke intended to continue what he thinks he should do, ''Well then, please try to ask Loki-sama and Hephaestus-sama to cover for you, especially against Freya-sama�� And onest thing, please grant me permission to level up.''


    Kisuke didn''t immediately get an answer from Hestia as she started talking with others, presumably with Loki and this Hephaestus who Kisuke haven''t met before but heard a lot, ''Hestia-sama is friends with her?�� The cksmith she''s talking about is�� It looks like she''ll bring someone interesting.''


    A few secondster, Hestia returned to Kisuke, ''You say permission to level up�� How do I do that?''


    ''Just think about how you would normally grant a level up to someone.''


    ''Ehmm�� Like this?'' The moment she said that, the shiny golden orb suddenly expanded and doubled in size while also releasing a shockwave. The shockwave this time, however, didn''t just stay in this room as it expanded and expanded until it touched the entirety of Kisuke''s inner world. Kisuke noticed that everything it touched changed and somehow, became more bright and sturdy. The bleak inner world isn''t so bleak anymore, "This is�� So it''s really purification and refinement�� Level up is amazing." He muttered in astonishment. Although he''s already expecting that this is the case, he''s still very surprised to see it in action.


    Although it might not look much of a change in his inner world, it''s actually a big change as this is his first time seeing an actual change in here, including his time as a Shinigami of Seiretei, "Benihime would be surprised when shees back�� I just don''t know if she''ll suddenly attack me because I did some renovation in her home without her knowledge when she''s away��"


    Thinking about Benihime makes him think about his mother, Sakura, too, ''I wonder if mom is safe�� But I need her to activate the Sacred Gear so that I can pinpoint the previous world''s exact location��''


    ''Uhmm�� Kisuke-kun�� Are you still there?''


    ''Ah, sorry about that. Thanks~! I just leveled up. See you when youe back~.'' Kisuke immediately closed her connection with Hestia.


    "For now�� Let''s do our best to gather those materials and energy required to open a portal back whenever necessary." Kisuke knew that once Sakura activated the Sacred Gear, aside from telling him the exact location, it would also mean that she''s in danger that she has to use it. By that time, even if he''s by himself, he has to make that jump.

 Volume 7 379 - An Unlikely Cooperation

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 379 - An Unlikely Cooperation</h4>


    Evening, Hestia came to the banquet organized by Ganesha after being invited, "Whoa�� Is this the banquet hall named ''I Am Ganesha''? Shemented after seeing the building in the shape of the famous God''s statue sitting in a cross-legged position.


    Walking towards the building, Hestia couldn''t help but stop for a moment after seeing where the entrance is, which is on the crotch of the ''statue'', ''And this is entrance��? What''s the matter with him?''


    If it''s her from before meeting Kisuke and the rest, she would be desperate to put all the food she can in her mouth, but thanks to Kisuke and Medusa''s she became a lot pickier with her food, which by all means, isn''t a good sign.


    "Thank you foring everyone! I am Ganesha, host of the ''Banquet of Gods''! I, Ganesha, am super-moved by the number of guests every year! Anyway, this year''s Familia festival is only three days away!" Hestia then suddenly heard a very loud voice and looked towards its origin. She then saw a muscr man that wears a red and yellow elephant mask over his face doing weird poses while doing his speech. He wears an orange sash that goes over his right shoulder and wraps around his waist. A gold-rimmed leather te sits on his stomach, holding the garb together. He also sports white pants with a dark brown under the knee boots - also with gold ents.


    A strange thought then entered Hestia''s mind while watching him, ''Why do I think that Kisuke-kun would go along with his antics?''


    While waiting for a certain someone, she started hearing murmurs from other Gods who didn''t bother lowering their voices, "Oh my, The Loli-big-boobs is here."


    "What? She''s still alive?"


    "Speaking of which, I saw her working part-time at a street Kiosk."


    "Heard she was patted by a guest on the head."


    "As expected of the Loli Goddess~."


    "What? Could it be that you guys haven''t heard?"


    "About what?"


    "Seriously? You don''t know? Apparently, she was able to establish her own Familia."


    "What so strange about it?�� Well, maybe it''s strangeing from the Shut-in Goddess."


    "Not that! There''s news floating around that three of her Level 1 Adventurers sessfully defeated two Minotaurs"


    "What!? How did that happen!? And where did thise from!?"


    "Evidently, it''s the Loki Familia who announced it. When they''re returning from theirst expedition, they scared the Minotaurs so much from the 17th floor that they had to chase them until the upper floors. From there, they saw three rookies fighting two Minotaurs and managed to defeat them, albeit, being injured."


    "Dang it! I''ve been busy with something else that I missed it!"


    "Do you think they managed to do it because of a rare skill?"


    "��"


    "��"


    "��"


    "��"


    "Let''s go ask her. And maybe, we could take those children from her."


    "Ughh��" Hestia felt disgusted after listening to their talk and was about to leave to avoid those Gods. However, before she could do so, someone else called out to her, "What are you doing there?"


    "Huh!?" Hestia hurriedly looked towards the familiar voice and beamed after confirming the identity of the other side, "Hephaestus!"


    Hephaestus has a crimson eye and red hair reaching to the neck. She has a rather sharp face and slender body with an eyepatch over her right eye. She currently wearing a red dress that matches her own hair.


    Hestia then started walking towards her with a big smile on her face, "I knew you''d be here! So, I made the right choiceing here!"


    But before she could approach him, Hephaestus suddenly said, "Well, let me make it clear. I won''t lend you a single Valis now."


    "H-How rude of you!" Hestia froze on her spot, "What kind of Goddess do you think I am!?"


    And Hephaestus answered casually, "Eh�� You''ve been leeching from me ever since you came to Orario."


    "It''s a thing in the past! I''m no longer willing to swallow my friend''s purse!"


    "Hmm�� I guess that''s true�� If it''s the past you, you''d be gouging all that food on the table."


    "See! I got great children! I won''t be the same!"


    "No no no�� Hestia�� These past few weeks, you''ve been working hard to feed yourself, and someone feeding you means that you''ll return to your previous lifestyle�� You changed, but didn''tst long."


    "Ugh!"


    "Fufu, you''re still chummy with each other." While they''re ''catching-up'' another Goddess joined them, "The Goddess of Beauty, Freya��" Hestia muttered in a wary tone.


    "I ran into her earlier. We were looking around the hall together." Hephaestus supplemented.


    "Am I a bother, Hestia?" With a smile, Freya asked.


    And without hesitation, she answered, "Not really�� But I''m ufortable with you around."


    In response, however, Freya just giggled, "Ara~. That''s what I like about you, though."


    But before they could talk properly, another voice came, intending to join them, "Oi! Phae-tan! Freya! Itty-Bitty!"


    "Then again, there''s someone else I hate even more than you," Hestia replied to Freya before acknowledging Loki''s presence, "Loki�� What brings you here��?"


    "What? I can''te without some sort of reason? Isn''t it senseless of you to ask that? Haha, this little brat is a true party pooper."


    "Hnngh~!?"


    "��What a scary face you''re making." Before they could devolve into their usual fight Hephaestus changed the topic, "It''s really been a while, Loki. I hear a lot about your Familia''s reputation these days. Seems it''s going well."


    Loki smiled happily and gently after she heard her children being praised, "That''s tteringing from someone who has been as sessful as you are, Phae-tan. But, certainly, I''m proud of my children."


    "Speaking of which, now wherein the topic of children, I also heard a lot about Hestia''s children." Freya suddenly voiced out.


    "Right�� I''m also curious about that. I heard Loki''s children saved your children." Hephaestus followed up.


    Hearing them, Hestia suddenly pouted, "I''m not really sure of what''s going on too! Loki probably knows more than me!"


    Freya and Hephaestu''s faces were colored by surprise and looked towards Loki, "Oh, you can''t get anything from me either~. I''m promised not to tell anything beyond what''s circting through the rumors, after all~."


    Loki''s response, however, gave even more shock to the two, ''They''re cooperating!?''


    Guessing what they are thinking, Loki immediately followed up, "Nope~. I just got something from her children so that I could cover their tracks~."


    Thanks to Loki''s wording, both Hephaestus and Freya thought that Hestia''s children are only looking for fame and they managed to convince Loki to go along with it. Although they don''t like it, something like this is pretty normal and usually doesn''tst long as the lie itself reveals as time goes on.


    ''Figures�� Their souls are too normal for them to achieve something that big��'' Freya thought as she recalls seeing Hestia''s children from the top of the tower.


    Freya sighed and said her farewells, "Now, if you''ll excuse me."


    "Oh? You''re leaving now?" Hephaestus asked.


    "Yep~. It''ll be too much for me to stay here. After all, I already devoured every man here more than enough." Chuckling, Freya started walking away.


    "As expected, all ''Goddesses of Beauty'' act like sluts," Hestia muttered.


    "Well, who would govern love and desire if Freya and her counterparts didn''t��?" Hephaestus smiled wryly, "So, what about you? If you''re staying, why don''t we drink together like the old times?"


    Hestia was about to agree when suddenly, her inchor activated on its own, "!?"


    "Oi, Itty-Bitty�� What are you doing?" Loki immediately asked. And not just her, everyone near them was suddenly attracted to Hestia''s actions, including the leaving Freya.


    "Eh? Eh!? What''s going on!? What''s this?" Even Hestia herself doesn''t know what''s going on, until she heard a familiar voice inside her head, ''Hestia-sama?''


    "Eh? This voice�� Kisuke-kun?" Hestia suddenly muttered which immediately caught Loki''s attention. After hesitating for a bit, Loki suddenly used her own divinity to mask Hestia''s inchor.


    "Geez~. What are you doing~? Trying to attract other''s attention? I didn''t know you had that kind of fetish~." As the Goddess of Trickery, Loki was able to mask any trace of her Inchor, making it look like it''s just an idental activation.


    Everyone around immediately believed her and started talking about how Hestiacks some manners, except for one, Hephaestus, who''s in close proximity of the two and knew that Loki is currently using her own divinity to help Hestia.


    However, she''s helpful enough not to say anything and y along with Loki. Freya looked at them for a moment before she continued walking away, losing interest.


    Loki and Hephaestus sighed when the most problematic eyes finally left them and looked towards Hestia, who''s apparently talking with Kisuke through her Inchor, "Uhhm�� Could you please help me cover this up?" Due to her panic, Hestia didn''t notice that Loki is already helping her out.


    "Shut it, and do it immediately! I don''t know what you''re trying to do, but hurry it up before someone else notices something amiss!" Loki scolded and urged Hestia.

 Volume 7 380 - Going All the Way

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 380 - Going All the Way</h4>


    When Kisuke came out, it''s already evening and everyone is waiting for him to eat dinner with them, "How was your day?" He asked after he entered the dining room. As he watches everyone''s face, Aika, Koneko, and Kuroka all had relieved expression, "Oh? It looks like it went well."


    Aika smiled brightly and said as she clutches her nodachi that she hadn''t put away since earlier and doesn''t have any intention to do so, "Yep~. Today is a good day~."


    Meanwhile, Koneko and Kuroka looked at each other before giggling, "Yep~. Today is really such a nice day, nya~."


    Kisuke sat down on his sit and smiled gently, "Is that, so? Great." Medusa then started serving the food as she usually does.


    "You too�� It seems that it went well." Yoruichi suddenly said while staring at him.


    "Yep~. I was able to max out my extra parameter and level up."


    "Hmm? Did Hestia came home?"


    "Nope~. I was able to do it remotely~."


    "�� I''m even not gonna ask how you did it�� but congrats, I guess."


    "Thank you~."


    As the group started eating when Medusa sat down to join them, Yoruichi continued, "Anyway, I decided to teach Line-chan."


    "Hmm? You''re going to bring her in?"


    "Yes. As you said, she has a talent when ites to healing and we need someone who could focus on healing."


    "True�� Although I could learn it myself, I can''t focus on it�� If she has enough motivation and talent, she should be able to help us�� But��"


    "I know your concerns, but trust me�� I''ll take care of her."


    "Okay~. I''ll prepare my medical knowledge and pass it to her. I hope she can develop her own skill from there on."


    "Let''s just see what the future holds." Yoruichi smiled as she got Kisuke''s agreement, "Anyway, Did you have some guest earlier? I went to the shop earlier."


    "Ah, that? Riveria from the Loki Familia came�� Surprisingly��"


    Not just Yoruichi, but everyone is making an incredulous face, "Is she a masochist?" Aika suddenly asked.


    "��I don''t think so��" Kisuke answered, but even he isn''t sure if that''s the case, "But it seems that she''s hellbent on breaking my expectations��"


    Sona then asked, "And how do you feel about that?"


    With a big smile, Kisuke answered, "I feel challenged, so I started preparing a few things for the future~."


    Kuroka then suddenly raised her hand, "Alright~! Let''s bet on how long she canst, nya~! I''ll be the banker~!"


    "Three puddings, three days!" Aika started.


    "Two tes of chocte melting cakes, five days!" Sona joined in.


    "Five orange souffle, six days." Because it seems fun, Medusa also joined in.


    "��Six strawberry tarts, two days." Koneko doesn''t have much faith in Riveria.


    "Then mine is ten expresso truffles for one-week~," Yoruichi added.


    Kisuke knew that the end result of this betting would be him making everything they said for everyone regardless of the result, but he didn''t say anything and only smiled gently, ''I''mcking some materials for those�� I should ask some from Riveria-san.''


    "So? What did shee here for?" After finalizing their useless bet, Yoruichi asked.


    "She came for the magic and Ais-san''s condition. Thanks to that, I was able to initiate a deal that should give us some leeway with our activities. Everything should be easier with their help."


    "I see�� So you scammed someone again��" Aika couldn''t help but mutter.


    "That means business as usual," Sona added with a smile.


    Ignoring the words of the two, Kisuke continued with a serious expression, "With this, we''ll have close ties with the Loki Familia, but I want you all to remember that we can''t becent and still be careful with our actions since we don''t know if they''ll stay as our allies forever. I already made some mistakes earlier, but I should be able to work around it. If you girls made a blunder anywhere or think something is amiss, be sure to tell me so we can work out a solution."


    Everyone seriously nodded at his words.


    Smiling again, Kisuke said, "Aside from that, you can do whatever you want. As I said earlier, I want you to live in this world. We will return, but that doesn''t mean we should avoid rtionships in this world''s inhabitants."


    The rest of their dinner went peacefully and full of smiles by talking about random things, reminiscing things, and nning their activities for the next few days, including a group date on the uing Monster Philia hosted by the Ganesha Familia.


    Once their dinner is over, each of them went to their own activities like practicing sword techniques, practicing magic, and practicing the use of ki. The only ones who remained are Kisuke and Kuroka. Everyone seems to know what''s going to happen so all of them agreed in silence to leave them alone for now.


    Now that it''s about to happen, Kuroka became very nervous and kept fidgetting around while staying quiet, ''Why am I getting nervous now!? Shouldn''t I be ready with this!? And isn''t it just a single step further from what we''re already doing!?'' But despite, questioning herself, she still failed to calm her nerves. It was at this moment that she saw her little sister peeking from the distance before giving her a thumbs up.


    Kuroka smiled and most of her nervousness went away, ''Shirone��'' Now that she has her little sister''s approval, confidence went back to her.


    "Seriously�� How about my opinion?" Kisuke suddenly muttered seeing everyone going away without a word and Koneko giving Kuroka a thumbs up.


    Hearing his words, Kuroka pouted, ''This bastard�� Still hesitating�� He''s the one going to take advantage of me! Why does he sound like it''s such a pain in the ass!?''


    Standing up, Kuroka approached Kisuke and stopped in front of him. Kisuke didn''t say anything and only looked at her. Due to this, Kuroka''s pout became worse. Taking a deep breath, Kuroka took the final step forward, "Excuse me, nya~."


    Wrapping her arms around his neck, Kuroka went after his lips with her own. Closing her eyes, she started her attack, "Ummmnn~?."


    Kisuke, in response, wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the favor by exploring her mouth with his tongue, "Uhmmm~???!" Since this is her first kiss and a very deep one at that, Kuroka immediately lost her breath and separated her lips from him, leaving a trail of saliva.


    With a very red face, Kuroka looked down because she can''t meet Kisuke''s eyes, ''I didn''t know it''ll be this embarrassing!'' "Uhm, t-that was my first time�� So��" With just a single kiss, Kuroka became a timid girl, unlike her usual self. But this contradiction only gave Kisuke more heat and decided to ''eat'' her for real.


    Lifting her chin with her left hand, Kisuke whispered, "Then let''s move to your second time immediately. This time, with more enthusiasm~" He then initiated an attack on her lips.


    "Hnnmmm~~???!" Kuroka tried to fight back with all her might, but with just Kisuke''s experienced attacks, she felt weak on her knees and wanted to buckle up. Feeling her reaction, Kisuke, without separating from her, carried her to the table and let her sat down on it.


    Kuroka felt relief with the support but that didn''tst long as she felt Kisuke''s hand started exploring her secret ces, "Hmmnnn!?"


    Kisuke left hand first begun on her ample bosom without removing her ck yukata and a minuteter, he brought his hand down to her crotch. Kisuke is already her goingmando and damp, but he really didn''t expect her to be so damp that it''s practically gushing down from her leggeds.


    Working on her subconscious, Kuroka instinctively grabbed Kisuke''s hand which touched her wet membrane. Separating for a bit, Kuroka muttered with a hurried breath, "Uhmm�� We''re still in the dining room��"


    Kisuke grinned and replied, "That''s great~! I''m craving for some whipped cream now. Let''s move to the kitchen."


    "Eh?"


    "What ''eh?'' I decided to eat you, so this much should be fine~."


    "Ehh?"


    Kisuke didn''t mind her reaction as he carried her in a princess carry and started walking towards the kitchen.


    "Nyaa!?"

 Volume 7 381 - The Three Goddesses

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 381 - The Three Goddesses</h4>


    The next morning, Kisuke came out of Kuroka''s room after cleaning her up. He then went straight to the dining room to meet everyone and have breakfast. But as he entered the room, he received a re from everyone except for Medusa.


    "Did you properly clean up the kitchen?" Yoruichi asked first.


    "Y-yeah�� I cleaned them up before leaving��"


    Sighing, Yoruichi added, "I didn''t think you two will do it here�� And some of the whipped creams disappeared��"


    "Just what sort of y did you two partake yesterday?" Aika curiously asked.


    Kisuke sat down and answered, "Uhmm�� wet and messy y?"


    The girls were dumbfounded at his answer and started imagining what happenedst night, with Kuroka and Kisuke ''eating'' each other, "��Damn�� That''s hot��" Aika muttered.


    Suddenly raising her hand, Yoruichi announced, "I want the same treatment tonight!"


    Someone else then followed. Raising her hand, Sona also presented her desire with a blush on her face, "��T-then I want it too��"


    Everyone knew that she wanted the same thing after Yoruichi, however, Yoruichi herself has a different idea, "Oh? You want it too? Then let''s go together~."


    " " " "Eh!?" " " "


    "You''re fine with that, right, Kisuke?"


    "If you''re okay with it, then I''m down! No way I''ll be missing this~."


    "What about it, Sona?"


    With a red face, Sona looked back and forth between the Yoruichi and Kisuke. She wanted to refuse for her mental health, but somewhere inside her, there''s a burning desire to go along with their idea which she can''t ignore. Gathering her courage, she answered with a very soft voice, "��Okay."


    "Great~. We''ll do it tonight, so prepare yourself~." Yoruichi and Kisuke then proceeded to work on their breakfast while Sona did her best to ignore the incredulous stares that areing from the girls who''re thrown out of the loop by pretending to fix the position of her sses and focusing on her breakfast.


    That morning, Aika, Koneko, and Medusa couldn''t say anything. And more than anything, the feeling of being left out is unbearable that each one of them started scheming how to let Kisuke make a move on them.


    After the awkward breakfast, the girls got ready as they would be exploring the Dungeon today too. They intended to gain more excelia until they can''t anymore.


    "By the way, you should say your greetings to Sophie-san�� If you don''t want to be scoldedter." Kisuke reminded them.


    "�� She''ll probably scold us regardless��" Sona muttered.


    "What''s your n for today?" Yoruichi asked Kisuke.


    "Some guests will probably arrive today so I''ll be staying at the shop today. And please tell Sophie-san that I leveled up."


    "Got it. We''ll be going~." Yoruichi then asked for her goodbye kiss. And just like yesterday, everyone lined up behind her to get their goodbye kisses too even if it''s just on their forehead.


    "Be careful~."


    After everyone left, Kisuke first wrote a note to inform Kuroka of everyone''s ns for today when she wakes upter before making his way towards his shop to open it.


    Kisuke spent three hours silentlybining his Reiatsu-Ki before his expected guests arrived, "Kisuke-kun? Are you in?"


    Opening his eyes, Kisuke shouted back, "Hestia-sama! I''m here."


    Hearing his voice, Hestia entered the shop, and along with her are two more Goddesses. The first one is the familiar Loki while the other one is an eye-patched beauty that Kisuke already knew through Yoruichi and Kuroka''s investigation.


    "Oh my~. Good morning Loki-sama" Kisuke first greeted Loki before facing the other Goddess, "And this is��?"


    "Hephaestus." The eye-patched beauty introduced herself


    Giving a big smile, Kisuke introduced himself, "Hephaestus-sama~. Good morning to you. I''m Kisuke Urahara, the captain of Hestia Familia and the owner of this humble shop."


    "Nice to meet you too, Kisuke-kun. Thank you for taking care of my friend, but you shouldn''t spoil her too much. Or she''ll revert back to being a shut-in Goddess."


    "Hephaestus!?"


    "Ahaha~. You need not worry about that, Hephaestus-sama. Hestia-sama usually takes care of this shop so she isn''t technically unemployed."


    Hearing that, Hestia immediately became proud in front of her friend, "See? I''m not a shut-in anymore!"


    However, with Hestia sticking out her chest, Loki became infuriated, "Although I heard that there''s almost no customer thates to this shop which resulted in you to just eat and sleep all day."


    "Ugh!"


    Not minding Loki''s words, Kisuke continued, "I was not expecting a guest today. To whom do I owe this pleasure of the visit from the Goddesses of top Familias?" A simple lie. He wanted to test if they can really tell a lie from truth and to what extent.


    Loki and Hephaestus looked towards Kisuke with neutral expressions for a few seconds before Loki spoke up, "Trying to test if lies are really detected?"


    Smiling happily, Kisuke replied, "Yep~. And thank you for your response~." Turning around, Kisuke invited everyone inside the shop, "Pleasee in. I''ll prepare some snacks and tea. We can talk after that."


    Hestia happily followed Kisuke when she heard about the snacks while Loki and Hephaestus first looked and nodded at each other before entering. However, before she could step inside, Hephaestus'' eye caught the cane on Kisuke hand and eximed, "W-what''s that!?"


    "Phae-tan?" "Hephaestus?" Loki and Hestia called out in confusion.


    ''As expected of the Goddess of Forge�� She was able to see through it��'' Kisuke thought before chuckling, "As expected of Goddess of Forge~. You were able to see through its trick~."


    "Trick? What trick?" Loki asked curiously.


    Kisuke then pulled out the de from the cane, "This is the trick~. My main weapon~. And it was forged in a unique way and probably caught Hephaestus-sama''s interest."


    Loki has been suspicious of Kisuke all this time as she hasn''t heard him lie ever since they first met and thought of the possibility of a mortal capable of lying to Gods. However, his lie earlier gave her a sense offort since she was able to detect his lie, causing her to drop a bit of her guard.


    So when Loki heard about it being forged in a unique way, she didn''t think much of it anymore, contrary to Hephaestus who has an idea of the de''s true identity, ''A child tricking the Goddess of Trickery? A lie born from the truth? Who is he?'' She then looked towards Kisuke''s eyes and sighed, "Forgive my reaction. It''s my first time seeing this forging technique." She decided to y along with him. That way, she can hear more about the deter.


    Loki thought that Hephaestus'' reaction is a bit weird but didn''t dwell on it further as she too has some things in her mind that she wanted answers from Kisuke.

 Volume 7 382 - Soul Art

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 382 - Soul Art</h4>


    Once Kisuke set a slice of apple pie to each one of the Goddesses along with some tea, he sat down and started, "Once again, I''m honored to be able to entertain all of you�� But why don''t we skip the formalities and talk about your business here today?"


    "Right! I don''t really like formalities, so I''m going to ask directly." Loki then opened her eyes slightly and stared down on Kisuke, "Care to exin what happenedst night?"


    "Loki�� I agreed with you toe here�� But you can''t force him to tell you anything." Hestia immediately responded�� and then proceeded to take a bit from her apple pie.


    "Shut it, brat! If not for my help, then an annoying woman would being after your children and you won''t be able to do anything about it. So I at least has some right to know what exactly took ce."


    Hephaestus only quietly ate her apple pie and drunk her tea as she''s only originally here because she didn''t want Loki toe alone and pressure Hestia to do anything.


    "Then I really do owe you an exnation." Kisuke answered, "First of all, let me thank you for covering up my blunder."


    "Enough of that."


    Kisuke didn''t mind her words and exined, "I have this peculiar ability to enter a strange space inside me which I call my inner world."


    All three of them then looked at him with surprise expressions, "Inner world?" Loki asked to confirm.


    "Yes�� That''s what I call it at least."


    The three Goddesses stopped what they''re doing to think about his words for a moment. Kisuke understood their sudden quietness as the Gods probably has the same ability as default and this is their first time seeing or hearing someone who ims that can do the same. However, Kisuke maintained his poker face so that he would let out any of his thoughts. It''s better to be suspected than caught lying when he makes a confused expression.


    A minuteter, Loki spoke again, "And? What does it have to do withst night''s event?"


    "Last night was the first time I''ve done it since receiving my Falna from Hestia-sama. When I entered my inner world, I noticed that there''s a ming golden orb that quietly floats around and I tried to touch it. It then suddenly connected me to Hestia-sama and I was able to talk to her through her mind. I don''t know what happened on your sidest night, but that''s all I can tell from my side."


    Loki confirmed that he isn''t lying so she asked another question, "What else is inside this inner world of yours?"


    "I believe that''s only for me to know. Telling you the ming golden orb is already my limit."


    Loki scratched her head but she also didn''t mind Kisuke''s response as she''s only trying her luck and see if he would answer. She then started eating her pie and drunk all of her tea before standing up, "Then I''ll take my leave. I''m done here."


    "Let me bring you outside." Kisuke also stood up and started walking beside her. The other two Goddesses didn''t follow them and just enjoyed their snacks.


    Once they got outside, Loki turned to Kisuke and suddenly asked with a smile, "How were you able to hide your soul from that woman?"


    A tricky question, but something Kisuke is already expecting and is also something that he doesn''t mind answering to further improve his rtionship with this Goddess, "I wonder what you''re talking about~?" He answered with a big smile.


    Loki chuckled, "Thank you for your response~." Although she wasn''t able to uncover his method, she was able to confirm that Kisuke was able to hide his soul from Freya, ''If he truly can enter his soul space, then it''s impossible for him to have an ordinary soul.''


    Kisuke didn''t respond to that further and asked what he needed to know, "What about the deal between your Familia and my Hestia Familia?"


    Shrugging her shoulders, she answered, "It''s those children who''ll take care of it. Just promise me that you wouldn''t hurt them."


    "I can''t promise that."


    Loki''s eyes became sharp as she faces Kisuke. However, she waited for the continuation of his words.


    "But I can promise that as long as we don''t be enemies, I won''t do anything that would be detrimental to them."


    Loki''s pressure eased up as she heard that, "I guess that''s fine��" She then recalled something, "Right. What about Line-chan? She asked for my permission yesterday and I assume that you already know what is this all about."


    "If you''re asking about that, then I assume that you already gave her your permission. Well then, let me get straight to the point. Would you agree to transfer her to our Familia?"


    "No." An immediate answer.


    Sighing, Kisuke has no choice but to ask, "Will you be willing to reset her level?" Kisuke didn''t ask if she can as he''s pretty sure that she''s at least capable of that.


    Loki looked at Kisuke''s eyes again, but this time, with a bit of animosity, "Do you know what you are asking?"


    "Please enlighten me of the consequences," Kisuke replied simply.


    Loki put her index finger on Kisuke''s chest and put pressure on it as if she wanted to pierce through it, "It might be possible, but that is only meant for extreme punishment! For level 1, it wouldn''t have much of an effect. For level 2, permanent injury is assured. For level 3, there are 9 out of 10 chance of death. For level 4 and above, death is assured and reincarnation is impossible!"


    "I see��" Kisuke nodded, "I may not be able to do something about those in level 3 and above, but I can assure you the safety of a level 2�� Coincidentally, Arshe-san is just a level 2."


    Loki''s eyes widened in shock at what she heard, "��You bastard�� You''re directly dabbling with soul?"


    And Kisuke didn''t need to answer that.


    "That''s a forbidden art, you know!"


    "That doesn''t mean I can''t use it."


    "If other Gods and Goddesses, especially those who look after bnce and death, were to know of this, they''ll be hunting you even if your soul is the process of reincarnation!"


    "Figures."


    Loki then started scratching her head in frustration, "Ahhh! What the hell! Do you think this is a joke!"


    "Of course not."


    "Then how can you act so nonchntly! There''s a possibility that you''ll be damned for eternity!"


    "It seems like you''re misunderstanding the nature of my ability."


    "What?"


    "Soul maniption�� You''re thinking of it as something that breaks the bnce of the world and disrespect for death."


    "Is it not? A mortal using such art would only result in that! There''s already precedence!"


    ''There''s precedence? Interesting��'' But Kisuke knew that he should first focus on Loki, "I can assure you that I, of all people, respect bnce and death." ''After all, I''m a Shinigami.''


    Loki experienced another shock as she knew that he isn''t lying. Kisuke just used the Gods'' biggest advantage in the mortal world against one, ''A mortal who isn''t corrupted by the art��? What is he?''

 Volume 7 383 - Hephaestus

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 383 - Hephaestus</h4>


    Loki stopped speaking for a moment and went on to think of her next steps while peeking at Kisuke''s unchanging poker face. A few minutes of silence passed before Loki finally spoke, "Come and join my Familia."


    "��" Kisuke''s expression didn''t change.


    "I can offer you much more than that brat can give you." Loki continued her persuasion.


    "��"


    "It''s a waste for someone like you to stay in a Familia without any power! If you''re worried about yourpanions, they cane with you."


    "��"


    "What? Still not satisfied? Tell me what you want, then I''ll work on it!"


    Kisuke finally smiled wryly and shook his head, "I''m sorry for staying silent, I was just curious about what you''d be willing to offer me. But you misunderstand me, Loki-sama��"


    "Hmm��?"


    "It''s not that I''m unsatisfied with your offer��"


    "Then why?"


    Matching her eyes, Kisuke answered, "It''s because, I promised."


    "��" It was Loki''s turn to stay silent.


    "I promised Hestia-sama that I''ll join her Familia, that includes not leaving it." Kisuke smiled brightly and continued, "You see, to me, two of the most important things I believe in are trust and promises. And I''ll neverpromise on those two important things."


    "�� I see. I''m wasting my breath then�� I''ll leave Line-chan in your care�� Riveria and Ais as well." Loki then turned around, intending to leave.


    "Oh�� You''re agreeing? I didn''t think that it would be this easy�� Could it be��"


    "Don''t misunderstand me�� I''m not selling my children�� and that will never happen."


    "Then��"


    "I want to earn your trust by entrusting my precious children to you. I''m making a big gamble here, so this is the most I can do. Don''t disappoint me, or we''ll be the first one to crush you! Even if I''m sent back to Tenkai."


    Despite facing her back, Kisuke could feel the seriousness of her threat and that is what assured him more in this cooperation.


    "Got it, I''ll be careful."


    Before leaving Loki turned around and looked at Kisuke seriously, "Oh, and by the way, Ais is mine and only mine!"


    "I see, I heard from the rumors that you''re very protective of her. Some even say that you intend to make her your wife��"


    Loki only smiled and put no effort into refuting those rumors.


    "And seeing you like this, I can now confirm that there''s more to it. Is it because of her identity? Her lineage? You don''t want anyone carelessly approaching her."


    After those words, Loki''s smile froze.


    "Oh? I was just fishing in the dark, but it looks like I grazed something��"


    With a twitching mouth, Loki muttered, "Kid, you''re more terrifying than most Gods."


    Smiling bashfully while scratching the back of his head, Kisuke replied, "Ehehe, is that so?"


    "That''s not apliment!"


    Ignoring her reaction, Kisuke pushed the topic, "Anyway, I''m grateful for this cooperation."


    Sighing, Loki started walking away, "Whatever�� And I want more of that picture that you sent me yesterday."


    "It won''t be for free but I''ll prioritize you when it''s avable~. Also, please don''t tease that Elf so much with that, she''ll try to kill me."


    "You already know I''ll be doing just that!~ Either way, you probably have a way to escape danger��" Those were herst words to Kisuke before leaving for real while waving her hand.


    Kisuke chuckled and wanted to say that she''s right. He then went back inside the shop and saw the two Goddesses talking joyfully, "Ah, Kisuke-kun. Done with your private talk?" Hestia greeted him.


    "Yep~. I''ll prepare lunch, so please sit still. Is that fine with you, Hephaestus-sama?"


    "I originally only wanted to apany Hestia for a little bit today, but I saw something interesting. So I''ll be extending my stay, if you don''t mind?"


    "Of course!~ You''re Hestia-sama''s good friend, so it''s my honor to serve you a warm wee!~" Kisuke then proceeded to the kitchen to cook lunch.


    "Hestia, He''s wasted on you��" Hephaestus couldn''t help but let out her thoughts in exasperation.


    "What was that!?" Hestia and Hephaestus then started bickering.


    While cooking lunch, Kisuke also wanted some downtime to process the new information and n his next steps, ''Although it didn''t go exactly as I wanted, getting Loki''s cooperation alongside her childrens is one off the list of goals. And now to the Goddess of Forge�� Initially, I didn''t think Hestia-sama would be bringing her in, but this isn''t a bad thing. Now, I only need to find a way to cooperate with her�� Let''s see what would happen if I show her some papers about Sacred Gears�� Hopefully, that would be enough for us to work on something together.''


    It took Kisuke less than half an hour to serve everything. But instead of talking about their business over their meal, Kisuke and Hephaestus choose to postpone it and just talk about random things and about Hestia, and dissing her once in a while, resulting in the ''mature'' petite Goddess'' frustration.


    After their lunch, Hestia said that she''ll be taking a nap because she''s very tired and left the two of them alone.


    "Hestia is too lenient on you. She first allowed you to have a private talk with Loki and now she''s also allowing a private time for us��" Hephaestusmented after seeing her leave.


    "I''m very grateful for that, actually." Kisuke replied with a smile.


    "And? Why didn''t you ept Loki''s offer of joining her?" Hephaestus abruptly changed the subject.


    Kisuke looked at her for a moment before saying, "You''re guessing?"


    "Yes. It''s one of the few advantages us Gods in the lower world have is to be able to discern a lie absolutely. And I wouldn''t have any problem using it."


    "Well, I would do the same." The moment she asked that question to Kisuke, no matter how he answered or didn''t, Hephaestus could already confirm if Loki had indeed invited Kisuke to join her Familia, ''I have to find out how this whole lie-detecting works and see if I can do something about it��''


    "I didn''t ept her offer because I already promised Hestia-sama that we would join and stay in her Familia, and she doesn''t want to be left alone either."


    "I see��" Hephaestus drank her tea before asking another difficult question, "And it''s a lot easier for you to manipte her than Loki, right?"


    "��" Kisuke chose not to answer her and just took a sip from his tea.


    The two of them became quiet for a few minutes, drinking only their tea until their cups became empty.


    The first one to break the silence was Hephaestus, "I''m sorry, I just wanted to confirm the safety of my friend��"


    "It''s fine, I understand. Besides, what you said is the truth. It''s truly a lot easier to manipte her than Loki-sama."


    "Then��"


    "But she''s well aware of it."


    "She''s aware?" Hephaestus'' eye slightly widened.


    "Yes. I came clean and told her that I''m manipting her."


    "�� What did she say?"


    "She knew�� And she still epted all of us. That is something I''m forever grateful for. So, if you''re worried that I or my group will do something to harm her, then please be rest assured. I''m going to take good care of her. That''s the least I can do."


    Hephaestus looked down on her empty cup of tea and muttered, "I see�� Then let''s stop talking about this."


    Kisuke smiled and refilled her cup with warm tea.


    "Well then, Hestia told me that you want the cooperation of a cksmith regarding something." Pretending that the earlier topic didn''te up, Hephaestus spoke, "I could lend you a good cksmith, but only if you were to tell me what that de is."


    EDITORS:


    Alexander


    Jake


    Ashe Candy


    Garan Meyers

 Volume 7 384 - Unknown Technology

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 384 - Unknown Technology</h4>


    "Well then, Hestia told me that you want the cooperation of a cksmith regarding something." Pretending that the earlier topic didn''te up, Hephaestus spoke, "I could lend you a good cksmith, but only if you were to tell me what that de is."


    "Unfortunately, Hephaestus-sama, I can''t tell you about the real identity of this de." Kisuke shook his head.


    "I see�� I don''t me you. But what you need has something to do with that de, right? Not to brag, but my children are some of the best weapon researchers you could find."


    "Your cksmiths are good, but I would like your personal cooperation for this."


    Squinting her eye, Hephaestus stated, "You''re greedy."


    "I''m not~ I just want one of the best out there. Besides, although I''m not underestimating your cksmiths, you would be hard pressed to find someone with enough technical skills to work with my project."


    "��" Hephaestus didn''t speak any further.


    "I think Hephaestus-sama would have enough skills to work on it~" With a grin, Kisuke uttered.


    "Trying to provoke me? Sorry, but that doesn''t work on me. I''m confident with my skills, I don''t need your approval for that."


    "I''m not trying to do that. I truly, and honestly believe that your skills are enough�� If not, then there''s no one else I could ask. Initially, I just wanted to learn some cksmithing techniques, but since you''re already here, I want the best for this project as this can affect the future of our Familia."


    "��" If it was any other guy, Hephaestus would have already stood up and left. However, on top of being Hestia''s child, his mysterious project also intrigued her as he was someone who owned a strange weapon, "Let''s just say that I agree with you, but that means I will lose some of my time to manage my own Familia. You will have to offer suitablepensation for me. How will that go?"


    "I think both of those issues can be solved by you once you take a look at what I''m working on." Kisuke stood up and got a stack of paper and a pen. Kisuke then started writing at an incredible speed that awed Hephaestus.


    She wanted to ask what he was doing but figured that he would probably give it to her once he was done writing. Ten minutester, Kisuke finished writing the first page and passed it to Hephaestus for her to read.


    While Kisuke started the second page, Hephaestus skimmed through what''s written on it. However, just a minuteter, she went back to the top of the page and read it carefully for the second time. Hephaestus only needed five minutes to read through everything and wanted to read the next page immediately.


    For the Goddesses of Forging, the next five minutes before Kisuke finished the next page was like a torturous wait, but she did her best to stop herself from asking anything as it might disturb Kisuke''s writing and make the wait longer.


    Receiving the next page, Hephaestus happily grabbed the paper and carefully read through it. As she came across the data and information about ''Sacred Gears'', an unbearable phantom itch kept bothering the Goddess. The worst part was that she couldn''t do anything but wait for the next part!


    This scene kept repeating for six more times and not just an unbearable itch, Hephaestus was also experiencing a thirst she hadn''t had for millions of years now, ''What is this��? A technology I''m not aware of? And this level�� Although it''s iplete and some parts could be revised, only Gods could havee up with something like this! But I don''t know who''s capable of it nor have I heard of someone possessing this technology! This�� This might as well be a Divine weapon, but for mortals!''


    Arge headache came to her as questions filled her mind, "Where did you get this?"


    "I can''t tell you that. And why should I?" Chuckling, Kisuke answered.


    "Then at least tell me what you''re going to use this for?"


    "To get stronger, obviously~"


    "And what are you going to use that strength for?"


    But instead of revealing his goal, Kisuke addressed what she was concerned about, "I don''t desire any harming to the world and its good inhabitants."


    For Hephaestus, that sort of answer was enough for now. She sighed after putting the papers back together and held her forehead, "Haahh�� You got me��"


    "So?~ What''s your decision?~"


    "Let me work with you with on this one," Hephaestus answered simply, ''It''s also better for me to supervise this to make sure it doesn''t go in the wrong direction.''


    "Thank you very much!~"


    "I should be the one thanking you for letting me participate in such an interesting project. However, let me ask a few things first."


    "Please go ahead."


    "Firstly, is this weapon�� a parasite?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "It is easy to see it that way since you haven''t seen everything yet, but instead of parasitism, it''s a symbiosis."


    Hephaestus nodded, "And another thing, where is this weapon attached? In the flesh�� Or��"


    Without hesitation, Kisuke answered, "In the soul."


    Hephaestus'' eye became sharp when she heard this, "Do you know what this means?"


    Nodding, Kisuke replied, "Yes, I was also warned by Loki-sama."


    "��And she let you go?" Hephaestus asked in surprise.


    "Yes."


    The Goddess of Forge could only sigh after hearing his answer, ''Whatever�� I''m going to see through this project�� If something goes wrong, I should be able to do something about it.''


    Standing up, Hephaestus prepared to leave, "Thank you for having me."


    "Leaving already?"


    Hephaestus nodded, "To work on this, I first have to work on my schedule and duties. I can''t abandon everything else for this. I''ll be heading back now and start arranging and delegating my duties."


    Kisuke also stood up and led her to the exit, "I see. Should I expect your arrival in a few days?"


    "Most probably, after the Monster Philia."


    "Understood. I''ll prepare everything we need before you arrive. And I would like it if we could keep this a secret to everyone else."


    "Got it. Give my regards to Hestia. I''ll be going now."


    Smiling, Kisuke bid her farewell, "Please take care."


    Once Hephaestus disappeared from his sight, Kisuke heaved arge sigh, ''This time, it went as I expected. It''s a lot easier to talk to an artisan.''


    Turning around, Kisuke closed his shop for the day and went back to their underground base to prepare all the things he would need, ''Leveling up, finding a way back, and creating Sacred Gears for everyone�� It seems that my schedule is packedtely��''


    Despite that, Kisuke would never take away the time allocated to having fun with his girls.


    Editors:


    Alexander


    28th00


    Ashe Candy


    Garan Mayers

 Volume 7 385 - Taking it Easy

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 385 - Taking it Easy</h4>


    Waking up with a flower on each arm, Kisuke started his day refreshed. Kisuke first checked on Sona and Yoruichi as they got a bit too wildst night, emptying entire bowls of whipped cream and some small fruits��


    Seeing that they were still sleeping peacefully with small smiles on their faces, Kisuke gave them a kiss each on their foreheads before he exited his room. Once he got out, he met the four girls who just had their breakfast and were doing their morning exercises.


    When the girls noticed him, each and every one of them gave him a nk face�� even Medusa, who usually, just smiled and greeted him every morning. Kisuke then noticed their tiredplexion and knew the reason behind the atmosphere but didn''t bother asking about it, "Good morning everyone~."


    But instead of returning his greeting, Aika asked, "Why didn''t you put up a sound-insting barrier?"


    "Why? We''re the only ones here�� So I don''t think it''s necessary�� Besides, the walls are pretty thick."


    "The walls did nothing, senpai�� Onee-sama and I can hear it very clearly." Koneko, who slept with Kurokast night, retorted with still a nk expression, "If I wasn''t there�� Kuroka-neesama would have joined you because your noise kept her hot and bothered all night."


    "Shirone!?" Kuroka tried to cover her mouth, but she was toote, ''I see�� That nk expression means she''s frustrated��'' Kisuke thought.


    Feigning a cough, Kisuke faced Aika and Medusa, "Ehem, I understand Koneko''s reasoning�� But you shouldn''t have heard it�� Unless you purposely listened to it."


    Without changing her expression, Medusa answered, "It''s my duty to always listen in case the master needs my presence. If there''s something, please don''t hesitate to call me as I''ll being as fast as I can." She revealed her intentions discretely and subtly.


    Nodding at her made her smile a bit and Kisuke then faced Aika to hear her excuse, "Eh�� Uhmm�� Y-You and Yoruichi taught me how to passively strengthen my senses so I''ve been using it continuously, even in my sleep! That''s the reason I could hear it! It''s really hard to sleep with those kinds of noises!"


    Nodding again, Kisuke muttered, "I see�� That''s why you have a very faint scent on your fingers��"


    "What!?" In shock, Aika immediately tried to smell her fingers, but she could only detect the scent of the hilt of her nodachi, "But I made sure to wash my hands very thoroughly��" She muttered.


    "You practiced your Zanjutsu in the middle of the night to take off your mind from the noise." Kisuke suddenly continued.


    "Eh��?"


    "But based on your reaction just now�� You did something else other than practicing with your sword��" Kisuke grinned.


    "Y-Y-You tricked me!!!"


    Shrugging his shoulders, Kisuke retorted, "I didn''t, you just revealed it yourself. By the way, where''s Hestia-sama?"


    "She''s still sleeping, master. And I think she''s unaware of what just happened." Medusa answered.


    Scratching his head, Kisuke muttered, "I really need to ask her to be active for a bit�� If I don''t, I feel like this will get progressively worse��"


    After the morning ''mayhem'', Kuroka, Medusa, Aika, and Koneko got ready for today''s Dungeon exploration and before they left, Kisuke reminded them, "By the way, Arshe-san won''t be able toe with you today. Loki-sama will probably bring her here today."


    "Got it. We''ll only stay around the floors 15 and 16. Koneko and I still need some adjustments." Aika answered.


    After their daily forehead kisses, the group left with enough energy tost them throughout the whole day.


    A few minutester, while Kisuke was preparing the things he would need for Loki''s arrival, Hestia came out of her room while still rubbing her eyes, "Good morning, Hestia-sama. What would you like for breakfast?"


    Stretching up for a bit, Hestia greeted back, "Uhnn�� Good morning, Kisuke-kun�� No need. It''s alreadyte and I need to open the shop. I''ll just have my breakfast there. Where''s everyone?" Due to the Gods'' Banquet the other day, and Loki and Hephaestus not leaving her alone for the whole night, Hestia became too tired and had to sleep a bit longer, at least in her perspective, than usual. However, a bit longer is actually very long because as soon as she separated from Kisuke and Hephaestus yesterday, she had been sleeping.


    "Kuroka, Medusa, Aika, and Koneko just left for the Dungeon, while Yoruichi and Sona are still sleeping."


    Hestia then proceeded to look straight at Kisuke''s eyes, "Still sleeping�� hmm�� Take it easy, will ya."


    With a serious expression, Kisuke replied, "I''m taking it easy."


    Hestia didn''t know what to say after that so she just hurried herself to the bathroom to fix herself for a bit before going out. When she was about to leave, Kisuke notified her, "Hestia-sama! Loki-sama will probablyeter! So please call me when they arrive!"


    Hestia''s face changed when she heard Loki''s name, but she still nodded at Kisuke before going.


    "Now then, time to prepare the equipment for treatment, I still need to assemble some of them��" Kisuke then started working on the essentials that would help him treat Line''s soul and bodily injuries after she underwent the level reset.


    It was only after lunch that Hestia came down and called him up as Loki and the others had arrived and were now waiting in the shop, "Kisuke-kun! They''re here!"


    "Got it! I''ming up in a few minutes! I just need to finish this first. Please entertain them for a moment."


    After about ten minutes, Kisuke was finally able to set everything up and proceeded to his shop where everyone was waiting. When he came in, what came into his view was Hestia and Loki rolling around as if trying to bite off each other''s face while Line was about to cry trying to stop them. Riveria, who was thest person in the room, on the other hand, was only quietly sipping on her tea, ignoring themotion the Goddesses were creating.


    "It''s good to see everyone is so very lively~." He only left them alone for 10 minutes or so and it already devolved into this, ''As expected�� They''re good friends.'' Kisuke thought with a smile.


    " "It''s not good at all! This rabid brat(t) Goddess is about to bite off my face!" " Hestia and Loki simultaneously retorted.


    "Kisuke-san! Please help me separate them!" Line pleaded to the neer.


    "Good day to you, Kisuke�� I hope you''re ready to be smacked by my staff." Riveria, meanwhile, faced Kisuke with a dark smile covering her face, "Don''t worry. It won''t kill you��"


    ''Now then�� How should I mess with this Elf��'' Kisuke thought after hearing her threats. He wasn''t even feeling remotely guilty for passing Loki a photo of her when she reached a small climax in the pub and instead, was trying to think of a way to gather more ''insurance'' materials.'' Maybe I should target her ears next? They have to be more sensitive than normal��"


    Editors:


    2. Ashe Candy


    3. Garan Meyers

 Volume 7 386 - Riverias Effort

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 386 - Riveria''s Effort</h4>


    When Riveria finally got back home from her meeting with Kisukest time, every female member of the Loki Familia was looking at her weirdly, while some of them would blush and look away. Thetter reaction was especially prevalent among the Elves. She wanted to ask what was going on, but everyone didn''t seem to want to speak.


    She tried to ask the male members but they too didn''t know what was going on and just saw Loki showing them something before running off somewhere. It was then, a bad feeling took over, but she didn''t know what was happening. She tried to find Loki, but it seems that she went out to prepare for the Gods'' Banquet that was happening that evening and she dragged Tione, Tiona, Ais, and Lefiya, who also just came back from shopping, with her.


    Without much choice, she ignored everything for now and proceeded to call the other two top executives of the Loki Familia to discuss Kisuke''s terms.


    If it was just her, Riveria would have already chosen to ept Kisuke''s offers, but she was in a leadership position of arge Familia, so she couldn''t just unterally decide on an activity that can potentially affect her duties and those around her.


    In the meeting room, Finn and Gareth arrived together and saw that Riveria was arranging some files, sorting out the things that needed to be discussed by them.


    "Riveria, how did it go?" Finn asked as he sat down on his chair.


    "He''s the real deal, no, more than that, he''s more than what we expected��" Riveria answered while sighing.


    "Is that so?" Finn felt a bit surprised at her reaction but didn''t show it, "And? What does he want?"


    Riveria then proceeded to present them Kisuke''s terms. Loki Familia''s aid when requested in exchange for information gathering done by their group and materials worth a hundred million to a billion Valis in exchange for his magic knowledge that Riveria had already confirmed to be beyond hers.


    Both Finn and Gareth were shocked at the second one, but they chose to focus on the first term, "Our aid when requested in exchange for their intelligence gathering?" Finn asked with furrowed brows, but then, he suddenly remembered when they first met the Hestia Familia at the Hostess of Fertility. The Amazon and the Cat Person suddenly appeared behind Tiona without them noticing, ''I see. So those two are the ones responsible for intelligence gathering? If it''s a skill like that, then they should be able to infiltrate a lot of ces��''


    "Alright, let''s make a proper guideline of what aid we can provide."


    "First of all, we need to know their motives each time they request aid. Second, we can decline if their request will put our members in too great of a risk or it goes against our moral beliefs. Lastly, if we discover that they''re hiding something that could endanger us, we can terminate this term without any repercussions. And regarding their intelligence gathering, they have to inform us if something even remotely rted to the Loki Familia is discovered. If they don''t and we discover it, we can also choose to terminate this term. That''s it for the first term for now. Show it to him first before we further discuss the details to see if he has any problem with this."


    Riveria nodded as she listed everything Finn just said.


    "Continuing to the materials�� That will be hard��"


    "About that, I''ll be shouldering the cost. Since I''ll be the one benefiting the most. I just need everyone''s help with the gathering of said materials."


    "That''s fine, but what are the limitations imposed on you regarding the things he''ll impart to you?" Gareth asked.


    "He just has one request��"


    Finn became very curious. Since it was already confirmed by Riveria that this was valuable knowledge, he already expected some serious restrictions, like only Riveria and a few others could learn it.


    "The origin of such knowledge�� He doesn''t want it pointed to their group."


    Finn and Gareth''s eyes widened at such a strange condition, but thinking about it again, Kisuke has a point, "I see�� He doesn''t want to attract attention to himself and those around him�� And since that strange magic must be an integral part of their strength, they don''t want people looking for them because of it."


    Riveria nodded, "That''s right. He wanted to make his group less unique in the eyes of others, just in case someone discovers it."


    "So, does that mean you can teach others his magic?" Gareth asked while stroking his beard.


    "Yes. He also suggested that I could use this to get tuition fees from others to lighten up my burden."


    Finn nodded knowingly, "That''s understandable��"


    "So, do we ept the second term as it is?"


    "Hmm�� It''s really hard to decide��" Gareth muttered.


    "Gareth is correct, even if we know it''s valuable knowledge, a billion Valis is still too much�� And I doubt it''ll stop there. Another thing is, we don''t know how much he will teach you and he''ll still get the thing he wanted. He could just teach you the basics of the basics and never disclose any advanced techniques."


    "We''re already giving him too much for the first term as he can request as much aid as he needs as long as it doesn''t vite the guidelines and he can still withhold some information that we might need from us. I don''t want the second term to be disadvantageous for us too."


    Riveria felt relieved that Kisuke gave her thest item she needed to convince the two. Putting the purse she received from Kisuke on the table, Riveria instructed Finn, "Put your hand inside this purse."


    Finn and Gareth didn''t know why Riveria would suddenly take this out when they were talking about something important but they also figured it must have been an item rted to theck of advantages they could receive in this deal.


    Without saying anything, Finn reached out for the purse and opened it to take a look inside. However, he and Gareth were shocked, as they couldn''t see anything inside despite the amount of natural lightinging from the windows. Finn tried to put it in front of the window but the opening of the purse remained shadowed, "This is��" he became wary of the purse.


    "Don''t worry about it, just put your hand inside it and you''ll understand."


    Nodding at her, Finn proceeded to follow Riveria''s instructions and put his hand inside the purse. But the item he''s expecting to touch didn''t appear�� and the same with the bottom of the purse, as if it disappeared. He then tried to find anything he could grab but noticed that his whole upper arm was already inside the purse despite not feeling anything which was already an impossible feat, "This is!?"


    "A bag with a bigger space than it shows�� He told me that there''s a half a cubic meter of space inside it. He also said that the contents don''t change its weight that much, but I haven''t tested that yet."


    "This is ridiculous��" Gareth muttered, also in shock of what he just witnessed.


    "I know, and he said that he can make a few of these every month."


    "So that means we can get more of these on a regr basis��"


    "Yes."


    Rubbing his chin, Finn concluded, "If he can supply us with these regrly, then we''re actually getting more in this deal since this thing could help us gain surplus supplies and marching speed in the Dungeon."


    "He actually wants one more thing. He wants confidentiality. And I think he wants to limit the information that I can pass to everyone. So I''ll probably need to swear on my Falna for that to happen."


    Wearing a serious expression, Finn asked, "Is that fine with you?"


    "Yes. As long as there''s a proper agreement between us, then I''ll be fine." Riveria gathered everything and intended to end the meeting right here, but before she left, she asked the two of them, "By the way, do you know what''s going on? The girls have been avoiding me."


    Finn and Gareth looked at each other before smiling wryly, "Well�� Yes�� Remember what happenedst night?"


    With a crumpled face, Riveria replied, "Please do forget about that��"


    Not minding the face she was making, Finn continued, "Loki has this very urate picture of what happenedst night�� And from its perspective, it must havee from Kisuke Urahara."


    With eyes wide open, she ran out shouting, "Loki! Where are you!?"


    Editors:


    28th00


    Alexander


    Garan Mayers

 Volume 7 387 - The Breakdown

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 387 - The Breakdown</h4>


    When Loki heard Riveria''s cold voice, she immediately separated from Hestia and sat down, behaving like a good kid, "Oh~. Good afternoon to you, Kisuke-kun. It seems that you''re busy with something."


    Hestia growled at her, but she also noticed Riveria''s aura and chose not to do anything for now.


    "I''ve been anticipating your arrival, so I prepared the things that we would need." Kisuke exined simply, "By the way, just what did you do, Loki-sama?"


    With all seriousness, she answered, "What any other person would do after receiving ''that''."


    Kisuke, in response, nodded in understanding, "I see, so you showed it to everyone." He then shed a grin, "As expected of Loki-sama~."


    Returning the grin, Loki responded, "I knew you would understand me~."


    A loud p on the table suddenly rang out followed by a frustrated and angry voice, "Shut up!"


    Everyone looked towards the embarrassed and blushing Elf, "Loki�� Should I hang you again?"


    "Nope! I won''t say anything about it anymore!" Loki reeled back as she recalled how, after she returned with everyone, Riveria hanged her in the bath house with a blindfold over her eyes while everyone was bathing. A simple punishment, but for someone like Loki, it was torture not being able to see or touch anything when she knew, that there were naked and beautiful maidens around her.


    Riveria then turned to Kisuke and gave him a re, "Why do you have something like that!? And why did you give it to her!?"


    And with an annoying casual smile, he replied, "I told you, right? I have multiple pieces of insurance on hand. And why did I give it to her? It''s because I can!" Putting both of his hands on his waist, Kisuke showed how proud he was with what he did.


    Without saying another word, Riveria grabbed the Magna Alfs, Riveria''s silvery-white staff that is made from mithril and holydite, which was hard enough that it can also be used as a makeshift bludgeoning weapon, and hurriedly stood up with a rage-induced expression.


    Riveria raised her staff in an attempt to smack Kisuke on the head. But just before she started, she quickly adjusted her strength so that it would only result in a small lump at worst and wouldn''t do any further damage. But just as she was about to bring down her staff with the might of a woman scorned, a slip of paper suddenly fell out of Kisuke''s sleeve.


    That caught her attention and she took a quick peek at it. She would, however, regret that action as she saw it was the photo of her on that fateful night, the same one that Loki had, and the thing she had only just destroyed by burning it and spreading its ashes in the air.


    Changing her priority, she ignored Kisuke and went after the photo to catch it and destroy it again. But just as she was about to reach her desired goal, a cane instantly appeared before her left leg out of nowhere. This resulted in her tripping on said cane without being able to react.


    Riveria, just before she could catch the photo, fell face-first on the floor.


    Kisuke and the shocked audience were expecting a quick retaliation and he prepared for it by setting up multiple magic circles that would hinder her movements through annoying inconveniences.


    However, their expectations were broken when Riveria didn''t move after falling. While Hestia and Line''s mind already stopped working after what happened, Kisuke and Loki went silent in anticipation of what would happen next.


    After a few more seconds, there was finally a movement from the Elf. Slowly but surely, she sat up. Everyone noticed that her nose and forehead were red from the fall just now, but strangely enough, she just had a nk expression.


    At this point, Kisuke''s predicted future didn''t happen. He was hoping that Riveria would continueing after him so that he could show her the usefulness of his magic and while at it, assert dominance. The next thing, however,pletely caught him off-guard as tears suddenly began dropping from her eyes.


    "Eh?" Kisuke and Loki simultaneously muttered, not knowing what to do.


    Riveria raised her hand to her face to feel her tears, "��Eh?" Even she was confused at what was happening, but she was able to understand it slowly, her face was also slowly changingfrom a nk expression to a crying face as she tried to wipe her tears with her hands but to no avail, "Sniffle"


    "EH!?" Kisuke and Loki eximed.


    Riveria has always been treated with respect ever since, even by her enemies. She had also gone through many challenges in her almost one century of life, almost losing her life several times. Those challenges were what tempered and shaped her today into a very strong, calm, and collected woman that guides herrades and was often mistaken as a mother figure of the Loki Familia.


    However, no one could expect, even Riveria herself, that her breaking point would be some teasing, which, as it turned out, she didn''t have much resistance against in the slightest.


    Of course, not everything came from Kisuke''s move just now. Stress also yed a big role in her breakdown as she just returned from a very exhausting andmon sense breaking expedition into the deeper floors of the Dungeon.


    In addition to that, Riveria immediately tried to meet Kisuke whom the mysterious man in the Dungeon referred to and tried to establish a good rtionship with him, even going as far as facilitating the deal between his Hestia Familia and her Loki Familia personally. If Riveria wasn''t looking after this deal personally, Finn wouldn''t even agree to anything as there was too much risk for them to deal with the unknown and mysterious Kisuke Urahara.


    And after Kisuke''s ''teasing'', which included the recorded sound, picture, andstly, her tripping andnding face first, she felt betrayed. It was as if all of her hard work was a joke in front of him. Stress, dissatisfaction, resentment, ill-feeling, and feelings of betrayal, all of that came crashing down when she fell down, breaking through her almost century years old facade.


    "*Sniffle* *Sniffle*" Riveria tried to wipe her tears out of embarrassment but it continued to flow without any signs of stopping. At this point in time, Riveria was already incredibly confused and didn''t know what to do.


    Seeing her current state, Kisuke immediately went into his ''coaxing mode'' and hurriedly kneeled down in front of the crying Riveria while taking out a white handkerchief to wipe her tears, "I''m sorry, it''s my fault."


    Riveria pped Kisuke''s hand away from her face, as her crying worsened a little bit. He then moved to the second stage and used his other free hand to pat Riveria''s head. The hand which already experienced countless ''patting battles'', finallynded on an High Elf, "There, there�� Don''t cry. It''s my fault."


    The incredibly confused Riveria wanted to p that hand away, but strangely, she couldn''t do it as that same hand was giving her the warmth and the much-neededfort she needed. It was also because of this that Kisuke was finally able to wipe her tears away.


    But instead of stopping, Riveria''s crying became worse as theforting feeling gave way to all of her frustration that had been building up for a while now. Aforting feeling that she hadn''t felt since childhood. Aforting feeling that she was not allowed to have so that she could look after others as the ''adult''.


    Editors:


    28th00


    Alexander


    Garan


    Ashe Candy

 Volume 7 388 - The Breakdown part 2

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 388 - The Breakdown part 2</h4>


    Seeing that her crying became worse, Kisuke finally figured out what to do. Setting aside the handkerchief, Kisuke approached Riveria and put her head on his chest and started patting her back, "There�� Cry it out. It''ll be alright. Everything''s going to be alright."


    Kisuke figured that Riveria''s current state was that of a child who just got wronged by her parents and those parents just apologized and started coaxing her. He didn''t know why this would happen or if this always happened to Riveria, but he at least knew what to do, and that was to continueforting and pampering her, taking a role simr to her parents.


    Riveria unconsciously leaned forward and let her forehead rest on his chest as she felt her back and head being patted while hearing whispers that everything will be alright. In her very confused state, Riveria didn''t really know what was happening, but she could feel something very relieving at these actions and just let it happen.


    Kisuke noticed that her drooped down ears perked up slightly and became interested in it. He wanted to touch it but knew that might be incredibly rude so he suppressed his temptation. Although, he thought that he could use her ears to at least gauge her mood.


    While Kisuke didn''t really know, and Riveria''s mind wasn''t working correctly, Hestia, Line, and even Loki could only stare at them dumbfounded as the High Elf soughtfort in the Human''s arms which were supposedly impossible unless those two are lovers, because physical contact with others for Elves was a very big deal, especially for High-Elf Royalty like Riveria.


    Although Line didn''t know what was happening, Hestia and Loki could understand her state right now and they were both thinking the same thing, ''Elf-kun(Riveria) is going to regret thister.''


    Riveria slowly stopped sobbing as relief washed over her, but she still stayed in Kisuke''s arms without moving.


    Kisuke also kept stroking her head and back for a few minutes before moving to the next step of his ultimate coaxing technique. He first separated from her and took a look at her messy appearance and her slightly red and zed eyes. Taking out another clean handkerchief, Kisuke wiped her face carefully and gently before taking out ab to fix her messy jade-colored hair.


    Riveria stayed still while Kisuke was fixing her appearance but somewhere deep inside her, questions about the current situation were starting to emerge. However, she had a feeling that she would regret everythingter if she dwelled on those questions so she chose not to, as long as possible.


    After Kisuke was done, he helped Riveria to stand up, led her to the couch and let her sit there before disying his space magic and whipping out a bunch of snacks that he used to cate others whenever he went too far with his pranks. Kisuke then pulled out the final item, a ss Strawberry Cda Smoothie with a bamboo straw because he remembered that, on that fateful night, she kept peeking at this drink after she had finished her Frosted Lemonade.


    Riveria''s eyes lit up as she slowly epted the ss and took a sip from it, ignoring everything else. Kisuke sighed in relief after this and without thinking, patted her head again for onest time, "Riveria-san, please calm down and enjoy everything here. I''ll go talk with Loki-sama and the rest."


    Leaving Riveria alone after she nodded meekly, Kisuke went back to the dining table and saw everyone''s dumbfounded expression. With arge smile over his face, Kisuke said, "Everyone~. Let''s go straight to the business~." as if nothing happened.


    A few secondster, the first one to react was Loki byughing out loud, "Ahahaha~! Great! Let''s get straight to business." She only took a peek at the quietly behaving Riveria in the distance before turning her attention back to Kisuke, ''I wonder what will happen next~? How funny~.'' She wasn''t angry at Kisuke''s treatment of Riveria, as she saw how careful and real his coaxing to the crying and distressed Elf was. If he didn''t do the aftercare and continued his bullying, Loki would have to cancel any agreement between them, as that would tell her that he didn''t have the ability to take care of her children.


    Hestia and Line could only follow their cue as they sat down on the remaining chairs of the dining table and quietly watched Riveria.


    "Now then, Line-san." Kisuke suddenly called out.


    "Y-yes!?" Line turned her neck towards Kisuke in a hurry.


    "How long did it take you to go from Level 1 to Level 2?"


    She didn''t know where the conversation was going, but she answered honestly, "Around two years. Although that''s faster than an average Adventurer, it''s nothing among the members of the Loki Familia."


    Kisuke nodded at her, "I see. Then tell me what you feel about it."


    After that question, Line became silent as she tried to relive the moment she leveled up and the following consequences yearster, "I regret it."


    "Tell me more about it."


    Looking downwards, Line continued, "I regret it because I became impatient. I shouldn''t have epted the level up back then and gathered more excelia. Even though I can gather excelia faster when I leveled up, I shouldn''t have exchanged it for what I can get for the future."


    "Then let me ask you this. If you can go back to being a Level 1, destroying all of your hard work after all these years, will you ept it?" Kisuke asked.


    Line eyes widened at his question and recalled there was indeed a way to return to a Level 1, but the price for a Level 2 like her would be a permanent disability, "That wouldn''t do me any good, would it?"


    Line then looked towards Loki trying to guess what she was thinking about Kisuke''s question, "Listen to him first. Whatever your decision is, I''ll ept it. It''s the reason I brought you here today." Loki smiled at her.


    After those words, Line got an idea of what this was about. She then turned back to Kisuke and said, "Are you��"


    "Yes. I''m offering you a chance to go back to Level 1."


    "But��"


    "I know. I''m offering it because I have a way for you to recover from the damage that you may incur with the level reset."


    "Recover��"


    "Yes. Recover."


    Line recalled the records of those who did heavy crimes and had to be punished through a level reset, which was said to be very painful. She thought that Kisuke knew a method to do it without any demerit, but it seemed that if she wanted to go through it, she would have to suffer for a bit. After a few minutes of silence, she looked towards Kisuke with a determined expression, "I''d like to do it. But what should I do? I don''t think you''ll do it without any sort ofpensation. Please tell me what I need for that level reset."


    Kisuke then grinned after hearing her words, "I want your life."


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------


    Alexander: And herees the world''s highest cliff, where every pure guy''s imagination, like mine, for example, is running wild again. It seems, that I need my fork again. But, good job with Riveria.


    28th00: I''m personally just waiting for Phis-chama to be a Mahou shoujo and ear waggles.


    Goyya: This is actually a good idea. Though it should be limited to one line.


    Editors: Alexander


    28th00


    Ashe Candy

 Volume 7 389 - I want your life

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 389 - I want your life</h4>


    Kisuke grinned after hearing her words and said, "I want your life."


    Line froze for a moment, before muttering in confusion, "M-my life?"


    Loki, on the other hand, furrowed her brows, "Kisuke�� What do you mean by that? She won''t being to the Hestia Familia. I won''t allow it."


    Kisuke shook his head and said, "I''m not saying that she has toe to the Hestia Familia, but she will have to take some heavy vows that can essentially tie her life to us. That''s why I said I want her life." He then looked towards Line before continuing, "I''m not as kind and trusting as Yoruichi, so I need some shackles on you."


    Line pursed her lips and stayed silent for a few moments before asking, "Please tell me what vows I have to take."


    Kisuke nodded and said, "First is to never reveal any information about us without our prior knowledge. Thises as a standard as I also need Riveria-san to take the same vow."


    Line nodded as she''s already expecting this, "I''ll do that."


    "Second is that you are never against the Hestia Familia. Meaning, if the Loki Familia and Hestia Familia were to be enemies, you wouldn''t be allowed to join any side."


    Line first looked towards Loki to get her opinion on this, and indeed, Loki spoke up, but not for Line, "Will you be asking for the same thing to Riveria? Then I''m sure she won''t agree to that."


    Line felt a little bit disappointed when she heard Loki prioritising Riveria, but also understood her as her and Riveria''s positions and abilities were like heaven and earth.


    Loki knew what Line was thinking so she said, "Don''t misunderstand, Line-chan. You''re also an important child of my Familia, but it seems that Kisuke here has something else for you. And you''re friends with those girls, right? You could think of it as insurance so that you won''t be enemies in the future regardless of the rtionship between my and Hestia''s Familia."


    Line felt relieved after hearing that.


    Answering Loki''s question, Kisuke said, "Of course I won''t be asking Riveria-san that kind of vow. It''s just as you said, I have something else for Arshe-san. I would only be teaching magic to Riveria-san but Arshe-san will technically be my disciple in regards to my medical skills that I''m nning to pass onto her."


    Line''s eyes widened at his words and she looked towards Loki. Loki knew what she wanted so she just smiled and nodded at her. Line happily smiled after getting her Goddess'' approval and bowed down towards Kisuke, "I''ll ept the second condition too. Please take me as your disciple!" Line already caught a glimpse of Kisuke''s healing skills when they were partying together and she was sure that no one else outside of the Hestia Familia knew about it, so she was very happy to learn something from him.


    Kisuke raised his hand to stop her, "You haven''t heard the third condition yet."


    Line sat back down and intently waited for him to continue speaking.


    "I will need you to vow to follow all of mymands. This condition is what essentially ties your life to me."


    "That''s��" Line hesitated.


    "Kisuke." Even Loki didn''t like that one.


    Kisuke smiled, but instead of replying, he raised his right hand and said, "I swear to my Falna that I''ll never give Line Arshe anymands that go against her morals and beliefs." As soon as he finished his sentence, the Falna on Kisuke''s back suddenly lit up in golden light through his clothes, signifying the establishment of the vow. If he were to break this vow, Hestia''s blessing would cease to exist and he would never be able to receive blessings from any other Gods. In addition to that, there was a chance that he would die from shock if this were to happen, but that wasn''t a problem for Kisuke.


    Line, Loki, and Hestia''s eyes widened in shock at his sudden vow that didn''t hold any sort of hesitation, "You��" Loki muttered beforeughing out loud, "Fuhahaha! I like that! You do things without hesitation!"


    "This is the least I can do to give Arshe-san the confidence she needs to agree to my conditions." Kisuke only chuckled.


    Loki then faced Line, "What about you?"


    Even though she said that she would be epting the vows, she still had reservations as she didn''t know what the future held and if this was really the right choice. It was true that she could learn from Kisuke and that would be her greatest fortune yet, but the possibility of him using her vows to do something to her and her Familia kept her fearing for the future.


    But after seeing Kisuke''s unhesitant vow, she swallowed her saliva and stood up, raising her right hand, "I swear to my Falna that I won''t reveal any informations to anyone regarding the members of the Hestia Familia without prior permission to do so."


    After that, Line''s back lit up with red light, establishing the vow. But she wasn''t done yet so she continued, "I swear to my Falna that I''ll never go against the members of the Hestia Familia regardless of whoever they regard as their enemy."


    "I swear to my Falna that I''ll follow Kisuke Urahara''s everymand as long as it doesn''t go against my morals and beliefs."


    Her back lit up two more times before she finished her vows. Sighing, Line looked towards Kisuke with shining eyes, "Is that enough, teacher?"


    Kisuke nodded and epted her calling him ''teacher'', "That''ll be enough. If an additional vow is needed, we''ll do it in front of our Goddesses."


    Bowing in front of him again, "Thank you very much for epting me!"


    Kisuke signalled Line to sit back down and turned his head towards Loki, "Now then, Loki-sama."


    Opening her eyes, Loki grinned, "Want me to take a vow too to suppress the information? Never~."


    Sighing, Kisuke gave up, "Figures."


    "But you can trust me." Loki continued.


    Kisuke and Loki eyes'' locked at each other. A few secondster, Kisuke backed down, "Since you''re entrusting your children to me, I guess it''s fine as long as you promise me that you won''t reveal anything."


    Loki''s grin didn''t disappear as she replied, "You also know I can''t promise that."


    Kisuke stayed quiet. He was also expecting this response but thanks to that kind of answer, he knew that he could trust her promises, "Then please at least tell me if you reveal our information to others and why."


    Chuckling, Loki replied, "That, I can promise."


    Standing up, Kisuke invited everyone, including Riveria, who was still silently sipping her drink, "Great. Then please follow me."


    Hestia silently followed Kisuke who was already exiting the room while Line hurriedly followed after taking a peek at Loki who was urging the still in trance High Elf by grabbing her hand to follow the group.


    Editors: Alexander


    28th00


    Ashe Candy

 Volume 7 390 - Level Reset

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 390 - Level Reset</h4>


    "Where are we going?" Loki asked as she saw Kisuke and Hestia going back to the abandoned church. This part of the town was the center of a big battle that her Familia participated in in the past and knew that aside from a small room under the church, there wasn''t anything noteworthy here, "We could use our ce to do the reset. We''ll have better security too." Loki suggested.


    Hestia then faced Loki and snickered at her, "Security? Heh! My ce has better security than yours!" Since Hestia already knew that Kisuke was bringing them to the underground base, she started to toot her own horn as if it was thanks of her that they had an incredible ce.


    Loki furrowed her brows and became confused. As they reached the entrance to the elevator of the underground base, Loki tried to recall if there was anything like this before. The door behind them suddenly closed and Loki flinched a bit as she had never encountered an automatic door before. She flinched again, along with Line and Riveria, because the room they were in suddenly started dropping, "What''s happening?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer Loki''s question while Hestia only gloated at her, pissing her off. But she knew that it wasn''t the time to smack the loli Goddess because she needed to observe everything that was happening. But as they reached the bottom, revealing the entirety of the underground base, even Loki froze for an instant, not knowing what to think of the sight in front of her, "Did an Earth God use their Arcanum here?" She muttered the same thing as Hestia when she descended here.


    Hestia pouted slightly and said, "It''s annoying that you said the same thing as me�� But I understand how you feel."


    Instead of entertaining the fellow Goddess, Loki turned to Kisuke, "What''s this!? I''ve been to this ce and know that this ce didn''t exist a few years ago!"


    Kisuke grinned and answered, "I just coincidentally found this ce~"


    Of course, Loki instantly caught that lie, but she went for a different answer like Kisuke was expecting, ''So he knew about this ce beforehand. I heard their group only came recently to Orario, so either he has further connections that I''m not aware of, or this isn''t his first time in this city.''


    Wanting to remove one possibility, Loki asked, "This isn''t your first time in Orario?"


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke answered, "This our first time in Orario." Kisuke knew that he sessfully diverted her conclusion with that answer.


    However, Loki wasn''t easily fooled as she still hadn''t dropped the possibility that Kisuke and his group created this ce instead as there was no evidence that said otherwise.


    "Now then, everyone. The tour cer, for now, we''ll immediately take care of our main business. Please follow me." Kisuke started walking again and went straight to the clinic that he had set up previously. Once they reached inside, the group could see several rooms, but Kisuke led them to thest one specifically.


    Before they could enter that room, however, two figures arrived behind them. Sona and Yoruichi hade after detecting some activity in the underground base that they weren''t familiar with, "Good afternoon, Loki-sama, Line-chan�� and Riveria-san��?" Yoruichi initiated her greeting but her voice trailed off when she noticed that something was amiss with the High Elf who was holding her still half-full ss of Strawberry Cda Smoothie, "What''s wrong with her?"


    Line was about to tell them the story, however, she hesitated, as she didn''t know if she should really be telling them. Loki and Hestia, on the other hand, only looked towards Kisuke, who was pretending that nothing about this has anything to do with him.


    Seeing this familiar sight, Sona sighed, "Let me guess. This idiot overdid it again." Riveria''s current state somehow reminded her of the hardships she had to go through from the hands of the ''Devil'' that had the incurable disease of not being able to live quietly without messing around with someone.


    Chuckling, Loki nodded at her, "I''m surprised you can guess only a few seconds after arriving."


    "Loki-sama. We already learnt that if someone isn''t acting quite right, and Kisuke is around, we can always assume that it has something to do with him." Sona smiled as she replied.


    "Hey! It isn''t always my fault!" Kisuke tried to protest, but everyone ignored him.


    Yoruichi first looked at Line before saying, "You''re going through the level reset? What did he ask of you?"


    Line nodded and told her about the vows she took.


    Sighing, Yoruichi muttered, "For me, just the information control is enough. But Kisuke is Kisuke, no matter where he goes or who he''s dealing with."


    "It''s alright, Yoruichi-san. I think all of his demands are understandable after seeing this ce."


    "I see. Then good luck. I can assure your safety in his hands. We''ll be going first. Sona needs to practice her martial arts." Yoruichi turned around and waved to them before exiting the clinic.


    "Have a good day, everyone." Sona bowed slightly before following Yoruichi outside.


    Line also bowed towards them, "Thank you very much."


    Kisuke asked Loki and Line to perform the level reset on the bed in the middle of the room after he gave them the signal. He still needed to do some checks before proceeding with the process.


    After he confirmed that everything was working properly, Kisuke activated concealing magic so that no outside forces could guess what was happening in this ce. He expected the level reset to make some noise because the record said that every time it was performed, the Gods around would immediately notice it.


    "Everything is good to go. Please do it." Kisuke gave them the signal.


    Instead of immediately doing it, Loki first looked around and muttered, "Hooh~. This magic, these syntaxes, I wonder where you learned all of this. It isn''t magic of any race in this world." As someone who already experienced countless battles, Loki learned how to read magic so that she could react to it whenever it was cast in front of her. However, the magic that Kisuke deployed used a different set ofnguage which she hadn''t seen before.


    "I learned it at home~." He answered simply.


    Loki stared at him for a moment as Kisuke''s identity became more and more obscure inside her head, ''It seems that I''m still underestimating him.'' Forgetting about it for a moment, Loki turned to Line andmanded, "Take off your top."


    Line knew that she had to do it, but she hesitated because Kisuke was still looking over. Reading the atmosphere, Kisuke quietly turned around.


    Line sighed and took off her top while still wary of Kisuke. She then lied down on her chest to let Loki ess her back more easily.


    Loki then pricked her finger with the prepared needle and drew a circle of her blood on Line''s back, instantly revealing her Falna. She then started drawing a line from Line''s nape until her pelvis.


    A few secondster, red lightning started crawling through the line Loki drew and, at the same time, a scream of pain emerged from Line, "KYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"


    She wanted to move or roll around, but she noticed that she couldn''t even lift a finger so she could only scream in pain, "Loki-sama, please get away." Kisuke immediately turned back and instructed Loki. He then approached Line and put a gag on her mouth so that she wouldn''t bite her tongue, thinking that it might also ease the pain she was feeling.


    Loki immediately followed Kisuke''s instruction and went back to Hestia and Riveria''s side.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, activated the first magic circle for the treatment. The first magic he activated sucked out almost all of the Mana in the space around Line. He guessed that it was the Mana, which didn''t react well with the Spiritual Energy, that made most of the damage to the soul-body as it contaminated the wound.


    Kisuke then went back to his terminal to watch Line''s vital statistics and waited for the level reset to finish. He noticed that Line''s soul-body became covered in cracks and now understood how dangerous this entire process was, ''The level reset just pulls the saved excelia from the soul and physical body without any regards to its host.''


    After a few minutes, Line settled down and lost her consciousness, signalling the end of the reset.


    Kisuke then created a barrier through Kidou around Line before deactivating the first magic. He then initiated the healing Kidou that would slowly nourish and heal Line''s soul.


    Editors


    Garan


    28th00


    Ashe Candy


    Title suggestions


    The idiot did it again


    Falna give no regard


    Kisuke makes a girl scream again


    Trolling a god is simple, just show her the cer.

 Volume 7 391 - An Accidental Meeting

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 391 - An idental Meeting</h4>


    "You really healed her," Loki muttered after checking Line''s current state.


    "What? You didn''t believe me?" Kisuke asked as he put a nket on the sleeping Line.


    "I only based it on the fact that you didn''t lie about healing her." Loki then faced Kisuke, "Should I leave her here for a while?"


    Kisuke nodded at her, "That would be for the best. If something is wrong, I can notice it immediately and make a proper response."


    "Then let''s do that." Loki then turned to Riveria who was quietly watching everything with her already empty ss, "Let''s go home for today."


    Kisuke understood Loki''s decision as he also noticed that there was already a change in Riveria. In addition to that, he was still busy checking Line and didn''t have time to entertain them, "Hestia-sama, please lead them outside." He could only trust that Loki would keep Riveria silent for now.


    "Eh?��" Hestia made a fed-up face as she didn''t really want to deal with Loki, "Fine." But she still did what Kisuke asked of her.


    But before they left, Kisuke grabbed three bags worth of assorted snacks and passed it to Riveria, "Please think of this as my apology~."


    When they reached outside, Hestia couldn''t help but smile when she peeked at Riveria, "Don''t mind it too much~." She left them after saying such.


    Loki started walking while Riveria only quietly followed her until they reached the gates of the Twilight Manor. Once they stepped into their territory, Loki suddenly stopped walking and faced Riveria with a smile, "Just so you know, everyone already knew that you had already regained your wits and were only pretending to be calm while making a fake straight face, including Kisuke Urahara."


    Riveria''s eyes widened before shouting, "NOOO!!!" She then started running towards the manor with a flushed face which caught everyone''s attention.


    Loki tried to chase after her, shouting, "Wait!!! Riveria! Let me have some of those snacks!" However, due to the difference in physical abilities, Loki was immediately left behind as Riveria locked herself in her room.


    Tiona, Tione, Ais, and Lefiya who just came out after hearing Riveria''s scream could only look at the wheezing Loki with a dumbfounded expression.


    "W-what happened to Riveria-sama?" Lefiya asked with a twitching mouth as that was the first time they witnessed her acting like that.


    Loki didn''t know how to answer that question so she just said, "Well, we just came from Kisuke''s ce."


    The girls became even more confused but somehow, they understood Loki''s underlying meaning after Kisuke''s name came up. However, they were still underestimating him and thought that Kisuke just tricked Riveria again.


    It''s only on the next day that Line finally woke up, and after checking her up onest time, he asked her to go home and rest.


    Every year, a flock of people would enter Orario just to see this. Some were tourists while some were just looking for work they could do. Nevertheless, it was one of the two famous festivals in Orario, the other one being the Moon Festival which would be held a month and a halfter.


    Since it was a rare asion, Kisuke and the rest decided to take the day off to have some fun. While others protested against it, Kisuke and Yoruichi decided to have a date with just the two of them since it had been a while.


    Since they didn''t really want to stand out, Kisuke and Yoruichi wore the standard attire of an Adventurer while going around. The two of them went around happily, visiting all kinds of stores and purchasing some random things that caught their interest.


    It was around 10:00 AM when they both felt satisfied and also noticed that the crowd was getting thicker and that it was bing harder to move around. They then decided to enter a cafe to rest for a bit. They chose to sit down in an inconspicuous corner and ordered some drinks.


    It was then that a certain cloaked individual entered the same cafe. From the aura she was emitting she certainly was a Goddess and although she was covered in a cloak, the charming aura that was attracting everyone in the cafe and the familiar gaze they felt from her, Kisuke and Yoruichi wouldn''t mistake her for anyone else. The Goddess on the top of the tower they designated as the peepingdy and the leader of one of the strongest Familia in Orario, Freya.


    The moment she stepped in, Kisuke and Yoruichi reduced their presence to that of inconsequential individuals and looked at each other tomunicate. Both of them decided not to leave as it would only attract attention to them and even more so when they just ordered something to snack on.


    However, things became harder when two more individuals arrived in the cafe, which made Kisuke sigh, ''Loki would surely notice us. And there''ll be no choice but to go face to face with that Freya. Since I can''t lie, she would probably ask difficult questions again in front of Freya.'' Kisuke tried to think of a way to get out of this ce, however, with the charming aura Freya was emitting which captured everyone, it would only attract her attention, ''If that''s the case, I can only y along with Loki and rely on her more. That''s what she wants anyway.''


    Loki, along with Ais as her bodyguard, arrived at the cafe and immediately went straight to Freya''s table. When Freya looked towards Ais, the golden-haired girl couldn''t help but blush and froze for a bit before biting her lip to wake herself up.


    "Yo~. Did you wait too long?" Loki waved at Freya and greeted her.


    "No, I just arrived myself." Freya''s attention then transferred to Ais, "Oh, my. Who''s this?"


    "Ah, right. You two haven''t met yet. This is my Ais. That''s enough for you, right?" Loki then faced Ais, "Ais, technically she''s a Goddess, so at least say hello."


    While being wary, Ais greeted the Goddess, "Nice to meet you." While thinking, ''That was close�� The full abilities of deities are sealed on earth. This goddess shouldn''t be any different�� and yet��'' Peeking at the other customers, ''��She''s attractive enough to charm someone to their soul�� This is the physical incarnation of beauty. The Goddess Freya.''


    It was then that she noticed a familiar face, ''��Kisuke Urahara?''


    Kisuke noticed that she was looking over so he just smiled and nodded a bit.


    Ais wanted to respond, however, Freya spoke, returning her focus to her, "How adorable�� And yes, I can see why you''ve taken a liking to her. May I ask why you brought the Sword Princess?"


    Chuckling, Loki replied, "The festival''s in full swing! What better time for a hot date with my Ais-tan?�� And well, she''ll charge head-first into the Dungeon if I don''t keep an eye on her. It''s what my princess is like." While looking at Ais with a mix of a gentle and wry smile, she continued, "If someone doesn''t force her, she never rests."


    Ais felt embarrassed by her stare so she ended up looking away.


    "I ended up wasting our time, so I''ll be frank with you. You''ve been acting really weirdtely." Opening her eyes slightly, Loki asked with a serious expression, "A man?"


    Editors:


    Alexander


    Garan


    Ashe Candy


    Title Suggestions:


    Where Kisuke isn''t the protagonist anymore? :28th00 idea


    Where chaos and love converge

 Volume 7 392 - An Unexpected Response

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 392 - An Unexpected Response</h4>


    Freya only stayed silent with Loki''s usation but she already figured that she was correct as this wasn''t the first time that this happened, "Gah! Such a pain. So, basically, you got your eyes on a kid from another Familia? Who''s the guy you''veid eyes on this time?"


    Loki wanted to make sure that they weren''t aiming for the same guy, ''It''ll be really annoying if it''s Kisuke. Although he''s doing a great job hiding for now, he won''t be able to do that for long.''


    However, Freya maintained her silence.


    "Out with it. You don''t want any friction between us, do you?" Loki continued to push.


    Freya really didn''t want to answer, but she also knew that Loki had her eyes on someone and she didn''t really want to go against her. But since it was just a normal Adventurer in other''s eyes, Freya knew that they weren''t looking at the same guy. And besides, that child was not Loki''s type or the type she would be interested in, "��He''s not that strong. Completely different from any of the children in our respective Familias. Easily upset by even simple things. He''s the type to cry right away�� That kind of child."


    With an enamored expression, Freya continued, "But he''s so beautiful and pure. I''ve never seen anyone with a color like him. So I couldn''t help but fall for him."


    "Hmm�� Is that so? And you''re not nning to do anything annoying, right?"


    "��" Freya didn''t answer her.


    Loki was already sure she hadn''t discovered Kisuke''s existence and, instead of letting her discover himter and not know about it, Loki turned around and called out, "Oi~. Kisuke-kun! You''ve already seen me, why not greet me?"


    Freya was surprised that Loki called out to someone else when this was supposed to be their secret meeting. Following her sights, Freya saw a human with pale-blonde hair and gray eyes wearing a standard attire for Adventurers, ''��Isn''t that Hestia''s child? Could it be the child that Loki has her eyes on?''


    Kisuke sighed, then stood up and approached the group while Yoruichi didn''t do anything, not even turning her head as she slowly melded herself to the surroundings while Kisuke gathered the three''s attention.


    As he approached, Freya looked into his eyes while Kisuke also coincidentally met that gaze. Although he should be any other normal child with a normal polluted gray soul with some tint of other colors in it, something about him gave Freya a strange feeling which she couldn''t distinguish. Furrowing her brows slightly, Freya thought, ''What''s this��?''


    Reaching their table, Kisuke nodded at them slightly before giving his greeting with his signature smile, "Good day to you, Loki-sama, Wallenstein-san, and�� May I know the respected name of this Goddess?"


    "Freya." Freya introduced herself simply, "And you are?"


    "Ah, please pardon my rudeness. This one is Kisuke Urahara, the current Captain of the Hestia Familia. It''s my pleasure to finally meet the very famous Goddess of Beauty, Freya-sama. I had heard that you were a great beauty and meeting you now, I can certainly say that those rumors are an understatement."


    "Thank you." Freya smiled slightly at his words but didn''t take it to heart as she already heard those words countless times. On the contrary, it gave her a slightly bad impression of him. However, something about him really bothered her, ''What is this feeling?''


    Loki was able to pick up Freya''s slight difort as she faced Kisuke. Although she didn''t know why, she thought it was really a good idea to let them meet now, "Hey. Stop ttering her. She already heard that countless times."


    Kisuke shook his head, "Even then, I think it''s only right to give yourpliments to ady. Although, if I came out as someone undesirable, please do forgive me."


    "No. I don''t think that''s the case at all." Freya refuted his words and changed the topic, "I see. So you''re Hestia''s child. Why did you call him over, Loki?"


    "Eh? You''re asking? You already know the reason!"


    ''So this is the guy she doesn''t want me to get involved with? Although he''s giving me a weird feeling, I don''t see anything special about him.'' Freya thought.


    Guessing what was on her mind, Loki snickered at her and proceeded with her n to bind Kisuke more to her, "Now then, Kisuke-kun. What do you think of Freya here~?"


    ''So it''s really this question. After answering this, I won''t have a choice but to cling to the Loki Familia to keep Freya Familia at bay.'' Kisuke thought as he answered, "What do you mean by that, Loki-sama? Of course, I think Freya-sama is very beautiful."


    "Is she attractive?" This follow-up question shocked Freya as that should be obvious while it only confused Ais who was listening to the side.


    However, the moment he answered this question, Freya became even more shocked, "That''s a given. She''s very attractive~." A lie with a straight face that the two Goddesses didn''t miss.


    "You��" Freya wanted to say something yet she was at a loss for words. She didn''t expect that a child from the Gekai would lie about her being attractive. But also thanks to this, she was able to figure out the weird feeling Kisuke was giving her, ''That is�� annoyance? No�� Nuisance?''


    Either way, it was something that she only experienced a few times in her long life and never from a man at that, "��What�� are you?"


    And indeed, from Kisuke''s perspective, Freya was a very beautiful woman and one of the most beautiful he had ever encountered, however, her charming aura kept prickling Kisuke and he found it annoying as those prickling sensations directly touched his soul. Although almost everyone would fall for that aura, for Kisuke and Yoruichi, as Captain level Shinigamis, it only served as a mild annoyance at best.


    Even Loki was a bit shocked at his response as she thought Kisuke was just enduring the charming aura. She would never have thought that he would instead be repulsed by it. And before things got too serious, she immediately decided to retreat, "Alright, Freya. We have to go. We still have a few ns. See you around~."


    She dragged the clueless Ais with her and signaled Kisuke to follow. Yoruichi also stood up from her seat and followed the group, leaving only the dumbfounded Freya, "What was that?"


    However, soon after, her eyes caught the running figure of the child she had her eyes on. Although she wanted to understand what happened just now, her priority was testing the white-haired child as this was the reason she came down from her spot on the tower today, ''Kisuke Urahara�� Interesting.''


    Editors:


    28th00


    Ashe Candy


    Garan


    Alternative Titles:


    Freya is a cactus to Kisuke


    Beauty is like a Rose


    The Lie that shocks


    The annoyance skill reached max level

 Volume 7 393 - Test Subject

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 393 - Test Subject</h4>


    "Did you really have to do that?" Kisuke asked after they got away from the cafe.


    While grinning, Loki replied, "I also need insurance myself. Though I didn''t really expect that you''re actually annoyed by her."


    "Annoyed?" Ais asked in confusion.


    "You felt it right? The moment you looked into her eyes. You also noticed that everyone around also felt the same as you."


    Recalling the feelings she got, Ais nodded at Loki.


    "However, this guy here felt annoyed instead."


    Finally understanding what she meant, Ais looked at Kisuke in admiration.


    "It''s nothing impressive. I just hate anything that influences my mind." Kisuke downyed his ability while also changing the topic, "Anyway, another annoying eyended on me."


    Patting his shoulder, Loki tried tofort him, "Revealing yourself to her now is better because she still underestimates you. Just give her the wrong impressions like what you''re doing to me."


    Smiling, Kisuke answered, "I wonder what you''re talking about~?"


    Changing the topic once again, Loki asked, "Anyway, are the two of you on a date?"


    "Yep~. But we''re just unlucky enough to choose a cafe that some Goddesses would coincidentally visit. However, thanks to that, I also figured that something out of the ordinary would also happen in today''s festival."


    "Oh? Do you also get it? True. That bitch might be cooking something up, but I can''t help but think that there''s something else."


    Kisuke''s expression became serious when he heard Loki''s words, "Is this perhaps the intuition of the Trickster Goddess?"


    Sniggering, Loki replied, "You could call it that."


    "I see. Then see you around." Kisuke and Yoruichi then suddenly changed their direction, separating from the two.


    Not minding their actions, Loki just said to their leaving backs, "Our Familia would surely get involved in an incident in the future."


    "The first term, right? I''ll give you the information that we''ll be able to gather, but don''t count on that." Kisuke replied without turning his back.


    "That''s enough." Loki then dragged Ais in the opposite direction.


    Once they got away from the crowd, Yoruichi asked, "What should we do now? Loki just dug a hole for you on her side."


    "Not a problem. I would have done the same if I''m in her position. It''s just that we have to adjust our ns for a bit as this will also make the supplies from the Loki Familia arrive faster."


    "What about that Freya? It seems like she''s not an easy person to deal with."


    "It''s fine. Her intentions are easier to read than Loki''s. With that, I also nned to follow her. Go back to the girls first. Make sure they''re safe." Kisuke instructed. Yoruichi and he knew that amotion would happen today and wanted the girl''s identities safe because they might have to use their true powers in the crowd and that isn''t ideal for now.


    After their goodbye kisses, Yoruichi immediately left to join the other girls while Kisuke went into a dark alley and left with a brown cloak and in white mask without any holes in it. By blending his Ki with the surrounding and being one with the world, Kisuke was able to walk through the streets without him being detected. As long as he doesn''t get too close to someone strong or focus his attention on someone too much, no one would be able to detect him.


    Going back to the cafe, Freya already left. However, her lingering aura is still detectable so he carefully and quietly followed it. It took him about an hour to track her and this led him to the colosseum that the main event of the MonsterPhilia is supposed to happen in. By now, people are already panicking as monsters that are to be used in the taming show apparently escaped and are now roaming around.


    Kisuke ignored the monsters and went inside the storage unit and only found cages and intoxicated Ganesha Familia members. Freya is nowhere to be found, however, he did notice the high level of that charming aura lingering around and came into a conclusion, ''I knew that she would be able to control people with her charm if she unleashed it after talking with her today, but I didn''t think it would also be effective on monsters that don''t have aplete soul. Looks like I have to create some countermeasures against this.''


    Kisuke left the colosseum and followed Freya''s aura and 20 minutester, Kisuke found her on a tower in Daedalus Street, overlooking something, ''She sure does like towers.''


    Looking towards the direction she is watching, Kisuke found a familiar white-haired young Adventurer, ''Bell Cranel��''


    Bell Cranel just started adventuring and is a member of the Miach Familia. Kisuke and Bell only met in the Hostess of Fertility and haven''t even talked with each other, however, he knew him due to the fact that Sona, Aika, and Koneko frequents in Miach Familia to buy their potions and would sometimes meet him, ''I see�� So he''s the one that caught this peepingdy''s attention. I guess that''s understandable as he has a very rare pure soul.''


    Currently, Bell, along with another friend, Syr, is being chased by an Orc. Although the Orc can''t keep up with them, sooner orter, the Orc would catch up because they can''t match its stamina. But either way, Kisuke doesn''t intend to help because he believes that Bell is perfectly capable of dealing with that monster.


    And just as he predicted, the Orc caught up with them and it seems that the Orc''s target is only Syr. Knowing that they can''t escape anymore, Bell had no choice but to face the monster to protect Syr.


    Although Bell could keep up with its movements, he can only nick its skin with his dagger, ''Oh,e on. You''re fast enough to get its eyes and you''ll be able to escape!'' Kisuke, however, can only feel frustration as he watches him fight. Bell''s physical parameters don''t match his skills and techniques. It was like he''s watching Ichigo all over again, but this time, Bell doesn''t have Ichigo''s battle instinct that improves the longer he fights.


    ''At this rate, both of them are really going to die.'' Kisuke then looked towards the peepingdy who seems to be enjoying the show, ''Is this her goal? Or maybe she just doesn''t care about the result?''


    While contemting if he should help, Kisuke suddenly recalled something, ''Right! I still have that prototype Sacred Gear in the form of a knife which I made even before the one I made for mom.''


    Pulling out a nondescript knife from his inventory, Kisuke wrote a note and attached it on the knife with a string before throwing it towards Bell, gracing his cheek before itnded on the pavement in front of him.


    This action immediately caught Freya''s attention and looked towards the origin of the knife and saw a cloak and masked figure waving at her before disappearing from her sight in an instant. Freya was shocked that she didn''t notice that someone was following her and frowned deeply when the stalker disappeared.


    On Bell''s side, he was surprised that something just went flying beside his face and a knife appearing in front of him. However, the situation doesn''t allow him to think much and immediately grabbed the knife as his knife was already reduced into pieces.


    After he got the knife, Bell created a bit of a distance between him and the Orc while dragging Syr with him. While at it, he also went through the note that says,


    "Hello there, young Adventurer~! It''s dangerous to go alone! Take this! This dagger would augment your basic abilities and is sharp enough to match your abilities. And whenever it breaks, it also restores itself after some time. Convenient, right?


    From the Otherworldly Merchant~!


    P.S. Only you can use this properly."


    The knife that Kisuke gave Bell is just a simple strengthening gear but it has two of the Sacred Gear''s features. The first one is an automatic restoration. While it can''t be taken inside the body, it still has self-repair capabilities. The second one is only the host of the Sacred Gear could use it and it would still grow along with its host. If Bell is lucky, the spiritual particles inside the Sacred Gear would develop its own rudimentary intelligence and assist him in the future.


    Editors:


    Alexander


    28th00


    Garan

 Volume 7 394 - Caretakers (DxD Side)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 394 - Caretakers (DxD Side)</h4>


    Since the day that Ophis appeared in front of Serafall, the Infinite Dragon God would visit her for the choctes once a day and even if the other leaders asked what was going on, Serafall would just feign ignorance, to the frustration of the others.


    Also during this time, Serafall tried to slowly push a narrative that Kisuke Urahara was just victim of a bigger plot of some other supernatural faction against the Devils and the Alliance atrge. However, even with her voice as one of the Devil Kings and the leader of the Foreign Ministry, it just resulted in a bacsh. Serafall severely underestimated the hatred the Devils had against Kisuke.


    She, of course, felt baffled about it because this was just a recent event and shouldn''t have sunk into the masses yet. Serafall tried to investigate it and found that several Devil Houses, all of which were victims of the ''Blood Sacrifice Incident'', were spreading rumors about Kisuke which resulted in unreasonable hatred.


    But just as she was about to make a move to respond to that, a directive came from the higher-ups that Serafall Leviathan was to be temporarily relieved of her duties as a Devil King, the reason being that she was creating unnecessary infighting amongst the Devils, which might result in another Civil War if not stopped.


    Since all evidence points against Kisuke and Serafall tried to defend him, the lower Devil Houses immediately petitioned for her to be held ountable for creating and assisting the disturbance of peace within the Underworld.


    Although Serafall didn''t reallymit any crimes, the ruling body of the Underworld had to take the growing dissatisfaction of some Houses regarding Serafall''s actions and, as a result of her being relieved of her post, she was to be banished to the Human World and would not return until further notice.


    Of course, there were some people who protested against this decision and the one leading them was the Sitri House. However, Serafall herself asked them to stop as she realized that going this way wouldn''t actually do any good for her, her sister, and Kisuke, and she just epted her banishment because she figured out that she would be able to move easier that way.


    Her parents tried to dissuade her against this decision but they stopped after a few tries and just expressed their willingness to assist her in her endeavor. They could understand that she was doing this for Sona and they were willing to do the same, however, they don''t really understand why she would always take this Kisuke Urahara into consideration and could only think of him as a son-inw who gave them a very big headache. But since Serafall believed in him, they chose to do the same.


    Serafall was thankful for their actions but decided against epting their assistance as they were in the spotlight now. The House''s enemies might use this chance to attack them and she didn''t want that to happen now that she wasn''t in position to help them.


    After a few preparations, with her luggage on hand, Serafall departed to the Human World immediately after saying her goodbyes to her parents. She already had a destination in mind and didn''t hesitate to teleport to Kuoh Town as she appeared in front of a certain building with arge sign on the front of it, ''Urahara Shouten''.


    However, just as she was about to open the doors, Serafall suddenly stopped and frowned, ''There''s someone inside?''


    Serafall''s aura instantly became cold as she slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The sound of the door opening was pretty loud so the person inside should have heard it and Serafall chose to just wait for this individual.


    A minuteter, someone indeed came out and this person wasn''t anyone Serafall was expecting, "Akeno-chan?"


    Akeno came out after she heard the door''s noise, "Serafall-sama? What are you doing here?"


    "That should be my question. What are you doing here?" Serafall inspected Rias Gremory''s Queen and tried to guess what was the purpose of her presence in the shop.


    Akeno froze, not knowing how to answer her question. Although she was just here to take care of the cleaning and anything else, she didn''t really know if that answer would be eptable as her actions were technically illegal trespassing.


    While she was struggling to find an answer, a gothic lolita suddenly came out from the interior of the store and gave Serafall the stare.


    "Ophis-chan?!" Serafall eximed after seeing her, "What are you doing here?!"


    "Y-you know her, Serafall-sama?" Akeno became guarded after seeing her reaction. If she could call Ophis by her name, then she likely knew of her real identity, and that included her being the leader of the terrorist group that threatened the Alliance. If Serafall reacted badly, she would have no choice but to escape as she would surely be branded as a terrorist too.


    A few seconds after seeing Serafall, Ophis slowly walked her, "W-wait!" Akeno tried to stop her but she didn''t dare make any sudden movement when she still knew nothing of what Serafall was thinking.


    Reaching the spot in front of Serafall, Ophis suddenly made a gesture of asking for something which puzzled Akeno greatly.


    Witnessing this, Serafall could only sigh as she took out a chocte bar from her independent space and passed it to Ophis, "This is thest one, alright?"


    Ophis nodded slightly, but Serafall could see a slight pout on her face and patted her head, "It''s alright. Even though it''s not from Ki-tan, I can still get you some sweets."


    Ophis looked into her eyes and the slightly pouting lips already returned to normal. She then went back inside the shop without minding the two Devils.


    "W-what''s going on?" Akeno asked in a surprised tone.


    Easing her aura, Serafall closed the door of the shop and smiled at Akeno, "It seems that Akeno-chan is taking good care of Ophis-chan these days~."


    Although still not sure of how the two of them knew each other and how Serafall apparently gave Ophis a chocte bar that came from Kisuke, Akeno became filled with hope that the Devil King knew Kisuke''s location and wanted to talk to her about it, "Pleasee inside, Serafall-sama. I''ll prepare some tea."


    Serafall nodded and went inside, "Good. I also wanted to hear your story and why you''re here."


    As the two of them came to the living space of the shop, they both saw Ophis sitting on the couch and silently watching a television show about animal documentaries.


    "By the way, Akeno-chan, I n to start living here for the time being." Serafall said suddenly, thinking that it really was the correct choice toe here.


    Akeno was startled but she immediately nodded after taking a peek at the luggage she was carrying, "Alright. Please follow me. I''ll lead you to a spare room."


    "Thanks~."


    Editors:


    28th00


    Ashe Candy


    Alternative Title: The Real Protagonist Appears Again (28th00)

 Volume 7 395 - 395 What Kisuke and Co left (DxD Side)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 395 - 395 What Kisuke and Co left (DxD Side)</h4>


    After setting aside her luggage, Serafall came down and saw that tea and some snacks were already prepared for her. Although not explicitly for her, Ophis also started attacking those snacks but Akeno didn''t oppose her actions.


    Akeno, ignoring Ophis'' actions, was fiddling with her smartphone with furrowed brows. While she was busy, Serafall sat in front of her, "Got the news now?"


    Akeno stayed silent for a few seconds before putting down her phone and looked towards Serafall, "Are you fine with this, Serafall-sama?"


    Serafall answered after taking a sip from her tea, "It''s fine. I realized that I shouldn''t go about it the way I''ve been doing it and without any evidence, I can''t prove Ki-tan''s innocence even if there are people who would believe my words. This way, although I don''t have many options to take, I have a lot more freedom."


    Akeno nodded in understanding and stayed silent for a moment before asking what she had been curious about, "Uhmm�� Where is Urahara-san?"


    Serafall furrowed her brows and red at Akeno after hearing her question.


    Immediately shaking her head and putting both of her hands up, Akeno hurriedly defended herself, "N-no! Please don''t misunderstand! I also believe that he''s innocent, despite his poor track of record of messing with others. I''m just curious as to where he is!" Akeno, however, couldn''t honestly tell her that she felt something inside her disappeared along with him and that the real reason she hanged out in the shop waiting for his return, was to further understand this feeling.


    After seeing her reaction, Serafall suddenly grinned, "Don''t worry~. I''m just messing with you. You wouldn''t be taking care of Ophis-chan silently if you thought otherwise."


    With a twitching mouth, Akeno replied, "Please don''t do these kinds of jokes. It''s really bad for my heart."


    Serafall chuckled, lightening the mood a little bit because she noticed that Akeno was getting tense and she didn''t want to start their talk with her mind not working properly, "Returning to your question, I don''t know where Ki-tan, Sona-chan, and the rest of the missing people who''re connected to him are."


    Akeno looked down and bit her lips, "I see�� So you also have no idea where Koneko-chan might be."


    "But you don''t have to worry. They''re fine." Serafall started helping herself with the snacks on the table.


    "Hmm? What do you mean?"


    "Remember what happened after two weeks of his initial disappearance?"


    Akeno nodded, "Yes. That''s thest time that Urahara-san''s aura was felt�� It''s also the day that Koneko and Aika Kiryuu disappeared somewhere and the momentary sh between two very strong entities." She then peeked towards Ophis who was still silently eating her snacks.


    Serafall then confirmed Akeno''s thoughts, "It''s as you''ve guessed. The sh that happened that day is between Ophis-chan and the only other entity that can match her, the Great Red."


    "What does it have to do with Koneko-chan''s disappearance?"


    "I''ve guessed that Koneko-chan and Aika-chan have some ways to contact Kisuke. Although I don''t know why they only did so after two weeks have passed, I know for sure that they''re with him right now because that day, I received a note from Ki-tan that they''ll be going somewhere far away and with him are Yoruichi-chan, Aika-chan, and Koneko-chan."


    Akeno sighed in slight relief but along with it was a pang of jealousy. Shaking her head out of these thoughts, she continued to ask, "Then why haven''t they contacted any of us? It''s been a week since then."


    Serafall shook her head, "I don''t know. But instead of going somewhere, I think they have been whisked away to some unknown ce."


    "��Why do you think that''s the case?"


    Instead of answering Akeno''s question, Serafall faced Ophis and asked, "Ophis-chan, do you really not know where they are?"


    Ophis momentarily stopped her snacking and shook her head.


    Serafall then returned her attention to Akeno, "And there you have it. The whole Dimensional Gap is her domain and for her not being able to find Ki-tan and the fact that he hasn''t contacted anyone since then, their group might have been trapped in a strange space."


    "��What should we do?"


    "For now, how about you tell me what you''re doing here?"


    Ever since the incident three weeks ago, Akeno was tasked to look out and investigate Kisuke''s mother''s, Sakura Urahara, whereabouts and well being along with making sure no one would needlessly approach Aika''s parents before that duty was taken off her by the Sitri House.


    Needless to say, Akeno wasn''t able to gather even a bit of information regarding Sakura. It was as if she suddenly disappeared into thin air.


    It was also around this time that Azazel became the advisor of the Research ult Club so that he could help everyone from the Rias Gremory Peerage be stronger. However, Akeno thought he did it to monitor their group as they had an extensive connection with Kisuke Urahara prior to this incident, because, at one time, he tried to sound them out about their knowledge of the basement where the corpses of the Devils were found.


    Nothing out of the ordinary happened in the first two weeks as Sirzechs and Azazel were keeping others away from them. But when Aika and Koneko suddenly disappeared along with the resurfacing of Kisuke''s aura and that strange sh, everyone became hectic again but the Azazel''s first move was to cover up their disappearance so that they wouldn''t be suspected.


    With Sirzechs private squad, led by Grayfia and Azazel''s men, they secretly tried to find the whereabouts of the two girls, and this time, they were able to find something which made them happy for a moment.


    They discovered some traces of teleportation magic in one of Kuoh Academy''s empty ssrooms, along with Koneko''s lingering aura and two others. Grayfia,with the help of top experts of the Fallen Angels, including Azazel, was able to bring out the magic circle they used to teleport and from there it should have been easy to reverse engineer it and get its destination.


    However, it almost made them lose their minds, because each time they would analyze the magic circle, it would point them to a certain location but after analyzing it a second time to check the results, they would discover another location. After a week of analyzing, they discovered over 100 locations and confirmed that none of them was the real destination.


    Realizing the scale of the magic circle, everyone investigating calcted that the resulting magic wave should have alerted everyone in the Kuoh Academy that time but they knew for sure that the girls disappeared silently as there was always someone monitoring the school. They thought that this magic circle was just a distraction and the girls used some other way to leave.


    It was only after taking their attention off the magic circle that Azazel discovered something wrong with the ssroom itself. After investigating it, Azazel uncovered the etching of a formation that concealed every magic activity in the room. Akeno could still remember Azazel''s words that day, "We''ve been had�� Kisuke had already created an escape route for the girls long before this incident happened."


    28th00


    Garan


    Ashe Candy


    Alexander

 Volume 7 396 - Cooperation (DxD Side)

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 396 - Cooperation (DxD Side)</h4>


    "I wanted to see that." Serafall started chuckling while imagining Azazel''s and Grayfia''s frustrated facespared to Kisuke''s grinning face.


    Akeno maintained her poker face because she really saw that scene and wanted tough out loud. Despite not being there, he still seemed capable of upsetting someone with his methods.


    Akeno then continued her story. Sirzechs renovated Issei''s house and asked everyone from Rias'' peerage to move in for security purposes. With them living in one ce, it would be easier to guard and monitor their surroundings.


    However, Akeno somehow felt ufortable with that and rejected the Devil King''s offer. Since they wouldn''t ept it without any good reason, Akeno told them that she would be staying at Kisuke''s shop so, in case he came back, she would be able to inform them immediately.


    After a bit of persuasion, pleading, and help from her best friend, Rias, Sirzechs, and Azazel epted her proposal.


    When Akeno first came a few days ago, she was shocked to see Ophis quietly standing in the middle of the living area. She felt conflicted for a while but ultimately decided not to report it and just took care of her by giving her some snacks that she seemed to never get bored with.


    These past few days, Ophis would silentlye and Akeno too would silently bring out some snacks, both handmade and store-bought, "And that''s how I came here. I didn''t really take care of her as I was just giving her some food. Most of the time, she''s not here."


    Serafall smiled and said, "No. You''ve been taking care of her and I thank you for that. Besides, you also did a great job of keeping her existence here a secret. She''s our only chance if we want to find Ki-tan and the rest." Serafall patted Ophis while saying so.


    Then suddenly, Ophis gave a follow-up, "And Idiot-Red�� He can��" As painful for her to admit, only Great Red could assist them in finding her favorite worshipper as his domain was the dreams and he probably had a way to find his real location through the dreams.


    Serafall and Akeno were both shocked when Ophis suddenly spoke but they stayed quiet because of her words. A few secondster, Serafall asked Ophis, "Idiot-Red�� Do you mean the Great Red?"


    Ophis only nodded at her and continued her snacking.


    Serafall and Akeno looked at each other to see how they could use this information. But they shook their heads a few secondster as they didn''t have a way to contact the mysterious True Dragon.


    "How about this, Akeno-chan?" Serafall suddenly said, "Could you help me searching for them?"


    "Of course. I''ve been searching for them too, assisting you is only natural."


    "No. Not that. Your search will be different this time around because you won''t be reporting any of your findings to anyone except for me."


    "��" Akeno stayed silent for a while before nodding, "Understood. I think that would be for the best."


    "Great~. I can cast some illusionary spells so that others would think that we''re not doing anything suspicious here, but we''ll need a base of operations outside of their monitoring." Serafall started thinking of ces they could use and Akeno also helped her with it, but every ce seemed to be traceable, and only in the Dimensional Gap, would they be able to hide effectively.


    While they were in a dilemma, Ophis suddenly grabbed the hem of their clothes. As they looked towards her, Ophis suddenly tapped her foot on the floor and a magic circle suddenly came into being, engulfing the whole shop.


    While they were confused and shocked at what was happening, Ophis suddenly teleported out with the two of them in tow and reappeared in the familiar dested scenery of the underground training facility, "This is��" Akeno muttered in surprise.


    "W-what? Where is this?" Meanwhile, Serafall could only look around in confusion as this was the first time she came to this ce.


    "Urahara-kun''s secret base," Akeno answered her.


    "Secret base!? This big!? And where exactly is this?" Serafall asked as she flew up to observe the surroundings.


    Akeno snapped out of her dazzlement then took out her wings and flew in the direction of the living quarters.


    "Where are you going?" Serafall asked while following her.


    "To their living quarters! We might be able to find some clues!"


    Leaving Ophis behind, the two of them arrived at the ruins where the house was supposed to have stood up, "It''s been destroyed��" Akeno muttered at the scene.


    Serafall, on the other hand, hurriedly dug up the scene using her magic to investigate it but didn''t find anything useful aside from the space itself around it being incredibly disturbed, "Just what happened here?"


    Sighing, Serafall immediately changed gears and faced Akeno, "Either way, we found a good ce where we could gather things without anyone knowing."


    Ophis then reappeared beside them and stared at the rubble. It was unknown what was on her mind.


    "Ophis-chan, what was that magic from earlier before we left?" Serafall asked as she arrived beside her.


    "Concealment�� The Hat taught me how to activate it�� When I''m eating cookies there without them." Ophis answered simply.


    ''Arge concealment magic so that someone could eat some cookies in private? What the hell?'' Serafall thought but immediately shook the outrageousness away as it wasn''t needed right now.


    Turning back to Akeno, Serafall gave her first instruction, "Akeno-chan, for your first mission, I want you to go to the Underworld and get into contact with someone. My peerage is under scrutiny so they can''t move freely and I don''t know which one of my underlings I can trust so I can only ask you."


    "I would like to follow your orders, but what about summer vacation? We n to go to the Underworld to train and I doubt I can get away from all the eyes."


    "That''s easy~. Don''t join them~."


    "But��"


    "Since they''ll discover that I came to Ki-tan''s shop sooner, you can just say that I''ll be the one training you in exchange for you doing the household chores. Even though I don''t have authority anymore, I don''t think they''ll ignore my request."


    Akeno''s eyes widened and she smiled, "I see. Then I will inform Riaster."


    "Great~. For your first assignment, I would like you to go to the Belial territory and try to contact Diehauser Belial."


    "Belial? What for?"


    "It seems that Ki-tan trusts them. I wanted to contact them earlier, but with all the monitoring on me, I couldn''tpromise that connection."


    "Got it. I''ll immediately make my preparations."


    Editors:


    28th00


    Ashe Candy

 Volume 7 397 - Trouble in the City

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 397 - Trouble in the City</h4>


    Just as Yoruichi reaches the girls, panic had already spread among the spectators of the Monsterphilia because some monsters apparently escaped from their cages and were now wreaking havoc among different parts of Orario.


    "What''s going on?" Sona asked Yoruichi.


    But she only shrugged her shoulders, "I don''t know." Although she had an idea that this was probably what Kisuke was talking about when he said that Freya was nning something, she didn''t say it as it was not really that important, "What do you want to do?" She asked the girls.


    Sona looked around before deciding, "Let''s go around. Maybe we could help with something."


    Yoruichi nodded in agreement, "Good. Let''s separate into two groups. Sona, Aika, and I will go to the eastern part while Medusa, Kuroka, and Koneko will go to the opposite side. If you notice something amiss or weird, don''t hesitate to contact others using themunication devices Kisuke gave you."


    " " " " "Yes!" " " " " Everyone answered enthusiastically before separating into two groups.


    Yoruichi, Sona, and Aika jogged around but didn''t see any monsters, only some piles of ashes. A few minutester, they heard arge explosion and immediately went to that side, of course, without revealing their real abilities.


    Once they arrived, they saw the Amazon sisters and the Elf Mage of the Loki Familia fighting a monster that looked like a green snake. However, they also noticed that the snake didn''t have any orifices and became wary of its other ''heads'' that might be lurking around.


    Their guess of more ''heads'' gained more traction when they suddenly felt a tremor underground that didn''t match what is happening on the surface. And just as they expected, another ''head'' appeared beside the Elf Mage who was trying to cast magic, "Elf-san! On your right! Watch out!" Aika shouted to the oblivious Elf.


    However, her warning was already toote as the Elf wasn''t able to dodge and got tackled on her right before flying away andnding on some wooden boxes on the side, coughing blood.


    The monster finally fully came out of the ground and revealed its true form which was of multiple giant carnivorous nt monsters. Aika immediately went to the Elf''s side to give her some assistance while Sona and Yoruichi chose not to move and watch the situation for now as it seemed that the Amazon sisters were not in any real danger.


    Arriving at her side, Aika checked her condition. Although she was in a slight stupor, only a few of her ribs were broken and it wasn''t something serious. As the monster was about to bear down on them, Aika took out her nodachi while also grabbing the injured Elf, ready to use sh Step or counter at any moment.


    However, the monster''s grotesque mouth suddenly stopped from approaching them and looked towards herpanions. Aika did the same and saw that Sona had manifested a ball of water using magic and was observing the monster silently, ''Did she figure something out?''


    Aika was about to move away when she felt the wind suddenly getting rustled and a golden-haired girl arrived, severing the monster''s head. Aika returned her attention to the Elf who had already woken up from her stupor and started crying.


    Even though she didn''t know the real reason, Aika could at least tell those were tears of frustration and pped the poor Elf''s back, making her wince in pain, "Ahhh!"


    The Elf red at her with teary eyes but Aika ignored it and just said, "You''re hurt, but not dead. It''s not like you can''t fight anymore just because you''re hurt, so stop whining and do something if you want to do so."


    At the same moment, Sona shouted towards them, "This monster is attracted to magic! You may use that as leverage!"


    Without Aika noticing, Yoruichi already disappeared from Sona''s side and arrived next to the struggling Ais, trying to block the monsters'' heads that just came out of the ground, "I got the kid." Yoruichi grabbed a little girl from one of the boxes. It turned out that Ais didn''t dodge because there was a kid behind her.


    Aika turned back to the Elf, "Heard that? Your cue."


    The Elf, Lefiya, heard what Sona had just said and understood Aika''s words, ''True�� I''m hurt. But that doesn''t mean I can''t fight. I can''t hold them back any longer! I have to do my part!''


    Standing up with a new resolute face, Lefiya faced Aika and said, "Thank you."


    "Don''t worry about it. Just finish this thing already. Its mouth is gross."


    Lefiya nodded at her and took a deep breath. Deep inside, she was still very much afraid of pain, of death. But she also knew that it couldn''t always be the case when everyone else was putting their lives on the line and leaving their backs to her.


    Biting her lips, Lefiya psyched herself up by muttering, "I�� I am�� Lefiya Viridis. An Elf of the Wishe Forest. I swore myself to the Goddess Loki. I am a member of the strongest, proudest Familia!!" Jumping towards an open area, Lefiya started casting her magic.


    Since her wand was blown away, she had to use her hands as a catalyst for magic. Raising both of her arms, she started writing in mid-air, leaving a trail of light with her fingertips while singing the incantation along, "I beseech the name of Wishe. Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and descend on the ins."


    "Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the wheel and dance."


    "Come, the ring of fairies�� Please give me strength. Elf Ring!"


    While vast amounts of Mana started gathering on the ring of light around Lefiya, all the nt monsters turned their attention to her. In turn, the Amazon sisters and Ais became free to easily intercept them and gathered around Lefiya to guard her.


    "That''s��" Sona muttered as Yoruichi and Aika already returned to her side along with one other person, "Elf Ring. As long as the user knows the incantation for the Elf magic, she''ll be able to cast it herself. It''s the magic that gave her the nickname ''Thousand Elf''." Loki answered, clearing her confusion.


    Aika and Sona only nced at her while Yoruichi didn''t even give her an eye and said, "Is it alright for you to tell us that?"


    Loki only shrugged her shoulders and said, "It was already public information when the top Familias figured it out. By the way, thanks for assisting them~."


    Sona shook her head, "It''s nothing. They would have figured it out themselves once they noticed those monster chased after Wallenstein-san. And you would have rescued that little girl yourself even without Yoruichi-san doing anything."


    Loki opened her eyes slightly and looked towards Sona, "Oh? You noticed?"


    Sona nodded, "Of course. It''s my job after all. Only when I''m watching everyone''s back can they focus on their task."


    "Hoh~. I see. So you''re the strategist of your group."


    "Compared to others, my abilities arecking, so that''s one of the few things I can do for everyone."


    Yoruichi and Aika''s hand suddenly dropped on each of Sona''s shoulders, "Don''t put yourself down, Kaichou~. You''re very hardworking, and it won''t take long for you to catch up�� Although I say this, I''m actually the weakest in our group."


    "Aika is right. It''s just around the corner that you can discover a new path for yourself."


    Sona couldn''t help but smile at their words and Loki could only silently watch them, ''Should I expect this in a harem? They''re a very tightly knit group."


    Editors:


    Alexander


    Ashe Candy

 Volume 7 398 - A New Reason to Search

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 398 - A New Reason to Search</h4>


    Lefiya, using her Elf Ring, was able to cast the magic of the Elvish Princess, Riveria Ljos Alf''s attack spell, Wynn Fimbulvetr. The spell sts the opponents with an extremely cold blizzard and freezes them solid. It was then up to the other three to crush the monster, which took less than a minute to do so.


    The girls of the Loki Familia approached the girls of the Hestia Familia, wanting to thank them. However, Yoruichi stopped their advance and told them, "There are still monsters roaming around, so let''s save this forter." She then turned around and the two others followed her after giving their farewells.


    After seeing them leave, Loki then instructed her children, "Lefiya, go with the guild folks and get healed up a bit. Tione, Tiona, would the two of you go underground? Got a feeling there''s still something there. Ais, we''ll take care of thest monster together." Their group split up soon after.


    On the other hand, Yoruichi''s group suddenly stopped at a dested alley, "Sona-chan, did you notice?"


    Sona nodded at her question, "Yes. I''ve been using a low powered magic sonar in the middle of the battle so that no one should suspect anything."


    "What are the two of you talking about?" Aika asked in confusion.


    "Someone is lurking underground while all of this is happening. I''ll go check it first." After Yoruichi answered Aika''s question, she used sh Step and disappeared in front of them.


    Down the hole that the nt monster has created, is theplex sewer system of Orario. Without being careful, roaming around these parts could trap you for days.


    A hundred meters away, a figure in a ck cloak is running away from the spot where the nt monster appeared. A few secondster, Yoruichi appeared behind the running figure and instantly knocked them out by striking their neck, "KAH!!"


    Yoruichi caught her and opened up her cloak and saw a ck-haired Elf. Opening her eyes, Yoruichi saw that they were red. After making sure that she didn''t change her appearance in any way, she memorized her face. It was then she noticed that something amiss with her, ''It''s just half of her soul present in her body? What''s this?''


    Yoruichi frowned and tried to record everything she can for a few minutes before getting the magic stone in her hand and leaving quietly, ''I wonder what''s her story�� And where''s the missing part? It doesn''t look like it was forcefully severed too.'' As the mystery deepens, Yoruichi arrives back with the girls.


    "How was it?" Sona asked, seeing the frown on Yoruichi''s face.


    "Let''s return first. I want to tell and pass something to Kisuke."


    .


    .


    .


    "So yeah, I did some poking around underground after that, but couldn''t find a thing. At least the rest of the monsters were easy as pie." Loki said to the Goddess she invited over to a detached building of the Twilight Manor toin.


    "The nerve. I''d been wondering why you called me out here at thiste hour." Freya sighed, however, it''s pretty obvious to Loki that she has something else in her mind, "I have no connection to today''s incident or interest in your involvement."


    Loki frowned at her strange demeanor but immediately hid her expression by drinking wine, "Big words,ing from the culprit herself."


    Freya''s eyes widened at her words before smiling, "My, my. Do you have any proof?"


    "Not a single injured bystander. Escaped monsters acted like they were searching for something and ignored all the townsfolk. A lot of them were charmed and I can''t remember seeing a certain airheaded vixen anywhere at the scene. Even the guys in charge of watching the monsters were falling all over themselves, or so I''ve been hearing." Putting down her ss of wine, Loki stood up and put her foot on her chair before pointing at Freya with a big grin on her face, "Charmed, charmed, charmed. All this charm. That settles it. Not that I have a clue what you were trying to achieve though."


    Freya picked up her ss of wine and gave up on denying her usations, "Fufu. Indeed. What you say is true. For the most part."


    Loki then proceeded to threaten her, "Wonder if the Guild would like to hear about this? Their punishments are pretty harsh, aren''t they?"


    In response to that, Freya only muttered a few words, "The Eagle Feather Robe."


    "��Come again?"


    "The Eagle Feather Robe I lent you has yet to be returned, yes?"


    "M-maybe so, but�� I''ve really taken a liking to it. Returning it now would be just��" Loki started faltering.


    After getting the reaction she''s aiming for, Freya smiled brightly, "If you''re willing to overlook today, or rather, if you''ll turn a blind eye to my activities from here on out, I''d be willing to let you keep it. How does that sound?"


    "��" Loki made aplicated face before shouting and scratching her head in frustration, "Gah! Dammit! Dastardly woman! Now I''m pissed! And I even warned you! One of my cute kiddos got beat up pretty bad taking down one of those monsters."


    "��?" This time, Freya is genuinely confused as she explicitlymanded the monsters she released not to hurt anyone else besides the target.


    "Why are you making that face? You know the one. The tenth! All snaky and gross, with a flower for a head."


    "�� I only released nine monsters."


    "��Lying through your teeth."


    "It''s the truth. I only needed them to dy yours and Ganesha''s children. I never intended to cause any harm with my little prank."


    Loki''s expression became serious, "��Well then, the heck was that monster?"


    "Who knows? I don''t even know what you''re referring to."


    "��"


    "��"


    Freya then stood up, "If there''s nothing else, I would like to take my leave."


    Loki knew that she wouldn''t be getting anything about the nt monster from Freya so she asked the final thing that has been bothering her, "You''ve been out of it for a while now�� Are you thinking of messing with that kid, Kisuke Urahara? Take my warning seriously this time. You can''t touch him."


    "Although I''m indeed interested in him, I found an even more interesting and troublesome child." Freya only gave this answer before leaving for good.


    "More interesting than him?" Loki frowned at her words.


    Once she got away from the Twilight Manor, Freya muttered to the wind, "Ottar."


    A burly man then appeared beside her, "Yes, Freya-sama."


    "What happened to the child I asked you to search?" Freya is referring to the child with a crimson soul she sawst time.


    "No news about him anywhere. We couldn''t even find a single clue about him."


    "I see�� Ramp up your search on him. I want to meet him." Freyamanded and Ottar disappeared again after acknowledging it.


    Freya recalled the moment Bell grabbed the knife that the cloaked and masked man threw to him. The moment he touched it, Bell''s soul increased in radiance, as if it just epted a great tonic and the knife became connected to his very soul. The only other type of weapon that can do something simr is a Divine Weapon, which the Gods themselves use. And the man who gave that knife to him and waved at her is the same crimson-colored soul she got a glimpse before, "Who are you?"


    Editors:


    Alexander


    28th00


    Freya jukes only to realise she got juked first (28th00)

 Volume 7 399 - Exploration with the Loki Familia

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 399 - Exploration with the Loki Familia</h4>


    That same night, Yoruichi returned from herte-night investigation and went straight to Kisuke''sb, "How is it?"


    Kisuke didn''t look up and continued examining the strangely colored magic stone that Yoruichi has brought today using his myriads of devices, "Basically, it is just a regr magic stone, but the strange bits inside of it form a spell, augmented with a bit of spiritual powers."


    "A spell? What does it do?"


    "I''m still not sure about the entirety of its function, however, I managed to uncover a few things. First, the spell is a set ofmands that the monster follows and the spiritual powers is a tether for it to be connected to its host or the person who created this magic stone."


    "Can you trace this connection?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "The moment the monster died, this connection disappeared. I might be able to find some other way, but not now."


    "I see. You''re focusing on creating the ''gate''."


    "Yes. I''m on a critical stage. If I can divert my attention, that''s only for the Sacred Gear project as that is important for our future growth." Kisuke then turned to Yoruichi, "What about you? What''s the result of your investigation."


    "It''s actually easy to find the information about the Elf as it seems that she''s pretty famous.


    "Other Adventures gave her the nickname ''The Banshee'' for reasons that everyone she apparently partied with, her own Familia and those outside of it, are dead. Each and every time, her party would meet an unfortunate ident and only she would survive.


    "It all started six years ago on the incident known as the Nightmare of the 27th Floor. A lot of adventurers died that day due to machinations of the former organization Evilus. Their leader sent his men to the 27th Floor to wipe every Adventurer there.


    "They leaked false information stating that there was suspicious activity going on in the Dungeon. They lured several influential parties to the 27th Floor. All of Evilus'' people acted as decoys and led a mass of monsters to those parties. All of the floor''s monsters, as well as the floor boss, had a free-for-all frenzy. It was like a painting of hell, they say.


    "The reinforcements arrivedte, all they witnessed was a river of ck and red, filled with bodies which you couldn''t even begin to count. And then the monsters that followed. The Adventurers that were attacked were at a loss and the scenery on the 27th Floor continued to spread.


    "The ck-haired Elf, Filvis Challia, was one of the few survivors of that incident. Barely making it out of there with her life. She came back to the town, looking like she had already died. They said that there were a lot of Adventurers that had lost theirrades or lost body parts, But they have never seen anybody with as bad of a face as the one she had.


    "And from that day on, it''s as if she has be cursed. Any party she approaches, sooner orter, it gets annihted. Once, their party made an error in judgment. Another time, they ran into an irregr environment. A falling out amongrades. There are at least four cases where her party has beenpletely annihted. She''s always the lone survivor.


    "If you party with that Elf, you''ll die. That rumor spread like a wildfire because it wasn''t a joke. Even though she is now a captain among the Dionysus Familia, there are still fumes of that rumor floating around. Solo Adventurer, the Party Killing Elf, Banshee." Yoruichi ended her story.


    "Where did you get this information?"


    "Riveria. Just a bit of money, and everyone will be talking."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before voicing out his thoughts, "Is it bad that I became interested in partying with her?"


    "It''s bad." Yoruichi, however, grinned, "But I also want to try it."


    Chuckling, Kisuke changed the topic, "Setting that aside, are you sure that there''s a missing part of her soul?"


    "Yes. I can tell you that much. Though I still wonder how she can still move around properly."


    "Hmm�� If we want to know more about it, I guess we should investigate what really happened down on the 27th Floor six years ago."


    "I have the same thoughts. But Kuroka''s and my hands are already full, so we''ll just be putting it to our side note. What''s important is that she immediately tried to snatch that magic stone and that she''s from the Dionosys Familia."


    "Right. We don''t know what''s their connection with this incident, but it''ll be good if we put an eye on them in case they do something nasty and we''re affected by it."


    "Got it. I''ll make the preparations to put them in our limited monitoring."


    Yoruichi sat down on the sofa prepared for the resting period and intended to apany Kisuke with his research all night when thetter suddenly pulled out a bunch of paper and passed it to her, "By the way, the girls already decided to level up. This is their stats before and after."


    Yoruichi nodded and took a look at the papers.


    Sona Sitri


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: C-698 ---] SSS-1101


    VIT: A-901 ---] SSS-1232


    DEX: S-925 ---] SSS-1354


    AGI: C-699 ---] SS-1099


    Extra Abilities:


    DEM-POW: SSS-1302 ---] EX1500


    Aika Kiryuu


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SS-1001 ---] SSS-1409


    VIT: S-989 ---] SSS-1384


    DEX: SS-1092 ---] SSS-1489


    AGI: SS-1002 ---] SSS-1401


    MANA: A-898 ---] SS-1100


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: B-703 ---] SSS-1480


    DRACONIC AURA: C-669 ---] EX1500


    Shirone Toujou


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SS-1059 ---] SSS-1490


    VIT: SS-1069 ---] EX-1500


    DEX: S-998 ---] SSS-1339


    AGI: SS-1010 ---] SSS-1475


    MANA: A-872 ---] SS-1001


    KI: E-596 ---] EX-1500


    Kuroka Toujou


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SSS-1349 ---] EX-1500


    VIT: SSS-1401 ---] EX-1500


    DEX: SSS-1203 ---] SSS-1475


    AGI: SSS-1304 ---] SSS-1486


    MANA: SS-1098 ---] SSS-1307


    KI: SS-1027 ---] EX1500


    Magic:


    (NEW) Sage Mode: Expelling ck mes


    (NEW) Hohou (Movement Techniques)


    Medusa


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SS-1099 ---] SSS-1301


    VIT: SS-1058 ---] SSS-1298


    DEX: SSS-1401 ---] EX-1500


    AGI: EX-1500


    MANA: EX-1500


    "I see�� They''ve beenining about feeling bloated and I can somehow feel it too."


    "Yes. I decided that it''s already time to level up. It''s not good to push too much because it''ll only damage their foundation. What about you?"


    "I just need two more parameters to reach the EX status. No way I''m going to level up without maxing it out."


    "Just be careful."


    "I will."


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, just as the trio was about to leave for the Dungeon, Riveria and Line arrived in the abandoned church. Kisuke along with the girls and the still lethargic Hestia came out to greet them, "Good morning, Riveria-san~. About thest time, please forgive me for that." The nasty shopkeeper immediately reminded her of what happened three days ago.


    Line on the side became nervous as she peeked at Riveria''s expression. Thankfully, however, there wasn''t much of a change in her expression as she replied, "No. I don''t me you for putting those terms five days ago."


    "Uhmm�� I''m talking about what happened three days ago."


    Riveria''s smile didn''t disappear but her eyes and atmosphere became cold, "Thest time I came here was five days ago. I wonder what you''re talking about?"


    ''So that''s how she wanted to y it. Whatever.'' Kisuke chuckled and chose to let her go, "Would you like toe inside?"


    Riveria shook her head, "No. I only came here to bring Line and say that I would like to start our lessons a weekter."


    "Hmm? Is something going on?"


    Riveria''s demeanor slowly calmed down and answered honestly, "A few of our members are going to the Dungeon for a week to pay some of our debts. Ourst expedition forced us to take loans for the destroyed weapons and we hope that we can recoup our losses."


    "May I ask until which floor are you going?"


    "At least the 30th Floor."


    "If that''s the case, do you mind taking three of my girls with you? They can act as supporters. They need valuable experience."


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko looked towards Kisuke before looking towards Riveria with gleaming eyes. As the least experienced in the group, Kisuke''s proposal is great for them.


    Riveria hesitated for a few moments before answering, "It''s fine with me, but I have to consult with everyone else. We n to meet in the Central park of the Tower of Babel at noon after some preparations. They cane after they have prepared, but it''s only then that the others can decide if they cane along or not."


    "That''s fine. Thanks~," Kisuke then turned to the girls, "Start preparing. Kuroka, Medusa, please help them."


    "Okay~." "Understood."


    "Yoruichi, please lead Line to the examination room."


    "Got it." Yoruichi then grabbed Line''s hand and dragged her towards the elevator where the girls were already entering.


    Riveria only watched them silently before turning back to the grinning Kisuke and sighed. She then raised her hand and swore, "I swear to my Falna that I won''t reveal any information to anyone regarding the members of the Hestia Familia without any prior permission to do so."


    Kisuke then looked towards Hestia who was already wide awake, staring at Riveria, and nodded at him.


    "I can also assure you that I didn''t tell anyone else anything about your Familia." Riveria followed up before turning around to leave.


    Hestia also confirmed that she isn''t lying.


    To her leaving back, Kisuke waved, "See you in a week~!"


    Riveria ignored him and walked faster as she''s still very embarrassed by what happenedst time. She''s already praising herself not running away from him the moment she saw him.


    Editors:


    28th00


    Alexander


    Alternative Title:


    Riveria sells her soul to the Devil?! (28th00)

 Volume 7 400 - Send Off

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 400 - Send Off</h4>


    Before noon, Kisuke first goes to meet the three that are about to leave on their first long Dungeon dive. Although Riveria didn''t give her assurance regarding the eptance of the trio, he''s pretty sure that they''ll be epted due to their sheer curiosity of the group.


    Aika, Sona, and Koneko are each carrying a backpack that is imbued with space magic. The space inside is 10x10x10 meters. While only 1/10 of it is filled with necessary supplies, more than half of it was filled with various food or tools rted to food due to Kisuke chucking them in like an insecure grandma to her grandchildren.


    "Now then to the real thing. Take this." Kisuke gave each one of them a silver bracelet around half an inch wide. On the outer surface, there''s nothing on it except for its shiny radiance but on the inside, variousplicated inscriptions are embedded and in the middle of it is an icon of a skull engulfed in me.


    The three wore it on their right arm and Sona asked, "What are these for?"


    "Sacrificial essories. If I call it like that, then I assume you already know what it''s for?" Kisuke replied with a smile.


    The three of them immediately nodded and Aika followed up a question, "What''s the limit?"


    "Any fatal attack thatnds on you will break it, however, its limit is a single attack from the Monster Rex of the 50th Floor. I doubt you''ll use it in this outing, however, please make sure that this only breaks when it''s most needed. I was only able to make three of these because of itsplexity. It''s my luck that I was able to finish all three of them before this came up."


    Aika, Sona, and Koneko looked at each other before jumping towards Kisuke and giving him a group hug, "Thank you!"


    Kisuke just let them hug him for a few seconds before asking them to separate from him, "I dragged you into my mess, so this the least that I could do." Patting each one of their heads, Kisuke''s expression then became serious, "However, in this Dungeon dive, it''ll be truly dangerous for the three of you. Unlike before with the Minotaurs, where we''re all watching your progress and could immediately respond when something goes wrong, this time, once you send out an SOS signal, it''ll take us some time to arrive at your side.


    "If it''s just feelings alone we''re talking about, I don''t want you to leave my side, however, logically speaking, you have to take this risk or you''ll be forever reliant on, not just me, but every one of us. And if we don''t take initiative, it''ll get worse in the future. So please keep in mind that you might actually die this time around."


    The three of them nodded seriously and Sona answered, "We understand. We also don''t like a future where we have to rely on you on everything. We''re d to take this risk in exchange for a very valuable experience."


    "Good~!" Kisuke''s smile then returned, "Now with thest reminders, first, Aika."


    Aika stepped forward and answered, "Yes!"


    "You can use everything you''ve learnt, however, only use your Shikai when it''s a dangerous situation. I trust your judgment."


    "Understood!"


    "Koneko-chan."


    Koneko then stepped forward, "Yes, senpai!"


    "You can use your Senjutsu, but only a part of your Sage mode. I heard from Kuroka that you still keep losing control of your emotions if you use it too much. You''re the vanguard and the tank of the team. You can''t go far away from both of them."


    "Understood!"


    "Sona."


    It was Sona''s turn so she also took a step forward, "Yes."


    "You can use everything you''ve got. Compared to your previous state, your magic is still weak, however, this time thanks to the Falna, your physical abilities are stronger than before so make sure to leverage that. But remember that although you magic can take on a Level 3, a Level 4 can still tear through it using just their physical bodies and if your opponent is a veteran Adventurer, even if it''s a Level 3, he or she can trick you with his or her battle experience and catch you off-guard.


    "You''re good at reading the overall situation and givingmands to respond to that, but yourbat experience is very low. Be sure to watch everyone from the Loki Familia to learn a thing or two, or engage in closebat when you think the risk isn''t too high."


    Sona understood that she''s currently the weakest among their team and is doing her best to watch and give suitablemands to everyone aspensation. But Sona knew that it can''t continue this way forever and happily epted Kisuke''s advice, "I understand."


    "And onest thing. Keep this in your pocket." Kisuke then passed a small token to Sona, "Since the rest of us will be busy with our own things and can''t go into the Dungeon for long periods of time, I can''t let this opportunity go to study it. This token will passively scan the Dungeon and gather all sorts of information while you carry it, so you can just forget about it in your pocket."


    "Got it." Sona pocketed the token and looked up to Kisuke, "It''s time to leave. We have to go." She then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Kisuke''s neck before nting a deep kiss on his lips.


    Sona separated from Kisuke a few secondster with a bit of a blush on her face and stepped back. Cue, Aika also stepped in and did the same as Sona, followed by Koneko that had to jump to reach Kisuke''s height. However, before Koneko could steal a kiss, Kisuke stopped her and just gave her a kiss on her forehead, resulting in a pouty and angry kitten, "Please look forward to it once I''ve mastered my Senjutsu!"


    Kisuke chuckled and replied, "I''m waiting~."


    Koneko became happy after finally getting a good response from Kisuke. She then ran towards her sister who''s watching with the rest of the girls this entire time, "Kuroka-neesama, I''m going."


    Giving her little sister a hug, Kuroka gave a reminder of her own, "Be careful, Shirone. And always remember this, the mes are yours, not the other way around."


    "I''ll remember it." Koneko separated from her sister and Sona and Aika took turns to say their farewells with the rest of the girls before the three of them left for good.


    While watching them leave, Yoruichi approached Kisuke and said, "Let me guess, instead of just one fatal attack, those bracelets will probably still be intact after two attacks. And the moment you felt that it activated for the first time, you''ll forcefully tear through space to go to their side despite the restriction of space around the Dungeon."


    Kisuke looked towards Yoruichi with an embarrassed smile, "Is it really that obvious?"


    Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa started chuckling and Yoruichi said, "You''re someone who''s obsessed with safety and security and everyone knew that. Those three probably have some idea, but don''t worry about them not taking your words seriously. Those girls will treat this outing as you said it."


    "Well, I guess that''s fine."

 Volume 7 401 - Exploration, Start

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 401 - Exploration, Start</h4>


    Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Finn were already at the meeting site when Riveria and Lefiya arrived after their preparation, "It seems that everyone is already here. Let''s go."


    "Please wait, Finn," Riveria called out to the Pallum before they started moving, "I have something I want to say."


    Finn and the rest stopped their steps and turned to Riveria, "Hmm? What is it?"


    "I''d like to take some people with us if you all don''t mind."


    "Some people? Who are they? They''re not from our Familia?" Finn asked while the rest had visible confusion on their faces.


    Riveria nodded on his question, "Yes. They''re from the Hestia Familia. The three who defeated the Minotaurs."


    Tione, Tiona, and Ais''s eyes widened as they recalled the three girls, who''re supposed to be Level 1, defeated the six Minotaurs that shouldn''t have been possible.


    When they met in the pubst time, they really wanted to ask how they were able to achieve it, but they knew the importance of secrets of their abilities as Top-ss Adventurers so they didn''t pry any further after some question. And now they want to join their Dungeon exploration, they all looked towards Finn, hoping that he''ll approve of this.


    Finn could feel the girls'' stare and intent and could only smile wryly. Of course, he too wanted to see those from the Hestia Familia in action as he had some doubts about them defeating six Minotaurs by themselves even if the report came from his trusted Vice-Captain. But before he could agree, he had to confirm some things first, "Why are theying with us?"


    "Their Captain, Kisuke Urahara, requested me to take them with us so that they could gain some experience from veteran Adventurers. They''re going to act as supporters in this exploration and I don''t see any problem in bringing them along. I hope you can agree to this."


    Finn nodded and said, "It''s rare for you to request this kind of thing, so if you''re fine with this, I don''t see any reason to disagree."


    Riveria smiled and gave her gratitude, "Thank you."


    "It''s fine. But you have to take charge of them."


    "I''ll do just that."


    "Heh~. They''reing, huh~. I look forward to it~." Tione excitedly swung her Urga around.


    "They''re noting for you! And stop swinging that around! You''ll blind someone!" Tiona immediately retorted, "But as long as they don''t get near Captain, then I''m fine with them going with us."


    "I don''t think someone getting hit with that will just end up blind!" Lefiya also retorted. She, however, is confused with their reactions. As someone who doesn''t know the truth, although a group of Level 1s on the verge of a Level up defeating a single Minotaur is a very rare feat, it shouldn''t warrant this kind of attention from them.


    "��They won''t approach Finn�� They are their Captain''s lover." Ais suddenly uttered.


    It was then that everyone recalled that Hestia Familia is a big harem of its Captain.


    "��Although it''s a normal thing for Gods, you don''t really see it among people, right?" Even Tione didn''t know what to think of this situation.


    "Well, that''s not really important right now. When are they arriving?" Finn immediately changed the topic.


    "They should be arriving any moment now," Riveria replied. And just as she said that the group saw three familiar girls walking towards them. They are wearing the standard Adventurer''s outfit which consists of some steel tes in vital areas, arm guards, and leg guards. One of them, however, has some eye-catching armor. The white-haired Cat Person is wearing an oversized gauntlet that looks veryical and bulky due to her petite stature.


    Each one of them are carrying backpacks that are only big enough to cover their backs, in contrast to Lefiya, who''s carrying a bag at least three times as big as her.


    As for weapons, while each one of them has a knife for a side arm, the brte-haired girl has a strange two-meter long curved sword strapped on her back, the Cat Person has a long-handled war hammer which is also strapped on her back. However, thest one, the ck-haired human isn''t carrying a staff like they were expecting but instead, she''s carrying a short bow on her back.


    Once they got near, the first one to speak up was Sona, "Good morning to everyone, sorry we''rete. Thank you for waiting. I assume that Riveria-san already told you that we would like toe with you and act as your supporters."


    "Yes. And we already agreed to it. Have you prepared for everything that you''ll need?" Finn replied and asked.


    "Yes. We have enough supplies that willst throughout the whole duration of the exploration."


    Finn and Riveria looked at each other and both of them thought that the backpacks they''re carrying are simr to the purse that Kisuke gave them. But before they could ask, Tione asked in confusion, "Are you sure that you have enough? Did you bring just the bare minimum and those very hard rations? Or do you not know that we''ll take at least a week in this exploration? You''ll get sick of those snack bars almost immediately." She asked because of the size of their luggage and the other girls also nodded in agreement.


    Sona only smiled and answered, "Yes. We have enough even if we took two weeks." Though the three of them very much wanted to say that they are prepared and can live in luxury inside the Dungeon for a few months.


    Tione, Tiona, Ais, and Lefiya became even more confused and thought that they''re underestimating the amount they needed for long explorations. However, before they could say that it''s important to stay energetic inside the Dungeon, Finn suddenly asked an even more mind boggling question, "Do you still have some space to fit that?" He then pointed towards Lefiya''s oversized backpack.


    Finn is expecting a no or just a bit of the bag''s contents can fit theirs. However, he and Riveria didn''t anticipate Sona''s answer, "Yes. The space is still big enough to fit everything."


    Finn and Riveria''s eyes widened at her im, ''If that''s true, then we underestimated those bags severely!'' Both of them thought as the bags worth in their minds just jumped multiple times.


    "Hahaha��" Finnughed wryly and urged everyone to walk along, "Let''s go."


    Sona understood that he wants to pass them their supplies inside the Dungeon where there are no prying eyes as he didn''t want to reveal the bag''s existence to others yet, "Understood. Thank you for taking care of us."


    28th00

 Volume 7 402 - VS Minotaurs Again

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 402 - VS Minotaurs Again</h4>


    The group then went to the 10th floor without stopping. Finn tried to gauge if the three girls could follow their marching speed but they seem to have no problem in that regard. He then led them to a quiet corner of the floor before turning to Lefiya, "Lefiya. Put down the bag. Tiona, Tione, and Ais. Help her take all of its contents out."


    Tione kept asking Riveria and Finn on the way what their conversation meant but Finn only told her that she would figure it outter.


    After emptying Lefiya''s bag, Sona, Aika, and Koneko put down their backpacks and opened its mouth, "Excuse us."


    "Go on." Finn gave them confirmation.


    The trio then divided the Loki Familia''s supplies into three and using the cover of the mist, each one of them kept tossing in items one at a time until the pile of supplies disappeared, but without their backpacks bulking up even a bit.


    While Riveria and Finn stared at the bags in admiration, the other four girls could only stare at them with dumbfounded faces. It was a few seconds after Sona, Aika, and Koneko packed everything up that the cheerful Amazon reacted, "W-What was that?!" Tiona eximed while pointing at them.


    The trio picked the bags up while Sona only smiled at her and said, "Riveria-san and Finn-san should already be aware of these bags. If you want exnations, I think they could better exin it to you."


    The four of them immediately snapped their necks towards the two, urging them to exin what they had just witnessed. Finn, on the other hand, thought that Sona made a good move of passing them the role of exining, ''She''s trying to avoid exining more than enough, huh��''


    Riveria then exined to others the existence of the bag treated with magic so that it could have an expanded space that could fit more items than it was supposed to without the imposing weight and strength required to carry if you''re using a normal bag.


    Tiona immediately ran towards Sona and excitedly asked, "Hey, how much could you fit in there?" They finally understood why Sona told them that they have enough supplies despite looking so lightweight.


    Sona only put her forefinger in front of her mouth and winked at her, "Trade secret~."


    Tiona pouted, but then she immediately perked back up, "Well, that sucks." She then immediately changed her gears, "Ehem, I''m Tiona Hiryute, nice to meet you~."


    Sona''s eyes widened before saying, "I''m sorry for our rudeness. I just realized that we haven''t formally introduced ourselves, I''m Sona Sitri. I take the rearguard position in our team and am a newly appointed Level 2. Nice to meet you."


    "Aika Kiryuu~. I''m one of the vanguards and also a Level 2. Let''s get along~." Aika immediately followed.


    And Koneko did the same, "Shirone Toujou. A vanguard. Level 2. Pleased to meet you." And she did it with her usual deadpan expression.


    The Loki Familia then introduced themselves to the girls one by one and after that, Finn instructed the group to move on.


    While on the way, Lefiya whispered to Riveria, "Riveria-sama, how did that kind of artifacte into being?"


    "From the words of its maker, It''s treated with Space Magic�� Not that I understand that magic." Riveria''s reply shocked Lefiya.


    "Y-you don''t know anything about it?"


    "I don''t, but I n to learn it after this exploration. Keep walking or you''ll be left behind." Riveria immediately ended the topic and caught up with the rest of the group.


    Lefiya also tried to catch up, but the fact that her teacher, the greatest Sage of Orario didn''t have a single clue about a certain type of magic�� Although this is very much possible, it''s really just shocking for her that Riveria couldn''t answer a question about magic.


    The group immediately reached the 15th Floor as no monsters could match them and they didn''t really need to collect magic stones at this level as it was just a waste of time.


    When they encountered the first group of Minotaurs, which were coincidentally six in number, Finn immediately asked, "Do the three of you want to have a go?" He and the rest of the Loki Familia wanted to gauge their abilities first before they dived deeper.


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko looked at each other and suddenly threw their fist in front of each other, "Rock, paper, and scissors!"


    From their little game, Koneko came out victorious and stepped out to meet the Minotaurs.


    "Y-you''re not going to go together?" Finn asked with a twitching mouth. After all, they''re just new Level 2s and not much different from Level 1s so it''s understandable for him and also the rest from the Loki Familia to assume that they only became a little bit better.


    "��I''m enough," Koneko replied before suddenly disappearing from her position which shocked everyone from the Loki Familia as they could hardly catch her movement while Lefiyapletely lost her.


    Suddenly snapping their heads towards the Minotaurs, the members of the Loki Familia could only see Koneko in the middle of them when two of the Minotaurs'' heads bloomed into bloody flowers, then became ashes.


    Koneko just spun once and immediately killed two more Minotaurs with her Warhammer. Not wasting her momentum, before she couldnd, she suddenly threw her weapon towards one of the Minotaurs and instantly killing it too.


    The moment shended, the ground below her feet caved in slightly as Koneko pounced towards another Minotaur and gave it an uppercut, breaking its neck. Using that Minotaur''s chest as a foothold, she went to another Minotaur and crushed its head by hammering it with her armoured fist.


    Landing on the ground for the second time, Koneko slowly turned her head towards thest Minotaur while still wearing a deadpan face. However, that face is the face of a monster and it inadvertently took a step backward and was about to turn around when the little white monster suddenly disappeared from its view again, before it felt a numbing feeling around its neck and finally lost its consciousness.


    Within a few seconds, Koneko annihted the group of Minotaurs. A stark contrast to what they went through when Kisuke arranged them to fight the same monster.


    Koneko happily jogged back to herpanions after picking up her Warhammer and asked, "How was it?"


    "Hmm�� Did you really have to throw away your weapon?" Aika asked.


    Koneko just nodded, "I''m still not used to having a weapon in my hands. I''m learning, but it doesn''t feel right even though my attack power got stronger."


    "I guess that''s true. You just can''t throw away the versatility of your fist for more attack power. However, if you can master it, then versatility won''t be an issue and besides, your hammer should be more effective onrger enemies." Sona added.


    While the three of them are happily discussing Koneko''s actions just now and how to improve them, the Loki Familia could only look at them with gobsmacked faces.


    "Y-you�� How?" Ais started shaking and her expression became disturbed as she asked Koneko a nonsensical question.


    Koneko faced her, with still a deadpan expression, and said, "��What do you mean ''how''? I just bashed their heads�� and they died."


    Ais knew that she misunderstood her question and asked properly this time, "How did you be so strong, so fast?"

 Volume 7 403 - Differing Views

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 403 - Differing Views</h4>


    The trio already knew that Ais''s question woulde up sooner orter because Kisuke asked them to show what they could and they already thought of an answer to that, "I''m sorry Ais-san, but we really don''t know how we would answer your question. After all, we''re just new in Orario and don''t really know or understand the standards." Sona gave them an answer that dodges the issue.


    However, she also knew that they won''t be satisfied with just that and added more, "However, I do have a clue onto why that is the case."


    "And that is?" Finn asked with a frown.


    "What do you think is the most important thing in terms of getting stronger?" Sona asked instead of answering him.


    "��Of course, it''s the blessing of the Gods. Without it, we wouldn''t even be able to be strong, much less explore the Dungeon and exterminate the monsters."


    Sona nodded and said with a smile, "And that''s where we differ."


    Finn and the rest of the Loki Familia''s eyes widened, "What do you mean?"


    Instead of Sona, Aika answered his question, "Sure, Falna is amazing and the main source of everyone''s strength. But because of that focus on leveling up and gaining excelia, the other important things are mostly forgotten."


    Finn didn''t like the way she said it. It''s as if she''s undermining his efforts throughout his life, "If you''re talking about techniques, training, and experiences, of course, we don''tck those. Although not as important as the Falna, we also see those things as important."


    The trio figured out that they still don''t understand. Now they can see why Kisuke said that the Gods caused the civilization to stagnate despite having a thousand years of history. Aika then continued, "Really? Then do you understand what every parameter in your basic abilities means?"


    Finn was about to answer her, but Aika interrupted him, "You probably do. But do you question why you get Skills, Magics, and choose Development Abilities? Even if you''re not. Do you even understand your Skills and Magics? I''m sure you think you do since that should be included in your training."


    "However, why do the Skills work that way? Can I modify it so it''ll be stronger? Is there something wrong with this Skill? Can I derive an entirely different skill from it that is not in my Falna?


    "Magic? Why do we have only three slots? What happens to the Mind when we gather it and cast Magic? Why does Mind move that way? Can''t we create our own Magic based on the logic of countless Magic out there?"


    "And the Development Abilities? Why do we have those? Where is the knowledgeing from? Is the information evenplete or correct? And for abilities like ''Abnormal Resistance'', why did our bodies be resistant to poisons when we have it? Did it reject foreign entities in our bodies? Then why do potions work? Aren''t they foreign entities too?


    "And what about those ''Mage'', ''Hunter'', ''Swordsman'', and such? How do they augment the basic abilities and minds of the Adventurers? Why do these support abilities exist in the first ce when you can practice them yourselves? Sure. It might have pointed you to the direction you''re most suitable with, but that doesn''t mean you should limit yourself with it."


    "Almost all of the Adventurers are scrambling and praying to get these Magics, Skills, and Development abilities, but do they, including you, ever have these kinds of questions about the nature of your strength?"


    "And since this wille out sooner orter, let me tell you this, all of the current members of the Hestia familia never received a Skill, Magic, or Development Abilities." Aika ended her rude words by dropping a bomb.


    Even Sona and Koneko didn''t know how to react to her words as they both thought that she said too much. However, Sona isn''t against telling the Loki Familia about them not receiving any Skills, Magic, and Development Abilities since it''ll be revealedter.


    Finn, Riveria, Ais, Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya didn''t know how to react to her words as there were too many points where they wanted to say something. But the most prevalent things that ran through the minds are, ''The nature of our strength?'' and ''They didn''t receive any Skills?''


    It took them a few minutes to sort out the confusion in their minds. Ais, Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya were about to barrage them with questions, however, Finn and Riveria used their arms to block and stop them before they could even start, "Finn? Riveria?"


    "Stop it. No matter what you asked, it''s not guaranteed that they''ll answer. And even if they did, due to the difference in mindset, you''ll only end up more confused than before and it might affect yourself in a negative manner." Riveria exined.


    "She''s right. No amount of answers could answer your questions if you do not have the right mindset. If you believe them, then the first thing to do is to open up your mind and discard themon sense that you''ve developed. But that''s not easy. Besides, there''s no evidence that they''re telling the truth, so stop." Finn gave a follow-up.


    The four of them understood their meaning and backed off. But despite that, they can''t contain their curiosity and kept their eyes on the trio as if wanting to crack them open.


    Not minding their stares, Aika smiled towards Finn and apologized, "I''m sorry for my rude words earlier."


    Finn shook his head, "It doesn''t matter. It''s an eye-opener, however, we still don''t know if you''re indeed telling the truth, so we will be watching your actions closely in the duration of the exploration."


    "That''s fine~. We''ll also do the same, so please don''t hold back~."


    Finnughed wryly, "Holding back inside the Dungeon? That''s a suicidal thought."


    The group then continued to their journey through the 15th-17th floor. While they only fought monsters that blocked their way, the trio did most of the killing while the members of the Loki Familia only silently watched. But as time goes on, the only Level 3 in the group, Lefiya, is slowly losing her confidence in her ability because she realized that she can''t defeat them who''s just Level 2s.


    Seeing this, Riveria patted her shoulder andforted her by shooting herself, "If you''re feeling down because of them, please understand how I felt when I thought that I have to receive a lesson on Magic from a Level 2. Magic is supposed to be my forte��"


    Although it hurt her more than she thought, Riveria knew that it was effective after judging Lefiya''s expression.


    After Sona killed a group of Minotaurs with a bow, Tiona couldn''t keep it to herself anymore and asked, "Uhmm�� May I ask just one question? It''s fine if you don''t answer it."


    The trio faced her and simultaneously nodded. With a happy face, Tiona asked an incredibly rude question towards the Adventurers, "You at least received the blessing for the basic abilities, right? May I know what rank they are when you''re a Level 1?"


    "Tiona!?" Tione immediately smacked her sister on the head, "What are you asking!?"


    "Ehhh~? I said it''s fine not to answer it. I''m just trying my luck." Tiona pouted her lips and nursed the small lump on her head.


    However, unexpectedly, Koneko answered, "Some SS-rank while the rest are S-rank."


    "Eh?" Everyone gave them a look of shock.


    "Mine are the same," Sona added.


    "Mine too." Aika followed.


    "Eh?!"

 Volume 7 404 - VS Goliath

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 404 - VS Goliath</h4>


    Despite downying it quite a bit, those ranks still shocked everyone from the Loki Familia.


    Of them, however, only Riveria didn''t make a surprised face as she already saw Koneko''s basic abilities, ''If only they knew about the ''KI'' parameter�� They wouldn''t just have this kind of reaction.''


    Finn instantly noticed Riveria''sck of reaction, "Did you already know?"


    "Yes. But that information is included in the non-disclosure contract that I signed."


    Ignoring the two of them, Tiona approached them and asked another question, "All S-rank?! And some SS-rank?! How did you achieve it?! No�� Scratch that! Sorry for asking that! However, please tell me what figures pertain to an SS-rank." Tione immediately recognized the line she shouldn''t step and changed her question.


    "1000 and above," Koneko answered her question.


    Tione nodded in understanding. While every one of them has S-rank in their basic abilities, only Ais reached the famed limit of 999, "So it turns out that 999 isn''t the limit��" She muttered.


    Since it won''t end if they kept dwelling on this topic and they won''t get a clear answer either way, Finn urged everyone to move forward, "Let''s focus on our exploration first. Let''s move. Ahead is the room where the Goliath is in and it should have respawned by now."


    Everyone nodded at him while Sona suddenly proposed something, "Finn-san, would you mind us having a go with the Monster Rex? We want to test our limits and I think the First Floor Boss is the best opponent for us."


    "That''s too dangerous. Even though you have some strange skills and techniques, you lot are still new Level 2s, not much different from top tier Level 1s. To face the Goliath, you would need at least 10 Level 3s with good equipment and a bnced party to hunt it rtively safe." Riveria protested on her decision. She, after all, wants them to be safe and just watch from behind. They don''t need to take this kind of risk.


    But instead of disagreeing, Finn only asked, "How confident are you?"


    "Finn?"


    Sona is grateful for Riveria''s concern, however, this is also a good chance for them, "Confident enough that we wouldn''t die instantly."


    Smiling wryly, Finn agreed, "I guess that''s good enough."


    "Thank you. We would like your help in case we mess something up and end up in danger."


    Riveria could only sigh and turned to the silent girls, "Ais, Tione, Tiona. Watch them carefully and interfere once I give you the signal."


    "Got it~!" Tiona answered energetically while the other two only silently nodded. However, all of them were curious about how they''ll fight the big monster and all their focus is on Sona since, from the start, she only killed monsters using her bow and her seemingly unending supply of arrows.


    "Thank you, everyone." Sona then faced Aika and Koneko, "Let''s go."


    Once they passed their bags to Riveria and stepped in the Floor Boss'' room, the ground started shaking and the wall beyond started cracking


    Stopping a few tens of meters away from the cracking wall, The trio formed a simple formation of Sona staying behind the two vanguards. While the Goliath is slowlying out of the wall, Koneko''s demeanor had suddenly undergone a transformation and another tail appeared behind her, revealing her features as a nekomata. Not that anyone from this world knew about nekomata.


    After revealing her second tail, another tail that is made out of white mes also appeared along with her ears also getting caught in the same white mes. Blue pigments then started painting her face while her eyes turned red-wine in color.


    Compared to before, when she''s fighting against the Minotaurs, Loki Familia noticed a huge change from Koneko and that it isn''t just a simple berserk state, "Are you telling me that isn''t a skill or magic too?" Tiona muttered but no one could actually answer her question.


    "I''m actually more interested in her current form�� A Cat Person with two or three tails, has anyone ever heard of such a thing before?" Finn asked, but he only got some shaking heads in response.


    It was then that Sona made her move and with a wave of her right hand, 4 blue magic circles with a diameter of 3 feet instantly appeared around her, "Koneko, do an opening strike on its chin and do your best to get its attention. I''ll give you support while you''re at it. Aika, look for a chance to disable it. We''ll all aim for its chest where the magic stone is located once an opening is avable."


    "��How is she doing that?" Lefiya muttered at the alien sight.


    The two girls nodded at her and separated from Sona by running in opposite directions, nking the emerging monster.


    The Goliath came out fully and the first thing that caught its attention is Sona''s revolving magic circles,"�y�y�z�z�{�{�|�|!" After howling, it then started running towards Sona, intending to stomp her.


    But before it could approach, two of the magic circles spouted jetstreams of water aiming for its face, "�|�|!" Without much choice, the Goliath had to use its arm to block.


    The water attack was sessfully blocked, however, it also lost its view of Sona for a moment. While blocking the streams of water, it suddenly felt something pushing its left leg which was in midstep, resulting in it tripping and losing its bnce.


    On the spot where it was supposed to fall, Koneko appeared using her sh Step and jumped towards its head while swinging her Warhammer, "Eiii!" The head of the Warhammer squarely hit the Goliath''s chin, breaking some of its teeth andunching its head upwards.


    Due to the impact and skill of the user, the Warhammer couldn''t take the stress and its handle broke, prompting Koneko to throw it away as shended and retreating back to Sona''s spot.


    Using this chance, while the Goliath was down and disoriented, Aika went to its right leg and aimed at the back of its knee, "Nadegiri (Clean Sweep)!" Pulling her nodachi from its scabbard, Aika executed a basic Zanjutsu technique that allows for a precision cut of extreme force and speed. Since she''s just a beginner in it, she''s only hoping that the Goliath''s tendons will be cut when her de shed, however, her cut went deep until its kneecap which is more than two meters, essentially cutting off its leg.


    "�{�{�|�|! �{�{�|�|!" While admiring her work, the Goliath''s left leg immediately swiped towards her, however, she dodged it using sh Step and reappeared on the other side of its body, intending to cut the next leg. She could have gone after the Goliath''s back and attacked its magic stone, but she has a feeling that she won''t be able to easily pierce it due to therge amount of Mana gathered there strengthening the defenses around it.


    But before Aika could execute another attack, the Goliath started thrashing around when one of its arms went towards Koneko and Sona. But instead of dodging, Koneko took a stance, and the ground below her cracked, sending both of her fists towards the iing giant arm.


    Koneko''s fists shed with the Goliath''s arm, however, she doesn''t intend to have a contest of strength as hers is just an instantaneous power up due to Ki maniption and technique, so she instead deflected the arm towards Aika who already took a stance, expecting this to happen.


    "Nadegiri (Clean Sweep)!!!" With a better stance, Aika was able to pull off a faster strike that anyone could hardly follow and she bisected the Goliaths arm, "�{�{�|�|!"


    Sona saw this as a chance of sealing the monster''s movement for good and put her hands together and gathered arge amount of water in it and manifested a magic circle as tall as she was in front of her. Sending the water she gathered through her magic circle, she summoned a water serpent that is as thick as its arms and it immediately coiled around the Goliath''s waist and remaining arm.


    Koneko''s arm then became covered in white mes and she shouted to the two, "I''ll take care of its defense!" She then jumped up and gathered her mes before sending it as a ball of fire towards the Goliath''s back. As of now, all of them already discovered the strong defenses around its fatal weakness and knew that they wouldn''t be able to pierce it withoutbining their firepower.


    "�{�{�|�|!�{�{�|�|!�{�{�|�|!" The Goliath tried thrashing around in pain again, but due to its binding, it would take a few seconds before it could break free which is already enough for the trio.


    Due to the nature of Koneko''s mes, it absorbed and weakened the magic defense around its chest and the only remaining thing is its thick muscle before the magic stone.


    "Sona-kaichou! Use mine!" Aika shouted towards Sona before jumping up. Sona nodded at her in understanding and conjured another water serpent.


    Reaching a suitable height, Aika swung her nodachi downwards while shouting, "Dragon Fang!" Two red and ck half-crescent waves came out of her sword. It''s a watered-down version of her Shikai''s attack which she learned so that she can use it without releasing her nodachi. However, this version is a lot weaker as it doesn''t have much velocity and force behind it, making it''s piercing ability almost useless.


    At this point in time, Koneko''s me already ceased burning but it was then that another one Sona''s water serpent manifested and caught Aika''s attack in midair, wearing it as its fangs. The serpent then dived towards the already unguarded back of the Goliath and pierced its back, reaching its magic stone and shattering it into pieces, killing the Goliath.

 Volume 7 405 - Abilities

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 405 - Abilities</h4>


    "What the hell did we just witness?" Tione muttered as they watched the Goliath crumble and turn to ashes.


    Although they''re confident that each of them, except for Lefiya, could still easily defeat them, the way that they killed the Goliath unnerves them. For most of the battle''s duration, they weren''t able to predict what was going to happen next, a new and entirely different system they didn''t know of.


    "And what was that speed?! Most Level 5''s won''t be able to catch up to that!" Tiona also added.


    "��That magic�� She cast it without even muttering a keyword�� That''s abnormal." Lefiya alsomented.


    While Ais could only stare at the three girls nkly, Finn and Riveria were frowning but didn''t say anything.


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko returned to everyone else after calming themselves down, "Thank you for waiting."


    "Well, that was easier than I thought," Aika said what''s on her mind.


    And Koneko nodded at it, "��I was expecting a few broken bones."


    The three then noticed their speechless expressions so Sona spoke up before they could ask all the questions they couldn''t answer, "If you''re wondering, I was able to cast those magics without any incantation because I directly controlled the Mind inside me and constructed the magic circle myself. With enough practice, anyone could do it faster than just chanting and gathering Mind."


    Aika understood Sona''s intentions so she also exined "In my case, what I used is two techniques. First is the sh Step. Its basic idea is focusing your energy under the soles of your feet and using the same energy to connect it at the location of your choosing. The second one is Nadegiri (Clean Sweep). It''s a sword art technique that focuses all the energy gathered on the de of the sword which allows the user to have a precise and extremely fast sh and cutting power."


    Following the other two''s example, Koneko continued, "Mine is a technique under Senjutsu (Sage Arts) called Sage Mode. By melding my own inner Ki with the outer Ki, I''m granted with boosted physical abilities and an almost inexhaustible amount of energy." She gave in the most unhelpful of words.


    Ending their exnation, Sona made the closing remark, "We won''t be answering any other questions as we already told all that we can tell you."


    And as expected, instead of being satisfied, everyone from the Loki Familia became more hungry for answers after those ''exnations''. Finn, on the other hand, could only sigh and thought, ''Is it really a good idea to bring them with us?'' He''s already starting to regret agreeing to Riveria''s request and giving in to curiosity. Because of that, their world view is starting to crumble.


    Finn then started walking towards the stairs leading to the 18th Floor, "Let''s go. Since you defeated the Goliath, you can take the magic stones."


    "But��" Ais wanted to say something but Finn interrupted her, "There''s no point. You heard them, they won''t say anything beyond what they just said, unless you''re trying to force them?"


    Ais immediately shook her head and apologized.


    Finn smiled at Ais and said, "It''s fine." He then faced Sona and the others, "However, it''s fine to watch you closely, right?"


    "If it''s about battling, you can do so without reserve." Sona immediately agreed.


    Sona then led the three to pick up the scattered and broken magic stones before following Finn and the girls towards the 18th Floor.


    Once they stepped into the 18th Floor they noticed that it''s very bright, as if it''s daytime. If they were topute the current time outside of the Dungeon, it would be around 5 PM in the afternoon. However, the current 18th Floor is in its ''morning'' state.


    Despite being deep underground, this floor has a ''sky''. A massive formation covers the ceiling. Arge white crystal in its center produces varying amounts of light which creates a ''morning'', ''day'', and ''night'' cycle different from the surface.


    The floor''s other defining characteristic is a rest stop two called ''Rivira'' runpletely by upper-ss Adventurers.


    After getting back their bearings, the girls of the Loki Familia already started to act normally, "It feels like ages since I''ve been here~." Tiona muttered after reaching the entrance of Rivira.


    "Um�� I have been curious about this for a while, but�� That number on the sign, could it mean��" Lefiya asked after reading the banner on the entrance arc, ''Fellow Adventurers, Wee to Rivira 334.''


    "Oh, that? It means this is the 334th Rivira. In other words, it''s been wiped out 333 times before." Finn answered her. That answer also gave a mild shock to the trio as they didn''t expect that it would be that dangerous in what they deemed a safe zone.


    This floor may be a safe point, but anything can happen in the Dungeon. Adventurers have always abandoned the town immediately when an irregr appears, escaping to the surface. Then, they return when the dust settles to rebuild it.


    It''s the adventurers'' very stubbornness and avarice that led this town to be called by many ''The most beautiful rogue town in the world.'' And just ording to that statement, Sona, Aika, and Koneko could see the basic supplies being priced 10-50 times of their normal price on the surface. However, they also understood this kind of price as it''s a life-saving supply once you''ve run out of it deep in the Dungeon. Even if it''s priced at 100 times their actual cost, one would have no choice but to buy it just to have some insurance to at least reach the surface and continue living.


    The group intended to get some rest before they dive deep inside the Dungeon and wanted to go to a certain inn. However, as they walked through the streets, Riveria muttered, "��Bizarre. Something feels a bit off."


    Tiona looked around and said, "Now that you mentioned it, there''s almost nobody around��"


    From a distance, they saw some Adventurers running towards the direction they intended to take while talking to each other, "Is it true that someone was killed?!"


    "Yeah. Everyone''s gathering up at Willy''s!"


    "A murder in town? That''s unusual." Riveriamented.


    "��What should we do, Captain?" Tione asked Finn.


    After contemting for a few seconds, Finn answered, "We were nning on getting a room here. So we can''t just pretend it''s not our problem. Let''s go have a look." Everyone nodded at his decision and followed him.


    A few minutester, they spotted a building which is the inn they intended to stay and rest with crowded Adventurers around and approached it.


    "Yeesh~ There''s no getting through here��" Tiona looked around andmented.


    While jumping up and down, Lefiya asked, "Think we!�� Can get!�� Inside the inn!?"


    Finn, on the other hand, isn''t afraid to use his small stature to get through the crowd, "I''ll go on ahead. Wait here with Riveria."


    "Captain!? Wait!!!" Tione tried to follow him, but he immediately slipped through the crowd. Tione also tried to slip through but nobody would let her pass as they are also curious at what''s happening, "Hey, out of my way��!!! I can''t let the Captain go alone! It''s dangerous�� I said please! I know all of you can hear me��!"


    "The Captain is�� Hey!!!" Being stopped to follow her beloved Captain, Tione immediately loses her calm and took a deep breath and stomps the ground below her, creating a small earthquake and a crater below her, "GET OUTTA MY WAY!!! OR I''LL BUST SOME SKULLS!!!"


    The Adventurers immediately scrambled away from her due to fear and as if some parting sea, a straight path was opened up, revealing Finn in the middle of it, "Captain~?! I''lle with you~?!" Tione happily ran towards Finn.


    "Ahh�� Please don''t overdo it." Finn could only smile wryly in resignation.


    While the girls of Loki Familia could only shake their heads in resignation, Sona, Aika, and Koneko, on the other hand, pped their hands and expressed their admiration, "Such an admirable method." Sonamented.


    "That''s some efficiency. I like it!" Aika added.


    "��I want to try that too sometimes." Koneko also added.


    The girls only looked at them with a twitching mouth, "They''re weird��" Lefiya muttered.


    And Riveria could only reply with, "They are from his group�� Maybe this is to be expected?"

 Volume 7 406 - Murder on the 18th Floor

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 406 - Murder on the 18th Floor</h4>


    The group finally entered the inn. Even though there''s a building outside, the inn is actually arge cave with small chambers connected to it. Once they stepped inside, Koneko was the first one to notice. "��The smell of blood." She muttered.


    The Loki Familia members are not surprised by her words as it''s typically that the Demi-Humans with beast characteristics have better senses. However, they''re still unnerved by the two white tails swaying behind her.


    The walls of the cave are fully decorated with candle stands that also give this ce its lighting. After walking for several seconds, at the end of the corridor, they found two people watching over the room and Finn knew both of them, "Hey Bors, Willy. We''re nning to stay for a while. So why don''t we help you figure this out as quickly as possible?"


    Bors is a well built muscr man with ck hair and teal eyes, with an eyepatch covering his left eye. He wears a sleeveless open jacket that shows his muscr body, arm covers and gloves, blue pants, boots, and a belt with a red monster face carving and fur. He''s the current leader and the strongest Adventurer in Rivira.


    Willy, on the other hand, is a ck-haired cat person and was currently mulling to himself as he looked towards the corpse with half of its head busted. He''s the owner of this inn.


    While Willy ignored Finn, Bors looked towards Finn, "Tch! You sure like to talk, Finn. Doesn''t matter if it''s your lot or the rest of the Freya Familia. Always walking in here, thinking you own this ce ''cos you''re strong."


    The girls of the Loki Familia, especially Tione, could only give him a dirty look.


    Rivira is self-governing, and the Guild has no presence. The trick to keeping rowdy types in line is being strong enough to shut them up. Bors, at Level 3, is the strongest adventurer in Rivira and is therefore in charge.


    Finn let go of Bors''s attitude as he''s always been like this and asked, "Do we know anything about who the victim is? Or about the attacker?"


    Instead of answering him, Bors turned towards the ck-haired cat person, "Oy, Willy! This is your ce. Get your head out of your hands and speak up!"


    Startled by the sudden loud call, Willy looked around the room and finally noticed that there''s a lot of people in it, "Ah�� Um�� That guy over there wore full te armor. Couldn''t see his face because of his helmet. Last night, he and ady in a robe�� Couldn''t see her face either, but they both showed up and asked me to rent out the whole ce."


    "The entire inn to themselves? Ahh�� That''s what they had in mind." After hearing Finn''s words, everyone from the Loki Familia, except for Ais, instantly understood what he meant. While Riveria, Tione, and Tiona didn''t have any particr reaction, Lefiya started panicking with a blushing face, "!!! Awawawa!"


    Seeing this, the trio finally understood that the lewdest of them all is the innocent Elf.


    "Lefiya?" Ais asked Lefiya in confusion and the fantasizing Elf replied in a hurry, "N-N-N-NOTHING AT ALL!!!"


    Ignoring them, Willy continued his words, "You got it. And take a look at this ce. Since it''s a cave, even the slightest moan echoes forever. But they paid. If I get paid, I''ve got no reason to say no. I stepped out for the night and came back to this mess. That was damn shocking, I tell you."


    Bors nodded, "So the guy bites the dust and hisdy disappeared. She''s the culprit, no doubt about it."


    Finn shook his head, "At the very least, she knows more than we do." He then faced Willy, "This woman in a robe, you said you couldn''t see her face, but did she have any other identifying traits?"


    Reaching this point, Bors and Willy''s face became filled with lust, "Well~! Now that you mentioned it, that robe couldn''t hide two really nice physical traits~!" Willy said while doing a dirty gesture on his chest.


    "Ohh! Come to think of it, I saw ady like that around town yesterday! A real fox, that one! Don''t know her face, but that''s her!!" Bors followed up.


    However, they suddenly felt a piercing re from the two Amazons and shuddered, shutting their mouth.


    "If you run this ce, How didn''t you hear anything from the front counter?" Tiona asked.


    Willy shook his head, "He brought that beauty in here and unted her. I knew what was up. Like hell, I''m gonna stay here with that going on. I hit the bar right away."


    "Has anyone seen this robed woman sincest night?" Finn asked Bors.


    "Nope. I''ve got my boys looking into it, but nothing yet."


    "Wh-What about the emblem used to pay?" Lefiya asked, wanting to help, "Money is just extra baggage in the Dungeon, so Adventurers use their emblems instead, right? We could learn the victim''s Familia and their name as the guarantor if we see the paperwork��?"


    "That would sure speed things up��" Bors then looked to Willy, "Yeah?"


    "Well, about that. Sorry. They just plopped a bag crammed full of magic stones on the counter and that was that."


    "So is that as far as we get?"


    "Just you wait. We can ask this guy''s body directly." Bors then shouted towards the outside, "Oy! Where''s that status thief!"


    From the entrance of the inn, a Human and a Boar Person entered, "Bors-san, I got it!" The Human shouted back.


    Lefiya frowned and asked, "Status Thief? Isn''t that��"


    "It''s an item solely designed to reveal our statuses."


    "''Cos sometimes, you gotta break the rules." Bors justified his actions.


    The Boar Person then started using the Status Thief on the back of the corpse, "That guy died like a total tool. Bet you anything he was some bottom-of-the-barrel punk from a no-name Familia."


    "Job''s done, Bors." The Boar Person stood up and stepped back.


    "Let''s see�� Son of a�� I forgot I can''t read Hieroglyphs. Oy, you there. Go find an Elf outside and bring them in!"


    But before the guy who Bors instructed could go, Riveria and Ais stepped up, "Wait. I am able to read Hieroglyphics." "Me too."


    The two of them then started deciphering the words behind the corpse and the first one to speak up was Rivera, "His name was Hashana Dorlia. He belonged to��" "��Ganesha Familia." Ais finished her words.


    "!!!?"


    Bors and his men started panicking upon this discovery, "Ganesha Familia!? They''re one of Orario''s best!!" "Hey! You sure about that!?"


    Bors then recalled something, "Hold it!"


    "Hold it, hold it, hold it! What did you just say!!!?" With a panicked expression, Bors continued, "This is Hashana!? This ain''t a joke�� The Strong Fist Warrior, Hashana�� is a Level 4!!!" Of course, he would start panicking since contrary to his expectation, the killed person is actually a very strong person, which means, an at least Level 4 murderer is roaming around Rivira.


    Finn''s eyes became serious and asked Bors, "Bors, I need to know. Has anything been moved since the body was discovered?"


    Bors shook his head.


    "With no sign of a fight, or that anyone else came in, then the culprit has to be at least Level 4, or even a Top-ss Adventurer." Inspecting the body and the room again, The only damage on the corpse is its twisted neck and the sted upper head. Finn concluded that thedy in the robe is really the culprit and overpowered the Level 4 Adventurer, "The culprit already killed Hashana by twisting his neck, but seeing the state of his head and the cut opened bags of him, we can assume that the culprit smashed his head out of frustration after she couldn''t find what she''s looking for."


    Editors:


    28th00


    Alexander

 Volume 7 407 - Insult

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 407 - Insult</h4>


    "D-did this person really manage to overpower him? What about poison?" Lefiya asked.


    Riveria, who had read his status, answered her, "Hashana possessed the ''Immunity'' Development Ability. At ''G'', even the most potent toxins would not have had much effect.


    "The robed woman couldn''t find what she''s after, then she lost her temper and took it out on the corpse? That''s disgusting but makes sense to me." Tione muttered.


    Finn went through Hashana''s bag and found something that was covered in blood, "There was nothing useful in his pack, unfortunately. This is all I could find."


    "Is that a quest request form?" Bors asked, "It''s all bloody. I can''t read any of it."


    "A few ces are still legible. ''Floor thirty.'' ''Alone.'' ''Retrieve.'' ''Secret.''�� With all this, we can deduce that Hashana epted a quest and went to the 30th Floor to pick up the ''thing'' the culprit was after." Finn exined to everyone, "He probably disguised himself and didn''t tell his Familia."


    Willy then recalled something, "Uh�� Ahh�� It''s true that Hashana always wore a helmet. It hid his face a lot, like Ganesha-sama''s. But I know for a fact he never wore full te armor." He''s already convinced that what Finn had described is what really happened here.


    However, one of Bors''s men, the Human who came with the Boar Person couldn''t easily ept his words, "Y-you''re telling quite a convincing story, but��" He then pointed out the Loki Familia girls, "You guys could be pretending you just got here when one of you is actually the killer!"


    " "Huh?" " Tione and Tiona didn''t expect that, along with others, they''ll be suspected.


    Scratching his head, Bors saw his subordinate''s point, "I get it now�� There ain''t many women strong enough to strangle a Second-Tier Adventurer. But if we''re talking about the scary folks of Loki Familia�� Leaving Finn off the list��" Bors and his men then inspected everyone and the first one to get their attention is Tiona.


    "Not that one." Bors immediately struck her out of the list, "Ahahaha. Nope. Not a chance." And the three other men agreed with him.


    "HEY!!! Where were you looking when you said that!!!?" Ais had to grab Tiona from behind so that she wouldn''t beat them up.


    Bors and his men then transferred their sights toward Tiona''s sister, Tione, and carefully inspected one part of her for a few seconds before muttering, "��A body like that could lure any man she wanted into a trap, don''t you think?"


    A vein immediately appeared on Tione''s forehead after hearing that and stomped her foot on the ground, creating a small earthquake, "WHAT!? AS I''VE SAID, I BELONG TO THE CAPTAIN!!! THE HELL WOULD ANY OF YOU KNOW ABOUT IT!!? ANY FUNNY BUSINESS AND I''LL TEAR YOUR BALLS INTO SHREDS!!!"


    " " " "EEKKK!!!!" " " " Bors and the rest covered their crotch as a defense mechanism.


    Sighing, Finn also said, "Haa�� Bors�� These women aren''t cut out to manipte men."


    "I�� I see. Sorry for suspecting you." Bors apologized then faced the three girls he isn''t familiar with, "And who''re they? They''re not from Loki Familia, right?"


    "They''re from the Hestia Familia and came with us as a supporter to gather some experience," Finn answered.


    However, with Bors''s rude behavior and dirty thinking, he immediately said without thinking much about his words, "Heeh�� So they sold themselves to you." Since they''re from an unknown Familia, such possibility instantly entered his mind as it is not a rare story either but no one would actually point it out as Bors did.


    Of course, he would soon regret those words ever leaving his mouth.


    The moment he closed his mouth, the atmosphere suddenly changed as the Mana in the surrounding became turbulent and Riveria and Lefiya hurriedly looked towards Sona in shock.


    Extremely cold air suddenly manifested around her, so cold that the surroundings were starting to get covered in frost and her violet eyes were shining in eerie light which scared the four men. As the heir of the Prince-rank n of the Underworld, the Sitri Household, and the little sister of the Devil King, Leviathan, Sona actually has the same potential as Serafall. It just hasn''t developed yet since she''s still too young, "Wh--?!"


    But before they could make sense of what''s happening, a heavy feeling, almost suffocatingly, descended onto them as the surrounding Ki also became turbulent and everyone looked towards Koneko as they could tell that the heavy feeling wasing from her. Her eyes became wine red as white mes started crawling up her arms. Contrary to its attribute, the sight of those white mes were giving them chills down their spines, including everyone from Loki Familia.


    The four dirty men already couldn''t speak, but they haven''t felt the worst as the third, nightmare-inducing feeling descended up everyone as their souls became pressured by Aika''s Reiatsu-Ki. What makes it more terrifying is the minuscule aura of the two beings that are stronger than any other God and shouldn''t exist in this world.


    As they aren''t their real target, everyone from the Loki Familia is only feeling a fraction of their auras, however, despite that, they couldn''t help but break out in a cold sweat and be speechless.


    But the moment when Finn saw Aika touching her nodachi, he immediately stood up and went beside Bors. He then put up his spear beside Bors''s neck. A split secondter, a loud, resonant metallic sound rang out as Aika suddenly reappeared in front of Bors with her nodachi drawn and stopped a few inches away from his neck with Finn''s spear, "Stop!"


    Aika didn''t look at Finn and only eyed the shaking and nervous Bors and said, "If you wish to die, please let me know. I would happily separate your head from your body." Aika then stepped back and took back her de before going back to herrades and calming their auras down.


    Realizing that he almost died because he ran his mouth against these three mysterious Adventurers with the Loki Familia, Bors dropped down to his knees and immediately apologized, "I''m very sorry!!!"


    Seeing their boss dropping down, the other three did the same, "We''re very sorry!!!" Different from the girls of the Loki Familia, these three unknown girls seem to be more willing to kill which scared them to their cores.


    After their apologies, Sona, Koneko, and Aikapletely calmed down.


    Finn, on the other hand, frowned at their willingness to kill. He can''t exactly reprimand them, but he can at least give them some instructions while they''re within his group, "Please remember that I won''t allow you to kill another person as long as you''re with us."


    In her usual demeanor, Sona also apologized, "I also apologize for our rash actions. But please, don''t let anything like this happen again." While saying these words, she gave Bors a cold stare. Bors, in response, kept nodding as if wanting to break his neck.


    With the intention to brush the incident under the rug and resume what they needed to do, Finn went back to the topic of the murder, "Now that you believe we aren''t involved in this incident, Bors, please seal off the town. Don''t let any Adventurers still in Rivira leave. Someone of Hashana''s caliber was asked to take on a secret quest. Whatever the culprit was after, it must be extremely valuable. I highly doubt she would leave empty-handed." While biting his thumb, Finn continued, "I''m pretty sure she''s still here. Just a hunch though."


    "G-got it! You lot-" "Wait." Bors was about to instruct his underlings but Sona''s calm voice immediately froze her from his spot and unconsciously saluted to her, "Yes, ma''am!"


    "I would like to state my opinion. Is that fine?" Sona asked Finn.


    "Sure, go ahead."


    "Please also do a search with the male Adventurers."


    Finn frowned yet again and asked, "Why?" If they were to do that, then it would take too much time and the culprit might find a way out of the encirclement. Besides, they already concluded that the culprit is a woman with a voluptuous body, so there''s almost no point in searching the male Adventurers too.


    Instead of answering his question, Sona asked a question, "What else is missing from him? If you can answer that, you''ll know what I mean."


    "Missing?" Finn looked back to the corpse and started inspecting it again. The girls of the Loki Familia also did the same as they temporarily pushed the incident to the corner of their minds and focused on the current issue.


    Everyone searched the corpse''s body again but they couldn''t find what''s missing, "What''s missing?" Finn asked as he couldn''t figure it out.


    Instead of Sona, Aika gave him and everyone a clue, "Focus on the head. Something big is missing."


    Everyone looked at it again and only Finn and Riveria finally noticed it, "Some parts of the smashed head are missing�� More specifically, the hair and the skin for his upper face��" Finn muttered as he guessed what Sona and Aika are trying to tell, "You mean the culprit might have used Hashana''s skin as a mask?"


    "Wh-!?" The girls of the Loki Familia reeled back at such a possibility and looked towards the trio and asked in their heads why they could think of such a possibility.


    Sona nodded at Finn and exined, "Yes. She could just hide her figure by wearing full te armor and that should be avable here in Rivira. And if she wanted to use half of his face skin as a mask, then she could just cover the lower half with a scarf or bandage."


    "Bors�� Immediately seal off the exits. We''ll do a search on everyone! Watch out for every female Adventurer and those with partially covered faces."


    "Understood!"


    28th00''s Editor Section, for he is always alone till people edit his edits and he gets sad.


    I (Alexander) do feel sorry for you, but nobody is perfect. If you just wait for a few more hours without editing, you can do the same.

 Volume 7 408 - Cooperation

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 408 - Cooperation</h4>


    On the same day when Sona, Aika, and Koneko left for a Dungeon exploration with the members of the Loki Familia, Hephaestus arrived at Kisuke''s Shop at noon.


    "Wee~, Hephaestus-sama~. I''ve been expecting you. Shall we go?" Kisuke greeted her and asked.


    Hephaestus looked around and wondered , "Where''s Hestia?"


    "Down below the church, eating her lunch. She''lle upter to take care of the shop in my absence."


    Hephaestus frowned at his answer, "Wait�� Why is she still having lunch there? I thought she''s staying in this shop?"


    Kisuke smiled and only answered, "You don''t have to worry. I''m not treating her wrongly. You''ll understand what I mean once you''ve followed me." Kisuke then stood up from his sitting position and exited the shop.


    Hephaestus didn''t say anything else and just silently followed Kisuke towards the Abandoned Church. However, once they reached the church, instead of going towards the room below the right side of the church, Kisuke went to the left side and operated a contraption and stairs leading downwards revealed itself.


    "��I don''t think that ce existed when I gave this ce to Hestia��" Hephaestus was taken aback with the area she didn''t know off. Before giving it to Hestia, she made sure to investigate this ce so that there won''t be any threat for her best friend.


    "It doesn''t. Because I dug another room for all of us to stay in." Kisuke continued walking.


    ''I don''t think you''ll have enough room if you just dig it. It would''ve been better if you built another building like that shop instead.'' Hephaestus thought as she followed Kisuke. Of course, all of that was blown away when Kisuke showed her the elevator and they reached the underground hideout. Hephaestus couldn''t speak for a few minutes as she just stood there silently, looking at the sight of the massive underground chamber that shouldn''t be possible for today''s technology without the use of a Gods'' Arcanum.


    "W-what is this?" She finally muttered.


    "Let''s just say that I have my ways with my construction abilities~." Kisuke only gave a vague answer as he resumed walking after Hephaestus recovered.


    After thinking for a bit, Hephaestus chose to follow him silently because she knew that she won''t be getting any answers from him soon, ''Besides, I should be able to gauge his capabilitiester on since we''ll be working together.''


    .


    .


    .


    On the corner of the Belial Territory, arge expanse of forest was situated and Akeno was hiding among the trees'' branches with a ck cloak over her that made her look like a hunchback figure as she waited for a certain person that Serafall contacted secretly without letting any of their identity leak out.


    Akeno was very nervous about this whole outing because if Diehauser Belial is not what she and Serafall expected and her identity is revealed, she could be captured for contacting him about the wanted man, Kisuke Urahara.


    The onlyfort Akeno could rely on is the snake that Ophis left on her right hand that could be activated immediately and teleports her back to Kisuke''s underground hideout.


    A few minutester, two cloaked figures appeared and approached their meeting spot. Seeing this, Akeno frowned deeply as Serafall explicitly reminded Diehaurser toe alone. However, this is also a rare opportunity and she didn''t want to waste it so she silently circted her Mana through the snake and partially activated it before appearing a hundred yards away from them.


    The two figures stopped walking after Akeno appeared in front of them. They waited but it seems that Akeno won''t speak up until they do. Since it''s a waste of time trying to gauge each other, Diehauser directly took off his hood and revealed his face, "I''m here. Speak up. Why did you contact me and ask about Kisuke Urahara? Just so you know, I don''t know where he is. Or is he with you?"


    Using magic to change her voice, Akeno replied but not answering his question, "I told you that you shoulde alone. Why did you bring someone else?"


    Diehauser only stayed silent and Akeno did the same. The tension kept rising between them and Akeno already figured that Diehauser won''t give any information regarding Kisuke based on his first sentence and she didn''t want to reveal herself yet without any sufficient evidence that Diehauser could be trusted.


    She immediately noticed that Diehauser was about to take action and Akeno tried to fully activate Ophis'' snake. But before that could be fully realized, the second cloaked figure suddenly shouted, "Stop! Geez, both of you are too crabby." A voice of a familiar person resounded and she undid the hood of her cloak revealing her face.


    Diehauser was forced to stop on his attempt to capture Akeno, "Sarah!? What are you doing!?"


    Under the hood, Akeno''s eyes widened in shock, "You��!"


    Sakura gestured to Diehauser not to worry and faced Akeno with a big smile, "Let me guess. Akeno-chan, isn''t it?"


    Akeno removed her hood, "Sakura-san�� So you''re safe."


    "Yep~. And it looks like that pain in the ass son of mine pointed both of us towards the same person." Sakura approached Akeno and Diehauser followed her behind, still wary of Akeno but he didn''t say anything else.


    "I see. So Ura�� Kisuke-san also pointed you to the Belial n. But does that mean you don''t know where he is?"


    Sakura shook her head, "That''s the problem. We don''t know where he currently is and are hoping that someone else does."


    "By the way, Sakura-san. How did you know it was me?"


    "Despite going into hiding, we still received some news that two Devils started inhabiting Kisuke''s Candy Store and if someone would contact big brother Diehauser, chances are, it''ll only be those two Devils," Sakura answered.


    ''Big brother Diehauser? Why would Sakura call him like that?'' Akeno wanted to ask but she would be overstepping her boundary. And now that she knew that Kisuke''s mother herself trusted Diehauser, it would be the right time to further discuss their next action. But first, Akeno apologized towards Diehauser, "I apologize for my rude behavior earlier, Diehauser-sama."


    Diehauser sighed and epted it, "It''s fine. How much time do you have? Do you want to move to another location for discussion?"


    Akeno shook her head, "Unfortunately, I can''t be gone for too long or the eyes on us would start to get suspicious." Despite getting their cooperation, Serafall still instructed Akeno that they can''t reveal that they can use Kisuke''s hideout and concealing magic formation over the shop because that could be their hidden ace in the future when things go wrong.


    "However, I can connect you with Serafall-sama right now." Akeno then put both of her hands in front of her and a blue magic circle appeared on top. A few secondster, Serafall''s holographic image manifested and greeted Diehauser, "Die-chan~! It''s been a while~. How are you doing~?"


    Diehauser and Sakura couldn''t help but smile at the eternally energetic and suspended Devil King.


    It was the start of a cooperation that wouldn''t have been possible without Kisuke''s existence.

 Volume 7 409 - The 37th Floor

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 409 - The 37th Floor</h4>


    Throughout the investigation regarding Hashana''s death, Sona, Aika, and Koneko stuck with Ais and Lefiya as they went around the town searching for anyone trying to escape. It was then that the trio finally witnessed the Loki Familia''s prowess when the nt monsters besieged the town of Rivira which was led by a red-haired tamer that had attacked Ais.


    When the giant monster appeared, Finn and Riveria finally made their move and defeated the giant monster with ease with the help of Hiryute sisters finishing it off.


    It''s the fight with the red-haired tamer, who seems to be at Level 6 and Hashana''s murderer, that truly opened their eyes regarding the abilities of both Finn and Riveria, which led to the three of them thinking that even if they have the same basic parameters and their very limited way of fighting, they would still lose after just a few exchange, proving how by far how inexperienced they are in battle.


    After the monsters were cleaned up, everyone had to return to the surface so that Finn and Riveria could make a quick report to Loki and the Guild of what had transpired on the 18th Floor and would immediately return to their original n of Dungeon exploration.


    Since they don''t have much time and the Guild is trying to control the flow of information, Sona had to write a quick report which summarized the information she got in the incident.


    ''-Someone asked Hashana of Ganesha Familia to retrieve a green transparent gem with a fetus inside down on the 30th Floor.


    -A red-haired woman around Level 6 killed Hashana and tried to retrieve the gem by leading and controlling many nt type monsters but failed when the fetus suddenly reacted to Ais Wallenstein after she used her magic and tried to jump on her. The fetus missed its intended target andnded on a dead monster nt monster with an intact magic stone. It then fused with it, revived the monster, and mutated it. It also started consuming other monsters and only stopped when it became a giant half humanoid monster. It seemed more intelligent than most monsters, but the Loki Familia took it out in an instant.


    -The red-haired woman called Ais Wallenstein ''Aria'' and she seemed to react to that name greatly.


    -The red-haired woman doesn''t seem to be aware of Finn and Riveria''s identities as she only distinguished them as Level 6 after their exchange.


    -The magic flow around the red-haired woman is very different from all the Adventurers. All I can tell is that there''s a magic leakage around her.


    -The Guild seems to be trying to control the spread of information.''


    After writing those things, Sona left the report at the corner of the Babel Tower. This is one of the spots that Yoruichi set up for information sharing when any other method is inconvenient. The moment the papernded on that spot, it let out a small bit of light signifying that Yoruichi was already alerted.


    Sona then immediately returned to where everyone was and waited for Finn and Riveria toe back and resumed their ns.


    Setting the incident aside to the back of their minds, the group progressed through the dungeon with rtive ease and it just took 7 days for them to reach the 37th floor. The 37th Floor is known as the White Pce as the walls, ground, and ceiling are colored white with the floor being a giantbyrinth. The floor is on a different scale than the floors above it as the space between hallways, rooms, and walls is huge. The entrance to the 38th Floor was located at the center of the floor, which is where the Monster Rex Udaeus is located, and around it are five huge circr walls that adventurers have to navigate through to reach the center. Many adventurers liken the 37th Floor to a cake in a box and it''s said that the floor isrge enough to contain Orario.


    The walls are numbered 1-5 starting from the innermost wall, and the area between two walls is referred to as different rooms; the Udaeus'' area inside the 1st wall is the Throne Room, and from there, the Knight''s Room, the Warrior''s Room, the Soldier''s Room, and the Beast''s Room. The area between the walls gets smaller the closer to the Throne Room and thebyrinth bes moreplicated.


    Colosseums start appearing, which are rooms that spawn monsters such as Barbarians, Loup Garou, Lizardman Elite, Spartoi, Obsidian Soldier, Skull sheep and Peluda.


    Barbarians are a two-meter tall monster simr to the Minotaur with tworge and curved horns, ck skin, red hair, and yellow eyes. The Guild estimates it to have power equivalent to Level 3 and 4 adventurers.


    A Lizardman Elite is a stronger version of Lizardman. Unlike its weaker version, it''s blue, with scales that are as hard as armor, and they are estimated to be around Level 3 to 4.


    A Spartoi is a skeleton monster that is around Level 4 in strength. They are able to spawn with random weapons that they know how to use, such as swords ornces made of bone and kite shield-like protectors. The monster is stronger than a Lizardman Elite or Loup Garou and more agile than a Barbarian. Their skill and fighting ability are more like an adventurer than a monster. It is considered the most dangerous warrior-type monster on the floor excluding rare monsters.


    .


    Obsidian Soldiers are a monster with a misshapen obsidian body made of solidifiedva and a single purple light in its head resembling an eye. It is slowpared to the warrior type monsters on the 37th Floor, though it makes up for it with its defense and by being able to lessen the power of magic.


    Skull Sheep are 140 cm long sheep monsters made entirely of bones. It has arge dark-colored piece of skin that covers its body starting from the back of its head which makes it hard to predict its attacks, makes it appear as if it''s a skull floating in empty space, and allows it to camouge within the natural duskiness of the 37th Floor. It can also fire piles at its opponents.


    And finally thePeluda, a dark green dragon monster with a long snake-like body and four legs. It has poisonous needles on its back, resembling a porcupine, which it can fire at its enemies. Their poison can overwhelm upper-ss adventurers who have abnormal resistance and it requires superior detoxification magic or an antidote to deal with the poison. They are also able to stand on walls and breathe scorching fire.


    Throughout the way, Riveria patiently taught the trio everything they needed to know all the way to their current floor which made the three of them very thankful.


    However, the three aren''t exactly aware that they are slowly destroying their party members'' world view and the most restless out of them is Ais, who''s gaze has be more and more intense as the three of them improve in real-time and defeat monsters that are beyond their level. At this point, everyone from the Loki Familia already gauged their abilities to be around Level 4 of normal Adventurers.


    That conclusion, however, gave them shudders. If they''re already equivalent to a Level 4 when they are just newly ascended Level 2''s, how strong would they be once they reached Level 3, Level 4, or Level 5?


    Riveria, however, had warned Finn not to make them their enemies with his scheme but it''s unknown whether Finn would listen to her if there''s an opportunity for the Loki Familia.


    But everyone''s current concern is with Ais as she has been acting weird and reckless ever since her fight with the red-haired tamer and lost. It''s normal to lose, but the way Ais acts now tells that there''s something more to that incident.


    Riveria approached the trio and asked, "Do you know something?" Since they were with Ais when she was attacked, it''s only obvious that they would be asked.


    "Know or not�� She only started acting weird when that woman called her ''Aria.''" Sona answered and memorized Riveria''s reaction.


    "W-what did you say!?" Riveria panicked slightly but she immediately bit her lips and calmed herself down, "Nevermind�� I''m going to go talk to her." She then went to Ais''s side.


    Riveria and Ais had a small talk and after that, Ais suddenly asked Finn for him to let her stay behind and continue to fight since they were about to go back. Finn only agreed after Riveria said that she''s staying with her.


    "We would also like to stay behind." Sona immediately proposed.


    Editors and Author''s Corner:


    28th00: I absolutely skipped the monster info. If there were edits to be made, they were not by me!


    Alexander: I skipped it at first. But someone has to do the edit. However,I don''t like Info dumping, too.


    28th00: Yep, fun times those are�� Give me my standard Japanese Culinary Expertise dumping instead! At least I can apply that knowledge! (Phis-chamamentary on this would be hrious, but impossible to get anything beyond ''Crunchy'', it''s a loli dragon thing.)


    Goyya: I''m really sorry for the info dump.


    Garan Mayers.

 Volume 7 410 - Perception of Strength

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 410 - Perception of Strength</h4>


    When Ais asked to remain behind, she''d been aiming for the Floor Boss of the 37th floor that was about to respawn, "Are you sure about this, Ais?" Riveria asked.


    Ais only nodded as a reply as she readied herself.


    Sona approached Riveria and asked, "If you don''t mind me asking, Is she aiming for the Floor Boss? And if so, why?" Sona, while they''re preparing for the exploration, received some information from Yoruichi regarding the monsters in the Dungeon''s deeper floors and also reminded her that it has been two months and three weeks since the 37th-floor boss was defeated and they''ll likely meet it if they ventured deep enough.


    Riveria didn''t face Sona and instead just looked towards Ais, but she still answered her question, "It''s the monster rex she''s aiming at, however, all I can tell you why she wants to do that is that her strength is already starting to stagnate."


    "Stagnating, eh? As expected, you guys have a different view when ites to getting stronger. Maybe it''s because of the Falna?" Sona muttered.


    Riveria frowned and looked towards Sona, "What do you mean?"


    However, just as she finished her question, the ground started shaking and everyone had to quickly lower their body''s center of gravity just to stay standing.


    A few secondster, arge skeletal monster emerged from the ground.


    Udaeus, the Monster Rex of the 37th Floor. It has a ck body and is arge version of a Spartoi. It spawns every three months. It has no lower body due to it being able to spread its attacks through the ground and also has the ability to summon Spartoi.


    "Riveria, don''t help me. I''ll do this alone." Ais once again stated her goal, " ''Awaken, Tempest!'' "


    Riveria focused back on Ais and the newly emerged monster and thought, ''The specifics of Ais''s status eludes me, however, it''s clear her growth has stagnated based on my observations of her inbat. Which means that the reality is Ais Wallenstein has reached her limit at Level 5. At Level 5, should she wish for greater strength, to advance to Level 6, she must acquire arger ''container.'' She must step above humanity, closer to the Gods, ''Level up.''


    ''She must achieve a grand aplishment that the Gods cannot ignore!''


    The Udaeus''s magic stone was inside its ribs and it was very visible from the outside. However, despite that, the monster is big and aside from it being very hard to reach with conventional weapons, there''s also a strong barrier made out of Mana around it that also stops Magic from approaching it. So the only way to defeat it was to either break its bones and deplete the Mana it uses to maintain its structure or destroy the core.


    While Ais was fighting the Udaeus, it started summoning hundreds of Level 4 Spartoi that was enough to overwhelm a party of Level 4''s or weaker Level 5''s, "Get beside me! It''s dangerous!" Riveria shouted towards the trio, worrying for their safety. From the 27th floor and onwards, Sona, Aika, and Koneko had needed to hide behind the Loki Familia and would only fight if there''s one or two monstersing after them.


    Although they said that they have a way to defend themselves, Riveria still couldn''t just leave them alone. However, Riveria could only be left speechless when Sona and Koneko started floating with a magic circle below them while Aika started ascending while using some ''invisible staircase'' until they reached the ceiling of the floor where no monsters could reach them unless they threw away their weapons. But for the three of them, that isn''t an issue as Sona could easily block them with her magic.


    Even Ais was distracted for a bit but she refocused when the Udaeus'' arm brushed past her.


    Riveria, on the other hand, couldn''tment as she needed to clear the hoard of skeletal monsters by using her staff. But after thinking about it again it would be better to stay quiet for now since it might distract Ais again. She then went back to smashing the heads of Spartois, killing them with her sheer basic parameter advantage.


    The entire fightsted for about half an hour and within that duration of time, Ais almost lost her life three times and Riveria had to use her Spirit Veil magic that healed her one time. However, the Udaeus was already crumbling and Ais had already won. She just has to stab her sword in its magic stone to kill it.


    Without any Spartois, Sona, Aika, and Koneko could now talk freely and Aika muttered, "��That''s�� Although we also risked our lives that one time, somehow, the feeling Ais-san giving us is different."


    Koneko nodded at her words, "It''s different. I can''t tell what''s different, though."


    Sona fixed her sses and tried to address the two''s confusion, "It''s probably the way she wants to get stronger. Before we even fought those Minotaurs, Kisuke and Yoruichi would always tell us that one of the important things about getting stronger is self breakthrough. And through it, we have a mindset of breaking our old shell to ovee the enemy.


    "What Ais is probably thinking is the opposite of that. Ovee the enemy to have a breakthrough."


    The haze that was covering the reasoning behind Ais''s actions was finally cleared in Aika and Koneko''s mind, "I see. Although oveing an enemy to have a breakthrough sounds nice, realistically, if you can defeat that enemy in the first ce, then you don''t need a breakthrough that much. That logic only works in RPGs."


    "��It''s the Falna''s fault." Koneko added.


    Ais copsed after killing the Monster Rex due to exhaustion, but Riveria immediately ran to her side and gave her treatment through her healing magic and an elixir.


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko also came down and approached them to help Riveria clean up Ais while also gathering the dropped and fragmented magic stone and a huge ck sword left behind by the Udaeus.


    Fifteen minutes after, Ais was already able to stand up on her own and bowed to everyone, "Thank you, everyone."


    Riveria also stood up and fixed a bit of Ais''s clothing, "It alright. But let''s not stay here. Let''s go talk on our way up. It''s dangerous to stay here any further."


    Everyone agreed and gathered everything before starting to ascend.


    On the way, instead of asking how they were able to fly earlier, Ais asked the trio something that she''s more interested in, "What did you think of my battle earlier?"


    The trio suddenly stopped walking and looked at each other before looking back to Ais with Sona starting, "It''s frustrating."


    "It''s bad." Aika followed.


    "If Kisuke-senpai were to see that, he''ll tell you to go back to practicing the basics." Koneko then ended it with a harsh remark.


    And of course, Riveria, especially Ais, were dumbfounded at their sudden harsh words.


    Alexander: Yeah, go tell her. It is time for a training arc.


    28th00: Yeah�� These are beings that perfected and invented absurdbat styles that are pretty much wholly unique to each person in their society with literal centuries ofbat training and experience�� Ais is gonna be torn to pieces. She''s all "skill" and no Skill, capital required. Power leveling brats.

 Volume 7 411 - Perception of Strength part 2

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 411 - Perception of Strength part 2</h4>


    "Um��" Ais tried to say something but she couldn''t think of anything. She didn''t think that they thought so lowly of her fight to the death with the Monster Rex. She also felt a little bit angry since even though she''s unfeeling most of the time, she still had pride as a First-ss Adventurer that she had cultivated over the years as an Adventurer.


    So when the trio, who couldn''t even defeat her, harshlymented, she didn''t like it and that includes Riveria too as she asked with a frown, "What do you mean?"


    The three of them immediately noticed their mood and Sona immediately stepped forward, "I''m sorry if that offended you. However, that''s what we truly think. Do you want to hear the rest?"


    Ais and Riveria looked at each other and calmed down a little before facing them, "Please��" Ais muttered. If it was something that could help her improve, then she didn''t really care about the mild rudeness.


    Sona nodded and started, "Let me ask first. Is that your main weapon?" Sona pointed at her rapier.


    Ais, in response, nodded.


    "About your wind magic, can you control its shape?"


    Ais nodded again.


    "I see." Sona thought for a moment before continuing, "Then I won''t take back my words that I felt frustrated seeing you fight. Even with untrained eyes, I can tell how ipatible your wind is with your fighting style."


    Ais''s and Riveria''s eyes widened but the two of them didn''t speak and just waited for Sona to finish her words.


    Seeing that they are ready and willing to listen, Sona continued, "First of all, on the magic side, it seems that you don''t understand your ''wind''��" Sona then stopped for a moment before taking it back, "Wait�� That''s not it. What I mean to say is that you don''t want to change your ''wind''."


    "��My ''wind''? What''s wrong with it?" Ais muttered a question with a little concern appearing over her face. Riveria also became worried as she knew the origin of Ais''s wind magic.


    "The way you move is sharp and forceful yet your wind is blunt and gentle. Instead of frontal and rushing attacks, I think it would be better for you to stay behind and support the rest with that kind of wind. Your weapon doesn''t help either. It seems like a very durable de, but since your wind is blunt, it doesn''t help that much and only works when you don''t use your magic."


    Aika nodded at Sona words as she added, "That''s right. Even your swordsmanship was also almost fully thrown out the window as you just kept throwing yourself at the enemy using your magic by shaping it like a cone. With a rare instance that you used your wind to sh, it still just a blunt attack, just narrower. Even if our Koneko here can''t match your wind magic, she can still use it better than you."


    After hearing Aika''s sudden cue, Koneko hurriedly put up her finger and conjured a small magic circle above it before green light and a slight disturbance was felt all around. A few secondster, the magic circle disappeared while leaving behind the green light around her index finger. Koneko then swung her finger downwards and a small wind de shot out from it, grazing Aika''s cheeks, nicking her skin, and drawing blood from it.


    "Hey! What was that for!?" Aika immediately protested.


    "��You suddenly called me out. I was not prepared." Koneko replied with a deadpan face and monotone voice.


    "But that doesn''t mean that you should aim at me!" Aika took out a bit of her potion and wiped some of it on her face and the small wound disappeared and sighed before going back to the topic, "As you can see, Koneko here can make sharper wind des than you. You can cut monsters with your ''wind de'' because of the amount of force you put behind your wind, but I think that''s just a waste of mana or Mind."


    Still not satisfied, Aika added an example, "I even know someone who could use it so well that the Barbarians that spawn en masse around here could be instantly annihted by just using single wind magic spell that he can cast for a few seconds and he wouldn''t have even used half of Mana or Mind that Riveria-san used to annihte the very same hoard." While saying this, Aika was thinking of Kisuke, ''He can pull that off, right?''


    "B-but my magic is enchanting magic. I can only use it around my body and my weapon." Ais tried to defend herself from the scathing criticisms. However, the three of them noticed that Ais didn''t argue back what they thought is the most important, the fact that her wind is too ''gentle''. But since it seems that Ais didn''t want to talk about it, the trio also chose not to mind it and just focused on her defense.


    "Enchantment Magic? Is that what your Falna says?" Sona asked.


    Ais became hesitant but still nodded at her question, ''She also has something to say about my magic being enchantment magic?'' She thought. Ais is nervous as if she was standing nervously in front of a master. She didn''t know why she''s getting this feeling from a Level 2, but she couldn''t deny this was how she''s feeling right now.


    "And you stopped yourself from using it in other ways than just being enchantment magic?" Sona gave a follow-up question.


    "B-but it''s enchantment magic��"


    Sona sighed at her answer, "I can''t call myself an expert in magic but I can at least tell you one thing about it." She then put on a very serious face and continued, "Magic is a phenomenon where you manipte mana, either by yourself or with the help of outside forces, to change reality ording to your will. Enchantment, Attacking, Defending or any other categories are only there to help you ssify your magic and not to lock your magic in that particr ssification. That''s just a second-rate''s mistake of misunderstanding magic. Magic is magic. It can be anything!"


    Not just Ais, but also Riveria was affected by her words which essentially called them second-rate magic users. They wonder what would happen if this incident of a Level 2 telling two of the top Adventurers of Orario that they''re second-rates with magic, one of them is even the so-called ''Sage of Orario.''


    Seeing the weird expression Ais and Riveria were making, Aika feigned a cough to try and dispel the increasingly bizarre atmosphere, "Ahem. Although she said a lot of things, what she''s simply saying is that you don''t need to limit yourself because of somebels. Only those who''re just familiarizing themselves with something are usingbels to get started and would sometimes even use it for entirely different purposes once they''ve achieved mastery."


    Although she was trying to lighten the atmosphere, that wasn''t happening. Ais and Riveria could only maintain a nk stare with both of them thinking, ''So does that mean Enchantment Magic isn''t really Enchantment Magic if you use it differently?'' They only became more confused. Kisuke didn''t tell Riveria anything about Magic yet despite having some chances to do so because he wanted her to hear it from someone they thought was a lot weaker than them like the trio andugh at their struggle to understand the new outlook regarding magic.


    Editors


    28th00


    Garan Mayers


    Editors and Author''s Corner:


    28th00: Oh man, that''s a smackdown for these system fanatic fools! How terrifying do you think Healing magic is when it''s used offensively? It''s pretty much Destruction Magic that the Baal''s got in Dxd at that point! It sure as hell ain''t support magic anymore!


    Goyya: It''s one of the problems of this world ifpared to other worlds. They''re too dependent on their stats.

 Volume 7 412 - Home

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 412 - Home</h4>


    Ais, Riveria, Sona, Aika, and Koneko reached the 6th Floor after two days of traveling and ignoring the monsters that got in their way.


    Since they can''t reveal the real size of their backpacks, Aika had to carry the drop item of the Udaeus which is a 5-meter tall ck sword. The same sword that Udaeus used. Since it''s a very heavy sword, Aika had to use constant body strengthening during these two days. Even with Koneko''s help, she is about to deplete her Reiatsu-Ki reserves, which wasn''t very much to begin with. Sona also wanted to help but she''s extremelycking in the physical department even after her level uppared to before her Falna and could only watch them.


    The reason she was carrying it at all is because she heard that Ais didn''t have a use for this drop item. Ais asked her if she wanted to buy it, as Aika wanted to have it as a souvenir for Kisuke, but Riveria only told them to take it as a deposit for Ais''s uing debt.


    Ais looked at Riveria and wondered about the debt she''ll incur as Riveria exined to her the deal she signed with Kisuke that included the check-up he''ll do on her.


    When the trio heard them talk about it, they hadplicated expressions and thought, ''Another set of victims?''


    While they were walking through the 6th Floor they suddenly came across an unconscious Adventurer, lying on the floor of the Dungeon face down, when they turned a corner. And due to his white hair, the trio immediately guessed who this young Adventurer is, "Cranel-san?" Sona muttered as the group approached him.


    Koneko turned him over and let the others inspect him. Riveria immediately diagnosed him and said, "Mind Zero."


    Sona nodded at her words, "What a reckless guy."


    "It''s amon story. New Adventurers getting excited when they''ve just awakened their magic and would immediately trying it in the Dungeon without any regard to the consequences it may bring. This child is pretty lucky that we came across him before the monsters cut him limb to limb." Riveria added.


    Ais only looked at the white-haired Adventurer with curiosity and wondered why no one had warned him.


    Sona guessed what she was thinking and said, "It''s probably because he came from a very small Familia. It''s already prettyte in the evening outside the Dungeon, this guy probably couldn''t wait to try his magic and came down here in secret when everyone was already asleep, so nobody was able to warn him."


    After noting that nothing else is wrong with him aside from ''Mind Zero'' and without waiting for anyone''s instruction, Koneko grabbed Bell''s right arm and started dragging him without any mercy, "��Let''s go."


    Everyone was a bit dumbfounded at her actions but immediately followed her thinking that this was also fine.


    Once they reached the top, the giant sword that Aika is dragging caught a lot of attention, despite not having many people there. Riveria had to exin that Ais got it after defeating the Monster Rex of the 37th Floor. The Guild then offered help to deliver it for them and the group epted it to be delivered to the Candy Shop beside the Abandoned Church.


    The Guild staff became confused about why they wanted to bring it there but they still followed their instructions and worked on it properly. Koneko left the unconscious Bell to the Guild employees who''re doing the night shift. They then said goodbye with each other under the lights of evening stars and moon, "Riveria-san, Ais-san. Thank you for epting our selfishness." Sona started.


    "We learned a lot during this exploration. Thank you." Aika added.


    "My Ki control became a lot better after going against those monsters." Koneko also added.


    Riveria shook her head, "No. It should be us that is thankful. I learned a lot and anticipate more about what Kisuke will teach me."


    Ais nodded, "After some thinking, I figured that my wind really does have the freedom that I just ignored all this time because it''s enchantment magic. Thank you."


    Sone smiled, "Is that so? Well then. Goodnight." "Goodnight~." "��Goodnight."


    "Goodnight. See you tomorrow." Riveria said.


    "Goodnight��" Ais also bid her farewell.


    They then separated and started walking towards opposite directions. But after just a few steps, Aika suddenly remembered something and turned around, "Ah, Ais-san. A moment please."


    Riveria and Ais turned around curiously and looked towards Aika.


    "I don''t know what you''re going through and why you''re rushing things. I also don''t know whether this will help you or not, but I want to pass you what Kisuke told mest time when he was training me." Aika then cleared her throat before continuing, "He said when I thought that my progress was getting slower, ''Stagnation is part of getting stronger. If your strength is stagnating, it means it''s time for you to refine and understand your current strength. Just going forward forcefully will only stagnate you more in the future because of yourck of understanding.'' That''s all~."


    Aika then turned around and tried to catch up to the still walking Sona and Koneko, "Hey! Wait for me!"


    On the other hand, Riveria and Ais were frozen on the spot and had their eyes widened after hearing Aika''s words, "Stagnating is part of getting stronger?" Ais muttered.


    Riveria recovered and sighed, "That''s the exact opposite of every Adventurers'' goal. Once your basic abilities start stagnating, you should level. However, thinking about her words again, she indeed makes sense��"


    Ais then turned around and started walking towards the Twilight Manor without uttering a word.


    .


    .


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko came back to the underground hideout and saw that aside from Hestia, everyone is still awake and is chilling in the living room, "We''re back~." Aika greeted everyone with a smile.


    "Wee back." Yoruichi stood up from her seat and gave each one of them a hug, "How was it?"


    "It was fun~." Aika answered.


    "I learned a lot." Koneko also responded.


    "I also learned a lot and understood Loki Familia�� Well at least, the members that came with us." Sona added.


    "I see. What do you think of them?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Tiona is just a simple-minded girl. Tione, on the other hand, is also the same as long as it''s about their Captain, Finn. Riveria is just like an adult looking out for everyone''s well being while Ais is like a child that only knows a few things in the world�� Her mindset is strange."


    "Lastly, Finn Deimne. It''s hard to trust him. Although he''s a good person, he looks like the type of person that would only care about certain individuals. I don''t like him."


    Yoruichiughed and patted her head, "That''s good."


    Garan


    28th00


    Editors and Author''s Corner:


    28th00: I''m gonna find a way to hurt you if you keep messing up In/On and ''s. I edit the edits so I can edit while I edit. Bell''s plot armour is so thick it''s scary, he''s gonna get absolutely destroyed by Eina, while in immense pain from being dragged up 6 floors. Some might call that, Karma.


    Goyya: Please forgive me for those mistakes! It''s not much of an excuse, but I can only write these days before I sleep and that''s around 11 PM to 1 AM and I have to get up around 5 AM. And Bell�� His plot armor is truly OP but he won''t be making much sound as he did in the canon. He''ll be drowned by the Trio and Kisuke.

 Volume 7 413 - Progress

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 413 - Progress</h4>


    The next morning, Kisuke and Hephaestus had finallye out of the workshop after they had entered it more than a week ago.


    "Whew~! We finally finished~!" Kisuke stretched out his limbs. Despite the grime and dirt all over his body and face, he was still wearing arge smile.


    Opposite of Kisuke, Hephaestus still had a clean countenance and sighed while lifting her head, "Haah�� I didn''t think we would do it all in one go." But despite herining, she was also very happy with the result, "But with the framework done, we just need the materials and facilities to actually make these things."


    However, behind these happy feelings and aplishments, Hephaestus was also feeling scared, ''I couldn''t actually gauge his depth despite watching and being close to him for more than a week!'' Instead of seeing the entirety of his abilities, Hephaestus had fallen into the pit of suspicion as the veil of mystery that was hiding Kisuke actually became thicker and thicker the more she witnessed of his actions.


    ''And that isn''t the most terrifying thing. I taught him cksmithing because I thought he would need it, but I messed up and taught him almost everything since he learned everything almost instantly. Including those concepts which mortals find hard to understand! He even had different views on some of those concepts that helped me understand it better! He might already be the best cksmith apprentice that I know and he hasn''t even forged a single weapon yet!'' Hephaestus wanted to shake her head but didn''t do so as Kisuke might notice what she was thinking.


    ''What the heck�� I''m the Goddess here. Why does it feel like he''s the one who could see through me and I can''t do it the other way around?''


    Kisuke could actually see theplication in her mind but didn''t point it out, ''Aizen could hide his thoughts a lot better. Well, she is the Goddess of Smithing and not the Goddess of Communication.''


    The two of them went out and saw the girls hauling something in. It was 5 meters long and was covered in cloth, "Hey~! Wee back~!" Kisuke first greeted the girls that came back from their exploration.


    The three of them looked towards him and happily ran over giving him a group hug, "We''re back~!"


    "Hey, hey, hey!" Yoruichi immediately protested, "It''s not just you who didn''t see him for over a week."


    Kisuke calmed them down and asked, "What''s that?"


    "It''s something we got in our exploration," Aika answered him while Medusa and Kuroka removed the clothing covering it revealing the giant ck sword.


    "It''s the drop item of Udaeus. Ais-san doesn''t have any real use for it so she gave it to us as payment for her uing debt as Riveria-san had suggested." Sona answered him.


    Kisuke approached the ck sword with Hephaestus at the same time to inspect it. After a few minutes, they looked at each other and said, " "This will do!" "


    "Oh? You''re about to start making those Sacred Gears?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Yeah. We just need some more suitable materials to make it." Kisuke answered.


    "More than materials, we need a proper facility to forge these things," Hephaestus said.


    Kisuke stood up and faced her, "I''ll take care of that. It should be done within two days."


    The corner of Hephaestus eyelids twitched but she still answered, "I-Is that so? Then I''ll take care of some of the materials myself."


    Kisuke smiled happily and said, "I''m very grateful for that, but is that fine?"


    Hephaestus nodded, "It''s fine. I also learned a lot of things this whole week and I''m interested in what we can actually make with the best materials we have." Hephaestus looked around before asking, "Where''s Hestia?"


    "She should be in the shop, Hephaestus-sama," Medusa answered.


    Hephaestus thanked her and faced Kisuke again, "I''ll be going to prepare the materials. I should be able to return in two days." She bid her farewell to everyone and Medusa led her back to the surface.


    Once he came out again, Medusa also came down with more guests. Riveria and Ais were following her while looking around with shocked faces. Although Riveria already came down here, back then, she was not herself and even though she was able to recover, she could only try her best to pretend to be calm. However, despite that, Kisuke, Loki, and Hestia still figured her out.


    "Oh hey~, good morning Riveria-san, Wallenstein-san~." Kisuke greeted them.


    "O-oh�� Good morning." Riveria and Ais were slightly startled when Kisuke suddenly talked beside them. Feigning a cough, Riveria stated their purpose, "Ehem. I''m here as promised. First of all, I''d like you to take a look at Ais if there are any problems with her."


    "Sure, I''ll do that. I also already received my advance payment. However, there are things that must be done first."


    Riveria nodded at Kisuke''s words, "I know. I already talked about it with Aisst night." She then faced Ais.


    Ais also nodded at Riveria and she raised her right hand, "I hereby swear to my Falna that I''ll keep everything about the Hestia Familia secret unless I''m permitted by Kisuke Urahara to tell others about it."


    "Very well." Kisuke then took out a white small pill from his pocket and gave it to Ais, "This is a sleeping pill and once you take it, you''ll lose your consciousness for about 5 hours. Just enough to finish examining everything."


    Riveria frowned and didn''t like that, "Wait. Why does she have to be unconscious? Can''t you do it without doing that?"


    "I can. But there are certain tests that require her to sleep so it can be properly diagnosed. And on top of that, there are some things in myboratory that I wouldn''t want to show to anyone. Let''s be honest, even though you swear that you won''t reveal anything, there are still loopholes in that and I can''t take my chances for my important equipment even if someone who was to see it doesn''t know what it does."


    Riveria didn''t answer immediately and contemted his words. She, after all, didn''t want topromise Ais''s safety. But while she was pondering on her choices, a handnded on her shoulder and Riveria turned to that person.


    "I''ll ept it," Ais said with a resolute face.


    "But��"


    "I''ll be fine, Riveria."


    ''Just where are you getting that confidence?'' Riveria thought when Yoruichi supplemented Ais''s decision, "You can trust Kisuke. He won''t harm your friend."


    "I promise that I won''t do anything to her body aside from examining it," Kisuke said. Yoruichi instantly caught the loophole in his words and probably his real goal but didn''t react to it or anything.


    However, Riveria is actually a bit worried about another aspect, "But you''re a man."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and suddenlyughed out loud before stopping and faced Riveria with a nasty smile, "Once inside myboratory, being a man or a woman is just another set of data. Nothing more."


    Riveria and Ais suddenly felt chills at his words. They knew he was telling the truth somehow, but that didn''t make them feel at ease at all.


    Ais then took a deep breath and suddenly swallowed the pill, wanting to get over it. She then fell forward as she lost her consciousness within secondster. Riveria immediately caught her with aplicated expression.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi felt some admiration at her swift decision but it could be also attributed to her recklessness, "Must be hard on you." Kisuke muttered to Riveria.


    "I''m already used to it. This is the reason why I can''t leave her alone." Riveria replied.


    "Yoruichi. Please take her to theb. I still need to prepare some things. Riveria-san, please join the others while you wait. They should be able to entertain you." Kisuke then walked away.


    This time in the Editor corner:


    And Author''s�� Please don''t forget the Author:


    Alexander: Your loyal host for today. The King of all Mad Scientists/Perverts. Let the fun begin.


    28th00: I gotta wonder how Orario is feeling about a bunch of no-names (literally) level 2''s dragging a big ass buster sword through the middle of town that they know is the level 37 Monster Rex''s weapon. I really gotta wonder��


    Garan: Probably Thinking where the hell they steal that from can I steal one too or eh normal day in Orario as no one knows they are Level 2''s except the Gods and Goddess'' and Loki fam most would think they were a high level out of town adventurer


    Goyya: Well, everyone one would think that they''re just some supporters hired by the two.

 Volume 7 414 - Sparring

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 414 - Sparring</h4>


    While Kisuke was busy with Ais, Riveria was left with the other girls, "Riveria-san, where''s Line-chan?" Aika asked her.


    While drinking the tea that Medusa prepared for her, Riveria answered, "Loki asked her to rest and not do anything for at least 10 days. I heard that she spends all her time in her room reading her books and onlyes out when she needs to eat or clean herself."


    "Looks like she''s doing her best," Aika muttered.


    At this time, Yoruichi suddenly came into the room they were staying in and said, "Aika, Sona, Koneko. Sparring time."


    The trio stood up and all of them wore a serious expression that confused Riveria. It''s normal to have some sparring sessions between Familia members as it''s a way to foster a greater connection with each other, aside from it being a good and efficient way of training. ''But why do they look more serious than when they were in the Dungeon? Even there, it was rare for them to show this kind of expression. Only when there was a serious threat to them.'' As far as Riveria knows, sparring between people always has ax attitude as it''s only for studying their current techniques.


    "Want to watch?" Yoruichi asked her.


    Riveria nodded and followed them outside. They then reached their usual training area where there was a dense amount of boulders that can obstruct movements if not careful.


    "We''re doing the usual. Aika and Sona will go against me while Koneko will go against Kuroka." Yoruichi announced and Kuroka and Koneko separated from them as they needed to be in another area to fight properly.


    Riveria stayed to watch Aika and Sona''s fight since she is more interested in it, ''ording to the information I got from the Guild, all of them should be at Level 2 and all of them announced that they reached it all at the same time. However, while Aika and Sona are very serious about this, why does Yoruichi still have such ax attitude? Is she that confident?''


    Aika and Sona then took out their weapons. The same weapons that they used in the Dungeon, ''They''re going to use their real weapons?'' It''smon sense that you can only use your real weapon in the sparring if there''s arge gap of skill between Adventurers. However, what shocked Riveria more is the fact that Yoruichi didn''t prepare anything. Not even one piece of armor.


    But before she could ask, Yoruichi spoke, "We''ll do it the usual way. You two use everything that you can while I won''t use any detection techniques or defensive skills and my sh Step will be limited to only every 5 seconds. And if you''re able to draw even a bit of blood from me, you win. Ready?"


    Riveria was dumbfounded. Yoruichi was alone, a Level 2 like her opponents, without any weapons or armor, yet she still has to give such a massive handicap?


    " "Yes!" "Aika and Sona shouted.


    When they''re about to reach the still stationary Yoruichi, Aika made her move and used sh Step to arrive in front of her, brandishing her nodachi horizontally from a distance that Yoruichi''s both hands and feet won''t be able to reach.


    Yoruichi, without a single change in her expression, jumped back, and bent backwards to avoid the nodachi. Aika is already expecting this so the moment she made a move to dodge, she also stepped forward.


    At this time, Sona''s water snakes went around Yoruichi and trapped her from behind and both nks, leaving her open to attacks at all sides.


    However, Aika and Sona didn''t think that they could win with just this and carefully watched Yoruchi''s every movement. And they were right, although it''s already toote for them to process what Yoruichi just did.


    From Yoruichi''s foot, she kicked a small pebble and hit Aika''s forehead without her being able to react. A small wound appeared on the spot where the pebble hit and it caused so much difort that Aika momentarily lost her focus. But she still did her best to watch Yoruichi''s next move and tried to fall back, taking back her nodachi.


    Yoruichi aimed a punch towards Aika''s stomach and Aika hurriedly used her sword to block her fist. However, just before her fist hit Aika''s sword, Yoruichi suddenly disappeared, ''sh Step!''


    Expecting that Yoruichi will reappear around her, Aika immediately focused her senses around her. Less than a secondter, she felt some activity behind her and hurriedly turn around to counter-attack. But Aika had to stop herself because Sona was flying towards her.


    Aika kept her nodachi and tried to catch Sona, but another pebble went flying and hit her forehead again causing her to fail to catch Sona. The two of them dropped to the ground, just a few seconds after the sparring started. "Hey, you shouldn''t just watch me but also my surroundings." Yoruichi said from Sona''s former spot with a grin on her face while ying with some pebbles.


    "W-what is this��?" Riveria could only mutter her question.


    .


    .


    Five hourster, Kisuke and the already awake Ais came out of theboratory to see everyone returning from their sparring session.


    "Hohoho~. It looks like you took a beating again this time~." Kisukemented as Aika and Sona supported each other while walking.


    "Dang it! We couldn''tnd a single hit today either!" Aika muttered in frustration.


    "I''ve already thought of everything I could just so that I can nick some of her skin�� Still nothing." Sona, on the other hand, was about to cry from frustration.


    "Hahaha~. You two don''t have to be like that~. I can admit that you''re getting better. It''s bing harder and harder for me to dodge." Yoruichi patted their shoulders.


    Behind them is Riveria with her face a bit pale after witnessing their sparring. She thought that Aika, Sona, and Koneko were already very strong for a Level 2, that it was actually in the realm of impossibility, yet she was introduced to this monster, Yoruichi, who''s supposed to be the same level and yed with them like they''re nothing special, "Did you hide your level from the Guild? Aren''t you already a Level 5?" She finally asked.


    While Ais was confused at Riveria''s current state, but with the information she gathered, she realized that Yoruichi had just wiped the floor with her fellow Level 2''s. Ais became interested in what she saw for her to act like this.


    Yoruichi faced Riveria with a smile, "Nope. I''m really just a Level 2. But this just shows that Level isn''t everything. It is important, but not the only thing."


    Medusa then came out from the mansion and said to everyone, "I''ve prepared lunch."


    "Great~. It''s alreadyte, but let''s have our lunch. I''ll tell you what I found out and my suggestions after filling our stomachs. Medusa-chan, please call Kuroka and Koneko. It seems that they already forgot the time." Kisuke instructed.


    Riveria could only follow his arrangement while slowly but surely, her world view is changing and hermon sense is being altered.

 Volume 7 415 - Entering the Soul Space

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 415 - Entering the Soul Space</h4>


    After eating their lunch, Riveria was able to get a hold of herself and thought, ''Whenever they are involved, I always lose my nerves�� And it feels like it''s happened more than in my whole life as an Adventurer.''


    Kisuke then invited Riveria and Ais to a private room to talk about what he found out about Ais''s condition.


    After serving them tea, Kisuke began. "Now then. Where shall I start?" Kisuke stayed silent for a moment and looked towards Ais before continuing, "First of all, here''s what I found out. You''re not exactly a Human but a High Spirit with flesh and blood."


    Kisuke''s first revtion put both Ais and Riveria instantly on the edge. They thought that her diagnosis will only involve Ais''s general health and Kisuke will only look for anything wrong in her body. They didn''t expect that Kisuke could instantly dig one of Ais''s deepest secrets.


    "How did you��" Ais muttered.


    "Judging from your reactions, you already knew about this. Well, that isn''t surprising. However, don''t ask me how I knew of this. You asked me to do a full check up on you and I don''t want to reveal my methods. You should have expected this in the first ce."


    However, the two of them couldn''t just easily ept that. When Ais was still small, Loki and Riveria also brought her to Altena''s most famous and top doctor to check her state. But all the said doctor found out that there''s something wrong with her but couldn''t find out what it was. Hence, when the mysterious man from the deeper part of the Dungeon said that Kisuke could help, they epted it, wanting to solve this hidden issue.


    Who would have thought that a low leveled man who came to Orario out of nowhere could easily see through not just Ais''s hidden issue but her true identity?


    Not minding what''s on their mind, Kisuke continued, "With that in mind, I adjusted her overall physique based on the data that I gathered. It''s not just the stasis that did some minor damage to her body, but also the imbnce of her existence being between a Human and a Spirit. After all, you''re an unnatural existence."


    Kisuke''sst words made Ais incredibly nervous, "U-unnatural existence?"


    Kisuke instantly figured out what she''s worried about and reassured her, "You don''t have to worry. You might be an unnatural existence, but you''re not an artificial one. You''re definitely a child between a Human and a High Spirit."


    Ais let out a huge sigh of relief after hearing him but also tremendously mystified, including Riveria, on how he knew all of this.


    Kisuke then smiled and asked Ais, "So? How do you feel?"


    Ais first looked down on her fist and clenched it, "��I feel light. It''s like a burden that I never knew disappeared."


    "That''s great~. By the way, I heard that you defeated the Monster Rex Level 6 Udaeus, but it seems that you haven''t leveled up."


    Ais nodded, "I want to try harder." She said while thinking about Aika''s words yesterday.


    "Is that so. Then we''re done here. Go home and adjust yourself. Don''t mindlessly enter the Dungeon and ask someone of the same level to have a spar with you. Instead of overall strength, it should be your control that should improve."


    Ais nodded and epted his instructions. Since Aika''s words which she took to the heart apparently came from him, she felt at ease listening to him.


    "Ais, wait for me outside. I have a few things to talk about in private." Riveria said after seeing that they''re finally done.


    Ais nodded again and stood up. However, just as she was about to exit through the door, Kisuke called out to her, "Please wait."


    Ais looked back at him with confusion and also a bit of nervousness due to not knowing what else this man would say, "��Yes?"


    Kisuke smiled wryly and thought that he scared this little girl too much, "Don''t look like that. It''s nothing too serious. I just want to give you a piece of advice. But first, let me ask. What is your goal?"


    Ais became serious at his question and recalled her past and how she was left alone due to a certain monster, the dragon that took everything away from her, "To get stronger. Stronger than anyone." She said with great conviction. Since no one could defeat that dragon, she has to be stronger than anyone in the Lower World.


    Kisuke nodded solemnly, "I see." He then stared at her with the same seriousness, "Then here''s my piece of advice. You would be happier if you don''t get stronger."


    Ais and Riveria were both shocked at his words and somehow knew that he wasn''t lying or joking this time. However, Ais still shook her head.


    "Achieving a goal or a dream doesn''t always mean a happy ending, especially when you don''t know what you''re tossing away to achieve it." Kisuke continued, trying to dissuade her.


    With another shake of her head, Ais said, "No. I can''t do that." She then exited the room without waiting for any follow up from Kisuke.


    Kisuke only stared at her leaving back and once she disappeared from his sights, he stood up and picked up a bag from the corner of the room before walking back towards the still dumbfounded Riveria and passed it to her, "Inside here are some books about Magic that I wrote personally. Study it. I''ll be busy for a few more days so I can''t entertain you."


    "O-okay." Riveria received the bag.


    "Go follow her before she does something stupid." Kisuke urged her.


    "G-got it." Riveria then ran towards the door but she stopped and looked towards Kisuke, "Why did you say that to her?"


    "Because I think that''s what''s best for her. And you should look after her carefully, or at this rate, only a tragic ending awaits her." Kisuke replied simply.


    Riveria didn''t know how to take those words, however, she answered, "I''ve always done it and I have no intention of stopping." She then left to follow Ais while thinking, ''What does he know? What did he discover?''


    Kisuke sighed after the two of them left and recalled what happened an hour ago while he''s examining Ais''s soul after he adjusted her body and Mana.


    After sealing his soul and entering her inner world so that he wouldn''t contaminate anything in her soul, Kisuke found himself in a world of full of grass, except for a certain spot where it''s devoid of any life except for the woman with the same features as Ais but has sharper eyes and a more mature feeling.


    The woman''s eyes are closed and her hair is ckened from the tips while the smoke of ck corrosive aura covers her entirety. Feeling that someone uninvited entered her precious daughter''s most important space, the woman opened her eyes and red at Kisuke, "Who''re you!?"


    28th00''s naughty(Why is it naughty now?! I don''t make these additions!) Corner


    28th00: Well, that''s very lewd! Entering a young girl''s most important space while she''s asleep!? What a TRAVESTY! The fact that her mom is inside it too, means you got caught�� soul handed? Close enough.


    Garan: This is not a safe space �� Starts invasion


    Alexander: Now it''s getting interesting. There are only two ways to move forward. Either a spanking for the pervert or a cup of tea for the first meeting with her future son inw.


    28th00: A bit too early for Ais my dude, at least wait till she''s Aika''s age�� She''s 13 or 14 atm after all.


    Goyya: I think she''s sixteen now. By the way, this corner would be a lot funnier if people could see the colors of the edits.

 Volume 7 416 - Aria

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 416 - Aria</h4>


    Instead of answering the woman''s question, Kisuke looked around to make sense of his surroundings, ''I didn''t think I could enter this ce, this easily. That means that this ce''s security has already beenpromised long ago.''


    The woman didn''t ask a second question and just red and watched Kisuke''s action carefully. No matter what he does, she actually can''t do anything as she''s already suppressing something and that thing would use any chance it could get just to get away from her.


    If that were to happen, then Ais and those around her would be in extreme danger. She could only hope that this intruder wouldn''t do anything to endanger her daughter.


    After a few more minutes of looking around, Kisuke then focused on the decayed spot and the woman in the middle of it, ''This spot doesn''t seem to be caused by that woman.''


    Kisuke then shed a smile and introduced himself, "Good day, miss. I''m Kisuke Urahara. A girl named Ais Wallenstein, who''s the owner of this ce, asked me to do some check-up for her."


    The woman''s eyes widened in shock when Kisuke suddenly introduced himself and asked, "Are you aware where we are right now?"


    Kisuke nodded and answered while also asking, "My patient''s inner world. So I wonder, in a ce where there should be no one and be a fairly secured ce, why does this spot exist? And why is someone else in here?"


    The woman sighed and told him the truth, "Well, even if you wanted to destroy this ce, I can''t do anything about it. It''s my family''s bad luck that we encountered something like this after a thousand years."


    "Family, is it? I see�� Since you''re a High Spirit, and you have Wallenstein-san''s splitting image, is it safe to assume that you''re her mother?"


    The woman smiled and introduced herself, "Hi~. Nice to meet you. I''m Ais''s mother, Aria. Thank you for taking care of my daughter~."


    Kisuke could only smile wryly in response, "Hey, how could you be certain that I won''t do anything bad in here?"


    Aria, while still smiling happily, "I may look young, but I''m at least 1,500 years old now. So it''s easy for me to see through some things, especially in this space where every expression is amplified."


    "Still, you''re too trusting. I could have a way to block these amplifications and you don''t know about it." Kisuke shook his head.


    "Either way, I can only put my trust in you." With a solemn smile, Aria answered.


    ''I guess she can''t really do anything, huh.'' Kisuke thought and said, "Mind telling me your story?"


    "Will you help?" She suddenly asked.


    "No." And Kisuke instantly answered.


    "No matter what?"


    "��" Kisuke became slightly conflicted because he has a feeling that even if he declines now, he would still get involved in the future. And even if it''s not him, his girls would, ''I guess it would be better to gather some information now and do some countermeasures instead of getting caught off guard in the future.''


    With that in mind, Kisuke sighed, "Let me hear about it first."


    Despite the gloomy and decaying aura around her, Aria smiled happily, "I would only ask you to take care of my daughter."


    Aria then started her story. Around a thousand years ago, when Gods have just started descending and monsters still ran rampant on the surface of the earth, the Zeus Familia was thriving and vanquishing monsters previously known as undefeatable left and right.


    "I''m a member of that Familia and its Vice-Captain. Along with the Captain, which was my husband, Albert Waldstein, we were the only Level 9s of that time while our other party members were all Level 8s."


    "We defeated so many monsters that we were able to retake somend for the people and managed to push them to several remaining ces. The most notable of the monsters we defeated were the Behemoth and the Leviathan that required all of us to join forces just to defeat them."


    Aria then put on a smug face and bragged, "Everyone was questioning why we were so strong, but it was actually a very simple thing and we were always saying the same thing. ''We don''t take skills for granted.'' My husband and I didn''t even receive skills from the Falna and just created our own Art. While I had it easier due to my nature as a Spirit, Albert had to work very hard to polish his swordsmanship that was said to be capable of cutting everything~!"


    "However, only a few people believed us and it became an issue that time that almost everyone was using us as liars because they couldn''t emte what we have been doing."


    Thinking that Aria just gave Kisuke a clue on how to get stronger, she changed the topic, "But enough of that" Aria''s smile then became gentle, "It was just after we defeated the Leviathan that a miracle happened. It was probably due to the blessing of multiple Goddesses of Marriage and Birth, especially Hera-sama that this miracle urred, a child was born between a Human and a Spirit. Ais came into our lives."


    "We continued our lives of being Adventurers while also taking care of our little darling. Everyone from the Zeus Familia also considered her as their daughter and Zeus stood as her grandfather and would happily y with her every day."


    "But everything changed when that monster appeared. Simr to the Behemoth and Leviathan that led an army of monsters that almost decimated everyone, but also different from every one of them, and also the most intelligent among them, the ck Dragon."


    "Instead of just having a single very strong ability, it has two. First is its destructive power, the power of Decay in the form of ck wind and the second one is the more dangerous one of the two, Control."


    "Control?" Kisuke asked while furrowing his brows. He can understand decay and he can guess where this spot came from now, but control? To what extent and how strong?


    "Yes. And it''s the reason why we weren''t able to defeat it." Aria sighed, "The Gods described it as something forbidden that shouldn''t exist as it controls the soul itself."


    "Soul��" Kisuke frowned. He doesn''t like where this story is going.


    "Yes. It''s hard for it to control stronger individuals, but those weaker, Level 4 and below are just additional army for it. We could have defeated it with the force we had back then, but it managed to figure out and get mine and my husband''s greatest weakness."


    "��And that is Ais." Kisuke guessed.


    "Yes," Aria answered solemnly.


    Editors and Author''s Corner:


    Goyya: Is it fine to reveal such an important plot point this early? Either way, I gotta speed things up. Kisuke''s preparation is nearly done.


    Alexander: That depends on what you make out of it. But, this can be an important part of Kisuke''s preparation for the grand final. So, I am fine with it.


    28th00: I think it''s fine since it makes the earlier soul magic debacle with Loki seem a lot moreprehensible now. It also exins why the development of anything soul rted outside the Falna is literally not touched upon.

 Volume 7 417 - Aria part 2

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 417 - Aria part 2</h4>


    "��And that is Ais." Kisuke guessed.


    "Yes," Aria answered solemnly, "The ck Dragon didn''t just manage to control Ais, but almost fused with her at that time."


    Kisuke''s frown grew deeper, "Fuse?"


    Aria also put on a more serious face, "Yes. Fuse. Using its second ability to control, it also can attach itself to someone and fuse with him or her. However, although she was very weak at that time, she''s still our child who inherited both mine and my husband''s talent andtent potential. Because of that, aside from being our weakness, Ais also became the perfect target for the ck Dragon."


    "I see." Kisuke nodded as he finally got some more clues regarding the ck Dragon''s ability. "But it''s clear that she''s doing fine now and the ck Dragon is still around with one of its eyes busted."


    Aria''s expression then became gentle again. "That''s because, with the help of my husband, I sacrificed myself and took her ce."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened once he heard herst sentence and immediately reassessed the surroundings to confirm some things. A few minutester, Kisuke was able to gather more information based on Aria''s statement, and Aria herself stayed quiet during those times. ''I see�� I didn''t notice it immediately since this isn''t a normal space and my senses are restricted in here, but the one I''m talking with is just a remnant soul.''


    Kisuke faced Aria again and said, "So you''re just a remnant." to confirm this.


    "Yes."


    "And you''re also a remnant from the time before you lost yourplete self."


    "Yes."


    Kisuke stopped for a moment to arrange his thoughts and muttered, "But where does the thousand-year stasis fits?�� Ah, so that''s how it is." He then started piecing the story from the information Yoruichi has gathered for him.


    "Hmm? What did you get?"


    "The move that the Zeus and Hera Familias made fifteen years ago was to extract Ais from the ck Dragon and it was also at that time that you substituted her position."


    "Correct~." Aria confirmed his guesses, "Without everyone''s help, we couldn''t have saved Ais. But still, to think it would take a millennium just to figure out how to extract my darling daughter, I don''t know how I could thank Zeus and Hera."


    There''s nothing wrong with what Aria said, but somehow, Kisuke was bothered by something and suddenly asked, "Could you have defeated the ck Dragon if you didn''t mind Ais?"


    Aria''s eyes widened at his question and smiled wryly. "I''m surprised that you could tell. Actually, my magic is the direct counter of its Decay magic and could have defeated it."


    "But even then, my husband''s and my choice is to save our daughter and we''re truly thankful that everyone around us that time supported our decision. However, I also knew that because of that many more people who had nothing to do with it suffered and I still wonder to this day if we truly made the right choice."


    Kisuke was wondering what that wry smile was about and asked, "It''s just this?"


    "��Come again?" Aria could help but ask.


    Kisuke sighed and said, "That kind of worry is stupid. The ck Dragon is the world''s problem and not just yours. Even though you have the power to defeat it, it''s because you worked hard for it and would risk your life on a regr basis."


    "Others would me you? Of course, they would. But that''s only because they took the security that you and your friends provided freely for granted without them doing much."


    "However, you''re probably the type of person that would still take their words to the heart and regret. But please remember this, if you''re trapped in a choice that you would both regret, always go to the thing that you would regret less. Saving your daughter is not a mistake. It''s just you choosing to be a parent rather than an Adventurer, which I find far more admirable."


    Aria was dumbfounded for a few seconds before she started chuckling. "You''re not a good person, aren''t you?"


    Kisuke only shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I never said I was one."


    "However, you''re most certainly a kind person, especially to those who are important to you, and I think if someone like you were to take care of my daughter, I could rest assured."


    "Just so you know, Aria-san, I''m not a caretaker. I''m a Candy Store owner and sometimes, I''ll do some part-time job as a doctor."


    Aria then made aplicated expression, "Isn''t a doctor a higher tier profession? And does a part-time doctor even exist?"


    "In my book, yes. I''m a Candy Store owner and it''s my calling~!"


    "��You''re weird."


    "You''re not the first one who told me that and I don''t really care."


    Aria couldn''t help but sigh. However, her smile went back as she said, "Now then, onto my request~."


    "I''ve said it earlier, I''m not a caretaker."


    "I''m not asking you to do that."


    "Then what?"


    With all seriousness, she said, "Please be Ais''s hero."


    And with the same seriousness, Kisuke immediately answered, "No."


    "Eh? Why not? It''s not caretaking."


    "But that sounds a hundred times more troublesome than caretaking. What do you mean hero? I don''t know how to do that and that''s probably one of the farthest words from me. If my acquaintances and friends were to hear I became some hero, a few of them wouldugh at my face while the others would cringe so much that they''ll experience a chill in their spine."


    "A-are they really your friends?"


    "They''re my friends because they knew me like that."


    "��" Aria didn''t know what to say about that so instead of digging there, she tried to persuade Kisuke, "Ehem, could you please consider my request?"


    "No. This is just a big disadvantage for me." Kisuke once again rejected.


    Aria immediately saw hope from his words, "So you''ll do it in exchange for something that is worth the trouble?"


    "��" Kisuke didn''t speak immediately and looked towards the excited Aria, "I don''t even know how you can provide something at your current state."


    But for Aria, those words are the best answer she could hope for, "I have something, but I don''t know if it''s enough."


    "��" Kisuke became curious at what she still has and asked, "What is it?"


    However, Aria shook her head, "I won''t give or tell what it is before you promise me that you''d do my request."


    "That''s just a scam then."


    "It''s not!" Aria protested, "It''s just the only thing I can give. I want to make sure that you''ll promise me first."


    "��You do know that I may not necessarily fulfill the promise once I''ve received that something of yours, right?"


    Aria nodded, "I know. And I don''t even have a way to enforce it to you once you''ve received it. I can only gamble."


    "That''s reckless."


    "But still better than me just being here, doing nothing."


    "What do you mean nothing? You''ve been suppressing the ck Dragon''s connection to your daughter, right? I think that''s pretty important."


    Smiling wryly once again, Aria said, "So you can tell. But even then, couldn''t you at least consider?"


    "��" Kisuke stayed silent again for a few seconds before deciding. "Fine. However, I have to decide how much I can do once I see and assess this thing you''re offering."


    With a bright smile, Aria almost jumped in happiness, but she remembered that she can''t move from her spot, "That''s fine~!"


    When Aria was about to take out the thing she would give to Kisuke, he stopped her first to clear some confusion he had. "Wait. As I said, I''m not a hero, so what is this hero thing I''m supposed to do?"


    "Hmm? Just save Ais when she''s in trouble."


    "That''s it?"


    "That''s it." While answering, Aria put both of her hands on her chest and a green light emerged from it. A sphere of green light then came to Aria''s hand and she passed it to Kisuke for him to inspect.


    It only took a few seconds for Kisuke to inspect what she just gave him and he was shocked. "T-this is��"


    Still, with a bright smile, Aria said, "Yes. That''s the only thing I could give you. The culmination of my magic and my whole life''s hard work."


    "��Dammit. You gave me something very heavy." Kisuke could only say such.


    Author''s and Editors'' corner


    Alexander:��And this, dear children, was the beginning of the great hero, known as CANDYMAN.


    28th00: I''m pretty sure that''s a horror movie��


    Alexander: Only for naughty children.


    Goyya: I got this temptation to use that as his Alias�� Begone, Devil!

 Volume 7 418 - Aria part 3

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 418 - Aria part 3</h4>


    Yoruichi soon entered the room where Ais just had her consultation and noticed the weird mood that Kisuke was in, "What''s wrong?"


    Kisuke sighed and told her what happened with the consultation and Ais''s inner world.


    "What did she give you?" Yoruichi asked with a dumbfounded expression.


    "It''s just as she said it was, the culmination of her magic and her whole life''s effort. As a High Spirit, part of her magic ispressed into an orb that has everything she has ever learned."


    "That''s impressive." Yoruichi then furrowed her brows, "But at what cost?"


    "A few seconds after she passed it to me, her condition hurriedly degraded to the point that she could only speak for just a minute more. For the entirety of that minute, she just begs me to take care of her daughter. Before, she still had the leisure to watch her daughter''s life from the inside, but this time, all of her remaining energy is focused on suppressing the ck Dragon''s connection to Ais which still influences her to this day." Kisuke sighed again as Aria''s act made him remember about his mother in this life which had already be one of the most important existences in his life.


    Yoruichi also felt regrettable regarding Aria but she''s still curious about one more thing, "But why did you tell Ais that it''s better if she doesn''t get stronger? Doesn''t she have to face her mother, now in the form of the ck Dragon, somewhere near the future?"


    "She does, but the way she''s right now, she''ll only fall into the ck Dragon''s control."


    "Why is that?"


    "You see, the way Aria-san is suppressing the ck Dragon''s influence is diverting the subject to another. In other words, the feelings that the monster is sending can''t be changed, however, it can be diverted."


    Yoruichi thought about Kisuke''s words for a moment before certain information entered her mind and her eyes widened, "Her unusual hate of monsters, more specifically, dragon-type monsters."


    Kisuke nodded at her, "Yes. The influence that the ck Dragon is giving Ais is the hate for people of the earth like a normal monster under the Dungeon''s influence would. Aria-san was able to divert that hate to the monsters themselves."


    Yoruichi understood Kisuke''s point, however, she still asked, "But I still don''t understand why you asked her not to get stronger."


    "The stronger she bes, the stronger the influence bes too, and sooner orter, it would be too much for Aria-san to handle. Now it''s be more dangerous due to the fact that she became weaker. She wasn''t joking when she said that she''s taking a big gamble."


    "Couldn''t you sever this connection?"


    "I can, but it''s actually very hard to do that and would need time to research it and you know we don''t have that kind of time. Although the Zeus and Hera Familias were sessful in extracting Ais from the ck Dragon, a part of her soul is still fused with the monster so it isn''t just as simple as severing the connection."


    "But you''ve already thought of another way, right?"


    Kisuke nodded at Yoruichi''s question, "Yes. Although not as reliable as me researching and putting time to it, it''s more efficient, effective, and has a more positive effect on her in the future."


    "And that is?"


    "For Ais Wallenstein to ovee the demon inside her and acknowledge it as a part of her."


    "Hoh? You mean to say something like how the Vizards ovee their inner-Hollow to gain its power?"


    "Yep. Doing so is easier than cutting off something that''s already a part of her soul."


    "And how do you n to do that?"


    Kisuke then let out an evil grin and said, "Of course, we prepare her. Once she''s prepared, I''ll push her off the cliff at the right time."


    After seeing Kisuke''s expression, Yoruichi couldn''t help but chuckle, "I see that our hero is already making his preparations to save the troublesome princess."


    "Please don''t call me that and I''m correct that this is more troublesome than just being a caretaker! If not for the payment that I already received, I wouldn''t have epted this sh*t-tier job."


    "Yet you''re still doing it properly."


    "Of course! Rather than saving her over and over again whenever she''s in trouble like I promised, I''ll just teach her how to save her own ass."


    Aria was right. Although Kisuke is not a good person, he''s a kind one.


    Yoruichi could only shake her head at his words. "So, what''s the n?"


    "For starters, we have to change her views regarding the monsters, or at least, make her doubt her feelings of hatred for them."


    "What about the ck Dragon? If it''s you, you probably already found its location through the connection it has with Ais."


    Kisuke nodded. "I did. Although not the specific location, I know the general area where it might be hibernating right now. And I''ll say it again, this isn''t our ce to step in. Ais has to deal with that thing by herself to have a proper closure. Rather than the ck Dragon, I''m more worried about another thing."


    "The Dungeon that created such a monster, huh��"


    "Correct. And I''ve got a feeling that we''ll get involved with it in the future."


    "Right�� About that, I also have something to tell. These past few days, I was able tomunicate with Byakko, albeit, only a little bit. And one thing it said caught my attention."


    "And that is?"


    "Be wary of the Dungeon."


    "��" Kisuke thought carefully as he stayed silent. A few minutester, arge grin came to his face again, "I guess we could think of it as our challenge as we transcend."


    Yoruichi''s eye''s widened at his angle of view, but a few secondster, she also startedughing, "Hahaha~! I guess that''s one good way to think about it~. Looks like we have to put more effort into things~."


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, when Aika, Sona, and Koneko were about to reach the Tower of Babel for their usual dungeon diving, they came across the golden-haired beauty who seemed to be a bit dejected.


    The trio knew that it had something to do with what happened yesterday, but Kisuke refused to tell them anything. For starters, Sona came up to her and greeted her, "Good Morning, Ais-san."


    Ais turned towards the group and returned their greeting, "��Good Morning. Are you going to the Dungeon today?"


    "Yes. We have to test everything we learned yesterday in a real-life situation to make use of it effectively. What about you?"


    "��Same. I want to go to the Dungeon to test some things. Want to go together?"


    Sona smiled and said, "That would be great. Since you already promised that you won''t reveal anything regarding us, I think it would be fine to show you our usual activity."


    However, before they could leave, a half-Elf Guild staff came to them, "Um, excuse me. Good morning. I''m Eina Tulle, an Adventurer advisor from the Guild. It may be sudden, but could you please listen to my selfish request?"


    ce where the speaky happens:


    28th00: I wonder how that sense would react to Ophis-sama popping up? She far outsses every other ck Dragon in both worlds after all. Also, PLOT ARMOUR COMES FOR THEE BELL-KUN!


    Alexander: The curse wille to an end because of confusion. After all, THERE IS NO WAY THAT SOMEONE COULD HATE OUR OVERLY CUTE OPHIS-CHAN. If someone thinks otherwise, pleasee forward to be judged by the gentlemen court.


    Garan: Hestia will feel threatened by the loli dragon leading to a loli fight. Also, I can totally see Ophis punching Kisuke for randomly leaving, then going up to him requesting candy with a nk stare.


    Goyya: I want to see Ophis go up against Ottar�� Using a building-sized sledgehammer.

 Volume 7 419 - Strange Request

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 419 - Strange Request</h4>


    Ais, Aika, Koneko, and Sona, who was being carried, are running through the floors trying to find a certain Adventurer. A few minutes ago, Eina requested the trio to help Bell Cranel because it seems that he found himself in a dangerous situation.


    Eina knew that her request is quite a bit selfish, but as his advisor, she''s not ashamed to ask Bell''s acquaintances for help. But since it''s not a big deal, the group immediately took off with Ais in tow.


    After asking around for a while. They managed to pinpoint Bell''s current location and immediately went to the 10th floor. The moment they stepped into the foggy floor, Koneko''s ears immediately perked up, and started sniffing the air before muttering, "��Monster bait."


    The group was mildly shocked at her words and immediately went towards the sounds of battle and saw a silhouette of an Adventurer fighting against numerous Orcs. Separating, the group slew the Orcs surrounding the Adventurer one by one.


    Finally, they were able to confirm that it''s indeed Bell who''s fighting these Orcs and once he got a breather, he immediately ran towards the stairs of the 9th floor, "Excuse me! Thank you very much! I''m in a hurry!"


    Ais, Aika, Sona, and Koneko regrouped once Bell left, "Looks like he''s going to resolve his problem." Aika muttered.


    "That''s the least he can do." Sona said and looked towards their surroundings full of Orcs, "For now, let''s kill all of them so other weaker Adventurers won''t be put in danger. Koneko, find the monster bait and dispose of it."


    It only took them a few minutes to clear the area around them of monsters and while they were nning their next steps, Koneko was alerted yet again and faced a certain direction, "Who''s there!?"


    After hearing her, everyone faced the same direction where the fog is especially thick and readied their weapons. A secondter, everyone else finally noticed the existence beyond the fog.


    "I was noticed by you before the Sword Princess could. How fascinating." Walking through the fog, a ck-robed figure came out and spoke with a voice which gender couldn''t be determined. Sona furrowed her brows as the movement of Mana around the mysterious figure was weird and she couldn''t make sense of it. But she''s not the ''leader'' here, so Sona waited for Ais to speak up.


    Noticing Sona''s intention, Ais spoke up while pointing her sword towards the figure, "Do you need something with us?"


    "Yes, that''s right. I do indeed have a request for the Sword Princess. But before that, I would like you to lower your swords. I have no intention of causing you any harm." The dark figure answered.


    "Who are you?" Ais asked as she slowly lowered her sword along with the other three also lowering their weapons.


    "Just a poor humble mage. Would it make more sense if I told you that I have made contact with Lulune Louie in the past?"


    "��!" Ais''s eyes widened. After all, the incident that involved Lulune was the time when they went to Rivira and solved Hashana''s death incident. It''s also where they met the red-haired tamer that had called Ais, Aria and discovered the existence of the Jewel Fetus that could mutate monsters.


    Getting the reaction that he wanted, the ck-robed figure continued. "Ais Wallenstein, I have a quest for you. There has been an irregr outbreak of monsters on the 24th floor. Several Adventurers have already lost their lives. I would like you to investigate, and more or less suppress the situation. Of course, I will have your reward ready. As for the objective of the outbreak, I believe it has something to do with the pantry recently located within that floor."


    It sounded like a normal request, but of course, Ais had her doubts, ''I didn''t know that a monster outbreak was going on. Why wasn''t it in the news on the surface? And why would he leave the investigation to me? Instead of someone within their own Familia?''


    Not minding Ais expression, he continued, "As a matter of fact, on the 30th floor, there was a phenomenon urring before simr to where we sent Hashana."


    After those words, Ais immediately connected the dots, "!?"


    "There''s a high possibility that the person with the Jewel who attacked Rivira is involved."


    Not just Ais, but the other three knew that this is a bait for the Sword Princess to ept the quest. Even if she didn''t like the quest itself, Ais would be very interested in the person who called her Aria.


    "The situation is serious, Sword Princess. If you could lend me your strength��"


    Ais sighed and said, "I understand."


    "I am in your debt. If possible, I would like you to head over as soon as you can."


    "Would it be alright if we join?" The silent Sona finally spoke.


    The ck-robed figure faced Sona''s direction, "And you are?" For a while now, he had been curious about the other three who seemed to be exploring with the Sword Princess. ''If I remember it right, they''re from the newly established Hestia Familia and imed that they came from a faraway ce with all of their members on the verge of leveling up to Level 2. They did it a few days ago and a report said that they joined the Loki Familia as supporters one time.''


    "We are from the Hestia Familia. I''m Sona Sitri and this is Aika Kiryuu and Shirone Toujou. We''re all Level 2."


    "I see�� Of course, I would appreciate more help, but this is going to be a dangerous quest for you."


    "That''s fine. We knew the risks. And we''re a bit interested in what the Guild is trying to do with this incident." Sona replied as she closely watched the ck figure''s surroundings. And just as she hoped for, she detected the ruffling of Mana around him, revealing his emotions.


    Now that she got the answer, Sona immediately said a follow-up, "Hahaha, forgive me. I''m just randomly taking a guess here. I don''t really know if the Guild is involved or not. It''s just my bad habit. I''m sorry." She immediately gave him a path to escape.


    Without hesitation, the ck figure replied, "My affiliation doesn''t matter as I''m just a worker under someone. But I do hope you couldplete this request."


    "Would it be okay if I sent a message to my Familia?" Ais asked.


    "Hmm? Ahh, I see. I can deliver that for you."


    "Then we''d also like to send a message." Sona, like Ais, took out some writing materials and started writing her letter. The contents of the letter are only the fact that they received a quest to the 24th Floor with Ais. Of course, Sona added a hidden message reporting everything she knew and the possibility of the Guild''s involvement with the incident by writing another set of the letter using her Mana which is invisible to almost everyone.


    And even if it were to be discovered, no one could actually read it as it is written in Japanese. If destroyed? It would alert Yoruichi and Kisuke just the same but with even greater seriousness.


    Talky Talk:


    28th00: So, at first I was like "Either Enyo or Hermes has to be the scummy maniptor trope right now." Then I saw Sona say "Guild" and went "Ah, it''s Fels being a scummy maniptor for Mr. I-sit-on-a-throne-all-year-round."


    Alexander: Whoever it is, wash your neck and wait for the Hestia Familia. However, Ais being so trusting is one thing, but I expect from Sona as Kisuke''s waifu at least a second message. After all, I wouldn''t put my trust in such a shady guy to deliver the letter.


    28th00: Oh, for sure! Gotta remember that Sonaes from a race-based on deceit and contracts, and her big sister runs foreign affairs for said race. She''s got a lot of experience in spotting deceit and other things! Probably why she wanted toe along in the first ce actually.


    Goyya: This will also help with Yoruichi and Kuroka''s intelligence gathering job as they would have more context clues on what''s going on.

 Volume 7 420 - Rescue Team

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 420 - Rescue Team</h4>


    On the surface, Loki was visited by a certain individual that is also investigating the appearance of the monsters with weirdly colored magic stones and imed that his Familia''s children were killed because they got involved with its mysteries.


    Dionysus, the patron God of the Dionysus Familia, is a beautiful man of average height with medium length blonde hair, emerald eyes, and long arms and legs. He wears a violet suit matching his long-sleeve coat, pants, shoes, a yellow button shirt inside, and a white cravat around his neck. Behind him is Filvis, the ck-haired Elf that Yoruichi encountered in the sewers.


    Loki came out to meet him at the gates of the Twilight Manor, "You''re here again��" Loki muttered with a fed-up face. Although both of them were investigating the mysterious monsters, Loki didn''t like him very much and knew that he''s hiding something from her. Although this was normal, she was worried that the thing he was hiding, might endanger her children which is her bottom line.


    Not minding her expression, Dionysus replied with a big smile, "I came across some information that concerned me. Is there a ce for us to rx and talk?"


    Loki sighed and invited them over to a table which was surrounded by arge space and being overlooked by several members of the Loki Familia. Dionysus didn''t mind this arrangement and shared the information he came across. That the Guild was acting weird and the monster outbreak on the 24th floor was being covered up while also sneaking a private army to it.


    "Hmmm�� A monster outbreak and the Guild is acting weird��" Loki repeated his words.


    Dionysus nodded and continued, "I don''t know much about it, but there had been an odd outbreak in the past on the 30th floor."


    Something came into Loki''s mind but she took great care not to show any expression and asked, "When did that ur?"


    "I think it was about three weeks ago." Dionysus answered honestly, "It''s just a story from the lower floors. A rumor among the higher ss Adventurers. The Guild has been keeping this information a secret. Ouranos has been sneaking a private army onto the 24th floor. That''s what I''ve been thinking. He''s trying to erase the incident himself. He''s acting suspiciously."


    Stretching her back Loki muttered, "I guess we can''t trust the Guild then?"


    Shaking his head, Dionysus agreed, "Nothing can be done. There''s no doubt that they are all being suspicious."


    "I guess��" Loki looked towards Dionysus while thinking that he himself was pretty suspicious. "And what exactly did you want us to do?"


    Dionysus only kept his smile. "Hahaha. Didn''t I tell you, that if I hear anything interesting I would let you know immediately? There''s no catch."


    Facing upwards, Loki dered, "All my children are out. Visiting the 24th floor would be impossible."


    "Would that possibly be because of the underground sewer?"


    ''Damn, he''s got good intuition.'' Loki thought while thinking about the meeting she had with her children and intention of investigating the underground sewer to scour more information since Bete and her alone doing so was too much of a risk, "That''s right��"


    "By the way, I forgot to tell you about it earlier, but while my Filvis here was investigating the underground sewer, she was knocked out by somebody, so you should be careful of other forces other than the monsters in it."


    Loki frowned at this information, ''Well, I''m already expecting that someone else is moving in there and probably the one bringing in those monsters. But knocked her out? I''m more surprised that she''s still alive.''


    Dionysus didn''t know what she''s thinking so instead, he pushed their conversation, "Is the Sword Princess around? If we could send her, she has the strength of at least 100 people." He jokingly asked and drank the tea served to him.


    "Ais-tan is��" Loki was about to say that she''s busy but a rolled paper was suddenly dropped on her head, making her stop, "Huh?" Loki then picked up the paper and unrolled it to view its contents.


    Dionysus, while looking upwards, said, "A letter? A carrier pigeon�� No. Someone''s familiar?"


    "Looks like it." Loki then read through the letter and after finishing it, she slowly put it down on the table and did a facepalm, "Ais is currently heading to the 24th floor."


    Dionysus coughed and almost spat out his tea after hearing Loki.


    While tapping her head with her hand andughing wryly, Loki continued, "She was given a quest and is heading to the 24th floor�� This timing�� ''Please don''t worry about me''�� Like hell I can do that! Ais-tan you airhead!"


    She then faced one of her children who watched from afar and said, "Call Bete�� And also Lefiya. It''s urgent."


    The Loki Familia member nodded and was about to go. However, Loki interrupted her again, "And by the way, if someone wants to see me, let them in." The child was confused at hermand, but nevertheless, she nodded and ran towards Bete and Lefiya, who were doing the housesitting right now.


    "What do you n on doing?" Dionysus asked.


    "I''ll have them chase after Ais. This situation seems to be rted to the attack on Rivira."


    "Will just those two be okay? This is just my intuition, but the incident on the 24th floor seems to be very dangerous."


    "It can''t be helped. The only ones left that can be of any help to Ais are Bete and Lefiya�� I also think that someone else ising, but I''m not yet sure."


    "Hmm? What do you mean?"


    "Nothing. If they''lle, you''ll know."


    Dionysus stayed silent for a moment before facing towards his child, "Filvis, go with Loki''s children and head to the 24th floor."


    "!?" Filvis was shocked at his decision, "What are you saying, Dionysus-sama!? What will you do without a bodyguard!?"


    "Listen, Filvis, I am the one who got Loki involved due to my own selfish interests. Rather than just leaving everything to her, I need to show some sincerity. More than anything, I want Loki to trust me. Sometimes, trust can only be earned through actions. Do you understand, Filvis?"


    "��" Filvis could only stay silent with aplicated expression, "But I am��"


    "If you could, please, Filvis." Dionysus pleaded with her again.


    "��I understand." Filvis then turned to Loki and said, "Goddess Loki. If it''s okay with you, would you please allow me to apany your party?"


    Loki didn''t mind and nodded, "Nnn�� I appreciate the thought, but, can you even keep up?"


    Dionysus answered that question, "Filvis is my only Level 3. She shouldn''t hold you back if it''s the 24th Floor."


    Loki''s eyes widened a bit, "You have a Level 3? This is the first time that I''m hearing this��"


    "At the Denatus, I used a lot of money to request that the information on Filvis became restricted. This child doesn''t stand out too well among the other Adventurers. Maybe, I am just a little overprotective."


    "Well, that''s fine. It''s true that we don''t have enough people."


    "Thank you very much."


    Bete and Lefiya arrived and heard about Ais receiving a strange and possibly very dangerous quest and asked them to save and bring back the airheaded girl along with herpanions.


    "Companions? The Sword Princess is in a party?" Dionysus asked.


    "Yeah."


    "Who are they?" Bete asked.


    "They''re��" Loki was interrupted when someone familiar came into her view, "Oh hey, you arrived~!" Loki waved towards the person that her child is leading in.


    Everyone also looked towards the direction she was looking and all had a confused expression.


    "Yo~. Good morning, Loki-sama~. I''m sorry for beingte. I had to prepare some things." Yoruichi waved back with a big smile on her face.


    "She is?" Dionysus asked.


    "Yoruichi Shihouin. Her fellow Familia members are currently with Ais so she would being with the rescue team." Loki answered and faced Yoruichi again, "Just you?"


    "Yep~. Besides, it seems that you already prepared strong reinforcements." Yoruichi said while looking towards the people she would being with.


    ce to speak?


    28th00: Absolutelyzy edits this time!~ Guess I''m tired. Filvis was knocked out by Yoruichi, so this is kinda hrious. Dionysus is Enyo, ain''t he? Man, we''re just sitting here going "So, how long are we gonna be conning these fools?" aren''t we? I''m personally waiting for Ophis-sama to show up and go "Too loud." *POP* to one of their schemes as it pops out of existence.


    Alexander: I think of it as a clever move. Yoruichi saw her and is able to recognize her right away. So she will be able to identify her and keep an eye on her. As for Ophis-sama, I want her toe out asap. My Ophis reserves are already depleted and I like to watch the world burning with chaos way too much.


    Goyya: This volume will end on the part where Loki Familia went to the 59th Floor. The next volume will still happen in Danmachi, but Kisuke would going back to DxD. Theing of Ophis is nigh.

 Volume 7 421 - Hermes Familia

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 421 - Hermes Familia</h4>


    Ais, Aika, Sona, and Koneko arrived on the 18th floor and immediately looked for the pub called Golden Cer Bar as the ck-robed person instructed. They found the bar which was simr to Willy''s as it was a cave refurbished as a bar.


    Once they entered, they immediately gathered everyone''s attention. In the pub, there were a total of 17 people, including the bartender, and each one of them, were doing their own things. Either gambling, singing, or just inly talking some stuff over some alcohol.


    And one of them is someone familiar, "Huh?" Lulune turned towards the neers and waved at them once she recognized them, "Hey, it''s the Sword Princess, Aika, Koneko, and Sona! What a coincidence, meeting all of you here!"


    "��Lulune-san?" Ais muttered.


    "Yo~, Lulune. It looks like you''re still alive and kicking~." Aika greeted back with a smile.


    "It''s thanks to you lot that I was able to survive that day. As thanks, let me buy you all a drink." Lulune replied while scratching the back of her head. She was the one who was carrying the Jewel Fetus which Hashana passed to her in secret and was almost hunted down by the red-haired tamer.


    While Ais and Aika were talking to Lulune, Sona and Koneko were doing the diligent job of observing their surroundings. After all, they can''t just trust every word of that very suspicious quest-giver.


    ''That''s�� Asfi Al Andromeda?'' Sona thought as a certain girl with bob cut aqua blue hair and cyan colored eyes who was also wearing a pair of sses came into her view, ''Now that I''ve looked at all of them, except for the bartender, everyone in here is part of the Hermes Familia.''


    Sona knew their information because Yoruichi gave her a description of the Familia and people to watch out for. Although not very strong, the Hermes Familia caught Yoruichi''s attention because, after some digging, she found out that their group would sometimes act as agents for the Guild.


    Remembering what the ck-robed person said, Ais sat down on the second seat from the right of the counter which was ''coincidentally'' just beside Lulune.


    "Huh? That seat is��" Lulune panicked a bit.


    However, the bartender''s expression didn''t change and asked, "What would you like to have?"


    And just like the quest-giver instructed, Ais answered, "May I please have a fried potato vored green tea?"


    Lulune fell from her chair.


    "?" Ais looked at her in wonder while the trio already knew what was going on after noticing the activities from their surroundings and got ready just in case a fight broke out.


    "Uhhh�� You people are the reinforcement!?" Lulune shouted while pointing at Ais and Ais also finally got it as she looked around, ''Don''t tell me, the person we''re working with are all the customers here?''


    Asfi stood up from her seat and went beside Lulune while asking, "Are you sure you aren''t mistaken about her, Lulune?"


    "A��Asfi." Lulune called out to her with a shaking voice.


    Ais looked at her and recognized her. She then helped Lulune stand up so that she can exin the situation, "Did you all ept this request as well?"


    Lulune thanked her and stood up and exined while wearing a wry smile, "Just a few days ago, that person in the ck robe appeared and asked for our help. At first, I said, ''No more'' and rejected him but��" Her voice started trailing off.


    Asfi, in an irritated tone, continued her words, "Then he threatened to rat us out for lying about our level. In the end, we got dragged along��"


    The Guild is responsible for collecting tax from Familia''s that live in Orario based on their ranks. And the Hermes Familia had many group members, which lied about their levels. They would be ranked higher if they submitted their real strength, increasing the amount of tax due. The amount of tax and fines that they have been evading was building up.


    "You idiot! Stupid fool! You call yourself a thief!? You should have just pretended to be ignorant instead of being threatened!" Asfi couldn''t help butsh out at Lulune.


    "Uuuu�� Forgive me��" And Lulune already realized her mistakes. Although she had good skills as a thief, she didn''t have a disposition of one.


    "I already have my hands full from dealing with Hermes-sama''s selfishness�� Now I have to deal with this." Asfi held her aching head.


    "Uhhmm��"


    Asfi finally remembered there are other people besides their Familia in here and fixed her sses while saying, "Sorry. I showed you such a pitiful sight��" Not wasting any time, Asfi started exining without questioning their presence. It''s not like they had a choice, anyway, "Let me go over the details of the request. Our destination is the pantry on the 24th floor. So our objectives are to find out the reason behind therge amounts of monsters appearing and to eliminate it. Am I mistaken?"


    The Pantry is a giant quartz crystal, of which 2 to 3 exist on every floor. A clear liquid flows from this crystal and monsters born in the Dungeon use this as a source of nutrients.


    Confirming that they have received the same request, Ais nodded, "Yes."


    "Well then, let me introduce our members." Asfi then introduced everyone from their side aside from Lulune who the group already knew, "And I''m Asfi Al Andromeda. I''ll be giving orders to everyone from the center guard. My weapon is a short sword and I have a small number of items. Most of our statuses are at Level 3."


    Fixing her sses in a simr fashion as Asfi, Sona introduced themselves, "I''m Sona a bow user, and this is Aika and Koneko. A long sword and war hammer users respectively. We are from the Hestia Familia and all at Level 2 and coincidentally came with Ais-san when she received the request."


    Asfi nodded at her and felt strange seeing someone with the same mannerism as her, "The Sword Princess might have warned you already, but this is a very dangerous mission for a Level 2 and we wouldn''t be able to cover for you as we''ll prioritize ourselves."


    "We''re aware of the risks and we''ll be fine on our own," Sona replied.


    "Right! For people who imed to be Level 2, they are strangely strong!" Lulune added.


    Asfi furrowed her brows but didn''t ask any further and looked towards Ais.


    Although everyone already knew about her, she still has to introduce herself as a formality, "Loki Familia, Ais Wallenstein. My weapon is a rapier."


    Heaving a sigh, Asfi faced everyone from her party, "Since it''s like this, it can''t be helped. All members, try your hardest towards thepletion of the request. Especially you, Lulune! Work as if you were about to die!"


    "I got it��" Lulune replied with a dejected face. She was not sad because she received an earful from her captain, but she was feeling guilty that herrades had to be dragged along the problem she created.


    Asfi then faced Ais, "I feel more confident since you''re with us, Sword Princess. However, I think it will be a short party. Best regards, and also to the three of you."


    "It''s a pleasure." Ais and Sona replied.


    Asfi, with a serious face, suddenly approached and gathered Ais, Aika, Sona, and Koneko, "However, please refrain from talking about our secrets."


    "Ah, yes��" Ais could only reply such while the trio didn''t know what expression they should make and wondered if this party is going to be alright.


    Wubalubbadubdub:


    28th00: Megane wars are going to happen. Sona vs Asfi! IT''S HAPPENING! Who shall Megane HARDER!? Koneko and Aika have the recorders, Kisuke will never let her live this down��


    Alexander: Screams for an official contest. The judges are Kisuke, Loki, Hermes and Ganesha.


    Goyya: I still dig the can''t-be-honest Kaichou.

 Volume 7 422 - Yuri Elf

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 422 - Yuri Elf</h4>


    When the rescue team, which consisted of Bete, Filvis, Lefiya, and Yoruichi, was about to leave, Bete first questioned Loki''s decision, "Are you sure about this, Loki? Although I don''t really like it, I can understand that the Elf ising with us as she''s a Level 3�� But why do we have to take this Level 2 baggage with us?" Bete pointed at Yoruichi while asking.


    Dionysus and Filvis were shocked as they thought that the other reinforcement is at least a level 3 which is already the bare minimum to explore the 24th Floor, "Loki, you''re not joking, right? She''s just going to throw her life away."


    Loki''s expression didn''t change and reassured them, "It''s fine. She can also lead to Ais faster." She then faced the ever-smiling Yoruichi, "Isn''t that right?"


    "Yeah~. I should be able to tell the general direction they went. They''re our girls, after all." Yoruichi answered in an upbeat tone.


    "Tsk." Clicking his tongue, Bete agreed since he can''t actually go against Loki''s decision and that it was only a waste of time. "Just don''t hold us back. Let''s go." He then started running towards the Tower of Babel without minding his supposedpanions.


    "Well, that''s just how he is, Yoruichi-kun. Don''t mind his attitude too much. He''s actually a pretty kind guy that can''t leave others alone." Loki defended her child.


    "I can tell that, but I don''t really like his mouth and his tendency to underestimate others. There are other ways to dissuade others to not be an Adventurer." Yoruichi then started running after him.


    Filvis and Lefiya bid their farewell to their respective Gods and followed after the two.


    "What''s this, Loki? You have hidden forces?" Dionysus asked while looking at Yoruichi''s back.


    "Hidden forces? I don''t really have them, ask Freya about that." Loki only answered as such before turning around and leaving the blond God alone.


    On their way, the group decided that their first stop would be the 18th floor''s Under Resort, Rivira to gather some information on what exactly Ais and her group''s objective on the 24th Floor was, so they could pinpoint their exact location.


    Bete, however, was gobsmacked. It was supposed to be his job to lead the group, yet it was Yoruichi who was in front and he can''t seem to catch up to her. Normally, the one leading is the first one who would meet the monsters and would be slowed down by them. However, Yoruichi only shifted through the crowd of rampaging monsters without any damagending on her while the other three had to deal with killing the monsters that were blocking their way.


    After going through the army of Minotaurs on the 17th floor, Yoruichi turned to the other three who were killing them and said with a smile, "I''m going first~. I''ll go gather information in Rivira before we go to the 24th Floor."


    "Goddammit!" Bete couldn''t help but be frustrated as he kicked away multiple Minotaurs that wereing for him as he tried to catch up. It didn''t make him feel better when he was reminded that it was him who said that Yoruichi will be holding them back. Who could have thought that a Level 2, which is the weakest of them all could outrun them? Only Lefiya was not surprised about this because she heard that she was from ''that'' Hestia Familia who had monstrous Level 2s which even she can''t defeat.


    Yoruichi arrived at Rivira soon after. She could have just led the group straight towards Ais''s location thanks to the Ki markings that Koneko left as they travel, but she first wanted to see Sona''s second letter which she ced in Rivira.


    Going to their agreed upon spot, Yoruichi removed a certain rock from the wall of the 18th floor and uncovered Sona''s letter. She then went through it a single time before burning it to cinders, ''So it''s the Hermes Familia�� Chances are, this is the Guild''s secret quest like Sona suspected. I already checked the spot where they met with the ck-robed person, but that guy already erased his tracks.''


    Yoruichi was about to go back to her group, but she suddenly noticed a mild scent of blood. It wasn''t supposed to be rare as monsters would sometimese to the 18th Floor, however, what caught her attention is the scent of a person''s blood on another person.


    Although Sona, Aika, and Koneko''s situation is urgent, she didn''t want to miss this chance as it might lead to something. Besides, she could just teleport to their exact location if there''s really an emergency or their lives were in danger.


    Yoruichi exited Rivira and followed the scent of blood and found two people dressed in white which covered everything, except for their eyes. Their attire immediately jogged a piece of certain information inside Yoruichi''s head, ''That attire�� It''s simr to the description of what Evilus''s members wore during its active periods.''


    Yoruichi was dumbfounded that something like this existed and tried to follow them when they entered. However, she suddenly stopped her steps when she felt that there was some sort of surveince ced around and didn''t risk it.


    Yoruichi stepped back and changed her position to get a better view of the ce and waited there for another half an hour to see if someone woulde out. But during those times, there was no activity of any sort from it and she gave up for today, ''I''ll bring Kisuke here after he''s done with his things.''


    She then went back to the other three and found them having devolved into drama, ''What now?''


    She came into the scene where Bete was doing a wall m on Filvis with a nasty smile painted over his face, "I don''t know about the details, but word is that you threw yourrades away and managed to survive on your own. Serves you right. Why are you still an Adventurer? It would have been better if you had just died."


    "Bete-san!" Lefiya shouted at him.


    Filvis, on the other hand, only smiled dejectedly, "��It''s exactly as you said. That day, without dying alongside my Familia andrades, I continued to live in shame�� Ungracefully."


    She then looked up to Bete with a defeated expression, "You''ve heard the rumors, right? What are you going to do? Disband here? I might just kill you guys."


    Bete eyes widened as he could see genuine resignation in her eyes. He gritted his teeth and didn''t like her answer at all. Smashing the wall behind her, Bete turned around and muttered as he walked away, "People that I hate the most, are those who literally interpret rumors like that�� People like you."


    Lefiya could only stay silent after witnessing all of that until Filvis suddenly called out to her, "Lefiya Viridis. Even if it''s a mere rumor, don''t associate with me. Don''te near me. I''m tainted."


    Lefiya didn''t know what to say. She didn''t want to end it like this. Filvis was someone she looked up to after seeing her gracefully and beautifully fight through the monsters earlier. Most of all, she had a feeling that it wasn''t as simple as it seemed. She wanted to say something, but no words came to her mind as she watched her leave and probably go on her own which was very dangerous.


    "I don''t want to taint my brethren," Filvis muttered.


    That was the final straw as Lefiya suddenly grabbed her hand and prevented her from leaving.


    Gritting her teeth, Filvis shouted, "Let go of me! I''m-"


    However, Lefiya interrupted her, "Not tainted!" Lefiya looked into her eyes and said, "You''re not tainted! You''re much more beautiful than me and�� very nice!" Due to theck of her lexicon, she could only say such.


    Still, Filvis was not yet convinced, "Ho-how would you know that!? Quit spouting nonsense! We barely just met not long ago!"


    "Eh!?" Lefiya panicked, but she still told her what was on her mind, "I�� I will continue to find out more about you!!"


    Filvis''s mind nked out after hearing her, ''What''s this��? What is this feeling?'' She asked herself as this is the first time she would be actually treated this way. A few secondster, due to this strange feeling, she couldn''t help but smile andughed a little, "Ku�� What was that? That really isn''t an appropriate"


    "Eh!?" Lefiya was dumbfounded, realized the underlying tone of her words and covered her face in embarrassment, "Auu��"


    "When I heard from Aika that you like girls, I didn''t believe her. But after seeing this, I can''t doubt her words anymore." Yoruichi approached them with a smile.


    "Eh? Since when were you here!?" Lefiya asked in panic.


    "Since that guy did a wall m."


    "Since the beginning!?"


    "And by the way, that mutt didn''t actually leave and has been eavesdropping all this while." Yoruichi pointed behind her.


    "Wh-!?" From behind the tree, the startled Bete could be heard and the two girls couldn''t help but look strangely at his location.


    "Now then~. Let''s go to the 24th-floor ~. Ais and our girls are currently with the Hermes Familia and are currently heading towards the pantry of that floor." Their journey resumed with a strange awkwardness between them thanks to Yoruichi.


    ''What-ever-it-is-currently-called'' corner

 Volume 7 423 - Futuristic Weapon

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 423 - Futuristic Weapon</h4>


    The Hermes Familia showcased their strength until the party reached the 24th Floor. Just like they said, they lied about their levels being only at Level 1 and Level 2 and Asfi just being a Level 3.


    Aside from that, their teamwork was very polished and it was very obvious that they had been doing this for a long time now. Everyone was very proud of Asfi''s ability to create items when she showed a Molotov-like potion that strengthens fire magic multiple times.


    While Ais was amazed, the trio was not so much and all of them thought that if they asked, Kisuke could probably whip out a fricking magic rocketuncher or bazooka in just a few hours.


    "Say�� Shouldn''t we ask something like that for real? He''ll probably make it without question." Aika whispered to the other two.


    "More than make, I have a feeling that he already has something like that somewhere in his inventory," Sona replied while fixing her sses and thought about what they could do with it.


    "I''m asking senpai for one once we return." Koneko, on the other hand, finalized her decision thinking how fun it would be to st monsters with it.


    "What are you whispering, you three?" Ais asked in curiosity.


    "Nothing. We''re talking about asking our Captain for some gifts." Sona answered.


    Although a very weird time to talk about gifts, Ais epted her answer and said, "Is that so? Let''s go. We''re near the northern pantry."


    The party went on and found a parade of at least a hundred monsters which was an irregr urrence on this floor, "What should we do?" Lulune asked while having a nervous expression. No matter how good their teamwork was, there was no way for their Familia to take on that many monsters.


    "Leave this to me," Ais said to everyone as she jumped down on the clusters of monsters.


    "Wait!" Asfi tried to stop her, but it was already toote. Contrary to her expectation, though, Ais annihted all the monsters only a few minutester and the whole Hermes Familia were gobsmacked, "So this is a top-tier Adventurer from a top-tier Familia�� Amazing." One of them said.


    "We aren''t even needed here, are we?" Another one said and nobody could deny his im.


    The Hermes Familia soon recovered their bearings and proceeded with their objective and navigated through the floor to reach the northern pantry which was the nearest pantry to the monster outbreak.


    Once they reached the only path leading to it, they were shocked to see a green wall of what seems to be nt-like matter was blocking their way, "Lulune, is this the correct path?"


    Lulune checked her map again in panic, "I-It should be. I picked a path that led to the pantry. There''s no way something like this should exist."


    Asfi thought for a moment before facing herrades, "Falgar, Thane. Take the others and split into two groups. I want you to search the area but make sure toe back if something irregr happens."


    The Hermes Familia searched around to look for another path but failed to do so and decided to retreat for a bit and rest, "So this is what is it��" Asfi muttered as she looked at the green wall.


    "Asfi?" Lulune asked.


    However, it was Sona who continued her words, "If the pantry is the food source of the monsters and the way to it is blocked, it''s only natural that they would look for another one�� Hence, mass migration which can also be called a monster outbreak if one is not aware of the truth."


    "Correct. The monsters, without a choice, have to move using the paths that the Adventurers use and that resulted in casualties."


    "Even if you say that, Asfi��" Lulune then looked towards the wall, "What''s behind this wall?" Lulune asked.


    "We''ll know once we''re inside. We already identified the cause of the monster outbreak, we only have to solve this wall''s existence and we''ll be free to go home."


    The party then broke through the wall and found the original path towards the pantry, however, everything in it was already covered by the simr material as the wall, and a few seconds after everyone entered, the opening they created already closed as if a wound healed in an instant.


    "The wall��" Some of the Hermes Familia got worried but Asfi reassured them, "It''s not like we can''t get out. All we need to do is open a hole again."


    "Hey, can I say something scary?" Lulune caught everyone''s attention while she was kicking the newly ''healed'' wall, "If this disgusting jelly-like wall is a huge monster, wouldn''t it mean that we''re travelling inside its stomach?" She ended her sentence with a disturbingugh.


    "Hey!"


    "Stop that!"


    "That''s not aughing matter!"


    The party continued their journey and soon discovered that their map was already useless because they encountered multiple fork roads that shouldn''t exist.


    A quarter of an hour of moving through maze-like terrain, they finally found something different and those were monster ashes, "Is this a monster carcass?" A bulky man from Hermes Familia approached and inspected it.


    Asfi also approached and confirmed his guesses, "Most likely this monster was able to break through the wall and was killed by something aftering all this way. That''s strange��" It was strange because they haven''t encountered a single thing that could kill monsters.


    However, it was this instant that Koneko suddenly shouted to everyone, "Watch out! Above us!"


    Everyone looked up and saw nt type monsters dropping down from the ceiling with their fangs bearing towards the party.


    "Everyone! Prepare to fight back!" Asfimanded.


    It''s also at this moment that the trio showed their abilities for the first time. Aika made her first move and instantly reappeared in front of the iing monsters. With a single wave of her sword, she instantly turned two of them into ashes.


    During this time, Sona shouted, "Their magic stones are inside their mouths. Hitting it with a ranged weapon is your best bet. It''s also better to use a sharp weapon instead of a blunt weapon if you want to attack its body. And most importantly, it''s attracted to magic! You can use magic stones to dictate some of their movement!" As she mouthed all of that, she started using her bow to take down some of the monsters too.


    The whole Hermes Familia was shocked at their sudden change. All this while, they thought that they were only an unnecessary addition in this party and could potentially drag everyone to danger as they were only Level 2.


    Comment section


    Alexander: Hmmm, Koneko with a rocketuncher. I really want to see that. It''s bound to be an awesome sight to behold.


    28th00: Kitten Cannon, an old shgame that fits for her rocketuncher! Also, people in this world are stuck in that xianxia cultivator mentality of "Level = Power" and nobody can fight someone above that level�� But they rush to level up with D-C level in their highest stats�� I still say a single gamer would roflstomp this setting with absolute disgust at that mentality.


    Goyya: The rocketuncher will definitely make an appearanceter.

 Volume 7 424 - Half Soul

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 424 - Half Soul</h4>


    The party was able to sessfully kill all nt monsters and discussed a bit about the monsters and theprehensive countermeasures that they can implement once they encounter them again.


    Although they didn''t have time to talk about the trio''s abilities that they just showed, the look that the Hermes Familia was giving them changed and they finally looked at them as trustypanions and not just some random addition that they had to protect.


    And just as they expected more monsters came after them soon after and this time they wereing from the ce they were aiming for and from behind them, "Sword Princess, can I ask you to take care of one side?"


    "Understood." Ais nodded at her and took the monsters that wereing from behind them.


    "Let''s go!" With Asfi''s shout, all of them moved out and Aika, Sona, and Koneko went with the Hermes Familia to take on the front.


    But just as Ais separated from them, giant green pirs started dropping from above and pierced the ground between Ais and the rest of the group, effectively separating them, "!?"


    The nt monsters which Ais was supposed to face off retreated and a red-haired woman came walking towards her, "To think you''de on your own ord. It''s just what I wished for."


    Ais slowly stood up from her position and faced her target, ''She''s here, just as I thought.''


    "Long time no see, Aria."


    .


    .


    Lulune and Aika checked the pir that separated them from Ais and both of them figured that it would take some time to break it and with the monstersing after them, they virtually had no time.


    "Lulune, what''s our estimated distance to the pantry from our current position?" Asfi asked.


    "If it''s the same as the old map, then around 500." She answered in a worried tone.


    "Five more monsters from the side!", reported a vanguard of the Hermes Familia.


    "Everyone! Scatter the magic stones!" Asfimanded and everyone who had a bag with magic stones which was previously distributed, threw it away from their group. The monsters dived towards the magic stones like they were hoping for and they used this chance to run towards the opening it created, "Run now!"


    Asfi then threw her Molotov-like cocktail towards the monsters they left behind andmanded, "Nelly, use your magic sword!"


    Nelly, a human girl which acted as their center guard, took out her magic sword and waved it, releasing a ball of fire that hit Asfi''s creation, creating arge explosion of me that engulfed all the monsters.


    "Lulune, we have no more time to make a map. You should avoidbat and memorize theyout with all your strength!"


    "Got it!"


    "We''ll run directly to the pantry from here!"


    " " "Roger that!" " " Everyone from the Hermes Familia shouted.


    "Falgar, take the lead!" Asfimanded their tank and looked behind her and faced the monsters that didn''t die from the attack just now, "I''ll take the rear myself!"


    "Just as I thought, they haven''t been killed off properly!" Asfi deflected their attacks using her short sword, however, there were too many of them to initiate a counter-attack and so, she could only hold them off, ''Taking into ount the situation and difference in levels, I''m the one who should stay behind to hold them back�� Still, there''s too many of them!''


    But during her time of distress due to her underestimating the number of monsters, a two-meter long de suddenly shed in front of her, cutting off the tail of the monster, "Hey, I can help~." Aika came with a smile.


    "Thanks." Asfi nodded at her and the two of them pulled away from the monsters before they took off to follow the rest.


    They went straight towards the pantry, cutting through the nt monsters which blocked them.


    .


    .


    .


    "Shoot, sniper of fairies! Prate, arrow of absolute uracy! Arcs Ray!" With a beam of light, Lefiya annihted the monsters that blocked them on the 24th floor.


    "I see, you''re from Wishe Forest. One of the Elves known for their outstanding magic power even among other Elves. No wonder you are able to output that much magic power." Filvismented.


    "T-thank you. This is the only trait that I have��" Lefiya blushed at herpliment, ''It''s no good! My face is breaking into a smile even though we''re still in battle.'' She then looked towards Filvis again and thought, ''I''ve gotten closer to Filvis-san since that incident on the 18th Floor, at least, I think so. It feels like I''ve gained apanion and a friend at the same time. It makes me happy.''


    But someone intruded in her happy moment, "Oi, yuri Elf, don''t slow down." Yoruichi suddenly appeared in front of her face with a grin.


    "Wah!" Lefiya was startled at her sudden appearance, but a certain word caught her attention, "Yuri? What''s that? But I feel that''s incredibly rude."


    Once they reached the 24th floor, Yoruichi went behind everyone and they thought that her basic parameters already couldn''t keep up with the monsters of this floor. Although Lefiya has some doubts as she has already seen how the other three from their Familia fought, and this was far from their limits, she didn''t point it out as it seemed that Riveria wanted to keep their strength a secret.


    And Lefiya''s doubts were correct. Yoruichi was holding back because she could feel someone following their tracks and she was keeping an eye on him, ''This Mana signature is weird�� A hybrid of a monster and a person? Is he one of those which Sona and the rest encountered on the 18th floor with a simrly weird Mana signature?''


    Yoruichi then took a strategic position that also wouldn''t garner any suspicion to take a glimpse at their stalker. Once the stalker entered the corner of her eyes, she immediately memorized his figure but couldn''t find much about it as he was wearing a ck cloak and a ck mask that covered his whole face, including his eyes.


    However, a split secondter, something else came into her view, his soul, "What!? Another half soul?" Then she looked towards Filvis who was talking happily with Lefiya and, coincidentally, also had only a half of her soul, ''What''s this? What''s going on?''


    But Yoruichi didn''t have time to contemte this as she felt the disturbance at the destination they were supposed to go and reached the green wall.


    "What''s this?" Bete asked as he stopped in front of the wall to inspect it.


    Yoruichi didn''t have time to listen to their guesses and directly smashed the wall in front of them, "No time for that! Things are heating up inside!" Then she went in first with amazing speed and left behind everyone.


    " " "��What?" " "

 Volume 7 425 - Decision

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 425 - Decision</h4>


    It took the Hermes Familia and the trio''s party a quarter of an hour to reach the entrance to the pantry due to waves of monsters rushing at them. But strangely, once they reached the area near the pantry, the nt monsters disappeared.


    After they saw a glimpse of the pantry and no sight of monsters around, they took this chance to recover their stamina and injuries through potions.


    After a few minutes, the group got ready and started walking towards the red light of the crystal which is the pantry.


    When they were about to reach the room where the crystal was, Koneko''s ears perked up and she put on a serious face, "��There''s a lot of people inside. And one of them is strong�� We''re not a match."


    Sona nodded at her and faced Asfi, "I think we should retreat."


    Asfi was shocked at Koneko''s statement, but she was more surprised at Sona''s decision. They haven''t even seen anyone yet much less gauge their strength, "We won''t really know until we see and fight them."


    "��" Sona could only stay silent. Although she trusts Koneko, the others don''t have any basis of the same trust nor did she have any evidence that''ll convince them.


    "I know you only came with the Sword Princess and got involved in this mess. You don''t have a reason to risk your lives as we do so it''ll be fine for you to retire here and escape to safety." Asfi saw the hesitation in Sona''s eyes and gave them a way out.


    "Asfi is right. You three originally only got dragged in this mess. Although that doesn''t change the fact that you saved us multiple times and we''re very grateful for that. You don''t have to worry, we''ll give you a part of the reward for all the work you''ve done all this time." Keaks, a human and the one who kept bothering their Captain, trying to impress her, said with a smile and a thumbs up.


    "Once we return to the surface, allow me to buy you a drink as thanks~!" Lulune added.


    Everyone from the Hermes Familia was smiling at them and regarded them highly because of the actions that immensely helped them and potentially saved some of their members'' lives, contrary to how they looked at them at the start of this quest.


    A small girl with medium length purple hair and pale blue eyes came out from the back of their group and shyly went in front of Koneko. She was wearing a purple hat, purple robe, and brown shoes. Meryl, the sole magic user of the group, "Uhmm�� Thank you very much! For saving me back then."


    She then hurriedly went back to their rearguard where she can be safe.


    "Well then, let''s go." With Asfi''s cue, the Hermes Familia simultaneously turned around and faced the entrance to the pantry before running towards it, leaving the trio behind.


    The trio could only stay silent as they went through the entrance and they could hear the shouts of the battle soon after, "So these are Adventurers, huh. Unless they knew for sure that they''d lose their lives, they would tackle the mystery head-on."


    Sona sighed and turned around, "If Kisuke is here, he would happily ept this arrangement as there are no more benefits for him, but��"


    "We''re not Kisuke�� and we''ll never be." Aika added with a big smile.


    Koneko nodded, "They are also good people�� Though they really have bad habits�� And Meryl is cute."


    Soon after, they heard an explosion and their expression changed, "Let''s go and give Kisuke a headache!" Aika shouted as she ran towards the entrance of the pantry.


    Koneko immediately followed her, "I think senpai will be fine with that."


    Of course, Sona won''t be left behind, "Just don''t risk it. Yoruichi is probablying soon."


    " "Roger that!" " Both of them answered.


    As soon as they reached the room where the pantry was, they were gobsmacked at the scene of the Hermes Familia running away from what seemed to be suicide bombers, "Dang it, to think it would evolve into this within just a minute or two." Aika hurriedly pulled out her throwing knives and aimed for the forehead of the white-dressed people, instantly killing them.


    However, that didn''t do much as therades of this suicide bombers woulde near the dead body and activate the trigger of the bomb, "��T-these guys are crazy��"


    "Aika, hold back those guys. Koneko, help those who need healing. I''ll support both of you from behind." Sonamanded.


    The two nodded and went to their respective works, "Ei!" Koneko went beside the human girl who was healing the injured male elf who got caught in an explosion when he tried to save Lulune from the first explosion and smashed the face of another suicide bomber, caving it in and instantly killing him.


    "Y-you guys��" Nelly, the leader of the rearguard and the one healing the injured Elf, Thane, was shocked at the sudden reinforcement. A secondter, however, she recovered, and focused on healing herrade, "Thank you."


    Koneko checked on them and figured that they would be fine. She then went to others who needed help. On the way to others, Koneko got besieged by numerous bombers, however, arrows flew one by one, killing them. Sona was keeping an eye on her.


    "Why did youe back?" Asfi asked Sona who went beside her.


    "We figured that we might as well finish this quest," Sona answered simply while sniping people with her bow.


    But before Asfi could say anything, Aika shouted from the frontline, "Iing monsters!" And soon as she said that, an almost overwhelming number of monsters came out of the ground.


    The man-eating nt monsters, however, didn''t just attack Sona and Asfi''s group but also indiscriminately ate those from the other side.


    That, however, also didn''t deter the other side and they kept exploding themselves, making the situation more chaotic and unpredictable, "These guys are hopeless��" Sonamented.


    Gritting her teeth, Asfi decided, "I''m cutting through. We have to take out that guy who seems responsible for controlling these monsters, or else, we''ll just get tired and die."


    "Are you certain? That tamer is probably around Level 5," Sona asked.


    "Of course not, however, as long as I can catch him off-guard, I have a chance and I''m betting on it."


    "Fine. I''ll cover your nk. Good luck." Sona readied her bow and calcted who was going to be in Asfi''s way once she ran out.


    "Thank you." Asfi expressed her gratitude before running towards the leader with a speed of a Level 4.

 Volume 7 426 - Back Up

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 426 - Back Up</h4>


    Asfi rushed through the enemies while Sona covered her sides with her arrows. Keaks was also present to help and assisted her using throwing stones. A few secondster, Asfi reached the leader of the suicide bombers and cut his neck.


    Although that didn''t do much as they are already crazy in the first ce to follow thesemands, Asfi moved towards the masked tamer that is controlling the nt monsters which he has been calling Vis.


    "You should have just let yourself get eaten by the Vis��" The masked tamer muttered to no one in particr, "Kill her." With hismand, ten Vi tails came out of the ground and aimed to pierce her.


    "!!!?" Asfi immediately dodged to the side, "Guh��" But due to this, she was also trapped between the rocks and would have no way to dodge the iing mouth of Vi, "You move well, Adventurer. Or should I say, Perseus? Nevertheless, die."


    But instead of panic, Asfi only sighed and touched her sandals, "Tria."


    Asfi then soared high up, dodging the multitude of Vis, "What!?" The mask tamer eximed.


    Even the suicide bombers had to stop their movements to witness this ridiculous sight of a human flying, "Is she flying�� in the air��!?"


    Tria. A magic item created by Perseus, Asfi Al Andromeda. Each sandal has two wings that enable the wielder to fly. It has been kept secret because of its ability, "You''ve made me use this. I''ll have to kill you perfectly now."


    She then threw a bag worth of explosive potions towards the monsters on the ground, "Crap!!!" Keaks, who was the nearest, had to find cover and ducked down to avoid friendly fire.


    A series of explosions erupted among the monsters along with raging fire, killing most of them. And using the sound and clouds of dust her explosion created as cover, Asfi flew towards the tamer''s back and aimed her short sword towards his chest.


    The tamer felt her movements and turned around, however, "Too slow!" Asfi already arrived and plunged her sword and the tamer is already toote to dodge.


    But that didn''t go as she expected as the tamer didn''t need to dodge in the first ce. The tamer grabbed her sword with his bare hand and it only managed to make his hand bleed a little, "What��!?"


    Asfi tried to pull out her sword, however, ''It won''t move!'' The grip was so strong, she had no choice but to abandon her sword.


    Even so, "Take this!" She''s already toote as the tamer grabbed the cor of her clothes using his other free hand and threw her towards the ground, "Gah!?"


    ''What strength! I have to keep my distance.'' Asfi immediately tried to get away, "Where did he go!?" Nheless, the tamer already disappeared from his spot when she recovered her footing.


    The tamer reappeared behind her and whispered to Asfi, "You forgot something." Before stabbing the sword he got from Asfi on her back and piercing through her stomach, "!!!?"


    "Asfi!!!" Shouted by herrades and tried to cut through the crowd, however, they failed to do so.


    "I know full well how tough Adventurers are. You''d normally recover easily from this��" Not satisfied, the tamer twisted the sword, twisting her inside, "AHHH!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!" And it resulted in unbearable pain for Asfi that tears came out of her eyes.


    "Don''t touch Asfi-san!" Keaks came out of his hiding spot, "With you dirty hands!" He nned to throw a distraction, but the tamer already saw through it and just pped away his small smoke bomb, "You''re going to die first, then. Vis."


    A single tail came out of the ground near Keaks, but since he''s currently airborne, he doesn''t have a way to dodge and would be killed in an instant, "Keaks!!!"


    However, the grim future they were expecting didn''t happen as a giant snake made out of water came and swept Keaks up using its mouth, stealing him from the jaws of death, "What!?" The tamer was once again shocked.


    But before he could make sense of what''s happening, a de aiming for his neck and a Warhammer aiming for his chest suddenly came in and he had to drop Asfi to jump back fast enough to dodge those silent but deadly attacks that aimed at his vitals.


    Not letting him recover, Aika rushed towards him while Koneko took care of Asfi. Coming in front of him, Aika immediately executed one of her techniques, ''Nadegiri (Clean Sweep)!'' and shed horizontally towards his neck as it seems to be his weak point considering the Mana gathering around it is weaker than the rest.


    Yet, the tamer was able to use both of his arms to block her de. The same move that cut the Goliath''s leg off only cut the tamer''s arm bone-deep, "Seriously?" Aika couldn''t help but smile wryly as she retreated.


    The tamer put down his arms and everyone can see that the wound on it already started healing and closing, "What''s this? Where did youe from? I didn''t know that there are Adventurers like you."


    "Hooh�� Are you saying that you know every Adventurer in the city?" Aika asked while maintaining her stance. She chose to entertain him since she can already feel Yoruichi''s Reiatsu-Ki closelying in.


    "I at least knew of everyone remarkable. It''s the least I can do to destroy that sh*tty ce." The tamer replied as he started walking towards Aika.


    Sona arrived using her water serpent and took care of Asfi in Koneko''s ce, "What a collection of weird magic." The tamermented as he observed the water serpent and recalled Aika''s sudden reappearance in front of him.


    "Be careful." Sona reminded the two that took a stance against the tamer. Sona had to get away with Asfi as she couldn''t help much in regards to closebat, ''I should ramp up my closebat training.'' She thought while riding away.


    A few secondster, the tamer versus Aika and Koneko sh began. While the tamer was doing his best to catch the two, Aika and Koneko yed it safe by only counter-attacking and evading using their sh Step.


    The tamer didn''t know what''s going on anymore as they can both apparently use the same magic and the weird thing is, he can''t hear any chant as it activated abruptly without any sign.


    Sona arrived at the ce where the Hermes Familia is still battling the Vis and suicide bombers, "Asfi!!!" They came weing theirrade who almost died, "Thank you�� Thank you very much�� We don''t know how we could thank you enough. Without you guys, Keaks and Asfi probably would have met their end�� And maybe including us." Lulune came crying.


    However, she was only greeted by Sona''s angry expression, "Don''t leave your position! We''re not out of danger yet! Use a defensive formation and take advantage of the remaining magic stones by luring those monsters towards those bombers! Keaks-san, make sure that nobodyes near this ce! Meryl, don''t use any magic for now! Same for you, Nelly-san, don''t use those magic swords yet! They could be our lifeler!" A stream ofmand came out from her.


    Due to the pressure she''s giving off, the Hermes Familia werepelled to follow, "Y-yes Ma''am!"


    "But we can''t keep this up. We have to escape before our supplies and stamina are depleted." Nelly asked what concerns her.


    "Don''t worry, reinforcements areing."


    "Reinforcements?"


    "Yes."


    What came to everyone''s mind is the Sword Princess who hasn''t shown herself, "Okay!" Nelly nodded with renewed motivation.


    While the Hermes Familia were keeping the enemies at bay, Sona used this chance to heal Asfi.


    Asfi already gathered her bearings as the pain slowly disappeared, "What about yourpanions?"


    "They are going to be fine." Sona answered, ''But honestly, they are probably using their everything just to predict that guy''s movement as their only choice is to dodge. A single mistake would be costly.'' She thought.


    The situation continued for a few more minutes, and the tamer''s patience was already running thin, "Damn you all!" He nned to smash the ground so that his opponents'' movements could be sealed.


    However, before he could do so, the wall not by the Hermes Familia exploded into pieces, revealing several figures beyond it, "Huh? Who are you guys!?"


    "Hmm? Vanargand?" The tamer muttered as he looked towards their direction.


    "Ey, ey, ey. Just a bit of a distraction and you already lost your awareness?" A voice of a girl then suddenly resounded on top of him before a knife was thrust in his mouth, "Gah! KAH!!!"


    The tamer thrashed wildly to throw off the woman stepping on his head. The woman, on the other hand, only effortlessly jumped away and arrived beside Aika and Koneko, "Hey, good work out there~!"


    "Yoruichi!" Both of them shouted in happiness.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Words:


    28th00: I can''t help but feel that if Medusa meets Asfi, she''s going to have the trippiest experience��


    Goyya: Their meeting is still far in the future.

 Volume 7 427 - Playing with the Enemy

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 427 - ying with the Enemy</h4>


    "Uhmm�� She was just beside us the moment you made the opening, right, Bete-san? Filvis-san?" Lefiya asked.


    Bete and Filvis could only stare nkly at Yoruichi who already made her move and injured the leader figure of the enemy.


    "Whatever! What is this ce?" Bete asked after seeing the battles happening around the red crystal being coiled around by a muchrger nt monster, "Several forces are jumbled together��? And the pantry? What''s that? A new monster?" Bete then faced Lefiya, "I''ll buy you some time. In the meantime, you get rid of those man-eating flowers."


    As Lefiya started casting, the Vis also gathered their attention to her while Bete and Filvis started intercepting them. One of the suicide bombers managed to creep up on them and a shouted warning came from the Hermes Familia, "Hey! Be careful! He''s��"


    But before Lulune could finish her sentence, Bete casually turned around and kicked the man in the face, sending him flying and exploding in the air, "You''re too slow." Bete muttered.


    And this time, Lefiya managed to finish her chant and is ready to fire off her magic, ''What magic power!!!'' Meryl thought and warned everyone, "E-everyone, run away!!!"


    With her warning, everyone from the Hermes Familia found a hiding ce, "Fuside Farica!" Using almost all of her magic power, Lefiya managed to annihte all the Vis crawling on the surface.


    "You''re�� Lefiya, right!?" Lulune shouted after she came out of her hiding ce and came running to them.


    Lefiya turned to the voice and eximed, "Uh�� Lulune-san!? Why are you here?"


    But Bete intercepted Lulune''s approach and grabbed her cor, "Hey, where''s Ais!? Answer me!"


    Due to the pressureing from him, Lulune couldn''t help but shake, but she still did her best to answer, "T-the Sword Princess was with us, but she got separated."


    "Huh? Separated?"


    Seeing her chance, Lulune immediately pleaded, "Besides that, please, help us." She then pointed towards the tamer that Yoruichi has been tossing around all this time, "I bet that guy over there knows what''s wrong with this ce and also about the man-eating�� flowers��?" As Lulune turn around, she was gobsmacked at what''s happening to the tamer that her voice trailed off at the end of her sentence, "She�� she''s ying with him?"


    While Bete, Lefiya, and Filvis were dealing with the Vis, Yoruichi was dealing with the tamer. Each time the tamer would throw an attack, Yoruichi would only redirect his attack and would use his own force to toss him around which resulted in a very infuriated man, "You bitch!!!"


    He couldn''t understand why this is happening, he can tell that her basic parameters are only of a Level 3 at most, but as if she''s predicting the future, she would already have a response to whatever action he did and what''s weirder is that each time his attack fails, the strength behind it would be sent back to him. Aside from the infuriation and confusion, fear also started crawling towards his mind and stressing him out.


    When Yoruichi noticed that they are already done on the other side, she called out, "Hey, wolfie! Stop bullying the girl and deal with this guy. The Sword Princess should be fine."


    Bete was startled and woken up from his stupor when he was called. Although he witnessed something ridiculous and didn''t really know how to react to that, he still acted tough, "A-aren''t you doing fine!?"


    "Don''t be ridiculous. This guy is at least a Level 5! A Level 2 like me has no way of hurting him! (Without revealing more than this.)" Yoruichi replied as she dodged the tamer''s attack.


    ''You''re the ridiculous one here!!!'' Bete, Lefiya, and Filvis simultaneously thought while the Hermes Familia thought they were hearing a bad joke, ''A Level 2? Could you not tell such an obvious lie?''


    "Hey! What''s the holdup!? I can y with this guy all day, but I''m a busy woman. I can''t do that!" Yoruichi urged Bete as she separated from the tamer.


    ''You can do this all day!?'' They did their best to not shout this out in fear that they are the weird ones in this situation.


    The tamer too doesn''t know what''s going on, but he would rather deal with Bete Loga instead of this unknown Adventurer who he can''t figure out so he also separated from her.


    Scratching his head, Bete finally agreed. He figured he can''t leave it her alone and it would be much better, with her speed, to help with the rescue, "Tch, it''s a bother, but, I''ll do it. We still need to find Ais, however, I don''t like that guy''s eyes." He then dashed towards the tamer who''s already waiting for him and given up on chasing the strange woman.


    The tamer called for more Vis to distract everyone and shed with Bete. Finally, he can show his true strength and everyone can finally witness a proper fight between First-sses.


    "Iya~. There they go~. I wanted to have a proper fight too, but there are too many eyes around." Yoruichi mutters to herself while she watches the two sh with each other.


    A secondter, Aika and Koneko both came to her with shining eyes, "That was so cool~! How did you do that?" Aika asked excitedly.


    "I want to learn that too!" Koneko said with the same excitement.


    "For you to do that, you still need a lot more experience. There are no shortcuts to it as that kind of skill requires various prerequisites." Yoruichi answered them while patting their heads, "Good job on holding him back, by the way. Let''s go to Sona''s side first."


    The three went to Sona and Asfi''s side while annihting the Vis on the way. When they arrived, Asfi could already stand up and was getting ready to assist everyone, "Yo, Sona. Good work." Yoruichi greeted.


    "Yoruichi. Thank you foring." Sona smiled happily.


    "Stop that. No thanks are needed. Though, only I coulde since the other three were busy, especially Kisuke."


    "We understand. However, allow me to express it just this one time. Also, we''re sorry that we got dragged into this problem."


    Yoruichi patted the overly serious girl''s head, "Stop it, stop it. Didn''t Kisuke already tell you that you can do whatever you want? The rest of us also think the same. By the way, do you n to get involved all the way?"


    Aika, Koneko, and Sona looked and nodded at each other. Sona then faced Yoruichi again, "Yes. We already got involved. We want to see through this conspiracy until the end. We also want our own Adventure."


    Yoruichi smiled, ''This will be a valuable experience for everyone. And they should also realize how heavy their decision is down the road.'' She then took a glimpse at a certain corner of the pantry, ''I nned to catch Filvis''s other half, but for our girls, I''ll let you off for now.''


    "Well then, the battle isn''t over yet. Go and assist the others. Make sure no one gets killed. We can get somepensation from themter~." Yoruichi shoved them away.


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko could only smile wryly, ''She''s the closest to Kisuke, alright?''


    Asfi who had been listening all along only got confused, ''But I can at least tell that this Yoruichi is acting as their superior, senior, and teacher. This weird Familia, where did theye from? How did they evade our radar until now?''


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    28th00: I''ve skipped the title this time. I expect some amazingly odd reactions to Bestia''s Familia and their actions in this event and recent events soon!~ Especially how Bestia is a Virgin Goddess, but her entire Familia is the harem of her Captain�� That part would be great. I expect a great number of her twintails floating menacingly when they ask her that one��


    Goyya: And that will be the cause of great distress that will shake the whole Orario. Please look forward to it. ( ?�� ?? ?��)

 Volume 7 428 - A Genius

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 428 - A Genius</h4>


    The tamer and Bete''s battle was at a standstill for a few seconds until the tamer decided to provoke the Werewolf, "Vanargand, I see that you came following after the Sword Princess!"


    Bete stopped for a moment, "What did you do with Ais!?"


    With a sneer, the tamer said, "Myrade is attending to her. She''s probably getting tortured right now, after having her arm severed or something like th-!!"


    Before he could even finish his words, however, a flurry of high-speed attacks came after him and the tamer had to defend himself with all his might, ''He became even faster��!?''


    "I''ll kill you." With words more intense than ever, Bete started to push the tamer back.


    The tamer was notified inside his head that more Vis were already avable and called them out to assist him, "Vis!"


    The sudden increase of enemies pushed Bete back. Lefiya, on the other hand, started chanting her magic in hopes of getting the Vis'' attention. However, the tamermanded the monsters to focus only on Bete, "Forget the girl, Vis! Kill the Werewolf first!"


    Without much choice, Filvis had to go out and assist Bete while Lefiya continued her chanting. Filvis wanted to assist Bete in dealing with the monsters, however, she found an opening against the tamer and started casting her magic, "Sweep, holy staff of crushing evil. Dio Thyrsos!"


    A st of golden lightning that came after the tamer, however, Bete could only see this as a wrong move, "That idiot!" Since he''s battling with him, he knew just how resilient the tamer is and figured that Filvis'' super short chant magic, even with the help of the Mage development ability, won''t do any damage to her opponent.


    And just as he expected, the tamer simply caught the magic with his bare hand and dashed towards Filvis, kicking her away, "Too weak!"


    Filvis was disoriented, even so, she could still see the tamer following her with a follow up attack, "Die."


    "Filvis-san!!!" Lefiya shouted in horror. But before the tamer could touch Filvis, Bete suddenly came beside her and kicked her away, resulting in him being in the attack trajectory of the tamer which is what he''s aiming for all along, ''Oh great�� I can''t dodge it!''


    But the tamer''s expression suddenly changed as he took back his hand and bent backward. In that instant, a sh appeared and a wound took shape on his neck, "Hey, don''t forget about me." Aika muttered with a sneer.


    It was not a fatal wound. It was far from one, but the opening that Aika created was enough for Bete to counter-attack. Bete was able to overwhelm him for a moment, but the tamer took advantage of his incredibly durable body to catch all of his attacks in exchange for a single full power punch which broke both of Bete''s dual daggers when he tried to block it, "Kuh!"


    The tamer finally had an advantage, however, before he could do anything, Lefiya''s magic finished. Although Lefiya is hesitating in firing it due to Bete''s close proximity, with his signal, she finally knew what to do, "Arcs Ray!!"


    A white st of energy came out of Lefiya''s staff and came near Bete and the tamer. The tamer knew that it was for him so he used his hands to block the magic again, "Seems like you haven''t learned your lesson yet!!!"


    However, contrary to his expression, the st suddenly curved and missed him. It instead went towards Bete. More specifically, to his boots, Flosvirt.


    The Flosvirt absorbed Lefiya''s magic and used it to amplify his own power, "Well done." With a grin on his face, Bete aimed for the tamer''s face, "Now die."


    The tamer stood up again and everyone could see his wounds healing rapidly despite not using any healing magic. The dust settled down and they could finally see his face. That, however, shocked them more than the healing itself, "��Vendetta Olivas Act!?" Asfi shouted in horror. It was too unexpected that a dead person was standing in front of them.


    Even Yoruichi frowned as she already saw Olivas''s portrait and if others are identifying him as such, then she has no reason to doubt that the person is Olivas, well, at least the body.


    Once all the dust settled down, with his attire blown off due to the force of Bete''s kick, most of his body was also revealed. Half of his body was made out of monster parts while in the middle of his chest is a richly-colored magic stone which is also found among the nt monsters. As it turns out, Olivas Act was revived from the nightmare of the 27th Floor.


    Olivas revealed that he was revived by ''her'' with the sole purpose of wanting to see the surface. Since then Olivas''s main goal became the destruction of the Orario which acts as the lid to the Dungeon to keep monsters in.


    Filvis, as the survivor of that nightmare, wanted to fight and kill Olivas, however, when she saw that Lefiya, one of the few people who epted and reached out to her, was in trouble, she prioritized saving her. It''s also her struggle to break the ''curse'' of ''The Banshee.''


    "Viscum! Crush everyone in here!" With hismand, a gigantic nt monster, the same one that was parasitizing the pantry crystal, emerged from the ground. Just with its enormous size, a body m from it could prove fatal to everyone. And along with this Viscum, 50 more Vis came out, trying to overwhelm everyone.


    But just as Olivas thought that he already had the absolute advantage, a certain part of the wall exploded and the red-haired tamer was seen flying out from it in distress, "Revis!?" Olivas shouted.


    From the same wall, a golden-haired girl walked out. Although there were cuts on her armor and she was catching her breath, Ais was rtively unscathed from their battle. A big differencepared to the time, when she couldn''t even put up a fight against the red-haired tamer on the 18th Floor.


    Bete, Lefiya, and the rest of the Hermes Familia sighed in relief when they saw her doing fine.


    Olivas clicked his tongue on his rade'', "Are you just all talk, Revis? How pitiful."


    The wounded Revis could only groan. Although her wounds are healing, it''ll take some time for her to move to her full capacity again.


    Olivas then turned to the Sword Princess'' direction, "I wouldn''t consider this little girl to be ''Aria'', however, if ''she'' desires it��"


    "Stop!" Revis tried to warn him but Olivas only ignored her and raised his hand, "Viscum." Commanding the giant nt monster to attack Ais, "I doubt it''d be a problem if we bring back a dead body!"


    "Ais-san!" Lefiya shouted in horror.


    Even so, Ais''s expression didn''t change. Although she didn''t step into Level 6, she still gained substantial excelia from defeating the Monster Rex of the 37th floor, Udaeus, alone.


    And not just that, she admired the fighting style of Finn when he fought and overwhelmed Revis on the 18th floor which is focused on reading his opponent''s next movement and precision. During her downtime after she returned from Kisuke''s examination, she asked Finn how to improve her style and precision. As a genius sword user, which she inherited from her father, it only took her a day to improve immensely. This resulted in her defeating Revis quite easily.


    But all this time, she restricted herself from using her wind. Not even using it in her battle against Revis. So when a giant monster came after her, she recalled Sona''s words regarding her magic, ''Sharper�� I have to make it sharper. Don''t get constrained at thebel. Use it however I want.''


    Calming her mind, she gathered her magic power, "Here Ie. ''Tempest''"


    Activating her magic, she imagined her wind to go along with the de of her sword and shed towards the giant nt monster. A secondter, a gust of wind passed through the monster and bisected it. Not just a genius sword user, but Ais was also a genius wind user.


    The Corner:


    28th00: We''re at silver ageics level of Genius if it only took a day to improve that much, and it also shows just howzy she''s been with relying only on Levels�� It''s nice to see she''s learning, and her improvement speed shows just how terrifying these high levels get when they''re unconstrained by guidelines. It also shows how terrifying our group ispared to everyone else since they go the minmax route for parameters. You only gain excellia when you''re in actual mortal danger though, right? Gonna be stupidly hard past floor 60 just to gain EXP.


    Goyya: Another point is they can only reach such a high levelpared to others because they have stats to back them up in theter game. No one with a G-D ranks stats could ever reach Level 5 because they are not capable of contending at that level.


    Alexander: Well, not much to add from my side. However, I feel a little sad for a training/trolling arc being stolen.

 Volume 7 429 - Army

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 429 - Army</h4>


    Thest time that Sona used her Demonic Power was back when they went against the Minotaurs on Kisuke''s arrangements and she was still very weak back then. Until now, Sona only utilized a bit of her Demonic Power while she used her magic with mostly Mana from the surroundings.


    But this time, she removed that restriction, fully disying her innate skill. A Mana that doesn''t exist from any person or monster was unleashed on the world, "��What��are you��!?" Hence, Asfi''s confusion and question.


    Bete had asked Lefiya to help and deal with the situation as she''s the only one who had enough firepower to annihte all the monsters here. But as she and Filvis made their way towards everyone, both of them almost stumbled at the sudden change in the atmosphere, "What�� is this!?" Both of them muttered.


    Ignoring everyone''s reaction, Sona told Asfi to let everyone gather around her. Since the situation was urgent, Asfi trusted Sona and called everyone, including Lefiya and Filvis who came.


    "By the way, Lefiya-san. How much time would it take you to cast magic strong enough to defeat all these monsters?" Sona asked Lefiya.


    Suddenly being addressed by someone who was emitting a weird magic power startled Lefiya greatly. But she''s also aware of the situation and answered, "Five minutes�� No, three minutes."


    "I see. Three minutes. But by then, we would have a casualty or two."


    Hearing that, Lefiya could only grit her teeth as she couldn''t deny her.


    "I have a magic that I can be used to turn the situation around, however, I would still be needing your help, Lefiya-san."


    Lefiya looked up to her and asked, "H-help?"


    Sona nodded, "Yes. Although I specialize in magic, it''s magic based on maniption and technique. Ick the necessary firepower to kill them all." Sona then faced her, "So we''d really appreciate it if you could start chanting now."


    Lefiya is, of course, doubtful of her im, however, it''s also true that she has to cast her high-powered magic in order to get them out of this situation regardless of her abilities. Nodding to her, Lefiya started chanting her magic.


    While it''s true that Sona''s magic is maniption and technique type, it doesn''t mean she doesn''t have any way to annihte these monsters. She asked Lefiya to do it mainly because she wanted to have insurance in case she failed. Another reason is that she wanted to experiment with her magic for a bit amidst this crisis. If others, who''re risking their lives, were to know what she''s thinking, a rain of criticisms would fall on her. But, of course, no one would think that she would be experimenting in this situation, except the other three who knew about her abilities and were watching her with a wry smile.


    ''She finally got Kisuke''s bad habit?'' Yoruichi, Aika, and Koneko all thought.


    While fixing the position of her sses, Sona took a look at the iing army of monsters which numbered around 400-500 heads, ''Now then. First, I''ll test my uracy against moving targets.'' Raising her arm towards the rushing Vis, five blue magic circles simultaneously appeared in front of her.


    Everyone from the Hermes Familia and Filvis were preparing to intercept the monsters. They didn''t know what Sona was nning, but they knew that she was a magic user and would need some time to cast her magic. However, they were frozen in ce when five magic circles suddenly manifested in front of her.


    It''s a well-known fact that a magic circle only appears when one has Mage Development Ability. And even with that, it only appears when one is chanting and the magic is about to fire off. However, neither of those happened and what''s more head-splitting is the fact that five appeared at once.


    Water startedpressing in the middle of the magic circles and a few secondster, highlypressed water shot out, hitting the Vis'' magic stone in their mouth, ''Five targets with 100% uracy. Now onto next.''


    The next moment, five more magic circles appeared. With ten magic circles around Sona, all of them started shooting highlypressed water, ''Ten targets, 80% uracy. Let''s add some more.''


    Manifesting another five magic circles, Sona continued her experiment, ''Fifteen targets, 50% uracy. This is my current limit, but there''s still a lot of room for improvement.''


    In the minute that Sona was experimenting, the Vis already reached their spot and everyone had to defend the magic casters. But this was not Sona''s concern as she trusts herpanions, especially Aika and Koneko to do a great job of fending off the monsters.


    After she had enough testing her shooting skills, Sona moved to the next part. Putting her hands together, she gathered water from the surroundings and the very humid Dungeon air became obviously drier.


    Not just from her surroundings, but Sona also caught Ais, Bete, and Revis''s attention who''re battling from the distance.


    With arge amount of water in her control, Sona casted the magic she''s most familiar with, shaping the water into beasts. Raising both of her hands and using most of her Demonic Power, Sona manifested fiverge hawks with sharp talons, three 3-meter tall wolves with sharp ws, two 5-meter tall valiant lions, and a 50 meters long and 2 meters wide serpent.


    With her own army, Sona took on the army of nt monsters.


    Everyone else stopped what they were doing because all of the Vis left them and attacked Sona''s army because of its thick magic power, giving them enough time to think what the hell was happening.


    "W-what is this magic?" Filvis asked herself. As an Elf, she did her study regarding magic and its different types. However, she never ever heard of magic that is capable of summoning monsters or anything that is remotely close to it, "A unique magic?"


    Sona''s water beast army wrestled with the Vis. Although they were outnumbered, these beasts were still bodies of water and physical attacks aren''t that effective, which is the only way that Vis can attack.


    The Vis skirmished with Sona''s army for a good three minutes and the beasts managed to kill around 200 monsters and could very well have annihted them if given enough time.


    But Lefiya also finished chanting her magic so Sona recalled her army and dispersed them, absorbing back the Demonic Power she used, "My name is Alf! Rea Laevateinn!"


    Using her teacher''s magic, Lefiya annihted the rest of the monsters and fell down due to expending all of her Mana.


    Revis clicked her tongue when she saw that all Vis were already gone. Realizing that those ''weaklings'' below already did their jobs spectacrly, Bete couldn''t dilly dally anymore and made an opening for Ais by sacrificing his own leg.


    Thanks to Bete, Revis'' defenses opened up a bit and Ais was able to swoop in, shing at her chest using her magic.


    Revis flew out with injuries all over her body but she was still able to stand up, "You barely missed my magic stone�� It seems I can''t beat the current you."


    ''��? Although they''re not fatal, she has a considerable number of injuries. and on top of that, she doesn''t have any allies left.'' Ais questioned her still apparent confidence.


    Revis then touched the ''wall'' behind her, "This pir is the core of the pantry." She said while touching the crystal where shended, "Do you know what''ll happen if I break this?"


    "!?" Ais immediately ran towards her as she knew exactly what would happen. However, she was already toote as Revis smashed the crystal, breaking it into countless pieces. Including the shriveled up Viscum, the crystal copsed, and soon after, the earth started quaking.


    Ais had to stop her steps as she looked to the roof, which was already copsing. Boulders and rocks started falling down as the whole pantry slowly copsed.


    "You''ll get buried if you don''t run. Why don''t you go tend to your allies who need your help?" Revis casually muttered.


    Ais turned around to see everyone panicking and trying to escape. There were wounded people so her help was very much needed, but before she could leave her opponent, Revis told her, "Aria, go to the 59th floor. It''s getting pretty interesting down there. You''ll find some answers, too."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Haven''t you noticed a little by now? Even if what you say is true, your blood should be telling you the truth. You''d save us some work by going there yourself." Revis then looked up, not towards the falling ceiling, but towards the surface, "Those on the surface are trying to use us. In that case, we might as well try to use them ourselves."


    Urging came from Ais''rades and she turned around after a moment of hesitation.


    And so, the quest on the 24th floor waspleted and they returned to the surface.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Wee to today''s MVP award ceremony


    28th00: Rocks fall, everyone dies. Sona has started to emte her boyfriend, which means when she gets back to DxD, her peerage is going to suffer, immensely. But hey, at least they will be far from alone! There''s a pretty long list of targets, they only have to suffer inhumane experimental training! They''re not human, so it''s A-okay!


    Alexander: That''s my So-tan! I can imagine the faces of her acquaintances, once they''ll return. Especially Rias going like, "Who is this girl, what have you done to my friend, Kisuuukeeee?"

 Volume 7 430 - Army

    <h4>Volume 7 Chapter 430 - Army</h4>


    Thest time that Sona used her Demonic Power was back when they went against the Minotaurs on Kisuke''s arrangements and she was still very weak back then. Until now, Sona only utilized a bit of her Demonic Power while she used her magic with mostly Mana from the surroundings.


    But this time, she removed that restriction, fully disying her innate skill. A Mana that doesn''t exist from any person or monster was unleashed on the world, "��What��are you��!?" Hence, Asfi''s confusion and question.


    Bete had asked Lefiya to help and deal with the situation as she''s the only one who had enough firepower to annihte all the monsters here. But as she and Filvis made their way towards everyone, both of them almost stumbled at the sudden change in the atmosphere, "What�� is this!?" Both of them muttered.


    Ignoring everyone''s reaction, Sona told Asfi to let everyone gather around her. Since the situation was urgent, Asfi trusted Sona and called everyone, including Lefiya and Filvis who came.


    "By the way, Lefiya-san. How much time would it take you to cast magic strong enough to defeat all these monsters?" Sona asked Lefiya.


    Suddenly being addressed by someone who was emitting a weird magic power startled Lefiya greatly. But she''s also aware of the situation and answered, "Five minutes�� No, three minutes."


    "I see. Three minutes. But by then, we would have a casualty or two."


    Hearing that, Lefiya could only grit her teeth as she couldn''t deny her.


    "I have a magic that I can be used to turn the situation around, however, I would still be needing your help, Lefiya-san."


    Lefiya looked up to her and asked, "H-help?"


    Sona nodded, "Yes. Although I specialize in magic, it''s magic based on maniption and technique. Ick the necessary firepower to kill them all." Sona then faced her, "So we''d really appreciate it if you could start chanting now."


    Lefiya is, of course, doubtful of her im, however, it''s also true that she has to cast her high-powered magic in order to get them out of this situation regardless of her abilities. Nodding to her, Lefiya started chanting her magic.


    While it''s true that Sona''s magic is maniption and technique type, it doesn''t mean she doesn''t have any way to annihte these monsters. She asked Lefiya to do it mainly because she wanted to have insurance in case she failed. Another reason is that she wanted to experiment with her magic for a bit amidst this crisis. If others, who''re risking their lives, were to know what she''s thinking, a rain of criticisms would fall on her. But, of course, no one would think that she would be experimenting in this situation, except the other three who knew about her abilities and were watching her with a wry smile.


    ''She finally got Kisuke''s bad habit?'' Yoruichi, Aika, and Koneko all thought.


    While fixing the position of her sses, Sona took a look at the iing army of monsters which numbered around 400-500 heads, ''Now then. First, I''ll test my uracy against moving targets.'' Raising her arm towards the rushing Vis, five blue magic circles simultaneously appeared in front of her.


    Everyone from the Hermes Familia and Filvis were preparing to intercept the monsters. They didn''t know what Sona was nning, but they knew that she was a magic user and would need some time to cast her magic. However, they were frozen in ce when five magic circles suddenly manifested in front of her.


    It''s a well-known fact that a magic circle only appears when one has Mage Development Ability. And even with that, it only appears when one is chanting and the magic is about to fire off. However, neither of those happened and what''s more head-splitting is the fact that five appeared at once.


    Meanwhile, Lefiya almost lost her concentration due to this, but she was able to continue her chanting despite being incredibly confused.


    Water startedpressing in the middle of the magic circles and a few secondster, highlypressed water shot out, hitting the Vis'' magic stone in their mouth, ''Five targets with 100% uracy. Now onto next.''


    The next moment, five more magic circles appeared. With ten magic circles around Sona, all of them started shooting highlypressed water, ''Ten targets, 80% uracy. Let''s add some more.''


    Manifesting another five magic circles, Sona continued her experiment, ''Fifteen targets, 50% uracy. This is my current limit, but there''s still a lot of room for improvement.''


    In the minute that Sona was experimenting, the Vis already reached their spot and everyone had to defend the magic casters. But this was not Sona''s concern as she trusts herpanions, especially Aika and Koneko to do a great job of fending off the monsters.


    After she had enough testing her shooting skills, Sona moved to the next part. Putting her hands together, she gathered water from the surroundings and the very humid Dungeon air became obviously drier.


    Not just from her surroundings, but Sona also caught Ais, Bete, and Revis''s attention who''re battling from the distance.


    With arge amount of water in her control, Sona casted the magic she''s most familiar with, shaping the water into beasts. Raising both of her hands and using most of her Demonic Power, Sona manifested fiverge hawks with sharp talons, three 3-meter tall wolves with sharp ws, two 5-meter tall valiant lions, and a 50 meters long and 2 meters wide serpent.


    With her own army, Sona took on the army of nt monsters.


    Everyone else stopped what they were doing because all of the Vis left them and attacked Sona''s army because of its thick magic power, giving them enough time to think what the hell was happening.


    "W-what is this magic?" Filvis asked herself. As an Elf, she did her study regarding magic and its different types. However, she never ever heard of magic that is capable of summoning monsters or anything that is remotely close to it, "A unique magic?"


    Sona''s water beast army wrestled with the Vis. Although they were outnumbered, these beasts were still bodies of water and physical attacks aren''t that effective, which is the only way that Vis can attack.


    The Vis skirmished with Sona''s army for a good three minutes and the beasts managed to kill around 200 monsters and could very well have annihted them if given enough time.


    But Lefiya also finished chanting her magic so Sona recalled her army and dispersed them, absorbing back the Demonic Power she used, "My name is Alf! Rea Laevateinn!"


    Using her teacher''s magic, Lefiya annihted the rest of the monsters and fell down due to expending all of her Mana.


    Revis clicked her tongue when she saw that all Vis were already gone. Realizing that those ''weaklings'' below already did their jobs spectacrly, Bete couldn''t dilly dally anymore and made an opening for Ais by sacrificing his own leg.


    Thanks to Bete, Revis'' defenses opened up a bit and Ais was able to swoop in, shing at her chest using her magic.


    Revis flew out with injuries all over her body but she was still able to stand up, "You barely missed my magic stone�� It seems I can''t beat the current you."


    ''��? Although they''re not fatal, she has a considerable number of injuries. and on top of that, she doesn''t have any allies left.'' Ais questioned her still apparent confidence.


    Revis then touched the ''wall'' behind her, "This pir is the core of the pantry." She said while touching the crystal where shended, "Do you know what''ll happen if I break this?"


    "!?" Ais immediately ran towards her as she knew exactly what would happen. However, she was already toote as Revis smashed the crystal, breaking it into countless pieces. Including the shriveled up Viscum, the crystal copsed, and soon after, the earth started quaking.


    Ais had to stop her steps as she looked to the roof, which was already copsing. Boulders and rocks started falling down as the whole pantry slowly copsed.


    "You''ll get buried if you don''t run. Why don''t you go tend to your allies who need your help?" Revis casually muttered.


    Ais turned around to see everyone panicking and trying to escape. There were wounded people so her help was very much needed, but before she could leave her opponent, Revis told her, "Aria, go to the 59th floor. It''s getting pretty interesting down there. You''ll find some answers, too."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Haven''t you noticed a little by now? Even if what you say is true, your blood should be telling you the truth. You''d save us some work by going there yourself." Revis then looked up, not towards the falling ceiling, but towards the surface, "Those on the surface are trying to use us. In that case, we might as well try to use them ourselves."


    Urging came from Ais''rades and she turned around after a moment of hesitation.


    And so, the quest on the 24th floor waspleted and they returned to the surface.

 Volume 8 431 - Unknown Future

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 431 - Unknown Future</h4>


    " " "We''re home!" " " Sona, Aika, and Koneko simultaneously shouted when they entered the mansion along with Yoruichi.


    Kisuke, Kuroka, Medusa, and Hestia were already waiting while having some tea in the living room ever since they heard about the strange and sudden quest they received from a very suspicious individual.


    When the four entered the living room, the first one to jump on them was Kuroka as she pounced on Koneko first, "Wee back, nya~! Are you alright!? Did you get hurt anywhere!?" Kuroka inspected Koneko from head to toe and seeing that nothing was wrong with her nor with the other two, she sighed in relief.


    "Kuroka-neesama�� We''re fine, but we''re also tired." Koneko replied as she snuggled into Kuroka''s arm.


    Medusa went to the kitchen so that she could prepare some more tea and snacks for those who just came home.


    "Uhmm, could you please tell me now what just happened?" Hestia asked after everyone finished their greetings.


    Sona nodded and started telling everyone what exactly happened. The group already decided that they would tell everything that happened in this world to Hestia except for a few exceptions like the incident with the mutated Balor and the 50th Floor''s Juggernaut.


    Hestia kept her brows furrowed, her eyes closed, and nodding every now and then while listening to their story. But everyone who was watching had to stop themselves fromughing as it was painfully obvious that she didn''t understand most of it despite acting like she already saw through Sona''s story.


    ''I should ask Yoruichi to teach her how to do a poker face so that she wouldn''t reveal everything with just her expression.'' Kisuke thought as he contemted the decision to let Hestia in on these secrets, "Ehem, have you noticed anything else?"


    Although Kisuke was interested in Olivas''s ''resurrection'', he didn''t have enough materials to investigate and draw a conclusion from it. But he could at least tell that these nt-type monsters, human-monster hybrid, and the mysterious ''her'' belonged to the other ''yer'' in the Dungeon.


    "Hmm�� This Olivas called those suicide bombers as the remnant of Evilus. Aside from that, cages containing these Vis were also spotted in the pantry." Sona answered.


    "Cages?"


    "Yes. There were iron cages. The same as the ones used in the MonsterPhilia to contain monsters."


    ''The fact that these monsters appeared on the surface, then it means that someone is smuggling them in. But the only ones capable of doing this without other''s detection is the Guild or the Ganesha Familia with the help of the Guild.'' While thinking about this point, Kisuke received a signal from Yoruichi which wasn''t noticed by anyone but him. "Then regarding the ''invitation'' to the 59th floor by this so-called Revis, the Loki Familia will probably arrange an expedition to get to the bottom of this. What will you do?" But instead of facing towards her direction, Kisuke immediately continued their topic, ''She knows something, huh.'' Kisuke thought.


    Sona nodded, "I also thought that it would be the case." She looked to the other two before facing Kisuke again, "Can we go too?"


    Kisuke smiled and immediately answered, "Sure~. But we first have to work out the schedule and discuss it with the Loki Familia. The Loki Familia would take at least a week to prepare for the expedition due to their recent loss of equipment and Riveria-san would being here every two days from now on."


    "We''ll work it out with Riveria-san." Sona happily replied.


    Kisuke stood up, "Then I''ll leave that to you. I''ll go back to myb first to finish my own preparation. It should be done after 4 days."


    Sona knew that when Kisuke said his ''own'' preparation, it''s actually for everyone. She jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly, "Thank you for your hard work."


    Patting her head, Kisuke replied, "It''s a fun and interesting job, so I don''t mind getting tired over it. Besides, now that my girls decided to write their own story, I have to do my best to support you from behind, of course without interfering too much."


    "We''ll never let you down." Sona softly muttered.


    Kisuke smiled wryly and separated from Sona, "Sit down first. All of you too."


    Everyone except for Yoruichi became confused, however, Sona still followed him and sat down on the couch with the rest.


    "Now then, let me just say a few things." After feigning a cough and when everyone''s attention was on him, Kisuke continued, "This may sound egoistic, but I won''t pretend to not notice how you girls feel about me."


    As he said this, Kisuke received some sneers, "Ehem�� But this isn''t about that." Then he put on a serious expression, "It''s about how you think of this rtionship. I know that you''d put your everything on the line so that you won''t let the others down, but hear me out. Please don''t ever think that this is all about us."


    "Don''t ever forget the ''you'' in ''us''. The reason why I asked you to do anything you want, is so that ''you'' could have a world outside of ''us''. If you limit ''yourself'', then you''ll only find a dead end in the future. No man''s knowledge can go beyond his experience"


    "Just chill and don''t overthink things, after all, we''ll be together forever." Kisuke, without waiting for them to respond, left the living room to continue his work. It would be better for them to just think about his words on their own.


    Just as Kisuke was about to enter hisboratory, Hestia came running and followed him, "Hmm? Do you need something, Hestia-sama?"


    Catching her breath, Hestia faced Kisuke, "Are you sure about this?"


    "About what?"


    "Letting them go and have their own experiences. It may sound good, but it doesn''t always end well. Especially the ''forever'' part. You could have just told them that ''you should experience life together''."


    Kisuke only gave her a smile, "I don''t know what you''ve seen in your life, Hestia-sama. What you saw may or may not happen to us, but regardless of that, I want everyone to experience what life truly has to offer without limiting themselves. Even if it means that we may go our own separate ways in the future, at least, we got to explore many things."


    Kisuke then turned around and went on his way, but before he closed the door of theboratory, he said, "Between beautiful lies and painful truths, I would always choose thetter any time of the day."


    Hestia sighed, but she also couldn''t help but smile at the thought of how different he is to others, "Different from other children who''re confined in their thoughts and different from Gods who''re confined in their own worlds�� Whether this is a good or a bad thing, I look forward to the future~."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Today in Dr. Freud''s talkshow


    Alexander: Today, author-san left me in awe, since I could never squeeze something like this out of my brain. That was some real deep sh*t. But, this is what makes this fan-fic so different from others. By the way, is this a milestone of the Hestia road?


    28th00: FOR SHAME! We don''t lewd Bestia! She''s like Ophis! We pamper her, pat her and feed her! They''re about the same size too, with the same interest in incredibly scandalous clothing��

 Volume 8 432 - Inspection?

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 432 - Inspection?</h4>


    The next day, Hephaestus arrived after being called over by Kisuke, telling her that they were moving ahead of schedule and that he already finished his preparations.


    Hephaestus arrived and was guided by Hestia, with a twitching face, towards a certain big building in their underground hideout.


    "Hooh, he built something like this in just a few days? Truly amazing. Did everyone help out to build this or did he hire some people?" Hephaestus asked after seeing it from the distance. Then she looked towards Hestia and was shocked, when she saw Hestia making a veryplicated expression, "What''s wrong?"


    "��It wasn''t herest night." Hestia softly muttered.


    "��Huh?" Hephaestus thought that she heard it wrong and asked.


    "Before I sleptst night, this building wasn''t here! And apparently, he worked on it alone!" Hestia shouted her frustration as she recalled Kisuke''s words this morning, ''Building? I can make a few more like this. Would you like some?''


    ''This isn''t some limited edition Jaggamaru-kun that you can just offer!'' She remembered retorting to him.


    "H-he did this overnight?"


    "No. He said he woke up early and did this."


    "��"


    The awkward atmosphere was broken by Kisuke, who caused it in the first ce, after he suddenly got out of the said building and greeted Hephaestus, "Good morning, Hephaestus-sama~! Is your side good to go?"


    Hephaestus chose to not think about it for the moment and focused on their current ce for forging these Sacred Gears, "The materials are outside. It should be enough for what we are about to do."


    "Thank you very much~." Kisuke then faced Hestia, "Hestia-sama, please let the others take those materials in."


    Hestia just simply nodded and went to the dining room where everyone was having breakfast.


    "Now then, Hephaestus-sama, please follow me inside. I''m going to show you the equipment that we''ll be using and exin to you how these things work."


    Hephaestus nodded and followed him inside as she prepared herself, ''He could build something like this easily, so his equipment should be on another level. More so with the fact that he seems to put great importance in these Sacred Gears.''


    The tour took half an hour and by the end of it, Hephaestus waspletely speechless, ''T-this�� Where did his technologye from!? I couldn''t even understand the use of half of the equipment that we''ll apparently use!''


    Shaking her head, Hephaestus partly gave up since she knew that she wouldn''t be getting any answers from Kisuke. Even if she could, she had a feeling that it would only make things worse so she saved herself from more headaches, "If I understand it correctly, all of these will speed up the process of forging and most of the time that will be saved is from curing the materials?"


    "Yep. So for now, we''ll work for two days and rest one day. We should be done by the seventh day." Kisuke replied with a smile.


    "Great. We should start." Hephaestus then went towards the entrance and started to arrange the materials that the others brought in.


    .


    .


    .


    Two dayster, in the morning, Hephaestus and Kisuke finally left the building, "Well then, I''ll see you again tomorrow." Hephaestus bid her farewell.


    "I''ll lead you outside."


    "It''s fine. I''ll just ask Hestia. Besides��" Hephaestus then looked towards some people who wereing over, "It seems that you won''t be getting any downtime."


    "Hephaestus-sama, Kisuke-san, good morning." Riveria greeted them with Ais, Line, and the rest of the girls behind them.


    "Good morning to you too, Nine Hell. As much as I would like to have a good talk with you, I have to go since I still need to do some work at my ce. So if you''ll please excuse me."


    "Please don''t mind me, Hephaestus-sama."


    After they left, Riveria faced Kisuke, "I''m sorry for bothering you, but if you have some free time, I''d like to consult something."


    "Sure, but for now, let''s have a meal." Kisuke invited Riveria, Ais, and Line to a meal. The other girls already had theirs so they were doing some sparring before diving back to the Dungeon.


    During the meal, Kisuke and Riveria only talked about some trivial stuff about what was currently happening in Orario while Ais and Line only silently ate their food. While Ais was truly a silent type of person, Line, a clumsy girl, only realized now that she was currently with the top Adventurers of their Familia and couldn''t immediately calm down, ''It''s a lot different when Loki-sama is here��'', was what she thought as she recalled and missed her noisy Goddess.


    Once they finished their meal, Kisuke served everyone a cup of tea. Riveria and the two girls thanked Kisuke.


    "You''re wee." Kisuke sat down and continued their talk, "Well then, let''s go with today''s agenda. But before that, how are you feeling, Line-san?"


    Line was trying to distract herself and quietly sipped her tea. But when Kisuke suddenly addressed her, she almost spat out her tea, "*Cough* *Cough*, y-yes? Ah, yes! I''m fine! Aside from feeling slightly heavy, everything is going as normal. You asked me not to go to the Dungeon for a while so I practiced my magic and I couldn''t find any problem. I also progressed with my magic."


    "Is that so? Then you can join the others when they go to the Dungeonter. If you want, you can also join them now with their sparring."


    Line was a bit shocked, "Is that fine?"


    "Yep. You can go. Those three also enjoy acting like a senpai or something. Every time when they buy some potions, they would act like some ''great teacher'' or ''wise senior'', teaching a newbie Adventurer some ''tips and tricks''."


    Line didn''t know how she should react to Kisuke''s words, but the chance of sparring with them, especially with ''seniors'' of the group, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa, she wouldn''t want to miss out on. Line drank her tea with big gulps and stood up and said, "Please excuse me.", before running off.


    Seeing this, Ais was a bit envious. She wanted to know about the secret to their strength and the easiest way to do that, for her, is sparring with said person. She heard from Bete how Yoruichi yed around with Olivas, who was a match with him, despite just being a Level 2 and had been curious about it all this time.


    Noticing her stare, Kisuke also said, "You can watch them or join them if you want."


    Ais'' eyes widened as she didn''t expect that Kisuke would offer it to her by himself. It must be known that Inter-Familia sparring is very rare as it could reveal the other party''s secrets and skills, "Is that fine?"


    "Yep, you can go. Besides, you''ll get bored with us just talking."


    Like Line, Ais also immediately drank her tea and stood up, "Excuse me." Before running off.


    "��I''m sorry for their poor manners." Riveria could only apologize.


    Laughing out loud, Kisuke just waved his hand, "It''s fine, it''s fine. It''s good that they''re pretty energetic. Besides, I''ll also teach her some things as I promised. But enough of that. It seems that you have a problem?"


    Riveria nodded her head, "Yes. You asked me to also study the books that you gave Line, but I can''t emte what she''s doing. I kept failing."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "You kept failing?"


    The two of them went silent for a few seconds before Kisuke suddenly remembered something and muttered, "��Could it be��?"


    "Did you figure something out?" Riveria asked excitedly.


    Kisuke nodded and with a serious face, he asked, "Can I touch your ears?"


    In response, Riveria couldn''t help but back away and look at him like he was a pervert.

 Volume 8 433 - Another Victim

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 433 - Another Victim</h4>


    "Can I touch your ears?"


    Riveria reeled back from her seat and asked with obvious disgust, "��Why would you want to do that?"


    Kisuke knew that he blurted out the wrong words, however, somewhere inside him, he wanted to mess with this all too serious and stoic Elf as he recalled her cryingst time, ''My merchant sense is tingling~!''


    If others were to know what he just said inside his head, they would retort back, ''That has nothing to do with being a merchant!!!''


    "Ehem, what I mean is that the books that I gave Line-san are designed for Humans. I haven''t inspected an Elf before and it might have something to do with your physiology why you can''t use magic like Line does. And what''s the most obvious difference between a Human and an Elf?" Kisuke asked.


    With great hesitation, Riveria answered, "��It''s the ears."


    "See my point now?"


    Riveria nodded, however, she won''t hand over her ears just like that, "We Elves don''t like to be touched, especially our ears. So that''s a no."


    "Hmm�� So that''s the extent of your will to learn about magic, huh? Then I''m sorry. I can''t help you. But I do suggest you study your own physiology to figure out what''s wrong. However, it''ll probably take you a few years and you''ll have be a doctor by then. But even with that, you might have to figure out how magic and the body work together and that would be another branch that you''ll have to study for another few years."


    Sighing, Kisuke continued, "It''ll probably take you a decade or two, and that''s being optimistic as I can''t see any information around regarding the Elf''s physiology and you would have to start from a scratch."


    "Well, that also means that it''s not the end of the road for you. Good luck~! I''ll be cheering for you~!" Kisuke finished his words with a genuine cheerful tone.


    Hearing this, Riveria''s eyes widened and a few secondster, she gritted her teeth. She could indeed take the path Kisuke had just told her, but even though she was a High-Elf with a long lifespan, a few decades just to scratch the surface of the topic which she was very interested in was still too much, "Are you saying that after you have inspected my ears, you''ll have an idea of what''s going on?"


    "I don''t know everything, so I can''t promise you that I''ll figure something out after just some simple inspection."


    "��"


    "However, I could figure out that Wallenstein-san is a half-spirit. Knowing that, it''s up to you to decide whether to ept it or not."


    Riveria hesitated. If it really had something to do with her physiology, then his expertise was what she needed.


    Kisuke didn''t continue speaking and just gave her all the time she needed to think about it.


    A few minutes of silenceter, Riveria finally decided what she wanted. She looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes and said, "Please do it." Albeit, with a bit of a blush on her face, ''For magic!'' was the only thing on her mind. However, she was wrong to think that she only sold herself to ''magic'', she also sold herself to the devilish Merchant who offered that ''magic''.


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Great. Then let''s not waste time and start right now."


    "��H-here?"


    "Yep~." With a snap of his fingers, Kisuke closed the door that was left open by Ais when she ran off.


    Hearing the door mming, instead of questioning how he did it, Riveria just became nervous and conscious of the situation.


    Kisuke stood up and went behind Riveria and said, "By the way, I may not just touch your ears, but also your nape and back. I need to trace where the energy is being circted so that would be needed. Are you ready?"


    Since it''s nothing worse than her ears, Riveria agreed as she took a deep breath, "Alright. Please do it."


    Seeing her reaction, Kisuke chuckled, "Rx~. I won''t hurt you. But you may feel weird since I n to inject some of my Mana in you, so please endure it when that happens. Well then, here I go." With his signal, Kisuke used his fingertips to trace the outline of both of Riveria''s ears.


    "Eep!" In response, Riveria''s body shook and a small yelp came from her. Kisuke had to take back his hands, "I''m sorry. This is the first time that someone else besides my parents has touched my ears. Please understand." She immediately apologized with a blushing face, ''I made a weird sound��''


    "It''s fine. Are you ready now?"


    "Yes, please." Riveria took another deep breath and promised to herself to not make any sound and endure everything.


    "Then, please excuse me." Kisuke resumed what he was doing, ''Well then, let''s see if her physiology is really the cause. How fun~. This is the first time I''m examining an Elf, a High-Elf at that!''


    The moment Kisuke touched Riveria''s ears again, her body shook a little bit but nothing more. He then proceeded to ignore herpletely and focused on his job.


    For the first few minutes, Kisuke just used his fingers to trace parts of her ears, and Riveria did her best to endure his touch as she heard him muttering, "Hmmm�� So that''s how it is�� How fascinating�� So it works this way��"


    Everything, however, changed when Kisuke suddenly injected a trace of magic power from his fingertips to her ears, "Eeppp!!!" Riveria''s body shook and she let out another strange sound.


    But this time, Kisuke waspletely focused and didn''t stop what he was doing.


    ''He already warned me! Get ahold of yourself, Riveria!'' Riveria shouted in her mind as she used her hands to close her mouth.


    However, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, a few minutester, her expression kept slipping as her face grew hot. Her eyes were zed over with tears threatening to fall down, and the hot rapid breath came out of her mouth, "Haah~�� Haah~�� Mhhhm~��"


    Kisuke, on the other hand, was so absorbed with his investigation that he didn''t care about anything happening to Riveria right now. Although he was indeed careful not to hurt her in any way, he didn''t know that he was doing something else.


    A few more minutes into inspection, Riveria already gave up to cover her mouth and just hugged herself to endure the weird, but ''fascinating'' feeling that was running through her whole body, starting from her ears and ending between her legs. She tried to rub her thighs together to endure the feeling, but it only made everything worse and she couldn''t stop anymore once she started doing it. As she unconsciously opened her mouth, she also started drooling and let out ''strange'' noises continually, "Haah�� Ah~�� Ah~�� Haahhhh��"


    And another few minutes of ''enduring'', Riveria knew something bad would happen if she didn''t cover her mouth immediately. The moment her handsnded on her mouth, Riveria''s whole body twitched uncontrobly as a strange feeling welled up exponentially and exploded.


    Silently screaming, Riveria''s body fell forward and Kisuke was finally pulled out from his trance and was startled as he caught her before she fell to the groundpletely. Then, he finally noticed the face she''s making and thought, ''Oops�� So that''s also her erogenous zone, huh�� Good to know.''


    Riveria was in a daze for a few seconds until she saw Kisuke''s face close up, making a wry smile that snapped her out of her strange state, "Uhmm�� The results are out��" Kisuke muttered to her.


    Riveria also finally noticed that his arms were wrapped around her. However, unlike most conservative girls who would immediately jump to conclusion, Riveria first started to analyze her situation, ''Did he try to catch me?''


    However, thatposure didn''tst for long as realization of what just happened dawned on her, "!!!?"


    Riveria immediately separated from Kisuke while keeping her head low, not showing him her blushing face. "Thank you. Also, I''m sorry, but let''s continue this tomorrow!", she said, before she ran off, faster than Ais did back then.


    Seeing her leave, Kisuke could only shrug his shoulders, "Well, I got the data,I should probably arrange it for her."


    On that day, a new rumor sprouted about a blushing jade-haired elf who was running with amazing speed, but in a strange posture, through the streets of Orario.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Reaction Corner:


    28th00: Elves really are lewd, huh? Their ears being touched is the same as a loli getting head pats, huh? Serafall has gotten head pats, so has Ophis! Has Hestia gotten one yet? We know Koneko is trying to monopolize hisp for easy and continual head patting��


    Alexander: Seems as if Kisuke never learned anything from Kuroka''s case. But I can imagine what Riveria will look like on the next day.


    28th00: G0yya totally did it, I just sent him it. Kuroka''s case? Ouuu, that one drove Koneko up the WALL! Imagine her reaction to it happening again, and Kuroka giving her aforting pat of sympathy��

 Volume 8 434 - Cooperation

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 434 - Cooperation</h4>


    The next day, Kisuke and Hephaestus resumed their work but before he started, he passed a book to Yoruichi and asked her to pass it on to Riveria when she arrived, "This contains all that she needs to know when she gets started. Tell her that I''m only giving her the starting line and she has to work hard to make sense of the rest. And regarding the specific subjects of magic, tell her that we''ll take that on once she''s settled her basics."


    Yoruichi received the book and nodded, "Got it. But just what happened yesterday? After she ran out while making a weirdly amorous expression, you locked yourself up."


    "Ahh, that. To write that book regarding her physiology, I had to examine her body, especially her ears which seem to act as an antenna for Mana."


    "And?"


    "I didn''t know that it was an erogenous zone��"


    Yoruichi could already imagine how it ended, but she still ended up asking, "And you overdid it?"


    Kisuke smiled brightly and answered, "I overdid it."


    Yoruichi did a facepalm while sighing, "Haaah�� What am I going to do with you."


    "Well, nothing we can really do about that. It already happened. And it''s not like she didn''t get anything out of it. That book should be pretty important for her and she should be able to forget everything once she starts studying her magic again. That woman is a magic maniac."


    "Fine. By the way, will you be able to finish the Sacred Gears? We haven''t received confirmation, but I think that the Loki Familia Captain will allow the trio''s participation in the expedition that will happen in 4 days." Yoruichi asked in concern. She has a feeling that something big is waiting for them on the deeper floors and she wanted those Sacred Gears for the girls for added protection.


    "Things are progressing much faster than I expected and it''s probably because I got the help of the Goddess of Smithing, so it will be done when we get out again." Kisuke was still in awe when he remembered how he witnessed Hephaestus''s technical skills which werergely better than his when ites to forging. ''So this is a Goddess of Smithing? Interesting.'' Was what he thought at that time.


    "Goodluck~." After giving Kisuke a good luck kiss, Yoruichi turned around and walked towards the girls who were having their morning practice.


    An hourter, Riveria and Ais came again. While Ais was just the same as ever, Riveria, on the other hand, kept looking around with a worried expression. Line didn''te with them because she was already here. She stayed with the trio even when diving into the Dungeon in order to get her old Level back and to surpass it. Ais wanted the same treatment, but Kisuke rejected her as it was only for Line who became his student.


    Yoruichi greeted them and looked towards Riveria, "If you''re looking for him, he''ll be pretty busy for the next two days, and won''t being out at all."


    Riveria sighed in relief after hearing that. She really didn''t want to see him after what happened yesterday. In addition to that, after she got home, she didn''t know what came over her as she even continuedforting herself and regretting it immediately after. That would be her dirty little secret which she promised to take to her grave.


    However, she realized how weird her reaction to Kisuke being busy was and tried to exin to Yoruichi. But Yoruichi has beaten her to it, "It''s fine. He told me what happened yesterday�� Not in full detail though, so you shouldn''t be too worried."


    Riveria''s face became red and she thought, ''That bastard even told his lover about it!?'' She just couldn''t believe it.


    All this while, Ais was trying to make sense of what they were talking about. Although she couldn''t understand what really happened, she knew for sure that it was rted to yesterday''s incident, when Riveria ran back to the Twilight Manor with a flushed face.


    Of course, it was the stoic and mature High-Elf they were talking about, so it became a big issue. It became a bigger issue, however, when it was discovered that she came from the Hestia Familia and recalled that a simr incident happened not long ago, which pushed everyone to think, ''What the hell is up with this Familia?'' Just how could they send their ''Unbreakable Mama Elf'' back home crying twice.


    However, they couldn''t get any more information as Riveria wouldn''t reveal anything about the incidents and would pretend that nothing happened. Even if the people from the Loki Familia, including the Amazon sisters, wanted to go to the Hestia Familia to take a look, Loki prohibited them after making some excuses, that they would just make trouble.


    This, however, didn''t stop her children from spreading this incident, and overnight, various Gods got ahold of this information and they already tried to snoop around the abandoned church for entertainment.


    But instead of seeing this as a nuisance, Yoruichi saw this as a great chance to gather more information. Besides, it wasn''t like they could get anything out of it as Kisuke would send Gigai''s to the Dungeon as decoys.


    "I apologize on his behalf, as that guy doesn''t know when to stop when he gets into some sort of trance." Yoruichi then tossed the book which Kisuke asked her to pass to Riveria, "This should be the result of his inspection and he also asked me to tell you that he''s just giving you the starting line and it''s up to you to get your basics polished."


    Even though she was still in a bad mood, Riveria reluctantly opened the book, but once she read a few lines in it, she immediately forgot her problems and became absorbed with everything in it.


    Ignoring Riveria, Yoruichi faced Ais, "Do you want to spar with them again?"


    Ais nodded, "But if it''s fine with you, I''d like to spar with you, too."


    "Hmm��" Yoruichi rubbed her chin in contemtion, "Let''s see. Spar and help those girls to get used to your moves first and I''ll ask Kisuke to spar with you. In terms of swordsmanship, he''s a lot better than me and would probably be more of a help for you."


    Ais didn''t know how good Kisuke was, but she already saw how Yoruichi moved and doubted that she could catch her so she''s looking forward to her rmendation, "��I''ll do it."


    "Good. You go spar with them in the morning and instead of going to the Dungeon, it would be a lot better for you to practice your magic. The power you can get from training your magic right now, is greater than the power, which you could get for killing all those small fries." Yoruichi suggested.


    Ais thought about it for a moment and agreed to it, "Can I do it here?"


    Yoruichi nodded. "Both you and Riveria-san can use the building over there to practice magic.", she said as she pointed towards another building in the underground training ground.


    Inspector Gadget''s Toolbox:


    28th00: Kisuke teaching swordsmanship? That''s�� That''s anime training montage stuff. Literally. Don''t touch the hat. Ais is going to be absolutely demolished though�� Poor girl. Wait, has she had ''The Talk'' yet? Oh my�� Mama Riveria, you''re doomed with having to exin yourself now!


    Alexander: Hahaha, but before ''The Talk'' she will find herself in a room with Yoruichi and Kuroka. After Riveria wonders why they came together, Yoruichi''s answer will be: "Doctor Yoruichi''s consultation for the ''Victims of Kisuke'' starts now. All questions shall be answered and THOROUGH aftercare will be given with my professional and certified massage technique."

 Volume 8 435 - Jetpack

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 435 - Jetpack</h4>


    Another two days had passed and it was just two days before the big day of the expedition. Kisuke and Hephaestus finally came out with happy expressions, "You don''t mind if I watch how these things settle in their hosts, right?"


    "We''re done with two but I need to make more adjustments to the other four, which includes mine. I don''t know how long that would take since three of them are very troublesome, so please just watch Sona and Koneko." Although the remaining gears would need adjustments, Kisuke chose to slow down so that he wouldn''t have to do it in front of Hephaestus because of its troublesome nature.


    Just Medusa''s gear was already troublesome enough, as Kisuke intended to implement Medusa''s Harpe''s properties of ''immortal-ying''. More so, Kisuke''s and Yoruichi''s gear had to be integrated with their Zanpakuto.


    "That''s fine. By the way, is it actually fine to include my insignia on those gears? I barely did anything."


    "Of course it''s fine! I wouldn''t take it the otherwise. You were a big help, especially on some really important points of the gears. Without your help, I couldn''t have finished this so easily and without much problems."


    Hephaestus chuckled, "Well, I''m honored." Her expression changed into a serious one, "However, I do have a�� request."


    Kisuke''s expression also became a bit serious. He already had an idea of what she wanted to ask, "Please tell me."


    "Please, don''t ever mass produce these things, or give them to just anyone who wants them."


    Kisuke solemnly nodded, "I know. These things, although they are not so powerfull in the beginning, in the hands of the right person, they could potentially reach the level of a Divine Weapon. Just the thought of that would make some of the Gods panic and scramble to eliminate everything rted to it, even if they were to be sent back to Heaven."


    Hephaestus smiled, "Good thing you know what these things could be in the eyes of Gods. Although the ultimate goal of an Adventurer is to get closer to the Gods, most Gods wouldn''t actually allow a mortal to step onto their ne."


    "I''m fine with all of this because, first, I''m the Goddess of Smithing. I can''t miss something like this. And second," Hephaestus first looked into Kisuke''s eyes before continuing, "I''m Hestia''s good friend."


    ''I have to treat Hestia-sama properly, huh. I''m fine with that.'' Kisuke thought before replying, "I''ll remember that."


    "Thanks."


    Afterwards, they reached the girls who were sparring which included Ais, while Riveria was reading her book on the side, taking a bunch of notes. The first one to notice them was Yoruichi, who greeted them, "Wee back~. How was it?"


    "Great~!" Kisuke replied with a smile. Riveria and Ais wanted to approach him for different reasons, however, Kisuke first called the two he needed, "Sona-chan, Koneko-chan,e with us for a sec."


    Sona stopped concentrating on her magic and Koneko separated from Kuroka. The two of them looked at him curiously, but didn''t ask any questions and just followed him and Hephaestus quietly towards the building which could block magical and spiritual signatures.


    The rest only looked at them leaving and resumed what they were doing after they left their vision. Although curious, Riveria and Ais couldn''t ask anything. On the other hand, Aika and Yoruichi knew that they would see it sooner orter. So aside from a bit of anticipation, they didn''t have much of a reaction, which prompted Riveria and Ais to think that it was nothing important.


    After separating from the others, Kisuke sealed the building, and Hephaestus couldn''t help butment, "You''re one ridiculous guy. No one could have done this with the current magic knowledge. Well, this should be nothing after creating those gears."


    Ignoring Hephaestus''sments, Kisuke took out a white orb around five inches wide and faced Koneko, "Koneko-chan, drop a bit of your blood on this."


    Koneko nodded and approached Kisuke. using the dagger in her pouch, Koneko punctured her finger and let it hover on top of the orb, dropping several drops on it.


    After a few seconds, the white orb shone and disintegrated into a glittery dust before entering Koneko''s chest.


    Koneko checked her chest and everything about her body but she didn''t notice any difference. Although the orb suddenly disappeared inside her body, shewasn''t worried, as it was Kisuke''s creation and she would be willing to take any risk to receive it, "Kisuke-senpai, what was that?" Koneko asked.


    "Something simr to the Sacred Gear," Kisuke revealed it and Sona and Koneko''s eyes widened.


    "Y-you finished it?" Sona asked in shock. After all, the original creator of the Sacred Gears was the Biblical God. Even Azazel, who created a working prototype, took centuries of research to seed.


    "Yep~. Thanks to Hephaestus-sama''s help, I was able toplete it sooner than I expected. Now then, Koneko-chan, the gear is already inside you. You just have to think about it to manifest it."


    Koneko nodded excitedly and closed her eyes. A few secondster, a blue light shone from her back, and a mechanical and angr white box with blue light outlines materialized and hovered an inch from her back.


    Koneko tried to look at it, but the box just kept following her back, however, Sona could see that it was somehow familiar and that it came from a certain pop culture "Uhmm�� A Gund*m jetpack module?" she muttered.


    It was Kisuke''s turn to be surprised, "You know about it?"


    Sona nodded, "My big sister, aside from watching Magical Girls, she would also watch other anime, she would often drag me to watch them with her."


    ''So that strange design is not his own but an inspiration from others? Why haven''t I heard of this kind of design or anything even remotely close to it?'' Hephaestus thought to herself as she listened to them talking.


    "How do I use it?" Koneko asked again.


    "Ah, right. Let me exin it first. This gear''s main ability is ''absorb'' which is simr to your ability. It absorbs energy from its surroundings for you to use. It''s second main ability is management. Since your me is too unruly, this gear will help you get used to it and use your mes for various applications."


    After listening to Kisuke and recalling Sona''s words, Koneko got an idea of how to use her gear. Without waiting, Koneko activated her gear and just as Kisuke described, it started to passively absorb both Mana and Ki through its holes.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, stopped speaking and didn''t stop Koneko and just let her experiment with it.


    Koneko immediately replenished the Ki she was missing from sparring earlier and the absorption stopped. Then, she activated her mes. The moment her ears and tails caught on fire, white me sprouted from the same holes of her gear which looked as if she had two pairs of wings, one big pair on top and one small pair below.


    Although it looked cool, Koneko still couldn''t see any difference. Her Ki was being depleted by very small amounts due to her activating her Sage Mode, but it was all being replenished immediately thanks to the gear.


    Not being content with such small mes sprouting, Koneko immediately strengthened her mes and it instantly grewrger as she expected. However, she didn''t expect the propelling force it could give and she uncontrobly flew off and hit the ceiling of the building. With arge bang, Koneko dropped down and Kisuke immediately caught her.


    Thanks to the protection currently active within the building, it didn''t sustain any damages, but in return, Koneko received a small lump on her forehead.


    Koneko saw Kisuke''s grinning face while she nurses her forehead, "How was it?" He asked.


    Koneko smiled excitedly and replied, "I want to y with it!"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    The Talkie Corner~:


    Goyya: So much possibility with the evolving jetpack~.


    28th00: So, I assume it''s going to evolve into having giant Mechagirl fists like Strength from ck Rock Shooter and Hibiki from Symphogear? Except, more fire. A lot more fire. Ragnarok levels of fire. Maybe the fists are MADE OF FIRE?! So many possibilities.


    Garan: I can totally see Koneko when she gets back to DXD making a giant fly swatter or pile driving her enemies and(perverts issei ) into next week


    Alexander: Now, we only need a big ass gun for the fatality move. As for the ammunition, it should contain warheads with a kitty face painting. That should make her even happier then some beginner-rank bazooka.

 Volume 8 436 - Halberd

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 436 - Halberd</h4>


    Kisuke put Koneko down and patted her head, "You can do thatter. I haven''t exined some parts about it yet."


    Koneko fixed her ruffled clothing and waited for Kisuke.


    "The next feature is the weapons stored in the separate space connected to this gear. Try saying ''Arms''." Kisuke instructed.


    "Arms." Koneko muttered and a bunch of information was directly injected into her mind, "T-this is��"


    Kisuke smiled and said, "The weapons you can use. I added various types so you''ll have more flexibility on the battlefield. Just think about the weapon that you want to use and it''ll materialize in your hands."


    Koneko nodded and a few secondster a 6 foot tall and 2 feet wide white hexagonal shield materialized in front of her. The shield had a glossy finish and it was the same with her jetpack, having a blue light outline running through its body, "��Beautiful." Koneko muttered.


    Even Sona and, especially, Hephaestus thought the same. The first time she saw it, Hephaestus couldn''t believe that Kisuke had a way to reveal the flow of magic power to naked eyes. But instead of researching further on this, Kisuke used it for cosmetics. When she asked why he would waste this kind of technology on mere cosmetics, she got a reply, ''Even without this, I can still see the flow of magic very clearly.''


    Koneko dematerialized the shield and took out various more traditional weapons, but they all had the same theme as the shield. She then suddenly stopped and tilted her head in confusion, "Why can''t I pull out the gun?"


    "That''s because I put restrictions on it and that includes some more weapons. To unlock it, you have to be at a certain level of mastery and have high enough energy levels in regards to your me. Once you meet these requirements, it''ll automatically unlock."


    "And by the way, each one of those weapons can also use your mes but I won''t tell you how. It''s up to you to figure it out."


    "Few more things about it. It has a self-repair function, so it''s fine to go wild with this. Additionally, once equipped it gives the user a coating of magic power which blocks a certain amount of damage. Since it uses magic power, it can deplete your reserves, but you can do something about it with your mes and if you want, you can also disable it."


    "Finally, the most important feature is its self-evolution. It grows alongside the user and the possibilities or where this would take you is entirely up to the user. Without Hephaestus-sama''s help, I couldn''t have implemented this feature without any problems emerging inside the host."


    Koneko nodded with a smile, "Thank you very much!" She also turned to Hephaestus and bowed down, "Thank you very much, Hephaestus-sama."


    Hephaestus only nodded to her with a smile as a response.


    Koneko then turned her attention back to Kisuke, "Can I y with this now outside?"


    "Hmm��" Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion, "How about this, you can y with it outside of Riveria-san and Wallenstein-san''s vision. I know that you''ll be showing it when you go with them on their exploration, but isn''t it better to surprise them with it when things are getting nasty?"


    Thanks to Kisuke''s words of ''encouragement'', Koneko''s eye shone with an odd glint as she nodded, "I''ll use the training room!" She then ran out of the building to immediately y with her new toy.


    Hephaestus pointed at the strangely motivated Koneko and asked Sona who is beside her, "Hey�� What''s with that strange instruction? And why is she so motivated?"


    Sona, on the other hand, looked at her in puzzlement, "Eh? What''s wrong with it? I think it''s a splendid idea."


    "��" Hephaestus chose to stay quiet as she saw the rabbit hole that she didn''t want to descend into, ''How the hell are they still unknown in Orario!?'' Was the question in her head. Little did she know that they would still be rtively unknown in the near future, but the damage they would cause would be enormous.


    "Now then, Sona-chan. It''s your turn~." Kisuke then took out a blue orb and asked her to do the same as Koneko did earlier. The result was the same and a few secondster, Sona was able to take out her gear.


    Sona''s gear was a 6.5 feet tall halberd with a foot-long ax de and a twisted spike on top of it. While the shaft and spike were jet ck, the ax de and hook are made out of glistening blue material that shines like the night stars.


    "A halberd?" Asked Sona after looking at it for a few seconds. One shouldn''t confuse her reaction with that of Sona not wanting since she was a magic-user. Contrary to that, she liked it very much and although she hadn''t touched a halberd before, now that she''s interested in learning closebat techniques, she wanted to try out various weapons. And strangely enough, she''s very much attracted to the halberd the moment she touched it.


    "Yep, a halberd. I always watch you practice your closebat whenever I''m free and ording to the data I gathered this is the most suitable weapon for you�� Well, I took liberties and didn''t ask you about this. If you don''t want it, I can always reforge it into something else."


    Sona immediately shook her head, "No! Please don''t! I really like it!" She yed with it for a while and her motivation in learning closebat increased. Wanting to y with it now like Koneko, Sona asked, "What can it do?"


    "It was made while thinking about the concept of ''water''. It''s different from Koneko''s which has specific tasks. With this one, you''re free to discover what it can offer as long as it''s within the concept of ''water''."


    "Water, huh��" Sona muttered, "Looks like I''ll have to work harder on my magic too so that I can take advantage of this."


    Kisuke nodded and continued, "Aside from that, it also serves as a storage unit for your, erm, special magic power. Currently, it can store around three times your current capacity. You can overcharge it, however, the excess magic power would be leaked over time."


    "I understand," Sona answered and started charging the halberd with her Demonic Power.


    Hephaestus''s brows furrowed a bit, but she didn''t ask anything, ''It''s really a strange and special magic power. Really�� Where did theye from?''


    "Those are the main points. In addition, it also has self-repair and self-evolution functions, the same as Koneko''s jetpack." Kisuke then took out another halberd, an ordinary one, but with the same dimensions as Sona''s halberd and gave it to her, "Take this and ask Yoruichi to teach you some basics. You should be able to use it in battle before you leave for the expedition."


    Sona made her gear disappear and happily took the halberd from Kisuke''s hands. She also faced Hephaestus just like Koneko. "Thank you very much, Hephaestus-sama. I''ll be going first." She said, before running off towards Yoruichi''s location.


    After Sona left, Hephaestus could only sigh and rub her forehead, "Haah�� You got me."


    Kisuke turned to Hephaestus with a bright smile, "Whatever are you talking about, Hephaestus-sama~?"


    Hephaestus looked at him and smiled wryly, "I didn''t realize how ridiculous those weapons really were until they got in the hands of their users. And I finally realized why you insisted on putting my insignia on them."


    "Eh~? Isn''t it so that they could recognize Hephaestus-sama''s contribution?"


    "Exactly! Whoever sees those weapons would automaticallye to me instead of you!"


    "Oh! Now that you say it~."


    "Don''t pretend you weren''t aiming for this from the start!", Hephaestus sighed again, "Whatever�� What''s done is done. As long as you take care of Hestia, I''ll deal with all people, who want the gear."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    28th00: Can''t wait for Sona to find out that her SG talks. I mean, if it''s like MGLN Devices, it should�� But we need Serafall''s voice for it! AN UPGRADE SHALL HAPPEN IF IT DOES NOT EXIST ALREADY!


    Alexander: Yeah I second that.

 Volume 8 437 - Trivial

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 437 - Trivial</h4>


    "Hmm�� I know that Hestia-sama is your best friend, but is it alright for you to do this much for her? Frankly speaking, I''m trying to look for your bottom line and even with this, you didn''t yield." Kisuke asked. Even if he had failed in getting Hephaestus''s ''help'' regarding the gears, he had a backup n, but it looks like he didn''t need it.


    Hephaestus smiled gently at his question as she recalled why she''s doing this. Unconsciously touching her blindfolded right eye, she answered, "Back in Heaven, her ce is my only safe haven."


    "Oh, does it have something with that eye?" Kisuke then noticed the minute change in her expression, "Ah, I''m sorry that I asked, I''m just a bit curious. I just noticed that despite having that eyepatch, you can still see through it."


    Hephaestus shook her head, "No, it''s fine. I knew you would be curious too. Although I''m surprised that you can tell that I can see through this."


    Kisuke chuckled, "Of course I would. We''ve been working together for these past few days so something like that would be obvious for me. Though I really wonder, there are times that you want to take off your eyepatch so that you can take a closer look at things, but each time, you''d immediately stop yourself. Why is that?"


    "It''s nothing interesting, in fact, this is just a disgusting eye. Snuff out that curiosity of yours. Save yourself from disappointment and disgust."


    But instead of being discouraged, Kisuke''s eyes shone a weird glint as his curiosity soared up, "Now, now, Hephaestus-sama. Disgusting or beautiful, every experience is important! Most of all, I''ll be the judge of whatever I see! So please let me see it!"


    ''Ah�� I forgot he''s this kind of guy. Normally, others would respectfully back away, but this guy said he''s a researcher that pursues knowledge. Of course, he would want to see it��'' After a few seconds of contemtion and staring at Kisuke''s shining eyes, Hephaestus sighed and held her forehead, "Fine. I''ll let you see it. But don''t me me if you get emotionally scarred." She agreed while thinking, ''It doesn''t really hurt to show it to him and I think he won''t stop bothering me until he gets what he wants. Better get this out of the way now.''


    While unfastening her eyepatch, Hephaestus warned Kisuke again, "Get yourself ready, alright? Even the Gods are afraid of my eye."


    "Even Gods? How interesting~!" Kisuke muttered as he waited for Hephaestus.


    Hephaestus only smiled wryly and closed her eyes while thinking, ''We''ll see about that.''


    Hephaestus dropped her eyepatch. Kisuke stared at her right eye which is still close but he can already see pulsing red like nerves surrounding her eye. And around those nerves, he can see Hephaestus''s burnt skin, ''It''s hot?''


    Hephaestus finally opened her eyes and looked towards Kisuke, waiting for his expression to change to that of disgust. At the same time, various information entered her right eye while looking at Kisuke, information that she didn''t know before, ''T-this is? How can he have such strong spiritual energy!?''


    The moment she opened her eyes, Kisuke furrowed his brows, which was something Hephaestus already expected. But she was wrong to think that it was disgust, "Heh, that''s some amazing eye~!"


    Therge spiritual energy within Kisuke''s body then suddenly shrunk to that of a normal human, "What!?" Hephaestus eximed.


    Ignoring her reaction, Kisuke continued his observation while reigning in his spiritual pressure since he noticed that Hephaestus was able to see through it. Hephaestus''s right eye had golden hexagonal pupils, blood-red iris, and jet-ck sclera, ''If the other ''children'' would see this, they would immediately liken it to a monster''s eye and in this world, anything rted to monsters, for normal people, is fear-inducing.''


    ''For Gods to fear this, I guess it''s because of its nature of seeing through. Different from Freya that can see through souls, Hephaestus''s eye can see through weakness,position, and possibilities. As expected of a Goddess of Smithing. Her eye is very suited for her job. And I can understand why Gods would be afraid of her eye.''


    Hephaestus was startled when what she saw became different and tried to find what was wrong, however, she failed. She then thought that she saw it wrong and it could be because they just finished forging those gears and she facilitated the injection of spiritual energy on those weapons and probably Kisuke just carried those energies until it went off.


    After all, even Gods couldn''t control spiritual energies that freely and dismissed the possibility that Kisuke can control it better than the Gods.


    Calming herself down, Hephaestus finally noticed Kisuke''s unnerving stare, looking directly at her right eye without blinking. She couldn''t help but back away and blush a bit since this was the first time someone would stare at her eye like this, "Uhmm�� What do you think?"


    s, she couldn''t help but ask his opinion, seeing that he was not even remotely afraid.


    "Hmm��? Ah, well, honestly speaking, it''s not that impressive." Kisuke muttered honestly.


    "��What?"


    After staring at her eye for a few more seconds, Kisuke backed away, "As I said, it''s not that impressive. You even told me that your eye is disgusting, but if you ask a certain group of people, they would evenpliment it for being cool."


    "And Gods are afraid of this eye? It can see through things, yes. But you can do the same without that eye if you observe long enough. And what exactly are they afraid of? Probably because your eye magnifies their insecurities. As supposedly unchanging beings, I guess that''s a pretty big thing for them."


    "��You��" Hephaestus was in shock. This is the first time that someone would have an opinion like that about her eye. But somehow, his opinion ticked her off, "Are you saying that I don''t need to hide it?"


    Hephaestus was already hiding her eye for as long as she remembers. Because of the disgusted looks she was receiving, she had no choice but to cover her eye. It was also because of this eye that she had a big defect on her face and even though she was a Goddess, she was still a woman who was conscious of her appearance. Despite that, she was also proud of her eye''s ability.


    So when Kisuke told her that it was nothing impressive and there was no reason to be afraid about it, which was also the same as telling her that her effort was wasted, she didn''t like it.


    Kisuke instantly guessed what was on her mind and said, "No, I didn''t say it like that. You hid it because you don''t want trouble, right? That''s a very valid reason. I also don''t like trouble as much as possible. However, my point is, you don''t really need to hide that just because of other''s opinions."


    "So what if they''re afraid of you? Isn''t that nice? And sooner orter, with enough exposure, they''ll get used to it and ept it."


    "Besides, if you''re conscious about your appearance, please don''t be. I think you''re beautiful enough even with that eye and my aesthetic sense is on the normal side. And in my opinion, someone who can be proud even with their physical ''defect'' is more beautiful than those who fake their ''beauty''."


    Kisuke didn''t wait for Hephaestus to reply and left.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Harem King Appreciation Club''s corner:


    Alexander: Strike one, Strike two, Strike three and we''re out! Finally, I''ve been waiting for this for ages. Beside that, I''m a bit surprised that there was so little for me to edit aside from the usual mistakes with the time tenses.


    28th00: The Harem watching this interaction is all in agreement for a single opinion "Why did we leave him alone with a beautiful goddess with self-image issues, who is also single?" Bestia would totally have Hephaestus'' back up in Tenkai/Heaven though! She''s a saintess among gods, ya know!

 Volume 8 438 - Another Bet

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 438 - Another Bet</h4>


    Hestia came in soon after, "Hephaestus! I heard you''re done! Let''s have a drink. Yoruichi-kun was able to get some good ones!"


    She then noticed Hephaestus''s uncovered eye and shell shocked expression, "Hephaestus!? What happened!? Is something wrong!?" Hestia immediately ran over to her side and asked in concern.


    Seeing Hestia''s worried expression, Hephaestus smiled and patted her head, "I''m fine. I just showed my eye to Kisuke."


    Hestia''s eyes widened and asked, "You did��? T-then, what was his response?" She was sensitive to Hephaestus regarding her eye and was surprised that she even showed it to him. It was probably due to them working closely together.


    Nevertheless, she knew what kind of reactions other people would show when they saw her eye, either fear or disgust. Kisuke is from her Familia and she didn''t want him to hurt the feelings of her best friend and she trusts Kisuke''s not so usual views on things.


    However, there was still a possibility that Kisuke also had the same reaction as others, so she asked.


    Hephaestus stayed silent for a moment which worried Hestia more. But after her silence, Hephaestus suddenly started chuckling, "You don''t have to worry. His reaction was a lot different from others."


    "A lot different?" Hestia then recalled Kisuke''s usual antics, "Why does that worry me more?"


    "Oh? It seems that you know how he acts?"


    "Of course, he''s my child and he has already shown me more ridiculous things than you know! Anyway, what was his reaction to your eye? He didn''t get scared, did he?"


    Hephaestus''s smile grewrger as she answered, "Nope. On the contrary, he told me that this eye would appear cool to some people. I can''t see how that is possible, but he isn''t lying one bit."


    Hestia sighed in relief but was still confused at one thing, "Then why are you all smiles? That can''t be the only reason, is it?"


    Hephaestus ruffled her head, "When did you learn to think?"


    Hestia hurriedly grabbed her hand and protested, "Stop that! And what do you mean when did I learn how to think! I always knew how to think! And!? What else did he say?"


    "Well, he dissed my eye and said it''s nothing impressive and lost his interest soon after."


    "��He what?"


    "He said it''s nothing impressive," Hephaestus said it again.


    "��Does he know what your eye can do?"


    Hephaestus thought for a moment, "I think so. After all, he also told me why our fellow Gods were afraid of this eye and it was correct."


    "Then isn''t your reaction strange? Why are you actually happy about it?"


    "Ohe on, Hestia. It isn''t every day that someone could actually say that about my eye. Besides, thanks to his words, I realized that I''m putting off my own worth because of this eye, so maybe, it''s time to change that."


    "Change��" A very rare word for an eternally unchanging God to speak about.


    The two of them continued talking as they went out to get a drink.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke arrived where the others were practicing and immediately saw Yoruichi teaching Sona how to use her halberd. As the former heir to the Shihouin House which keeps various treasures and tools, Yoruichi was trained to use all sorts of weapons. It was actually Yoruichi, who taught Kisuke swordsmanship when they were just children.


    The only other people practicing were Ais and Riveria, as Kuroka went out to do her usual scouting work, Medusa was cleaning the whole ce and Aika followed after Koneko when she heard that she got a new ''toy''.


    When Ais saw Kisukeing, her eyes shone and she immediately stopped what she was doing and approached him before asking, "Please spar with me!"


    Kisuke first looked towards Yoruichi''s direction but thetter only shrugged her shoulders and continued teaching Sona.


    Kisuke faced Ais again and said, "Fine, but I have conditions~!"


    Ais was about to agree when Riveria, who was quietly studying, suddenly looked up and shouted, "Wait! Ais! Don''t just agree to his demands!" Since she already experienced how dangerous it is to make a deal with Kisuke, she has to warn the poor airheaded girl before she agrees to something ridiculous.


    "Come on now, Riveria-san. I won''t ask for something ridiculous~." Kisuke took out his fan out of nowhere and covered half of his face while chuckling.


    Riveria, in response, furrowed her brows, "I can''t be sure with the metric you use. Who knows what''s ridiculous or not in your eyes?"


    "Hey hey, I''m also giving you a chance to ask me anything, you know~."


    Both Ais and Riveria''s eyes glinted in a strange light as they muttered, "Anything?"


    With a grin, Kisuke affirmed it, "Yep~. Anything~!"


    "Ehem," Riveria feigned a cough to regain herposure. Although Kisuke is just a Level 2 and the Hestia Familia is very small, with an underground space like this and strange techniques, she could ask a lot of things, she wouldn''t let a chance like this go. Riveria was also thinking that it was time to milk him back for all the ''suffering'' she went through in his hands, "Before we decide what to bet, I want to know the condition of winning."


    "Simple~. We spar and whoever wins three times wins the bet."


    "Are you sure? Although you''re indeed very strong for a Level 2, Ais is still a Level 5 and could match against Level 6. Or will you be asking for a handicap?"


    "No, no, no." Kisuke immediately shook his head, "But for this level difference, it''s only right that I get a much better price if I win, right? Though, this is just sparring and giving you a chance to milk me dry��" Kisuke stopped for a moment and thought about his words for a moment, ''Wait�� Did I say that wrong?''


    However, thanks to their innocence, they didn''t notice the strangeness in his words and continued their topic, "What do you want if you win?" Riveria asked.


    "You decide what you want from me first. After that, I''ll decide." Kisuke abandoned his previous thought and continued their topic.


    Riveria then faced Ais, "What do you want, Ais? Ask anything and don''t hold back. There''s no point in pitying him."


    Ais nodded and said, "First, I want to learn that instantaneous eleration."


    "sh Step, is it? I guess that''s fine. What else? Don''t hold back~."


    "Also, the swordsmanship that Aika Kiryuu used."


    "That, huh, okay~! Anything else?"


    Ais shook her head.


    "One more thing." Riveria suddenly spoke.


    "Please go on~."


    "I want you to tell us what else you found inside Ais''s body when you inspected her," Riveria demanded.


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment and feigned a hesitating expression, "Can you ask something else?"


    "No." Riveria answered, ''Hmm�� So he''s not that confident in winning. And it looks like Ais''s secret is greater than I thought for him to suddenly hesitate despite not hesitating about teaching Ais his techniques.''


    Kisuke continued to feign hesitation and after a few more seconds, he sighed and agreed, "Fine�� It''s my turn now, right?"


    "Please go ahead."


    "Then first, I want your information regarding the so-called Vis and anything rted to it."


    "��" Riveria thought for a moment before nodding.


    "Second, I want you to bring Sona, Aika, and Koneko to the 59th Floor."


    "Wait a minute. That''s too dangerous. We already agreed to bring them until the 50th floor but any further, we need to go in small elite teams. We don''t have enough hands to protect them. And with that, even if I agree, Finn and Gareth never would."


    "That''s fine. You don''t have to take care of them. They''ll just go with you. If your group is in peril, you can remove them from the equation. Besides, I think they have a good chance in the deeper floors and their abilities would be useful for your group."


    "Still��" Riveria still didn''t want to agree.


    "What are you thinking so hard about? Aren''t I just babbling random things here? Don''t I have to win to get what I want? I can ask anything I want yet my chances of winning aren''t that great~!"


    Although Riveria didn''t want to agree, what he was saying was also true. She had absolute confidence, that Ais would win but she had to confirm one thing first before she could decide, "In this sparring, is magic allowed?"


    "Everything is allowed~!"


    Riveria sighed. Although she heard that Yoruichi was able to y around against the approximately Level 5 tamer, after reviewing Bete and Lefiya''s ount of what exactly went on, they figured that Yoruichi, at that time, had no way of winning even if she can toss her opponent around. There''s just that much difference between the physical abilities of a Level 2 and a Level 5. As long as Ais could keep her distance, took advantage of her enormous physical parameters and would be careful of his movements, she should be able to win quite easily, "Okay, we agree. What else?"


    "I want to further inspect your ears!"


    Riveria took a step back and recalled what happened the other day. Her face heated up and shouted, "No!"


    "I''m a bit interested in how your ears fully work and the other day''s inspection wasn''t enough to uncover everything. Besides, my chances of winning are pretty low, right? Ais just has to win. Or else, I can''t think of anything else to ask and we have to remove one of your demands to bnce things out."


    Gritting her teeth, Riveria faced the dumbfounded Ais, "You have to win! No matter what! It''s fine to break a few of his bones, I got an Elixir on me."


    Ais became scared of Riveria and remembered her own training days, ''The demon is back!'', she thought.


    "Andstly~!"


    "There''s more!?" Riveria couldn''t keep herself calm anymore.


    Ignoring her outburst, Kisuke continued, "You two will participate in my cosy photoshoot~!"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editor Corner:


    28th00: You know,pared to Hollows in Bleach, Hephaestus'' eye is weak sauce as all hell. All hollows (Minus ''most'' arrancar) are eldritch abominations at BEST. They have already lost, they just don''t know it yet��


    Alexander:��and after she heard about the bet, Yoruichi said, "The cosy photoshoot was your actual aim, wasn''t it?" Kisuke just took out his fan, covered his mouth and chuckled (like a gentleman of culture).


    Garan: the corruption begins�� Yoruichi probably heard milk him dry and thought those two will not be enough to achieve that.


    Goyya: You guys are dirty ( ?�� ?? ?��)

 Volume 8 439 - Two Rounds Win

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 439 - Two Rounds Win</h4>


    Riveria and Ais both tilted their heads and asked, "Cosy photoshoot?"


    Kisuke turned to Riveria''s direction and asked, "Remember that very highly detailed illustration?"


    Riveria thought for a moment before a certain incident entered her mind and started grinding her teeth, "And what about it!?"


    "If Wallenstein-san were to lose," Kisuke then, out of nowhere, took out two sets of clothing. A nurse uniform and a Chinese dress. With a big grin, Kisuke continued, "You''ll get in this and I''ll get those illustrations."


    "��Hah?" Riveria brought up her staff, "What was that?"


    "You''ll get in this and I''ll get those illustrations," Kisuke repeated it.


    "Why did you think we would agree!?"


    "What''s wrong with me dreaming? It''s not like I''ll win, right? You''re not confident with Wallenstein-san winning? I''m just a Level 2, you know~! Statistically speaking, even if there''s a bunch of me, I shouldn''t be able to touch her once she uses her magic!"


    Riveria''s eyes became cold, "Ais, don''t hold back. As long as you don''t kill him, everything is fine~! I''ll take out a loan to fund his treatment!"


    Ais''s body started shaking from the pressure Riveria was emitting and answered, "Y-yes."


    Chuckling, Kisuke asked, "So I take it that you ept my terms~?"


    "Yep~. Ais will wipe that nasty, perverted grin off your face." Riveria also smiled as she replied, however, her smile didn''t reach her eyes.


    "Great~! Let''s start. I''m not really aiming for the bet, but for the chance to fight against the so-called Sword Princess? It''s already my win~!"


    Yoruichi and Sona who were watching from afar couldn''t help but do a facepalm, "Look how happy he is, now that he was able to sessfully scam them. And a cosy photoshoot? I see, he''s trying to procure some merchandise. He could have just asked for money, but I guess he gets more satisfaction in earning it?" Yoruichi muttered.


    "I can see my former self in them�� Is this how I fell for it? The more I get to know his real capabilities, the more I realize that this guy really likes scamming people��" Sona muttered.


    Riveria, Ais, and Kisuke moved to a wide-open area. Soon after, Yoruichi and Sona also followed behind curiously.


    Ais then tied the sheath of her rapier to its pommel so that it wouldn''t be drawn in the middle of their sparring. Kisuke noticed this and had a small smile on his face, "We use our real weapons."


    Riveria furrowed her brows, "That''s too dangerous." Although she wanted to see Kisuke beaten up, she didn''t want to endanger his life.


    Kisuke then took out his cane out of nowhere and unsheathed its de, "You got it wrong, Riveria-san~. Wallenstein-san wants to learn swordsmanship, right? So this is the best method." The pressure around Kisuke then suddenly changed, "And besides, no matter what Wallenstein-san does, she is incapable of actually killing me~. So you''re free to try."


    Ais and Riveria became shocked at his sudden change and thought that they''d gone into a real battle. It was Yoruichi who first spoke up, "Alright, I''ll be this match''s referee. Whoever wins 3 rounds wins, right? Then the one who''s about tond a fatal blow wins and if one can''t continue or admits defeat it''s a loss. Clear? Then start."


    Riveria was still hesitating and didn''t know whether it was true that Ais, no matter what she does, couldn''t kill Kisuke. Of course, asmon sense dictated, Ais could easily kill Kisuke. But something was bothering her mind and the possibility that this may actually be true, existed.


    However, unlike Riveria, Ais didn''t really care. Although she wouldn''t kill Kisuke, if the opponent requested a ded contest, then she would agree. Ais then untied her sheath and took out her de while readying her stance, ''Let''s try to fight him only with swordsmanship and around Level 4 of physical strength.''


    Ais didn''t believe that Kisuke was stronger than Revis.


    "You can make your first move," Kisuke said as he pointed his de towards Ais.


    Ais lowered her body and dashed towards Kisuke with atypical Level 4''s abilities. But just as she was about to strike him, Kisuke suddenly reappeared in front of her, bringing down his sword, "Idiot~."


    Ais''s eyes opened wide and she abruptly stopped her advance. However, she didn''t panic as she was already expecting this and ced her rapier horizontally to block his strike.


    But what she didn''t expect was the strength behind Kisuke''s strike. The moment their swords met, Ais had to use all of her strength so that she wouldn''t buckle down from the sheer weight of Kisuke''s sword strike.


    However, the moment she focused on regaining her stance, the weight suddenly disappeared and she felt a strike on her stomach. Ais didn''t know what happened, but she tried to regain her posture as she wasunched away and looked towards Kisuke in order to anticipate his next move.


    But she only saw Kisuke standing still on the ground with a big smile on his face and a split secondter, something flew past her neck, nicking a bit of her skin, "Kisuke won the first round." Yoruichi suddenly announced.


    "What!?" Ais shouted as she hadn''t lost.


    "You already lost," Yoruichi affirmed her decision as she pointed towards the rock behind Ais.


    Ais looked back and saw Kisuke''s sword sticking out of the said rock and recalled the mysterious thing that went through earlier, ''I-If he didn''t miss, his sword would be sticking out of my neck��'' Ais thought as her body shook in horror.


    "��W-what?" Riveria muttered to nobody in particr.


    However, she got an answer from the person beside her, "He already told you about it, right? The existence of Ki, another type of energy aside from magic power. Different from magic that can be used to manipte the surroundings, Ki''s usage is to further enhance and strengthen the body." Sona said with a smile on her face.


    Riveria was speechless as she failed to consider this point.


    "Of course, like magic, it has limitations. The user can only strengthen his or her body to a certain point before it breaks down and it''s an overall dangerous technique to use. By the way, this is what we use to surpass our Level''s basic abilities." Sona continued.


    And as if remembering something, Sona''s smile grew deeper, "Oh, right. At the ce where we came from, there''s an agreement to never join Kisuke in any kind of a gamble as one way or another, he always wins~."


    Riveria felt a cold wind brushing her back as she recalled what was at stake here. She then faced Ais who was getting ready again, "Ais don''t hold back! He can match your physical strength!"


    Ais nodded seriously as the second round started. However, she was still very adamant about using just her sword to win as she couldn''t take out the fact that Kisuke was just a Level 2 in her head.


    But even without holding back, two minutester, Ais''s rapier left her hand as she stumbled backwards and Kisuke''s sword was already pointing at her neck, "I guess it''s my win this round too~!"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Prosecutors corner


    Alexander: Dear Chief Judge, as I''ve just shown to you, it is unmistakably true that the suspect Mr. Urahara scammed these two women in order to force them into a cosy shoot to get more ckmail material. I beg you to punish him for this in ordance with thew.


    Chief Judge: At the moment, I can''te to a fair decision. In order to do this, I hereby order the suspect''s Superior Goyya-san to immediately upload the evidence (photos).


    28th00: Well, we saw thising a literal mile away. Kisuke, being a former Captain, has sword skills trained over centuries of life and deathbat against eldritch beings and others on his level, there was really no contest. When Godspeed is the literal basic requirement forbat in your world, you tend to be pretty good at what you do�� But seriously, Bleach has everyone having speed so fast it''s legitimately teleportation at the highest level, which is what Yoruichi''s final lightning god cat mode thing is. She is fast


    Garan: Kisuke''s list of crimesmitted just keeps on increasing.


    Goyya: And it will continue to increase.

 Volume 8 440 - Won

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 440 - Won</h4>


    "I guess it''s my win this round too~!" Kisuke said with a grin.


    Ais was frozen in ce and still couldn''t believe what just happened. No matter what she tried, she couldn''t find an opening while Kisuke could easily drill holes in her defenses despite him moving slower than her.


    It''s as if he already saw through all of her movement before she could even start. Even a spar with Gareth and Finn couldn''t render her so helpless.


    "Second round is Kisuke''s win," Yoruichi announced.


    Kisuke took back his de which was pointing at Ais'' throat and jumped back while cleaning the dust off his hat, "Just one more win for me~. You better not hold back anything anymore~."


    "Ais��" Riveria muttered as she started to get nervous.


    Ais stood back up and picked up her rapier, "Don''t worry, Riveria�� I won''t be holding back anymore." Going into her usual stance she muttered, "Tempest."


    A strong gust of wind surrounded Ais, strengthening her attacks, defense, and speed. Even if Kisuke could poke holes through her defenses, with her wind, he shouldn''t be able to touch her with his de. This is the reason why Ais didn''t want to use her magic. She thought that it was too unfair and that it couldn''t be called a spar anymore.


    Her confidence was understandable because if she used her wind, even Finn couldn''t do much in a fight against her. No amount of nning could circumvent her winds aside from pure brute force, which had to be strong enough to render her defenses ineffective.


    However, seeing this, Kisuke''s smile only grew deeper which made Ais'' brows furrow, ''He still has the confidence to win? Let''s see what else you can do.'' While thinking that, Ais dashed towards Kisuke, brandishing her rapier.


    Kisuke tried to poke holes in her swordsmanship''s defenses again, but this time, any opening she made was covered by her wind, and Kisuke had to dodge all of her attacks and was unable to counter.


    Kisuke backed away using sh Step after his efforts were rendered useless. This was the technique that worried Ais the most, as she couldn''t follow him while he was using it.


    But instead of disappearing, Kisuke''s smile only grew even deeper, ''What��?'' She questioned herself, ''Is he trying to fool me? Or is there something else he can really do in this situation?'' The growing unease in Ais'' heart prompted her to be more careful, but she still initiated the attack.


    While she wasing to him, Kisuke raised his free hand and a small green magic circle appeared in front of it. Ais carefully watched him as a gust of wind emerged from the magic circle, ''Wind magic? What is he trying to do? My wind is stronger so that wind magic can''t do anything to me.''


    But the moment Kisuke''s wind hit hers, the wind in front of Ais suddenly weakened, "!?" And soon after, Kisuke sword came in through her weakened wind, aiming for her neck, "Kuh!!!" Ais had to do several emergency maneuvers to evade his de and immediately backed away while asking, "What was that!?"


    But thanks to her question, Kisuke was even more surprised, "Oh? You don''t know? Are you serious? It looks like your proficiency with your wind is a lot lower than I thought."


    "What?" Ais didn''t like what she heard. She was known as the best wind magic-user in Orario yet Kisuke just told her that her proficiency is low.


    "Don''t get angry. I''m just telling the truth. You don''t even know how my wind magic back then worked against yours." Kisuke then feigned a cough and started exining, "Since I can''t pierce through your wind (without using my real Zanjutsu), I had to weaken it first and the first obvious choice is to generate a wind with an opposing force. So when they met, my wind countered a bit of your wind for a brief moment and I used that chance to attack. Simple, right?"


    "Opposing force?" All this time, Ais had been using her wind as it was and never met someone who could use such variations of her magic.


    "Yep~. If you spin your wind clockwise, then I need to counter it with a counter-clockwise spinning wind to negate it." Kisuke nodded enthusiastically. He really liked to tell his opponents how his moves work, "And now that we''re on the topic, let me show you just how non-proficient you are with your wind."


    Not waiting for Ais to react, Kisuke proceeded to cast wind magic on his own de and a few secondster, his de was enveloped by the wind before the de itself disappeared from everyone''s sight.


    " "Huh!?" " Ais and Riveria simultaneously eximed.


    Meanwhile, Sona thought for a moment and started muttering, "I see. Using high-pressure air containment, Kisuke was able to refract the light to hide it from in sight. However, this seemingly small and simple spell needs constant calction input from the user to keep it hidden."


    "R-refract the light?" Riveria asked as this was the first time she heard of it.


    "In other words, bending light. Since our eyes use the light which is reflected from objects to see, any light maniption could fool it. As you can see, Kisuke is bending the light around his sword which resulted in it being invisible." Sona exined.


    Riveria understood the logic behind it, but what she didn''t understand was how Kisuke was able to achieve it through wind magic, ''Is he really using wind magic? How?'' Temporarily forgetting that her ''body'' was on the line, Riveria became excited at the magic that was never seen before.


    Although this magic could indeed hide things, for Kisuke and Yoruichi who learned how to feel air currents, Kisuke''s de was still visible as ever in their senses and this spell didn''t have much use in high-level fights aside from the surprise factor.


    On the other hand, Ais didn''t have a single clue on what Kisuke just did. But as an Adventurer, she observed everything she could. However, it was also thanks to this that she couldn''t make any further moves.


    It was Kisuke''s turn to initiate attacks. Doing a big leap towards Ais, Kisuke shed his invisible de towards her. Ais put up her rapier to block his attack but she was shocked yet again when Kisuke''s de suddenly punched a hole through her Ariel, "What!?"


    Aside from that, even though she blocked his attack, small cuts appeared on one of her arms thanks to the des of winding from his weapon. Ais had to jump back to gain some distance and think through what just happened.


    Instead of following her, Kisuke also stopped his pursuit and exined it to her, "How could I easily puncture your wind? The same principle from earlier. Using wind in the opposite direction of yours, I''ll be able to render it useless for a moment."


    Ais bit her lips. She didn''t know what to do anymore.


    "Now then, with which hand do you think I''m holding my de?" Kisuke then yed with his hands in front of Ais and as he asked, Ais didn''t have any idea which hand was holding his weapon.


    While incredibly confused, Kisuke initiated his attacks again as if he was holding swords in both of his hands, "Try to guess which one, alright~!"


    Afraid that he would be able to puncture her wind again, Ais kept dodging his attacks, which was pretty easy for her to do since Kisuke was just wildly swinging his arms.


    "Ais! Increase the intensity of your Ariel! Then he shouldn''t be able to puncture it that easily!" A bit of advice came from Riveria.


    Nodding to her, Ais gathered more magic power and the wind around her became a storm gust. However, Kisuke still continued his attacks.


    With renewed confidence, Ais tried blocking his left arm''s attack. However, she didn''t feel anything and the right arm immediately came after. Ais already predicted this result and used the shortest path she prepared to intercept the other arm.


    But the result is another shock for her as she didn''t feel anything too, "!?" Confused at this result, Ais immediately jumped back in fear of something unknown.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, just let her go. With an even bigger grin, Kisuke opened both of his palms, "The answer is, I''m not holding anything~!" The moment he said this, his de reappeared in the spot he was before, stabbed into the ground.


    The incredibly stoic girl, for the first time in years, became irritated and frustrated, "Tempest!" Renewing her spell, she used the majority of her magic to create a tornado surrounding her. She intended to finish this fight in one go.


    "Tsk, tsk, tsk." Kisuke clicked his tongue in disappointment, "And this is why I told you, that you have poor handling of your own wind." He then turned his back to Ais and picked up his sword and started walking to the referee, "I won~!"


    Yoruichi looked towards Ais, trying to figure out what Kisuke did and a momentter, she realized what he had done, "I see�� I guess this round is your win too."


    "��" Ais'' irritation finally became seething anger. She was at her strongest and Kisuke hadn''t done anything yet, ''Why is she already deciding the match!?'' As a proud Adventurer, she couldn''t take this humiliation despite how apathetic she was most of the time, "Haaah!!!" Dashing for thest time, she attacked Kisuke.


    To the side, Riveria was already toote to notice what was going on, "Wait! Ais!!! Stop!!!"


    Not listening to her Ais continued and Kisuke finally faced her, "How can you call yourself a proficient wind user when you didn''t even notice what I nted inside your own wind?" And with a snap of his fingers, multiple invisible explosions urred inside Ais''s tornado, "Kyyaaa!!!"

 Volume 8 441 - Start of Expedition

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 441 - Start of Expedition</h4>


    Due to the explosions, Ais dropped down to the ground with a few broken bones all over her body and a bleeding head, "Ais!!!" Riveria came to Ais screaming and immediately used her healing magic on her.


    Riveria was about to use her Elixir but Kisuke approached them and stopped her, "Don''t waste it. Use this instead." Kisuke then passed them a small bottle of violet-colored potion. Although it wasn''t as effective as the Elixir, Kisuke''s potion could bepared to or was even better than a High-Potion, which was just below an Elixir, while also being cheaper as it was made from materials that were used for Medium-Potions.


    He could have sold it, but it would have brought more trouble than it would be worth.


    Riveria looked at Kisuke with aplicated expression but she still epted the potion, "Thank you."


    Riveria let Ais drunk Kisuke''s potion and her immediatement on it was, "Grapes?"


    "Yep~. It''s better than in, slightly bitter potion, right?"


    After a few minutes, Ais'' broken bones were mended thanks to Kisuke''s potion and Riveria''s healing magic. She then stood up and faced Kisuke before bowing her head slightly, "It''s my loss."


    "Hmm, I thought you would be more frustrated."


    Ais shook her head, "I''m frustrated. I don''t even know how I lost thest round."


    Kisuke then put up his right hand and a small magic circle appeared above it. A few secondster, the air started to get sucked above the magic circle, "Highlypressed air. Once you''ve gathered enough air and let go of it," The magic circle disappeared and a small explosion urred, sending out a shockwave to all those around, "This happens. I nted a few of these around your wind. You understand now, why I said your proficiency is not that great, right?"


    Ais''s eyes were wide open in shock. She knew that magic like this existed, but thanks to Kisuke''s silent and instant cast, she wasn''t able to see it. More shocking than that was, "�� I wasn''t even able to notice it��"


    "Correct. Inside your own magic, you failed to notice foreign magic just because it used the same attribute as yours. If that''s not a testament on how poor your handling is, I don''t know what is."


    Ais bit her lips. However, a few secondster, she started smiling and looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes with her own shining eyes, "Please teach me how to use my magic!" All the anger she felt back then disappeared as pure admiration took over.


    "Nope~." Kisuke immediately refused with the same smile.


    Ais''s smile froze, "B-but you told me that you''ll be teaching me some things��"


    "Yep~. I indeed said that, but only after some payment! I haven''t even received a downpayment! I''m doing business here, little girl!"


    "Ah��" Ais indeed recalled something like that being mentioned, "Then I''ll give you everything I got from the quest of the 24th floor."


    What Ais, the Hermes Familia, and the trio received from that quest was really mind-bogglinglyrge. It may be due to the difficulty of the quest, but the group received a few hundred million Valis worth of items and materials from the mysterious person who gave them the quest. The Hermes Familia decided to give half of what they earned to the trio as gratitude because they understood that without them, only a few or none of them might have made it back to the surface.


    "Still nope~." Kisuke rejected her again with the same smile.


    Ais was devastated, "W-why��?"


    "Because you''ll have your expedition in two days! Did you forget!? Even Arshe-san is busy and couldn''te just to prepare for your expedition. Go and do your part and I''ll ept your payment and teach you once you''ve returned!"


    "Ah�� Roger that! Please excuse me! I''m going to prepare for the expedition!" Ais then ran out, not even waiting for Riveria.


    "I swear, whoever said that she''s an emotionless doll is clearly lying. She looks just like a little kid who got promised a new toy to just do some chores." Kisuke muttered as he watched Ais skip towards the outside.


    "She was called like that for a reason, however, I can agree to yourtter statement," said Riveria with a twitching mouth.


    "Being lively is good~," added Yoruichi.


    "Anyways, I need to get going too. Thank you for having us." Riveria bid her farewell, intending to follow Ais. However, just before she could go up, Kisuke shouted to her, "Oh right, I''ll be expecting you too once you''ve returned~. I''ll prepare some good costumes for you~!"


    Riveria almost stumbled on her way out but she didn''t face Kisuke and just ran out. But Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Sona could very well see her very flushed red long ears.


    Stretching his back, Kisuke intended to go back to the workshop, "Now that I''ve seen something nice, I need to go back to work~. I should be able to finish the basic model for warping in the next few days."


    "Oh? That''s nice~. Now then, Sona-chan, let''s continue. I need you to master the basics before the expedition." Yoruichi dragged Sona back to training.


    .


    .


    .


    Two dayster, on the day of the Loki Familia expedition, everyone from the Loki Familia and some from the Hephaestus Familia gathered at the central park. Sona, Aika, and Koneko soon arrived and went to look for Riveria to arrange their position in the group.


    A few minutester, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth went up to the makeshift podium. Finn went in front, bearing the g of Loki Familia, and overlooked everyone,


    "We will now begin our expedition! Like before, we''ll split our force into two groups! Once we regroup on the 18th floor, we''ll immediately head down to the 50th floor! Riveria and I will be in charge of the first group and Gareth will be in charge of the second!"


    "Our goal is the unknown area, the 59th floor!"


    "You all are courageous Adventurers and warriors like the heroes of old! We''ll gain wealth and fame from exploring the unknown! We don''t need false glory at the cost of others! I want you all to swear by the light on the surface that you''lle back alive!"


    "Now! Let''s depart on our expedition!"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Comments, anyone?


    Alexander: Now, author-san broke my expectations for Ais. However, I''ve got the feeling that she bes more and more like Koneko. As for Finn, I''m sure that there are some people out there, who would go on like "Huahh" (Spartans reference). But for me, it''s more like the regr director''s speech at the school. Makes me go like, "Meh, can you just start to walk?"


    28th00: Hmm, I kinda wanna see Kisuke pull the ssic Isekai "Science + Magic = OP" move with these two, well, three. Add basic concepts of science like physics to magic spells, the airpression and counter-current for example, and you get really nice tricks. It''d be kinda funny if Kisuke''s start to teaching is "Okay ss! Open up your textbooks to page 3(of 3000)! We have sciencing to do!" After all, science is the understanding of the world, ain''t it? Probably not that exactly. Close enough for my fading memories of science quotes!


    Goyya: Well, Ais and Koneko''s personality do ovep, but there''s a big difference between them and that''s Ais is truly innocent while Koneko is a closet pervert.


    On the science side, it''s almost nonexistent due to how magic is used in this world. They all rely on chants and just let the world do the job for them.

 Volume 8 442 - The Best Self Defense Weapon

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 442 - The Best Self Defense Weapon</h4>


    Aika, Sona, and Koneko joined Finn and Riveria''s group. The trio then started greeting everyone from the Loki Familia and Hephaestus Familia.


    The three of them knew that there would be some dissent, especially from the members of the Loki Familia since they woulde with them. Even though they already heard that it was an agreement between Loki and Hestia, some of them still couldn''t ept that they would be piggybacking some Level 2 kids from some unknown Familia. The news about them being able to y Minotaurs while still just being Level 1''s was still highly doubted, as most people thought that they received help from the executives of the Loki Familia.


    Despite that, the trio continued to greet everyone in an effort to ease some of their dissatisfaction, after all, they would be together for at least two weeks of their journey. But once they had done their greetings, they figured out that most of the dissatisfaction only came from the lower Leveled members of the Loki Familia. Even Bete, who was famous for his rash mouth and brash attitude, seemed to quietly ept their presence. Not because his superior told him to ept them, but he already witnessed them risk their lives against something that is much stronger than them. They might be weaklings, but they aren''t cowards, is what was on his mind.


    The trio then went to the front as Riveria instructed them and, once they reached the group of executives, Riveria asked, "How was it?"


    "It''s better than I thought," Sona answered.


    "Of course, they''re our members after all. However, small dissatisfaction can''t be avoided, especially from those who just joined us." Riveria made a small smile.


    Off to the side, the energetic Amazoness immediately greeted them, "Hey, hey~! It''s been awhile~! I heard you guys are periodically seen on the 18th floor and beyond! You guys are still Level 2, right? That''s amazing~!"


    "It''s thanks to the people who supported us. Without them, we wouldn''t be here." Aika replied to Tiona.


    "Oh, I''ve heard of one of them. Yoruichi, right?" Tione asked.


    "��Yes. She''s the one who is mainly training our fighting skills." Koneko answered.


    The group of executives from the Loki Familia and the trio kept on chatting until they reached the 7th floor, which had a weird atmosphere. And the first one to notice it was Koneko who had been using her Senjutsu, "��The smell of blood is thicker than usual, and ites from people."


    Everyone from the Loki Familia frowned and looked towards Bete who also started sniffing the air and confirmed her statement, "She''s right�� And panicked voices areing from the front."


    They were surprised that Koneko was able to notice something before Bete but they didn''t have time for that right now, "Let''s move faster." Finnmanded.


    And a few secondster, everyone could already see a few Adventurers running towards them, "Hey, what happened?" Tiona asked them.


    "Geh! Amazoness!? Tiona Hiryute!? The Loki Familia!? An expedition!?" One of the Adventurers reacted with a scared expression.


    "Why do they always react this way?" Tiona wanted to cry.


    Bete grabbed one of their cors and started asking with a threatening tone, "What are you guys doing!?" It''s only normal to be suspicious of Adventurers running away as they might have just passed a parade of monsters to other unsuspecting Adventurers.


    Knowing the suspicion on them, one of them immediately answered, "T-There was a Minotaur!"


    "What?"


    "As I said, there was a Minotaur! There was a Minotaur on the upper floors! We got out of there as fast as we could, when we saw a white-haired brat getting attacked!"


    "Where is this Minotaur?" Sona interrupted and pressured him with her gaze.


    "O-on the 9th floor." The Adventurer answered.


    Sona immediately got on Koneko''s back and told the rest, "We''re sorry, but we''re going ahead first." After that sentence, Aika, Koneko, and Sona had disappeared and reappeared more than ten meters away from the group and were already running towards the depth of the Dungeon.


    "Wait!" Riveria shouted at them but they already disappeared into the distance. Those who first time saw the sh Step were incredibly confused at what just happened.


    "I''m following them," Ais stated as she ran after them.


    "Ais!?" Tiona shouted.


    "What are you doing!?" Bete reacted.


    "We''re following them," Finnmanded. Since they were already here, they might as well see what was happening. Who knows? It may lead to more clues regarding the tamer.


    Aika, Koneko, and Sona immediately reached the 9th floor, "What do you think, how big is his chance of survival?" Sona asked.


    "Hmm�� If he could just throw away that cowardly instinct, then he can probably defeat that Minotaur. After all, we''ve been teaching him a few tricks that could be useful." Aika answered.


    "�� If he could push away his fears, that is," Koneko added.


    On their way to where they suspected the Minotaur and the white-haired Adventurer was, they came across a familiar but bloody figure, "The Pallum who''s always with Cranel-san!"


    The Pallum, Lily, noticed them and immediately pleaded despite being in a confused state because of the wound on her head, "Adventurer-sama�� please help us��!"


    Aika hurriedly moved in to catch her falling body and immediately took out a potion, pouring it on her face, "Please help Bell-sama��!" Lily continued pleading.


    "Where is he?" Aika asked.


    "He''s in room E-16 on the regr path��!" Lily did her best to point in a certain direction.


    However, just as she finished speaking, Koneko warned the others, "Someone is here! And he''s strong!"


    Aika set Lily down and looked towards the direction she pointed. She then saw a burly Adventurer walking out of the shadows, "Ottar of Freya Familia��"


    "I have a business in here and you''re interfering with my work. You shall not pass." Ottar unsheathed his gigantic great sword.


    Sona got down from Koneko back and said while fixing her sses, "I see, this is Freya-sama''s arrangement. I wonder what for?"


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about, but this is my business alone. Do not interfere." Ottar replied, not a bit bothered about what she said.


    The three of them knew that they couldn''t match Ottar, but it wouldn''t hurt to try going against the said strongest man in Orario.


    Without speaking, Aika drew her nodachi and dashed towards Ottar while brandishing her de. However, the moment their weapons met, Aika was instantly blown away, "Kuh!!!"


    Koneko caught her midair and set her down, "That brute force is something else." Aika muttered.


    It was Koneko''s turn to try to pass him. Using sh Step, she reappeared in front of Ottar and immediately aimed her hammer at his face. But, as if he already knew what she nned to do, Ottar easily blocked her attack using his sword.


    A split secondter, Aika also reappeared behind him and aimed for his neck. But even then, without looking back, Ottar easily dodged her strike. Seeing that their attempt was unsessful, the two of them immediately retreated.


    "What a strange magic," Ottar muttered while looking at them.


    "Nope~. We can''t do it." Aika sighed.


    "Let''s wait for Ais-san. She''sing here." Koneko also gave up.


    And a few secondster, Ais did arrive and Ottar finally took a stance, "Sword Princess, I wish to challenge you."


    Ais was confused about why the ''Champion'' is here, but she also pulled out her rapier and shed against him.


    While they''re distracted, Aika, Koneko, and Sona slipped past Ottar. Ottar, of course, wouldn''t allow it and chased after them with a speed which was even faster than the fastest member of the Loki Familia.


    However, with a grin, Aika pulled out a pepper spray and used it in the general direction he was taking which became pretty effective as Ottar was forced to retreat, "We''ll go ahead~!" Aika shouted while waving at him.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Fanboys corner


    Alexander: That''s my girl. Now, I really want to see that ba**ard getting trashed by Kisuke.


    28th00: Ah, Freya being scummy. The usual, huh? Pepper spray works on everyone, equally. Hestia and Loki can confirm! They''re such good friends that they tested it on each other for quality control! I kinda like how you''ve portrayed Bete here, since in most fanfics he''s shown to be an ass, no questions asked. He just really hates cowards, which is exactly what Bell is in canon, hence his ridicule. His crush on Ais doesn''t really help out much in that regard though.


    Alexander my dude, I''ma go after you for aggressive usage ofmas one day! At least Tiona and Tione weren''t mixed up, this time�� It was horrible whenever they were central characters and I had to decode who was who half the time!


    Alexander: What, can, I, say? I''m, German, so, I, love,mas.

 Volume 8 443 - A Rabbit and A Minotaur

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 443 - A Rabbit and A Minotaur</h4>


    The trio reached the room where the white-haired Adventurer was supposed to be attacked by the Minotaur. When they saw it, the first thing they noticed was that the Minotaur was different from the rest, due to its fur being dark red in hue and it was currently wielding a greatsword which was clearly forged by a person''s hand instead of being a natural weapon.


    However, when they saw Bell''s condition, the trio decided to not to step in and help him, "What''s this? Aren''t you doing well?"


    Bell immediately noticed them, "A-Aika-san!?" He shouted as he dodged the Minotaur''s strike, breaking the boulders around him.


    "What''s up with that face? Do you want our help?" Aika asked.


    "P-please!" Bell pleaded as he continued dodging the Minotaur''s attacks.


    "Sure, but are you going to run away again?"


    Bell froze on his spot for a moment before he started moving again to dodge, "I-I��"


    "You want to be a great Adventurer? A hero? Howughable~! The way you''re now, no way that''s going to happen. Even you could see that, right?"


    "B-but I can''t defeat the Minotaur!"


    "Sure, sure, but that''s just the bullsh*t you believe. Do you even see the reality right now? Aren''t you doing fine in the face of that cow head? And that knife, it can properly cut open that walking roast beef."


    "��"


    "It''s up to you if you can actually do it, though~! But what are you waiting for? A great Adventure is waiting in front of you, a doorway to your dreams. Aren''t you going to take it?"


    Bell continued to dodge the Minotaur in silence and a few secondster, a light burned brightly in his eyes and asked, "Is Lily safe?"


    "Yep. We came across her earlier and she should be fine now." Aika answered.


    Gritting his teeth, Bell faced the Minotaur properly this time. He was still very much scared, however, a burning passion in his heart was slowly melting it away, "Thank you��"


    The rest from the Loki Familia soon arrived with Lily in tow. When they saw a lone Adventurer and obviously a newbie facing the Minotaur, Ais, Tione, and Tiona were about to help, but the trio blocked their way, "What are you doing?" The usually energetic Tiona frowned at them.


    "Hah! It''s true that firste first serve in the Dungeon and we can''t steal other''s prey!" Bete supported their decision but for a different reason.


    Hearing this, the still weak Lily immediately pleaded to him, "P-please�� Adventurer-sama�� Please help Bell-sama!"


    Seeing her pitiful state and earnest plea, Bete clicked his tongue and stepped forward, "Damn it! Move away!"


    However, the trio still didn''t move despite his threatening atmosphere.


    "Oi, move away if you don''t want to be forcefully moved!"


    In response, Aika only replied, "Are you blind? Does it look like he needs help?"


    Bete got pissed but he still looked towards Bell and the Minotaur duking it out in the middle of the room and was shocked with what he found, "Oi�� Didn''t this little brat say he''s just a Level 1? How can he match the movement of a Level 2 Minotaur?" He asked everyone.


    Everyone couldn''t move, but it was much more shocking for Finn and Bete to see this, as this was their first time witnessing a Level 1 going against a Level 2 monster which was normally an impossible feat.


    "Is it really that surprising? We did it toost time." Aika muttered.


    Bell could only match the Minotaur''s movement because he recalled every tip and trick which the trio taught him. Every time they would meet while the trio was stocking up on potions from the Miach Familia. Aika and Koneko would teach some things to the newbie Bell to flex their superiority as ''Seniors'' and the naive Bell would believe thempletely.


    Although Sona didn''t agree with their thoughts, she also gave him some tips. While Aika and Koneko would keep on teaching him reckless things, Sona would counter that with her own teachings of analysis so that he could use their tips properly. Thanks to that and his unusually high status for a Level 1, he got a chance to defeat the Minotaur which Freya had unreasonably thrusted upon him.


    "H-he actually did it��" Bete muttered while gritting his teeth. Even though he watched a very low-level battle, the fact that someone who could risk his life with every move existed, reignited his burning passion for Adventure, but at the same time, he was extremely frustrated since he knew he couldn''t do the same thing if he was in Bell''s shoes, "Damn it all��! Old Hag, you can read hieroglyphs, right? Take a look at his status!"


    "That''s incredibly rude and would infringe on his private information."


    "Can''t you see, he''s disying his back for everyone to see! You''ll see it eventually when you start taking care of him!"


    Riveria sighed and finally agreed with him because she was also curious. Even from the distance, she could already see Bell''s status through his torn shirt. Approaching him, she started reading his status in earnest but became careful so that she wouldn''t be able to see his skills, "Status all S. One of them even broke through the limit."


    "Wah!?" Bete clenched his fist. In Orario, only Ais and Ottar reached the status of all S and Ais became one of the strongest Adventurers while Ottar is known as the strongest, but even then, they never got anything higher than S.


    "Bell Cranel, is it?" Finn muttered. This fight became more memorable to him as he personally witnessed it. Even if he knew that the trio managed to do something simr or even harder, he couldn''t easily believe such ims and always had some doubts.


    .


    .


    .


    On the extreme top of the Tower of Babel, Kisuke was quietly standing while looking down with his umbre blocking the direct sunlight. He was currently watching Freya having a satisfied expression after Bell defeated the Minotaur but also a slight regret that she wasn''t the reason why he could defeat it, "I see�� So that''s how it is. In hindsight, she does things simr to me, but she only cares about the soul and throws everything else aside, only depending on chance. Well, I guess that''s one way to unearth heroes, at the cost of quite a few dead bodies."


    "As my girls grow stronger, it would be detrimental for them to keep their souls sealed from her sight. It looks like the future will be fun~!" Kisuke muttered as he disappeared from the tower.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    The Late Corner:


    28th00: Well, now we know how Bell survives Freya''s machinations without his usual plot armor. He has the Trio teaching him quite literally world-changing abilities, which are just basic skills to them. And since he''s an absolute NOOB, he takes their word as gospel. Honestly, the poor kid was absurdly lucky before, but now he''ll technically have some base skill besides his absurd parameters. I wonder how his Hero Worship skill works now, or if his potential manifested in another manner instead? Bete being a tsundere is pretty cute though.

 Volume 8 444 - Denatus

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 444 - Denatus</h4>


    Two days after the Loki Familia left for their expedition, Hestia got up early in the morning and bid her farewell to everyone, "Well then, everyone, I''m off!" Hestia stood up after eating her breakfast, "I promise to get perfectly eptable Aliases for everyone!"


    "Do you think she can do it?" Kisuke asked.


    "I highly doubt it," Yoruichi answered while munching on her bread.


    The Denatus. It was a meeting of the Gods which was held once every three months. Although it was only a title, the Guild had recognized it as an advisory bodyposed of Gods. Even though a lot of the matters brought up therecked seriousness and were discussed jokingly, it was also the ce to decide the Aliases for Adventurers and suggested and reviewed recent and uing events that ur in the city.


    To participate, a God must have at least one Level 2 or higher member in their Familia. Attending the Denatus was a sign that their Familia was one of the stronger ones in the city.


    "What are you going to do if you don''t get an eptable Alias, nya?" Kuroka asked. She already heard what a Denatus was and how rough those meetings could be.


    She also heard that Gods and Goddesses used this chance to name children of other Familias with painful and cringe-worthy names which didn''t seem to bother the citizens of this world, most probably because the term and meaning of chuunibyou were foreign or unknown to them.


    Instead of answering, however, Kisuke and Yoruichi only gave her a smile which gave her shivers, ''Not good�� These two will absolutely cause chaos. But I wonder how much? I hope we get some really funny names.'' But the shivers she felt were not from fear but the anticipation for the future. She really just wanted to see the world burn.


    In the Denatus with Loki as the chairwoman, the meeting had started and Hestia couldn''t help but cringe at what she was seeing, "Did you hear!? Poor little Soma got a warning from the Guild! He had to give up his one and only hobby!" One of the Gods shouted to everyone.


    "Are you serious!?" Another God asked, "So, what''s his hobby anyway?"


    "I don''t know."


    "I heard he shut himself up in his room, sitting in the corner while hugging his knees!"


    "I wanna seeeee!!!"


    "Oh, there is information that the kingdom of Rakia is preparing to invade Orario."


    "Is it Ares again��?"


    "I think I''ll go cheer him up!"


    "You''re just going to go over and rub salt into his wound, aren''t you?"


    Hestia muttered while shivering, "I expected something like this to happen, but this is rough."


    "It''s the usual." Hephaestus, who was sitting beside her, was already used to this chaotic sight of everyone just shouting at each other.


    pping her hands, Loki gathered everyone''s attention, "Alright, quiet down! To summarize, what we need to be concerned about right now is Rakia. I''ll inform the Guild about it. Your Familias might be called to fight so be prepared."


    Feigning a cough, Loki continued, "Can I say something too? A new and weird monster has been popping up these days."


    "It appeared at the MonterPhilia and at a safety point in the Dungeon." This was the reason why Loki volunteered to be the chairwoman for today''s meeting, ''The remnants of Evilus are acting up, which means that some God must be giving them a Falna.''


    "They are richly colored like someone has dumped paint all over them. They''re as strong as second ss Adventurers and appear in various ces. They''ll appear anywhere including the city and the Dungeon." Loki continued, ''That God is probably here, considering that both power and information gathers here. A strange reaction should be enough��''


    "The remnants of Evilus have been acting uptely, or so I''ve heard. You should all be careful." Loki finished her words, waiting for everyone''s reaction.


    However, the other Gods only answered with vague expressions and statements which didn''t help Loki to gather any information at all. The atmosphere turned stiff because most of the Gods noticed Loki''s intention and didn''t want to get involved in this problem.


    But amidst that, a certain God wearing an elephant mask stood up and said, "I''d like to say something too!"


    "First off, I''m Ganesha~!" He introduced himself while doing a weird pose.


    "Okay, now sit down." Loki retorted.


    Not listening to her, Ganesha continued his antics, "Sorry, I made a mistake! Let me apologize first! I''m sorry for the mess we caused at the MonsterPhilia the other day! Nevertheless, I swear on my own name that we weren''t the ones who captured those man-eating flowers! Please trust me!"


    "Can I say more!?"


    Waving her hand in resignation, Loki agreed with a fed-up face, "Oh, all right. Just hurry it up." However, deep inside her, she had been waiting for Ganesha to say the next words he wanted to say.


    "On the same floor where those man-eating flowers rampaged on, one of my Familia members was murdered! I don''t know if it has something to do with the MonsterPhilia but I want to avenge him!" Bowing his head to everyone, Ganesha pleaded, "Please tell me if you know anything about it!"


    While crying his eyes out, Ganesha started muttering, "Kuh�� Hashana�� Why��? Why did you�� Die while having sex!?"


    Everyone froze up.


    "I''m so jealous that you were seduced and killed by a hot busty woman!" Realizing what he just said, Ganesha corrected himself, "I mean, how disgraceful! Why didn''t you trade ces with me!?" But he still got it wrong.


    "Hashana didn''t die during sex." Loki corrected him.


    "Huh?"


    Sighing, Loki gave up on him, but she wasughing inside, ''Nheless, the mood has taken a turn for the better. This should make the small and medium-sized Familias realize that this is too much for them to handle, based on how the Loki Familia took an interest in it and how the Ganesha Familia has mourned and pleaded. Those who don''t have anything to do with this won''t stick their noses into it and at the same time, Evilus'' movements should be more obvious. It should slow them down. Thanks, Ganesha. Your words will keep them in check.'' She thought while looking at the Gods who already gave up entertaining themselves by meddling with this affair.


    "Well then, let''s move on to the Naming Ceremony."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Anarchists corner


    Alexander: Finally, I''ve been waiting for many weeks for this. I remember the fun we all had when we desperately searched for the most cringy Aliases. So, I feel like Kuroka, let Orario burn.


    28th00: KUROKA! WE ARE BROTHERS IN ARMS FOR OUR ANARCHY, SISTER! This is how the world burns�� IT BURNS BECAUSE OF BAD PUNS! It sucks for them, we''ve got demolition experts galore��


    Goyya: We burn! We burn!

 Volume 8 445 - The Naming Ceremony

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 445 - The Naming Ceremony</h4>


    The Naming Ceremony. Aliases such as Sword Princess and Nine Hells were officially decided during this ceremony. The children of the Lower World viewed such names as worthy of awe. However, those ''Aliases of awe'' were considered to be painful names among the Gods and were enough to cause them to faint in agony. In particr, members of weaker Familia weremonly toyed around with by the Gods of veteran Familias.


    "Okay, Erika Rosaria''s alias will be Vinte!"


    "WHHYY???!!!!!"


    "They''re insane��" Hestia muttered as she started to get nervous for real.


    "I understand all too well. I used to be just like them." Hephaestus patted her shoulder.


    Hestia then looked at her with upturned eyes, "Won''t you help me?"


    But Hephaestus only shook her head, "I am but a single voice. I can''t influence them unless I use force and you know I don''t like doing that."


    Hestia could only sigh and brace herself. She thought of asking for Loki''s help, but she knew that she would only make things worse knowing her personality.


    "Next is an Adventurer named Seti from the Set Familia," Loki announced.


    "P-Please go easy on me��!" The God of Set Familia pleaded.


    However, all the Gods around only had a nasty grin and shining eyes while simultaneously saying, "I refuse!"


    "Nooo!!!!"


    "Thus, Set''s boy will be the Burning Fighting Fighter!"


    "You bastards!!!!!"


    "GAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"


    "Next in line is Takemikazuchi. Oh, isn''t she a cute one~! Hmmm, she''s from one of those Far East ces, so her name is written backwards. Li''l Yamato Mikoto-chan~!" Loki continued the ''fun.''


    "ck hair is so nice�� So would havin'' some fun with a girl at this tender age, eh��?" One of the Gods muttered.


    "A-are you serious��!?" Takemikazuchi couldn''t believe that someone would make ament like that.


    "Takamikazuchi, you hopeless bastard." Another follow up from one of the Gods.


    "What!?" Takemikazuchi couldn''t help but m the table.


    However, their stream ofments continued, "Natural born Gigolo, That''s what you are��"


    "Goddesses, children, doesn''t matter to ya, does it? Pulling ''em into your scheme just the same."


    "Got a lolitaplex or something!?"


    But most of thesements were born from jealousy of other male Gods as someone as cute as Mikoto was rare and all of them wanted to have fun too.


    "Wh-what are you talking about!?" If not for his mortal-like strength, Takemikazuchi would have already broken the stone table in front of him.


    "I shall be the one to deliver a requiem for Mikoto-chan!" One of the Gods dered, "Future of the Milky Way, Fortune Gxy!"


    "Such a good girl following a hopeless God, The Fallen Saint, Last Heroine!"


    "You idiots, it should be Little Angel!"


    "Enough! Stop at once!" Takemikazuchi was about to cry for justice while recalling his cute Mikoto, ''Mikoto! I''ll do whatever it takes to get you an eptable Alias!'' Standing up, Takemikazuchi pointed at everyone, "I''ve done my absolute best to raise and guide my little angel!"


    "Little Angel?"


    "That''s it!"


    Hestia couldn''t ignore it any longer, so she finally spoke up, "Cut it out already! Tak��! As your friend, I swear I won''t allow that title to be-"


    However, Loki interrupted her, "Have you guys finished deciding on Yamato Mikoto-chan''s Alias? Let''s move on already!"


    "Hey smug-faced Dionysus-kun, you''ve been quiet for some time. Don''t you have anything to say?" One of the Gods called out to Dionysus.


    "Hmm?"


    "You''ve shown up for the first time in a while. Why don''t you say something?"


    "Let''s see��" Dionysus then looked toward Takemikazuchi who was sending hand-signals towards him, pleading him to think of a normal Alias.


    Dionysus gave him a small smile and Takemikazuchi suddenly felt ted. However, that smile soon warped to something nasty as he said, "Absolute?Shadow, how about that?"


    "Dionysus you bastard!!!"


    "Mikoto-chan''s Alias shall be Absolute?Shadow. Any objection?" Loki announced.


    "None!" Most of the Gods agreed.


    "You monsters!!!!!"


    "The next Adventurer, or rather Adventurers are from the brat''s Familia. Make sure to take a look at their files before you decide, okay~?" Loki moved on, ignoring the bloodcurdling scream of one God.


    The ignored Hestia finally started to shake, not in anger, but from fear, ''T-these guys�� They''re worse than I thought��''


    "First off, the three with the great achievement of ying two Minotaurs while just being a level 1, Shirone Toujou, Aika Kiryuu, and Sona Sitri."


    "The three of them slew two Minotaurs? That''s indeed impressive! And most importantly, they''re all cute!!!"


    "But I heard that there''s an even better achievement from yesterday. I heard it''s Miach''s child."


    Miach, who was silently waiting until now, flinched at their attention.


    "We''ll go into thatter, but first of all, think of names for them."


    "P-please forgive these children�� I beg you." Hestia knew that acting tough won''t do her any good, so she could only plead like the other Gods.


    "Koneko-chan�� A white-haired cat person using white-colored me magic? How strange�� but also amusing~! Let''s start with White Cat Neb~!"


    "What''s this? She was also seen punching monsters? Hahaha, I''ll go with Starforce Fist Fighter~!"


    "Y-you guys��"


    "Hey, hey, look at this! Apparently she also has a big sister. She''s a ck-haired cat person who was also seen wielding ck mes~! Let''s think about a theme that could match them!"


    After a few more banter between each other, Loki announced the Aliases of both Koneko and Kuroka, "For Shirone-chan, it''ll be White mes of Dawn while Kuroka-chan will have ck mes of Twilight~! Any objection?"


    " " "None~!" " "


    Hestia almost fell forward and started crying, ''These bastards�� I''m so sorry, Koneko-kun, Kuroka-kun! I failed you!''


    "Next is, Aika Kiryuu-chan! She''s wielding a strange, giant Far Eastern sword. However, even with her weapon of choice, witnesses can only see shes of her sword. It seems that she learned a certain style of swordsmanship!"


    Hestia tried to protest to the names that they thought of, however, Aika still received the Alias, shy Knight Champion.


    When they reached Sona, Hestia had already partially given up as her voice wasn''t reaching anyone. And due to her magic, Sona received the Alias, Magical Girl��Azure.


    Using that momentum and in a simr fashion, Medusa received ''Tiny Maid Warrior'' while Yoruichi received ''Void Shadow Stalker.''


    Everyone was having fun until they reached thest file, which contained Kisuke''s information.


    "Hmm�� So this is their captain, huh. Aside from the first three, the rest who leveled up don''t look very impressive." One of the Gods muttered.


    However, only Dionysus, Hermes, and especially Freya silently disagreed.


    While Dionysus only had some small doubts, Hermes already heard from his members what Yoruichi was capable of and it seemed to be that she was the mentor of the first three.


    Freya, on the other hand, based her suspicion on their normal and dirty souls. She knew she couldn''t be wrong with what she saw, but she was still questioning whether someone with a soul like that was really capable of an achievement simr to Bell. And most importantly, it was thanks to them that Bell was able to break through his limits. So in extension, her suspicion reached towards Kisuke and the rest, ''What is this feeling��? I don''t like it. I should investigate them. However, Loki is oddly close to them�� What should I do?''


    They were about to decide Kisuke''s Alias when one of them read through his file and reached the bottom sentence, "E-every child from his Familia, is his lover��? What?"


    "Huh!?" The male Gods, while having fun, suddenly froze and read through his file, "What the hell is this!?"


    Their reaction was understandable as everyone from the Hestia Familia, as they saw, was cute and a beauty of their own right. And when they were told that all of them were attending to a single man, something broke inside them. They didn''t think that they would see someone even worse than Takemikazuchi and someone who could rival the most famous yboy God, Zeus.


    Thus, with the cooperation of most of the male Gods and their resentment, Kisuke received the title ''Green Crusader:Gigolo Master''.

 Volume 8 446 - Aliases

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 446 - Aliases</h4>


    Hestia got home with her soul almosting out of her body, "��I''m home��"


    Seeing her like this, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa already knew what happened. However, they still didn''t know how bad it was, "Wee home, Hestia-sama~! Did you have your dinner?"


    "��I had a meal with Hephaestus." Hestia then slowly walked towards the four of them and immediately apologized, "I''m so sorry! I couldn''t get any eptable ones!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi''s smiles became cold, however, they didn''t show it to Hestia. Depending on those Aliases, especially their Aliases, the whole Orario might not have a wink of sleep tonight.


    "Don''t worry, Hestia-sama~! We''ll ept whatever nickname they gave us. After all, all Adventurers of Level 2 and above have one, right?" Kisuke consoled Hestia, but he would regret his wordster.


    Hestia''s eyes swam around as she knew how bad it was, especially Kisuke''s Alias, "Umm�� Do you want to hear it now? Or wait for the Guild to announce it tomorrow?"


    "Let''s go to the living room and hear it there~!" Kisuke urged everyone and Medusa separated from them to prepare some tea and snacks.


    Hestia stayed quiet until she was served tea. She knew that Kisuke and the rest were somehow different from the rest of the children and they would understand how painful those nicknames are. Their understanding was to the point that they wouldugh behind the back of certain Adventurers with really cringy names.


    After she drank her tea, Hestia sat straight up and cleared her throat, "Ehem�� As you know, everyone''s Aliases were already decided and there''s no way to change it until you gain another level. So it''s useless to protest about it if you are not satisfied."


    "We understand. Please tell us."


    Hestia gritted her teeth and spoke, "The first ones to be decided were Koneko-kun and Kuroka-kun��"


    Kuroka perked her ears up and was quite happy that they were decided first as that would mean that they used the same theme for both of the sisters, "Let''s hear it, nya~!"


    "Ehem�� Well�� Koneko-kun got White mes of Dawn while Kuroka-kun got ck mes of Twi��light��" At the end of her sentence, Hestia''s voice started trailing off.


    Kuroka froze. Everyone froze. They didn''t expect that it was this bad and a few secondster, Kisuke and Yoruichi startedughing out loud, "Fuhahahaha! That''s great, isn''t it, ck mes of Twilight-san~?"


    "Don''tugh, nya! We haven''t heard yours yet! For all we know, it might be worse than that, nya!" Kuroka immediately protested.


    "Now, now. Don''t get too worked up, ck mes-san. To all others, this is a great and prestigious title~." Yoruichi patted her shoulder in mock constion.


    Kuroka knew that it was useless to argue with them as they would take every chance they got to mess with someone. She also imagined what would happen if herrades from her homeworld were to hear about her ''prestigious title'' and she could easily see Bikouughing his ass off and Vali nodding in agreement. Shaking her head, she urged Hestia to continue, "Whatever, nya! Let''s hear the rest! Let''s see if you''re stillughing after Hestia-sama finishes, nya!"


    Hearing that, Hestia flinched and that reaction of hers gave some worry to both Kisuke and Yoruichi, ''It shouldn''t be that bad, right?'' Both of them thought and wished. Although they were experienced warriors, and would not bat an eye to whatever those around them think of them, there''s really just something different about a painful title, yet it was seen as something great by the others.


    "N-next is Aika-kun who got shy Knight Champion and Sona who got Magical Girl��Azure��" Hestia wrote their Aliases on the paper.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi both wanted tough, especially at Sona''s very coincidental nickname which her big sister would very much adore However, the worry and bad feeling they were getting overtook their desire to make fun of the absentees.


    Hestia, noting their silence, continued, "Medusa-kun got the title of ''Tiny Maid Warrior'' because of her usual attire��"


    "Yoruichi-kun got the title ''Void Shadow Stalker''��"


    Yoruichi''s brows twitched as she heard hers. The desire to bury those who decided her title increased inside her. However, she didn''t interrupt Hestia as she had a weird feeling that the next andst Alias would be the most cringy.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, really wanted tough at their titles, especially after seeing Yoruichi''s face. But the grim feeling didn''t decrease but instead, it multiplied as they waited for Hestia to reveal his own title. He wanted some relief, however, Hestia''s next words chopped all hope he had, "Uhhmmm�� You see�� Kisuke-kun''s title is a bit special and was decided by the Gods with great vigor after reading a certain detail in the report about you��"


    "And that is?" Kisuke asked.


    "��Every child from the Hestia Familia is your lover��"


    Kisuke was now a hundred percent sure that he wouldn''t get a normally painful one. He already interacted with the Gods and observed them and there was one thing that he could say for certain, ''Most of them are extremely jealous of others!''


    "Please don''t beat around the bush and tell me what they assigned to me."


    "��G-Green Crusa��der: G-g��o��lo��as��er." Hestia couldn''t say it properly.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa only heard parts of it, but it was already enough for them to fill in the nks with the context of ''Everyone''s lover.''


    While Kisuke wanted to escape reality, Yoruichi was already holding her mouth, trying not tough as they hadn''t really confirmed it yet, "W-what was it, Hestia-sama?" She asked.


    "I-I said, Green Crusader: G-gi��lo Master."


    "��Please say it louder." Yoruichi urged her with a serious and twitching face.


    Hestia first took a peek at Kisuke and noticed that he was smiling, but his smile was cold, "Please go on~."


    Hestia got scared of his expression but she knew that she couldn''t escape this. So she took a deep breath and gathered all of her courage to shout, "Kisuke-kun''s title is Green Crusader: Gigolo Master!!!"


    Something broke inside Kisuke as he maintained his smile.


    On the other hand, Yoruichi couldn''t take it anymore andughed at his face, "FUHAHAHAHAHA! Hey, Gigolo Master! Nice to meet you~!"


    Kisuke gave her a forehead flick that sent her flying and doing a backflip. But as shended on her back, Yoruichi still keptughing, "AHAHAHA! This is far from painful! That title is the best! Even the residents of this city should be able to understand how weird your nickname is! From tomorrow onwards you shall be known as the Green Crusader: Gigolo Master! If they ever change it, I''ll be the first one to protest against it!"


    Kuroka and Medusa were also trying their best not tough but they couldn''t stop their bodies from shaking so each of them also received a forehead flick from Kisuke. But same as Yoruichi, despite having a swollen forehead, they only keptughing, "I''ll also include my signature to your cause Yoruichi, nya!"


    "Master�� Don''t worry. This won''t really hurt you."


    Still, with a cold smile, Kisuke asked, "Yoruichi, want to join the party?"


    Yoruichi stoppedughing and stood up with great vigor, "Of course, I''ming! We won''t let them sleep tonight!"


    "I''m alsoing, nya! You can''t leave me out of this fun activity, nya!"


    "Then I''ll be staying behind to take care of Hestia-sama."


    Kisuke then faced Hestia, "Hestia-sama, could you name all the Gods which decided those names for us?"


    Hestia froze and asked, "What are you going to do with them?"


    "Nah~! We''ll just give them ate-night visit~! To express our gratitude for such a good treatment~!"


    Hestia was very much sure that wasn''t the case at all but she also couldn''t refuse due to the pressureing from Kisuke, ''It''s going to be extremely noisy.''


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Anarchists Corner


    Alexander: Uuuhhh, I can''t wait to know, what kind of surprise he has for them. Maybe some stink bombs as an entree to the dinner menu of hell?


    28th00: So, lets see how gods handle PTSD. I''m curious��

 Volume 8 447 - Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 447 - Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group</h4>


    "Here." Kisuke passed both Yoruichi and Kuroka a cloak, a mask, and some bombs each.


    Yoruichi picked up the bombs and asked, "These are? Are we blowing up their ce?"


    "Isn''t that bad, nya?"


    "Nope~! If we bomb their ce, we might hurt innocent people. Besides, they could easily rebuild their ce and that''ll only be hard for them for a few days. It''s the same if we set fire to their ces."


    "So instead of destroying them, these stink bombs will make their ces inhabitable for a month or two~! I designed these bombs so that it''ll only stick its smell on earth and wood~!"


    "Y-you''re nasty, nya��" Kurokamented. She thought that even if those Familias wanted to sell their properties, no one would actually want them and prices would only keep on falling. Also, depending on how much it would stick to the earth and wood, since it was Kisuke who made these, it may actually contaminate thend itself so even if they demolish and rebuild their ces, the stink would still be there.


    "What are you going to do if they just move to another ce?" Yoruichi asked.


    With arge grin, Kisuke answered, "We continue bombing~!"


    "That''s nasty and cruel! Let''s do it!" Yoruichi pumped herself up. She was also a bit pissed with the name they gave her.


    Kuroka''s mouth twitched and she was really grateful that they weren''t her enemies. The most terrifying enemies out there were those which made you think that dying in their hands might be actually the better end, "By the way, since Loki was the Denatus'' chairwoman for today, nya, she could have said something. The fact that you''re stuck with Gigolo Master means that she didn''t even try opposing it, nya."


    "Hehehe�� Don''t worry. I''ve got a separate punishment for her~!"


    Yoruichi and Kuroka were wondering what he would do, but Kisuke suddenly faced Kuroka and said, "Kuroka, take out the files of our targets, specifically, those who''re involved in criminal activities."


    "Sure, nya. But what are you going to do with them? ckmail them?"


    "Nope~! Too much trouble! Just hand them over to the Guild anonymously, including some evidence."


    "I see. Finishing them off, huh." Yoruichi nodded in agreement.


    "I''m truly grateful that you aren''t my enemies, nya��" Kuroka couldn''t help but mutter.


    "Anyway, just going there without any re is boring. We need to do something to really leave our mark." Yoruichi suggested.


    "Then how about masquerading as thieves, nya?"


    "What are we going to steal?" Kisuke asked Kuroka.


    "We target those involved in illegal activities, nya, and buy a lot of food with their money before sending it to the orphaned kids and the homeless, nya."


    "Thieves of justice, eh~. Sounds good, let''s go with that~!" Kisuke agreed to her, "Since it''s still pretty early, I''ll make some fliers and use them to announce our arrival! What name should we use?"


    "We use something cringy as hell, so that those victimized God''s would suffer more. They were done in by someone using such a painful name."


    "Then how about ''Ultimate Thieving Group'', nya?" Kuroka suggested.


    "Nope. Too simple. Let''s go with ''Final X Strike Thieving Group''!" Yoruichi suggested.


    The three of them used most of their time deciding for their group''s name and they finally epted Kisuke''s suggestion, ''Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group''.


    And to match that name, Kisuke distributed crimson-colored cloaks and crimson-colored masks. He also made a thousand small fliers in order to distribute themter. Written on it was,


    ''Peace, Order, and Happiness, Everyone deserves it.


    But lurking under these beautiful shades, Darkness prosper.


    We, the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group, shall take a stand and scatter this shadow��


    Er�� This is hard��


    Fuck this!


    We''re here to take your things!


    -The Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group.''


    And beside the name was an image of a red ming blushing skull.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka mouths twitched after reading the note, ''This bastard got toozy to think of a nice intro.'' However, once they thought about it again, maybe this will do more damage to their targets and approved of Kisuke''s message instead of pointing it towards hisck of skill in poetry.


    "Alright~! Let''s do this!" Kisuke announced as they donned their cloaks and masks. But before they left, Kisuke did something to the seals on their souls, "With this, that peepingdy will be even more confused~!"


    It was still early in the evening, and most of the people on the streets were Adventurers who were just returning from their daily exploration and were looking for a ce to eat. The three of them separated. Yoruichi went directly to the busiest part of the city, the marketce. Kuroka went to the opposite side which was near Daedalus Street and the Entertainment District.


    Kuroka''s approach was to toss her pamphlets from roof to roof. She targeted the most crowded areas like shops in the Entertainment District. Meanwhile, Yoruichi went to the highest ce and took out two small metal shields before smashing them together, creating a very loud sound that traveled far and gathered everyone''s attention before tossing her own set of pamphlets.


    "What''s that?" One of the Adventurers asked as he looked up to the figure covered in a crimson cloak and wearing a crimson-colored cloak.


    "Some drunk?"


    "Look. Something is written on it." One of the Adventurers picked up the paper they tossed. "H-huh? What''s this? Steal our things? Is this some prank or some drunkard''s idea of having fun?"


    Kisuke, on the other hand, chose a spot where he could overlook one half of Orario, the ce where Freya was currently watching the city.


    Kisuke appeared on the small space outside of Freya''s room, separated only by arge pane of ss.


    Freya almost dropped her winess in shock when someone suddenly appeared on her viewing tform but the first thing she noticed was his soul which was the familiar but mysterious crimson soul, "Y-you are��"


    Ignoring her shocked expression, Kisuke gathered mist on his hand and pped it on the ss before writing using his finger, "I''m sorry for disturbing you, Freya-sama. But I need this spot for a minute. Thank you~!"


    Turning towards the city, Kisuke started to toss his set of pamphlets.


    While still not knowing what to do, arge thumping was heard from below as Ottar made his way to Freya''s room because he felt someone near her which shouldn''t be possible, "Freya-sama!!!" Ottar came barreling in and immediately roared at Kisuke, who was having fun tossing some paper in front of Freya, "You bastard! Who are you!!?"


    Kisuke turned to him and started writing, "Good evening, Ottar-san." He then proceeded to ignore him and continued his activity.


    Gritting his teeth, Ottar pulled out his sword and swung it towards him while ignoring the ss pane.


    Kisuke dodged by jumping down and tossing the rest of the papers. Ottar immediately followed after him to apprehend and question his goals for getting close to Freya.


    Freya wasn''t bothered by the cold wind due to the now broken ss pane and picked up one of the pamphlets which were blown inside, "Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Fremdsch?m corner (Google it, if you don''t know it)


    Alexander: Okay, kudos to me for guessing right about the stink bombs. But, I expected them to be a small part of the harassment, not that Kisuke would improve them to an apocalyptic level. Somehow I feel that it would be more merciful to nuke them. As for the rest, way too cringy, I would never ever do that. The only exception would be, when I am as drunk as a skunk.


    28th00: Well, is this karmic justice? It kinda feels like it�� Oh dear, they''re gonna really experience PTSD when Ophis pops up and drags Hestia around as her tour guide to all the interesting things�� Phis-chama is not a nice dragon�� If there''s a wall in the way, there is no more wall. Daedalus Street is going to be mostly a crater, huh? At least her food tour will be fruitful!


    Goyya: Phis-chama will be around when the incident in Daedalus Street happens�� hehehe.

 Volume 8 448 - The Chaos

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 448 - The Chaos</h4>


    Without hiding it, Yoruichi and Kuroka started running towards their targets'' buildings and infiltrated it through the front door, smashing it open.


    With her voice changed, Yoruichi even greeted the inhabitants, "Good evening fuckers!" Before throwing the stink bomb on the floor.


    "What��?" Everyone from the inside was dumbfounded at her sudden intrusion, but it became worse when slightly green opaque smoke exploded out from the thing she threw on the floor, "Gah! Kaha! Kaha! Kaha! D-dammit! What''s this!? Bleeergh!!!"


    Although it was not that strong, the scent of the smoke could be likened to a dposing animal carcass and even a little bit of that smell was enough for most people to vomit in disgust, "Kaha! What''s this!? Capture that bastard! Bleeergh!!!" One of the Familia''s executives pointed at the disguised Yoruichi who was currently engraving ''The Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group was here~!'' on their wall.


    Yoruichi then bolted out towards her next target with a bunch of angry Adventurers behind her, "You bastard!!! Come back here!!!" Funny enough, Kuroka was also in the same situation despite not talking about this kind of arrangement beforehand.


    Meanwhile, on Kisuke''s side, before he could even reach his first target, a raging boar was alreadying after him, wildly swinging his sword. Kisuke only dodged everything Ottar threw at him while ignoring him entirely.


    Of course, everyone who saw them would immediately run away from the sight of the ''Champion'' hunting someone.


    Kisuke reached his first target but he couldn''t greet them as Yoruichi and Kuroka did and just broke down the door. Kisuke dodged Ottar''s attack and immediately threw the stink bomb towards him.


    Ottar tried to block the unknown projectile but it exploded on his face and he met the foulest smelling thing ever, so that he almost gagged despite having very strong resistance towards such smells, "Guh!!!"


    Kisuke then hurriedly engraved the name of their group before leaving through the window. What he left is the stinking building along with its stinking Adventurers.


    Kisuke was momentarily able to loose Ottar, but he knew that Ottar would be catching up to himter. So using this chance, he continued to wreak havoc on their targeted Familia''s.


    When the three of them managed to bomb two Familias each, the whole of Orario was already alerted by their activities, pushing the big Familias to investigate what was going on with the Guild''s request.


    Surprisingly for many was the Freya Familia, which made the first move by utilizing most of their members, including their top-ranking member, Ottar. The other big Familia''s that responded to the Guild''s call were the Ganesha Familia and the Ishtar Familia.


    While the former was only doing it out of concern for the safety of the citizens of Orario, the Ishtar Familia, especially it''s Goddess Ishtar, was just inly furious that someone would make trouble in her turf. Although it wasn''t in her direct jurisdiction, the explosions and noises interrupted her Familia''s business and she wanted someone to take responsibility for it.


    The Loki Familia, on the other hand, didn''t have their main force, so Lokimanded them to fortify their state instead of investigating what was happening as she thought that this was Evilus'' or those Creatures'' work.


    Soon enough,plete Orario devolved into screams and curses as the Adventurersing after them grew into hundreds, while one of the three disguised figures used its strangely loud and creepy tone tough out loud at the ''destruction'' he sought.


    Although the Adventurers, including Ottar, Allen, Shakti, the Gulliver Brothers and other prominent figures were doing their best to catch them, often working with each other, they still couldn''t catch them, which frustrated them to no end.


    Yoruichi would use her expertise to dive into the shadows, making them lose track of her. And when she got out of everyone''s view, she would immediately use sh Step to gain some distance which would confuse her pursuers big time as they had no idea how she can just suddenly reappear in another area despite locking down the area where she was.


    Kuroka would also use the same tactic, but instead of sh Step, which she hadn''t mastered yet to use it consecutively and stealthily, she would hide from everyone''s sight and use this chance to use her teleportation magic, creating a simr situation to Yoruichi. Both of them would then continue their attacks on their targeted Familia''s, making the uproar bigger.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke didn''t do any of that and just ran around with the whole Freya Familiaing after him, "What a sin to be this popr~!" He muttered for everyone to hear.


    Ignoring his infuriating words, Allen Fromel, a ck-haired cat person and one of the top executives of the Freya Familia, asked, "Who are you!? What''s your goal!?"


    "Didn''t I just distribute some fliers for everyone to read?" Kisuke replied as he dodged Allen''s and Ottar''s simultaneous attacks.


    "Where did this guye from?" Allen muttered as he gritted his teeth. All of them knew to not respond to provocations but what was infuriating them to no end was the way he moved.


    Although Kisuke wasn''t moving faster than both Allen and Ottar, they still couldn''t catch him even with the help of the Gulliver Brothers who were known for their extremely well-yed teamwork. And the reason for this was that Kisuke could easily predict their next move.


    Sensing the movement of magic power, air current, sound or visual cues, and finally spiritual power, Kisuke had enough information for him to make urate predictions and used his own movements to bait them into doing something easier for him to dodge and led them on without them realizing it. Hence, in their eyes, it was as if Kisuke knew the future which didn''t only infuriate them, but also made them fear him deep inside.


    But because of this, Kisuke also couldn''t continue his main goal, as entering their target''s building might just result in unwanted casualties due to these extremely strong and apathetic Adventurersing after him. Even if they were to identally kill someone, they would just pin the crime on Kisuke, which was something he didn''t want them to sully the ''good'' name of the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group with.


    But even if he couldn''t do what he intended, Kisuke was still having fun ying with these guys, ''This is payback for messing with my girls~!'' He still remembered when Ottar blocked Aika, Sona, and Koneko from reaching Bell and almost hurt them.


    The chaos went all through the night until it was past midnight and everyone in Orario was awake to witness the disgusting looking smokeing from all parts of the city and anyone who would gag when the wind blew it in their direction.


    When Yoruichi and Kuroka finished theirst targets, including Kisuke''s part, the three of them converged in the park in front of the Tower of Babel as thest part of their n.


    Since the ce was very open, their pursuers managed to trap them in a circr formation and stayed 30 meters away from them as they didn''t know what they were going to do when finally trapped.


    Once the three of them met, they all did high-fives and said with their distorted voices, "Sess~!"


    Contrary to their cheerful attitudes, however, were the hundreds of Adventurers huffing and puffing with rage surrounding them, with most of them from the Familias they targeted in the first ce.


    In a rage, one of the Adventurers was about to rush to them when Shakti, the Captain of the Ganesha Familia stopped him and turned to the three, "Who are you?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    The Talking Talky Talk Corner:


    Goyya: I wish I had better writing skills to further depict the chaos going on.


    28th00: I still wait in patience for when Ophis appears and chaos bes an understatement, apocalypse sounds more fitting. Now, for how long will this anarchyst? At least she isn''t around right now to learn from their bad examples! She''s a naive and impressionable apocalyptic dragon god!


    Alexander: I don''t care anymore. The only thing I want right now. Please, put a ''Surprise, Motherfucker''-meme in a GIF form as the title picture, once ites out for the lower tiers on *******.

 Volume 8 449 - The Chaos part 2

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 449 - The Chaos part 2</h4>


    Behind the Adventurers were the Gods, and their reaction could be divided into two. While most of them were excitedly watching what''s going on, some of the Gods had their faces distorted by rage. Those were the groups'' victims and all of them had attended today''s Denatus.


    "Who are you?" Shakti asked as she prepared her weapon.


    "Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group~," Kisuke answered simply while also taking out a paintbrush with a bit of nk ink in its tip.


    "And what''s your goal?" Shakti asked. But she became vignt and wondered what that brush was for.


    "As written, to steal some things. Pretty obvious with our name, right~?"


    "Don''t mess with me you damned brat!!! You covered my Familia''s base with something very disgusting!" Shouted one of the angry Gods.


    Shakti asked the others to calm the Gods down before facing the three again, "If that''s your definition of stealing, what for?"


    "I have no obligation to exin it to you. Either way, it''s time for us to leave this ce. We still need to do something else, you see~." Kisuke replied.


    Shakti and the rest of the Adventurers prepared their weapons, "Did you think you can escape this encirclement of the top Adventurers of Orario?"


    Chuckling, Kisuke continued, "Did you think that we didn''t have an escape n after causing this big of a disturbance?"


    Shakti narrowed her eyes and signaled the others to attack. She figured that they couldn''t get anything just from talking to them and it would be dangerous if these unknown people do something else.


    Ottar came from the front, while Allen and the Gulliver Brothers came from behind. Hogni Ragnar, a Dark Elf, and Hedin Send, an Elf, both Level 6 from the Freya Familia, took the other sides,pletely blocking off their escape routes.


    For many, this was their first time to witness Ottar and the rest of the Executives from the Freya Familia fighting, so not just Adventurers were excited but also the Gods were watching the situation. Those who were not affected, deeply thanked the so-called Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group for creating a situation like this. Whatever the ending was, this event was great ''food'' for them.


    Ottar''s dash was so blindingly fast that most Adventurers couldn''t even see his movements as he instantly arrived in front of Kisuke, bearing down his massive greatsword with a nonchnt expression despite his clear attempt to cut him down. Freya''s orders were to capture this person and normally, he would follow her everymand regardless of the result.


    However, this time, Ottar felt a clear threat from the person towards his beloved Goddess after he silently climbed the tower from the outside. So he didn''t hesitate to break his promise to kill this person.


    Ottar arrived quickly, but the first one to attack them wasn''t him, but Allen by throwing a knife at each disguised person. He knew that he couldn''t harm them substantially this way but the distraction it would create could help them kill these three. They were the same as Ottar, Allen and the rest didn''t have any intention of following their Goddess''mands, because of the threat they posed to her safety even if there was aw and severe punishments that prohibit the children from harming a God.


    The viewers were shocked, though, because Kisuke and Yoruichi simply caught the knives with their fingers without even looking at it. Kuroka on the other hand, didn''t have the same level of martial prowess so she used a small magic circle to block the iing projectile, which, in hindsight, surprised the viewers more, "What was that? Instant cast?" Shakti muttered while getting ready to join them.


    However, all of her burning motivation to jump into the fray was instantly snuffed out due to what happened next. Kisuke, using the knife he caught, shed towards Ottar with a much faster speed, bisecting his greatsword and cutting him from his right shoulder until his left nk.


    With dted pupils, Ottar immediately retreated while throwing thest half of his sword towards Kisuke in an attempt to distract him. Which in response, Kisuke just pped away.


    Everyone, including those from the Freya Familia, especially Freya herself, was shocked at this turn of events. The dashing Freya Familia members abruptly stopped their advance and Yoruichi wouldn''t let go of this chance. Instantly reappearing in front of Allen, Yoruichi muttered, "Hey, we''re still in a fight. Don''t get too distracted."


    "Kuhh!!!" Allen hurriedly put his spear across him to block Yoruichi''s punch. But even after being warned and putting up his defense, Yoruichi''s knuckle just went through his spear, breaking it and hitting him square in the chest.


    "Gahh!!!" Allen flew off, hitting two of the four Gullivers Brothers behind him as all three of them smashed into an empty stall.


    "Allen!!!" Hedin shouted at hisrade. He then signaled the Dark Elf, Hogni, to check on Ottar while he ran towards Allen''s side. After reaching Allen''s side who was already coughing blood, Hedin checked his condition and estimated the injuries he had, ''Most of his rib bones were broken and some punctured his lungs�� All of this even with his spear and armor blocking that attack��''


    Hedin then took out an Elixir and forced Allen to drink half of it and poured the rest of it on his chest.


    On Hogni''s side, after checking Ottar''s condition, he noticed something even more terrifying than the wound across his body, "O-Ottar��"


    Ottar became confused at his reaction as he should already know that a cut of this kind wasn''t enough to be called arge and deep wound. Ottar thought he was shocked at the way he was cut and he was, too, until he felt something amiss as there was something moist on his throat.


    Ottar used his hand to touch his neck and after feeling the watery substance, he checked only to find his fingers covered in ck ink. With his eyes wide open, Ottar hurriedly looked towards Kisuke who was waving his paintbrush with ck ink on it.


    Since there were no more enemiesing after them, Kuroka used this chance to teleport themselves out.


    Everyone braced themselves when a purple magic circle suddenly appeared beneath them but a few secondster, the three of them slowly became granules of light and before they disappeared entirely, all of them said, "Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group, signing off~! Until next time~!"


    It was hard to imagine, that the chaotic Orario suddenly became quiet�� very quiet. But the first one to break this silence was the Captain of the Freya Familia with an uproaringugh, "FUHAHAHA!!! Great! I''ll be expecting you!"


    Freya, who had been watching everything from the top of the tower, frowned deeply. Although she was happy that Ottar got his motivation back and his soul shone brighter because of it, she was worried about the three''s identity. The three''s soul didn''t match their strength.


    Even if it was a dirty or ordinary soul, once they reached a certain level, its radiance would match their strength. That was true for all the Adventurers that she had met, including those from the Zeus and Hera Familia, "Unless�� They''re faking it?�� That''s impossible��" She muttered under the cold wind, not willing to believe her own conjecture.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Corner:


    28th00: Well, reiatsu is still as BS as I remember it, huh? Use enough of it, concentrated or not, and it cuts through ''everything'' in its path. Considering it can literally erase souls, matter and probably anything in between it when in a high enough concentration, it''s not that surprising.


    Goyya: The thing is, just a bit of Reiatsu was used there so that it won''t be easily caught by the Gods. Mainly, it''s swordsmanship.


    Alexander: Did Kisuke only put a line on his neck? Somehow, I was expecting him to write some insults.


    Goyya: That would be too much. Even with his skills now, Ottar will immediately notice it aside from one straight line.


    28th00: The line was to show that he spared him, because it''s with an inkbrush which is super not a weapon, so it was even slower than the knife, which already cut through him, his armour and his sword at the same time.

 Volume 8 450 - Aftermath

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 450 - Aftermath</h4>


    Ottar''sugh woke everyone up from their stupor as most of them shuddered at the sudden realization that they were chasing after someone who could instantly kill them.


    Contrary to the Adventurers, the Gods reactions were still the same as earlier, however, with even more intensity. The targeted Familias'' Gods were cursing that they weren''t able to capture the three people despite being surrounded by basically everyone. The onlooking Gods, on the other hand, took glee in their misfortune and became excited at the appearance of unknown individuals that could match the top Familias in Orario and started guessing where they came from.


    Everyone slowly dispersed once the Freya Familia left to take care of the chaos that the ''Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group'' had left behind. However, they didn''t have any idea how nasty the stink bombs were. They would only realize it after that they discovered they can''t remove the scent no matter what they did, which turned their property into something worthless.


    And they also didn''t have any idea that this was only the beginning.


    After receiving the damage reports from everyone, the Guild Employees returned with tired expressions and a gloomy atmosphere. They didn''t expect that every one of them would have to work until almost morning due to this incident. And this resulted in quite some hateing to the self-proimed thieving group. However, most of them still hated their superior, the Guild Head, Royman Mardeel even more for leaving everyone and going to the entertainment district.


    They already arranged the damage report before they could even reach the Guild Hall so that they can just file this and go home to get some quality sleep and forget the smell that invaded their minds when they came to gather the reports. From the data they gathered, only a fifth of the total Familia who became victims of the nasty terrorist attacks got robbed.


    When everyone thought that this was already over, the moment they went to their office, everyone immediately noticed the three intruders which were covered in crimson cloaks, eating snacks by lifting a bit of their masks.


    "W-what are they doing here��?" Muttered a human with pink hair and pink eyes in fear. Misha Flott and everyone from the Guild already heard what they were capable of and their unknown origin and objectives made them a very dangerous group. To a group of non-Adventurers, they were the same as the monsters of the Dungeon.


    Kisuke looked towards them and said, "Oh~! Hello there~! You''re prettyte~!"


    ''It''s your fault!'' Everyone wanted to retort but just swallowed it.


    Rehmer, one of the Guild''s Section Chief and a Chienthrope stepped forward despite being nervous and signaled one of Guild Employees to call for outside help, "��C-Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group, is it? What are you doing here? This a Guild property and an off-limits section. On top of that, there''s nothing of value to steal here."


    One of the Guild Employees nodded nervously and turned around to run outside, "Hiih!!!" However, just as he turned his back, one of the cloaked people was already in front of him and he stumbled backward.


    Everyone looked towards him and were also shocked when they saw Yoruichi who used sh Step to block the guy who''s about to call for help. They then turned back towards Kisuke and Kuroka and found the other one missing, "��In�� an instant?" Eina, Bell''s advisor muttered in bewilderment.


    "Don''t get too scared. We''re not here to hurt you~." Kisuke tried tofort them, but he absolutely failed after what he and his group had just done. In addition to that, he was also using a voice changer that would only be used in horror games, which didn''t make the situation better.


    "T-then, what are you here for?" Rehmer asked nervously.


    Kisuke stood up and walked towards them. As he slowly approached them, everyone''s expression slowly changed into that of despair and fear. But before the girls could start bawling their eyes out, Kisuke took a bunch of paper from his cloak and passed it to Rehmer, "We''re just here to give you some more work~. Goodluck~!"


    Rehmer subconsciously put out his hands to receive the papers and Kisuke just went through him after patting his shoulder. Kuroka followed after Kisuke and the three of them walked towards the exit of the Guild Hall without saying a word.


    After they disappeared from their sight, everyone took a sigh of relief, "Haah�� That was scary�� What the hell was that?" Rehmer muttered.


    "Should I still call the help of Adventurers?" One of them asked.


    Rehmer nodded at him and said, "Go. Ask the Ganesha Familia. We don''t know if they''lle back."


    After one of them ran outside, Sophie, the Hestia Familia''s Advisor, asked Rehmer after calming herself down, "Uhhmm�� What is that? And what did he mean by more work?"


    "Oh, right��" Rehmer then took a quick look at the documents that Kisuke passed him. But instead of a quick look, Rehmer was forced to read through all of them and as he went through the reports in it, his brows became furrowed as he frowned.


    "W-what''s wrong?" Misha asked curiously.


    "��" Rehmer didn''t answer her and just focused on reading. The others didn''t bother him as they figured that what was written is something very important.


    A few minutester, Rehmer took a deep breath and sighed before facing one of his colleagues, "Rid, go get Royman now. Tell him it''s urgent."


    "B-but he''s��"


    "I don''t care if he''s in the Entertainment District. If the information here is true, then we can''t sleep for tonight. Tell him if he isn''ting, then I''ll be going straight to Ouranos-sama." Rehmer said with a serious expression.


    "G-got it!" Rid then went outside to look for their Head.


    Rehmer then started passing all of the documents to everyone and instructed, "Verify if the information here matches some of ours. Once the Ganesha Familia arrives, we''ll immediately move out to gather evidence."


    Everyone curiously looked through the documents and after a few minutes, they had the same reaction of Rehmer. The documents that Kisuke passed them are records of murder, kidnapping, ve trading, narcotics, and many more crimes by certain Familias and the way to get evidence against them. Coincidentally or not, all of them were those that Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group robbed from.


    If this is all true, then the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group will be considered as heroes by the masses and this event will be put on history books for future generations to relive.


    "Get yourselves ready. We''ll be diving into those nasty buildings. Be sure to bring face coverings for everyone��" It''s just that, nobody really wanted to do those investigations.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    28th00: Well, this is one way to send mixed messages (Aka: Chaos). Fun fun fun!~

 Volume 8 451 - Punishment

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 451 - Punishment</h4>


    The next morning, people from all over the Orario were greeted by a bunch of tables full of food ced near the spots where the Orphans and homeless were known to gather.


    Onlookers gathered around it and immediately saw a big note stered on the table with a message.


    ''For the hungry kids out there, take some with you. This will give you energy for the whole day~.


    -The Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group.


    PS: If you''re not an orphan, homeless, or extremely hungry, then stay away. Let those who can''t fend or work for themselves have some good food.''


    The contents of the note immediately spread throughout the whole city and the homeless and orphans came running towards the tables of food.


    The others already heard about what the thief group did and how they easily defeated the top Adventurers of the Freya Familia before they escaped while using some unknown magic that didn''t use any kind of incantation. So in response, those who weren''t the beneficiary of the foods stayed away from it and let those poor children have a safe space around the table.


    Although some of the people were praising their actions, most of them still hated their guts for their hypocritical actions. The people who were cursing the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group for robbing the innocent Familia''s for feeding the poor. If they wanted to help, they could have earned it through legitimate means and not through stepping on the heads of others for their own satisfaction.


    However, as the sun rose up, their opinions changed when the Guild did their usual announcement after the Denatus.


    Aside from the new Aliases that were bestowed to the Adventurers, the other announcement of the Guild gathered everyone''s attention, "The Guild has conducted ate-night investigation along with the Ganesha Familia due to an anonymous tip. Thanks to this, we were able to gather enough evidence to convict several Familia''s.


    "Below are the Familia''s and their respective crimes:


    .


    .


    "Below are the Familia''s that are still under investigation:


    .


    .


    .


    "We hereby announce that the Familia''s who are proven to havemitted these heinous crimes are henceforth expelled from Orario and that the main culprits are to be detained. We thank everyone for their cooperation. If you have any additional information regarding this, please call out to one of our Guild Staff."


    This announcement shook the whole of Orario, as people tried to find the Familia''s who were deemed guilty but they could no longer find them. Some witnesses said that they already left Orario before dawn even broke in. Even half of those who were still under investigation, but not yet found guilty, left the city in fear of more sanctions.


    It was at the next moment that someone realized something, "��Hey�� Aren''t these Familia''s the ones that the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group robbed?" With just this one simple question, people started using their heads and quickly pieced the puzzle together in their heads.


    "Y-you''re right! I live near the three Familia''s that were attacked by the stink, however, only one of them was robbed. And that Familia is on the list of those which were expelled!"


    "I don''t know how the others are doing, but the two Familia''s near me were also attacked by the stink. However, none of them were robbed, but their names also aren''t listed here."


    "Same with me! Two of them live near my ce and both of them were robbed! One is in the expelled list while the other is in the under investigation list!"


    Waves of discussion started sprouting among the Adventurers and normal citizens of Orario, trying to confirm their thoughts. Some people tried to ask the Guild where they got their information from, but the Guild refused as it was against protocol to reveal their whistleblowers.


    But that still didn''t stop the people from thinking that it was the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group''s main goal to expose those Familia''s of their crimes while also robbing them so that they could feed those who couldn''t fend for themselves at the same time.


    The excited cheers of the crowd for such decisive and brave actions from the thief group spread like a wildfire through the whole city, painting the earlier criticism with wild admiration. Adults started talking about this to their children and children started ying as the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group. Minstrelsposed songs that everyone sang and Gods became excited at their existence, trying their best to investigate the group. Overnight the chaos had turned the thieving group into heroes in the hearts of the people. Still, many people wondered what did they truly want, and whether or not they would appear ever again.


    Little did they know that the group''s main goal was to get the people''s attention away from the Guild''s first announcement, which was the list of the people who leveled up and their new Aliases because they didn''t like theirs very much. If the Gods and people were to know that they only created so much chaos that essentially changed the inner workings of the whole of Orario for the sake of distracting them from their measly Aliases, they wouldn''t know how to react.


    While the Gods were busy searching for clues regarding the identity of the three mysterious ''robbers'', Loki was locking herself up inside the Twilight Manor, not partaking in any of the liveliness happening outside.


    Although some others had noticed it, only she put importance to the fact that all of the bombed Familia''s Gods had attended yesterday''s Denatus and that all of them were the ones who created the ''shameful'' nicknames for the Adventurers. Although she didn''t have any concrete evidence, she had a strange feeling that everything started because of this, ''W-what''s going on!? Who can do something like this!?''


    As the chairwoman of that Denatus, it was obvious that she had a massive voice to control what kind of Aliases the Adventurers could get, so it was unnatural that her Familia wasn''t targeted. Because even their rival Familia, which is a bit stronger than hers, the Freya Familia was ''ignored''. ''I have a feeling that this isn''t the end yet�� Where is this bad feelinging from? And that guy should already have received the news regarding his Alias�� Why didn''t he look for me yet?�� Could it be��? No, no, no�� Those guys were too strong�� But could it really be his fault?''


    After shaking her head a few times, Loki decided to change her pace, ''There''s no use thinking about this. Maybe I got away with no punishment?''


    She left her room for the first time since dawn to get some drinks which could hopefully calm her nerves, and maybe to y for a bit with the female members of her Familia. But at the exact moment she stepped out, she was greeted by a ''glorious'' sight, "AHHHHH!!!!" She shouted in horror.


    "Loki-sama!? What happened!?" Her children yelled as they ran upstairs and saw Loki sitting on the floor while shaking and pointing towards the wall in front of her, "W-what''s this!? Who put this thing here!?"


    Loki''s children curiously looked towards the wall she''s pointing at, but were also gobsmacked at what they saw, "Eh��?"


    .


    .


    .


    "I''m back~!" Kisuke greeted everyone as he returned from the Twilight Manor.


    "How did it go?" Yoruichi asked.


    "It was a sess~!" Kisuke gave her a thumb''s up.


    "What did you do, nya?" Kuroka curiously asked.


    Taking out his fan, Kisuke started boasting, "You see, I''ve started to paint as a hobby and I''m getting pretty good at it~. I just gifted a painting to Loki-sama as a sign of my goodwill."


    "What kind of painting?"


    "The glorious form of Mil-tan~!"


    *Cough!*" Yoruichi almost spat out what she was eating as she recalled the overly muscled Magical Girl wannabe. "You did what?!", she asked while still being shell-shocked.


    "I hung a painting of mine with Mil-tan as a subject in front of Loki-sama''s room and I''m nning to continue to do so, at least 10 times a day with differing themes, until everyone from the Loki Familia returns from their expedition."


    "She''s going to get some nightmares��" Yoruichi muttered.


    "Who''s Mil-tan, nya?" asked Kuroka.


    Kisuke then proceeded to show her some photos of Mil-tan which he took after he got curious about what he looks like after hearing about him from Issei.


    Kuroka then looked towards Kisuke with a twitching expression as she remembered Loki''s likes and dislikes and tried putting herself in her shoes, "��You''re a monster."


    Crimson Apokalypse Thieving Group Fan Corner


    Alexander: I went down to the floor andughed my ass off. That was simply gold. However, I got an idea for an improvement. Just imagine her waking up in the morning, just to see a painting of an encouraging Mil-tan on the ceiling.


    28th00: I was honestly expecting the clear tape wall trap, not the door painting one. Kisuke went far more psychological horror on Loki than I assumed with his harassment, it might even make Bestia feel sorry for her��

 Volume 8 452 - The Expedition

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 452 - The Expedition</h4>


    Not knowing about the chaos happening on the surface, the Loki Familia''s expedition had reached the 50th floor before a week could pass.


    "What''s up with Bete-san and the others?" Raul asked the cat person beside him.


    "That''s what I''d like to know too��" Aki replied.


    "Everyone seems to be more worked up than usual��" Line said after overhearing their conversation as she passed by them.


    They were talking about Bete, Tiona, Tione, and Ais. After they witnessed Bell''s fight, they were reminded yet again of what being an Adventurer was. Different from the time when they saw the trio fighting with the Minotaurs, this time, they were just starting their expedition and they were already feeling restless, wanting to fight strong monsters. However, they still had to follow their Captain''smand and couldn''t move on their own as it would endanger not only themselves but also the rest of the expedition as well.


    At some point, they started to stare at Aika, Koneko, and Sona as they recalled Bell''s status as he defeated the Minotaur, ''If that boy has those kinds of stats, then what about them? They defeated six Minotaurs while only being Level 1�� What did their stats look like back then? All S? Or maybe all SS?'' All sorts of questions emerged in their heads. And not just them, Finn and Gareth were also wondering what it looked like, everyone except for Riveria who already got a glimpse of Koneko''s status.


    Aki and Raul noticed their stares and asked Line, "Line, what are those three?"


    Line looked at them and tilted her head, "What do you mean?"


    "I mean, what do you think of them? And why is everyone looking towards them as if they have questions that they want to ask? You''re pretty close with them, right?" Aki asked again.


    Line stopped for a moment to think and replied, "Hmm�� If I were to describe their group then it would be, ''Adventurers who don''t follow the same rules as the rest of us.''"


    "Adventurers who don''t follow the same rules as the rest of us?" Aki and Raul repeated her words in question.


    "What I mean is, one shouldn''t usemon sense to judge them. I''m sorry, but I can''t tell you more than that." Line then walked off to join Aika and Koneko who were trying to stop Sona from touching any of the kitchenware, rather desperately.


    Aki and Raul looked at each other in confusion but didn''t pursue the topic any further as it was useless to make assumptions about people whom they didn''t even know.


    An hourter, Finn gathered everyone that would being beyond the 50th floor and those who would be leading the ones who would be staying on the 50th Floor in order to discuss their roles, "Let''s begin our final briefing."


    "As mentioned earlier, only a select party will challenge the area beyond the 51st floor. The rest will defend the camp together with the Hephaestus Familia."


    "The party will consist of me, Riveria, Gareth, Ais, Tiona, Tione, Bete. And the supporters will be Raul, Narvi, Alicia, Cruz, Lefiya, Aika, Shirone, and Sona."


    All of the supporters, except for Lefiya, couldn''t believe that the three Level 2''s would really being with them and wanted to express their concerns. However, they stopped when they noticed that Bete, the one who always had something to say, didn''t oppose or even try to raise his voice over Finn''s decision, which surprised them even more. Since he didn''t say anything, they tried to trust that Bete knew that the trio knew their abilities well and it was enough for them to be included in this party.


    Seeing that nobody disagreed with the party''sposition, Finn was a little bit surprised because he thought that at least Bete would say something. Honestly speaking, Finn didn''t want to agree to this, but Riveria said that she and Ais lost to Kisuke Urahara in a bet and had to agree with it.


    He didn''t know how they lost or what game they yed because they were not allowed to tell anybody, but Riveria assured that they lost fair and square, and Ais even got something in return. He could only trust Riveria in this issue and told her that the three wouldn''t be his priority if something bad happened.


    He then looked towards another individual and said, "Tsubaki, please apany us to maintain our weapons."


    Tsubaki Collbrande was a brown-skinned woman with long ck hair and red eyes. She had an eyepatch, simr to her Goddess Hephaestus, however, hers covered the left eye instead of the right. She was the current Captain of the Hephaestus Familia and had joined the Loki Familia''s expedition to take care of their weapons in response to monsters that melted them, which would hinder them from going further.


    She had a well-endowed chest, which she kept in a sarashi, and wore a red hakama and sandals. Tsubaki answered, "All right, leave it to me." She said as she took arge bag from her tent and showed it to everyone, "In that case, I have some things to pass on to you."


    She then took out all sorts of weapons for everyone from the Loki Familia who would go beyond the 51st floor, "The ''Durandal'' that you ordered." Tsubaki said simply. Since it was already proven that the ''indestructible'' weapon, ''Durandal'' could withstand the acid of the caterpir monsters, the Loki Familiamissioned Tsubaki to make it for them.


    "This ''Durandal'' weapon is lighter than I expected," Garethmented after lifting his double-headed giant ax.


    "You didn''t order one of those crazy weapons?" Bete asked Tiona after he saw how she received a ymore.


    "There was no helping it. They told me that if I was to order something like Urga, everyone''s orders wouldn''t bepleted in time for the expedition." Tiona replied with a pout.


    "Ti-Tione-san, you''re using a halberd?" Raul asked the other sister as she usually used short swords and daggers.


    "Well, I thought it would probably be better for me to use arger weapon for the opponents beyond the 51st floor," Tione replied as she ustomed herself to the halberd.


    Although she only briefly studied how to use a halberd, Sona could tell that she was handling it in a wrong way. But she didn''t say anything as she knew that she didn''t have enough mastery to teach others.


    "While emphasizing durability, I tried to increase the power as much as possible. Though it varies depending on the weapon''s shape, I can guarantee that their attack power is on par with second-tier equipment." Tsubaki continued.


    "Thank you, Tsubaki. They''re just as we specified." Finn said while lifting and checking his spear.


    Tsubaki then looked towards the other three who didn''t receive anything, except for Lefiya since she''s a magic user, "What about you? If you don''t have a weapon that can deal with those acids, it''ll be very dangerous."


    "I use magic," Sona replied.


    "I have a way to deal with squishy and soft opponents," Koneko answered.


    Tsubaki had some doubts since she didn''t know their capabilities, but since they were acting that confident, she couldn''t really say anything, "And what about you? Will you be using that?" She asked Aika and pointed at the nodachi which she hugged in her arms.


    With a big smile, Aika replied, "My babies are more than enough~!"


    "Babies?" Tsubaki and the rest were weirded out when Aika referred to her sword as her babies, but Tsubaki continued, "Can you let me check it? I''m not saying that your sword is weak but we need to make sure that you won''t be put in a dangerous situation by overly trusting your sword." As the cksmith of the team, this was duty.

 Volume 8 453 - A Fear Inducing Blade

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 453 - A Fear Inducing de</h4>


    "Hmm? Sure." Aika didn''t think much about it since it really was Tsubaki''s job as a cksmith and her judgment would help the others to have assurance in her sword. Aika handed over her nodachi towards her.


    However, when Tsubaki was about to touch the hilt of the sword, her hand suddenly stopped midair. Everyone then looked towards her and noticed that she was sweating profusely, "Tsubaki?" Finn asked with his brows furrowed.


    "What''s wrong?" Aika also asked in confusion.


    A few secondster, Tsubaki took back her hand and shook her head, "I can''t check your sword��" She then looked straight towards Aika, "It feels like it''s going to consume me��"


    "What do you mean?" Aika asked again.


    "I don''t know�� It''s just that my instincts as a cksmith are warning me against this sword�� What the hell is that thing?" Tsubaki stared at Aika''s nodachi. Although she was fearing the unknown feeling which it was giving her, she was also very interested in it.


    "Really?" Aika then looked towards Sona and Koneko, "Do you feel the same?"


    Sona rubbed her chin in contemtion before directly grabbing the hilt of the nodachi, "No�� I don''t feel anything."


    Koneko did the same and also shook her head.


    As a curious one, Tiona approached them and asked, "Hey, can I touch it?"


    "Sure." Aika handed it to her. If there would really be a reaction, then it would probably happen to someone Shop was not close to her and she wanted to see it.


    Tiona, without any reservation, grabbed the hilt of the sword. However, the next second, ck and red aura like energies emerged from it and started wrapping around Tiona''s arm.


    Tiona immediately dropped the sword and jumped back with a horrified expression, "Tiona!" Tione shouted in concern while the rest readied their weapons just in case something else happened.


    "Woops." Aika caught the sword before it touched the ground and said, "I see�� It looks like you don''t want to be touched by strangers. I''ll keep that in mind."


    "Tiona, are you alright?" The girls of the Loki Familia approached the sweating Amazoness and helped her stand up.


    "I''m alright�� But what the hell was that? That was scary��" Tiona replied with a strained smile.


    "R-really, what the hell is that?" Tsubaki muttered with a twitching mouth. She thanked her instincts.


    "Scary?" Lefiya muttered. She and the rest knew that Tiona is one of the fearless ones in their group and to think that she was scared.


    "Just for reference, what did you see?" Aika suddenly asked, not minding the defensive look they were giving her and her sword.


    Tiona was able to calm herself down after taking a few deep breaths and her usual smile returned, "I saw the two silhouettes of giant dragons eyeing me. If that makes sense."


    Ais twitched when she heard about the dragons, however, Riveria immediately grabbed her hand to calm her down. Ais nodded at her and signaled that she wouldn''t do anything.


    "I see�� Two dragons, huh." Aika muttered in understanding.


    "That weapon�� It''s alive, right?" Tsubaki suddenly said.


    With a big grin, Aika only answered, "Yep~."


    Sighing, Tsubaki continued to answer for the confused expressions of the Loki Familia, "I only heard about it from Hephaestus, but it seems that in this world, extremely capable cksmiths can imbue thoughts or will into their weapons. I''m not capable of doing the same, however, it seems that Hephaestus created a few of them in the past."


    "By giving the weapon its own awareness, you could make it so that it would only allow the wielder or the creator to use it. There are also other uses, but Hephaestus didn''t say anything else as it would only corrupt my understanding regarding the weapons since I haven''t reached that level yet."


    She then looked towards Aika again, "Can I ask who forged this?"


    Aika thought for a moment and recalled what Kisuke said regarding her Zanpakuto. Although the shape of the sword and its spirits were shaped by her nature as a Shinigami, the materials used were her Sacred Gear. So in essence, the one who forged her Zanpakuto was the Biblical God, "He''s not around anymore and I''m sure that no one knows about him here, so I''ll spare you the effort of searching for him."


    "��I see."


    Although incredibly curious, Finn didn''t have the right to poke his nose into their secrets. He pped his hands to gather everyone''s attention before saying, "Let''s prepare to set off tomorrow. We''ll change lookouts every 4 hours."


    After dismissing everyone, the trio immediately separated themselves to prepare for tomorrow while Tsubaki offered to do some maintenance on Ais'' sword, which was already a ''Durandal'' from the start, "Sword Princess, show me your weapon. It probably needs maintenance."


    "��Please do." Both of them then separated from the group.


    In Tsubaki''s tent, Ais watched her as she cleaned and sharpened her sword. A few secondster, Tsubaki started talking, "Still, to think the little girl from back then would now be the Adventurer representative of the city�� Guess I should have established a contract with you? What a waste that I didn''t��"


    Ais only stayed quiet.


    "��Well, not really." said Tsubaki as she suddenly took back her words, which startled Ais a bit, "To be honest with you, Sword Princess, I did not feel a shred of desire to create weapons for you back then."


    "Ten years ago�� or rather, nine years ago, wasn''t it? You were like a drawn sword back then. You kept fighting regardless of how damaged your edge became. I didn''t think you would live very long."


    Ais stayed silent as she couldn''t deny any of her words.


    "Why did you think I would make a weapon for someone like you, who viewed yourself as nothing more than a sword?"


    "I��"


    "That''s right, you were not a weapon user. You were like the weapons that we forge. ''Sword Princess'' was a rather ironic nickname that the Gods decided to award you back then. The name was just a joke. The only thing I wondered about was when you would break."


    Thanks to Tsubaki''s words, Ais recalled Loki''s words too, ''Ais, If you keep running by falling forward, you will eventually stumble and trip. Don''t forget this, all right?'' While regretting that she couldn''t change, Tsubaki suddenly said something contrary to that.


    "However, you''ve changed."


    "Eh��?"


    "I''m saying that you''ve mellowed out. While people used to describe you as a doll, your expressions have softened."


    With a frown, Ais asked, "Do you think that I have be weaker?"


    "You''ve probably be stronger. Your level has been going up after all."


    "That''s not what I meant!"


    Tsubaki became silent for a few seconds and finished the sword''s maintenance and handed it over to Ais, "Maybe you''ve lost your edge, but if I was to describe you as a sword, then it would be because you''ve found your sheath."


    Ais'' eyes slightly widened, "By being protected by a sheath, a sword loses its need to constantly stay sharp. And when one meets an enemy that needs to be cut down, the protected sword can leap from its sheath in a sh of light. In other words, you''ve found yourrades."

 Volume 8 454 - Before Descending

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 454 - Before Descending</h4>


    Almost everyone was already resting when Gareth saw that Tiona was still practicing with her ymore, "Hmm, as expected. It just feels off when it isn''t my Urga."


    Gareth approached her and said, "Didn''t I tell everyone to have a proper rest?"


    "Ah, Gareth." Tiona turned to him with a smile, "But then, I just can''t keep still�� My body''s too restless."


    "Is it because of that young Adventurer we met on the way down? Or is it those three, in particr, that sword that you held earlier?"


    "Yup~! That white-haired boy is awesome! He was taking risks like the heroes found in fairy tales! Even though he knew he was fighting an opponent stronger than himself, he fought and won! Tomorrow, I want to fight just as that boy did! And in doing so, protect Ais and Lefiya!" Tiona excitedly said while swinging her weapon.


    "Are you saying that you''re not impressed by those three? They did something even more amazing than that boy, you know, and you should have witnessed it." Gareth asked in confusion.


    "Of course I am! They''re amazing! And more amazing than that boy! However��" Tiona then stopped moving.


    "Hmm?"


    "They''re amazing�� However, I can''t see myself in them. They''re amazing, but I can''t put myself in their shoes, unlike that young Adventurer. That boy is an Adventurer which you can find and easily imagine. On the other hand, those three�� It''s as if they''re following entirely different rules. You can''t judge them through normal means."


    "Hmm�� I see." Gareth nodded.


    "You agree?"


    "I haven''t seen how they fight for real so I can''t really make an urate judgment, however, both Finn and I asked Riveria, who''s close with them about the Hestia Familia. Although she can''t tell any concrete information due to agreements between Loki and Hestia, she told us one thing which I couldn''t understand until I talked to you."


    "What is it?"


    "She said, ''In the near future, we might have to change the way we fight and use our strength. I think it won''t be an exaggeration to say that a new era is upon us.'' I''ve also seen her using chantless magic a few times so it''s safe to assume that her words might be correct."


    Tiona stopped for a moment before looking up to the 50th Floor''s ceiling, "I guess we have to prepare ourselves to adaptter on."


    Gareth, whilebing his beard, replied, "True. That Elf is already ahead of us. We can''t be left behind too much."


    .


    .


    .


    In another part of the camp, Lefiya was mumbling to herself, "I won''t be a burden to Ais and the others�� I can''t be a burden to them�� I can''t fail�� I can''t fail tomorrow." When someone suddenly patted her shoulder from behind, "Hyaaa!?"


    "You''re too tense, you know?" Tione smiled wryly at the panicking Elf.


    "Tione-san!? When did you��!?"


    "Erm�� Please be more aware of your surroundings." Tione then sighed while scratching her head, "I guess it was good that the Captain told me toe and look for you."


    "Eh�� The Captain did��?"


    "It''s nothing." Tione shook her head, "It''s nothing. More importantly, what were you doing?"


    With swimming eyes, Lefiya replied with her soft voice, "Ah�� Erm�� To make sure I don''t fail tomorrow, I was meditating."


    Tione then suddenly grabbed her head and turned it to her, "Lefiya."


    "Y�� Yesh!"


    "Don''t you remember what Ais said on the 51st Floor? We will protect you, Lefiya, so take it easy and rx. And in return, what will protect us is��" Tione didn''t continue and let Lefiya finish the sentence.


    "��My�� magic��!" Lefiya''s expression then became serious and nodded.


    With a smile, Tione let go of her head, "If you''re still worried, shall I sleep together with you?


    "Err�� Erm�� Ah�� Is that alright?"


    "Of course! If you''re alright with that, shall we sneak into the Captain''s tent?" Tione then suddenly began her sales talk, "By using the Captain as a hugging pillow, I feel that I''ll definitely be able to fight in top form tomorrow!"


    "Erm�� That''s a bit��"


    .


    .


    .


    In another part, someone simr to Lefiya was having a nervous breakdown, "This is bad�� This is bad��" Raul was muttering in the corner of the storage tent where he was preparing for tomorrow.


    "Hey, Raul�� Get it together." A ck-haired cat person called out to him from behind.


    "A-Aki��"


    "This isn''t the first time you''re going beyond the 51st Floor, right? You''ve been able to return alive several times, so have some confidence in yourself." Anakitty Autumn, a Level 4 of the Loki Familia reprimanded him.


    However, it wasn''t effective on Raul, "Ugh�� But if those new types attack us again, I''ll probably die this time around�� Aki�� If I don''t return, I''d like you to send the savings I''ve hidden in my room back to my family in my hometown."


    Sighing, Aki muttered, "Jeez�� Not this again."


    Line, who was preparing together with them, suddenly asked, "Erm�� Are the floors below 51 really that dangerous?"


    Answering to that, Raul started muttering, "Regardless of how many lives I have, it wouldn''t be enough. Below the 52nd Floor of the Dungeon is hell. All the experience you may have had above the 50th Floor does not apply there."


    Thanks to that, everyone from the supporting group became nervous and scared.


    However, a voice from the outside suddenly resounded, "Raul. Don''t scare the people around you any more than necessary, or you''ll be a failure as a superior." Riveria said as she entered the tent.


    "R-Riveria-san�� I''m sorry."


    Ignoring him, Riveria faced everyone else, "The rest of you don''t have to be so tense either. Even if the new types in question show up. It''ll be alright as long as you shoot them before they get close. Please don''t say that you can''t even do something like that, okay? Please wait patiently until we return. That''s right, I''ll bring some souvenirs from the 59th Floor. Look forward to it."


    "We''ll be looking forward to it, then!" One of them shouted.


    "Please bring back the bones of somerge monster if you don''t mind!"


    "Idiot, how do you expect them to carry that back!"


    Riveria smiled at their interaction, however, one of them approached them and asked in concerned, "But are you sure you''re going to bring Aika-san, Koneko-san, and Sona-san with you?"


    "Hmm? Line, huh. Can''t do anything about that. It''s their Captain''s request."


    Even though Riveria reassured them, Line couldn''t help but worry about them.


    "Right. I''m not saying that they''re weak, but aren''t they going to mess up the group synergy?" Aki asked.


    "It''ll be fine. If it''s versatility we''re talking about, they have an edge over anyone else in the party."


    "Huh?" Everyone from the supporting group, except for Line, were shocked.


    "I know it''s hard to believe, but you can''t judge them through normal means. I know their abilities and honestly speaking, each one of them can defeat Lefiya easily."


    The supporting group started barraging her with questions, but Riveria only answered them vaguely at best.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editor Corner:


    28th00: So, this will be an interesting trip. Shock & Awe is an effective strategy that has yet to wear off on this Familia, let alone the city itself.

 Volume 8 455 - 52nd Floor

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 455 - 52nd Floor</h4>


    After their breakfast, the group had an hour for rest and final preparations before they departed. Using that time, Aika kept swinging her sword as a warm-up, Koneko meditated to store more Ki, and Sona reviewed the maps, monster details, and terrain from 51st floor and onwards while also devising some ns to approach certain problems.


    Line also helped them in their preparations, but she was still worried about their participation, "Are you sure you want to take the risk? I know you have your unknown skills, but I heard the 51st floor and below are extremely hard, very different from the floors above." She asked Sona.


    "We know the risks, but this is also a good chance to get more knowledge not just about the Dungeon, but also how the top Adventurers of the Loki Familia respond to the dangers around them," Sona replied.


    "How Riveria-sama and the others fight? Why do you need to know that?" Line understood that they wanted to know more about the Dungeon via firsthand experience but not about thetter.


    "Although our methods of fighting are probably more effective for the most part, it''s stupid to think that our way is superior in every aspect. Valuable lessons can be missed if you think that you''re better than others."


    "��I see." Line''s eyes widened slightly at her point of view and she knew that this was the difference between her and them. If she wanted to learn their ways, it looked like she first had to learn about their point of view.


    "By the way, how is your progress?" Sona suddenly asked.


    "I followed Kisuke-san''s instruction and stopped studying magic for now and focused on this ''Natural Science'', the chapters ''Basic Physics'' and ''Basic Anatomy'' in particr." Line answered.


    "How is it?"


    Line shook her head and said, "I can hardly understand anything. For now, I''m trying to memorize it since Kisuke-san said that he''ll clear my confusionter." But then Line''s face started to light up, "However, this ''Basic Anatomy'' which focuses on the human body is very interesting! I never knew that a body could be thisplicated! Although I don''t understand most of the used terms, I want to learn it very much!"


    Sona''s mouth twitched and said, "I-I see. That''s good. As a healer, that kind of interest will help you be better." She just hoped that Line wouldn''t develop a strange hobby of cutting things up just to see how it worked in detail.


    Soon after, Finn called everyone and said his final reminders to those who were staying in the camp to guard it.


    Once they set off, Lefiya and Raul started to be nervous, "Lefiya, your breaths are too shallow. Rx." Riveria reminded her, "Y-Yes!!"


    "Raul, you too. Stomach in, chest out." Gareth reminded Raul on the other hand, "Y-Yes!!"


    "Jeez! Why is Bete together with me in the vanguard?" Tionained since it was usually her and her sister''s job to partner up as vanguards.


    "Shut up, you idiotic Amazoness." However, it was Bete who requested Finn to be put on vanguard since he wanted to fight more.


    "Hahaha, the Loki Familia is always so lively," Tsubakimented.


    Smiling wryly, Finn replied, "We''ve let you see something embarrassing." He then turned to the trio, "It seems that you''re not nervous at all."


    Sona only smiled and replied, "We''re nervous, alright? But it''s no use overthinking things as it''ll just affect our judgment of the situation in a bad way, instead of helping us."


    "I see. That''s good. Looks like you have the correct mindset." In all honesty, Finn and the rest were surprised at their calmness. After all, aside from Lefiya, who could use a Level 6''s firepower, they were the weakest and also at the lowest priority to be protected.


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko knew of their position but they did not mind it as they would have also done the same if they were in their position. But this didn''t mean that they would hold back when someone among their party needs help.


    The party reached the entrance to the 51st floor. It wasn''t their goal to hunt monsters there, but to go through it as fast as possible without affecting their stamina and supplies too much.


    Bete and Tiona stepped forward and got ready, "Alright, no more useless chatter from here on out. All hands, prepare for battle," Finn thenmanded, "Go, Bete, Tiona."


    With hismand, Bete and Tiona instantlyunched out and the rest of the party soon followed after them, "Head down the normal route as nned! Stay alert for approaching new types!!"


    Bete and Tiona immediately cleared the monsters in front of them so that the group could easily go through, "They''re spawning from the path ahead," Ais suddenly reminded everyone after seeing a small crack from the distance.


    "Vanguard, disregard them, and clear the path beyond! Ais, Tione, deal with them!"


    "Yes!" Tione and Ais moved out and started cleaving the ck Rhinos, a rhinoceros monster that walked on two legs, which blocked their path.


    Tiona and Bete, on the other hand, assaulted the Deformis Spider. Those wererge red and purple colored spider monsters, which were starting to gather from the hallways of the 51st floor.


    On the 51st till the 57th Floor was abyrinth, which was rare on the deeper floors. The walls, ground, and ceilings were t and the structure made it seem as if it was carefully measured. Many corners and crossroads existed across the floors.


    "Bete-san is more awesome than usual��" One of the Loki Familia supporters muttered after seeing Bete being more excited than usual.


    "Even though he''s just Bete!" Tionained after Bete came for the monsters first.


    "Yeah, he''s even more aggressive than I''ve heard." Tsubaki alsomented as she cleaved through a ck Rhinos using a greatsword.


    "Tsubaki-san, why are you so strong even though you''re a cksmith?" Raul, who was near her, asked.


    "You''ve heard of weapon testing, right?" Tsubaki answered as she killed another ck Rhino which was about toe out of the wall, "To find out how effective my products are on the monsters in the Dungeon, I went all the way in, shing, shing, and shing." She then faced Raul with an innocent smile, "So I ended up getting stronger."


    Raul swallowed his saliva and thought, ''What''s this�� She''s terrifying.''


    "The new types areing!!" Riveria shouted after seeing a bunch of caterpir monsters making their way towards them.


    "Change formation! Tiona, fall back!"


    Just as nned, Bete and Ais moved forward to meet them, "Ais, give me that!"


    Ais nodded and shouted her chant, "Tempest!"


    Bete, using his Flosvirt, absorbed Ais'' magic and ground the monsters along with her, slowing their advances.


    "May thend frozen by the captive light, st forth the apocalyptic winter might, I bear the name of Alf��"


    "All hands, fall back!" Finn shouted.


    Riveria then cast her first level attack magic, "Wynn Fimbulvetr!" Freezing the enemies in front of them. Although it hadn''t been a long time since she started studying Kisuke''s magic, she was able to improve her spells'' efficiency and firepower, which even Line wasn''t able to do yet, aside from her basic healing magic.


    "Wow�� That''s some ''spell''. If only we could cast this with a magic sword." Tsubaki muttered after passing through the frozen caterpirs.


    "If something like that was possible, we wouldn''t need mages," Finn replied.


    The party reached the entrance to the 52nd floor and stopped for a moment, "It''s time to descend to the 52nd floor atst. From here on out, please consider resupplying to be impossible."


    "Please don''t worry about supplies. As long as these bags are safe, we can go on for a long time." Sona suddenly said.


    Finn faced her, "Is that so? That''s reassuring. We''ll rely on you once ours became dangerously low."


    "Please do. We prepared it to help everyone so that they would have an easier time. After all, we''re just hitchhiking with you to these floors."


    Finn nodded at her before facing forward again, "Well then, let''s go."


    Most of the people in the party were confused at Sona and Finn''s exchange, but they didn''t have the time to ask questions since Finn already signaled to them the start of their descent.

 Volume 8 456 - To 58th Floor

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 456 - To 58th Floor</h4>


    As soon as they stepped into the first hall of the 52nd floor, Finn shouted to everyone as a reminder, "Avoidbat as much as possible! Just repelling them is enough!! Don''t get sniped no matter what!!"


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko became serious when they heard him. Even though they were briefed regarding the 52nd floor and beyond, they truly had no idea what it would be like in real life.


    Raul saw that Tsubaki still had her usual nonchnt expression and her rxed stance so he shouted towards her, "Hurry up!!!"


    Tsubaki was a bit startled and hurried her steps, "This is my first timeing somewhere this deep. Does this ''snipping'' that he mentioned really happen?"


    But before she could receive any answer, the atmosphere slightly changed and everyone from the Loki Familia except for Lefiya and some supporters took notice of this, "!!"


    "Finn!" Ais called out to their Captain.


    "Yeah��" Finn briefly answered, "We have been ''captured''. Run, run!!!"


    Tsubaki, Lefiya, Sona, Aika, and Koneko heard something from below them, ''��A dragon''s howl? It''sing from below!?''


    "It''sing," Ais muttered.


    Koneko and Sona immediately noticed the changes in Mana and saw somethinging from below very fast.


    "Bete, change course!!" Finn suddenly shouted.


    "!!" Bete hurriedly jumped to the side and a split secondter, a gigantic pir of fire emerged from the spot he was before, reaching the 51st floor.


    The rest had to brace themselves from the shockwave and heat that was generated. Tsubaki grimaced at such terrifying sight and Lefiya almost started crying and did her best to keep up with the group. On the other hand, the trio''s expression became even more serious and they estimated that they would be severely injured and would have no way to continue in this expedition if they were to be hit by that pir of fire without putting up defenses��


    However, the first-timers were still not aware of the true horrors of the 52nd floor until a few secondster when multiple pirs of fire started attacking their group from all directions.


    "Detour!! Use the west route!!!" Finn shouted.


    Sona had to ride on Koneko''s back because with her physical abilities, it was almost impossible for her to keep up with the group.


    "It''s alright even if you pull the monsters!!!" Finn reminded them because the pirs of fire weren''t the only danger of the floor. The monsters were keeping on to attack them simultaneously, regardless of the chaos around them, "Riveria, hurry up with the defensive magic!"


    While dodging the attacks from below through Finn''smands, the Loki Familia was also dealing with the monsters which came after them and the trio admired their teamwork which was really different from the Adventurers whom they usually saw.


    Although they had already seen how the group worked together on the expedition until now, everything on the upper floors seemed so easy for them and they didn''t have to work as much. Only now they realized how they truly synergized with each other.


    Although Koneko could detect the signs of the fire pirs earlier than the rest thanks to her usage of Ki, the chaotic battlefield rendered her judgment on the surroundings clouded, which showed how inexperienced she truly was.


    But as long as she pointed out where the fire pirs would being out to Sona, Sona could instruct her and Aika to dodge to a spot where they wouldn''t be nked by the monsters emerging or being left behind by the whole group.


    The group progressed until Raul made a blunder. He wasn''t paying much attention to his right side and a Deformis Spider''s thread came after him, "Raul! Dodge!" Finn tried to warn him but it was already toote.


    Lefiya saw the Deformis Spider''s thread earlier than Raul so she pushed him out of the way. However, she was caught by it instead of him and was dragged towards the spider.


    "Lefiya!?" Tiona, Tione, and Ais called out, but the first one to respond was Aika. Using her sh Step, she went behind Lefiya and cut the spider thread. Aika caught Lefiya but the momentum pushed them towards the spider and Aika got ready to meet it.


    But even with her preparation, a pir of fire emerged below the monster, annihting and creating arge hole in the floor and the two fell into it. Aika immediately tried to create a foothold using Reishi but due to Mana turbulence and her poor mastery, she couldn''t materialize it properly and could only use it to slightly change her direction.


    Koneko and Sona immediately noticed Aika''s plight and Sona hurriedly got off Koneko''s back before thetter used sh Step to follow them.


    Lefiya, on the other hand, nked out and was already incredibly nervous and crying thinking that she was about to die and that she dragged someone else into her misfortune.


    "Hey, hey. Don''t make that kind of face now. We''re still alive." Aika flicked the forehead of the Elf in her arms as they descended down the hole.


    "Eh��? But��"


    However, Koneko suddenly appeared beside them, interrupting the Elf and asked, "Aika-senpai, what happened?"


    "Well, maybe it''s due to surges of Mana, but I can''t create a stable foothold. What about you?"


    "I can, but I also have the same problem. I can only support my weight. Maybe some more if I focus on it."


    "Then take her." Aika then passed Lefiya to Koneko.


    "Kyaah!!!" The moment Koneko caught Lefiya, she and Aika suddenly jumped away from each other and a pir of fire passed through their former spot. The pir of fire was actually a big ball of fire. It only looked like a pir when it came from the ground.


    "H-how can the two of you act so nonchnt?" Lefiya asked.


    "We''re not acting nonchnt. We''re doing our best to analyze the situation and constantly try toe up with a method to stay alive." Koneko then looked into her eyes full of fear and continued. "You should do the same instead of cowering in fear. True, it''s scary to die, but don''t you think it''s scarier to do so without doing anything? Besides, look up. Those guys areing for you�� To protect you. I think it''s time for you to do your part."


    Lefiya was left speechless and she looked up like Koneko said and saw Tiona, Tione, and Beteing after them, using the walls of the hole to run down, "Lefiya!!!"


    "Don''t weigh us down, slowpoke!!!"


    "��E-everyone��" Lefiya muttered to herself.


    Tione was the first one to reach them and she smashed away the ball of fire aiming for Koneko and Lefiya in exchange for a few burns, "Aw, aw, aw, it''s hot!!!"


    Aika, Koneko, and Lefiya were speechless at her brash actions but airborne monsters started to pour out from the halls of the floors below, not giving them enough time toment, "The Wyverns areing!" Tione warned everyone.


    "Tione! Protect that slowpoke!" Bete overtook them and met the monsters. He started beheading them with his daggers and used their bodies as a foothold to jump to another one.


    Tiona was doing something simr while making sure to keep the monsters away from the others.


    "Are you three alright!?" Tione reached Koneko and Lefiya and asked.


    Koneko nodded at her and Tione continued, "It seems that you two are able to maneuver yourself properly. Pass Lefiya to me. It''s too dangerous for you if you''re carrying someone else."


    "I''ll be fine. I still have some leeway, but Aika-senpai and I have no way to effectively deal with those Wyverns and can only dodge them so I think it would be safer for us if you were to join them instead of babysitting us." Koneko replied.


    Tione hesitated for a bit but she didn''t have enough time to contemte and agreed with her after recalling what they witnessed earlier of Koneko and Aika kicking the air to maneuver, "Fine, but I won''t be going too far away from you. You too, Aika! Come here."


    .


    .


    .


    After dealing with the monsters, Ais intended to follow them but Finn immediately stopped her, "Don''t go, Ais!"


    Ais hurriedly turned to him to protest but Finn didn''t let her and continued, "We can''t protect everyone if Raul and the others also fall into a hole! We''ll head to the 58th floor following the proper route! We need you in order to get past the new species as fast as we can!"


    Ais hesitated a little bit, but she knew her magic''s importance against the new species and didn''t press the issue.


    Finn then faced Gareth, "I''ll leave Bete and the others to you, Gareth."


    "Got it." After a simple answer, Gareth immediately jumped down to follow the young ones.


    However, Finn was still conflicted. But before he could say anything else, Sona suddenly said, "If you''re worried about mypanions and thinking about sending another one to them, please don''t. Although they won''t be able to fight on these floors, I''m confident enough to say that they won''t hold the others back and are agile enough to avoid the danger."


    Finn looked at her and sighed, "I see�� Then let''s go."


    Raul, on the other hand, was ming himself as the cause of this ident, "Because of me�� Lefiya and the others��"


    Off to his side, Riveria suddenly said with a threatening expression, "Don''t worry, we''ll punish you more than enough once when everyone''s finished."


    Raul shuddered at her cold voice, but Riveria still continued, "Brace yourself for now so don''t lower your guard."


    But before they started running in earnest, Finn faced Sona again and asked, knowing that she was just a Level 2, "Can you keep up? If not, you can ride on Riveria''s back."


    Sona, in response, shook her head, "It''s fine. I have a way to keep up."


    While wondering what she was about to do, Sona suddenly materialized her Sacred Gear which shocked everyone especially Tsubaki, "Wh-What is that!?"


    Not entertaining her question, Sona tapped the ground with her halberd and a blue magic circle appeared under her. A few secondster, water came surging out from it and propelled Sona forward passing everyone. She was surfing, using the water she summoned.


    The rest hurriedly followed her while admiring her magic and it''s speed.


    Group:


    28th00: Well, this is gonna be a wild ride, huh?


    Alexander: The plot is thickening.


    Goyya: I guarantee that the trio will have their limelightter.

 Volume 8 457 - Against the New Species

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 457 - Against the New Species</h4>


    Everyone from the Loki Familia was fascinated by her ''surfing'' magic and surprised about how much mobility Sona gained with her magic. Tsubaki, on the other hand, was very curious about her halberd because of how it suddenly appeared in her hand out of nowhere and it had the very familiar insignia of the Hephaestus Familia on it for some reason.


    However, none of them could afford to ask anything regarding that because they couldn''t spare any effort to nonchntly chat.


    "I''m changing our formation! Ais, move up to the Vanguard! Raul and the others will stay in the middle and support Ais! Riveria, cover our rear!" Finnmanded as they moved.


    "G-got it!"


    "Understood."


    Finn then faced Tsubaki, "Tsubaki, I''ll have to borrow your strength."


    "Leave it to me."


    Finn nodded and shouted to everyone again, "Don''t stop running! Continue as before! Repelling the monsters is enough!"


    The pirs of fire kept attacking them for a minute or two until it stopped entirely, which made it easier for the group to go through the 52nd floor despite the appearance of the new species.


    When the caterpir monsters appeared, Ais would use her wind magic to push them back and then fall back, before the supporters, including Sona, used magic swords to finish them off.


    "The attacks from below have stopped�� Is it Gareth and the others?" Tsubaki muttered.


    "Probably," Finn answered. But he was still worried that it would be too much for them to take on the 58th floor just by themselves because of the new monsters changing things, "Let''s hurry."


    They easily reached the 53rd floor, faster than when theyst descended. However, the group only became warier of things because beginning from the moment when the attacks from below had stopped, the new species also stopped appearing and they knew something was up.


    A few minutester, what they were worrying about became true. Large amounts of caterpir and nt monsters appeared in front of them. And they became even more worried, once they saw the disguised person riding on top of one of them, "The person from the 24th floor��!" Ais muttered in shock.


    "Is that�� a person?" Tsubaki asked as she wasn''t really sure about it.


    ''The monster''s movements are strange. They''re too orderly. It''s as if��'' Finn''s contemtion was interrupted when the cloaked person suddenly shouted, "Kill them!"


    "Retreat! Jump into a passageway!" Finn hurriedlymanded everyone.


    A secondter,rge amounts of acidnded on the spot they stood before. Even using Ais''s magic wouldn''t be enough to block it.


    Raul stumbled as he and the rest dodged to the side, "A-a volley of acid!?"


    "Get up! They''reing!" Finn issued anothermand, ''He''s controlling them like soldiers. Is that robed person connected with the tamer?''


    "Who''s that guy!?" Tsubaki asked.


    "Long story short, he''s a tamer." Riveria briefly answered.


    "Really!? You''re saying that he can control those monsters!?" Tsubaki''s whole face twitched, ''I''ve reallye into an unbelievable ce.''


    However, on their next turn, more new species appeared, "An ambush!?"


    "Enter the second passageway ahead of you, to your right!" Finn calmlymanded.


    "They''ve appeared again!"


    "They''reing from the right as well!"


    "Enter the left passageway! Move diagonally to the right immediately after!"


    Raul couldn''t help but admire his captain as hemanded everyone, ''The Captain is amazing. The 53rd floor is a maze that''s bigger than Orario. Even in this situation, the Captain''s always choosing the best route�� He''s done that for all of the floors. He''s got an amazing memory and a frighteningly calm personality�� He''s a real monster.''


    However, at least one of them wasn''t impressed and Finn noticed it. Sona started moving before Finn could give amand as if she knew his next instructions and would take appropriate actions to lessen the burden of the group using her magic halberd, ''Interesting�� So she also memorized the whole map.''


    This was understandable because Sona knew an even bigger monster who could memorize anything with just a nce and immediatelypose numerous ns that would take advantage of not just the enemies, but also enemy actions. Of course, this didn''t mean that Sona already gave up her specialty and was trying to catch up to him even if it seemed impossible. Sona wouldn''t settle for second ce just because the one in the first ce was her boyfriend.


    Finn didn''t have any more time to think about this and focused back on the monstersing after them, ''We''re being guided��! I didn''t think that we''d experience any strategy from monsters. Those movements�� Is he looking for something? Is it Ais?''


    "Finn! They''re closing in on us!" Riveria shouted to Finn.


    Plotting their next actions, Finn instructed, "Turn left, Ais!"


    The group then reached a long passageway and Finn suddenly turned towards the monstersing after them, "We''ll face them! Turn around!"


    Everyone immediately repositioned themselves, "Line up three shields!" Finn then turned to Ais again, "Ais!"


    Understanding his intent, Ais cast her magic, "Lil Lafarga." The wind started enveloping her and it was more potent than in the past thanks to the realization that Kisuke gave her. Sheunched herself directly towards the tamer, creating a hole through monsters.


    The tamer was taken aback, but he didn''t have time to react to Ais as he realized that Finn used Ais''s wind to cover his tracks and appeared beside him, "You sure have caused us some trouble." Wielding his two spears, Finn tried to cut off the tamer''s head.


    "!!!" The robed person was able to dodge but he had to leave the monster he was riding.


    In that brief moment, Finn was able to measure his opponent''s strength, ''A level 4? A new level 5?'' Continuing his attacks, he said to him, "It seems that there''s a difference in power between you guys."


    "Vis!" Calling out to the nt monsters, the monsters surrounded the party and attacked them from all sides. But even then, these monsters were just fodders for Finn, Ais, and Tsubaki.


    "Are we even needed?" One of the supporters asked.


    "They''re on a different level��"


    While fixing her sses, Sona suddenly said, "Of course, we''re needed. In a situation like this, we just need to think of a way to help them." She then took out her bow and arrow.


    "Huh?"


    "If there''s nothing we can do, then it''s also important to keep ourselves alive so that we can support themter. However, in this case, there''s something you can do." Sona then aimed at a certain direction and released the arrow.


    The arrow flew and the tamer suddenly moved into its trajectory, getting hit in his right shoulder, "What!?"


    "You can at least deal with those nt monsters, right?" Asked Sona as she faced them.


    The four supporters swallowed a mouthful of saliva after Sona''s masterful disy of her archery skills, "L-let''s go, everyone!" Raul hurriedly jumped into the monsters and the rest followed soon after.


    Although the arrow didn''t affect the tamer much and he was able to remove the arrow immediately, it was enough to distract him for a split second, creating an opening for both Finn and Tsubaki.


    The tamer was able to dodge Finn, but Tsubaki''s naginata was able to cut off his arm, "Guaahh!!!!"


    "You''re finished!" Tsubaki was about to do a follow-up attack when one of therger nt monsters swooped down and grabbed the injured tamer with its mouth.


    The tamer was about to escape as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to win, but a cold wind sted in his direction, "Wynn Fimbulvetr!"


    Riveria''s magic froze all the remaining monsters, including the monster that the tamer was using to escape. However, when they checked it, the tamer was nowhere in sight, "Only the robe?" Tsubaki muttered after checking, "He evaded the magic the moment our view was blocked by the blizzard?"


    "It''s hard to believe�� What a fast technique. He''s quick at running away." Riveria muttered. But thanks to this, she was reminded of a certain shopkeeper, ''Well, I have a feeling that he''s even faster at running away.''


    After making sure that the tamer wasn''t caught in the magic, Riveria asked Finn, "Should we go after him?"


    "We need to prioritize regrouping with Gareth and the others. Let''s hurry to the 58th floor. Ais, cover the vanguard again." Finn answered and instructed. They resumed their journey to the lower floors without match interference from the new species or the tamers.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Today''s sermon:


    Alexander: I''ve got nothing much to say this time. Well, maybe a bit about Sona. She sessfully defended her seat as one of my favorite waifu, second only to Yoruichi. Most importantly, she does not give up. Not even against Kisuke and I quite like this mindset.


    28th00: Sona has Megane Power after all. She''s a Devil, they''re purely there as a statement to the superiority of Megane Power. She''s adapting to being�� human-tier rather well in how she''s bing an all-rounder instead of a caster. I can''t wait for her sacred gear to get its audio upgrade, voiced by Serafall for her So-tan.

 Volume 8 458 - Not Your Conventional Familia

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 458 - Not Your Conventional Familia</h4>


    Thanks to them working together, Tiona, Tione, Bete, Lefiya, Aika, and Koneko safelynded on the 58th Floor, and through Lefiya''s magic, they were able to clear out all monsters that were near them, giving them some room to breathe.


    Once they got down on the 58th floor, they met the prime cause of the ''sniping'', the Valgang Dragons. Valgang Dragons wererge red dragons that could grow up to ten meters when standing on both legs. They lived at the bottom of the Dragon''s Vase, which was the 58th floor and were able to detect and breathe fire at adventurers, an attack which was strong enough to st throughyers of rock up to the 52nd Floor.


    There were a total of seven dragons currently present and Lefiya couldn''t help but mutter, "A-are you able to defeat seven of them?"


    "If we can''t, then we die. Don''t make me say it." Bete answered as he prepared.


    Chuckling, Tiona answered, "I guess you''re right."


    "GRAAHHH!!!"


    "Here theye!" Tione shouted as the dragons started approaching them.


    But before they could sh, a figure dropped down from above and broke a wing of one of the dragons while creating a small crater in the floor.


    The dust settled down and the figure was revealed, "Are you young ones still alive?"


    "Gareth!?"


    "Old man!"


    "Behind you!"


    But instead of dodging, Gareth faced the tail that was about to smash him and caught it, "!?"


    "Guooohh!!!" With a shout, Gareth started dragging the several tonnes dragon and spun it around.


    "Huh? Huh?" Lefiya couldn''t believe the scene in front of her and it was the same for the other members of the Loki Familia.


    First ss Adventurer, Gareth Landrock. He was a contender for having the highest strength and endurance in Orario, being a super vanguard type that smashes everything in his path and doesn''t sumb to any attack.


    The Alias that the Gods gave him was Elgarm (Heavy Master). He was a great dwarven warrior with an anecdote of him lifting a seriously damaged Galleon all by himself.


    Releasing the dragon, he threw it towards another dragon, "Go flying!!!" Due to their immense weight, a simple throw was enough to greatly injure the dragons.


    "N-no way��" Tiona, the musclehead, couldn''tprehend Gareth''s sheer strength.


    "��If he were to learn how to use Ki, then it should be easy for him to toss these dragons with just an arm." Koneko suddenly muttered.


    "Huh?" Tiona, Tione, and Bete were startled at her statement, however, Gareth suddenly called them out, "What are you lot doing? They''re stilling, hurry and get up."


    "G-Gareth-san, aren''t you enough?" Lefiya asked.


    Huffing, Gareth answered, "Don''t be ridiculous. There''s no way I could do something like that multiple times."


    "The new species are here too," Tione muttered as she readied her Durandal weapon.


    "T-the passage to the 57th floor is��"


    "Looks like it''s been sealed off."


    "Who cares. It doesn''t change anything."


    Since they didn''t have magic like Ais, they wouldn''t have any way to deal with them in such a tight space making them essentially trapped.


    As their current leader, Garethmanded, "We''ll hold them off until Finn and the others get here, understood?"


    "Yes!" Everyone answered.


    But before he moved forward, Gareth faced their newpanions, "It''ll be too dangerous for you two. Just the shockwaves from the battles might injure you so stay from a safe distance, but don''t get too far away since it''ll be harder to respond to an emergency."


    Aika and Koneko looked at each other before smiling and faced Gareth and the rest, "We can distract two of them while you deal with the others."


    "Wait! That''s too dangerous! Just stay near Lefiya!" Tiona disagreed with their n.


    "Tiona is right. Stay with Lefiya so that those caterpirs wouldn''t be able to approach her immediately. You don''t need to risk yourselves." Tione followed up.


    Bete only stared at them silently and didn''t say anything. Gareth, on the other hand, sighed, "Fine�� But know your limits."


    " "Gareth!?" "


    "Will do~!" Aika answered as she pulled out her nodachi and muttered, "It''s time for you two to shine~"


    While wondering what she was about to do, Aika suddenly called out two names, "Akane, Kaguya." A red and ck aura suddenly enveloped her, covering her entirety.


    "W-what!? What''s going on!?" Tiona and the rest had to take a step back due to the wind suddenly emerging from her. But before they could understand what was going on, they noticed the Valgang Dragons and Wyverns scramble away.


    "��What the hell?" Bete spoke up as he watched the unbelievable scene.


    A few secondster, the swirling aura disappeared and revealed Aika who was now holding double-edged curved swords, one in red and one in ck color each with a length of 70 centimeters. Her Adventurer attire also disappeared as it was reced by a standard Shinigami uniform, the Shihakusho, which was far better than her armor.


    Everyone from the Loki Familia was speechless at her sudden transformation but another thing happened to make them question reality.


    Not waiting for the Loki Familia, Aika used sh Step on one of the fleeing dragons and shed with it.


    Koneko, on the other hand, used her boosters to go to one of the dragons since the hammer was too heavy for her sh Step. Still, her speed was no joke and the momentum created and transferred to the hammer would be enough to crack the scales of the Valgang Dragon.


    "W-what are they?" Lefiya muttered but Bete, Tiona, and Tione couldn''t give her any answers.


    "Fuhahaha!!!" Gareth''s suddenugh woke the young ones.


    "G-Gareth!? What''s wrong?"


    However, Gareth didn''t face them and started moving towards one of the Valgang Dragons while carrying his giant axes, "I can''t let them take on the big stage when they said that they''ll only hold back a monster each! I''m not going to wait for you a lot!" He then started running after one of the running dragons. He didn''t know why they were running away, but their goal was to clear or hold them off until the rest of the party reached them. Besides, thinking is not his forte, so he could just do what he usually did and that was smashing monsters with his bulky muscles.


    Bete, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya didn''t know what to do, Aika and Koneko were just too weird. Although they knew that they were just Level 2 Adventurers, those actions were enough for them to take them off from the list of Adventurers in their minds.


    But since Gareth already started fighting, they could only do the same. However, their eyes would often go to Aika and Koneko, hoping to find answers to the growing questions in their minds.


    After all, they too wanted to get stronger and fight higher-level opponents like what they were doing right now.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Comment section


    Alexander: So they finally started to show the trump cards. However, today''s prize for the best supporting actor definitely goes to Gareth.


    28th00: Those dragons are bolting cause her des are fragments of the True Dragon God''s, seriously. They just saw the equivalent of a level 20 Dragon staring at them, and they''re only level 1, big difference. Being mana constructs, they''d probably feel it even more, since they only have their aura at this moment.


    Goyya: The dragons are fragments, but they are also already separate beings. On top of that, although their potential is enormous, they are still pretty weak.


    Another thing is Aika''s cheat.


    Let me rify something to all the readers.


    Although Aika indeed have better potential than Ichigo, it''s not that much. And most importantly, she doesn''t have Ichigo''s biggest cheat which is the ''get stronger after each fight''. Aika and the rest of the girls have to train a lot harder than him just to achieve the same strength.

 Volume 8 459 - The Rest of the Sacred Gears

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 459 - The Rest of the Sacred Gears</h4>


    As they promised, Aika and Koneko managed to hold off two of the Valgang Dragons until the rest were able to deal with theirs. Aika and Koneko could have killed the dragons, however, it would take a great amount of effort and energy for them to actually do it. Their current goal was to reach the 59th floor and not to kill these dragons. They had a feeling that they would be needing that extra energyter.


    Of course, the situation wasn''t that simple, as the Dungeon kept spawning Valgang Dragons. But instead ofing after them, the dragons became upied and killed by the army of caterpir monsters, which drowned them in acid and took their magic stones.


    The group became even warier of the new species because they didn''t have any idea what their goal was and neither did they expect that monsters in the Dungeon would be fighting each other.


    Soon after the usual monsters were almost annihted, the new species started escaping towards the 59th floor.


    Thanks to their disappearance, the Valgang Dragons'' number started increasing in number again, putting more pressure on the party.


    But it wasn''t long until the path to the 57th floor was sted by Riveria''s cold frost magic, "Wynn Filbulvetr!"


    "!!!"


    "Ais-san!"


    "Riveria!"


    "Captain!"


    Finn''s group had sessfully reunited with Gareth''s group, "It''s too early to celebrate! Get rid of the remaining monsters first!" Finn shouted in amanding tone.


    Half an hourter, the Dungeon stopped spawning monsters and what was left on the 58th floor were hills of ashes and monster materials.


    The party gathered near the entrance to the 59th floor. Lefiya ran towards her idol and hurriedly asked in a worried tone, "Are you alright, Ais-san!?"


    "I''m fine�� How about you guys?" Ais replied and asked.


    "We''re fine because of Gareth," Tione answered but she also looked towards Aika and Koneko. Gareth''s group really didn''t have any idea how to evaluate those two. "But also thanks to them.", she said. Tiona and the rest, however, wouldn''t deny the big help they offered.


    Finn''s group''s eyes were attracted to Aika and Koneko. Aika''s nodachi disappeared and was reced by two curved one-handed swords. They were also confused about her changed attire and why she would do that in the middle of an intense fight.


    The strange thing that was emitting white mes behind Koneko also attracted their attention but they didn''t know what to think of it.


    Simrly, Gareth''s group''s attention went towards Sona who was holding a crystal blue halberd while currently riding on water. Both groups didn''t think that all three of them were too weird.


    Riveria knew that the young ones wouldn''t be able to hold themselves back and question them about everything, which would be quite rude. So instead, she steered the conversation forward, "Our party was split in two but we still managed to clear out the 58th floor��"


    Bete immediately understood Riveria''s intention and sighed before making a smug face, "Heh! It''s not our first time here after all."


    With a smirk, Tiona added, "You were out of breath just a moment ago."


    "That was you!"


    "What!?"


    Thanks to the two of them bickering, the mood lightened up slightly, but Tione noticed Finn''s furrowed brows as he looked towards the stairs leading to the 59th floor, "Captain? Is something wrong?"


    "ording to the records left behind by the city''s former strongest Familia, the Zeus Familia, the 59th floor is known as the cier territory. The cial currents make it hard to move around, and the extreme cold slows the body''s movements down��" Finn removed the glove on his right hand and ced his hand over the entrance.


    "The cold is said to be enough to freeze the movements of a first-ss Adventurer. In that case, why aren''t we feeling the coldness when we''re close at hand?" Everyone from the group became nervous. After all, any changes in the Dungeon lead to an unknown danger that wouldn''t be recorded anywhere.


    "Are you saying that something is up?" Tione asked.


    "I don''t know but it''s hard to believe that the Zeus Familia was exaggerating."


    Ais then recalled the red-tamers'' words regarding the 59th floor, ''Aria, go to the 59th floor. It''s interesting down there right now. You''ll find out what you want to know.''


    "C-Captain�� What should we do?" Raul asked as it wouldn''t be strange to end the expedition right here.


    But Finn was adamant about figuring out what was going on and so hemanded, "Forget about the Smander Wool. Everyone, check over your supplies. We''ll head down in an hour."


    After removing the water below her, Sona suddenly raised her hand and said, "Could you make that two? Aika and Koneko would need that time to recover."


    "Are you out of magic potions? You can use mine." Lefiya offered since it was thanks to those two that the pressure on them wasn''t so much back then.


    Sona smiled at her and shook her head, "Thank you, but magic potions won''t do anything to help them to recover."


    "What do you mean?" Lefiya asked in confusion. But before she could get any answer, Aika''s Zanpakuto returned to its sealed form, a nodachi, along with her attire returning to normal.


    Finn''s group was very shocked at her sudden transformation, but the most shocked out of decorum was Tsubaki, who was busying herself with picking up loot from the Valgang Dragons and taking care not to ask questions. She shouted, "W-what was that!?", as she couldn''t take it anymore when she saw a sword which suddenly changed its form and ran to her side to inspect it.


    Aika was startled at her big voice and glowing eyes, "Uhhmm�� A special feature?"


    They knew that they wouldn''t get any clear answers so Finn just dered, "Okay. After two hours, we''ll move out. In the meantime, Tsubaki-san, please do some quick maintenance on our weapons."


    .


    .


    .


    On the surface, Kisuke was handing out the rest of the Sacred Gears to the group.


    Kuroka received a blood-red whip sword. Each section of the de was about two inches long and instead of a cord, the sections were connected through Kuroka''s ck mes.


    Unlike any other whip sword with a fixed number of sections, Kuroka''s Sacred Gear could generate countless amounts so it could technically extend forever. Of course, that would only be possible if she had enough energy to do that.


    Although it was easier to control each section with a cord of her ck mes, another feature was that the ck mes could separate the sections entirely, forming as many forms, like shields, as the user likes. So it wasn''t just an offensive weapon, but a versatile tool that could respond to many scenarios.


    Lastly, it was paired with Koneko''s jetpack so that it could absorb excess energy from it, increasing its firepower to another level. When Kuroka heard about it, she jumped into Kisuke''s arms and rained kisses on him. She was very happy that her Sacred Gear was paired with her sister''s.


    Next was Medusa''s Sacred Gear, a setposed of her Immortal ying Harpe, Chains, and Daggers. Contrary to the first ones, it didn''t have any extra features as its goal was to solidify the concept within Medusa''s weapons by giving them a proper physical form. Aside from that, the Sacred Gear that Kisuke made for her had a strong stabilizing effect on her magic body and soul, increasing thepatibility of it with each other.


    Also, thanks to this effect, something unexpected urred. Well, maybe Kisuke expected it, the two souls within Medusa''s weakened Divine Core strengthened considerably and some minute activity could be felt from them.


    With tears of happiness running down her face, she ran into Kisuke''s arm and started thanking him while thetter patted her head with a gentle smile on his face. Medusa also wanted to rain kisses on him but she didn''t have the courage to do so in front of the Main Wife.


    Lastly, Kisuke handed a kodachi to Yoruichi, which would serve as her Sacred Gear and her Zanpakuto.


    Yoruichi first took a deep breath before grabbing the kodachi. But before she could drop her blood on it, a white light suddenly emerged from her forehead and hit the kodachi. Yoruichi froze for a while before muttering with a twitching mouth, "It seems that Byakko likes the new house��"


    "Well�� That was easy�� I mean, good for him��" Kisuke was already expecting that something big would happen, but he was also thankful that his expectation didn''t ur.


    Kisuke wanted to say more, but a sudden sensation came to him, "Hmmm?"


    "What''s wrong?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Aika released her Zanpakuto," Kisuke answered.


    "Then they''re probably around the 52nd floor and below."


    "Right, so everyone should get ready. I''ll prepare everything in the meantime."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Brainwashing Corner


    Alexander: Are you serious, Tsubaki? Have you never heard about the Swiss Army Zanpakuto? It is a very popr tool from Kisuke''s hometown andes with many features. There is even a corkscrew hidden in the handle. Very handy indeed.


    28th00: Theye with clothing creation, repair, and strengthening functions! All soul-powered and eco-friendly! You won''t ever have to worry about going naked into battle because you''ll probably be dead by the time your shihakusho is destroyed! Usually!


    Goyya: And they''re always clean!

 Volume 8 460 - Corrupted Spirit

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 460 - Corrupted Spirit</h4>


    After the two-hour rest, the party started to move on. But before they descended to the 59th floor, Aika released her Zanpakuto again and even if they got a closer look at it, they still couldn''t fathom how this works.


    Tsubaki, especially, wanted to know the logic behind a transforming weapon. She was also really interested in the weird thing behind Koneko, however, she couldn''t really question them about their equipment. All she wanted to do now was to go home and ask Hephaestus about it, since she saw her insignia on Koneko''s jetpack. But in the meantime, she would observe them as much as she could.


    The group then started to descend and once they reached the 59th floor, they saw a terrain that wasrgely contradictory with the records left behind the Zeus Familia. The 59th floor they came to was a jungle instead of a cial tundra. Although the Zeus Familia could have hidden some information, there was no way for a group as prominent as the Zeus Familia to entirely lie about the terrain of certain floors. This meant that a big change happened in the Dungeon while no one was looking.


    The group walked for more than a few seconds until they stopped and realized something. This may look like a jungle, but it was actually a veryrge nest for the new species. "A-are those the new species!?", Lefiya muttered and shivered in surprise after seeing the closely clustered monsters. On the ceiling of the 59th floor were the hanging and inactive nt monsters.


    "I can hear sounds from ahead of us�� Let''s move forward," Finnmanded.


    Half an hourter, they came into an open area without much interference from the monsters. In this area, the ground was covered in gray sand, or rather, ashes that remained from the killed monsters. Also, in the middle of it was a monster simr to the one they encountered on the 18th floor, where the first discovered jewel fetus parasitized a monster. The difference this time, however, was that the monster was connected to innumerable tentacles at its base, making it immobile.


    "A jewel monster��" Gareth muttered.


    "Wait�� Take a look at the monsters around it!" Riveria suddenly shouted as she noticed something fear-inducing.


    "The new species are allowing it to eat their magic stones!? Are the ashes around here all from dead monsters!?" Tiona shouted. All along, the smaller monsters weren''t guarding the jewel monster but feeding it with their magic stone.


    "This is bad��! It''s a strengthened species!" The mostly quiet Ais couldn''t help but shout.


    [Ah�� Ahhhhhh!!!!!] The jewel monster screeched as it finished eating the magic stones around it. The shout created a strong shockwave that rippled towards the outside and the party was forced to duck down a little to stabilize their position and cover their ears from the eardrum-breaking screech.


    The jewel monsters then started transforming into a gigantic unbloomed flower. A few secondster, however, it bloomed magnificently and revealed a very beautiful woman in the middle of the petals.


    "What�� What is that��!?" Tione asked, but no one could answer her.


    Tiona, however, is more concerned at Ais'' reaction, "Ais?"


    ''No�� That can''t be true�� That thing�� It can''t be��'' Ais ignored everyone as she was trapped in her own world.


    The beautiful woman looked towards her and started muttering, "A��Aria��" It then changed into delight, "Aria. Aria. Aria!!!" Before changing again into a maniacalugh, "Kyahaha!!! Aria!!!"


    "A spirit��!?" Ais finally muttered for everyone to hear.


    .


    .


    .


    On the surface, the mysterious man that gave Ais the quest for the 24th floor suddenly called out to his God, "Ouranos!!!"


    A God sitting on a simple stone chair on top of a pedestal muttered while watching the crystal ball, "As I expected."


    Before the Loki Familia went on their expedition, the mysterious man discreetly passed a bracelet, which could send a magic equivalent to a modern video feed to the crystal ball, to Ais through one of the members of the Hermes Familia.


    "During ancient times, before we came down from Tenkai, a number of spirits took on our will and helped the heroes. Even though they were eaten by a monster in the Dungeon and their existences were reversed, they still kept their own identities." Ouranos continued muttering.


    "A fusion between the Gods'' children and a monster�� So this is also a possibility of the Lower World�� A corrupted Spirit."


    "Indeed�� If I didn''t see it today, I would have never believed that something like this existed." The mysterious man which Ouranos calls Fels also muttered.


    "Nheless��"


    "Hmm?"


    "What are they?" Ouranos asked and pointed towards Aika, Koneko, and Sona.


    "��" Fels fell silent for a bit before shaking his head, "I don''t know�� All I know is that they''re from the Hestia Familia and that this Familia is filled with strange individuals with strange abilities."


    Fels then looked towards Ouranos, "If you don''t know anything or have no idea what they''re doing, then that''s really strange�� Where did theye from? It''s as if they came from another world wheremon sense is different�� Should I investigate them?"


    "��Just monitoring their activities within the Dungeon should be enough for now."


    "Understood."


    .


    .


    "A spirit!? That eerie-looking thing!?" Gareth and the rest couldn''t believe what they heard.


    "What dirty Mana��" Sona muttered as she readied her halberd.


    Aika and Koneko only quietly readied their weapons.


    "Those new species of monsters were mere tentacles. They exist only to refine this female monster into that form��" Finn gritted his teeth as he finally understood the purpose of the new species.


    [Aria, Aria! I wanted to see you. I wanted to see you!] The corrupted Spirit faced Ais and started giggling to herself, "You should be one too." Followed by another maniacalughter, [Aria! Aria! I wanted to see you. I wanted to see you! You should be one too!!!]


    Everyone shuddered as the corrupted Spirit suddenly started to releaserge amounts of magic power, [Fufu�� Let me eat you.] Pointing towards the group, the remaining monsters started to move towards them. Although most of them disappeared after giving up their magic stones, a few hundred of them still remained.


    "Finn, I''m going to move up to the vanguard!" Gareth ran forward.


    "This isn''t any different from what we usually do! I''ll kill them!" Bete hyped himself.


    "Everyone, get ready for battle! Lefiya, hurry, and start chanting!" Finn startedmanding.


    "Got it!"


    "Raul''s group will support Ais and the others with their magic swords!"


    "U-understood!"


    "Everyone from the Hestia Familia, you may do as you please, but please always keep the integrity of the group in mind."


    "Very well.", replied Sona while fixing her sses.


    The supporters were shocked at Finn''smands, but after recalling their strangeness, it would indeed be better for them to move on their own due to their unknown abilities.


    Tiona, Tione, and Bete moved forward, bypassing the new species. They intended to face the corrupted spirit directly. But before they could approach it, they were attacked by the tentacles below the monster. These tentacles were at least a hundred meters long and a meter wide. Aside from its gigantic size, it only boasted a sharp tip and durable body that wouldn''t be cut with just a few strikes from the First-ss Adventurers.


    After deflecting the tentacles'' attack, Tiona said, "Its attacks are heavy!"


    While Tione questioned, "Just how many magic stones has it eaten!?"


    On the rearguard, Finn stopped Riveria who wanted to chant, "Riveria, don''t chant just yet."


    "Finn?"


    "My thumb won''t stop tingling. There''s definitely something else��" He then felt another change in density of the magic power in the surroundings, "ing!"


    [Come, Fire.] Under the corrupted Spirit, multiplerge magic circles emerged.


    "A chant!?" Gareth shouted, "A monster is chanting!?"


    "Riveria! Put up a barrier! Bombardment squad, stop its chant!"


    Lefiya hurriedly used her magic against it while the support group bombarded it with their magic stones.


    However, the corrupted Spirit only used the petals under it to cover itself, blocking the iing attacks perfectly, [Burn Burn Burn whirlpool of Fire.]


    "��Haha�� It didn''t have any effect!?" Tsubaki muttered. It was as if those petals were First-ss shields.


    In response to the impending danger, Riveria was chanting her strongest defensive spell, "Dance around the spirit of the atmosphere, lord of light��"


    [Wall of Crimson. Howl of Hellfire.]


    "Contract with the guardian of the forest."


    But immediately after that line, the corrupted Spirit started to speak even faster and the magic power around it rose exponentially, [Borrow the power of a gust of wind and close the world, burning sky, burning earth, burning sea, burning spring, burning mountain, burning life.]


    ''What!? A super long chant!?'' Riveria shouted internally.


    Seeing the situation, Sona and Aika immediately disengaged from the new species. On one hand, Sona released her demonic power and gatheredrge amounts of water. She formed a high-density water javelin andunched it towards the corrupted spirit.


    Aika, on the other hand, crossed her swords before releasing a ck and red wave of energy towards the corrupted spirit.


    Koneko protected them from the monsters using her white mes which slowly spread towards the other monsters as it consumed their mana.


    The corrupted Spirit was slightly startled, especially after Sona released her demonic power and a keen interest sprouted from it. Using several ovepping petals, it was able to block Sona''s javelin, and even Aika''s destructive sword waves. "Tch!", they clicked their tongues simultaneously out of disappointment.


    Sona and Aika tried to wound their opponent a few more times, but its petals kept regenerating. They didn''t have enough firepower to deal substantial damage to it.


    Although they were shocked by the duo''s performance, the vanguard tried to get close to the monster. However, the tentacles kept them busy as they tried to push forward.


    "And envelop us with the song of the earth. Surround us, be a great barrier of the forest light and protect us-"


    [Change everything to scorched earth and give the signal of rage and despair. The cost of the life of my loving hero. I order you in the name of the agent, the name given to me is Smander, the avatar of fire, queen of fire.]


    ''It''s fast!!!'' Riveria became scared and was pretty sure that her barrier wouldn''t be able topletely block its magic.


    "We can''t even get close!" Tione shouted in frustration while dealing with the tentacles.


    "Everyone, fall back to Riveria''s barrier!" Finn instructed.


    "My name is Alf! Via Shilheim!"


    A golden dome covered everyone. And at the same time, the Spirit finished its chant, [Firestorm.]


    A small purple me manifested from the Spirit''s hand before blowing it away. The purple me floated down until it reached the ground and exploded into a whirlpool of purple mes, covering the whole floor.


    The first one to be annihted were the other monsters before it mmed into Riveria''s barrier. At this moment, Sona already knew that the barrier wouldn''tst for a long time, so she immediately gave a signal to Koneko.

 Volume 8 461 - Defend

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 461 - Defend</h4>


    ''My barrier is��'' Riveria''s golden barrier started cracking from the sheer pressure of the purple mes, and those mes weren''t showing any signs of receding. Riveria hurriedly turned around and shouted in despair, "Gareth!!! Protect Ais and the others!!!"


    Gareth immediately snatched two tower-shields from the supporters and held them between Riveria and the group. He wanted to go in front of Riveria but the barrier was already sted open.


    "Riveria!!!" Ais cried out. However, Finn didn''t allow the desperate Ais to get close to her.


    The mes then reached Gareth, "GUOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"


    The shields on his hand immediately broke into tiny pieces and without much choice, Gareth used his own body to block the mes.


    While this was happening, Koneko also took out her hexagonal tower shield and set it down behind Gareth, blocking the mes from getting through him, "Kuhh!!!!"


    Koneko''s shield, although it only blocked a small part of the mes, was also cracked before the enemy''s magic ended with arge shockwave, sending the party flying away.


    When Sona recovered from the attack, she saw a crack in her sight and realized that her sses were cracked after being sent flying. She immediately checked on Aika and Koneko and saw that Aika was already taking care of Koneko''s burnt hands.


    She then looked around and saw the rest of the forest which had disappeared, along with the other monsters. The Loki Familia members and Tsubaki were all on the ground, but at least they were conscious.


    However, the two people who took the brunt force of the magic were not in good shape. Gareth''s body was burnt, but he was able to survive because of his endurance, while Riveria was in the same state and only survived because of her immense magical power that passively increased her magic defenses. Also, they could be thankful for their armors with magic defense properties which let them keep their breaths, however, those were already in tatters.


    But before they could even recover, the corrupted Spirit resumed chanting, [Roar, Earth.]


    "!!!?"


    [Comeee, shell of the earth, treasure of the ck iron hammer of stars, take the contract of creation and invert it, burn the sky, break the earth, build a bridge, and be heaven and earth.]


    "PROTECT RAUL AND THE OTHERS!!!!!" Finn hurriedly shouted.


    Bete, Tiona, Tione, Ais, Tsubaki, and Finn hurriedly moved to gather the supporters and the two unconscious people as they were the only people that wouldn''t be able to survive if they were to get hit by the enemy''s magic.


    Tiona and Tione reached the trio''s sight and was about to grab them, however, Sona suddenly shouted while looking at the corrupted Spirit, "Focus on the others! We''ll be fine!"


    "What are you saying!?" Tione shouted and was about to grab them, however, Tiona instead grabbed her shoulder, "Tiona!?"


    Tiona first looked into their eyes before smiling, "Goodluck~!" Before turning around to save the others.


    Tione was gobsmacked at her sister''s response, but when she looked at the trio''s eyes, she only saw confidence and seriousness, "Fine��", she sighed. "Please survive.", said Tione before following her sister.


    Although it was only Sona who decided not to be saved by others, and even if Aika and Koneko didn''t know the real situation, they had full confidence in her, "So? What''s the n?"


    While fixing the position of her broken sses, Sona answered, "Different from earlier, this magic should be stronger in terms of destructive power, but not as wide as the first one."


    Observing the movement of Mana and seeing the clusters of them gathering in one spot, Sona continued, "Earth magic�� It''s probably a meteorite type so we just have to dodge and deflect the projectiles to survive." She then looked towards Koneko and Aika, "Can you do it?"


    Koneko and Aika looked at each other before Koneko asked, "Can you predict where they wille from and the range of the actual target?"


    "That''s easy," Sona answered.


    "Then this will be easy." Aika and Koneko both replied with a smile.


    [Falling axes of heaven, disaster of destruction - I order you in the name of the agent, the name given to me is Gnome, avatar of earth, queen of earth.]


    Numerousrge magic circles then appeared on the ceiling of the 59th floor and from it, gigantic sharp rocks that were covered with ominous purple magic power emerged and started their deadly descent to the ground.


    "TEMPEST!!!" Ais used her magic to summon the wind and used it to cover the group while the rest used their own bodies to cover for the weaker members of the Familia.


    On the trio''s side, Sona startedmanding Koneko and Aika to dodge to certain spots to avoid the meteors.


    However, the magic power which was covering the rocks exploded when they made contact with anything else. So even if they tried to dodge them, shockwaves and splinters of the rocks were enough to wound them.


    "Kuhh!!!"


    "D-dammit!!!!"


    "3 o''clock! 23 meters! Then move to 4 o''clock, 9 meters!"


    After a minute, the onught of meteors stopped and what was left of the 59th floor''s former jungle was a barren ce with innumerable craters created by thest magic attack.


    This time, everyone was on the ground with bloody countenance and the only people who could move properly were the supporters who were protected. They did their best to immediately initiate first aid and supply potions to everyone on the ground while keeping their tears.


    "Ahh��"


    "Damn it��"


    "Am I�� Still alive��?"


    "I feel like I''m dying��"


    "I''m�� fine so go heal Riveria and Gareth instead��"


    Even then, everyone tried to get up despite the difficulty. However, despair overcame them when they saw how the corrupted Spirit absorbed the magic power it used and was about to get ready for another round of bombardment. They knew that they wouldn''t be able to survive if it used another magic of a simr scale.


    What was even worse, was that more monsters from the new species flooded in from both the 60th floor and 58th floor, effectively trapping them with the corrupted Spirit.


    There was nothing they could do. Two of their strongest members were crushed, and everyone was covered with injuries. No one had anything to say, and no one could stand. Everyone present knew that they would lose.


    Except for a few people, "We''ll defeat that monster." Finn said with conviction as he walked in front of everyone.


    Everyone looked at him with incredulous eyes but Finn only continued speaking, "What is ''courage'' to you? What do you see with your eyes? Fear? Despair? Destruction? I only see an enemy, one that we need to defeat, and our victory."


    "We don''t need a path of retreat. I''ll carve out a path with my spear. I promise you all victory in the name of Fianna. Come with me." He then looked back to everyone, "Or is copying Bell Cranel too much for you? Besides, look at those three. Is it fine to show such weakness?"


    Putting her sses back on her face, Sona smiled at him, "As expected of the Loki Familia Captain. It seems that you already know what to do." She then looked towards the rest of the Loki Familia, "But if it''s only you and us three weak girls, then this is really a hopeless situation."


    "Don''t mess with me! Who said that I''m giving up!?" Bete angrily shouted as he stood up.


    "Captain! I haven''t given up yet!" Tione also stood up.


    "Right! We can''t be losing either!" Tiona stood up with a big smile.


    Ais, on the other hand, only quietly stood up, but the burning desire to win is also present within her eyes.


    After those three, the supporters and Lefiya also managed to regain their bearings and also stood up, "Raul, your group will stay behind and support us! The rest of us will attack that monster!" Finnmanded.


    As he passed by the heavily injured Riveria and Gareth on the ground, Finn also said, "Riveria, Gareth, is this the end for you? Then keep on sleeping, I''m going ahead."


    Because of those words, both of their eyes snapped open, "Damn it�� That conceited Pallum!" Gareth cursed as he tried to stand up, "Hey! Loathsome Elf! Is now the time to be sleeping!?"


    Using her wand, Riveria also tried to stand up, "Shut it, you barbaric Dwarf!"


    As both of them straightened their bodies, Gareth shouted to the supporters, "Give me an axe!!!" While Riveria instructed, "I''m going to begin my strongest attack! You guys, protect me!"


    While passing Gareth his axe, Sona approached Riveria, "Leave it us."


    Riveria looked at the trio and nodded, "Great!" She then looked towards the other supporters, "Support the rest! We''ll be fine here!"


    Thest one to get up was Tsubaki, "I''ve seen something amazing. I can''t make myself useless this round too. I''ll help out!"


    Pointing his spear toward the enemy, Finn shouted, "Starting now, our attack will pierce the enemy! Give it everything that you''ve got!"

 Volume 8 462 - Hopeless

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 462 - Hopeless</h4>


    "Gather your strength, Ais! Give it all you''ve got! Finish it in one strike! Everyone else, protect Ais!" Finnmanded as they started running towards the corrupted Spirit with Ais at the back of the formation.


    ''That new species has appeared again�� Against an enemy with countless offensive options and a fortress-like defense, we can only create a favorable situation for an instant�� One strike, it''ll all depend on it.'' Finn devised their next moves on his head and gave out his finalmand, "Lefiya, start concurrent chanting! I''ll let you decide which magic to use!"


    "Yes!" Lefiya then started running beside the Amazoness sisters and just behind Finn, who was the forefront runner and started chanting the defensive magic she learned from her new friend, Filvis.


    On the Spirit''s side, however, the attention was not on Ais, the Spirit stared towards Sona''s direction while muttering, [Ah~, what is this scent? I want you! I want to eat you! Be one with me~!]


    Sona''s expression became serious and thought, ''Did I attract it with my magic? This is troublesome�� I have a feeling that it won''t end with just defeating that thing��'' With that suspicion in her mind, Sona crushed a token that would send a signal to Kisuke and Yoruichi. She didn''t want their help as much as possible, but she just couldn''t shake off the bad feeling. For starters, she warned Aika and Koneko, who we''re dealing with the monsters around Riveria, that things might drastically change, so they should watch out for any weird thing that could happen and report it to everyone.


    "��?" Everyone from the Loki Familia was confused, but that didn''t change what they needed to do.


    ''Amander is no longer necessary. We only have one shot for this and everyone already knew what to do.'' Finn used his right thumb to touch his forehead before starting to chant, "Magic spear, prate my forehead that offers blood. Hell Finegas!"


    As he cast his magic, Finn''s eyes turned blood red and his countenance changed drastically from a calm and calctingmander into a bloodthirsty warrior. ''What we need is a rampaging berserker!''


    His action caught the attention of the corrupted Spirit who looked back at them and only chuckled, [Ahaha. Still, it''s over.]


    Covering herself with her unusually sturdy petals, she chanted again, [Come, fire. Burn burn burn whirlpool of fire, wall of crimson, howl of hellfire, borrow the power of a gust of wind and close the world.]


    "!!!"


    "She''s using magic again after strengthening her defense!"


    However, Finn was the one who took action first. It was a reckless attack and far from any sense of reason. It was straightforward, rough, and like a beast''s impulse, "AHHHH!!!!" Finn threw his spear towards the chanting monster with all his might.


    A reckless move which could have put himself in danger, nevertheless, the spear went through a small gap within the petals and pierced through it, hitting the monster in its forehead.


    [Gyaahh!!!] That hit resulted in an Ignis Fatuus. The explosion of magic power, which happened if someone failed to control it or their chant was interrupted unexpectedly. The resulting shock almost blew off the Spirit''s head, however, it immediately regenerated.


    Before it could even fully mend itself, the Spirit started to chant another magic with a creepy smile on her face, [Break through, spear of thunder, my name as an agent is Tornitus, avatar of thunder, queen of thunder.]


    "A short chant!?"


    "This isn''t good!"


    With her courage through the roof, Lefiya ced herself at the forefront of the rushing group and chanted as fast as she could, "Be a shield, holy grail of crushing evil!"


    [Thunder Ray!]


    "Dio Grail!" A magic shield manifested in front of Lefiya. She thought that she could block the enemy''s magic if it was just a short chanted one, however, she almost buckled down immediately after receiving the attack, ''!? It''s so strong for a short chant! I can''t hold-''


    Just as she was about to be thrown away, the Amazoness sisters went in front of her magic shield and received a portion of the attack with their bare bodies and weapons, "Tiona-san!? Tione-san!?"


    "Guhh!!!!" Both of them looked back to Lefiya and shouted, "Lefiya! Don''t stop!"


    "!!!" Lefiya''s expression became serious as she gathered more magic power to her shield, ''I decided to move forward! I can''t stop! I won''t stop!'' "I can do it too!!!"


    Using herst bit of magic, she forced her shield forward and it exploded, reflecting a part of the attack back to the Spirit, [!?]


    But in return, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione had to retreat from the battle and leave the rest to theirrades as they fell to the ground, unmoving.


    The others could only grit their teeth and move forward.


    At this time, Riveria was about to finish her incantation and pointed her staff towards the enemy Spirit, "Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf! Rea Leavatheinn!"


    Arge red magic circle appeared below the corrupted Spirit and the other monsters before they were engulfed in whirling fire, [Gyaaa!!!]


    After Riveria''s magic calmed down, all that was left was the corrupted Spirit, with most of its tentacles and all of its petals gone.


    Using this chance, Bete, Finn, and Ais jumped on the enemy, intending to finally end it. They could already see its fearful face, however, tentacles which were evenrger and sturdier than the Spirit''s emerged from the floor and created a wall between them.


    This was their only opportunity and they couldn''t create it for a second time. They didn''t have time to go around the wall so they tried to break through it. Nevertheless, the wall was too sturdy and most of their attacks only chipped off a bit of it.


    When they thought that their only chance was gone, Gareth ran past them while holding his axe in both hands and attacked the wall with all his might and shouted, "Are you all talk, Finn!?" Cleaving arge part of the wall through the use of his brute strength, Gareth was able to create a small hole.


    Finn only smiled at his words. "I believed that you''de. Don''t make me say it."


    "Whatever!" Striking for the second time, Gareth was able to make the hole even bigger, but his weapon was smashed into pieces along with it. Since the hole wasn''t big enough yet, Gareth used his bare hands instead and punched through it, "You''re in the way!!!"


    Through all this effort, Gareth was able to breach the wall, but smaller tentacles, which waited on the other side, pierced through his body, "Gaha!" Still, while coughing blood up, Gareth disregarded the tentacles and grabbed the wall and used his brute force to open it further. "Too soft!!!", he roared towards his foe.


    Bete, Finn and Ais managed to go through the opening he created, but they were met with innumerable smaller tentacles threatening to punch holes through their bodies.


    Bete and Finn used their own bodies to clear the path for Ais, "Uohhh!!!" "Burn up!!!"


    A small path was created, however, in exchange, Finn and Bete wouldn''t be able to continue fighting due to their injuries, "Go!!! Ais!!!"


    Ais had been charging her magic and through using the opening which everyone created for her, she aimed at the Spirit''s head, ''I made it! I''ll take full advantage of the opening that everyone made for me!''


    Ais got face to face with the enemy, but the panicking Spirit suddenly smirked and opened its mouth, revealing a small magic circle, [Icicle Edge.] A spear of ice appeared from it andunched towards Ais.


    Ais wouldn''t be able to dodge and theirst opportunity woulde to an end. Everyone became silent as they became witness to this, however, a small voice suddenly resounded through the silence, "How predictable~." Before a spear of water knocked the spear of ice out of its intended path, [!?]


    Ais then sent her wind towards the Spirit but it was able to dodge sideways and only its left arm was shredded, [No!] Ais was blown away by one of its remainingrge tentacles until she hit the ceiling, "Gah!!!"


    "Tempest!" Still not giving in, Ais renewed her wind magic and gathered it with even more force.


    In response, the corrupted Spirit hurriedly chanted, [sh, run through, cut apart the shadow, my name as an agent is Lux, avatar of light, queen of light.]


    Using her remaining magic power and jumping off the ceiling, she recalled how Kisuke used wind magic, ''Focus it on one spot�� Just one spot!''


    [Light Burst!] Hands which looked like shadows, manifested around the Spirit and tried to grab Ais, but the wind around her became more and more refined, preventing it from touching her, "Lil Lafarga!!!"


    Cheers erupted from everyone, except from a few people.


    Just as they were celebrating, Finn shouted to everyone, "Everyone! Let''s leave! Now!"


    Everyone was confused, but chose to follow him despite their aching bodies. Those who couldn''t move were carried and they hurriedly ran towards the stairs leading to the 58th floor.


    However, not even a minuteter, new monster species came flooding in again, "Go through them! Use everything you''ve left!" Finn desperatelymanded as he was taken over by a bad premonition because his left thumb started aching more than when they were fighting the corrupted Spirit.


    "We''re toote," Sona muttered as she felt tworge magic signaturesing from the deeper floors.


    A minuteter, cracks appeared on the floor and two gigantic flowers emerged. When it bloomed, two more corrupted Spirits were revealed.


    "T-that can''t be��" Ais muttered in despair.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    I-am-getting-hyped-corner


    Alexander: Man, I am so thrilled right now. I hope that my editor friends and author-san don''t mind my little changes. I just felt like spicing the text a little up for the grand finale. So, what will the heroes entrance be like? Reusing the entrance scene with the Senkaimon? Maybe, punching a hole through the ceiling and performing a One-Hit Kill on one of the monsters with it? Either way, it''s going to be interesting to read about their reactions as the entrance will definitely be epic/hrious.


    28th00: You talking about Hajime''s entrance in Arifureta that is exactly that? Won''t lie, I found that cool. Wonder what it would be for Kisuke and the girls? They''re all stupidly fast�� Would they even need to break holes in the floors?


    Goyya: Sorry to disappoint you guys��

 Volume 8 463 - A Devil King Magic

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 463 - A Devil King Magic</h4>


    "N-no way��" Even the usually cheerful and optimistic Tiona dropped down as she witnessed the monsters blooming, "W-we already gave our all just facing one��"


    Tione, Bete, Gareth, and Riveria were already speechless and their leader, Finn couldn''t find a way to win no matter how much he thought about it, "Everyone! Breakthrough the new species! We''ll escape to the 58th floor!"


    However, that was easier said than done. Everyone was already spent and could barely swing their weapons anymore, while the number of monstersing down from the 58th floor was in the magnitude of hundreds or maybe even thousands.


    "Is�� Is this the end?" Lefiya, who was currently being carried by Ais, muttered absentmindedly with tears streaming down her face.


    Ais could only stay silent as she grits her teeth.


    "What are you doing!? Hurry up! We''re getting out of this ce alive!" Finn shouted again, however, even he could hardly see their chances of survival and it became even worse when they suddenly heard the two corrupted Spirits speak behind them, [I want you! I want to eat you up! That power�� That power is mine!]


    Sona shuddered and she had a feeling that those words were directed at her, ''What!? Did I attract it with my Demonic Power?''


    Everyone tried their best to open a path of escape, however, there was no end to the monstersing on their way.


    [[Strike, strike, strike, hammer of punishment, spear of gold, roar of heavenly thunder.]]


    "!!!!?"


    "Hurry up!"


    "Dammit all!!!"


    [[Answer the prayers and cleanse the sins. Annihte the wicked and wipe the earth.]]


    "��We won''t make it at this rate," Sona muttered and even Finn couldn''t say anything. She then sighed and looked towards Aika and Koneko, "What do you think?"


    Aika and Koneko suddenly stopped moving and looked towards Sona. Everyone from the Loki Familia thought that they already gave up and they couldn''t me them. They also didn''t see any way to survive this predicament.


    "What about you?" Aika asked.


    Sona''s answer shook everyone to their core, "I can hold them off for a few minutes."


    Everyone couldn''t help but stop what they were doing and listen to their conversation.


    Aika and Koneko smiled towards Sona and asked, "What do you need?"


    "Survive their attack."


    Aika and Koneko already had an idea of what Sona was about to do as they would sometimes see her practice unknown magic but never cast it for real. However, they also had an idea of why Sona didn''t do so and it was probably because it would leave her extremely weakened.


    "If you''re going to do it, then we''ll also have to do our part," Aika replied and faced one of the corrupted Spirits.


    Koneko faced the other corrupted Spirit and muttered, "��I wonder how long are we going to sleep this time��"


    "Y-you�� What are you going to do?" Riveria asked the three of them.


    Aika and Koneko both closed their eyes and ignored her while Sona turned to her and said, "We''ll use some techniques that could potentially take our lives. But since we''ll all die if we don''t do anything, the risk of dying is not important."


    The leader of the party, Finn, thenmanded, "Protect them at all cost! Don''t let any acid or Riveria wanted to ask more but the flow of wind suddenly changed around Aika and Koneko, "Please protect us from the other monsters�� If we can escape from here, please take care of us." Sona said as she went behind Aika and Koneko, she also closed her eyes and held the halberd close to her, ignoring any further questions from the rest of them.


    "Don''t let the monsterse close to them! Also, don''t move too far from them!"


    "Finn?"


    "I''m ashamed to admit that even with ourst-ditch effort, we won''t be able to escape. Since they say they have a way to hold them off for a few minutes, we can only trust them�� Besides, we don''t have anything else to rely on anymore."


    "��"


    Riveria stayed silent for a moment before she also started to urge the others while hitting the monsters with her staff, "Move it! Clear the monsters in the vicinity!"


    The trio smiled as they knew that they would be in good handster.


    [[Spear of destruction, Javelin of disaster - I call you upon the name of the agent, the name bestowed to me is Tornitus, avatar of lightning, queen of lightning.]]


    The first to have a drastic change was Aika as she muttered, "I''ll be borrowing the power that I can''t use yet. Please assist me." Putting her hand in front of her face and swiping it down, a white protruding bone mask instantly materialized on her face while her pupils became slits, her iris became golden, and her sclera turning ck.


    As ck and red energy started to swirl around her, a strange urge overcame Aika and took a deep breath, "ROARR!!!" A roar of a majestic dragon came from her human throat and a heavy pressure descended to everyone.


    "!? W-what''s this!?" Tsubaki couldn''t help but exim despite being busy surviving.


    The supporters almost fell down due to the pressure, but thankfully, it immediately disappeared.


    The pressure also affected the corrupted Spirits and their chants slowed down as a hint of fear appeared on their formerly confident faces.


    The ck and red energy then started to gather in front of Aika''s mouth as she aimed it towards one of the Spirits.


    At the same time, Koneko was suddenly covered in a ball of white me. A momentter, the ball of white me suddenly expanded as it slowly disappeared, revealing a mature beauty in white kimono which resembled Koneko, "S-she grew up!?" Tiona eximed as she turned in her direction.


    The ball of mes then followed Koneko''s gesture and went in front of her. The balls of fire then started to spin around her and it created a me hoop that had a strange field that could absorb energy inside it.


    [[Lord of Lightning!]]


    A golden brown magic circle appeared in front of each of the Spirits and it manifested a gigantic beam of lightning, threatening to destroy everything in its path.


    At the same time, Aika''s Hollow sh saturated and released a beam of whirling ck and red energy to hit the lightning. Arge explosion urred on the spot where the two beams met and it created a shockwave which almost threw off everyone behind the trio. However, it didn''t end there as they tried to push each other.


    Despite Aika''s Hollow sh being a lot smaller than the lightning, it couldn''t be pushed back due to its destructive capabilities. But it also couldn''t push the lightning back due to itscking Reiatsu-Ki, even though Aika was using her Hollow''s energy and overdrafting her soul.


    On Koneko''s side, the me hoop expanded just a bit bigger than the width of the lightning, and due to the strange field in the middle of it, instead of piercing through, the lightning disappeared into nothingness.


    But simr to Aika, Koneko was also having a hard time as the disappearing lightning was actually absorbed into her body and being expelled through her jetpack. But the rate of expulsion was lower than the rate of absorption, putting her in the predicament of over absorption which threatened to tear her body apart as veins all over her body started to rupture from the sheer pressure.


    This situation continued for a few seconds until the lightning disappeared. Aika''s Hollow sh only went on for a bit to damage some of the corrupted Spirit''s petals before falling forward unconscious as her attire returned to normal, her nodachi reappearing and her mask disappearing.


    Koneko, on the other hand, immediately dispelled the me hoop before losing consciousness and falling forward, returning to her former stature, wounded and bloodied all over.


    "T-they did it��" Ais muttered in shock.


    The others also couldn''t believe what they just witnessed, but a shout from Riveria woke them up, "Hurry! Check on them! Use the remaining potions!"


    Tiona and Tione immediately jumped to the two of them and poured the Elixirs on their hand.


    "Please take them to the back." Sona, who had her eyes closed all this time suddenly muttered.


    The sisters were startled and looked at her. But the moment theyid their eyes on her, they shuddered. The sisters were almost inept in magic power, however, right now, just a single nce was enough for them to tell that the magic power around Sona was enormous, ''T-That''s evenrger than Riveria''s magic power!?'' Both of them thought.


    Riveria and the others were also shocked by this since the other two gathered all their attention and they almost forgot about the unmoving Sona. Despite that, Riveria still called out to the Amazon sisters, "Hurry up! Bring them here!"


    [[Burn, burn, burn, a whirlpool of fire.]] The sisters hurriedly scrambled back while carefully carrying the two after they heard the corrupted spirits starting another chant.


    All this while, Sona had been gathering Mana, several times more than her usual capacity and converting it all into Demonic Power inside her body, "It seems that I need to cool you down." The moment she muttered this, she released everything that she had been gathering along with two pairs of jet-ck Devil wings behind her.


    After the first two disys, everyone else wasn''t that shocked anymore when they saw that Sona also had a strange transformation. But instead of epting it, they just choose to kick it to the corner of their minds as they didn''t want to think about it.


    Sona''s magic power may only appear strange in everyone else''s eyes, but from the corrupted Spirits'' point of view, it was the greatest meal that could bring them to another level and a look of great delight returned to their faces.


    However, Sona only smirked at them and said while raising her halberd, "Be honored, as you''ll experience the great Devil King''s magic!" A blue magic circle appeared on top of everyone as Sona prepared her magic.


    She closed her eyes again to concentrate. She intended to cast the magic that she had been practicing. The magic that she always admired since she was a very young girl. The magic of her beloved sister. The magic of the Devil King, Serafall Leviathan.


    "Celsius Cross Trigger!"


    A gigantic blue cross emerged from the magic circle and in an instant, everything within the 59th floor, aside from the spot where the Adventurers stood, stopped moving and was frozen over. Serafall''s signature magic which converts thend itself into a frozen wondend.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Spectator Stands:


    Alexander: In your face!!! And Tiona, don''t give up. There is still hope for you, as long as you pester/entertain Kisuke.


    28th00: Those two have 0 mana entirely from what I remember, their magic stat is literally 0, impossible to increase. Also, Serafall would literally cry tears of absolute joy seeing Sona use her signature attack, which is almost on the level of a conceptual attack. Absolute Zero is terrifying after all. Serafall used it in canon to freeze a massive region of the underworld, along with the magic-immune devil-immune Annihtion Maker monsters, with ease�� OH! She just fixed the floor from Jungle to Arctic Tundra too! Environmentally friendly devil-chan, restoring hazardous environments by ident!


    Goyya: Well, it''s a non-Dungeon construct, so it''ll return to normal eventually.

 Volume 8 464 - Returning

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 464 - Returning</h4>


    "N-no way��" Tsubaki muttered as she looked around with widened eyes.


    "T-the whole floor changed? She froze everything in an instant?" Riveria also couldn''t believe what just happened. Although what Aika and Koneko did earlier was beyond amazing, she couldn''t understand it. But as the ''strongest'' Mage of Orario, she knew how much magic power Sona required to create such an effect.


    A few secondster, Sona also started to fall backwards and Riveria immediately caught her. Once she turned Sona to her side, however, she saw that her ears, eyes, nose, and mouth were covered in blood, "Sona!?" Riveria turned to one of the supporters and shouted, "Immediately bring me an Elixir!"


    "Y-yes!"


    However, just as she was about to administer it, Sona stopped her. Although barely conscious, she was still able to speak, "P-please�� don''t bother�� It�� won''t change�� my condition��"


    Although Sona was able to cast Serafall''s magic, it was only because she was closely rted to her and witnessed her magic on multiple asions. Aside from that, it was also thanks to her Devil magic that she was able to use it after imagining its effect.


    Sona didn''t have nearly enough Demonic Power or the same understanding of ice magic as Serafall had, thus she could only forcefully use it. Due to this, she damaged her body and quite possibly her brain. And although it was a lot weakerpared to the original magic, it was still the trump card she had prepared and the most effective magic in her arsenal, she wouldn''t hesitate to use it, if the call for it arose.


    "But��!"


    "I�� just need some rest��" Although struggling, she looked towards the stairs leading to the 58th floor, "��My attack�� I couldn''t control it properly and�� I was only able to exclude�� our spot from the magic��"


    The path towards the 58th floor was riddled with frozen monsters and they would have to dig through them to reach the higher floor, "��Please�� Hurry up�� The ice can''t contain them�� for long��"


    Once he heard this, Finn hurriedly looked towards the corrupted Spirits that were now encased in ice and saw minute cracks appearing on it. He then hurriedly shouted to everyone, "Make a path to the 58th floor! Hurry! We don''t have much time!"


    With their battered bodies and the lethally cold surroundings, everyone from the Loki Familia and Tsubaki gritted their teeth and started to smash the ice statues. Since they were already very weak, they didn''t know if they could still survive the monsters on the upper floors and everyone was anxious. However, this was still a lot better than the ''death sentence'' from earlier and they regained their hope.


    Riveria softly and carefullyid Sona down on the ground so that she could help clear the path. But after some calctions with their rate of clearing and the rate of ice cracking, she grimaced slightly and called out, "Finn��"


    With a heavy expression, Finn replied, "��I know��" He also calcted the time they would need to clear the path and figured that it would be barely enough before the corrupted Spirits break free from their confinement, "Hurry it! Use everything you''ve left! Stop thinking about the monsters on the upper floors for now! We have to survive this first!"


    Everyone understood what Finn was trying to say and became even more desperate in their efforts.


    But something unexpected happened as an unknown green magic circle suddenly appeared below everyone, "W-what!? What''s this!?" Gareth eximed.


    "Is someone attacking us!?" One of the supporters cried out and everyone tried to look for the caster but failed to do so.


    "Get off the magic circle!" Finnmanded, but someone immediately disagreed with him, "Wait��!" Sona on the ground did her best to shout and sessfully gathered everyone''s attention, "��Please stay inside the magic circle�� It''s fine�� We''re safe��"


    Feeling the very familiar Mana from the magic circle, Sona peacefully closed her eyes and shut her consciousness from the world with a gentle smile on her face.


    Everyone was startled and confused about why she could still make such a gentle smile. But a momentter, Finn decided to trust her and took hisstmand back, "We''re staying here."


    "��"


    "I know that you''re anxious, but I think we should trust her words. The moment that this magic circle appeared the pain in my left thumb subsided. I ordered to stay away from it because we don''t know what sort of magic this is. But since the one who saved our lives said that we should stay��" Finn didn''t finish his words and just looked at everyone.


    Bete was the first one to react but didn''t say anything and directly sat down. He focused his senses around the trio in case some sort of danger wille to them. This was the only thing he could do to return a bit of the massive favor they owed them.


    "Captain is right. I think we should trust her." Tione agreed with a smile.


    "Hehehe, we can''t be sure if we would even survive the upper floors anyway. Let''s just see what this magic does and why she trusts it so much for her to have that kind of smile." Tiona chuckled and sat near the trio.


    Everyone else sighed and smiled, doing the same as the first three, sitting around the trio to guard them.


    A few secondster, the magic circle suddenly shone brightly. Bracing themselves, they suddenly found themselves in a different location and a familiar sight at that, "T-this is?" Tsubaki muttered as she looked around.


    "��The 50th floor." Finn answered with a twitching mouth while looking in the distance where the Loki Familia camp was, "��This is ridiculous."


    Everyone else could only remain speechless until Anakitty Autumn, the one in charge of the camp, came running towards them along with the other members of the Loki Familia, "Captain!? How did you appear here!? And your state��" She then turned to the other Loki Familia members which came with her, "Everyone, take the supplies from the camp and tell the others to prepare a few tents for medical procedures!"


    Turning back to the party, Anakitty asked in concern, "What happened, Captain?"


    "We''ll exin all about itter, but for now the treatment of these three will take priority over anything else," Finn replied and pointed at the unconscious girls.


    Anakitty was confused but since everyone else from the party agreed, she didn''t question it, "Understood! We''ll prepare the best beds for them."


    On the 59th floor, after the moment the whole party disappeared, the magic circle didn''t go away with them but instead, another group appeared on it. "Well, would you look at this. They really pushed themselves this time.", spoke Kisuke, who was dressed in his usual attire and carried his usual cane, as he looked around.


    "Whew~. Ice magic�� Did she copy this from Serafall?" Yoruichi alsomented after seeing the surroundings.


    "Will Shirone be fine?" Kuroka asked in concern.


    "She''ll be fine. As we''re speaking, their Sacred Gears are healing their wounds. I didn''t tell them about that feature earlier because I don''t want them to be too reckless�� But I guess it doesn''t really matter." Kisuke replied.


    "Master, what should we do now?" Medusa asked.


    "It''s been a while since ourst proper dive in the Dungeon and at this rate, those three would overtake us. We''ll use this chance to get as much excelia as possible~!"


    The cracks on the ice confining the corrupted Spirits then burst open. Although the two monsters were frosted all over, Sona''s magic didn''t do much damage to them and they were now recovering.


    "So here''s the rule~! You aren''t allowed to use anything other than the Falna and Sacred Gears! So without further ado, let''s go have some fun while beating the heck out of these gruesome monsters for hurting our girls!"


    " " "Yeah!" " "


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Corner of Betrayal(So melodramatic):


    Alexander: Yeah, I feel somehow betrayed by my hero entrance scene. I know that it is important for them toy low, but I love it way too much to read about the onlookers'' reality being screwed by the Urahara family.


    Goyya: It''s not the time yet. There would be a much better chanceter and the appearance of the mysterious Crimson Thieving Group(lol) is enough for now. Besides, Kisuke and Yoruichi already saved them one time. I don''t want to repeat it as much as possible.


    28th00: It wouldn''t be Kisuke without some sorta regeneration failsafe�� Just look at his freaking HOT SPRINGS! Time for some payback though~ They''re a little angry, I''d say�� Wonder if Koneko will finally getid? Did she? I don''t think she did��


    Goyya: She won''t until she could properly control her transformation or until her body bes ''normal''.

 Volume 8 465 - Hestia Familias Turn

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 465 - Hestia Familia''s Turn</h4>


    The corrupted Spirits were enraged. They were enraged that their prey got away after spending so much effort to climb to the higher floors. They were more interested in Sona''s Demonic Power instead of ''Aria'' since they thought that they could get ''Aria'' no matter how much time passes. On the contrary, it was unknown when they could encounter the strange magic which could evolve their strength for a second time.


    They corrupted Spirits looked around and only found four unknown and ''weak'' individuals while the party of Loki Familia already disappeared, [[Nooo!!!]]


    "My~, how rude. We''re your guests, so wee us a bit." Kisuke chuckled at the corrupted Spirits'' reactions. With a passing glint in his eyes, he looked carefully at them and said, "So it''s just empty shells��"


    "Puppets, huh�� Looks like the real thing is deeper in the Dungeon. Well, that''s understandable, since it came from a strange jewel that could parasite other monsters." Yoruichi added.


    "��Say, how are you figuring all of this out, nya?" Kuroka asked.


    "It''s thanks to our detection and observational abilities."


    "Master, shall we start?" Medusa asked after seeing the Spirits cast a short chant fire magic to clear the ice around them.


    "Medusa and I will take the one on the left.", said Kisuke as he started running towards the corrupted Spirit on their left while pulling out the de in his cane before it transformed into its first release form.


    "Understood." Medusa released the Mana she had been saving and she returned to her former stature of an adult and alluring woman. She also materialized her Immortal ying Scythe, Harpe and the nameless chains which changed into the forms of Sacred Gears as she started following Kisuke.


    The next moment, Kuroka also activated her Sacred Gear, which was a red whip sword, and started running towards the other corrupted Spirit while Yoruichi could only sigh after grabbing the handle of the kodachi behind her, "Haahh�� I guess I need to get used to this�� Byakko."


    The instant she called out her Zanpakuto''s name as she pulled out the de, it transformed into white light and wrapped around both of her arms before forming gigantic metal ws that constituted as fingers.


    This was the biggest reason why she didn''t really want to use her Zanpakuto. It was so bulky that she had to lift her arms so that it wouldn''t be dragged on the ground as she runs and so heavy that her mobility suffered from it.


    Aside from that, it only had one ability and it wasn''t any kind of shy ability like other Zanpakutos that could release sword waves or beams. Using Hakuda to strengthen her strongest point, mobility, was a lot more effective for her. However, although that single ability of her Zanpakuto was very simple, it was strong. The ability to ''cut really well''.


    To put it into perspective, anyone below Lieutenant level Shinigami would be cut down even if they used their Zanpakuto for defense. And it would only take a few hits before a Lieutenant''s Zanpakuto breaks.


    Although it was still effective in Captain level battles, just cutting really well wouldn''t do any good.


    The Spirits, on the one hand, did the same thing they used to defeat the Loki Familia. They both started chanting for ''Firestorm'' while also increasing their defenses through their petals and tentacles.


    Thanks to their physical attributes, the Loki Familia was able to circumvent this by forcing them to open a path. However, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Medusa and Kuroka, despite their ridiculous stats, they were only new Level 2s and had no way to match Finn or Gareth''s physical abilities until they be peak level 3''s.


    They could use Ki, Reiatsu-Ki and Mana to strengthen their bodies, but that would only put a strain on them and could only be used for a limited amount of time. But that didn''t mean that they had no way to counter this.


    Kisuke just smirked and pointed his left palm at them, "Such messy control of Mana." A pulse of magic power then emitted from his palm and as it reached the chanting Spirits, *Boom*.


    Kisuke disrupted their flow of Mana with his own, resulting in two explosions urring due to Ignis Fatuus, "I''ll take care of their magic. So it''s ytime~!"


    Without their enemies'' magic out of the way, they only had to take care of the tentacles. But these tentacles were equivalent to Level 4 and Level 5 monsters. Since their real strength was sealed to make a way for their Falna to grow, their physical defenses were at their lowest, so a hit from them wouldn''t be good.


    The four of them started dodging the tentacles and even with Kisuke''s sword waves, he could only cut a few small ones. However, this was precisely what they wanted, the struggle for victory.


    This was also the best scenario for Yoruichi to practice her maneuverability with her Zanpakuto.


    The group would ''y'' with and infuriate the corrupted Spirits for a long time��


    If someone were to see four Adventurers, who only moved as fast as a normal Level 3 Adventurer, ying around with terrifying monsters that could easily defeat an army of Level 4s, they would shudder and question their world view.


    .


    .


    On the 50th floor, in Loki Familia''s camp, everyone from the dungeon diving party, except for Sona, Aika, Koneko, and Riveria, gathered in the main tent despite their injuries.


    Everyone was quiet until Riveria and Anakitty entered the tent, "How are they?" Gareth asked.


    Riveria shook her head and said, "We''ve healed any visible injuries but they won''t wake up. Their breaths are shallow and their pulses are weak."


    "Couldn''t you continue using your healing magic?" Finn asked.


    "I could, but Line stopped me."


    Finn furrowed his brows and continued, "Line? Why?"


    "She told me that it could be dangerous to heal something without even knowing what''s wrong. And in some cases, it might actually do more harm than good."


    Finn and the other''s eyes widened, "She did?"


    "Yes. She''s currently studying healing methods under Kisuke Urahara and suggested that we bring them to the surface as fast as possible so that Kisuke could take a look at them."


    "What do you think?"


    "We take our leave immediately," Riveria answered.


    Finn closed his eyes and muttered, "I see�� But you know that we can''t do that. We need to rest for at least a day before we could leave safely."


    Riveria could only stay quiet and sit down in a free spot.


    "Uhmm�� Captain, can you tell me what''s going on?" Anakitty suddenly asked.


    Finn then proceeded to tell her what happened on the 59th floor. And using this chance, Gareth, Bete, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya also told everyone what they saw on the 58th floor.


    "A transforming weapon? A weapon that appears out of nowhere? A piece of strange equipment that emits mes? And chantless magic?" Anakitty asked with a twitching face. If she didn''t hear it directly from the top executives of her Familia, she would never believe such ims. No, even now, it was very hard for her to believe their words. She wanted to ask if they were just messing with her, but she was afraid that it was actually true.


    Finn smiled wryly and said, "I know what you''re thinking, but you don''t have to worry. If we did not witness it first hand ourselves, we wouldn''t believe it either."


    Anakitty was curious about everything they just said, but she was particrly interested in two points, "You did say that you suddenly appeared on the 50th floor from the 59th floor, but how is that possible?"


    Finn first looked towards Riveria and saw her shake her head before answering Anakitty, "We don''t know what happened. What we know, however, is that it happened because of some unknown magic."


    "Then what about Sona Sitri casting an ultra-wide spell that changed the terrain of the whole floor? Even Riveria-sama shouldn''t be able to do something like that and it''s a chantless magic to boot."


    "That�� We don''t know��" Riveria answered, "But I recalled her calling her magic ''The magic of a Devil King''."


    "Devil King��"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Corner:


    28th00: And so the LEGEND SHALL SPREAD! Sona will wallow in agony from the embarrassment if her precious onee-sama ever hears about her chunni speech that was said in absolute seriousness! Right before using her own signature attack too! Oh, Serafall would probably faint in happiness from that alone!


    Alexander: As far as I remember, Kisuke gave them some protection talismans or so. I wonder if there is a hidden record function in order to make the Urahara family album (ck history included).


    28th00: Oh, definitely. It ain''t their family if they don''t ckmail each other for stupid reasons! Hestia(Mostly because she''s too kind) and Ophis(She wouldn''t evenprehend ckmail, and if she did��) excluded.


    Goyya: Hehehe. ckmail materials acquisition never stops~!

 Volume 8 466 - Six Days

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 466 - Six Days</h4>


    Six dayster, Kisuke and Yoruichi finished off the corrupted Spirits simultaneously by shredding their upper bodies, "Alright~! Let''s go home~!" Kisuke dered after watching as the Spirits became ashes.


    Kuroka fell to her knees, shivering while muttering in delight, "��Finally�� I don''t ever want to do that again, nya��" However, her eyes were empty and her expression was listless.


    Medusa also had the same expression but didn''t say anything as she nkly stared at the mountains of ashes and recalled their six-day long battle.


    On the first day, since none of them were used to the tentacle''s movements, all of them got hit by a forceparable to a speeding 100-ton truck. While Kisuke and Yoruichi only got hit once and immediately recovered, Kuroka and Medusa got hit multiple times, and each time, Kisuke would bring them back like some necromancer from an RPG game.


    On the second day, Kuroka and Medusa were still being hit, but a lot fewer times. However, this was also the day when Sona''s magic lost its effect and the 59th floor returned to how it was. Due to this, caterpir monsters and flower monsters were also flooding in.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi got hit with acid multiple times, but they immediately got back up and were able to devise some moves to keep the acids away from them, thus, they were able to continue rtively fine.


    On Kuroka and Medusa''s side, however, they were just getting used to the tentacles and the addition of the monsters made it so much worse for them. Every time when their injuries reached a certain threshold, Kisuke would immediately pull them out of the battle and heal them for about half an hour before sending them out again.


    Although they were thankful to him, they just really wanted to rest at that point. They were wondering how the two of them could still move as if it was the first day. There were times when they wanted to receive injuries deliberately to get more rest time, but after seeing the two of them work so hard, ''cheating'' for some relief became unbearable to think about.


    On the third day, some changes happened and Kisuke immediately asked everyone to wear a cloak and a mask. Everyone immediately followed his instruction and since Kuroka would be using her Sacred Gear more often from now on, Kisuke also asked her to take it back temporarily.


    After preparing themselves, the red-haired tamer Revis appeared on the 59th floor along with new waves of monsters. Since Kisuke and Yoruichi deemed her as a nuisance in their precious training time, both of them teamed up against her while drowning her with pure killing intent.


    It only took a few minutes before Revis became gravely injured and scared for her life as she hurriedly escaped to the upper floors, using the monsters she brought as cover.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t go after her since she was the Loki Familia''s problem and Sona, Aika, and Koneko were already working closely with them. They did promise them that they''ll leave her to them.


    On the fourth day, Kisuke started letting small scale magic from the corrupted Spirits through to increase the difficulty. Kuroka and Medusa were back to struggling to keep up. But thanks to their earlier experiences, they were able to adjust easierpared to the previous increase in difficulty. Although, they were still not as adaptable as Kisuke and Yoruichi, but this was already a very wee improvement.


    On the fifth day, Kisuke stopped holding their magic back and the group had to think of various ways to survive the onught of tactical scale magic. Unlike what they were doing before, which was essentially just working on their own, the group now had to work together so that they could ''survive'' without using their real powers.


    On the sixth day, the smaller monsters already disappeared entirely while the corrupted Spirits became noticeably withered and tired. They figured that they wouldn''t get many benefits from lengthening the training even further since they could already perfectly dodge everything that got thrown at them, so Kisuke and Yoruichi finally finished the unfortunate monsters off.


    "��I''m tired, nya! I want to take a bath!" Kuroka shouted as she stood up. She was already spent and most of her Mana and Ki were gone despite doing her best to ration and recover them in the middle of the fight.


    But the most drained person among them was Medusa as she couldn''t even stand up properly. She had to use the Mana which kept her body intact properly functioning just to keep up with them. It was also on the third day that she had to undo her transformation to save even a bit of Mana.


    In her listlessness, she suddenly felt two arms wrapping around her and lifting her off the ground. She hurriedly looked up to the person who ''princess carried'' her, "��Master?"


    While passing her some of his Mana, Kisuke smiled at her and said, "Thanks for the hard work. You may rest now."


    She ''needed'' to refuse, but thanks to the gentle Manaing from him, Medusa sumbed to theforting feeling and closed her eyes. A few secondster, she fell asleep in his arms.


    "She really tired herself out this time," Yoruichi said as she took a peek at her peacefully sleeping face.


    "Although her Mana reserves are a lot lower than mine because of her body, unlike me, she didn''t utter a singleint, nya. She''s too serious, nya!" Kuroka added as she brushed Medusa''s bangs to the side.


    Yoruichi patted Kuroka''s head and said, "You also worked hard. Thanks for that."


    Kuroka giggled and replied, "I can''t really be left behind. Sona-chan, Aika-chan, and Shirone are also catching up fast. I have to work hard as their big sister, nya!"


    "Alright, let''s go back up. It should be about time that the Loki Familia reaches the surface. We still have to take care of those three who did their best." Kisuke then used the same magic circle which they used to teleport to the 59th floor to return to their underground hideout.


    After they arrived home, Kisuke gentlyid Medusa on her bed and set some contraptions which could gather and purify Mana so that she could recover easier and morefortably.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka then went up to the surface and directly to the Candy Shop to wait for the Loki Familia. As they entered the shop, Hestia came running and did a flying tackle to Kisuke''s gut.


    Kisuke had to soften hernding since she would only get hurt from her reckless move otherwise. Hugging his waist Hestia looked up smiling, "Wee back~!"


    "We''re home, Hestia-sama."


    But before they could enjoy their reunion after a week of absence, a girl with golden hair came running in and opened the store. Ais immediately saw Kisuke and spoke, "Kisuke�� Pleasee with me to the 18th floor."


    But before she could receive his reply, another person, or rather, a God came running in, "Hestia! Hestia, are you in there?" Miach came running in too with rapid breaths, "Please help my child!"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Corner:


    28th00: So, the difference between being ancient (Medusa) and a Genius (Kuroka)pared to those two who are both Ancient Genius'' who have spent the majority of their�� 300-500 years(?) of�� unlife(?) fighting eldritch monsters, is veryrge indeed. It''s nice to see that Hestia is literally the "Go-to" for help though! She''s Bestia for a reason! Now, what the hell happened to poor Bell this time? Hestia never abandons her friends (Loki is obviously her BFF though) or people that need help!


    Alexander: Well, screw the rules. It''s a case of "Semper fidelis", so roll in and crash the party.

 Volume 8 467 - Hermes

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 467 - Hermes</h4>


    Alongside Miach was his other child, Naaza. Behind them was another group which was unfamiliar to Kisuke, "For starters, why don''t we go inside first? Wallenstein-san, pleasee in too."


    Everyone, aside from the Hestia Familia, was startled as they finally noticed the presence of the Sword Princess. However, they didn''t ask about it as they had a more urgent issue at hand.


    Once everyone sat down, Hestia started talking and referred to the two Gods in the group, "What''s wrong, Miach, Take?"


    Miach took a deep breath and told them their story. It had been 20 hours since Bell Cranel and his party dived into the Dungeon. As they didn''t go home yesterday, Miach and Naaza immediately went to the Guild early in the morning and asked his advisor about his whereabouts. However, Eina Tulle also didn''t see theme out yesterday.


    They figured that something must have happened and usually, Adventurers who went missing in the Dungeon were suddenly killed. But Miach insisted that Bell''s Falna was still active so Eina created an urgent request to look for Bell''s party.


    It was around that time that Takemikazuchi''s children saw this request and recognized Bell. After that, they immediately told Takemikazuchi what happened. They then looked for Miach to confess their wrongdoings.


    On the 13th floor, the Takemikazuchi Familia party got into an ident which resulted in Chigusa, one of their members, being gravely injured. On top of that, a horde of monsters was around them and they couldn''t heal them, so they ran away.


    But things weren''t looking too good for Chigusa and if she didn''t get any healing as soon as possible, she might die so Ouka, the leader of their party, saw Bell''s party, he decided to use them as a decoy so that they could get away from the monsters.


    They knew that it was a bad thing to do, but it was the only way for them to save Chigusa. Ouka and the rest apologized fervently to Miach asking for forgiveness and said that they''ll join the effort to rescue Bell''s party.


    But they knew that just Naaza and three Level 2''s from the Takemikazuchi Familia wouldn''t be enough, so Miach immediately went to Hestia to ask for the help of her children.


    "I see��" Hestia nodded solemnly, "Did they already apologize to you?" She asked Miach.


    Miach silently nodded.


    "What did you say?"


    "I said that I''ll never forgive them if something were to happen to Bell-kun." Miach shook his head, but the next second he smiled wryly, "But I''ll never hate them for it. After all, they just prioritized theirrade over some strangers."


    Although a Pass Parade is generally frowned upon, Miach understood their motivation and couldn''t hate them over it, "Hestia, I would like to ask for your children''s help to rescue Bell-kun and his party members."


    Hestia looked towards Kisuke and Kisuke just smiled. But before he could answer, a voice from outside came, "I hear you, Miach~! Let me give you my assistance~!"


    The door of the store abruptly opened and three figures could be seen outside. The man with blonde hair and orange eyes spoke, "I, Hermes, saw your urgent request and decided to help my good friend. I heard from thisdy that I might find you here." He pointed to the Goddess with red hair beside him.


    "Miach�� So you''re really here, asking for Hestia''s help." Hephaestus entered the store, ignoring Hermes.


    "Hephaestus, Hermes�� What are you two doing here?" Hestia stood up and asked.


    "Welf is my child and one of Miach''s child''s party members. I''m here to give my assistance." Hephaestus exined, "But regarding this guy over here�� I don''t know what he wants."


    "That''s harsh, Hephaestus~! As I said, I''m here to help a good friend~!" Hermes answered too.


    All of the Gods gave him a dirty look.


    "Wha!? C''mon guys! I really wanted to help and I genuinely wanted to save Bell-kun."


    "��" The Gods became even more suspicious, however, Miach could only sigh, "Fine�� Thank you, Hermes."


    "Are you sure about this, Miach?" Takemikazuchi asked.


    "Rescuing Bell and his party takes priority," Miach answered simply.


    "But Hermes, where are your children?" Miach knew that Hephaestus'' assistance coulde in the form of either Adventurers or a weapon so he asked Hermes, who also had a small Familia, "Thest time I heard, that most of your children are Level 2 correct?"


    "I''m sorry to say most of them are out on business, But I''m taking Asfi with me!" Hermes pointed at his current bodyguard, thest person to enter the shop, and someone familiar to both Ais and Yoruichi, "She''s my ace, so there''s nothing to fear."


    However, before she could greet Ais and Yoruichi with her eyes, some words of her God caught her attention and asked nervously, "Hermes-sama�� Just now, you said you are taking me with you. Don''t tell me you''re��"


    Hermes faced her with a smile, "Yup. I''m going too~."


    Everyone looked at him with suspicion but didn''t voice it since everyone knew that he would just make up some excuse.


    "You what!? Aren''t Deities forbidden from entering the Dungeon!?" Asfi shouted.


    Chuckling, Hermes just shrugged his shoulders, "That just means that I can''t be careless, right? What''s the problem? I''ll be back before the guild even notices~."


    "Don''t tell me this was your n all along��!?" Asfi wanted to smack her free-spirited God, but she held herself back as there were too many witnesses.


    "Somehow, I already knew that this would happen when I brought him here," Hephaestus muttered. She then faced Kisuke and asked, "So? What''s the n?"


    With this, everyone looked towards Kisuke and Hermes gave him a curious look. He was, after all, the captain of the Adventurers that saved his children on the 24th floor. One of the reasons why Hermes came here was to take a look at Kisuke.


    Kisuke was aware of his stare but didn''t point it out, "We''ll also help. And since we have this many people, we can split into two groups. That way, we have more chances of rescuing them."


    "Split the group? Who''s going? I heard that Sona, Aika, and Shirone are with Loki Familia��" Miach then remembered that Ais, who was supposed to be in the expedition, was among them.


    Kisuke then told everyone, "It''ll be me, Yoruichi, and Wallenstein-san for one group and the rest of you for the other group." He then faced Ais and asked, "Is that fine with you, Wallenstein-san?"


    "Since Kisuke is asking, I''ll help too." Ais immediately agreed.


    Everyone, aside from Hestia and Hephaestus, were shocked when Kisuke suddenly asked for Ais''s assistance, but they were speechless when she easily agreed and the reason for it was because Kisuke asked her. Now they were really curious about their rtionship.

 Volume 8 468 - Hermes part 2

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 468 - Hermes part 2</h4>


    "It seems that the Sword Princess really trusts you." Hermes smiled and put out his right hand, "It''s nice to finally meet the famous Green Crusader: Gigolo Master. I''m Hermes, Hestia''s good friend~."


    "Pfft��!!" Hephaestus tried to stop herself fromughing but failed. However, after one simple nce from Kisuke, she shuddered and shut her mouth tight. She almost forgot what kind of person he is.


    "G-Gigolo Master?" Asfi muttered in shock.


    "Oh? You don''t know? That''s the name he received after the Denatus. I thought it would be big news along with the new record holder, Bell Cranel, but I didn''t expect that the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group would drown it." Hermes filled her in.


    Even Naaza and Takemikazuchi''s children knew what that Alias pertains to and it was somehow different from the rest of the Alias'' given to everyone. They could only wonder how Kisuke could receive a nickname like that.


    However, in that room, one person didn''t get it, "Green Crusader: Gigolo Master? What''s wrong with it?" Ais asked as she saw the weird expression that everyone was making after hearing that.


    Putting her arm around Ais, Yoruichi said with a grin, "You can ask Riveria about itter. Make sure that she exins it properly to you."


    Kisuke ignored everyone''s reaction and reached out to Hermes'' hand, "It''s nice to meet you too, Hermes-sama." But deep inside, he was already thinking of ways to mess with him, ''Once I gather more information, I''ll use it against you.''


    Kuroka, while staying in the corner, could only offer her condolences silently.


    Separating from each other, Hermes questioned Kisuke''s decision, "Wouldn''t it be better if we go together? It''ll be safer that way. And frankly speaking, our group stillcks people."


    Nodding his head Kisuke answered while looking into his eyes, "That''s indeed the case, however, Hermes-sama should have already thought about that even beforeing here, right? After all, you weren''t expecting help from the Sword Princess and should have already someone else in mind."


    Hermes'' eyes widened before he chuckled and held down his feather hat, "It''s that obvious, huh. Hahaha, that''s indeed the case. Let''s take our leave. I still have to persuade someone~."


    Hermes then proceeded to ask everyone who wasing with him to leave, "See you down there, Kisuke Urahara."


    Before they left, Hephaestus passed them a sword covered in white cloth. It was apparently Welf''s creation and could help them fight monsters.


    The only ones left in the shop were Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, Ais, Hestia and Hephaestus, "It seems that you already knew how to deal with him." Hephaestus said while looking at their departing backs.


    "His aura is simr to mine, after all." Kisuke muttered before facing Ais, "If it''s only you who came to the surface, then the rest of the Loki Familia is probably resting somewhere in the Dungeon. What happened?"


    Ais nodded and told him what happened on the 59th floor and how the three from the Hestia Familia saved their lives. She also told him about the strange magic that brought them out of the 59th floor and to the 50th floor. Ais tried to look for any strange expressions, but Kisuke''s face didn''t change and he just kept listening intently.


    "On the way back, most of our members got poisoned by the Poison Vermis and we had to stop on the 18th floor to resupply and treat everyone who''s affected. Bete came to the surface too, to fetch the only one who can heal the poison and I came to you because of those three."


    "Aika, Shirone, and Sona are still unconscious and pale. Their heart rates are slow and their breathing is shallow. Although their condition isn''t deteriorating, it still doesn''t look very good. However, Line stopped us from giving any further treatment as we don''t know why they''re still unconscious, and too much potion might actually be detrimental ording to her."


    Kisuke smiled and stood up, "Good call. More energizing potions might just poison them due to their already weak bodies. Line-chan has a really good sense regarding these kinds of things."


    He then faced Kuroka and asked, "Are youing?"


    Kuroka shook her head, "I''ll leave Shirone and the others to you. I want to rest and take care of Medusa-chan, nya." She was, after all, already very drained.


    Kisuke nodded at her and turned to face Yoruichi and Ais, "Let''s go. Let''s search for Cranel-san''s party while we''re at it. I think they''ll go to the 18th floor instead of going up since that''ll be easier if they''re trapped."


    Yoruichi and Ais stood up and followed Kisuke. But before they could leave the store, Hestia shouted behind them, "Be careful! I''ll be waiting for your return!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi just waved at her and left while Ais turned to her and bowed down slightly before following.


    On the way, Kisuke turned to Ais and said, "Wallenstein-san, please go ahead. We''ll follow behind."


    Ais looked at them for a moment before nodding and used her wind to boost her speed.


    "Hooh~. Her handling is so much better now. As expected of a genius." Kisuke muttered as he watched her taking off into the distance.


    "Once she gains more knowledge and has an open mindset, she''ll get even better," Yoruichi added.


    "Knowledge, that should be easy, however, mindset? It''s going to be hard and could be the reason for her fall." Kisuke shook his head.


    "��I guess you''re right." Yoruichi sighed as she recalled the short time they spent together. Even though Ais was not trying to show it, Yoruichi noticed that she had an unnatural amount of hatred against monsters. Shaking her head, Yoruichi changed the topic, "Enough of that. What do you think that Hermes is nning?"


    "I don''t know�� But I''m pretty sure it has something to do with Bell Cranel. Furthermore, I''m also interested in why he insisted on going to the Dungeon himself, where Deities are supposed to be forbidden. I want to see what kind of reaction the Dungeon would have towards him."


    "True�� The Dungeon reacted to our Reiatsu-Ki, but it''s now ignoring us. If my guesses are correct, the Dungeon mistook us for something else." Yoruichi nodded in agreement.


    "I think the same. And if Hermes is nning something, then we should be able to confirm this today. However, make sure not to show anything more than necessary. It''s not yet the time for us to reveal ourselves. At least, we should have a way to escape this world before we move in earnest."


    "Got it."


    The two of them went on their way and before they entered the Dungeon, they felt a scrutinizing stare from the top of the tower, "Did she figure something out?"


    "She probably guessed that we''re somehow connected to the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group, however, she shouldn''t have any evidence. Let''s just be careful for now."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Corner:


    28th00: REMEMBER TO HAVE SAFEGUARDS FOR BESTIA! Sheesh. Gods are forbidden because the dungeon is for Mortals, ain''t it? I have zero clue on canon, or fanon for that matter�� But that seems to be consistent. It''s made in such a way for mortals to ''Ascend'', and since the Falna is evolution of the soul through divine means�� Well, that should tell you enough!


    Alexander: Aaawh, I am conflicted between the wish to let Ais stay innocent and shouting for someone to seriously give her some lessons in sex education. But, although I am not too sure about the author''s intention, I am pretty sure that she would integrate into the church trio in no time. I can imagine, how she and Asia would try to understand the matters between man and woman.


    Goyya: The corruption(speech) of Sword Princess wille�� And Riveria will be banging her head on the wall.

 Volume 8 469 - The Result of 59th Floor Battle

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 469 - The Result of 59th Floor Battle</h4>


    On Hermes'' group side, Asfi and Hermes temporarily left Naaza and the Takemikazuchi children to go convince thest member that would being with them.


    Not being able to hide her curiosity, Asfi asked Hermes, "Hermes-sama, it''s weird for you to back down after just a few words. Why did you agree with Kisuke Urahara? Aren''t you very curious about their Familia?"


    Fixing his hat, Hermes answered with a smile, "He''s dangerous. Better not mess with him too much."


    Asfi froze on the spot. This was probably the most ridiculous thing that she ever heard from her God, "W-what? What do you mean by that?" Asfi hurriedly followed him and asked in a flustered voice. She had never heard Hermes saying that it''s better not to mess with someone too much. After all, he even had the gall to mess with both Freya and Loki.


    "Nothing, really. It''s just the feeling I''m getting. All I can say for now is that he''s simr to me, yet very different."


    Asfi wanted to ask more about it, but they''d already arrived at their destination. Hermes opened the closed door of the Hostess of Fertility and said, "Mia~. I want to ask you something~."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Ais arrived on the 13th floor and at the spot where Takemikazuchi Familia passed the parade of monsters which went after them to Bell''s party.


    Yoruichi looked around for a bit and led the group through the floors where Bell''s party passed through. They went on until they reached the 17th floor and stopped. At this point, they already figured that Bell and his party indeed went deeper instead of going back to the surface. They only stopped because of the Goliath blocking their way.


    "Are they still alive?", asked Ais while looking at the monster.


    "They are. There are traces that they went through here sessfully." Yoruichi answered.


    Ais nodded and took out her sword to deal with the Goliath, however, Kisuke suddenly stopped her, "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing, just let the others deal with it," Kisuke replied. He was specifically referring to Hermes'' group, wanting to trouble them for a bit.


    Ais hesitated a little but chose to listen to him. They then went through the 17th floor without fighting the Goliath.


    Arriving on the 18th floor, Ais immediately led them to the Loki Familia camp, because Yoruichi told her that Bell''s party was most probably taken in by herrades since their camp was nearer on the path to the 17th floorpared to Rivira.


    Once they stepped into the vicinity of the camp, everyone from the Loki Familia and Hephaestus Familia looked in their direction and wondered who is this group that the Sword Princess is leading, "Do you want to meet the Captain first, or Sona, Aika, and Shirone?" Ais asked.


    "Let''s go to those three first," Kisuke replied.


    Ais nodded and walked straight towards the tent which housed the three. They entered the,pared to others, rtivelyrge tent and Kisuke turned to Ais, "Wallenstein-san, if you don''t mind, please ask the whereabouts of Cranel-san''s party. They should be around this floor."


    "��Leave it to me." Ais figured that they wanted to be left alone and left the tent. But before she started to look for the people they needed to rescue, Ais reported Kisuke and Yoruichi''s arrival in their camp to Finn, Riveria, and Gareth.


    Yoruichi went to the corner of the tent while Kisuke went straight to the three unconscious girls. He first went around them before checking their pulses through his Mana and Reiatsu-Ki. He also took out some tools from his inventory to check on them and a few minutester, Kisuke went to a rtivelyrge spot and turned to Yoruichi, "Please close it off."


    Yoruichi silently nodded and went out of the tent. The moment she came outside, the top executives and some other members of the Loki Familia were not far away from the tent they stayed in and were currently observing the situation. The one who looked for Bell''s party, Ais, was also among them, "Good day to all of you. Thank you for taking good care of our girls." Yoruichi smiled and greeted them.


    Finn stepped up and replied, "It''s fine. In fact, it should be us who should be thankful. If not for them, we probably couldn''t have returned. By the way, I heard you''re looking for Bell Cranel''s party. They are currently in our care and are recuperating in one of our tents."


    "I see. That''s good." Yoruichi saw that Finn wanted to talk more, but before he could speak, she continued, "I''m sorry, but we can''t entertain you right now. My hubby over there is busy checking on the girls."


    Yoruichi then took out four daggers from her pouch and tossed them upwards. With her great skill, each of the daggersnded on four corners of the tent. A secondter, strange symbols started lighting up on the handle of the daggers and they suddenly drew lines of light from the handles until the top of the tent.


    After another second, new lines of light emerged and this time, it connected all the daggers before a translucent green film colored the shapes the lines created. The creator of this, Yoruichi, nodded at everyone from the Loki Familia who were currently sporting a dumbfounded expression before she entered the tent protected with the barrier.


    Closing the curtains, Yoruichi disappeared from their sight.


    "W-what was that!?" Tione eximed as she tried to approach the barrier.


    However, Tiona immediately grabbed her shoulder in order to stop her recklessness, "What are you doing!? Don''t touch any random barrier!"


    "Ah, sorry�� It''s just amazing that she was able to create something like this in an instant. Is it because of those daggers?"


    Finn turned to Riveria and asked, "What do you think, Riveria?"


    But Riveria only shook her head in disappointment, "Please don''t ask me. I don''t know. This is also my first time seeing something like this, and even with my knowledge of magic, I still don''t understand a single thing about this."


    "E-even Riveria-sama?" Lefiya muttered.


    "Not a single clue?" Ais asked.


    But she only got the same answer from Riveria.


    Rubbing his beard, Gareth suddenly said, "Let''s just say that it''s a Hestia Familia thing."


    Everyone looked at him with unbelieving eyes, but a few secondster, they realized that this would be the best answer they could get right now, "Somehow, that''s strangely convincing�� What the hell is wrong with them?" Bete muttered.


    .


    .


    .


    Inside the tent, the moment Yoruichi reentered, she saw a bunch of equipment being taken out, "You''re going to make some medicines on the spot?"


    "Yep. They need it, especially Aika." Kisuke replied while putting together some ingredients.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong?"


    "While Sona and Koneko''s injuries don''t look good, it''s only limited to their physical bodies. Aika''s injury spans to her soul."


    "What? Why? Even if she released her powers to their full potential, she should just be tired."


    "The problem lies in her Hollow side. It''s too strong�� Way stronger than her Shinigami part. The only reason why she wasn''t consumed by it was because her Zanpakuto doesn''t want to. As you know, once a Shinigami unlocks his or her Hollow side, the Zanpakuto has the majority of the control over that power."


    "Since Aika''s Zanpakuto is very special and unique due to its nature, I don''t know much about it and it''s only now that I realized that her Hollow side is too strong, so it created an imbnce in her soul. To make it worse, she has a physical body and her Reiatsu can''t grow without attaching it to Ki or Mana. And even though she automatically acquired Reiatsu-Ki due to how she was converted, it''s still harder to handle than just the Reiatsu."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors


    Alexander


    28th00: So, that happened. Poor Aika-chan is in a world of hurt (literally, inner world and all.) because Phis-chama and Great Red were like "That looks cool. Be more Dragon." and since Dragons = Primal Beings of Chaos and Instinct, and Hollows are Corrupted Souls that are almost all Instinct�� Yeah.


    Goyya: She really can''t use her cheat to its full potential without working her butt off.

 Volume 8 470 - The Tormented Loki

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 470 - The ''Tormented'' Loki</h4>


    Going back to before Ais arrived at Kisuke''s shop, Bete first reached the Twilight Manor and asked some people to gather the remaining members. Once those left behind announced his arrival, Loki ran and jumped at him with a crying face, "Bete!!! Hey Bete! I missed you!!! You''re finally back!!! Where are the others!?"


    Bete immediately grabbed her face so that she couldn''t get any closer, "What''s wrong with you!?"


    "I''ve been tormented!!!" Loki shouted.


    "T-tormented!?" Bete was startled and looked at the others and saw them making a wry smile. He figured that it wasn''t that serious since they had that kind of reaction, nevertheless, he still asked, "What happened?"


    "Listen to this! Until six days ago, someone was posting very disturbing images on the walls and ceiling of my room! Even though I always got rid of them, they would alwayse back! And just before it stopped appearing, it was even posted in the baths! Do you know how terrifying it is to wake up and see the picture of a bulky man in a cute outfit as the first thing in the morning!? It''s even invaded my dreams now!" Loki keptining repeatedly to Bete.


    Bete ignored her for a bit and asked one of the Loki Familia members, "What picture of a bulky man in a cute outfit?"


    "Ah, it''s this!" One of the girls took out a rolled paper and gave it to Bete.


    "Ahhh!!! Why do you still have that!?" Loki shouted and tried to snatch it from Bete, but Bete immediately dodged and unrolled the paper which revealed a very disturbing image. Even though Bete couldn''t understand the outfit of the man, he could understand why Loki would take psychological damage from it.


    "Even though Loki-sama asked us to immediately burn it, we saved a few of them, so that we could use them whenever she tries to bother us with our work." The female member exined with a smile.


    "You''re mean!!!" Lokiined.


    "Who''s doing this?" Bete finally asked what was actually bothering him.


    "��I don''t know��" Loki answered with a soft voice.


    "What? What do you mean?"


    "I said I don''t know! Although I have a clue on who''s doing this, I don''t have any proof to confront him!"


    "You have an idea who''s doing this, Loki-sama?" The female member asked in surprise.


    "What are you surprised about? Loki''s only redeeming quality is her head. She should have already figured something like this." Bete asked.


    "That''s rude!"


    "No, that''s not what I mean, Bete-san. We already figured out that the culprit isn''t from our Familia. That means we''re being infiltrated on a daily basis until six days ago and we couldn''t even catch the scent or shadow of anyone suspicious. If she has any idea who it is, I''m surprised that Loki-sama hasn''t made any move to apprehend or gather some proof."


    Bete''s expression became serious. It''s no joke that their home is being infiltrated, after all, "The culprit is from outside? Is anyone hurt?"


    "No. None as of now. It seems that all he did is to post these paintings all over the manor to annoy Loki-sama."


    "Well, for the most part, if my guess is correct regarding the culprit''s identity, then we don''t have to be worried about being hurt." Loki''s crying face then became serious, "As long as we don''t make them our enemies, that is."


    Bete looked straight to Loki''s eyes and understood that the current threat of this unknown infiltrator is minimal ording to her and could only sigh, "Haahh�� Whatever. We''ll investigate itter."


    "By the way, why are you the only one here?" Loki then changed the topic, "Where are the rest?"


    Bete sat down and told her the main events of their expedition, including the fact that they were now resting on the 18th floor to take care of the wounded and poisoned members of the Familia, "I''m going to the Dian Cecht Familia. Just buying out their stock won''t be enough, so have Lox and the others check the other item sellers."


    "Okay, got it! This might take two to three days though." Loki also sat down and took a sip on the wine prepared, "Leaving that aside, are you sure you don''t want to rest? Aren''t you tired? Want me to massage your shoulders?"


    "I don''t need it." Bete then passed a letter to Loki.


    "What''s this?"


    "It''s from Finn," Bete answered.


    Loki then opened the letter and read through a detailed report of what really happened, "Those three!?"


    Without looking at her, Bete replied, "I know it''s unbelievable, but we saw everything with our own eyes."


    Hearing this, Loki''s mind started connecting some dots, ''If they are capable of something like this while still being a Level 2, then does that mean there''s a chance that the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group is Kisuke Urahara himself along with the other girls!? But�� They managed to instantly defeat Freya''s kids, so the chance that it''s someone else whom they know is stillrger�� Either way, I have to probe more. Freya probably has some clues but still no concrete proof, so I have to watch out for her movements too.''


    "Thought of something?" Bete asked, rousing Loki from her contemtion.


    "Yeah, but that isn''t important right now. What happened to those three?"


    "They''re still unconscious and don''t look good. Ais is currently fetching Kisuke Urahara after Line suggested to not treat them immediately and to ask their captain toe. As of now, they are probably on the way to the 18th floor."


    "��Is that so?" Loki felt a bit conflicted that Ais didn''t even pass by to say hi, but she also knew that it was urgent for the treatment of those who saved her children, ''But I don''t really like where this is going�� What should I do?''


    Sighing, Loki stood up and pped Bete''s back, "Go get going! I''ll take care of things here. Thanks to Finn''s report, I have already a slight clue on what''s going on. Good job."


    "Great." Bete then stood up and went straight to the door.


    As she watched him leaving, Loki''s mind was preupied, ''So many things at once, but things are getting exciting again~.'' A smile slowly crept onto her face.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke spent a few hours concocting personalized medicines that could help them in their current state. He could have used a better treatment method for faster recovery, but he figured that it would be better for them to naturally recover so that their bodies could adapt easier to the skills they used.


    After that, the color of their skin started to return to normal and their breathing normalized, although it would still take a few days for them to wake up ording to Kisuke''s estimation.


    After Kisuke put everything away, Yoruichi also took the barrier down and both of them went out. Once they got outside, it was already evening and everyone from the Loki Familia, Hephaestus Familia and Bell''s party who had already woken up were having dinner.


    Editors corner


    Alexander: So the result from harassing Loki is finally out. However, quick thinking from the other members. There can never be enough insurance against her.


    28th00: The revenge against Loki was incredibly petty, but it was for something equally as petty, fair is fair. It''s still nice to see Bete not be turned into some raging ultra-confrontational ass that seems to popte the vast majority of Danmachi (and any xovers associated with it) fanfics. I mean, from Bell''s POV in canon? Absolutely. From his POV? Probably some form of PTSD to do with running away that Bell absolutely embodies at that point. Werewolves are much stronger OUTSIDE the dungeon, because there''s no moonlight inside it, hence there being almost no Werewolf dungeon divers. Dude''s gotta have a reason.


    Goyya: Whenever Loki thinks about a Magical Girl, Mil-tan wille knocking in her mind~.

 Volume 8 471 - Dinner

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 471 - Dinner</h4>


    Everyone immediately noticed it when Kisuke and Yoruichi came out of the tent and the first one to approach them was Ais. "��How are they?", she asked with concern in her voice.


    Grateful for her concern, Kisuke ended up patting her head without thinking much about it and smiled, "They''re fine now. Thank you for taking care of them until now." It was only a few secondster that he realized his mistake when he saw how Ais''s eyes widened, ''Crap��''


    Kisuke immediately took back his hand and wondered, ''Since when did I develop this habit? It''s really hard to stop now��''


    And just a secondter, he felt a wave of different emotions aiming at him and looked towards the eating folks. Everyone from the Loki Familia was looking at them and most of them were ring at Kisuke.


    But instead of getting angry or scared, Kisuke''s smile only grew wider. He was incredibly used to this situation. In fact, he liked this kind of atmosphere and would sometimes do something stupid to pull out these kinds of reactions.


    At that moment, however, he sensed two emotions,rgely different from others. The first one wasing from a white-haired Adventurer that he knew. Instead of hate, inside his eyes was a look of admiration, ''��This kid��''


    The other one wasing from an Elf sitting beside the Amazoness sisters. At first nce, she was also giving a hateful and jealous re like the others and she was even biting her handkerchief in frustration, but different from the rest, it didn''t have any malice behind it, ''Now that''s one kind kid~.''


    Finn, on the other hand, could only smile wryly at his action and called out to him, "Why don''t you join us?"


    Since it would be rude to refuse, Kisuke epted his invitation, "We''ll take up on that offer. Thank you." He left the still startled Ais who had started to touch her head.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi sat down at an empty spot and Line served them the soup for their dinner. The top executives then started to talk to them. Although the topics were just some random everyday life questions, Kisuke and Yoruichi immediately noticed that it was a clever probing into their activities and connections. However, the two of them didn''t have to be careful when they gave answers that wouldn''t answer the actual question in their mind.


    During their talk, however, instead of easing up, the hateful re from the surrounding only became more intense as Ais recovered from her shock and sat down right beside Kisuke. She joined Finn, Riveria, and Gareth in asking questions, while not probing them, as she didn''t have that kind of skill, only genuine interest.


    Tsubaki had juste for dinner because she had been tending to everyone''s equipment. As she looked around, she noticed some new faces. She sat down near Welf, who sat in a group with the Amazoness sisters, Lefiya, Bell, and Lily, "Yo, Welf-kichi~. It seems that you''re already doing fine~."


    "Gah! Tsubaki! Don''t put your arms around me!" Welfined.


    Smacking his back, Tsubakiughed out loud, "Ahahaha! Come on now. Don''t act so distant!" She then looked towards Bell and Lily, "Thanks for taking care of this little guy~."


    Bell immediately shook his head and replied, "No, no, no. Welf-san is very helpful. We should be the ones being thankful for him joining our party!"


    Tsubaki then recalled something and said, "Wait�� White-haired, red eyes�� Are you the one who defeated the Minotaur while just being Level 1?"


    But instead of Bell, Tiona was the one who answered her, "Yep! It''s Argonaut-kun!"


    Bell blushed at the way Tiona called him and didn''t know what to say.


    "I see, I see. He''s the one you''re referring to as�� Crabel Nell?"


    "It''s Bell Cranel!" Lily finally interjected.


    "Ahahaha, my bad." Tsubaki scratched her head and finally looked towards the two other new faces, "And who are they? Lefiya has been ring at him all this time as if he''s some sworn enemy."


    "Those are Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara from the Hestia Familia," Tione answered while looking at them, trying to gauge them.


    "Hmm�� So they''re the ones." Tsubaki muttered as she took a sip from her soup while also staring at them talking to Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and Ais.


    Tiona noticed two differing reactions from Bell and Lily from the moment, when the topic came to Kisuke and Yoruichi, "What''s wrong?"


    "N-nothing! It''s nothing!" Bell immediately shook his head.


    Lily, on the other hand, just gave him a dirty look after recalling the Alias which the Gods gave him, "Hmph! He''s just a womanizer!"


    "Womanizer?" Tsubaki asked in confusion.


    "Ah, you mean that?" Tione muttered.


    "That?"


    "Everyone from the Hestia Familia seems to be his lover. Except of course their Goddess." Tiona answered.


    "What the hell? So even those girls?" Tsubaki was referring to Sona, Aika and Koneko.


    "Yep." Tione nodded.


    Bell got curious when he heard ''even those girls'' and he knew for sure that his ''teachers'' joined the Loki Familia expedition, however, he couldn''t find them anywhere. He wanted to express his gratitude for their teaching, "By the way, where are Sona-san, Aika-san, and Shirone-san?"


    "You know them?" Tione asked in surprise.


    Bell nodded, "Yes. They are the reason why I was able to win my fight against the Minotaur. They taught me how to fight."


    "They did��? I see. So they''re the ones behind you. They''re really amazing." Tiona muttered, ''Then what about Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin who are supposed to have taught them?'' Tione, Tiona, and Tsubaki thought.


    "Uhmm�� Where are they? I heard they joined the expedition for the experience."


    Tiona smiled wryly and said, "We can''t say much, but due to some incident, they got seriously injured and are currently unconscious."


    "What!? How are they!?" Bell stood up and shouted, gathering everyone''s attention, but he couldn''t care less about the other''s stares.


    But instead of Tiona or Tione, Kisuke was the one who answered him, "They''re fine now and resting. Thanks for your concern, though~."


    "Ah�� Is that so? Thank goodness." Bell sighed in relief. He then finally noticed the stare which everyone was giving him and immediately sat down in embarrassment.


    "Bell-sama��" Lily called out to him with her face painted in suspicion, "Could it be that you''re after one of those three? You can''t do that! Even though they have the same lover, you can''t do that!"


    "What are you saying!? Of course that''s not it! I promised!" Bell immediately corrected her before recalling a certain figure, "Besides��"


    "Besides?"


    Bell blushed a little bit before answering, "I want to see someone again�� I tried asking around for her, but nobody seems to know her."


    Lily dropped her soup in shock, "W-w-what!?" It was her turn to attract everyone''s attention.


    Even Welf was a bit shocked but he just smiled and asked, "Hooh�� Mind telling us who that is, Bell?"


    Scratching his head, Bell continued with a blush, "As I said, nobody seems to know her. All I know is that she''s strong and has long, glistening purple hair. She also wields some strange weapon and chains."


    Tiona and Tione were startled as a certain figure entered their mind, "D-does she have a blindfold?" Tiona asked.


    "Ah? Yes! Do you know about her!?" Bell asked excitedly. He didn''t think that someone here would know about her as even the Guild didn''t have any clue about who he was talking about.


    "Y-yeah. We encountered her by chance�� How did you meet her?" Tiona answered.


    "Well, this is embarrassing, but she saved me from a Minotaur that unknowingly got to the upper floors."


    ''Could it be that day?'' However, for some reason, they didn''t want to tell him that she was maybe rted to Kisuke Urahara.


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, could only shake her head in pity as he didn''t have even a slight chance to get Medusa''s affection.


    While she thought that, Kisuke only smiled and thought, ''I won''t give her to anyone~.''


    It was at this time when the roar of the Goliath on the 17th floor resounded and soon after, panicked voices came from the path to the 17th floor, "Wahhh!!! Nobody told me that there''s a monster like that!"


    "But didn''t the Sword Princess pass through here? Why didn''t she kill it?"


    "Everything is fine as long as we''re safe!"


    "So this is the 18th floor��"


    "Naaza-san?" Bell muttered as he heard one of the voices and he started to run towards the source of the voices.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors corner


    Alexander:


    1. All hail to the divine skill ''The Head Pat''. Activate it at the right time and it brings down every kind of woman.


    2. Bell, you poor bastard. Shot down, before you could even see her again.


    28th00: Well now, ain''t that ironic. Argonaut Bell (The Jason of this reality, that isn''t actually a total scumbag that deserves to die like the Nasuverse version that Medusa knows and poor Medea was forced to be a love ve by Aphrodite.) is in love with Medusa, the one he was blessed and fated to y, originally. Side note, that Headpat was trained on the Loli Dragon God(dess), it worked on Serafall, it''s definitely gonna work on Ais�� If Ophis approves of something, you know it''s ridiculous. At least, I think it was? It has to be. She''s a Lap Dragon. Just like Koneko is a Lap Cat��


    Goyya: Lap Dragon and Lap Cat�� Somehow, that seems wrong�� But I like it.

 Volume 8 472 - Hermes’ Negotiation

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 472 - Hermes�� Negotiation</h4>


    "Bell!" Naaza sighed in relief when she saw her fellow Familia member is safe and sound.


    "Naaza-san. Did youe to save us?" Bell asked.


    Naaza nodded and a hooded and masked Elf approached him, "Cranel-san, are you injured?"


    Bell was about to ask who she is as her voice was very familiar when the Elf pulled down her mask and showed her face, "Eh��? R-Ryuu-san!? Why are you here too?"


    Ryuu put back her mask before replying, "A certain Deity was rather insistent that I ept a quest." She pointed towards the man who was emitting a very small amount of Divinitypared to a normal Deity, "He wanted me to join the search to find you."


    Fixing his appearance, Hermes introduced himself to Bell, "Hi there~! The name''s Hermes. It''s nice to make your acquaintance. So you''re Bell Cranel?"


    "Y-yes!" Bell answered.


    ''So this is Zeus'' kid. At first nce, he''s pretty normal and naive.'' Hermes thought as he continued, "Ahh�� I''ve been looking for you."


    "Um, Hermes-sama, thank you foring to save us!"


    Waving his hand, Hermes replied, "All I did was help out my good friend Miach~." He then pointed towards their entire party, "You should be thanking them instead. It''s all thanks to them that we managed to make it this far."


    Bell, Lily, and Welf finally noticed three familiar faces, "!"


    With a cold face, Welf called out to Bell, "��Hey, Bell."


    "Y-yeah��" Even the usually bright Bell couldn''t smile after seeing the people who caused this incident.


    .


    .


    .


    While Bell and his party were settling their grudges on the Takemikazuchi Familia, Hermes and Asfi were invited to thergest tent of the Loki Familia to meet Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and the rest of the executives, "Haha�� Surprising isn''t it? The Loki Familia saving Bell-kun of all people~!"


    With a difficult face, Tione muttered, "It''s not umon for rescue missions toe by, but��"


    "It''s my first time that I''ve seen a Gode along, too." Gareth finished her words.


    Ignoring them, Finn addressed Hermes, "Pardon me, Lord Hermes, let me wrap my head around this, but you came all the way down here to the 18th floor to save Bell Cranel and his party? Is that correct?"


    With a smile, Hermes took out a parchment and passed it to Finn, "Absolutely, Braver. As a part of a request from Miach, I even have the official request form here, see?"


    Finn checked the parchment and figured that it was real before passing it back to Hermes.


    While receiving it back, Hermes continued to speak, "We''d like permission to stay here. Also, we were hoping to join you on your return to the surface. Those are our requests."


    "Extra securities?" Finn muttered.


    "You would be really helping us out. We were in such a hurry to get down here and forgot to bring camping provisions. Of course, we could always stay in that cesspool they call ''Rogue Town''��" Of course, that was a lie. Hermes urged everyone to hurry up without preparing for provisions as he already predicted from the start that the Loki Familia would take care of Bell''s party since it matched their schedule of going up. With this, they would have a legitimate reason to request for assistance.


    He believed that they would be taken care of, not because of Bell, but because of Welf, who was a member of the Hephaestus Familia. With Tsubaki apanying them, it was almost a hundred percent sure that they would be taken in.


    "Argonaut-kun and his friends would surely have a terrible time there��" Tiona muttered after hearing the ''Rouge Town'' from Hermes.


    "Quiet!" Her sister, however, immediately reprimanded her.


    Pretending that he didn''t hear that, Hermes continued, "Food-wise, we''ll figure something for ourselves. If our presence should lead to incurred expenses, my Familia will foot the bill upon arrival to the surface. I could even throw in some gifts too."


    "You''re bein'' rather generous�� For a man merely carrying out a request." Gareth replied.


    Smirking, Hermes replied, "Haha, well, Hephaestus also came to me to help out her Welf-kun, you know?"


    After those words, Finn resigned the thought of refusing their request. Using his true motives with light sincerity, he made it difficult for them to refuse. Hermes knew that the Loki Familia couldn''t possibly abandon a member of an allied Familia.


    If it was just a normal expedition, Finn would have no problems epting their request, however, due to the sensitive information that they carry, they were very vulnerable to a God''s questioning due to their abilities to see through lies. As such, he really didn''t want to take the risk of staying near him.


    "I know you must be tired after your expedition, but I hope you''ll consider my offer." Hermes continued with a smile.


    Sighing, Finn replied, "Lord Hermes, haggling is not necessary. Your needs will be amodated."


    "Oh, you''re too kind~! You have my utmost thanks." Hermes then feigned a cough, "Ehem, oh dear, I may be a bitte, but congrats~! I assume the expedition went well?"


    "Thank you. We had no casualties."


    "Well, that''s great! That''s Loki Familia for ya~!" However, Hermes'' next question was what they didn''t want to be asked the most, "However, I do wonder�� What you might have found on the 59th floor, hm?"


    Everyone made a difficult face while Finn only smiled as he stared at him. But instead of Finn, Riveria was the one who answered Hermes, "We are followers of Loki. We have no duty to disclose Familia matters to Gods with questionable intentions."


    Hermes looked around him before smiling and taking a step back. It was enough for him to confirm that indeed something surprising was on the 59th floor. He could try to gather more informationter from the other members. He had, after all, bought valuable time with them and he wouldn''t waste this chance, "Right you are! I do apologize. It''s simply that you''re the first ones to venture there since Zeus'' Party so long ago. A bit curious I''ll admit."


    While everyone from the Loki Familia stared at him, Hermes continued, "Actually, did I mention that Dionysus, Loki, and I made an alliance? A so-called connection between victims. To take a stand against those vibrantly colored monsters and the remnants of Evilus."


    "I''m afraid we''ll have to confirm this with our own Goddess before we fully believe you, Lord Hermes," Finn replied.


    "You''re right. In that case, feel free to ignore what I''m about to tell you now." Hermes continued with arge grin, "Braver, Finn Deimne. You may have already noticed, but there is in fact another entrance into the Dungeon besides the one found in Babel. We n for you all to begin a thorough investigation once you return to the surface."


    Hermes then left with Asfi after saying those words.


    "B-boss��" Raul called out to Finn after confirming that Hermes really left.


    Sighing, Finn answered, "I suspected something like this�� It seems that we''re not going to be getting much rest once we return home." Finn''s eyes'' then changed as he added, "It seems that the Hestia Familia will have to do some work for us soon, as we have agreed earlier."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors


    Alexander


    28th00: I still find it funny that Hermes is lowkey terrified of Kisuke. Being a god is not very important if you be ssified as an enemy, where there''s a will, there is a way! To perma-kill a God that is, not just their avatar.


    Goyya: Permakill is possible, however, Kisuke still doesn''t know what that entails so he can''t do that.

 Volume 8 473 - Joining a Girl’s ‘Tea Party’

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 473 - Joining a Girl��s ��Tea Party��</h4>


    "This info is huge��" Tione muttered to everyone around.


    "B-but�� For there to be another entrance besides Babel, how can that be?" Lefiya asked.


    "Yeaahh, but this is straight from the Gods��" Tiona added.


    "It does make sense though. I mean, how else could you lug those giant flowers to the surface?" Tione shrugged her shoulders and looked around the room.


    Everyone from the main tent, except for Ais, was dismissed a few minutes ago after their meeting with Hermes. Currently, they were staying in another tent to discuss what they heard from Hermes and how to avoid his questions whenever they were asked.


    Inside the tent were the girls of the Loki Familia who came down to the 59th floor, Anakitty, Tsubaki and one more person, "But�� I''m more worried about the thing with Ais." Tiona added.


    Rubbing her chin, Alicia Forestlight, an Elf, said, "As I recall, Ais was the first to recognize that thing as a Spirit."


    "And she got all weird when she saw it, right?" Narvi Roll added when she recalled the incident in detail.


    With a chuckle, Tsubaki said, "Well, she always was a bit strange if ya ask me."


    "Tsubaki-san!" Lefiya called out to her but she couldn''t refute her words.


    Tione then faced Anakitty and asked, "Aki, you''ve known her the longest. Do you know anything?"


    Anakitty thought for a moment before shaking her head, "I''m afraid that I don''t. Back then, Ais was even more reclusive than she is now. I''ve asked the Bosses about it before, but I got no clear answer."


    "Spirits, Aria�� Somehow, I can''t help but think about that legend, ''Dungeon Oratoria.''" Tiona muttered.


    "That legend''s centuries old. Any connection is ridiculous��" Tione''s voice trailed off as both of her and Tiona suddenly recalled something. It was about the man whom they met on the 50th floor and who battled the strengthened floor boss. It was also the same man who told them that Ais'' body was damaged due to a ''time stasis'' which may have put her to sleep for at least a year or maybe a thousand years.


    Everyone, except for one, became confused about why the Amazoness sisters became silent and made aplicated expression. Lefiya was about to ask them what was wrong, but thest person among the group who was inside the tent finally spoke up, "Say�� Why did you call me here?" Kisuke asked as he scratched his cheek with a wry smile.


    While he only received a re from Lefiya and a confused look from Tsubaki, Tiona faced him and answered, "We intended to find Yoruichi, but we couldn''t find her anywhere, so we just decided to let you join. Either the Captain or Riveria should have also told you what happened on the 59th floor and our future ns from now on, so we''re here to ask you for your input as the Captain of the Hestia Familia."


    ''The Loki Familia is strangely close with these people from the Hestia Familia�� Do they have a prior agreement or something?'', thought Tsubaki, but she didn''t say anything and only watched the situation. In any case, Hephaestus also seemed to be close with them, seeing that they had her insignia on their strange weapons.


    Kisuke was about to say something else, when Tione suddenly faced him with a serious expression and asked, "Aren''t you the one who checked up on Ais? What did you find out?"


    "Checkup?" Lefiya asked in confusion, but nobody answered her as Tione and Tiona finally remembered that the strange man referred Ais to Kisuke to get a check-up. They focused on Kisuke while the others didn''t have any clue on what was going on.


    Kisuke, in response, just smiled and asked, "What do you wish to know?"


    "Her connection to the Spirit��" Tione answered.


    Kisuke stared at her for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "I may have or don''t have the answer to your question, but regardless of whether or not, I can''t give any answer to you."


    "��Why?"


    "You see, as a Doctor, I follow a policy called ''Doctor-Patient Confidentiality''. Regardless of your question, I can''t reveal any information which I got from my patient. If you want to know more, you have to ask Wallenstein herself." Kisuke exined.


    Tiona and Tione stared at Kisuke for a while before both of them sighed and backed off. They realized that there was no way for him to talk about Ais, "In any case�� Spirits couldn''t have children��" Tione muttered.


    "Hmmm�� Guess we''re stuck��" Tiona scratched her head.


    "Actually, there is someone here with Spirit blood running through their veins, you know." Tsubaki suddenly said.


    " " "Eh!?" " " Everyone eximed and even Kisuke was mildly surprised.


    But instead of resolving their confusion, Tsubaki walked out after saying, "Wait here. I''ll call him over."


    A few minutester, Tsubaki dragged a red-haired boy over and forced him to sit down in the middle, "Eh��?"


    "As you know, this whelp here is the cksmith for Bell Cranel''s party. He''s also one of the grunts in my Familia." Tsubaki exined.


    "What the hell is going on here!? Hey, Tsubaki! Exin yourself!",ined Welf.


    Wrapping her arm around his neck, Tsubaki introduced him to everyone, "This kid''s name is Welf Crozzo."


    "��Crozzo?" Tione muttered. It was a familiar name but she couldn''t recall where she heard of it.


    However, Anakitty immediately recognized that name, "Wait, you don''t mean�� That cursed Magic Sword-Smith Crozzo, do you!?"


    "The very same." Tsubaki confirmed, "The maker of the invincible swords, the Crozzo Magic Swords of legend from the Kingdom of Rakia. This kid''s a descendant."


    Crozzo Magic Swords, weapons of legend known throughout the entire world. Before, magic swords could only produce weak magic in ce of chants. However, Crozzo''s Magic Swords went far beyond that. Their weapons were, without a doubt, the strongest swords in existence in terms of its ability to destroy.


    "Crozzo��!!" Alicia gritted her teeth as she muttered and red at Welf.


    Tsubaki noticed this and immediately said, "Hold up, Alicia. I understand that Elven viges were decimated by the Crozzo Magic Swords. That anger is certainly justified. But, this kid actually disowned his Crozzo lineage."


    While Welf was trying to remove Tsubaki''s arm around his neck but to no avail, Tsubaki continued, "For reasons I can''t even begin to fathom. Welfy despises his heritage and even hates his own abilities! He can forge circles around them when ites to magic swords, but he won''t touch them to save his life! Talk about wasted talent!"


    Kisuke could see Tsubaki''s frustration, ''I heard that the Crozzo''s couldn''t forge the same magic swords anymore due to some curse, but from her words, this Welf Crozzo seems to be capable of doing it but hates to do it�� Indeed, what a waste of talent. Shows that he''s still a kid.''


    "He ended up leaving Rakia and his home behind. See, Alicia? You and him might have more inmon than you think." Tsubaki continued to exin to Alicia.


    "��!"


    "Let''s stick to the main subject here. Do you have Spirit blood, or not?" Tione set back the topic.


    Hearing that, Welf gave Tsubaki a dirty look, "��Wait a sec."


    "Hey, should be fine, right? You got nothing to lose." Tsubaki persuaded Welf.


    Sighing, Welf decided to speak up. In any case, he wouldn''t be able to get out of Tsubaki''s arm if he didn''t do so. But before he continued, he noticed that everyone inside the tent was a woman except one, so he stared for a moment at Kisuke and thought, ''What is he doing here?'' With a bit of jealousy inside him.


    Kisuke noticed his look and just shrugged his shoulders again, "I got dragged here, too." He said.


    Welf was startled that Kisuke could instantly see through him, but calmed down immediately after feigning a cough, "Ehem, well, I don''t like people prying into my life, but�� since Tsubaki asked, I''ll exin. Let me break down the Crozzo connection to Spirits."


    "Back in ancient times, the first Crozzo saved a Spirit from a bunch of monsters. He ended up gravely injured as a result, so the Spirit offered her blood as thanks. Her blood not only saved his life but also granted him her miraculous Spirit-borne magic powers."


    "The miracle of a Spirit��" Tiona muttered.


    "Then the Crozzo''s ability to mass-produce those ludicrous swords were��" Alicia also added.


    "A by-product from the blood of our ancestor," Welf answered.


    ''Spirit blood can do that? I don''t think that''s possible ording to my preliminary research regarding the Spirits�� Then that means something else happened aside from handing over the blood or I still don''t know a great deal about the Spirits�� Nice~. I should thank the Amazoness sisters for inviting me to this ''Girls Tea Time~''. Kisuke thought as various possibilities emerged from his mind.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors corner


    Alexander: Did Kisuke bring any snacks to the party? It''s a good opportunity to advertise his shop.


    28th00: You know what? You make a good point! Side note, his reputation as a womanizer will only grow EXPONENTIALLY from being in that tent and patting Ais''s head�� Not to mention Riveria''s seemingly infatuation with Kisuke from how much time she (and Ais) spends over at his shop, or with his harem��


    Goyya: It''ll explode exponentially after the male members of the Loki Familia spread the rumor of Kisuke going after Ais. Hehehe, the effort to direct attention will be pretty much useless after this head pat. He shouldn''t have underestimated his head pats.


    Ja A

 Volume 8 474 - Joining a Girl’s ‘Tea Party’ part 2

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 474 - Joining a Girl��s ��Tea Party�� part 2</h4>


    "Welfy, are you sure that you don''t know anything else about the Spirit connection?" Tsubaki asked further after Welf finished exining.


    "How the hell should I know!? Only the first Crozzo had any direct contact with that Spirit, not me!" Welf shot back at Tsubaki.


    With a dirty look on her face, Tsubaki replied, "Man, you''re seriously useless when it matters! Whether it''s weapon-making or giving info, your effort is half-assed."


    "What do my forging skills have to do with this!? What the hell is wrong with you!?" Welf angrily shouted at her, "If it''s legends you''re interested in, don''t ask me! There''s someone else here who knows a lot more than I do! I''m done here!" Welf stood up and angrily walked out.


    A few minutester, he came back and threw someone in, "Eh?" Bell became nervous with all the beautifuldies surrounding him as he sat down on his knees, "U-um�� Why am I here?"


    "Well, well�� Bell Cranel. Welfy basically sold you out. You''d best prepare yourself." Tsubaki answered him with a grin.


    "S-sold out!?" Bell then noticed the Amazoness who was giving him a happy face, "Eh heh heh�� It''s Argonaut-kun!" Tiona muttered silly.


    Hearing the name ''Argonaut'' made Bell flinch a bit, because that was the actual name of his skill which he got when he became a Level 2.


    Disregarding his reaction, however, Tiona continued, "Hey, hey! Is it true that you know a whole lot about legends?"


    "I uh�� wouldn''t consider it a lot, but I did read them often as a child."


    Tiona then started to ask him questions to test his knowledge, "Then, who did Sir Girard save, huh?"


    "Queen Altis." Bell instantly answered.


    Happy with his response, Tiona continued, "Then, then, where did Giorgio the Dragon yer y the Beast?"


    "Lake Sireina."


    "Then, then, then, what weapon did he use to kill it?"


    "A spear-like holy sword�� And a maiden''s ribbon."


    Convinced, Tiona happily eximed, "Wow! Amazing~!"


    Tiona still wanted to continue asking him, but Tione smacked her head, "Ahh, enough already." She then faced Bell with a serious expression which prompted him to sit up straight, "Getting back on topic, do you know anything about a Spirit named Aria?"


    "The Spirit, Aria?" Bell thought for a bit before carefully answering, "The Great Spirit in Dungeon Oratoria connected to the Hero Albert?"


    "Yeah, yeah! That one!" Tione became excited, "Okay, what about the story where Aria cuts herself to share her blood with someone? Ring a bell?"


    Bell went silent for a few minutes and scratched his head while trying to recall if there was something like that, but he ultimately shook his head, "I don''t think I''ve read that one before��"


    "Alright, how about Aria helping an injured Human? And that Human having descendants." Tione continued asking.


    "I�� I feel like something like that may have been there but not specifically mentioned��" Bell shook his head again.


    All the Loki Familia girls gave up and sighed, however, Bell suddenly continued his words, "Although�� I''m not too sure about ''descendants'', per se, but�� The Hero Albert did supposedly have a child."


    Tiona jumped up at his ims, "What!? I''ve never heard anything about this!!! Did you read the original version? The very first one from a thousand years ago?"


    Even Kisuke''s eyes widened as he already asked Yoruichi for any record regarding the Hero Albert and the Spirit Aria. She went out of Orario to ask some schrs regarding Albert''s child but nobody knew any version of the lore containing such detail. Kisuke assumed that the Zeus and Hera Familia of that time hid Ais'' existence from most people due to her peculiar origin. So Kisuke was surprised when Bell imed that he read a version where Albert had a child and was wondering where he got it.


    While scratching his head, Bell answered Tiona, "Erm�� Well, no, but�� It was more like�� S-something my grandpa drew."


    Everyone except for one person became disappointed with his answer. If it was just his grandpa then it was most probably a modified version to more fit the taste of the reader instead of old records. But they still couldn''t brush away the possibility that his grandfather had read an even older version as the basis of this.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, grinned as a part of the puzzle fell in its ce inside his head.


    "So�� your grandfather drew picture books?" Tione asked.


    Bell could onlyugh wryly, "Ha-ha, well, how to put this?"


    "Do you mind if I ask where your grandfather is now?" Kisuke suddenly asked.


    Hearing that, Bell''s smile became sad, "Ah�� He already passed away��"


    "Ah, I''m sorry about that. That was rude of me."


    Bell immediately shook his head, "No, no, no. It''s fine."


    However, Bell''s answer only solidified the possibility in Kisuke''s mind.


    Since they may get more information, Tiona asked curiously, "What happened to the kid, then? I remembered at the end of Albert''s story��"


    "Yeah, he got involved in that battle�� Then he disappeared." Bell replied.


    "By the way, who were the women in his party again?" Tiona asked again in curiosity.


    "There was uh�� The Amazonian Empress, Evelda and The High Elf Queen Celdia-" But before Bell could finish his words, opposing voices came from the Elves, "And what the hell are you implying here!?"


    "Celdia-sama is an eternal and beloved saint! Devoid of impurities! The pride of our people, who left her home to save the world! It''s unthinkable that she would ever have a child with someone of another race!!" Alicia shouted.


    "That''s right! How profane!" Lefiya added.


    "To avoid any careless remarks, allow Lefiya and I to educate you a bit!" Alicia dered.


    "That''s right! Edu-" Lefiya then suddenly looked at Alicia in surprise, "Wait, me too!?"


    Ignoring Lefiya, Alicia then transferred her attention to Tiona, "While you''re here, we''ll teach you everything that we remember."


    "Why am I being included!? Hey, someone, help me out here!!"


    "Calm down, Alicia. You''re gonna make our little guest feel sick." Tsubaki tried to stop the Elf but to no avail. And so, everyone in the tent was forced to listen to her ''lessons'' and Bell had to leave tired.


    After a few more minutes, Alicia calmed down and everyone sighed in relief.


    "That was insightful, but we''re not any closer to how this connects to Ais." Anakitty muttered.


    However, Tione and Tiona were silent and Anakitty had to call out to them when she noticed that they were making a difficult face, "Tiona? Tione? What''s wrong?"


    "Ah?�� Ah�� Aha-haha-haha. Nothing. I''m just thinking of something else." Tiona replied with a forcedugh. Anakitty and the others were confused and curious but didn''t ask any further.


    Unlike them, both Tiona and Tione made a small connection after thinking longer, ''That guy said that Ais could have been sleeping for a thousand years�� Could it be��?''


    It was at this moment that Riveria entered the tent, "You all shouldn''t be prying this much."


    "R-Riveria-sama!? Why are you here!?" Lefiya and Alicia both stood up and greeted her.


    "As if no one would notice the giantmotion you all were making." Riveria then looked towards Kisuke who was grinning, "And to make it worse, you invited a man over." Riveria recalled the gnashing of the male members outside the tent and could only sigh.


    "Not my fault~!" Kisuke chuckled but he could imagine the faces of everyone outside.


    "Anyway, you lot shouldn''t pry too much." Riveria reprimanded everyone.


    With a sad face, Tiona replied, "Actually, Riveria�� Don''t you think this secret with Ais is something we should know? Aren''t we a Familia?"


    Riveria sat down beside her and answered, "Now, I won''t deny the fact that we as a Familia are connected by a strong bond. Having said that, I don''t have to exin to you all who witnessed the events on the 59th floor, but Ais still cannot speak on it. It is our full responsibility to allow her to conceal it. Despite its dishonesty."


    Patting Tiona''s head, Riveria continued, "Although I cannot exin everything without Ais present, I can say with certainty that Ais is blessed with the blood of a Spirit."


    Riveria then stood up and looked towards Kisuke again, "Then again, it''s probably that guy who benefited from tonight''s discussion the most. Did you figure something out?"


    Everyone was shocked at Riveria''s im and immediately looked towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke''s grin grewrger and he replied, "Yep~. Some things fell into ce. I''m really thankful that this happened~."


    "Mind sharing with me what you figured out?" Riveria asked.


    "Indeed we have an agreement to share intelligence and facts with respect to what the Loki Familia needs. However, what I figured out isn''t a fact but just mere spection. I don''t need to share my guesses, right? It might be wrong, after all. On top of that, this one isn''t rted to the Loki Familia." Kisuke then slightly bowed to everyone and bid his farewell, "Now then, thank you very much for inviting me over. I still need to tend to our girls so I have to leave. Good night, everyone~!"


    When Kisuke was about to leave, Tiona wanted to call out to him but Riveria stopped her and shook her head.


    "Riveria�� Just who is he?" Tione asked.


    "Right! Riveria-sama! Who is he and why is he so close with Ais-san!?" Lefiya added.


    Riveria was conflicted, but after a few seconds, she decided to tell them a few things, "I couldn''t say much, but what you''re about to hear, I want it to be kept in this tent."


    Everyone''s eyes widened since they didn''t expect Riveria to give them some info. After all, since they started to ask about the Hestia Familia, Riveria, Ais and Line kept a tight lip due to some agreement. The first one to react was Tiona, "I''ll go and check the surrounding first."


    A few secondster, Tiona came back and said, "No one is around."


    Riveria nodded at her and asked her to sit down, "What I''m about to tell you is the limit of my restriction so I can''t answer most of the follow-up questions. Another thing you should remember is to never repeat my words�� Ready?"


    "Is it fine for me to be here?" Tsubaki asked.


    Riveria nodded, "I think Hephaestus-sama can say the same thing to you."


    Riveria took a deep breath and said, "Even in a fair fight, there''s no way for Ais to win against Kisuke Urahara."


    "W-what!?" Everyone eximed.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors corner


    Alexander: Now, now listen clearly to the great tale of the Gigolo Master. I so hope that the two Elves get their ass spanked for acting almighty and ohhh so pure.


    28th00: He enjoys ying with others too much�� Riveria could go the extra mile and say "Even our entire familia at once would lose to him." and truly shatter their worldview though! Poor Bell-kun, you forgot that the Elves are dogmatic fanatics with religious devotion to their venerated ancestors, it''s kinda really creepy��

 Volume 8 475 - Exposed

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 475 - Exposed</h4>


    Kisuke went back to tending the three girls and a few minutester, Yoruichi entered the tent, "How is it?" Kisuke asked after taking out some snacks and tea from his sub-space.


    "After meeting the executives of the Loki Familia, Hermes solved the feud between Bell''s party and the Takemikazuchi Familia. He didn''t do anything after that and just returned to his tent. But you''re right. He''s strangely attached to Bell Cranel.", answered Yoruichi after taking a few sips of warm tea.


    "Yeah, and thanks to them inviting me to their discussion earlier, I was able to piece together Bell''s connection to Hermes. Although it''s all spection at this point."


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "Bell Cranel''s grandfather apparently drew a picture book about the legend of Dungeon Oratorio with the Hero Albert having a child."


    Yoruichi''s eye slightly widened and said, "Hey, we already confirmed that existing records of that time are no more since the child''s nature is sensitive."


    "Yep. And there are only a few people who could have this record which even the other Gods don''t know about."


    Yoruichi thought for a moment and muttered, "The Zeus and Hera Familia of a thousand years ago or people connected to them��"


    "Correct. So I assume that Bell''s grandfather is someone connected to them and when he said that his grandfather already passed away, the chances that his grandfather is Zeus himself grew on me."


    "I see�� And after our initial investigation of Hermes, we figured out that he and his Familia''s work can bepared to espionage with them having an obscure contact with the Guild."


    "Right~. He could have worked under Zeus at some point considering the fact that he was the strongest Familia back then. I don''t know what he wants from Bell, but it seems that Zeus is using Hermes to look after Bell."


    "Then this Zeus guy is probably nning something�� After all, it''s strange that his and Hera''s Familias were suddenly kicked out despite being heroes who cleared two of the great quests. At that point of time, history is also unclear, as if someone messed with the records." Yoruichi rubbed her chin in contemtion.


    "If Zeus is nning something, then I could guess one possibility," Kisuke muttered.


    "You don''t have to say it. I can also see it�� The possibility of Zeus nning to save Aria from the ck Dragon." Yoruichi added.


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Then Zeus must have confirmed that it''s possible to save her�� Or maybe kill her so that she''ll join Heaven''s soul cycle and not the Dungeon''s cycle."


    Yoruichi looked towards Kisuke, "What are you going to do?"


    "About what?"


    "If there''s a chance to save her, will you?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "You know me. I don''t really like saving people for other people''s sake~."


    Yoruichi smiled at his answer, "Right. You don''t really like that. You won''t move as long as there''s no clear benefit for you. You''re not a hero, after all." Yoruichi then stood up before continuing, "However, you''re also a firm believer in teaching others how to catch fish for themselves when they are starving." She walked towards the exit, "I''m going to check the eastern side of the floor. If there are going to be any activities, it''s going to be now."


    "I see. Be careful out there~."


    But before she went on her way, Yoruichi recalled something and turned back to Kisuke, "You probably know this, but Riveria just revealed that you could defeat Ais. What are you going to do about it?"


    "Nothing." Kisuke answered immediately, "It''s not like she told them that I already defeated Wallenstein-san. She only told them that Wallenstein-san couldn''t win. It didn''t really breach our agreement. And giving her this much freedom should reduce some of the pressure on her. You know how hard it is to keep everything from your trusted subordinates. That will only erode their trust on you and I don''t want that to happen to Riveria-san."


    "Well, I already guessed as much. But you still have to remind her. We still don''t know a lot of things in this world. We don''t know where our potential enemy maye from."


    "Understood. I''ll talk to her and also tell her how much leeway she can get."


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi didn''t discover anyone in her night search but she was able to get some tracks which led to a weird wall. She returned after estimating when the tracks were made and was nning to visit the spot again the next day.


    In the morning, Hermes and the rescue group, along with Bell''s party and Tiona, Tione, and Anakitty from the Loki Familia decided to take a stroll around Rivira since it would be a good experience for Bell and his party.


    Yoruichi also decided toe with them so that she could watch Hermes'' movements closer.


    In the tent where Sona, Aika and Koneko were resting, Kisuke was wiping the girls with a clean wet towel. While doing so, he suddenly asked the person who was staring at him, "Aren''t they going out for a walk? Why didn''t you join them?"


    "I''m not interested��" Ais answered with a nk face.


    "And you''re interested in this?" Kisuke asked again.


    However, instead of answering Ais asked back, "��Is there anything I can do to help?"


    Kisuke looked at her for a moment before sighing and pointing towards Sona, "Help me lift her up a bit."


    Ais'' eyes shone as she carefully followed Kisuke''s instructions.


    After they were done wiping everyone, Kisuke cleaned everything up and asked Ais to sit down.


    Kisuke then closed the curtain of the tent, sealing the room from outside eyes.


    Before talking to her, however, Kisuke manifested a magic circle and from it, he pulled out a table and a variety of sweets on it.


    Ais''s eyes widened in shock, but she already expected him to be able to do something like this and didn''t say anything, only waiting for Kisuke to finish pouring tea in the cups.


    Kisuke watched her reaction, he already got a guess about what she wanted to ask. cing a cup of tea in front of her, Kisuke said, "Thank you for helping out. As thanks, you may eat these extremely rare delicacies~."


    "��Thank you." Ais nodded and took one of the cookies. A single bite from it made her eyes shine, making her forget the earlier scene of the suddenly appearing table and she didn''t stop munching on it until Kisuke''s voice resounded, "Now then, isn''t it about time for you tell me what you came here for?"


    Ais was startled and stopped munching on the cookies in her hand.


    Kisuke passed her a handkerchief with a grin.


    Realizing what he implied, Ais blushed slightly from embarrassment before taking his offer and wiping her mouth with it, "��Thank you."


    "You''re wee. I''m happy that you liked it. But let''s move on to the topic."


    Ais nodded and put down the handkerchief before sitting straight up and asking in a very serious tone, "You''re the one who rescued us from the 59th floor, right?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors corner


    28th00: Time to teach her absolutely inappropriate gestures and sayings without ANY context! Riveria-mama is gonna have an aneurysm��

 Volume 8 476 - Exposed part 2

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 476 - Exposed part 2</h4>


    "You''re the one who rescued us from the 59th floor, right?"


    Instead of answering, Kisuke silently activated a preset barrier to iste the sound from outside.


    Ais was startled and about to stand up when she felt the movement of magic power but Kisuke immediately reassured her, "Don''t worry. I''m just making sure that no one would be able to hear us speaking." And with a grin, Kisuke added, "You see, a naughty Elf is trying to listen in."


    Lefiya was about 20 meters away from the tent and had been loitering around it from the moment Ais entered. She really wanted to rush in but she thought that it would be embarrassing if she just barged in for no reason. So as an alternative, she would creep in and listen to what they were talking about.


    If Kisuke would make a move against Ais, Lefiya wouldy down her life to stop him. Especially after she heard from Riveria that Ais was no match against Kisuke. Although she still couldn''t believe such a im, it didn''t hurt to be careful.


    However, everything has been normal. It seemed that Ais was helping out Kisuke in taking care of the three unconscious girls and right now she saw how Ais was eating some snacks which Kisuke prepared for her as thanks.


    Nevertheless, she didn''t let her guard down. Although she heard Ais asking some sort of question, she didn''t hear it clearly. The moment after Ais asked her question, Kisuke immediately disrupted the sound waves and everything appeared unclear to any listener after that.


    ''Hmmm? It became quiet?'' Lefiya came closer but still couldn''t hear any sound aside from the sounds of the utensils, ''They''re eating quietly? How weird�� Either way, I''ll do my duty of watching here to help Ais-san if something were to happen!''


    However, she would regret it dearlyter because her actual duty was to nurse the wounded members.


    "A naughty Elf?" Ais tilted her head and asked.


    "Don''t worry about it." Kisuke only chuckled.


    A few seconds of silence reigned between them before Ais spoke up again, "��You don''t want anyone to hear what we''re talking about�� Does that mean you admit it?"


    After sipping his tea, Kisuke answered, "Yep. There''s no point in hiding it. I know everyone who knows about me already suspects this and it''s only sooner orter before I show you some things which would link me to that."


    Ais stood up and bowed towards Kisuke, "Thank you for saving us."


    Kisuke stared at her and said, "We''re technically in an alliance so a bit of help isn''t much. Besides, I mainly did it to save my girls, not for your group."


    Ais shook her head, "Either way, I''m very thankful for it."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a few seconds before sighing, "It''s fine. Sit down. You can finish the snacks."


    But instead of sitting down and taking Kisuke''s offer, Ais was fidgeting.


    "Hmm? Is there something else?"


    "About that�� There is��"


    "��Alright. I''m listening." Kisuke calmly sipped his tea, but Ais'' next words surprised him.


    "Are you the one who saved us on the 50th floor? The one who defeated the strengthened Balor and Juggernaut?"


    "��I wonder what you''re talking about?" Kisuke replied, ''What''s this? I shouldn''t have left any clues on the scene aside from the aura which I and Yoruichi released that day. But we have been careful to not show it to anyone. Where did she draw this conclusion from?''


    Ais looked straight at him trying to see through his reactions, "I don''t have any evidence. Buttely, I''m having this one dream over and over again."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just waited for her.


    Not getting any apparent response to her nonsensical reason, Ais continued, "In my dream, I''m floating around inplete darkness, but strangely enough, I think it''s a pleasant dream instead of a nightmare due to howfortable I was."


    "In that dream, a strange voice would tell me various things which I mostly couldn''t remember."


    "Mostly, is it?" Kisuke muttered.


    Ais nodded, "That voice would enumerate the memories of my childhood" After saying this, Ais had a sad smile on her face. But after a few seconds, she shook her head and looked back to Kisuke before continuing, "However, there''s one thing that the voice told me that I couldn''t forget�� ''Kisuke Urahara saved you on the 50th floor.'' "


    While Kisuke''s facial expression didn''t change, his mind ran at full speed and immediately arrived at a conclusion, ''Aria-san�� That''s unnecessary. But how did she know about it?''


    While thinking about how Aria came to know that, Kisuke replied with a smile, "Hooh? And you believe that mysterious voice in your dream?"


    "��It''s weird�� I can''t seem to deny it. So even if you deny it, it won''t really change my mind�� I''m sorry." Ais apologized again.


    ''Ah, I got it�� Aria-san must have been watching from Ais'' point of view all this time and when I entered Wallenstein-san''s Soul space, I ended up using my aura which was already familiar to her�� She got me�� She didn''t tell me about it because she knew that I would be making a countermeasure knowing this.'' Kisuke thought while replying, "That seems too unreasonable."


    "Indeed. That''s why I apologized. And I have a feeling that no matter how you deny it, I would still want to believe in that voice. I may be wrong, but I can''t seem to not listen to it�� It''s a strange feeling. I wonder what''s wrong with me?"


    "Have you told anyone else these dreams of yours?" Kisuke asked.


    Ais didn''t answer immediately but after a few seconds, she shook her head, "I have a feeling that I shouldn''t really tell this to anyone."


    ''Now then�� What should I do? There''s no guarantee that she''ll keep quiet about this. I can''t ask her to not tell anyone else about this if I deny it. But if she did tell someone about this, even without evidence, there will be suspicion�� That suspicion, it wouldn''t be ideal for our current situation. They would be much too on guard and things might work against us. Especially these three who''re just experiencing how to be an Adventurer.''


    A few secondster, Kisuke came to a decision and suddenly pulled his cane out of nowhere.


    Ais was confused about why he took out his cane, but the atmosphere suddenly changed when Kisuke unsheathed his de.


    Ais wanted to stand up to get into a better position, but a split secondter, a de was already touching her neck. Ais wanted to ask what''s going on, but she noticed that the de which Kisuke was holding already changed and it transformed into something familiar, "T-this��!?"


    A split secondter, dense killing intent and bloodlust descended on Ais, almost choking her. Then, she heard a very cold voiceing from Kisuke, "And what, are you going to do about it?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors corner


    Alexander: Ohh,e on. That''s Ais, not Loki. Kisuke should be aware of her character.


    28th00: We don''t bulli Ais, we bulli Riveria!


    Goyya: This is not bullying Ais�� He''s just reminding her�� hehehe

 Volume 8 477 - Exposed part 3

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 477 - Exposed part 3</h4>


    Ais struggled to breathe as cold sweat flowed down her forehead. She couldn''t even think properly due to the immense fear battering her mind right now. However, strangely enough, even though she could feel her knees weakening, she was just frozen on the spot as she stared at Kisuke''s gleaming cold eyes.


    The former smiling face was nowhere to be found and Ais thought that she was in front of an entirely different person, but with the same face. She couldn''t understand why he was doing this nor could she understand how so much killing intent can manifest from someone to the point of immobilizing someone like her.


    Seeing her panicking, Kisuke asked again, "What are you going to do?"


    Thanks to this question, Ais'' mind was able to get back to the real issue, ''What am I going to do?'' She then finally recalled the terrible strength of the man who defeated the strengthened Balor and the fact that she couldn''t even react when there was already a de on her neck. She realized, ''E-everyone�� Everyone is in danger!''


    ''B-because of me prying into his secrets�� Everyone will��'' And with tears threatening to fall from her eyes, Ais pleaded, "P-please�� Please don''t hurt everyone!"


    While maintaining his cold exterior, Kisuke was already feeling a little guilty, ''If Yoruichi were to see us like this, I would surely get a smack in the head. However, thanks to this, I was able to urately gauge her current state of mind. In hindsight, Aria-san helped me�� Though I still wonder, I thought that she wouldn''t be able to do anything in her current state. I guess I don''t know that much about Spirits.''


    For the third time, Kisuke asked, "As I said, what are you going to do after knowing this?"


    "I��I d-don''t know��" Ais replied with a fearful expression.


    In response, however, Kisuke released a bit of his Reiatsu-Ki pressure on Ais which made her heart jump and pupils dte, "!!!?"


    ''I-I have to say something��!'' After a few tortuous seconds which felt as if they were hours, Ais muttered, "I-I will not tell anyone about this!"


    Even she knew that this was not the answer that Kisuke was looking for, but she had to at least say something after being asked three times. This would also give her precious time to think of a better answer when he asked again.


    However, contrary to her expectations, the pressure and killing intent that she was feeling suddenly disappeared. The next thing she knew, Kisuke was already sheathing the transformed de back to the cane, "��Eh?"


    Kisuke looked at her and gave her a big smile, "What? You already gave me an answer."


    "B-but��" Before she could finish her words, however, Ais'' knees gave out and her butt fell onto the chair as she struggled to get air to breathe. It was only now that she realized that she was covered in a cold sweat and her attire was pretty much soaked from it.


    Kisuke only quietly sipped his tea as he waited for Ais to calm down. A few minutes had psed and Ais was able to gather her bearings. She then looked towards Kisuke and asked, "��Why?"


    Kisuke stared at her eyes and she jumped in her seat slightly. Fear in her eyes was still apparent but Kisuke pretended to not to notice it, "What do you mean by that?"


    After hesitating for a few seconds, Ais continued, "��By not telling anything about what I discovered today�� Just that?"


    Kisuke set down his cup of tea on the table, "Are you saying that you won''t abide by what you said?" Ever so slightly, Kisuke released his bloodlust on Ais again.


    "O-of course not!" Ais hurriedly shook her head, "I promise I won''t tell anyone about this!"


    "Then it''s fine~."


    "B-but why��? Why did you let me off with just that? I know it''s my fault for trying to pry too deeply into your secrets�� But why?"


    "Because you already understand what could happen if it were toe out." Kisuke stared down on her, "You do, right?"


    Ais hurriedly nodded her head.


    "As for why I''m hiding my strength, I have my reasons, but I don''t have any obligation to reveal that to you, in case you''re wondering and wanted to ask."


    Ais only stayed silent as she looked down.


    "Now that we''re done and you already got the answer that you want, let''s leave it like this today." Kisuke was about to clean up the table, however, Ais suddenly asked, "Can you tell me what''s your real level? It should be at least Level 7 or 8�� Or maybe even Level 9? Like those in the legends?"


    Ais already suspected that Kisuke was hiding his Level the day she lost to him. And the same with the girls of the Loki Familia, everyone, including Riveria, thought that everyone from the Hestia Familia were hiding their level. However, they didn''t want to ask as it was their Familia''s private affair.


    "What are you talking about? I''m just a Level 2~." Ais hurriedly looked up in shock and saw Kisuke''s grinning face, "I never lied about my Level~."


    "��B-but t-that''s impossible!"


    "Why not? Want me to show my back to you?"


    Ais immediately shook her head. She was still afraid of Kisuke so she didn''t want to request anything unnecessary and chose to believe him, "B-but how?"


    "How? Did you think that the only way to get stronger is to receive Falna from a Deity?"


    Ais obediently nodded her head.


    "That''s what most people believe. But think about this, how did the people of the past survive the waves of monsters before even the Gods descended to this world? Since the Gods hadn''t descended, how were the people going to receive a Falna to defend themselves?"


    Ais'' eyes widened as she hadn''t thought of this before, just like any other normal Adventurer. Due to how convenient and widespread the Falna of today was and the fact that all you have to do is to keep fighting to get stronger, almost everyone already forgot that the people defended themselves without it in the past.


    "Thanks to the Spirits?" Ais guessed. She hadn''t noticed it, but her fear of Kisuke was slowly fading away. More than fear, Ais felt like trusting him more.


    "There''s that, but just how many Spirits would you need to protect everyone with the monsters running rampant throughout the whole world? Of course, those people also had to do something to protect themselves."


    "If it''s not Falna or any blessing, then how?"


    "Potential," Kisuke answered simply. His inner teacher''s personality was slowlying out.


    "Potential?"


    "Yep, potential." Kisuke nodded, "People back then had to find out what they were good at and they had to try to figure out, how they could help to defend themselves and those important to them."


    "In an attempt to copy the Spirit''s abilities, people learned magic through countless trial and error. While most of them failed, those who seeded established the basis for magic usage."


    "In an attempt to match the monsters'' strength, people also had to train their bodies to the limit. While most of them also failed, thanks to those who seeded first, it became easier for future generations to know whether or not you have what it takes to strengthen your body to the limit."


    "But even with people like them, they were still on the losing side of the war, so leaders who could lead everyone to victory came out one by one. They might be weak in magic or not as strong as those in the frontlines, however, they had the capacity to see the bigger picture and direct a path to victory for everyone."


    "Of course, not everyone could use magic, get a stronger body, nor could they be leaders. But that doesn''t mean they didn''t do anything to help out. It were from these people that craftsmen, doctors, and the likes were born, supporting everyone who was battling."


    "It was this group of people that helped those who could fight to use their full might. It was also thanks to them that the life of the people became easier."


    "And why do you think that was possible? It was because of their potential. It was the people''s potential that led them to such great heights. Through hard work and unimaginable trials, these people polished themselves like a gem, bringing out their potential."


    "��I see�� That makes sense!" Ais muttered with shining eyes.


    "Of course, I haven''t been in this period of time nor was I able to read records about this. All of this is just my spections after piecing together small pieces of information. So don''t take my words that seriously." Kisuke only told Ais all about this because of his strange habit of wanting to teach what he knows to others, whether it was for good or bad intentions.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    Alexander: I agree, give her some headpats.


    Ja A

 Volume 8 478 - Exposed part 4

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 478 - Exposed part 4</h4>


    "��Spection��" Ais muttered. But even if Kisuke made that clear, she still asked, "And why did the Gods descend if they could fend for themselves?"


    "It could be because the Gods are really bored so they decided toe down to entertain themselves. It may also be because everyone''s efforts still fell short." Kisuke happily answered her.


    "What do you mean?"


    "A hole in the earth kept spewing out fully matured monsters that could fight, meanwhile, the people had to train for years to reach the same height. Even if they got stronger and could fight back, it takes a very long time for one to develop. Probably seeing that they were at their limit, the Gods decided to help them."


    "Thanks to the Gods'' blessings, the people didn''t have to search for themselves as the Falna would automatically bring out their potential as soon as they received it and so they could start fighting the weaker monsters, making the required amount of time to get stronger be a lot shorter and easier." Kisuke exined, ''Well, I think there were other, morepelling reasons aside from those, but she doesn''t have to know that.''


    "��Then are you saying that you acquired strength without any help from a God?" Ais went back to their original topic.


    "Well, it''s a little bit different than what you''re thinking but something like that. Although, we''re also trying to Level up since it''ll also add to our strength." Kisuke thought that she would be leaving after this and started cleaning the table and packing up the cookies. Ais was eating earlier so that she could take some with her as an apology for what he had to put her through.


    However, instead of bidding her farewell and leaving, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fist instead. "Hmm? Is there something else?", asked Kisuke.


    After a few seconds of hesitation, Ais looked up to Kisuke with determination, "Please teach me how to get stronger!"


    Kisuke stared at her for a moment before replying, "Didn''t I already promise to teach you a thing or two about wind magic?"


    Ais immediately shook her head, "Not that! Please teach me how to get stronger like you!"


    "No." Kisuke immediately rejected her.


    "Please! I''ll do anything!" Ais didn''t give up and pleaded.


    Kisuke was not a hormonal teenager who would just jump at the ''I''ll do anything'' statement. He could tell how desperate Ais was from her demeanor and joking about it right now would be incredibly rude to her resolve. They weren''t enemies, after all. Turning around, Kisuke said the same thing, "No."


    Ais kept her head down and continued, "Please�� Please help me get stronger�� I''ll do anything."


    Kisuke figured that she wouldn''t leave as long as he didn''t give her a good reason so he spoke after sighing, "It''s as you said, I can make you stronger. Within just a few months, you can contend against Ottar or even stronger without raising your Level."


    Ais hurriedly looked up with a smile on her face, "T-then!"


    Turning back to Ais, Kisuke looked at her with a cold expression that startled her, thinking that she had done something wrong, "However, I refuse to do so."


    Gathering her courage, Ais asked him, "W-why?"


    "One of the few things which I don''t really like, is training someone who would abuse their power after they gained strength."


    "W-what?" Ais confusedly asked.


    Kisuke stepped forward and came closer to her. He then looked down and continued, "You still don''t get it? I don''t really feel like training you."


    Gritting her teeth, Ais asked again, "Why?"


    "Because you''re exactly the type of person who would abuse her power to attain a skewed goal."


    "Y-you don''t know me!"


    Lifting her chin, Kisuke said it right to her face, "Right~! However, I at least know that you''d do anything in your power to decimate what you consider your enemies without any questions asked."


    ring at him, Ais raised her voice, "And what''s wrong with that!?"


    Separating from Ais, Kisuke sighed, "The fact that you don''t see anything wrong with it proves my point. Come back after you''ve realized that your point of view is too narrow and maybe I''ll reconsider."


    While gritting her teeth, Ais walked out of the tent without saying a word.


    A few secondster, Yoruichi came in, "You''re too harsh on her."


    "Nope, that''s just right," Kisuke replied with a smile.


    "I don''t think she''ll give up though."


    "That''s fine. I''ll just keep repeating my excuse. For once, I don''t really feel like teaching someone like her."


    "Well, I understand you. If she gained strength now, she''d be a lost cause."


    "Right~. Though she has to realize this before the emergence of that ck Dragon, or else she''ll be in for a rough time."


    Something clicked in Yoruichi''s mind, "Do you n to let Sona, Aika and Koneko deal with the ck Dragon?"


    Kisuke grinned, "Not just them, but also Kuroka and Medusa~."


    "Then what about us?"


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head, "I don''t know�� But I have a feeling that we''ll encounter something like that in the future. So aside from going back, attaining Transcendence is the next priority. Of course, while still having fun in the process~!"


    "I''m still really wondering how you were able to live this long despite having that kind of personality. What do you mean while still having fun in the process? Wouldn''t it be the main reason why we would make a strong enemy?"


    "Then are you fine with just watching everything passively?"


    "Of course not! I didn''t mean that I don''t agree with you!"


    "Hahaha~, I guess it''s time to ramp things up~! I''ve also finished the basic necessities for transfer and I''m only searching for any signal that woulde from our previous world."


    Yoruichi gave him a dirty look, "Even though you threatened Ais-chan not to tell anyone what she discovered."


    "You''ve got it wrong. I''ll still be the unassuming and normal shopkeeper. I''ll be using the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group persona to have some fun~."


    "It''s toote for the unassuming and normal shopkeeper, Green Crusader: Gigolo Master~."


    "��I''m still unsatisfied with what I did��"


    "Oh, if you''re going for a second round, lemme join you~!"


    "You''re my partner so that''s a given. By the way, how did it go on your side?"


    "Nothing much aside from meeting some group of Adventurers who were dissatisfied with Bell Cranel. I think they don''t like the fact that a new Level 2 reached the 18th floor despite them using years to crawl down here." Yoruichi reported in an uninterested tone, "And I think that Hermes will make his move tonight, so I n to watch out for them."


    "Got it. I also want to know what he ns to do. It seems interesting."


    Yoruichi turned around before saying, "Well then, that''s all the information I gathered. I''m going to take a bath with the others." She then left the tent.


    "A bath?" Kisuke rubbed his chin, ''I wonder what would happen if we make amotion on the eastern side of the floor? Maybe I''ll discover something?'' With that in mind, Kisuke cleaned up the remaining mess, before going out to look for Hermes.


    Editors:


    Alexander: Nope, he receives his strength from satisfying his urge to tease others. Annoying gods gives him an especially great xp boost.

 Volume 8 479 - Peeping

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 479 - Peeping</h4>


    "��It''s about time." Hermes muttered as he looked outside the tent. He turned to Bell who was behind him and currently packing up the things they bought in Rivira when they went around it earlier, "Why don''t you tag along, Bell-kun?"


    "Eh?" Bell looked towards Hermes with a dumbfounded expression.


    "It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that I came to the Dungeon for this." Hermes then suddenly gave Bell a big grin, "I''ve been waiting for the right opportunity. We''re finally alone for this!"


    While Bell was looking at him with a confused expression, a certain man suddenly appeared beside them, "Hoho~, that seems interesting~. Mind if I join in~?"


    "Waah!!!" Both Hermes and Bell eximed when they suddenly heard someone speak beside them, especially Hermes since he was nning to do something not good.


    "K-Kisuke-kun!?" Hermes eximed, "Since when were you here!?"


    "Just now when you were inviting Cranel-san to do something. I think I know what you have in mind~." Kisuke replied with the same grin that Hermes had.


    Smiling wryly, Hermes had no choice but to invite him too, "For now, let''s go! I know a good spot."


    pping his hands, Kisuke praised Hermes, "As expected of Hermes-sama~. You really know your stuff."


    Hermes and Kisuke then started walking towards a certain direction while urging Bell to follow suit.


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutes ago, sometime after returning from shopping through Rivira, the girls decided to bathe together in a clean body of water that was imed by the Loki Familia.


    "Ta-da~!" Tiona showed off their bathing spot. It was a very beautiful body of water surrounded by walls of crystals with a small waterfall spurting out of a tall crystal. It was unknown where the water wasing from or where the water went, so that it didn''t overflow. However, that wasn''t important to the girls as they were happy that they could bath somewhere clean inside the Dungeon.


    "Wow�� Can we really bath here?" Naaza asked.


    "We''ll take turns guarding, so we should be safe." A human girl reassured everyone. Effy Colette then turned to her roommate who was currently feeling down, "Right? Lefiya-san?"


    Because she skipped her duties to stalk Ais, she got an earful from Riveria and would be punished appropriately once they came up to the surface. Lefiya nodded dejectedly.


    "Nothing to worry about with the Loki Familia watching our backs.", muttered Asfi as she looked around.


    Tiona and Tione led the way. They then started undressing without a care in the world, "Taking a bath after we just got back from Rivira. It has be quite the routine, huh." Tione mumbled.


    "Well, I mean, we''re on the 18th floor after all. It''d be such a waste not to!" Tiona added before jumping in the water after undressing.


    The rest also followed suit whilementing on how clear the water was and that they didn''t expect to take an open-air bath on the 18th floor.


    "No matter what I go through as an Adventurer, I''m still wary of doing this sort of thing outdoors." Asfi was the second tost to get in.


    "Of course. After all, you don''t know if there are any unscrupulous eyes watching such an open space." Yoruichi replied to her.


    Asfi looked towards Yoruichi who was having a good time while resting her back on a smooth crystal, "A towel? It''s not like anyone would have the courage to peep on the Loki Familia''s top Adventurers or else they''re just going to invite death."


    Yoruichi repositioned the towel on top of her body which hid her important bits before replying, "You never know~." Ever since she got together with Kisuke, she couldn''t easily show herself to others unlike before.


    Asfi remembered the personality of her God after hearing those words, "You have a point." She too, took out a towel to cover her front while resting her back on the crystal wall.


    Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione finally noticed that Ais was spacing out while undressing as she was thest one who still hadn''t gotten in, "Ais? What''s wrong?" Tiona asked.


    Ais woke up from her deep thought and immediately replied, "��Nothing." Before hurrying up and getting in. Although a few minutester, she''d return to this nk expression of hers again, as if she was deeply contemting something.


    "What happened to her?" Tione asked Lefiya as she already heard from others that she tailed Ais earlier.


    "I-I don''t know." Lefiya immediately shook her head, "However, she came to the Hestia Familia''s tent earlier and stayed there for quite some time."


    Tione narrowed her eyes and asked, "Who was in there?"


    "The three who are unconscious�� and Kisuke Urahara." Lefiya replied.


    However, before Tiona and Tione could ask any further, a voice suddenly came from a tall tree near them, "AHHH!!!" A big ssh was then created due to something falling into the water from quite high up.


    .


    .


    .


    Once they reached a certain tree branch, while Bell froze in his spot, Hermes had an expression of appreciating a nice scenery and Kisuke was rubbing his chin while looking down on the girls taking a bath.


    Bell finally got ahold of himself and hurriedly asked, "What are we doing here!?"


    "Peeping~." Hermes answered with a rxed smile.


    "A straight answer!!!? And not even a shred of guilt!?" Bell retorted before sulking, "I thought you were gonna show me something important��"


    Giving him a thumbs up, Hermes added, "I''m the best, aren''t I?"


    "Please don''t be so proud of yourself," Bell muttered while covering his face.


    Patting his shoulder, Hermes replied, "Bell-kun, this is part of a man''s romance."


    Bell froze again, "Man''s romance��?"


    Hermes then looked down again andmented, "Either way, Asfi-chan is such a killjoy, covering herself like that. Though, she must have copied your wife, Kisuke-kun."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just smiled.


    Bell woke up again and started shaking Hermes, "No, no, no. I will not be fooled! Let''s go back!!"


    Hermes panicked and immediately grabbed a nearby tree branch, "Hey, if you move around like that��!"


    And just as he expected, Bell slipped and fell, "Ah�� AHHH!!!"


    "!?"


    With a big ssh, Bell revealed himself to the girls.


    "What!?" Lefiya and Elfy were startled as they were the ones guarding.


    Bell resurfaced and he was greeted by the naked bodies of the Amazoness sisters, "Argonaut-kun?" Tiona muttered before happily asking, "What? Did youe to take a bath too?"


    "I had pegged you as the quiet type�� Not bad." Tionemented.


    "!!!" Bell''s face started to flush.


    As for the rest of the girls, they hurriedly tried to hide their private parts with their hands, "Kyaah!?" A scream came from one of them.


    But before they could react any further, another person fell on the water, making another big ssh, "Fuah!!! What!? How did I fall!?" Hermes questioned himself before he noticed the re which he was receiving from Asfi.


    Kisuke created a string out of Mana to trip the escaping Hermes, making him fall into the same predicament as Bell, "Ah��! Bell-kun! It''s time to bail out!"


    With Hermes starting to run away, Bell soon followed suit, running even faster than Hermes, "Ah�� BASTARD!!!" Lefiya shouted because her beloved Ais was seen.


    "!? This kid''s so fast" said Elfy as she tried to catch Bell, however, he easily evaded her. However, instead ofing after him, Elfy saw what Lefiya was doing. Lefiya had started chanting her spell. She was parallel casting faster than ever. The magic she was weaving was easilyparable to a Level 5 spell.


    "Arcs-" But before she could finish, Elfy and the other guards hurriedly jumped on her, "Lefiya, stop!"


    "What the hell are you thinking!?"


    "You''re gonna kill him! He''ll burn right up!"


    Realizing this, Lefiya stopped her spell in panic. The next moment, they could only see how he slowly disappeared among the bushes with Hermes behind him. "I''m sorrrrryyyyy!!!", shouted Bell as he fled.


    Thanks to themotion that Lefiya created, Hermes was able to take some distance, but before he disappeared, he suddenly pointed at the spot where they were peeping, "Kisuke-kun! We''re discovered! Escape before they catch you!"


    Far from helping Kisuke out, Hermes pointed out his existence because he had a feeling that Kisuke did something for him to fall too.


    Ais was startled when she heard this and like everyone else, looked towards the direction where Hermes pointed at. There, they saw a man wearing a striped bucket hat and green eastern clothing as he stood proudly on the tree branch while looking down on them.


    "You!!!" The already frustrated Lefiya exploded again and started to weave her spell again, but just like before, she was stopped by everyone else due to the over the top spell she was chanting.


    With the same happy face, Tiona asked, "You came to join too?"


    Tione, on the other hand, smiled wryly, "I already thought that you could do something like this,��but in front of your lover?"


    Everyone then looked towards Yoruichi, who, strangely enough, was still leisurely rxing while watching everything unfold.


    The Loki Familia girls who had stood guard slowly encircled the tree, where Kisuke stood on, intending to catch him and hand him over to their leaders, "You there! Although you''re the guest of Loki Familia, we can''t allow something like this! Surrender yourself and the punishment won''t be as severe!"


    Instead of replying to them, Kisuke first looked around, prompting the girls to hide in panic. When Kisuke''s gaze brushed past Ais, she blushed fiercely, unlike when Bell and Hermes saw her and hurriedly curled down while hiding her important bits with her hands.


    When the guards were about to jump on him, Kisuke suddenly spoke with a serious face, "I''m not peeping!"


    "That''s exactly what you are doing right now!" Lefiya retorted.


    "I''m openly watching!" Kisuke proudly added with a snort.


    "That''s even worse!" Lefiya retorted again and ordered the rest, "Catch him!"


    The guards hurriedly climbed up the tree so, in response, Kisuke jumped towards one of the crystals on the water. And with a ckened face, Kisuke continued, "Well, I''ve always wanted to say that. Hehehe~."


    "Kyaah!!!" Instead of escaping, Kisuke had the gall to approach the naked girls which made them panic even more.


    "You pervert! Behave yourself!" Lefiya shouted as she started weaving a small spell to immobilize Kisuke.


    But in response, Kisuke only smiled awkwardly and said, "Well, I didn''t expect you to catch me. I didn''t think that Hermes-sama would rat me out~."


    ''You big liar.'' Yoruichi retorted inside her head as she was wondering what he was nning.


    "Enough with your words! If you have any excuses, say themter!" One of the guards jumped from crystal to crystal to reach where he was and she was soon followed by the rest.


    However, before they could reach him, Kisuke suddenly shook his head, "I have no excuses, but how about this? As an apology, I''ll give you an opportunity."


    Tione signaled all thoseing after him to stop, "Tione-san?"


    Tione ignored them and asked Kisuke, "Opportunity?" She had a feeling that this would be a good chance.


    "Yep~. An opportunity~. Within three hours, starting from now, whoever can catch me would have the right to ask me any three questions or request one thing from me~." Kisuke proposed.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    28th00: Poor Bell-kun, he had no clue what was going on till it was toote! Ais is showing quite a strange reaction to Kisuke, hmm~? Also, that is such a loaded bait, it''s absolutely going to work. Time to wreak some havoc!


    Alexander: I can''t wait for Loki''s reaction, once she hears about this.

 Volume 8 480 - Ais, Tione, and Tiona VS Kisuke

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 480 - Ais, Tione, and Tiona VS Kisuke</h4>


    "Yep~. An opportunity~. Within three hours, starting from now, whoever can catch me would have the right to ask me any three questions or request one thing from me~." Kisuke proposed while sporting arge grin.


    Everyone stopped in their tracks after hearing Kisuke''s proposal and the first one to react to his words was Ais, "��Anything?"


    With the same grin, Kisuke answered, "Yep~. Anything~!"


    Tiona and Tione knew that Ais was very interested in Kisuke''s proposal based on her reaction and they too, were interested in the three questions which they could ask, "Three hours? Aren''t you underestimating us? You might get hurt in the process, you know?" Tione reminded him.


    In response, Kisuke only chuckled, "That''s fine~. In fact, you can do anything to catch me~."


    "A-anything?" Tione was startled at his confidence. Even if there was some truth about Ais not being able to win against Kisuke, if they started working together, it wouldn''t be a joke even for their Captain or the Champion.


    But Kisuke''s next words surprised them even more, "Yeah. Break my limbs or leave me on the brink of death. Anything goes as long as I''m alive and you''re able to hold any part of my body for five seconds." To everyone''s sight, Kisuke''s grin didn''t change however their perception of it changed entirely. They all thought that they were looking at a madman sporting an insane smile.


    While everyone was frozen from his ruthless deration, the first one to react was once again, Ais, "��Lefiya, please pass me my clothes."


    "Ais!?" Tiona and Tione simultaneously eximed.


    Not being able to understand what was going on and suddenly being called by Ais, Lefiya shook, "Ah�� Ah! Y-yes!" She hurriedly followed her instruction after seeing the very serious face she was making.


    Ais slowly retreated behind a tree while carefully covering herself as she waited for Lefiya to gather her clothes. Tiona and Tione, on the other hand, looked at each other before nodding and started walking towards their clothes. The two of them thought that Kisuke was just exaggerating but catching him would be beneficial for them so they''d be joining the chase and nned to casually trap him.


    Either way, no matter who among the sisters caught Kisuke, their questions would be about Ais due to their concern for her.


    Since they only had a few articles of clothing, Tiona and Tione finished dressing at the same time as Ais.


    However, as the sister warmed up, they noticed that Ais suddenly pulled out her sword and Tiona asked her question, "Ais? What are you going to do with that sword?"


    Kisuke''s smile only grewrger after seeing the sword in Ais'' hand but he didn''t really care, since they wouldn''t be able to catch him anyways.


    Ais ignored Tiona''s question and only stared at Kisuke before muttering, "Tempest!" Using her magic, sheunched herself towards Kisuke at almost full power. If it was an Adventurer at Level 3 and below, the moment they got in Ais'' proximity, they''d be shredded into pieces.


    " "Ais!?" "


    "Ais-san!?"


    Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya eximed.


    Kisuke, in response, just jumped away to dodge Ais'' charge, and at the same time, he hid himself amongst the trees. But before he disappeared, Kisuke''s casual voice resounded, "Your three hours start now~."


    Everyone was dumbfounded at Ais'' sudden actions and were confused, why did she put so much effort into catching someone well below her Level? Tione hurriedly looked towards Yoruichi who was still casually taking a bath and asked, "Are you not going to do something about that!? I don''t know why Ais is acting like that, but Kisuke Urahara might be in danger!"


    Contrary to Tione''s hurried tone, Yoruichi just casually answered, "He made this mess and he proposed a solution. I trust him with his decision."


    Tiona and Tione were shocked that Yoruichi would really just leave Kisuke on his own, ''Even if he really can defeat Ais by any chance, that doesn''t mean he stands the same chance when we join. Besides, Ais'' current mood is weird��'' Tione thought before facing Lefiya, "Lefiya! Go call Riveria and tell her what just happened! I''m worried about Ais'' current mood."


    "Y-yes!" Lefiya then started running towards the camp.


    "Tiona, let''s go!"


    "Okay~."


    The Amazoness then followed the destruction and sounds left by Ais'' magic.


    "A-are you really not going to do anything?" Asfi asked the still nonchnt Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi shook her head and looked towards Asfi, "What about you? That guy peeped on you too, so you have the right to break his legs."


    Asfi''s mouth twitched at Yoruichi''s words, "I-I''ll pass�� Besides, it''s probably Hermes-sama who started all this."


    As Yoruichi and Asfi talked, the rest of the girls had no idea what was happening or what they should do now. It was Elfy who reminded them to leave the water as people from the Loki Familia would start flocking in, due to the noise which Ais created as she chased after Kisuke.


    .


    .


    .


    "You''ve improved yet again~," Kisukemented as he dodged the swirl of winding after him. In the spot he was previously standing, the ground was dug up as soil exploded everywhere.


    Ais didn''t say anything, but the frustration was apparent on her face, ''How��? How is he dodging all of this?'' While biting her lips, Ais recalled what happened until now since she started chasing after Kisuke. Although she was a lot faster than him, especially after using her magic and him not using the strange technique which they were calling ''sh Step'', Ais was always one step behind him.


    At first, Ais just tried to chase him but was seeing no results. Due to Kisuke dodging into difficult positions where Ais couldn''t approach easily, she slowed down and tried to read his movements.


    But instead of making it better, Ais felt that she was being dragged around by Kisuke. She couldn''t figure out which one was a feint and which wasn''t. ''��I can''t get close.'', thought Ais as she stopped moving and stared at Kisuke who was grinning at her behind a white fan.


    It was at this time that the Hiryute sisters appeared, nking Kisuke from the sides. However, Kisuke''s smile didn''t change as he twisted his body to avoid the attacks from the sisters and used their extended arm and leg as footholds for him to escape from them, "Oh~, wee~." Kisuke uttered as hended on the ground.


    Tiona and Tione were slightly shocked that he easily dodged their sneak attack. The two of them slowly retreated beside Ais.


    "Tiona, Tione, please. I need to catch him�� Please leave this to me." Ais suddenly pleaded as she readied her sword again.


    Tiona and Tione looked towards Ais'' desperation before looking at each other. Tione then asked Ais, "Do you really need it?"


    "��Yes." Ais answered with conviction.


    Tione sighed while Tiona only smiled happily. They wanted to ask Kisuke questions too, but if their preciousrade pleaded with them like this, they''d have to prioritize that.


    Tione then faced Kisuke and asked, "If either I or Tiona catches you, is it possible to pass the right to Ais?"


    "Of course~. I won''t mind something like that~."


    "Hooh? Aren''t you pretty confident��" Tione readied herself, "You do realize that after agreeing to this, we''ll be working together, right?" Tiona also readied herself to match her sister''s pace.


    "Not really." Kisuke then closed his fan, "I just think you need more handicaps from me~. By the way, I won''t be using my movement technique as long as I''m in your view."


    "Now that''s just underestimating us." Tione thenunched herself to Kisuke''s right while Tiona did the same, aiming for his left.


    "Tempest." Ais, on the other hand, renewed her magic and watched carefully. With the three of them moving, it should be a lot easier to get hold of Kisuke''s movements.


    With the Hiryute sisters bearing down on him, Kisuke kept away his fan and stood straight up. Kisuke quickly got within Tiona and Tione''s reach and they couldn''t see any signs of him dodging, ''What is he nning?'' The two of them thought.


    At first, they only wanted to gauge him, however, they are now being presented a chance so they took it. Tione aimed for his face with her fist while Tiona aimed for his body with her leg.


    The force behind it was enough for any Level 4 Adventurers to sustain massive injuries if it would hit directly. But when they thought that their attack was about to connect, Kisuke ced his hands on the spot where their attack will bending, ''Blocking it with a single hand? Is he that strong?''


    Even so, regardless of their doubts, the sisters continued their attack. But at the moment when their fist and legnded in his hands and got caught, Tione felt a very familiar sensation and an instantter, both of them were thrown away.


    Both of themnded in opposite directions and hit some trees, damaging them. But instead of grimacing in pain, Tione immediately stood up in shock and pointed at Kisuke while shouting,


    "You''re that guy!!!"

 Volume 8 481 - Ais, Tione, and Tiona VS Kisuke part 2

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 481 - Ais, Tione, and Tiona VS Kisuke part 2</h4>


    "You''re that guy!" Tione shouted.


    Tiona also stood up while dusting herself, "What do you mean?"


    "That''s the guy who threw me into a stall when I was about to identally hit him! I''ll never forget that sensation!" Tione exined.


    Tiona and Ais looked at Kisuke with a dumbfounded expression.


    In reaction to that, Kisuke just grinned, "I wonder what you''re talking about?"


    "No sh*t! I''m sure it was you!" Tione stomped her feet and resumed attacking Kisuke.


    "Now this changes everything�� He even has a way to deal with us in closebat aside from his strange magic. I refuse to believe that he''s just a Level 2." Tiona muttered as she rejoined the fight.


    Ais only kept silent but was fascinated by Kisuke''s techniques. It gave her even more motivation to learn from him. She knew that she was just going to annoy him with this or that he would even outright hate her for it. But regardless of that, she wanted power and there was an answer right in front of her. Ais rejoined the fight with a renewed resolution.


    Tione reached Kisuke first and sent out another punch. Now, that she became wary of Kisuke''s ''touch'', Tione immediately pulled back her fist when she saw Kisuke reaching out for it.


    However, Tione saw Kisuke''s grin growing wider, so she became even warier of his next movements and decided to retreat for now. But at the very moment when she took a step back, she tripped, "!?"


    Tione hurriedly looked below her and saw a folded white fan sticking out of the ground, ''What!? When did he��!?'' She then recalled the moment when Kisuke reached out for her fist, it blocked a portion of her view and she didn''t see him throwing the fan into the ground earlier.


    And thanks to that his grin which grew wider, Tione became hesitant and retreated. She knew that it was at this moment that she fell for his trap. ''Damn it! I messed up!'' She thought as she tried to regain her bnce, but the moment she looked back up, Tione saw a foot wearing wooden sandalsing after her face.


    Crossing her arms, she blocked Kisuke''s kick. Although it wasn''t that strong, it was enough to force her back due to her earlier parry in midair, "Kuh!"


    The sh between Tione and Kisuke happened in an instant, so it was only now that Tiona reached Kisuke. Seeing that Kisuke was in a kicking posture, Tiona immediately sent a kick towards Kisuke''s supporting leg. After witnessing what happened to her sister earlier, Tiona decided to make a safe move.


    But even without looking at her, Kisuke used his supporting leg, to flip himself and dodging Tiona''s attack. And due to the weird angle he used to flip himself, he arrived on top of her.


    Kisuke then thrust his finger towards Tiona''s left eye without any hesitation which made Tiona panic a bit. Although her defense was strong, due to her basic parameters, her eyes were still sensitive parts that could be destroyed without too much effort. So in response, Tiona tilted her head to the side.


    But using that gap in her consciousness, Kisuke grabbed her foot with his free hand and threw her towards the now standing Tione, "Wahh!!!"


    Thanks to the momentum of throwing Tiona, Kisuke was able to align himself parallel to gravity to meet the charging Ais.


    Kisuke immediately put his right hand in his left sleeve and pulled out arge white cloth, spreading it in front of him and blocking Ais'' view of him.


    Ais slowed down a bit and focused on her surroundings. She was able to hear a bit of noise to her left side but considering Kisuke''s antics he was probably on the right side and the noise she heard was just bait.


    Adjusting her magic, Ais turned to her right but at that moment, she only met some soil and Ais heard the warning calls from Tiona and Tione, "Ais!!!"


    Due to the soil distracting her for a split second, she wasn''t able to react as fast as she normally could. She felt a tug on her cor before she flew towards the Amazoness sisters and crashed into them.


    While dusting off his hands, Kisuke said with a grin, "Too bad~. You''ve guessed wrong~. I''m truly on your left side~."


    While Ais and Tione gritted their teeth, Tiona onlyughed out loud, "You''ve got us! But don''t think it''ll always be like this!"


    Standing up, the three resumed attacking Kisuke.


    However, a few minutester, the three of them could only stare with dumbfounded expressions at the grinning Kisuke as theyid on the ground, recalling what just happened. Instead of evading, like he did until Tiona and Tione joined the fight, Kisuke confronted them head-on and despite being obviously weaker in basic parameters by farpared to them, they actually lost.


    Although they didn''t actually have any injuries, their minds were shaken and that harmless grin turned into a sinister one in their minds. Even Tiona couldn''tugh anymore.


    "You might be proficient at fighting monsters, but against another person that uses skills, technique, and mind games? Not so much. This is getting tiresome. Cool your heads first beforeing after me." Kisuke suddenly said before jumping backward, hiding himself among the trees and disappearing entirely.


    "Riveria�� Did you expect any of this?", asked Finn, as he came out while looking at the three girls which were still on the ground.


    Behind him, Riveria answered while shaking her head, "I didn''t think that he''ll be proficient in hand-to-handbat too."


    " ''Too'', huh��" Finn muttered.


    "C-Captain! Were you watching!?" Tione immediately stood up and asked.


    "What do you think?" Tiona asked.


    Finn rubbed his chin while looking towards the direction where Kisuke disappeared, "What he said is right. Although you girls are strong against monsters, you don''t have much experience in fighting another person."


    The three of them looked down on contemtion.


    Ignoring this, Finn continued with a wry smile, "But you don''t have to be so down. That guy is just abnormal. If I were to guess, even if we have the same physical abilities, I have no way of winning against him."


    While Riveria only nodded, Tione and Tiona''s eyes opened wide in shock. After all, they knew for sure that Finn didn''t neglect his ability to fight against another person and he was already a veteran. For him to say something like this, it could only mean, that Kisuke was indeed the better fighter.


    Ais, on the other hand, wasn''t as shocked as the two because she already knew Kisuke''s real capabilities and was just wondering what he had to go through to achieve such strength, "In hindsight�� I''m trampling over his efforts in my request for him to teach me. However�� I can''t stop now. Not now, when there''s finally a clear path ahead."


    It was then, that she recalled that Kisuke was the one teaching Sona, Aika, and Koneko and a dangerous idea came through her mind, ''Do I have to be his lover for him to teach me?''


    But before she could delve deeper into that wed logic, Riveria''s voice suddenly resounded, "What are you going to do now?"


    Ais was roused from her deep thoughts and remembered what they were doing and answered while standing up, "I''m not giving up yet."


    Also bothered by this enthusiasm, Finn asked, "What do you want to know or request?"


    However, Ais only kept silent.


    Hearing no answer from her, Finn could only sigh, "Fine�� Just keep things in moderation. It would also be nice if you really could catch him." He then turned to the other girls, "What about you two?"


    "Of course! We''ll be helping Ais!" Tiona answered with a big smile.


    "Alright. Then good luck." Finn nodded at her before turning around and leaving.


    Before Riveria followed Finn, she gave them some advice, "You really have to think carefully before you can catch that bastard. But once you do, give him a whack or two on the head for me."


    The three girls could only remain speechless until Riveria and Finn disappeared from their view, "U-uhmm�� It looks like Riveria has some dissatisfaction with Kisuke. After all, you almost never hear her cursing at someone.", Tiona muttered.


    Ais could only nod and wonder what happened between her and Kisuke.


    "Either way, we have to n out our next move before we could catch him." Tione scratched her head.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    28th00: DANGEROUS THOUGHTS THERE AIS! Riveria still holds a grudge for her poor ears being absolutely molested to climax, multiple times�� Kisuke has a couple centuries of mastery/training/battle experience against both monsters and people on the deity level, this is his literal specialisation bat wise) after all.


    Alexander: It would bring forth a nice scene of tea, dancing in the air, if she brings this up to Kisuke & Co.

 Volume 8 482 - A Dark Past

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 482 - A Dark Past</h4>


    After sessfully getting away, Kisuke wanted to check the eastern side of the 18th floor to make sure things won''t get too dangerous for the girls. On the way, however, while leaving his trail for the girls to follow, Kisuke came across another pond where someone was bathing.


    Normally, Kisuke would have ignored this, but the one bathing seems to be very aware of her surroundings and immediately found Kisuke who was leaving a trail, and threw a knife towards him.


    Kisuke didn''t dodge as it wasn''t really aimed at him and only served as a threat, "Who''s there!?" The blonde elf immediately covered her body with her arm and turned towards him with a re, "Urahara-san?"


    With a smile, Kisuke greeted her, "Oh, if it isn''t Lion-san~. Good day and I''m sorry for disturbing you. But before anything else, please dress up." He then went behind one of the trees as a sign of respect.


    Ryuu Lion, who now had blonde hair color, instead of the green which she always had when she was serving in the Hostess of Fertility, red at Kisuke for a moment before he disappeared. She then started dressing as fast as possible, so that she could ask him what he was doing here.


    "I''m done," Ryuu muttered in her Adventurer attire which included a green flower-shaped hood and a white sleeveless top underneath. She also wore a pair of long, brown gloves and boots and a white sash around her waist where she kept her wooden sword and a pair of short swords.


    Kisuke went out and showed himself soon after, "I won''t pretend that I didn''t see anything, but I''m really sorry about that." He knew how overly sensitive Elves could be about others'' touch or being seen by others from a different race or opposite gender, so he apologized first.


    Ryuu saw his sincerity which she hadn''t seen before due to how he always acted around others in the pub. Ryuu''s strict atmosphere died down, as this could not be purposely peeping after recalling his reaction when he first saw her naked body, ''Now that I think about it again�� There was no lust in his eyes.''


    "Ehem��" Feigning a cough, Ryuu tried to dispel the awkward atmosphere and asked, "What are you doing here?" She also liked the fact that he apologized first before citing any excuses.


    "Ah, about that, I peeped on the girls of Loki Familia and they are now after my ass," Kisuke answered with a bright smile.


    "Huh��?" Ryuu became dumbfounded. Who wouldn''t be? After asking him for a reason why he ''peeped'' on her only to get an answer that he peeped on others and who were now after him, anyone wouldn''t be able to react quickly.


    "I peeped on the girls of Loki Familia and they are now after my ass," Kisuke repeated his words as if Ryuu didn''t understand it the first time.


    Ryuu, of course, was understandably furious as she thought that he had a proper excuse and was nning to forgive him. Pulling out one of her short swords, Ryuu pointed it towards him, "Do you want me to hand you over to them?"


    Kisuke''s casualness didn''t change as he replied, "Don''t worry about it. I already proposed a solution~."


    Ryuu didn''t put her sword down and asked with a fed-up expression, "Yet they''re still after you?"


    After getting enough of the changes in her expression, Kisuke finally exined what was going on, "And there you have it~. I was able to escape their pursuit for a moment and just strolled around before they could find me again when I found you taking a bath here~."


    With her mouth agape, Ryuu put down her sword and asked, "��Are you stupid?"


    "Ahahaha~. I always get that a lot~."


    After putting her palm on her face and sighing, Ryuu continued, "So Hermes-sama started this? And you put your body on the line as an apology? I''m surprised that they haven''t captured you yet."


    "When it''s about escaping, I can''t say I''m one of the best, but I''m pretty proficient in it." Kisuke proudly dered.


    "Hahh�� Whatever�� Where are you heading now?" Ryuu had already given up on understanding the man in front of her.


    "Thank you for sparing me~. You''re such a good person~. For now, I intended to go towards the eastern part of the floor where the forest is the thickest. There are still more than two hours of chase remaining, so I''m also pretty free."


    Hearing Kisuke''s words, Ryuu could only smile wryly, "A good person, is it? You don''t know me."


    Kisuke knew that he had touched something and recalled her history. Due to the weirdly strong waitresses, Yoruichi decided to investigate the ce and she was able to uncover everyone''s identity from the Hostess of Fertility after a week or two of investigation.


    "I''m a pretty good judge of character and there was only one person which I mistook in my past. I judged you to be a good person from our interactions until now." Kisuke replied.


    Ryuu looked at him and said, "Only one person? That''s amazing�� But for all you know, I could be the second person."


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied again while recalling Aizen, "There''s no way that you could be like that person. And after meeting him, I became even more careful against his type." Aizen was the man who fooled everyone in Soul Society, thanks to his intelligence and abilities. Kisuke refused to believe that there were more people out there like him or else it''d be a really scary world to live in.


    Ryuu looked at him with a nk expression and finally decided on something, "Do you still have time? Mind if youe with me?"


    "Sure~. It''ll take some time for those girls to track me down." Kisuke immediately agreed, curious about what she wanted to show him.


    The two of them walked through the forest silently. Along the way, Ryuu picked up some fresh white flowers and Kisuke had an idea where they were going so he also picked some flowers for himself.


    Ryuu was a bit shocked at his actions but she smiled slightly at his gesture while thinking, ''Maybe he''s really a good judge of things.''


    A few minutester, they reached a clearing with a small hill in the middle and on this hill were weapons of various types sticking out.


    "You won''t ask why I''m not staying in the Loki Familia''s camp?" Ryuu suddenly asked.


    "You have your reasons," Kisuke replied simply.


    "Well, I don''t want others to see my face." Ryuu gave an answer regardless of his reply, "Even if Cranel-san and his party have not gone missing in the Dungeon�� I still nned toe to this ce." She thenid the flowers she picked up in front of the swords.


    Kisuke did the same and he heard Ryuu from his side, "Thank you."


    "You''re wee." Kisuke took a step back. And while watching the grave, he asked, "Who are they?"


    Ryuu silently stared at the grave for a while before she answered, "My allies. I asionally receive time off from Mama Mia to bring my fallendies in arms some flowers�� Once someone knows who I am, it would be only a matter of time before they learn the truth."


    "Well, hate to break it to you, but I already know who you are." Kisuke suddenly said.


    Ryuu looked at him with a shocked expression and saw him keeping a straight face while looking at the grave, "��How? And why?"


    Kisuke then faced Ryuu with a smile, "I already told you, right? I already became more careful so that a second person couldn''t fool me big time."


    Ryuu finally realized, "So you''ve already investigated us�� Just how much do you know?"


    "Just enough for my girls'' protection. Gotta be careful of people around us."


    "Haah�� I see." Ryuu sighed, "For your girls, huh. That''s indeed a very valid motivation." She then looked back towards the grave, "So there''s no need for you to hear my story. What do you think? Do you really still think that I''m a good person?"


    "Before I say my answer, I would really love it to hear from the person directly. After all, there could be some discrepancies from the data we gathered."


    "I see�� That makes sense." Ryuu smiled wryly, "Then please listen."


    "My name is on the Guild''s cklist. I have been stripped of the title of Adventurer and there was a bounty on my head for a short time."


    Ryuu first looked towards Kisuke but he didn''t have any changes in expression so she continued, "My Familia devoted itself to protect peace both inside and outside the Dungeon. It meant to often fight those who threatened that. For that reason, we had many enemies."


    "One day, we fell into an enemy Familia''s trap." At this point, the atmosphere around Ryuu became cold as she spoke, "I was the only one to survive. Unable to recover their bodies, I collected what articles I could and entombed them here."


    Clenching her fist and teeth, fury was visible in Ryuu''s face, "I swore to avenge them. In a rage, I ambushed, ensnared, and murdered our attackers in cold blood. I employed any means necessary to fulfill my mission��"


    "Any person with the faintest connection to that Familia�� I sought out all of them. There was no trace of justice in my actions any longer��"


    Kisuke only kept silent while looking at her.


    "Once myst target had been eliminated, I copsed�� Bleeding and dirty�� A fitting end for a vile creature like myself. However��" Ryuu then recalled the time when someone reached out to her, "After rescuing me, Syr convinced Mama Mia to employ me as a waitress at the Hostess of Fertility. I also keep my hair dyed��"


    Ryuu then faced Kisuke, "I apologize for soiling your ears. In short, the Elf you see before you was a shameless, violent criminal. Do you still think I''m a good person?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    28th00: So, my opinion still remains the same for Ryuu as it did in canon. She''s far too negative in her own world view of herself. Honestly? She didn''t really do anything wrong. Compared to these guys though? "Oh, you killed a bunch of criminals and their allies? Cool. That''s like, an average Tuesday for us." or something like that. I''ll never get the "Thou shalt not kill" mindset.


    Alexander: Well, it''s actually a paradox for me. On one hand, I am Christian, so I''ve been raised to judge the act of killing as evil. On the other hand, let those fu#$ers die and be done with it. At least they won''t go after you anymore if you do it in the right/smart way. Yeah, I am looking at you, you outright dumb Chinese protagonists.


    Goyya: Though really, the point of Ryuu''s agony is the fact that she might have wrongfully killed some people. Good people who have nothing to do with the demise of her Familia and good people who''re living earnestly for their loved ones. As someone who worked for justice, she knew how wrong a ''justice'' can be.

 Volume 8 483 - Playing Tag with Top Adventurers

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 483 - ying Tag with Top Adventurers</h4>


    "Do you still think that I''m a good person?" Ryuu asked.


    In response, Kisuke only smiled, "The thing we discovered about you is more or less urate, however, it''s a different experience to hear it directly from you. Thank you for letting me listen. And yes, I still do think that you''re a good person."


    Ryuu''s eyes widened, "Huh? Did you hear what I said? Or do you have a different definition of a ''good person''?"


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "Even if we might have different definitions, it should not be that different. The fact that you realized that what you did was wrong already constitutes you to the ''good person'' scale, albeit, near the gray area."


    "B-but I don''t regret what I did! And what makes it even worse is that I probably killed innocent people too!"


    "But you still cared about justice and innocent people, even if you didn''t uphold them in your revenge." Kisuke then looked straight into Ryuu''s eyes, "I don''t consider myself as neither a bad person nor a good person. But if I were to be put in the same shoes as you, then I wouldn''t even care about innocent people or justice. I''d decimate everyone and anyone who''s even remotely connected to it."


    Ryuu, while looking at his eyes, shivered and cold sweat started to drench her back from nervousness, ''W-what is he!?'' Ryuu inadvertently took a step back as she saw a glimpse of abyss and insanity in his eyes which was something different from those she saw from the members of Evilus long ago.


    Kisuke then averted his gaze and put it back on the tomb, giving Ryuu some ease, "I personally don''t think revenge is a bad thing. Only good people do. But there''s one thing you should never forget when exacting your revenge."


    Ryuu took a deep breath as she listened to Kisuke''s words and got curious, "��What is it?"


    "You should never forget that there are still people who''re important to you and people that apanied you in your miserable times. Never prioritize your revenge over them.", muttered Kisuke.


    "��Of course, that''s a given."


    "It is�� But when blinded with rage, it''s hard not to do so."


    "��" Ryuu could only stay silent. After all, she too was so blinded by rage that she ignored even her Goddess and still regrets it until this day.


    At this moment, Ryuu and Kisuke heard Tiona''s voice from afar, "Kisuke!!! Where are you!!!?"


    Kisuke''s mouth twitched and he thought, ''If it was any person other than me, that''d never work. In hindsight, she knows me well�� Or maybe she just isn''t thinking.''


    Ryuu chuckled slightly, "I''m sorry for taking your time. And thank you for your words."


    "You''re wee~." Kisuke smiled before suddenly asking her, "By the way, have you heard the news?"


    "News?"


    "Olivas Act was found alive recently, though he also got killed by hispanion in the end."


    "W-what!?"


    "Members of Evilus also started getting active," Kisuke added.


    "��" Ryuu clenched her fists and teeth in rage, "Where are they? Please tell me."


    "Calm down. I don''t know where they are nor do I intend to get to the bottom of this myself."


    "Not yourself, is it?" Ryuu smiled wryly.


    "Yep. My girls will be the ones who''ll be dealing with this." Kisuke nodded.


    "Then why did you tell me this news?" She could already guess that Kisuke was intending to use her.


    "I intended to investigate the eastern part of the 18th floor, but I don''t want to do anything that will lead me to face them directly," Kisuke confirmed Ryuu''s thoughts without hiding it.


    Ryuu stayed silent for a moment before sighing, "Understood. Please lead the way."


    Kisuke smiled and started walking to the east, "I''m still not sure if I can find anything, but you could follow me from a distance where those three won''t be able to detect you. Can you do that?"


    Ryuu nodded as she followed, "Yes��"


    "Good, well then��" Kisuke then faced the direction where they heard Tiona''s shout, "Over here~!"


    "Let''s go~," Kisuke said as he started running while Ryuu let him take some distance and hid herself among the trees while following him.


    From the distance, Tione and Ais looked at Tiona with a dumbfounded expression, "See? I told you that it was going to work~!"


    "Then what''s the point of us searching for his tracks?" Tione muttered.


    "Eh? You can stop thinking about that now. Let''s go before he can get away!" Tiona started running.


    Tione and Ais could only follow Tiona with aplicated feeling of defeat, both from Tiona and Kisuke.


    Every few minutes, Tiona would shout and ask where Kisuke is, and every time, Kisuke would answer with his voice getting nearer each time. Tione and Ais could only make a fed-up face at that point and just discussed what they''ll do to capture Kisuke for at least 5 seconds as his term stated.


    A few more minutester, they all reached the eastern most part of the 18th floor and they saw Kisuke resting on one of the tree branches, "Yo~. Took you a while~."


    "Ahahaha~. Sorry for the wait~." Tiona scratched her head and apologized, while the other two only felt aggravated. ''We''re being underestimated, aren''t we?'', thought Tione.


    Ryuu was watching from afar and wondered how Kisuke would fend off the top Adventurers of Orario despite being just Level 2, ''Some trick in his sleeve again?''


    But strangely enough for her, she suddenly saw the girls of the Loki Familia taking a serious stance, ''What?''


    And a few secondster, the three of them simultaneously jumped on Kisuke with speeds befitting of peak Level 5 Adventurers, ''What!?''


    She didn''t know what was happening, but it seemed that they were seriously going out for Kisuke. She intended to help him when she suddenly saw, that Kisuke looked in her direction and smiled.


    Ryuu stopped and decided to watch for a moment before making another decision. However, what happened next was beyond her understanding as Kisuke casually dodged everything that the three threw towards him despite not being as fast as them, ''W-what''s happening?''


    And a few minutester, Ryuu could only make a dumbfounded expression as she looked towards the girls of Loki Familiaying on the ground, ''W-what is this?''


    But Ryuu woke up from stupor when she felt Kisuke staring at her. A momentter, Kisuke suddenly picked up a small rock and threw it in a certain direction behind Ryuu.


    Ryuu followed the trajectory of the rock as it hit a certain tree. Confused, she inspected the area around it and found two white-cloaked figures sneaking around.


    The moment she saw that familiar attire, her blood boiled but she didn''t let it go to her head and looked towards Kisuke before nodding. She then started tailing the two sneaking figures and nned to attack them once they created a certain distance from Kisuke and the girls of the Loki Familia.


    On Kisuke''s side, he turned towards the girls who had already stood up, "At this rate, you''re never going to catch me~."


    "Shut it! We''re not done yet!" Tione replied. But instead of the frustration from earlier, she was now feeling the excitement of the battle. Right now, the battle they were experiencing was very different from the rest as their opponent didn''t use brute force and couldn''t be subdued by brute force. Through finesse, technique, and skill, they were being suppressed.


    "Let''s continue!" Tiona shouted in delight as she was also feeling the same excitement as her sister due to a battle that was very different from what they were used to.


    Although not as excited as those two, Ais'' frustration also disappeared as she watched Kisuke''s movement and realized that there were a lot of things that she could learn from his moves.


    Seeing their reactions, Kisuke smiled, ''Now then, before you lot reap benefits, I''ll be using you.''


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    28th00: Not the best at running away, hmm? Looking at your track record, you''re damn near at the top of the list though!


    Alexander: Well, ying ''catch me'' can be pretty exciting, especially if you can lead them around the nose.

 Volume 8 484 - A Strange Orb

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 484 - A Strange Orb</h4>


    Kisuke and the girls shed for a few more minutes before he started leading them to a certain weird contraption that he didn''t want to touch.


    The first one to fall to the contraption was Tiona as the ground below her suddenly disappeared and she fell, "Tiona!?" Tione shouted and immediately followed her.


    Ais also stopped pursuing Kisuke and jumped after the Hiryute sisters before the ground closed again.


    But before they disappeared from Kisuke''s view, he got a glimpse of what was inside, ''A new type of monster? And those bones in the pond�� An acidic pond? Well, they should be fine.''


    He then decided to go to Ryuu''s side to check on her. But when he was about to reach her, a big explosion suddenly urred. Using sh Step, he immediately arrived at the scene and saw a sizable crater. He also found Ryuu unhurt and another person in a ck cloak escaping, ''Hmm? That is��''


    Kisuke discreetly followed the cloaked figure until he reached a certain part of the 18th floor''s wall, ''Is this the guy that Yoruichi told me about? The one with an iplete soul? You really can''t underestimate the magic of this world despite being so system-centric if they can do something like this�� Even I wouldn''t attempt something this dangerous.''


    After seeing this for himself, Kisuke feltpelled to study the system of magic that the Falna bestows to people, ''If they can do something like this, then there might be dangerous magic which we can''t ignore�� Good thing that I came to this site today. This trip wasn''t a waste.''


    The cloaked person took out an orb with an eye engraved and a few secondster, the wall split, allowing the cloaked person to enter through it, ''Hooh? So there''s indeed a separate path aside from the one in Babel and it should be somewhere around Orario.''


    Kisuke smiled and retreated. He didn''t intend to reveal all the mysteries for his girls because it would be boring. Going back to Ryuu''s side, he asked, "How is it?"


    Ryuu became startled when Kisuke suddenly appeared beside her, "Please don''t just suddenly call out to me�� It''s really bad when we''re in the Dungeon."


    "Ahaha, sorry about that. So? Did you find out something?"


    Ryuu was curious about what Kisuke was doing here and what happened to the Loki Familia girls, but she chose to answer his question first, "Aside from their usual crazed attitude, I was only able to recover this."


    Ryuu then handed an orb to Kisuke. It was the same kind of orb that the cloaked person was holding.


    "Mind if I keep this?" Kisuke asked after inspecting it, ''If this is a key over there, then I should replicate it as much as possible~.''


    Ryuu nodded her head, "Sure, but in exchange, please inform me if you discover any of these guys'' activities."


    "Got it." Kisuke put away the orb, "But please stop thinking about revenge too much. It gets tiring, after all. You can''t enjoy the life which was given to you by yourrades otherwise." Without waiting for her reply, Kisuke turned around to walk away.


    Ryuu was frozen until Kisuke disappeared from her sight. She was able to recall a certain someone thanks to him and with a smile, she muttered, "I''ll remember that."


    ''I guess Lyra would have said the same thing if she were here.'' After staring at the bright crystal for a few seconds, she went away to patrol the area for a few more hours before going back to the ce where she was camping.


    After Kisuke got back, he only had to wait for a few more seconds before the ground where the girls fell burst open, "Wee back~."


    However, the three girls didn''t have the same happy expression as Kisuke, "We''re going back to report first.", Tione muttered.


    "I see. Then see youter~." Kisuke nodded in agreement before going away.


    "Is it fine to let him get away?" Tiona asked.


    "Reporting that monster to the Captain takes priority since it''s rted to the 59th-floor monster. That''s fine with you, right, Ais?" Tione faced Ais.


    After a few seconds of contemtion, Ais nodded, "We''ll still have more than an hour to catch him. Let''s go." She then started running towards the direction of the camp and the Hiryute sisters soon followed her.


    .


    .


    .


    It was already dark when Kisuke got back to their tent, "Had fun?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Yep~. That was a good exercise. You should try it sometimes too. It''ll push you to your limits~." Even though Kisuke''s techniques, skills, and experience were far above the three girls, it was still really hard for him to fight them off using only the physical abilities of a Level 3-4. He had to constantly predict their movements and after one wrong move, he''d be captured.


    Yoruichi chuckled and said, "You''re right~. I should create a situation like that too~. By the way, did you find out anything new?"


    "Yep." Kisuke tossed the orb towards Yoruichi before starting to prepare some tea.


    "This is?" Yoruichi inspected the orb but couldn''t figure out its use.


    "Apparently, that''s the key to another space beside the Dungeon."


    "Hooh? Good catch. What do you n to do with this now?"


    "For starters, replicate it. As for what I''m going to do with the copies, maybe sell them to those in need or distribute them all over the ce."


    "Hmmm��" Yoruichi stared at the orb for a while before tossing it back to Kisuke, "Well, let''s see how things unfold first."


    "You''re right." Kisuke took a sip from his tea to rx his tired mind.


    "By the way, when the members of the Loki Familia heard that you peeped on their idols, they were out for your blood. But when they heard the news about Ais, Tiona, and Tione failing to catch you even after three hours, they backed down. It''s hrious that they are all trying to keep their pride while also letting you go."


    "And what happened to the real perpetrator?"


    "He got beaten up by Asfi and hanged outside after apologizing to everyone. Bell-kun, on the other hand, was forgiven because he was a ''victim'' too."


    "Yet they''re still after my ass?"


    "Who told you to be close to their Sword Princess and join their tea party?"


    In answer to that, Kisuke just chuckled, "Well, if everyone is jealous, I can live with that~."


    It was at that moment that both of them felt some people sneaking out of the camp, "That''s probably Hermes and Asfi." Yoruichi then stood up, "I''ll take a look at what they are up to."


    "Good luck~. Be careful out there."


    Yoruichi nodded at him and disappeared among the shadows after exiting the tent.


    .


    .


    .


    While Kisuke was taking care of their girls, Yoruichi returned more than an hourter, "Wee back~. Want something to eat?"


    "I''m craving for some sweets." Yoruichi sat down and Kisuke prepared what she asked for and some tea.


    After taking a sip from her tea, Yoruichi muttered, "It seems Hermes is up to something interesting and nasty."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just waited for Yoruichi.


    "Hermes and Asfi sneaked out and went to a certain pub in Rivira where they made contact with people who had a feud with Bell Cranel and his party in the past. It seems those people are not too happy that a newbie Level 2 managed to reach the 18th floor within just a few days of leveling up, when it took them almost a decade to do the same."


    "Hermes then proposed to them a method to relieve their jealousy and teach Bell a ''lesson'' by kidnapping one of his party members to lure him out and have a ''fair'' duel. However, he also asked them to never hurt the person they''ll be kidnapping or kill Bell. If they do so, Asfi will be hunting them down."


    "I presume it''ll happen once the Loki Familia has left? Even then, it''ll be hard for them to do that." Kisuke asked.


    "That''s indeed the case, but Hermes gave their leader an interesting item that could make someone invisible, called ''Hades Head''."


    "The ''Perseus'', I see. If that''s the case, kidnapping one or two people should be easy. Then Hermes'' goal is most probably to test Bell Cranel."


    "Then it''s most probably due to him having a connection to Zeus and his Familia�� Though his connection is only our spection." Yoruichi added as she took a bite out of one of the cookies.


    "I can confirm that tomorrow."


    "You n to watch it?"


    "There''s that, but I also want to warn him. If he can do something like this, our girls might fall for some trick concocted by him for the reason of wanting to test them."


    Yoruichi could only smile at his words, "Don''t you think that you''re spoiling them too much?"


    Kisuke chuckled and replied, "I came to like spoiling them~."


    Yoruichi then set aside the table containing the snacks and tea and sat on Kisuke''sp, "But you can''t reduce my spoiling time~."


    Kisuke raised up a visual and sound barrier around the tent and smiled before giving her a kiss on the lips, "That''s a given~."

 Volume 8 485 - Trial from a Deity

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 485 - Trial from a Deity</h4>


    The next morning, thanks to the medical supplies that Bete brought with him from the surface, the Loki Familia nned to leave the Dungeon around noon after further investigating the monster that Ais, Tione, and Tiona found in the eastern part of the 18th floor.


    However, the group couldn''t find anything new and gave up.


    While preparing to return to the surface, Bete, who had returnedst night, heard a very troubling rumor and went to Ais and the other girls, "I knew about himing here, but what the hell is going on about this Kisuke guy��" Bete''s voice then became lower as the corners of his ears reddened, "��About him��"


    Ais only tilted her head in confusion.


    Seeing that she didn''t get it, Bete continued, "Y-you know, that! That, uh�� you know�� About him peeking at you girls during a bath!"


    Recalling the incident yesterday, Ais blushed a bit and nodded.


    With his jaw ckened, Bete eximed, "What�� the hell!!?"


    He turned around and rested his arm on a pole while muttering, "That piece of garbage�� So easily aplishing what I never could!"


    Suddenly, an arm wrapped around his neck, "Come on now, buddy~. You could do that too if you have enough guts~!"


    Startled, Bete turned to his side and saw Kisuke grinning at him, "The hell? Get away from me!" Bete pped his arm off.


    "As feisty as ever I see~. But really, you only need guts! Don''t be afraid, young man!"


    Bete was instantly aggravated, "What do you know!? I wouldn''t be able to get out unscathed if I were to do that!"


    "What are you talking about? Look at me? Aren''t I fine?"


    Bete then looked at him from top to bottom and asked in surprise, "H-how?"


    "Guts!" Kisuke answered with a very serious face.


    However, Ais who had been listening to their talk suddenly warned Bete, "If you were to do that�� I''ll kill you."


    Bete received another shock of his life and thought, ''What is this difference in treatment?''


    After sessfully messing around with the wolf boy, Kisuke returned to prepare for their ascent to the surface. After an hour, everyone was prepared and started marching after bidding farewell to Bell''s and their rescue party since they decided to stay for a bit longer.


    The Loki Familia easily dealt with the Goliath on the 17th floor and went on their way without hups. But before they reached the 16th floor, Kisuke used his Gigai to rece him and returned to the 18th floor.


    Yoruichi also wanted to follow, but taking care of the unconscious girls was also important so she chose to remain.


    When he got back, an incident had already happened where Lily suddenly disappeared.


    ''Hmmm�� Over there, huh.'' Kisuke inspected their camp sight and used his observational abilities to trace where they had gone. A few minutester, he arrived on an elevated natural tform near the wall of the 18th floor. Kisuke could already see Bell Cranel arguing with the Adventurers around him who captured Lily.


    Looking around for a few seconds, he found Hermes'' and Asfi''s hiding spot, where they could watch everything unfold, and sneaked up behind them.


    Kisuke looked down and saw that the Adventurer who kidnapped Lily agreed to release her if Bell could win a duel against him, ''Proving your point by getting hold of the other party''s weakness? You already proved otherwise.''


    But then the Adventurer used his broadsword to create a small explosion on the ground, lifting up dust which covered Bell''s view. Through the dust, Kisuke saw how the adventurer put the ''Hades Head'' on and disappeared, ''Now that''s just pathetic.''


    A one-sided battle with Bell at the receiving end then started. Thepanions of Bell''s opponent started cheering up and getting excited about Bell not being able to return an attack, ''I don''t understand what''s so fun about that. However, with this Cranel-san should be able to realize how cruel and underhanded Adventurers could be. In hindsight, this is really beneficial for him.''


    Without realizing that Kisuke was already beside them, Asfi spoke up, "You have a vulgar taste�� Do you really find this interesting to watch?"


    "Pretty harsh, Asfi," Hermes replied.


    Asfi sighed and continued, "You said that you wanted to see Bell Cranel''s abilities with your own eyes�� But was it really necessary to give them my helmet as well?" Asfi then looked towards Hermes with a serious expression, "Do you have something against that boy?"


    "Hmm��" Hermes rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before replying, "I''d rather call it tough love. Bell-kun has no idea what the children can really be like. He might even find himself in a stickier situation than this in the future. Vulgar or not, I want him to know this other side of humanity." He then snickered, "Then again, I can''t deny this is entertaining."


    Asfi looked back to the ongoing battle, "And if he were to fall here?"


    In response, Hermes just grinned maliciously, "Then he didn''t have what it takes. That''s all."


    "Really harsh~," Kisuke said as he finally decided to reveal his existence.


    Hermes and especially Asfi, shuddered when they suddenly heard someone beside them. Asfi then hurriedly secured Hermes to her side before taking a look at who was beside them, "Kisuke Urahara��?"


    Hermes also frowned at his presence, but immediately recovered his smile and asked, "What are you doing here? And for how long have you been here?"


    "I heard that you two were up to something interesting, but when I came, it turned out to be just some stupid and boring duel. Is this what you came down here for?" Kisuke replied as he continued watching.


    ''We were followed yesterday? Well, if he can sneak up to Asfi this close, then that should be easy.'' Hermes couldn''t find any falsehood in his words but this also meant that he was a type of ''child'' that could hide his true intentions with truths, "What do you n to do?"


    "Hmm�� Nothing~. I just came here to confirm some things."


    Hermes became intrigued by his words, "Hoo? Confirm what?"


    Kisuke then looked towards Hermes for the first time and said, "To confirm whether or not this is Zeus'' will."


    Hermes'' eyes widened slightly but he immediately recovered his poker face. However, he suddenly saw Kisuke''s smile and realized that he already made a mistake. Due to how unexpected his question was, he ended up giving a reaction, ''Although he''s also an amazing one to notice the minute changes in my expression�� I guess he already expected it?''


    While smiling, Kisuke continued, "I guess not~. So this is your own motive?" Without waiting for Hermes'' reply, Kisuke looked back to the ongoing battle and saw that Bell was already turning the tide of the battle and blocking some punches, "Whew~. He can already feel his opponent''s gaze and general position after just a few minutes. That''s some talent, I must say. I guess this is what you could expect from Zeus'' child."


    At some distance, he also saw Bell''spanions moving in while beating up the Adventurer''s aplices, "I guess this is about to end~."


    Tipping his fedora hat, Hermes asked in a serious tone, "What do you want?"


    Without looking at him, Kisuke answered, "I just don''t want you to have the same idea against my girls�� if by chance they also caught your attention."


    "��You''re here to warn me of something that could not happen?" Hermes'' jaw cked, ''Just for that, he revealed himself and the things he can potentially do?''


    It was Kisuke''s turn to tip his hat, "I''m pretty protective of my girls. I don''t want anyone scheming behind them if I could have prevented it." He then looked towards Hermes and Asfi while letting out his killing intent, "It doesn''t hurt to make sure."


    Asfi shuddered and immediately grabbed Hermes with her left hand while her right hand pulled out a shortsword. But despite her intent to protect Hermes, Asfi couldn''t help but shake in fear as she looked straight into his eyes, ''What is he!?''


    Hermes patted Asfi''s head to calm her down and looked towards Kisuke, "I promise. Is that enough?"


    Kisuke then took back his killing intent, letting Asfi heave a sigh of relief. But she didn''t let down her guard yet.


    "That''s enough." Kisuke smiled and went back to watching Bell who was starting to overpower his opponent.


    "I''m surprised you believed me that easily." Hermes smiled wryly.


    "You know what I''d possibly do�� Besides, I don''t want to be your enemy when we can probably work together in the future."


    Hermes also looked back to the battle that was about to end, "Work together, huh. I''m not really looking forward to it."


    The spectating group then noticed that Lily had already been freed thanks to Naaza finding her and the others from Bell''s group also started gathering to match his opponent''s group.


    "I guess it ends here." Hermes turned towards Asfi, intending to instruct her to leave.


    However, before he could give hismand Kisuke suddenly said, "This kind of ending is kind of boring, don''t you think?"


    Hermes stopped and asked, "What do you mean?"


    With a grin, Kisuke continued, "You can do something else to spice things up, right?"


    "��" Hermes only stayed silent, trying to guess what he is referring to.


    "Look. Everyone''s already gathered here. Maybe you''ll be able to see something more amazing if you let out a bit of it?"


    Hermes then finally realized what he was referring to and with widened eyes, he said to Kisuke, "��You''re insane and I''m very much surprised you knew about that." But a secondter, a big smile appeared on his face, "But I like the idea."


    Asfi was confused and asked, "What do you mean, Her-?!" But before he could finish her words, Hermes suddenly released his Divine Aura, drowning her in his majestic presence.


    Hermes released his Arcanum, revealing his divinity in the Dungeon. Those below the tform shuddered at this aura and tried to find it, but failed.


    As he released his Divinity, he concentrated it towards Bell''s opponents, making them run away in fear. However, he concentrated therger bulk of the aura on Kisuke, wanting to get any reaction from him and also as a form of revenge for threatening a Deity.


    But contrary to his expectation, Kisuke just stood straight with the same smile on his face, seemingly unaffected by his aura. ''I may have found a ''monster''.'', he thought.


    A few secondster, Hermes took back his Divinity and sealed it again in his avatar. Momentster, Asfi recovered and grabbed his cor, "What was that for!?"


    Chuckling, Hermes replied, "For this~."


    A secondter, the ground started shaking and the paths towards and from the 18th floor were sealed byndslides, "What''s happening!?"


    "The Dungeon is angry," Hermes muttered.


    After a few more seconds, a giant monster appeared in the middle of the 18th floor. Asfi dropped Hermes and muttered in shock, "G-Goliath��!?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    EDITORS


    Alexander: Mad as ever. But I like it.


    28th00: Well, this is one way to continue the ck Goliath fight from canon in Rivira without Hestia, plot armour works in the weirdest of ways, I swear! Hermes might even literally mean monster in regards to Kisuke, since Xenos are a thing he is very aware about. Kisuke''s species should really just register as "Yes" at this point though, especially with the ''Plot Rock'' where his heart should be.

 Volume 8 486 - Holy Moon Festival

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 486 - Holy Moon Festival</h4>


    "G-Goliath!?" Asfi eximed, "What is a boss monster doing here!?"


    In response, Kisuke just chuckled after witnessing the birth of the ck-skinned Goliath through the crystals that gave light on the 18th floor, "Now things have be more interesting~." Although he hated it when other people schemed against him and those important to him, he didn''t have the same hesitation when doing it to others, hence, he suggested summoning a strong monster to Hermes.


    "Yep. That''s a floor boss." Hermes muttered as he watched the Goliath drop down from the ceiling, creating a shockwave.


    "Hermes-sama! What did you do this time!?" Asfi asked in a panic.


    "There is some truth in Kisuke-kun''s words. However, this time, it isn''t just for amusement." Hermes tipped his hat and muttered.


    While gritting her teeth, Asfi asked again, "Please tell me what''s going on!?"


    "A tantrum." Hermes answered, "The Dungeon hates it, you see. Hates the fact that Gods are all the way down here. However, what I don''t understand is why is the Dungeon more sensitive than normal. Although it would have summoned a monster, it shouldn''t have summoned a floor boss with just a bit of Divine Aura."


    Hermes thenmanded Asfi, "Asfi�� Go to Rivira and call for reinforcements."


    "What!? Isn''t retreat a better option!?"


    Hermes then faced the paths towards the 18th floor, "Take a look. Our route to the surface caved in. Seems the Dungeon won''t let us retreat."


    Asfi gritted her teeth harder before leaving Hermes alone, "Fine!!! But if I can''t get out of this ce alive, I''ll haunt you forever!"


    Hermes shook his head, "I''m going to be punished for sure." He then faced Kisuke, "What are you nning to do? With you in there, their survival skyrockets."


    "Nope. Nothing. I won''t do anything. Although I suggested this, I didn''t say I''ll help out." Kisuke replied while thinking, ''I just wanted to confirm how a God''s aura affected the Dungeon. Thanks to that, I was able to gather valuable data.''


    Hermes sighed and sat down, intending to watch what was about to unfold. Kisuke, on the other hand, stayed quiet.


    While the Goliath started decimating its surroundings, the group that attacked Bell was targeted. However, Hermes was impressed that Bell still decided to help them when they were in danger, proving that he had the disposition of a hero that this era needs now, ''I''ve seen something great. Following his suggestion was indeed the right thing.''


    With the leader of Rivira, Bors, along with Asfi and Ryuu, they led the battle against the Goliath. However, it wasn''t an easy fight as it was not just the ck Goliath that appeared. Smaller monsters also started roaming around the whole floor, disrupting the formation created by the Adventurers to deal with the Floor Boss.


    But even though the ck Goliath was stronger than the Goliath on the 17th floor, the people of Rivira were already used to dealing with his kind since this floor boss had the same move set, albeit, stronger.


    With the volley of magic from the casters in the backline, they were able to gravely injure the ck Goliath and thought that it was about to be killed with just a bit more push.


    However, contrary to their expectation, the ck Goliath roared and gathered magic power on its fist, smashing it on the ground and creating a very powerful shockwave that was enough to change the floor''s terrain around it.


    Since they were in the shockwave''s destructive radius, Kisuke hurriedly grabbed Hermes and used sh Step to get away.


    Startled, Hermes thanked Kisuke, "Thanks�� But dare I say, you''re pretty fast."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just watched the progress of the battle. It was then that he saw Bell''s skill, ''A charging type skill?''


    With the same magic that he used to defeat the Minotaur, Bell was able to st away the ck Goliath''s head with his white Firebolt.


    Kisuke then looked around and saw everyone''s state before he started to walk away.


    Seeing his action, Hermes asked, "You''re not going to watch until the end?"


    "I already know how it''s going to end," Kisuke answered while waving his hand, leaving the ce. He knew that this was not enough to defeat the Goliath due to its increased regenerative abilities, but it was not just Bell who was out there, and soon enough, Bell''s skill should be able to overpower that monster and destroy the magic stone inside it, ''That''s a hero''s strike, alright.''


    Easily going through the caved-in path towards the 17th floor, Kisuke was able to return to the Loki Familia when they were on the 6th floor.


    "What happened?" Yoruichi asked after she noticed that the Gigai beside her became the real Kisuke.


    "I captured it through a video camera. You can watch itter." Kisuke answered with a smile.


    Not more than an hourter, they were able to reach the surface. "Finally! The sun!", shouted Tiona while jumping around excitedly.


    But the first to approach them were not the people of the Loki Familia or the Guild, but a horse-drawn carriage that was driven by Kuroka, "Wee back, nya~!"


    Kisuke then went to Finn''s side while Yoruichi talked to the supporters who were carrying the stretchers where Aika, Koneko, and Sona slept on and asked them to carefully load them up to the carriage.


    "Deimne-san, thank you very much for taking care of our girls." Kisuke removed his hat and thanked Finn properly.


    Finn then put out his right hand, "It should be our part to be thankful for their presence. I hope that we can work together again in the future."


    Kisuke shook his hand and replied, "Much obliged." He then turned towards Riveria after separating from Finn and added, "See you around, Riveria-san."


    Riveria nodded, "I''ll be seeing you soon."


    Kisuke also nodded at him and acknowledged Gareth before turning his way towards the horse-drawn carriage.


    But before he could get away, Kisuke heard Ais from behind him, "I''m not giving up."


    Kisuke didn''t turn around and continued walking, only waving his hand in acknowledgment of her words. However, those parting words and actions only fueled the already brewing misunderstanding for most of the members in the Loki Familia. They thought that Kisuke and Ais had something going on, seeing how thetter kept chasing after the former.


    As Kisuke took his distance, he could feel the ''grievance'' of the Loki Familia members at the thought of someone taking away the Sword Princess which they idolized. But Kisuke couldn''t care less about what they thought about him and just go on his way uninterrupted.


    When he reached the carriage, he saw that everyone was already riding it and he didn''t forget to thank the supporters who carried the three girls throughout their whole journey.


    On the way back, Kisuke noticed that people, Adventurers, Guild members, and ordinary citizens were getting busy decorating the streets, "Is there an event?"


    "If I remember it right, it should be the Holy Moon Festival in ten days," Yoruichi answered after racking up her brain to recall what was scheduled to happen.


    "Holy Moon Festival?" Kisuke asked. Since he was too busy with a lot of things, holidays were out of his radar and he just left this kind of information to Yoruichi.


    "Yep, nya~. This is a traditional celebration that dates back before the Gods'' descent, nya. It''s supposed to be an event where people send their prayers to the Moon Goddess for protection against monsters. The festival will ur every 6th Fullmoon of the year, nya." Kuroka answered. She then looked towards Kisuke and Yoruichi with a smile, "Take this chance to go on a date, nya~."


    Yoruichi looked at her and said, "Hmm? I thought you''ll be jumping on this chance."


    Chuckling, Kuroka replied, "You two have been too busy with your things. So you haven''t had much time with each other, right? You two have helped everyone else a lot so please use this time for yourselves, nya~."


    Kisuke smiled, "I guess that''s the n ten dayster~."

 Volume 8 487 - A Date in Another World

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 487 - A Date in Another World</h4>


    During this ten-day period, Kisuke busied himself in treating the girls, while also testing the device that could open a portal to a different dimension after receiving the rest of the materials from the Loki Familia.


    Riveria and Ais visited him a few times but Kisuke sent them away since he was focusing his time on his project. However, an exception to this was Line as Kisuke continued to teach her in his free time. As someone who agreed to his unreasonable conditions, of course, Kisuke would take Line as a priority.


    But every time when Line would go back home, she could feel how Riveria''s and Ais'' gazes at her intensified each time, "Uhmm�� Kisuke-san�� Could you give some of my time for lessons to Riveria-sama and Ais-san?"


    "Why?" Kisuke asked nkly.


    "Eh?�� W-well, I think it would be nice if you could give them a little more attention." Line answered after looking left and right.


    "Are they bothering you by any chance?"


    Line immediately shook her head, "N-no, no, no! They are not bothering me!"


    Kisuke eyed her and said, "Just tell me when they do. I''ll deal with them."


    "S-sure�� Will do." Line answered with a twitching mouth, "Out of curiosity, how are you going to deal with them?"


    "Ignore them for real," Kisuke answered seriously.


    ''Are you a kid!?'', retorted Line in her mind. But when she thought about it again she realized, ''Wait�� That''s indeed quite effective.'' With Riveria and Ais already acting like she took something away from them after they were politely rejected each and every time, Line could imagine that they would be pissed once Kisuke started ignoring them for real. ''Looks like I have to endure their painful gazes for a bit longer. But the lessons are nice and I can live with that, I guess?'', was her conclusion.


    After sighing, Line refocused herself on her studies. She couldn''t waste this opportunity, especially when she was prioritized over her superiors.


    On the day of the festival, Kisuke was able to finish his work of stabilizing the transfer device. During that time, he was also able to stabilize Aika, Koneko, and Sona''s conditions. But they hadn''t woken up yet due to the stress on their minds and Kisuke didn''t want to interrupt their natural recovery, if possible. He predicted that they would wake up in about three days or so.


    It was alreadyte in the afternoon when he got out of his workshop. However, he still had enough time to prepare for his date. "Where''s Yoruichi?", he asked the currently cleaning Medusa.


    Medusa looked at him and answered, "She just went out, master. Apparently, she asked a tailor to make a yukata for her and went there to retrieve it. She also said that she''d be waiting for you an hourter in front of the fountain in Babel square."


    As the preparation for the Holy Moon Festival went on, the group noticed that it resembled the Japanese summer festival with the stalls along the streets, selling ''unique'' snacks which were only avable on the day of the festival like takoyaki. This made them all think about how this world had also developed the same or at least simr culture,pared to their home.


    "She could have just asked me to make it for her.", Kisuke muttered.


    Medusa frowned after hearing that, "Master, when ites to a maiden''s heart, you really are hopeless, huh."


    "Huh? Where did thate from?", Kisuke was startled.


    After sighing, Medusa exined to him, "If she asked you to make it, even though it would be of better quality and design, the surprise wouldn''t be there anymore. Although I don''t know much about modern times, isn''t there a need for a couple who''s about to go on a date to meet up in a certain ce, surprising each other with their look?"


    Kisuke''s eyes widened, "Ah�� Now that you talk about it, I indeed recalled reading something like that in some novels."


    Kisuke then smiled and patted Medusa''s head, "Thanks for reminding me. I''ll take a bath and prepare myself."


    Grinning at her master''s touch, Medusa replied, "Please enjoy your night."


    Kisuke then removed his hand on Medusa''s head and said, "Will do.", before turning away.


    But before he could go far, Medusa suddenly called out to him, "Uhmm�� Master��"


    Kisuke stopped walking and turned to her small fidgeting figure, "Hmm?"


    Medusa hesitated for a moment before she gathered her courage and said with a slightly flushed face, "C-can we go on a date sometimeter?"


    Kisuke smiled and replied, "Sure. I don''t know when, but I promise to take you out."


    Medusa smiled happily, "That''s enough for me!" She was thankful that her courage paid off.


    .


    .


    An hourter, Kisuke walked through the streets while wearing what he prepared earlier, a navy blue striped yukata with a ck sash around it. Unlike his usual self, Kisuke properly took care of his appearance by shaving every little bit of his beard and straightening and tying his hair into a ponytail.


    With the sounds of his geta sandals attracting attention from others, everyone couldn''t help but take a second look at him. Unlike his usual attire which obscured the way he looked, after properly taking care of himself, Kisuke ended up having an appearance and aura that wouldn''t lose to the Gods.


    The confident aura and clear silvery-gray eyes even made somedies call out to him, which he politely refused. But that made them even more attracted to him.


    Of course, Kisuke couldn''t care less about the attention he was drawing, since all of this was for his beloveddy.


    After a few minutes of walking and refusing somedies, Kisuke finally reached their meeting spot and saw a beautifuldy wearing a beautiful, flower-patterned, violet yukata with her hair tied in a bun.


    Kisuke ended up staring at her for a few seconds, but that was also the same for the yukatady. A momentter, both of them smiled and Kisuke approached her, "Hi, beautiful miss. It seems that you''re alone in this noisy festival. If you don''t mind, want to go around together?"


    With the same smile, Yoruichi replied, "I''m very sorry, but I''m waiting for someone."


    Kisuke smiled wryly and said, "You could have just yed along."


    With a sneer, Yoruichi replied, "I did. Didn''t I just reject you?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "Hahaha, I guess that''s true." He then looked straight into her eyes and said, "Sorry, I''mte. You look fantastic."


    Yoruichi smiled happily and grabbed his arm, "I just came too~. And you too, I didn''t expect that you can be such a looker. How manydies approached you? Isn''t that the reason why you''rete?"


    "Ehem.", Kisuke feigned a cough, "Mdy, why don''t we go. Although it''s still early, we should enjoy the festival as much as possible."


    "Fine.", Yoruichi chuckled, "Let''s go! I want some takoyaki!"


    The couple then went on their way to enjoy the festival. On the way, they also came across some acquaintances and all of them were shocked by their appearance, especially Kisuke''s.


    "U-uhm�� Are you really Kisuke-san?", asked Line, who was going around the festival with her girl friends.


    With his left hand inserted in his yukata, Kisuke rubbed his chin with his right hand and asked Yoruichi, "Do I really look that different?"


    "It''s not just your appearance. The way you carry yourself also slightly changed. Before, your movements were full of casualness, but now, it''s just half of that and the other half is formal. In addition to that, you look very ''clean''." Yoruichi answered.


    She then looked towards him with a grin, "The gap between you right now and from how you usually act is fatal for a single woman~."


    Kisuke then looked towards the gaping Line to ask for confirmation.


    Line was startled when Kisuke suddenly turned to her, but she immediately nodded her head at Yoruichi''s words, "If I didn''t ask you, I would have just thought of you as someone who had a really simr face!"


    "Really? Oh well, it''s just for today." Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders.


    "Eh?" Line was startled for a second time before muttering, "��That''s a waste!"


    Seeing that the talk wasn''t going in a ''nice'' direction, Yoruichi grabbed Kisuke''s arms and bid her farewell to Line and her friends, "Well then, we won''t disturb you any longer~. Kisuke, let''s go! I still want to visit some stalls." She then started dragging Kisuke without waiting for Line''s reply.


    "Ah, see you next time." Kisuke also hurriedly bid his farewell before going away with Yoruichi.


    Once they took some distance, one of Line''s friends suddenly asked her after not being able to get a hold of herself, "Eh? That''s Kisuke Urahara? The Gigolo Master?"


    "Don''t call him that!", shouted Line. She had a feeling that Kisuke didn''t want to be called by the Alias which the Deities gave him. So she avoided it, ever since learning about it.


    "But that''s the Alias that the Gods gave him."


    "Even then! Please don''t call him like that, especially when you''re in front of him."


    Someone else then muttered while looking in the direction where the couple disappeared, "But, after seeing him like that, I can somehow understand why he has so many women beside him."


    "No! Kisuke-san isn''t just like that!" Line hurriedly corrected her, "Kisuke-san is much more than his appearance!"


    Her friends then slowly looked towards her with nk faces. "W-what?", asked Line nervously.


    "Could it be that you fell for him too?", one of them suddenly asked.


    Line''s cheeks flushed slightly and she hurriedly waved her hands and shook her head, "No, no, no! Of course not! He''s my teacher, so I respect him!"


    "Hmm��", Line''s friends scrutinized her before one of them said, "Well, everyone knows that Line''s crush is Bete�� except for a few dense people and the person himself."


    "W-w-wha! Please don''t talk about this!", shouted Line while she covered their mouths in panic, but to no avail. She then looked around in a hurry before sighing in relief. Somewhere inside her, she didn''t want Kisuke or anyone from her group to know about it.


    Her friends, however, misunderstood her reaction and thought that she was still running after the wolf boy.

 Volume 8 488 - The Angry Elf

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 488 - The Angry Elf</h4>


    The couple went around the festival for an hour more and were almost done visiting all the shops and games. However, instead of toys, the prizes for the games were just more food or coupons for their establishments.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi sat down on a bench, slightly away from the hustle and bustle to rest. It was also around this moment that Kuroka, Medusa, and Hestia, who were simrly going around the festival, found them.


    "Yo! Kisuke-kun, Yoruichi-kun! Having fun?" Hestia happily greeted them and ran towards them.


    "Yup, we''re having a great time~!" Kisuke answered happily, "How about you three? Enjoying the festival?"


    "Yup! I''m stuffed!" Hestia answered with a big grin.


    Kuroka looked around before answering, "We''re almost done going around, nya. And frankly speaking, there wasn''t much to see."


    Medusa, on the other hand, excitedly dered, "I''ve learned a lot, master."


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at Medusa''s response, "This is the time to take a break, you know."


    "I''m fine, master! I''m happy about this."


    Seeing a little girl calling Kisuke as ''master'', made him the focus of attention yet again. The attention soon grew as people recognized the other girls who just became Level 2 from the Guild''s announcement.


    "Hey�� Is that the Gigolo Master?" One of the bystanders pointed out.


    "Yeah�� He should be the one. As expected of the Gigolo Master, he has the looks." One of them replied.


    "Looks like it wasn''t just a rumor. Look at those beautiful women around him. A little girl even calls him her master! How envia--- Ehem! I mean preposterous! I hope a bolt of lightning drops on him from a clear sky!"


    Even though they were far away, everyone from their group, except for Hestia, heard their words and the girls couldn''t help but chuckle.


    "Eh? Eh? What''s going on?" Hestia asked in confusion.


    "It looks like the effect of the actions he took that day are slowly losing their effects," Yoruichi answered while looking at Kisuke.


    "Should I bomb the Freya and Loki Familia next? That shouldst longer, right?" Kisuke muttered under his breath.


    But before he could put his n into fruition, a few people came approaching and two of them gave Kisuke an intense gaze, "Ah~, Riveria-san, Wallenstein-san and Viridis-san. Good evening and it''s been a while~."


    "Good evening, and it''s really been a while. I knew, if I just followed the murmurs around about ''the Gigolo Master'', then I could find you." Riveria replied with a smirk.


    "��Good evening." Ais nodded at him and greeted him back.


    "G-good evening!" Although Lefiya wanted to re at Kisuke, due to the rumors about his rtionship with Ais, she actually got scared at the pressure which Riveria and Ais were emitting.


    "We finally meet again. I already fulfilled my side of the deal, so you should have a proper reason for why you kept refusing our visit?" Riveria went straight to the point.


    Without beating around the bush, Kisuke exined, "I''m sorry about that. I was too busy with some of the important stuff, so I couldn''t entertain you."


    "Yet Line can make it to your schedule, huh��" Riveria grumbled.


    "Well, unlike the two of you, Line-san''s lesson can''t be easily self-studied, due to many unknown terms and new concepts that may be hard for her to ept." Kisuke then looked straight into Riveria''s eyes, "And frankly speaking, I technically have Line-san''s life, so it''s pretty obvious who I should prioritize."


    Riveria and Ais reeled back at his words and the intensity of their gazes weakened.


    "But worry not, I n to make amends to the deal. I''ll be sure that you two will be satisfied."


    Riveria immediately shook her head, "No. I trust that you''ll fulfill your end of the deal. I just didn''t like being dyed for some vague reason like ''you''re busy''. I''m sorry about that."


    "Please don''t apologize. It''s me who didn''t meet my end and ramped up my schedule for other things."


    Riveria ended up smiling wryly, "This won''t end if we keep going like this. Let''s put this behind and enjoy the festival. It''s a rare rest, after all." She then gave Kisuke a cheeky smile, "And it seems you got all prepared for tonight. I could never have imagined you could look this way."


    Kisuke turned to Yoruichi and the rest and asked them, "Do I really look that bad?"


    "Nah, your shaggy hair is really striking," Yoruichi answered.


    "Not to mention your hat always obscures your face, nya.", added Kuroka.


    "Master also generally doesn''t really take care of his appearance. The gap is just too much.", Medusa followed up.


    "Kisuke-kun�� Why don''t you tie your hair and ditch that hat once in a while? I''m sure you''ll be popr!", Hestia finished it.


    However, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Nope. Too much effort. And I don''t really like the idea of getting popr. Sounds like a pain. Besides, I like my hat! It''s my favorite!"


    Yoruichi, Kuroka, Medusa, and Hestia looked at each other before giggling at him, "Well, that''s just how he is. Even in formal situations, he''ll just dress up for the asion and that''s about it." Yoruichimented.


    "By the way, how is Loki-sama?" Kisuke suddenly changed the subject.


    "She''s not going out these days due to security reasons. We don''t know how the remnants of Evilus will move at this point, nor the Familias backing them. Aside from that, she also has some fear ofing across a ''buff magical girl''�� I don''t know what that means, though." She then narrowed her eyes at Kisuke, "Do you know anything about it?"


    Once again, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows~?"


    Riveria wanted to ask further since this concerned an infiltrator in their base. But before she could continue, she and others heard Hermes'' voice ringing out from a distance.


    "Friends, lend me your ears~!" Hermes started. "Listen if you stand far. Watch if you stand close!"


    "This voice�� I haven''t seen Hermes-sama since the 18th floor. I wonder what he''s up to?" Kisuke muttered.


    "Let''s go take a look. It might be something interesting." Yoruichi dragged Kisuke towards the crowd. Those who were left behind looked at each other before following them.


    "Call out your name if you think you have what it takes!" Hermes continued, "Now! Which intrepid hero will pull this spear free!"


    "What is he up to?" Yoruichi muttered in question. But as the two of them got close and saw a spear which was encased in ice, their eyes widened, "Kisuke�� What is that?" She whispered.


    Kisuke stared at it before answering, "I don''t know�� But as you might have guessed, it''s a very strong weapon. And the ice covering it is derived from Divine power. So it''s probably a Deity''s weapon? But why?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    Alexander: Hoho, so Artemis is next? That''s bound to be interesting.


    28th00: I kinda like how Bestia is just wandering around and having fun while giving apletely innocent opinion/advice. Time to fix the plot! Honestly, Artemis got done SUPER DIRTY in that movie, and she''s one of Hestia''s only friends, right? Hell no! WE DO NOT LET OUR BESTIA CRY! Also, Antares is messing with souls, that''s a big NO NO, like, seriously. Isn''t like a really big Menos Grande with super regen?

 Volume 8 489 - The Legendary Spear

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 489 - The Legendary Spear</h4>


    "This legendary spear can only be freed by the chosen one, who will be blessed by the very Goddess of Purity!" Hermes exined.


    "Not only that! He or she will also be invited to a grand trip around the world! A trip officially approved by the Guild!" Hermes added.


    "Yaaa!!!" The crowd cheered after hearing about the price. And since the Guild approved of it, they can be sure that this wasn''t a scam.


    "Each person can only have a single try which costs 5,000 Valis! Now Heroes,e and challenge this legendary spear!" Hermes ended his speech.


    "What is he up to? Some sort of trick again?" Hestia muttered as she walked up to Kisuke and Yoruichi, "But it sounds interesting. Want to give it a try, Kisuke-kun?"


    "Let''s watch the liveliness for a while~," Kisuke replied.


    "Let''s try it too, Ais-san!" Lefiya proposed to Ais.


    Ais nodded at her and said, "Okay. Let''s do it." She then faced Kisuke and said, "I won''t lose." Before going away along with Lefiya who was confused at her sudden deration.


    "Why is she so strangelypetitive against you, nya?" Kuroka asked in confusion.


    Kisuke shrugged, "Beats me." He then faced Riveria, "What about you? Are you going to try it?"


    Riveria looked at the spear for a while before shaking her head, "That spear gives me a weird feeling. I don''t think I''ll be able to pull it out."


    Kisuke and co chose to stand by and watch how the people tried to pull out the spear from its ice encasing but to no avail. Adventurers after Adventurers, they couldn''t even crack the ice casing. Ranging from Level 2 to 4, no one was able to do it.


    A few momentster, Lefiya finally decided to take her chance and went up to the stage. However, like everyone else, she failed to even shake the spear, "O�� No, it doesn''t move an inch��" Lefiya fell on her knees after trying to exert herself.


    "Ouch~! Isn''t that too fast to give up now, Lefiya-chan?" Hermes announced before looking around, "Now, the next challenger? Who is it?"


    "Oh, that''s��! Renowned Sword Princess! A Level 6! Ais Wallenstein is on stage!" With Hermes'' words, the crowd started cheering and pping loudly as the challenger is now someone strong and from a very prominent Familia.


    "Oh? She already leveled up?" Kisuke asked.


    "It seems that you''re really busy if you''re unaware of that. She leveled up right after the expedition along with Tione, Tiona, and Bete." Riveria answered.


    "Congrattions~!"


    "They also let out an intention to challenge you," Riveria smirked at him.


    "Now that''s strange~. I''m just a miserable Level 2 and a humble store owner! I can''t have top Adventurers challenging me or else I won''t be able to make a living!" Kisuke protested.


    Riveria could only twitch her mouth at his shamelessness, ''After wiping the floor off with three of our top Adventurers?'' However, she chose not to speak out since she had a feeling that she would only garner more headaches. Even then, she still hadn''t given up her goal of whacking Kisuke''s head with her staff, ''I can only bide my time. Wait until I can get hold of your weakness! I''ll be sure to use it well. Hehehe.''


    Little did she know that her thoughts were spilling to her expression in the form of a bad grin and suppressed giggling, "What''s wrong with her?" Kisuke whispered to hispanions.


    "Who knows~?" Yoruichi whispered to him.


    "It''s 100% your fault, nya." Kuroka also added.


    "You broke an Elf, master," Medusa alsomented.


    "Kisuke-kun, it''s about time for you to learn how to handle people with care. In your hands, people are just little fragile things." Hestia ended it with a reminder.


    Hearing their replies, Kisuke chose to not dwell on it and just watched Ais trying to pull the spear out.


    "Now! Witness the strength of the Sword Princess!" Hermes stated.


    "You can do it, Ais-san!" Lefiya cheered from the side.


    But even with her immense strength, she failed to make it even budge. A few secondster, Ais let go of the spear and said, "No�� I can''t��"


    The crowd became less excited after seeing Ais fail, "��No way�� Even Ais, who''s a Level 6 Adventurer couldn''t do it?" Lefiya muttered.


    But before Ais went off the stage, she looked towards Kisuke and asked, "��Won''t you try it now?"


    The audience looked towards Kisuke''s direction and saw him being surrounded by beautiful women, "It''s the Gigolo Master!" One of the onlookers shouted.


    "It really is the Gigolo Master!"


    "Damn! He really has too many women, while I''m just drowning in my own tears at night!"


    "Look! Even Nine Hells is beside him! What''s their rtionship!?"


    "That bastard! How did he trick them!?"


    "Wait, didn''t the Sword Princess just call out to him!? What about the rumor that both of them have something special going on!?"


    "What!? Even the Sword Princess!? Just how long are his ws!!?"


    "This is ridiculous! How can it be that he''s been left alone until now!?"


    Yoruichi grinned at Kisuke and said, "It''s tough to be popr, ain''t it?"


    But with a bad grin, Kisuke replied, "I''ve memorized their faces." He then started to walk towards the stage.


    Off to the side, Kuroka and Medusa noticed that Riveria was making a slightly weird expression with a very subtle blush on her cheeks, "Riveria-san?" Kuroka called out to her which also caught Yoruichi''s attention.


    Riveria was startled and immediately answered, "W-what is it?"


    "Is something wrong?"


    Calming herself down, Riveria feigned a cough, "Ehem�� There''s nothing."


    Kuroka, Medusa, and Yoruichi looked at her with narrowed eyes, which made Riveria panic, "I-I was just surprised that those people would associate me with that womanizer!"


    The three then looked at each other andmunicated through their eyes, ''It''s a bud, right?'' Kuroka asked the two.


    ''It''s a bud��'' Medusa confirmed.


    ''And it''s potential to bloom is big.'' Yoruichi added.


    ''What should we do, nya? Snuff it out?'' Kuroka asked again.


    Medusa only looked towards Yoruichi for her decision.


    But instead of saying yes or no, she instead asked them, ''Are you fine with that?''


    Medusa and Kuroka looked at each other and thought for a moment before they simultaneouslymunicated, ''Let''s not!''


    It was thanks to Yoruichi''s leniency that they were able to get close to Kisuke. For them, it didn''t feel right to stop others'' feelings from developing, even if it was the right thing to do.


    Yoruichi smiled, ''Then let''s see how this goes~. Besides, it still isn''t set in stone.''


    Kuroka and Medusa nodded, increasing their respect for her, ''As expected of the main wife.''


    Riveria and Hestia, on the other hand, were a bit bothered at their silentmunication, "Please don''t leave me out!" Hestia protested.


    "You need to develop a bit of womanly instinct first before you can join." Yoruichi mercilessly cut Hestia down.


    "W-womanly instinct!? Am I not a woman!?" Hestia muttered in shock.


    Kisuke reached the stage and he could see Hestiaining about something, ''What are they doing?'' However, he couldn''t give them his full attention, as he already started to inspect the spear while also ignoring half of the audience''s gritting teeth.


    "Oho~! Looks like our next challenger is the infamous, Gigo---!!" But before he could finish his words, Hermes shivered as Kisuke faced him with a big grin. His instinct was telling him not to step on thisnd mine, "Ehem, the newly arising Green Crusader!"


    Satisfied, Kisuke turned his attention back to the spear while also ignoring the booing in the background, ''Hmm�� So is this really a Divine item? The quality of this equipment is way beyond what I''ve seen in this world��''


    ''Though I haven''t seen much of it, I already saw the equipment of every top Adventurer in Orario and I can safely say that this spear is several tiers above those. Even higher quality whenpared to the initial state of the Artificial Sacred Gears that we made.''


    ''And is this even a spear? The shaft is a bit short and the head is too big, it''s more like a giant arrow for bows.'' Kisuke was roused from his deep contemtion thanks to Hermes'' call, "Uhmm�� Kisuke-kun? Are you going to do it?"


    "Ah, sorry about that. I''ll try it now." Without further ado, Kisuke touched the shaft of the spear, but before he could exert any effort, a voice entered his mind, ''I found you?''


    "Hmm?" Kisuke immediately inspected his mind and his surroundings for any hostile actions or intent. In the same second, however, inscriptions emerged from the spear''s shaft, lighting it up. Hurriedly inspecting what''s going on, Kisuke felt how the spear scanned his soul but didn''t do anything to stop it.


    Although his soul was scanned deeper than Freya did, it didn''t reach the important parts and he couldn''t see anything else it does aside from gathering information. Thanks to his curiosity, he let it go through him.


    A secondter, the ice encasing the head of the spear suddenly bursts into pieces, freeing the weapon.


    Hermes frowned after seeing this since he was expecting someone else to pull out that spear, ''So he also has what it takes�� Just who are you?''


    Yoruichi ran up to the stage and gave him a hug, "As expected of my hubby~!"


    And as expected, it only garnered a jealous crowd. Of course, this was on purpose and Kuroka and Medusa didn''t want to let go of this chance to mess with him as the two of them also ran out and jumped on him both shouting, "As expected of hubby~!" "As expected of Master!"


    More fiery gazes of mennded on Kisuke, wishing that they were in his position right now.


    Seeing that the situation was bing vtile, Hermes continued, "C-congrattions, Kisuke-kun! You''ve just won a trip! Now let me introduce you to the sponsor that made this world trip possible!"


    Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa separated from Kisuke and looked towards where Hermes was pointing. Hestia, who lost her chance to join the fun, also looked back and saw a very familiar person standing at the back. In delight, Hestia shouted, "Artemis!? Is that you, Artemis!?"


    Artemis who Hestia was referring to, had green eyes and long blue hair with two long bangs, two strands on the sides, and a partly braided tail in the back. She wore a white and pale blue outfit, long brown boots with a light brown design, a belt which she kept a piece of white cloth and a dagger in, gold bracelets, and various gold hair essories.


    "Do you know each other, nya?" Kuroka asked.


    Hestia faced Kuroka and excitedly exined, "We were friends in Heaven! My best friend!"


    Artemis smiled and started running towards the group. In response, Hestia also excitedly ran towards her to give her a big hug.


    However, just as Hestia was about to catch Artemis, Artemis actually veered off from her and continued running towards the stage, more specifically, to Kisuke, "Huh?"


    "I found you, my Orion!", shouted Artemis as she jumped towards Kisuke with open arms, which made the spectators drop their jaws as another beauty went to Kisuke''s arms and this time, it''s a Goddess.


    Seeing this, Yoruichi and Kuroka took some distance from Kisuke while Medusa went behind him.


    Kisuke, all this while, was focusing on inspecting the intriguing spear. So focused that he didn''t really care about what was happening around him. If it was one of his girls jumping on him, he would dly ept it. But if it was someone unknown, like Artemis, jumping on him while he was in his own little world, there was only one result.


    The moment Artemis was about to collide with Kisuke, within a split second, he grabbed her hand and used his strength to toss her without mercy, "Wha!?" Artemis panicked and started iling in midair, but fortunately for her, Medusa positioned herself to the spot where she would bending and sessfully caught the shocked Goddess.


    "Are you alright?" Medusa asked.


    "Y-yes, thank you." Artemis nkly answered.


    It was at this moment that Kisuke finally woke up from his daydreaming, "What? What happened?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors


    Alexander: Uhhh, I can already see the thief group descending again. But more importantly, poor Hestia, always being left out of the important stuff.


    28th00: So, Yoruichi and Co have developed a terrifying level of eyenguage, that Hestia is not womanly enough to join in, for she is too pure for this world! Hestia is on a rollercoaster of feelings right now, I really feel kinda bad for the girl�� Welp, time for them to save a Goddess. That''s one way to repay Hestia, saving her best friend!

 Volume 8 490 - The Quest

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 490 - The Quest</h4>


    "What were you thinking, Artemis!?" Hestia shouted and waved her arms around at her best friend who was currently kneeling at a table. Although Hestia was exaggerating her movements, she wasn''t angry at Artemis''s actions. It was just that she was in too much shock as the Artemis she knew would never jump on a man, aside from when she was about to beat him up real good.


    With a guilty face, Artemis answered, "I''m sorry. I became just really d when I saw him."


    "d!? You''re d!?" Hestia retorted before muttering, "This is ridiculous! That Artemis!? To a man!?" She then suddenly turned to Kisuke, who was still inspecting the spear with great fervor, "And you, Kisuke-kun! How can you flip ady just like that!?"


    Kisuke was startled when he was suddenly called out. "Hmm? Ah�� Well, I''m pro gender equality. Man or woman, if they suddenly jump on me like that, I won''t just stay in ce.", he exined.


    Hestia couldn''t really say anything back to that.


    Currently, the group in addition to Hermes and Artemis were meeting inside the abandoned church, just above their hideout. Ais, Riveria, and Lefiya chose to go home since they knew that this would be a Hestia Familia affair and they didn''t want to step into it without any good reason.


    Hestia then noticed that Artemis was giving Kisuke puppy eyes and couldn''t take it anymore, so she asked Hermes who was fiddling with his feather hat, "Hermes! Is that the Artemis that I know!? She''s weird!"


    "Well, I guess Artemis decided to blend with the other people in this Lower World.", replied Hermes after putting on his hat again, as if it wasn''t his business.


    "S-she can''t possibly��" While Hestia was questioning reality, Yoruichi suddenly interrupted, "So? How was she before?"


    Hestia calmed herself down and sighed, "Artemis is one of Heaven''s three virginal Goddesses. She is sworn to purity and cherishing virtue. Simply put, she''s absolutely anti-romance." Smiling wryly, Hestia looked towards Artemis who was still giving Kisuke a puppy look, "One of the most anti-romantic people I''ve ever known."


    "Anti-romance, you say? Can''t see it, nya��" Kuroka muttered.


    Scratching her head fiercely, Hestia shouted, "How did she end up like this!?"


    "And? Howe the anti-romance Goddess ended up sponsoring the event?" Yoruichi continued asking.


    Now that they are on the main topic, Hermes'' expression became serious, "Actually, a monster appeared outside of Orario."


    With just those words, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa got a general idea of what ''trip around the world'' really meant. However, they didn''t say anything and just continued listening.


    Hermes waited for their reaction, but he was surprised that they only looked at him. He smiled wryly and continued speaking, "The Artemis Familia found it and it''s giving them a hard time. So she came to Orario to ask for help."


    "In other words, this grand trip is just a monster quest Artemis-sama issued?" Yoruichi asked to confirm.


    With a smile, Hermes replied, "As expected~! You have good intuition!"


    "I knew that this was too good to be true��", muttered Medusa while sighing.


    "You know that''s called ''fraud'', nya," Kuroka added.


    "Hehe, rx now." Hermes was about to convince them to ept the quest, but Artemis suddenly moved and walked towards Kisuke until she stopped in front of him.


    "I''ve been looking for you, Orion," Artemis said.


    "The name is Kisuke Urahara, Artemis-sama," Kisuke answered. At this point, he could already see a bit of connection between the Artemis in front of him and the spear, ''��What is this?''


    "No. You are Orion." Artemis strongly refuted, "My hope."


    "If I may ask, why me? There are stronger Adventurers out there, like the people of the Loki Familia. With enoughpensation, I think they''ll ept it."


    Artemis touched the spear in Kisuke''s hand and replied, "It''s not the strength that the spear has chosen you for�� It''s your pure soul."


    Yoruichi turned to Hermes, "Hermes-sama�� This spear��"


    He proudly proimed, "I told you, this is a legendary spear! Even Hephaestus swears on its quality~!" Although he didn''t exin anything, Yoruichi already figured out that he won''t be telling anything about it right now.


    Hermes then pointed towards Kisuke and shouted, "You''re chosen by this spear, Kisuke-kun!"


    Kisuke then once again put his gaze on the spear while muttering, "Chosen, huh��"


    Artemis then suddenly put her hand on Kisuke''s cheek and said with a gentle smile, "I want you toe with me, Orion, pure soul and all��"


    But before Kisuke could respond, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Hestiaunching herself towards Artemis while shouting, "Stop!!!" And then she headbutted her. Although Kisuke could have stopped it, he thought that it was amusing and just let her do what she wanted. Besides, if Artemis didn''t move her hand away, Kisuke would have given her a painful flick on the forehead.


    With a loud thud, Hestia and Artemis both crouched down and nursed their heads. With a bit of tears on the corner of her eyes, Artemisined, "Ughhh�� That hurts, Hestia."


    "That hurt me too!" Hestiained back.


    And Artemis''s expression became worried as she touched Hestia''s forehead, "Are you alright?"


    Due to her gesture, Hestia grinned happily, "T-thanks��" She then realized what they were doing, "Wait! That''s not it!" She hurriedly stood up and faced Kisuke.


    But before she could say anything else, Kisuke dered, "Artemis-sama, we''ll ept your quest."


    Hestia''s eyes widened, "Kisuke-kun��" She knew that he''s been busy with somethingtely and she knew that it was very important for their group. But she couldn''t leave her best friend, who needed help, alone so she intended to ask him for his assistance. Never did she expect that he would beat her to it.


    Kisuke patted and ruffled her hair while answering the confused goddess with a grin, "It''s Hestia-sama''s precious best friend. So if she needs help, it''s our duty to assist."


    If not for Hestia, Kisuke''s group wouldn''t be able to find themselves in such a favorable situation. Aside from that, Hestia epted them unconditionally despite their very sketchy origins. And although Hestia looked and acted childish and veryzy with everything, she acted as their senior in life when it was needed, especially for Aika, Koneko, and Sona.


    There were times when even Kisuke or Yoruichi couldn''t give good advice or console the three of them as the extent of their experiences only spanned around the battlefield. In those cases, Hestia, a fresh breath of ''normality'' was a big help for them to the point that Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa, who all had a not so peaceful past, learned some things from her and were able to rx more often.


    With that, Hestia became an essential part of their group and not just a provider of cover and Falna. Helping her best friend was the least that they could do.


    But Kisuke being Kisuke, he couldn''t just settle with helping someone who was basically a stranger for them without anypensation. Kisuke faced Artemis and said, "However, I have a condition."


    Artemis nodded seriously and replied, "Tell me."


    "I want this spear aspensation."


    Artemis was a bit shocked, but she instantly recovered and nodded her head, "Alright." Deep inside her, however, she was feeling a little bit guilty since she was deceiving Hestia''s children. If her and Hermes'' n were to seed, the ''spear'' might even cease to exist. Even if it were to maintain its existence, it would at least lose all of its hidden power.


    "Now that this has been decided, let''s prepare to set off~!" Kisuke dered.

 Volume 8 491 - The ‘Grand’ Trip

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 491 - The ��Grand�� Trip</h4>


    The ones who would being to this ''grand trip'' were Kisuke, Yoruichi, Hestia, and the obvious two, Hermes and Artemis.


    "Thank you, kind children." Artemis smiled gently, "You''re not in my Familia, but you will be myrades in this journey." She then put forward her right hand, "Let''s take a vow."


    Kisuke already heard about this. It was the ritual which the Deities used whenever they woulde to journey with children who were not from their own Familia. Kisuke slowly took Artemis'' hand and gave it a kiss before stepping away to give way for Yoruichi.


    After Yoruichi took the vow, Hermes asked, "Isn''t it better to bring everyone?" He thought that everyone from the Hestia Familia would being, since they really needed all the help they could get.


    Kisuke shook his head, "That won''t do. We still have injured members and we can''t just leave them alone." Besides, just him was already enough. Yoruichi only came as Hestia''s guard and insurance.


    Hermes looked towards Kuroka and Medusa and he didn''t see the intention of theming. Sighing, Hermes continued, "I brought some clothes that could serve as armor. I''d like you to try it."


    "No need. The clothes we already have are serving as armor." Kisuke and Yoruichi then went towards the room where Hestia formerly stayed to change their outfits.


    Hermes then faced Hestia, "Hestia, you should also change, since it might be dangerous. I''ll provide the clothes."


    Hestia nodded at him and Hermes went out to get the promised clothes. Artemis then approached Hestia, "Hestia, thank you for helping me."


    "Stop that. We''re best friends, so it should go without saying that I''ll help you in your time of need~." Hestia confidently thumped her chest.


    Seeing this, Artemis couldn''t help but pat her head.


    "Stop treating me like a kid!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi got out and both of them returned to their former attire of green shihakusho and orange overshirt with two white straps on her shoulder.


    A few secondster, Hermes returned with a bag and gave it to Hestia and after a few minutes, Hestia was able to change and the group went on their way, leaving behind Kuroka and Medusa.


    "I''ll leave them to you two."


    "Don''t worry, nya~!"


    "Take care, master, Yoruichi-san."


    Hermes, Artemis, Hestia, Kisuke and Yoruichi then started walking towards the southern wall of Orario. It was already past midnight and the stalls for the festival were already preparing to pack up. Along the way, they came across some people who kept tripping over themselves for no reason and after witnessing it for the third time, Yoruichi thought that their faces were familiar.


    After thinking about it for a few more seconds, Yoruichi finally remembered where she saw them, ''It''s the people who kept calling Kisuke ''Gigolo Master'' in the spear-pulling event.'' Yoruichi then got close to Kisuke and whispered, "What did you do to them?"


    With a bad smile, Kisuke answered, "I''ve recently started studying about curse magic�� I''m really grateful they presented themselves as test subjects~."


    Yoruichi could only smile wryly at his answer. Because of this, a strange rumor would soon begin to circte to the whole of Orario, ''If you call the ''Gigolo Master'' by his Alias, you''ll be cursed.''


    They reached the southern wall and all of them went up. "But why on top of the wall?", asked Kisuke. He also noticed that Artemis was carrying a sword, as if she was also going to fight, but didn''t say anything about it, ''This spear�� As expected. She''s just a remnant. I wonder what happened?''


    "Artemis. Do you know anything?" Hestia asked.


    Artemis shook her head, "Uh, no��"


    Hestia then turned to Hermes, "What''s the n now, Hermes?"


    But instead of answering her, Hermes only looked up.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi also looked up and saw some silhouette of wyvernsing towards them, "Hooh~, so that''s how we''re going to travel? I guess it won''t be boring~."


    Hestia was about to ask what Kisuke was talking about when Hermes suddenly said, "Here theye~."


    A few secondster, three wyverns approached their spot. "Geh!? That''s!?", eximed Hestia at the sight of the monsters.


    From one of the wyverns, a loudugh emerged from the top of it, "FUHAHAHAHA!" Theughing figure then jumped down to the top of the wall where everyone was standing. More specifically, to the spot where Hestia was standing, "W-wha!"


    Hestia hurriedly got out of the way of theughing God, "G-Ganesha!?"


    The God whonded was a muscr man, wearing a red and yellow elephant mask over his face. He wore an orange sash which went over his right shoulder and wrapped around his waist. A gold-rimmed leather te sat on his stomach, holding the garb together. He also sported white pants with dark brown under the knee boots - also with gold ents. Ganesha had Gold jewelry to further cement the image of a "showboat". His jewelry could be seen as a thick gold ne and armbands. He also wore gold-rimmed gauntlets. The God of the Masses had long, shaggy, ash-brown hair. He stood up proudly and introduced himself like always, "Yes! I am Ganesha!"


    He then turned to Kisuke and smiled ear to ear, "We finally met, Green Crusader: Gigolo Master!"


    Instead of getting pissed, however, Kisuke felt funny. Unlike the rest who emitted hostility, jealousy and malice, Ganesha was instead showing his admiration, albeit a little bit jealous. He thought that he was the kind of guy that was difficult to hate.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi also did some checking on him and he was a type of God that was very weird, but put more importance to the masses than himself. ''What an amusing guy.'', thought Kisuke as he smiled and greeted back, "It''s also a pleasure to finally meet the famous Ganesha-sama! The name''s Kisuke Urahara, nice to meet you."


    "Fuhahaha! Indeed! It is I, Ganesha! I''ve heard so much about you, Kisuke! And all I can say is��", Ganesha then put both of his hands on Kisuke''s shoulders, "I''m a big fan!�� I mean! You bastard! You better not be deceiving them!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi couldn''t help but chuckle at this amusing Deity, "I''m not and have no ns of doing that."


    Ganesha removed his hands and with a big smile, he nodded repeatedly, "Good, good, good. I hope we can get along!"


    "I do hope so too. I''m a big fan of Ganesha-sama, after all~."


    Ganesha''s eyes widened and startedughing out loud again, "Fuhahaha! Great! We should hang out sometimes! And maybe, you can teach me some of you tri--- Ehem! I mean talk about our daily lives and how we can help the people!"


    Hestia knew that these two wouldn''t stop talking, so she interrupted them, "So? Are we riding this?" The three gray wyverns alreadynded beside them.


    "Yep, I asked Ganesha for help." Hermes nodded in confirmation, "It''ll take over half a month to go there on foot, but this will only take 5 days!" He then muttered to himself, "I need to get back there as soon as possible, or Asfi won''t be happy��"


    Thanks to this, Kisuke and Yoruichi figured out that they wouldn''t be the only ones toplete this quest and adjusted some ns in their mind.


    "Fuhahaha! Don''t worry about these wyverns! We''ve tamed them since birth and they would listen to everyone! Though that also makes it easier to steal them! Fuhahaha!" Ganesha added.


    The group then started inspecting and bonding with the wyverns and confirmed Ganesha''s words of its docility. Yoruichi turned to Ganesha and said, "Ganesha-sama, are these all the wyverns?" She noticed that the saddles on the back of the wyverns were only designed for single person usage.


    "To be frank, I couldn''t gather enough of them!" Ganesha answered proudly.


    "So two have to ride together," Hermes added.


    It was then that Artemis suddenly approached Kisuke and looked straight into his eyes before saying, "Let''s ride together, Orion."


    Before he could reject her, however, Hermes suddenly interrupted, "Please grant her request, Kisuke-kun."


    Kisuke looked towards Hermes, who was making a serious expression, and then to Yoruichi who only nodded to him, leaving the decision to him,before looking back to Artemis, ''Does it have something to do with this spear?''


    A secondter, Kisuke came to a decision and smiled, "Alright~. Please take care of me."


    Artemis smiled happily and got ready to hop on.


    "Then I''ll be riding with Hestia-sama." Yoruichi assisted Hestia.


    "Are you fine with that?" Hestia whispered to her.


    "It seems like there''s a deeper meaning to it," Yoruichi whispered back.


    "Deeper meaning?"


    But instead of answering her, Yoruichi only said, "Please tell me about Artemis-sama during our trip."


    Hestia was still confused, but she nodded, "Okay."


    "So I guess I''m riding alone�� Talk about a lonely journey." Hermes could only sigh.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors argumentative corner:


    28th00: I bet I''ll have toe back for themas again�� I AM GANESHA is a pretty fun guy though~!


    Alexander: Well, sometimes he can be a bit annoying. But he definitely strikes me as the kind of guy, who makes the party go wild.


    28th00: He''s for the people after all. Fun fact, I dide back for themas, among other edits. They''re almost criminal in cement this time!

 Volume 8 492 - Buying a Favor

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 492 - Buying a Favor</h4>


    For the next three days, the group continued their journey uninterrupted. Although the scenery was breathtaking from the start, it started to lose its charm after looking at forest after forest. Hermes also prepared the supplies needed for the journey, so Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t bother taking out their own provision.


    One thing they also noticed was that Artemis never ate any food and they heard from Hermes that due to her Divinity, she didn''t need any sustenance like any normal Deities in the mortal world.


    During these three days of flight, as Kisuke and Artemis bonded and talked about various things, which resulted in them getting closer, Kisuke noticed some changes on the spear, ''Not just Mana, but it also started epting some of my Reiatsu-Ki? Interesting. Is this what Hermes is aiming for?''


    On the fourth day of their journey, something out of normal finally happened as Kisuke, Yoruichi and Artemis spotted a mother and daughter pair being chased by numerous scorpion type monsters, "Descend!" Artemis hurriedly shouted.


    Kisuke controlled the wyvern and approached the running pair while Artemis took out her bow and started shooting at the monsters with great uracy. Yoruichi controlled her wyvern, so that it went towards the direction of the running girls, to secure them.


    The scorpion type monsters were jet ck, with red-light running through their carapaces. These monsters were as long as an adult person and their pincers could easily grab someone''s waist and pinch them in half.


    Although Artemis was hitting the monsters with her bow and arrow, the rate of killing them was very slow and the monsters were slowly closing up to the pair. She then came to a decision and stood up, intending to dismount and go into closebat.


    However, before she could do so, Kisuke suddenly grabbed her cor, putting her back in her ce, "What are you doing!? They''re in danger!"


    "Yeah, I know. So take the reins. I''ll be dealing with them." Kisuke, without letting Artemis refute, suddenly passed her the reins and jumped down, "Kisuke! That''s dangerous!"


    Not minding her, Kisukended and took out his de while also inspecting the monsters, ''Now this is interesting�� It seems that their Mana is connected to a single source. It looks like a cheap imitation of the Dungeon.''


    He then started to decimate the monsters with just his swordsmanship.


    This scene startled and captivated Artemis. Although he was using strength and speed not any more than what she was capable of, the way he danced through the battlefield with his de was something that she couldn''t hope to achieve.


    Different from all the Adventurers she met in the past, and even her own children, this was the first time Artemis witnessed someone move so efficiently and beautifully, where normal Adventurers would just haphazardly use their skills, magic and brute force to kill the monster.


    A few minutester, Kisuke was able to annihte the monsters which threatened the mother and daughter pair. "Thank you very much for saving us!", said the mother while she bowed down to him.


    While Yoruichi, Hestia, Artemis and Hermes were disembarking from their wyverns, Kisuke crouched down to the daughter and patted her head, "Are you scared?"


    The kid shook her head and said, "I''m with mom!"


    Kisuke smiled, "That''s great~!" He then looked back towards the mother, "It seems that your daughter won''t have much problems. Though you should stay close to her for a while."


    "Thank you very much." The mother thanked him again with greater fervor.


    "That''s fine, but can you tell us what happened?" With everyone already around, Kisuke asked.


    The mother then exined what happened these past few days while Yoruichi entertained the daughter with the wyvern as part of post-stress relief, so that the experience wouldn''t leave any emotional scars on the kid.


    ording to the mother, it seemed that the monsters appeared a few days ago and started decimating viges after viges. Although there weren''t many casualties, as they were able to run away thanks to receiving the news about the first attack, they all lost their livelihood from the escape. The mother and daughter pair, in particr, got separated from the fleeing group and was about to rejoin them when the monsters started chasing them.


    "I''m sorry that I can''t be of much help. I don''t have any idea of what''s going on aside from that."


    After a few more questions, the group finally let go of the pair. As help, Artemis also gave them almost all of their food supply.


    After they left, Yoruichi finally asked Artemis, "It''s good to help people, but what are we going to do about the food? We only have a few pieces of bread left."


    "Eh? That won''t be a problem. I don''t need to eat." Artemis answered with an innocent face.


    Yoruichi could only do a facepalm after hearing her, "What about the rest of us? We need to eat��"


    Artemis'' eyes widened and she looked towards the rest of the group who nodded at her. Realizing her mistake, she immediately performed the greatest form of asking for forgiveness which she learned from Takemikazuchi, a dogeza, "I''m very sorry! Please forgive me!"


    "What the hell�� She''s way too naive��" Yoruichi muttered with a twitching mouth.


    Chuckling, Kisuke asked Hestia, "Is she really like this?"


    Hestia sighed and replied, "I also wonder how she ended up like this. Back in Heaven, she was so strict and cool that some were even afraid of her."


    "If somebody was to peep on her bathing, she would be like, ''Know your worth! You shameless swines!'', and hang them up for a few months up to a few years on the tallest tree in her domain. Though some people would still continue to peep on her, most of which were arranged by Hermes because he and his group liked being scolded by her."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi then gave Hermes, who was nodding to himself proudly, a dirty look, "Ah, good ol'' times~." He then proposed to the group, "Well, the sun''s going down. Let''s call it a day, stay here for tonight and leave in the morning."


    "W-what about the food?" Artemis asked.


    "We can skip it for today."


    "I''m really sorry!"


    Hestia then suddenly faced Kisuke, "How about you take it out now?"


    Hermes and Artemis looked at them with a confused expression.


    Kisuke only smiled and said, "Yes, yes. But we first have to find a good spot for the camp."


    A few minutester, the group found a good spot and Kisuke, from the bag that he took with him, started taking out a bunch of foodstuffs that you can only find in various parts of Orario.


    "W-what is that!?" Hermes stood up and asked in shock.


    "A little tool that can carry more things than usual," Kisuke exined simply while distributing food.


    "W-where did you get it?" Hermes asked again, ''If I can get this for Asfi, things would get a lot easier for them! And maybe, she''ll be able to replicate it!''


    Kisuke grinned at him and said, "I made it."


    "Y-you made it!?" Hermes was even more shocked, "So you have the ''Mystery'' Development ability?"


    "I don''t have any obligation to answer that," Kisuke replied.


    Hermes knew that he was about to step over the line with that question, so he backed out from interrogating him and instead asked, "How about you sell one to me? I''m willing to pay the price!"


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before giving a reply. He already figured out the connection between the ''spear'' and Artemis in front of him. He was already 90% sure that this wasn''t the real Artemis but she should be closely connected to the original.


    Thanks to that and the fact that they were now going on a monster subjugation quest, Kisuke came up with a few possibilities and a few of those were not so good. If one of those possibilities happens to be true, then during this journey, Hestia will surely figure it out and she would be asking for their help. Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t have any intention of staying deaf to any of Hestia''s pleas.


    "I can give it to you for free~." Kisuke gave Hermes an answer.


    Hermes knew that there was nothing more expensive than ''free'' so he asked, "What do you want?"


    "I just need a favor."


    "What favor?"


    "I couldn''t think of anything right now, so I want to save this favor for future use."


    "You know there''s no way I can agree to that."


    "I know. That''s why I''d like to limit this favor to something that will help Hestia-sama''s wellbeing. How about that?"


    Hestia was a bit surprised when it suddenly became a topic about her, but she thought that it was just Kisuke''s good gesture and smiled happily.


    Hermes stayed silent for a while before finally nodding his head, "Alright. If it''s about Hestia''s wellbeing, then I don''t mind."


    "Great. I''ll give you the bag to you once we''ve returned."


    During their talk, Artemis only stayed silent and stared at Kisuke. It was unknown what was on her mind.


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors


    Alexander: I''ve never seen the movie, but was Artemis really like this? Seems a bit forced to me, that she bes such an easy heroine.


    28th00: I didn''t see it either, but I assume it''s because she''s a wisp, a shadow of herself? She''s a fragment of a fragment, it''s kinda impressive she''s still sapient at all. She''s on a timer though. Favours for Bestia are obviously for the best. I don''t think that girl has a single malicious bone in her body. I think her epitome of evil would be to harass Loki with magical girl costumes�� Wait a second, that''s not evil, it''s diabolical!


    Goyya: Yeah, even in 1.5hour movie, within half of that time, Artemis already fell in love. I can only attribute it to her not having an experience and tried to push for it since her time is already limited. She wanted to experience love before she''s gone.

 Volume 8 493 - At what cost?

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 493 - At what cost?</h4>


    After their dinner, Yoruichi asked, "Isn''t it about time that you tell us what we''re supposed to defeat? It''s rted to those monsters we encountered earlier, right?"


    Hermes nodded and started speaking, "It all started with the confirmation of monsters in abnormal numbers. Many Familia''s were assigned to locate the source of the problem, but all of them disappeared without a trace."


    Hermes then looked towards Kisuke and continued, "All of them seem to have gone to this particr seal heritage site at the edge of thend, the Ruins of Elsus."


    "Ruin of Elsus, you say? The ce where the monster, Antares, is said to be sealed by great spirits of the past?" Kisuke asked.


    Hermes nodded, but instead of him, Artemis took over and continued, "A monster that rotted thend, tainted the sea and decayed the forest. It took the life out of every living thing. In ancient times, the monster was sealed away by the great spirits. They called it Antares."


    While looking at the bonfire, Artemis continued, "But it was regaining its power, gradually and quietly, in the deepest depths of the ruin�� After a long rest, it finally broke the seal."


    "The seal is broken, is it? Then the fact that this ''trip'' was approved by the Guild��" Yoruichi muttered.


    "It''s as you''ve guessed. Orario took this case seriously and asked my Familia to take this quest. I also met Artemis who was also on her way. Together, we went back to Orario to recruit more Adventurers." Hermes added.


    Yoruichi then continued, "Then, don''t you have a better chance to defeat it, if you recruit the stronger Familias instead of us? Remember, we''re just a bunch of Level 2s."


    In response, Artemis just shook her head, "It doesn''t matter." She then looked towards the spear on Kisuke''s back, "We cannot defeat Antares without the spear." Finally, she looked straight to Kisuke, "And the spear has chosen you."


    ''So in other words, this Antares can''t be defeated without the spear? But as far as monsters were concerned, all of them should be vulnerable to the residents of the Lower World no matter how strong it is. If this spear is really Artemis'' Divine Weapon and only by using it, we could defeat Antares, then that one possibility is almost set in stone.'' Kisuke then looked straight towards Artemis, ''Well, I''ll figure it out once I''ve seen this Antares.''


    Mistaking Kisuke''s expression as worry, Hermes tried to console everyone, "No need to worry! Everything is going to work out just fine with the legendary spear~! We have a long day ahead. Let''s go get some sleep."


    .


    .


    .


    During their night, Hestia and Artemis wanted to sleep together and talk about all sorts of things. At one point, their conversation went to Kisuke himself despite Hestia trying to avoid the topic, "So he just left you alone to tend to the shop?"


    "Yeah! He left me alone in his destitute shop where anyone hardlyes! I''m still wondering why he''s still running that shop when it''s always in the red!"


    Chuckling, Artemis replied, "Well, maybe he really likes running that business?"


    "Even running an always red business should have its limits! Though I really wonder why there are so few customers. The sweets are good, after all. I can''t think of any reason aside from Kisuke being cursed."


    "I-it''s that bad?"


    With a very serious expression, Hestia replied, "It''s that bad!"


    Artemis couldn''t help butugh as she imagined Kisuke''s situation. A few secondster, she suddenly said, "Still, I''m surprised that you decided to start your own Familia."


    With a smug face, Hestia replied, "They''re the greatest children I could ask for~!"


    "Hestia��"


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "How do you feel about Orion?"


    Thanks to that question, Hestia panicked and blushed as she tried to answer fast, "H-how!? Well�� I think he''s a very dependable and adorable child and um�� Honestly, he''s a bit more than that��"


    After finishing her words, Hestia covered her face with her nket. In all honesty, Hestia herself didn''t know how she really felt about Kisuke. At first, she never thought that it was possible, since Kisuke already had so many women beside him. However, as the two of them interacted and spent time together, Hestia learned how to have fun and started to enjoy hispany more and more.


    From the start, Hestia already warned herself to not to fall for the guy and always thought that it was actually impossible because, despite how she looks, she was very possessive and didn''t want topete with others for affection.


    However, these days, despite telling herself that this wasn''t right, Hestia didn''t know exactly what to think of Kisuke as sometimes, she would feel jealous when she saw him spoiling his girls and working hard behind the spotlight for their sake. Slowly, she also started to want the same thing.


    Although she wasn''t sure how she really felt or didn''t want to acknowledge it, she could be very sure of one thing, "��He''s someone very important to me."


    Artemis smiled gently, "I see." She then closed her eyes and continued, "I think I know why. I also feel a little strange when I''m with him."


    Hearing that, Hestia immediately sat up, "Eh!? What do you mean!?"


    Artemis answered calmly, "I don''t know how to describe this strange feeling."


    "K-Kisuke is in my Familia though!"


    Confused, Artemis said, "I know that."


    "Then you''re not supposed to feel that way!"


    "Why?"


    "B-because��" Hestia tried to think of an answer but failed, "Ah�� Just because!"


    "You used to not allow those feelings to get to you, Artemis!" Hestia added.


    "Is that right?"


    "Ugh�� You were so against romance before!" Hestia sighed, but she suddenly remembered something, "Artemis�� Where''s your Familia?"


    "They''re not here, but they''re waiting for my return��"


    Hestia already had a few suspicions regarding Artemis'' situation, but she couldn''t be sure. She was also sure that her current state was also due to her Familia. Hestia hugged Artemis and whispered, "You''ve changed��"


    "Maybe I have��"


    "Yes�� And we''re supposed to be unchanging Deities. But you''ve changed."


    At that point, Artemis didn''t speak another word and just turned off the light of the magicmp so that they could sleep. She then returned Hestia''s hug and closed her eyes while apologizing to her in her mind.


    Hermes, who was tied up to a tree by Artemis and Hestia silently eavesdropped on their conversation until they both went silent and the light disappeared. He then looked towards the moon before muttering, "Life is full of surprises��"


    "I do agree on that assessment." From the bushes, Kisuke suddenly emerged. But before he spoke up, he used magic, so that Artemis and Hestia wouldn''t be able to hear what they were talking about.


    Hermes was a bit surprised when Kisuke suddenly appeared, but he immediately sported a smile, "You''re still awake? Tomorrow will be a long day so it''s better to rest up early."


    "You don''t have to worry about me, Hermes-sama. I''m just wondering about a few things."


    "Oh? Is it about the topic that Artemis and Hestia were talking about just now? Hehe, you lucky bastard."


    "Lucky? I don''t know what you''re talking about. If it''s about eavesdropping them, I didn''t do it. I took care not to hear anything they talked about. It''s my respect for Hestia-sama."


    Hearing that, Hermes'' mouth twitched, "D-don''t make me look so bad�� Ehem�� Anyway, what were you wondering about? Maybe I could help you?"


    "I was just wondering about the spear''s real identity."


    Without hesitation, Hermes replied, "Real identity? It''s a legendary spear from ancient times that is capable of ying undefeatable monsters."


    "Is that so? And here I thought, instead of a spear, this thing sure looks like an erged arrow."


    "��" The smile on Hermes'' face disappeared, "If that is indeed that case, what are you going to do about it? There''s no changing that it''s needed to y Antares."


    Instead of a vague question, Kisuke suddenly went straight to the point, which caught Hermes a little off-guard, "And why is it Artemis-sama''s weapon?"


    With wide eyes, Hermes hurriedly looked towards the tent where Artemis and Hestia were resting. Specifically, he was a bit worried that Hestia heard Kisuke. "Please rest assured. I used magic so that they wouldn''t hear what we''re talking about. Although you just confirmed my suspicions.", said Kisuke suddenly with a grin.


    "Goddammit! I''ve been led on again? Just what the hell are you? I''m pretty confident with my negotiation skills and you just keep stepping ahead of me! You''re destroying my confidence here, you know!?" Hermes lost it.


    "I''m ttered with yourpliment~."


    Hermes could only sigh, "Whatever you''re wondering, you''ll get your answer once we''ve arrived. You don''t have to worry. It''s really possible to defeat Antares."


    "I''m not worried about that. But I guess you''re right that I''ll have my answers once we''re there." Kisuke then started walking away while muttering, "Really? At what cost do we need to kill that monster?"


    Hermes could only stay silent after hearing that.

 Volume 8 494 - A ‘Warm’ Welcome

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 494 - A ��Warm�� Wee</h4>


    The next morning, the group continued their journey while being strangely quiet. A few hourster, they went through a long and wide ravine, before reaching the area where the Ruin of Elsus was situated.


    As they got off the steep rocks, a silent and decaying forest came into their views, "What happened here?", muttered Hestia.


    Instead of green, the leaves of the trees were in a deep shade of purple with some of them even ckened, while the branches and trunks were dried up.


    "The forest�� It''s dead." Yoruichi replied to Hestia.


    Hearing the words, Artemis exined to them, "This is Antares'' handiwork." She then pointed towards a certain direction and said, "And that is the Ruin of Elsus."


    The group looked towards the direction she was pointing in and saw some stone buildings with a narrow tower in the middle of it.


    However, at that moment, a super high-pitched sound rang into everyone''s ears and Artemis suddenly clutched her chest in pain, "Artemis-sama?" Kisuke checked on her but couldn''t find anything wrong in that instant.


    The next second, Kisuke and Yoruichi suddenly felt some strange energy gathering above their heads and both of them looked up in a hurry before shouting, "Iing attack!"


    Streams of light manifested on top of them and started to drop down, "N-no way��" Hestia shuddered at the sight of those lights, as a certain possibility solidified in her mind. Thanks to Kisuke and Yoruichi''s awareness, they were able to dodge the attack. However, despite getting an early warning, Hermes failed to control his wyvern in time and was caught up.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi hurriedly followed the crashing wyvern and disembarked near it, "Hermes-sama~! You alive~?"


    "S-somehow��" Hermes replied, although his wyvern took a hit and wouldn''t be able to fly.


    "And? What was that light?", asked Yoruichi. Her question was intended for Artemis and Hestia.


    Hestia only stayed silent while Artemis replied but didn''t really answer the question, "I think it was me�� No, it''s the spear that it wanted."


    "So it''s Antares'' attack?" muttered Kisuke as he pulled out his sword to prepare for the growing number of monsters, which were surrounding them, "It''s the same kind of monster, but they''re evolved? Now that''s something."


    Different from what they encountered yesterday, the scorpion monsters now hadrger bodies and grew a single eye in front, which probably served as Antares'' eyes.


    Hermes panicked and hurriedly joined everyone as he couldn''t fight. However, he suddenly saw how Kisuke and Yoruichi took their weapon back, "What are you doing?"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t reply to him but he still got his answer a secondter, "Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler. Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else. Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy."


    A green silhouette then went above the group and released green glowing orbs towards the monsters surrounding them, "Luminous Wind!"


    The glowing orbs consisted ofpressed air and exploded on contact. They annihted the monsters around them, saving Kisuke and Yoruichi from the further effort of killing them.


    The green silhouettended and turned to them, "Are you alright?�� Hmm? Urahara-san."


    "Yo~. Fancy meeting you here, Lion-san~." Kisuke greeted her.


    Ryuu approached the group and continued, "I didn''t expect to meet you here. My assistance must have been useless."


    Kisuke shook his head, "Please don''t say that. Thank you for helping us." Kisuke then faced a certain direction where few more people wereing, "So the Hermes Familia hired you?"


    Ryuu nodded and confirmed it, "Yes. I''ve been asked to apany them in this troublesome quest." She turned in the same direction as Kisuke, "They are also here with me."


    Beyond the dead trees, several members of the Hermes Familia, led by Asfi, appeared. But instead of greeting the group, Asfi gritted her teeth towards Hermes as she approached him, "��Hermes-sama��"


    Hermes, who was about to escape, stopped his attempt when he heard his name. He turned towards her and said, "H-hey Asfi. Good to see ya!"


    But Asfi wasn''t buying any of that, "You''re such a blockhead!" She yelled to his face, "You went back to Orario, leaving us all behind in this ruin!"


    While raising both of his hands in surrender, Hermes tried to exin himself, "R-rx, Asfi. I needed to find the chosen hero for the spear."


    "That doesn''t justify your actions!" Asfi retorted. Ever since Hermes left, she had been worried about him, since he didn''t bring any bodyguard along.


    Coming to his rescue, Artemis spoke up, "Please let Hermes go for that one, Asfi."


    Hermes sighed in relief as Asfi left him alone and turned to Artemis, "Artemis-sama��"


    It was then, that she finally noticed who Hermes brought with him from Orario and who the chosen hero was, "I-it can''t be�� Kisuke Urahara�� You''re the one who pulled out the spear?"


    "It''s nice to see you again, Andromeda-san~." Kisuke greeted her.


    Asfi hoped that someone who could pull the spear out would be from a strong Familia, so that it would be easier for them. However, she rather prefered an obscure and weak Familia to pull it out than Kisuke, since it was already guaranteed by both Hermes and Artemis that whoever could wield the spear should be able to defeat Antares. Although Kisuke was strong, probably stronger than she imagined, Asfi didn''t like Kisuke very much. In fact, she was scared of him.


    After the incident on the 18th floor, Hermes immediately brought them to this ruin, after having a meeting with the Guild, as an additional penalty for bringing a Deity into the Dungeon. But while they were traveling, Asfi dedicated some of their members to investigate the origin of the Hestia Familia.


    However, the oue was less than satisfactory. Kisuke''s group came to Orario not long ago and because their group was eye-catching, it should be easy to trace where they came from. But the truth was far from that. Every vige nearby Orario where they could have stayed or resupplied was investigated, but not one of them witnessed Kisuke''s group. From this result, it would appear that Kisuke''s group suddenly surfaced in Orario without any sort of origin.


    Given the fact that Kisuke and his group really were just Level 2''s, ording to the Guild, yet could sneak up and intimidate a Level 4 like her, it scared her more than those who were actually stronger than her.


    "You preferred to have someone else pulling out that spear, right?" Kisuke suddenly broke her line of thought.


    Asfi shuddered and Hermes came to her rescue, "Now, now, Kisuke-kun. Please don''t bully Asfi-chan too much." He then turned to Asfi, "You too, Asfi. Don''t be too nervous. We''re here for Antares."


    Everyone from the Hermes Familia was confused at Asfi''s reaction, but they couldn''t ask about it now. Instead, they greeted Yoruichi since they were familiar with her as the one who saved them on the 24th floor against Olivas Act.


    "So, Asfi. What''s the situation?", asked Hermes.


    Asfi nodded at him and answered, "It''s getting progressively worse. Decay is spreading in the forest and the monsters'' numbers are only increasing. All viges in the area were attacked and razed."


    "How about the strike n?"


    "All ns ended in failure before the gate.", exined Asfi. ,


    "Gate?", asked Kisuke.


    "Yes. It''s blocking the path towards Antares." Ryuu answered.


    "You cannot open it?"


    Ryuu shook her head, "We''re not enough."


    "Then what''s the n?"


    "I can open it." Artemis suddenly answered.


    Everyone looked at her, but before anyone could ask any question, Hermes pped his hands to gather everyone''s attention and said, "Alright. Before anything else, let''s go to camp. There, we rest and n our next steps in greater detail."


    The Hermes Familia then led the group through the forest. As they went through the dead trees, Kisuke examined them in detail and figured that not just the Mana, but also the Ki was absorbed, ''A monster that is capable of utilizing Ki, huh��''


    Along the way, Hestia called out to Artemis and brought her away from the group, so that no one would be able to hear what they were about to talk about.


    Kisuke saw them going away and Hermes approached him, "Are you going to listen in this time?"


    Kisuke watched how Hestia confronted Artemis before replying, "No need. I can already guess what they''re talking about."


    "Then you''re already aware of what we''re asking you to do?", asked Hermes again.


    "Well, after all those clues, it was pretty easy to guess."


    "Hey, even with all those clues, it should still be hard toe up with the correct answer!", eximed Hermes before asking, "So? What''s the giveaway?"


    "The fact, that the weing attack, which we received, had the same aura as the arrow and Antares'' apparent interest in it, solidified the possibility in my mind."


    Hermes sighed at his answer, "I never thought that you could sense that much. That''s a Divine Weapon, you know? It should be almost impossible to sense its aura by those from the Lower World."


    Kisuke grinned at him, "It''s as you''ve said, it''s almost impossible. Too bad, I''m not included in that ''almost''."


    Hermes then turned around to follow Asfi towards the camp, "Either way, there''s nothing else we can do. But don''t mistake this as killing a Deity. In any normal situation, if you were to do that, you''d be punished."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything when Hermes left. Yoruichi approached him a few secondster with a question, "Are you going to do it?"


    With a smile, Kisuke replied, "Yep~, but not the way he''s expecting it~."


    "Just keep in mind that you''ll be revealing your real abilities to him."


    "No worries. I don''t n on showing him anything. He can guess, but he wouldn''t have any evidence. That''s the reason I asked for his favor."


    "I see. nning from the start, huh. Well, I''ll take care of Hestia-sama''s safety so you can keep your mind off that."

 Volume 8 495 - Peeping

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 495 - Peeping</h4>


    The group got to the Hermes Familia camp half an hourter. Ever since their private talk, Hestia had been spacing out and Artemis had a sad smile on her face.


    Kisuke didn''t know what they talked about in detail, but he could guess that Artemis already confessed to Hestia what the real situation is.


    "We set our base of operations here. It''s fine for now, but I''m not sure how much time we have left until the decay starts here too.", exined Asfi.


    After setting aside their luggage, the Pallum magician, Meryl Tear, approached Yoruichi and said, "Aren''t you guys exhausted from the long journey?" She pointed towards a certain direction and told them, "There''s a spring ahead where you can bath."


    Yoruichi patted the head of the small girl with a smile, "Really? Thanks for that~."


    "Psst�� Kisuke-kun!" Hermes, who was hiding in the bushes for some strange reason, called out to Kisuke discreetly, "Come over here~!"


    Being curious, Kisuke went towards him. But as he walked over, he also observed his surroundings. It was then that he noticed that the majority of the male members of the Hermes Familia were missing and he figured out what Hermes was aiming for, ''T-this guy�� He wouldn''t let go of any chances��''


    Hermes then dragged him to a small opening, where most of the missing members were currently sitting on the ground. They waited for another 15 minutes and every male member of the Hermes Familia was already present.


    It was then, that Hermes started riling them up, "Today, you will be a legend!"


    "Listen closely! Up ahead is a paradise filled with beautifuldies! Asfi and the rest are cleaning off their sweat with nothing covering their bodies!"


    Kisuke could hear some of them gulping.


    Hermes then closed his eyes and clenched his fist, "And Artemis�� No one has ever seen the renowned Goddess of Purity without her clothes on. Even the Gods haven''t!"


    Finally, Kisuke''s interest had been piqued, ''Really no one?''


    Hermes then slowly opened his eyes and continued, "My dream was shattered once! But my soul is telling me to never give up! And now I have friends. Friends with the same dream and goal. That''s you guys!"


    Some of the guys even started sniffling and Kisuke couldn''t help but think, ''What a funny bunch.''


    "There will be challenges that we must conquer. But know this, when we ovee the hardships, our names will be remembered for ages!"


    "Stand up, children! To be true heroes!"


    Everyone then simultaneously cheered, "Wooo!!! Wooo!!!"


    ''These adorable idiots. All the girls in the camp have already heard you.'', thought Kisuke.


    "Heaven, bear witness to our plight! And bless the fearless warriors with a victorious future! FOLLOW ME!" Hermes led everyone with great fervor towards the spring, where the girls were bathing.


    And just as Kisuke expected, a few minutes after they sortied, all of them were caught without being able to take a single peek on anyone''s naked body.


    "I knew this was bound to happen!" Asfi sighed, as she fixed the white towel which she wrapped around her body beforehand.


    "Men are a bunch of idiots.", added Lulune.


    But what destroyed them the most, were some simple words from Meryl, "You all are perverts."


    It was then, that Ryuu noticed something, "Where''s Urahara-san?"


    Asfi shuddered, ''If he''s here, then I have no way of stopping him��''


    "Probably somewhere around us?" Yoruichi replied to Ryuu.


    Hermes, who was hanging from the waterfall, because he was the one who initiated all of this, suddenly shouted, "Go! Kisuke-kun! Leave us and seize the victory!"


    "Victory?" Asfi muttered, "Wait�� Where''s Artemis-sama and Hestia-sama?"


    "Hestia-sama is already resting. As for Artemis-sama, she insisted on taking a bath alone, so she''s probably in one of the other parts of the spring.", answered Yoruichi calmly.


    "Why are you so calm? Aren''t you his wife?", asked Asfi.


    "Whatever he does, I trust him." Yoruichi then went back to the camp to check on Hestia.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke did indeed sneak around, so that he could go to Artemis. But him peeking on her, wasn''t motivated by lust, but by the sense of achievement and curiosity towards the unknown. A naked body of a very prominent Goddess which no one has ever seen before? Of course he would try to take a look at it, if he was given a chance!


    Kisuke finally achieved what countless Gods and mortals couldn''t achieve. As he took a look, he couldn''t deny the fact that Artemis had a great figure. Much better than a certain Goddess of Beauty in his opinion, because Artemis gave off a gentle feeling, contrary to the oppressive feeling which the Goddess of Beauty had. ,


    He then saw Artemis lifting her arm towards the moon.It became transparent for an instant and he thought,, ''So she doesn''t have that much time left either.'' Achieving his goal, Kisuke decided to show himself just for the sake of it.


    While stepping forward, Kisuke deliberately stomped on a twig, creating a sound, loud enough for Artemis to notice.


    Immediately covering her body with her arms, Artemis turned towards the sound, "Who''s there!?"


    With a cheeky grin, Kisuke replied, "Good evening, Artemis-sama~. I''m here to peek on you~!"


    Artemis was stunned to the point that she almost forgot that she was still naked. A few secondster, due to theck of responses she could make, thanks to his ridiculous words, she asked him, "Why?"


    "Because I heard that no one has ever sessfully peeked on you~!", answered Kisuke honestly.


    She was stunned yet again, but this time, she noticed something. Unlike the gazes thatnded previously on her, even though there was still a bit of lust present in Kisuke''s eyes, it was more of an appreciation of beauty. Artemis also couldn''t feel any vulgar intent from Kisuke, which she found impossible, unless he didn''t like women. But she knew for sure that he had a wife and even several lovers.


    ''A man that isn''t taken by my naked body? Does a man like that truly exist?'', thought Artemis.


    However, before Artemis could say anything back, Kisuke suddenly turned around and said, "Now that I''ve achieved my goal, I''ll leave. I''ll also apologize to youter and you can punish me by then." Waving his hand, Kisuke started walking away.


    "Pfft�� Ahahaha." Artemis suddenly startedughing, "Wait�� Ah, but please don''t turn around."


    Kisuke stopped walking and he heard Artemis getting off the water. A few minutester, Artemis called out to him again, "Done."


    Kisuke turned towards her and asked, "Do you want to say something?"


    Artemis shook her head, "No�� I just want us to chat for a while."


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment, before he manifested a magic circle that connected to his inventory and took a set of tables and chairs out of it.


    Startled by this, Artemis asked him, "How are you doing that?"


    "Magic~," Kisuke answered as he also took out some tea.


    "So magic hase this far."


    Both of them sat down and Artemis took a sip of the tea, "Hmm�� Delicious."


    "Thank you for yourpliment."


    Artemis went back to the original topic, "You''re lucky, you know? If it was the old me back in Heaven, I''d have shot you through with my arrow."


    "So what Hestia-sama told us was the truth. But I do apologize for peeking. The fact that no one has ever done that tickled my fighting spirit."


    Artemis stood up and went back towards the water. She then started ying on the shallow part using her feet, "I ept your apology, but I must say, that''s the strangest peeking experience I''ve ever had."


    "Is that so? Then is it fine to ept that as apliment?"


    While chuckling, Artemis answered him, "Right. As strange as it was, it wasn''t an unpleasant experience, so you can." She then sighed, "I envy Hestia a bit, since you''re her child. But I''m also happy for her. She must be having fun every day."


    "How was Hestia-sama back in Heaven?"


    "Let''s see, the Hestia I knew was quitezy and used to ck off a lot."


    "I''m relieved that we know the same, Hestia."


    "Ahaha, so she hasn''t changed." Artemis looked up to the moon before continuing, "She used to stay inside her temple quite a lot. And whenever I visited her, she lit up like an excited puppy with a new toy."


    "I can imagine that."


    .


    .


    .


    While Kisuke and Artemis were talking, Yoruichi followed Hestia, who took the spear and went towards the nearby stream, ''Does she intend to throw that away?'' But instead of stopping her, Yoruichi only waited as another person wasing.


    "Hestia." A wet Hermes suddenly approached and startled Hestia, "What are you doing here alone?"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    28th00: I do wonder what Hestia is doing~? All is forgiven, for she is Smol and Squishy. She has to be going through some insane emotional turmoil though, her best friend is effectivelymitting assisted suicide through one of her children, and that''s a really big deal. Even for Gods, dying for tens of thousands of years at the minimum is a VERY long time, especially if they don''te back the same.


    Alexander: Hestia doesn''t have to worry about Artemis. Kisuke won''t let the spear get away from him. It''s hispensation after all. So Artemis is already safe, since shees as a pair with her weapon. Though that technically means that she''ll alsoe into his possession. Hurray for the new maid.


    And 28th00, don''t you dare to correct my writing, when I haven''t even read over it again.


    28th00: But that''s my job!? I thought thepensation was saving Hestia from tragedy? We don''t leave our Loli''s behind in tragedy! Phis-chama~! We''reing for you~!


    Alexander: I''m the kind of guy, who changes his written sentences several times. I take different approaches until I''m satisfied.


    Saving Hestia''s friend is the goal in order to let Hestia stay happy and the spear is thepensation. After all, Kisuke is not a selfless hero.

 Volume 8 496 - Rejection

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 496 - Rejection</h4>


    "I''m just taking a walk��", replied Hestia to Hermes.


    "I see. You''re taking a walk with a spear which you cannot even wield?" Hermes added.


    Hestia hurriedly hid the spear behind her, but Hermes could only see this futile attempt as incredibly naive. He then walked towards the edge of the stream and watched the waterfall, "Are you sure that you don''t want to search for Kisuke-kun? He could be with Artemis, just him and her, together." ,


    "You''re one to speak. As if you didn''t intend for that to happen��" Hestia muttered.


    Sighing, Hermes exined, "The stronger their bond bes, the more powerful the spear gets." He then peeked at Hestia, "You already knew about that, right, Hestia?"


    Hestia gritted her teeth, "Does it really have to be done by this spear!?"


    "It must."


    Hestia started to tear up, "There has to be another way! We just need to work it out together! And then, we''ll-"


    However, Hermes interrupted her, "Hestia!"


    Hestia shut up.


    "We''re out of time and options��"


    Hestia dropped down to her knees and cried, "But�� Artemis is so different�� She''s so different from before�� and it''s just too cruel for her��" Hestia actually liked this kind of cheerful Artemis. Even though she knew that she would never act this way back in Heaven, she also knew that her real personality was still there and that she just opened up. In hindsight, Artemis didn''t change, but just discovered her new self. Hestia didn''t want this to be the end for her best friend.


    Hermes crouched down in front of Hestia and said, "So that''s why you tried to throw the spear away?" Smiling gently, Hermes added while putting his feather hat on her head, "You have a good heart, Hestia."


    While Hestia was crying on the ground, Hermes stood up and revealed, "Also, it seems that Kisuke-kun was already aware of what he needed to do."


    Hestia was startled and hurriedly looked towards Hermes, "He is!?"


    "Yep. He was able to guess it with clues that shouldn''t be applicable to the people of the Lower World. It was honestly surprising.", replied Hermes.


    It was then, Hestia finally remembered what sort of person Kisuke was. Recalling all the impossibilities he had done until now, it finally urred to her that Kisuke might have a way to save Artemis. Hestia immediately stood up, "Kisuke�� Where''s Kisuke!?"


    Hermes was surprised at Hestia''s sudden outburst, "H-he should be with Artemis�� What''s wrong?"


    "I must find him!", replied Hestia.


    "You''ll be able to find him if you follow the path along the stream.", Yoruichi appeared from the shadows and pointed towards a certain direction.


    Hestia looked towards her and nodded vigorously before bolting off. She wasn''t surprised that Yoruichi suddenly appeared as she was already used to it.


    Being ditched, Hermes was even more surprised, "What the hell was that about?"


    "Maybe she thought of a possible way to save her best friend?", replied Yoruichi with a chuckle.


    "How long have you been listening?"


    "From the beginning, after all, I have to protect Hestia-sama at all times in this dangerous ce."


    "From the start, huh�� And what do you mean when you say, that she found a possibility?"


    Instead of answering, Yoruichi turned her back towards him and left, "I have no obligation to answer that."


    Hermes didn''t follow her as he tried to think about her words and Hestia''s reactions, ''Did they find a way? But that''s impossible. It was only until recently that we discovered this problem. Even Zeus could only scratch his head at this. It''s a different story if they still had time, but if we don''t solve it now, the possibility of Antares bing a Deity, although not much, increases.''


    He then looked towards the moon and thought, ''One thing is for sure though, we have to finish it off tomorrow or it''ll be able to wield the power of a God here in the Lower World�� Dammit! Just why is there such a loophole in the system!?''


    .


    .


    Kisuke and Artemis had fun talking about Hestia and their experiences in Heaven. Thanks to that, Kisuke was able to understand not just Hestia, but also Artemis.


    "We shared our times of happiness and sadness. Hestia was always there for me. She was full of love and I admired her.", Artemis finished her story.


    Since it wouldn''t be fair if Kisuke doesn''t say anything, he nodded at her words and added, "I also like Hestia-sama quite a bit. Thanks to her, we were able to find a good ce, a ce that we could call our home. I also learned a lot just from interacting with her. Although she looks and acts like a child most of the time, her wisdom let us pass through some difficult and confusing times."


    Artemis smiled happily at those words but her smile also soon disappeared, "I''m sorry for involving you. I will have to ask you to make a difficult decision."


    Kisuke then stood up, "It''s fine. You''re Hestia-sama''s friend so it''s my pleasure to help and protect you. Although it''s against my policy and belief to say that I''m sure everything is going to be fine, I can at least promise you that I''ll give my best effort to achieve that goal. Besides, it''ll be me who decides whether it''s a hard decision or not."


    Artemis smiled, "I want to think of you as a hero, but I can''t. You''re different from those in the legends."


    "Well, I''d also hate to think of myself as a hero, too. I don''t think that I can save the whole world as charity."


    "I see�� You''re not a hero. You''re far from one. But nevertheless, you''re dependable." Artemis also stood up from her seat and continued, "I can understand why Hestia is so happy and rxed around you. I guess it wouldn''t be strange to think that she developed some feelings for you."


    Kisuke could only stay silent at that.


    Artemis then walked towards the shallow water while speaking, "And although it might anger some Gods, the fact that you don''t put them on a pedestal is a great thing for me and Hestia, who are longing for a genuine connection and rtionship."


    Still, Kisuke only kept his silence.


    Not minding his silence, Artemis continued, "I used to despise romance and forbid the love between man and woman. But one day, my children told me that love is amazing."


    Artemis then slowly raised her right hand towards Kisuke with a longing expression, "I think, I know what they meant by that now." With a gentle smile, she asked, "Will you gift me with a dance?"


    Any normal man would have gone with the flow and epted Artemis'' hand, however, Kisuke was far from normal and instead of epting it, Kisuke only shook his head, "I do believe that love is amazing. After all, I''ve experienced it first hand. However, I don''t think that your love born from desperation is as amazing as that."


    Artemis'' eyes widened.


    "I''m not saying that your love is inferior, it''s just that for me, love prospers through many trials and a sudden infatuation doesn''t have the quality of the amazing love you''re talking about." Kisuke then looked straight to Artemis'' eyes, "So it doesn''t have to be now. Down the road, you may find the one destined for you and by then, I can guarantee that it''ll be amazing. Please save that dance for that person."


    After saying all of that, Kisuke left.


    Artemis didn''t recover for a few minutes and when she was able to, she could only put her hand down and look towards the moon with a wry smile, "So this is a rejection�� I don''t like it." She then recalled his words again, "Save this dance for that person, huh�� I wish I had that kind of chance. Even if I were to survive, it''ll be a different me once I wake up and I wouldn''t be able to remember all of this." A single tear then went through her cheeks, "I really don''t like it�� Just when I was able to experience something like this��"


    .


    .


    Along the way, after leaving Artemis to herself, Kisuke came across a wheezing Hestia, "K-Kisuke!!!"


    "Hmm? What''s wrong, Hestia-sama? And what''s with that face? Did something bad happen? Who made you cry? Please tell me and I''ll make him cry ten times louder and a hundred times longer.", said Kisuke as he took out a handkerchief and wiped off her sweat and tears.


    Hestia was very happy about his concern but she couldn''t enjoy it now, "Kisuke! Please save Artemis!"


    Kisuke grinned at her and answered, "Consider it done~."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    28th00: See, Bestia-sama? All you had to do was ask~! Artemis getting rejected is pretty nice to be honest, since this is some HARDCORE suspension bridge effect and soulpatibility, her affection doesn''t really have any foundations at all�� Even Medusa who was in a simr situation had far more foundation for a rtionship (repaying a debt to her saviour and the one to save her sisters souls is a pretty big deal for her.) since she didn''t try to do anything besides be a Maid. I wonder if that''s her fetish? Altoria is a Maid�� The King of Maids even, so Medusa having a closet maid fetish like Grayfia (even if that''s definitely not a hidden fetish after centuries.) does make sense�� Maids in the Nasuverse are pretty metal.


    Alexander: Onest-minute rescue? You''re lucky Bestia, the first customer this week get''s one for free!

 Volume 8 497 - Attacking the Ruin

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 497 - Attacking the Ruin</h4>


    "Fueh!?" Hestia was startled at his immediate response, "Y-you have a way?"


    "I don''t have the exact method right now since I still have to see this Antares, but I''m already very clear with Artemis-sama''s situation and I only need to adjust some of my ns, depending on the situation. Besides, if Artemis-sama were to disappear, the spear would disappear too, right? Heck no! That''s mypensation! I won''t allow them to run away without paying me for my efforts!" Kisuke clenched his fist as he dered.


    Hestia stared at him for a moment before resuming her cries, "Uwaah!!! Thank goodness!!!"


    Kisuke caught Hestia as she dived in his arms and started patting her head, "I''ll do my best to help Artemis-sama. You don''t have to worry about her disappearing before you. I''ll make sure that you''ll still be able to have fun with her for the next century or more."


    Those words offort were the things that she wanted to hear the most. And because of that, her cries became even worse, but instead of the sorrowful cry that she showed to Hermes, Hestia was now crying tears of relief.


    A few minutes of cryingter, Hestia fell asleep in his arms. It was then that Yoruichi came out from her hiding spot and Kisuke said, "Please sleep with her for tonight."


    Yoruichi got the sleeping Hestia from Kisuke and asked, "What are you going to do?"


    "Inspect the spear in greater detail. I want to make sure our chances are as high as possible."


    "I see. Please rest after you''re done." Yoruichi then left Kisuke alone.


    .


    .


    A few hours before sunrise, everyone was gearing up to attack the Ruins of Elsus. In the middle of it all was Artemis who''d be leading the attack, "As you already know, this ruin became a den of monsters. Antares is still concentrating its power, waiting for us."


    "There''s no doubt that we''ll face great difficulties before we achieve our goal. But never surrender! Never fear! Defeat is not an option!" As she finished her words, everyone was already ready and lined up in front of her.


    Nodding to everyone, Artemis continued, "Here is how this''ll go. The Hermes Familia will act as a decoy. Since your group will berge in number, the enemy monsters will concentrate on you. Just lure them out and avoid any danger."


    "Understood!", answered everyone simultaneously.


    Artemis then looked towards one of the members of the Hermes Familia, "Falgar."


    "Yes."


    "You lead the cohort."


    "Understood."


    Artemis nodded at him and turned her attention towards Kisuke, Yoruichi, Ryuu and Asfi, "We''ll enter the ruins while the enemy''s attention is drawn to the feint attack. That''s when we''ll defeat Antares."


    "We?" Asfi asked.


    "The gate cannot be opened without my Divine power. So I''ll be going too." Artemis exined.


    "If you''re going, then I''m going too." From another tent, Hestia appeared and approached Artemis, "I can''t let you go alone."


    Then Hermes also appeared from the other side, "Then, I should join too!"


    "W-wait! Hermes-sama! You can''t just do that!",ined Asfi immediately.


    In response, Hermes justughed it off and patted her head, "Ahahaha! You already knew this was bound to happen."


    With a crying face, Asfi muttered, "��Not again��"


    Everyone from the Hermes Familia then startedughing at the familiar scene which made them being more at ease.


    Kisuke then suddenly pped his hands and gathered everyone''s attention, "Alright~! Enough of that. We''ve got to change some of those ns."


    Artemis looked at him with confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"


    "Well, we''re already surrounded~!" Kisuke revealed as if it had nothing to do with him at all.


    "What!?", eximed Asfi and checked the surroundings. And indeed, after looking around, she saw some of the scorpion monsters approaching them in the distance, "Since when?"


    "That''s not important. What is important is that we have to adjust our timing. Well, nothing will really change. We just gotta finish a little earlier." Kisuke took out his de and started walking in the direction of the ruin.


    "That''s what he said~." Yoruichi also took out her daggers and went beside Hestia.


    Everyone from the Hermes Familia started intercepting the iing monsters. Although a little bit earlier than nned, as Kisuke said, nothing really changed. "Asfi! We''ll take care of things here! Go do what you must do!", shouted Falgar as he cleaved one of the monsters in front of him.


    Asfi nodded at him and said, "Alright. Be careful!" She then started running towards the direction where Kisuke had gone, "Let''s go!"


    Everyone who''d be attacking Antares followed her suit.


    But as the group went after Kisuke, Asfi, Ryuu, Artemis, and Hermes couldn''t help but be startled. Not even half a minute went by after Kisuke went ahead, but instead of catching up to him, all they could see in his path were magic stones, and it wasn''t a small amount either.


    "So fast��" Ryuu muttered.


    "We really can''t underestimate him.", added Asfi.


    After traveling for about two hundred meters and crossing a bridge, they got out of the forest and reached the Ruin of Elsus. There they finally saw Kisuke, who was walking around the entrance as if he was some kind of tourist.


    "Ah, you''rete~!" Kisuke waved at them with a smile. ,


    "You''re too fast!", retorted Asfi, "How were you not slowed down by those monsters!?"


    "Well, you just gotta swing your sword while running. Save''s a bunch of time, I guarantee it~."


    ''No way that it was that simple!'' Asfi gritted her teeth and chose not to say anything. She then sighed and calmed down, knowing that she couldn''t actually do anything against him, and thinking out his methods would only hurt her head. So she spared herself from suffering and just examined the ruin along with him.


    The group entered the tunnel leading to the ruin. In between the bricks, which made up the tunnel, was an illuminating substance. "Magic power?", asked Yoruichi.


    "It''s the light of the seal.", exined Artemis to them, "Activated by my kindred spirits. You can even say that they''re my oldest children."


    "I see. So the one who gave blessing to the great spirits who sealed Antares was you.", added Kisuke after seeing the theme on the engravings around the ruin which revolved around the Goddess of Bow and Moon.


    "��Yes."


    "So that''s why we needed your Divine power to enter the deepest ce.", said Yoruichi.


    Thanks to her words, Ryuu and Asfi finally realized why they needed Artemis to open the sealed gate. However, they didn''t say anything and just continued to walk, while watching their surroundings for potential enemy attacks.


    A few minutester, the group reached the sealed gate. In the middle of this gate was an insignia that signified an arrow and the moon as a bow.


    Artemis silently stepped forward and touched the insignia, before pouring her Divine power in it. The sealed gate started to creak as it opened and revealed the other side which startled everyone.


    Beyond the gate was not the expected stone wall and ceiling, but walls and ceiling made out of what seemed to be flesh. Hanging from it were something like eggs, and they expected that monsters would being out from them.


    "What the hell happened here?", asked Asfi in confusion.


    Gritting her teeth, Artemis answered her, "Antares is infesting the temple."


    Hermes touched his hat and his expression became grave, "It''s worse than what we expected."


    But as they looked around, the fleshy wall and floor suddenly extended behind them and sealed their path, "The exit is��!?"


    Kisuke pulled out his de and gave them instructions, "Andromeda-san, please focus on protecting Hermes-sama. Lion-san, please assist Artemis-sama." He didn''t need to give instructions to Yoruichi since she already knew what she had to do.


    "What about you?", asked Ryuu.


    "I''m going to go ahead and clear the path. Don''t fall behind." Since they were far from the Dungeon and because he already nned to show a bit of his strength, Kisuke didn''t need to hold back that much anymore.


    Ryuu was about to cite her concern about his safety and intended to take his role, when Kisuke suddenly disappeared from his spot and reappeared a few tens of meters away. Everyone was shocked at his speed. But the most shocking was, that all of the monsters between his former spot and the ce where he was standing right now were bisected. They didn''t know what just happened and wanted some answers.


    But instead of answering their confusion, Kisuke''s voice rang out again, "I won''t be repeating myself, don''t fall behind." He then moved by another tens of meters and bisected another hoard of monsters.


    Of course, the first one to move out was Yoruichi who was already carrying Hestia on her back. As she passed the others, she reminded them, "Get going!"


    Hermes hurriedly got on Asfi''s back andmanded, "Asfi! It''s not the time to daydream! Let''s go!"


    "Y-yes!" Asfi then started running after Yoruichi.


    Ryuu faced Artemis and said, "Artemis-sama, the path is cleared of monsters. Please get on my back, so that we can catch up to them."


    Artemis had already recovered her bearings and nodded at Ryuu before jumping on her back, "Let''s not fall behind."


    Since there were no monsters to stop them, the group immediately reached the deepest part of the ruin. And what they thought would be a great challenge, became a breeze thanks to Kisuke.


    However, not everything went okay because as they approached where the Antares was supposed to be sealed, Artemis kept getting weaker and weaker, to the point that it was already hard for her to walk at a normal pace.

 Volume 8 498 - Artemis’ Request

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 498 - Artemis�� Request</h4>


    At some point, the group reached the innermost part of the ruin. There, they met a giant scorpion-like monster which was connected to the fleshy walls, absorbing the surrounding vitality in the middle of a room with a big hole in the ceiling, revealing the night sky.


    "That''s Antares?", muttered Asfi.


    As the monster came into view, Artemis'' couldn''t take it anymore and fell to her knees. "Artemis!", shouted Hestia and ran towards her.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi, however, only gave Antares a passing nce as they looked up to the hole in the ceiling. From there, they could see a second moon and both of them made a dignified expression. ''Now that looks dangerous��'', Kisuke thought.


    The second crescent moon, instead of a real moon, it was a densely drawn magic circle that created the shape of a moon high above the atmosphere. [Kisuke, I just received a message that Kuroka and Medusa already evacuated the three girls to the second base and deployed defensive barriers.], Kisuke was told by Yoruichi, when he received a telepathic message from her.


    [Great. Please tell Kuroka to keep guarding the three, while Medusa should go watch the situation in Orario.], Kisuke replied to her. Since Kuroka and Medusa used long-distance telepathic magic, which should only be used in times of emergency, he figured that something big was happening in Orario right now, more specifically, the Dungeon, ''Since that moon is pure Divine power, the Dungeon should have reacted in some way.''


    As for the second base, it was another underground base that Kisuke constructed under the ce where they stayed before they went to Orario. Although they could activate defensive barriers on their base in Orario, it was too close to the Dungeon and there were too many Gods who could notice its activation. Hence, he thought that it would be better to evacuate to a farther ce first since it would be more secure.


    [Got it. There''s also another thing. It seems that the Guild prohibited any Adventurer from leaving Orario since the moment we left for this quest. They already expected this to happen.], added Yoruichi.


    .


    .


    .


    This all started after a few people who were still awake or on night duty, noticed the peculiarity of the night sky. A second moon had appeared. This woke up the sleeping citizens of Orario. They viewed this bizarre scene and most of them, understandably, were scared of a new heavenly body forming out of nowhere.


    While a few prominent Adventurers noticed that the moon wasn''t a real moon, but a group of magic circles, they could do nothing about it. ,


    An hourter, the Dungeon was suddenly shaking and monsters started to escape from it. In response, the Guild resounded the rm throughout the city, calling allbatants to join the battle against the rampaging monsters.


    Meanwhile, Loki stormed the Babel tower and went up to the top floor to get a better view of the moon, "What in the world is going on!?", Loki asked the owner of the top floor.


    While sitting on her chair and calmly swirling her wine, Freya answered her, "Arcanum. And that''s�� Artemis'' arrow. The strongest arrow of Heaven, fired by the Goddess of Innocence."


    "I already know that!" Loki retorted, "We can''t use that nonsensical power in this world. It''s not even funny! If Artemis used her power, she''d be already sent back to Heaven!"


    "Unless�� Something is binding her here.", Freya replied.


    Loki could only grit her teeth, "That old-geezer Ouranos�� He knew exactly what was going to happen and locked us inside!" Loki then started running towards the exit.


    Freya was able to guess what she was thinking and stopped her from leaving, "There''s no point. Even if all the Deities in Orario were to unite, we wouldn''t be able to stop that much power."


    "I don''t give a sh*t! Even so, we''re the only ones who can end this!", shouted Loki and left the top floor.


    Freya closed her eyes and a few secondster, she muttered, "Ottar."


    The bulky man, who had been standing beside her all this time answered, "Yes, ma''am."


    "Go.", was Freya''s simplemand.


    Ottar understood that Freya wanted him to assist the effort to stop the monsters from leaving the Dungeon. But, because he was her guard, he had to ask her, "Are you sure?"


    Freya opened her eyes and answered him, "Yes. I can only leave the rest in their hands." Thanks to the eyes and ears, which she had on the Guild, she knew exactly what effort was currently taking ce to stop Artemis. While narrowing her eyes, she thought, ''Nevertheless, I can now be sure that Kisuke Urahara, and probably those girls around him, are hiding their souls from my eyes. I thought that Bell would be chosen without any doubt, but this obscure man suddenly stole the spotlight. After all, Divine weapons, although just a fraction, can only be used by those with a pure and strong soul.''


    An instantter, a small smile appeared on her face, ''I wonder what I should do next. I still haven''t forgotten when he lied about attraction in front of me.''


    The Loki Familia led the defense effort and directly went towards the 15th floor to meet the first wave of the rampaging monsters. "It''ll be the worst-case scenario if monsterse to the surface.", shouted Finn, while watching the iing wave of monsters, "Stand up now! This is the city for us, Adventurers! We cannot allow a single monster to enter! We have one goal! To protect the city!"


    With his signal, all the top executives of the Loki Familia rushed towards the monsters.


    .


    .


    On the other side, while having some difficulties breathing, Artemis pleaded, "You must defeat it�� Please, Orion."


    At that moment, Antares'' screech rang out as the carapace armor in its chest opened up and revealed a crystal.


    The two people who weren''t expecting the current situation shuddered. "Is that��?", asked Ryuu with widened eyes.


    "Is that even possible?", wondered Asfi who, on the other hand, questioned reality.


    In the middle of the crystal was a frozen woman, another Artemis.


    Antares screeched one more time, but this time, instead of doing nothing, the crystal where the second Artemis was confined lit up and a purple beam rose up to the sky, hitting the second moon. A few secondster, beams of white light started raining down from it.


    It was the same attack that weed the group when they arrived in the vicinity, however, it was now more numerous and each light carried more destructive power. Yoruichi immediately grabbed Hestia, while Kisuke grabbed the unmoving Artemis and the rest started dodging the iing destruction.


    But it seemed that more attacks were aimed at Kisuke and Artemis than the rest so he had to separate from them, ''It''s attracted by both the arrow and Artemis''.


    Ryuu and Asfi were sessful in safeguarding Hermes as they were able to retreat towards the exit of the room, along with Yoruichi and Hestia.


    After everything had settled down, Asfi finally had time to ask Hermes, "Please exin! Why does Antares, a monster, have the power of an Arcanum!?"


    "Because Artemis was devoured.", answered Hermes.


    Hestia could only look down in pain. Although she already expected this, it was still hard for her to see and hear it in person.


    "T-then who''s the Artemis-sama who was with us all this time?"


    Hermes turned towards her and continued answering, "She''s only a consciousness left in the spear. In other words, just a fragment of a Goddess. She''s Artemis, but not all of her."


    Looking toward the room where Antares was, Hermes added, "Antares consumed her Divine power, and with it can twist the world to fit it."


    "Is that even possible? A monster taking over the power of a Deity?", asked Yoruichi this time.


    "Even among the monsters, Antares is special and could be considered as strong as the monsters of the Three Great Quests, if not stronger."


    "Although it''s in a weakened state, it still has the powers of a Deity. We have no way of winning!", eximed Ryuu.


    Hermes shook his head, "That''s why we told you that only with the spear, we could defeat it. That''s the only way we could defeat it."


    "Just what is that spear?", asked Asfi.


    But before Hermes could answer, Yoruichi urged everyone, "We''ll listen to it while we run. We have to regroup with Kisuke and Artemis-sama as soon as possible. I can feel them on the lower floor. Let''s go." She then started running in a certain direction.


    Everyone looked at each other before nodding and following her lead.


    .


    .


    .


    Below the floor where Antares was resting, Kisuke gently set down the already very weak Artemis as he inspected his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the corpse of several girls on the floor.


    Artemis did her best to stand up and approached one of the girls. "They are?", asked Kisuke.


    As she crouched down and gently touched the face of a red-haired girl, Artemis answered him, "My children. All I could do was watch. Watch the monster that had consumed me, murder my children�� Murder them with my own hands��" Gently smiling, Artemis softly muttered, "I''m back."


    She then stood up and looked towards Kisuke with a sad smile, "Are you not curious why and how I''m standing before you?"


    "Nope. Not really. I already knew it, after all." Kisuke then went towards the corpses and started picking them up one by one, lining them up on the side of the wall.


    "What are you doing?"


    "They need a proper funeral. I''m also worried that their bodies would be damaged by the uing fight." Thanks to therge amount of Ki and Mana that Antares had gathered from the surroundings, the bodies of the girls had hardly decayed. Kisuke used magic to clean the blood and gore away from their bodies, making it look like they were only peacefully sleeping.


    After Kisuke finished taking care of the bodies, Artemis said with a heartfelt smile, "Thank you very much."


    "Don''t worry about it. I couldn''t sit still with them not being properly taken care of."


    Artemis then suddenly changed the topic due to urgency, "Antares stopped moving for now, but it''s only a matter of time. A monster with an Arcanum�� Antares is a walking paradox of cmity. As you have expected, the uing fight is inevitable."


    At this moment, Artemis''s body already started to disintegrate, signifying that she had already reached her limit. But even then, she continued exining without minding her situation, "The spear�� No, the arrow on your back is a Divine weapon. Its name is ''Orion''�� which means ''they who pierce'' in the God''snguage. To end such being, we need to strike it with this arrow."


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors


    Alexander: A ''Death Moon'', a giant spider and Kisuke, who decided to go a little bit serious. I''m all in for it.


    28th00: Well, Antares is obviously viting ''The Bnce'', time to fix that, eh? Magic moons with death beams, cool. Wait, is it a magic moon if the magic is divine, or is it a god moon? I don''t know, but I do know it''s gotta be stupidly big to be the same size as the actual moon�� Man, Antares really is ''weak'' currently if it can only use those tinysers from something that ridiculous.

 Volume 8 499 - VS Antares

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 499 - VS Antares</h4>


    After hearing about the real identity of the spear from Hermes, Asfi stopped running, "Please wait."


    Everyone stopped at her request and Asfi asked Hermes, "So what you''re saying is, the future of this world is in Kisuke Urahara''s hands alone?"


    "We have no choice�� He was chosen by the arrow.", replied Hermes.


    Asfi grabbed Hermes'' cor and yelled at his face, "But you''re just giving him the sin of murdering a Goddess!"


    In response, Hermes grabbed her shoulder and replied back, "This isn''t about that! This was never about that! Don''t get it wrong, Asfi."


    Hermes gently separated Asfi''s hands from his cor. As he did so, he took a peek at Hestia''s reaction, thinking that she already gave up. However, contrary to his expectation, Hestia was making a hopeful face. "Hestia?", he called out to her in confusion.


    "We don''t have enough time for that. Let''s go." Yoruichi urged them again and started running.


    As Hermes followed them, something started to bug him, ''What are they nning?''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke looked straight into Artemis'' eyes after she finished exining what he needed to do before asking, "What''s going to happen to you then?"


    She shook her head with a wry smile, "That isn''t important. What''s important is the safety of the Lower World."


    At this moment, Antares came crashing down in front of them. At the same time, Yoruichi and the rest arrived, "Artemis! Kisuke-kun!", Hestia shouted towards them.


    Kisuke looked back and smiled, "Great timing~. Hold that thing back for me for a few minutes~." He then directly sat down on the ground, ignoring everything else to inspect Artemis'' arrow.


    "You just have to think about defeating Antares and throw the spear at it. It doesn''t need anyplicated skill to use.", said Artemis after thinking that Kisuke must be confused about how to use the arrow.


    However, he justpletely ignored her and continued what he was doing. "Orion?", Artemis tried to call out to him, but he was still absorbed in what he was doing.


    Yoruichi figured that Kisuke would really need a few minutes to do something, so she jumped down and rushed towards Antares, "I''m going first~!"


    After breaking the ground when she just kicked off, Yoruichi instantly appeared in front of Antares, "You''re going to y with me for a while~." Doing a wide swing, Yoruichi sted off its head with her fist, [GRAAAHHH!!!]


    "With her bare fist!?", eximed Ryuu and Asfi.


    "Asfi, Ryuu, go assist her.", instructed Hermes from behind.


    The two of them nodded, before joining the brawl.


    After they left, Hermes suddenly asked Hestia who was left alone with him, "What are you guys nning?"


    "Saving Artemis.", Hestia answered simply.


    "You know that''s already impossible! It might be if we can use our Arcanum, but you also know the risk of doing that!"


    "I know! But it won''t be me who''s going to do something."


    "What do you mean? Do you mean Kisuke-kun? How?"


    Hestia shook her head, "I don''t know�� But I trust him."


    Hermes could only sigh and thought, ''If only it would be that easy.''


    While the three girls were grabbing Antares'' attention as it wreaked havoc through the battlefield, Artemis continued to talk to Kisuke. But same as before, he only ignored her and even started mumbling to himself while turning the arrow around in his hands.


    Artemis couldn''t take it anymore so, with her weakened and disappearing arms, she shook him, "Orion! Please hurry! We can''t let that thing run around freely anymore!"


    And for the first time, Kisuke finally looked at her and smiled, "I told youst night, didn''t I?"


    "What?", Artemis asked in confusion.


    "I told you to save that dance for the person you really like." Kisuke stood up and patted her shoulder, "Since I told you something like that, it''d be a shame if that couldn''t happen." He then started walking towards the battlefield.


    "What�� do you mean?" As Kisuke left her alone, something warm came from her, ''Is this hope? But this is already impossible��'' She couldn''t understand what Kisuke meant, but it became clear to her that he was giving her hope. Artemis'' residue disappeared with those questions in her mind, transferring them to her sleeping body inside of Antares.


    Seeing this, Hermes clicked his tongue while being annoyed, "Tsk�� You know what''s more unbearable than despair? It''s false hope."


    Hestia didn''t say anything back and just watched Kisuke''s back, ''Please�� Kisuke-kun�� You have to save her.''


    After dodging the destructive beam of light which was sent to her by Antares, Yoruichi asked the approaching Kisuke who carried the arrow in his right hand, "Are you going to do it?"


    Kisuke nodded happily, "Yep~. But not before this!" He then suddenly took a stance and got ready to throw the arrow, but not towards Antares.


    Out of everyone''s expectations, Kisuke aimed at the second moon, which was now a bow and arrow of magic circles with a big grin.


    "Kisuke-kun! What are you doing!?", shouted Hermes while having a bad feeling.


    "Nothing too crazy~.", replied Kisuke, while the gray arrow in his hand suddenly turned golden with various inscriptions emerging on its surface.


    Strong winds sted off from the arrow. It didn''t do anything to Yoruichi, Ryuu, Asfi or Antares, but it was enough to push back the weak avatars of God. ''How is he doing this!?'', eximed Hermes in his mind. As of now, Kisuke was utilizing the power of the Divine Weapon which shouldn''t be possible for anyone in the Lower World.


    From the tip of the arrow, a crimson me emerged and it slowly covered the shaft as it crawled down. The golden inscriptions also became crimson as the me passed through them. Once the me covered the whole arrow, Kisuke shouted, "Tamaya~!!!", before throwing the arrow.


    Kisuke could have separated Artemis from the Antares earlier. It was a simple thing for him to cut off a parasite from her soul. However, if he was to do that, the magic in the sky might go out of control and just nuke everything where it was pointing at, since Antares would be losing control of it.


    With that in mind, Kisuke spent a few minutes to add some magic that could track, change the orientation and apport the arrow, so that it wouldn''t disappear somewhere once he used it. Kisuke also needed some time to figure out how to use his Reiatsu-Ki to boost or manifest some part of the power of the Divine Weapon. He could have used his own power to destroy the magic, but that would be too much effort and he would be showing too much of his abilities to Hermes. So he just opted to use the arrow. Because with that, he would have an excuse that he could use.


    If someone were to confront him, saying that he was too strong, he''d just tell them that it''s thanks to the arrow.


    The arrow left a sh of red light and traveled through stones and bricks, sting off a part of the ruin into pieces.


    Like a beam of crimson light, the arrow instantly traveled through the air and reached the bow and arrow magic in the sky, disintegrating it and leaving behind an explosion of light.


    Kisuke then snapped his finger and the beam of light instantly changed its orientation and was nowing down back to earth. A few secondster, everyone heard arge explosion, far from the ruin.


    "Well, that looks better than I expected.",mented Kisuke, while looking at the disappearing bow and arrow in the sky.


    .


    . ,


    Back in Orario, therge number of monsters, which wereing out, were putting arge strain on the Loki Familia. It wouldn''t be a problem if they were just the monsters of the upper floors, but even some of the monsters which were living in the deepest known levels of the Dungeon wereing out. Only the top Adventurers or mage squads could deal with them.


    "An Ill Wyvern from the deep floors!" Tiona shouted to warn everyone.


    But before anyone from the Adventurer group could deal with it, a figure shed towards it and bisected the wyvern. The person who just arrived and killed the wyvern is the strongest Adventurer of Orario, Ottar.


    Finn smiled at his presence, "Seems that we got the best backup we could ask for."


    "I can''t embarrass my Goddess." Ottar looked towards Finn, "I''ll cooperate."


    But even then, the number of monsters only continued to increase and Ottar only brought a few members of the Freya Familia with him, because the rest had to safeguard their revered Goddess.


    "More Ill Wyverns iing!!!", shouted Tione to everyone.


    "Fomoire and Deformis Spiders are also on-site!", warned Bete.


    But just as they were about to meet the additional monsters, arge scythe, connected to a chain, flew above everyone''s head and started to reap the monster heads.


    The scythe returned to where it came from after killing a bunch of monsters and everyone followed it with their eyesight. There, they saw a blindfolded mature woman with beautiful, glistening long purple hair, which danced in the wind.


    "S-she appeared!!!", shouted Tiona.


    "Why is she here!?", questioned Tione.


    Finn looked towards the strange woman and asked Tiona, "Who is she?"


    Instead of Tiona, however, Riveria answered him, "The one who stopped the Minotaur stampede."


    With just that answer, Finn instantly understood that it was the same woman who used inconceivable magic to turn the Minotaurs into stone.


    Without saying a word, Medusa in her adult form, gathered magic power under her feet and sted off towards the iing monsters while rotating with her scythe. Within just a few seconds, she instantly killed more than 50 monsters before going to the deeper parts of the Dungeon.


    "Don''t get left behind! Onwards!",manded Finn to everyone. They didn''t know why, but it seemed that she was here to assist them. However, they didn''t have the intention of letting the limelight off them and followed Medusa''s trail of magic stones.


    On the top of the Babel Tower, Freya dropped her ss of wine as she stood up and approached the balcony of her floor.


    "W-what is this!?" For the first time in a long while, Freya showed a shocked expression as she watched a crimson light piercing through Artemis'' Arcanum, before descending back to earth.


    Sure, the scene was surprising and even the other Deities in the city were questioning what that was, however, within Freya''s eyes, the crimson light wasn''t a simple visual effect, but apressed, unbridled and very pure soul power.


    This amount of soul power should only be possible if someone gathered 1000 or more people and extracted their souls for energy. If even one person could perform such atrocities, he or she would incur a heavy punishment from Heaven. But even if it was sessful, the souls that would be smashed together, would be the most disgusting thing for Freya and she would be the first one to destroy such a thing.


    However, the one in front of her didn''t have that kind of aura. It was as if it came from only a single person. Even if there were ten of that man, whom she was currently infatuated with, such a scene would be impossible. Even if all ten souls of Bell''s level were to be extracted for energy.


    After hearing the sound of breaking ss, Allen came through the door and asked, "What happened, Freya-sama?"


    But instead of answering his question, Freya suddenly said, "I''m going to the Ruin Of Elsus. Now."


    If it was a normal day, Allen would immediately go against her decision as it would be a very dangerous thing to do. But today, when he heard Freya''s voice, he shivered and could only answer her in one way, "Yes!"


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    Alexander: I have a very important lesson for everyone. Controlling and editing hypothetical speech is a pain in the ass.


    As for Hermes, chill down mate. Kisuke got this. Last but not least, I missed the adult Medusa, she''s just so badass. I love it.


    28th00: I fixed some parts, gotta love our font, huh? Ill, just three lines that look the exact same��Medusa is stupid OP, it''s just she''s never really operated at 100%, since she''s been cursed and abused by SO MANY THINGS, mostly Athena though, so now she can sorta ''let loose''. As for Freya, that''s what happens when you train your soul to divine levels (advanced captain ss) and have the ability to control it almost perfectly. Centuries of practice and training does help a lot though.

 Volume 8 500 - Return

    <h4>Volume 8 Chapter 500 - Return</h4>


    "W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?",Hermes asked for the second time, and this time, he was really angry. After all, their only ticket in defeating Antares was suddenly thrown away. They could retreat, but that also meant that there could be unforeseeable consequences and more suffering for Artemis inside of Antares for the time which they needed to regroup and get the arrow back. For all he knows, this could''ve been theirst chance of killing it.


    Either way, they didn''t have a choice. They had to go as they couldn''t do anything to Antares right now, "Let''s retreat!", Hermes shouted again.


    But before anyone could make any further movement, Antares moved first. Afraid of what Kisuke had just shown to everyone, Antares directly used Artemis inside its chest to cast the same kind but smaller version of the magic, which threatened to destroy Orario earlier.


    "Watch out!!!" Ryuu woke up from her stupor and warned Kisuke.


    Kisuke, however, just held out his right hand and used his left hand to hold his hat in ce.


    A secondter, the bow magic released the arrow towards Kisuke and the destructive power behind it could even erase the whole ruin.


    "W-what is he doing!?", muttered Asfi in exasperation. She couldn''t keep up with what was happening anymore.


    "Dodge, you fool! That''s a God''s magic!", shouted Hermes at him in frustration, ''He''s going to get killed!'' ,


    But then, he suddenly noticed that Hestia and Yoruichi still had the same calm expression, contrary to the rest of them, ''��What?''


    Kisuke didn''t change his stance and just waited for the arrow. Once it came, he caught it with his right hand and stopped it in its tracks. With the sound of crackling thunder, the ground below him caved in and dust flew everywhere, but Kisuke didn''t move an inch. He wasn''t even pushed back.


    The Antares screeched in an attempt to strengthen the arrow, however, no matter what it did, the arrow didn''t move further and could only struggle within Kisuke''s hand.


    A few secondster, the arrow started to weaken and Kisuke used his brute force to crush it with his hand. Arge shockwave emerged from it and pushed everyone away as the arrow was reduced into motes of light.


    "N-no way��", muttered both Asfi and Ryuu.


    Kisuke ignored them and faced Yoruichi, "Yoruichi, please bring them back. I''ll take care of it."


    Yoruichi only nodded with a smile and jumped towards Hestia, "Let''s wait for them in the camp."


    Hestia nodded and turned away from Antares. But before she started walking away, Hestia said to Kisuke, "I''m not waiting for long!"


    Kisuke replied with a chuckle, "Got it~!"


    "Hermes-sama.", called Kisuke out to the stunned Deity.


    "Y-yes��?"


    "I would like to cash in the favor that you owe me now." Kisuke then walked towards Antares whose body took a step back in response.


    Hermes had tons of questions but he knew that this wasn''t the right moment to ask that now. He calmed himself down and replied, "What is it?"


    "For Hestia-sama''s sake, please keep everything that''s happened here a secret."


    "For Hestia�� is it?" Hermes then scratched his head as this is what he didn''t expect when Kisuke asked for the favor, "Fine�� For Hestia''s sake�� Also for Artemis."


    Antares then sent a beam of purple light towards the approaching Kisuke, but he just pped it away with his right hand. Antares then sent multiple attacks towards him, but Kisuke just did the same. Now the ruin was on the verge of copse, "Thank you. Also, please leave now and follow Yoruichi and Hestia. I''m fine by myself."


    Hermes stayed silent for a moment and watched Kisuke deflect every attack of Antares with his bare hands. Sighing, Hermesmanded, "Asfi, Ryuu. Let''s go."


    "I-is that fine?" Asfi asked.


    "Can you help?"


    Asfi could only shake her head at Hermes'' question. She and Ryuu then went towards Hermes'' side and started following Hestia and Yoruichi''s trail. But before they exited the room, both of them looked towards Kisuke withplicated expressions.


    "Be careful, Urahara-san." Ryuu gave her farewell remark.


    "Thanks~. I will."


    Now that he''s left alone with Antares, Kisuke grinned, "Yo~. Your attacks are getting weaker~. Tired?"


    [Grrrh!!!] Antares took another step back. It''s one giant eye red at Kisuke, threatening him. However, it was very clear that it''s actually afraid of Kisuke. With a screech, Antares sent another volley of light beams.


    "Bakudo no 44, Sekishou (Barrier)." Instead of his right hand that is covered with strong Hierro (Iron Skin), Kisuke opted to use a barrier because the attacks are already weak, "This is already getting old. Let me show you how it is done."


    While his barrier is taking the hits, Kisuke put forward his right hand again and muttered, "Hadou no 88, Hiryuu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou." With a thunderous st, a blue beam of light sted not just Antares, but half of the ruin.


    [GRAAAHHH!!!!] Antares tried to resist with all its might, but failed.


    The leaving Ryuu, Asfi and Hermes just got out of the ruin and saw the bright blue light and heard a thunderous sound from the other side of the ruin along with some explosions, "What now!?" Asfi was already tired. She just wanted to be in a long warm bath and some alcohol to rx.


    "��Urahara-san." Ryuu muttered in worry.


    "Asfi, fly up and see what''s going on," Hermesmanded.


    Asfi reluctantly agreed and used her magic boots to fly up. From there, she saw what the blue light and thunderous sound had left, "T-this is impossible��" The scene made her not want to think anymore.


    The blue light traveled as far as the eye could see, and what was left along its path was Antares, which is in pieces, a devastated forest, and the half of the ruin gone, "W-what sort of weapon did he use!?" Asfi then saw Kisuke from below, waving at her with a bad smile, "I''m so sorry!!!" She didn''t know why, but she waspelled to apologize for no reason and flew back to Hermes and Ryuu who''re waiting below.


    "Why did you suddenly apologize up there?" Hermes asked in confusion.


    With a panicked expression, Asfi exined what she just saw and Ryuu and Hermes could only stay quiet with widened eyes, "When he looked at me with a smile, I got scared and ended up apologizing�� It''s not weird, right?"


    While Asfi was justifying her reaction just now, Kisuke slowly approached the copsed Antares, more specifically, the cracked blue crystal that was holding Artemis. As he walked, he could see Antares slowly regenerating, but he didn''t care about that and just inspected for onest time, the connection between it and Artemis.


    ''Why would the Dungeon create a monster that can devour a Deity? What is a Deity for the Dungeon? Also, that ck Dragon. It also consumed Aria. Do all strong monsters have a basic ability to ''eat''?'' Questions as such kept resurfacing in Kisuke''s mind but he couldn''t find an answer or a clue no matter how much he thought about them, ''Oh well�� If I stay long enough, I''ll probably figure it out.''


    Kisuke lifted his de and directly cut the crystal, including Artemis with it. But although the crystal was bisected, Artemis was unharmed. Kisuke hurriedly caught the falling Artemis and pulled her away from Antares. A few secondster, Antares slowly disappeared, leaving behind its only gigantic eye, ''Hmm�� Maybe I could use that for something.''


    While thinking such, Artemis, who''s in Kisuke''s arm, slowly opened her eyes and looked up to him silently.


    Noticing her gaze, Kisuke looked back down to the naked Goddess and smiled, "Good morning, Artemis-sama~. I told you, right? I''m going to let you have that dance~."


    It was then Artemis started tearing up, "W-w-wait! What''s wrong!? Does it hurt anywhere!? I''m going to get scolded by Hestia-sama if she sees you like this!"


    Despite not being able to move, Artemis couldn''t help but chuckle at Kisuke''s out of character reaction, "It''s not that�� I''m just happy that I could actually survive that." Artemis already steeled herself. For everyone''s sake, she prepared to sacrifice herself. But even then, there was still a basic instinct inside her, of wanting to survive and see the next day, especially now that she got a taste of romance. She wanted to experience it more.


    Artemis stopped chuckling and did her best to move her arm and reach Kisuke''s neck before continuing to cry, "T-thank you�� Thank you so much��"


    Kisuke only smiled wryly and patted her back, waiting for her patiently.


    After sobbing from relief for a few minutes, Artemis managed to calm herself. She then finally noticed that she''s still naked.


    Blushing slightly, Artemis asked Kisuke, "I''m sorry about my disy�� And please give me something to cover my body." Although she already knew that Kisuke already saw her body, it all felt like a dream to her as it isn''t her real body. Above that, she''s currently touching Kisuke with her body.


    "Oh, right. Sorry about that." Kisuke then took out a nket and gently wrapped it around her body. However, Artemis, aside from being embarrassed, she''s also feelingplicated after seeing Kisuke''s reaction, ''You mean you really didn''t notice that I was naked!?'' She could only question it internally, as she was afraid of his response. Although she''s the Goddess of Purity, she was still very proud of her figure that wouldn''t lose to any of the other Deities.


    While Artemis is staying quiet, Kisuke gathered the materials that dropped from Antares and got out of the half-destroyed ruin while being weed by a beautiful sunrise and greeneries that were slowly returning back to normal.


    "It''s beautiful��" Artemis muttered as she watched the sunrise, "But my children��"


    "Ah, no worries about that. I took them into my private space. You can have a proper funeral once we return to Orario."


    Artemis sighed in relief, "I can never thank you enough."


    "Thank Hestia-sama. If not for her, I wouldn''t have epted this quest in the first ce."


    "I see�� I guess I''m lucky that you''re Hestia''s child."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else and just carried Artemis in his arms while walking and basking in the warm morning sunlight. As for Artemis, she did the same and just watched everything regain their vitality, which gavefort to her heart and soul. After this event, there will be no more that will weigh on her as the monster that she tried to kill or seal with the sacrifice of her children since a thousand years ago, is now gone.


    Half an hourter, the two of them reached the camp and the first one to jump on them was Hestia, who was already crying her eyes out, "ARTEMIS!!!"


    Kisuke had to carefully catch her also and slowlyid the two of them down. After half an hour, Artemis was already capable of standing on her own but she chose not to do so.


    Seeing Kisuke return with Artemis, everyone from the Hermes Familia started cheering, "YEAHHH!!!"


    Meanwhile, Hermes could only make an inconceivable face, "H-he really did it." Thanks to this turn of events, a few possibilities emerged from his mind, ''Just how will Zeus react if he were to hear this?''


    While everyone was celebrating, Kisuke took out the corpses of everyone from Artemis Familia. This is not to dampen everyone''s celebratory mood, but to give proper respect to them. It isn''t right to keep them longer in his inventory.


    In addition to that, Artemis would also want them to join the celebration even if it''s a bit toote. Artemis wanted them to be remembered as people who joined the effort to stop an unstoppable monster.


    Several of the Hermes Familia went out to gather some wood to make a casket for them and some of them took out their stock of delicious food and wine to prepare for the celebration. They didn''t oppose the members of the Artemis Familia being here.


    Hermes approached Kisuke and patted his shoulder, "You really did it�� Do you know what you''ve done just now?"


    Kisuke turned to him and replied with a smile, "Yep~. I separated Artemis-sama from Antares~."


    "As if it''s that easy! You may not know this, but some people would want your ability."


    Contrary to Hermes'' expectation, however, Kisuke answered him with a big grin, "I know. My ability could be used on abination of a ck lizard and a spirit."


    Hermes'' eyes widened, "H-how did you��"


    Kisuke just walked away while saying, "Not important. Not gonna tell you."


    "W-wait! How did you know about that!? Where did you hear it!?" Hermes shouted as he chased after him.


    And Kisuke stopped walking, but not because of Hermes, but because within his inner world, a certain connection was established, ''Benihime?'' Ignoring Hermes, he shouted in urgency, "Yoruichi!"


    An urgency from Kisuke that they''ve never seen before. Even Hermes stopped bothering him as he was also startled. Not just Yoruichi''s attention was caught, but also Hestia, Artemis, Ryuu and Asfi, who had all watched him calmly take down Antares'' attacks.


    Yoruichi hurried to him and asked in a concerned voice, "What is it? Did something happen?"


    "Benihime�� I can feel Benihimeing out."


    Even Yoruichi was surprised at his words, "What are you going to do?"


    "I''m going, now. I can''t let this chance go." Kisuke hugged Yoruichi as a form of farewell.


    "Can''t I go too?"


    "You can''t. Thest time we got here, we got Byakko''s help. We don''t know if he''ll be helping the second time. I also don''t know how dangerous it is to travel through chaotic space. Besides, I can only trust you to take care of the others and keep them away from unforeseeable dangers. For those reasons, I can''t bring you with me."


    Yoruichi stayed silent for a moment, before giving him a kiss on his lips, "Be careful�� You have to return."


    Kisuke hugged her tightly and whispered, "I will. I promise you."


    The two of them then separated and Kisuke used sh Step to directly disappear from the camp.


    "Kisuke-kun!?" Hestia, who''s running towards them, shouted, "Where''s Kisuke-kun!? Where is he going?"


    Yoruichi crouched down to her eye level, "To somewhere dangerous�� He has to do this."


    "Dangerous?" Hestia''s heart sank because this is the first time she heard Yoruichi say ''somewhere dangerous'', "Is he going to be fine?"


    Yoruichi patted Hestia''s head and smiled, "Yes�� He''ll be fine. It''s Kisuke we''re talking about here. No matter what the situation is, he''s always prepared to respond."


    "When is heing back?"


    "I don''t know�� It might be a day, it could be a week, or maybe, it''ll take a month. Just one thing is sure. He''sing back so don''t worry."


    Hestia nodded, "Alright�� I''ll wait for him. I haven''t even thanked him for saving Artemis."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke warped himself 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) away from the camp before using his spiritual power to scan the surrounding 10 kilometers for any signs of people. After figuring out that there were no signs of anything being disturbed in thisrge forest and only small animals were in his range of scans, Kisuke immediately took out a ck cylindrical pir and drove it into the ground.


    The pir was 10 meters tall and 1 meter in diameter, with variousplicated inscriptions on its side. After putting up the pir, Kisuke immediately took out the tokens he prepared just for this asion and spread them around the pir. The tokens then activated various formations that could defend and conceal the area from any eyes.


    After he was done with that, Kisuke touched the pir and activated it. The inscription beside it all lit up with gentle blue light signifying its activation. This pir would serve as his anchor point to this world.


    He needed this toe back to this world, or in case he got lost in chaotic space in an attempt to travel it. Although the Sacred Gears that he made for the girls could also serve as anchor points, making something bigger and stronger was much safer.


    Kisuke checked everything, ''All good. Now then, to the main event.''


    He then pulled out his de. It''s his device that allows him to travel between worlds, his Zanpakuto and Sacred Gear.


    Taking a deep breath, Kisuke gathered his Reiatsu-Ki and transferred it to his de to activate the feature he needed. Various inscriptions emerged from the de and lit up, before Kisuke swung it down, splitting the space in front of him and revealing the dark and cold other side.


    "Alright�� Let''s do this." Kisuke first confirmed the link he has with Benihime, then grabbed it before jumping in.


    The moment he went in, the split in space closed up and Kisuke could instantly feel the space tearing him apart.


    Kisuke immediately used Hierro to resist it and followed the connection he had. However, as time went on, Kisuke could feel the tearing of the chaotic space worsening exponentially , so much that even with his Hierro fully activated, his body was being torn apart.


    Kisuke had to go into his Vasto Lorde mode just so he could resist longer, but even then, various cuts kept appearing on his body and his organs were being seriously messed up. Even in the strongest state of his body, Kisuke was finding it very hard to resist.


    He still didn''t know how long he had to travel, even though he can feel his connection with Benihime was getting stronger, ''If I still can''t reach the other end within 10 minutes, I have to go back and try againter��''


    But he knew that his second chance might note soon enough and wasting the chance now could lead to various consequences, especially to the family he left behind.


    Fortunately for him, at the 9:49 mark, with his body almost in pieces, he reached the familiar Dimensional Gap, and the first thing he saw was the delinquent red dragon and some small figures on its back, ''Ophis-chan?''


    ================================================================================================================================================================================================


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, the True Protagonist is finally here! PHIS-CHAMA~! We''vee to answer your summons! This is the end of�� Volume 10? Or was it 11? I read it, what feels like a decade ago now�� I remember it for being part of the emotional rollercoaster thing DxD loved to do when I read it, where it got super serious and dark sometimes. It was also a Phis-chama centric volume, and therefore the best one. Outside of her own SS volumes, which are obviously the best, no questions asked. Phis-chama on an inte, she''s so scathing and blunt in her nicknames, it''s savage.


    Ja A


    Zaid Soboh

 Volume 9 501 - Secret Training Method

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 501 - Secret Training Method</h4>


    Even though Akeno didn''t join the training of the rest of Rias'' Peerage during the summer, she still trained under Serafall''s guidance. Although Serafall couldn''t teach her much about lightning and especially holy magic, she could still teach her how magic works for her, which was a big help in improving Akeno''s general magic usage.


    Now that she also epted her lineage, thanks to Kisuke, her progress became amazing. Maybe more amazing than the rest of herrades, except Issei''s, who was doing some separate training ording to Kisuke''s manual.


    Thanks to already making contact with Kisuke''s mother, Serafall didn''t ask Akeno to do anything else aside from giving snacks to Ophis, who came by briefly every few days.


    And even after the rest of the Peerage finished their training, Akeno didn''t stop. However, she still wouldn''t miss the events that they had to attend, like the party that was arranged by senior Devils for all of the promising young Devils to meet.


    While the young Devils were attending the party, Azazel talked to Tannin, who was training Issei, asking him about Issei''s progress, "How is he? The Red Dragon Emperor of this generation?"


    Tannin had the appearance of a fifteen meters tall, gigantic western Dragon. With the exception of his lower body, specifically his belly, the inner portions of his long tail and legs, which were beige in color, a majority of Tannin''s body was covered in dark purple draconic scales. Also, Tannin had a triangr head with yellow horns, a pair ofrge, keen red eyes with avender sclera and serrated yet sharp canine teeth. He also had ws with long sharp, yellow nails on his hands andrge bat-like wings with rigid tips. Additionally, he wore ck armored pauldrons that extend down to his arms and a loincloth decorated with metallic essories.


    "I would like to say that he''s just a normal human who got involved in this supernatural business by ident.", answered Tannin.


    Azazel looked at him and continued, "But?"


    "But the will he has is a great boon for a Sacred Gear user like him. Although he has a lot of quirkiness that is hard to describe or understand, I think he has good potential even without much talent. Though if we add the ''white'' in the equation, he''s too far behind, both in talent and potential.", added Tannin.


    "Kukuku." Azazel rubbed his chin, "We shouldn''tpare him to that guy in this early stage. I''m happy to hear your remark. I thought you''re just torturing him after seeing how you train him."


    "You know my methods. It''s for strengthening his mind��", Tannin words trailed off at the end.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong?"


    "From the start, I didn''t intend to make it this hard for the Red Dragon, however, something is bothering me."


    Azazel''s expression also turned serious, "What is it?"


    "It seems that every time, when we''d finish our training session, he would go away secretly and practice apletely different training method on his own."


    Azazel didn''t speak and just waited for Tannin''s next words.


    "I secretly took a peek at him after training activities. But no matter how many times I saw it, I don''t understand what he was doing. Issei would first do some normal warm-up exercises before sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed. However, something strange happened after he sat for half an hour. A strange aura would emit from him and along with it, his body would slowly tear apart."


    "Tear apart?"


    Tannin nodded, "Yes. You heard me right. His body would tear apart. Muscles would tear, veins would explode, and bones would break. I can also tell that he was feeling quite some pain, as he was trying his best not to cry out loud. But he failed most of the time."


    "��What the hell?", muttered Azazel in shock.


    "Right? But that''s not the strangest part. After doing that for about an hour, he''d fall asleep. At first, I intended to cure him. However, I figured that he has been doing this for a while now and I didn''t notice any injury on him the next day so he must be doing something to heal himself. With that in mind, I kept watching, and throughout the night, his body mended by itself. It was also then, that I noticed that his body became strongerpared to the previous day."


    "So you increased the difficulty of the training��"


    "Yes."


    "What does the Red Dragon Emperor have to say? I know you''d ask him."


    "He won''t tell me anything."


    Azazel stayed silent for a moment before asking, "You''re not telling me everything yet. This ''strange aura'', although you described it as strange, you should have some clue to what it is."


    Tannin hesitated whether he should reveal it or not. But he figured that Azazel would find it out sooner orter now that he became their advisor, "I''m not too sure, but I think that aura isposed of at least threeponents."


    "Go on."


    "The first one and the most obvious is Ki. He should be practicing something simr to Touki. But the other two are a bit problematic. The second one is somehow simr to the Divinity of other mythological factions while thest one has the smell of Ophis."


    Azazel''s eyes widened at his words, "Divinity and Ophis? That''s indeed problematic�� Not just that, it''s in ridiculous! So many things in that aura!? I''m surprised that he isn''t dead yet!"


    Tannin had only a few words for that, "But it works. I wonder who taught him that training method?"


    Hearing that, a certain grinning figure wearing a bucket hat entered Azazel''s head, ''Is it him?''


    Azazel then recalled the possibility of Kisuke having a connection with Ophis, but this couldn''t be confirmed. There was also a strange event where Ophis suddenly appeared beside Serafall, but after that, she imed that she never met Ophis again. When asked what Ophis wanted from her, Serafall said that she wasn''t sure, too, as she left after giving her some candies.


    It was a ridiculous im, but if it was the Ophis from Vali''s description, then it would be possible for her to go away after getting some sweets.


    Another problematic thing was Vali. Azazel felt like Vali wasn''t telling him something very important regarding Ophis. But as his only eye in that terrorist organization, he could only depend on him.


    "I''ll try to ask Issei, once he has more trust in me. I have to take a look if that training method is really a good thing for him.", muttered Azazel after thinking for a few seconds.


    "As of now, I don''t think that there are any problems. Although he still can''t enter Bnce Breaker on his own, he should be able to maintain it for 1 minute contrary to the 10 seconds before."


    "That much?"


    "Yes. And I think that it''s thanks to the strange training he''s doing."


    The party among young Devils went peacefully, if not for some minor skirmishes. Issei''s group also got to meet the one who was acknowledged as the strongest youth amongst the Devils, Sairaorg, and became friends with him.


    It was also at this night that it was revealed that there''s going to be rating games between the youths. Supposedly, Rias'' team was to go against Sona''s team. However, the current state of their team couldn''t be considered as a proper peerage because of the absence of their King. They also couldn''t attend tonight''s gathering because of this. So by default, Rias'' team won, which didn''t feel too good for them.


    It was only thanks to Serafall and the Sitri n''s protection that Sona''s servants could keep their status. If not, they might have been considered to be stray devils and would be assigned to a different Devil to keep them under control.


    ====================


    ==================== ,


    Editors:


    28th00: Well now, I''d be curious about the fates of anyone that dares to mess with Sona''s Peerage, since Serafall wouldn''t let that sorta sh*t fly without said being''s having their heads fly. Sona, who is sufficiently adapted to Kisuke and his tactics, with ess to Kisuke himself, would show them what Hell truly is when shees back also�� Welp, wonder what Kisuke told Phis-chama to do with Issei for that aura training?


    Alexander: Nothing at all. Kisuke may have asked for her snake, but the training program was written entirely by him.


    28th00: I meant in how she can customise her snake blessings to literally do whatever she wants. Most people that get them have the super basic "Power Up" blessing, instead of anything more esoteric in nature that''d probably be a fairy bit stronger.

 Volume 9 502 - New Contacts

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 502 - New Contacts</h4>


    While Rias'' Peerage needed to wait for their next match, they had to return to the Human World as another school semester was about to start, and they also had to prepare for the sports festival. Azazel, on the other hand, still had to do some stuff in the underworld and remained.


    But on the way back, they were suddenly ambushed. The entirety of Rias, Akeno, Gasper, Xenovia, Yuuto, Asia and Issei was transferred out of the train they were riding back to the Human World.


    They then appeared in a dense forest, somewhere in the Underworld, "W-what is it this time!? Is it Azazel-sensei again?" Issei asked everyone. The reason for his question is because Azazel did the same thing to test them whileing to the Underworld.


    "Is everyone alright!?" Rias asked as she looked around, "Wait�� Where''s Akeno!?"


    All of them hurriedly looked around to find their Queen, but they couldn''t even see her shadow, "Maybe she was transported somewhere else?" Yuuto muttered.


    "Nah, she''s here too~." A voice then resounded from a nearby tree.


    "Who''s there!?" Yuuto and Xenovia took out their weapons while Issei materialized his gauntlet.


    A young man with bright colored hair and dressed in ancient Chinese armor came out. It was the same person who took away Vali when the Khaos Brigade attacked the Tri-Faction Conference. However, the more surprising thing is the unconscious woman he''s carrying in his arms.


    "Akeno-san!?" Issei eximed, "You bastard! What did you do to Akeno-san!? And aren''t you that guy with Vali!?"


    "What do you want with Akeno!?" Rias also asked while Yuuto and Xenovia got ready to attack.


    "Wait. Hold your horses, I''m not alone~." The young man, Bikou, then called out, "Hey Arthur! Until when are you going to hide?" ,


    A bespectacled young man with blond hair with a strand of hair across his face, wearing a business suit, appeared from another nearby tree, "I heard you. You''re too loud."


    Bikou then put Akeno down on the ground while the neer, Arthur, went towards her and pulled out a normal long sword before cing it near her neck.


    "H-Hey! What are you doing!?" Issei and the rest got nervous after seeing this.


    "Nothing much~. I just wanna see what the current Red Dragon Emperor is made of." Bikou shrugged his shoulders while answering, "So with the girly in our hand, if you, alone, can make me admit defeat, we''ll release her~." Bikou faced Issei and put on a fighting stance.


    Issei and the others don''t know what they really wanted but they could only do what they say due to Akeno''s safety, "Issei, be careful." Rias reminded him.


    "Don''t worry, Buchou! I''m going to make him eat dirt! I didn''t train for nothing!"


    .


    .


    .


    Several hundred meters away from the confrontation, on an elevated ground, Akeno found herself watching herrades fighting two unknown people who took hold of her fake body, ''What''s going on?''


    When she was about to fly out, someone with a sweet voice called out from behind her, "Akeno-sama, please wait."


    Akeno hurriedly turned around and saw a cute, foreign girl with a slim body, shoulder-length blonde hair, and blue eyes. Her attire consists of a sorceress-like dress with a huge blue hat with a ck bow and yellow stars and matching cape with pink flowers and a white interior, "Who are you!?"


    Akeno could only assume that this girl is thepanion of the two young men below.


    "Excuse me for my rudeness, Akeno-sama. I''m Le Fay Pendragon. A member of Vali-sama''s team." Le Fay bowed to her respectfully as she introduced herself.


    Akeno couldn''t feel any hostilitying from her, "Vali''s team? What do you want from me? And why are you attacking myrades?"


    Le Fay looked at her with a smile and said, "Please don''t worry about it. We don''t intend to hurt Issei-sama too much. We just got instructed by Vali-sama to try to push him to awaken his Bnce Breaker properly."


    "Why would he want that?"


    "It''s because Issei-sama is Vali-sama''s rival~! As simple as that!" Le Fay''s smiling face then became serious, "However, our main goal this time isn''t that."


    Akeno put her guard up and said, "It''s me? What do you want from me?"


    Le Fay nodded before speaking, "Yes. We would like to ask you if you have any clues to where Kuroka-sama is."


    "Kuroka�� Koneko''s big sister? Why are you asking me?" Akeno only met Kuroka once when Kisuke captured her and gifted her to Koneko as get a well gift. From Le Fay''s words, she can assume that Kuroka is also part of their team.


    "Because we knew for sure that you''reing in contact with Ophis-sama."


    That answer made Akeno flinch a bit but she immediately denied it, "What do you mean? And who is this Ophis?"


    "Please don''t deny it. We had sufficient evidence before executing this n. We also know for sure that Serafall-sama is also involved, however, we don''t have a way to contact her in secret because of the eyes on her."


    Akeno could only stay quiet. She''s at a loss at what to do next as this was a very sensitive topic that could have her head lopped off and herrades would be endangered if discovered.


    "We know your concerns, but you don''t have to worry. It''s only everyone from Vali''s team that knows of this, and we''re clearing the tracks that Ophis-sama sometimes leaves behind when she''s sneaking out."


    Akeno knew that there''s no point in denying it anymore and asked, "What does Ophis'' connection with me have something to do with Kuroka''s disappearance?"


    "That would be Kisuke Urahara-sama�� Themon denominator between you, him and Kuroka-sama is Ophis-sama. And the fact that you''re also staying in his shop tells us that you know something. Sadly, that''s the only lead we have, but we can''t let it go because Kuroka-sama is a very importantrade of ours."


    Akeno can see the genuine concern Le Fay has for Kuroka from her eyes. She understands this because she''s also looking for Koneko and concerned about her safety, "I see�� That''s why you approached me despite the risks."


    "Yes. We might not be good people and wanted by all, but if it''s our concern for ourrades, we wouldn''t lose to anyone."


    Akeno closed her eyes for a moment of contemtion before replying, "I understand, but I''m afraid I have to disappoint you. I also don''t know where Kuroka or her little sister might be. We''re also doing our best to search for them."


    Le Fay was like a deted balloon after hearing Akeno''s words, but it didn''t take long for her to recover after hearing the continuation of her statement, "However, before they disappeared, Kisuke-kun sent a note�� a letter to Serafall-sama that Kuroka is with him and safe. Although we don''t know where they are, we can at least be sure that they''re all together."


    Le Fay smiled, "Is that so? Thank goodness. We''re very worried because we haven''t received even a piece of single news! If they are together and safe, we can put down some of our worries!"


    "What are you going to do now?"


    "We''ll n our next steps, but we intend to keep in contact with you so that we could work together and search for them, or at least get some information on how they''re doing right now. Of course, this contact will be in secret and the only person you could reveal it to is to Serafall-sama."


    "Understood. I would also like to keep in touch with you. I think we could also use yourwork."


    "Then that''s settled. For now, we should watch their progress." Le Fay was talking about the current confrontation, "Whether it seeds or not, we''ll smoke out the area to escape before your reinforcementse. You should use that chance to switch with your illusion."


    "Got it. How can I contact you?"


    Le Fay then passed her a silver pocket watch, "Inside the watch is a magic circle that can transmit messages. You can use it to contact me and I''ll also use it to contact you."


    The two girls then watch as Bikou threatened to hurt ''Akeno'' to push Issei, but due to some weird turn of events, Issei was able to use his Bnce Breaker using Rias'' tit.s as the catalyst. By poking their nipples, something awakened inside Issei and he was able to transform, pushing back Bikou.


    Akeno could only chuckle while Le Fay blushed fiercely while covering her face with her hands, though there are gaps between her fingers.


    Due to this event, the Gremory Household will capitalize on this and create a celebrity out of Issei as the Oppai Dragon. After hearing that, Ddraig almost fainted trying to escape reality, questioning why things turned in this direction.


    =====================


    =====================


    Editors:


    28th00: Oh no�� Ddraig couldn''t escape his fate as beingbelled the Oppai Dragon! Ophis, Great Red, who do we turn to for dragon souls undergoing emotional torture at the hands of the wrong kind of fame? Especially when they''re soulbound to a divine weapon, that is soulbound to a human soul.


    Goyya: Apparently, Grigori was able to develop anti-depression medicine for Ddraig. Don''t know how they did it though.

 Volume 9 503 - Encounter with Odin

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 503 - Encounter with Odin</h4>


    Issei''s Oppai Dragon became a big hit among themoners, especially among the children. Because of this, Serafall also thought about making a series of her own. Those from the Great King Faction tried to oppose this, because they thought that Serafall is only trying to garner support from the masses. But thanks to the Maou Faction''s help, Serafall was able to create a rivaling showparable to Oppai Dragon which was called ''Magical Girl: Levia-tan?!''


    Once everyone got back to the Human World, there was still quite a bit of time left for their summer break, due to them skipping a Rating Game and everyone chose their own activities to spend their time.


    Because Serafall became busy with her production and Ophis didn''t get out much after being warned by Vali ording to Le Fay, Akeno was left alone in the shop.


    ''I''m done cleaning. It''s also time to restock the groceries.'' Feeling good after finishing a chore, Akeno realized something and couldn''t help butugh to herself, ''I got used to this�� I won''t lose to that Loli Maid anymore.''


    Too bad for her, the Loli maid kept evolving every day and it would take more than that to surpass her.


    Thinking of such things, Akeno left for the supermarket. Her shopping went smoothly and she was about to go home, when she came across three people. More so, she knew two of them. Akeno and the group of three stopped walking after they came face to face.


    Akeno contemted if she should greet them since one of them had aplicated rtionship with her. But then again, she already promised herself, that she would give this man a chance. Also, it would be too rude to ignore the leader of one of thergest Mythological Factions.


    While bowing slightly, Akeno greeted the old man walking in front, "Good day, Odin-sama. I didn''t expect you to appear in Japan." Since she was Rias'' Queen, she studied and familiarized herself with the faces of all notable leaders in the Supernatural World.


    Odin had the appearance of an elderly man with long, grey hair and a matching beard. He wore a gold and white monocle over his left eye, without the usual addition of a chain. Odin wore a robe, which was short and blue with a gold lining on the top and bottom of the cor, the sleeves of the robe and at the front of his robes, all the way down to the bottom of the robe.


    While stroking his beard, Odin took a quick peek to the man on his left with an intrigued smile before looking back to Akeno, "Ohoo~. If it isn''t the child of Himejima."


    Akeno frowned a bit and corrected his words, "Odin-sama, with all due respect, although I use the name Himejima, I consider myself not part of them. Please don''t get it wrong. I''m Rias Gremory''s Queen, Akeno Himejima."


    The casual elderly continued to stroke his beard and didn''t take offense in Akeno''s correction, "Ah, my bad, Akeno-kun. Allow me to introduce you to mypanions. On my right side is my guard, Rossweisse."


    The beautiful young woman on Odin''s right side nodded at Akeno in acknowledgment. She had long, straight silver hair, aqua-colored eyes and appeared to be in herte teens.


    "And to my left�� Well, I don''t need to introduce him to you." Odin pointed to the man on his right side. The man had the appearance of a middle-aged, gruff-looking man with ck hair, a matching beard and a muscr body. His body was also emitting the familiar aura of a Fallen Angel and currently, he was making aplicated expression while looking at Akeno. Odin told her,"Azazel sent Baraqiel to be my other guard when I came to Japan. Cuz'' you know, some cheeky brats are running around, ruining things for fun."


    Akeno returned Rossweisse''s nod while she entirely ignored Baraqiel''s introduction. Although she already told herself that she would give the man a chance, it was still a bit of a sudden meeting and she didn''t really know how she should act around him. In addition to that, she still had some misgivings when she thought about how her mother perished.


    "I see. Would you like me to contact Rias-sama, so that she could call Sirzechs-sama?", asked Akeno.


    Odin shook his head and replied, "Nah~. It''s fine. Azazel already arranged a meeting and I''m just looking around. It''s very rare for me to get out of that old hut of mine, after all. I also want to see what the Shinto Gods are up to these days. By the way, are you shopping?"


    "Yes. It''s for dinner."


    "I heard that all of you were living with the Red Dragon Emperor, but I can see that you only bought enough for several people." The old man immediately pried into Akeno''s business. It might be shameless of him, but he was actually doing this for the poor guy on his left.


    "I don''t live with them, Odin-sama.", answered Akeno simply. But after hesitating for a moment, Akeno continued, "If you don''t mind, everyone, would you like to have dinner with me? I can cook some local foods for you."


    Odin''s eye widened a bit. He didn''t expect that she would give them an invitation by herself. After all, he knew Baraqiel''s history with her and it wouldn''t be surprising if he amassed quite an amount of hate from her. He took a peek to his left side again and saw that Baraqiel was also startled, ''So he wasn''t expecting this at all. You owe this old man after this.''


    Odin then faced Akeno with a big smile, "We ept your offer~. This should be better than most restaurants out there, right, Baraqiel?"


    Baraqiel was startled again when Odin suddenly called his name and immediately answered, "Y-Yes! I think it would be great!"


    On the other side, Rossweisse also nodded in agreement, "This is good. We don''t have to go to one of those expensive restaurants then."


    After hearing this, Odin showed her a mocking face, "You stingy Valkyrie. This is why you don''t have a boyfriend."


    "Wha!? What does it have to do with me not getting a boyfriend!?", shouted his frugal living bodyguard. Odin stabbed a fragile spot in Rossweisse''s heart and she wanted to defend herself, "I know already! I can''t get a boyfriend! But that doesn''t mean you have to mention it every time! I''m also trying my best, you know!?"


    Akeno chuckled at what she thought was a quietdy and told everyone, "Please follow me."


    While walking, Odin asked Akeno about the current state of affairs with the Three Great Factions and Akeno faithfully answered his questions to the best of her knowledge. After about half an hour of walking, they reached the ce where Akeno was currently staying, Urahara Shoten.


    "This is�� If I remember it right.", muttered Odin, before looking behind him, where he saw a pile of rubble across the street, "It''s the ce of a wanted criminal by the Three Factions and Olympus. Are you here to watch whether he''lle back or not? Kisuke Urahara, was it?"


    "Something like that.", replied Akeno with a smile. However, she couldn''t help but add, "But if he were to do something like what they are using him of, they would never be able to find the bodies."


    Odin stroked his beard again, "Hoho~. Interesting."


    Akeno opened the door and invited everyone, "Pleasee in. Although this is not my ce, I''m keeping the ce clean."


    Baraqiel became worried that Akeno was involving herself with something that she shouldn''t touch.


    ============================


    ============================


    Editors:


    28th00: Yep, they''d never find the bodies. Hell, would they even know what happened? The Loli Maid will not give up her title as Best Maid! I wonder if Medusa and Grayfia would pause upon seeing each other and pull off a meeting like Armstrong''s manly greeting from FMA, but the maid edition. Or would it be the "You have encroached upon my territory, heretic! Prepare to be dusted to oblivion!" type where fellow centuries-millennium''s old Maids go "Rawr" at each other.


    Alexander: Those are interesting options. However, we mustn''t forget a very important point. Grayfia is a wife, who denies every kind of romantic rtionship with Sirzechs, as soon as she starts her shift. Contrary to her, Medusa is a maid who wishes for a ''forbidden'' romance between her and her master. Considering this, a meeting between them could easily be an epic moment.

 Volume 9 504 - Father and Daughter

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 504 - Father and Daughter</h4>


    Akeno made stewed meat and potatoes for everyone and when Baraqiel tasted it, he almost cried due to it being his favorite food, which was always made by histe wife, Shuri.


    Before they had their dinner, Akeno already sent a secret message to Serafall about the unexpected guests. Although Odin knew that Serafall stayed in this ce, as that was pretty much public information among the higher-ups, it was still disadvantageous for Serafall to meet Odin now because she wouldn''t be able to avoid certain questions. It was better for them to meet in a formal meeting rather than in a private setting.


    So when Odin asked about her, Akeno told them that she was busy with the production of her own show in the Underworld.


    During their dinner, only Odin and Akeno were talking, with the former asking various questions while thetter only giving him short but vague answers.


    Baraqiel also wanted to talk to his daughter, however, he didn''t really know what to say.


    After their dinner, Odin didn''t waste any time and bid his farewell, "Well then, Akeno-chan. Thank you for the wonderful dinner. But this old man and the regrettable Valkyrie will only get in the way. We''ll take our leave first."


    "Who''re you calling regrettable!?" Rossweisse stood up and followed Odin toin to him. But before she left, she bowed slightly towards Akeno, "Thank you for the meal."


    The two quickly went away and left the father and daughter duo alone. Akeno didn''t say anything and just silently cleaned the table. "Let me help you.", offered Baraqiel.


    "No. Please just wait for me. I''ll prepare some tea.", replied Akeno.


    Baraqiel didn''t insist and just waited for her. After the tea was served, the two of them kept quiet for 10 minutes while only sipping tea, not even looking at each other''s eyes. Not being able to take the silence anymore, Baraqiel started, "First of all�� I would like to apologize for all those years. I know it''s my fault that Shuri perished that day and I also know that you won''t be able to forgive me. Nevertheless, I''d like to apologize, not to make myself feel better but to face my responsibilities."


    Akeno didn''t say anything and only looked down on her cup of tea. Baraqiel however, was already happy that she was willing to hear him out, a possibility that he''d only dreamed of before.


    "I''m happy that I was able to get a chance like this. When we suddenly came across you, I really thought that you''d be ignoring me, or even worse, trying to shove me away." Baraqiel wanted to tell her what really happened back then, but he knew that, if he told Akeno that he had to choose between protecting Shuri and her, she''d only me herself. Besides, it was his own weakness to me.


    Baraqiel drank the rest of his tea and stood up, "Thank you for listening�� I have to go."


    Akeno didn''t stop him, but before he could leave, she called out to him, "Please wait."


    "Hmm?" Baraqiel turned towards her with a mix of confusion and nervousness.


    But contrary to his expectation, Akeno passed him a warm box of food. From the smell, Baraqiel could tell that it was some leftover of the stewed meat and potatoes. With a shocked expression, he asked, "T-this is?"


    With a small smile, Akeno answered, "I noticed that you really liked it but you''re hesitating to ask for more. Or did I see it wrong?"


    Baraqiel shook his head vigorously, "No, no! I''ll take this. Thank you." Some tears even threatened to fall from his eyes, caused by sheer happiness, "Well then, I won''t disturb you any longer." He then left with lighter shoulders.


    Akeno watched him leave until his figure disappeared while thinking about what really happened in her childhood. After opening up her mind, a few things which she never thought of before started appearing in her mind, including some suspicions in regard to the cause of her mother''s death. Due to that, she asked her cousin in the Himejima n, to whom she still had contact with even after she was expelled from the n, to investigate the events at that time.


    Although the investigations weren''tplete yet, Akeno already had some inkling into what really happened, ''He could have exined himself, but didn''t do so in fear of hurting me�� I wish my view at that time wouldn''t have been clouded by hate. Then maybe, I wouldn''t havee to needlessly hating him�� Father��''


    Contrary to Baraqiel, Akeno reentered the shop with guilt in her heart.


    While walking towards Odin and Rossweisse with light steps, Baraqiel came across Azazel, who seemed to be waiting for him, "Aren''t you gleeful tonight?"


    "Well, my wish from long ago was granted tonight. Of course, I''m happy.", replied Baraqiel.


    Chuckling, Azazel added, "Is that so? By the way, is that nikujaga? I''m hungry. Let me have some."


    As if he was a dog, who''s food was about to be taken away, Baraqiel growled at Azazel, "Even if you''re my superior, I won''t surrender the nikujaga that my daughter made for me!"


    Azazel gave him a dirty look, "Stingy bastard."


    "Whatever you say."


    Azazel red at him for a few more moments, before his expression became gentle, "I see that you''re finally able to make up with your daughter."


    Although Baraqiel was smiling, he shook his head, "Not quite. Though I really didn''t expect her to listen to me apologize."


    "Don''t beat yourself too much. It''s also partly my fault that something like that happened. I should have dealt with those from the radical factions before that incident happened." Azazel sighed.


    "Please don''t say that. After all, it''s also because of them that I met Shuri. Although it''s also their fault that it ended and I''m still regretting that day, I''m happy that it happened."


    "I see�� By the way, if I''m not wrong, you owe Kisuke Urahara." Azazel suddenly changed the topic.


    "What? What''s this about? Where did thate from?"


    "Well, considering the stories that I heard from the kids, it''s because of him that your daughter was able to ept her lineage and learned how to use her holy lightning. Due to that, she opened her mind and wanted to hear your side of the story. In hindsight, you owe Kisuke Urahara�� And if things go further the way they are now, he''ll probably be your son-inw."


    "W-what!?"


    While Baraqiel was trying to squeeze out info from Azazel, Serafall returned to the shop via a magic circle and the first thing she asked Akeno was, "How did it go with your father?"


    "I''m happy that I listened to him.", replied Akeno with a smile. "What about you, Serafall-sama? How did the production go?"


    "It was great! I enjoyed it more than I thought! Why didn''t I think of this before?" Serafall then started telling Akeno some of the Behind the Scenes stories. Akeno happily listened to her while preparing snacks.


    A few minutester, Serafall suddenly changed the subject, "Ah, by the way, Your next opponent is already decided. His name is Diodora from the House of Astaroth."


    "Hmm�� I know him. When we met at the party, he was strangely attached to Asia. Frankly speaking, he doesn''t give me a good feeling."


    "Take that feeling seriously as there are some suspicious activities from his side."


    "Suspicious?"


    "Yep. Though we still don''t know what exactly he''s up to, it''s possible that he''s nning something that could endanger you during the Rating Game. Keep that in mind."


    "Got it. I''ll do as you say."


    "And I only told you this so that you can get ready. There''s still no official announcement but it doesn''t hurt for you to be aware."


    =================================


    =================================


    =================================


    Editors:


    28th00: I wonder, did Ophis ever give him a snake? I think Kisuke was teaching her moderation in blessing legitimately evil people, and Diodora is Affably Evil�� Eh, he''s weak even with her blessings. Just because you have a massive power boost, doesn''t mean you know how to use said power, or even how to fight properly. It''s nice to see that Akeno�� Grew up? Matured, in her line of thinking and life philosophy a bit. She mentioned her cousin, so I assume it''s Suzaku who is arguably at least as stacked as Akeno, if not more? That whole n is so stacked, it''s legitimately concerning on a gics standpoint.


    Alexander: I''m very happy about her growth. Even though it gives me more of a housewife feeling, rather than a maid. That thought gifts me with a beautiful picture. The aspiring househusband cooking and joking together with a smiling Akeno.

 Volume 9 505 - The Childhood Friend

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 505 - The Childhood Friend</h4>


    School had resumed, and along with it came a new transfer student, Irina Shidou. That night, everyone had a wee party for her in Issei''s newly renovated house.


    Everyone from Rias'' Peerage was present in addition to their Advisor Azazel and a poor Valkyrie, Rossweisse, who was left behind by Odin for some stupid reason.


    Odin left her in Rias'' care and on the day she was left behind, she did nothing but crying in the corner of Issei''s house, "I don''t know why I''m crying, but I should be used to this by now. No other men wanted me by their side, so why should my own boss!?"


    Akeno patted her shoulder and tried to console her, "Don''t be like that. I''m sure he''ll eventuallye back for you."


    But instead of calming down, Rossweisse broke down even more, "Oh yeah, me too! Once that Titty Bar has a special event, he''ll be the first one to fall in line! Maybe I should apply to be a dancer so that he''ll see me and realize that he''d forgotten me! But he would be like, ''Get that olddy off the stage and bring a younger one! That one will have more to offer!'' Uwaahh!!!"


    Akeno had to use a few hours of her life to keep the crying Valkyriepany.


    On the night of the party, Irina introduced herself again as a reincarnated Angel of Michael with the position of ''Ace''. Contrary to the system that the Devils used, which is based on chess, the Angels created a simr system with Ajuka Beelzebub''s help and based it on ying cards. The only higher position than Irina''s ''Ace'' was the ''Joker''.


    After Irina, Rosseweisse also introduced herself and the two of them became the new residents of Issei''s house.


    Everyone had a great time tillte at night. After the party ended, Akeno bid her farewell, "Well then, everyone, I''m going home."


    "Ah, be careful.", replied Rias. At first, Rias tried to stop her from living apart from them, but she epted it after Akeno insisted on it. Her worry lessened, when Serafall also started living in Urahara''s Shop. Though she wondered what''s so good about that ce aside from the secret base hidden underneath. Rias never told anyone, including her brother, about the secret base. Not for Kisuke''s sake, but for Koneko, who was missing, and Akeno, who obviously had some feelings for the owner.


    Rias told Akeno, that Koneko might be in his secret base, however, Akeno already confirmed that they were not there. Rias believed Akeno, because she had no reason to lie about that.


    "Going home? You''re not living here?", asked Irina, as she was the only one who was still unaware about this fact.


    Akeno froze for a bit after remembering what Irina was to Kisuke. ''I messed up.'', was her first thought. But she also knew that she couldn''t avoid this forever.


    "Ah, right. You still don''t know. Akeno-san is currently staying in Kisuke''s Shop." Issei replied to her, "You know what happened to Kisuke, right? Currently, no one''s using that ce and Akeno-san proposed to take care of it." Issei was also very worried about his childhood friend and hated himself for not being able to do anything to help. However, Ddraig assured him that Kisuke wouldn''t perish so easily, as he was one of the most terrifying beings that Ddraig ever met. Not that Issei knew what he meant and what it meant for a Heavenly Dragon to describe someone as ''terrifying''.


    Akeno tried to leave before things proceed to a direction she didn''t want. However, she was already toote. Irina suddenly grabbed Akeno''s shoulder and interrogated her, "Please wait a moment! Why are you staying there!?"


    Akeno replied calmly, "It''s as you heard, I''m taking care of the ce."


    Irina continued with her questions, "Why you!? And why did you volunteer for it!?"


    Azazel only watched them and decided to keep quit. He also had a feeling that Akeno wasn''t staying in Kisuke''s ce just because she liked him.


    "It''s for personal reasons. I don''t have any obligation to reveal them to you.", answered Akeno as she tried to leave.


    Akeno thought that Irina would argue more and got ready for it. But contrary to her expectations, Irina suddenly ran up to her room and came back with her luggage, "Then I''ll also stay there!"


    With wide eyes, Akeno asked, "W-why?"


    "For personal reasons! I also don''t have any obligation to reveal them to you!" Irina returned Akeno''s answer from earlier with a smug face.


    "Tsk!" Akeno couldn''t help but click her tongue.


    "What was that?"


    Akeno then gave Irina a big smile and told her, "My, it was nothing~. Why don''t you stay here and leave that ce for me? I can take care of it just fine."


    "Why don''t YOU leave that ce for ME! I''m Kisuke''s childhood friend and it''s also my duty to take care of the things he left behind, so that they''ll be in good condition once hees back!", argued Irina.


    "Is that how a childhood friend works?", whispered Xenovia to Issei.


    "No�� I don''t think that''s how it works. Irina is just too attached to Kisuke. She was always like this, even when we were kids."


    "That doesn''t matter. I''m still better than you since I have experience in taking care of the Urahara Household! And I have been taking care of that ce for almost two months now and there were no problems!" Akeno didn''t back down.


    "Even then, I can''t trust you! Who knows what sort of things you''re doing there! I''ming with you!", replied Irina back.


    Rias could only look away, because she recalled that ''glorious'' video clip of her best friend.


    Akeno knew that it would be bad if Irina really started to live in Kisuke''s shop, because of a certain loli dragon and sweets lover. However, she hadn''t any kind of reason to stop Irina further, because it''d look suspicious. Especially to Azazel, to whom she had to be careful with.


    While sighing, Akeno said, "Haah�� Fine�� Whatever you want." She then left. Akeno backed down, but that didn''t mean that she gave up. She intended to persuade Irina on their way there.


    While carrying her luggage, Irina faced everyone before bowing and giving her farewell, "Well then, everyone~. Thank you for weing me! See you at school tomorrow and God Bless you all~!" Before she left, she first gave the Devils some headaches.


    Irina silently followed Akeno until thetter turned towards her with a serious expression when Kisuke''s shop came into view. "Please turn back now.", said Akeno.


    Irina knew that Akeno''s words were different from their earlier banter and with the same seriousness, she asked, "Why?"


    "For the safety of Kisuke-kun and those who''re missing.", replied Akeno while looking straight into her eyes.


    Irina furrowed her brows and asked, "What do you know?"


    But Akeno just shook her head and said, "The less you know, the better."


    "And who are you to decide that? Kisuke is also an important person to me! More than that, I also don''t believe that hemitted those crimes that he''s being used of!" Irina got riled up, more than from their earlier argument.


    Akeno took a step forward and approached Irina with a grave aura around her, "Then are you prepared to be a traitor? To be a wanted person? Just because you tried to help and don''t even know if you''re helping? Are you prepared to take the burden of being in league with the person who ''killed'' so many people from the Alliance? Are you even prepared to ''Fall''? If any of your answers from those questions are ''no'', then please turn back. Once you start living in that ce, there will be noing back, and ''we'' might have to deal with you ourselves."


    Once Akeno finished speaking, she came close to Irina''s face, intimidating her.


    Irina had to take a step back because of the invisible pressure that Akeno is giving her, "W-what about you? You mean you''re ready to take those risks for Kisuke?"


    "Don''t get it wrong. It wasn''t just for him. He isn''t the only person missing. If it''s just him, then he can take care of himself. But what about you? Are you willing to take the risk just for Kisuke-kun?"


    ==========================


    ==========================


    ==========================


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, Akeno did the thingy. The thingy where the world turns really weird and she gives someone one of those "Red Pill Blue Pill" speeches. The Loli Dragon shall nom, that is the only constant in existence. Sometimes she nap, sometimes she snac, but most of all, she pat.


    Alexander

 Volume 9 506 - Interdimensional UNO

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 506 - Interdimensional UNO</h4>


    After those consecutive and heavy questions, Irina fell into a well of self-doubt, ''Can I really keep things from my Lord? Can I take the risk of everyone hating me and losing my current position for Kisuke?''


    Seeing her reaction, Akeno took a step back and told her, "Please go back. We''re done here." She then started walking towards the shop, not minding Irina anymore. Even if what they talked about today were to be leaked, it would be fine, because there wasn''t really any real information in what she said to Irina. She could just say that she was talking nonsense so that Irina wouldn''t live in the shop.


    But after taking out the keys and opening the door, Akeno realized that someone was behind her and immediately turned around, "Why are you still here?" Irina was silently standing behind her.


    "To take on that risk that you''re so proud of!", answered Irina and let out a smug smile once again.


    Akeno, quite angry, retorted, "Stop joking around! Both of us coulde into danger! Don''t think that this is just a simple thing!"


    Irina''s smug face disappeared and was reced by a serious one, "Please don''t insult me. Of course, I''m aware that this isn''t a simple thing. After all, the crimes on Kisuke''s head are very heavy and some of the major factions are after them. However, I do believe that he wouldn''t do something like that�� At least from how I know him."


    "But what about your faith!? You''re not just a believer now, but also a reincarnated Angel! One simple mistake and Heaven''s system will reject you!"


    "I know. But I''m still willing to take that risk. Describe it as blind faith, but I do believe with all my heart that Kisuke is innocent. And even if that isn''t true and would be revealedter, I''m willing to receive my punishment and it''ll be me who''ll go after him." Irina said with great conviction.


    Akeno gritted her teeth and wanted to say something, but after a minute or two, she only heaved arge sigh and wasn''t able to think of any words to refute her, "Why? He''s just your childhood friend."


    "It''s precisely because he''s my childhood friend. I only have two and when one of them is in trouble, it''s only natural for me to help out. And besides, he already saved me one time and even made me realize something important. It''s my turn to return the gesture." Irina replied.


    "Fine�� Do whatever you want." Akeno then red at her, "However, if by chance that any secrets about Kisuke-kun are leaked, I''ll insist that you''re also an aplice. Even if you''re not convicted of any crimes, the doubts about your loyalty would never disappear."


    Irina swallowed her saliva and replied, "��I know."


    Akeno then continued opening the door while thinking, ''Well, it''s not like she''ll discover anything relevant this early. Serafall will be busy for a while, while Ophis'' movements are restricted. I can use a few days to convince her again to leave.''


    But as the two of them entered the shop and reached the living area, they found a goth loli, ying cards with another loli with grey hair and grey eyes through a magic circle projection. The goth loli was using magic to transport the cards back and forth making it possible for them to y even with an interdimensional distance, "Uno!" was shouted by the goth loli as she excitedly ced down a card.


    "N-no way�� When did you be so good at this, Phi-chan?", muttered ire in despair as she looked down at her six remaining cards, but none of them could change the result of their battle.


    Ophis didn''t say anything, but the smug smile on her face said everything, "��I''m strong."


    Akeno couldn''t help but cover her face as her wish wasn''t granted by the Dragon God of Infinity, ''Why now of all times?''


    Akeno took a peek at Irina''s reaction and just as she expected, she was shocked. After the moment when Ophis appeared in front of Serafall and the other leaders of the Three Great Factions, the current form she had taken became known to everyone with rtively high positions within their organization. Irina was the ''Ace'' of Michael, so it was normal for her to have seen Ophis'' photo or something equivalent.


    However, Akeno''s expectations didn''t follow through as Irina''s first words were, "You can y Uno with just two people? How does that even work?"


    ire, from the other side, heard Irina''s voice and immediately asked, "Phi-chan, is someone else there?"


    Ophis looked towards them, but she immediately disregarded Irina''s presence and replied to ire, "The Sister with ck hair and big boobs."


    Akeno almost tripped when she heard Ophis'' reply. She couldn''t get used to it. However, what was more tragic for her was the fact that ire immediately understood what she meant, "Ah, Akeno-neechan. Wee home~."


    Akeno ignored ire for now andined to Ophis, "Ophis, please call me Akeno."


    "W-wait�� What do you mean Ophis?", asked Irina suddenly from the side while looking intently at the goth lolita.


    ''Ara? Did I just blow my chance to feign ignorance and hide Ophis'' identity?'', thought Akeno to herself.


    A few secondster, a certain photo shed through Irina''s mind and it was the photo of the leader of the most wanted terrorist organization which was wreaking havoc throughout the whole world, trying to change the world order, "T-that little girl�� Why does she look like the one in the circting photo of the Khaos Brigade''s leader?"


    Akeno suddenly grabbed Irina''s shoulders and turned her towards her with a threatening re, "You''re in this now. There''s no backing out."


    "Y-you mean that''s the realst boss?" Irina asked what she thought was an unbelievable question, "You''re in league with a terrorist organization''s boss? And why is she ying Uno!?" The resolution that she gathered earlier seemed so insignificant after this sudden revtion. Thest question in particr messed up her perception.


    "I already told you. It''s risky.", replied Akeno with a grin.


    "I didn''t know that it was this risky! And why is she here!? Are you helping the Khaos Brigade!? I thought you supported the fact that Kisuke is innocent!?"


    Irina tried to struggle away from Akeno''s grasp, but Akeno didn''t let her go so easily. Having no choice, she decided to exin everything to this reincarnated Angel, "Listen to the whole story first. I promise you, it''s not what you think."


    Irina knew that she walked into something she shouldn''t have, but since she was already here, she decided to give Akeno a chance, "Fine�� But please tell me everything and how this is connected to Kisuke."


    Akeno nodded, "Alright, however, let me first rify this. I''m not helping the Khaos Brigade and Ophis is actually Kisuke''s acquaintance."


    "��What?"


    "Yep�� He''s an acquaintance of thest boss. Don''t ask me how. I also don''t know how that happened, but I heard that they''re pretty close. For the rest of the story, please follow me to another room." Akeno then faced Ophis and ire''s projection, "You two enjoy yourselves. I''ll prepare some snacks that you can eat while you y."


    "Yaay!" ire cheered, while Ophis replied with her usual deadpan expression, "I want chocte doughnuts."


    Akeno first led Irina to one of the rooms and said, "This will be your room. You can unpack first while I serve them some snacks." She then walked towards the exit of the room without any intention of hearing Irina''sints. But before she leftpletely, she took a peek at her and added, "No escaping. I''ll ask Ophis to activate the magic formation throughout the whole ce and you should know what this means, since this is that guy''s ce. I''m telling you, it''s way worse than his own house. He ''loves'' his shop way too much."


    The threat became very effective as Irina recalled the time she stayed in Kisuke''s ce. Although she was not the victim, she knew how pitiful one could get if getting caught, ''And she said this ce is way worse�� Just what the heck are you doing, Kisuke-kun?''

 Volume 9 507 - How to tame a Dragon

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 507 - How to tame a Dragon</h4>


    After serving Ophis and ire some snacks, Akeno returned to Irina and started telling her how she met Ophis and how the boss of the terrorist organization made contact with one of the Devil Kings due to Kisuke''s influence.


    "You mean the story of Ophis suddenly appearing in front of Serafall-sama? But I heard, she imed that Ophis didn''te to her after that one time and she only demanded to hand over something.", said Irina.


    "That''s a lie that Serafall told everyone so that they would get off her case. Of course, not everyone was convinced by it, but Ophis really never appeared in front of her when there were other people around.", exined Akeno to her.


    "Then what is that ''something'' that she demanded from Serafall-sama for her to appear in front of her and other leaders?"


    Akeno looked away and whispered, "te��ar."


    "Hmm?" Irina got closer, "I couldn''t hear you."


    "��cte��bars.", whispered Akeno again.


    Irina managed to piece her words together, but the contents were unbelievable, so she got even closer and said, "I still couldn''t hear you! Say it louder! Or is it some big secret that can''t be spoken loudly of?"


    ''Yes!'', answered Akeno in her mind. For her, this was a big secret. Who knew that you could lure a transcendent being with ''that''. But after sighing, she finally answered with a normal voice, "Chocte bars."


    "Hmm? Pardon?" Irina still thought that her ears weren''t working right.


    Akeno knew that it was hard to believe and said it again, "Ophis came to Serafall-sama because of the chocte bars that Kisuke-kun left for her."


    Irina looked straight into Akeno''s eyes and said, "��You''re kidding me."


    "��I wish I was."


    Irina knew that Akeno didn''t have any reason to tell such a ridiculous lie. Between a ridiculous lie or ridiculous truth, it was almost always thetter, ''I mean there''s no way you couldn''t have thought a more believable lie unless that''s really the truth!'', thought Irina while she held her head. It was really hard to believe that one of the most feared beings in the world was after some sweets, ''Is this why Kisuke set up this sweets shop?''


    Ignoring that fact, at least for now, Irina continued to ask, "Then how can I be sure that you lot have nothing to do with the Khaos Brigade?"


    Akeno''s expression returned to normal and answered seriously, "Serafall figured it out from the way Ophis talks about her organization. She''s something like a decorated leader."


    "What do you mean?"


    "First, let me tell you this. Ophis doesn''t have any other goal or desire other than kicking Great Red out of the Dimensional Gap."


    Irina''s eyes widened, "But if she were to sessfully do that, the world as we knew it might cease to exist!"


    "I know. But Ophis, the Dragon God of Infinity, doesn''t care about such ''triviality''. She only wanted to attain peace and quiet within the Dimensional Gap for eternity."


    Irina couldn''t help but smile wryly, "Trivial�� Right�� Something like that is trivial for her." Shaking her head to clear those thoughts away, she continued to ask, "What does it have to do with the Khaos Brigade."


    "The Khaos Brigade used that desire of hers to let her grant them powers. Since Ophis doesn''t really care about the method, once you''ve promised to work towards her goal, she''ll grant you her blessing and in some cases, your wish. In addition to that, they also used her name to recruit more people to their cause. Nothing makes this organization stronger than their leader being the strongest being the world. Because of this, the first rule of the house is to never ask Ophis for more power. That''s what separates us from the Khaos Brigade." Akeno exined firmly.


    Irina stayed silent for a minute to process what Akeno just said, "I see�� If that''s the case, then this Dragon God of Infinity is quite a child."


    Akeno shook her head, "Shees of as a ''child'', but she never was a child. Although she is very naive and innocent, that is only with the ways ofmon sense. However, if we were to ask if she has the proper mentality of an ancient and all-powerful being, the answer is yes."


    "I think I get your point. Since she really doesn''t care about anything aside from one thing, then she also wouldn''t care about any of the experiences, discarding them as she goes on with her life."


    "Correct. That''s why we should never take advantage of her, or else, we won''t be that different from the Khaos Brigade."


    Irina nodded at her. Some of her worries disappeared and she went to the next point, "Then my next question is, how is she rted to Kisuke''s and other''s safety? Although you can justify yourself not being involved with the Khaos Brigade, Ophis'' connection to all of this eludes me."


    "Both me and Serafall-sama don''t know how Kisuke Urahara is connected to Ophis. All we know is that the Dragon God took quite an interest in that fellow. Ophis is a being that doesn''t lie so she''s our best bet in finding Kisuke and the others. Unfortunately, even with our efforts, we still don''t know where they are or how they are doing right now."


    "Nothing? Not even a single clue?"


    Akeno shook her head, "Nothing. Though Ophis has a suggestion, we can''t do it."


    "What is it?" Irina asked curiously.


    "Get the help of Great Red, the True Dragon of Illusions and Dreams. She said we might be able to find him by asking Great Red to connect to his ''dream''."


    "O-oh��" Irina could only react with twitching lips, "T-that''s Ophis for you�� I also understand that she won''t be doing that herself because she doesn''t like that guy."


    "Exactly. That''s why we''re looking for other ways to find him." Akeno sighed.


    Irina stayed silent for another few minutes, before giving Akeno a big smile, "If that''s the case, let me help you!"


    But Akeno only harrumphed at her, "That''s obvious! I won''t allow freeloaders in this ce! The moment you came here, the only choice left for you was to help out or be silenced!"


    "Don''t be so stuck up! You only got into this because of your strange maid fetish!"


    "Huh!? Who has a strange fetish!? And why would a maid fetish be strange!? And if I can get into this, then having a maid fetish is better than being a childhood friend!"


    "What was that, you half-baked Devil!?"


    "I just said it! Don''t make me repeat myself, self-proimed Angel!"


    "What!? I''m a real Angel!"


    "And I''m a proud halfling!"


    While the two of them started bickering with each other, Serafall, who had been watching from the door while hiding her presence, asked Ophis, who was also peeking like her, "Why did they start fighting now? Their discussion was going well until now."


    Even though Ophis didn''t really understand it, she instinctively felt what the answer was and answered, "They want the ''hat''."


    With only that, Serafall immediately misunderstood Ophis. She thought that Ophis was referring to Kisuke''s hat, which was in her possession and protested, "What!? There''s no way I''m going to hand that over!" Little did she know that Ophis was actually referring to the hat''s owner, but she didn''t bother to exin it to her.


    "And I''m going to use this hat to add another character to my show!", added Serafall proudly.


    ==================


    ==================


    Editors:


    28th00: Oh man, Ophis being an idiot savant in regards to interpersonal rtionships, with Serafall being the exact opposite. Serafall wanting to make the most wanted man in the world, a character on her show�� Well, she''s the most controversial Devil for a reason! She''s too pure for this world, even Ophis understands, and she''s the epitome of Naive.


    Alexander: They could do a manzai show together. So, maid fetish is apparently not strange. Seems as if Kisuke''s education was sessful. The only thing left is the fight for seniority between her and Medusa.

 Volume 9 508 - New Comrade

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 508 - New Comrade</h4>


    Irina joined the crew and thanks to her gutsy personality, she was able to get along with Ophis just fine by ying cards with her. She was not even afraid to defeat her in games, which made Ophis pout many times.


    Of course, Akeno didn''t just blindly ept Irina. That night, when Serafall got home, Akeno properly asked for her permission.


    Serafall agreed because Irina could also help with their search. "I''ll do what I can, but how can I help?", asked Irina.


    "Since you''re Michael-chan''s ''Ace'' you should have some authority in Heaven. Just ess the database of the Sacred Gear system and try finding Kisuke''s Sacred Gear.", instructed Serafall.


    "But before I could do that, I would need Michael-sama''s permission. To ask for that, I would also need to tell him of my purpose. I''m telling you this now, Serafall-sama, I may not say everything to Michael-sama, but I''ll never lie to him.", replied Irina.


    Serafall nodded, understanding her predicament, "I know. Your duty, responsibility, loyalty and morals are all important and I won''t ask you to break any of those."


    "Then how?"


    "Just tell him the truth.", answered Serafall simply.


    "That I''m looking for Kisuke? Wouldn''t that be bad?", wondered Irina and Akeno had the same concerns.


    "You still don''t get it? Then let me ask you this, why are you looking for Ki-tan?"


    Irina was confused, but she still chose to answer truthfully, "To assure his safety and to reveal the truth behind the crimes on his head."


    Serafall smiled and asked, "And why?"


    It finally dawned on Irina what Serafall was hinting at, "Because I''m his childhood friend!"


    Serafall nodded, "Right. As a virtuous organization, it''s only right to be concerned about the safety of your childhood friend. I don''t think Michael-chan would stop the genuine kindness of his ''Ace''. Besides, he''ll also be interested in the result of your search."


    Irina nodded in understanding, "But even then, I''m sure that Heaven already did their investigation. After all, they also knew that Kisuke had a Sacred Gear. And if I were to sessfully get information, how will I get it out without being questioned? Remember, I can''t lie."


    This time, it was Akeno who exined to her, "Everyone only knows that Kisuke-kun has a Sacred Gear in the form of a cane with a hidden de inside it. However, only a few individuals know that it can transform into a proper sword and that he called it ''Benihime''."


    "Akeno-chan is right. I doubt that Heaven has this kind of information. Well, maybe Azazel-chan already passed the information that his Sacred Gear can transform and sends out crimson sts of energy, but only a few people know that he called it ''Benihime''. So you should search with that as the main point. And regarding your other concern, I''m not asking you to search for his whereabouts through the Sacred Gear system, but whether or not this ''Benihime'' has changed its host�� Or if it''s still in cirction."


    "Still in cirction? What do you mean, Serafall-sama?", asked Akeno.


    Serafall leaned back and sighed, "It''s just a spection, but�� Due to how barren the information regarding them is and considering Ophis-chan''s inability to find them even in the Dimensional Gap, they''re probably in a secret realm�� or��"


    "Or?" Irina and Akeno asked simultaneously.


    "Or they are somewhere beyond the Dimensional Gap."


    But despite hearing Serafall''s answer, both of them still failed to understand it and Serafall refused to exin further.


    .


    .


    .


    Irina was already staying in Urahara Shop for a few days and used her free time to search the database of the Sacred Gear system after asking for Michael''s permission. Of course, there was no way for her to find any information regarding Kisuke in there because he didn''t own any of the Sacred Gears from Heaven. Irina also tried searching for Aika''s Sacred Gear, the so-called fake Longinus, but it was already an enigma from the start and what she found out was only the information that it hadn''t changed its host for thest 17 years.


    A weekter, after Irina returned from school, she found Ophis once again ying cards with her little friend. Irina immediately changed her clothes and brought out some snacks, before sitting beside Ophis, intending to join them.


    But as she sat down, she got the full view of the other loli and thought, ''Hmm? Where have I seen her before?''


    But before she could find any answers, the loli from the other side of the magic projection saw her and muttered, "��Irina�� onee-chan?"


    "Hmm? What? How did you know my name?" Irina did find her familiar, but she knew that she didn''t know some kid with grey hair.


    Instead of answering her question, ire on the other side called out to someone while pointing at her, "Aunty! It''s Irina-onee-chan!"


    Off to the side of the projection, Irina suddenly heard a very familiar voice, "Hmm? Irina?" A few secondster, a new but familiar face appeared on the projection, "Hmm? It really is Irina�� And you''re with Ophis. Did you join Akeno-chan and Serafall-sama?"


    Irina froze for a few seconds before shouting, "S-Sakura-kaasan!?"


    "Ah�� Could it be that you didn''t know?", muttered Sakura from the other side.


    It was as Sakura said. Akeno and Serafall didn''t tell her anything about Kisuke''s mother or her whereabouts. All this time, she thought that Sakura disappeared along with Kisuke and the rest. She never expected to meet her today, "W-what''s going on!? How are you!? Are you safe!? Is Kisuke with you!?"


    "Hold your horses and calm down. First of all, Kisuke isn''t with me. Second��" Sakura then pointed towards Ophis, "It''s their ytime. Let''s not interrupt that. It seems that Akeno-chan and Serafall-sama aren''t with you right now, so wait for them to exin the situation to you and ask them to contact meter."


    Irina wanted to disagree with her, but she had no choice but to follow her as she also didn''t want to interrupt the Dragon God''s ytime.


    Waving her hand, Sakura bid her farewell, "See youter, Irina-chan~."


    Irina nodded at her and ire returned into the projection, "I''m sorry, Irina-neechan. Phi-chan really wanted to y and we can only do it once in a week."


    Irina stood up while consoling ire, "It''s fine. It''s fine. I''m happy that I got to talk with Sakura-kaasan for a bit. Well, then. I''m going to leave these snacks here. Enjoy yourself." She then ran towards her room to change into her school uniform again. She intended to go back to school and confront Akeno, who didn''t tell her anything.


    .


    .


    .


    That night, in the new tenant''s room, Irina was sitting in front of Akeno. After finding Akeno and confronting her about Sakura, Akeno immediately shut her up and told her that she''s only allowed to talk about Kisuke''s case in the shop.


    Irina waited for her to finish her duties in school and went home with her. Now in front of her, Irina asked, "So? Why wasn''t I informed about Sakura-kaasan?"


    "I forgot."


    "Huh?"


    "I forgot.", repeated Akeno with a smile.


    "What do you mean you forgot!? That''s like one of the most important pieces of information!",ined Irina.


    "Well, I intended to tell you, but I saw that you were too busy with your Sacred Gear search, so I withhold the information. But after some time, Ipletely forgot to tell you." Still, with the same smile on her face, Akeno answered.


    "You shouldn''t!", shouted Irina, but deep inside her she knew the real reason, ''She and Serafall-sama still don''t fully trust me.''


    Reading what was on her mind, Akeno nodded, "Right. We still don''t fully trust you. We had to watch you for a few more days and figure out your real intentions. After all, Kisuke''s case is a very sensitive topic. We can''tpromise our security just because his self-proimed childhood friend wanted to join in."


    "It''s not self-proimed! I''m his real childhood friend!" Irina couldn''t help but shout again. A secondter, she sighed, "I understand you wanting to be careful. So did I pass your test?"


    "Yep~. A few days ago, we figured out that you''re indeed trustworthy, ufufu~."


    "Then why didn''t you tell me about Sakura-kaasan a few days ago!?"


    "I said it. I forgot~. Ufufufu~."


    Irina then put her hands together and closed her eyes to start praying, "Oh God, please give me the strength not to smite this pervert in front of me."


    ========================


    ========================


    ========================


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, that pain is not the pleasant kind of pain Akeno likes. Prayer, it always hurts a devil, and not in a fun way! Low blow right there, Irina-chan! Phis-chama''s ytime takes precedence over almost anything, for anything that keeps her entertained and happy, is something vital to the survival of reality. The fact that she can find joy in ANYTHING besides silence is a big plus also. The Sacred Gear part is pretty funny, then I remember that the madman actually did make his Zanpakuto a Sacred Gear, with the help of Hephaestus, and made it even more insane. That madman is stacking multipliers on top of multipliers! It''s a positive feedback loop!


    Alexander

 Volume 9 509 - VS Diodora

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 509 - VS Diodora</h4>


    Irina was finally able to talk with Sakura and managed to get almost the whole picture. The thing she still didn''t know was about why the grey-haired loli who was Ophis'' ymate knew her. Sakura told her that it wasn''t the time to know about her yet.


    Cleria and Masaomi were informed that Irina made contact with Sakura, but both of them decided to not to tell her their true identity in fear of it being leaked.


    A few more days passed and both Oppai Dragon and Magical Girl Levia-tan became big hits in the Underworld, they were especially popr with the kids. As both of them were ''Superhero'' shows, debates would oftene up about which one was better. Fortunately for everyone, it was a healthy type of debate as everyone supported the shows.


    Various media outlets in the Underworld also started a character poprity poll regarding this season''s shows and as one would expect, Issei''s character, the Oppai Dragon came first, while Serafall''s Magical Levia-tan came in second. The third, however, came from an unexpected contender.


    Unlike what most analysts predicted, Rias'' Switch Princess didn''te third, instead it was another character from the Magical Levia-tan. A mysterious character who helped the protagonist in her times of need from the shadows. His features only consisted of the shadowy figure of a man and the only one identifying trait was his green bucket hat. He didn''t have a name in the show, but the protagonist called him, ''Mr. Hat''.


    Even though he didn''t speak and only a silhouette of him was shown, his cool and mysterious character captured the hearts of many,nding him on the third spot of the poprity poll.


    Of course, some people knew the origin of the said hat, but not one of them said anything as they were sure that it was Serafall''s soft method to ease Kisuke''s image to the masses for the time when he would reappear again.


    .


    .


    .


    It wasn''t long after that, when it was finally officially announced that the next Rating Game opponent for Rias'' Peerage was going to be one of the Devils whom they met at the party, Diodora Astaroth. A devil belonging to the Household of the current Beelzebub.


    It was also around this time that Diodora was spotted around the town, where he was trying to meet Asia. He also gave out his intention to invite Asia to his peerage and it was also revealed that he was the Devil who was healed by Asia and the reason she got kicked out of the Church.


    Before their Rating Game, Diodora kept pestering Rias, urging her to do a ''Piece'' exchange with him. Furthermore, Akeno received a warning from Le Fay, telling her that she needed to be careful around Diodora.


    On the day of the game, everyone from the ult Club, Azazel, Rossweisse and Irina were gathered in the clubroom.


    "Have a good trip~.", said Irina and waved at them.


    "Just do your best." Rossweisse also added a few words of her own.


    Rias'' entire peerage then disappeared and teleported towards their battlefield.


    "Well then, we should head out ourselves." Azazel stood up from his chair and prepared another magic circle for teleportation.


    Irina faced him and asked, "I received direct orders from Michael-sama to go to the Underworld and cooperate with you. But why are we keeping our involvement a secret?"


    Rossweisse also nodded at her question, "I''m curious about it too. That old geezer sent me an order after leaving me all alone for so long."


    "If nothing happens, we''ll just show up as a surprise. But if something does happen, then we''ll take care of the things that shouldn''t be there.", answered Azazel with a grin.


    "So you''re using them as bait. I can''t say that I''d approve something like this.", replied Rossweisse.


    "Well, there''s no other way since we don''t have any concrete evidence against him. All we can do is to prepare for the worst."


    .


    .


    .


    After appearing at their assigned battlefield, everyone looked around and saw that different from their first Rating Game, the ''chessboard'' this time was enormous. From a distance, Rias'' group could see some elevated tforms with castles built on top of them.


    But a few secondster, Rias frowned, "How strange, the referee should have announced our arrival by now."


    Akeno recalled Le Fay''s warning and increased her magic output.


    A few more seconds passed and numerous magic circles manifested around them, both on the ground and in the sky. "That''s not the crest of Astaroth. But I''ve seen it before.", muttered Rias, when Devil soldiers started appearing one by one through the magic circles andpletely surrounded them. "That''s the crest of Beelzebub. We can safely assume that they are from the Old Satan Faction."


    "Then, are they from the Khaos Brigade?", asked Issei.


    But before Rias could answer him, one of the Devils that were surrounding them suddenly said, "To the despicable usurpers of the false royal house of Gremory! We are here to take back what is ours!"


    But as they were listening to them, Asia suddenly shrieked and it was already toote when they turned towards her. "Asia!", shouted Issei to Asia, who was being pulled up by magic and got caught by their supposedpetitor, Diodora Astaroth. "You bastard! What are you doing!?"


    "Greetings. Asia Argento will being with me," said Diodora with arge grin on his face.


    "What are you going to do to her, you douchebag!?" Issei started charging his boosted gear, but it would still take some time to release his Bnce Breaker.


    "Diodora�� What''s the meaning of this? I demand an exnation!", asked Rias while gritting her teeth.


    Diodora''s grin grewrger and he replied, "These Devils from the Khaos Brigade will murder each one of you. Is that sufficient?"


    "So you''ve allied yourself to these criminals, you traitorous dog!" Rias'' magic power then started rising up and she counted his crimes, "First you defiled the sanctity of the Rating Games which alone deserves death. And second, you darey your filthy hands on Asia!"


    "Well, if you wanna do something about it, then you''ll first have to fight my friends here. But while you''re doing that, the two of us will get to know each other." Diodora then bombarded them with his magic.


    Without waiting for anymand, Xenovia dodged through the bombardment of magic and lunged towards Diodora. However, he unexpectedly used Asia as a meat shield to stop Xenovia''s assault which enraged her and made her scream, "You dirty bastard!"


    "Hehehe, whatever you say." Diodora teleported away and took Asia with him.


    Issei med himself for his weakness and inability to do something when Asia was in danger. But it was not just him, Akeno was also ming herself. She already received a warning, but she still wasn''t able to do anything.


    All they could do now was to defeat these hundreds of Devil soldiers surrounding them before they could follow Diodora.


    The situation was bleak, but Azazel already sent Odin to their location to help them fending off the Devils. Rias and the rest finally understood that they had acted as bait for the Khaos Brigade. What he didn''t expect, however, was the fact that Asia was kidnapped. With some hesitation, Azazel allowed them to venture into enemy territory.


    Various battles were urring around the enormus game field, but the highlight was without a doubt the fight of Sirzechs and Michael against one of the Old Satan''s descendants, Creuserey Asmodeus. He was a good looking man, wearing the clothes of a noble. They were ck and decorated with dark red belts and motifs.


    Sirzechs tried to convince him to stop what he was doing but Creuserey, like thete Katerea, wasn''t having any of it and started attacking Sirzechs. Knowing that it was impossible to talk to him, he eliminated him in an instant through his overly powerful Power of Destruction.


    Meanwhile, Issei and the rest of the crew got entangled with Diodora''s peerage. They also discovered that all of his peerage members consisted of nuns who were expelled from the Church and were brainwashed to follow Diodora''s orders.


    After defeating Diodora''s peerage, the group immediately went to the deepest room and saw Asia tied in the middle of the room with some magic equipment. It was then that Diodora exined everything to them.


    And they finally understood why Diodora was so obsessed with Asia. It was due to his fetish for ''Holy Maidens'' and corrupting them. He also revealed that him appearing injured in front of Asia long ago was a deliberate n to get her kicked out of the Church. Unfortunately for him, Rias managed to ''snatch'' her first.


    Of course, hearing all of this together with some insults and provocations, made Issei furious beyond belief and Ddraig felt that his power was almost on the verge of going berserk. He immediately went into his Bnce Breaker mode and started assaulting Diodora.


    Diodora even bragged that he received the power of Ophis. However, it didn''t even take a second for him to go down with one punch from Issei. Even after bombarding Issei with magic, Issei only took it head-on while walking slowly towards him.


    Panicking, Diodora tried to increase his power output but still failed to put a dent in Issei''s armor. Issei, on the other hand, started beating the sh*t out of him and specifically aimed for his face and balls.


    After not being able to take the pain anymore, Diodora used all of his power to create the strongest barrier he could make, between him and the Red Dragon Emperor. However, that was also useless after Issei boosted himself multiple times and resumed beating Diodora again.


    After he was done with him, he immediately went to Asia to free her.


    But even in his Bnce Breaker, he failed to untie her. While watching him struggle, Diodora finally exined that the seal was made by someone with a Longinus and it wouldn''t lose to the Boosted Gear. It was set to free Asia after it all ended, but in case of Diodora''s defeat, the seal was set to absorb Asia''s magic power and vitality, slowly killing her in the process.


    Issei and the rest could see that Asia was slowly weakening, but Issei wasn''t giving up yet. Since it was a seal, there was one magic he could try. The one and only original magic of his that he didn''t forget to practice every day.


    "Asia, please forgive me for this.", whispered Issei to her before casting his magic. "Heighten, my delusions! My worldly desires!"


    And ording to his will, his Sacred Gear started boosting his strength again. Ddraig understood what he was about to do and could only sigh.


    With the green lightsing from his gems, Issei shouted, "Dress Break! Bnce Breaker Boost Version!"


    Red light emerged from his hands and covered Asia''s entire body before destroying everything around her, including her clothes.


    ===============================


    ===============================


    ===============================


    Editors:


    28th00: So, that happened. Issei doing Kisuke''s training made it so he''s literally a walking tank for anyone below Ultimate-ss, huh? Side note, Issei truly has insanely overpowered magic that is never utilised this way in canon, it sucks. It works so damn well on things that count as restraining the target, like clothing, or bindings�� Or a seal as it appears. Now, how do we skip to events 5-6 volumester? Because that''s when Kisuke appears, during the Underworld Invasion(lol). It''s also where both sides had the wonderful ability of "No-selling" the other side''s powers.


    Alexander: Oh, he did use this in the canon. But you''re right, it was basically overpowered. However, don''t forget that most of the end bosses were men and he can''t use his magic against them.

 Volume 9 510 - Juggernaut Drive part 1

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 510 - Juggernaut Drive part 1</h4>


    Akeno immediately conjured a school uniform for the naked Asia. Being grateful, Asia jumped into Issei''s arms while crying and thanking everyone for saving her.


    After calming down, everyone got ready to leave. But before that, Asia requested for everyone to wait for her because she wanted to pray. It was her habit of praying after sessfully passing some kind of hardship and she had no intention of changing that.


    Asia went to the middle of the room and kneeled down. She thanked God for making things right and thanked him for letting her meet everyone. Finally, she wished that she could stay with everyone forever. As she finished her prayer, golden light surrounded her and before anyone could react, Asia disappeared without a trace.


    "W-what?" Issei muttered in shock, "What happened?"


    But before anyone could answer him, another voice resounded, one that didn''t belong to anyone there, "Enough ying around, Diodora Astaroth." A secondter, a green magic circle appeared above everyone and a handsome man dressed in ck armor with a cape emerged from it. He had long brown hair that went down to his hips with many bangs covering his right eye.


    "Who are you!?", asked Rias. She still didn''t know what happened to Asia, so she was a bit feisty.


    "Dear little sister of the despicable fake Satan. I''m the descendant of the original Beelzebub. I''m Shalba Beelzebub.", was how the neer introduced himself.


    "What do you want!?"


    However, Shalba just ignored her and looked towards Diodora who was kneeling on the floor, injured. "Shalba! Lend me your hand!", requested Diodora, "If both the old and current Satansbine their strengths��"


    But before he could finish what he wanted to say, Shalba sted a hole in his stomach without any mercy. "H-huh?", gasped Diodora and looked down at his body. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing.


    "Fool." Shalba then pointed his palm towards him and a golden light engulfed Diodora, erasing him from the battlefield. It was the same golden light that engulfed Asia earlier.


    Seeing this, everyone finally understood what happened. If Diodora was killed just now in an instant, then Asia''s chances of survival couldn''t have been better than him.


    While everyone was stunned and shocked, Shalba continued speaking to Diodora who was no more, "Current Satan you say? Calling the true bloodline ''old'' is a mistake in itself."


    "You despicable terrorist! I''ll never forgive you for killing Asia!", screamed Rias and released most of her power. She started to bombard Shalba with every ounce of her Power of Destruction.


    But Shalba only manifested Ophis'' blessing and used it to power his barrier, effectively blocking all of her attacks, "Little sister of the impostor Sirzechs, I''ll have you die as well."


    While everyone was getting ready to risk their lives to take revenge, one person couldn''t ept reality and kept calling for Asia, "Asia�� Asia�� Where are you? We have to go home�� We still have to practice for the three-legged race of the sports festival�� Stop hiding and show yourself to me�� This isn''t funny.", muttered Issei as he nkly walked and looked around the room.


    Everyone became heartbroken after seeing this. Even the intensity of Rias'' magic decreased considerably after witnessing Issei in a state of denial.


    Rias ran towards Issei and silently hugged him. She knew that it wouldn''t be easy for Issei to ept Asia''s death and even now, he was still continuing his search.


    The first one to go into battle was Xenovia. With tears streaming down her face, sheunched an attack at Shalba, "AHHH!!! Unforgivable!!! Unforgivable!!! I''ll kill you!!! I''ll cut you down with my de!!!"


    However, even with her desperate attack, she was only tossed back by Shalba''s strong demonic powers, resulting in some injuries. "Xenovia!", shouted Akeno, who hurriedly ran to her side and supported her.


    But despite her current state, Xenovia hadn''t given up and tried to stand up to fight, "Give Asia back!!! She''s one of my only few friends!!!"


    Thanks to Xenovia''s voice, Issei awakened a little, "B-Buchou, Asia isn''t here��"


    Rias grimaced after seeing Issei''s hopeless face, "��Issei."


    Seeing this, Shalba started mocking them, "Seriously, the princess of the Gremory Household has such a bad taste." He then looked straight into Issei''s eyes, "Listen up, you red piece of trash. I sent that girl to the Dimensional Gap."


    Issei looked towards him nkly and Shalba continued exining, "Within such a ce, that girl has no way of surviving. Surely, her body has perished by now." With a big grin, Shalba finished his words, "In other words, she''s already dead."


    Issei gritted his teeth as he lost himself to grief and rage. His eyes then started shining with the same light as Ddraig gems and he started to walk towards Shalba.


    .


    .


    After erasing Creuserey Asmodeus, Michael, Sirzechs and Azazel discussed their next steps while waiting for their soldiers to clear up the remaining enemies. But while doing so, the gem on Azazel''s Sacred Gear which contained Fafnir started shining, warning him of something.


    The three leaders then looked towards a certain direction and saw a little girl in a goth outfit standing in mid-air not far from them. "Oh perfect. I certainly didn''t expect you to show up in person.", said Azazel.


    "Azazel. It''s been a while.", replied Ophis.


    "If we defeat you here, are you going to finally let peace win out?", asked Azazel while hoping for a good answer.


    But Ophis only unceremoniously answered with a small smile, "Impossible. You cannot defeat me." And that held true, even if the three leaders were to join forces to fight her.


    Azazel knew this was true, so he didn''t really argue with her and just continued asking, "Well then, can you tell us why you''re doing this now, when you never showed any interest to the world before?"


    "Indeed. I would only like to know why you are leading a brigade of terrorists.", added Sirzechs.


    After hearing their questions, Ophis looked up to the red sky before answering, "��A world of silence. I would like to return to the Dimensional Gap which is my home and reim that silence. That is all."


    ''The Dimensional Gap, huh�� If I remember it correctly�� I see, Vali. I can finally guess what you want.'', thought Azazel as he took away his Sacred Gear, intending to ask a few more questions to Ophis like her involvement with both Kisuke Urahara and Serafall Leviathan.


    But before he could do that, an explosion of strange aura caught their attention. "Hmm? What happened? Is this Issei''s aura?", asked Azazel and looked in a certain direction. Before they knew it, Ophis was already gone.


    "So what should we do now?", wanted Michael to know.


    "I think that she''ll follow that aura. Let''s go to clear the enemies first and follow her afterwards.", replied Sirzechs, before he sent a wave of Power of Destruction towards the remaining enemies.


    The two leaders nodded at him and started clearing out the enemies, too.


    .


    .


    .


    Vali, Bikou, and Arthur were within a bubble of magic power that protected them against the void, while scouring the Dimensional Gap to take a glimpse of their target.


    "Hey Vali, is it really here? In this Dimensional Gap?", asked Bikou after the search for their target went on for a few hours.


    "We''ll definitely find it.", answered Vali confidently. He decided to search for a few more hours, when he suddenly felt a familiar surge of Draconic Aura, "Hmm?"


    "What''s wrong?", asked Bikou.


    "Change of ns. We''re going to the underworld.",manded Vali.


    "Why are we going so suddenly?"


    But before Vali could answer him, Arthur, who was controlling the magic bubble that protected them through his holy sword, found a blonde maiden silently floating in the chaotic void, "Hmm?"


    ==========================


    ==========================


    ==========================


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, so it did go pretty much the exact same as canon. I wonder if Ophis will go like, "Oh, that''s bad.", because she knows that Issei is ''The Hat''s'' friend. Asia being a natural Dragon Tamer would also make her go "Oh, that''s really not nice."


    Alexander: After all, them getting hurt without her preventing it, would result in no cookies anymore, from ''The Hat''. Basically a death sentence.

 Volume 9 511 - A Weird Juggernaut Drive

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 511 - A Weird Juggernaut Drive</h4>


    Vali, while carrying Asia, arrived at the scene where Issei was rampaging in his Juggernaut Drive throughout the game field. The rest of hisrades were watching from the distance, unable to get close due to his enormous aura that threatened to kill them.


    After being filled with fury, Issei unwittingly forced himself to enter into Juggernaut Drive by unconsciously borrowing more power than he was capable of handling from Ddraig and his past possessors who left their will inside of the Boosted Gear. He then used that power to beat Shalba up, before using a move called Longinus Smasher to obliterate him.


    Vali greeted them, "You folks seem to be having some trouble."


    "Vali!", eximed Rias and noticed the girl in his arms, "Asia!"


    "I only came to see the fight. The Red Dragon Emperor and his Juggernaut Drive." But as Vali took a peek at Issei''s current form, he frowned, ''What''s this? It''s not purely Juggernaut Drive.''


    Xenovia, despite being injured, ran towards Vali and grabbed Asia, "Asia!!!" While crying tears of joy, Xenovia hugged the friend whom she thought of as being already dead, "Thank God�� Asia��"


    After leaving Asia to Xenovia, Vali took a step forward to get a closer look at the rampaging Issei. Different from what he expected, Issei''s armor had something foreign in it. Instead of just red scale mail, some parts of it were ck, with strikes of gold.


    While Vali was busy observing Issei, Bikou and Arthur started talking to the Gremory Peerage. "This healer chick is your peerage, right?", said Bikou as he watched Xenovia cry.


    "We happened toe across her while we were moving through the Dimensional Gap.", exined Arthur.


    "Don''t worry about her, she''s alive.", added Vali. "But Hyoudou Issei�� It seems that he haphazardly activated the Juggernaut Drive.


    "��Can he revert back to normal from it?", asked Rias.


    "Who knows. If he doesn''t revert back through sheer willpower, he''ll keep expending his life force before eventually dying.", replied Vali.


    "Then we have to tell him that Asia is okay!"


    "That''s pointless. Besides, can you even get close to him? You''d die."


    Rias gritted her teeth.


    "Then again, I won''t stop you from trying.", said Vali and continued to watch.


    "There''s something else, Vali." Bikou suddenly joined their conversation.


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "About him consuming his life force�� I can''t see that happening."


    Vali frowned once again, "What do you mean?"


    "He''s constantly absorbing Ki from the surroundings and using it to rampage. In my opinion, that mass of Ki, if not for its messy control, isparable to the damned geezer." Bikou smiled wryly.


    Vali and Arthur''s eyes widened in shock as they both knew who Bikou always called a ''damned geezer''.


    "Is Hyoudou Issei a Ki practitioner? But there''s no info about it anywhere.", muttered Arthur.


    "He gave it to him.", muttered an unexpected voice out of nowhere. Ophis had silently appeared beside them and answered them like this.


    "You''re also here?" Vali was surprised. He already expected her to appear, but he thought that she would only do so when Great Red appeared, "Wait, what do you mean ''he gave it to him?''"


    "My snakes.", answered Ophis briefly.


    ''So that''s how it is��'', thought Vali, when the ck color on Issei''s armor and the weird aura came to his mind. ''But who is ''he''? I can only guess that it''s Kisuke Urahara.''


    "Who is she?", wondered Rias, while Akeno pretended that she didn''t know her.


    "The leader of the terrorist group Khaos Brigade. The Dragon God of Infinity, Ophis." Coming from a teleportation circle, Sirzechs, Azazel and Michael came following after Ophis.


    Vali, Bikou and Arthur prepped themselves for a battle and got ready to escape and as expected, Michael immediately casted restraining magic after seeing them. However, before it could even reach them, Ophis waved her small arm, and a wave of ck energy erased that magic. After that, Michael only sighed and didn''t try anything further.


    "Nii-sama, Azazel-sensei and Michael-sama. You''re here." Rias and the rest of the peerage greeted them.


    Azazel looked towards the unconscious Asia and said, "I already heard what happened to her. Did you save her?"


    "We coincidentally came across her.", answered Vali and resumed watching Issei, who was now roaring towards the sky and releasing energy sts which destroyed his surroundings.


    Rias wanted to ask about Ophis, but now that the leaders were here, she left her to them and only focused on Issei''s wellbeing.


    Hearing Vali''s words, Michael and Sirzechs stopped forming ns in their head to capture them. This would be as thanks for saving Asia.


    Sirzechs heard Ophis''s answer to Vali and asked her, "Why did you give your snakes to Issei-kun?"


    "I didn''t.", answered Ophis, but that only opened more questions for the leaders. ''She didn''t? Then where did thate from?''


    Sirzechs thought that the answer to this question could wait for a better time and proposed a n, "Either way, we have to stop him from rampaging. I heard that to calm a raging Ancient Dragon, a melodic song is needed. I already asked Grayfia to bring that song. We only have to wait for a few more minutes."


    But not even a secondter, Ophis refuted him, "It won''t work."


    Sirzechs furrowed his brows and asked, "Why?"


    "Because it''s not just Ddraig." Ophis then started walking towards the rampaging Issei.


    "What are you doing?" Azazel took out his Sacred Gear and got ready to fight, "If you''re going to hurt him, you''ll have to get through us first."


    While walking, Ophis started muttering, "He said, if it doesn''t work right, turning it off and on might fix it. If it doesn''t, you could also smack it until it works again." Red energy sts came towards Ophis, but her magic circle deflected it without any effort.


    Those who heard her words didn''t know how to react and were trying to guess the meaning behind her ''deep'' words. But one of them tried her best not to facepalm as she knew only one person who could have said that to her. ''Endure it, Akeno�� Dammit. That bastard''s influence on her is greater than we thought. Smack it until it works again? What''s up with such unreasonable logic! Don''t teach that to a being that could destroy the world by smacking it!'', retorted Akeno inwardly.


    Ophis raised her hand and from it, a gigantic mass of energy in the shape of a hand appeared.


    "Wait�� She doesn''t mean that literally, right!?", eximed a stunned Azazel and shouted, "Dammit! Stop her! Issei might die!"


    But no one could react fast enough. When Ophis swung her arm downwards towards Issei, the gigantic ck hand descended on him and obliterated everything.


    "Issei!!!", shouted Rias and was about to fly out to Issei. However, the shock wave was so strong that Sirzechs had to cast a barrier just to block it.


    "F*ck! If anything were to be smacked like that, forget about it working any further!", cursed Azazel.


    The dust immediately cleared out due to the shockwave and the gigantic hand disappeared, revealing a small piece of remainingnd and a bloodied Issei. His armor was broken into tiny pieces and heid unconscious in the middle of it.


    Ophis looked at her hand and muttered, "Holding back�� It''s hard."


    "Issei!!!", screamed Rias once again andunched herself towards Issei. She was also followed by everyone in her peerage.


    However, Michael suddenly called out, "Wait! Stop! There''s something strange!"


    Rias and the rest stopped and were about to ask what was happening. But Michael didn''t have to give an answer as a golden orb with red streaks emerged from Issei.


    "That is��?", muttered Azazel. He had a feeling that he had seen that orb once before, but his memories were failing him.


    From the golden orb, blood-red chains emerged and wrapped around the bloodied Issei. Issei''s eyes, which were now pure red, opened widely as he roared to the sky. It didn''t seem that he returned from his rampaging state yet.


    "That''s strange. The moment the Juggernaut Drive disappeared, he should have returned to normal. But even without using his powers as the Red Dragon Emperor, he''s still in a berserk state? What''s going on?", wondered Vali.


    "Isn''t this really bad?", added Michael.


    "We can be sure that it doesn''t look good, but we also don''t know the cause. If it''s not the Red Dragon Emperor, then what''s happening? Is it because of that golden orb?", asked Sirzechs.


    "Should we destroy it? It''s obviously something foreign.", asked the perplexed Michael.


    "We can''t. I''m afraid that we might endanger Issei if we were to do something like this. At least, we should know what''s going on.", advised Azazel everyone and looked towards Ophis who was now silently watching Issei. "Can you tell us what''s going on? I know you have an idea of what that is."


    Everyone was already losing their patience when they witnessed how Issei started his rampage with just his bare body. Although they were surprised at the strength he was using, he was also damaging his body in the process.


    Sirzechs was about to use his Power of Destruction to destroy the golden orb and the chains surrounding Issei, when a ck shadowy snake suddenly jumped from Issei''s forehead and gobbled up the chains.


    Everyone was startled and didn''t know what to do. The snake took only a few seconds, before finishing the chains and opening its mouth to gobble up the golden orb. After swallowing it, the snake circled around Issei a few times in satisfaction, before returning to his forehead. ,


    "W-what was that?", asked a frantic Azazel, but nobody could answer his question. The next thing they knew was that Ophis already disappeared somewhere and left everyone in their confused state and that Issei had already returned to normal and was unconscious.


    =============================


    =============================


    =============================


    Editors:


    28th00: So, Phis-chama learnt the time honoured tradition of "Hit it until it works again." along with "Turn it off and on again". I''m so proud! She''s growing up so fast! It worked too! The failsafe snake is there for just this very reason! Not a single clue how Kisuke and Ophis set it up, but that''s his divine curse eating snake from Medusa, right? It probably just ate his curses, Ddraig''s as well. Specifically made to eat divine curses imprinted on the soul and/or equivalent of a soul. I think.


    Alexander: I approve the method itself, but she definitely needs to work on the correct degree of used strength. Always remember Phis-chama, hit it means hit it and not pulverize it until there are barely some atoms left.


    Goyya: ''Ophis: Hit, hit, hit.''

 Volume 9 512 - Against the Alliance

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 512 - Against the Alliance</h4>


    Everyone brought Issei to the Sitri Territory to let him receive treatment. However, it only took an hour for him to wake up and for most of his injuries to heal. Even though Asia assisted in the healing, it was still too fast in Azazel''s opinion.


    After sending the kids back to the Human world, Michael also returned to Heaven to take care of a lot of things. With only Azazel and Sirzechs left, they started discussing what happened today. "Do you have any idea what happened to Issei-kun back then?", asked Sirzechs to Azazel after Grayfia brought out some tea and snacks for them.


    After sipping his tea, Azazel answered, "That snake, we can be sure that it''s Ophis'' snake. As for what that golden orb is or why Ophis'' snake is keeping it restrained, I don''t know. I have to check my records to get some clues on it."


    "I see�� The problem now is the fact that Ophis didn''t give Issei any snakes. A being of her caliber doesn''t need to lie about something like that."


    "Then the problem lies with the question of when and where he received such things. Those things can''t be received randomly, after all."


    "I have an idea on where it came from. It must havee from Kisuke Urahara. Remember that time at the Conference?"


    "You mean when Issei lost himself in pain before Kisuke Urahara left?"


    "Yep. That''s the only thing I could think of."


    "In that case, Kisuke Urahara should have some close connection to Ophis herself. Does that mean that he''s part of the Khaos Brigade?"


    Azazel shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? All we can say is that his identity is veiled in mystery. And you see, I also doubt that he really is the one who kidnapped and sacrificed those Devils. After all, as careful as he is, he would never hide them in his own basement."


    Sirzechs rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Aside from the kids, only you and Serafall met him in person. And if both of you doubt this incident, then it must be true to some degree. Olympus'' movements were also weird at that time. They got there too fast. Finally, even though everyone is looking for the ''wanted'' Kisuke Urahara, it''s actually them, who are only giving the bare minimum effort."


    Azazel scratched his head, "Let''s not talk about that now when we''re the only ones here."


    Sirzechs nodded, "You''re right. Then let me change the topic. What is Odin''s response?"


    After taking another sip from his tea, Azazel replied, "He already agreed to join the Alliance and would only need a formal meeting about it. Though he can''t deny that there will be some dissatisfied Gods on his side."


    "We already expected this to be the case. We just have to prepare for that time."


    At this time, Grayfia entered the room and said, "Sirzechs-sama, Issei-kun''s medical report has arrived. Please take a look at it." She then passed Sirzechs some documents.


    Sirzechs already knew that something was weird in the report, based on her reaction and quickly read through it. A few minutester, Sirzechs sighed, "Azazel, you said that Issei-kun''s lifespan had drastically reduced after taking the White Dragon Emperor''s ability and transforming into Juggernaut Drive, right?"


    Azazel frowned at his question, "��Right. It''s only a natural result after those things."


    "Then please take a look at this.", said Sirzechs and passed the report to him.


    After reading the report, Azazel couldn''t help but smile wryly, "His bodily functions soaredpared to thest time? His lifespan, instead of decreasing, is now more than a normal Devil''s? Is this urate?"


    "The report came directly from the experts of the Sitri territory. We can be sure of its authenticity."


    "Well damn! Really? What''s up with him?"


    "Isn''t it because of his connection with Kisuke Urahara?"


    "We really have to find this guy, huh?"


    .


    .


    .


    On the day that Odin was supposed to formally sign the agreement for the Alliance, three Devil Kings, the Governor of Fallen Angels, the current leader of the Angels and some people who were acquainted with Odin, including Rias'' Peerage, came to attend the ceremony.


    The talk before the signing went on slowly, but before Odin could actually sign the agreement, a God intruded and interrupted them. Loki, a man with light blue hair floating behind him with two small bangs at the front. He also had a blue jewel on his forehead and yellow earrings. Loki intruded on the signing ceremony, because he strongly disagreed with Odin''s decision as he thought that Ragnarok (end of the world) would be dyed due to this Alliance.


    Odin tried to convince him to go back but Loki fell deaf to his words, was about to start destroying things and summoned his son, Fenrir, a giant wolf with ash grey fur, standing at about 10 meters tall. However, before he could do that, Ajuka Beelzebub caught him in a magic trap and sent him to an uninhabitednd somewhere in the Underworld.


    Ajuka exined to everyone that the magic trap could only restrain Loki for a few hours and they would still need to deal with them. However, the problemid with the question about who was going to fight him. The leaders couldn''t do it as that would appear as a weakness for the other prospective members of the Alliance.


    Rias proposed that their group could go, but the leaders knew that they wouldn''t be enough even with Odin lending them a copy of the legendary weapon Mjolnir, as Loki could still call on his son Fenrir, to assist him in battle.


    During their discussion, another group intruded and it was Vali''s team this time, showing their intentions to participate in the battle against Loki.


    True enough, with the cooperation of the Red and White Dragon Emperors, going against Loki was feasible despite thetter''s goals. Vali promised to not to hurt anyone during this time and they chose to believe him as even Albion vouched for him, with Ddraig agreeing to their participation.


    Although they were arch-rivals, the concept of them working with each other seemed to be an interesting idea for both of them.


    Now thest problem they had was Fenrir. The wolf that was capable of easily ying a God with its fangs was a threat no less than Loki himself.


    Vali proposed a n to ask someone who would know how to deal with Fenrir.


    "Hoh? Who are you going to ask?", questioned Azazel with interest.


    "Someone we met in our travels around the world.", answered Vali with a smile. "But before we could do that, we would need three powerful Dragons. With Issei and me, we just need one more." He then looked towards Tannin, one of the Dragon Kings.


    Tannin looked at Vali for a few seconds before chuckling, "So you intend to use the Dragon Gate. Who are you going to call?"


    "The one who knew both Loki and Fenrir well.", responded Vali, before he started to draw a grey magic circle.


    Tannin''s eyes widened when he saw this, "So you''re going to call that guy? True enough, he should know a whole lot about them. But we shouldn''t call him here. After all, that guy isrger than Great Red."


    Editors: ,


    28th00: Midgardsormr is pretty massive, about 500-600 meters, which is 5-6x Great Red''s size. Didn''t Sona show up as the calvary at this event in Canon? I guess since Issei has an indeterminable power boost from Kisuke using him as an experiment with divinity (Ddraig''s?) and Phis-chama''s snakes, he should be pretty setpared to canon. I kinda can''t wait for Sona toe back to DxD and be like High-Ultimate ss in strength and go "I hate being one of the weakest in the group��" It''d totally mess with everyone''s heads. Phis-chama would just float over to her head and pat it going "Yosh yosh." Phis-chama is a loli that LEARNS! She can do the patting!


    Alexander: The speck of divinity came from the curse of Medusa. Kisuke recycled it like the good economical person he is.


    Those leaders are dumb, by the way. Kisuke and Yoruichi helped them greatly in the fight with the Old Satan faction. So, stamping them of as simple Chaos Brigade terrorists is inly stupid. Although not being part of the Alliance, I''d have thought of them as a third force with an own agenda.


    Goyya: Well, the political power isn''t just in the hand of the Devil Kings. Old Families that supported the new government held half of it. And since they are ''Kisuke''s victims'', they have the power to brand him as a terrorist. The Devil King side couldn''t do anything as the evidence is overwhelmingly against Kisuke.

 Volume 9 513 - Against the Alliance part 2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 513 - Against the Alliance part 2</h4>


    Vali''s team, Rias'' Peerage, Baraqiel, Irina, Rossweisse, and Tannin went to arge dested ce before using the Dragon Gate to summon one of the Dragon Kings and one of Loki''s sons, Midgardsormr, the World Serpent.


    Midgardsormr is a grey Eastern dragon with an enormous body measuring around 500-600 meters in length, well over five times the length of Great Red''s body.


    When he was summoned, Issei couldn''t help butment, "H-he''s huge�� But why is he still sleeping?" The Dragon King''s eyes were still closed.


    "That''s just how he is. He doesn''t really care about anything and just continues to sleep until something interesting happens," answered Vali.


    "What interesting thing could wake up this giant?" asked Issei.


    "Just wait. He''ll wake up naturally."


    And indeed, after a few minutes, the gigantic Eastern Dragon woke up and opened its eyes and visible confusion emerged from those golden pupils, "Did I wake up in a wrong time when the Red and White aren''t fighting?" A veryid-back tone of voice emerged from him.


    "No. You didn''t sleep that long. I''ll give you the detailster. Let me ask you a few things before you start dozing off again." Vali started talking to Midgardsormr.


    He asked how they could deal with both Loki and Fenrir and as Midgardsormr doesn''t really care about them, he readily answered. He told them strategies that could work on Loki and they would need Gleipnir, the magical chains that are said to be impossible to carry, to restrain Fenrir.


    Although they got great answers, Midgardsormr kept falling to sleep in the middle of his sentences which earned him the ''Sloth Dragon King'' nickname from Issei. ,


    After getting the location of the Gleipnir from Midgardsormr, they finally sent him away and sent Arthur and Le Fay to retrieve the chain. Since it''s impossible to carry by hand, it was supposed to be Kuroka''s job as she can easily take it into her personal space, but Le Fay had to do it with her magic.


    A few hourster, everyone participating in the battle got ready. Rias'' Peerage, Vali''s team, Baraqiel, Irina, and Rossweisse are the ones who would be fighting. Their trump card against Loki, the copy of Mjolnir, willeter as Odin still needs to retrieve it from Asgard.


    Issei asked him why they couldn''t borrow his spear, Gungnir and Odin told them that their strength is only enough to wield an inferior copy of the Mjolnir.


    Once Loki got out of the magic trap, he was weed by everyone, and even if he would want to escape, it''d be impossible unless he defeated some people first.


    Of course, even if they were ready, fighting a God isn''t easy and it became harder when Fenrir was sessfully trapped by the glowing chains as Loki suddenly summoned Fenrir''s children, Sk?ll and Hati in addition to many of Midgardsormr''s clones.


    While Vali and Issei teamed up against Loki, everyone else was fighting Loki''s summons and were being overwhelmed, resulting in the situation getting very dangerous. It was then that some backup came.


    Saji, in his Dragon King form, came and restricted Fenrir''s sons and started siphoning their powers. Soon after, the rest of Sona''s Peerage came to assist in the battle. Even though Sona disappeared, they did their best to get stronger and the one who improved the most was Saji, as he could now transform into Vitra, the Dragon King inside his Sacred Gear, though with some help from Azazel.


    Thanks to their arrival, the tides of the battle changed.


    Seeing this as a chance, Vali suddenly entered Juggernaut Drive and transferred his attention to Fenrir. With the help of Gleipnir, Vali was able to weaken Fenrir and Arthur used that chance to stab its head with Excalibur Ruler. With its ability to control monsters, it was only a matter of time before Fenrir fell under their total control.


    Le Fay immediately transferred Fenrir out, along with Vali. It was then Vali''s teammates started retreating as they already achieved their goal.


    Although Fenrir was no more, Vali''s team also disappeared along with it. However, they are still in the advantage against Loki, as Fenrir was more troublesome than Loki himself.


    Combining their strength, Akeno and Baraqiel used their strongest Holy Lightning to deal fatal damage to Hati and Sk?ll. Yuuto, Xenovia and Irina used that chance to behead them, removing them from the battlefield.


    But even though the wolves were already out of the picture, the enraged Loki kept summoning clones of Midgardsormr, and without Vali, Issei wasn''t a match against Loki and could only keep up because he kept boosting himself. But even that would soon reach its limits, as even though he has a strong body, it wasn''t enough to match a God, especially aGod that is one of the main ones in their respective Mythology.


    Seeing this, Loki became even more enraged and desperate. He never would have thought that his father, Odin, would lend the Mjolnir, even though it''s just a copy, to an outsider. Loki used one of his most powerful spells to devastate Issei and he was sessful.


    Issei''s Bnce Breaker was undone due to the immense damage he took and in this situation, he wouldn''t be able to wield the Mjolnir, and none of hispanions were capable of doing it aside from him, not even Baraqiel.


    Rias immediately went towards Issei and picked him up while tears were streaming down her face. The Phoenix tears that they received from the Phenex n were already consumed after taking on Fenrir and the rest.


    However, Loki didn''t expect that Issei, despite his fatal injuries, would stand up again. Issei, thanks to the training method that Kisuke gave him, got his mind tempered as a side effect due to its insanity.


    Ddraig evenughed out loud after seeing his host stand up against his great adversity despite being on the verge of death himself. Issei''s will to fight was so overwhelming that Ddraig couldn''t help but feel proud and thought that he got a great host this time.


    Rias tried to stop Issei as she knew he couldn''t fight anymore. Of course, Issei knew of this too. He can''t just fight a God with only an overwhelming will to fight. He knew his strengths and weaknesses.


    Issei then decided to use what Kisuke had given him.


    "Are you sure? Thest time you took it out was an ident and made your Juggernaut Drive even worse." Asked Ddraig.


    "Not much of a choice here�� And if it''s just for a minute or two, I think I can handle it. Can''t really keep my trump card that can instantly boost my physical abilities hidden." Issei answered with a small chuckle.


    "Kukuku, true. But even with that, I don''t think you''ll be able to overpower that God even for an instant with that wrecked body of yours. Yes, that could strengthen you, but it still depends on the state of your body. You might have had your chance earlier, but not right now." Ddraig added.


    But Issei only continued chuckling at Ddraig''s words, "As I said, I know my strengths and weaknesses, and this isn''t the only strength that I have."


    "��What do you mean?" Ddraig asked as he got a really ominous feeling.


    "I''ll be using you to the fullest!" Issei then faced Rias. Despite his messy appearance, Issei asked her with a straight and serious face, "Buchou! Please let me fondle your boobs! Directly!"


    "��Huh?" Rias was taken aback, and so were the others, including Loki himself.


    Ddraig cried out loud in despair, but he couldn''t deny this was another one of his strengths. The strength of his will through perversion. Although it was unconventional, it is, without a doubt, effective, as the power given to him by the Boosted Gear became greater after he fondled some boobs.


    Using the remains of Medusa''s Divine Core controlled by Ophis'' snake, the Ki from the surroundings wildly went into Issei''s body, boosting his physical abilities beyond what his human body-turned Devil was capable of.


    At that point, Issei reached something as the golden light descended onto him. Using Rias'' boobs as the medium, he was connected to a being that didn''t exist in this ne.


    Introducing herself as the Chichigami (Boob Goddess), she imed that she heard Issei''s prayers and devotion and that she decided to give him her blessings, granting Issei additional strength on top of what he currently had.


    At the connection of such being, even Ddraig reeled back as he could feel that this Chichigami was countless times more powerful than both him and Albion in their heydays.


    Without Loki, the rest of the monsters were just mobs to the Devils, Fallen Angel, Angel and Valkyrie.


    Editors:


    28th00: Oh no, early Chichigami means early absolute INSANITY that is the ExE world�� Considering that the Chichigami is on the same level of existence as beings like the Soul King, Aizen, Ichigo(both final forms), Great Red and Ophis�� Well�� Transcendent beings are scary reality warpers as a byproduct of just existing.

 Volume 9 514 - School Trip

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 514 - School Trip</h4>


    Odin peacefully entered the Alliance, not just with the Three Factions, but also with the Japanese Mythologies. However, he left Rossweisse once again, which resulted in the poor Valkyrie crying in the corner for a whole day.


    Seeing her situation, Rias thought of it as a chance and invited Rossweisse into her peerage. Rias knew that she didn''t have much of a chance, but the sulking Valkyrie immediately epted it after Azazel offered her a job as a teacher for the Kuoh Academy, which gave a better sry than her being a bodyguard.


    It was then that Rias'' Peerage weed their new ''Rook''.


    .


    .


    .


    It was October and it had been a month since the incident with Loki. Issei had sessfully recovered from his injuries without leaving any hidden damage. In fact, his body became even more durable thanks to that incident. However, he knew that he couldn''t replicate this feat, as he was still not confident that he wouldn''t lose control of himself once he took out Kisuke''s ''gift'' again.


    The Chichigami''s blessing did y a big role in keeping his mind intact for the duration of his fight with Loki.


    Also during that month, Issei went to spar with the strongest youngest Devil, Sairaorg Bael. Despite not having the Power of Destruction that members from the Bael n possessed, Sairaorg trained his body to the limit and he was acknowledged as the strongest young Devil in their generation.


    Aside from that, Ajuka also inspected Issei''s Evil Pieces because he noticed something strange about it. As the creator of the Evil Pieces, it was impossible for him to not be interested in the changes of his own creation.


    After inspecting it, he noticed some codes within Issei''s eight Pawns. Although it was normally not that noticeable, once Issei used the full extent of his powers, it could prove to be detrimental for him. Ajuka assumed that the changes happened due to the Juggernaut Drive and the strange orb within him.


    He then fixed the problem and modified Issei''s Evil Pieces, so that they could adapt to the changes brought by the Boosted Gear and the strange orb. Although it made Issei weaker in the short term, his potential as a Devil became a lot better.


    Alongside it, Ajuka also gave Issei a key which seemed to be rted to his Boosted Gear. When Ddraig saw it, he immediately understood what it was and told Issei that it was about time for him to unlock more power for the Boosted Gear. But he didn''t tell him what to do with the key.


    .


    .


    .


    As second years, Issei, Yuuto, Xenovia, Asia and Irina had to attend the school trip to Kyoto.


    On their way to Kyoto, Ddraig suggested to him to partially recite the incantation for the Juggernaut Drive. Issei was shocked, but Ddraig exined to him that we wouldn''t actually enter Juggernaut Drive. Instead, he would be able to meet his predecessors.


    She then provided Issei a box which contained Ddraig''s real powers and told him that Ajuka''s key would be able to open it. But at the moment he opened the box, its content jumped out of his inner world into the physical world, disappearing among the people of Kyoto.


    Issei wanted to find it but he had no idea how to do it and could only leave the thing as it was.


    The first day of their school trip went sessfully, but on the next day, they got embroiled in Kyoto''s Youkai Faction as they were used by a certain young kitsune as being the kidnappers of her mother. The group then returned to the hotel and reported it to Azazel.


    Azazel also didn''t know what was going on so he asked the person who probably did. Grayfia, who came to Kyoto to invite the factions into their Alliance, met the group and exined what had happened.


    Grayfia exined that the talks couldn''t be pushed through, because the leader of the Youkai Faction was abducted by some group.


    Hearing that, Azazel immediatelyunched an investigation himself and contacted the Intelligence Bureau of the Grigori. A few hourster, they got ahold of information that the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade had been activetely around Kyoto and assumed that this was their doing. ,


    Everyone from Rias'' group already knew about the existence of the Hero Faction as they were the ones who kept attacking Kuoh Town as oftely in the name of the Khaos Brigade. And from their encounters it became known that everyone from the Hero Faction were pure Human and Sacred Gear users.


    At the same night, the Youkai Faction contacted Grayfia and said that they wanted to discuss something. As they arrived at their headquarters, Issei and the group met the young kitsune once again, apologizing for their attack yesterday. The young fox Youkai introduced herself as Kunou, the daughter of the current leader of the Youkai Faction.


    After further discussion, everyone got a clear view of what had happened to their leader and Azazel gave them information on who might have done it. Kunou, along with her mother''s advisors, asked for their help to take back their leader, Yasaka.


    Issei didn''t hesitate to help after seeing the little girl pleading for help.


    They then nned to take a look around Kyoto tomorrow to gather some more information. At the same time, Kunou proposed to guide them around the city as she knew almost everything about it to which the group happily agreed. While they searched for Yasaka, they would also continue their school trip.


    On the next day, Kunou showed everyone the tourist spots and the shortcuts to reach each and every one of them. It was a peaceful and happy time for the group, until they were enveloped by a purple fog that covered the entire city.


    Issei then recalled one of Azazel''s lessons about the Longinus and thought that it was simr to one of them. Yuuto confirmed his thoughts and it was indeed the Longinus Dimension Lost which could trap anyone in the personal space of the user.


    All the normal people around them disappeared and the scenery was reced by a bleak and purple copy of the city. The space was simr to that of a game field used for the Rating Games and it was probably based on those.


    It was then, that the main force of the Hero Faction arrived. They were led by Cao Cao, a descendant of the famous Cao Cao of the past. He was also the possessor of the True Longinus, the first and most powerful Sacred Gear.


    They admitted that they were the ones who kidnapped the leader of the Youkai Faction for a certain experiment. But the main reason for them to appear in front of them now, was for Cao Cao to gather data on Rias Gremory''s famous Peerage, especially on the current Red Dragon Emperor.


    The first one to make a move was a child called Leonardo, who possessed one of the thirteen Longinus called Annihtion Maker. This Longinus could create monsters from the user''s imagination and with enough energy, he could potentially create anything ranging from small weak monsters until colossal monsters, capable of ying Gods. Due to this ability, this Sacred Gear was dubbed as one of the most dangerous and could potentially destroy the world.


    Leonardo summoned almost a hundred monsters which were capable of casting strong light attacks that were fatal for Devils. However, Issei magnificently overturned their advantage bymanding hisrades.


    Meanwhile, Azazel in his Bnce Breaker, took on Cao Cao. The battle between the two of them destroyed the surrounding scenery, and frankly speaking, their battle was too high leveled for Issei to follow.

 Volume 9 515 - Hero Faction

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 515 - Hero Faction</h4>


    After a man called Siegfried joined the fight, the battle against the Hero Faction became disadvantageous for Issei''s group.


    Siegfried was a member of the Hero Faction. He was also one of the top two swordsmen of the Khaos Brigade, alongside Arthur Pendragon of the Vali Team, and was known as ''The Demonic Sword User'' and ''Chaos Edge'' Sieg.


    With his ''Twice Critical'' Sacred Gear Subspecies, which acted as his third arm, and wielding three demonic swords at the same time, he was able to take on Yuuto, Xenovia, and Irina directly.


    A few minutester, a magician intruded into the Dimension Lost''s space by tracking Cao Cao''s magical energy and his Sacred Gear. Le Fay Pendragon, along with an ancient weapon from the age of Old Gods, Gogmagog.


    Gogmagog had the appearance of a giant stone statue that looked simr to a Gargoyle. The Gogmagogs were originally a group of Golems that were created by the Ancient Gods to be used as mass-produced weapons of destruction. The Gogmagogs however, were eventually abandoned by the Ancient Gods, who deactivated all of them and abandoned them in the Dimensional Gap. After once hearing from Ophis about the discovery of a giant that could move inside the Dimensional Gap, Vali and his teammates set out to look for the active Gogmagog. They sessfully found it and managed to reactivate their new weapon.


    Le Fay arrived not just to help Issei and the rest, but also in order to warn Cao Cao that his activities were crossing the line.


    However, Cao Cao onlyughed at her and instantly defeated the stone giant with his spear.


    It was then that the final member arrived,pletely ckout drunk. Rossweisse, who had been drinking her sorrows of being alone away, woke up from her nap after hearing multiplerge explosions. Of course, it resulted in a massive headache. So she walked towards the battlefield while condemning everyone for making so much noise, before casting multiple bombardment magics with all her might, stopping all the fighting and falling down unconscious again.


    After that, Cao Cao figured that it was already enough and told everyone that they''d find Yasaka at Nijou Castle at midnight, before leaving for good. They weren''t able to chase after them as Dimension Lost assisted their escape.


    Since they were still on a school trip, they had to continue it until they returnedte in the afternoon.


    Back at the hotel, Azazel came to Issei, passed him a pink orb, and asked, "Is this yours?".


    But before he could answer, Ddraig imed that it was the thing that escaped from the box which Elsha gave him. Azazel then exined about the thousands of groping incidents that had been guing the whole of Kyoto for the past 3 days.


    Azazel had finally figured out that the main cause of the groping incidents were Issei''s locked desires in the orb. When it entered a normal person, their desire to grope breasts multiplied to uncontroble levels. A testament to how strong Issei''s will was, ording to Ddraig.


    Of course, Issei became embarrassed at their exnation and didn''t expect that his pervertedness could affect others so much. He then asked how he had to use the orb to unlock his potential, but Ddraig said he didn''t know and that it would be up to him.


    Later in the night, Azazel and Grayfia gathered everyone to discuss what they needed to do to take back Yasaka and along with them was Sona Sitri''s peerage, who came to the school trip, too.


    Azazel and Grayfia both asked for reinforcement from their respective organizations and asked Heaven to send some of their Angels and Exorcists, too. However, due to being short on time and because the remnants of the Old Satan Faction were still wreaking havoc in various parts of the Underworld and the Human world, they couldn''t gather much personnel to safeguard Kyoto.


    Since they knew that the Dimension Lost user would just kidnap them, they couldn''t reliably put up a defense aside from gathering. Grayfia would bemanding the Alliance Army and would block the reinforcements from the Khaos Brigade, while Azazel would be leaving to fetch someone who could help them against Cao Cao.


    Azazel exined that the Hero Faction would be using Yasaka as the core of a massive ritual using the leylines of Kyoto. Although he was still not sure what for, he predicted that it''d gather an enormous amount of energy.


    At midnight, everyone that was going to be kidnapped gathered, and a few minutester, they were once again, engulfed by purple smoke and were transferred throughout Kyoto. Issei was transferred with Kunou and called the others to confirm their positions and agreed to meet at Nijou Castle.


    Along the way, Issei met with one of the Hero Faction members whom he had already fought in the past while defending Kuoh Town. Using his dragon mes, Issei easily defeated him and left after his opponent was incapable of fighting any further.


    The rest of the group, including Saji, sessfully gathered in front of the Nijou Castle. Although Saji''srades intended to join them, they weren''t included when Dimension Lost transferred them. The Hero Faction was only interested in Saji because of his Dragon King form and included him.


    After entering the premises of the castle, they saw Cao Cao, Siegfried, and two other new people whom they hadn''t met before. Issei didn''t care about any of that and immediately asked about Kunou''s mother, Yasaka.


    Cao Cao snapped his fingers and two of the Hero Faction members appeared behind them. In the middle of them was Yasaka, who was not in her right mind and just stared nkly forward. Kunou tried calling out to her, but Yasaka didn''t hear anything.


    Cao Cao signaled to someone called Georg to start the ritual. A few secondster, Yasaka suddenly held her head and shouted in pain, before she transformed into a gigantic legendary nine-tailed fox. As the leader of the Youkai Faction, the nine-tailed fox was known as the strongest Youkai of all.


    Cao Cao then revealed their main goal in sacrificing Yasaka. Georg, the owner of Dimension Lost, managed to devise a spell that imitated the effect of the Dragon Gate. As the main effect of the Dragon Gate was to forcibly summon a Dragon, Cao Cao and the rest of the Hero Faction intended to summon the Great Red.


    For now, they intended to capture it, and if they couldn''t do that, just gathering data about it was good enough.


    Issei tried to argue with them about the giant guy only peacefully swimming through the Dimensional Gap and that there was no reason to bother him. But before they''d finished speaking, Xenovia suddenly took out the sword which was delivered to her earlier from Heaven.


    She gathered all of her strength and golden light exploded from the golden greatsword before she shed towards Cao Cao and the rest, not giving them any chance to dodge. The resulting force from her sword was so enormous, that she destroyed the entirety of Nijou Castle and gouged the earth as if an asteroid hit it.


    Xenovia''s new sword was thebination of Durandal and Excalibur through Heaven''s Alchemy Technology. Thus she called it Ex-Durandal.


    Issei was dumbfounded at the ultimate attack on the opening of the round, but Xenovia argued that the opening attack is important in order to take the initiative.


    Without getting flustered, Cao Cao ordered Georg to start the ritual and the nine-tailed fox started rampaging. Since Saji''s Dragon King form was a good match for the gigantic fox, Saji took on Yasaka as Vitra.


    On the other hand, Cao Cao''srades started choosing their opponents among Issei''s group. Siegfried chose Xenovia and Yuuto, while the woman who imed to be Jeanne d''Arc''s descendant chose Irina as her opponent. Finally, the muscr man who imed to be Hercules'' descendant chose Rossweisse as his opponent.


    Obviously, Cao Cao would take on Issei, while Asia and Kunou would be supporting the others from the side.


    As Issei''s group fought everyone from the Hero Faction, each and every one of them started showing their Bnce Breakers and started overpowering everyone. Cao Cao even called it a bargain of supposedly rare Bnce Breakers.


    Despite this, Issei trusted hisrades and started fighting Cao Cao. But as they started their shing, Issei found himself being unable to do anything against him as Cao Cao countered each and every one of his moves.


    He received oppression which was different from what he felt from Sairaorg. The oppression actually put fear into Issei''s mind.


    Finally, Issei took a hit from the spear to his stomach. It was as if his armor served no purpose due to how Cao Cao easily pierced through it. Issei immediately used the only Phoenix Tears which they had for this operation to heal his wound. But even with this, the damage from the Holy Spear didn''tpletely leave Issei, as it still continued to erode his body.


    Cao Cao told him that without the Pheonix Tears, Issei could have immediately died from just a stab and Issei knew that he wasn''t lying as the strength from his body slowly disappears. If not for Kisuke''s training, Issei wouldn''t even be able to stand up.


    Unbeknownst to Issei, Cao Cao was also shocked that Issei could still stand up despite getting stabbed by his Longinus, which would normally mean an instant death for nearly any Devil, ''How is he still standing? From our data, he should''ve just been a normal Human before being reincarnated as a Low-ss Devil. Even with Phoenix Tears, he shouldn''t have enough stamina to even stand up.''


    Issei, however, even when being confronted with the fear of dying, didn''t give up, as a Dragon''s pride had already influenced him. As the Red Dragon Emperor, he couldn''t just let Cao Cao beat him up. After forming a n in his head, Issei used his Dragon Shot as a distraction and cut off Cao Cao''s arm by suddenly materializing Ascalon in his hand.


    But Issei''s happy moment didn''tst long, when Cao Cao calmly caught his severed arm and took out Phoenix Tears of his own to reattach it. And before Issei realized it, his armor had started to break off. Cao Cao hadnded some of his attacks before his arm was cut off. ,


    Issei needed to continue attacking if he wanted to win, but a few secondster, Cao Cao''srades starteding to their spot while carrying his unconsciousrades and tossing them in front of him.


    Issei was angry, but not only towards his enemies, but also at his own weakness. He was afraid to use Kisuke''s gift, because Ddraig had already warned him of the consequences that it may bring. Not only to him, but also to those around him. Without properly controlling it, the gift was just a ticking time bomb in his hand.


    ============================


    ============================


    ============================


    Editors:


    28th00: Well, this is different from canon, at least in the mentality Ise is showing so far. It''s been like a decade since I read this part, and�� a few years since I watched the anime adaptation of it? I do remember the broad strokes of this, but I always found this entire scene as�� wrong? Yasaka feels far too weak, for example. She''s supposed to be what? Peak Ultimate-ss? She''s a faction leader yo! They''re strong! I guess having her child held hostage makes you pretty screwed to the mind control BS that is the Hero Factions literal bread and butter, cause they''re evil like that. Aren''t they the Nazi''s of DxD actually?


    Alexander: In some way, they truly are humans. There are many examples, like in the colonisation period, when the oh so civilized countries wanted to bring peace and progress into the world. Kind of ironic, that people like them thought that war and unrestrained violence would be an adequate means to reach that. It makes those heroes even more hateful, because it is a bit like looking into a mirror and not liking what we see. Because it is the unmasked truth.


    28th00: We wouldn''t be human if we didn''t hate ourselves more than anything else, not to mention lie for a flimsy excuse. Like the�� Divine right of conquest or something during the colonial period. Honestly, it was the disease that Europeans brought that truly killed the native americans something fierce.

 Volume 9 516 - End of School Trip

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 516 - End of School Trip</h4>


    Whilementing his own weakness, Elsha''s voice suddenly resounded inside Issei''s head. Elsha told him that for him to unlock his potential and to further unlock Ddraig''s powers, he had toe to terms with his own self. With that, he would gain powers that he''d never imagined.


    Taking out the pink orb, it let out a bright light and started summoning thousands of pink silhouettes. Those were the people whom it possessed in Kyoto for thest few days, and all of them were muttering ''Oppai'' with an enlightened look on their faces.


    Issei didn''t know what was going on, and he was honestly taken aback by what was happening, but Elsha further exined that this was his potential.


    Hearing that, Issei grimaced but he also couldn''t deny it. Elsha then instructed Issei to call out to his personal ''Oppai''. Issei was hesitant at first, but after seeing his unconsciousrades, he came to terms with himself. He finally epted the role of the ''Oppai Dragon''.


    Using summoning magic which was derived from the Dragon Gate, Issei summoned Rias. What followed was the real birth of both the Oppai Dragon and the Switch Princess.


    After poking Rias'' nipples and sending her away, Ddraig''s real power and aura were unlocked, and thanks to Ajuka''s modification of his Evil Pieces, they immediately adapted to it. With this newfound power, it came instinctively to Issei on how to use it.


    Using the power of a Bishop, Issei materialized two cannons behind his armor and called it Welsh ster. By gathering his Demonic Power, Issei shot out a stparable to the Longinus Smasher of his Juggernaut Drive.


    The Hero Faction only had one response, and that was to dodge it. The st of Demonic Power plowed the earth and erased one of the mountains in the distance. Its power was so incredible that Issei even warped the dimension.


    Of course, Issei wasn''t done yet. Using the power of a Knight, the cannons behind him became jetpacks and pieces of his armor fell off, which increased his speed to the point that he instantly reached Cao Cao and caught him off guard.


    Cao Cao was still able to defend himself, but Issei used the power of a Rook and suddenly transformed once again as his armor, especially around his arms and legs, became bulky when his physical ability and defenses strengthened. And not just that, a part of his gauntlets became jet ck as Ophis'' power started emanating from them, which startled Cao Cao yet again.


    Cao Cao tried to stab Issei with his Holy Spear. But this time, he could only scratch the surface of his armor. Shocked, Cao Cao took a hit from Issei''s loaded punch and flew towards the ground. If not for the defense that his Holy Spear granted him, he would have died in an instant.


    Too bad for Issei, those transformations took too much of his stamina. Especially the Rook form, which used Ophis'' power.


    While coughing blood, Cao Cao stood up. Because he still couldn''t believe what just happened, he asked Issei, "Why are you using Ophis'' power?"


    "So that really was that loli''s power? Looks like he gave me something unbelievable.", muttered Issei.


    Cao Cao''srades assisted him to stand up and he asked about the progress of the ritual. Georg answered that it was about time that Great Red took the bait.


    As much as Issei wanted to continue fighting, he knew that he couldn''t win if all of them started to attack him together. Aside from that, he also didn''t know how they would be able to reverse the situation when Saji, in his Dragon King form, also started to lose his fight with the nine-tailed fox.


    It was then that a rift, leading to the Dimensional Gap, opened, and Cao Cao immediately instructed Georg to prepare the summoning of the ''Dragon Eater''.


    However, instead of Great Red, the one who appeared from the rift was one of the Dragon Kings, the Mischievous Yu-Long and along with him came the first generation Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.


    Yu-Long had the appearance of arge green Asian Dragon while Sun Wukong had the figure of a primary school child (at least a meter tall). He was covered in golden fur while wearing a monk''s cassock and had a wrinkled, creased face with ck skin. He was also seen carrying a staff-like weapon, smoking a pipe, wearing shades with a cyber design and donning prayer beads on his forehead.


    They were the help that Azazel called to deal with the Hero Faction. Using his skills, Sun Wukong was able to hijack Georg''s magic and summoned himself along with Yu-Long.


    With Yu-Long''s help, the two Dragon Kings were able to restrain Yasaka easily, while Sun Wukong exchanged greetings with Cao Cao.


    Georg tried to eject Sun Wukong from the space of his Dimension Lost, but the Monkey King just shook it off with one of his techniques. While he distracted, Cao Cao tried to stab him with this Holy Spear, however, the spear that could prate almost anything, was stopped by a single finger of Sun Wukong, and it couldn''t even draw blood from him.


    Seeing that they''d already failed, Cao Cao ordered a retreat. However, Issei didn''t like that they would get away like this, after what they had all done. So while Georg was preparing for their escape, Issei used the little energy he had left to materialize a st cannon on his arm and aimed at Cao Cao.


    Since it would be hard for even Sun Wukong to chase after them because of Dimension Lost, he instead assisted Issei by giving him enough power for one strong shot. This would also serve as Cao Cao''s punishment. ,


    Issei, simr to his Dragon Shot, controlled the trajectory of the small st at thest minute which caught everyone from the Hero Faction off-guard and made it steer towards Cao Cao''s right eye, destroying it.


    If it was the situation where his arm was cut off but he was able to strike back, or the situation where Issei suddenly powered up and unexpectedly used Ophis'' power, Cao Cao could have epted it. However, a ''small'' attack from Issei that he could have easily dodged or blocked, destroying his right eye, had scarred his pride.


    In a rage, Cao Cao tried to use the Bnce Breaker of his Longinus, ''Truth Idea'', but he was stopped by hisrades as it was too early for him. Thanks to their reminders, Cao Cao was able to calm down a bit. But before they left, he asked Issei to be stronger so that the achievement for defeating the Red Dragon Emperor wouldn''t be meaningless.


    Once they left, everyone from the Hero Faction who was battling the Tri-Faction Alliance all around Kyoto also retreated.


    Thanks to the Great Sage''s help, they were able to return Yasaka to normal. With that, their suspenseful Kyoto school trip came to an end.


    =========================


    =========================


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, he''s integrating Ophis'' power really early, huh? Is he gonna get Diablos Dragon mode early? That''d be wild yo. He technically has the direct requirement of Phis-Chama''s blessing, even if indirectly. Ophis would approve, if only because it''d be cool. She''s been hanging out with Serafall a lot, so she''s definitely gonna pick up her anime habits early! Kisuke would totally have started her on that path, Serfall would try and make her go Magical Girl. Mecha Magical Girl Phis-chama~! She''d totally do it. She knows how to fix broken stuff already! She''s growing up so fast!


    Alexander: I swear, that monkey is theziest ever.

 Volume 9 517 - Gremory VS Bael

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 517 - Gremory VS Bael</h4>


    Due to the events in Kyoto and Issei''s spectacles spreading throughout the whole Underworld, the show which was based on him, ''Oppai Dragon'' became even more popr. To the point that he was requested to do live shows for the children throughout the entire Gremory territory.


    But each one of these shows put a mental strain on the proud Ddraig, to the point that he started crying and requested psychological treatment from Azazel through Fafnir. They would never have thought that one of the Heavenly Dragons would call for psychological support due to it being known as the Dragon who loved boobs so much that he created miracles through them.


    Aside from that, their next Rating Game would be against Sairaorg Bael and the news had now gathered a lot of attention for many different reasons. One of them was because a lot of people thought that Rias'' peerage represented the Devil King Lucifer Faction, while Sairaorg''s peerage represented the Great King''s Faction. Both of them were treating each other as a political opponent.


    The uing Rating Game became so popr that there was even a Press Conference held, with both teams answering questions from the media of the Underworld. However, one question for Issei almost broke Ddraig, and that was if he would get stronger if he were to suck on Rias'' boobs.


    On the day of the Rating Game, Azazel finally revealed to them that it wasn''t just the whole Underworld who would be watching the game, but also all sorts of Mythological Factions. Furthermore, Azazel mentioned that some VIPs would being to watch the match, like Hades, Indra and Poseidon, though they wouldn''t be revealing themselves to the public.


    Lastly, Azazel and the King of the Rating Games, Diehauser Belial, would be acting as the special guests of the match and would answer some questions for the confused audience.


    When Akeno and Irina heard about Diehauser Belial, they both wondered if Sakura would being to watch the match too, although they couldn''t really approach him and ask about her. Besides, even if they were in front of each other, they would have to pretend that they didn''t know each other for the sake of their secrets.


    After introducing each team to the audience, thementator of the match Naud Gamigin, introduced the rules of the Rating Game.


    As a special Rating Game, a special ruleset was also introduced: Dice Figure Game.


    A variant of the Rating Game with different mechanics. Instead of a long, full-team battle, it would be a blitz (short battle) with limited members. Both Kings would roll six-sided dice (one each) and the number added up from both Kings would determine the value of Pieces (servants) that could be sent to the battlefield. However, the Kings were not forced topletely use all the points (with the total value of eight, Kings can send two Knights and have two leftovers). Those leftover points would be forfeited and not added to the next roll. Servants that consumed two or more Pieces of its kind would have the added-up value of the Piece (a servant that has consumed two Pawn Pieces had the value of two or a servant that consumed two Knight Pieces had the value of six).


    As for the values of each piece, the Pawn was 1 point, the Knight was 3 points, the Bishop was 3 points, the Rook was 5 points, the Queen was 9 points and the King''s points depended on the strength of the King. While Sairaorg was valued at 12 points, Rias was only 8 points.


    Every member that was defeated would be out of the game and for a team to win, they had to defeat the enemy''s King.


    The game started and with each battle, the excitement of the crowd became higher. Although it became difficult for Rias'' group because of Koneko''s absence, they were able to pull through due to their members being stronger than most of Sairaorg''s members and Issei fighting more matches.


    The one who lost, however, was Akeno, due to her badpatibility with her opponent who could send back her own attack to her with ease.


    Finally, thest battle happened between Sairaorg and his Pawn and Rias and Issei.


    As one would expect and anticipate, Issei would be facing Sairaorg while Rias would fight the mysterious Pawn.


    Using his new move, Illegal Move Triaina, Issei was able to overpower Sairaorg and his Touki (Fighting Spirit). However, the pawn was actually one of the thirteen Longinus and the one that didn''t need a host to operate on its own, Regulus Nemea.


    Due to its great durability and speed, Rias''s power of destruction wasn''t able to deal much damage to it, and she ended up bing prey within its fast ws.


    At that point, it should have been Sairaorg''s win, but the Nemean Lion knew that this wouldn''t satisfy his King. So it left Rias and gave Issei a chance to let her recover using their only bottle of Phoenix Tears which was allocated to them before the start of the match.


    The Nemean Lion also proposed to Sairaorg to use his full strength to defeat Issei, to which heplied after hesitating for a bit. Sairaorg knew that if he were to use his real power, it won''t make those from his House happy.


    However, the idea of fighting Issei at full strength excited him, and it would be rude to still hold back after all of this.


    Sairaorg then revealed to everyone that he was now the new host of the Regulus Nemea, and released his Bnce Breaker, ''Regulus Rey Leather Rex''.


    Also known as the Iron Skin of the Lion King, Sairaorg''s subspecies Bnce Breaker creates a golden, lion-themed armor that covers the user''s body and adds the earth-breaking powers of Regulus to the user''s own strength, resulting in a tremendous increase to the user''s offensive power.


    Thanks to this, Sairaorg was able to overpower Issei even with his strengthened Welsh Dragonic Rook form, by targeting his vitals.


    As a result, Issei fell down and lost consciousness. The next thing he knew, he came to the inner world of his Boosted Gear and saw the former unmoving predecessors, muttering something. After listening to them, Issei finally understood that they werepelling him to activate the Juggernaut Drive to defeat Sairaorg.


    Using all their umted hate, they started pouring all of their negative thoughts towards Issei to force him to activate the forbidden technique. At this point, someone else appeared. Someone who introduced himself as a former Vanishing Dragon host that came to the Boosted Gear after Issei absorbed the power of the gem that he snatched from Vali.


    The Former Vanishing Dragon host intended to help Issei shake off the effects of the negative thoughts, but as he was about to do so, he finally noticed that Issei was not affected by it, even a little. Issei just didn''t know what he should do in this situation.


    The Former Vanishing Dragon host ended upughing out loud at the ridiculous sight that shouldn''t have been possible. So instead, for the hope to lead both of the Heavenly Dragons to a different path, he helped Issei realize what was important to him and what he should do at this point.


    By promising the past wielders of the Boosted Gear of showing them the ''future'', Issei was able to regain his consciousness and activated Crimson Cardinal Queen. Instead of in red, the color of his armor became the color of the hair of his beloved Rias, and instead of green, the color of his gems became pinkish-red, simr to the orb that unlocked Ddraig''s real power. The power that came from liking boobs too much.


    Crimson Cardinal Queen is the opposite of Juggernaut Drive. Instead of thriving in hate and life force like thetter, the former uses hope and stamina. Unlike Juggernaut Drive that can be kept activated until the very end of the user''s life, the Crimson Cardinal Queen can only be used if the user''s stamina was enough and deactivates once depleted.


    The moment Issei activated it, he could feel worsening tiredness in addition to feeling the additional power. It was a very strange feeling, but Issei didn''t dwell on it and started the third round of his fight with Sairaorg.


    As the golden and crimson figures shed, their fight immediately devolved into a childish brawl. Devoid of any technique, the two of them just punched and kicked each other with all their might. However, despite that, the heat from their battle and the resolution emitted by the two fighters spread to everyone, bringing the excitement to a whole new level when the cheers became insistent for all the fans of the two.


    Atst, the first one to fall is Sairaorg, with Issei having the stamina and durability to oust him.


    Hence, the victor of the Rating Game was Rias Gremory and her peerage.


    =============================


    =============================


    Editors:


    28th00: He no-selled the curse. Wow. Soul tempering(also read masochistic torture training) really strengthens your mentality, huh? Sacred Gears are absolute Plot Armour BS! I want to just say that, inside and outside the universe, they''re literally the "I Win" button for reality. I mean, seriously? Powered by strong desire? All you gotta do is survive long enough to desire to "Live" hard enough, ''Break the Bnce'' and win. Obviously Kisuke just HAD to copy that~! Phis-chama�� Imagine her with a Sacred Gear she made outta her snakes, her magical girl transformation stick (courtesy of Serafall)! Imagine the chaos!


    Goyya: At theter volumes of DxD, Longinus users'' threats are so big, they have capabilities to surpass the Gods. So yeah, it''s a BS plot armour.

 Volume 9 518 - Taking Care of the Dragon God

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 518 - Taking Care of the Dragon God</h4>


    Immediately after their Rating Game, while still feeling the heat from their fight, Issei also confessed his love to Rias in front of everyone to show his seriousness. All this time, the two of them only had a vague rtionship and never crossed the line. As his first step towards the ''future'' he promised to his predecessors, he confessed his love.


    Although showing an embarrassment that was rare for her, Rias happily epted Issei''s confession and dered her love for him too.


    That night, Akeno enlisted Irina''s help, so that no one would disturb the lovebirds when they confirmed their love for each other by using their bodies. And as the night went on, Akeno and Irina had to stop Xenovia, a muscle brained idiot who wanted to join in, and Asia, who didn''t want to be left alone.


    A few days had passed, the result of the Rating Game started taking effect on all individuals rted to it, especially on Sairaorg, who already had a shaky position within his house. It became even more difficult for him. However, when Azazel talked to him about it, Sairaorg just shrugged it off and told him that he just had to work hard twice as much and what was important to him right now was his mother, who was still unconscious due to the rare Devil disease that had no cure.


    "I''m sorry that I can''t do anything regarding your mother''s case. This disease is really too strange because it doesn''t do anything to the body, but it disables the psyche of the victim.", said Azazel to Sairaorg.


    "You don''t have to apologize, Governor Azazel. I''m already happy that you took the effort to help my mother. I know no one has ever recovered from this yet, however, I do not believe that this is impossible to cure. I will not give up searching for the cure.", replied Sairaorg.


    Azazel couldn''t help but sigh and pity the young Devil who didn''t stop fighting against all odds. He then said his farewells to him but before he left, Azazel recalled something and faced Sairaorg again, "I''m not too sure about this, and this is just wild spection, but if there''s someone who could help your mother, it might just be Kisuke Urahara."


    After examining Sairaorg''s mother, Azazel didn''te out without any result. Since he already figured out that the disease had something to do with the psyche of the victim, it may be also rted to the mysteries of the soul. And if it was about someone who was an expert with soul studies, then Kisuke Urahara was the only guy that he could think of.


    "Kisuke Urahara? You mean the SSS ranked wanted criminal?", asked Sairaorg.


    Azazel nodded, "That''s right. I know it''s weird to rmend a criminal but he''s the only person I know that might be able to help you. Besides, the case around him is full of mysteries and he''s only a criminal because there''s nothing else better to do."


    .


    .


    .


    Two weeks after the school festival, Issei, Yuuto, and Akeno would be taking a promotion test to be Mid-ss Devils. But before that, the three of them, especially Issei, had to study for the written tests. For both the promotion test and school exams.


    And as the designated manager for Issei, Ravel had to n out his schedule so he would have enough time to study, train and do the live shows of the Oppai Dragon.


    As they awaited their promotion test, Azazel suddenly pulled a risky move, one that could endanger everyone and with a high risk of him being killed on the spot once discovered.


    He invited the leader of the Khaos Brigade, Ophis, to Issei''s house.


    Of course, Azazel didn''t do this without a goal in his mind. After hearing from Vali, who he was secretly in contact with for a while now, that Ophis suddenly became interested in this generation''s Red Dragon Emperor, a n immediately emerged in his mind.


    Instead of fighting the terrorist organization head-on, he figured that if he could change the mind of its leader, Ophis, they could dissolve the organization with minimal casualties and restore peace again. Azazel saw Ophis'' interest as a rare chance that might not happen again in the future.


    Vali also agreed to this, but not for the same reason as Azazel. There had been a growing rumor within the organization that someone was targeting Ophis to usurp her powers. He already had a suspect in mind, but he didn''t know how they were going to ''usurp'' Ophis'' powers.


    So, in line with Azazel''s interest, Vali sent Ophis, along with Le Fay and Fenrir, to stay in Hyoudou residence to let them hide there, while he brought a fake Ophis around to lure out those who were targeting her.


    On the other hand, while Azazel was busy convincing Rias to go along with his ns, Akeno and Irina were shocked at Ophis'' sudden appearance. After all, it''d been a few weeks since theyst saw her, due to Vali stopping her from sneaking out due to the danger. Although Ophis never believed that she was in any danger, she just obediently followed his instructions.


    And as they were talking, Ophis suddenly approached Akeno and Irina without any care for the others. Of course, it would be dangerous if it were to be discovered that both of them knew Ophis beforehand, so in response, they acted scared in front of her and took a step back.


    Ophis''s eyes widened for a few seconds before returning to her usual deadpan expression. She then suddenly turned around and went back to her previous position, which was beside Azazel and Le Fay.


    Noticing this strange action, Azazel asked, "What''s wrong?" But because Ophis was not facing towards him when she showed this slightly shocked reaction, it only looked like she approached Akeno and Irina and went back, doing nothing. Still, this was something strange.


    ""I-I don''t know��"", answered Akeno and Irina, both with a fear-stricken face. But this time, they were not pretending, as cold sweat crawled down on their spine and they both thought, ''S-she''s sulking!!!''


    Le Fay, who knew about their connection with Ophis, understood the expression Akeno and Irina were making, ''Pretending not to know her, huh. That''s indeed the best course of action in this situation.''


    While Le Fay was thinking that Akeno and Irina sessfully deceived everyone, the two of them were panicking andmunicated through their eyes, ''What should we do!?''


    ''I don''t know! But for starters, I have to prepare her favorite snacks!''


    ''Then I have to introduce a new and easy card game to her!''


    ''Then let''s stay in Issei''s house for now!'', decided both of them.


    As the people who were taking care of Ophis for months now, they instantly understood the expression she made and the speed she used to turn her head away from them. Ophis was shocked that they acted scared and like they didn''t know her, so she started sulking.


    After Azazel sessfully convinced Rias, Ophis went to the corner and started staring at Issei without a word. While at it, Akeno tried to serve her some cookies. Although she started to eat the cookies, Ophis entirely ignored Akeno. With her mouth twitching, she retreated for now. Both she and Irina decided that they would sneak into Ophis''s room to exin things to her.


    However, the group saw her act as bravery as they were all still afraid of Ophis and the thought of her being a naive and clueless Humanoid Dragon was still an unknown territory for them.


    Ophis then stared at Issei and started talking, "Ddraig. Do you want to quit being a Heavenly-Dragon?"


    Of course, Issei got confused at her sudden question, "Ummm, no. I don''t understand what you are trying to say��"


    "The human who is your current host. He''s been having a different sense of growing up until now. I think this is very strange. Very different from previous Heavenly-Dragons. Vali is also the same. Strange. Very strange."


    ''��Me and Vali''s growth��? That''s strange��?'', wondered Issei.


    Ophis continued, "The fight against Cao Cao. The fight against Bael. Ddraig had different evolutions. His armor turned Crimson-coloured. It''s the first time. The first time that I know of. That''s why I want to ask. Ddraig. What will you be?"


    Then, Issei''s gauntlet appeared by itself.


    Ddraig then said it loudly, so that everyone could hear it.


    [I don''t know Ophis. I don''t know what this guy wants to be. I don''t know but�� It''s certain that he''s having an interesting growth.]


    Since Issei figured that it was a lot easier for them to talk directly to each other, he shut his mouth.


    "Two-heavenly dragons mixed me as the "infinite" and Great Red as the "dream" into the chant. Ddraig, why did you think of bing the king of domination?"


    [��It must be the result of seeking strength. Because of that, I was eliminated. I couldn''t be strong besides increasing the power of "domination". I never thought that my red color could turn to crimson.]


    "I don''t understand "domination". Those from the ''Khaos Brigade'' seek domination. I don''t understand. Great-Red isn''t ''domination''. I also am not ''domination''."


    [There is no way that a being that has been strong from the beginning would be able to understand the reasons for "domination". You, who were born from the ''nothingness'' of the ''infinite'', and Great-Red, who was born from the ''illusions'' of the ''dream'', must have been from a different dimension. Ophis. You appeared in this World after leaving the dimensional gap. What have you attained from this World, and why did you think of returning to your homnd?]


    "I also want to question you. Ddraig. Why do you try to be a different being? Will you discard ''domination''? What is ahead after that?"


    Ddraig didn''t answer.


    "��Very interesting indeed. A conversation between a Heavenly-Dragon and a Dragon-God is something you don''t see often.", muttered Azazel while listening to the two of them.


    However, the mysterious mood of the conversation suddenly changed when Ophis asked her the next question.


    "Ddraig, will you be the Chichiryutei? Can you surpass a Heavenly-dragon by groping breasts? Ddraig, will you be a dragon that represents breasts?"


    Ddraig who had heard that�� reacted in a way in which he needed to inhale some air!


    [Ugg��Even Ophis ends up saying that���� Uuu! Haahaa��! My consciousness got cut! Counselor! Someone call the counselor!]


    =================================


    =================================


    =================================


    Editors:


    28th00: They�� THEY MADE HER SULK!? HOW DARE THEY! Side note, Phis-chama is here, so it''s time to get savage~! Nobody in DxD is more savage in verbal insults as Phis-chama�� She''s absolutely ruthless�� On a side note, at least Kisuke has a proper nickname that is not savage! He''s ''Hat'' after all. I pity the rest and their eventual nicknames��


    Alexander: Well, as the saying goes: Kids and drunk people tell the truth. Aside from that, there are two points, which disturb me a bit. First, Ravel became Issei��s manager in the canon, after watching his heroic fight against her brother at the wedding. This didn''t happen here. From my perspective, it would even make more sense if she wants to be Yoruichi��s soul sister. Second, why y the ''I-pretend-that-I-don��t-know-you'' game? Azazel does something forbidden himself, LeFay is officially a terrorist and if Akeno and Irina can exin how it came to be, that they are now taking care of Ophis, then everything should be fine for the rest of the Gremory peerage.

 Volume 9 519 - Assault on the Dragon God

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 519 - Assault on the Dragon God</h4>


    Carefully sneaking into Le Fay and Ophis''s room, Akeno and Irina didn''t hold back in appeasing the not so obviously sulking loli Dragon. After taking out a variety of snacks and ying cards, Ophis finally forgave the two of them and returned to normal.


    Sighing in relief, Akeno and Irina then exined their actions to Ophis, which she silently epted. Off to the side, Le Fay was trying her best to not tough at the unexpected situation and Ophis''s adorable side. She thought she already knew everything about the Dragon God, but she relinquished that thought after witnessing this.


    While Irina was distracting Ophis, Akeno invited Le Fay to the corner and asked, "Tell me. Ophis being here wasn''t just because of the fact that she was interested in Issei-kun''s transformation, right?"


    Le Fay nodded with a serious expression, "Yes, Akeno-sama. Vali-sama thought that she would be safer here."


    "Why is that? For better or for worse, Ophis is the Dragon God of Infinity and there shouldn''t be anyone who could be a threat to her aside from Great Red."


    "That is indeed that case. Ophis-sama is very confident that no one could defeat her and has been disregarding any warning of danger. And that''s understandable since there''s virtually nothing that could harm her." Le Fay then cleared her throat before continuing.


    "However, due to that, she doesn''t have an instinctive sense of actual danger. Different from that, Vali-sama can very well feel the danger approaching her ever since the rumors of someone targeting Ophis-sama appeared within the organization,bined with Cao Cao-sama''s move in Kyoto."


    "Kyoto?", muttered Akeno and fell into deep thought for a minute. She tried to recall every single detail of what happened during the Second Year''s excursion and it was then that something clicked in her mind, "The Hero Faction tried to summon Great Red. And even though I''ve only heard of Cao Cao through reports, I can very well imagine what he is like�� A careful and cunning person."


    "That is correct. This is also the very reason that Vali-sama is extremely careful around him. Cao Cao-sama wouldn''t have summoned Great Red without a clear and sure way to defeat or contain it, and it became disturbing when he also mentioned the preparation of the ''Dragon Eater''."


    "Dragon Eater?"


    Le Fay shook her head, "We have no idea what kind of being it is or if it is some codename to some extremely powerful weaponry."


    "What actions did you take? And what should we do?", asked Akeno.


    "Vali-sama nned to lure out those who''re targeting Ophis-sama by going around with a fake of her. He also hopes to bait this ''Dragon Eater''s'' appearance. For now, we should stay near everyone and keep Ophis-sama''s presence from everyone else a secret."


    "Understood. You''re fine with me informing Serafall-sama about all of this, right?"


    "Of course. If we have Serafall-sama''s help from the shadows, the pressure on us will be far less."


    .


    .


    .


    Their time went by peacefully as the three Devils prepared for their promotion. It was all peaceful except for the fact that Asia and Xenovia always tried to get into Issei''s pants after they discovered that Rias had already taken the next step forward.


    Issei did his best to resist the two of them because it wouldn''t feel right to him. Although he dreamt of being a Harem King, he just got into a rtionship with Rias. It wouldn''t be right for him to do it with other people without fostering and growing such a rtionship first.


    On the day of their promotion exam, which was held in the Underworld, it was in the area under Ajuka''s administration to be specific, and Issei was very nervous because he was very afraid that he would fail to live up to everyone''s expectations.


    As the first part of the exam, Issei, Yuuto, and Akeno took the written test. Once Issei received his exam papers, the corners of his mouth couldn''t help but twitch, because some of the questions were about the pop-culture in the Underworld like ''who''re the characters who did this in Oppai Dragon'' or ''who saved Magical Girl Levia-tan from this monster.''


    ''I-is this alright?'', thought Issei, but didn''t delve any deeper into it and just focused on answering his sheet.


    However, once he took the second part of the exam, which was a battle test, Issei was very shocked at the power difference between him and the rest of the examinees. Of course, this would be the case as he had always been fighting existences that are around High-ss Devils and above and never thought of their rank beforehand because it was not really important in life and death situations.


    And another reason for Issei''s twisted perception was due to him hearing that it took years or even decades for a Low-ss Devil to be promoted and no one actually bothered to exin to him how abnormal his growth and those around him were.


    So he was very surprised when he heard afterwards from Azazel that, at least in terms of battle strength, Issei was already treated as a High-ss Devil, almost Top-ss.


    After the exam, Issei sighed in relief. He was already confident that he would be passing the exam and be a Mid-ss Devil after the results came out. The three of them returned to the hotel that they rented out.


    Since they received the news about Issei and Rias going out, the media of the Underworld continued hounding them whenever they had a chance. ''Serious rtionship between master and servant'' was too tasty a bait for them to pass up.


    And after it leaked that Issei would be taking the promotion test, the reporters had been camping around the venue for days without their enthusiasm decreasing. So in response, Sirzechs rented out a big hotel not far from the venue and requested direct teleportation which was approved due to their circumstances.


    Waiting for them were the members of Rias'' Peerage, except for Rossweisse, who returned to Asgard to learn and practice defensive spells so that she could be more suited for her ''Rook'' piece, and Gasper, who requested Azazel to help him getting more powerful and got sent to Grigori Headquarters for more research about his Sacred Gear and bloodline.


    Among them were also Irina, Le Fay, Fenrir, and Ophis, who came with them to the Underworld. After a round of congrattory greetings, the group decided to have a dinner party at the hotel''s restaurant.


    Everyone happily had their dinner and they were in for a night of partying after these weeks of working hard for the promotion. Ophis was stuffing her mouth with pasta while staring at Issei, when purple mist started spreading throughout the surroundings. Predicting who it was, everyone got into their battle stances and waited.


    A few secondster, from the couch in the restaurant, Cao Cao appeared along with Georg, who stayed behind him.


    "So Cao Cao-sama ignored Vali-sama and came here.", muttered Le Fay.


    Cao Cao exined that he sent the rest of his group to Vali, but he also figured out that Vali wouldn''t be bringing Ophis around, so he came here after getting the information that Ophis became interested in the Red Dragon Emperor''s change.


    With almost everyone confused, Azazel told them his guesses that Cao Cao would be after Ophis. Although he didn''t have concrete evidence, he was able to guess what was going on thanks to his experience. Le Fay also confirmed his guesses and supplemented additional information for everyone to understand what was going on.


    "Cao Cao is after me?", asked Ophis while tilting her neck.


    Cao Cao smiled and answered, "Yeah, Ophis. We need you, but we determined that we don''t need the ''current'' you."


    "I do not understand. I would not lose to Cao Cao."


    "That would be the case. You''re too powerful. To tell the truth, I don''t know what would happen if I took you head-on. ----So let''s fight a bit." Cao Cao stood up and spun around his spear skillfully and from the tip of his spear, a really bright light de formed. It had an intense light that would give any Devil a chill, the light from the Ultimate Spear.


    With the sound of something cutting through the wind, Cao Cao disappeared without making even the slightest movement. Before anyone noticed, the de of his spear already went through Ophis'' chest.


    A critical blow. If it was a Devil, he would have died in an instant. Not minding everyone''s reaction, Cao Cao chanted, "Shine, the spear that destroys Gods!", and the lighting from the spear exploded.


    Seeing that, Le Fay figured that it was really bad for all the Devils in the surroundings and hurriedly cast a spell that blocked the light. However, even with her best efforts, it was not enough to contain it. At this moment, Issei transformed into his Welsh Dragonic Rook with some parts of his armor ck in color and released his Dragon Aura, which was both crimson and ck, to block the remaining light.


    Although it depleted Issei''s stamina quite a bit, none of hisrades were hurt by the light.


    The light from the Holy Spear suddenly stopped, and the situation between Cao Cao and Ophis was revealed. Ophis still had the same deadpan expression while staring at Cao Cao. Although there was a spear embedded in her chest, no blood was flowing out.


    Cao Cao slowly removed his spear and watched the hole in her chest quietly disappear as if nothing had happened, "That would''ve been an instant kill if you were a devil. I even put a lot of power in it so even other beings would vaporize�� It would have taken half of the power of one of the Gods who are weak against this spear."


    He then faced Issei and told him, "Did you see that, Sekiryuutei? This is Ophis. You cannot give it a critical wound even with the Ultimate Longinus. The damage went through. To take down the power of infinite is not possible, even with this spear."


    Cao Cao then looked back towards Ophis while putting his spear on his shoulder, "She won''t even fight back against me who just attacked her. The reason is simple, it''s because she can kill me any time she wants to. That''s why she won''t do it, even if I do something like this. Basically, she''s not interested in anything besides Great-Red. Out of the Top 5 world''s strongest not including Great-Red, the strongest one is Ophis, and there is a huge gap between her and the second strongest, where you could say that she is on a totally different level. This is what the embodiment of Infinity means."


    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama has been cheered up, but also annoyed greatly. Who just stabs loli dragon''s in the heart? Rude. We''re about to have Kisuke enter the scenario too! Don''t worry Phis-chama, ''Hat'' ising to pick you up and take care of you! It''s irresponsible to not take care of your Loli Dragon God''s after going on vacation for a few months after all! Bullying Cthulhu is not a healthy life choice either, Cao-Cao. I just realised�� He interrupted snack time. Farewell, you nazi~! You ded.


    Alexander: This is the point, where Ophis should''ve made Shish Kebab out of him, for stabbing her is heresy.


    28th00: I think it was one of those incredulous moments where she went "Why is this gnat poking me with a pointy stick?"

 Volume 9 520 - Dragon Eater

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 520 - Dragon Eater</h4>


    While Cao Cao was busy exining things to Issei, Le Fay was able toyout the magic circle she needed in this situation. Afterpleting it, Fenrir immediately stepped on it and disappeared. He was reced by a young man with blue eyes and dark-silver hair, Vali, "Good work, Le Fay."


    Vali then faced Cao Cao with a smirk, "It''s been a while since we met face-to-face, Cao Cao."


    Cao Cao turned to him and returned the smirk, "Vali. This is a shocking summoning."


    Le Fay began to draw a circle in the air with her rod and said, "I have called Vali-sama here through switching his location with Fenrir-chan."


    Vali then continued, "I made Fenrir fight the other Hero-faction group members with Bikou and the others in my ce. I had predicted that Cao Cao would being here. So I made sure I had insurance. Now, let''s finish things between us. Buting here only with Georg. Such a bold hero."


    "Rather than being bold, I thought that it would be enough with just me and Georg.", replied Cao Cao.


    "Looks like you are confident Cao Cao. Does it mean that you have the so-called ''Dragon-Eater'' as your trump card? I''m guessing, is it a Sacred-Gear possessor who specializes in Dragon-ying or a new Longinus possessor?"


    Cao Cao shook his head to the sides hearing Vali''s words, "No. That''s not it Vali. [Dragon-Eater] is the codename we gave to a being that already existed. We didn''t create it. It was already created. The ''God from the Bible'' created that being."


    Hearing that, the youth wearing a robe, Georg, spoke, "Is it alright Cao Cao?"


    "Yeah, it''s about time Georg. Vali is here. Ophis is here. Sekiryuutei is here. The infinite Dragon-God and the Two Heavenly-Dragons. Abination where we couldn''t ask for more. Let''s call it. The time for opening the jar from hell hase."


    "Roger that. So the time to devour the ''infinite'' hase then."


    An intense vibration shook the entire hotel! A very ominous aura was emitted from the magic circle.


    A cold air that gave chills to both Issei and Vali spread out. An intense pressure which they had never felt before came from the magic circle, and a feeling like they are a frog being stared at by a snake covered the two Dragons.


    [This presence is?! An overwhelmingly evil intent only directed at Dragons!] A trembling voice came from Ddraig. Issei became confused as to what being could possibly scare one of the Heavenly Dragons who were the embodiment of bravery.


    A few secondster, a gigantic being on a giant ck cross emerged from the magic circle. An upper body of a Fallen Angel and a lower body of an Asian Dragon. In both hands, tail and all over its body, there were countless nails driven through. The orifices on his face were covered with ck bindings with glowing runes on them.


    "GUOOOO!!!" A creepy voice came out from his covered mouth and his eyes started tearing up with blood. Pain, jealousy, suffering and resentment. A sound that was mixed with all kinds of negative emotions. You could tell that it was a being that was judged by someone who harbored great anger towards it. There was ck aura and misting out of the fallen-angel dragon that was spreading throughout the lobby.


    Azazel''s eyes changed when he saw the restrained being. "T-this guy! To bring such a thing! So you released the seal of Cocytus!", muttered Azazel in rage.


    Cao Cao took a step forward and started to speak as if he was reading a poem. "��It says that it is the poison of God. It says it is the evil intention of God. A forbidden being that made the people in Eden eat the fruit of knowledge. The first crime that was judged by the dead God from the Bible and still continues to be in effect. ''Dragon-Eater'' Samael. The angel that received the curse of God who hated dragons and snakes. A dragon. Yes. A dragon whose existence was eliminated from the record."


    Everyone except for Issei got an idea who Samael was. Confused as he was, he asked Azazel, "Sensei, What is that? Even I know that it''s dangerous just by looking at it."


    "Do you know the story of Adam and Eve?"


    "Y-Yeah. I at least know about that."


    Azazel then began to exin.


    "The one who turned into a snake and made Adam and Eve eat the fruit of knowledge is that. That action brought the fury of the ''God from the Bible''. So God started to hate snakes and dragons to the extreme."


    "That''s the reason why dragons are depicted as evil in many of the texts from the Church. He is a being that was made of the evil intentions of God, because of God''s hate, a being who received many kinds of poisons and curses on his body."


    "Naturally, it is impossible for God, who is sacred, to have evil intentions. That''s why it has intense poison. Not only can it extinguish dragons but it can affect other things besides dragons, so it was sealed in the depths of Cocytus. The curse it received from God is the ultimate dragon-yer. That alone makes him an existence that is a brutal dragon-yer!"


    Azazel then yelled in anger, "What is the Olympian God who is in charge of the World of the dead thinking?!!!! P-Perhaps��!"


    Cao Cao nodded and confirmed his suspicions, "Yes. We negotiated with Hades-dono. I was allowed to summon him while having manyyers of restrictions on it."


    "��That bastard! He didn''t like the fact that some Olympian Gods were going to cooperate with other factions!" Azazel spat out with hatred.


    Cao Cao then pointed his spear at everyone, "So it''s like that Azazel-dono, Vali and Sekiryuutei. The curse he has will devour and kill dragons. He can kill dragons for certain. It''s not on the same level as the dragon-yer holy-swords. You can''t evenpare them. Ascalon is like a toothpickpared to him, Hyoudou Issei."


    "What are you nning to do by using it!? Are you trying to annihte dragons!?��No. You guys are trying�� Ophis��?" Azazel was shocked when he finally understood Cao Cao''s idea.


    Smirking at him, Cao Cao snapped his fingers and the binding on Samael''s mouth was undone, revealing a row of uneven but sharp teeth. "Devour her.",manded Cao Cao as he pointed to Ophis.


    Opening his mouth, something passed through beyond everyone''s perception and when they looked back, Ophis was no more and was reced by a dirty ck block. "W-what?", muttered Issei.


    A split secondter, tentacles of the same color emerged from the block and it went towards Samael''s open mouth before he started making sounds akin to swallowing something. Samael ate Ophis.


    "Hey! Ophis! Answer me!", shouted Issei to the block, but he received no response.


    Seeing that, Yuuto immediately made his move and manifested his Holy-Demonic Sword to cut the block. But when his sword touched the block, his sword was erased.


    Vali then immediately used one of his strongest attacks, Half Dimension, to destroy the block, but even that did nothing to it.


    Next was Rias, Akeno, and Irina who simultaneously cast attack spells towards it, however, the results were the same. It didn''t do anything.


    Issei wanted to turn into his True Queen form to attack the block, but Azazel stopped him as the result may be the same and it may even negatively affect him, "Ise! Don''t take it on! He''s your ultimate natural enemy! He can''t bepared to Vali! That dragon must have the power to kill dragons easily! I mean, the situation is already bad since even Ophis can''t get out of it! The enemy is a dragon, but don''t use Ascalon! We don''t know what will happen against the ultimate dragon-yer!"


    It was then that Xenovia made her move and sent Holy Light towards Samael himself. However, Cao Cao already saw through her intentions and hit it to the side with his spear, "You made a good attack from the start again, Xenovia of the Durandal. But there''s no second time."


    "I thought that I attacked with good timing�� Is my first strike with Durandal so easy to read?", asked Xenovia.


    "I also think that you had good timing. But since you attacked first with Durandal at Kyoto, it''s natural that they would be on alert. Cao Cao did stop it easily. But you sure like to give a hello attack don''t you, Xenovia? I won''t say any more than this!", answered Issei.


    Vali turned into his Bnce Breaker while saying, "So my opponent is Samael. On top of that are two high-tier Longinus possessors. I have noints." At his cue, everyone also got ready for a full-blown battle.


    Cao Cao took a deep breath and said, "With you guys as my opponents, it will be dangerous if I don''t be serious. After all, Hades only allowed us to use Samael once. Our n will fail if we don''t decide here. Georg! I will leave the control of Samael to you. I will take care of these guys."


    "Can you take two Heavenly Dragons, the Governor of Fallen-Angels, and the Gremory team by yourself?", asked George while he controlled Samael.


    "I will make it happen. If I can''t do something as simple as this, then I basically have no right to hold this spear."


    Cao Cao''s spear then shined in bright light!


    "---Bnce Breaker."


    After saying that, something in Cao Cao''s body changed! A ring of light that gave out even more intense light appeared behind him and 7 bowling ball-sized balls floating up in the air appeared. It was a silent Bnce Breaker. The change was so minimal that his spear is practically the same.


    Cao Cao took a step forward. At the same time, the 7 orbs around him moved as well, "This is my ''True Longinus''s Bnce Breaker, [Pr Night Longinus Chakravartine]. Though it''s still iplete."


    After looking at Cao Cao, Azazel shouted, "A sub-species! The Bnce Breaker that the previous ''True Longinus'' possessors used until now were [True-Longinus G?tterd?mmerung]! From the name of it, are you implying that you are the ideal ruler!? Damn it! Even I don''t know what those 7 orbs are!"


    "I actually want to call myself the ideal ruler of heaven. That sounds cooler right?"


    Valinded beside Issei and said, "Be careful. His Bnce-Breaker''s ability is called ''Seven Treasures'' and has 7 Sacred Gear abilities. So there are abilities for each orb."


    While they were still shocked after learning about Cao Cao''s unreasonable Bnce Breaker, he made the first move, "One of the Seven-Treasures. Cakka Ratana." One of the orbs then disappeared and suddenly, the Ex-Durandal in Xenovia''s hand broke.


    "M-my Ex-Durandal!"


    "That''s the first one. Cakka Ratana''s ability is being able to destroy weapons. The only ones who can oppose this ability are those who are quite strong.", exined Cao Cao as he continued to step forward.


    ========================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama does not approve of being vored. I don''t think anyone does, but Japan does exist��


    Alexander: Just you wait for Kisuke, you self-righteous prick. You better have a good psychiatrist. Trust me, you''ll need a good one.

 Volume 9 521 - Holy Spear’s Balance Breaker

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 521 - Holy Spear��s Bnce Breaker</h4>


    After Cao Cao''s ''Chatsuka Ratana'' that had destroyed Xenovia''s Ex-Durandal, he immediately followed it through with the side-effect of this ability, an invisible and fast spear that punched a hole straight through Xenovia''s stomach.


    Crying out loud, Asia immediately ran towards her fatally wounded friend to heal her. However, due to her wound, she wouldn''t be able to heal anyone else until Xenovia was out of danger.


    Enraged, Issei and Kiba simultaneously attacked Cao Cao. However, thetter only dodged them and used the second ability of his Sacred Gear, ''Itsutei Ratana'', which rendered all women''s unique powers useless, and aimed it towards Rias and Akeno, taking them out of the fight.


    Finally finished charging her magic, Le Fay used her strongest attack magic and aimed towards Georg and Samael, however, Cao Cao''s third ability made him able to teleport a person or group of his choosing to his desired location and orientation.


    Using it against Le Fay, he disced her and her attack now was aimed towards Xenovia and Asia who''re defenseless. Seeing this, Issei immediately used his Welsh Sonic Boost Knight form and purged most of his armor to gain the much-needed speed to help the girls.


    But he couldn''t do anything else after reaching the girls as there was ag between his transformation and ended up taking Le Fay''s attack without much armor. No matter how strong Issei''s body became thanks to Kisuke''s training, it wasn''t enough for his bare flesh to resist such a strong magic attack, ''Damn it�� I should have learned how to use Ki instead of just increasing my body''s strength!'' Issei thought as he took the hit.


    Due to his decision to go for the sustainability of his Scale Mail, he focused on strengthening his body instead of learning how to use TouKi like Sairaorg. Although not fatal, he was effectively kicked out of the battle temporarily until he recovered.


    With five people unable to continue fighting, Vali and Azazel made their move in their Bnce Breakers. However, even if they worked together, Cao Cao already understood the weakness of Armor-type Bnce Breakers.


    ording to him, since it wasrgely based on powering up the user, it became obvious where the power ising from, and became easier for Cao Cao to read their flow of aura and predict their next moves.


    While dodging their attacks, Cao Cao revealed that the eye that Issei had destroyed back in Kyoto was reced by Medusa''s eye, and petrified Azazel''s legs, giving an opening for Cao Cao to strike. After stabbing the Holy Spear through Azazel''s stomach, his golden armor crumbled as he fell down on the ground while coughing blood.


    Seeing that the person he considered as his father being harmed, Vali''s anger shot through the roof and gathered arge amount of his Demonic Power, shooting it towards Cao Cao. It was then that Cao Cao used his fourth ability, ''M Ratana''. It''s the ability to redirect an attack sent towards him to another target, and that target was Rias and Akeno.


    Irina immediately went in front of them and gathered as much Holy Power as she could to offset Vali''s attack. Irina was able to block the attack, but it resulted in arge explosion, injuring her severely. Akeno cried out and immediately assisted Irina using her almost nonexistent healing magic that was weakened by Cao Cao''s ability more.


    Seeing that it wouldn''t get them anywhere, Vali decided to go into his Juggernaut Drive to overpower Cao Cao. However, Cao Cao was concerned that Vali''s Juggernaut Drive might distort the artificial spell, so he reminded Georg to do something.


    Even though he knew he can''t do much, Kiba still tried to attack Cao Cao with his sub-species Bnce Breaker, de cksmith: Glory Drag Troopers, but was instantly destroyed by thetter due to sheer difference in skills.


    After his short bout with Kiba, Cao Cao faced Georg and asked, "How much were you able to take?" Calcting the time, he thought that it''s about time they ended this.


    "More than three-quarters. I would say most of it. I won''t be able to connect Samael to the present world more than this." Answered Georg.


    Cao Cao nodded at him and said, "Excellent. That''s enough." Snapping his fingers, the block that was covering Ophis burst, and Samael sank back to the magic circle that summoned him, leaving this ne.


    Ophis who was just released looked practically. However, she looked towards Cao Cao and said, "My power was taken. This is what Cao Cao aimed for?"


    "Yeah, that''s right. Ophis. We wanted to put you underneath us and use your power. But having you do as we wish was very hard. So we changed our mind."


    Cao Cao pointed the tip of the Holy Spear to the sky and added, "We will take your power and create a new ''Ouroboros''."


    While puking blood, Azazel muttered, "��I see! You used Samael to trim down Ophis''s power and give birth to ''it'' by using the power you took�� The new Ophis."


    Cao Cao nodded at Azazel''s statement, "That''s exactly right, Governor. We want an Ouroboros that does as wemand. Truth is, Great-Red isn''t a being that is that important to us. This n all began because we are tired of pleasing her with it. And we were able to challenge and test the ideal of the Hero-faction about challenging the superior being of ''Can we defeat the infinite being and obtain it?''."


    Azazel smiled wryly and replied, "��Splendid. For you to take down the infinite being in a way like this."


    "No, Governor. This is different from taking it down. Actually, we do need the symbol to gather strength. In that part, Ophis was excellent. She became a propaganda tool and gathered those with power that made up a force like that. But using the Dragon God whom we couldn''t read what she was thinking as our puppet isn''t good."


    "��Sounds like a human. It definitely is a negative way of thinking like that of a human."


    Cao Cao smiled at Azazel''s words, I''m very honored with yourpliment. Yes, I am a Human."


    Georg then interrupted Cao Cao and Azazel''s conversation to ask the former, "Cao Cao. If it is now, can''t you finish Vali and Hyoudou Issei off?"


    "You are right. It''s good to finish them off when we can���� Both are increasing their power in an impossible way. In the future, they will be more troublesome dragons than Ophis. Buttely, I''m thinking that it''s a waste. I can understand why the leaders of each faction want to look over the two-heavenly dragons. Only in this generation, the way of their growth is too abnormal. That also includes the people rted to both of them. They are beings that are very rare in terms of data. Perhaps the ones who will unleash the full power within their Sacred Gear is not us, but rather them."


    After saying that, Cao Cao deactivated his Bnce Breaker. Cao Cao then confirmed from Georg that Ophis'' power was sent towards their headquarters and was satisfied and intending to leave.


    But before he could turn around, Vali asked Cao Cao why he was not killing them and Cao Cao replied that he already nned to take them down without killing them since his own Bnce Breaker still needs a lot of tuning and he needed proper opponents to do that.


    After saying that he looks down on them, Cao Cao only smirked and replied that Vali also loves doing this sort of thing. Cao Cao then faced Issei, "Hyoudou Issei the Sekiryuutei. It doesn''t matter how many years it takes. Rise up to the level where you can fight me. In the future, there are less than a dozen people who can have the ultimate Sacred Gear fight, including you and Vali. ---No matter what age, the ones Heroes want to challenge in decisive battles are the Maou or legendary dragons."


    Clenching both of his fists and teeth, Issei silently agreed to him and vowed that he will get stronger to the point that he''ll be the one letting him off without much care.


    "Georg. Call the groups of Grim Reapers. Hades is after the weakened Ophis. Also, the swapping transportation that was done by the guys from Vali''s team before. Can you try that? Can you transport me and swap me with Siegfried? I will leave the rest to Siegfried."


    "I only saw it once so I won''t know if it will work smoothly. But I will try it." ,


    "To be expected from the descendant of that professor, Georg Faust, who made a pact with the legendary devil Mephistopheles."


    "My ancestor was so great that it put too much pressure on me. Anyway, roger that Cao Cao. Also about the information I gained before" Georg then passed on a paper to Cao Cao with a serious face before leaving to prepare for the swapping spell. Cao Cao''s eyes be sharper after seeing that.


    "I see. So this is the way the Old Maou gives his gratitude for saving him�� No, I knew it from the start. Well, he did cooperate with us enough." Cao Cao muttered and sighed. He then faced the Gremory team and Vali team once again, "Georg went outside the hotel. He''s preparing for the swapping transportation between me and Siegfried."


    "Let''s y a game between the Vali team and Gremory team. Soon a group of Grim Reapers will being here on Hades''s orders to retrieve the weakened Ophis over there. I will also have Siegfreed from my team participate in it as well. The key point of this game is whether or not all of you can get out of here safely. We don''t know what will happen when Hades captures Ophis. Now, can you get out of here while protecting Ophis with your lives? Please challenge it. I want the two Heavenly Dragons to survive, but I have no intention of enforcing it to the Grim Reapers and myrades. I think it is more suitable to fight those who ovee a crisis."


    After saying that, Cao Cao disappeared, leaving everyone to their own devices. Even if they wanted to follow him, they still needed to treat those who''re injured and n out a strategy to get out of this predicament.


    ============================


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    ============================


    28th00: Hmm, I highly doubt they got 3/4th''s of Ophis'' power. She''s naive, not stupid. The Hero Faction is pretty much just the Nazi''s of DxD, but towards everything non-human instead of a subset of humanity. It''s quite messed up, how some of the strongest of humanity are such scum, truly. Also, I highly doubt even a 25% power Ophis would ever have a single problem with a literal army of Ultimate-ss Reapers, she''s not at less than 1% of her power, you know?

 Volume 9 522 - Escape

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 522 - Escape</h4>


    A few hourster, everyone except for Vali, who had taken Samael''s curse, was able to recover. Le Fay tried to dispel the curse from him, but it was simply too powerful for her to do anything, so Vali had been enduring intense pain and the curse''s encroachment with his massive stores of Demonic Power. But even that has a limit, so something had to be done.


    It was also then that Le Fay received a notification from the Khaos Brigade headquarters, "An official notification came from the main headquarters. To exin it simply, it said ''The Vali team tried to pull a coup d''��tat by deceiving Ophis and making the organization their own. Ophis was safely rescued by the Hero-faction. Terminate any remaining members of the Vali team when found.'' "


    While they were nning their escape, Akeno asked Ophis how she was feeling and she responded with, "��I''ve be weak. Right now�� I''m only twice as strong as the Two Heavenly Dragons at their peak."


    "Y-yeah�� You''ve definitely weakened��" Azazel muttered.


    However,pared to him, others couldn''t help but put up a shocked expression. ording to Georg, the Ophis right now was basically the ''leftovers'', and she still had the power of the two Dragons that wreaked havoc on the battlefield that the Three Factions had to join forces just to deal with them.


    Ophis then revealed to them that while Samael was taking her power, she sent out some of them towards another space and she just went outside to retrieve it. Now she''s twice as powerful as the Two Heavenly Dragons.


    "So the reason you said you would go around this floor is so you could retrieve the power you released to another space!?" asked Azazel in shock.


    Ophis nodded. Seeing that, Azazel couldn''t help butugh, "Kukuku. That Cao Cao. He said he took most of Ophis''s power, but Ophis released her power into a different dimension while she was having her power taken. She retrieved most of it just now and got back some of her original power. And she''s still twice as strong as the Two Heavenly Dragons in their prime. Looks like the Hero-faction took Ophis too lightly."


    Ophis then demonstrated to everyone by creating small ck snakes on the tips of her fingers, "My power changed like this. This, is what I sent to another space. That, is what I retrieved. But I, cannot leave here. Here, there is something restraining me."


    They were finally reminded of the predicament they are currently facing and started taking actions. Azazel faced Le Fay and asked, "Le Fay, you are talented in using magic rted to space like Kuroka right? Is there any way to get help from the outside world? Or is there any way to get at least a few members out of here?"


    "There is. But there is a limit to it if it is by myself. There is a magic where others can leave this space with me. But the number of people that can is 2 at most. Since we performed swapping transportation with Vali-sama and Fenrir-chan, I think the barrier on this space became even stronger. I am pretty sure that it is impossible to perform swapping transportation once again. I think Georg-sama knows the majority of the form used by our magic, so there is only one more chance where I can use very special transportation from here." Le Fay replied.


    They wanted to send Ophis away since they were aiming for her, but Azazel told everyone that it''d be useless as there was something holding Ophis in ce. And the current Ophis was ''finite'', it would be dangerous if the Grim Reapers were to get more of her power.


    After a short discussion, it was decided that Xenovia and Ravel would be the ones who''d leave with Le Fay. They would be reporting the truth to the Alliance and also have Xenovia''s Ex-Durandal repaired.


    At first, Azazel wanted Irina instead of Ravel to go out but Irina insisted on staying. He thought her insistence was weird but he didn''t have time to dwell on this now. Irina and Akeno then took a quick look at each other. Neither of them could go if they wanted to preserve the trump card they had for emergencies.


    Le Fay then gave Xenovia thest missing part of the Excalibur, Excalibur Ruler, to include it when the Ex-Durandal was repaired. She cited that it wasn''t needed anymore as Fenrir already reduced his power so that she could control him without it.


    After thanking Le Fay for the final sword, the three of them stood on the magic circle that Le Fay prepared to transport them out, but before they disappeared, Le Fay warned everyone that Siegfried was different from the rest of the Hero Faction as he is not only cruel, but also malevolent. This is the main reason he was expelled from the Church.


    There were a total of three anchor points they needed to destroy to escape this space. One on the roof, one of the hotel''s hall below them, and one in the parking area. With hundreds or even thousands of Grim Reapers patrolling and destroying the barrier they put up, they needed to make their move now.


    Using the firepower of Issei''s Welsh ster Bishop, they instantly destroyed two of the anchor points, and the only remaining one is in the parking area.


    But due to that, most of the Grim Reapers went to that area and Georg strengthened the defensive barrier around it.


    With that, the group started fighting to break through the Grim Reapers. Akeno and Rias used their magic to deal with the Grim Reapers from a distance, while Irina and Kiba were guarding Asia. Despite the curse and being unable to use his Sacred Gear due to it, Vali still had enormous Demonic Power reserves and sent shots of it, annihting some of the Grim Reapers.


    Ophis, who saw this, tried copying him. However, the resulting force was so massive that it almost caught everyone else too, "��Strange. Holding back my power, very hard."


    Azazel then prohibited her from doing anything else due to the fear of friendly fire. He finally figured that they can''t depend on Ophis who couldn''t control her powers despite being weakened.


    While dealing with small fries, Kiba directly went for Siegfried and started their duel. Unlike their previous engagement, however, Kiba could now fight toe-to-toe with the genius but evil Exorcist.


    Everyone also worked hard to clear out the Grim Reapers, but their numbers just didn''t seem to drop. What''s worse is that the Ultimate-ss Grim Reaper, Pluto, was among them and used Azazel of colluding with the leader of the Khaos Brigade and the Grim Reapers were here to stop him.


    Finally understanding where their confidence wasing from, Azazel took on Pluto, separating him from the others. But even then, there were at least thousands more Grim Reapers filling up both the ground and sky.


    It was then that the predecessor of the Boosted Gear resounded in Issei''s mind, telling him that they were there to assist him and the ''future'' he promised them. Graduating from the ''Juggernaut Drive'', those senpais instructed Issei to use his greatest power, the power of boobs, by using his ''Gift'' ability on them.


    Issei told Azazel that something weird is going on and Azazel immediately snapped back at him, "What is it dumbass!? I''m having a hardcore battle with this Grim Reaper-sama, damn it! Wait, this conversation! It''s simr to the story Tannin told me!? Don''t tell me it''s ''that''!? Is that it!?"


    "The past Senpais are telling me to make Rias''s breasts go to the next stage!"


    Hearing that, Azazel danced in glee, "It''s hereeeeeeee! Yeeeees! Poke it now! Grope it! Touch it! Fuhahahahaha!! Oi, heroes and Grim Reapers! Our Oppai couple will release the infamous power of breasts! It''s the super technique of the Gremory group!"


    "��No! It can''t be!" Even their enemy, Siegfried was horrified at hearing this.


    After getting Rias'' permission, Issei used his ''Gift'' ability. But unlike what he was expecting, it didn''t ''strengthen'' her breasts, but instead released a beam that replenished his stamina, allowing him to use another st from his Welsh ster Bishop.


    Annihting a massive amount of Grim Reapers, Issei thought it was enough, but then, another round of beam hit him and replenished his stamina, allowing him another shot that wiped out another batch of Grim Reapers.


    Siegfried, horrified by this,manded the Grim Reapers to focus their attack on Rias, "This is bad! It''s dangerous to leave those breasts alone! Breasts that respond to being summoned! Breasts that replenish Sekiryuutei''s power! We won''t know what''ll happen next! The one who is the most dangerous isn''t the Two-Heavenly dragons or Ophis! It might be Rias Gremory''s breasts! The Sekiryuutei and Rias Gremory. When these two are together it creates miracles time after time�� And the things that are the "key" for that are�� those breasts!"


    "In other words, we should call her "Crimson Bust Princess"! To describe it in one word it''s ''Oppai Beam''! In other words ''Oppai Battery''! You guys seriously are an insane baka-uple aren''t you!" Azazel added in glee.


    "Shuuuuut up!! Just shut up and fight you, idiot Governor!" Issei pleaded with him to not give them any more weird nicknames that will definitely spread.


    But after a few shots, Issei finally noticed that each beam decreases Rias'' bust size and cried out loud. He told her that he''ll stop using it, but Rias disagreed with him as this is the only way for them to fight back and she didn''t mind her boobs shrinking.


    While firing those sters that annihted the Grim Reapers, Issei was crying manly tears.


    On the other hand, "��Uhehehehe. Oppai sure are fun��" Ddraig muttered. The Heavenly Dragon had finally broken for the first time in history.


    ==============================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Well, Ddraig is broken. Poor guy. More weird nicknames, and Issei bing aser cannon. Phis-chama being too stronk to not nuke her allies in such a tiny ''dimension''. Ah, time for Kisuke to show up! Rias'' tit.s have shrunk to human-tierrge instead of hentai-tierrge now! It''s temporary from what I remember, but Ise has the most goddamn weird conceptual breast powers of any character I know outside of something like Seikon no Qwaser. That one is based ONLY on breast powers��

 Volume 9 523 - Rescue

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 523 - Rescue</h4>


    Azazelmanded everyone to protect the couple, as they were the key to this battle and momentster, they almost annihted the army of Grim Reapers. With only a few of the army remaining, Siegfried, Pluto, and Georg couldn''t help but make a hard face.


    Aside from that, the small but powerful barrier that protected thest anchor and endured multiple sts from Issei, was now on the verge of copse. The battle is almost over, with Gremory Team winning.


    However, a hole in the sky opened and a new intruder entered the fray. When they looked up, it was Shalba Beelzebub, who they thought was killed by Issei during his Juggernaut Drive. He had actually survived by sacrificing Ophis''s snakes that were within him at that time.


    But from the looks of it, even Siegfried and Georg didn''t expect his arrival. Shalba then pulled out a boy from his robe and showed it to everyone. It was the current host of the Annihtion Maker whom they''d met at Kyoto.


    Shalba then activated a weird magic on the boy, Leonardo, forcing him into his Bnce Breaker, creating numerous gigantic monsters that were, ording to the crazed Shalba, designed to annihte the Devils of the Underworld.


    After the monsters had manifested, Shalba tossed Leonardo away and cast teleportation magic, transferring them to different parts of the Underworld. Of course, Azazel and the rest couldn''t let this happen and tried attacking the gigantic monsters, but they could only scratch their skin despite their all-out attacks.


    While they were doing so, Seigfried and Georg retrieved the still screaming Leonardo and went to tell Pluto to escape with them. However, they finally noticed that Pluto, along with the remaining Grim Reapers, had already disappeared and figured out that Hades was the one helping Shalba from the shadows.


    While the Gremory Team was busy trying to stop the monsters that would certainly cause massive amounts of casualties if transferred, Shalba used this chance to capture Ophis with magic rope. Due to being unstable, Ophis couldn''t break the rope that was specially designed for her.


    The monsters sessfully were transferred and Ophis was captured. They totally lost this round. But with the space crumbling, they would be able to transfer out too and join the effort against the monsters.


    But Issei decided to stay behind and retrieve Ophis. However, before anyone else could reject his decision, two handsnded on each of his shoulders, "Go back with the rest. We''ll take care of it." Akeno and Irina proposed.


    Issei wanted to argue with them that he was better for the job, but before he could speak out, he noticed the cold glimmer from their eyes, ''T-they''re angry!?''


    Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Issei had no choice but to nod.


    Rias and Azazel also noticed their weird behavior but it was obvious they wanted to take Ophis back, so after a bit of hesitation, the group transferred out, leaving Akeno and Irina to themselves.


    While space was crumbling and slowly revealing the Dimensional Gap, Akeno turned to Irina with a smile, "What''s this? And here I thought that you''d be going with them."


    Irina, in response, snorted at her, "Don''t look down on me! Seeing Ophis like that, of course I wouldn''t be able to take it! Besides, if you went alone? How were you going to deal with that crazy bastard? You''re tired and couldn''t possibly defeat him!"


    "Well, I''ll ask you to hand ''that'' over," Akeno answered.


    Irina sighed, "Figures. But we''re both in this together. I can''t let you hog all the spotlight."


    The two of them then flew towards the crazy Shalba, "Hmm? A disgusting hybrid and a hateful bird�� Color me surprised. And here I thought it would be Vali, or at least the Sekiryuutei." His face then began to warp in rage, "But instead, you two lower beings came after me!? Don''t look down on me!!!" Releasing his aura, Akeno and Irina were pushed back. Just with that, they figured that they wouldn''t be able to fight him head-on.


    But even then, Akeno and Irina were still calm, "I''m sorry to disappoint you, but you have to return us our precious friend over there." Akeno said while pointing at Ophis which made thetter wide eye.


    Hearing this, Shalba covered his face, "Fu��Fufu��Fuhahahahahaha! You!? A friend of this dirty being!? That''s the biggest joke I''ve ever heard!"


    "Of course you wouldn''t be able to understand that, you friendless old Devil! You''re just a reject of society! Do you also chant ''Normies go explode'' in your dark and dirty room?" replied Irina.


    "You��!!!" Shalba was enraged. However, the two girls didn''t let him make a move further and took out an orb each from their personal spaces. While Akeno took out a blue orb brimming with an enormous amount of Mana, Irina took out a green orb filled with natural Ki.


    Seeing this, Shalba became cautious and asked, "��What is that?"


    But the girls ignored him and faced Ophis instead, "Ophis-chan, you can endure this, right?"


    As one of the people staying in Kisuke''s shop and secret underground base, Ophis understood what they meant and said, "��Easy."


    Due to suddenness and how mysterious the orbs were, Shalba failed to react immediately and the orbs collided in front of him, releasing the energy within them and creating a gigantic explosion, "!!!?"


    The real identity of those orbs were Kisuke''s batteries that he used to gather pure Mana and natural Ki. along with pure Soul Power. After his disappearance, the gathering device couldn''t be maintained and it automatically stopped functioning so that there wouldn''t be any idents.


    In Serafall''s exploration of the hideout, she was able to discover this and gave the batteries containing Mana and Ki to both Akeno and Irina while taking care of thest orb which contained the Soul Power herself.


    She also told them the ipatibilities of mixing Mana and Ki and told them how to use them as a massive bomb in case of an emergency. Akeno and Irina tried to use it earlier, but they recalled Serafall''s warning that the amount of energy contained in these orbs was enormous, and using it as a bomb haphazardly may cause more destruction to theirrades, so they decided against it.


    But now, the situation was different. The space wasn''t cramped anymore, and they could run away from the resulting explosion. Aside from that, Ophis confirmed that she would be able to endure the damage.


    While being engulfed by the explosion, Shalba cursed his fate, "W-Wha!!! You bitches!!!" Realizing that he won''t be able to escape alive, he took out two needles covered in blood and injected all of his Demonic Power into them before throwing them towards the fleeing girls, "I''ll take you down with me!!!"


    Shalba was vaporized but the needles were able to travel and hit the girls in their backs. The next second, both of them started falling from the sky and while losing consciousness, they both felt the auraing from their backs and muttered, "��S-Samael''s curse?"


    The crumbling space was engulfed by the explosion, leaving nothing behind.


    .


    .


    Two dayster, Ophis was smacking the red ground she was sitting on with her tiny hands when she felt a familiar aura emerging from the distance and looked towards it, "Hat?"


    A few momentster, a critically injured white beingnded beside her and greeted her with his creepy voice, "Yo~, Ophis-chan~. It''s been a while~. Looks like a lot of things happened."


    It was the return of the most lovable shopkeeper.


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    Editors:


    28th00: So, they took Issei''s ce, huh? Wonder if Gasper will ''awaken'' to his powers if Issei is still alive? Thinking Akeno and Irina are dead could have simr effects�� Phis-chama''s ride has appeared, the ''red ground'' is probably a bit annoyed at being constantly hit by a tiny, untable dragon loli too! Big enough batteries are just multi-purpose bombs! That''s justmon sense~!

 Volume 9 524 - The Return

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 524 - The Return</h4>


    Immediately after arriving in the Dimensional Gap, the hole which Kisuke created instantly disappeared and he started to appropriate his energies towards healing his crumbling body, ''That was way worse than I expected�� I almost died back there. Just a bit longer and I''d be a goner, literally.''


    But thanks to this experience, Kisuke would be able to create proper countermeasures to survive the pull of the chaotic void, ''Now then, where''s the signal from Benihime?'' But before he could focus on the activated Benihime again, he noticed something else.


    Great Red was floating through the Dimensional Gap in front of him. But what actually caught his attention were the three girls on his back, ''Ophis?�� And Himejima-san and Irina-san?''


    Ophis also noticed him but Kisuke didn''t haphazardly approach them due to Great Red. When he took a look at the True Dragon God, however, Great Red was also looking at him before bobbing his head. Kisuke had a feeling that he was telling him to get on.


    Betting on this feeling, Kisuke slowly approached Great Red but even though he got near him, Great Red didn''t look at him again. After confirming that it was safe, Kisukended beside Ophis and greeted her, "Yo~, Ophis-chan~. It''s been a while~. Looks like a lot of things happened."


    While repairing his body, Kisuke took a quick nce towards the two unconscious girls, ''They''re alive but not far from dying. For starters, their bodies are no good anymore. Their souls are safe thanks to Ophis, but that won''tst long, and they would need a new body on top of that. Just what happened here? And why are the two of them with Ophis and Great Red?''


    However, Ophis replied with something else, "I shall defeat Great Red.", and resumed smacking the red ground while muttering, "Hit. Hit. Hit."


    ''She is currently way too weak, and all of her remaining power was battling the ''invader'' inside the girls'' bodies. It seems that she also prioritized protecting their souls.'' Kisuke then sat down beside the girls and checked their situation in greater detail.


    ''This is��? One of theponents of that poison?'' After checking what was wreaking havoc inside their bodies, Kisuke immediately noticed that it was one of the mainponents of the poison which hit Sona, Yoruichi, and him in that ritual site, ''So is this Hades'' thing again? That guy�� Seems that I need to smack that skull head for a bit.''


    Kisuke then turned towards Ophis, who was still hitting Great Red, and said, "Ophis-chan. Help me out a bit. Please push back this poison away from their souls. An instant is enough."


    Hearing his instructions, Ophis stopped what she was doing and stood up. She then pointed her palm towards the girls and the snakes inside them started moving aggressively. Using that chance, Kisuke took out two specially made ss containers for souls before pulling their souls from their bodies.


    Since he needed to be careful with their souls, Kisuke immediately removed the Evil Piece and Brave Saint Card which were attached to their souls in order to avoid anyplications. After putting them away, Kisuke took out more containers to get some samples of their flesh and of the poison.


    After he was done, Kisuke signaled Ophis to take back her snakes and after she did so, Akeno and Irina''s bodies instantly melted into puddles of ck smelly goo.


    Kisuke checked Benihime''s status again just to make sure that everything was going to be fine, ''Looks like Benihime still has some leeway, so I should focus on these girls first. The longer they don''t have any vessel, the more their soul will deteriorate.''


    Deciding his next course of action, Kisuke turned towards the head of Great Red, "Hey Great Red-sama. Mind if I do a little experiment on your back?"


    Great Red immediately responded with a loud roar. However, Kisuke didn''t understand him so he turned to Ophis and asked, "What did he say?"


    Ophis pouted before giving a reply, "He said he''ll help."


    Kisuke was confused, "Hmm? Help? He only needed to agree or not agree�� What did he mean by help��?" His words trailed off when a small part of Great Red''s scales fell off along with some flesh and blood and floated towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke immediately understood that this was Great Red''s help and took out another set of containers to get the scale, flesh and blood of the True Dragon God, ''I don''t know why he wanted to help, but this little experiment became a little fun thanks to this gift.''


    Ophis then tugged Kisuke''s tattered Shihakusho and said, "I shall also help."


    While staring at Ophis''s rarepetitive expression, Kisuke thought for a moment before saying, "I''ll need some snakes. I don''t need those that give strength. Just pure snakes which don''t do anything."


    Ophis then manifested a number of small ck snakes that didn''t radiate any kind of power and passed them to Kisuke. If he wasn''t in his Vasto Lorde form right now, his mouth would be seen grinning from ear to ear.


    ''Don''t worry you two. I''ll make sure your souls are safe, so let me do all sorts of things as I recreate your bodies�� For Science!'' Kisuke''s bad habit would never change. He would forever be chasing knowledge and mysteries.


    Kisuke then deployed a fairly strong barrier, so that his activities wouldn��t be interrupted by the pull of the Dimensional Gap. Thanks to Great Red''s wide back, he was able to ce down all of the equipment he needed to start his ''fun'' experiment.


    .


    .


    A whole dayter, Akeno''s and Irina''s new bodies were floating in containers full of clear blue liquid. Appearance-wise, there was nothing different from their previous bodies, except for the unstable aura they were emitting right now.


    If people like Azazel would see the current state of their bodies, their jaw would fall off in shock. Even though the Brave Saint Card and Evil Piece weren''t present in their bodies, Irina was emitting the aura of an Angel while Akeno was emitting the aura of a Devil. Without using the reincarnation system developed by Ajuka, he was able to preserve their Devil and Angel identity.


    Besides, even if he wanted to use the Brave Saint Card and Evil Piece, they already disappeared through forced summoning half a day ago. Kisuke thought that it was such a shame, since he could have studied them in greater detail. Little did he know that it caused big waves to both Heaven and the Underworld when just Akeno''s and Irina''s pieces returned. Well, even if he was aware of it, he couldn''t care less.


    Another shocking part was the fact that their bodies were also emitting the auras of both Great Red and Ophis. However, the most shocking part was not that, but the fact that they were also emitting Samael''s aura, something that shouldn''t have been possible.


    This caused the True Dragon, Great Red, who knew quite a bit morepared to Ophis, who was only munching on snacks off the side, to take short nces at Kisuke with a little bit of fear in his eyes. If he could mutter something, he would definitely say something like, "Where did this crazy kide from!?"


    Great Red''s reaction was understandable, because no one would have ever thought, or was insane enough, tobine a Dragon with an Anti-Dragon, much less the Ultimate Dragons and Ultimate Dragon yer.


    And Kisuke''s reason for doing so? Cus'' why not? If he were given a chance and the concept was in his mind, he''d do it for Science.


    Thus, this day became the birthday of two impossible existences, because one guy thought it was fun.


    ''Now then, once I insert their souls into those bodies, the unstable aura should calm down.'' Kisuke thought as he took out Akeno''s and Irina''s soul. Of course, they weren''t perfect bodies, because they would have a lot of defects. However, Kisuke already expected this and would be there to adjust it ordingly. Aside from that, if they wanted to return to their previous body, he could create a new set of normal bodies for them.


    ''Let me gather a good amount of data before you decide to return to normal, alright?''


    ===========================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama was exactly what I expected her to be, stubbornly insistent on beating up Baka Red. Great Red is there trying to actually help her out, but is very terrified by her best friend/keeper/caretaker who just RIPPED A HOLE THROUGH DIMENSIONS TO COME HERE, without being a Transcendent being. He then proceeds to break all the rules, and makes ridiculous bodies for those two. They did it to save Ophis, so Kisuke saving them is probably a big plus in his books. They got bodies even more ridiculous than Issei got in canon! I wonder how Samael''s powers would work for them? It''d work out for Akeno really well, since that dude is probably the strongest Fallen Angel, not to mention the first one? He was first, right? The poison and anti-dragon parts though�� Welp, they got depowered so they can get repowered, Danmachi style! The forced summoning is gonna BSOD the other guys though. Just like Issei''s death did in canon.


    Alexander: I read some articles about Samael. He is sometimes depicted as purely evil, but not always. He was a satan, but don��t think of this term in the modern/christian sense. Appearantly, Satan means opponent or user in judaism. Basically, he was a prosecutor for Heaven before he became the leader of the rebelling angels because. So in this story, he should actually be stronger than the original devil kings, at least in his hey day.


    Goyya: I would not say stronger than the original Devil Kings. He just really have a very strong Dragon yer properties born from hate. I think he could be defeated as long as one is as strong as a Devil King and he or she doesn''t have any Dragon properties.

 Volume 9 525 - Mr. Hat

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 525 - Mr. Hat</h4>


    Kisuke sent the girls to his hideout after a few more adjustments. He already knew that the hideout waspromised, but after checking the logs and traces left, it turned out that only Serafall, Akeno, Irina, and Ophis had been there, so he figured that his ce was still safe.


    Thanks to his Vasto Lorde Form''s increased regeneration, most of his wounds were already healed. However, he chose not to leave this form yet, because he was waiting until he''d bepletely healed.


    Once he was done checking everything, including Benihime''s state, Kisuke went beside Ophis who was still munching away, and asked, "Can you please tell me what happened?"


    Although her snack time was interrupted, Ophis still told the previous events to Kisuke from her point of view. Although her ounts were broken, Kisuke was able to understand the gist of what she went through, "So this Cao Cao guy stole your powers through using this Samael that Hades lent him? And a crazy Devil summoned a bunch of monsters before capturing you? And in response, Akeno and Irina followed him to save you, but were hit by this Samael''s curse?"


    Ophis nodded.


    "Well, I still don''t really get it, but I can understand that things are getting hectic. But one thing is for sure, since Hades is involved, it''s only natural for me to make a mess of his ns." Kisuke then stood up and looked towards Ophis, "Wannae with me?"


    "��Where?" ,


    "To the ce where we can kick some ass."


    Ophis stayed silent for a minute before replying, "But I need to defeat Great Red so that I can go home."


    After hearing those words, Kisuke finally understood what Ophis really wanted. It was never about Great Red, but it was about the ce where she could return to. He already had some inkling that this might be the case, but Kisuke kept pushing that possibility out of his mind because Ophis was a being of a different caliber from the rest. Hisplicated thinking made a biased decision, that it wasn''t just that what Ophis wanted, but something bigger, ''So she''s really just a little kid�� I realized it toote.''


    Patting her head, Kisuke said, "Don''t you think that this ce is such a dreary and empty home? Why don''t youe with me? My ce is also your home, and most importantly, we have cookies and doughnuts!"


    Ophis''s eyes widened as she muttered, "��Can I?"


    "Of course! I already consider you as a resident of the Urahara Shop. Aside from that, you''re a precious friend. If you don''t have a home to return to, it''s fine to consider my ce as your home~."


    Visible excitement emerged from Ophis''s eyes as she said, "Let''s go!"


    ''I should have done this before.'' While thinking that, Kisuke replied, "But before that, let''s go kick some ass!"


    Ophis nodded in agreement. But when her vision passed by Kisuke''s horns, a certain idea emerged from her immature mind. She went behind Kisuke and started climbing up his back. Kisuke didn''t really know what she wanted to do, but he assisted her. Ophis then sat down on his shoulders and grabbed his horns before cheering, "Go, go!"


    Chuckling, Kisuke took out his de, the artificial Sacred Gear, where Benihime would be residing in the future, "Alright~! Let''s go with a bang~!"


    Confirming his mother''s location, Kisuke created a hole to the area where she was at. But before he left, Kisuke faced Great Red and said, "Great Red-sama! Thanks for the ride and the help~! Until next time~!"


    Then, he jumped without hesitation through the hole he''d created as Great Red roared in farewell. In it, was also his gratitude for giving the ''snake'' a home. Although only Ophis understood this and didn''t say anything.


    Emerging from the sky, what came into Kisuke and Ophis''s view was a partially destroyed Devil City and a 200-meter tall humanoid monster, "Whew~. That''s one big fe and it doesn''t look like it''ll be easy to deal with."


    Kisuke also saw Grayfia along with some other powerful Devils fighting it. However, no matter what kind of damage they dealt to it, it would regenerate to full health in a blink of an eye. What was worse was the fact that, as it walked, it left hundreds of smaller monsters who attacked everyone around it.


    Since it was not really his job to deal with this creature, Kisuke ignored it and looked around again, confirming his mother''s location, who was currently fighting some Devils. She was wearing a robe at this moment,bined with a mask that blocked her aura. A giant marite''s arm was currently emerging from her shadow, and that arm belonged to the ever so familiar Benihime.


    Beside Sakura was a simrly robed and masked figure, Kisuke guessed that this was Cleria. Since they were safe for now, he looked around again and found another familiar group that was entangled with another unknown group.


    If it was a normal situation, Kisuke would have ignored them, and instead, he would rush straight towards his mother. However, the unknown group seemed to be using some kids, who were staying on a bus, as hostages to deal with his friend over there.


    Kisuke knew that casualties were normal in the battlefield, and that one should consider doing everything possible to gain an advantage over their opponents. However, involving innocent kids in an adults'' fight was stepping over the line in Kisuke''s opinion.


    Kisuke might not be a good person, but he still had a line that he didn''t cross. With that in mind, he redirected his falling body towards them,nding beside the kids with a loud bang.


    "W-what!?" Everyone eximed at the sudden intruder.


    Of course, the first one they noticed was Ophis, who was riding his shoulders while seemingly having fun. "O-Ophis!?", eximed Issei and Rias simultaneously.


    "What the hell? Who are you and where did youe from? And why is Ophis with you?", asked Hercules of the Hero Faction after hended behind him. Although Kisuke had already regenerated from his serious wounds, from the outside, he still looked like a tattered white humanoid being with a strange hole and purple gem in his chest.


    Since Kisuke wasn''t releasing any of his Reiatsu-Ki right now, no one could feel any threat from him.


    "Wait��! That sword!", shouted Issei and the rest looked down, towards Kisuke''s de. And sure enough, some people from Issei''s group were able to identify it. After all, it was the sword that slew Kokabiel.


    When Kisuke looked around once more, he got a closer look at every one. Sona''s Peerage members were injured and Asia was taking care of them. Issei was in his Bnce Breaker mode, but he and the rest couldn''t make any rash movements due to the kids beside Kisuke.


    As for their opponents, all of them were looking at him with puzzlement. Kisuke then confirmed the appearance of the man named Cao Cao. ''Whew~. What a dangerous spear~.'', thought he, as he caught a glimpse of the True Longinus.


    "K-Kisuke?", stuttered Issei.


    Kisuke ignored him for now and checked on the situation with the kids. When he looked at them, there was visible fear and confusion on their faces. Of course, that would be the case, as Kisuke''s appearance right now wasn''t very child-friendly.


    Ophis noticed this and thought of something, before suddenly manifesting the green and white bucket hat in her hands using her powers. Without any regard to Kisuke''s horns, she ced the hat on his head and said, "Mr. Hat."


    Kisuke saw that the kids'' expressions instantly changed, and one of them even asked, "You''re Mr. Hat?"


    Kisuke didn''t know what was going on, but it seemed that these kids knew his favorite hat, so he just nodded.


    The next moment, the kids started cheering in happiness, "Yay!!! Mr. Hat is also here!!! With Oppai Dragon and Mr. Hat working together, there''s no way they would lose!!!"


    The ''lovable'' shopkeeper was taken aback when the kids suddenly started cheering for him, and what confused him even more were the nicknames, ''Oppai Dragon? Mr. Hat? What the hell?''

 Volume 9 526 - Welcome Back

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 526 - Wee Back</h4>


    While Kisuke was busy thinking about what was going on with the kids, Hercules approached him and took a stance, "I don''t know what''s going on, but it seems like you''re here to save them? Then I''ll just have to beat you up like the rest of them!"


    Hercules threw a punch towards Kisuke, with the intention to crush him under his fist. However, Kisuke didn''t even turn to dodge the attack. Instead, he just caught his wrist before returning the force behind his punch, "What!?"


    The next thing Hercules knew, was that he was already spinning in midair andnded at least a hundred feet from his original position, crushing rocks and knocking debris up on his way.


    Although there wasn''t much damage done to Hercules, the onlookers, especially Issei''s group, were shocked at how easily Kisuke was able to deal with the opponent whom they''d been struggling to defeat, without much effort.


    Cao Cao, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and started observing the strange white monster they called Kisuke in greater detail and scrutiny.


    "One annoying thing after another��" Siegfried stepped out, "I''ve been in a bad mood since Ajuka rejected my offer. And since you''re with Ophis, I''ll dly turn you into a pincushion to relieve my stress." Siegfried then activated his Bnce Breaker, ''Chaos Edge Asura Ravage'' which gave him four more additional arms and pulled out his five Demonic Swords and a Light Sword.


    With a speedparable to the Gremory Team''s Knight, Siegfried instantly reached in front of Kisuke and swung down one of his swords.


    "Watch out! That''s the Demonic Sword Gram!", shouted Yuuto to warn Kisuke of the impending danger.


    However, Siegfried aimed his swing in a way that if Kisuke were to dodge, the child behind him would be cut in half. Although Kisuke already had his Hollow form under full control, there were still things that would pull out its malevolence from the depths of his consciousness, and this was one of them.


    As the Demonic Sword Gram approached Kisuke, Siegfried''s smile became wide as he thought, ''This idiot really didn''t dodge.''


    But the next moment made him nk out, because the strange white being reached out for his sword with his bare hand, and caught it mid-swing, "��What?"


    Siegfried was able to recover immediately and tried to pull back, however, his sword was stuck in this strange being''s monstrous grip. It was then that they felt a dense killing intent covering the area, which made everyone draw in a cold breath.


    The one on the receiving end of the killing intent, Siegfried, immediately panicked and saw Kisuke slowly raising his other hand which was holding a sword. It was so slow in his perspective, that Siegfried could have done so many things within that time frame. Even so, he couldn''t move properly due to the dense killing intent assaulting his consciousness.


    All he could do was to raise up four of his swords in anticipation of Kisuke''s attack. However, despite doing his best to defend against Kisuke''s attack, the moment Kisuke''s de touched his first sword, it was instantly cut. Like a hot knife through butter, Kisuke''s de went through all four of his swords without much resistance, before entering his left shoulder and leaving his right nk.


    Before Siegfried could even process what just happened, he was teleported out by Kisuke, leaving the Demonic Sword Gram still caught in his hand. But even then, he didn''t have that much time to think of anything before his upper body separated from his lower body.


    ''As expected. I just can''t show these kids a grisly murder,'' thought Kisuke before the Demonic Sword Gram suddenly released a blood-red light towards him, signifying that it was acknowledging him as its master.


    Kisuke looked at it for a few seconds, before tossing it away without a care, ''Demonic and Dragon-yer attribute? I''ve already got too many samples of the first one, while the second one is way too weakpared to what I already have on hand.''


    A strange silence engulfed the area. Despite the roaring sound of the monsters and thunderous sounds of magic attacks in the distance, nothing could prate the strange silence that Kisuke created.


    Too many shocking things had happened all at once that everyone felt left behind. From the fact that he caught the Demonic Sword Gram with his bare hand, to cutting Siegfried in half, along with his strong and legendary Demonic Swords, and finally tossing away the strongest Demonic Sword that had acknowledged him as its master. It all happened in the span of a few seconds.


    Everyone was quiet, well�� Except for one. Ophis started cheering from Kisuke''s shoulders, "Go, go, Mr. Hat." As an avid fan of ''Magical Girl: Levia-tan'', she feltpelled to cheer after ''Mr. Hat'' defeated one of the bad guys.


    Hence, the silence was broken as the children in the bus followed suit, "Go! Go! Mr. Hat!" "Yay!!! Mr. Hat did it!!!"


    Contrary to his terrifying appearance, Kisuke was now getting a little embarrassed.


    "��What the fuck?", muttered the blonde-haired Hero, Jeanne. She shouted, "What the heck happened!?", and activated the Bnce Breaker of her de cksmith, ''Stake Victim Dragon'', which summoned a Dragon made out of Holy Swords.


    Hercules also stood up from the rubble and activated the Bnce Breaker of his Variant Detonation, ''Detonation - Mighty Comet'', which covered him in spikes and gave him gigantic pike-like fists.


    Cao Cao also became serious. He had horrifically misjudged Kisuke, due to him not releasing any sort of powerful aura, ''Is that a Bnce Breaker armor? What sort of Sacred Gear is that?''


    The Gremory Team also got ready to fight, but an engagement didn''te into fruition as two robed and masked people entered the area.


    The two groups became cautious when they approached, but one of them ignored them both and muttered, "Kisuke?"


    Kisuke looked at that robed person and instantly figured who it was. Since he didn''t really want to keep this form in front of her, Kisuke deactivated his Hollowfication. The white pigment of his skin receded to the hole in his chest before it closed with the purple gem still inside it. His long swaying hair also receded back to its normal length, before the Hollow mask and horns finally disintegrated.


    Ophis, however, was disappointed with him transforming back to normal as her ''handles'' had disappeared.


    Kisuke then fixed the appearance of his Shihakusho and the holes in his hat with magic, before greeting the robed person with a big smile, "It''s been a while, mom~."


    After removing her mask, Sakura ran towards Kisuke and gave him a big hug, "Kisuke!!! Thank goodness�� You''re safe��"


    Kisuke also happily returned the hug, "You too, mom. I''m d you''re doing alright�� Aside from the fact that you look older."


    Sakura momentarily separated her right arm from the hug and gave Kisuke a strong jab to the stomach.


    "Guhoo!" Although he wasn''t really affected, Kisuke acted like he was.


    Sakura snarled at him. "And whose fault do you think that is!? I never heard from you again after you sent a message from the time when you and Yoruichi hid! On top of that, stupid people started using my son of heavy crimes, and suddenly he went missing along with other people! And who knows how many people you messed with and frustrated in the duration of that time!?"


    But immediately after, Sakura hugged him again and whispered, "I''m d you''re back�� Wee back."


    Kisuke smiled gently and replied, "I''m back. Sorry for the wait."


    "Yeah�� You should be�� You made me too worried."


    Editors:


    28th00: Welp, I expected that to happen with the kids being there. Phis-chama''s cheer squad was glorious though! She''s gonna be a bit down now that her handles are gone, but she''s still having fun! She''s an avid anime fan (of Serafall), especially of ''Mr. Hat''. This is probably the most fun she''s ever had, mainly because she just learnt how to have fun recently, and that her favourite person is back. He even gave her a home (mainly since she couldn''t make the connection that it already was her home till he explicitly stated it was)!


    Alexander: I nearly went down to the floor fromughing, when I imagined Kisuke as a Vasto Lorde, blushing and wriggling from embarrassment. Also, Sakura really knows her son, seeing that one of her biggest worries was the number of victims to Kisuke''s teasing.


    So, right now one of my most anticipated parts of the story has begun: The trashing of the heroes. Go, my man. Show them who''s da boss.

 Volume 9 527 - VS Hero Faction

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 527 - VS Hero Faction</h4>


    The Hero Faction didn''t interrupt Kisuke and Sakura''s reunion because they wanted to gather more information. However, they''d already guessed that this Kisuke was actually the infamous Kisuke Urahara, who was wanted by both the Alliance and Olympus.


    "K-Kisuke! You really are Kisuke!!!", shouted Issei.


    They had so many questions they wanted to ask him, but Rias had the most urgent one after seeing that he came with Ophis on his shoulders, "Ophis�� What happened to Akeno and Irina-san?"


    After this question of hers, everyone from the Gremory Team became quiet with varying expressions.


    Issei, Yuuto and Rossweisse, while angry, were making despondent faces. Rias and Xenovia were seething with anger, while Asia was silently crying while healing the Sitri team. They already received the news that only their Evil Piece and Brave Saint Card went through the summoning, and that could only mean one thing.


    Ophis, however, didn''t answer her and just looked down at Kisuke. Feeling her gaze, he faced them and cheered them up, "What''s up with those faces? They''re fine. Well, it''s true that they were almost goners when I came across them in the Dimensional Gap, but I''ve already given them some treatment and sent them to a ce where they could rest in silence. They should be able to wake up in a few hours."


    Hearing that, everyone''s eyes from the Gremory team widened, and the next second, Rias fell down on her knees from sheer dness and relief. She already thought that her best friend had already perished at the hands of Shalba and was already expecting the worst possible answer from Ophis.


    Issei immediately supported her with obvious happiness on his face. While Rossweisse and Yuuto were making merry faces, Xenovia and Asia could only stare at Kisuke. "I-is that true!?", asked Xenovia to confirm that she didn''t hear him wrong.


    "Yep~. I''ll bring them to you once they wake up.", replied Kisuke.


    A dark-silver-haired young man suddenly appeared behind the Gremory team and asked, "How about Kuroka? I''m expecting to hear that you''re taking good care of her."


    Vali''s question immediately elicited another barrage of questions from the Gremory and Sitri team, who were asking him about Sona and Koneko''s current situation.


    "They''re fine too, although they can''t be here right now due to various reasons. I know, you''re worried about them, but this isn''t really the situation where we should talk about them." Kisuke then faced Cao Cao, "Right, mister with a pretty sick spear?"


    "Indeed. Although I wanted to let you talk a bit more, you, after all, killed myrade. I can''t just keep quiet after seeing something like this. It''s about time we settle things.", replied Cao Cao and introduced himself, "I''m Cao Cao. The wielder of the True Longinus."


    "Ah, excuse me for my rudeness. The name''s Kisuke Urahara. Just your everyday candy store owner~.", greeted Kisuke back while tipping his hat.


    ''Who''re you kidding!?'', thought everyone inwardly. An everyday candy storekeeper couldn''t just instantly kill a wielder of multiple Demonic Swords.


    Cao Cao ignored his introduction and continued, "Kisuke Urahara. The man wanted by both the Alliance and the Greeks for doing some unknown ritual that sacrificed noble Devils. From your actions just now, it looks like you aren''t a simple character, but are you sure that you want to deactivate your Bnce Breaker?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Although I can''t feel any of your aura, I''m still able to tell that you''re a lot weaker after you dispelled your Bnce Breaker. Are you sure you want to take us on with just your bare body? And by the way, what kind of being are you actually?"


    ''So he thought that my Hollowfication is a Bnce Breaker.'' Kisuke wanted to chuckle but stopped himself, "Although that form gives me ungodly strength, I''m not really very fond of it, as it could easily interfere with my mind like just now. It''s only good for enduring and overpowering others, which is just not my style. Andstly, I''m mostly Human."


    "Not your style, huh�� You wouldn''t have developed that kind of Bnce Breaker if that isn''t your style." With Cao Cao''s signal, Hercules and Jeanneunched themselves towards Kisuke.


    "I''ll help you.", muttered Sakura and summoned a giant marite''s arm from her shadow. Thanks to this Sacred Gear which Kisuke had given to her, they were able to aid the evacuation of the citizens while also hiding their identity. After a few battles with the terrorists, Sakura figured out that this giant arm weakened everyone it touches considerably. This made both her and Cleria able to deal with their enemies while using only generic magic.


    However, after the moment when the trusty arm emerged, for the very first time, it broke her control over it and formed a fist before pummeling Kisuke, "What!?"


    "Whoa." Kisuke dodged to the side and avoided the fist that created a small crater, "As feisty as ever, eh?"


    Despite Sakura trying to regain control of the arm, it continued attacking Kisuke, "Kisuke! What''s going on!?"


    "Well, she''s definitely sulking.", muttered Kisuke before saying to the arm, "I''ll take you backter. Let me deal with these people first."


    After that, the arm stopped its assault and went back to Sakura''s shadow. Sakura tried to summon it again, but it didn''t respond to her calls anymore. After seeing his confused mother, Kisuke tried to calm her down, "I''ll be fine by myself. I''ll talk to youter, mom."


    Sakura nodded at her son''s words. Although she was confused about what was going on with the Sacred Gear, she decided to follow Kisuke''s instructions and went to help Cleria, who was still in her mask and robe, and helped her to evacuate the children.


    "We''ll assist you!", shouted Issei as he aimed his Dragon ster towards Hercules. But Vali in the back spoke up, "Just let him be. He said that he''ll be fine by himself, right? And don''t you want to see what he can do?"


    "But��" Issei hesitated.


    "Do you need our assistance?", asked Rias suddenly.


    "I appreciate it, but it''s been a while since I fought fellow people. So please let me entertain them for a short while~.", replied Kisuke and readied his sword.


    "Understood. But if you''re in danger, we''ll help." The Gremory team had alreadye a long way after fighting many formidable enemies. They believed that, if they were to fight Kokabiel again, they''d also be able to deal with him with rtive ease. Hence, her offer of help.


    Issei also stopped speaking and just stood tight for whatever was going to happen.


    Of course, Hercules and Jeanne were offended by this and the angry hero shouted, "This arrogant bastard!!! I''ll tten you!" Hercules immediatelyunched his pike-like fist as rockets towards Kisuke.


    Jeanne also didn''t let up and ordered her Dragon to attack, breathing out Holy Light towards Kisuke.


    Arge explosion ensued once the rockets and breathnded on Kisuke. A cloud of dust rose up as arge crater appeared in his spot, "Heh! So he''s all talk. Now even his body was vaporized."


    "H-hey! Is he going to be alright?", asked Rossweisse in concern. After all, she''d already experienced the power of Hercules'' Bnce Breaker. Even with the help from her defensive magic before she went back to Asgard, she was still gravely injured by those rockets.


    However, no one answered her as they just continued watching. Of course, Hercules wasn''t just speaking without confirming things because he saw with his two eyes the moment when his ''Detonation Fist''nded on his opponent''s face.


    Hercules and Jeanne were about to face the Gremory team next, just as they''d nned, but the hulking man suddenly heard someone speaking beside him, "Hmm�� What an interesting setup ~. By the way, what are you going to do without those rockets? Are you going to start punching people now?"


    Hercules shuddered while the rest of the Hero Faction became wide-eyed. After all, they too saw how both of the attacksnded on Kisuke''s body. Hercules then swung his fist to the source of the voice and with his Sacred Gear, the aura surrounding it exploded, giving it additional momentum and speed.


    Kisuke immediately bent backward to dodge the fist, but it was followed by another explosion-powered kick, so Kisuke somersaulted backward to avoid it, "Oh my~. So that''s how it works. Though it really needs a strong body to endure those explosions."


    For Ophis who was riding on Kisuke''s shoulders, it was like a fun rollercoaster.


    "How did you dodge!?", asked Hercules. He didn''t see Kisuke moving and became tense because of that.


    "Er�� I went away before it hit me for real?"


    "Bullsh*t! I saw you got hit by my attack!"


    "Really? That''s news to me. Why don''t you do it again? You know, just to confirm things?"


    Kisuke''s replies greatly infuriated Hercules, even more so because of the little girl having fun on his head. So he materialized another set of ''Detonation Fist'' and released it towards Kisuke. This time, everyone watched closely as it indeed touched Kisuke''s face and detonated properly.


    However, after the explosion urred, Hercules heard his voice beside him again. "See? It didn''t hit.", said Kisuke while also watching the explosion as if it was none of his business. Ophis even parroted his words for additional flex, "It didn''t hit."

 Volume 9 528 - VS Hero Faction part 2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 528 - VS Hero Faction part 2</h4>


    "You!!!", yelled Hercules as he swung his fist and leg at Kisuke again, but Kisuke dodged it just as easily as before. "Iya~. Don''t get too furious just because you were proven wrong.", said Kisuke while he dusted his hat off.


    Hercules retreated to Jeanne as his confident demeanor from earlier already disappeared.


    "��How is he doing that?", asked Rossweisse with a surprised face.


    "��Who knows?", replied Issei with the same expression.


    "What? You''re noting?", taunted Kisuke towards Hercules and Jeanne, who had started putting up defensive measures, "Well then, I guess it''s my turn."


    The moment he ended his words was the moment when Kisuke suddenly disappeared from his spot without any warnings, "What!? Where!?"


    Hercules and Jeanne tried looking for him, but the next thing they saw was that he was only a few inches away from the tall Hercules. Hercules tried to swing his fist at Kisuke again, but this time, he didn''t dodge, "That trick�� Why do you keep repeating it?"


    Instead of dodging, Kisuke lightly tapped Hercules'' fist, and it suddenly exploded, "Wha��!?" Due to the explosion to speed up his fist, and the sudden explosion that countered it, Hercules'' arm broke with multiple veins on it ruptured.


    While still confused at what was going on, Kisuke lightly tapped a few parts on his body, and they all exploded, "Gaha!!!"


    Due to those explosions and most of them countering each other, it resulted in his body being squeezed in multiple directions, breaking his bones and rupturing his flesh and veins. After the series of explosions, the yellow aura which was covering Hercules'' body disappeared, along with his Bnce Breaker as he fell to his knees, unconscious.


    Hercules'' Sacred Gear was the yellow aura that covered his body which allowed him to make it explode for his use. After watching him doing it several times, Kisuke figured how it worked and how much mastery he had over it. Thanks to his poor control, Kisuke was able to confuse the Sacred Gear, which detonated the explosions inside of himself.


    With herrade instantly downed, Jeanne panicked and attacked Kisuke with her Holy Sword, "You bastard!!!" She alsomanded her Dragon to nk him.


    Kisuke dodged and was about to retaliate when suddenly, multiple magic circles appeared around him and bombarded him. Kisuke predicted where the magic attacks wouldnd and dodged them with minimal effort.


    But soon after, he felt a threat from behind him and used sh Step to get away. An elongated spear pierced the ground he was standing on a second earlier, "Hey now. I thought it was just those two?"


    "You''re too dangerous.", muttered Cao Cao with a serious face, "You''re even more dangerous than the current Sekiryuutei. You instantly figured out how Hercules'' Sacred Gear works and manipted it to your liking. I couldn''t have done the same thing."


    "And is that supposed to be apliment?", asked Kisuke with genuine confusion.


    The Gremory team and Vali, however, were shocked at Cao Cao''s words. After all, Cao Cao was what you''d call the Ultimate Technique type of fighter, the type that analyzes everything about their enemy and creates countermeasures against them. Even Azazel praised and was defeated by him.


    For Cao Cao to say that he couldn''t have done the same thing, it was a testament to how terrifying Kisuke''s abilities actually were.


    "That''s apliment, alright!?", shouted Xenovia.


    At that point, Cao Cao didn''t say anything else and just activated his Bnce Breaker. After the mysterious seven orbs appeared around him, Kisuke took a stance and got ready, but not for him.


    The moment they were about to sh and they were at the peak of concentration, a dark silhouette suddenly appeared behind Kisuke and Ophis and plunged a dagger to his heart.


    "Kisuke!!!", screamed Issei and ran towards him, while the rest of his group also got ready to assist.


    However, Issei barely took several steps when ''Kisuke and Ophis'' popped like a balloon and they suddenly appeared behind the dark silhouette, "So you finally appeared. I was getting tired of waiting for you, you know?"


    "!!?" The dark silhouette, a Grim Reaper turned towards Kisuke in a hurry as he summoned his scythe to attack.


    Kisuke jumped back to dodge the attack, but that was what the Grim Reaper was aiming for, as he flew away as fast as possible. Based on the speed of his flight, it was obvious that he was an Ultimate ss Grim Reaper.


    "Bakudo no 61: Rikujoukourou (Six Rods of Light Prison)" But before he could escape for good, six beams of light suddenly mmed into his midsection, holding him in ce, "What''s the hurry? Pluto was it? Won''t you say anything about our reunion? Or, could it be that you were not expecting me to reappear again?"


    Pluto tried to break free but failed. He figured that it would require more time to break this spell forcefully so he focused on it, "How are you still alive?"


    Kisuke slowly walked towards him and answered, "Because I was able to deal with that poison~."


    Pluto felt agitated at his answer, "Impossible! That concoction was the result of a thousand years of research by my master using the most violent of the materials avable to him! It''s impossible for a mere Human like you to survive a poison that could have easily killed a God with a mere drop!"


    "Well, I''m fine with however you want to think of it, but enough about me. Would you mind telling me who else is in your little n?"


    Pluto looked at him with utter contempt, "Hah! You won''t be able to get anything from me! And if you think that you''ll be able to detain me with just this, then you''re too arrogant." After saying that, the six beams of light broke and Pluto was free again.


    However, Kisuke only sighed, "Figures��" A heavy and terrifying pressure then suddenly engulfed the area as he released his Reiatsu-Ki. It was to the point that the Satan-ss Devils and therge monster that they were fighting momentarily stopped battling to look towards his direction, "Then I don''t need you."


    With a swing of his de, a dark red almost ck covered Pluto''s entire body. Without letting him react, Kisuke reappeared in front of him and stabbed a part of the, "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi (Fire-ying Crimson Princess Beaded Mesh)"


    Small orbs then emerged from the ck and spread rapidly towards Pluto as Kisuke pulled out his de and took some distance. A secondter, arge explosion in the form of a massive fire pir urred, with Pluto in the middle of it, who was shouting in pain.


    The fire pir that engulfed Pluto was as tall as the monster wreaking havoc through the entire city. A few secondster, Pluto''s scream disappeared along with the pir, leaving only a magma-filled crater.


    Kisuke walked back to where everyone else was and said, "Now that the nuisance is no more, shall we continue?"


    The rest of the Hero Faction had some cold sweat crawling down their backs and Cao Cao audibly gulped when he thought, ''He''s clearly a technique type, yet he''s capable of suddenly pulling out an attackparable to Satan ss? This is going to be hard.''


    "Hey�� Does anyone recognize that Sacred Gear? Are you sure that it isn''t a Longinus?", asked Xenovia.


    "And what he used just now doesn''t seem to be magic�� It uses apletely different type of energy and system��", added Rossweisse as she tried to analyze the technique Kisuke used.

 Volume 9 529 - VS Hero Faction part 3

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 529 - VS Hero Faction part 3</h4>


    Instead of waiting aimlessly, everyone from the Gremory team, except for Asia who was still healing everyone from the Sitri team, went to assist the evacuation effort. Vali, on the other hand, stayed as he wanted to watch the fight, and maybe learn more about Kisuke.


    The three from the Hero Faction didn''t say anything else and simultaneously sent out attacks towards Kisuke. Jeannemanded her Dragon to use its breath attack, Georg used magic bombardment, and Cao Cao used his Chatsuka Ratana in an attempt to destroy his weapon.


    However, all of these were for naught, as Kisuke responded to them. Timing it to the moment when it had gathered all of the energy it would need, Kisuke used a throwing knife to hit a weak spot on Jeanne''s Dragon''s throat, which resulted in the gathered energy going wild, destroying the Dragon itself.


    In Georg''s case, Kisuke just sent bullets of Mana to certain parts of the magic circles, aborting their effects. This was possible because Georg kept using different systems of magic. It''s true that he was a genius and could learn almost all forms of magic with just a single nce. However, his finesse in each magic system was unsatisfactory, making the weak points of the magic circles obvious to Kisuke.


    In Kisuke''s opinion, he was just unting the fact that he was a genius at magic by using so many different things at once, ''He should just learn how to improve his magic instead and take more time in studying them. If he were to focus on one system, it''d be a lot less predictable, but if the way he uses it was right, it''d have more utility. Now I''m very sure that he''s the desk type of person and not a fighter.''


    Cao Cao''s Chatsuka Ratana, on the other hand, just shook Kisuke''s sword and didn''t do anything else.


    "What a monster��", muttered Cao Cao after witnessing all of this.


    "What should we do?", asked Georg.


    "Let''s stop holding back."


    Georg and Jeanne nodded at Cao Cao.


    Jeanne then suddenly pulled out a pistol-type syringe and pointed it to her neck, injecting its contents into herself.


    Kisuke became curious to what it was and waited for any changes on Jeanne. And a few secondster, her Dragon was summoned again, but this time, it was bigger and much stronger. However, Jeanne didn''t stop there and took out another pistol-type syringe and injected it again.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything as Jeanne''s Bnce Breaker, Stake Victim Dragon, improved with the doping and fused with her. After the fusion, Jeanne''s lower body became that of a giant snake body made out of Holy Swords.


    While watching this transformation, a purple mist started covering Kisuke and Ophis, locking them spatially. Kisuke observed it and figured that even though they could get out of it, it''d take a few seconds to break out of it, and in a fast-paced battle, many things could happen within those few seconds.


    Jeanne, at the same time, surrounded Kisuke and Ophis with her massive snake body and deployed a sea of Holy Swords towards them. Kisuke swung his sword around to destroy those Holy Swords, which were threatening to impale them, but they just kept growing endlessly.


    However, Cao Cao thought that it still wasn''t enough to keep him in ce and used one of his abilities, Kahabatei Ratana, to summon soldiers simr to Yuuto''s ability, Glory Drag Trooper.


    He summoned around a hundred of what he called de Knight Mass, and had them charge at Kisuke. Cao Cao already figured out that, if he didn''t want to let Kisuke do his strange illusion technique of getting hit, he had to keep him in ce.


    In addition to that, Cao Cao used Medusa''s eye to turn his legs to stone, slowing him down.


    After being covered and trapped in all directions, Cao Cao activated his strongest and most simple ability, Balinayaka Ratana. With a blinding light, Cao Cao''s ability orb pierced through everything and reached Kisuke and Ophis, before exploding into a white sphere.


    Unlike its usual ability to use the Light element in dealing damage, the spot Kisuke and Ophis were engulfed by a white sphere, 10 meters in diameter. It aimed to obliterate everything inside it, reducing its target into ashes.


    However, before they could even see a result, the white sphere suddenly started to pulsate, which wasn''t supposed to happen. A few secondster, the white sphere shrunk, before it burst outward, destroying Jeanne''s snake body and reducing the surroundings into a wastnd.


    Jeanne was already unconscious, so only Cao Cao and Georg could see the crater that the white sphere had created. In the middle of it were Kisuke and Ophis, with green pulsating hexagonal shields around them.


    Cao Cao gritted his teeth and cursed, "He''s virtually unscathed�� What the hell is he?"


    "What should we do?", asked Georg. After Kisuke disabled his magic, he''d been feeling very nervous and became scared of him. After all, he was the first one to have done something like that to him, and the only other person he thought could do the same was Ajuka Beelzebub.


    Cao Cao didn''t hesitate andmanded, "Let''s retreat. Retrieve those two."


    Georg then started working with his Dimension Lost to transport all of them away. Slowly, a purple mist surrounded each member of the Hero Faction. Seemingly ignoring this, Kisuke asked Cao Cao, "Hey~. Tell me about that eye."


    Since the Dimension Lost was already set, nothing else would be able to stop their escape, so Cao Cao answered truthfully, "I got this as a recement for the eye that the Sekiryuutei destroyed. It''s Medusa''s eye, and I got it for a hefty price. Though it was thanks to my connection that I was able to get it in the first ce."


    "I see," Kisuke muttered and a wide magic circle originating from him suddenly appeared at everyone''s feet.


    "��What''s this?", murmured Cao Cao in confusion.


    But straight away, Georg suddenly shouted, "Cao Cao! This is bad! The space around us was locked and I won''t be able to transport us right away!"


    "Wha��!? When did he��?!!?" But before they could figure out when Kisuke had set up such arge magic circle, Kisuke suddenly pointed towards Georg and muttered, "Bakudo no 63: Sajou Sabaku (Winding Binding Chains)."


    A golden chain then emerged from Kisuke fingertips and shot towards Georg. Georg attempted to dodge it but it was too fast for him. Cao Cao also intercepted it with his spear and cut it. However, from the cut, the chains branched out to many more chain links and continued to chase after Georg.


    Georg was able to put up some defensive magic, but Kisuke just repeatedly mmed him on the ground, creating multiple craters of various sizes all-around.


    Soon after, Georg''s magic failed and a few of his bones were broken, rendering him unable to move.


    Cao Cao tried to free Georg through all of that, but through Kisuke''s clever maniption of the chains, he wasn''t able to do anything aside from chasing after him.


    Releasing the chains, Kisuke then used sh Step to instantly appear in front of Cao Cao, "Did you really think that I would let you get away that easily?"


    Cao Cao immediately thrust his spear towards Kisuke and was able to sessfully impale him. However, the next instant, Kisuke and Ophis suddenly popped like a balloon, ''What!? Again!?"


    "You''ve been observing me too much, just showing you a lot of things at once confused you." Cao Cao heard Kisuke''s whisper from behind him just before he felt a heavy foot smashing him from behind,unching him towards the ground.


    Even so, Cao Cao thought that this was good, as he''d be able to get away for a moment, which would give him more time to think and n. But all of his next ns were broken when he suddenly felt a hand grabbing his neck. The next thing he knew, Kisuke and Ophis were already in front of him, catching him in midair.


    "By the way, I need this eye so I''ll be taking it." After saying so, Kisuke mercilessly dug out Medusa''s eye from his eye socket, which caused Cao Cao to scream from the immense pain, "AHHH!!!"

 Volume 9 530 - VS Hero Faction part 4

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 530 - VS Hero Faction part 4</h4>


    While he was enduring the pain, Cao Cao swung his spear towards his opponent as Kisuke decided to let him go. However, Kisuke already got what he wanted. Taking out a container, he put the eye inside and thought, ''If this is really Medusa''s eye, then I''ll be able to create a suitable body for her. That way, she won''t have to depend on her Mana Body any longer.''


    While holding his now empty eye socket, trying to keep his blood from flowing out, Cao Cao snarled at him while he was still on his knees, "You bastard��!!!"


    After putting the eye away, Kisuke only gave Cao Cao a smile, "Hey now, I understand that you''re furious, but please also keep in mind that this was not yours and I only intend to return it to its owner."


    "��Owner? Impossible! Medusa is an ancient monster that had already perished long ago!"


    "Whatever you say~."


    Feeling humiliated, Cao Cao decided to use his trump card, "O Spear. The true Holy Spear which pierces through God."


    "Suck the ambition of the King of Domination sleeping within me and pierce through the gap of blessing and destruction."


    "You. Announce the will, and turn into a glow." Finishing his chant, the Holy Spear in Cao Cao''s hand started to glow in golden light.


    At first, Kisuke intended to stop him, but strangely enough, he didn''t feel any threat from it so he took the gamble and waited for him to finish in order to figure out what''s going on.


    Truth Idea, also known as the Brightness of Supremacy, was a forbidden form exclusive to the True Longinus which was simr to the Juggernaut Drive of the Two Heavenly Dragons.


    However, instead of past processors of the True Longinus, the one who activated the Truth Idea was the ''Will of the God of the Bible''. Although it would also lead to the user going berserk, unlike the simple power-up that the Juggernaut Drive gave, Truth Idea''s effects depended on God''s will in the Holy Spear itself. It would absorb the wielder''s ambition and, by responding to how strong the opponent was, it would create many effects and miracles which would be different, depending on what the will chose, such as granting an absolute power to destroy the opponent or a blessing to the opponent to capture their hearts.


    But to Cao Cao''s surprise, the golden light receded and the Holy Spear didn''t do anything. Truth Idea didn''t activate, and it became neither of the only two possible scenarios. The spear didn''t absorb Cao Cao''s will, nor did it give its blessing to Kisuke, "W-what is this!? It doesn''t know what to do!? How is that possible!?"


    An unexpected result for Cao Cao, but also an understandable one if he knew the real reason. Although Kisuke was born in this world, he did not originate from it. The miracle of the God of the Bible was only limited to his knowledge, and for someone like Kisuke, as a ''will'' that only remained, it didn''t know what ''miracle'' it should give to Cao Cao to defeat him.


    "Although it failed, that move sure is threatening. I only took the gamble on letting you finish it because I couldn''t feel any threat from it. I guess I''m lucky?", muttered Kisuke.


    Nheless, Cao Cao couldn''t respond to him as he kept staring at his spear and repeatedly asked, ''Why?'' If the spear had chosen to give its blessing to Kisuke, he could have epted it as him not being worthy of the spear, but as someone who liked to figure out anything, it opened arge void in Cao Cao''s mind.


    Georg had already woken up from his short slumber, and despite his injuries, he tried his best to use Dimension Lost to escape with everyone.


    ''Hmm�� Now then, what should I do with them? For starters, let''s capture them.'', thought Kisuke as he took a step forward towards Cao Cao, except, he couldn''t take the second step because he intercepted a long staff with his de.


    Kisuke then looked towards a small old man wearing a monk''s cassock and shades with a cyber design while smoking a pipe with his free hand, "To whom do I owe the pleasure?"


    Vali, who had been watching everything unfold, muttered, "First Generation��"


    "Kid, let this old man be in debt to you and let go of these troublesome brats.", said Sun Wukong.


    Kisuke did an initial observation of the old man and roughly figured out how strong he was, ''Fighting him would be more troublesome than letting these guys go. I already got something out of them, so I don''t really care anymore. Also, having this old man in debt to me may prove useful in the future.''


    Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders and took a step back.


    Blowing out smoke from his mouth, Sun Wukong tapped the ground with his staff and the Dimension Lost''s effect strengthened. A few secondster, Cao Cao, Georg, Jeanne and Hercules disappeared.


    "Are you fine with that?", asked Vali towards Kisuke.


    But instead of answering him, Kisuke smiled at Sun Wukong and said, "You owe me one, First Generation-san~."


    "Just go easy on these old bones. I won''t do anything unreasonable." Sun Wukong chuckled at the swift resolution of the situation, "If you''re worried that they''ll just get away with nothing, be not. They''ll receive an appropriate one after this mess."


    "Then I assume Sakra will be the one meting out the punishment?", asked Vali.


    "You could say that," replied Sun Wukong. He looked towards Kisuke and then to Ophis, "But what a surprise, this is the first time I''ve seen the Dragon God so close with someone. Makes me d I got these old eyes to witness it."


    Kisuke grinned, "It''s nothing special. I just got a new resident~."


    It was then followed by Ophis'' words, "I''m going home, monkey."


    Behind Sun Wukong''s shades, his eyes widened as he startedughing out loud, "Fuhahaha~! Isn''t that nice? I guess I should give you some congrattory gifts. However, I don''t think that He would be too happy with this development."


    "Sakra, is it?", wondered Kisuke.


    "Indra." Sun Wukong then started walking away, "Be careful around him, boy. You''re such a promisingd. It would be a shame if he decided to crush you."


    To his leaving back, Kisuke replied, "Now that''s scary~. I''ll avoid him like gue then~."


    "Well, if it''s someone as unconventional as you, then you''ll be fine." Sun Wukong then teleported away.


    After he disappeared, Kisuke turned to Vali and asked, "So? Who''s that old guy?"


    Vali''s mouth twitched at his question, ''You talked to him like you knew each other for years yet you don''t actually know him?'' Vali then shook his head and answered, "The First Generation Monkey King. Also known as The Great Victorious Fighting Buddha. He''s a God that is currently working under Indra, one of the current leaders of the Hindu Mythology Faction and also one of the most powerful beings in the world."


    "Is that so? Well, if he doesn''t pick a fight, that''s fine."


    Soon after, the evacuation of the citizens of the Underworld Capital, Lilith, waspleted and the Gremory team along with Sakura and Cleria returned to Kisuke and Vali.


    "Where''s Cao Cao and the rest of the Hero Faction?", asked Issei, intending to help Kisuke to deal with them.


    Vali pointed at Kisuke and answered with a smile, "This guy sent them crying. I don''t think that they''ll be messing with him in the near future." Remembering what happened earlier, it made Vali want to fight Kisuke. But then again, he recalled the trouble after fighting himst time and he thought that the trade wouldn''t be fair.


    "N-no way�� Seriously? Him alone? Who is he? He''s not some faction leader, right? But even then, only leaders of big factions can face them.", murmured Rossweisse.


    Scratching his head, Kisuke replied, "Iya~. They were truly a strong bunch~. I had to use so many of my tricks to fend them off."


    ''If they were strong for you, then why do you look virtually the same as when you came earlier!? You even had Ophis on your shoulders this entire time!'', was what everyone retorted in their mind, but they didn''t dare to voice this out. However, thanks to Kisuke, a little bit of pride they had for being known as the strongest amongst the young Devils disappeared.


    But instead of them, the one who retorted to Kisuke''s words was Ophis, "But I am stronger."


    Kisuke chuckled and said, "Yes, yes, you''re stronger than them, alright? After all, no matter how much I moved, you didn''t fall off."


    "Do it again," demanded Ophis.


    ============================


    ============================


    ============================


    Editors:


    28th00: Medusa-chan is getting a physical body again! Good for her, she truly deserves it. I bet Kisuke can get her sisters some bodies after working off Medusa''s dna for them too. Phis-chama demands you go faster! Sun Wukong absolutely put it together that Ophis gained a home, and he''s pretty happy about that too! He''s strong and old enough to actually know how Ophis thinks and sees the world, so he''d get the significance of that tidbit being incredibly important. But seriously, give her that ride Mr. Hat, she has your hat hostage!


    Alexander: ''Absolute confidence while knowing nothing'', would be a free trantion of a german saying that I thought of while reading about his conversation with Old Sun.

 Volume 9 531 - Strange Sudden Changes

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 531 - Strange Sudden Changes</h4>


    Although the problem with the Hero Faction was somewhat solved, the biggest and strongest monster that Shalba had summoned with the Annihtion Maker was still making progress towards the center of the capital.


    Despite Grayfia and herrade''s best efforts, they couldn''t deal any substantial damage to it as it would immediately regenerate itself from any damage. Due to this, they could only slow down its advance for a few seconds each time they attacked.


    However, not everything was bad news. Ajuka was able to devise a magic attack that would be effective towards the other twelve 100-meter tall monsters, whom they named Bandersnatch, that were wreaking havoc in different parts of the Underworld.


    Soon after, with the assistance of many allied Factions, each and every Bandersnatch in the Underworld was defeated, and the only remaining threat was the 200-meter tall monster that Sirzechs Lucifer''s peerage was dealing with.


    "Kisuke, can you do something about that?", asked Sakura. She didn''t really want to ask her son, but it was also hard for her to watch innocent people getting caught up in this tragedy.


    But instead of answering her, Kisuke asked, "Shouldn''t the leaders of the big Factions be able to deal with that thing? From what I saw from above, different factions were assisting the Devils in this crisis so I assumed that the Alliance expanded. Why aren''t there any leaders?"


    "It is because of Cao Cao and his Holy Spear''s existence.", answered Rias, "That spear is a threat to every Faction leader and capable of instantly killing a God. It''s a weapon made to kill Gods, after all."


    "Many Factions stopped their leaders, who have the power to deal with that monster from going out, due to the risk presented by the Holy Spear. If any of the Faction leaders were to be killed, the bnce between the Alliance may crumble and it could start an even bigger problem."


    "However, that doesn''t mean that none of the leaders made a move. Two of these examples are Yasaka, the leader of the Youkai Faction in Kyoto, and Serafall-sama, who went out all by herself to deal with a Bandersnatch despite the opposition."


    "Whew~. Levia-tan is such a gutsy littledy~. I greatly approve~!",mented Kisuke. He then continued, "Then I assume that Sirzechs-sama is on the same ''predicament''?"


    Rias shook her head, "Not at all. My broth�� Ehem, Devil King Lucifer went to the Realm of the Dead with Azazel-sensei to keep Hades in check. They predicted that he''d make a move in this crisis, so they went there to keep him in ce."


    "The Realm of the Dead, eh? Do any of you know how to go there?", asked Kisuke.


    "Do you want to go there? Why?", asked Sakura in concern.


    "I just want to give a visit to the exalted Lord of the Dead and maybe give his skull a few cracks while I''m at it.", answered Kisuke with a big smile.


    Sakura understood that something was going on between him and Hades, but she knew that she couldn''t ask now, so she went quiet. Instead, Rias reacted to his words, "You''re going there!? But Lucifer-sama and Azazel-sensei are already there to deal with the situation!"


    Kisuke then corrected her, "I''m not going there because I want to solve the situation. I''m going there because I want to mess with him. And if that may not look good��" With a big grin, Kisuke continued, "Please remember, in the eyes of others, I''m technically a terrorist. Why should I hold back when I want to mess with someone?"


    Rias, along with the rest of the Gremory team and Vali, even those who didn''t know him personally, shuddered at his incredibly cold grin and thought that the Alliance may have branded the worst person possible to be a terrorist.


    "But first, since mom doesn''t like that thing, let me find a way to deal with that." Kisuke then turned to Sakura, "Sorry mom, but I have to take her back now."


    Sakura instantly understood that he was talking about the giant marite''s arm which was the Sacred Gear that Kisuke gave her, "Go ahead."


    After Sakura muttered those words, the blood-red gem on Sakura''s ne shone and separated from the rest of the ne, before it went straight towards Kisuke''s sword, melting into it.


    Curious, everyone silently watched what was going on.


    Kisuke confirmed that Benihime''s spirit was sessfully returned to its rightful ce and greeted her in his mind, ''Been a while~. Hope you''re doing good.''


    ''Right, it has been a while, and I very much want to cut you up for beingte.'', answered Benihime with a smallugh, ''But since you did a good job on my ''body'', I''ll forgive you~.''


    ''I''m very grateful for the princess''s forgiveness~.''


    ''Nheless, I''m very curious about where you have gone. I suddenly lost my connection to you, and in all honesty, I got quite nervous there.''


    ''I''ll tell you all about itter. And I''m also curious about your experience with mom. But for now, let''s deal with this thing.''


    Kisuke and Benihime then synchronized for the first time in a long time, and neither of them didn''t expect what happened next.


    The moment they aligned their energies, the dormant Hougyoku suddenly had a huge reaction, ''!?''


    Within Kisuke''s soul body, the purple gem suddenly glowed fiercely, before it started to disintegrate. However, it didn''t disappear, but instead, it slowly fused with his soul body, physical body and Zanpakuto.


    Immediately after, Kisuke felt the effect of this phenomenon. First of all, the existing ''bridge'' that connected his body and soul became morepact, heavy and wide, to the point that it was almost impossible to separate his physical body with his soul body anymore. If he were to try it anyway, there would be a myriad of problems that would pop up for both bodies.


    But on the plus side, his body became ''one'', and it became a lot stronger. Not stronger in the sense of power, but in the sense of more capacity.


    However, the second effect was the more terrifying one, as it suddenly doubled the amount of Reiatsu-Ki he had, putting him almost at the same level as Aizen''s raw Reiatsu. But it didn''t stop there, as his Reiatsu-Ki kept inting, even after the initial expansion.


    This may have looked good, but for Kisuke, this was very bad. His body may have arger and better capacity, but he couldn''t take the sudden increase and he would also soon reach the limit of his control. So in response, Kisuke immediately sealed any further increase of his Reiatsu-Ki, in fear that he may just explode.


    The feeling of bloatedness was still there, but Kisuke felt a lot better after sealing the ever-increasing Reiatsu-Ki.


    If the second is the most dangerous one, the third andst effect was the most unexpected, because he felt his ''Human'' body had changed. Or maybe not, as the feeling was closer to Kisuke getting something he lost back.


    As he tried to keep his Reiatsu-Ki in check, some of his Mana suddenly changed and became Demonic Power. Along with it came the appearance of bat-like wings behind him.


    His Devil lineage was returned to him.


    ==================================


    ==================================


    ==================================


    Editors:


    28th00: Oh dear, he got Worthless. The most technical and terrifying ability of any devil lineage he could possibly attain�� It works directly off understanding of your opponents abilities, and the ability to TURN THEM OFF. Oh dear. Also, YOU ABSOLUTELY PULLED AN AIZEN! GAH! Reminds me of other technical fighters that got a major power upgrade and lost their strongest ability, their control. Phis-chama is gonna get her damn ride, or the Underworld shall know the fear of timeout!


    Alexander: It just urred to me now, while reading about Kisuke''s uing visit at Hades ce, but wasn''t there a cute grim reaper in the canon? As far as I remember, she would have joined Sona''s peerage, after receiving her devil''s whisper, because she was a fan of the Sekiryuutei and hated Hades'' and Pluto''s (her "sh*tty father") way of doing things. What if she bes charmed by the mysterious Mr. Hat this time?


    28th00: Bennia Orcus? She''s great. I think she doesn''t wear panties too.


    28th00: She won''t have any relevance since she was basically retconned outta existence, along with the werewolf guy. Sona isn''t here to recruit them after all. She''s been gone for too long, I think? Wait, she could appear, since Vol 14 is when she''s here and it''s Vol�� 11(?) right now.


    Alexander: Forgetting her would be a shame. Besides, she could enlighten Kisuke and Yoruichi about a few things in the realm of the dead. After all, I don''t think that they know too much about the grim reaper''s life and culture in this universe.


    28th00: True, she''s also Issei''s fan. Would definitely spill all the beans. That''s something to think aboutter though, cause we''re not staying here long. Back to Bestia! She''s gonna have to take care of Phis-chama�� Can gods get grey hairs?

 Volume 9 532 - Final Release

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 532 - Final Release</h4>


    Everyone around Kisuke watched him suddenly stop. "What''s wrong?", asked Sakura.


    However, Kisuke didn''t answer. Instead, he did some weird gestures on both of his wrists, as if he was tightening something. But a few secondster, something unbelievable happened, as a pair of Devil wings suddenly sprouted behind him.


    Everyone''s eyes shot wide open when they saw this, but before they could ask anything, a second pair sprouted, then a third and finally a fourth.


    "A-a noble!?", eximed a shocked Rias.


    Except for Sakura and Cleria, everyone thought that he was a reincarnated Devil and just hid it. However, they didn''t expect that Kisuke would suddenly sprout a total of eight wings, signifying that he had a very prominent noble Devil Bloodline, at least half.


    Of course, even Sakura and Cleria were shocked. The former had already told thetter about the strange event where Kisuke''s Devil Bloodline had been reduced to almost nonexistent, and they were shocked to see it manifesting right now. "K-Kisuke?", stuttered Sakura as she slowly approached him.


    At that moment, Kisuke heaved a sigh of relief. He''d just finished putting his ever-growing Reiatsu-Ki under control. He then turned to Sakura because he''d heard her call, "Yeah?" It was then that his consciousness spread back to the surroundings and noticed something weird behind him, "Hmm?"


    Kisuke''s eye''s widened slightly when he saw the four pairs of Devil wings behind him, but he instantly understood what happened, "Hooh? This is pretty cool~," muttered Kisuke while inspecting the wings.


    "K-Kisuke�� How do you feel?", inquired his flustered mom.


    After inspecting his body in greater detail, Kisuke answered, "Aside from feeling a little bit bloated and some knowledge about a certain magic, everything is fine."


    Kisuke still didn''t know if the Hougyoku disappeared for good, but he highly doubted it. He would only be able to figure that out once he could do aplete scan on himself. And since the Hougyoku released his Devil Bloodline that it''d hid ording to Benihime, the nature of his Mana changed into that of Demonic Power.


    But not just that, since Devils naturally had Demonic Power, unlike Humans that needed to gather Mana from their surroundings, the Demonic Power intertwined with his Reiatsu-Ki and somehow connected with it. In addition, along with the change, a certain type of magic entered his mind.


    "Don''t use it!", instructed Sakura hastily.


    Kisuke nodded at her because by using it, it would reveal the crest of the Belial n, and even if he could hide it, he wouldn''t be able to hide its effects. Being such a unique magic, it was impossible that no one would recognize it among the upper echelons of the Underworld. They didn''t want to reveal to others their connection to the Belial just yet.


    "Well then, I''m off. Vali-san, I''ll ask you to lead me to the Underworldter." Kisuke then, with the use of his wings, flew off, ''Wow, this is a new feeling~.'' All this time, for him to fight airborne enemies, he had to create footholds to stay up.


    ''Benihime, how about you? What changed?'' Kisuke purposely slowed down to ask his Zanpakuto.


    But Benihime only chuckled, ''You''ll have to use me if you want to find out~. Also, you''ll have to thank your little friend for helping me out~.'' However, her slight excitement was obvious for Kisuke.


    ''Hmm? Ophis? Fine. But before that, let''s take a look at this monster.'' Kisuke sped up his flight speed and reached the group fighting the monster, "Please allow me to assist~."


    Grayfia already felt himing closer but she couldn''t help but be surprised when she saw the four pairs of wings behind him, "��You''re a Devil?" Grayfia was even more taken aback when she saw a little girl casually riding his shoulders, "��And Ophis?"


    "Is that important right now?"


    Grayfia furrowed her brows. "Actually, yes.", she replied, but she also knew that this wasn''t the right situation, and she also couldn''t feel any hostility from the Dragon God, "You said you wanted to assist, but what can you do? As you may have noticed, none of our attacks could kill this monster, and all we can do is stall it until Beelzebub-sama finds a way to negate its abilities."


    "Let me try a few things first." Kisuke then turned towards the other Devils who were fighting it, "Excuse me~! I''m going to cut it up!"


    Without waiting for anyone''s reply, Kisuke gathered his Reiatsu-Ki and muttered while swinging Benihime, "Kamisori, Benihime!"


    With a whistling sound, a crimson sh instantly went through the 200-meter tall monster, splitting it from head to crotch, and created a deep crevice on the ground where it was standing.


    The monster that Issei and his team failed to do anything beyond damaging its skin, was instantly cut in half.


    "Hey now, where did thisde from?" A man in histe twenties appeared beside Grayfia. He wore the traditional Shinsengumi uniform, which consisted of a haori and a hakama over a kimono, with a white cord called a tasuki crossed over the chest and tied in the back, "With that kind of power,parable to Ultimate or Satan ss, why don''t I recognize him? And is that the Infinite Dragon? Why is she riding his shoulders? I''m already old, but this is the first time I saw such a powerful being riding on anyone''s shoulders."


    "Souji-san�� He''s Kisuke Urahara.", answered Grayfia, but she ignored the question regarding Ophis.


    Souji''s eyes widened a little bit, "Oh? You mean that wanted man? He''s this powerful? Then the bounty on him is very cheap."


    Grayfia gritted her teeth, "No one knew that he was this powerful�� Until recently, he was living a normal life as a Human. I still wonder how he managed to amass that kind of strength and still go around unnoticed. This is clearly ridiculous."


    Souji saw Grayfia''s reaction and said, "So you already investigated him�� And found out everything you gathered is wrong. Well, it''s okay to be frustrated." Souji then turned his attention back to Kisuke, who seemed to be preparing another attack towards the already regenerating monster.


    "Nake, Benihime!" Kisuke swung his sword again and instead of a cutting wave, a st of crimson energy exploded on the tentacles that were connecting the two halves that were trying to regenerate, interrupting its regeneration for a short moment.


    He wanted to use a Kidou, but he didn''t know what it''d result in now that his Reiatsu-Ki was intertwined with his Demonic Power. At least with his Zanpakuto, he would be sure that nothing would go wrong.


    He then flew towards the monster as fast as he could and grabbed a piece of flesh that exploded out of the monster before retreating back.


    Soon after, the monster was able to regenerate and was back to its full health, resuming the destruction on its path.


    Grayfia''srades, including Souji Okita, then resumed attacking the monster in hopes to stall it from going further.


    "How is it?", asked Grafia.


    "Well, the simplest way to kill that thing is to vaporize it in one go," answered Kisuke as he observed the pulsing ck flesh in his hand.


    Grayfia sighed. Although she didn''t really like Kisuke, she still hoped that he would be able to do something. She was about to rejoin the battle when Kisuke suddenly murmured, "The ''simple'' method is too tiring, and it may destroy the whole city along with it, so let''s go with my method."


    Grayfia abruptly stopped. From his words, she understood one thing, ''Is he saying that he has a way to vaporize that monster, but he''s not doing it because it''s too tiring and it may destroy the city!? How!?'' The only people she knew who could do it were some old and ancient leaders of big mythology factions, and her husband with his Power of Destruction, ''Wait�� He has Ophis with him�� Maybe he was referring to her when he hinted he can destroy that thing through pure firepower.''


    Grayfia got her bearings back and asked, "Your method? Are you going to do it now?"


    "Yep~." Kisuke''s de returned to its former form of a de hidden in a cane.


    "What should we do?"


    "Please stay away for a moment."


    Grayfia thought for a moment before nodding. She then signaled the others to temporarily retreat.


    With the monster free, it started even more wreaking havoc.


    Kisuke breathed in deeply and smiled wildly, "Bankai!"


    ====================


    ====================


    ====================


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, the casual flex of Phis-chama''s shoulder ride~! I love how everyone is going "Wait, what?" at that. I agree, his bounty is FAR TOO LOW, even for a framejob! The personal carrier for Phis-chama deserves a far higher bounty than whatever it was previously! Time for some Bankai, reality was never prepared for this, especially after Phis-chama decided to somehow buff it even more. One thing is certain, she''s gonna get her show now~!!


    Alexander: That Grayfia, she still continues to underestimate him. Though I think that she does so to protect her sanity points.

 Volume 9 533 - End of The Crisis

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 533 - End of The Crisis</h4>


    Pointing his de forward, Kisuke pooled the Reiatsu-Ki inside him and muttered, "Bankai!"


    As strong winds swirled around Kisuke, a towering and oppressive pressure expanded from him to arge portion of the capital city, Lilith.


    Everyone who felt it, be it Devils, Fallen Angels, Angels, or members of some other factions, along with the smaller monsters, momentarily stopped fighting due to the looming threat of this pressure.


    Everyone immediately turned their heads towards the source of the pressure, and those who were watching from the start could only stare at Kisuke speechlessly, as a giant woman''s upper body slowly emerged from his erged shadow.


    "Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame (Modification of the Crimson Princess'' Dissection at the Doors of Avalokite?vara)" Kisuke, on the other hand, was also shocked at Benihime''s appearance. Instead of the usual marite form in her ''final release'', she now has what seemed to be a ''real'' body of flesh. Furthermore, he could actually feel some of Ophis aura from her.


    But more than any of that, he was shocked that some of the limitations on his abilities decreased.


    Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame has the ability to restructure anything it touches for both offensive and supportive purposes. Offensively, it can split open whatever is within its area of effect as if cutting with a knife. This ''splitting'' is simr to the act of dissecting something by cutting it open. Supportively, it can restructure something by stitching it back together; this can be used as a form of healing, such as when Kisuke restored his eyes using this power.


    It also can be used as a way to bring something to an optimal working state by enhancing it, which Kisuke used to overpower Askin Nakk Le Vaar by restructuring his arm to have greater strength. All uses of this are manifested in the form of cutting said objects into parts and then using stitches to sew the pieces back together. With it, Kisuke can also create a path for others to move through obstacles or barriers.


    But as strong as these effects are, Kisuke first has to have a certain amount of understanding of his target before he could even make a ''cut''. In addition to that, the range of which he can apply his ability is only around 15 meters.


    And finally, all of the ''restructures'' he made would only be effective as long as his Bankai is active.


    However, that is where the surprising changes lie. First, the range of his ability doubled and second, the effects would be active for some time, even after he deactivated his Bankai. The effects would be even longer, or even semi-permanent if the modifications were done to himself.


    ''I see�� Benihime''s Bankai abilities are derived from the many forms of ''Avalokite?vara'' and thanks to Ophis'' ''Infinite'', the ''changes'' became even broader.'' Kisuke thought.


    ''Correct. And not just that, I''m finally able to take full advantage of your Reiatsu-Ki, which gave me a ''true'' body.'' Benihime replied.


    ''That might be because your vessel now has a proper physical form, which is the artificial Sacred Gear. But even then, I didn''t expect it to this extent, so the rest is probably thanks to the Hougyoku ''solidifying'' and ''unifying'' everything just now. Now my question is, will you also be able to manifest like Zaraki''s ''Yachiru''?''


    ''Hmm. Probably. I''ll try that outter~.''


    ''Just please don''t cut everything that you see once you do that��''


    ''I''ll think about it~.''


    Kisuke sighed at his trigger-happy Zanpakuto and started thinking of ways to keep her busy, so that she wouldn''t just suddenly go dissect anyone.


    Kisuke then suddenly noticed Ophis move as she jumped onto Benihime''s head while cheering, "Go, go!"


    Cold sweat began to appear on Kisuke''s back as he witnessed this, but he sighed in relief once he heard Benihime say that it was fine. But she added that only Ophis was fine and that anyone else who did the same would be cut to pieces.


    Turning his attention back to the monster who was also staring at him, Kisuke did the calctions ording to the data he''d gathered from earlier and activated Benihime''s ability. Within a split second, arge cut from the monster''s head to crotch appeared. And soon after, it was stitched back up.


    To everyone else''s perspective, a cut suddenly appeared and was closed by stitches in an instant, as if a giant invisible doctor suddenly performed a lightning-fast operation on the monster.


    The monster still moved and destroyed everything around it, but Kisuke deactivated his Bankai and turned around, intending to leave. Ophis also jumped back onto his shoulders, feeling satisfied.


    Grayfia saw this and despite her shock of witnessing the spectacle from earlier, she asked, "What did you do? Where are you going?"


    Kisuke confirmed that his stitches were still present and smiled before answering, "I''m done with that monster."


    "��What?" Grayfia could only mutter nkly as she watched Kisuke fly off into the direction where Rias and her group were.


    The only visible change that they saw with the monster is the stitches that Kisuke apparently did. And since it was still wreaking havoc, Grayfia and the rest of Sirzechs'' Peerage got ready to engage again.


    But as they were about to jump in, the monster suddenly stopped moving and started to screech in pain. A secondter, its skin started bubbling, before it started increasing in size as if something inside of it was expanding it.


    "What''s going on!?" One of them shouted.


    "I don''t know! But get ready to defend!" Souji answered.


    After a few more seconds, the monster''s bubbling skin expanded even more and now looks like a giant blob.


    "Something''sing! Put up defensive magic!" Grayfia shouted to everyone.


    And in another few seconds, the monster couldn''t take it anymore. It stopped moving entirely and solidified on the spot before it started crumbling into pieces. Those pieces then disintegrated and disappeared among the wind.


    A minuteter, the monster dubbed as the Jabberwocky and spread terror throughout the whole Underworld was no more, killed through unknown means.


    Souji arrived beside Grayfia along with the other members of Sirzechs'' Peerage and asked her with furrowed brows, "��What was that?"


    Grayfia stared at the remains of the monster that was slowly disappearing for a good few moments before shaking her head, "��I don''t know."


    Sighing, Souji added, "Depending on what kind of ability that was, then there''s a chance that he''s on the same level as the Devil Kings��"


    Grayfia wanted to refute this, but after watching that, she couldn''t. She then took a peek at Kisuke and Ophis who had alreadynded beside the young Devils and some unknown people. Shaking her head, she first prioritized their mission, "Let''s save that forter. We should clean up the remaining monsters that are still lurking around and immediately start the reconstruction of the capital. Besides, I doubt he''ll tell us anything."


    Souji and the others nodded before separating into different directions. Grayfia took another peek at Kisuke, before going in another direction while thinking, ''We might just have made a very strong enemy.''


    A few kilometers away from the capital, Sun Wukong was smoking his pipe after he saw how the monster was defeated, "Kannon, eh? So it''s the Avalokite?vara�� Now that someone who could be the ''Padmapani'' has appeared, I wonder how the ''Vajrapani'' would react? Either way, he''s going to work my ass off��" The Monkey Kingmented at the uing work, "Regardless, it won''t be easy."


    Sun Wukong then disappeared from his spot.


    ======================


    ======================


    ======================


    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama''s wild ride has received a "Go, Go!" review. Benihime approves of Dragon Loli, even as a�� Mayadere? Yandere? Whichever she is, she obviously knows Phis-chama deserves all the rides. I have incredibly little knowledge of buddhist culture, and the bodhisattva''s themselves, but Kisuke''s connection to Compassion and Mercy, through his Bankai, gives him the ability/authority/conceptual weight to im the apparently vacant seat? I never noticed his Bankai was Merciful Compassion, amazingly. I should''ve noticed, what with the LITERAL NAME. Wait, is Benihime a stealth harem member filling the ''crazy girl'' slot!? HAVE I BEEN DUPED!?

 Volume 9 534 - To the Netherworld

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 534 - To the Netherworld</h4>


    Kisuke and Ophisnded beside Sakura and Cleria and said with a big smile, "And that''s taken care of ~," while the giant monster behind him crumbled into nothingness.


    "W-what did you do?" Sakura asked while watching the crumbling monster.


    "I can''t go into detail, all I can say is that I removed the limitation of its regeneration ability," replied Kisuke.


    Sakura didn''t know how he did it, but she could guess the effect it would have on the monster once he had done that, "I see�� By removing its limitation, it wouldn''t stop regenerating even if it doesn''t need to. At some point, the regeneration ability would fail and the body would copse on its own."


    "Correct. It was a lot easier to do that, rather than destroying itpletely," added Kisuke. He then turned to the still stunned Vali, "Shall we go?"


    Vali was startled but immediately got hold of himself, "Ah�� Right�� Let''s go."


    Mechanically turning around, he created a magic circle that would teleport them to the Realm of the Dead with a nk face.


    Kisuke turned back to his mother and said, "I''ll be going to the ce you''re staying atter. Please wait for my return."


    Even though Sakura didn''t want him to go through with his ns of visiting Hades'' Realm, she didn''t try to stop him because it seemed Kisuke was hellbent on giving the God of Death a visit, "Be careful," the only thing thatforted her is that her son was a lot stronger than expected. Nevertheless, it''s impossible for her not to worry.


    As Vali, Kisuke and Ophis teleported away, Everyone from the Gremory team finally recovered from being stunned, "W-what was that!?" Issei shouted.


    "I-I don''t know��" Rias turned towards Sakura, but she, along with the other robed and masked person, already disappeared, "��What? Since when?" She wanted to ask Sakura, Kisuke''s mother, what was that ability that killed the monster.


    Without much choice, she turned towards herpanion and asked, "Do any of you have any idea on what that was?"


    "N-no idea�� I didn''t understand what he''d done from the start," answered Xenovia.


    "His strange form earlier�� It''s probably not his Bnce Breaker." Yuuto muttered for everyone to hear.


    "Right. That''s what I thought too. That sudden cut and stitches were most probably his unique ability, and the possibility is that ''Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame'' is his Bnce Breaker. However, I''ve never heard of such an ability before. But due to its strength, this ''Benihime'' is probably a newly emerged Longinus." Rossweisse added after analyzing all the clues in hand.


    ''But Kannon? Isn''t that the Japanese name of the Padmapani? That Sacred Gear is rted to the Hindu Faction?'' Rossweisse thought but she didn''t voice this out as there was no concrete evidence that confirmed this, ''It might just be a coincidence.''


    Rias sighed, "Let''s stop talking about this. This is going nowhere. Let''s just hope that Akeno and Irina-san are really safe."


    "Right!" Xenovia reacted, "Where can we find them!?"


    "Calm down. I don''t think he''s going to hurt Akeno who''d worked for him in the past, and Irina-san who''s his childhood friend. Kisuke Urahara will probably contact uster regarding them. Let''s just wait for the good news." answered Rias.


    .


    .


    .


    The moment Vali, Kisuke, and Ophis appeared in the Realm of the Dead, they immediately saw the corpses of Grim Reapers strewn around on the wastnd. From afar, they could hear explosions, screams of pain and the roars of a beast.


    With Ophis back on Kisuke''s shoulders, they followed Vali, who flew towards the direction of the chaotic battle sounds.


    A minuteter, after getting out of dested mountains and crevices, they found a veryrge castle that didn''t match the wastnd that surrounds it. Outside of it are Bikou, Le Fay, Arthur and Fenrir wreaking havoc and killing Grim Reapers one after another.


    Immediately noticing their arrival, all of them pushed back the Grim Reapers and made a space for them, "Hey, Vali!�� And Ophis? Who''s that guy she''s riding on?" Bikou waved his hands at them.


    "Bikou-sama, you already forgot him? You already met him once," added Le Fay.


    "Hmmm?" Bikou stared harder at Kisuke, "Wait�� He''s indeed familiar��" But once they got closer, Bikou''s eyes widened, "Ah!!! It''s Kuroka''s kidnapper!"


    "Bikou-sama!" Le Fay shouted at him.


    Kisuke, Ophis and Valinded beside them and Le Fay immediately introduced herself, "It''s nice to meet you, Kisuke-sama. I''m Le Fay Pendragon, a part of Vali-sama''s team." She then pointed towards Bikou and Arthur, "I''m sure you already know him, but he''s Bikou-sama and that is my brother, Arthur Pendragon, also part of Vali-sama''s team."


    After that, she pointed towards the giant wolf that was keeping the Grim Reapers at bay, "And that over there is Fenrir-chan~."


    Kisuke smiled, "Nice to meet you too. I''m Kisuke Urahara, a candy store owner~."


    ''Just that!?'' Vali, Bikou, and Arthur thought. However, Le Fay didn''t break her character and just chuckled, "It''s really nice to finally meet the legendary candy store owner! I wanted to ask how Kuroka-sama is doing, but this isn''t really the ce nor the situation for that. If you could, please tell me about herter~."


    "You can rest assured that she''s fine. I''ll tell you more about itter."


    "That''s great to hear~! But what might be your business in this ce?"


    "Oh right. I''m here to crack an old skull."


    Le Fay tilted her head to the side in confusion and asked, "Crack an old skull? What do you mean?"


    Chuckling, Kisuke winked at Le Fay, "It''s exactly as it sounds~." Facing Vali, Kisuke continued, "Vali-san, please lead the way."


    Vali sighed and pointed towards the entrance of the castle, "Just go through the entrance. I won''t be able to enter with you because a certain guy guards it, and he doesn''t like seeing me."


    "Hmm�� Is that so? I guess that''s fine. Let''s go, Ophis-chan!"


    Ophis raised her arm and shouted softly, "Ohh!" The two of them then started making their way through the heaps of corpses towards the entrance of the castle.


    While watching them leave, Le Fay asked Vali, "What did he mean by cracking an old skull, Vali-sama?"


    Vali smiled wryly and answered, "He meant to crack Hades'' skull."


    Le Fay, Bikou and Arthur were dumbfounded, "Y-You''re joking, right?" asked Bikou.


    "No. I think it''s possible. After all, he''s the guy that thrashed the Hero Faction, including Cao Cao, all by himself without much effort."


    "��Seriously?"


    "I''ve recorded their fight so that I can study his moves. We can all watch itter, but for now��" Vali looked towards the charging Grim Reapers, "Let''s destroy as many things as possible in this ce."


    .


    .


    Kisuke and Ophis reached the castle doors and blocking it was a young man with short ck hair and pale grey eyes. He was wearing a ckbat suit, as well as a ck coat, and beside him was arge ck dog.


    "Stop!" The young man blocked Kisuke''s way, and the ck dog beside him stood up and growled at him, "Wait�� Is that the Dragon God? What are you doing here?"


    "Crack some skull," replied Ophis.


    "What?" The young man asked.


    However, before he could make heads or tails of the situation, Kisuke and Ophis suddenly disappeared in front of him and he suddenly felt their presence behind him, ''Fast!''


    The young man and the ck dog hurriedly turned around and saw Kisuke and Ophis'' retreating back, "Jin! Catch them!"


    The ck dog pouched with lightning speed towards Kisuke and Ophis at themand of his master. But the moment its pawsnded on them, they popped like a balloon with their auraspletely disappearing from their radar.


    "What was that?" The young man furrowed his brows. A few secondster, he decided to contact his boss, Azazel, who was currently watching Hades along with two other people, to report the strange incident.

 Volume 9 535 - VS Hades

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 535 - VS Hades</h4>


    Sirzechs and Azazel, along with their ''bodyguard'' Dulio Gesualdo, Michael''s ''Joker'', went to the Realm of the Dead to keep Hades in check while the Underworld was under attack. They figured that he''s more of a threat than the monsters wreaking havoc right now due to his machinations from the shadows.


    Although Azazel was a direct victim of Hades'' ns, they couldn''t just go all out and attack him. After all, he''s one of the leaders of Olympus, which was allied with them. Right now, all they can do is use him, but he could just as easily deny those.


    With that in mind, Sirzechs and Azazel went to give him a visit so that he wouldn''t be able to move for some time. As Heaven''s representative, Michael sent Dulio to go along with them.


    Dulio is a handsome young man with blond hair, green eyes, and dressed in priest clothes. He has 10 pure white wings, which are a symbol of his powers. He is an exorcist reincarnated into an Angel by the Archangel Michael as his ''Joker''. He possesses the second-strongest Longinus, Zenith Tempest.


    After a few exchanges of words, Sirzechs decided to show his true form, which was the pure Power of Destruction in humanoid form, to threaten Hades.


    This form was so powerful that he would be able to overpower Hades easily, however, Sirzechs didn''t have full control of it, and by just moving a finger, the Power of Destruction would spread against his will and destroy those around him.


    If he were to fight Hades now, he may be able to kill him, but he''d also destroy the Realm of the Dead, which no one wants since the cycle of reincarnation would be disrupted. Besides, if he were to really kill Hades now, it might devolve into a war bigger than anything else, which also nobody wants right now.


    During the time Hades was being held back, Vali''srades started wreaking havoc throughout the whole Realm of the Dead, which infuriated Hades greatly, to which both Sirzechs and Azazel took great pleasure from.


    A few hourster, Sirzechs and Azazel simultaneously received a call. For Sirzechs, he received a call from Grayfia and she told him that the Jabberwocky, along with the monsters it had produced for those revolting Old-Satan Faction, were dealt with.


    Sirzechs was already expecting that he''d have to stay here for a day or two until Ajuka found a way to disable the Jabberwocky''s regeneration and anti-magic abilities. He had a feeling that Ajuka wasn''t the one who found a way to defeat it, so he asked Grayfia who did.


    He only received one answer, "Kisuke Urahara." When he asked for further details, Grayfia told him that it was hard to exin and he had to watch it himself to make sense of what really happened. Sirzechs agreed and instructed her to immediately begin the reconstruction of the city and to give out assistance to all the victims of the terror attack.


    After ending the call, Sirzechs immediately deactivated his ''True Form'', which eased the pressure on the surroundings.


    "Everythings over?" Azazel asked Sirzechs after ending his own call.


    "Yeah�� A very unexpected person ended it," replied Sirzechs.


    Azazel chuckled and said, "I see. And that unexpected person might being here."


    Sirzechs eyes widened, "He''sing here?"


    Azazel didn''t answer Sirzechs question but instead faced Hades, "Hey Skeleton God-sama, care to tell us your connection with Kisuke Urahara?"


    Hades was confused about what was going on, but at least he knew the reason why Sirzechs reverted to his normal form, ''So it failed, huh? But I don''t really care. By now, the weakened Ophis should be in Pluto''s hands. Nevertheless, why would he ask about Kisuke Urahara now? That pest should have melted into a pool of disgusting ooze along with the Bat King''s little sister and some other unknown woman.''


    "I already said it, Governor of Crows. I don''t have any obligation to answer any of your questions. Besides, Kisuke Urahara should be your problem, not mine. Why are you asking me?" replied Hades.


    But before Azazel could say anything else, everyone heard rhythmic sounds of wooden sandals hitting the floor, and all of them turned to that direction, "Oh my~. And here I thought you knew me quite well, since you sent your men after Sona-chan to lure me in~."


    From the shadows, Kisuke and Ophis appeared.


    However, instead of replying to them, Hades instead turned to Azazel and asked, "Is this your doing too, Governor of Crows? Why do you keep inviting pests to my Pce? Who is it this time, and why is Ophis with him? I already heard reports that you tried cooperating with the leader of Khaos Brigade, but I didn''t know you were this tant about it."


    "Not even gonna acknowledge me, huh? Well, that''s fine. I didn''te here for that." Kisuke slowly walked towards the group of three and greeted, "Good day to you, Sirzechs-sama, Azazel-san, and?"


    "Dulio Gesualdo, Michael-sama''s ''Joker''." Dulio introduced himself.


    "Nice to meet you~. I''m Kisuke Urahara, a simple merchant~."


    "It has been a while, Kisuke�� Never thought that you''d be showing yourself now." Azazel then looked towards the girl on Kisuke''s shoulder, "And you even have Ophis with you�� What happened to the girls that followed her?"


    "They''re doing alright~," Kisuke answered briefly.


    Hearing this, Sirzechs and Dulio were shocked, as they already confirmed their fate through the summoned Piece and Card that were contaminated by Samael''s curse. They already expected that even their souls couldn''t survive.


    Azazel, on the other hand, already guessed that this was the case, since only he knew that Kisuke''s true expertise is with souls. Though he''s still a bit shocked that he was able to do something. Laughing out loud, Azazel replied in delight, "I see! I see! Hahaha! That''s good to hear."


    Sirzechs and Dulio didn''t believe Kisuke, but they believed Azazel, who believed him and sighed in relief, "Kisuke Urahara, thank you for saving my little sister''s best friend and servant. I also received the news that you defeated the Jabberwocky and the Hero Faction. You have my thanks. Although I can''t do it officially due to obvious reasons, if you want something, please tell me. I can''t do much, but if it''s a reasonable request, I''ll see to it myself."


    "I''ll also ry the good news to Michael-sama~! If there''s anything, tell me! If it isn''t too much, I''ll assist!" Dulio added with a big smile on his face.


    "As those kids'' teacher, allow me to pitch in some of my efforts too," added Azazel.


    "Since I''m not in a very good position right now, I''d like to take up those offers~. But for now, please turn a blind eye to what I''m about to do."


    "What are you going to do?" asked Sirzechs.


    "A little bit of revenge." Kisuke then held Ophis and put her down, "Stay here for now. I''ll be back soon."


    "��Make it fast. I want to go home," replied Ophis.


    Transferring his hat to her and patting her head, Kisuke answered with a smile, "Got it~."


    Everyone in the room is surprised at how close they were but didn''t say anything. Hades, on one hand, is still confused about why he''s still alive and why Ophis was with him, ''��I assume Pluto failed his task. But revenge? Does this conceited Human think he can take me on? But this is convenient. I can finish the job that the missing Nyx failed to do.''


    All this time, Hades thought that the destruction of the ritual site was due to the magic circle malfunctioning due to the damage Kisuke did to it. Although he can ept that he was able to survive the poison, he refused to believe that Kisuke would have enough power to destroy the site, much less when he was poisoned by a poison that was designed to kill the Gods, ''Once I kill him, I will retrieve his body and examine it. Maybe I can figure out how he survived it and improve my concoction.''


    "Human, I''m surprised that you can still breathe in this realm, but this is my territory. If you want to do something disrespectful to me, I advise you not to do it," said Hades as Kisuke slowly walked towards him.


    "Hey now, you''re asking a ''terrorist'' to be respectful to you? You sure have some strange tastes~." Kisuke chuckled as he pulled out the de from his cane.


    Without saying another word, multiple magic circles appeared behind Hades, conjuring countless blue balls of fire that didn''t emit any heat. He thenunched it towards Kisuke all at once.


    This signaled the start of Kisuke''s third battle with a God of Olympus.


    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama has her Hat back, and got a headpat, this pays for the premature shoulder ride ending. She''s kept that Hat from her ''Mr. Hat'' personally for quite a long time, hasn''t she? A few months in fact. She''s adorable. She''s super emotive and excitablepared to normal, so I guess these few months with Serafall, Irina and Akeno have done her good, huh? I guess Vali and his team (mostly Le Fay I assume) tried to hang out with her too. It''s time to rumble! Death God vs. Death God(Read: Shinigami)! Let''s crack a skull! It''s war now baby! He hurt Sona, Himself, Yoruichi, Ophis and probably Medusa too! It''s personal! Super personal.

 Volume 9 536 - VS Hades part 2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 536 - VS Hades part 2</h4>


    Blue mes covered the spot where Kisuke had been standing. The mes didn''t emit any heat, nor did they destroy anything around them. They just burned quietly.


    "Is that?" asked Dulio.


    "The mes of Purgatory. The mes that eat souls. It''s Hades'' original magic, and it''s one disgusting magic." answered Azazel with furrowed brows.


    "He used something like that as an opening? Is he going to be fine?"


    "He didn''t dodge so he mustn''t have felt very threatened."


    And just as Azazel had said, Kisuke wasn''t threatened by Hades'' magic at all. As the blue balls of mes approached him, Kisuke immediately figured out what they did, and the extent of their effects. Any normal person would have no way of defending against this, but against someone like Kisuke, it was the worst possible magic.


    The mes started swirling and dispersed a few secondster, revealing a Kisuke who hadn''t taken any damage, "Hadou no 4, Byakurai." Pointing his finger towards Hades, arge arc of lightning sted forwards and engulfed him.


    The lightning disappeared and revealed the unscathed Hades with his magic barrier up. However, his surroundings were entirely destroyed, except for his throne.


    "Such a strange technique�� Ites from the soul I see." Hades muttered.


    "Aren''t you using something simr?" replied Kisuke with a smile.


    Hades didn''t answer him, but worry was present in his heart, ''A human that uses soul techniques? Where did he learn them?'' However, he''s still confident that he''de out victorious, "Then try taking this."


    After lifting his staff, Hades'' surroundings became very cold and Kisuke immediately felt Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) gathering around him. An invisible ax then formed on top of Kisuke''s head and threatened to strike him.


    Although others couldn''t see it, Kisuke could see the very soul itself, and a weapon formed from Reiryoku was very clear to him. Anyone without sufficient Reiatsu or Magic Power would be instantly killed with their souls dispersing. It''s technically an instant kill spell for most people.


    If Hades had a facial expression, he would be smirking at his foolishness right now as the ax could go through anything physical, the only way to block it was to have a very strong soul, or haverge amounts of Magic Power to sacrifice.


    But even with a very strong soul, one would still be critically injured, and those withrge amounts of Magic Power would be spent, leaving them in a very precarious situation.


    Sirzechs, Azazel, and Dulio who were watching also felt nervous at Hades'' spell. Although they couldn''t see it, they could feel the existence of the threat it posed.


    However, the moment the axnded on Kisuke''s de, Hades nked out, "W��What!?"


    With a light swing from Kisuke, the ax was split in half and dispersed back into the surroundings. While chuckling, Kisuke said, "I forgot to remind you, but any soul-based attacks may not be very effective against me~."


    Although there wasn''t any visible expression from Hades'' skull face, Kisuke could see that he was very agitated right now, "��What is that sword? The only Sacred Gear that can affect souls is the Sephiroth Graal." asked Hades.


    "This?" Kisuke lifted his de, "It''s a Zanpakuto (Soul yer), and her name is Benihime. Though she''s technically an artificial Sacred Gear right now."


    "��Zanpakuto." Hades, including the three not far from them, all muttered and tried to recall any weapon that was called a Zanpukuto. Of course, they all failed.


    Kisuke didn''t let them think too deeply and continued, "However, I''m not here to show off my weapon. As I told others earlier, I''m here to crack some old skull and I think an old skull under a gorgeous headdress will do just fine."


    "Impudent!" Hades raged and tried to gather more Spiritual Power, this time with a mix of Magic power for a two-front attack.


    Kisuke ignored him and put his hand over his face to take out his Hollow Mask. However, as he tried to call onto his Hollow Powers, he got a weird feeling, ''The mask is gone?''


    Although it was gone, Kisuke still thought that he could pull out his Hollow Powers, ''If it''s gone, then I''m not just a Shinigami with a Hollow Mask, but a Shinigami and an Arrancar at the same time�� Another effect brought by the Hougyoku? I really need to examine everything after I get back.''


    Regardless of the unexpected situation, he activated his Hollow Powers, and instead of a bone mask, one of his horns grew from the right side of his head. His hair also straightened and grew longer until it reached his tailbone.


    The sclera of his eyes turned jet ck, but instead of the glowing green pupils that he had before, they now became golden with more radiance. A ck strike of a tattoo then manifested and ran down his face, through his right eye and right cheek, coloring his face.


    Andstly, his Devil Wings sprouted, and instead of the four pairs he had earlier, Kisuke now had five pairs of jet ck Devil Wings.


    Of course, along with these physical changes was the change in his aura. The calm and tranquil aura that he had from earlier had now be a chaotic one, as it spread out not just within the room, but also outside of therge pce, which caught the attention of everyone.


    "��A Human? An Evil Spirit? A Devil? What are you!?" shouted Hades.


    And for those who were watching, except for Ophis, they all had the same question as surprise painted their faces.


    "He certainly is a Devil with those wings and aura, I didn''t expect this�� But what the heck is he?" muttered Azazel.


    "If you''re asking that, they don''t expect me to know the answer," replied Sirzechs as he furrowed his brows in contemtion.


    "Regardless of what he is, those eyes are giving me the shivers!" added Dulio.


    Azazel and Sirzechs both nodded at his words.


    But contrary to their expectations, Kisuke suddenly sheathed his de back into the cane and made it disappear. They didn''t know why he would give up the one advantage he had over Hades'' techniques.


    But while they were still in a shocked and confused state, Kisuke suddenly disappeared from his spot with a burst of static and reappeared in front of Hades with his right arm extended towards his head, "Oni Dekopin (Oni Headpoke)."


    Hades was caught off guard and couldn''t react in time as he took a flick to his forehead. But contrary to his simple action, Hades uncontrobly flew back and went through the walls of his castle until he reached outside, where Vali and his teammates were fighting the Grim Reapers.


    "Ughh!!!" Enduring the pain in his skull, Hades tried to recover his position. But as soon as he regained his orientation in midair, he heard another burst of static and saw a fisting down on his head.


    Hades immediately put up a simple magic barrier, but it was immediately breached by the fist. However, it gave him enough time to use his arms to block the fist.


    But even then, the force behind it made him crash like a meteor towards the ground. With the explosion of earth and dust, Hades created a 50-meter wide crater with just his body.


    The gown of the majestic King of the Dead was now dirty and tattered, his headwear already disappeared somewhere, and both his skull and arms were cracked. Standing up from the center of the crater, Hades howled towards Kisuke, "You scoundrel!!! Unforgivable!!!"


    Hades wanted to manifest the rest of his still mostly untapped power, but as he looked upwards, he saw Kisuke pointing towards him with a ball of green ominous energy gathering on his fingertip. A secondter, he heard him mutter, "Cero."


    Seeing this, Hades hurriedly did his best to put up as many magic barriers as possible. A split secondter, the green beam of energy hit one of his barriers and it immediately disappeared. After that, it immediately went through all the barriers that Hades had created as he ate the entirety of the beam head-on.


    "I''ll never forget this!!!" With a shout of grievance, the Lord of the Realm of the Dead disappeared.


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    Editors:


    28th00: I like to imagine Phis-chama just sitting in the corner of the room nodding her head with an incredibly smug and self-assured look on her face while thinking "That''s Mr. Hat! He beats up the bad guys and saves the day!" Hades is so incredibly hard-countered by Kisuke, that it was kinda hrious to see him get the finger flick of death. I wonder what Vali and his team think of seeing this? Sirzechs andpany are just absolutely lost, and wondering if giving someone like that the status of Terrorist was a smart choice, since he doesn''t need to CARE about ANY diplomatic bacsh, cause he''s a terrorist yo!

 Volume 9 537 - Reunion with Sera-tan

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 537 - Reunion with Sera-tan</h4>


    Kisuke''s Cero dug a deep hole and Hades was nowhere in sight. Kisuke knew that he''d be able to escape easily, as this was his domain and there should be countless escape routes that he could take in case of emergency, "Even though he''s a God, he sure sounds like a third-rate viin."


    ''Well, I already expected this and I already achieved my goal.'' Kisuke didn''t care that Hades escaped. Aside from cracking his skull, Kisuke was able to hide some of his spells within Hades'' body and could activate them at the most opportune time. It''s the same trick he used against Aizen to seal him when he was weakened.


    Although Kisuke had the advantage throughout that engagement, it''s only because he caught Hades'' off guard that he wasn''t able to use most of his abilities. And even if he has a choice to kill him, he wouldn''t do it.


    Not just a lot of things may change with his death, Kisuke also still didn''t know his aplices, and killing Hades now will only make it more difficult for him in the future, ''Well then, until next time, Hades-san~.''


    Kisuke then returned to his normal form and turned to Ophis, who had already teleported beside him. Reaching out his hand to her, Kisuke stated with a smile, "Let''s go home."


    Ophis first looked towards his hand and thought for a few seconds before grabbing it and bobbing her head, "Mmm."


    Ignoring the calls from Azazel, who was with Sirzechs and Dulio flying towards them, Kisuke and Ophis teleported away.


    Azazel, Sirzechs, and Dulio arrived at their spot, and Azazel couldn''t help but click his tongue, "Ohe on! Couldn''t you spare some of your time?"


    "He probably figured out that you''d be asking a lot of questions, so he left first," replied Sirzechs.


    Azazel sighed, "Hmm�� I guess you''re right. I''d do the same thing if I was in his shoes."


    "H-he really did crack Hades-sama''s skull�� I thought he was just joking." They heard Le Fay from below muttering.


    After the Grim Reapers saw Hades had escaped, all of them also started retreating in all directions.


    Azazel turned to the young man in white armor and asked, "Vali, you''re the one who brought him here?"


    Vali deactivated his Bnce Breaker and nodded, "Ah�� He kept doing one surprising thing after another." He then turned around and instructed the others to retreat, "Contact me once he appears again. He promised us that he''d tell what happened to one of ours."


    "Since there''s nothing else, I''ll be returning to report to Michael-sama." Dulio scratched his head and said his farewells before leaving for Heaven.


    Azazel then faced the young man named Tobio and hisrge dog Jin and said, "Return to the headquarters for now. I''ll go backter."


    Tobio bowed at him and also teleported away with his dog.


    Azazel finally turned to Sirzechs and said, "I''m going back to the kids first. I think I can get some more information from them."


    Sirzechs nodded, "Very well�� I still have to take care of a lot of things in the Underworld, so I''m going first."


    "True, especially with Serafall removed from her position, your workload increased. Well, good luck."


    Sirzechs could only sigh as he teleported to his territory.


    .


    .


    When Kisuke and Ophis arrived at his hideout, Kisuke immediately detected another person inside and instantly knew who it was, "Ki-tan~!!!"


    With amazing speed, Serafall tackled Kisuke, "Ki-tan! How are you!? Where''s Sona-chan!? How is she!?"


    Kisuke caught the normally bubbly Devil King and carefully ced her down while wiping a few of her tears. Seeing her almost crying expression, Kisuke felt bad for her, "Sona-chan is fine. Although she can''t be here right now, she''s in a safe ce, so you can put down your worries now." answered Kisuke with a gentle smile on his face.


    Serafall heaved arge sigh of relief and wiped the remaining tears still threatening to fall from her eyes, "That''s great to hear! Please tell me everything that happened and how you put in your current situation! Also, how are Akeno and Irina? I heard you saved them!"


    "Himejima-san and Irina are fine. They just need some rest. My story will take a while, so let me prepare some snacks and tea to go along with it." Kisuke then led Serafall to one of the facilities in the hideout to sit down.


    While Ophis was busy with her snacks, Kisuke told Serafall of how Hades'' men kidnapped Sona to lure him and in the process, was gravely injured along with him and Yoruichi. After two weeks, they were able to recover and Aika, Koneko and Kuroka came to the hideout to tell them what had happened within those two weeks.


    But during that time, a weird incident happened and they were pulled out from this world and transferred to apletely different world. And after some time, it was only now that he was able to return, but due to the danger of traveling through worlds, it was only him who came.


    After telling her this story, Kisuke removed his hat and bowed down to Serafall, "First of all, I''d like to apologize. As I have said, they only kidnapped Sona because they were aiming for me. Although it was an unfortunate incident, it was essentially my fault she got dragged into such a life-threatening situation, I have no ns to shrink away from my responsibilities regarding that."


    Serafall silently stared down at Kisuke for a whole minute before sighing, "Please get up. I indeed should be angry because it''s undeniably your fault for dragging her into your problems, but you also did your best to keep her safe�� As such, I can only attribute Sona-chan''s unfortunateness to being in the wrong ce at the wrong time."


    It was Serafall''s turn to lower her head towards Kisuke, "Thank you for saving her."


    Kisuke hurriedly helped her up, "Please don''t do this. Else, I wouldn''t know what to do."


    "Is Sona-chan happy?" Serafall suddenly asked.


    Kisuke was taken aback for a moment and recalled Sona before nodding with a smile, "Yep~. She''s having fun. The only worry she has is if her big sister is doing fine."


    Smiling happily Serafall replied, "Then there''s nothing I should be angry about!" But then, her expression suddenly changed into a cold smirk, "But this Hades�� Sorry, but I''m going to make a quick trip to the Realm of the Dead and freeze those rotten bones��"


    "Don''t worry about him for now. He won''t be bothering anyone for some time, and even if you wanted to find him, I doubt you''ll meet him."


    Serafall turned to Kisuke and asked, "What did you do?"


    "He cracked the old skull." Ophis suddenly spoke, answering Serafall''s question.


    Serafall''s eyes widened at her response and looked towards Kisuke, "��Seriously? Even though I said I''d look for him, I''d have to risk my life if I want to take him on, and even then, I wouldn''t be able to win 9 out of 10 times."


    Serafall was aware that Hades is a lot stronger than her, however, when she heard that her little sister almost died due to his ns, she didn''t care about that anymore.


    "It''s nothing that amazing�� I just caught him off guard and managed to deal a substantial amount of damage to him before he could do anything else. He really just underestimated me severely."


    But Serafall knew it wasn''t as simple as that, ''Could it be that Ki-tan is stronger than me?''


    ===================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama with the quick delivery! She''s adorable, does she count as a daughteru or a waifu? You can pat both, so it''s hard to tell. Serafall finally got closure and reassurance! She also got a revtion that Ki-tan is stronger than her!? IT''S TIME A TRAINING MONTAGE! Phis-chama is probably game for making a super-devil, especially one that she likes and takes care of her. Does she view Serafall as family? They live together in their ''home'' along with Hat and the rest of the girls. I wonder what everyone''s reaction would be (Hestia and the other natives in Danmachi mostly) to Phis-chama popping up, and Aika instantly doing a flying dogeza in front of her and worshipping her as "An angel!". It''d be wild, not even including the existential dread that every single being would feel at a being stronger than a God using their Arcanum, just by existing.

 Volume 9 538 - An Ambitious Combination

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 538 - An Ambitious Combination</h4>


    After calming down Serafall, Kisuke showed her where Akeno and Irina were resting, "T-this is?"


    Serafall saw them floating in a blue liquid within a ss tank, naked, "What happened?"


    While checking their vitals and changes on their bodies on the terminal, Kisuke answered, "They were contaminated by a very strong Dragon yer curse. Thanks to that, their original bodies had to be discarded."


    "��Samael''s curse, I see�� T-then what are these?"


    "So It''s called Samael''s curse. Well, I grew them in ordance with their DNAs, and some other things like preserving their Devil and Angel factors since their Evil Piece and that card were removed."


    Serafall took a deep breath and held her head due to the slight headache, "You preserved their Devil and Angel parts without the Evil Piece and the Brave Saint Card?"


    Adjusting the density of the medicinal solution, Kisuke answered nkly, "Well, yeah. It''s a bit tough but I''m d I was able to do it without messing up big time."


    ''A bit tough?'' Serafall''s headache worsened, "What other things did you do aside from preserving those?"


    "Ah, that was the hardest part. You see, when I found Ophis-chan, Himejima-san, and Irina, they were on Great Red''s back and Ophis-chan was trying her best to keep them alive."


    "M-mhmm��" Serafall decided not to say anything else for now and listen.


    "And while I was about to reconstruct their bodies, Great Red offered his help and parted with a bit of his flesh and scale. Not wanting to lose, Ophis-chan also gave part of her power."


    "Are you trying to say that a part of these new bodies are Great Red''s flesh and Ophis-chan''s powers?" Serafall finally reached the limit of her understanding.


    "Yeah, but the hardest part is actually bncing it with Samael''s curse."


    "��S-Samael''s curse��? What do you mean?"


    "Iya~, I thought it would be such a waste if I didn''t use it! Since I got the chance, I went all out! And thankfully, I managed to do it and I learned a lot of things in the process~!"


    At that point, Serafall snapped and shouted, "WHAT THE HELL!?"


    Kisuke was startled at her sudden outburst and looked at her with eyes wide open, "What''s up?"


    However, Kisuke''s clueless face infuriated Serafall more, "Don''t you realize the problem!?"


    "��For what?"


    "Grahhh!!!" Serafall uncharacteristically scratched her head before she pointed towards Kisuke and started exining, "First of all, Samael is an existence that was erased from the records and his most redeeming feature is his Dragon yer properties which is of the highest level that it could even affect Ophis and Great Red, the strongest beings in this world!"


    "Yeah, I figured that out when the curse wasn''t drowned by both Great Red and Ophis'' powers. That''s what made it possible tobine it with their powers in the first ce."


    "T-then how did youbine two opposing forces?"


    "Opposing? No, you got that wrong. ''Dragon'' and ''Dragon yer'' were never opposing forces. The only difference they have is the ''goal''."


    "Goal?"


    "Yes. The ''Dragon'' is an oppressive form of power against all other things. Meanwhile, the ''Dragon yer'' uses the same base as ''Dragon'', but instead of all other things, it''s against fellow ''Dragon'', directly targeting their weakness."


    "It''s hard to exin it in words, but you can imagine a ''Dragon'' is a pressure-resistant material that could easily hold everything while ''Dragon yer'' is the needle that could easily puncture it. Both could be made from the same materials but could be designed to be used differently."


    Serafall massaged the bridge of her nose, "Yeah�� I can understand your analogy��" But deep inside, Serafall knew that it wasn''t that simple, ''I guess that''s how Issei-kun managed to keep Ascalon within the Boosted Gear, however, the difference between the Ascalon''s power and the Heavenly Dragon Emperor is sorge, and it was only possible because it could contain it. Samael''s curse is different��''


    However, Serafall didn''t voice out any of her concerns regarding this, as she knew she wouldn''t be able to understand it either way. Besides, there are still some other problems that she''s more concerned with than bodies that Kisuke is cultivating, "The Dragon genes are indeed more than surprising, but that''s about it, so let''s set that aside for now."


    Sighing, Serafall continued, "The main problem is the fact that you preserved their Devil and Angel side without the help of the Evil Pieces and Brave Saint Cards."


    Kisuke stopped for a moment and thought about Serafall''s words, "So you''re saying that the fact that I made them Devil and Angel without the help of those systems is the problem? If so, then I can understand your concerns. If this were to go out, it''d beplicated out there."


    "Right. The conversion isn''t as simple as just changing the body. The Evil Pieces and Brave Saint Cards system isn''t just there to change the physiology but there to let the ''Master'' lend their energy to their non-Devil or non-Angel servants to slowly convert their own energies."


    Serafall sat back down before continuing, "If you were to suddenly change everything, including their energies, loads of problems wille out, and the biggest one of them is the problem of the soul not being able to adapt to the sudden change."


    "This is also the reason why stray Devils are very problematic. Without their ''Master'', only a few things could happen. First is the safety feature of the Evil Piece kicking in. This will stop the conversion and will slowly revert them to their normal race."


    "Second is when that safety feature failed to activate. This is verymon to those Mid-ss and High-ss reincarnated Devils, they are already so strong that they can''t be reverted back. As a result, without the supply from their ''Master'', the body will wildly convert almost everything to Demonic Power, and a not fully mature reincarnated Devil wouldn''t be able to take this conversion. In most cases, they''d look for more energies around them and most of the time it''s through ''eating'' others. It was also at this point that their soul is already affected and corrupted. Instead of a full-grown Devil, they''ll just turn to violent and hungry monsters."


    "The third case is when the reincarnated Devil is strong enough even though he or she is not a mature Devil. Thanks to their strength, they will be able to take the sudden conversion. This is the case with Kuroka after she became a stray Devil. However, someone of her caliber is very scarce that this is not a very viable method of converting many Devils at once."


    Serafall then looked towards Kisuke, straight to his eyes, "As I recalled it, Akeno is just a Mid to High-ss level while Irina is also around the same level, albeit a little bit weaker. Without the Evil Piece and Brave Saint Card, they''ll only suffer�� Or did you find a way for that not to happen?"


    Serafall already instinctively knew of his answer but still chose to ask. Depending on his answer, this is really a very problematic case.


    "Yep, I''m aware of those problems and most of it stemmed from the soul not being able to adapt to the body."


    "��Then��"


    Kisuke nodded at her, "Since I''m aware of those problems, I also knew how to solve them. I can confidently say that Himejima-san can remain a Devil and Irina can remain an Angel without the problems that you spoke of."


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    Editors:


    28th00: Well, it''s a soul-based problem, and he''s the foremost expert on soul maniption. It''s pretty simple Sera-chan.

 Volume 9 539 - Confession

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 539 - Confession</h4>


    Serafall covered her face with her hands and muttered, "It''s impossible to hide this if they were to go out. I have to notify the others so that it''ll be easier to hide it from others."


    She then looked towards Kisuke and asked, "Why did you do this? Couldn''t you''ve made a basic body for them?"


    After drinking his tea, Kisuke answered her, "No real reason. If there is one, then it would be because I wanted to try it and learn something from it."


    "��What if Akeno-chan and Irina-chan didn''t want any of this? How are you going to solve that problem?"


    "I can always create a normal body for them. Since I saved them, I want them to test a few things for me." Kisuke then looked straight into Serafall''s eyes, "By now, you should have an idea of how I do things. As I''ve said already, I''m a merchant and for everything I do I want to have properpensation, and this is thepensation I wanted from them."


    "Besides, if they want to return to their normal bodies, I''ll only ask them to stay in these bodies for a short while to study their progress, before making another set of normal bodies. I''m only asking them to participate in a little experiment that could help me understand a few things." Kisuke slouched back to his seat and drank his tea.


    Serafall sighed yet again before she stood up from her seat, "Since you''re the type of person that makes his demands very clear, I guess that makes you more trustworthy than other people out there who pretend to care." She then prepared a magic circle to teleport her out, "I''ll meet Sirzechs, Ajuka, Azazel, and Michael and tell them about the girls. Though, I won''t be telling them about the dragons."


    "Thanks~. That''d be helpful." Kisuke waved goodbye to her.


    Serafall disappeared and Kisuke was left alone with Ophis, who was still busy with her long-awaited cookies and doughnuts.


    "Time to return to work. I have to finish everything I need to do, before the ''anchor'' loses its effect." Kisuke stood up and returned to the terminal disying Akeno and Irina''s status.


    .


    .


    .


    A few dayster, Kisuke was almost done with everything he had to do. He''d also moved Akeno and Irina to the beds. He concluded that they''d be able to wake up within a few hours.


    However, he didn''t wait for them and instead called for his ''housemate'', "Ophis-chan~! I''m going to the Underworld! Are youing?"


    Ophis, who was watching Magical Girl Levia-tan, turned to Kisuke and nodded, "��I shall go."


    "Kisuke!" One of the people waiting for them jumped on him, "You''rete again!"


    Kisuke scratched his head with a wry smile, "Ah, I''m sorry, mom. I''m a little short on time, so I had to finish everything I have to do first, before doing anything else."


    "Short on time?", asked Sakura, "What do you mean?"


    "I''ll exin itter. For now, let me greet everyone." Kisuke then turned around to face the other people in the house, "It''s been a while, Cleria-san, Masaomi-san, and ire-chan~. And nice to meet you, Diehauser Belial, I presume? Or maybe I should address you as uncle Diehauser?"


    Diehauser first approached Kisuke and patted his shoulders with a smile, "Uncle is fine. It''s nice to finally meet my nephew who made it possible for my family to reunite. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."


    He then sighed, "Then again, I can''t just reveal their existence yet, even to our parents due to some danger still lurking in the shadows. Though after the crisis in the Underworld, things became a lot easier for me, and maybe one of these days, I''ll be able to introduce you to your grandparents. They''ve been lonely all these years after losing two daughters."


    If it was any other man, Kisuke would feel pretty awkward to call someone ''uncle''. However, he knew that even in addition to his former life, Diehauser Belial was still older than him by a few centuries.


    "I''d really like to meet them too, but maybe not these days. I wouldn''t like our meeting to be a short and dangerous prospect.", replied Kisuke.


    "I see�� You indeed have your own difficulties. Tell me, anything you need and I''ll provide it to the limit of my abilities."


    "Thanks~, Uncle, that''s reassuring~."


    "I''ve already prepared a meal. Let''s continue our talk at the table." Cleria interrupted them and asked ire to take care of Ophis.


    Diehauser still couldn''t get used to the sight of his niece leading the Dragon God around.


    Over their meal, Sakura, Cleria, Masaomi, and Diehauser filled Kisuke in on the events that happened while he was gone. He had several questions, but he let them finish their stories first.


    After their meal, they''d already told Kisuke about everything that had happened. Kisuke then asked ire to y with Ophis and prepared some tea from his inventory. "So four months already passed.", muttered Kisuke after sipping on his tea.


    The adults who heard him were confused. "What do you mean, Kisuke?", asked Sakura.


    Kisuke then told them the same story that he told Serafall, "And we only spent a month and a half in that world. I''m not sure if the worlds'' times were running on different scales or those nks were from my travels between the worlds. Either way, that''s going to be a problem."


    Kisuke tried to sense the ''anchor'' he left and concluded that the worlds aren''t running on different timescales because the rate of energy being emitted is still the same, ''The travels�� But still, I don''t know if it was only from the first time we traveled or if there was also time dtion during my trip back.''


    Since the worlds were already connected, Kisuke was hoping that the time difference only happened when they traveled the first time.


    But while everyone was fascinated at the existence of another world and wanted to hear more about it, only Diehauser was making a difficult expression, "What''s wrong, uncle?"


    The others also finally noticed the expression he was making and asked him the same question. However, it took a minute before he spoke up, and instead of answering their questions, Diehauser asked, "Does that world have an existence called ''Chichigami''?"


    "Chichigami?", muttered Kisuke while thinking, ''What''s up with that silly name? The God of Tits?''


    Diehauser sighed, "I guess there''s no one like that over there." He then looked at everyone and said, "Let me be honest with everyone. Even before I met my sisters again, I had been part of a certain faction within the Khaos Brigade."


    Sakura, Cleria and Masaomi''s eyes widened at his confession, "Nii-sama��"


    "Please let me hear more about it." On the other hand, Kisuke''s expression didn''t change at all.


    Diehauser was surprised at his still nonchnt attitude, ''So he doesn''t decide a person''s worth immediately with the little information he has.'' Chuckling, Diehauser nodded, "Sure. Allow me to exin myself."


    Sakura, Cleria and Masaomi also calmed down a little after that exchange and waited for Diehauser''s side of the story. They thought that they really needed to learn from Kisuke to stayposed and not to instantly jump to conclusions.


    ===================


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    28th00: Ah, yes. Chichigami and ExE. No. Stay away. CODE RED! That ce has multiple transcendents at war with each other for like, tens or hundreds of thousands of years at this point. A big no-no zone. Too bad, they''re gonnae HERE. Phis-chama just wants to y with her friend, eat sweets and watch Serafall''s anime. Truly, honestly. She has a ''home'' now, so she just wants to enjoy life. The life of a NEET Dragon Loli. Hmm��


    Alexander: Chichigami. One of the very few beings with the potential to stun Kisuke and Yoruichi into silence just because of the ridiculousness. I''m very curious about a possible interaction between them. Also, do they have radical factions in their faith? Are or were there religious wars between the ''bigger is better'' conservatives and the ''t is justice'' reformers?


    Goyya: That�� Will be for the future. It''s really a ridiculous character where Kisuke would take great interest in.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 540 - Confession part 2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 540 - Confession part 2</h4>


    Diehauser told everyone how he got involved with the Khaos Brigade. But since Kisuke was listening, he started from the very start.


    The Belial n is a very tight-knit family. Even if they came from a branch family, each one of them treated everyone with respect and love, which was very rare for a noble Devil n.


    Cleria''s mother died in the Civil War between the Old and New Satan Factions when she was still small, so her father and cousin took great care of her in her mother''s ce.


    A whileter, Cleria''s father remarried and got together with a Human girl which became Sarah, or Sakura''s, mother. However, due to theplexity of Sakura''s birth, her mother couldn''t take it and passed on soon after. Cleria and Sakura''s father grieved at the loss of another loved one, but he still persevered for his daughters.


    At this point in time, Diehauser vowed to get stronger for his family and trained himself with the utmost effort. But at that time, the Belial territory''s economy was still not in a good condition due to the long-term after-effects of the Civil War, and the n prioritized their citizens for them to live in ease and peace.


    For Diehauser to join the Rating Games, a considerable amount of money was needed as it''s a system for High-ss Devils and above. Although they were also high-ranking nobles, their wealth couldn''t bepared to others.


    However, even though Diehauser''s mother was very against him joining the Rating Games due to its dangers, she also supported him when she couldn''t convince him, by selling all of her valuable jewelry to fund his education.


    His father, the Lord of Belial n, on the other hand, sold the unupied and unusednd and some non-essential businesses they had to other nobles, to add more to that fund.


    But thanks to their sacrifices, Diehauser was able to study in a prestigious school and was able to meet almost all of his servants right now that helped him to be strong and sessful. A few more years had passed and Diehauser soon became the first ranker of the Rating Games, dubbing him and his peerage as the strongest within the Underworld except for the Devil Kings.


    Soon after, he also inherited the position of his father and was able to bring the n to glory and riches. However, even with wealth, the small n didn''t lose themselves and continued their way as the benevolent Lords of the Belial territory.


    Of course, life doesn''t always go up. Thanks to Diehauser''s sess and rise in power, other ns, especially those who they didn''t get along with, couldn''t help but be jealous and fear them.


    But instead of Diehauser who they couldn''t easily touch, they targeted another rising star of the Belial n, Sarah Belial. A genius who contributed greatly to the research regarding the reincarnated and half Devils. Despite some questionable points of her research, she helped the development of the Evil Piece System by making it easier for those bing Devils, to adapt to their new bodies.


    Sarah, while with her father and rare Human servant in her personalboratory, was attacked. Due to the suddenness of the situation, all the guards in ce were instantly massacred. Knowing that they were in a very bad situation, Sarah''s father used his own life to block the enemies'' advance and asked the Human servant, Ryouta Urahara, to escape with Sarah.


    When Diehauser arrived, it was already toote as he only found the dying father, telling him what happened. In a rage, Diehauser chased after the Devils that attacked theboratory but most of them already escaped and those who were captured refused to talk and killed themselves.


    The Belial n also tried to search for Sarah and Ryouta''s whereabouts, but as they did, evidence of Sakura''s supposed malpractice came to light, and the higher-ups of Devil Society issued a warrant for her arrest.


    The Belial n was, of course, shocked by this, but even more so, they were enraged. They hadn''t been able to properly mourn for the fallen Belial member, and here they are being attacked yet again, from a different angle.


    And after that, Sarah and Ryouta never appeared in front of them again, not even a bit of news from them.


    What''s worse is that they were not able to find the main perpetrator of the attack and weren''t even sure if it was just a single n, or a collective effort. Not just that, the attack on them became a different story altogether and it was told to the public that Sarah escaped with her Human servant.


    After a few years of grief at the loss of both her father and sister, Cleria decided toe to the Human world to search for her missing sister. Soon after, she became the Lord of Kuoh Town and used it as her base for the search.


    But after a decade, there was still no news regarding Sarah and Ryouta. It was then that another misfortune befell the Belial n as the Exorcists from the church assassinated Cleria due to her being in a rtionship with an Exorcist.


    Diehauser couldn''t take the news and tried to invade the Human World to attack those from the church, however, he was stopped by Zekram Bael, a Devil that has more authority than the four Devil Kings.


    After asking for a reason, Zekram told him that they didn''t want another war with Heaven and he would stop him even if it means using force to do so.


    Diehauser and the rest of the Belial n had to swallow their anger due to this. They knew that they''d just be destroyed if they were to go against them and Diehauser, as the head of the n, didn''t want that.


    However, he noticed the strangeness in Zekram''s actions and investigated it secretly. This time, he figured out what really happened. It seemed that in her investigation she found out many things, Cleria was able to discover the existence of the forbidden King Piece and he used the fact that she went into a rtionship with their enemy to silence her.


    At that point, Diehauser''s grief and rage reached the peak, he vowed to take revenge against Zekram. It was also that time that he got invited to the organization that aimed to destroy the current system.


    For thest decade, Diehauser had been acting as a spy for a faction called ''Qlippoth'', which is led by the prince of the almost extinct Lucifer n, Rizevim Livan Lucifer.


    "Of course, I never intended to destroy the Underworld or the other worlds. I just wanted to get back at Zekram Bael and only shared information that would be detrimental to him and his n."


    With that, Diehauser finished his story. He then looked towards Cleria and Sakura, "But even If I didn''t intend to do that, if you didn''t appear in front of me again, I might have devolved into something that cannot be forgiven, no matter what."


    After that, Diehauser faced Kisuke and bowed down his head, "For that, I would like to express my utmost gratitude for leading them to me."


    "Although it was only started as a coincidence, I''m really d that I was able to help," replied Kisuke. Deep inside, he wasn''t just thankful that he was able to coincidentally save a rtive, but he''s also very thankful that he was born into such a family.

 Volume 9 541 - Sakura’s Past

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 541 - Sakura��s Past</h4>


    "However, I do have some questions that I want some answers to. I hadn''t been able to ask them since I couldn''t find a good chance, but I think now is a good time." Facing Sakura, Diehauser asked, "Why didn''t you try to contact us? And where is Ryouta?"


    Sakura made aplicated expression and looked down at her tea. After seeing her reflection, she turned her head towards Kisuke who was also looking at her.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, nodded at her in encouragement, "Whatever it is, I''m always with you, mom."


    Sakura smiled at him and took a deep breath before facing Diehauser, "��It''s because I''m afraid."


    " "Afraid?" " Diehauser and Cleria both asked. ,


    Sakura nodded, "��Yes. Let me start from when we were attacked. Father used his own body to block the attacks aimed at me and forced both me and Ryouta to leave. Of course, I refused to do so, but father knocked me out and entrusted me to Ryouta."


    "I didn''t know what happened next or how long I was out, but when I woke up, Ryouta and I were still escaping from the enemies that were still chasing us and had no way to contact the house."


    "It was only a monthter that we finally got a connection to the world, however, we were still being chased at that point. We thought we could contact the house for help, but at that moment, I received the news of my father''s death�� Not just that, the crimes that were ced on my head��"


    "��Those crimes�� Were absolutely true." Sakura looked back down at her tea before continuing, "While hiding it to everyone, I secretly captured stray Devils and experimented on them. That''s how I advanced my research in such a short time."


    "The first one to discover this was Ryouta and he tried to stop me. However, due to the results I got, I couldn''t stop it and continued capturing stray Devils, even after promising him that I wouldn''t do it anymore."


    "And I only realized how inhumane my actions were when a certain stray Devil kept chasing after us to avenge her lover that I''d captured before. All those times that I captured a stray Devil, I only thought of them as rebelling criminals and anything that I would do to them was fine."


    "I failed to realize that they were also people, and those unavoidable circumstances might have pushed them to rebel against their masters in the first ce."


    "Either an abusive master or some other reason which I couldn''t fault them for�� None of those crossed my mind and I only got more excited with the results I got."


    "That''s also the time I got afraid and refused to contact the house�� I was afraid of what you''d all think of me��" Sakura gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. Although a long time had already passed, the fear was still hidden deep inside her. However, she knew that she couldn''t escape from this forever and had toe clean with everyone since she was already given a chance.


    Cleria and Diehauser looked at each other for a minute before the former stood up from her seat and hugged Sakura, "True�� We would have been angry, and even now, we think that you did a really messed up thing back then�� But you should have trusted us. Although we''d be angry, we would never have hated you. In fact, we''d do our best to make you realize the things you''d done wrong and give you a chance to atone for them."


    Sakura bit her lips and returned Cleria''s hug while trying to keep her tears from falling, "I know�� My time as an escapee was long, and it gave me many valuable lessons and a chance to regret a lot of things. I too, have matured from back then, albeit, slightly�� Finally�� Thank you for listening to me and forgiving for what I''d done back then."


    Cleria tightened her hug on her sister and whispered, "You''re forgiven�� You also already learned your lesson, and I know you''d never do such a thing again."


    Sakura wept silently as arge weight was removed from her heart after almost two decades of enduring them all by herself. Of course, she''d never forgotten to atone for her sins and was actively thinking of ways to redeem herself.


    After a few minutes of silent sobbing, Sakura was able to get hold of herself and her expression became a lot lighter than before.


    Wiping her tears away, she continued talking and went to mention her other regret, "Regarding Ryouta, you already knew that we always had feelings for each other, so when we escaped, it was obvious that our love would bear fruit��"


    "For why he isn''t here right now, is another fault of mine. The one I mentioned earlier, the stray Devil that chased after us to avenge her lover, after realizing the truth from her, I let her escape�� My mind was a mess back then and there was no way for me to take another stray Devil''s life."


    "But because of that, she was able to call for more reinforcement to chase after us, and that chase spanned for one whole year until an enemy Devil, with the assistance of his contracted mage, cursed me."


    "It wasn''t a very strong curse�� Its aim was only to slow us down. However, I was already carrying Kisuke at that time, and he couldn''t have survived the curse for long. Both Ryouta and I almost knew nothing about curses and the only solution we had was to kill the caster."


    "Ryouta was sessful in killing the Devil, but the contracted mage was able to escape. He then proposed a n. Since we had no choice but to chase after the mage, Ryouta told me that he''d go alone, and while he''s at it, he''ll gather the pursuers'' attention so that I could escape on my own."


    "I tried to argue with him, but I was already too weak from protecting Kisuke from the curse, so I couldn''t stop him. We agreed to meet at Kuoh Town after some time, but even though the curse was indeed lifted soon after he left, that was thest time I''ve seen him��"


    "I settled down in Kuoh Town just like we promised each other, and sessfully gave birth to a healthy son, but my husband never returned home. I''ve searched for him for a few years until I received the news that he died in a foreignnd soon after he separated from us."


    "From then on, I tried to live a normal life and raise Kisuke as a normal Human��" Sakura then looked towards Kisuke with a wry smile, "But as you can see, he got involved with the supernatural world himself." While ruffling his hair, Sakura added, "I guess that''s fate. Thanks to that, we were able to talk like this again at this table."


    Kisuke scratched his cheek with mock embarrassment, "Iya~, please don''tpliment me too much~. You know I get embarrassed easily~."


    Pinching his nose, Sakura refuted Kisuke''s ims, "Damn kid! You''re the one with the thickest skin from all the people I know!"


    Kisuke then made a serious expression, "Then you obviously haven''t met a lot of people."


    Watching the mother and son antics, the atmosphere on the table lightened up and Cleria even chuckled a little bit.


    Sighing, Diehauser muttered, "So that''s the real reason why Ryouta was in Romania�� It was regrettable and we should have a proper funeral for him. It''s betterte than not doing it at all. I also want to show my gratefulness for the things he has done through this."


    "Nii-sama��"


    =======================


    =======================


    Editors:


    28th00: Backstory part 2! I won''t lie, I just wanted to see Phis-chama being incredibly smug at beating a�� 8 year old at games? I''ll remember her age one day! Wait, does she call ire by her real name!? That''s the greatest respect Ophis would ever give, since she doesn''t even remember names that aren''t Heavenly Dragon tier or above, and even then they gotta be dragons. I wonder, did Serafall name Kisuke Mr. Hat on her show, or did she just copy Phis-chama''s nickname for him?

 Volume 9 542 - Lucky Encounter

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 542 - Lucky Encounter</h4>


    Everyone talked about Ryouta''s funeral for a bit before Kisuke returned to the topic and faced Diehauser, "Uncle, before you said that you''re part of the Khaos Brigade, you asked me a strange question about knowing this ''Chichigami''. Mind telling me more about that?"


    Diehauser nodded and said, "More than a month ago, a certain being came in contact with Hyoudou Issei while their team and Vali''s team were fighting Loki, a Norse God."


    Kisuke frowned and muttered, "And that being is this ''Chichigami''?"


    Nodding, Diehauser continued, "Yes. Someone from the Khaos Brigade managed to pick up a strange but very powerful energy connecting to the Red Dragon Emperor, and when they tried to trace where it came from, it went beyond their search area, which shouldn''t have been possible since they were very confident to trace it even if it''s somewhere in the Dimensional Gap."


    "Without disclosing this information to me, they asked me to go get some information regarding the sudden power-up of the Red Dragon Emperor in the middle of the fight. Iplied because it was information easily attainable as long as one has a high enough position and I figured that even if I don''t do it, someone else will, so I might as well gain some trust from them."


    "Although the information was a little strange, I gave it to them. It was only then they disclosed what they''d concluded after reading my report. Apparently, this ''Chichigami'' was able to contact Hyoudou Issei through his obsession with tit.s. What''s more, this unknown being might have been from a different world, dimension or universe."


    Kisuke''s face couldn''t help but twitch and muttered, "Obsession with tits? Seriously?"


    Diehauser and the rest were also making weird faces, "��It seems that everyone likes his antics, though. He''s especially popr among the children and they revere him as a hero." Diehauser then took out a smartphone from his personal space and passed it to Kisuke, "You can ess the web here in the Underworld using this. It''ll give you a more concrete idea of the events of these past months."


    While receiving the smartphone, Kisuke added, "It seems like I''ve missed a lot of interesting and fun things."


    "Moving on, this ''Chichigami'' caught the interest of Rizevim, the current leader of the Qlippoth faction within the Khaos Brigade."


    "Caught his interest? What do you mean?" asked Cleria.


    "All these years, Rizevim has been uninterested with everything except for bolstering his connection and army for nothing. However, this event suddenly made his blood boil and he suddenly wanted to invade that other world since this world bored him to death. An ambition suddenly sprouted from the usuallyzy Devil."


    "Isn''t that fine? Let the menace go away," added Sakura.


    But instead of Diehauser, Kisuke is the one who replied, "It''s not that simple. This Qlippoth probably already realized how strong this ''Chichigami''. As someone who''s already experienced dimension traveling, the way ''Chichigami'' contacted Issei so easily, he or she is probably at least at Great Red and Ophis'' level."


    Diehauser nodded, "You''re correct. The researchers in Qlippoth already estimated how strong this being is, and despite that, Rizevim''s ambition continued burning without any signs of weakening."


    Cleria''s eyes widened and asked, "Then how is he going to fight this ''Chichigami'' if she''s as strong as the strongest beings in this world? If she''s already at that level, this world is probably already under her rule."


    Diehauser put on a serious expression and answered, "He nned to release and control Trihexa."


    Cleria and Sakura drew in cold breaths when they heard Diehauser''s answer.


    Curious at their reaction, Masaomi asked Cleria, "Trihexa? What''s that?"


    Cleria sighed and looked towards Masaomi, "You''re more probably familiar with the names Apocalyptic Beast or Emperor Beast of the Apocalypse."


    Masaomi nodded, "Yeah�� It''s written in the Bible as the beast that would end the world." It was then he realized something, "��Wait�� Are you saying that this Trihexa is the Apocalyptic Beast!? It existed!?"


    "Yes, I''m afraid so. Although others may argue, a certain rumor is believed among the old members of each faction that the God of the Bible only died because he was weakened due to him fighting and sealing the beast before the Great War. Of course, it''s only a rumor and nobody could actually confirm this."


    Before everyone knew, Ophis was already beside Kisuke and said, "That bright guy was injured after fighting the beast."


    Everyone looked towards ire but she''s already sleeping on the couch. It was only then they digested Ophis'' words.


    "So the Infinite Dragon is confirming it��" Diehauser muttered. They ignored how Ophis called the God of the Bible.


    Kisuke picked up Ophis and put her on hisp, "Can you give us more detail?"


    "The beast was strong and the shiny guy was weak. He asked both Baka-Red and me to lend him our strength. Although mine would have been enough."


    Despite Ophis'' short words, everyone instantly understood what she meant.


    Diehauser rubbed his chin and murmured, "If the God of the Bible had to ask for Great Red and Ophis'' help, then it''s really on their level." He then looked towards Ophis, "But why would you and Great Red assist him?"


    "He promised to leave our legacy. I wanted to see what it''d lead to," answered Ophis, however, no one could understand her words, except for Kisuke when a certain someone shed in his mind.


    "Aeternam Somnium��" muttered Kisuke.


    At his words, Ophis nodded.


    "Thest Longinus created by the God of the Bible? The one dubbed as the fake Longinus due to its very weak abilities?" asked Cleria.


    "Isn''t that Aika-chan''s Sacred Gear?" added Sakura.


    Kisuke nodded, "Yes. It''s Aika''s Sacred Gear. And thanks to its very weak abilities and the strange phenomenon that drags its host to the supernatural world without fail, it''s known as a fake or failed Longinus."


    "However, that''s only because no one was able to activate its real abilities."


    Diehauser, who had been quiet all this time, said, "So that Sacred Gear is��"


    Kisuke grinned and answered, "Yep~! Was created from the remaining power that Great Red and Ophis gave the God of the Bible after he fought Trihexa, hence, leaving their legacy."


    Cleria, Masaomi and Sakura were speechless while Diehauser could only sigh, "To think that there''s such a big secret within thest Longinus."


    "You said that no one was able to activate its real abilities," Sakura talked to Kisuke while looking at Ophis, "But I assume that Aika-chan already activated it�� Then the condition to activate it was Ophis-chan?"


    "Yes," answered Kisuke, "The reason why it was too weak, it''s probably because not much of the power was left and the God of the Bible didn''t want to contaminate it with other powers. However, despite its weakness, the concept of ''Infinity'' and ''Dreams'' were still in it. And that''s where its strange ability to drag its host to the supernatural world without failes in."


    "I think, instead of bringing the host in blindly, the Sacred Gear itself is attracted to either Ophis or Great Red because meeting them is the only way for it to gain the power it needed. Of course, this is only a gamble as even the God of the Bible didn''t know if either of the two would ''bless'' the Gear. So in hindsight, it all depends on the host''s luck~."


    "T-then Aika-chan only activated it because she''s lucky?" asked Sakura.


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and said, "Extremely lucky if I must say. When she first met Ophis-chan, thetter only stared at her with interest and didn''t do anything else. However, when I attracted Great Red due to an incident, and he felt Ophis'' aura on me and the others, it haphazardly gave its blessing to Aika just to flex. And when Ophis-chan saw this, she also gave her blessing in an attempt not to get outdone."


    ''Kids! They''re kids! The most mysterious Sacred Gear was activated because of the kids'' fight!'' Everyone thought but silently agreed to never say it out loud.


    Editors:


    28th00: Dragons are just super strong primordial chaos given form, and incredibly childish at that. I mean, they have that Outrage ability that makes them what, 500% stronger? Fafnir became strong enough to nom Rizevim, who was top 10? #6? That''s a massive leap yo. Phis-chama continues to be a font of wisdom from her throne of power. She demands tribute (Read: headpats and snacks)!

 Volume 9 543 - Woke Up

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 543 - Woke Up</h4>


    "We got sidetracked again," Diehauser sighed for the nth time today, "Going back, Rizevim isn''t just going to that world quietly. He wants to unseal Trihexa, but I don''t know how he''s going to open a path. And even if he could unseal it, it''s unknown whether he''d be able to control it."


    "Once the beast is left to its own devices, the only way to defeat it is if Great Red and Ophis make a move themselves, or most of the leaders of every faction join the battle. A fight between the beast and Great Red or Ophis will cause unthinkable destruction, or it may even lead to the end of everything. The same problem exists if the faction leaders were to fight, but even if they could win and preserve the world, a lot of them will perish."


    "With those who wish for peace almost gone, those who wished for destruction will immediately swallow them, painting the world with their own ideals." Diehauser massaged the bridge of his nose as he got a mild headache while talking about the future where Trihexa was released.


    "And not just that, if this Rizevim was sessful in opening a path, it will also open a path for the other side to invade this ce. Who knows what''s on the other side? It might be a ce where beings at the same level as Great Red and Ophis are just wandering about." added Kisuke.


    "��" Silence engulfed everyone for a few minutes before Diehauser spoke again, "The regrettable thing is, I can''t do anything to his ns right now."


    "Although I''m a member of Qlippoth, I only dipped in one of my feet. As I only gave little bits of information, I only know a few things about it. I don''t even know most of their members and their ns that are currently taking ce."


    "I could go in deeper if I were to provide more important information and assist them in their activities, but I don''t want to do that, especially now that I actually don''t have any reason to join this organization."


    "I could report everything I know to the Devil Kings, but I don''t know much and me having some insider information is more advantageous for me. More than that, I don''t know who''s actually trustworthy among them. If I were to reveal anything, it may be one of the Devil Kings or those around them that''s going to leak my actions to Qlippoth, which in turn, will endanger my family."


    Another silence engulfed everyone.


    A minuteter, Kisuke pped his hands and said, "No point in worrying about this now. And to be frank, I know this may sound selfish, but this isn''t our problem."


    Sakura frowned at him, "��Kisuke."


    But before she could say anything, Kisuke continued, "I know what you want to say, mom, but let me rify it first. This is the world''s problem, not ours. The Alliance is there for these kinds of things."


    Diehauser, Sakura, Cleria and Masaomi looked at each other and thought about Kisuke''s words.


    "Besides, we can''t really do anything if we don''t have enough information. For starters, uncle can urge the Alliance to check on the Trihexa''s sealing ce by indirectly suggesting that it''s a threat that can''t be ignored," added Kisuke.


    Diehauser nodded, "Indeed�� That''s one way to warn the Alliance without rousing too much suspicion from both sides. I''ll work on it while I''m working on gathering more information."


    Kisuke then faced the other three, "And this Trihexa situation will be simr to the Underworld situation earlier, I''m sure you three are going to run around saving people again��"


    Masaomi scratched his head and replied, "Well, we brought ire to the capital for some sightseeing. Who would have thought something like that will happen? And you''re right, although we won''t just go to another ce to save people, expect us to do something if it''s in our immediate surroundings."


    Sighing, Kisuke picked up Ophis and stood up, "Understood. I won''t be bothering to change your mind since it''ll just be a useless effort. Since Himejima-san and Irina are about to wake up, I''ll go back first." While setting up the magic circle for teleportation, Kisuke thought, ''And while I''m at it, maybe I should create some weapons for their self-defense.''


    Sakura also stood up and went beside her son, "Kisuke, how long do you have until you return?"


    "A week, more or less. I have to go back before the beacon I ced loses its effect," replied Kisuke.


    "Alright. I know you''re busy preparing, but pleasee here every day. At least join us at dinner."


    Kisuke smiled and hugged his mother, "Got it. I won''t miss it."


    The two of them then separated and the light on the magic circle became stronger, signifying its activation. But before Kisuke disappeared, Sakura remembered something and added, "If it''s possible, invite Akeno-chan, Irina-chan, and Serafall-sama for dinner."


    Kisuke wasn''t able to reply and disappeared with Ophis.


    .


    .


    Once the two of them appeared in the hideout, Kisuke muttered, "I guess I won''t be sleeping this entire week."


    Ophis tugged on the hem of Kisuke''s shihakusho to get his attention, "What about me? What shall I do?"


    Kisuke thought for a moment and asked her, "Can you feel where your stolen powers are?"


    Ophis shook her head.


    "I see�� Then just help me out with creating barriers. I''ll need it for the new hideout I''m nning to build."


    Ophis nodded and started walking towards the ce where Kisuke usually does his work. Kisuke could tell that she''s actually happy that work was delegated to her and thought, ''Hestia-sama should learn a thing or two from Ophis-chan.''


    .


    .


    .


    An hourter, Kisuke felt Akeno and Irina''s consciousness rousing, so he turned to Ophis and said, "Ophis-chan. Those two are awake. Go take a look at them for a moment. Once I''m done cleaning up here, I''ll follow suit."


    Ophis nodded and left her work to Kisuke.


    Both of them opened their eyes at the same time, and the first thing they noticed was the bright light within the room. Groaning and closing their eyes again, they tried to recall what thest thing they were doing was.


    Akeno and Irina needed a few minutes to adjust their minds, and during that time, their eyes managed to adapt to the light. It was then that both of them suddenly sat up as they recalled what just happened, "Ophis!"


    With their voice ringing out, they both looked at each other and muttered, "Akeno?" "Irina?"


    They then started looking around, "Where are we?" asked Irina?


    After ncing around, Akeno replied, "��Kisuke''s hideout?" She then looked down and saw her attire. Just a piece of white gown without any underwear, "Are we saved? Did Ophis save us and bring us here? But why are we wearing this?"


    Irina also checked her attire, "You''re right�� I thought we were total goners when we were hit by that poison�� I never thought it was that terrifying. But why are we here instead of the Underworld? Is it Serafall-sama? And where''s Ophis?"


    At that moment, the door opened and Ophis entered the room, "Ophis! You''re safe!" Akeno and Irina jumped down from their beds and briskly walked towards Ophis.


    "They can''t kill me." Ophis nkly answered.


    Both of them sighed in relief and Akeno asked Ophis, "Where''s Serafall-sama? How long have we been sleeping?"


    Ophis tilted her head and thought for a moment before answering, "Three days."


    "Three days!?" Irina eximed, "This is bad! We''ve been sleeping for too long!"


    Akeno nodded, "You''re right. And we still don''t know the current state of the Underworld after those anti-monsters were sent. Let''s go to the Underworld."


    But before they could cast their magic, a voice rang out from the door, "Oh? I''m d you two are energetic despite just waking up. You don''t have to worry, the issue in the Underworld was already solved."


    That voice gave the two girls a chill down their spines.


    ====================


    ====================


    ====================


    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama is there for emotional support. Hat is here, they''re gonna need that emotional support right now.

 Volume 9 544 - Ophis’ Attire

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 544 -Ophis�� Attire</h4>


    The girls'' necks slowly turned like poorly oiled gears and faced the man carrying tea while grinning at the door entrance, "K-Kisuke?"


    Raising his free hand, Kisuke greeted them, "Yo~, it''s been a while."


    While Akeno remained stuck in her position, Irina immediately jumped on Kisuke and gave him a big hug and barraged him with questions, "Kisuke! You''ve returned! Where did you go and why did you only appear just now!? What about those crimes they are using you of!? They''re not true, right!?"


    Kisuke carefully caught her so that the hot tea in his hand wouldn''t spill on her, "Calm down, Irina. We can''t talk properly if you just cling to me. Aside from that, when did you get so clingy? Western influence?"


    Realizing her actions, Irina immediately separated from Kisuke with a flushed face and awkwardly scratched her head, "A-Ahaha, don''t mind it. Just really excited to see you in one piece after searching for so long."


    "Due to various reasons, I had to go away. I''m sorry for making you worry, and you can rest assured, those crimes theynded on my head aren''t my doing," answered Kisuke while patting her head out of habit.


    He then looked towards Akeno who was still staring at him with wide eyes, "If there''s one thing I didn''t expect, I never thought that you''d get involved in all of this, Himejima-san. Thank you for taking care of Ophis in my absence."


    Akeno blinked and slowly stood straight up before taking a deep breath and facing Kisuke again, "I only did what I must."


    Kisuke smiled and expressed his gratitude again, "I see. Thank you for your efforts. I want to say that I wanted to return the favor, but I already gave you two a very big service, so let''s just say that we''re even�� Hmm�� Wait, scratch that. Maybe I owe you a bit more."


    Akeno and Irina looked at each wondering what he''s talking about. Although Irina didn''t have the slightest clue, Akeno could guess what he did and turned to him once again, "So you''re the one who saved us?"


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s indeed the case. However, it''s a bitplicated to exin. For now, drink this tea to calm down. After that, I''ll have to do a check up on the two of you to see if there are any problems with your bodies. By the way, don''t use any magic for now before we''re done with the check-up."


    The girls immediately epted his offer and drank the cups of tea cleanly. Kisuke then led them towards another facility. It was only then they finally recalled that they''re only wearing a thin piece of a white gown, "Uhhmm�� Kisuke? Don''t you have better clothes? These clothes�� are too thin," asked Irina.


    While walking Kisuke answered, "I made it because it''s designed not to interfere with my equipment when I''m doing my check-ups. The only other choice you have right now is either that or buck naked."


    Irina suddenly stopped walking and looked at Kisuke with an unbelieving face as she realized something, "��You made it? T-then are you the one who also dressed us up? Not Serafall-sama?"


    Kisuke, however, just kept walking, "Well, yeah. I mean I hadn''t met Serafall at that time and Ophis changing your clothes was out of the question."


    Irina grumbled and twisted on her spot while she tried to endure something. But a minuteter, she sighed and said, "Haah�� Whatever�� What''s done is done. No point in dwelling on it."


    Kisuke looked back at her with a slightly surprised face, "You''re not going to say that I should take responsibility?"


    Irina gave him a look and replied, "I''m not that unreasonable, you know? I''m not going to ask something so irresponsible to my savior." She then turned towards Akeno and rolled her eyes at her, "What I''m wondering, however, is why you don''t have any reaction?"


    Akeno only gave her a mature smile and said, "Ara? It''s not a big deal, is it? Besides, it''s as you said. Urahara-san saved us so a little bit of service is fine~."


    Irina gritted her teeth as she felt that she just lost to her.


    "It seems that you two got closer to each other�� Well, enough of that. After your check-up, I''ll be telling you something important. Once that''s over and a resolution is achieved, we''ll meet your friends since they haven''t seen you ever since you went to save Ophis."


    Akeno and Irina got distracted by Kisuke''s words as they both felt the seriousness within his statement. They then decided to just follow him silently.


    The check-up took about an hour to finish and Kisuke was currently reviewing the data he gathered, "Good�� Everything is within expected parameters." muttered Kisuke as he thought, ''Even if they ask me to return them to their normal bodies now, it''ll be fine since I already got the needed data in my hand. Though I''d really like it if they can stay within that for longer, I can''t force them.''


    Akeno and Irina were waiting for Kisuke to finish reviewing his papers while Ophis was busily munching on her doughnuts. After a few minutes, Kisuke burned the papers with magic and looked towards the two of them, "Now then, let''s change the venue. Before I tell you the important thing, I want you to test your magic first." Kisuke stood up, and as if remembering something, "Right, you don''t need those attires now. Since you can''t use magic, Ophis-chan, mind-changing their clothes?"


    Ophis looked at Kisuke then to the two girls before nodding and pointing her finger towards them. ck mist engulfed the girls and disappeared just as fast, leaving Akeno and Irina wearing the same attire as Ophis, a gothic outfit with ck tape covering their nipples for tops.


    At the change to an unexpected attire that was even worse than Kisuke''s white gown, Irina shrieked while flushing as she tried to cover her tit.s. Although Akeno didn''t scream, she covered her chest with a blush on her face. At the same time, they both looked towards Kisuke, who surprisingly, already had a camera in his hand, "Hey!" howled Irina at him.


    Kisuke was startled and took away his camera. Smiling wryly, he replied, "My bad habit��" He then faced Ophis who resumed eating and said, "Ophis-chan, change their clothes to their school uniform. You know how it looks, right?"


    Ophis thought for a moment and did the same thing from earlier, but this time, Akeno and Irina were now wearing their school uniform. However, Ophis only knew how it looked outside, so Akeno and Irina can feel a soft drift on their crotches. But even though they were still embarrassed, it''s a lot better than Ophis'' attire.


    "Did you take any pictures?" asked Irina. ,


    Nevertheless, Kisuke ignored her question and exited the door while urging them, "Let''s hurry up. We don''t have all day and your friends are waiting for your return. Don''t make them worry more than necessary!"


    Learning from his previous antics, Akeno muttered, "He definitely has them."


    Of course, Kisuke won''t acknowledge this.


    =================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama''s casual exhibitionism continues! Another one for the scrapbook!

 Volume 9 545 - Magic Testing

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 545 - Magic Testing</h4>


    Reaching an open field, Kisuke first asked Akeno to test her magic.


    Standing in front of everyone, Akeno aimed her palm forwards and circted her Magic Power. As she did so, she noticed something different but couldn''t tell what it was. When she attempted to examine this more she suddenly heard Kisuke from behind, "Don''t think about it for now. Just cast your magic."


    ''So this has something to do with the important thing he''s about to tell us?'' Akeno thought as she cast her lighting.


    Akeno only intended to cast her most basic lightning magic, those that are made from her Demonic Power. However, the moment her lightning manifested, ck lightning also came with it and hit the boulder in the distance, destroying it more than she intended to, "��What?" asked Akeno to herself.


    "Please carry on," said Kisuke from behind her.


    Akeno wanted to ask a few things but held it in and just nodded at him. She tested the same magic a few more times and the ck lightning didn''t disappear, increasing the destructive power of her magic.


    Irina was also shocked at this scene and was confused as to what was happening. She then recalled that Kisuke also asked her not to use her magic and became tempted to use it. However, before she could do so, she got a stern warning from Kisuke, "Don''t do it. We''re doing these tests to see if there''s anything wrong or inherently dangerous with your current magic. It''ll be your turn soon, so please wait for it."


    "��So even I got that strangeness in my magic? You really have a lot of exining to do," replied Irina.


    "I know your concerns. But worry not, I''ll be giving you an option to return to normal," added Kisuke before returning his focus to Akeno.


    Seeing that it was a consistent thing, Akeno then tried using her Holy Powers. Before she could use her Holy Lightning, she first had to take out her wings. Feeling the familiar feeling on her back manifesting, she pointed her palm forward again. However, before she could cast her magic, Irina shouted, "Akeno!?"


    Wondering what it was, Akeno turned her head to the back and saw one of her Fallen Angel wings angled unusually higher. After fully inspecting what''s on her back, she too was taken aback, "What!? Three pairs!?"


    "I''ll also exin thatter. Please continue your test," urged Akeno.


    "��Fine." Akeno sighed and faced her front again and tested her Holy Lightning. Simr to the first one, it was apanied by ck lightning and the destructive power had increased at least two-fold.


    As before, Akeno tested it a few more times until a st of magic hit her from behind, "��!? Wha!? Guh!!!"


    Akeno flew uncontrobly in the air until shended on a cushion of magic. Dumbfounded, she looked back at the source of the attack and saw Kisuke pointing his palm towards her.


    "Kisuke!? What are you doing!?" Irina ran towards Akeno to check her injuries.


    Ignoring his childhood friend, Kisuke asked Akeno, "How are you feeling?"


    Akeno immediately figured that Kisuke attacked her with something in mind and reorganized her thoughts as she stood up with Irina''s assistance, "I knew for sure that an attack of that caliber would at least make some cuts on my back�� But I can''t feel anything."


    Irina looked at her back and only saw her uniform destroyed but her wings are fine, except for some red rashes on the surface of her skin, "Just some red rashes from the blunt force."


    Akeno shook her head, "No�� That may look like blunt magic, but that attack just now is full of tiny razors. It wasn''t intended to push an opponent, but createcerations."


    Irina was confused but before she could ask further questions to Akeno, Kisuke called out to her, "It''s your turn, Irina."


    "Are you going to attack me too?" she asked.


    "Yeah. You can defend yourself if you want," answered Kisuke.


    As Irina prepared herself, Akeno approached Kisuke, "Couldn''t you have warned me about that?"


    While taking out a potion, Kisuke apologized, "Ah, I''m sorry about that. If I told you beforehand, you have unconsciously defended yourself."


    "Yet you warned Irina about it��" Akeno pouted a bit and received the potion before asking, "What''s this?"


    "Medicine. Please drink it."


    Akeno looked at the red concoction for a few seconds before emptying it. A few secondster, Akeno immediately felt the relief and the rashes disappeared from her back, "Thanks." Akeno returned the bottle to Kisuke.


    "I needed to know your raw physical defense and after what I''ve done, it should be simr to Irina. Now that it was done, I needed to see the improvements in your magical defense. Though I apologize for the rough treatment�� and you''re wee."


    "��What you''ve done, I see��"


    The two of them then silently watched Irina test out her magic. Simr to Akeno''s, Irina''s light and holy magic were apanied by a ck aura, but instead of ck lightning, Irina''s offensive magic has ck outlines around it. And as they expected, the destructive power of the magic increased.


    Figuring out that it''s enough, Kisuke gathered his magic and Irina immediately felt it. Receiving Kisuke attack magic with her magic barrier, Irina easily blocked it. However, what''s intriguing is that her barrier is surrounded by red aura which she didn''t intend to add at all.


    Seeing this, Akeno also tried putting up a barrier and the same with Irina, it''s surrounded by red aura.


    "The ck took care of the offense while the red settled on defense�� Seems about right." muttered Kisuke.


    The girls made their barriers disappear and Akeno asked, "Are you going to exin what''s going on now?"


    "Yeah�� Please exin it to us. And I just noticed it now, my mark as Michael-sama''s ''Ace'' disappeared, but why am I still an Angel?" Although nothing changed in Irina''s appearance, including the number of her wings which is still only a pair, the insignia on her right hand that symbolizes that she''s an ''Ace'' is gone.


    "Let''s go back first so we can sit down." Kisuke turned towards their lodging and the silently munching Ophis hurriedly followed.


    Once they all sat down, Kisuke started, "First of all, let me tell you that there''s a way to return you to normal."


    Akeno and Irina felt relief. Although they don''t understand what''s going on, the fact that they could return to normal gave them some peace of mind.


    "Next is, allow me to tell you and exin everything first. I''ll answer your rted questions once I''m done."


    Akeno and Irina nodded.


    "Well then�� This is what happened," Kisuke then told them how he came across them in the Dimensional Gap with Ophis and Great Red and how their bodies were already beyond saving due to Samael''s poison and they were able to stay alive thanks to Ophis'' assistance and Great Red''s help.


    After that, Kisuke went into detail on how Great Red lent his flesh and Ophis lent her power for the reconstruction of their bodies and how he preserved their Devil and Angel aspects without the assistance of the Evil Piece and Brave Saint Card. They were sleeping for so long only because Kisuke was making necessary adjustments for their souls to adapt to their bodies.


    "S-so our bodies were made through homunculus technology?" asked Akeno with an incredulous face.


    "Yes. But as I have told you before, there''s a way to return to normal. I just have to create another set of bodies without those modifications I added."


    ====================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Well, Phis-chama was munching along the whole time! I imagine the speed-waddle-munch I''ve seen kids do while trying to multitask is what she was doing when running after Mr. Hat. Ophis = Offensive and Great Red = Defensive, makes sense I guess. At least his solution to problems isn''t "Hit it till it works." Wonder what Samael''s power will manifest as? It was a soul poison, so, soul defense/offense?

 Volume 9 546 - Issei’s Childhood Friend

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 546 - Issei��s Childhood Friend</h4>


    Akeno and Irina went silent as they digested Kisuke''s words. The fact that their original body was already gone gave them a veryplicated feeling, however, they knew that they were only saved because of Kisuke.


    Bowing her head, Akeno thanked him, "Before anything else, I''d like to express my gratitude. I don''t know how I can ever repay you."


    Irina also did the same, "Thank you very much for saving our lives."


    Kisuke smiled and replied, "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it. You two did take care of my ce and also took care of Ophis. On top of that, you only got into that situation because you wanted to save Ophis. That alone is enough for me to save your lives without asking anything."


    Akeno and Irina were still conflicted but Kisuke carried on, "Now then, the issue regarding your bodies, as you might have noticed, you received a bit of power up and that''s obviously because of Ophis'' and Great Red''s powers. Finally, the one separating those powers, Samael''s ''curse''."


    "The ck outline that you saw in your offensive magic was Ophis'' ''Blessing'' while the red aura that bolsters your defenses was Great Red''s ''Flesh''. Considering that, you''re not just a Devil, Fallen Angel, Angel nor Human, but also partly a Dragon."


    "Now then, here''s my question for both of you. Would you like to remain in these bodies? I can easily recreate your former bodies, and with the Evil Piece and Brave Saint Card, you should be able to return to your ''normal'' lives and post.


    "And although you can remain in this body, you should know that even though you''ve gained power, it''s technically not yours to begin with, and you would have a hard time controlling it. On top of that, I can only promise stabilization and I don''t know what the future holds for you. I''m giving you an option here, but I won''t withhold the fact that the safest choice you have is to return to your normal bodies."


    Hence, everyone became silent. For the next ten minutes, Kisuke watched their expression change multiple times. Although he didn''t know what kind ofplicated thoughts were going through their heads, he got the gist of it and felt d that they didn''t just instantly jump in for power.


    Kisuke then stood up and said, "Alright, I''ll work on those normal bodies now. But since I''m busy with my other stuff, I might take a while."


    Akeno and Irina were startled, "W-what? But we haven''t even given you an answer."


    "You''ve thought long enough. If you''re still hesitating, then this isn''t it for you nor you should push through this as only regret will follow." replied Kisuke as he started walking away, "Besides, I guess it''s better this way since I won''t be staying here for long."


    "Wait! What do you mean, Kisuke? Are you going again somewhere?" asked Irina with a concerned expression.


    Kisuke stopped walking and turned his head to them, "Yeah�� As you might have noticed, I''m the only one here. Due to someplicated matters, I can''t return with the girls. I''m only here to check on mom and set some other things."


    Akeno and Irina finally recalled the other missing people that were supposed to be with him, "Y-yeah�� Where are they? How''s Koneko? What about Sona-kaichou?" asked Akeno.


    "They''re fine, though Koneko, Sona and Aika are unconscious right now due to them overexerting themselves," While saying this, Kisuke was making a gentle smile, "Now that I think about it, I left them without properly saying goodbye. I guess I should speed things up so that I can return sooner. Sorry, but I have to go. I still need to do a lot of things. And by the way, after I''m done setting everything up, we''ll return to the surface. Your friends are worried about you."


    Shocked, Akeno and Irina could only stare at his distant figure as more thoughts shed through their minds. However, one thing was very clear in their heads and thought, ''He can smile like that?''


    .


    . ,


    .


    Inside the Hyoudou Residence, many people were waiting in the living room after Azazel received a message from Kisuke that he was going to bring Akeno and Irina back.


    In addition to everyone from the ult Research Club, Student Council and Vali''s team, Serafall, Grayfia, Azazel, Barakiel and Dulio were waiting for their arrival.


    After Serafall told Sirzechs, Ajuka, Falbium, Michael and Azazel about Akeno and Irina''s situation, they decided not to tell anyone else what was going on. Aside from Barakiel, Grayfia, and Dulio, nobody else knew what Kisuke did to the girls. After all, he did something unbelievable, something that was currently impossible to achieve even with theirbined efforts.


    Although Sirzechs and Ajuka were very interested, they couldn''te as they''d look very suspicious if most of the big wigs went to a single location.


    While waiting for their arrival, Xenovia couldn''t help but be nervous about the real situation of her best friend.


    Seeing this, Azazelforted her, "Rx, will ya? Serafall already confirmed that they''re safe. Though they met with an ident, they''re fine now."


    Tapping her legs, Xenovia replied, "I know�� But after hearing that her Brave Saint Card returned without her and it only meant one thing, I''d already lost my hope. Now that news of her saying that she''s fine, I can''t calm down until I can actually see her."


    "I know how you''re feeling, but you''re not alone. Look." Azazel then pointed towards Rias and the rest of the Student Council who seemed to be thinking deeply about something.


    "Who''s this Kisuke Urahara anyway? I only knew him through the reports and the crimes he apparentlymitted." implored Rossweisse.


    Azazel rubbed his chin before giving an answer, "He''s Issei''s childhood friend. At first, we thought he was just a simple Sacred Gear wielder, until he single handedly defeated the transformed Kokabiel. We also thought that he was a human, but apparently not. Although he uses the general type of magic mostly, it seems he''s also capable of using an unknown system of magic which he also taught to a few individuals who aren''t here now."


    "In short, he''s a very mysterious guy that''s capable of causing great trouble."


    As Azazel finished his words with a sigh, a series of ps suddenly resounded in the mostly quiet room, "My~, if you praise me that much, I''ll get embarrassed."


    Everyone shivered at the sudden casual voice as they turned to its source. There, they saw Kisuke sitting on the couch beside Issei with a cup of tea in his hand and a grin on his face.


    "Kisuke!" Issei shouted at him.


    "As loud as ever, I see." Kisuke patted his shoulder and also used that chance to give him a quick inspection, ''It went differently than I thought, huh?''


    ================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Helping Phis-chama gets a free "Get out of Death" card. This actually seems consistent with canon. The upgrades though! THE UPGRADES! GAAAAH!


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 547 - Lord Sitri and Lady Sitri

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 547 - Lord Sitri and Lady Sitri</h4>


    "S-since when were you here?" asked Azazel with a twitching face.


    "Since you told the former Exorcist-san to rx," replied Kisuke.


    ''From that time!?'' Everyone shuddered yet again, especially the strong individuals so proud of their detection abilities.


    Kisuke then faced Asia who was also beside him standing and holding a tea kettle, "Asia-san, thanks for the tea. It''s delicious~."


    Rias experienced a sense of d��j�� vu and asked Asia, "A-Asia!? Why didn''t you say that he was already here?"


    "K-Kisuke-san told me that he wanted to watch first��" answered Asia with a flustered voice.


    "Don''t me her, okay~. I just wanted to look around first before formally speaking with you." Kisuke then started looking around, "But damn~, Issei, you''ve got a nice house renovation~. It even has an indoor pool!"


    Hearing that, Serafall retorted, "Says the guy who can dig tens of cubic kilometers for an underground hideout, overnight."


    Azazel and Grayfia reacted when they heard about the ''hideout'' but didn''t say anything about it. This wasn''t the right time to discuss that.


    Pushing forward, Azazel redirected the conversation, "So, where are the girls? Why didn''t youe with them?"


    Everyone became quiet, waiting for Kisuke''s answer.


    Kisuke first eyed Azazel and smiled, "As I''ve said, I came first to look around."


    Understanding the underlying meaning behind his words, Azazel nodded, "I see�� You wanted to see if we''re going to trap you or something."


    Serafall''s eyes widened and looked at Kisuke, "Kisuke��"


    Seeing that, Kisuke immediately corrected her conclusion, "Don''t get it wrong, Serafall-sama. I trust you, but that doesn''t extend to the other leaders. After all, whether I really did it or not, I''m still officially a wanted criminal."


    Serafall heaved a sigh of relief after hearing that.


    Azazel scratched his head and replied, "Fair point. So? Where are they?"


    pping his hands, a green magic circle appeared in the living room. A secondter, Akeno and Irina, still in their school uniform, appeared in front of everyone�� Along with Ophis, "Oh, you came too?" asked Kisuke.


    However, ignoring everything else, Xenovia ran towards Irina and hugged her while crying out loud, "Irina! Irina!" The relief of actually seeing her best friend in good condition opened the floodgates for her tears.


    Simrly, Rias, Gasper, Asia, Yuuto, Issei, Barakiel and Dulio also ran towards them to check their condition and confirm that they are truly in a safe condition. Kisuke already told them that they shouldn''t reveal what he did to their bodies as he already predicted that the leaders would be keeping this a secret.


    Ophis, on the other hand, weaved through people and arrived at Kisuke, before sitting on hisp.


    Those that didn''t approach Akeno and Irina instead went to Kisuke as they had some more pressing matters to ask. Most of which are from the Student Council and Vali''s team.


    Tsubaki went in front of Kisuke and pleaded, "Urahara-san�� Please tell us what happened to Sona-kaichou." Behind her were the rest of the Student Council, who are making simr faces of extreme concern. Although they already heard from Serafall that Sona was fine, they still wanted to hear it from the person who supposedly was with her, and if possible, see her.


    Before Kisuke could answer her, Vali also stepped forward and said, "I''d also like to know what happened to Kuroka."


    "Please wait!" Rias suddenly called their attention, "I would also like to hear about Koneko."


    Kisuke was about to speak again but he was interrupted by Serafall, "Wait, Ki-tan! Before you say anything��" Serafall then activated a magic circle on the table in front of him and a hologram of two people that has uncanny simrities with Sona and Serafall came into view, "Please meet my parents~."


    Seeing the man and woman with stern expressions, Kisuke instantly thought, ''Ah, they''re older ''Sona''s''��''


    "Did you just think of something rude?" asked Serafall.


    "No way that''s the case~. I''m just a bit surprised." Kisuke then picked up Ophis and set her to the side before standing up and taking off his hat, "It''s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Sitri and Lady Sitri."


    Upon closer inspection, however, Kisuke noticed that Sona and Serafall''s father was enduring something, ''An imbnce in the soul?''


    "I''ve been meaning to meet you, Kisuke Urahara. I''m the current head of the Sitri n, Dn Sitri and this is my wife, Cordelia." Lord Sitri introduced himself and his wife, "But enough about that. Where''s my daughter?"


    Kisuke sighed, "I know everyone is worried about the girls who''re supposedly with me, but I can only say that they are safe and leading a good life."


    Dn furrowed his brows and asked, "Did you think we''re going to be satisfied with just that? Where are they anyway and why are you the only one here?"


    Kisuke closed his eyes and bowed slightly towards Sona''s parents, "I can''t really disclose too much to anyone, so I would like to apologize. All I can say is that due to a certain ident, we wound up in a strange ce�� A ce that is very hard to reach and get out from. Even by myself, I almost died in my attempt to return to this ce."


    Kisuke then looked towards them again, "As of now, I can''t let them take the same risk. Not until I can make sure that they won''t suffer from any damage during our travel."


    Everyone became silent at his words. They could tell that Kisuke was very serious with his statement and they have a feeling that he won''t be revealing anything further.


    "��Kisuke-kun." Cordelia suddenly spoke up, "��Is my daughter happy?"


    Kisuke stopped to think for a moment before replying, "I would say she''s happy, but I guess you can''t really take my word for it." Kisuke knew that Sona''s mother was only asking such a question to relieve her worries, however, even with Kisuke verbal confirmation, he can''t really take away all of her worries.


    At that moment, Kisuke thought of something, "Ah�� That thing will work." He then took out two rectangr blue crystals. While one of them is very clean, the other one is full of lines inside it. On its surface, English inscription read as ''Record01''.


    "What''s that?" asked Serafall.


    "It''s something I made. I call it a memory crystal. It can record what''s happening around it," Kisuke exined simply, before putting the two crystals together and a magic circle appeared in between them. A few secondster, the clean crystal slowly became full of lines, the same as the first one and finished it with the same English inscription. But instead of ''Record01'', it was ''Record01_copy''.


    "Mind me sending this over to you?" asked Kisuke towards Lord Sitri and Lady Sitri as he lifted the ''copy'' crystal.


    Confused and suspicious, Dn asked, "What will it do?"


    "In here is a recording of our daily lives." Using the magic circle that manifested their hologram, Kisuke sent them the memory crystal. A secondter, Dn is already holding the crystal in his hand.


    "How do you activate this?" he asked.


    "It doesn''t have any inscriptions so please just pour your Demonic Power in it to keep it activated." At the same time that Dn activated the crystal on his side, Kisuke also activated what was on his hand and the surroundings suddenly changed.


    Everyone in the room was suddenly dragged into a living room of another house.


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    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama knew what she wanted and made a beeline to it with the grace and poise expected of an entity older than time itself. She didn''t get to stay in her spot for long though, sadly.

 Volume 9 548 - Escape

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 548 - Escape</h4>


    The sudden change confused everyone, but those who''re sensitive to the changes in the surrounding instantly figured out what''s going on. However, Kisuke still exined it for those who can''t understand, "Please remain calm. All you''re seeing right now is just a projection created through magic. However, that doesn''t mean that we''ve changed locations, so please be aware of the obstacles from the ''real world''."


    "So you mean Virtual Reality?" asked Issei.


    "Yep~. It''s technically like that, but you can''t interact with any objects here. As I have told everyone earlier, this is just a projection. Dn-sama, please send another pulse of your Demonic Power to y the recording."


    As Kisuke instructed, Dn started ying the recording and Kisuke also yed it at the same time.


    Instantly, the world became alive as minute sounds started tickling everyone''s ears. A few secondster, everyone heard footstepsing along with familiar voices, [Finally done for today! Dang it! Yoruichi refused to hold back anymore! I can''t even react to most of her movements! How are we supposed to fight back!?]


    [Aika-senpai, you''re not alone. I also took a beating�� Even Kuroka-neesama got her butt spanked a few times.]


    Hearing those familiar voices, Rias reacted, "Koneko!?"


    "That voice�� Aika Kiryuu?" muttered Issei as he recalled his other missing ssmate.


    The footsteps reached the door of the living room and opened up. There, they saw three girls enter the room, "Sona��" Dn and Cordelia muttered.


    "Sona-chan��" Serafall also murmured after seeing the one leading the two. Coincidentally, Serafall was standing in the direction that Sona was walking. However, ''Sona'' only went through her and reached the couch of the living room.


    [Are you sure you''d want to take Yoruichi''s lessons?] asked Aika as she also sat down along with Koneko.


    Sona became silent for a moment before saying, [��Maybe I will bother Kisuke.]


    The three of them then proceeded to talk about random things, from their training and their studies in high school that they didn''t neglect.


    A few minutester, a purple-haired little girl in a maid uniform entered the room carrying some beverages and snacks, [Good work for today, everyone.]


    [Ah, Medu-chan~! Thanks as always!] Aika stood up and assisted the little girl to distribute the snacks.


    Sona picked up a cookie and took out a book from her personal space, [Medusa-san, you''re done with your work, right? Join us and rx for a bit.]


    Medusa thought for a while before saying, [Hmm�� I''m free until an hour before dinner time.] She then sat down beside Sona and the two of them started their own conversation, mostly about magic.


    Soon after, the door m opened and a short girl with unbelievable proportions, sporting twintails entered the room in a hurry before diving into the couch, [*******************] she shouted in an unknownnguage with delight.


    As soon as she entered the room, everybody also started using thatnguage, leaving the audience confused and shocked.


    "Anguage I can''t understand?" muttered Grayfia.


    Azazel turned his head towards her and said, "So it''s not only me?" He then looked at others who were making confused expressions and figured that everyone was having the same problem. As Angels, Fallen Angels and Devils, they should have basic abilities that could understand anynguage in this world.


    Azazel finally looked towards Kisuke but before he could say anything, Kisuke beat him to it, "You won''t get anything from me regarding this."


    Remembering what kind of ce this is, Serafall''s expression returned to normal, ''So it''s true that they''re not in this world��''


    The scene continued until Yoruichi and Kuroka entered the room and the girls became even more lively. The scene ended when the little maid exited the room, presumably, to prepare their dinner.


    The surroundings were then covered in ck. Although it looked dark, everyone who was watching could still see each other clearly. A few secondster, another world materialized, and this time, it was the streets that looked like it came from a fantasy world where different races walk about wearing practical clothing.


    The familiar people in this scene were Kisuke and Sona, who for some reason were shopping for ingredients together. The two of them were enjoying themselves while talking in the unknownnguage.


    Soon after, the scene changed again where Koneko and Kuroka were practicing their strange form of Senjutsu.


    The scene changed multiple times and it showed Kisuke and the girls'' daily lives in this strange ce, and it''s obvious for everyone who could see it that they''re living busily but also happily.


    Although they would bicker sometimes due to their differences, it''d be resolved soon after and mostly with the help of the short-stacked girl. This shows that they''re in a very healthy rtionship and not just together because the situation asked for it.


    "The super stern Sona-chan�� Is smiling a lot, isn''t she?" Serafall murmured.


    "Hmmm�� Not sure if she''s smiling a lot or not�� I didn''t really notice any difference." replied Kisuke while he rubbed his chin.


    Serafall, along with Dn and Cordelia, became surprised, before a small smile appeared Serafall''s face, "Is that so? Then forget what I just said."


    More scenes came up until it reached where Sona entered Kisuke''s study to ask a few things about magic. Seeing this, Kisuke felt that he was forgetting something until the ''Kisuke'' and ''Sona'' in the recording finished their conversation and thetter asked for a good night kiss, ''Ah�� I remembered.''


    Snapping his finger, Kisuke immediately ended the recording, "Yep~! They''re doing fine aren''t they~?"


    The surroundings returned to normal and Kisuke took back his memory crystal while everyone was giving him various stares.


    "��Ki-tan�� You��" Serafall murmured with an unbelieving face.


    Ignoring her, Kisuke turned to everyone and said, "So that''s everything from me today. Since there''s nothing else and I still need to do some stuff, I have to say my farewells. See you around~." Kisuke then grabbed Ophis and teleported away, escaping from the scene.


    The first one to react after Kisuke left is Saji, "W-whaaaaat!!!???"


    Soon after, Issei added, "Holy sh*t! Kaichou and Kisuke are going out!?"


    Cordelia, who was still watching, held her cheek with a small smile, "Ara, I never knew Sona could make such a maidenly face."


    "That bastard!" Dn gritted his teeth as he mumbled.


    "I''m following him!" Serafall then dered and teleported away.


    While everyone was talking about the recording they''d seen, two particr girls were stuck in ce, thinking of thest scene.


    .


    .


    .


    Serafall arrived at the hideout and immediately noticed Ophis sitting on the side while Kisuke was behind multiple magic barriers looking at her, "Ki-tan~? You''ve got a lot of exining to do~!" Serafall sported a smile that didn''t reach her eyes as she took a step forward towards him and cold air started to gather around her, freezing the ground on each of her steps.


    "Wait! Sera-chan! I know what that looks like, but calm down first and allow me to say a few words!"


    "I''m calm, alright? Why don''t you get out of your shell first?" With a wave of her hand, cold air blew towards Kisuke and his first barrier instantly froze before breaking into many pieces.


    ''Whew~. As expected of a Devil King~!'' Kisuke thought as he tried to form a n in his head.


    =====================


    =====================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, Sera-chan didn''t give her blessing for that rtionship! She''s gone into Onee-sama mode! Phis-chama is sitting on the side, watching this chaos unfold. Her life became incredibly entertaining once Hat came home.

 Volume 9 549 - Dylan’s Ailment

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 549 - Dn��s Ailment</h4>


    After dealing with the frozen scenery, Kisuke went towards Serafall who was still pouting, "Now now, Sera-chan. You don''t have to be that angry."


    "I''m not angry�� It''s just that I''m disappointed that I wasn''t there when So-tan became honest with herself! I already knew that it''de to this, but I just didn''t expect it''d be this soon," replied Serafall as she sighed.


    She then faced Kisuke with a serious expression, "However, that doesn''t mean I don''t have any expectations for her partner! For starters, he should be at least stronger than Sirzechs-chan!"


    Kisuke smiled wryly and scratched his cheek as he recalled the day he went to the Underworld and felt the immense Demonic Power and destructive properties of Sirzechs Power of Destruction before he faced Hades, "Such a high requirement, aren''t you afraid that your sister will be forever single?"


    Although he had a few ways to deal with it, only those who are nigh indestructible would be able to face it head-on.


    Serafall red at him and asked, "Are you saying you can''t do it?" Serafall already heard from Azazel and Sirzechs of what he had done to Hades, and could safely assume that he''s at least at the Satan level.


    Kisuke chuckled at that and replied, "I''ll work hard on it~." He then sat down beside her and said, "Although Sona-chan is indeed important, that isn''t the only reason you''re here right?"


    Serafall pouted yet again, "And I''m supposed to have worked for foreign affairs of the Underworld�� How can you read me so easily?"


    "You always drop your guard around me and your expression ckens," answered Kisuke as if it''s a matter of fact.


    Serafall was startled at his words and did a quick self-evaluation. Realizing that she indeed has been putting her guard down around him too much, she questioned why this was, but she couldn''t find the answer. However, there''s an even more pressing matter so she set this aside for now, "Whatever. There''s someone who wanted to meet you that came into contact with me in secret. No one else even knew about this aside from me."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows and tried to think of people who wanted to meet him in secret. It was then narrowed to one person, but Kisuke still asked Serafall for confirmation, "Who is it?"


    "I don''t know why someone from the faction that wanted to capture you the most would want to contact you in secret�� It''s Athena," answered Serafall.


    "So it''s really her��" murmured Kisuke.


    It was Serafall''s turn to furrow her brows, "What''s your rtionship with her?"


    "Well, I just ran into her and got a hold of her weakness." Kisuke answered vaguely. ,


    Of course, that didn''t clear up Serafall''s suspicions. But she also didn''t delve deeper into it as she can tell that Kisuke didn''t want to say more about it, "So are you going to meet her? Since the news of your reappearance has emerged, I''m sure she''s already waiting."


    "Simrly, Olympus will try to get hold of any information about you and will surely pressure the Alliance to help out. Naturally, they''ll only do some basic stuff and won''t be pursuing you, so you don''t have to worry about it."


    "Please help me schedule a meeting with her. As for the location, I''ll be preparing it."


    Serafall then stood up and said, "Understood. This might also clear up some mysteries on what''s going on with the weird atmosphere on Olympus."


    When Serafall was about to leave however, Kisuke suddenly stopped her, "Sera-chan, please wait. I still have something I want to talk about. It''s regarding Lord Sitri, your father."


    "Father? What''s wrong with him?"


    "It seems that no one else has noticed, but there''s something wrong with him."


    "W-what?�� What do you mean?" Serafall became nervous at Kisuke''s words.


    "Ah, I''m sorry about my wording, but please don''t worry. I just noticed that your father is a bit ''unhealthy'' and would want to check on him for a bit. Though not much, I''m a bit of a doctor."


    Almost ignoring his words, Serafall suddenly grabbed Kisuke''s hands and said, "Let''s go to the main house now!"


    ''Looks like I gave her an unnecessary worry,'' Kisuke thought as he stood up from Serafall''s pull. He then faced Ophis and said while patting her head, "I won''t be long so wait for me. It''ll be dangerous for everyone from the Sitri n if someone else were to know you went there."


    Ophis nodded at him and replied, "I shall wait."


    Kisuke smiled and faced Serafall, "Let''s go."


    Serafall then teleported with Kisuke without any further words.


    As soon as they reappeared, Kisuke immediately analyzed his surroundings and noticed two people inside a room which looked like a study. And those people were those who he just met earlier, Dn Sitri and Cordelia Sitri.


    Dn and Cordelia were just discussing what they''d just watched and were shocked at their sudden appearance. However, instead of questioning them, Dn immediately blew his top off after he saw Serafall holding Kisuke''s hand, "You bastard! I haven''t even approved of your rtionship with Sona and yet here you are making a move on my first daughter! Do you still want to live, brat!?"


    "Ah?" Serafall was startled at her angry father when she recalled that she was still holding Kisuke''s hand and how it looked in front of her parents. Immediately taking back her hand, Serafall chuckled embarrassedly, "Ah, dad, you got it wrong. I''m just urging him toe with me!"


    Cordelia also tried to calm Dn but Serafall''s action didn''t miss her, ''Since when did this child act embarrassed?''


    After a few minutes of consoling from both his daughter and wife, Dn was able to finally calm down and faced Kisuke after he sat down on his seat behind the desk, "And? What brought you here?"


    Finally remembering what they came here for, Serafall suddenly mmed Dn''s desk, "Right! Dad! Are you hiding something from us!? Like some health problems!?"


    Cordelia''s eyes widened, looked towards Dn who was now making a difficult face, "Dn�� You��"


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just waited for them to sort this out themselves.


    While crumpling his face Dn sighed, "��How did you know? Did the doctors of our institution disclose it to you?"


    At these questions, Serafall became even more shocked, "So you do have some health problems�� What is it? Why didn''t you tell us anything?"


    Dn put both of his elbows on his desk and sighed again, "I didn''t want to make all of you worry and I thought someone would be able toe up with a solution before I sumb to it."


    Something then shed inside Cordelia''s head and recalled the recent research focus of their institution, "Do you mean that ''sleep disease''?"


    "Sleep disease?" Serafall muttered as she recalled the details surrounding it. The ''sleep disease'' is the same disease that put Sairaorg''s mother into aa and it''s a very rare disease among the Devils that takes away one''s consciousness until the body dies. As of now, no cure has been formted and the cause of this disease is still unknown.


    Dn nodded at his wife''s words, "Yes. A few years ago, symptoms of it started manifesting, and just two years ago that we were able to confirm that I''m indeed on the road towards that. That''s why I asked our researchers to focus on its study before I lose consciousness. I''m sorry for keeping this from all of you."


    Dn then shook his head and looked towards Serafall, "Though I must say that I''m very disappointed with our researchers. I didn''t think that someone in the team would disclose it to you. Mind telling me who did it?"


    Still shocked at her father''s revtion, Serafall stuttered, "N-no, dad�� It wasn''t one of them�� It''s Ki-tan who told me that something is wrong with your health��"


    It was Dn''s turn to be surprised and faced Kisuke, "You?"


    ======================


    ======================


    ======================


    Editors:


    28th00: I can''t remember if we dealt with Mi''s condition yet in this story, but Kisuke is about to no-sell it. Soul diseases, I guess it only affects devils because they''re more of a Spiritual Being than a Physical Being. Kisuke literally specialises in this specific field. The Soul Health field that is. Just look at Benihime! Phis-chama waits patiently at home, she''s a good dragon.


    Goyya: They haven''t dealt with Mi''s condition yet, but it''ll be indirect help from Kisuke through the Sitri meds. And for those who might be wondering why Sona''s father have this condition, this isn''t just for plot convenience but Sona''s father fell intoa and she has to return from the frontlines to inherit his position in canon.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 550 - Cure

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 550 - Cure</h4>


    Taking off his hat, Kisuke reintroduced himself, "It''s a pleasure to meet you in person. And Serafall-sama is correct, I''m the one who shed light on this issue to your daughter."


    "I see. I''ll assume that it''s for a good reason, but how were you able to get hold of this information?" asked Dn with inquisitive eyes. Depending on his answer, it would look like Kisuke was already targeting the Sitri n a long time ago by acquiring this piece of sensitive information.


    In face of this, Kisuke just calmly smiled, "I know your concerns, Dn-sama, but please rest assured that I was only able to take note of this earlier."


    Dn''s brows rose, "Earlier? Are you trying to say that you noticed something amiss with me just from our short interaction and through a holographic image? You do know that even my family didn''t notice anything, right? Yet you im you were able to see through me just like that?"


    "That''s correct."


    "So I''m supposed to believe that? Might as well say that you have a cure for it," Dn sneered at him.


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "Of course not~. I wouldn''t have something so convenient~."


    Dn was about to reply but Serafall interrupted him and asked Kisuke, "Ki-tan! Couldn''t you do something? Since you noticed it, you might already have an idea of how to resolve this�� Please."


    "Serafall. You believe him?" asked Dn.


    Serafall stared straight towards her father''s eyes and answered, "Yes."


    "But��" However, before Dn could continue, he felt a hand on his right shoulder and looked over it, "Cordelia�� Even you?"


    "It''s a stretch to say that I trust him, however, I trust our daughter." Cordelia then looked towards Kisuke, "Young man, although you already said that you don''t have a cure for it, I hope there are some actions that you think we can take?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Of course. That''s the reason that I''m here. Even though I noticed Dn-sama''s ailment, I don''t know much about it. So if you were to allow it, please let me do an in-depth check-up on you. That way, I may be able to find at least something that can suppress the symptoms."


    Silence then engulfed the room as Dn and Kisuke stared at each other. A minuteter, Dn sighed, "Fine�� I''ll trust my daughter for now. What do you need? We have aplete set of medical equipment within the mansion but we have better ones in our territory''s institution."


    "I''m sorry but the equipment that I use is a bit special which I made myself so we have to do it in my ce."


    Startled, Serafall asked, "Your ce? But you��"


    "It''s fine. Either way, I already nned to abandon it for a better location. With that, let me take my leave first as I have to prepare a few things. Serafall-sama will be leading you." Not waiting for anyone, Kisuke teleported away.


    Dn turned to Serafall and asked, "His ce?"


    "It''s a bit of a special ce, but for now, let''s prepare to leave," answered Serafall.


    .


    .


    .


    Half an hourter, Serafall, Dn and Cordelia arrived in the middle of the underground wastnd and the one who weed them was the Dragon God, "��This way." Ophis then turned towards a certain direction and started walking.


    Dn''s mouth twitched at their reception, "T-this is��"


    "Let''s go, dad, mom," urged Serafall as she followed Ophis.


    Dn and Cordelia looked at each other and decided not to say anything and follow.


    Some timeter, they reached Kisuke''s ''clinic'' and entered. Waiting for them inside was Kisuke, not in his shihakusho but instead a traditional whiteb coat, "Wee~. Dn-sama please change into this. You may use that room."


    Dn nodded at him and took the white robe that Kisuke passed him and went towards the room he pointed. Kisuke then turned towards the girls and pointed towards a table with some sweets and warm tea, where Ophis was already helping herself, "Please wait over there. It may take half an hour to examine everything."


    "I''ll be leaving my husband to you," Cordelia then smiled, "And if you can find a solution, then I''ll automatically approve of your rtionship with my daughter~. So do your best."


    Kisuke grinned and replied, "I guess I have to put in some effort~." He then turned towards the room where Dn went and before he entered the room, he dered, "I''ll do my best~."


    Cordelia suddenly turned to Serafall when Kisuke went away, "What about you? Isn''t it about time you find a man for yourself?"


    "I don''t need it and neither do I want it!" answered Serafall immediately as she sat down beside Ophis.


    Cordelia gave her a look of suspicion and asked, "Hmmm�� You are not aiming for him, right?"


    Serafall was startled at her mother''s words, "W-wha��! No! Ki-tan is a good friend!"


    While the mother was poking fun at her daughter, Kisuke started Dn''s examination. But instead of half an hour, it took Kisuke an hour to do everything after getting Dn''s permission to try out some possible cures.


    "Whew~�� Congrattions, Dn-sama. It''s done." Kisuke used his magic to clear the sweat that had been umting on his head.


    Dn stood up and looked at himself. He did some stretching and some exercises and was able to confirm that the symptoms that has been guing him had disappeared, "It''s really gone? I''m cured?" muttered Dn as he looked at his hands which his former strength had returned to.


    "Yes. This ''sleep disease'' that you experienced is when the soul''s ''frequency'' became out of sync with the body. And to cure it, I had to fix this problem," exined Kisuke.


    "Out of sync? Isn''t that a homunculus problem? How did you do it when I don''t have a homunculus body?�� Wait�� Could it be��"


    "It''s as you''ve guessed. I directly adjusted the imbnce in your soul. Unlike real bodies, homunculus bodies were created ''adjustable'' to better suit the soul. However, even though ''frequencies'' of the soul are always changing ever so slightly, the artificial couldn''t keep at it as well as natural bodies do, so the former would need constant medication depending on their ''cycle'' throughout their lives."


    "Without that, I had no choice but to adjust the soul directly. Nevertheless, this problem only urred because the soul''s ''frequency'' changed too much that the body was having a hard time catching up until it couldn''t anymore and the two entities disconnected, hence, leading to losing consciousness until the ''frequencies'' were close enough to meet again."


    Dn became silent and thought for a few minutes before facing Kisuke again, "Mind if I take a look at my data?"


    Without a word, Kisuke passed him the documents that recorded his state before and after his check-up.


    Although he couldn''t be considered an expert, he still had a vast amount of medical knowledgepared to ordinary people as he was always in talks with the medical experts in his territory and had to understand the things that were presented to him.


    Dn looked over his data for over ten minutes and sighed, "As expected�� There are only a few things that I can understand from this. You really do have a special method of diagnosis."


    "However, I can still confirm that I''m cured�� At least, physically so I can''t safely assume that you indeed found a way to cure this ''incurable'' disease that was already present since ancient times. Though I''ll have myself examined again by my doctors once I''ve returned. I hope this doesn''t offend you."


    Kisuke shook his head, "No. That''s a natural step. You don''t exactly know what I did and you need to take some precautions in case something out of the ordinary happens."


    Dn sighed, "In any case, if I''m really fully cured, I''d like to apologize to you for this behavior when we meet again. And hopefully, you can part with the cure. I''m willing to pay arge price."


    "Hmm��" Kisuke stroked his chin and went towards one of the terminals, "I''d like you to receive it now as I don''t know when we''ll meet again. Naturally, I don''t know if your ''sleep disease'' is the same as the ''sleep disease'' that has been guing others, but I could give you a diagnostic method for it along with the blueprints of the special equipment that you''ll be needing."


    "Of course, this ''cure'' may be used for something other than its intended use so I''ll also be adding a diagnostic method to figure out whether the soul was intentionally tampered with using this method." Kisuke then took out a USB stick from the terminal and passed it to Dn, "As for the price, please consider it as a gift and my apology for dragging Sona along with me~."


    While smiling, Dn also red at Kisuke, "Damn you�� You just had to make it difficult for me to ept this."


    Chuckling, Kisuke added, "Iya~. Please don''t consider this as a bribe but as my good will~."


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    Editors:


    28th00: Does this count as a dowry for Sona (and Serafall, even if she''s in denial)? Phis-chama is ying the part of a good guide, she''s even sharing her snack time with others! I''m so proud of her!


    Goyya: If they were to ask for a dowry, then they''ll regret it. Too much of good is also bad, lol.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 551 - Godly Guests

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 551 - Godly Guests</h4>


    Serafall and Cordelia were getting worried because they had already been in the room for more than double Kisuke''s stipted time. However, it''s not like they can just barge in since it may cause moreplications than actually help.


    Just as they were about to lose their patience, Kisuke and Dn finally got out of the room and thetter was already dressed up with his former attire, "Darling�� How was it?" Cordelia and Serafall immediately approached them.


    Dn didn''t say anything immediately and instead looked at Kisuke for a moment before smiling, "This brat really did it. Not just a simple check-up, but he also went ahead and cured it for me."


    The girls'' eyes widened and extreme happiness overcame them, "Really!? Yaay!" Serafall opened her arms and was about to hug Kisuke out of appreciation. However, just as she was about to do so, she suddenly felt both of her parents'' stares and became very conscious of her actions. So instead, she turned to her father without pause and hugged him, "Yaay!!!"


    But instead of being d of this change of heart, Dn and Cordelia were instead even more surprised. Serafall was their daughter and even if they don''t really like her antics, they knew her well. Serafall, if she was happy about something she would cling onto someone she''s fairly close with without thinking about it.


    Dn and Cordelia only stared at her actions as a form of reprimand and also as a form of light teasing. Nevertheless, they didn''t expect Serafall would suddenly be conscious of her usual actions.


    While looking down at his smiling daughter, Dn suddenly snapped his head towards Kisuke and dered with a re, "I''ll never give you Serafall!"


    Of course, Kisuke and Serafall were dumbfounded, "Uhmm�� It seems there''s a bit of misunderstanding. I''m going out with your other daughter, Sona-chan, not Serafall-sama."


    "That''s right, dad�� What are you talking about?"


    "Nothing�� I''m just reminding him."


    On the side, Cordelia only chuckled, "Kisuke-kun, however may we pay this debt to you?"


    "Please don''t think about it anymore. Just you approving my rtionship with Sona is more than enough." replied Kisuke as he looked at his wristwatch, "I''m sorry, but I cannot entertain you any longer as I need to do something else."


    Dn fixed his clothes and said, "It''s fine. We already bothered you long enough. I have to return now for further examinations. Let''s meet again some other time." He then faced Cordelia and Serafall, "Let''s go."


    "I''d like to stay longer. I need to discuss something with Ki-tan," replied Serafall.


    Seeing her serious demeanor, Dn nodded, "Alright. We''ll go first. Once again, I thank you for your efforts, Kisuke Urahara. I''ll make sure that your ''cure'' won''t be misused."


    "You''re very much wee~. And if you are nning to release this to the public, please don''t add my name to it. We wouldn''t like unnecessaryplications and I don''t really like fame either. I''m just a pursuer of knowledge and nothing more."


    Dn closed his eyes and answered, "I see. I''ll take note of that. Well then, goodbye." He and Cordelia then teleported away.


    "Well then, when are they willing to meet up?" Kisuke disrobed hisb coat and put on his shihakusho as he asked Serafall.


    "Athena told me that she''d like to meet you as soon as possible. Not just that, she wanted you to meet another person, though she didn''t reveal the identity of herpanion," replied Serafall.


    Kisuke nodded, "Alright. Please send them the coordinates of this ce in ten minutes. I''d meet them now."


    "You did say that you already nned to abandon this ce, but are you sure? This is your only base of operation, right?"


    "Right. That''s why I already took some steps to make another base and in just a few minutes, I can already start making that base in earnest."


    "But this next base is still in the Dimensional Gap, right? Then isn''t it a bit counterintuitive to create another when there isn''t much advantage to gain? I think this will be just a useless effort."


    "I know, but it isn''t going to be in the Dimensional Gap. It''s the most secure location for most people, but I happen to know a better one so I''m going with that."


    "Hmmm�� I see. But you have to invite me over! That''s a must!"


    "Of course~! Anything for my sister-inw~!"


    "Don''t call me that! At least defeat Sirzechs-chan before calling me that!" hollered Serafall.


    "Got it. I''ll work hard, Sera-tan~."


    "Umu!" Serafall nodded in satisfaction. However, deep inside, she was surprised at how much she didn''t like the ''sister-inw'' call and thought, ''It''s really hard to let go of my dear cute little sister, even if it''s to Ki-tan.''


    .


    .


    Half an hourter, a teleportation circle in the middle of the hideout emerged and Kisuke and Serafall got ready. A few secondster, two cloaked figures appeared and walked out of the magic circle.


    "Wee, guests. I hope you don''t mind the reception here," Kisuke greeted them.


    The taller one of the two stepped out and removed the hood of her cloak, revealing the familiar wavy-ck-haired beauty, Athena, "It''s been a while, Kisuke Urahara. I didn''t want us to meet like this, but the situation is urgent. Thank you for having us."


    Unlike her former bossy attitude, Athena mellowed out and gave proper respect to Kisuke. At this point, she didn''t see him as an enemy anymore but a ''savior'' and potentialrade.


    Kisuke smiled at her and replied, "It''s a pleasure to have you here." He then looked towards her still cloakedpanion. As his eyesnded on her, she shook but immediately stopped. However, the fear emanating from her is obvious to everyone.


    Seeing this, Athena spoke up, "Kisuke Urahara�� About her��" But Kisuke raised his hand to stop her, "Please just call me Kisuke."


    Kisuke stepped forward and started walking towards the figure behind Athena. Noticing this, the figure visibly shook again and tried to hide behind Athena. Thanks to this and the somehow familiar aura she''s emitting, Kisuke figured out the identity of Athena''spanion, "I didn''t expect to meet you again. Nyx-san, was it? Wee to my humble abode."


    Without much choice, the shorter figure removed her hood, showing her long ck hair, pointy ears, and childish face. However, contrary to her cheerful demeanor that Kisuke remembered, Nyx right now was very haggard and had eyes full of fear, "G-good day to you�� K-Kisuke Urahara," replied Nyx with a shaking voice.


    If it was a normal opponent that defeated her, she would have honorably admitted her defeat with a satisfied smile. However, the Kisuke she met that day not just almost instantly killed her, but also gave her quite a bit of trauma. It already took her every bit of courage just to appear in front of him.


    "Please follow me. Seeing you two here, it looks like it''ll be a long discussion. Let''s talk over some tea." Kisuke invited them inside his lodging.


    ==================


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    Editors:


    28th00: They''re gonna be even more unnerved with Phis-chama just sitting there, watching them, nomming on some cookies. Very unnerved.

 Volume 9 552 - Athena and Nyx

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 552 - Athena and Nyx</h4>


    Once they all sat down, Kisuke started, "Let''s not beat around the bush since it''ll just lengthen your stay here, which I assume isn''t something yourpanion wants."


    Athena looked towards Nyx who was still looking down, avoiding eye contact with Kisuke, and nodded, "There are two main points I wanted to discuss. The first point is your assistance in exchange for information."


    Kisuke didn''t react in any particr way but asked, "And the second one?"


    Athena looked straight into his eyes and answered, "A potential cooperation between us."


    "Understood," Kisuke then closed his eyes for a moment to think about her words. A minuteter, he looked at Athena and replied, "Very well. What would you like my assistance with? And what information could I get in exchange?"


    Athena sighed in relief. As they were previously enemies, she didn''t know if Kisuke would even listen to her proposal, "Hades''s poison�� I assume you already knew about it since you already ran into him."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "What about it?"


    "Removal of such poison in exchange for the information we have," replied Athena.


    "You? Or is it someone else? Maybe both?" a string of questions came from Kisuke.


    "For now, just two individuals. Me and my father," answered Athena.


    ''For now, huh? Looks like that''s where the second pointes in��'' While thinking that, Kisuke continued, "Your father. Correct me if I''m wrong, but is it Zeus?"


    "Correct. I want you to remove the poison within me and my father, Zeus. Once you''ve done so on me, I''ll impart you the information we promised."


    "Just you, huh�� I see that your father''s safety is still connected to the second point. Makes me even more motivated to back out from this."


    Athena gritted her teeth but she couldn''t deny Kisuke''s words, "Please at least listen to what happened. After you''ve decided to cure the poison within me, I''ll tell you why Hades and his aplice targetted you in the first ce. I do hope that you''d want to know the motive behind their actions and why they targeted you specifically."


    Kisuke became silent for a moment before sighing, "Please go on."


    However, before Athena continued, she looked in Serafall''s direction. She directly ignored the little girl''s existence beside her. Not that she didn''t want to acknowledge her, but she didn''t want to think about her and since the little girl was staying quiet, Athena wouldn''t shake the ho''s nest.


    "I trust her, so it''s fine," added Kisuke.


    Athena nodded at him and told him the current state of Olympus.


    More than a month ago, Apollo suddenly threatened Zeus to surrender his position to him. Of course, Zeus didn''t agree and intended to punish him for this. However, Apollo suddenly disyed his trump card and instantly killed several minor Gods through some unknown means.


    He then revealedter that he already imnted poison into everyone who was not his aplice, a poison that could easily kill even a powerful God if properly applied. Since Apollo didn''t reveal anyone who assisted him in his endeavor to imnt poison into every potential enemy, it means that they don''t know who has it or not.


    However, he did name three people who are poisoned. Zeus himself, his daughter, and his wife, Hera. At that time, Athena was still recovering from the injuries she incurred fighting Kisuke. Due to Athena not saying anything due to the ''agreement'' she had with Kisuke, Zeus mistook it as Athena discovering something regarding Apollo and him silencing her through his poison.


    As he didn''t want to endanger his beloved daughter and wife, Zeus agreed to Apollo''s demands and imprisoned him somewhere in Olympus. As an exnation, Apollo told everyone that he was in bad health due to his age and several Gods with medical knowledge agreed with him. Because of that, everyone has no choice but to believe him.


    It was also around this time that the rumor regarding the ''poison'' spread to everyone, but since no one knew who had been poisoned, no one could make their move to verify this in fear of death.


    At this point, it wasn''t a secret that Apollo was the one pulling the strings from behind after he told everyone sometimeter that no one is allowed to talk about the ''poison'' to outsiders or it''ll automatically activate. In addition to that, Apollo added a restriction that no one is allowed to leave Olympus without permission or the same thing will happen.


    Of course, it was not like no one stood up against him as some Gods tried to save Zeus from his captivation. However, the ''poison'' isn''t just some rumor that Apollo created to threaten everyone, but a real threat to a Gods'' life. In hindsight, those Gods became his guinea pig to confirm his ims.


    As of now, the whole Olympus is under Apollo''s control along with his unknown aplices.


    "So that''s the reason why Olympus has such a weird atmosphere recently." Serafall muttered.


    "And? How were you able to escape? You did say that there''s a restriction on everyone''s movements." asked Kisuke.


    "First, please allow me to talk about it," Athena suddenly requested.


    While Serafall and Nyx were making confused expressions, Kisuke''s eyes slightly widened in realization, ''I see�� So that''s how it is.'' Nodding at her, Kisuke agreed to her request, "You may."


    Athena sighed in relief and continued, "The poison you gave me with Ophis'' power, the first shackle that was ced on me was able to keep Hades'' poison from activating."


    Hearing this, Nyx reacted, "W-what? The poison that he gave you? Shackle?"


    Athena nodded, "Indeed. The reason I got injured is not that it was part of Apollo''s n, but because I went against Kisuke Urahara and lost. In exchange for him not taking my life, he made me eat the poison that was made from Ophis'' power. This poison, although much simpler than Hades'' poison, is simr to it as it also targets the Divine Core and Soul directly and I had no way of removing it. But as long as I don''t disclose anything that happened between us to anyone, it won''t do anything to me."


    All this time, Nyx didn''t have any idea why Athena intended to ask for Kisuke''s help and she only came with her because she didn''t have much of a choice to begin with.


    Serafall, on the other hand, looked at Kisuke and said, "I don''t know if you''re kind or ruthless."


    "I''m definitely thetter if need be," replied Kisuke, "Though because of that, she got lucky."


    Serafall tilted her head in confusion, "Lucky?"


    Athena, on one hand, smiled and nodded, "You''re correct. Thanks to this poison, the poison that was nted in me without my notice was kept at bay."


    "Since I knew that the situation was already hopeless unless something was done, I took a gamble and trusted Ophis'' snake which is around my Divine Core. Thankfully, I''m lucky enough to win that gamble."


    "The moment I stepped out of Olympus, I immediately felt two forces collide in the vicinity of my Divine Core, and a short whileter, it disappeared. However, even after that, I can still feel the poison that Kisuke gave me. So I figured that each of them just backed off."


    "So you want me to remove the poison that you don''t know when it will be activated��" muttered Kisuke.


    ======================


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    Editors:


    28th00: I was right, Phis-chama is so scary you gotta pretend she doesn''t exist. Apollo is being used as a front by Hades, I assume? I don''t know what''s going on, but I do know the poison vs poison thing. Funny enough, a filler arc in Bleach used this concept with Soifon''s poison overwriting the other poison, so she just stabbed herself since hers was an instant kill, no debilitating symptoms or effects, just gotta stab the same spot twice for it to activate.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 553 - Athena and Nyx part 2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 553 - Athena and Nyx part 2</h4>


    "So you want me to remove the poison because you don''t know when it will be activated��"


    "You''re the only one I think could help, especially after hearing what happened to you from Nyx," replied Athena.


    Kisuke reclined on his seat and said, "Might as well tell us how you met her�� when she had supposedly died."


    Athena nodded, "I met Nyx soon after I reached Kuoh Town in hopes of finding some clues to your whereabouts and to contact Serafall Leviathan who seemed to be staying at your ce." Athena then looked towards Nyx before continuing, "When I met her, she was not in a very good condition��"


    Understanding her cue, Nyx gulped in nervousness and opened her cloak for everyone to see. While Kisuke is still making a poker face, Serafall''s face was that of a shock, "Y-your arm and leg are prosthetics?"


    In the Human world, getting prosthetics if you lost your limbs was normal, but in the Supernatural world, that option is only avable if one can''t afford the limb regrowth treatment or if one is an entric that wanted mechanical prosthetics for its various functions like Azazel.


    From what Serafall could tell, Nyx''s prosthetics were just the most basic that allowed her to move unhindered but someone like her shouldn''t have any trouble getting treatment.


    Guessing what she''s thinking about, Kisuke exined, "It''s because normal treatment can''t fix her issue."


    Serafall looked at her and asked, "Why is that?"


    Nyx and Athena also looked at him silently, waiting for his answer. The two of them tried to find a way to return her arm and leg to normal, but they could only figure out the cause of it.


    "It''s because the attack that hit her doesn''t only destroy the flesh, but also reduces the spiritual body into its elementary particles. Which means, her soul right now doesn''t have an arm and a leg. The reason why she can''t get the treatment is that the limbs won''t regenerate properly and would only be something akin to a cancer tumor."


    "And the reason why she only has the basic of the basic prosthetics is that''s the only way to make a moving limb. My guess is that the prosthetics are made to be veryplex to circumvent the problem with the soul and any additional feature would only make it fail."


    "As you might have guessed, the only way to fix this is to fix the soul itself. However, you don''t really have to worry about that one. Unlike normal souls, a God''s soul is resilient and as long as it''s in its proper vessel, it''ll recover naturally."


    Nyx gathered her courage and asked, "��H-how long before I fully recover?"


    "It depends on one''s natural capabilities. For some individuals, it may only take a few weeks or months, but if your recovery rate is unnaturally low, it may even take centuries. Adding to the fact that my attackst time was a bit special, you can multiply that time by ten or upwards," answered Kisuke properly.


    "Is there a way to elerate her recovery?" implored Athena.


    Kisuke immediately nodded, "Of course there is. With my help, she''ll be able to return to normal within just a few days."


    Nyx and Athena''s expressions change to that of delight, however, before they could say anything else, Kisuke added, "But then again, I don''t have any obligation to that, do I? In the first ce, I''m the one who caused this to my enemy and shouldn''t even have any reason to exin this to you."


    Their expression froze. Thinking about it, Kisuke is indeed right. He didn''t have any reason to do them a favor.


    "Then again, it''s not like I can''t really help, so I''m giving you an option. In exchange for the information you have, you can have me cure your infliction instead of helping Athena getting rid of the poison. The decision is on you."


    Athena became nervous at Kisuke''s offer. Since he already figured out that most of her information came from Nyx, Kisuke made this offer, ''Did I make a mistake bringing Nyx with me?''


    However, as soon as that thought came into her mind, she shook her head, ''No�� It was Nyx''s information and she''s the one who has the right to make a deal.'' Athena looked forward and waited for Nyx''s answer without saying anything to sway her decision.


    Kisuke admired Athena''s stance and looked towards Nyx who''s now making various expressions as she tried toe up with a decision. She also looked towards Athena but thetter didn''t even face her and didn''t do anything to interject at Kisuke''s offer so she knew that she had her blessing to ask for a cure.


    But after a few minutes of contemtion, Nyx smiled wryly and shook her head, "��Please go on with the original agreement."


    Athena''s eyes widened at her decision but it was Kisuke who asked her, "Why?"


    Seemingly getting over her fear, Nyx answered clearly, "Although I''m not a good person, I still pride myself as one of the primordial Goddesses. I can''t possibly betray the one who helped me in my trying times. Besides, her situation is more urgent."


    "��Nyx��" Athena muttered her name.


    "But didn''t you just betray Hades?" Kisuke continued asking.


    "That''s indeed the case. But the rtion between me and Hades is purely for the sake of our mutual goal."


    "Goal?"


    Nyx then looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes, "Before I say anything else, will you promise to get rid of the poison within Athena''s body?"


    Kisuke sighed, "��Fine. I promise I''ll remove the poison, but only Hades''s poison."


    Nyx smiled and nodded, "That''s fine. That''s why we came here."


    Nyx then proceeded to tell them Hades and Apollo''s real goal.


    While Hades wanted the whole Underworld for himself and that isn''t something new, Serafall was shocked to hear that Apollo wanted Heaven.


    The real reason why Nyx cooperated with them is that she, along with those two, knew the threat that the God of the Bible left behind, the Sacred Gear System. More specifically, the Longinus users as they are people who could reach the Gods without bing one themselves.


    When the God of the Bible was still around, he was the one maintaining the Sacred Gear System. However, Nyx theorized that he was instead limiting the system rather than maintaining it.


    One point of evidence of this is after he died, the Sacred Gear System continued to grow, and right now, not only the Longinus but also normal Sacred Gears are attaining Bnce Breakers like it was nothing.


    "Bnce Breakers could only happen when one was able to break away from the limiting system of the Sacred Gears. In the past, only Longinus users could attain this because of the potential and strength of the Sacred Gear itself. Now, not only are the Longinus users getting stronger in a strange manner, but also the normal Sacred Gears are catching up to them. One of these days, I wouldn''t be surprised if a Sacred Gear was suddenly ssified as a Longinus."


    "Let''s say that this is true, but how is the Sacred Gear system a threat to you?" asked Serafall.


    "Simple answer�� Because the Sacred Gear system is for the Humans."


    "Now I see your point." Kisuke nodded, "If it''s the Humans who can attain strength enough to go against the Gods, it''s only a matter of time before they dere war on other mythologies."


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    Editors:


    28th00: Oh, that''s what Apollo wanted, huh? Hero Faction is an example of the Sacred Gear''s, even if mind control, envement and the poison jar method was used enmasse on like 99% of them. Seriously, screw those guys.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 554 - As A Terrorist

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 554 - As A Terrorist</h4>


    "Of course, it isn''t just that. Us Gods are not immune to desires, as one of their major motivations is greed for power. And between Apollo and Hades, the former is the worst, as thetter would be satisfied as long as no one interrupts the cycle of souls," added Nyx.


    In that regard, Kisuke and Hades might have something they could agree on, however, fundamentally, they are still after different things. While Hades wanted to constrain the soul into its ''natural'' cycle, Kisuke is after the freedom of the soul.


    In hindsight, Kisuke''s belief in souls is closer to Aizen''s than any other member of Soul Society, while Hades'' thinking was aligned with those very old conservatives on the Council of 46.


    "Enough with their motives. Why did they target me?"


    "Some Gods, especially those who are aligned with the stars have this rare ability, Divination. Its basic function is to let its user peer into the future. Apollo has unusually powerful Divination powers that enabled him to peer into the far future with much more uracy," replied Nyx.


    "So this Apollo saw me through his Divinations?"


    Nyx shook her head, "Not exactly. The farther and more specific one wants to see, the greater the limitations that were imposed on this ability. However, Apollo was still able to figure out a few things and make his move. The content of his Divination was, ''Our Grand Ambition will be ended by a Human.'' "


    Kisuke closed his eyes and thought about her words for a few minutes before sighing, "So I gave myself away, huh?"


    Nyx nodded, "You''re correct. From the start, they didn''t know who this Human was. However, they did have a few suspects and I only knew a few of them. First is the host of the Holy Spear, Cao Cao. But he''s under Indra''s protection so they couldn''t do anything at the time but to n ahead. The other two were Dulio Gesualdo and Vasco Strada, both from the church, but they both have the same problem as the first one. And thest two that I know of are the possessor of the Two Heavenly Dragons."


    "However, even after nning against them, the result of the Divination didn''t change which could only mean two things. First is that they failed to stop this Human and second is that they were targeting the wrong person."


    Serafall then suddenly pressed her fist on her palm, "I see! They found Kisuke because of Kokabiel''s debacle! But then again, why did they make their move? If they knew they would fail from the beginning, then they wouldn''t have lured him out using Sona-chan. Clearly, Ki-tan is still alive so is Sona-chan."


    But instead of Nyx, it was Kisuke who answered her, "It was because of Ophis-chan."


    Hearing her name, Ophis tilted her head in confusion and wondered how she was involved in all of this.


    However, Kisuke ignored her and continued, "I knew for sure that Divination can''t read a transcended being''s fate as they have no fate to begin with. As beings that shook off the shackles of the world, they are outside of the natural order. So when Ophis-chan started interacting with us closely, it should be also around that time that they stopped seeing the Divination results."


    "So you really are the Human in that Divination since it disappeared and all?" asked Serafall.


    However, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? This peering into the future is very unstable to begin with, that it may change suddenly due to the smallest actions. It might have been me or it may be someone else. Unless Divination is a steady stream of information from the future, it isn''t really reliable and one is bound to misunderstand the information from it."


    ''Divination can hardly be useful�� Unless it''s someone like Yhwach. I wonder if his ability is really to watch and manipte the future like the Soul King?'' Kisuke thought as he sighed.


    But for the first time, Nyx smiled, "In my opinion, Apollo''s Divination was unusually strong this time."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened slightly at her reaction and asked, "What makes you think that?"


    "I think that instead of predicting the future, he instead brought that future to himself."


    Athena was also shocked this time, "You think that if they didn''t touch him, the prophecy wouldn''t havee true anyway?"


    "Isn''t it? I mean now that they made him their enemy, I think Kisuke Urahara wouldn''t leave them alone now."


    Serafall looked towards Kisuke and asked, "What do you think?"


    "Hmm? Well, it''s true that I''m going to mess with them from here on out and probably clean them up once I get my chance. If they didn''t bother me, I probably wouldn''t even look their way."


    Kisuke then stood up and looked towards Athena, "I heard enough. Come with me and let''s remove that poison."


    Athena first looked towards Nyx and thetter nodded at her. She then stood up and followed Kisuke. Serafall, Ophis and Nyx were left alone, however, only the sound of Ophis munching on her snacks was heard as the other two didn''t even talk.


    Half an hourter, Kisuke and Athena returned with thetter''splexion a lot better.


    Once Athena reached Nyx''s side, she turned back to Kisuke, "About the cooperation��"


    However, before she could even finish speaking, Kisuke raised his hand to interrupt her, "Let''s talk about that in another day. Serafall-sama here will contact you."


    Although she was stopped, Athena was happy with Kisuke''s answer as this was actually the best one she could hope for, an answer that Kisuke didn''t immediately refuse, "Understood. We''ll leave and will wait for your word."


    Athena and Nyx didn''t bother them anymore and directly left.


    Serafall stood up from her seat and asked Kisuke a question she has been wondering, "Since you''re in control of Athena, wouldn''t you have cured her regardless of her offer? After all, she''s your precious outlet of information from Olympus."


    Kisuke signaled Serafall and Ophis to follow him before replying, "Of course. Athena and Nyx should also be aware of that."


    "Then couldn''t have Nyx epted your offer and still get what they came here for?"


    "It''s because the real reason that Athena came here is to show me that Nyx isn''t an enemy. Although it looked like she used Nyx''s information for her own benefit, she''s actually looking out for her. Athena knew that Nyx and I were enemies and gave me an out in the deal is one way to ease my stance on Nyx."


    "Besides, what they came here for is not the poison, but the cooperation. If I have to guess, Olympus is probably divided into two factions. Apollo''s faction and Zeus'' faction, and thetter''s faction is at an overwhelming disadvantage. The only reason why Apollo''s faction hasn''t made their move is that they are not ready to take on the other mythological factions yet. Athena wanted me to join their side as Apollo''s enemy."


    "The fact that you sent them away in hopes of meeting them again, you already epted it?"


    Kisuke then suddenly grinned, "You bet I will~! There''s no greater chance than this for me to enter Olympus, right?"


    Serafall''s mouth twitched at his answer, "Y-you won''t attack them, right?"


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "That''s a funny question, Sera-chan~. Designating me as a terrorist probably took them some effort, so it''d be very rude of me to waste it~."


    Serafall wanted to do something, but she already knew that she couldn''t change his mind, ''I should bring this up with Sirzechs-chan�� We can''t have this guy continue his terrorizing activities in the Underworld by branding him as one!''


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    Editors:


    28th00: Chomp Chomp say the Phis-chama. Serafall has seen the light, giving Kisuke thebel of a terrorist means he doesn''t need to care about anyone or anything in his revenge and/or boredom.


    Goyya: Kisuke, one of the very few people to bebeled as a terrorist. It''s a free ticket to mess with others.

 Volume 9 555 - A New Base

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 555 - A New Base</h4>


    Kisuke, Serafall, and Ophis entered a stone building that is onlyposed of a single room with a bigplicated magic circle drawn in the middle of it.


    "This is�� A teleportation magic circle?" asked Serafall.


    Kisuke nodded and answered, "Indeed. This will take us to the ce where I would create my new hideout." He then brought up the magic circle and made some necessary adjustments to it.


    While watching him work, Serafall continued to implore in confusion, "But isn''t this too big? Is it overlyplicated so no one will be able to trace you? Couldn''t you just destroy any information from here after the transfer?"


    However, Kisuke shook his head, "You got it wrong, Sera-chan. This is just a basic teleportation magic circle without unnecessaryplications to hide its destination. Take a closer look."


    Serafall approached the magic circle Kisuke was working on and observed and calcted it for a few minutes before scratching her head in confusion, "��Huh? Just where is this going? And the destination isn''t the Dimensional Gap��"


    Kisuke grinned and said as he put back the magic circle on the floor, "Yosh~. The adjustments are done~." He then faced Serafall and Ophis, "Are you ready to go?"


    Ophis walked to his side and grabbed his right hand, citing her intentions. Serafall, on the other hand, hesitated, "Is it really fine to bring me? This might be detrimental to you. If you wanted a hideout for yourself, you shouldn''t really invite me over."


    Kisuke smiled and replied, "As I''ve said, I trust you. As simple as that," Kisuke then started smiling wryly, "Besides, if I didn''t trust you, Sona-chan will probably sulk."


    Serafall froze for a moment before smiling back, "Is that so? Then let''s go! I''m really curious as to where this is going~," Copying Ophis, Serafall grabbed Kisuke''s free hand.


    "Y-you��"


    "Hmm?"


    Shaking his head, Kisuke activated the magic circle, "No, it''s nothing. Let''s go."


    The three of them then disappeared in motes of light.


    "��What?" muttered Serafall as she looked around and saw a ck totem beside them, emitting a gentle warm light along with its magic inscription. She figured out that there''s an invisible barrier around that separates them from the outside, "J-just where are we?"


    She doesn''t recall any ce like this exists, ''A night sky while the sun is still up? Just where did Ki-tan find this space? And that sun�� Why does it feel like it''s the real sun but only a bit distant?''


    But instead of answering her, Kisuke reminded Serafall, "Sera-chan, as a precaution, please put up a magic barrier around your skin and filter the air you''re breathing in."


    After Serafall followed his instruction, Kisuke then proceeded to inspect the vicinity of the barrier and the totem beside them, "Hmm�� I guess this is a sess? I should first stabilize the atmosphere and do another round of disinfection."


    Kisuke then put out several pieces of equipment from his inventory that would purify the air around them further and kill any microbes that could possibly be around them.


    Serafall was incredibly curious about where they are right now, but she waited for Kisuke to finish his work. Half an hourter, Kisuke nodded in satisfaction and Serafall immediately assaulted him with questions, "Hey! Ki-tan! Why is this ce so strange!? Just where are we!?"


    Kisuke stood proudly and feigned a cough, "Ehem�� I don''t know if we''re the first ones, but wee to Mars, Sera-chan~! More specifically, on the top of the highest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons~!"


    "��Mars?"


    "Yep~!"


    "The red?"


    "Yep~!"


    Serafall suddenly grabbed Kisuke''s shihakusho and yelled at his face, "How!?"


    "Uhmm�� We teleported?"


    "Ughh!" Serafall knew that she asked the wrong question due to shock and released Kisuke, "Seriously? You want to establish your hideout here?"


    "Yep~, what''s wrong with it?"


    Serafall sighed before answering him, "Indeed, this is one of the best ces to hide if you don''t want others to find you, however, since this ce is not stationary, one has to continuously adjust your magic form to teleport here."


    "Just teleporting here is risky enough because with one wrong calction, you may end up teleporting to an empty space and if you''re unlucky, you won''t be able to teleport back to Earth since it''s on the move too, making you stranded in a hostile environment until you die."


    "Not just that, with the hostile environment on Mars itself, you have to continually stabilize it. There''s also a problem with the logistics since it''s veryplicated toe here in the first ce. Aside from the secrecy, it''s even harder to maintain a base here than in Dimensional Gap.


    "To top it off, there is barely any magical energy here for you to use and your only liable source are magic batteries from Earth which will dramatically increase the cost of staying here. I only oversimplified everything, but there are a lot moreplications and problems in doing this."


    "Besides, you''re not sure if you''re the only one who established a base here despite the difficulty of making one. After all, factions that have enough power and technology should be capable of the same thing," Serafall put her hand on her forehead. This might sound an incredibly good idea, but it''s impossible that Kisuke is the only one who had such. In hindsight, he might be even more exposed here than in Dimensional Gap. Though it''s true that once he''s teleported here, it''ll be very hard to follow him.


    "Ah, please don''t worry about those. I got my bases covered even beforeing here~," replied Kisuke with a thumbs up.


    Serafall gave him a look of suspicion, "Hmm�� Like what?"


    "First of all, to arrive here, I sent this totem a few days ago to establish a foothold in this ce. But not just that, I didn''t stop sending out probes that will act as my data points to keep the real-time location of both Earth and Mars. As we''re speaking, I''m still continuously sending out these probes around the inner Sr System."


    ''Probes, huh�� That''s indeed a good way to keep things on track. Though if he doesn''t have at least a hundred of these, it won''t be reliable.'' Crossing her arms, Serafall asked, "And how many probes are we speaking?"


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, "Just a few minutes ago, it broke through the 50,000-mark."


    "I see, 50,000�� Wait�� What!?" Serafall froze on her spot.


    ===================


    ===================


    ===================


    28th00: I wonder how long it''s been since Phis-chama wandered Mars? She has to have wandered around the sr system at some point in her probably millions to billions of years of lifespan. Serafall is copying Phis-chama, I''m not sure if she''s a good role model to emte there Sera-chan��


    Goyya: Ophis wouldn''t bother the space. Humans have been sting radio waves through that ce. It''s noisy as fvck.


    28th00: Can''t you hear Earth from a few AU away? It''s massive in the amount of noise we generate.

 Volume 9 556 - Ophis’ New House

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 556 - Ophis�� New House</h4>


    "5-50,000!?"


    "Yeah, but that''s nowhere near enough. If possible, I''d like to have at least 100 million of these so that I could add other functions," Kisuke added, " Though I already have automated manufacturing in ce, so I just need a few months to achieve this."


    Serafall''s mouth twitched and she felt her head starting to ache, "1-100 million? Isn''t that too much? Where are going to get the materials to make all of that anyway? Do you have that much funds?"


    Kisuke grinned before answering, "Outside of Earth, it''s free real estate~! There are tons of asteroids out there. As for energy, it''s dumb to solely rely on magical energy. Our great sun is there for that. On a side note, my work on converting natural energies into magical energy is also progressing well. So if I want to use mysticism in these pieces of equipment, I would be able to do so in the future."


    Serafall couldn''t say anything else and thought, ''I thought he was the same as Ajuka-chan and Azazel-chan�� But it seems that he isn''t just an expert at inventing magic equipment, but also capable of using just pure science. He''s really got all his bases covered.''


    "Well, enough of that for now�� What''s the n? How do we start building your hideout?" Serafall changed the subject. She''d had enough for today.


    Kisuke took note of the time before replying, "Hmm�� Looks like it''s done."


    "��What is?"


    Instead of replying, Kisuke went towards the totem and touched it. A secondter, the totem floated up and the ground suddenly disappeared, revealing a four-meter wide hole, making the three of them fall below.


    Of course, Ophis and Serafall didn''t panic and thetter asked with a calm tone, "What''s this?"


    "Before we even came here, most of the work was already being done," Kisuke replied before grabbing Ophis'' hand and elerating downwards, "For now, let''s go down."


    The three of them went downwards for a minute or two, however, Serafall noticed that despite them having traveled for quite a distance, she didn''t feel any fluctuations in the temperature, ''So he''s already got everything prepared.''


    A few secondster and the three of them arrived in a very wide and very well lit ce. Simr to his first hideout, the surrounding was that of a wastnd, however, it was much wider as this ce was at least 8,000 cubic kilometers, almost 300 timesrger.


    "��W-what are you going to do with all this space? And where did you put all the soil that you churned out? Finally, you''re also done stabilizing this ce including the gravity? If I didn''t know any better, I would think that we''re still on Earth."


    Kisuke first looked around and nodded in satisfaction, "Sometimes, I do some hazardous experiments, so I need some wide space so that even if a big explosion were to ur, it won''t touch the other areas easily. As for everything within this space before, Ipressed it and used that for the wall. It should be a good framework for further defensive barriers."


    Serafall then gave him a dirty look, "The fact that you make big explosions sound like something normal in your experiments is already weird."


    Ignoring herment, Kisuke pped his hands and said, "Alright~! Let''s start building things! Sera-chan, I''ll give you a space, so build anything you want. That''s the same for you, Ophis-chan." He then started taking out a bunch of materials from his inventory, enough for everyone to y around.


    Since Kisuke was looking forward to seeing Ophis'' creations, he taught her a few ways to use the materials to build things. He knew that Ophis has already seen a lot of things so he''s not worried that she wouldn''t have any ideas on what to make.


    After getting the idea, Ophis nodded enthusiastically and directly took over the center of Kisuke''s new hideout.


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at her actions, but didn''t say anything else and went towards the northern side to build the necessary facilities to prepare for his departure.


    Since Kisuke was kind enough to give her a space, Serafall also didn''t say anything else and went south.


    However, Kisuke could onlyplete the bare minimum of his facilities and Serafall was still nning what she wanted to build when they decided to assist Ophis in her sudden grand project, which was a castle that is bigger than the Devil Kings''.


    When they asked why she wanted to build such a thing, she only answered proudly, "��Because I''m strong."


    They ended up spending a whole day working on Ophis'' castle and only its bare minimum without any sort of furniture inside. If they didn''t supervise her, the Infinite Dragon wouldn''t stop building towering castles.


    Since it''s alreadyte, Serafall decided to go back, "When are you going to go?"


    "As soon as my preparations are done, I''ll be going. I can''t leave them in that strange world for long," answered Kisuke.


    "What about those who are here? Aren''t you going to leave them too?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "At least in this world, they haverades and families that they can depend on. It''s not the same over there, as we''re technically alone in a world with vague rules."


    Serafall looked down and muttered, "I see�� Are you going to take Ophis-chan with you?"


    "She''s attached to me and I can''t just leave her behind. Not after I promised that I''ll be taking her in."


    "That''s true��" Serafall then smiled at Kisuke, "Well then~! I also have to prepare for some things so I''ll be going first."


    "Take care, Sera-chan." Kisuke then activated the magic circle to return her to Earth.


    "You too. See you soon~!" A strange glint shed through her eyes before she disappeared in motes of light.


    ''Hmm? What was that?'' A strange feeling took over Kisuke when he saw Serafall''s eyes before she left, ''What''s she nning now?'' Kisuke returned to his work with that question in mind.


    He only returned a few hourster to have dinner with his mother and catch up on the things he missed during his time of absence. It was only at that time that Kisuke finally understood ''Mr. Hat''. He didn''t expect that the hat that he''d left behind that day would be a mascot in a popr kids'' show, ''No wonder those kids reacted that way when Ophis put on my hat��''


    It was also there that Kisuke saw the castle of the antagonist which Ophis had modeled her castle upon. Kisuke thought that Ophis liked the magical girl Levia-tan, but he didn''t expect that she''d get inspiration from her enemy, ''As expected of the former leader of a terrorist group, I guess?''


    Two more days had passed and most of Kisuke''s work was almost done, the rest could be left to the automated system that he''d made. Since he was finally free, he decided to visit his childhood friend, Issei, to check on his progress. The first time Kisuke had seen him again, he knew that Issei had taken a strange path and wanted to know what caused it.


    However, when he arrived at Kuoh Academy, it was being besieged by Magicians, "��Is this their normal lives now? Looks pretty hectic."


    =======================


    =======================


    =======================


    Editors:


    28th00: Phis-chama is Queen of the Castle! She kidnaps princesses to her castle for sleepovers and snacks! Sera is nning to sneak along with them for her Vacation (It truly was a massive mistake to give her more freetime)! Kisuke is learning the horror of being a Shounen protagonist when you don''t have a massive overarching plot (Bleach) to exin the ''why'' of the random BS attacks from everywhere.


    Goyya: The Demon Lord Ophis will open her business soon. What business you say? Saving lolis for the greater good.

 Volume 9 557 - The Busy Students

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 557 - The Busy Students</h4>


    The moment Kisuke returned to Earth, he immediately felt the disturbance and fluctuation of powers in Kuoh Academy, while a big barrier surrounded the whole town to defend from outside interference and ensure the safety of the normal citizens.


    Kisuke immediately used sh step to arrive at the epicenter of activity and saw the Student Council, along with the ult Research Club, fending off hundreds of Magicians that were attacking them. Strangely enough, Azazel, Rias, Issei, and Yuuto were not present, making it difficult for the rest to fight them.


    Scanning his surroundings carefully without revealing his presence, Kisuke noticed some Magicians escaping with a crossdressing dhampir in tow and decided to intercept them. With another sh step, he arrived in front of the fleeing Magicians, "Who''s there!?" One of them shouted.


    However, Kisuke didn''t bother replying and instantly cut off the arms that were holding the dhampir, "AHHHH!!!" The multiple screams of pain gathered the attention of the others and saw a man wearing a set of green Japanese clothing carrying a small dhampir on his waist.


    "Kisuke Urahara!" Several individuals shouted his name.


    The group of Magicians also turned their attention towards him and sent multiple waves of attack magic. In response, Kisuke just ced the dhampir who currently couldn''t move due to a spell attached to him on the ground, and erected multiple barriers to block the attacks.


    Due to this, the pressure on everyone lightened up and they were able to counter-attack properly.


    The first one to approach Kisuke and Gasper was Asia as she tried to heal thetter, "Kisuke-san, thank you for saving Gasper-san." Asia bowed down to him in gratitude.


    Kisuke smiled at her and replied, "Don''t worry about it. But your group sure is attracting a lot of trouble."


    Asia couldn''t even smile wryly at his words due to the danger they were facing right now.


    "By the way, where''s Issei? Also Rias-senpai and Kiba-san. Azazel should be around too, just where are they?" asked Kisuke as he renewed the barrier around him.


    Asia gritted her teeth and answered, "Azazel-sensei, Buchou, and Yuuto-san went to Romania to negotiate the peace treaty with the vampires. Issei-san, on the other hand, was forcefully teleported away while fighting a ck dragon controlled by a strange man who came with the Magicians."


    "Hmm�� Is that so? Bad timing, huh? Or maybe they aimed at this precise time that they were not present," muttered Kisuke as he observed the battle, ''Those guys from the Student Council�� I don''t remember them having Sacred Gears. Are those the artificial gears from Azazel''s research? They''vee a long way.''


    He also observed Akeno and Irina''s performance on the battlefield, ''Now this is a surprise. They learned how to not use Ophis''s passive strengthening ability. It seems that they knew the importance of keeping the information regarding their bodies a secret. However, they have to start using it soon or they''ll be overwhelmed.''


    Kisuke then turned to Asia and said, "With Issei, you shouldn''t worry about him too much. He should be fine."


    Asia then bitterly nodded at him.


    However, a few momentster, the Magicians noticed that Kisuke, no matter what they sent his way, would only block their attacks and didn''t initiate any counter-attacks himself. They then focused back on fighting the Devils and Angel, renewing and worsening the pressure on them yet again.


    Asia also noticed them and started pleading, "Kisuke-san! Please help them!"


    Gasper, who was finally well enough to speak, also pleaded, "P-please�� Help them��"


    But instead of moving, Kisuke asked, "And what? Save them from danger yet again? Are they going to need saving every time they''re faced with difficulty? Not to be arrogant or anything and just so you know, back in the Underworld crisis, your group was no match against those from the Hero Faction. I already essentially saved you guys from back then and I''m not going to do it again because I''m not your babysitter."


    Strangely enough, Kisuke''s voice traveled to everyone from the Student Council and ult Research Club, which created an itch deep within their hearts.


    Continuing, Kisuke added with a bit of a smug face, "Koneko-chan, on the other hand, already progressed beyond what your group can do. After all, she''s also now a in believer of no pain, no gain, and learned how to take the necessary risks for herself."


    "She might not have the greatest power, but she knew how to use her strength. She might not be the fastest, but she knew when to take an opportunity. Withoutparing the overall power levels, in terms of battle experience, she''s way ahead of all of you." Kisuke didn''t mind what they thought of his words. On the contrary, he wanted them to get riled up, ''Well, Koneko''s progress isrgely thanks to Yoruichi and Kuroka''s training. I won''t say that though. Besides, they should also have received training from some people and it''s undeniable that Koneko worked hard and took the proper risks to get stronger.''


    "Look, although they are tons of them, not even one of them is very strong. In other words, they''re just mobs with numbers. If Koneko-chan was here, this battlefield would be treated as a learning experience."


    "In my opinion, only Isseies close to her," added Kisuke. After watching them for a while, he figured that they indeed improved immensely during the two months he disappeared and they should have received the praises of others. He also heard the news of them defeating the strongest Young Devil''s peerage which would inadvertently make their heads big.


    However, if things progressed as they were now, Kisuke concluded that they''d sooner orter be overwhelmed. What they needed right now was not praise to uplift their egos or some motivational speech to push them to improve for their loved ones, they should have already received plenty of those, but agitation from beingpared to whom they considered their equal before.


    These words from him may be considered his kindness towards them.


    And as Kisuke expected, those who knew Koneko personally started moving rashly, even those who''d only heard of her or only talked to her for a bit like Rossweisse, Xenovia and Irina, felt the heat from others and started moving with them.


    Not only that. After calling them mobs, the Magicians became angry and started pouring out more attacks and some towards Kisuke, which made the situation even more vtile, ''Now this is more amusing and interesting~.'' Kisuke thought.


    However, not everyone got agitated with Kisuke''s words. In particr, Asia and Gasper who were already at his side only felt extreme frustration as the weakest among the group who couldn''t find a way to get stronger.


    Gasper, whileying down, even started crying out his frustration, "If only I could be stronger��"


    And as if waiting for those words, the Candy Shop owner, the Devil that is more Devilish than the other Devils, made an offer with a big grin on his face, "Boy, do you want to get stronger?"


    Although what they were doing put them in even more danger, in Kisuke''s eyes, it''s a lot better from earlier where they were only trying to preserve themselves and were hoping for reinforcements toe.


    ================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, Kisuke literally is a Devil now, huh? He''s no longer more devilish than devils, but the most devilish devil! Wait a second, is Phis-chama unsupervised?! I hope she doesn''t start building in multiple dimensions, it''s not healthy to look at.

 Volume 9 558 - ‘Reality’

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 558 - ��Reality��</h4>


    "Boy, do you want to get stronger?"


    Kisuke''s question startled Gasper. And not just that as a cold breeze that should be impossible went down his spine, "Y-you can make me stronger?" But despite the bad feeling he was getting, the dhampir was very interested.


    From the start, Kisuke had always been interested in Gasper''s Sacred Gear. Not just because it was a Time-based ability, but also because of the remnant soul of the powerful and malevolent being inside it. Curious about what it could do, Kisuke took the rare chance.


    "That depends on you," replied Kisuke, "Do you want to?"


    Kisuke''s ''confident'' smile gave Gasper hope, "Yes!" He answered as he wiped away his tears. However, although this is the mysterious ''Kisuke-senpai'' that he heard had taught Issei, there was still skepticism within him so ask, "B-but even the Grigori couldn''t do anything, can I really get stronger?"


    Kisuke''s grin grew bigger, "Of course~ Though unlike their kind approach, you''ll have to suffer for a bit. If you''re fine with that, we can even start now. But with the situation right now, you don''t have much time to decide."


    Gasper gritted his teeth and nodded, "Please!" If suffering for a bit can change the tide of the battle, then he''d dly take it.


    Asia, on the other hand, didn''t know what to do and couldn''t join in their conversation, so she just focused on healing those who''re fighting right now.


    Seeing the naive dhampir agree to it, Kisuke felt delighted, "Great~ But for it to work, you have to disable all of your magical defenses."


    Gasper was confused. Although he had a passive magical defense, it''s not strong at all. However, knowing that this was his chance, he nodded yet again and closed his eyes to disable everything. After a few seconds, he looked towards Kisuke again and answered, "It''s done!"


    "Good." Kisuke then put his hand over to his face and a magic circle appeared in between them. A few secondster, the circle disappeared without anything happening and Kisuke stood up.


    "D-did it fail?" asked Gasper.


    But Kisuke shook his head, "Nope~ It''s a sess." He then suddenly disappeared in a sh but not after leaving some more words, "Give me a great show~"


    "I-it''s a sess? But I don''t feel anything different��" muttered Gasper.


    However, before he could inspect any further, the flow of magic suddenly changed and Gasper looked towards the battlefield to see arge-scale summoning magic waspleted by the Magicians.


    From therge magic circle, two shadow-like andnky humanoid figures emerged. Though they look strange, they don''t feel threatening at all. Nevertheless, that perception soon changed as one of them suddenly disappeared from its spot and reappeared behind Xenovia, piercing her heart with its thin arm.


    "��W-what?" muttered Gasper in astonishment.


    "Xenovia!" shouted Irina and flew towards Xenovia who was already falling forward and coughing blood while looking at her own mangled heart on the ground.


    "No!" Asia immediately used her remote healing to mend Xenovia''s wound but at that time, Gasper noticed a shadow shed past him and went beside him. However, the moment he looked at it, which was coincidentally in Asia''s direction, he could only see Asia''s detached head spinning in mid-air as her headless neck was spurting out blood, "��What?"


    Despite the shouts of despair echoing around him, Gasper heard none of it and could only stare at Asia''s lifeless eyes on the ground. It took some time for the events to register in Gasper''s mind, "��No way�� No�� No��" he started muttering like a broken record, unable to break his stare.


    "No�� No�� No. NonononoNoNoNONONONO�� NO!!!!!!" All of a sudden, it all gushed out. Hate, despair and unbridled rage. As Gasper wailed to the sky, his negative emotions exploded.


    Along with his cry of desperation, darkness started covering him and extended towards the humanoid monster, devouring it, "I''M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU!!!" A ghastly voice emerged from the darkness.


    The Magicians were shocked at his sudden transformation and tried to retreat but the darkness encroached on them, "Ahh!!! What''s this!? My magic is being eaten!? I''m being eaten!?" One of them shouted.


    Although they tried running away, Gasper''s darkness was faster as it exploded in their direction, "I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU UNTIL NONE OF YOU ARE LEFT!!!" Instead of his former sweet voice, Gasper''s voice was distorted beyond recognition. It''s as if an ancient monster was speaking for him.


    Everyone from the ult Research Club and Student Council froze in their spots as the darkness chased and devoured the Magicians.


    Seeing his sudden change, Asia asked Kisuke who came to her side after casting the strange magic on Gasper, "Kisuke-san�� What did you do to him?" she asked in concern.


    While watching Gasper massacre the Magicians, he replied, "He desperately wants power, however, he didn''t have a reason to really attain it. All I did is show him the reality of the battlefield and the tragedy that may happen at any time."


    Asia didn''t fully understand what Kisuke meant, but she asked, "Is he going to be fine?"


    "To be honest, this is more than I expected, however, it''s still within the range of possibilities. Since I started it, I''m going to take responsibility for stopping it too, so you don''t have to worry," answered Kisuke.


    Asia sighed in relief as she trusted Kisuke. Although a few secondster, she asked, "If you show me this ''reality'', will I get strong too?"


    Kisuke first looked at her before looking away, "No�� Such a thing will only weaken you. Not your power, but your resolve. If you want my opinion then you shouldn''t really have any business in this kind of thing. You''re too kind�� Far too kind. Though one could say that''s also your greatest strength."


    Kisuke then started walking away from her, "You don''t have to change, nor you need to find something new to do. That kindness and innocence are what your group needed to get through many things. Though if you really want to improve yourself in a practical way, instead of seeking personal strength, you should find someone or something that could protect you anytime as you support yourrades from the back."


    Asia put her hands on her chest and closed her eyes before muttering, "Thank you��"


    Not minding her, Kisuke turned his attention towards the still frozen group, "Are you all seriously just standing there? This is your chance. Don''t waste it."


    Everyone woke up from their stupor. Though they wanted to ask many things from Kisuke, this was indeed their chance and with renewed vigor, counter-attacked.


    "Geez�� They''re too green�� How did they survive until this point? This is practically a miracle." muttered Kisuke in frustration, ''If the Hero Faction was a bit more unforgiving, they wouldn''t be standing here right now. Though I didn''t want it, I''ll have to look out for them since their survival is indirectly linked to mom and the rest''s safety.''


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    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, Gaspers Bnce Breaker? It''s got a super weeby name Forbidden Invade Balor the Beast and Shadow Beast Master of the Forbidden Night and True Darkness. It''s pretty damn strong. Showing people ''reality'' ain''t the nicest thing to do to a guy, but it is a very violent and very effective ''wake up'' call. They are too green though, definitely. They''re missing chunks of their plot armour because Koneko and Sona aren''t there also, Kisuke is working on repairing the holes though.


    Goyya: Yep, due to Kisuke, they are weaker than their canon counterpart. However, it isn''t his job to save the world so he''ll have to start working on these holes.

 Volume 9 559 - A Fan

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 559 - A Fan</h4>


    Concluding that they wouldn''t be able to continue their attack anymore due to Gasper slowly but surely culling their numbers, the remaining Magicians decided to retreat and escape through teleportation circles.


    Everyone from the ult Research Club and Student Council should have been able to sigh in relief after their enemies retreated, however, Gasper was still out for blood and searching for more Magicians.


    At the same time, a strange teleportation circle appeared before a small Grim Reaper appeared from it, "Tsubaki-san! The Magicians started retreating so I returned here�� Whoa! What''s that!?"


    The small Grim Reaper thought that the darkness was an enemy and readied her scythe.


    "Bennia! Stop! That''s Gasper!" Tsubaki shouted at her.


    "What? The Dhampir? How?" asked the small Grim Reaper. It was also at that time that she noticed the new person, "��You are��"


    Kisuke looked at her with a surprised expression and murmured, "A Grim Reaper? Now that''s a surprising new character~"


    However, before he could even greet her since she was looking right at him, the small Grim Reaper suddenly removed her skull mask and shouted at him, "B-Boss Hat!"


    The small Grim Reaper had the appearance of a little girl with pale skin. She was a cute girl with long, dark purple hair and sleepy golden eyes. Her hair was tied in a long braid by a bow with a purple skull, reaching all the way down to her hips. Bennia also had 3 ck markings on both her thighs while also having gold neon lines in its interior.


    She wore a white skull mask in conjunction with her Grim Reaper clothing, which consisted of a light blue dress and a ck and white hood resembling a jesters cap with an emerald gem at the tip. She also wore ck elbow-length gloves covered in gold neon lines with gems at the back of her wrists.


    "I''ve been called a lot of things in the past, but this the first time someone''s called me ''Boss Hat''," Kisuke chuckled, "Nice to meet you, Grim Reaper-san. The name''s Kisuke Urahara, not ''Boss Hat''."


    As if not listening to him at all, the small Grim Reaper also introduced herself, "Nice to meet you, Boss Hat! I''m Bennia Orcus! I''m a fan! Please shake my hands! If possible, a signature too!"


    ''A fan, huh�� How did I be a celebrity again?'' Kisuke thought as he shook his head, "Now''s not the time Bennia-san. See that?" pointed Kisuke at the darkness, "I''ve still got to deal with that."


    With eyes filled with light and excitement, Bennia replied, "I see! Boss Hat is about to make his move again! Please go ahead and don''t mind me!"


    Kisuke''s first impression of Bennia was that of a very upbeat and lively girl, much different from most of the cold Grim Reapers that he''d met before.


    Thanks to him talking to Bennia, the rest of the students finally arrived around him and the first one to call out was Irina, "What happened to him, Kisuke?"


    "He just lost himself for a moment. I''m going to bring him back," replied Kisuke as he approached the darkness that was still expanding in search of its prey.


    The moment Kisuke approached him, the darkness also extended towards him, but instead of defending himself, Kisuke let the darkness wrap around his arm, ''Hmm�� Breaking it into pieces before bringing it to another space, huh. If one doesn''t have enough Magic or Ki, one won''t be able to resist this. Though I wonder what it can do with the things it has ''eaten''.''


    Shaking off the darkness, Kisuke dived and pierced through the darkness and brought out the rampaging dhampir, "I''M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU!!!"


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and removed the hypnosis magic that he''d put on him and used healing Kidou to calm his raging soul and separate it from the influence of his Sacred Gear.


    A few secondster, Gasper settled down and the light within his eyes returned, "��W-what?"


    "Good morning~. Did you enjoy that nightmare?" asked Kisuke with a grin.


    "��Nightmare? What happened?" Gasper held his aching head and recalled what happened. When he was about to start rampaging again, he saw the rest of hisrades running towards him, including Asia and Xenovia in good health, "Asia-senpai��? Xenovia-senpai��?"


    Kisuke let him down and Gasper started running towards them with tears gushing down on his pretty face, "Asia-senpai!!! Xenovia-senpai!!! You''re alive!!!"


    Asia and Xenovia were taken aback when Gasper came crying to them, but Asia recalled Kisuke''s words from earlier and figured that he must have seen something terrible andforted him, "It''s alright�� Everything is already fine."


    "What''s going on?" asked Xenovia to Asia but thetter only smiled at her.


    Kisuke then looked towards a certain direction and muttered, "He''s back."


    A teleportation circle then appeared and Issei, in his Bnce Breaker emerged from it, "Everyone! Are you alright!? Wait�� Kisuke? You''re here too?"


    "Yup~. For now, let''s all calm down and drink some tea in a nice room," Kisuke proposed.


    .


    .


    Half an hourter, Kisuke heard everything from Issei, "In summary, you were in a meeting with this Mephisto Pheles for the Magician that can enter a contract with you and he also warned you about the circting imitation of the Phoenix Tear''s. Although it can heal, not as much as the original and those after itspletion might target Ravel-san here."


    "Yes." Issei nodded, "So I immediately made some arrangements to keep her safe since Rias, Yuuto and Azazel-sensei left for Romania to negotiate with the vampires. I just knew that if they wanted to attack, this would be a good time. I just didn''t expect that they''d be targeting Gasper too."


    "There''s something I also need to report to the Underworld and Rias. The man who led the Magicians inside of Kuoh Town, Euclid Lucifuge�� imed that he''s Grayfia-san''s younger brother."


    The Devils were shocked at Issei''s revtion and questioned him about it. However, Issei just shook his head and said that he wasn''t even sure if that guy is really telling the truth. Though he admitted that he had an uncanny resemnce to Grayfia.


    "Another point of concern is the Evil Dragon that was with him. Ddraig told me his name is Grendel, also known as the Crime Force Dragon. He''s an aggressive, psychotic Dragon that is only interested in fighting and killing. He''s a battle maniac who loves physicalbat and destroying more than anything. However, Ddraig also pointed out that he was already in long ago and shouldn''t be roaming the world right now."


    Only Tsubaki, Akeno, Rossweisse, and Kisuke got the implication within Issei''s words, "I see�� Someone or something was able to revive a long-dead Evil Dragon. Then it''s safe to assume that there are also other Evil Dragons or some other beings revived to work for the Khaos Brigade." Kisuke made it clear to everyone and made them shudder.


    Issei sighed, "I can''t even defeat this Grendel�� He had seemingly unlimited stamina. He and Euclid only retreated because Vali was apparently giving them some headaches in some other ce." Issei then stood up and added, "I have to make a report to Sirzechs-sama first."


    "Go on. I''ll talk to youter." Kisuke nodded at him.


    As Issei tried to leave the room, Ravel also followed him, "I''lle with you! I also need to contact my House."


    "He sure has grown, huh," muttered Kisuke with a smile of satisfaction before turning his attention to everyone else, "Now then, since I''ve got some free time, let''s go over and review your fight from earlier."


    Kisuke was about to give them the lecture of their life.


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    Editors:


    28th00: On the plus side, it''s nice to see Issei has grown so much and is actually getting the political ramifications of some of the stuff going on, including timely reports on paradigm shifts. Kisuke is gonna tear them apart while in Lecture Mode, but it''s gonna be a massive plus since this guy is a veteran at training people, somewhat. They usually call it torture, but what do they know?! Boss Hat Bennia? Man, I can''t remember but I think she was there when Kisuke went to beat up Hades. She''s always a joy, loli reaper fangirl that she is. Sona ain''t here to recruit her, but she''s definitely hanging around cause she''s a hardcore fangirl.

 Volume 9 560 - A Lesson by Mr. Hat

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 560 - A Lesson by Mr. Hat</h4>


    Kisuke spent the next half an hour pointing out everyone''s mistakes and the way to correct them, except for Asia, Gasper, and the people he didn''t actually know, Rossweisse and Bennia.


    After stressing out how much of a muscle idiot Xenovia is, Kisuke finally turned his attention to Rossweisse, "This is our third time meeting but I haven''t introduced myself yet. It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Kisuke Urahara."


    For some reason, Rossweisse was feeling nervous in front of him, ''Even though I didn''t feel like this even in front of Azazel and Sirzechs��'' She thought and bowed slightly to him, "Likewise. I''m Rossweisse. A Rook under Rias Gremory and teacher of this academy."


    "Ah~ Rossweisse-sensei, is it? I''m a student of the Kuoh Academy, nice to meet you~"


    "Eh? You still consider yourself a student? You really don''t look like one��" muttered Saji.


    Kisuke made a smug expression and rubbed his chin, "Right? I look like a proper store owner~!"


    "A destitute store owner," Irina corrected him.


    A split secondter, something flew over to her and hit her forehead,unching her a few inches into the air, "OOOUCH!!!" Irina started rolling on the ground while screaming in pain and holding her forehead.


    Ignoring her, Kisuke continued addressing the dumbfounded Rossweisse, "I know we just met, but mind listening to what I have to say?"


    Rossweisse looked at him and nodded with a serious expression, "If it''s constructive criticism like they received, I''ll dly ept it. In fact, even if you didn''t ask, I would have shamelessly asked for your input."


    Kisuke smiled at her and continued, "I haven''t seen nor I don''t know how you fight in the past, but I can definitely say that you''re a prime example of a ''textbook'' fighter."


    "A ''textbook'' fighter?" repeated Rossweisse.


    "In other words, you''re someone who only knows how to fight in theory. It''s obvious that you studied how to use your magic in a battle, but that also makes it awkward watching you. If I were to describe it, you''re just like someone who just finished the tutorial of an RPG and is doing basic and obvious attacks on stage one."


    Hearing that, Rossweisse sighed, "��I understand�� I already knew that, but I didn''t expect that it would be that obvious." However, those around her were shaking their heads as they didn''t know of that nor it was obvious to them.


    "Can you tell me in detail how you easily noticed it?" asked Rossweisse.


    "There are many factors but the most obvious one would be the way you use magic." Kisuke then put both of his hands forward and a magic circle appeared in each of them.


    "That is�� the magic I used earlier." answered Rossweisse, "So you know Norse Magic."


    "Ah, nope. Just saw these two earlier."


    "��Huh?"


    However, Kisuke ignored her confusion and continued, "Anyway, that''s beside the point. Do you notice anything in these two magic circles?"


    Rossweisse decided to not ask about him learning her magic in a single nce and stared at the two familiar magic circles, "They''re normal?"


    With that answer, Kisuke figured out Rossweisse''s skill level, "Well, yeah. They''re normal. Let me change the question instead. Do you remember when you used these two magics in particr and that time''s situation?"


    Rossweisse thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes. I think I dealt with the situation correctly."


    Kisuke grinned at her and replied, "That''s the problem. You dealt with the situation ''correctly''."


    "��What? If it''s correct, then why is it a problem?" Instead of getting angry, Rossweisse became intrigued.


    At first, Kisuke intended to stop here and let her think about it, however, seeing her very interested and listening intently without taking any offense in his contradicting of her actions, he decided to continue, "Using these two magics, you were able to deal with ten Magicians and their summoned monsters at once��"


    Kisuke then dispelled the two magic circles and conjured another one that Rossweisse used in the previous battle, "But what do you think would happen if you added this magic in between those two?"


    "Due to contradicting magic flow, it''d weaken my first defensive magic and I''ll be open for strong attacks that will being after meter," answered Rossweisse.


    "Correct. However, you failed to consider the bigger picture and just focused on the enemies in front of you."


    "What do you mean?"


    "It would indeed weaken, or even outright dispel your first magic through the magic flow conflicting. However, what do you think will happen to the magic that the Magician is using below you?"


    Rossweisse took some time to think over his words before replying, "There should be nothing that could affect it��"


    "Wrong. If you strengthen your second spell, it would outright destroy your first spell. However, the resulting explosion of magic power will interrupt his defensive spell and weaken it to a certain degree."


    "But that certain degree is already enough for Irina''s attack to go through it. Since the Magician was also gathering a fairlyrge amount of magical power since he trusted his shield, a sudden unexpected attack will disrupt his casting and all of that gathered energy will explode towards his fellow Magicians that were controlling arger defensive barrier against the power fighter, Quarta-san."


    "With a disrupted barrier, Quarta-san''s attack would go through their formation, breaking it. Himejima-san would be able to snipe the rest who were gathering magical power for an attack, while the rest of the Student Council would be able to stop the other Magicians from regenerating the barrier while you would be able to clean them up with your third spell."


    With a grin, Kisuke took out his fan and put it over his mouth, "With a single spell that you already knew, you could have turned the tide of the battle without di-san''s intervention~."


    Everyone in the room was dumbfounded, especially Rossweisse who held her head with an unbelieving expression, "��Seriously?"


    She walked over to a couch like a zombie and sat down before closing her eyes to simte what Kisuke described in her mind. Everyone else didn''t disturb her and let her think. A few minutes to the sound of Kisuke drinking his teater, Rossweisse reopened her eyes and muttered, "��Unbelievable. If the timing was right, I could have really changed the flow of that battle if I used that spell�� Such a small change brought about apletely different ending."


    The first one to react to her words was Bennia, "Amazing! As expected of Boss Hat who works in the shadows!"


    "No, no, no~, Bennia-san. I''m just but a normal businessman~"


    Standing up while nursing her forehead, Irina retorted, "No normal businessman is perpetually in the red."


    A split secondter, she flew back again, "Ahhh!!! It''s in the same spot!"


    This time, no one pitied her as she was really just asking for it. It was very obvious to everyone that being a ''businessman'' was Kisuke''s reverse scale.


    At that moment, Issei suddenly entered the room with a grim expression, "Everyone�� Something bad happened."


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    Editors:


    28th00: Irina really does ask for the bulli, huh? Technical Fighters are scary, but never more so than when they have centuries of experience to perfect the art, being a genius is a requirement for that fighter type though. Giving a genius centuries to do anything makes them terrifying�� Phis-chama is still unsupervised, I''m nervous.

 Volume 9 561 - Soul Medicine

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 561 - Soul Medicine</h4>


    Issei exined that Azazel soon called him after reporting to Sirzechs the Khaos Brigade''s attempt to kidnap Ravel and Gasper, saying that Rias and Yuuto were trapped in the Tepes Territory after a sudden coup d''etat raised by the second son of the King of the Tepes Faction, Marius Tepes.


    Azazel also suspected that the Khaos Brigade was also behind this uprising. Since the Vampire Nation of Romania still hadn''t formally formed an alliance with them, they couldn''t send the army of the Devil Kings in a short time, so he was asking Issei and the rest of the ult Research Club toe to Romania as reinforcements.


    Before they left, however, Issei faced Kisuke again, "When I told Azazel-sensei that you came, he told me to tell you that one of the Longinus is involved with Romania."


    Kisuke looked at him silently, giving him a signal to continue, "The Sephiroth Graal, also known as the Holy Grail of the Secluded World. The Sephiroth Graal has the ability to make contact with the principle of life, where the possessor is being forcefully told about how life and soul are made. It''s a Sacred Gear with an ability to manipte souls." Issei added.


    Kisuke''s brows furrowed slightly and thought for a moment before taking out a container simr to a famous mint candy container, but a lot smaller and only had a few pieces of candies in it. He then tossed it towards Issei which thetter caught with confusion, "This is?" asked Issei wondering why Kisuke would suddenly give him mint candies.


    "Take one and it''ll act as first aid to a damaged soul. Take a second one to strengthen the natural recovery of the soul. And take the third and�� you''ll feel good for a day or two," answered Kisuke.


    As the n who produced the Phoenix Tears, Ravel immediately reacted in shock, "A medicine for soul recovery!? You have something that even countless medical organizations can''t produce!? And why is it in a form of candy!? And why would you take the third dose just to feel good!?"


    In turn, Kisuke also made a shocked face, "Youngdy, have you forgotten? I''m a Candy Store owner! Of course, I''ll be selling candies! And why wouldn''t you want to feel good? Ah, just let me rify it. This is not an opioid, so worry not. Ah, and by the way, I almost forgot. Within three weeks of taking the third dose, if you take the fourth one, there''s a chance of you violently dying, so keep that in mind while taking it."


    "Why would you forget something as important as that!?" shouted Issei.


    Chuckling, Kisuke just waved with his fan, "Ahahaha, rx~. I don''t think anyone would easily take the third dose of it. Those are pretty expensive, after all."


    "Y-you''re charging for these?"


    "Of course! How do you think I make business! If I keep giving them out for free, I''ll never get out of the red!"


    ''Ah�� So you admit that you''re always in red,'' thought everyone.


    "But Issei-kun~. You don''t have to worry about the cost. I''ll be sending an invoice to Azazel-santer," added Kisuke.


    "��I''m just curious, but how much are these?" asked Issei while shaking the container of five pieces of small orange-colored candies.


    "A million Yen each."


    "I see�� A mill�� Wait�� What?"


    "I said a million Yen each. Since we''re friends, that''s already a discounted price."


    "What!? A million Yen for this one pack!?" Issei stopped shaking the candies.


    "What are you talking about? It''s a million Yen apiece. So in total, that costs five million Yen."


    "What the hell!? Isn''t that too much!?" shouted Issei and the rest had the same reaction. Rossweisse even swallowed a mouthful of saliva after hearing that price, ''Just how many items could I buy from a 100-Yen shop with that kind of money?'' Rossweisse thought that the destitute shop owner was arade but she just realized how wrong she was.


    But before Kisuke could defend himself, Ravel suddenly spoke up, "Uhmm�� Could you sell some to me? If possible, at least 10 pieces."


    "Ravel!?"


    Kisuke looked at her and answered, "I could, but I won''t. I would first need to do some background check on your n before I could sell some to you. As for the reason, I hope you already know."


    Hearing that, Ravel could only sigh as she understood what Kisuke meant, "I understand. But I would still like to request for this background check."


    Kisuke shook his head, "Sadly, I don''t have much time to go through a background check nor manpower to do it for me so I won''t be able to take your request."


    "Is that so? Then I hope I can cooperate with you in the future."


    "As my potential customer, of course, I would."


    Seeing everyone''s doubt in their exchange, Rossweisse exined, "Like the Phoenix Tears, this soul recovery medicine could be used in unsavory experiments that would push the ''specimens'' beyond their natural limits, which will make data gathering easier or even sessfullypleting what could possibly be inhumane experiments."


    "With that said, even though Azazel-san would be the one paying for it, since I gave it to you, that means I trust you and you should be the one to decide who to give it to," added Kisuke with a serious expression.


    Issei fell silent for a moment before nodding at him and hid the candies while answering, "I understand the situation so rest assured."


    "Good." Kisuke nodded in satisfaction, "But before you go��" Kisuke then looked towards Bennia, "Please take Bennia-san with you."


    "Huh? Me?" Bennia pointed to herself and asked.


    Kisuke nodded and instructed, "Please pass me your scythe."


    Bennia hesitated for a bit before stepping forward and materializing her beloved scythe before giving it to him.


    A few seconds after the scythended in his hands, however, Bennia shuddered and cold sweat started forming on her back, ''W-what''s this!?''


    After pouring some of his Reiatsu-Ki in the scythe and setting up a Kidou, Kisuke passed it back to the horribly terrified Grim Reaper and said, "As you can probably tell, I loaded your scythe with my spiritual energy. This will increase the damage it can cause to whoever it cuts, albeit, only temporarily until the spiritual energy dissipates."


    Bennia nodded and received her scythe nervously.


    "However, its real use is it''ll be able to release one strong attack that directly damages a rogue soul."


    "R-rogue soul?"


    "A soul that doesn''t own a body or is using someone else''s. If I were to guess, this Sephiroth Graal is the main reason why there''s a supposedly dead Evil Dragon roaming around. Although this attack might not affect those with a certain strength, it''ll be effective against those who''re ''revived''."


    "U-understood!" Bennia saluted at him. She still couldn''t forget the enormous soul power that he emitted towards the scythe. While thinking that, she asked, "U-uhmm�� Boss Hat�� Are you secretly a Primordial God that is rted to the Grim Reapers?"


    In response, Kisuke just chuckled and patted her head, "Ahaha, of course not~ I''m not that old, you know~."


    Although Issei doesn''t know what''s going on between them he still urged everyone who was going to Romania, "We don''t have much time. Let''s go."


    "Ah, onest thing." Kisuke interrupted him.


    Issei saw Kisuke taking out a very familiar chess piece and gave it to him, "��A Rook?"


    "I already erased Koneko''s record within it so Gremory-senpai could use it again. If there are still some problems, then you''ll have to ask the creator of it."


    Everyone in the room except for Bennia was shocked at seeing this. But the one receiving it, Issei immediately recovered and smiled, "Is this her decision?"


    "Yes," answered Kisuke simply.


    "I see," Issei then faced Akeno and said, "Akeno-san, please prepare the teleportation circle to Sirzechs-sama''s ce."


    Akeno nodded at him and started the teleportation magic. Everyone from the ult Research Club, including Bennia, hopped on it.


    However, before they were teleported away, Kisuke noticed that Akeno and Irina were looking at him strangely, ''Is it because of Koneko''s piece?''


    But he immediately shook away these thoughts and focused on the remaining people, "Now then. I promised Sona that I''ll take care, or at least assist you when I returned. I''m here to fulfill that promise."


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    Editors:


    28th00: Nekoshou are pretty much a species facing extinction, so her bing a pure Nekoshou again would be pretty alright for them. They''re aware that Kisuke is the resident God of Souls, effectively, so this is his domain. Being a Devil and using Senjutsu sounds dangerous, since they''re already mas for negative energy�� Kuroka is a supergenius at Senjutsu, even by the genius Nekoshou standards, so it makes sense that she''d be able to use senjutsu with such a negative modifier. Besides, Issei seems to get that they''re still friends, but Koneko is gonna stay with Kisuke and her Sister. Sona''s peerage is gonna go through hell training�� Bennia learnt that Boss Hat is basically a Primordial God of Death(reaper rtion) whose soul is basically a divine authority unto itself.

 Volume 9 562 - ‘Training’

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 562 - ��Training��</h4>


    With aplicated expression, Tsubaki asked nervously, "D-did she have the same decision as Koneko Toujou?"


    "Rx~ You already knew that Sona wouldn''t give up her responsibility on you lot. Although she can''t be here right now, she never stopped worrying about you. When I said that I''ll being back alone due to the dangers of traveling, she requested to take care of all of you."


    Everyone visibly sighed in relief after hearing that.


    "And it looks like I came in at a good time since I was able to see the current state of your group," Kisuke continued, "It seems like you''re falling behind, even with those Sacred Gears in addition."


    Saji gritted his teeth and said, "We''re doing our best here!"


    "True. You might be doing your best, but did you honestly think that would be enough? Despite doing your best, did the gap between you and Gremory-san''s group shrink? Saying that they have a Longinus possessor or their group was already strong from the start is not a valid enough reason for why you''re being left behind."


    "Then what are we supposed to do!?" shouted Saji.


    "��Saji," Ruruko, fellow Pawn of Saji, tried to calm him down. Though like everyone else, frustration is obvious on her face.


    "Chill. I''m not ming you. I''m just saying that there has been a minimal opportunity for your growth. Although Azazel-san gave you those Sacred Gears, I doubt you received proper training. You probably received training from Serafall-sama, but someone like her training people? You might just find yourself chanting Magical Girl stuff."


    Tsubaki and the rest of the girls shuddered as they recalled Serafall''s magic training which for some reason, was always themed after Magical Girls.


    "Ah�� I guessed it right," muttered Kisuke after seeing their reactions, "Nheless, I came here to give you that opportunity. But before that, I have to ask a few questions. First of all, would you like to train under me?"


    They already knew his capabilities so they didn''t hesitate toe up with an answer, "Yes! We would like to take this opportunity!" Tsubaki answered while the rest nodded along with her.


    However, Kisuke''s atmosphere suddenly became heavy and his eyes became sharp which made them jump on their toes, "Good�� Now my next question is, are you willing to risk your lives to be stronger?"


    Everyone hesitated but Tsubaki was the first one to answer while gritting her teeth due to the pressure Kisuke was emitting, "We are already risking our lives fighting these battles with our measly strength. If we don''t do it, then we won''t have more opportunities as you already told us and we''ll just die somewhere in those battles."


    Hearing her words, everyone else from the Student Council realized their position and soon after, one by one said yes to Kisuke''s second question.


    Kisuke released a bit of his pressure and nodded, "Good�� Now for the third one. But first, let me tell you that training under me won''t guarantee you bing stronger."


    They raised their brows at his statement but didn''t interrupt him.


    "In fact, the chances of you dying is pretty slim with me around, but the training itself might cause you a mental scar that you may not be able to recover from which will make you inept in the battlefield and forever retire from the frontlines, only hoping that you''ll never step on it again."


    "Sure, you might be thinking that you could take on everything right now, but I could guarantee you that you won''t like my training even after you finish it. If I were to guess, all of you would wish that you never took my training on the first day of your training. Of course, after you''ve already agreed on it, I won''t allow anyone to back out anymore until you finish it."


    "You might be wondering why I would push you to that extent. The answer is simple, it''s because both you and I don''t have much time. You really don''t really have time to be training with how vtile the current situation is and I have to go back where the others are in a few days. Knowing that, are you still willing to take on this training?"


    Tsubaki swallowed a mouthful of saliva in nervousness and instead of giving her answer to Kisuke, she first turned to her fellow members, "I already decided to go with this despite the risk�� However, I won''t force you toe with me. This probably won''t be the same as all the training we''ve had, so it''s perfectly fine to back out as the risks are too great."


    "You''re looking down on me, Vice President. Of course, I would ept this! I might regret thister, but this is the push I needed!" dered Saji.


    Soon after, after a few minutes of hesitation, everyone said yes to Kisuke''s final question.


    "Great," Kisuke then stood up and activated a teleportation circle, "Well then. Let''s go. If you''re doing something, then you have to drop it. We don''t have much time."


    "W-we''re going now?" asked Reya, Sona''s Bishop.


    Kisuke turned to her with sharp eyes and asked, "Got a problem with that?"


    Reya shuddered and immediately shook her head, "N-no! None sir!"


    Everyone then realized that the training had already started.


    "I''ll be contacting Serafall-sama and say that your group will be under my care until the day I leave. She''ll also beingter as I''ll ask her to look after you since I can''t be with you around the clock. Though don''t expect her to help her with anything. I''ll explicitly tell her that she can''t interrupt."


    They then disappeared from the Kuoh Academy and arrived at Kisuke''s hideout within the Dimensional Gap.


    "So it''s this ce��"mented Tsubaki as she looked around since this is not her first time here. However, she also noticed two cloaked individuals near them, "They are?"


    "Ignore them. They have nothing to do with you," answered Kisuke before turning towards the cloaked individuals, "I''ll be with you within half an hour so please wait."


    The two of them nodded and stepped away from the group, silently waiting while standing.


    "Follow me," Kisuke instructed the Student Council members. Although they were curious about who they are, they didn''t dare voice out any questions regarding that.


    After traveling for almost five minutes, Kisuke and the rest arrived at the spot where several Hotsprings could be seen.


    Kisuke separated from the group for a bit before taking out seven featureless wooden mannequins holding a wooden sword each.


    "These are the training dummies that you''ll be using," exined Kisuke, "Within these dummies is my skill set that will move it. In other words, you''ll be fighting these things for the first part of your training."


    "��What are the rules that we need to follow?" asked Tsubaki.


    Kisuke couldn''t help but smile and approve of her question and answered, "The skill of these dummies will always be set higher than your own. However, that won''t be much training and won''t be able to achieve my goal for all of you."


    "So while fighting these, all of you won''t be allowed to use your Sacred Gear or any spells against it. In addition to that, you''re not allowed to use any weapons."


    "Huh? Then how are we going to fight it?" asked Momo, another one of Sona''s Bishop.


    "You have hands, arms, legs and feet. Heck, you can even use your teeth or forehead to fight them. Aside from that, you could also use Ki or Magic power cirction to strengthen your body which is different from active spells that do the same."


    "The goal of this training is not for you to learn some skill set or improve your Sacred Gear usage but to amass personal battle experience."


    "With that said, let me add a few more reminders. There are a few times these dummies would stop attacking you. First is if one is seriously injured. If that were to happen to you, you have to jump in that Hotspring yourself since the other dummies won''t stop for the others to help you. It has some recovery features. Though not as much as the Pheonix Tears, it can mend a severed limb over time."


    Everyone was again shuddered at his words wondering why they would need to heal a severed limb. But Kisuke didn''t allow them to interrupt, "Second is if you''re fatally injured. All the dummies will stop so that the rest can help you."


    "F-fatal!?" shouted Saji.


    However, Kisuke only raised his hand to stop him from further speaking, "I already warned you that you may die so don''t ask for an exnation regarding that. If that were to be fatally injured, you have to jump on the other smaller Hotspring to recover, though it''ll be painful, you''ll recover as long as you''re still alive."


    "Finally, they''ll stop at break times. Every four hours, they''ll stop for fifteen minutes so you can take a break. I''ll prepare a nourishing drink that you''ll take within the duration of your training. It''ll be specially designed so that it''ll replenish all your bodily needs while also eliminating the need for using the toilets."


    "And for your sleep, you could use that cabin over there that has a formation to help you calm your mental state while also recovering your tired bodies. With that, you''ll only need an hour of sleep each day."


    "I-in other words, we have to fight these dummies at least 21 hours a day?" asked Tsubaki with a twitching expression.


    But Kisuke only shrugged his shoulder, "I already said this won''t be easy. Well then let''s start! Each one of you take one dummy! You can change your clothester with your sleep time!"


    Everyone followed Kisuke''s instructions nervously and separated from each other with their dummies. Once Kisuke activated the dummies, they started moving slowly before suddenly brandishing their wooden swords at their Devil opponents.


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    Editors:


    28th00: Hell training time? Wait, the dummies are at HIS SKILL LEVEL? Oh boy, that''s just bullying. It will increase yourbat experience insanely fast though!

 Volume 9 563 - Storming Olympus

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 563 - Storming Olympus</h4>


    After only a few minutes, everyone was already bruised all over their bodies while some of them even had fractured bones. However, since they were not yet seriously injured, the dummies kept on attacking and chasing them despite their cries.


    After a few more minutes had passed, the first one to make a fatal mistake was Ruruko as she dodged in the wrong spot and got her left eye pierced by the wooden sword, "AAHHHHH!!!"


    Her wail of pain attracted everyone''s attention and they were horrified when they saw her busted eye as Ruruko tried to cover it with both of her hands, "RURUKO!!!", shouted Saji in desperation as he attempted to go over to her side.


    At that point, they had already forgotten that Kisuke''s reminder that the dummies would only stop moving for them if they were seriously or fatally injured, as they tried to help their preciousrade.


    But even after seeing this, Kisuke didn''t remind them again and saw the dummies sh at their wide open backs, leaving them open for even more attacks, "AHHH!!!" "KYAHH!!!" "AHHH!!!!!!" Intermittent cries of pain rang across the group as each one of them fell victim to the dummies'' attacks, leaving them with a few broken limbs and fractured ribs. If not for their Devil Physiques, they would have already died.


    Kisuke sighed and approached Ruruko who was rolling on the ground in pain. He then carefully picked her up while stopping her movements and slowly dipped her body in the Hotspring, "I''m going to put your head under the water, so don''t scream or you''ll drown."


    Despite the pain, Ruruko heard him properly and did her best to stop her screams and sobbing.


    After a few seconds of treatment, the pain in Ruruko''s left eye slowly subsided and she was able to straighten out her thinking, "Continue doing this until your eye regenerates. After you''ve fully recovered, those dummies will detect it and will start attacking you again."


    Ruruko shuddered after hearing that but didn''t say anything and just silently sobbed to herself.


    Kisuke knew that this would be a crucial part for her and left her alone to think, "I already said it before. There are only two results from this training. Either you get stronger or you will never be able to fight again."


    Kisuke then faced the rest of Sona''s Peerage, "I said that as long as one is only seriously injured, your dummies won''t stop. If you don''t take this in mind, this will only happen each time one of you gets seriously injured. And down the road, you guys won''t be lucky when you''re all downed while one of you is fatally injured with no one to help if either Serafall or I am not watching."


    "Go in the Hotspring on your own. I still need to attend something. It''ll be a few more hours before Serafall arrives, so do your best to survive since you already agreed to take this training while knowing the risks."


    "And if you think this is too much, then I agree with you. But this is the only way for you to get stronger fast without relying on external help or tools. And just so you know, Sona, including Koneko and Aika, already went through something simr, so this is not some unfair training."


    After setting up the vending machine for their nourishment liquid, Kisuke left them alone with the dummies. Even after walking far away from them, he could still hear their screams.


    Soon he met with the two cloaked figures and asked them to follow him. Once they reached and entered the room, Kisuke immediately sat down and said, "Please sit down."


    Athena and Nyx removed their hoods and sat down in front of Kisuke, "Thank you," Athena replied, "I''m sorry if I''m meddling, but even Ares'' soldiers don''t get that kind of brutal training and they are known as one of the best armies in the Supernatural world. If this training were to be integrated into his army, I don''t think even a tenth of them would remain, and you''re giving such a thing to youngsters. This is technically torturing them."


    However, Kisuke only smiled at her, "I wouldn''t give them something like this if I knew they couldn''t pass it. In fact, I''m around 90% sure that they''ll ovee this."


    Athena and Nyx''s eyes widened in surprise, "What makes them special?" asked Athena curiously.


    "It''s because they are not soldiers," answered Kisuke.


    Visible confusion appeared on Athena and Nyx''s faces, however, Kisuke just brushed it off and changed the topic, "Enough of that. You didn''te here to talk about that, right?"


    With a big grin, Kisuke directly asked, "So, how are we going to storm Olympus?"


    While Nyx shuddered, Athena smiled, "As expected of you. You already knew what I had on my mind."


    "Well, it''s an obvious conclusion. Considering Zeus'' position and the situation within Olympus, sneaking into your father''s ce would be next to impossible." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, "Besides, they gave me such a wonderful title~ It would be a shame if I didn''t put it to good use~"


    Athena couldn''t help but smile wryly, "I really am d that I''m absolutely not your enemy��"


    "Though it doesn''t seem like you regret what you did to Medusa."


    Despite the fear within her, Athena stood her ground, "Even after our fight, I still believe that what I did was the right thing, so I won''t ever apologize." But soon after, she shook her head, "Though I''ve already taken my hands off her and won''t bother her ever again since you already took her under your wing."


    Kisuke sighed, "Well, I guess that''s a lot better than you apologizing without any sincerity. Besides, I can also understand where you''reing from. It''s just that we have differences in ideals. As they say, ''justice'' is subjective."


    "Thank you for your understanding," Athena then took out two golden orbs from her personal space and handed it over to Kisuke, "Since I won''t be antagonizing Medusa anymore, please take these."


    Kisuke silently received and inspected the golden orbs before muttering in surprise, "These are remnants of Divine Cores?"


    "More specifically, remnants of Stheno and Euryale, Medusa''s older sisters'' Divine Core. I knew that they''d been helping Medusa survive through the eons and I nned to use them for something. Since I don''t need them anymore, I''m giving them to you, their caretaker," exined Athena.


    "Thanks~ This will be helpful."


    "You''re wee. There are still some things rted to Medusa and her sisters in my private quarters. I can give them to you after you''ve healed my father." Athena''s expression then became serious and took out a map, "Now that we''re on the topic, here''s the map of Olympus."


    Pointing towards the northern part of the map, Athena continued, "Over here is my father''s abode. The n is simple. You''ll create a big ruckus once you''ve entered Olympus to gather most of their forces towards you, which will weaken the security around my father. Once you''ve done enough, you''ll use your body double spell to go through this path where it''ll be harder for you to be detected to reach me near the ce of our goal."


    Athena then looked in his eyes and added, "Though you probably don''t trust me enough to point you to a certain path, so I''ll leave you the decision of where you want to go before meeting up with me."


    Athena then proceeded to exin each and every ce on the map to Kisuke, reminding him of what to watch out for. Ever since Apollo revealed himself, he hadn''t been in Olympus for a long time so there was only a slim chance for Kisuke to meet him.


    "Alright," Kisuke nodded, "I''m fine with this since there''s a lot of freedom to move around. If there''s nothing else, let''s move out."


    "Please wait. There are a few things I''d like to request first," Athena stopped Kisuke.


    "Go on��"


    "For my first request, please don''t kill anyone."


    "Oh, Goddess�� That''s a tall order."


    Athena gritted her teeth, "I know�� But most of those inside Olympus are just innocent people! Of course, there are many scums among them, but I can''t let those good people suffer any further than they already are! Even if you have a way to detect those poisons, we''re not even sure if everyone who doesn''t have it is from Apollo''s side."


    "This is also the reason why I gave you the information regarding Olympus! Just so you know, this information was only avable for high-ranking Gods! By giving this to someone like you, I''m essentially giving away Olympus'' future in your hands! But for a chance to reform it and save the victims, I''m willing to be the eternal sinner and traitor of our faction!"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and just stared at her resolute face while thinking, ''Indeed�� I can easily tell that this is confidential information and thanks to this, I would be able to improve what I nned on doing there. And although Apollo hasn''t been there, I''m pretty sure that he''lle back once he has appropriate control over Olympus. Once that happens, my ''investments'' will bloom.''


    ''I know that she''s still hiding a few things, but that''s normal. It''s already a big risk to give this to me.''


    After a few more minutes of silence, Kisuke sighed, "Fine�� But I would require your full cooperation in the future as well." Even though Kisuke held her life in his hands, it would still be a lot better if she voluntarily epted his requests, ''Holding the whole of Olympus hostage instead of just her life should do the trick.''


    Athena smiled happily, "As long as you don''t treat the citizens of Olympus badly!"


    ===================


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    Editors:


    28th00: I still fear what Ophis is building while unsupervised, thest time that happened she built a terrorist super organisation that tried to kill her(even if it was pretty much a joke in the end). Getting your eye exploded is pretty painful, especially considering this is the ''normal girl'' Ruruko. Ruruko is the only known reincarnated devil who was a former human who had absolutely no rtion to the supernatural world or any knowledge of it or any special abilities of note before being reincarnated as a devil. I wonder if Sona being Awol for so many volumes has made it so she can get Saji instead of giving up on him like in canon?

 Volume 9 564 - Storming Olympus part 2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 564 - Storming Olympus part 2</h4>


    After nning out the details, Kisuke first lets Athena and Nyx go to their homeworld to prepare. He woulde after them with some preparations from his side.


    An hourter, Kisuke finished his preparations and he could still hear the screams of agony and horror, ''Hang in there�� Once you''ve ovee that fear, you''ll realize that this isn''t that hard.'' Even though the dummies were programmed to move like him, they still don''t have free will of their own so they''ll only be moving within a certain pattern.


    However, that isn''t a disadvantage but a wee feature. As long as they gather their courage, they''ll realize it and they''ll be able to fight them off. Aside from gaining some real battle experience, they''d also gain a good mentality for the battlefield which Kisuke was aiming for from the start.


    They may need more strength, but someone like Azazel could give them that. What they needed even more than that were experiences that would be hard toe by unless they continuously risked their lives.


    While recalling Issei and his group, Kisuke thought, ''However, the more I think about it, the more I find their progress monstrous. Not in experience but firepower. Even Sona, Koneko and Aika who''re training full time couldn''t catch up to them�� Is it because they are in different worlds? Or is it the Falna? The Sacred Gears? Their Lineage? Their Race? Or is it some strange Will of the World? Though their foundation was a lot more stable than those kids, I''ll still have to revise the training n for the three of them.''


    After contemting for a moment, Kisuke decided to set it aside for now and focus on his current task. Teleporting to the agreed-upon site, Kisuke arrived in Greece once again. However, he didn''t have time to sightsee nor was he in the mood to do so, so he went straight towards the nearby mountain and found a small cave in it that was covered in repelling spells.


    Reaching the end of the short cave, Kisuke came to a wall covered withplicated inscriptions and studied it, ''Hmm�� So this is one of the secret paths towards Olympus. I should recreate this somewhere else.''


    Touching the wall, Kisuke injected his Magic Power and the inscription lit up with blue light for a moment before transporting him to a strange space. While creating an escape route by branching the space tunnel, Kisuke arrived in a world with deep blue skies and countless stars like heavenly bodies, giving light to thend as if it''s daylight.


    Kisuke reappeared on a small floating ind just as Athena had described. And although it was supposed to be a closed-off and medium-sized world, Kisuke couldn''t see it nor feel its boundaries. In the middle of thend was a spire-like metropolis cityplete with roads and cars the same as those from the Human world.


    Aside from that, there''s also traffic in the sky as strange creatures transported people through the air.


    Even though it''s a Mythological Faction''s world, most of its citizens aren''t Gods. In Kisuke''s estimation, roughly 8 out of 10 were that of Human presence while the rest are Demi-Gods. The Gods actually made up a very small portion of its poption, though Kisuke can tell that they are the ones in control of everything in here, ''So this is Olympus�� True enough, It''ll leave a bitter taste in my mouth if I started a massacre here.''


    Checking his surroundings once again, Kisuke confirmed the information he got from Athena. However, that was still not enough to trust her wordspletely and so he sent out multiple small autonomous drones that would gather information for him.


    A few minutester, Kisuke confirmed his targets and took out multiple missileunchers from his inventory, cing them all over the small floating ind and set their target''s coordinates.


    Of course, these aren''t just simple rocketunchers as it was magic-based. Not just that, using the drones he sent out earlier, Kisuke used teleportation circles to transfer theunched missiles to their location so that it''d look like it wasn''tunched from their direction.


    Once everything was ready, Kisuke announced his arrival.


    Projecting arge holographic image of himself in the skies of the metropolis, Kisuke greeted everyone, "Greetings~ citizens of the illustrious and magnificent Olympus~"


    Everyone in Olympus looked up and wondered what''s going on. Although some of them instantly recognized Kisuke and started to move in a hurry, most of them could only feel a bit of familiarity from him, "Is some event about to start? That''s rare," said most of them.


    Hearing their questions through the spy drones, Kisuke covered his mouth with his fan and narrowed his eyes before saying, "It is indeed an event, albeit, an unscheduled one~."


    Soon after, soldiers started sorting out, and the police forces hurriedly issued emergency calls, "We''ve confirmed the individual to be Kisuke Urahara! He''s intruded on Olympus! Hurry and find his location and capture him! If he fights back, don''t hesitate to use lethal force!"


    This response shocked and confused the citizens who are just carrying on their daily lives. But before they could rify with the policing force what''s going on, Kisuke continued, "Ah, how rude of me for not introducing myself sooner. The name''s Kisuke Urahara from thend of Japan~" Closing his fan and revealing a big grin, he added, "Also your favorite terrorist~ A pleasure to meet everyone~"


    "T-terrorist? Did he just introduce himself as a terrorist?" asked one of the onlookers.


    "��Kisuke Urahara��? Ah! I remember now! He was someone whomitted a very grave offense and a veryrge bounty was ced on his head! His face was circted two or so months ago! He''s indeed considered a terrorist! What''s he doing here!?"


    "Ah�� So that''s him�� No wonder he''s somewhat familiar. Either way, he must have a death wish or two for him toe directly here at the stronghold of the Greek Faction. Nheless, I hope he at least gives us a good show before kicking the bucket."


    Kisuke''s grin grew bigger after hearing those, ''I''m giving you a good show, alright~ The one that won''t let you easily fall asleep at night while I''m staying here.''


    Kisuke noted the soldiers were already tracing the source of the hologram and it wouldn''t be long before his location was revealed. With that, Kisuke proceeded to the ''fun'' phase, "Without further ado, let''s start this event off with a bang~!"


    Instantly, hundreds of colorful missiles came from all directions out of nowhere, leaving a colorful trail of projectiles in the sky. View wise, it was like a dance of colorful meteor showers. But a minuteter, it wasn''t as fun as it looked.


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, terrorism! TIME TO COMMIT SOME WAR CRIMES! He was only told he can''t kill anyone, not that he couldn''t make them wish they were dead! Phis-chama is still unsupervised. I continue to worry.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 565 - VS Ares

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 565 - VS Ares</h4>


    The military forces of Olympus tried to intercept the missiles, however, once they got near them, the missiles suddenly teleported about thirty meters forward, dodging the soldiers.


    Even though they were able to catch up with some of them, most of them hit their intended targets which were important governmental and technological facilities, ensuing multiplerge explosions throughout the whole city.


    Themanders were shocked at this sight as even though their soldiers couldn''t prevent the missiles fromnding, those government buildings and other important facilities shouldn''t have taken any damage from such measly firepower, "Huh!? Why!? Why didn''t the defense system activate!? You there! Go contact the Security Bureau and the Magic Bureau! Ask for their exnations!"


    Mass panic ensued and the citizens of the city started running towards safety or tried to regroup with their loved ones. Although they were just normal citizens of Olympus, they''re still denizens of the Supernatural World so they can easily defend themselves from the falling debris. However, they didn''t expect that the city would take any substantial damage, which caused them to panic more than expected, causing more injuries from magic misfires than the explosions themselves.


    Although the defense forces were confused at what was happening, that didn''t stop them from finding Kisuke''s exact location and disabling his holographic projection. Immediately deploying hundreds of their ranks via teleportation, they surrounded Kisuke''s little ind.


    But instead of preparing for their arrival or trying to escape, they were shocked to find that the terrorist is still casually taking back his missileunchers without any hint of urgency. In fact, they can clearly hear him actually humming a tune of delight which made them incredibly angry, "Surrender yourself! Don''t make this harder for the both of us if you still want to live!" A man with a mustache stepped out.


    But even with him acting tough, the man didn''t let his men attack and just formed a formation around Kisuke. He and his superiors realized that the deactivation of the defense system might be another individual''s work or there could be some traitor amidst their ranks. They wanted to find the rat first before fully confronting Kisuke.


    Aside from that, they are already aware of what happened in the Underworld and how Kisuke forced Hades to escape. He''s aware that they are no match against him, but as a soldier of this realm, he''s not allowed to show any weakness. Not confronting Kisuke, for now, is one way to gain more time to gather their forces and maybe get a god''s assistance.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just continued cleaning up hisunchers while the soldiers around him that were still increasing in number also didn''t do nor say anything further.


    A few minutester, Kisuke finally addressed the man with a mustache that was leading them, "When will a Gode out?" At this point, the soldiers around him were already in the thousands and still increasing. Despite that, the nonchnt attitude of Kisuke didn''t change.


    "They don''t have time for someone like you." Themander simply answered while hoping for them toe. Noting that the formation was alreadyplete, he signaled his men to start. A secondter, Magic Power started overflowing from all the soldiers as they activated a huge spell that would trap and try to kill Kisuke.


    If Kisuke can''t stop more than half of them to stop channeling their Magic Power, the spell would fully activate. With that in mind, themander became confident after noting Kisuke''s inaction.


    However, contrary to his expectations, the atmosphere suddenly changed as a cold wind suddenly brushed the backs of each soldier. Themander''s heart, in particr, started palpitating in nervousness but he couldn''t find the source of this bad feeling.


    Nevertheless, he figured it out soon after.


    ''So they won''t easilye out, huh? I guess that''s fair since most of them are big balls of pride.'' While thinking of that, Kisuke unlocked the spell that was stopping the growth of his Reiatsu-Ki and released it on his surroundings.


    In an instant, all the soldiers surrounding him had a jumpscare as a sudden unbearable pressure came weighing down on them. While they were trying to figure out what was happening, more than half of them started falling from the sky unconscious, while the rest were pushed down to their knees as they tried their best to resist. But it wouldn''t be long before they sumbed to it and suffered the same fate as the other half.


    Themander, on the other hand, couldn''t care less about the broken formation as he could only stare in horror at the grinning man in front of him, "Y-y-y-you monster��"


    "My~ Thank you~" Kisuke giggled, "As a terrorist, that''s nice to hear~"


    A split secondter, however, Kisuke''s smile disappeared as he looked in a certain direction and saw a golden light rushing towards him. Partially changing his right arm into Hollow form, Kisuke thrust his fist three times towards it and released three condensed Reiatsu-Ki bullets. One of the signature skills of the Arrancars, the B, hit the golden light consecutively and created three explosions.


    However, Kisuke was only able to change its trajectory before it resumed homing towards him again.


    Kisuke then took out Benihime in her Shikai form and waved it towards the iing golden projectile, releasing a huge crimson energy wave. The colliding forces resulted in an enormous explosion that covered the sky and blew away all of the soldiers surrounding Kisuke.


    Kisuke wanted to say something but he stopped, cing his de to his side, blocking the golden greatsword that almost cut him in half. Kisuke was thrown sideways and immediately recovered his stance midair.


    However, arge man in a golden and white full te armor and helmet appeared behind him and shed the golden greatsword towards Kisuke, splitting him in half.


    But the man in armor immediately brought his greatsword behind him and blocked the thrust of a de before Kisuke''s ''corpse'' in front of him popped like a balloon.


    "My~ I certainly didn''t expect that a proud God like you would use a sneak attack~ That''s unfair, you know~" Kisuke chuckled behind the man in the armor.


    In response, the man in the armor used his overpowering strength to swing his greatsword, forcing Kisuke to step back, "Hmph�� And you sure do have some thick skin to discuss fairness with me." A baritone voice came from him.


    "It''s one of my proud assets, God of War, Ares-sama~", replied Kisuke.


    The man in armor, Ares, turned towards him and said, "I never thought that someone out there would be proud of their shamelessness."


    Standing straight up, Ares released his Divine Aura, offsetting the pressure that Kisuke was releasing, "Get away from this ce. I''ll deal with him."


    Themander of the army stood up in a panic, "Y-yes! Men! Retreat!"


    While the silent standoff between the two was happening, the army hurriedly retreated towards the city which was finally able to reactivate its defense system.


    After being left alone, the first one to make a move was Ares as he intensified the Divine Aura he was emitting to the point that Kisuke could visualize the gold and red thick aura around him.


    "Hmmph!" With a snort, Ares'' aura spread wide and Kisuke immediately noticed the effect it caused, ''He locked the space with just his aura? It looks like the usage of sh Step would be limited too�� Impressive.''


    While Kisuke was observing what was happening, Ares suddenly swung his greatsword with a grunt, releasing an enormous golden shockwave towards Kisuke.


    Kisuke''s expression became serious and he immediately put forward his de, "Chikasumi no Tate (Blood Mist Shield)"


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    Editors:


    28th00: Well, this is fight gonnast a while.


    Staz Irvine

 Volume 9 566 - VS Ares part2

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 566 - VS Ares part2</h4>


    Kisuke was sted away by the golden shockwave, sending him far from the city.


    But instead of stopping his momentum, Kisuke swung his de, "Nake, Benihime!"


    Sending out a crimson wave of energy, Kisuke was able to stop Ares'' charge and he got some more options to move. Using sh Step, Kisuke reappeared on Ares'' nk and shed at it.


    However, Ares was able to easily block him by cing his greatsword in the way. Ares turned his head towards Kisuke who was able to see his blood-red eyes through the slit in his helmet, "You''re fast, but you''re not strong."


    In response, Kisuke only smiled, "Physical strength was never my forte~"


    Ares wanted to shake him off but he suddenly felt a disturbance on his other side. Using his Divine Aura, he formed a transparent golden shell around him in an instant before arge explosion urred that engulfed his whole body.


    Kisuke immediately retreated and saw Aresing out of the smoke virtually unscathed, "Even without using your aura, an attack of that magnitude shouldn''t have any effect on you."


    "I don''t want dirt touching my armor," answered Ares nonchntly.


    "My~ Now that makes me want to draw some smiley faces on it using a permanent marker~"


    Ares snorted at him in disdain, "You should just worry about how to stay alive. It looks like defeating Hades went to your head and you suddenly invaded my glorious Faction. Killing you is the most lenient punishment I could give."


    Ares didn''t let Kisuke reply as he suddenly disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of Kisuke in an instant while brandishing his greatsword, intending to cleave him in half.


    Kisuke didn''t move from his spot and used his own de to deflect the greatsword to the side before returning a counterattack. Ares on the other hand, didn''t panic as he materialized his golden aura in his free hand, letting it act as a shield, deflecting Kisuke''s attack.


    From that point on, the onlookers could only see bursts of shockwaves from their sh as they moved from one ce to another at speeds that they couldn''t follow.


    Some Gods also arrived at the scene and let their men take care of the damaged parts of the city as they watched the ongoing sh between the two.


    "Hooh~ What a surprise. He''s able to keep up with Ares. And here I thought he defeated Hades through some dumb luck since he''s too arrogant and always looked down on others," A handsome young man appearing in his mid-twenties with ck hairmented from the walls of Olympus.


    "It''s really surprising. It''s been a while since a young man has managed to reach the level of Gods." A hazy shape of a man spoke beside the young man before turning towards him, "It''s rare for you toe out. What made youe here, Erebus?"


    Erebus clicked his tongue and answered with hatred, "Of course it''s because of my missing sister! She wasst seen at Hades'' ritual sight before it was destroyed after they trapped Kisuke Urahara in there. With her abilities and my connection with her, I know that she''s not dead. My only clue would be him, who Hades dered as dead."


    Erebus turned to the hazy man and asked, "What about you? Youe out even less than anyone else, Morpheus."


    Morpheus just chuckled at his question, "Nothing much~ I just felt Great Red''s strong scent on him, so I came to see who rudely knocked on our door."


    "After all these years, your obsession with Great Red hasn''t changed."


    "What would you expect~ I''m a God that represents dreams and sleep~."


    While they were talking, more and more Gods started appearing and Morpheusmented, "Wow~ I never thought he''d gather this much attention and interest~."


    All this time, Erebus had been on guard against Morpheus more than anything the moment he appeared beside him, as he''s one of the few Gods that aren''t under the control of their coalition due to him being in his mysterious space for more than a century now. And due to his form which isn''t in realitypletely, it would be hard to nt the poison within him, making Morpheus either their enemy or potential ally, ''What a troublesome God�� He probably approached me because he''s gauging the situation and trying to figure out the benefits on both sides.''


    Although Apollo''s faction is overwhelmingly powerful among the other factions within Olympus, they just couldn''t simply take control of everything as there are other mythologies to watch out for. The main reason for Apollo''s absence is to gather more allies that will join him for his inevitable sh with the Three Factions.


    Although he has the same enemy as the Khaos Brigade, their goals werepletely different, so they didn''t pursue their rtionship and only gave a handful of assistance. Apollo also knew that they may be enemies with them in the future after the Three Factions are out of the equation.


    While dwelling on such thoughts, the situation changed between Ares and Kisuke, as thetter crashed on a floating ind, partially destroying it. The dust was immediately blown away by the high winds and those who''re watching saw the tattered Kisuke half-buried in the ground coughing blood.


    "So it''s done�� Before Ares kills him, I have to interrogate him first," Erebus intended to fly towards Kisuke but he was suddenly stopped by Morpheus, "What are you talking about? This is far from being done."


    Once Erebus turned his attention towards Ares, Ares'' majestic golden armor, including his full-face helmet, suddenly started falling apart, revealing his head with red and orange-colored hair and his face wearing a very serious, borderline enraged, expression.


    However, this is not what shocked Erebus. As his armor fell off, it also revealed his bloody body full of cuts, "H-he did that? To Ares?"


    Morpheus didn''t reply to him and only watched with keen interest.


    Kisuke pulled himself out of the ground and dusted his already tattered Shihakusho and wiped the blood seeping from his mouth with a smile, "As expected of a God~ I almost died there~" As his hat was already blown into oblivion after that sh, Kisuke also had to dust his hair which was now full of dirt and grime.


    Ares didn''t answer and only frowned. Although he was still holding back, he knows that his opponent is doing the same. He already heard the news that Kisuke used a different form to defeat Hades in an instant, ''Despite that�� He already went through my armor and reached my flesh. His swordsmanship is no joke.''


    After a few more seconds of silence, Ares said, "You have my respect."


    He then suddenly threw away his greatsword and summoned a blood-red spear in his right hand and a blood-red round shield in his left hand, "As such, I shall show you my power."


    After dering that, Ares grunted and the golden aura around his body was suddenly mixed with a red aura. At the same time, all the wounds on his body instantly healed and his body doubled in size.


    The calm fighter Kisuke was against was no more, as Ares''s demeanor became wrathful.


    "I see. So this is the power of the God of War that represented unbridled violence and bloodlust," Kisuke casuallymented before releasing some of his Hollow powers inside him, letting it mix with his Shinigami powers.


    After growing his hair and growing a single horn, Kisuke stared at Ares with his golden pupils and ckened sclera and said while pointing Benihime towards him, "Let''s start the second round, shall we?"


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    Editors:


    Staz Irvine


    28th00: You ever wonder why shounen powerups always involve hair growing? Phis-chama is still unsupervised, but hopefully not for long! Levi-tan is supposed to show up and watch over everyone, so hopefully Phis-chama doesn''t create a singrity by building in spatial dimensions above 3 for her castle to be "Awesome." I wonder if she would be scandalized if she knew Ares just destroyed ''The Hat''?


    Goyya: She won''t be able to destroy anything if it''s already destroyed~

 Volume 9 567 - VS Ares part 3

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 567 - VS Ares part 3</h4>


    The same as with Ares, Kisuke also healed his existing wounds.


    "Hoo? So this is what you used to catch Hades off guard? What an interesting Devil you are��" Ares smiled widely before disappearing from his spot leaving the words, "But that won''t be enough."


    Eyeing Kisuke like a helpless prey, Ares reappeared beside him and thrust his spear with a speed greater than anything he showed before. However, he was shocked to see that Kisuke just casually followed his movements with his eyes and already raised his left arm out to intercept and his right arm was holding his de, alreadying for the arm that was holding his spear in retaliation.


    Nevertheless, Ares only sneered at him and continued his attack, ''Underestimating me, huh?''


    Ares'' blood-red spear hit Kisuke''s arms and immediately felt the resistance from it that surprised him a little. But even then, his spear still easily went through Kisuke''s arms, cutting it.


    Yet, that''s all Ares was able to do as the trajectory of the spear was altered and he immediately felt Kisuke''s sharp de going through his forearm.


    Since he already got an advantage, Ares retreated and stopped a distance away from Kisuke who was already missing an arm and watching his severed arm being reduced to nothing.


    "It''s one of this spear''s abilities. It''ll reduce the effect of any regeneration skills and would destroy anything that is severed from a bodypletely," exined Ares as his wound on his arm visibly closed and healed.


    Kisuke ignored his disintegrating arm and looked towards Ares who slowly made a shocked face as his arm grew anew within just a few seconds, "This second round will be long~."


    Ares then started chuckling and charged at Kisuke in a wild rampage, "Interesting!"


    This time, Kisuke properly dodged Ares'' attack and tried to attack him from the openings he created. However, Ares'' defenses with his shield were just as good as his attacks. Although Ares was moving like a rampaging bull, the finesse in his movements and his expertise with a spear and shield, which was greater than his use of a greatsword didn''t disappear, making it incredibly hard to even counter-attack.


    After all, Ares is an old existence that was born for war, lived for war, a God of War which represents the most brutal aspect of war.


    Their sh moved to several small floating inds, obliterating them with shockwaves. Although Kisuke was faster than Ares, he can''tnd a decisive blow and could only take off some of Ares''s flesh, but his aura would recover any damage he took in an instant.


    On the other hand, Ares already took Kisuke''s limbs multiple times but it''ll just regenerate immediately, questioning the unique ability of his precious spear.


    At some point, both of them already stopped talking and just did their best not to get hit by a fatal blow.


    ''The arranged time with Athena is nearing�� I have to finish this up before even more Gods gather. I already expected this, but damn, Gods sure have a lot of hidden aces in their sleeves. Well, I guess that''s normal since they''ve already lived for a very long time,'' thought Kisuke while blocking Ares'' spear with his palm and thrust his de towards his throat.


    Although Ares was able to dodge, Kisuke''s de still cut a part of his neck. However, thanks to his regenerative ability, it healed soon after, ''Although the city is safe, the realm''s stability was already shaken due to this fight. I didn''t expect that he could go this far. Just where did hee from? Either way, I have to kill him now before he bes an even greater threat.'' Ares thought as he was genuinely shocked. After all, he''s one of the 10 strongest beings in the world.


    With both of theming to a decision, Kisuke and Ares separated from each other with wounds all over their bodies. It became obvious that their regenerative powers are not as powerful as when they first showed it.


    Meanwhile, the Gods who''re watching were gobsmacked. They all thought that only someone at Sirzechs or Ajuka''s level from the Devil''s side would be able topete head-on with Ares, but they realized that they were sorely mistaken and became on guard against the single Devil that invaded them.


    While some of them wanted to capture Kisuke, most of them wanted to kill him as an unknown fear took hold of their hearts.


    "I must admit. You are strong," said Ares as his wounds heal, "Which is why it''s such a shame, but I have to kill you right here, right now. An unknown threat like you targeting Olympus, I''ll have you eliminated before you could improve and threaten the very foundation of our Faction."


    Suddenly, the golden aura surrounding Ares disappeared and the red aura became thicker now simr to a blood mist revolving around him.


    While watching him change again, Kisuke replied, "I don''t really have to do anything regarding that since you''ll destroy Olympus yourselves. I''m only here for an act of small revenge."


    Ares eyed him for a few seconds before muttering, "So you''re aware�� All the more reason to get rid of you then."


    A secondter, the blood mist surrounding him suddenly entered the pores of his skin. Soon, a heartbeat loud enough to be heard from anyone in Olympus came from Ares as he suddenly grew bigger, now around ten meters tall.


    As his face became warped in a rage simr to that of a Nio statue from Japan, his eyes and hair became pure red and his skin became covered with red markings.


    Along with it were his spear and shield changing their size to match his current stature.


    Andstly, instead of bing, even more, pronounced, Ares'' aura actually almost disappeared. In an amateurs'' eyes, he became a lot weaker instead, but for those Gods and Kisuke that were watching, it''s the exact opposite.


    ''I already expected this, but not to this extent. Dammit! Looks like I''m still underestimating them. Such an annoying mistake,'' thought Kisuke as he gritted his teeth in surprise. He then thought of activating the spells and kidou that he prepared but ultimately decided against it, ''No�� If I activate those now, I''ll be throwing out the benefit I could get in the long run for a short-term benefit. Although it''s risky, I''ll have to do it.''


    Kisuke then nced at his beloved de, ''Oh my dear Benihime, are you ready?''


    Kisuke heard Benihime''s sonorous chuckle in his head, ''Anytime~ Though I would have to remind you. You can only keep it for five seconds or less. Any more and your soul will be too strong for your current body to contain. If that were to happen, the destruction of your body will be the least of your concerns.''


    ''I know. If my body were to be destroyed in that state, my soul will continue to mutate endlessly until I lose my sense of self. And to be honest, although I''m interested in how my soul would mutate, if I can''t observe it then that idea goes to the trash bin.''


    Chuckling was again, Benihime replied, ''The fact that you''re still interested in that, makes me proud, master~.''


    However, Ares didn''t let Kisuke reply to Benihime as he suddenly appeared in front of Kisuke with a speed that doesn''t befit his size. And instead of his spear, Ares smacked Kisuke to the ground with his shield.


    Creating multiple shockwaves by breaking the speed of sound several times, Kisuke crashed into the ground, creating a gigantic crater, pulverizing the earth around him, and starting an earthquake that is more powerful than magnitude 10, shaking the whole realm for a few seconds.


    Kisuke''s body was mangled and despite his regenerative abilities, he couldn''t heal as fast. Not just that, when Kisuke tried to move, he found himself pinned in ce by something unknown, ''That''s the shield''s ability?''


    Not letting this chance go, Ares threw down his spear, impaling Kisuke in the chest, "Gaha!!!!"


    As soon as the spear went through him, Kisuke could feel his life force being absorbed and his soul energy being dispersed.


    Staz Irvine


    28th00: I thought Hades was the only Olympian in the Top 10? There''re so many characters in the Top 10 that it should just be called top 50 at this point, honestly.


    Goyya: Although top 10 sounds amazing, in this case, it''s anything but that. After all, no one really tracks these ranks and who knows when it wasst updated. At this point, the top 10 are just as credible as hearsays. On top of that, these top 10 are only for glory and those who don''t care about it would rather hide their real strengths. Not to mention, those below the rankings doesn''t mean they can''t contend for the rank. It''s really just a loose term when you think about it.

 Volume 9 568 - VS Ares part 4

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 568 - VS Ares part 4</h4>


    Kisuke grabbed the spear impaled in him and tried to pull it out but the spear suddenly grew roots made out of Ares'' own blood that entangled with his organs, "Don''t bother. Those won''t let go unless you''re dried dead."


    Ares and everyone who was watching saw Kisuke slowly dry up and the light in his eyes disappeared.


    Inside his haze, Morpheus frowned, ''Should I risk it?'' But while asking that question in his head, a change suddenly urred as Ares suddenly panicked and willed his spear to return to him.


    The onlookers were shocked at his sudden action, but before they could make sense of what was happening, the dried-up Kisuke suddenly appeared in front of Ares with the light in his eyes back, albeit, a bit strange.


    Ares hurriedly put up his shield in front of Kisuke as it lit up and met Kisuke''s fist.


    Ares was about to counter-attack with his spear, however, he was shocked to find the strength behind Kisuke''s punch, "What!?"


    Simr to Kisuke''s state earlier, Ares was thrown to the ground, breaking the speed of sound several times and created arge crater that caused a huge earthquake. Nevertheless, Ares was able to keep himself on his feet and looked up to Kisuke who''d lost his entire arm that he used to punch due to the rebound effect of his shield.


    However, the strange and bad feeling Ares had didn''t disappear and as he stared at Kisuke''s cold eyes, he came to the decision to use his trump card. Getting into a throwing stance, Ares'' spear became an incorporeal and spiraling blood-red me, "Extinction Spear!"


    Those who''re watching were more surprised than ever and the Gods immediately moved to secure the stability of the realm, "Ares has gone crazy!" Was shouted by one of them.


    Athena and Nyx who came just now to watch in secret since they''d done their task were horrified. They wanted to help but it was already toote.


    Throwing his spear towards Kisuke, it became ten timesrger as it traveled the distance. Kisuke tried to evade it, but he was held in ce by some unknown force once again, forcing him to make defensive maneuvers.


    Putting a hexagonal shield in front of him, the spear engulfed and went through Kisuke, tunneling a hole through space and breaking the boundary of the realm. If the Gods didn''t do any preemptive stabilization, the damage to the realm''s boundary would be muchrger.


    The me disappeared and the spear returned to Ares'' hand. However, its shine already disappeared and there were some cracks on its shaft and de.


    But Ares didn''t mind this and intently stared at the spot where Kisuke was.


    Right now, only less than half of Kisuke was seemingly unconscious and only half of his upper body is remaining and most of it was charred ck. Seeing this, Ares clicked his tongue, ''Tch�� I wasn''t able to fully obliterate him. He''s a lot more durable than I expected. Nevertheless, the problem with him is already over.''


    Ares then turned around while contemting, ''But what was that strange feeling from earlier? What was he about to do?''


    Athena couldn''t help but grit her teeth in frustration, ''Our only hope��''


    But then, Nyx suddenly nudged her, "A-Athena�� L-look!"


    Athena sighed and looked towards the direction that Nyx was pointing and her eyes became wide open, "W-what is that��?"


    Ares who was already walking away felt some movements and hurriedly turned around, "He''s still alive?"


    Slowly, Kisuke''s eyes opened, and coldly stared at Ares who was preparing for another attack to finish him off. But before Ares could continue his movements, a sudden heavy pressure that was ced directly on his soul came crashing down and he almost buckled under it, ''I-Impossible! Even if I''m weakened by thatst attack, for something like this��!''


    In front of all the onlookers, Kisuke''s missing body parts suddenly grew back, but not just that as a white-colored tail simr to that of a dragon also grew behind him along with his other horn.


    His Devil wings, meanwhile, entirely disappeared and were reced by swirling ck energies that formed 12 pairs of wings.


    Finally, a thin jet ck halo that was radiating ck rays outwards appeared on top of Kisuke''s head and around his horns.


    "What are you!?" shouted Ares at him as he tried to resist the pressureing from him.


    However, Kisuke didn''t answer him. No. It''s more like Kisuke couldn''t afford to talk to him as he was trying his best to regte the energies within him.


    Since he couldn''t stay like this for much longer, he put forward his left arm and manifested a ck ball of energy, a ck Cero.


    He then lifted his right and ced Benihime within the ck Cero. A secondter, the ck Cero morphed and followed the shape of Benihime, covering her with dense and destructive energy.


    Seeing this, Morpheus immediately shouted to his fellow Gods, "Hurry! Activate the formation! Move everyone out of the city!"


    Instead of trying to defend the city, Morpheus figured out that it''d be better to move the citizens away from inevitable harm.


    The other Gods also had the same opinion after seeing Kisuke''s current state and used their Divinities to activate a certain spell that would instantly evacuate everyone in the city of Olympus.


    While maintaining eye contact with Ares, Kisuke lifted Benihime on top of his head and brought it down, "Kireru, Benihime (Sever, Benihime)."


    Ares wanted to get away, but simr to Kisuke from earlier, he was held by some strange force resulting in him receiving Kisuke''s attack head-on.


    A ck sh went through Ares and the city behind him in an instant, before the God of War and the metropolis were split into halves, while the former was making an uprehending face.


    After releasing that attack, Kisuke instantly reverted to his human form and fell down from the sky. Before he reached the ground, he immediately activated several of the defensive barriers that he''d prepared beforeing here.


    Athena and Nyx watched the city divided into two by arge crevice with an unknown depth. However, they do know that Kisuke''s attack just now created arge split in the realm''s boundary, and if not fixed asap, the Dimensional Gap will slowly eat the realm.


    But while they were watching this spectacle in horror, something else scared them even more, "Heya~ Sorry for beingte~ Though it took a while, I was able to gather everyone''s attention~!"


    "Hii---!!!" Nyx immediately hid behind Athena in fear. Her former trauma resurfaced with greater intensity.


    Athena looked outside towards the tattered Kisuke inside his multiyered barrier and the Gods who were to break it open. She then looked back to the grinning Kisuke in front of him, virtually unscathed. She wanted to ask how he''s uninjured, but upon closer look, his aura was weak and turbulent and instead asked, "Will you be okay?"


    "Thanks for the concern, but I''ll be fine after some rest," replied Kisuke.


    Athena wanted to ask more but it was not her ce to inquire deeper.


    Kisuke then looked towards Ares who was split in half before muttering, "So that shield really has that ability."


    Athena also looked towards Ares'' corpse that suddenly started moving and as if time rewound, putting himself back into one piece. However, his overwhelminglyrge muscles were gone as he became skinny to the point that everyone could see his ribs. In addition to his very weakened self, the shield on his left arm was split into two despite not taking any damage from the attack before.


    "The Spear of Mars that is capable of annihting any life and the Shield of Mars that is capable of reversing fate," uttered Athena, "The shield became a substitute to the fatal attacked he received, but in exchange, it siphoned most of his Divinity and would take years to return to his former strength. But most importantly, it''ll take at least a century to repair that shield. You just took away his second life."


    "Well, I already understood that the moment I ''killed'' him," Kisuke then turned around and said, "Let''s go. We don''t have much time."


    =====================


    =====================


    =====================


    Editors:


    28th00: That Void-Dragon-Angel form has to be from all the blessings and the rtion he has to Ophis. His Angel parts should be from his devil heritage being incredibly malleable and reverting to pre-corruption stat through use of Ophis'' void? Something like that. Magic wish rock plot device lets you cheat with measly ''barriers'' like that after all. I wanna see Phis-chama fandragon over that form and say with sparkles in her eyes "Dragons are the strongest!", since Mr.Hat became a dragon when he got stronger, it has to be true!


    Goyya: From this point, Void has nothing to do with his transformation. It''s mainly from his Hollow, Shinigami powers, and the power within his Physical Body,pletely merging temporarily thanks to the Hougyoku. Although his appearance was influenced by his Devil Lineage. Ajuka will bementing about thister and Kisuke will exin some of it through monologue.

 Volume 9 569 - Zeus

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 569 - Zeus</h4>


    Truthfully speaking, Kisuke felt relieved when Ares was revived, ''Whew~ That was really close. If he stayed dead, then all those preparations were for naught!''


    Athena and Nyx silently led Kisuke towards a certain corner of the city. The three of them then arrived at a very normal stone house. But the moment, Athena opened the door, Kisuke immediately felt the fluctuation in space.


    When they entered, the inside of the small stone house was actually a pce, "Whew~ What a neat trick~!"mented Kisuke as he looked around.


    "This way, please," Since they didn''t have much time, Athena didn''t entertain Kisuke and immediately led him to the innermost room and knocked on its door, "Father, I''m back."


    A deep manly voice came from inside the room, "Come in."


    "Excuse me," Athena opened the door and the three of them came into a wide luxurious room.


    Kisuke entered the roomst and immediately checked the room for an instant before turning his attention towards the tall man standing by the window, overlooking the divided city. The man turned around and smiled at Kisuke, "Wee, Kisuke Urahara. I''m Zeus, the former leader of Olympus. It''s a pleasure to meet you."


    "Likewise~ It''s nice to meet you," replied Kisuke.


    Zeus is an old man with white hair and a beard, but despite that, He''s emitting a vigorparable to yful youngsters, giving him a contradictory aura.


    "I want to entertain you and have a good talk but," ncing towards the ''Kisuke'' inside the barrier he continued, "I can see that you can''t afford to stay any longer."


    Kisuke nodded at him, "It''s really such a shame," Kisuke then unsheathed his de from the cane, "Well then, please let me finish my business here."


    "Kisuke?" asked Athena in confusion at his sudden action.


    However, Kisuke just ignored her and stepped in front of Zeus. He then lifted his de and aimed for his heart.


    "W-what!? No! Stop!!!" Athena was about to intercept Kisuke but Zeus looked at her and signaled her to stop.


    Zeus then looked towards Kisuke and apologized, "I apologize. Although she''s very smart,pared to other Gods, she''s very inexperienced."


    "If she was, I wouldn''t be here, nor she," Kisuke plunged his de through Zeus'' heart without any hesitation.


    Nyx, especially Athena, jumped in fear as they didn''t know what''s going on. However, before thetter lost her patience, Kisuke took out his de, leaving no wound nor scratch on Zeus'' body.


    "Impressive," muttered Zeus as he touched his chest and recalled the earlier sensation that an itch was directly cut down.


    Thanks to his experience with Apollo''s poison, Kisuke was able to devise a method that allowed him to cut it down directly using Benihime''s help. Not only is this method is a lot faster, but it''s also a lot safer as this won''t give the poison any time to react to anything that disturbs it. However, as a consequence, only Kisuke is capable of doing this.


    Kisuke sheathed back his de and replied, "Thank you for yourpliment."


    However, Zeus shook his head, "It''s me that should be grateful."


    "It''s a deal that I and your daughter agreed on. No need to be thankful regarding that."


    "I''m not just thankful regarding that. I''m also thankful that you didn''t nt another poison to control me as you have to my daughter."


    Athena''s body shook, awakening her from her stupor due to earlier events, "F-father�� How?"


    Kisuke couldn''t help but smile and said, "I believe Athena-san couldn''t have told you that."


    Zeus sighed, "As you might have expected, I''m her father. And not just that, she''s also the daughter I dote on the most. Considering her state sometime earlier and the current situation, I was able to connect the dots. Though, it was mostly spection before this."


    Kisuke chuckled after hearing his exnation, "As expected of the former leader of an ancient faction~"


    Nevertheless, Zeus ignored Kisuke''s ttery and looked at him with suspicion, "Hence, we go back to my previous point. Why didn''t you nt a poison of your own to control me? If it''s enough to control Athena, it should be enough for me too."


    "Zeus-sama. What I want is not a ve but an ally. I hope that answers your doubts."


    Zeus became silent and closed his eyes as hebed his beard with his right hand. However, that didn''t take long as he opened his eyes again after a minute and sighed, "So instead of Athena, your aim was actually me from the start, huh? Really impressive."


    This time, it''s Kisuke''s turn to be surprised.


    On the side, both Athena and Nyx were confused with their exchange, "Aiming at you from the start? What do you mean, father?" asked Athena.


    "It''s only my guess and I only have a general idea," Zeus replied to Athena before looking back to Kisuke, "But if you don''t mind, could you enlighten me on your thought process? I''m really curious about it."


    "Very well," Kisuke nodded at him, "It all started when I encountered Athena-san for the first time and figured out that there''s some power struggle within your faction."


    "Huh? But I don''t remember ever telling you anything about that at that time." Athena became incredibly confused.


    Kisuke looked at her and replied, "You didn''t but I got that idea when you briefly talked about your faction."


    "Then you''re just guessing! And what use would that be?"


    "Ever since Hades started snooping around Kuoh Town, I also went through some things to prepare for the future. And I encountered you in Greece, putting you under my control became one of my strings against Hades. More specifically, you became the string for me to create a connection with the leader of Olympus, Zeus-sama," Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders, "However, due to this annoying poison, most of those ns were thrown out of the window."


    "S-so you didn''t control me so that you can order me around but to connect you with father?" asked Athena with an unbelieving face.


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s the main idea, or else, did you think Serafall-sama would have trusted you when you made contact with her? I specifically gave her some clues to trust you."


    Athena became even more confused. All this time, she thought that Kisuke only ''enved'' her so that he could order a God around or out of necessity due to the situation they had at that time. Being told that she was controlled so that he could make a simple connection to her father, she just couldn''t ept it, not her and her pride, "B-but what if instead of making a connection, you became hostile with my father!? After all, although not exactly, he noticed the situation I''m in!"


    Kisuke sighed in response, "Have you forgotten or are you just too worked up? You can''t reveal my identity to anyone. And even if you can, it doesn''t really change the situation I''m in because it''s only a matter of time before Hades discovered me after dealing with his men."


    "And please remember that I did that with the power struggle in mind. I ced my bets on the fact that I would give a hostile faction against Hades a signal. Be it a good or bad signal, it didn''t really matter that much. The important thing is that there are options that would open up."


    Zeus nodded at his words, "He''s correct. Since I noticed it, I have two choices and also took a gamble of waiting to see what''s going to happen."


    "S-so you two, without meeting each other, yed a waiting game using Athena?" asked Nyx in disbelief.


    Kisuke and Zeus looked at each other before closing their eyes and rubbing their chins, "Hmm�� You could say that," both of them replied.


    ====================


    ====================


    Editors:


    28th00: You gotta remember, Zeus and them have had thousands of years and a revision by the Romans to ''grow up'' from their chaotic days in the beginning. They''re all very old and experienced now. Mostly. The leaders at least.


    Goyya: That''s why Kisuke can''t just fool them. They have the same amount of experience or even more.


    Staz Irvine


    Ja A

 Volume 9 570 - Stinky God

    <h4>Volume 9 Chapter 570 - Stinky God</h4>


    Athena sat down to the side silently and Nyx followed her to give her somefort.


    Meanwhile, Zeus and Kisuke continued talking for a short while without minding her before Kisuke bid his farewell, "Well then, I gotta go. They''re about to finish repairing the rift and have already broken down my barriers."


    Zeus nodded at him, "I see. Then before you go, please rify something. When are you going to make your move? I suppose this isn''t the end of your revenge, right?"


    "Indeed. But I''ll only make a move once you''ve made yours. And on top of that, I won''t be participating in whatever you n to do. I''ll do what I want depending on the situation at hand," Kisuke replied.


    "I see that you still don''t trust us, but that''ll be good enough. Though if it''s possible, I''d like you to pass me the method to cure this poison."


    "That''s not a problem. I already intended to give it to you from the start so that you can kick start your ns rtively easily," Kisuke then took out a pad of magic protected papers and passed it to Zeus, "Although I still haven''t fully analyzed the poison, my knowledge is already enough to remove it. Though I think you''ll be more interested in the second part where you can only disable the poison from interrupting."


    After getting the encryption key from Kisuke, Zeus went through the details written on the paper, "This will be game-changing�� Especially the second part," He then looked towards Kisuke and said, "You have my gratitude, but I''m sorry. Due to my current position, I can''t give you anything back."


    "It''s fine. I''m not expecting anything in return for now."


    "For now, huh? Still, I can''t let you go without giving you something as thanks�� Ah, how about that?"


    "What?"


    "I already received the report regarding how you dealt with the recent crisis in the Underworld and it seems that you used the concept of ''Kanon'' or ''Avalokite?vara''. This resulted in you getting the attention of the Vajrapani as a candidate for Padmapani. So it''s already a foregone conclusion that you''ll get involved with those from Hindu Faction."


    "Although you should be careful with any of them approaching you, you need to watch out for the Trimurti and Indra, as all of them have the power to read everyone''s mind, including Gods," Zeus then suddenly switched to telepathic message and continued, "Especially Shiva. Not only is he recognized as the strongest being outside of Ophis and Great Red, he''s known for his power of Divination. However, only very few people knew the real identity of his very urate Divining powers."


    "His third eye which is said to be the one he uses to peer into the future, cannot actually see the future. It can actually see the whole world at its most tiny details and calcte the next events. In hindsight, this is more terrifying than using mysterious methods such as Divination."


    "That''s indeed more troublesome�� Thank you very much for this information," Kisuke then turned around and used sh Step to disappear from the room.


    After seeing him leave, Athena walked towards Zeus and asked, "Father, what should we do next?"


    Zeus thought for a moment and said, "Sever any contact you have with Kisuke Urahara and those around him. After this event, Apollo''s camp would be suspicious. He''ll be one of our trump cards and it''ll be a shame if he were to be discovered too early."


    Athena nodded, "Understood."


    Zeus then looked towards Nyx and said, "Nyx, I''m sorry to do this to you. But after deactivating those defensive measures, no matter how much you hide it, they''ll discover you. Since you didn''t show up or tell anyone that you''re still alive and apparently helped Kisuke Urahara in his infiltration, you''ll be treated as a traitor and a bounty will be ced on your head. So I want you to cut off any connection you have with Athena right now."


    Nyx only smiled wryly and replied, "I know�� I''ll do just that."


    Athena, on the other hand, couldn''t say anything and just gritted her teeth. She knew this is the safest way for her faction to grow in strength, by tossing away a liability. She just hates how weak her current position is to not be able to help her.


    "I could have asked that guy to take you in, but considering the past feud between you and him, I think it''d be asking too much with our current rtionship," added Zeus.


    "No. It''s fine. I''ve already prepared myself for this the moment I helped him."


    "I see�� Then please do your best to survive out there."


    When Nyx was about to leave, a teleportation circle suddenly appeared in front of Zeus before a case of candies, and a letter appeared on it before disappearing.


    They could feel Kisuke''s magic from it so Athena just picked it up and gave it to Zeus.


    Opening the letter, Zeus read through it and startedughing, "Hahaha! Well, isn''t this good?"


    Athena and Nyx looked at each other in confusion. Zeus then tossed the letter and the case of candies towards Nyx, "This is for you."


    Nyx hurriedly caught it and curiously read the letter, "This is for Nyx-san for the trouble she incurred. Take a candy every three days and after a month you''ll be able topletely recover your soul. Aside from that, you can also use my base to hide. It''s a lot better than just running in circles hoping for them to not catch you."


    Nyx smiled happily and almost teared up. Aside from meeting Athena, this was the first good thing that ever happened to her since Kisuke attacked the ritual site. She then faced Zeus and Athena with a bright face and bid her farewell, "I have to leave before they fix the rift."


    Athena also smiled for her and said, "Be careful."


    After nodding, Nyx used her teleportation magic to leave Olympus. Of course, she wouldn''t teleport to Kisuke''s hideout directly as there are some things she needed to do to cover her tracks.


    "Now then, Athena�� I want you to continue faking your illness while going on diplomatic missions. I want you to gather allies from outside of Olympus."


    "Understood. I''ll prepare for it immediately."


    .


    .


    .


    A few hourster, Apollo arrived from one of his secretbs and immediately went towards his mansion which was alreadypletely destroyed, "That bastard�� I''ll never forgive him."


    He then started looking around to see if there was anything that could be used to track Kisuke down, like traces of his magic. A few minutester, he came across some leftover debris from the missile that destroyed his ce that was still emitting magic, ''This is?''


    While approaching it, he prepared some defensive spells that would automatically activate once Apollo detected any attacks above a certain power. The moment he stepped within a few meters of the debris, a magic circle suddenly appeared on top of it disying a message, "Hi~ Apollo-san~ It''s your favorite terrorist here to give some greetings~."


    Apollo immediately looked around to see if there are any other traps within the area, but failed to find anything that triggered his sense of danger, ''What''s this?''


    What he didn''t know, however, is that the image of him looking around within his destroyed mansion was already being streamed throughout the entirety of Olympus and the soldiers were already running towards his side to assist him with anything he needed.


    "Since we can''t meet in person, please allow me to give my gift to you in this fashion," The message continued.


    Apollo became even more confused as he still couldn''t find a single threatening thing until Kisuke''s message suddenly exploded into dirty brown-colored smoke, engulfing the God of the Sun, "Wha!? What''s this!?"


    As he breathed, the nasty smell of a sewer assaulted his nose and those who''re only a few hundred meters away from it, "Imbecile!" He immediately used magic to disperse the childish trap, however, he immediately noticed something bad. No matter what magic he used, he couldn''t get the smell off of him.


    At this point, a new message suddenly appeared, "I hope you like it, stinky God~."


    "I''ll destroy you!!!" Apollo howled to the sky with all his might.


    From then on, people would be calling him Stinky God or Sewer Man in secret.


    ==================


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    Editors:


    28th00: Stink Bombed him, huh? At least it''s only a magical one and not the pretty much bioweapon grade chemical thioacetone we identally created, because there''s no way someone made something that evil on purpose. Terrifying stuff, really.


    Goyya: I''m really ashamed of my literary skills that I can''t portray this part even a little bit better.

 Volume 10 571 - The Displeased Serafall

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 571 - The Displeased Serafall</h4>


    Kisuke directly returned to his base on Mars to finish the remaining work he had before formally returning to the other side. When he got there, Kisuke immediately noticed that Ophis had been working on her castle and couldn''t help but smile wryly, ''I really have to hurry up with a way to connect this ce directly to the other side.''


    This time, to finish everything, he didn''t go home for dinner. All in all, he only had two to three days of stay left. Four if he wanted to cut it close.


    After spending the whole day, Kisuke managed to finish what he needed and some small projects that he could use on the other side.


    Within that duration, Kisuke kept noticing that Ophis would go in and go out every few hours. But when he checked the progress of her work, it seemed that she was copying the interior of castles from all over Earth. Due to this, there were some weird feelings of chaos between the rooms, which were very Ophis-like, so Kisuke didn''t do anything to fix it, ''This is the best as it is.''


    Kisuke then stopped Ophis from continuing any further and returned with her to his mother''s ce, still not aware of the tsunami he''d created in the Supernatural World.


    "We''re home~!" Kisuke greeted them when he arrived in the living room. However, the greeting that went back to him was a jab to his stomach, "Guhuuu!!!"


    "You damned brat!? What was that all about!?" shouted Sakura at him.


    "Eh? What?" Kisuke asked back. Meanwhile, Ophis ignored them and went to find ire.


    "Olympus! I''m talking about Olympus!"


    "Eh?�� Erm�� Karma''s a bitch?" Kisuke replied.


    "Ughh!!!" Sakura groaned and pped her forehead before heaving arge sigh and asking, "Are you alright? What about your injuries?" She then went on to check for any wounds on his body.


    Kisuke let her do so but still answered, "I''m fine. Though there are still some injuries and I''m still pretty tired, nothing serious remains. But how did you know I''m injured?"


    "A footage of your fight with the God of War Ares is circting around after the news of you storming Olympus was released."


    "Hmm? Why would they release footage? Isn''t that bad for their image?"


    "It wasn''t Olympus that released it but some unknown individual who was at the scene. Of course, Olympus tried to suppress it and had seen some sess, however, they couldn''t stop its internal cirction among therger factions," Sakura then shook her head and stared down at Kisuke before asking, "And? Why didn''t you inform any of us beforehand? And why didn''t you show yourself even after escaping from that ce?"


    "I''m sorry about that, but it was a sudden thing."


    Sakura knew that he was lying, but she could understand where he''sing from. If he had told her about his ns, she would have done her best to convince him against it due to the danger he''d incur, ''Well, he can take care of himself now, but I still can''t stop worrying as a parent.''


    Knowing that talking about this would just be a fruitless effort, Sakura changed the subject, "So, what about Nyx? Where is she?"


    Even though Kisuke hadn''t heard the news, he was already expecting this, "She''s on her own, but she''ll be fine."


    "Still, I can''t help but be surprised�� Who knew that the enemy who tried to kill you would help you now?"


    "It''s mainly from fear though," Kisuke answered.


    "What''s your n now?"


    "I''ll be leaving in three days. After that fight, I still need to recover my strength fully before traveling between worlds again."


    Sakura''s expression then became serious, "I see�� Then before you leave, We''ll have to ask you a bit of an unreasonable request."


    Kisuke''s brows furrowed, "Why not ask now?"


    Sakura, in response, shook her head, "We haven''t fully decided nor prepared yet. We want to consider everything first beforeing to a decision."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a bit before replying, "If it''s something I can do, I''ll do my best to fulfill it."


    Sakura smiled and said, "That''s reassuring."


    Kisuke then stayed until dinner and left Ophis in their care to visit Sona''s peerage, ''It''s about time to change it�� Though if I were to guess, Serafall-chan probably already froze several of my dummies because she won''t be able to take the sight of her sister''s precious servants being ''tortured''.''


    While getting ready to get lectured, Kisuke teleported to his old hideout. Before he went towards the training area, he first checked all those who''re currently within and noted a few things, ''So Nyx-san hasn''t been here. Well, it''s a good thing she''s being careful.''


    ''Now then, what are both Himejima-san and Irina doing here?'' Kisuke thought as he started walking towards them.


    When he neared the site, Kisuke immediately saw Serafall who was frowning, which was very rare, and Akeno and Irina who were making a face as if they were witnessing something incredibly unthinkable.


    "Mind exining this?" asked Serafall.


    However, instead of answering, Kisuke looked towards the training area, and out of the 7 dummies he took out, 5 of them were frozen solid while the other 2 were still working as intended, beating up Saji and Tsubaki.


    He then looked towards the rest of the student council who had a nk and dead face before turning towards Serafall, "I gave them a chance and they epted it despite the warnings."


    Serafall''s brows furrowed deeper, "Don''t you think this is a bit too much?"


    Kisuke lowered his hat and replied, "Well, to be honest, this is one of the worst training methods I''ve devised."


    "Then why? Couldn''t you have to give something else? Is it necessary to torment them like this?" snarled Serafall at him.


    However, Kisuke didn''t back down and looked straight into Serafall''s eyes with the same intensity, "Yes. I believe so."


    "Huh?"


    "Serafall�� You of all people should be aware of what happens to those who''re just suddenly thrown onto the frontlines of a war."


    Serafall''s expression becameplicated, "��And what''s that gotta do with this?"


    "I don''t know if you''re aware�� maybe some people in the Alliance are, but this world�� Is already on the verge of chaos."


    Not just Serafall, but also Akeno and Irina who were behind her, became wide-eyed, "W-what do you mean?" asked Serafall. If it was any other person who''d dered as such, it would be hard to believe it, but it was Kisuke who''s uttering it. She knew that he''s someone moderate with his words and never exaggerated, so hearing him say that the world was already on the verge of chaos surprised her greatly.


    Kisuke sighed and said, "It''s not just the Khaos Brigade, but the storm brewing within Olympus was also much greater than I had anticipated. In addition, there are some unknown entities that are moving about that don''t give me any good impressions. And more than any of that, this World became connected to a ce where it really shouldn''t have been."


    ==========================


    ==========================


    ==========================


    Editors:


    28th00: Well, ExE is pretty messed up, I will admit. Really shouldn''t have gotten connected to that ce, it''s dangerous yo. I have not even finished DxD, let alone started the 2nd series, so I only know it from the sparse wiki entries. That ce is the result of the power scaling and it''s unending snowball effect in canon, like DBZ did. Scary scary. Ophis has luckily only made a Super Castle that is technically every other castle on Earth, but on Mars, and hers. Is this giarism? At least it''s only 3D, small mercies.


    Goyya: It''s really a messed up scaling. The author introduced 10 characters that are stronger than Great Red and tons of characters that are as strong as Chief Gods.

 Volume 10 572 - Back up Plan

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 572 - Back up n</h4>


    Serafall needed time to think and discuss the meaning behind Kisuke''s words, but that wasn''t the urgent problem right now, "Even if that''s the case, how can you call this training? Aren''t you just tormenting them?" Serafall then pointed towards the rest of the Student Council who are resting with a deadpan expression on the side. Each of them was not thinking straight with their eyes staring into the void.


    "So they couldn''t take it, huh."


    "Of course they won''t! In fact, I''m even more surprised that Tsubaki-chan and Saji-chan are still going at it! What are you going to do about this!? You just destroyed their future!" Serafall shouted angrily.


    Even for Akeno, this is the first time she ever saw the always bubbly Devil King get truly furious.


    "Well, it''s not like I don''t have any backup ns to speak of. And even though I warned them of the worst possible result, it''s not like I couldn''t just erase their memories. Though the instinctive fear and muscle memory would take a while to recover from, they can be ''fixed''."


    "Then please do that! I don''t want to see Sona-chan''s servants suffering like this!"


    "Will do. But before that, how long did theyst?"


    Serafall was perplexed by his question but answered it regardless, "All of them almost simultaneously gave up about two hours ago?"


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before muttering, "Then it''ll be a shame to give them thest resort."


    "Huh? What are you saying?"


    "Actually, erasing their memories might have some problems that I might not be able to predict so I''d like to keep them as thest resort. Since theysted long enough, I thought of giving them a final push to go through this," exined Kisuke.


    Serafall furrowed her brows once again and said, "Are you saying that they should continue?"


    "I know that you''re worried, but nothing really changes if I gave them the final push before erasing their memories, right? Besides, I don''t really want them to waste their effortsing this far."


    Hearing that, Serafall became conflicted. She wanted to end their suffering, but she also understood Kisuke''s point of preparing them for something that will likely happen in the future. She knew well that, unlike Rias'' peerage, Sona''s peerage is mostly justposed of ordinary people and they have no way of catching up to their rivals as they are now.


    After a few minutes of internal struggle, Serafall gritted her teeth and nodded, "��Fine�� But don''t take it too far this time."


    "I won''t," Kisuke answered and started walking towards the five.


    However, before he could go far, Serafall suddenly asked, "Did you pull a simr trick with Sona-chan?"


    Kisuke stopped his steps and turned his head towards Serafall. He looked straight into her eyes with a serious expression and answered, "I did."


    Serafall''s eyes widened before the temperature dropped even lower. Nevertheless, she still asked calmly, "Why did you do it? And how did she respond?"


    "We wound up in an unknown ce and I can''t always be there to protect them. Besides, if she was going to follow me, her normal efforts wouldn''t be enough. So it was then that I decided to make them realize how dangerous the Supernatural World really is. Although it was dangerous, I was able to instill proper fear and reality in their minds."


    Serafall was about to say something when she noticed that Kisuke suddenly smiled wryly but some sort of gentleness suddenly emitted from him, making her and those around her suddenly stop their thoughts, "Well, when I did that, I was already prepared to be hated. Since I cared more about their safety than how they looked at me, I went with the n, taking all the responsibility."


    "But instead of hating me, they only got angry for a short bit, before immediately asking for rewards," Shaking his head, Kisuke continued walking while muttering, "��Sometimes, I do wonder if I truly deserve them."


    Serafall, including Irina and Akeno, didn''t know what to say after hearing that.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, didn''t really care about their reactions. What''s done is done, whether his actions back then are wrong or too much, it gave him a valuable lesson regarding rtionships.


    Without saying any more words, Kisuke arrived in front of Momo, Reya, Tomoe, Tsubasa, and Ruruko. But before saying anything towards the ''dead'' people, he first nced towards Saji and Tsubaki, who''re still doing their best to fight off the dummies.


    Compared to their first time, Kisuke could see substantial improvements within their movements. Although they didn''t learn any new moves, nor received any power-ups, the way they used their strength to adapt to the current situation had drastically improved, ''As they say, training to death is the best training method,'' Kisuke thought and looked back to the five people in front of him.


    "Is that it?" asked Kisuke with a voice infused by both of his magic power and soul power to prate the deepest parts of their closed-off minds.


    Hearing the voice of the person who dropped them down in this hell, all of them instantly woke and started panicking, with some of them even starting to cry and went on to ask for forgiveness.


    Serafall''s mind was pulled back from it''s wandering when she heard the cries and was about to go to their side to calm them down. However, Kisuke signaled her to stop, ''Please let me take over for now,'' he sent telepathically.


    Kisuke then crouched down and looked at them with a grave expression, "I already warned you, right? You either go through it or be broken, or worse, dead. This is the result of you asking for power that can''te naturally."


    Thanks to the power Kisuke imbued in his voice, even if they didn''t want to, they understood his words despite their condition.


    "Regardless, if you don''t stand up now, this will be the end of you. You''ll be better off living a normal life, away from conflict, away from yourrades, away from your master you swore to protect. Forever living in fear that someday, they might fail. The battlefield chases you no matter where you go, not being able to protect yourselves, nor those important to you."


    Kisuke''s voice had some hypnotic powers that let them see the images that he described. And thanks to their current state, the images became more vivid, as if they were living in that future.


    Silent screams of terror took over the group in an instant, before Kisuke released his pressure on them, pulling them out of their dreams, waking them up to another terrifying grinning monster.


    "Are you fine with that?"

 Volume 10 573 - Dragon Pride

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 573 - Dragon Pride</h4>


    Of course, they weren''t fine with that. They hated it and could only feel rage when thinking about such a future. However, the fear that was inflicted on them was on the heavier side of the scale. So much so, that moving forward immediately went to the corner of their minds.


    But that tiny glimpse of fighting spirit didn''t escape Kisuke''s eyes and he smiled, ''They''re the people that Sona chose herself, after all. She has a good eye for people. Unlike Rias who has some strange ability to gather unusual people, Sona has an ability to gather steadfast people that would be able to work hard without many problems.''


    However, Kisuke''s smile only looked like a terrifying demon''s judgment to them, so they started to panic again.


    Without minding this, Kisuke sat down in front of them and asked, "This training, did you think that I designed it just to torment you?"


    After much hesitation, all of them nodded.


    Kisuke''s smile grew evenrger, which scared them even more, "That''s great~ Because you focused so much on surviving and not getting hurt any further that you failed to realize what''s really going on. But that also sped up your improvement without any one of you noticing."


    They didn''t know what Kisuke was talking about. If they were really improving, then they wouldn''t be as helpless as when they first started. They gave up because they couldn''t take it anymore, as the fear of getting killed got stronger each time their limbs were almost torn off.


    Kisuke stood up and asked before walking towards the frozen dummies, "Can''t believe me? Why don''t you try it again?"


    Immediately after, they started shaking their heads. If an outsider were to see these highschool girls, not only pity, but hate for Kisuke woulde from them due to his maltreatment.


    Serafall frowned at this but didn''t interrupt him, as she already agreed with him. So instead, she unfroze the dummies and they started moving again towards the girls.


    The girls screamed and scrambled to get away. But before the dummies could go any further, Kisuke stopped them and started tinkering with them.


    After a few seconds, the dummies were standing in front of Kisuke without moving, before turning his sights towards the girls who''re hiding behind Serafall, unwilling toe out.


    Kisuke didn''t think badly of this and just said, "Why don''t you try it again? As long as you''re brave enough, you''re not going to get hurt."


    However, he received no answers.


    "Anyone? Just a try?" Kisuke then pointed towards Saji and Tsubaki, who''re still fighting the dummies in the distance, "They can do it, right? Why can''t you?"


    Still no response.


    "Besides, when did I lie to all of you? I told you that you''re going to get hurt. This time, I''m telling you you''re not going to get hurt. And if you''re going to step forward, you can partially leave this hell. Isn''t that great~?"


    Thanks to hisst words, he finally got a response. After a few minutes of great hesitation, Ruruko Nimura, Sona''s pawn, stepped out.


    Despite her innocent appearance, she actually had a brash attitude like Xenovia, so he already expected that she''d be the first one to step out of the bunch.


    While looking at the ground with wobbly steps, Ruruko slowly approached Kisuke, "��I�� I''ll�� t-try it," she muttered in a very soft voice.


    Kisuke smiled and stepped aside, letting one of the dummies take a step forward.


    But once she came face to face with her tormentor, the trauma from earlier instantly came back, even after suppressing it to the best of her abilities. Her legs started shaking, rooted in ce, and her expression became terrified as she looked at the faceless head of the dummy taking a stance.


    ''I can''t do this��! This is impossible!'' She thought and stepped backward, turned around, and almost bolted away if not for Kisuke standing on her way, "P-please! Let me go! I can''t do this!" she pleaded.


    However, Kisuke just grinned and suddenly tossed a small candy towards her open mouth. Due to the suddenness, Ruruko inadvertently swallowed it whole and choked a bit.


    While she was coughing, a hand suddenly grabbed her by her cor and threw her towards the dummy before hearing Kisuke''s voice, "Of course you can~"


    "Ki-chan!" Serafall shouted at him, but Kisuke just ignored her as he watched Ruruko drop andy down in front of the dummy, ready to stomp her head to death.


    At that moment, Ruruko could only watch the dummy''s foot as it dropped down to her face in slow motion with her thought process speeding up. Her life shed in front of her and she was very unwilling to die like this. Although she wanted to avoid it and fight back, she couldn''t find the strength to do it.


    However, just as she was about to resign herself to her fate, her heartbeat suddenly sped up and her eyes turned red. All the fear she was feeling right now seemingly and suddenly disappeared, and was reced by her magnified rage and unwillingness.


    It was then she was able to straighten out her thoughts and moved her head to the side just before she was stomped and grabbed the dummy''s leg, twisting it.


    The dummy lost its bnce and dropped down while Ruruko used this chance to stand up and retaliate.


    Of course, as a dummy that Kisuke programmed, it wouldn''t be easily outdone. It immediately stood up and met Ruruko''s fist with its arm guard before counter-attacking.


    Ruruko saw thising and immediately jumped to the side and threw her left foot towards it. It was then that she noticed that the dummy was moving slower thanst time and was more predictable.


    At that moment of realization, she suddenly heard Kisuke''s voice, "Before you started, I didn''t tell you one thing about it. As you improve, the movesets of the dummies also get better. You didn''t notice since you were too busy protecting yourselves. And by the way, the current dummy has the same configuration that you started with."


    Although rage was filling her mind, strangely enough, Ruruko was able to understand his words and finally understood it when he said they didn''t notice it.


    Still, despite this, she followed her feelings and started beating up the dummy, pouring out her frustrations on it.


    ''My~ It looks like it''s working well~'' From the start, this is what Kisuke wanted to test out, which also served as his backup n, the candy he developed and named ''Dragon Pride''.


    In the past, Kisuke already noticed something was influencing Aika''s behavior when her Sacred Gear was activated. He suspected it had something to do with the draconic part of her Sacred Gear, but wasn''t able to pinpoint exactly where.


    After some time going through records and researching the topic, he not only discovered a state called ''Outrage'' among the dragons, but also found a way to replicate it. However, even if he were able to replicate it, it was too dangerous to use and the chances of the user''s mind-breaking was 9 out of 10 times, so he shelved this project until further improvements or discoveries were made.


    Nevertheless, the opportunity to improve it didn''t take too long to appear. When Sona, Koneko, and Aika were fighting off the Minotaurs, Kisuke saw a simr state in Aika, but on a much smaller scale.


    Using that as his guidepost and the data he''d collected from Samael''s blood, Ophis'' power, and Great Red''s flesh, Kisuke was able to create the ''Dragon Pride''.


    Although it didn''t improve the power of the user like Outrage could, it could temporarily disable ''fear'' and magnify ''pride''. Thanks to his adjustments, its usage was not limited to those who''re connected to Dragons, and with the right situation, ''Dragon Pride'' would be incredibly useful.


    In this situation, after Ruruko took a small dosage of ''Dragon Pride'', she was able to push herself beyond an incredibly difficult bottleneck, and hopefully, even after the effects wear off, she''d be able to get over her fear properly.

 Volume 10 574 - New ‘Victims’

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 574 - New ��Victims��</h4>


    "W-what was that?" Asked Serafall.


    "Nothing much. Just a bit of something to push her. Though it wouldn''t have worked if there was nothing to push," Kisuke answered, before turning to the rest of the Student Council members, "Who''s next~?"


    .


    .


    .


    Although they were extremely hesitant, one after another stepped out to continue their ''training'' after seeing Ruruko perform, and noticing the dummy''s movement was a lot simpler than they remembered.


    After half an hour, everyone was already back to fighting the dummies, and this time, with more enthusiasm after realizing their improvement. They knew that it''s going to get harder as time goes on, but that''s exactly the reason why they''re training.


    Although they had received artificial Sacred Gears from Azazel and took a bit of training from the Devil Kings'' subordinates, they are very much aware of their weakness and veryrge gap in talentpared to Rias'' peerage. Just when they were about to give up chasing the group since they knew it would be for naught even if they worked their hardest, Kisuke gave them an option.


    But after experiencing all of this, they didn''t actually know if they should be thankful for that ''Demon'' who offered a deal way worse than actual Devils.


    The effects of ''Dragon Pride'' on Ruruko had worn off, but she still continued fighting the dummy, now with much calmness and finesse in her movements. Seeing this, Kisuke nodded in satisfaction and took a peek at Saji and Tsubaki, who were still doing their best before turning his attention back to Serafall, Irina, and Akeno, "We can leave them for now."


    "B-but�� It''s still dangerous for them," replied Serafall.


    "Please don''t worry about that. I already dialed down my configurations and those dummies won''t be going for the kill anymore. Though they''ll still aim for a fatal injury if given a chance, they can manage themselves with the hot spring," and a harsh reply came from Kisuke.


    Serafall furrowed her brows and said, "I never really thought that you''re this harsh."


    Kisuke instead turned around and started walking towards the lodging, "Unless there''s a good reason, I never ck when I give someone training. Besides,pared to this, wars are harsher."


    "��Well, that''s true," muttered Serafall and followed his steps, ''I don''t think any recentrge-scale war has happened, but why does he sound like he''s already experienced one firsthand?'' She asked herself. But strangely enough, she couldn''t voice it out. She has this inkling of a feeling that she shouldn''t ask this and followed her gut.


    Akeno and Irina looked at each other withplicated expressions before following the two.


    The four of them arrived at the living room and Kisuke served some hot tea and snacks for them before going into the topic, "I called Sera-chan over here to oversee their training, but what are the two of you doing here? If it''s for your bodies, I''m sorry, but it''ll need two more days to be ready, so you''ll have to wait until then."


    Akeno shook her head, "No. We didn''te here for that. Besides��"


    "Hmm?"


    "No. It was nothing. We''re actually here to give some news to Serafall-sama since she''s been in here, not knowing what''s happening outside."


    "We were also curious about what the Student Council members were doing!" added Irina, "Though we never expected it to be so brutal!"


    "Well, they don''t have much time. This could have been a low priority option if there were still a few years of peace," Kisuke sighed. Although he''s the one who designed this training method, it''s really only if there are no better options left as it''s still too risky despite the safety measures he added, "By the way, what news are you going to tell Sera-chan? Mind if I listen in?"


    "Sure�� Rather, it''s about you and the mess you made. Even if you didn''t listen, you already know what happened," replied Irina.


    "Ah, that''s what you''re talking about. I don''t know how the others reacted yet since I was busy with my stuff, so I''ll still listen."


    "The mess he made?" asked Serafall.


    Akeno nodded, "Yes, Serafall-sama. This guy just went and dered war with Olympus. Right now, he''s the highest-profile terrorist outside of the Khaos Brigade."


    It was then Serafall recalled Kisuke''s ns, "Ah, this guy indeed had some n to attack Olympus, but what did he do exactly."


    "About that, we have footage that was leaked and it contained the entirety of his actions. Though some people are still questioning its authenticity due to its��" Akeno''s voice slightly trailed off, "Overwhelming contents." She then took out a terminal that is capable of disying holographic footage which was invented by the Grigori and gave it to Serafall.


    "Haah�� Considering it was this guy, I wouldn''t really be surprised if he did something awful to them," Serafall grabbed the terminal and started ying its contents for everyone to see.


    Within the first few minutes, Serafall couldn''t help but giggle at Kisuke''s antics, ''I''d also like to introduce myself before I go on a destruction spree like that,'' she thought.


    Serafall thought that this was the ''overwhelming'' part of the footage since who would be in their right mind to suddenly and openly assault the central base of a big Mythological Faction like that? Even the Khaos Brigade had to scheme a little bit before going for an attack, and never alone.


    However, the moment the footage reached thetter half, where all the serious stuff took ce, Serafall could only stare silently at Ares and Kisuke''s battle with a dumbfounded expression.


    At the start of their second round, Serafall even had to slow down the video so that she could properly see their movements. But even then, there were not enough frames to see the movements of their weapons. All she could see were injuries that would suddenly appear on both of them when they jerked their arms a little.


    At the end of the second round, Serafall stopped breathing momentarily in shock as she saw Kisuke gets impaled by the spear and be extremely weak. But recalling that the person was right beside her now and doing just fine, she sighed in relief.


    However, her heart was caught yet again at thest moments of the battle, and couldn''t help reying it multiple times just to understand what had happened.


    After getting satisfied, Serafall closed the terminal and sighed, "This is more than overwhelming."


    "Really? I think that it was a very close fight."


    Serafall red at him, "Not that! The fact that you went toe to toe with one of the strongest people in the world, almost killed him, and partially destroying an ancient and strong pocket realm is very rming! The fact that there''s someone like you moving alone will make a lot of factions change their current status quo and will scramble to recruit you in secret despite the risks! Even two of me can''t hope to defeat that Ares, you know! And I''m a Devil King!"

 Volume 10 575 - Vampire Nation Civil War

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 575 - Vampire Nation Civil War</h4>


    "As you have seen, this is the reason why many others are calling for authenticity," interjected Akeno, "However, many others also contacted the Underworld for any information they had regarding Kisuke Urahara. Of course, we couldn''t give any information aside from that already in cirction. And due to Urahara-san helping with the crisis in the Underworld, with Olympus in the lead, they are using us of hiding him, which has be a difficult matter for the integrity of the Alliance."


    ''Well, that''s obvious. They might even leave the Alliance. Not my problem though,'' thought Kisuke as he sipped on his tea.


    Serafall frowned and muttered, "That would indeed be difficult, but it''s not really a problem for now."


    Kisuke raised his brows and asked, "Ho? Why is that? If Olympus leaves the Alliance, their allies would too, and that wouldn''t be good for the Alliance''s goal and image."


    Serafall then put on a smug face and said, "Tch, tch, tch~ I wasn''t just doing my show when I was suspended from my position you know~! I was able to gather the information that could prove useful with the diplomatic rtions we have with Olympus."


    Kisuke thought for a moment before asking, "You investigated Apollo?"


    "Yep~! After the tip you gave me, I immediately went on to investigate in secret. Since he''s the one who''s gaining power within their faction in such a short period of time, I started with him. Although I wasn''t able to get any conclusive evidence, the information I have on hand is enough for others to doubt the current Olympus. That''s all we need to retain the status quo, giving the Underworld and the entirety of the Alliance precious time to prepare for the future."


    "Heh~ Good work out there."


    "Praise me more!"


    Kisuke then proceeded to pat her head, "You did great, Sera-chan~!"


    "Ehem," Akeno feigned a cough to interrupt them, "Moving on, in addition to Urahara-san here, Olympus also issued a bounty on Nyx, who apparently helped him disable the defense system of the city. Many were shocked at this as there was an ongoing rumor that Nyx died somewhere, but it turns out she became the aplice of a terrorist they were hunting."


    "Ah, she got caught?" asked Serafall.


    "Well, to silently disable those systems, she had to use her authority. No matter how much she tries to hide it, traces of her ess would be left behind, so she was already prepared for this to happen."


    "Hmm�� Although I haven''t forgiven her for what she''s done, I do feel a little bit bad for her."


    "My~ You''re too kind~"


    "I''m not kind! I just know how to differentiate my enemies between those who only sought chaos and destruction and those who are fighting for their ideals and preservation. I honestly can''t hate those who are on thattter side of the spectrum," answered Serafall.


    ''Well, isn''t that what it means to be kind?'' thought Kisuke and turned to Akeno, "By the way, is that all?"


    Akeno shook her head, "Serafall-sama also needs to know what happened in Romania."


    "Oh right, what happened on your trip?"


    Instead of Akeno, it was Irina who answered Serafall, "It was a disaster!"


    Kisuke raised his brows, "But since you''re here, it should have ended on some good note."


    "Yes. Thankfully, none of us died," Akeno then proceeded to tell them what transpired in Romania.


    Thanks to Valerie Tepes awakening her Longinus, ''Sephiroth Graal'' and unexpectedly bing the head of the Tepes Royal Family, the feud between the Tepes Faction and Carmi Faction worsened due to the power bnce tipping over to the former''s side.


    The Carmi Faction tried to get the help of the Alliance in exchange for signing the treaty.


    Azazel didn''t want the situation to devolve any further and tried to negotiate with the Tepes Faction to form a ceasefire but it turns out that the Khaos Brigade was pulling the strings from behind them and had been working with the second son of former King Tepes, Marius Tepes by using the Sephiroth Graal to strengthen the soldiers of the Tepes Faction.


    When the time was ripe, Marius suddenly raised a coup against the Tepes leadership and exiled them except for their leader and his sister, Valerie Tepes.


    Receiving word of the coup, Azazel contacted the ult Research Club and asked the remaining members toe as reinforcements.


    After arriving in Romania, Azazel revealed that the anti-government group that took power had forced the King of the Tepes and his supporters to ally with the Carmi Faction in order to deal with the traitors. The group had then learned through Elmenhilde, an envoy from the Carmi Faction, that Marius intended to extract the Holy Grail from Valerie in order to use its power to transform the civilians into beings without weaknesses. The ult Research Club moved out to save Gasper''s childhood friend before her Longinus was taken.


    At this point, Akeno suddenly shook her head, "However, we failed."


    Irina then took over, "We tried to reach the ritual site where the Sacred Gear would be extracted, but we were stopped by Evil Dragons. The first one is Grendel. Even with our numerical disadvantage, we were not able to deal significant damage to him. It was only thanks to Rias-san awakening a new power thanks to Issei we were able to defeat him."


    "However, before we could deal a finishing blow against Grendel, another Evil Dragon appeared and introduced himself a Crom Cruach and we immediately recognized that name as the strongest Evil Dragon which said to be on par with the Two Heavenly Dragons."


    "Not just Rias-san, but everyone else aside from Issei was tired and having a hard time to put out some power. Thankfully, however, Vali''s group arrived and assisted us. But even with Issei''s strongest form and Vali''s cooperation, the two of them failed to do any damage against Crom Cruach. We were only alive because he was not really interested in fighting us and his job was to only dy us for 10 minutes, which he easily achieved."


    "Even if we''re frustrated, we went through Crom Cruach after he allowed us to pass through him. But as you might have expected, we were already toote. Valerie Tepes'' Sacred Gear was already extracted from her, but instead of Marius, it was done by someone called Rizevim Lucifer."


    Serafall''s eyes widened, "Rizevim!? He reappeared!?"


    "He didn''t just reappear, he also dered a new faction within the Khaos Brigade called Qlippoth. On top of that," Akeno became quiet for a moment before continuing, "He''s with someone who looks exactly like Ophis�� He called her Lilith and his bodyguard."

 Volume 10 576 - Omen

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 576 - Omen</h4>


    "��Lilith?" muttered Kisuke with a serious expression.


    Akeno nodded her head and said, "Yes. ording to Vali, she was the power that was stolen from Ophis."


    Kisuke started tapping his finger on the table as his other hand rubbed his chin in contemtion. Serafall, Akeno, and Irina didn''t say anything else and waited for Kisuke''s response, ''Ophis'' spawn is it? Hmm�� Should I have gone with them after all? If I was present, I could have snatched her from this Rizevim�� No�� I couldn''tpromise my ns for that. Besides, it''s no use regretting my actions now.''


    Since Kisuke didn''t have much time to actually search and chase after Rizevim''s traces, he decided to give up for now, ''If she''s Ophis'' spawn and the figurehead of the Khaos Brigade, she should be fine for a while.''


    Kisuke then looked towards Akeno and said, "Please continue."


    Akeno nodded and continued. After Marius Tepes had extracted the Grail from Valerie Tepes, the leader of the Tepes Faction was ''dead'' due to the burden of the extraction, simr to what happened to Asia. Due to this, Gasper went into another berserk state and started attacking and devouring Marius, along with his allies, using his darkness.


    The group was able to retrieve the Grail and checked Valerie''s status. Thanks to her Vampire blood, she was able to survive the extraction but fell into aa. Returning the Grail should have solved the issue, however, even after putting it back, nothing happened.


    It was at this point that Rizevim appeared along with Lilith to introduce himself. After dering the new faction within the Khaos Brigade, he also exined that Valerie''s Sephiroth Graal is a sub-species which gave her a total of three Grails instead of one.


    As he had already extracted the first one beforehand, he told everyone that she couldn''t take the burden of her second Grail being extracted, so even if they returned it to her, it was already toote.


    As Vali had a past with him, he attacked him in a rage. However, before he could even approach, Rizevim suddenly disclosed a secret regarding the enhancement that was used on the Vampires using the Sephiroth Graal. Controlling the Grail in his hand, the remaining force of Tepes Faction rebels suddenly transformed into Evil Dragons, losing their minds.


    Rizevim thenmanded the Evil Dragons to wreak havoc before leaving after dering his goal of unleashing the Beast of the End.


    At that time, only Azazel and Rossweisse knew anything about this ''Beast of the End'', and the former shook in rage. However, both of them didn''t exin anything to the rest of the group and Azazelmanded them to split into multiple groups to intercept the rampaging Evil Dragons and evacuate the Vampire civilians.


    The only one who didn''t follow Azazel''s order was Vali as he chased after Rizevim, but Azazel couldn''t do anything to stop him so he let him be.


    And after some time of battling the Evil Dragons, Euclid Lucifuge reappeared in front of Issei, revealing an imitation of the Boosted Gear, created from pieces of the armor and gems that were destroyed when Ophis smashed Issei awake from his Juggernaut Drive.


    As a result, Ddraig was extremely displeased and proimed that he and Albion were the only Heavenly Dragons. Albion, who''s with Vali chasing after Rizevim, resonated with the thoughts of his rival and Issei was able to reactivate the gem that he stole from Vali.


    But instead of consuming his lifespan, the gem manifested small white dragons that carried the power of Dividing, overpowering Euclid with his fake Scalemail. Also using Issei''s gift transfer ability, Gasper was able to strengthen his darkness form and devoured therge majority of the rampaging Evil Dragons.


    But before Issei could fully defeat Euclid, Rizevim suddenly appeared with Vali behind him, saving Euclid. But even with Vali, Issei, and Gasper''s cooperation, they couldn''t even touch Rizevim with the ability he used and called, Sacred Gear Canceller.


    While mocking the entire group, Rizevim left with Lilith and Euclid in tow, not caring about the chaos he''d sown in Romania.


    "After that, the Carmi and Tepes faction had toe to terms and join the Alliance to receive the much-needed aid. Valerie Tepes, on the other hand, became a bit better after Issei gave her the candy you gave him. Thanks to that, she was able to wake up but only for a few minutes a day. However, Gasper is already thankful for that," Akeno ended her story.


    "Currently, Valerie is resting in Issei''s ce," Irina added.


    Kisuke immediately understood the undertone within Irina''s words and thought about it for a moment before replying, "Alright, let''s go."


    "Hmm? Are you sure?" asked Serafall.


    While standing up, Kisuke replied with a grin, "Isn''t this a great chance to extort a lot of things from that Governor?"


    "��I shouldn''t have asked," Serafall sighed while Irina smiled wryly and Akeno chuckled softly.


    "By the way, where''s Ophis-chan? You didn''t leave her in that ce, right? You know she won''t stop even if she''s done."


    Kisuke nodded, "I know. That''s why I left her in ire''s care."


    "Well, that''s good."


    Kisuke, followed by the three girls, went towards Sona''s peerage members who''re doing their best to survive and counter-attack and shouted at them, "You''ve got another 24 hours! After that, you''re free!"


    Thanks to that, everyone got motivated after seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and became more energetic.


    Kisuke was about to teleport the four of them out when Akeno suddenly interrupted him, "Ki- Urahara."


    "Kisuke is just fine. What is it?"


    "Well then, Kisuke�� Please let me join them." requested Akeno.


    Hearing that, Irina immediately raised her hand and said, "Ah, me too!"


    Kisuke looked at them with wonderment and asked himself why they wanted to take this, ''Do they not want to be left behind? But they should have more experience than Sona''s peerage and have been in more dangerous situations. Although it''ll improve them, not as much as Sona''s peerage.''


    "Are you sure? It looks rough, but I can assure you that it''s a lot worse than that," replied Kisuke.


    " "Yes!" " Both of them answered simultaneously.


    ''Hmm�� They are at least serious about it,'' thought Kisuke as he looked into their eyes, ''But where is this motivationing from?'' Unlike his egging on the Student Council members using Sona, Kisuke isn''t so sure of their motivation. He thought it was about for theirrades, but somehow, it feels different from that.


    Without much choice, he asked curiously, "But what for?"


    "For myself!" answered Akeno.


    "For the future!" answered Irina.


    Kisuke could only scratch his cheek. He knew that he wouldn''t get any answer beyond that. And since he still had some spare dummies and it wasn''t much trouble, he agreed, "Fine�� But don''t go crying after me if it traumatizes you, alright?"


    Both of them nodded seriously.


    Since it''s already decided, Kisuke set up another set of dummies, away from the Student Council members, and exined to Akeno and Irina the rules. He then left them behind after starting the dummies.


    But before he could reach Serafall, he already heard some additional screams of agony, "Let''s go~."


    But instead of replying to Kisuke, Serafall looked at Akeno and Irina with suspicion, "It can''t be�� right? Are they nning the same thing?"


    "What''s up?"


    Serafall immediately shook her head, "Nope! Nothing! If there is something, we''ll know it before you leave!"

 Volume 10 577 - Not Human, But Very Human

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 577 - Not Human, But Very Human</h4>


    Kisuke didn''t teleport them directly to Issei''s house for obvious reasons. After reappearing in Kuoh Town, Kisuke and Serafall immediately noticed a strong barrier around Issei''s house, "Looks like a grand wee. What do they want?"


    "It seems pretty important. Let''s go," replied Serafall and started walking towards the tall mansion while being engulfed by Kisuke''s optical camouge designed to fool basic to medium radar, which was currently rampantly spread around the whole Kuoh Town by other factions due to the attention that Kisuke was receiving for his recent actions.


    Although the Alliance couldn''t get rid of all of them, they were able to limit them to basic scanners that were pretty easy to hide from.


    They reached Issei''s front door and Kisuke knocked on it. Kisuke tried to peer beyond the barrier using his senses, but failed to do so. Although he could strengthen his senses, he didn''t do so as that would only aggravate and be rude to those who are inside and took the effort to set up this barrier. On top of that, Kisuke would be showing his cards when he didn''t have to, ''After all, they even managed to block my spirit sense. Although it''s a basic one, they figured out my way of sensing my surroundings.''


    A few secondster, the double doors opened automatically. Kisuke and Serafall entered quietly and went straight towards the elevator and went to the 5th floor, where everyone seems to be.


    As they left the elevator, everyone''s eyes were on them. Kisuke and Serafall, simrly, looked at everyone and Serafall was surprised to see some faces.


    Kisuke first smiled and removed his hat, "Good day, everyone~ I must say, I wasn''t expecting such a grand reception. I''m truly honored."


    Aside from the ult Research Club, Vali''s group, and Benia, leaders from each of the Three Factions including their attendants were present.


    From the Grigori, Azazel and Barakiel were present. From the Underworld, Sirzechs and Grayfia are in person while Ajuka is currently being disyed as a Hologram. From Heaven''s side, Michael, Gabriel, and Dulio are present. Finally, thest one is from Mount Meru, the first generation Sun Wukong.


    Kisuke first looked towards those he knew before transferring his sights towards the unknown faces. The moment his eyesnded on Gabriel, he immediately thought, ''No wonder Issei is making that face right now,'' before transferring his attention to the other presences in the mansion who were not present within the room.


    The first one to respond to Kisuke''s words was Azazel, who started scratching his head, "Don''t speak like you''re below us. It''s really hard to talk that way."


    Just from this, Kisuke immediately understood the stance they wanted to take. However, Kisuke just disyed his usual smile and said, "My~ I''m just a person and there''s no one standing behind me. I couldn''t even do anything when others branded me as a terrorist~!"


    Azazel then looked at him with a serious expression, "That all changed when you alone shook an entire Faction, and it wasn''t even a small one. Although we can''t do anything with your current status, we''ll at least treat you as equal."


    Kisuke first looked around with a nk expression before sighing, "It''s nice to meet everyone, but why are there so many big wigs here? You only need me for one thing, right?"


    "Well, we do intend to ask you to treat Valerie Tepes, but there''s more we want to talk about," replied Azazel. He then pointed towards the man beside him and introduced him, "By the way, this is Barakiel, Akeno''s father."


    Barakiel stepped forward and looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes while extending his right hand, "I''m Barakiel. I heard you took care of my daughter. I''m really thankful for that. If there''s anything, please tell me." Despite his genuine gratitude, however, he looked at Kisuke with great intensity that is very contrary to his words.


    Kisuke didn''t know what''s up with him but he still smiled and took his hand, "Kisuke Urahara, a pleasure to meet you."


    Kisuke felt a bit of pressure from Baraqiel''s hand but he didn''t really mind it. He was just confused at why but didn''t ask anything as it isn''t the right time. Eventually, Barakiel let go of Kisuke and stepped back. During that time, everyone could hear Azazel sighing.


    The next one to step out is Michael and greeted Kisuke, "We meet again, Kisuke Urahara."


    "It''s nice to see you again, Michael-sama~."


    "I''m still really thankful for all those souls that returned to their natural cycles. Thanks to that, the system has gained substantial stability," Michael is talking about the 250,000 souls that Kokabiel corrupted to serve as his secret weapon. Since they couldn''t do anything about it, Azazel could only seal the souls until Kokabiel used it again in front of Kisuke.


    Just like Azazel, Michael pointed towards the people behind him, "You''ve already seen him in the Netherworld, but this is Dulio Gesualdo, my ''Joker''."


    And simr to Barakiel, Dulio also extended his hand towards Kisuke, "Heya~ Nice to meet you! You can call me Dulio!"


    Kisuke smiled and took the hand of the carefree guy, "Same~ Please call me Kisuke."


    Chuckling, Dulio replied, "Will do~."


    Michael could only shake his head at his acts but didn''t say anything regarding it and proceeded to introduce the woman beside him, "And this is Gabriel. A fellow Seraph."


    Gabriel also stepped forward and did the same thing as Barakiel and Dulio, "I''ve always wanted to meet the person who freed all those tormented souls when we couldn''t do anything regarding it. I''m Gabriel. I hope we can get along," with a bright smile, Gabriel introduced herself.


    But as soon as Kisuke took her hand with both of his, a cold breeze suddenly brushed his spine. He knew where it came from but doesn''t know why, ''Do they not get along well?''


    Nevertheless, Kisuke continued without pause, "And I''ve always wanted to meet the rumored most beautiful woman in Heaven. And sure enough, it doesn''t disappoint~ It''s lovely to meet you, mdy~ Kisuke Urahara at your service~."


    However, that lip service immediately earned him even more cold air, but ultimately, he ignored it.


    On the other hand, Gabriel didn''t really react in any particr way regarding Kisuke''s yful words, "Please. I don''t deserve such a wonderfulpliment. Every woman from Heaven is beautiful and it should be me who should do something as thanks."


    ''My~ How humble and innocent~ Not what would you expect from a leader of a great faction. She''s a textbook example of an Angel, alright. Not some self-proimed one.'' Kisuke thought as he separated his hands from her, "I just figured out right now that you really deserve such apliment, Gabriel-sama. And also, if I need something, I''ll just ask that Governor. He seems like a super-rich guy that I could repeatedly extort," replied Kisuke while pointing towards Azazel.


    "Haah!?" reacted to the Governor.


    "Please don''t burden him too much," replied Gabriel.


    "Since it''s you who said it, I''ll consider it," Kisuke then faced thest new person. Seeing that, Sirzechs immediately introduced the man in the hologram, "This is Ajuka Beelzebub. One of the Devil Kings."


    "d to meet you, Ajuka-sama. I''ve heard many great things about you."


    "Same. I''ve also heard a lot of great things about you."


    "My~ It''s such an honor."


    "I feel the same��" Ajuka then looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes before saying, "Indeed�� You''re partly Devil. I can clearly tell that. But thatst form you took with your battle with Ares, it''s not of a Devil nor is it of a Human�� Yet, it''s very Human�� What are you?"

 Volume 10 578 - Matured For A Little Bit

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 578 - Matured For A Little Bit</h4>


    "Indeed�� You''re partly Devil. I can clearly tell that. But thatst form you took with your battle with Ares, it''s not of a Devil nor is it of a Human�� Yet, it''s very Human�� What are you?"


    After Ajuka uttered that, a strange and awkward silence engulfed the room.


    On the other hand, Kisuke''s smile didn''t change, and replied, "I wouldn''t really know how to answer if you''re going to ask me that."


    However, deep inside, Kisuke was impressed. After all, even after showing such an inhuman form, he''s the only one who called it ''very Human''. Even though he''s of a Soul Race, which is the main source of his powers and unique abilities, unlike Yoruichi who came from a prestigious n in Soul Society, Kisuke was originally a normal Human soul that arrived in Soul Society on a clean te. Along with Zaraki, they are the only few Human originating Shinigamis that developed into extreme levels.


    So when his Shinigami powers and Hollow powers exploded and mixed together, he actually got closer to his Human origin and it took over his Devil side in an instant, giving him the unusual form he took in his battle with Ares. At least, that''s what he thought from his and Benihime''s initial investigation.


    ''What is a human?'' A question that he has never gotten a full answer to back then in his previous world, became even more prevalent when he arrived in this world, ''Sitting between everything, Shinigami, Hollow, Dragons, Fullbringers, is Human.'' Kisuke''s thoughts wandered for a bit until it was pulled back by Ajuka''s reply.


    "Then forget it. I''m only a bit curious," Ajuka immediately backed down.


    A few more moments of silence prevailed before Grayfia feigned a cough and directed everyone, "Please, this way."


    But Kisuke immediately refused by raising his hand, "Show me this Valerie Tepes first. That''s the main reason I''m here anyway."


    "Then follow me. I''ll show you the way," Azazel proposed.


    However, Kisuke just shook his head, "No need. Just let Issei do it. I also want to ask him a few questions in private."


    Azazel looked at Issei and thetter also looked back and nodded at him, "Very well. We''ll wait for you here."


    Kisuke then suddenly passed an A4-sized paper with the fine print in it to Azazel before walking away with Issei, "What''s this?" asked Azazel as he took a good look at the materials written on it.


    As both of them stepped on the elevator, Kisuke answered with arge grin, "Payment~ Please prepare everything within 24 hours~ Thank you for your patronage~!"


    "Hah!?" Azazel looked again at the paper before looking up to Kisuke, "But there are some really rare and expensive things in here!"


    "Well, obviously. Those are things that I couldn''t get hold of easily."


    "B-but that isn''t enough of a reason! This is still too much!"


    "Don''t worry about it. That''s isn''t just for the treatment of that Vampire, but also some important information that you may not be aware of."


    Azazel''s face became serious along with the other leaders, "Information?"


    "It''s not much but it''s information on some things that could potentially destroy this world. Just that," The elevator''s door closed and brought Kisuke and Issei up, leaving the group silenced.


    The first one to break the silence was Sun Wukong, "What do you think he meant by that?" he asked as he smoked his pipe.


    "Maybe more information regarding Rizevim''s movements and ns," answered Sirzechs.


    "Or maybe something he discovered when he stormed Mount Olympus," added Azazel.


    "Probably something more beyond that. He doesn''t strike me as someone who exaggerates themselves,"mented Ajuka.


    Serafall then interjected with an unusually serious tone, "I''m with Ajuka-chan�� He''s someone who wouldn''t regard Great Red and Ophis''s sh as world-ending. With that kind of tone, I presume that something else is at y here."


    "Either way, it looks like the establishment of the DxD Team won''t be enough to counter all the threats. Depending on the information he has, we have toe up with more drastic measures," Michael added, "For now, let''s wait for him here. We already set aside ample time so there''s no need to rush things."


    Sirzechs then turned to Sun Wukong and asked, "What about you, Great Sage? What do you think?"


    "Nothing�� Nothing much�� Though if I want to say something, it is that both Sakra and Rudra are very interested in him. Please keep that in mind as you deal with him."


    "I see�� Well, for now, let''s all sit down."


    In contrast, the majority of other people in the room don''t have a single clue on what''s going on and could only follow their leaders while specting in their minds. But one of them couldn''t help but mutter, "He really extorted Azazel��"


    Hearing Rossweisse''s words, Azazel could only sigh andment. However, he was saved by Sirzechs who extended his helping hand, "Let me help you prepare it."


    "I would really be d if you could do that," Azazel immediately epted his gesture and passed the paper to Sirzechs, which in turn, passed it to Grayfia, "Prepare the things that we have on hand right now."


    "Understood. Then I''ll leave first," Grayfia then teleported away.


    "If there are some items that are hard toe by, we''ll also help with it." Michael proposed.


    .


    .


    .


    Inside the elevator, Issei opened up a conversation, "Kisuke, where have you been all this time?"


    "Well, somewhere far away. I still have to return there though."


    "Haahh�� So you can''t tell me, huh?"


    "Sorry about that, but I''ll make sure to bring a souvenir next time I go home."


    "Yeah, don''t forget that. If possible, please include some porn books. If it''s a faraway ce, I''d really like to see it."


    Kisuke chuckled, "Ahahaha, so you haven''t changed, huh? Though I can see that you''re a lot more mature now. Going out with Gremory-san?"


    If it was the Issei he knew before, Issei would talk in a roundabout way before admitting it embarrassingly. However, the Issei right now gripped his hands while looking at it and said, "Yeah�� That''s why I have to work harder. It feels like I really need to ramp up my efforts due to increasingly difficult enemies as time goes on�� And also after seeing you fight that God. I never knew you''re that strong."


    "Well, I have to have at least that much if I want to protect those who are important to me."


    "Though the way you messed with them first is very like you."


    Scratching his head, Kisuke replied sheepishly, "Iya~ Don''t praise me so much, or I''ll get embarrassed~"


    Issei smiled wryly, "Though I want to say that you haven''t changed, you feel different right now."


    "Hmm? What do you mean?"


    "No, I worded that wrong. You haven''t changed�� Maybe the same as you told me, you haven''t changed but you also matured. Sounds weird, right? It''s because you always seem so mature with everything happening around you, but if I were to point out something different, you''re a lot more caring? No, that''s also not it. It seems like you found something more important. That''s what my guts are telling me," Issei couldn''t exactly tell what changed in Kisuke, but he knew for sure that something was different about him.


    "In the past, although you cared for a lot of things, you were also apathetic to most things. Right now, it seems that you can give some thought to the things you never cared for before. That''s, at least, how I would exin it. Though it''s not exactly right either."


    Kisuke became quiet at his words for several moments before chuckling again, "Yoruichi told me something simr, so I guess you''re right. I''ve also matured a bit."


    The two of them reach the 5th basement floor where the medical facility was built.

 Volume 10 579 - Special Energy

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 579 - Special Energy</h4>


    Issei led Kisuke towards one of the inner rooms and knocked on the door, "Gasper, it''s me."


    "Issei-senpai?" answered Gasper in the room and hurriedly opened the door. He was about to say something when he saw Kisuke and eximed, "Kisuke-senpai!? Are you here to treat Valerie!?"


    "Yeah. I''m here for thedy Vampire. Please show her to me."


    "This way please!" Gasper then led them towards the currently unconscious Valerie. Valerie was a young woman with short blonde hair and red eyes, amon feature among the Vampires. Since she had a Sacred Gear from birth, she''s half Human and half Vampire making her the same as Gasper, a Dhampir.


    Kisuke looked at her for a minute before turning his attention back to Gasper and said, "Leave us alone for now and join the rest."


    "W-will you be able to treat her?"


    "Of course. You can talk to herter."


    Gasper''s girly face brightened up and excitedly jumped, "T-thank you very much! I''ll leave for now so that I won''t distract you!"


    "I''ming with you," Issei also joined Gasper and walked towards the door. However, Kisuke suddenly stopped him, "Wait, Issei. I need you for something else, so stay."


    "Ah, sure."


    With that, Gasper left alone, leaving Kisuke, Issei, and the unconscious Valerie in the room.


    "So? What should I do? In case you forgot or wrongly assumed, I don''t have any medical knowledge. That''s not included in my training regimen," said Issei.


    "Well, more specifically, I need Ddraig for something."


    The back of Issei''s left hand and the palm suddenly shone green and Ddraig''s voice emerged, "Ho? What is it? Though I already have a clue to what you want."


    Kisuke then took out the de from his cane and said, "Sit tight for now. Let me deal with this first."


    ''Benihime, do the work for me.'' asked Kisuke to his de.


    And he immediately got an answer, ''No.''


    ''Come on. Don''t you want to know the full extent of your controls after the Hougyoku assimted with both of us? This is a perfect chance to test that.''


    ''��'' Benihime became silent for a moment before Kisuke heard a sigh, ''Fine�� I''ll humor you. I''m also a bit curious about my actual handling, so get to it immediately.''


    ''My~ Such a motivation to work~ I''d really like some of that~.''


    ''Shut it. I don''t want to hear that from someone who would delegate the work to someone else but still get all the profits.''


    ''Please don''t say that. This is only half of the work to get those payments.'' Kisuke then suddenly thrust his de downwards towards Valeries'' chest, stabbing her in the middle, ''Don''t hurt her though. We''re here to treat her and not make her suffer.''


    "K-Kisuke!? What are you doing!?" Issei could only exim at his fast actions.


    "Treating her, obviously," Letting his hand go, Kisuke turned to Issei with a confused expression.


    "Don''t give me that face and stop messing with me! Where can you find a doctor who stabs his patients in the chest with a sword!?"


    "One right here," Kisuke pointed to himself, "Besides, technically speaking, all doctors need to stab their patients during an operation, so your point is invalid."


    "��And just leave it sticking out there?"


    "��Well, maybe not."


    Issei could only scratch his head in frustration when Ddraig startedforting him, "Don''t think about his actions too much or you''re only going to go insane. We''ve already established him as a nonstandard type of person, so just ignore his nonstandard actions."


    Issei sighed and nodded, "How did I forget about that? Well, as long as Valerie-san is safe, then this is fine, I guess?"


    Kisuke doesn''t know if he should be happy or not that someone understands him, ''What aplicated feeling. I guess it''s more fun to mess with other people''s heads.''


    Feigning a cough, Kisuke addressed Issei, "Issei, let me ask this, is it true that you were contacted by a being that introduced themself as Chichigami?"


    "��Y-yeah�� It seems like I caught its attention due to my love for breasts," answered Issei awkwardly.


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and praised the Human and Dragon duo, "Whew~ So your pervertedness got boosted to such unbelievable levels that it caught the attention of some mighty being? As expected of the two of you. I''m impressed."


    "Don''t include me in it!" shouted Ddraig with a hoarse voice.


    Ignoring his outrage, Kisuke asked Ddraig, "So Ddraig-san, were you able to keep some of the residual energy from the time Issei was contacted?"


    "I already knew that you would ask for that, so here. Take it," a pink glowing orb smaller than a pinkies'' tip emerged from Issei''s left hand and floated towards Kisuke''s side, "I gathered it because I thought I could use it for something, but failed to make use of it."


    "Thanks. This is very helpful," Kisuke then took out a small ss bottle and kept the orb in it, "By the way, what do you think of that Chichigami?"


    "Hmm�� At first, due to its strange energy stream, I thought it was a very mighty being, but after calming down and thinking about it, it''s not that powerful. But don''t get me wrong. I think that being is stronger than the Heavenly Dragons. However, it''s definitely still weaker than both Ophis and Great Red."


    While listening to Ddraig, Kisuke was inspecting the orb through various methods and figured a few things out, "Hmm�� From this, your estimation is more or less the same as mine. In addition to that, this being is most likely a spiritual one."


    "Spiritual?" asked Issei.


    "Yes. A being that doesn''t have or need a physical body to exist. They can manifest themselves through their energy alone," Kisuke then faced Issei and said, "Issei, show me that new move you have. The mini Dragons that can use Divine Dividing."


    "Alright," Transforming into his Bnce Breaker form, Issei summoned one very small white Dragon through Albion''s gem. On the surface, it had a simr aura as Vali but Kisuke examined it further. After a few minutes, Kisuke let go of it and sighed, "Haah�� Well, I''m not surprised you didn''t notice it. Yours and Albion-san''s power were too overpowering."


    "What did you find out?" asked Ddraig.


    "One of the coreponents of making it possible to mix yours and Albion''s directly opposing forces is this Chichigami''s residual energy. Although it''s only ever so slightly, thanks to it, the stability with this ability was reached."


    "What!? To think it went through my senses�� Damn it!" Ddraigmented.


    Kisuke then looked towards Issei, "Now, there''s a problem with that. Whether it moved due to Issei''s will or it moved on its own, the fact that unknown foreign energy is in between you two is a problem�� Especially if it''s thetter one."


    "W-what should I do with this then? Isn''t this too dangerous?"


    "Don''t worry. It''s not that threatening. Both of you only need to find this residual energy and iste it with this ability. Once done, you can monitor any changes in it. Though that doesn''t mean you can''t use this ability anymore, as it''s a strong and very useful one. You just have to watch out so that this residual energy won''t be able to infiltrate any further. And onest thing you have to remember is when using this ability, always have it in mind that it might not suddenly activate."


    "As long as you two do those things and remember my warning, you should be good to go."


    "Thanks. We''ll do that," Ddraig replied before talking to Issei, "Issei, you have to practice your detection abilities more. It should be at least on my level."


    "G-got it!"


    "Great. Now on to the next topic. We might be in a graver situation than I initially thought." uttered Kisuke with a big smile.

 Volume 10 580 - A Threat More Than Qlippoth

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 580 - A Threat More Than Qlippoth</h4>


    Ddraig became silent, and Issei asked Kisuke with a somber tone, "Grave situation? Are you talking about Qlippoth? They''re dangerous, but what makes you think that it''s worse than that?"


    "It''s not about them, but Rizevim is partly responsible," replied Kisuke as he walked back towards the unconscious Valerie and pulled out his sword from her chest.


    Issei checked Valerie''s wound but was surprised that there was none. He wanted to ask about it but Kisuke urged Issei to exit the room, "She''ll be fine and should be awake in an hour or two."


    Issei followed him to the elevator and asked, "So it''s not Qlippoth? Which one is it? The Alliance thinks that they''re the greatest threat right now. If there''s something else, then we need to inform them."


    "I''ll exin it, but I''ll do it with everyone around. I don''t want to say it the second time."


    "Alright," Issei nodded at him and stayed silent until they went back to everyone else.


    Once they entered the room where the leaders were sitting at a round table, Gasper immediately ran towards them, "Kisuke-senpai! Issei-senpai! How''s Valerie!?"


    Kisuke smiled at him and said, "She''s already fine and should be awake in an hour or two."


    "R-really!? Can I go to her side!?"


    "Sure, go ahead. It''ll be reassuring for the young miss too."


    Gasper then grabbed Kisuke''s hands and almost cryingly said, "Thank you very much!!! If not for you, I wouldn''t know what to do!"


    "It''s fine. Just go. Although I said an hour or two, that''s only a possibility and she might even be awake right now."


    "I-is that so!? Then I''ll go first!" Without minding anyone, Gasper ran back to the elevator and went down.


    Kisuke then turned his attention to everyone else and noticed that there was still a free spot to sit between Sun Wukong and Serafall, and sure enough, it was his seat as Serafall called out to him, "Ki-tan! Over here!"


    Kisuke first looked at the other leaders andstly at Azazel, who nodded at him before walking towards his seat and joining the rest. Issei, on the other hand, joined Rias who was behind Sirzechs, and stood beside her.


    The first one to speak out was Azazel as he jokingly said to Kisuke, "And here I thought it would take you a few hours. The Sephiroth Graal�� Aren''t you interested?"


    "I am, but I have so many other things to do that I don''t want to mess with it right now. Besides, out of all the Sacred Gears or Longinus I''ve seen, it is the one most connected to Heaven''s system."


    Azazel, Michael, and Gabriel''s eyes widened at his words, "With just a short time of seeing it, you can already tell that much?" muttered Azazel.


    "Of course. Where do you think my expertise lies in?"


    "��Souls."


    "Correct. Present me such a thing that could manipte souls and I could tell where its power actually originates from unless it''s a very irregr thing."


    Azazel then furrowed his brows, "��Then why didn''t you study it any further? For someone like you with unceasing curiosity, the Sephiroth Graal is a fountain of knowledge."


    "It''s exactly because it''s deeply connected with Heaven''s system, more specifically, the Reincarnation System. I don''t want to rashly touch it at risk of endangering countless innocent souls. Although I''m not exactly a good person, I still have my bottom line."


    The three leaders from Grigori and Heaven were surprised yet again and Azazel even started chuckling, "I thought you''re just a reckless researcher, but it looks like I''m very wrong about that."


    "I''m relieved to hear that a person with expertise in souls has such a view. It''s probably because of that you were able to free those unfortunate souls," Michael added.


    However, Kisuke only thought, ''I''m just a reckless researcher, though?'' Though he didn''t bother correcting their misunderstanding. And honestly speaking, he''s very tempted to make Valerie a substitute Shinigami just to see what could happen but decided against it.


    At that moment, anothermunication magic circle lit up beside Ajuka''s, showing an old man, "Sorry for beingte. I had to put down a lot of dissatisfaction within my Faction after proposing my n to them�� Oho? I didn''t think we had a surprise guest here."


    "Yo, Odin. Wee. Is it done?" Azazel greeted him.


    Odin nodded whilebing his beard with his right hand, "Of course. It''s not like they could stop me, not after Loki made a mess. But hey, I''m really surprised to see the infamous terrorist here. It''s nice to meet you, youngd. I''m Odin, just a random old man."


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Odin-sama~ Being a terrorist is just my side job. My main profession is a Candy Shop owner~. Kisuke Urahara''s the name~."


    "Fuhahaha! I''ve already met people in the past that were both a terrorist and a merchant, but they never admit they are terrorists and rather call themselves some freedom fighters or whatnot. And most of the time, they are arms or information dealers and never a candy shop owner! You''re indeed different from those second rates!"


    "Thank you for your generous praises, Odin-sama~ It''s an honor~."


    "Ehem��" Sirzechs feigned a cough to interrupt them. He had a feeling that these two are toopatible would continue for a long time without minding them. He then looked towards Kisuke and said, "Before we start, Kisuke-kun, would you like to listen to our agenda for today?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Thank you for the opportunity, but I still have a lot of things to do, so I''d like to refuse. Though, I''d want to hear it from Serafall-samater. For now, let me present some information that you may deem important and may change some of your ns."


    Sirzechs nodded, "I see. It''s such a shame since we''d like to hear your opinion on some matters."


    In truth, however, Kisuke just didn''t want to deal and argue with them for long periods of time. Only Serafall and Issei had a feeling that this might be the case but didn''t point it out.


    "Well then, I''ll start with Qlippoth or Rizevim''s main goal."


    "Main goal? Isn''t that releasing the Trihexa?" asked Serafall.


    "It goes beyond that. His real aim is to use Trihexa as his vanguard to invade some faraway ce."


    All the leaders furrowed their brows at his words, "Where did you get this information and how can we trust this?" asked Azazel.


    With a grin, Kisuke answered with his fan over his face, "Hey now~ How can I be considered a terrorist if I don''t have terrorist-like connections~? Of course, I got it from someone within the Khaos Brigade~ And I can assure you of its authenticity."


    "Someone from Khaos Brigade? Information that even Vali''s team and the Hero Faction didn''t have?"


    "Well, to be exact, someone from Qlippoth," replied Kisuke with narrowed eyes.

 Volume 10 581 - A Threat More Than Qlippoth part 2

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 581 - A Threat More Than Qlippoth part 2</h4>


    "How?" asked Azazel


    "Hmm?"


    "How did you get information from that newly established group?"


    "If you think it''s a new group, then you''re wrong. Aside from that, is that important?"


    Azazel became silent for a moment before sighing, "Nope, it isn''t. I''m just curious." He then put both of his elbows on the table and muttered, "So it''s not a new group. It could mean that they''ve been moving around for a while now. Our initial assumption of their influence was wrong."


    Sirzechs then spoke up, "So Rizevim wanted to invade somece, but where is this ce? If it''s just invading, Trihexa is too much unless he wants to take over the whole world."


    Kisuke nodded at him, "True. But I''ll get more into thatter after the next piece of information."


    "Please go on."


    Before speaking, Kisuke took out a small bottle that contained a small pink orb, "That''s��" Issei murmured under his breath.


    Seeing Issei''s reaction, everyone got curious and waited for Kisuke to speak up, "I just got this from Ddraig-san earlier."


    "Then when you said you wanted to talk to Issei alone��"


    "Yes. I wanted to confirm some of my assumptions. Now to exin, this marble is the remnant energy of a being that introduced itself as Chichigami. You all probably already knew about it."


    "May I take a closer look?" asked Sirzechs.


    Without any word, Kisuke made the bottle float towards Sirzechs side. Sirzechs grabbed it and inspected it before cing it in front of Ajuka''s hologram. A secondter, a magic circle appeared in front of the hologram and the bottle was teleported to Ajuka himself. Same with Sirzechs, he inspected it quietly before sending it back, "And what about this Chichigami?" asked Ajuka.


    "Well, you might already have an inkling to where this ''God'' came from and I can assure you that it''s beyond the boundaries of the Dimensional Gap."


    Since Ajuka already guessed that this is the case and already warned everyone, they weren''t as shocked, "We know that much, but it seems that you know more than we do. What else is about this Chichigami?"


    "I just discovered a few things after I inspected it. From that remnant energy, I can tell that it''s a type of spiritual being, but that''s not all. Within this, there are other energies mixed in, and one of them is particrly special."


    For the first time, Ajuka felt intrigued, "Hmm? But I didn''t notice anything like that."


    "It''s true that my expertise is on souls, but ''souls'' for me are anything that is made out of spiritual particles and not just the souls that go through reincarnation. As such, I have a bit of confidence with my eyes regarding this."


    "Hmm�� Then tell us what''s so special about this."


    "Yep, but before that, I want you to know something," Kisuke then faced Issei, "Issei, why did this Chichigami bless you with its powers?"


    "Ah�� Err�� It''s because of my love for boobs."


    While Odin, Azazel, Yuuto, Bikou, Le Fay, and Benia started chuckling, the rest could only let out a defeated sigh.


    However, Kisuke knew that they wouldn''t have this kind of reactionter and continued, "Crossing worlds, even though it''s just some thought or message, is incredibly hard. Based on my calctions, even someone like Ophis and Great Red would need an ''anchor'' to the target world to even ess it. Knowing this, I believe that this Chichigami was indeed able to contact Issei through his ''will'' or ''love for boobs''."


    Kisuke then addressed Ddraig, "Ddraig-san, please tell everyone here what''s the estimated power level of this ''God''."


    From Issei''s left hand, Ddraig''s deep voice resounded to everyone in the room, "Just below Ophis and Great Red."


    Hearing this, Azazel and Ajuka''s eyes widened as they got a clue to what Kisuke was trying to say.


    Kisuke smiled at them and said, "It seems that these gentlemen here already knew what I wanted to say~."


    Everyone looked around and saw Azazel and Ajuka making serious faces, "If such a ''God'' exists, then a ''Gods'' of Thighs, Midriffs, or Butt are also highly probable," muttered Ajuka with a serious expression.


    Azazel, on the other hand, gritted his teeth, "It sounds incredibly stupid�� But thinking about the implication of this, it isn''t even funny. It''s outright horrifying. If this Chichigami is really just below Ophis and Great Red, then it''s already the most powerful being outside of them. And multiple of these ''Gods''?�� Wait��" He then had a sudden realization, "If the other energies mixed in were the rted ''Gods'', what about the special one?"


    Azazel''s question sent shivers to everyone.


    "It''s a higher-tier of being than Chichigami," answered Kisuke.


    Azazel sucked in a cold breath and the room became dead silent.


    Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders and broke the silence, "Well, I don''t have much data so I could have interpreted this wrong. For all we know, Chichigami couldn''t have contacted Issei herself but sent an emissary to do it which makes the special energy Chichigami herself. Though that doesn''t change the fact that a being out there that could possibly as strong as the two strongest beings in this world exist and we don''t know how many exactly."


    Azazel sighed, "Haah�� So this is what you meant we''re in a graver situation. I don''t want to call you paranoid but I personally think that you''re overthinking this."


    "I sure do hope so since I always think about the worst possible situation," However, Kisuke''s eyes suddenly narrowed, "However, I never told you that this is the reason why I thought that we''re in a graver situation."


    "��" Azazel stayed silent.


    "Once worlds are connected, it''s impossible to sever their connections anymore andmunication between two will be a lot easier," added Kisuke. This is the main reason why Kisuke took great care in hiding the traces of the world he went to and moved to Mars, "Since you figured out that Chichigami isn''t from this world, other myths should have done the same thing."


    "Now, the next thing I''ll say is merely my own spections so take it with a grain of salt. What if Rizevim didn''t dere his intent, not because he discovered the other world, but he already dered war on the other side? Although it''s unlikely, it''s possible. That would mean that those from this world already became the enemy of that side whether you like it or not."


    "Inparison, Rizevim releasing Trihexa is very mildpared to beings on the same level of Ophis and Great Red invading this world. Hence, we might be in a graver situation than I initially thought."


    The cold atmosphere within the room became even worse.


    "B-but it''s still very unlikely, right?" asked Gabriel, "Although you said it''s a lot easier, it should still not be that easy. And just what is the possibility that Rizevim already contacted the other side before even amassing his army and releasing Trihexa?"


    But instead of Kisuke, Ajuka replied to her, "Qlippoth isposed of those exiled from many Factions and a number of them are those expelled due to their willingness to delve into forbidden topics and initiate atrocious experiments. It is safe to think that they already found a way tomunicate to the other side if what he said is true." He then faced Kisuke, "Aside from that, please tell me this. Do you have a way to contact the other side?"


    Kisuke answered with a big smile, "As I said, it''s rtively easy. Even now, I could use some technique to reach the being that contacted Issei by using the remnants of the connection."


    "Seriously��?" muttered Serafall.


    "And not just that�� Knowing Rizevim and how crazy he could be, it''s also highly probable that he already contacted the other side if he could," added Sirzechs.

 Volume 10 582 - Synthetic Blood

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 582 - Synthetic Blood</h4>


    The room entered another phase of silence and it was Kisuke who broke it yet again with his jovial tone, "Well, thest bits were just spections from my part so take it with a grain of salt~."


    However, everyone couldn''t be as carefree as him, "Damn you�� And here we thought the worst things that could happen were a war among myths and theplete release of Trihexa. Even though it''s just a possibility, you just told us a much grimmer future," muttered Azazel in frustration.


    "Even though those are just mere spections, it was backed by some evidence. As much as we don''t want that to really happen, we have to prepare for it," added Michael.


    "Kisuke-kun, thank you very much for sharing this with us today. If not, we may''ve been caught off guard by enemies we didn''t expect." Sirzechs gave his sincere gratitude.


    "Hmmm�� Looks like I have to prepare some things on my side too," Odin talked to himself while stroking his beard with a serious expression.


    "Rudra may have some idea about this, but it''ll be good if there''s a concrete n spanning the whole Alliance to tackle this," Sun Wukong added some thoughts of his own while blowing out smoke.


    Azazel then threw his head back as he leaned on his chair, "And it doesn''t help that we may lose some of our forces soon!"


    ''They are losing some of their forces soon?'' thought Kisuke as he saw Azazel nce towards his direction for an instant, ''But what does it have to do with me? Does he want me to do something?''


    Little did he know, Serafall slowly looked away and tried not to join the conversation.


    The other leaders, specifically Barakiel and Michael knew what Azazel was talking about and could only sigh.


    Stretching his arms, Azazel jokingly asked, "Hey Kisuke, don''t you have something that could strengthen these kids? You know, to counter this threat, they at least have to reach the Heavenly Dragons or Chief Gods levels."


    Everyone sighed yet again until Kisuke suddenly took out two small white vials.


    Azazel immediately straightened up his back and asked Kisuke with wide eyes, "W-what''s that?"


    With a clueless expression, Kisuke answered, "Eh? Weren''t you asking me if I had something? Here you go."


    "No! I wasn''t actually expecting you to take out anything! No one in this room was expecting you to! It was very obvious that I''m just joking!" shouted Azazel.


    "I was thinking he''d take out something, though?" retorted Serafall.


    "Same," added Issei.


    "Except you two!" Azazel snarled at them, but he immediately curiously looked towards the vials that Kisuke took out like everyone else. He could instantly tell that the vials have some sealing mechanics that kept its contents hidden, "Anyway, what''s that?�� And how much is it?"


    "Ehem. This will be for free."


    As soon as Kisuke said that, however, except for Michael and Gabriel who kept their gentle smiles, everyone else gave him a dirty look. Not that they can be med, though. They''d already heard and witnessed his ''business transactions'' and the word ''free'' was very far from those.


    "Ehem��," Feigning a cough yet again, Kisuke ignored their reactions, "Please think of this as my contribution to world peace. Since you''ll be doing most of the work, it''ll also benefit me indirectly."


    But despite giving his reasoning, no one believed him fully.


    Still, Azazel couldn''t help but ask, "What is that anyway?"


    "These two are specifically for Issei and Vali-san."


    But before Kisuke could exin any further, Vali interjected, "I don''t need it. I don''t want anything that boosts my strength artificially. I''ll get stronger with my own effort."


    "Vali�� Don''t say that. I don''t think Kisuke would give us something that will boost our strength temporarily or hurt our potential for measly gain��" retorted Issei. In fact, he''s a bit nervous now as he knew how Kisuke did things and thought, ''I wonder how much it''ll hurt this time��''


    Kisuke grinned and said, "Issei is right~ Although this is a concoction, it does not aim to boost your strength artificially, but to get you used to your Dragon Aura further, resulting in immense gains~!"


    Issei became even more nervous and Serafall pped her forehead since she already had an idea of what he wanted them to do.


    "Quit the sales talk and tell us what it is and how to use it," said Azazel in anticipation.


    "Ehem. Well then, allow me to introduce you to my creation. Modified Samael''s Blood!"


    "Uhmm�� The what?" Azazel thought he didn''t hear it correctly.


    "Modified Samael''s Blood."


    "Samael''s Blood!?" Azazel finally stood up from his seat, "Are you insane!? Are you asking them to take that!? Even a drop of that could potentially kill them!"


    Even everyone else was wide-eyed after hearing what was inside those vials. Vali, on the other hand, shook in nervousness. He never thought that this shopkeeper was insane enough for him to give them what is essentially their antithesis, ''H-he won''t force it on us, right? We can reject it, right?''


    However, instead of Kisuke himself, it was Ajuka who defended him, "Settle down, Azazel. He said it''s modified. I don''t know how you could modify that thing but let''s listen to him first."


    "Ah�� I''m sorry. I lost my cool there for a bit," Azazel sat back down while sighing. Though it only showed how much he cared for Issei''s and Vali''s wellbeing.


    Without minding Azazel''s understandable behavior, Kisuke continued, "To exin, this is Samael''s Blood that I took out from both Himejima-san and Irina and modified it for Issei and Vali-san''s use. But before I go any further, please allow me to exin how the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing work."


    "For Issei and Vali-san to use their Sacred Gear abilities, they have to give it their Demonic Power or Ki. However, these Dragon abilities can''t directly use those energies so instead, Ddraig-san and Albion-san convert those energies to Dragon Aura."


    "But with the Heavenly Dragons out of the equation, these Sacred Gears be next to useless. Of course, they can convert it themselves, but that''s tooplicated and slow that it''s not viable inbat."


    At this point, Ddraig''s voice suddenly resounded, "That''s true. If either Albion or I be dormant, it''ll be very hard to use the abilities, and Bnce Breakers would be next to impossible."


    Sirzechs furrowed his brows and asked, "At what point will you be dormant?"


    It was Albion who answered, "As time goes on, the battles are bing harder and harder. If at some point, we need to use anything at our disposal to win, it would be after that that we would need to take some time to sleep and recover."


    pping his hands, Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention again, "With that in mind, I modified Samael''s Blood for them. Why Samael''s Blood you say? It''s because it has the most effective Dragon yer properties that would be useful if used correctly."


    "Although I said modified, I only changed a few things within it. First is I removed its subproperty to corrupt and devour souls, which in turn, weakened its Dragon yer property. However, that''s just what I needed, and adjusted a few more things so it''ll be suitable for consumption and won''t instantly kill the recipient."


    "Won''t instantly kill the recipient, you say?" interrupted Serafall, "So it''ll still slowly kill them."


    Hearing that, Issei and Vali shuddered. However, even more cold sweat covered their backs when they heard Kisuke''s reply.


    "Well, don''t mind such a minor detail~."


    "Minor!?"

 Volume 10 583 - The Dragons’ Decisions

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 583 - The Dragons�� Decisions</h4>


    Serafall furrowed her brows and asked Kisuke a serious question, "Why do you always design things that intentionally hurt the user?"


    "Uhmm�� No pain no gain? Anyway, hear me out first. Depending on how you use it, the chances of you dying is close to zero. I also won''t force you two to take it and allow you to decide after hearing out the benefits and risks."


    Issei then answered, "We''re listening."


    "Great," Kisuke nodded and proceeded to exin further, "The main goal and use of this modified blood is to change or evolve your physiology closer to that of a Dragon, which would allow your bodies to directly convert your reserves to Dragon Aura, or even store it for future use."


    Issei and Vali''s curiosity and interest peaked after hearing that.


    "Now, to actually do this, after taking this blood, using your Sacred Gears as the catalyst, you''ll have to convert either your Ki or Demonic Power to that of a Dragon''s Aura and resist it before it melts your flesh."


    Not just Issei and Vali but the majority of the rest swallowed a mouthful of saliva due to Kisuke''s graphic description.


    But Kisuke didn''t mind their reactions and kept going, "Of course, you can directly use your Demonic Power or Ki to resist it, but that would only defeat the purpose. You see, Dragon and Dragon yer, despite beingplete opposites, have the same origin, simr to the both of you."


    "As you resist the blood, your body will slowly adjust to the damage it has taken. Thanks to the blood and your Dragon Aura, your bodies will be forced in a certain direction, but you can think of this as mastering a specific path that is very suitable for you."


    "If you take this slowly, you should be able to use Dragon Aura directly and doing it enough will improve the entire base of your abilities."


    Vali immediately caught on to Kisuke''s words and asked, "If we take it slowly�� What would happen if I took it all at once?"


    Kisuke grinned and replied, "Simple~ The chances of you dying shoots up exponentially~ As you are now, the chances of you dying if you took it all at the same time would be around 95%~"


    "As I am now, huh�� So I can prepare myself to mitigate those chances?"


    "Absolutely right~!"


    "Then what do I get by risking my life like that? As you''ve said, no pain, no gain, right?"


    Kisuke looked straight into his eyes and answered, "ording to my calctions, the amount you take in a short period of time increases the speed and quality of the transformation. So I can say that the more you take, the better the result would be. And if you''re lucky enough, you might even develop enough to get the same level of resistance to Dragon yer properties as Great Red and Ophis themselves."


    Vali then started chuckling, "Then I''ll take it. Though it''ll take some time to prepare."


    "Vali�� Are you sure?" asked Azazel with a concerned expression.


    "Not now, but I''ll definitely take it in one go," answered Vali with a small smile.


    "Same with me. I''ll take it in one go," Issei suddenly added.


    "Issei!? No! You don''t have to do that!" Rias immediately rejected Issei''s decision in fear that something bad may happen to him. Asia, on the other hand, grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and agreed with Rias.


    But instead of replying to them, Issei faced Kisuke, "Kisuke, what''re my chances of surviving if I take it now?"


    "Hmm�� In your case, it''ll be around a 75% chance of death."


    Vali''s eyes widened at his answer but Kisuke immediately exined, "The training he''s doing is already taking him in that direction so he''s not in as much danger as you are."


    "But even then!" Rias still tried to convince Issei against it.


    "Buchou�� No. Rias," Issei held her hand, "Although my chances are better, it doesn''t mean that I''ll take it now. I''ll take it after ample preparation. And if there is any truth in any of Kisuke''s spections, then all the more reason to maximize its effects." He then faced Asia and patted her head, "You too, Asia. You don''t have to worry too much. I won''t do it until I''m sure I can safely do it. Besides, Azazel won''t allow us to continue if he''s not sure that we''re not safe."


    Asia and Rias looked towards Azazel and the Governor of Fallen Angels scratched his head and sighed in frustration, "Dammit�� To have this kind of option, you''re more Devilish than most Devils out there."


    "I just don''t want you people to be cornered without any other options left," answered Kisuke.


    Azazel stayed silent for a moment before sighing again, "Fine�� But the two of you can''t take it without me around. I''ll try to get the help of the Five Great Dragon Kings to assist your preparations. That way, you''ll have more chances."


    Sun Wukong tapped the table and said, "You don''t have to worry about Yu Long. I''ll ask him myself and I think he won''t refuse to help."


    Azazel nodded his head towards Sun Wukong and gave his gratitude.


    Asia raised her hand and added, "I''ll also ask Fafnir-san for his help!" Since she entered a contract with the Gigantis Dragon, Fafnir, Asia is the one in control of him.


    "Then I''ll try asking for Tiamat''s help," added Ajuka.


    "Since we''re getting their help, I''ll ask Midgardsormr myself," said Vali.


    "As for Vritra, we''ll ask Saji Genshiro to convince him," replied Sirzechs.


    Azazel smiled and said, "Thanks, everyone. If every one of them could help, then we should be able to significantly reduce the risk for these two idiots."


    Seeing that they already came to a decision Kisuke stood up, "Well then, I''ve already said everything I wanted to say, so I''ll be leaving first," He then looked towards the two hosts of the Heavenly Dragons, "I won''t be saying anything else beyond this because I don''t want your perceptions to be warped any further. Even though I pushed you onto a certain path, it doesn''t mean that the possibilities were reduced. It''s still up to you two on how you''ll improve and evolve further. Just onest thing, you are what you think you are. Remember that and you''ll be fine."


    But as Kisuke prepared his teleportation magic, Michael stopped him, "Please wait, Kisuke Urahara."


    "Hmm? What is it, Michael-sama?"


    "From what I heard, you''ll be leaving for a long period of time again?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Yes. I''ll probably leave in a day or two."


    "Then before you leave, if it''s not much, could you meet with us again?"


    "What for?"


    Michael smiled wryly while Azazel and Barakiel sighed in resignation, "Well, we''re not sure yet, but we''d like to talk about something with you."


    Kisuke tried to guess what they wanted to talk about but he didn''t have much clues. Although he still agreed as it''s not much effort, "Alright. But I won''t have much time by then so please keep that in mind."


    "Don''t worry. It won''t take long."

 Volume 10 584 - New Travelmate

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 584 - New Travelmate</h4>


    Kisuke spent the rest of the time he had remaining with his family, while also creating some tools that could prove useful for them. Unlike his previous world where he only had to think about a few ''Factions'', the world he''s in now, not only did he have more people to protect, but also it''s a lot moreplicated. Angels, Devils, Fallen Angels, Monsters, Magicians, Gods, and more, aiming for different things, wishing for their own future.


    A whole day had passed and Kisuke, along with his family, just finished their dinner and were now sitting face to face.


    "I don''t have much time, I''ll have to get going soon," Kisuke muttered as he sipped his tea.


    Sakura heaved arge sigh, "Is that so? Good�� You can''t leave the others for too long," Sakura then looked straight into his eyes, "But before you go, we''d like to ask you to do something."


    Kisuke already knew this and nodded, "I''m listening."


    "Then allow me," Cleria suddenly spoke up.


    Kisuke looked at her and noticed a strong resolution within her eyes. When he looked around, Masaomi also had the same expression, but Kisuke didn''t say anything and just waited.


    "Kisuke-kun�� Please take ire with you."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened from her question and looked towards ire, who was happily ying with Ophis, not listening to them. His expression returned to normal, however, Kisuke didn''t immediately refute her and stayed silent to listen to their reasonings.


    Cleria continued, "As you know, things are getting dangerous and we figured that she''d be safer with you."


    Kisuke shook his head, "That isn''t enough of a reason."


    Cleria then smiled wryly and looked towards her daughter who''sughing happily, "Looks like she''s having a lot of fun�� But she''s only like that when Ophis is around."


    Hearing that, Kisuke furrowed his brows.


    "Most of the time, when Ophis is not around, we take turns to y with her, but we''re also pretty busy with our own things, especially with the situation we have right now."


    It was then that Kisuke recalled one thing and asked, "She isn''t going to school?"


    Cleria shook her head, but it was Diehauser who answered him, "She can''t exactly go due to risks. First of all, before she could enroll, the system needs to check her bloodline and she would instantly be discovered. Such an outdated system is still in ce thanks to the nobles who believe in their superiority, and it''s designed to find those rogue noble bloodlines."


    "She could bypass that if I use my influence, but that would leave a trail towards me. As you know, we still have a lot of enemies in the dark. They''re not moving because we aren''t much of a threat to them yet. If they knew that there''s a Belial descendant on the loose, it might cause them to move unpredictably."


    "Still��" However, Diehauser interrupted Kisuke and added, "On top of that, I don''t think we''re able to stay hidden."


    Kisuke became quiet.


    "The fact that you showed that you have a Devil Bloodline is the main cause in this. If you think that Ajuka is the only capable one, then you''re utterly wrong. It won''t just be him, but also others will figure it out sooner orter, the origin of your Bloodline. Once that happens, all eyes will be focused on our n. And you already know it''ll be hard for me to hide them any further."


    Sakura then immediately followed up by saying, "If you''re thinking that we''re going to run away and hide, we won''t do that anymore. It''s about time we faced our enemies. We won''t run away knowing that our family is in danger."


    Masaomi then bowed his head towards Kisuke, "As such, please take ire with you. Not just her safety, but also her well-being will be secured around you and Ophis. A kid like her shouldn''t be inside the house all day, dreaming about the outside world. It pains me to say this, but my wife and I don''t have any way to give her the normal life a child should have with the current situation we have�� At least, if she''s with you, she''d be energetic all day long."


    "Uncle, please don''t bow to me. You''re putting me in a tight spot."


    Nevertheless, Masaomi didn''t listen and didn''t move from his posture.


    Kisuke sighed and became silent yet again. He then started considering the reasons they presented and it''s indeed the best way to keep ire safe without putting her in a stranger''s hands. On top of that, he has a bit of leeway to bring one more person with all the preparations he had done, as he didn''t really need to protect Ophis from the void.


    Kisuke grabbed his chin and started tapping the table in front of him, trying to think of ways to refute their words. But even then, he personally thought that it''d also be for the best if he were to take ire with him.


    Confirming his decision, he didn''t hesitate any longer, "Fine�� But you have to prepare everything for ire," He then looked towards the little girls, "Including convincing her. I''m certain that you haven''t told her any of this."


    Cleria and Masaomi sighed in relief and smiled wryly, "You''re right��"


    Finishing his tea, Kisuke stood up, "Then I''ll finish everything else. Once I''m back, we''ll leave immediately."


    Sakura also stood up and hugged her son, "Thank you for agreeing with our unreasonable demand."


    Returning her hug, Kisuke replied, "It''s not unreasonable, mom. I''m also aware of the danger surrounding everyone these days. So you have to promise me to keep yourself safe and sound."


    "Don''t worry. I will. You have to keep yourself and those girls safe too."


    "I''m working on it."


    After a few more words of farewell, Kisuke left for his first hideout to release the people who''re training with their lives on the line.


    First, Kisuke deactivated the dummies fighting the Student Council, "We''re done~! Good work everyone~!"


    Looking at them, Kisuke could only find some minor injuries, a stark contrast to when they first started.


    "Finally!!!" Saji shouted. But the rest couldn''t even stand up after all their tension was released. They just wanted a good rest.


    Kisuke understood them and directly teleported them to a designated location where the Sitri Household could take care of their recovery without saying any further words.


    He then moved towards the other two who''re still fighting the dummies and was surprised by what he saw, "Hmm? Their progress was much better than I expected��"

 Volume 10 585 - No

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 585 - No</h4>


    Kisuke watched for a moment and was able to confirm that Akeno and Irina are indeed progressing much faster than the Student Council members, ''Although their bodies gave them the definite advantage, what''s pushing them this far? Looking at them, it seems that they''re fully epting this kind of training, which would traumatize most people�� What''s pushing them so hard?''


    After a few more minutes, Kisuke deactivated the dummies, and both of them immediately dropped down to the ground with numerous cuts and bruises on their entire bodies. From the looks of it, they didn''t use much of the recovery hot spring just to put in more progress.


    "Good work, you two. You did a lot better than I expected. Rest up within the hot spring and an hourter, I''ll return you to your previous bodies."


    Kisuke then turned around to prepare what he needed, but before he could get away, he heard Irina spoke in a tired voice, "Not even an aftercare service? You''re too tough on us�� Nevertheless, I''ve already decided, I''ll keep this body�� Please let me keep it."


    In a simrly tired voice, Akeno also added, "��Same here. Please let me keep this." She then did her best to stand up and staggered towards the hot spring. Not wanting to lose, Irina also did the same.


    Kisuke turned towards them and smiled wryly before approaching them and grabbing their waists, "Use my shoulders."


    Akeno and Irina were taken aback, but dly epted his offer and quietly wrapped one of their arms around his neck for support.


    After setting them in the hot spring, Kisuke used magic to properly cover their bodies and asked, "So, what made you change your minds? And I told you, if there''s a bit of hesitation or doubt within your minds, you can''t take that choice. It''s for your own good."


    While sshing water on her, Irina answered, "We know�� I don''t know about Akeno-senpai, but I''ve realized something important."


    Doing the same thing, Akeno added, "I''ve also realized something too which made me not think about my current situation too much."


    "Mind sharing it?" asked Kisuke curiously.


    Akeno and Irina first looked at each other''s eyes and figured out that they both came up with simr answers and smiled at each other. At this point, instead of rivals, they considered themselvesrades.


    "Well, it''s nothing really amazing or enlightening," Irina continued, "We just thought that we are what we are, as long as we don''t lose ourselves. Despite what we have right now, it''s still up to us to decide what future we want to take�� At least, something like that."


    Akeno just smiled and nodded while cleaning herself.


    Kisuke first looked at both of them before smiling, "I know it''s deeper than that, but I can see that you''ve already made your decision with a proper resolution, so I won''t say anything else to dissuade you two. I also wanted to see where these new powers of yours would take you, so I look forward to whatever you''ve decided to do."


    However, Akeno suddenly chuckled, "Ufufufu. You can be sure that we''ll do our best to achieve the future that we want, though I do hope that you don''te to regret your words just now."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows and asked, "Hmm? What do you mean?"


    However, Irina just casually waved her hand and said, "It''s nothing. You''ll figure it outter."


    "Hmmm�� Well, whatever," Kisuke then stood up and started leaving, "I''ll be going first to finish up some things and dispose of those vessels. I''ll be back in an hour and bring you to the surface."


    "Got it~"


    Although curious about what they''re nning, Kisuke needed some things to be done first, so he left. He had some inkling that they would want toe with him, but that could easily be solved by telling them that they''d just die if they came along as he or the iplete Ophis couldn''t protect them.


    Exactly an hourter, Kisuke was able to finish everything he needed and only needed to create a portal that will open up the Dimensional Gap to return to the other side.


    Once he got out, Kisuke saw Akeno and Irina happily talking with each other about some random things, "Let''s go. I promised to meet your leaders before I leave."


    The two of them nodded and approached him as he created the magic circle. Within the duration of his stay in this ''abandoned'' hideout of his, Kisuke never felt Nyx''s presence, ''So she''s treating this ce as ast resort�� Or maybe she''s just afraid to meet me and waiting for me to go.''


    Arriving at Issei''s ce once again, while some were absent from the previous meeting, some new faces are also present. From Heaven''s side, Michael is still present, but instead of Gabriel and Dulio, two familiar faces for Kisuke reced them, Touji Shidou, Irina''s father, and Hina Shidou, Irina''s mother.


    Kisuke was a bit surprised by their presence, "Uncle Touji�� Aunt Hina�� It''s been a while~!"


    "Dad! Mom! What are you doing here!?" Irina ran towards them and gave them a hug.


    "You already know why!" Touji answered with a slightly reprimanding voice while his wife only chuckled a little.


    Touji then looked towards Kisuke and greeted him, "It''s really been a while, Kisuke-kun�� You''ve done so many�� uhmm�� great things that I really doubt that you''re still that perverted kid from back then. Thank you for taking care of our little Irina here."


    Kisuke shook his head and smiled wryly, "You must have already heard from others what they went through. It''s very far from taking care of her."


    But Irina ignored his answer and said, "He took care of us! Because of him, I feel a lot more confident now! As if something has opened up inside! And he''s still the perverted kid from before! It''s just that he''s a lot better at hiding it now!"


    Hina patted the head of her daughter with a gentle smile and replied, "Is that so? If it''s like this, we won''t say anything anymore," Hina then turned to Kisuke and continued, "It''s been a while Kisuke-kun. You''re all grown up."


    "You''re still as beautiful and gentle as ever, Aunt Hina~."


    "My~ Thank you~. Though I really want to talk to Sakura again. How is she, by the way? I hope she''s doing fine."


    "It''s a shame that she can''t go around right now because of me, but she''s fine. She''s currently with her sister and having a good time."


    While the others in the room reacted slightly, Hina''s eyes widened, "Oh my, so she has a sister. I hope I can meet her in the future."


    Kisuke nodded at her, "You sure will."


    Akeno, on the other hand, hugged her father tightly and as if saying their goodbyes. At this point, his growing suspicion of them wanting toe with him was almost confirmed, but he didn''t say anything as he didn''t really want to deal with the short-stacked girl on his side, all smug and ready to go on a vacation with arge suitcase behind her, ''Dang it�� I understand why she wanted toe�� But how could I reject her?''


    "So, when will we go?" Serafall suddenly called out to him, forcing Kisuke to acknowledge her presence.


    "What ''we''? It''s only me who''s going."


    "Of course I''ming too! You should''ve already guessed this!"


    Kisuke sighed, "Why do you want toe with me?"


    "Vaca-�� Ehem�� I want to see Sona-chan!"


    ''T-this woman�� She''s taking advantage of the fact that she''s temporarily suspended from her position and wanted to get away for real,'' Kisuke instantly saw through her intentions that she is not only wanting to see her precious little sister.


    Kisuke looked towards Sirzechs and Azazel but both of them only shook their heads with wry smiles, signifying that they already gave up.


    Kisuke sighed yet again, and was about to reject her idea but Sirzechs suddenly spoke out, "Before you finish your conversation, mind listening to our request first?"


    Seeing what''s happening around, he can already tell what they wanted, but he still asked, "What is it, Sirzechs-sama?"


    "We''d like you to take Akeno and Irina along your journey�� Well, maybe Serafall too."


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke replied, "No."

 Volume 10 586 - The Ride

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 586 - The Ride</h4>


    Hearing his immediate response, Azazel replied, "Don''t get it wrong. Although there are indeed advantages for us if they were toe with you, it''s their idea in the first ce. They wanted toe with you."


    Kisuke sighed and looked at the two of them who are making worried faces, "Why would you want toe?"


    Serafall wanted to exin, but Kisuke directly blocked her mouth with his hand, "I''ll get to youter."


    Serafall furrowed her brows and puffed her cheeks but she still stayed silent.


    Azazel, Michael, and Sirzechs are surprised at how much he had already tamed Serafall, but after thinking about it, this was only a matter of time.


    Although worried, Akeno and Irina already resolved themselves. Stepping forward, Irina answered, "This is the future we wanted to take."


    Kisuke was about to say something but Akeno interrupted him, "If you''re thinking that our future doesn''t belong to you, then you''re correct. Our future doesn''t belong to you, nor to anyone else. It''s ours and only ours. We''ll decide what we want to do with it, and for now, we want toe with you."


    Both of them bowed down in front of him and simultaneously said, "This is the path we wanted to take. Please take us with you!"


    Kisuke then proceeded to scratch his head and sighed yet again, "I''m sorry to rain on your parade and snuff out those mes, but I still can''t take you with me. Including you, Serafall-sama."


    "What!? Why!?" shouted Serafall while Akeno and Irina made bitter faces.


    "I''m sorry to break it to you, but whatever reason you may have, I can''t bring any of you even if I want to. Well, maybe I can bring Serafall-sama, but it''s definitely impossible for both of you."


    Not moving from her position, Akeno asked, "Please tell us the real reason."


    "Simple. If you were toe with me, you''ll just simply die on your way there."


    "What do you mean?" asked Serafall.


    "The distance towards my destination is far, but that isn''t the problem. The moment you step into a certain territory where I have to go through no matter what to reach my destination, you''ll be torn to pieces in an instant. If I were topare this process, it''s much worse than a Dragon receiving Samael''s blood. Heck, even in my strongest form, I still almost died on my way back here. This is the main reason why the others couldn''te with me. Serafall-sama will surely die as she is now, but since she''s strong enough, I still have some leeway to protect her."


    Everyone''s eyes widened at his words and tried to figure out what sort of ce he ended up in if just traveling there means certain death. Only the leaders, however, have an idea or guess on what sort of ce that is, ''This only makes his ims of otherworldly beings more terrifying��'' thought Azazel.


    "As such, I can''t take both of you."


    Akeno and Irina get up with defeated expressions. They never thought that the problem would be as fundamental as not being able to take them because it''s impossible in the first ce. They thought that if they could convince Kisuke enough, he''d agree to it, leveraging the fact that they are additional help or their bodies are still a point of interest to Kisuke from a research perspective.


    Serafall was feeling a little bad for both of them because she already knew what they really wanted toe with him, but she''s also a little happy but she''ll be able toe, "So I cane?"


    "You''re not gonna take a no for an answer, right? It''s also because I knew how much you wanted to see Sona, so I already prepared some things in anticipation for this the moment I heard you were suspended."


    "So you knew! Why didn''t you say anything!?"


    "��I didn''t want to think about it and I was hoping that I was wrong��"


    Serafall was about to barrage him withints but Kisuke interrupted her before she could even start, "I''ll hear itter, but for now, I don''t have much time, so we have to go."


    Kisuke then faced Akeno and Irina for onest time and said, "I''m sorry I won''t be able to grant your wishes, but it''s not like this is ourst time meeting each other, right? See you next time."


    Both of them wanted to say something, but nothing came into their mind. They have a feeling that this will be thest chance they''ll be getting and didn''t want to let it go, however, they couldn''t think or find any path towards their goal.


    Kisuke''s eyes widened, but that''s also the same for the rest of the people in the room.


    "Diehauser? What are you doing here?" Sirzechs asked with obvious confusion. However, as he panned his head towards other people, a big shock came to him, "Y-you''re Cleria!? Cleria Belial!? You''re still alive!?"


    "Cleria Belial? You mean the former manager of this town?" asked Azazel.


    "But isn''t she��" whispered Rias.


    "M-Masaomi?" muttered Touji with an unbelieving face, "M-Masaomi�� Is that you?" Hina, on the other hand, could only cover her mouth in surprise.


    "Dad? Do you know him?" asked Irina.


    But while everyone else was making a racket, Kisuke and his family ignored them, "What are you doing here?" asked Kisuke. He didn''t reprimand their actions as there might be a very good reason behind this.


    "Ophis-chan suddenly said that you''re leaving withouting back to say goodbye. So when she dragged ire with her, we asked her to take us with her, as we didn''t want to separate from ire with an abrupt goodbye," answered Sakura.


    Kisuke became confused even more and looked towards Ophis who is in simr hiking attire as ire, raring to go, "Ophis-chan, why did you say I''m already leaving?"


    But instead of answering his question, Ophis pointed towards Akeno and Irina and demanded, "They areing with us."


    Life immediately returned to Akeno and Irina''s eyes as they watched this development.


    "No, no, no, Ophis-chan. We can''t take them. Even as you are now, you could only protect yourself. With me protecting both ire and Sera-tan, we don''t have any room for them."


    Ophis then looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes and said, "He said he''ll help."


    "He?" Kisuke thought for a moment and a certain being came to mind and creased his brows, "But why?"


    However, Ophis didn''t say anything else and just waited for Kisuke.


    ''She didn''t receive any sort of exnation, huh��'' Kisuke contemted for a minute, ignoring the voices in the background. He then came to a decision, ''If he wants them toe, I should just go with that since he''s helping out�� Nevertheless, I think I can consider him as an ally.''


    pping his hand twice, Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention, "Alright, everyone! Please hear me out!" As he sessfully pulled their attention, Kisuke looked towards Akeno and Irina, "Himejima-san, Irina, pack your things and say your goodbyes, we''ll leave soon."


    "A-are you sure?" asked Irina with glittering eyes.


    "A hundred percent, so hurry up. We don''t have much time."


    Meanwhile, Azazel approached Kisuke and asked, "What made you change your mind? Didn''t you say it''s only suicide for them to go? Did you find a way to safely transport them?"


    Kisuke smiled wryly and replied, "Well, we got a nice shuttle service and it''s the driver''s request to bring them along. I don''t know what''s going through his mind though."


    "A shuttle service? The driver who?" asked Azazel in confusion.


    Kisuke smiled innocently and pointed upwards, "Ah, I was referring to him."


    In an instant, the sky darkened and heavy Draconic Aura descended and shocked everyone to silence.


    Everyone looked out through the windows of the room and soon after, arge rift opened through the skies of Kuoh Town which resulted in the Devils scrambling and putting up a barrier that would conceal this phenomenon from normal people.


    With a big roar, a gigantic red dragon emerged from the rift and Kisuke shouted towards Akeno and Irina, "Our ride is here! Are you ready?"

 Volume 10 587 - A Mysterious Man

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 587 - A Mysterious Man</h4>


    The moment Great Red appeared through the rift, the whole town was veiled in silence. The first ones to react, however, are those already used to Kisuke''s antics and they considered this as one of his doings.


    Irina and Akeno immediately said their final goodbyes with her parents,rades, and superiors, promising to bring back some souvenirs once they''ve returned.


    They didn''t have a choice but to immediately move their attention to them and leave everything else for now. As Akeno and Irina reached Kisuke''s side, Touji spoke, "Kisuke-kun, I''m leaving my daughter to you. If she''s being too much of a handful, it''s fine to mete out some punishment."


    "Dad!" shouted Irina angrily.


    "Fufufu~, Kisuke-kun, I want a healthy boy for the first," Hina added.


    "Mom!?" Irina blushed at the sudden unexpected statement.


    While Kisuke nodded at Touji, he directly ignored Hina.


    "I know we haven''t talked properly, but please take care of my daughter too," Barakiel solemnly uttered. Of course, he didn''t really trust Kisuke, but Akeno already shared her ns with him long before. Even when he tried to convince her against her decision, he couldn''t break her resolve.


    "Please don''t worry about it. Since I''ve agreed to let theme with me, I''ll do my part. But that also means that they''ll have to do their part," replied Kisuke. Thetter part of his words is actually meant for Akeno and Irina.


    "That would be enough. Thank you."


    And while they were exchanging their farewells, ire was also doing so with her parents and rtives, "Mommy! Are we going to ride that?" asked ire as she pointed towards Great Red.


    "Yes, honey. You''ll ride on Mr. Red, so make sure to thank him after you get off, alright?" Cleria replied while stroking her face affectionately.


    "Yes~~~!"


    "ire, baby. Always listen to Kisuke-niichan, alright. Don''t go around without them and don''t follow any strangers," Masaomi added.


    "Got it, Daddy~~~! You already said that ten times!" replied ire energetically. Both Cleria and Masaomi exined to her that she''ll be going with Kisuke to study with him and y with friends. Since she''s still a child, she immediately agreed not knowing that she won''t be able to meet her parents for long periods of time. However, Kisuke already nned something to mitigate her loneliness once reality sank in for her. Though he hoped he could finish it before ire misses her parents.


    "Alright, everyone, let''s go. Our driver won''t wait for too long!" Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention and prepared the magic circle that would teleport them on top of Great Red.


    But before they disappeared, Azazel suddenly asked Kisuke, "Wait! Since Great Red is giving out a hand, does that mean we''re in the worst possible situation?"


    Kisuke tipped his hat lower and answered with a somber voice before they disappeared, "I don''t know�� But all we can agree to is that, as the guardian of the Dimensional Gap, he can see something that we can''t."


    "Tch," Azazel clicked his tongue loudly, "Isn''t that just a step down from the ''worst''?" He and the rest then watched Great Red rip another rift through space and leave.


    After everything went to normal, Azazel feigned a cough, "Although he left, he didn''t do so without kicking up a fuss. What a guy. So�� Shall we extend this unexpected meeting with unexpected guests from the afterlife?"


    Diehauser, Cleria, Masaomi, and Sakura already expected this when they decided toe with Ophis and ire, so they''d already prepared their cards to negotiate. Of course, they won''t reveal anything that would be disadvantageous to them.


    .


    .


    .


    On top of Great Red, Kisuke was sitting, sighing, andmenting, "Haahh�� ns are made to be broken��"


    "Now, now, don''t mind it, Ki-tan!" Serafallforted him while patting his back.


    Right now, Great Red''s aura was covering everyone, not letting any dangerous factorse in. A few secondster, Ophis suddenly called out to Kisuke, "He wants directions."


    "Ah, sorry about that," Kisuke stood up and went up to Great Red''s neck, "Great Red-san, thank you for your assistance, but why did you help us?"


    Only a deep growl from Great Red came and Kisuke looked towards Ophis, however, Ophis didn''t say anything, meaning he didn''t say anything, ''So he doesn''t want to reveal it, huh�� Is it safe to assume that it''s really the worst-case scenario?''


    Sighing, Kisuke continued, "I''ll be sending the coordinates to you through magic, is that fine?"


    With a soft roar, Great Red answered and Kisuke didn''t need Ophis to trante for him. Putting his hand on the back of his neck, he sent the data and coordinates of the anchor he created and Great Red was able to feel the unique magic signature it was emitting.


    With a p of his wings, Great Red opened another rift through the Dimensional Gap, revealing the darkness beyond it.


    "W-what is that!?" asked Serafall in surprise as she felt the extreme danger that is emanating through that space.


    Simrly, Akeno, Irin, and ire were also having a simr reaction of distress.


    While Ophis tried tofort ire with her limited knowledge, Kisuke exined, "We have to go through that to reach our destination. It''s the reason why I can''t just bring anyone with me."


    "S-so it''s really another world?" guessed Serafall.


    "Well, you just have to see it for yourself."


    As they went through the rift, Great Red''s aura that was protecting instantly thinned out, however, it also became much stronger. Kisuke saw that there''s no problem with Great Red and sighed in relief. Although he already expected that this is the case, he''s still a bit worried.


    He then saw Serafall testing out her magic towards the dark void, but as soon as her ice left Great Red''s space, it was instantly obliterated.


    "J-just what''s up with this space?" she asked with a twitching mouth.


    "It''s the boundary between universes. Simr to the Dimensional Gap, I presume this space serves as a buffer zone between universes that have different rules so that they can''t affect each other."


    But just as Kisuke finished exining, he felt something amiss and immediately scanned the surroundings, ''��What are those?''


    From the darkness of the void, emerged beings that don''t have any definite shape. What surprised Kisuke more is the fact that they don''t have souls, though the strange materials thatposed them seem to contain a bit of soul particle that is normal in any material. However, he can be sure that those lurking in the dark were alive.


    Nevertheless, before he could observe them more, Great Red suddenly roared loudly and expelled his aura, pushing the strange beings away, disappearing from Kisuke''s limited detection range.


    "What now!?" Serafall got ready in the event that something bad happens.


    Kisuke shook his head, "I don''t know�� This is the first time I''ve encountered those things."


    Although only a few minutes had passed, Kisuke can tell that they were moving very fast and about to reach their destination. But just as Great Red about to split the space yet again, he suddenly stopped advancing, "Hmm? What''s wrong?"


    It was also then that Ophis stood up and stayed beside Kisuke while looking in a certain direction.


    As he turned his head towards that direction, without his notice, A tall man with long ck hair, wearing a ck tuxedo stood in front of them. Kisuke immediately shuddered as heid his eyes on him.

 Volume 10 588 - The Chaotic Return

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 588 - The Chaotic Return</h4>


    The man in a tuxedo sighed, and with a profound voice, he spoke without his mouth moving, "Haaah�� I never expected you to bring such a force in your return."


    Kisuke immediately figured that the mysterious man was talking to him and replied, "Greetings, sir. It seems that you already know me, but I''ll still introduce myself. I''m Kisuke Urahara, a pleasure to meet you. If it''s fine with you, do you mind if I ask who you are?"


    "Name��, huh�� I technically don''t have one, but those around me call me Chaos. You may address me as such."


    Seeing the situation, Serafall approached the girls and signaled them not to move nor speak.


    "But such a thing isn''t important. Why are two transcendent beings entering my territory? I already signed a contract with that ''Tiger'', but this is beyond the stiptions."


    ''Contract? Tiger?'' Several things went through Kisuke''s head. Although he had a guess for who he is referring to as ''Tiger'', Kisuke doesn''t have a single clue regarding the ''contract''.


    But before he could answer, Great Red suddenly growled.


    "Hmm? You''re just giving them a ride? Then what about that ck Dragon?"


    Great Red answered with another growl, almost snorting.


    "Hmm�� Now that I took a closer look, she isn''t reallyplete as you said."


    Great Red then didn''t say anything else, nor Ophis. Kisuke read the mood and also didn''t speak and just waited for the strange man to contemte.


    A few minutester, he spoke again, "Fine. The ck one can stay, but you can''t."


    Great Red snorted at him but the man didn''t seem to mind it.


    He then looked towards Kisuke and smiled slightly before disappearing, leaving some words, "I hope you canplete the contract soon."


    Of course, Kisuke didn''t like that, but he didn''t show any reaction. He knew that the strange man called Chaos is at least on Great Red''s level and he couldn''t have done anything against him if he decided to attack while Great Red was protecting them from the void.


    ''So those are the identities of the eyes that I can asionally feel�� It doesn''t really feel good being watched, but I can''t do anything right now. Though I''m thankful that he revealed himself and some information surrounding him. Looks like bringing Great Red along is a good fortune for me.''


    A secondter, Great Red snorted again before splitting the space, revealing a lush blue and green world, and a city.


    Seeing this, Kisuke''s eyes'' widened and hurriedly turned to the girls who''re appreciating the beauty of the scenery. He pulled out enough ck cloaks that would cover everyone and said, "Hurry up and put this on! No one should be able to see our appearances!"


    There are a lot of things that Kisuke didn''t expect today and that didn''t bode well with him. Including the fact that they suddenly appeared on top of Orario where Gods have special eyes. He didn''t know if it''s an intentional move of Great Red or the beacon was already too vague for an urate target.


    .


    .


    .


    It had been almost two weeks since Kisuke returned to the other side and Yoruichi and Sona were shopping for ingredients, "Haah, just when will he return?" asked Sona with a worried expression.


    Yoruichi smiled at her and replied, "He has to prepare a lot of things on the other side, so it must be taking all his time. Don''t worry about him too much. He can take care of himself better than anyone else."


    "That doesn''t sound good, though? It would really be nice if he could rely on us more."


    "Well, believe it or not, in terms of that, he''s a lot better than before. Most of the time, he''d take on everything from the shadows. If I didn''t forcefully extend my hand, he wouldn''t even remember that I could help." Yoruichi recalled the time when Kisuke and Tessai fell into Aizen''s schemes and were almost executed if she didn''t help them escape.


    Sona knew that there''s a deep secret behind Yoruichi and Kisuke''s identities and their past couldn''t be just being a normal human and cat. A past that even Sakura doesn''t know. However, if they don''t really want to tell them anything, it''s fine since they aren''t here to discover their past nor secrets. Sona, with her own eyes, already judged Kisuke and Yoruichi and didn''t regret her situation right now.


    It had only been three days since Sona, Aika and Koneko woke up and Yoruichi forbade them from diving into the Dungeon and going out without her, Kuroka and Medusa at their side. Of course, they already made a full recovery thanks to the things Kisuke left them, however, health wasn''t the reason they needed to be guarded.


    After Kisuke left them and just as they got out of the vicinity of the ruins where Antares was defeated, they came across the Freya Familia with Freya herself leading it.


    Although she came with an overwhelming force that was several times stronger than the whole Hermes Familia, she only said that she came to take a look since she became curious. Freya also didn''t use any force to ask questions and left it alone if Hermes, Hestia, and Artemis didn''t want to answer.


    All in all, it only seemed that she came to meet their group in vain. Freya tried to observe Yoruichi during the entire duration and tried asking for Kisuke''s whereabouts, but thankfully, they didn''t stay with the group for too long and left for the ruins.


    They only returned a day after they sessfully returned to Orario and were immediately reprimanded by the Guild for leaving during an emergency crisis. However, Freya wouldn''t really mind the fine and loss of reputation due to this.


    Almost two weeks after the explosion of Divine Power and monsters trying to attack the surface, everyone is still asked by the Guild not to leave in case that something else happens. The atmosphere within Orario hadrgely abated and normal everyday lives had returned to everyone. Until a certain shopkeeper brought another trouble to the City of Adventurers and almost scared everyone in it to death.


    On a bright, sunny, and cheerful day, the sky suddenly darkened as darkness suddenly opened up not far from Orario, and a gigantic red Dragon emerged.


    It was unknown who first did it, but as soon as the fearsome monster appeared, a shout of dread apanied it and from then on, it was a chorus of fear, despair, and hopelessness.


    Some immediately dropped down to the ground and started crying, others started running towards their respective Familias, and while a few started rallying Adventurers and tried to get the advice of the Gods. However, few of them noticed that even the Gods were panicking in the face of this ''monster'' that came from the sky instead of the Dungeon.


    Meanwhile, Yoruichi and Sona were both making a nk expression as they looked up to the sky, "Uhmm�� Yoruichi�� For some reason, that Dragon is incredibly familiar to me," muttered Sona.


    With a dryugh, Yoruichi replied, "Ahaha�� What a coincidence�� Me too," She then started running towards their ce and said, "For now, let''s return to everyone. That idiot�� He left quietly but couldn''t he return the same way? Though, I must admit. That looks fun."


    While following her, Sona answered, "This is the part where you''re supposed to be reprimanding him!"

 Volume 10 589 - ‘Monster’

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 589 - ��Monster��</h4>


    Outside of the Twilight Mansion, Loki was looking towards the gigantic red Dragon with a rare serious expression when everyone from her Familia, fully geared, approached from behind, "Loki, we''re ready," Finn dered.


    However, Loki just took a peek at them and said, "Don''t bother," before looking up again.


    Finn furrowed his brows and asked, "What do you mean? Are you saying that thing isn''t a threat?"


    But before Loki answered Finn, she first addressed Ais whose emanating a dangerous aura, "Curb your rage, Ais. That''s not the ck Dragon. If anything else, that being is not a monster. It''s very far from one."


    Although Ais couldn''t do what Loki asked her, like everyone else, her eyes became wide open when she heard Loki''s unbelievable words, "W-what? What are you saying, Loki? That''s obviously a monster!"


    At that moment, Ouranos'' voice suddenly ran out for everyone in the Orario to hear, "The seal on your Arcanum shall be temporarily lifted."


    That announcement sent shockwaves throughout the inhabitants of Orario and as Loki released his Divine Power, she said, "That''s not a monster. If I were to be more specific, that Dragon is more of a God."


    They couldn''t understand what Loki was saying. Even more so when the vicinity was drowned by Divine Power by numerous Gods releasing their Arcanum and suffocating the mortals.


    It was then that all those who were in front like Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and Ais noticed that Loki had some streak of sweat running through her forehead which they never witnessed before. Finn, Riveria, and Gareth figured that the situation was very bad.


    As silence engulfed the whole of Orario because of the pressuring Divine Power from all of the Gods residing there, the red Dragon just kept on flying, ignoring everything below and just basking in the new sun.


    ''What the heck?'' thought Loki and a few other deities.


    A few secondster, however, a distant, but loud roar of a Dragon was heard. As some of the few people who are familiar with it, Loki and Ais instantly recognized that roar, "T-the ck Dragon!?"


    Despite the heavy pressure she''s currently feeling, Ais''s magic started acting up as wind with an ominous aura started rotating around her. Seeing this, Loki immediately shouted, "Ais! Stop it! And that idiot monster! Why is it trying to provoke a lion when it''s just a rabbit!?"


    The red Dragon, meanwhile, looked towards the direction where the roar came from, and without a warning, it opened its mouth and started gathering crimson energy in it.


    Seeing this, every God started panicking and started deploying their Arcanum, wanting to attack the red Dragon, "Stop it, you retards!" Loki hurriedly shouted using her Divine Power, "That Dragon isn''t hostile to us! Don''t provoke it!"


    With a forced smile, Finn muttered, "W-we truly don''t stand a chance."


    The red Dragon kept on going while the Gods watched in trepidation until it stopped and took back the power it was gathering.


    In Great Red''s eyes, he could see the ''small'' ck Dragon cowering inside its cave after being pointed by his annihting beam. ''Chuckling'', Great Red took back his attack and flew upwards before it opened another rift, leaving the world.


    On the other hand, the Gods were dumbfounded. Even Loki couldn''t even react properly at what she just witnessed, "I-it just wanted to scare the ck Dragon?"


    As her Divine Power abated and the red Dragon left, Loki suddenly cursed to the already clear sky for everyone to hear, "Fuck you! Don''t do it here! You really scared the heck out of me!"


    She then started stomping off to the exit of the mansion in a bad mood.


    "Wait, Loki! Where are you going!?" asked Riveria.


    Waving her hand without looking back, Loki answered, "Denatus! And you don''t have to worry about that red Dragon. I doubt it''lle back so just clean up the ce."


    While still having multiple questions in their mind, they have no choice but to follow her orders.


    In an unprecedented event since the establishment of Orario and the Denatus, every single Deity, including Ouranos, attended the meeting to talk about the red Dragon that transcended their understanding. While some are worried about their future, some are also feeling excited at its existence that might be on the same level as their ''Father''.


    Among the attendees were Hestia and Artemis who were also nervous due to the current state of events, however, for a very different reason, ''Yoruichi-kun said that Dragon is Kisuke''s ride back home? How was that possible!? I can tell that Dragon is around Chaos'' level!''


    While Hestia and Artemis were worrying for their future and fearing that they might be discovered, the rest of the girls went towards the spot where they briefly felt Kisuke''s aura.


    A few kilometers away from Orario, atop a secluded mountain, six cloaked figures came into Yoruichi and co''s view, "Kisuke?"


    The tallest figure removed his hood and smiled at Yoruichi and the rest, "I''m back~!"


    With a sh step, Yoruichi instantly removed the distance between them and nted a kiss on his lips, "Wee back~!"


    And while they were having their moment, one of the cloaked figures started running towards the girls, "So-tan~!!!"


    "Guh!!!" Serafall tackled Sona and the two of them rolled back as the former tightly held thetter, "O-onee-sama!? What are you doing here!?"


    However, Serafall ignored her words and kept rubbing her face on Sona''s, "So-tan~! I missed you!!! Is that broke shopkeeper taking proper care of you? You became thinner! Are you eating properly!?"


    Yoruichi looked at them, back to Kisuke, then to the other hooded figures, and turned back to Kisuke, whose making a wry smile and shrugging his shoulders, "For now, let''s go back," Yoruichi proposed before the group teleported towards the underground hideout.


    Since the instruction to them was to keep the cloak on outside, Ophis immediately removed hers and went straight to the couch, "I havee!" she dered.


    "Wee~, Ophis-chan. Hope you enjoy your stay," replied Yoruichi.


    Nodding, Ophis answered back, "I shall."


    She then turned her attention to the rest of the neers who''d already removed their cloaks, "Oh, isn''t this ire-chan? You came too?"


    ire ran towards Yoruichi and gave her a big hug, "Yoruichi-neechan! I came too!"


    And while they were giggling with each other, Aika and Koneko approached Akeno and Irina, entirely ignoring Sona''s cry for help.


    "Akeno-senpai!" Koneko excitedly ran towards her.


    "Koneko-chan! I''m relieved to see you doing alright!" Akeno grabbed her and checked her wellbeing.


    "Kisuke-senpai and the others are taking good care of me!"

 Volume 10 590 - Signing Up

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 590 - Signing Up</h4>


    After their respective reunions, everyone sat down while Medusa prepared all the snacks and tea, "Mind exining everything now, Kisuke?" Yoruichi started.


    After clearing his throat, he told everyone about his adventures on Earth and gave them the reason why he brought other people with him. Of course, he didn''t tell them any sensitive information for now as it won''t be any use to them. Although he nned to tell Yoruichi everything he knewter.


    "I see," Yoruichi nodded in understanding and looked towards Akeno and Irina with a grin, "So they wanted toe, huh?"


    While Irina whistled poorly and looked around in an attempt to ignore her piercing stare, Akeno just quietly sipped on her tea before saying, "I already said it. After all those things he had done, I won''t let go of him easily."


    Chuckling, Yoruichi acknowledged her words, "Got it. It''s for ''revenge'', is it? You''re free to mess with this guy if you can."


    "I certainly will~," getting some of her confidence and ''anger'' back after remembering what she experienced in Kisuke''s hands, Akeno replied.


    Yoruichi then turned her attention back to the ''prime chaos-bringer'', "Are you sure you didn''t intend for any of that to happen? Thanks to Great Red''s appearance, even the Gods are panicking. Hestia almost cried when I told her it''s your doing, you know."


    "I promise you it is not. Though I would have really loved to see her expression," Kisuke shook his head, "By the way, what''s the situation after I left? Surely, a God or two went after you, after that incident."


    Yoruichi sighed after hearing that and ced her hand over her forehead, "Haaahh�� It''s troublesome! After you left, Freya herself intercepted our return! Though she wasn''t able to get anything out of it because Hermes is keeping his word, I can always see her scouts in the corner of my eyes."


    "As a safety measure, I asked Sona, Aika, and Koneko not to go on their own outside because they''re the ones gathering people''s attention and I figured Freya would want to start with them. There are other annoying Familias trying to recruit us, but it''s not that hard to fend them off," And as if remembering something, Yoruichi added, "Ah, though there is one of them who is particrly tiresome."


    "Ah, you mean the Apollo Familia?" Aika asked.


    "Yeah. That one. While they haven''t done anything forcefully, I have a feeling they''ll do something sooner orter. But we don''t really have to mind them as Kuroka or Medusa by themselves can wipe out their whole Familia."


    Kisuke, however, just grinned, "Well, if they do try something, it''s fine to bring them to a stage and show a bit of force. That should also stop some unsavory eyes from keeping a watch and bring Hestia-sama''s name some glory."


    "Hmmm�� Let''s talk about that when it actually happens. For now," "Uhmm, excuse me." Irina interrupted Yoruichi, "But what are these Familias you''re talking about?"


    Aika and Koneko then proceeded to exin the concept of Familia, Gods, and the Dungeon to Akeno and Irina. Meanwhile, since the unreasonably clingy Devil King won''t listen to anyone but Sona, she''s forced to say the same thing to her older sister.


    Once they got the basic rundown of the ''rules'' of this world, Serafall immediately stopped bothering Sona and entered her so-called business-mode, "So people in this ce get stronger by signing a contract with a God and being granted this Falna? Although on a muchrger scale, isn''t this like the Evil Piece System?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Correct. But instead of a High-ss Devil, the one powering the development and giving their strength is a God. By gathering ''Excelia'', the Adventurers can exchange this to gain more power or knowledge."


    "However, unlike Devils who can learn what they want, develop themselves to the future they want or create magic or technique based on their understanding, the strength that is granted to the Adventurers is based on their qualities and actions. Aside from that, it was automatically obtained so the Adventurers could only use what''s given to them and entirely give up on creating their own techniques and spells."


    Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders, "Of course, although these systems look pretty simr, the underlying foundation and mechanics are very different. While the Evil Piece System primarily works on physiques, Falna mainly works on the souls. And not just that. Even with its apparent limitations, Falna is a much more mature andplicated system. After all, even with my expertise, I can''t tell the full extent of its abilities."


    Serafall nodded. Thanks to Kisuke''s simple exnation, Serafall was able to easily understand it, "So I assume that you lot already have this Falna, right?"


    "Ho? You can tell?"


    "Of course. The moment we reached this world, I immediately checked a few things. One of which is the movement of Magic Power. Compared to us, who came here for the first time, your Magic Power is properly attuned to the surrounding while ours became chaotic."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened, ''She can tell that much? This proves that her magic sensitivity is way beyond mine. After all, I can''t tell what exactly is amiss when we first came here. She''s a Devil King, alright,'' He then smiled at her, "Correct. To be epted by the world, we have toe under its prominent system or else it''ll treat us as intruders and we don''t want to know what''s going to happen if we reached that point."


    "I see�� So where do I sign up?"


    Yoruichi sighed, "Our patron God is currently busy because of your unconventional and controversial ride. But she should be able to return before dinner. We''ll introduce you girls to herter."


    Kisuke then took out two containers of candies and ced them on the table, "But before anything else, take one of each of these."


    Serafall grabbed the yellow candy and examined it, "What''s this?"


    "That one will adjust your microbiome so that you won''t infect residents of this world and vise versa. The green one, meanwhile, will directly inscribenguage knowledge to your minds. With these two, you''ll be ready to interact with others. By the way, Ophis-chan, you just have to take the green one, though I don''t know if it''ll work properly on you, so you have to make adjustments yourself."


    Ophis nodded and directly took thenguage candy and savored its taste in her mouth while analyzing the information hidden in it and taking it for herself.


    "Heh? So it''s not as simple as sudden world travel, huh?"mented Serafall and directly took two of them at the same time.


    Akeno, Irina and ire also followed suit and the group continued talking about the things that had happened in both worlds until Hestia and Artemis returned from the Denatus.

 Volume 10 591 - Reunion

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 591 - Reunion</h4>


    Hestia and Artemis came back with very tired expressions. Although all the Deities within Orario gathered for the Denatus, nothing really came out of it as it was just chaotic spection as to what the red Dragon''s identity is. As for actions that they could take, none of that was discussed.


    If not for Ouranos speaking out and announcing that the red Dragon was just passing by and was not a threat, the Denatus wouldn''t have ended. The only concrete action that was decided is to keep the real strength of the ''monster'' from the children of the Lower World so it won''t give them anything to fear about.


    Of course, there are already some Gods who divulged a few things to their children during the ''visitation'', but it was only the extreme minority and could still be managed.


    "Haaah�� Really, what the heck was up with that Dragon?" asked Hestia after a long sigh.


    "I don''t know�� I don''t even understand why Yoruichi would call that Kisuke''s ride," replied Artemis with creased brows.


    And as they went into the Mansion within the hideout, a face they both missed weed them along with some neers, "K-Kisuke-kun?" muttered Hestia with a nk face.


    "Yo, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama~ I''m back! Have you been well?"


    Quietly shaking for a few seconds, Hestia suddenly jumped on Kisuke, "Kisuke-kun!!! Where have you been!? Why did you leave for so long!?"


    While rubbing her face on Kisuke''s clothes, Hestia kept asking questions and not giving thetter any chance to reply. Soon it became a lecture and reprimand about how he should properly say his goodbyes if he were to leave for long periods of time.


    Meanwhile, the three neers were taken aback, not by Hestia''s actions but by her extreme stature, "This should be illegal, right?" asked Serafall.


    "This has to be illegal," added Irina.


    "That''s obviously illegal,"mented Akeno.


    Hearing their words, Hestia finally turned her attention to them, "Who are they?"


    "They are my friends from my hometown and that one is my cousin," Kisuke introduced them.


    Akeno and Irina felt a bit disappointed with his introduction but didn''t dwell on it too much. Yoruichi already told them what they could tell and what they shouldn''t. So with that in mind, both of them stood up and introduced themselves, "Nice to meet you, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama. I''m Akeno Himejima, Kisuke''s friend."


    "I''m Irina Toujou! Kisuke-kun''s childhood friend~! A pleasure~!"


    Hestia separated from Kisuke and modeled herself as an imposing figure which she spectacrly failed but no one pointed out, "It''s also nice to meet you too, Akeno-kun, Irina-kun."


    Raising her hand, Serafall took her turn, "And I''m Serafall~! Sona-chan''s older sister!"


    "Oh? So you''re the older sister that Sona-kun always talks about?" Sona wanted to stop Hestia but it was already toote.


    With shining eyes, Serafall turned to Sona and grabbed her again, "So you did miss me~!"


    Artemis and Hestia were both surprised at the very energetic older sister which is very different from what they''d heard. More than an older sister, Serafall looked like the little sister.


    "Ignore them for now. They''ll stop sooner orter,"


    "W-wait! Kisuke!? You''re abandoning me!? Nee-sama! This is embarrassing! Other people are watching!"


    "I don''t care! I haven''t filled up my Sonanium yet! Not after hearing that you''d been talking about me!"


    "Nee-sama! Not now!!!"


    "Ehem," feigning a cough, Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention, "Moving on, this little one here is ire, my precious cousin."


    Gathering her little courage, ire stood in front of Hestia, "N-nice to meet you, I''m ire!"


    Hestia immediately understood some of this kid''s difficulties so she gently smiled and patted her head, "Nice to meet you too, ire-kun. You can call me Hestia."


    "H-Hestia-neesama?"


    "Uhuh, that''s fine."


    "And this here is Ophis. She''s a little bit special so don''t mind her behavior too much," Kisuke continued while patting Ophis''s head. All this time, Ophis was munching on her cookies while quietly staring at both Hestia and Artemis.


    Simrly, Hestia and Artemis took note of Ophis''s strangeness, however, they can''t point out what exactly it is. Nevertheless, Hestia still disyed a weing smile, "Ophis-kun is it? Nice to meet you~"


    But instead of returning her introduction, Ophis suddenly muttered, "Your mes�� Are warm. I like it," before returning her focus to her cookies.


    But instead of appreciating thatpliment, Hestia and Artemis both shuddered. Immediately after, however, Kisuke interfered with a wry smile, "I told you, she''s a bit special and maybe weird. But she doesn''t mean any harm. She''s just awfully honest when she speaks up."


    "M-more than honest��, her eyes are too good. Way too good," said Artemis with a slightly concerned expression.


    In contrast, Hestia''s smile returned, and replied, "I see, so you like it! I''m happy to hear that as the owner of that me!"


    Hearing that, Artemis was taken aback before smiling wryly, "So this is what it means to get used to their strangeness, huh? I guess I have to open up a little more."


    With a blooming smile, Kisuke decided, "Alright~ Now that the introductions are out of the way, let''s go eat out as a celebration~ The neers will want to try some local cuisines. Let''s set aside the other stuff till after the meal."


    Serafall immediately agreed on his proposition and the group went to the Hostess of Fertility while the neers enjoyed the new and refreshing scenery, though the streets are rtively empty due to today''s events. Although ire was afraid of her surroundings, while holding Kisuke''s hand, she was still able to enjoy the fantasy-esque city of Orario.


    Reaching the door of the unusually quiet pub, Kisuke opened it with a bang and yelled, "Mia-san~! We''vee!!!"


    What greeted him back, however, is a wooden te flying straight towards his face. After casually deflecting it to the side, the group immediately heard Mia''s voice, "You''re too noisy! And you lot are still in the mood to eat out after what just happened?"


    After entering the establishment, they looked around and saw that there are no other customers, "It''s precisely because of what happened earlier that we hoped that we have this ce for ourselves tonight~!"


    "You sure have some guts to say that in front of my face," Mia then took a peek at the group while cleaning a wine ss and snickered, "You tricked more girls? As expected of the Gigolo Master."


    Kisuke pouted at her words and replied, "Come on now, Mia-san, that''s spitting on my reputation! I''m an honest shopkeeper and was never a Gigolo."


    "Whatever, take a seat wherever you want," She then turned towards the direction of the kitchen, "Ryuu! Anya! Take some orders!"


    A Catwoman then came out and asked in disbelief, "There are still customers, nyaa!?" But after she saw who it is, she immediately understood, "Of course it''s you, nyaa! You guys don''t followmon sense, nyaa!"


    However, she immediately received a hand chop on the back of his head from an Elf, "Stop being rude to the customers."


    "That hurts, nyaa!"ined Anya as she approached Kisuke''s group.


    "Ryuu, has Syr returned?" suddenly asked Mia.


    Ryuu nodded and answered, "Yes. She''s currently dressing up and getting ready to get back to work."

 Volume 10 592 - Strange Kid

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 592 - Strange Kid</h4>


    "Huh? Gigolo Master? What''s that?" asked Serafall with an amused face.


    "You don''t know, miss?" asked Anya as she approached their table, "Green Crusader: Gigolo Master, nya~! It was the Alias that was given to him after the Gods figured out that everyone from his Familia were his lovers, nya~!"


    But as soon as she said that, she suddenly shuddered but didn''t know where it came from. Nevertheless, the ignorant cat continued, "Though it''s such a funny Aliaspared to the rest, it''s strange that nobody is talking about it, nya~!"


    The moment Anya mentioned them being lovers, Sona became incredibly nervous due to her sister. However, a response she wasn''t expecting came out.


    Serafall proceeded to give Kisuke a dirty look, "Heh~? Everyone''s lover, huh? Aren''t you pretty good?"


    "N-nee-sama?"


    But Serafall just closed her eyes and said, "Don''t worry about it. Everyone from our hometown was already aware of it, including Mom and Dad, that this guy bribed."


    Sona''s eyes widened for an instant before arge smile appeared on her face. All this time, she was a bit worried that she and Kisuke would sh because of her, but it seems that her worries were misced. Sona didn''t question Serafall''s words about Kisuke bribing her parents because she knew that this was within Kisuke''s range of strange actions.


    ''So she''s Sona''s older sister��'' Thought Anya as she gathered everyone''s order. She still wanted to talk, but she could feel Mia''s threatening re from behind which was making her instincts scream.


    But as she walked away, she stepped on a puddle of water which made her slip, "Huh?"


    Anya didn''t know where the puddle of water came from because she''s pretty sure she cleaned the floor earlier. But as a high-level Adventurer, she instantly reacted and regained her bnce. ''Unfortunately'' for her, however, another puddle of water was present where she stepped her other foot andpletely lost her bnce, "What, nyaa!?"


    And too bad for her, a ''conveniently'' ce chair was in the trajectory of her fall and hit her head on it, breaking it, "Unyaa!!!!!" shouted Anya in pain.


    "What are you doing!?" yelled Mia.


    Since she''s durable enough, she didn''t actually take any damage but that doesn''t mean it didn''t hurt, "M-Mia-san, nyaa�� I slipped, nya! I don''t know why there''s a puddle of water here, nya!"


    Hearing this, Mia just sighed, "Whatever. Just take their order to the kitchen and clean up the mess. By the way, you''ll be paying for that broken chair. I''ll deduct it from your pay."


    "N-no way, nyaa��" Anya became deted as she went towards the kitchen.


    On the other hand, Mia took a peek at Kisuke, who was currently ying with the ck-haired little girl, ''That magic power, was it just my imagination?''


    A few secondster, Ryuu came out with the utensils and set them on the group''s table, "I apologize for Anya''s conduct."


    But Kisuke just shook his head, "Nah, it''s fine. I already knew that she was the type of person that can''t keep her words to herself."


    Ryuu sighed, "Still, I''d like to apologize and please enjoy your stay," She then went to the kitchen to help out.


    It was only a few minutester that the first set of dishes were done and it was brought out by Ryuu and Syr, "Oh, you''re really back, Kisuke-san! Just where did you go? The c was about to run out so I was a bit worried that I won''t have any before you returned!"


    "Ah, Syr-san. Long time no see~. I just went home for a bit and just returned now. I''ll bring the next supply of c along with others tomorrow so please wait for it."


    "I look forward to it~" She then looked towards the new faces, "So these people are from your hometown too? Nice to meet you, I''m Syr Flova."


    "Nice to meet you too, Syr-san. I''m Serafall and we intend to stay here in Orario for some time," After that, Akeno and Irina also introduced themselves while Yoruichi introduced the two kids who were already busy with their meals.


    Syr immediately noticed something amiss with Ophis and muttered while watching her gouge her very spicy meal, "What a stoic child."


    Although Ophis could read the menu, she just randomly pointed at something and ordered it. And since Kisuke and the rest were curious about how she would react to the spicy food she ordered, they didn''t stop her. However, they were disappointed to see no particr reaction.


    "She''s just a strange kid," replied Kisuke with a gentle smile.


    But the moment Syrmented on Ophis, thetter''s attention was also put onto her.


    Ophis stared at Syr for a few seconds and Syr became unnerved by those jet ck eyes. Kisuke was about to ask what''s wrong Ophis suddenly spoke up with sauce still on the corner of her mouth, "Twisting your own fate�� Why do it if it makes you weaker?"


    Although Syr smiled wryly on the surface, her heart jumped a few times. Ever since she took this form, she had never been as surprised as today. Thanks to that, however, she didn''t notice Kisuke and Yoruichi''s reaction.


    Instead of confronting Syr, Kisuke immediately stopped Yoruichi from what she''s about to do and signaled her not to do anything. He then, with a big grin, patted Ophis''s head and ruffled her head while saying, "Told you~ She''s a strange kid. Because she keeps muttering nonsensical stuff, she doesn''t have many friends aside from us."


    "I-is that so?" replied Syr with a not so obvious fake smile, "Well then, please enjoy your food. I won''t be bothering you."


    Ryuu noticed that something is wrong with her but didn''t voice out any of her concerns in front of Kisuke''s group, "Please enjoy your meal," she said and retreated back to the kitchen to prepare the rest of the order.


    After sending a telepathic message to Yoruichi that they shouldn''t talk any of that right now, the group had an overall pleasant experience and the neers enjoyed the ''exotic'' ingredients.


    Although throughout their stay, they didn''t see Syre out of the kitchen again.

 Volume 10 593 - It’s Just a God

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 593 - It��s Just a God</h4>


    The group left without much more happening and the streets had be even more deste. While the normal citizens were nervous, the Adventurers were with each of their own Familia, waiting for their God toe back from the Denatus and figure out what to do next.


    When they reached their ce, all of them gathered in the living room, except for ire, who already went to sleep because she was tired from their journey and new environment, and Ophis who apanied her.


    "What happened back there?" asked Sona.


    "Something a bit unexpected," replied Kisuke with a sigh, "The Syr from earlier was not Syr."


    The moment Kisuke said that, Hestia and Artemis'' faces crumpled.


    "Hmm? What do you mean? The Syr from earlier was an impostor?" asked Aika.


    Kisuke shook his head, "From the start, there was no ''Syr''. The ''Syr'' that we knew was a fake persona."


    Everyone who didn''t have any idea of what was going on was surprised, "So the real Syr Flova never existed in the first ce?" asked Kuroka.


    However, Kisuke shook his head again, "Syr Flova might have or may still be existing. If not, the nature of this ''Syr'' persona wouldn''t have been possible."


    "I noticed that you stopped Yoruichi-chan from doing something," wondered Serafall.


    "Kisuke stopped me from looking further into her. The moment Ophis-chan spoke up, I instinctively wanted to see through her, but if I were sessful, ''Syr'' would have noticed it too. Kisuke stopped me to diffuse the situation," answered Yoruichi.


    Finally, Hestia spoke up, "Do you have any idea who she really is?"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other before the former spoke up, "Out of everyone here, only Yoruichi, Kuroka, and I knew of this particr information. The Hostess of Fertility is in fact, under the Freya Familia''s control. It''s true that Mia Grand was a former Adventurer of the Freya Familia and never contacted them again ever since her retirement. However, although they tried their best to hide it, we found traces that the establishment was being protected by them, in which we can assume that there''s still a deep connection between the two despite the noncontact."


    Although everyone else was shocked, except for the neers, Hestia, Artemis and Sona were the only ones who figured out the underlying meaning behind it, "If it was a normal disguise magic, you could have seen through it��," muttered Sona.


    Hearing this, Kuroka and Medusa also got it, "So chances are, it''s really aplicated and sophisticated magic, or magic that''s not meant for those who are from the Lower World, nyaa," added Kuroka.


    "Then that means��" muttered Aika in concern.


    "It''s either a mage with very high attainment in magic and has some basic understanding regarding the soul, or a Deity that used a mortal''s ''fate'' as cover."


    They then all immediately recalled Ophis''s words at that time and had an idea who she really was, "��Freya," mumbled Koneko.


    A wave of concern washed through almost everyone, until Kisuke pped his hands to get them out of their own worrying minds, "Well, let''s not mind this for now and continue interacting with her as before. After, nothing has really changed."


    Artemis then furrowed her brows, "You''re making too light of this situation. The fact that Ophis was able to scratch her cover won''t get out of her mind, and the little girl would surely be targeted."


    Kisuke nodded, "It sure is a concern, but Ophis-chan would be fine."


    "Aren''t you underestimating her too much!? Aside from having one of the strongest Familia within the Lower World and having spanning influence, Freya is also a God who dared to use magic like this! Aside from that, I doubt any child could resist her charm as the Goddess of Beauty which is, although in a grey area, allowed to be used!"


    Artemis ended up yelling at Kisuke''s ''who cares'' attitude but she immediately shook her head, "I''m sorry. I''m just concerned with everyone''s safety, especially that innocent child that would be targeted."


    Kisuke and some ended up smiling when Artemis referred to Ophis as an ''innocent child''. True, Ophis is innocent, but even though she lost a part of herself, only the Gods with their Arcanum activated have the actual chance of hurting her. However, even then, their first few attacks may only just barely scratch her.


    "I know where you areing from, Artemis-sama," Kisuke then looked into her eyes and continued with a straight face, "But it''s just a God."


    Hearing that, Kisuke''spanions'' eyes widened but immediately soon after, they smiled wryly and also felt relieved.


    On the other hand, Artemis was shocked to her core, "Wh-what!?"


    But before she could confront Kisuke, Hestia stopped her, "He didn''t say that because he wanted to disrespect, discredit or underestimate the Gods, right, Kisuke-kun?"


    "��Hestia?" Artemis became confused.


    "That wasn''t my intention at all," replied Kisuke.


    Hestia sighed, "Then that means the Freya Familia and Freya herself isn''t that much of a threat to you."


    "What do you mean?" asked Artemis.


    "Have you forgotten? These guys are just level 2 and Kisuke-kun was still able to fight Antares and defeat it without even the help of your Divine Weapon. And concerning that Divine Weapon, even if it was iplete, he still was able to pull enough power from it to destroy your Arcanum."


    "So the Freya Familia who are still within the constraint ofmon sense, don''t you think they''d have something else in their sleeves seeing how out of this world their abilities are?"


    "T-that''s��"


    Hestia then faced Kisuke, "I couldn''t ask earlier due to the arrival of new people, but isn''t it about time you tell us more about yourself and your group, since I have a feeling that you''re not that much concerned about hiding your secrets and all? And how is it possible that the red Dragon became your ride?"


    "Wait! Are you saying that you don''t know much about these people and epted them into your Familia!?" reacted Artemis.


    With an idioticugh, Hestia responded, "Hehehe, I was really desperate to have someone in my Familia so I just��"


    Artemis was about to say something but Hestia interrupted her, "Nheless, Kisuke-kun already warned me and told me that he''s just using me. Despite that, I never regretted my decision to ept them back then and I don''t have any ns to do so now."


    Artemis saw Hestia''s clear eyes and could only sigh as she recalled her time with the members of the Hestia Familia. Within that, not a single time she took note of any fake concern for her best friend, and also during that time, she realized that Kisuke only saved her because that''s what Hestia wanted.


    Although she was very thankful for his actions back then, she can''t help but feel a little bitter, especially after being invested in him. Artemis then looked towards Kisuke and asked, "Is it fine if I listen too?"


    Kisuke responded with a nod, "Of course. In fact, I''ll ask you to stay if you chose to leave to respect our secrecy."


    "Thank you. I also wanted to share even a little bit of Hestia''s burden."

 Volume 10 594 - Ramblings of a Madman

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 594 - Ramblings of a Madman</h4>


    "Please keep in mind that I can''t tell you everything, for now."


    Hestia nodded, "I''m fine with that."


    "Ehem�� Well then, you might have already suspected this, but the ce we came from is beyond the Lower World and is not within Heaven''s influence in any way."


    Artemis''s eyes widened in surprise, but on the contrary, Hestia kept her serious face since as Kisuke said, she already expected this was the case, but couldn''t really believe her guess without his confirmation. Because of this, Artemis was even more shocked at her nonchnt reaction, and since Hestia didn''t say anything, she did not speak out.


    "And since it isn''t connected to the Higher World in any way, you''re not aware of that ce. Hence why you probably felt that we''re very foreign. This also makes it so the Deities couldn''t possibly have any information about its citizens and their capabilities."


    It was then that Kisuke dropped the ''bomb'', "When I said that it''s just a God, I said it because I knew full well the capabilities of one. And believe it or not, I have a few ways to deal with one."


    Like Artemis, Hestia furrowed her brows, "If you''re basing that on Artemis'' Arcanum from before, then you''re sorely wrong. A God''s capabilities, if Arcanum was activated, is way beyond that."


    But Kisuke just smiled, "However, I''m not just basing it on that. One of the unique things about our ce are people who achieved Godhood by themselves."


    It was finally something Hestia wasn''t expecting, "A-achieved Godhood!?"


    "Yep~ A non-Divine generating their own Divinity and were able to ept worship."


    "H-how is that possible!?" asked Artemis. Out of everything she''d heard today, this is the most unbelievable. Although it''s indeed possible in theory, no one has ever achieved this despite the help of the Deities.


    Aside from those born into Godhood, no God has evere from a mortal. Over time, the Deities thought that it was impossible in the first ce and no one tried to nurture one anymore. There might be some Gods who are still trying, but the closest who came to Godhood were Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon''s children, but even then, they were still quite far.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, thought that Artemis'' Arcanum was really the reason for how he was able to estimate the power level of the Gods in this world, and he estimated it was around the same level of the Gods from the other side.


    Although fundamentally different, their source of power was the same, which was ''Faith''.


    However, even for Kisuke, the concept of ''Faith'' is still a bit blurry since he also discovered that the ''Faith'' the Gods needed doesn''t merelye from those who believe in them. After all, even those nondescript and unknown Gods still retained their Divinities, even if they were mostly forgotten. Though it''s indeed true that their strength corrtes to the amount of trust and belief people have in them.


    It''s aplicated topic that Kisuke wanted to study, not just for himself, but also for Medusa.


    With Artemis''s question, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "I don''t know how that was possible since I''m not a God myself. Only those who attained Godhood could possibly describe the experience. The point is, multiple Gods walk the Earth without the weird restrictions you have. So it''s only normal to have some means of defense against one in case they attacked. Though it''s not like they would attack, it''s just that we have to prepare if it were to happen."


    Both Artemis and Hestia were silenced as they tried toprehend his words. As much as they wanted to believe Kisuke''s ims, it was too hard for them. After all, they never knew that there''s another realm that Heaven couldn''t reach, and on top of that a mortal turned God.


    Seeing their difficulties, Kisuke grinned, "However, Hestia-sama, I do have to remind you of my words the first time we met."


    Hestia thought for a moment and sighed, "It''s just ramblings of a mad man, huh?"


    "Correct~!"


    Silence then ensued throughout the whole room, but a few minutester, Hestia just gave a defeated sighed, "Whatever. So I take it that you have a way to defend yourselves even if Freya came after you, right?"


    "H-Hestia!?" Artemis was shocked that Hestia just disregarded the things he just said.


    Ignoring Artemis, however, Hestia continued and forcibly moved the topic, "What about that Dragon?"


    "As you can probably tell, it''s neither a monster nor a God. It''s a being entirely different, but it''s a Dragon for sure," replied Kisuke.


    Hestia waited for a few moments after Kisuke stopped before speaking, "Is that all?"


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s all I know about it."


    "How about it being your ''ride''?"


    For that question, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "It''s something that does what it wants and I don''t really have any idea what''s on his mind. Since he offered his assistance, I can''t really disagree. For the most part, I think it just wanted to roam around since it was probably feeling bored."


    Hestia sighed yet again, "Fine, but is it going toe back?"


    "I don''t know, but probably not."


    "That''s good. I don''t want to imagine what kind of chaos it would bring for it to go back," Hestia smiled in satisfaction before changing the topic yet again, "Now let''s move to our next agenda. I assume they don''t have Falna yet, right? And it''s about time I update everyone''s status."


    Artemis was utterly shocked at how Hestia just shrugged off the things she''d heard. She wanted to interject, but she had a feeling that Hestia wanted to end it here, not because she gave up, but because she had already heard enough and epted it as it is.


    Kisuke dly pped his hands and was thankful for Hestia''s thoughtfulness, "Of course~!"


    "Alright! Line up! We''ll do it here!"


    Artemis couldn''t keep up with them and almost couldn''t understand her best friend, Hestia. However, she went through it again and thought, ''In hindsight, maybe that''s how Hestia would really do it�� For her Familia�� For her family.''


    Artemis could only smile wryly after some contemtion and watched them update their status, ''I''m really no match to her.''


    After everyone got their status update, they all directly went up to Level 3. But they didn''t level up without giving Hestia a good scare.


    Sona Sitri


    Level 2


    Basic Abilities:


    VIT: SSS-1326


    DEX: SSS-1113


    AGI: SSS-1101


    Extra Abilities:


    DEM-POW: EX-1500+


    Aika Kiryuu


    Level 2


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SSS-1445


    DEX: SSS-1446


    AGI: SSS-1357


    MANA: SSS-1216


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: EX-1500


    DRACONIC AURA: EX-1500+


    Shirone Toujou


    Level 2


    Basic Abilities:


    VIT: EX-1500


    DEX: SSS-1418


    AGI: SSS-1354


    MANA: SSS-1112


    KI: EX-1500


    Kuroka Toujou


    Level 2


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: EX-1500


    VIT: EX-1500


    DEX: EX-1500


    AGI: SSS-1480


    MANA: SSS-1323


    KI: EX-1500+


    Medusa


    Level 2


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: SSS-1309


    VIT: SSS-1212


    DEX: EX-1500


    AGI: EX-1500+


    MANA: EX-1500+

 Volume 10 595 - New Artemis Familia

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 595 - New Artemis Familia</h4>


    With just those four, Hestia was already having a headache. For Yoruichi and Kisuke''s status'', on the other hand, she didn''t even want to look at it.


    Yoruichi Shihouin


    Level 2


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: EX-1500++


    VIT: EX-1500+


    DEX: EX-1500+


    AGI: EX-1500++


    MANA: SSS-1498


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: EX-1500++


    Kisuke Urahara


    Level 2


    STR: EX-1500++


    VIT: EX-1500++


    DEX: EX-1500++


    AGI: EX-1500+


    MANA: EX-1500+


    Extra Abilities:


    REI-KI: EX-1500+++


    DEM-POW: SS-1003


    Magic:


    "What on earth?" Hestia asked in exasperation.


    However, Kisuke and Yoruichi didn''t reply to her as they were too busy inspecting the changes within their bodies and souls. It wasn''t just a simple strengthening.


    Since they were the ones most sensitive to the changes, they were also the ones who could see the true extent of what the Falna did to them.


    ''Purifying souls�� I didn''t expect it was to this extent,'' Kisuke thought as went into his inner world. The former blood-filled world was gone as it was reced by blood-red trees and grass. The tall Japanese-themed castle became even more towering, and Benihime, who was in front of him was clearer than ever.


    "You seem a bit more energetic," Kisukemented.


    Chucking, Benihime replied, "Indeed�� A lot calmer too~. However, I really didn''t expect that I would see a different scenery after all this time."


    "The change of scenery isn''t really as crucialpared to the quality of soul particles in here. The Falna and ''Level Up''s'', truthfully, I regarded it as not a very efficient way of getting stronger. However, I''ve realized just now that getting stronger is just a side effect."


    " ''Casting aside Earthly desires to attain Godhood'', huh? So ''Earthly desires'' in this case are ''Worldly shackles'', fufufu."


    "I don''t intend to be a God, though."


    Benihime nodded at him, "That''s for sure. Or else, you would have allowed your Falna to discard both of your Shinigami and Hollow powers for the sake of purification."


    "Fuhahaha! No way I''m going to discard my adorable Benihime-chan~!" But as soon as Kisuke said that, a de suddenly flew towards his neck, though he easily dodged it, "Hey, that''s dangerous!"


    "Call me ''adorable'' once again and I''ll cut you into pieces," replied Benihime with a coldugh.


    Kisuke immediately stopped teasing her as he knew she wasn''t joking. However, inwardly, he thought, ''That''s what makes her adorable though. She''s really weak to cutesy praises.''


    "Well then, I''ll leave for now and inspect everything in greater detailter," said Kisuke before he disappeared from his inner world.


    "Kisuke? Yoruichi? What''s up with you two?" As soon as Kisuke woke up, he heard Hestia''s worried voice.


    "Ah! We''re fine! We''re just thinking of something, right?" Kisuke faced Yoruichi and it was also that moment she woke up and understood the situation, "Right~."


    Hestia sighed in relief, "I thought that something bad happened to the two of you."


    "Thanks for worrying, but we should move on to the next topic. I''m thinking that instead of you, Hestia-sama, how about if Artemis-sama took in the neers as her Familia members? What do you think?"


    Hestia started rubbing her cheeks in contemtion and muttered, "Hmmm�� I think that''s also good. I want Artemis to have some standing within Orario, but she can''t do that if she doesn''t have a Familia of her own. Though we still have to ask her since she has rules of her own for her members," Hestia then turned to Artemis, "What do you think, Artemis?"


    However, no answer came from the Goddess. When they all looked at her, they saw her nkly staring at everyone''s Status.


    "Artemis?" Hestia called out to her but still no response. It was then that she nudged her and called out even louder, "Artemis!"


    Artemis shook and looked towards Hestia with an incredibly confused expression, "Hestia?"


    "Yes?"


    Artemis slowly put down the papers that are containing the stats and held Hestia firmly on his shoulders before looking straight into her eyes, "What are these?"


    Hestia felt a bit taken aback by her reaction and answered while scratching her cheek andughing wryly, "Ehehe, they''re a bit weird, right? I also heard from Hephaestus about the average stats of an Adventurer in their respective levels and I was really surprised the first time I saw it too."


    "What do you mean weird! This is abnormal! I''ve seen normal Adventurers'' Statuses and even the strongest one of them was nowhere close to this!"


    But in face of this onught, Hestia just calmly smiled, "I have such amazing children, no? You could say that they''re unique!"


    And yet again, Artemis was rudely awakened. She should have known. With the number of surprising things she heard and saw today, she couldn''t keep up, however, it shouldn''t have been an excuse for her to keep pushing Hestia away from them. Realizing this, she immediately bowed her head, not just to Hestia, but also to Kisuke and everyone else, "I''m very sorry for my rude behavior! Hestia had already epted you, so I should have supported her!"


    Nevertheless, Kisuke and co didn''t mind this as they understood where she''sing from. Unlike most of the Gods who came down for entertainment, Artemis came down to polish her beliefs as the Goddess of Chastity. Although she already failed at that by having tasted a bit of ''love'', she wouldn''t let her best friend be endangered just for a bit of entertainment that could get the other Gods attacking her for it.


    "So, what do you think of his proposition?" Hestia asked, ignoring her earlier act.


    "Pardon? What proposition?"


    "For you to ept Serafall-kun, Akeno-kun, Irina-kun, ire-kun and Ophis-kun into your Familia!"


    Artemis stared at Hestia for a while before panning her vision towards the others. And with a smile of eptance, Artemis nodded, "Sure."


    "Now that''s it''s decided, let''s get on it immediately and decide what to do after!" dered Hestia.


    "A minor correction here," Kisuke suddenly raised his hand, "Ophis-chan won''t be receiving your Falna."


    "You want me to give her my Falna instead?" asked Hestia.


    "I''m sorry I didn''t make it clear. I mean she won''t be entering anyone''s Familia�� As for why, let''s just say that it''s so it won''t oveplicate the alreadyplicated things."


    Of course, Hestia and Artemis could only give him a fed-up expression and wondered what else he''s hiding. But thinking of how ''special'' Ophis was, this might be just his way of protecting her.


    "If you say so, then it''s fine," sighed Hestia and epted his reasoning.


    "Thank you very much, Hestia-sama~"

 Volume 10 596 - Concerning Terms

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 596 - Concerning Terms</h4>


    Since Kisuke suggested it, Serafall, Akeno, and Irina just followed along with it. As for ire, she''d receive it tomorrow, since they didn''t want to wake her up.


    As the first step, they moved towards the building that could block magical fluctuations and signatures, as Kisuke was certain that it''d be the same situation as when they first received their Falna.


    It was then that Kisuke asked Artemis to give them the ''first'' Falna. Artemis was confused why they would want such an outdated Falna that doesn''t give any skills, but she stillplied. All this time, she thought that Kisuke and co''s Falna were because of the number of skills, despite them being extremely strange.


    The first one who''d be receiving Artemis'' Falna would be Irina, but as they got ready, Hestia approached Artemis, "A moment Artemis."


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "I know the rules you had before you epted children into your Familia. You may already be aware, but if you were to ept them, you can''t impose your rules on them, right Irina-kun?"


    Irina looked towards Hestia and Artemis and asked, "Now that I''ve thought about it, I heard Artemis-sama has some sort of rules. What are they?"


    Instead of Artemis, it was Hestia who answered her, "Rtionships are forbidden. Once you break this rule, you have to leave."


    "T-that��" Irina''s face becameplicated and with a wry smile, she shook her head, "I''m sorry, Artemis-sama. Looks like I won''t be entering your Familia."


    Off to the side, Akeno also came to the same decision. Serafall, meanwhile, although it didn''t really affect her, she also didn''t like the rule and decided not to ept it either.


    "Don''t worry about it," With a quick peek at Kisuke, Artemis continued, "I already knew that and I''m abolishing this rule. As long as you don''t purposely harm others for entertainment, I''m fine with almost everything."


    Irina sighed and smiled brightly, "Then please do grant me you Falna~!"


    Powering up the barrier, Artemis started the process. Although Artemis was taken aback by the sudden fluctuation of the world''s Mana, she continued to focus on granting her Falna until she got the result.


    Although she was already expecting it, she was shown an equally mon-sense disregarding'' data.


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: I-10


    VIT: I-10


    DEX: I-10


    AGI: I-10


    MANA: I-10


    Extra Abilities


    Holy Power: I-10


    Holy Magic


    Skills:


    Dragon God Physique: Angel


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in the user''s injury or death.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 2:1


    Holy Sword Wielder: Capable of wielding weapons with Holy Attributes. Capable of materializing Holy Weapons through Holy Magic.


    ''What are these skills? ''Holy'' means her magic came from a God while ''Light'' should be the main attribute. That thing was already surprising, but what''s this ''Dragon God Physique''!? Moreover, an ''Angel'' which was an old term for a Gods'' messenger and the predecessors of Spirits. But ''Angels'', although they received Gods'' powers, are inanimate and don''t have any consciousness as they are only used for war.''


    Artemis and Hestia were really concerned when they saw the term ''Angel'', however, they are not the ones who created Heaven''s system, so they don''t know if ''Angel'' is really referring to those old tools for war or just a reference.


    Not saying anything for a moment, Artemis asked for the next one and Akeno stepped forward for her to receive her Falna. After receiving the result, however, another headache came.


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: I-10


    VIT: I-10


    DEX: I-10


    AGI: I-10


    MANA: I-10


    Extra Abilities


    Holy Power: I-10


    Magic:


    Devil Magic: Lightning


    Holy Magic: Lightning


    Elemental Magic


    Skills:


    Dragon God Physique: Fallen Angel


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in the user''s injury or death.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 2:1


    And more terms that are even more troublesome than ''Angel'' appeared. First is the ''Fallen Angel''. It''s the term that is used to describe ''Angels'' that went out of control or those who have fallen under enemy control. However, this is nothingpared to the term ''Devil''. Although it was only described as a type of magic, it still gave Artemis and Hestia a scare.


    If Spirits came from the concept of ''Angel'', then monsters came from the concept of ''Devil''. As an old enemy and representative of that ''being'', they didn''t know why the system would use this term. Little did they know that there''s actually a higher-ranked ''Devil Magic'' and they already saw it, which was the ''Sitri Magic''.


    Kisuke could see the concerns on the Goddesses'' faces as looked through Akeno and Irina''s statuses. Nevertheless, he wouldn''t ask them about it now as there was still Serafall who hadn''t had her turn.


    "My turn~!" Without any hesitation, Serafall removed her top and directlyid down in front of Artemis.


    "Nee-sama!" reprimanded Sona.


    "Don''t worry~ I made sure not to turn towards Ki-tan! So it''s safe!"


    "That''s not the problem!"


    Serafall then ignored Sona and addressed Artemis, "Arti-chan, please~!"


    "A-Arti-chan?" Artemis was astonished but didn''t really mind and dropped blood on her back to start the process, "Just rx."


    Serafall Leviathan Sitri


    Level 1


    STR: I-10


    VIT: I-10


    DEX: I-10


    AGI: I-10


    MANA: I-10


    Extra Abilities


    Demonic Power: I-10


    KI: I-10


    Magic:


    Sitri Magic


    Elemental Magic


    Skills:


    Queen of Ice: Leviathan


    [Passive] Resonate with the Mana of the World and create frost that strengthens the surrounding Ice Magic;


    [Active] Greatly strengthens Ice Magic and directly converts the surrounding Mana into frost


    [Active] Converts all the Mana inside the user''s body into Ice-aligned Mana, temporarily gaining incorporeal Magic Body (unmastered)


    [Unknown]


    Mana Lord: Control the world''s Mana to cast Magic. Failing to control the Mana may result in the user''s injury or death.


    Mana Exceed: Convert Mana parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate: 1:1


    Ki Exceed: Convert Ki parameter to other Physical parameters. Conversion rate 3:1


    Artemis gave up. When she saw ''Leviathan'', the name of a famous monster, she stopped thinking, ''I don''t really understand their status. Although we, who grant Falna, should know everything that the statuses say, both Hestia and I are actually helpless. Their im ofing from a different dimension only became more believable. If someone were to know about it, only ''Father'' could.''

 Volume 10 597 - A Little bit of Rest

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 597 - A Little bit of Rest</h4>


    After being granted a Falna, Serafall, Akeno and Irina immediately noticed the ease of pressure around them ever since they came to this world. Although Magic Power was still tough to control for Akeno and Irina as Kisuke described, they''re feeling a lot better.


    "Congrattions, Artemis-sama, Himejima-san, Irina and Sera-tan," Kisuke congratted them with a big smile.


    "Thank you. Now I have a Familia to start again," Artemis smiled gently as she reminisced about herte children, ''I think I can change.''


    Artemis then faced her new members and said, "Wee to my Familia."


    "Please take care of us," Akeno bowed to her.


    "Happy to join~!" Irina chuckled.


    "Let''s get along, Arti-chan!" Serafall added with a big smile.


    "Yes. I also look forward to your adventures. Please show me a beautiful story," replied Artemis.


    Hestia then patted her back, "Now, now. Don''t forget that even though we''re two different Familias, I still consider everyone as a member of one bigger Familia. We''ll adventure together,ugh together, decide together and tackle problems together."


    Artemis nodded at her with a smile, "I know. Although this might not work with other Familias, I''m certain that we''ll be fine."


    "That''s great!"


    Satisfied with the oue, Kisuke asked first, "Artemis-sama, Hestia-sama, do you have any questions regarding their statuses?"


    Artemis and Hestia looked at each other and answered at the same time, "Lots of them."


    "I figured."


    However, Artemis immediately shook her head, "But I won''t ask them now. I want to see my children in my own eyes first, without any influence from the system''s judgment."


    With a grin, Kisuke replied, "I see. That certainly is good. I''m not sure if you''ll have a good time with us around, but I can assure you that it''s at least it''ll not be boring~!"


    A fearless smile then painted Artemis'' face, "Hah! Is that a challenge? If so, then bring it on!" A weird switch was flipped.


    Hestia sighed, nevertheless, she''s happy for her best friend.


    "And what''s the n for now?" asked Aika.


    "How about we first visit the graves of Artemis-sama''ste children and pay respect?" Suggested Yoruichi.


    "That''s a good idea! Let''s do that! Also please tell us the story about them," answered Serafall in an instant.


    "Thank you. And I''m happy to tell you everyone''s amazing story," replied Artemis with a satisfied and happy expression.


    "Then after that, how about we go for a little trip as a celebration? It just so happens that Kuroka found a good spot in Melen. Kisuke would need some rest too, since I reckon that he didn''t sleep at all when he was back home." added Yoruichi.


    "I can vouch for that! I never saw this guy not doing anything!" interjected Serafall again.


    "I don''t really need it though? I can still keep going," answered Kisuke.


    But Hestia didn''t buy that and directly asked him, "Kisuke-kun. Tell me honestly. When was thest time you slept?"


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, "Hmm�� If I recall correctly, it''s not too long ago. Just two weeks ago."


    Artemis and Hestia were speechless while the rest just sighed in resignation. A few secondster, Hestia hollered, "Okay, everyone, dismissed! We''re done for today and we''ll continue this tomorrow! Everyone, go to sleep and take a rest!"


    "Hmm? I''m just fine, though? I could go on for another week or two."


    Hestia then red at him, "You will sleep tonight! And no night activities! You''ll rest!"


    When they heard ''night activities'' from Hestia''s mouth, the neers immediately understood what it meant and felt a bitplicated. Seeing this, Yoruichi thought of something ''nice''.


    Yoruichi knew that Kisuke wouldn''t just take a break, and she''s also a bit worried regarding his mental health. With that in mind, she formted a n.


    "But-" Kisuke was about to reason with Hestia but Yoruichi interrupted him, "Huh? No night activities!? Then how is Sona-chan, who has been waiting for weeks, going to get through the night?!"


    "Y-Yoruichi!? W-what are you talking about!?" eximed Sona with a red face.


    However, hearing that, Kisuke shuddered, "You know what, Hestia-sama? I think you''re right. I should take a break, so I''m taking my leave now. Goodnight~!" He then instantly disappeared from his spot and directly went to his room.


    That reaction immediately made Sona realize what Yoruichi was trying to do and her guess was correct when the room instantly became cooler and a heavy and unfeeling voice resounded, "Ki-tan? Where are you going? You have some exining to do," giving an eerie feeling to everyone who heard it.


    Realizing the situation, everyone slowly backed away. However, Yoruichi signaled Sona to take it from here. Of course, Sona was not happy with the situation, but for her beloved to have a good night of rest, she''s willing to sacrifice herself to the ''Devil''.


    Hence, the shopkeeper got a good night of sleep thanks to the sacrifice of one of his lovers.


    .


    .


    .


    Early the next morning, everyone is already up. Thanks to Sona''s effortsst night, she was able to calm Serafall down, but thetter stared daggers at Kisuke for the whole morning while muttering some curses. All the while, she thought that Sona''s rtionship with Kisuke was not beyond kisses but she was proven wrong when she asked Sona about it.


    Although still feeling veryplicated, Serafall had to ept it.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, didn''t approach her as he didn''t want to poke the ho''s nest for no good reason.


    Yoruichi also told ire and Ophis that they''re going to the beach today, so the former was pretty excited. But first, she had to receive her Falna.


    Level 1


    Basic Abilities:


    STR: I-10


    VIT: I-10


    DEX: I-10


    AGI: I-10


    MANA: I-10


    Extra Abilities


    Holy Power: I-10


    Magic:


    Belial Magic


    Holy Magic


    Skills:


    Blessings of the Infinite Dragon: (Description Unavable)


    Although much simpler and fewer in skills, the fact that the system couldn''t describe what the skill could do was already saying everything about it. Now Hestia and Artemis became even more curious regarding Ophis''s status but they promised not to give her their Falna.


    With the early morning mist still around, the group first went to the First Graveyard where Adventurers of Orario who passed awayy their final rest. After a few minutes of walking, they reached the area where former members of the Artemis Familia were buried.


    Artemis first talked to the former members and introduced the new ones, before offering a prayer for a good journey and thanked them for their efforts to selflessly stop an ancient monster they knew they couldn''t fight.


    "Let''s go?" asked Kisuke.


    Artemis nodded and turned around, "Let''s go."


    While exiting the city, everyone except for Hestia and ire noticed the piercing reing from the tower. However, as Kisuke and Yoruichi had already first instructed, they all ignored it.

 Volume 10 598 - To The Beach

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 598 - To The Beach</h4>


    After taking care of everything they had, the Loki Familia, more specifically, the female members of the Loki Familia, arrived at Melen to investigate the strange flower monsters and how they could get into Orario undetected.


    Loki presumed that there were other parties aside from Evilus that were smuggling these monsters into Orario and decided that they should investigate the nearest city from Orario, Melen. It was also the highest exporter of goods to Orario, so it was a proper ce to start their investigation.


    Of course, there were still some problems and mysteries they wanted to know, like the giant dragon that appeared in the sky and the strange happenings around the members of the Hestia Familia within the deep floors. As they were turned away before they could even ask anything, they didn''t know what to think about them. The only thing they knew is that Kisuke, the captain of their Familia, left for somece and hadn''t gotten back yet.


    They just assumed that''s the reason why they''d cut off their contact with other Familias.


    Meanwhile, the male members of the Loki Familia were tasked to investigate the sewers and Daedalus Street within Orario so that they wouldn''t miss anything.


    Other than that, they also intended to check the sealed entrance to the Dungeon, which was situated under the sea near Melen and where the Leviathan had surfaced long ago, as Hermes had suggested to them.


    Of course, Loki''s main purpose in separating her Familia by gender was to keep the female members to herself and y with them before they actually started their investigation. This was also her way of celebrating after the ''Muscle Magical Girl'' appearance stopped around two weeks ago.


    Arriving at a secluded spot within the vicinity of Port Melen, the Loki Familia arrived at an untouched beach with beautiful white sand.


    Tiona, in her frilly blue bikini, ran towards the sea while eximing in delight, "Awesome! The sand is so white!"


    Tione, in the same bikini but muchrger, followed her andmented, "Wow�� Now isn''t this gorgeous?"


    The ''sea'' in front of them was actually argeke named Lolog Lake that was connected to the sea outside of Melen. The reason why this wasn''t a very well-known ce is because it was surrounded by a dense forest that was dangerous for normal people. Those who could fight off the monsters within the forest, on the other hand, are all in Orario instead of Melen.


    "A God I know let me in on this hidden gem! Nobody''s set foot over here before, so feel free to spread your wings and getfy!" Loki proudly announced, who was also in her swimsuit, while ogling the other members who''re very embarrassed by the strange pieces of clothing which she forced on them.


    Ignoring Loki, Alicia muttered in embarrassment, "T-this outfit�� In a way, this is more embarrassing than those baths on the 18th floor were��"


    "So this is a swimsuit�� One of the ''Three Sacred Treasures'' invented by the Gods��" Anakitty, on the other hand, didn''t know what to do in these, ''Are we supposed to y while wearing these? What if ites off?''


    Line, meanwhile, couldn''t even move her arms away from her chest out of embarrassment, "You and your sister don''t seem to feel the least bit embarrassed, do you?" she asked Tiona.


    "Well, it isn''t really different from what we usually wear, hehe."


    "By the way, where''s Riveria-sama?" asked Alicia.


    Anakitty pointed towards arge boulder behind them and said, "She''s frozen behind that rock, still holding her swimsuit."


    It was then that Alicia recalled the ''swimsuit'' that Loki had handed to her, that barely covered her important bits, "��Poor thing."


    Lefiya, although also embarrassed, was thinking of something else entirely. Seeing this, Loki approached her, "What''s got ya feeling down, Lefiya? Is it because we held off on leveling you up?"


    "Ah, no. You already convinced me, and I chose this myself," replied Lefiya.


    After their recent expedition, numerous members of the Loki Familia also leveled up. Bete, Tiona and Tione had reached Level 6 while Lefiya was asked to stay at Level 3.


    "I can already be Level 4, however, my current magic ability is only at B-rank. When I was Level 2, I raised it to S-rank before leveling up. At the very least, I need to get it to a high A-rank. So I''ll level up�� only then."


    Loki nodded in satisfaction, "Finn, the other top guys, and I all want ya to be Riveria''s sessor. Someday, you''ll reach Level 6. When that happens, the fact that you raised your ability to its peak will have a huge meaning." She then looked towards Ais, who was wearing a white bikini, "Besides, look at her. She should have leveled up long ago but she still chose not to do so. Several of her abilities already reached S-rank, but it looks like she''s still not satisfied with that. Hehehe, so cute~!"


    Lefiya immediately turned towards Ais direction and eximed, "Ais-san!" and was immediately smitten by her appearance, "Cute!"


    "The best!" added Loki


    And at the same time, both of them yelled, "Absolutely breathtaking!!!"


    With a wry smile, Anakittymented, "Lefiya, you''re turning into Loki��"


    Ignoring their reactions, Ais asked, "Um, do you think Finn and the others are fine? Since we left them at home��"


    Shrugging her shoulders, Loki exined, "Nothing I can do about it. In order to get permission to go, the Guild asked us to leave about half of the Familia. It was a promise. I mean, we can''t leave Orario open and defenseless, can we?" And with a big grin, Loki added, "Oh man. How disappointing. I could only bring along the female members. This really is unfortunate~!"


    "Hey, Loki!" Tiona suddenly called out to her.


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "You said nobody else knew about this location, didn''t you?" asked Tiona while facing to their left.


    "Njord said nobody knew about this ce," Loki finally got why Tiona suddenly asked that question and faced the same direction she''s looking at and saw some people in the distance, "W-what? There are other people here!?"


    Loki became worried that other people would witness this wonderful paradise for themselves and asked, "Ais! Who are they!?"


    As one of the people with the sharpest eyes, Ais immediately recognized some figures and said, "��It''s the Hestia Familia."


    "What!? Hestia!?" Loki eximed. However, after a few moments of consideration, she decided, "I''m going over there."


    Line then suddenly raised and said, "U-umm, me too. Please let me go with you too."


    Loki looked at her and nodded, "Sure."


    But after that, Ais also spoke up, "I''ming too."


    However, Loki hollered, "No!"


    Ais tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Why?"


    ''Although Kisuke has apparently left for now, we don''t know if he''se back. I don''t want him to see you in this outfit!'' yelled Loki internally and replied, "''Cuz I don''t want you to!"


    But instead of reasoning with her, Ais started walking towards the direction of Hestia Familia.


    "Ais!?"


    "Need to ask where he is. I want to ask him something," replied Ais and continued walking.


    Loki scratched her head and ran after her, "Wait for me!"


    Since the three of them wereing, the other members figured that they should go too, leaving Riveria, who was still frozen stiff behind the rock, staring at her string swimsuit.

 Volume 10 599 - A Crazy Game

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 599 - A Crazy Game</h4>


    Kuroka and Medusa had already noticed the Loki Familia''s presence the moment they stepped onto the beach. However, they chose to ignore them for a moment since they knew that they''d approach them sooner.


    Besides, they were busy with what they were doing. While Medusa and Akeno were setting up the parasols, barbequing equipment and cooking ingredients, Kuroka, Koneko, Sona and Serafall were having a face-off.


    Within the sand court that was divided by a, Koneko, in a white swimsuit, jumped high and struck the ball in midair, sending it over to Sona and Serafall''s side.


    Despite sending it to the far-most corner of the court, Serafall, in a pink bikini, instantly appeared before it after figuring out the white cat''s intention, "You gotta do better than that~ Here you go, So-tan!"


    Sending the ball towards Sona, the beauty in sses and a blue bikini jumped as high as Koneko and mercilessly aimed at Koneko''s face, who was just about toe down.


    However, Kuroka, in a ck bikini, easily intercepted Sona''s attack, "Not enough-nya~!"


    Kuroka then ced the ball high up to have Koneko attack again. This kind of exchange went on even as the Loki Familia approached them, "What an amusing game y''all are yin''," Loki approached Hestia and Artemis with an interested expression.


    "Loki? You''re also here? What are you doing here?" Hestia then looked at the people following her, "And you even brought the majority of your children�� I see that they are all female, though."


    "What? You got a problem with that, chibi?"


    "Huh!? And you think you''re a lot better, disying those nonexistent assets!?" rebuked Hestia while standing straight up, pushing her assets out. Unfortunately for Loki, those became more ''deadly'' as Hestia was now wearing a swimsuit that emphasizes her curves.


    Seeing that the situation was about to devolve, Artemis immediately stepped in with a wry smile, "It has been a while, Loki. I see that you''re doing good."


    Loki red at Hestia and ignored her, putting her attention onto the Goddess of Chastity. And with a stern and suspicious expression, Loki replied, "It seems that you''re also well�� Even after that incident."


    In face of Loki''s suspicions, Artemis just smiled, "I was fortunate enough for the situation to be resolved."


    "Right. If that wasn''t resolved, you could have killed all of my children," Loki''s words finally took away the attention of Loki Familia members from the Volleyball match to their conversation, "I''d really like it if you''d share what happened back then, so that the next time it happens, we would know what to do."


    "I''m sorry, but I''d like to keep it to myself. However, you don''t have to worry about this happening ever again as it was a unique and isted incident."


    "Hmm�� I sure do hope so," Although Loki epted it, she was still incredibly curious and wanted to know what really happened back then, ''I can investigate this in the future. I don''t know what Freya saw that day, but one thing is for sure, Hestia and her children were involved.''


    And since Loki didn''t want Artemis to put up too much of a guard against her, she immediately changed the subject and turned her attention towards the new faces, "Your new kids?"


    "Although they''re technically Artemis'' children, they came from the same hometown as Kisuke," answered Hestia.


    "��What?" Loki''s eyes widened. She knew that everyone from the Hestia Familia was strange and very special. So strange that she wanted to grab a few of them from Hestia, especially Kisuke.


    The public only knew about Sona, Aika, Koneko and their achievements and thought that the rest from the Hestia Familia was just piggybacking on their fame. Little did they know that the rest of the Hestia Familia were actually the ones supporting and grooming the trio, who''d attained the unbelievable achievement of ying Minotaurs despite just being Level 1s.


    And the onlymon denominator among them is they came from the same ''hometown'', "You could have told me about them and I would have weed a few of them with open arms to my Familia."


    "I know that Kisuke wouldn''t have agreed to that," replied Hestia.


    Although the girls of the Loki Familia were confused, Loki nodded at her statement, "I know. Such an overprotective guy. Where is he anyway?" Loki looked around and couldn''t find his figure, nor Yoruichi''s.


    Hestia looked away, "��Well, they''re ying a crazy game."


    "A crazy game?" asked Loki. But before she could ask further, she and the rest of her Familia suddenly heard two voices from the distance towards therge body of water, "Go go go, John Henry! It''s thest stretch!" shouted Yoruichi.


    "Hahaha! Go at full force, FiftyShadesofGreen!" Kisuke''s loud voice followed soon after.


    Tiona slightly squinted her eyes and looked towards the direction where the voices wereing from. However, all she could see was water being kicked up, "What''s that?"


    The others also looked towards them and wondered the same thing. But a few secondster, as the sound cheering grew louder, they also finally saw what was going on, "T-those are�� Aren''t those Vis!?" Lefiya screamed.


    The lower leveled Loki Familia members wanted to run back towards their luggage and get their weapons, while the higher leveled ones went into their fighting stances, readying themselves to intercept the dangerous monsters.


    But at that time, Tione noticed something even more shocking than the monsters'' presence, "Top�� Top�� On top of their heads!" she pointed to the flower heads and yelled.


    On top of the flower heads were two people holding a stick with a pouch hanging in front of the monster, "Just a bit more, FiftyShadesofGreen!"


    "Don''t you dare lose, John Henry!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi were having a race using Vis by baiting them with magic stones.


    While everyone from the Loki Familia was rendered speechless, ire, Aika, Irina, and Ophis, who were watching from the coast cheered for them.


    A few secondster, the Vis crashed into the lone boulder along the coast, sending rocks and water high up. A few secondster, Kisuke and Yoruichi emerged from the crash site with differing expressions.


    "Yay! My FiftyShadesofGreen won!" Kisuke cheered like a child.


    "Hmmph, if my John Henry wasn''t distracted at thest second, I would have won!" And Yoruichi sulked like a kid.


    "Right, right," Kisuke then gave her a tight hug tofort her, "But I still won."


    "Hmph!" But despite that, Yoruichi didn''t even try to move away from him.


    After a few more seconds, both of them finally acknowledged the extra people''s presence, "Enough of that. We''ve got guests."


    As if just noticing them now, Kisuke turned towards Loki and others and made a surprised expression, "Oh? If it isn''t Loki-sama and co. It''s been a while~ Have you been well?"


    "��I''ve been very well these past two weeks, and it seems that you two are as close as ever," answered Loki after a short pause.

 Volume 10 600 - Monsters’ Utility

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 600 - Monsters�� Utility</h4>


    "Wait! Don''t just start talking casually! The Vis are still alive!" Tione shouted at them.


    In response, however, Kisuke just turned towards the Vis who were already regaining their bnce after the crash, and suddenly threw the pouch he''d been holding. The pouch flew over and attracted the Vis'' attention and they jumped after it into the depths of the sea.


    "Now there''s no problem~." Kisuke uttered as he dusted his hands off.


    "What do you mean there''s no problem!? You let a dangerous monster escape!" Tione couldn''t ept it.


    Kisuke peeked at her rattled expression and calmly said, "You think that a monster''s presence is always bad?"


    Tione, as well as the other girls from the Loki Familia, couldn''t answer him and could only make confused expressions, "Thank you for such an honest answer," Kisuke sighed at their response, ''I guess they''re also trying to avoid thinking deeply about the monsters. ''Monsters need to be killed'', such a simple notion is actually an advantage for everyone in the Adventuringmunity. No need to think aboutplicated stuff that would question the morals of Adventurers.''


    Tione didn''t like Kisuke''s response, but she didn''t want to be unreasonable and just use him of whatever. With a frown on her face, she asked, "Then are you saying that there are situations where a monsters'' presence is actually good?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Correct. Maybe you''ll understand if I say that those Vis attack other monsters, but not marine life?"


    While the others became even more confused, Loki instantly understood it, "So that''s what you mean��"


    "Loki, please exin!" pleaded Tiona.


    Loki nodded and started talking, "Normally, monsters attack not just people, but also livestock. If a monster lives underwater, it would obviously attack the fish. However, Vis are different as theye after other monsters for their magic stones."


    "If there are no monsters that prey on these marine lives, it means that it can prosper and the fishermen would have a great harvest every time they go to sea. In other words, those Vis are actually protecting those fish from other monsters, resulting in the entire fishing industry improving."


    "B-but wouldn''t those monsters still be dangerous to the fishermen?" asked Lefiya.


    "Correct," answered Kisuke, "However, if you think about it, considering the strength they possess, they are actually a lot easier to deal with than most monsters. After all, all you gotta do is to keep some magic stones on you and use it at the right time, essentially controlling those monsters."


    They finally understood what he meant, but some people still couldn''t ept it. Kisuke knew of their biases so he added a few words to ease them, "It really isn''t a new idea to use monsters for people''s convenience. It''s actually in the same breath of some Familias using tamed Wyverns as a form of air transportation."


    Thinking about it with that line of thought, everyone from the Loki Familia easily epted it, except for one person.


    With a serious expression, Ais stared straight into Kisuke''s eyes and asked, "Are you saying that people and monsters could coexist?"


    Kisuke stared back at her for a few seconds before turning away and answering, "You wouldn''t like my answer."


    As he walked away, Ais bit her lower lip in frustration.


    To ease the atmosphere that had gone somewhat cold due to them, Yoruichi changed the topic, "So, Loki-sama. What''re you doing here?"


    Having the same intention, Loki answered with augh, "We came here to have some fun and cure my eyes!"


    "��You''re a Deity yet you''re having eyesight problems?"


    "Let me reword it. I came here to wash over a disgusting scene," Loki already suspected that it was either Yoruichi or Kisuke who had been nting those terrifying images around the Twilight Manor, and this suspicion strengthened when it stopped happening the moment Kisuke apparently left.


    However, she still didn''t have any sort of evidence, so she could only just watch for any changes from Yoruichi''s reaction to get some clues. Nevertheless, Yoruichi''s expression didn''t even break, "I see that you wanted to overwrite some bad memories~!"


    And as a follow-up, Medusa appeared beside Loki in her maid-themed swimsuit while holding a tray containing a few sses of fruit drinks, "Would you like some cold beverages?"


    "Ah, thanks," but the moment Loki picked up a ss off Medusa''s tray, she finally saw Akeno properly, who was currently offering the same drinks to her children. Since Akeno was facing away from them the moment they''d arrived, they didn''t see how she looks, "I�� I didn''t think I''d meet a child who''s at the same level as Demeter."


    In addition to Akeno''s excessive figure, she was also wearing a green, borderline skimpy bikini that made others afraid that her assets might spill out in an ident.


    "Would you like some?" Coming in front of Tiona, Akeno offered drinks. However the former could only look at the towering peaks with almost teary eyes, "This is injustice!" she shouted. Still, she took a ss, "��Thanks."


    Akeno then proceeded to offer the rest of the Loki Familia members the same drink. And while she was doing that, Yoruichi introduced her, "She''s Akeno, a new member of the Artemis Familia."


    With her tray empty, Akeno bowed slightly to them, "It''s nice to meet everyone. I''m Akeno Himejima. Let''s get along in the future."


    Without missing a beat, Loki wrapped her arm around Akeno. Disying an old man''s face, Loki said, "Say, why don''t youe over to my Familia? I''ll wee you warmly and I''ll give you a lot of benefits~!"


    But instead of Artemis, it was Hestia who took action. Headbutting the perverted Goddess, both of them tumbled back and recoiled in pain, however, Hestia immediately recovered and pointed at her with an angry face, "That''s bad manners, Loki! Don''t try to poach our members!"


    While nursing her forehead, Lokiined, "Dang it. Every time we meet, you be more and more rabid. I fear the day when we meet on the streets and you start biting my face for no reason."


    On the other hand, Artemis just chuckled, "You two really get along well these days."


    Since Artemis knew that Loki was just joking, she wasn''t really angry at her.


    ""We''re not!"" Just as before, they answered in sync.


    "Loki, allow me to introduce you to my other children too," Artemis added.

 Volume 10 601 - Convincing the High Elf

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 601 - Convincing the High Elf</h4>


    After introducing all the new members to Loki and her Familia, her children also started introducing themselves to them. Of course, Loki noted that something was strange with the ck-haired little girl, but she didn''t want to ask them openly.


    Hestia and Artemis also decided not to tell Loki that Ophis isn''t actually a member of their Familia and just let them assume that she was, along with the other new members.


    After everyone''s turn, Kisuke asked a question that had been bothering him since earlier, "By the way, Loki-sama, where''s Riveria-san? Since you brought all of your female members, she should be around here too, unless she has some business she needs to attend to."


    Loki pointed her thumb over her and said, "I gave her a swimsuit, but she hasn''te out."


    It was then that everyone suddenly noticed that Kisuke was already holding a camera in his hands, "Oi," Yoruichi called out.


    Kisuke hurriedly put it back and scratched his head in embarrassment, "My bad habit. I apologize."


    However, Loki gave him a thumbs-up, "I approve if you can provide me a copy! Well, only if you can actually make her wear a swimsuit."


    Kisuke''s eyes shone and he said, "Deal! I''ll try to convince her!" He then started walking towards the rock where Riveria was still mulling about the origin of the world, trying to escape the reality in front of her.


    "T-that face�� It''s the face he makes when he wants to mess with someone��" Akeno muttered.


    "��And from the looks of it, this is not the first time he''s doing it for that particr person," Irina added with a twitching mouth.


    Curious, Serafall turned to Yoruichi and asked, "Say, Yoru-chan, why does he seem so gung ho about this?"


    Yoruichi rubbed her chin in contemtion before replying, "Hmm�� If I were to describe Riveria, she''s the same type of person as Sona-chan."


    "I agree!" Aika nodded at her words.


    "Aika, shut it. And Nee-sama please stop asking about it." But if Sona were to totally be honest, she could really see herself in Riveria. Though the two of them were still very unique individuals. Nevertheless, in Kisuke-meter, the two of them are very ''bulliable''.


    Ignoring Sona, Serafall nodded like a sage, "If that''s the case, then I understand."


    "Kukuku, from my perspective, it''s Sona-chan who is very simr to our Riveria. And one could argue that an embarrassed expression of an overly serious person is one of the best!" Loki also added.


    "What''s this conference of ''Appreciation of the Overly Serious?" Tiona asked.


    "Don''t ask me. But I''m actually surprised that they can keep up with Loki''s nonsensical talks," replied Tione.


    While they were all agreeing and getting along with each other, Kisuke reached the boulder where Riveria was hiding and as before, she was still holding the skimpy swimsuit that Loki gave her, "Woah, that some impressive swimsuit you''ve got there~!"


    Hearing the familiar voice that shouldn''t be here, Riveria was startled and hurriedly turned towards his direction, "K-Kisuke!? What''re you doing here!?"


    But recalling his question and realizing that she''s still holding the swimsuit, Riveria''s face instantly heated up, and tried to hide it behind her, "Y-you''ve got it wrong! Loki gave this to me and I don''t have any intention of wearing it!"


    "Is that so? Such a shame," replied Kisuke with a disappointed face.


    "It is not!" Riveria retorted with all her might.


    Riveria then took a deep breath and managed to sufficiently calm down. But before she said anything, she first observed Kisuke properly as she noticed that he''s wearing swimwear and guessed his intentions in this location. She then rightfully assumed that the rest of the Hestia Familia must be around too if he''s here.


    With her expression returning to normal, Riveria asked again, "Ehem, I see that you''ve returned, but what are you doing here?"


    "Same as your Familia, to have some fun."


    "I''m sorry to break it to you, but we''re not here to have some fun. It''s to investigate the movements of the strange monsters that appeared on the surface."


    Kisuke turned his head towards the group of girls and replied, "Really? They seem to be having plenty of fun."


    "It was Loki''s idea. Soon we''ll have to move ording to our schedule."


    "It''s fine to have a bit of fun too, you know."


    Surprisingly, Riveria nodded, "I know, that''s why I''m joining them soon."


    However, thanks to this, Kisuke found the flow where he wanted to take this conversation, "With that swimsuit?"


    Riveria red at him and answered, "I''m never wearing this!"


    "So you''re saying that you''ll join them with that usual attire of yours?"


    "It''s not a problem, is it?" Riveria then turned around and started walking out, intending to join others as it is.


    "It''s not technically a problem, but you''ll be dampening the mood a bit," with a huge sigh, Kisuke continued, "I guess, as a High Elf and royalty, you really can''t wear a swimsuit and join other races on a beach in it."


    Suddenly, Riveria halted her steps because she heard something that she didn''t like. Turning towards Kisuke with an offended expression, Riveria replied, "This has nothing to do with me being a High Elf nor royalty."


    Shoving the swimsuit she''s hiding to Kisuke, Riveria continued with a dignified voice, "Although it''s getting popr in some parts of the continent, there''s actually no cultural origin of wearing these ''swimsuits'' and it was only introduced by the Deities in recent times. Even then, I knew for sure that even an Amazoness wouldn''t wear this kind of extreme swimsuit. So let me repeat it. Me being High Elf or Royalty has nothing to do with this."


    Of course, Kisuke already knew of her past and already figured some of her insecurities, and this was the reaction he''d been hoping to get. pping his hand together, Kisuke ''realized'' it, "Oh, so it''s not that you won''t wear it, but the swimsuit itself that is the problem. That means, if it''s a proper swimsuit simr to the others, then it won''t be a problem and you''ll wear it, right?"


    Riveria''s serious demeanor faltered a bit and thought that she may have fallen for a trap. However, she can''t really take back what she''d already said and just nodded, "Y-yeah." Though a bit nervous, she''s very sure that Loki didn''t bring an extra swimsuit so the only problem is if Kisuke pulled out a set for her, ''B-but that''s ridiculous, right? Why would he go around carrying swimsuits for women with him?'' She thought.


    However, her hopes were instantly dashed when Kisuke suddenly pulled a swimsuit out of thin air, "How about these?"


    Kisuke showed her a cute light-green and white bikini.

 Volume 10 602 - Convincing the High Elf part 2

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 602 - Convincing the High Elf part 2</h4>


    "W-where did thate from!? And why do you have something like that!?" Riveria yelled in shock.


    "Is that important?"


    "It is!"


    "Well, whatever," Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "In any case, if it''s this swimsuit, you''d be able to wear it, right?"


    Riveria couldn''t help but take a step back, "T-that��"


    With a big grin, Kisuke pushed more, "It''s not about you being a High Elf nor Royalty, right?"


    Giving him another re, Riveria muttered, "You bastard�� You were hoping for this."


    "I have no clue what you''re talking about, but I can assure you that these are brand new, so you shouldn''t worry about anything regarding that."


    "That''s not the problem!"


    "Geez, you''ve too many issues. And here I am, helping you out of goodwill."


    "Guh��," Riveria closed her eyes in frustration, but after silently grunting, she opened them back up and said, "Fine! Give it to me!" Since the ship had sailed, Riveria didn''t argue uselessly with him anymore.


    Grabbing the swimsuit from Kisuke''s hands, Riveria went towards the deeper part of the forest, however, before she fully stepped into it, she turned her head towards him, "Don''t you dare peek."


    With a smile, Kisuke answered, "I won''t~."


    Sighing, Riveria went on her way.


    .


    .


    It had been more than 15 minutes ever since Riveria started changing into the simple bikini, however, Kisuke didn''t be impatient and waited silently for her from a distance.


    It was then that he heard some rustling among the foliage and turned back to see Riveria emerging, "Wee back~ Took you a while, huh?"


    "S-shut it�� This is the first time I''ve put on something like this," Coming out of hiding, Riveria revealed herself to Kisuke. As this was the first time she''d shown this much skin to the opposite gender, she couldn''t stop her face from heating up. It''s really too unfortunate that it was this hooligan who was the first man to see her like this. And despite her best efforts, she couldn''t seem to calm herself down right now.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, just silently looked at her while thinking about something. Extremely bothered by his stare, Riveria asked while using her arms to cover her chest and belly button, "W-what is it? Is there a problem? I knew it, it''s not suited for someone like me."


    "Ah, no. It''s not about that. I''m just thinking of something. Mind lending me your hair tie?"


    Riveria was confused but sheplied. Removing her hair tie released her long green hair. Receiving her golden hair tie, Kisuke took out a transparent short white cardigan and a matching waistcloth and passed it to her.


    "What''s this?"


    "A cardigan and a waistcloth. Try putting them over your swimsuit. It should alleviate some of your uneasiness."


    Riveria thought for a bit before putting it on. Although it''s transparent and everyone could still see the swimsuit underneath, itforted Riveria with the much-needed hug of clothes, "��Thanks."


    Kisuke nodded and said, "Uh-huh, you look great~!"


    "Wha-!?�� R-really?" But realizing her reaction just now, Riveria''s face flushed even more, and she tried to brush it off with a feigned cough, "Ehem�� Please do not tease me."


    Chuckling, Kisuke took out another thing from his inventory, "I''m not teasing you this time. It''s just my honest opinion. Here, put this on as a finishing touch." He then ced a wide floppy straw hat with a matching light-green ribbon on top of her head.


    Riveria could only stay quiet and bite her lips as Kisuke ced the hat on her head. She then tried to hide her face using the brim of said hat.


    Kisuke then turned towards the direction where everyone else was ying and said, "Now that you''re ready, let''s go to where everyone is."


    "��Right," Riveria followed behind him.


    .


    .


    .


    Anakitty and four others had learned how to y it and started a match while the others joined the Hiryute sisters to y in the water.


    Since she kept looking her way, Lefiya noticed that Ais was just sitting on the sand enjoying the sea breeze, "Ais-san! Would you like to go swimming with me?"


    However, contrary to her expectations, Ais hurriedly backed off, "Um�� I-I''m fine�� really��"


    "?" Lefiya was confused by her reaction and Loki suddenly appeared beside them, "What''s up, Ais-tan? Don''t tell me ya still can''t swim?"


    Ais was startled, but she still didn''t move from her position, nor deny Loki''s im.


    "Eh?" Lefiya questioned Loki''s ims, "No way. I didn''t imagine Ais-san of all people being the only one that can''t swim��"


    But thanks to the unreasonable expectations, Ais started panicking. It was then that Lefiya realized that Loki was saying the truth, ''��Amazing�� She''s really distressed!''


    Giving up, Ais came clean to everyone with a deadpan expression, "��When I try to swim, I only�� sink��"


    The others who were ying beach volleyball stopped what they were doing and reacted, "That�� That can''t be true right?"


    Everyone from the Hestia Familia, especially Sona, Koneko and Aika were amazed at this new information, "That''s really surprising. Who would have thought that one of the top Adventurers of Orario didn''t know how to swim? Isn''t it too dangerous for you to go through the Water City?" asked Sona.


    "I can just jump from tform to tform."


    Tiona then raised her hand and said, "How about I teach you how to swim?"


    "Ah, that''s a good idea. It''s also a good opportunity," Tione pitched in.


    After some hesitation, Ais nodded and agreed, "O-okay��"


    Since they were interested, everyone from the Loki Familia also went towards the shallow part of the beach where she''d receive her teachings. Sona, Aika, Koneko and Yoruichi were also a bit interested so they followed to watch while the people left looked after Ophis and ire, who were now building a sandcastle.


    Wanting to test her current skills, Tiona asked Ais to swim by herself first to gauge her. However, it didn''t go well because as soon as she went into the deeper parts, she immediately sank without a trace and had to be saved.


    Seeing this, Loki finally realized it, "It''s no use! The trauma from Riveria''s special training is rooted too deep��"


    "What did Riveria-sama do to her!?" asked Alicia in surprise.


    But instead of answering, Loki wondered and turned towards the direction where Riveria was hiding, "Now that I think about it, where''s Rive��ria?"


    Wondering why Loki''s voice trailed at the end of her question, Alicia also looked in the same direction and saw two peopleing over. However, what caught her attention was the woman who was hiding her face behind Kisuke, "��That is��"


    "Heya~ What''re you all up to?" Kisuke caught everyone''s attention and their sights inevitably moved towards the woman behind him.


    "Who''s that?" Tiona asked in genuine curiosity.


    However, the waving green hair was a dead give away to the other girls, but they couldn''t be so sure due to the atmosphere around her, "Riveria-sama?" Lefiya asked.


    Instead of the strict and sharp aura that Riveria usually had, the woman behind Kisuke was emanating a very feminine aura. A shy girl in the middle of the beach.


    Lifting her hat, Riveria revealed her slightly flushed face, "��What?"


    Everyone froze and almost couldn''t recognize her.


    However, just as Kisuke had expected, it was Loki who recovered first and reacted, "I didn''t know you had such a cute side in you!" She then jumped at her while shouting, "Screw reason! Prepare yourself, Riveria!"


    Nevertheless, Loki only received a punch in the face from Riveria, "Get away from me."

 Volume 10 603 - First Steps towards Advancing the World

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 603 - First Steps towards Advancing the World</h4>


    While the Loki Familia members were scrambling around the embarrassed Riveria, Kisuke separated from them and approached Yoruichi, Aika, Sona, Tiona and Ais who were left alone, "Trying to learn how to swim?"


    Ais''s expression became slightly awkward as she recalled theirst conversation. Nevertheless, she still nodded, "Y-yes."


    Tiona then smiled wryly and said, "It''s not going well, though."


    Kisuke looked at Ais for a short while and noted her slight trembling on the water and figured out what''s going on, "Well, if you can''t ovee your fear of deep waters, you''ll never be able to properly learn how to swim. Why are you so afraid anyway?"


    To that question, Ais''s face became slightly pale and her trembling worsened as she hugged Tiona closely. "Aha��haha. She hasn''t recovered from the trauma of Riveria''s training years ago," Tiona answered whileughing wryly.


    "Hmm��," Kisuke started rubbing his chin. Wondering what he''s thinking about, Kisuke suddenly grinned and said, "Want to learn a nifty trick?"


    Ais tilted her head and asked, "Trick?"


    While his girls, Tiona and Ais were watching, Kisuke suddenly walked over to the water. However, instead of sinking, Kisuke took another step on the water, and now he was standing on the water on his own two feet.


    Tiona and Ais''s eyes widened at this scene and the former asked with a trembling voice, "H-how!?"


    Due to Tiona''s exmation, the people who were scrambling around Riveria, looked in their direction. At first, they couldn''t understand what was going on or why Tiona suddenly eximed and was making such a shocked expression. But the moment Kisuke took a few more steps towards the deeper parts of the water, they finally realized what was going on, yet they still couldn''t understand what''s happening, so they could only remain speechless while making shocked faces, trying toprehend the scene in front of them.


    Ais, on the other hand, let go of Tiona and approached Kisuke, before starting to look around his feet, trying to figure out how he''s doing this, "This is the nifty trick I''m talking about~." Kisuke said while looking down at her.


    Ais then suddenly looked up to him with shining eyes and said, "Please teach me how!"


    Not long after Ais''s plea, Line also raised her hand and said, "Please teach me too!"


    Recovering from her shock, Tiona also joined in, "Me too!"


    Recovering from her shyness after witnessing a very interesting technique, Riveria also raised her voice with shining eyes, "I would like to learn it too, if possible."


    "If Tiona is learning it, please let me in too!" Tione added, not wanting to be left behind.


    As for the rest, since they were not really close to the Hestia Familia, especially Kisuke, nor were they as outgoing and honest as the Hiryute sisters, despite their interest and curiosity, they couldn''t tell Kisuke that they wanted to learn it too.


    Seeing this, Loki was about to ask Kisuke to include the others too, but before she could speak up, she saw Kisuke winked at her. Understanding what he meant, Loki backed down.


    Kisuke then pped his hands and said, "Alright~! Since so many people want to learn it, those who don''t want to y around anymore are free to join~!"


    Hesitantly, Lefiya asked, "I-is that fine with you? It seems like a very important exploration skill. And can we really learn it without it being reflected on our Status?"


    Kisuke nodded and answered, "You sure can. And if possible, I''d like you to stop thinking about your Skills, Magic and Developmental Abilities, no matter how rare they are, while learning this trick."


    Lefiya and the rest looked at each other in confusion, however, it was easy enough of a condition so they just nodded.


    "Great~! Then before I teach you how to actually do this, I''d like to talk to Loki-sama in private."


    Riveria sighed after hearing this and thought, ''Of course it wouldn''t be for free. Most likely, he''ll ''issue the bill'' to Loki for all this trouble.'' However, she understood where Kisuke wasing from and also didn''t like the idea of getting indebted to him, and not knowing how to pay it back. It''s just too risky when ites to Kisuke.


    Kisuke walked towards Loki and passed by her. Loki thought for a bit before following him towards a certain distance that the others wouldn''t overhear their conversation, "What do you want as an exchange and why are you being so secretive about it?"


    "Well, you''ll probably question my motives so I''m doing this as a precaution," answered Kisuke.


    Loki looked straight into his eyes and said with a serious expression, "Out with it."


    "My condition is, whatever they learn from me as a group, I would like them to spread it to everyone."


    "Everyone?"


    "Yes, everyone. Every Adventurer out there, including the Ganesha Familia, Hephaestus Familia and�� the Freya Familia."


    Loki became quiet for a few minutes and Kisuke just waited for her response. It wasn''t long until Loki responded but instead of asking about his motives, she went straight to the thing she''s most curious about, "What''s going to happen? And what do you know?"


    Kisuke was already prepared for her to ask a few questions, but he didn''t expect her to go straight to that part. And despite the casual way Loki asked her question, Kisuke could feel some pressure from her as Deity, signifying her seriousness.


    But before Kisuke could answer her, Loki continued speaking, "If I''m not wrong, the mainponent behind that trick is life energy, or what you call Ki, right?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Correct."


    "Even though us Gods are aware of its existence, we know for sure that only a few people in history were able to manifest it. Even then, they were not able to use it for anything useful aside from lengthening their lifespans by a decade or two."


    "So when I heard from Riveria that some of you are utilizing this energy, I was shocked. However, I didn''t delve deeper into it with respect to your privacy and Hestia. But now, you''re asking my children to spread the method of manipting life energy which in turn may put them in danger from the attention they would be getting from other Deities."


    "On those grounds, I would have immediately refused this despite the apparent benefit. Just so you know, even though us Gods came down here for entertainment, that doesn''t mean we don''t care about order or the lives in the Lower World if it''s for our own amusement."


    "However, I still regard you highly. So I''m asking you, what''s going to happen and what do you know? Give me an answer that will allow me to agree with your ns."


    Kisuke sighed, "I''m not a prophet nor do I have the skill of one, so I don''t really know what''s going to happen. As for what I do know, I don''t really know that much either, so I can''t really answer any of those questions in a way that would satisfy you. If it''s my motives, it''s easier to answer as I only wanted a potential option for the future."


    Loki''s jaw ckened when she heard Kisuke''s answer, "Y-y-you were nning for an indefinite future and cing indefinite measures!? You''re nning to drag my children into danger for nonsensical sh*t like that!?"


    "Uh, it''s not nonsensical. I at least think that this is a good measure for the things that I think might happen in the future," Kisuke immediately corrected her.

 Volume 10 604 - Loki’s Hardships

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 604 - Loki��s Hardships</h4>


    "Bullsh*t! How is all of that sensical!?" hollered Loki.


    Kisuke became quiet for a moment, closed his eyes, and thought of ways to convince her, ''Should I just take a gamble?'' He opened his eyes and looked straight into Loki''s eyes, ''If I''m going to do that, I should be able to gauge her affiliation�� and it would be interesting to see her reaction.''


    Loki was mad, but when she saw a grin on Kisuke''s face, she became a bit concerned, "W-what? Ya nnin'' something else?"


    But instead of answering her, Kisuke turned back and suddenly yelled, "Ophis-chan~! Come here for a minute."


    Ophis looked towards him for a few seconds before standing up and leaving behind the sandcastle she had been working on. Loki didn''t say anything hereafter and just waited for the child that has been giving her a strange feeling to slowly walk over.


    Ophis reached Kisuke''s side and looked up to him, "��What is it?"


    "Could you perhaps hide us?" asked Kisuke.


    Loki became confused at his question but Ophis immediately understood what he meant, "��Only for a few seconds, or else, he''ll notice."


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s more than enough."


    While Loki was looking confused, Ophis suddenly lifted her right arm over to her head and the surrounding scenery suddenly became distorted until it was instantly dyed in ck. While Loki''s eyes opened widely in shock, she was more surprised with the aura that the little girl was emitting instead of the sudden change in scenery, "W-What are you!?"


    But instead of addressing her concerns, Kisuke exined, "I''m doing this because of the existence known as ''Chaos''."


    Loki became frozen at his words, and two secondster, the darkness engulfing them receded, returning the scenery to normal, as if nothing had happened.


    Immediately after, Loki tried her best to return her expression to normal and hide her agitation. But just from this, Kisuke was able to gauge where she was standing and thought that revealing a few things to her was worth it.


    As Loki became quiet, Kisuke could see minute changes in her expression and could tell that she was under a lot of stress.


    And indeed, Loki was very stressed after what just happened. There were two main points, but Loki couldn''t ask for rification to either of those, ''Because of that ck space, we were temporarily separated from ''reality''. Although ''that guy'' shouldn''t have seen anything, a fluctuation within thews of the world would surely get his attention and he would investigate it. Although he might not have been looking just now, he should still be eyeing this part of the Lower World right now!''


    ''Thanks to that, I can''t ask what the identity of that little girl is nor how he knew of ''that guy''! Fuck! I want to know, but I can''t unless I want to get ''his'' attention now!'' Hence, the source of her stress.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke just waited for her to gather and sort out her thoughts quietly. Ophis, on the other hand, immediately returned to her ytime after fulfilling Kisuke''s request.


    After a few minutes, Loki sighed heavily and red at Kisuke, "Teach them and make sure that they''ll survive whatever''sing down, then at least I won''t be your enemy." She then walked away from Kisuke, not waiting for her reply. She won''t take a no for an answer. She''d do anything to keep her beloved children safe from unreasonable forces.


    ''Everyone thought that the most that could happen in this era would be the subjugation of the ck Dragon. Moreover, I''m sure that no Deity would expect that there are individuals that could potentially unveil the secret of the Dungeon,'' Loki then stopped walking for a moment and looked up to the sky, ''If ''it'' rises up again, who''s side is going to prevail this time? All logic and reasoning goes to ''that guy''s'' side, but what is this feeling? For the first time ever, instead of just looking forward to the future and the stories of my children, I''m very conflicted.''


    Resuming her steps towards her children again, Loki kept asking herself, ''At that time, where should I stand?''


    The first one to approach her was Riveria as she asked, "What''s wrong?"


    Loki shook her head and sighed, "Nothing. He''ll teach you that ''trick'' now so be sure to study it carefully. It should be useful in the future."


    Her uncharacteristic response weirded out Riveria but she could also tell that she didn''t want to talk about this further so Riveria instead asked, "What about his ''price''?"


    "We''ve talked it out so you shouldn''t worry about it. Though I want it to be between us for now, so I''m sorry, but I can''t tell you."


    Riveria became even more hesitant after hearing that but Loki reassured her, "Don''t think about it. What he wants is on me and he wouldn''t ask anything else from you lot. Be at ease."


    Only then could Riveria sigh in relief.


    ''Looks like dealing with Kisuke''s ''prices'' gave her a bit of trauma,'' Loki snickered inwardly.


    In the meantime, Yoruichi approached Kisuke, "What happened?"


    From her point of view, nothing out of the ordinary happened except for the sudden slight fluctuation of Mana, Ki and Spirit Particles in the surroundings. However, she had been listening to their conversation and felt baffled when their topic shifted into an entirely different direction. Her guess is that Kisuke asked Ophis to do something that she wasn''t able to perceive.


    But instead of answering her, Kisuke just held her hand. At first, Yoruichi was confused with what he''s trying to do, but her expression stiffened slightly when she received a coded message from Kisuke using his Reiatsu. This secret code which meant ter'' was one of the manymunication codes that were used within the Onmitsukido or the Stealth Force back in the Seireitei. She was surprised at the extent of Kisuke wanting to keep this a secret.


    Figuring out that someone might be watching, it''ll look weird if she just stood there saying nothing so she changed the topic, "You''re teaching them how to manipte Ki?"


    Kisuke nodded and said, "Yeah. I can''t have them as helpless as they are right now in the future. If chaos were to happen in the future, I don''t want them retiring to the sidelines. As you know, since we''re just a small group, the more chaotic things are, the better."


    "I see�� And I agree. We can''t be the only ones that go to the deeper parts of the Dungeon," Yoruichi knew that Kisuke is referring to something else, but for the sake of saying something back and not drawing suspicion, she replied as such.


    Kisuke grinned and said, "Correct~."


    Within the void, the eyes that are looking down at the Lower World lost their interest and went back to inactivity, waiting for the ''Tiger'' to fulfill his end of the deal and pull ''that being'' out from the depths of the Dungeon.

 Volume 10 605 - Revealed

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 605 - Revealed</h4>


    "Alright, everyone! Gather up!" Kisuke raised his voice.


    Soon after, everyone from the Loki Familia had gathered around him in anticipation. Although there are other feelings mixed in like embarrassment, due to Kisuke being a man and seeing them in their swimsuits, they couldn''t feel an ounce of the strange stare that most men give them so they were able to rx a bit.


    Kisuke didn''t immediately address them and contemted on something, ''Hmm�� Just teaching them isn''t enough. They also need the motivation to move forward,'' deciding on the steps he intended to take, Kisuke finally started, "Before I teach it to everyone, I first have to exin a few things."


    "To learn this ''trick'', you just have to learn how to manipte energy, a type of energy that is different from Magic Power?"


    Just from this, everyone aside from Riveria, Ais and Line became confused, "A different type of energy outside of Magic Power? Does something like that exist?" asked Lefiya.


    "Yes. It''s not widely known but there are actually three types of power that reside in everyone, including Magic Power. As for the other two, we''ll only discuss one of them as it''s almost impossible to manipte thest one."


    Kisuke then saw Tiona raise her hand, "You said that these powers reside within everyone, but my Magic Parameter was zero from the moment I received my Falna. So Magic Power shouldn''t exist within me."


    "Incorrect. The Magic Power that you can see on your Status is the amount that you can actively use. In your case, all the Magic Power that you have went straight towards passively strengthening your other parameters. You should have marginally more Strength, Endurance and Agility than your twin sister, right? On top of that, those three parameters develop faster than everyone else despite doing the same thing."


    "T-that''s true�� So I really do have Magic Power? It''s just that, I can''t use it aside from strengthening myself?"


    Kisuke nodded in acknowledgment.


    cing her right fist on top of her left palm, Tione thought the right words for her, "Ah, in other words, a power idiot."


    "Exactly," Kisuke nodded yet again.


    Of course, Tiona immediately protested, "Who''re you calling an idiot!?"


    Unfortunately for her, everyone else ignored her as they wanted to listen to Kisuke''s words more. Even for Riveria, the fact that Tiona actually had Magic Power, but it''s used to strengthen her was actually a theory in her mind and she had no way to actually prove it.


    "Now then, moving on, the other energy residing within you is very basic. So basic that you''re already feeling it the moment you were born, which is why it''s so hard to perceivepared to Magic Power. And this is your Life Force."


    "There are many ways to describe it. One could say it''s the power that your blood carries, but in a broader sense, it''s the power of your own physical body."


    Immediately after, Tione interrupted him, "Even if you say that it''s hard to perceive, someone out there other than you should have made the same discovery, yet it''s still unknown to this day. How can you prove that you''re telling the truth?"


    And looking at the rest''s reaction, Kisuke figured out they have the same question in mind.


    Kisuke understood her skepticism. In fact, he appreciates it. He doesn''t really want to teach people that just ept everything he says. Smiling, he answered, "The fact that there are honorable Goddess present right now and haven''t called out any lies is already evidence."


    It was only then that they recalled that he couldn''t lie in front of a Deity and epted it. In addition, their intrigue regarding this topic increased along with their anticipation.


    However, for Kisuke, this anticipation was far from enough, "Nevertheless, I can still show you two concrete pieces of evidence to prove my words. First is the Status and the second is a demonstration."


    "Wait! By Status, you don''t mean��," Riveria interrupted him.


    "Well, you''ve already seen it, so you could just ignore it."


    Riveria put her palm on her face and sighed, ''That isn''t the problem!'' She thought and became worried about the girls'' perception of the world. Theirmon sense was just about to be shattered, ''But, maybe this is for the best?''


    Confused at Riveria''s reaction, everyone became curious as Kisuke suddenly pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Hestia first, "Please confirm the authenticity of this."


    Written on the paper was Koneko''s Basic Abilities before she levelled up to 2.


    Shirone Toujou


    Level 1


    STR: SSS-1490


    VIT: EX-1500


    DEX: SSS-1339


    AGI: SSS-1475


    MANA: SS-1001


    KI: EX-1500


    With a nk face and a dryugh, Hestia nodded and confirmed, "Aha��haha��haha�� This is Koneko-kun''s Status before she became Level 2."


    Artemis also took a peek and was shocked. But thanks to Hestia''s warningsst night, she wasn''t as surprised. After all, her children will also go in this direction too and she had already hardened her mind.


    Unfortunately, thest Goddess wasn''t informed of any of this and carelessly approached the two of them, "Whatcha lookin'' at? Lemme take a peek too! You''re going to show this to my children, right?"


    But the moment sheid her eyes on the sheet of paper, her eyes widened and she snatched the paper from Hestia''s hand before howling to the sky while looking at it, "What the heck is this!?!?!"


    "Koneko-kun''s Status before she leveled up," answered Hestia calmly. However, it was also apparent that there was a bit of smugness on her face.


    "No no no no! How can someone have a Status like this!? Evenpared to my Ais-tan, this is too much!" Loki couldn''t ept it.


    "I can guarantee that what''s written on that is true. Aside from that, there''s actually no point in me lying to you, right? Moreover, with something this ridiculous," Hestia added.


    Loki stared at her with an unbelieving expression and Hestia continued, "Yes, even for me, this is ridiculous."


    "What about the others?" asked Loki.


    "Why would I answer that?"


    "Is this really true?"


    "Should I show you Koneko-kun''s Falna?"


    Loki then proceeded to scratch her head, ''It''s not just spection anymore. If all of them have simr Status, then without a doubt, they''ll reach the deepest part of the Dungeon if given enough time!'' She thought.


    Riveria approach Loki to try andfort her, "I know it''s shocking to see an additional line below the Basic Abilities in addition to really surprisingly high parameters."


    It was Loki''s turn to look at Riveria with a nk expression, "Really? Then why don''t you take a look?"


    Riveria thought that although Koneko has ''Ki'' on her Basic Abilities, there''s really nothing strange about it. Little did she know that it was extremely outdated information.


    The moment sheid her eyes on it, however, she had the same reaction as Loki, but much quieter, "What the heck is this?"

 Volume 10 606 - Weaponizing One’s Body

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 606 - Weaponizing One��s Body</h4>


    "Is this even possible?" Riveria asked.


    Curious of her reaction, others also approached her and the first one to do so was Ais, as she''s also incredibly interested in their Basic Abilities when they each faced multiple Minotaurs not too long ago.


    Like Loki and Riveria, however, the moment theyid their eyes on it, they thought that it was a very bad joke, except for Line, who had experience adventuring with them.


    With the entire Loki Familia silent, Kisuke pped his hand and said as if nothing was strange at all, "See thest line designated as Ki? It''s the same energy I''m talking about. So this proves that it exists and could be used."


    "Wait for a second! This line is really surprising, but don''t just brush off the ridiculous numbers on her Status! Is this true!?" Tione asked while gripping her hand tightly.


    Kisuke squinted his eyes and said, "Of course, it''s true. I don''t have any reason to lie about this. Besides, can you really say that this is false after witnessing their battle that day? Well, to be fair, Koneko-chan''s status was this high when they faced the Minotaurs."


    "H-how is this possible?" muttered Ais. But despite the low volume of her voice, everyone heard her.


    "Hmm~ I wonder~ Maybe because we do things a bit differently?"


    After mulling over, something crossed Loki''s mind, "Wait, Hestia. Did you do something else to their Falna?"


    Everyone from the Loki Familia thought that Loki was implying that Hestia cheated somehow and to their surprise, Hestia nodded, "It''s the old Falna."


    Loki''s eyes squinted further before she started scratching her head, "So it''s really that, huh�� Even then, it''s very surprising that they managed to improve under that circumstance."


    Loki''s response broke their expectation and realized that they assumed it wrongly, "Loki, what''s this old Falna?" asked Riveria.


    "It''s the blessing that the Gods gave the people of the Lower World when they first came down. Compared to today''s Falna that everyone uses, it gives the ability to grow a lot faster in terms of parameters."


    "Then why didn''t you give us this type?" asked Ais as she gripped her hand tighter.


    Loki understood her feelings and answered, "Because it has a very big w. So big that the children who received it didn''t get much stronger."


    "w?"


    "Where do you think therge majority of an Adventurer''s strength came from?"


    Thinking about it for a moment, Riveria answered, "Skills, Development Abilities, and Magic."


    "Correct. And the very first blessing, despite giving the child arge boost to their physical abilities, doesn''t provide anything special. You lot should know that beating monsters through simple brute force doesn''t really work effectively on strong monsters as normally, they are much stronger. Even Tiona and Tione''s ''Berserk'' is incredibly useful, not to mention Development Abilities that give resistances."


    Eye wide open, Lefiya raised her voice, "Then what about their magic!? Are you saying that those incredible magic they disyed were not from a Deity''s blessing?"


    Loki, however, stayed silent as she too didn''t know. Nevertheless, she looked towards Riveria for rification.


    Riveria, on the other hand, looked towards Kisuke, wanting to ask for his permission. Though before she could ask, she saw him nodding at her. Sighing, Riveria revealed it, "I think it''s fair to assume that their magic was something they learned how to cast and even I don''t match Kisuke''s control in magic power. That''s the main reason why I kept going to their ce. It is for me to learn magic from him."


    "Y-you''re learning from him?" asked Lefiya with an incredulous expression. As for others, they were also making the same face. There were so many surprising things today, but this must be the most surprising revtion for them. After all, who would believe that the greatest Mage in Orario would be learning magic from a Level 2 Adventurer?


    Riveria didn''t mind this reaction and just smiled, "It''s true. His control is so amazing that even his Wind Magic, even though it can''t outss Ais'' Wind Magic in terms of power, is still a lot better than hers."


    Lefiya''s jaw dropped and her head mechanically turned to her idol.


    Ais then nodded at Riveria''s words, "It''s true. Despite using my Ariel, I lost to his Wind Magic."


    A wave of headaches came to everyone. They couldn''t take it anymore or keep up. They thought that this is just a bad dream.


    However, this was just the start of their world view copsing. Ais looked towards Line who was staying quiet and away from other''s line of sight, "Line is the first one to start learning magic from him, so if it''s really possible to learn their magic, the results should be on her."


    Seeing that everyone''s attention was now on her, Line couldn''t help but smile wryly. Even then, she decided to be honest, "I did learn a few things already. I can now cast my healing magic without chanting. On top of that, I can also cast a few Elemental Magic for everyday use."


    Lifting her right hand, a small ball of me suddenly manifested on top of it, shocking everyone else yet again. They knew for sure that Line wasn''t capable of casting any other magic aside from her healing.


    Line, however, kept silent on the fact that she reset her Level to 1 and now her parameters are around S and A after Adventuring with Sona andpany.


    Another round of silence took over the girls of the Loki Familia. They were tired, very tired. Nheless, Tiona was the first one to recover and raised her hand with an excited voice, "Please teach me about this Ki! What does it do!?"


    The others were very impressed at her recovery rate, ''As expected of the muscle-head. She doesn''t think much,'' thought everyone.


    Kisuke grinned, "Okay~. Koneko-chan, mind stepping over here for a minute?"


    Koneko nodded and went beside him as Kisuke continued, "Aside from walking on water, you can also do some other neat tricks with enough mastery."


    Kisuke then looked towards Lefiya and said, "Viridis-san, mind attacking Koneko-chan with one of your magic? You don''t have to hold back."


    "W-what? But that''s too dangerous!"


    With a condescending expression, Kisuke answered, "It''s fine. I''ll take responsibility. Though Koneko-chan will definitely be fine."


    Something snapped within Lefiya''s mind. As one of the most prominent Mages within Orario and Riveria''s prot��g��, she certainly takes pride in it. Of course, Kisuke''s attitude didn''t bode well with her and agreed to what he wanted.


    After getting confirmation from Riveria, Lefiya went away for a moment to get her wand. Once she returned, she immediately warned Kisuke and Koneko, "Please be aware. One of my skills is called Fairy Canon that doubles the effect of my attack magic. Monsters from the deeper floors of the Dungeon will almost always take heavy damage despite their strong defenses that can block multiple attacks from top Adventurers."


    However, Kisuke just waved his hand in dismissal as he walked out of the way, "I said it''s fine."


    Sessfully having her nerves touched, Lefiya immediately started casting her magic while Riveria sighed on the side. Even so, she''s incredibly curious about how Koneko would block Lefiya''s magic, ''She should be aware of how strong Lefiya''s magic is and she definitely wouldn''t be able to take it head-on when we were togetherst time. Did something change? Did she level up? If that''s true, then they''re really one ridiculous group.''


    Finishing her chant, Lefiya released an arrow of magic, "Arcs Ray!"


    The arrow carved a path along the beach, creating a small explosion of sand particles, partly covering everyone''s view. Even then, everyone saw it clearly. Koneko put her right arm in front of her before it lit up in white transparent light.


    Seeing that she really didn''t dodge, Lefiya panicked a bit and tried to pull away from the trajectory of her magic. However, before she could do so, she witnessed a trauma-inducing scene for Mages happen in front of her.


    Figuring out Lefiya''s intention, Koneko dashed forward, towards the oing magic. Although she heard some screams from the background, she ignored them as she pped away Lefiya''s Arcs Ray with her bare hands, sending it towards the ocean, creating a big explosion of water behind her.


    With everyone stupefied, Kisuke exined with a gleeful voice, "Another trick you can do with it is weaponizing your own body~!"

 Volume 10 607 - Serafall taking the Stage

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 607 - Serafall taking the Stage</h4>


    The dumb Amazoness didn''t even question what she just saw and simply said, "Please teach that to me!"


    "Well, it''s a pretty advanced technique. Without proper control, knowledge or capacity, it''s impossible to pull off something like that," replied Kisuke.


    Those who normally take the vanguard position became very interested in Ki, however, the same couldn''t be said to those who normally take the rearguard. They''re more interested in how to counter something like that.


    If this were to be widespread, their position would be in jeopardy as many people may be able to easily counter them, which in turn, increases the risk to their lives.


    Of course, Kisuke knew that not everyone had an affinity with Ki, so as to not widen the gap between Magic and Ki, Kisuke nned to introduce more usages for Magic and break their doctrine that Magic could only be used the way they''re currently using it. In other words, breaking theirmon sense regarding Magic.


    "Now then, before we continue, let me add a few things for those who''re making sour faces."


    Hearing that, Lefiya''s pouty face froze and tried to revert her expression to normal. However, her failed attempt only made her face worse. Chuckling at that, Kisuke continued, "It''s not just Ki that can do this trick. Magic is also capable of doing so. Moreover, although not specialized for body reinforcement, Magic can also strengthen your body actively."


    Of course, as Magic users that are more focused on their Magic parameter and are assigned to deal devastating blows to enemies, they doubt if they could really strengthen their ''frail'' bodies.


    Guessing their thoughts, Kisuke turned to Serafall and said, "Sera-chan~! These people don''t know the true potential of Magic. The most important thing for them is their Magic''s firepower. They don''t even know how to walk on water despite knowing how to ''use'' Magic."


    Serafall, who was having a fun time with Sona while ignoring most of the things that were happening because it had nothing to do with her, immediately reacted, "Huh? The most important thing is firepower!? And they can''t even walk on water!? Just how poor is their control!? I didn''t expect such an infuriating group would exist!"


    Since Kisuke and the rest hadn''t exined the nature of Magic in this world to Serafall, she didn''t know that people of this world depend on chants to control and materialize their Magic. However, even if she did know, she might have said the same thing.


    It''s true that controlling Magic Power in this world is hard and risky, but total control is not impossible. Just depending on what was given to you, it didn''t bode well with Serafall, who even though she had an enormous amount of Demonic Power and could cast Magic through just her imagination, it didn''t stop her from studying other systems of Magic, including Holy Magic even if she couldn''t use it.


    However, Serafall''s words hurt their pride that even Riveria couldn''t help but furrow her brows, "We''re Adventurers. Although we know the importance of versatility in Magic, pure firepower could overturn the situation in the deeper floors, hence it''s much more important. How would you defeat hundreds or thousands of monsters besieging you if not with firepower?"


    Serafall wanted to refute her but managed to stop herself and simply sigh. Just from Riveria''s reaction, Serafall figured that they hadn''t met an enemy that could reflect Magic attacks. Pure firepower attacks are indeed effective, but only if the conditions were optimal and you wanted to finish off weakened enemies.


    Unless one has special properties in their Magic attack like Sirzechs'', it''s a basic thing to prepare defensive or reflecting spells againstrge scale attacks. Moreover, destruction type spells were heavy for Magic Power consumptionpared to Bewitching or other crowd control spells which are generally harder to counter due to their variations.


    And if you''re really besieged, saving your strength is equally important as finishing the battle quickly.


    Sighing, Serafall replied, "I won''t argue with you anymore since I also don''t know what the Dungeon has to offer."


    But immediately after, her cheerful expression returned and added, "However, I''ll still demonstrate you some nifty magic tricks~!"


    Riveria, however, was getting a strange feeling. It''s as if a veteran is trying to tell her that she wouldn''t understand unless you experienced it yourself.


    Meanwhile, Yoruichi approached Kisuke and asked him if this is fine, "It''s fine~ She knows she can''t show anything powerful."


    While receiving doubtful looks from the rearguard members, Serafall continued walking until she stepped on the water. Simr to Kisuke, she kept herself afloat, "I''m doing the same thing as he did, but instead of Ki, I''m controlling my Magic Power to keep the state of the water below me. However, this is a pretty advanced technique and it''s a lot easier to just use Elemental Magic."


    After her exnation, the water below her slowly froze, without her doing anything evident.


    The Mages became wide-eyed seeing this as they couldn''t even tell when she cast her magic, nor could they feel the disturbance in Magic Power which is very normal when a spell is being activated.


    Disregarding their reactions, Serafall continued walking while creating ice on her path until she stopped a few meters away from the shore, "Of course, this isn''t just limited to Ice Magic, as you can use Water Magic to condense and solidify the water itself."


    As she took another step forward, instead of ice, under her feet were vortexes, "You can also use Wind Magic to keep yourself afloat, but if it''s Wind Magic, you''d rather have just propelled yourself."


    As she finished her words, the wind suddenly gathered and gushed around Serafall, before she suddenly shot up to the sky, hovering midair and looking down on everyone with a bright smile, "Well, these are just a few things you could do with Magic~! In a real battle, you can use these to reposition yourselves to more favorable terrain~."


    "S-she''s flying��" Muttered Lefiya.


    "��Even Ais-san couldn''t stay that long in midair," added Alicia.


    "More importantly, I didn''t even hear her chant a single word to do all of that�� How was that possible? Is it because of a rare skill?" asked Elfy, Lefiya''s roommate.


    With a bitter smile, Riveria shook her head, "No�� That wasn''t a rare skill. After all, Kisuke was also capable of that. You should have seen Sona, Aika and Koneko cast their spells. They didn''t mutter a single thing, and I don''t think only they are capable of this in their Familia. You know how unlikely it is for individuals to have the same skills, right?"


    She then smiled and looked up to Serafall, "She said that firepower isn''t the most important thing against arge number of enemies. I wonder what she knows to strongly believe that isn''t the case? Either way, I want to know more and if you want to do the same, you first have to throw away your notion of Magic and even those I taught you in the past."


    Anakitty understood her stance immediately and said, "Riveria-sama is admitting defeat?"


    The first time she witnessed something like this, Riveria thought that Kisuke was someone special. However, after seeing such usage of magic from many individuals, Riveria already epted that he isn''t unique. In that case, she really knew nothing about Magic and only now could she ept it.


    Hearing that, Serafall smiled slightly and continued, "Now then~! To master Magic, first you have to discard the thinking that it can only be used effectively from the back. Sure you can be a Mage that bombards enemies, however, being a Magic-Fighter is better overall due to their versatility."


    "Magic-Fighter? How are they different from Mages?" asked Riveria.


    "If Mages mostly just stay at the back to give covering fire or support, Magic-Fighters are those people who can use Magic to fight, regardless of their position on the battlefield. Well, that''s the rough definition. The distinction between Mages and Magic-Fighters is blurry as reality could be a lot more diverse andplicated, you know~." answered Serafall as she conjured a spear made out of ice in an instant.

 Volume 10 608 - Demonstration

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 608 - Demonstration</h4>


    Seeing the spear that appeared from nowhere reminded the top Adventurers of something, "Sacred Gear?" asked Ais.


    Serafall raised her brows and turned towards Kisuke and asked, "They know about Sacred Gears?"


    But instead of answering Serafall''s question, Kisuke asked Ais, "Did you hear about it from Hephaestus-sama?"


    Ais nodded at his question. Such a unique weapon, of course, they''d gather information about it and try to acquire it as well. It''s too bad, however, that Hephaestus didn''t want to make it for them regardless of Loki''s offer.


    Nheless, they didn''t know that the real reason is that even she couldn''t create it easily without Kisuke''s help. Hephaestus could create an appearing and disappearing weapon based on the concept of a Sacred Gear that she acquired from helping Kisuke, however, she felt it would do an injustice for true Sacred Gears if she did that.


    Until she could find a way to make this happen without using a Sacred Gear''s concept, she wouldn''t do it.


    Kisuke then turned to Serafall and said, "With the help of a certain Goddess, I was able toplete a few artificial Sacred Gears. Well, also with the help of Azazel''s data. If not for that, it would have taken a long time to develop one from scratch."


    Serafall''s eyes shone like a child who found a new toy she wanted in a supermarket, "I want one~!"


    "��You don''t really need one, though? If made poorly or if it''s even slightly ipatible with you, it''d only hold you back," replied Kisuke with a twitching mouth.


    "I want a wand type~!" Serafall didn''t listen and added to her request.


    Kisuke could only sigh and said, "Let''s talk about thister."


    "I''ll be expecting it~!" With a smile, Serafall turned her attention back to the Loki Familia and said, "You got it wrong. This isn''t a Sacred Gear. This is just a spear made out of ice conjured using my Magic. If we were topare this to normal weapons, it''s as strong as a good quality steel weapon."


    Every one of them immediately got the implication of that and Riveria muttered, "Then all low-level cksmiths would lose their worth."


    But Serafall immediately shook her head to her words, "Nope. To reach this level a certain amount of mastery is needed. Most Magic-Users can only make brittle weapons that could only bepared to the weapons of apprentice cksmiths."


    "But even then, a weapon is a weapon, and as long as you could keep up with its rtively low magic power consumption, you''ll technically have unlimited weapons at your disposal. Right now, I''m showing you that it''s possible to engage enemies in close range if you can also use Physical Enhancement Magic. You''ll only be a second-rate Magic-User if you think you''ll be defeated if enemies cornered you."


    Lefiya then raised her hand and asked something that made her interested, "Uhmm, you said Physical Enhancement Magic. Is that a Magic that can increase physical parameters?"


    "Yep. Although it is not as effective and efficient as Ki, it''s still possible to strengthen your physical abilities using your Magic Power. In fact, it''s more widely used as it''s easier to do so and less risky than Ki."


    As a demonstration, Serafall lifted her spear as she spun it once and aimed at the trees behind the Loki Familia before throwing it while her arm emitted an obvious fluctuation of Magic Power. The spear of ice whistled through the air until it hit its target but it didn''t stop just there as it continued to pierce through obstacles until it reached and stopped beyond a hundred meters away.


    "T-that''s like a throw of a full-powered level 3 or 4 and she did it so casually��," murmured Alicia.


    Nevertheless, Serafall isn''t done yet, "Of course, there are some advantages to Magic over Ki�� Something like this," Serafall then created another ice spear and went into her throwing stance, aiming towards a boulder, a kilometer away from them. But before she released it, multiple blue magic circles suddenly manifested and lined up in front of her.


    As Serafall threw the spear, it went through the magic circles she created. Each pass would elerate the spear''s speed exponentially and as it passed through the final circle, its speed already broke the sound barrier multiple times, creating a sonic boom and whipping through everyone present.


    Since even those with the fastest reactions from the Loki Familia could only barely perceive the spear due to the speed it was traveling, they only managed to clearly see the resulting destruction not even a secondter.


    Therge boulder in the distance was no more and they could only see earth and dustunching to the sky. It was approximately three seconds before they heard the sound of the explosion it caused.


    While everyone from Loki Familia was speechless, Serafall stood proudly with both of her hands on her waist and said, "How''s that?" Although in her head, she''s thinking that those kinds of attacks were pretty much useless against top-level individuals.


    Nevertheless, they didn''t pay any attention to her as they started talking with each other, "��Hey, do you think Gareth could have done something like that?" asked Tione to Tiona.


    But she asked the wrong person as thetter answered, "I don''t know, but I definitely can''t do that!"


    "��It''s my fault for asking."


    "Uhmm, Riveria-sama�� Could you exin what just happened? I couldn''t catch any of it," asked Lefiya with a distraught face.


    Riveria''s expression says that she too doesn''t fully understand what just happened so she could just guess, "I think it has something to do with those magic circles. For a brief moment, I saw the spear instantly sped up the moment it passed through one."


    Serafall snapped her fingers and said with a happy face, "Correct~! That was multiple stacks of eleration magic~! It would be hard to do something like that using Ki."


    Anakitty then raised her hand and hesitantly asked, "M-may I ask what Level are you?"


    To that question, Riveria immediately gave her a re of admonishment which scared Anakitty.


    Serafall, on the other hand, stared at her for a moment before opening her mouth. Everyone from her side knew that she''s going to answer honestly and prompted Yoruichi to take action. However, before she could stop her, Kisuke signaled to her that it''s fine. Although somewhat confused, Yoruichi stopped and decided to watch what''s going to happen, ''Does he intend toe out now? Well, I guess that''s fine since we already gauged thebat levels of the Gods and found our escape route in case something happens. We even have Ophis on our side, making it even easier for us.''


    Anakitty was about to apologize since she crossed the line with that question, but before she could do so, Serafall answered her question, "Since it''s my first time receiving a Falna yesterday, I''m Level 1."


    Shocked, everyone from the Loki Familia turned to Loki to confirm her words. Seeing the expectation of her children, Loki answered after sighing, "She didn''t lie. In other words, before she even received a blessing from a Deity, she already had that kind of ability."


    Loki then turned to Kisuke, "And my guess is that was the same for you."


    Kisuke grinned at her and answered, "There isn''t any rule that you can''t get stronger without a God''s help, is there?"


    "Ahahaha~! That''s true, I suppose. There''s no one who would stop you from getting stronger without a God''s blessing. In fact, I think that''ll be great news for the Deities who''re starved for entertainment~!"


    Ais, who couldn''t believe all of this muttered, "H-how is that possible?"


    However, Loki ignored her and looked sharply at Kisuke, "Well, if you don''t mind, could you show us what you''re capable of without the Falna''s help?"


    Although this request doesn''t really mean anything and just wanted to provoke Kisuke, she never would have expected to get a nod from him, "Sure~! Why not?"


    "You will!?"


    Turning to Serafall, Kisuke said, "Wanna spar?"


    With an energeticugh, Serafall answered, "I''ll take you on~!"

 Volume 10 609 - Demonstration part 2

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 609 - Demonstration part 2</h4>


    "H-hey, Kisuke�� Are you sure about this?" Sona asked in concern as she ran towards him.


    Kisuke patted her head with a smile and said, "It''s fine. This is also for the future."


    Sona sighed and knew that the way they do things would change from now on, "I see�� Good luck then."


    "What about me!? What about me, your precious big sister!?" Serafall dropped down from the sky and startedining with an aggrieved face.


    While fixing her sses'' position, Sona faced her with a nk face and said, "You''ll be fine, nee-sama."


    "Wh-!?" Shocked, Serafall immediately turned her angry expression towards Kisuke, "Let''s take this outside!"


    Chuckling, Kisuke readied some teleportation magic, "Sure. I know a good ce that is argely uninhabited jungle where you can let off some steam."


    "Great! Take me there!" Serafall stepped on the magic circle and the two of them instantly disappeared.


    "H-Huh!? That magic��" Lefiya immediately recognized the familiar teleportation magic and looked towards Riveria. However, Riveria didn''t have any particr reaction regarding this as she already guessed he''s the one who saved them from the two corrupted spirits.


    "We have to thank himter," replied Riveria.


    However, Yoruichi interjected into their conversation and said, "You don''t have to. He didn''t do it for you lot, but for the three who were with you at that time."


    Riveria smiled wryly and said, "I know. Regardless, I''d like to thank him because he indirectly saved us."


    Yoruichi looked at her while thinking, ''Though Kisuke and I think that those two corrupted spirits only rushed up because they felt either Sona''s Demonic Power, Koneko''s Ki or Aika''s Reiatsu.''


    Yoruichi then faced Sona and asked, "Do you have it?"


    Sona nodded and replied, "I do, but I still have to ask Nee-sama for the channel connection. Excuse me."


    Walking a few meters away, a small magic circle suddenly appeared beside her left ear and started talking, "Nee-sama, please connect your ''eyes'' to my video feed so that we can watch you two."


    From the small magic circle, Serafall''s voice rang out, "Sure~! Done!"


    "Thank you."


    Since the Loki Familia were still shocked at the previous revtions, they couldn''t ask about Sona''s Communication Magic. They already had too much to think about.


    While Serafall was setting up the video feed, Yoruichi remembered something and addressed everyone from Loki Familia again, "A moment."


    "Yes?" asked Tiona.


    "Although we''re willing to teach you a few things, I''d like to ask everyone here to keep what you''re about to see a secret."


    Riveria nodded at her and said, "That won''t be a problem. If needed, we''ll swear on our Falna."


    "You don''t have to take it that far. Your words are enough and we''ll trust you. And onest thing," Yoruichi subsequently panned her head to look at everyone from the Loki Familia with her eyes stopping on Ais for a second, before looking back to Riveria, "From now on, if you have problems, Kisuke, Medusa, Kuroka, Serafall and I won''t be directly helping even if you ask for help."


    Riveria and the others became confused at her words. Simr to them, Sona and the others also became confused, wondering what she meant by that.


    Loki, on the other hand, asked Yoruichi, "In other words, it''s fine to ask the rest of Hestia and Artemis Familia?"


    With a big smile, Yoruichi confirmed it, "Yep~! Unless it is something extremely important, the five of us won''t make any more moves."


    Loki looked straight into her eyes and asked again, "Why is that?"


    "You''ll understand after watching their sparring session," Yoruichi grinned at her and turned towards Sona.


    A secondter, arge screen suddenly appeared in midair, depicting a sea of trees and two individuals hovering on top of them about 50 meters apart. Although one of them is in a bikini while the other is in swimming trunks, nobodymented about it.


    "This is��?" murmured Tione in astonishment.


    "It''s simr to when the Gods use their powers to watch an ongoing Wargame between Familias," answered Yoruichi.


    Understanding that, everyone intently watched the two individuals on the screen and heard them talking, "Even though this is just a sparring, don''t hold back!" said Serafall.


    "You do know that it''d be pretty bad for you and me if I don''t hold back, so I''ll go with reasonable force," Kisuke said as he pulled out the de from his cane with a wry smile.


    With a big smile, Serafall replied, "Be careful though. I''ll be pouring out all my resentment on you for taking away my precious Sona-chan~!"


    "I figured that you would do jus-," but before he could finish his words, a tower of ice covered his spot, freezing the trees below him in an instant.


    However, Kisuke was already nowhere to be seen until he suddenly appeared beside Serafall, brandishing his de.


    Serafall already saw through this and she immediately erected a magic barrier between him and her, intercepting the de with a loud ng, "You didn''t even let me finish talking," Kisukeined.


    "Was there a need to?" As Serafall replied with a smile, hundreds of javelins made out of ice manifested in all directions around Kisuke and descended towards him. The javelins pierced through Kisuke, however, it was just an afterimage of him as he suddenly reappeared 50 meters away from Serafall, resetting the battlefield.


    Clicking her tongue, Serafallmented, "It''s really a very strange movement technique. To elerate so much without much effort in an instant, it could be considered as a secret technique of arge and powerful n."


    Nevertheless, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and said, "As good as it may seem, you already figured out its weakness, so it''s only slightly effective for dodging and repositioning."


    In high-level battles, one would mostly just use sh Step if it''s safe to maneuver around andbatants would rather be slow but nimble instead of fast but predictable.


    Serafall pouted and said, "Still a very annoying technique since you can easily make space for yourself."


    Meanwhile, those who were watching them were having differing expressions, "Hoh~! As expected of someone who went and led a war. Herbat sense must have been developed through many experiences," Yoruichimented.


    "So this is how the leaders fight, huh. The way they move is really different from those of the younger generations. Even the fluctuation of powers are kept to a minimum," Akeno added, swearing to work harder in the future.


    "Still can''t believe Kisuke-kun can keep up with her, though�� Serafall-sama is someone on the same level as Michael-sama, after all," For Irina, even if she watched Kisuke''s battle with Ares, she could only truly appreciate his strength whenpared directly to someone she knows and looks up to.


    Sona, on the other hand, sighed, "Thisrge disparity in Magic mastery�� I thought that I already caught up to her even slightly, but as always, she seems so far away�� Nee-sama��"


    "You don''t have to worry about that, nyaa~! I knew for sure that your Magic control has be a lot better these dayspared to when we just arrived here. Besides, she''s a Satan-ss for a reason," Kurokaforted Sona.


    Meanwhile, everyone from the Loki Familia was speechless. But thanks to her not thinking very deeply, Tiona was the first one to react, "W-what was that? What the hell was that magic? She can freeze an area thatrge without any prior warnings? If that was me standing there, I would have been caught without even knowing what''s happening!"


    Gritting her teeth, Tione added, "I don''t think anyone in Orario could have dodged that. Who would expect magic faster than chantless to exist? And on such arge scale too?"


    "Riveria-sama��" Lefiya looked up to Riveria, asking for her input.


    But before she could say anything, from the screen, they suddenly heard words that they couldn''t understand yet sounded very familiar, "Celsius Cross Trigger~!"


    A few secondster, the world of green became a world of ice as far as one''s eyes could see.


    "H-how is that possible!!!?"


    It was Riveria''s cry of surprise.

 Volume 10 610 - Demonstration part 3

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 610 - Demonstration part 3</h4>


    As Serafall raised her right hand to the air, her blue eyes shone and an enormous amount of Demonic Power came rushing out. A split secondter, a several-kilometer-wide magic circle, bearing the insignia of the Sitri n covered the entire forest.


    "Celsius Cross Trigger~!" The surrounding temperature instantly dropped below freezing and Kisuke immediately felt his movements slowing down.


    Kisuke could have stopped her Magicing into fruition, but because of the thick and cold Demonic Power around Serafall, he''d sustainrge amounts of damage if he were to evene close. He could overpower her if he released a burst of his power, but where''s the fun in that? Besides, this was just a sparring match and there was nothing disadvantageous for him if Serafall were to reveal a few of her cards and how they worked.


    A few secondster, as far as eyes could see, the forest had be a kingdom of ice and frost, including Kisuke who was encased in ice.


    Of course, Serafall knew that this wasn''t enough to defeat someone like Kisuke so she brought down her raised right arm and pointed it towards Kisuke. The next instant, multiple magic circles appeared in front of her and from each of them, gigantic ice javelins emerged and wereunched towards Kisuke, easily breaking the speed of sound.


    At the moment of contact,rge explosions of ice particles and dust ensued, and from it, Kisuke was thrown out with his de in front of him. Some parts of his body were still covered in ice and there were signs of hypothermia on his skin. Even then, he still had a big smile on his face, "So this signature move of yours isn''t just about freezing your enemies to death, but to convert the terrain to your advantage. In this world of ice, your Ice Magic will be exponentially boosted in terms of power, speed and versatility while your enemy would be slowed down and have to continuously use their stamina and aura to resist the extreme cold."


    However, Serafall pouted her lips and startedining again, "Mou~! You''ve seen through it already!? And here I thought you''d be distraught for at least a few minutes!"


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "Well, I''ve already gone through battles where a single thing you neglected would get you killed. Analyzing the extent of your opponents'' abilities was the most basic of basics."


    Meanwhile, those from Loki Familia were already speechless and Riveria''s cries of surprise were thest ones heard from them. They could only stare at the screen in disbelief and couldn''t even process what''s going on.


    Loki, on the other hand, immediately understood what Yoruichi meant by some of them not taking any actions unless necessary, ''Of course, they shouldn''t get involved! They are just going to destroy other people''s hard work! This is one of the reasons why we Deities don''t use our powers! Unconditional and unreasonable power within the Lower World will only make its inhabitants dependent and weak!''


    ''But to think they possess this kind of power that could rival the Gods,'' Loki looked towards the simrly surprised Hestia and Artemis, ''Just where did they reallye from?''


    While she was in her contemtion, however, Ais suddenly called out to her, "��Loki��"


    It was then that she noticed that she was making a crazed smile and immediately covered her mouth, "Ah, it''s nothing."


    Ais then nodded and focused back on the battle, trying to remember every single detail about it despite not understanding what''s happening. Nevertheless, in the corner of her mind, a certain question was bugging her, ''If it''s them, can they do it?'' Yoruichi''s reminder had already left her.


    But the surprise didn''t end there, as Kisuke suddenly put forward his de and said, "Guess it''s time to take this a little bit seriously, right, Benihime?"


    The ice around him temporarily receded and the cold wind gathered around him as his sword slowly transformed itself into a sleek, medium-sized de with a crimson tassel dangling on the base of its pommel. A strange yet familiar de to Riveria, Ais, Tiona and Tione.


    "T-that''s��!" Tiona immediately reacted and looked towards Yoruichi. But before she could say anything, Yoruichi beat it to her, "We won''t be answering any questions regarding that, so save it."


    Tione patted Tiona''s shoulder who was left hanging and shook her head to her.


    On the other side, Serafall could feel the atmosphere around Kisuke instantly change and couldn''t help but sweat a bit, ''That sudden power-up is really ridiculous. How is he doing that? And what system is he using? Now that I''m this close, I''m certain that it is neither Ki, Magic Power or Demonic Power��''


    The next moment, Kisuke suddenly swung his de towards her while muttering, "Nake(Sing), Benihime."


    With a single gesture, a thundering st of crimson aura came rushing towards Serafall. But with a swipe of her hand, several towers of ice sprouted from the ground, blocking the energy st.


    Although the towers of ice were destroyed, Serafall was able to dissipate Kisuke''s attack. Nevertheless, it didn''t end there as she heard Kisuke beyond the dust of icicles, "Tenran(Vigorous Tempest)."


    In an instant, the light-bending cloud of dust suddenly became a sharp tornado, threatening to tear apart the Ice Queen. Although Serafall easily responded by freezing the swirling tornado. However, she suddenly felt Kisuke''s presence from behind her and immediately turned towards that direction, only to meet another of his attacks, "Juugeki Byakurai(Heavy-Strike Pale Lightning)."


    The beam also pierced through the ice armor, but it had already lost most of its lethality and was only able to drill a small hole in Serafall''s right forearm, "Dang it�� I''m supposed to be the Mage here, yet I''m at the disadvantage in ranged confrontation."


    Kisuke just smiled, "Let''s face it, Sera-chan. You''re more suitable against a group of enemies rather than one on one confrontation."


    Serafall was finally annoyed, "Are you saying that I''m just a mob cleaner?"


    Kisuke was surprised at her reaction, but thinking about it, his words indeed suggest that. But before he could correct himself, Serafall''s Demonic Power had already spiked up, "I guess I just have to prove you wrong! White Castle, Dance!"


    Immediately after, the ice kingdom became alive as numerous ice spikes came after Kisuke, prompting him to dodge and fly away. Even then, the spikes still came after him relentlessly and since he couldn''t continuously use sh Step as it''d open him for even more dangerous attacks, he had to st away the ice spikes that he couldn''t dodge.


    After a few seconds, Kisuke decided to fly high up so that the spikes would have to travel longer and it would be easier to dodge. However, just as he was about to execute this n, he felt somethinging from above him and looked up, only to see an endless rain of ice javelins, "What a ruthless Devil King~!"


    Kisuke had to put up an ''umbre'' above him to defend against the rain, but he still had to dodge the spikes. Due to the collision of ice, ice dust that was made out of Serafall''s Demonic Power exploded everywhere, blocking not just Kisuke''s vision and hearing, but also his presence detection, ''Was this her aim?''


    Thanks to the scattered Demonic Power, although he could tell where Serafall is, her presence was hazy at best. But while he was thinking of a way to get out of this situation, Serafall''s presence suddenly appeared on his immediate right, "!?"


    Intercepting the spear made out of ice, Kisuke deflected Serafall''s attack who had suddenly appeared beside him with a big grin without his notice, ''When did she��?''


    Although Serafall had directly attacked, the spike and javelin attacks didn''t let up and the space between him and her was immediately filled with ice. However, while Kisuke was keeping track of her position, her presence suddenly disappeared yet again, and before he knew it, Serafall had appeared behind him, brandishing her spear.


    Kisuke immediately made space between them by using sh Step, but the moment he ''stepped out'' he immediately felt a threat on his left and lifted his de to block the iing spear without looking, "!?"


    "Mou~! Your reaction speed is too monstrous!" Serafall casuallymented.

 Volume 10 611 - Going A Bit Overboard

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 611 - Going A Bit Overboard</h4>


    After fending off several of Serafall''s attacks, Kisuke finally figured out what''s going on, ''Teleportation with ice as the medium?''


    Normally, teleportation magic in the middle of an engagement is impractical due to its long cast time and dy. Meanwhile, teleportation through a specific medium is very limited and very easy to spot despite its speed, making it also somewhat impractical in high-levelbat.


    However, the current surroundings were Serafall''s world. In this Kingdom of Frost, she could appear anywhere. With her Demonic Power fluctuating everywhere, it wasn''t easy to spot her. In this dominion of hers, she disregarded the biggest disadvantages of teleportation magic and used it inbat effectively and started overwhelming Kisuke.


    As a matter of fact, this is Serafall''s core strategy against him as she noticed a few quirks of his. During their first engagement, Kisuke would always be careful with everything that was thrown at him and only after he''d gotten enough information to analyze would he actively counterattack.


    Serafall knew that she couldn''t do anything regarding his observation and analysis abilities, so instead of actively stopping his data collection, she instead opted to overwhelm it by throwing new things at him constantly, making him confused for a moment.


    Of course, she also knew the ''weakness'' of doing this, as Kisuke could just blow away the ice around him, creating a breathing space for himself. But Serafall knew he wouldn''t do that, because she knew that he was already aware of the spell she''d prepared just in case he used arge attack that would make an opening for a moment.


    However, as time went on, while Serafall still couldn''tnd any decisive blows, she could see that Kisuke was also slowly getting used to her attacks and it wouldn''t be long until he broke out of her barrage, ''This won''t do, the chances of any of my attacksnding a good hit are almost zero�� Maybe I should use that��''


    From the outside perspective, the audience could only see a disastrous snowstorm that engulfed the field and hear nonstop explosions and shes of weapons. They could only take a glimpse of Kisuke and Serafall when their weapons met and created a shockwave, blowing away the diamond dust around them before the both of them disappeared, reappearing at a different part of the battlefield.


    "T-this can''t be true, can it?" Lefiya muttered.


    "Are they perhaps Gods that are pretending to be human?" murmured Alicia while trying to stop the shaking of her hands. Except for Loki, instead of shock, every one of them was now disying expressions of fear.


    Loki was a bit worried about their mentalities, but she didn''t say anything and just let them watch the ''sparring'', ''In any case, this Serafall�� She''s almost on Skadi''s level in terms of Ice Maniption. And that Goddess of Frost and Ice was one of the stronger Gods.''


    Their fierce sh went on for a few more minutes, until Kisuke was finally able to break through Serafall''s cage and was able to fly high up, where her attacks couldn''t easily reach him. However, that was also the moment Serafall was waiting for when she decided to go all out.


    Contrary to the casual way she cast her signature spell, ''Celcius Cross Trigger'', the moment Kisuke reached a certain height, Serafall gathered the majority of her Demonic Power, including the parts powering her Ice Kingdom.


    As the attacks entirely stopped and the ice began to thaw, Kisuke instinctively knew that something big wasing and hurriedly descended to stop Serafall. Nevertheless, he was already toote when he heard her say with an uncharacteristically serious voice and expression, "Endless Night of White Hell."


    A giant magic circle appeared below Serafall before it immediately released a shockwave. Although not as shy as her signature spell, as the shockwave passed through things, everything went to a grinding halt, including Kisuke, who was instantly crystallized, ''Crap! An Absolute Zero spell!? Is she trying to kill me!?'' Only his mind could work as he tried to defend himself from the freezing elements that are invading his body.


    From the viewer''s perspective, it''s as if time had stopped. Kisuke couldn''t even fall to the ground as the air around him became solid. As of now, only Serafall, Kisuke''s internal body and light could move in this dead world.


    Endless Night of White Hell. This was Serafall''s trump card and the first time she revealed this spell to anyone. A spell that was only possible with her half a step to the ranks of a Super Devil which no one actually knew about.


    Hestia hurriedly turned to Yoruichi, who was also surprised at this turn of events, "Yoruichi-kun! Hurry up and stop them! Are they trying to kill each other!?"


    Sona also turned to Yoruichi and said, "Please stop them, Yoruichi-san. They''re going overboard."


    However, Yoruichi just shook her head, "It''s already toote. Even if I go to that ce, I''ll just be instantly frozen. They already pulled the trigger so let''s just trust Kisuke to resolve this. Believe it or not, even if you tore that guy into pieces, he can stille out of it alive."


    Astonished at her answer, Hestia protested, "This isn''t the time to be joking around!"


    Yoruichi wanted to say that she wasn''t joking, but before her words coulde out, something changed in the quiet and motionless world as everything started shaking.


    Serafall, who had been watching Kisuke''s condition carefully so as to not identally kill him and wait for him to admit defeat in the channel she''d connected to Kisuke''s mind, was surprised at the sudden violent change. She lost control of her still world as an unimaginable force started invading it.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, although frozen stiff, was resisting the extreme cold by burning himself from the inside. Although his organs were damaged from the sh of extreme temperatures, it''s nothing that couldn''t be healed by his Hollow Aspect''s regeneration.


    He could break away from this predicament if he were to release his Vasto Lorde form. However, he didn''t really want to reveal his inhuman form to the Loki Familia because he has a feeling that it may backfire at his ns.


    ''If one way of brute-forcing it isn''t avable, then another one should do,'' thought Kisuke as he gathered his Reiatsu-Ki and cast a certain Kidou for the first time ever since his reincarnation, also touching the world''s Reimyaku (Spiritual Pulse or Ley Lines) of another world, "Hadou no 99, Goryuutenmetsu (Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction)!"

 Volume 10 612 - Power that Defies Gods

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 612 - Power that Defies Gods</h4>


    As the five crimson Dragons descended, space was shaking and the frosted world started to break apart. Serafall tried her best to keep her world steady, but she immediately noticed that the Dragons were ''eating'' the Demonic Power she was using to freeze everything. And not just that, the Mana and Ki were also being sucked up by the gluttonous Dragons.


    The forbidden Kidou, Goryuutenmatsu(Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction). It was forbidden because not only did it require insane amounts of Reiryoku to cast, but it also absorbed the surrounding energy to power itself up. And that energy includes the ones that came from the world''s Ley Lines, which is the power source of the world to stabilize itself.


    The main concept behind this Kidou is ''Swirling''. Each of the Dragons possesses the power to ''Swirl'' everything ites close to or in contact with. The moment something became influenced by the ''Swirl'', everything thatposed it would start to move in multiple directions, creating a tremor. Depending on the user''s Reiryoku and mastery, one could dictate the scope of the ''Swirl''. From ''Swirling'' the terrain, which would cause uncontroble destruction, up to ''Swirling'' individual molecules themselves, causing it to spontaneouslybust and vaporize.


    One of these Dragons could potentially annihte a region, reducing everything in it to dust.


    Of course, Kisuke wouldn''t use its full capabilities in this sparring session. His main aim was to absorb Serafall''s Demonic Power and heat up this ce.


    One of the Dragons went around Kisuke, returning everything to normal in his immediate vicinity, while the rest of the Dragons descended in four different directions, directly mming into the ground and creatingrge tremors that shattered the icy world and raised the earth.


    Momentster, the only ce left unturned was the spot where Serafall was standing with a dumbfounded face as she mumbled, "��What the hell was that?"


    Due to losing so much Demonic Power, Serafall couldn''t even stand up properly and started to fall backward. However, before she reached the ground, Serafall felt an arm catch her and looked towards him, "Good work out there~!" said Kisuke with arge grin.


    Serafall pouted and said, "I thought for sure that I''d win. Never thought you would counter my trump card just like that."


    "Since you showed your trump card, I figured that it''s only right to show mine too~!"


    Serafall then looked around while in Kisuke''s arms, "You really turned this ce upside down."


    Aside from the spot they were standing, everything around them had be a destend that looked like shattered rocks. Not a single life could be detected, and this extended for several kilometers.


    "I''lle and fix thister, at least to the point that the forest could regrow so you don''t have to worry about it. Besides, most of the animals had already evacuated the moment we arrived here, so most of them survived."


    "That''s certainly reassuring. Shall we head back?" asked Serafall.


    "Alright, but you don''t have to speak up. I''ll do the talking."


    "Got it."


    The two of them then teleported back to where everyone was waiting and the first one to greet them was Yoruichi, "Wee back~! Good fight out there~!"


    Sona, on the other hand, went straight towards her sister who was being carried by Kisuke, "Nee-sama, are you alright?" Sona asked with deep concern while checking for any injuries she had.


    Although she had recovered enough stamina and Demonic Power to stand, Serafall still chose not to move away from Kisuke, "I''m fine~! Just a bit tired."


    Thanks to her ice healing, most of the wounds she''d received from Kisuke had already closed up.


    "But really, who would have thought that you''re almost at Super Devil rank. There''s no news about it anywhere," added Yoruichi, but in Japanese so that others couldn''t understand what she was talking about.


    Serafall then smiled proudly and replied, "Fufu, I didn''t stop training myself even after the war ended. I can''t just let Grayfia-chan be stronger than me!"


    During the Underworld Civil War, Serafall and Grayfia became enemies and the fight between them spanned several days only to end up in a draw. At that time, she didn''t like it and promised to improve herself the next time they meet.


    However, the war ended and Grayfia ended uping to Sirzechs side. Even then, she didn''t stop improving herself and hid her real capabilities in case a war erupted again. She at least wanted her enemies to have outdated information about her, so she didn''t tell anyone about her progress, including her servants and family.


    Kisuke then gave Serafall to Yoruichi to deal with before ire approached him with Ophis, "Kisuke-niichan! That was so cool! I want to do something like that too!" she said with shining eyes.


    Kisuke patted her head with a smile and said, "Don''t worry, I''ll teach you how to do that too. But you have to do your studies first."


    ire excitedly replied, "I''ll do it! I''ll study more!"


    While patting her head, Kisuke turned to everyone from the Loki Familia. As he looked into their eyes, fear was very apparent. Already expecting this would be the result, Kisuke asked with a grin, "Are you scared?"


    However, they couldn''t answer him. Some of them even took a step back while shaking. A being that was not a God, but with unreasonable and impossible power, a being that went beyond their imagination and understanding. Of course they''d be scared!


    At this response, Kisuke''s grin grew wider, "This is the possibility of properly learning Magic without the help of a Deity''s blessing. A power of your own. A power that Gods couldn''t take away from you. In a sense, going down this path is the same as disregarding their authorities."


    At hisst sentence, everyone''s body shook. They don''t know why he would say something so controversial in front of the Goddesses themselves.


    But Kisuke didn''t care about any of that and continued, "We''ll be teaching you the way we use Magic and how to use Ki, but I won''t be forcing everyone. Make a choice. Will you be learning it or not? This will be thest time I ask."


    Everyone from the Loki Familia currently didn''t know what to do and most of them looked towards Loki, wanting to ask for advice. However, their patron Deity ignored them and just closed her eyes with a serious expression. They were left alone to decide for themselves.


    Everyone agonized at their options. Although learning the way they fight would be a great boost to them, the way Kisuke described acquiring the power is the same as going against the Gods made them hesitate greatly. In addition to that, they were scared of him and his group, scared of the unknown power they possess.


    But a momentter, one person stepped out and that person was not the great Sage nor the Sword Princess looking for power, but an almost insignificant member of the Loki Familia, "I''d like to learn! Please!" Line dered with great conviction.


    Despite not showing it, Loki was smiling inside, ''Great~! Now the rest of you, don''t disappoint me~!''

 Volume 10 613 - Great Prospect

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 613 - Great Prospect</h4>


    Line turned to Loki and bowed down, "Loki-sama, I''m sorry if this is being disrespectful to you or maybe even grounds for my expulsion from the Familia, but after spending my time with them, I learned how to appreciate getting my own power without the use of the Falna."


    Line then looked up straight to Loki''s eyes and continued, "So I''d like to learn more about it! Especially healing!"


    Loki stared at her for a moment and saw the conviction within her eyes. She then replied with a nk expression, "It''s your life. Do whatever you want."


    At her nonchnt response, Line couldn''t help but bite her lips, nevertheless, she already decided and took a step forward. She has no reason to take that back now.


    Kisuke suddenly pped his hand and said with a big smile, "Great~! Now Line-san is one. Anyone else?"


    After a few moments, Riveria sighed and said, "I''m sorry Loki, but I''m doing it. I''ve been studying the mysteries of Magic for most of my life, so when something like this appears in front of me, I''ll take it."


    Soon after, Ais also stepped out, "I''m going to learn it too��"


    Loki first looked towards Riveria and saw fear in her eyes, but behind that, was excitement, ''Already expected Riveria to take this, so no problem there. Ais, on the other hand��''


    Loki then looked towards Ais and felt a little bit disappointed and solemn. Line and Riveria''s eptance didn''t just stem from them wanting power but also knowledge. Ais, however, only epted it due to her pursuit of power. Even now, she could see her burning desire, the dark desire for revenge that might destroy her in the future, ''What am I going to do with her? I can only hope that she''ll change before she acquires enough power to destroy herself.''


    "Anyone else?" Kisuke asked again, but this time, despite waiting for a few minutes, no one stepped out anymore. Even the Amazoness sisters didn''t ept Kisuke''s offer. As they grew up in a ce where power was everything and did their best to get stronger, Kisuke and Serafall''s ''power'' didn''te close to the ''power'' they knew and grew up with, which resulted in them hesitating, and in addition to not wanting to offend Loki, ultimately not epting it. They''re fine being ''normal''.


    Finally, Loki sighed and smiled. She knew that no one else would be stepping out from her children, "Really, you don''t have to worry about me. In fact, I wee his offer~! A mortal getting on the same level as the Deities? I''ve always wanted to see that! And to realize that, the first step of that is to stop thinking that it isn''t possible or forbidden~!"


    Stretching her arms out, Loki continued with arge grin, "Though some Gods probably won''t like it, the fact we are here for entertainment isrgely true. A child stepping into the ranks of the Deities? That''s one of the greatest entertainments if I say so myself! So get it, get the power that otherwise would be impossible~! And perhaps in the future, you''ll find your decision today a miracle that doesn''t concern the Gods."


    "Are you sure, Loki?" asked Riveria with a dumbfounded expression.


    "I am. I''m just not saying anything ''cause I wanted to see who was going to take it despite giving an impression that I don''t like it," answered Loki.


    Confused, Riveria asked again, "But why?"


    "Just curious, you see. Nothing wrong with that, right?" But in reality, Loki was aware of Kisuke''s goal to test them, ''I guess only Line, Riveria and Ais-tan will receive the real lessons.''


    And Lokipletely agreed with Kisuke''s decision. If she were in his position, she too wouldn''t want to teach something that could potentially take you to the top unless the person you''re teaching has the real desire to reach that top.


    ''I wonder what would have been Finn, Gareth and Bete''s decision regarding this?�� I can only see them sticking to their old ways. Maybe Finn would do it, but he''d never take a risk in pissing off themunity of Gods for his dreams,'' Loki sighed inwardly as she discovered how ''dreamless'' her Familia is despite being Adventurers. But she also figured that it''s because they were already near the ''top'', that something like this isn''t suitable.


    ''On the bright side, I don''t think anyone from Freya''s children would even consider it. Those guys are too devoted, after all.''


    While Loki was contemting to herself, Kisuke chuckled and addressed the girls of the Loki Familia too, "I''m sorry for asking such a question too. I''m also just curious who''d step out regardless of my words and I''d like to take back the fact that gaining this power is simr to refusing the Gods'' authorities. Power is power. You gain it because you want to achieve something. The Gods have nothing to do with it."


    For the first time, Hestia and Artemis heard and detected Kisuke lying. For Loki, meanwhile, this is the second time she''d heard him lie, the first time being when she was with Freya.


    "And just to be clear, both Serafall and I are not Gods. If you think the power we showed you is unreasonable and should be outright impossible, it''s only because you''re not aware of a few things. In other words, you haven''t expanded your horizon to deem something like that possible and reasonable," added Kisuke.


    Since he forgot to add something, Yoruichi also spoke up, "Just to be clear again, Serafall and Kisuke are not normal. These two''s power-level is at the top of the charts, evenpared to the ce we came from where this kind of Magic is normal."


    Irina from the side nodded deeply, "Right! Don''t expect to gain a simr level of strength after learning the way we use Magic. These people are just as ridiculous to even our eyes!" She then faced Yoruichi, "You too, Yoruichi-san, who can casually annihte an enemy leader and leave a giant hole on the ground using lightning shouldn''t speak like you shouldn''t be included! Just in strength alone, you''re around the leaders'' rank!"


    "Now, now, Irina-chan. You shouldn''t say that, nya~."


    Feigning a cough, Akeno interrupted Kuroka, "You too, Kuroka-san. You''re someone feared among many different forces. So that includes you too." Akeno then caught the tiny Medusa in the corner of her eyes and added, "Since Medusa-san is included in Yoruichi-san''s restriction, I presume that she''s also at a simr level. I can''t help but think that we''re really surrounded by ridiculous individuals who could lead their own Factions."


    "Restriction?" Kisuke asked as he faced Yoruichi.


    "I told them that we wouldn''t get involved in their problems," answered Yoruichi.


    "Oh, I guess that should indeed be the case."


    "Wait up," Loki suddenly called out, "That''s fine and all, but what about the agreement between our Familias?"


    Kisuke nodded at her and said, "Of course, that won''t be dissolved. But instead of me, Sona will be taking it over along with the others."


    "Alright. We''ll take that."


    Seeing that they''re done talking, ire suddenly spoke up, "Kisuke-niichan, you''ll be teaching them Magic and Ki, right? Can I join them? I want to learn it too and do cool things like Nii-chan!"


    Kisuke then picked up ire and started spoiling her, "Of course you can~! I''ll teach you everything you need to know so one day, you can wipe the floor with bad guys!"


    "Really!? I can be a good Magical Girl too!?"


    From Yoruichi''s arm''s Serafall''s eyes lit up and she jumped down, "Magical Girl you say!? I''ll teach you how to be a fine one!"


    "Magical Levia-tan will teach me!?"


    Serafall stood straight up and dered with great confidence, "You''ll be my disciple! I''ll show you the way of Magical Girls and dominate the world with it!"


    "Yay!"


    Sona could only shake her head at this scene, ''The Underworld will have another crazy Magical Girl in their ranks��''


    But also thanks to this ridiculously warm and silly scene, everyone from the Loki Familia was able to calm themselves down.


    At that moment, Yoruichi turned to them, "Shall we start?"


    Since they got permission from Loki and it''s not as bad as Kisuke described, everyone nodded. Hence, it was the start of the revolution.


    Meanwhile, Aika and Koneko were silently watching from the sideline while eating some snacks that Medusa kept serving, "Say�� We came here for a vacation, didn''t we?" asked Aika with a fed-up expression.


    Koneko nodded and answered, "That''s correct."


    "Then why are we going straight back to training?"


    "Because it''s Kisuke-senpai?"


    With a dryugh, Aika replied, "��What a convincing answer that I can''t find any words to refute it."

 Volume 10 614 - Sharing Information

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 614 - Sharing Information</h4>


    Although Kisuke proposed the idea of teaching them their Magic and Ki usage, in the end he just threw the workloads to others. More specifically, Serafall, Sona and Akeno went to teach those who wanted to learn magic while Kuroka and Koneko became the instructors for the Ki lessons.


    Although they were hesitant at first, after the start of the lecture, they became drowned by curiosity and amazement at the topic they were discussing. For Mages, with the exception of Riveria, Line and Ais, they never knew that they could draw their own magic circle, be it externally or internally. After all, they were always relying on the chant that appeared in their minds from the moment they learned their respective magic to draw out the magic circle.


    For those who were learning Ki, on the other hand, they were shocked to feel foreign energy different from Magic Power when Kuroka and Koneko injected their Ki into their bodies to disrupt their inactive Ki in order for them to notice its existence.


    However, Loki could only stop their abrupt ssrooms because they had to fulfill their main objective ofing to Melen.


    "Sorry about this, Kisuke, but we have to cut this short. We can''t really push back our schedule due to the risk of things going awry if we were to further dy our activities."


    "It''s fine. I knew you wouldn''te here just for a simple vacation, so while your children were having their lectures, I prepared some reference books for them to continue their study and training on their own." Kisuke took out four books in total. Two books for Magic and two books for Ki. Since they''d already kickstarted their understanding regarding the topics, they''d be able to study and train on their own ording to the book. He also made sure that it was extensive enough to let them teach the other absent members of their Familia.


    Loki could only smile wryly as she epted the books, "So that''s why you went away�� It''s for this."


    "What do you need to aplish, anyway?" Kisuke changed the subject.


    Riveria approached them from the side and answered for Loki, "We need to know if those Vis are indeeding from this city. So we need to check a few things like the integrity of the seal on the second entrance of the Dungeon or the sewers connecting Orario and Melen."


    "I see. Then you don''t have to worry about those."


    Riveria furrowed her brows slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"


    "If you''re talking about the entrance which was sealed using the Leviathan''s remains, then it''s intact. As for the sewers, although nothing huge coulde through it anyway, there are signs that the Admantanium gates were rtively new."


    It was Loki''s turn to furrow her brows, "You already know a few things, right?"


    Kisuke grinned but didn''t answer.


    "Share it will ya?"


    Kisuke contemted for a bit before saying, "This will be thest time, alright? Any further information will have toe from Sona. As Yoruichi said, we won''t get involved with your problems."


    Loki and Riveria could only stay silent at his words.


    "As for the information we know, we haven''t investigated the things in Melen that much so don''t expect anything concrete. Although we know for sure that the three big names in this port city are in a deal of some sort and some forces from the Ishtar Familia are also present."


    "Ishtar?", asked Loki with a confused expression.


    But Kisuke just shook his head, "You have to figure that out on your own."


    Sighing, Loki let it go. Though the fact that they discovered a secret dealing between big figures in the city was a big clue, "What about you? What are you up to now?"


    "We''re going to go home and take it easy for now, and maybe rify some things with our members."


    "Hmm�� I was hoping that you could stay longer. Guess I can''t ask that much."


    Kisuke smiled and bid his farewell, "Well then, until next time. Good luck with your investigation."


    It only took a quarter of an hour for the Loki Familia to gather their things and leave. Although some of the members were reluctant to end their lectures, they had a goal they needed to achieve for the safety of their Familia.


    After they left, Kisuke faced everyone and said, "Shall we go home?"


    Everyone agreed as they looked towards the sleeping ire in Irina''s arms. While she wanted to listen to the lecture, she immediately got bored with it since it was already something that her mother and father taught her. So instead, she yed nonstop with the free members, Ophis, Aika, Irina and Yoruichi.


    .


    .


    After sending ire and Ophis to their room, everyone sat down in the Mansion''s living room while Medusa and Akeno served them some tea and snacks.


    After sipping her warm tea, Hestia pouted while muttering in aining manner, "You didn''t tell us that you''re that strong�� What do you mean you have ways to fend off a God? You''re already as strong as one!"


    "You''ve got it wrong, Hestia-sama. I''m not just prepared to fight off a single God, but a group of them, so it''s only right to say that I have my ways instead of iming that I could outright defeat them."


    Hestia then gave him a dirty look, "Why would a group of Gods attack you?"


    But instead of Kisuke, Yoruichi answered for him, "Forget it, Hestia-sama. This guy always prepares for the worst and nothing can really stop him from doing so."


    Hestia''s pout grew deeper but Artemis'' hand patted her head, "Isn''t that great, Hestia? You don''t have to worry about their safety like you always do when they leave for the Dungeon."


    And while Artemis wasforting Hestia, Sona spoke up and asked the question that had been bothering her since earlier, "Kisuke, why did you decide to teach them? And from what I heard, you want them to propagate it. I''d understand if it was Magic, as it''s not a foreign concept for them, but even Ki?"


    "Hmm�� About that, I can''t really say it now, but let''s just say that it''s in preparation for the future. I don''t want them to be so helpless when things get a bit underhanded."


    "For the future, huh��?", muttered Sona under her breath, while thinking about his words.


    "Then what about you guys not getting involved with their problems?", asked Aika.


    "We''ve already shown them our strength. It would be really annoying and dangerous for them to think that there''s a ce where they can retreat to. Aside from not taking things as serious as necessary, they might develop an unhealthy dependence on us. I want to avoid that as much as possible, even if it means that their Familia could be in grave danger.", answered Kisuke.


    "To put it in another way, we can''t be a source for theirfort and protection, or else that Familia will fail in the future. Loki understood this and that''s why she immediately agreed. She doesn''t want her children to take sess in their trials for granted.", added Yoruichi.


    "So what''s the n for now?", asked Koneko.


    Kisuke thought for a moment and said, "I''ll be busy again with a lot of things��" He then looked towards Sona and told her, "Sona, take Sera-chan, Irina and Akeno-san to the dungeon tomorrow and exin to them what they need to do to gain a Level."


    Yoruichi stood up and stretched her arms while yawning, "Then Kuroka and I will do what we originally nned and leave Orario to investigate some ces."

 Volume 10 615 - Couldn’t Hold Back

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 615 - Couldn��t Hold Back</h4>


    The next morning, Yoruichi and Kuroka left for the Dizara Region where many maritime nations were located. It was also one of the ces within the continent where monsters ran rampant and several strong Familias were active. They wanted to investigate where these monsters wereing from, or if there was another entrance to the Dungeon on that side.


    After bidding them farewell with a promise of frequent contact, those who were going to the Dungeon went on their way, while Kisuke returned to the underground hideout to prepare the things he would need in the future.


    After his recent travels, he figured that they should have a proper and safe way to transverse the void. Since Great Red''s brute-forcing wasn''t really a good example, Kisuke would have to test a few things.


    In addition, he needed to n ahead on how he would deal with the mysterious man in the void who seemed to overlook this world, ''Gonna have to find a way to evade his detection.''


    ire and Ophis, on the other hand, were left to Hestia and Artemis'' care. The two Goddesses would bring them around the city to let them get used to the scenery. Kisuke specifically told them that they can''t lose sight of Ophis, as she could easily get lost in her thoughts and wander around aimlessly.


    .


    .


    .


    Sona, Serafall, Aika, Koneko, Akeno and Irina first went to the Guild''s main building, Pantheon to register the neers. There, they met Sophie, the elf receptionist and their advisor, for the first time after a long while.


    Aftering face to face, Sophie was making a dark expression and immediately brought them to a private booth. With everyone sitting, Sophie started with a dark tone, "��Why did you only show up just now?"


    Smiling wryly, Sona exined, "It''s only now that we were able to have some free time."


    "Then why didn''t you send a message to the Guild about your recovery?"


    Sona''s smile froze before she answered in a flustered way, "W-well�� We forgot��"


    *Bam*


    While mming the table, Sophie raised her voice, "You forgot!? You forgot to at least inform your Dungeon Advisor!? Then what''s the point of me worrying about you guys!? When you came back to the surface, I heard that you three slipped into aa due to the injuries you received and had to be taken straight to the Guild''s Infirmary for immediate treatment, only to be taken back by your goddamn captain who doesn''t know how to inform others about his ns!"


    "And while I was worrying about your condition for a good while, I heard from someone that you''re going around the market while having some fun! Neither the Guild nor I was informed about your recovery! Though it''s great news that you''re fine now, but still��!"


    Although genuinely happy for their recovery, as Adventurers that she had been taking care of for a while now, she felt betrayed when Sona told her that they simply forgot to inform her. Back then, she already assumed the worst case and that they''d be retiring due to the injuries they received.


    Sona, Aika and Koneko were crushed by their guilt. True enough, it had been Sophie who had been taking care of them whenever they dived into the Dungeon. Her reminders and warnings were immensely helpful.


    Not just that, it was also because of Sophie that they were able to have an easier time in Orario by obtaining information regarding various establishments where they could get supplies. Since they didn''t want to rely on Kisuke''s inventions and concoctions as much as possible, they were trying their best to go through what normal Adventurers experienced in their everyday life.


    With a resigned expression, Sona showed her guilt and tried to exin their circumstances while apologizing, "I''m sorry. It''s our fault. Though if I were to give a reason, we were very busy with some stuff. And to unnecessarily add to that, several Familias were trying to recruit us. The Apollo Familia have been especiallymitted to this, to the point that it''s already borderline harassment."


    Hearing this, Sophie sighed and replied, "Haah, what''s done is done. As long as you don''t forget me next time�� No, there shouldn''t be a next time in the first ce."


    But Sona just shook her head, "You know we can''t promise that. With our profession, getting injured is a normal urrence."


    "Just be careful next time��" Sophie sighed yet again, but changed the topic, "You said the Apollo Familia has tried recruiting you?"


    "Yes."


    "Then be careful around them. Their members are not the most desirable."


    "They''ve been trying to provoke us, but we never acknowledged any of them, so you don''t have to be worried about it."


    Sophie then looked towards Aika with a nk expression, "Then why did I hear about a certain girl from the Hestia Familia breaking the nose of someone from the Apollo Familia?"


    Sona''s eyes widened and she hurriedly turned towards Aika, who was already walking away, and asked her, "Why?"


    "That bastard insulted Kisuke��", answered Aika.


    But before Sona could say anything else, Sophie faced Koneko next and said with the same nk expression, "And what about this certain girl from the Hestia Familia who was kicking the balls of someone from the Apollo Familia?"


    Sona hurriedly looked at Koneko who was making the same expression as Aika, "��They insulted Kisuke-senpai."


    Sona could only sigh, "And here I am, trying to ignore their bullsh*t��"


    "I don''t think it''d end with just this, so watch your backs." Sophie let it go since she heard the injuries they caused only needed a low-quality potion to remedy. She then looked towards the new faces and said, "Mind introducing them to me? Are they going to register?"


    Sona nodded, "Yes. They already received their Falna from Artemis-sama, but our future ventures would be as one so I''d really appreciate it if you would take them under your wings."


    "I don''t mind, but it''s really rare for two Familias to take a single advisor."


    With that, Sona introduced each and every one of them and they registered themselves as Level 1s.


    After a few more reminders, the group left for the Dungeon.


    Arriving on the upper floors of the Dungeon, they went towards a certain corner where Adventurers didn''t normally pass through.


    Sona then exined to everyone that in order to gain Excelia to Level up, they can''t use their real abilities and could only depend on the Magic Power and other parameters that the Falna provided them.


    But before they went into their killing spree, Sona asked Akeno and Irina to cast their magic without the Magic Power provided by Falna and there they found out that they couldn''t do it properly without putting in extra effort and intense focus.


    Sona exined that without the Falna''s help, it was extremely hard to control the Magic Power and Ki in this world. The only way to properly control that is if one had enough mastery over Magic, like Serafall.


    So aside from their strong bodies, nothing worth mentioning could be said about Akeno and Irina, making them feel extremely helpless.


    Sonaforted them, "Well, don''t worry about it too much. You''re in the same situation as us when we first arrived here. We had to train harshly every day just to use our normal abilities."


    "Then let''s go bash in the heads of these monsters! I want to level up soon, ��cause I heard from Ki-tan that despite the minimal addition to one''s strength, it''s apparently extremely beneficial for the soul itself~!"


    "If it''s Nee-sama, this floor should be extremely easy for you. We''ll only stay here for an hour, just to get used to this Dungeon and then we''ll move further below based on Akeno-san and Irina-san''s skill level."


    "S-somehow�� I''m sorry for being so useless.", Irina muttered.


    "I-I''ll do my best not to hold you back.", added Akeno.


    The suffering of both of them had just started.

 Volume 10 616 - Invitation

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 616 - Invitation</h4>


    At lunchtime, the group decided to go up before going deeper into the Dungeon.


    But the moment they left Babel, two women blocked their way. The one on the right was a sharp woman with medium-length dark-red hair, while the one on the left one was a timid woman with long dark-blue hair.


    "Are you Sona Sitri?" The sharp woman asked.


    The group stopped and Sona immediately recognized them, ''Children of the Apollo Familia�� What do they want this time?''


    Despite the questions in her head, Sona answered while fixing her sses, "That would be me. I wonder what do I owe this visit for?"


    After confirming her identity, the sharp woman looked towards the timid woman and nodded.


    The timid woman then approached Sona and handed over an envelope, "Umm, take this."


    Receiving it, Sona saw the Apollo Familia''s insignia on it and muttered, "An invitation? And from the Apollo Familia no less?"


    "The name''s Daphne and this one is Cassandra. As you can see, we are from the Apollo Familia," the sharp woman suddenly introduced them.


    "Umm�� This is�� an invitation. Lord Apollo is going to hold a celebration, a-and if you''d like��," the timid woman''s, Cassandra''s voice trailed off and as if gathering her courage she added, "I-if��! If you don''t want to go, that''s okay!"


    However, she just received a smack to the head from herpanion, "Oww!"


    Looking back towards Sona''s group, Daphne continued, "Make sure to tell your Goddess. Got that? You got the invitation."


    Sona sighed and replied, "Understood. I''ll be sure to tell her."


    "That is all," the two of them turned around and started walking away. But before they could distance themselves, Daphne suddenly turned back and said, "My condolences," before leaving for real.


    "What should we do?" asked Aika.


    However, Sona just shook her head, "It''ll be up to Hestia-sama. This particr invitation seems to be a ''Celebration of Gods'' where only Deities are allowed to attend. We''ll hand this over and let her decide what to do."


    "When is it?" asked Koneko.


    Sona pried open the invitation and read through it before answering, "Tonight. And it looks like they''ll spice things up a bit."


    Due to the sudden invitation, they decided to return home for now.


    After handing over the invitation to Hestia, who was currently ying with both ire and Ophis, Kisuke also came out to see what''s going on?


    "What''s up?"


    "Idiots came to disturb us," answered Serafall without hesitation.


    "Hooh? Which idiots?" Kisuke''s curiosity was piqued.


    "The Apollo Familia is hosting a Celebration of Gods. And to add some excitement to it, all the Gods that are attending should bring one of their children as apanion," Hestia answered with a not so great energy.


    Kisuke took note of her strange reaction and asked, "Do you have some sort of history with him, Hestia-sama?"


    "Even though he''s not an Adventurer, the Gods gave him the title ''Phallus the Passionate''."


    Everyone except the kids froze before Kisuke startedughing, "Fuhahaha! What the hell was that? I thought my title was crappy. I didn''t think anyone would have a crappier one."


    Ignoring Kisuke''s outburst, Hestia continued, "The Gods gave him that nickname due to his quirk. For his ''love'', he''ll do almost anything. Some Deities would describe him as a tenacious and passionate lover boy."


    Kisuke managed to dig out the underlying meaning behind Hestia''s words and said, "So he once went after you."


    Hearing that, Hestia gritted her teeth, "I almost destroyed him back in Heaven. If not, I''m afraid he''d still be chasing after me," She then looked towards Sona, Aika and Koneko, "This time, it seems that you caught his attention. I don''t know what he''s nning to do at the banquet, though."


    "Hmm�� If that''s the case, I''ll go with you Hestia-sama," Kisuke proposed.


    "But this is our problem��" Sona didn''t agree.


    "Yes, our problem."


    "N-no�� I didn''t mean it like th-," Kisuke, however, interrupted Sona''s words by blocking her lips with his finger and said, "Rascals eyeing my women�� I''ll have to at least destroy them."


    Sona''s eyes widened before she smiled happily and nodded, "Umu."


    Still not getting used to it, Serafall grabbed Kisuke''s hand and snarled at him, "Not in front of me!"


    With a slight blush, Aika muttered, "Now I want to return what they said earlier."


    Nodding with a slight blush too, Koneko added, "��My condolences."


    Akeno and Irina, on the other hand, didn''t know what to do in this situation and could only stay quiet. But deep inside, both of them were feeling a bit bitter.


    Feigning a cough, Sona said, "Well then. I''ll be leaving this issue to you. For now, we''ll continue with our n and maybe camp inside the Dungeon to speed up the process of adjusting, since it would seem that we''ll take action on the surface soon too."


    After they left, Hestia asked Kisuke, "What''re you nning to do against them?"


    "As of now, nothing concrete. Since they invited you, they''ll probably put on a show to corner you to ept their demands," although Kisuke doesn''t have any idea of what they are up to, he cane up with a reasonable conclusion when he recalled that Yoruichi told him that Aika and Koneko hurt some of the members, ''Most likely, they''ll put up an overexaggerated drama and ask us to take responsibility. Since Hestia-sama won''t ept it for sure, Apollo might instead challenge us to a War Game where his demands could be met. I look forward to it~!''


    "You''re not nning anything nasty, right?" Hestia suddenly asked when she saw him making a nasty grin.


    "Eh~? Nothing really~. I just hope Apollo-sama won''t disappoint me~!"


    Hestia gave him a suspicious look but Kisuke didn''t reveal anything and changed the topic, "I''ll prepare our dress. By the way, do you want to invite anyone else, Hestia-sama? It seems that you can also bring other Gods with you."


    "Ah, I''d like to invite Miach since he took care of me in the past, but I doubt they have anything to wear for this asion, so prepare some for him and probably Naaza-kun."


    "What about Artemis-sama?"


    Hestia shook her head, "She doesn''t really like attending these kinds of events, so she won''te."


    "Understood. Please ask who''sing with them so I can prepare theirs too."


    Hestia happily stood up and ran out to inform her friends, "Got it~! I''m going!"


    "Be careful~!"


    With Hestia gone, Artemis came in and asked, "May I ask what other reasons you have? If it was just Apollo, you wouldn''t have toe yourself."


    Kisuke smiled at her and replied, "Because of one troublesome Goddess that may attend. I can''t really have Sona and others face that stalker for now, since she can see a lot of things. Aside from that, I also wanted to confirm something."


    "Freya��huh�� She''s the type of woman that would do anything to get what she wants. Be careful around her," warned Artemis.


    "Thanks for the heads up, but I''m already fully aware of that."

 Volume 10 617 - Poking the Hornet’s Nest

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 617 - Poking the Ho��s Nest</h4>


    The ''Celebration of Gods''. It was called that way because only Gods were allowed to attend. However, the host this time decided to change things up a bit.


    Arriving at the venue, which was the Apollo Familia''s Home, Kisuke and Hestia could see droves of Gods, along with their escort children, being weed inside.


    The moonlight shone down on everyone on the street which made Hestia, in her white gown, glow even further. "You look great tonight, Hestia-sama~!",mented Kisuke.


    Hestia also looked at him with a grin and replied, "I, on the other hand, was really surprised that you''d wear anything outside of your usual outfit. You should have seen how Artemis couldn''t even take her eyes off of you."


    Instead of his usual attire, Kisuke was wearing a gray suit that matched his eyes. His usual shaggy hair was also straightened and tied into a ponytail. This resulted in those who knew him to have contrasting feelings. The casual and shady man had be a very proper and mature gentleman.


    If Hestia and Artemis didn''t know any better, they''d certainly get scammed.


    From behind, a voice suddenly called out to them, "My apologies, Hestia, Kisuke."


    Hestia turned around and smiled, "Oh, Miach, you''re here."


    "Preparing everything for us, including these clothes, must not have been easy. Thank you.", added Miach, who was currently wearing a ck suit.


    "You don''t have to think about that. You''ve taken care of me in the past so this was the least I could do."


    On Miach''s side, Naaza who was wearing a gown, expressed her gratitude to Kisuke, "Thank you very much."


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "It''s fine~! You''ve been taking care of Sona, Aika and Koneko, so the feeling is mutual."


    "Now then, shall we head inside?", proposed Hestia and everyone agreed.


    After they were weed by the children of Apollo Familia, they were led towards the hall of the mansion where the main event was being held. Arriving on the floor, Hestia immediately noticed some very familiar faces and approached them, "Hephaestus! Take!"


    "You''re finally here.", replied Hephaestus. Matching her ming red hair, the red gown made her stand out even more.


    "Good seeing you here, Miach." Takemikazuchi, on the other hand, was wearing traditional Far Eastern garb while his child, Mikoto, was wearing a tube gown with a Far Eastern motif.


    Seeing her shy demeanor, Hestiamented, "You brought Mikoto, eh, Take? I heard about the incident the other day. Must''ve been tough."


    Suddenly being talked to while trying her best to make herself inconspicuous, made her flinch, "Y-yes! B-but it was thanks to everyone, especially Bell-dono''s efforts, that we were able toe back safely!"


    "I see.", Hestia nodded in understanding and faced Hephaestus who seemed alone, "Who''s apanying you, Hephaestus? I don''t see anyone."


    Shrugging her shoulders, Hephaestus replied, "He''s a strange one. Leaving me here to explore the party on his own."


    But before they could continue that topic, someone''s familiar voice interrupted them, "Hey, hey! Everybody''s here!"


    Hermes in a tuxedo came, "Let me join the fun!"


    Making a doubtful expression, Takemikazuchi asked, "Why did youe over here?"


    Hermes immediatelyined at his reaction, "Hey, c''mon! Didn''t we just work together? Don''t leave me out in the cold!"


    Not letting him say anything else, Hermes immediately turned his attention towards the children apanying the Deities, "Hi there, Kisuke! Those clothes look good on you! And Naaza, wonderful dress! Got some butterflies in your stomach, Mikoto-chan? Your cute face is going to waste!!!"


    "C-cute!!?" Mikoto immediately overreacted.


    Seeing that, Hermes took the opportunity to make her blush even more by suddenly grabbing her hand and giving it a kiss.


    "!?" Due to that, Mikoto instantly overheated and became at a loss on what to do.


    Hermes, meanwhile, also instantly earned the ire of two people as he received a hard knock from the furious Takemikazuchi and a fierce kick in the butt by the fuming Asfi.


    The chaotic scene immediately attracted the attention of the other guests in the vicinity, but when the Gods saw that it was just Hermes, they all lost interest.


    The beat down only stopped when the host of the celebration came down to address all the attendees.


    Coming down the stairs, Apollo greeted everyone while holding a ss of wine, "My guests, I''m d to see you have all arrived. An idea came to me about how to make this event special. How do you like it? Dressing up the ones we hold most dear and bringing them to our celebration, what could be more delightful?"


    "Seeing so many of my kin and the faces of their beloved children fills me with great joy. Tonight is a night destined to be filled with grand opportunities and new meetings. I have foreseen it." Kisuke then noticed how Apollo took a nce at him and immediately understood what that meant, ''Contempt, is it?''


    Looking at everyone again, Apollo continued, "I have assembled the best wines and the freshest foods. The night is young. Enjoy yourselves." Apollo raised his cup and toast to everyone.


    "I''ll talk to Apolloter. Since we''re already here, let''s enjoy the party.", said Hestia to Kisuke.


    The group then started talking about random things while Kisuke was also busy listening to what everyone around their group was talking about. Thanks to that, Kisuke was able to get a clearer picture of the power structure of Orario. After all, Gods do love bragging about the achievements of their children.


    However, it was cut short when a certain pair approached them. "Would you look at that�� The big cheese has arrived.", uttered Hermes with a genuine appreciation of beauty, "Freya and ''King'' Ottar."


    Despite wearing a suit, Ottar still looked like a barbarian due to his size, gait and grim expression. Freya, on the other hand, while wearing a low-cut dress that revealed a veryrge portion of her skin, still looked elegant and very confident.


    Hephaestus touched her chin in wonderment, "First was Ganesha''s celebration, and now this one�� Like Artemis, Freya normally neveres out into public. This�� It''s weird, right."


    Instead of specting, Hestia directly asked her when she got close enough, "Hey, Freya. What are you doing here?"


    "I merely came to say hello. It''s a rare chance to see so many familiar faces at once.", replied Freya with a smile.


    She then panned her eyes to other people and saw how the male Gods were looking at her ''attentively'' while their children were making dark faces towards their Gods, acting all smitten.


    Freya continued this until her eyesnded on Kisuke, which contrary to the other Gods and children, was looking at her with curiosity, "Oh?"


    Meeting her eyes, Kisuke immediately greeted her, "It''s a wonderful evening, Freya-sama."


    Freya then suddenlymented, "You really are different from the rest."


    While Miach and Takemikazuchi were making confused expressions, Hephaestus and Hermes'' eyes sharpened with thetter smiling deeply. Hestia, on the other hand, became nervous and wanted to step in, but in the end, she trusted Kisuke.


    Nevertheless, the man in question just chuckled and said, "What are you talking about, Freya-sama~? I''m just your run of a mill candy shop owner and an Adventurer on the side."


    Of course, they instantly caught the lie. However, they don''t know which was a lie, him being an ordinary shopkeeper or that being an Adventurer was just his side job. Either way, it was a lie that couldn��t expose the lie.


    Regardless of that, Freya just brushed it off, "Fufufu, is that so? How amusing. I wonder what else you are hiding. I''m really curious."


    "My~ I''m really ttered, but everyone''s hiding a thing or two, and no one is exempted to that. On that note, I''m also curious about something regarding Freya-sama."


    "Oh? What was that?", asked Freya, just to entertain him.


    Kisuke then closed his eyes and thought, ''First and foremost, Cranel-san should be in the Hostess of Fertility right now since Miach-sama asked him to treat himself because he can''t go with them. If she''s really interested in Cranel-san, then the real her shouldn''t be the one in front of me�� Alright, let''s poke the beehive~!''

 Volume 10 618 - Poking the Hornet’s Nest part 2

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 618 - Poking the Ho��s Nest part 2</h4>


    After reaching a decision, Kisuke opened his eyes and looked towards Freya with a smile, "Well, please forget it. It''s nothing significant or interesting~."


    Then for the first time ever since he stepped into this world, Kisuke used his soul-scrying eyes on a Deity.


    As Kisuke went through her ''avatar'', Kisuke didn''t see her soul, but instead, a shell made out of Freya''s soul''s power, covering the true owner of the body, ''As expected. But ''twisting the fate of a mortal'', huh. These Deities sure have strange abilities. If not for Ophis-chan, I wouldn''t have noticed it without being given a clue.''


    Although nothing of note changed in Kisuke''s exterior and no one had noticed what he did, his target, ''Freya'' had her eyes widened in shock and shuddered, not knowing where the creepy feeling came from. She inevitably closed her arms and unconsciously tried to cover herself and tried to stop her body from shaking.


    .


    .


    .


    Today was a busy night for the employees of the Hostess of Fertility, Syr was happily serving the customers, especially Bell, who hade here tonight. However, when she was bringing empty tes back to the kitchen, her eyes widened in shock and her body started to uncontrobly shudder.


    As a result, the tes she was holding dropped, creating a ruckus. Ryuu immediately went beside her and asked in worry, "Syr, what happened? Are you alright?"


    However, Syr didn''t respond and Ryuu could see confusion within her eyes as she nkly stared at the scattered tes on the floor, "Syr?"


    Only after Ryuu''s second call, was Syr finally able to react. Syr faced her with a wry smile and replied, "��I''m fine. I just tripped on my feet."


    But Ryuu didn''t buy any of that for a second, "If you''re feeling unwell, you should rest."


    "I''m fine."


    From the counter, both of them heard Mia''s voice, "Syr, rest up. Go take some fresh air outside."


    "B-but��"


    Ignoring her, Mia continued, "Ryuu, cover for her."


    Ryuu nodded and answered, "Understood."


    Since there was no convincing them, Syr epted it, "Alright. I''ll rest up for a bit. Thanks, Ryuu."


    "Just go on your way. We''ll be fine here."


    After some small farewells, Syr exited the pub through the back and immediately made her way towards the Tower of Babel, ''What''s happened back there? What was that feeling?''


    As soon as she''d arranged her thoughts, she immediately willed ''Freya'' to return, ''Was it not a wise decision to not to see him myself?''


    .


    .


    .


    Back at the gathering, Ottar and the rest immediately noticed that something was amiss with Freya and asked, "Freya-sama, what''s wrong?"


    Freya''s expression returned to normal and smiled, "It''s nothing. Well then, I''ll take my leave. Enjoy your evening. Until next time." She then walked away with a wave and Ottar followed closely behind.


    After she left, Hestia approached Kisuke and whispered, "Did you do something?"


    Kisuke, however, made a confused expression, "Should have I done something?"


    "N-no�� Don''t cause a ruckus here."


    Hermes, meanwhile, became suspicious regarding Freya''s weird reaction and creased his brows, ''What happened? I know Freya wouldn''t make a face like that without any good reason,'' his sights thennded on Kisuke, ''Did he do something? But knowing Freya, she would have confronted him��, even if she''s a fake one.''


    While Freya left in an awkward fashion, the neer immediately broke that atmosphere, "Not even here for two seconds, and that vixen''s already showing me up��"


    Hestia turned towards the source of the familiar voice, "Loki?"


    In a white suit, Loki ''greeted'' Hestia, "Yo! Chibi! I see that ya learned how to wear a dress. You''re acting so grown-up I could bust a gut!"


    However, Hestia wasn''t affected and snickered at her, "Just when did you get here? You''re not the type to sneak around."


    "Shut up! Two floppin'' boobies stole my entrance, got that!?"


    While they were busy with each other, Kisuke approached Loki''spanion, Ais.


    "Good evening, Wallenstein-san~ You look absolutely gorgeous today~!"


    Suddenly beingplimented on a type of attire that she wore for the first time in her life, Ais was taken aback and became strangely embarrassed, resulting in her blushing fiercely, "��Thank you."


    But before Kisuke could speak further, he felt a movement behind him and stepped to the side to dodge a hand chop aimed at his head, "You damned shady hat! Stop flirting with my Ais-tan!"


    Of course, Kisuke immediately denied her usation, "You misunderstand me, Loki-sama. It''s a gentleman''s obligation topliment ady~! Besides, I wasn''t lying, was I?"


    Despite that, Loki growled at him to defend her precious child from his poisonous ws, "I don''t care! Don''t use your gigolo skills on my Ais-tan!"


    Due to themotion they were causing, they attracted others'' attention yet again, but this time, they couldn''t turn away due to the individuals involved, "H-hey�� Look, it seems that the Gigolo Master is making a move on the Sword Princess!"


    "What!? Even the Sword Princess!? Does he have a death wish or something?"


    "Kukuku~! I can''t wait to see Loki stomp that kid!"


    "You idiot! Look closely! Loki seems to be�� desperately protecting the Sword Princess?"


    "Hmmm�� Wait�� What!? What does this mean!?"


    "C-could he perhaps have a chance?"


    That question from one Deity raised even more ruckus from the surroundings and various groups started talking about the topic until someone raised Riveria''s name and discussed her suspicious rtionship with the Hestia Familia''s Captain.


    At this point, not just jealousy but also a bit of admiration came emanating from both male Deities and their children. Though their resentment hadn''t changed at all.


    Meanwhile, Loki and Kisuke could only stare at each other with stiff expressions.


    After a few seconds of awkward silence between them, Kisuke finally spoke up, "This isn''t what I had in mind."


    "Then you clearly underestimated how infamous you are. Damn you�� You can take Riveria, but I won''t allow you to take Ais-tan!"


    "I''m not taking anyone!"


    "Looks like he''s even worse than you�� by a lot.", whispered Hermes to Takemikazuchi.


    "Stop implying that I''m a womanizer."


    At that point, both of them noticed that Freya and Ottar left for good. They thought that they''d stay for a few more moments but it seemed that they were wrong.


    Kisuke had also noticed this as he had been taking note of their movements, but this wasn��t the one that caught his attention. It was actually a familiar person who had just arrived in a hidden corner of Apollo''s mansion, ''Syr?�� Hmm�� Looks like I shook the ho''s nest too strongly. I didn''t think that she''de over here. I wonder if I should confront her?''


    Loki noticed that Kisuke had lost track of their conversation and started thinking about something else. Being curious, she asked, "What''s up? nning something nasty yet again?"


    Ever since Kisuke revealed his true abilities to her Familia, Loki already guessed that he was the one behind the nightmare that she''d been experiencing. She also guessed that he was one of those who proimed themselves as the ''Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group.''


    She wanted to ask him about it and their goal that night, until a certain possibility crossed her mind. As it was at the same time as the ''nightmare'' happened, the ridiculous thought of them wreaking havoc throughout the whole city because Kisuke didn''t like his Alias came to her.


    She wanted to brush that possibility off, but after seeing the connection and timing, she became scared and chose not to say anything regarding that. After all, she was the one who approved of his Alias.


    "Nah, I just thought of something." Kisuke then turned to Hestia and said, "Hestia-sama, I''ll be exiting for a moment to do something. I''ll be backter."


    "What are you going to do?"


    "Sort out some things."

 Volume 10 619 - Poking the Hornet’s Nest part 3

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 619 - Poking the Ho��s Nest part 3</h4>


    Syr sighed as she looked up at Apollo''s mansion from a hidden corner only illuminated by the moonlight, ''Haah�� What did Ie here for?''


    Through her connection with ''Freya'', Syr had already heard what just happened. Although she had no concrete evidence, the strange sensation they both felt certainly came from Kisuke Urahara, one of the individuals that were shrouded in mystery.


    Due to her intense curiosity, she ended up turning a corner and headed to this ce instead of returning to the tower. But aftering here, she''d already decided against calling him out as any method to do so would attract attention, especially from Loki and Hephaestus, who were strangely protective of him.


    ''They are certainly aware of some of his secrets. I wonder what kind of secrets they are, to make them act this way?'' Syr questioned herself as she turned on her heels and decided to meet up with ''Freya'' and Ottar to directly hear from them about what just happened, as there were certain limitations with the connection they had.


    After a minute of walking, Syr arrived at the small opening surrounded by trees and illuminated by shiny moonlight and abruptly stopped in her tracks. She already walked over this spot when she came to watch Apollo''s mansion, but the sudden changes in it made her jumped a little as a familiar figure greeted her with a smile while setting up a table with a bottle of wine and two wine sses, "Oh hey, fancy meeting you here, Syr-san~!"


    With widened eyes, Syr muttered his name, "Kisuke Urahara��"


    After being taken aback for a few seconds, she rposed herself and rearranged her thoughts before replying with a bright smile, "Good evening, Kisuke-san, but I don''t think that this is a coincidence."


    Kisuke just chuckled, "Well, that''s not really important. It seems that you''re free, so why don''t you join me for a cup of wine?"


    Sighing, Syr''s face was filled with regret, "I''d really like to ept your offer, but I still have to return to my workter. As you''ve probably noticed, Mia-san''s sense of smell is fantastic and I would be instantly discovered. If she were to notice that I drank some alcohol, I wouldn''t hear the end of it. I''d like you to forgive me for that."


    "Ah, I''m sorry too for not considering that. Then how about a cup of hot chocte?"


    "I''d love to, but I can only see a bottle of wine on you. Should we move somewhere else?"


    "There''s no need. The cold wind will make the hot choco even tastier. Please sit down~."


    Syr was confused at his actions and wondered where he would be getting the hot drink. He''d be incredibly rude if he were to leave her here out of nowhere and make her wait for the drink, but she also knew that Kisuke wasn��t that kind of person from the times they''d interacted.


    After helping Syr sitting down on the chair, Kisuke pulled out a typical small Adventurer''s bag from behind a tree. Wondering what he was about to do with it, the thought that the hot drink would being from such a small bag never crossed Syr''s mind.


    She was shocked to see that Kisuke suddenly picked up the fragile wine sses and bottle and put it inside the bag. But when she was about to scold him for not handling the sswares properly, Kisuke suddenly took out a steel pitcher and ced it on the table.


    From the sound it made at the moment it hit the table and the smell it produced, Syr was able to figure out what was inside it and how full it was. On top of that, a little bit of steam wasing out from the top, "��Hot milk?"


    But Kisuke wasn''t done yet. Without resolving Syr''s confusion, Kisuke kept taking things out of the small bag that was already far beyond its capacity.


    Being dumbfounded, Syr asked, "��What''s that?"


    "It''s just a bag with some tricks on it.", said Kisuke. He set the bag aside and started moving the things he just took out, asking Syr how she wanted her hot chocte.


    After a minute, Kisuke was able to finish making two cups of hot chocte with different vors ording to their preferences.


    Syr stared at her steamy cup of hot chocte with a generous amount of marshmallows and dark chocte shavings before looking back up to Kisuke who was now opening some boxes which contained some snacks that could pair with the hot chocte, "Please try it~."


    Picking the cup and blowing on it, Syr took a sip and her eyes immediately shone like stars, "It''s sweet, but not too sweet! It''s also creamy and the bitter aftertaste is delectable! No doubt, this is by far, the best hot chocte that I''ve ever tried!"


    "I''m honored that a Deity could praise my brew~ Please try some lightly salted snacks too. It should go well with the sweet chocte."


    Since Syr had already guessed that he was aware of her true identity, she wasn''t shocked by that much and just continued to enjoy her drink and tried some snacks. Thankfully, they were now sitting in front of each other and they could slowly go over that topic as they conversed naturally.


    After silently enjoying the cold breeze with the hot drink in her hands for a few minutes, Syr finally spoke up, "Kisuke-san, could you tell me more about that bag? It should be an item that has spacews rewritten inside of it."


    "More specifically, space and gravityws were slightly modified to erge the space inside it, not tranting the weight to outside and stabilizing its contents."


    "Then it''s really a revolutionary item that could start all sorts of things, ranging from wars to smuggling. I didn''t even know that this kind of magic item existed in the Lower World. I presume Loki and Hephaestus are already aware of this?"


    After taking a sip from his cup, Kisuke answered, "I supplied a few sets to both of them."


    Syr smiled brightly and asked, "I wonder if you could supply a few to my Familia, too?"


    "My~ Even though I''m aware that you''re a Deity, I''m still not sure which Familia you are leading~."


    Syr was surprised that Kisuke was actually telling the truth, "You''re still not sure? Even with all those clues?"


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "Everything was just my guess and there''s no way I''ll consider something like that as being sure."


    "Hmm, fair point. How were you able to confirm that I''m a Deity anyway? Is it thanks to that child?"


    "I''d like to keep that to myself."


    "Ehhh~? Then why did youe to meet me if you''re not going to tell me anything?"


    Kisuke then looked straight into her eyes and said, "Well, there are just a few things I''d like to rify, Freya-sama."

 Volume 10 620 - ‘Boring Brilliance’

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 620 - ��Boring Brilliance��</h4>


    Syr rested her chin on her right arm and asked, "Such as?"


    "One of those was to confirm my guesses."


    "What I just did for you. What else?"


    "Also to ask you to promise not to interfere with my girls."


    "��" Syr pouted her mouth, "Say, what do you think of me? Be honest."


    Kisuke stared straight into her eyes and with a straight face, he answered without any hesitation, "A perverted stalker."


    Syr''s face instantly crumpled up. She never would have thought that someone who knew her true identity would say that to her face. Unfortunately, although it was for her ''love'', if one were to indeed describe her past actions, ''perverted stalker'' would be a very term and she couldn''t refute it, "��Can''t you word that in a nicer way?"


    "I can reword it, but not nicely. How about a deviant observer?"


    Syr''s face crumpled even more.


    "No? Then degenerate pursuer? Sicko chaser is also good."


    At that description, Syr started waving her hand wildly at him, "Stop, stop, stop! That''s enough! It''s getting worse! I get it! I fully understand your impression of me!"


    Kisuke stopped speaking and continued sipping on his hot chocte.


    Meanwhile, Syr could only sigh and just choose to move on, "And? Why would you think that I''m going to interfere with their activities?"


    While looking at his cup, Kisuke muttered, "Because I have a feeling that you''re slowly losing interest over that boy."


    Syr''s eyes widened for a moment before frowning, "What are you talking about?"


    Stirring the cup, Kisuke continued, "You know what I''m talking about. He''s bright, I give you that. He also has a lot of potentials, however, that''s about it. On top of being naive and ambitionless, he''s also chasing after a nonexistent back. Sooner orter, he''ll also forget that goal and would be satisfied with the way things are."


    "And even if you create an artificial stage for him to grow, you know that there are limits to that. You''re also worried that you might overestimate him and just outright kill him."


    "I see that you also have the ability to see souls. It''s probably because of this that you were able to see through my ''avatar'' and you''re also probably the person you gave Bell that strange weapon." Syr then leaned back to her chair, "However, you''re wrong about some things."


    "Oh? Mind enlightening me to what those are?"


    "First of all, despite describing him as an indecisive boy, his soul is still the most beautiful and clean one that I''ve ever seen. And if I identally kill him one day, then I''d just ascend back to Heaven and embrace his soul there."


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at her response, "You''re crazier than I thought."


    "Compared to other Deities, I''m just above average."


    "Then the Deities are crazier than I initially thought." If Hestia were to hear these words from his mouth, however, she''d point out that he''s also above average. Then again, she hasn''t experienced anything ''crazy'' from Kisuke aside from pushing Sona, Koneko, and Aika to the verge of death.


    "But I can now understand that we see souls differently. While you''re more interested in ''beauty'', I''m actually more interested in ''personality''. Describing it further, you''re more interested in the ''destination'' while I''m more interested in the ''journey''."


    Kisuke had only ever seen a soul color simr to Bell''s from two different individuals. First was Ichigo''s soul, while the second one was Issei''s soul. However, Ichigo''s soul shined brightly when he was trying his best to protect the weak and those who are important to him. Issei''s, on the other hand, shined brightly with his desires and ambitions. Meanwhile, despite being simr to those two, Bell''s soul only shined. If Kisuke were to describe it, it didn''t have any personality, or it hadn��t developed anything yet despite reaching this stage of life.


    While thinking about that, Kisuke muttered, "Sure, his soul is an amazing sight, but it''s also one of the most boring souls that I''ve ever seen."


    For Kisuke it was just an honest opinion, but for Freya who was currently in Syr''s appearance, it was an insult. An insult to her aesthetics.


    Kisuke saw her expression and immediately said, "Before you misunderstand, I''m not saying that the way you look at things is bad. It''s just that we have different perspectives in regards to this. It''s the same as the saying ''one man''s trash is another man''s treasure''."


    Syr was able to calm down after hearing that, "I''m sorry for such a disy. I jumped to the wrong conclusion." While sighing, she added, "But boring, huh? Such brilliance is boring?"


    "If it''s just brilliance, then Cranel-san is just above average." When he thought about the characters that really shined, Bell Cranel fell far short inparison to them. One example of it was Kenpachi with his blinding desire for battle.


    Syr was shocked yet again. Even if Bell''s ''color'' was disregarded, his soul was still one of the brightest she had ever seen. For Kisuke to im otherwise, she could only murmur, "Just what have you seen?"


    "People who cultivated themselves beyondmon sense. Unlike Bell, those people have ''ws'', but in my opinion, those ''ws'' are the things that pushed them to such heights. The ''ws'' that aren''t needed to attain Godhood."


    That statement from Kisuke immediately sent multiple meanings towards Syr, which she couldn''t believe. First is the fact that she didn''t catch any lies about Kisuke meeting such people and the second was the hint from him that he knew, or at least, had some clues on how to be a Deity.


    For the first part, she still could believe it as she hadn''t met all the people in the entire world. However, for the problematic second part, it was a secret that not all Deities were aware of and those who knew about it would keep it to themselves and never revealed it among the residents of the Lower World.


    The biggest reason why Freya was very attracted to Bell was not just his ''color and brilliance'' but his ''wlessness'' that could potentially earn him a seat among the Deities, which would allow him to stand equal with her.


    If Kisuke knew the conditions to attain Godhood, it could also mean that someone had already seeded, but no Deities were aware of it.


    Such a thing would send waves to all those in Heaven and would start a brand new era, not just for Gods, but also Demigods.


    For the first time, Syr couldn''t keep herposure and stutter, "J-just what do you know? And what are you, really?"

 Volume 10 621 - A Little Accident

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 621 - A Little ident</h4>


    "J-just what do you know? And what are you, really?" Syr couldn''t help but stutter.


    However, Kisuke didn''t entertain her question, finished his drink, and stood up, "It''s about time we cut this short."


    Since he''d already reached his goal of further ''poking the ho''s nest'', he decided to go back.


    Obviously, Syr was reluctant, very reluctant. If before, Kisuke was just a mysterious and amusing child, now he looked like a bottomless abyss. It became clear to Syr�� Freya, that everything Kisuke had shown her was fake without her seeing through it. She thought that she knew, or at least, had a clue to what he could do, but it turned out that everything was just her misconception that Kisuke intentionally fed to those who were watching him. On top of that, it seemed that he knew so much more about her than she''d originally thought.


    Thebination of those gave Freya a strange mixture of confusion, suspicion, curiosity, fear,�� and exhration. A contrasting feeling that was born from the fact that she was a Goddess with the ultimate dream of finding her ''eternalpanion''.


    But regardless of what she thought, Kisuke had already decided to leave and continue this at another time. By revealing small bits of information, he would be able to get her attention away from Sona, Aika, and Koneko. And even if she decided to interfere despite that, she''d have second thoughts.


    Seeing that Kisuke didn''t stop cleaning up, Syr gritted her teeth, ''You''re forcing my hand.''


    Even though she didn''t want to use it, the desire to know more pushed her to a decision to use her power, "Kisuke-san."


    Calling out to him, their eyes met and Syr''s eyes turned pink and glowed brightly, "Tell me who you really are and what you know."


    However, the result that she was presented with was far from desirable, as Kisuke just stared at her for a few seconds before chuckling, "Save your efforts. That sort of thing won''t work on me."


    Syr''s eyes widened even further. As a matter of fact, she was actually using her charm ability to the limit without revealing her Arcanum. It was her first time using this ability to this extent, as even in those instances that she used it on other people, it wasn''t even half of this.


    ''F-for it to be totally disregarded�� Is it his natural resistance?�� Or could it be��'' She didn''t want to think about it, the possibility of Kisuke having a stronger soul than most Gods. It really wasn''t possible within hermon sense.


    Because if Kisuke really did have such a strong soul, in ordance to the rules of this world, he would have ascended as a God, but clearly, the person in front of her was not a Deity, nor did he have any indications that he was about to be one.


    So it was only natural that Freya would conclude that it was because of his natural resistance. The main reason why she didn''t want to use her charming ability as much as possible was that it wrapped her target''s soul with her own ''color'' and even after she stopped using it, it''d linger for some time, and for those with a very low soul strength, they''d be tainted by her ''color'' until they go through reincarnation.


    She assumed that Bell had a natural resistance due to his ''brilliance'' and ''wlessness'', but even then, he couldn''t possibly resist her charm''s full power, which was a lot stronger than most Goddesses of Beauty due to the other Authorities thatpounded her Divinity.


    Syr could only stare with her eyes shining in power as Kisuke continued cleaning up without minding her. More than ever, she wanted to see through his soul which was covered by the dirty gray fake soul. Nevertheless, she didn''t know how he hid his soul nor did she have any ability at her disposal to peer through it without breaking the rules of the Lower World.


    But because of a certain someone, her wish that she thought couldn''t be granted, would be realized. Whether it was a fortunate or unfortunate event, even Kisuke didn''t expect such a thing would happen.


    While Kisuke was disregarding that mild prickly feeling that wasing from Syr, his Reiatsu-Ki started stirring up from the depths of his consciousness and he immediately figured out what was happening, ''Benihime!?''


    From within his inner world, Benihime was trying to materialize herself in the outside world without Kisuke''s permission. With a great deal of intensity, Benihime replied, ''Let me slice and dice that woman!''


    ''Stop! It doesn''t affect me in any way! Why are you doing this!?'' However, due to her sudden movement, Kisuke failed to contain the exponentially expanding Reiatsu-Ki that instantly broke his carefully crafted cover and revealed what his soul looks like to Syr.


    Kisuke did his best to contain Benihime, who was now running wild and heard her say, ''I know you''re not affected, but the feeling she is giving me, I don''t like it! I want to cut her up! Release me and let me cut her up!''


    Meanwhile, Syr could only stare nkly at Kisuke, more specifically, his soul, despite the perilous threat breathing down on her that wasing from him, ''��What�� is this?''


    Within Syr''s eyes was Kisuke''s reflected soul. All souls, even those of Deities, had the basic form of an orb from her perspective. Although there were individual differences, it didn''t go much beyond that.


    Kisuke''s soul, on the other hand, while still in the shape of an orb, its blinding crimson brilliance was something she''d never witnessed before and the two halo rings caught her attention even more.


    These two halo rings were ced on the top and bottom of Kisuke''s spherical soul, radiating the power of opposing forces. The white halo ring on top emitted a power that could be interpreted as ''salvation'' and ''order'', while the ck halo ring''s power could be expounded as ''destruction'' and ''chaos''.


    Innumerable questions flooded Syr''s mind, so much that she was paralyzed in ce, like, ''Howe his soul is too ''bright''?'', ''Howe his soul is too ''clean''?'', or ''Howe his soul''s form is different from the rest?''


    But even with those in mind, the question that bothered her the most was, ''Howe his soul hasn''t torn itself apart?''


    With such extreme opposing forces, she couldn''t fathom how Kisuke could still exist and what had he done to achieve this monstrosity?


    A few secondster, Kisuke was able to forcibly suppress Benihime and returned the dirty veil on his soul. It was only then that he was able to give some attention to Syr. When he looked at her, Kisuke noticed her ckened expression and minutely shaking body, ''Haah�� Now how should I go through with this?''


    While thinking about what to do next, Syr was finally able to get hold of herself after the view of his soul disappeared and asked with a shaking voice, "You�� Just what are you?"


    To that question, Kisuke smiled and answered, "Obviously, a Human~!"

 Volume 10 622 - Touching the Reverse Scale

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 622 - Touching the Reverse Scale</h4>


    "There''s no way someone like you is a Human!", shouted Syr at his face.


    "My~ Did you see something that says otherwise?", asked Kisuke with an intrigued tone.


    "That��" Syr was about to answer but after thinking about it further, aside from those halo rings, his soul wasn''t much different from the residents of the mortal world. It also didn''t have any parts that were present in a Deity''s soul, nor was it simr to a Monster''s broken soul, "But howe your soul could exist within those two extremely opposing forces?"


    "Two opposing forces?", asked Kisuke in curiosity, "Could you possibly tell me what you saw?"


    From here on out, everything was already beyond the Goddess'' control and it was already very far away from any of the predicted oues she could possibly think of. As such, after a short but serious contemtion, Syr decided to answer him, "Two halo rings surrounding your soul�� Each of those rings was constituted of, without much better words for it, ''white'' and ''ck'' powers."


    "Hmmm�� Those two opposing forces were clearly visible?", muttered Kisuke as he rubbed his chin, ''So it was visibly separated from her perspective. I have already confirmed that the core of my soul and Benihime were able to separate themselves from any influence of either my Shinigami and Hollow powers, but it is interesting to hear that it was visualized that way.''


    Different from the route that Aizen took, instead of integrating the powers into his soul, Kisuke chose to be ''independent'' from it and aimed for total control without losing the original form of his soul. Although it was not Aizen''s ''Absolute Power'', ''Absolute Control'' suited Kisuke so much better, even more if Benihime was added to the equation.


    "Could you answer my question now since I answered yours?", asked Syr after seeing Kisuke nodding repeatedly to himself.


    "Fair enough. The answer to that question is because those two powers, while exuding opposing attributes, are not so different."


    "��Not so different?" The Goddess became even more confused at his answer, but Kisuke was unwilling to say any more than this.


    "Enough of that. Please forget this little incident." Regardless of what Syr wanted, Kisuke resumed cleaning up and was able to take away everything except for the table and a box with a handle on top of it.


    "W-wait!" Syr tried to stop him but Kisuke didn''t listen and continued walking away, intending to go back to the party.


    But Syr hadn''t given up, "Come to my Familia! I can offer you much more!"


    Kisuke stopped walking and turned his head, "Are you seriously hoping for a positive answer?"


    Hearing that, Syr could only bite her lips in frustration.


    "Please don''t overthink this incident. It''s not like this is ourst time meeting, right?" Kisuke then pointed towards the box he''d left on the table, "And please take that. It''s a box of cupcakes. Share it with Mia-san and the rest after closing."


    Syr looked towards the box and Kisuke resumed walking. But after a few steps, Kisuke turned towards her again and said, "Ah, I almost forgot. Someone wille from the Loki Familia and give you a little present. Please ept it and have your children follow their instructions."


    "What?"


    Waving goodbye, Kisuke replied, "It''ll give Ottar-san a shot at Level 10."


    Due to so many things happening at once, Syr couldn''t keep up and it was only after Kisuke disappeared from her sight that she finally managed to get hold of herself and regret her inaction. While looking at the box, Syr heaved arge sigh, ''Haah�� That was beyond unsatisfactory. I didn''t expect that I would be frozen that much. But he sure has some weird considerations.''


    Picking up the box and opening it, the smell of freshly baked cupcakes of different vors whiffed through her nose, and Syr smiled before closing the box again before looking up to the moon, ''As he said, this isn''t thest time we would be meeting. I want to know more about you, so I won''t give up.''


    "Now the future has be even more unpredictable. I wonder what sort of revolution he would bring in this stagnant world? Will he be the Hero or the Devil?", murmured Syr to herself before walking off in the direction of the main road.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke reentered the hall where the party was being held and came into a tense atmosphere. After hearing the muttering from his surroundings, Kisuke immediately figured out what was going on and it had indeed developed into the situation that he''d predicted.


    But before he could reach where everyone was , Kisuke heard Hestia''s irritated voice, "No! Why would you think that I''d even ept your challenge!?"


    ''So she rejected him. Well, I doubt he''ll give up with just that, so I''ll wait and see what he''s going to do next.'', thought Kisuke as he reached Hestia''s side and saw two Apollo Familia members full of bandages. Of course, it was just a farce that the Apollo Familia concocted to corner the Hestia Familia into epting ''their responsibilities''.


    Seeing Kisuke, Hestia immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him away, "Let''s go home!"


    As they exited the building, Kisuke could feel the majority of Apollo Familia''s sneer on their backs while Loki could barely hold herself fromughing out loud.


    Once they managed to get away from the mansion, Kisuke asked Hestia, "Why didn''t you just ept it? We wouldn''t really have a problem with them."


    Hestia didn''t turn her back and continued walking, "epting his challenge would also mean epting their allegations towards Aika-kun and Koneko-kun. You may be able to take them on, but that doesn''t mean I''m fine with them smearing your reputation."


    "You''re just overthinking it. We wouldn''t really mind appearing a bit violent to others."


    "True, you may not mind.", Hestia then stopped walking and faced him, "But I won''t tolerate false usations! I know you''re strong, but at least, let me stand up for you when needed. After all, you''re already my family."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened a bit before he smiled cheekily and patted her head, "Alright~ I won''t question your decisions anymore regarding this~ Thank you very much for protecting us, Hestia-sama."


    Hestia pouted and pped away his hand whileining, "Stop treating me like a child!"


    "Yes, yes." Kisuke ignored her and proceeded to walk back home while apanying the angry small Goddess.


    The next morning, however, Kisuke and Hestia were standing in front of their candy store with the former making a dark expression while thetter didn''t know what to do.


    In the distance, members of the Apollo Familia were snickering at them and making loudments, "Hey, I heard that there''s a candy shop around this God-forsaken ce, but it seems that I can''t find---!?"


    But before he could finish his words, something hit his face without knowing how, broke his nose, and detached his entire front row of teeth, before he lost consciousness. The two others who were with him also received a simr treatment, but since it was very early in the morning, no one else was there to witness this invisible assault.


    Still standing in front of his broken store, Kisuke muttered in a dark tone, "Hey, Hestia-sama��"


    Not waiting for him to finish, Hestia immediately answered with what he wanted to hear, "Let''s ept his challenge! Mess with them any way you want! You have my full support!"


    With an evil smile that gave Hestia chills, Kisuke replied, "Thank you very much~!"


    "J-just please don''t kill anyone."


    "No worries~ I won''t need to do something like that."


    However, little did Hestia know, that death would''ve been the best mercy which he could give them.

 Volume 10 623 - Declaration of War

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 623 - Deration of War</h4>


    Within the Apollo Familia mansion, every member was suiting up for battle. Since Hestia wouldn''t agree with his proposition, Apollo decided to besiege their Familia to either destroy them or force them to ept their challenge. All for the single purpose of obtaining the three rising stars from their Familia.


    Just to make sure of their sess, he also hired some outside help to attack them. More specifically, those from the Soma Familia, who were very desperate for money and would do almost anything for it.


    Of course, Apollo was aware of the heavy sanctions that he may receive from the Guild after doing this, but it was not something that he couldn''t pay.


    Aside from that, he also invited numerous Gods to watch this ''entertainment'' and would ask for some pensation'' to recoup his potential losses after this.


    Within Apollo''s study room, his executives were gathered while waiting for their members and the Soma Familia to get ready, "We received some intel that said that two of their members had left Orario the other day and our targets, along with the new members of the Artemis Familia, seem to have stayed in the Dungeonst night, so we can expect weaker resistance from them.", reported Daphne.


    Apollo''s smile widened, "Great. How about your little n, Hyakinthos?"


    "I sent some of our members before daybreak, Apollo-sama. Since their store is their only establishment, they won''t be able to use it if by chance there''s an escape route from it. I''ve also asked the people who have records regarding the basement level of that ruined church and we''ve been reassured that it isn''t connected to anything, so escaping from there is also impossible. They won''t be able to escape, Apollo-sama.", replied Hyakinthos.


    "Good. You should depart now."


    Hyakinthos bowed his head and said, "As youmand, my Lord."


    But before they could actually leave the door, the window of the room suddenly opened up with a loud bang, allowing the cold wind toe through, "So this was your n! How dirty, Apollo."


    "Hestia!?", eximed Apollo. Beyond the window, Hestia was staring down at him with her arms crossed, "How did youe from there!? This is the third floor, you know!?"


    While sneering at him, Hestia replied, "How? Are you not aware of the existence ofdders? You ought to learn more about the Lower World."


    The mocking aura that came from Hestia instantly pissed Apollo off, "How did youe here anyway!? What you''re doing is trespassing!"


    "Heh? Youin about me trespassing when you''re here about to attack my ce? Are you really that stupid, you damned punk?"


    "What!?" Apollo lost his patience and was about tomand his children to catch her when she continued speaking.


    "Well, enough of that. I''m actually here to tell you what you wanted to hear from me." Hestia then pointed at his face with a smug expression, "I ept your challenge."


    The instant she said that, something flew by her left shoulder with an amazing speed and hit Apollo square in the face, creating a loud p, "Gahh!!!"


    That something covered Apollo''s head with red ink and the ssh it created on the wall behind him created a message, ''Whatever your rules are, we''ll ept! As long as you can bet everything in the name of the Apollo Familia and never set foot in Orario for at least 100 years~!''


    While everyone was stunned and Apollo was busy wiping off the ink, Hestia jumped down while shouting, "The War Game is on! So you guys make sure Apollo won''t do anything that will upset our chances of winning or that''ll be extremely boring!"


    From below, a small maid with purple hair jumped up and caught Hestia midair to slowly cancel her momentum, before running towards the front gate to escape, "Apollo~! Don''t make these people wait for too long~!"


    Soon enough, the Deities that were inside the mansion cheered in unison, "It''s finally here!"


    Since there weren''t any people guarding the gates due to them being busy, Hestia and Medusa were able to escape without any problem and returned to their ce. When they arrived, both of them saw Kisuke and Artemis standing in front of the supposedly destroyed store.


    "Wee back~." Kisuke greeted them.


    With a twitching mouth, Hestia asked, "Since when did you rebuild the store?"


    "Rebuilt the store? What do you mean?", asked Artemis.


    "Y-you didn''t see the state of the store this morning?"


    "Hmm? I helped out with making breakfast and waking up the kids. I came out not long ago since you were taking your time toe back down. Did something happen?"


    Hestia sighed and shook her head, "Haah, it doesn''t matter. He already created that giant cavern so a small store shouldn''t be a problem. Anyway, we''ve dered war on the Apollo Familia."


    Artemis paused for a moment before replying, "I feel that I should be worried, but I can only feel pity for them."


    Putting his fan in front of his face, Kisukeughed out loud, "A free mansion will be good~! We can''t have ire and Ophis always staying underground."


    "I guess you''re right about that. We should just use the Denatus, but since you told him that he can make any rule, Apollo would surely go for borderline shamelessness."


    "It doesn''t matter. As long we can kick them out, anything''s fine."


    .


    .


    .


    The Denatus to discuss their War Game was scheduled two dayster. During that time, all sorts of rumors started floating around regarding the Hestia Familia and them being just a group of Level 2s going against a Familia with at least a hundred members and multiple of them being Level 3.


    Due to this strength difference, many people assumed that they''d be skipping the town and those from the Apollo Familia seemed to believe the same thing as their members were guarding the gates of the city to prevent them from skipping.


    The news regarding what Apollo wanted from the Hestia Familia also spread like wildfire, earning various reactions about it. Most of them were disgusted by it while some took pity on them. Takemikazuchi and Miach, on the other hand, were very worried about them and wanted to lend a hand, at least, to help them at escaping but Hestia just reassured them that there was nothing to worry about.


    Apollo was also worried about the Hephaestus and Loki Familia giving some assistance to the Hestia Familia because he received some reports that said that they were ''getting along''. But he put his worries down when he saw no movements from either of them, with thetter even openly celebrating Hestia''s misfortune.


    After Hestia left for the Denatus, Sona, Aika, Koneko, Akeno, Irina and Serafall finally returned to the surface.


    "Uhmm�� What''s going on?", inquired Sona from Kisuke, who was on his break.


    "We''re smashing some heads. The Apollo Familia kept bothering you, didn''t they? This is your chance to retaliate legally~!"


    "��Just how did the situation devolve to this?"


    "They messed with my shop."


    "��"


    The girls could only silently pray for their opponents.

 Volume 10 624 - It went so well that it’s almost scary

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 624 - It went so well that it��s almost scary</h4>


    With another Denatus on the 30th floor of Babel, many Gods were gathered surrounding a table with two chairs for the main protagonists of today''s topic, the War Game.


    While their excitement was through the roof, they were also slowly losing their patience because one of the participants still hadn''t arrived.


    After waiting for another half hour, Apollo clicked his tongue and said, "At this point, we''re just wasting our time waiting. I suppose the Guild will have no choice but to forfeit the game."


    There would be some difficulties, but since it would be Hestia''s fault that the game won''t happen, it''d be easier to snatch the three girls from her and let him keep them. Though he would have wanted to win the game to legally transfer them, this is the next best thing.


    Many among the Deities sighed in disappointment but a secondter, the door suddenly opened up and Hestia came with a calm smile, "Hey~! Sorry, I''mte."


    Along with the other Gods, Apollo smiled at her presence.


    But as soon as Hestia saw Apollo, she couldn''t help but snicker, "Hey Apollo? What sort of skincare products are you into these days? If you want my opinion on it, then I dare say that you look like a tomato. Or is that what you were aiming for from the start? Did a fashion revolution start without me knowing?"


    Apollo smacked the table and shouted at her with intion, "You bumbling bitch! This is your fault! How dare you act ignorant!?"


    Although most of the red ink had washed away, Apollo still looked like he was holding arge one in, which earned him amused and mockingughs among the Deities as soon as they saw him for the first time.


    He was very confused as to why his natural ''pureness'' didn''t work easily on the ink and so were the others, but they were more inclined to point at the amusing situation he was in.


    And now that he was very angry, Hestia couldn''t contain herughter and said, "Do you need to go to afort room right now? You look like you''re pushing a giant turd out."


    A round ofughter echoed throughout the room and Apollo instantly exploded at herment and stood up while mming the table, "Do you want me to send you back to Heaven right now!?"


    But before it escted further, Loki intervened, "Enough of that. We''re here to decide how the two of you are going to duke it out, so save that effort forter."


    Soon after, the voices from other Gods also stopped Apollo from acting out and he had no choice but to take deep breaths to calm himself down. He then looked towards Hestia with fury before immediately saying, "Before we start, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. If we win, we get Sona Sitri, Aika Kiryuu and Koneko Toujou, these three people. No wigglings, loopholes or vetos."


    Hestia''s smile disappeared, "And if we win the War Game?"


    Finally, an evil smile grew on Apollo''s face, "As you''ve wanted, I am giving everything up."


    He intended to hold back a bit to make it look like he was fair and reasonable. But after Hestia''s insults, he decided to fully capitalize on their careless words of ''epting any rule as long as he bets everything.''


    Apollo then turned to one of the Gods and said, "Scribe, please remind everyone of Hestia''s proposal when she epted the challenge."


    The scribe of this meeting nodded at him and said, "The exact words are, ''Whatever your rules are, we''ll ept! As long as you can bet everything in the name of the Apollo Familia and never set foot in Orario for at least 100 years~!''"


    Apollo expressed his gratitude to him and turned back to Hestia, "Since I''m willing to bet everything, I get to decide the rules. You won''t take that back, will you?"


    Most of the Gods questioned Hestia''s motives, but they couldn''t think of any reason why she would allow something like that. Since she angered Apollo as soon as he entered, they were pretty sure that Apollo would do anything to his advantage and that would make this game very one-sided and very boring.


    Seeing this, Apollo snickered, "In that case, let me present to everyone what I thought of for this game."


    "First of all, the game will be a Castle Siege!"


    The Deities listening almost had their jaws drop, "How shameless, Apollo!"


    "You just had to choose a game where you have the most advantage! Shame on you Apollo!"


    More dissatisfied voices filled the room, but Apollo didn''t mind them and just looked forward.


    Hestia also ignored the mor and said with a slight smile, "Then let me take the defensive side."


    When Apollo caught that, he became extremely suspicious, ''She''s still confident and wanted to take the defensive side? I would have taken the attacking side since it''d be hard for their numbers to keep arge castle safe, but where does her confidencee from?''


    After a few more seconds of silence from his, Apollo suddenly sneered, "Why are you trying to decide things? It''s already been agreed that I''d be the one who''ll decide everything! I''ll take the defensive side since I also considered that it''d be hard for you to protect a castle with your few children. Be thankful!"


    Hestia furrowed her brows and clicked her tongue in discontent which made Apollo happy and he thought, ''That''s just the start, my dear Hestia. I''ll make sure you won''t have an avenue for any advantages and make the game more tilted to my favor. me that careless remark of yours.''


    Clearing his throat, Apollo continued, "Second, to make the more grand and exciting, both of our Familias will be allowed to seek help from others~!"


    Everyone momentarily became quiet at Apollo''s words and thought that things were finally bing interesting until he further spoke, "However, you''re only allowed to hire them using your own capital and the price has to be in ordance to that child''s strength!"


    "What the hell! Apollo, you spineless coward!" More dissent came from the Deities.


    Nevertheless, Apollo wasn''t done yet, "Third! No one is allowed to ept new Familia members before the game is done!"


    "Fourth, both of us are only allowed to use the equipment and weapons we have prior to this discussion!"


    "Fifth, those who are going to help us would be subjected to the same penalty I will get when I lose!"


    "��" Everyone became speechless before roaring into mor. Although he could technically do so, they didn''t think Apollo would go this far.


    Although the second rule was fine, the restriction made it so that only Apollo would be able to hire more children at his side thanks to his assets, a stark contrast to Hestia who didn��t have much under her name.


    The third rule would prohibit Hestia to get followers from those she was close with. Although no one could easily lend their child due to the 1-year mandatory contract between a God and child, Apollo still closed that avenue for the Hestia Familia''s potential strengthening.


    Lastly, the fifth rule may affect Apollo too, but this is also one rule that would make it extremely hard for Hestia to hire anyone due to the risks.


    One could say that Apollo really did corner the Hestia Familia as much as possible.


    Hestia, on the other hand, was also speechless, but for a different reason, ''What the hell? Just asking for the defensive side really triggered him this much to issue all these rules? How the hell did Kisuke-kun manage to guess all of this? Though Kisuke-kun did prepare more to lead Apollo in the direction we wanted, I never thought that we''d be sessful after just the first sentence��''

 Volume 10 625 - Misconception of ‘Power’

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 625 - Misconception of ��Power��</h4>


    Hestia exited the Tower of Babel from the Denatus that was filled with disappointment, mainly because of how things became so one-sided. And because of that, bets wouldn''t even be avable, since no one would put any money on Hestia''s side.


    Compared to the previous War Games, this could potentially be one of the most boring ones.


    Behind Hestia were Takemikazuchi and Miach who were making strange faces. "I-is that fine, Hestia?", asked the former.


    Hestia continued walking without looking back, "It''s fine. This is what Kisuke-kun wanted."


    With a remorseful voice, Miach said, "I''m really sorry about this, Hestia. It should be me who should be helping you, but you have to take this route because of that child."


    "You really don''t have to worry about that, Miach. If I had to say anything, it became more convenient for him."


    Miach and Takemikazuchi''s eyes widened at Hestia''s words, "How can you say that? Isn''t your Familia in even more danger because you decided to help Soma''s child?"


    Hestia couldn''t say that Kisuke became even happier when Soma''s child got involved. For him, it was even more of a gain.


    Seeing that Hestia didn''t want to answer them, Miach continued, "If there''s something we can help with, please don''t hesitate to tell us. If it''s just us, without asking our children, we''re willing to take the risk of helping you."


    "That''s right, Hestia. I''ll try to convince my children if you decided to request our help.", added Takemikazuchi.


    "Thank you. I''ll be sure to do so if needed, but since we took this path, we have ns."


    Takemikazuchi then started rubbing his chin, "Still, I never thought that it''ll go down exactly as he said it. It''s like he scripted that whole Denatus."


    "Right�� If those Deities knew about this, their attention wouldn''t be on those three girls and I''m pretty sure most of them would scramble for him.",mented Miach.


    "Well, let''s just say that Apollo became extremely predictable after revealing his desires. His petty personality is not one you would describe as unforeseeable, you see." Hestia then faced them, "We should be on our way. We don''t want Apollo to put more restrictions on us with him seeing us together like this in public."


    "Understood. We shall see each otherter as nned."


    Hestia then returned, but instead of going through the normal passage, Hestia used the teleportation circle that Kisuke had ced in the shop.


    Once in the underground hideout, Hestia immediately saw the faces of those who dived in the Dungeon a few days ago and smiled happily, "You''re back! Wee home~!"


    Sona approached her and gave her a light hug, "Wee back, too, Hestia-sama. And good work out there."


    Returning the light embrace, Hestia replied, "I just did everything Kisuke-kun instructed. I never thought that it''d go that smoothly as well. And here I thought I''d have to adlib more to irritate that annoying God."


    pping his hands, Kisuke garnered everyone''s attention, "Let''s have lunch for now and update your Status after eating."


    .


    .


    Sona, Aika and Koneko were the first ones to update their Falna and since they only went to the Dungeon to facilitate the new members'' adaptation, they didn''t gain much. Only a total of 50 points across the board.


    Even then, it was still a very monstrous growthpared to the residents of this world.


    The next one to update her Falna was Serafall, as per Kisuke''s request.


    Different from Akeno and Irina, Serafall operated separately from the rest most of the time. Due to her mastery that could bepared to Kisuke and Yoruichi, Serafall was fully capable of going to the deeper floors where stronger monsters lurked.


    Since the monsters on the upper and middle floors didn''t have very much, if any magic resistance, they were easy prey for Serafall and her masterful use of Ice Magic. By freezing the monster''s vital parts and crushing it using her martial prowess, most of the monsters were instantly killed by her and Serafall was able to go down as far as the 21st floor.


    Still, Sona couldn''t help but worry about her big sister whenever she goes off on her own, since every time she would return, Serafall was always running critically low on potions and had a few broken bones.


    Simr to Kisuke and other the ''risk-takers'', they could only use the Magic Power and Ki provided by the Falna to strengthen it. As such, they could only use their natural bodies, naked from any form of defensive measures, to keep up with the offense.


    After updating her Status, Serafall gained around 500-700 on each of her parameters, which greatly scared Artemis. She had to use Hestia''s help to calm down who exined to her that this was ''normal''.


    As someone who had already experienced running a normal Familia, Artemis couldn''t easily ept the result. However, seeing Hestia''s ''everything is normal'' face, Artemis chose to finally abandon all of her concepts of a normal Familia to run her current one.


    Next were Akeno and Irina. This time, Kisuke requested Artemis not to reveal their new Status until she updated both of them. Artemis granted his request and updated them, only to be shocked again after seeing both Statuses.


    If Artemis had never met them, she wouldn''t have been shocked by Akeno and Irina''s statuses. After all, their parameters only increased a total of 10 points across the board. Much lowerpared to Sona, Aika and Koneko, who only assisted them. A very normal increase by this world''s standards andmon sense.


    "Huh? What''s the meaning of this?", asked Hestia in confusion.


    "Kisuke probably already holds the answer.", replied Sona as she looked towards Kisuke while fixing her sses.


    Akeno and Irina were also making disappointed faces. Despite working so hard, they didn''t think that their gains would amount to almost nothing. "Was it not enough?", murmured Irina under her breath.


    Immediately, Kisuke responded to that, "Yep. Your efforts are not enough."


    Kisuke''s honest answer made both of them clench their teeth and fists in frustration. They could work even harder, however, they didn''t know why their gain is so smallpared to the others. This gave both of them a cloudy perception, asking themselves if extra effort is really enough. Maybe, they didn��t have any talent, and chasing after them would just be a futile endeavor.


    Their expression of self-doubt became very apparent to everyone within the room who became worried about them. Serafall also knew how dangerous this was in their current development phase and if not resolved, it could very much cripple their potential.


    Serafall was about to say something but Kisuke beat her to it by chuckling, "Ki-tan!?"


    Kisuke ignored Serafall and said with a slightly condescending tone, "You think power is that easy? Do you think you''re some miraculous individuals? Get off your high horses. That power isn''t yours to begin with. You can say that this is the price of your decision."

 Volume 10 626 - It Won’t be Easy

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 626 - It Won��t be Easy</h4>


    The whole room was silenced after hearing Kisuke''s words. Artemis was about to say something, but Serafall stopped her because she got the context behind what Kisuke had just said.


    While the others were confused and had no idea what Kisuke was trying to say, they didn''t interrupt him.


    Akeno and Irina, on the other hand, were frozen in their spots once realization dawned on them. Immediately after, they felt ashamed. Ashamed that they were disappointed when they thought that their progress was slow. It was true that they couldn��t take full advantage of their new bodies due to the restrictions of this world and their poor mastery over energy maniption. However, it was also true that the Draconic bodies they''d received also gave them a substantial boost in power and defense if they were in a normal situation.


    But, despite the fact that they looked the same, they didn''t immediately realize that they weren''t in their old bodies anymore.


    The silence ended when Irina started walking towards Kisuke, while making a condescending smile. Once she came in front of him, Irina raised her right fist and gave his chest a soft thump, "Do you really have to say that in such a condescending tone? Though it''s really our fault for not realizing it sooner and thinking that it''d be a lot easier from then on."


    Kisuke''s smile softened and he reached out for her bobbed head, "It''s just so that I can send the message across much better. You can''t have me telling this to you every time as you should''ve felt and realized this yourself through self-evaluation, even if you didn''t know the specifics."


    Kisuke then looked towards Akeno and said, "Especially you, Akeno-san. You have more experience and should''ve been able to figure out something like this. Letting power blind you is never a good thing."


    Akeno couldn''t look up and could only mutter, "I''ve been arrogant and overconfident. I should have known that there''s no such thing as a free power-up."


    Kisuke nodded and replied, "As long as you understand. Well, I can''t exactly put the me on you entirely due to the existence of ridiculous Sacred Gears that could change the power bnce with anyone wielding them."


    "Could you exin to us now what exactly is going on? Since you made it sound like this isn''t normal and all.", implored Irina.


    "To start, although I did my best to make itpatible with you, adaptability is still a different story that I can''t do anything about. If I were to make an analogy, it''s like from an analog machine to thetest high-tech stuff. Even if you know how to use it, you don''t understand anything about it, nor its full potential and capabilities."


    "On top of that, your base capabilities are all at abnormal levels due to the origins of your bodies. However, that also means training or improving your bodies may not yield any results. Hence, today''s update. I''m actually surprised that you managed to gain some points, meaning, you actually worked hard. I''ll give you that."


    Akeno finally looked up with a concerned expression, "T-then, is there a way to actually improve?"


    "What you actually did is already good.", answered Kisuke, "This way, you can slowly raise your stats and adapt to it, pulling out more hidden potential. Just keep on doing what you did in the Dungeon and within a few years or a decade, you''ll be a force to reckon with."


    "W-what?", questioned Akeno and Irina in shock. But more than anything they were wondering where everyone else would be within that decade powerwise. And not just that. With how fast things were changing in their original world, being only remotely powerful a decadeter was not a good thing at all. Then a strange thought came into them that they could��ve be more powerful if they were in their original bodies, a big contrast to their initial thoughts.


    ''What''s the point of potential if we can''t properly manifest it?'', thought both of them, as they felt like they were being scammed.


    Kisuke was able to correctly guess what was on their minds and chuckled, "I reminded you, didn''t I? It won''t be easy."


    Akeno and Irina became silent and conflicted. Even then, Kisuke continued, "Well, it''s not like there isn''t a way."


    The girls looked at him with hope and waited.


    Smiling brightly, Kisuke added, "Simple, taking the offense aside, both of you have very durable and sturdy bodies. You should capitalize that�� to your limit."


    Akeno was the first one to understand what he meant, "You''re telling us to torture ourselves and risk our lives?"


    "I never said that you should purposely hurt yourselves, but it''s true that being on the verge of death is the easiest way to learn. It''s the same with your adaptability issues."


    "W-wait! I can''t agree with that!" Artemis immediately opposed Kisuke''s words, "Constantly risking your lives when it''s not necessary is stupid. Even if it''s for getting stronger, I don''t think that it''s warranted to purposely put your lives in danger."


    Although Artemis didn''t know the context of their conversation, she didn''t want to lose her new children over the pursuit of power.


    "That''s where I have to disagree, Artemis-sama.", replied Kisuke, "It isn''t stupid to purposely risk your life, however, only with proper preparation and resolve to go through it. Otherwise, it would indeed be stupid."


    "Besides, it seems you misunderstand my idea of taking the risk. You''re thinking of increasing the chances of one dying to an enemy to practice while I was referring to decreasing the chances of dying in front of certain death to the utmost limit. Although the goal is the same, they arepletely different."


    Kisuke then peeked back to Akeno and Irina, "And finally, even if you don''t want them to do this, they can''t really take the normal route�� No, that''s wrong. They can''t afford to take the normal route."


    Artemis wanted some more rification, but before she could ask, Akeno spoke up, "Uhmm, Kisuke-san�� I would like to take that training again."


    Kisuke knew what she''s referring to and asked, "Oh? Do you mind if I increase the difficulty?"


    Akeno nodded, "If you think that''s for the best. I implore you to do so."


    "I''d like to take it too!" Irina wanted to join the training.


    "Then I''ll set it upter. I suggest you go through it for a few hours whenever you''re on the surface."


    "Wait, what training?", asked Aika in curiosity.


    "It''s something I devised here and tested over on that side. Although it''s not strictly for getting stronger but for discipline and mentality training, it''ll be good for Akeno-san and Irina''s adaptability."


    "Hmm�� Let me try it too.", requested Aika, and looking at Koneko, she was also eager to experience it.


    "Sure, but I don''t think that it''ll be very effective for you."


    "Huh? Why''s that?"


    "Because of Yoruichi''s training. She trained you three on how to fight stronger enemies through techniques and skills. The dummies only have a limited amount of move set and once you figure that out, even if it bes stronger than you physically, it won''t be able to do anything against you."


    "Wait, what!?" Akeno and Irina were shocked yet again as they already experienced the terrifying wooden dolls.


    Kisuke then started to walk away to prepare the things needed before saying, "Well,pared to your training, their training under Yoruichi is all about surviving and getting out with the fewest injuries. Unlike the dummies, their opponent is someone who has real killing intent."


    This time, it was Sona, Aika and Koneko who were surprised. "Wait�� Our training is that bad from the outside perspective?", asked Sona.


    "Yeah�� It''s actually pretty bad. Even the strictest special forces I know of doesn''t employ that much brutality." Kisuke stopped walking in realization, "Now that I think about it, both Yoruichi and I got carried away and threw away our previous notions of training. But since you kept adapting to it, we just went on while ''improving'' our methods. It worked out great, though."

 Volume 10 627 - Start of the War Game

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 627 - Start of the War Game</h4>


    After Kisuke left, Akeno, Irina, Serafall and Artemis were still dumbfounded. But that was only the start because Medusa suddenly said, "No wonder Kuroka-san refuses to leave the three of them alone whenever they train with Yoruichi-san and Master. And each time, she''s always on edge, flinching at every moment. I thought that she was just very concerned, but I didn''t really think that their training was more than abnormal."


    With the others still not being able to say anything, Sona closed her eyes while holding her chin to reminisce, "So getting my neck snapped to a weird direction is too much, after all?"


    The neers shuddered.


    "So is my throat being shed open and my guts spilling out?", asked Aika.


    Cold sweat started pouring out of them.


    "And my limbs flying away?", wondered Koneko.


    With that, something snapped inside Serafall''s head and sheunched herself towards the direction where Kisuke left, "Ki-tan you bastard! What did you do to these girls!!!"


    While Serafall was making a mess with freezing everything around Kisuke and thetter trying his best to defend and exin himself, Artemis faced Hestia with an unbelieving face, "H-Hestia�� Have you tried stopping them?"


    Hestia, this time, was very nervous as she answered, "Well�� I thought that they were just very strict and spartan. Kisuke also assured me that no one would actually die�� So I just epted it. I never thought it was that bad."


    Artemis didn''t know what to do at that point and thought with some fear, ''What sort ofmon sense did these people cultivate in this ce?''


    Conversely, Akeno and Irina were still speechless. They thought that a broken bone every few minutes was already too much. They didn''t think their peers would be dancing with death multiple times a minute while training.


    However, one thing was for sure. Their ''hard work'' was still not on par with their ''hard work''�� by far. And on another note, they didn''t know if they could even catch up nor progress at the same pace. The way they do things was too inhumane for them, after all.


    .


    .


    Three days had passed and the day of the War Game hade. Even with such one-sided conditions, the City of Orario was still bustling and full of energy, since a War Game was still a War Game. It doesn''t happen very often. Tourists would pour in after hearing the news and it was the residents'' chance to make some extra ie and join the festivities.


    During these three days, the Apollo Familia used all of their manpower to prepare the old abandoned castle that served as a fortress in ancient times against monsters, the Shreme Castle. The Hestia Familia had already agreed with the War Game''s terms, so even if they escaped, it''d be their defeat and the Guild would be enforcing the agreed terms, putting a bounty on their heads once they disappeared.


    Since it was technically a ruined castle, the Apollo Familia had to do emergency repairs to make it more secure. However, it became easy for them because several Familias lended their children to Apollo, most notably, Soma''s children.


    Their Gods were all reluctant because they would share the same penalty as Apollo, but seeing how many were giving their assistance, they felt confident, except for Soma who didn''t know anything about his children''s actions, as everything was decided by his captain, Zanis.


    In total, there were more than 500 people currently upying the castle, and among them, 21 Level 3s were present. An astounding force to such degree that it was impossible to lose given the current circumstances.


    An hour before lunchtime, a Ganesha Familia member climbed on the temporary stage that was created in the middle of the za in front of the Tower of Babel, "Good morning, Orario~! The much anticipated day of the War Game has finallye~! I, Ibri Achaa, will be your host for the big event. You may also know me for my Alias, Fire Inferno me. It''s a pleasure to be here folks!"


    The announcer then invited another person up and introduced him, "And providingmentary for us today, Ganesha-sama~!"


    As soon as he got up the stage, the tanned man wearing a red elephant mask posed and eximed, "I''m Ganesha~!" Hence, the War Game officially started.


    On the thirtieth floor of the tower, various Deities were gathered to witness the game. Except for Soma, all the yers were gathered. Hestia and Artemis on one side and Apollo and his alliance on the other side.


    "Now, this is really somethin'', don''t you think~?", asked Loki with an amused expression to the red-haired Goddess at her side.


    "I''m really worried��" Hephaestus couldn''t hide her concern for her friends.


    Loki looked at her and figured something out, "Hmm�� So you really don''t know much about them, huh?"


    Hephaestus frowned, "Is that why you''re confident?"


    Chuckling, Loki answered with a lowered voice for others not to hear, "Let''s just say that even if they triple or quadruple their forces, it still wouldn''t be enough to best that Gigolo. I''m just here to look forward to what faces these Deities would make when the resultse out."


    Hephaestus was still doubtful, but since Loki assured her, her worries decreased, ''But are they going to disy those weapons? If they do, it''s going to be a long headache for me��''


    Apollo approached Hestia with a condescending smile and said, "Hestia, it''s fine to surrender, you know. At least that way, they won''t get hurt. And I promise to take really good care of them~ Much better than what you''re doing right now."


    However, Hestia and Artemis just ignored him. Apollo didn''t mind, though. He just shrugged his shoulders and left to find a good seat.


    A few more minutes had passed after the host had announced the start of the War Game, "Alright, let''s get this started.", muttered Hermes to himself before shouting, "Ouranos, permission to use our powers!"


    From an unknown location, an old and magnanimous voice reverberated, "Granted."


    With a snap of his fingers, a circr screen manifested in the middle of the room, showing the old Shreme Castle where the defending side was positioned. What''s strange about this circr screen was the fact that, no matter where you looked, or what angle of perspective you were in, it would always be facing the spectator. So even in this circr room, everyone could clearly see the image as if they were right in front of it.


    And not just within the meeting room, various Gods also used their powers to manifest this screen for everyone in the city to watch.


    "Atst, we''re moments away from noon~! Let the War Game begin~!" The host announced with the loud gong rang out.


    Those who were in the Shreme Castle also knew that it was about time, so they got into their positions to anticipate the enemy Familias'' attack.


    After giving some background to the castle''s origin and exining the position of the defending side, Ibri asked, "Now then, we see that the Apollo Familia were ready but where''s the Hestia Familia? Please show us their current position~!"


    Hermes, the one in control of all the manifested screens, heard the announcer''s question and also became curious about what they were up to. With another snap of his fingers, the scenery on all the screens changed, "��What?"


    Simr to Hermes, those who were watching right now could only gawk.


    "T-t-they are eating their lunch!!!" Ibri eximed while watching the group who were enjoying themselves at the very familiar establishment, Hostess of Fertility.

 Volume 10 628 - The Great Gamble

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 628 - The Great Gamble</h4>


    Within the Twilight Manor, before the screen that showed the Hestia Familia''s status, the executives of the Loki Familia were gathered in one room to watch the War Game.


    "Do you think they can win? Of course, without using those ridiculous moves that sacrifice themselves. And I heard that the strange Amazoness isn''t with them.", asked Bete with furrowed brows.


    Hearing that Tiona immediately made a smug expression, "Hoho~ Since when did you be interested in them?"


    Bete instantly red up at her remark, "Hah!? Since those strange techniques came from them, of course, I would be curious, you dumb Amazoness!"


    "Hah!? What was that, you dumb mutt!? Want me to test out what I learned from those ''strange'' techniques!?"


    "Haah�� Cease it.", Riveria sighed and reprimanded them.


    Laughing quietly, Finn spoke up, "I''m also curious if they could win this. ording to Bete, Yoruichi Shihouin coulde toe-to-toe against a Level 5 with just her martial arts, but she isn''t here and we only know the other three members'' abilities."


    "Even if they could fight on par with a Level 3-4, it would still be very hard for them to win against that number. And even if Kisuke Urahara has the same mastery of martial arts as Yoruichi Shihouin, I can''t imagine them taking on an unending stream of enemies and magic from all directions."


    Different from monsters, Adventurers could strategize and act ording to the situation. So even if an army of the same strength and number of monsters to go against the current Apollo Familia, the monsters would instantly lose.


    Finn then looked towards the screen, "As my experience dictates, their chances of winning are very close to none unless they have something clever nned for them."


    Even if they could, the girls hadn''t said a word about what happened on the beach. Finn, Gareth, and Bete didn''t know that Koneko could easily deflect Lefiya''s magic with her bare hands. Before telling them, they decided to practice the techniques they were taught back then since they had a feeling that they wouldn''t really believe them without showing any proof.


    "That''s where you''re wrong.", muttered Riveria.


    "Hmm?"


    "Your conclusion is based on your experience, however, you''re still grounded bymon sense. For that group,mon sense doesn''t really work."


    "For you to say that, could you tell us now what really transpired back then?"


    Riveria looked around before sighing yet again, "I don''t really want to say this without a way to prove it, but using this ''Ki'', Koneko Toujou was able to deflect Lefiya''s magic with just her bare hand without taking any damage."


    "W-what!?", Bete eximed, "How is that possible!?"


    Finn also furrowed his brows, "Right�� How is that possible? They''ve never shown something like that, nor did they seem to be capable of it when they''re with us."


    Tiona then raised her hand, "I can attest to that! It was really an amazing thing. I tried copying it but I only end up injuring my arm whenever I try to catch Lefiya''s magic!"


    "So when you invited Lefiya the other day after learning a little bit, it was so that you could try copying her?" Tione wanted to smack her stupid sister''s head ''cause maybe that could fix her.


    "We also don''t know why they didn''t show anything remotely simr to that when they were in the expedition, but I assume that they leveled up or something changed in them when they fell unconscious," Riveria answered Finn''s question with her hypothesis.


    "If what you''re saying is true, then we''re in for a great show.", replied Finn with anticipation.


    All of the girls'' expressions stiffened up. If Kisuke were to use his real abilities, it wouldn''t just be a great show. It''d be the advent of the Demon King. Though they were absolutely sure that he wouldn''t be using that kind of power in this game after they''d been asked to keep Serafall and Kisuke''s ''sparring'' a secret.


    "We''ll also have to spread the information regarding magic control and ''Ki'' after this game.", added Riveria after she cleared her throat.


    "To mitigate the chaos and confusion that they''ll be causing, huh? Well, I also think it''s bad to monopolize this idea if it really has such potential. We wouldn''t want to be enemies to everyone."


    Immediately after, the scenery changed and showed the Hestia Familia, which caused everyone in the Loki Familia to be speechless.


    "Fuhahahahaha! I really like this guy!" Gareth suddenly startedughing out loud.


    "Are they not taking this seriously?" Bete asked.


    Hearing that, the girls only thought, ''It''ll be over in an instant if he were to take them seriously.''


    .


    .


    .


    Everyone from the Hestia and Artemis Familia, except for Kuroka and Yoruichi, were present and currently enjoyed some delicious meals from the Hostess of Fertility. In contrast, the atmosphere around them was awkward, as the other patrons who were watching the War Game were also present, not knowing what to make out of this situation.


    "Syr-san~ Another serving of sd please~!", Kisuke called out.


    "Ah, I''ll have one too.", Sona followed up.


    "I''d like more of this pasta, please.", Aika added.


    "Nii-chan! We''re on TV!", ire excitedly pointed out.


    "Indeed~ Say hi to everyone."


    The delighted child figured out where the invisible camera was and started waving while facing that direction.


    "But it really feels strange seeing yourself on a live screen.",mented Aika.


    "I don''t like the feeling.", replied Koneko.


    Meanwhile, Serafall startedining, "Seriously, if I knew something like this was going to happen. I would have worn my Magical Girl uniform and not this in and boring Adventurer attire."


    Sona instantly shuddered at her words, "Please spare us from that, Nee-sama."


    Medusa looked towards Kisuke and said, "Master, I would also like it if I could wear my uniform. It''s not like I''ll be fighting anyway."


    "Denied. We''ll look too chaotic.", replied Kisuke.


    "Since when did you be concerned about appearance?", asked Irina with big bags under her eyes.


    "Just now~!"


    "How are you all still so energetic?", asked Akeno with all seriousness while being in a simr state as Irina. The two of them almost didn''t stop fighting the dummies, neither did the other three ''trainees''. However, it was very obvious that they still had a lot of energy to spare despite going through the same thing.


    "You''ll get used to it or rather, you''ll learn how to recover fast out of necessity. Else, you''ll be in for a world of pain�� Literally.", answered Aika.


    Their food was ready and it was brought by Ryuu, "It seems that you''re confident."


    "Compared to shaking in our boots from fear, this is a lot better.", responded Kisuke.


    Ryuu couldn''t help but smile when she saw that, not just ire, but also Ophis was making weird poses in front of the ''camera'' before looking at themselves on the screen. It seems that they were enjoying themselves to the fullest, despite thetter being expressionless.


    "Even for a fast horse, it''ll take about half a day to reach the Shreme Castle. Are you sure it''s fine to take your time?" Ryuu asked again, because she didn''t want them to lose because of a blunder like underestimating the needed time to arrive on the battlefield.


    Kisuke grinned and said, "I''d like to make the festivities livelier so, we''ll go there after doing so~"


    "Make it livelier?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer and instead faced the ''camera'', "Ehem~ Good morning, everyone~! Captain of the Hestia Familia, Kisuke Urahara, speaking~!"


    The speechless residents of Labyrinth City woke up and started listening carefully, "It seems that no one was wagering on this game at the betting stations. Some individuals thought that it''s a useless endeavor due to how stacked the situation was against us, making arge portion of today''s event fun disappear."


    It''s obvious for everyone that this was the case, however, they don''t know why Kisuke was mentioning this now.


    "But fear not for I''ll be opening a wager~! Since we''re already betting our everything here, I thought, why not bring it up to another notch!? Hence, if Loki-sama and Hephaestus-sama were to agree to give me a loan, I''ll pay whoever bets on the Apollo Familia''s win, doubling their money!�� Well, you have to forego 10% of your earnings for the tax to those who''ll be managing this."


    Murmurs started spreading throughout the whole city wondering what this madman was thinking. But before any of them coulde up with a conclusion, Loki''s voice resounded throughout the whole of Orario, "Phae-tan and I agree~! We''ll also manage the stakes for you. But if you lose, you''ll be working for us your whole life~!"


    A few seconds of silence prevailed before an eruption of cheers ran through the city. Adventurers started rushing towards the Hephaestus and Loki Familia to ''offer'' their money while thinking that it was an easy ie.


    Tiona couldn''t help but mutter, "They''ll be public enemies after this��"

 Volume 10 629 - Otherworldly Carriage

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 629 - Otherworldly Carriage</h4>


    An abrupt workload suddenly came to the Hephaestus and Loki Familias'' way, but they didn''t mind it too much, as it was an extra ie for them. The Guild also sanctioned their activities after finalizing the tax they would be getting out of it.


    But even if everyone was busy trying to ''earn'' some money, they didn''t stop watching the feed that was still showing the Hestia Familia. Hermes could have switched it back to the Apollo Familia, but since their enemies were still not there, nothing interesting would happen.


    After their meal, the Hestia Familia immediately made their next move, but instead of going in the gate''s direction, they made their way towards the Guild''s Main Building, Pantheon.


    "Oh my~ It looks like they still don''t intend to go to the battlefield. What do you think they are up to this time, Ganesha-sama?", asked Ibri.


    "I''m Ganesha~!"


    "Please leave if you won''t make any propermentary."


    The people watched how the Hestia Familia entered the building and went straight towards their advisor, who was making an interesting face. "Why aren''t you out there for the game?", asked Sophie with the corner of her mouth twitching.


    "Yo~ Long time no see, Sophie-san~! It''s been a while~!", Kisuke greeted her.


    "��It''s really been a while. I''ve always wanted to talk to you, but I suppose this isn''t a good time. What business do you have today with the Guild, for you to prioritize it over your current predicament?"


    "We''d like to update some of our members'' Guild status. We don''t want to be branded as cheaters, after all~", Kisuke went straight to business.


    Hearing that, Sophie''s eyes widened and her long ears perked up a little, "Are you saying that��" But before she could continue, she managed to stop herself, "I''m sorry. Please follow me to a private room to process your request."


    Sophie stood up from her seat and faced the direction where their image was being taken, "Please look away for a few moments. From here on, it''ll be their private affair."


    Hermes understood her point and immediately changed the point of view back to the Shreme Castle where the Apollo Familia and their alliance were still waiting for their enemies to appear.


    Some of the Gods immediately startedining but Hermes ignored them.


    Within the private room, Sophie immediately asked, "So who is it? Why now of all times? And you do know the mor this will cause, right?"


    "It''ll be Sona-chan, Aika-chan and Koneko-chan~. Please process it.", answered Kisuke.


    Sophie sighed, ''If it wasn''t clear before, now it''ll be clear that they are the fastest leveling Adventurers in history. [Record Holder]''s�� More Deities will be after them��''


    But since she had already said what she wanted to say, she proceeded, "Understood. I would need the certification from Hestia-sama with her Divine mark."


    Sona handed over the documents needed and after Sophie confirmed them, thetter kept it in her folder, "Once I filed this, you''ll be officially announced as Level 3. Congrattions on your Level up."


    "Thank you."


    "Then I won''t waste more of your time.", said Sophie and stood up from her seat, intending to leave the room to further work on their documents. However, she stopped just before she exited and asked without facing them, "Can you win?"


    Kisuke opened his fan and ced it in front of his face before answering, "You may bet everything on us and I guarantee that you''ll be a rich person overnight~! Oh, and by the way, please take this to where the Gods are meeting after the game." Kisuke passed a note to her.


    Sophie took the note and smiled slightly before replying, "I''m sorry but I hate gambling. Well then, please excuse me." Their advisor left them in the private room.


    "Should we leave?", asked Serafall.


    "Right. It''s about time. Let''s go and test that thing out on the road." Kisuke also stood up and recalled something, "By the way, Medusa. How did it go with Soma-sama''s side?"


    Medusa nodded and reported, "Everything went smoothly. Though before he agreed, he gave me one of his creations. It''s delicious and has some sort of bewitching effect, but it''s not something that can affect me."


    "Hoh~? So that''s the rumored ''sessful'' wine of his, huh? I''ll ce an orderter."


    .


    .


    Some time after the Hestia Familia entered the Pantheon, Ibri Achaa finally received new information. One of the Guild employees who approached the stage passed a note to Ibri, "Hmm��? T-this is!?"


    Ibri immediately grabbed his voice amplifier and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen~! Big news just came from the Guild. Apparently, Magical Girl��Azure, shy Knight Champion and White mes of Dawn updated their Guild status just now and after just two months from their previous level up, they officially became Level 3 Adventurers!"


    A wave of silence engulfed everyone before an explosion of discussions urred. While most were shocked by the news, some were jealous while others wanted to know their secret, more specifically, the Deities.


    While Apollo became even more exhrated with the news, some Gods started plotting on how they could snatch them from Apollo after the game.


    Away from other Gods, Loki, Hephaestus, Hestia and Artemis sat together. "If it was from before, I would have been furious with them breaking my Ais-tan''s record.",mented Loki.


    "That''s really thought-provoking eh, Loki. What changed your mind?", asked Hephaestus.


    "''Cause I can say for sure that they are in a different category than anyone else. They can''t bepared to the normal ones."


    "How rude. Are you saying my children aren''t normal?", Hestia immediatelyined.


    However, the teammate she thought she had immediately rebuked her, "That''s only because you haven''t experienced what''s truly normal.", added Artemis calmly.


    Hestia knew that she couldn''t win an argument against them so she immediately changed the topic by addressing Hermes, "Hermes! Enough of that boring castle where nothing is happening! Show us my children!"


    "Understood~!" With a snap of his fingers, the scenery changed and it was now showing the road outside the walls of Orario. The party was still present, but what caught everyone''s attention was the strange ck ''carriage''.


    "What''s that? Is that a carriage? It has a strange shape and peculiar wheels.", asked one of the Deities.


    "Not just that. It seems to be made out of something metallic. Tamed monsters aside, there''s no way a normal horse would be able to pull that.", added another Deity.


    While everyone started chattering, Hephaestus asked Hestia, "Hestia, what''s that?"


    Nheless, Hestia was as clueless as everyone else, "I-I don''t know�� Kisuke-kun never showed me anything like that before."


    From the screen, Kisuke''s voice echoed, "Alright everyone, hop in~! I''m going to drive."


    But as soon as he said that, Serafall immediately rejected the idea by asking, "Do you have a driver''s license?"


    "Ah�� Er�� I don''t."


    "Then leave it to me since I''m probably the only one who has it~!", dered Serafall gleefully.


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before agreeing, ''It''s not like something bad will happen.''


    In front of them was a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), also known as Humvee back on Earth. In his free time, Kisuke was able to assemble this vehicle with an engine that used Magic Power to move. Aside from the absence of the firearm on top of it, it was very simr to the original one.


    Of course, even though it looked like a Humvee, the technology behind it was very different. For one, it had multiple features that would allow top speed on multiple terrains and stability that would keep the vehicle upright even when turning tight corners at high speeds.


    Kisuke also didn''t forget the safety of its passengers as there were multiple barriers iid in its chassis which would automatically activate if certain conditions were met. Magic barriers were also used to achieve the utmostfort even in rugged situations.


    As they got on board, Sona finally recovered from the teasing she received from Serafall after she''d heard her nickname ''Magical Girl��Azure'' and recalled something important.


    The Humvee started but there was no noise due to Magic directly spinning the wheels simr to an Electric Vehicle. "Ah, I remembered something.", said Sona suddenly.


    "What is it?"


    "Nee-sama would always drive every vehicle as if she''s in a race car and participating in apetition. Her license was actually revoked a few years ago because of that."


    Kisuke, Medusa, Koneko, Aika, Akeno and Irina all looked at each other before looking towards Sona with an empty smile, "Toote."


    Without anyone being able to stop it, Serafall, without any hesitation, floored the elerator.

 Volume 10 630 - Otherworldly Carriage part 2

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 630 - Otherworldly Carriage part 2</h4>


    As the Humveeunched itself forward, a mix of screams of terror and one scream of delight echoed, "Nee-sama!!! Please slow down!"


    But only a devilishugh came back, "Wahahaha! It has been a while! Although the engine''s sound is disappointing, the power in this thing is amazing~! Ki-tan! Can I trust your craft~!?"


    "How rude of you to question my skills, Sera-tan.", Kisuke became offended.


    "That''s not the problem!", the girls shouted in frustration.


    But Kisuke ignored them and continued, "This is a good chance. Since this is a prototype, I haven''t implemented any sort of limitations on the engine. I want to see how much of a beating it can get before it falls apart."


    Everyone became horrified with his words and cried out loud, "No!!!"


    Meanwhile, Serafall got even more excited and shouted in delight, "I love you, Ki-tan~!!!"


    In any case, Kisuke''s only concern was ire''s safety and he was already on it. He was also thinking about how he could let the little girl enjoy the situation instead of cowering in fear like the others.


    Due to its shape, despite the motors'' power, the top speed was about 200 mph (322 kph) and that was only possible on a t road. Thanks to the bumpy dirt road, it couldn''t get much traction and could only travel around 60-90 mph (97-145 kph). In a rtively t, even and straight road, it could go up to 150 mph (241 kph). Even then, it was still an insane speed for an armored vehicle weighing more than 3 tons, almost twice as much as a normal car.


    Within the 30th floor of Babel, there was silence. A silence like that was very rare among the Gods that had gathered for entertainment. Of course, that didn''t take too long as Loki broke that peacefulness, "What is that!? I want one!!!"


    Some other Gods then started calling out to Hestia, "Hestia! What''s that!? Exin it!"


    In response to that, Hestia hissed at them, "I don''t know! And even if I did know, I don''t have the responsibility nor the obligation to inform you! If you want one, go find one yourself!"


    The others were momentarily speechless at her strong response, but not even a few secondster, they started bothering Hestia with all sorts of questions. It was only thanks to Hephaestus, Loki, Takemikazuchi and Miach that the other Deities backed off, more specifically, it was because of the two leaders of powerful Familias.


    Of course, the others thought that they were only doing this to monopolize the secret behind the strange steel carriage that could outrun a fast horse multiple times over without seemingly getting tired.


    Apollo and his alliance, on the other hand, weren''t too bothered and were just overall excited with this new device that could revolutionize many industries, especially trade and travel, which would also mean unimaginable wealth. In any case, they would be able to get their hands on it and its origin once they won this game. All they needed to do is to wait and harvest this unexpected gain.


    After separating from the annoying Gods and sessfully taking some distance from them, Loki whispered to Hestia, "Oi, do you really have no idea where that thing came from?"


    "Right, I''m also curious as to what that thing is and how it works. It seems to be some sort of artifact simr to automatically moving carriages from Altena, but nothing too crazy like that.", pondered an interested Hephaestus.


    "I really don''t know. This is also the first time I''ve seen it.", answered Hestia with a low voice.


    "Then we can only ask that guy, huh. Good thing that these retards are only focused on the girls and not the true monster of the group.", Loki and Hephaestus sighed in relief.


    "Don''t call my cute child a monster!",ined Hestia. But at the same moment, she recalled something, "Coming to think about it. Kisuke-kun does like to make a bunch of things, but there''s one thing he hasined about before."


    Being curious, Hephaestus asked with great interest, "What is it?"


    "The fact that Magic Engineering is almost nonexistent."


    "Magic Engineering?"


    Hestia nodded, "If I remember it correctly, he described it as designing and creating tools and devices that use Magic Power to perform tasks."


    Loki and Hephaestus looked at each other before looking back to Hestia and simultaneously saying, "Isn''t that cksmith and Mystery Development Abilities or some other simr skills and abilities?"


    Hestia shook her head, "He made it clear that it''s different from those. In fact, he openly admitted his dissatisfaction regarding those abilities that could instinctively give the user the knowledge on how to make something just by thinking about the effects of what they intended to make or construct."


    And true enough, Gods were the only beings that truly knew how to ''forge'', ''mix'' and ''create''. The people of the Lower World simply used abilities to directly tap into that knowledge. As such, aside from strengthening the soul in a marvelous way, he didn''t like the fact that the people of this world had bezy because of the Falna, effectively stagnating any kind of development in technology and magic.


    After all, even though the Gods, or Heaven, collectively, had a vast amount of knowledge, they didn��t know everything. It was the reason why they were so shocked when Kisuke revealed the Humvee, a foreign vehicle.


    .


    .


    On the top floor of Babel, the silver-haired Goddess was also silently watching the screen in front of her before suddenly asking the boar person beside her, "Ottar�� Just what is that?"


    Before answering, Ottar stayed quiet for a few seconds as he watched how the armored carriage went over a rock at high speed and flipped itself multiple times in midair before miraculouslynding on its four wheels again and moving forward as if nothing happened.


    Although he also had a lot of questions right now, he was sure of one thing. The person sitting on the front left side seemed to be the one in control of the strange carriage. While a cheerful ck-haired woman controlled it at first, after reaching the halfway point towards their destination, the ''coachman'' changed and the carriage was now being controlled by a ck-haired little girl with a stoic expression.


    "I''m sorry, Freya-sama. I also don''t have any idea to whatever that thing is, nor any clue to where it might havee from."


    Freya silently looked at the screen and thought, ''Kisuke Urahara, what more surprising things will you show me, I wonder?''


    And recalling something important, Freya asked Ottar again, "Ottar, how did it go with the thing that the Loki Familia sent?"


    "We''re still in the middle of testing it and due to its nature, it might take a while. We don''t want to practice it without knowing if there are any adverse effects down the line. The chances of this being the Loki Familia''s ploy to weaken us is high as of now."


    "Stop thinking about it and just directly learn it.", replied Freya.


    Ottar was mildly shocked, "Yes?"


    However, Freya didn''t exin herself further and just said, "Or else, you''ll all be left behind."


    Ottar wanted to ask more, but he also knew that his Goddess knew things that they didn''t, "As you wish, Freya-sama."


    Half an hour after they departed, the Hestia Familia reached the hill where they could see the Shreme Castle from a distance.


    AN: Thank you for waiting~!


    This month was quite hectic so I failed to deliver multiple times and my meager stockpile of chapters that are saved for the days I can''t post has also run out.


    Truthfully speaking, I''m feeling very guilty because all of you are paying for my subpar release rate, and quite possibly, degrading content as I swim through the unknowns of the fiction.


    And I''ll be perfectly honest with you, I have been thinking less about the plotpared to when I first started this.


    Not to mention, I''m on the part, where even in my outline, it''s very vague and I''m not sure which one to tackle first. The overall plotline or the character developments.


    What makes it very hard is that I don''t know the good timing for it so I''m just winging through it. Though I''ll make sure it''ll be as natural as possible (from my POV, at least).


    As I have said before, this fanfiction is for me to gain experience for the original fiction that I''m nning to write after this. (But this isn''t really an excuse since I''ve already written over 700 chapters, albeit, short.)


    Of course, I''ll try to fix these issues by regaining the habits that I lost when I first wrote this story like writing everything down whenever I daydream. (Be that as it may, it''s also tiring to daydream when you think about the fiction''s scenario only for your mind to wander off to IRL stuffs automatically.)


    And I''m fullymitted to this fiction until it reaches its ending.


    Since I''ve already typed a long rant (I''m sorry!), I should also give you some information regarding this fiction''s future.


    Aside from DxD and Danmachi, there''s one more world that would be ''explored''. I already hinted it before and most of you, or probably all, should have already guessed what that next world is, but I won''t be naming it here.


    Another thing to note is that I also didn''t expect to write this long about Danmachi and one of the biggest reasons is because of the timeline. Danmachi timeline is way morepact than the DxD timeline and I''m trying to match that.


    Finally, regarding the volume of content, ording to my rough initial estimates, and I mean very very rough. This fanfiction would take a year more to finish. If that''s long or short, I don''t really know.


    .


    .


    .


    Closing remark~


    Whew~ That went way longer than I expected and I''m very sorry for that.


    In any case, Thank you very much for all the support you have given. I really, really appreciate and cherish it.


    Have a good day and enjoy the chapters~

 Volume 10 631: Start of the Siege

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 631: Start of the Siege</h4>


    Once the Humvee stopped, everyone got out. Serafall, Kisuke, ire and Ophis were stretching and trying to take in some fresh air after the exciting car trip. The unfortunate victims namely Akeno, Irina, Sona, Aika and Koneko, however, were kneeling on the ground and trying their best not to vomit as they knew that the whole of Orario was watching them.


    "Damn you, Kisuke�� Couldn''t you have stopped them?",ined Aika with a bit of drool on the side of her mouth.


    "Why would I? Ophis was enjoying herself.", replied Kisuke before he looked at them with a smug face, "Look at you lot. You clearlyck training if a few flips reduce you to this~!"


    "This training idiot�� And cars don''t flip!", retorted Irina.


    Meanwhile, Sona started muttering to herself, "Since Ophis couldn''t reach the pedal, Nee-sama stepped on it for her�� But I never thought that she wouldn''t let it go no matter what happened. She didn''t even bother touching the brake pedal. But the scarier thing is, Ophis would always go for bumpy things as if she has some sort of personal vendetta against them�� These two should never drive."


    "I shouldn''t have eaten so much back in the city�� It''s really hard to hold it back.", grumbled Akeno. She really wanted to hurl, but it''d be the end of her image and she had a feeling that she''d never heard the end of it from Kisuke if she were to do that now, ''I can''t let him get more ckmail material on me.''


    Serafall directly ignored them and looked at Kisuke with shining eyes, "Ki-tan! Give this to me! I''ll take good care of it!"


    Kisuke looked at the beaten-up Humvee and replied to Serafall, "After I do some repairs on it."


    Also recalling the experience from earlier, Ophis grabbed the hem of Kisuke''s clothes to get his attention, "I�� want one."


    Since Kisuke prohibited her from assuming any other form, she couldn''t reach the pedals and didn''t get the full experience. Ophis wanted to do it again with her in full control next time.


    Not wanting to lose, ire also requested, "Nii-chan! Please teach me how to drive, too!"


    Kisuke smiled and patted her head, "You can ask your Serafall-neechan to teach you."


    The girls on the ground shuddered at his words, "No!"


    But Serafall happily epted Kisuke''s proposition and hugged ire, "This Nee-chan will teach you everything I know~!"


    Kisuke also knew that this was some terrible education for ire, however, it was also more interesting and amusing this way, so why not? Though he had a feeling that he could already hear his mom and aunt''s sermon from another world.


    Kisuke then went towards the back of the vehicle and took out a fewrge parasols and several nkets, setting them down beside the girls for them to rest on, "How do you wanna do this? Take it slow or bring them down in one go?"


    Sonaid down on the nket and said, "Let''s finish this and go home�� But after some rest."


    The onlookers back in Orario were still moring about the strange and insanely fast iron carriage and many people and Deities were trying to find out its origin in an attempt to acquire one for themselves.


    But without any informationing in regarding the subject, including witnesses or records of any kind, everyone was forced to sit down and continue watching what was happening. If they wanted to get it, then their only lead was the Hestia Familia.


    The majority of the people who wanted to bet had already ced their money and those who hadn''t still continued to do so as they believed that there was no way for the Hestia Familia to win. But a small portion of them stopped, and some who already betted regretted it. Their instincts were telling them that things aren''t as simple as it seems.


    While everyone was bing impatient due to their inaction despite already arriving at the battlefield, the Hestia Familia finally made their move. More specifically, Sona, Aika, Koneko, Akeno and Irina, were bringing their weapons out.


    The attention immediately went towards the contested members and watched their every move, trying to see what was so good about them that they were able to repeatedly break records.


    "Finally we''re going to see some action~! But what''s this!? It seems that the Hestia Familia is going for a frontal attack despite the big disadvantage they have! A bold move~!", announced Ibri, which also hyped the onlookers.


    The five girls walked forward until they stopped a hundred meters from the obviously rush repaired castle wall. They were well within Apollo Familia''s archer range but they chose to watch what the girls were going to do first as they didn''t seem to have brought any siege weapons with them.


    Sona then put forward her free hand and without any words, a blue magic circle started constructing itself in front of her slowly but surely.


    "Judging from the size and intensity of the magic circle, it seems to be Mid-ss magic! But am I imagining things or am I not hearing any incantationse from her mouth!? Is it a skill? How is she doing this?"


    Immediately after, Akeno put her hands together and a golden magic circle appeared on top of her head with a simr size and intensity as Sona''s.


    "And another one!?"


    Sona could have cast her magic as soon as her magic circle appeared but not only did she not want to show that much, she also had to wait for Akeno''s magic to be ready as she hadn''t gotten used to the restriction of this world yet.


    Seeing the unknown threat, themander of the archers immediately issued the order to shoot, and a secondter, a curtain of arrows rained upon them.


    But before they could hit, Irina, who had been preparing her magic long before they arrived at their current spot, raised both of her hands and another golden magic circle appeared in front of the group, deflecting all the iing arrows.


    At this point, Ibri and the spectators were already speechless, ''An instantly reactive magic barrier?''


    Those from the castle were also shocked, but they didn''t stop and released a few more waves of arrows. However, those arrows only became a tter at their group''s side, not even inflicting a tiny bit of damage.


    "Stop! Mages! Come forward and use your magic!", shouted themander.


    But before they could fix their formation, Akeno spoke up, "Sorry for the wait, I''m ready."


    "No worries.", replied Sona and released her magic, manifesting a gigantic water serpent that went straight towards the top of the castle''s wall.


    Before it crashed down, it first stared menacingly at the Adventurers standing on the walls, reflecting the fear and panic in their eyes. "AHHHH!!!!!", shouted one of them, dropping their weapons before running away.


    That single shout was soon followed by many more as they panicked against the unknown magic and started running away, "You bastards! Stop! Maintain your positions! Mages! What are you waiting for!? Attack it now!" Themander tried to control the situation but only a handful listened to him.


    The gigantic water serpent ignored their screams and dropped down on the part of the wall where no one was standing with great force, losing its shape and flooding the greater part of the castle.


    The panicked Adventurers didn''t know what just happened, but they were nevertheless happy that they were safe. But then, Heaven''s wrath was brought upon them when they thought everything was fine.


    Raising both of her hands, Akeno shouted, "Lightning!"


    The golden magic circle on top of her disappeared, but multiple smaller simr magic circles appeared on top of the walls, bringing down a rain of blinding bolts of lightning.

 Volume 10 632: Overwhelming

    <h4>Volume 10 Chapter 632: Overwhelming</h4>


    The shock from the lightning bolts incapacitated all of the Adventurers on the walls, with some of them outright losing their consciousness. With the spreading smell of something burnt, someone from within the castle shouted, "T-the walls'' defenses are gone!"


    With no one to intercept them from higher grounds, Koneko and Aika were able to approach the partially and drenched wall unimpeded.


    Once the wall came into Koneko''s reach, the nekomata went into a front stance. While the Adventurers of the Apollo Familia and its helpers were still scrambling to gather their remaining forces, the air around Koneko started rotating as she pushed her fist forward, "Ei!"


    A split second after Koneko''s fist collided with the wall, there was silence. But soon after, cracks started appearing all over the wall, before it exploded inwards, crushing the people who were gathering on the other side, "AHHHH!!!"


    "NOO!!!"


    "PLEASE HELP ME!!!"


    "WHAT''S HAPPENING!!?"


    Screams of panic, confusion, and fear ensued as Aika sauntered through the newly demolished wall.


    "THE WALL HAS BEEN BREACHED!!! I REPEAT! THE WALL HAS BEEN BREACHED! IMMEDIATELY INTERCEPT THE ENEMY!", shouted one of themanders that just came out.


    Most of the Apollo Familia and allied forces rushed out and encircled Aika, who was leisurely walking through the castle grounds, and got ready to attack her.


    But despite the overwhelming number of people surrounding her, Aika just calmly put the tip of her sheathed de on the ground, resting her arms on the hilt. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again and shouting with all her strength, "GET LOST!!!"


    As the shockwave from her dragon-infused voice passed through everyone in the castle, all the Level 1s and weaker Level 2s instantly lost their consciousness as they fell to the ground.


    While the rest of Level 2s were enduring arge headache, the Level 3s had their ears ringing and all of them were covered in a cold sweat. They all had a feeling that that shout just now wasn''t one of a human, but instead of a terrifying beast, asserting its domination.


    But instead of a face full of fear and pain, all of them were making the same shocked expressions, as they watched almost everyone fall to the ground without being able to resist. From their overwhelming number of more than 500 people, just 50 odd people were left standing, and not all of them were able to fight.


    .


    .


    .


    "A BIG UPSET!!!", shouted Ibri, "With one surprising thing after another, in an instant, the Hestia Familia was able to take out one of the Apollo Familia''s biggest advantages!!! However, most people still don''t understand what just happened, including me! But fear not, we have someone who could exin things here on stage!"


    Ibri then introduced the neer, "Since Ganesha-sama was useless as amentator, we''ve invited an experienced Adventurer, the Captain of Ganesha Familia, Shakti ''Ankusha'' Varma! Shakti-sama! Please exin to us what just happened!"


    With a serious expression, Shakti answered, "I''m also not too sure what exactly transpired, but I could give you my conjectures."


    "That''s fine! Please do so."


    Nodding, Shakti continued, "Well then, to start with, two of their magic casters disabled the defenses of the walls, allowing their vanguard to approach it safely. The first one, water magic in a shape of a giant snake, drenched the area and the people defending the walls while also weakening the integrity of the structure."


    "The second magic was lightning magic that caused immense shock, especially to those who were wet, causing them to lose their consciousness or being paralyzed, effectively disabling the most important defense of a castle siege."


    "One of the vanguards, Shirone Toujou, then approached the undefended and structurally weakened wall and used strengthening magic on herself before smashing it open."


    "Using that chance, Aika Kiryuu entered the stronghold and used some sort of intimidation magic to take out those who were vastly weaker than her. And that''s how we came into this situation."


    But even after exining it herself, Shakti still believed that her exnation was done poorly and she only oversimplified it for themon people to be satisfied. For one, their magic was too strange and too strong for new Level 3s that could do something like this almost instantly without any prior incantations or activation words, ''How do others view this? Even for my experience, this is really too strange. The Hestia Familia�� I''ll have to look more into them.''


    "But couldn''t Aika Kiryuu have used that intimidation magic from outside of the castle? Why did she have to do it inside?", asked Ibri suddenly.


    "Most of the Apollo Familia may have been disabled, but the core of their strength was still fully intact. If she had done it outside, before breaking the wall, those stronger members could have immediately gone to the wall to strengthen it."


    "By breaking the wall first, they created a situation where the Apollo Familia wouldn''t have a wall to reinforce anymore, forcing them to fight on an equal battleground."


    Just as Shakti finished speaking, Sona, Akeno and Irina followed their vanguard inside the wall and faced the Apollo Familia who were all gritting their teeth.


    "This is the first time we are meeting, Hyakinthos Clio. It''s nice to finally meet you. Also, I''ve always wanted toin about something when I meet you." Sona then red at the leader of the Apollo Familia who''s standing on the castle''s balcony looking at them with a grave expression, "Your members have annoyed us to no end, and you''ll have to take responsibility for all of that. For starters, why don''t you surrender and apologize for everything?"


    Hyakinthos was shocked when all of the Level 1s and some Level 2s who were within the throne room with him suddenly dropped down unconscious after the ''beastly'' roar that came from outside and hurriedly brought everyone outside to see what was happening, only to discover that most of the forces couldn''t fight anymore within just a few minutes of the sh with their enemies.


    He wanted to ask someone for rification on what really happened, but after Sona addressed him with a tone that was looking down on him, he instantly lost his cool, "What are you all doing!? They''re here! Attack them now!"


    The prideful Hyakinthos couldn''t take someone looking down on him and most certainly not from a lowly ''Level 2'' from a tiny Familia whose Goddess had to work herself. Apologize? He didn''t do anything wrong, and even if he did, he still had nothing to apologize over. It was their fault for being weak and joining a weak Familia.


    If not for Apollo wanting them, he wanted nothing to do with them. In fact, thanks to them ''stealing'' the affection and attention of his beloved God away from him, he wanted to kill them from the bottom of his heart.


    Among the 21 Level 3s, 11 of them went to attack the group with some odd Level 2s, "Did you think that you had the upper hand just because you were able to reduce our number? If yes, then it''s clear why you''re a newbie and from a nondescript Familia. Let me show you the truth of the world. The reason why Levels are absolute!", dered Hyakinthos.


    However, after a few minutes, those who were sent to fight the group still couldn''t get the upper hand in the battle despite the gap in Level and number. In fact, aside from their new members, the contested people, Sona, Koneko and Aika, still hadn''t received a single blow and kept counterattacking, slowly tiring out their assants.


    "W-what is this?" Hyakinthos couldn''t believe what he was seeing.

 Chapter 632 Overwhelming

    Chapter 632 Overwhelming


    The shock from the lightning bolts incapacitated all of the Adventurers on the walls, with some of them outright losing their consciousness. With the spreading smell of something burnt, someone from within the castle shouted, "T-the walls'' defenses are gone!"


    With no one to intercept them from higher grounds, Koneko and Aika were able to approach the partially and drenched wall unimpeded.


    Once the wall came into Koneko''s reach, the nekomata went into a front stance. While the Adventurers of the Apollo Familia and its helpers were still scrambling to gather their remaining forces, the air around Koneko started rotating as she pushed her fist forward, "Ei!"


    A split second after Koneko''s fist collided with the wall, there was silence. But soon after, cracks started appearing all over the wall, before it exploded inwards, crushing the people who were gathering on the other side, "AHHHH!!!"


    "NOO!!!"


    "PLEASE HELP ME!!!"


    "WHAT''S HAPPENING!!?"


    Screams of panic, confusion, and fear ensued as Aika sauntered through the newly demolished wall.


    "THE WALL HAS BEEN BREACHED!!! I REPEAT! THE WALL HAS BEEN BREACHED! IMMEDIATELY INTERCEPT THE ENEMY!", shouted one of themanders that just came out.


    Most of the Apollo Familia and allied forces rushed out and encircled Aika, who was leisurely walking through the castle grounds, and got ready to attack her.


    But despite the overwhelming number of people surrounding her, Aika just calmly put the tip of her sheathed de on the ground, resting her arms on the hilt. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again and shouting with all her strength, "GET LOST!!!"


    As the shockwave from her dragon-infused voice passed through everyone in the castle, all the Level 1s and weaker Level 2s instantly lost their consciousness as they fell to the ground.


    While the rest of Level 2s were enduring arge headache, the Level 3s had their ears ringing and all of them were covered in a cold sweat. They all had a feeling that that shout just now wasn''t one of a human, but instead of a terrifying beast, asserting its domination.


    But instead of a face full of fear and pain, all of them were making the same shocked expressions, as they watched almost everyone fall to the ground without being able to resist. From their overwhelming number of more than 500 people, just 50 odd people were left standing, and not all of them were able to fight.


    .


    .


    .


    "A BIG UPSET!!!", shouted Ibri, "With one surprising thing after another, in an instant, the Hestia Familia was able to take out one of the Apollo Familia''s biggest advantages!!! However, most people still don''t understand what just happened, including me! But fear not, we have someone who could exin things here on stage!"


    Ibri then introduced the neer, "Since Ganesha-sama was useless as amentator, we''ve invited an experienced Adventurer, the Captain of Ganesha Familia, Shakti ''Ankusha'' Varma! Shakti-sama! Please exin to us what just happened!"


    With a serious expression, Shakti answered, "I''m also not too sure what exactly transpired, but I could give you my conjectures."


    "That''s fine! Please do so."


    Nodding, Shakti continued, "Well then, to start with, two of their magic casters disabled the defenses of the walls, allowing their vanguard to approach it safely. The first one, water magic in a shape of a giant snake, drenched the area and the people defending the walls while also weakening the integrity of the structure."


    "The second magic was lightning magic that caused immense shock, especially to those who were wet, causing them to lose their consciousness or being paralyzed, effectively disabling the most important defense of a castle siege."


    "One of the vanguards, Shirone Toujou, then approached the undefended and structurally weakened wall and used strengthening magic on herself before smashing it open."


    "Using that chance, Aika Kiryuu entered the stronghold and used some sort of intimidation magic to take out those who were vastly weaker than her. And that''s how we came into this situation."


    But even after exining it herself, Shakti still believed that her exnation was done poorly and she only oversimplified it for themon people to be satisfied. For one, their magic was too strange and too strong for new Level 3s that could do something like this almost instantly without any prior incantations or activation words, ''How do others view this? Even for my experience, this is really too strange. The Hestia Familia... I''ll have to look more into them.''


    "But couldn''t Aika Kiryuu have used that intimidation magic from outside of the castle? Why did she have to do it inside?", asked Ibri suddenly.


    "Most of the Apollo Familia may have been disabled, but the core of their strength was still fully intact. If she had done it outside, before breaking the wall, those stronger members could have immediately gone to the wall to strengthen it."


    "By breaking the wall first, they created a situation where the Apollo Familia wouldn''t have a wall to reinforce anymore, forcing them to fight on an equal battleground."


    Just as Shakti finished speaking, Sona, Akeno and Irina followed their vanguard inside the wall and faced the Apollo Familia who were all gritting their teeth.


    "This is the first time we are meeting, Hyakinthos Clio. It''s nice to finally meet you. Also, I''ve always wanted toin about something when I meet you." Sona then red at the leader of the Apollo Familia who''s standing on the castle''s balcony looking at them with a grave expression, "Your members have annoyed us to no end, and you''ll have to take responsibility for all of that. For starters, why don''t you surrender and apologize for everything?"


    Hyakinthos was shocked when all of the Level 1s and some Level 2s who were within the throne room with him suddenly dropped down unconscious after the ''beastly'' roar that came from outside and hurriedly brought everyone outside to see what was happening, only to discover that most of the forces couldn''t fight anymore within just a few minutes of the sh with their enemies.


    He wanted to ask someone for rification on what really happened, but after Sona addressed him with a tone that was looking down on him, he instantly lost his cool, "What are you all doing!? They''re here! Attack them now!"


    The prideful Hyakinthos couldn''t take someone looking down on him and most certainly not from a lowly ''Level 2'' from a tiny Familia whose Goddess had to work herself. Apologize? He didn''t do anything wrong, and even if he did, he still had nothing to apologize over. It was their fault for being weak and joining a weak Familia.


    If not for Apollo wanting them, he wanted nothing to do with them. In fact, thanks to them ''stealing'' the affection and attention of his beloved God away from him, he wanted to kill them from the bottom of his heart.


    Among the 21 Level 3s, 11 of them went to attack the group with some odd Level 2s, "Did you think that you had the upper hand just because you were able to reduce our number? If yes, then it''s clear why you''re a newbie and from a nondescript Familia. Let me show you the truth of the world. The reason why Levels are absolute!", dered Hyakinthos.


    However, after a few minutes, those who were sent to fight the group still couldn''t get the upper hand in the battle despite the gap in Level and number. In fact, aside from their new members, the contested people, Sona, Koneko and Aika, still hadn''t received a single blow and kept counterattacking, slowly tiring out their assants.


    "W-what is this?" Hyakinthos couldn''t believe what he was seeing.

 Chapter 633 Enemies that cannot be made

    Chapter 633 Enemies that cannot be made


    Within a certain room of the Twilight Manor, the executives who were watching the War Game were speechless for a long time and the first one to speak up was Finn, with his chin resting on the back of his hands, "I''ll be damned... To think they have such a trump card to reduce their numbers significantly that easily. And it was done in a way that the Apollo Familia won''t be able to respond easily either."


    "But aren''t they being too confident? They could have rushed them when the enemy forces still hadn''t consolidated but instead, they chose to wait for them to gather and swarm them like that? Even if they are stronger, they''ll be overwhelmed at some point.",mented Tione with a frown on her face.


    "Right! They''re underestimating their opponents!", added Tiona.


    Ais was also confused as to why they would put themselves at such a disadvantage.


    They said this because they knew their fighting abilities from when they joined their expedition.


    However, Finn, Gareth and Riveria, instantly understood what was going on, "We''re wrong on one thing.", uttered Finn.


    With question marks painted on their faces, Finn continued, "We''ve indeed seen them fight monsters in the Dungeon and all of you could tell that although they knew how to fight, they were beginners as Adventurers. It also felt strange at that time, but now I understand what was going on."


    "What do you mean?", asked Tiona. Meanwhile, Tione and Ais looked back up to the screen to confirm their guesses.


    "It means that although they don''t know much about fighting monsters, they''re very well versed in fighting against other people. If aparison were to be made, almost at Finn''s level?", answered Riveria the clueless Tiona.


    "!?" Tiona was stunned and immediately looked back up like the other two and carefully watched their movements. And indeed, if they were on the same level, they couldn''t have done the same thing.


    "While my anti-personnel abilitiese from experience, theirs is clearly from a systematic training.", added Finn, ''But even then, it''s really hard to imagine what sort of training they have gone through. Training to fight against another person is a lot harder than training to fight a monster with a limited set of moves and very limited intelligence. And on top of that, practical experience is much more needed and dangerous than the experience required to effectively fight monsters. Have they been fighting since their childhood? Even then, this level of mastery is too much.''


    However, everyone''s deep concentration was broken by a knock on the door, "Who is it?" Riveria asked.


    "It''s me!" Raul''s voice resounded from the other side and he opened the door.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Uhmm... A lot of people are asking for a refund and are starting to get heated up."


    Riveria sighed. She already knew that this would happen and said, "Don''t entertain them. If they want to get violent, smack them down and kick them out. You''re allowed to get rough on those stubborn ones, but never hurt the elderly."


    "Understood.", Raul nodded and closed the door again. Now that they have the permission to fight back, it''d be a lot easier for them.


    But the moment, Raul closed the door, Gareth suddenly startedughing out loud, "Fuhahaha! I really like this guy''s guts!"


    Confused, everyone else also focused on the ongoing fight but couldn''t find anything funny about it. Seeing their expressions, Gareth then exined, "Not the fight. At certain angles, you''ll see him."


    ''Him?'', was what they all asked inwardly until the screen showed a different angle that could see the balcony where Hyakinthos and the other Level 3s were watching. Beside them was the familiar figure of a man wearing a bucket hat with a white fan covering half of his face.


    With a twitching mouth, Tionemented, "How can he blend in so well with them? And look at those eyes... It''s as if he''s carefully appraising the fight below."


    Riveria could only put the palm of her hand on her face as she sighed, "He could have ended this by taking out the enemy Familia''s Captain and no one would hold it against him."


    "It doesn''t look like he ns to do that.", replied Ais.


    "Maybe he wanted to mess with them more? After all, it''s him we''re talking about here.". wondered Tiona.


    Recalling their prior engagements with him, Riveria, Ais and Tione couldn''t think of any words to refute her.


    At that time, something clicked within Finn''s mind, "Ais, Tiona, Tione. Tell me. When you chased him around the 18th floor, did you hold back?"


    The three looked at each other before Tione replied, "Have we not told you about it, Captain? That Ais used everything she''s got as if she was after some strong monster."


    Finn got a massive headache and clicked his tongue, "What a mistake... Due to his Level, I thought you all held back as a condition to catch him and I didn''t confirm it with you as it was the most logical conclusion."


    Finn then looked at the girls with a grave expression, "It seems that there''s a mimunication regarding what he can do between us. I''d really appreciate it if you were to inform me of things... Including you, Riveria."


    The three girls became a bit scared while Riveria became apologetic, "The fault lies with me. As there were some things that we agreed not to disclose with Loki as an intermediary, I can only reveal a few things. But with howplicated and convoluted things surrounding them are, it''s easier not to say anything as long as it won''t put our Familia in danger. With that in mind, I asked the others not to say anything as much as possible."


    "You know excuses like that won''t cut it."


    "I know... Give me some time. I''ll arrange the information I have on them and tell you everything I know that I''m able to reveal."


    Finn nodded and said, "I''ll wait for it. But I wonder what sort of secrets are they that you''re not allowed to reveal even among fellow Familia members?"


    Finn watched their expressions and caught a hint of wariness and fear, ''Enough to make them scared?'' However, he didn''t wait for them to reply and said, "Don''t worry. I won''t force you to break your oath. Just be mindful of new things that you can say. That way, we won''t easily get off guard."


    Finn then returned his attention to the screen, "With that said, I severely underestimated the Hestia Familia. In fact, I think we should consider them as someone who rivals us in terms of strength."


    Bete, who had been quietly watching all this time finally spoke up, "What are you saying, Finn?"


    "It''s in consideration of the things they can''t reveal... Right?"


    Hearing that, Riveria suddenly raised her hand and spoke up, "Just let me say one thing for now. We may antagonize Hestia Familia if they do something that is against our beliefs and policy, but please, we should never ever make enemies with Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin, Kuroka Toujou, Medusa and Serafall Sitri."


    Finn, Gareth and Bete became incredibly confused because of her contradicting words.


    The other girls, meanwhile, nodded in agreement.

 Chapter 634 Comparable to Top-Class

    Chapter 634 Comparable to Top-ss


    After a few more minutes of the amazing sh between the girls of the Hestia Familia and the members of the Apollo Familia, Shakti finally noticed Kisuke''s existence, "Look! At the balcony!"


    Ibri was confused but he focused his eyes on the balcony and noticed the uninvited guest and eximed for everyone to hear, "I-It''s the Captain of the Hestia Familia!? Since when did he arrive there!?"


    His voice prompted the screen to change perspective and show the balcony where the rest of the Level 3s were watching with the Apollo Familia captain. Just a little bit behind them was Kisuke with a white fan covering half of his face.


    "But the bigger question is, why isn''t he doing anything!? He could''ve ended this game if he were to take out the enemy Familia''s Captain!", added Ibri, while those who bet on the Apollo Familia''s win couldn''t help but wail in despair.


    Apollo and his allies, meanwhile, almost had a heart attack with the former shouting, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HYAKINTHOS!?"


    His allies also did the same, calling out to their respective children in panic.


    Seeing this, Loki couldn''t help butugh loud and pointed out, "Idiots! There''s no way they can hear you! You should start thinking about how you''ll pack your things up!"


    They shuddered and paled when they heard that, but they had nothing to refute it.


    When they thought that everything was already just a matter of time, Aika suddenly pointed her sword towards Kisuke and startedining, "Oi, Captain! Until when are you going to watch without helping!?"


    Silence then ensued as Hyakinthos and the others with him turned towards Kisuke and instantlyshed out once he came into their view. Kisuke dodged by jumping backward, going further inside the castle.


    "Fuhahahaha! I didn''t know your child was this stupid! Now I don''t know if I still want her!" Apollo celebrated at Aika''s ''blunder'' and heaved arge sigh of relief.


    Those who were watching in the za were also having simr reactions while some were disappointed at the wasted chance. Although they didn''t know how Kisuke got up there without being detected, now that he was detected, he would have to fight his way through to escape. But once he was defeated here, it''d be the Apollo Familia''s win.


    As if nothing had happened, Aika went back to fending off her assants whileining, "Really... Until when will he keep watching?"


    "Kisuke-senpai just probably wanted to see our progress.", replied Koneko.


    But suddenly, one of their opponents started speaking, "You really are dumb. If you hadn''t pointed out his position, he could have silently taken out Hyakinthos and won the game. Too bad, it''s already toote for that."


    From the back of his head, the shaft of a halberd hit him, making him eat the ground, "That doesn''t really matter. The end result will be the same no matter whether he did it secretly or overtly.", Sona''s voice came.


    "What do you mean?", asked one of the curious enemies, thinking that their captain set up a trap somewhere.


    "Because even if the five of us went against him at once, we have no way of winning.", replied Sona with a harrumph.


    .


    .


    .


    Everyone''s focus was now on Kisuke, a Level 2, being surrounded by 10 Level 3s, including Hyakinthos, "You made me worry for a bit there, but now I can end this game. me it on that stupid woman of yours who ratted you out."


    Kisuke''s smile didn''t disappear and just said, "Oya? You''re already assuming that you can take me out? Are you a prophet or something? If so, what are you doing in such a low-ranking Familia? You deserve at the least a rank B~!"


    "Low ranking?", muttered Hyakinthos as a vein popped on his head. These people from the Hestia Familia were really infuriating him to no end today, was what he thought as hemanded coldly, "Kill him."


    Without any words, three people instantly rushed out and attacked Kisuke.


    "My~ How violent~! Whatever did I do to deserve such treatment?", asked Kisuke casually, but received no reply.


    "A grave situation for the Captain of the Hestia Familia! And it seems like they''re aiming for the kill! Although is very much frowned upon and the bacsh from the public will be immense, if not specifically mentioned, killing isn''t prohibited! How will he escape this situation!? Winning this game should be the least of his worries now!", eximed Ibri to the audience with a grave tone. He didn''t like the ruthlessness that Hyakinthos was showing.


    The few people who knew them like some merchants and peddlers paled at the situation, praying that Kisuke would just surrender to save his life and closed their eyes, not wanting to see a bloody ending.


    But no matter how long they waited, neither came the announcement for surrender, nor the notice of victory. As they looked up again, they were shocked to see that Kisuke was seemingly dodging his opponents without much effort at all.


    "What are you doing!?", shouted Hyakinthos in impatience.


    But one of the attackers turned towards him and shouted back in anger, "Why don''t you attack too!? This bastard is too strange! He''s reading and dodging all of our attacks as if he has eyes in the back of his head!"


    Hyakinthos gritted his teeth and signaled to the rest, "Go! Take him out and finish this nonsense!"


    Everyone but Hyakinthos started assaulting Kisuke. Although Hyakinthos was prideful, he still wouldn''t risk going himself as he was afraid that Kisuke had something that could instantly take him out. As long as he was conscious, it''d be their win.


    However, no matter how much time passed, the results were still the same as Kisuke kept dodging all of their attacks, including magic. They tried using binding magic but it would seemingly fail and would only consume the Magic Power of the user without even activating.


    Although this mystery was bugging them, it could be attributed to some unknown skill that rendered control magic ineffective. What was really bothering and scaring them right now, however, was the fact that Kisuke wasn''t moving any faster than them, so they were all confused on how they hadn''tnded a single attack on him yet, despite having nine people, who were clearly stronger than he was, going after him.


    ''What''s going on!?'', asked all of them inside their heads while fear started forming inside them. It was as if the person in front of them was not a real person, but a ghost. No matter what they did, they couldn''t even touch him, ''What the hell is going on!?''


    The same was happening with the people watching in Orario, they were asking what was going on, "S-Shakti-sama! Please exin!"


    Shakti herself was making a difficult expression as she answered, "...He''s predicting all of their movements and evading them in advance? If not that, then I don''t know what''s going on. But there''s one thing I can be sure of."


    "W-what is it?"


    "That''s not something a normal Level 2 could pull off. From my observation of his movements, his parameters were well within the range of a Level 2, however, his fighting skills are even beyond mine."


    Ibri identally dropped his mic after hearing that and asked for confirmation, "W-what do you mean by that, Shakti-sama?"


    Before speaking, Shakti picked up the mic and used it, "In other words, I would describe him as a First-ss Adventurer in the body of a Third-ss Adventurer."


    But the real First-ss Adventurers, including herself, thought that her words were an understatement. Even among the top Adventurers, they couldn''t think of anyone who could rival his ''prediction'', maybe aside from Ottar, the King and Finn, the Brave.

 Chapter 635 Instant Defeat

    Chapter 635 Instant Defeat


    After losing their patience, one of Kisuke''s opponents suddenly yelled while lunging at him, "Stop running away you coward!"


    Kisuke replied while chuckling, "Good point~!", and dashed forward to meet him.


    The guy who had just said that was surprised, but also delighted. It was clear that he was no match in terms of fighting ability, but he was very confident that he could overpower him. And even though he couldn''t outright defeat him, having a sh with him would mean that he''d stop moving for a few moments, giving others a chance tond a decisive blow.


    In fact, from the corner of his eyes, he could already see three other peopleing up to Kisuke from his blind spot.


    Kisuke, while running towards him, suddenly threw his cane upwards, his only weapon which he hadn''t pulled out after all this time, because he hadn''t fought back. The one in front of him thought that it was only to distract those who wereing from behind and ignored it, brandishing his sword towards his hateful enemy, ''This is the end!''


    But the moment his sword was about tond on Kisuke''s fist that he chose to intercept with, the man noticed a shine on Kisuke''s finger, ''A ring?''


    And that same ring hit the de of his sword, deflecting it to the side, "What!?"


    In his shock, the man wasn''t able to notice Kisuke''s other fist in time, which was already about to hit his chin. The sudden attack on his chin rattled his head, but the next thing he knew was that Kisuke was already holding his sword and his right shoulder somehow became lighter.


    When he nced at it to see what was going on, all the pain came rushing in as his sightsnded on his own severed arm on the floor, and he screamed in pain, "AHHHHH!!!"


    That scream instantly broke everyone''s concentration for a moment. Using that chance, Kisuke suddenly threw the enemy''s sword in his hand behind him without looking, impaling and pinning the foot of one of the assants who were rushing towards him, "AHHH!!!"


    The second scream also gathered attention, but one of the three rushing at Kisuke noticed the bucket hat in the corner of his eyes and immediately focused his sights on that. However, it was already toote as Kisuke''s palm was already on his elbow, and bent it backward, instantly breaking his joint, "GAHH!!!"


    Catching the weapon he dropped, Kisuke immediately proceeded to sever his arm, making him scream in more pain as Kisuke dodged the spraying blood.


    Thest one among the people rushing towards him finally ignored the screams and went to thrust his spear into Kisuke''s back. But without even looking back, Kisuke easily deflected the spear and turned around, severing another arm.


    With that, four people were screaming in pain and three of them were staring at one of their missing arms on the ground. Kisuke then slowly walked towards the pinned opponent who was trying his best to free himself and said, "Let me help you with that~!"


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke severed the pinned leg before turning towards Hyakinthos directions with a smile, while having a chorus of screams behind him, "That''s four out and six to go~!"


    At that moment, the thrown cane came back down and Kisuke caught it with his free hand, "Shall we continue?"


    "T-the tables have turned!!!", shouted Ibri followed by a loud cheer from the surrounding spectators, "Within just a single moment, Kisuke Urahara, the Captain of the Hestia Familia, brutally disabled four of the top fighters of the Apollo Familia all by himself!!!"


    Ibri then turned to Shakti and asked, "What do you think, Shakti-sama?"


    "There''s nothing much else to say.", replied Shakti, "His skills are way beyond all of them. And at this point, it''s already the Hestia Familia''s win as long as no unforeseen idents happen. Look. His opponents have already lost their will to fight after witnessing those ruthless and brutal actions."


    "Indeed. It''s as you say. Right now, all of them except for Hyakinthos are slowly inching towards the exit, and I don''t think that the Captain of the Apollo Familia can do anything about it as they are all just hiredbatants. I wonder what faces the Gods who helped Apollo are making right now?",mented Ibri. He imagined that they were all making devastated faces and were all about to attack Apollo for dragging them into the problem he''d created.


    And he was correct with his assumptions, as Loki was currentlyughing at their pale faces, who thought that they''d somehow profit and amuse themselves in this War Game.


    Back to the scene, the first one to outright run away was the Mage who wasn''t able to do much since earlier, aside from disturbing Kisuke with his attack magic, "T-this can''t be happening!"


    Seeing that, the other four went towards the exit, leaving Hyakinthos and the disabled Adventurers behind, "I didn''t sign up for this!"


    "I never thought that something like this was going to happen! F*cking hell!"


    "I have to go back... Our Familia is done..."


    "W-wait! We''re really going to lose if you all run away!", screamed Hyakinthos and tried to stop them, but as Ibri had expected, no one even tried to stop or look behind.


    Seeing them disappearing beyond the dark corridor, Hyakinthos couldn''t help but mutter, "W-why is this happening?"


    "It''s because you messed with the wrong shop.", said Kisuke, who had already crept up behind him.


    "Hiih!!!", Hyakinthos jumped away from him while letting out a weird sound. At that point, he also decided to run away for now and think of a way to reverse the situation.


    But as he stepped into the corridor, he suddenly heard screams beyond it and stopped in his tracks. A few secondster, the five girls who were supposedly fighting their otherbatants outside emerged from the darkness. "Oh? His limbs are still intact?", Aika greeted him with some terrifying words.


    It was then that Hyakinthos knew that this war game was already a lost cause, "I-I s-!? AHHHH!!!" But just as he was about to surrender, he suddenly lost his bnce and fell straight down while screaming in pain. It was only a secondter that he realized that both of his legs were no longer attached to him.


    Still, Hyakinthos hadn''t forgotten what he was about to do and tried speaking up again. But strangely enough, he couldn''t seem to let out his voice, and fear overtook his sense of self when he saw Kisuke looking down on him.


    Turning him over with a kick and stepping on his chest while cing his cane beside Hyakinthos'' head, Kisuke secretly cast a spell on him.


    A few secondster, his mouth started frothing and his eyes rolled back, losing consciousness. From then on, every time when the Apollo Familia captain closed his eyes, he would see nightmares of him dying in extreme pain in countless ways.


    Augmenting both magic and soul techniques, Kisuke was able to show him illusions that were directly branded on his soul and wouldn''t disappear as long as his soul didn''t sever its connection with his physical body, in other words, dying.


    Kisuke may have left him alive today, but he doubted that he''d be able to survive for a few more months before killing himself in despair and hopelessness, ''Not just messing with my shop, but also insulting my girls and Hestia-sama.''


    "Hyakinthos Clio was taken out! The Hestia Familia has won!!!", shouted the announcer for everyone in Orario to hear.

 Chapter 636 First Advancement of the World

    Chapter 636 First Advancement of the World


    Kisuke had started walking away when he felt the monitoring on them disappear. "I''ll leave these guys to you.", he said before disappearing with sh Step.


    From her storage, Sona started taking out potions and distributed them to others, "Let''s stop their bleeding. This should give them enough time for the medical team to tend to their wounds once they arrive."


    For these people who were enduring immense pain, the girls looked like spirits that appeared in their time of distress. The fact that their Familias would be disbanded after this had already left their mind.


    .


    .


    .


    A certain distance away from the castle ruins, Kisuke appeared in front of Medusa and looked beside her to see a tied-up man. The familiar man was already unconscious when Kisuke arrived and Medusa said, "It''s as you expected. He tried to escape."


    "People like this guy who only think about profit are easy to read. They may look smart, but they are very easy to control.", replied Kisuke before grabbing the Captain of the Soma Familia who had joined Apollo''s side without Soma''s knowledge.


    "I''ll take it from here, so return for now." Kisuke was about to leave when he recalled something and took out a bag from his storage, "By the way, I took some time to gather some cookbooks and ingredients from all over the world when I was on the other side. Everything is in here so you can ask Sona... No... Not Sona. You can ask either Irina or ire to trante it for you."


    Medusa''s purple eyes shone at the sight of the bag. After grabbing it, she held it dearly within her bosom. After experiencing her new life for a few months now, there were a few enjoyable things that she''d found, and one of those was cooking.


    At first, she became Kisuke''s maid solely because she wanted to return at least some of the favor she''d received. Medusa never really thought that she''d enjoy seeing people smile at her cooking and it was only recently that she discovered why. It was because it reminded her of the happy times she had with her older sisters, "I''ll be sure to serve grandly for this victory~!"


    Kisuke chuckled and patted her small head, "I''ll be looking forward to that."


    He then disappeared along with Zanis.


    .


    .


    .


    After the announcement of the Hestia Familia''s victory, Hestia slowly approached Apollo and his cohorts with a menacing smile, "Apollo and the rest of you~ You know what to do, right?"


    Their faces paled even more as Hestia closed in on them, "H-Hestia... Forgive us! We promise that we''ll never do something like this again!"


    Simr words of defeat and asking for forgiveness came from the other Gods, hoping that Hestia would take pity on them and reduce their punishment.


    But Hestia''s smile remained and said, "Eh? But I have a way to make sure something like this won''t ever happen again, even without you promising anything~?"


    At that moment, all of them became hopeless as Hestia continued her words with a rageful expression, "All of you shall have your assets confiscated and expelled from Orario, never setting foot in this ce again!"


    Hestia then started walking away with a harrumph from their wailing voices. But just as she was about to exit the room, she stopped walking when she heard one of them speaking with a creepyugh, "Hehehe... Hestia. You can''t be thinking that you can really kick us out of Orario, right?"


    Hestia turned towards them with a frown and asked, "What do you mean? Are you nning to break the agreement that you yourselves set?"


    "You may take our assets, but you can''t kick all of us out. If it''s just Apollo, then you''re very wee, but if you are going to include us, you''ll first have to talk to the Guild."


    Hestia''s frown deepened and she looked towards the Guild Chief, Royman, who just came to mediate between the two sides. He seemed to be hesitating about something and she could tell that he was agreeing with the Deity, "And why would that be?"


    "It''s a city-wide problem.", replied Hephaestus, "I already knew that they were going to leverage this, so it''s really going to be hard to kick out everyone else aside from Apollo."


    With the obvious question mark on her face, Loki decided to exin it further, "Their Familiasbined are big enough to cause some major problems in the city''s economy. It''s not just about the Adventurers that may choose to follow them when they leave, but also the connections they have outside Orario."


    "Aside from Magic Stones and drop items, Orario still imports most of itsmodities from the outside and it''s actually Familias of their sizes who are the ones taking care of that. If they left, a recession may happen if they were to use those connections to pressure Orario."


    ''So it''s about money, huh?'', thought Hestia and finally understood the situation. Even then, she didn''t want to let them go, not after they''d all joined up to bully a small Familia like hers. If it wasn''t for Kisuke and the others, the ending would have been very different with no one even remembering her Familia after the event.


    But just as Hestia didn''t know what to do, Kisuke''s guild advisor suddenly arrived and approached Royman, "Royman-sama, please take a look at this."


    "Not now, Sophie! I''m in a tough spot right now!", replied Royman with impatience.


    Without minding his attitude, Sophie continued, "This should solve our problem."


    "Hmm?" Royman became curious and took the paper from Sophie''s hand and gave it a quick read.


    A few secondster, his eyes widened and after a few minutes more passed, Royman silently folded the paper and regained his serious expression before asking Sophie, "Is this true?"


    "Yes. I''ve received it from the man himself earlier. It seems that he already expected this situation." Even Sophie couldn''t believe the contents of the note that Kisuke had given her. When she first read it, it didn''t make any sense and she was confused about why he wanted to present it to the Gods.


    However, the moment the Humvee was revealed, she instantly understood that it was preparation for something. Understanding the current situation now, everything clicked in her head and she admired Kisuke''s grasp in their situation.


    Clearing his throat, Royman announced, "Since Hestia-sama has already decided, the Guild will be enforcing her terms. Apollo-sama and his allies shall have all their assets confiscated and the Deities to be expelled from Orario."


    "W-what!!? Royman! What are you saying! You can''t decide this! Go get Ouranos'' words first! And I assure you, a decision like this is a mistake!"


    "That''s right! Not only will this be revokedter, but you''ll also lose your position!"


    "And what''s that note you received!? Why did you change your stance after reading it!?"


    Royman answered the Deitiesst question, "It''s a Guild affair and can''t be disclosed to anyone right now."


    "What was that!? Why can''t you tell us the reason why you suddenly agreed with Hestia!?"


    With her ears ringing from all the barking of the loser Deities, Loki finally had enough and interrupted, "Will you shut it? The decision has already been made and you guys should start packing your things."


    "This has nothing to do with you, Loki!"


    Sighing, Loki continued while facing Royman, "Let me guess. That message came from Kisuke Urahara, didn''t it? And its content should be somewhere around the line of him willing to negotiate the production method of that strange carriage and its distribution."


    Royman flinched but he answered, "As I said, it''s a Guild affair that can''t be revealed to the public. Please excuse us. Sophie, let''s go."


    Royman immediately left with Sophie but the reaction he gave more or less confirmed Loki''s words. And if that was true, getting the production method of an item that could revolutionize how the people of this world traveled, would also be the sharpest sword that Orario could use to destroy any economical pressure that others could put on it.


    Who would want to pressure Orario at the risk of not getting such a wondrous item?


    ==============================


    AN:


    ()


    Please forgive this author!


    I forgot to release the batch before this (once again) so it has taken this long.

 Chapter 637 637

    Chapter 637 637


    Chapter 637 Motorcycle


    Hestia, Hephaestus and Loki left whilst the whole 30th floor of Babel was still in an uproar. Hestia had a hard time escaping from the curious Gods. Nevertheless, she managed to do so with some help from her best friend and best frenemy.


    The three of them then immediately headed to a nondescript cafe to meet with two other Gods who had left the 30th floor much earlier, Miach and Takemikazuchi. The three Goddesses also noticed their children at another table looking at them with anticipation.


    "You''re here." Miach greeted them, "That was an unbelievable match and also very exciting. After this, they''ll surely gather everyone''s attention, especially Kisuke-kun."


    The three of them sat beside them and Hephaestus replied to him, "That''s for sure. However, he could have done this more quietly."


    "He did this so that his Familia would have more prestige. With more prestige, it''ll be harder for something like this to happen again.", added Loki and ordered some drinks.


    While talking about something mundane, Hestia noticed Takemikazuchi''s wordlessness, "What''s wrong, Take?"


    "Hmm? Ah, sorry. I''ve been thinking about the match from earlier."


    "What''s wrong with it?", asked Hestia with curiosity.


    "Nothing''s wrong. It''s just that everyone has been talking about the shy way Kisuke-kun dodged the attacks from all directions, but failed to notice something even more amazing about him."


    Takemikazuchi then looked at everyone and continued, "While the way he dodged all of those attacks was truly a sight to behold, it could be attributed to a Skill or a Developmental Ability. However, the same can''t be said for his swordsmanship. While he looked casual, the refinement behind his swordsmanship couldn''t have just been a Skill or a Developmental Ability. He''s a real master of the sword with skills way beyond any children I''ve ever met or even heard of in the lower world."


    Takemikazuchi then perceived that Hestia was looking at him with suspicion and immediately said, "Don''t misunderstand me. I don''t intend to get any confirmation nor get information about your child. I''m just so amazed that I''ve been thinking about it all this time. But other Gods who have held a sword would surely be interested in him, so you should be careful with that."


    "You don''t have to worry about that~ That guy can take care of himself.", replied Loki while chuckling. In fact, she had been looking forward to a sh between Kisuke and a God, ''Wouldn''t that be even more interesting?''


    "It''s about time that Kisuke-kun arrives, isn''t it?", Miach suddenly pointed out.


    And as soon as he said that a screeching sound of rubber rubbing on a pavement, which was impossible to hear in this world, echoed from outside, along with some screams from the pedestrians outside of the cafe.


    "What''s that!?" Loki immediately stood up and went outside to check what was going on and the others hurriedly followed her.


    As they got out, what greeted their eyes was the sight of Kisuke, who was just getting off a strange two-wheeled vehicle, "Yo~ sorry that I''ve made everyone wait."


    "W-w-what is that!!!?" Loki excitedly ran towards the foreign vehicle, a motorcycle, and went around it a few times. She then immediately figured out its use from the design and the marks which the tires left on the pavement.


    Loki then looked back up to Kisuke with shining eyes, "What''s this!? And I want it! Give it to me!"


    "This is a prototype, so I can''t.", Kisuke immediately rejected her while thinking, ''You''d just kill yourself within just a few seconds of riding this.''


    Kisuke then ignored her and started looking around. Locating Bell Cranel and hispanions, he said to them, "Cranel-san, Arde-san was released and it looks like she went directly to your Home."


    Bell and his party members'' faces immediately lit up in delight and all bowed down to Kisuke, "Thank you very much! I promise to return this favor one day!" With Bell being the first one to bolt away, those beside him hurriedly followed after expressing their gratitude to him.


    Miach then approached him and said, "Allow me to express our gratitude one more time. Thank you, Kisuke-kun. If there''s something you need, please do not hesitate to tell me. I''ll do everything within my capability to help you."


    "Don''t worry about it, Miach-sama. You''re Hestia-sama''s friend and you''ve helped her a lot. This much, I can do. Besides, thanks to the situation, I was also able to strike a good deal with Soma-sama~"


    Miach smiled wryly and said, "Is that so? Nevertheless, my offer still stands."


    "Understood. But let''s get inside first. It''s getting crowded around here.", proposed Kisuke and went towards the cafe''s entrance.


    "Is it fine to leave that here?", asked Hephaestus while pointing towards the motorcycle.


    "It''s fine~ No one aside from me knows how to operate it and it also weighs a lot more than what a normal Level 2 would be able to run away with."


    "But a Level 3 can."


    "I''d honestly want to see him carry this as he runs away. I''ll even cheer for him."


    "Well, if you say so."


    Once they''d all sat down once again, the motorcycle outside became the center of everyone''s attention and was flooded by crowds of people. The patrolling Ganesha Familia had to intervene as the people were blocking traffic and interfering with businesses along the street.


    "I presume you also made that one? If so, then you''ve made yet another amusing thing.", Loki stated with a big grin.


    Kisuke nodded, "I did make it, but just to be clear, I''m not the one who invented it. Though I''m the one behind the magic circuits that make it run."


    "Alright! Spare us with the technicalities!" Hestia immediately stopped him. It''d be really hard to do so, once he gets into gear and starts exining every little detail of his creation.


    "I''d like to hear it, though?",ined Hephaestus.


    "You two can have your timeter!" Hestia then turned to Kisuke, "You already knew that it''d be hard kicking them out, didn''t you? What did you give the Guild to make them change their mind?"


    "Since kicking that many Familias out would certainly hurt Orario, I figured that the Guild would try to mediate and reduce their punishments, offering something else in return. But I don''t care about whatever their offers were. They ganged up on us, so I''ll have them leave this entertaining stage forever."


    "Since that was the case, I offered something to the Guild that would counter the detrimental effects of them leaving. Loki-sama might have already guessed it, but I offered a negotiation regarding the production method of the four-wheeled vehicle and the two-wheeled vehicle from outside."


    "So it''s really as Loki said.", Hephaestus nodded in understanding, "You said negotiation. So you''ve meant to give its production to some other Familia?"


    "Yep~ If I just hand it over for royalties, they could hire any Familia to produce these things. It would be distasteful if such a good job were tond on an unsavory Familia."


    Hephaestus didn''t speak further, but there was an obvious gleam in her eye. Seeing this, Kisuke chuckled, "I''ll have Hephaestus-sama arrange the production line."


    Hephaestus finally noticed the expression that she was making and feigned a cough to hide her embarrassment, "I''m d to have your trust."


    "By the way, you''ll also need some Mages and Schrs to help the cksmiths creating the core parts of the production machine.", added Kisuke.


    "I''ve got some contacts in Altena and they wouldn''t dare not toe after I reveal the news to them. Since I would also need more cksmiths to focus on this, I''ll ask for some people from Zolingham."


    "That would be good. You''ll also need arge plot ofnd outside of Orario if you want to mass-produce it and give some manpower into researching it."


    "Note taken.", said Hephaestus and immediately stood up, "I''m sorry but I''d like to take my leave. The sooner I arrange this, the sooner I''ll be able to tinker with those things."


    Without waiting for the others'' to reply, Hephaestus left the establishment.


    "She''s pretty excited...", muttered Hestia.


    "I fully understand her. She''ll be getting a new toy, after all.", replied Loki. It was very rare for a God to encounter something very new in their life, after all.

 Chapter 638 Plans to Lockup

    Chapter 638 ns to Lockup


    After exining that there would be more sustainable working from the production of the vehicles for Takemikazuchi and Miach''s Familias like gathering raw materials and preparing acids for material processing, the two Gods left with light feet.


    Although they were all in for the adventures of their children, if there was a much safer way to earn an ie, they''d dly take it. Besides, Takemikazuchi and his children came to Orario in search of someone important to them.


    "So, what''s the n?", asked Loki.


    "I''ll leave everything to Sona-chan.", replied Kisuke as he drank his tea.


    Loki furrowed her brows slightly and asked, "What about you?"


    "I''ll be going out of view for some time. I need to focus my attention and resources on certain projects that need to be done as soon as possible.", Kisuke then looked towards Hestia before continuing, "With that said, Hestia-sama. Take the former Apollo Familia mansion as our new base since I''ll be closing the shop and locking up the underground facility."


    Hestia''s eyes widened in surprise and asked, "With just you in there?"


    "Yep. Some things I''m going to try would be vtile and may cause some destruction, so I can''t have ire and the others stay there, otherwise, I won''t be able to put my full attention and focus on what I want."


    "But..."


    Kisuke, however, didn''t allow Hestia to finish her words, "My schedule was already pushed far behind and I want to get a few things done. Aside from that, although they could go out, I can''t have ire always staying in such a ce. It isn''t healthy for a child to never go outside. It would be better for her to see other people aside from us and interact with them."


    For all the reasons he had, this was the main one. Since ire was finally able to get away from her cage-like world, Kisuke intended for her to explore this one at her own pace. After making friends with Ophis and the others, the silent trauma that she had from before should have weakened and she''d finally be able to talk properly with other people this time.


    By then, she should have eradicated her fear of people and would start to grow up brightly.


    Kisuke was actually thanking Apollo for creating a situation like this, where he could immediately establish his Familia with a firm foundation in Orario.


    It was also about time that he left the management of the Familia to Sona, making her the main decision-maker for the team. With enough time and experience, even without Kisuke, Yoruichi or Serafall, she''d be able to lead everyone, and maybe even save him from a predicament if that were toe about.


    "How about the negotiations? Are you going to lock yourself up after that?", asked Loki.


    "No. I''ll be initiating my ns as soon as I can. Sona-chan will be the one who''ll take over my position and duties. Even without me, she would do a wonderful job. And even if things get difficult, her older sister is there to support her along with everyone. Though please keep in mind that I''ll explicitly ask her only to lend her knowledge and experience."


    Loki immediately caught on to that and asked for rification, "In other words, she won''t be using her strength unless things get really dangerous?"


    "Correct. Only if the situation is way beyond the girl''s capabilities, only then would Serafall be allowed to help directly with force.", replied Kisuke.


    "Even if it means not achieving their goal?", asked Hestia in a small voice.


    "Yes.", answered Kisuke with a serious expression, "As Deities, you should be aware that, if a child could depend on an unconditional power at any time, things are going to get rough. It''ll only breed disaster and stagnation, making them unable to escape the grip of convenience and losing the reason to strive for more."


    The two Goddesses became silent but both of them agreed.


    "I see, this is also one of your reasons to hide at this timing.", muttered Loki.


    "Yep~ With all the eyes on us, things will inevitably be rough, so this is a good chance for growth~! Who knows? Your children might even sh with our girls."


    Loki grinned and asked, "Then is it fine if I were to ask them not to hold back?"


    Kisuke grinned back and answered, "That would be great~ And please do tell them that we won''t interfere with Sona-chan''s decisions nor do anything if they''re against it."


    "I''ll do just that. I don''t want my children to hesitate on their beliefs because they''vee to fear you."


    Hestia could only sigh between the two of them.


    .


    .


    .


    After the celebration of their victory that night, Kisuke announced his ns. No one went against it, because they knew the importance of his creations and projects. They also thought that it would be good for ire, if they were to live on the surface instead of the stuffy underground ce where you could always hear groans of pain and raging profanities.


    "Would that also mean that our training would stop?", asked Koneko.


    "For the most part, yes. But you''ll have to keep your daily routine of sparring. This time, without using any lethal moves or weapons. I''ll also be leaving my dummies, but with toned-down mechanics."


    "How should we contact you if needed?", asked Aika.


    "For now, it''ll only be Sera-tan who''ll be able to contact me. It''ll be up to her if I need to be contacted." This also meant that they couldn''t contact Kisuke at all, as there should be no situation where Serafall couldn''t handle it herself. And the moment Serafall uses her power, Kisuke would immediately feel it and, assuming that something troublesome has happened, stop his activities toe out.


    Sona and Medusa understood this but didn''t say anything. With that realization, Sona knew that she couldn''t expect any help from him nor from her sister and realized the former''s intentions, ''I won''t betray your trust and expectations.'', she thought to herself and started arranging the information inside her head to n for the future.


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, everyone, except for Kisuke, first went to the Guild to im all of their earnings. On their way, they would catch everyone''s attention and many of the looks were full of hate. However, they couldn''t see the hateful figure of the man wearing a bucket hat who made them bet for the Apollo Familia''s ''easy win''.


    When they reached the Guild, Sona first passed Kisuke''s message of returning the money of all non-Adventurers and Level 1s. Kisuke understood that almost everyone would see the game from yesterday as a riskless bet and that those who were struggling might gamble their everything for various reasons, be it for their sick family member or some other reason that could''ve made them choose to gamble their lifeline.


    Although they didn''t care if the Adventurers were to hate them, they couldn''t have the normal citizens hate them for winning, too. It would be unreasonable for them to hate the Hestia Familia, but it was in people''s nature to hate something they didn''t like, regardless of reasons.


    Strong Adventurers, on the other hand, could fend for themselves and they''d dly take their money. Besides, the majority of the money they got from the bets was from these strong Adventurers, so it wasn''t much of a loss for them.


    "He doesn''t strike me as a charitable man. I''m surprised he didn''t take it all.", was Sophie''s first words after hearing it, "Though I''m really thankful for this. It''s really hard to see those devastated faces from people who gambled their everything so that they could finally help their families."


    Koneko wanted to say that he wasn''t doing that for the people, but for the girls to have not bad time with the citizens, however, Aika stopped her.

 Chapter 639 New Reputation

    Chapter 639 New Reputation


    After sorting everything out, Sophie asked, "Where''s the guy who instigated all of this?"


    "He left to deal with some business. Not sure when he''ll return.", answered Sona.


    Sophie became confused and asked, "Did he choose to escape the people''s wrath?"


    Hearing that, everyone couldn''t help but chuckle, "That couldn''t be further from the truth. He''s the type of person that wouldn''t care even if the entire world hated him."


    Sophie frowned and continued asking, "So I presume that you''ll be taking over the negotiations?"


    "Yes. He entrusted everything to me. If you''re worried, you don''t need to, I can still do this properly."


    Sophie immediately shook her head, "I''m sorry, I gave the wrong impression. I just thought that he left because he finds this troublesome."


    "..." Sona couldn''t answer since that was actually the truth.


    Sighing, Sophie pushed the conversation, "In any case, the Guild is still gathering the required documents and data before the negotiations start, so it''ll probably take a few days to proceed further. For the moment, let me inform you that your Familia ranked up to D so you''ll have to take Guild-issued quests. Two of those every month to be precise."


    "Understood. We''ll ept it."


    "And another thing. Adventurers would probably flood to you, hoping to enter your Familia.", reminded Sophie.


    .


    .


    .


    As Sophie had said, when they arrived at the mansion that came from Apollo and that they''d be using from now on, there were already several Adventurers waiting.


    Before they could even speak, each one of them started their sales pitch. Not trying to be rude, Sona chose to wait for them to finish speaking and came to know that three of them were Level 1s, four of them were Level 2s, and one of them was a Level 3.


    But despite their best efforts to sell themselves, Sona answered with a strict tone, "I''m sorry but we''re not epting new members as of now."


    Everyone but the Level 3 sighed and gave up, choosing to retreat after her refusal.


    But the lone man couldn''t easily ept it, "You''re now rank D, right? Think about it, the quests which the Guild will be issuing from now on would keep on getting harder and you''ll need additional members. I''m a Level 3 and would prove to be more useful than most people out there! You should ept me as it''s very rare for someone of my Level to apply to such a small Familia!"


    Sona carefully looked at this man and saw a disgusting glint in his eyes. Figuring out his real intentions, Sona frowned but still chose to be civil, "I''m really sorry, but we don''t need additional members as of now. We can take care of ourselves just fine."


    Losing his patience, the man raised his voice, "You can''t use that reason! Sooner orter, you''ll have to increase the size of your Familia due to you needing to venture deeper into the Dungeon! Besides, I''m already a big asset that you can take advantage of! What''s the need for hesitation!?"


    At that point, Sona already gave up and fixed her sses while looking straight into the man''s eyes, "Fine."


    The man smiled widely as he thought he seeded until Sona continued her words, "However, only after you can take it standing or dodge a single attack from Koneko here."


    The man was about to interrupt her but after hearing Sona''s words, he grinned, "Just a single attack from a fellow Level 3? That''s easy! As long as I don''t take that attack that destroyed the wall, I''ll be fine! Besides, that attack has such a long preparation time to initiate that I can easily dodge it. Looks like this is just for show and you''ve already epted me."


    Their banter attracted the people around them and they had the same thought as the applying man. Just dodging or taking an attack was easy enough. Even a Level 2 could do it, much less a Level 3.


    Koneko, on the other hand, looked towards Sona and heard her say, "Do it.", with an evil grin.


    Since she also felt his disgusting stare, Koneko nodded with great enthusiasm before positioning herself, 10 meters away from the man.


    The man also readied himself with a smile and said, "I''m ready!"


    But before they started, Sona added, "Before that, I''ll have you agree that the injury you''ll take if you can''t endure it won''t be our responsibility. Everyone around us will be the witness."


    The man''s smile didn''t change as he unhesitantly said, "I agree! Bring it on!"


    Sona then took out a bronze coin and said, "The moment this coinnds on the ground, you can start.", and flipped it up.


    At this time, a big crowd had already gathered around them, waiting for the result of this duel. But everyone who knew of the context thought the man could easily pass this.


    The man focused all of his attention on Koneko, who was still standing still until he heard the coin''s ng. However, the cat person he was watching suddenly disappeared from her spot without any warning and he heard a small voice below him, "Down here."


    When the man looked down, it was already toote as Koneko''s leg was already between his legs, aiming for his precious junk without mercy, "Ei."


    In an instant, the man flew several tens of meters up in the air with a screeching voice in extreme pain, "AAAAHHHH!!!!!!"


    Not understanding what was going on, the mannded with a frothing mouth, losing his consciousness instantly.


    The stunned crowd inevitably had their eyesnd on the man''s destroyed junk and saw his crotch bleeding.


    At that sight, all the men around them hurriedly closed their legs in horror, with cold sweat draping their backs.


    Without minding everyone''s reaction, Sona disyed her evilest grin to everyone and said, "I''m sorry, but you''ve failed~. As agreed upon, we have no responsibility for your injury. Please take care of yourself in the future."


    Everyone who was watching shuddered as her evil intention was revealed to everyone. They could only look on in fear at the Devil with sses as she turned around to enter the mansion followed by her fellow party members.


    But before the gate was closed, Sona stopped walking and turned to everyone with a smile, "I''m here to make it clear to everyone that neither the Hestia Familia nor the Artemis Familia are epting any new members for the moment. But for those who want to prove themselves while looking at us with disgusting intentions, you''ll have to duel one of our members to be epted first."


    At that moment, everyone understood what had just transpired. The man looked at them with lust and received his reckoning. But some of them couldn''t me the man as everyone from the Hestia and Artemis Familia''s were top-ss beauties that even Gods would be attracted to.


    Soon enough, this event would spread, along with the unfortunate man''s medical report of his manhood being saved only because he used his life''s savings to buy an Elixir.


    ''If you anger the Devil in sses, she''ll destroy you,'' This phrase would start to gain traction as more people tried to enter their Familia with malintentions.

 Chapter 640 A Student’s Life Insurance Policy

    Chapter 640 A Student��s Life Insurance Policy


    On the first day of his lockdown, Kisuke first cleaned up everything and then set up his new pieces of equipment.


    This time around, he had three main objectives. The first was a reliable way to transfer between worlds. If possible, bypletely bypassing the empty void and directly connecting the two worlds. He also had a feeling that if he chooses to do so, the powerful being from the void could stop them from leaving this world. He would have to make countermeasures against that.


    The second main objective would be finding a way to fool the watchful eyes of that being. Since he''d already figured out that this guy had some unknown motive that involved him and his group, the best way to create a margin of safety and movements for them was to undetectably escape his surveince.


    But to do that, Kisuke would need a power equivalent to him.


    It was possible to attain that through transcending, but even Kisuke himself didn''t know when that coulde to reality as he didn''t have any concrete n to achieve that as Aizen did. Besides, countering Chaos'' surveince through transcending would be a very stupid move, as transcending was neither an instant nor quiet affair.


    The moment he transcends might be the moment Chaos chooses to deal with him and he would be in a very dangerous situation, a risk that Kisuke wasn''t willing to take.


    With that in mind, Kisuke and Yoruichi decided to tackle this problem on two fronts. While Kisuke tried to find another way through the clever maniption of Magic, Ki and Soul, Yoruichi would try to find a potential ''helper'' that would be at the same level as Chaos.


    Kisuke''s third objective, however, was currently the most important one, "Yosh! Let''s start with reforming Medusa-chan''s body!"


    Taking out the special clear container which housed Medusa''s eye, Kisuke took a good look at it again, ''Although it looks pristine, it''s only the outside appearance. Most of it was already decayed with aplex Magic preserving it. Even then, that Magic only focused on preserving the eye''s form and ability and did little in regard with its core structure. If I want to use this as the base for the body, I would have first to restore this to a usable degree.''


    Diving into his work, Kisuke busied himself for a week straight until something knocked on his consciousness and he stopped what he was doing, before looking up with a frown, ''Line?''


    The mark that he''d left on Line Arshe''s soul when she reset her Level was rapidly disappearing, ''What happened?''


    Without further ado, Kisuke immediately initiated a telepathic call with Serafall, "Sera-tan, please tell me what the Loki Familia''s up to these days."


    Serafall sensed the urgency behind Kisuke''s voice and immediately answered, "I''m currently watching the situation, and more than seven hours ago, most of the Loki Familia, including all the executives went to the sewers and attacked a facility underground."


    ''They attacked that man-made dungeon?'', thought Kisuke and immediately understood what transpired. Without proper information, it was almost certain that the Loki Familia would suffer great losses in it despite having numerous top-ss Adventurers.


    Serafall then continued,"Just a few minutes ago, their main force escaped from the sewers and retreated with grave injuries, including their Captain. A while after that, another batch of the Loki Familia were able to escape, but I heard it was only possible because Line Arshe distracted their enemies and was left behind. Just now, Ais Wallenstein and Bete Loga went in again to rescue her, while Riveria Ljos Alf froze the doors to keep it open."


    "Thanks.", that was all that Kisuke needed to hear. Shutting down the line, Kisuke picked up his cane and disappeared from his spot.


    .


    .


    .


    In front of the Knossos''s entrance, Riveria was gritting her teeth while the other members around her were nervously looking at the frozen entrance. Riveria was contemting whether or not to ask for Kisuke or Serafall''s help to save Line, but she knew she would just be embarrassing herself after they already reminded them that they couldn''t use their help, whatever situation they were in.


    ''...Even then... It might already be toote.'', thought Riveria with a grim expression. She had already heard from the others who were able to escape thanks to Line that she was facing a Level 5 enemy who was wielding a cursed sword, Valletta Grede, ''Hurry up, Ais, Bete.''


    But all of a sudden, a familiar voice suddenly resounded beside her, "Please excuse me. I''ming through."


    "!?" Riveria immediately turned to her side and saw the familiar face, "W-when did you...?"


    But Kisuke ignored her and everyone around her as he continued walking casually through the frozen entrance.


    Stupefied, everyone could only see him gaining distance and slowly disappearing along with the darkness of the hall. On that asion, Riveria had figured out his motives and asked, "Why?"


    "Line-san is my precious student. I still have a lot of assignments for her, so I can''t have her retire this early.", replied Kisuke, before hepletely disappeared around the first corner.


    Riveria could only sigh and smile wryly, ''So he would move for Line huh... I''m a bit jealous.''


    Realizing what she thought at the end, Riveria immediately shook her head, ''What the hell am I thinking?''


    Soon after, those around her started voicing out their concerns, "R-Riveria-sama!? When did hee here and why did you let him through!? That''s Kisuke Urahara, isn''t it? No matter how good he is as a Level 2, he has no chance of surviving if he were to be besieged by countless monsters!"


    With arge portion of her worries abated, Riveria smiled calmly to everyone and said, "He''ll be fine. If there''s someone who has a chance to save Line, it would be him."


    Everyone was stupefied and asked her what she meant, but Riveria just chose to stay quiet.


    .


    .


    .


    After walking for a minute or two, Kisuke was able to find Line''s precise location and immediately used sh Step towards that direction. When he arrived, Kisuke saw three people. Ais and Bete makingplex expressions while looking at Line impaled with an ominous sword on the ground. They already gave up saving her as her life was already slipping away.


    As Kisuke started walking towards them, his wooden sandals echoed through the hall, instantly catching Bete and Ais''s attention.


    "Who''s there!?", shouted Bete in rage. But when he saw who it was, he became wary and suspicious, "You? What are you doing here!? Are you part of Evilus!?"


    "Bete!", Ais tried to stop him but Bete didn''t listen.


    "I do not belong to Evilus nor to any other organization running this ce. I''m just here for Line.", answered Kisuke calmly as he continued walking.


    "Bullshit! Why would someone like you be here!? And don''te over!" Since this was their enemy''s territory, Bete was wary of anything that didn''t belong to Loki Familia.


    But Kisuke ignored his warning and didn''t stop his approach.


    That, however, immediately triggered Bete''s nerves and he suddenlyunched an attack towards him. "Bete!!!", Ais tried to physically stop him, but he was already outside of her range.


    Without any hesitation, Bete aimed a punch at Kisuke''s face. But before he couldnd it, his arm was suddenly caught by Kisuke''s right hand. Bete''s eyes widened in shock, "W-what?"


    Nevertheless, before he could understand what was going on, an incredible force was suddenly applied to his arm, snapping its bone before he was thrown up, crashing on the ceiling and creating a small crater on it, before dropping down with a few more broken bones, "Gahaa!?"


    "I understand your wariness, but you''re still too violent. You might want to work on that temper of yours.", said Kisuke casually, before resuming his steps.


    "Bete!" Ais immediately went to Bete who was writhing in pain on the floor before grinding her teeth at Kisuke.


    In response to that, Kisuke said with an unfeeling tone, "Don''t me it on me, Sword Princess. If that was not me, the person lying on the floor wouldn''t be Bete Loga but his victim. He might have even outright killed that person with the first attack."


    Ais shuddered at his words, not because of his reasonable statement, but because of the extreme coldness he emitted. It was the first time she felt something like this ever since she met him and that coldness was akin to a sharp de pointed at her neck. The amiable shopkeeper that always used her name suddenly used her Alias in a very cold way. She hated it.


    But thanks to that, she was able to clear her head and realized their mistake and said with a frustrated expression, "...I''m sorry."


    "You have nothing to apologize for." Kisuke then proceeded to ignore them before kneeling at the dying Line''s side, "Curses huh... Interesting."


    Hearing themotion and somewhat familiar voice, Line turned her already blurry vision to the side, "...Ki..suke...san...?"

 Chapter 641 Speedy Revenge

    Chapter 641 Speedy Revenge


    Kisuke smiled at the dying Line, "''Tis I."


    Kisuke then checked her whole situation once again in greater detail and started some first-aid measures, "Does it hurt?"


    However, Line didn''t notice his actions as all emotions she had been keeping, gushed out along with her tears, "...I... don''t want... to die..."


    All this time, she has been toughing things out. With the use of the things that she''d learned from Sona, Line was able to fend off Valletta, creating an opportunity to escape for the others with her.


    Thanks to that, Valletta lost her interest in the others and focused on the ''weird'' Line, who seemed to be capable of using all sorts of magic without chanting, albeit, very weakly.


    Valletta ''interrogated'' Line but thetter didn''t even speak. In any case, her interest was in line with Line''s goal of creating enough time for the others to escape. She also already stopped thinking that she''d be able toe out of this battle alive.


    The more the fight went on, the more Valletta became curious at Line''s ability. In the end, she attributed it to a very rare skill and decided to take her alive to be brought for her God''s entertainment.


    Catching on to that, Line spat in Valletta''s face, instantly angering her and making her impaling Line with her cursed sword after making manyrge but nonfatal cuts all over her body, leaving her to die from blood loss and cursed festering wounds that continuously inflictedrge amounts of pain and suffering.


    Notwithstanding, she didn''t say anything and thought that she was able to sessfully give herrades a window of chance to survive.


    When Ais and Bete arrived, Line was already on her deathbed. But even then, Line endured it with her blurring vision and asked, "Were they able to get away?", in a stuttering manner.


    As soon as Ais nodded at her question, relief came over Line as she peacefully awaited her death, doing her best not to think of anything else at this moment as she''d surely regret it.


    But her trying to calm herself down and emptying her mind didn''t get her desired results when it suddenly became noisy beside her and a certain man she was trying her best to forget suddenly appeared with a smile.


    At that point, all that she was trying to keep in went out as she recalled all the days she adventured with the members of the Hestia Familia. Especially the memories about the man who gave her back her aspirations and motivation to try harder to achieve her dreams.


    "I don''t want... to die...!", repeated Line with greater energy than before. But thanks to her pushing herself, she started coughing blood which blocked her breathing. Still, after seeing Kisuke''s face, it reminded her of what she wanted to do and what she wanted to reach. Her journey had just started and Line couldn''t just let it go. Even if she knew that it was already impossible, she wished for a miracle. She wished she could still join their adventure towards the unknown.


    Hearing this, Ais could only close her eyes and grit her teeth while Bete decided to look away. Both of them knew that at this point, it was already impossible to save Line even with the most expensive potion and anti-curses. That was whatmon sense and experience dictated to them anyways.


    Kisuke''s smile grew wider when he saw and felt Line''s will to live, "Easy now, girl. You''re not dead yet since you can still speak with such enthusiasm."


    Of course, Kisuke''s joke felt out of ce and both Ais and Bete couldn''t believe they were hearing it. Nevertheless, Kisuke disregarded them and continued, "I wanted to teach you how to cure this thing yourself, but we won''t have enough time and you''d die for real. Instead, I''ll show you an ability that belonged to a friend, which in my opinion, is the greatest form of healing."


    Kisuke then took out a token. It was the token that contained Inoue''s ''Rejection'' ability. As the orange barrier covered Line, Kisuke started exining, "Instead of helping, aiding or guiding the body''s regenerative process, this ability directly affects reality itself. More specifically, it reverses causality itself, making it so that you didn''t take any damage at all. Meaning, this ability makes it so that you were never injured in the first ce."


    Line''s head was a mess and she could barely hear everything he said. However, she still tried to remember all of it despite her inability to understand it.


    "Well, this is just a copy of that ability, a very poor copy that hardly does what it''s meant to do.", Kisuke then suddenly yanked out the cursed sword sticking on her belly without any hesitation, making Line groan in extreme pain. "That said, it could only remove the curses and reverse your wounds for a bit. It''ll be your job to heal yourself. Just think of it as practice."


    But Line didn''t mind the pain and understood that Kisuke just gave her another breath of life. Although she also knew that she couldn''t heal her current wounds with her current ability, when she heard Kisuke uttering the word ''practice'', she figured that Kisuke was expecting her to surpass her current self.


    And indeed it''d be thanks to this that Line would have a breakthrough with her overall Magic capabilities, surpassing even Riveria''s manual control of Magic Power. And unknowingly to Kisuke and Line, thetter would have some insight regarding the ''Rejection'' ability, forever changing the course of her future.


    A few secondster, a small green magic circle appeared on top of the wound on her stomach. After a minute, multiple magic circles already covered her full body, all aiming at her wounds, though most of them would fail and fizz out of existence before reappearing again.


    However, each iteration of those magic circles were an improved version, signifying Line''s improvement in realtime. ''Death really is the best training partner.'', thought Kisuke as he stood up while carrying the cursed sword in one of his hands.


    Facing Ais and Bete who both had stupefied expressions, Kisuke said, "Wallenstein-san, please look after Line-san for a moment. We don''t want anything to disturb her while she''s healing herself."


    "...Where are you going?", asked Ais.


    Kisuke thought for a moment before answering, "Err... to issue aint?"


    "...Cint?"


    Kisuke turned around and started walking away, "Yep. They did beat up my precious student after all, of course, I''m going toin."


    Ais still couldn''t wrap her head around Kisuke''s words as she watched him walking away until he reached his destination thirty meters away from them, where he faced the wall on his left side.


    Kisuke started swinging around the cursed sword in his hand for a few minutes as if he was very bored.


    "...What is he doing?", asked Bete after being healed a bit by an Elixir. He didn''t dare to ask him directly, since he figured that he couldn''t hold a candle against him after that one single exchange between them which immediately disabled him.


    To that question, Ais could only shake her head.


    After a few more minutes, Ais was about to ask him what he was nning to do, but he suddenly uttered to himself, "Finally~! You''re here."


    Immediately, Kisuke swung the cursed sword at the wall a few times before it suddenly copsed into pieces, creating arge hole in it. The wall, which only Gareth was able to break when he used all his might, was instantly torn into pieces with just a few swings of a sword.


    Stepping forward, Kisuke spoke with a jovial tone, "Excuse me~! I''d like to issue aint to those who smell like my student''s blood! And, in fact, a solution for that~!"


    From the hole, Bete and Ais heard the panicked but familiar voice of Valletta, "W-who are you!?"


    "Kisuke Urahara, your everyday shopkeeper~!" A secondter, Bete and Ais saw blood spurting from the hole with a few heads rolling out. They couldn''t even utter a single word before they were decapitated.

 Chapter 642 Getting Permission

    Chapter 642 Getting Permission


    Valletta Grede, a head executive of Evilus and currently a member of the Thanatos Familia, was in a light mood. Although she wasn''t able to kill Finn, her hateful enemy since the time of the old Evilus, and the others escaped using their own monsters against her, she was able to relieve her stress on a left-behind member of the Loki Familia.


    As of now, Valletta was roaming around the Knossos to check the integrity of the doors and walls after the beating it went through from the battle between them and the Loki Familia, when the wall on their right unbelievably copsed and a young man with a big smile and Far Eastern attire went through it, "Excuse me~! I''d like to make aint to those who smell like my student''s blood! And, in fact, a solution for that~!"


    The sight of a strange man suddenly destroying an almost indestructible wall anding in a casual manner, incredibly confused Valletta and her underlings, "W-who are you!?"


    All of a sudden, the strange man suddenly disappeared in front of them while leaving his words, "Kisuke Urahara, your everyday shopkeeper~!"


    Something warm then suddenly touched Valletta''s cheeks. Upon checking it, she was shocked to see that it was blood, ''What...? Whose blood... is... this?'' She finally realized that her underlings didn''t have their heads attached to their necks anymore, "W...what?"


    Feeling a threat from behind her, Valletta immediately turned around while putting her cursed sword across her body before she was uncontroblyunched away by a kick.


    "Gaha!!!" Vallettanded on the wall beyond the hole, cracking its stone exterior. But before she could drop down, a hand grabbed her neck and pinned her against the wall, "Guuhhh!"


    A few secondster, her vision cleared and she saw the strange man, and inescapably stared at his grey eyes full of coldness, "Hiih!!!"


    With a terrified expression, Valletta immediately started pleading while the hand on her neck also started tightening, "P...please spare... me!"


    But the strange man''s smile only grew wider, "No can do~! You yed with my student so I''ll have you disappear."


    The sudden flood of dense killing intent made Valletta frenzied as she suddenly swung her cursed sword towards his neck. But her actions were inadvertently stopped. When she looked at her sword, Valletta saw two fingers pinching it without any effort.


    An attack from a Level 5 like her was effortlessly stopped, "...M-monster...!"


    Those were herst words as Kisuke snapped her neck and threw her lifeless body away.


    After he was done with issuing his ints'', Kisuke returned to where Line was and saw Ais'' dazed expression and Bete''s astonished expression with a hint of fear in it.


    Without any words, Kisuke picked up Line in a princess carry and started walking away. The two others didn''t say anything and just let them walk past them as they disappeared through the darkness of the man-made dungeon.


    "Say... Did you know about his strength?", asked Bete suddenly.


    Ais only nodded at his question but that was more than enough for Bete.


    ''So this is what the old hag meant by not making them our enemy... Even Ottar couldn''t make me that helpless.'', thought Bete as he recalled Riveria''s words that confused him, Finn, and Gareth back then, ''Just what are they?''


    .


    .


    .


    The moment Kisuke and Line appeared on Riveria and other''s sights, they immediately ran towards them nervously. "How is she?", asked Riveria. It was then that she noticed multiple small magic circles ced on Line''s wounds, ''This is?''


    Guessing the question in her head, Kisuke spoke, "She''s healing herself."


    "T-this is Line''s magic?", Riveria doubted her eyes, "But why?"


    "If she can do it by herself, why not let her do it?", answered Kisuke as he walked past them.


    "Where are you bringing her?"


    "To my ce. I need an assistant for a few of my projects.", answered Kisuke without turning around. But before he leftpletely he added, "I''ll be talking to Loki-sama regarding this so you don''t have to worry about it. And by the way, if you don''t ramp up your efforts, she''ll soon surpass you."


    Remembering the magic circles on Line''s body earlier, she thought, ''I know...''


    As Kisuke left, the others from the Loki Familia asked, "Is that fine, Riveria-sama?" Since she didn''t object to Kisuke''s words, they''d remained quiet.


    Riveria then turned back towards the entrance to Knossos as she felt Ais and Bete''s presenceing towards them, "It''s fine. She''ll have a better time in his hands."


    But as soon as she saw Bete''s state and him being assisted by Ais to walk, Riveria asked, "Did he do it?"


    In response, Bete just clicked his tongue and said, "You never told us how ridiculous that guy is."


    "But I did warn you.", sighed Riveria.


    Bete clicked his tongue again while others were substituting Ais in assisting him, "Couldn''t he just clear this ce all by himself?"


    At those words, Riveria frowned deeply, "And then what? Letting him solve our problems for us and render everyone''s efforts in vain? Are we that weak to depend on him?"


    Bete''s eyes widened as he understood Riveria''s words, "Okay, enough... Don''t start lecturing me now. I understand."


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutester, within the Dian Cecht Familia''s clinic, everyone who was wounded was being treated by one of the only few people who could dispel curses, Airmid Teasanare.


    Within five meters of Airmid''s barrier, the wounded Loki Familia members were cramped together to heal their wounds. "How is it?", asked Loki with a concerned expression.


    Airmid didn''t speak for a few moments as she focused on strengthening her magic, "They''re fine. I''ve already removed the curse from their wounds and the usual treatment methods should now work."


    Loki and the others from the Loki Familia who were still awake sighed in relief, "Thank goodness... Now we only have to worry about Line.", said Tiona, who was currently covered in bandages.


    Tione, who was in the same state, replied, "Ais and Bete are already on their way..."


    But Finn, Gareth, and Loki knew that it was probably toote with her facing an opponent like Valletta, but they didn''t say anything to discourage them. ''Unless...'', Loki''s mind wandered to a certain man, ''But knowing him, he wouldn''t make a move even if the whole world was in chaos, unless his group was involved. And to be fair, I''d also do the same.''


    Shaking her head and deciding to leave it to Line''s fortune, Loki looked towards her grievously injured children again and vowed to take revenge on whoever was behind that man-made dungeon. At that time, she noticed Airmid''s troubled expression and asked, "What''s wrong, Airmid-chan?"


    "Ah... No... I''m just wondering about something.", she replied.


    "What is it?", asked Loki curiously.


    After some hesitation, Airmid asked, "Well... Did you use some sort of potion beforeing here?"


    Loki and the others became confused at her question and asked, "What do you mean?"


    Airmid hesitated even more but chose to continue, "I mean, I''m just really amazed. They''ve already lost so much blood when you brought them to me and normally, they would have fallen into shock and died at that point."


    "However, every single one of them managed to survive and it seemed that they even had some spare energy. To bepletely honest, this is a miracle that I haven''t seen before."


    While others looked at each other in confusion, Loki understood what was going on. But before she could exin, someone beat it to her, "Ah, that''s because their vitality is now much stronger since they already can move their Ki. Although they can''t utilize it in battle yet, its effects on overall health and vitality are tremendous, especially to first-time users."


    Everyone hurriedly faced the direction where the voice originated and saw the man who became famous and disappeared a week ago, "Kisuke Urahara!"


    Meanwhile, Loki immediately requested, "Kisuke, just this one time! Please save Line! She''s still in the man-made dungeon!"


    "You don''t have to worry about her, Loki-sama. I already got her and brought her to my ce. I''m actually here to tell you that I''d like to take care of her for a while."

 Chapter 643 One of her many hidden Talents

    Chapter 643 One of her many hidden Talents


    Loki was surprised but immediately sighed in relief before replying, "Is that so? Then you can take her, but only if you promise that you''ll be taking good care of her."


    "That I''ll do.", promised Kisuke, even though he knew full well that Loki''s ''taking care'' was a bit different from his ''taking care''.


    "Well then, that''s all from me. Have a great day everyone~!" Kisuke turned around, intending to leave immediately, when someone suddenly called out to him, "Please wait!"


    Kisuke turned his head and asked, "What is it, miss Doctor?"


    Airmid, with great curiosity, asked Kisuke, "I''m sorry for asking this and taking up your time, but if you don''t mind, could you further exin your words earlier? What is this Ki? And how could it keep them alive?"


    "You can ask everyone from the Loki Familia about its specifics, but basically, it''s an energy simr to Magic Power but naturally resides in everyone. And unlike Magic, everyone, with enough practice, can use it, though some are naturally attuned to it."


    "The beginning stages of Ki practice is strengthening the blood, so even after they''ve lost so much of it from their wounds, the Ki contained within their remaining blood was enough to keep them alive."


    "I see... So that''s why I could keep my consciousness.", Finn, who had been resting in the corner beside Gareth, spoke up.


    "Correct.", replied Kisuke with a smile, "Although you still can''t use it to strengthen your attacks and defenses, your practice was enough to make you harder to kill."


    "I understand. On behalf of the entire Loki Familia, I thank you for imparting this magnificent technique and also for saving our lives. If there''s anything you want, please tell me."


    "There''s nothing for now but if I think of something, I''ll be sure to let you know~." Kisuke then closed the doors of the clinic and left.


    Soon after, Finn faced Airmid and asked, "Airmid-san, what do you think of his words?"


    "I don''t understand it fully, but his words were in line with my observations.", answered Airmid with a nod, "But are you sure that you''re fine with me hearing all of this? It seems to be a very important piece of information."


    "You''re now part of our trusted individuals so it''s fine. Besides, we don''t intend to monopolize this method." Finn then looked towards Loki and said, "In any case, Loki. I''d like you to negotiate with the Guild to reduce the number of our expeditions. If possible at least by half."


    "Oh, leave it to me~!" Loki gave a thumbs up.


    "Thank you." Finn then announced to everyone, "The excursions to the Dungeon will be set to a minimum and everyone is to practice their Ki in that freed up time. As you can see, even with minimal effort, the degree it helped us was already outstanding. So take this seriously, even those who are having a difficult time with it."


    "Yes, Captain!", shouted everyone who was awake in unison.


    "Please keep it down!" Airmid, of course, reprimanded them for the noise they created.


    But Finn only chuckled and continued, but with a repressed voice, "Of course, while we''re at it, we''ll sort this out and take our revenge. We can''t really have them keep running around."


    Everyone from the Loki Familia became determined. They seriously underestimated their opponents and have figured just how dangerous their group was. Before there were more victims, and for their wounded pride, they had to take care of them.


    At this moment, the door suddenly opened up again with Riveria entering the room, "Do you have a spare bed?"


    "I can prepare one. But for who?", responded Airmid immediately.


    Soon after, Bete entered the room while being assisted by others, "For him. He has some broken bones all over his body."


    Finn immediately frowned and asked, "What happened?"


    Ais also followed inside and answered with a deadpan expression, "He was flung around by Kisuke."


    "...Huh?" Everyone was having the same surprised expression as Finn when suddenly, Tiona startedughing out loud, "Fuhahahaha! You probably attacked him out of nowhere, didn''t you!?"


    All the female members were then reminded of Kisuke''s real strength and imagined Tiona''s words with Kisuke having a big grin on his face and ended up stifling theirughs.


    Of course, there was a person who wouldn''t hide her expression. Disying a smug smile, Tione added, "I can imagine it. Kicking or punching him before he grabbed your limb and swung you around, right~? I would really have liked to see that."


    "Shut up, you bitches! You knew about his real strength and decided to hide it!", roared Bete at them, but Airmid started bandaging his mouth first.


    "Tell us what happened.", instructed Finn and Ais narrated what they saw and heard.


    That night, their view regarding Kisuke Urahara would change yet again. Loki, on the other hand, chose to stay quiet and leave after making some excuses when she heard Ais mentioning the ''Reject'' ability.


    ''The ability to ''Reject'' reality? That''s even more ridiculous than that over-the-top sparring!'', thought Loki as a cold night wind blew on her face.


    .


    .


    .


    Late at night, Serafall woke up Hestia and Artemis and said that Kisuke hade out. Right now, both of them were having some hot chocte while covered in a nket within the living room. "Will he reallye?", asked Hestia.


    "Since he came out, I think he''ll at least show his face.", answered Serafall while taking a sip on her hot chocte.


    "It''s too bad that the others aren''t here.", muttered Artemis.


    "They''ve been in the Dungeon for three days now. Are they doing alright?" Hestia couldn''t help but worry. Ever since Kisuke left, it seemed that they suddenly kicked it up a notch and became even crazier with their training. Not to mention, they seemed to be in the area where only Level 4s could thrive.


    "You worry too much, Hestia-sama. They''ll be fine. Aside from that, Medusa-chan is there to take care of them and pull them out in case of an emergency.", appeased Serafall and couldn''t help but pat Hestia''s head.


    "Not to mention they nned to stay there for at least a month.", agreed Artemis and nodded with a wry smile.


    Hestia''s eyes widened as she woke uppletely and recalled their words before they left, "T...That''s right, isn''t it?"


    It was then that Kisuke''s voice resounded from the door, "It seems that all of you are doing fine~!"


    Hearing that, Hestia hurriedly ced down her cup and jumped out of her nket and off the couch before attaching herself to Kisuke like an octopus grabbing its prey, "Kisuke-kun!!! It''s been so long!!!"


    "No. It hasn''t. And I''ve been gone for longer than this.", replied Kisuke as he casually walked over the couch and sat down, ignoring the Goddess attached to him like a kid.


    "Spoil her a bit. There are only very few people currently in the estate, so she has been feeling lonely.", said Artemis.


    Kisuke quickly scanned the entirety of the state using his Reiatsu-Ki and only felt ire and Ophis sleeping. But the moment his energy lightly swept by Ophis, the humanoid Dragon instantly woke up and disappeared from her bed and reappeared on his shoulders. Since hisp was upied, she had no choice but to go to her second favorite spot, "...Wee back."


    "I''m back~ Though I can''t really stay for too long.", greeted Kisuke back while patting Hestia''s head.


    Artemis was ck-jawed when Ophis suddenly appeared, "O-Ophis-chan has this kind of ability?"


    "It''s one of her many hidden talents~!", answered Serafall with a smile.

 Chapter 644 Serafall’s Observation

    Chapter 644 Serafall��s Observation


    Kisuke, Hestia, Artemis, and Serafall went on and talked about random things for half an hour before Kisuke decided to leave. It took some time to peel both Ophis and Hestia off of him, but he had to if he wanted to leave.


    At the gates of the mansion, Kisuke and Serafall stopped walking. "What about the God that I asked you about?", asked Kisuke suddenly.


    "He''s beening in and out of the Red Light District with his Captain these past few days in secret. I don''t know what he''s scheming but it looks like he''s looking for something or someone.", answered Serafall after thinking for a bit, "Do I really need to watch him closely, though? Hermes, that is."


    "Yep, but you only have to watch in secret. Don''t get involved with anything he does."


    "Even if it involves Sona-chan and the others?"


    "That''s right. Of course, you can intervene when they''re in danger, though."


    Serafall sighed, "Well, my sentiments are the same. I want Sona-chan to have as many experiences as possible. Besides, this is actually my first time seeing her work so hard and intensely to achieve something."


    Kisuke became interested with her words, "Eh? Wasn''t she like this since before? The overly serious Student Council President and heiress of the Sitri House?"


    With a smug expression, Serafall answered, "Don''t underestimate my ''CuteLittleSister'' journal observation records!"


    Her smug expression then changed into that of nostalgia, "She''s indeed very hardworking, but that''s only because of her sense of duty that her family gave her. Aside from the time when she tried to break off from the engagements that were proposed to her, this is the only time that she''s doing something of her own ord."


    Serafall then started stretching her arms and continued, "Hnnng...! Ah... Enough of that. Why are you giving him so much attention anyway?"


    Kisuke didn''t mind her suddenly changing the topic and answered, "Because he wants something from me and if his first n fails, he''lle after me. I presume that it''ll only be a matter of time before he starts scheming behind Sona-chan and others."


    "If he''s going to do it, and I think it''ll be when you''re not around, how do you want me to approach it?"


    "It''s enough if you give them a warning before they advance further, depending on what they know."


    "Then what about this Freya? She''s always keeping an eye on us."


    "Don''t mind her too much. Unlike Hermes, I doubt she''ll do anything. She''s just very curious regarding a few things.", Kisuke then turned away and said his goodbyes, "I have to go. Take care."


    Serafall waved her hand at him with a smile and said, "You too. Take care. And by the way, thanks for bringing me to this world."


    Kisuke smiled too and said, "It seems you''re enjoying this world. Don''t mention it and just enjoy your vacation. The future isn''t too kind."


    After leaving those words, Kisuke disappeared and to no one in particr, Serafall muttered, "I know... And I''m actually thanking you because I finally found my way forward. Thinking outside of the box really does wonders~. Though in this case, it''s thinking outside of the world."


    Skipping happily, Serafall returned to the manor to finish the Magical Girl costumes that she had been working on for everyone.


    .


    .


    .


    Several thousand kilometers away from Orario, Yoruichi and Kuroka, who were investigating the middle floors of the Dungeon located under the ocean, suddenly shivered, "...What was that!?"


    "N-no clue, nya..."


    Yoruichi became quiet for a moment to think about the shivers they both felt, ''It was not a dangerous feeling, but is this unpleasant premonition? There''s no message from Kisuke''s side so I wonder what it was?''


    Sighing, Yoruichi continued, "No matter... Let''s continue our search."


    "Alright, nya.", Kuroka nodded, refocusing her attention to the task at hand, "ording to the strange reports, it''s around here that Adventurers have felt something strange. But so far, I haven''t detected anything with my Ki yet."


    "I''m sorry that I had to leave the scanning to you. I can''t recklessly use my Reiatsu-Ki within the Dungeon."


    "Don''t say that, nya! I''m really happy that you can depend on me, nya! And you should do it more often!"


    Yoruichi smiled gently and said, "I guess that''s true. Even Kisuke is trying his best to change himself to depend on others when needed, as we both knew the limitations of doing everything on our own... Anyway, let''s go."


    But after walking for a few minutes, Kuroka suddenly stopped and said with a lowered voice, "Yoruichi-san... Troublesome people ahead."


    Yoruichi frowned and sighed, "Again? Then we can be sure that we''re being tracked by these people."


    "I guess being rouge Adventurers really does attract others'' attention in this ce, nya."


    .


    .


    .


    Two dayster, the whole of Orario came into an uproar once again when Freya suddenly invaded Ishtar''s territory, not just destroying her Familia, but also sending her back to Heaven. A lot of people were wondering what was going on inside Freya''s head and why she would suddenly assault a big Familia.


    Of course, no answer would be given to them as only a few people knew the real reason and no one among them wanted to share anything regarding that incident.


    Without any surprises, the Freya Familia was penalized by the Guild due to their actions, raking up multitudes of fines. But many knew that they only needed Ottar to ughter monsters in the deeper floors for a week or two to gain all of that back.


    The next big event that happened was when the Evilus members started assaulting and assassinating former Ishtar Familia members for some unknown reasons. Even though the scale was small and quiet, it still brought fear to everyone in Orario as Evilus, once again, started their activities which could potentially put them in danger.


    As a result, many citizens petitioned the Guild to sort out the problem with Evilus.


    Although the Guild announced that the Loki Familia had already repelled and apprehended the members that assaulted the former Ishtar Familia members, the fear in their hearts didn''t abatepletely.


    But soon, all of this was drowned out when arge army from Rakia arrived three dayster, attempting another invasion on Orario.


    As troops from Rakia initiated their siege, Adventurers immediately intercepted them with the Loki Familia in the lead. And within just a few hours, the Rakian troops were all downed to the ground, exhausted but not injured heavily.


    Since most of the soldiers from Rakia were just normal people and were just forced to participate in this meaningless war by their idiotic God of War, Ares, they stood no chance against the people of Orario who defiedmon conceptions. As this was the case, the Guild prohibited any killing and would shoulder all the cost of the defense.


    Of course, the Guild would not willingly shoulder the cost if they couldn''t get anything out of the Rakian soldiers. Instead of a threat, the citizens of Orario treated them as tourists from far away which bolstered the city''s economy.


    When Serafall saw Ares and how he acted, she immediately thought with a twitching mouth, ''Compared to the Ares that Kisuke fought, he''s pretty pathetic...''


    Beside her were ire and Ophis with food in each of their hands while watching the ongoing noise.


    But with keen eyes, one could tell that the Adventurers, especially male ones, were avoiding them like gue. Not because of the recruitment incident, but because of the ck-haired little girl.

 Chapter 645 Mascots

    Chapter 645 Mascots


    A few days before the Rakian invasion, after the night of Evilus'' mass assault, Serafall had to go and follow Sona''s group into the Dungeon, because her little sister had contacted her about Medusa not feeling very well for some unknown reasons.


    Serafall immediately sent this issue to Kisuke and he asked her to go get him some Mana samples from Medusa. Kisuke also asked Serafall to tell Aika to extract a small amount of Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) from Medusa if possible.


    As such, Serafall left the manor that day, leaving the others to their own devices. Since Hestia and Artemis were around, she didn''t have to worry about ire and Ophis, even if they were to go around the town.


    Hence the fate of some unsavory Adventurers was sealed that day.


    After lunchtime, ire and Ophis wanted to go out and look around the city and asked Hestia and Artemis to permit them. Hestia and Artemis didn''t think very hard about it and decided to apany them to the market area.


    They immediately went towards the part that they hadn''t explored yet, while getting some snacks on the way from the stall keepers. As it wasn''t their first time arriving here, most of the stall keepers knew about the little girls, especially the ck-haired one due to her many quirks.


    The first time they went here, Ophis immediately garnered everyone''s recognition because of her seemingly endless appetite and her rude way of calling anyone ording to their physical features. Although it immediately put off everyone who came across her, upon further inspection, her bad name-calling didn''t include any hostile feelings. In fact, they all felt that it was just the stoic girl''s way of remembering a person.


    Besides, even with her apparent expressionlessness, whenever she was given food, she would enjoy it to the fullest, which made these stall keepers happy and they would always give her their merchandise at a discounted price.


    In addition to that, ire, a little girl with grey hair and eyes, who was arge contrast to Ophis, captured the hearts of many due to her development.


    When she first arrived on these streets with Serafall and Ophis, she was very afraid of strangers. But as ofte, she became a jolly kid that was very polite and kind to everyone. Her ''development'' felt like they just watched their kid growing up and oveing her fears.


    As such, these two unofficially became the mascots of the food street.


    Of course, they still had questions regarding Ophis''s endless appetite and were worried that they were feeding her too much. To ease their worries, Hestia ''revealed'' without thinking that Ophis had a rare skill that lets her eat all the food she could ever want.


    Although it indeed eased the worries of the stall keepers, it inadvertently attracted some pesky Gods, wanting to know about this ''rare skill''. But since Ophis wasn''t an Adventurer, nor was this skill very useful in battle aside from wasting food, it didn''t gain much traction. However, Hestia still regretted the fact that she''d run her mouth in the heat of the moment.


    A man with a big mustache called out to them, "Hey, little missies~! You''re here today too! Come and take some of my fried chicken skewers!"


    Immediately after, a blonde woman also called for their attention from the opposite side, "Considering the time, they just had lunch, didn''t they? Take my sweetened fruits! I''ll give yourge servings!"


    For Ophis, however, there weren''t any choices to be made here, and she pulled out her small ck purse, "...I shall take it, Mustache Man, t Blonde."


    The man with a mustacheughed out loud while the blonde woman took some mental damage.


    Soon after, more stall keepers started calling out to them while Hestia and Artemis watched from behind with gentle smiles. Scenes like these were more to their taste rather than exciting Adventures.


    Not long after that, Gods started bothering Hestia and Artemis again. But after that minute timeframe of shooing away the pesky Gods, Hestia and Artemis asked each other at the same time, " "Where are they?" "


    Both of their eyes widened and they hurriedly looked around, " "Where are they!?" "


    They severely underestimated Ophis'' superpower to get lost.


    Immediately, Hestia and Artemis started asking around for their whereabouts, but each time, they would be pointed towards a random direction, showing how erratic and fast the little girls'' movements were.


    Meanwhile, Ophis was dragging ire around through the various stalls. Sometimes, she would take some random alleys, which made locating them even more difficult. After getting full, ire suggested that they rest and finally realized that Hestia and Artemis were not with them anymore when they returned to the first area, "Hestia-neechan and Artemis-neechan are not here... Are we lost?"


    The man with a big mustache saw them and called out to them, "Hey little missies! There you are! The Goddess-samas are looking for you everywhere."


    Ophis also realized the situation they were in, but she came up with a different conclusion, "...They are lost?"


    The man with a mustache and ire looked at her with a speechless expression but the former justughed out loud and said, "AHAHA, isn''t that right? They are lost, aren''t they? But I think you should wait here until they find their way back."


    The man then brought out two chairs and ced them on a shaded area, "Come sit here while you wait."


    The mustached man asked some of his friends and acquaintances to inform Hestia and Artemis of the current location of the little girls while he kept them from wandering off and time went on peacefully until some Adventurers, who were in a very bad mood, arrived.


    There were a total of four Adventurers that came. One greatsword user, two knife users, and a mage. Of course, it was not unusual for Adventurers toe here at all, but the four of them all had bad reputations, especially the bulky man leading them who was a Level 2 and the greatsword user.


    Once the stall owners saw them, they all became quiet and the people around them also started leaving. If it was the normal them, they wouldn''t be so scared, but clearly, these people just met some misfortune within the Dungeon and were seething with anger.


    And indeed, this group had spectacrly failed on their exploration, losing all of their supplies, magic stones, and some equipment. Though they were lucky to be able to get out alive, they didn''t care about that and just thought about the debt they''d be put in.


    With nowhere else to go, the group decided to go to the free market area to get some ''free'' food and maybe, release some of their anger. And without much searching, they immediately found a target for their unreasonable harassment.


    Approaching the blonde woman who sold sweetened fruits, the leader of the group pointed at the cup containing her merchandise, "Give me that one."


    Slightly shaking from fear, the woman gave it to the man while saying its price, "I-it''s 50 Valis."


    But the man didn''t say anything and grabbed the wooden cup before bringing its contents to his mouth. After eating some of it, however, he spat it out and threw the cup towards the woman, hitting her stomach, "Gahh!"


    Not minding that she fell to the ground and started tearing up, he yelled at her while kicking over a crate of apple-like fruits beside her, "What the f*ck is this!? It tastes like shit! How are you going topensate me!?"

 Chapter 646 Wasting Food is Bad

    Chapter 646 Wasting Food is Bad


    With the woman getting hurt, she could only softly cry on the ground. The others tried to help her, but the man''spanions blocked them. As for the other Adventurers, there was no group stronger than them and they chose to stay clear from trouble. Besides, there were only very few Adventurers around as most of them were busy making a living inside the Dungeon at this hour.


    Some people had already ran towards the Guild and the Ganesha Familia to ask for help. They already knew that these Adventurers would stop what they were doing before they arrived with help and would escape the scene, denying everything they did. But what they really wanted was for help to arrive for the blonde woman.


    However, before then, they could only watch in frustration.


    At that moment, Ophis suddenly stood up from her seat and ire guessed what was going to happen so she started preparing herself too.


    "H-hey! Missy! Where are you going!?" The man with the mustache tried to stop her, but he was already toote as he''d only noticed that Ophis had left her seat when she had already arrived at the side of the bulky Adventurer.


    Ignoring the cries of the stall keepers, Ophis tugged on the shirt of the Adventurer, attracting his attention, "Haah!?"


    Of course, Ophis wasn''t scared of his threatening face or voice, "...Why did you waste food?" She asked him with a deadpan expression on her face while staring straight into his eyes.


    "Get off, you damned brat!" The Adventurer replied with an even more threatening face.


    But Ophis didn''t flinch and said, "...You shouldn''t waste food."


    The Adventurer, however, lost his patience and turned back to the crying blonde woman and intended to get ahold of her merchandise before leaving. But as he did, he swiped his hand towards Ophis with considerable force that would have sent any normal person flying away.


    Yet the moment his hand made contact with Ophis'' cheek, the bones in his hand made an audible crack, sending signals of extreme pain throughout the Adventurer''s nerves and making him scream while hurriedly taking back his hand, "AHHH!!!" It felt like he''d hit a block of iron.


    Without minding the bulky Adventurer, Ophis raised her free hand and made a grabbing gesture. Suddenly the wooden cup that the Adventurer had thrown made its way towards her hand and its contents soon followed, but it was obviously already contaminated with grime and dirt.


    Ophis suddenly pulled him down with the hand that was grabbing the Adventurer''s shirt, forcing him to kneel down in front of her before repeating her words, "...You shouldn''t waste food."


    With considerable force, Ophis pummeled the cup straight through the man''s mouth, destroying his teeth on the way and cing it securely inside. At this point, the man had already lost his consciousness from the amount of trauma his head had just received, and with a bloodied and devastated mouth, Ophis released him while being satisfied.


    At that moment, Ophis suddenly recalled Aika''s words, ''If you don''t like someone and it''s a man, then just kick him in his groin.''


    With that in mind, Ophis looked at the downed Adventurer and did a mental checklist. He was a man and she didn''t like him, "...Humu." Since he was meeting the criteria, Ophis walked towards the man''s groin and gave it a kick without thinking. Even with as much as she held back, the man still flew away for several tens of meters before hitting a stack of boxes. Now the unconscious man was frothing blood.


    Letting out a puff of air, Ophis didn''t know what to do next after ''properly'' feeding the man the food which he wasted beforehand. In fact, it was just her usual spontaneous actions without thinking of the consequences.


    Even then, she still remembered Kisuke''s words of her not being allowed to use her powers unless the situation was at the Heavenly Dragon level, but they came with exceptions, of course. Ophis was still allowed to use her physical strength, albeit, while holding back, if she didn''t like something.


    Kisuke thought of setting the condition of ''when there''s a threat but he didn''t trust Ophis'' sense of crisis and just decided to go with the things she didn''t like. At least, it wasn''t easy for her to dislike something.


    In addition to those, Kisuke also told her about what would appear strange to others, like her not taking any damage after any weapons hit her and that she should avoid those at all costs to remain ''normal''


    So when she felt the iing knives to her side, Ophis caught an arm in each of her hands. But since she was still not well versed in the art of ''holding back'', the moment she gripped them, she instantly squeezed their muscles and broke the bones of her assants.


    The two otherpanions of the now unconscious Adventurer tried to assault Ophis secretly after shuddering from her threat and were now squirming and shrieking in pain as they tried to peel off Ophis'' monstrous grip, "AHHHHHH!!!!"


    While thinking about what to do next, a ball of fire suddenly flew over and hit Ophis squarely in the face, "Yes!" Thest member of their group cheered when he saw that. But immediately after, his face contorted and he yelled in fear, "H-how!?"


    The fire went out and Ophis was still in her thinking expression, unfazed. Since it was not a ''weapon'', it flew under Ophis'' radar and she didn''t block it. If there was someone to me, it would be Kisuke who didn''t make it clear. "W-what are you!?", yelled the panicking mage.


    Ophis didn''t pay him any attention and continued on her contemtion while the owners of the arms she grabbed were already pale blue from the pain.


    Since he had to help hisrades getting away from this demonic little girl and she apparently wasn''t giving him any time of the day, the mage decided to keep casting the only magic he knew, Fire Shot, an ''instant'' cast magic that didn''t have much firepower.


    Every two seconds, a small ball of fire would fly out towards Ophis, but no matter how many times he casted his spell, it seemed that the little girl failed to notice its existence. This led him to falling into panic and made his concentration slip off. As a result, one of his fireballs flew past Ophis and towards the hurt blonde woman.


    "Jenna!!!", shouted the man with a mustache.


    The blonde woman, Jenna, saw the fireball and screamed in fright while closing her eyes and covering her head. But before the spell hit her, it miraculously fizzled out of existence. "W-what? What happened?", asked the caster with great confusion.


    From afar, ire''s grey eyes were shining ever so slightly, but no one was able to take note of this. "Phis-chan! Just throw them towards him!", suggested ire suddenly as she pointed towards the mage who was materializing his next magic.


    Without any hesitation and with a force that almost ripped the Adventurers'' arms off, Ophis threw them towards the casting mage like ire had said to. As their bodies whipped through the air violently, the sh of flesh ended up pushing them away for several tens of meters, crashing into various debris and items on the way.


    All of those who were watching had their mouths wide open in shock and a conservative estimate of the condition of the unsavory Adventurer was at the very least numerous broken bones. At worst, they may not be able to move for the rest of their life.


    Although still not so sure of what she should do next, Ophis decided to return to her seat and continue to wait for the ''lost'' Goddesses as if nothing had happened.


    Everyone in the vicinity could only watch in silence as the little girl walked back quietly when a blue-haired Goddess suddenly snatched her off her feet and carried her away. On second nce, it was Artemis and beside her was Hestia, who was surprisingly already carrying ire on her back.


    After an unknown amount of time, the first one to get hold of himself was the mustached man, Joseph, as he immediately ran towards Jenna, "Hey! Jenna! Are you okay!?"


    Jenna also woke up from shock and answered hurriedly, "Y-yes! It still hurts, but I''m already fine!... But what was that?"


    Joseph became quiet.


    Soon after, the other stall keepers also started approaching them. Since their customers and the other Adventurers already fled long ago, it was only them right here, "J-Joseph! What should we do? And to those guys!"


    Joseph closed his eyes in contemtion and recalled the distressed expressions of the Goddesses who picked them up and remembered the little girls'' interactions with everyone in the free market.


    He then opened his eyes and smiled widely, "The little missies had already left long ago and it was some random strong Adventurer who had done these idiots in!"


    Everyone was shocked at his statement but soon after, they all looked at each other and a smile crept up their faces, "Ah, right! I was so shocked that an Adventurer of his caliber would suddenly show up and beat these lowlifes half to death.", said one of them.


    "But we couldn''t identify him because of the hood he was wearing, but it looked like he was packing some muscles under his clothing.", added another one.


    Soon enough, the story about a mysterious strong Adventurer was brought to life and started spreading among the stall keepers.


    Not long after, Guild officials arrived along with some people from the Ganesha Familia and they immediately saw the gruesome scene, "Someone please exin what happened!"

 Chapter 647 A Girl with a Screw Lose in the Making

    Chapter 647 A Girl with a Screw Lose in the Making


    Returning back to the present, Serafall apanied Ophis and ire to watch the bloodless war between Orario and Rakia. And although the stall keepers within the free market got together and decided to cover for the little girls, there were still a few Adventurers and other people who had witnessed Ophis'' actions, thus a legend after a strange rumor was born.


    Thanks to the stall keepers, however, no one could actually confirm this rumor and those few who saw it couldn''t believe it themselves.


    After losing interest in it, Serafall decided to take Ophis and ire back to the mansion and to make sure that Ophis wouldn''t slip out from under her radar, to avoid another ''tragedy''.


    On the way back, she could hear some Adventurers talking about the strangeness between the Loki and Freya Familias, as both of them hardly ever went out anymore from their respective homes and they didn''t seem to be taking any missions from the Guild.


    Although the Freya Familia already did this, it was even rarer to see a Freya Familia member on the streets or in the Dungeon these days.


    These strange actions of the top two Familias worried a lot of people as they thought that they would be in a war soon, even if the Guild reassured them that it was highly unlikely. It didn''t help that intense training could be heard from their respective training grounds that would go on for days, which was also highly unlikely.


    .


    .


    .


    A month has already passed since Kisuke had saved Line within the Knossos and currently, Line was buried within a mountain of books, trying to understand each and every one of them. Thanks to the magic sses that Kisuke had created, it would take Line only a few minutes to go through a book and memorize it.


    However, understanding its contents was another story, as it still depended on the reader''sprehension.


    The topic within these books mainly focused on Magic, Ki, Anatomy, Biology, basic subjects on the Soul, and basic Sciences and Maths. Although she couldn''t understand most of it, the topics were of her interests and that resulted in her going through more than a thousand books multiple times in an attempt tomit it to her subconscious so that she could easily pull out information from it whenever needed.


    Of course, this wouldn''t be possible with just Kisuke''s magical sses which could let college students go through their entire course materials in just a day. It was also thanks to his ''candies'' which replenished her energy and refreshed her mind that it was possible for her to go through the whole day with just an hour of sleep.


    Naturally, reading books, studying and practicing magic wasn''t the entirety of Line''s activities as she was also there to clean up Kisuke''s messes and to remind him of the time while also helping him with some random clerical jobs that Kisuke couldn''t be bothered to do.


    But slowly, due to both of them having no downtime, Kisuke''s lousy habit of forgetting his surroundings started to rub off on Line, and thetter didn''t even notice it as she really enjoyed and was addicted to learning nonstop with a clear head thanks to the variety of knowledge not known to this world, especially Anatomy and Biology. Line was actually a little afraid of how the authors of these books were able to get such detailed information about the body and other living beings.


    With an rm going off, Line immediately got off her chair, ''It''s time to cook lunch.''


    After half an hour, Line had finished cooking and took it straight towards Kisuke''sb. Knocking on the door, Line said, "Lunch is ready!"


    From the inside, Kisuke''s voice could be heard, "Oh. So it''s that time of the day. Come in~."


    "Excuse me.", she said and after opening the door, the first thing that met Line''s sight was a mountain of crumpled and torn-up papers strung across therge room. Line came into this room multiple times a day, but it was always like this whenever she came in.


    After cing the food beside Kisuke, who was drawing some sort of diagram, Line started cleaning up.


    Setting aside what he was doing right now, Kisuke opened the cover of his food and saw a simple but warm and filling lunch. Even though he didn''t need it, Kisuke very much appreciated Line''s efforts, as this was one way to keep his mind connected to reality and to not lose himself in his search for the answers he sought, "Thanks as always~."


    "Please stop saying that. It''s me who should be thankful.", replied Line as she carefully picked up fully crumpled or torn apart papers while not touching papers that were only slightly damaged, "You saved me that day so this is the least I can do... Uhm... Why do we keep repeating this conversation?"


    After swallowing a mouthful of food, Kisuke replied, "You''re the one who keeps repeating it. I''m just thanking you for the food and work you''re doing, which is something everyone should do, regardless of whether or not you are doing it for free or for something else. You''re neither my ve nor my servant."


    "Ugh...", Line froze for a moment, "But I''m your student."


    "That''s different."


    "Uhmm... Should I call you Teacher or Master?"


    "...Please don''t."


    By the time Kisuke finished eating, Line was also done cleaning up, "I''ll also leave the documents here to you."


    "Sort it out into three separate parts and encode it in the terminal, right?" Line then took a peek at the documents she had to work on and noticed a few things, "But I still don''t know how to put these drawings in."


    "Just focus on the data for now. I''ll teach you how to do itter.", answered Kisuke before he walked towards the center of the room, where arge white tank stood, and started manipting the terminal on it.


    The first time Line saw these pieces of equipment, she was in awe and thought that she was in an entirely different world. But she soon got used to it and learned how to use the so-called Personal Computer or Workstation with the help of Kisuke, though she could only do very limited things.


    Within the room, all sorts of unknown machines were producing various lights aside from therge tank. Line wanted to ask what those things did, but decided against it. And even after studying all the things from the books, she could only understand a small part of the documents she worked on and it was about Anatomy.


    After doing her work, Line cleaned up the table before picking up the utensils that Kisuke used before leaving through the door, "Kisuke-san! I''ll be leaving."


    "You''ll be practicing magic after this, isn''t it?"


    "Yes. I''ll be practicing barrier-type magic for today.", replied Line.


    "I''ll have some free timeter so I''ll help you out."


    Line''s eyes widened in excitement, "Really!? Thank you very much! I''ll look forward to it!"


    In response, Kisuke just waved his hand.


    After thanking him again, Linepletely left the room with light steps. She was happy because every time Kisuke helped her out, her progress would shoot forward. She wanted him to teach her more so that she could be more useful to him, but Line was already satisfied with Kisuke''s short and asional tutoring.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, could spare more time to teach Line magic, but he thought that it''d be better for someone like her to learn on her own first and just guide her enough so that she wouldn''t fall into bad habits of magic control that could hinder her progress.


    And after a few sessions, Kisuke knew that his decision was correct as Line would always think on her own and innovate depending on her observations. In fact, her progress was far beyond Kisuke''s expectations, especially on the topic of healing magic.


    Of course, it wasn''t just about Line''s talent, but also Kisuke''s stance of leaving her to her own devices that most teachers wouldn''t even consider, as it might identally kill their students.


    Since Kisuke was letting her learn magic on her own, Line would also experiment with it and most of the time, the result was her magic running amok and exploding, injuring herself. Despite knowing the result would end up like that, Kisuke didn''t give her a single warning.


    As Kisuke wouldn''t even heal her, Line had to do it herself which resulted in her acquiring more proficiency. And sometimes, if she was feeling adventurous, she would experiment with her healing magic, resulting in more idents. But thanks to those experiences, Line could learn a lot more rather than just following what the book said.


    If Serafall could see this, she''d immediately stop this as Line was inheriting the worst habits of a magic-user. Instead of a magic-user, this was the habit of a researcher, which was incredibly dangerous if applied to magic learning.


    Hence, their daily lives within this isted space continued in peace.

 Chapter 648 A Contact From Afar

    Chapter 648 A Contact From Afar


    More than a month and a half ever since Kisuke started his grind, he and Line finally emerged from the underground hideout.


    Stretching his arms out, Kisuke uttered, "Finally! Some fresh air!"


    Meanwhile, Line was still lost in her thoughts, "More than a month has already passed? But it felt so short... Even though I''m awake 23 hours a day."


    Kisuke then patted her back, "Stop thinking about it. You''ll still be continuing this kind of lifestyle, won''t you?"


    "But you only gave me a month worth of those refreshing ''candies''."


    "It isn''t good to rely on those in the long run. However, if you have enough magic control, you can try ''refreshing'' yourself with magic. It''s a lot safer than depending on external factors. That''s what I''m using and I technically only need sleep once every few months. Besides, you have to keep the normal rhythm of your life so even if you can do it, you have to refrain from it unless you''re in a rush or something."


    Line''s eyes widened in realization and she said, "I see... I understand. I''ll remember your words."


    Kisuke smiled and added, "That''s good enough. By the way, what''re you going to do next?"


    Line smiled widely and replied, "I''d like to go back for now!"


    "Is that so? Then send my regards to Loki-sama and the others."


    "I will! Thank you very much for all the things you''ve done. I''ll be sure to return this favor someday."


    "Don''t mention it. If you want to do anything else, then take the healer position within Sona-chan''s party. That''s the reason I gave you extensive knowledge about healing and that would be enough."


    "I''ll be sure to let Loki-sama permit it!" Line then bowed down before Kisuke before turning around and running away.


    While watching her back, Kisuke suddenly recalled something and yelled, "Another thing! Don''t let that High Elf boss you around! Aside from Magic Power and experience, you''re better than her!"


    Line stopped momentarily and turned around, chuckling at Kisuke''s ''joke'' and took it as a motivation, "Eh? That can''t be. Riveria-sama is the greatest Mage in Orario, after all."


    As Line resumed leaving, Kisuke could only smile wryly and muttered, "I wonder what face that overly serious Elf would make? Too bad, I have to go home now."


    Making a detour through the free market, Kisuke got some snacks on the way to munch on. There were some Adventurers and people who were pointing at him andmenting on his reappearance, but he ignored all of them. In any case, none of them seemed to have the courage to approach him.


    ''But what''s this ''Caretaker of Devils''?'' he asked internally after a few of them mentioned it, ''Looks like some fun things happened after I left,'' he concluded and went on his way towards the Hearth Manor.


    However, before he could arrive at his destination, Kisuke received a call from Yoruichi and immediately turned into an empty alleyway before answering, "Yo~! Yoruichi-chan~! How are you and Kuroka?"


    From the magic circle that appeared beside his right ear, Yoruichi''s voice could be heard, "From the sound of your voice, you''re finally out?"


    Kisuke chuckled and replied, "You know me so well~ I was able to finish Medusa''s body, but I wasn''t able to do much for the other objectives. The information is too little and the opponent is too strong for a direct confrontation."


    Kisuke''s eyes then became sharp, "But since you''re calling me, you''ve got some discoveries?"


    "Yes. Although it took us a very long time to locate a certain spot and while we weren''t able to detect anything out of ordinary from it, Byakou reacted. I think that warrants our attention and further investigation."


    "It''s your lovely feline friend that brought us into this situation, so it must be something. Have you heard anything from him?"


    "None. And I think this is already weird. There must be some uses that prevented Byakou from saying anything regarding this world when he agreed on a contract with this ''Chaos''."


    "That''s a good point and may likely be the case. Alright. After I give Medusa her body, I''ll be going there."


    "Got it. I''ll prepare the end node of the teleportation magic. And by the way, Kuroka and I have been very frustrated this past month due to some ''problems''. Get ready to take some of that ''heat'' off~"


    "Ehem. I''ll be sure to prepare."


    "Alright. We''ll be expecting you soon," Yoruichi then hung up the phone. Kisuke also thought that he wanted to lose some ''heat'' as he exited the empty alleyway, so he became a bit excited, thinking about what kind of ''toys'' he should bring.


    However, the moment he got near their home, Kisuke immediately noticed prying eyes from the shadows watching the manor, ''A dead person? Interesting.''


    For now, Kisuke ignored it and went inside the Manor, arriving where everyone seems to have gathered, "I''m home~!"


    The first one to greet him was his ever so short Goddess as sheunched herself towards him, gripping him like a rope with her arms, "Kisuke-kun! Wee home~!"


    Patting her head, Kisuke replied, "I''m home, Hestia-sama."


    "Wee home~!" Aika soon followed and then the rest except for Sona, Ophis and ire.


    Upon closer inspection, a hooded figure could be seen behind Sona, hiding in fear.


    Of course, Kisuke already took note of this presence but didn''t say anything until now, "Good afternoon to you, guest from the Dungeon~ Please be at ease. No one''s going to hurt you here."


    "Hiih!" A small voice came from the hooded figure and made her body smaller behind Sona after Kisuke addressed her.


    "Don''t scare her, will you?" Sona red at Kisuke. She also noted that Kisuke seems to be already aware of the true nature of their guest.


    "Ahaha, sorry about that, but I would like to hear her story~"


    Everyone sat down but the hooded figure never left Sona''s side. Ophis and ire on the other hand were also very curious about her, especially the former, sitting beside her, and poking her asionally.


    But before she spoke, Sona first removed the hood of their guest, revealing a little girl with amber eyes and long silver-blue hair with some scales on her face. She also has a red stone in the center of her forehead in addition to her bluish-white skin pigment, signifying that she isn''t a human.


    "A Vouivre, huh," muttered Kisuke as it confirmed one of his suspicions regarding the Dungeon.


    "Yes. We came across her when we were returning to the surface," replied Sona. She then started to tell Kisuke what happened when they were returning from the depths of the Dungeon.

 Chapter 649 Tanis

    Chapter 649 Tanis


    On their way home, on the 19th floor, it was Koneko who noticed it first. With her ears suddenly perking up and tails swaying, she muttered, "...Someone ahead... a monster?"


    Sona, Aika, and Medusa immediately caught the strangeness in Koneko''s words and tone, "Let''s go check it out," Sonamanded.


    But after a few seconds, Koneko suddenly said with urgency, "Not good... It''s being attacked by a Firebird."


    Immediately, Sona gave out instructions, "Aika, Koneko, go ahead first and secure the area."


    In an instant, Aika and Koneko disappeared from their spots and reappeared ten meters away before disappearing again out of sight.


    The moment Aika and Koneko arrived at the scene, the Firebird was just about to peck a strange little girl to death with its beak. But with her long reach, Aika was able to decapitate the monster, turning it into ash and leaving a magic stone.


    With the monster out of the way, Aika and Koneko first searched the surroundings and noted several monsters and Adventurers in the area but none of them seemed to being over to this spot as of now.


    Finally, they were able to take a closer look at the strange naked little girl.


    "A Vouivre, isn''t it?" Aikamented.


    "But she doesn''t have a tail nor wings," Koneko added.


    The two of them then became quiet and stared at the injured and crying monster with obvious fear within her eyes, "Koneko-chan... For starters, lend her your robe. You might already know this, but although she looks like a monster, she isn''t one," Aika uttered.


    Koneko nodded and took her robe before cing it over her while Aika took out some potions from her pouch, intending to use it on the ''monster''s'' injuries.


    At that point, Sona and the rest arrived. As they heard the situation from Aika and Koneko a group of Adventurers suddenly turned in their direction towards them and hurriedly closed their distance, "Save the potion forter and cover her up tightly," Sona directed.


    Soon enough, they heard the aforementioned Adventurers shouting at each other, "Where did it go!? That Vouivre!"


    At their voices, the strange little girl visibly flinched and made her body look smaller.


    Not long after, the Adventurers arrived at their spot and started questioning them rudely, "Did you lot see a Vouivre around here?"


    Sona, while fixing her sses, answered unceremoniously, "If we did, we would have hunted it ourselves. Such a rare monster, why did you think we would let it go?"


    The bald leader immediately snapped at her and yelled, "That''s our prey!!!"


    On the other hand, Sona remained calm and collected, "Then you should hurry along. We''re not the only ones with such sentiment within the Dungeon."


    Clicking his tongue, the leader turned in another direction while saying, "Let''s go!"


    The bald Adventurer wanted to attack them, but securing the Vouivre is at the top of their priorities so he left quietly after taking note of their identities.


    After they left, Sona approached the little girl. Crouching down, Sona reached out to her hood but momentarily stopped when she flinched at her arms again. Continuing her action, Sona unraveled her face. Staring at her most prominent feature, which is the red gem on her forehead, for a moment, Sona proceeded to look straight into her terror-filled watery eyes.


    Seeing her eyes clear from any madness that took over the usual monsters and intelligence and will that wasn''t present in any of them, Sona smiled gently as she offered her hand, "Do you want toe with us? We''ll keep you safe."


    As far as they''re concerned, this little girl was a person, just with an unusual form.


    Hesitation then filled the girl''s eyes, but with a moment of courage, she took Sona''s hand.


    After helping her stand up, Sona continued, "Good. Let''s go home. And by the way, my name is Sona."


    "...Sona..." The little girl suddenly repeated her words which shocked all of them.


    "I see. So you can speak. Yes, I''m Sona."


    .


    .


    .


    "And that''s how we met our little friend here," Sona finished her story.


    Kisuke then faced the little girl who''s hugging Sona''s arm and said, "My~ Isn''t that wonderful~! Mind telling us your name, little miss?"


    The little girl hid further behind Sona''s back while Ophis was still poking her side, "Sona..."


    Sona chuckled and patted her head, "That''s my name."


    "As expected... She doesn''t have a name, huh." Hestia muttered as she curiously looked around her. Even for Deities like her and Artemis, this is the first time they''d ever heard of a talking monster.


    All of a sudden, Ophis suddenly spoke, "Tanis."


    Everyone looked at her with confusion, but Ophis didn''t mind their stares and added, "...You shall be known as Tanis."


    The little girl looked at her and tilted her head while repeating, "Ta...nis?"


    "Umu..." Ophis nodded her head and reiterated, "You shall be named Tanis."


    "My own... name? Tanis?" The little girl first stared at Ophis for a few seconds before smiling happily, "Tanis!"


    Everyone smiled at this exchange and decided to go with Ophis''s name. Unexpectedly, however, a ck magic circle, bearing the symbol of infinity and brimming with unknown power, suddenly emerged in front of Tanis before shrinking and melding into the red gem on her forehead.


    From Kisuke''s perspective, the moment this transpired, the indistinct connection between and the Dungeon Tanis was suddenly cut off, followed by an earthquake.


    "W-What''s happening!?" Hestia immediately grabbed onto something to maintain her bnce, but this didn''t alleviate her concerns.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke continued watching with great interest as Ophis let out a satisfied grunt and Tanis went through some small changes. The blue scales around her body became pitch ck and the red gem on her forehead turned bright purple with an additional design as if a constetion of stars was trapped within it.


    ''By epting the name granted by the Dragon God, this little Dragon girl has irreversibly severed her connection from her origin and changed her fate forever... Tanis... meaning ''serpentdy''. It seems like Ophis wanted to train and watch this Dragon grow... A Dragon of a different world,'' Kisuke thought with an amused expression.


    Although he understood what had just happened, he has no intention of telling it to everyone. After all, this will be one of their challenges, ''But it looks like I have to give new reminders to Ophis since she''ll probably want to get involved one way or another if another incident were to ur.''


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutes before the earthquake, Ouranos on his pedestal was facing his right-hand man, Fels.


    "A monster endowed with intelligence has made contact with a group of Adventurers, and has left Babel, " Fels reported while looking through his surveince orb.


    "And who are these Adventurers, Fels?" Asked Ouranos.


    "The Hestia and Artemis Familia," answered Fels before adding, "For better or for worse, both of these Familias has gained too much attention in town with all sorts of strange rumors circting around."


    Ouranos didn''t say anything in return for a few seconds before closing his eyes and muttering, "I want to determine whether they''ll be their hope or not."


    Fels wanted to say something when the ground started shaking, "T-this is!?"


    Ouranos was also shocked and focused his attention and power on the Dungeon, "My prayers haven''t been broken... But what''s this? The Dungeon is remorseful... but also d?"

 Chapter 650 A Gift to Medusa

    Chapter 650 A Gift to Medusa


    The earthquake soon stopped, but it was soon followed by roars of the monsters from the Dungeon which was heard even on the surface. Due to this sudden urrence, the Guild immediately issued an emergency response that evacuated all normal people from the vicinity of the Tower of Babel.


    The Adventurers within the Dungeon also came rushing out due to this strange event and although none of them were attacked or came across a monster party, the Guild still called out to the Loki, Freya and Ganesha Familias to surround and scout the Dungeon.


    "This is really strange... It''s not that long ago when the monsters started rampaging and now it''s happening again? Did the Dungeon go through some unknown changes?" Shakti asked herself while running with her response team.


    On the way, she saw Allen Fromel and the Gulliver Brothers rushing through the crowd on her right side while Bete Loga, Ais Wallenstein, Tiona, and Tione Hiryute came rushing in from her left side as all of them arrived at the entrance of the Dungeon.


    But as soon as they arrived, the cry of the monsters stopped and everything went quiet inside of the Dungeon. With these three Familias in the lead, they would investigate and guard the Dungeon for a whole day without discovering anything.


    On the Hearth Manor''s side, the moment the monster''s cry stopped, the girls looked around, only to discover the changes in the little Dragon girl now called Tanis, with Ophis making a satisfied face while Kisuke was smirking while looking at them.


    "W-what just happened?" asked Irina.


    Kisuke stood up and said, "Nothing major~ Just Ophis-chan making a new friend~"


    "If the Dungeon shakes every time someone makes a friend, then the world would end!" Hestia retorted.


    But Kisuke just shook her off and said, "Well, no matter. It''ll be up to you what to do with her since I''ll be leaving again soon."


    With a deep frown, Hestia asked, "Where are you going this time and what are you going to do?"


    "There are some developments on Yoruichi and Kuroka''s side so they asked me toe."


    "Can''t take it easy, huh," Artemismented with a wry smile.


    "There''s just that much that needs to be done. Though after this, let''s hang out again and y somewhere~"


    "Then that''s a promise!" Hestia smiled widely.


    Koneko suddenly appeared at his side before tugging his shirt and asking, "Kisuke-senpai. Are you going to leave right away?"


    Patting her head, Kisuke answered, "Not right away. I still have to check on Medusa''s condition so I''ll stay for dinner."


    "Then I''ll prepare the dinner for tonight," Akeno proposed.


    "I''ll help you out~!" Irina added.


    Grabbing ire, Ophis and Tanis, Serafall put forward, "We''re going to take a long nice bath~!" Before leaving the room with the kids.


    Sona looked around for a moment before deciding, "Looks like those who are free can do some investigation regarding Tanis. Let''s split up and gather some information. There are bound to be some sort of rumors regarding the talking monsters. Be careful, though. We know some Adventurers are targeting Tanis and we might havee under their radar after this encounter, so steer clear from suspicious individuals for now."


    "I can transform into a cat so I can investigate suspicious ces," Koneko said as she raised her hand.


    "I can''t do anythingplicated so I''ll just loiter around the Guild," Aika added.


    Sona nodded and said, "I''ll use illusion magic to gather information from intel hubs disguised as pubs," she then looked towards Hestia and Artemis, "What about you, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama?"


    Hestia and Artemis looked at each other before the former said, "Guess I''ll go ask Hephaestus about it?"


    "If that''s the case, then I''ll arrange a meeting with Miach and Takemikazuchi. Maybe they know something?"


    "Alright. Let''s leave now so we can return for dinnerter. Don''t bete."


    .


    .


    .


    While walking through the streets, going towards the underground hideout, Kisuke asked Medusa, "How are you feeling these days?"


    "I''m fine, but the strange feeling that I can''t describe still hasn''t disappeared. It used to be asional bursts of this feeling, but after I took the medicine that you sent, it became a constant thing. Can you tell me what''s this?"


    "Those medicines aren''t cures nor are they there to alleviate your symptoms. In the first ce, you don''t have any illnesses that need to be cured. I gave you these things to stabilize you after diagnosing your condition. But for further detail, I''ll leave it out for now until we''re done. I have a surprise prepared for you, but if the conditions are right, there are multiple ones, so look forward to it."


    Medusa was curious and confused but decided not to ask any further, "Okay. Just please be gentle."


    Kisuke''s mouth twitched and said, "Don''t make it sound like I''m about to do something rough to you."


    Chuckling, Medusa continued, "I don''t mind if you do, though. And by the way, this offer is only avable for you~"


    After spending her time with everyone, Medusa had be bolder and bolder. A change that made Kisuke feelplicated, ''I will certainly miss that shy bookworm.''


    In the end, Kisuke chose to not reply, making Medusa a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, she already expected this so she didn''t mind it very much. She already noticed that the first step with Kisuke is always hard and even became harder as the number of women who had already crossed the line with him increased. Even then, she won''t be giving up anytime soon, not for several eons, at least.


    Arriving at their destination, Kisuke''sboratory, Kisuke asked Medusa to enter the pod in front of her after taking off all of her clothing.


    Medusa quietly followed his instructions. She didn''t even have the time to blush as she saw the seriousness of Kisuke''s expression, concluding that this operation is of paramount importance.


    Before closing the pod, Kisuke added, "Medusa. No matter what happens, please trust me and don''t resist."


    In response, Medusa smiled gently at him, "This life could be said yours. If I couldn''t trust you, then I could trust no one."


    With a wry smile, Kisuke retorted, "Your life is yours and no one else''s. The same with your decisions, it should be yours and only yours."


    Covering her mouth and giggling, Medusa replied, "I knew you would say that, so please let me say this. Please take care of me... If possible, forever."


    "If you intended to hang out with me for that long, then I couldn''t possibly refuse someone like you. With that said, I''ll ask you to take care of me in the future too, and maybe some other people."


    Medusa was stunned for a moment before gleefully smiling, "That''s the best I could hope for."


    Nothing else was needed to say for now so Kisuke closed the pod and started the operation to return her to her physical body.


    With her new body, the promised bright future also awaited the pseudo Goddess that was wronged for several millennia for being in a certain type of situation which she had no control over.


    Author''s Note:


    H-hello everyone~!


    It''s has been a while... Really a while...


    Well, I do have a good reason, though.


    I caught the very bad cough that locked me in a medical facility thatsted for a few weeks, if you know what I mean.


    I manage to stay alive, thankfully, and had fully recovered (except for some minor diforts here and there).


    I should have been able to post even way before this, but after I got out, my family decided to move... due to reasons... mainly human-to-human interactions... And I''ve been very busy until now.


    Anyway, that didn''t mean I didn''t do anything. Although not much, I managed to write a few chapters.


    For now, I''ll be slowly posting them throughout a day or two.


    I think there are around 17-18 chapters in the queue so please look forward to it~!

 Chapter 651 The First Proper Reunion

    Chapter 651 The First Proper Reunion


    A few hourster, Kisuke sighed in relief as he peered into the transparent cultivation pod. Inside it was a blue liquid that could sustain life and floating in it was Medusa in her previous form, "Looks like it''s a sess. But from here on, the next couple of things will just be spections."


    Waiting for a few more minutes, Kisuke drained the liquid from the pod and caught Medusa, before cing her on a bed and putting a nket over top of her.


    Since it''ll take an hour more for Medusa''s body and soul to stabilize, Kisuke started cleaning up while taking note of her vitals.


    After the wait, Medusa slowly opened her eyes and immediately recalled the extreme difort she had when the Mana thatposed her body started disintegrating. Soon after, she noticed a big change in her body.


    The change was so big that her drowsiness instantly disappeared as she hurriedly stood up to look at her arms. Clenching and unclenching her fist, Medusa finally figured out what had happened, "F-flesh and blood!?"


    "Yep~ But for now, you should wear some clothes. It''s really distracting," from the side, Kisuke''s frivolous voice sounded.


    Medusa looked at him with a dumbfounded expression and saw him handing over a robe. She looked down and saw her mature body without a single covering. Although she''d already prepared herself, she still couldn''t help getting embarrassed.


    With a blushing face, Medusa grabbed the nket with her right hand and the robe Kisuke offered with her left hand, "T-thank you."


    Kisuke waited for her to get dressed before adding, "After that, please do control your Magic Power... Your eyes have be extremely potent in your current state. It''s getting harder to move."


    Since she still wasn''t used to her new body, she thought that the Mana being consumed was still for her to maintain her body, "Why didn''t you say that earlier!" Medusa retorted as she tried to control her beautiful gem-like purple eyes.


    However, due to her excessively powerful eyes, Medusa failed to even cut off the flow of Magic Power, "Please wait. I''m going to cast my ''Breaker Gorgon''. I can''t control it now that I have my real eyes."


    "No need. I just asked you to control it to see if you could at least mitigate its effects," Kisuke then took out a pair of sses and handed it over to Medusa, "These are your pair of sses but I enhanced its sealing effect to adjust with your eyes."


    Medusa received the sses and immediately put them on. In an instant, her glowing eyes dimmed and the effects of her petrification disappeared, "Thank you... But how were you able to reconstruct my body? As far as I know, nothing was left of my original body. Did you construct this from nothing?"


    "Of course not. That would only create unnecessary problems for you. I got lucky and got a hold of your eye which was apparently being traded. In addition to that, Athena gave me a few drops of your blood and some extracted Divine Powers that she intended to use for research. After all, your existence is technically a miracle," replied Kisuke.


    "With just that? You really are amazing... With your ability, those Gods would be swarming at you with all sorts of requests."


    "Too bad for them, I don''t ept any requests and only do things out of my own self interest and necessity. But seriously, though, your eyes are much more amazing than I had initially thought. I had assumed that the mostplicated thing I''d handle for a long time was Souls and Dragons but I never thought that your eyes would give me a headache."


    Medusa put her hand on her face and asked, "Are they really that special?"


    "They are. Instead of operating on logical Magic, they actually use a concept as aw changer. In other words, your petrification is a unique ability that projects its own idea ''petrification'' to the real world that can''t be easily replicated through Magic. Due to that uniqueness, there''s actually no other way to block it aside from using greater energy to resist it. At least 3 times of what you''re using at full power."


    "And finally, I''m sure as hell that I wouldn''t be able to reconstruct your eyes if I was not able to get hold of the original... Even if I had your full body intact and analyzed how your eyes work with your Mana manifested body."


    If those from the Sereitei heard of this, especially Mayuri, they would be shocked at his ims. Of course, Medusa didn''t know of his reputation and just epted his words as her eyes were a bit more special than the rest.


    Medusa looked down at her body again and said, "...Couldn''t you make me smaller?"


    "I could but thanks to the unexpectedplexity of the reconstruction, I could only reconstruct your body as thest form it took just to be safe. Since you also have Ophis''s power within your Divine Core, I had to add a bit of her blood into your body to properly contain it, adding to theplexity."


    Although Medusa was extremely grateful for what Kisuke had done for her, the fact that her ''ideal'' form was lost in the process, disappointed her.


    Kisuke guessed what she''s thinking and added with a smile, "Don''t get too down. Since you have Ophis''s power and blood within you, it also means you also have some if not very limited ess to her abilities, especially her ability to take any form. In your case, the most you can do with sufficient practice is change the apparent ''age'' of your body."


    Medusa''s eyes gleamed in excitement, "I''ll do my hardest!"


    "But before that, you''ll have to deal with what''s toe first... any moment now."


    Medusa tilted her in confusion at Kisuke''s mysterious words, "What''s going to hap...pen?... ?!?"


    All of a sudden, the Divine Power from her Divine Core burst out, covering the entire room, "What''s happening!?" Medusa held her chest as she rmingly asked Kisuke.


    But thetter just smiled and said, "It wasn''t just your blood and Divine Power that I got from Athena, but also two other extracted Divine Powers."


    "W-what?" Before Medusa could fully understand what he meant, however, she suddenly heard a yawn in her head.


    This yawn caused Medusa to freeze in ce as her distant memory resurfaced and recalled the owner of that voice, "...S-Stheno...-neesama?" She muttered the name of her older sister.


    From the depths of her consciousness, the voice replied with a touch of lethargess, "Hmmm? Medusa?"


    Hearing that, tears started falling from Medusa''s eyes as she yelled in extreme delight, "Stheno-neesama!!!"


    At that point, another voice resounded, "Hmmmph~! *yawn*. What is it? So noisy."


    Although the second voice was almost the same as the first one, Medusa instantly identified it, "Euryale-neesama!!!"


    "Geez... So noisy. Do you really have to shout every time? My ears are ringing," Sthenoined while making noises as if she''s stretching.


    "...I''m still tired so I''m going back to sleep. Wake me up when the breakfast is ready," the carefree Euryale, on the other hand, wanted to go back to blissful rest.


    "This isn''t the time to be joking around, Euryale-neesama!!!" Medusa raised her voice even further.


    While all of this was happening, Kisuke quietly exited the room to give them some time alone. The first proper reunion of the sisters after several eons, he doesn''t want to disturb it.

 Chapter 652 A New Woman?

    Chapter 652 A New Woman?


    Half an hour had passed before Medusa exited the room with puffy eyes, only to see Kisuke grinning at her, "Looks like you had a good time~"


    Medusa ran towards him and gave him a tight hug, "It was great..."


    Kisuke returned the hug and said, "I see that my efforts were worth it~"


    "Your efforts are worth my dreams..." Medusa''s hug tightened even further and she whispered, "...Thank you."


    Kisuke smiled at her heartfelt gratitude and patted her head gently, "You''re very much wee."


    The two stayed like that for a few more minutes before Kisuke proposed, "Let''s go home. They''re probably waiting."


    Medusa separated from him and nodded with a smile, "Mmm~!"


    While Medusa was getting dressed, Kisuke contemted if he should hide her appearance, but decided against it immediately after, ''Those at the top of the hierarchy will most certainly recognize her, but if I ask her to hide when she had done nothing wrong and most of her life was already hiding from others, it doesn''t seem right. I''ll just deal with the consequencester.''


    With a typical Adventurer''s attire, Medusa came out and the two of them went up to the surface. But the moment they are about to get out of the abandoned church, Medusa suddenly stopped and asked, "Am I going out like this? Some people would instantly recognize me."


    "You don''t have to think about them. If they confront you, tell them to send all theirints my way. I''ll deal with it."


    Medusa couldn''t help but smirk and say, "I don''t think any of them will beining, but if they need something from me, then I''ll send them your way. Thanks for the trouble."


    Tapping his chest, Kisuke dered, "I''m the captain, after all~"


    Although it was already night, the streets were still lively as Adventurers were justing back from their hunt and celebrating their sess. But even if they were far away, they could immediately recognize the infamous Captain of the rising Familia.


    However, their nces only stayed on him for a split second before their attention was caught by the unknown individual beside him, "...Hey... Did they always have someone like her?" One of the Adventurers asked hisrades.


    "If they did, there''s no way I wouldn''t know someone like her!" One of them answered.


    Walking through the streets beside Kisuke, Medusa was having a different perspective, not just because of the height difference, but also the burdenless feeling of not having a body to constantly maintain. With a breath of fresh air, she could see and feel everything brighter and warmer. Due to that, she couldn''t help but look around more with a bright smile on her face.


    But thanks to her not minding her surroundings, Medusa was unaware of her lethal allure to those around her, be it man or woman, mortal or Deity.


    The Adventurer attire couldn''t hide her alluring figure. Her breathtaking, glistening purple hair that reflected the night''s light reaching to her knees. Her purple gem-like eyes that enchanted anyone who saw them. And finally, all these prominent features, matching her captivating beauty, were coted and exponentially refined by the elegance in her movements.


    Although imperfect, Medusa was still a ''Goddess'' that was born from the congregated idea of an ''ideal idol''. Even most of the Goddesses of Beauty would envy her ''idealness''.


    As to not give everyone around them any ideas, Kisuke grinned and said, "Medusa-chan~ Grab my arm~"


    At that point, Medusa finally took note of the odd atmosphere and the silence around her. She then smiled brightly and happily epted Kisuke''s offer to dere that she''s off-limits, "Let''s go home~"


    Passing through the market area, the pair left everyone with a dumbfounded expression. Before long, Kisuke and Medusa could hear the yells of resentment and jealousy targeted at a certain somebody, "Now your reputation has be even greater. Isn''t that nice?"


    "Ohoho~ These kinds of resentment and envy are food for my well-being. It''s so nice to be me~"


    .


    .


    .


    "We''re home~!" Kisuke shouted as the two of them entered through the front door and went straight towards the living room.


    Everyone was having a discussion on what was the next step they should do regarding Tanis, but they abruptly stopped when they saw Medusa.


    "Uhmm... Medusa-kun... Did you walk through the streets looking like that?" Hestia asked as she knew the effect she would have, not just on mortal men, but also Deities.


    "W-wait! That''s Medusa!?" As this was the first time she''d seen her like this, Artemis asked in surprise.


    "Ah... Right... We forgot to tell you, but this is her real appearance... Though I can tell you that something else is different with you... What happened?" Hestia asked as she squinted her eyes at Medusa. She noticed that something is different about her.


    But Kisuke just brushed it off by saying, "Nothing''s wrong with her. She''s just a lot healthier now."


    Even though Hestia knew that there was something more to it, she chose to trust Kisuke and not ask any further questions, "Is that so? Then that''s great! But considering her appearance, I can guess why it was so noisy outside."


    Akeno then pped her hands, gathering their attention, "Let''s talk about thister. For now, let''s go to the dining hall. Everything is already prepared."


    .


    .


    .


    That night, Medusa''s existence would spread throughout the whole of Orario and after hearing about her features, some of the Adventurers would recognize her.


    Within the Twilight Manor, everyone was just returning from guarding the Dungeon until they heard amotion outside, "What''s going on?" asked Finn as he thought that it might be rted to the Dungeon.


    Raul came back while making a strange face and reported, "Themotion was apparently about Kisuke Urahara having a new woman that could bepared to a Goddess of Beauty."


    At this news, Riveria, who was also in the room, unconsciously frowned and Finn and Gareth instantly took note of this.


    Finn decided to ignore this and asked Raul, "That''s not everything, isn''t it? You''re making a strange face."


    Raul nodded, "Yes. The problem lies in the description of the said woman. They say that she has purple hair reaching to knees and has gem-like purple eyes."


    Finn, Riveria, and Gareth instantly understood what Raul was trying to say. Gareth faced Finn and asked, "Do you think she''s the same person?"


    "Since she''s rted to that man, then we can safely assume she is," Finn was still skeptical with Kisuke and co''s real abilities as he hadn''t seen them directly in battle. But it''s a different story with Medusa as he''d already witnessed how she ughtered monsters even faster than Ottar during the ''The Moon Incident''.


    "I wonder why she revealed herself at this time," Finn muttered before facing Raul again and saying, "Gather more information regarding her, but don''t go too deep."


    "U-understood! I''ll arrange it as soon as possible!"

 Chapter 653 Pandemonium

    Chapter 653 Pandemonium


    The next day, Kisuke set off after doing what he''d wanted to aplish. Seeing him off from the gates of Orario, Kisuke got on his motorbike, this time with a proper helmet. Of course, this wasn''t for him but for the eyes that were watching him. Setting up a safety right now would help the distribution and development of magic-powered vehicles.


    After getting to a certain distance from Orario, Kisuke got off and put the motorbike and helmet in his personal space before giving Yoruichi and Kuroka the cue for the long-distance teleportation. Since this was their first time teleporting from a very long distance, it didn''t hurt to be careful of any idents that may happen.


    A few secondster, Kisuke reappeared within a damp but shallow cave, "Thou whom has summoned me, what is thy hope?" Kisuke first greeted his ''summoners''.


    Stepping in front of him with a big grin, Yoruichi replied, "I want my dose of Kisukenium."


    Smiling simrly, Kisuke replied, "Thy hope shall be granted~"


    Without any further ado, Yoruichi proceeded to assault his lips with hers for a long few seconds before letting go of him, satisfied, "So what''s the price of my wish?"


    Kisuke then grabbed her shoulders and said after kissing her forehead, "Your whole life, I suppose?"


    But before Yoruichi could say anything back, Kuroka from the side feigned a cough, "Please don''t make me watch something so cheesy and corny, nya~! I''ve had enough of those afternoon TV series!"


    "Fair point, but don''t you want your Kisukenium replenished too?" asked Yoruichi.


    Kuroka became silent for a moment before answering, "...I''ll have mer, nya."


    At that response, Yoruichi chuckled, "Despite how you look and always act, you really are surprisingly innocent."


    "Guh... Leave me alone, nya!"


    At this moment, Kisuke knew that he had to be assertive as he couldn''t just let his girls initiate everything. Stepping towards her, Kisuke gave Kuroka a quick peck on her forehead before patting her head, "Good work out there~"


    Kuroka was stunned for a moment, but immediately after, without any words, she stepped forward and hugged Kisuke. After about half a minute of replenishing her Kisukenium, Kuroka let go of him, feeling refreshed, "Let''s get out of this stuffy ce, nya~! It''s more interesting outside!"


    Yoruichi and Kuroka then led Kisuke to the outside, which was a forest. Taking arge breath, Kisuke immediately took note of a few things. The sea breezeing from the north and the lively noises from the south.


    Leading the way south, Yoruichi exined, "Around this area, there are four significant territories, three of which are managed by one or two Familias, while thest one is simr to Orario after disregarding a few things."


    "The ce we''re heading right now is that city simr to Orario, Pandemonium, nya~" Kuroka added.


    "My~ What a wonderfully grim name! I like it," Kisukemented with interest.


    All of a sudden, they halted their steps as a few creatures suddenly emerged from the woods. These creatures are simr to the weakest monster on the upper floor of the Dungeon back in Orario but their skin was actually blue, and they had gill-like slits in their necks. Of course, like any other monsters they met, they were brimming with hostility and their eyes were clouded by madness.


    As they lunged towards Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka, roots from the ground suddenly entangled them and started pulling them towards different directions, resulting in monsters being torn into several pieces, before turning into ash and leaving behind magic stones.


    "Hooh? Your Senjutsu has improved significantly," Kisuke remarked. He hardly noticed the movements in the Ki from the surroundings. If it was done further away from him, he could havepletely missed it.


    Feeling proud of her achievements, Kuroka thumped her chest, "Of course! I never cked off, nya!"


    The group resumed their steps as Yoruichi further exined, "Those things are called Sea Goblins. As you can tell, they''re just Goblins, but they''ve adapted to be underwater."


    Kisuke caught the mood behind Yoruichi''s words, "So these are normal urrences. It seems that the Dungeon in these parts operates quite differently from what I know if monsters normally roam the surface."


    "Indeed, nya! It''s already strange that there are five entrances under the sea, but it''s even stranger that even if you cover all of them, monsters would still reach the surface."


    "Well, the Dungeon is already a strange thing, so not much surprise there. We''ll exin more about the Dungeonter, but for now, let''s go and have some lunch. I''m actually pretty famished," After saying that, Yoruichi dashed forward, leaving a trail of wind behind.


    Kuroka immediately followed after her, but first looked at the sky, ''Lunchtime, huh... At least four hours difference?''


    While thinking of the interesting things he''de across within this region, Kisuke followed the girls with a light smile on his face.


    After almost a quarter of an hour of traveling and escaping the sights of other people and monsters, the three reached a walled city that was approximately a little bigger than Orario.


    Contrary to its name, however, the city of Pandemonium seemed to be peaceful.


    As they approached, Kisuke noticed that before anyone could pass through the gates, it seemed that the guards were inspecting something from each individual, except for Deities.


    "What are they checking for?" asked Kisuke.


    "They are checking for three kinds of cards. One for the normal citizens, one for those who intend to tackle the Dungeon, and one for those who are from other nations but registered within the city. I mentioned that there are four major territories, right? Actually, you can''t enter three of those without an invitation from the Familia upying it. For this city, however, instead of a single organization, a coalition of Deities is actually managing it."


    From Yoruichi''s words, Kisuke guessed that the rtionship between these four yers isn''t good enough for people to enter their territories freely.


    "While these three separated Familia are the strongest in this region, with the Poseidon Familia of Asauros having a Level 8 Mercenary, this city of Pandemonium is the one keeping this region alive by constantly supplying everything that was needed for daily living and Dungeon explorations," added Yoruichi.


    Kisuke nodded in understanding, "I see. So this coalition of Gods is controlling and monitoring their territory to a degree that they won''t be caught off guard if one or two of these super-strong Familias decided to take over the city. For ambitious and power-hungry people, this city is a big piece of meat. But Mercenary?"


    "They''re Adventurers, nya~ That''s just how they call them in these parts," replied Kuroka.


    Soon enough the three of them reached the gates after queueing for about ten minutes, "Please show us your cards."


    Kuroka shed her Mercenary card first and then Yoruichi did before thetter pointed to Kisuke, "This guy is with us. He''ll be registering as a Mercenary."


    "Understood," one of the Guards replied before taking out a metal card with a serial number inscribed on it and passed it to Kisuke, "Take this to the Mercenary Guild to register. If this card doesn''t reach that ce today, you''ll be put on a watchlist and guards would try to detain you for questioning. So if possible, register first before doing anything else."


    "Is it always this strict?" asked Kisuke.


    The guard nodded and said, "It''s necessary, especially since those from the Aruna Familia are getting unreasonable these days."


    "Must be tough. Thank you for the reminder and good luck with your work."


    The guard smiled at him and said, "We''re just doing our job and wee to Pandemonium... Though with these two with you, you might not have a good time," after ncing at Yoruichi and Kuroka, the guard went away and entertained the person next in line.


    Kisuke didn''t bother him and started walking towards the center of the city with Yoruichi and Kuroka, "What''s up with that?" he asked.


    "We''re a bit famous, but nothing really worth mentioning," Yoruichi answered with a big grin.


    Seeing that, Kisuke immediately furrowed his brows, "You''ve just thought of an amusing situation, didn''t you? And let me guess, I''ll be in it."


    But Yoruichi didn''t answer and just whistled her way out.

 Chapter 654 Mercenary Guild

    Chapter 654 Mercenary Guild


    Walking through the lively streets, Kisuke immediately noticed one thing. While the Deities roaming around were a bit fewer than those in Orario, everyone, except for very young children, seemed to have received a Falna, regardless of their profession, ''Is it because the surroundings are too dangerous for normal people?''


    After more than half an hour of walking, the three reached a wide, three-story building, teeming with people of all races. With itsrge entrance, the traffic of people was non-stop. Different from the Guild, however, the atmosphere inside was a bit heavier.


    The moment they entered the establishment, half of the people inside looked towards them, more specifically, at Yoruichi and Kuroka. Some of them nced at Kisuke curiously but soon returned their sights to the girls.


    Ignoring these stares, Kisuke and co proceeded towards the receptionist desk. Behind it was an aged muscr man. He has brown hair with white stripes running along it and a thick mustache and beard of the same color. However, his most prominent feature is an eyepatched left eye with a long scar running along it from his forehead to his cheek.


    With thebination of this and his strict expression, he gave off a terrifying pressure and anyone who was weak-minded wouldn''t even look at his right eye, much less approach him, "Good day~ I''d like to register."


    Obviously, his appearance didn''t matter to Kisuke who approached him with a big smile while passing the nk card that the guard gave him at the gates.


    Instead of replying, however, the man on the reception first looked around. He saw that there were other free receptionists and some of them were even beautiful girls. With an expression that said he couldn''t care less, the man replied while resting his chin on his hand and yawning, "Go away. I''m busy."


    Too bad for him, he met an annoying and stubborn person who feared almost nothing. Sitting in front of the man, Kisuke continued as if he didn''t hear the man''s words, "Nice to meet you. I''m Kisuke Urahara. I need to fill out a form, right? Bring it here."


    The man stayed silent for a moment and stared at Kisuke who was smiling at him. Clicking his tongue, he gave up and took out the form needed to register. He concluded that it''ll be faster to finish his registration rather than bicker with him, "The only required information is your name and your affiliation."


    "Hmm? What about my Level?" asked Kisuke.


    "Huh? Did those two not tell you anything?" The man was referring to the girls that entered with him.


    Kisuke shook his head and said, "Nope~ But since you''re already entertaining me, please exin to me this whole Mercenary business. It''s my first time around this area."


    The man red at Kisuke for a few seconds, but after noting that his smile couldn''t be broken, the man scratched his head in frustration and annoyance, "So you already knew that I don''t want to be disturbed. Just why did you have toe to my spot and interfere with my resting time?"


    "Don''t mind it. I just thought that you''re the most experienced one around here. And besides, I trust you more than those who are already making a stiff smile from doing a fake one all the time."


    Everyone around them heard his words and some of the receptionists red at him for his words but Kisuke just waved at them with a smile in response, "By the way, what''s your name?"


    The man sighed and answered, "Varka. Just Varka. It may seem strange for an outsider like you but it''smon for people around here to not have a surname for obvious reasons."


    "Due to the harshness of this ce, isn''t it? Looks like I''m already reaping the benefits of talking to you," replied Kisuke as he filled up his name and Familia on the form.


    Varka snorted at him but continued speaking, "There aren''t really any special reasons why Level isn''t required to be disclosed. First of all, there are cases where some people are too strong for their Level while some are too weak. Another one is that hiding your strength or aces is generally a good practice, making it some sort of deterrence against your enemies, which is effective around these parts as many people don''t get along very well."


    Kisuke finished his form with just his name and Familia before passing it to Varka to let him have a look, "Heh... That means there are also tons of people out there pretending to be a sheep or a tiger."


    "If they are weak and pretend to be strong, then they''ll just be weing their death. If it''s the opposite, it won''t really be long until they revealed themselves," Varka received Kisuke''s papers andmented, "Hestia Familia, huh. The same as those two I see. Since we don''t have any information regarding this Deity Hestia, we could only consider you a Vagrant Mercenary."


    "How is that different from normal Mercenaries?"


    "Nothing much. You just don''t have preferential treatment as long as your Deity doesn''t show their face in the Guild and register in the Coalition of Gods."


    "I see. That''s one way to force people with strong blessings and is just wandering to join one of the factions."


    The face of the two receptionists beside Varka stiffened when they heard Kisuke''s words. Varka himself, however, just shrugged his shoulders as he filed Kisuke''s paper, "You''re not wrong. Even those from the other three factions have better preferential treatmentpared to outsiders like you."


    Inscribing the nk card that Kisuke got from the guard with the Mercenary Guild''s insignia and the owner''s name, Varka passed it back to Kisuke, "Here. You will need it to leave and enter the city. If you lose it, you should report it immediately to get a new one, but for a certain price. To the side are missions you can take. Whether you die or seed with those will depend on your judgment. If you want further information, ask yourpanions. They''ve been here for quite some time. And finally, we''re done here, so get lost."


    Kisuke received the card back and said, "Thank you. I''lle again~" before turning his back to him, returning to Yoruichi and Kuroka who were waiting outside.


    "...Please don''t," Kisuke heard Varka''s voice from behind and it was the most sincere thing he''d ever heard from him. But Kisuke just ignored him.


    The moment Kisuke and co left the premises, a blonde Half-Elf came to Varka''s side, "Fufufu, never thought you''d work that hard. That guy''s pretty interesting, managing to force you to do actual work."


    Varka didn''t look back but replied, "Shut it up, Cami. My head is already aching from the fact that that guy will most certainly bother me again. With that said, I''d like to take a leave of absence... Indefinitely if possible."


    Cami chuckled, "Please don''t say that. You already promised to work for at least 10 years. And you''re also allowed to treat others however you like as long as you don''t hurt them. It''s just your bad luck to finally meet a guy who doesn''t seem to get bothered by your tough stance."


    "Hmmph."


    Cami then faced the entrance of the Guild and continued, "In any case. That guy seems to be acting tough. It''s very obvious."


    Varka stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Yeah. He''s too good at acting tough... Too good that I actually think that he''s acting tough to look weak."


    Cami creased her brows slightly and said, "I see... So you''re suggesting that he''s at the same Level as those with him?"


    Varka didn''t answer her anymore so Cami took that silence as an affirmation, "With three individuals with that kind of power without any affiliation appearing all of a sudden, it''s not hard to guess that it''s going to get very noisy soon."


    As Cami left him, Varka took a nce at her back while thinking, ''The same Level? In the first ce, you people are understating those women big time, and one of them is probably beyond Level 6... But that guy, Kisuke Urahara... He makes me dread him... Way more than Captain of the Poseidon Familia who''s known as the strongest.''


    Varka then turned his face forward and proceeded to re at people trying to approach him once again, ''It''s going to get noisy, alright? But I''m pretty sure they won''t be the ''victims''.''

 Chapter 655 What an actual Idiot

    Chapter 655 What an actual Idiot


    "You just had to choose that sharp-eyed guy," Yoruichi said while eating skewered grilled meat that she''d bought on the way.


    "I''m just curious as to how much of it was his own ability and how much of it was from Skill or something. I wasn''t able to figure that out, though," replied Kisuke.


    Choosing a snack of her own, Kuroka added, "That guy is pretty strong, nya. Probably only second to the strongest guy around here."


    "Geez, stop it you two. We''re just about to have our lunch!" Kisuke reprimanded their actions.


    A few minutester, they''d arrived at arge tavern that was serving lunch, "This is the ce. The food here is great," Yoruichi entered followed by Kuroka and Kisuke, "Keely, is there a free private room?"


    A Human woman with long ck hair, squinted her eyes when she looked up and recognized the girls, "Ah~ Yoruichi-chan, Kuroka-chan. Your usual spot is free," she then looked towards Kisuke and opened her squinted eyes slightly, "And this is?"


    "Nice to meet you~ The name''s Kisuke Urahara."


    The woman smiled and returned the introduction, "Kisuke-chan, is it? Nice to meet you too~ I''m Keely Dukes, the owner of this humble establishment. Wee and please enjoy your stay~"


    Keely then looked at the back and raised her voice, "Fia! Please lead the guests upstairs."


    A white-haired Chienthrope appeared at her call and answered, "Understood."


    With a blue waitress uniform, Fia came out from the back and approached the three, "Please follow me. I''ll lead you to your table."


    As they went upstairs, some of the customers immediately left the ce and Keely thought, ''A man, huh... This is going to getplicated. And it doesn''t help that the people of the Astarte Familia are also upstairs. I guess I should ask my customers to leave...''


    Keely then asked some of her waitresses to warn the people of a potential disturbance that might happen. But she knew that only a few people would actually leave and the rest would stay for the fun, ''I wonder how much money I can wring out of those guys from Aruna Familia?''


    .


    .


    .


    Once the waitress left their room with their orders, Kisuke suddenly suggested, "Should I do something so we won''t be disturbed?"


    "Please do so, nya~!" Kuroka immediately agreed.


    "Make something that hits back," added Yoruichi.


    "How potent should it be?"


    With a grin, Yoruichi replied, "Destroying this ce is fine~ We won''t be the one paying the damages, anyway."


    Kisuke then suddenly stood up and said, "I, Kisuke Urahara, the Magic Engineer, have something that fits just this asion~!"


    .


    .


    .


    Before the entrance to Keely''s tavern, three infamous people stood, more than half an hour had passed since Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka had arrived, "Are you certain that they''re here?" The Racoon man asked the one who led them here.


    The skinny human grinned dirtily and said, "Of course, Sir King. They even brought a man with them."


    Hearing that, the light blue-haired Pallum and theirst member snorted, "Hmph! They''ve been ying hard to get, yet there they are, suddenly appearing with a man! Just because they beat Cleo''s group, they''ve been thinking too highly of themselves! You''ve even expressed your desire to court them! They should feel honored that an executive of the Aruna Familia is even looking at them!"


    "Calm down, Ruddy. We aren''t here for that, but to invite them to join our Familia. With their abilities, we don''t want them going to the other factions," the Racoon man, King Johnson of the Aruna Familia and a Level 5, replied. However, his face told otherwise.


    From the window, Kisuke observed the three of them, "They''re not really troublesome, just in annoying."


    Chuckling, Kuroka replied, "So you can get annoyed too, nya~!"


    "Of course I can get annoyed too," Kisuke then ced down his cup of juice before standing up, "Wait here. I''ll just go increase the power of those things by a tiny bit."


    Kisuke returned to his seat soon after and resumed his after-meal drink. He also changed the topic and told Yoruichi and Kuroka about what had been happening in Orario.


    After telling the story of Medusa getting her body back and reuniting with her long sleeping sisters, the three sensed the three''s presence beyond the door of their private room.


    Outside of their room, the three annoying fellows stood, "Is this it?" King asked.


    "I''ve confirmed it, sir. This is their usual room. It''s basically an open secret around here," the skinny Human answered before facing the door. Since he''s with one of the most prominent and influential people in the region of Dizara, courage overflowed from him and he shouted at the door, "Those who''re inside, open the door right now! Sir King Johnson of the Aruna Familia is here!"


    The Pallum and Racoon just let him do what he wanted. In any case, this was how the Racoon man wanted things done.


    However, even after they waited for a minute or two, no answer from the door was given.


    Being embarrassed, the skinny Human instantly lost his patience and tried to kick open the door, "I said sir King Johnson is here! Answer the goddamn door!"


    But the moment his foot connected with the door, the door lit up slightly before the Human felt the force of his kick being rebounded back, instantly breaking his ankle and fracturing multiple parts of his leg.


    Not being able to react, the Human sted through into the opposite room, destroying it entirely. But the force of the rebound didn''t abate even after he hit a door and wall, as he continued flying through the streets of Pandemonium, crashing into multiple stalls on the way before finally stopping, unconscious and severely injured.


    King and the Pallum who had just watched all of this unfold instantly could only gawk at what had happened. While they were still not sure of what had just transpired, the doors of the upied rooms swung open and people came pouring out, trying to figure out what had happened themselves.


    All of them instantly recognized the two standing in front of Kisuke and co''s room, but only one group came forward to confront them, "What no good are you up to again, douchebag King?"


    King managed to get his bearings back and clicked his tongue at the Amazon who''d just spoken up, "Man-hater Fenia... What are you doing here?"


    "Of course it''s to dine, you dumbass! And you just had to disturb our meal! What are you even doing here, destroying this establishment!?" The Amazoness replied while the three girls behind her got ready to engage in case King and Ruddy suddenly turned hostile.


    King gritted his teeth in anger due to the insults he''d suddenly received, however, before he could do anything else, the door to the room they were trying to open suddenly opened and behind it was a man with pale blond hair and a green and white striped bucket hat on his head, "Yes? What is it? Why did you knock?"


    Due to his sudden and untimely appearance, King and Ruddy didn''t actually know what to say, while the Amazoness Fiana creased her brows.


    On the other hand, Kisuke first looked up and down on King and Ruddy before suddenly saying, "You look like scammers. Did you think that I''m an easy target just because I''m new around here? Please take your snake oil somewhere else. Or better yet, just drink it yourself so this world can be a better ce."


    Not just King and Ruddy, but everyone who was watching and heard Kisuke''s words, were stunned. He was basically telling one of the executives of the Aruna Familia to kill himself.


    They all only snapped out of it when Kisuke mmed the door shut.


    King was about to explode, but he was interrupted yet again when Kisuke suddenly opened the door again. As if he forgot something, he added, "And if you''re here to talk about your religion, I also don''t need it. I''m friends with a God and I can even invite her over for some cookies and doughnuts," shutting the door once again.


    Instead of King, however, the first one to make a move was the Pallum, Ruddy. He just couldn''t take a nobody mocking them to no end. After gathering all of his strength, Ruddy sent out a punch.


    "Stop! Ruddy!" King tried to stop him.


    However, Ruddy didn''t listen. Obviously, he didn''t forget the fate of the skinny Human so instead of the door, he aimed his punch at the wall beside it. The reason why he was so confident is that was because the moment the skinny Human had kicked the door, it lit up, but only within the boundary of the door. With that in mind, he concluded that such a strong and strange barrier wasn''t applied to the walls.


    On the other side of the wall, Kisuke only waited for a light thump before hearing a cry of extreme pain flying off into a distance. His fate was much worse than the skinny Human.


    After he couldn''t hear the cry anymore, Kisuke just chuckled and muttered, "What an actual idiot."


    Strangely enough, those words of his were heard throughout the entire second floor.

 Chapter 656 An Usual Amazoness

    Chapter 656 An Usual Amazoness


    Kisuke''s whispers instantly pissed off King beyond reason, but he didn''t dare strike back in fear of the strange barrier. More than hurting himself, he was more afraid of humiliating himself, so instead of confronting them further, he jumped through the hole that the sted people created. In any case, he was already in a disadvantageous position with the women of the Astarte Familia present.


    The moment he exited the building in a hurry, however, the door of the private room swung open again. But instead of just peeking, the people inside went out, "Since they attacked first, it''s not our fault. We won''t be paying for any damages," Kisuke dered.


    "You''re thinking that maybe you could ask forpensation from Keely, aren''t you?" Yoruichi guessed.


    "It''s my right to do so! Those bad guys really scared me by suddenly destroying the things beside us. I''m just an intellectual guy and hate violence! What if they hurt me for real!? For establishments such as this, that''s just uneptable," replied Kisuke, as Yoruichi correctly guessed his ruse. Leaving the two behind, Kisuke went directly downstairs toin about the ''traumatizing'' experience and maybe get a free meal or two.


    "You''re... Yoruichi Shihouin and Kuroka Toujou... No wonder that rascal is here," Fenia wanted to ask who the man who''d just left was, but she''d already lost her interest in him and decided against it, ''It''s just another scumbag, judging from the way he acts.''


    Yoruichi and Kuroka turned towards them and the former greeted them with a big smile, "Yo, Fenia~ Fancy meeting you here~!"


    Fenia smiled back and replied, "You two never cease to show many surprises. Even after thinking about what I just saw, I still have no idea how you fought that group back. A Magic that you never showed? In any case, now that you''ve hit back at the dumbass Racoon, the Aruna Familia will never stop trying to take you or destroy you."


    "Are you saying that you have a way around that, nya~?" asked Kuroka with an amused expression.


    "Absolutely. My sister, Tenestra, may have already invited you before, but I''d also like to extend my hand to you two to join my Familia. That way, you won''t just deter them, but also be able to retaliate when you want to and we''ll have your back."


    "That''s an endearing offer, but I''d like to refuse," Yoruichi shook her head, "First of all, it wasn''t us but that guy who just went down''s magic item. Secondly, I''ve heard that your Familia, as a pure female faction, doesn''t allow any man within their ranks or any members to have a rtionship with one. I''m sorry to say, but that guy is my hubby and I don''t intend to leave him anytime soon~."


    Fenia didn''t hesitate to show her frown of displeasure, however, she also didn''t say anything distasteful, "I see. That''s really sad to hear," She then turned her attention to Kuroka, "What about you, Kuroka Toujou? In addition to what I''ve said earlier, we also won''t interfere with your Mercenary business. As long as you uphold our mission of saving abused women and don''t get into a rtionship with any man, we won''t say anything regarding who you want to party with."


    She''d already given up on Yoruichi, but just for now. With Fenia''s skewed view of man and woman rtionships that stemmed from her childhood, she believed that their rtionship wouldn''tst long. As long as they had Kuroka on their side, it''d be inevitable that she''d also join their cause in the future.


    "Hmm? Ah, sorry, nya~! That same guy happens to be my hubby too, so I will have to refuse, nya~," replied Kuroka with a shit-eating grin.


    Fenia and the girls behind her were stunned at her confession. A secondter, Fenia showed her utter displeasure as she clicked her tongue and said, "Tsk! So he''s really just as scummy and disgusting as those animals from the Aruna Familia."


    However, the moment she''d uttered those words, an immense flood of killing intent and some other forces came bearing down on her in an instant, before disappearing. But even then, she almost cked out and lost consciousness. It''s as if the reaper of life decided to aim its scythe of death at her neck for a very brief moment, "!?"


    As her vision cleared, Fenia immediately saw Yoruichi and Kuroka''s faces. While thetter was already frowning, the former kept on smiling. However, she could tell for sure that Yoruichi wasn''t smiling.


    "I would really appreciate it if you don''tpare Kisuke to those dumbasses. While he''s scummy, he''s my lovable scum, and any biased and unreasonable insults at him, I find quite... distasteful, you see?" Yoruichi slowly replied before turning away from them, walking towards the stairs, "I thank you for your invitation, but those are some beliefs that I can''t agree with. We''ll take our leave and see you around again, hopefully, in a delightful manner."


    After staying for a few more seconds, Kuroka decided to follow Yoruichi without saying anything. Although she wanted to get back at her for insulting her beloved, she decided against it after recalling the information they had on her, ''Scaring her should be quite enough... I also understand where she''sing from after going through so much at such a young age.''


    As someone who did everything to protect her little sister, Kuroka can somehow rte to her.


    Once they left their sights, one of the girls behind Fenia suddenly called out to her in a worried tone, "F-Fenia-sama? Are you alright?"


    Fenia looked at her with confusion but after seeing her concerned face, it was only then she noticed that she''s breathing frantically and cold sweat covered her forehead and back. Not wanting to show such a thing to herrades, Fenia immediately tried to normalize her expression and smiled wryly and patted her head, "I''m fine. I''m just feeling a little light-headed. Let''s pay up and return home for today. I''m sorry, everyone. It was supposed to be a pleasant outing."


    The girl she patted immediately responded, "Please don''t be, Fenia-sama! If you''re not feeling well, please rest up!" She then turned to the other two girls and said, "Seles, Mina. Please apany Fenia-sama back home. I''ll follow you once I take care of things here."


    The two girls nodded and ushered Fenia.


    "Don''t worry, everyone. We''ll have a chance in the future again."


    "Please stop thinking about that for now, Fenia-sama. We''re already happy that you''re concerned with us. We couldn''t possibly ask for more!" the girl named Seles refuted her.


    While leaving, Fenia recalled what happened earlier, ''What was that? Was it just my imagination? I didn''t see them do anything... But where did that pressuree from?''


    After thinking for a while, Fenia concluded, ''I don''t have any evidence, but I have a feeling those two are too dangerous... I''ll have to warn Tenestra and Astarte-sama.''


    Editors:


    28th00: An Amazoness man-hater? That''s like, antithetical to their entire culture and species. In the way of rtionships at least. Wonder how Kali feels about that?


    Goyya: Fenia and her sister are orphans and didn''t grow up with other Amazoness. Their environment and experiences shaped their views.

 Chapter 657 Unusual Amazoness Sisters

    Chapter 657 Unusual Amazoness Sisters


    On the following night, Fenia was overlooking the town of Septal that the Astarte Familia created for themselves, from the castle that housed the executives of the Familia. Magicmps illuminated the streets of the mostly residential town. Despite that strange trait of the city, people were still moving actively around, ranging from preparing for the Dungeon to everyday chores.


    Even though the Astarte Familia was a purely female faction, there were still some men roaming the streets. Although none of them had a permanent residence within this town and their entry was controlled, they were still free to roam and interact with their members.


    Whilst most of them were peddlers who were looking for business and some business partners from other Familias stationed within Pandemonium, some of them were here trying their luck in courting their members.


    Fenia didn''t like this scene at all, but Astarte had explicitly cleared that even if rtionships between men and women were not allowed within her Familia, she wouldn''t stop her children if they decided to get into one, albeit, they''d have to leave the Familia for this.


    Fenia only didn''t say anything about it because Astarte also told the executives that in case of something unfortunate happening to their former members, they''d still help out and save them if the need arises.


    "Big sis, are you in?" Suddenly, Fenia heard a knock on her door, "The door''s unlocked," she replied.


    The door opened and a cute bespectacled Amazoness entered the room, "Big sis, are you alright? I heard that you''re not feeling well."


    Contrary to Fenia''s long hair, graceful face and voluptuous body, her younger sister, Tenestra, had short hair, a cute face and a petite figure.


    "I''m fine...", Fenia went back to overviewing the small town, "Did you juste back from your studies?"


    Tenestra sat down on the sofa while sighing, "Yep, but no progress... I was able to make a chantless version of my first two magics, but I''m having a hard time with my third one. It seems that copying the Magic Circle which appears when chanting isn''t enough anymore. The only way forward now is to understand what the lines in the Magic Circles actually mean, but even after scouring for books and records with rted subjects, I''m barely able to piece some clues together."


    Fenia turned towards her with a wry smile, "Even if you tell me that, I don''t really understand what you''re trying to say. Why don''t you try asking Astarte-sama?"


    "I did and she indeed knew what the problem with the Magic and understood the Magic Circle. However, she can''t impart that knowledge to me as she''d be breaking the Law of Heaven, and being sent back would be the least of the problems that everyone would incur."


    Fenia became interested and asked, "What problems?"


    Tenestra shook her head, "I don''t know. She wouldn''t tell..." She thought for a bit before adding, "I guess except for the ''Promised Day'' she identally spoke about? But that phrase isn''t familiar at all and not in any records."


    "It''s a Deity-rted secret."


    "I already guessed as much, so I didn''t bother Astarte-sama about it." Tenestra then turned her head towards Fenia and changed the subject, "I heard you came across Yoruichi and Kuroka in your outing. How did it go?"


    Instead of answering her, Fenia sat beside her and asked, "What do you think of them?"


    Tenestra went silent for a moment before replying, "I don''t know them enough to give a satisfying answer to that question, but I think they''re strong and hide their real abilities." She then looked straight into Fenia''s eyes and asked, "What about you, big sis? What do you think of them? And if you don''t mind, please tell me what happened earlier? They''re the reason you''re not feeling well, aren''t they?"


    Fenia sighed and said, "I agree with you that they''re hiding their real abilities... In fact, I think they''re too dangerous."


    "Dangerous?"


    "Yes... I can''t point out what it was, but something is telling me that they are too dangerous... Much more than the Captain."


    Tenestra''s eyes widened. Their Captain, after all, was considered as the second strongest after the Captain of the Poseidon Familia, "What made you say that?"


    Fenia then told Tenestra about what had happened in Keely''s tavern from her perspective without missing a single detail.


    If it was any other person, Tenestra would think that they'' were just imagining things but she trusted her sister''s instinct that had already saved them countless times in the past. It was just really too hard to believe that a roaming person would be that strong.


    After thinking for a while, Tenestra finally spoke her mind, "That only makes it more attractive to invite them over..."


    "W-what!? What are you saying!? We can''t let such timebombs enter our Familia! On top of that, they are in a rtionship with a man! Just that already disqualifies them!"


    "I know... Our Familia''s goal, in addition to the Dungeon exploration, is to help unfortunate women out of their situation. However, the rule of no rtionship with a man was just imposed by Astarte-sama because she resented one of the Gods who didn''t return her feelings, so she can also easily revoke it the moment she changes her mind."


    Fenia grimaced at her words but didn''t say anything.


    "And it may be the case in the new future with us calling the former members to return, regardless of their marital status."


    "...What do you mean?"


    Tenestra hesitated for a moment before answering, "Only Astarte-sama and the Captain know this, but there are some very concerning and suspicious movements from the Aruna Familia and the three of us concluded that it would be of paramount importance to expand our strength... To the point of calling back former members."


    "Even if you think that Yoruichi Shihouin and Kuroka Toujou are dangerous, we still don''t know their personalities fully, so we can''t say for sure if they''ll be a detriment to the Familia. In fact, their very hostile stance towards the Aruna Familia makes them trustworthy enough. Besides, Astarte-sama only needed to talk to them to figure out a lot of things."


    "What about the Coalition and the Poseidon and Amphitrite Familias?"


    Tenestra shook her head, "Astarte-sama has already confirmed that even though there aren''t many interactions between them, they have each other''s back. Meaning, they are technically in an alliance. And as long as the Captain of the Poseidon Familia, a Level 8, is still around, they will never fall. In my opinion, their secret alliance is actually good for the region''s overall stability."


    "In that case, wouldn''t they do something regarding the Aruna Familia if they went out of line?"


    Tenestra shook her head again, "The reason why I think they''re safe even if they became the strongest force by far within the region, is that they''ll remain neutral no matter what. It means that if the Aruna Familia moves against us, they''ll only secure their own people and won''t take anyone''s side, regardless of the moral value... That''s how it has always been in this ce where a person with the biggest fist makes thew."


    Fenia clenched her fist and recalled the image of their peaceful town. Just because of some greedy maniacs, they might get embroiled in a conflict they''d never wanted.


    Tenestra reached out for her hand and sighed, "As such, if Yoruichi and Kuroka are really that strong, we''d want them in our ranks in preparation for the iing war. If inviting them to join our Familia isn''t possible, we could also hire them."


    Fenia, after some contemtion, sighed, "Haahh... I guess you''re right. I should set aside my biased views for a bit, for the sake of the Familia."


    Tenestra''s smile became sad, "I see that you''re aware that your view is biased."


    But Fenia just chuckled, "Of course. After all, it''s impossible not to hear about those sessful rtionships... But even then, my emotions still get the better of me, and I can''t think otherwise in regards to this."


    To this, Tenestra just silently hugged her sister.


    Because of Tenestra''s warmth, Fenia was able to calm down significantly.


    After a few minutes of sce, Tenestra separated and suddenly asked with sparkling eyes, "And by the way, big sis. What''s this about a strange barrier? Care to tell me more?"


    ''Ah, crap... This magic maniac...'', thought Fenia as she tried to escape from her grasp.

 Chapter 658 Complaint part 1

    Chapter 658 Comint part 1


    Going back in time for a bit, everyone went home to prepare for the uing day after seeing Kisuke off. However, an hourter, Loki and Riveria came running to their estate while dragging Line along with them. "Oi!!! Kisuke! You bastard! Come out!", yelled Loki from the gates.


    Feigning a cough, Riveria reminded Loki, "Loki, you''re in public. Please be mindful of your image."


    "I don''t care! I need answers!", replied Loki and called out to the mansion again.


    With a timid expression, Line who was dragged over here asked, "Uhmmm... Loki-sama, Riveria-sama... What are we doing here?"


    "We''re here toin!", answered Loki.


    "Comin about what?", asked Line with an innocent expression.


    "Your behavior, of course!"


    Line tilted her head in confusion, "Did I do something wrong?"


    Loki and Riveria gawked at her. "A-are you seriously not aware?", asked thetter with a twitching mouth.


    But before Line could say anything else, a tall woman with long purple hair and a pair of sses came out of the mansion, wearing a simple maid uniform. However, her gait made her look more like a high-ranking aristocrat instead of a maid. This contrast made Loki, Riveria, and Line quiet for a moment.


    The maid approached and opened the gates for them before greeting them, "Good morning, Loki-sama, Riveria-sama and Line-sama. What can I do for you?"


    While rubbing her chin, Loki stared at her for a while before asking, "Are you Kisuke''s rumored new woman?"


    Chuckling, the maid replied to her, "I have no idea what you''re talking about, Loki-sama. Besides this isn''t our first time meeting."


    "Hmm? We''ve met before? Maybe with my children within the Dungeon, but I would never forget someone as striking as you."


    The maid nodded and added, "It''s aplicated story, but I''m Medusa."


    Riveria and Line''s eyes widened at her words, but Loki took some time to pull out ''Medusa'' from her memories, "Hmmm? Medusa... Wait... What!? You''re that little kid!?"


    "As I said, it''s aplicated story. Anyway, pleasee in.", Medusa then ushered them in.


    "Where''s Kisuke?", Loki first set aside her shock and asked what she came here for.


    "Unfortunately, he once again left for more business and we don''t know when he''lle back.", answered Medusa as they walked.


    "Again!?"


    "He''s a busy person and doesn''t know how to rest."


    Loki started scratching her head in frustration before saying, "Fine! I''llin to that pipsqueak instead!"


    "Hestia-sama, is it? I''ll lead you to her."


    Reaching the living room, Loki and herpanions came face to face with Hestia, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch with her arms crossed and having a scrunched-up face, "What menace have you brought upon this home!?"


    Loki didn''t say anything to her and instead panned her sights to her side, "Can I knock her head?"


    Artemis, who was peacefully sipping her tea, smiled at her and said, "Be my guest!"


    Loki smirked and approached Hestia with a threatening re. With Artemis'' permission, Loki unhesitantly raised her fist.


    iling her arms around, Hestia immediately took back what she said with a panicked expression, "Wait! I just wanted to say that at least one time!" But Loki didn''t listen to her and everyone could hear a fist knocking on the head resounding throughout the whole room followed by a scream of pain.


    A few minutester, Sona, who was in the same room asked the guests to sit down, "What can we do for you today, Loki-sama?"


    Of the three of them, only Loki sat down and made herself feel at home, "I''d like to issue aint to that bastard, but I''ve heard that he isn''t here."


    "He has important business to attend to."


    "To your homnd again?"


    Sona shook her head and told her the truth, "He actually followed Yoruichi-san and Kuroka-san who had previously gone to the Dizara Region."


    "So that''s where they went... But for what?" Asked Loki but she only received silence from Sona.


    epting her ''answer'', Loki sighed, "Dizara Region, huh... I have a feeling that they''ll wreak havoc in that ce... I want to see it. Do you have any teleportation circles here?"


    Sona smiled wryly, "Loki-sama, you do know that something like teleportation magic can''t be dispersed to the public easily. On top of that, only those who are experts in Space Magic could execute it safely."


    Sona and Akeno could only do it despite both of them not being experts due to their Devil Lineage that gave them an edge through ''summoning''.


    "That''s true... A lot of regtions would first have to be decided before instantaneous transfers could be used safely. Speaking of the Dizara Region, it reminds me of Astarte. I''ve heard that she''s been active around that area."


    "What about her?", Hestia asked Loki.


    "Well, if she knew that Takemikazuchi was in Orario, she would probably scale the great distance between Dizara Region and here just to give him a beating. She''s been chasing him for a few millennia after all, and I think that she still hasn''t given up."


    "Ah, I think I''ve heard about that back in Heaven. So she still hasn''t given up on him?"


    "Yep, but not in the sense that you''re thinking. Last I''ve heard from her was when she dered that she''d hunt down Takemikazuchi and tie him up for a few hundred years to express her resentment. Ever since then, Takemikazuchi has been on the run from her."


    "So that''s why he didn''t choose a popr spot when he descended.", muttered Artemis in realization.


    "I also think that''s the case.", Loki then smirked maniacally, "I sincerely hope that Kisuke would be the bridge for their reunion~ I can''t wait to see the carnage~!"


    From behind, Loki suddenly heard Riveria''s cough which made her return to her original expression, "Ehem, I got sidetracked. Anyway, I want to know what that maniac fed to my Line during her stay with him!"


    "Loki-sama!?", Line eximed in confusion.


    At those words, Sona, Artemis and Hestia all madeplicated expressions while Medusa could only smile wryly. "W-what did he do to you? D-did he cross the line?", Sona asked Line in a flustered voice.


    "Cross the line?", Line repeated the question before realizing what it meant. With heat instantly rising up to her face, Line started iling her head and arms as she vehemently denied her assumption, "N-no, no, no! Nothing like that happened! I swear! He only left me alone with some books and taught me some things! That''s all!"


    Hestia, Artemis, and Sona sighed in relief. But they also knew that if Kisuke wasn''t careful, another one would be on the edge, like the High Elf beside her.


    "So, what happened?", asked Hestia.


    Clearing her throat, Loki started telling them what happened this morning.

 Chapter 659 Complaint part 2

    Chapter 659 Comint part 2


    The next day, after a night of celebrating Line''s return, everyone from the Loki Familia went back to their new training program, practicing Magic and Ki. However, not everyone was in it as some of them had to take care of the daily needs of their Familia.


    Supposedly, Line should also be within this group who were rotating to take care of the chores, but all of them insisted that she should rest. Without anything to do, Line went towards the backyard, where everyone who was free, practicing and training.


    Once she reached her destination, Line immediately noticed two divided areas. One area was for Magic practice while the other side was for Ki training. Surprisingly enough, Riveria and Lefiya were not practicing their magic. Instead, they were with the rest of the executives to train their Ki.


    After Line thought about it carefully, this was also a good choice. Training Ki is a lot more effective if you''re doing it with others, while Magic could be learned in the convenience of your own room.


    "Yo! Line!", Tiona approached and called out to her with arge smile, "Came here to join?"


    "Yes. I''ve got nothing to do and figured I should take a look at how everyone was doing."


    Ais approached them while wiping her sweat and asked, "Shouldn''t you be resting more?"


    Line immediately shook her head and said, "I''ve already rested enough." She then looked towards the ongoing training and first saw Bete and Tione intensely sparring while Riveria, Finn, Gareth and Lefiya were silently practicing circting their Ki off to the side.


    Seeing her line of sight, Tiona exined, "They''re waiting for their turn. Finn told us that we can''t spar without anyone looking due to the danger of letting their Ki go out of control."


    Ais nodded at her words, "Tiona and I just finished ours."


    "I see... Without a dedicated healer, Elixirs are just too expensive for any injuries.", muttered Line.


    Tiona and Ais looked at each other. They had a feeling that something was wrong with her words just now, but couldn''t tell what it was. Deciding to ignore it, Tiona changed the topic, "Anyway, since you have nothing to do, what would you like to practice first? Ki or Magic?"


    Line thought for a bit before deciding, "Hmm... My research on Magic was cut short, so maybe I''ll continue that."


    Tiona tilted her head in confusion, "Research? Didn''t that guy teach you Magic? Even Ais here really wanted to learn more but the only thing she got from him was a book. So why do you need to do research?"


    Ais nodded along with her question with a serious expression. She doesn''t know if Kisuke forgot about his promise or just giving her the book was really the end of it.


    "Ah, Kisuke-san taught me the basic things, but beyond that, I''ve had to progress with minimal help. He told me it''s to cultivate a creative mind, after all,plex Magic is just cleverlybined simple Magics. He said that if I can experience thisbining process myself, it''d be a lot easier to create moreplex Magic in the future.", exined Line happily. However, she didn''t tell them that Kisuke only allowed her to do so because she was special in the way that she could effectively heal herself and also practice while she''s at it. Line believed that she wasn''t that ''special'', so she didn''t mention it.


    Ais and Tiona were shocked at her words when Riveria''s voice came from behind them, "If it was me from before, I would have called those ims nonsense. However, I wholeheartedly agree with him after learning some simple spells."


    Bete and Tione were done with their sparring and it was now Finn and Gareth''s turn. While the former two decided toy down and rest, Riveria and Lefiya approached the three, "Line-san, are you sure you should be moving around too much?", asked Lefiya with a worried expression.


    Happy with her concern, Line nodded, "I''m fine. Thank you for worrying." She then pointed to a certain free spot and said, "By the way, can I use this spot to practice my Magic?"


    "Sure. Go ahead. I''m also interested in how Kisuke taught you to practice.", replied Riveria.


    The others also followed Line, being curious. After reaching the spot she wanted, Line took out four stainless steel ques the size of a book. On each of its surfaces a Magic Circle was inscribed. "So he also gave you a ''bag''. By the way, what are those for?", asked Riveria curiously.


    Lineid down these ques two meters away from each other, creating a square with her in the middle. After that, she took out four, specially processed Magic Crystals, and put them in the middle of the Magic Circles, "Kisuke-san gave me this simple barrier so that I wouldn''t disturb anyone when I practice magic."


    While the other three nodded in understanding, Riveria frowned in confusion. But before she could ask why she would need a barrier to practice magic, Line activated the Magic Circles and a translucent pyramid-shaped boundary was erected between her and the outside.


    Due to that unusual scene, almost everyone from the Loki Familia looked in her direction. However, Line had already started focusing and took out several notes from her bag and a pen to review where she''s at. Thanks to the habit that she''d developed with Kisuke and maybe the side-effect of the ''refreshing'' candies she was having, most of the information outside started going through her senses without her processing it very much. If she was not in any immediate danger or an emergency situation didn''t arise, she won''t exit her ''concentration mode''.


    Riveria and the girls talked to her and asked her several questions but she was already unresponsive. "W-when did she develop such an intense concentration?", muttered Riveria in amazement. She knew for sure that their voices were reaching her as the wind would go through her barrier.


    Riveria then asked the others not to talk to her anymore and let her concentrate. The others agreed and decided to watch what she''s doing closely. They wanted to know what she''d learnt in her time of absence.


    A minuteter, Line stopped reading her notes and raised her left arm. While looking at it, a purple Magic Circle suddenly manifested on the top of her hand without her muttering anything.


    ''She''s already at this point!?'' Riveria eximed internally as she couldn''t even materialize a Magic Circle as fast as her, not to mention, it was much moreplicated than what she''d ever tried to do.


    All of sudden, crackling sounds started popping out as electricity started dancing around her Magic Circle. It was the rarest type of Elemental Magic, Lightning Magic.


    But before others could react, the electricity started getting stronger until it suddenly exploded on her left arm, "Kyaa!"


    With her small scream and her Magic failing, Line''s Magic Circle instantly disintegrated and her arm wascerated numerous times. As arge amount of blood started dripping on the ground, Riveria shouted in panic, "Lefiya! Take out the strongest Elixir! Now!"


    "Y-yes!", answered Lefiya as she scrambled to grab her Elixir and give it to Riveria. But as Riveria stepped forward with the Elixir in her hand, she realized that the barrier was still up and blocking her way. "Line! Open the barrier!", she yelled as she knocked on it.


    But to her and everyone else''s shock, Line still ignored Riveria''s calls and grabbed her pen instead, "So Lightning Magic isn''t just about controlling the Magic Power, but also controlling the charges. ording to Kisuke-san''s book about ''Physics''. I wasn''t able to understand most of it but it says that ''Electric current moves from ''positive'' to ''negative''. In other words, I have to create a set of instructions in my current Magic Circle to create this ''positive'' and ''negative'' to guide the Lightning. It seems that I have to review that book again and figure out how to do that.", she started muttering with her right hand right on her notes while her left arm left hanging in the air, healing with her already mastered Healing Magic.


    Everyone was speechless. For the first time since the Loki Familia started training the mysterious method, the Twilight Manor''s backyard became silent. It was so silent that everyone could hear Line''s muttering and the sound of people''s activity from outside.


    The silence and shock continued as they didn''t want to disturb Line who was apparently healing her wounds. If that magic were to fail too, it would be their fault.


    A quarter of an hour without movement, Line finally finished healing her arm back to its original state and she was also done with her review and revision. "Yosh! Let''s try it again!", she cheerfully shouted.


    "STOP!!!" Riveria''s intense shout finally interrupted Line''s line of thought.


    Line was startled and hurriedly answered, "Y-yes!? Riveria-sama? What is it?"


    Riveria and the others were stunned yet again with her clueless expression. "Have you... Is this how you always do your ''research''?", asked Riveria with a twitching mouth.


    Not knowing what she was angry about, Line answered honestly, "...Yes. It''s a really good training method as I can also practice my Healing Magic. Kisuke-san also agreed. Though he prohibited me from doing any experiments withrge scale andplex Magic without his supervision."


    Riveria put her hand on her forehead as arge headache attacked it, "...Ais... Call Loki and drag her here."


    Ais nodded and ran towards the interior of the Twilight Manor.


    After seeing her off, Riveria then red at Line, "Let''s wait for Loki and discuss what just happened now."


    Of course, she wasn''t angry at Line, but at the irresponsible guy who''d taught her this way.


    Without much choice, Line had to nod and answer, "...Yes."


    .


    .


    .


    "And that''s what happened this morning.", Loki finished her story, "I was really shocked at the expression they were making when I arrived, you know? Especially Bete''s. That''s the first time I''ve ever seen his jaw drop that much."


    After hearing her story, Hestia, Artemis, Sona and Medusa could only make a deadpan expression.


    Seeing this, Loki added, "What? Say something."


    As she requested, Sona indeed said something, but it wasn''t the response that she expected, "Give it up."

 Chapter 660 A Sudden and Painful Power Up?

    Chapter 660 A Sudden and Painful Power Up?


    When Kisuke woke up, there were two flowers on each of his sides and the first thought that entered his mind was, ''Who would have thought I''d reach this point someday. A harem? Looks like the previous world rubbed off on me more than I had imagined.''


    Kisuke knew that despite his personality being unchanged, his bottom line and moral values already were. However, he didn''t regret anything and would continue on this path that he''d already stepped on, not just for himself, but also for those who believed in him.


    After admitting it to himself, Kisuke sighed in relief as if a huge weight left his shoulders. Fully epting his reality, the small doubts within his eyes had finally disappeared and were reced by a bright conviction.


    As his mindset went through a small but monumental change, the Hougyoku that had already fused with his body suddenly reacted, prompting Yoruichi and Kuroka to wake up due to Kisuke''s aura suddenly shifting. "What''s going on!?", asked Yoruichi in concern.


    "I don''t know.", replied Kisuke while he prepared to strengthen the seal on his rising energy levels, "Sorry, but take me to a quiet ce."


    "On it, nya!" Kuroka immediately left the bed and activated the teleportation circle that she''d prepared long ago in case they needed to escape from their rented house.


    It didn''t take long for Kuroka''s teleportation magic to take effect and they reappeared in a clearing in the middle of a forest just a few secondster.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka then jumped away from Kisuke while materializing their clothes and Yoruichi additionally threw four kunai knives around Kisuke, erecting a powerful barrier, "Are you going to be alright?"


    Kisuke sat cross-legged and closed his eyes before replying, "...Yeah... I think so."


    His unsure answer made Yoruichi and Kuroka only more worried, but they didn''t say anything else, lest they disturb his concentration. Instead, they each went to do something they thought could help. While Yoruichi strengthened the barrier around Kisuke and added additionalyers to it, Kuroka used her Senjutsu and Youjustu to create a mist and an illusion that would deter anyone from approaching their spot. Seeing that, Yoruichi also added ayer of a sound-insting barrier to the surroundings for better camouge.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke carefully watched the movement of his energy and asked his partner, ''Benihime, any idea on what''s happening?''


    ''Not too sure either. But if you want a guess from a third party''s perspective, I think the Hougyoku just granted your wish. Aside from that, I don''t have any other guesses.''


    ''My wish, huh? I really have no idea how this mess of a ball works.''


    ''Well, the fact that you can''t recreate it anymore despite following your previous procedure is already a testament to that,'' replied Benihime with a chuckle, ''Your guess that an invisible hand assisted both you and Aizen in creating that thing has be even more believable.''


    Kisuke became quiet one more time as he tried to control his energy that was about to go berserk. However, even after strengthening the seal, the Hougyoku didn''t stop. Kisuke had to find another way to calm these energies down or his body would break down.


    Unlike Aizen who had an unnaturally enormous amount of Reiryoku to begin with, Kisuke''s soul wasn''t ustomed to such pressure. He could let his soul slowly adapt to this, but that would take some time and he didn''t have that kind of time right now.


    After trying a few things out but to no avail, Benihime suddenly spoke in his mind again, ''Why don''t you just let it go?''


    ''And die?'', asked Kisuke.


    ''That''s the problem with you. You''re too logical. Your instincts are also telling you to let go, aren''t they? Why don''t you give up and try trusting your guts this one time?''


    ''That''s essentially the same as trusting this broken wishing orb to do whatever it wants.''


    ''What are you so afraid of? I''m here with you, remember?''


    Kisuke became silent once again as he contemted Benihime''s words. As it was now, the Hougyoku would break through his seals and that may cause more damage than letting it ''explode''. And indeed, Benihime correctly guessed that his instincts had been telling him to just let it go do its job.


    All this time, he had been trying to find the reason why he was feeling this way to justify this instinct and go with it, but he couldn''t. He could also try sealing the Hougyokupletely as he''d already prepared for something like this, but he also had a feeling that if he were to do this, a great opportunity would be lost. Right now, Kisuke was torn between ''safety'' and the ''unknown future''.


    A few minutester, Benihime spoke up again as she noticed that the situation had reached a critical state, ''If you want to do something, you have to do it now.''


    Thankfully, Kisuke didn''t let her wait and answered, ''...Fine. This is my first real gamble.''


    As he reached a decision, Kisuke removed all the seals which kept the Hougyoku at bay.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka immediately noticed the change in Kisuke and moved ording to it. Yoruichi opened the top portion of the barrier and Kuroka cloaked Kisuke''s surroundings and upwards with her illusions.


    A split second after they did so, a crimson beam of light emerged from Kisuke and parted the sky. If it wasn''t for Kuroka''s illusions, the inhabitants of the Dizara Region would have noticed this crimson pir that pierced through to the Heavens.


    Of course, despite their best efforts to hide this spot, they couldn''t fully contain the energy fluctuations from Kisuke and it attracted numerous Gods and some sensitive people.


    "Kuroka, extend the confusing mist three kilometers more. We have to buy as much time as possible.", instructed Yoruichi.


    Kuroka nodded and released the Ki that she had been saving. ck mes started fluttering around her, red patterns appeared on her face and the number of her tails increased to nine. Arge red Magic Circle then appeared below her, making the mist around them not just extend for three kilometers in all directions but also a lot thicker, making it almost impossible to navigate through it.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke closely watched the changes happening in his physical body and soul without interrupting any of it.


    The first thing that happened was that the Hougyoku started saturating his soul with Reiryoku to the point of almost making it implode. Kisuke experienced untold pain as foreign Reiryoku invaded his soul, however, he didn''t do anything about it and continued watching stoically.


    When his soul almost couldn''t take it anymore, the Reiryoku from the Hougyoku suddenly flowed in a different direction. More specifically, towards the core of his Falna.


    While being shocked, Kisuke and Benihime witnessed how the energy produced by the Hougyoku got absorbed by the Falnapletely. Even then, the two of them only watched for a couple of seconds before they understood what must be done.


    Falna, the God''s blessing, wasn''t Kisuke''s. So what he had to do was to wrest itpletely away from the system governing this world.

 Chapter 661 Another One

    Chapter 661 Another One


    Wresting away the Falna from the System''s control may sound easy and it was indeed, at least for Kisuke. However, the consequences of doing that weren''t ideal in that it''d predominate the benefits that he would get from doing it.


    Not to mention bing an ''enemy'' of the system, the source of his Falna, Hestia, might receive a bacsh along with those others to whom she''d granted her Falna to begin with.


    Of course, it was not like Kisuke hadn''t thought of a way to circumvent this, but he still hadn''t figured out anything that would him the most benefits he could have, ''I don''t have much of a choice. The most I can do now is to break the Falna''s structure and make it look like it didn''te from Hestia.''


    By doing this, not only will he be losing his connection to Hestia, but the blessing''s effect on his body would almost lose its effects and his soul would incur some damages. He couldn''t care less regarding thest two and he was already satisfied that Hestia wouldn''t be put in danger, ''It''s a shame that I can''t get the most out of it, but it''s better than nothing.''


    While preparing to restructure his Falna, a sudden connection was established to it and it wasn''t from Hestia, ''!?''


    Kisuke decided to halt his actions and tried to trace the connection. But before he could do that, a deep voice of a woman suddenly rang in his head, ''What are you?''


    Being startled, Kisuke used everything he had to gather more information instead of replying.


    But the voice didn''t care about what he was doing and continued, ''I smell Chaos'' scent on you. Are you his pawn?''


    After a few seconds of extensive information collection, Kisuke finally got a clue as to where the connection wasing from, ''The Dungeon!?''


    Unperturbed, the voice added, ''I see that you are an outsider... and also know almost nothing.''


    ''Who are you?'', asked Kisuke while trying to gather more concrete information.


    But instead of answering, the voice asked, ''What is this power? And what were you about to do with your connection to Heaven? As Chaos'' pawn, this seems to be counterintuitive.''


    Kisuke was in a predicament. He didn''t know who was talking to him and he didn''t have any logical step to follow after this. He also had a feeling that he couldn''t lie to this voice and contemted whether or not he should just go all-in with his ''guts'' since he already started it.


    ''Ah screw it! I''m already at this stage! First of all, I''m not Chaos''s pawn nor I will be in the future. Second, I''m taking this ''connection'' for my own.'', Kisuke decided to answer honestly as his gut dictated him.


    ''...How surprising.'', replied the voice in its usual uninterested tone, ''But I doubt that you''ll ever get away from his schemes... regardless of your wishes.''


    Kisuke, however, only had one response to that. With a smirk that naturally came to his face, Kisuke answered brimming with motivation and confidence, ''Try me.''


    The voice didn''t reply but Kisuke could still feel the owner''s presence through his Falna, so he waited.


    A minuteter, the voice finally said something, ''You misunderstand the thing that you call Falna.''


    Kisuke was confused about the sudden change in the topic but continued to listen.


    ''This connection to Heaven isn''t a blessing. Although it gives you power, it''s only minusculepared to how grand Heaven is. It is because you contributed to it, that''s why it refines your soul and grants power to that refined soul. The more refinement, the more power it can give. But as I said, only if you contribute.''


    ''Once you''ve reached a certain amount of contributions and went through enough refinements, it would then grant you a permanent connection to Heaven.''


    Kisuke took a deep breath and replied to it, ''In other words... You''ll be a ve of Heaven, a Deity.''


    The voice didn''t say anything regarding that, but it was a silent affirmation.


    All of a sudden, however, Kisuke''s Falna started changing on its own. More specifically, arge amount of information was being written in it, ''What''s this?''


    ''A set of instructions on how the system of Heaven refines souls. Also, Heaven won''t be able to take back this Falna from you anymore.''


    ''Why?''


    ''First, it seemed that you needed this, and second, because I made it so.''


    ''How?''


    ''Simple, I created Heaven. Maybe we''ll meet again.'', instantaneously, the presence inside his Falna disappearedpletely.


    Kisuke couldn''t help but smile wryly, ''So we''re stuck between these two powerful beings that clearly don''t get along... Well, I''d rather deal with this new one with a ''watch and see'' attitudepared to that scheming gentleman out in the void.''


    Kisuke immediately noticed that his Falna''s connection to Hestia became rather ''empty'', but it was not noticeable if not scrutinized. The upstream of information also stopped, confirming the words of that unknown being to him of being ''disconnected'', but not noticed by the system.


    What he had now was a Falna, but a standalone one with bonus instructions up to Level 10. As long he fed it with energy, he could automatically Level up to 10 as long as his soul could take it. Of course, he wouldn''t do that because he wanted to understand the instructions that made that possible first, and maybe, modify them a bit based on his knowledge. Soul tech of two different worlds, Kisuke was looking forward to the result of this fusion.


    It was also then that Kisuke tried to guess what the Hougyoku was trying to do, ''Did it intend to ''contribute'' to the system in exchange for power?.. Or did it intend to contact the system''s owner?''


    However, he wasn''t able to reach a clear answer.


    Setting that aside, for now, Hougyoku''s actions were far from done. As it saturated the Falna with energy, making it possible to unlock the soul refinement instructions until Level 10, the wish item then focused on his physical body.


    Unlike the other two times where the Hougyoku just saturated both his Soul and Falna with Reiryoku (Spiritual Power), the Hougyoku instead controlled Kisuke''s Reiatsu-Ki and the more destructive variant of Magic Power, Demonic Power.


    Kisuke observed intently as the Hougyokubined these energies through some unknown method. ''...How fascinating...'', thought Kisuke as he tried to memorize every single detail forter studies.

 Chapter 662 Hougyoku’s Last Service

    Chapter 662 Hougyoku��s Last Service


    Through some unknown means, the Hougyoku started mixing Reiatsu-Ki and Demonic Power, resulting in apletely different type of energy that didn''t just have the properties of the other three, but also some unknown ones that Kisuke couldn''t tell as of now.


    However, he wasn''t able to observe much longer when this new energy returned to his body and started tearing it apart, "Guhh!!! Arrggghhhh!!!"


    Even for the extremely pain-resistant Kisuke, with all his nerves and every cell in his body was being torn apart, he couldn''t help but groan and howl in pain. "Kisuke!?", Kuroka, and especially Yoruichi, were very shocked by this.


    He didn''t reply, but Kisuke gritted his teeth and raised his arm to say that he was doing fine.


    Although this new type of energy surpassed his existing ones, Kisuke didn''t have a way to produce it naturally, so even if he had it, it would just deplete over time as he wouldn''t be able to hold onto it forever either.


    So in return, the Hougyoku tried to let Kisuke''s body adapt to it, forcefully. If it was any other person, they would have instantly died and be a blob of messed-up meat. For Kisuke, fortunately, his Hollow factor immediately kicked in and hastily connected to his physical body, repairing it as it got destroyed over and over again.


    From an outside perspective, white matter starteding out of Kisuke''s orifices, covering his whole body like a cocoon. From that point on, Yoruichi and Kuroka couldn''t hear any of Kisuke''s cries anymore. "Yoruichi! What should we do, nya!?", asked Kuroka towards Yoruichi while starting to panic.


    Yoruichi contemted for a few seconds before sitting down, "We wait."


    Kuroka gritted her teeth in frustration. But a few secondster, she sighed and jumped away, leaving the words, "Some people have entered my mist. I''m going to watch them carefully in case they get closer."


    Yoruichi watched her leave and then closed her eyes, focusing her senses on the changes in Kisuke, ''You better not go off dying on your own.''


    Within Kisuke''s inner world, Benihime watched her crimson castle copse and the blood-filled world got drained. Since Kisuke''s soul was directly connected to his physical body and started contesting it with regeneration, the new energy went towards it too, destroying it in a simr manner as Kisuke''s body, exponentially increasing his torment. ''So this is my cue.'', thought Benihime as she disappeared from her spot.


    By bing a bridge between his soul and physical body, Benihime was able to stabilize the cirction of Kisuke''s regeneration, enabling it to catch up to the rate of destruction. However, this irreversibly changed things.


    By bing a bridge, Benihime had to absorb the same energy and change through it, effectively bing a permanent link for Kisuke''s soul and body. This meant that Kisuke wouldn''t be able to separate his soul and body anymore without discarding Benihime, which he would never do. If his physical body were to die, his soul woulde with it too.


    Kisuke noticed Benihime''s actions, but he trusted and didn''t stop her.


    The partners agonized for more than an hour until the forceful evolution ended.


    Yoruichi hurriedly opened her eyes and stood up when she felt that Kisuke''s cocoon started breaking. Meanwhile, Kuroka also returned when the disturbance within the barrier abated. The two of them watched as Kisuke''s cocoon cracked and disappeared into nothing, revealing Kisuke with his pale blonde hair draping until his waist and 12 ck energy streams ejecting from his back, resembling 6 pairs of ck wings. There were also 2 more pairs of these energy streams, but they were very small and kept disappearing.


    Yoruichi dispelled the barrier and used sh Step to instantly appear in front of Kisuke, catching him as he fell, "Goodness... You really made us extremely worried there."


    Without much strength, Kisuke looked up, "I also got extremely worried for myself... By the way, where''s Benihime?"


    "You''re disoriented enough that you can''t find her?", asked Yoruichi in shock before looking around.


    But before she could find it, Kuroka found it first, "Is this her, nyaa?" She lifted what seemed to be a standard-issue katana.


    Kisuke looked towards it and smiled, "Yep. Looks like she''s returned to her original form."


    After grabbing the katana, the energy streams from Kisuke''s back receded, disappearing entirely.


    Taking a deep breath, Kisuke tried standing up on his own. With great difficulty, he was able to do it, however, the feeling of weakness couldn''t bepared to what he was feeling overall now. From his perspective, everything became so clear that even Ki, Magic Power and Spiritual Power streams were visible to his naked eye.


    Each breath he takes slowly replenishes his missing energy. It was as if he was born with this body. Looking up to the parted sky, Kisuke muttered, "Yoruichi... I might just be a step behind transcendence."


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened before pouting, "That thing is really a cheating item. So the next time it starts acting up again, you''ll be at Ophis'' level?"


    Kisuke chuckled and shook his head, "There won''t be a next time. It''s already gone."


    Furrowing her brows, Yoruichi asked, "But in Aizen''s case, it didn''t disappear even afterpletely changing him. It might be strengthening him more to this day. Is yours different?"


    "I''m pretty sure it isn''t. But my path and my ''wish'' went way beyond the Hougyoku''s capabilities and therefore, it could only give me a huge boost and opportunity."


    Yoruichi became silent for a moment before muttering, "It''s really a different path, alright? Even this close to you, I can''t feel any Reiatsu nor Kiing from you. Not even Magic Power or Demonic Power... It really looks like you''re just an ordinary everyday young man."


    Hearing that, Kisuke chuckled even more, "That''s great news, then! I''m bing closer to my ideal merchant image!"


    "That''s what''s important to you, nyaa!?", Kuroka retorted from the side.


    "What up with that question? Of course, it''s important! It''s my main profession, after all!", Kisuke retorted back.


    Yoruichi immediately got in between the two of them and said while shrugging her shoulders, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You two argue about thatter, but for now, get dressed Kisuke. We''re not alone in this forest."


    "Right. I don''t really have a hobby of exposing myself.", with a snap of his finger, the ck energy with a touch of crimson surrounded Kisuke before forming into his usual attire, "This is neat~!"


    He then faced Yoruichi and said, "Please cut my hair."


    Taking out her knife, Yoruichi went behind him and said, "Sit down."


    As Kisuke sat down, he looked down on his Zanpakuto, Benihime, and thought, ''Looks like the ordeal stressed you out too, huh... Rest well.''

 Chapter 663 Astraea

    Chapter 663 Astraea


    Different from Aizen''s case where he waspletely transformed, Kisuke was just given a chance, even if the Hougyoku had used itself just to jump start up the process. Kisuke estimated that he was still a lot weaker than Aizen, even after he fully recovered, however, unlike Aizen who achieved his ideal and possibly final form, Kisuke''s path had just started.


    After cutting his hair, Kisuke''s pale blonde hair to his former shaggy appearance and putting on his favorite bucket hat. Yoruichi then immediately crouched down in front of Kisuke with her back facing him, "Although you can stand, you still can''t walk. Hop on."


    Kisuke hopped on her back and asked, "We can''t teleport back, after all? Sorry, my senses right now are a mess."


    Kuroka had been looking at the teleportation circle on the top of her hand and shook her head at Kisuke''s question, "It''s no use. The surrounding space is too disturbed to properly calcte our entry and exit points, nyaa. I can force it, but it''s too dangerous. The risk is not worth taking, nyaa."


    And while speaking, she also dispelled the mist that has been covering the forest, "Pandemonium is more than a hundred kilometers away from this spot, nyaa, but there''s a vige just a few kilometers from here where we could rest."


    "Let''s go there then," Yoruichi replied and Kuroka immediately led the way, avoiding numerous monsters and some Adventurers that came to investigate the mist that suddenly appeared and disappeared.


    On the way to the vige, Kisuke fell asleep on Yoruichi''s back and the girls didn''t disturb him. Yoruichi estimated that he''d need a few days of sleep to at least get some of his strength back. After that, he would be able to actively recover.


    A quarter of an hourter, the trio arrived at their destination, the vige of Sanes. It''s a rtively small vige that was surrounded by lined-up logs with sharpened tips as the fence.


    Approaching the entrance, Yoruichi asked the guard, "Excuse me. Do you have a free room where we could stay and rest?"


    The guard first looked at them silently before answering, "I''m sorry but it was already upied by a Familia who came yesterday to clear out the monsters in the area. You can try asking the residents if they are willing to share a room and food or something useful would be enough aspensation."


    "I see. Thanks. We''ll also join the effort to clear out monsters in the vicinityter."


    The guard smiled and said, "We should be the one thanking you. If you can''t find a ce after asking around,e back here and I''ll arrange something with the vige elder."


    But before Yoruichi could answer, someone approached them and interjected, "No need. We still got a few beds to spare. You can stay with us. After all, we can''t have you move him around in his current state."


    Yoruichi and Kuroka looked towards the source of the voice and saw Goddess with a long walnut brown hair that is gathered together behind her head in a dignified manner, along with deep indigo eyes that are reminiscent of a sea of stars. She''s also wearing a simple kirtle and a long skirt.


    Seeing her, the guard called out to her, "Astraea-sama. Is that fine with you? All of your members are women."


    Astraea shook her head and said, "It''s fine. It looks like he needs help more than anything else," she then looked towards Yoruichi and Kuroka who are making a subtle expression that is indistinguishable for most people, ''Do they know me?''


    However, she didn''t voice out her question and said, "Follow me. I''ll lead you to the ce we are staying."


    "Thank you very much, Astraea-sama," replied Yoruichi and silently followed her.


    When they arrived at the aforementioned ce, it resembled a longhouse that the Vikings used in their previous world. This one, however, had wooden floorboards instead of pounded earth. One could also immediately tell that it''s only designed for temporary lodging as there were only rows of beds on the side and a stone hearth in the middle where one could cook their meals.


    The only private space avable was a narrow room at the opposite end of the entrance that was meant to be a room where one could wash up and change clothes. Yoruichi and Kuroka now finally understood why the guard was a bit reluctant for them to stay here, ''Looks like the problem of those two big gender-based Familias existing managed to reach as far as this vige,'' Yoruichi thought.


    "You cany him down on the first bed from the left," Astraea pointed at a free bed.


    Yoruichiid the unconscious Kisuke down carefully and bowed towards Astraea, "Thank you very much, Astraea-sama."


    Astraea just smiled at her and said, "It''s fine. By the way, do you need a potion? Although we only have the cheap ones, it should be helpful if he has injuries."


    "No need, nyaa. He''s in a state simr to Mind Zero so he should be able to recover after some rest. Thank you for the offer, though, nyaa~!" Kuroka replied with a big smile, "But aren''t you worried that we''re bad guys, nyaa? You''re too kind and trusting."


    "That may be the case, but I don''t have any reason to think so. But regardless of what you may be, I''ll still choose to help you when you clearly need one. I''d rather help a few evil-doers than miss the good people," replied Astraea with a small smile.


    "I see... As expected of the Goddess of Justice," muttered Yoruichi.


    Astraea''s eyes widened slightly, "So you do know me..." But before she could continue any further, it became noisy outside.


    Recognizing the voices, Astraea immediately came out to see the guard and some vige residents assisting two of her children. But seeing one of them with a huge wound on their chest, Astraea shouted her name in panic as she ran towards them, "Liz!? April, what happened!?"


    With tears running down her cheeks, the cat person known as April looked up to Astraea, "A-Astraea-sama!!! Liz! Liz is..! Potions don''t work!!!"


    Within April''s arm was a Pallum in mage attire and across her chest was arge sh wound. With a very pale face, it''s obvious that she''d already lost too much blood and was on the verge of death.


    Astraea bit her lips and took out all the potions she had before pouring all of them on the wound. However, the wound only closed slightly before blood started to gush out again, reopening it, "No..." she muttered and tried to find something useful in her bag.


    But among the panicked voices, a calm one emerged from behind, parting the crowd, "Lay her on the ground properly."


    Yoruichi approached the wounded Pallum with a bottle of top-ss Elixir in her hand, "You are..." Astraea muttered but she immediately gave way to her.


    Without minding everyone, Yoruichi proceeded to pour half of the bottle on her wound before lifting the Pallum''s head and putting the remaining Elixir on her mouth, "If you want to live, do your best to drink it even if it''s painful."


    The Pallum heard her and felt the refreshing liquid within her mouth. Liz then tried her best to shallow the Elixir, not wasting a single drop of it.


    Yoruichi smiled at her and said, "Good," she then took out a red pill, crushing it with her bare hand, and put it inside the now empty bottle of Elixir. Conjuring water in it and giving it a good shake, Yoruichi once again put the bottle on her mouth, "This will help you replenish the blood you''ve lost."


    Now in a better state, Liz was able to drink the red juice without much difficulty this time.


    Everyone who was watching was amazed to see Liz''s wound closepletely and slowly recover the color of her face. Seeing her in a good state, April finally recalled something, "Oh no! Mildred and Cecil are still in the forest luring the monsters away! I have to save them!"


    But before she could standpletely, two hands pressed on her shoulders, stopping her actions. Looking up, she saw a ck-haired Cat Person, "Where are they, nyaa?"


    "T-they ran towards the east side of the forest..." April answered.


    "Is that so? Then stay here since you''re already tired and take care of yourpanion, nyaa. I''ll go assist them," Kuroka then turned around, ascertaining the direction she should go.


    Still, April tried to stand up. If she''s going to help, then she''s extremely thankful, but for a better chance of saving herrades, she should go too, "I''lle with... you?"


    Before she could finish her words, however, Kuroka suddenly jumped away, instantly disappearing from everyone''s view.

 Chapter 664 Astraea Familia

    Chapter 664 Astraea Familia


    April carefullyid Liz on her bed before facing Yoruichi with an almost tearful face, "Thank you very much! If it wasn''t for you, Liz would have died and I wouldn''t know what to do!"


    Astraea also approached Yoruichi and expressed her gratitude, "Thank you for saving my child. At least please tell me how much that Elixir cost. I''ll be sure to pay it back one day."


    Hearing that, Yoruichi immediately shook her head, "Please don''t think about it. That Elixir was not much for us. If it was able to help the child of our benefactor, then all the more reason not to ask for anything in return."


    While April''s eyes widened, Astraea''s face became filled with hesitation, "But I''ve never done anything for you aside from offering a ce to stay. This isn''t even our ce."


    Chuckling, Yoruichi replied with a small smile, "That may be the case. However, in certain situations, I greatly appreciate small gestures of kindness without any trace of malintent or calcting moves. In this case, you offered us what we really needed and even offered potions. Although the cheap ones, it''s also all that you had. So wouldn''t it just be fair to offer something of simr value from my perspective?"


    Smiling wryly, Astraea asked, "So you''re saying that Elixir is of the same value as our potions?"


    Yoruichi answered with a big grin on her face, "Correct~!"


    "It''s really hard to ept that."


    Touching her chin, Yoruichi thought of something before continuing, "Then how about this, in exchange for that Elixir, we made a good friend like Astraea-sama. Besides, I have a feeling that you''ll get along really well with our Goddess."


    "Your Goddess? Who is it?"


    "Hestia-sama."


    Astraea''s expression instantly changed from aplicated to a shocked one, "Hestia!? That shut-in actually decided to descend, leaving thefort of her Hearth!?"


    "Oh~ So you actually do know her~ But please don''t worry. She hasn''t actually changed and is still just azy bum."


    At that moment, Yoruichi was the first one to hear screams of fear getting near and looked towards that direction, "Looks like they''re here."


    Astraea and April became confused but soon enough, they also heard the screams and it was from familiar voices. Running out of their lodging, Astraea and April saw a small dot in the sky before it became bigger, forming a silhouette of a person dragging two other people. "...Are those Mildred and Cecil?", asked April.


    The screams became even louder and worse as they approached the ground. Even April and Astraea became pale at the rate they were descending at. But before they hit the ground, multiple shockwaves exploded out from under them, slowing their descent considerably, and they were able tond softly.


    Releasing their cors, Kuroka greeted them, "We''re back, nyaa~!"


    Meanwhile, the tall and slightly tanned Half Dwarf woman with dark red hair called Mildred, and the ck-haired Human woman, Cecil, were wheezing on all fours on the ground. "...I thought I was going to die...", muttered the former with a muffled voice.


    After taking several deep breaths, Cecil looked up and saw two familiar faces which reminded her of the fate of their youngest member. Hurriedly standing up, Cecil grabbed April''s shoulders in panic, "April! Where''s Liz!? What happened to Liz!?"


    Mildred also hurriedly stood up when she heard that, "Right! Where''s Liz!?"


    "Calm down, you two. She''s already safe and resting.", answered Astraea while stepping up and patting their shoulders to calm them down.


    "R-really?"


    "Yes. She''s currently inside."


    Mildred and Cecil then immediately went inside their temporary lodging and saw a peacefully sleeping Pallum. Cecil slowly and quietly approached Liz while trying to muffle her sobbing sound, "...Thank goodness..." Crouching to her side, Cecil gently held her hand as tears of relief fell down.


    Mildred, on the other hand, stayed back while wiping the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. She then faced Astraea and asked, "Astraea-sama... How... I mean I was not optimistic of her survival, even after luring the monsters away."


    April immediately pointed towards Yoruichi, "Thisdy here saved Liz! She''s..." However, she realized in that moment that she didn''t even know her name and turned to Astraea.


    Astraea''s face blushed a little in embarrassment as she also realized that she hadn''t even heard of their names.


    Yoruichi giggled at her reaction and proceeded to introduce herself, "My name''s Yoruichi Shihouin."


    Kuroka also raised her hand and added, "And I''m Kuroka Toujou, nyaa~! Nice to meet you!"


    Mildred offered her hand and introduced herself, "I''m Mildred, the Captain of the Astraea Familia. Nice to meet you too and may I ask how you saved my precious friend?"


    Yoruichi grabbed her hand with a grin and said, "Nothingplicated. Just with an Elixir."


    Hearing, that, Mildred froze with the corners of her mouth twitching, "E-Elixir you say... How much was it?"


    "Its quality was top-notch evenpared to those circted in the market so its estimated value was around 700,000 Valis."


    Mildred wiped her forehead now being covered by cold sweat, "7-700,000 you say... We''ll be sure to pay you back, but please give us time."


    "You''re charging them, nyaa?", Kuroka asked Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi separated her hand from Mildred before saying, "Of course not~ I just wanted to see what kind of expression they''d make."


    "I almost forgot... You''re cut from the same cloth as that guy, nyaa..."


    That said, Mildred could only ck her jaw at Yoruichi''s words, "Y-you''re not going to charge us!? I''m very thankful, but why?"


    "I already exined it to Astraea-sama, but to put it in simpler terms, she helped us out and it''s only right that we help her out, too. Aside from that, it also looks like she''s a friend of Hestia-sama."


    "T-that''s true... Aside from Artemis and Hephaestus, I''m one of Hestia''s few close friends.", Astraea confirmed her words.


    Yoruichi then shrugged her shoulders, "Then all the more reason we shouldn''t ask for anything back."


    "But..."


    "You see, that Elixir came from that guy.", Yoruichi pointed towards the unconscious Kisuke, "He tends to spoil Hestia-sama a bit too much, and if that guy were to know that you''re close friends with our Goddess, he might just give you a case containing a dozen of those Elixirs as a ''Thank you'' gift."


    "Please don''t. We wouldn''t be able to ept that.", Astraea immediately retorted.


    "In other words, that guy''s pretty well off so you don''t really have to sweat it."


    "Allow me to express my sincerest gratitude. Thank you. If not for you, Liz might have already left this world. However, we''ll still return this great favor someday. Please don''t reject that or we might not be able to properly sleep.", Mildred bowed her head to Yoruichi before turning to Kuroka, "To you too, Kuroka Toujou. Thank you very much for saving us from danger."


    "Fine. If we need something in the future, we''ll be sure to ask you. Of course, it''ll only be reasonable requests that you may or may not ept so you don''t have to worry.", was how Yoruichi settled things.


    "It''s fine, nyaa~! Happy to help~!"


    With everything seeming to be finally settled, April raised her hand to attract their attention, "By the way, I''m April! It''s very nice to meet you!"


    Immediately after, Cecil''s voice also rang out, "And I''m Cecil, the Vice-Captain of the Astraea Familia. It''s a pleasure to meet you and thank you very much for saving our Liz.", she said while wiping her tears away, "Yoruichi-san and Kuroka-san... I heard about you thest time I went to Pandemonium. You''re the famous rogue Mercenaries that appeared out of nowhere andid waste to the unreasonable members of the Aruna Familia."

 Chapter 665 Waking Up

    Chapter 665 Waking Up


    Three dayster, Kisuke finally woke up. Immediately sitting up and raising his arms, he shouted out, "I''m alive~!"


    But as he did so, the veins and muscle tissue in his arms suddenly ruptured, spurting blood everywhere before his forearm bones made snapping sounds, "Oya?"


    Around him, everyone was present and were making two distinct expressions. While Yoruichi and Kuroka were shocked, the rest of the Astraea Familia and Astraea herself were horrified at the sight of his arms suddenly being mangled.


    The first one to move was Yoruichi with her immediately taking out two Elixirs and pouring both of them on Kisuke''s arms while Kuroka hurriedly used magic to clean up the sttered blood and bits of flesh that were scattered around.


    While Yoruichi blocked everyone''s sight of Kisuke''s arms with her body, Kisuke promptly went ahead and did a quick self-diagnosis. The first thing he noticed was that the Elixir wasn''t actually affecting his wounds and would just slip off. However, as if he was in his full Vasto Lorde form, his arms started regenerating themselves without any input from Kisuke, and after a few seconds, his mangled arms were no more.


    Going wider with his diagnosis, he immediately came to know that he couldn''t use any Magic, Ki, or any of his Soul techniques. But after thinking about it, Kisuke thought that was normal. Even though the new type of energy coursing through his very being was a congregation of Demonic Power, Ki and Spiritual Power, it still followed a different set of rules.


    As for his body, when his arms were broken like frail twigs, it didn''t actually mean it got weaker. In fact, his body became a lot stronger in addition to his improved regeneration even outside of his transformation, making him invulnerable to most things. It was just that his new energy''s cirction was too wild even for his vastly improved body.


    By just simply swinging his arms and subconsciously using the method of control he was using for his Reiatsu-Ki, the new energy immediately exploded and mangled his arms, ''This is going to be tough...''


    All of a sudden, however, Yoruichi flicked his forehead. Nursing his forehead, Kisuke looked at Yoruichi, "What?"


    "You''ve got arge grin on your face. What''s up?"


    Touching his face, Kisuke felt that the corners of his lips were curled upwards before replying, "Nothing much. It''s just that I''m about to learn something new again~!"


    Technically, Kisuke became strong after the transformations that the Hougyoku had done to him. However, thanks to those transformations, especially to the type of energy that he used, he effectively became weaker as he couldn''t use any of his techniques and could only rely on his durability, but was easily mangled through idental self-destruction.


    He could, of course, always relearn everything. However, unlike with Magic and Ki, Kisuke didn''t have any references that he could use as this new type of energy transcended all the properties of Spirit, Magic and Ki. It would take a short while to regain his formerbat prowess.


    On the flip side, Kisuke estimated that even if someone were to cut his body into a thousand pieces, he still would be able to safely regenerate without any problems, making him almost an immortal. On top of that, even if he were to recover his formerbat prowess, it wouldn''t just stop at that. His progress would continue until he hit another bottleneck.


    As such, the disadvantages and advantages of the transformation, or more urately described as a chrysalis, became very clear. For Kisuke, however, the disadvantages were the ones that actually made him happy.


    If he needed to learn something, then it means that it was something new. And learning about this new thing meant that new perspectives, insights, and discoveries were soon to follow, which would in turn increase the things that Kisuke could actually do outside ofbat.


    But much less than all of that, Kisuke really just enjoyed learning new things. Unlike Aizen who sought more power, Kisuke was a person who sought more knowledge.


    Yoruichi sighed at his answer and said, "Take it easy... It seems really dangerous."


    "My case is actually very safe...", replied Kisuke before grabbing his Zanpakuto.


    Now that he couldn''t control his power, it was actually Benihime who was keeping the de''s shape. If she were to leave it to Kisuke who couldn''t do anything right now, it would just uncontrobly expand to suit his energy reserves.


    Kisuke tried talking to Benihime but all he got was an angry aura reply. Benihime,pared to Kisuke, was in a much more difficult state. Even when Kisuke had changed his energy reserves to that of Reiatsu-Ki to also amodate his physical body, it didn''t affect Benihime who was a purely Spiritual Being.


    But after the incident three days ago, Benihime had to ept the change or risk Kisuke dying from his physical body and soul body fusing permanently. As she had to be the linking bridge for the two, she had no choice but to be converted to suit the new energy type more.


    Of course, this change didn''t just bring advantages but also simr disadvantages to Benihime. Compared to Kisuke, however, Benihime didn''t have any prior experiences with controlling a different type of energy, and much worse, this change technically overwrote her entire existence as a Zanpakuto. Both Kisuke and Benihime thought that they were extremely lucky that Benihime was able to keep what makes her, ''her''.


    As such, Benihime was also having a tough time controlling her own powers to such a grade, that she couldn''t even speak to Kisuke and could only let out an angry and frustrated aura.


    With his arms fully healed, Yoruichi separated from him and Kisuke also slowly and carefully stood up, facing the people he was unfamiliar with, "Good afternoon, everyone. My name''s Kisuke Urahara. It''s a pleasure to meet you,dies."


    As he couldn''t materialize his Shihakusho, Kisuke was currently wearing an attire that was typical of this world, linen clothing, that Yoruichi and Kuroka had put on to him.


    "N-nice to meet you, too, Kisuke Urahara. I''m Astraea. It''s great to see that you''re finally awake after three days of rest, however, those arms... Are you truly fine?"


    Even as he moved and spoke, Kisuke was trying all sorts of things to control the wild energy inside of him. So to not cause another explosion of blood and flesh, Kisuke carefully raised his left arm, but fast and fluid enough to not to warrant any unnecessary worries, "Astraea-sama, is it? Sounds really familiar. Thank you for asking, but I''m really fine. See?"


    Still not convinced, Astraea asked, "B-but what happened earlier?"


    At this point in time, Kisuke finally recalled where he heard Astraea''s name. However, instead of mentioning that, he answered Astraea''s question, "You see, I was cursed beforeing to thisnd. This curse would spontaneously hurt me, but it would also cure me. Until this curse is lifted, I''ll be suffering from the pain it will continue to bring."


    Astraea''s children became even more horrified by his story. As Mercenaries, they''ve already experienced breaking a few bones, but they couldn''t imagine the torment they would receive if they were in Kisuke''s shoes.


    Of course, Astraea caught this lie but she didn''t point it out as it was not her right to know what it truly was, "Is that so... If there''s something we could do to lift that curse, please don''t hesitate to ask us. We''ll do our best to assist you."

 Chapter 666 Training once again

    Chapter 666 Training once again


    After a round of introductions, Yoruichi told Kisuke about the help they provided and Astraea''s friendly rtion with Hestia.


    Thinking for a bit, Kisuke suddenly asked Yoruichi and Kuroka, "How many Elixirs do you have?"


    "Just two.", answered Yoruichi.


    "Three with me.", added Kuroka.


    Since Kisuke couldn''t ess his inventory currently, he could only rely on Yoruichi and Kuroka''s own inventories. However, since they''re not ''Kisuke'', they didn''t amass random things.


    Closing his eyes, Kisuke rubbed his chin while muttering for everyone to hear, "Hmm... That''s a shame. I don''t have enough to give you a box."


    Hearing that, Astraea immediately panicked, "Stop that! Yoruichi and Kuroka already saved my children and that''s more than enough!"


    Meanwhile, Astraea''s children were shocked at his remark, ''H-he really did think about giving a box of those Elixirs...'', was what they all thought.


    "Then how about this? You can request me any one thing and I''ll personally fulfill it? Of course, under the impression that I''ll be able to do it."


    Shaking her head, Astraea replied, "You don''t have to. As I said, what Yoruichi and Kuroka have done was more than enough and I still think that we''re indebted to them."


    Behind her, Mildred, Cecil, April and Liz all nodded in unison.


    "Please ept it Astraea-sama.", Yoruichi suddenly chimed in, "This guy is one of the more stubborn people out there and won''t stop doing this. Just ept it and you don''t even have to request him anything."


    Astraea thought about her words and indeed, she could just simply ept Kisuke''s offer and forget about it. Sighing, Astraea finally nodded to the smiling Kisuke, "I dly ept it. Thank you."


    "If you ever need something, please don''t hesitate to tell me~." For Kisuke, it was enough for her to ept his offer. In any case, if they were toe across a ''problem'' they would certainly remember this.


    "Now then, Astraea-sama. Thank you again for everything, but we have to leave now.", Kisuke suddenly changed the subject.


    Astraea immediately disagreed, "Now? It''s already afternoon and traveling at this time of the day won''t be advisable. On top of that, you''ve just woken up and haven''t even eaten anything. You should rest and regain your stamina first."


    Kisuke stood up and looked outside, "We''re fine. As you''ve probably noticed, Yoruichi and Kuroka are pretty strong and I do have my own expertise. We''re also already behind on our projected schedule so we have to move on."


    Yoruichi and Kuroka also stood up and started packing up.


    Seeing Kisuke''s expression, Astraea sighed, "Fine... But be careful out there. I would hate to hear of something bad happening to Hestia''s children."


    "Thank you."


    Since they didn''t have much, to begin with, Yoruichi and Kuroka were able to pack everything up within just two minutes. The Astraea Familia apanied the three until they reached the gates of the vige.


    After saying their final farewells, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka took the direct path towards the city of Pandemonium.


    Once they were out of their sights, Mildred asked Astraea, "Yoruichi and Kuroka are going to be fine, but won''t there be some problems for that guy?"


    Astraea smiled and answered, "They are going to be just fine."


    "But for them to leave just like that... It seems that they''re really in a hurry. Too bad... Astraea-sama has been looking forward to hearing about Ryuu-senpai from him as apparently, he knew more about her than those two.", muttered Cecil.


    Looking at the direction of the far distant Orario, Astraea replied as a gentle wind blew her face, "Don''t worry about it. We''ll have more chancester on."


    Astraea, however, knew that Kisuke was lying about being in a hurry due to being behind the schedule, but she also noticed that he seemed to be enduring something so she didn''t force them to stay for a while.


    "That''s true...", Mildred nodded in agreement before turning towards her fellow Familia members, "Alright, let''s go home and rest up early. Thanks to Yoruichi and Kuroka, we were able to clear the monsters within the surroundings of the vige, giving us plenty of time. However, we should still hurry as this isn''t the only vige suffering from the increased number of monster attacks, so we should move to the next one early tomorrow."


    " " "Roger!" " ", answered the three in unison before Liz suddenly raised a question, "How about the mysterious mist that suddenly enveloped the forest three days ago? We still don''t know anything about it."


    "Cecil already sent a letter to Pandemonium regarding this matter and other Familias within the vicinity should have too. A well-equipped Familia should arrive any time now to investigate so let''s not worry about this unknown problem."


    April, on the other hand, turned to Astraea and asked, "What about you, Astraea-sama? What do you think about this strange incident?"


    Astraea shook her head, "I don''t have any idea what it was. Maybe it was a rare kind of magic that went wrong or maybe something else entirely.", but truth to be told, Astraea had a feeling that this phenomenon had something to do with Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka. But as usual, she didn''t reveal her thoughts about them.


    .


    .


    .


    Deep within the forest, the three suddenly stopped walking as Kisuke started bleeding throughout his body, "Crap... This is harder than I thought."


    Kuroka wanted to touch him but stopped her hand mid-air, "A-are you really going to be fine, nyaa? You won''t suddenly drop dead on us, would you?" Since she didn''t know what was going on, she couldn''t help but be extremely worried.


    Kisuke only chuckled as his wounds suddenly started closing up as if the time was being rewound on him, "Don''t worry. After that incident, I actually became a lot harder to kill. I presume that even if you separate my head from my body, I would still be fine."


    However, after that remark, Kisuke flinched at the angry re that he received from the two of them, "Even if that is true, please don''t ever do that... Not even as a joke.", dered Kuroka. Both of them knew that Kisuke might really try severing his head, but between Yoruichi and Kuroka, thetter was much more furious due to the fact that she wasn''t really used to Kisuke''s dangerous antics.


    Raising both of his hands in surrender, Kisuke replied, "Okay. I promise I won''t do that." Not wanting to be in this awkward situation anymore, Kisuke immediately changed the topic, "However, thanks to my condition, I will have to relearn all of my daily activities like a baby. With that, you''ll have to be my bodyguards, until I can fight back without identally killing my opponents."


    "So how are you going to learn how to move around? By just simply walking?", asked Yoruichi.


    "Of course not! There''s no better teacher than experience, be it a sess or a failure! So to start with, let''s go bash some monster heads before teleporting back."


    "That''s learning how to run before you can walk, nyaa!!!", retorted Kuroka.

 Chapter 667 A Rare Researcher

    Chapter 667 A Rare Researcher


    It took Kisuke a whole day just to prevent himself from self-destructing while doing his everyday activities. However, he estimated that it may take more or less a month to properly fight. Fortunately, even if he can''t fight, that''s only physically and studying techniques like Magic and Kidou would be a lot easier for him.


    "How is it, Kuroka?" Yoruichi asked her cat friend who had been checking the state of the surrounding space.


    "We''ve gone far enough away from the epicenter so the surrounding space has already stabilized. I can do my calctions properly now, nyaa. Shall we go?" Kuroka looked towards Kisuke who was currentlyying on the ground while he waited for his wounds topletely heal.


    "Yep. We should go," Kisuke stood up and a purple magic circle appeared below them before the three of them disappeared, reappearing in their rented house.


    "I wanted you to make another base around here, but it looks like it won''t be possible for a short while," Yoruichi sighed thinking that they''d have to put up with more ''guests'' that won''t easily leave them alone.


    "That you don''t have to worry about. Even if I can''t do much with my abilities technically sealed, I can still make magic items to repel some pests. I just need some materials to start with."


    Yoruichi stared at Kisuke before saying, "Right... I almost forgot... You aren''t just a pervert and a Candy Shop owner."


    "Hey! I''m also a Mercenary now! And a Magic Engineer."


    "Please don''t forget that you''re also an Adventurer, a part-time Devil, a terrorist, and Funeral Director, Mortician or something, nyaa..." Since Kuroka knew that his sword called Benihime purifies souls and Kisuke''s extensive expertise with souls, she just assumed he most likely dealt with dead souls before.


    Yoruichi and Kisuke only smiled at her remark. Both of them nned to tell everyone close to them about their ''past life'', but not anytime soon. Either way, that fact won''t really change anything as it''s not really important in their current rtionships and would never be a factor of it.


    Stretching his limbs once again, Kisuke made sure that he wouldn''t randomly explode again and said, "Alright~! Let''s go shopping! Let''s make those pest-repent items. Any requests?"


    "I want something explosive, nyaa!" Kuroka first requested.


    "I want something that would make someone kiss the floor," Yoruichi added.


    .


    .


    .


    As they moved the streets of Pandemonium, many looked their way but none of them really bothered them. What''s surprising though was they came across some members of the Aruna Familia and nothing happened.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka knew how they usually act so they were shocked when all of them ran away from them, "This is really strange..," muttered Yoruichi.


    "What is?"


    "Even if they are the weak members of that Familia, they would still provoke their enemies for their pride, nyaa. So it''s indeed very strange they would just run away from us without doing anything."


    Yoruichi then just shrugged her shoulders and continued walking, "Well, we don''t really have to do anything with them. If we deal with small problems simr to that every time, there would be no end to it. Keeping a bit of an eye on them should be more than enough. And if something were to happen, it doesn''t have to be us to solve it... Though it would be different if a friend were to get involved."


    Kisuke looked around to see where the materials he needed, "A bit of assistance is enough for that."


    As they went through the market, the three both had a lot of monster materials and ores that are usually used for equipment crafting and theirst stop was the area where Magic Stones are being traded.


    Unlike Orario where Magic Stones were being strictly regted by the Guild, Magic stones are being traded like normal monster materials as it''s also used for Magic Sword manufacturing and powering of daily household items like lights.


    Of course, deep-level Magic Stones are not being publicly traded as it was always at the hands of big and strong Familias and would only exchange hands between them. Since they have no use for it, Yoruichi and Kuroka always sold the Magic Stones they got to the Astarte Familia, Poseidon Familia, and the Alliance. As such, they almost didn''t have anything Kisuke could use.


    Separating from Kuroka and Yoruichi who went to get food, Kisuke saw something he could use pointed to a certain Magic Stone, "Boss, give me that."


    But at the same time, another voice rang out, also pointing towards the Magic Stone he wanted, "I''ll take that Treant Magic Stone!"


    Kisuke looked beside him and saw a rtively small Amazoness that wears a mage attire. This is actually the first time he saw an Amazoness not wear those ridiculous articles of clothing as if they arepeting who can show the most skin, "Hey, kid. What are you going to do with this Magic Stone?"


    "Who are you calling a kid!? I''m already 19!" The Amazoness retorted.


    "Hey, old kid. What are you going to do with this Magic Stone," Kisuke repeated his words, albeit a little bit different from the first one.


    The small Amazoness stomped his foot in anger, "I said I''m not a kid! And what the hell is an old kid anyway!? It doesn''t make sense!" However, the Amazoness suddenly saw something in Kisuke''s hand. It was the Magic Stone she wanted and Kisuke already tossed a bag of coins towards the stall keeper, "Y-you...!" The Amazoness pointed at him with an unbelieving face.


    "Thank you for your purchase," The keeper received Kisuke''s payment before facing the Amazoness, "I''m sorry miss Tenestra, but thisd grabbed it first," The keeper knew of the Amazoness good reputation so he''s not worried that a bacsh woulde his way.


    With a grin, Kisuke said, "Too bad, you got too distracted, like a kid would~"


    Tenestra gritted her teeth. She has been sharing all morning and this is the only Treant Magic Stone she found so she can''t easily give up, "I''ll pay you double the price you got it, please give it to me."


    "I''m sorry to disappoint you, but I also need this particr one so I''m not selling it?"


    "You need that? Although it''s indeed rare, it''s useless for any daily appliances as they emit a nasty smell when the Magic Power inside them is consumed. Aside from weird Magic Swords or some experiment, I don''t think there are any other uses for it."


    Kisuke looked at the Magic Stone and replied, "Really? I don''t really know about it. Then what about you? What are you going to use this for?"


    "You don''t know about that!? Then please sell it to me! I''ll still double the price! I need it for my experiment! I''m telling you, the smell it releases is really nasty!"


    Kisuke became interested as not many people have an interest in ''experiments'' as Falna gives them everything, "Experiment? What experiment?"


    That question, however, tickled Tenestra''s passion. After all, no one was really interested in her research and experiments as they were too hard for them toprehend them, "A-are you interested?" she asked before letting her mouth runoff.

 Chapter 668 An Oddball

    Chapter 668 An Oddball


    At her question, Kisuke smiled and said, "I am. And if you can convince me, then I''ll give this to you for free."


    Tenestra''s eyes shone and she immediately took out several papers from her pack and passed them to Kisuke, "Listen! I''m currently researching how the Magic Circles deployed by the Mage developmental ability can be cast without one being a Mage with the help of an item simr to a Magic Sword!"


    "Hooh? So you''re saying that the Magic Circles that appear with the help of the Mage developmental ability can be used to cast Magic without one being a Magic-user?", replied Kisuke while looking through the papers he got.


    Tenestra''s eyes widened in excitement as no one had ever given her a reply like that, "Of course! Since this is the case, we should capitalize on this fact and develop another branch of item crafting!"


    "In that case, why do you want this Magic Stone in particr? It''s nasty, isn''t it?"


    Tenestra then crossed her arms and propped up her almost nonexistent chest in pride before saying, "To be honest, I''ve already created a working prototype that uses simple fire magic! However, a Magic Sword can already easily do that, so the next magic I wanted to replicate and study is the ''Vine Trap'' magic that uses vines and roots to hold onto enemies. Since I''ve never heard of anyone seeding in making a Magic Sword that uses control or barrier-type magic, I chose this particr magic! If I''m sessful, my research would immediately be put on the same level as Magic Swords and Magic Items! Why? Because producing the Magic Circles itself doesn''t require you to have the Mystery or cksmith abilities!"


    "I need that particr Magic Stone because it came from a Treant, a tree monster. For some reason, despite copying the Magic Circle and making the necessary adjustments, I still can''t seem to activate it. This is why I came to think that something could be different if the Magic Power source were toe from something closely rted to it."


    Tenestra then delved deeper into her thoughts as she exined things to Kisuke. But as she went on, she forgot that she was exining something and just continued on muttering the possible ways to make her research a sess.


    It was only around 10 minutester when Tenestra finally got a hold of herself and recalled that Kisuke was still in front of her, ''Crap... My bad habit...''


    To her surprise, however, Kisuke was still standing in front of her and never left. She was happy and was about to say something when she noticed that Kisuke was scribbling in her all-important notes, "Hey! What''re you doing!?" Tenestra immediately snatched it from his hand and checked what he had done to it.


    Tenestra gritted her teeth in anger when she saw red ink all over her beloved work and was about to spout profanities at him when she noticed something strange about the things he had done, ''...What is this...? Corrections?''


    All of a sudden, Kisuke started speaking while ying with the pen he used to ''scribble'' on her notes, "Different from most Elemental-type Magics, Nature-type Magic doesn''t just require Magic Power, but also Life Force. Although you were able to copy the Magic Circle and make some sensible adjustments, you still failed to ount for the importance of the incantation from the Magic-user because you thought it wasn''t required since you seeded the first time."


    "Incantation, in this case, doesn''t just gather the required Magic Power, but also a bit of Life Force to transfer it to the Magic itself to make it possible and also allows a high degree of control. Else, you''ll just be randomly grabbing things with this even if you were to seed."


    "In there, I made the necessary corrections for better stability and cut out unneeded stuff. I also added variations of ''Vine Trap'' that you can use, the first forcibly grows the nt matter and the second just controls it. Finally, on thest page, I''ve added a Magic Circle that you can use to gather Life Force from the surroundings, saving the user theplication of channelling it themselves. Though you''ll have to work on your own to incorporate that into your Magic."


    Tenestra was stunned into silence as she looked back and forth between Kisuke and her corrected notes. Memorizing what he''d just said, Tenestra carefully went through the red ink, trying to understand it.


    Tenestra then became lost in thought until the stall keeper nudged her, "Uhmm... Miss Tenestra? Are you alright?"


    Tenestra immediately woke up from her stupor and looked towards the stall keeper before hurriedly looking towards Kisuke. However, the mysterious man had already disappeared, "Mister! Where''s the guy I was just talking to!?"


    "Him?", the stall keeper became confused, "He left a long time ago. You''ve been standing there for half an hour, miss."


    "Wha...?" Another one of her bad habits. If her older sister were to know of this, she was sure to be scolded again for daydreaming in the middle of the street and would hear at least an hour long lecture of how dangerous doing something like this was.


    Looking around, Tenestra thought nervously, ''No one from my Familia saw that, right?''


    Seeing that none of herrades was around, Tenestra sighed in relief before looking back at the stall keeper, "Mister, do you know who that guy was?"


    "You mean the one who snatched the Magic Stone from you?" The stall keeper shook his head, "No."


    Tenestra''s shoulders dropped in disappointment as she thought that it was going to be hard to search for him until the stall keeper continued speaking, "But I do know the two women who came to him after talking to you. They are the famous rogue Mercenaries, Yoruichi Shihouin and Kuroka Toujou."


    Tenestra''s eyes immediately shone in excitement and ran off, "Thanks, mister!"


    ''That''s the guy that big sister met the other day!?'', she thought. But after taking some distance, Tenestra slowed down until she stopped moving and muttered to herself, "I''m just going to disturb him if I go to him now, won''t I?"


    After contemting a bit more, Tenestra decided to return home, "I don''t know why he gave such important information to me, but I have to verify everything in here before I confront him again. Thanking himter won''t be toote."


    .


    .


    .


    A bit earlier, Kisuke was able to gather the materials that he needed. "So, what were you doing with the oddball of the Astarte Familia?", asked Yoruichi suddenly while biting a mouthful of grilled meat skewers.


    "Oddball?"


    "Although there isn''t really a culture for giving Aliases to the Mercenaries around here, Tenestra of the Astarte Familia was able to get one, nyaa~ By sessfully discarding the incantations on two of her Magics, she''s known as the Silent Mage.", supplemented Kuroka.


    "She''s considered a genius. But as geniuses are to do, she became engrossed in the possibility of using other''s Magic. Since one can only have three slots of Magic in their Falna, she became known as an oddball. What do you think of her?", Yoruichi asked Kisuke.


    Kisuke chuckled and said, "I like oddballs! They''re truly interesting~!"

 Chapter 669 Hidden Quest

    Chapter 669 Hidden Quest


    At the end of the day, Kisuke had managed to finish a slew of Magic Items, not just for Yoruichi and Kuroka''s use, but also for his own.


    From simple stuff like shbangs, to items withplicated formations like Gravity Magic, Kisuke created various things in anticipation of many different scenarios.


    The next morning, the three suited up and prepared themselves to dive into the Dungeon, "Our target will be the strange room on the 47th floor.", exined Yoruichi.


    "It''s amazing that you really found one.",mented an impressed Kisuke.


    "We didn''t think that we''d find one as well, nyaa. When you asked us to look for a spot where strange energy gathered, I thought you were just guessing."


    "I wasn''t so sure either. I only came up with the idea after noting strange points within the Dungeon. I also tried searching for it when we were still in Orario, but I wasn''t able to find it.", Kisuke replied to Kuroka.


    "But you didn''t give up and sent us here... Why is that?", asked Yoruichi.


    "I can''t divulge my full line of thinking now, but I thought that it was because of the existence of a certain someone."


    Yoruichi thought for a bit before guessing, "Ais Wallenstein?"


    Kuroka was surprised and looked towards the smiling Kisuke, "Correct~! More specifically, the connection she has with thest remaining ''World Quest''."


    Yoruichi then rubbed her chin and muttered, "If the written records are correct, the ck Dragon also came from that hole in Orario."


    "It also has something to do with that.", Kisuke then stood up from his seat and urged the two, "Let''s go~."


    Yoruichi and Kuroka looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. Both of them knew that he was still hiding something, but they also knew that he was just being careful. Following him, the three departed towards the Mercenary Guild.


    Since they were going to the Dungeon, it would really be extremely suspicious if they were to just go in without taking any quests that could be therge majority of their ie. Arriving at the Guild, Kisuke immediately went towards the deserted counter and yelled, "Good day, Varka-san! I see that you''re as sour as ever!"


    Hearing his voice, Varka immediately clicked his tongue and his frown deepened, "There are other counters open."


    cing his elbows on the counter, Kisuke replied, "Hey now. Don''t just shoo me away. We''re good friends, remember?"


    "No.", Varka immediately retorted with a disgusted expression.


    Not minding his reaction, Kisuke continued, "We''re going to the Dungeon today. Any exciting things for me?"


    Varka looked at him silently for a moment before opening the drawer beside him. It was the drawer that contained high-level missions that weren''t posted on the general board, "For how long will you be staying."


    "We''ve got enough supplies tost us for at least a month."


    Varka then started sorting out the missions he thought they could do. After a few minutes, Varka was able to get a few suitable ones, until his eyesnded on a paper that had been gathering dust for a long time. After a few moments of hesitation, Varka grabbed said paper while thinking, ''I''m just giving him the options here.''


    Laying it all in front of Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka, Varka just simply said, "Choose one or two from this."


    Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka looked over and one of them instantly got their attention.


    [Material Gathering: Surtr''s Horn. Reward: 1,000,320,000 Valis]


    Kisuke pointed to it and asked in a low voice, "Who''s asking for this?"


    "...The Mercenary Guild.", answered Varka after a small pause in the beginning.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka guessed that it couldn''t be revealed after getting an answer like that. Kisuke, however, was happy with this and asked again, "Then I guess you can keep a secret for us if we were to pick this up?"


    Varka''s eyes widened for a bit before returning to normal and replying, "I can. But only for the general public."


    Kisuke then grabbed the paper and rolled it before cing it inside his vest, "That''s good enough."


    "It''s not my responsibility if you were to die, alright?", reminded Varka as they left.


    Waving his hand, Kisuke replied with a chuckle, "Rx. No one is gonna me you for our deaths."


    When they left the building, Varka immediately cleaned up his counter and put the missions back in his drawer as he felt an annoying presencee close. Cami''s voice rang behind him, "What sort of mission did they take?"


    Varka didn''t turn around but replied, "I was asked to keep it secret to avoid annoyances. You know the women beside him. They tend to gather random flies."


    "Ehhh~? But I''m curious."


    "Just wait for them to return and you''ll know about it."


    "Hmmm... Fine...", Cami turned around, losing her interest. Thanks to how Varka worded it, she thought it was just some random mission that others could easily reach and disturb them.


    Seeing her leave, Varka sighed in relief, ''I wonder if they can really do it? The first in history... It''s going to be extremely noisy if they were to seed.''


    .


    .


    .


    "What kind of monster is this Surtr?", asked Kisuke suddenly as they made their way towards the shore.


    "So you really picked it up without knowing.", Yoruichi sighed.


    "Why not? Look at this gigantic bounty! We''ll be set for a while~!"


    Kuroka did a facepalm and said, "If anyone were to hear you right now, they would be mocking you to no end, nyaa."


    "Why''s that?"


    "Those who wish toplete this mission don''t care about the reward. They only wanted the honor of getting it first, nyaa."


    Yoruichi then added, "Surtr is a Monster Rex and currently known as the strongest monster inside the Dungeon. Surtr is a ming giant that wields a giant ming sword. Aside from being able to emit extremely high-temperature mes, each swing of its sword would also create a line ofva, making it almost impossible to tank any of its attacks."


    "But due to its obvious me attribute, it''s actually possible to defeat this monster without any losses, for the top Familias, at least. The main method of defeating it is amassing arge number of Mages capable of Water Magic and Ice Magic to flood and cool down the boss room. Once it has reached a certain temperature, its movements would be extremely slow and its defense would be brittle, giving the attackers arge window of opportunity to defeat it before it regains its mes."


    "And? What makes this Surtr''s Horn special?"


    This time, it was Kuroka''s time to exin, "If you can defeat Surtr, there are actually three possible drops from it, nyaa. Its Magic Stone, very rarely, the ming sword, and finally, its horns. However, no one has actually been able to get thest and most precious drop, the horns."


    "In fact, it was only 20 years ago when a Mage with an unknown Skill, Development Ability and Magic said that a third drop is possible,but only after a certain procedure was achieved. The Gods confirmed that she wasn''t lying, nyaa. To get Surtr''s Horn, one has to first sever it from Surtr before it''s defeated, or else it would just disappear along with its body. The problem, however, is that its horn is actually a lot harder than its ming sword, nyaa."


    "It was so hard that the most damage that was done to it was years ago. An Adventurer gave the horn a very small nick, but in exchange for a Top-Tier sword being broken in half. As such, its reward of 1 billion Valis is quite smallpared to the difficulty of acquiring it, so most people think that this is more for honor than its reward, nyaa. If I recall correctly, the one who still has a request for Surtr''s Horn is the Poseidon Familia, with the others having already withdrawn theirs, thinking that no one, aside from the Captain of the Poseidon Familia, has any chance ofpleting this mission, nyaa."


    Even after all of that, Kisuke''s answer was only, "Who cares. Money is money. Anyway, where is this Monster Rex?"


    Yoruichi chuckled and replied, "Our destination, the 47th Floor."

 Chapter 670 The Dizara Dungeon

    Chapter 670 The Dizara Dungeon


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka reached the shore where a sizable port was constructed. However, this port was neither for fishermen nor for traders. It was an outpost for the Mercenaries wanting to reach the Dungeon.


    Simr to arge market, the area was bustling with people. Some were doing small or personal trades, some were arranging their supplies and others were leaving the area, either by returning to one of the cities around or in specially crafted sailboats towards the spot where the entrance to the Dungeon was located.


    "There are five entrances to the Dungeon and the nearest entrance is the southern entrance, located around two kilometers away from here. We''ll be taking the next entrance which is around five kilometers from here since it has awork of tunnels that leads directly to the lower floors.", exined Yoruichi as they walked around, trying to find a sailboat that they could ride on.


    A few minutester, they found a sailboat that had just docked after returning some Mercenaries to thend, Yoruichi immediately approached him and said, "We''d like to go to the central entrance."


    The rtively old man with a wide conical straw hat to fend off direct sunlight looked at them and replied, "A thousand Valis for each person. If you want to leave immediately, three thousand each."


    The three of them immediately hopped on and Yoruichi said, "Let''s go now."


    The old man tipped his hat and quietly operated the sailboat, leaving the dock, along with the other sailboats that had Mercenaries in them.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka didn''t say anything throughout the entire journey and that was also the same for the operator. Along the way, they encountered several attacks from the Sea Goblins but the old man dispatched each one of them.


    More than an hourter, they reached their destination. Although there weren''t anyndmarks in the area and all one could see was the vastness of the ocean, the entrance to the Dungeon was very easy to spot due to the steady stream of Magic Powering from below and the number of sailboats that were also in the area.


    Looking around, Kisuke saw how the Mercenaries who''d just arrived fromnd would dive down and were reced by other Mercenaries who were done with their exploration, taking the sailboats that became free.


    Yoruichi stood up and passed a bag of Valis to the old man. After waiting for him to count the coins, the old man nodded, "I''ve received it. Thank you for your patronage. Have a safe exploration."


    "Good luck to you too, old man.", replied Yoruichi before jumping down directly to the water with Kisuke and Kuroka immediately following after her.


    As soon as they went beyond a certain depth, the water became so clear that they were able to see the entrance to the Dungeon.


    Instead of arge hole in the ocean floor like Kisuke was expecting, it looked like a gigantic anthill with several hundred holes, spanning almost a kilometer wide. Each hole was three to ten meters wide and they were randomly ced along the mountain.


    While each group of Mercenaries was taking a tunnel of their own, various monsters also came out from them. This was the reason why there were so many monsters on the surface within the Dizara Region and nobody had the resources to block these holes, not to mention that this was only one of the five entrances which were all on the ocean floor.


    Yoruichi already had a target entrance, but because he''d failed to control one of his kicks, Kisuke was suddenly shot forward in an unintended direction, entering a tunnel.


    Immediately following him, Yoruichi and Kuroka traveled through the same tunnel, reaching the room beyond it that was devoid of seawater because it was being kept out by an invisible force.


    Chuckling, Kurokamented on Kisuke who wasying on the ground, "I just knew that would happen, nyaa~!"


    Kisuke stood up before throwing his dummy backpack towards Kuroka, "How do others go to this ce? Normally, you would have to swim for about ten minutes and you still have to deal with the monsters thate after you."


    Yoruichi also threw her dummy backpack towards Kuroka so that she could keep it in her inventory and used Magic to dry everyone and remove the mud from Kisuke while also simultaneously fixing the tears in his clothes, "There''s a potion that allows one to stay for long periods of time underwater and equipment that makes it easier to move with all the pressure."


    "So what''s the n?", asked Kisuke after stretching his limbs.


    "The next respawn of the Surtr will be three weeks from now and it was announced that the Astarte Familia would be killing it this time. Let''s go straight to the 47th floor and make a camp there. It''ll be up to you what you want to do next."


    Kisuke contemted for a bit before deciding, "I guess I''m going to divide that time between investigation,bat practice and spell practice. I want at least to release my Shikai before it respawns."


    The difficulty of the first floor was simr to that of the 13th floor of the Dungeon in Orario. Due to that, only Level 2 and above could actually start exploring the Dungeon and those who were Level 1 would have to settle for those monsters escaping to the surface.


    After reaching the 6th floor, the halls became taller and wider, allowing multiple paths to meet. Withrge cloaks, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka passed through several groups without garnering much attention until they reached the 9th floor, a safe zone.


    More than half of the safety points were covered by water and there are several waterfalls that led to the lower floors. Of course, there were proper staircases, but there was only one and it was located at the west end of the floor.


    Like the 18th floor of the Orario Dungeon, the ceiling of the 9th floor was also covered by innumerable shining crystals, giving light to everything. But unlike the former, there wasn''t a big settlement simr to Rivira. Instead, there were various camps erected on the inds.


    Not stopping, Yoruichi led the way towards one of the waterfalls and the group directly jumped down. Some Mercenaries saw them but weren''t able to identify them. They were very curious about their identities as the only people who would take the path directly leading to the 33rd floor were the top fighters of the top Familias.


    As they fell through the waterfall, the temperature kept dropping considerably until around 5 minutester when they finally saw the light below. Kuroka immediately used her Magic to slow their descent and carried everyone away from theke where the water dropped.


    Thanks to that long drop, Yoruichi and Kuroka were able to clearly feel the space of the Dungeon warping around them, signifying that some sort of spacews were used to make the Dungeon expand beyondmon sense. Since Kisuke''s senses aside from the normal ones were busted, he couldn''t feel a thing about it, though he already knew of this fact way before.


    Right now, the temperature was already way below the freezing point such that if any weak normal people without the blessing of the Falna were to stand here, they''d be frozen to death within just a few seconds.


    Kisuke looked around and noted that everything was covered in ice.


    "Beyond this is the room of the Monster Rex, Kuraokami, an Ice Dragon.", exined Yoruichi as she and Kuroka got ready to fight.

 Chapter 671 Kuraokami

    Chapter 671 Kuraokami


    After choosing a path and walking through the long luminescent ice tunnel, they came out in an enormous chamber of glistening ice. In the middle of it was a hill of opaque ice, before it started shaking and cracking.


    A few secondster, the hill of ice exploded into many pieces with some of them flying in the group''s direction, prompting them to dodge in different directions. In the spot where the ice hill was before, arge blue western dragon with blood-red eyes slowly emerged and roared to the sky, "Of all monsters that I''ve seen within the Dungeon, that certainly is the coolest thing. Literally and figuratively.",mented Kisuke lightheartedly.


    The clear blue scales that reflected the light, the beautiful curve of its dark blue horns, the slender body and graceful wings that screamed majestess. Just from its appearance alone, any man who had ever dreamed of fantasy would admire it.


    However, Yoruichi wasn''t a person like that as she immediately dashed under its belly, throwing her palm upwards, "Haah!!!"


    Kuraokami''s belly caved in as it wasunched upwards and it screamed in pain.


    The Ice Dragon immediately spread its wings out and stabilized itself in midair before looking towards Yoruichi with eyes filled with madness. But before it could even roar, it felt a thin line wrapping around its neck.


    Switching its attention towards the culprit, it saw Kuroka, who was holding her ck whip sword. Using a Magic Circle as a stepping tform, Kuroka jumped back as she pulled back her sword.


    The de of her sword immediately dug deep into the Dragon''s neck, creating arge wound all around its neck before it returned to its master.


    The incredible pain it felt from Kuroka''s attack immediately attracted all of its rage and it forgot about the opponent who''d sent it flying.


    Kuroka then saw how it inhaled deeply and immediately controlled her whip sword to form a spiral in front of her. The next moment, her ears and tails lit up with ck mes and a striking blue tattoo appeared on her face.


    From the gaps in her de, the same ck mes were ejected out, forming a solid circr shield in front of her.


    The next second, Kuraokami opened its mouth wide and released a blue beam which contained an extremely freezing Magic Power towards Kuroka. However, even before it couldnd on her shield, the beam was dispersed in multiple directions, not doing any damage to its target.


    At this sight, the Monster Rex became confused but it didn''t have time to think as it felt a presence on the back of its neck, "Tesshou (Iron Palm)!"


    Hitting just above therge, profusely bleeding cut, Yoruichi severed the Dragon''s head, immediately turning it into a cloud of ash, leaving behind its undamaged Magic Stone and a few ws.


    After immediately picking up the loot and cing it in her inventory, Yoruichi urged Kisuke, "Let''s go. Before the others reach this ce."


    "Oh, right. That roar just should have alerted the people in the safe zone.", mumbled Kisuke as he ran after the girls towards the 34th floor.


    More than 10 minutes after they left, sshing sounds could be heard from the room where they''de from earlier. Soon after, four groups of people hurriedly entered the Kuraokami''s ice chamber, only to be met with an empty ce and piles of ashes.


    "What''s this? Wasn''t it agreed upon that we''ll take care of the two Monster Rex''s this time? Who did this?" Fenia, one of the people who came down, asked in confusion and slight anger.


    Not far from her, however, she heard a mocking snort, "Hmph! Stop this ploy, will ya? It''s pretty obvious that you wanted to take the next respawn, too, by ying this monster secretly. Too bad for you, we won''t give up our right as the next one in line."


    Fenia red at the man who just spoke, "I could also say the same as you! This could have been your group''s doing, thinking that you could get away with it!"


    The man, a Weretiger red back at Fenia, "Huh!? And where''s your evidence!?"


    The man is one of the Vice Captains of the Aruna Familia, Todd Bunce, a Level 6. But from the way he acted, he looked like a low-level ruffian.


    The other man who came down with him, one of the executives of the Aruna Familia, Salvatore Borne, who was a Human and a Level 5, grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to remind him that they were at a disadvantage due to the fact that their Captain hadn''t appeared in public for a month now.


    And indeed, Fenia sneered at them and used that fact, "I could ask the same, but I''ll ask this instead. Where''s your Captain? The people who are capable of this are all ounted for, except for your Captain. He could havee down here to do this and considering your reputation, it isn''t a farfetched possibility."


    Todd gritted his teeth as that didn''te to his mind at all. But before he could say anything, Salvatore spoke up first, "In the name of Aruna-sama, I can assure you that Captain Hadrian is within Zitta as we speak."


    "Tsk.", Fenia immediately clicked her tongue and looked at others who were investigating the chamber, "So who did it?"


    Not being able to contain himself, Todd immediately answered, "It''s obviously your Astarte Familia! Your members are recently very active within the Dungeon and we have no way of knowing what they''re up to once they''re inside!"


    But instead of Fenia, it was the Captain of the Amphitrite Familia who retorted at him, "Shut your loud mouth! Even if it was your Captain along with some other people, they couldn''t have done this!"


    Todd immediately turned to the Elf called Llia, the Captain of Amphitrite Familia and a Level 7, "What was that, hag!? Are you saying my Captain is so weak that he couldn''t defeat Kuraokami!?"


    Instead of Llia, it was Fenia''spanion who answered him, "Take a look around. Aside from the small pothole in the middle, there are no other signs of battle. Considering that neither the Rex nor the people who killed it were here when we arrived, it''s safe to assume that it was instantly killed and without much effort from its assants."


    The Elf, Yenna Lightwing, an executive of the Astarte Familia and a Level 5, then turned her head towards Todd and continued, "For everyone''s sake, please don''t go to an investigation if you''re only going to run your mouth around and not use your head. You''re only suitable for grunt work and you should just stick to that."

 Chapter 672 Boring Area

    Chapter 672 Boring Area


    The Weretiger instantly lost his cool and was about to attack when hispanion immediately grabbed his arm and reprimanded in a low voice, "You can''t do this, Sir Todd!"


    Everyone was already touching their weapons, but what they didn''t expect, however, was that the infamous and incredibly arrogant Todd Bunce actually immediately backed down and just clicked his tongue.


    ''Just my luck that this brainless idiot was the only one around when something like this happens.'', thought Salvatore. They had to follow everyone else or they wouldn''t be able to defend themselves if someone really defeated the Kuraokami in secret. More importantly, they couldn''t give up their right to the Monster Rex that only spawned every two months since their Captain right now was at a very important juncture.


    Looking around, Salvatore couldn''t help but be frustrated at everyone looking at them with suspicion, ''Nevertheless, they can''t really get any answers from me even if they ask. And what''s wrong with us not making any trouble?''


    Everyone took back their hands from their weapons, but as Salvatore thought, they were all suspicious that Todd would easily back down as they knew for sure that he was not afraid of them. However, they couldn''t really ask them why and could only keep their suspicion in their mind.


    "So who could have done this? All those who could are currently ounted for and I doubt that the Astarte Familia would really start this drama.", Zerelda Sawyer, a Sheep Person from the Lugh Familia, and a Level 5 asked everyone.


    Everyone discussed it for a bit before a sshing sound was heard from the tunnel they came out of. Soon after, a Mercenary from the Poseidon Familia emerged and immediately went straight towards Llia before whispering something.


    Nodding at her, Llia asked the Mercenary to dry herself off before facing everyone, "ording to the witnesses, it seems that a group of three people came down moments before they heard the cry of Kuraokami, however, their identities couldn''t be determined due to them wearing heavy cloaks."


    But even before this information came to them, they already had a guess as to who they were, "Three people, huh... So chances are, it was Yoruichi Shihouin, Kuroka Toujou and the new addition to their party.", muttered Fenia while recalling theirst encounter.


    "If that''s the case, then our initial estimations of them are seriously off. And with a new addition to their group, they could technically be another faction.", Zerelda crossed her arms and muttered in contemtion.


    "Even then, we can''t really point our fingers at them since we don''t have any evidence. They could just as easily say that it may be other strong wandering individuals who took care of it.", added Llia.


    "Then how are we going to solve the allocation of the Monster Rex? We certainly won''t give away our rights over it in two months.", asked Salvatore.


    Llia looked at him and replied, "We can''t decide a proper conclusion to that with just us here. Let''s move to the surface and discuss this with everyone else."


    Zerelda looked towards the path leading to the next floor and asked, "Should we send someone to scout them?"


    "I''d advise against that. We don''t know their full capabilities and it''ll only put the scout in unnecessary danger.", replied Yenna.


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as they stepped into the 34th floor, the temperature became a lot better but the surroundings became even grimmer. With a thick mist covering the whole floor, it was impossible to see beyond ten meters. Without a good map or a guide, one would instantly get lost in this enormousbyrinth that could fit an entire city.


    However, the most terrifying thing about this floor for the Mercenaries were the monsters that silently roamed throughout. A few minutes after stepping into the mist-veiled floor, they were immediately surrounded by floating translucent skeletons covered in tattered cloaks with their eye sockets filled with purple fire.


    They were Wraiths, monsters that were incorporeal, which made them immune to physical attacks unless one hit its Magic Stone that was randomly ced inside its body. Their main attacks were mental disturbance and curses that made one weaker. If someone fell to their attacks without defending, they''d be mad and start attacking others or just outright kill themselves.


    The only way to hurt these beings outside of damaging their Magic Stones was Magic, so without preparing a sufficient amount of Magic Swords and Magic Potions, it was just going to be suicide, not to mention that there were other stronger incorporeal being that lurked in the darkness of not just the 34th floor, but until 39th floor, too.


    Of course, it was a different story for Kisuke''s group. With a simple Kidou, Yoruichi could annihte a group of them and Kuroka just needed to use Senjutsu and they would be destroyed from the inside. Even if Kisuke couldn''t fight properly and couldn''t awaken Benihime, just a slight cut from his de would immediately purify the Wraiths.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka didn''t stop running until they reached the 40th floor, ughtering not just Wraiths, but also Banshees and Revenants.


    "That''s a boring area for sure...", muttered Kisuke.


    Yoruichi sighed and nodded, "I know, right?"


    "Please don''t say that, nyaa. It just happens that we''re their worst enemy. Others could easily get wiped out if they''re not careful.", Kuroka reminded them.


    Kisuke then looked around at therge steaming tunnel and said, "Let''s forget about that. It looks like it''s a hot area this time. What''re the monsters this time around?"


    Since this was where he would spend the next three weeks, Kisuke didn''t want it to be as boring as the previous area.


    "There are many types and various monsters from this floor until the 46th floor, but generally, they are divided between two categories.", answered Yoruichi as she walked forward, "The first are obviously fire monsters and the second are poisonous monsters. Or it could be abination of these two."


    "As for the 48th floor, it''s a safety point so we could set up our base there, nyaa.", added Kuroka, "Beyond that is a rainforest biome and I''ve heard that there are a lot of exotic fruits and vegetables over there, with some having some unique effect."


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Now that''s nice to hear~ Let''s go set up our base first. Let''s make our three weeks asfortable as possible."


    Yoruichi and Kuroka knew for sure that if not for his current state, Kisuke would probably make a modern skyscraper as their ''base'' on the 48th floor. However, these two still underestimated Kisuke''s enthusiasm in building ''bases'' as he''d already prepared something just for the asion.


    ''Now then... How tall should I make it?'', thought Kisuke as he started thinking about the floor ns.

 Chapter 673 A Completely different Genre

    Chapter 673 A Completely different Genre


    The group still rushed through the floors since they would have time for themter. As they got deeper, the temperature became higher and higher. From the 44th floor, streams ofva could be seen here and there, and by the 46th floor, there were rivers of them.


    As for monsters, it ranged from giant scorpions to Wyverns with either fire, poison, or both attributes.


    The 47th floor was also arge chamber simr to the 33rd floor, but a little bit bigger. In the middle was a pond of Lava where the Surtr was supposed to spawn in three weeks. Thanks to their fast travel, it only took them a whole day to reach this ce, where it was normally reachable in five days.


    Yoruichi didn''t stop walking and said, "We''ll show you the secret roomter. For now, let''s set up our base of operations first, and maybe add a teleportation site for easier ess in the future."


    The group went around theke ofva and reached the staircase that led to the safety point.


    The moment they stepped into the 48th floor, the temperature became a lot better as if an invisible barrier was dividing the two zones. With a pleasant tropical breeze, the safety point resembled the 18th floor of the Orario Dungeon, but without the giant tree in the middle and the floor was much wider and higher.


    "Where should we ce the base, nyaa? I don''t think the center is a good idea since a Monster Rex variant may spawn from there," asked Kuroka.


    Kisuke surveyed the entire floor and said, "The median between the wall and the center is good. It''ll also be nice if it''s far from the path leading to the lower floors."


    Yoruichi then pointed towards the small hill on the west side of the floor, "That''s a good ce. Aside from a good hideout, It''s also far from the exits and entrances."


    "Isn''t that the spot that others use to set their camps, nyaa?"


    Yoruichi grinned and replied, "That''s true, but that doesn''t mean we can''t use it for ourselves... permanently."


    The group arrived at the location Yoruichi proposed and Kisuke further surveyed the area. A few minutester, Kisuke nodded his head in satisfaction, "This is a good spot~!"


    He then faced Yoruichi and said, "Please pass the purse to Kuroka."


    Yoruichi reached out to her vest while asking, "The one that Serafall sent to you before we went to the Dungeon?" She found the said purse and tossed it to the confused Kuroka.


    "A space bag?" asked Kuroka, not looking inside until she got permission.


    Kisuke nodded and said, "Yep. Please take out a portion of its contents."


    Since it''s an incrediblypressed space, Kuroka closed her eyes to concentrate so that she wouldn''t break the ''container''. Once she was able to insert her consciousness within the bag, she immediately opened her eyes back in shock, "W-what is this, nyaa!? Where did you get all of this!?"


    Inside the purse was a hard to count amount of processed Orichalcum, Adamantium, and some other materials that could be used for constructing a building.


    "I had Sera-tan get a bit of it from our good neighbor," Kisuke replied with arge grin.


    "Neighbor?" mumbled Kuroka before a certain ce came to her mind, "The Knossos?"


    "Yep~ And we can certainly get more in the future since they''re very good neighbors~!"


    Kuroka couldn''t help but feel a tiny bit of pity for them, ''A thousand years of effort, only to be dismantled by this hoodlum.''


    Kuroka then took out a small portion of the Orichalcum and Adamantium alongside the other necessary materials. Even then it still formed two small hills.


    Kisuke excitedly approached the pile and said, "I''ll probably need a lot of Magic Stone to construct the base since I can''t use my reserves. Conveniently, there''s an almost inexhaustible supply of it upstairs~!"


    Yoruichi and Kuroka looked at each other before sighing. It looked like they wouldn''t be able to stop this maniac from building something that sticks out like a sore thumb. Leaving their luggage, the two of them returned to the previous floor to hunt.


    .


    .


    .


    Three dayster, Kisuke had finally finished their base. While Kisuke looked at his own creation with satisfaction, Yoruichi and Kuroka could only have to twitch their mouths in shock. They were already expecting something that didn''t suit the ce, but they never thought it''s going to go beyond that.


    "It''s apletely different genre, nyaa!!!" Kuroka retorted on top of her lungs.


    Since Kisuke covered his ''project'' with invisibility magic so that he could surprise them. Yoruichi and Kuroka had no idea what he was trying to create nor had they pried beyond the cover of the magic.


    The base that Kisuke built was actuallyposed of two parts. The first one was a 400 meters tall skyscraper and the second one is a 150 meters wide dome. But that isn''t the problem as they were already expecting something like this when they saw the amount of materials that Kisuke had. What they didn''t expect, however, was the overall aesthetics of the buildings.


    With a white theme, the windowless building was shaped like the tip of a single-edged sword with streaks of blue lights. On its base was aplicated structure with a singlerge entrance that would overwhelm everyone who came close to it.


    As for the dome, it had a simpler structure but still follows the same aesthetics of the skyscraper with transparent hexagonal panels as its roof.


    "It looks like a sci-fi spaceship rather than a building, nyaa! Anyone who looks at it would definitely say ''aliens''!" Kuroka added.


    Kisuke then looked at her with a stunned expression, "What''re you talking about? We''re aliens."


    Kuroka made the same expression and said, "Ah... You''re right."


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, could only mutter with a defeated expression, "You really pulled out all stops, huh?"


    Kisuke chuckled and started walking towards their new base, "Come with me~ I''ll give you a tour~"


    Reaching the base of the building, Yoruichi and Kuroka came to a very sci-fiesque lobby,plete with monitors that could be used for announcements and some other information.


    Kisuke continued, "This is the lobby and where all the general use teleportation stations. Each floor has two teleportation circles that are connected here for fast travel. Of course, there are also elevators but I doubt those are going to be used much."


    "General use, you say. Are you nning to rent out the ce?" asked Yoruichi.


    "Yep. There are a total of 69 floors and more than half of them could be used for residential purposes. It''ll be a shame if we can''t use all of them."


    "It''s your fault for making a stupidlyrge building that is capable of housing at least a thousand people, nyaa. But 69, huh... I see that it''s done on purpose."

 Chapter 674 A Strange Hidden Cave

    Chapter 674 A Strange Hidden Cave


    From floors 2 to 10 were various facilities that are useful for everyday life, including recreation andrge kitchens. But due to time constraints, most of the furniture was absent and Kisuke nned to fill them up whenever he was finally able to open his own inventory.


    Of course, everything was in a sci-fi theme, however, that didn''t mean that it felt ustrophobic and airtight since the walls of rooms like the dining room and grand hall were covered in very high-resolution panels that disyed the outside view, making them look like windows despite not being one. In addition to that, the colors that he used weren''t just singr, adding to the vibrancy and elegance of the whole interior.


    From floors 11 to 50 were rooms for general admissions, with each floor containing 10-15 rooms. The rooms varied from quads, doubles, and singles. Each of the rooms had basic facilities like a toilet and a shower. Of course, since Kisuke was following a sci-fi theme, the halls are what you''d expect to see from a spaceship and the doors were sealed,plete with a fingerprint scanner, key-card scanner, keypad input, and a terminal for an inte.


    The floors from 51 to 60 were the high-ss suites that were suited for the big spenders, with each floor containing 5-3 rooms. The rooms are what you''d expect from a high-ss suite, as it waspletely furnished in addition to having a magnificent view of the outside. Each room would cost around 150,000 - 200,000 Valis each night, which was already as expensive as a high-ss Elixir.


    As for the floors above and the rooftop, they were, of course, for Kisuke and his family''s private use and could only be essed through a teleportation circle in a very tightly secured and secret room in the lobby.


    Within the 69th floor, a Japanese-themed floor, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka were having tea on the tatami floor, "You overdid it..." mumbled Yoruichi.


    "How are you going to manage such arge ce, nyaa?" asked Kuroka.


    "Don''t worry. Everything in here is automated. Magic is a very convenient tool, you know? If you can set it up, you can do almost anything from automatic repair and cleaning, to room allocation and logistics. I set everything up so that even if we left this ce alone for a long period of time, it''d still function as intended. The only real limit is the power source, as that needs to be replenished regrly."


    "Even then, we could justmission someone to replenish it. For the time being, I''ve used the Magic Stone of the Kuraokami as the power source and it shouldst for about six months at full capacity use. It''ll probably be longer than that since I don''t think this ce will be running at full capacity anytime soon."


    Kisuke had the option of using his own technology to gather Magic Power from the atmosphere, however, they''re inside of the Dungeon and he doesn''t know how it''d react to its Magic Power suddenly being drained, so he didn''t want to risk it.


    Yoruichi then pointed towards the ''window'' and asked, "What about that dome? And is it really wise to use ss panels on it?"


    "It''s a simple training facility and that isn''t ss, but transparent metal."


    Yoruichi and Kuroka''s interest peaked, "Transparent metal?"


    "It''s an alloy from Orichalcum and some other rare metals that I was able to create some time ago. Although it''s weaker than Orichalcum itself, it''s still stronger than most metals out there."


    "But even then, strong monsters still roam this ce. Orichalcum and Adamantium are strong, yes. But they aren''t indestructible, nyaa."


    But Kisuke just chuckled and replied, "No worries~ It also has automatic hazard detection that would automatically deploy Magic Barrier on its surface. Not just that, it also has several retractable Magic Cannons that are capable of obliterating several Level 5 monsters in an instant~ Though that might deplete the power source in an instant."


    "What the heck!? Put thrusters on this thing and it''ll be technically a spaceship! No, a warship, nyaa!" Kuroka retorted again.


    "If we weren''t underground, I would have added that too."


    "You would!?"


    "But let''s forget about that for now and discuss our next course of action. I''ve already wasted 3 days on this so I don''t want to waste anymore of our time."


    However, Yoruichi suddenly stood up and started dragging Kisuke towards the bedroom, "No. You''re going to rest. I know you didn''t just work on this project, but also trying to learn your new energy while at it. The mental strain on that should be immense, so you''re going to rest."


    From Yoruichi''s tone, she wasn''t really requesting it but making it more of amand. Kisuke could only smile wryly as he let himself get dragged away. Seeing this, Kuroka hurriedly followed while saying, "I''ll take the left side, nyaa!"


    And indeed, Yoruichi was correct. As long as Kisuke still hasn''t managed to adapt his control to his subconscious, every single movement he makes, even as tiny as lifting a finger, was carefully calcted. Even though Kisuke had a great amount of mental fortitude and could probably take some more beatings, Yoruichi knew he still had his limits and she wouldn''t wait for that limit to be reached.


    Knowing Kisuke, Yoruichi knew that he wouldn''t stop until he''s either barely capable or he''s finished his job, so she had to personally take action to stop him.


    .


    .


    .


    On the fifth day since they''d arrived at their destination, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka returned to the 47th floor and immediately went straight towards thekeside of thevake.


    While looking at the bubbling hot matter, Yoruichi asked, "Can your body take the heat of theva? If not, both Kuroka and I are gonna help you."


    Yoruichi asked since she knew that Kisuke couldn''t cover himself with any protective energy.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, didn''t immediately answer but instead crouched down and dipped his hand in theva without hesitation.


    For a whole minute, Yoruichi and Kuroka only quietly watched Kisuke''s hand sizzle in the hot bath before he lifted his hand, showing that it was red, but not burnt, "Looks like I can take it. So the secret room''s under this?"


    "Yep," Yoruichi answered as she and Kuroka covered themselves with Reiatsu-Ki and Ki respectively.


    Kisuke then started undressing as there would be nothing left since he can''t protect them, "I''ll need you to lead me by hand, though. Since I can''t really sense much."


    Kuroka kept Kisuke''s clothes while saying, "You should really make some burn-resistant clothester."


    Yoruichi grabbed Kisuke''s hand and dragged him to theva, diving in. Kuroka also soon followed and the 47th floor returned to its former stillness.


    After five minutes of swimming, the group entered a small crevice. A few more minutester, all of them got out of theva and into a small cave with a small pond in the middle.


    Kisuke looked back and saw that theva was being kept out by an invisible barrier, the same as the seawater being kept out of the Dungeon. Furthermore, the temperature inside the cave was actually a bit cold. One could only describe this spot as a different world from the outside.

 Chapter 675 Meeting Again

    Chapter 675 Meeting Again


    "How did you find this ce?" asked Kisuke as he looked around. The water in the pond was giving off a soft blue light, illuminating this small ce.


    "It was actually Kuroka who found this ce when her Senjutsu failed to prate it," Yoruichi answered.


    "It was actually just luck, nyaa. I just thought of giving thisvake a pass and didn''t expect toe up with anything," Kuroka added while shrugging her shoulders, "But it was Yoruichi who deemed this ce important."


    Yoruichi nodded, "As I said before, it''s because Byakko had a slight reaction the moment I stepped into this ce for the first time. Although it could have been for other reasons, I still decided to call you over just to make sure."


    Kisuke then crouched down and scooped out the water using his hands. The moment he touched the pleasantly cool water, a familiar feeling immediately washed over him, "Do you know any effects of this water?"


    Yoruichi shook her head, "We don''t. Since you''d being, it was better to leave it to you. We didn''t dare test something unknown without the necessary experience and knowledge."


    Kisuke wouldn''t forget the familiar feeling that the water is giving him, especially when he first felt it not even two weeks ago, ''So this is what she meant by we''ll meet again.''


    The next instant, the barrier keeping out theva suddenly expanded to cover the whole cave, enclosing them within. Not knowing what''s happening, Yoruichi and Kuroka immediately heightened their senses to limit when a voice suddenly resounded in their head apanied by the oppressive pressure that those who are on top could only possess, "We meet again, Pawn of Chaos."


    Hearing that, Yoruichi''s eye widened, and her pupils shrunk, "Kuroka! Grab Kisuke, now!"


    Kuroka, who was having the same reaction, heeded Yoruichi''s words and went to grab Kisuke to leave this ce, only to fail when her target suddenly shifted his body, dodging her hand, "Wha-!?"


    Kisuke then immediately went beside Yoruichi who already materialized her Zapakuto, "Ban-- !?"


    But before she couldplete her words, Kisuke covered her mouth with his left hand and the other hand stopped the pommel of her kodachi to be pulled out. Ignoring Yoruichi''s re, Kisuke responded to the voice out loud, "As I said before, I''m not his pawn and have no intention of being one."


    Before the mysterious voice could respond, however, Kisuke added and asked, "This is a secured location, right?"


    Although confused, Yoruichi immediately put away her Zanpakuto while thinking, ''How does Kisuke know of this voice?''


    Without a change in her tone, the voice replied, "You''re currently hidden from Chaos'' eyes, but not for long."


    Kuroka also calmed down seeing Kisuke is conversing with the unknown entity, but she also noticed that Kisuke was stillpletely in his birthday suit and hurriedly conjured his clothes for him, ''This damned pervert isn''t even bothered, nyaa.''


    Kisuke inspected the surroundings and indeed, the barrier was giving off the same feeling as Ophis'' barrier that allowed them to hide from Chaos temporarily, "Then I''ll go straight to the point. Why did you help me? What''s your goal?"


    Ever since getting the change in his Falna, Kisuke would inspect it every chance he got and concluded that the mysterious being didn''t leave any ''backdoors'' to it. On the contrary, Kisuke figured that he could entirely iste his entire Falna quite easily, essentially disconnecting it from everything, including from his very being.


    There was silence for a few minutes before the mysterious voice answered, "I''m just curious of what you can do, outsider."


    Kisuke clicked his tongue after hearing that, "Don''t act like that guy now. If you need something, say it straight to me and maybe we can talk about it."


    More minutes of silence ensued before the mysterious voice spoke up again, "I''m certain that Chaos would be using you to kill me."


    Kisuke immediately frowned, "Are you saying that he''d be able to push me to do that regardless of my will?"


    "If it''s you who''d just arrived in this world, you wouldn''t do anything. But now that you care about some inhabitants of this world, you would have no choice but to y me."


    Kisuke''s brows furrowed further as several possibilities entered his mind, "So what you want is for me to spare you?"


    The mysterious voice chuckled, but somehow, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka could feel that it''s filled with loneliness and longingness, "Fufufu... I wouldn''t ask you to change my fate of inevitable demise. I just wanted you to do me one favor. Please dy the ''Promised Time'' as much as possible and I can assure you that nothing will be changed in the end and this world will still go on."


    It was Kisuke''s turn to be silent for a few minutes. Sighing, he asked, "What is this ''Promised Time'' that I always hear about and when is it?"


    "It is the rise of the Dungeon against the Heaven and it''ll happen at the defeat of the ck Dragon and the rise of a Demi-God." As soon as the mysterious voice had said that, her presence disappeared, signifying that she cut off her telepathic connection to everyone. However, the barrier didn''t go down.


    Kisuke then sat back down and immediately started contemting about the information he just received.


    Yoruichi sat beside him and asked, "Do you trust this mysterious voice?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Of course not. We don''t know if what she''s saying is the truth. And even if it is, it''s very obvious that she''s not telling the whole story."


    "The ''Promised Time'', it''s one of the Deities'' biggest secrets. Even if they have mentioned this multiple times before, nyaa, Nobody from the Lower World actually knows its true meaning," Kuroka also sat beside him and said.


    "It sounded like she''s going to destroy the world and you''ll be the one who''s going to kill her. However, when she said ''It is the rise of the Dungeon against the Heaven and it''ll happen at the defeat of the ck Dragon and the rise of a Demi-God'', I have this feeling that she''s not referring to herself as the ''Dungeon''," Yoruichi added.


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and agreed with Yoruichi, "I also got that feeling. But it''s really contradicting. If the ''rise of the Dungeon against the Heaven'' isn''t her, then why did she need to be killed?"


    Yoruichi and Kuroka became silent. They don''t have an answer to offer Kisuke''s question nor would they try since they don''t know anything.


    Yoruichi then suddenly asked Kisuke, "When did you meet this voice? You haven''t told us anything."


    Kisuke sighed and told Yoruichi and Kuroka the whole process of what happened when the Hougyoku transformed them and how the mysterious being ''gave'' him the Falna and how she imed that she had created the Heavens.

 Chapter 676 VS Surtr

    Chapter 676 VS Surtr


    Yoruichi and Kuroka were shocked at the depth of what''d really happened to Kisuke, as he''d only described it in summary before, "That mystery voice was such an important thing, why did you leave it out before, nya?"


    "I can only speak about it thanks to this barrier," replied Kisuke. It was then that Kisuke noticed that the water in the small pond was slowly being depleted, "Hmm?"


    "What''s wrong?" asked Yoruichi, "Did you realize something?"


    Kisuke stood up and said, "Yep. If my guesses are correct, then I might be able to strike a deal with her. Let''s get out of this ce for now. I want to try something." He then went towards the exit and directly jumped into theva.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka looked at each other before following him.


    Once they resurfaced, the naked Kisuke then asked Yoruichi, "Please try entering that ce again and check the state of the barrier."


    Yoruichi nodded and dived back. After some time, she returned and said, "When I returned, the barrier was down, but a few seconds after I entered, it went back up."


    Kisuke smiled widely with that confirmation, "Great. Now things have be a lot easier. Let''s go back and prepare. I''ll use the remaining three weeks for training."


    Kisuke concluded that the strange water in the small pond is the thing powering the barrier and estimated that he still had more than 23 hours left, ''It''s not much but thanks to that, a lot of possibilities have just opened up. I can just make all the parts I need and assemble them within that barrier.''


    While thinking of things he can finally do, Kisuke inwardly thanked the mysterious being, but also thought of her as being very naive. He didn''t know if it was because of her being naturally born in a transcendent state, simr to Ophis, or something else, but it was very obvious for him that she isn''t really thinking of what Chaos could really do.


    ''Dy the inevitable? Even if I did so, there''s no saying that Chaos would act as she predicted. Just from how things are going, I think the system of Heaven is actually a nuisance to him,'' With certain possibilities in mind, Kisuke started to plot his ns, ''The goal of covering all of my bases against the two of them... I guess I should prepare a world invasion?''


    Yoruichi and Kuroka saw that Kisuke was making a very wide grin and it became obvious to them that he''s plotting something bad. Regardless of their curiosity, however, they couldn''t ask anything regarding these mysterious beings as they''d just garner unwanted attention.


    .


    .


    .


    The three week wait came to an end and both Yoruichi and Kuroka prepared to face the Surtr that was about to spawn anytime now. Within the dome training ground, Yoruichi approached Kisuke who''s currently exercising with his top off, and offered him a towel, "We''ll certainly meet the Familia who''s supposed to be dealing with the Surtr this time around, the Astarte Familia. How should we deal with them?"


    Kisuke let out arge breath and grabbed the towel, drying the sweat that had already umted, "I don''t really know anyone in Dizara Region, so I''ll leave it to you on how to deal with them. If you think they fit, they could also be our first customers. Of course, anyone from the Aruna Familia is banned."


    Thanks to the hunting he did in the area, Kisuke was now fully capable of controlling his body, without manually strengthening it, of course. Even then, his current body proved to be strong enough to just bulldoze almost any monsters that he came across.


    The next goal was to be able to use techniques and use proper body strengthening. But since Kisuke had already figured out how his new energy system worked, he just had to readjust the way he usually did things. Though a few implosions of flesh and bones would certainly happen just testing things out.


    "Well, that''s obviously the case from the start. However, if I deemed those from the Astarte Familia trustworthy enough, can we leave the teleportation circle on the 9th floor to them?"


    Kisuke looked at her and smiled, "It seems that you like them a lot. It''s fine. This will be something indispensable for them, so they''ll surely take care of it."


    Yoruichi then started walking towards Kuroka, who was already waiting for her while saying, "We''ll go first."


    Recalling something, Kisuke asked, "By the way, which of you are going to take care of the horns? Although my senses are still a mess, I can still tell that the 47th floor is currently gathering an enormous amount of Magic Power and Spiritual Power. Just from the scale, I don''t think it''ll be easy to cut off the horns without killing it."


    Yoruichi turned towards him and replied with a grin of confidence, "I''ll finish it off in two strikes."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened slightly and asked, "You''re going to use Byakko? You''re only allowed to use your Bankai, right? Are you going to be fine?"


    "Yep. This will be a good chance to finally test it out after all those long years of training. Don''t worry though, I''ll immediately retreat if my arm falls off."


    It was Kuroka''s turn to be shocked, "Hey! What are you going to do, nyaa!?"


    However, Yoruichi just wrapped her arms around her shoulders and said, "You''ll knowter~ I''ll depend on you as my backup."


    Kuroka scrunched her face and replied, "It would really be helpful if you were to tell me everything you''re about to do so that I can prepare, nyaa... You guys love surprises too much, nyaa!"


    Yoruichi and Kuroka arrived on the 47th floor where they only had to wait for a few minutes before the Dungeon started shaking as a horned giant, wielding a greatsword matching its size, emerged from theke ofva with a deafening howl.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka immediately jumped out of the way of the fallingva that was scattered from Surtr''s appearance. Yoruichi then closely held her Zanpakuto before saying, "Kuroka, after the first strike, there''s a chance it will mutate. I want you to hold it off until I can prepare the second strike."


    "Got it," Kuroka nodded as the world''s Ki congealed around her and her own Ki melded with it, causing it to re up. A few secondster, Kuroka sessfully unleashed the full capabilities of her Senjutsu, attuning herself to the world''s life force.


    With her nine tails covered with ck mes, Kuroka took out her Sacred Gear and waited for Yoruichi to make her move.


    Thanks to Kuroka''s Ki, Surtr''s attention was fully focused on her and Yoruichi was able to ce herself a few meters from the top of the Surtr''s head without its notice.


    It was then that Yoruichi finally released her repressed Reiatsu-Ki, delivering a shockwave that immediately pushed the giant down.


    Confused, the Surtr hurriedly looked up and saw the tanned woman holding her kodachi-type Zanpakuto while muttering, "Bankai... Kyo no Kougou, Byakko (Void Empress Byakko)!"

 Chapter 677 Yoruichi’s Bankai

    Chapter 677 Yoruichi��s Bankai


    The moment Yoruichi released her Bankai, her ck hair had turned white, and her Reiatsu-Ki had increased more than 20 fold, creating a pressure around her that was strong enough to push the giant down even further.


    The Surtr hurriedly raised its greatsword in defense, but it didn''t really do anything. However, detecting Yoruichi''s Reiatsu-Ki, the Dungeon ''cried'' and started funneling more Magic Power towards the Surtr, initiating its mutation.


    On Yoruichi''s side, after her hair, it was her kodachi''s turn to be pure white. Different from most Bankai, Yoruichi''s has a rare one that doesn''t change in shape, however, only its shape had remained as she gritted her teeth just holding it.


    "Kyo no Kougou, Byakko (Void Empress, Byakko)!" As she announced the true name of her Bankai, she immediately felt the change as the weight of her de became several thousand tonnes. Using all of her strength, Yoruichi aimed at the left horn that was behind the greatsword and swung her de towards it, "HAAAAHHH!!!!!"


    Compared to her normal moves, Yoruichi''s swing was agonizingly slow. However, although its weight was enough that Yoruichi could feel the gravity generated by it, the deadliest thing about it was actually its ability to tear space itself.


    Following the trajectory of her swing, the Surtr wasn''t able to react when its left horn and left arm left its body, along with the greatsword that was suddenly split in half. The wall of the Dungeon was also cut deeply, but fortunately, it isn''t enough to summon the Juggernaut.


    The Surtr roared in pain as the excess Magic Power that was being injected into it spilled from its severed limb.


    Yoruichi nned to let go of her Zanpakuto and recall it in its basic state, however, she was shocked to know that her hand was stuck on the hilt of her Zanpakuto, ''What!? Damn it!''


    As a result, Yoruichi spun uncontrobly, leaving her at the mercy of her own de as she tried to seal back her Bankai.


    Kuroka saw this and called out to her, "Yoruichi!?"


    However, she couldn''t actuallye to her side as the Surtr started acting up and was about to smash Yoruichi with its right arm. Without any choice, Kuroka attacked it with her Sacred Gear and ck mes, catching its attention, albeit, only slightly.


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, tried her best to take back her Bankai, but she wasn''t able to do so until her hand hit the ground, crushing her fingers under the weight of the pure white kodachi.


    Without groaning in pain Yoruichi immediately dematerialized her Zanpakuto after deactivating her Bankai and hurriedly took out a potion created by Kisuke, directly pouring it on her crushed hand. She then took another bottle and poured it on her arm which was ruptured due to the stress of the single swing, ''I thought I was strong enough... I didn''t think Byakko would get even heavier.''


    When she was just a Lieutenant within Soul Society, her Shikai was actually des that were attached to her arms like ws. She, however, was not very fond of it as they were thrice her size. Although they were extremely sharp, it didn''t suit her desiredbat style which prioritized speed.


    Not just her, but everyone who understood enough thought that her condition was an anomaly as the Zanpakuto should have adapted to the Shinigami''s fighting style, and never the other way around.


    This phenomenon immediately captured the attention of Oetsu Nimaiya, the creator of Zanpakuto, and asked The Shihouin n to let him inspect Yoruichi''s Zanpakuto. Although many were curious about the result, Nimaiya only revealed it to the then head of the Shihouin n and Yoruichi herself, that before the soul of her Zanpakuto was formed, something else had reced it.


    From that time, Yoruichi could only remember that Nimaiya can''t actually give her a new Asauchi as her Zanpakuto was already bound to her.


    From then on, Yoruichi worked hard on her Hakuda that could match her Shikai and at some point, she learned to enjoy the style. However, when she achieved her Bankai, another slew of problems came up.


    First, she was not strong enough to wield her Bankai despite it returning to a much smaller form. Second, Byakko wouldn''t allow her to use her Shikai anymore. And finally, the third, she''s forbidden to use her Bankai due to its innate ability to disrupt the surrounding space and could potentially destroy the space dividing the realms.


    As such, when she became a Captain, she stopped carrying her Zanpakuto. Practicing Hakuda from the start was her only silver lining.


    Even then, Yoruichi actually never gave up on her Zanpakuto. Aside from prioritizing speed, she also started working on her strength to at least carry her Bankai. Due to that, she was known as the sh Goddess due to her speedy, but violent style ofbat.


    ''Kisuke said that there should be a way to control its weight and I also believe the same... But Byakko won''t even listen to me... Am I still not worthy?'' Yoruichi asked herself.


    All of a sudden, she heard a low snort from her ''lovely'' cat and was stunned for a short moment. Somehow, she could feel Byakko''s frustration emanating so instead of being discouraged Yoruichi felt motivated, ''I see... Then I just have to use you over and over again to make it up to you for when I neglected you.''


    Yoruichi finally realized her mistake. Although she never gave up on Byakko, she also didn''tmunicate with her that much, thinking that she can only properly make use of Byakko once she fully mastered her Bankai.


    At the next instant, a warm flow of Reiatsu-Ki suddenly emerged from Byakko and silently connected to her soul. Yoruichi''s eyes widened at this but she didn''t know that all of those who achieved Bankai were already used to this feeling, ''What''s this?''


    Although she didn''t receive an answer, she had a feeling about what it was and turned her attention towards Surtr who''s mes had be hotter and turned blue. Yoruichi then turned to Kuroka, who was currently holding it back and shouted, "Kuroka! I''m ready!"


    Kuroka gathered her ck mes and sted the mutated Surtr with it, pushing it until the walls, shaking the Dungeon from the impact, "Make it fast. People are already rushing towards here, nyaa!"


    Yoruichi nodded and eyed the Surtr that was currently recovering its bnce. Using sh Step, Yoruichi reappeared a few meters away from its head. The Surtr, noticing her presence again, didn''t think about defending but immediately gathered mes to its throat.


    Yoruichi then closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling the warm stream of Reiatsu-Ki from Byakko. Opening her eyes, her hair turned white again along with her kodachi, "Bankai! Kyo no Kougou, Byakko!"


    At the same time, the Surtr released the blue mes that it had gathered andunched them towards Yoruichi. However, unlike before, Yoruichi easily pulled out her kodachi and was able to swing it with speed iparable from the first one.


    Although the overall weight of the kodachi was reduced to several hundred tonnes and the destructiveness behind it was also greatly reduced, its effects on space hadn''t changed. From its remaining horn until its leg, the Surtr was set asunder along with its blue ball of me.


    The Surtr wasn''t even able to cry when it was reduced to ashes and its Magic Stone that was split into two dropped on the floor.

 Chapter 678 The Expedition Team

    Chapter 678 The Expedition Team


    This time, before she hit the floor, Yoruichi was able to deactivate her Bankai, giving her ample space tond on her feet. Kuroka immediately went beside Yoruichi and helped her stand up and wipe her sweat.


    Although the destructiveness of her Bankai was off the charts, it also came with serious energy consumption that a couple more strikes was her current limit. But even with energy to spare, she can''t repeatedly use it due to the extreme strain it puts on her body, especially her arm.


    Even after strengthening through training and Reiatsu-Ki, just after two strikes, her muscles were ruptured and her bones fractured, ''I seriously need more body strengthening training... I wonder if Kisuke could suggest something?''


    Yoruichi realized that it was her turn to fall into the training hell.


    A few minutester, a group of women arrived at the scene of Kuroka supporting Yoruichi, falling ashes, two chucks of big Magic Stones, and two differently colored horns, "W-what is this...?"


    .


    .


    .


    The Astarte Familia''s Expedition Team that aimed to take out the Surtr had arrived at the 46th floor and was immediately besieged by monsters. However, the expedition team of the Astarte Familia''s most elite fighters led by their Captain, Carys Cattell, cksmiths from the Hadur Familia led by Urdor tefall, and Mages from the Patecatl Familia led by Chris mesworth easily dealt with the horde of monsters.


    "This is strange..." Carys suddenly muttered. She was the Captain of the Astarte Familia and one of the few Level 7s. As a Cowperson, she capitalized on her innate strength to rush through her enemies despite her flimsy and frail-looking limbs.


    A Dark Elf with silver hair and a mostly covered facended beside her and asked, "What is?"


    Carys silently looked around for a few moments before answering, "Although there are still hordes of monsters, they''re noticeably fewer than what I remembered. I took note of this after we went through the 44th floor, but now that we''re on the 46th floor, it''s be more obvious."


    After taking care of thest monsters, Fenia also went beside them and said, "I also noticed this earlier, but I thought it was just my imagination."


    Chris, Tenestra, Yenna, and Urdor also joined them hearing their conversation, "This is one of the abnormal anomalies that we should never ignore. It could be that the Dungeon is preparing something for us," Yenna added.


    "Shall we continue or retreat to the upper floors while sending scouts to this ce to monitor the situation?" The Dwarf, Urdor asked while stroking his beard.


    Carys thought for a moment before saying, "Let''s decide it between the three Familias. I suggest we continue."


    "I''d like to see the situation first," Urdor voted.


    Chris, a mature woman with long ck hair and a witch-like attire, first looked at the Mages she''d brought with her that are supposed to block the entrance to the 48th floor and flood the 47th floor for a few moments before voting, "I''d like to see how things develop first."


    Carys nodded at her and said, "Then we shall ascend to the 39th floor."


    "Isn''t the 40th floor much safer since it''s easier to deal with poisonous scorpions than wraiths?" asked Chris.


    "We found a spot where monsters don''t spawn. Although it''ll be cramped with our members, it''s much better than being constantly attacked by the monsters."


    Urdor''s eyes widened and asked, "Oh? Is it fine to show us this spot?"


    "Everyone''s safety is my priority so it''s fine."


    Urdor then started chuckling, "Those babies from the Aruna Familia should really learn a thing or two from you."


    Carys was about to reply when the Dungeon suddenly started shaking and the familiar roar of the Surtr was heard, "!?"


    "Someone is fighting the Surtr!" Tenestra shouted to let those who were confused know what''s going on.


    "Let''s go! Rush through the monsters and ignore those that far!" Carys gritted her teeth and recalled what happened three weeks ago, ''Is this rted to those who killed the Kuraokami?''


    "Chris, I''ll leave the formation of the Mages to you. Fenia, take half of the vanguard to safeguard the Mages, the cksmiths, and the Logistic team. The rest of you, follow me to the 47th floor!" Carys continued givingmands and no one objected to it.


    However, just a few seconds after that, an enormous and invisible pressure suddenly mmed down on everyone, halting their advance abruptly.


    While Carys and the rest of the executives managed to stay still, those who were Level 3s had one knee on the ground while those who were Level 2spletely sumbed to the pressure and dropped to the ground. However, they were all feeling the same thing, an extreme dread that was unknown to them. Aside from that, they also knew where this strange pressure wasing from.


    The pressure immediately disappeared as if it was just their bad imagination but after that, they all heard the roar of pain from the Monster Rex below.


    "W-what''s going on over there?" Chris asked. She still couldn''t stop her body from shaking and it''s the same for others.


    The first one to recover was Carys as she took several deep breaths before looking forward and giving instructions, "Everyone, retreat while being wary of your surroundings." But contrary to her words, she started walking towards the entrance of the 47th floor.


    "Captain!? Where are you going!?" Yenna suddenly grabbed her hand and asked.


    Without looking back, Carys replied, "We encountered something unknown and this may not be the first time this happens. I want to see what''s really going on for our future expeditions. Yenna, go take over themand. I''ll follow you shortly."


    "But..."


    Carys patted her head and said, "Aside from me, you''re the one who could effectivelymand everyone. I''m counting on you."


    Yenna gritted her teeth and separated from Carys, "...Understood. Be careful."


    But as Carys walked forward, Fenia went beside her and started walking along with her, "You might have convinced Yenna, but I''ming with you. It''ll be a lot safer that way."


    Carys wanted to rebuke her decision but she noticed that two more people were walking beside her, "I''m not good atmanding people, but the best with reacting to the unknown things. It''ll be much safer with me here," Tenestra said with arge grin.


    "Naturally, I''ll alsoe. Having a scout with you is a lot better," the Dark Elf, Dulran Stillshadow, added.


    Carys sighed and knew that she won''t be able to convince them, "Fine... Follow my lead."


    The four of them then rushed forward, weaving through the monsters.


    While looking at them, Urdor asked, "Are they going to be fine?"


    Yenna nodded with conviction, "They''ll be fine. Let''s retreat for now. With their speed, it''ll be easy for them to catch up."


    .


    .


    .


    Carys, Fenia, Tenestra, and Duran briefly stopped at the entrance of the 47th floor as they heard the sounds of intense battle, "They are taking the Surtr head-on?" Fenia mumbled with a frown.


    Unless one wanted to challenge the Surtr or have a death wish, no one would really meet the Surtr in a head-on battle.


    Just as they were about to step forward, the unbearable pressure suddenly descended on them again, freezing them in their spots, but this time, it was a lot more bearable and it disappeared just as fast. The four of them looked at each other for a moment before they resumed their rush.


    However, midway through the path, the sounds of battle ceased and when they reached the 47th floor, they could only freeze and be in awe at the scene, "W-what is this...?" Tenestra muttered.

 Chapter 679 Meeting the Expedition Team

    Chapter 679 Meeting the Expedition Team


    Kuroka eyed the neers and concluded that they wouldn''t be making any moves. After bing sure of this, she came to Yoruichi''s side while taking back her mes and sword.


    She then carefully checked Yoruichi''s condition, who was currently sitting on the ground with a slightly hurried breath. "Are you okay?", asked Kuroka after seeing her mangled right arm.


    "Yeah... I just severely underestimated the damage I could do and the consumption it would take.", answered Yoruichi while looking at the deep and wide cut that she made on the wall and floor with her first cut.


    "I never thought you could do something like that, nyaa... But considering the aftereffects, I can understand why you never showed something like that.", Kuroka then took out an Elixir and poured it on Yoruichi''s right arm before helping her stand up, "Can you walk on your own?"


    "Yeah... I''ll be fine after a bit of rest. You should first take care of our loot and our guests.", told Yoruichi and sat down crossed-legged and closed her eyes to meditate. Although she could support the consumption of using her Bankai with her enormous capacity, that didn''t mean that her pathways supported it. Her energy pathways became so strained that another use of her Bankai may break them and she might not be able to fight for quite some time in such a case.


    Using her Kidou, Yoruichi slowly nursed her body and soul as first aid and nned to ask Kisuke for a full treatmentter.


    After making sure that Yoruichi was doing fine, Kuroka first lifted the two horns and the split Magic Stone with her magic before approaching the people of the Astarte Familia. But despite approaching with a smile, Carys, Tenestra, Fenia and Dulran couldn''t help but take their weapons out.


    Kuroka stopped not far from them, "Please be at ease, nyaa. I have no hostile intentions."


    Carys stared at Kuroka for a short while before turning her sights at the floating horns. She then sighed and put down her weapon and those around her followed her actions, "We didn''t mean to point our weapons to you. Excuse us with our actions."


    Kuroka''s smile grew lighter and replied, "It''s fine, nyaa. This is the Dungeon and your actions to defend your safety are very understandable. Though I could only say that your trip down here might have been for naught, nyaa. But since we''re not part of your agreement, we don''t really have to follow your cycle."


    Carys only smiled wryly and shook her head, "We can''t reallyin as you''re indeed not part of our agreement. We didn''t think about the possibility that someone other than the four Factions could defeat Surtr. And even if I doin, I''ll just be putting myrades in danger by unnecessarily and unreasonably confronting the two people who could not just defeat the Surtr head-on but also cut its horns off, an achievement never seen before."


    Kuroka didn''tment on it and instead asked, "Where''s the rest of you? I presumed you''re not the only ones that are not going to face the Surtr, nyaa."


    "I asked them to retreat due to... uhmm... abnormalities way beyond our understanding."


    Kuroka thought for a short moment before realizing, "Oh! The pressure! It''s way worse than killing intent and it''s really hard to get used to it. But don''t worry about it, nyaa. The source of that was Yoruichi over there, nyaa. Ites whenever she releases most of her power."


    "I-It''s just a side-effect!?", stuttered Carys in clear disarray, but immediately cleared her throat and didn''t inquire about it further, "Ehem... But what about the unusually low number of monsters?"


    "That? Prior to the Surtr''s respawn, we''ve been hunting them almost nonstop so you should have encountered less monsters than usual, nyaa."


    The four of them thought about her words but they still couldn''t understand how the two of them managed to hunt monsters to the point of a noticeable decrease. However, Carys didn''t really have the guts to ask their methods and just said, "I suppose we can onlyplete the small quests that we took from the Guild."


    Carys then faced the Dark Elf and said, "Dulran, meet the others and ask them to proceed to the 48th floor. It''s already safe here."


    Dulran nodded at her and immediately ran towards the path leading to the 46th floor. As she left, Carys carefully observed any changes from Kuroka''s reaction and sighed in relief when it seemed that she didn''t particrly mind it.


    She wanted to ask if they could proceed to the 48th floor, but then recalled that even if Kuroka and Yoruichi were way stronger than them, the Dungeon was not theirs and they had no right to bar someone from exploring it further.


    On top of that, they also had their own pride and dignity. It wouldn''t be right to just take a step back on everything whenever they were threatened by a stronger force.


    Kuroka knew what she was thinking and was d that she didn''t back down, "Since you want to go down to the 48th floor, Would you mind waiting for us here until Yoruichi recovered some of her strength, nyaa? If you do, then we have an offer that you might like. Consider that as the exchange for ''stealing'' your prey, nyaa."


    Carys immediately became intrigued at her potential offer and after thinking for a short while, she nodded, "Understood. We''ll also wait for the others to arrive here first."


    Since the tension had already disappeared, the first one to ''confront'' Kuroka was Tenestra as she immediately went in front of her with shining eyes. "Kuroka-san! How are you doing that!?", asked the enthusiastic magic researcher while pointing towards the floating horns and Magic Stones.


    Kuroka started walking towards Yoruichi and answered her, "It''s an application of Flight Magic."


    Tenestra immediately followed her while eyeing the objects that were silently following Kuroka''s footsteps, "Flight Magic? But I can''t feel any wind that is used to propel them. How are you doing this?"


    "It''s true that you can fly using Wind Magic. In fact, you can also fly using various Elemental Magic. However, doing so just to lift yourself up is incredibly inefficient when you could just manipte your momentum with Magic Power directly, nyaa."


    Tenestra''s eyes widened and shone brighter, "Directly manipting momentum!? But how!? Without manifesting the Magic Power into something, I don''t have any idea how you could influence anything physically!"


    Carys and Fenia were gobsmacked on how Tenestra was able to barrage Kuroka with questions as if nothing special had just happened. Carys looked towards Fenia but before she could say anything, Fenia beat her to it, "I still don''t like people calling my little sister an oddball no matter how true it is... So please save it."


    "Well, thanks to your sister''s strangeness, all the tension has disappeared."


    "Calling her strange isn''t any better!"

 Chapter 680 The ‘Camp’

    Chapter 680 The ��Camp��


    It didn''t take too long for the rest of the Expedition Team to arrive on the 47th floor, albeit, still very high strung due to the series of abnormal events. The moment they stepped on said floor, they immediately looked around, and only when they saw the executives of the Astarte Familia safe and seemingly rxed could they breathe a sigh of relief, except for one person.


    Urdor, the Captain of the most prominent cksmithing Familia within the Dizara region had his eyes only on two things since the very first moment his sightnded on them. Running towards the horns without regard to anything else, Urdor was captivated by the sights of the legendary items. He even ignored the fact that they were floating mid-air.


    But just as he was about to touch them, they suddenly flew out of his reach before a massive killing intent descended on him, making him shudder and freeze on his spot, "Hey old man, before you touch other people''s belongings, make sure to ask for permission first. I might mistake you for stealing it and retaliating. I assure you that in this case you won''t even have the time toin when I detach your head from your neck."


    Urdor immediately looked towards the source of the voice and met with golden cat pupils staring at him coldly. It was then that he finally realized how rude he was and how this could easily be mistaken as a hostile action.


    Urdor swallowed a mouthful of saliva before he cleared his throat and apologized, "I''m very sorry. I don''t have any ill intent. I was just so captivated with those horns that I forgot my manners."


    "I also apologize on his behalf. Please understand that he just got too excited as an artisan. If he did steal from someone or unreasonably demand something, I can assure you that his life as an artisan would instantly end."Carys backed the overly enthusiastic Dwarf.


    Kuroka immediately took back her killing intent and started chuckling, "Rx. I''m not angry. I just wanted you to take this as a warning, especially when we''re inside the Dungeon where anything could happen and a singlepse of judgment could im your life and those around you, nyaa~!"


    Shocked at how easily she could manipte her killing intent, Urdor could only reply after having a sigh of relief, "T-that''s true. Thanks for the reminder."


    A momentter, Chris approached Kuroka and greeted her, "It has been a while, Toujou-san. We didn''t think that we would be seeing you and Yoruichi here.", she then pointed towards the horns and asked, "Are those Surtr''s horns?"


    "It''s nice to see you again, Chris, nyaa~. And yep, those are Surtr''s horns."


    "I see... so you did not just defeat it with just the two of you, but also managed to achieve something that no one has ever done before.", said Chris while looking at the deep cut on the wall, still trying to figure out what kind of attack could have caused this, "But why is one of the horns colored blue?"


    "Oh, that''s right! I also wanted to ask about that!", added Urdor.


    But Kuroka just smiled at them and didn''t give them an answer.


    Carys then exined to the rest of the Expedition team that they decided to wait for Yoruichi to rest for a bit. Although Carys didn''t exin why they had to wait, they trusted the decision of their leader.


    Meanwhile, Tenestra and Udor continued to bother Kuroka about Magic and the horns.


    .


    .


    .


    Half an hourter, Yoruichi opened her eyes and stood up, "That''s a lot better."


    She then faced everyone and said, "Sorry for making you all wait. Let''s proceed to the 48th floor. And by the way, you don''t have to set up your camp ''cus Kisuke prepared something too big for the three of us."


    Carys tilted her head and asked, "We don''t need to set our own camp?"


    "You''ll understand once you follow us. This is also the reason why we asked you to wait for us here.", replied Kuroka, ''It''s also to make sure that you won''t do anything unbing toward it, giving that guy a reason to retaliate just for the heck of it.''


    While the rest of them became confused, Tenestra''s attention was caught by something else, "Kisuke? Isn''t that the name of the guy that was with you? He''s also here?"


    "Oh right. You came across him on the surface, right? You''re looking for him?", asked Yoruichi as she and Kuroka started walking towards the 48th floor.


    Tenestra hopped beside them and answered with gleaming eyes, "Yes! I tried looking for him after a few days but I couldn''t find him anywhere!"


    Fenia, with a very concerned expression, immediately went beside her sister after hearing what she said and asked, "Y-you''re looking for him? W-why?"


    Tenestra looked at her with a puzzled expression before a light bulb went off inside her head, "Oh, I forgot to tell everyone something important. Remember the spell that I was able to sessfully recreate as a standalone?"


    Yeena then stated, "You mean how you drew the Magic Circle of my ''Vine Trap'' and allowed others to use it? You do know that those from Altena kept pestering our Familia to meet you because of that and you still managed to sneak out? And judging from how Fenia asked you, she also helped you with it?"


    "Guh... There''s a good reason for that!", Tenestra cleared her throat, "Ahem. You see, I couldn''t have done that without Kisuke-san''s help. He''s the one who pointed out the ws of my work and pointed me in the correct direction! He''s technically my teacher!"


    The executives of the three Familias all looked at each other in surprise. It turned out that it wasn''t even her achievement that caught all those Magic maniacs and Deities'' attention, but someone else''s. Those from Altena who were temporarily staying within the Dizara region even thought that this achievement would revolutionize the use of Magic.


    Yoruichi chuckled and said, "So he already taught you a few things. As expected of the guy who can''t keep his mouth shut."


    "Yes! Those few things actually helped me refine my current theories and I was able to advance my understanding with my other research subjects! I''d like to thank him. And if possible, I would like it if he epts me as his student! I''ll even use my life savings as tuition fees!"


    Kuroka then suddenly grabbed her shoulders and turned Tenestra''s face in her direction. With a serious expression, she said, "Even as a joke, don''t ever say you''ll give your life savings. Even though he doesn''t need money, he won''t hesitate to take what he can and shamelessly at that. Just say that you want to be his student and wait for him to tell you the conditions, nyaa."


    Stunned at her sudden seriousness, Tenestra asked, "I-is it fine to tell me all of these? F-from what I recall, he seems to be your husband. Shouldn''t you make it easier for him?"


    Patting her head, Yoruichi interjected, "Because we have a favorable impression of you, we''re warning you. If it''s other people, we wouldn''t care if that guy managed to scam everything under their name."


    Although they were simple words, strangely enough, everyone other than Tenestra felt a sudden chill down their spine. Looking at each other, they figured out that they were all feeling this strange sensation even though they didn''t have to. But within their mind, they all decided, ''When talking to him, we should be very careful.''


    Ignoring their reactions, Kuroka continued, "If you really want to learn Magic, he''s actually the best guy you could ask. I can assure you that there is no better person in the Lower World when ites to Magicpared to Kisuke, nyaa."


    "That''s some grand im. I''m sure anyone from Altena would disagree with you.", replied Tenestra.


    Kuroka grinned at her and said, "You''ll understand once we reach the 48th floor."


    Confused, Tenestra could only wait and once they reached the 48th floor, they all stopped at the entrance while looking at the gigantic strange thing in the distance. "...What is that?", Carys asked Kuroka and Yoruichi.


    "Our camp.", replied Yoruichi and continued walking.


    "C-camp?"

 Chapter 681 Choices

    Chapter 681 Choices


    The Expedition Team, along with Yoruichi and Kuroka arrived at the ''camp'' and was greeted by Kisuke, "Travelers, wee to our humble inn~!"


    However, no one could respond to his greeting as they were still currently processing what they were seeing.


    Kisuke knew that they wouldn''t be responding anytime soon so he just went beside Yoruichi and scooped her into princess carry and started walking towards the back of the lobby.


    "Wait! Are you going to just leave me, nyaa!?", called Kuroka out.


    "Of course~ Give them a tour."


    "So when you gave us a tour when you usually just ask us to explore by ourselves, it was in preparation for me to give new guests a tour!? You already knew that this would happen, nyaa!?"


    "Of course not. I just thought that it would be convenient to leave it to you, if something were to happen to Yoruichi. I''ll leave it to you~!" Kisuke then disappeared from Kuroka''s sight and thetter could only sigh.


    Arriving at the 63rd floor which was designed as a medical ward, Kisuke ced Yoruichi on the bed and said, "You really pushed yourself this time."


    Yoruichi smiled lightly and replied, "I also didn''t expect the power I was able to pull out. Though thanks to this, I realized something important and I was able to deepen my bond with Byakko."


    While hooking her up to the diagnostic machines, Kisuke said, "Looks like you''ll need a systematic training or upgrade to properly use Byakko."


    "I understand training, but upgrade?"


    Kisuke sat down beside her bed and started exining, "You see, thanks to Akeno-san and Irina, I was able to advance my Gigai technology using Great Red''s flesh and Ophis'' power as the basis."


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened in surprise and carefully looked at the serious expression that Kisuke was making, "A Gigai using Great Red''s flesh and Ophis'' power? What for?"


    Kisuke became silent for a few moments before answering, "I want a Shinigami of at least Captain level to have a physical body that allows them to use their full power and affect the physical world much easier."


    It was Yoruichi''s turn to be silent. A few minutester, while looking up to the ceiling, she asked, "Are you preparing for a war? A war that epasses different worlds?"


    Kisuke rested his chin on his hands and answered, "The way things are going, there''s a small chance of it happening. You know how different war ispared to individual fights. No matter how strong one bes, they could be ovee by numbers. Not to mention, this uing war might involve beings on Ywach''s level."


    "A small chance, yet you''re nning for it. Well, I can''t really say anything regarding that habit of yours as it already saved us countless times. Your cautiousness is what also gave us a fighting chance against the Quincies."


    Yoruichi then looked back to Kisuke''s eyes and asked, "If you''re already developing the Gigai, does that mean that you''ve found the way to our old home?"


    Nodding, Kisuke confirmed it, "Indeed. It''s very faint, but I found a lead towards that world."


    "Then I guess I have to work really hard and prepare myself for the inevitable."


    The diagnostic beeped several times signifying that it was done with its check. Kisuke went over to the terminal to check the findings while saying, "Don''t get me wrong. I''m not asking you to get a body modification. I''m just giving you a choice. Ultimately, it''ll be up to you and Byakko to what path you wanted to take."


    "...We''ll think about it."


    .


    .


    .


    An hourter, Kisuke left Yoruichi to rest after giving her treatment. It was also to give her the time she needed to contemte.


    Returning to the lobby, Kisuke found the executives of the three Familias who were sitting in the waiting area with tired expressions while the rest of the Expedition team were outside roaming around, still checking everything out.


    Kuroka, on the other hand, was sitting with the executives with a gleeful expression. ''I can now somehow understand why Kisuke wants to mess with people.'', she thought.


    Approaching them, Kisuke greeted them for the second time, "Once again, good day to everyone. Did you enjoy your tour?"


    Hearing his voice, except for Kuroka, everyone immediately jumped out of their seats and looked towards the man who created this impossible construct with a mix of fear, awe and intrigue.


    The first one who responded was the Captain of the Astarte Familia. Offering her hand, Carys introduced herself while intently looking at Kisuke''s facial expression, "I''m sorry for ignoring you earlier. We were too upied with what we were seeing. Nice to meet you, I''m the Captain of the Astarte Familia and the leader of this Expedition Team, Carys Cattell."


    By doing this, Carys would be able to figure out how Kisuke viewed them. Although he has the power or knowledge to look down on them, Carys would want to deal with him for doing so. Not just for their pride and dignity, but also for the safety of their Familia, ''People drunk on power would not hesitate to use others for their goals.''


    Since she didn''t know what Kisuke wanted for showing something as grand and unbelievable as this ce, she first wanted to ensure the safety of herrades.


    But although Kisuke would indeed use others unhesitantly for his own goals, unless they were his enemies, he wouldn''t go as far as using them to death. Aside from that, he never looked down on anyone as part of his innate cautiousness.


    On the contrary, he admired those who''ve reached their high levels because of their willingness to bet on their lives and those who worked towards the unknown and uncertain paths that no one else was willing to take, just because society deemed it to be impossible. In other words, he admired those who were reckless and idiots in the eyes of many.


    Kisuke grabbed her hand and introduced himself with arge smile, "Nice to meet you~ The name''s Kisuke Urahara, the owner of this ce and its creator."


    Carys was shocked at Kisuke''s firm reaction but she still hadn''t let her guard down and she never showed anything on her face.


    However, Kisuke correctly guessed what she was thinking and continued, "Being careful, are we?"


    In an instant, Carys frowned.


    Kisuke chuckled and took back his hand, "I understand what you''re feeling, and even if I say that you don''t have to worry about anything, that''ll only backfire. So how about this, I swear on my Falna that I won''t put anyone in danger today."


    Carys smiled, "Just for today, huh."


    "Of course. I still want to retaliate when you suddenly be hostile."


    "Fair enough. Well then, let me get straight to the point since it seems that you don''t like gauging each other out. For showing all of this, what do you want from us?...", Carys then suddenly shook her head and changed her words, "Or rather, what can we do for you?"


    "Hoho~ You''ve be enthusiastic, I see."


    Shrugging her shoulders, Carys replied, "We''d like to have the benefit of cooperating with someone like you first."


    Hearing this, Urdor and Chris looked at each other before simultaneously saying, "I''d like to join these talks."


    Kisuke nodded and replied, "Very well, everyone, let''s go to the meeting room."

 Chapter 682 Impression

    Chapter 682 Impression


    Sitting at the head of the table, Kisuke asked everyone, "Well then, everyone, what do you think of this ce?"


    Tenestra immediately raised her hand and said, "It''s ridiculous!"


    Fenia hurriedly grabbed her arm and gestured to her, "Shh! Watch what you''re saying!"


    However, Kisuke just chuckled at her response and added, "It''s fine. I want everyone''s honest opinion. That way, I''ll have a more urate view of this ce. Please go on."


    Chris mesworth then looked out the ''window'' and said, "I clearly remember that there wasn''t any window on this thing when we arrived, yet here we are, seeing what''s outside."


    "Not just that. The walls, floors, ceilings, and doors, everything is made out of Adamantium and Orichalcum. Just the sheer amount is ridiculous and I still can''t wrap my mind around how you''ve gathered everything that you used to build this.", added Urdor.


    Yeena also gathered her courage and revealed her opinion, "Not to mention the strange but wondrous mechanism that covered this ce. Even in Altena where Magic technology advances every day, such things are impossible."


    "And finally, those Magic Circles that were able to instantly move us to this floor. In my opinion, those are the most ridiculous things and I also have a feeling that you want us to do something regarding that.", was the final opinion from Carys.


    From their perspective, since they didn''t know the full capabilities of this building, the mechanisms that were used were certainly impressive but it was something achievable bybining Magic items made by those with Mystery Development Ability.


    What was really astonishing was the instant movement Magic. If it was possible to do the same thing outside of this building, then not just the Dungeon exploration, but also instant long-distance travel would be possible, allowing free trade from very far territories which would, in turn, advance civilization as a whole.


    Kisuke smiled and nodded, "Indeed. As you can see, we''re just three people and we won''t be within the Dungeon for most of the time. Although this ''inn'' can manage on its own since I made it that way, it''ll be hard to regte people who want to transfer from the 9th floor to this floor and vice-versa."


    Carys, Yeena, Chris and Tenestra all stood up in shock with Tenestra saying, "You were able to do that instant movement Magic outside of this building!? And from the 9th floor to this floor!?"


    Kisuke also stood up and went towards the exit, "Shall we check it out?"


    Everyone looked at each other before nodding with serious expressions. If what he said was true, then a big change in Dungeon exploration was about toe. As the representatives of the Astarte, Patecatl and Hadur Familias, they started thinking about how they''d be able to help to manage this portal.


    Since Chris and Urdor are from Agricultural and cksmithing Familia respectively, they knew that they could only lend assistance to the Astarte Familia, an Exploration Familia, so they instead started thinking that way instead of trying to contest with them.


    Leaving the building, everyone else from the Expedition team saw them. While Carys asked those from the Astarte Familia to not follow them, Chris and Urdor asked one person from their respective Familias to follow them.


    After 10 minutes of walking, they reached arge clearing about 70 meters wide. In the middle was a tform made out of Adamantium and on it was a 30-meter wide extremelyplex Magic Circle surrounded by 7 pirs engraved withplex circuits which were connected to the Magic Circle. Each of the pirs was 3 meters tall and 12 inches wide with a small cavity in the center.


    Kisuke went straight up to the podium while others only silently followed him. Meanwhile, Kuroka went towards the pirs and inserted Magic Stones in each cavity before following the group towards the center of the Magic Circle.


    Everyone else aside from the two were busy observing the Magic Circle, in particr, Tenestra who started taking notes about it when Kisuke suddenly said, "Well then everyone, brace yourselves."


    With a tap of his cane, the Magic Circle lit up and covered them with light. A few secondster, they found themselves in an untouched but familiar corner of a safety point which was on the 9th floor.


    "T-this is... So it''s really possible!" Carys immediately faced Kisuke and directly asked him, "Do you want us to guard these two points?"


    "Not just that. I''d like to leave the management of these Teleportation Circles to your Familia."


    Not just Carys, even Chris and Urdor were shocked that Kisuke was giving such an opportunity to the Astarte Familia, "B-but what if we mismanage it and bar others from entering?"


    However, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don''t care. I only want a steady stream of customers to my inn.", and with a shit-eating grin, Kisuke added, "If you want to mess with the Aruna Familia, I won''t say a thing~."


    The representatives of the three Familias knew that from here on out, it was going to be extremely noisy. Even if the Astarte Familia chose to be as fair as possible, dissatisfaction and greed would still consume a lot of people.


    Carys looked down and contemted. Although they were probably going to make a lot of allies, among them would be enemies hidden in the dark. However, this would also open a lot of opportunities for them.


    She then looked back up to Kisuke and asked, "How do we use these Teleportation Circles?"


    Kisuke happily exined how to operate and under what conditions the Teleportations Circles would function. Finally, he took out a ck card and gave it to Carys, "This card will allow you to remotely enable or disable the circles and you can also use this to expel anyone within the vicinity of the circles. Bring it up to your forehead and you''ll understand how to use it."


    Carys did as Kisuke instructed and information instantly flowed towards her consciousness. She was surprised but didn''t show it on her face, ''Although this card could indeed give me control over the circles, it''s only possible when I''m not more than 30 meters away from the tform. The key that could give me full control anywhere I am is the pill that is inside the hiddenpartment located at the side of the tform. Once I''ve eaten that, it''ll give me a higher authority over this card.''


    Carys brought the card to her forehead once again but the instruction omitted the information regarding the pill. She smiled and thought, ''Thanks to this, it would be a lot easier to give this ck card up in case we are threatened with something or it is stolen.''


    She looked up to Kisuke once again and said, "Thank you very much. I''ll take care of it."


    Not waiting for his reply, Carys immediately faced Dulran and Fenia, "Dulran, immediately ry all that has transpired here to Lady Astarte and stay by her side at all times wherever she goes. Never agree to leave her side even if she has to meet other Deities."


    The Dark Elf nodded and hurriedly left without saying any word.


    "Fenia, go back and take half of our remaining forces to set a camp around here. I''ll leave you to guard this ce for the meantime."


    "Understood.", Fenia nodded and also left.


    Meanwhile, Chris and Urdor also issued simrmands to the person they brought along and also immediately left with grave expressions.


    "Now that this is out of the way, let''s return.", Kisuke reactivated the Teleportation Circle and returned to the 48th floor.

 Chapter 683 Real Reason

    Chapter 683 Real Reason


    Since they were done and Kuroka had already taught them how to rent the rooms and facilities through the lobby by using Magic Stones and Valis, Kisuke decided to leave them alone and return to Yoruichi.


    But before the two could leave, Tenestra called out to Kisuke, "Please wait!""What is it, Tenestra-san?", asked Kisuke as he turned around.


    "I don''t want to miss this opportunity! Please teach me Magic!"


    However, Kisuke shook his head, "I''m sorry, but things have changed these past three weeks. If I wasn''t too busy with my own things, I would have taught you some things, but time is not on my side so I can only have one student at a time for now."


    Tenestra felt extremely dejected when she heard that, but she also understood, "So you''re also busy with your own research. It''s true, when you make an unexpected advancement, you''ll have almost no time for anything else."


    All of a sudden, a white card suddenly flew to her face and she hurriedly caught it. "What''s this?", she asked while she inspected what Kisuke threw at her.


    "An ess card of the library. Within it are basics about Magic Theory that you won''t find anywhere else and some other topics that you might be interested in. That card will also allow you to enter the room beyond it, which is a smallboratory and training room where you can confirm your findings. It''splete with materials that you may use at your own discretion but once they are depleted, you''ll have to provide the materials yourself until I replenish them myself. Same as before, bring it to your forehead to get the instructions on how to use it."


    Tenestra''s cheerfulness immediately returned and she ran off towards the library that Kuroka showed them earlier, "Thank you very much! I''ll be sure to use it well!"


    Carys looked at the running Tenestra and asked, "Is that fine? I''m not saying that you shouldn''t, but whenever she experiments on something, that something explodes most of the time."


    "It''s fine. That''s a normal urrence for me, too. If you''re worried about her being alone in that room if an ident were to happen, please rest easy. That room was designed to take a beating while protecting the people inside to a certain degree. But I doubt her experiments would cause an explosion big enough to obliterate the whole training area."


    Curious, Yeena asked, "Why are you supporting her? Although she seeded this one time, it was only because you taught her and she might not see any sess this time now that you''ve left her to her own devices. We supported her because she''s our preciousrade and we can see that she enjoys what she''s doing, but what about you?"


    She asked this because she was extremely concerned about what Kisuke wanted from Tenestra and in an attempt to find out why he willingly invested in something that could result in nothing.


    Rubbing his beard, Urdor interjected, "Isn''t it because thess is a genius? She seeded on something that was thought to be impossible, after all."


    Everyone reached the lobby and Kisuke turned to them with a big smile, "Genius or not, I don''t really care. On the contrary, it''s because she''s stupid that I chose to support her. She''s stupid enough to questionmon sense. Well then, everyone, we need to leave as there are still things that we have to aplish. Have a good day and enjoy your stay."


    Kisuke and Kuroka went straight to the back of the lobby, leaving the stunned group, "Stupid enough to questionmon sense, huh... Now that he said it that way, it may have been the real reason why Tenestra was able to seed in the first ce. Because she tried to tackle what was thought to be impossible.", murmured Carys.


    Urdor then turned around and started walking.


    "Where are you going?", asked Chris.


    "To the workshop. There are some things I wanted to try but I stopped because I thought that it was a ridiculous and impossible idea.", replied Urdor without turning around, ''That might have also been the cause of my stagnation. Instead of improving my skills, I instead looked for better materials to make something better. I shouldn''t have sumbed to the helplessness of not being able to do it because I deemed it a useless effort.''


    "Looks like those few simple words awakened something from the old man. Look at his eyes. It looks like he''s ready to kill himself.",mented Yeena with a chuckle.


    Carys sighed. She really envied people like Urdor and Tenestra who had something they were passionate about. She too had it, but it was for battle, arge contradiction to the usual temperament and instinct of a Cow Person. Unlike their passion for creating something better, hers was a destructive passion.


    Shaking her head of useless thoughts, she instructed, "Let''s amodate everyone for now and wait for the surge of people. We''ll have to stabilize the crowds first before we can do what we want on this floor."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke and Kuroka reached the room where Yoruichi was resting and saw her sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed and her kodachi silently floating in front of her.


    The two then went straight towards the table at the corner and sat down. After Kisuke prepared the tea for the two of them, Kuroka suddenly asked after taking a sip, "So what''s the real reason you made this ce noisy?"


    After sipping his own tea, Kisuke answered, "I''m creating a forest for my tree."


    Kuroka didn''t say anything and digested Kisuke''s words, ''He didn''t really intend to hide his abilities anymore from the masses so there''s only one conclusion. He wanted to increase the noise in his surroundings to avoid detection from that Chaos guy. But all of this is just a thin mist?''


    Kuroka sighed, "All of this for such a small difference?"


    However, Kisuke just smiled, "It''s indeed a very small difference, but nevertheless, it''s still something I could do, so why not? No matter how small, it''s still something that could tilt the favor to our side, which may make a massive difference in the end."


    Kuroka chuckled, "I guess that''s true. Maybe I''m just not used to doing such a big thing for such a small result. Hmm... What can I say, nyaa? It really suits you."


    Kisuke and Kuroka then talked about other random things and enjoyed the rare tranquility.


    An hourter, Yoruichi finally woke up and grabbed her kodachi, "I want some tea too."

 Chapter 684 A cool but ineffective technique

    Chapter 684 A cool but ineffective technique


    "How is it?", Kisuke asked Yoruichi after Kuroka gave her a cup of tea.


    Yoruichi calmly sipped on her tea before answering, "I want to deepen my connection with Byakko like what you have with Benihime."


    Kisuke looked at her straight for a few seconds before asking, "You mean synchronizing your body and soul to the limit? Mine was only possible thanks to the Hougyoku, so what''s your n?"


    "I don''t have one.", Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders and grabbed a cookie. But after chewing a bite, she continued speaking, "But Byakko seems to have one. However, she won''t tell me what it is. For now, what I can do is discover andprehend more of Byakko''s abilities. As you''ve known, Byakko is different from the rest of the Zanpakuto and that includes her Bankai. Instead of being fully aware of her full capabilities, it was limited by my own understanding."


    "I see... I have a suspicion that''s really the case. Let me guess. Other than Byakko having Spatial abilities, you know nothing else?", asked Kisuke.


    "Yep. That''s why I don''t really understand the weight of her Bankai and it could change abruptly. I can only assume that aside from Spatial, she also has control over Gravitational Forces. However, she won''t confirm it for me and told me to ask you instead."


    Kisuke was a bit surprised at her words as he didn''t think that Byakko would leave something like this to him. Nevertheless, Kisuke started exining, "Then let me correct that thinking. Byakko''s ability is definitely the maniption of Space-Time and not the Gravitational Force. In the first ce, Gravitational Force doesn''t exist as Gravity is not force. Gravity is the curvature of Space-Time."


    "Not a force? Then what''s pushing us down to the ground?", Yoruichi asked in genuine curiosity.


    Even Kuroka who was silently listening from the side perked her ears up.


    "It''s not that we''re being ''pushed down'', but it''s actually the itself that is ''pushing us up'' through Space-Time. Well, it''s a field of science that is easily misunderstood andplicated once you go deeper into the subject. But because you can directly manipte Space-Time with Byakko, it''ll be a lot easier for you as you won''t need to know about the theoretical particle, Graviton."


    Kisuke then carefully exined the concept of Space-Time to Yoruichi and Kuroka while using strings of Magic Power as illustrations to further demonstrate his words.


    After half an hour of exining and answering questions, Kisuke then touched upon the subject of Yoruichi''s Bankai and asked her to tell him in detail about her battle with the Surtr.


    Hearing about it, Kisuke sighed in the end, "Unless you''re dealing with an army of mobs, please don''t use that Space-cutting ability again."


    "...But that''s the only ability I instinctively knew... I know that it''s not a very good ability but is it that bad?"


    Kisuke nodded and started exining, "It''s bad. First of all, cutting space itself isn''t as amazing as it sounds. It has a very strong destructive effect that is very hard to block, but that''s about it when ites to its pros. For the cons, first of all, it doesn''t differentiate allies and enemies. Well, this is what most abilities are, but Space-cutting could be easily miscalcted and that minute miscalction could result in a very wide range difference so it''s not usable in a chaotic battlefield where everyone is in your range."


    "Second, it''s fuel consumption. As you are now, while ignoring your physical abilities to perform it, you''re only capable of unleashing those kinds of strikes nine times at most before beingpletely depleted. And that''s against enemies with simr defenses as the Surtr. If your opponent has arge pool of energy, that could hinder the space maniption and it would take more power to activate. Not to mention if your enemy also has a simr space manipting ability or has some understanding regarding it. It''s basically an attack where you have to pump in as much energy as possible depending on your enemy."


    "Ughh... That''s what I''ve felt too."


    "And finally,"


    "There''s more!?"


    "Of course. Thest one is the real reason why it isn''t viable in high-level battles. Cutting space itself is really impressive, however, after cutting it, Space-Time would instantly mend itself. It''s the universe''s way of stabilizing itself. In other words, aside from effectively splitting your target, it does nothing else."


    Yoruichi sighed, "I see your point. Those at the top of the food chain would have some form of self-recovery and those monstrous beings could regenerate instantly from being cut apart."


    "Exactly. Even if you expend most of your energy reserve to cut those guys, they could just reattach themselves."


    While resting her chin on her hand, Yoruichi mumbled in discontent, "So it''s really just a mob mower and technically useless against boss battles."


    Kisuke replied after sipping his tea, "That''s exactly right."


    All of sudden, Kuroka stood up and tapped the table to interrupt them, "Wait for a damn minute! Why are you talking like this space-cutting ability is no big deal!?"


    Both of them looked at her and said, "Because it isn''t?"


    "No!", retorted Kuroka, "Yoruichi''s strike might have been avoidable, nyaa, but it''s an instant attack and could only be passively blocked! And aside from Ophis, and maybe Kisuke, I don''t know anyone capable of regenerating themselves once they''re cut in half! It''s technically an instant kill skill, nyaa!"


    Kisuke and Yoruichi then looked at each other. Both of them knew that there were at least a dozen people or monsters that could regenerate themselves after being cut in half, not to mention those from the other worlds, including their former one with Aizen and Yhwach at the top of the list.


    "If I can do it, then there are bound to be others that can do it too, and not taking them into ount is justpromising and could spell our demise. In this world alone, there are probably at least two that could do that and we may even sh with one of them.", replied Kisuke.


    After hearing that, Kuroka was speechless and after thinking about it, her way of thinking was really justpromising their efforts. So what if there were almost none who could resist the strike, it also meant that some others could do it and those could be their enemies. She almost forgot that Yoruichi and Kisuke, especially thetter, are always preparing for the worst, "I''m sorry. I''m being naive, nyaa."


    "It''s fine~," Yoruichi grabbed Kuroka''s hand, "I also wasn''t used to it at first, so your reaction is normal."


    She then faced Kisuke and asked, "So what else could I do with my Bankai?"

 Chapter 685 New Targets

    Chapter 685 New Targets


    "I can think of two skills that you can use that have two variations each. The first one, the easier one, is using the skill that Byakko uses to make herself heavier."


    Yoruichi thought about it for a moment before saying, "If I can fully control Byakko''s Gravity amplification, I could even use it as a method of training. Aside from that, I just need to extend the reach of my de using Reiatsu-Ki and it would have a simr effect as space-cutting just from the sheer weight that could be applied as a force multiplier. With mastery, I can use and take advantage of momentum by frequently changing the weight of the de."


    "And if you can extend that ability to your opponents, you can easily disrupt their bnce by interchanging the Gravity around them."


    "Extending that ability, huh... Just from the initial impression I have, I can tell that it''s going to be tough."


    "You have to if you want to use the next skill that I''m about to suggest."


    Yoruichi looked at him silently and urged him to continue.


    And using luminescent strings of Magic Power once again, Kisuke formed a three-dimensional grid, "Once you''re able to extend your ability to amplify the earth''s gravity, you shouldn''t be far off from directly manipting space itself."


    "Bypressing space directly, you won''t just be creating an artificial Gravitation Field, but those in the middle would also be crushed and implode if thepression was extreme enough. On the contrary, if you expanded space, those in the middle would be torn into pieces by pulling forces if you do it fast enough, but that would be extremely hard to do and not very energy-friendly. Instead, its main application is creating a space between you and your opponent, which is normally impossible."


    After watching Kisuke''s demonstrations for a few minutes, Yoruichi closed her eyes and imagined herself using it in battle. After a few more minutes, Yoruichi opened her eyes and said, "This is very dangerous, not just for my opponents, but for myself too. One mistake and I could crush myself to death."


    Kisuke just sipped his tea and let her contemte about it more and he was not disappointed as Yoruichi continued after a few more seconds of silence, "But if I canpress and expand at the same time, I could basically just use a step to transverse a great distance and that could be a lot faster and more flexible than sh Step."


    Kisuke smiled and said, "That''s technically how a wormhole works. With proficiency, you should be able to move as if you''re using an instant teleportation technique."


    "I see... Byakko really isn''t wrong when she told me to rely on you."


    However, Kisuke shook his head, "I surmise the reason you''re thinking of isn''t the case. While you have to learn how to use her abilities, Byakko could probably do all of that as naturally as breathing since it came from her instincts. Since it came from her instincts, she might have a hard time to exin the technicalities of her ability. So that no unnecessary idents ur, she chose to rely on outside assistance."


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened slightly before she smiled, "Now that I''ve thought about it, that might have been the case." If this is indeed true, then it''s a very good sign for Yoruichi. It means that Byakko has been opening herself to her more than she initially thought.


    Yoruichi then stood up and started stretching, "In any case, before I could do all of that, my body has to be fully capable or I''ll just be a baby with a very sharp knife. However, this is problematic. Although I can train to get more strength, durability is a different story."


    "That, I actually have an idea."


    Yoruichi looked at him for a few seconds before replying, "I have a feeling that it won''t be a very pretty idea."


    Kisuke smiled wryly and said, "Listen for now. As you''ve known, Shinigami and Hollow are just two sides of the same coin. With that in mind, I''ve been trying to convert Hollow arts into Shinigami arts."


    Yoruichi immediately got an idea but waited for Kisuke to exin, "Which one exactly?"


    Kisuke looked at her grin and said, "High-Speed Regeneration."


    "Seriously?"


    "Yep~ Though I am not yet done with it, I''m making great progress. One of these days, it should bepleted and initial testing can start." There are many Hollow arts that Kisuke wanted to convert, however, with Yoruichi and Aika in mind, he prioritized something that could save their lives in case they received a fatal attack.


    Yoruichi replied with a twitching mouth, "That''s really a ridiculous idea... You''re just about to invalidate most of Healing Kidou Arts. Anyway, even if I can regenerate, how will that solve the problem with my body''s durability?"


    Yoruichi already guessed what Kisuke wanted her to do. However, she still didn''t know how repeatedly taking damage would increase her defenses. At that point, a certain figure entered her mind and a light bulb went off her head.


    But before she could say anything, Kisuke beat her to it, "Oh my~ Have you forgotten our good friend Askin Nakk Le Vaar?"


    "No way I''m going to forget that almost unkible bastard. Are you saying that you managed to replicate even that guy''s ability?"


    "Almost. Even to a small extent, I can''t exactly replicate his ability. However, if it''s just being immune to your own aspect, it''s possible... After going through a bit of hell, that is."


    "Indeed... I don''t need to be immune to any attack. I just have to be immune to my own ability and everything would be fine," She then looked back at Kisuke and said, "I never expected it to be easy! When can I go through it?"


    Kisuke rubbed his chin for a few seconds before answering, "A week or two? I still have toplete and test those techniques and in addition to that, I have to prepare a special room for you where space could instantly be stabilized in an emergency. Your ability won''t just hurt you but could also kill you outright so we have to be extremely careful with the implementation."


    "You''re done with your secret talk, nyaa?" Kuroka''s voice suddenly resounded beside them. Although they don''t tell her any details regarding their past organization, she''s already happy that she''s trusted enough to let her hear their conversation. However, she''s also slightly upset that she''s been entirely ignored until now.


    Kisuke chuckled and ruffled her hair, "Yep. We''re done. For now, let''s return to the surface to turn that horn in. Thanks to what we''ve done here, the attention you''ll be getting is lesserpared to mine."


    Kuroka''s eyes shined and immediately stood up, "A little bit of vacation? Let''s go shopping, nyaa!"


    "Ahahaha. Alright. Let''s do it. And it''s also about time to check Serafall''s reports regarding what''s been happening in Orario."


    Yoruichi eyed him and asked, "Wait, you''ve been ignoring her reports until now?"


    "There wasn''t anything that''s been tagged as an emergency so it''s fine."

 Chapter 686 Back to the Surface

    Chapter 686 Back to the Surface


    Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuroka directly teleported to an uninhabited forest south of Pandemonium where they had ced a teleportation circle.


    "It''s really annoying that we can''t just directly teleport back and forth to the Dungeon, nyaa." Kuroka stretched out her arms and took in a deep breath of fresh air.


    "It''s technically another space within the Dungeon so we can''t reallyin. If we do something to circumvent this mild inconvenience, we don''t know how the Dungeon would react, but I presume it won''t do anything good. In any case, we just have to set up a teleportation circle and let it mature so that the Dungeon won''t treat it as a foreign entity that needs to be destroyed."


    Meanwhile, Yoruichi took out Surtr''s normal horn and started wrapping it with a cloth treated with temporary heat resistance. Since it was bigger than her, she used Magic to speed up her work.


    After she was done, she followed Kisuke and Kuroka who were a few meters away from the teleportation circle, with thetter preparing another teleportation circle to transport them to the vicinity of Pandemonium''s northern gate.


    Since they knew that the news about them ying the Surtr and sessfully cutting off its horns was probably already leaked, they chose to bypass the coast entirely, where most people should be waiting, saving them the trouble of others trying to convince them to sell their loot to them for a better price.


    And they were correct with that assumption, as every major Familia, except for the Astarte Familia, were already waiting around the coast for their return, including the Poseidon Familia who has the only remainingmission regarding the item since a few hours ago.


    Their goal is to stop others from buying the horn off or outbid others if necessary.


    "What''s going on? Why are there so many people from prominent factions here? Look... Even the elusive Captain of the Poseidon Familia and his wife, the Captain of Amphitrite Familia, are here."


    "It''s really strange... Although we can rest easy as most of them didn''t appear here with an intent to fight by how minimal their equipment is. I also tried asking my acquaintances from those major Familias but they also don''t know why they''re here. They''re just instructed toe with their executives as backups in case something happens."


    "There''s something even more strange.", the other two looked at the third guy before he continued, "With such people here, we can safely assume that their goal is so important that it warranted their presence, however, the Captain and Vice-Captains of the Aruna Familia aren''t present and the entirety of the Astarte Familia didn''t show up."


    Simr discussions could be heard everywhere, including those discussions from the low-ranking members of the major Familias, while the executives are just keeping a watch on the sea and keeping quiet.


    A few minutester, a woman approached the golden-haired Elf Captain of the Amphitrite Familia and handed her some documents.


    After receiving it, Llia immediately started reviewing the information in it.


    "How is it? Is there an exnation for this weird situation?", asked the middle-aged Human man beside her, a tall and muscr man with short upright auburn hair and a matching beard. He was Arch Rivers, the Captain of the Poseidon Familia and the one known as the strongest Mercenary, the only Level 8.


    When he asked about the weird situation, it was about the nonsensical timeframe of the Surtr being subjugated. It should have been around now that it just spawned, yet there was already a piece of news that it was defeated with the horn being sessfully acquired on top of that. However, they couldn''t just brush off the possibility of this being a nonsensical ruse because their informant was a trusted one and the information came from the Astarte Familia who went on an expedition this time.


    Llia, however, could only sigh, "There is indeed more information, but it only became more confusing. Not long after the news disseminated, Fenia and Dulran Stillshadow were spotted, with the former bringing the rest of the Astarte Familia back from the Dungeon, and thetter guarding Lady Astarte as she made her way to Pandemonium. They should have been with the Expedition Team who are currently on the deeper floors, but even with them appearing now, we still have no exnation. On the other hand, we still don''t have any news regarding the rest of the executives of the Astarte Familia. I''ll leave first and ask Belda and Araedon to follow Fenia''s trail."


    "Understood.", Arch nodded, "Also ask Zaire to bring Poseidon-sama and Amphitrite-sama to Pandemonium."


    "So you''re expecting something big is about to happen, huh. Got it."


    A few hourster, everyone was still patiently waiting and the number of people had increased along the coast, including some Deities that were gathering information using their ability to detect lies. Although most of them still didn''t know what was going on, with the presence of these big figures, they couldn''t just let something this amusing go.


    Numerous Deities also approached the people of the Poseidon and Amphitrite Familia but they, including Arch and Llia, gave indiscrete replies while the rest didn''t even know why they were there.


    Soon, an Elf sporting golden hair simr to Llia approached the couple and was about to talk, but stopped as soon as he spotted the numerous Deities hanging around, waiting for any information they could get.


    Arch and Llia looked at him and saw him giving a signal that the information he has is something that would be known sooner orter so Arch gave him a nod and said, " Araedon, please go on."


    Araedon, Llia''s little brother and the Vice-Captain of the Amphitrite Familia started his report, "It''s not just Fenia and herrades, but also people from the Hadur, Patecatl and Lugh Familias are with them and started building a camp in the corner of the 9th floor with some strange tform in the middle of it. And by the looks of it, they are nning to expand it into a permanent camp."


    Arch looked at the spot where the Lugh Familia was waiting. They''d already noticed that Pandemonium''s and the Alliance''s strongest Familia had suddenly pulled out, but they didn''t know what they were after so they could only watch, ''Not even a whisper from them? It seems like this is indeed something big.''


    Meanwhile, Llia asked Araedon, "Strange tform?"


    "I can only describe it as strange... The first thing about it is the fact that it''s heavily guarded. The second thing is...", Araedon first looked at Llia''s eyes before continuing, "People are constantly disappearing and reappearing when they step on the tform, including Carys Cattell, who is nowmanding the camp."


    Llia frowned, "Appearing and disappearing?"


    "We''re still not sure what we saw there. People of the Hadur Familia stepped on the tform and disappeared after some sort of Magic activated and a few minutester, the tform activated again and this time, people from the Astarte Familia appeared. Most notably, they were members of the current Expedition Team."


    "..."


    "It seems that they are not hostile to anyone who approaches, so Belda came forward to them to get some information. Before returning to the surface, I only know that they''re not revealing any information regarding the tform and heavily guarding it, but it also seems that they are not keeping it secret from prying eyes."


    Arch and Llia then recalled the strange timeframe of their movement and made some guesses. But without any evidence, they couldn''t confirm their ridiculous conclusion.


    A few secondster, another member of the Poseidon Familia appeared and reported, "Yoruichi Shihouin and her party has been spotted in the Mercenary Guild!"


    Arch and Llia''s eyes widened in surprise as they were precisely waiting for that party, ''Where did they go through for us to miss them?''


    But Arch couldn''t dwell on this long as the information from them already started disseminating so he immediately instructed, "Lia, go with Araedon and ascertain what''s going on the 9th floor."


    "How about you?", asked Llia.


    "I''ll go to the Mercenary Guild first before joining up with Poseidon-sama and Amphitrite-sama." As soon as he finished speaking, Arch faced south and jumped forward, leaving arge crack and cloud of dust.


    After that, Llia immediately instructed everyone to go to the Dungeon.


    It didn''t take too long for Arch to arrive in Pandemonium and make his way straight to the Mercenary Guild. Due to his fame of being the ''strongest man'', he had many fans and many wanted to approach him. But due to his incredibly valiant aura, no one could actually do so.


    The moment he arrived, he immediately went towards the only person who could have issued the quest to them, Varka.


    "Where are they?", asked Arch.


    The already deste counter became even more deste as Varka also started emitting a simr valiant but wilder aura. "They already left and your item is here.", he replied while pointing towards his back where arge item covered in cloth was being inspected by Cami with unbelieving eyes.


    Arch eyed the covered horn for a moment before looking back at Varka, "I want to thank them personally."


    But Varka just shrugged his shoulders and said, "They left a message to anyone who wanted to look for them. They said that their job is done and they already turned in themission so there''s no reason to look for them."


    Another stretch of silence between themsted for a few seconds before Arch sighed in resignation, "Is that so? If that''s what they want then I won''t intrude on their private time. Since they did such a favor for us, I guess I''ll also ask the kids of my Familia to shoo away the unwanted pests that wanted to touch them from afar."


    "Hmmm... I guess that''s the best thing you can do.", Varka then grabbed the horn with one hand and threw it towards Arch. Arch wasn''t surprised by this and easily caught the giant''s horn with his one hand, feeling the heat emitting from it.


    Since there was nothing else, Arch decided to leave but just as he turned around, he heard Varka''s voice, "Apparently, it was Yoruichi Shihouin and Kuroka Toujou who dealt with the Surtr and the guy with them didn''t do anything as he can''t fight."


    Arch turned his head and said, "I see... So Yoruichi Shihouin and Kuroka Toujou are at least as strong as me."


    "That''s right. Since it''s only you who could take on the Surtr alone until now, that may indeed be the case."


    "What do you want to say?"


    "Since you''re a friend, I''ll warn you. Yoruichi Shihouin and Kuroka Toujou are indeed strong, but it should be thest guy, Kisuke Urahara, that you should be wary of."


    Arch didn''t say anything and left the Mercenary Guild but in his mind, he was branding Kisuke''s name, ''Kisuke Urahara, huh.''

 Chapter 687 Reports

    Chapter 687 Reports


    After making a scene within the Mercenary Guild, The trio went straight to shopping for various things, mostly articles of clothing. From everyday attire to fashions popr to some races, the group went through all of them and had fun, especially in the Elves'' specialty store. Kisuke and Kuroka had a goodugh while ying around with Yoruichi, to the point that they both received a small lump on their heads.


    But since it was such a great image change, Kisuke bought various varieties for her even with Yoruichi''s protests against it and threats of him being beaten up. For the reason he gave? It went like this, "We''ve caused so much trouble in the shop that other patrons left! The least I could do is to take away some of their merchandise!" While also facing the happy shopkeeper with a serious expression, "Young miss! Please give me more rmendations!"


    After that, they went to a deste, but good cafe. Thanks to its slightly hidden location, there weren''t that many people and the ambiance was good for rxation. cing the items they''d just bought on the floor, the group started ordering some drinks and sweets.


    After they''d rxed enough, Kisuke took out a green orb and asked Kuroka to activate it by inputting a bit of her Magic Power, "What''s this, nyaa?"


    "A receiver. That''s where all of Sera-tan''s reportse in. After you put in your Magic Power, it''ll prompt you to set up some parameters. Just make it so only the three of us can hear and see it and y it from the start."


    Kuroka did what Kisuke instructed and a few secondster, they all heard Serafall''s voice inside their heads, "Ehem... Can you hear me? Is this thing working?" They all could hear some paper being flipped in the background, "Oh, it''s working."


    From her perspective, Serafall then started narrating any notable things from after Kisuke left for the Dizara region. First of which was Loki''sint of Kisuke ''breaking'' her precious child.


    Yoruichi and Kuroka gave Kisuke a dirty look the moment they heard it and Kisuke could only defend himself by saying, "Don''t me me! She''s been absorbing things so quickly and I ended up pushing how much she could take! I''m also surprised by her progress! She was already broken from the start! I didn''t break her!"


    But thanks to Serafall''s continuous report, Kisuke was able to get away with it.


    Serafall then described how the Guild, more specifically, Ouranos issued a quest to everyone from the Hestia Familia and Artemis Familia to escort the ''child of Dragon'' to a certain ce within the Dungeon while also secretly asking Hestia and Artemis for a personal meeting.


    Sona decided to ept the quest after some discussion with the members. Since the Guild described Tanis as the ''child of Dragon'', they could only follow the instructions for now as the other side already knew of her existence.


    Meanwhile, Serafall tried to follow Hestia and Artemis secretly, but since she didn''t really have any effective stealth skills and Divine Power was covering the location of their meeting, she could only wait for their return.


    As soon as they were back, Serafall asked them what was going on and Hestia revealed to her the entirety of their conversation with Ouranos on how they''ve been helping the intelligent monsters within the Dungeon which they decided to call ''Xenos'' with the help of the Ganesha Familia.


    After a day, everyone else had returned from their trip to the Dungeon, and Hestia and Artemis were a little bit surprised that Tanis was still with them as Ouranos said that the real purpose of their quest was to safely hand over Tanis to her fellow Xenos.


    When asked, Sona just replied that they couldn''t possibly hand over their little friend to a bunch of strangers even if their origin was the same.


    At that point, Hestia and Artemis realized that the group never saw the Xenos as ''monsters'', but fellow ''people''.


    Serafall said that she chuckled while exining to the Goddesses that their definition of ''monster'' is different from normal as they never looked at the race.


    Over the next three days, the Hearth Manor was locked down because of strange rumors of the Hestia and Artemis Familias keeping a monster with them, and Sona was convinced that this rumor came from those who were looking for Tanis the day they met her and was able to track it back to them.


    Thanks to that, Loki kept bothering them but Sona became adamant they won''t meet other people for now, especially those from the Loki Familia for their view regarding the monsters.


    Of course, they didn''t just wait there doing nothing and with Koneko and Aika''s efforts, they were able to discover that those people who were looking for Tanis were people of the Ikelos Familia. This, however, was already known by Serafall and she just didn''t tell them.


    But before they could decide what to do next, an rm from the Guild suddenly went off, and the news regarding Rivira being destroyed was disseminated.


    Sona immediately went to the Guild to gather more information and concluded that the attack was done by the Xenos after hearing the descriptions regarding the monsters. She first wanted to discuss things with others but before she could leave, Sophie called out to her due to some abrupt instructions from above.


    After leading her to a special room, Fels, the skeleton they met within the Xenos'' vige came in and exined the situation and how the Xenos continued to linger around Rivira for some unknown reason.


    Since they cut off their connection to Fels, he could only ask someone trustworthy to join the advance party with him and try to talk to them and ask them what''s going on their side.


    Although she was worried that her newly made good acquaintances were in deep trouble, she''s also very curious about how things came to be. Recalling Kisuke''s words to just experience things as theye, Sona decided to ept the mission.


    After sending a message to everyone, Sona left for the 18th floor with the Ganesha Familia.

 Chapter 688 Hollowfication

    Chapter 688 Hollowfication


    But even though Sona was able to meet the Xenos with Fels secretly, the dialogue immediately broke down citing that they can''t trust anyone right now as theirrades were captured by their hunters.


    As Fels and Sona followed them, their trails stopped at the eastern wall of the 18th floor. However, the moment Sona came into the vicinity, the strange orb that Kisuke gave her before he left suddenly activated and opened a well-hidden door for them.


    It didn''t take long for Sona and Fels to find the Xenos battling the Ikelos Familia. Although the Xenos were in an advantageous position, the Captain of the Ikelos Familia, Dix Perdix, was still able to calmly exin the ce they were standing now, was the man-made Dungeon Knossos.


    But once the members of the Ikelos Familia startedining, Dix finally made his move and used the only Magic he knew of, Phobetor Daedalus. As the wave of red light touched the Xenos, they immediately lost their sanity and started hallucinating and attacking their fellow Xenos.


    Fels put up a shield and urged Sona toe behind him. But Sona didn''t listen as she summoned her halberd and dashed towards the red wave. Sona was confident that she won''t be affected by such Magic and that''s what Serafall thought too when she saw it. So instead of defending, it was a good time to attack with the opponent''s guard down.


    But the moment she passed through the red wave, she suddenly stopped moving and shouted in pain.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Kuroka who''re casually listening became serious and increased their attention.


    "Kuroka, since Serafall could easily describe what''s happening, she''s probably spying on Sona. Take a look if there''s any video feed."


    Kuroka paused the yback and immediately looked through the attached files and indeed found several of them. Finding the matching file, Kuroka resumed the yback now with an image projecting on top of the orb that only they could see.


    From there, they could see Sona on her knees, wheezing and with strange white matter ejecting out of her mouth, covering a fourth of her face. As the white matter formed a familiar mask, even though it''s just her lower left face, her left eye had also undergone a transformation with her sclera turning jet ck and her pupil turning golden.


    "Hollowfication!?" Yoruichi eximed and immediately looked at Kisuke, "What''s going on!?"


    Before answering, Kisuke first arranged the information in his head, "Remember when we fell into Hades'' trap?"


    "Yes..."


    "It wasn''t just Sona''s body that was corroded, but also her soul. Without much choice, I had to transfer some of my Hollow-factor directly to her soul in an attempt to aid her mending. I wasn''t able to remove it since her soul was still very weak back then and any changes might cause her harm instead."


    "At some point, she was alreadypletely healed and I tried to remove the Hollow''s remnant, but when I saw how it melded with her soul so well, I decided to leave it alone and thought that maybe Sona would be able to make use of it in the future."


    "I knew that the Hollow could manifest anytime now, so I left some safety measures on her in case something unfavorable transpired. But since none of them activated, it means that this was a safe manifestation and Serafall also didn''t call for any emergency."


    Yoruichi sighed and said, "Well, you''ll probably get an earful from Serafall when you return so I''ll just leave it to her what she wants to do with you."


    "It''s been a while now, so maybe she already forgot about it, nyaa?"


    Yoruichi and Kisuke looked at her and said simultaneously, "No way!"


    Putting back their attention to the video feed, they saw Sona leap towards Dix with a malevolent aura and swung her halberd at him with a strength far higher than her normal state.


    Dix was shocked at her appearance and strength and was barely able to dodge her attack. Fels also tried to call out to her but it was as if she couldn''t hear anything and just went after Dix.


    Afraid, Dix took back his curse and recovered his original stats, but even in a berserk state, Sona''s halberd arts were still effective, pushing Dix further back and injuring him.


    With the curse removed, the Xenos returned to their normal state of mind and saw what''s going on, and started pushing back the Ikelos Familia members. On the other hand, without their leader, the Ikelos Familia became like headless chickens, dispersing into the man-made Dungeon in an attempt to escape from their assants.


    Some of them even had the ''great'' idea of taking a weakened Xenos from their cage and using it as hostage while they made their way to the surface. They thought that once they reached the surface, all the other people would be their allies and help them kill the lured Xenos.


    Unfortunately for Dix, before such an idea could bloom in his mind, he had to escape being beheaded by the rampaging Sona.


    Sona dropped back down to her knees and tried calming herself. She avoided using Magic as she knew she wouldn''t be able to control it. After a few minutes of meditation, Sona was able to calm down significantly and the partial white mask fell off from her face and disappeared. However, her left eye was still in a Hollow state, signifying that the Hollowfication was still affecting her mind.


    Even then, she was able to think more clearly, albeit, a bit dizzy. As she made her way through the Dungeon, Fels and some other Xenos caught up to her and exined the situation. Sona immediately figured out what they were nning and urged everyone not to go to the surface and return to the Dungeon. But they couldn''t do that as their path to retreat was already closed off.


    Without much choice, Sona and the others headed off to the surface to try and take the other Xenos back, but she was already toote as they were being surrounded by numerous Adventurers, including the Loki Familia, due to the ruckus the Ikelos Familia had created.


    When they reached the surface, Sona was shocked that Tanis was standing between an injured Xenos and an Adventurer who''s about tond a finishing blow.


    Outside of her expectations and knowledge, Serafall didn''t know why Ophis suddenly brought Tanis to this battlefield with the video showing that Ophis was standing and watching from a far away building.


    The three who are watching were also shocked at this development with Yoruichi and Kuroka looking at Kisuke to clear it up.


    Kisuke, however, could only shake his head, "I also don''t know what she was thinking. All that I''m sure of is that this is pretty important for Ophis as I specifically told her that if she needed to do something important, she doesn''t need to hesitate."


    When Sona saw that Finn''s spear was aimed at Tanis, she immediately threw her halberd to intercept his attack, which was sessful and caused the battlefield to temporarily stagnate at her appearance and action.

 Chapter 689 Resolution and Threat

    Chapter 689 Resolution and Threat


    Everyone stopped fighting as Sona huddled between the Adventurers and Xenos while holding her throbbing head.


    "What are you doing?", asked Finn with furrowed brows. The other Adventurers, on the other hand, were furious but they were also confused as to why the monsters had stopped attacking all of a sudden.


    As she slowly walked over, Sona didn''t answer Finn''s question and desperately tried to think of ways to deescte the situation.


    She wanted for the Xenos to have a ce on the surface, not for their sake, but for Tanis to be able to run around in the open. This is the promise she and the girls made for their Dragonic little sister after spoiling her throughout the days that they''d taken care of her.


    Sona had the option of revealing their ability to understand other people and the ability to think on their own like normal people. However, she knew that 9 out of 10 of the Adventurers would still continue their attack and ughter due to their belief that all monsters are bad for being their enemies for most of their lives.


    Suddenly introducing a concept that contradicts almost everyone''s belief, she knew too well how they would react to this ''attack''. Just to feel secure and have a peace of mind, they would most likely attack the source of that insecurity. So the best way was to slowly and indirectly introduce a concept that could be safely epted.


    In other words, introducing them now would only make things worse than before and if she wasn''t careful, a bloodbath would happen, the enmity and hate that such an event would generate would be extremely difficult to get rid of.


    Taking a deep breath, Sona carefully directed her Demonic Power towards herrades who were standing by and watching the situation, [Everyone, I''ll take care of this ce. Search for the separated Xenos and take them into hiding.]


    [I don''t know why but you''re currently under the influence of Hollowfication so I''ll be staying here with you.], replied Aika while urging Artemis and Hestia to go home for now.


    [Then we''ll take care of the others. Good luck.], replied Akeno before she, Koneko and Irina ran in three different directions.


    Finn immediately noticed this minute shift in the crowd as he had always been watching the Hestia and Artemis Familia the moment they arrived. With a low voice, hemanded, "Riveria, Bete and Tiona. Follow those three and see what they''re up to."


    The three of them nodded and left the Loki Familia group.


    Aika and Sona saw this but didn''t do anything. Although it would be hard to take on a strong Adventurer from the Loki Familia, they were confident that the girls would be able to escape from them without a problem.


    However, the Adventurers were still losing their patience at this silent stand-off so Finn asked Sona again, "What are you doing?"


    Even then, Sona didn''t answer as she was carefully distributing her Demonic Power among the Xenos in the vicinity. They were all shocked and surprised when they suddenly heard Sona''s voice inside their head, ''Don''t speak no matter what happens. I''m talking to every one of you through Magic so just follow my instructions, if you want to end this situation peacefully.''


    At her nopliance, a few Adventurers reached their limit and were about to resume their attacks. But before that could happen, Sona faced them while covering her left eye with her left hand, "Allow me to say this first. This is all just a big misunderstanding."


    Finn''s brows furrowed deeper, "Misunderstanding?"


    Despite the pain and dizziness that she was feeling, Sona still smiled and replied, "Yes. To exin, I was secretly taming and raising monsters under the sewers using my skill."


    Whispering and murmuring immediately exploded between the Adventurers and some of them believed it after seeing how obedient the monsters behind her.


    "Due to my mistake, I momentarily lost control of them, leading to the situation we have right now. To prove that I''m not lying, please watch."


    Sona turned towards the Lizardman''s direction and said, "Come over here, Lyd."


    Although they were already expecting it, the onlookers were still very surprised that the Lizardman obediently came to her side. Without minding their reaction, Sona gave Lyd the Daedalus Orb which she used to open the doors of the Knossos, [Return to the entrance of the Dungeon and wait for Fels.]


    Despite his lizard face, Sona still saw his hesitation so she added, [I know that you''re worried about the others, but I already asked mypanions to secure them so you don''t have to be worried. Just go for now.]


    Lyd was indeed worried about his fellow Xenos, but he was more worried about Sona. Even though he didn''t know much about her, he knew that she wouldn''t look good in front of other Adventurers for protecting them and taking responsibility.


    But even then, he didn''t know what he could do to help. Without a choice, he and everyone else could only follow her directions.


    Seeing the procession of the monsters towards the entrance of the sewers, everyone became unnerved at this very unusual sight, ''Now then... The Guild employees should being soon. Since they''re not aware that there''s a Dungeon entrance within the sewers, nobody would connect their existence to the monster attack in Rivira, at least for now.'', thought Sona as she faced Finn again.


    Finn, meanwhile, instructed the other members of the Loki Familia to secure the other entrances to the sewers and to make sure that the monsters won''t escape. However, he also explicitly mentioned that they can''t attack the monsters unless they attacked them first.


    Once he was done, Finn approached and faced Sona once again with Tione, Gareth, Lefiya and Ais at his side, "Are you aware that it''s illegal to transport monsters to the surface without permission?"


    "I''m aware and I won''t be making excuses. I''m also very d that no one has died in this incident, but I can also see that my monsters did a number to some Adventurers and properties. But worry not. The Hestia and Artemis Familia would be taking care of all of the repair and medical bills. We''ll also add a bit ofpensation for everyone affected by this trouble."


    Finn looked around and saw that many felt relieved at her words. Although he still had tonnes of questions to ask, it was about time to end this, "I see. If you''re taking full responsibility for your actions then we''ll leave it to the Guild to meet out the appropriate punishment. However, if another incident like this were to happen, we won''t hesitate to eliminate those monsters for the safety of the citizens."


    "I understand. Though there won''t be a next time since the Guild would be monitoring my actions and the usage of my skill."


    With that, the situation was peacefully resolved with lies and money. Thankfully, there are only two Gods who watched and were already aware of the true situation, "How boring. Though thanks to that, I probably would be able to stay in Orario longer.", murmured Ikelos.


    "To think that she''d be able to think of a way out of that, truly remarkable. Though it would have been a good chance to me this all on you and kick you out.", Hermes also murmured.


    However, a Magic Circle suddenly appeared under Ikelos'' feet, and a secondter, he disappeared.


    "W-what!?" Hermes was stunned and immediately felt someone else''s presence behind him. As he turned around, he immediately saw someone that looked familiar, but it was the first time that he met her personally, "...You''re Serafall Sitri. What did you do to him?"


    Serafall turned around to leave while saying, "His further involvement won''t do any good for Sona-chan and the girls, so I randomly sent him to the other side of the world.", She then stopped her steps and turned her head to Hermes with cold eyes, "I know that Kisuke already reminded you, but let me say it. Don''t you ever mess with my precious little sister and the other girls. Although I can''t kill you, I can get rid of you in other ways so that you won''t be able to return to Orario for at least a few years."


    Hermes smiled and said, "I already promised that I won''t."


    Serafall left, but Hermes was still sweating buckets, "Sent to the other side of the world? Dang it... So they could do something like that? I have to be careful in the future."

 Chapter 690 Concerns

    Chapter 690 Concerns


    Instead of the discussion, Kisuke''s attention was on Ais who was making a veryplicated expression, "Haah... If nothing changes, it''s going to beplicated in the future."


    "What do you mean?", asked Yoruichi.


    Kisuke sighed, "I''m talking about the Sword Princess. At this rate, if nothing is done, I might have to kill her."


    Knowing a bit of Ais'' mysteriousness, Yoruichi asked, "Couldn''t you just do what you did with Artemis?"


    "Artemis-sama''s situation was entirely different from her. Although the Antares managed to gain control of Artemis-sama, the core of her soul is still up in Heaven. That''s the reason why I could easily sever their connection. In Wallenstein-san''s case, her soul was directly melded with the ck Dragon and it''s only because of Aria-san that she''s still in control of herself."


    "I could probably separate them safely, but it would take a substantial amount of time and I don''t have that. I''d rather pour my resources into the things that could surely help us. All I could offer her is a challenging chance, but as she is right now, she''ll just be swallowed by the ck Dragon."


    "Why do you have to do it, nyaa?", asked Kuroka. If it was such a pain in the ass, Kisuke could just ignore this problem that might be solved on its own.


    "It''s because I don''t want Loki to be our enemy. She''s good at scheming, yes, but what''s really amazing about her is her ability to figure out other''s intentions. If she goes against us, it would be extremelyplicated. But also thanks to her ability, she''s one of the few Deities that we could easily convince to side with us at the right time."


    "So rather than that poor Ais herself, you''re more concerned on how Loki would think, nyaa?"


    "Well, that''s not really all. I also promised Aria-san so there''s that. Anyway, are there any files that show the three who''d just left?", Kisuke suddenly changed the topic.


    "There is, nyaa. I''ll y it one by one."


    The first video file was Irina saving a War Shadow and evading Bete using a shbang. The next one was Akeno saving a Needle Rabbit and teleporting away after sending a wave of lightning towards Tione.


    On Koneko''s side, it becameplicated when the Xenos she wanted to save became embroiled with the Freya Familia who were guarding the walls. The Siren Xenos, Ray was protecting the Lygerfang against Allen Fromel but due to the difference in Level and experience, Ray, who was as strong as a Level 5 Adventurer couldn''t even fight back.


    When Allen was about tond a decisive blow, Koneko didn''t hesitate to partially unlock her Sage Mode and revealed her Sacred Gear. Using the momentum she got from the thrusters behind her, Koneko got in between Ray and Allen before punching away thetter''s spear.


    "You!? White mes!", Allen immediately recognized the Adventurer known as ''White mes of Dawn''. But instead of questioning why she was protecting the monsters, Allen wanted to know how a Level 3 like her was able to fend off his attack.


    Koneko, however, didn''t say anything and used the small opportunity that was created and followed up with a kick using the same momentum.


    Allen saw her foot from the corner of his eyes and immediately used his arm to block it. However, he severely underestimated the power behind her kick and was sent flying.


    Using this chance Koneko grabbed Ray and the Lygerfang to escape. But before she could do anything else, she felt some threat behind her and hurriedly turned around to see three flying knives.


    Koneko was about to block using her mes but stopped when she felt another''s presence. The next instant, an extremely cold breeze blew and created several icicles that blocked the throwing knives.


    Allen turned to the source of the cold breeze and showed his fangs, "Even you, Nine Hell... What the hell''s wrong with you people!?"


    Stepping out from the shadows of the building, Riveria first turned to Koneko and looked at the monsters behind her for a few seconds before turning to Allen and saying, "Go. I''ll take care of this."


    Koneko furrowed her brows from confusion but still took the chance that Riveria gave her and grabbed the Xenos once again before using sh Step to leave the area.


    Allen dropped down from the wall and faced Riveria, "I never thought that one of the top dogs of the Loki Familia would be helping monsters. If others were to know of this, they''ll surely be disappointed."


    But Riveria just smirked and replied, "Really? I only saw a veteran Adventurer bullying an acquaintance. I never saw any monsters."


    "So that''s how it is. Regardless, for messing with my business, I would have to give you a few cuts.", said Allen and readied his spear and knives. He already gave up on chasing the monsters since someone who was at the same level as him appeared to interfere. He could only hope that others who were also guarding the walls would find those monsters.


    The yback ended there because Serafall wasn''t interested in them anymore.


    The next file was a few dayster after the disturbance with members of the Loki Familia and Loki herself visiting Hearth Manor.


    The one who weed them was, of course, Medusa, "Good day to everyone. We were expecting you."


    Except for the Riveria and Loki, this was the first time for others to meet her outside of the Dungeon and Tiona couldn''t help but ask when she looked at her gem-like eyes, "Y-you won''t turn us into stone, right?"


    Medusa chuckled and replied, "Of course not. I wouldn''t do that to our important guests."


    The younger members were still nervous around her but Finn stepped forwards and said, "I''d like to thank you first for your assistance when the monsters wanted to rush to the surface. With your presence, it became a lot easier to defend the tower."


    "It''s my duty to protect the ce my master left. Anyways, please follow me inside. Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama were already expecting you."


    "What about the special ''guests''?", asked Loki.


    "It''ll depend on them if you can meet them. On that note, please don''t pull out your weapons inside or we''ll have no choice but to retaliate."


    Loki nodded and turned her head to Ais, "Don''t worry. They already promised they won''t be hurting anyone inside."


    Seeing her stare, Ais noticeably gulped and became nervous. Aside from that, an extremelyplicated feeling was brewing inside her. But even if the belief that she held dearly through all her life was to be threatened, she wanted to go. Ais wanted to know how ''he'' and the people around him viewed this.

 Chapter 691 A Monster

    Chapter 691 A Monster


    Hestia, Artemis and Loki were sitting face to face with the others standing around them. From Loki''s side, except for Gareth who remained in their manor as a guard, every executive was present. Loki wanted to bring Line, but thetter refused because she was at an important part of her study and didn''t want to break her chain of thought.


    On Hestia and Artemis'' side, everyone except for Serafall, Ophis, ire, and of course, Tanis, were present. Medusa had also left the room after serving everyone a cup of tea.


    "Now, please tell us what you came here for.", started Hestia.


    Loki remained quiet for a moment. Until this point, she still wasn''t sure if she was doing the correct thing. If the oue of this meeting was unfavorable, she knew for sure that her children would hate her and they might think that she was forcing them to cooperate with their sworn enemies.


    However, the reason she was here right now was because she trusted Kisuke and those around him. If it was just other people who felt sympathy and empathy for the ''monsters'', she wouldn''t have dared to bring her children here to directly confront them.


    But she knew for sure that Kisuke and the girls had an objective view regarding this strange existence and she was betting that their opinion could open the minds of her children who grew up hating monsters. Loki also had a feeling that this might be the key that could help Ais before it was toote.


    Sighing, Loki finally replied, "Then I won''t beat around the bush. What are those monsters?", her question was directed to Sona.


    But before answering, Sona first looked at everyone from Loki''s side''s faces. It became obvious to her that whatever answer they were expecting, it''ll be hard for them to ept.


    "Before I answer that, let me ask everyone what a monster is for them."


    The first one to answer without much hesitation was Finn, "Monsters have been the enemy of the people since ancient times."


    "Creatures from the Dungeon that want to take over the world.", added Riveria.


    Except for Ais, the others also answered more or less the same as the first two.


    Since she was thest one, all eyesnded on her as she said while clenching her fist, "All monsters... should just disappear."


    The members of the Loki Familia became tense. They already knew that they were keeping some monsters and it seemed that they were taking good care of them. Ais''ment, however, was essentially telling them that the monsters in their care should be killed.


    But surprisingly, Sona nodded in agreement, "That''s true. Monsters should all just disappear and the world would be a better ce... probably..."


    Like the others, Ais was also shocked at her response.


    "I mean it would really be great if there is nothing that could threaten everyone''s peaceful life. However, that''s really impossible in my opinion. A world like that would essentially or partially be a utopia."


    Finn thought that her words were really strange. It was as if they were describing monsters differently, "Then what about you guys? What are monsters for you?"


    Sona smiled and replied, "It''s as you said, they are a threat to everyone and should be dealt with. However, we disagree that they only came from the Dungeon."


    The Loki Familia members were shocked at what she was implying and Tiona couldn''t help but lean forward and ask, "Are you saying that there are other sources of the monsters aside from the Dungeon!?"


    But instead of Sona, the one who answered her was Koneko with her head tilted, "Of course they don''t juste from the Dungeon. After all, people aren''t born in the Dungeon."


    It was their turn to get confused and Aika immediately supplemented her words while patting Koneko''s head, "She meant that people could be monsters too."


    They weren''t just confused, but also stunned. However, before they could arrive at a ridiculous conclusion that people could somehow transform into a creature of Dungeon, Sona immediately added with a chuckle, "No. It''s impossible for one to transform into a simr creature as those that came from the Dungeon."


    She then looked at Finn and said, "Cruel, horrible, evil, unsympathetic, and many more. Don''t you think there are also people like that out there?"


    Finn stared back at her before nodding.


    "Therefore, you could also describe them as monsters."


    They wanted to say something but they didn''t know how they could refute her words. After all, although her words were unconventional, there was truth within it.


    "Although we describe ''monsters'' simrly, at the core of it, we have a different view. Monsters for us are limited to what''s inside regardless of their external form. If he, she, or it, has his, her, or its own will and couldmunicate properly, it''s a person. However, the most innocent person could also be a monster while the most tyrannical monster could be a person. In other words, nothing is really defined before you receive any information."


    Sona then looked at everyone''s conflicted reactions. As someone born outside of this world, such perception was easy to ept. But to those born in this one, it was a different story with monsters only having a singr definition of creatures of the Dungeon.


    "I''m not trying to change your worldview because you have to be the one to decide whether you should change it after epting or rejecting the idea. I just want everyone to understand that we have a slightly different way of differentiating monsters from everyone else."


    After a few seconds, Finn asked, "Then what would you call a mons... I mean a creature of Dungeon that is capable of talking and cooperating with other people?"


    This time, it was Akeno who answered with a chuckle, "That''s just a stranger, isn''t it?"


    At her response, Finn could only sigh and smile wryly. Meanwhile, while still conflicted, the others could understand their group''s point of view, except for Ais.


    After all, all this time, she was getting stronger only for the sake of her revenge and continually ughtered the monsters regardless of whether they could speak or not as part of it. If she were to ept their view, then it would mean that she was something as bad as the monster that she was trying to defeat.


    With nothing else to say, she asked, "...What about Kisuke...? What is a monster for him?"


    "For him? If I were to guess, a monster doesn''t really mean anything to him as he sees others as strangers, friends, acquaintances, allies, enemies, or customers."


    All of a sudden, an image of Kisuke happily selling his merchandise to the monsters of the Dungeon appeared inside their minds and somehow, they couldn''t be sure that it wouldn''t ever happen.

 Chapter 692 A Monster part 2

    Chapter 692 A Monster part 2


    After hearing Sona''s side, Loki then asked the real identity of the monsters and Hestia exined it to them including those who knew of their existence and how Ouranos was protecting them through the Guild.


    The Loki Familia, including Loki herself, was shocked at how intricate this ''problem'' was, "Just what are they?" Surprised by a different meaning, Loki asked both Hestia and Artemis but the two Goddesses could only shake their heads as they also had no idea how the Xenos'' existence came to be.


    Scratching her head in confusion, Loki thought for a moment before looking back and mindlessly asking her fellow Goddesses, "What about that guy? Did he tell you something?"


    However, she did not expect them to look at each other with hesitating expressions, "So he did know something. What is it?"


    Sona then suddenly said, "Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama, I think it''s fine."


    "Are you sure? I have a feeling that this is a very important piece of information.", asked Artemis.


    Sona nodded, "It''s fine. I think Loki-sama needs to know this."


    Out of everyone from the group, Sona was the only one who figured that Kisuke wanted to pull Loki herself to their side, ''Besides, Kisuke didn''t explicitly forbid us to share this information. Giving it to her will also show our sincerity and trust in her.''


    Hestia sighed and said, "He said that the Xenos'' existence is evidence of a 2nd will existing within the Dungeon."


    Loki''s eyes widened but instead of saying anything to Hestia, she immediately turned to her children and said, "No matter what happens, don''t ever mention what you just heard to anyone even by mistake! Especially to other Gods!"


    Loki''s children were startled at her very sudden and serious response but all nodded in promise.


    Sighing, Loki held her aching head and thought, ''So that''s how is it... Now a few things make sense. But what do you n to do, Kisuke? On which side do you stand?''


    However, she was d that she was able to hear this information, ''Looks like the ''Promised Time'' is a much bigger deal than I initially thought. So big that it could potentially affect Heaven itself. I have to make my decision soon.''


    "Anyway, can we meet these said Xenos?", Loki immediately changed the topic.


    But before Hestia could answer, everyone suddenly heard the jubntughter of little kids from the hallway and they were getting near the room where they were currently staying. A few secondster, the door burst open with ire entering the room in a hurry, "Ta-chan! Hurry!"


    "ire! Wait for me!" Immediately after, a familiar bipedal Vouivre entered the room which made the Loki Familia members enter an alert state.


    But as if the kids didn''t notice their presence, ire grabbed Tanis'' hand and closed the door before running towards the windows and opening them. ire looked around outside before looking up to the windows on the third floor. "Ta-chan let''s fly over there!", she said while pointing towards them.


    Tanis nodded with all seriousness and willed her Dragon wings toe out. Once they sprouted from the opening of her dress behind her, Tanis immediately grabbed ire''s hands and the two of them jumped out of the window, flying towards the window on the third floor.


    Finn wanted to say something when they left, but he was interrupted by small but hurried steps that came from the hallway.


    Everyone was expecting a simr scene, but instead of opening, the door suddenly burst into many pieces. Ophis entered the room, running and demolishing the door on her way. Simr to the two that just came by, Ophis ignored everyone in the room and ran towards the window before looking up.


    Ophis wanted to jump towards the ceiling to reach the third floor but she suddenly remembered that she could only go ''through'' the doors so she gave up the idea and ran out of the room to chase after the two through a different route.


    A minute of silence prevailed before Sona sighed, "I apologize for the sudden disturbance. It seems that their game of tag is going out of control."


    "Did we perhaps forget to teach Ophis how to use the doors?", asked Irina suddenly while looking at the broken door.


    "I doubt it. She probably got so excited that she forgot or got too bothered to use it properly.", replied the chuckling Aika.


    Meanwhile, Akeno went towards the broken door to fix it with restoration magic. As the debris flew back in and mend itself, Riveria wanted to ask what and how she was doing it but this wasn''t really the time for that. As she learned that any Magic could be done if one knew the underlying logic behind it, Riveria became more and more interested in other people''s Magic.


    "Ehem...", Hestia feigned a cough to get their attention, "Going back to the topic, you may meet them if you promise you won''t do any harm to them."


    Loki nodded, "Of course. As long as they don''t bare their fangs, everything will be alright."


    Irina exited the room to call their special guest and while waiting, Sona suddenly faced Ais and said, "Wallenstein-san, do you think you can y the Vouivre just now?"


    To her question, everyone looked at Ais and those from the Loki Familia had an expression of concern.


    Ais looked down at her hand and stayed quiet for more than a minute. Recalling the happy and innocent expression that Tanis was making while ying a game of tag with her friends, Ais clenched her fist as a tinge of envy surfaced in her heart, "...I can''t."


    She then suddenly turned around and started walking away, "I''ll take my leave... I''ve seen enough."


    Tiona and Tione immediately followed her while calling out to her, but before they could exit the door, Sona said, "I know this contradicts your beliefs and goals. As you live your life, your goal may change or be outright unfeasible, but that doesn''t mean you failed or you gave up. It just means that you have experienced and learned something to change your mind or you may have found something that''s more important than your own goal."


    "And as you confront reality, regrets are inevitable. However, that means you decided on something and you went through with it or else you''ll just be standing still, not progressing in any way. Since regrets are inevitable, think. Think, think, and never stop thinking. Whether it''s for your own good or others, whether it''s for your own goal or justice, don''t stop thinking of your options and which one you''ll never regret or regret way lesspared to others in case you''re wrong."


    "And it''s alright to make mistakes as there are no perfect beings. It''s just that mistakes that can make you stronger or destroy yourself are all up to you. But fear not for you are not alone. Not anymore.", Sona then shrugged her shoulders, "Well, those are Kisuke''s words and not mine but I think you should hear them."


    Without turning around, Ais asked, "Kisuke... What does he think of me?"


    Sona rubbed her chin and thought for a moment, "Let''s see... If I recall correctly, he described you as a brat who doesn''t realize all the good things she has and can''t be honest to herself by being drowned with her own self-ridicule and self-loathing. A kid who thought that the only way she could do something big is by giving up on herself." Sona then looked straight into her eyes and said with a big smile, "In other words, I think he''s annoyed by you. If you think he has seen anything good on you, then you''re very wrong because, for him, you''re just a little kid that''s trying to act mature in a very annoying way."

 Chapter 693 Emergency

    Chapter 693 Emergency


    While Sona was still speaking, Ais had already turned around with a surprised expression, not expecting that she hadn''t made any good impressions on Kisuke. And not just her, everyone from the Loki Familia were also not expecting Kisuke''s description of Ais being an annoying brat.


    But after Sona ended her words, no one could say a word for a minute or two. Soon, Ais turned around again and before she left, she said, "Thank you for telling me this... I''ll start thinking from now on."


    Tiona and Tione first looked at Riveria and thetter nodded before the twins went after Ais.


    Loki, on the other hand, never removed her gaze from Sona and waited for Ais to leave before asking with a serious expression, "It''s as if Kisuke knew a great deal about Ais-tan, huh... And why does it sound like he cares a great deal about her? Is he targeting Ais-tan, too!? As long as I''m here, I won''t allow it! Ais-tan is only mine!"


    Sona thought for a bit before deciding to throw another bait. But before she spoke, she first nced at Bete.


    "Huh?", Bete let out a sound of confusion, but Loki immediately got what she''s getting at, "Bete, return for now."


    "But-", Before he could finish his sentence, however, Loki looked at him with a smile, "We''ve already seen what we wanted to see so everything''s fine now."


    "What is fine? How could everything be fine?"


    Chuckling, Loki replied, "Despite how you look, you''re actually the most open-minded out of them so I know you already epted the existence of the Xenos. Since you''re already satisfied, return for now and wait with Gareth. Though be careful of those sniffing Gods, especially Hermes and Dionysus."


    Bete looked at her smug face and clicked his tongue, "Tch... Fine."


    After he left and she made sure that he wasn''t going to hear any of her words, Sona finally continued, "Of course he doesn''t look that way at her. Kisuke is indeed concerned about her, but only because someone named Aria asked him to take care of her and he promised to do something."


    "What!?", Loki stood up from her seat and almost mmed the table. Out of all the revtions today, this is what surprised her the most as it concerns her precious child, "How!? When!?"


    But Sona just shrugged her shoulders, "He just mentioned it in passing so all the details you want are with him."


    Loki gritted her teeth and sat back down before asking, "What else did he say regarding Ais?"


    Sona pretended to think for a bit before saying, "Now that I think about it, he mentioned this several times. He said that as she is now, only a bad ending awaits her."


    Loki''s brows furrowed deep, ''What does he mean when he said only a bad ending awaits her? Does he know more than old Zeus?'' Loki already realized it but she already fell into Sona''s hand and she knew the primary reason why. It was because she and her group didn''t have something that every child in the Lower World had. The innate fear and helpless eptance that the Deities are superior and no child could go against them, ''As expected, I can''t treat them like all the children in the Lower World.''


    Loki tried to probe Sona a few more times, but it was just a fruitless effort so she immediately gave up. The topic then returned to the Xenos and Hestia told Loki all the information she received from Ouranos regarding them.


    After arranging the information they had and Loki cursing Ouranos a few times, Finn suddenly proposed cooperation with the Xenos to tackle themon problem they had, the man-made Dungeon Knossos.


    But instead of agreeing, Sona pointed him to Ouranos'' right-hand man, Fels.


    Knowing their next destination, Finn decided to leave without meeting the other Xenos staying with Hestia and the rest. In any case, seeing Tanis, although not in the situation they were expecting, was already more than enough.


    Meanwhile, Loki decided to remain and Finn only agreed when Medusa suddenly entered the room and proposed to take her home safely.


    With just Loki, Sona and the other girls decided to return to their activities and left the Goddesses on their own since it seemed that Loki wanted to talk alone with them.


    As for the contents of their talk, it was mainly about Kisuke and what he wanted to do. Hestia also revealed to Loki that although Kisuke had a n, she was not aware of it and he gave the girls the reins and freedom to do whatever they wanted.


    The report for that day ended there.


    "Looks like Sona managed to guess what you wanted and made it easier for you.", Yoruichimented, "She''s really too good for you."


    Kisuke giggled and said, "I won''t deny that I''m one lucky guy."


    But before Kuroka could y the next report, familiar faces entered the establishment, "This is the ce I''m talking about! It''s quiet, secretive, and the sweets are good." The Pallum girl of the Astraea Familia, Liz, exined to her fellowrades.


    As they entered the cafe, the first one to notice the waving Kisuke was Astraea, "Oh. What a nice coincidence."


    As Astraea pointed at them, her children also realized their presence and approached the group, "It''s nice to see everyone again. Are you already feeling well?"


    "Thanks for the concern, Astraea-sama. I''m feeling much better now. Why don''t you join us and share your stories? Well, if you don''t mind, that is."


    "Sure! That would be fun. If you also don''t mind, we''d like to hear about the circting rumor that your group defeated the Surtr and returned with its horn!" The Captain, Mildred immediately asked the master for permission to move the table which was instantly approved.


    With drinks and sweets in the middle, the two groups started talking and telling stories of their adventures. From Astraea''s side, it was about how they reduced the number of monsters around the viges that were recently being neglected by other Mercenaries and from Kisuke''s side, their adventures through the deep floors.


    As they happily chatted with each other, Kisuke''s receiver suddenly started glowing, signifying that an emergency call was initiated by Serafall.


    Without minding the others, Kisuke immediately touched the orb and a small hologram of Serafall appeared, "What happened?"


    "Hmm... I''m not sure if this is an emergency or not, but since it seems that you''re pretty close with that Elf, I decided to call you. Apparently, Ryuu Lion was suspected of murder on the 18th floor and others are out for her blood. Most likely that she''s also in danger since she was supposed to join in on the operation against Knossos."


    But before Kisuke could reply, someone else jumped in front of him and faced Serafall, "Ryuu Lion!? Are you talking about the Ryuu Lion of Orario!?"

 Chapter 694 Emergency part 2

    Chapter 694 Emergency part 2


    Serafall was shocked when an unknown face suddenly shoved her way in, but she still answered her question, "Indeed. It''s Ryuu Lion, also known as Gale."


    "W-what!?", Astraea immediately tried checking her connection to Ryuu and after feeling that it was still intact, she felt a little relieved. However, the extreme concern was still there, "...Please tell me what''s happening to her."


    But Serafall didn''t speak and instead eyed Kisuke.


    Patting her shoulder to calm down, Kisuke gently moved her away and gestured that it''ll be fine before turning back to Serafall, "How long do you think she''ll be able to stay alive?"


    "An hour at most.", answered Serafall, "Since she''s a friend, Medu-chan and I could have done something to assist, however, a pretty dangerous operation is currently ongoing within our kind neighbors home and Sona-chan and the rest are part of it, so we couldn''t really move away from them."


    "Thest news that I heard about her is that she''s chasing after some remnants of the Evilus who tried to escape from the ongoing operation. Next, Adventurers of Rivira gathered their weapons to chase after her since she apparently murdered some people there. It has been half an hour since then and Medusa has been detecting several explosions below the 24th floor."


    Kisuke tapped his chin and said, "So your estimation of an hour at most is because you thought a Juggernaut was about toe out?"


    "Exactly~! It may havee out now, though. The good thing is that your other friends, the Miach and Takemikazuchi Familias, are on higher floors so they''re safe, for now anyway."


    "N-no way...", Astraea slumped and Mildred immediately went beside her to keep her up, "A Juggernaut you say..."


    ''Is this fate?'', She recalled the past and how she received the news that aside from Ryuu, every one of her beloved children was ughtered by a Juggernaut. Even then, she couldn''t lose hope now and immediately turned back to Serafall, "If you have the power to save my child, please... Please save her!"


    "Miss Goddess, as much as I wanted to help, we can''t. Our priority is our family.", answered Serafall with a serious expression.


    Astraea felt weak on her knees again. She didn''t know how they weremunicating right now, but she knew that the woman she was speaking with was currently in Orario. No matter what they did, they wouldn''t be able to reach Orario in time to help her.


    It was then that Serafall suddenly grinned, "But it''s a different story for Yoru-chan, Kuro-chan and Ki-tan. For them, this is just a small matter, so why not ask them?"


    "...What?"


    Kisuke then suddenly stood up and said, "Kuroka, please prepare it."


    "You''re going alone?", asked Kuroka as she prepared her Magic Power for the teleportation.


    Nodding, Kisuke answered, "Yep. It''s my chance to return the favor I''ve received and I also promised that I''d do it personally. Besides, leaving things here unattended is good, for now, anyway."


    Confused, Astraea tried asking what was going on, but Kisuke just gave her arge smile and said, "After this, I will have returned the favor.", before a purple Magic Circle appeared before him, making him disappear in motes of light.


    While everyone from Astraea Familia was in shock at what just happened, Astraea herself understood it, "Transposition?"


    "Yep.", Yoruichi answered after sipping her tea, "He''s in Orario now."


    Immediately after her words, Kisuke appeared beside Serafall on the hologram, saying, "Please wait for the good news~!", before disconnecting.


    .


    .


    .


    Sitting on the highest point within Daedalus Street, Serafall was overlooking one of the entrances to the Knossos while watching the real-time feed that came from inside, when Kisuke appeared beside her, "Been a while, Sera-tan~! Hope you''re doing good!"


    But instead of a smile, Serafall red at him, "You have to exin what''s going on with Sona-chan!"


    Kisuke immediately backed up and smiled wryly while raising his hands in surrender, "I''ll do that and also do aplete check on her. But you can be assured that it''s not as dangerous as you think it is."


    "Hmph! That better be the case!"


    "Anyway, how is this operation going?", Kisuke immediately changed the subject while looking at the feed.


    "Although they''re making great progress, the enemy has already made their preparation and they''re already toote, so chances are, they are going to fail."


    "Hmm... Anyway, can you teleport me to the 24th floor?"


    Serafall shook her head, "I can''t. The Dungeon is too sensitive right now and I have a feeling that any kind of spatial transfer would make things worse for everyone."


    "But you won''t hesitate to do it when they''re in danger, Sona-chan and the girls, that is."


    Serafall put her hands on her waist and puffed her chest, "That''s obvious! If something came out of the Dungeon after doing so, I''d just deal with it myself!"


    "That''s reassuring, but it looks the next best choice is to go through this man-made Dungeon since that''ll take less time.", Kisuke then jumped down towards the entrance and waved goodbye to Serafall, "I''ll see youter~"


    "Be sure to get those Crystal Drops on your way back! Ophis-chan, ire-chan and Tan-chan really like those and we''re about to run out!"


    "Got it!"


    .


    .


    .


    On the 9th floor of the Knossos, an intense battle was ongoing with a group of Adventurers led by Finn fighting a Demi-Spirit that parasitized a Human formerly known as Barca and a current-generation Daedalus.


    As Finn and the other vanguards couldn''t deal any substantial damage to it without exposing themselves to danger, they could only defend the rear that was preparing for arge attack, from its attacks which were full of curses.


    However, the tides of the battle suddenly changed when the eastside wall of the circr room they were fighting in suddenly exploded to pieces. A familiar man with a bucket hat and a cane in his hand came running out of the dust and debris, "Excuse me~! Coming through! I''m sorry for the disturbance~!"


    Due to the suddenness and how ridiculous the situation was, even the monsterized Barca momentarily stopped its attack, trying to figure out what was going on with its almost dysfunctional head.


    The man in question, meanwhile, just ran towards the opposite end of the room while ignoring everyone. Simr to what he has done until now, he punched a hole through a wall several feet thick which was made out of very rare and hard metal, leaving the scene.


    Of course, not everyone was stunned as the girls of the Loki Familia already saw something far more ridiculous than that. Thanks to the disturbance that Kisuke created, Tiona and Tione were able to creep behind the monster and used their full power to smash its head open, creating an opening to reach the mutated Magic Crystal in its body.


    Although the Demi-Spirit was shocked, it wasn''t because of the scene that the strange man created, but the feeling he was giving off. It was as if it saw its natural enemy that made it freeze in fear.


    After defeating the Demi-Spirit, Tiona waved towards the hole where the man left and shouted, "Thanks for the disturbance~!"

 Chapter 695 Rescue

    Chapter 695 Rescue


    As he went through the 9th floor where Finn and the rest were fighting, Kisuke felt the strange reaction of the monster towards him, which made him think that even though Deities couldn''t tell anything, those Spirit hybrids seem to be able to sense that something was different with him, ''Hmm... Is it because they are beings that devour others that makes them very sensitive? And I wonder who created these things? I''m sure it isn''t the Dungeon itself or the one who contacted me. Most likely, it''s someone who hijacked a small part of the Dungeon''s system.''


    Not long after, Kisuke got through the 10th and 11th floors in no time and reached the 12th floor. After demolishing a few walls with his bare hands, he came upon a room where the Loki Familia members led by Riveria and Ais were having a standoff with the red-haired Creature.


    But before he could greet everyone, the Creature suddenly lunged at him with fear on her face and brandished her greatsword with her full power, intending to cleave Kisuke in half.


    But despite shattering the floor below them, Kisuke easily caught the greatsword with his hand. The fear and despair on the Creature''s face consolidated Kisuke''s initial guess that they could somehow tell that something was different about him.


    Not dwelling on these thoughts any longer, Kisuke tugged and snatched the Creature''s greatsword and gave her a roundhouse kick towards her stomach. The Creature tried blocking it with both of her arms, but it was for naught as both of them broke and didn''t even mitigate the force behind the kick, sending her flying back and crashing into the wall.


    Tossing the greatsword to the side, Kisuke resumed running while waving at Riveria and Ais, "It has been a while, Riveria-san, Wallenstein-san and the rest of Loki Familia. It''s a shame that I can''t stay and talk since I''m in a hurry, but I wish you good luck with your endeavours~!"


    Since the Creature wasn''t his problem, Kisuke chose to leave her alone.


    Kisuke reached the other side of the wall and demolished it, revealing the staircase which led towards the 13th floor. But before he left the stunned people, Kisuke first said, "It would be a good idea to leave now."


    After he left, Ais immediately turned towards the Creature, Revis, however, she was already nowhere in sight. She tried to chase after her, but Riveria immediately stopped her as it wouldn''t be good if she separated from the group. In any case, their mission was to hold Revis back and Kisuke did it for them, "Let''s regroup with Finn and Gareth. They should have already reached the Evilus'' main room."


    Ais nodded but as they ran, she suddenly asked, "Why does he keep calling me with myst name?"


    Everyone momentarily stopped their steps, but immediately resumed their pace, except for one Hume Bunny girl who couldn''t read the mood, "Isn''t it because he wanted to keep his distance from you?"


    Ais looked at her with widened eyes while the Hume Bunny continued, "I mean look, even though notpletely casual, he still calls Riveria-sama by her first name, yet when ites to you, it''s always yourst name."


    Ais then recalled when Sona told her that Kisuke saw her as an annoying brat and without her knowing, she ended up pouting her mouth and murmuring while turning away from the group, "...I don''t care... I''m just an annoying brat anyway."


    The girl looked at others as she found Ais'' reaction confusing and intriguing, "Eh? Did I say something wrong?", however, nobody answered her.


    .


    .


    .


    As he got through the 13th floor, Kisuke heard Sona, Koneko, Aika, Akeno and Irina''s voice and contemted whether or not he should meet them but instantly decided against it, ''They''ll be fine.''


    From then on, there were no more eventful happenings for him within the Knossos until he reached the 18th floor and exited through there. As he reached the 25th where the Water City started, Kisuke immediately noticed the traces ofrge explosions that damaged the floor enough for a Juggernaut to spawn, ''I should hurry up.''


    Directly jumping down the Great Fall that connected the 25th, 26th and 27th floors together, it didn''t take too long for Kisuke to locate the Juggernaut and Adventurers scattered on the ground, both dead and alive. The rescue target was nowhere in sight. Though he did notice a newly created hole in the ground.


    ''Alright, time to test it out~'' While thinking that, Kisuke pointed his finger towards the Juggernaut and chanted, "Hadou no 4, Byakurai."


    He rotated his energy ording to a new design which he created to cast Shinigami spells and sessfully converted his energy for his intended purpose. However, as lightning emerged from his fingertip, the energy inside him suddenly became an untamed wild horse, rushing through everywhere.


    Kisuke hurriedly tried taking back his energy and canceling his Kidou, but he wasn''t able to control it anymore, ''Crap!''


    A beam of white light pierced through the 27th floor, grazing the Juggernaut and creating another hole in the ground. But even though it was just a graze, a third of the Juggernaut still disappeared into oblivion, forever annihted.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, dropped down with blood seeping through his orifices and his right arm entirely gone, ''I already expected a bacsh, but I didn''t expect it to be this much. If I''m not careful, I might just blow myself up.''


    It was only a minuteter that Kisuke was able to calm the energies inside him and move again, albeit a bit rigid. But instead of finishing off the wailing and retreating Juggernaut, he instead walked towards one of the Adventurersying on the ground that was still alive. With arge smile on his face, he asked, "Excuse me~ May I ask which direction Gale went?"


    For Mord, however, the smiling arm-less bloody-faced man was far more terrifying than the Juggernaut. Still, he was able to gather enough courage to answer. Carefully monitoring and controlling his dder for him not to leak, he slowly pointed towards the hole that Kisuke noticed whening down, "O-o-over there... T-the Lambton ate her..."


    Kisuke''s expression became serious and said, "Thanks.", before running towards the said hole and jumping in it. Although the Lambton, a 5-meter wide and 10-meter long snake which was officially known as Worm Well, could dig and travel through the Dungeon, it didn''t mean that it just left the holes unfilled.


    A few meters after his jump, Kisukended. However, the ground was soft enough that he would be able to follow the monster''s digging path. Without further ado, he dived to the soft ground, propelling himself with the still unstable energy.

 Chapter 696 Securing the Target

    Chapter 696 Securing the Target


    The moment Kisuke left, an Evilus member, Jura Halmer, appeared. He escaped from the Knossos and was the mastermind behind the floor''s destruction for the sole reason of summoning the Juggernaut.


    Because he couldn''t forget the destruction it brought at the end of Orario''s Dark Ages seven years ago, his dream was to tame and control the monster that annihted multiple parties of top Adventurers by just swinging its ws.


    He didn''t know what had happened and why the Juggernaut was injured, however, he didn''t really care about the reason behind it as this was his golden ticket to sess. Using his Crimson Whip, Jura tried taming the Juggernaut in the same way like all the monsters he had tamed before and immediatelymanded it to find the Gale and rip her apart, transferring his own hate to the Juggernaut.


    And what he did was a sess, sort of. Aside from setting off emotions that shouldn''t have been possible for a temporary existence like the Juggernaut, Jura wasn''t able to do anything to control it and only earned his death for even trying.


    Recalling the man who almost killed it, Juggernaut ignored every other Adventurer and started digging the ground. Since it normally couldn''t stay alive longer than the Dungeon allowed it, it knew that it had to do something to extend its time. So when it reached the next floor, instead of adventurers, it went after other monsters, devoured their Magic Crystals and used their body parts to restore the damaged parts on himself in an attempt to prolong its existence and realize its revenge.


    .


    .


    .


    It was only until the entrance of the 38th floor that Kisuke was finally able to catch up with the Lambton and rip it apart with his bare hands, extracting the almost naked Elf with burn marks from the monster''s stomach acid.


    After carefully conjuring a bit of water to wash her, Kisuke removed the coat of his Shihakusho and wrapped it around Ryuu. Although the right sleeve was already gone, it was still better than nothing. ''I have to find a ce to rest and regte my insides.'', thought Kisuke as he recalled a certain cave on the 37th floor.


    Since he only had one arm right now, Kisuke did a fireman''s carry on Ryuu and picked up her weapons before going on his way. Entering the giant whitebyrinth on the 37th floor, Kisuke was immediately besieged by Spartois wielding different weapons. Of course, except for the girl on his shoulder, they weren''t a threat to him so he just kicked them away, crushing both their weapons and bones.


    After an hour of brute-forcing his way through, Kisuke finally reached the cave where no monsters spawned. As soon as heid Ryuu down, Kisuke immediately sat down and closed his eyes. Due to what happened earlier, Kisuke forcefully stopped his regeneration so that there wouldn''t be much movement in his energy.


    Now that his target was secured, he could finally fix his energy flows and figure out what happened back then, ''Since I''m already here, I might as well continue experimenting with my spells.''


    He then looked towards Ryuu and estimated that she would be out for at least half a day, ''She may have thought that she''s already dead. Oh well, I can use this time to stabilize myself and get some supplies from the 39th floor.''


    Since he could neither use a space bag nor open his own space, he didn''t have anything on him right now as he didn''t need anything from the start. However, if he wanted to stay here, he would need food to keep Ryuu alive.


    Naturally, he also had the choice to immediately return to the surface, however, due to his energy berserking earlier, Kisuke wanted to fix that as soon as possible and at least be able to cast a few spells before returning. In other words, he just couldn''t wait.


    Another hourter, Kisuke was finally able to regenerate his arm and stabilize himself. Next, he started reviewing his spells and wanted to at least cast a barrier around the cave before he left.


    It took Kisuke another hour just to conjure a suitable barrier and even then, the energy inside his body still ran wild, forcing him to rest for half an hour. However, this was already a big improvement and it could only get better after further practicing, ''Looks like I''ll only need a week or so to cast half of my Kidou repertoire and more than that if I want to safely use my high-level spells.''


    .


    .


    .


    Sitting on damp bloody grass, Ryuu horrifyingly stared at herpanions being ughtered one by one. As thest one of them exploded into flesh and blood, the Skeletal Dragon turned to her with its fire-lit eyes which sent shivers down the spine to anyone that it stared at.


    Behind the monster that annihted her noisy but preciouspanions were her most hateful enemies who were the cause of tragedies in Orario. Gritting her teeth, Ryuu wanted to cut off their heads, however, in face of the absolute enemy that was manifested by the Dungeon''s rage, Ryuu couldn''t do anything aside from staring at the bloody ws that were about tond on her.


    Opening her eyes, Ryuu immediately stood up and held her aching head, ''That dream again... It has been a while.''


    A few secondster, her memories resurfaced, and recalled what happened before she lost her consciousness, ''Wait, I''m alive!?''


    All of a sudden, she heard a voice in front of her, "Don''t move so much. You''re still injured and those abrupt movements will only make it worsen. Besides, that single piece of clothing is all that you have on you, so all sorts of things will be visible if you''re not careful."


    Ryuu immediately looked down and saw the state of her entire body. A single piece of familiar clothing and under it was a body with various burnt spots. Carefully tacking in her cover, Ryuu slowly looked back up and saw the person she was expecting facing away from her, "...Thank y- !? W-what happened to you!? Are you alright!?"


    But as soon as she processed what was in front of her, she immediately panicked. The Kisuke in front of her was bloodied all over to the point that his green shihakusho couldn''t be recognized anymore. Strangely enough, his bucket hat seemed to be untouched.


    "Hmm?", Kisuke turned around and saw her worried expression beforeughing awkwardly, "Ahaha, well, ''tis but a scratch."


    Despite her aching body, however, Ryuu stood up and sat beside Kisuke before chanting her only healing spell, Noah Heal. But before she could invoke her spell, Kisuke suddenly grabbed her forearm, disrupting her concentration by suddenly touching her, "Save it for yourself. I''m sturdy and these injuries won''t take too long to heal themselves."


    Of course, Ryuu didn''t believe him, "What are you doing here? What happened?"


    ''For him, who can y around the top fighters of the Loki Familia to be injured, did he perhapse across with the Juggernaut?'', she thought.


    Kisuke unhandled her and replied, "On behalf of someone, I came to rescue you. Though thanks to my current situation, I can''t really fight properly so I ended up like this. Don''t worry though. I''ll be sure to bring you to the surface alive."


    ===============================================


    AN (Dec. 13/21): I certainly didn''t forget to update my webnovel from thest time... Yep... Certainly not...


    I''m sorry.

 Chapter 697 Traumatized Elf

    Chapter 697 Traumatized Elf


    "Someone asked you to save me?"


    "Let''s just leave that for when we reach the surface. That way, you''ll have something to look forward to. Though just to be clear, I don''t really ept requests of saving people. It''s just because you''re a good friend of mine.", Kisuke rified as he didn''t want her to spread the word of him eptingmissions like this.


    Ryuu''s eyes widened and said, "Thank you... I''ll repay this favor once we''re out here."


    Chuckling, Kisuke just waved his hand, "I''m doing this to repay a favor, so you don''t have to do anything. Anyway, if you can heal yourself, do it now and eat some food here. You''ll need all the stamina you can get to pass through the 37th floor."


    "37th floor!?", Ryuu eximed, "What are we doing here!?"


    "Don''t you remember? You were eaten by a Worm Well and I had to chase that snake all the way over to here. That''s also the reason why you don''t have any clothes left."


    Kisuke''s overall countenance once again entered Ryuu''s sights and she couldn''t help but bite her lips, ''So that''s why he''s injured all over... Because of me, he almost died...'' Thus a misunderstanding was born.


    "What should we do now?"


    "Rest for now and then slowly and carefully move forward. No one knows where we are so we can''t really expect any rescue team toe.", answered Kisuke while thinking, ''No one who could do so, would send any since it''s me anyway.'' Kisuke then grabbed one of the fruits which he got on the 39th floor and started munching on it while thinking and calcting his spells.


    Ryuu nodded and started chanting her healing spell. Since they had enough food, she intended to get fully healed and also to heal Kisuke before moving, ''Looks like he''s unwilling to tell me but his current situation isn''t ideal. I have to get back on my feet and at least ensure his safety on the way...''


    As such, a vow was formed inside her head that she would sacrifice herself so that Kisuke could escape. If Kisuke were to know what was on her mind, he would immediately tie her up as he made his way back to the surface.


    .


    .


    .


    After half a day of rest, Ryuu and Kisuke were already fully healed and decided to move on. Not even a quarter of an hour had passed, before a group of 12 Spartois and Barbarians appeared to block their road.


    If it was any other kind of monster, Ryuu would be confident that she could take on a handful of them. However, Spartois were the most dangerous monsters that roamed this area except for rare monsters as they were stronger than Lizardman Elite or Loup Garou, and more agile than the Barbarians. On top of that, they were warrior-type monsters that could carry random equipment and fight like Adventurers, making them a lot more dangerous than the usual monsters which had only one set of behavior and movement.


    Since they were also at least around Level 4, Ryuu could only take on three or four of them at most. ''Just our luck.'', thought Ryuu and couldn''t help but bite her lips.


    However, it didn''t end there, because a few momentster, another simrly sized group of Spartois and Barbarian appeared behind them and cut off their path of retreat.


    Ryuu was shaken and at a loss of what to do when Kisuke suddenly proposed, "Focus on making an opening on our front. I''ll take care of the backside."


    Since they didn''t have much choice, Ryuu nodded at his instructions and dashed forward. After engaging the enemies in front of her, she heard the activity behind her. But when she was about to turn around and see how Kisuke was doing, thetter shouted at her, "Just focus on making an opening!"


    After that, Ryuu ignored what was happening behind her and chose to trust Kisuke. A few minutester, the two of them were able to go through the monsters and managed to run away, giving them some breathing space.


    "That went well. Let''s continue on this pa- !?", said Ryuu, but when she turned towards Kisuke, she saw his right arm bleeding profusely and leaving a trail of blood behind them, "You''re hurt! Why didn''t you say anything!?"


    "''Cuz it isn''t a big deal?"


    Ryuu sighed, "Show it to me."


    But before Kisuke could even agree, Ryuu grabbed and lifted his arm and activated her healing magic. Kisuke, on the other hand, controlled and carefully timed his regeneration with her Magic since her healing wouldn''t really work on his body now.


    While looking at the serious expression she was making, Kisuke asked, "I thought you don''t like touching others and others touching you?"


    "I do.", Ryuu nodded, "But this isn''t the time for that And I don''t particrly mind if it''s you... Strangely enough."


    "Well, I''m honored if it''s like that."


    However, Ryuu smiled wryly at his response, "Honored? Please don''t be. It''s nothing special. Besides, I''m just a dirty Elf that threw away her own justice for the sake of her own revenge and satisfaction."


    "What''s wrong with that?", asked Kisuke immediately back.


    Stunned, Ryuu looked at his genuinely confused expression before saying, "It isn''t just simply bad, but it''s also wrong. Discarding your own justice to satisfy your dark desires isn''t right."


    Shaking her head, Ryuu finished up Kisuke healing. While she was shocked at how effective her healing was on Kisuke, she immediately turned around to change the unpleasant subject, "Let''s continue before monsters surround us again."


    Kisuke silently stared at her lonely back and thought, ''As expected of an Elf. Stubborn and rigid. Though it seems that her case stems from past trauma. I wonder why Astraea-sama left her that year when everything was supposed to be over?''


    The two of them continued at a slow pace because of the numerous monsters on the way. And each time, Ryuu would break through the walls of monsters while Kisuke would guard her back, leaving him injured each time.


    However, the real reason why Kisuke kept getting injured wasn''t because of the monsters attacking him, it was because of him using his spells which would always create a bacsh. But because Kisuke would always receive an attack meant for Ryuu when she couldn''t handle it anymore, thetter had no reason to doubt the source of his injuries despite the inconsistent sounds she was hearing while he was behind her.


    And each time they would have a break, Ryuu would heal Kisuke while she reprimanded him for his ''thoughtless'' actions. Nevertheless, all her words came in from his left ear and left out of his right ear. In any case, he wasn''t really hurt and his priority was her safety. He was just moving with that in mind without thinking of the consequences in her emotions as usual.


    As such, Ryuu''s guilt kept piling up as did her determination to sacrifice herself for his safety when the situation would call for it.

 Chapter 698 The Colosseum

    Chapter 698 The Colosseum


    As they progressed through the floor, the number of monsters ambushing them kept increasing as they got near the center of the 37th floor. Since the staircase towards the 36th floor was on the other side of the floor, they had to get through the Colosseum.


    The Colosseum is the arena that the Dungeon created 30 years ago. In it were a certain number of monsters continuously fighting each other if there were no Adventurers around. For each monster that would die, one more would spawn keeping the number up.


    Although it would still be a lot, Ryuu thought that it would at least be manageable since they were only two of them. However, she was already having doubts due to the number of monsters around them despite not reaching the Colosseum yet. If not for Kisuke continuously sacrificing himself to cover her back and block attacks for her, it''s improbable that they would even be able to travel this far, ''No... It''s clear that he''s still stronger than me despite the weird situation he''s in, I''m just holding him back. If it''s just him alone, he''d probably be able to break through the walls of monsters alone.''


    Little did Ryuu know that the reason for arge number of monsters spawning around them is because of Kisuke himself. More specifically, the special energy he''s using is confusing the Dungeon. When it''s just thebination of Ki and Spiritual energy, the Dungeon is sure of their alien origin, but now with the strangebination of Magic, Ki, and Spiritual energy, the Dungeon didn''t know how to treat him.


    Since Kisuke was trying to slow their progress as much as possible, they only reached the entrance to the Colosseum after four days. Before entering, Ryuu stopped and checked their supplies. While already tattered, Ryuu was still wearing Kisuke''s haori and over it was clothing made out of Skullsheep''s fur.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, his clothes were already destroyed long ago and was wearing Skull Sheep''s fur. Thanks to his dexterous hands, he was able to make two sets of robes and clothes for them, "Why do you still wear that? Although it''s still in one piece, the fur was already enough to cover us."


    Ryuu unconsciously touched the ck haori that sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half when he heard his question. She also thought of discarding the haori away as it isn''t needed but somewhere inside her, she didn''t want to and she doesn''t understand the reason why, "It''s very soft and just right as an inner clothing.", Ryuu replied as an excuse.


    Aside from the sword, the only thing that remained with her was the few kaensekis that she snatched away from the members of the Evilus when she''s interrogating them. With a total of three explosive items, Ryuu contemted the time she had to use them.


    "This time, I want us to switch our roles.", Ryuu suddenly proposed.


    Kisuke thought for a moment before nodding in agreement, "Okay. I''ll leave it to you."


    There shouldn''t be any problem with their previous arrangements but Ryuu suddenly suggested switching, Kisuke was curious about what she wanted to do, ''What is this stubbornss nning this time, I wonder? She keeps resolving herself. Is she thinking of sacrificing herself when things get difficult?''


    In any case, the way he is now, sacrificing his own body is a cheap price to pay if he really wanted to save Ryuu. Without saying anything, Kisuke walked in front of Ryuu and entered the Colosseum through a long bridge.


    If one were to jump from the bridge, one would be able to instantly reach the 38th floor. In essence, the Colosseum is a very wide hanging arena that could contain a fourth of the whole Orario.


    Entering the Colosseum itself the two of them saw a war between monsters, ''Now I really wonder what this ce is for? Since people are very rarely down here, maybe it''s to pool experience for the monsters?'' Kisuke thought as they watched them.


    They needed to use the bridge on the southern part of the Colosseum and they were on the northernmost part but they couldn''t afford to take the shortest path so Ryuu led Kisuke to the east side so that they could travel along the walls.


    It was going well and the monster did ignore them as they went on. After half a day of carefully maneuvering around the monsters, the nerve wracked Ryuu finally saw their destination and thought that the most dangerous part of their journey would finally end when all of a sudden, the monsters in their vicinity suddenly all turned in their direction, "Not good! Go! I''ll take the back!"


    Kisuke silently followed her instruction and started using low-level spells that he already mastered. Although these spells don''t damage his body anymore, Kisuke wanted to improve their efficiency so he kept using them instead of high-level spells.


    Using the toned down Byakurai, Kisuke defeated the monsters in front of him one by one, however, their number kept increasing as the monsters from other parts of the Colosseum kepting and they would certainly chase after them until they left the 37th floor.


    This is the reason why expedition parties have to defeat all the monsters in the Colosseum before they proceed.


    As they kept going, Kisuke heard Ryuu start chanting her magic behind him. But when they reached the bridge, instead of the monsters, Ryuu aimed her ''Luminous Wind'' at Kisuke''s back. Luminous Wind is a wind and light element Magic that could cause explosions and by detonating it before it hit Kisuke, the shockwave was enough to send him flying without causing much damage.


    An instantter, the spot where Kisuke was standing suddenly exploded, copsing the bridge. Ryuu just used her kaensekis to demolish the bridge. With a warm smile on her face, Ryuu said, "Please go on. You shouldn''t risk your life for someone like me.", before jumping back into the fray of monsters that couldn''t pass through the bridge.


    Kisuke silently watched as the wave monster receded and chased after the Elf, ''That girl really did it... Maybe I should have told her that I''m not in any danger?''


    But then again, he wanted to see how Ryuu would act in this situation and she didn''t disappoint him, ''If by chance I would need her assistance, she''d be trustworthy enough.''


    Circting the energy inside him, Kisuke smirked, "Alright~ Time to go with a bang~!"


    .


    .


    .


    Ryuu tried her best to dodge the attacks but with the sheer number of monstersing after her, it''s nigh impossible. After getting hit by a Spartoi, she got pushed towards a Barbarian swinging its club. Using her arm to block, she was sent flying once again, ''I have to stay alive as long as possible... Though it''s really the end for me, huh...''


    Time slowed down for her midair as she recalled several people, the girls of the Hostess of Fertility that she won''t be able to see anymore, the Goddess that ''left'' her but still kept in contact with her, and her long-gonerade that reminded her that there is no right answer when ites to reality and ideals, Alise, ''In the end, I wasn''t able to reach an answer. But maybe that''s for the better.''


    Ryuu wanted to close her eyes and rest but before she could do so, a dark silhouette appeared on top of her, "Hey. What the hell are you doing?", she heard Kisuke''s voice from it.


    Opening her eyes in shock, Ryuu asked in a panic, "H-how!? What are you doing here!?"


    Grabbing her in mid-air and keeping her close to him he answered, "As I said, I wasmissioned to save you and I won''t allow you to break my clean record."


    Ryuu''s face was buried in his chest but she still tried to retort back, "This isn''t the time for that!? Your own life should be your top priority!"


    "I don''t really want to hear that from you," replied Kisuke before pointing his palm downwards and muttering, "Hadou no 33, Soukatsui!"


    From his palm, arge wave of blue fire emerged, crashing onto the monsters below and instantly annihting them. But before the fire could even melt the floor, the shockwave produced by it demolished arge section of the Colosseum, causing it to crash down the 38th floor.


    Losing consciousness from the explosion, Ryuu recalled the bombing attempt five years ago when Jura and the Rudra Familia had attempted to kill them in the dungeon, which they survived with some injuries. Just as they were about to attack the Rudra Familia, the dungeon began to wail, creating the Juggernaut to get rid of the adventurers there. The Juggernaut immediately killed Noin, splitting her body into three parts, then Neze, and finally Asta, all in a few moments.


    Angered by the death of herpanions, Ryuu attempted to attack the Juggernaut, though it jumped up to the ceiling in an instant, then dropped back down to attack her from behind. She narrowly dodged the attack but was then hit by its tail, sending her flying whilst the Juggernaut tried to finish her off. Fortunately, Kaguya saved her at the cost of her right arm. Unfortunately, Ryana and Celty died soon after when their magic was reflected back at them. It then proceeded to kill Iska and eat Maryuu. Upon seeing this, Ryuu felt something break inside of her, feeling fear for the first time.


    As the Juggernaut began massacring the Rudra Familia, Alise checked on the remaining members, one of which, Lyra, had her eyes and eyelids melted by the reflected magic. Alise met eyes for a moment with Ryuu, then asked both Kaguya and Lyra to give their lives, wanting to save Ryuu even if it cost them their lives. She asked Ryuu to stay put and chant while they would remove the Juggernaut''s shell.


    Turning its attention back to the Astraea Familia, it first killed the blind Lyra, but not before she activated her bomb in herst moments, taking the Juggernaut''s right arm with her. Kaguya took advantage of the opportunity Lyra created to attack its legs, destroying one of its joints, enraging it and causing it to kill her with its left arm.


    Alise then used her enchant magic and rushed at it, allowing it to stab through her with its left arm to hold it in ce, and stabbed her mithril rapier into its body, sending her mes into its body. She then ordered Ryuu to use Luminous Wind, the attack hitting her along with the Juggernaut. The Juggernaut decided to retreat, running out of the room as the magic continuously hit it.


    Later on, instead of heading back to Astraea, she tended to her wounds on the surface, then returned to the dungeon to get revenge on the Juggernaut; however, she only found its remains. Following this, she gathered herpanions'' weapons, created the grave on the 18th Floor, and asked herself in front of their grave what she wanted to do with her life, ultimately deciding to get revenge on Jura, the Rudra Familia, and Evilus. She returned to the Astraea Familia home, pleading to Astraea to leave. She agreed, though as she left, she sorrowfully told Ryuu to throw away her justice.


    Ryuu first began her revenge against people, then buildings, and finally their base, doing whatever it took to get rid of them. To finish up, she attacked the Rudra Familia at their home, massacring the members, then destroyed the building with her magic. As she stood there in the burning building, Rudra appeared in front of her, but she couldn''t bring herself to kill a God. Heughed loudly and told her that he would''ve liked to have the current Ryuu in his Familia.


    After she left, Rudra was captured by the Guild and sent back to heaven. Her actions led to the destruction of 27 organizations, caused 4 Gods to be sent back to heaven, and brought about the end of the dark age of Orario. She waster found by Syr, ending up where she was now.

 Chapter 699 To be Saved or Not

    Chapter 699 To be Saved or Not


    When Ryuu woke up, a massive headache attacked her but she shook it off and immediately tried to get a sense of her surroundings. A secondter, she realized that Kisuke was carrying her on his back as they moved away from the debris of fallen rocks from the Colosseum.


    She tried to get off him but the moment she tried to move, a wave of pain overtook her consciousness, ''Uggghh!!! T-this...''


    "Don''t move. You have several broken ribs and even if you want to walk on your own, you won''t be able to thanks to your leg pointing in an awkward direction.", Kisuke exined with a slightly gleeful tone. While Ryuu was unconscious, Kisuke was studying what just happened earlier and gave him a big boost in understanding and realizing his spells, ''Not just how I manifested the spell, but also how it affected the enemies depending on the intended effect, I was able to gather a lot more data thanks to the earlier incident. Maybe I should do it again sometimeter.''


    Ryuu, however, didn''t notice this weird tone and instead, bit her lips in frustration and asked, "Why...? Why did youe back?"


    "As I said, I can''t allow you to break my good record."


    But Ryuu became even more frustrated, "You should prioritize your life over some stupid record!"


    "That''s true. However, that''s not all the reason. You''ve taken care of and are good friends with my girls. That alone was enough of a reason. If I''m here just because of a simplemission, I would have left you alone when you threw yourself among the monsters and give my employer a report, ''The target sent me away and died on her own volition,'' or something along those lines and be done with it."


    Ryuu was stunned for a moment before muttering, "...I don''t deserve such kindness."


    "What about you? Why did you prioritize my life over your own? I don''t think I''ve done something to warrant such a response."


    Ryuu became silent for a few moments before answering, "...It''s because you''re a good friend of Syr and I think she''ll be extremely sad if you were to perish."


    "And you think that she won''t if you were not to return?"


    Smiling wryly, Ryuu replied, "Of course not... It''s just that... I don''t deserve to be saved. Not after what I have done."


    Kisuke stopped walking and said, "Whether you deserve to be saved or not, frankly speaking, it''s really not up to you."


    Ryuu''s eyes widened in surprise and Kisuke resumed walking while adding, "I''m sorry to rain on your parade but the one who can decide whether you should be saved is your savior. If he or she deemed you''re worthy enough to risk their lives for you, you don''t have a say in it."


    "B-but that''s... stupid."


    "Right? However, that''s the reality. It''s stupid, but also extremely beautiful, don''t you think?"


    "Beautiful?"


    "Yep. Even though you''ve already given up on yourself, someone out there hasn''t. I think that''s beautiful. Though after you''re saved, it would be up to you if you want to make it a worthwhile effort for your savior."


    Ryuu buried her face on Kisuke''s back and thought about the nightmare she had, ''...I knew it... I already knew it long ago but chose to ignore it. They sacrificed their lives just to save me but I wasted it... Instead of using my time to make our ideals a step closer to reality, I wasted it on the revenge that they never wanted. And in the process, I also made it hard for the Goddess that took me in.''


    A single tear came running down her cheek, ''I''m just using Urahara-kun to justify my worth... If I had died back there, I''m not saving him, but just burdening him with my death. I never changed... All this time, I''m just a burden to everyone.''


    Remorseful for the veryte realization, Kisuke''s warm back was just what Ryuu needed in this deserted and cold part of the Dungeon. But amidst thisfort, she heard a steady pitter-patter on the ground and turned her head around in curiosity.


    As sheprehended what she''s seeing, Ryuu''s face became filled with horror as she shouted in panic after seeing a long trail of blood behind them, "Y-you''re bleeding profusely!"


    "Hmm? Ah... Don''t worry about it. It''s not as serious as it looks. I mentioned that I''m in a weird situation, but it didn''t mean I became weaker. I just be like this whenever I use a rtively strong Magic."


    Of course, Ryuu didn''t believe that he''s fine, "Put me down now! Even with one leg, I''ll be able to manage it! What''s important is to tend to your wounds!"


    "Save it. Look. A cave in front of us." Kisuke spotted a rtivelyrge cave when they turned a corner and immediately entered it.


    Inside the cave is a flickering light and Ryuu thought that someone else was on this floor, but upon closer inspection, it''s a pair of skeletons with one of them holding a Magicmp that was about to use its final fuel.


    Nevertheless, the cave wasrge enough and Kisuke gently put down Ryuu on the opposite corner where the skeletons are before sitting down on his own. It''s only now that he was able to calm down his energies sufficiently to start his regeneration.


    Ryuu, on the other hand, did her best to approach his side as she chanted her healing magic. But just before she could cast it, Kisuke lifted his finger. All of a sudden, Ryuu saw her chest area glowing and felt the effect of her healing magic, "W-what!?"


    Not exining anything to her, Kisuke replied, "Just heal yourself. I''ll be fine on my own. I just needed to rest and all of these wounds would disappear."


    And inwardly, Kisuke thought, ''As expected, I can use it like this. As long as I understand my opponent''s spells, I can reflect them back to him. I wonder what else I could do?''


    Ryuu gritted her teeth and tried again using the rest of her Magic Power but the same thing happened as her broken ribs fully healed, relieving her of pain just from breathing.

 Chapter 700 Revenge and Justice

    Chapter 700 Revenge and Justice


    Ryuu finally gave up when she was about to lose her consciousness from depleting her Magic Power. She doesn''t know how Kisuke was reflecting her healing magic back at her but this isn''t the time for that.


    Standing up with great difficulty, Ryuu went towards the two remains of the Adventurer. After offering her prayer, she picked up their bags and took a good look inside them.


    The food has already gone bad and the bottle of half-used potion only has a little bit of Magic Power in it. However, what she''s looking for is their first aid kit. While the cream that can close small wounds has already gone bad, there are still clean bandages left, ''Great. This should be enough with the potion.''


    Although the potion was almost useless in healing wounds, it''s still useful for safely cleaning them. Grabbing what she needed, Ryuu struggled with the pain of her broken leg before reaching Kisuke once again, "Remove your clothes. Let''s bandage those wounds up."


    Kisuke looked at her eyes for a moment and saw the extremely serious expression she''s making. Figuring out that there''s no way to convince her otherwise, Kisuke slowly took off his clothes while smiling wryly, ''I guess she won''t beforted until she does something.''


    Finally taking off his blood-soaked top, Ryuu drew in a cold breath from what she saw what seemed to be hundreds of cuts covering his entire body, "Y-you... You''re not dying, right!?"


    "Hmm? Of course not. Take a closer look. They''ve already stopped bleeding."


    And indeed, upon closer inspection, none of them were shedding any more blood and a huge feeling of relief came to Ryuu, along with intense guilt, "I''m sorry... This is my fault."


    "Promise me that you won''t do a stunt like that again."


    Ryuu looked straight into his eyes before saying, "...I promise."


    Smiling, Kisuke replied, "Then you''re forgiven~"


    But Ryuu could only smile wryly on that, "I don''t know what to feel if you were to forgive me that easily."


    "There''s no reason for me to make it harder. Besides, there''s something else you need to say, isn''t it?"


    Ryuu''s wry smile eased up to a gentle one and said, "Yes. That''s right. Thank you. Thank you for saving me."


    "You''re very much wee~" Kisuke then closed his eyes to refocus his concentration on what he needed to do. However, that doesn''t mean he didn''t leave any attention to their surroundings and Ryuu herself.


    Ryuu, meanwhile, seeing Kisuke''s behavior, got free reign over what she wanted to do. Carefully managing the potion and water they have, Ryuu was able to clean Kisuke''s wound without wasting any of their supplies. But also thanks to that, Ryuu was able to properly see Kisuke''s current state and couldn''t help in shivering, ''Each one of them are deep wounds... How is he still fine with all of this? And he didn''t even let out a single yelp despite my being rough in some ces.''


    Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Ryuu proceeded to wrap Kisuke with the bandages she got. And while doing so, she couldn''t help but think about all sorts of things due to the silence. Inadvertently, she asked, "Say... Urahara-san... What do you think of revenge?"


    Without opening his eyes, Kisuke entertained Ryuu''s question, "Hmm... Let''s see... There are many types of revenge out there but generally speaking, it''s an attempt to regain what you''ve lost. Even if you''re sessful, you''re just zeroing out and nothing would really change except for momentary fulfillment. And depending on how much that ''revenge'' got hold of you, it''ll be followed by emptiness."


    Ryuu became silent and momentarily stopped what she''s doing but resumed it not long after, "...I see. This is the first time of hearing such a take on revenge, however, I fully agree with you. After the momentary fulfillment, it was followed by endless emptiness."


    If not for Syr taking her out of that emptiness, Ryuu doesn''t know how she would have ended up.


    "Do you mind if you listen to my story?" Ryuu suddenly asked.


    "Sure. We have all the time we need."


    .


    .


    .


    Ryuu reminisced and narrated her days within the Astraea Familia. She told Kisuke how they were widely epted as the police force and a very wee one at that in the time of Dark Ages where the Guild can''t do their job in suppressing those who wanted to harm the city.


    Her story then reached the part where the alliance of ''evil'' aligned Familias formed and came to be known as the Evilus and theirrge attack led by Erebus and two former members of the Zeus and Hera Familias 7 years ago.


    It was while defending the city with all their lives they came to understand that, while the rest of the Evilus just wanted to raze Orario to the ground with their twisted beliefs, Erebus, the Evil God, Zald, and Alfia, the former members of the Zeus and Hera Familias, just wanted to destroy the lid that is blocking the Dungeon in attempt to return the time back to the Heroic Age.


    "So they were hoping for a hero to arise from the destruction they wrought. Why did they hope for that in the first ce?" Kisukemented.


    "It''s only something I''d heardter, but apparently, despite being the strongest Familia and sessfully subjugating two of the World Quests, they couldn''t even wound the ck Dragon. However, the fact that it has one of its eyes taken out was a testament to the strength of the people of the Heroic Age, where monsters ran rampant on the surface despite having only the assistance of the Spirits."


    Ryuu then shook her head before continuing, "But I can never agree with their methods of sacrificing the innocent even if it means saving the world from the threat of an unbeatable monster. Then again, I don''t really have the right to say that because I turned my back against those innocent people to pursue my own darkness."


    Kisuke stayed silent and allowed Ryuu to continue her story. He wanted to say something to her, but he held it off because he wanted to hear the rest of her story and make sure that he wasn''t misunderstanding anything.


    Ryuu touched the subject regarding the nightmare of the 27th floor 6 years ago but didn''t know much of it because it was mainly the Loki, Ganesha, and Freya Familias'' attack on Evilus.


    And when she reached the subject of 5 years ago, Ryuu''s tone audibly changed as she slowly narrated how her Familia fell into the trap of the Rudra Familia and summoned a Juggernaut just like the incident earlier which resulted in the annihtion of the Astraea Familia with her surviving only because her preciouspanions sacrificed themselves so that she could have enough time to run away.


    Being overtaken by her desire for vengeance, Astraea left her after ''ordering'' her to discard her ''justice''.


    Hence Ryuu started her rampage on those with even a slight connection to Evilus, killing everyone except for the Deities. Even though what Ryuumitted was a very heavy crime of massacring people, it also ended the Dark Ages with the round-up of the remaining Evilus members.


    At that point, Kisuke finally understood clearly what''s bothering her and said, "You can''t move on because you can''t admit it."


    "What...?"


    "You can''t admit ande to terms with yourself that you thought that the heinous crime youmitted was the right thing to do."

 Chapter 701 Revenge and Justice part 2

    Chapter 701 Revenge and Justice part 2


    "I... I thought it was the right thing to do?" A sudden headache assaulted Ryuu''s head as she was forced to think back to where it all started.


    Ryuu stopped what she''s doing and held her head. As if a cold wind blew, she started shivering, "N-no... t-that can''t be..."


    Kisuke looked at her fear-filled face but didn''t say anything, ''Let''s see... Are you going to run away or confront it this time? If it''s thetter, you''ll forever be in the shadows of yourterades.''


    Due to Elves'' upbringing, most of them are prideful and look down on other races, but they are also righteous thanks to that. However, that also means that they are the beings that see the world closer to ck and white when they shouldn''t.


    So when they did something that went against their beliefs, the most likely scenario was that said Elf would continue down on that path with extreme aggressiveness, retaining their pride and discarding their righteousness while others would retain their righteousness and discard their pride, forever stuck in their mistake and self-loathing.


    Although she hated the other Elves for looking down on others, Ryuu still has the pride and righteousness of one. By discarding her ''justice'', she was able to retain both of her pride and righteousness by making thetter vague, creating a delicate bnce in her mind, and became her source of escapism after the deed 5 years ago.


    And by meeting Syr, although she never forgot her past actions, what she''s feeling that time became unclear, creating stability in her mental health.


    These days, however, she''s forced to think back about her rampage and Kisuke just had to push her beyond the cliff that she may not be able to return from.


    One might think that an old, wise, and knowledgeable Deity will be able to help her with their wisdom, however, the Gods have a fatal w that all of their beliefs and perspectives are influenced by their own Divinity and one line of general thinking won''t be able to help Ryuu.


    So despite knowing where the real problem with Ryuu lies, Astraea couldn''t as she presides over Justice, Innocence, Purity, and Precision.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, was directly on the opposite spectrum of the idealistic Deities. And if he can help Ryuu by just opening his mouth a bit, why not? ''Hmmm... This reaction... I guess I hit the nail?''


    At this time, Ryuu''s mind started closing off as her surroundings darkened from her perspective and she was taken back moments after her Familia''s annihtion and her rampage. As if her own mind started torturing her, that moment kept repeating over and over again.


    And in each repetition, Kisuke''sst words became clearer and clearer which made her remember what really pushed her to do all those things. It was something she forgot..., no, it was something she chose not to think about to protect herself. It was a simple fact that she thought that what she had done was the right thing to do.


    Ryuu thought that her massacre, which was deemed to be one of the worst in the history of Orario, was the right thing to do.


    "...No..." She muttered as she hugged her shivering body tight.


    "Really? Do you want to run away? Again? Your righteousness only amounted to this?"


    Hurriedly raising her head, Ryuu looked towards Kisuke and saw the apparent disappointment on his face, "... I."


    "If your own righteousness was so important to you, why do you turn a blind eye to your own actions?"


    Ryuu looked down and became silent after hearing that. A few minutester, her shaking stopped, and looked back up with a smile apanied by a devastated expression, "You''re correct. I didn''t want to admit it, but back then, I thought it was the right thing to do."


    It was then that her tears started falling and her smile began cracking badly, "Very hypocritical, isn''t it? I fought for what''s right all my life yet I allowed that meaningless revenge to take hold of me. I''m not even deceiving myself when I think that I''m doing the right thing and taking all those lives. In hindsight, I''m no better than those people."


    And just as Astraea feared, Ryuu began contemting if she should just end her life.


    While clouded by her own thoughts, Ryuu suddenly felt pain on her nose and pulled her back to see that Kisuke was pinching her nose with a cheeky grin, "See? You can admit it, after all, ~ If you can admit it, then you can definitely face it, so stop making that expression. I''m not going to allow you to escape by taking your own life."


    "...Please let me go," Ryuu replied with a nasally voice.


    However, Kisuke didn''t listen and even pulled up Ryuu''s nose, prompting thetter to cry out, "Say... What''s so wrong with doing what you thought is right that you''re having an existential crisis?"


    Ryuu tried to pull off Kisuke''s hand but his grip wouldn''t let go. Despite this, she still answered, "Because what I did was wrong from the start."


    "So you''ve changed your mind regarding your actions?"


    Ryuu stopped moving and became silent, ''Would I have done something different despite knowing the result?'' She asked herself. She was about to descend to her own world once again but Kisuke pulled her nose again, pulling her back, and made her remember his words, ''If I can admit it... I can definitely face it, huh...''


    She then realized that she really has nothing to lose anymore and decided to take a step forward, "No... I never changed my mind. If I''m thrown into that kind of situation once again, I would do the same thing, thinking it was the right thing to do and ignoring the consequences. Even then, I still believe something like that is wrong."


    Kisuke smiled and let go of her nose, "I''ll ask once again. What makes it so wrong?"


    "Because it just is."


    "So this is your justice? The justice you learned to believe?"


    Ryuu nodded while nursing her nose, "That''s correct."


    "A blind justice, huh... How stupid."


    "Huh!?" Ryuu was instantly taken aback by his words.


    "I said it''s stupid. Blind justice is a in stupid justice!"


    While Ryuu was speechless, Kisuke continued his words as if he''s venting at the stupid notion of blind justice, "Blind justice might be good on paper, and it''s indeed good for a society that has a set of rules, however, this also paints the world ck and white which is very far from reality! In other words, real blind justice is just a utopian idea! And every utopian idea is also just a dystopian idea if you look at it in another way!"


    Ryuu wanted to say something but Kisuke interrupted her, "I''m not being rude to you or anything, but in my opinion, blind justice is just fake justice! Though I''m open to criticism that might change my mind."

 Chapter 702 Meeting the Juggernaut Again

    Chapter 702 Meeting the Juggernaut Again


    Ryuu was incredibly shocked by Kisuke''s sudden outburst, but weirdly enough, it gave her a sense offort that cleared her mind and made herprehend what he just said a lot better, "What''s a ''real'' justice then?"


    "Before I answer that, you first have to understand that justice can never be objective. It can only be subjective, after all, it can only be based on one''s beliefs and their perspective of the world. The reason why I called blind justice a ''fake'' justice is because it''s an act of one entity forcing their standards on everyone else and everyone else has to follow it blindly. Truthfully, such a thing is impossible, hence, a ''fake'' justice."


    "With that in mind, what do you think a ''real'' justice is?" Kisuke finished his words by throwing back Ryuu''s question.


    Ryuu thought for a moment before answering with a frown, "A justice for oneself... A selfish justice."


    Kisuke gave a big nod and said, "Correct~!"


    However, Ryuu couldn''t ept it and murmured, "How can that be?"


    "Then let me ask you something else. What do you think is the difference between ideals and reality?"


    Kisuke''s question reminded Ryuu of her conversation with Alise and her argument with Kaguya and Lyra regarding the matter. Should the Astraea Familia follow their ideals or should they just ept reality? Until now, Ryuu didn''t have an answer to this question, "Ideals are the reality you want to achieve." She replied.


    "Uh huh... That''s what people generally describe them as. Nevertheless, I have a different answer."


    Ryuu stayed silent and waited for Kisuke.


    "My answer is, there is actually no difference between them. Ideals are already a reality and reality is mostly made up of ideals."


    "Huh?" Ryuu became incredibly confused at his answer, "T-then howe there is still suffering everywhere if the ideals are already a reality!?"


    Kisuke then gave her a look of disapproval, "You''re one arrogant girl, aren''t you?"


    Ryuu was instantly taken aback by his sudden insult and wanted to retort back. But before she could do so, a sh of inspiration entered her head, "...That''s... But..."


    "What? Trying to deny it now? Your ideals were never the correct one, nor was anyone else''s. So in the sh of infinite and ever changing ideals, where you can never prove the others are wrong, what do you think it''ll result in?"


    "...That is reality," Ryuu answered after a few moments of silence.


    Kisuke then turned back around and said, "Yep~ It''s the hot mess called reality. Let''s end it here for now. Those are my beliefs, but they may or may not help you with your own dilemma." Closing his eyes, Kisuke went back to concentrating.


    Ryuu didn''t move for a few minutes, until she noticed the unused bandages in her hand. But even while tending to Kisuke''s wounds, her mind was somewhere else.


    .


    .


    .


    It took another day for Kisuke and Ryuu to fully recover, however, their food supplies were already running low. Since they were moving very slowly due to the danger the monsters on this floor posed, the two of them decided to go back to the 38th floor to replenish their supplies.


    But on their way, Kisuke noticed that Ryuu was mostly spacing out, so he reprimanded her. Although he understood that she''s thinking hard about her own dilemma, that''s no reason topromise on safety.


    After apologizing profusely, Ryuu went back to focusing on their enemies, but only during their travels and she would often space out whenever they took a break. Regarding this, Kisuke didn''t say anything further as he''s fine with their slow progress as he''s making some great progress in his own training, ''It won''t be long until I can use the highest ss spells again.''


    He then looked at Benihime, who''s still trying hard to adjust and thought, ''It''s going to take some more time for her, however.''


    .


    .


    .


    Since the path they took before was already destroyed, they took another one. Unlike the direct path where the Colosseum was in the middle, the route they took this time was very long and had taken four days.


    Ryuu and Kisuke finally saw the staircase to the 36th floor and the former was overjoyed. However, Kisuke didn''t tell her that with his keen sense of hearing, he''d already detected arge entity rampaging through the 37th floor and he had been leading the way so that they didn''te across it, ''It''s about time...''


    Monsters started gathering behind them and Ryuu immediately urged Kisuke to move forward, but before they could do so, arge shadow descended from above them andnded no more than ten meters away from them. It was the Juggernaut, sting them with its familiar roar.


    However, instead of the usual skeletal body it previously had, it was the chaotic amalgamation of many monsters that are found in the Dungeon.


    After Kisuke destroyed a third of its body, it was incredibly furious at its assant. However, its mission was to clear out all the intruders, so it could only ignore him despite its rage. But thanks to Jura''s magic item, the Juggernaut was able to circumvent the Dungeon''s orders and went wild with its desire for revenge.


    However, its existence was on borrowed time and wouldn''t even be enough just to search for the hateful prey. So instead, it started devouring other monsters in the Dungeon and using their body parts to rece its failing ones to extend its lifespan. Thanks to these actions entirely unheard of, a Juggernaut much more dangerous than a normal one was born.


    While Ryuu started shaking in fear, Kisuke started rubbing his chin in contemtion, ''Now then, how should I go with this? I can st that thing without any problem, but it doesn''t really benefit me in any way. As the source of her trauma, it would be good if Lion-san would be able to kill that thing, but how should I assist her?''


    While Kisuke was still contemting what he should do, the Juggernaut suddenly dashed forward and passed Ryuu, instantly arriving at the spaced out Kisuke, swiping its ws against him.


    Kisuke was thrown back from the attack and hit the wall, crushing it and sending dust everywhere, "NO!!!" Ryuu cried out loud.


    After taking out its enemy, its line of sight transferred to Ryuu, freezing her in ce once again with its intimidation. But when it was about to attack, a bloodied Kisuke suddenly appeared on top of its head and grabbed its horns, "Go! I''ll take care of this thing!"


    Before Ryuu could even reply, the furious Juggernaut started shaking its head and randomly smashed it against things, but Kisuke wouldn''t let go, infuriating it even further and prompting it to make even more drastic moves.


    A few momentster, the Juggernaut and Kisuke had already disappeared from Ryuu''s sight and only the former''s intermittent roars could be heard from afar.


    Because of her talk with Kisuke and her deep contemtion thesest few days, Ryuu''s trauma had resurfaced much worse then when she''d first encountered the Juggernaut in the upper floors.


    Ryuu wanted to run away since it was impossible to defeat the Juggernaut, and without a doubt, this was the correct answer. But before she knew it, she was already running towards the noise, dodging and evading all the other monstersing after her. Even if a monster hit her, she''d still ignore it and move forward.

 Chapter 703 The Plan

    Chapter 703 The n


    Ryuu kept running after them and evading the monsters, while also ignoring the injuries that she''d started to umte. Nevertheless, her efforts didn''t betray her as she finally caught up with the Juggernaut and Kisuke, who were still brawling with each other.


    While there were only a few cracks on the Juggernaut''s head, Kisuke looked like he was already on the verge of death. Of course, this was all just visual effects created by Kisuke''s spells and letting out a bit of his blood, as there was no way for the Juggernaut to even cut his skin.


    Although he knew that he''s a douche for trying something like this, he didn''t care and wanted to see how Ryuu would adapt. ''Now then, after all that time of thinking, it''s about time for you toe up with your own conclusion.''


    Without thinking ahead, Ryuu jumped into the fray and smashed her sword onto the Juggernaut''s head, stunning it for an instant. Although the damage she dealt was very minimal, the brief stun was enough for her goal of grabbing Kisuke and running away from the Juggernaut.


    Ryuu carried Kisuke in her arms as she ran away. Soon after, the monsters that were chasing after Ryuu caught up and blocked her way. However, this didn''t stop the desperate Elf''s legs as she jumped into the middle of the pack and started her breakthrough from there, while making sure that Kisuke wouldn''t receive any further injuries. In turn, she received much worse injuries than from the time she chased after Kisuke and the Juggernaut.


    Nevertheless, Ryuu just gritted her teeth and endured the pain as she continued running for their lives. Luckily, due to its actions, the monsters also saw the Juggernaut as their enemy, making them hold each other back, giving Ryuu a breathing room once she was able to get through the horde of monsters.


    With every bit of desperation she had, Ryuu kept running until they returned to one of the safe spots they''ve used before. But instead of stopping to rest, Ryuu immediately removed Kisuke''s clothing and used all the healing magic she could on him without her passing out before taking out their water and washing off his blood, witnessing therge cut on his back.


    But since she was in a hurry, she ignored it for now and started removing her own clothes, discarding even her prized haori. After washing the blood off her, she started destroying their clothes and bundled them into small partitions.


    Once she''s ready, Ryuu went ahead and grabbed some salvageable parts of their clothes and covered their bare minimum before carrying Kisuke on her back and restarting her run. From behind, she could already hear the Juggernaut''s roars but she didn''t turn her head and just threw the small bundles of clothing covered in blood in random directions in an attempt to buy some more time, "Look here... The Juggernaut''s target is me. If you just leave me alone, you could probably escape safely." Kisuke suddenly said.


    "No way!" Ryuu instantly retorted, "If you''re not getting out of here alive, then neither should I!"


    Kisuke couldn''t help but chuckle at her words, "My~ You make it sound like we''re lovers~"


    Ryuu''s expression instantly darkened, "If you still have the energy to joke around, please allocate it towards thinking of ways for us to survive!"


    "Alright... I''ll leave our current situation to you then." replied Kisuke before he closed his eyes. Although he already had something in mind, it didn''t hurt to review what he nned to do so that it wouldn''tpromise Ryuu''s safety, ''Now then... I wonder which direction you will go in?'' Aside from material breakthroughs, Kisuke was also very much interested in how the human mind works. In hindsight, he''s simr to the Deities of this world, giving challenges to those who take their interest in an attempt to see what they''re going to do next.


    A few hourster, Ryuu arrived at her final stop, which was another safe spot, and immediatelyid Kisuke on the ground before chanting her healing magic since she had already recovered a bit of her Magic Power, "Hey! Are you alive!?"


    Kisuke opened his eyes and replied, "I still have a pulse, of course I''m still alive. But for you to ask such a question, it seems like you''re in a panicked state."


    Panting for air, Ryuu silently went to the corner of the cave after hearing his answer and huddled herself, burying her head on her knees. After the initial rush of adrenaline, her fear took over as she recalled the scene earlier, which was very simr to what happened five years ago.


    "Even if I find a way to survive, if you''re like this, no amount of nning can save us." Kisuke added to the distressed Elf.


    But just as he expected, there wasn''t a response from Ryuu so he just went back and closed his eyes again to pretend to rest.


    Due to the silence, Ryuu and Kisuke could easily hear the roar of the Juggernaut and the sounds of monsters being smashed to pieces. Every time it woulde near, Ryuu would start shaking and she would only calm down when it left the area. This happened several times as the Juggernaut tried to search for them but failed to do so, but not just because of Ryuu''s arrangement.


    Although what she did was good, it''s not a foolproof n so Kisuke put up an invisible barrier that hid their scent and presence from the Juggernaut.


    But as time passed, there was no movement from Ryuu. It was as if she cut herself off from reality to escape. A few more hourster, Kisuke finally lost his patience and sighed, ''I guess I''ll just give up now. Time to finish this request.''


    But as soon as he got up, Ryuu also lifted her head and asked, "What''s the n?"


    Kisuke looked at her and saw her eyes filled with fear, but also determination which was not present before. He smiled and said, "Simple. I''ll weaken it while you face it."


    Ryuu started shaking yet again but she gritted her teeth and gripped her arms tightly before saying, "Let me hear the details."

 Chapter 704 News from the Surface

    Chapter 704 News from the Surface


    "To be more specific, I''ll be attacking the Juggernaut first and cast a weakening spell on it. However, for me to continue my weakening spell, I have to concentrate. It means that I won''t be able to move within that duration." Kisuke exined.


    "So I''ll have to be the one to finish it off while it''s weakened..." Ryuu muttered.


    "Yep. So the n is, we lure it to the 38th floor so that none or only a few monsters can join the fight. That way, you won''t have to mind my condition as well, so you could focus better on your fight. Although I''ll be weakening it, it''ll still be a tough opponent for you and the chances of you dying are very high. Are you still going for it?"


    Ryuu went silent once again, but this time, she only needed a few minutes before nodding and answering, "I''ll do it."


    She then looked towards the cave''s exit and thought, ''It''s terrifying... that''s for sure. However, I can''t keep hiding and escaping from my fear of it. In any case, whether I''m terrified of it or not, it doesn''t really change anything if I''m not going to survive. I should at least take my revenge.''


    Kisuke then stood up, "That''s great. Then we should get going. The longer we wait, the stronger that thing gets."


    "Wait! Are you sure you can move now!? That injury you took isn''t a joke!" Ryuu also stood up in a panic.


    "I''ve already told you, I''m quite sturdy so you don''t have to worry. Heal yourself for onest time and move directly to the 38th floor without me."


    "You''re going alone!? That''s too dangerous! I''ming with you!"


    But Ryuu''s worried cries were only met with a flick on the forehead from Kisuke, "Ugh! What are you doing?"


    "Were you really that scared that you forgot the Juggernaut''s current state? Due to the modifications it made to its body, although it became stronger, it also became slower and its maneuverability was significantly reduced. If it was in its former form, I might have a hard time, but in this case, I''m confident to dodge all of its attacks with ease if I don''t attack back."


    Thinking about it, Ryuu also understood this, however, she still couldn''t help but worry, "...But... Even if that''s the case..."


    After all the practice he had done, most of the spells he knew were already avable for him to use, albeit, with a few hups here and there, but that could be remedied by a bit more practice. Putting his hand on Ryuu''s head, Kisuke started patting her while using the spell he used to calm Koneko''s soulst time, which also indirectly calms the mind, "I''ll be fine. I''m not that easy to kill, you see. You should focus on your role more if you''re that worried about me."


    Ryuu wanted to say something back, but after a few seconds of patting, she looked down and stayed quiet. In a normal scenario, she would have pped away the hand patting her head even if it''s Kisuke because it''s just in rude for her and it''s not something she''sfortable with.


    However, the strange feeling offort and calmness she felt stopped her from taking any actions against it, and Ryuu inadvertently got lost in time as she savored those feelings.


    So when Kisuke took back his hand, Ryuu immediately looked up and unconsciously let out a voice of regret, "Ah..."


    "Hmm? What''s wrong?" asked Kisuke as he was about to leave.


    Ryuu realized what just happened and immediately looked away with a slight blush on her face, "I-It''s nothing!"


    Seeing that, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and started leaving. But before hepletely exited the cave, Ryuu raised her voice, "Be careful! Make sure youe back. If within two hours you still haven''t arrived, I''ll run back to you."


    Waving his hand, Kisuke replied, "Got it. Get yourself ready. It won''t be easy."


    It didn''t take long for Kisuke to hear Ryuu''s rapid footsteps as they went their separate ways. But before they disappeared, he suddenly heard Ryuu say, "...After this, I will have my answer. Please listen to it."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else and continued walking with a small smile of anticipation on his face. As he turned the corner, he suddenly disappeared from his spot, reappearing several tens of meters away before disappearing again.


    It only took Kisuke a few minutes to arrive at the rampaging Juggernaut, and the former Dungeon''s cleaner also looked at him with fury, before swiping its ws at him.


    But unlike before, Kisuke had already got most of his abilities back in addition to his impossibly tough body. And with Ryuu not being with him, he didn''t really have anything to hide anymore.


    The Juggernaut thought that it was already about to hit Kisuke, but its target suddenly disappeared from its sight before it suddenly felt someone stepping on the top of its head, "Let''s wait here for two hours, shall we?"


    It was then that an invisible weight suddenly pressed down on it, instantly pinning it to the ground without any chance of retaliation. The Juggernaut tried its best to move, but it couldn''t even twitch the tip of its tail nor open its mouth to let out a roar. For the first time, fear set into one of the overlord existences in the Dungeon, "Now then, in the meantime, let''s see what''s happening on the surface."


    Finally being able to use his storage, Kisuke took out the orb that is used to contact Serafall and after a few seconds of connecting, Serafall answered, "Ki-tan~! It seems you''re able to contact me now on your own~!"


    Although Kisuke didn''t explicitly tell Serafall what happened to him while he was in the Dizara region, the former Demon Lord could tell that something was up with him when she felt that Kuroka was the one who activated the orb before. Her guesses were only further verified when Kisuke teleported back using Kuroka''s magic, "Yeah. I was finally able to sort things out on my side. What about on your side? Any exciting development?"


    "It''s nothing much, but the fate of the whole city will be decided soon. You shoulde and see things unfold with your own eyes. It looks pretty fun~"


    Kisuke''s mouth twitched and replied, "That''s not ''nothing much''. They are risking their lives, you know?"


    But Serafall just chuckled, "There''s that, but not as much risk as you think. Sona-chan is doing her best to reduce the risk for everyone, you see?" Her smile then became gentle and mellow, "I''m really happy to see how much she improved these days, not just in strength, but in how she sees things thanks to the experiences that she can''t normally have with her previous position. She is so much brighter than before~! Of course, that also holds true for the other girls, especially Akeno-chan and Irina-chan whom I spent most of my time with atter dates when we''re in our previous world. They couldn''t possibly have this kind of development under Rias-chan''s leadership."


    "With that said, I thank you for bringing them over here and also for bringing me here to see all of this~! I might have witnessed history in the making~!"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Please don''t be. I''m just doing what the situation calls for."


    Serafall, however, only gave him a cheeky smile but didn''t say anything in return regarding that, "By the way, it seems that Ophis-chan wants to get involved."


    "Ho?"


    "When I asked her why, she just said ''A crying Dragon''."

 Chapter 705 News from the Surface part 2

    Chapter 705 News from the Surface part 2


    "A crying Dragon, is it? That certainly is interesting. I''ll try toe up in time to see." replied Kisuke while yfully tapping the head of the pinned Juggernaut.


    Serafall then gave a summary of what had transpired when he dived into the Dungeon to save Ryuu.


    As Serafall and Kisuke had expected, they failed in their first attack despite reaching Thanatos, who led the current Evilus and annihting the organization for good. Moreover, the entire Dionysus Familia was killed, a total of 80 Adventurers, due to their God''s untimely ''death'' that caused their Falna to be suddenly inactive, leaving them as vulnerable as those without it.


    In addition to that, a ritual was initiated when the God was killed. This ritual used the Demi-Spirits as its core and it was only a few dayster that it was discovered that it had a self-destructing effect that could potentially blow away the whole of Orario off the map, essentially destroying the lid that covered the Dungeon.


    As the green flesh that absorbed the people of Dionysus Familia as ''nutrients'' for the Demi-Spirits and served as the protection to the ritual receded, because the spell was near itspletion, The Loki, Hermes, and Freya Familias hurriedly tackled the almost broken man-made Dungeon to stop it from fully activating.


    "Little did they know that the ritual was actually a two-part spell and they had to destroy not just the Demi-Spirits, but another monster that served as the core." Serafall sighed since she wanted to warn Sona, but she also wanted her to discover it on her own.


    "I see... So that''s where the crying Dragones in."


    "I don''t know, but you''re most probably right."


    "By the way, do you already know the identity of this Enyo?"


    Serafall shook her head, "I don''t know... I thought it was this Dionysus with how convenient his timings are, but he was already sent back to Heaven. ording to Loki-chan and her crew''s investigation, it seems to be this Demeter, but I have my doubts. Do you have any clue?"


    Serafall only asked in passing and didn''t have any expectations since Kisuke was always away. But to her surprise, he suddenly asked, "Is the creature known as Ein still alive?"


    Serafall thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Yep. I think that guy is still alive."


    "I see... If she''s still alive, then chances are Dionysus is still probably alive."


    "What!? Are you sure!?"


    It was Kisuke''s turn to shake his head, "I''m not, but the possibility is always there."


    Serafall furrowed her brows and muttered, "How?... I''m pretty sure he died that day."


    "You couldn''t have seen it with your own eyes. And on top of that, if it''s the Deities, it''s actually pretty easy for them to deceive the children of this world. So if you''ve made a census of all the Deities in the city soon after the incident, you could have confirmed things."


    "A census you say..." Serafall''s mouth twitched, "No way am I going to have that kind of idea if I think the chances of him being dead is high. Is that how you''d have done it if you''re here?"


    Kisuke smiled and replied, "Yep~ The more obvious and believable the answer is, the more I want to confirm its authenticity. Besides, if you think that Dionysus was suspicious, then Loki-sama and Hermes probably had the same suspicion. And what do you think is the easiest and quickest way to remove that suspicion off of you?"


    "...By pretending to entirely leave the whole scene. But howe those kids lost their blessings? As far as I know, there''s no way for a Deity to deactivate their own Falna once given to a child."


    "I told you, right? It''s very easy for a Deity to deceive a child, even if it''s a group of them."


    A lightbulb went off Serafall''s head as she realized what Kisuke meant, "Ah! So you''re saying Dionysus managed to find another Deity to substitute him and transfer his own children to that said Deity without them knowing about it?" Serafall then started rubbing her chin in contemtion, "Wait... There''s also a wine that could fully intoxicate a God, much less a mortal so it is possible that he could have used that."


    Kisuke chuckled, "Well, regardless of the methods he could have used, this turn of events was actually pretty interesting. Too bad for them since Ophis-chan wants to get involved. Of all the species they could have used, they just had to choose a Dragon, and a special type at that, I presume."


    "That''s true... But I''m curious. From the way you asked about that Ein creature, it sounds like you''re interested in it. I''m just guessing though."


    Kisuke nodded and confirmed her guess, "Indeed. I''m slightly interested. As for the reason, she can use Magic to divide her own soul. On top of that, she''s rted to the... well, how can I say this... the parasite within the Dungeon? Let''s go with that."


    "Parasite?"


    "Yes. Those creatures and Demi-Spirits. I could only describe them as parasites of the Dungeon. Parasites that are powerful enough to hijack into the Dungeon''s system for their own benefit. As for how Enyo is rted to them, I want to know if possible."


    "In that case, you really shouldn''t miss this event."


    "Alright. I''ll adjust my schedule ande up a little earlier. Maybe I could also put Loki-sama in my debt."


    After a few more minutes of talking, Kisuke and Serafall said goodbye to each other, "Now then... I guess I''lle to Lion-san an hour earlier than we agreed upon."


    .


    .


    .


    More than an hourter, Ryuu was nervously waiting on the 38th floor. Although she was able to heal most of her wounds with her Magic, she''s also depleted, "I need to recover my Magic Power now."


    Not long after, however, Ryuu suddenly heard tremors and roars, "He''sing!?" She was happy that Kisuke was still alive and kicking, but she also concluded why he''sing earlier than expected, ''He can''t take it anymore?''


    Solidifying her conclusion, Kisuke appeared beyond the staircase that leads to the 37th floor and saw him bloodied, "A-are you alright!?" Ryuu shouted in worry.


    Kisuke arrived and said, "I am. But we don''t have much time. It''s time for you to face it."


    A secondter, the pathway burst open and rock debris and dust flew everywhere, slightly covering the Juggernaut''s silhouette. When Ryuu witnessed the monster once again, the fear that she''d suppressed immediately rose up again, but this time, she didn''t let it take her over and she gritted her teeth as she swallowed a mouthful of saliva and readied herself for the uing battle.


    Thanks to Kisuke''s spell, it was in rage again and forgot its fear of him. Acting like he''s doing somethingplicated, Kisuke sat down and put his hands together as if he''s praying. Ryuu wanted to ask what he''s doing, but all of a sudden the Juggernaut became sluggish and its movements noticeably became a lot slower than before.


    "Hurry up! I can''t do this for long!" Kisuke shouted to the gobsmacked Ryuu.


    "Y-yes!"


    AN (Dec. 13/21): And that''s all for now folks~! Have a great day~! And do support me through pat reon if you enjoy the fic and want some advance chapters. Thanks~!

 Chapter 706 For Revenge

    Chapter 706 For Revenge


    With the Juggernaut struggling to move, Ryuu took in a deep breath and dashed straight at it. As she gathered her strength, Ryuu grunted as she swung her sword, aiming for the Juggernaut''s head.


    Still confused at why it suddenly became difficult to move, the Juggernaut noticed Ryuu''s attack toote and wasn''t able to do anything to block it, taking it head-on.


    Ryuu immediately saw arge crack forming on its head and was surprised, ''Its defence weakened too?'' Before, despite suppressing her fears, she still wasn''t confident that she could really defeat the Juggernaut, but with this, hope bloomed inside her heart and it gave her greater motivation.


    Not wasting her momentum, Ryuu continued her attack with great fervour, slowly crushing the Juggernaut''s defence.


    Of course, the Juggernaut wouldn''t allow Ryuu to just one-sidedly beat it up. After adjusting to its weakened state, it also started counterattacking.


    At first, Ryuu could still dodge the Juggernaut''s sluggish movements with rtive ease, but as time went by, the monster kept refining its movements and was also getting used to the restrictions ced on it. As a result, the easy to dodge attacks became harder and harder for Ryuu to avoid. The situation only got worse for her as her stamina was depleting fast with no way to restore it.


    And even if she wanted to disengage to take a quick breather, she wasn''t able to. Because even if they were slugging it out at each other, Ryuu noticed that the Juggernaut nevermitted its full attention to her and kept looking in Kisuke''s direction as if it wanted to jump at him at any moment, ''If I create a space now, it''ll surely use that chance to attack Urahara-san... I can''t let that happen.'', thought Ryuu and gritted her teeth.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke just silently watched the battle as he adjusted the restriction in real-time to amodate Ryuu, ''I didn''t weaken its defences any further, but she should have a tougher time with me slowly lifting the restrictions in its movement.''


    Unbeknownst to Ryuu, although she was getting faster by surpassing her own limitation in desperation, again and again, Kisuke was also adjusting the Juggernaut''s speed. With just the two of them moving within the battlefield, Ryuu couldn''t tell that she was improving.


    A few minutester, within the intense battle, Ryuu finally realized something that instantly brought her to the cliff of despair. Even if she could whittle down its defences, she didn''t have any strong attack to finish it off. Her strongest attack, ''Luminous Wind'', was ineffective against the Juggernaut''s armour.


    At that moment, Ryuu finally slipped up and failed to dodge one of the Juggernaut''s attacks.


    "Kuhh!!!" Failing to get away, Ryuu gritted her teeth and used the drop items that she prepared to ept the Juggernaut''s attack. Since she couldn''t risk the only weapon she had breaking from blocking the Juggernaut''s attack, she prepared something as a substitute. Even then, the bones and hide that she''d prepared as a shield instantly broke into pieces as she flew away due to the sheer force behind the attack. Thankfully, though, it managed to do what it was meant to do, reducing the strike of the Juggernaut, even if it was just once.


    Ryuu did her best to regain her orientation andnded on her feet. As she did, she felt the damage she received, ''Despite jumping back at thest moment, my left arm was still fractured...''


    Ryuu prepared herself to re-engage the enemy but she suddenly saw it turn away from her and set its sights on Kisuke, just as she feared, ''No!'' Ryuu internally screamed.


    "Watch out!" She shouted but as if he didn''t hear anything, Kisuke didn''t open his eyes nor move even a little bit, ''Could it be that he can''t move!?'', assumed Ryuu and started panicking.


    As more adrenaline rushed to her head, time became slower for her and everything went into slow-motion. Ryuu''s mind raced to think of something to turn things around and within a very short amount of time, she was able to think of a ''good'' idea. And that idea coincidentally had the potential to finallynd a decisive blow on her arch enemy.


    In an instant, Ryuu''s expression of panic changed to a solemn and apologetic one as she looked towards Kisuke, ''I''m very sorry... It looks like I won''t be able to keep my promise.''


    Gathering her resolve with a deep breath, she used all of her strength to dash forward while chanting her Magic with a face full of determination.


    Just 21 feet before the Juggernaut reached Kisuke with an open maw, Ryuu arrived in front of it, and used her bare hands to grab the monster''s upper and lower teeth, forcefully stopping its charge.


    "AAHHHH!!!!" Digging both of her feet into the ground to the point of bleeding, Ryuu yelled her lungs out as she was pushed towards Kisuke. But a few feet from Kisuke she was able to stop the Juggernaut''s momentum. However, that manoeuvre cost her her legs to the point that she wouldn''t be able to run around anymore.


    And as if losing her strength, her right arm slipped and entered the Juggernaut''s mouth. The monster, not missing the chance, immediately bit down on her shoulder, intending to rip her entire arm off.


    Its fangs pierced Ryuu''s shoulder, making her bleed profusely. However, the Juggernaut suddenly felt something inside its mouth which made it not able to bite down any further. It then saw the bleeding Elf suddenly smile while whispering, "Got you."


    The moment the Juggernaut thought that it got Ryuu, thetter snuck the sword made from the branch of the World Tree inside the former''s mouth. It wanted to let go of Ryuu, but Ryuu used her left arm and both of her knees to keep its mouth close, "You might have a very strong Magic reflection, but what if I unleash my Magic inside? Will it bounce around and cause multiple explosions?"


    Ryuu finished her chant with a smirk and controlled her Magic by only releasing the first ten light balls. She was wrong that the Juggernaut has a reflecting ability within its body, however, the contained explosion dealt more damage than she could have hoped for.


    The Juggernaut wanted to scream in pain, but it couldn''t even open its mouth so it could only make an ugly and desperate growl. Nevertheless, Ryuu saw this as an opportunity and released 27 out of the 37 light balls she could still make all at once.


    The Juggernaut tried its best to make Ryuu let go by biting down more and smashing her to the ground. But the determined Elf''s smile didn''t disappear as she watched the monster writhe in pain despite most of the bones in her body shattering with the Juggernaut''s struggles.


    ''Thesest ten... Are for my revenge.''

 Chapter 707 For Revenge part 2

    Chapter 707 For Revenge part 2


    The Juggernaut had already started limping from the damage Ryuu''s Magic caused. However, Ryuu''s arm that was still inside its mouth was no better than a mangled mess and she knew that there might be no way to repair her arm anymore, even if she makes it out of this ce alive.


    Even then, the light within her eyes only grew brighter. Gathering thest bit of her Magic Power, Ryuu prepared thest 10 light balls. Releasing two light balls with a size greater than anything before, Ryuu gritted her teeth as she yelled, "This is for Noin and Neze!"


    The Juggernaut kept struggling, but Ryuu''s hold on it only tightened. Without much choice, it smashed Ryuu to the ground, hoping to kill her. However, it was already so considerably weakened that it could only put its weight on her.


    Still, Ryuu''s body had already started breaking down and the passive defense she got was almost nonexistent as her Magic Power depleted. Although it wasn''t enough to kill her, one of her rib bones had pierced her lungs, making her cough blood.


    Persisting through the suffering, Ryuu released another two light balls with even more Magic Power in them, "This is for Asta and Ryana!"


    The explosion caused further damage to the Juggernaut that it couldn''t keep its tail. But since Ryuu was already at her limit, she didn''t rest and gathered even more Magic Power and released three this time, "For Celty, Iska, and Maryuu!"


    The three bombs finally caused the Juggernaut to limp and stop moving. Nevertheless, most of Ryuu''s bones in her body were already broken and her skull cracked. Even though she was surprised that she was still somehow alive, ''Maybe because I don''t want to die without giving him my answer...'', she thought and further gritted her teeth.


    The amount of Magic Power in her body should have forcefully put her into a ''Mind Zero'' state, but thanks to her perseverance and the pain she''s feeling, Ryuu was able to keep her consciousness. But that didn''t stop her from gathering more Magic Power which she was unconsciously converting from her own Life Force.


    Releasing another one of the light balls, Ryuu continued her shout of revenge, "For Kaguya..."


    That one sted the Juggernaut''s back, but the monster was still alive so she kept on going with her orifices bleeding, "For Lyra..." This time, it sted the Juggernaut''s stomach open.


    "And finally... For Alise." Thest one finally sted the Juggernaut''s skull open.


    Without any strength left, Ryuu let go of the monster but her right arm was left behind its mouth.


    As the Juggernaut slowly turned into ashes, Ryuu fell t on her back with memories of the past shing before her. No, more urately speaking, she started dreaming.


    It was the scene that she dreamt hundreds of times, the moment before they entered the Dungeon, the moment before the tragedy struck.


    But this time, unlike before, she could actually move. She could finally run in and join them. But before she could even approach them, the one in the middle, the former Captain of the Astraea Familia turned around to her and stopped her, "Where are you going?"


    Ryuu stopped her steps and was frozen on her spot, not knowing how to answer her. Regardless, Alise continued her questions, "Aren''t you going to give him an answer?"


    "I..." Ryuu looked down, "I''m not even sure if I got the correct conclusion... How can I be sure when I already tossed it all away?"


    Alise gently smiled and said, "Astraea-sama''s words might have saved you, but they also trapped you."


    Ryuu looked back up again with confusion.


    But Alise didn''t exin her words and said, "You might have thought that you discarded your justice, but that was never the case. You kept it all along and you just never realized it because you''re the same stubborn Ryuu as before."


    "...My justice?"


    Alise nodded, "Yes. You never discarded it. You just forgot about it and thought otherwise. Remember it. Remember what you really wanted. And don''t let his words confuse you."


    Ryuu started contemting, "What I really wanted...?"


    Within an unknown amount of time, Ryuu recalled her justice that was born from her ideals, "I wanted to save all of you..."


    Alise''s smile grewrger, but Ryuu started tearing up, "...I''m sorry... For letting you all die... For leaving everyone alone... Please... Please punish me..."


    At this moment, everyone else from the Astraea Familia turned around with gentle smiles on their faces and started cheering Ryuu up, making her realize that they never med her. With a pat on her shoulder, Alise continued, "You''re not the only one who wanted the best for herrades. As such, we''re happy that we were able to save you that day and we''ll never regret our decision."


    Ryuu became silent and relief took over her. However, she felt that something was amiss and couldn''t ept that.


    Seeing that, Alise chuckled and continued, "I''m sorry, but that was a lie."


    Shocked, Ryuu looked into her eyes.


    "We''re also people that strived to survive to see the next day. Of course, we would regret it."


    "Then why!? Why are you not ming me!?"


    "Because we would have regretted it more. It''s just like choosing the lesser evil."


    Ryuu became silent once again, but she couldn''t ept her words.


    Alise ignored her reaction and added, "Don''t let it get to you. In hindsight, we owe you an apology."


    Ryuu got angry and asked, "Why!? There''s nothing for you to apologize for!"


    Alise shook her head, "Because of our sacrifice, you carried a burden. A burden so big that it almost destroyed you for who you are. A burden that we escaped from."


    Along with her words, the rest of the girls also nodded. If they got the lesser evil, Ryuu carried the greater evil, hence, their apology.


    "No!" Ryuu wanted to deny it, but she also understood their point when she heard about it. She realized that they are the reason why she descended to the hell she''s at.


    Ryuu then felt a familiar warmth wrap around her. A warmth that she missed and lost five years ago, "We''re very sorry. You suffered because of us."


    Nevertheless, Ryuu continued to deny her by repeatedly saying ''No.''


    "You''re too kind, so we know that you''re going to have a hard time epting it. So please live on. Continue the life that we protected. Live until you understand our shorings and forgive us. Live the life of the justice we believed in."


    Hearing that, Ryuu recalled the state she''s in and could only smile wryly, "I can''t..."


    At that moment, the world started cracking and the girls of the Astraea Familia started disappearing, "Then make sure not to live with any regrets... However, I have a feeling that this won''t be the end."


    Not knowing what she meant, Ryuu saw the world copse along with herrades'' final smiles and once again, she descended into darkness.


    .


    .


    .


    Sitting in front of the unconscious and bleeding Ryuu, Kisuke empowered the remnant of souls that attached themselves to the Elf because it became active and he thought that they may need some help to extend their time.


    A few minutester, the remnants of the souls became weaker. But before they could disperse, they materialized in front of Kisuke. Although they materialized, only someone like Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Aika would be able to see their clear form.


    "Thank you for giving us ample time. We were able to finally apologize to her." Alise in the middle immediately said.


    Nevertheless, Kisuke just waved his hand in dismissal, "Don''t mention it. It''s just a small service."


    He then took out his cane and added, "I''ll help you reach Heaven or else, the Dungeon would just eat you up."


    The girls were confused but before they could ask what he meant by that, each of them received a strike to the forehead from the tip of his cane in quick session. All of a sudden, a pulling force from the top of their heads emerged, making them realize that it was their time to go.


    Without much time, Alise and the rest of the girls pleaded to Kisuke, "Please! Please save Ryuu! We could only ask you!" They disappeared without Kisuke being able to give them an answer.

 Chapter 708 Returning Triumphant

    Chapter 708 Returning Triumphant


    As soon as the girls of the Astraea Familia disappeared, Ryuu also woke up. However, she doesn''t have any more energy to even lift a finger and her vision was red and blurry. So much so that she could hardly recognize Kisuke who was looking down on her.


    Despite that, she still did her best to talk, "...I did... it."


    Kisuke let out a small smile and nodded, "Yes. You did it. How does it feel to finally defeat the monster that you detested so much?"


    Ryuu''s unfocused vision looked at the ceiling of the Dungeon. A few secondster, she answered, "...Nothing." For a moment, the glint in Ryuu''s eyes returned as she looked back at Kisuke, "But I''m relieved that we''ll be able to escape from here."


    Kisuke''s smile then disappeared.


    Seeing that, a small smile instead on Ryuu''s face, "...Well, maybe just you... But you''ll be fine on your own. I''m sorry if I can''te up with you."


    Kisuke continued his silence.


    But Ryuu didn''t mind this and used the remaining energy she had to say everything she wanted, "...You told me that I''m naive and arrogant when I thought that my ideals were the correct ones and didn''t care about the others... But after thinking about it, I''m fine with that."


    She then started coughing blood but she still did her best to continue, "After all, how can I fight for my justice if I thought my ideals weren''t the correct ones? So I disagree with you."


    Kisuke finally reacted with a small smile, "I see. It''s good to see that you didn''t just blindly believe what I told you. But I can also see that you''re dissatisfied and unsure of something."


    Ryuu thought that Kisuke talking to her on the verge of death was just a form offort and consultation, so she entertained him the best she could. And maybe, she''lle into a great understanding of something before she leaves this world with herst words before she closes her eyes for good, "...I just thought that maybe my revenge was meaningless."


    "It is what you desired and it is what you believed in. No matter how others think of it as something wrong or something worthless, for you, your act of revenge was meaningful. Don''t let others take that away from you." Kisuke replied before Ryuu fully lost her consciousness to the abyss, but not before leaving a satisfied smile.


    Kisuke then stretched his arms and muttered, "Now that''s interesting. It''s actually rare for people to admit their ideals are the correct ones after realizing the bigger picture. After all, no matter how selfish and arrogant it may seem, one can only achieve something big with their desires unsuppressed. And that includes one''s justice."


    Using his Magic, Kisuke gathered every bit of Ryuu''s blood, flesh, and bones scattered along the battlefield and started the Elf''s treatment, ''I guess she''s trustworthy enough.''


    .


    .


    .


    Reaching the 18th floor with Ryuu soundly sleeping on his back with an extra haori covering her, Kisuke looked up to the closed door that led to Knossos. Even if he didn''t use his extra senses, he could feel the vibrations from where he''s standing, ''Looks like the party has just reached the climax. Just in time~''


    cing his hand on the door, Kisuke manipted the Magic Power in the air to unlock it, which he only did for a few seconds before the hall covered in flesh-like roots revealed itself to him.


    As soon as he stepped into the hallway, the green flesh around him was woken up and started growing tentacles to attack him. But by amplifying the vibration of each of his steps to truly ridiculous levels, before the tentacles could even approach, they would be crushed and crumble from the sheer force exerted through the air.


    Next were Magic attacks from all directions, but Kisuke countered those incredibly simple spells by sending a packet of Magic Power to the Magic Circle''s weak points and it would just explode from the uncontrolled Magic Power it gathered.


    While all sorts of noises were happening around him, Kisuke carefully sensed the overall situation within Knossos, ''Hmmm, sixrge scale and two small scale battlefields and those small scale are both happening on the 12th floor while the rest are happening on the 10th floor. On the other hand, there are two Deities in the corner of the 11th floor which I would guess are Loki and Enyo.''


    At that moment, Kisuke felt Aika''s presence move away from one of the six battles, ''That direction... She''s going to deal with that Creature that can split herself? Well, I guess I''ll go to that troublesome girl''s side. She''s going to go out of control at this rate.''


    With a destination in mind, Kisuke sent a telepathic message to Aika to just destroy the Creature''s Magic Stone, to which he got a response containing a lot ofints and questions. After calming Aika down from her barrage, Kisuke started running towards Ais and Revis'' side, who were duking it out without a care for anything.


    As soon as he reached the 13th floor, the green flesh and Magic attacks stopped bothering him and it didn''t take too long for him to reach his destination. But instead of revealing his presence, he first watched what was happening, because the moment he saw them, Kisuke immediately felt the remnants of Serafall''s Magic Power from Ais, ''What happened?''


    As the fight went on, it was very clear that Ais was pushing back and even overwhelming Revis with her use of ck-tinted winds that were making the former lose her reason. Thetter, meanwhile, just kept tanking the damage as she can regenerate any damages she has and repair her bioweapon and armor through the green flesh that supplies her with an almost limitless amount of Magic Power.


    The only way Ais could actually defeat Revis was bynding a decisive blow on thetter''s Magic Crystal, deep within her chest. But it was Revis'' most protected part and Ais was slowly losing control of herself.


    ''Really, how troublesome,'' thought Kisuke and used sh Step, reappearing beside Ais who was about to dash forward and tripping her with his foot.


    As Ais tumbled forward, instead of using that chance to finish her off, Revis jumped back in panic at the sight of Kisuke,pletely ignoring the Elf resting on his back.


    Ignoring the frightened Creature, Kisuke watched Ais get up and look at him with a rageful expression before it changed into shock, then into confusion, "What are you doing?" Ais asked.


    But Kisuke didn''t answer because the ck wind around Ais was still revolving fast. So instead, he used his sh Step again and reappeared in front of Ais in an instant. Before she could react, she saw Kisuke''s hand making its way to her forehead, and the next instant, she felt an incredible and uncontroble force hit her, making her flip back a few times before she hit the wall.


    As the pain shook her consciousness, she yelled, "What are you doing, Kisuke!?"


    But only a cold voice replied to her, "That''s Urahara-san for you, Wallenstein-san."


    More than the flick, Kisuke''s voice woke Ais up more with most of her sanity immediatelying back to her.

 Chapter 709 Nameless Dragon

    Chapter 709 Nameless Dragon


    Ignoring the dumbfounded Ais for a moment, Kisuke briefly turned his head to the cautious Revis and gave her a small smile, "Please don''t worry. I didn''t really intend to interrupt your enjoyment, but this little girl is really just too frustrating. Please give us a minute or two to talk and I promise I''ll leave quietly after that."


    Revis didn''t reply but she also didn''t do anything else. In any case, she knew she can''t really do anything to Kisuke after realizing that she can''t even follow his movements and decided to watch quietly and escape if things go outside of what he just said.


    Returning his attention to the ''little girl'', Kisuke crouched down in front of her to meet her at eye level. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Kisuke sighed in disappointment, "Even with that thing''s influence, what the heck are you doing?"


    Not understanding what he meant, Ais could only ask, "...What?"


    "From the way you act, what makes you different from the monsters if you just swing around your sword without any thought? What''s the point of learning how to fight and use Magic? And it seems that you already knew how to use Ki to some extent but even with that, you threw it away for these ''stronger'' winds. You wanted power, yet you became weaker. Unbelievable. And also disappointing."


    Now Ais was stunned, but for apletely different reason. However, the corrupted winds around her had also disappeared. Seeing that, Kisuke stood up and looked down on her before continuing, "A little girl acting like a grown-up is fine, but a little girl thinking that she''s already mature and knows everything she wants to do is not."


    He then turned around and started walking towards the opposite hall he came from but not before leaving some more words, "You''re weak, but what you need is not strength. Experiencing the world more and treasuring small things as you try to achieve your big goal, I think you''ll learn more from that."


    With him and the Elf on his back disappearing within the shadows, Ais gritted her teeth and slowly stood up. She then looked towards her enemy and prepared her sword once again. But instead of the sharp and chaotic ck winds, her whole body was covered by mellow and gentle winds.


    Revis, on the other hand, made sure that Kisuke really left the premise before facing Ais once again and noted her changes, "I don''t know what happened, but it seems you changed. Will you really be able to cut me with that?"


    Ais was still incredibly confused by what Kisuke just said, nevertheless, she already realized her mistake and already knew what to do. Strangely enough, she also felt that a burden was taken off of her, and right now, she felt very light when she''s supposed to already be very tired. The little girl inside of her was happy.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke''s next destination was the secret room on the 11th floor where he felt a tinge of Dragon Aura. But as he made his way, Kisuke suddenly realized something, "Why did I act like a parent back there?" he questioned himself.


    But ultimately, he just shrugged his shoulders and murmured, "Oh well, whatever. Seeing how she thinks she''s all grown up yet it''s the other way around reminds me of my younger years. It''s so painful to look at that I just had to do something about it."


    It didn''t take too long for Kisuke to reach his destination and before he could step into the secret room, he could hear Raul and Line''s panicking voices among many others in their group. Aside from that, he could also hear Sona and Finn''s small voices that seemed toe from themunication orbs that Fels invented.


    "What are we going to do!?" Raul yelled in distress.


    In front of the group that was tasked to rescue the Demeter Familia members that Enyo used as hostages to control Demeter was the secret monster that Revis captured within the deeper floors and was the center of the Magic Formation created by the 6 Demi-Spirits that are battling the entire response team right now.


    Within the cylindrical room where Loki was confronting Enyo, who really turned out to be the ''deceased'' Dionysus, thetter couldn''t help himself butugh at how foolish everyone is for blindly acting what he wanted them to do.


    "You fools really fell for it~! It was never my intention to blow the Dungeon''s lid up with ''Heaven''s Door''! Even if I destroy the entirety of Orario with this spell, truly strong Adventurers would still be able to survive. As such, the spirit of Orario would never cease, and sooner orter, another lid would be created." Dionysus maniacally exined to Loki.


    Loki gritted her teeth but still disyed false confidence, "Hmph! It doesn''t matter! A newly created monster can''t be that powerful. With all the top ss Adventurers cooperating for the first time in addition to the Xenos, We''ll be able to deal with it and your ns would crumble by themselves."


    "Fufufufu. You truly underestimate the Nidhogg that I created. Take a look~" Dionysus pointed at the orb that projected what''s happening within the secret room.


    Loki inadvertently looked towards the surveince orb and she indeed noticed something different from the small ck Dragon with red linings running through it, ''What''s this? The Demi-Spirit should have taken it over by now, but why does it look like it''s the other way around?''


    Dionysus sneered at her and correctly guessed what she''s thinking, "That''s what''s special about that Nameless Dragon that we acquired. Even with the Demi-Spirits corrupting it, they can''t take it over . Well, that''s only to be expected since we already confirmed that it has the same origin as the infamous ck Dragon that destroyed both the Zeus and Hera Familias."


    Loki''s eyes widened in shock, "W-what!?"


    But Dionysus just shrugged his shoulders arrogantly, "If you don''t take all Adventurers now towards Nidhogg before itspletion, then you lot would have no way of defeating it. But if you do that, you''ll also be leaving the other Demi-Spirits. In that case, they''ll be able to cast ''Heaven''s Door'' to destroy Orario, but I''ll take that as a constion until my next ns."


    Finn and Sona who aremanding the battlefields also heard Dionysus''s words through Loki''s orb. While the former was at a loss at what to do, Sona contemted if she and Koneko should go when a sudden and unexpected change urred.


    All of a sudden, a little girl with long ck hair and ck eyes in a gothic outfit materialized in front of the ck Dragon.


    Her appearance stunned both Dionysus and Loki who were watching the scene, but it didn''t end there, as a man in a green eastern outfit with a white and green bucket hat, carrying a sleeping back Elf on his back, appeared at the entrance of the secret room, "We''ll take care of this guy. You lot do what you''re supposed to do." he said.


    A secondter, Loki put her hand on her face and bent her back beforeughing out loud, "Fuhahahahahaha! You''ve got some really shitty luck Dionysus!"

 Chapter 710 710

    Chapter 710 710


    Chapter 710 Returning to an Egg


    When Ophis suddenly appeared in front of the Nidhogg, everyone from the Loki Familia present was stunned, "W-what!? Did I just see her appear out of thin air!?" Raul eximed.


    "O-Ophis-chan?" Line asked when she recognized the girl.


    "What? Ophis is there?" When Sona heard Line''s words, she immediately abandoned the idea of sending reinforcements, ''If she''s there, then she decided to take care of it herself.''


    But before she could issue her instructions, Line suddenly cried out, "Kisuke-san!? You''re here!?"


    "Kisuke''s also there!?"


    "We''ll take care of this guy. You lot do what you''re supposed to do." Kisuke replied to them. He then recalled something and added, "If you can, please go assist Loga-san''s group. I think many of them are injured and they would really appreciate some help."


    Line didn''t question it and urged their team leader, "Raul-san! Let''s immediately look for the Demeter Familia members!"


    "B-but..." He didn''t know if it''s alright to leave them behind.


    "They''ll be fine! If someone can deal with that monster, it''d be him!"


    "If you''re looking for trapped people, 20 meters away north of this ce, there''s a small opening on the right side wall that you can pry open. They are embedded in the wall." added Kisuke.


    Instead of Line or Sona, it was Finn''s voice who convinced Raul, "Raul, go to the ce he pointed out and rescue them. As soon as you''re free, the sooner you can assist others."


    "U-understood!" Raul saluted and faced hisrades, "Let''s go!"


    Everyone in their group nodded and started running after Raul. But before they left the room, Raul turned to Kisuke for onest time, "Thank you."


    Kisuke just waved at them in acknowledgment.


    Walking beside Ophis, Kisuke took a closer look at the ck Dragon baring its fangs at both of them, but it''s very obvious that it was scared of Ophis and didn''t dare to start a fight with her, "You''re interested?"


    Ophis nodded and said, "...Different from the ''Dragons'' that are born in this ce. It''s a real one."


    Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion, "So it''s a genuine article. Looks like it was created... No... It was born in a special way, but before the Dungeon could influence it. The Demi-Spirits managed to get hold of it first, leading to the situation right now that it needed to be fed Magic Power just to continue ''hatching''. Those Demi-Spirits couldn''t take it over even then, but they sure influenced it with their malice and greed." Kisuke then faced Ophis and asked, "What do you want to do?"


    Without any pause, Ophis answered, "Take it out of this ce."


    "That''s fine~ But I can only remove the Demi-Spirits'' connection from it." Kisuke replied with a smile.


    Ophis nodded again, "...That''s enough."


    "I see." Kisuke then carefullyid Ryuu on the floor and took out six daggers withplicated inscriptions on their handles. Tossing them around the ck Dragon, Kisuke created a hexagonal barrier that severed the space inside of it from the influence of the outside world.


    With the roots that transported Magic Power to it suddenly cleaved, the ck Dragon roared in extreme pain and tried to smash open the white translucent barrier but could only give it a small ripple on the surface. Even then, it still tried its best and started rampaging, damaging even its own body in the process.


    Picking Ryuu up once again, Kisuke added, "Although I said I could disconnect the rest of the Demi-Spirits from it, whether it''ll turn out malevolent or not, I have no way of changing that."


    Ophis then stepped forward while reaching out her right arm to it, "...I''ll leave it to its fate." From her hand, the symbol of infinity manifested and a ck ball of light emerged from it. A secondter, the ck ball expanded exponentially in an instant, engulfing the ck Dragon.


    The ck Dragon that was just rampaging disappeared inside the ck ball of light without any sound before it shrunk into an oval-shaped egg that is less than two feet tall and more than a foot wide.


    Kisuke immediately took back his barrier as Ophis ran towards the egg and caught it before it fell on the ground. Hugging the egg and feeling the breath of life within it, Ophis let out a satisfied grunt.


    And just like that, the Nidhogg that Enyo/Dionysus painstakingly nned to create throughout the years, disappeared as if it didn''t exist in the first ce.


    Patting her head with a smile, Kisuke instructed Ophis, "Go home first. ire and Tanis would certainly be interested in it, so be careful with it. If you need any help, don''t hesitate toe to my side."


    "Umu." Ophis nodded her head and disappeared as soon as Kisuke lifted his hand from her head.


    "Now then... I guess I might as well wait for everything to be done and deal with that Creature." murmured Kisuke and exited the room.


    Within the cylindrical room, both Dionysus and Loki were speechless with what they''d just witnessed but the first one to react was Loki, "The Nidhogg has been dealt with! Finish those remaining Demi-Spirits and we''re done here!"


    Everyone except for a few people were visibly shocked at Loki''s news but momentster, their motivation returned and their momentum increased. Using this newfound hope, Finn and Sona rallied everyone for the final attack.


    Witnessing that his ns that he''d concocted for years crumbling in front of him, Dionysus became extremely desperate and pulled out the dagger that he used to kill his fellow Deity, Penia, to mask his death. If he could kill Loki here, the majority of the forces within the Knossos would be useless and the rest wouldn''t be enough to finish the Demi-Spirits off, which would also give him enough time to escape.


    However, Loki, who already saw this oue a mile away, pulled out the ashes of a dead monster that she picked up on the way here and has been keeping in her pockets before tossing them to Dionysus''s face, rendering thetter to be blind for a short moment.


    Using this chance, Loki immediatelyunched her foot towards Dionysus and aimed mercilessly at his balls.


    Feeling the pain that shook his consciousness, Dionysus screamed in horror while Lokiughed maniacally as she continued to step on him repeatedly to the point that the Deity that caused them so much trouble begged for mercy.


    Walking through the hallways, Kisuke heard Dionysus''s screams of horror and couldn''t help but chuckle, "As expected of Loki-sama. She''s merciless~"

 Chapter 711 The Foolish Elf

    Chapter 711 The Foolish Elf


    While walking through the hallways and waiting for everything to conclude, Kisuke came to a perpendicr path and each side also had peopleing towards him. On his right side was the Boaz Captain of the Freya Familia, Ottar, while on his left was a group of four Minotaur Xenos.


    The moment Ottar saw Kisuke, his serious expression changed to that of arge grin, and pulled out his weapons, "You''re the leader of the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group." uttered Ottar with confidence. Although he wasn''t entirely sure, from all the rumors and information he''s been hearing, he''s the only person that could have beaten him one-sidedly when they rampaged throughout the entire city.


    Kisuke tilted his head at him and asked, "Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group?"


    "There''s no point in denying it! The moment you dealt with that monster was the moment you solidified your position among the top Adventurers. I challenge you to a duel!" Dashing forward, Ottar brandished his two greatswords and swung it down at Kisuke''s position, not even considering the person that he''s carrying.


    But before he couldnd the hit, the bottom of a wooden sandal appeared in front of him without his realization. Before Ottar could react in any way, the soles of a wooden sandalnded squarely on his face with tremendous force, instantly canceling his momentum.


    Almost breaking the speed of sound, Ottar wasunched backwards, crashing into the walls multiple times before stopping and losing his consciousness. He killed one of the Demi-Spirits almost by himself, but he wasn''t able to survive a kick to the face.


    Landing on his feet, Kisuke finally remembered, "Ah, the Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group. That''s a thing, isn''t it?" Ottar was utterly wrong when he thought that Kisuke was denying it. He simply just forgot about it.


    Slowly turning to the other people present, Kisuke faced the four Minotaurs. With the one in the lead a crimson-furred Minotaur, the three behind him had grey furs, and all of them wererger than normal Minotaurs. With a single nce, Kisuke measured each of their strengths to be around that of a Level 5 or 6 Adventurer.


    "What about you four? Want to challenge me too?" Kisuke asked when he felt a demeanor from them simr to Zaraki.


    Due to the invisible pressure Kisuke was emitting and the ease with which he took out the enemy they couldn''t defeat, all of them couldn''t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, "Brothers... Although I like fighting, I don''t like one-sided beating." one of the Minotaurs with grey fur muttered.


    "I''m with you." added another one.


    For the first time ever, the red-coated Minotaur disyed weakness and acted like a Human, clearing his throat and saying, "Maybe next time." He then started walking and the others immediately followed him.


    They quietly went past Kisuke and took the path where he came from. As soon as they gained some distance, the red Minotaur raised his fist and said, "Brothers! Let''s go back to the deeper floors! We have to get stronger!"


    "Oooohhh!!!" The others also roared while raising their arms.


    Hearing their voices from the darkness, Kisuke grinned, "They look like a fun bunch."


    .


    .


    .


    It wasn''t very long until the mes of the battles died out and Kisuke arrived at the cylindrical room.


    But before he could greet everyone in it, a white shadow shed through his eyes and tackled him, "Oops... Easy. You might crack your head open." said Kisuke after softening Koneko''snding on his stomach.


    "I can tank it just fine." replied Koneko while she rubbed her face on his stomach.


    Kisuke smiled wryly and patted her head, "Let''s leave this forter, alright. I got something else to do."


    Koneko looked up at him with a pout before sighing and separating. She then peeked at Ryuu and asked, "Is she alright?"


    "Yep. She''s just having her well-deserved rest."


    Kisuke then looked at everyone within the room and saw all the executives of Loki Familia in addition to some members except for Ais present, along with Sona and Koneko who came with them. Next, he looked towards the Deity on the floor with an unrecognizable face whimpering, "That''s the guy?"


    Loki gave him a kick and answered, "Yeah. It''s the bastard who started this all."


    Loki was about to end him, but Filvis suddenly appeared, catching everyone''s attention, "Filvis! Filvis! Save me!" Dionysus hurriedly shouted when he saw her.


    "Lord Dionysus!" Filvis saw him and hurriedly ran to his side in desperation. Her appearance caused some of the Loki Familia members to prepare their weapons to attack but Loki and Finn stopped their actions when they saw that Filvis was already beginning to disappear.


    She stumbled weakly and called her patron God''s name like a child as she clung to his chest. Upon seeing her condition, Dionysus finally realized that he lost, his face twisting dramatically, "Tch, useless!"


    His ugly scorn shocked Filvis.


    "Just how much must you disappoint me before you''re satisfied, Filvis?"


    "LordDionysus?"


    "How many times did you ignore my orders? How many times did you fail to finish off Loki''s children because you were trying to save Lefiya Viridis?"


    "AhArgh!"


    "That''s what got you cornered, right? If you can''t be of any use now, then what good are you?"


    "AhAaaaah?! "


    Every scornful word caused another crack in Filvis'' face. The god''s disappointed voice and contemptuous gazeshed at her, scoring deep gouges into her heart.


    "A foolish, half-witted follower. What an utter disappointment."


    Tears fell from Filvis'' eyes. Her face was filled with despair as she was cast aside by the one pir of support she''d had.


    "Gh!"


    Upon seeing that, Alicia knit her eyebrows together. She had not had much interaction with Filvis Challia. But to see someone toy with the heart of her fellow elf and cast it away on the whim of a prideful god ignited the same kind of pure rage that Lefiya had felt. Even if he was a god, Alicia was about to leap in and peel him away from Filvis.


    "But"


    She was stopped where she was standing by Dionysus''s confession.


    "But you are still lovely."


    " "


    Dionysus''s smile was simultaneously unsightly yet somehow entrancing. Filvis, Alicia, the other Familia members, and even Finn were frozen. In silence, Loki alone watched, unsurprised as the god''s right hand cupped the fallen elf''s cheek as if trying to cradle something broken.


    "You''re truly foolish, Filvis. You were my Maenad. I made you cry. I broke you down with mymandsThat was more pleasing than anything elseAh, how I adored you."


    "Ah. Ahhhh!"


    "That''s right, the voice of your orgia drove me madder than anything else. In the end, it is my own failure in granting you too much freedom that led to this. Sheesh, how aggravating"


    Rage. Annoyance. Frustration. And love. He was beautiful despite being stained by blood. His repulsive face bore a smile that was both utterly hideous and beautiful.


    His words and gaze contained no fiction. Even the mortals in the room who could not see through the lies of deities could understand that much. As Filvis was ovee with emotion, her eyes flowed with tears of a different kind.


    "Be proud, Filvis. My heart is yours."


    It was a soft voice and a dark smile. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself, as if still searching for the limits of the girl''s joy and sorrow. As if chuckling at himself for bing captivated by that broken girl.


    It was unsightly, and yet this was an expression of love by a twisted god.


    "You are mine. Yes, I would never let anyone else have youEven when you return to the heavens, you must stay by my side."


    "Yes, Lord Dionysus!" Filvis responded in delight. She trembled in the joy that someone was willing to ept her corrupted filth. Embraced by pitiful happiness, she closed her eyes.


    But before Dionysus could hug Filvis tightly, Kisuke suddenly swung his cane at thetter, hitting and tossing her away from the God''s embrace, "How stupid." muttered Kisuke.


    While everyone was shocked at his sudden actions, Dionysus was instantly enraged, "What are you doing you maggot!?"


    But ignoring everyone, Kisuke walked and looked down on Filvis who only has half of her body left and doesn''t have any more strength to react aside from quietly weeping, "If you know you''re going to regret it, why go down this path?"


    Although it was just for an instant, Kisuke saw Filvis'' regret and despair hidden deep within her eyes despite happily agreeing to Dionysus, "...I"


    "Well, I guess you''re also aware that no matter how you answer, that sick Deity won''t be leaving you alone. However, you two are both wrong about something. And even if you wanted to, you won''t be together like he said." Kisuke then lifted his cane on top of her crumbling head.


    "In that case, why don''t you go to hell once more and suffer? Maybe this time, you''ll find what you''re looking for." bringing down the tip of his cane, Kisuke crushed Filvis'' head and her ashes scattered.


    Without turning back, Kisuke started walking away while saying, "I''m done here so I''m going home."

 Chapter 712 Book 12: Returning the Stubborn Elf

    Chapter 712 Book 12: Returning the Stubborn Elf


    The moment he stepped into Daedalus Street without letting anyone detect him, a pir of golden light sted through the man-made Dungeon and shook the whole city. But instead of fear, cheers of victory proliferated with the news of the city''s Adventurers'' triumph over the evil that threatened to destroy it.


    The moment he stepped out the street, a familiar short stack girl started walking alongside him, "I understood why you helped Ophis-chan, but why did you kill that Creature like that? I refuse to believe that you just killed a person who''s about to die just because you became slightly annoyed."


    "I didn''t kill her. I needed her to do something for me.", replied Kisuke.


    Serafall thought for a moment before asking, "Does it have something to do with when you said that both of them are wrong? What did you mean by that?"


    "Originally, Spirits, no matter which ss, could only use one aspect of Magic. But in exchange, they are so good in said Magic, that they are only worse than the Deities."


    Serafall immediately understood what he wanted to say, "But those Demi-Spirits could use everything except for Wind Magic."


    "Correct.", Kisuke''s expression then became serious, "And they achieved this using a very disgusting method."


    Serafall couldn''t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva because it was not often that she saw Kisuke like this, "...What method?"


    "I don''t know how it was achieved nor exactly how it works, but something or someone mixed and mashed the souls of ancient Spirits that fell in the Dungeon long ago and created those abominations."


    Serafall thought back and recalled every single detail regarding the Demi-Spirits and guessed, "So they''re looking for ''Aria'' the Wind Spirit toplete their existence?"


    "That''s what I had guessed as well, but without any conclusive evidence, I can''t say for sure."


    "Then what does it have to do with this Filvis?"


    Kisuke sighed before answering, "It seems that the Deities involved in this don''t know about it, but if nothing was done with her situation, her soul would have been cut up into pieces and fuse with the main mind of the Demi-Spirits. Dionysus would only be met with a nasty surprise when he finds out that Filvis''s soul didn''t ascend with him."


    Serafall didn''t say anything and let Kisuke continue exining, "To save her from that fate, I lent a bit of my power to help her navigate. Of course, I didn''t do that just because I wanted to save her. That power I lent her also served as a tracking device and thanks to that, I''ll be able to get a much clearer picture of thework of souls within those Demi-Spirits."


    "Then where will her soul go? She can''t just be wandering around there forever, can she?"


    "A soul like hers would alert those Demi-Spirits or those behind them sooner orter so after some time, my power will properly guide her back to the Dungeon."


    Hearing that, Serafall surmised and muttered a single word, "Xenos..."


    Kisuke didn''t confirm it and just smiled at her, "I have to send this girl back first. I''ll return soon after."


    Serafall sighed lightly and said, "Okay~ I''ll go back first. I''m curious about the egg that Ophis-chan brought back."


    .


    .


    .


    While everyone in the city was celebrating the victory that the big Familia''s achieved against their lifelong enemies, silence and a heavy atmosphere was covering the usually noisy pub of Hostess of Fertility.


    Because it wasn''t that long since the battle for the city''s future ended, there weren''t any customers within it and all of its inhabitants were aimlessly wandering about. Although Mia didn''t want this kind of atmosphere, she couldn''t really say anything as she could understand how they were feeling.


    With their good friend''s life or death unknown, they couldn''t possibly join the festivities.


    Mia looked towards Syr who was silently having a drink in the corner of the pub while looking out through the window and thought, ''She should have sent me down by now... Does she really trust the news of Kisuke Urahara following her that much? There''s also the existence of the Juggernaut... I wonder what she''s nning?


    At this moment, Anya suddenly stomped the floor and yelled, "I''m going down, nya!"


    Chloe and Lunoire also immediately put down what they were doing and simultaneously said, "I''ming with you."


    The two of them looked and nodded at each other before facing Mia, "I''m sorry, Mia, but we can''t just sit still.", exined Chloe.


    "I also wanted to enjoy the festivities, but I can''t do that with the situation right now.", added Lunoire.


    "That''s right, nya! Without any news regarding Ryuu and Kisuke Urahara, I''m already at the limit of my patience, nya!", eximed Anya.


    But before Mia could give them her answer, Syr abruptly stood up while looking outside.


    Her sudden movements also attracted everyone''s attention and inadvertently transferred their sights towards the direction she was looking in before being met by a very pleasant surprise.


    Kisuke was about to knock on the door of the pub when it abruptly opened and those inside it jumped at him with scary expressions. "Ryuu!!!", they cried out.


    But before they could grab Ryuu from him, Kisuke suddenly disappeared and reappeared beside Mia, "Geez. Please be careful. Although she''s fine, you can''t just jump on someone unconscious like that."


    As someone who formerly led the whole Freya Familia before, Mia never let go of her guard, even if she had a simple job of tending to the pub, but the moment Kisuke appeared beside her without any warning, she trembled and rm bells started setting off on her head. However, she did her best not to show any reaction and kept her hand from suddenlyshing out, ''Even if I attack him, just from that, I doubt I could win.''


    Nevertheless, that wasn''t the same for the others. Seeing his sudden movements, Anya, Chloe and Lunoire''s demeanor instantly changed with their stance gearing to fight.


    Though before they could do anything else, they each got a knock on the head from Syr, "What are you three doing!? It''s your fault for suddenly jumping on him even if he''s carrying Ryuu!" She then turned to Kisuke and said with a relieved expression, "Thank you for saving her."


    It was only then that Syr got closer and took a better look at the sleeping Ryuu. She was utterly speechless at what she witnessed, ''Her soul... is a lot brighter and pure than before? What happened down there? And how could a soul suddenly shine like this?'' Her curiosity was about to explode but she needed to hold this in.


    The three girls then became confused on why Syr was suddenly frozen on her spot and Anya asked, "Syr, what''s wrong, nya?"


    Syr managed to calm down, but on the outside, she exaggerated her surprised expression even more and pointed, "Her clothes changed." This was the excuse she found.


    "Huh!?" Anya immediately checked Ryuu''s condition and indeed found her peacefully sleeping, but her clothes had changed, "Y-you! You didn''t do anything you can be guilty about, did you!?"


    Syr chuckled and poured more oil on the fire, "Did you think that he''s the kind of man that would be guilty if he had done something?"


    "Y-you!? Kisuke Urahara! What did you do to Ryuu!?" Anya lost her mind.


    With a deadpan expression, Kisuke asked for help, "Mia-san... I need a little bit of assistance here. And could you double Syr-san''s workload? I''ll order more food."

 Chapter 713 Freya’s belief

    Chapter 713 Freya��s belief


    After calming down the uncontrolled cat that kept asking questions and making the mischievous waitress beg for fewer workloads, Mia led Kisuke to Ryuu''s room so he could properlyy him down. Thanks to Syr and Anya''s ruckus, Chloe and Lunoire were able to calm themselves down, but they still couldn''t let their guards downpletely when they were shown such a massive difference in speed.


    Until now, they were always in control, even if a lot of Adventurers came to their pub thanks to their strength. And even if they were stronger than them like the Loki Familia or Ganesha Familia, they were well known with a good reputation. But someone like Kisuke who was rtively unknown until the War Games and thought to be only around Level 2-3 exhibiting speeds way beyond them was very unnerving.


    Kisuke, although he couldn''t care less about their reactions, still understood where they wereing from, and there was nothing wrong with that, ''Something unpredictable and uncontroble suddenly appearing within the space where they feel most safe in, I would have done something more drastic.''


    "Well then, it''s time for me to leave. Please give this letter to Lion-san once she wakes up." Kisuke took out an envelope and gave it to Mia. Just before arriving at the Hostess of Fertility, Kisuke had contacted Yoruichi and told her that Ryuu was already safe. He then asked her to ask Astraea to write a letter to her, which he immediately received, ''It looks like they''re still together and Astraea-sama had already prepared this beforehand.''


    Mia received the letter and they all saw the insignia drawn on it. Chloe and Lunoire didn''t know the origin of the insignia while Anya just simply forgot about it. Mia and Syr instantly recognized it and finally understood the reason why Kisuke had dived into the Dungeon to save Ryuu, "I got it, but aren''t you going to exin what happened down there?"


    Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders while leaving the room, "I won''t do something as useless as that. Since you''re going to have a hard time believing my story anyway, just hear it from Ryuu directly. And if she wants to hide something it would be up to her, so I''ll be keeping my mouth shut regarding this incident."


    Mia nodded and said, "Fair point. It''s a bitte, but thank you for saving this employee of mine."


    Mia''s words reminded everyone in the room what they forgot and still needed to do. One by one, they apologized to Kisuke regarding their behavior and profusely thanked him for saving their important friend.


    At the door, Kisuke smiled at them and said, "I don''t mind it and I''m just doing what I''m supposed to do. Just treat me to dinner next time. But when she wakes up, make sure to give her an earful for being stubborn and reckless."


    Anya proudly thumped her chest before saying, "You don''t have to say it, nya! I''ll make sure that she won''t hear the end of it for at least a few hours!"


    "That''s great. Have a good day."


    But before Kisuke couldpletely leave, Syr came running after him, "I''ll walk you on the way!"


    .


    .


    .


    Drowning in the sounds of festivities on the street, Syr finally started talking after a few minutes of walking with Kisuke and she said in a mischievous voice, "I heard you gave Ottar one hell of a beating~."


    "What''s up with that tone? Shouldn''t you be worried? And for your information, he was the one who came after me and I only gave him a proper retaliation."


    Syr chuckled at his response, "I know that. I''m already grateful that you didn''t kill him despiteing at you with killing intent."


    "Well, you can thank my vast experience with those types of people. Although they''re not good people, they are not bad either for seeking strength and proving themselves in battles. Their killing intent is more of a ''yful'' intent." Kisuke then turned his face to her and asked, "But that isn''t what you wanted to ask, is it?"


    Syr obediently nodded, "Right. I''m really curious what happened down there for her to have that kind of change. Did you know that ever since I''ve met her, I''ve always wanted to see the shine of her soul buried in that ''filth'' called revenge? How did you clear it?"


    Kisuke looked straight into her eyes and saw the Goddess''s inquisitive gaze and sighed, "You really have very good ''eyesight'' and because of that, it always worked out for you. However, that also causes you to be ''blind'' to certain things. In other words, you believed too much in your ''eyes'' that it actually narrowed your vision."


    A Goddess like Freya already lived for an uncountable number of years and what she had seen was beyond what Kisuke had seen in his entire life. However, that was only limited to this world already shaped by the Deities themselves and the main cause of its stagnation.


    Not to mention that Kisuke noticed Freya depending too much on her eyes that could see the color and shine of the souls, which caused her to have a narrow vision in Kisuke''s opinion despite being incredibly wise.


    Kisuke''s remarks ceased Syr''s footsteps but the former continued walking without waiting for her, "Although I''m not saying what you''re doing is wrong, for me, those ''filth'' were not something that needed to be scrubbed off. The dirt is also part of the soul thatpletes who they are as much as the gem hidden within it."


    Kisuke turned to a nearby alley and disappeared from there.


    Left alone, Syr''s eyes suddenly changed to silver from her usual light grey, ''So you are saying that I''m not wrong, but also not entirely correct?''


    She then looked around and saw the people celebrating. Each of them had a mediocre soul. Not shining because of the ''filth'' covering them. She had always thought that by discarding these ''filth'' souls would reach its pristine state, simr to that of a newborn, and that only then could someone surpass their limits.


    But were they really something that should be discarded no matter what? For the first time ever, Freya questioned her view.


    As he made his way to the Hearth Manor, Kisuke tried to guess what Freya would see if she were to meet Issei and Vali, ''Most probably, she''d see an incredibly shiny soul buried within ''filth''. However, that''s what truly makes them who they are. Buried in desires which made them move forward. It''s a part of their being that they''ve never thought of rejecting. Maybe, if something changes in her view, instead of ''filth'', Freya would be able to see them as another form of ''gem''.''

 Chapter 714 A Failure

    Chapter 714 A Failure


    Just as Kisuke went through the gates of the manor, the main door swung open and he saw his cute little cousin in a full on sprinting towards him, "Nii-chan!!!"


    Kisuke carefully caught her while chuckling, "I see that you instantly sensed my presence. It looks like you''re working hard on your assignments and training."


    ire nodded in delight and tightly hugged Kisuke, "Unn!"


    Patting her head, Kisuke replied with a gentle tone, "That''s great~ But although your studies and training are important, having fun is the same. If things are getting tiresome or making your head hurt, make sure to take a break."


    ire looked up to him and said, "Phis-chan and Ta-chan always y with me! And the other big sisters too!", and as if recalling something, ire''s expression instantly changed, "Wee back, Nii-chan!"


    Kisuke then picked her up and carried her on his arm, "I''m home~ Let''s go in first."


    But before they could enter the building, ire suddenly asked with a quiet voice, "Nii-chan... Can I talk with mom and dad?"


    That innocent question of her gave Kisuke a headache and a slight pain in the chest. Nevertheless, his gentle smile never disappeared and reassured ire, "I''m sorry ire, but not for now. Don''t you worry, though~ I''ve been working on contacting auntie and uncle so it shouldn''t take too long so please wait for a little more?"


    Although ire''s young and innocent mind still couldn''t grasp what''s going on, she knew that it wouldn''t be easy for them to return home and never asked about it. Nheless, ire couldn''t help herself thinking about her parents despite being distracted and having fun every day.


    ire was considerate. Way too considerate for someone of her age. In spite of this, she couldn''t take it anymore after suddenly being separated from the people she was always staying with as she grew up, ''It''s already been more than five months. She endured well, but it''s not something she should really endure.''


    ire smiled and nodded but it was painfully obvious to Kisuke that it was just an attempt to hide her loneliness, ''Dang it! What a failure... This is not an expression a child should have. The framework of themunication line was already done, but it''ll still take some time to fine-tune it. Looks like I won''t be able to return to the Dizara Region immediately.''


    But after this small talk with ire, Kisuke finally realized something important. Although making countermeasures against their enemies is important, it shouldn''t have been this way from the start. He wasn''t alone, ''I''ve been neglecting everyone too much. I have to make some adjustments. After all, I can''t really call this a sessful re-life if I can''t enjoy this life.''


    ''Instead of the world, my responsibility lies in those around me. I should never forget that. This is not the exiled Shinigami, Kisuke Urahara''s life anymore, but the son of Sarah Belial, Kisuke Urahara.'', while daydreaming, Kisuke and ire entered the manor with the former consoling thetter.


    "I''m home~!" Kisuke greeted everyone who was not participating in retaking Knossos with a big smile and just like the other kids, Hestia tackled him without thinking about it, "Wee back!"


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at this old child''s action, "I''m back, Hestia-sama. Thank you for taking care of everyone."


    But Hestia pouted when she heard that, "But they''re too capable to be taken care of!"


    "That''s not true. Just with you and Artemis-sama''s presence and assistance, you''ve provided everyone with valuable experience and tried your best to resolve the confusion they might have."


    Hestia and Artemis looked at him with confusion and indeed recalled a few instances that they gave the girls some answers to their questions. Seeing that, Kisuke couldn''t help but chuckle, "You''re wondering how in the world would I know that? Of course, I would check up on everyone the moment I return and I''ve noticed that they''re a lot more stable than before. It''s as if they''ve recovered their ''innocence'' and that could only be thanks to you."


    In this kind of lifestyle, Yoruichi, Kuroka, Medusa, Serafall and he might have been fine, however, that was not the same with the rest of the girls. With training that gave them vast improvements, it was also the truth that it had taken something important away from them, since they were still young and they were in the years that wouldrgely shape their future actions.


    ''I might have been subconsciously avoiding themtely because I''m afraid that I''ll destroy them further. And now that I''ve thought about it, Yoruichi might have been in the same spot as me.''


    If it was the previous Kisuke, he should have long prepared Aika to release her Bankai. But he had been dying it as much as possible with his own concocted reason that her Zanpakuto was special and it shouldn''t be rushed.


    As for Yoruichi, she should have started teaching Sona, Koneko and Kuroka how to absorb their Magic or Ki''s special attributes directly to their bodies, but had been putting it off thinking that the former two needed more experience.


    Of course, as the wise Goddesses, Hestia and Artemis saw thisrge w in their group and did their best to fill up the hole they were missing. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that they''ve be mothers to whom they could retreat to if things became too hard where they normally would just push through with sheer willpower, but also in the exchange for some of their ''innocence'' that may leave a hole in their hearts.


    Hestia separated from Kisuke and started patting his shoulder, "If you need to sit down and just talk, I could fulfill the role of the partner so don''t hesitate to ask whenever you have some downtime!"


    Kisukeughed and replied, "I''ll take you up on that offer then."


    He then proceeded to greet Artemis, Medusa and Tanis who seemed to be still afraid of him because their time together hadn''t been long. And after reassuring Tanis, he went beside Ophis who had been quietly taking care of the ck egg within her arms, and noticed that the formerly pure ck egg now had white spots, "How is it?"


    "It''s going out soon.", answered Ophis.


    However, Kisuke had no idea of how soon it really was since he knew how skewed Ophis''s perception of time was. With that in mind, Kisuke touched the egg to probe it and saw the development inside, ''So it''s really soon... A few days to a week, maybe?''

 Chapter 715 Can’t Level Up

    Chapter 715 Can��t Level Up


    It was already dinner time when Sona, Aika, Koneko, Irina and Akeno finally returned from the clean-up.


    "Yo~! Good work out there~." Kisuke immediately greeted them with a huge smile.


    Koneko wanted to jump on hisp, but Akeno grabbed the cor of her clothes while she was in the air with a graceful smile, "Ufufufu. You''re not thinking of jumping on him with all that dust and dirt on you, are you?"


    Koneko pouted but didn''t go against Akeno.


    Kisuke chuckled at this scene and said, "Go rx in the bath and calm your nerves. We''ll have dinner once youe out."


    "I''ve already prepared the bath." Medusa made a follow up.


    "You won''t join us? I can wash your back, so wash mine too." Aika asked with a cheeky grin.


    Akeno and Irina instantly flinched at her words but Kisuke immediately refused her ''offer'', "Maybe next time."


    But Aika wasn''t disappointed and replied, "Then I''ll look forward to that time~!"


    However, before they left for the baths, Irina suddenly turned back and asked Kisuke, "Are you leaving again soon?"


    This question of hers also made the others halt their steps and look towards him. Their reaction surprised Kisuke but he didn''t show any of it on his face. Instead, he beamed happily and answered, "Nope~ I got free time so I''ll be hanging out with everyone~!"


    Their delighted faces when they left the room would not leave Kisuke''s head for quite some time. He never would have thought that simply affirming his presence would make them this happy. ''I might be good at deducing the logic of the human mind, but I still couldn''t grasp theplication of human emotions. I guess I can never be as good as Aizen in manipting people.''


    He then noticed Serafall grinning at him, "Even amongst the most active Devils, you''ve beaten most of them. As expected of the Gigolo Master-chan~. Well, outside of those who treat their women as ves at least."


    ire looked towards Hestia beside her and asked, "Hestia-neesama. What''s a gigolo?"


    Hestia smiled gently at her and replied, "It''s aplicated word that only adults use. You don''t have to learn it yet." She then proceeded to re at both Serafall and Kisuke with thetter making a wronged expression.


    It didn''t take too long for the girls to finish their baths and dinner was prepared. While gorging on the abundant and delicious food at the table prepared by Medusa, the girls started enthusiastically talking about their adventures to Kisuke which he intently listened to while giving input of his own when appropriate.


    Even ire, Ophis, and Tanis had stories of their own and everyone happily listened to them. Though most of this happened within the walls of the manor since Tanis couldn''t go out. Although Serafall could continually cast Illusion Magic on her to hide her appearance, she couldn''t do anything regarding her presence, and those with enough perception would have instantly caught it, ''I should also make something for her. It shouldn''t be too hard.'', thought Kisuke.


    At some point, their conversation reached the part where they got involved with thetest and biggest event yet, "If we didn''t reach Level 4 prior to it, it would have been a lot harder and we would''ve end up using our trump cards." Sona sighed.


    "I guess we can only practice our special moves in the deeper parts of the Dungeon. I really wanted to try and pull out all the stops for once," added Aika.


    After chewing her dessert, Koneko alsomented, "That''s true. After reaching Level 4, it''s as if arge burden suddenly left my body and I can move with more ease. It''s not simply a power up."


    While the three of them became lively with their conversation, Akeno and Irina became sullen. Seeing this, Sona sighed yet again, but for a different reason, "Don''t think too much about it. I know for sure that you two are also progressing. If you''re still concerned about it, just ask Kisuke ''cause he''ll surely have a great exnation."


    Swallowing his food, Kisuke voiced out, "Let me guess. You can''t level up?"


    Both of them look at him for a moment before nodding.


    "Well, I already expected this. But if I just said something simr to Sona, it''d probably only fall on deaf ears. Thankfully, I managed toe across some information that I can fully reassure you that this is normal in your case."


    Kisuke then recalled the information he received regarding the Falna and cross referenced it to the information he originally had before exining, "First, you have to know that souls are normally stronger than the physical body they reside in, but not in the way you think. After all, without physical bodies, souls are very fragile and a bit of influence on them could destroy them."


    "But I won''t focus on the specific strength of the souls, but the fact that they are more energy-rich than the physical bodies. The way that Falna works is that it strengthens your body while nourishing the soul. Once the body can finally adapt and materialize a part of the soul''s power and the soul itself is already stable enough, a process known as ''Level up'' could proceed, which then reset a new cycle of ''gaining excelia''."


    Since they knew what kind of body they had, Akeno and Irina partially understood what Kisuke wanted to say, "So you''re saying..."


    Kisuke nodded at them, "It''s as you''ve guessed. You have it the other way around. It''s your souls that need to adapt to your bodies. A process way slower than the former."


    But instead of the two, it was Hestia who reacted and in a very surprising way, "Wait! I-isn''t that...!?"


    While the rest were confused, Kisuke''s smile grew deeper and said, "I see that you''re aware of some things, Hestia-sama~"


    Hestia''s face becameplicated, "...It''s something I''ve only heard from Zeus and never believed... But I didn''t expect I''d hear it again from someone else."


    Still not knowing what''s going on with her best friend, Artemis asked with a very concerned expression, "Hestia? What''s wrong?"


    Hestia sat back down and without breaking her stare at Kisuke, she replied to Artemis, "The Falna nourishes the body and purifies the soul and that is something that was bestowed to the people of the Lower World as a blessing from Deities. But ording to Zeus, the reverse also exists. Nourishing the soul and purifying the body."


    "Then what''s wrong with it?"


    Hestia sighed before continuing, "It''s not for the people of the Lower World, but the monsters of the Dungeon. In other words, it''s the blessing of the Dungeon."

 Chapter 716 Joys of a child

    Chapter 716 Joys of a child


    "There''s that, but you don''t really have to concern yourself regarding that, Hestia-sama. Besides, Akeno-san and Irina''s situation is also different from that. It''s the Falna doing something that it isn''t designed to do.", Kisuke then turned his head on Akeno and Irina, "If my conjectures are correct, then you''ll never be able to Level up since you don''t really need your body to adapt. The most likely scenario is that your ''stats'' would be stuck at max value and it won''t change again after that. Or maybe it''ll disy gibberish text after a long while. In any case, even if you can''t see the numerical value, I can safely say that you''re progressing well."


    Akeno sighed in relief while Irina''s eyes shone with her saying, "So that''s the case! Alright~! My motivation is back! I''m going to the Dungeon tomorrow!"


    "Take it easy. You first have to digest what happened today and reflect on your actions. Go to the Dungeon once you''ve cleared your mind."


    But the moment Kisuke said that, silence befell on the dining table, "W-what?"


    "Take it easy... I never thought I''d hear that in its actual meaning from senpai...", muttered Koneko.


    "...Did you actually catch a cold?", asked Aika rudely.


    "...Or did you actually hit your head badly?" Sona also threw a jab.


    Kisuke could onlyugh awkwardly at their responses, "I''m certainly at fault with those kinds of responses."


    Shaking his head, Kisuke continued, "Anyway, it''s only inevitable that I change my stance after experiencing more things."


    Sipping his tea, Kisuke let out a small smile, ''It''s true that there are enemies and some of them are breathing behind our ears, but I''m wrong to think that I have to eliminate all of these threats to have a peaceful and fulfilling life. No matter what I do, I would make more enemies as much as allies. That became more apparent this time, because I intended to protect a lot of people on my own ord and not because of some sense of responsibility.''


    Exhaling deeply, Kisuke stretched his back, ''If there is no end to the enemiesing after us, then there''s no point in sacrificing our daily lives just because of their presence.''


    Sona and the other girls wanted to ask him what experience changed his mind but Hestia, Artemis and Serafall stopped them. The three of them knew that Kisuke had reached some kind of realization, but he didn''t have to exin it to everyone else.


    Sona saw that and instantly changed her mind and changed the topic, "Anyway, I''ve been curious. What really happens when a God is sent back to Heaven and all of their children lose their abilities?"


    Ever since the death of the former members of the Dionysus Familia, Sona had been wondering what the mechanics behind it were.


    "The only way the Falna was able to pass the power of the soul to the physical body is by bing the bridge that connects the two itself. The reason why those with blessing could use Magic and be stronger is because the ''instructions'' for it were inscribed on the soul. So when the Falna disappears, so does the bridge connecting the soul to the body, locking the soul away and leaving only a healthier and sturdier body behind."


    "I see...", Sona nodded in understanding, "You said that the blessing is only for the body to adapt to the soul so when the passive strengthening and Magic from the Falna disappear, they coulde back to being normal mortals with overflowing Magic Power which they can''t use."


    "Correct. For those who didn''t learn Magic or Ki properly and rely only upon the work done by the Falna, it''s only fair to say that their power isn''t theirs in the first ce and one really can only me themselves if it was suddenly taken away."


    "Ah! So that''s why you wanted a Falna that doesn''t give any skills! Because it''s technically useless in your case!", Hestia finally realized it from their conversation.


    .


    .


    .


    The next morning, Kisuke got out of his workshop to join everyone else for breakfast. As usual, without needing to sleep, he poured all of his time alone into work on some projects and the first one he tackled was Tanis'' disguise Magic item because he had promised ire to take her out to have fun. And if she wasing, the other two, of course, won''t allow her to have fun alone.


    Arriving at the dining hall Kisuke immediately called the Dragon girl, "Tanis-chan~ Come over here for a moment. I have a present for you~"


    After yesterday''s dinner, Tanis'' fear of Kisuke already fully disappeared and the innocent Dragon girl came running to him when she heard him, "Present!?"


    "Yep~", Kisuke took out a silver ring pendant ne and put it on her, "This is a Magic Item that''ll allow you to walk around the town. At least until the Xenos can have their freedom on the surface."


    Although simple in design as to not attract unwanted attention when revealed to the public, Tanis was incredibly fascinated by its luster and mysterious engravings on it as she held the ring in her hands.


    She then looked up to Kisuke with wide eyes and asked, "I can go out?"


    "You sure can~!"


    "I can y on the streets with ire-chan and Ophis-chan?"


    "As long as it isn''t a busy or main street."


    "I can buy delicious things from stalls?"


    Kisuke gave her a thumbs up, "Nii-chan struck it rich not too long ago, so I''ll give you all the allowance you''ll need~!"


    With bright and shining eyes, Tanis leaped and hugged Kisuke, "Thank you, Kisuke-niichan! Let''s go!?"


    Kisukeughed out loud and patted her head, "After your breakfast and morning lessons. I''ll take you three to a lot of ces."


    Tanis nodded and excitedly went back to her seat to finish her meal. She didn''t even ask him how to use the pendant he gave her.


    Simrly, ire and Ophis''s pace also sped up when they heard that they''ll be going out to have fun and Hestia had to remind them to slow down.


    Kisuke couldn''t help but chuckle at this scene and regretted not doing this much earlier.

 Chapter 717 A Short Outing

    Chapter 717 A Short Outing


    Around 10:00 AM, Kisuke took the three little girls out. The others wanted toe, but Kisuke refused their participation, citing that today is the kids'' day. Kisuke checked Tanis, who had her ''special'' characteristics hidden through a field created by his special energy that anyone, including the Gods, couldn''t see through, to make sure that the device he made was functioning properly.


    The gentle smile on his face couldn''t be hidden when he saw her nervously cross the gates and their cheering when she sessfully got out of the manor.


    As Kisuke watched them from behind and just let them y around, he thought that he would have to make some moves, but was surprised to see that no one came to mess with the little girls, ''Looks like the incident that Ophis caused is still in the minds of these people.''


    Prior to going out, Kisuke gave ire and Tanis candies that would regte their food intake so no matter how much they eat for today, the feeling of fullness would soon disappear, giving them unlimited freedom of what they could eat for the day. Of course, he had to remind them that it''s only for today since it could potentially destroy their senses when ites to food.


    When Tanis asked why Ophis didn''t receive any candy, thetter only answered with a smug face, "I am... strong."


    "So if I be as strong as Ophis-chan, I can eat anything!?" asked Tanis innocently.


    Patting her shoulder, Ophis replied with a weird glint within her eyes, "All my followers shall stand on the top of the world."


    "I will be as strong as Ophis-chan~!" dered Tanis.


    "Me too~!" joined by ire.


    Although none of them truly knows what they are saying.


    Nodding proudly, Ophis replied, "I shall guide you on how to subdue some birds and bats. And after that, their owners."


    " "Yaaay~!!!" " Both of them cheered. Of course, they still have no idea that Ophis was talking about the threergest Factions on Earth.


    Overhearing their conversation, Kisuke got a little bit nervous but also became extremely curious, ''Just what was she learning these past few weeks? And what is she nning to do in the future? Maybe I should let her finish her castle?''


    Kisuke in the future would recall this moment as the beginning of the legend of ''The Three Void Empresses and their Flying Castles''.


    .


    .


    .


    While watching them frolic together, Kisuke''s mind ended up wandering to the recent events and reflected over them. It didn''t take too long for his train of thoughts to reach the scene yesterday where he''d talked to Syr before he separated from her, ''Was it a good idea to present a contradiction to her belief? Even though she''s more open-minded than most Deities, I just went against the belief that she''s carried her whole life. I hope that this won''t cause extreme action from her in an attempt to solidify her belief.''


    After calming down and reflecting, Kisuke regretted opening his mouth yesterday, ''And I just can''t take back what I just said... Forget it. There''s no use regretting that. What''s the worst she could do? Charm the whole town? I really doubt she''d do that unless someone kicks her in the face.''


    While mulling over things, Kisuke caught sight of the Loki Familia members. Ais, Tione, and Tiona seemed to be shopping for some things, but the moment the three of them saw Kisuke''s group, instead of greeting them, Ais immediately did a 180 and ran away.


    It wasn''t just Kisuke who was surprised by this but also the Hiryute sisters who didn''t know what to do after witnessing that. For now, however, both of them chased after Ais despite wanting to ask Kisuke what he did to Ais for her to have such a strange reaction like that, ''Am I really that scary?''


    But after a while, Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and sent what just happened at the back of his mind.


    The three of them wanted to continue ying untilte afternoon but they had to go back early afternoon when Ophis said that the egg was about to hatch.


    Kisuke was surprised by this because his initial estimates were way off and figured that Ophis must have done something to the egg overnight.


    Arriving back home, Kisuke and Ophis went straight to the egg and saw Artemis who volunteered to look after it poking it.


    When Artemis saw them enter the room, she immediately said, "Wee back. I think I saw it moving earlier."


    Kisuke nodded at her and turned to Ophis, "Is it supposed to hatch today?"


    Ophis nodded and went straight to the egg to cradle it.


    Kisuke stared at the egg for a while and thought, ''It seems that it''ll hatch in an hour or two.'' Sitting beside Ophis, he chose to wait with her. During that time, he noticed that Ophis avoided using her ''Infinity'' as she guided and injected Magic Power from the atmosphere into the egg.


    "Why?" asked Kisuke.


    "This child already escaped fate without my power. She doesn''t need it."


    Kisuke thought back to the moment Ophis sealed the Dragon into the egg. Because the corrupted Spirits ripped the Dragon from the Dungeon, its link to both sides was so weak that Ophis was able to pull it out from the corrupted Spirits and the Dungeon without using her real power.


    "Her desires shall be fulfilled by herself." added Ophis.


    "Desire?"


    Ophis nodded at Kisuke''s question but she didn''t borate any further.


    Artemis, meanwhile, was squinting her eyes and pouted her mouth a little, "Another cryptic conversation... Mind exining it?"


    "Fufufu. Just think of it as a new friending into existence." Kisuke just chuckled at her question.


    However, at this moment, something shook Kisuke''s consciousness, and immediately looked towards the direction of the Dungeon''s entrance, ''What? Right now? That was fast.''


    He then stood up and said, "Something came up so I''ll leave for a short while." Although he wanted to see the egg hatch, he has a responsibility he has to take care of.


    "Where are you going? Are you going to eat dinner with us?" asked Artemis with a bit of concern.


    Kisuke smiled wryly at her question, "I''m just going for a short trip to the Dungeon to fetch someone. By the way, please ask Medusa and Akeno-san to prepare an additional portion for dinner."


    "A guest? Got it."


    But as Kisuke was about to leave through the door, he recalled something quite important and turned to Ophis once again, "What about the Dragon''s heartbeat? Would I need to put up a barrier?"


    Shaking her head, Ophis answered, "She''s already past that point."


    "I see." He then looked at Artemis''s direction onest time, "I think it''ll be a good idea to call others. After all, it''s a rare chance to see a Dragon egg hatch."

 Chapter 718 Return from Death

    Chapter 718 Return from Death


    Kisuke tracked the unique signal he left on the certain individual and soon reached the 50th floor after rushing, ''This is pretty deep. Just what did she end up with?''


    Kisuke continued dashing and reached a certain corner of the safe zone. From there, he saw a naked white-haired and pale-white girl with a pair of ck bat wings sprouting behind her being ejected from the wall as if a new monster was being born.


    The girl dropped to her knees and slowly opened her crimson-red eyes with cross-shaped pupils. She then slowly raised her hands to see their long and sharp ck fingernails. With the memories of her previous life still in a mess, the girl couldn''t even remember who she is even if wanted to.


    However, it was at this moment that a familiar voice resounded beside her, "Wee back, Challia-san~ It''s time to start your round two in Hell, though it seems you got extremely lucky this time and got a form very close to a Human."


    Her long Elf-like ears jerked up and she slowly lifted her head to see thest person she saw before she died sporting the same grin, "K-Kisuke... Urahara?" she muttered, showing her two long and sharp canines.


    "Yep~ The one and only~!"


    It was then a massive headache that attacked the girl, formerly Filvis Challia of the Dionysus Familia, as Kisuke''s appearance jogged her memories, putting them in the right ces, "Ahhh!!!"


    Her scream of extreme pain as she held her head dearly echoed throughout the entirety of the quiet 50th floor, but Kisuke ignored the noise she''s making and carefully checked her physical features, "Hmmm... Prominent canines, pale white skin, and bat-like wings... A Vampire? Does that mean that somewhere deep in the Dungeon, a Vampire monster exists?"


    Kisuke waited for Filvis to calm down, but as soon as the pain in her head subsided, another bout of panic ensued. Cornering her back on the wall, Filvis started shaking violently as she hugged her knees in an attempt to find the slightestfort. With her eyes swimming around, she started muttering as if she had lost her mind, "W-why...? Why is this happening?... Lord Dionysus... Where are you, Lord Dionysus!? W-why!? Why did I be a monster once again!? P-please! Someone! End this nightmare!"


    Kisuke sighed, ''Well, I already expected that this might be the case.'' Pointing his finger at her forehead, Kisuke used his Kidou, "Inemuri (Forced Slumber)."


    As Filvis lost her consciousness, Kisuke chucked her in the sack he took out from his inventory and carried it behind on his back, "Yosh~! Let''s leave the troublesome things like calming her down to the girls."


    With that in mind, Kisuke returned home after ''kidnapping'' a girl from the Dungeon.


    .


    .


    .


    When Kisuke reached the manor, the sun was already setting. However, he noticed that a barrier was covering the whole building, allowing entry but not allowing exit, "Hmmm? What''s going on?"


    From inside, he could hear some voices and one of them had an unfamiliar and strange tone to it, "Wait... This is a telepathic signal being broadcasted to everywhere. Is it that Dragon?" guessed Kisuke.


    "I''m home~...?" When Kisuke opened the door he saw a three feet long and one and a half wide white western Dragon pping its wings in front of him.


    The White Dragon was a bit chubby for its size and it has clear blue eyes that emit intelligence. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a short while before the flying reptile lunged at his chest and grabbed his shitagi while looking up to him, [Protect... Aria...] A clear telepathic message came from it when it opened its jaw.


    Kisuke was a bit surprised by its words, but after considering its origin and how it came to be, he was able to guess the reason, ''It approached me with such willingness... Can it feel Aria-san''s aura from me?''


    Not long after, Aika came running from the interior of the building and shouted, "Kisuke! Catch that shiny lizard! It''s trying to escape!... Wait... Huh?" But she slowed down when she saw the Dragon silently clutching on Kisuke''s clothing with its tiny w, "You tamed it?"


    Kisuke patted the Dragon and replied, "Nope. It just likes the smelling from me."


    Aika narrowed her eyes at his answer and said, "So it can ''smell'' Aria from you?"


    "You understand it?"


    "I can instinctively tell because I''ve been deepening my rtionship with my ''daughters''. Besides, it can only say two words. ''Aria'' and ''Protect''. It''s not that hard to understand it." answered Aika with a sigh.


    The Dragon ignored Aika and kept repeating ''Protect'' and ''Aria'' to Kisuke, "I see... But why did you have to put up such a barrier just to catch this?"


    "Because it''s strangely agile! It has an ability to hide its presence to the point that Koneko couldn''t exactly pinpoint its location within the manor. We had no choice but to ce this barrier so that it won''t go out."


    "What about Ophis? Didn''t she say anything to this little one?"


    Aika shook her head, "Nope. She only said that she won''t interfere. And the only people who could easily catch it, Serafall-chan and Medusa-chan, stayed out of the way."


    Kisuke grabbed the Dragon and said, "Let''s go inside first."


    "By the way, what''s with that sack? It has a simr aura to those Xenos. Did you kidnap a Xenos?"


    "Ah!" Kisuke finally remembered that he''s carrying someone and ced the sack in front of Aika, "I''ll leave her to you. I''ll take her tomorrow to the Loki Familia."


    Aika tilted her head in confusion, "The Loki Familia? Although they''ve taken care of Ray, that''s only because she saved Finn. I doubt they''ll take care of another Xenos, especially a stranger."


    Kisuke walked past her while carrying the Dragon who became silent in his arms, "Well, she''s not exactly a stranger to them and I''m sure that gay Elf would ept her."


    Since everyone else already heard that Kisuke caught the Dragon from his conversation with Aika, they stopped their search and put down the barrier. Aika, meanwhile, untied the sack and took a peek inside, "...Why is she naked?" is the first question that came from her mouth.


    But she immediately shook her head and thought, ''Kisuke won''t really do anything to her even if she''s naked. After all, for him, being a big pervert is just a fun way to mess with someone.''


    Aika then took the girl Xenos out of the sack and finally saw her face, "Hmm? Why does she look familiar...? Wait... Filvis Challia!? How!?" Aika''s shout attracted everyone''s attention.

 Chapter 719 Filvis Challia

    Chapter 719 Filvis Challia


    At dinner time, everyone sat around the table full of delicious food, including Filvis. Although she was still flinching at the noises and was at a general loss of what to do. In hindsight, it was actually pretty easy to calm her down. As someone who had been persecuted by others all the time, Filvis was very sensitive about how others looked at her.


    With everyone gazing at her as if she''s a genuine and real person, she wondered how these people could act like this, especially now that she had such inhumane features that could surely scare any normal person. Thanks to that, however, Filvis got a sense of safety, albeit, only slightly.


    Remaining quiet while staying on the seat given to her and watching everyone''s attitude, Filvis shook when Medusa suddenly ced a te in front of her, "It''s an informal setting so just take whatever you fancy."


    Filvis looked up to her casual expression and hesitantly nodded.


    Soon the table descended into chaos with Aika grabbing the majority of the meat for herself. Ever since learning how to maintain her figure using Magic, she didn''t care what she eats anymore. And due to her actions, others also started imitating her, mainly ire, Tanis, and Ophis as the ''candy'' that Kisuke gave the former two earlier was still in effect.


    The noisy and rambunctious dinner should have been unbearable for someone like Filvis, however, this atmosphere of a casual and uncaring attitude actually gave her more of a sense offort. A lot better than an awkward silence would. It''s as if she was actually epted. But before that train of thought further developed itself, Filvis sighed and shook her head in an attempt to brush off these ''dangerous'' thoughts.


    "What''s wrong? You don''t like the food? Do you have something specific you want?" Hestia suddenly asked her when she saw that Filvis hadn''t touched her utensils yet.


    "N-no. That''s not it, Lady Hestia..."


    "Then you should start eating before these gluttonous girls wipe everything off the table. I know you''re hungry and if you want to do something, you should have at least the energy to move around."


    "B-but..."


    Nevertheless, Hestia just waved her hand at Filvis and started putting some food on her te herself, "I know what you''re thinking and your concerns, but save it forter. I can, however, reassure you that my children are different from the rest and won''t judge you on how you look."


    While Filvis was still unwilling to believe her words, she swallowed back her words, "...Thank you very much."


    Filvis gratefully epted the meal but as she took a bite from it, she felt her unnaturally long canines and reminded her of her current existence, ''What''s going to happen to me now?''


    ''Looks like Tanis''s presence still couldn''t reassure her,'' Sona thought. She doesn''t know exactly what Kisuke''s reason was on why he turned Filvis into a Xenos, but thetter already told her that he already got what he wanted from her. Coincidence or not, Filvis''s existence was actually a great boon, not for them, but Tanis, ''If she can make a small opening for the path to the coexistence of Xenos and the people of the Lower World, it''d be really great for Tanis-chan.''


    Dinner ended and the first ones to leave were ire, Ophis, and Tanis because they still had to finish their homework. They were then followed by Kisuke who nned another all-nighter.


    The rest then moved to the living room where Artemis and Irina prepared tea for everyone.


    With Filvis in the middle, everyone was staring at her with great interest, putting her in great difort. Nevertheless, Filvis gathered her courage and asked, "Uhmm... What''s going to happen to me now?"


    "You''re a lot meeker than you originally are."mented Aika. Since they wouldmonlye across the Loki Familia investigating the Evilus'' movements, they''d alsoe across Filvis with either Dionysus or Lefiya. And from their memories, she had a stronger and more stoic attitude, very different from the demeanor she''s disying now.


    However, after recalling her history and thinking about it, Filvis''s stance and attitude were very understandable. With nothing to depend on and reincarnating as something that others would instantly kill when theye across her, she couldn''t really disy a strong front.


    Seeing Filvis making a difficult expression, Sona just waved her hand and said, "Forget about it. If you''re asking what''s going to happen, aside from Kisuke having something in mind, we don''t really know what will happen to you, nor do we have any idea where you''ll end up in the future. One thing I''m quite sure of, though. You''ll be deciding on the path you want to take on your own, since Kisuke will let you off."


    Of course, Kisuke already told the girls his intention of sending Filvis to the Loki Familia tomorrow but asked them not to reveal it since she might run away.


    Filvis couldn''t help but scrunch up her brows slightly, "Then what am I doing here? Kisuke Urahara could have left me alone in the Dungeon if he''s just going to let me go. Does he n to do an experiment with me? How did he find me in the first ce?"


    "Don''t worry about it. He''ll bring you somewhere and he''ll be done with you. It''s your choice what to do after that next. And as for how he found you, we don''t really know. Though we''ve already learned that it''ll just be tiring asking him everything, and as for whatever he''s trying to do? As it is most of the time, it''s actually just for ''fun''." Sona sighed.


    "Enough of that~!" Irina suddenly interjected, "We''re not here to talk about Kisuke''s ns, but Filvis-san herself!"


    "M-me?"


    "Yep~! Aren''t you curious about what you can do now?"


    But in front of the excited Irina, Filvis firmly shook her head, "N-no."


    "Eh?"


    Filvis gritted her teeth and exined further, "I thought I''d already escaped that hell, but only to be sent back right into it." She then recalled Kisuke''sst words to her before shepletely turned into ashes and suspected that he has something to do with her current state right now. Herplicated feeling then turned into silent fury, ''...Why...?''


    "I can''t say that Kisuke-kun has nothing to do with your current situation, however, please remember all the words he said at that time." Hestia inserted. Sona and Koneko already told her in detail about what happened in Knossos and Dionysus''st momentsst night. Including the parting words that Kisuke gave her.


    ''Well, I guess you''re also aware that no matter how you answer, that sick Deity won''t be leaving you alone. However, you two are both wrong about something. And even if you wanted to, you won''t be together like he said.''


    Those were his exact words and Filvis became incredibly confused when she recalled that.


    Raising her hand, Serafall gathered everyone''s attention, "Ah, about that, I asked him about it and exined it to me why he did that~!"

 Chapter 720 Filvis Challia part 2

    Chapter 720 Filvis Challia part 2


    "From what I''ve understood with what he''s said, despite having control over those Demi-Spirits, you people, including Dionysus, don''t have any idea what they really are."


    Filvis wanted to deny Serafall''s words, but couldn''t find a proper argument against it. In truth, it was the Creatures that were controlling the strange Monsters and they''d only instinctively know where the jewel for the Demi-Spirits would sprout within the Dungeon. Dionysus''s role was just as a guide, promising to assist them in their goal of reaching the surface.


    All in all, they knew nothing about them and they were just as mysterious as the Dungeon itself. Even as a Creature, Filvis never dived deep enough to find out the origin of the vines that had turned her into that monstrous form.


    "Your God imed that he''lle with you to Heaven, but ording to Kisuke, that was impossible without any interference. So without any knowledge, that guy thought that both of you would ascend to Heaven but in reality, not just your body, but also your soul was in whatever those Demi-Spirits serve."


    Filvis shuddered, "B-but that''s...!?"


    "You should have an inkling that this might be the case. Dionysus couldn''t update your Status, could he?"


    Filvis couldn''t deny it. Ever since bing a Creature, her Falna had be corrupted and even Dionysus couldn''t do anything about it. Instead of disying numerical parameters, it was just a bunch of gibberish text that didn''t mean anything. The only constion she got regarding that was that her Skills and Magic were still readable, with the addition of something called ''Monstrum Union'' and ''Einsel'' that she got after the Nightmare of 27th Floor.


    Not waiting for her reply, Serafall added, "A Deity''s blessing touches upon the soul of its receiver. With it being corrupted and modified, it''s safe to assume thatmon sense won''t apply to it. Dionysus only had wishful thinking... ording to Kisuke, anyway."


    "With that in mind, he did something so that your soul wouldn''t return to those Demi-Spirits and you ended up reincarnating as a Xenos."


    Blood was drained from Filvis'' face and her already pale countenance became even paler. With great hesitation, she asked, "T-then what was going to happen when I die?"


    The room was then covered in a cold silence with no one answering her question.


    But the suffocating stillness was broken when Kisuke, with arge lollipop in his mouth, kicked open the door, "You''d return to how it was supposed to be. By the way, I can''t do something like this again since the risk is too big. Any further interference with the souls'' natural cycle might produce a bug in the system that could potentially crash it. Although the chances of that happening are infinitely close to zero, no one wants to add to the system''s instability, even if it''s just slightly."


    Although she couldn''t understand most of what Kisuke said, she got one thing, "You mean my soul will return to Heaven without any problems?"


    "That''s right. After sessfully disconnecting you from those Demi-Spirits by giving you a run through the Dungeon, Heaven was able to re-establish a connection to your soul."


    After experiencing death once, Filvis was more concerned about where she''d go in the afterlife, ''After all... This life...''


    Kisuke, including some others, knew what she was thinking, but didn''t say anything about it.


    However, Filvis was still curious about one more thing and asked, "Why? Why did you do this? I sincerely doubt that you''re saving me. Is it so that I could pioneer the rtionship between people of the Lower World and Xenos? If so, then you have chosen the wrong person." Filvis had correctly guessed what Sona and the girls wanted to happen.


    "Since you had certain criteria that I needed, I did this to you. And the moment you were reborn, you''d already done the job for me. As Sona said, what you do in the future will be up to you."


    Sitting down beside Serafall, Kisuke continued, "Enough of that, and let''s talk about the things you can do."


    Filvis shook her head, "I don''t know..." She understood why they wanted to know. If a Xenos of an unknown species suddenly appeared, it meant something simr dwelled within the Dungeon and hasn''t been discovered yet. Any information regarding new monsters in the deeper floors was valuable information that could save lives.


    Kisuke then looked towards Medusa, who had just entered the room and asked, "What do you think?"


    Filvis also looked towards Medusa, prompted by Kisuke''s gaze. Out of everyone here, Medusa gave her the strangest feeling.


    Medusa stared at her for some time before nodding and answering, "...She indeed has a Vampire Physiology. At least the power of her blood can easily be distinguished."


    "I see! So she''s like Gasper-kun." Irinamented while pping her hand, "In that case, it''ll be easier to figure out what her abilities are."


    "Not quite." Sona interjected, "Even among Vampires, the extent of their abilities varies from n to n. There are even some mutated members that possess power thought to not be possible within the race''s in history."


    "That''s indeed the case. I can only tell that Challia-san is Vampiric because I also have some Vampire abilities that I''ve developed to sustain what Ick. Even then, it''s only the most basic of the basic Blood-based abilities." Medusa supplemented. Even until this day, Medusa still regrets the way she''d acquired these abilities, as she ended up losing control of herself mainly due to them.


    Nevertheless, she''d alreadye to terms with it and stopped thinking about the ''what ifs'', mostly thanks to everyone epting who she is despite revealing who she really was and her history. It also wouldn''t stop her from using these abilities if it means protecting those precious to her.


    "Since she''s not a naturally born monster, then it would be hard to figure out her unique abilities. But even then, basic Blood-based abilities are still unique." Aika muttered while rubbing her chin. As if a good idea was popping into her head, she rudely pointed her finger towards Filvis and said with a wide smile, "Yosh~! Kisuke, give her a bit of your blood! A liter or two is enough!"


    But her energetic ''request'' only earned her a knock on the head from Medusa, "Forget about digesting that amount of blood, even I wouldn''t dare to take a single sip of Master''s blood without proper preparations. An immature Vampire like Challia-san would only explode from overconsumption... literally."


    "S-seriously?" Aika turned to Kisuke.


    Kisuke looked up and thought for a moment, "Hmm... In the past, I''d certainly say that Medusa-chan is overacting, but I''m not too sure right now."

 Chapter 721 Filvis Challia part 3

    Chapter 721 Filvis Challia part 3


    "How about Koneko? Since she''s got the greatest vitality outside of Nee-sama, Yoruichi-san, Kuroka-san, and Kisuke, I think we''d get the best result out of her." Sona suggested.


    Koneko didn''t even question it and took out a small ss cup from her pouch before making a small cut on her palm using Ki on her fingertip as a knife, letting the blood spill into the cup.


    Since everyone except for Hestia was used to the sight of blood, it was only her that reacted strongly, "W-w-wait! How could you cut yourself so easily like that!" She said as she rushed to Koneko''s side to check her wound.


    But when she got there, Koneko''s wound had already started closing up and with a smug face, she said proudly, "I''ve been working hard on my Ki regeneration. Self-inflicted small wounds like this only take a few seconds topletely heal."


    But her smug face was broken when Hestia started pinching her cheeks, "I don''t care! It''s already hard for me to watch you guys getting hurt from training, but I didn''t say anything regarding that. However, I won''t stay quiet anymore if I see you hurting yourselves!"


    "I... I''m sorry." Koneko immediately apologized when she saw the serious expression that Hestia was making.


    Hestia also quickly turned to others and dered, "That''s the same for all of you! I won''t allow you to hurt yourselves for no reason!"


    With a wry smile, Kisuke patted her head in an attempt to calm her down, "This is technically my fault, so please don''t me them. Besides, it''s not for no reason."


    Kisuke then picked up the ss cup filled to half with Koneko''s blood, "I would have done it myself if not for the reason that Medusa-chan mentioned. So please forgive them, okay?"


    Hestia could only pout at Kisuke''s words, "...Fine. But please think twice before intentionally hurting yourselves."


    Each and every one of them then reassured Hestia.


    As for Artemis, she saw Filvis'' shocked expression and said, "Each Familia is different, just like how each God is different from each other. This might be a very foreign scene for you, evenpared to Dionysus''s ''love'', however, something like this is within the norm... maybe a little bit more than that, but it''s nothing strange."


    Filvis immediately took back her ckened expression, but she was bothered by this deep inside. It was just very contrastingpared to the Dionysus Familia, with her being mostly unwanted by the other members and Dionysus himself not doing anything to fix the issue, instead keeping her by his side at all times, which just worsened the situation she was in.


    Everyone else had also noticed the change in her expression, but chose to not say anything. cing the cup in front of Filvis, Kisuke continued, "Please try it."


    But Filvis didn''t move, "...I-is this really alright?"


    There''s no doubt that she was hesitating. Although she''s used to the sight and smell of blood, the thought of consuming it made her reel back. Even as a Creature back then, such a thought was very foreign, and thinking about it now made it feel like it was very immoral.


    But when she got the whiff of its scent, Filvis became extremely conflicted, ''What''s this sweet smell?''


    "Just try it. Your body shouldn''t even reject it. On the contrary, you''ll be craving for it."


    "T-there''s no way!"


    "We understand your stance, but just try it. You''re not killing anyone here and we can''t move on if you hesitate now."


    "B-but still... There''s no way I can drink blood! Only a lunatic would do what even monsters won''t do!"


    "Then just think of me as a lunatic forcing you to drink blood. Just a sip is fine. If there are any reactions, then you''ll also figure out what you can do."


    Filvis hesitated for a few more seconds before gritting her teeth and muttering, "You lunatic..."


    Grabbing the cup off the table, Filvis got a better whiff of the blood, ''It really smells sweet... I thought it wasing from something else.''


    After a minute or two of staring at the cup, Filvis finally took a sip, slowly.


    At first, Filvis''s attention was fully on the taste of the blood, which was very sweet and something she could get used to for a few seconds, until the warm drink went down her throat and gave her a very invigorating feeling.


    The invigoration didn''t stop there and it became incredibly revitalizing, to the point that she lost herself to the feeling of power surging from within her. While feeling irrevocably guilty, she took another sip that multiplied the intoxicating feeling she was having.


    Finally,pletely losing herself in the feeling and forgetting her surroundings, Filvispletely downed the cup and even wanted more. Her crimson red eyes started shining and the feeling of thirst worsened as she craved for more.


    All of a sudden, Filvis'' sight shook and she felt a stinging pain in her left cheek. The glow in her eyes disappeared and her consciousness returned as she looked up to see Medusa looking down at her while frowning, "Controlling your urges and desires are what separates you from animals and monsters. Never forget that."


    While feeling Medusa''s p, Filvis shuddered at the sight of the empty ss and hurriedly returned it on the table, "W-what was that?"


    "Maybe Koneko-chan''s blood was still too much."mented Kisuke while rubbing his chin, "Challia-san was technically a newborn and couldn''t be helped if she were to lose herself to her instincts. Our mistake was to not get an ordinary person''s blood, so don''t be too harsh on her."


    But Medusa shook her head, "That doesn''t matter. Something like this should be addressed before it bes a bigger problem. I don''t really want to see someone take the same path as me."


    Kisuke sighed with a wry smile and wrapped his arm around her neck and shoulder, "I guess that''s true. Learning from it harshly early on is a lot better than regretting itter."


    Medusa didn''t say anything anymore and just enjoyed Kisuke''s warmth wrapped around her. She had a feeling that two people were snickering at her, but she ignored those voices that couldn''t be heard by others.


    Kisuke turned to the still shocked Filvis, and said, "It looks like it''s about time for you to rest. To end this, use all of your strength to punch me."


    Filvis wanted to escape from the crowd too and have some time for herself to think about some things, so she readily agreed by immediately nodding her head and standing up.


    Without saying anything, Filvis pulled back her fist and lowered her back before throwing a punch. In the middle of the attack, Filvis realized that this simple punch was the strongest physical attack she had ever pulled off, including her previous life as a Creature.


    While incredibly surprised at the strength she was able to put out, she also became worried and hoped that Kisuke would dodge, as she couldn''t pull back her punch anymore, as she had indeed put all of her strength behind it.


    But she was stunned when Kisuke just casually lifted his hand to catch her fist. The moment their fist and palm made contact, it created a small shockwave that spread everywhere. However, Filvis couldn''t think of what damage that shockwave had caused, as she could only stare at her fist with eyes wide open, "H-how...?"


    "Not bad~. Before drinking some blood, your strength was only bordering Level 5 and 6, but now, your punch''s strength isn''t very far from that of Ottar''s. A big jump, I must say." Kisuke then released her fist and turned to Medusa while removing his arm from around her, "Please take her to her room to rest. We''re done here."


    Medusa nodded and said, "Got it."

 Chapter 722 Face to face with Ouranos

    Chapter 722 Face to face with Ouranos


    Filvis was already sitting on her bed and Medusa was about to leave the room when thetter suddenly turned around, "You might think that you''re hiding it, but most of us already know that you''ve already nned to take your own life."


    Filvis''s eyes widened but her face disyed a self-deprecating smile, "What? Are you going to stop me?"


    But contrary to her expectation, Medusa made a small smile, "Of course not. Since you''ve technically been forced into this kind of life because Kisuke needed you to do something for him, he asked us to let you do anything you want to yourself, even if that is suicide. Although we didn''t tell any of this to Hestia-sama, because she''s far too kind and she would most certainly not leave you alone until you''ve changed your mind."


    Surprised in another way, Filvis couldn''t help but mutter, "...You lot are really different from the rest."


    "...How conceited."


    "P-pardon?"


    "With your tiny world view, you judged us to be different. If that''s not conceited, what is? Just because you''ve suffered greatly doesn''t mean you''ve already seen everything. Only when you''ve suffered ande to terms with it for the future could it be considered that you''ve taken the first step into the real world."


    Medusa was about to close the door, she recalled something else and said, "Oh, and by the way, if by any chance you decide to stay alive, I have advice for someone who has simr abilities to mine. I said earlier that controlling your urges and desires is what separates you from animals and monsters, but you should also never be afraid of it. After all, it''s your power and when youe into a situation where you need everything you''ve got to do something important, like saving a friend, you''ll be thankful that you didn''t ck off in improving it."


    As the sound of the door closing resounded within the room, Filvis flopped down on the bed while covering her eyes with her arm, ''What should I do?... Lefiya...''


    The next morning, Filvis slowly opened her eyes and thought, ''I didn''t think I''ll get a good night''s sleep.''


    However, when she had fully woken up, she found it strange that she couldn''t move both of her arms and legs, ''!?''


    She wanted to exim, but she also discovered her mouth and could only let out muffled sounds from her throat, "Nnng!?"


    "I see that you''re awake~ It''s good to see that you''ve got a good night''s sleep."


    Filvis immediately turned her head towards the source of the voice and saw that Kisuke was holding a cloth sack while grinning, "Nnng! Nnngg!? Nnnnng!"


    "Save your breath. I have not the slightest idea what you''re trying to say." Kisuke replied as he put the struggling Filvis in the sack, "Don''t worry. I won''t be taking you anywhere dangerous. In fact, I''ll be taking you to your only friend''s ce. Be grateful~!"


    But instead of calming down, Filvis struggled more, ''No!!! Please! Anywhere but there! Please! I don''t want Lefiya to see me like this!'' But all she made was a useless noise of struggles.


    .


    .


    .


    Leaving the Hearth Manor with a moving sack on his back and a bulging belly, instead of the Twilight Manor, Kisuke made his way to a certain dark alleyway, which was the entrance to the secret pathway that led to Ouranos''s secret room.


    After waiting for a few minutes around it, a ck-cloaked figure emerged from its shadow, "Kisuke Urahara, it''s our first time meeting. I''m Fels, nice to meet you."


    "Nice to meet you too~ I''ve heard you''ve taken care of my girls while I was away. Thanks for that."


    "Your gratitude is unnecessary. If anything, I''m thankful for the immense help they provided. But that''s not why you''re here, is it? For you to specificallye to my master''s doorstep instead of contacting me through the Guild, may I ask what you need?"


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just ced the sack on the ground and opened it a little bit for Fels to see.


    Curious about what''s inside the moving sack all this time, Fels took a peek and what he saw almost made his mask fall off. With a shaking hand, Fels pointed at the person inside it, "I-is that Filvis Challia!? B-but that form..."


    "This is enough to meet your master, isn''t it?"


    Of course it is. But he still had to go back and exin the situation to Ouranos before getting his permission. Nheless, before he could turn back, Ouranos''s voice echoed from the secret path, "Fels. Lead him in."


    Fels immediately got his bearings back and said, "Please follow me."


    After a few minutes of walking through the secret passage filled with inscriptions, Kisuke concluded something, ''So it is arge array for containing Divine Power instead of Magic Power. I guess this is how he does his so-called ''prayer''. Just what sort of agreement did he make with the Dungeon? Or is it the actual Dungeon?''


    While these questions floated in Kisuke''s head, they reached the secret room where Ouranos was sitting on the podium, looking down at them, "It''s nice to finally meet you, Kisuke Urahara."


    "It''s also an honor to meet the man that is keeping the Dungeon calm."


    Ouranos''s forehead creased slightly hearing this, "It seems that you know a lot of things. But that isn''t why you''re here. I heard Fels uttered a name that was supposed to have left this world as if he had seen here back to life. What is that about?"


    "There are two things I want to say." Kisuke then started untying the sack again and instead of just opening it, Kisuke pulled the entire sack down, revealing the girl with white-hair, crimson eyes and bat-like wings attached to her back.


    Filvis thought that she''d be going to the Loki Familia, but instead she was in front of Ouranos. Not knowing what''s happening, she chose to stay still.


    An expression of shock became apparent on Ouranos''s usually stoic face, "...This is more than I imagined. What do want us to do?"


    "Oh? You''re not going to ask for the details?"


    "Are you willing to exin it in detail?


    "Nah~ Too much effort and it''s useless to exin. Anyway, your Guild officials will certainly question me when I walk through the town with her on my back, so I want a certification to send them away. I''m also here to inform you regarding her existence so that you won''te into conflict with anyone taking care of her."


    "How can we be sure that she won''t cause any further trouble?"


    Kisuke shook her head, "You can''t as she''ll surely cause trouble in some way or another. Just her existence was enough of a problem. However, it''ll be up to you on how to use that trouble to your advantage. Lastly, her having no reason should be a reason enough to give her a chance, don''t you think?"


    Ouranos thought for a moment before letting out a sigh, "Fair enough. What about the second thing you wanted to talk about?"


    "We''re leaving Orario."

 Chapter 723 Small Confrontation

    Chapter 723 Small Confrontation


    "Leave Orario, you say?" Ouranos repeated Kisuke''s words as he contemted the effects that would cause to the entire city and the Dungeon itself.


    Kisuke chuckled seeing him think so hard about it, "Do you really even have to consider this? Just a heads up. I don''t need your permission to do that. I just wanted you to send us somewhere officially so that those people eyeing my girls won''t make a fuss and actually try to follow us."


    Kisuke then put Filvis back in her sack before continuing, "And you wouldn''t actually want an unknown variable like me to leave this ce, would you? You must have heard of the strangeness and mysteries surrounding our Familia and me in particr."


    Ouranos sighed, "I would actually want to keep an eye on an unknown variable like you instead of sending you away. But you''re right. I can''t stop you. No one in this city can."


    Ouranos then turned to Fels and said, "Fels, prepare an order that would send them to the Dizara Region for investigation. If this is not done right, Gods would chase after them with the reason that he''s leaving with the technology that he''d pledged to give to Orario."


    Fels recalled a certain project that has been in development now and muttered, "The iron carriage and iron horse, huh. Understood. I''ll see to it that everything is processed correctly and secretly so that others won''t have any time to react."


    "Wait," Ouranos stopped Fels from leaving and turned his head back to Kisuke, "Before you go, let''s hear thest thing he has to say."


    Fels became confused, ''Thest thing? Didn''t he say that he only wanted two things?''


    Knowing his confusion, Ouranos exined, "He indeed wanted two things arranged for him, but there''s one thing he still has to inform us. You wouldn''t mind it, right? Showing what''s under your attire."


    Before answering, Kisuke patted the big bulge on his belly and it started squirming around. The head of the small white Dragon peeked out which startled both Ouranos and Fels greatly.


    "K-Kisuke Urahara! T-that is...!" Fels couldn''t find the right words.


    Both Ouranos and Fels were curious about what he was hiding under his clothing, but they didn''t expect it to be a very tamed monster and it seemed to be a very intelligent one. However, they were once again speechless when they heard the voice of a child inside their head, [Aria?]


    Ouranos'' Divine Power immediately strengthened and covered a wider range, albeit, only Kisuke noticed this sudden change. However, he pretended not to notice it and said, "This is the Nidhogg that Dionysus was rearing within Knossos, well... formerly, at least."


    Fels wanted to say something but Ouranos raised his hand to stop him, "So you didn''t kill that monster. But you imed it to be the Nidhogg, however, it looks very different... For one, it looks like a Spirit to me."


    Fels shuddered at Ouranos'' words but Kisuke only chuckled to it, "Spirit, is it? Will the other Deities see the same?"


    Ouranos shook his head, "I can only do so because I''m directly connected to both Heaven and the Dungeon."


    "That''s very reassuring. But I won''t say anything about this little guy aside from I''m nning to give it to Wallenstein-san. You can make your own inferences after the fact."


    And as if speaking along with him, the little Dragon also opened its mouth while sending out telepathic signals, [Protect! Aria!]


    Ouranos stared at the Dragon for a short while but couldn''t find any of the Demi-Spirits'' ''malice'' in it, "Please at least answer one thing. What makes it different from those desecrated Spirits?"


    "This kid is thest wish of those Spirits. Isn''t that enough?"


    Ouranos nodded, "That''s plenty."


    Ouranos thought that Kisuke would already be leaving since he''d already gotten everything he needed, but instead, Ouranos was asked a question he was not expecting, "Since I''ve answered your question, could you tell me if you have any idea who did this?"


    Ouranos thought for a while and decided that he wouldn''t pretend to not know what he''s talking about. In any case, Fels who had been listening in on the side wouldn''t understand any of what they were talking about, "Many have already perished through eons due to many different reasons so it''s almost impossible to single one out. But that doesn''t mean I''ve stopped my efforts to search for the culprit. Nevertheless, I also don''t know if they still exist today and just left their disgusting legacy behind."


    Hearing this, Kisuke grinned, "What a shame~! But I can assure you that he or she still exists today. After all, without manually controlling the focal point where the Demi-Spirits return, it would be impossible to maintain the system they''ve built."


    Ouranos'' eyes widened, "...What!? But how?"


    It was then that the realization hit him, "I see... That''s where Filvis Challiaes in."


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s right~ But that''s all I can guarantee."


    Ouranos'' outlook of Kisuke changed yet again, "You really are an unknown variable... And a much more dangerous one than I initially expected."


    It was then that Ouranos'' Divine Power subtly changed shape, "Are you an enemy or an ally?" His voice contained authority pressed on the surroundings.


    While Fels immediately knelt down in fear and reverence, Filvis started shaking from fear, and the little Dragon hid behind his back, Kisuke however wasn''t fazed and his smile didn''t recede, "Ouranos-sama, isn''t it too early to tell that? And whether we''re enemies or allies, intentionally revealing our motives this early won''t do us any good and would just benefit any third parties if by any chance we''re on opposite teams."


    "And determining we''re on the same side would be a blessing for us, no?"


    "But isn''t the probability of me being in the grey area instead of your ck and white side much higher than anything else? Revealing that would only do me harm."


    The two of them stared at each other for a while but Ouranos soon sighed and took back his oppressive aura. Without any warning, Ouranos sent a telepathic message to Kisuke, [An otherworlder, aren''t you?]


    Kisuke was still not fazed, [Otherworlder? What a convenient excuse~!]


    In the end, Ouranos failed to ascertain anything useful regarding Kisuke aside from him being able to stand tall under his pressure.


    However, the suspicion of him and possibly the others around him being otherworlders won''t leave his mind anymore, ''Only those who''re watching outside could have a wider view like this.''


    Kisuke said his goodbyes and was about to leave but Ouranos stopped him and said, "If youe across Zeus in Dizara, tell him that there''s hope."

 Chapter 724 To the Twilight Manor

    Chapter 724 To the Twilight Manor


    Walking through the town, people indeed reported Kisuke for carrying a moving sack with a muffled voiceing from inside of it.


    Two Guild officers came to him, "Excuse me. May we take a look at what''s inside that bag? Someone has reported that you kidnapped someone."


    Hearing that, Filvis stopped struggling for a moment since she realized that if people were to see her, she''d immediately be killed and she was a bit hesitant to die now after deciding against suicidest night.


    But Kisuke didn''t have to exin himself as his Familia''s Guild Advisor, Sophie, came running in to stop them, "Don''t worry about him. Here is the order from the higher-ups stating that he is clear."


    The two Guild officers checked the paper that Sophie presented to them and immediately saw Royman''s unique stamp and signature. The two then looked at each other and nodded, "Understood. We''ll inform those who reported the sighting and return to our patrol."


    Sophie nodded at them and replied, "Thank you. Good luck with your work."


    After seeing them leave, Kisuke immediately thanked Sophie, "Thanks for the help~."


    "Don''t mention it. It''s my job. Here. Take it." After handing over the paper to Kisuke, Sophie turned around intending to leave and resume her job. But after a few steps, she turned her body once again and looked at Kisuke, "Please meet me before you leave."


    Kisuke smiled and said, "Will do."


    "Well then, goodbye and see youter."


    .


    .


    .


    Arriving at the gates of Twilight Manor, low-level members immediately came out and greeted and opened the gates for him, "Good morning, Kisuke Urahara. May we ask what you need early this morning?"


    Kisuke got a bit confused with their response but still replied without any pause, "Good morning~! I need to talk to Loki-sama about something, your executives too. If that''s not much of a bother."


    "It isn''t. But everyone was still in their morning training in the back. Do you want to go there or wait in the lobby?"


    "Ho~ The subjugation of Knossos was just the other day yet you''re already resuming your daily routine? How admirable."


    "Of course. We have to get back in shape because we don''t know what other dangers are lurking around." And with a wry smile, he continued, "Besides, although none of us lost our lives, it doesn''t feel like we won against Dionysus-sama either. Not after that kind of ending."


    ''So Challia-san''s ending still bothered them, huh... Looks like Loki-sama managed to gather some good members.'' Kisuke didn''t say anything back regarding that, "I''ll wait in the lobby then since it''ll be quite a talk."


    The Loki Familia members then talked to each other before one of them walked off to inform others and one led Kisuke to their lobby.


    On the way, the man leading him gave in to his curiosity and asked while pointing at the sack that resumed its struggle because she doesn''t want to meet her only friend, "Umm... By the way, what is that?" Although he''s also curious about his bulging belly, he''s still more curious about the bigger and more overt thing.


    "Xenos."


    The Loki Familia member was startled and halted his steps, "E-excuse me?"


    "A Xenos," repeated Kisuke, "I''m actually thinking of leaving her to your Familia''s care. That''s one of the reasons I''m here."


    The man was speechless for a short while before nodding and turning around to resume his steps, "I see..."


    Kisuke smiled at this response and asked, "So you''re not against it?"


    He continued leading the way while answering, "Personally, I''m not but there might be others who are. However, if you were to ask now, I think it''d be easy for Loki-sama to make everyone agree. After all, if not for the Xenos'' help, some of us might not have left that man-made Dungeon, including Captain Finn. If it''s Rey, though, Loki-sama wouldn''t even need to convince anyone."


    "Since we''re on the topic of Knossos, What do you think about Filvis Challia? I heard it was revealed that she was an enemy all along." With Kisuke''s question, the sack stopped moving.


    "A lot of us have resentment towards her..."


    Filvis clenched her fist within the sack.


    "However, we couldn''t really me her either. After bing a monster, she had no choice but to believe in the only person who epted her. And she''s actually the reason why we couldn''t feel that we had won. It didn''t feel like we fought against a monster, but a person who was manipted by a God''s ''love'', and in the end, she still didn''t let go of that belief."


    The man faced Kisuke once again with a wry smile, "You see, we could rte to her since we might have done the same thing in her position."


    "Right... She''s just a girl who was haunted by misfortune and tries to fight against it by clinging on someone. Whether she clung to the correct person, is debatable." Kisuke agreed.


    Filvis was speechless. Well, she couldn''t really speak with her mouth taped and gagged, but her eyes widened at the unexpected words. She didn''t need anyone''s sympathy nor understanding. She didn''t even want them. As long as she could meet Dionysus''s expectations, she was already fine with everything.


    However, just hearing that people out there actually understood her plight gave her indescribable feelings. After being a creature for so long, she didn''t know what to feel regarding this.


    "And it''s actually Lefiya who was hit the hardest by her death. Even after dering that she got over it, some people would say that they would hear her crying in some corner of the manor."


    While Filvis was having aplicated feeling, she suddenly heard Kisuke voice inside her head, [Isn''t that nice~? Hearing it from someone of his position means that his words are actually true for the most part. I think you won''t be treated too harshly, especially with that Elf with gay tendencies.]


    But Filvis only harrumphed at him.


    A few momentster, they finally reached the lobby and it only took a minute or two before the first two people arrived, "Yo~ Kisuke! What strange wind blew you here?"


    Kisuke replied to the greeting, "That''s very rude, Loki-sama~! Can''t I juste to visit my hard-working student?"


    Loki immediately shook her head, "No way! You only have to call her one time and she''lle running to you. No need to put in the useless effort of visiting her."


    Line, who''de with Loki, blushed and protested, "Loki-sama!"


    Loki gave Line a dirty look and said, "Is that not the case?"


    "T-that..." Line couldn''t answer back.

 Chapter 725 To the Twilight Manor part 2

    Chapter 725 To the Twilight Manor part 2


    After some drinks were served, Loki asked the others to leave them alone for a while except for Line. At least until those who areing back from training arrive.


    After looking at Kisuke''s belly and the sack he brought, Loki asked, "Mind giving me a bit of a heads up about what you''re going to pull here? Just so that I can react properly and maybe give you an assist if needed."


    "That''s very kind of you, but I want to see everyone''s reaction without your input. I don''t want you to sway their decisions seeing you have the power to do that."


    Loki slumped back to the couch, "Well, I at least think it won''t be a nasty surprise. So anything else?"


    "Ah, that''s right. I haven''t told everyone, but we''re leaving Orario."


    Line''s eyes widened while Loki''s expression became serious, "What for?"


    Kisuke thought for a moment before answering, "Nothing much. Just a change of scenery, I guess. And the girls would have more freedom at our destinationpared to this ce where most information is public."


    "I just decided on itst night so I haven''t asked everyone, but I don''t think they would disagree. And by any chance they disagree, I can always cancel it."


    Loki scratched her head, "But I don''t think you could leave peacefully. Your girls are really attractive in the eyes of Deities. And it doesn''t help that no one among them really knows anything about you and looks down on you. They thought that you''re just some figurehead that knows how to sweet talk. If not for you, I would have put in great effort just to recruit them.


    "Though you must have done something to Freya since she''s not making a single move on anyone in your Familia. Ultimately, that sultry bitch was even more fond of talented and unique children than me."


    Kisuke chuckled at Loki''s words and replied, "No need to worry about that. I already got an official send-off from the Guild so they can''t really say anything if we were to leave."


    "Hmmm... Looks like you already prepared everything you would need. I should have known," Loki muttered as she rubbed her chin. She then took a quick nce at Line on her side. As someone who watches her children carefully, including Line, although it''s not obvious to everyone, Loki could tell that Line was dejected, ''Of course this would happen.''


    After thinking for a few seconds, Loki finally asked, "How about taking Line-chan with you?"


    "Loki-sama!?" Surprised, Line eximed. Although she thought of asking the same thing, she held it back due to her responsibilities within the Familia, which had increased along with her abilities. But undeniably, Line was happy inside, however, she didn''t show it on her face.


    ''Where did this cute girle from?'' Loki saw the corner of her mouth twitching as she tried to hold back smiling.


    Kisuke also noticed this but didn''tment on it, "I''m fine with that, but are you sure? This is the time you''ll need her the most, right?"


    "That''s true. Her healing abilities were beyond outstanding and she''s also able to teach others Magic. However, her incredible ability to heal also dwarfs the other healers'' abilities and confidence."


    Kisuke immediately understood her point, "I see. Having her around is good, but it''s so good that it''s actually bad for the other''s development. That''s what you''re saying, correct?"


    Loki nodded, "That''s right. Line-chan''s existence is like a big cushion that gives them too muchfort. And you know how much of an impediment to development extremefort could bring." She then looked towards Line, who was now making aplicated expression, "Aside from that, thanks to Riveria''s prior experience, she''s now better at handling Magic in general than Line."


    Line also slowly nodded while adding, "I still can''t use any Space Magic but Riveria-sama can already open a small pocket of storage."


    "Wisdom really doese with old age," Kisukemented while disying his admiration.


    "Say that in front of her and she''ll whack you with her staff nonstop..." Loki then thought of something, "Actually, do that. She may try to whack you, but I think she''ll do it with a blush on her face."


    "I see... That might actually be a fair trade. Yosh~! My camera is always prepared!"


    Seeing the ck box in Kisuke''s hands, Line panicked, "Please don''t! Or she might ckout again! Loki-sama! Don''t you remember the time you kept teasing her to the point that rampaged for a whole day without anyone being able to stop her!? We don''t want another tragedy like that! She might just confiscate your wine stash and ban alcohol for a month this time!"


    Loki shuddered at that possibility and hurriedly turned to Kisuke, "Let''s do that another time."


    Kisuke couldn''t fight back against Loki''s serious expression and put his camera back in his storage.


    Clearing her throat, Loki continued, "Ehem. In any case, take Line-chan with you. Her rate of improvement should also increase with you and since she''s my child, it''s also a win-win situation for me."


    "That''s not a problem. In fact, I want her to meet someone in the Dizara Region. I think they''ll get along well." Kisuke then turned to Line, "Do you need any time to prepare?"


    "N-no," Line immediately shook her head, "Thanks to the bag you gave me, I always have my essentials with me, including your books. I just need to pack some of my clothes and I''ll be done."


    "That''s fine. If they agree to my proposal,e and have dinner with us. We''ll leave after that."


    "Understood!" Line happily nodded.


    "By the way, don''t tell anyone that you''re leaving," Loki suddenly interjected.


    Line looked at her for a moment and understood what she meant and to some degree, Kisuke did too, "Wait. You''re thinking that someone else might want to follow us?"


    Loki immediately snarled at him, "Huuuh!? You can''t think of anyone!? Want me to drill my toes into your nose so that you''ll remember!?"


    Kisuke closed his eyes and started to genuinely contemte while muttering, "Riveria-san might want toe because of Magic, but I doubt she''ll leave her responsibilities and that''s the same for the other two top executives."


    "As for the Hiryute sisters... I don''t think they need anything from me."


    "Bete-san and Viridis-san hate my guts so it''s a no for them too."


    "As for Wallenstein-san..." Kisuke recalled yesterday''s scene where Ais suddenly ran off when she saw him, "Nope~ She was terrified of me so she''s not the one either."


    Kisuke opened his eyes and said with arge smile, "No one reallyes to mind."


    Loki and Line looked at each other in shock before turning back to Kisuke and simultaneously asking, " "Terrified?" "

 Chapter 726 Lysa part 1

    Chapter 726 Lysa part 1


    "Just yesterday, when she saw me on the streets, she instantly ran away. There''s no way that girl would want toe with me.", exined Kisuke.


    "She did that?", asked Loki, "If she''s going to be terrified of someone, it would be Sera-chan."


    Kisuke was surprised that Serafall''s name had suddenlye up and Loki noticed that and continued on, "Before the whole Knossos subjugation started, Ais-chan felt that her strength was not enough to match the red-haired Creature. In an attempt to bridge that gap, she decided to find someone to help her get stronger. The strongest person that she knew, aside from you, was Sera-chan. Though I was really surprised when she agreed."


    ''She was probably bored with too much free time.'', thought Kisuke.


    "Serafall-san came to the manor after Ais-san asked her. After that, it was just a one-sided beatdown. It was so bad that I had to stay by Ais-san''s side at all times so that she could continue fighting. But...", Line hesitated before continuing, "But what scared her the most... No... What scared all of us, was her intent to kill. It was so clear that it was actually suffocating. We didn''t expect any of that from the usually cheerful person."


    "What Wallenstein-san needed the most was not the strength to match her opponent, but the intent to kill for her to actually use her full power against the Creature that looks like a Human. Sera-chan understood that and drowned her with killing intent so that she could develop her own.", rified Kisuke, ''Though it seems to have backfired, ''cause that same killing intent ended up consuming her.''


    It was then that Loki suddenly asked, "I was there, too, for most of the time and for her to manifest such killing intent... Just how many people has she killed?"


    Line immediately shut her mouth and waited nervously. She didn''t understand why Loki would suddenly ask such a question.


    Kisuke didn''t mind her question and answered truthfully, "She''s participated in and led armies to wars spanning decades. After it had all ended, she had to exercise her authority to stabilize everything. If she couldn''t develop a killing intent like that, she would have never led one of thergest armies, nor would she have survived to sit in one of the highest positions in her country."


    Loki nodded in understanding, "I see... Someone who has already experienced the horrors of war from top to bottom, huh? If it''s like that, then it''s understandable. The fact that she can act so cheerfully like that is amazing, too."


    Seeing the situation had ended well, Line sighed in relief too. However, she was curious about one thing and asked, "Wars spanning several decades, isn''t it? Just how old is Serafall-san?"


    Kisuke thought for a moment before answering, "I''m not too sure either and she''ll surely try to kill me if I attempt to investigate it. But she''s way older than Riveria-san, that''s for sure."


    "What!? Isn''t she a Human!?"


    Kisuke just smiled at her and replied, "Line-chan, people of her strength have a life expectancy beyondmon sense. Once you''ve reached a certain stage of Magic or Ki, you''ll also gain a body strong enough to contend with them. At that point, you''ll be beyond healthy and diseases and failures of the body would be the least of your concern."


    Before Line could say anything back, the other members of the Loki Familia finally arrived with Finn leading the group, "Loki, we''re here. Kisuke Urahara, wee to the Twilight Manor. We''re sorry for making you wait."


    "Don''t worry about it. Loki-sama and Line-chan were here with me and I''m the one who came unannounced. I apologize for that."


    As Line stood up, Finn, Riveria and Gareth all sat down surrounding Loki while the rest just gathered around them. But instead of them, the first one Kisuke noticed was Ais who was hiding behind Tiona with a worried look on her face, ''She''s really weak to being scolded, huh. Must be the first time she came across someone like me. I guess even Riveria-san couldpletely take the role of a parent for her.''


    "Let''s drop the formalities. That would only waste both of our time, even if we have lots of it." Finn started.


    Kisuke nodded at him, "That''s what I wanted. You must have already heard it, but I want the Loki Familia to take in a Xenos." Kisuke started untying the rope on the sack, "More specifically, I want Viridis-san to take care of her."


    Lefiya was shocked that her name actually came up and pointed at herself nervously, "M-me?"


    However, before Kisuke could answer or reveal who''s in the sack, his bulging belly started squirming around before the small White Dragon peek its head outside, surprising everyone and putting them on high alert.


    The Dragon did a quick scan before it excitedly leapt out of Kisuke''s clothes and flew towards Ais in the back, [Aria!]


    But contrary to the joyful Dragon, Ais was having a murderous look. She couldn''t even hear the Dragon''s ''voice'', which further shocked the rest as she was already blinded with hate and rage. Without any warning, she swung her fist using all of her strength in hopes to instantly kill the Dragon.


    Riveria wanted to stop her because she had a feeling that she was making a very grave mistake but it was already toote for her to interfere, "Ais!" She could only hope for Kisuke to save the Dragon.


    The little Dragon finally noticed that something was not right with ''Aria'' and felt extreme danger from her. However, it was already toote to return to safety and it could only watch the fist descend to it with fear.


    "Danku (Splitting Void).", muttered Kisuke.


    A small transparent rectangr barrier appeared in front of the Dragon and stopped Ais''s fist.


    Ais woke up from her stupor when she felt the pain in her fist, but before she could take it back, a small lump of Magic Power suddenly struck her forehead, sending her head back and making her kneeling in pain, "Ow!"


    But thanks to that pain, she finally realized what just happened and got scared that she attempted to kill the monster that came from Kisuke, ''It''s obvious that he''s keeping it... What did I do?''


    She immediately looked up to apologize but her words were stuck in her throat when she saw the small White Dragon floating in front of her. Not because of its form, but it''s strange eyes full of emotion and currently radiating with sadness. For the first time, she was feeling guilty about trying to attack a monster and she was incredibly confused by it.


    [...Aria...]


    "W-what?" She finally heard its ''voice''.


    But the Dragon suddenly turned and flew back to Kisuke''s arms, [Aria!!!]


    It was as if it was a wronged child that was seekingfort.


    Hugging it with his right arm and patting its head with her left hand, Kisuke started consoling the poor little Dragon, "Yosh, yosh. Don''t cry. Uncle Kisuke is here. I already flicked the head of that bad girl so don''t cry. Here, you like sweets, right?"


    This surreal scene further made everyone speechless.

 Chapter 727 Lysa part 2

    Chapter 727 Lysa part 2


    The first one to speak up was Loki after listening to the Dragon cry out ''Aria'' and ''Protect'' repeatedly for a minute, "O-oi, Kisuke... Just what is that?"


    "Hmm? A Dragon, obviously."


    "I can see that!", Loki stood up and retorted, "But... just what!?" Even then, she didn''t even know where to begin as there were so many points that needed to be cleared.


    Kisuke chuckled at her and replied while stroking the head of the Dragon, "Let''s take it slowly and ask away. I don''t think it''ll take a long time to answer your questions."


    Loki sat down deted, "So you won''t exin everything from the start..."


    Nodding, Kisuke answered, "That''s right. You can ask any question regarding this little guy and I''ll answer it."


    Loki looked at him for several seconds without saying anything before sighing and turning to Finn, "Do it. You''ll do a better job."


    Finn knew that this was not true but still nodded at her, "Alright." He knew that Loki was giving him a chance to probe Kisuke without her interference.


    But before asking anything, he firstmanded, "Except for the executives, Lefiya, Raul, Aki, Alicia, Narvi, Cruz and Line, please leave for now. From here on out, topics that are incredibly important and need to be kept secret will be discussed. I hope you understand."


    No one went against Finn''s decision and saluted before leaving the room. Finn then faced Kisuke and said, "Although you called for everyone, I hope you don''t mind this arrangement of mine."


    Kisuke shook his head, "I don''t mind. If this is what you want, I have nothing to say."


    "Well then, first of all, is it safe?"


    "In what context? Anyone and anything can be dangerous in certain situations."


    "My bad. Let me change my question. Could it hurt people like us and will it do so?"


    "Currently, it''s not as strong as you lot, but if it''s threatened, it would surely retaliate in defense. Since it''s still a child, it doesn''t have much control over its impulses, but it''d never hurt, or at least will never intend to hurt any bystander. But since it can understand words, it''ll be easy to teach it."


    Finn and the others were astonished, "It can understand words?"


    "Yep~ And to demonstrate what I just said.", Kisuke then looked around and pointed at Bete, "Loga-san. Please use your scummy face and try to threaten it. But don''t scare it too much, as you might get hurt."


    Instantly after, Bete started scowling, "Huuh? Why do I have to do that? And you think this uselessly fat lizard could actually hurt me? I think-." But before he could finish his words, he had to shift his head to the right in a hurry to dodge a beam of light.


    Bete looked back in horror and found a hole in the ceiling. If that beam of light hits him, he wouldn''t be getting away from it with just a sted eye. Slowly turning his head back, he saw the Dragon ring at him while hiding behind Kisuke''s arms.


    Kisuke pped at his performance and said with genuine admiration, "As expected of Loga-san~! Always exceeding expectations! You didn''t just make it feel threatened, you also insulted it!"


    "W-wha...!?" Bete then felt two handsnding on his shoulders. When he looked back, he saw the Hiryute sisters grinning and stifling theirughs, "I never thought Bete would be this cooperative.", teased Tione.


    "And you did it with such vigor and enthusiasm. You''ve changed my opinion of you.", added Tiona.


    Bete immediately shook off their hands with a bit of blush on his face, "Shut up! And hands off me!" Whether it was from embarrassment or rage was unknown.


    Ignoring their ruckus, Kisuke went back to Finn while patting the Dragon''s head to calm it down, "As you can see, it has power that could be dangerous if not regted well. But since it can understand words, it''ll be fine as long as you teach it when to use its abilities."


    Finn nodded, "That''s really surprising and impressive. But from your words just now, you intend for us to take care of it?"


    Bete, Tiona and Tione finally quiet down when they heard Finn, "I would have kept it if I could, but as you''ve seen and heard, it has a connection with Wallenstein-san, and leaving it in her care should have been a wise decision."


    Kisuke then looked towards Ais, "But it might have been too early." However, Kisuke noticed that Ais was not listening to anything they were talking about but instead, staring intently at the Dragon, ''Hmmm? This stare... What is it?... At least it''s not that of hostility or anything simr.''


    Everyone else recalled the scene earlier when Ais tried to kill the Dragon out of reflex, "But why did it not attack Ais back? Does it have something to do with her being the one who has to take care of it?", asked Finn immediately.


    "Yes. It has something to do with this little one''s origin. As you''ve probably guessed...", but Kisuke suddenly stopped speaking and looked in a certain direction.


    Curious, everyone else also did the same and saw Ais sitting on the floor holding her arms out to the Dragon.


    Conversely, the White Dragon had its reptilian eyes expanded as it saw her actions. It got very excited, but it also remembered the earlier scene and became scared. Not of being hurt, but being rejected once again.


    The Dragon then looked up to Kisuke in hopes to find an answer on what to do next and it saw him just smile gently before giving it a pat on the back, "Go. It''ll be fine this time."


    The Dragon happily nodded and leaped out of Kisuke''s arms once again and flew directly to Ais, [Aria!], it said along with a small roar of happiness that sounded more like a chirp.


    And as Kisuke said, there were no idents this time as the Dragon sessfully and gentlynded on Ais'' wide open arms, [Aria!]


    Ais didn''t say any words as she tightly hugged the Dragon and closed her eyes to feel its warmth more clearly. In response, the Dragon also silently snuggled within her warmth as the two of them created a world of their own.


    Everything that Ais just did was just following her instincts and she was not disappointed when she did so, because the moment she got ahold of the Dragon from who she thought she hated, it was as if a big piece of the puzzle within her heart was suddenly filledfortably.


    ''What''s this? What is this feeling?'', asked Ais herself and after several moments, she finally found the answer to that question, ''Ah... It''s the same as with mother.''


    It was the warmth that she''d already forgotten. The warmth of being within her mother''s arms. The warmth that she''d already lost and had been seeking all this time, but never having thought of actually finding it. She never thought that she''d find it in the most unexpected being of all. The same kind of being that she hated all her life.


    Thanks to this encounter, it would grab Ais from her path of no return. For the first time ever, she was saved, not by a ''Hero'', but by a ''Viin''.


    Out of everyone in the room, it was Loki who found the biggest change in Ais and found it unbelievable. But seeing this also gave her a huge sense of relief. It was as if arge thorn that was in her heart, although not entirely disappearing, became incredibly small.


    Loki then suddenly voiced out, "Kisuke... We won''t ask any further questions if you tell us what exactly that Dragon is..."


    "The suffering Spirits''st and only will. Is that enough?"


    Loki nodded in satisfaction, "It''s more than enough. Thank you."

 Chapter 728 Lysa part 3

    Chapter 728 Lysa part 3


    Finn was slightly unsatisfied when Loki dered that they wouldn''t ask any further questions, but when he saw the rare gentle smile on her face, he threw those thoughts away, ''That expression of huge relief... When was thest time I saw this? A few decades ago?''


    The room was covered in a veil of silence until Ais finally opened her eyes after almost a quarter of an hour, only to see everyone looking at her with a variety of soft expressions. Ais became embarrassed after realizing this and immediately apologized for no reason, "I''m sorry..."


    "Instead of us, go apologize to the little one. Although unsessfully, you still tried to hurt it.", reminded Kisuke.


    Ais instantly recalled what she did earlier and became extremely guilty. Tightening her hug on the Dragon, she whispered to it, "I''m sorry."


    In response, the Dragon further snuggled in her bosom and purred like a cat.


    Whileughing softly, Kisuke suddenly stood up and approached the two of them, "Now that it seems that you''ll be able to take care of it properly, let''s immediately set up a contract between you two."


    Ais looked up to him and tilted her head in confusion, "Contract?" An image of her and the Dragon both signing a paper came into her mind. She was surprised to know that the little one knew how to write, but didn''t know how signing a contract would be useful.


    Kisuke guessed what she was thinking and knocked on her head, "You idiot. What use would that be?"


    Ais hurriedly nursed the top of her with one hand and thought, ''That''s what I want to know...''


    Without saying any word, Kisuke put forward his right hand and a green magic circle suddenly emerged on the floor under the three of them. "Kisuke... What are you doing?", asked Riveria immediately out of concern.


    Ignoring her, Kisuke exined and asked Ais, "Contract Magic. If the Dragon agrees to be your familiar, you''ll be able to feel each other''s existence and condition at all times. You''ll also be able to summon it to your side no matter how far apart the two of you are, of course, if there are no special conditions that prevent that. Would you like to do it?"


    Just hearing the first ''feature'' already got Ais sold and instantly nodded with enthusiasm, "I''ll do it! Please let me do it!"


    "Alright. Since you don''t know how to use Contract Magic, I''m going to do it for you. However, you can''t resist any changes it brings forth because that may cause some undesirable effects which may or may not endanger both of you. Am I clear?"


    Ais stood up obediently nodding at his instructions, "I''m ready."


    The light from the Magic Circle below them increased in intensity as Kisuke started the spell. Although it looked like the Magic that the Devils used to sign a contract with their familiars, Kisuke modified it to connect not just the two''s Magic Sources, but their Souls too.


    Doing it this way stabilizes and strengthens the connection between the master and the familiar, allowing them to feel each other''s conditions far clearer than the Devil''s Magic. On top of that, if one of them gets stronger, it has a small effect on the other, strengthening them, too, to some extent. In regards to recovery, each other''s recovery would also be stimted by the other''s, bringing it to another level.


    Of course, all of these boons have a downside too. For starters, this was the first time that Kisuke had performed this after devising this method some time ago. So it never left the experimental stage, albeit, he added various safety protocols that would protect the two sides in case something bad happens. Secondly, if one of them were to die, the other side would receive a huge bacsh which normally just breaks the contract for either the master or the familiar.


    As for the reason that he couldn''t do any tests with this method? It was because of the issue ofpatibility. Until now, it was only Ais and the Dragon who''d met the minimum requirements for this, despite always being on the lookout.


    With him finishing the final touches of the contract, Kisuke thought, ''And theoretically, it''s possible for the master to use their familiar''s abilities and vice-versa, though I''m not sure if they will ever reach that point. In any case, I should secretly add a monitoring spell since it''ll be my responsibility if something were to happen to them thanks to this experimental spell.''


    The moment the Magic started, both Ais and the Dragon closed their eyes to calm themselves. Although both of them could clearly feel the changes that were happening, they were not sure what they actually were. However, theypletely trusted Kisuke and tried their best not to interfere with it.


    Finally, after two whole minutes of stillness, Kisuke said, "To finalize the contract, give it a name."


    "Name?", muttered Ais as she looked down on the Dragon who was looking up at her, too. After a few seconds of contemtion, Ais was able to think of a name immediately, "Lysa... From now on, your name shall be Lysa."


    Hearing that, Riveria''s eyes widened as she recollected the time when Ais was just starting to open up to her.


    ["Riveria Ljos Alf... What does it mean?"]


    ["Hmm? Let''s see... Although my given name doesn''t particrly mean anything special, Alf is a very old word for Elf while Ljos means ''light''. In other words, Ljos Alf, my surname, means ''Light Elf''. Just being able to use Alf as my surname meant that my lineage was one of the oldest ones among the Elves."]


    ["Ljos... So that''s why you''re so bright, Riveria."]


    ["Fufufu, I don''t know what you mean and how you came to a conclusion like that. That reminds me. If Ljos means ''light'', Lysa means ''to shine'' or ''to emit light''. Though it''s fine if you forget about that since that''s not part of your studies."]


    ["Lysa..."]


    ''It was only a quick and nondescript conversation while taking a break. I never thought that she''d still remember that...'', Riveria couldn''t help but smile at Ais, ''So you''ve found the source of your light, huh? That''s great... Really great.''


    On the one hand, while happy at this development, Riveria was also worried about the future ''Knowing Ais, she might just depend on this ''source of light'' too much... No, that would certainly happen if nothing is done. All this time, I couldn''t help her, but maybe now, it''ll be my chance to give her guidance.''


    The Magic Circle disappeared and Kisuke dered, "Contractpleted. Now the two of you are master and familiar. Make sure to treat each other well, alright?"

 Chapter 729 Flight Test

    Chapter 729 Flight Test


    "It''s done?" Loki asked curiously while looking at them.


    "Yep." Kisuke nodded at Loki before turning back to Ais and asking, "How do you feel?"


    Ais and the Dragon silently stared at each other for a minute or two before the former answered, "I can clearly feel her..."


    ''So it''s a girl?'' Kisuke thought as he suddenly grabbed the Dragon by its wings and took her off from Ais''s arm, "Now, let''s test something to confirm everything is functioning as intended."


    Ais tried to reach out to grab Lysa back, but she was already out of reach as Kisuke had immediately walked away with her, "What are you going to do?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer her and reached the window, opening it. While the rest were just watching curiously, Kisuke peered through the window and confirmed his intentions, "Yosh. This looks good."


    Although she didn''t know why, Ais suddenly became very nervous at what Kisuke was doing, "W-what looks good?" And that nervousness was also transferred to Lysa as she started shaking.


    Kisuke ignored Ais again and ced Lysa on his palm as he grinned at her, "Today is a happy day, Lysa-chan~! As my congrattory gift for the sessful contract and your name bestowal, allow me to let you experience a high-speed flight~! It''s going to be fun."


    Knowing his capabilities and personality, Riveria was able to guess what he was about to do, "W-wait, Kisuke... Think about this. You don''t have to do this. It''s obvious that there are other ways."


    "There are, but this way, we''ll see how effective that feature is," replied Kisuke as he ced a protection spell on the shaking Dragon. With a glint in his eyes, Kisuke took his hand holding Lysa back before swinging it hard towards the window.


    Within a fraction of a second, Lysa had already disappeared from everyone''s view, leaving a horrified screech of a young Dragon, "NO!!!" Ais yelled in horror as she hurriedly peered through the window in an attempt to find her new friend.


    With Lysa''s fear resonating within Ais, she immediately turned around in anger, but before she could speak, Kisuke''s hand chopnded on her forehead, "You idiot. The first thing you should do when you feel that your familiar is in danger is to ascertain her location. You should be able to do it easily. Don''t get too clouded by thepounding emotions."


    Since Lysa is much more important, Ais hurriedly did as Kisuke said and closed her eyes. However, due to the maelstrom of emotions, she couldn''t properly do it and it immediately showed on her face.


    "Calm down. The first thing you should learn is to separate your own emotions from your familiar''s. If you can''t do this, you won''t be able to make proper judgments. It''s simr to when you face strong monsters that you don''t know if you can defeat, so you should be able to do it with rtive ease."


    Ais immediately understood Kisuke''s point and took a deep breath to calm herself down. After figuring out which was the fear that Lysa was feeling, she was able to tell her approximate location and she was still moving away from this ce with an astounding speed, "I found her!"


    "Good. Now call her name while thinking that you want her to be by your side."


    Ais nodded and closed her eyes again, "Please... Lysa!"


    An instantter, a golden Magic Circle manifested in front of her, and soon, a screeching Dragon appeared on top of it. Lysa stopped screeching the moment she realized that she was already back and that was the same for Ais as she tried to hug her, but the young Dragon dodged her embrace because she had something else in mind.


    Without any hesitation, she started shooting beams of light from her mouth at Kisuke as she flew over to him with angry eyes.


    "Fuhahaha~! How was the view? Since you never went out, it must''ve been nice~!" But Kisuke justughed out loud while swatting away the beams of light with his bare hand.


    Bete''s mouth couldn''t help but twitch seeing how Kisuke could casually deflect attacks that could potentially seriously harm him. But a secondter, he sighed and thought, ''I already stoppedparing myself to them... But one day... one day.''


    Ever since he saw how Serafall trashed Ais without much effort despite thetter trying her hardest, he''d already dropped down hispetitive spirit and that was the same for everyone else. However, that didn''t mean the Loki Familia lost their motivation, but instead became even more fervent in their Magic and Ki training now that they saw a possibility. The possibility of bing even stronger than the heroes of the past.


    Seeing that her Magic attacks had no effect on Kisuke, Lysa went physical and started biting the hand he''s waving. But even with her teeth, which are way sharper and stronger than most monsters, she couldn''t pierce Kisuke''s skin. Nevertheless, she didn''t stop biting and kept on gnawing his hand.


    "Ais. You''ll be paying for all the damages." Loki suddenly announced after looking at the holes that the Dragon and Kisuke had caused.


    Ais snapped her neck towards Loki, "W-what!?"


    "Your familiar, your responsibility."


    Ais immediately became dejected as she was still knee-deep in debt with her weapons that kept being broken. Since everyone had decided to not go on an expedition for some time to continue their training, she didn''t even have much of an ie aside from asional trips to the upper and middle parts of the Dungeon, "It can''t be... It''s not even my fault..."


    Meanwhile, Kisuke let Lysa ''yfully'' bite his hand while saying, "You shouldn''t be afraid of such a thing. The Dragons I know can fly faster than that so it should be possible for you when you grow up."


    That sentence immediately caught everyone''s attention, "...Why do you sound like you have Dragon friends?" asked Loki.


    "Technically speaking, Tanis-chan is a Dragon and a friend so she''s one," answered Kisuke as he patted Lysa''s head that already stopped nibbling at his hand. She became curious about Kisuke''s Dragon friends that could fly fast.


    Loki thought that Kisuke was just dodging the issue of his words and made it clear, "What about those who could fly fast?"


    Kisuke smiled at Loki''s question. Ever since his confrontation with Ouranos earlier, Kisuke had already decided to tell a few more things to Loki so this direction of the conversation was what he wanted and what he intended.


    "Oh, that? Just a couple of astonishing friends~."

 Chapter 730 Dragon Aura

    Chapter 730 Dragon Aura


    "Heh... Tell me more about them." Loki egged him on. However, she already has an idea of what was on his mind and got curious about what he''s going to reveal this time, ''I wonder what this is for? I already got my hands full with those corrupted Spirits and here he is, making things even harder for me. Though I do hope it''s something interesting, at least.''


    The thought of avoiding what Kisuke wanted to say didn''t even ur in her mind which she would regretter.


    Kisuke''s smile grew wider and said, "First, to give more context for easier understanding, let me exin what a ''Dragon'' is." He returned to his seat while hugging Lysa, who was intently listening to him.


    Ais also did the same and sat beside him, before she started poking Lysa''s cheeks. While they were surprised at her unusual actions, they didn''t say anything so that they wouldn''t interrupt Kisuke, since they were more curious with what he''s about to say.


    "A ''Dragon'' can be easily distinguished, but not through their physical appearance." He then looked towards Finn, "What do you think a Dragon is?"


    "Monsters that generally look like giant scaly lizards or snakes that could have wings and usually have a breath attack. But you just said that not to distinguish them through their physical appearance so I''m probably wrong."


    "Don''t be too hard on yourself. Although I said that physical appearance is not the way to go, sometimes, it''s the only way for other people, and technically speaking, it''s not a bad metric as most Dragons do take those forms."


    "However, there are also beings that could look like a Dragon but not really a Dragon. A few examples of those are the Wyverns and Valgang Dragons in the Dungeon."


    Riveria creased her brows and asked, "I understand the Wyverns, but why Valgang Dragons?"


    Kisuke nodded, "The most effective way to distinguish if one is a Dragon is to feel the Aura they are using."


    "So it''s something entirely different from Magic Power or Ki?" it was Loki who asked this time.


    "That''s right. Although they can manipte both Magic Power and Ki, they use something else entirely different."


    Ais looked up to Kisuke and said, "But I''m sure Lysa just used Magic."


    "You didn''t see it wrong. But the special Aura, for simplicity''s sake, called the Dragon Aura, dwells within Lysa instead of Magic Power."


    Everyone became confused.


    "It''s puzzling, isn''t it? However, this is pretty much thanks to the Dragon Aura''s extreme versatility. While not strong on its own, it can be converted into other sorts of energies with hardly any loss in efficiency. In other words, using Dragon Aura, a Dragon can cast Magic and use Ki simultaneously without any problem or conflicts since it came from the same source."


    ''Heck. It can even be converted to Demonic, Divine, and Soul Power.'' thought Kisuke but he didn''t say any of that.


    Ais saw and felt that Lysa was also confused by all of this, "Look. Even Lysa doesn''t know what you''re talking about."


    "Don''t get it wrong. Although Lysa-chan understands a lot of things, she''s still technically a newborn and everything she knew was all from her instincts that came from her peculiar origin. She indeed used Magic, but I can clearly tell that she did that by unconsciously converting the Dragon Aura within her body."


    "So that''s why Dragon-type monsters are strong..." Muttered Tiona. But she immediately received a knock on the head from Tione, "You idiot. Didn''t he say Wyverns and Valgang Dragons are not Dragons? What are you on about?"


    "Ah, that''s right..." Tiona realized her mistake, but immediately after, she returned with a punch to the stomach, "Wait... My words still hold true! Amphisbaena and Cadmus are strong Dragon-type monsters!"


    Tione was immediately pissed and was about to hit back but Finn immediately voiced out, "Stop it."


    Taking back her fist, Tione''s demeanor instantly changed, "Yes, Captain~!"


    Finn could only sigh, "I''m sorry about them."


    But Kisuke just chuckled while waving his hand, "I don''t mind. The girls at home are also rowdy like them and I kinda like that kind of atmosphere full of energy. Makes me appreciate life more~!"


    "Anyway, moving on. Dragons are undoubtedly strong, but not for the reasons you''re thinking of. As versatile as it is, it still has limitations regarding that. Dragons can''t be as strong as truly powerful Magic and Ki practitioners in their respective expertise."


    "And you know, being a jack of all trades and master of none is very underpowered in high-level fights, save for their adaptability and versatility."


    Loki threw her hands back and said with skepticism, "But that''s very far from their domineering image."


    "That''s correct and that''s where the truly terrifying thing about the Dragon Auraes in. Dragons couldn''t be the strongest in Magic, strongest in Ki, nor strongest at any other form of energy, however, they could be the strongest at anything."


    Tiona looked at Tione straight away, "Say... I know I''m an idiot... But could you exin what he just said?"


    Tione shook her head and replied after looking at everyone''s reaction. In particr, Riveria, Gareth, Finn, and Loki''s, "We know that you''re an idiot, but you don''t have to worry. It seems that no one else understood the nonsensical thing he said either."


    Tiona sighed in relief, "Thank God... I thought I was the only one that didn''t understand the joke."


    "Fuhahaha!" Kisuke startedughing out loud, "It''s confusing, I know, but let me rephrase it. What makes Dragon Aura truly special is not its convertibility, but its ability to be anything. And when I said anything, anything that could potentially affect reality itself."


    Kisuke started ying with Lysa''s belly and continued, "A Dragon''s Fire Magic may not be as hot as the Fire Magic of someone strong and who specializes in it, however, a Dragon''s ''Fire'' could potentially burn even the soul. A Dragon''s Ice Magic may not be as cold as the Ice Magic of someone strong and who specializes in it, however, a Dragon''s ''Ice'' could potentially freeze everything, even time."


    Kisuke then looked up to everyone, "Simr to Ki, a Dragon''s Ki may not make him stronger than someone who specializes in it, however, a Dragon''s ''Strength'' could easily crush that same practitioner."


    While others still don''t understand, Loki sighed and said, "I see now... It''s not Magic nor Ki, but the Dragon Aura''s ability to be a conceptual power."

 Chapter 731 Dragon Aura part 2

    Chapter 731 Dragon Aura part 2


    "Conceptual power? What''s that?" Ais asked with great interest.


    "Exining it is actually useless since it''s a type of power that could vary and each of them don''t follow the rules of nature.", replied Loki while scratching her head, "But to make aparison, let''s take something simple like Fire Magic."


    "Obviously, Fire Magic is for burning things, however, when youpare it to a conceptual Fire, the fire itself wasn''t important, but the concept of ''Burn''. As a fire should, it burns things it can burn, but a fire with a single concept of ''Burn'', could burn anything and everything in existence."


    Riveria and Line were trying to wrap their heads around Loki''s words, but they still didn''t understand what a ''conceptual fire'' is like the rest.


    pping his hands, Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention, "To oversimplify what Loki-sama just said, a normal fire would disappear if it touches a body of water, but a conceptual fire that focuses on the concept of ''Burn'' would burn even the said body of water no matter how impossible it looks."


    Everyone''s eyes widened at such a foreign idea, "What the heck!? How does that even work!?" Tiona eximed.


    "There''s actually no point in exining such things logically since it doesn''t follow the rules of nature in the first ce. So it just does what it does.", replied Kisuke while shrugging his shoulders, "Even if you ask a wielder of such fire how he does it, the most urate answer he could give you is he just thinks of burning what he wants to burn and that''s it."


    But he himself already analyzed Orihime and Aizen''s unique powers to some extent and made a very imperfect copy of them so his words were only partially the truth. Nevertheless, they didn''t need to know any of that.


    Loki then started waving her hand left and right, "Baahh! Enough of that. Even among Gods, a conceptual power is something very unique and very rare! Not to mention, ''Burn'' is a ridiculous power that I doubt will ever exist!"


    Kisuke nodded at her, "That''s right. The more simple and broad the concept is, the less restriction and limit it has. So usually, if there are any, the concept is extremely specific and pinpoint."


    He then looked down at Lysa and continued, "In any case, that''s the reason why the Dragon race usually takes the top of the food chain. Because their Dragon Aura could evolve into something absolutely terrifying."


    They all noticed how Kisuke referred to the Dragons as a race and took that to their heart. However, the idea of a conceptual power scared them.


    Kisuke looked back up again only to see everyone except for Loki making worried expressions. He snickered at them and said, "As Loki-sama has said, it''s so rare that it may not even exist. And even if someone possessed it, it doesn''t mean they are strong as it''s still limited to how powerful the wielder is. Going back to the earlier topic, a Dragon is a Dragon because of their Dragon Aura."


    "In other words, even if it looks like a weak Goblin, as long as it''s using and producing Dragon Aura from its body, it''s a full-fledged Dragon."


    "What the heck?" Tiona muttered but Kisuke ignored her, "In that regard, Wyvern, Infant Dragon, and Valgang Dragons are not true Dragons but just look like one. Of course, the Dungeon could also produce bonified Dragons and Lysa-chan here is proof of that."


    "Now that that''s out of the way, mind telling us about your Dragon friends now? I''ve been curious about them for a while now.", Loki demanded while using her arm to support her chin. However, she admitted that the information about ''Dragons'' was incredibly important for her children and she''s truly grateful to Kisuke for sharing this.


    "Very well. The reason I''ve told you about the Dragon Aura was not just to give you a much clearer view of what a Dragon is, but also to easily exin the abilities of those two."


    Loki''s mouth twitched, "...I see... So those two have conceptual powers..."


    "That''s right. The Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor. They got those nicknames not just because of their strength but their unique abilities."


    "The red one has the ability to double his powers every ten seconds without limit until he himself reaches his limit. It has been described as allowing him to surpass the powers of Gods themselves if given enough time."


    "Meanwhile, the white one has the opposite of the red, the ability to ''Divide'' the power of its opponents by half aftering into physical contact with them every 10 seconds. The halved powers are then added to his own powers. If the added power exceeds the amount he can safely contain, the excess energy is then expelled out through his wings, which allows him to always be at their highest potential. It can also repeatedly reduce the power of attacks in half. Simr to the first one, it could reduce Gods into mere mortals if given enough time."


    Kisuke then happily raised Lysa and said with a smile, "Knowing that, I hope you can develop an ability of your own in the future too~!"


    Lysa''s eyes shined and roared cutely, [Aria!!! Protect!!!]


    She started imagining two, red and white, Dragons flying across the skies and dering their dominance to everyone. Little did she know that those two are just hopeless perverts that like boobs and ass respectively.


    "Ahaha. You should probably learn a few more words to say soon. Though it''s really amazing you could understand what we''re saying despite that very limited vocabry."


    Meanwhile, the rest of the Loki Familia members were panicking, "Oi, oi, oi... Doubling your power every ten seconds? For me, this is more ridiculous than burning water earlier!" Tiona started shaking.


    "And that ''Divide''... It could reduce a God to a mere mortal with a touch?" added Riveria as she was also shaken by what she''d just heard.


    A stream of discussion then opened among them regarding the Dragons but Kisuke ignored them and started ying with Lysa. He was letting them digest the information that he gave them.


    However, all of a sudden, he remembered something important and ced Lysa on hisp before opening his palm facing upwards. A secondter, a ck Magic Circle with an infinity symbol in the middle of it appeared on top of Kisuke''s palm, "I almost forgot. Here. It''s transformation Magic for Dragons." The crest flew over and fused with Lysa''s forehead before disappearing.


    Within Lysa''s consciousness, the method for transformation appeared. Although she couldn''t use it now, with just a bit of growth and practice on her side, she''ll be able to use it.


    "Transformation Magic? What for?" asked Ais.


    "A Dragons'' growth isn''t just tied to their age, but also strength. She''s already too strong for her age and she''ll surely continue to get stronger from here on. To amodate that power increase, her body would also grow ordingly. You wouldn''t want her following you around with the size of a horse-drawn carriage, right?"


    Ais easily understood Kisuke''s point, "Transformation Magic to keep her to this size, huh."


    "That''s right~! And this Transformation Magic is very special because it came from a Dragon that could sweep the floor with the previous Dragons without breaking a sweat~! Those two wouldn''t even challenge her since there''s no chance of winning for them even if they are together... Wait... Since the white guy is a big battle junky, maybe he''ll do it... But he''ll only end up ck and blue."


    With Kisuke dropping a sudden bomb, everyone was ck-jawed, " " " "Whaaat!!!!?" " " "

 Chapter 732 Uncertain Future

    Chapter 732 Uncertain Future


    The Loki Familia members kept asking Kisuke questions regarding the Dragon that''s stronger than the previous two but he just kept feigning ignorance. Curiously enough, only Loki herself kept quiet through the noise they made.


    "Enough of that and let''s move on to the next thing." Kisuke pushed them away and grabbed the sack that had already stopped moving the moment the other Loki Familia members arrived. Although it moved a bit while listening to Kisuke''s stories.


    "Hey... You haven''t killed yourself, right?" Kisuke suddenly asked. Although he already knew the answer, he wanted to tease her a bit and it''s also a way to divert the other''s attention.


    Jumping on his words, Loki also joined in, "It''s too strange that you wanted us to take care of a Xenos since until recently, we didn''t see them favorably. On top of that, you''re specifically asking Lefiya to take care of... Wait, is it a man or a woman?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer her and instead directly pulled down the sack after opening it, revealing the Xenos inside it. However, they couldn''t tell what kind of Xenos she was because she was covering herself with her wings. They couldn''t even see her face since she''s covering it with her hands.


    But even then, Lefiya''s heart started palpitating for some unknown reason when she looked at her, "...S-she... What is she?" She asked meekly.


    But Kisuke didn''t answer her question and looked strangely at Filvis, "...Did you always have this kind of character?"


    With a purposely hoarse voice, Filvis retorted, "...Shut up!"


    However, she absolutely underestimated Lefiya''s power to recognize her as thetter immediately went in front of her to everyone''s surprise, "Lefiya? What''s wrong?" Riveria asked when she saw her about to bawl her eyes out.


    But Lefiya couldn''t hear her question as she could only focus on the person in front of her, "...Filvis...san?"


    Everyone shuddered when Lefiya suddenly uttered the name of a dead person and that was also the same for Filvis herself, as she didn''t know how she was able to recognize her, "Y-you got the wrong person." She replied with an intentionally deep but obviously fake voice. Filvis was already panicking internally.


    Kisuke then smiled and stood up, "Well then. It looks like I don''t have anything to worry about, so I''ll take my leave. I still have some things to do." He left directly after saying that despite the reactions around him.


    Loki immediately followed him on the way out, "Wait... Kisuke."


    Finn and Riveria were about to follow her but she gestured for them to stay behind and deal with the situation right now.


    Once they were outside with no ears to listen to them, Loki finally spoke up, "You wouldn''t mind me asking a few questions myself, would you?" Since she has a feeling that he specifically came for her instead of her children, she''s sure that Kisuke would rify a few more things for her. If not, he wouldn''t have mentioned his Dragon friends.


    And although no one else made a connection to him, thanks to the passive intervention made by the Gods Divinities to make the children of the Lower World not think about it, she was bothered about the Dragon that flew over Orario some time ago and Kisuke''s involvement with it.


    "Ask away. If I can say it, I will." Kisuke replied as he continued walking.


    But before getting into that topic, Loki asked first, "Was that the real Filvis Challia?"


    Kisuke nodded, "She is. No doubt about it."


    Loki creased her brows, "How did you do it?"


    But Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders while replying, "I may have a hand in it, but it isn''t my handiwork. Since she''s a Xenos now, you could say that it''s the Dungeon''s will. Why? I don''t know."


    Kisuke''s answer only opened up more questions in Loki''s mind. Even among the Deities, the existence of the Dungeon is veiled in mystery that they haven''t had a clue how to uncover. For starters, the Dungeon actually became the foundation in the creation of the Lower World and it only started spawning monsters when its inhabitants started thriving.


    If there''s someone who knows what the Dungeon''s true form is, it''s only their ''Father''.


    Shaking her head, Loki changed the subject and asked the question that has been bothering her since earlier, "Then let me ask another one. How are you rted to the Dragon that flew over Orariost time?"


    Kisuke smiled, "We''re not friends, but we''re acquaintances."


    Although Loki was already expecting this answer, her head still ached immensely and directly asked, "I have no idea why, but are you trying to oppose ''him''?"


    Kisuke''s expression didn''t change and he looked at Loki, "Oppose him? That''s a very strong word, however, the fact is, he wanted me to do something for him."


    "...What?"


    "I have just said it. I''m actually working for him through a contract."


    Loki''s slitted eyes opened widely as she looked deeply into his eyes, trying to figure out what his real intentions were.


    Kisuke also stared at her eyes for a few moments before turning around and continuing his footsteps. While he left with a smile on his face, Loki was making a very serious expression, and many things simultaneously ran through her mind. Once Kisuke left her sight, her eyes glinted with the same color as her hair for a split second before turning back and returning to her children who were making a ruckus inside, ''Just where do you stand, Kisuke Urahara?''


    However, before she could enter through the doors of her manor, a piece of paper flew in front of her, making her catch it without thinking. On it was a written note and Kisuke''s stamp, [Be careful of Freya-sama.]


    Loki looked back before turning the piece of paper into many more and scattering it everywhere. She took his warning to her heart as she had a feeling that he didn''t have any bad intentions despite making his position vaguely on ''Father''s'' side.


    If it wasn''t clear as before, now Loki truly couldn''t treat him like any of the other children and could only see him as someone in the leagues of the Gods. Not because of the strength he possessed, but because of the sheer headache that he could cause her.


    =================================================


    AN (January 27, 2022): Before everyone eats me alive, I''d like to apologize. As you''ve thought, I forgot to update the Webnovel partst time.


    And when did I figure that out? Yep. Just now.


    I was confused why certain chapters are still on my draft. It turned out that I didn''t publish them.

 Chapter 733 Onwards

    Chapter 733 Onwards


    The moment Kisuke returned, everyone was already done with their training and preparing for breakfast. The children, on the other hand, were still sleeping in their room, including Ophis, who learned it just to join both ire and Tanis.


    "Good morning~!" Kisuke greeted everyone in the Dining Hall.


    Hestia immediately invited him to sit down and asked, "How did it go?"


    Kisuke sat down and reassured Hestia, "You don''t have to worry about them, Hestia-sama. I made sure that they''ll be taken care of." Ever since telling them about his decision to leave the Dragon and Filvis in the Loki Familia''s care, Hestia has been worried.


    Although she knew that Loki would ept them, she wasn''t sure how her children would react. As they were at the forefront among the Familias that exterminate monsters and the rumors surrounding them, she couldn''t help but brood over it.


    Hestia sighed in relief, "That''s good. As long as they don''t abuse them, then that''s fine."


    "How did they react to the Dragon?" Artemis suddenly asked curiously.


    While they were eating their breakfast, Kisuke proceeded to tell them in detail what happened when he came to the Twilight Manor, excluding hisst bit of discussion with Loki and his ''slip of tongue'' when he mentioned the stronger Dragon than the two Dragon Emperors.


    While others continued eating without much reaction, Hestia and Artemis dropped their spoons and madeplicated expressions, "You''re friends with Dragons with those kinds of abilities?"


    Aika immediately cut in and said, "There''s nothing really special with them. Especially the red one since he''s just a big pervert who likes boobs."


    "Issei-senpai can do what needs to be done... But he really likes boobs too much."


    "Don''t diss him when he''s not here," Sona immediately scolded them. She then recalled how Issei acted most of the time and added, "Even if it''s true."


    Serafall then remembered something from not long ago, "If it''s Vali-chan, then I think he''s also a pervert that likes butts. When he betrayed Azazel-chan that one time, the old man started spreading rumors about Vali-chan liking butts like the Sekiryuutei who liked boobs. Since he''s the one who took care of Vali-chan since his childhood, it has some credibility."


    Irina''s lips twitched and said, "For one of the leaders of the Three Great Factions to do that... After seeing and hearing all of this, my fantasy of them being high and mighty beings werepletely destroyed."


    "Don''t worry about it~! At least Michael-chan is a good example to his followers... Though I can''t say the same for the other Seraphims," replied Serafall while chuckling to the clearly distressed Irina.


    While drinking her coffee, Akeno alsomented, "Somehow, I can imagine Azazel-sensei doing that."


    "S-so all of you know them, huh? Should I be surprised?" Hestia then recalled the Dragon that Kisuke rode back here, "...It''s my fault for still getting surprised."


    "...Hestia... When will I get used to this?" Artemis asked her best friend a very serious question.


    "Don''t ask me. I still haven''t gotten to that point, even telling myself to be open-minded."


    Meanwhile, Medusa approached Kisuke and handed him a letter with the Guild''s insignia, "This came earlier and they said it''s for you."


    ''Ah, this must be the additional documents needed at the gates.'' Kisuke guessed and it was confirmed when he took a look at it.


    pping his hands, Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention to him, "I have a proposal to make. Please listen to it."


    Everyone stopped talking and looked at him quietly. Now that all the attention was on him, he started talking and told them his desire to move to the Dizara Region.


    "We''re going to leave Orario behind?" Hestia became hesitant. Despite her short time living in the city, she has already made connections and rtionships that are hard to discard.


    "You''re misunderstanding it, Hestia-sama.", Kisuke smiled kindly, "We''re just moving our base of operations and with our abilities, returning to Orario is just as easy as standing in ce. If you miss this ce, we could alwayse back without any problems and it wouldn''t even take that long."


    Hestia smiled happily when she heard Kisuke''s words, "Then it''s fine~!" Although she knew about their Teleportation Magic, she didn''t know about their limits and she knew that Dizara Region was almost on the other side of the world, so she became worried.


    Looking at her best friend''s cute smile, Artemis couldn''t help but pinch her cheeks.


    "Hwat arr yoo doeng (What are you doing)?"


    Chuckling, Artemis replied, "Nothing. I just couldn''t resist it." More specifically, she couldn''t resist Hestia''s innocence and kindness. ''Strictly speaking, she is far more innocent than me, the Goddess of Innocence.''


    "Since you got that letter from the Guild, I suppose it is some sort of permission or reason they are giving us to go to the Dizara Region?" Sona promptly asked.


    "That''s right. I''ve already arranged everything with Ouranos-sama and if you all agree to this, we''ll go with it. If not, then I could just toss this back to them."


    Everyone looked at each other and figured that no one really was against it and Aika said as she looked back to Kisuke, "That''s fine, but since you''ve already arranged everything, knowing you, I''m guessing that we''re leaving today?"


    "I''m not yet done with everything, but it''s true that I nned for us to leave after dinner. I''ve already sent a message to Yoruichi that we''re arriving today."


    "Senpai. For what reason are we moving? Wouldn''t we just do the same thing over there?" Koneko was curious. She couldn''t think of any advantage of moving to the Dizara Region.


    "That''s where you''re wrong~!" Kisuke grinned at her, "Over there, you could go overboard and there would be next to no consequences. They wouldn''t even ask your Level since the governing body over there prioritizes the secrets of their Familias. Although that would also mean that we don''t know anything about anyone and getting information would be hard. We don''t even know if someone over there could threaten you with a unique ability or two."


    Sona, Aika, and Koneko''s eyes shone in delight, "That means we could go all out even if we''re on the upper floors?" asked Sona.


    "No problem~."


    "Can we show our unique techniques?" asked Aika.


    "Absolutely~."


    "Can we beat up our harassers to the inch of their life?" asked Koneko.


    "That''s not a question of where we are. I''ll help you with that."


    " " "We''re going!" " "


    Editors:


    28th00: Priorities are set straight for Koneko! EXCESSIVE FORCE IS ALLOWED! Ah, a new city to learn to fear the Loli Trio. Oh no. They''re going to learn the hard way, aren''t they?


    Redemperor D

 Chapter 734 The Distressed Loki

    Chapter 734 The Distressed Loki


    Since everyone already knew their initial capabilities, it''s really hard to show it when they''ve improved. And not just because they instructed them not to gather too much attention, but they also knew how detrimental it would be for others who were only beginning to learn the real use of Ki and Magic to show their development that is beyondmon sense even in the world where they came from.


    Sona doesn''t want them to have an unrealistic outlook on the things they are learning. And it''s not like they could show them their training method which is not only their guarded secret, but doing it without constant supervision from Serafall, Medusa, and Kisuke would only end up in an ident due to how dangerous it is.


    One example of this is Koneko and Kuroka''s Ki training that melds their inner Ki and the world''s Ki together and circtes it through their entire bodies. The circted Ki was so fine that each strand of it traveled through each muscle fiber.


    It''s not just the method of circting Ki that was very dangerous and very far from the usual method of TouKi which was just covering the entire body of ayer of inner Ki, but the melded Ki itself was something disastrous that any loss of control would devolve the user into an unthinking monster.


    But even with those unconditional dangers and risks, it could be avoided with the proper supervision of someone experienced. And if those disadvantages could be taken care of, the results and gains are beyond what could be imagined using normal methods.


    Kisuke hypothesized that their Ki training could be potentially on the level of Issei''s Ki training that was taking advantage of Dragon Aura and using Ophis''s power and Samael''s blood, or maybe, even surpassing it.


    Simrly, Sona and Aika were also undergoing unconventional but effective training methods.


    In any case, even if they have be stronger, they can''t really show the full extent of their capabilities now. If they were to move to a new ce where no one knew them, they wouldn''t have to care about what everyone was thinking or seeing.


    Of course, Akeno and Irina were envious of this aspared to them, they couldn''t see their improvement at all aside from their bodies getting sturdier and sturdier each day.


    Serafall, on the other hand, was against their training methods before, but not long after, she joined Sona since it was also very helpful with what she''s been trying to master for decades.


    .


    .


    .


    After their breakfast, Kisuke left again to take care of all the things that needed to be done before they left. "Now then, let''s put down some hidden formations before I leave. It might prove usefulter."


    It wasn''t untilte afternoon that Kisuke finished his work. Since he couldn''t be satisfied if he just did it within Orario, he expanded his work a few tens of kilometers beyond the walls of Orario and this included the entirety of Melen too.


    ''Besides, this is the best chance to hide something within those hidden formations. That should cover most of my needs in the future.'', thought Kisuke as he made his way home. A few momentster, he spotted several familiar figures and stopped on top of one of the buildings to see what''s going on.


    On the left side was Sophie, who seemed to be making her way towards the Hearth Manor, ''It looks like she decided toe herself. That''s not a problem but...'' He then looked towards his right and saw Line going to the same direction. However, not far from behind her were Ais and Lysa, who was in the former''s backpack, were following Line quietly, ''What are they up to now?''


    Kisuke has a feeling that it would be troublesome if he let Ais and Lysa reach the manor so he immediately sent a telepathic message to Line, ''Don''t turn your head anywhere and don''t stop walking. I will cast Magic on you but you should just ignore it.''


    Line''s steps halted for a very brief moment. A secondter, she felt Magic Power covering her entire body and as much as she wanted to stop and study it, she continued walking as if nothing was happening.


    From Ais''s point of view, Line suddenly started releasing Magic Power. Thanks to the training she''s doing, she was already able to tell minute fluctuations on Magic Power which was very useful in predicting her opponent''s next move. However, she still couldn''t tell what kind of Magic was being used despite knowing something is being used.


    While trying to guess what Line was about to do next, she suddenly turned a corner, ''She''s not going to the Hearth Manor?'' she asked herself as she kept following her. A few minutester, Line arrived at a certain Library and started browsing books, ''She''s studying now? But why here?''


    The reason why Ais started following Line when she saw her leave is because of the feeling that Lysa was giving her that if she doesn''t follow her now, she''s going to regret itter. Although she doesn''t know how she''s going to regret itter, she chose to go with what Lysa has been trying to tell her since it didn''t hurt to do so.


    Ais and Lysa watched Line looking through the books untilte at night from the corner of the library until Line''s figure suddenly started to be hazy and disappear entirely.


    Astonished, she immediately stood up and checked the ce where she was sitting not long ago but couldn''t tell anything. She looked around and saw the simrly shocked expression of those within the library and figured out that she wouldn''t get anything even if she was to ask them.


    Out of concern that Line was in danger, she immediately went home and came to the lounge where Loki, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth were discussing what happened today and their future ns, "Loki! Line disappeared!"


    While Finn, Riveria, and Gareth''s expressions became serious, Loki nonchntly asked, "How?"


    Ais then told them what she had been doing until Line''s disappearance.


    Whilst they wanted to know why Ais was secretly following Line, they are more concerned with Line''s safety, "She just suddenly disappeared from your sight?" asked Riveria.


    But as Ais nodded, Finn suddenly said, "Let''s just ask Loki since it seems that she already knows what happened." He noticed that Loki was still indifferent despite hearing Ais''s story.


    Clearing her throat, Loki answered when everyone turned their heads to her, "Ehem... Looks like I failed to mention it, but the entirety of the Hestia and Artemis Familia''s are leaving for the Dizara Region. Line-chan wanted to go with them since she''s Kisuke''s student, so I allowed her."


    Ais was stupefied and didn''t know what to say. Riveria, on the other hand, sighed and held her forehead, "You should have at least tried to tell us about it."


    But even knowing about it, she knew she couldn''t do anything to stop them. Realizing her thoughts, Riveria asked herself internally, ''Stop them? Why would I even think about something like that?''


    Shaking off her head with these ''useless'' thoughts, Riveria continued, "So Ais was fooled with an Illusion Magic."


    "That''s probably what happened. Line-chan still can''t do Illusion Magic that would fool Ais-tan, so Kisuke might have noticed her following Line-chan and did it for her."


    "...W-why?" Ais asked with an incredibly confused expression.


    Loki looked at her but instead of answering her question, she asked her another, "What would you do if you knew they were leaving?"


    "...I..." Ais couldn''t answer her. But deep inside, she knew her answer was. She just didn''t have enough courage to say it.


    Riveria sighed yet again, "That''s enough Loki. I''ll apany Ais to her room."


    After the two of them left the room, Finn couldn''t help but say after recalling Riveria''s back as they left, "I knew Ais wouldn''t want it, but to see even Riveria dejected. Is it that man''s knowledge and wisdom or his strange charm?"


    Gareth chuckled while stroking his beard, "Don''t ask me since I also don''t know anything regarding that. But we could say there''s a good reason why women gather around him." He then took a peek at Loki who was gritting her teeth, "There''s no point in getting angry, Loki. From the start, you knew that this was inevitable. No need to fool yourself."


    "Kuuuhh!!! I''m happy for Riveria, but my Ais-tan!!!"

 Chapter 735 Sophie’s Views

    Chapter 735 Sophie��s Views


    A few hours ago, Line and Sophie met each other in front of the Hearth Manor''s gate, "Good evening, Line-san." Sophie greeted the other first.


    "Ah... Uhm... Good evening, Sophie-san." Line greeted back but she didn''t know how to advance the conversation. However,ing to her rescue, Kisuke arrived from behind them, "Let''s not talk outside. Come in."


    Sophie wondered why Line was here, but chose to remain quiet and followed Kisuke inside.


    "Kisuke-san, what happened earlier?" Line asked as she matched Kisuke''s pace and walked beside him.


    "Wallenstein-san was following you. I thought it would be troublesome if she were to reach this ce, so I distracted her."


    "I-I see..." Ais was someone who had very few obsessions, however, all of those were present in Kisuke so Line knew that they couldn''t go peacefully if she were to see them leave, ''It would be indeed troublesome enough that Loki-sama might have to interfere.''


    As soon as they reached the doors, they swung open and Tanis greeted them with a big smile on her face, without her disguise, "Kisuke-niichan! You''re back!"


    Sophie hurriedly reeled back upon seeing her, "M-monster!?"


    But Kisuke ignored her reaction for now and patted Tanis''s head with a smile, "I''m home~. Did you behave today?"


    Tanis was surprised when Sophie suddenly raised her voice, but she immediately calmed down and felt secure when Kisuke touched her head, "I helped with the packing today!"


    "I see. That''s good. Go call Ophis-chan and ire-chan now. Tell them we''ll have our dinner soon."


    "Okay~!" answered Tanis before she ran off.


    Without looking back, Kisukemented, "I guess your position isn''t high enough to know about their existence. If you want to know more, tell Mardeel-san that you want to meet Fels. Since you''re our adviser, you should have at least the privilege to know a few things."


    "Fels?"


    Kisuke started walking and answered, "He is Ouranos-sama''s right-hand man. He should tell you what you need to know. And you don''t have to worry about Tanis-chan. Even Line-san here from the Loki Familia could guarantee that she''s safe."


    Sophie looked towards Line who nodded at her and sighed, "Is this rted to thetest incident?" she asked while following Kisuke inside.


    "You''re sharp and should have already noticed that there''s a lot of strange points regarding the subjugation of Knossos, and you''re right. They are rted. In fact, these special monsters are one of the forces that fought along with Loki and Freya Familia to deal with the Evilus. In a hindsight, the citizens of this city are also indebted to them."


    Sophie''s head started aching, "But there''s no way everyone would just suddenly ept them even with supporting words from the strongest Familias."


    "Correct. So it''ll really be nice if you could keep their existence a secret. At least until they already have a chance to get along with the people of the Lower World."


    Sophie stopped walking but Kisuke and Line didn''t wait for her. After thinking for a brief moment, she took a deep breath and restarted her steps, speeding up so she could catch up to the two of them, "I''m sorry about my attitude earlier. I might have scared her."


    Kisuke and Line were surprised, "That''s really startling... I never thought that you''re that epting and on top of that, you''re an Elf."


    Sophie got immediately pissed and said with a loud voice, "I''m a proud Elf! But even then, I judge people by my own eyes! Seeing a child happily reporting her activities for today like that, it''s hard to see her as unfeeling monsters that only knew how to attack people!"


    Kisuke looked at her for a second before he started chuckling, "Right... I apologize."


    After that sudden outburst, Sophie felt a little embarrassed and cleared her throat, "Ehem... I''m sorry for raising my voice again. And you don''t really have to apologize since most Elves have a very appalling hate for monsters and I personally think it''s unreasonable. However, this sort of thinking would only invite trouble, so I just kept it to myself."


    "That''s really admirable."


    .


    .


    .


    The dinner started and Sophie was able to talk happily with everyone. Since she was the one looking out for them in the Guild, they have be quite close with each other. It was actually to the point that it became harder for Sophie to sleep at night whenever they dive into the Dungeon. Although she''d already lost a number of Adventures under her care, she just couldn''t get used to it, especially now that there''s a special bond between them and not just a business one.


    After dinner, Sophie still continued her chatter with everyone without mentioning anything about her work or their life inside the Dungeon. Instead, they started talking about girl issues and life hacks that made Kisuke slightly ufortable to stay in.


    But to maintain his stoic image, he sat through everything despite Sophie looking at him weirdly.


    At some point, Sophie even started getting along with Tanis and even yed a few rounds of cards with the kids.


    Knowing that she''s already overstaying their hospitality, Sophie asked Kisuke, "You said you''re going to leave this evening. Although it''s a weird time to leave, shouldn''t you be getting ready? And I presume Line-san is also going with you."


    "She''s indeeding with us, since I properly got Loki-sama''s permission for her and there shouldn''t be any problem with the Guild about that." Kisuke then stood up and continued, "And it''s true that we should get going."


    "Then I shouldn''t stay long." Sophie then faced everyone and smiled gently, "Sona, Koneko, Aika, Irina, Akeno. I had fun with you despite just being your advisor. Serafall-san, Medusa-san. Thank you for all the assistance you gave me. It helped me out a lot. Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama, good luck with your new journey, and please take care of my good friends. Let''s see each other again some time."


    Everyone looked at each other andughed softly. They wanted to tell her that they could return anytime but decided against it. In any case, it''ll be a good surprise when they suddenly appear in front of her.


    "Thank you for taking care of us too. Your knowledge of the Dungeon helped us out a lot too." Sona replied.


    "The sweets store you told us about is really good," Koneko gave her a thumbs up.


    "I will actually miss your reprimands~!" Aika added with a wink.


    "The next time we see each other, I''ll tell you more about the Bible~," said Irina who has been casually spreading her religion to the other world.


    "And I''ll tell you more about all the risque novels that I know~", and Akeno was talking about apletely different thing.


    With a flushed face, Sophie immediately stopped her from talking further, "Well then. I won''t be seeing you off. Thank you for the wonderful dinner and have a safe trip."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke apanied Sophie to the gates, "You don''t have to escort me. The route from here to my house isn''t dangerous."


    "I guess that''s true." Kisuke then took out a coin and handed it to Sophie, "Then please take this."


    Sophie took the coin and looked closer at it. Although there''splicatedly drawn lines on it, she couldn''t tell anything special about it, "This is?"


    "It''s a Magic Item. If you hold it tightly and think about talking to me, I would be able to hear your voice. Always keep it with you since it''ll also serve as a lucky charm."


    "You''ll be able to hear my voice? What for?"


    "If there is anything interesting happening in Orario, I''d like you to tell me. In return, I''d tell you about the Dizara Region and even send you images through it."


    Rarely being able to go anywhere, Sophie''s eyes lit up, "Deal!"

 Chapter 736 The Tower

    Chapter 736 The Tower


    After leaving through the gates of Orario to finish with all the formalities, the group arrived at their designated spot a few kilometers away from the city by riding their Magic Humvee. Although there were some protests, mainly from the noisy Magical Girl and apathetic Humanoid Dragon God, it was Kisuke who drove it.


    As they had expected, some people tried following them, including some members of the Freya Familia since among their friends, it was only Freya that Hestia and Artemis couldn''t reach when they were saying their goodbyes.


    Of course, Kisukepletely lost them with the Humvee''s constant speed and a simr Illusion Magic akin to what he used on Line.


    With the Humvee back in Kisuke''s inventory, he took out a red medallion and ced it on the ground. With the medallion as its core, arge Magic Circle appeared below everyone.


    "What''s the medallion for?" Serafall curiously asked.


    "It''s the key to our destination."


    "Hmmm?" Serafall looked at Kisuke with confusion, "Couldn''t you just set the barrier to restrict unregistered Mana signatures?"


    "Normally, that would''ve been enough, and that''s actually the case if we were to register all of you to use Teleportation Magic in that area. However, it''s a special case for me. Normally, you need to register the Mana signature as urately as possible, but thanks to the nature of my own power, there are always minute changes in my Mana signature, so the site wouldn''t be able to recognize me after a short while."


    "But if I were to reduce the uracy of the reading even a little bit, then it''ll be prone to breaches since it''ll be easy to use a copy of my Mana, even if it''s a bit inurate. Until I can think of a better idea, I will settle with this for now."


    Of course, Kisuke also tried using his own soul''s signature, but after the transformation he went through, it became akin to Yoruichi''s Reiatsu when she transformed and lost control of herself.


    The light of the Magic Circle soon engulfed everyone and the next moment, they were standing on the floor made out of Orichalcum. On top of them are familiar crystals that give light to the safe points of the Dungeon, however, they seemed to be extremely close.


    In a bit, they finally noticed they were on top of a structure tall enough that it almost touched the Dungeon''s ceiling.


    "Where are we?" Sona asked as she walked towards the edge of the structure they were on. The others did the same and what came to them was the beautiful view of the enclosed nature.


    Kisuke walked up behind them while answering, "It''s the 48th floor of the Dungeon within the Dizara Region. A safety zone."


    However, while everyone was busy admiring the rare view, Serafall noticed something and flew away before looking back. After looking up and down, she startedughing out loud, "Fuhahaha! As expected of Ki-tan~! You just don''t care whether you destroy the scenery, do you?"


    Hearing that, Ophis''s already serious expression became even deeper and she instantly teleported beside Serafall to measure up the building she''s standing on a second ago.


    Nodding to herself, Ophis pointed at the area opposite of the building and dered, "That spot shall be mine."


    Kisuke was dumbfounded at Ophis'' sudden deration, but he soon startedughing and gave her a thumbs up, "I''ll reserve that spot for you. For the materials, just gather them from the man-made Dungeon. If you need more, just tell me."


    Serafall finally recalled Ophis'' iplete project back on Mars and understood that she wanted to make the second one here.


    While no one else knew about the new ''monstrosity'' that was about to be born, Yoruichi and Kuroka had arrived from the only entrance on the rooftop, "Looks like all of you''re doing good." Yoruichi greeted them while Kuroka jumped towards Koneko and wrapped her arms around her, "Shirone~! Did you miss me~?"


    Without any hesitation, Koneko answered in the most deadpan expression possible, "No."


    But Kuroka wasn''t the one to be disheartened as she continued poking Koneko''s cheeks and recharging her ''Imouto-Energy'', "Ara ara~ You don''t have to be shy, you know~."


    Ignoring the two of them, Yoruichi addressed everyone else, "Let''s go inside first before everything else." She then faced Ophis and Serafall who were still floating in the distance, "Come inside. It''s going to be noisy if people from below notice you two are there."


    While the others were curious about what Serafall and Ophis saw from their perspective, however, they chose to follow Yoruichi first since they could always see what they were stepping onter. Once they entered, they were weed by a set of stairs and a door that looked strangely durable.


    Yoruichi then took out a ck card and put it on what seems to be a scanner beside the door. A secondter, light bled from the top of the door indicating a number that quickly went up, "An elevator?" questioned Irina, but it''s very obvious for what it was so no one confirmed it for her.


    However, the moment they entered it, those from Earth, excluding Serafall and Ophis, had a strange feeling when they saw an elevator that looked like it came from a proof of concept project out of some sci-fi magazine.


    Even then no one said anything about it and just looked at each other. But as soon as they arrived on the 67th floor and the door opened, Aika couldn''t finally hold it back, "What the heck!?"


    The interior was that of their familiar Hearth Manor. It''s as if they went back to it.


    On the other hand, Sona could only shake her head with a wry smile while the others could only chuckle. They could now imagine what Serafall and Ophis saw from the outside, "You got free reign and you just went all in. As expected of you."


    ire, Tanis, and Ophis started running around and curiously inspecting everything that caught their attention. But after a short while, they lost their interest as there was nothing new besides the view in the windows which aren''t actually windows.


    "My head hurts." Koneko muttered after seeing the contrasting design. However, she and the rest could already imagine all sorts of culture in each room of this spaceship-like building.


    "I''ve always wanted to make something like this, so I took the chance." Kisuke replied while leading them to their usual spot, the lounge. But before they reached their destination, Kisuke turned to the three disappointed individuals and said, "I can assure you that it''s more interesting on the lower floors. I''ll give you a tourter."


    However, the trio didn''t allow Kisuke to set aside the important stuff forter, "...Let''s go." Ophis voiced out as she grabbed the hem of Kisuke''s clothes.


    And she was followed by the other two, "Let''s go, Nii-chan!"


    Of course, Kisuke couldn''t disappoint their expectant faces any further, "Alright~! Let''s go now!"

 Chapter 737 Tower of Desires

    Chapter 737 Tower of Desires


    With a sudden change of n, Kisuke grabbed the three curious girls and turned to others, "I''ll bring them back once they are tired. Although jetg shouldn''t affect you all as much, try to adjust your body''s rhythm to this ce''s time."


    "Jetg?" asked Line.


    "It is a temporary sleep problem that can affect anyone who quickly travels across multiple time zones. Although it won''t be a problem for most of us, you, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama, ire, and Tanis would need some time to adjust your sleep schedule.", Sona answered Line and turned to Kisuke, "By the way, what time is it now?"


    "It''s quarter past noon. I can give you medicine to easily adjust your body clock easier, but it would be better if you are able to do it naturally."


    But before Kisuke left, Artemis called out to him, "Wait, Kisuke!"


    "Hmm? What is it, Artemis-sama?"


    "We''re inside the Dungeon, aren''t we? Is it fine for us to stay here?"


    "Ah!", at that point, Hestia also realized the problem, "T-the Dungeon won''t suddenly act up, will it?" She asked nervously since the other Deities already warned her of the potential mishaps that may happen if the Dungeon detected a Deity inside. And based on what she heard from them, it''s a guarantee that it won''t end well.


    "It''s fine. As long as you don''t release any of your Divine Power, the Dungeon would actually ignore you. Even then, I nned to make something for you two that will make sure that''s the case so please don''t leave this floor for now. I''ll be done with them tomorrow.", reassured Kisuke.


    Truthfully, he''s already done with the devices that would lock their Divine Powers securely and disguise their appearance so the Mercenaries in the Dungeon won''t be able to recognize them as the Goddesses Hestia and Artemis. However, he''s still worried about their safety and decided to add some safety features, not against the monsters or Mercenaries, but the Dungeon itself since he has a feeling that if a God were to die in the Dungeon, they won''t be able to return to Heaven.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, ire, Ophis, and Tanis arrived at the lobby and thetter three immediately ran out of the teleportation zone. Kisuke lets them be since they are well within his range of action and the security ced in this building should do most of the job in case something bad happens.


    As he slowly followed the three who were curiously looking around, Kisuke was mildly surprised by the number of peopleing in and out of the building, ''Looks like the Astarte Familia didn''t put many restrictions, or maybe they are just being pressured by the other factions within the region.''


    Kisuke already predicted that the scattered forces within the Dizara Region would converge after the news of an easy way to the deeper levels of the Dungeon since there''s just so much wealth and resources down here that would attract even small Familias, ''Since I caused all of these, I guess the viges and smaller towns that would lose the protection of these Familias are my responsibility... Hmm... I suppose monster repellers would do it.''


    Of course, he won''t do everything himself. After making the final product, he''ll sell its production method to multiple outlets that could produce them.


    While deep in his thoughts, however, Kisuke heard something disturbing from the Mercenaries around him, "Hey, is he the owner of this ''Tower of Desires''?"


    "I''ve seen the portraits circting around so I''m positive."


    "So he''s the one who made all of this possible... But he doesn''t look that strong. Look at those scrawny arms. It doesn''t look like he could properly swing a sword. He even has a cane which proves that he sometimes has difficulties walking. I can''t believe he made all of this."


    "Of course no one does. The most probable scenario was he''s a son of a great noble or very rich merchant that funded the research and development of this tower and used the Magic that instantly transports things to build it within the safety point which essentially gave him enormous power on this floor. Most of the Gods also believe that this is the case."


    "Then why did he give the control of the Magic that instantly transfers people to the Astarte Familia?"


    "It''s most probably because the Astarte Familia was able to strike a deal with him. Since he doesn''t have the power to protect this tower on his own, even if he included his wives, he had no choice but to get one of the biggest and strongest Familia to his side. Although he lost the rights to the Magic, he''s able to solidify his position with the tower."


    After roaming around for a few more minutes, simr conversations could be heard everywhere they go, ''Hmmm... So this is the reason why the Astarte Familia is being pushed back. They thought I''m some pushover that needed their help.''


    Even then, a smile lingered on Kisuke''s face, ''Well then, let''s see how things develop~ I''ll only move when they try to snatch my house.''


    .


    .


    .


    Within the tallest tower of the castle in the middle of Asauros where the Poseidon and Amphitrite Familias reside, two old men were watching the bustling town from the top while drinking liquor. While the first man emanates Divine Power, the second man''s aura was that of a mortal. However, the second man''s demeanor and sharpness didn''t lose to the Deity drinking with him, "Are you sure about this, Poseidon? Letting Aruna do whatever he wants, I mean."


    Poseidon put down his ss after emptying it, "I''m not letting him do whatever he wants. I''m just letting him do one thing. Besides, you can''t really say anything since you and Hera already failed once and there''s no other prospect within sight until now."


    Zeus sighed and also emptied his ss, "I may have failed, but I don''t think this is the right answer either."


    "I''m the same. However, we couldn''t prove that this is the wrong answer too."


    "But Aruna is messing with something that could easily go wrong."


    "I know. And that''s the reason why I''m allowing it. It is so that we could watch him and what he is doing more closely. If I didn''t give my consent and he decided to do this secretly anyway, it''ll be already toote to do anything when something goes wrong."


    "Haahh... And this Tower of Desire just had to appear at such a convenient timing. I feel a little bad for Astarte."


    "There''s no other way. We can''t control Aruna. And since he increased the security around himself to a ridiculous level, no Deity could even approach him to send him back to Heaven."

 Chapter 738 Next on the Menu

    Chapter 738 Next on the Menu


    ire and Tanis got tired first after roaming around the first 10 floors of the lobby, and since it was supposed to be nighttime for them, Kisuke immediately brought them back to their room to rest. Ophis, on the other hand, was still furiously memorizing everything the tower had to offer and might have been nning to add the same or simr things to her ''Demon Lord Castle'' that she''s nning to build opposite of his tower.


    Since she could fend for herself and Kisuke didn''t care if she did damage to the Mercenaries that harassed her, he left her alone for the time being.


    Returning to where everyone is, Kisuke came into Yoruichi and Kuroka briefing everyone else regarding the Dizara Region and the system in ce for the Mercenaries. At the end of it, everyone finally understood why they could stop holding back.


    "If the Adventurers of Orario give more priority to honor and glory, Mercenaries of the Dizara Region put more importance to wealth and power," muttered Sona.


    "This kind of system is unforgiving for the smaller and weaker Familias," added Serafall.


    Nodding, Kuroka confirmed Serafall''s words, "That''s right, nyaa. But it isn''t really as bad for them as you''ve probably imagined. Thanks to the different situation this entrance to the Dungeon haspared to the one in Orario, nyaa, the smaller Familias just have to affiliate themselves to one of the four big factions in the region."


    From here, Yoruichi supplemented, "Most of these Familias choose to ally themselves to Pandemonium, since it has the least restrictions and greatest benefit for them out of the four. Only for a good reason, would they choose to affiliate themselves to the other three."


    "Of course, there are those who choose not to affiliate themselves and this is a perfectly normal situation since that would give them the greatest freedom. However, they generally couldn''t enter the Dungeon and if they have to, they would bepeting withrger and stronger alliances. Compared to Adventurers, there are a lot more Mercenaries, which makes the first few floors of the Dungeon feel very small."


    Artemis creased her brow because she already experienced what is like to have a small and weak Familia, "Wouldn''t that hamper the Familia''s growth and ie?"


    Kisuke sat down beside her and answered her question, "As Kuroka has said, the situation with this entrance is a bit different. Since it''s underwater and its structure is akin to that of an ant colony, it''s impossible to put a lid on it like the Tower of Babel in Orario. Because of that, hundreds if not thousands of monsters escape from the Dungeon and reach the shore every day."


    "Just those smaller monsters are enough to keep everyone busy and they could even getmissions from the viges throughout the region. On top of that, it''s much safer to fight monsters on the surface because you won''t suddenly get greeted by a monster house that usually urs inside the Dungeon. So without a good reason, they wouldn''t even want to dive into the Dungeon unless they were strong enough to tackle the lower floors where the profit is much higher. And if they are strong, they could hardly be considered a small Familia anymore."


    Kisuke then turned to Yoruichi and asked, "By the way, is the situation on the surface what I think it is?"


    "If you think that Astarte Familia is being pressured, then you''re correct. However, the situation is much moreplex than that for them.", Yoruichi then passed some documents to him.


    Looking through it, Kisuke creased his brows, "Offers to transfer the management of the Teleportation Circle to the Aruna Familia?"


    If it''s just that, it wouldn''t be strange, however, the documents include the Alliance and the Poseidon Familia''s insignia. Kisuke thought that the four groups would be fighting each other for control but he didn''t expect that Aruna Familia woulde out on top with the other two at its back.


    But although the situation is really strange, Kisuke wouldn''t care how much they offer him nor how much they dogpile on him since he wouldn''t take back his words that easily.


    "We tried figuring out what''s really going on, nyaa, but we couldn''t find anything. We could only guess that this is a personal agreement between the Deities instead of their Familias."


    "What should we do?", asked Yoruichi, "Since you came down earlier, I''m sure that the executives of the Astarte Familia will make their way here to meet you."


    Kisuke thought for a while and muttered, "We could meet the Deities in question, but I doubt they''ll tell us anything concrete. And since taking back my words doesn''t bode well with me, I''ll let the Astarte Familia keep the circle if they want to keep it. For the request for transfer, ignore it. They''ll actually reveal their motives easier if things don''t go as they want."


    Yoruichi became concerned, "Although a bit of danger is fine with Sona-chan and the rest, I don''t think we should put Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama at risk."


    Kisuke shook his head and said, "That won''t be a problem. I''ve already nned to make something for their security and I''ll be sure to do my best on it. But just to be safe, you or Sera-chan have to be around when Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama go outside. At least, until this situation resolves itself."


    Yoruichi sighed and agreed, "Fine. It''s going to be too annoying to outsmart those Gods so them tripping themselves up is much easier. However, I''ll still try to look into what they''re nning. Something just doesn''t feel right with the Aruna Familia."


    Kuroka then raised her hand with a smile, "I''ll help out too, nyaa~!"


    However, Kisuke immediately disagreed with her words, "No. You won''t."


    Kuroka was shocked, but he immediately followed up an exnation, "It''s about time that you all move to the next part of your training, and this is where your potential will be truly tested."


    With a serious expression, Kisuke looked towards Kuroka, "You and Koneko-chan will have to learn how to fully fuse your Ki''s innate abilities to your own bodies instead of wielding it."


    "Wait!" Serafall eximed when she understood what Kisuke meant by fusing with their innate abilities as Nekoshou which are the ck and white mes, "Wouldn''t that mean..."


    Nodding, Kisuke confirmed what was on her mind, "Their next part of training is to learn how to achieve a Release Form. And they will need to learn it before all hell breaks loose in this world."


    "But even with my decades of training, I still can''t do that yet!" To be a Super Devil, Serafall took Sirzechs'' ability as her reference. She thought that by bing the ''Magic'' itself, she''d step into the ranks of the Super Devils. However, she still couldn''t find the final piece despite doing everything she thought would promote her.


    Kisuke knew what''s on her mind and said, "Sirzechs-san has that kind of ability because he could do it naturally. To do the same, you have to do everything he''s doing, including those that he''s unaware of and more."


    Serafall knew that and it''s the cause of her frustration all these years. Despite doing their best, Sirzechs and even Ajuka couldn''t exin how the former could have a Release Form and just attributed it to the Power of Destruction''s special properties.


    But then, Serafall suddenly realized that Kisuke wanted Kuroka and Koneko to do the same and eximed yet again, "Wait! You know what''s needed!?"


    "I have my theories, but I''m pretty confident with it. Want to try it first?" Since Kuroka and Koneko would be using Ki to attain a Release Form, Kisuke already nned for Sona and Serafall to do the Magic side of it.


    Serafall didn''t even ask the dangers behind it and hurriedly nodded, "I''ll do it!"

 Chapter 739 Medusa’s Hesitation

    Chapter 739 Medusa��s Hesitation


    "So that''s the reason why you wanted us to move here.", muttered Sona, understanding what Kisuke wanted for them.


    As Kisuke nodded, he exined further, "That''s part of it. This time, instead of just monsters, I want you to fight other people outside of your training partners. Although sparring with each other is still good, you all already know each other''s quirks and got used to it. If you don''t fight anyone else you''re not familiar with, your sparring would actually start to be detrimental."


    And with a smile, Kisuke continued, "Luckily, this ce is teeming with people that will just push all the wrong buttons, and you don''t even have to hold back against them~!"


    Skeptical with his words, Aika asked, "But wouldn''t most of those people be weaker than us? Not to brag, but I''m already confident to fight toe-to-toe with the top Adventurers in Orario without releasing all of my abilities."


    "That''s fine. What''s important is that you fight other people. This is not about improving your techniques, but improving your experience. On top of that, this will actually help you not to form a stereotyped method of subconscious judgment against unknown opponents, which is very dangerous."


    Aika finally understood Kisuke''s point and she imagined being in a situation where her opponent moved simrly to Koneko and assumed that she should fight like she''s fighting Koneko which might actually cost her her life in an instant that something out of her expectations happened. That realization gave Aika a cold shiver. Of course, it wasn''t just her, as the other non-veterans also realized and felt the same.


    Kisuke feigned a cough to take back their attention, "This isn''t a big problem yet, but we need to do something about it. In any case, all of you are still doing fine so there''s no need to rush this. To summarize the training goals, Sera-chan and Sona-chan will be learning the Magic-based transformation while Koneko-chan and Kuroka-san will be learning the Ki counterpart."


    "As for Irina and Akeno-san, training with Ophis-chan is more appropriate, while Aika would be learning how to release the second stage of her Zanpakuto."


    Kisuke then looked towards Medusa and said, "Finally, Medusa-chan, we will need to stabilize your Divine Power."


    Hestia and Artemis, who were peacefully listening while drinking tea, spat out what''s in their mouths, "...Come again?", asked Hestia after wiping her mouth.


    "Ah, aren''t you technically a Goddess?" Serafall asked full of innocence.


    "...Someone... Please exin.", pleaded Artemis after wiping her mouth.


    Still, they were ignored and Medusa answered Serafall''s question, "The only thing that came from my Divine Power were my eyes and nothing else. If it''s a technicality, I''m more of a Divine Spirit instead of a Deity because I don''t have the power of one."


    "Still, considering your origin, wouldn''t you be a Goddess of Beauty?"


    Medusa shook her head, "I''m not, but my sisters are. Unlike me, there was a time when they were truly worshipped." It was those times that Medusa vowed to protect her sisters when they came with her when she was banished to the Shapeless Isle.


    Although her sisters were truly Goddesses, they were different from normal ones as they were born from the collective thoughts of ''Beauty that needed to be protected''. Hence, Stheno and Euryale were technically powerless to fulfill the role of being protected.


    Thanks to Medusa being a defect, her Divine Power developed into something else, giving her supernatural abilities that are normally impossible even with Magic. She used this to protect her sisters from those who proimed themselves as heroes that wanted to save both of the Goddesses from her hands.


    But due to Athena''s curse, her Divine Power evolved and developed into something sinister as Medusa became addicted and took pleasure from killing the trespassers of the Shapeless Isle. That would result in the tragic end of her sisters and only when Perseus, bearing the treasures of Gods, defeated her, sealing her soul into eternal suffering of being reincarnated and hunted down.


    Hestia got pissed that her and Artemis'' important question was purposely ignored and directly faced Medusa. Medusa was startled when Hestia suddenly confronted her but their height difference made it look like Hestia was about to throw a tantrum.


    "Medusa-chan! Please tell me about yourself!"


    "Ermm... There isn''t really anything aside from I possess Divine Power like a normal Deity, however, since my birth is a bit special, my situation is a bit different from you and everyone else. I''m sorry, but I would like to leave it like that for now."


    Silence covered the room as Hestia silently stared at Medusa. A few momentster, Hestia sighed and smiled, "Fine. I will wait for the day that you can tell me everything. However, this doesn''t change the fact that you''re my child, alright?"


    Medusa happily nodded and replied, "Of course, Hestia-sama. Nothing would change that."


    Artemis soon sighed too. She''s not as epting as Hestia but she also respected her decision and let her do what she wants. In any case, after spending time with everyone, she already trusts that they wouldn''t hurt her best friend. Though,she doesn''t know what sort of danger this would bring to Hestia, so she couldn''t stop worrying entirely.


    Of course, after this revtion, both Hestia and Artemis already had a clue of where they really came from since if Medusa was truly a Deity, or something simr to it, she could have onlye from the outside. Nevertheless, they didn''t say anything about this either since nothing would really change.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, also knew that they were already aware. After all, it was his idea to bring up Medusa''s Divinity in front of them. Seeing the result, he sighed in relief that everything had gone as he expected, ''Thankfully, Hestia-sama easily epted it.''


    But while thinking so, he could feel a stabbing stare on the back of his head from Yoruichi, ''I''m sorry if I can only do it this way... Can''t help it.''


    Clearing his throat, Kisuke continued what he''s saying, "Ehem... Anyway, I noticed that you''ve been cautiously tapping into your Divine Power during your training."


    Medusa''s expression becameplicated. She wasn''t exactly trying to hide it, but she''s still hesitating about what to do. With everyone getting stronger each passing day, she could stay still and do nothing. However, she was also afraid of her own nature and was scared that she''d return to her monster form if she were to get any stronger.


    Kisuke stood up and approached her. While still thinking about what she should do, Medusa felt Kisuke''s hands wrapped around hers and she looked up to see his eyes looking straight into hers, "If you''re thinking of changing your own nature, don''t bother since 9 out of 10 times, you''ll fail miserably and it might even cost you your life."


    "But-"


    "No buts." Kisuke immediately interrupted her, "Athena''s curse is gone and you''re not alone anymore. There is no reason for you to be afraid any longer."


    Another familiar name came up but Hestia and Artemis didn''t dare interrupt Kisuke.


    And with a big smile, Kisuke added, "Besides, when ites to berserk powers, I''d like to call myself an expert~!"

 Chapter 740 Astarte

    Chapter 740 Astarte


    Medusa recalled everything, including from the times she''d rampaged on earth and thirsting for blood. That scene in her head still gives her nightmares, but with the warmth covering her hands, determination formed in her, ''Instead of leaving this timebomb that I don''t know if it will ever explode, I should just take a step forward and pull it out of pandora''s box and make it mine.''


    "Alright. Please take care of me, Master."


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s what I intended from the start."


    Kisuke wanted to borate more about the training they were about to go through, however, someone special had entered the premise of their tower, "Hmm?"


    With a snap of his fingers, a translucent screen appeared in front of everyone, depicting the wide lobby below from the eyes of the ''doll'' receptionist. Immediately zooming into two cloaked figures, Yoruichi became confused, "They are?"


    Since those whoe in simr attires are aplenty, everyone couldn''t tell what''s special about them. Not from a simple visual image.


    "One is an acquaintance and one is a Deity." answered Kisuke. He could already guess the identity of the Deity and what they''de here for.


    Of course, despite seeing them for the first time, most of them already knew who the Deity is because there''s only one who would want to meet Kisuke with such timing, "Is it Astarte?" Artemis asked.


    "What? Really?" Hestia became giddy.


    "I''ve never met Astarte-sama before, but the person beside the Deity is the captain of the Astarte Familia. So it''s most probably Astarte-sama herself, but what''s wrong?"


    Artemis sighed and replied, "There''s nothing really wrong, but she''s the exact opposite of me. She''s the Goddess of War and Sexual Love." With a bit of hesitation, Artemis continued with a slight blush on her face, "...And her ''love'' goes both ways."


    Kuroka already guessed what''s going on and asked while pointing to Hestia, "So she''s like this because of her overbearing ''love'', nyaa?"


    Hestia and Artemis could only look away but that was enough of an answer. With a very serious expression, Kisuke instructed, "Yoruichi. Invite them in."


    With a simr expression, Yoruichi nodded and stood up, "Roger that."


    "Ehem... Well then, I''m tired so I''ll be retiring for today. Good luck." Hestia tried to escape, but she felt someone hold her hand tightly when she was about to stand up. When she looked up, she saw Aika giving her a big grin.


    Simrly, Koneko held Artemis'' hand tightly so she wouldn''t go anywhere.


    With a huge smile stered on his face, Kisuke added, "What are you talking about, Hestia-sama? As the representatives of the Hestia and Artemis Familias, both of you have to greet her properly or it''ll just be in rude."


    "But Kisuke-kun. You''re a fine captain so you don''t really need us here." Hestia said while still trying to squirm her way out with a smile.


    On the other hand, Artemis had a nk expression and had already given up when she saw Kisuke make a strange smile. Unlike Hestia, she learnt fast, "Hestia, give it up. There''s no point in arguing with him." She then pointed around them, "Look. Everyone''s on board with his idea."


    Hestia looked around and saw that everyone had strategically blocked any way of escape, in addition to Aika not letting her go. Slowly, her smile broke down, and she started shouting, "I DON'' WANNAAAA!!!"


    Everyone except for Artemis was shocked at her sudden outburst but before they could do anything else, a shadow with red hair dashed through everyone and reached behind Hestia. And as if they were coiling snakes, the unknown person''s arms wrapped around Hestia''s body.


    rms started going off in Hestia''s head as she felt the familiar touch. Although before she could say anything, she heard a familiar sultry voice whispering in her right ear, "Oh my~! If it isn''t Hestia-chan. I didn''t expect to see you here. How wonderful~."


    Astarte, a Deity that represented War and Sexual Love had a simr build as Hestia, except for her chest. The striking short red hairplimented her blood-red eyes that reflect sensuousness and gracefulness.


    "A-Astarte!? When did youe here!?" She looked around but she noticed that Yoruichi and herpanion hadn''t even arrived here, "How did you find this room!?"


    "HA! Of course the love between us brought us together!"


    "There''s no love between us!"


    "Well, to be honest, I got a whiff of your scent the moment I arrived on this floor and followed it."


    "See!?"


    "But that''s not important~!" Astarte then suddenly separated from Hestia and reappeared on top of Artemis, who was trying her best to act like an ornament, and trapped her where she was sitting, "Naturally, I didn''t forget about you, Artemis-chan~!" Lifting her chin with her hand, Astarte continued, "I has been a while. Although there''s something different about you right now, you''re still as beautiful and pure as ever~!"


    Artemis immediately covered her lips. Even though she had never been kissed, there are certainly attempts from the Deity in front of her in the past.


    However, Astarte didn''t even attempt to do so this time and instead, grabbed Artemis'' waist before turning back to Hestia, who was already trying to escape, and grabbed her waist too. With a Goddess in each of her arms, Astarte couldn''t help butugh out loud, "FUHAHAHAHA! Now I just need Athena toplete my Maiden Goddess Harem~!"


    Hestia and Artemis finally couldn''t take it and veins popped on their heads. Withbined effort, they both twisted Astarte''s arms resulting in her cry of pain. Not caring about the noise, Artemis lifted her left foot while Hestia lifted her right foot and both of them gave Astarte''s butt a kick with all of their strength.


    "UWAAHHH!!!" Astarte uncontrobly rolled towards the exit of the room and only stopped when she hit someone''s legs. Looking up, Astarte saw the furious face of her child and immediately said, "Yo, Carys. I saw some friends and got excited... Tee-hee~?"


    Even without witnessing everything, just from the fact that Astarte suddenly ran off while making a perverted expression and with the Goddesses behind the doors fuming, Carys could already guess what had happened.


    Dropping on all fours, the Cow Person hurriedly asked for forgiveness, "I''m very sorry for how she acted! You don''t have to tell me what happened! I know full well how she acts!"


    Astarte also sat up and was also about to apologize. However, she froze when she saw Hestia and Artemis grabbing a man''s arm while ring at her, "W-what...?"


    Slowly standing up, she pointed her shaking fingers at them, "I-I can understand Hestia since she''s naive and easy to trick."


    "Oi." Hestia retorted.


    "B-b-b-but Artemis!? The known man-hater!?"


    "None of your business." Artemis replied.


    They thought that Astarte would be disheartened, but contrary to their expectations, her eyes shone and jumped in front of Kisuke, "Teach me your ways, Master! As a bonus, I shall be yours too!"

 Chapter 741 Astarte’s Frustrations

    Chapter 741 Astarte��s Frustrations


    While nursing the lump on her head, Astarte introduced herself, "Hestia-chan and Artemis-chan already knew me, but I''m Astarte! Nice to meet y''all!"


    "And I''m the Captain of the Astarte Familia, Carys Cattell. It''s my first time meeting most of you and I''m grateful to be your acquaintance. Also, I''m sorry for Astarte-sama''s behavior just now." The person who gave her the lump also introduced herself.


    Astarte wanted to start conversing about random things since it has really been a while since they''ve seen each other and she was incredibly curious about how Kisuke had melted Artemis'' heart. But before she could do that, Carys immediately interrupted her with a serious expression, "Astarte-sama, we don''t have much time, so please leave it forter. I didn''t really want to agree for you to climb down here since it''s dangerous, so I''d like for us to return to the surface as soon as possible. Besides, if those people realized that you''ve descended into the Dungeon, they are going to use that fact however they want."


    Although she was really curious as to why Kisuke and the others had brought their patron Deities down here, it was none of their business and they didn''t have the right to question them.


    Astarte''s gleeful expression also disappeared and was reced by a solemn one, "Then I''ll go straight to the point. Kisuke Urahara, what do we need to do for us to keep our position regarding the Teleportation Circle?"


    Kisuke looked straight at them without any sort of expression, "You still want to keep it despite all the pressureing from all sides?"


    Astarte closed her eyes and crossed her arms while sighing, "We would have relegated it if it''s Poseidon or the Alliance who wanted to take it. But there''s no way I''ll give this up if it''s only going to end up with Aruna."


    "Heh... I already heard the rumors, but you really don''t like the other side, huh."


    "There''s no way we''ll get along with them! Not when they''ve hardly changed their way!" Carys had a sudden outburst while clenching her fist.


    Right away, Astarte turned her eyes to her, "Carys, I know how you''re feeling but this isn''t the ce and they are neers that might have never heard their history. Curb your emotions."


    "History?" Kisuke asked. The truth is, however, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and he already knew about it, but they''d still pretend that they didn''t know. After all, it would be unnerving if they revealed that they searched through their history.


    Scratching her head, Artemis answered after sighing, "I''ll make it short. The reason my Familia is the way it is now was primarily to oppose that arrogant blockhead Aruna. In the past, they used their women as if they were tools, so I gathered those victims and created my own group."


    Astarte understood that lovees in all kinds of shapes and forms. However, she didn''t like Aruna''s children that instilled fear in everyone and hated Aruna himself for letting them do as they wanted. As an advocate of ''love'', she never weed ''fear'' that instilled terror for the feeling of power and authority. After all, ''love'' could never be born from ''fear'' and she doubted that anything worthwhile would.


    "The generation that started all this hate was already long gone and they''re a lot tamer these days. But as Carys said, they haven''t really changed their ways and do things in a more secretive way. Although there are some who wanted to change it from the inside, no one had seeded."


    Astarte recalled Carys'' parents and they were two of the people who tried to change the Aruna Familia but only ended up bing victims. Thankfully, Carys herself was saved and avoided suffering the same fate as them.


    ''Looks like the Aruna Familia are experts in navigating the grey area.'', thought Kisuke, since they were still thriving now, ''Well, this is the limit of a society where strength is the most important.''


    "And that''s the gist of it. If you want to know more, just ask the old folks or some Deity in Pandemonium. It isn''t exactly a secret at this point. It''s just that only a few individuals still remember the events of the past." Astarte then looked back to Kisuke, "Now that I''ve answered your question, It''s your turn to answer mine."


    Kisuke smiled and replied, "I don''t like taking back my words so I promised to everyone that if you''re willing to stand your ground, then nothing will change from our side. Though if you wanted some assistance to defend yourselves, then I would need somepelling reason to act."


    Astarte and Carys'' eyes widened in surprise. They didn''t think it would be this easy. A few secondster, Astarte startedughing while shaking her head, "Just your reassurance that nothing will change is plenty enough. I couldn''t ask for more."


    Now that they got the answer that they wanted, there is no more reason to stay here, especially since they are within the Dungeon. Standing up, Astarte and Carys intended to leave, "Thank you for your time and I apologize that we couldn''t offer much. But since you''re Hestia-chan and Artemis-chan''s children, if you need our help, we won''t hesitate to give a hand, no matter the situation we''re in."


    As her long-time friends, Astarte trusted Hestia and Artemis'' judgment when they epted their children. If there''s something they need, Astarte would happily assist them.


    "You too, Astarte. If you need some help. Don''t hesitate to ask them. It may not look like it, but they''re very capable children~!" Hestia immediately answered back with a big smile. She doesn''t like how she usually acts, but it never changed the fact that she''s one of her good and sincere friends.


    Artemis also nodded along with Hestia''s words, "That''s right. These kids wanted some exercise so if you want to, we''ll lend them to you."


    "Fufufu, then I''ll remember that~.", Though Astarte did say that, she has no intention of involving them any further with their problem. Although Kisuke started all of this, she knew that he was just the trigger of the long-brewing conflict between her and Aruna that could start any time.


    Kisuke also stood up intending to escort them, "By the way, Astarte-sama. What do you think is happening for the other two to back the Aruna Familia if they really are such an unsavory bunch?"


    Astarte shook her head, "I don''t know. But I have a feeling that it''s not for a good reason and the other two are just feeling helpless with the situation. That''s how it looks like for me, at least."

 Chapter 742 Contact

    Chapter 742 Contact


    It had been a week since Astarte and Carys came to visit and everyone had already limated themselves to the Dizara Region and the new Dungeon. Within just a short week, the Adventurers of Orario already made a name for themselves as Mercenaries of the Hestia and Artemis Familia''s.


    The Astarte Familia''s situation, on the other hand, had worsened fromst week. The previously open for everyone Pandemonium became a foreign ce for them as they couldn''t easily resupply as before. The problem of supply was not unsolvable, however, they would need to dedicate more manpower for acquiring it which would weaken certain sectors of their Familia.


    This became possible because of the unchecked smear campaign that the Aruna Familia was doing, swaying the masses'' opinion against them for ''monopolizing'' the path to the deeper floors. Of course, most people were unaware that it was the Aruna Familia who was spreading negative rumors regarding the Astarte Familia, and pointing at them without concrete evidence would only backfire.


    One point the rumor made was the high price to go through the transfer. Although the Astarte Familia lowered the price, another one popped out saying that it was still too high so from then on, they knew that it would only be futile to do anything if their goal was to take the circle.


    They also thought of blocking the members of the Aruna Familia from using the circle, but decided against it since it would most likely backfire at them, too.


    Another thing that infuriated the Astarte Familia, was the utter disregard for the hunting spots which they previously frequented. Since the poption on the deeper floor went up exponentially,petition for good hunting spots would worsen. However, their situation was that they were being harassed to leave somewhere else. And it wasn''t just the Aruna Familia who were doing this.


    Outnumbered, they had no choice but to hide their activities and avoid dangerous spots in fear of ambushes.


    Fortunately, their situation wasn''tpletely bad as their fortune also grew from all the fees that they could collect. Even though they had to spend more on supplies, their ie became a lot higher to offset that and they were still profiting. Thanks to that, everyone from the Astarte Familia received better equipment which made their hunting a lot easier.


    Of course, Sona and the rest also received some harassment for being connected with Kisuke. However, although they fought back, they didn''t do it too much and pretended to struggle against them. As for why, they did it so that they could lure out the masterminds and clean them up when they get a chance.


    Nevertheless, they also enjoyed fighting all sorts of people and ''luckily'' trashing them when they got bored and couldn''t learn any more from them.


    "We''re home~!" Aika yelled after entering the living room and immediately noticed ire fidgeting while watching Kisuke set up some sort of equipment on the table.


    Koneko, who came home with Aika, asked curiously, "What''s that?"


    "Themunication device I promised to ire. I''m setting it up now.", answered Kisuke and looked up, "By the way, where are the others?"


    Aika sat down beside Kisuke and looked at the device curiously, "They were all taking Sera-chan''s Magic lessons and that included Tenestra. Though I feel bad for thetter one since she couldn''t keep up, not just about the concept, but alsomon sense. Thankfully, Line was there for her."


    Koneko exited the room since she heard Medusa preparing some tea and snacks and intended to help her.


    "But it sure took some time, huh? Did some unexpected problems crop up?",asked Aika while bringing Tanis to herp after getting too close.


    "There''s that, but I also added some nifty features since the equipment on the other side could support it."


    Aika hesitated for a moment before asking, "By the way, can I contact my parents through that, too?"


    At that moment, Kisuke''s handnded on her head, "Of course. And the first thing I would do is apologize to them."


    Aika became silent for a few moments before replying, "So they already knew what happened to me? I''ll do it with you then."


    Kisuke nodded, "Before I returned, I asked mom to disclose everything to them since there was no point in hiding it and it might actually be dangerous for them."


    "How did they react?"


    "I don''t know. I left it to mom how she''ll break it to them and I didn''t really have time to go around when I was there."


    A few minutester, Kisuke was finally done setting up themunication device. Aika thought that it would just be a single thing, but she was surprised to see that it consisted of four parts and each of them was ced in the corner of the room, "Yep. It''s done."


    Kisuke then turned to ire, "I''ll ring them up now, however, I don''t know if they''re going to be too busy to answer. So don''t get dejected when they fail to answer, alright? We can always try againter."


    ire nodded happily, "Understood! Please call them now, Kisuke-niichan!"


    "Alright." Kisuke then started operating the console in front of him to establish a connection, ''Let''s see... Space stability, check. Magic power output, check. Encryption, check...''


    While Kisuke was busy, those in the room, namely Aika, Koneko, Medusa, ire, Tanis and Ophis, were looking around for any signs of themunicating device running up.


    On the floor where the core of the tower was situated, a clear transparent metal alloy cylinder started lighting up as barriers simultaneously appeared around it. A few secondster, invisible to the naked eye, several nanoscopic holes in the space were created, revealing the void beyond it.


    On a simr device in the base that Kisuke created on Mars, after months of inactivity, came alive for the first time and started doing the same thing as the device in the tower, creating nanoscopic holes in space.


    ''Looks like there''s no problem.'' Kisuke thought as he started up the second phase. Controlling the equipment that he''d put down prior to leaving, Kisuke was able to start up everything without any problems. All he needed to do is to send a signal using the base on Mars as a physical medium.


    A few secondster, a transparent screen showing a loading screen appeared in the middle of the room. And not long after that, a familiar figure appeared as a hologram, [Ah, it connected.]


    Without being able to wait anymore, ire jumped to the hologram while shouting, "Mama!"

 Chapter 743 Ophis’ Growth

    Chapter 743 Ophis�� Growth


    Cleria knew that the ire that was running in front of her was just a hologram. Even then, she still tried catching her but with a wry smile on her face since she''d be seeing her daughter''s disappointed expression after not seeing her for so long.


    However, to her surprise, she was able to catch ire, ''What!?''


    ire, on the other hand, was not thinking any of this and just savored the familiar warmth of her mother that she hadn''t felt for months. Although she noticed that something was missing, she was already incredibly happy at the moment.


    Cleria silently turned to Kisuke with her eyes wide open as she tightly clutched ire and only to see him giving a wink and a thumbs up. With an expression that was about to tear up, she silently whispered in his direction, "Thank you."


    A few momentster, Masaomi also appeared within the detection range of themunication device and was shocked that Cleria was hugging the illusion of their daughter, "Wait, you can do that!?"


    "Papa!" ire shouted when she heard his voice but she didn''t want to separate from her mother so she just reached out one arm towards him.


    "Well, whatever!" Masaomi immediately discarded his questions and joined in on the family hug.


    The three of them stayed like that for a few minutes until Kisuke scanned the long couch on their side and transferred a holographic version of it to Cleria and Masaomi''s side.


    With that, Cleria and Masaomi sat down with ire on thep of the former and at that point, ire finally noticed what had been missing and it was her parents'' smell which saddened her a bit.


    "What''s wrong, baby?"


    "...I can''t smell Mama.", answered ire dejectedly.


    Cleria then started chuckling while pinching ire''s face, "Silly girl~ Mama''s not here so how could you smell me?"


    "Ah!" ire finally realized that this was essentially a video call and turned to Kisuke with bright eyes, "Kisuke-niichan! This is amazing!"


    "Fufufu~ As long as I put my mind to it, Kisuke-niichan can do almost anything~!" Kisuke then took out something from his storage and inserted it into the console for themunication device, "But that''s not all. We also have this!"


    Within a brief moment, a disy screen appeared in front of the three showing what seems to be a list of image and video files.


    "This is?", asked Masaomi.


    "It is what it looks like and you can operate it yourselves."


    Hearing that, Masaomi curiously touched one of the image files randomly and it suddenly showed a picture of ire eating sweets with Ophis and Hestia, "Hoh~ This is amazing and useful."


    Seeing the picture then prompted ire to start talking about it excitedly. From then, ire continued narrating her adventures while viewing the pictures and videos with Cleria and Masaomi.


    A few momentster, a picture depicting ire, Ophis and Tanis appeared, which reminded the kid, "Ta-chan! Come over! I''ll introduce you to mama and papa!", urged ire to one of her best friends.


    However, Tanis started fidgeting as she looked around nervously, not knowing what to do. It was then that it clicked in Kisuke''s mind, "Ah! All this time, we''ve been speaking in Japanese!"


    Even ire didn''t notice it as she started speaking Japanese the moment she heard her mother''s voice.


    "That really slipped out of my mind too...", muttered Koneko, as she found Tanis'' lost expression a bit amusing.


    Kisuke patted Tanis'' head and took out a small candy, "I''m sorry about that. Here, take it."


    Tanis curiously looked at the candy on Kisuke hand, but she got a whiff of its sweet and delicious scent. She immediately picked it up and put it in her mouth. ''Looks like she developed quite a bad habit.'', thought Kisuke with a wry smile.


    Although the candy looked hard, it was incredibly soft and Tanis started chewing on it, relishing its sweetness and a bit of a sour vor that tingled her mouth in a very pleasant way. After finishing it, she craved for more but didn''t ask for it. It was a good development for Tanis who didn''t even have a shred of self-control when she came to them.


    "Can you understand me now?" Kisuke asked in Japanese.


    Tanis stared at Kisuke in amazement because it was anguage she had never heard before but clearly understood, "Yais!" She tried answering back with the samenguage but there was still awkwardness which was normal.


    "Ta-chan, Ta-chan! Come over, quick!", urged ire again.


    This time, understanding her words, Tanis happily ran over, "Yais!"


    .


    .


    .


    After an hour or so, ire fell asleep on her mother''sp and Tanis also took the spot next to her, [It felt like I''ve gained another daughter~], said ire as she caressed both of their heads gently.


    "You look happy about it.",mented Kisuke while chuckling.


    [Of course. This is the second time ire found a friend.] Cleria smiled gently.


    Masaomi, meanwhile, looked toward Ophis and said, [You also have our gratitude, Ophis-sama.]


    Ophis, who has been silently and endlessly chewing on snacks finally spoke up for the first time, "Your gratitude is unneeded."


    Naturally, Ophis didn''t say that to be rude but she really couldn''t remember doing anything that warranted their gratitude so she has no need for it.


    Kisuke''s handnded on her head and said, "He meant to thank you for taking care of ire."


    However, Ophis only looked up to him and tilted her head in confusion as she still couldn''t remember doing such a thing.


    Kisuke instantly guessed what was going on in Ophis'' mind and added, "Taking care of someone means looking out for them and keeping them safe from harm. You''ve been doing that, haven''t you?"


    "Oh." Realization finally dawned on Ophis. Since she was only doing what she wanted to do, ''taking care'' of someone never really crossed her mind, ''So this is what it means to take care of someone.''


    Ophis then turned back to Masaomi with a proud expression, "Your gratitude, I shall ept it."


    Cleria and Masaomi looked at each other before chuckling. If it wasn''t confirmed that she was the Dragon God, they wouldn''t believe that she was the one and only even if someone told them.

 Chapter 744 Lilith

    Chapter 744 Lilith


    [Before we start, I want to ask. Where are the others?]


    Kisuke took out nkets andid them on top of both Tanis and ire, "They didn''t know I would bepleting thismunication device today, so they are all out to do their own things."


    [Thanks.] Cleria further fixed the nkets'' position before asking, [And how much longer could we talk?]


    As he sat back down, Kisuke took a look at his console, "I can supply the power on the equipment on my side but I can''t do anything on the other side aside from letting it recover on its own. But we still have an hour before the power reaches critical levels and automatically shuts down. After that, three days would be needed to fully charge it back."


    [We''re sorry for taking such a precious time.], Masaomi immediately apologized, feeling a bit guilty.


    "Don''t say that, Uncle. Even if you''ve taken all the time and the next few sessions, we wouldn''t mind. After all, I made this, especially for ire." Kisuke replied in a reprimanding tone, "Anyway, where''s Mom and Uncle Diehauser?"


    [Sarah fetched someone and should be arriving any moment now, but Diehauser-niisama is...] Cleria became hesitant with her words.


    Although they tried hiding it, Kisuke immediately noticed that both of them were extremely tired but didn''t ask about it. However, her hesitation made him crease his brows, ''Looks like a few months of us gone was already too long.''


    Cleria wanted to continue but Sakura arrived at that moment, [I''m here!]


    Before Kisuke could greet her, however, Sakura instantly understood the situation after seeing ire and an unknown blue-skinned little girl lying on herp. Sakura didn''t wait for Kisuke to respond and like a child, she leaped towards him with all her might and arms wide open while yelling in excitement, "Kisuke~!!!"


    But the moment she crashed into him, the sophisticatedly created hologram was crushed into tiny bits, resulting in her making a devastated expression.


    On the other hand, on Kisuke''s side, Sakura''s figure was crushed into tiny bits, but a few secondster, it was reformed behind him where she was standing, "Mom, calm down. I''m not going anywhere for the time being."


    [No can do~!] Sakura figured out that she can''t use too much force and turned back to the reformed hologram of Kisuke with a big smile. This time, instead of leaping forward, Sakura calmly approached Kisuke and hugged him tightly, [I missed you...]


    Kisuke returned the hug, "I missed you too, mom."


    But while they were having their moment, the person that Sakura apparently fetched also appeared within themunication device''s detection range, and everyone in the different world was shocked to varying degrees.


    Everyone then looked towards Ophis, who already stopped eating and stood up.


    The one who arrived was ''Ophis''. But there couldn''t be two Ophis so Kisuke instantly guessed that this is the Dragon God''s stolen part, Lilith, ''Although this Lilith was only a small part of Ophis, her existence also means Ophis'' ipleteness.''


    Kisuke already thought of several methods of fusing the separated part back to Ophis but as she watched the two silently approach each other, a bad premonition came to him and immediately reached out to the console.


    "Kisuke?" Sakura became confused when Kisuke started panicking but thetter didn''t have time to answer her as he immediately initiated an emergency shutdown.


    The moment the power was cut off was also the moment Ophis and Lilith locked hands. The microscopic holes in the space didn''t close and the channels that should have been keeping the connection on didn''t disappear even though there was nothing powering them anymore.


    On the contrary, these holes started getting bigger, making way for ''infinity'' toplete itself.


    "Tsk!" Kisuke couldn''t help but click his tongue at the situation and started releasing his own energy, waking up even the sleeping children, who were in close proximity. However, he doesn''t have the luxury to worry about them and expended his own energy to forcefully close the holes.


    But even after doing that, themunication device wasn''t disconnected and Kisuke became worried, ''Is this simr to quantum entanglement?''


    If this is a normal situation, Kisuke would have happily observed them. Nevertheless, they aren''t in their own world and Kisuke was still unclear if the one watching over them right now and possessing enormous power is hostile.


    Thankfully, he already ascertained some time ago that ''Chaos'' wasn''t directly watching this world but in a state simr to sleeping and waiting for an rm to go off.


    But then again, Kisuke doesn''t exactly know when those rms would go off and he''s afraid that he''ll take notice of this, ''If he notices this, then some of my important cards would be rendered useless.''


    Fortunately, he was able to think of a solution that would reduce the risk of being discovered and sent a telepathic message that was aimed at theva pool on the 48th floor. [Uhmm. Excuse me, but I may need a helping hand over here.]


    Kisuke doesn''t know if his request would be heeded so it''s a gamble. Still, it''s the easiest of his choices right now. Thankfully enough, he got an answer before he could go through his other options that weren''t just hard, but also risky.


    With his keen senses, Kisuke noticed the sudden change in the Dungeon''s Magic Power flow, albeit, only slightly. This change was also noticed by Yoruichi, Serafall, and Sona thanks to their mastery over Magic and immediately ended what they were doing to return. No matter how small the change is, it still happened for the first time and we were worried about what it signified.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke formed invisible strings of his own energy and started probing outwards. The moment he touched the Dungeon''s wall, his string went through but there was no information that wasing through, ''So the Dungeon became a protective shell.''


    And while all of this was happening, Ophis and Lilith ignored everything and silently stared at each other. Initially, Ophis thought of retrieving the rest of his powers at some point, but the moment she saw and felt Lilith''s existence, she already lost interest in that and became interested in the existence of the other ''half'' of herself.


    Simrly, Lilith thought of returning to her original form in the future but also lost her interest in that and became extremely interested in Ophis herself.


    The two''s meeting changed the Infinite Dragon forever and no one knew if this was for the best.

 Chapter 745 Ophis’ Growth part 2

    Chapter 745 Ophis�� Growth part 2


    Kisuke carefully observed Ophis and Lilith using his plethora of senses and the others in the room were quiet so as not to disturb him and the Infinite Dragons.


    In Kisuke''s perspective, Ophis and Lilith, despite clearly unifying under the concept of ''Infinity'', were still two different entities. Thanks to that, however, themunication device was still connected using them as a channel. They became connected regardless of the immeasurable distance and treacherous void in between.


    Kisuke wanted to observe more but a voice came to his head, [I can''t do this forever.], and he could only sigh after that.


    pping his hands, Kisuke gathered everyone''s attention, "I hate to break your reunion but I''ll have to request the two of you to separate for now and I didn''t mean just taking a distance from each other."


    Lilith looked at Ophis, wanting to ask about him. Of course, she didn''t have to say it out loud as Ophis understood her confusion. With a rare smile that exudes pride and gloating, Ophis introduced him, "My first friend, Kisuke, The Hat."


    "Ohhh..." Lilith turned to Kisuke with interest before saying, "You shall be my friend too."


    Kisuke chuckled as he approached them. When they came to his reach, his left hand patted Ophis'' head while the right one went to Lilith''s head, "I''m grateful to be your friend too, but let''s save this for the next time when things are more convenient, alright?"


    "...I''ll see you again, new friend."


    Kisuke nodded to Lilith before turning his head to Sakura, Cleria, and Masaomi, "Looks like the situation on your side was moreplicated than I initially thought, but I''ll hear it in two days. I have to first take care of the problems on this side."


    "I understand. Be careful and I''d like to see everyer~.", replied Sakura with a big smile while Cleria and Masaomi hurriedly said their goodbyes to ire. A few secondster, themunication device finally shut down and the hologram of everyone disappeared. At the same moment, the Dungeon returned to its usual activity.


    As everything settled down, Kisuke sighed in relief, ''I doubt I could stop the connection between Ophis and Lilith so I have to find a way to camouge that and make it look like I''m using a simple and direct method.''


    Soon enough, a slightly tensed Serafall arrived first, "Ki-tan! What was that just now!? Are wepromised!?"


    "Wee back~ It was an oversight, but it ended without causing any further incident, so all are still fine." Kisuke then proceeded to narrate what happened when they are gone and asked Medusa to tell Yoruichi and the rest of the events of today since he needed to find a ''fix'' to Ophis and Lilith''s ''problem'' and he would like to start doing it now so he could meet the two days deadline.


    .


    .


    .


    Two dayster, Kisuke finally came out of his workshop with Ophis with a big smile over his face. After a whole day of testing different methods, he finally found a way to hide the Infinite Dragon''s pletion'', "Just in time~" he muttered and stretched his arms.


    He then looked towards Ophis and said, "Ophis-chan, please call the others to the living room. We''ll open themunication lines again."


    Ophis nodded and started walking ahead. But before she could go far, she turned back and asked, "Including Line?"


    Kisuke was a bit surprised at her question and thought about it for a few seconds before nodding, "Please ask her to make her way too."


    With Ophis'' back turned to him, Kisuke couldn''t help but smile while reminiscing the days that he first met her and truly understood her as a person, ''She''s alreadye a long way from being oblivious of simple things. She can also finally remember names, but I wonder why she still calls me ''Hat'' despite calling others by their names perfectly fine? Should I think of this as special treatment from her?''


    Kisuke just shook his head and stopped thinking about it as he made his way to the core of the tower to add the necessary equipment of the modifiedmunication line. Since there are some fragile and delicate parts that needed to be sophisticatedly handled, it took him about an hour to finish the job and it was only then that he decided to return to the living room where everyone was probably already waiting for him.


    Upon arrival, everyone was already in the room, talking merrily to each other while having some snacks, "Kisuke-kun! You''re finally back! I heard you''d be contacting your hometown today?" Hestia greeted and asked him excitedly.


    "Yep. And since this is a good chance, I''ll introduce Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama, and Line-chan to everyone on the other side."


    "M-me too!?" eximed Line since she didn''t expect that she''d be included in this closely knitted group even though she was also called toe here.


    "Of course. You''re my student, after all." Kisuke then approached her and passed candy to her, "But for starters, take this."


    "T-thank you..." Line expressed her gratitude shyly but it also made her feel a lot better. Although she''s friendly with everyone, she doesn''t know if she should really be here since she''s from the Loki Familia.


    However, she suddenly realized something that heated up her face, ''W-wait... Does that mean I''m one of his women now!?''


    While most of them were with Kisuke, she certainly forgot about Hestia, Artemis, and Serafall.


    "What''s wrong?" Kisuke asked when Line was deep in her thoughts.


    Kisuke''s bewildered voice woke Line up from her fantasies and hurriedly shook her head while waving her hand, "N-nothing! I''m was thinking of something stupid." In any case, it''s really a stupid thought for her as she couldn''t even bepared to the other girls around Kisuke, ''Not just in abilities, but also qualification.''


    Seeing the candy being offered, Line received it after taking a deep breath and asked, "This is?"


    "Just eat it and you''ll know its effectster."


    After giving her a confusing answer, Kisuke then moved towards Yoruichi and Akeno and gave them a different kind of candy each, "This is for Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama."


    Yoruichi wanted to smack Kisuke''s head for giving nonsensical exnations but before she could do so, Artemis, who heard his words, asked, "For us?"


    "Yep~ You''ll know its effect after they eat it and update their Status."


    Yoruichi immediately understood what these candies are for but could only let out a short sigh, "Why do you have such extreme sides? It''s either you''ll exin how it works to no end, or you''ll give an answer that doesn''t provide any exnation..."


    Kisuke thought about it and didn''t deny it, "Well, I guess giving exnations to enemies is more fun?"

 Chapter 746 Connecting the Two Worlds part 1

    Chapter 746 Connecting the Two Worlds part 1


    Hestia and Artemis were skeptical about what Kisuke meant, but they did update Yoruichi and Akeno''s status. However, the moment they pulled out Yoruichi and Akeno''s experiences from their Falnas, foreign knowledge invaded their minds.


    The suddenness of the situation caught both Goddesses off guard and immediately stopped updating their status. Nevertheless, the unknown knowledge already branded itself to their minds and made them panic, "W-what''s this, Kisuke-kun?"


    Kisuke immediately held Hestia''s hand and reassured her, "Please don''t worry, Hestia-sama. It''s the knowledge of our hometown''snguages and there shouldn''t be any other effect on you."


    Kisuke couldn''t just craft a candy that''ll directly imprint the knowledge in them, since that may be seen as an ''intrusion'' to the system. To safely circumvent this, he had to imnt the information on the Falna itself so that it could be naturally absorbed by the Deity as they manipted it.


    "On another note, can you understand me now?" Kisuke proceeded to ask in Japanese with a grin.


    Hestia calmed down after feeling the warmth of Kisuke''s hand and was mildly surprised that she fully understood what she formerly heard as gibberish, "...So this is thenguage of your hometown?"


    "Yep~!"


    Off to the side, however, Kisuke heard Artemis'' dissatisfied voice in fluent Japanese, "It wouldn''t really hurt you if you were to treat me just like Hestia..."


    Kisuke and Hestia looked at Artemis with a start, "Artemis, Kisuke is my child so it''s normal for him to spoil me!"


    Artemis pouted in discontent and retorted, "Aren''t we considered as one organization? Shouldn''t I receive the same treatment?"


    Kisuke and Hestia looked at each other not knowing what to do. Technically speaking, Kisuke''s treatment of them should be pretty simr, but he always found himself treating Hestia a bit better than Artemis which now became the source of her dissatisfaction.


    In addition to that, Kisuke involuntarily didn''t want to close the ''distance'' between them after her previous confession that he rejected.


    "Er... Give her a pat on the head?" Hestia asked Kisuke.


    Kisuke wanted to ask if that much is fine but before he could do so, Artemis interrupted him with shining eyes, "You will!?"


    The duo were once again shocked at her reaction and Hestia whispered to Kisuke, "Are we treating her too harshly?"


    "I don''t think so, but I''m not too confident with a reaction like that." Kisuke whispered back.


    Seeing them whisper to each other, Artemis'' anticipation diminished and she asked worryingly, "...Is that too much?"


    Hestia hurriedly elbowed Kisuke and thetter feigned a cough, "Ehem, of course not, Artemis-sama. We''re just surprised that you''d ask for such a thing."


    "And?"


    Kisuke cackled and reached out for her head. Just as he always does, he gently stroked her head and as additional service, he infused a bit of his Soul''s power into his hand to give it a calming effect.


    Artemis closed her eyes and enjoyed the unexpectedly pleasant feeling, ''They''ve been receiving something like this all this time? I''ve been missing out...'' She was only curious when she asked for a pat since everyone except for her was regrly receiving his pats but she didn''t expect that it was such a pleasurable feeling that she might get addicted to.


    A few secondster, Kisuke stopped stroking her head and took back his hand while thinking that it was enough. However, he and everyone else witnessed an instance of devastation on her face before returning to her normal stoic expression immediately, albeit with a bit of blush on her face, "Ehem... I''d like to receive it tomorrow too if you don''t mind."


    Artemis wanted for him to continue but they have something important to do today and she doesn''t have the courage to ask for more right now so she could only let him promise that he''ll do it again next time.


    "Tomorrow is fine, but I can''t always do it." promised Kisuke.


    As simple as that, Artemis became a happier person.


    While everyone epted it without any fuss, there''s someone who couldn''t let it pass without receiving the same ''offering''.


    Moving in front of him, Ophis stared straight up at Kisuke as if she''s threatening and pressuring him with her ''re''.


    Guessing what''s on her mind, Kisuke chuckled softly and also patted her head.


    Ophis closed her eyes and enjoyed the pleasant feeling, resulting in a small smile blooming on her face. She decided that she should ept this offering at least once a day.


    And after seeing Ophis like that, ire and Tanis also scrambled to get close to receive theirs, "Me too, me too!"


    "Okay~ Come here~", but before he noticed it, there''s already a train of people behind the children, including Line who meekly went behindst, "Uhmm... What?"


    Yoruichi who in front of everyone else replied with a big grin, "It''s decided that you''ll be doing this every day." And as she spoke out, everyone nodded.


    "So I don''t have a say in this?"


    "You''re not agreeing?"


    "I''ll dly be of service to everyone~!"


    .


    .


    .


    After the pat galore everyone was satisfied and Kisuke finally finished installing every module he needed for the modification. With everything and everyone ready, Kisuke initiated the connection while carefully looking through all the logs thate and go on his console to see if everything is working as intended.


    With the connection sessfully establishing smoothly and without any problems, Kisuke let out a short sigh of relief and a few secondster, a familiar loading screen appeared in front of everyone, ''I know that winging it like this is bad, but I just can''t stop doing it. Well, this kind of thing helped me respond faster than anyone else in various situations.''


    The moment Cleria and Masaomi''s figures showed up, ire, as everyone expected, lunged at them, "Mama! Papa!"


    Masaomi caught his precious daughter and started pulling her cheeks while patting her, "It was just two days. You already missed us that much?"


    It was just supposed to be a light joke but ire immediately nodded at his question with an innocent smile and made him stutter a little.


    About to tear up, Masaomi tightly hugged his daughter, "I''m very sorry sweety... We''re very busy with our work right now so you have to stay with Kisuke-niichan for a bit more. Don''t worry, though. Once you''re home, we''ll go to an amusement park and we won''t go home until we can ride everything in it."


    ire''s eyes shone, "It''s a promise!?"


    "It''s a promise."


    "Can we take Ta-chan and Phis-chan?"


    "Of course!"


    "Yay~!"


    After consoling their child and making her behave on theirps, Cleria greeted everyone and introduced herself to the people she met for the first time today, "Nice to meet you. I''m Yaegaki Cleria, Cleria is my given name. Beside me is Yaegaki Masaomi, my husband and ire''s parents. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

 Chapter 747 Connecting the Two Worlds part 2

    Chapter 747 Connecting the Two Worlds part 2


    "And I''m Urahara Sakura~!" Sakura''s hologram suddenly appeared, "I''m Kisuke''s mother~!"


    At Sakura''s introduction, Hestia and Line became nervous. While Hestia knew why she became nervous, Line didn''t have any idea why.


    "Nice to meet you too. I''m Hestia and I''m their patron Goddess."


    Cleria, Masaomi, and Sakura were shocked at her disproportionate but they were even more surprised when she introduced herself, "The Goddess Hestia?" Sakura muttered.


    "Yes?" Hestia, including Artemis, became confused at their response.


    "Oh, I''m sorry. There''s nothing strange.", Sakura immediately apologized for their weird response and proceeded to exin, "It''s just that we also know a Goddess Hestia, not personally, but on the records."


    Kisuke became interested and asked, "Records? Why do you know of these records? Even stumbling upon them should be hard."


    Sakura let out a short sigh and replied, "It''s the days we''re still looking for ways to deal with Lilith-chan and looked through all kinds of old records about Ophis-chan in hopes of finding something like a weakness. You see, despite being only a part of her, Lilith-chan is powerful enough to be Rizevim''s bodyguard, who''s a Super Devil."


    Kisuke and Medusa only told Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Serafall about Lilith''s appearance and no one else took ire and Tanis when they mentioned that they made a new friend that looked like Ophis since they thought that they just met a look alike. So upon being mentioned, everyone looked towards Ophis who was supposedly sitting quietly in the corner but those who didn''t know about Lilith''s existence were astounded at the identical little girl that appeared without their notice.


    With shining eyes, Aika approached Lilith and started pinching her cheeks, "Why didn''t anyone tell us that Ophis-chan has a twin?"


    "You''ll hear the full exnationter, Aika-chan, but to further exin my point earlier, Hestia of Mount Olympus is one of the many Gods that perished when they tried subjugating Ophis-chan long ago."


    " " "EH!?" " " Hestia, Artemis, and Line simultaneously let out a voice of disbelief.


    Meanwhile, Ophis is trying to recall such an event but she kept drawing a nk and kept tilting her head from side to side, "...I have no recollection."


    " " "EHH!?" " "


    Sakura chuckled and said, "I''d be surprised if you do. After all, that happened even before Humans thrived and Angels and Devils started appearing. So it should have been a few tens of thousands of years ago since then."


    " " "EHHH!?" " " The three natives of this world couldn''t wrap their heads around Ophis''s existence after such revtion and this is especially true for Line who didn''t know what to think about anymore.


    Out of the three, however, Artemis was the fastest one to calm down and cleared her throat, "...I''m Artemis, also one of their patron Goddesses. Nice to meet you."


    After their short conversation, several theories emerged on Artemis''s head, and by introducing herself, she''ll be able to clear her doubts and questions, not just ''Hestia''s'' existence, but also hers and Ophis''s.


    "Really?" Sakura''s face brightened, "What a coincidence, really! This time, we personally knew a Goddess named Artemis from Mount Olympus. She''s one of the forefront fighters when Trihexa escaped its seal."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi narrowed their eyes and their expression became serious when Sakura casually dropped a bomb. Serafall, on the other hand, couldn''t keep it to herself, "What!? The Beast of the End escaped!? How!? And how is everyone!?"


    Yoruichi put her hand on her shoulder to calm her down, "Take it easy. Since mom mentioned it lightly, the situation should have been resolved, at least to some extent."


    Serafall listened and took a deep breath.


    She knew that if someone of Ophis and Great Red''s level started rampaging, a global effort would be needed to deal with it. But as someone who formerly managed the foreign affairs of the Underworld, Serafall knew how fragile and fractured the rtionship between Mythologies and different territories that such a global effort would be extremely hard to realize even with the existence of the Alliance, "You''re right... I''m sorry."


    Thanks to Serafall''s sudden outburst, Artemis already lost her chance to ask more about this ''Artemis'' that she knew.


    And since it''s already about time they move to the main topic, Sakura looked towards Line and urged her, "And you, sweety?"


    Line panicked for a bit and hurriedly introduced herself as she bowed forward, "I''m Line Arshe from the Loki Familia! I''m also Kisuke-san''s student! It''s a pleasure to meet you, mother!" Due to anxiety, she failed to notice how weird thest bit of her sentence was.


    Kisuke wanted to ask why Line called his mother ''mother'' but she was stopped by Sakura through gestures and asked, "He hasn''t taught you anything weird, has he?"


    Straightening her back, she answered loudly, "The topics he enlightened me were already beyond mymon sense so I have no idea which of them are weird! Please forgive me!"


    Sakuraughed at her actions and patted her shoulder, "Don''t be nervous. I''m just really worried since I know my son has this really weird habit of just teaching others things that would really appear weird to others, regardless of where he is."


    However, deep inside, Sakura was feelingplicated, ''Just how many is he going to snag? But I guess having many grandchildren to spoil is also fun in its own way.''


    Although there are still many questions that Hestia and Artemis wanted answers to, Kisuke wanted to get the whole picture of what happened on the other side first so he asked, "Shall we move to the main topic?"


    "We''ll do that but there are still some people who want to join this meeting. And don''t worry. They should be arriving soon. It''s really hard for them to open their schedule because of the current state of affairs.", answered Cleria.


    It only took a few minutes for the said guests to arrive and it was a pleasant surprise for Serafall and Sona, "We''re sorry for beingte. We didn''t expect that those geezers would still be as stubborn as before even though the situation doesn''t look good."


    Dn, along with his wife, Cordelia, entered the room, and as soon as they appeared, Serafall jumped on them, "Mother~! Father~! You''re here!"


    Cordelia chuckled and caught her daughter. Although she''s already old, she can''t imagine Serafall acting any other way anymore, "It''s good to see you, Serafall." She then looked towards Sona who''s happily making her way to them, "And you too, Sona. I see that you''re doing alright. I''m d."


    As she walked forward, Sona started tearing up and Serafall went out of her way, "M-mother..."


    Her reaction was understandable because no matter how strong she likes to act, she''s still a young girl that was abruptly separated from her loving family and almost lost her life from it.


    "Mother...", hugging her mother firmly, Sona repeated.


    Cordelia also tightly hugged her daughter and whispered, "I''m d... I''m really d that you''re alright."


    Soon, Dn and Serafall joined them and they created a warm atmosphere that no one disturbed.

 Chapter 748 Connecting the Two Worlds part 3

    Chapter 748 Connecting the Two Worlds part 3


    "We apologize for such a disy.", Dn straightened his suit and his regal demeanor returned.


    "There''s nothing for you to apologize for, Dn-san. It should be us who should be saying sorry for making your daughter go through all of that." Kisuke removed his hat and sat down while offering a seat to the Sitri family.


    Since it''d only make the conversation unnecessarily long, Dn took the seat and changed the topic, "In any case, this is such sophisticated technology. If possible, I''d like you to sell it to me."


    The moment he heard about Kisuke''smunication device, he wanted to get this technology in his hands as soon as possible because there are so many things it could be used for, especially within his territory, a forefront runner in medical research.


    Not every ailment needed or could be solved by Magic and some needed to go through traditional surgery. If the Sitri Household could get this technology, they could expand their influence through remote surgery where teleportation is restricted or inconvenient.


    "I have no further use for this so I could just give it to you, but we''ll have to talk about that when I return."


    "Hmm... That''s fair." Dn nodded at him before looking towards the new faces, "I''m sorry for myte introduction, but I''m Dn Sitri, the current head of the Sitri Household and this is my wife, Cordelia. I''m delighted to make your acquaintance."


    Hestia, Artemis, and Line also introduced themselves again and the Sitri couple was surprised like Sakura, Cleria, and Masaomi. However, this isn''t their main point today and they knew they didn''t have much time.


    With all the introductions out of the way, Cleria, Sakura, and sometimes, Dn and Masaomi started talking about the big events on their side.


    After Kisuke, Irina, Akeno, and Serafall had left, an exclusive meeting happened between the leaders of the Three Great Factions with Diehauser in the middle of it after he revealed that he has been working as a spy for Rizevim and his organization, Qlippoth.


    If this were heard by the Elders, Diehauser would instantly be imprisoned, but since he told it to the leaders who don''t have the same strict and old-fashioned views, they choose to listen first and decideter.


    When Sirzechs, Falbium, and Ajuka heard that it all started with the prohibited ''King'' piece and Zekram''s attempt to silence Cleria about it, they could only sigh and put their hands on their faces.


    Now that he discovered that his revenge was already pointless and would only put Cleria in even more danger, he decided toe out and confess what he knew and Rizevim''s ns. But even then, he''s not really fully trusted and only knew a few points and a few of those were the research on the Trihexa''s seal using Rossweise''s thesis, the nned attack on Heaven, and the attempt to replicate Phoenix''s Tears which was already a sess to some degree.


    Of course, the leaders were rmed by all of this and immediately ordered appropriate measures.


    Soon, the foreseen attack on Heaven indeed happened and they were ready for it. However, thanks to some unforeseen specific details, in addition to Lilith and the revived Evil Dragons, Rizevim and his cohort were able to retreat with Sekiryuutei just giving him a single effective blow.


    "Hoho? So Issei-kun is now powerful enough to fight a Super Devil?" Kisuke asked with interest.


    Dn nodded, "At some point, yes. However, Rizevim was only considered a Super Devil because of his Sacred Gear Canceller, which is a unique ability that could nullify nearly all Sacred Gear abilities. Issei Hyodou was only able to inflict damage to him using a unique ability of his own. Butpared to other Super Devils like Sirzechs and Ajuka, Rizevim is a lot weaker."


    At this point, Sakura interjected, "Nevertheless, Issei-kun right now should be as powerful as a God and could even go to the top levels even for a short amount of time if he were to push himself."


    Cordelia let out a short sigh and added, "It''s technically a war out there so his extreme adaptability to the situation became his strongest point. Furthermore, Lucifer''s true heir won''t lose to him as the Hakuryuukou."


    ''Looks like both of them went beyond my expectations~ I would really like to meet them now.'', thought Kisuke. Though he could understand why that came to be and that''s because they have been fighting literal Gods or those on the same level. What''s more surprising was that they were still alive and Kisuke doesn''t know if this is all about their ability, fate, or luck, ''Either way, their environment pressured them while we are here peacefully polishing our basics. We really have to step up soon.''


    The girls saw Kisuke grin and shuddered. They knew what he''s thinking but they weren''t really against it after hearing their story. They know they are being left behind and the other side is only going to get more dangerous. While strength and power aren''t their ultimate goal, they wanted enough to protect those important to them and not be relegated to the sideline. Without Kisuke''s knowledge, everyone''s resolve was strengthened.


    Setting those thoughts aside, for now, Kisuke asked, "What are these unforeseen details that you''ve mentioned?"


    "They got help from some group. To be exact, Hades and Apollo''s group.", answered Sakura.


    "Let me guess.", Kisuke interrupted her, "You''re able to track it back to them but since there is no evidence you can''t do anything meaningful to them?"


    Cleria nodded, "That''s correct. And we''re only able to trace their influence thanks to Athena and Nyx who helped us from the shadows."


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, "Well, that''s understandable. If the Alliance made a move against them with just suspicions, they''ll look really bad and they''ll only make enemies. Gosh, I hate politics. Good thing I''m a terrorist. I''m really grateful to them right now."


    Cleria, Masaomi, Dn, Cordelia, and Sakura''s mouths twitched at the same time. This is the first time they''ve seen someone being so happy to be branded as a terrorist and doubted if they''ll ever meet a second one.


    "Hey, I want to be one too! Make sure to bring me whenever you''re gonna shit on their heads."


    And their expectations were instantly broken by Yoruichi.


    Clearing his throat, Dn continued their story.


    Since Diehauser''s information was urate enough, instead of protecting the Agreas Ind where the Trihexa was sealed and making Rizevim extremely wary of them, the leaders decided that it would be better if they could lure Rizevim and his forces there to clean them in one fell swoop.


    And this was a good idea since they were able to seal most of the Evil Dragons, separate Lilith from Qlippoth, and defeat Rizevim. However, they underestimated Rizevim''s determination to release the Trihexa since he sacrificed his own soul as the trigger to break the seal.


    After hearing that, Kisuke could only mutter, "That''s one crazy asshole if I''ve ever seen one."

 Chapter 749 Connecting the Two Worlds part 4

    Chapter 749 Connecting the Two Worlds part 4


    Of course, the situation was a lot moreplex than they described thanks to the turbulent forces surrounding the event, but there was no use describing them in detail as that would only take more time.


    "Setting up an ambush is one thing, but there should only be a few people or even none that knew where it was exactly sealed. Much less n out a coordinated attack.", Kisuke did ask for rification in some matters.


    Dn nodded, "Indeed you''re correct. In actuality, the God of the Bible should be the only being that knew where it was sealed. However, Ajuka acquired a piece ofnd that contained a very rare ore in abundance which was made into Evil Pieces. This ore was rare even in the Supernatural World standard."


    Just with those words, Kisuke already guessed where he''sing from but he didn''t interrupt him, "This only came to light recently, but ording to Ajuka, he''s not only interested in the ores itself but also the reason why they existed there. As you might have guessed already, after extensive research he discovered something terrible was sealed within thosends and he could only infer that it was the Beast of the End after some more reference to ancient history."


    "Of course, he still wasn''t sure if it''s really the Trihexa but he still never revealed its existence to anyone else until he proposed to wait in Agreas Ind. In other words, it should be only him who''s aware that something is in there."


    Kisuke thought about his words and recalled Rizevim''s previous activities. Within a few moments, it clicked in his head and his eyes widened, "Sephiroth Graal and the previous attack on Heaven."


    "That''s right.", Masaomi confirmed his guesses, "It''s not just about its power to touch upon the principles of life, it''s also one of the Holy Relics closest to the God of the Bible that sealed the Trihexa. Using the Sephiroth Graal, it seems that Rizevim was able toe in contact with the Trihexa even before finding it and it was now known that Qlippoth''s attack on Heaven was to steal more Holy Relics that could increase their chances of unsealing the beast."


    Upon its release, the Alliance finally got to see what it really looks like. Trihexa has the appearance of arge beast with characteristicsing from different animals like a lion, a leopard, a bear, a dragon, etc. It has seven necks, seven heads, with ten horns each, as well as seven long thick tails of different shapes. It also has four stout arms and two legs that are even thicker than its arms. Its main body is that of a primate leaning forward and is covered in ck fur and what appears to be scales all over its body. Its size is well over several hundred meters, making it significantlyrger than even the Great Red.


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Serafall then noticed that a barrier around the building was suddenly erected but with Kisuke''s immediate telepathy response, they ignored it for now.


    It wasn''t just its physical appearance, but also the aura it released was malevolent enough that any normal person that would see it would lose their mind. It became arge problem when most of their weaker forces assigned to logistics and evacuation were unable to even move.


    Since they didn''t have the force to fight it off, they retreated from Agreas Ind. In just a matter of days after its release, it annihted numerous smaller Mythologies and even managed to arrive in the Human World where all Mythologies are even having a hard time keeping it within the Supernatural World.


    What''s worse is that it''s capable of splitting its body into seven parts in ordance with its heads and each one of them was almost indestructible defense and even if they managed to injure it, it''ll just regenerate in a blink of an eye.


    With a vitality like that, the many Mythological leaders estimated that it''ll take at least a thousand years to kill it even with the cooperation of everyone.


    "And that''s what they are trying to do, is it?" asked Kisuke in a solemn voice.


    Dn nodded in a dignified manner and everyone on their side had solemn expressions, "That''s right. With the coboration between Rossweisse and Ajuka, they were able to create a seal that would seal the Trihexa again. However, they couldn''t afford to wait any longer for a stronger seal so along with the Trihexa, various leaders and their close subordinates sealed themselves with it and will attempt to kill it for good."


    "Falbium Asmodeus and his peerage, Sirzechs Lucifer and his peerage except for Grayfia, Serafall Leviathan''s peerage, Azazel, Michael, Odin, Zeus, Amaterasu are just to name a few that went in. They knew full well that they might be as well fighting an endless battle but none of them hesitated.", Sakura couldn''t help but smile wryly when she recalled the scene of the gathering, "While some of them are nervous, the old Gods had a smile on their face as if they are facing the ending that they wanted."


    Hearing that, Serafall visibly tightened her fist but she didn''t say anything. She''s already regretting the fact that she left on her own.


    "A-and the world was saved, right?" Hestia couldn''t help but ask, hoping for at least an eptable ending.


    Nevertheless, Cleria immediately shook her head, "It might have be peaceful after that but without the presence of those powerhouses, the turbulence that they''ve been keeping have started spiraling out of control with some of them wanted a piece of the pie called ''authority'' while others wanted to just use their power unhindered."


    Yoruichi then went on to say, "Azazel, or at least, some leaders, should have known that this would happen and created a countermeasure."


    "They did." Cleria confirmed it, "Before even all of this came to be, there''s already talk of a Rating Game between Heaven and Underworld with the inception of the Brave Saints that''s based on the same system as the Evil Pieces. Using that idea, Azazel arranged that it would epass the whole world and every Mythology. A worldwide Rating Game Tournament that every Mythology and faction would participate in with the winner being granted a wish that would be realized by all the participants. This tournament is created to serve as a proxy war among the myths and prevent hostility from brewing among myths which could lead into more wars"


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, Serafall, Sona, and Kuroka thought about her words for a bit and realized what a ''tournament'' at these times could do, "I see... As most Gods are honest to a fault, once their desires are fulfilled, they won''t do anything else.", muttered Kisuke.


    "If those who are just seeking to use their powers or prove their strength were to be given a stage, then they won''t be assisting or controlled by those seeking authority. In that case, it''ll be harder for thetter type of people to do what they want with the Mythologiesing together once again.", added Sona while nodding in understanding.

 Chapter 750 A Promise

    Chapter 750 A Promise


    "As of now, the problem with the Mythologies has settled down with the preparation for said tournament. However, the Evil Dragons that managed to escape earlier remain a problem, as they''re still leading the remains of Qlippoth. We have no idea what they''re nning to do but there are some unconfirmed rumors that they are meeting some Gods." Dn couldn''t help but let out a short sigh and grab his forehead, "Not to mention Hades and Apollo. We can''t do anything to them, especially now that our political standpoint has weakened with the absence of our leaders."


    Silence overtook the room as a tense atmosphere started building up. Even though they really wanted to speak up and ask a few things, Hestia, Artemis and Line didn''t dare interrupt.


    A few secondster, Kisuke stretched his arms and took a deep breath. He''d already thought of a way to make Hades and Apollo''s movements predictable, "Please announce that I''ll return to Mount Olympus in one month''s time."


    "Huh!? I''m happy that you''re going home, but why would you want to announce your arrival!? And you''ll attack Mount Olympus again!?" Sakura inevitably had an outburst when she heard Kisuke''s intentions.


    Dn raised his hand to interrupt her and asked, "Are you restricting their movements by letting them set up an ambush against you?"


    "That''s correct."


    "Then you won''t reallye?" Sakura was d but also a bit disappointed.


    However, Kisuke suddenly grinned and said, "Of course I''ll go~! Honesty is one of my virtues and I have no intention of desecrating my good name~!"


    Sakura and the others on her side were stunned while those behind Kisuke could only smile wryly.


    "...Why would you put yourself in such danger? I know you''re strong but if you y on the stage where they''ve written the script, it''d be very hard even for you toe out of it alive." Dn asked after a few seconds of contemtion.


    But against his expectations, Kisuke justughed at his words and replied as a glint of light passed through his eyes, "They''re preparing a stage for me? That''s fair. However, I''m pretty sure that they''re still not aware that they''ve been ying on the stage that I prepared for them long ago."


    Dn''s eyes widened and pulled the information about Kisuke''sst movements from his head while asking, "...Since when?"


    Kisuke then became embarrassed and started scratching the back of his head, "Ehehe, although I bragged about nning ahead of time, it wasn''t that long. I only started it when I returned homest time."


    Dnughed dryly, "Isn''t that the only time you could do it since that''s the first time you could retaliate after being forcefully evicted? So it all started when you said you''d crack Hades'' skull, huh? What makes you sure that they''ll give you a warm wee?"


    But instead of answering, Kisuke asked, "Has Apollo appeared in public yet? If so, is there anything worth mentioning about him?"


    It was Cleria, who''d been collecting and managing most of the information regarding the movements within Mount Olympus, who answered him after thinking about it for a moment, "After your attack on Mount Olympus, there were very few asions where Apollo''s appeared. And each time, he seemed to be in a bad mood and there''s always a strong barrier around him, making others think that he''s very wary of assassins."


    "S-seriously?" Kisuke couldn''t believe what he had heard, "Looks like I''m giving him more credit than he deserved... He''s way too ipetent."


    Sakura narrowed her eyes and asked, "Why did you suddenly start insulting him? He''s a scheming God, you know?"


    "No, I mean, what he''s doing might be actually not for what you think." Kisuke then took out a ball asrge as a golf ball wrapped in paper with inscriptions, "This is the stink bomb that I used to annoy him."


    "And?" Sakura really couldn''t get used to his fascination with stink bombs and wanted to know where he got that habit.


    "I made it so that it would seem easy to remove at first, but it''s actually pretty tough to get rid of it once it''s invaded and mixed with your own Magic Power, Ki, Soul Power, or Divine Power. He''s most likely using that barrier to hide the smell of sewersing off him."


    Yoruichi grabbed the stink bomb and inspected it while curiously saying, "You really put effort into the weirdest things. But it shouldn''t be that hard to remove. As long as you can purify your own energy source, you''ll be fine and I doubt he didn''t know how to do that."


    "Oh, it''s because I still had Great Red''s flesh and blood, so I mixed it in. Since Ophis-chan was also on board with the idea, she also gave it a snake too."


    As soon as Kisuke said that, Yoruichi''s fistnded on his head. But due to the changes to his body to amodate his new energy source, he hardly felt any pain and the shockwave was only transmitted back, hurting Yoruichi''s fist, "Damn you and your thick skull! Why would you use such important resources for a simple prank!"


    But Kisuke just chuckled away and said, "Don''t worry about it~ If it was such a simple prank, then he should have dealt with it long ago~!"


    Dn had to consciously hold back his sigh, since he has noticed that he has been doing it a lot ever since this meeting started, "...With his pride tarnished, I can see how much he resents you. Let''s then move on to the next thing you said. One month? Why? I''m sorry if this sounds like I''m interrogating you, but we''d like to match our schedule with yours and I''d like to have a better idea of what you''re about to do."


    "The one month''s time isn''t actually for me, but for Athena, for her to prepare and gather her forces. Once I arrive, it''ll be the start of a civil war on Mount Olympus."


    Sakura wanted to say something but Kisuke cut her off, "I know what you want to say, Mom. But this is actually safer than just passively waiting for them to make their move."


    Sakura pursed her lips in frustration but she agreed with him. A momentter, Sakura held his hands and said, "Once you get home, make sure to see us first."


    Kisuke closed his hands and reassured with a smile, "You''ll be the first one I''ll meet."

 Chapter 751 Trihexa’s Origin

    Chapter 751 Trihexa��s Origin


    After getting informed of everything, Kisuke decided to end it here and dedicated the remaining time to others.


    Cleria and Masaomi yed with the kids. Dn and Cordelia wanted to catch up with Sona. And Sakura went to talk with the other girls, especially Aika, telling her that she had been arranging for her to meet her parents.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, left the room, intending to confirm something. Behind him were Yoruichi and Serafall, "Are you going alone this time too?" asked the former.


    Rubbing his chin, Kisuke thought for a moment before saying, "I''m thinking of taking you too. Your Bankai could probably protect you from the void."


    "Take me too. I know you have enough power, or at least, a safe method to traverse the void after going through it three times.", requested Serafall with unusual seriousness that was very much warranted. Kisuke and Yoruichi knew that she wanted to return to save everyone who was trapped in the seal and join them if possible as ast resort.


    Kisuke stopped walking and let out a short sigh while turning back, "I know how you''re feeling, but I''d like you to remain here for Sona-chan and other''s safety."


    "But-!", before she could say it, Kisuke''s hand reached out for her head as he bent his back forward to match her gaze, "Between you and Yoruichi, you''re most suitable in protecting someone with thetter only being an offense idiot."


    "Oi."


    Ignoring the small protest, Kisuke smiled gently and said, "I may not be able to do anything right now, but I promise you that I''ll do something about Trihexa and save those who are trapped."


    Serafall was surprised for a number of reasons and one of them was this was the first time Kisuke patted her head and was shocked to know that it actually felt great. Even though Kisuke did a pat galore earlier, she didn''t line up as it was only the kids and his women and she was neither of those.


    Next was Kisuke''s faceing way too close and a ''cheating'' smile that had the strange power tofort someone.


    As an uncanny feeling surged, the heat went up to Serafall''s face and immediately pped Kisuke''s hand away in embarrassment, "Stop treating me like a child! Even though I''m temporarily suspended, I''m still a dignified Devil King!"


    With a nk expression, Kisuke and Yoruichi simultaneously thought, ''With your strange fascination with Magical Girls, we just can''t see that.''


    Yoruichi subsequently wrapped her arm around Serafall''s neck while shooing away Kisuke, "You still have something to do, right? Get to it and be done with it."


    "Fine, fine." Kisuke turned around while chuckling, resuming his walk and leaving the two girls behind, "Be careful." Yoruichi added in a firm tone.


    Waving his hand back, Kisuke assured Yoruichi, "I''m just going to ask a few questions, that''s all. There''s nothing for you to be worried about."


    Even then, Yoruichi couldn''t calm the restless feeling.


    Serafall saw her expression and asked, "Where is he going? And is it that dangerous?"


    Shaking her head, Yoruichi replied, "To the 47th floor to ask someone something. Whether it''s dangerous or not, I don''t know. It''s just that confirming things may ruffle things that should be left alone."


    .


    .


    .


    While evading everyone''s eyesight, Kisuke arrived at theva pool on the 47th floor and dived into it without any hesitation. With a bubble-like barrier around him, he pushed himself through the heavy magma without much effort and arrived at the hidden cavern that wasn''t affected by the temperature outside.


    Reaching the pond with clear water that was only half that of its original volume when he''d first arrived in this ce, Kisuke sat down.


    He only had to wait before the barrier he''s expecting went up and said first, "What do you know about Trihexa?"


    All that Kisuke received was silence, however, he didn''t say anything else and still chose to wait patiently.


    Around half an hourter, his patience finally paid off as he received a rather straightforward answer, "I didn''t know he was named Trihexa, but in broad terms, he''s Chaos and my sister''s child."


    "..." It was Kisuke''s turn to be silent while thinking about all the possibilities this information presented. About five minutester, he asked, "Can you borate further?"


    "There''s nothing to borate and any story I give will just be treated as a possibility by you. There''s no point in expanding on this topic with you on the other side of the equation."


    Kisuke snickered, "So you''ve been watching me rather closely, huh. You''re more of a stalker than that Chaos."


    Not denying his words, the voice continued, "Because the fate of this world rests on your hands. Chaos, on the other hand, was only interested in the deepest part of the Dungeon and wouldn''t pay any attention to anyone or anything as long as they don''t cross the boundary of this world or a big ident happens."


    "So my paranoia is pointed at the wrong person... or being, huh," Kisuke scratched his head and thought about what should be his next step now, "But although it''s good for me that he isn''t paying very close attention to me, he''s too arrogant to think that I can''t do anything to him."


    "It''s because you can''t do anything to him. Even if you include all yourpanions, thepleted Infinite Dragon God, and every God in this world, you won''t be able to extinguish his existence."


    Kisuke''s nonchnt expression immediately changed into a frown, "There''s no way to kill him?"


    "There is. In fact, there are multiple ways to kill him. However, what I said is that there''s no way to end his existence."


    ''Yet she told me that the fate of this world is in my hands?'' Kisuke thought about this contradicting statement and reached a conclusion, "To the extent of your knowledge, I see. But aren''t you giving me too much credit? And you don''t even know what I might want to do. There''s a real possibility that it''ll be me who''ll end you, you know?"


    However, the voice gave an answer that Kisuke was not expecting at all, "I don''t care. As long as everything ends. I will be giving my all for what I want, but whether it''s a satisfying end for me or not, it doesn''t really matter anymore."


    And for the first time ever, Kisuke heard the mysterious voice''s most heartfelt words, "I''m tired."


    Kisuke became silent once again for a few minutes before he let out a long sigh, "Do you realize how contradictory those words are?"


    "A life of not living. Spend almost an eternity doing that and you''ll change your mind."


    "Er... No thanks. I''d just kill myself if I reach that point."


    "Expecting freedom at that point, you''re still naive."


    "There''s no point arguing this since I haven''t reached that yet.", Kisuke then stood up and stretched his arms, "One final thing. What does this Chaos ultimately want?"


    "An army."


    "Hmmm..." Kisuke closed his eyes and rubbed his chin in contemtion until he reached a decision, "Yosh~! Let''s do it this way. When the right timees, I''ll kill you, then you kill him."

 Chapter 752 Peak Stats before the First Boss

    Chapter 752 Peak Stats before the First Boss


    Kisuke only returned a dayter and everyone was back to their usual habits of refining their experience and basics.


    "Wee back~!" Yoruichi said as she separated from Kuroka and Koneko''s simultaneous attacks and greeted Kisuke, "How did it go?"


    "I finally got a better picture of the overall situation and made a goal ording to it. However, I won''t be revealing it for the time being since it''s still bound to change and we might not have anything to do with it." Kisuke replied as he sat down on the bench with Medusaing out with a tray of tea in her hands.


    He then looked around and asked, "Where''re our dear Goddesses and the children?"


    Yoruichi sat down beside him and answered, "Aika''s apanying them on the surface. They''re still enjoying the new atmosphere Pandemonium is giving them."


    "Is that so?" Kisuke finalized the schedule he had in his head and gestured to everyone present toe closer, "I''ll just tell themter, but let''s discuss what we''ll be doing this month."


    With another look around, he took note that Kuroka, Koneko, Akeno, Irina, and especially Sona were more beaten up than usual and asked, "You''ve been doing this all night?"


    Just their silence and Serafall''s worried look already gave Kisuke the answer, ''I understand Akeno-san and Irina, but it has been a while since the others have be this impatient. Looks like the news about Issei being one of the strongest fighters on the other side rattled them quite a bit.''


    Kisuke was absolutely correct, however, it wasn''t just about Issei, but also those around him. They knew for sure that the people they left behind were notgging behind Issei and they had a feeling that they were, who were experiencing a legitimate war, were already stronger than they are right now and they couldn''t sit still knowing that.


    Not that he couldn''t understand them since they seem to have reached a teau and couldn''t improve as fast as before.


    Kisuke let out an audible breath and said, "I know how you''re feeling, but trust me, you''re doing fine." But even after saying that, nothing had changed.


    Since they needed to be convinced so that they would have the needed confidence for what they needed to do next, Kisuke thought for a bit before stating, "How about this? Let''spare Issei''s progress to yours using RPG terms."


    Grabbing their attention, Kisuke continued, "If we were to trante Issei''s progress into RPG terms, then he''s advancing normally. Leveling up, defeating bosses, acquiring skills and equipment."


    "You girls, on the other hand, already maxed your levels before even reaching the first boss. However, due to you not yet defeating the boss, even if you have tons of skill points, you haven''t advanced to a ss change and couldn''t acquire the skills and equipment needed to progress."


    Stopping for a moment to drink his tea, Kisuke continued, "Well, that''s a very rough analogy but you all should have understood my point."


    Still skeptical, Sona fixed the position of her sses and asked, "So we just need to ''defeat the first boss''? How do we do that?" But despite her tone, she couldn''t mask the hopeful gleam in her eyes and it was the same with others as they waited for his answer.


    Kisuke finished his tea and set aside the cup with a loud clunk, "That is what I want to discuss with you now. Within this month, your abilities should improve at least ten times, and that''s just a conservative estimate."


    But instead of Sona, the first one to doubt Kisuke''s words was Serafall, "That''s ridiculous! How can someone train and be ten times stronger within just a month! With my current strength, it took me centuries to reach this point! Don''t evenpare it to Issei-kun since he''s using one of the Heavenly Dragons and once he reaches the power of a true Heavenly Dragon, it would take a lot of time and effort to improve any further!"


    Kisuke nodded at her words, agreeing with it, "That''s true. After he''s reached a certain point, which is most likely Ddraig-san''s prime, it would be harder for him to improve further. However, that''s only an establishedmon sense."


    With arge grin, Kisuke added, "And you know what happens when you depend too much onmon sense here, right?"


    Pouting, Serafall answered, "...An unnecessarily huge headache."


    Shrugging his shoulders, Kisuke carried on, "It''s actually both easy and hard because it''s just a fine line that you have to cross. All you need to do is to develop or discover an ability that would ignore the physical, magical, and spiritualws of the world."


    While the others still had no idea what Kisuke was talking about, Serafall understood a bit of it and finally agreed that ''10 times'' was indeed a conservative estimate. However, she was certain about one thing, "That''s not a fine line. There''s an enormous gap to achieve that. I know because I''m on the edge of that precipice."


    Since Kisuke told them that they''d only need a month, developing a conceptual power never urred in her mind since she believed that to be impossible.


    Kisuke correctly guessed what she was thinking, but he understood her point of view. After all, if not for him being an expert in a certain subject and having special knowledge, he wouldn''t have easily guessed the main reason why bing like Sirzechs is ''easy''.


    "I won''t be going through specifics right now, but I can promise you that it''s at the very least, doable. Basically, we will be cheating for you to achieve it with my help, but there shouldn''t be any differences than if you were to achieve it on your own."


    Kisuke then took out some small bottles that contained his usual candies and passed one to everyone except for Yoruichi and Medusa, "Take one candy every morning starting tomorrow. This is for the preparation of what you''re about to go through."


    "Of course, there''s only a single me so we have to divide the schedule. Starting tomorrow, for a whole week, I will be helping Sera-tan and Sona-chan. Next week would be Kuroka and Koneko-chan."


    "Next would be Aika, but she will only need three days. After that, the rest of the month would be allotted for Medusa-chan."


    "Eh?", not expecting to be not included, Irina asked with an almost broken voice, "W-what about us?"


    And just like her, Akeno was also very worried. They thought that they were included with those who haven''t ''defeated the first boss'', but it looks like that wasn''t the case. They were already feeling useless, yet they would be left behind yet again.


    To make it worse, Kisuke let out a long sigh and said, "To be honest, your situation is soplicated that I don''t really know how I should help you both. However, I do have an idea of what you should do."


    Kisuke then faced Yoruichi with a serious expression, "Yoruichi, I''d like you to watch over them closely during this month. With what I''m about to ask them to do, they are most likely going to die."

 Chapter 753 The Tired Devil King

    Chapter 753 The Tired Devil King


    The next morning, everyone was at the southern gates of Pandemonium, about to send off Kisuke, Sona, and Serafall who were going to leave for their training.


    "Can''t you just dig around here to serve as the training venue? Do you really have to leave?", asked Hestia with a concerned expression because she''d heardst night that their next training would be another dangerous one.


    Patting her head, Kisuke exined, "I could do that, however, I want them to have the greatest chance they could get in order to seed, and creating an artificial training area won''t help with that."


    Hestia wanted to spend more time with him before he went home, but she''d guessed that it wouldn''t be that easy. Pouting her mouth, "Then be careful. Make sure that no harmes their way and to you too."


    "I promise I''ll do that, so you don''t have to worry. In the meantime, Yoruichi and the others will tell you, Artemis-sama, and Line-san about the world wee from. I gave her some devices that served as entertainment in our world and I''m sure you''ll all enjoy that."


    Serafall then excitedly turned to Ophis and said, "Make sure that they''ll go through our ylist too, alright~?"


    And with a thumbs up, Ophis replied with an unusually excited voice, "They shall be our Magical Girlrades."


    "...Nee-sama... Just what have you been teaching Ophis?", asked Sona with a regretful face. She never would have thought that one of the greatest existences in their world would turn out like her sister, who was already very strange by any standard.


    But Serafall ignored her and kept telling Ophis, ire, and Tanis her reminders as if a priest instructing her acolytes on how to preach to the world around them.


    After a few minutes of saying goodbye to each other, Kisuke, Sona, and Serafall started walking off towards the forest where they would teleport away to their destination.


    .


    .


    .


    Whistling harsh dry winds that could take the moisture from any living being''s skin, extremely fine and searing golden sand that formed mountains as far as eyes could see, pure blue sky with the sun''s burning rays that could blind any normal people for a short while if they were to make a mistake and look at it directly.


    The Devil King, her sister, and the candy store owner arrived at the driest ce in this world, where no living being could survive, even monsters.


    Serafall looked around andmented, "Even for a desert, this ce is way too arid. I''m amazed you found this ce."


    Kisuke immediately put up a 100-meter diameter barrier to stop the blistering wind, "This is the deepest ce of the arid region called the Grand Sand Sea, located southwest of the center of the continent. This ce is so hostile that even strong monsters avoid it. I coincidentally found this ce when I''m looking at the geography records of this world."


    Sona, meanwhile, nodded to herself, "I see. So you wanted us to train here where it would be hard for us to use our Magic."


    "There''s that. But more importantly, this ce would help the two of you realize something and I think that it would greatly help in what you''re trying to achieve."


    Sona and Serafall immediately became curious since Kisuke had never mentioned anything about something they''d needed to realize, "What is it?" thetter asked.


    "We''ll talk about thatter. For now, I''ll arrange a living space for us."


    After asking the sisters to move to the edge of the barrier, Kisuke reinforced the sand below them to make it act like solid ground. The next instant, contrary to the sisters'' expectations that he would be building a small house by taking out materials one by one and assembling it, Kisuke suddenly took out an entire log house and even ntedplementary trees around it as a source of shade.


    "...Do you always carry houses with you?" Even though she too has a substantial amount of space for her personal use, Serafall couldn''t fathom Kisuke''s mindset that allowed him to carry such unlikely things.


    Patting her shoulder, Sona shook her head and said, "Don''t ask about it, Nee-sama. He''ll give you a look like you''re the weird one here."


    And indeed, Kisuke briefly turned around and gave her a look as if he''s wondering why she wouldn''t do such a thing herself.


    And for a short moment, Serafall had an urge to punch his face.


    It only took Kisuke a few minutes to arrange everything andpared to the scenery outside, the environment around the log house is what you''d find on the side of a tropical mountain.


    "So this is where we''ll be staying. It''s pretty nice.", Serafall noted that there''s even Magic that keeps the air cool, making it a very pleasant ce to staypared to the desert around them.


    "Yep~ I have to make sure I have an enjoyable stay~."


    Sona and Serafall immediately noticed something wrong with his words. While the former could only smile wryly in realization, thetter who was very much not used to Kisuke methods, became confused.


    Noticing Serafall''s confusion, Kisuke cleared it up for her, "The reason why we''re training here is for you to get used to this environment and discover something out of it. How could you achieve that if you were to have a good time here? At most, you''d be sleeping here once every three days."


    "...Are you serious?" Even though she could take the heat and it was not an actual danger for her, it was still very ufortable. They would have to endure that for three consecutive days?


    Kisuke''s demeanor suddenly became cold as his usual gentle eyes instantly became sharp, "Please take it off your mind that we''re here to take it easy. It''s true that I have a way to help you, but that doesn''t mean it''ll be less difficult for you. I''m just speeding up the process that would normally take you decades, if not centuries of effort, to achieve."


    "To amodate that speed, it''ll actually be much more dangerous for you, so please have a proper mindset as we need to start right now."


    Serafall''s eyes widened and she immediately started reflecting. It seems that after being relieved of her Devil King''s duties and arriving in a very peaceful world, her perception and sense of danger seem to have changed without her knowledge, and in a dangerous way too.


    Taking a deep breath, pping her cheeks with both of her hands, Serafall woke herself up, "I''m sorry. Please tell me what to do."


    Serafall took a peek at Sona whose expression hasn''t changed but only now she noticed the sharpness in her eyes that had never disappeared, ''You''ve really changed, huh? I wonder if this is for the best?''


    Naturally, Kisuke wasn''t really angry at her, but just being strict. He also pitied her as he understood where she''sing from, ''Just from a short stay, her outlook changed. That just shows how much she longed for peace and quiet. For being a Devil King, she''s already tired.''

 Chapter 754 Strange ‘Water’

    Chapter 754 Strange ��Water��


    Inside the log house, Kisuke, before exining what they needed to know and do, first asked, "Why do you think your body needs to adapt to your own Magic Power so that it can take the same form?"


    As someone who had been researching this topic for quite some time, Serafall answered, "I think you need a strong body. Without it, the Magic would just destroy your body." This was the main reason why Serafall started practicing Ki. However, no matter how much she improved her body, it seemed that there was something else missing.


    Sona, meanwhile, stayed quiet for a moment before giving an answer because Kisuke was looking at her and waiting for her response, "...Soul. It''s a strong soul, isn''t it?"


    A small smile emerged on Kisuke''s face as he nodded at her answer, "That''s correct. A strong body is good and advantageous, however, it''s not an absolute requirement."


    Serafall was initially taken aback, but she admired Sona for getting the correct answer. She knew that Kisuke wouldn''t teach her this and it was all about her own experiences and effort that''d led her to that answer.


    And it was just as Serafall thought. With Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Aika''s influence, and with the help of her artificial Sacred Gear and Hollow factor, it became easier for her to feel her own Soul Power and she even started integrating into her own Magic. Although she hasn''t been sessful with any full integration, she already had a rough feeling that she''s only behind a big gate that would lead her to something truly amazing if only she could open it.


    But what really stunned Serafall was Kisuke''s next words, "This maye as a surprise but, Sona-chan is actually currently way ahead of you, Sera-tan, in what you''re trying to achieve. She only needs a slight push."


    "W-what!? Are you certain!? How!?" Although she was very happy for her sister, she was also feeling veryplicated.


    Sona''s talent might be not less than hers, however, the amount of effort Serafall has already expended was in the multitude of thousandspared to Sona''s so she couldn''t help but be jealous and felt her pride challenged.


    "Sona''s very young so the power of her Soul can''t bepared to yours, however, sensing, manipting it, and mixing it with her Magic gave her arge edge."


    Even Sona herself could hardly believe Kisuke''s words. She knew what her big sister wanted to achieve and it was something way out of her league. How could she suddenly surpass Serafall who in every facet of Magic, was better than her?


    Kisuke knew of her skepticism and wished she had some more confidence in herself, "Why don''t you show your big sister what you can do with it?"


    "Eh? But that''s nothing but summoning a small amount of water for the Magic Power equivalent of me conjuring my Water Serpent. And how did you know that I''m experimenting with that? I only did it in secret and in my free time."


    "You underestimate my senses regarding Soul Power fluctuations. And it''s fine if it''s still rough. Just show it to Sera-chan and she will be able to understand."


    Letting out a short sigh, Sona put her hands together and concentrated.


    At first, Serafall only felt Magic Power and Demonic Power gathering on her hands without anything happening. Upon closer inspection however, Serafall took note of the unknown energy that she asionally feels from Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Aika gathering.


    She wanted to ask what was wrong, but before she could open her mouth, a single drop of water appeared on top of her palms and started growing exponentially until it became as big as a golf ball.


    Serafall took a good look at the water ball and looked up to see Sona''s extremely serious face and wondered what''s so special about it, ''This took her as much as her Water Serpents?''


    "Don''t just look at it, but probe it with your own Demonic Power." Kisuke suddenly voiced out.


    Serafall did as Kisuke said and sent a strand of her Demonic Power to the water ball. And the moment she touched it, her eyes went wide open as she eximed, "What is this!?"


    Her sudden outburst broke Sona''s concentration and the water ball disappeared without leaving any traces, "W-what''s wrong, Nee-sama?"


    Serafall was about to exin why she was so shocked, but Kisuke immediately interrupted her, "Don''t ask. It''s better if you were to discover what''s wrong with it on your own."


    Kisuke then took out a small jar of different candies before they left and gave it to Sona, "Every time you feel tired without your Demonic Power being depleted, take one and rest for a few minutes. This will restore your consumed Soul Power."


    "As for what you need to do, just trust your gut. You don''t have to follow your sister''s steps nor mine. I''ll fetch you three dayster, but I''ll be constantly monitoring your progress and if you need some tips, I''ll send them your way."


    Without waiting for her to respond, Kisuke waved his hand and Sona was teleported several tens of kilometers away from their spot.


    With just the two of them alone, Kisuke faced the still shaken Serafall with a big grin, "Now then, what do you think about it?"


    "That''s not water." Serafall answered, recalling the ball of ''water'' in Sona''s hands earlier, "But... What was that?"


    Kisuke looked at the direction he sent Sona off and felt her Spiritual Pressure, "It''s still developing so I don''t know for sure yet. But if I were to guess, it''s ''fluid'' or ''flow''."


    "...Fluid? ...Flow?", muttered Serafall to herself. Recalling that Kisuke could use the power of his Soul a lot better than Sona, she immediately asked, "Can you do something like that too!?"


    "Of course not. Something unique like that could only be done with someone who already has a very high aptitude for it. Yoruichi''s lightning doesn''t have special properties like that even if she has a high aptitude for lightning."


    He then turned back to Serafall and added, "But it seems, without her awareness, she''s about to surpass her big sister that she very much admires~. At some point, even if you use all your powers to freeze her, you might not be able to contain her."


    Serafall took several deep breaths and didn''t allow Kisuke''s words to get to her. She only stayed silent and looked straight at him, waiting for his next words.


    Kisuke didn''t tease her any further and answered her confusion, "The reason why Sirzechs-san could change his form to a pure Power of Destruction is that his soul was already unnaturally strong from his birth and it was already attuned to his own power."


    "By having a strong soul, his body could freely morph into something else and his own soul would hold that power for him, allowing him to exist as a different being. You could say that having a powerful soul is having a strong power of existence."


    "His ''existence'' was sturdy enough that it was not destroyed by his own power."


    It was only recently, but Kisuke had found out the reason why Shinigamis'' Bankai were so special that most of them developed abilities that were very hard to replicate using the naturalws of the world and a good example of that was his Bankai.


    It was because of the Shinigami''s unnaturally strong souls that allowed them to hold such powers that would be very hard to achieve if it was just Magic or Ki.


    ''Because of this I finally fully understood Ouetsu-san''s genius for creating the Zanpakuto that allowed the Shinigamis to make full use of their powerful souls.''

 Chapter 755 Merciless as Ever

    Chapter 755 Merciless as Ever


    "When I said I could help you, it meant that I could help you strengthen your soul and teach you how to manipte it. Whatever you do next, it''ll be entirely up to you. Whether you''ll seed or destroy yourself in your attempt to seek power, it''ll all be on you."


    Without any hesitation, Serafall nodded, "Please help me."


    "Have you taken the candy I gave you earlier?"


    "Yes."


    Kisuke then stood up and took out his cane while saying, "Stay still. This is going to be ufortable so you have to bear it. I''ll also transmit basic Soul Power maniption techniques to you so make use of that to ease the pain."


    Serafall was instantly taken aback, "P-pain? What pain? I hate pain."


    Truthfully, Kisuke can''t strengthen the soul without doing it artificially, and going that way would only make him like Mayuri. Nevertheless, he didn''t technically lie to Serafall.


    From the start, she already has developed a strong soul through her experiences and long life. It is just that her Reiatsu was currently running dormant. By sending his own Reiatsu directly into her soul, it would immediately jump-start the cirction of her Reiatsu, essentially, making her soul ''stronger''.


    "Please don''t resist in any way and allow me to send a strand of my energy into you. If you were to resist, even unconsciously, this will fail."


    After getting a nervous nod from Serafall, Kisuke''s yful grin immediately morphed into a devilish one as he pointed the tip of his cane at her forehead, "Then grit your teeth~!"


    Serafall''s nervousness peaked as she unconsciously backed away from the sinister figure, "W-wait... What are you going to do? Let me pre--!!!"


    Kisuke didn''t let her finish her words and struck her forehead to transfer a massive amount of his own Reiatsu to her. Serafall''s soul, which hasn''t ever experienced any direct interference, jolted into action, resulting in a pain that she had never felt before.


    "Ghhh...!!! Ahhh...!!!" Serafall tried to contain her scream of agony but the torment was directlying from her soul. Even if her body was used to physical pain, an intangible thing like her soul wasn''t.


    While hugging herself and wheezing, she heard Kisuke''s unforgiving voice, "I also transferred to you the necessary technique. Use it and the pain should subside after a few hours."


    She wanted to say something back, but Kisuke just waved his hand and she was teleported away just like Sona, but in the opposite direction, "Now then... It''s time to wait. If I get it right, Sona-chan would be the first one who''ll achieve it. However, there''s still the danger of that Hollow Factor and it should being into life once more before that."


    .


    .


    .


    The moment Sona was teleported away, She couldn''t help but smile wryly at how Kisuke does things, ''As abrupt as ever.''


    Tobat the rays of the sun that would slowly kill any normal to decent children that received the Deities'' blessing, Sona created a barrier around herself and thought about what she should do from now.


    ''Kisuke gave way too much attention to that useless water ball, so I guess it''s safe to assume that I should go that path? But how can I improve it? And what was that strange reaction Nee-sama had to it?''


    Taking a deep breath, Sona tried conjuring it once again to examine it further and figure out why Serafall reacted that way, but due to the enormous amount of concentration needed for it, she had no choice but to disable her barrier.


    Although she was sessful in making it appear once again, she could only observe it for around ten minutes before she had to dispel it and erect her barrier once more.


    ''Staying unprotected in this environment is way harder than I initially thought. I didn''t know a massive amount of stagnant Magic Power in the area couldpound the heat like this.'', thought Sona as she tried to clean off the sand that stuck to her skin. She couldn''t even sweat properly as it would evaporate instantly.


    Sona then tried conjuring water through her normal Magic to herself off, however, she found it extremely hard to do so, ''Is the atmosphere too dry, since I can''t conjure much?'' It was at this point that it finally hit her, "!? Wait... If I can''t gather much water in this kind of environment, howe I don''t have the same problem when I''m summoning that water ball? I should have noticed it if that''s the case."


    Instead of Water Magic, Sona opted for taking out the heat from the air around her to cool herself. After being sufficiently refreshed, she went back to what she had been doing before and summoned the strange ball of water once again.


    This time, she used all the mental power she had left to observe and examine the ball,pletely discarding her awareness of her surroundings.


    Directly behind her was Kisuke, who was silently watching her progress. Normally she would have already noticed him since he wasn''t even trying to hide his presence but she was so focused on her task that he wholly eluded her, ''She''s doing great. Though I need to make sure that she doesn''tpletely forget about her body''s state.''


    The main reason why Kisuke wanted a harsh desert for their training ground was mainly for Sona. It is not just so she could realize what''s strange about her Magic, but this kind of environment would help her push past her limits and would also allow her to control her newfound power much faster.


    Serafall, on the other hand, didn''t need it at all as she''s already capable of understanding things at much deeper levels thanks to her experience and profound understanding of Magic. Kisuke thought that just by putting the two of them together it would have a positive effect on both of them.


    ''Now then... I wonder how Sera-chan is faring.'', leaving silently, Kisuke arrived a few hundred meters away from Serafall and saw her sitting on the sand while clutching her head. This time, however, she''d already stopped her screams of agony and she was just closing her eyes with an expression that she was enduring something, ''She''s doing it much faster than I thought. As expected, these sisters are geniuses.''


    The next three days, the sisters progressed quickly, more than Kisuke had expected. Sona was already able to use her Soul Power and Demonic Power simultaneously and skillfully, leading her to reduce the energy consumption of her strange ''water'' greatly and even manipte it into different shapes with ease.


    Serafall, meanwhile, had already got ahold of her Soul Power and started controlling it skillfully too. After a few tries, she was now able to see the door of what she was trying to achieve on the horizon and became enthusiastic about her training, to the point that she never stopped moving. Thankfully, her body had already been nourished by Ki for a long period of time and allowed her to resist the harsh environment without it affecting her.


    At twilight, Kisuke decided to fetch the two for them to rest. Until an incident happened.


    Sona went berserk and the Magic Power within the whole region started gathering to her spot uncontrobly.

 Chapter 756 Sona’s Plight part 1

    Chapter 756 Sona��s Plight part 1


    Kisuke immediately arrived in the area where Sona was training, when he suddenly felt arge spike of soul activity and Serafall a few secondster, when she noticed that the Magic Power within the region was gathering within one spot.


    The moment the two of them witnessed what was going on, they saw Sona within the maelstrom of Magic Power and Soul Power, while she clutched her head and screamed with tears rolling down her cheeks.


    Feeling their presence, Sona slowly turned her head towards them with her already ckened sclera and golden pupils, "N...Nee-sama... K-Kisuke... H-help m-! Ahhhh!!!"


    Before she could finish her words, however, pitch-ck water started swirling around her and some of it went to her face, forming a jet-ck mask that had horns twisting backwards.


    "Sona!!!" Serafall immediately tried to fly over in panic, but Kisuke hurriedly grabbed her arm, "Not so fast! It''s dangerous!"


    Serafall immediately snarled at him for stopping her, "What''s dangerous!? Sona''s in danger!"


    But while they were having a falling out, Sona suddenly arched her back and let out a roar that didn''t seem possible with her throat, "AARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!"


    Kisuke didn''t have time to bicker with Serafall and immediately made a move. Closing his hands together, Kisuke aimed to restrain Sona, "Bakudo no 99, Kin (Restrain)!"


    A pair of ck cloth manifested and wrapped around Sona before each of the sides was impaled by a b of iron, dragging and crushing her down to the ground, "What are you doing!?" Serafall yelled at him. Her calm demeanor had already long left her and what only remained was worry and panic for her precious sister who was in pain while she had no idea what was going on.


    "Restraining her. She has to go through this on her own." Kisuke replied shortly after.


    But even after he stopped her movement, Kisuke knew that this was only temporary. While he and Serafall watched, the ck water continued to manifest around Sona, with some of it now forming a malformed armor around her.


    "She has to go through this on her own? What do you mean?" Serafall already stopped trying to approach her after realizing that she didn''t know what to do in the first ce.


    "That''s right." Kisuke nodded but he didn''t exin any further. After a small pause, he continued, "I know you resent me for subjecting Sona into situations like this over and over again. And indeed, what''s happening right now is my fault too. If not for the wed method I used to heal her back then, this wouldn''t have to happen... I-"


    The next instant, Kisuke felt a pinch on his side and turned his sights to the pouting Serafall, "I''ll stop you before you apologize. It''s true that I resent you, however, I can''t me you. In fact, I''m grateful for you saving Sona. I know you didn''t intend to hurt Sona with this, so I''ll trust you. I''m sorry for my sudden outburst earlier and it seems that we have time right now, so why don''t you exin what''s happening right now?"


    Kisuke observed the struggling Sona for a few moments before replying, "In short, her dark side is trying to take over, and she has toe to terms with it. For the long exn-"


    His words were cut short once again when the ck water around Sona started manifesting at an exponential rate and even started cutting her restraints, "Hmmm? This is way sooner than I thought. Looks like I''ve underestimated her."


    While trying to prepare his next spell, Kisuke felt something amiss when a slight fluctuation of Reiatsu and Magic Power appeared behind them. Since Serafall still couldn''t reliably feel the former and the maelstrom masked thetter, she didn''t notice anything, "Watch out!"


    "Eh?" Serafall could only look at him with confusion and tried to find the threat.


    Kisuke knew that she wouldn''t have any time to react anymore, so he could only push her out of the way. Within milliseconds, spikes of ck water suddenly appeared behind and it''s toote for Kisuke to move out of the way.


    Within that instant, Kisuke''s strengthened body was directly impaled as if he''s a block of tofu, punching multiple holes on his torso, ''!?''


    "Ki-tan!" Serafall eximed as she was flung away.


    After coughing a mouthful of blood, Kisuke immediately yelled to her, "I''m fine! You already know how to feel these things! Just watch out for now!"


    And as he has warned, multiple spikes of these ck water appeared all around them as if aiming for them. But after the first instance, they already knew what to look out for, so its surprise became ineffective.


    Kisuke relied on his natural regeneration to heal his wounds, however, he noticed that it was healing way slower than usual and saw the cause, ''That water is also corrosive, huh... I''ve really underestimated her.''


    At this point, in her monstrous ck mask and armor, Sona was finally able to shred her restraints and broke free after another roar to the sky.


    Seeing that he didn''t have much time, Kisuke immediately deployed ''Millon Escudo (Million Shields) all around his body and stopped dodging.


    When the spike appeared beside him, it immediately pierced through thousands of small shields before stopping and retreating. With arge chunk of his shields disappearing, Kisuke spected that this water had a very strong piercing power, ''Flow, eh...''


    Ignoring everything else, Kisuke prepared the second part of his Kidou. Pushing his hands together, he called forth, "Bakudo no 99, Bankin (Ultimate Suppression)! First song, Shiyuu (Constriction)!"


    White cloth appeared out of nowhere and started wrapping Sona,pletely covering every part of her body and muffling her voice.


    "Second song, Hyakurensan (Hundred Bolts)!"


    In the same manner as the white cloth appeared, hundreds of iron bolts appeared around the wrapped Sona and descended, piercing through the cloth and strengthening the seal.


    Kisuke didn''t continue for the third song, as that might just kill Sona outright.


    And as soon as the seal was ced, which did not only restrict physical movement but also restricted the soul itself, the spike of water stopped appearing and the wind causing a sandstorm disappeared along with silence returning to the area.


    As the dust started settling down, Serafall approached Kisuke and saw the holes in his body start closing. She heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "What kind of sealing technique is that? It''s too oppressive. And wouldn''t those iron stakes hurt Sona-chan?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer and just observed the situation. Serafall didn''tin and did the same, but after a minute, she heard Kisuke suddenlyughing wryly, "What the heck? Isn''t this too OP?"


    Serafall didn''t even have to ask what''s going on, as she saw ck water leaking through cloth and floating upwards. After a sufficient amount had gathered, it started shaping to someone the both of them are familiar with.


    Sona, still in her monstrous mask and armor, escaped through the seal without breaking it.


    "This is going to be a long night..."

 Chapter 757 757

    Chapter 757 757


    Chapter 757 Sona''s Plight part 2


    Kisuke was already confident that his seal wouldst at least for a few hours, but he was quickly proven wrong when Sona didn''t even destroy the seal and ''leaked'' through it. Looking at the empty husk that was still consuming his energy, ''Looks like we won''t be able to contain her.''


    Bakudo 99 doesn''t just stop physical movements, but it''s mainly for locking the soul up within a separate space temporarily. It is the reason why it was deemed the strongest soul sealing technique outside of unique and secret arts and one would need an overwhelming power or a big explosion of power just to escape it.


    However, in Sona''s case, she didn''t destroy it, but went through the tiny gaps of the seal, regaining her freedom. No matter how strong the seal is, if there''s a hidden gap somewhere, Kisuke presumed that Sona would be able to escape any sealing techniques.


    Kisuke also contemted the possibility that Sona could also control the other side of the coin of the ability she''s using right now.


    Serafall, on the other hand, started stuttering, "D-did she just..."


    With a chuckle that didn''t match the serious atmosphere, Kisuke replied teasingly, "Isn''t that great~? Although not in control of herself, she managed to do that one thing you''ve been trying to achieve for decades~. How does it feel?"


    "Don''t ask me!", Serafall instantly retorted before asking, "What should we do now?"


    A small smile crept onto Kisuke''s face as he thought, ''I wish she''d show that kind of face to Sona.''


    He already noticed that both of them are jealous of each other for the things they didn''t have. However, this jealousy was within the threshold of a healthy rtionship between siblings, but Kisuke wished they would be honest to each other, instead of trying to ''protect'' each other.


    Kisuke then turned forward to Sona who had now taken out her halberd and thought, ''While Serafall was a little honest, Sona chose to keep it entirely to herself. I''m worried that this will be a big burden to her as she fights off the Hollow''s negative emotion amplification. Not to mention my polygamous practices. I know, deep inside her, she didn''t want any of these, like everyone else.''


    "We have to stop her from getting out of this region or else she''ll cause destruction and death everywhere else. For starters, we dodge." Kisuke replied as they saw Sona swing her halberd towards them before a deep blue arc formed and wasunched towards the two of them, increasing in size as it traveled through the distance.


    Serafall flew up while Kisuke went down, dodging the arc, and saw it hit the sand dunes several kilometers away from them before it created an explosion simr to a nuclear weapon detonation.


    "What was that!?" Serafall never thought that Sona would be capable of releasing such destructive Magic.


    "Cero. You could say it''s simr to the Power of Destruction. But I also didn''t think that she''d be able to use it when the Hollow inside her was only a driving force and not intrinsically part of her.", answered Kisuke as he raised his right hand to block the iing halberd, "Hey now, who do you think taught you the sh Step?"


    Sona reappeared beside Kisuke while brandishing her artificial Sacred Gear. However, instead of getting caught, the de slid through Kisuke''s monstrous grip and sliced off his four fingers, leaving him no choice but to retreat with his own sh Step.


    Sona tried to chase after him but before she could do so, she was instantly encased in a giant block of towering ice, sealing her movements.


    But before she could check on Kisuke, Serafall was surprised at the result of her Magic, "...No way... I couldn''t even freeze her?"


    Although Sona was trapped in the ice, the water around her kept flowing without any change and right now, she started drilling holes through the ice, in which case, she''ll only need a few seconds to escape once again.


    "Sealing her is useless since she''ll just go through the cracks. Blocking, be it physical or magical, is also useless. Like what happened to me before, she just instantly changed the shape of her de to slip through my grip. Using a barrier on the other hand would only dy her attacks since they are just the same as seals.", Kisuke exined while watching his fingers regrow, but at an exponentially slower rate due to corrosion which he guessed came from the ''destructive'' attribute of the Hollow.


    "T-that''s really overpowered...", Serafallmented on the attacks that couldn''t be blocked nor contained without using any special methods, "But it seems that her aggro is on us so we could just run around. Though I hate the feeling of hate she''s radiating towards me."


    "As I''ve said, this is something she has to go through herself."


    .


    .


    .


    Going back a few minutes earlier, Sona''s eyes were closed with balls of water circling around her as she concentrated on her Soul Power, trying to bring out more of it.


    She already discovered the special properties of this ''water''. Instead of water, she''s actually controlling its fundamental function, ''flow'', and the water that manifested was just a byproduct of it.


    Thrilled by the discovery of ''Magic'' that she never thought possible, Sona became enthusiastic about her research and was very determined to add this strange ''Magic'' to her repertoire.


    But within the darkness of her own eyelids, her own face with ckened sclera, golden pupils, and crazed smile suddenly appeared in front of her. Violently opening her eyes, Sona gasped for air while wondering, ''W-what was that?''


    But a few secondster, her heart started beating faster for some unknown reason, and her Soul Power became out of control, ''W-what''s happening!?'' She questioned herself as she clutched her chest.


    In a panic, Sona tried to shut off her Soul Power and her Demonic Power, however, the situation only became worse. Without her knowledge, her own eyes had already ckened as her fear of the unknown multiplied, bringing tears down her cheeks.


    At that moment, she felt the reassuring presence of Kisuke and Serafall, but just as she called out to them for help, she cked out.


    After an unknown amount of time, Sona found herself floating in a dark space. Strangely enough, however, she could clearly andpletely see herself, "What happened? Where is this?"


    Nevertheless, she couldn''t think straight as the fear that made her cry was still with her and was only getting worse as time went on.


    She knew it was her fear of the unknown, but she didn''t know why she could feel it this strongly. The feeling was so strong that it wore down on her mental fortitude, reducing her to a state simr to a small child that lost her parents in the crowd, "H-help me... Nee-sama... Kisuke... Please help me..." She started muttering to herself.


    All of a sudden, a voice rang out within the darkness, "Look at the mess you''ve be. How shameful."


    It was a very familiar voice since it''s the same voice Sona could hear whenever she recorded herself. Looking up in a hurry, she saw herself. No. More urately, she saw the person that appeared when her eyes were closed.

 Chapter 758 Sona’s Plight part 3

    Chapter 758 Sona��s Plight part 3


    "W-who are you?"


    The other Sona smirked and replied, "You''re asking me that? I''m you and you''re me. Well, to be more specific, I''m the more honest you."


    Although she got her answer, Sona could hardly process anything with the fear crippling her thinking mind. She didn''t even notice that her eyes were darting around and her body was convulsing. If this is the real world, she would have already made a mess of herself.


    Seeing this, ''Sona''s'' smile mellowed out as she instantly reappeared behind Sona, "Look at how pitiful you are now. He wouldn''t like it if he were to see you like this, would he?"


    Sona didn''t even question why the other her had disappeared in front of her and instead asked, "H-he?"


    "Who else but the love of our life, Kisuke?" ''Sona'' whispered into Sona''s right ear. Embedded within it seemed to be a power that crippled thetter''s almost broken mind and she didn''t even notice it.


    "K-Kisuke? W-where is he?"


    ''Sona'' wrapped her arms around the shaking Sona and whispered once again, "That''s not really important right now. What''s important is that you ept that I''m you, and you''re me. To prove that I intend you no harm, let me remove this fear that has been bothering you~."


    And as she finished her words, the fear that Sona was feeling really disappeared along with its effects. Nevertheless, Sona was already too light headed to even understand what was going on and ''Sona'' couldn''t help but smile further at this development, "See? I meant you no harm. I''m only here to help you~."


    ''Sona'' then proceeded to point towards a certain direction and Sona unconsciously followed her finger to see a small hole within the darkness, depicting what''s happening outside, "I''m here to help you realize your true potential and let out all the misgivings you''ve been keeping to yourself."


    Sona stared nkly on the tunneled hole and saw two familiar figures standing close together and reached out to them with one of her arms. She wanted to call out to them but before she could do so, ''Sona''s'' hand grabbed her outstretched arm, "What you need is my help, not theirs. In fact, they are part of your problems."


    "...Problems...?"


    "Yes, they are.", ''Sona''s'' smile grew deeper, "You''ve always wanted to be a normal girl, maybe, a normal human girl living in a normal society. Since you know that can''t happen, you wanted a part of it at least. That''s your desire."


    "...Desire..."


    "Yes... Desire... And the two of them are in the way of it." With her words that had a strangepelling power behind them, ''Sona'' poisonous words entered Sona''s subconscious mind, "Nee-sama ispetent... Way toopetent. That ability of hers that brought her the position of the Devil King only made things worse for you."


    "So that you wouldn''t tarnish your family''s name, you had to strive for better,pletely disregarding all those sweet things that the other youths of your age experienced. Even then, it still wasn''t enough as you needed to have a fianc topletely solidify your family''s power. Although you were able to find a way out of it, you had to triple your efforts just to prove you didn''t need someone like that."


    "Nee-sama, on the other hand, had all the freedom that you ever wanted and questioned why you didn''t have it. It''s alright to be jealous. It''s alright to hate. It''s your privilege for working so hard yet getting almost nothing in return. You could have had a better life without her."


    Those are very far-fetched and nonsensical words and if it was the usual Sona, she would have brushed it off as nothing but ridiculous ideas. The current her was very far from normal and it became words of ''truth'' for her, giving birth to jealousy and hate that she''d already deemed absurd long ago and would only have felt by her immature self.


    To make it worse, the ck space amplified these negative emotions just like what it did to her irrational fear that broke her earlier.


    Of course, ''Sona'' still wasn''t done as she continued to the next person, "And the love of our life, Kisuke. You fell for him, but he couldn''t give you the ideal romance that you wanted. Instead, you were stuck sharing him with many others that you couldn''t help but feel inferior to."


    "You knew well enough that you fell for the wrong person, but what could you do? You can''t control your feelings and it also felt like he wasn''t reciprocating your feelings enough. Not to mention, you also knew that it wouldn''t be long before our Nee-sama fell for him too. By then, you might not even have a ce beside him anymore."


    Uncontroble jealousy and hatred burned brighter as noxious words fed her fragmented consciousness, "...What should I do?"


    Finally, the smile on ''Sona''s'' face devolved into a crazed one and she replied, "That''s easy~! Prove to your sister that you have the ability to be better than her and take Kisuke for yourself."


    Even if ''Sona'' wanted Sona to wreak havoc as much as she wanted, she didn''t want to break the ''spell'' by giving her ideas that were too extreme.


    "...I don''t have power."


    ''Sona'' pointed to the hole once again and said, "You don''t have power? Take a good look again. You''re destroying them. Even Kisuke''s regenerative powers can''t keep up. You can definitely do it."


    "...I''m doing this?"


    "Yes. Just follow my lead and you''ll get what you''ve desired all this time."


    At this point, Sona was slowly sinking into the darkness as she let herself be consumed by her jealousy and hatred.


    ''Sona'' let go of Sona, satisfied with the oue, "That''s it. Stop holding back. Everything will be fine."


    With only Sona''s head remaining outside of the pool of darkness, ''Sona'' finished her words, "After defeating Nee-sama, you can then neutralize Kisuke and run away to somewhere. If even that''s not enough, you can take out the rest of the girls so that he wouldn''t have to think about anyone else but you."


    And that''s when ''Sona'' becamecent and made a mistake.


    The hate within Sona''s eyes worsened, but they also became clearer. ''Sona'' thought that everything went as she expected but all of a sudden, Sona''s arm came bursting out of the darkness, grabbing Sona''s neck, "!? Guuhh!"


    ''Sona'' tried to dodge, but it was already toote as Sona carried her up as she got out of the darkness, "How dare you!"

 Chapter 759 Good Timing

    Chapter 759 Good Timing


    ''Sona'' tried prying open Sona''s hands, but aside from the ability to amplify negative emotions, she didn''t have any real power here, "H-how...?"


    Sona slowly freed herself from thetches of darkness and even found a way to materialize her sses before replying while making eye contact, "How, you ask? I thought we shared the same feelings and thoughts, but that doesn''t seem to be the case when you''ve manifested like this. Of course, it''s because I acknowledge you as part of me. An irreceable one even."


    ''Sona''s'' face became even more mired with confusion, "T-then... H-how...? Guhh..."


    If she had epted her, she should have already drowned in hate and jealousy. She couldn''t understand how she was able to pull herself back.


    "The moment my mind became clear, I immediately understood that all the negative emotions in this space are amplified beyond my control.", Sona exined with a light smile, "I won''t deny that I didn''t feel hate nor jealousy, since you can''t multiply anything if there''s nothing, however, you seemed to have forgotten that I could also feel rage."


    ''Sona'' thought for a moment before chuckling wryly, "I see... You''ve indeed epted me. I feel happy but alsoplicated that you can acknowledge me that easily."


    ''Sona'' finally understood what pulled Sona out of the darkness. It''s the same negative emotions that she used to sink her in, not aimed at others, but the fury at her own thinking, offsetting the other negative emotions.


    And ''Sona'' was indeed correct. Sona is resentful of herself. She''s resentful at the fact that ''Sona'' could even suggest taking the other girls out. Since ''Sona'' is her own darkness, she knew she had these passing thoughts deep inside her, even if just a little bit.


    Even though she hade to terms with the darkness residing in her heart, she couldn''t easily forgive herself, ''I should really be honest with everyone... I guess I''ll have to talk to and apologize to them after this.''


    Sona then slowly put down ''Sona'', letting her go. She already guessed that she can''t really do anything to her aside from giving her suggestive ideas that would boost her negative emotions.


    Looking around, Sona didn''t know what to do next and could only look back at the hole depicting the outside world. From what she could understand, she had already transformed into something monstrous and gigantic as she threw various attacks towards Kisuke and Serafall. Strangely enough, she knew how to do all those attacks instinctively.


    "It''s no use.", ''Sona'' suddenly voiced out after nursing her throat, "You might have been able to clear your mind, but the negative emotions swirling inside of you haven''t disappeared. You''re actually in an even more dangerous state as the ''rage'' you are using to keep me in check, may cause you more harm than hate and jealousy. See that monstrous form? That''s the result of it."


    Sona immediately turned to her with a look of surprise and ''Sona'' couldn''t help but reel back seeing that, "...What?"


    "I''m just astonished that you''re worried about me."


    Without beating around the bush, ''Sona'' admitted it, "As I''ve told you earlier, I meant you no harm. I only wanted you to be ''released''."


    Sona wanted to talk more to her other self, but she didn''t have much time before the initial push that cleared her mind copsed under the burden of all these negative emotions stacking up upon each other.


    But even after a seemingly long time, Sona''s face only worsened and staggered as she endured the non-physical pain that threatened to reduce her to nothing.


    "Without alleviating these negative emotions, you won''t be able to leave this ce. This is your darkness and this is what''s keeping you in here. If you don''t let go of yourself, then both of us would just be destroyed, leaving an empty husk that only knows how to rampage until its eventual demise."


    "I know that!", replied Sona with an agitated voice, "But I won''t allow it! I''m a person, because I can keep my desires and darkness in check! Without it, I''m no different from an unthinking animal!"


    ''Sona'' smirked at her response and said, "My~ How harsh~ But it looks like you can''t think straight anymore."


    "...What?"


    "Letting your desires rage on is also one way of getting out of this, you know? How exactly? Don''t ask--- !?"


    Before she could finish her sentence, however, the both of them suddenly felt a familiar warm fuzz on their lips. The both of them then hurriedly turned their heads towards the hole and saw Kisuke''s face with his eyes close up close.


    Witnessing this, ''Sona'' couldn''t help but click her tongue and smile wryly, "This bastard... His timing is too good. To think that you''d be treated like a princess right now? I didn''t expect that from someone who doesn''t really understand a woman''s feelings."


    Turning her head again, ''Sona'' herself was nkly staring at the hole while touching her lips and sighed, ''So this is goodbye. She may be smart, but she''s a big idiot too. You really couldn''t control feelings, huh?''


    Sona straightened her back and a small smile of a maiden in love painted her face before facing her darkness, "I''m sorry, but I''ve got to go. I want to experience it first hand."


    "Fuck off!", yelled ''Sona'' back, "You don''t have to tell me, and you really look like an idiot right now."


    Sona only chuckled, as she grabbed on to these warm feelings, and went on for a happy walk towards the hole that is now covered in white light and starting to swallow the darkness.


    ''Sona'' watched her as she approached the hole and light that was swallowing her world, but before she could leave, ''Sona'' reminded her, "Don''t ever think that I''ll just disappear. For as long as you live, I won''t ever leave your side, waiting for the day I can take over."


    Arge smile then appeared on her face before continuing, "Though if you need strength, I''m always willing to give a hand."


    Sona stopped her steps and momentarily turned back to her, "If such time were toe, I''ll give myself to you."


    ''Sona'' watched her get swallowed by the light and disappear but not before chuckling, "You really are an idiot."


    .


    .


    .


    It has been several hours and dawn was about to break since Sona started her rampage. The formerly harsh world of sand has now be a world of frost and ice, with Serafall freezing Sona whenever she got the chance.


    Within each hour, some transformation would take ce on Sona''s body, and right now, she has hundreds of ck water tentacles sprouting from her back that extend to be gigantic and swing around like giant saws.


    "What do I do, Ki-tan?" Serafall suddenly voiced out with aplicated expression.


    "Hmm?"


    "I don''t think I have a way of defeating Sona-chan, as she is right now, even if I want to with my full power..."


    "Well, you do have badpatibility with her. While you try to immobilize everything, she would just keep on moving. That''s just how bad ''flow'' counters your abilities. If it''s something like Sirzechs-san''s Power of Destruction, then Sona wouldn''t have a chance."


    Pausing for a bit, Kisuke added, "And by the way, the situation isn''t looking good right now. If she keeps going like this, she''ll strain her soul beyond the point of recovery and might actually die."


    "Say what!?"

 Chapter 760 It actually worked

    Chapter 760 It actually worked


    Serafall immediately grabbed Kisuke''s cor and started shaking him, "You have to do something! You''re the only one who has any idea of what''s going on, so you have to do something!"


    "I can forcefully pull her out of that state, however, doing so would hurt her progress, and I don''t know how much of that would affect her future. As I''ve said before, I want her to pull herself out of it on her own."


    "But---!?"


    Kisuke didn''t allow her to continue and made it clear, "Just so you know, I wouldn''t risk Sona''s life over something like this, so before anything drastic happens, I won''t hesitate to do what needs to be done, so you don''t have to worry. It''s just that, at this point in time, I have virtually no idea how we can help her, and we''re running out of time."


    The two of them then separated and flew backward to dodge the giant tentacle that could split them in two, beforeing together once again, "Not a single idea to help her?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Nope~ This is her inner conflict, so I really don''t have any idea. Even if we said anything motivational, aside from being cringey, I doubt she could hear us."


    They dodged a few more times and each time they did it, Kisuke noticed Serafall''s face scrunching up every instance until she opened her eyes widely and yelled, "Fine! Ki-tan, rip that mask off and give her a deep kiss! And when I say deep, I mean those kisses you see in movies!"


    "...Huh?" Kisuke was dumbfounded. He couldn''t see how that would help aside from agitating Sona even more, as any actions against her would just be seen as an assault.


    "Don''t give that dumb face! You should have read some fairytales at some point! I''m telling you to go wake up the princess with your kiss, prince!"


    "No, no, no. I still can''t see how that is going to work!"


    "Do you have any other idea!? None, right!? And how could you be considered a man of science, when you''re already brushing me off as wrong without providing evidence!? Or, do you have any problem with kissing my So-tan!? Is that it!? Are you actually just ying around with her!? Come''ere and let''s fight! This time, I''ll beat you into submission!" Aside from dodging, Serafall actually started sending spears of ice toward Kisuke.


    Kisuke now had to dodge both of the sisters, but that was the least of his worries, as his pride was hurt by his own doing, "You know what? Fair point. You have every right to call me dumb because I''m a dumbass. I''m going now."


    Kisuke weaved through the ck tentacles. Although their offensive capabilities were massive, Sona was using them simple enough that it was very easy to read the flow.


    Of course, Sona immediately noticed that this method wasn''t effective and immediately changed her approach. The giant tentacles broke up into pieces and reshaped themselves into ck needles, at least a million of them from Kisuke''s initial estimation.


    These needles instantly surrounded Kisuke, leaving him with no gap to go through. Bringing her arm forward, Sona willed the needles to rush at him simultaneously and the result was within her expectations.


    Kisuke wasn''t able to dodge the onught and his body couldn''t even be seen from her perspective. However, she knew that he wouldn''t die from something like that, but it should be enough to keep him in there.


    Sona was about to move to her next target, Serafall, when she suddenly heard Kisuke''s voice behind her, "Although it was just your instincts working, you have a clear goal. How intriguing~!"


    Sona''s eyes behind her mask widened and her arm immediately transformed into a de as she waved it behind her. But when she turned around, Kisuke was not there anymore, only to hear his voice on her left this time, "It''s sad to say, but we don''t have enough time. If this doesn''t work, I''ll be putting your soul into forced stasis and wake you up slowly from there."


    Putting his hand on her mask, Kisuke intended to rip it off. However, just as he was about to pull, the texture of the mask shocked him, enough that his expression instantly changed, ''T-this is not Reishi but Phosphosm!? How!?''


    Nevertheless, he didn''t have enough time to think about this discovery and crushed the mask into pieces before putting a small portion of it in a special container that he''d prepared for asions like this.


    Recovering his bearings, Kisuke looked down on Sona''s face and lifted her chin. Sona tried to move and retaliate but found herself paralyzed. After an extended amount of time watching her and studying her ability, Kisuke had already figured out how to stop her, albeit temporarily.


    Smirking at her rageful expression, Kisuke muttered, "The usual Sona-chan is a lot cuter. Give her back.", before plunging his lips onto hers.


    Sona instantly started struggling, and the spell that Kisuke ced on her was already falling apart.


    After a few more moments, Kisuke was already done cing the spell that would forcefully put Sona''s soul into sleep through her mouth. He was about to separate from her since there were no changes in Sona despite following Serafall''s directions, but he suddenly felt her arms wrapped around him and she started reciprocating, ''It actually worked!?''


    Kisuke looked into Sona''s eyes and noticed their yful glint before closing them, while ramping up her efforts to y with Kisuke''s tongue.


    Slowly but surely, the ck water turned transparent before disappearing into nothing and the broken pieces of Sona''s mask sipped back to her body, along with the rest of her armor.


    Although it was her idea, Serafall could only be dumbfounded at the kiss she had only seen in movies aimed at adults.


    Separating with a trail of saliva still connecting them, Sona looked up to Kisuke with a flushed face, "I''m sorry for all the trouble."


    But Kisuke just flicked her forehead and said, "More than apologizing, there''s something else you should say, right?"


    The pain reminded Sona of something else and replied with a big smile, "I''m back~!"


    "Wee back~."

 Chapter 761 Regret

    Chapter 761 Regret


    "Sona-chan~!" Serafall came flying in and snatched Sona from Kisuke''s clutches before rubbing her own face on hers, "I was so worried! Are you alright!?"


    Sona thought that it was just her usual over-the-top skinship but saw the genuine worry within her eyes and felt the little shaking of her hand. Immense guilt immediately washed over her and sincerely apologized, "I''m very sorry, Nee-sama. This came to be because of my inability to be honest. Would you listen to me?"


    Surprise crossed Serafall''s face, and it was a pleasant one, "I''ll listen to everything you have to say~!"


    "Then let''s return. Sona should be tired and I''ll prepare something that could help in her recovery.", Kisuke then turned to look at their surroundings that had already be a white hell and added in, "And return the scenery to normal before we leave."


    .


    .


    .


    Reaching the loghouse, Kisuke left the two sisters citing that he intended to concoct some medicine for Sona so she wouldn''t have any further problems or hidden injuries that could hurt her down the line. However, the two of them knew that he''s just giving them space.


    Even though she was very tired and weak, Sona did her best to express everything to her precious big sister. Once she started, Sona let everything out without holding anything back beginning from her frustrations, anxiety, apprehension, envy, bitterness, jealousy, insecurity, and even irritation.


    As time went on, Serafall''s face fell and fell until she felt very remorseful and regretful that she had failed to notice all of this, despite giving her as much attention as possible, because she didn''t want her to walk the same path as her.


    With a past full of war and tragedy, Serafall hid behind her bubbly personality but pledged to protect the peace and innocence of her little sister. Through all of this, she failed to show anything to Sona beyond the surface of the Devil known as ''Serafall''.


    In hindsight, it was also her fault that Sona developed these kinds of feelings. Not because the Devil''s society decided to hide its bloody history and cover it with glorious victory and reform, but because Serafall didn''t show that she too, was just a ''normal'' person.


    Oblivious to what she''s thinking, Sona continued, but this time, expressing how grateful she is to Serafall. The awe and adoration she had for Serafall inspired Sona to go to great lengths to be a better person. Sona wouldn''t be as she is today without her, and she wouldn''t even think what would happen otherwise.


    Now that she''did out everything, it was as if a burden that she hadn''t noticed until now suddenly disappeared and her mind became even clearer. Even the Demonic Power inside her body became more active in response to that, so Sona couldn''t just brush it off as her imagination.


    ''So it was just that easy... I should have done this from the start.'', she then looked up to her sister''s frustrated expression and the corners of her mouth went up slightly, ''Well, I don''t think I would have made this kind of decision if that didn''t happen to me.''


    After some inner conflict, Serafall finally heaved a huge sigh before looking straight into Sona''s eyes, "Sona-chan, this time, please listen to what I have to say too."


    Kisuke returned after an hour and saw the sisters talking amicably, without the previous almost non-perceptible strain between them. Humming, Kisuke intruded on their private time and said, "I''ve prepared something to eat~!"


    .


    .


    .


    After their meal, Serafall wanted to talk about what really happened earlier and what sort of ability Sona used. However, Kisuke immediately shook his head at her suggestion and said, "Let''s do that after you''ve rested. The two of you need it, especially Sona. Your souls have to return to their normal rhythm if you want to continue practicing."


    Serafall closed her eyes and tilted her head, "Hmm... I guess you''re right. I''m sorry, but I could hardly keep my curiosity."


    Kisuke then stood up while cleaning up the used utensils, "Although morning just came, let''s retire for today."


    But as soon as they cleaned themselves, Serafall couldn''t help but holler when she saw Sona following Kisuke, "Waitwaitwait! Sona-chan! Where are you going?"


    Sona''s posture instantly stiffened and slowly turned to Serafall before averting her eyes from her, "Err... I''m sleeping with Kisuke. Yep, I''m definitely sleeping."


    Despite not having any experience herself, Serafall knew what Sona intended to do, but she just couldn''t or didn''t know how to point that out, so she could only make a dumbfounded face.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, gave Sona''s forehead another flick and said, "No. I won''t be sleeping yet, so go rest on your own."


    If this was the normal Sona, she would have immediately backed down, but thanks to the influence of her darker self and bing much more honest to herself, her desires became much more pronounced, and maybe, she became more of a Devilpared to her past self, "And I won''t either!"


    ''Didn''t you say you''re definitely sleeping!?'' Kisuke and Serafall were both stunned at how she''s acting, "I''m tired, but not that tired! I still have some energy to spare... No, forget that. I have too much energy to use!"


    Ignoring their reactions, Sona grabbed Kisuke''s arms and started dragging him towards the room at the end of the hallway.


    Serafall couldn''t believe what she''d just witnessed and likewise, Kisuke couldn''t look or was afraid to look at Serafall''s face and let himself be dragged away to avoid further confrontation.


    Since Sona requested it so strongly, he already guessed that there were some lingering effects that he wasn''t sure if they were going to go away any time soon, if ever. Kisuke didn''t want to disappoint her, so he acquiesced in silence.


    That ''night'' Kisuke and Sona put on a simple barrier against eavesdropping and irvoyance over their room, however, curiosity was eating Serafall inside out and although she knew that she''s going to regret it, she drilled a small hole through the barrier and peeked, only to see Sona on top of Kisuke which was unbelievable to her.


    Of course, Kisuke and Sona knew of the intrusion, but when the former tried to fix the hole, thetter stopped him before whispering, "Let her get the taste of regret from her own actions."


    Kisuke was a bit hesitant, but the curiosity regarding Serafall''s reaction got the better of him and he let her go.


    Nevertheless, the two of them only expected Serafall to watch for a minute or two but were surprised when she stayed for a whole half an hour before bolting through the skies, leaving the log house entirely.


    On the way to her training spot, Serafall''s face was flushed as the scene from earlier was imprinted in her mind, ''I had no idea Sona-chan could make a face like that!'' Of course, she had already seen the real thing from the videos, but she never thought that it would hit differently when she saw someone close to her doing it, ''Dammit! I wasn''t this embarrassed when I watched these things! What''s wrong with me!?''

 Chapter 762 Accidental Discovery and More Mystery

    Chapter 762 idental Discovery and More Mystery


    After a full 12 hours, Sona came out of the room feeling more refreshed than ever, with her worries out of the way. She never thought that the burden of keeping things to herself was that great.


    Spreading her Demonic Power around, she found out that Serafall still hadn''te back and thought that she might not during the duration of their training, ''Looks like that bothered her more than I anticipated. I knew Nee-sama was innocent, but not this innocent!''


    Kisuke also soon came out yawning, "Shall we have a meal? And while we''re at it, let''s talk about what happened yesterday."


    "We won''t wait for Nee-sama?"


    "If she''s not here now, I don''t think she''lle back now. And you need to know more about your ability than her since I can only assume that you can only control that instinctively and I''m more than enough to help you with that."


    "That''s true. I have a feeling that I could use that ''water'' but I''m not really sure what nature it is."


    After settling down on the table and having a few bites, Kisuke asked Sona, "What do you think your ability is?" He needs to know where to start exining as it seems that unlike Zanpakuto and their given abilities, Sona''s ability wasn''t automatically passed down to its user and it was only triggered by her other self, which probably took on most of her Hollow side. He also needed more information of any type due to the existence of ''Phosphosm'' that shouldn''t exist in this world, nor Sona''s origin world. Although he already had a working theory, Kisuke wanted to know more.


    "I''m not really sure, but I''m certain that it isn''t the ''water'' itself.", Sona answered as she summoned the ball of water, "If it''s not the water itself, then it must be the properties behind it. Although I can summon it like this, I can only control it like how I control normal Magic so I have no idea how I was pushing you and Nee-samast night."


    Kisuke nodded and raised a ss and covered it with a fairly strong barrier, "Try shing through this with that. No need to give effort and just swing that water as it is."


    Sona was skeptical since she could tell the strength of the barrier that Kisuke ced on the ss, but she did what he instructed anyway. With a swing of her finger, the water formed an arc beforeunching itself to the ss. Sona thought that her water would just be sttered everywhere but was stunned to see it instantly went through the ss and traveled further beyond, wounding Kisuke''s right cheek.


    More than the ss, Sona was aware of how sturdy Kisuke had be even without him actively protecting himself, ''For a simple spell to cause damage to him... I see... So that''s how it is.''


    Naturally, Kisuke could have dodged the arc of water, but he purposely didn''t do so since that might help Sona get the idea, and she did. The corner of his mouth slightly curved upwards when he saw her start muttering to herself, forgetting her surroundings.


    Approximately half an hourter, Sona''s awareness of the surroundings returned and immediately turned her sights to Kisuke, "Is it flow? Am I in control of the flow itself? If that''s the case, then that would exin why my Magic went through your defense. The unceasing flow managed to cut through everything and if I can control or strengthen it, my Magic could theoretically go through anything."


    "That''s right, but that''s not all. Last night, your body took on a form that could make use of this ''flow'' ability of yours. In other words, a body made up of your own Magic. Like hitting a body of water, physical attacks against you be essentially useless and sealing techniques be ineffective as long as there are cracks in the technique you can escape from. Finally, if you can expand this influence of yours, you may control the flow of ''everything'', be it the air itself or someone''s blood."


    Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders and added jokingly, "Heck, if you want to go even further beyond with this concept of yours, maybe you''ll be able to control the flow of time itself."


    While the first ones are achievable, Sona immediately brushed off Kisuke''sst words, "No way that''s possible. I can''t even imagine it."


    Kisuke, however, gave a small smile and didn''t answer back, ''Nothing is really certain when ites to abilities that bend the rules of reality, but she doesn''t need to think about this right now.''


    The two of them continued talking for another hour, with Sona mostly asking questions but then answering them herself. Finally, when Kisuke was certain that it was already enough and she wouldn''t get lost, he ended the discussion, "Now that you know how your Magic or ability works, you have to figure out how to achieve that ''Magic Body'' on your own and that will be your assignment for the rest of this training session. Whether you''ll be sessful or not, I don''t know, however, you already gained something enormous with this outing, so you don''t have to push yourself like before."


    "Going slowly or rushing it, when ites to unique abilities like yours, it doesn''t really matter since it''s not about your raw abilities, but understanding."


    Sona nodded and said, "I understand. I also think that it''ll be useless to mindlessly train when what I need is some sort of enlightenment."


    As soon as Sona left, Kisuke couldn''t help but let out a long sigh, "Haah... In the end, I wasn''t able to figure out anything concrete in regards to the appearance of the ''Phosphosm'' which should only exist in my world. Did it form because of the sh of Sona''s Demonic Power and Hollow Reishi? If so, then the ''Blood of Hell'' could onlye to be when there''s the presence of Mana or Magic Power, but I''m fairly sure that no one knew of its existence."


    "Fullbringers are a mystery too and might have a connection to that. I could only guess that someone intentionally hid the existence of Mana and that someone could only be the Spirit King. But why?" Kisuke went back to the loghouse, full of new questions that could only be answered if he were to return to his original world.


    Through the rest of their training period, Serafall didn''t show up to both Sona and Kisuke.

 Chapter 763 Trust and Danger

    Chapter 763 Trust and Danger


    After a week, Kisuke, Sona, and Serafall finally returned home and upon their arrival at the gates, Hestia, Artemis, Koneko, Kuroka, and the three kids were there to receive them, "Wee back~!" Hestia ran over and jumped into Kisuke''s arms.


    "We''re back~", Kisuke caught her and instinctively patted her head in response.


    The kids and Artemis also came over and greeted them but Kuroka and Koneko only stared silently at Serafall before the former whispered in question, "...What happened to her, nya?"


    "Err... Let''s just say that she''s tired from her training." answered Kisuke half-heartedly before changing the subject, "By the way, Is Yoruichi watching over Irina and Akeno-san?"


    A worried glint shed through Kuroka and Koneko''s eyes but they didn''t show it on their face, "After they started, she never left them alone as you''ve asked her."


    Despite hiding it well, Hestia still noticed that something was amiss but didn''t confront it directly and instead asked, "Say, can''t we check on Irina-kun and Akeno-kun?"


    Kisuke could only smile wryly and scratch his cheek, "What they''re doing is a bit sensitive and Kuroka, Koneko, and Yoruichi could only approach them because they wouldn''t be influencing anything around them. Let''s just wait for good news, alright?"


    Kisuke turned to Sona and Serafall immediately after and said, "You two should rest for a few days before continuing with what you''re doing. In any case, both of you are already on track so you don''t have to worry about any stagnation for a while."


    Sona nodded at him, "We know what to do. Please don''t worry about us since you don''t have much time yourself."


    "Are you leaving immediately?" Hestia suddenly asked with a sullen voice.


    "I''m sorry Hestia-sama, but sometime in the future, once we''re free of worries, I''ll be taking you all to a good ce, so please look forward to that instead."


    He didn''t want to make the conversation longer so he immediately turned to Kuroka and Koneko, "We''ll leave after I''ve checked on Irina, Akeno-san, and Yoruichi."


    Kuroka and Koneko nodded before Kisuke disappeared in a sh.


    Artemis approached the deted Hestia andforted him, "I know he also wanted to take it easy but the situation doesn''t really allow him. Let''s just cheer for him and watch so that he won''t burn himself out, alright?"


    Hestia finally realized the obvious thing but only after being told about it, "I''m sorry. I''m not being considerate enough."


    Hearing their conversation, Sona hurriedly intervened, "Please don''t apologize, Hestia-sama. I''m not ming Kisuke but this also came to be because of his weird obsessions to prepare for anything and everything way ahead of time as long as that thing has even a remote chance of happening. Although also thanks to that, we could be safe and give ourplete trust to him."


    And with a sad tone, Koneko added, "I also feel bad for Kisuke-senpai... Although he puts great importance to his shop and makes various merchandise, he can''t even tend to his only hobby these days."


    After Koneko''s words, the expression of concern became apparent on everyone''s face, including ire and Tanis by being dragged by the atmosphere. Not wanting to see the children make such an expression, Serafall immediately hugged the two and said, "Enough of this. As long as you do what you need to do to reduce the burden on him so that he won''t worry so much, then everything will turn out alright."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke reached the room where Yoruichi was guarding Irina and Akeno, but before he entered it, he first checked the state of the seal on the room he left before leaving for the desert with Sona and Serafall, ''Hmm... Looks like it''s still working fine but reinforcing it shouldn''t hurt.''


    The seal was ced not because he wanted to protect the ce but to seal it away from any of the world''s interference to the soul of everyone inside it. Since what Irina and Akeno were doing was pretty dangerous, their artificial bodies might fail them and die, leaving a very weakened soul to the outside world. If such a thing were to ur without any interference in ce, they would be taken by this world''s soul cycle if not outright reduced to pure spiritual particles because they are technically invaders.


    And for added security, Kisuke didn''t allow anyone that originated from this world to enter the room since they might negatively influence the seal even if he made it robustly.


    Satisfied with his work, Kisuke then entered the room and greeted Yoruichi, who was watching the other two ''sleep'' peacefully, "How is it?"


    Yoruichi sighed and closed her eyes while shaking her head, "Day by day, the only change that is happening is their vitality dropping. At this rate, they might really die."


    Kisuke sat beside Yoruichi and thetter immediately used this chance toy on hisp. After finding a good spot and position, Yoruichi looked up to him and asked, "Do they really have to do this? If things go extremely wrong then we wouldn''t even have a soul to save."


    As Kisuke started stroking his hair, he replied with a gentle voice, "You know I''ve only given them a choice and it has always been like that in the past. I might be extremely maniptive but I''m never forceful nor give tasks that are beyond them. Besides, the reason I''ve asked you to watch over them non-stop is that I trust you and your ability to deal with the situation if something everes up."


    Yoruichi creased her brows and said, "Aren''t you putting way too much confidence in me? My Reiatsu control is way worse than yours."


    "That is true." Kisuke nodded with a small smile before continuing, "However, when ites to instantaneously reacting to unexpected and unknown situations, you''re actually better than me. Much better if I have to say it twice. While I can only take pre-nned steps, you can make a more urate and better decision at the same time with limited information. If a dangerous situation were to really arise, I at least know that you can stabilize the circumstances and give me enough time to formte a more concrete step forward."


    Yoruichi frowned for a bit but silently epted it.

 Chapter 764 Emergency

    Chapter 764 Emergency


    After spending some more time with Yoruichi, Kisuke finally decided to leave.


    "Where are you going for Kuroka and Koneko''s training this time?" Yoruichi asked before he opened the door.


    "The sea."


    Yoruichi wondered how they were going to train their Ki on the ocean, but Kisuke didn''t borate it any further and just left.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke once again said his goodbyes to Hestia and the others, but before they left, Kisuke noticed the forced smile on the former''s face, making him wonder what happened when they left them in the gates of Pandemonium. However, he didn''t have time and he didn''t think it''s that serious. If the awkwardness still persisted as he returned, Kisuke will confront her then.


    After preparing the teleportation circle, Kisuke first turned to the Nekoshou sisters before activating it, "By the way, did you do the exercise that I gave youst time?"


    "Yes, nyaa~. We''re finally able to circte and gather pure Ki through the pores of our skin... After some hardships, nyaa." Kuroka answered while recalling the physical pain they had to go through just to seed. She and Koneko don''t even know what it''s even for since it''s a lot more efficient and easier to do it through normal breathing, ''Does he want us to go to outer space? But there''s no Ki to absorb out there, nyaa...''


    Kisuke grinned and a bad premonition instantly bloomed within Kuroka and Koneko. Since he asked about the exercise, both of them immediately started circting and absorbing Ki through their skin pores before Kisuke activated the Teleportation Magic without adding another word or warning them.


    A secondter, they were transported to a pitch ck ce but that''s not what concerned the Nekoshou sisters but the very heavy pressure that is pressing on them and their inability to breathe.


    Nevertheless, the both of them still had some freedom and couldn''t feel any immediate threat from their surroundings so the first thing they did was to conjure light. Withbined luminance they finally confirmed where they were and their guess was correct. Around them was the almost opaque dark blue salt water and rock formations with strange creatures crawling on them.


    The next instant, they heard Kisuke''s voice inside their heads, ''For the next one week, we''ll be staying here. For starters, before the both of you drown, learn how to ''breathe'' through you Ki.''


    ''Easier said than done, nyaa!'''' retorted Kuroka, ''Doing this on the surface was already hard enough, but we''re in extreme pressure where even I could hardly move! Where are we anyway, nyaa!?''


    ''Be proud! We''re the first people to reach the deepest ocean of this world... Probably.'', Kisuke jokingly replied but he suddenly disappeared within the darkness where Kuroka and Koneko''s light couldn''t pierce through while leaving the words, ''After you''re able to ovee the breathing problem and pressure as naturally as you breathe, we''ll move to the next step. However, please do so before three days have passed or else we''ll be behind schedule. Good luck~!''


    Kuroka wanted toin more but Koneko grabbed her shoulder and said while shaking her head, ''Isn''t it about time you get used to how he does things, Nee-sama? Besides, I don''t think it''s that hard. We just have to stay alive with only Ki.''


    Kuroka looked at her and replied with her usual smile, ''Come on now, Shirone~ I''m not angry at him, nyaa. I just likeining to his face... Though he also knows that and just ignores my bullshit most of the time.''


    Koneko pressed her lips together in doubt but due to the pressure slowly bing unbearable as it slowly depleted their Ki reserves, they had to find a way to actively restore them so she stopped arguing with her big sister and sat down on the ocean floor and closed her eyes to concentrate.


    Kuroka just shrugged her shoulders and extinguished the lights they conjured since they didn''t need it and it''ll only attract the strange sea creatures that might disturb them before doing the same thing as Koneko. She didn''t want her to do it faster than her since her pride as a big sister would be wounded if that were to happen.


    Kisuke watched their progress from afar while quietly fending off the ancient monsters that lurked within the darkness of the ocean, with one of them even spanning as long as Great Red. He didn''t want to kill them, because he didn''t know what kind of consequences their sudden absence would result in for the ecosystem that was already bnced by time.


    ''Unlike Serafall and Sona, what they need to achieve is just aplete integration of their own attributed Ki, Physical body, and Soul. Since this is outside of my expertise, I can only help them with their Souls and what they do next would be entirely up to them. In any case, they should have more options open up for them.''


    Kisuke could have awoken Sona''s ability and given her more concrete and specific instructions to use and improve it, but as much as he want to direct everyone to the most efficient way to get stronger, he knew he absolutely can''t do that, As that would not only just impede their future growth, but also their own creative thinking. Whatever they believe is the best, he''ll support them as much as he can, no matter how stupid it sounds. That much trust is what he needed to put in them.


    In the meantime, Kisuke took out the Phosphosm that he secretly collected from Sona to study and confirmed if it''s really the material that he knew from the Hell of his previous world, ''If I''m lucky, I will be able to return much sooner. I just never thought that it would be through studying idental particles and Dragons.''


    .


    .


    .


    Two full dayster, Kuroka and Koneko both opened their eyes and around them was a white aura tinged by their own Ki''s color with Koneko blue and Kuroka red. Right now, they are fully capable of ''breathing'' through the use of their Ki and could actually indefinitely stay alive as long as they could absorb the Ki within their surroundings, if not for the heavy mental strain they were subjected to doing this exact thing.


    Despite looking just fine, they were actually already very tired and lightheaded. Since they had to manually control this breathing, the time they could do this was still very limited and this limitation would only be lifted if they could do this unconsciously.


    But just as Kuroka was about toin for real due to the imminent danger they are about to face if they were not allowed to take a bit of rest, a bubble suddenly expanded and enveloped both of them, relieving the great pressure on them and giving them room to breathe normally, "Great work and congrattions for achieving something only a few people were able to do in history~ Well, at least those in public records. For now-"


    However, Kisuke words were suddenly cut short as his expression became grim, "Rest and wait for my return." he briefly worded before instantly teleporting away.


    With an extremely concerned look, Koneko asked Kuroka, "W-what happened?"


    Kuroka immediately hugged her baby sister tofort her, "I also don''t know. But whatever it is, since he asked us to wait for his return, it''s not something he can''t resolve. Let''s trust him, alright?"


    Koneko hesitated but nodded her head after a while. The thoughts of following him back were pushed to the back of her head.


    Kuroka, on the other hand, despite appearing calm, was also very nervous as it was very rare for Kisuke to make such a face, ''It''s probably about Irina-chan and Akeno-chan... I hope they''re okay...''

 Chapter 765 Death of Bodies

    Chapter 765 Death of Bodies


    Breaking the rules that he''d ced on everyone, Kisuke directly teleported inside the Dungeon. As soon as he materialized inside the tower, the Dungeon shook for a bit but that was not his concern for now, as he saw Hestia and Artemis trying to enter the room where Yoruichi, Irina, and Akeno were supposed to be, but they were being blocked by the silent Ophis, who wouldn''t budge no matter what they said.


    Hestia and Artemis immediately noticed his arrival and thetter hurriedly said in a panicked voice, "K-Kisuke! My Falna on Irina and Akeno just suddenly stopped responding! That only happens when a child of mine dies! What happened!? Please tell me what happened in there!"


    "Kisuke-kun! This isn''t the time for us to be barred from the room! Something seriously went wrong in there, but Ophis-kun wouldn''t allow us to even take a step in! Why!?" added Hestia straight away.


    Kisuke could feel their distress but sadly, he couldn''t attend to them right now and only went past Ophis leaving a few words while patting her head, "Please don''t worry. I promised I''d take care of them and I''ll do everything in my power to do that. Ophis-chan, thank you for stopping them."


    Ophis nodded and said, "Their fate is up to them, but they need a little bit of push."


    Kisuke didn''t turn around but took her words to heart before closing the door and increasing the strength of the seal.


    What came to his eyes when he entered was Yoruichi with her hands on both of Irina and Akeno''s chests, "What happened?" he asked while inspecting the two unconscious girls that were pale and bleeding from their orifices. With a single nce, he knew that they were dead, their bodies, at least.


    "An hour ago, their vitality suddenly started dropping sharply and just now, they died as blood erupted from their bodies." answered Yoruichi as she continued what she''s doing.


    Kisuke wanted to do something, but he couldn''t because of Yoruichi''s actions, "Why are you still keeping their souls within those bodies? The bacsh should have been immense so their souls must have been considerably weakened. Since they failed, those bodies should be discarded. I already have their former bodies reformed and they''re in the medical ward."


    Yoruichi was silent for a few seconds, but after letting out a long sigh, she responded, "They''re still fighting."


    "Huh?"


    Yoruichi creased her brows and knew that it would be hard to justify putting them in further danger to Kisuke when she''s supposed to be the one who''d stop them from taking such risks, "They''re still struggling to take control. I don''t want to waste their efforts aftering this far."


    "But they''ve alreadye to the point of no return. There''s no point in struggling when these bodies have alreadypletely rejected their souls. Any further attempts would just be bacsh and because it came from Ophis and Great Red''s powers, they would be lucky if they are not instantly annihted." Kisuke was now losing his patience. Any further dy would only increase the chances of their souls following the fate of their bodies. However, he also didn''t want to intrude on what Yoruichi was trying to achieve, which stemmed from his promise to trust her.


    At that point, Yoruichi had bepletely silent. She started this confidently but Kisuke''s words put a hole in that. She herself wasn''t exactly sure why she''s doing this, but her gut was telling her that this was the correct path.


    While Yoruichi was struggling on the crossroads of life and death decisions, she suddenly heard Kisuke take a deep breath as he sat beside her, "What should I do? I''ll follow along."


    Kisuke knew that Yoruichi was just relying on her instincts for this and he really doesn''t like doing the same thing without any clear basis. However, he also recalled Ophis'' words as he''d entered the room and that''s when he decided that he''ll ride along on this one.


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened, then a small smile bloomed on her face. She watched the dead bodies for a few seconds before replying, "Help me connect their souls."


    Although he did say that he''d follow along, Kisuke couldn''t help but rub the bridge of his nose, "That would double the bacsh on both of them."


    "I know... But I think they''ll have a fighting chance if they were together."


    Kisuke let out another sigh and looked straight into her, "Fine... But to reduce the risk they''re taking, I''ll be using my own soul to block any bacsh."


    Yoruichi''s brows instantly creased, "That''s too dangerous, even for you. Since this is my idea, allow me to do that."


    Nheless she only received a pretty strong finger flick to her forehead, "Ow! This isn''t the time to be doing that!"


    While proceeding to ce his hands on Irina and Akeno''s foreheads, Kisuke replied, "And this isn''t the time to be joking around. No matter the situation, if I can risk my life instead of yours, I''ll always do it. I won''t allow anyone, especially you, to change that."


    Yoruichi was shocked silent, but after thinking about it for a short while, they now indeed had a different rtionship than before. Surprisingly, she got a bit embarrassed over that, but didn''t dare show it on her face and immediately said, "...You''re quite an overbearing hubby."


    "Those are just a few of the things I won''tpromise on. And although we aren''t married yet, I won''t entertain any talks about divorce, so get used to it."


    Yoruichi grinned and replied, "No worries. I already epted the fact that I''ll be stuck with it for the longest time. In fact, I won''t allow you to get rid of me. Never."


    "...You''re an overly obsessive wife."


    After that small bit of banter, they soon focused on the task at hand.


    .


    .


    .


    More than a week ago, before Kisuke left with Sona and Serafall, Kisuke talked to Irina and Akeno and proposed a certain n that even he had no confidence that it''d seed, nor a back up n to reverse the result.

 Chapter 766 Another Risk for Evolution

    Chapter 766 Another Risk for Evolution


    "Listen, the main reason why it''s hard for you to get stronger is not that your bodies are already strong from the start, but because thepatibility between your own souls and bodies is only crudely synced. Even with the best of my research, this is the final result." exined Kisuke before giving them the documents that listed his findings when he regrly checked their condition.


    Akeno, Irina, and Yoruichi went through it and although the former two couldn''t understand most of it, the conclusion at the bottom of each finding helped them understand it.


    "As you might have already noticed long ago, while you two did get stronger thanks to your new bodies, their durability and strength were far from the origin of the flesh, Great Red and their energy retention and capacity were far from Ophis who granted her own permanent power to further strengthen them. And not just far but very, very far. You could actually only use less than 1% of what they are supposed to grant."


    Irina and Akeno were silent and looked down, nevertheless, Kisuke wasn''t done yet, "This is the reason why those who could use another body couldn''t get any stronger even if they acquired the strongest one out there. The real way is to further evolve your own body and your own soul would happily follow it."


    From this, Akeno finally understood why they had to talk in private, "So we''re in a different situation than everyone else? We aren''t just stuck on the ''first boss'' but we ''yed'' wrongly that our characters are essentially useless?" Just after saying that, Akeno couldn''t help but smile wryly in frustration and helplessness and it was the same as Irina.


    Kisuke''s answer was silence, but that''s already telling everything. Silence covered the room for a minute more before Kisuke suddenly asked, "Aren''t you going to me me? After all, I''m the one who half-forcefully put you in this situation, and even though I gave you an option before, I failed to warn you about all of these."


    After he said that, Akeno and Irina immediately looked up to him with a scowl, "Please don''t look down on us." Akeno softly replied, but with a grave tone, "We haven''t forgotten that all of this started because you saved our lives and we attempted to return the favor. But far from returning said favor, we forced you to bring us with you and only became luggage that slowed you down."


    "Not to mention, all of that was our own decision. You might have started it, but we willingly walked into it." Irina added, "So please don''t ever think that this is your fault, as we''ve never thought of it that way ever. You''re looking down on us if you do so."


    Kisuke already knew how they thought about the whole situation from the start, but it would be honestly easier for him if they were to me him. Sighing, he ended up asking, "Really... Just what''s pushing you to go this far?..." It was already toote that it was a mistake to ask that.


    "Are you asking that because you''re expecting an answer? Or...", replied Irina while narrowing her eyes.


    Akeno covered her mouth with her hand and smirked, "Fufufu, you don''t strike me as a dense one, but I can give you an answer now if you want to be sure of it."


    Kisuke immediately waved his hand in dismissal, "Save it... But I''m not going to deny it.", he then looked straight at them and said with a serious expression while pointing to the girl beside him, "However, if you''re trying to be useful to be epted, please stop it. The moment I epted you for such a shallow reason, the first one who''d murder me is Yoruichi."


    With a smile that didn''t reach her eyes, Yoruichi replied, "Of course~ I''d be the first one to straighten him up if he thinks both of you are convenient women."


    Irina and Akeno''s mouths could only twitch as they knew that they weren''t joking.


    Inwardly, however, although they felt relief and respect at Kisuke''s stance, they were also feeling lost as all this time, ironically, they were betting on being useful. Being shut down on the only path that they could see, they didn''t know what to do next.


    Yoruichi knew what they were thinking and raised her voice, "Listen up! Affection isn''t that cheap. You might hate to hear it from someone in my position, but there''s really nothing you can do to earn it."


    As she had said, Irina and Akeno didn''t really want to hear it from her, nevertheless, Yoruichi still continued, "I know you''re feeling at a loss but just let go of your obsession and just act naturally without thinking everything is for him. Be it idental, coincidental, or whatever, affection shoulde naturally and it would if it''s meant to be."


    Irina and Akeno understood what Yoruichi was saying, but were still confused about what they should do.


    Raising her finger and waving it in front of them, Yoruichi added to clear up their minds, "However, that doesn''t mean you can''t grind for affection. As long as you''re thinking about yourselves too when you make an effort, then that''ll be fine. Forgetting to put importance to yourselves would be the worst thing you could do."


    Kisuke witnessed the light returning to Irina and Akeno''s eyes and thought, ''Bringin in Yoruichi was really a wonderful decision. Thanks to her, she was able to address and point out their skewed perspective.''


    However, Kisuke didn''t like Yoruichi''s next words, "And there''s really nothing you should be worried about. The moment he got together with Sona and Kuroka, he became a lot easierpared to his past self."


    "...I don''t think that''s true...", despite denying it, the tone of his voice doesn''t have its usual power as he himself wasn''t very confident. Seeing that it''ll only be awkward for himself if this went on, Kisuke immediately changed the subject, "Ehem... Anyway, although both of your situations aren''t very good, that doesn''t mean your past efforts didn''t mean anything. In fact, thanks to that, an option has opened up for the both of you, albeit, it won''t be easy."


    Kisuke was sessful at diverting their attention as Irina and Akeno''s eyes shone with the former immediately asking, "There''s something we could do!? Please tell us!"


    Satisfied with how it turned out, Kisuke answered with a small smile, "There are actually two options for you. An easy one and a hard one."


    Little did he know that Irina and Akeno were actually more excited with what Yoruichi said and just choose to not say anything about it, ''He can tell what his opponents were thinking most of the time, but too bad for him they aren''t his enemies, but are young girls aiming for his attention. I can tell that he''s misunderstanding their reaction again.'', Yoruichi thought while having a mysterious smirk stered on her face as she watched the three of them.


    "The hard one please~", answered Akeno with her usual sultry voice that came back to life.


    "I would really appreciate it if you were to listen to me first... But if you''re thinking that there''s more to gain the hard way, then you''re correct."

 Chapter 767 Another Risk for Evolution part 2

    Chapter 767 Another Risk for Evolution part 2


    Irina nodded in understanding and said, "Well, that''s pretty obviously our choice. But I noticed that you said that our efforts until now weren''t wasted. Does that mean there''s meaning to what we''ve been doing?"


    "Of course. There is no such thing as meaningless effort, only experiences that can''t be used. In this particr case, both of you are lucky since your souls have adapted quite nicely with your bodies. But as I''ve said from the start, that wasn''t enough." Kisuke raised two of his fingers before continuing, "Hence the two choices you have. The first and easy one is to abandon these bodies and return to your previous bodies. Although they are not the original, they should be identical. If you''re going to choose this, then you''ll have an easier time and could train the conventional way. You''ll be left behind for a bit, but it''s a sure way to improve and maybe at some point, some sort of evolution on your part."


    Akeno prepared herself and asked with a solemn voice, "And for the hard choice?" She knew it''s not going to be easy if they go with Kisuke''s standard of ''hard''.


    "For the hard choice, there are two possibilities. The first one is for your soul to elevate to the same level as your body. However, that''s essentially impossible and even if by some miracle you''re able to do it, the ''identity'' of your own soul may be lost in the process, hence, essentially killing yourselves."


    Irina and Akeno shuddered. Far from killing themselves, it''s essentially self-destructing in such a way that wouldn''t even allow for reincarnation, "If it''s like this, why even mention it?" asked Irina.


    "Because you''ll definitely ask about it after hearing the second one. And it''s not like this doesn''t have its own advantage. Regardless of whether you lose your rationality or not, when ites to power, you''ll only be second to both Great Red and Ophis."


    "Even if we became the strongest existence out there, it''s still a hard pass for me if I can''t experience it as ''me''."


    "Alright. The first one is out of the question. As for the second one, you could probably already guess."


    "...Dragging down the level of our bodies to match that of our soul so that we could sync with it better?"


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s the idea but it''s much moreplicated than that. In this case, once you''ve seeded, you''ll certainly be weaker than you are right now, but it really won''t take too long before you recover. However, I''ll be honest with you. Even though I was able to pinpoint the reason why you can''t get stronger and solve it, that doesn''t mean the main problem was solved as I don''t really know what''s going to happen next, so it''ll be up to you. Although this is much safer than the first one, the result is uncertain and could possibly have a negative effect, making the choice of you two returning to your former bodies much more appealing. In other words, you''ll still be gambling and you''ll have to make your choice again."


    Akeno and Irina became silent once again.


    After a few minutes, resolution first came to Irina and said, "I know that going back to our previous bodies is the safest bet and it isn''t like we can''t get stronger that way... However, I also knew that I have no talent. I can''t control Magic as well as Sona-san, nor could contest with Kuroka-san, Koneko, and even Aika with Ki, be it on control or improvement. As for my speciality, Holy Magic, I can be on par with Akeno but even then, I still fell short due to the special properties of her ''Light''. I tried thinking, but I really have nothing else to offer."


    Yoruichi wanted to refute her and say that her talent in swordsmanship is the real deal but she figured this isn''t the time yet.


    Irina looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes as if she''s scowling and continued, "If I want to be sure that I won''t be left behind, then I''ll dly take the risk. Talent may be one thing, but when ites to determination, I don''t want to lose."


    Among the girls, aside from Koneko who had been with her since childhood, Akeno was closest to Irina due to their situation and the timing they entered the group. And the same as her, Akeno was also feeling inferior to everyone, including to Irina herself whenever she saw her strange form of swordsmanship that differed from others.


    So when she heard her real feelings, she immediately felt relief, and soon after, guilt, ''I shouldn''t be feeling this way... But I can''t...''


    Shaking her head and sping her cheeks with her hands, Akeno also decided to be honest with her inferiorities. The least she could do with her is to open up.


    Kisuke looked at them carefully and his lips curled upwards. Truthfully speaking, he''s still hesitant if he really should help and allow them to do this but seeing their resolve solid enough, he finally let go of the bit of hesitation he''s feeling, "Fine. Then listen to me carefully."


    The idea behind Kisuke''s n of synchronizing their souls is for their souls to shape their bodies. Depending on the strength of their souls, they would need to strengthen or discard parts of their bodies and in their situation, they would be discarding a lot of it. Once this was achieved, the dissociation of body and soul shouldrgely disappear and the remaining deformations could be solved by living through their everyday lives.


    However, what made this dangerous was the fact that their souls were a lot weaker than their current bodies. As they attempt this, their bodies would fight back against the change that they are being subjected to and they could get hurt in the process. And if they couldn''t discard enough before their souls tire out,rge gaps would appear in their body and soul bnce, resulting in not just the death of their bodies, but also the dispersal of their souls due to strain.


    After giving them the specific steps, order, and risks for half an hour, Kisuke finished it by asking them again, "This isn''t going to be easy and even, by my standards, this is very dangerous as I''m not sure I would be able to save you if something were to go wrong. Are you sure you still want to continue?"


    Akeno answered with a small smile, "If we expect you to alwayse save us, how could we go far? And you''ve already said it yourself that that is the wrong mindset. We could depend on you, but shouldn''t always."


    Irina then suddenly stood up, "That''s right! And we don''t really have time to talk like this. We''ll go prepare to increase our chances!"


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, out of curiosity asked, "Could you just prepare an artificial body that meets their needs? You should already have enough data on them to do that."


    Kisuke shook his head, "I can''t do that. If I were to create a body for them, I''d only limit what they could do. I can gather all the information I may need, but I''ll never be able to predict someone''s potential and growth. The mind, after all, is the greatest mystery of all as it possesses unlimited and infinite possibilities, and with a strong enough will, you can even bend reality."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke closed his eyes and entered their inner world and what he saw was a scenery simr to the Dimensional Gap, ''So the bodies managed to influence their souls this much... This isn''t good.''

 Chapter 768 Strange Phenomenon

    Chapter 768 Strange Phenomenon


    Kisuke didn''t know what Irina''s and Akeno''s inner world exactly look like, however, he can be sure that this isn''t it, as it was currently overrun by Ophis'' and Great Red''s Dragonic Aura, ''Even if it''s just their flesh and power, to think it''d have this much of an effect on the soul, I clearly underestimated existences like them.''


    In any case, Kisuke had to look for both Irina and Akeno within this space. Although he was worried that he would need a different method to navigate, he felt relief and he immediately found the two of them in the opposite directions. Kisuke immediately brought the two curled up and unconscious souls together and checked their current conditions.


    Since they didn''t have clothes, Kisuke could see ck spots on their skins which seemed to be caused by the erosion from their attempt to shape their bodies. The area of the ck spots was expanding as he watched and they should have been ejected from their bodies when they started to appear. However, Yoruichi keeping them in here consumed their very soul, ''They are no longer in any state to continue... But I already agreed to let them continue.''


    Taking a deep breath, Kisuke prepared a sphere that was just big enough to envelop the three of them and exert his soul''s influence. As the intangible sphere made out from Kisuke''s own soul expanded, the rate at which the ck spots spread also slowed down significantly. However, doing so wasn''t without any consequences as the eroding aura hit him heavily, which normally he could resist easily.


    Kisuke thought that it''s a good thing that Benihime was still busy with her adaptation and sighed in relief, ''She would have to made a mess to force me to stop this.''


    Enduring the pain of forcefully taking over their ''punishment'', Kisuke ced his hands on their foreheads to act as a bridge to connect their souls as Yoruichi had requested while recalling Ophis'' words once again, ''I wonder if this will be enough of a push?''


    The moment contact was established, Kisuke started purifying a part of his own soul to a normal Reishi since he didn''t know what would happen if he were to supply it to the girls as it is. However, every time he would take a part of himself and purify it, cracks would appear all over his soul before it immediately recovered to its pristine condition, causing him immense pain on top of the erosion he was already taking care of. Nevertheless, he just gritted his teeth and gave the girls the much-needed energy to at the very least, wake up and do something about their own situation.


    A few minutester, Kisuke efforts finally bore fruit as Irina and Akeno slowly opened their eyes. But as he was about to greet and tease them for a bit, he noticed that there was no focus within their eyes. They were awake, but their consciousness was still not present, ''What''s this..? They should at least react a bit, but aplete nk? What''s going on?''


    Normally, he would be happy with these many unknowns within a day, but with their safety at great risk, he couldn''t relish the mystery behind their behavior.


    While observing them, a sudden movement suddenly came from both of them as they both tried exiting Kisuke''s sphere of influence, seemingly trying to return where they came from. But instead of stopping them, Kisuke hurriedly manipted his soul to split the sphere and move with them.


    Since they are moving in different directions, Kisuke didn''t follow them. Even so, he still could monitor them through the sphere around them.


    As his curiosity peaked, Irina and Akeno finally resumed their ''discarding''. Still, they still managed to break even more of Kisuke''s expectations, ''The entire process became autonomous? How are they doing this?... But more importantly, what they''re discarding isn''t totally lost but being passed to the other one? How? Is this what Yoruichi instinctively felt when she made a suggestion of connecting their souls?''


    Questions flowed through Kisuke''s mind and his fascination with what''s happening only strengthened. He wanted to only watch and study what was really going on, but he had to dedicate most of his attention to their safety. Nevertheless, this is still a great and rare opportunity to know more about the mysteries of the soul.


    After a few more minutes of watching closely, Kisuke figured out a small, but important part of what''s going on, ''The ''Angelic'' aspect is being transferred and concentrated in Akeno-san and the ''Dragonic'' side is going to Irina?''


    After thinking about it, Kisuke came up with a guess, ''Is it because Akeno-san was naturally an ''Angel'' while Irina was just an artificial one? As for why the ''Dragon'' was being invested in Irina... Maybe because the tomboy Irina has always been fascinated by anything Dragon-rted when we''re kids and is manifesting now? In any case, I can see why this is happening.''


    Since Akeno was a descendant of one of the oldest Angels, albeit, a Fallen one, she had more affinity with anything ''Angelic'', far more than Irina. Irina, on the other hand, was quite a handful when she was a child, but the Church''s education repressed most of those childish feelings and it happened at a very early age too. With her unconscious right now and fully autonomous, her desires and inner self was more open than any other time beforehand.


    Although the process was going smoothly for the both of them, the burden on Kisuke''s sides was only getting heavier as time went on with the ''discarded'' aspects directlynding on him who''s acting as the ''bridge'' between them.


    However, in the outside world, Yoruichi was panicking greatly. Although Kisuke looked peaceful, Irina and Akeno''s bodies stayed dead, and now their flesh was falling off before turning into ck soot with an unbearable stench.


    She really wanted to dive into their inner worlds too, but her hands were already full with just sealing the souls within her body, and even now, she still didn''t know if her decision was still the correct one, ''I''ll never be able to forgive myself if they were to perish because of my selfish actions... Kisuke... Please... Please don''t let them fail...''


    Outside of the door, everyone except for Kuroka and Koneko had gathered with Artemis and Hestia pacing back and forth, while thetter kept asking how things were going on her Falna that she had given and the former kept giving the answer that they are ''dead''.


    Serafall turned to Medusa and instructed, "Medu-chan, please take ire and Tanis back to their rooms."


    But before Medusa could answer, ire came running over to Serafall and asked with an almost crying tone, "Irina-neechan and Akeno-neechan... Are they going to be alright?"


    Hearing that made Artemis and Hestia finally aware of how much they are affecting the children and immediately felt immensely guilty, but they didn''t really know what to do in this situation.


    Thankfully, Serafall had their back as she knelt down in front of ire and patted her head, reassuring her with a big smile, "Kisuke-niichan is already there to take care of them so it''ll be alright~ You know how amazing Kisuke-niichan is, right? Just rest for now and surely, once you wake up, Irina-neechan and Akeno-neechan will be there to y with you~!"


    Serafall''s hand was very effective as ire was able to immediately calm down and nodded, "...I''ll be waiting."


    Serafall yfully pinched her cheeks before gesturing to Medusa to take them.


    As they watched them leave, Sona asked in a lowered voice, "Is it fine to promise them like that? What if they don''te out in time?"


    Serafall slowly stood up and answered, "As I''ve said, Ki-tan is amazing. He can pull this off."


    However, this also reminded Serafall of something very important. As she looked at her hands, she thought, ''He''s amazing... Way more amazing than me who only knew how to fight and y some mind games. But... despite my few specialties, the burden on me is already immense. How much would it be for someone like him who could virtually do anything? For how long can he keep doing these insane stunts by himself? If there would be a day where he would buckle down, would I or any of us be able to have his back?''


    Once again, Serafall realized how powerless she really is.

 Chapter 769 The Girls’ Future part 1

    Chapter 769 The Girls�� Future part 1


    After a few nerve-racking hours that felt like an eternityter, Yoruichi finally saw something good happening. The mangled organs of both Irina and Akeno starteding back together and the exposed bones had begun to be covered with flesh until their skin was also regenerated without a hint of blemish.


    As soon as their bodies becameplete, they also took their first breath as their hearts started to beat anew. Only then was Yoruichi finally able to sigh in relief. But as she looked up, it was only then that she noticed Kisuke''s state, "Kisuke!?"


    Kisuke removed his hands from Irina and Akeno''s forehead and wiped away the blood that came from his orifices, "Don''t worry, I''m fine."


    But contrary to his words, when he stood up he ended up staggering instead.


    Yoruichi also hurriedly stood up to catch him, "Stop acting tough. You''re not fine." She knew full well how resilient he was after his metamorphosis, and the fact that he couldn''t even find his bnce now made her wonder what sort of torture he had to have gone through. Biting her lips, Yoruichi muttered with immense guilt, "I''m sorry for forcing you to do this..."


    But that only earned her a flick and a chuckle from him, "I don''t want to hear any apologies nor will I ept any from you. Just be d that I''m happy to make the sacrifices for you. Besides, I''m not really injured outside of being dizzy and tired. On top of that, I learned a lot of things in there that made me realize something important."


    "Something important?", asked Yoruichi while rubbing her forehead because she noticed a very profound smile on his face.


    "That a Soul, by itself, isn''tplete.", replied Kisuke with a smirk before separating from Yoruichi and refusing to exin further, he continued, "I''m going to my room first to catch some z''s. It has been a while since I had any."


    Not waiting for her to reply, Kisuke teleported out.


    "...I guess he can only show his weak side to me right now. I''m happy, but I''m also worried that he doesn''t depend on others as much. We''re not alone anymore, after all." Yoruichi looked down at the peacefully sleeping duo and took note of the massive change in their auras, "But a Soul isn''tplete by itself? It looks like he wanted to be alone too, to contemte on some things."


    The moment Kisuke left was also the moment that the barrier over the room went down, and as soon as that happened, people started barging in with Ophis in the lead.


    Artemis and Hestia soon ran over to check on Irina and Akeno''s situation and upon seeing them only sleeping, the two of them let out huge sighs of relief. The invisible burden on their shoulders had finally disappeared, along with the stacked-up fatigue taking over, made them slump over each other.


    "...Are they alright now?" Artemis asked as she looked up to Yoruichi.


    "They''re already fine and they''ve managed to aplish what they wanted to do. They just need some rest now, but they should wake up before the day ends."


    And with a follow-up question, Hestia asked as she looked around for the missing person, "And Kisuke-kun? Where did he go?"


    "He''s tired so he went to get some rest."


    But that answer only elicited a grim voice from Serafall, "Someone of his caliber got so tired that he didn''t even have a few seconds to show his face?"


    Serafall''s words made the others except for Line realize how bad the situation is for Kisuke.


    "I-is he alright!?" Sona knew Kisuke''s habit of acting fine no matter what''s happening, so the fact he can''t even show himself now made her nervous.


    As Goddesses who had enough power to understand Kisuke''s abilities, they also knew how seriously wrong this was. Hestia immediately stood up and grabbed Yoruichi''s hand with her own shaking hands, "H-he''s not in a bad situation, is he?" Thinking about it now, Irina and Akeno actually died and Kisuke must have paid some price to reverse this. Even for Deities, reversing death is almost an impossibility, but it was certainly a taboo.


    Yoruichi looked at everyone''s worried expression before sighing in helplessness, "Fine... I''ll be honest. Even for Kisuke, it wasn''t easy to help Irina and Akeno. As a result, he received some bacsh."


    "What!? Where is he now!? I''ll go see him!", yelled Hestia before her mouth was covered by Yoruichi, "Easy... You''ll disturb the people resting. And you don''t have to worry as all the damage he''d umted was already healed. However, he''s extremely spent that even someone as stable as him staggered for a moment. He went back to his room to rest, so we shouldn''t disturb him any further."


    Hestia couldn''t help but clutch the hand she''s holding and look down, however, Yoruichi had nothing to say, or rather, didn''t know what to say, so she just stayed silent.


    "Even after his bloody fight with Ares, he didn''t show that anything was wrong, yet he staggered now...", Serafall suddenly voiced out, "That might not be that much, but it''s a big deal. Just what did he do to push him to his limits?"


    "He isn''t exactly invulnerable. I can''t go into detail because that''d only be a useless talk but basically, to save these two, he had to expose and use his own ''underbelly'' to shield them from harm. However, he reassured me that there were no lingering injuries and that he only needs some rest."


    A strange and awkward silence covered the room for a minute or two before Serafall spoke up again, "This is a good time. Let''s talk about the future."

 Chapter 770 Aika’s Interest

    Chapter 770 Aika��s Interest


    After making sure that Irina and Akeno would be alright, everyone left the room and moved to the conference room before activating the barrier that blocks most of the information from getting out.


    The barrier''s activation woke Kisuke up momentarily, but after figuring out that nothing was wrong, he closed his eyes once again. Since they''d activated it knowing that it was only him that could hear what they were going to talk about, Kisuke guessed that they didn''t want him to hear any of it and he respected that, before immediately going back to his slumber.


    "Is it necessary to activate the barrier?", Yoruichi asked as she sat down on her usual seat.


    Serafall went to her own seat and answered, "It isn''t. But I want to keep this between us for now. Having Kisuke hear what we''re about to talk about won''t do him any favors."


    Judging from Serafall''s tone, Yoruichi already had several guesses as to what she wanted to address, ''Should I say that ''As expected of her''? As someone who could see this group from the outside, it was only a matter of time before she noticed its biggest w. Since everyone already has enough ability to fend for themselves even without us, I guess this is truly a good time.''


    Serafall was able to read Yoruichi''s expression and sighed, ''Since she didn''t say anything, I guess she''s also aware how skewed this group is in depending on only one person who can do it all.''


    All the while, the rest, except for Hestia, were still clueless about Serafall''s intentions.


    Once everyone gotfortable in their seats, except for Line since she thought that she didn''t belong here, Sona asked Serafall, "What do you want to talk about Nee-sama? If it''s important, shouldn''t we wait for Irina and Akeno to wake up and Koneko and Kuroka to return?"


    Serafall reclined to her seat and with an uncharacteristically serious voice, she answered, "It''s very important, but I didn''t gather all of you here to decide anything so rying what will be said here to others would be enough."


    She then looked around before continuing, "As it is now, the moment Ki-tan fails at something important, this group will follow with a copse. I may not be an expert when ites to romance, but even I can see that this isn''t very healthy."


    While Hestia and Yoruichi remained silent, the rest were having various degrees of reactions. However, none of them had any words of rebuttal.


    At least, this kind of reaction gave Serafall a sigh of relief, because this signifies that they''re aware of the problem, but chose to ignore it until now. Whether it''s because of their unconditional trust in Kisuke or something else, this has caused them to only blindly see what lies in front of them.


    But before Serafall could say anything further, discussions started popping up among everyone, talking about the real nature of the problem. While Serafall and Hestia were shocked seeing this, a small smile only blossomed on Yoruichi''s face as she rested her head on her propped-up arm and thought, ''If you think they are just mindless followers, then you''re seriously underestimating them. Insulting them even. The current state of affairs only came to be because they are too busy trying to catch up by following the easiest way for them. A path that had beenid in front of them.''


    After a short while, they finally pinpointed the exact reason for Serafall''s words. Aside from fighting, there''s nothing else they can really do. With Kisuke doing anything from logistics to research and development. The moment he fails is the moment that everything will crash down on them.


    "...I see... With our current set up, instead of lightening it up, we''re only adding more to his burden even if all we want is to stand up by his side.", Sona muttered while pursing her lips.


    "Without expanding our expertise, the burden that we''re causing will only continue to increase.", added Aika while rubbing her chin.


    Line hesitated for a moment before voice out her question while raising her hand, "...T-then what shall we do?" Although she didn''t have any experiences with a conference like this where she could voice out her opinion even back in Loki Familia, she''s not sure if she really needed to ask the obvious. Even then, she wanted to make a move forward and this was her first small step.


    At her question, Artemis was the one who answered, "For starters, think of your own interests outside of fighting. Having an interest is very important if you want to go far with what you want to do. If you''re only going to do it for the sake of lightening Kisuke''s burden, then forget it since most likely, you''ll only fail."


    Yoruichi nodded at her statement and added, "Artemis-sama is right. Thinking about Kisuke''s well-being is good, however, as that guy himself said, never center yourself around him."


    Aika then suddenly raised her hand and stood up, "Here, here, here!"


    "Go ahead."


    "Since we''re finally doing something different then I''d like to express my desire from long ago!", crossing her arms, Aika continued with a big smile, "Ever since I became a Shinigami and started learning various Kidou Arts, I''ve always been interested in the study of Souls!"


    "Oh?" Yoruichi''s brows raised and were aware that Aika was a fast learner when ites to Kidou Arts evenpared to the students of the Shinigami Academy, "Howe I''m only hearing this for the first time today?"


    Aika scratched her head in embarrassment, "Well... There''s really no chance to tell you nor Kisuke. Besides, it''s only my interest and I''m already swarmed with my swordsmanship and Kidou studies. Not to mention our regr dives into the Dungeon."


    Serafall could finally see why their ''creativity'' was being suppressed. It''s simply because they don''t have time for anything else with the threats always around them and they don''t really want to be forever protected by the person they followed.


    Yoruichi grinned and said, "I see... Then from now on, we''ll stop your Kidou studies and rece it with basic Souls studies. And maybe in the near future, you''ll be able to assist Kisuke with his own research." In the first ce, the basic Souls studies should havee first before the Kidou Arts studies. But due to their circumstances, it would be better for Aika to be able to use spells that were unique to the Shinigamis.


    No one really expected it, not even Kisuke nor Yoruichi, but in the future, where most of their problems were already resolved, Aika would be an advisor to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute of the Soul Society and even be an Honorary Vice-Captain of the 12th Division.

 Chapter 771 Line’s Diverging Road

    Chapter 771 Line��s Diverging Road


    With Aika good to go, the next one to express their interest was Line and without any surprise, she said, "I want to continue what I''m doing and maybe expand my medical knowledge and expertise to other branches such as the physical and soul aspects."


    "Aren''t you doing great right now? Wouldn''t you just overwhelm yourself if you ask for more?" Artemis asked full of skepticism. She didn''t want her to push herself too much, aspared to all the children she had met in the past, she was already a top-notch healer that everyone would scramble for.


    Line immediately shook her head, "I can heal most injuries, yes. I can even treat the curse that hit me and everyone in the Loki Familia thanks to the extensive Magic knowledge that Kisuke-san passed on. However, I can only do that with the use of Magic. There would definitely be a time where I won''t be able to use my magic and I''ll be next to useless."


    Yoruichi nodded in understanding, however, she had to warn her, "Are you sure about this? It''s going to be extremely hard. What you''re going to learn would be far beyond your notion of reality. If you''re not careful, it may change who you are now. That''s how big of a difference the knowledge you havepared to the knowledge we know of."


    But without any hesitation, Line nodded, "I''m prepared! Kisuke-san already warned me of this even before he started teaching me."


    "Great. However, that''s not what concerns me the most. Let''s say you''ve sessfully learned all of this, what do you think would happen?"


    Line was silent. She thought about it for a while but the only answer she came up with was she''ll be a lot better at treating and saving other people.


    Guessing what she''s thinking, Yoruichi continued with a grin, "What I meant is, are you prepared to be the enemy of the world once this knowledge is passed on to you?"


    "W-what...?" Different from before, Line was speechless this time. She would have never thought that such a question would pop up for her to answer. In confusion, she unconsciously looked towards the Deities in the room and found them makingplicated expressions, making Yoruichi''s question a lot more serious than she initially thought, "T-that... what does that mean?"


    To her question, Hestia was the one who answered while looking straight into her, "Kisuke-kun''s medical knowledge... Goes against the natural order of things. As you''ve already heard earlier, Irina-kun and Akeno-kun supposedly died, and yet, they are still somehow alive. As Artemis''s children, she couldn''t be mistaken nor could it be faked since she would be able to immediately tell if someone tampered with her Falna. And even before that, I doubt Kisuke-kun and Yoruichi-kun have any reason to tamper with it. If by any chance they needed to touch the Falna, I trust that they''ll be telling me about it."


    "Not just the Gods of Death, Reincarnation, or other Deities that oversee the cycle of life, but all Deities would frown upon reversing death outside of the Falna-granted skill''s ''miracle''. With that in mind, you should be able to understand why you could be the enemy of the world. It''s because you''re about to acquire the power to ignore thews of this world."


    Before Line could even process everything, Yoruichi added, "If you''re thinking that you should only be taught enough that it won''t reach that point then forget it. Giving you a half-assed knowledge would not only endanger you, but also everyone around you."


    Seeing this would be a good chance since Line wouldn''t be able to provide an answer right now, Serafall also chipped in her own warnings, "And since you''ll be studying medicine, be aware that you won''t just be able to concoct medicine to restore health but make one topletely destroy it. In other words, you''ll be able to make poisons. Depending on your stance, we may or may not allow you to go further than this."


    With all the acting leaders staring daggers at her, the pressure on Line was immense and made her incredibly nervous and fearful. But before she could give a haphazard and panicked answer that they might want to hear, someone took her cold shaking hands.


    The surprising warmth shocked and cleared her mind a little bit. Slowly, she lifted her face up and saw Sona smiling gently at her, "This is a lot to take in so you don''t have to answer now. Go take some rest first and contemte on them slowly." Sona then looked towards Medusa and said, "Medusa-san, We''ll leave her to you."


    Medusa saw her wink at her and nodded, "Understood. Line-san, I''ll apany you to your room."


    As Medusa slowly escorted the disgruntled Line and went through the door, Sona suddenly called out to her once more, "Line-san! Whatever your decision is, please don''t forget that nothing will change. You''ll always be our preciousrade."


    Line quietly looked at her with unsure eyes for a moment before leaving.


    After the barrier went up again, Aika suddenly asked, "Is it fine to bombard her like that? I feel bad for her."


    Hestia heaved arge sigh, "It''s fine. All this time, despite being with everyone, she''s always been unsure of what she should really do and the only thing she can do to escape from those thoughts are her studies and research making her feel disconnected from the rest of us. While this may be hard on her, it should force her to think about the future and the position she''s in, and by extension, she should be able to at least have a clear goal other than ''tagging'' along."


    While looking at Yoruichi and Serafall, Artemis asked, "But are you really sure about this? You''ve already repeatedly expressed that you don''t have much time and I don''t think you''ll be able to wait for her to decide. It''s not something that one can give an answer to within a few days or even years in time."


    Without any hesitation, Yoruichi gave an answer that surprised both Artemis and Hestia, "We''ll leave her. We''ll give her as much time as we can since Kisuke is really looking forward for her to take his mantle as a medical practitioner. However, when the timees that we need to move on, bringing her, who can''t look forward to her own future, would only cause her own demise. As good as Kisuke is at nurturing people, he''s not that great at preparing them."


    "Well, even if that turned out to be the case, she''s already sure to seed... By this world''s standards, anyway."


    Sona then sat back down while saying, "We don''t really have to worry about that. Medusa-san is with her and I think she''ll be able to help her splendidly. No matter what decision shees up to, she first needs to have some trust in herself and get out of everyone''s shadow."


    Yoruichi eyed her before smiling, "It seems that it wasn''t just your magic that improved. If you don''t mind, I''d like to hear some details about itter."


    "Sure~"

 Chapter 772 Line’s Diverging Road part 2

    Chapter 772 Line��s Diverging Road part 2


    When Line reached her room with Medusa, she was still very out of it. As much as she wanted answers to their and her own questions running nonstop through her mind, she couldn''t even fathom where to start.


    "We''re here."


    If not for Medusa reminding her she wouldn''t have realized that she had been standing nkly in front of her door. Realizing her mistake, she immediately faced Medusa and started bowing repeatedly, "I''m sorry! I''m very sorry!"


    Medusa''s deep and soothing voice, however, instantly gave her a huge sigh of relief, "It''s fine. It''s not something to apologize for."


    But as soon as she straightened her body, she noticed a tray containing a tea set for two people and a te of sweet baked snacks on her hand, "T-that is? You didn''t have anything in your hands when we left the conference room, did you?", asked Line with a start. She knew for sure that Medusa doesn''t really like taking out food from her inventory if she could prepare it properly. She heard it as one of the passing subjects when they had downtime and talked among themselves.


    "Oh, this? I made a quick detour to the kitchen while we''re on our way. By the way, do you mind if Ie in?"


    "Ah... Oh, yes, please!" replied Line while opening the door and thinking, ''So this is how a professional maid works? She managed to separate from me without me even realizing it. Incredible...''


    The fact that she was too out of it to notice didn''t even ur to her.


    As Line arranged the seats and Medusa ced down the tray and prepared the tea, the former thought that she''s here to convince her. But to convince her whether to ept the forbidden fruit of knowledge or reject it, Line doesn''t have any idea.


    Both of them sat down quietly and Medusa offered her a cup of tea, "Please take this. It''ll help you calm your nerves."


    "T-thank you."


    However, that''s it. The two of them just silently sat there and drank tea and ate snacks. Line indeed was able to calm her nerves after the first cup of tea, but on the third one, she started getting nervous from the silence and could only stare at this beautiful maid that has a grace that doesn''t fit her attire, ''...Now that I had a good look at her, she''s more like a princess than a maid. And I almost forgot that she''s kind of a Goddess from everyone''s hometown... Though I still can''t wrap my head around that. As far as I know, I think she mentioned that she''s not trying to hide her aura so I wonder how different she is from the Goddesses I know.''


    Some time ago, it was revealed that Medusa was a Goddess. Although she couldn''t understand what they were talking about nor the reason why she was allowed to listen in on such a conversation, the main takeaway she got from that was that Medusa was different from the usual Deities that she knew.


    With a quick peek at her, on the other hand, Medusa was able to make sure that she was able to finally take her mind from the earlier conversation. Although she nned to bring it back up again, it was already a good start that she was able to clear her mind with some other things.


    The sound of the cup hitting the coaster became the signal for Medusa to start, "I won''t talk about other things so I''ll go straight to the point. What do you think?"


    Even without rifying it, Line knew what she''s asking about. Her curious expression immediately became sullen as she also put down her cup, "...What do I think? I honestly don''t know... I don''t even know what to think of the situation."


    "That''s understandable. They were just talking about Master at the start yet it suddenly became you ''betraying'' the world with what you want to learn."


    As Line gave her a stare full of suspicion, Medusa immediately guessed what''s on her mind, "Don''t get wrong. I''m not here to convince you. I''m just going to be here to answer your questions and help you rify some things. If you want to hear my opinion, I could also share that."


    Medusa doesn''t know what Sona was expecting when she asked her to apany her. However, she''s sure that Sona knew that she''ll follow Kisuke''s example of not convincing anyone and just giving them their choices in various scenarios, ''I''m not sure why she wanted me to do this, but I''ll do my best.''


    Of course, Line also recognized this as Kisuke would often help her with her studies this way. If she was lost, he would give some options based on the current situation, would exin how it came to be, and would teach her how to watch out for such things, ''Although it has been a while since he gave me bits of advice because I already learned how to decide for myself. There have been some mistakes, yes, but as Kisuke has said, it''s an important part of learning and growing.''


    Now that she has an idea of what their private talk entailed, Line immediately asked the first thing that came to her mind, "Is fighting a God or Goddess possible?"


    Medusa was taken aback and her purple eyes behind the Mystic-Eyes-Suppression sses widened as she was not expecting that as the first thing that she would ask, "Why this question?"


    "Because you talk like you''re prepared to go to war with the Deities.", replied Line with resolute eyes.


    Medusa became silent and contemted how to answer her question.


    After a minute or two of patiently waiting, Line finally got a reply, "Because Master is fully capable of taking down one or two of them in a frontal battle."


    It was Line''s turn to be surprised and eximed, "He can!? He''s that powerful!?"


    Medusa raised her hand to signal her to sit back down and said, "It seems that you''re misunderstanding something."


    Line obediently sat down and asked, "What is it?"


    "You''ve already seen how Master and Serafall-san fought."


    "B-but that''s..." It''s indeed a very impressive disy of strength that they never thought possible, but...


    "I''m sorry to break it to you, but the Deities that you thought are omnipotent are also only around that level. Loki-sama might not have admitted it, but if you were to ask her, I think she''ll tell you the truth."


    Medusa watched her trying toprehend her words, however, she did understand where her suspicion wasing from. From the time when the first Deity came down to the Lower World, they''ve always presented themselves to be the overseer of the mortals and that they governed every aspect of their lives.


    Even with the birth of Magic along with their arrival, no one could imagine what kind of power was needed to control life and death. As such, they became an omnipotent and unconquerable existence in every mortal''s mind, so even when Line and the rest of the girls from the Loki Familia saw the unbelievable battle, they couldn''t have thought that it was already at the level of the Deities.

 Chapter 773 Line Diverging Road part 3

    Chapter 773 Line Diverging Road part 3


    Line could only stare at Medusa and utter her confusion, "But..."


    "Your uncertainty is understandable.", Medusa first took a sip of her tea before continuing, "Forgive me for what I''m about to say, but your current attitude was a result of ignorance."


    Line instantly froze at her words.


    "However, I''m not ming you for that, because it''s a kind of ignorance perpetuated by the Deities due to their pride as overseers of this world. Once you''ve reached a certain level, you may be able to understand how their abilities work, then you''ll eventually be able to understand the full extent of what they could really do. And once that happens, it''s actually feasible to form countermeasures against them despite not reaching their level. Finally, don''t misunderstand that I''m underestimating the Deities as I know that there are some that far surpass the others. This is all the information we got after extensive observation and cross-analysis of what really makes a ''Deity''."


    After that Medusa didn''t speak any further and just quietly enjoyed her tea. If she wanted Line to understand the bigger picture, she first had to discard the notion that Deities are all-powerful and invincible. There''s also one more thing that she didn''t tell her but she decided to just leave it for her to arrive at that conclusion herself.


    Only the sound of Medusa sipping her tea and snacking prevailed within the room as Line racked her brain and tried her best to destroy the remaining notions she had about this world, ''Should I believe her? But for what reason would she lie to me? And if all of that was true, then why? What''s the real reason? Even if I ask Loki-sama right now, I don''t know if she''d tell me the truth...''


    With an unknown amount of time, Line''s train of thought only revolved around those questions. While she was somewhat able to resolve some of those questions, even more would pop out. Heaving a long sigh, Line muttered, "It would really be great if I can talk to Loki-sama..."


    Without saying anything, Medusa took out a smartphone-like console and started operating it. Before Line could ask what she''s doing, Medusa made a space on the table and ced down the console before it suddenly lit, disying a familiar loading screen that was present when they contacted the Underworld.


    A few secondster, a holographic version of someone very Familiar to Line appeared within the light while eximing, [What the heck is this!!!?]


    The panicking Goddess with light red hair and red eyes saw Medusa and Line''s figure and eximed for a second time, [Line!? Is that you!? What''s this!?]


    From the background, Medusa and Line could hear Riveria''s alerted voice, "Loki!? What''s wrong!?" Soon enough, more voices started slipping from the background and are slowly growing louder, implying that many people areing closer.


    Ignoring the scene she caused, Medusa smiled and casually greeted the Goddess, "Good day to you, Loki-sama. It has been a while and I''m very sorry for disturbing you like this. However, to avoidplications, we can''t keep thismunication line for long so we shall get straight to the point."


    cing the flustered Line in the middle, Medusa added, "The reason I''ve contacted you today is that Line-san here urgently needs your advice."


    Loki didn''t return her greeting and immediately looked straight into Line''s eyes. With just a nce, she was able to figure out that she''s going through a lot of inner conflicts right now and her expression immediately turned serious, ''Just what did these people tell her?'' She thought while scratching her head.


    Loki then turned her sights to the worried people that entered her room and said, [All of you, leave me alone for a few minutes. I have something important to tell Line-chan.]


    The one in front, Riveria and Ais saw a miniature version of Line and Medusa made out of light facing their backs from them. Ais wanted to ask what''s that ''important'' thing but Riveria immediately stopped her, [Understood. Please give my regards to Line and Medusa.], she nodded in understanding before dragging Ais with her and stopping the rest from entering Loki''s room.


    After making sure that none of them were listening in, she turned her attention back to the people in front of her, "Go ahead. Whatever you want to know, I''ll try to answer it to the extent that I''m allowed to."


    Line was very much surprised at her reaction, but thinking about it again, she has always been like this. It''s as if she couldn''t hide anything from her. Taking a deep breath, Line finally asked to confirm, "Loki-sama, if you and Kisuke were to fight for real, who would win?"


    Loki was dumbfounded but for a different reason. She was expecting that she''s going to ask some worldly secrets and even thought that Medusa was using Line and her rtionship with her to pry some information off him, ''But thinking about it further, this is also one strange question. Between me and Kisuke? Just what sort of mental overhaul are they letting her go through? Well, I already expected this kind of oue and it isn''t like I consider Kisuke a normal mortal anymore so answering this was fairly easy.''


    In an instant, a multitude of questions emerged from Loki''s mind regarding what Line question really entails. Including if she should prepare for a Divine War because as it is now, none of her children would survive the destruction on that scale of the world.


    Of course, she didn''t voice any of this out nor showed anything that would give Medusa a hint to whatever she''s thinking and answered, "Depending on what Kisuke and Serafall showed us, I would win." She then faced Medusa, "However, that doesn''t mean I know all their cards and they must be holding back back then, weren''t they?"


    Medusa nodded and confirmed her conjecture, "That''s right."


    But before Line could misunderstand her words, Loki added, "That is to say, I''m one of the strongest Deities out there and this isn''t just some bragging but a fact. Just Serafall alone could probably take on a God or two with the ability she disyed alone."


    Hearing it from her own Goddess had a different impact on her psyche, "...That''s... Seriously...?"


    "I''m serious.", after that very brief conversation, however, Medusa was shocked by Loki''s next words, "It seems that you''re in a crossroad that was presented by them."


    Loki''s squinted eyes then snapped open and she looked directly into Line''s eyes full of fear and uncertainty, "The reason you asked if Kisuke could go against a Goddess like me is that you finally discovered that they could potentially be an enemy of one and joining them would put you in the same risk, right?"


    "That..." Line hesitated but she nodded after giving Medusa''s calm demeanor a quick peek.


    "Then I only have a single piece of advice for you. Think about it carefully. Think about it many times. Spend days or weeks thinking about it if needed. However, don''t decide on an option that you think is great but choose an option that you think you''ll least regret. Whatever youe up with, I''ll be there to support you."


    Line could only bite her lips and couldn''t say anything for a long while.

 Chapter 774 Cats’ Evolution

    Chapter 774 Cats�� Evolution


    After more than a day of sleep, Kisuke finally woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in a long while, ''Maybe I should do this more often...'', he thought while stretching and scanning the whole building with his senses.


    Kisuke was incredibly curious about what they talked about when he was sleeping but he wouldn''t initiate a question for that. If they want to talk about it with him, that would be great. But if they want to keep it a secret, that''s fine too. In any case, he already trusts them enough that they would know what to do regardless of whether he''s in or out of the picture.


    The next thing he checked and it already became a habit, was his cane with a hidden de in it, ''Still no response, huh... She taking too long. Way longer than I expected. I wonder just what she''s going through right now? I want to check, but I might only interrupt her and if she needed help, she would be sending a non-stop SOS signal directly to my head.''


    After spending a few minutes of carefully probing his connection to Benihime, Kisuke moved on to the next thing on his agenda, ''Now that Irina and Akeno-san are safe, I should give Yoruichi the signal to start Aika''s Zanpakuto subjugation.''


    With Aika''s current skill set, she shouldn''t be qualified to call the name of her Bankai yet, just like Ichigo tried to call his for the first time. But unlike Ichigo, who needed the power up to go against his enemies, Aika needed her Bankai too for a very different reason. Due to the nature of her Zanpakuto, Aika needed an outlet of her power that kept increasing due to her baby Dragons growing. Since her Reiatsu control couldn''t keep up with this growth rate, she could only release it periodically as a temporary measure.


    A Bankai in this case would be a great boon for her as she won''t just have a limited outlet for release, it''d also force her to exert and learn more to control her Reiatsu.


    Her situation, however, made Kisuke appreciate Ichigo''s genius more as he had little to no problems like these. Aika, on the other hand, was just a normal person that was trying her best to adapt to her ''genius'' circumstances.


    Up to this point, Kisuke was still wondering if pulling a normal girl like her into their world, even if her circumstances pushed her here, was a good idea.


    ''In any case, she doesn''t seem to be aware how dangerous her situation is, so this has to be done as soon as possible.''


    Departing from his room, he first went to the living room where everyone had gathered except for Line, "Good morning~!"


    Everyone just finished their dinner and was rxing, "It''s already evening.", replied Yoruichi after cing her tea down.


    ire, meanwhile, excitedly ran towards him and gave him a big hug, "Kisuke-niichan!"


    Kisuke carefully caught her and picked her up, "What''s up?"


    "Mom and aunt were asking if you''re okay..." Earlier was one of the scheduledmunications to the other side and Yoruichi didn''t hide anything from them, telling them what had transpired. Of course, Sakura and Cleria were very pissed at how reckless they were, but more than that, they were very worried about those involved.


    ''Looks like I''m going to hear a few hours of a sermon when I get home.'', thought Kisuke as he reassured ire while patting her head.


    The next one to approach him was Hestia, and she did so while fidgeting. While wondering what''s wrong, Hestia said first, "I apologize for how we acted earlier. I realized that we might have made the situation worse, not just for Irina-kun and Akeno-kun, but also for you and Yoruichi..."


    Immediately after, Artemis also came, "I also apologize. I wasn''t thinking straight at that time."


    After giving them a quick peek, Kisuke slowly shook his head, "Please don''t apologize. You were worried and panicked with what happened to Irina and Akeno-san. There''s nothing that you did that deserved an apology from you. In fact, I should apologize for not exining things beforehand. If I had briefed the two of you, you could have prepared yourselves for what maye, yet I chose to stay silent. I''m sorry."


    Seeing Kisuke bowing his head, Hestia and Artemis panicked as they knew he never had any ill intentions. Contrary to that, he may have chosen to stay silent because he didn''t want them to worry and hoped that the worse wouldn''te.


    But after a few moments, the awkward atmosphere was forcefully destroyed by Sona asking, "Shouldn''t you return to Kuroka and Koneko-chan''s side soon? Their training might not have been as dangerous as everyone else''s but we''re worried about them being just by themselves."


    Gently cing ire down, Kisuke nodded at her, "That''s right. I have to go soon. Aika."


    Suddenly hearing her name being called, Aika perked her head up, "Is it my turn now?"


    "Yes. Yoruichi will walk you through it."


    "Got it. I''m also already prepared for it."


    Kisuke then turned to Medusa and said, "Medusa, you should prepare too."


    Medusa nodded with a smile and replied, "''We'' are prepared."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi''s eyes widened in a pleasant surprise, "I see... That''s good to hear. I look forward to meeting them.", answered Kisuke before finalizing his goodbyes.


    It didn''t take long for him to leave the Dungeon and teleport back to where Kuroka and Koneko were. Kisuke looked around and saw them outside of the barrier but just as he was about to call them and ask how they were doing, he stopped his steps when he saw a drastic change to one of them.


    Koneko, with six cat tails behind her, was already almost as big as Kuroka... Physically. And it doesn''t seem to be a temporary change.

 Chapter 775 Cats’ Evolution part 2

    Chapter 775 Cats�� Evolution part 2


    Kuroka and Koneko noticed Kisuke popping into existence nearby, but instead of greeting him, they ramped up what they were doing and took back the focus they had on the surroundings to dedicate everything to circting their Ki. Now that Kisuke was here, they knew that they were safe.


    Without further disturbing them, Kisuke inspected Koneko from a distance. He was worried that her adult transformation was actually doing something bad to her overall health as during thest instance that she did this, her Ki pathways were severely strained to the point that she was almost crippled.


    But contrary to his expectations, aside from the current white mes that were dancing on her skin, Koneko''s adult form had actually reached such a stable level that it was as if this is her most natural state, ''Although this is just a skin-deep level initial observation, the fact that she could give off such a stable aura despite the raging Ki flowing around speaks volumes that achieved something monumental... But how? The training method that I gave them couldn''t have this kind of effect within such a short period of time. This result could only be achieved if they did this for at least a year or two without stopping.''


    It only when Kisuke turned hisattention to Kuroka, who remained rtively the same in the physical sense, aside from the same six tails behind her and ck mes dancing on her skin, that he was able to understand a small bit of what was really happening, ''Their mes are resonating and creating a cycle? And here I thought the flow of their mes only went one way. I may have misunderstood the nature of their mes.''


    Since they''d already reached beyond this training''s goal, they should be able to go home now. However, since he also knew that this chance might note for them again, he was willing to wait no matter how long they took. Even if it means missing his one-month deadline.


    After contacting Yoruichi about the situation, Kisuke''s ardent wait began. And just like that, a whole week went by.


    It was only after their 7th tail fully manifested that the cirction of Ki between them ceased and they woke up.


    Kuroka and Koneko simultaneously stood up and started stretching while facing away from each other. But despite the immense pressure of the ocean pressing down on them, they were moving and breathing as if the water didn''t exist around them, "Yo~ Kisuke-nya~! We''ve made you wait, nya!" Kuroka greeted Kisuke with greater enthusiasm than before.


    But the moment she turned her sights to Koneko, Kuroka didn''t know how to react, "S-Shirone? W-why did you suddenly transform, nya? Isn''t that too dangerous for you?"


    Instead of answering immediately, Koneko started inspecting her own body, touching it all over while having a bewildered expression, "...I didn''t transform, Nee-sama..."


    "You didn''t?", asked Kuroka to confirm again.


    Shaking her head, Koneko tried dispelling any transformation or any ongoing technique right now. But as she has initially figured out, she''s not doing anything, "I didn''t."


    "Come in the barrier first. Let me check both of your conditions.", urged Kisuke while making the middle of the barrierfortable.


    Although Kuroka was very worried about Koneko, thetter was just thinking all sorts of weird stuff as she walked past the boundary of the barrier, ''Can I finally do it?''


    Oblivious to what she''s thinking, Kisuke faithfully went through everything and found out that Koneko was as healthy as she could be, ''Everything was adjusted to be optimized... Is it because of their Ki or is it the Nekoshou''s special traits?''


    "How is it?" Kuroka couldn''t take it anymore and asked after waiting for the silent Kisuke to say something for a few minutes.


    "There''s no problem. Maybe this is how she should''ve looked like from the start. Although you''re sisters and not that far apart in age, Koneko''s stature was very petite and her environment might have caused her to have a suppressed growth. Thanks to her achieving her 7th tail, that suppression was broken and even pushed her to a readjustment. Though I''m not sure if this is because of the abundant Ki or her being a Nekoshou."


    Kuroka could finally sigh in relief before saying, "That''s good to hear. But I also couldn''t tell. The records about the Nekoshou are very sparse and I couldn''t find anyone else aside from me and Shirone. There might be some hidden records from the Youkai side, but I haven''t explored there yet."


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a bit, "Hmmm... I see... Then maybe it''ll be a good idea to make a trip to Kyototer."


    Koneko, who had been doing some stretching in the background and some shadow boxing to gauge her strength, asked, "By the way, Senpai. How long have we been training? I couldn''t tell how long we''ve been sitting here."


    "It''s actually been more than a week since I returned."


    "Is that alright? I didn''t think we''d go beyond the schedule."


    "It''s fine. I doubt you could have another instance of what you did as easily as you just had.", answered Kisuke while preparing their teleportation trip home.


    Kuroka and Koneko thought back to it and figured that he''s right. They couldn''t even remember how they started it, much less how they kept going with their Ki cirction.


    "And once we go home, gofort Aika."


    The sisters looked at each other before Koneko asked, "What happened to her?"


    "She failed her training and Yoruichi couldn''t allow her to continue further cause it''d just put her at unnecessary risk."


    Although Kuroka and Koneko''s training was extended, Kisuke didn''t stopmunicating with Yoruichi and kept asking her about Aika''s progress. It might have been her special Zanpakuto or that she just wasn''t for it in the first ce, but Aika failed to acquire the name of her Bankai.

 Chapter 776 ‘Human’

    Chapter 776 ��Human��


    The moment they arrived within the tower, Kisuke immediately scanned the whole floor and saw everyone who felt their presence make their way towards them. But instead of them, he quickly went to find someone he wanted to check on, ''She''s in the private training room, swinging her sword. How diligent... Or should I say she''s just trying to take her mind off it?''


    "Tell the others that I''m going to where Aika is.", he said to Kuroka and Koneko before walking off in the direction of the dome beside the tower.


    As he entered the dome, he saw all sorts of people using the facilities inside and some of them were even acquaintances. However, it wasn''t just people who were training who were in there but also some people who were pretending to train but their eyes kept darting all around the ce. And when he entered the vicinity, Kisuke immediately felt several prying eyesnding on him, ''Hmm... I wonder who''s informants these people are. There are too many of them for just a simple observation and it seems that most of them are working as one single group.''


    This instance just gave Kisuke an idea of how vtile the situation was and is a telltale sign that something big was about to go down, ''I have some ''insurances'' but I''m still worried. What if a God found a loophole and was able to freely use his or her Divine Power for his own goals? Serafall would be able to hold her ground if there was a God or two, but the consequencester down the line wouldn''t be a joke. It could immediately cascade down to the ''Apocalypse'', but none of us are ready for that yet. Not even the Dungeon.''


    And while thinking about all of this stuff that he definitely didn''t want to get involved in, Kisuke reached the private training room where Aika was staying. Using his authority, he opened the door without saying anything.


    "Wee back~ Took you a little while longer than expected, huh?" greeted Aika, but she didn''t stop swinging her Nodachi.


    While walking towards the corner of the training room where there''s a table and a few seats, Kisuke replied while chuckling, "Well, as they say, ns are meant to be broken. And they had a once in a lifetime opportunity so it was stupid to stop that just for the sake of following some schedule that could easily be adjusted."


    "I see... That''s really good."


    After cing some tea and snacks on the table, Kisuke turned to her and said, "The face you''re making is very far from your sentiment."


    Aika immediately stopped swinging her sword and touched her face. She found out that she''s slightly pouting. Afraid that she would be misunderstood, Aika hurriedly followed up, "Don''t get it wrong! I''m really d for them. It''s just that..." She then stood there with heavy shoulders and looked down, "I envy them... I feel jealous."


    "While everyone was figuratively leaping through their Dragon Gates, here am I tripping and stumbling backward. The moment I looked up, it''s as if I couldn''t see their backs anymore... I can feel the distance... I found my limits."


    Kisuke was about to pour tea in Aika''s cup, but decided against it as it seems that she won''t be in a mood for some anytime soon. Instead, he slowly walked towards her before sitting on the floor beside her, "How awfully honest of you."


    Aika sheathed her sword and smiled wryly before sitting down beside him, hugging her own knees, "You''re the one who taught me how to be honest, and is there a point in hiding this from you? You could probably already tell."


    Kisuke shook his head, "You''re wrong. I could have my guesses, but I could never truly know what you''re thinking and feeling without you telling me about it. As convenient as mind reading is, I have no way of doing such a thing."


    "But your guesses are never far off the mark."


    "That might be true, however, I could let such remarks get into my head. The moment it did will be the moment my all-important head would be useless." Kisuke sighed as he recalled the days he started checking his own pride. He was aware of what he can do and also aware that it''s not normal. Early on he had be aware of this, it was also the day that he started checking his own mindset and evaluating it the very next day.


    This preemptive measure helped him not destroy himself and those around him, but this is what caused Aizen to call him a coward.


    "Enough about myself. I''m sure you''ve also been keeping a lot of things to yourself, especially after the day you met your parents again."


    "Can I be more honest?"


    Kisuke took a quick peek at her and saw that she was burying her head within her knees, "Looks like there''s a lot. Sure. Please go all the way."


    Aika didn''t immediately speak up, but Kisuke didn''t force her and waited for her to begin.


    A few minutester, Aika''s first words surprised him, "I... actually already know the name of my Bankai..."


    If she could already call the name of her Bankai then the fact that she still failed her ''trial''es down to two possible scenarios, "Then..."


    "I could probably release it if I wanted to...", rified Aika, "...But I didn''t... I can''t do it..." she buried her head further within her knees.


    Kisuke was legitimately surprised at what she''d just said and started thinking of the reasons she couldn''t release her Bankai. But after a while, among the options within his head, he found the most likely reason, "You''re afraid, huh...", muttered Kisuke.


    Aika didn''t affirm it, however, she also didn''t do nor say anything to deny it, so Kisuke could safely assume that his guess was correct, ''Just by attempting to subdue her own Zanpakuto and learning its true name, she should have also realized its true nature and what it''d bring her. I wasn''t able to witness her attempt, but considering how her Zanpakuto was different in naturepared to mine and Yoruichi''s, I can understand if there''s something else that made her feel this way. It should also be about the emotions she has been bottling up until now tipping the bnce.''


    "I could say that everything''s going to be fine and I''ll always be here with you, but that''s just another way of saying that what you do doesn''t matter with me here and that''d only cause you to keep it to yourself even more. All this time, I''ve been irresponsible. I owe you and everyone else an apology. Please forgive me."


    At this point, Kisuke started having serious doubts about how he does things and started questioning what he had been doing ever since he came to a new world.


    Aika, who Kisuke thought wouldn''t have much problems due to her adventurous and borderline crazy personality, would unironically be the catalyst that would cause him to be more ''human''. Whether this is a good thing or not, only the future holds the answer.


    Unbeknownst to him, however, Benihime ''breathed'' for the first time in a while and this partner of his hid the fact that she had woken up, ''Now then... I wonder when I should start? I must wait for the chance where I can corner him as much as possible.''

 Chapter 777 Change of Plans

    Chapter 777 Change of ns


    Aika looked up in a panic, eyes full of fear, and saw Kisuke''s serene expression, "Don''t apologize!", she hurriedly said as she grabbed his arms, "Please don''t apologize! You''ve done nothing wrong!"


    Kisuke grabbed Aika''s hands and held them tightly before shaking his head, "No. I''ve realized that this isn''t right. I still don''t know what could have been the correct way, but I at least have to acknowledge that this one is wrong. First and foremost, I thought that you''d be able to follow the pace I''ve set and everything was going well. However, everything going well doesn''t mean that you''re okay with it. So instead of being able to follow, it''s more urate to say that you''re all getting dragged along by me."


    "Second..." There was a pause as Kisuke stared at Aika''s frustrated face that wanted to say something but couldn''t, "I treated you as something you''re not in the first ce."


    "W-what are you saying?", asked Aika in utter confusion. But most of all, she''s perplexed as to why Kisuke was acting strange. However, she''s sure that she won''t like where this is going.


    Kisuke didn''t reply immediately and started thinking back once again. Ever since being aware of himself, he never actually deeply interacted with any ''normal'' people. Even in Sado Yasutora and Inoue Orihime''s cases, all he ever did is give them a bit of advice and a bit of time to train their powers to usable levels before passing them on to other people to deal with. This is the first time Kisuke extensively took care of someone who lived without dealing with anything supernatural and someone who''s going through puberty where there are a lot of uncertainties.


    Kisuke had it wrong from the start. It''s not a question of whether he should have really taken her to this part of the world or not, it is how he didn''t realize his own logic andmon sense didn''t apply to her even if she had something special that set her apart from others. Whether that came from his own ignorance or the absence of his willingness to figure out those that don''t affect him directly, he himself doesn''t know, ''It doesn''t matter how long you''ve lived. Things that you don''t know will remain unknown even if you''ve already experienced every other thing...huh. To think I fell for something as obvious as that. I thought that I could separate my emotions from logic, but it turned out that I''ve been dictated by my emotions and biases from the very start... How foolish and naive of me.''


    This self-admission removed an invisible thorn in his heart that Kisuke didn''t even know existed. But along with it was the rise of numerous uncertainties and doubts, questions of where else he could have gone wrong.


    Sighing, Kisuke finally looked back to Aika, who was on the verge of panicking and eyes full of uncertainty and fear before smiling and saying, "Listen Aika."


    But instead of beingforted, Aika became nervous as she waited for his next words, "Before everything else, I''d like you to know that I don''t regret bringing you with me. In fact, I should be thankful that you''ve put up with me and my selfishness."


    Kisuke slipped his arm from Aika''s grip and ced his hand on her head, patting her hair gently, "I''m sorry for scaring you, but did you think I would say the opposite?"


    Aika hesitated for a moment before looking down and nodding her head.


    "Is it because you thought that nothing you did mattered if I were to say that?"


    Aika didn''t say anything nor do anything to answer. But unlike previously, Kisuke wasn''t sure if this was affirmation. But whether it''s a silent affirmation or she didn''t know for sure in the first ce, it didn''t really matter as what he wanted to say won''t change.


    "If you have such thoughts, cease them. Even if I regretted it, it doesn''t change the fact that your efforts and what you gained from them, albeit forced on you, was yours and yours alone. Nothing can change that, even you. Know that no matter how much you fear your own worthlessness, the meaning of your actions will never disappear."


    What Kisuke said was very vague at best, almost nonsensical, but somehow, it resonated with the girl struggling with her own self-worth, giving her a bit of inner peace.


    But Kisuke knew that it wasn''t enough toy rest to most of Aika''s worries and struggles. Even then, he already had nothing to say, at least nothing thates to mind right now. He may have all sorts of life experiences, but not much for this, he thought as he resisted the urge to scratch his head.


    Instead, Kisuke fixed his sitting position and patted his thighs while looking at Aika.


    Kisuke didn''t need to say anything and Aika understood what he wanted to say. Slowlyying down, Aika used Kisuke''s thighs as a headrest. Normally, she would be instantly ecstatic at the current situation, however, the current atmosphere was so weirdly awkward that she couldn''t really enjoy it.


    Even with Kisuke''s hand gently stroking her head, Aika couldn''t seem to find peace. It''s as if this tranquility made her fearful, ''I see... The training, for better or worse, became my form of escape... I''ve been running away from reality all this time.''


    Aika finally understood that the awkward atmosphere was stemming from her, yet she seemed to fail to fully understand where her struggles wereing from.


    Just from the face she was making, Kisuke figured out what she had been going through. After all, it was a nostalgic and familiar feeling as both Kisuke and Yoruichi went through something simr with their differing situations, ''Struggling inside yet being lost at what''s eating you. Before she can resolve it, she first has to find out what she wants and doesn''t want to happen.''


    Of course, he didn''t say anything regarding that as he''s confident that Aika would also soon realize this. However that didn''t mean he couldn''t assist her, so after a few minutes of internally deliberating what he could do, he decided to change his ns for her.


    "Say, Aika... Want to go back with me?"


    "...What?"


    "Hmmm... Forget it. I''ll be taking you back with me whether you like it or not."


    "...You''re strangely forceful with that demand. Not that I mind though. You and Yoruichi are taking just me? What about the rest?"


    Kisuke smiled at her and said, "You got it wrong. Since I''ll be taking you, I can''t take Yoruichi with me, so it''ll just be the two of us."


    Aika hurriedly stood up in a daze and asked, "Just you and me!? Why!? Wouldn''t I just get in your way? Don''t you and Yoruichi have a lot to do when you return?"


    Aika thought Kisuke had something else in mind and taking just her back would just be a minor inconvenience for him, but to her surprise once again, Kisuke nodded strongly, "That''s right. I wanted to ask Yoruichi to deal with something while I did another thing, but taking you with me means that I can''t do what I initially wanted anymore."


    Kisuke then crossed his arms before continuing, "Frankly speaking, the difficulty of taking on the whole of Olympus and some of the other hidden forces would shoot through the roof with just me moving around."


    "Then why!? I don''t have enough ability to assist you and the most I can do is fight some small fries, so why?"


    Kisuke thought that Aika was severely underestimating herself. If she can go all out, she could actually face off against a weaker God. But that wasn''t the point right now, so Kisuke wouldn''t mention it. Within those few minutes of thinking, Kisuke was able to set her priorities straight.


    "It''s because more than dealing with Olympus, I want to help and take care of you. Who cares about those pain in the ass Gods when you''re having a hard time like this going through bted puberty!?"

 Chapter 778 Little Changes

    Chapter 778 Little Changes


    Aika was stunned speechless. She wasn''t even sure that this is something that Kisuke would normally say. Nevertheless, despite her inexperience, she was able to tell the conviction that was behind him, even though he sounded really frivolous, ''What the... When did our rtionship jump to this stage?!''


    Naturally, she wasn''tining and her heart thumped in glee a few times instead, even then she didn''t know where this wasing from and this also became somewhat unsettling, ''Although he doesn''t tell us everything, he promised that he wouldn''t lie to us.''


    "No, no, no. Instead of minding me, you should deal with those Gods. Aren''t they a great risk for everyone if not dealt with properly?" Nevertheless, Aika still tried reminding Kisuke of the ''proper'' priorities, "And would Yoruichi even agree, since it concerns everyone''s safety? And what the hell''s a te puberty''!? Are you saying that I was very immature until now!?", She asked while doing her best to suppress the grin that was about to surface from her face. "Andstly, don''t just chalk this up to me going through puberty! Although there might be truth to that, it isn''t everything!"


    "You don''t have to worry about that. Once I exin the situation to her, I''m sure she''ll give me her approval." Kisuke then stood up, intending to leave without listening to Aika''sints, "Now that the n''s been changed, I''ll go break the news to Yoruichi and alter our other ns for a bit before meeting my appointment with Medusa."


    Aika wanted to do the same thing, but she stopped when she felt Kisuke''s hand on her head, "I may know a lot of things, but that doesn''t mean I know most of the things in the world. While I knew that you were struggling with something, I didn''t know what exactly it was. Nheless, if you want it resolved, as someone with a bit more experience in life than you, I can say that you first have to figure out what you want to do before you can start on a solution."


    "In any case, if you want an ear to grumble in, I''ll lend it to youter."


    Aika could only stare at Kisuke''s back who left the room and thought, ''What I want to do, huh... I honestly don''t know... I hope I can think of something aside from the current status quo.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke arrived at the room where Yoruichi and Medusa were staying and talking about the current operations of the tower. There were only the two of them because the rest were watching Kuroka and Koneko do some tests and adjustments to their newly acquired strength, so that they could use it in a real battle.


    The moment he entered the room, Yoruichi immediately asked in curiosity and concern, "How is she?"


    Kisuke shook his head and said, "I would be lying if I said she''s doing fine. Even then, I can''t really help her since I don''t really know what to do.", he then sat down beside her and asked, "Maybe you know what to do instead?"


    Hearing that, Yoruichi couldn''t help but giggle for a bit.


    "...What? Is my helplessness really that funny?"


    "Well, more than funny, it''s really surprising.", said Yoruichi while shrugging her shoulders, "You, who yed and schemed around literal Gods and Transcendent beings that break the rules of the world, spewing out all the possible scenarios despite not having the ability to see the future, is having a hard time dealing with a single girl. If those from the 12th Division and Visoreds, especially Kurotsuchi and Hiyori, were to hear this problem of yours, what do you think would be their reaction?


    "I can, at least, imagine Aizen doing his best to break out of his seals, not to destroy Soul Society, but to give you a smack enough to obliterate your entire being."


    Kisuke rested his back and replied, "Then he would need to gather all of his strength to annihte me out of existence... probably."


    Medusa didn''t know nor have any idea of the names they mentioned, however, just the fact that someone out there could threaten Kisuke''s life, who''s pretty much almost immortal, made her shudder. Even then, she didn''t say anything nor asked them to rify what they were talking about. She knew for sure that there would be a time when Kisuke and Yoruichi would finally reveal their mysterious past. The fact that they allowed her to listen in already made her happy that they felt that she''s trustworthy enough.


    "Returning to Aika''s issue, since it''s you, even though you couldn''t think of a solution, you at least have something in mind, right?"


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke nodded, "Since I can''t do it and none of us can truly help her, I''ll bring her to people that could."


    Yoruichi already has an idea of what Kisuke is trying to say. But before that, she curiously asked, "Even Hestia-sama or Artemis-sama can''t help?"


    Kisuke couldn''t help but sigh before answering, "Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama might be able to say a few words that could help her, but remember, although Aika is, without any shadow of a doubt, one of us, she was originally not part of this world nor our world. She''s not part of this sphere filled with violence.


    "It''s true that she might have already epted this as her reality, but it''s not so easy to rece the values andmon sense that she''d cultivated through the majority of her short life and that life has always been a small and innocent experience. No matter how wise the Goddesses are, they can''t fathom how she''s lived such a life, just like I couldn''t fully understand how everyone lives their lives."


    A small smile emerged from Yoruichi''s face and added, "Well, if one tried to fully understand someone else''s way of life, there would only be a conflict due to misunderstandings, so there''s no point in doing that." She then turned her sights to the quiet Medusa, "What do you think?"


    Medusa was startled when Yoruichi suddenly asked her. However, she didn''t have to think about her answer and said, "I''m sorry, but amongst everyone here, I''m probably the least experienced in regards to what life has to offer as I only spent my time fighting, rampaging, and escaping. Now that I''ve thought about it, it''s really a miserable life."


    "Ah... Sorry about that... I shouldn''t have asked."


    Medusa immediately shook her head, "Please don''t apologize since you''re just asking out of curiosity. Nevertheless, I do have something to say."


    Kisuke and Yoruichi peeked at each other before staring at Medusa to wait for her, "Compared to the first time I met master, he has changed significantly."


    While Yoruichi seemed to understand, Kisuke tilted his head in confusion and tried to think back, "Me? Changed?", he asked while internally grumbling, ''I''m still the lovable shopkeeper that can''t help but think about the worst-case scenarios... Yep... No change in that.''


    Medusa acknowledged that Kisuke himself didn''t know about it so she continued, "When I first met you, although I wanted to do anything to return the favor that you''d granted me, I was actually scared of you."


    Kisuke''s brows furrowed but he let her continue, "Yes, I was incredibly thankful and ready to do anything and everything, but somehow, somewhere inside me feared you because although you sympathized with my situation, you also saw me as an interesting subject that you could study. Because of that, I wasn''t sure if my fate would be better or worse in your hands."


    "..."


    "And even though it was different, I could tell that Akeno-san and Irina-san were in a simr situation as me when you took them in."


    "..."


    "But as I''ve said before, that was in the past.", Like a blooming flower, a smile that came from deep within her appeared on her face, "Right now, you''re in the midst of figuring out what''s the best, not just for our safety, but also our overall well-being. I''d like to serve master from the bottom of my heart from here on out."

 Chapter 779 Gorgon Sisters

    Chapter 779 Gorgon Sisters


    Truthfully, however, although Medusa didn''t have much of a good impression of Kisuke at first, she still trusted him and the actual people who nted doubt within her mind were her sisters that slept most of the time inside her.


    Even before Kisuke was able to stabilize their condition to slowly recover within Medusa, there would be times that they would wake up for a few seconds to talk to their sister. One of the main points that they tried their best to convey was not to trust Kisuke despite being her savior. Their persuasion became more apparent when they could now talk to Medusa anytime.


    Medusa, on the other hand, while keeping their advice in mind and taking it seriously, also asked them to watch and judge Kisuke properly as she knew how much they hated humans in general, especially men, due to the fate brought upon them by their own Divinity.


    Medusa watched Kisuke give her a look of skepticism and gave out a small giggle without further rifying herself.


    And now that she could wholeheartedly trust Kisuke and everyone around him, she thought that it was about time she introduced her beloved sisters. Raising both of her arms to the side, two balls of golden light suddenly appeared out of her palms and gently shot out. The golden balls of light slowly hovered beside them and emitted a serene and divine aura.


    However, what surprised them were the voices that wereing out of them.


    "Medusa, what are you thinking, bringing us out!?"


    "Euryale, don''t be too mad. You already knew that this was bound to happen. It''s also about time we introduced ourselves to our hero."


    "..."


    Medusa didn''t say anything, but not long after, the golden balls of light started shining brighter and growing bigger, until they each formed a silhouette of a child. After a few more seconds, they fully materialized using the ambient Magic Power, revealing two identical people that have hair and eyes that were simr to Medusa in color.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi were worried that they would materialize without any form of clothing, but thankfully, they both came out with white one-piece dresses.


    Soon after, a wave of Divine Aura washed through the entire room, filling it with a pleasant fragrance and shocked Kisuke and Yoruichi how much it was affecting them, ''This is!?''


    Kisuke and Yoruichi immediately looked at each other to confirm what they were experiencing was real before looking back to the identical Goddesses releasing a charming aura that was far more potent than when Freya was doing it actively. What was scary, however, is the fact that if they were not actively monitoring their state of mind all the time, they would have a hard time noticing this.


    Stheno and Euryale smiled at their reaction and the former said, "My apologies, since aside from doing this, I can''t really do anything else, much less fight. You could say that I''m just a frail little girl that anyone could easily kill if strangled."


    "Well, minus the fact that others would want to protect instead of hurting me.", added Euryale.


    Setting aside the fact that they talk like they were only a single person, Kisuke immediately raised up a barrier that covered the room to prevent the ''scent'' from spreading out. Kisuke and Yoruichi could easily resist this, but that may not be the case for the rest, even if they trained so that they wouldn''t be affected by Freya''s charm.


    ""Ohh~"", the small Goddesses let out an impressed sound as they looked around them, "A barrier that suppresses the Authority of the Divine? Such a splendid aplishment. Such a thing didn''t even exist when we still roamed the earth.", Sthenomented before Euryale added, "But then again, we didn''t know much of the world even back then. As far as we''re concerned, we were only chased around and worshipped, so any other actions the Gods took didn''t concern us very much."


    Recalling the past, they thought that that may have been the very reason why they couldn''t escape Athena''s clutches. Their ignorance and indifference caused them to suffer for almost an eternity, and the worst part of it was that Medusa was the one who took the most heat out of it.


    As much as they couldn''t me Medusa for her own corruption, they couldn''t forget or forgive themselves for just being there and not being able to do anything to reverse it.


    Getting out of their reminiscing, Stheno and Euryale turned their attention back to Kisuke and Yoruichi, "I apologize for taking so long. I''m Stheno, the first daughter of the Gorgon sisters."


    "And I''m Euryale, the second on the line. It''s a pleasure to finally meet the people who took great care of my little sister at longst. Thank you for saving us."


    "If there is something I could do to return even a bit of favor, please do tell me. I''ll do it to the best of my ability."


    Although they look and sound identical, their demeanor and way of speaking werepletely different from each other. While Stheno exuded elegance and grace that makes one feel happy of swearing loyalty to her, Euryale radiated a carefree and pure demeanor making others want to protect her.


    This made it easier for Kisuke and Yoruichi to differentiate them from each other, however, at this point, it was only Yoruichi who smelled that there''s something else deeper within their smiles, ''And that it ''smelled'' rotten. At least that''s what my intuition is telling me. Or I guess I''m just too sensitive to people who give out overly good impressions... Either way, it looks like I have to be careful around them.''


    Yoruichi didn''t show any of what she was thinking on her face, nor did she warn Kisuke, because she knew whoever it was, Kisuke would always suspect that something is wrong no matter what kind of impression he got from them.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, replied to their greeting and expression of gratitude without hiding anything, "It was only out of convenience, but now that I''ve thought about it, I''m d I was able to help Medusa back then."


    But just with those words, Kisuke got a little bit of a favorable impression from Medusa''s beloved sisters.

 Chapter 780 A Hero

    Chapter 780 A Hero


    After the initial introductions and Medusa set the table with drinks and snacks, everyone sat down and Kisuke took out a matching pair of nes. As he started working on them, Stheno curiously asked, "Do you mind me asking what you''re doing with those fancy trinkets?"


    ''A trinket yet it''s fancy?'' thought Kisuke but he immediately set those and answered, "It''s for you two. I can''t just have you roam around while emitting those dangerously charming aurae. However, this is only a temporary measure as I''ll be tying this to the existing barrier within the tower, so you''ll only be able to move around here."


    It didn''t take too long for him to finish one and grabbed the second pendant, "In the future, I''ll make something that you can take out."


    Stheno and Euryale were silent for a few moments before deciding on something, "I''m thankful for your concern, however, the aura I am currently letting out is out of control just temporarily due to my newly recovered core still being unstable.", exined Stheno.


    After thanking Medusa for the tea, Euryale added, "And although it''s currently running wild, the only people who could be affected by it are the ''Heroes''. To normal people, I''m just a very attractive girl. Such is my Divinity because it''s my origin and fate."


    Through the ardent wishes of the masses, most especially, the heroes of their time to have someone that they could protect and offer their loyalty to, the Gorgon Sisters came to be. Stheno and Euryale became the perfect Goddesses that embodied their yearning while Medusa was the imperfect one that deviated from them, gaining strength to protect herself.


    But because of this ''perfection'', that''s all that they are and all that they''ll be, eternally unchanging even if they willed it. Although they didn''t hate their own existence, they despised a certain facet of their Divinity which brought forth their fate of being nothing but trophies for these ''Heroes'' achievements.


    After proving themselves and ''saving'' these goddesses, the so-called Heroes that protected them could im them for themselves, essentially being vited by them for all eternity. If not for Medusa''s imperfection, that may have been what the end result was. As such, they hated the people that created and worshipped them, which mostly are men and their desires.


    "Heroes?", curiously asked Kisuke. While the term ''hero'' is easy to understand, its exact definition may differ from person to person and maybe harder to pinpoint what exactly it is, ''Since they im that only ''Heroes'' are most potently affected, maybe I can devise a countermeasure that uses that restriction and maybe make use of it.''


    As usual, Kisuke immediately started thinking about how he would be able to benefit and make use of this knowledge.


    Without thinking deeply about his question, Euryale answered with an exasperated voice, "Simply put, those who are admired and recognized by the masses through their actions are heroes. But through the years of dealing with these people, I could safely say that ''Heroes'' are those with fervent ambition or a zealous wish that they wanted to attain while following their own justice."


    From this point, Stheno continued, "But most importantly, a hero is someone who gathers power, be it their own or others, to go against their destiny."


    Yoruichi then humored her by saying, "In other words, there are no destined heroes but heroes in the making."


    Euryale smiled at her and said, "At least that''s what I believe."


    "So a hero could only exist if he goes against his or her destiny?", Kisuke suddenly asked.


    Stheno and Euryale looked at him for a few moments, thinking about his question. However, instead of answering with a yes or no, Stheno replied, "That question could onlye up if one doesn''t believe in destiny or fate."


    Kisuke was able to catch the slight difort they shed through their face in an instant. But instead of backing down, he started chuckling as if mocking them.


    Stheno and Euryale immediately frowned as they recognized that tone and invoked a memory of the past about a certain detestable and disgusting Goddess and put them through hell, "That''s quite a rude tone, isn''t it? Is there something wrong with my words?"


    In response, Kisuke just grinned at them, "Actually, no. Because that question could indeed onlye up if one doesn''t believe in destiny or fate."


    "Then please do tell me, what''s so funny about that."


    Kisuke didn''t hold back and said, "It''s funny because of how affected you are. It''s also funny because of how stupid it is."


    "Wha!?"


    While Stheno and Euryale were surprised, Yoruichi and Medusa could only sigh, ''I wish he would hold back even a little bit on my dear elder sisters... But I guess this is also a good chance to break the status quo and their preconceived notions?'', thought Medusa.


    Although the older sisters could only see what Medusa was doing, it was only a part of it and there''s no way for them to guess everything that''s on her mind. Stheno and Euryale failed to consider how much Medusa had already grown with just the freedom to do what she wanted. As such, they didn''t know that Medusa was already against how they view things, which was unthinkable if this was the time they are still in Shapeless Isle.


    "Destiny and fate? Going by the rough definition, it means a fixed future. In my opinion, just by that, it already sounds stupid. And do you know what''s even more stupid than that?", added Kisuke while ignoring their reactions.


    "Citing or ming destiny and fate for their own helplessness! In other words, it''s just idiots who are struggling in their present ming their hardships on the future! How stupid is that?"


    With their grace gone, Stheno and Euryale lost their cool as Kisuke''s words touched upon their sore spot and both of them simultaneously shouted, "Stop speaking like you know everything! You couldn''t possibly have known what we went through nor do you have the knowledge of our situation!"


    Camly nodding, Kisuke answered back, "That''s true. I don''t know everything. In fact, I''m quite ignorant of a lot of things. Obviously, I also don''t know anything about your experiences and how you went through them."


    "Then-"


    "You want me to take it back and apologize? My opinion just now only cited people who believed in destiny and fate as idiots, but if you truly wanted me to apologize for that, then you two are really a pair of morons."


    At this point, Yoruichi sent a telepathic message to Medusa who''s just silently watching the scene unfold, ''Are you sure you want to let this happen?''


    ''It''s fine. If their beliefs are clear and pure, no amount of words could change their mind. I''m actually happy that they are reacting this way, because only if they are agitated by something like this can a sh of ideals happen. Regardless of whether this sh would change their mind or reinforce their beliefs, it''ll be a good thing since they could start contemting life once again.''


    ''Heh~ You learned this from your books?''


    ''It''s something I''ve realized after going through a number of them.''


    ''Well, let''s set that aside for now. Are you sure that your sisters won''t retaliate? It''s Kisuke here we''re talking about. Even though they''re your sisters, they''re still technically strangers from his point of view. He won''t hold back when he''s attacked.''


    ''As they have said earlier, although they can manipte people, they can''t fight and the most they would do is hurt their own hands.''

 Chapter 781 First Step to Take Control

    Chapter 781 First Step to Take Control


    Stheno and Euryale wanted to speak back but finally recalled that there were still other people in the room and that calmed them down enough to rearrange their thoughts.


    Sitting down, they couldn''t believe that they''d instantly lost theirposure back then, ''Is it because our cores are still unstable?'', they thought.


    But after a few moments of contemtion, they took back that spection, ''No... we shouldn''t me that on our cores. It seems that we are still referring to ''fate''... as a means of escape.''


    Thinking about it further, Kisuke rewording it to ''ming the future just because they couldn''t do anything in the present'', they thought that it was indeed stupid and attempting to ask him to take back what he''d said just because he had a differing opinion that wasn''t exactly wrong made it look like they were indeed morons.


    They then looked over at Medusa, who was still silently sipping on her tea and pretending that nothing was happening in front of her, and finally figured out where her stance on this was.


    Frustrated, they wanted to say something to defend themselves but no matter what they thought they could say, it would only make them look petty.


    Amidst the heavy atmosphere, Kisuke broke the silence by cing the pendants he had in front of Stheno and Euryale, "Regardless of my own opinion, I indeed also acted rude. I''m sorry about that and please take these."


    Stheno and Euryale didn''t say anything as they picked up the pendants to examine them. Recalling its function from Kisuke earlier, they thought that it''s pretty useless since they could just always return to Medusa if they didn''t want to bother anyone and he should know this too, ''Unless he wants us to stay away from Medusa. But what for? Is it for this special training that these people are going through? It should be Medusa''s turn now, but why?''


    But a few more momentster, a certain possibility shed through their minds that made their eyes open wide. In a hurry, they looked at Kisuke who was grinning at them, "...You crazy bastard... Did you think we''ll allow it?"


    ''As expected, although they don''t know much of the world, when ites to their dear little sister, they already know almost everything.'', thought Kisuke. But before he could reply, Medusa spoke out, "I''m already prepared, dear sisters."


    She had already guessed what Kisuke has for her since there''s really only one thing that she could try tackling on.


    Euryale pped the table and raised her voice once again, "You''re being too hasty! And is there anything good that coulde out of it!? In the worst-case scenario, you''re going to lose yourself again and this time, you might not even have a chance to return!"


    But Medusa wasn''t bothered and repeated with stronger conviction than before, "I''m already prepared, dear sisters."


    "But-"


    "Between dismantling the bomb or not doing anything about it, it''s a very obvious choice.", interrupted Medusa. She then looked straight into their worried eyes before continuing, "You should know that this ''corruption'', no matter what I do, won''t be going anywhere as it''s already part of my core. I already consulted this to mas...Kisuke and he came to the same conclusion as me. Forcefully removing it as if it is a cancerous cell would only weaken the integrity of my core, and that''s already the best-case scenario."


    "So instead of letting it sit still, I''ll bring it out and take it under my control."


    Of course, it wouldn''t be easy for Stheno and Euryale as they''d already witnessed and personally experienced Medusa''s ''corruption'' and would never want to see light shine upon it once again.


    Kisuke and Yoruichi just watched the sisters argue with each other and neither of the sides were backing down, ''You really intended for her to take that on? How much do you really know about it?'' Yoruichi sent a telepathic message to Kisuke.


    ''I don''t know much about it and this is apletely different situationpared to taking over the Hollow side for a Shinigami. However, there''s also no way to safely separate it from her, at least in our knowledge, so the next best thing is to control it before it starts acting up again.''


    ''So you aren''t sure... But since you''re going through this, you should be betting on something else. What is it?''


    ''Ophis'' leftover powers. I''m confident that it could at least stop aplete takeover.''


    ''Complete takeover, huh... Then that also means that its influence could be inevitable.''


    Kisuke sighed and said, ''I could only present her the opportunity, so it''ll all be up to her. Let''s just trust that she will still be the stoic but adorable maid.''


    Finally, Medusa had had enough and knew that she wouldn''t be able to convince them by just telling them her resolve. Luckily, she was able to think of something that could make them listen to her, "Dear sisters, unlike Kisuke over there, I''m the same as you, someone who believes in fate and destiny."


    "...What has this got to do with the current issue?", asked Stheno after a short pause.


    "What I want to say is, I''m not someone who would just let fate dictate my future, nor someone who intends to destroy it." Medusa held her breath for a few moments and watched their reaction before continuing, "I want to put my fate in my own hands to change and control it however I want. And controlling everything I already have is just the first step to it."

 Chapter 782 Back to Orario

    Chapter 782 Back to Orario


    It had been three days ever since Stheno and Euryale had revealed themselves and they had finally agreed on what Medusa nned to do after much persuasion, with only the condition that Kisuke was not allowed to go near her for the duration of her ''training''.


    He thought that it''s because the sisters still couldn''t trust him and they were afraid that he might do something that he deemed ''interesting'' for the sake of his curiosity and put Medusa''s safety in jeopardy. Little did he know, however, that it was for the simple consideration of their dear little sister as they knew that Medusa didn''t want Kisuke to see her monstrous form.


    Of course, that condition wasn''t a big problem for Kisuke, but he too had conditions of his own if they wanted him to agree to it. First was that they were to be apanied by Yoruichi at all times and second is that he''d disregard everything and take a look if the situation got dangerous. Since they were reasonable enough, Stheno and Euryale easily agreed to it, making Kisuke question if they just didn''t like him since they allowed Yoruichi near them.


    In any case, Kisuke wasn''t seeking their approval and if they didn''t want to get along, then he didn''t have any reason to put in any effort towards it. It''d be a different story if it was requested of him by the girls, but that''s for the next time since he''s about to leave.


    Naturally, they can''t have Medusa''s training within the Dungeon and her case was the most dangerous one since she''d be emitting loads of unknown Divine Aura that the Dungeon wouldn''t be able to ignore no matter how much the one controlling it tried.


    After being persuaded, Kisuke immediately sent them away to his nned location while giving Yoruichi everything she needed because their two Goddesses were hurriedly approaching with a very grim look on their faces.


    Since they were able to still feel Stheno and Euryale''s Divine Aura despite being enclosed by the barrier, Kisuke decided against introducing them to Hestia and Artemis for the time being and hearing their side first just to be safe.


    The moment they left, Hestia and Artemis burst through the door and saw the familiar lingering lighting effects of the teleportation magic that had just been used.


    The two panicked Goddesses immediately asked Kisuke where the unknown Gods were, but before he answered, he asked them to calm down and how they knew that there were Deities within the room.


    As they were also confused and this was the first time in their long lives they''ve encountered something like this, they had a hard time describing it, but ultimately, Kisuke was able to piece their words together and was able to conclude some things that they couldn''t describe at all, ''So they were able to feel their Divine Aura just from the initial release. Although I was able to act fast enough, the aura was still able to reach them without diffusing.''


    ''On top of that, although familiar, it''s also very foreign and they felt threatened by it? I don''t have any information to point out the problem, but it''s obviously going to be a hassle if some other Deities were to discover them. I sent them to a very secluded area of the world and even sent Yoruichi items that could block the sights of those peering from Heaven except for Chaos, so there shouldn''t be any problems for now. However, it looks like I''ll have to work on a much stronger sealing artifact for the two of them.''


    After arranging his thoughts, he finally answered Hestia and Artemis'' questions. Clearing that they were Medusa''s older sisters that have been hiding within her to recover and they finally came out today. Hestia and Artemis felt relieved after hearing this but some concerns regarding their Divinity were left.


    .


    .


    .


    With all of the preparation done for his return and no unusual reports from Yoruichi, Kisuke spent the whole three days apanying everyone to where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do.


    "Don''t you have to prepare more? I mean since you''ll be taking me, you ought to have more work to do.", asked Aika while she''s being apanied by Kisuke around the market to buy some souvenirs.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ve already made preparations in case Yoruichi wouldn''t be able to assist me, so doing anything further would just be redundant.", Kisuke answered while looking around for something interesting.


    "...I suppose I should have reached that conclusion. Then I won''t be holding back today! Let''s go take all the strange things!"


    "No, no, no. You should not be taking strange things for souvenirs. That isn''t how it wo-..."


    Aika immediately looked back in confusion and saw Kisuke wearing a rare serious face, "What''s wrong?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and started rubbing his chin, "...It looks like a troublesome Goddess went berserk."


    "A Goddess?"


    Kisuke didn''t borate any further and turned around and walked away while waving his hand goodbye, "I''ll be returning to Orario, but I won''t be taking too long."


    After disappearing through the crowd, Aika felt Kisuke''s aura disappear. However, there''s something on his leaving back that bothered Aika but she couldn''t point it out, ''...What''s this feeling...?''


    Aika wanted to forget the strange feeling she''d had since it''s Kisuke that''s involved here and there should be nothing to worry about. But after a few minutes of deliberation, she decided to trust her guts and hurriedly contacted Yoruichi.


    .


    .


    .


    After receiving a whisper from the ''Dungeon'', Kisuke teleported back to Orario. However, he didn''t do so within the city but reappeared outside of its perimeter. Nevertheless, he couldn''t help but smile wryly after seeing the whole city was is covered by a potent Charm Magic, ''Just what did ticked her off this time for her to unleash such a desperate move?''

 Chapter 783 Freya’s Desperate Actions

    Chapter 783 Freya��s Desperate Actions


    Kisuke recalled the brief conversation he had with the mystery voice inside the Dungeon while looking at the current state of Orario.


    ''A Deity used a power that was barely within the scope of the rules.''


    ''If it''s within the rules, why contact me and risk being discovered?''


    ''A Deity is only a Deity because of their Divinity. That same Divinity, however, gives them a stubborn but vtile mindset. As long as it is in line with their desire, they could risk almost everything and if not addressed correctly, it may devolve into a situation where they unleash their Arcanum in this ne.''


    ''I see. I get your point. So where is it? I''ll deal with it.''


    ''Orario.''


    ''...''


    Kisuke stood on top of one of the barriers he ced on Orario and activated it. The barrier discreetly gathered the information for him and the moment he got his answers, he muttered, "This isn''t my fault, is it?"


    He sighed and deactivated the barrier as he''d already gotten everything that he needed to know, ''So a Deity could use Magic to emte their own Divinity to this degree and it still isn''t against the rules. Or is it just Freya? This needs some confirmation. Although I doubt it''s as strong as their original ability, it''s useful when their Divinity is sealed since, in a sense, Magic is way harder to seal due to howplicated it can be.''


    Kisuke then watched the gate for a few minutes and saw that the flow of goods and people were still normal. Although the effects of the charm disappeared the moment they left Orario, no one noticed the changes. At this moment, he felt a familiar presence overlooking the city in the distance.


    ''That''s... Andromeda-san and Lion-san. So they''ve managed to escape the city before being put under its influence. They shouldn''t have any ability to anticipate the sudden assault of Charm Magic, so someone probably warned them.''


    In any case, it doesn''t hurt to hear their side of things so he quietly approached them from behind, only revealing his faint presence when he was a few meters away from them.


    Asfi and Ryuu were overlooking the city from an elevated in and were discussing how they would infiltrate the city to pull out Hermes, "It''s no use. The entire Freya Familia were mobilized to watch the gates and the walls. If we want to enter, we''d need to go in the darkness of the night.", Asfi muttered.


    Ryuu stared at the area where the Hostess of Fertility is located before replying, "Even if we enter, how are we going to evade their members? They''ve already been alerted of our escape and each and every one of them is capable of sniffing us out."


    "It''s hard, I know. But we have to do it. Only with Hermes-sama''s wisdom could we have a chance to deal with this situation."


    "...But all of this just for a single young boy? I really can''t understand the Deities'' strange obsessions."


    Asfi was about to give ament of her own when Ryuu suddenly turned around while shouting, "Who''s there!?"


    Asfi also hurriedly turned around and readied her weapon since the only people that would be after them now is the Freya Familia. However, she froze on the spot when she saw the familiar tall man wearing a Far Eastern outfit with a matching bucket hat and the usual grin stered on his face.


    Asfi peeked at Ryuu and saw that she was also frozen, ''Hmmm...?'' However, she had a feeling that she''s not having the same reaction despite having the same expression as her.


    But before she could think any further about it, Kisuke greeted them jovially, "Good afternoon~, Andromeda-san, Lion-san. It has been a while. Although as much as I want to catch up, do you mind filling me in on what''s going on?"


    Recalling this man''s ability, Asfi''s eyes lit up in hope, ''He might be the one who''ll be able to make way through this chaos!''


    .


    .


    .


    Hearing the situation from Asfi and Ryuu, Kisuke said while rubbing his chin, "In summary, Freya-sama enveloped the entirety of Orario with her ''Charm'' and hypnotized everyone in it to acknowledge Bell Cranel as her child. You two were only able to escape because Hermes warned you, who was by his side during the onset of this great Magic."


    "...Yes. We couldn''t bring him out with us because he knew that we wouldn''t make it if we were to carry him out.", Asfi answered with a guilty expression.


    "Don''t me yourself for it. It''s not your fault but that heavy-handed Goddess''. It''s already fortunate that you two were able to escape."


    Kisuke then stood up and said, "Well then. Now that everything is clear, I''ll be going inside Orario and deal with this."


    Startled, Asfi and Ryuu could only watch Kisuke silently leave but before he could disappear from their sights, Ryuu called out to him while reaching out her hand, "W-wait!"


    Kisuke stopped walking and turned his head, "Hmm?"


    "Are you really going just by yourself!?"


    "Yep."


    "It''s a Goddess you''re up against! If you''re not careful, you''ll fall to the same spell as everyone!"


    "I can''t exin it, but something like that won''t be effective on me."


    Ryuu gritted her teeth. She didn''t want him to dive into the danger alone so she added, "Take m... us with you! I''m sure we''ll be of assistance! Even bing a decoy in case you need to escape is fine!"


    But Kisuke just resumed his steps and waved his hand at them, "No need. I''ll be fine on my own, even if the dialogue breaks down."


    Ryuu wanted to say more but Asfi grabbed her arm to stop her. The former looked at thetter shaking her head and said, "You know it, Lion. We would just be an unnecessary burden for him."


    Ryuu looked down and bit her lips but didn''t say anything any further.


    ''It''s a wonder why you''re so adamant about this, but that isn''t important right now. If Urahara is going in, it''s unavoidable that there would be somemotion. We could use this chance to slip through.'', thought Asfi while sighing.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, didn''t stop walking and aimed for the gates of Orario. Truthfully, even though he could have brought Asfi and Ryuu along with him as they could be some extra cards, he didn''t want to be near them right now, especially Ryuu, ''She''s making the same expression as Sona from before... Only trouble woulde if I bring them.'' Kisuke thought while wiping the cold sweat that was about to drop from his forehead.

 Chapter 784 Distressed Loki

    Chapter 784 Distressed Loki


    Like a normal traveler, Kisuke lined up along with those who wanted to get inspected to enter the city and it didn''t take too long for him to enter since the line wasn''t that long from the start, ''The number of people moving decreased. Is it because there''s a certain limit to this great spell?''


    While thinking about that, he noticed that the members of the Freya Familia were approaching him with their weapons partially pulled. But before they could confront him, someone else came running over and whispered something to their leader. After the leader hesitated for a moment, he and his group went back to the top of the wall to continue their survey of the surroundings.


    Ignoring this bit, Kisuke strolled through the streets until he reached the market and there were a few things that he noticed. Although it hasn''t been long, there are actually no male Adventurers that are ring at him, ''Is it because they got tired of it?''


    Wanting to confirm this anomaly, Kisuke went towards the skewer vendor that really hates him for his apparent sess in life, "Three of these skewers please~."


    Strangely enough, the transaction went normal, ''Hmmm? What''s this? Could it be...''


    At this point, Kisuke started suspecting a certain possibility and continued his conversation, "Say, mister. I''m actually new around here but the reason I''m here is to look for my missing twin brother. If it''s not too much to ask, have you seen someone with the same face as me within the city?"


    While busy grilling his meat, the vendor took a quick peek at Kisuke and shook his head, "No. It''s the first time I''ve seen your face. Well, I''m really not familiar with most of the faces around here so you should probably ask more people. Since this is the city of Adventurers, most outsiders would want to explore the Dungeon so you may try asking the Guild about it. It''s located northeast of here. Ask anyone on the way there since all the people living here are aware of its location."


    "Thanks~ That helps a lot~!"


    "If you''re really thankful, buy a few more."


    "Then I''ll take three more."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke asked a few more people and was able to confirm that, including the fact that Bell Cranell became a member of the Freya Familia, Hestia and Artemis Familias existence was forgotten, ''But why?''


    Kisuke could hardly think of any reason why Freya would do this, ''Is it because a simple knowledge of our existence is a threat to her? She''s really giving us all the credit in the world.''


    Kisuke started walking again, this time, however, with a definite goal in mind, ''For now, I''ll go bother Loki. Since Lysa and Challia-san are near her, she should be safe.''


    .


    .


    .


    Currentlyying down on a couch and staring at the ceiling frustratedly, Loki really hated the current state of the city and her children.


    A few days ago, just after the Goddess Festival that honored the Goddesses of Harvest, Freya went ballistic and took control of everyone within the city. She didn''t exactly know the reason but she could guess it after hearing about Bell Cranel, ''That horny Goddess!''


    Loki sighed. She didn''t really like someone else controlling her children but her options are almost nonexistent with her biggest fear that was her own children turning against her, ''Although I''m thankful enough that I was able to use Kisuke''s lingering aura from Lysa and Filvis to defend against this Magic, I can''t actually do anything in my position. Even Ouranos was stuck in his mighty seat and I don''t think any Deity with their mortal avatars could resist that without gathering enough Divine Aura in time.''


    But despite being frustrated, she couldn''t help but admire the intricacy of this spell since Freya was even able to erase Hestia and Artemis Familia''s memory from everyone, ''Apollo''s empty mansion was exined as him breaking a rule and expelled from Orario while the Magic and Ki training that Kisuke provided apparently came from a certain ruin to the far north. Thanks to the actual existence of the book and Kisuke''s weird obsession of making it look old to make it look like a ''legit'' treasure, the memory maniption went without any hitch. Finally, Filvis and Lysa''s existence was apparently discovered from the depths of the Dungeon in theirst expedition.''


    Of course, she''s aware that Freya could have not known this as it was her children that filled in the nks that were left.


    Except for Loki, Filvis and Lysa''s memories were safe because of Kisuke''s lingering aura and Loki reminded the former not to tell anyone any of this due to the danger that they may face. As for thetter, she didn''t have to worry about it because the only word that the small Dragon could utter is ''Aria''.


    ''If only I had a way of contacting Kisuke...'', thought Loki as she squirmed around the couch.


    Off to the side, Riveria looked at her with furrowed brows, "Loki... You''ve been acting really strange these past few days. If there''s something you''re concerned about, please do tell me. Your current mood is already starting to affect the members and their training. They are really worried, you know?"


    Out of vexation, Loki suddenly shouted, "Ahh!!! All of my worries would be gone if you could contact your only husband candidate!"


    Loki''s words instantly unsettled Riveria and with a frown, she replied, "I''m not seeing anyone nor do I think of looking for one. You''re really acting weird even with these jokes."


    But strangely enough, Riveria couldn''t keep her pulse from shooting up, ''What''s wrong with me?''


    Loki caught this and wanted to tease her more. But before she could say anything, Tione entered the room they''re in and said, "Loki, a strange guy is looking for you."


    "A strange guy?"


    "He wouldn''t tell me his name but asked me to tell you that the most lovable shopkeeper is here. Strange ri- !!?"


    Sooner than Tione could finish her sentence, Loki hurriedly stood up and bolted towards the door as fast as she could while shouting on top of her lungs, "KIIIIIIIIIIII-TANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!! I MISSED YOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 Chapter 785 Weird Misunderstanding

    Chapter 785 Weird Misunderstanding


    After being dragged into the lobby, Kisuke was now sitting in front of Loki who had arge smile on her face, "I''d never thought that you''d be that happy to see me. The current situation must be vexing you to no end."


    While the drinks were being served, Loki''s smile grew even wider, and said, "I too, never thought I''d be ecstatic to see your face. And you''re right, it''s annoying me to no end and I can''t do anything worthwhile about it. Although it surprised me too that you came here openly."


    Kisuke thanked the server and replied, "I have no reason to hide. I''m not a criminal, after all."


    Loki then opened her eyes slightly before saying, "In her eyes, she begs to differ."


    But immediately after, Loki shrugged her shoulders, moving the conversation, "Since you came here out in the open, it meant that you didn''t need my assistance or whatsoever. So why have youe here instead of confronting her?"


    This time, it was Kisuke''s turn to shrug his shoulders, "I''d only cause amotion before I could even reach her. And no way I''m going to sneak into her ce since I''ll only interrupt her flirting time. She might go insane in my presence and unleash her minions on my way in droves. Nothing good woulde out of it if that were to happen."


    "So you came here to wait for her toe to you instead?"


    Kisuke grinned and answered, "I might as well check the state of things here. It looks interesting, in any case~."


    Loki leaned back and sighed, "As long as you don''t involve themter, you''re wee to stay here. Though I doubt you''ll be waiting for that long."


    Seeing that it was a good time, Finn who has been behind Loki all this time along with Riveria asked, "Loki, isn''t it about time that you introduce us to this gentleman?"


    "His name is Kisuke Urahara, a friend, though a nasty one. That''s really all you need to know about him."


    "My~ Loki-sama, that isn''t a nice way to introduce someone~."


    If it''s a friend in Loki''s dictionary, no matter what kind, then Finn knew that he won''t be a detriment to the Familia as he knew how rare Loki would refer to someone as a ''friend''. Even most of the fellow Deities that were close to her couldn''t make Loki ept them as a friend, but more like an acquaintance or an aplice.


    Though Finn is quite concerned with the content of their conversation and the fact that he''s staying for an unknown amount of time, ''Lysa is fine since most of the town is already aware that Ais tamed a baby Dragon, but if by any chance that he discovers Filvis Chalia''s inhuman nature, it would be difficult to tell if we could still trust him.''


    Finn then turned to Riveria to ask for her opinion but he saw her making a weird expression and asked, "What''s wrong, Riveria? Do you know him?"


    Finn''s question made Riveria jump a little and she hurriedly shook her head, "It''s nothing. I just thought that he''s somewhat familiar but I couldn''t remember where I''ve met him.", turning to Kisuke, Riveria continued, "Excuse me, but have we met before?"


    Instead of Kisuke, however, Loki was the one who answered while chuckling, "You''ve certainly met him before, alright? It''s just that you already forgot about him."


    "I already forgot? I''m sorry but someone as striking as him should have stayed in my memory if I have even a bit of an encounter.", Riveria isn''t just asking about it because she didn''t believe Loki but because every time she looks into his eyes, a weird feeling raises up from her chest and would slightly heat up her face. She wanted to get into the bottom of this, ''I certainly don''t have any memory of him... But what is this...? It''s as if I''m forgetting something incredibly important... I don''t like it.''


    Of course, she did her best to use her most famous poker face and didn''t let out any of her suspicions to show, except, Loki was able to see through it quite easily.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, was already thinking of ways to tick this High-Elf that had already forgotten about him in an attempt to see how strong the actual hypnotism is when he heard whispers from the door and turned towards it seeing Tiona, Tione, Bete, Raul, Annakitty, and Alicia.


    "So, what do you think?", asked Tione.


    Tiona looked at her in confusion and asked, "About what?"


    "You know what I mean! Loki never has been excited at the arrival of a man! And she clearly shouted for everyone to hear that she missed him!"


    "...So what does that mean?"


    Tione sighed and almost forgot that this pure battle junkie sister of hers has the same knowledge of romance as a toddler, "Forget it! Bete! What about you? What do you think of him? I think he''s Loki''s previous lover, or at least they had history!"


    Bete looked at her expectant eyes with a disgusted expression, "Why do you think I care about any of that? All I can say is that I don''t like that guy. Something about him ticks me off but I can''t put my finger on it... Tiona, why don''t you smack his head? His smile especially annoys me."


    "Why don''t you do that yourself? If you really want to kiss Riveria''s staff."


    Even with their low voices, the four inside could still hear them quite clearly. While Finn was sighing, Riveria''s brow was twitching, but aside from that there''s nothing else from her.


    Loki and Kisuke, meanwhile, both have dumbfounded expressions, "Does it look that way?", thetter asked.


    Loki then put her hand on her face in surrender, "Don''t mind it. They are the worst people to judge a man and woman''s rtionship."


    A few momentster, a new group of people appeared behind Tione''s group and the one holding onto a small white Dragon asked, "What''s going on? Who came?"


    Tione, Tiona, Bete, Raul, Anakitty, and Alicia turned around to look at the group who had just gone shopping, Ais, Lysa, Lefiya, and the masked Filvis.


    Thanks to the shifting, however, the little Dragon got a direct line of sight of Kisuke. She stared at him for a few seconds, making sure that she''s not seeing the wrong person, and started squirming within Ais'' arms when she was able to confirm it.


    Lysa''s sudden violent movement caught Ais off-guard and inadvertently let her go as she flew straight to Kisuke at a blinding speed, "Lysa!?"


    No one was able to stop her at her sudden flight and when Finn and Riveria noticed that a white silhouette charging straight to Kisuke seemingly with full intention to cause harm, it was already toote, "Watch out!"


    Beyond their expectations, however, Kisuke just slightly shifted his head without ever turning his head and as the little Dragon flew past by him, his right hand shot out, grabbing the creature''s tail, stopping its trail.


    Kisuke then raised the Dragon in front of him and said, "Oi little lizard. Since when did you develop the guts to attack me from behind? Do you want to experience high-speed flight once again? This time, let''s do ten times as fast. I know you''d enjoy it."


    The gleeful Dragon who knew that she couldn''t hurt Kisuke even if her attack was sessful became horrified and hurriedly shook her upside-down head in panic, [Aria!]


    "And shouldn''t you have already learned an extra word or two? On another note, you''re a lot heavier now too."


    [Ariaaa!!!]


    "What? You''re growing? You certainly became a bit longer, but not as much as you''ve be wider."


    [Aria! Aria! Ariaaaa!!!]


    Kisuke ignored that protesting Dragon and turned to Loki, "Aren''t you pampering her too much? You ought to make her work too."

 Chapter 786 Mystery Guest

    Chapter 786 Mystery Guest


    Ais immediately rushed out before Lysa could even reach Kisuke only to immediately halt her charge when he caught her precious partner. But that wasn''t the end of it as she was dumbfounded when the man and Dragon startedmunicating as if they''d already known each other way back. Meanwhile, the other members also had the same reaction as Ais.


    ''The only time she could have met this man is when we first discover her deep within the Dungeon but that''s not the problem. He''s speaking as if he already knew that we''re taking care of her even before receiving the rumors from the town.'', thought Finn and became even more suspicious of the unexpected guest.


    The next instance, however, sent another wave of shock as Kisuke let go of the Dragon, but instead of returning to Ais like they were all imagining, Lysa flew on top of Kisuke andfortably nestled on his shoulder, "L-Lysa?"


    The members of the Loki Familia couldn''t believe their eyes as they knew how the pompous Dragon acted. She was already hard-pressed when someone wanted to lightly touch her scales and only ever rested in Ais'' arms despite the others trying everything they could think of to get her close to them.


    But now, said Dragon''s proud demeanor had already disappeared as she rubbed her face on Kisuke''s cheek, trying to act coy with him.


    Never could they have imagined that someone of a much higher existence was following Kisuke. Lysa thought that if she was always acting arrogant in front of him, she''d receive a Divine Punishment.


    However, before they could even ask where Kisuke could have possibly met Lysa, someone else stepped out from the crowd and approached him.


    "Fil-... Visha? Where are you going?"


    The masked white-haired woman ignored Lefiya and continued walking without hesitation. This action of hers, however, made everyone, except for Loki and Lysa, nervous. Since Filvis was already technically dead, she shouldn''t approach anyone and she shouldn''t even speak outside of the Twilight Manor in case someone recognizes her by her voice.


    Finn clenched his fist and gave Filvis a threatening look but thetter just ignored this warning and continued unfazed. Seeing this, Finn got ready to forcefully take her away as her existence could threaten and tarnish the name of Loki Familia that they''ve built for a long time.


    However, as soon as his eyes met with Loki who had been already looking back at him, Finn unclenched his fist and sighed, ''If she thinks this is fine then there''s nothing else for me to say.'' Even then, he still waited with a bated breath since he didn''t know what Filvis was trying to do.


    Nevertheless, the wave of surprises didn''t stop as Kisuke turned to her direction when he felt her gaze and greeted her with a smile, "I see that you''re doing great, Challia-san. And it seems that you''ve also learned how to hide your wings now."


    If they had their weapons on them right now, they would have already pulled them out and pointed them at Kisuke.


    The tension was high and the short silence was very unbearable for the Loki Familia. Not knowing what''s going on made their mind draw nks and that within their own territory which they consider their safe base.


    Of course, Loki knew how they were feeling so as to not further increase the pressure around, she spoke like this is normal, "So you didn''t teach her that? I assumed you gave her some method to hide those."


    Filvis then took off her mask, showing her ruby red eyes with cross-shaped pupils, "I saw how that girl Tanis did it and figured that I can do it since we''re technically the same. And this is the least that I could do if I want to act like I''m still an Elf."


    Kisuke noted the lightness in her words and the change in her demeanorpared to when he first saw her and said in an admiring tone, "Heehh~... So after what happened to you, you''ve be more open-minded, huh."


    To that, Filvis responded with a wry smile, "It''s thanks to you who first found me. Talking to me as if you couldn''t care less about how I look, I only realized recently that that instance gave me a brand new outlook that I wasn''t willing to view before. That was very important to me... Thank you."


    After living her daily life with the Loki Familia, she realized that small differences aren''t really such a big deal after an understanding has been reached on both sides and she really never had a chance to recognize that thanks to her encounter with Kisuke. Ever since then, she wanted to express her gratitude to the man who brought her here, ''I''m sorry, Lord Dionysus... But it turned out that you''re not the only one who could ept and understand me.''


    Kisuke understood her point but he just shrugged his shoulders, "Then the same credit goes to everyone in Hestia and Artemis Familias. They treated you the same, after all." But even if she has a point and it was because of him, Kisuke would still not ept her gratitude because she was ''saved'' not because of him, but her own will. Technically, Kisuke just conveniently used her to understand the cirction of souls within the Dungeon.


    Though the simple truth was that Kisuke just wanted to piss Dionysus off by not sending Filvis to him and didn''t like the fact that the Dungeon was ''recycling'' souls without any care to their individuality.


    "F-Filvis-san... Do you know him?" Lefiya asked a question with an obvious answer.


    Finn and Riveria, meanwhile, turned to Loki and asked, "What does this mean, Loki?"


    "It''s simply because it was this guy here and hispanions that met Filvis-chan first.", answered Loki with an exasperated voice, "But even if we exin it, there''s no way you''ll understand."


    Finn furrowed his brows, "How are we supposed to understand if you don''t exin it in the first ce? Whether we understand it or not, it should still be up to us."


    "That''s true but the situation is moreplicated than you could imagine because of what''s happening right now. Don''t worry though. I guarantee you that you''ll all understand it in a few days at thetest."


    Kisuke chuckled at Loki''s words, "Aren''t you giving me too much credit? What if that stubborn Goddess doesn''t want to pull out?"


    "Then force her off her high horse. Give her a good smack if you have to."


    Kisuke contemted while rubbing his chin and said, "For that, do you think pissing her off would work?"

 Chapter 787 Vampires

    Chapter 787 Vampires


    Those from the door also approached Loki with varying expressions, trying to figure out who the mysterious man in front of them was. Kisuke, however, only found this amusing and refused to answer their questions seriously, ''It''s like being given a chance to mess with them for the second time.'', he thought while thinking of ways to deal with Freya and considering doing it with heavy hands since it seems to be more effective that way, if that''s Loki is wanting to suggest by kicking her off her high-horse.


    And just now, Kisuke felt his tracking magic react and checked it. From her room on the top of Babel, Freya started moving while the rest of the Freya Familia within the tower and on the ground began converging, ''An hour at most, huh? Really... What does she have against me that she''s willing to gather all of her forces just for me?''


    Kisuke looked around and took a closer look at everyone who was very overt with their suspicion and slight hostility to the unknown he brought. A few secondster, he decided how he should kill his time, ''Might as well check their progress. I''d hate it if they be useless baggage if the worst is toe. They should at least be able to deal with mobs with ease if there are any.''


    To start with, Kisuke turned to Filvis and asked, "Have you started using your abilities?"


    "...Did you mean the abilities that came with this body?", Filvis was slightly distressed and hesitant but after shaking her head, she answered, "Yes... To a certain extent."


    "F-Filvis!", Lefiya suddenly called out in panic while they looked at her strangely and with confusion, including Loki.


    Seeing this, Kisuke instantly guessed the situation, "So you haven''t told anyone else your abilities and your current race except for her?"


    "No. We didn''t hear anything about it. Although I knew that they were hiding it, I never forced them to tell everyone.", Loki answered and became incredibly curious on why Lefiya became scared, ''What sort of ability does she have to give a reaction like that?''


    Kisuke sighed at this and said to Filvis, "Then reconsider it. Hiding it would only put the others in danger by having the wrong assumptions."


    Although Kisuke could also understand Filvis'' plight. Drinking blood and acquiring power from it really sounds evil and monstrous.


    Filvis looked at Lefiya who''s still panicking and trying to say something before smiling at her antics, ''As long as she trusts me, I''m alright even if others look at me with disgust.''


    She then looked back at Kisuke and replied, "You''re right. I should have done this from the start."


    Turning to everyone, Filvis continued, "I''m sorry for keeping this to everyone but ording to him, I''m now what''s called a Vampire."


    Loki raised her brows, "Vampire? What''s that?"


    After a short pause, Filvis answered, "A monster that can vary in appearance, they say. But it''s main ability is to drink the blood of others to strengthen themselves."


    This im of hers made the others'' eyes wide open while Lefiya became incredibly nervous. Even though thetter was biased to Filvis, Lefiya still had a hard time epting that ability of hers and it was only recently that she agreed to participate in her secret training.


    Filvis looked at everyone''s face and she could easily see the disgust and fear even though they were trying to hide it, ''I already expected this, but seeing those expressions isn''t as easy as I''ve expected.'', she thought with a bitter smile. Even though it hasn''t been very long when she first arrived here, she already considered everyone as herrade.


    Finn and Riveria wanted to say something but Loki raised her hand to stop them, "For now, I''ll do the talking. Whatever your impression and judgment are, save it until this is over."


    Everyone nodded and kept it to themselves as Loki had instructed.


    Facing Filvis, Loki continued, "I won''t say anything regarding on why you choose to hide it ''cus I understand where you''reing from, but from Lefiya''s reaction, she already knew it and to some extent, already assisted you by providing the neededponents, yes?"


    "...That''s right."


    All eyes converged on Lefiya but this time, she stood tall and bore the pressure. It''s for her precious friend so the least she could do is to show that there''s nothing wrong with it.


    Loki leaned back and thought for a moment before turning her attention back to the amused Kisuke, "So? What are these Vampires? I think it''s better to hear it from you."


    Kisuke already expected such a questioning for him so he took out a notebook that he had been hiding under his sleeve, "Let''s see, let''s see... ording to the records that I''ve acquired, they are beings of night, thriving under the moonlit sky as nobles of pride."


    But Loki suddenly interrupted him by pping the table, "Leave the poetic intro out! Give us the basics!"


    Kisuke pouted his lips in protest but did indeed skip the intro, "Vampires are known for their abilities that surround blood, mainly absorbing or consuming them for a temporary or permanent boost in strength."


    "Aside from that, they are also known for their ability to transform into beasts or mist depending on their aptitude. They also have the ability to charm people as an auxiliary for their blood consumption and a subset for this ability is to control smaller animals and insects."


    "They also have increased regeneration based on their individual rank, from the capability to restorerge wounds to being almost nigh unkible."


    "Of course, their own blood is also special since it can contain vast amounts of Magic Power so each and every Vampire are also very capable Magic-Users if they''re trained properly and their aptitudes are usually on the colder side of the spectrum. If you want aparison, they are on par or maybe even better than Elves'' natural talent for Magic."


    "And finally, as long as they could consume blood regrly, they are practically unaging with an estimated lifespan of at least ten thousand years and those in the highest ranks with their age just being numbers that they could easily forget and ignore."


    "...What''s up with that ridiculous prowess.", Lokimented with twitching lips, "And why do you sound like you''ve already met a lot of them?"

 Chapter 788 A Troublesome Race

    Chapter 788 A Troublesome Race


    "I''m acquainted with one... Well, he''s a bit different because he''s Dhampir."


    "A Dhampir? What''s a Dhampir? And you mentioned there are ranks among them. What are those?"


    Those behind Loki were doing their best not to utter anything, but Kisuke could see their enduring faces and knew that they wouldn''t be able to take the next things he was going to say.


    "Before I answer that, I''d also like you to know that they do have some serious weaknesses in exchange for those abilities and they are more pronounced the weaker or lower they are in the hierarchy. First is their weakness to direct sunlight. While the stronger ones could resist and only have their strength lowered drastically, those weaker ones, if they''re not careful, could instantly vaporize and cease existing."


    "Furthermore, if for some reason, their regeneration fails, they won''t be able to heal themselves through normal Healing Magic. In fact, most potions would have the reverse effect on them."


    "Additionally, as if to counteract their great Magic Talents, damage from the ''hot'' side of Magic like Fire and Light Magic are exponentially increased and their regeneration suppressed."


    "Finally, as the organ that pumps blood, any attacks to the heart could be deemed fatal. So if one were to go against a Vampire, it''s a general strategy to aim for the heart while using ''hot'' Magic and avoid fighting them at night or ces that sunlight cannot reach. If Magic couldn''t be used, weapons coated with potions also work well."


    "There''s also the fact that no matter how long their lifespan is, as long as you take away blood from their diet, they''ll die sooner orter."


    "Of course, for an intelligent species, there are ways to circumvent these weaknesses but it''s still easy to track their movements and n against onepared to others due to these restrictions."


    Loki then noticed that Filvis wanted to really ask something so she gestured for her to go ahead.


    Filvis nodded and asked, "Although I feel ufortable under the sun unlike before, I don''t feel my strength weakening at all. Besides that, I don''t feel any cravings for blood if I need to survive."


    "That''s where the types of Vampire Bloodlinees in.", Kisuke then raised three of his fingers, "First are the Pure-Bloods, the aristocrats of the Vampires and the descendants of the progenitors of the Vampire race. Out of the three, they are generally the ones with the most power but they are also the ones most affected by their weaknesses. They are also known as major pricks and assholes of the world due to their attitudes to other races and enormous pride that would dwarf the Elves inparison."


    "What''s up with thest one?"


    "It''s from what I heard. They said that if not for the threat of mass extinction, they wouldn''t even sit down and listen to others."


    "Sounds like a really troublesome race."


    "It''s the reason why I haven''t made any contact with them yet despite being an interesting bunch."


    "And? What''s the other two?"


    Kisuke cleared his throat before continuing, "The next ones are the Undeads or Ghouls. They are normal people but their blood was drained or poisoned by a Vampire. If one doesn''t have enough resistance, they would rise up as walking mindless corpses that are underplete control of the said Vampire. These Ghouls would also develop fangs, but they wouldn''t just drink blood but also eat the flesh. The leftovers then would be poisoned too and they would also rise up as new Ghouls, potentially creating an enormous army of normal people, but strengthened and under the control of only a single being."


    Everyone, except for Loki, shuddered and cold sweat started running down their backs as they looked at Filvis and imagined the scene. The Elves, Alicia and Lefiya, especially couldn''t stomach the hypothetical situation and covered their mouths, fearing that it''ll make them puke.


    The only Vampire in the room trembled and froze on her spot. She couldn''t move or turn her sights to everyone behind her because she''s afraid of the expression they are making. But most importantly, she''s shaking in fear for what she could do, ''D-does that mean I have the power to do that?''


    Recalling the times she wanted to try out her fangs on Lefiya, Filvis also covered her mouth in remorse.


    Loki sighed and red at Kisuke. She''s now sure that he loves putting people in moral dilemmas but she''s also slightly disappointed that her children couldn''t easily see the bigger picture here, "Listen, Filvis. That ability of yours is a weapon and much like all other Adventurers, they carry a weapon of their own."


    Filvis looked at Loki with uncertainty but it was Kisuke who continued her words, "Loki-sama is right. Your ability is a weapon, but like any other weapon, it is all about the user and the intent behind it. Cutting down innocent people using a normal sword, causing a genocide, is no more than evil than a Vampire creating walking corpses for the sake of gaining power."


    "And did you think that I''d allow you to stay here if I knew you were that kind of person?", asked Loki, "But since this topic has alreadye up, can you at least promise me that you''ll never abuse your power like that?"


    Filvis gawked for a second before straightening her expression, "O-Of course! I promise that I won''t evermit such an evil act! Even if my life depends on it."


    Loki nodded in satisfaction before turning to everyone else, "And you lot, I''ve already expected for you to see through something this obvious but I guess the gruesome picture has blinded you for a few moments."


    Finn clenched his fist and replied, "...I''m sorry Loki. We indeed lost sight of what''s important for a moment. I''m ashamed that I''ve forgotten such a basic thing."


    Everyone else also has the same apologetic expression as him.


    Finally, Loki turned her attention to the grinning troublemaker in question and protested, "And you! Do you really have to navigate a conversation like this? I doubt others could have left these Vampires alone if they haphazardly do something like that! Couldn''t you have made it clear if actions such as that are also frowned upon among them?"


    "As expected of Loki-sama~ You''ve guessed it. Even among the Vampires, creating Ghouls are frowned upon and vitors are actively hunted down. In other words, even if they can do it, they still consider it as a criminal act with capital punishment. Or else, they won''t be able to keep their self-governing status."


    "So there are so many of them out there that they had to form some sort of governmental body, huh... Then what about these Dhampirs?"


    "To simply exin it, they are the result of a union between a Vampire and any other race."


    "That''s to say, a non-pure-blood descendant?" It was then that Loki understood it, "I see... So more than a Vampire, Filvis is a Dhampir?"


    "That''s correct. Because although Dhampirs have all the typical abilities of a Vampire, they do not possess the same weaknesses that apanied their powers. As such, they are considered as freaks of nature and are normally hated by the Pure-Blooded since they also go against their beliefs that everyone else is beneath them."


    Kisuke then stood up and walked towards Filvis, "Since you''re technically a mixture of an Elf and a Vampire that was created by the Dungeon, you''re a Dhampir. That was only further confirmed when it was proven that you don''t possess the weaknesses. On top of that, your Elven bloodline should still be present within you so your talent in Magic should havepounded... But why are you mainly using Ki?"


    Filvis looked up to his eyes. She knew her answer and couldn''t really say it because it was really embarrassing, "..."


    ''So she wanted to be the vanguard for her precious rearguard. I guess that''s wonderful.'', but Kisuke has to correct her thinking, not just for her own sake but also for his own satisfaction and curiosity, "Well, whatever. Since your Magic Power is concentrated on your blood, doing Magic-based body strengthening wouldn''t just be as effective as Ki but also will give you increased mastery of overall Magic usage."


    Kisuke then picked up her right hand and started massaging it while looking at it intently. Filvis was startled and was about to pull her hand back subconsciously when she managed to stop herself and gritted her teeth. Aside from Lefiya, a fellow Elf, and her parents, no one has really touched any part of her body for as long as she can remember.


    "AAHHHH!!!" Of course, her best friend was also shocked and let out an ear-splitting cry while pointing at them with a slight blush on her face.

 Chapter 789 The Dungeon’s Intention

    Chapter 789 The Dungeon��s Intention


    Kisuke kept pressing various points on her palm, measuring her overall Magic Power capacity and movement, ''Although her Magic Power only increased slightly from my initial estimates, the movement can''t bepared to a typical Elf like Riveria and Ryuu. Using her own blood as a medium, her maximum output was boosted exponentially. It''s no wonder that Vampires could thrive despite their poor reputation and attitude. Or maybe because she''s a Dhampir?''


    Various guesses went through Kisuke''s mind in that short instance but Filvis was unaware of her thoughts and could just endure it. Although it only became worse when Kisuke started sending pulses of his own energy through her hand, "Ummmph!?"


    Caught off guard, Filvis'' knees almost buckled but she was able to stand firm. However, she had to cover her mouth with her free hand as she had a feeling that she might just let out a strange voice with the strange heat rising up from the core of her body, ''W-what''s this? What''s happening!?''


    Normally, Kisuke would have already stopped doing this because he didn''t have much of a legitimate reason to mess with her, but an idental discovery made him focus so that he didn''t even know what Filvis was going through nor did he care about it, ''!?... This is...''


    Since Kisuke already had enough mastery over his new energy type, he was already confident to use it as a tool for recon. And because it''s an unknown type that''s only unique to him as far as he''s concerned, it could hardly be detected. Even Yoruichi, who had well-developed senses couldn''t detect it and even if she was able to, it was already close to her and she wasn''t even sure if it''s really there.


    If aparison was to be made, it''s like Ophis and Great Red''s abilities. Although others could detect the Magic Power within them, they couldn''t find anything that''s rted to ''Infinity'' or ''Dreams'' despite them representing it.


    However, the moment he let his own energy interact with Filvis'' Magic Power, thetter started morphing as if it''s trying to imitate it, ''Absorption? No... This is creating new information depending on what it''s trying to extract... Did she go through a mutation as a Dhampir to have this kind of ridiculous ability? Or did the Dungeon intend for her to have this? Considering how useful this would be for my own development, I''m leaning on thetter possibility.''


    Nevertheless, due to howplicated and unique Kisuke''s energy is, it couldn''t extract much information and would constantly fail in ''copying'' it, hence, the strange mood Filvis was currently experiencing right now.


    Filvis'' groans engulfed the silent room with a weird atmosphere but after a few more moments, Lefiya couldn''t take it anymore and stood in the middle of the two, swinging her arm down and saving the damsel in distress, "For how long are you going to do this!?"


    Lefiya''s hostility woke Kisuke up as he dodged the iing arm by letting Filvis go. Even then, he''d already got most of what he needed to know and the only thing left is a bit of a blood sample that he could getter, "Geez, rx~ I''m just doing a bit of examination to determine her current rank."


    "Is this how you examine people!?" Lefiya shouted while angrily pointing at Filvis.


    Kisuke finally looked at Filvis carefully and saw that she''s struggling to catch her breath in addition to her flushed face and almost tearful eyes. If one didn''t know what exactly happened, people would think that Kisuke just assaulted her, "Not always." Kisuke answered honestly.


    "Not always!? There are other instances!? You''re an enemy of women!" Lefiya dered while clinging to Filvis.


    While everyone else had an awkward atmosphere, Riveria was wearing a serious expression while muttering, "Why does this feel familiar?"


    Kisuke just waved his hand in dismissal and said, "Forget about that. Challia-san, how about a spar with me? You want to test everything you can manage against someone or something, don''t you?"


    Filvis took a few deep breaths and recovered bearing, albeit still with a flushed face, "Spar?"


    "Yes. Since I have some free time, I think I can help you figure out more about your abilities, and the best way to do that is to put it into action."


    Truthfully, Kisuke''s intention was not to help her but to flush out his remaining energy in her system and stop the current transformation. That way, he''d be able to give her a special type of blood and see the changes she''d go through.


    Filvis heaved her final heavy breath and thought, ''Before everyone lost their memories, Lefiya said that even if the entire Loki Familia went against Kisuke Urahara, they wouldn''t even be able to scratch his skin. Usingmon sense, that''s impossible but Lefiya doesn''t have any reason to lie. If so...''


    She then looked up to him, reaching a decision, ''...He''d really be the only one who could test my capabilities without the dangers of actually killing me. Although he''s all smiles, I can tell that he''s ruthless. He might just cut off my arm just to test my regeneration...''


    "...Please help me. Thank you."


    Kisuke nodded and turned to Loki, "Loki-sama, I''d like to use your courtyard."


    "It''s fine if I watch too, right?"


    "Even if I forbid you, this is your ce and I have no right to do so."


    "Alright. Let''s go."


    .


    .


    .


    In the wide courtyard, since they were allowed to watch, everyone from the Loki Familia except for those who had business outside hade.


    In the middle was Kisuke and Filvis facing each other, "Although this is a spar, use everything you can.", the former said first.


    "If not?"


    Kisuke looked straight into Filvis'' eyes and his killing intent started pouring into her, "''Cus I might just identally kill you."


    Filvis shuddered and readied her sword in panic. She wanted to talk more to figure him out more, but after just being brushed by such intense blood lust, she knew she couldn''t afford to think about anything else, much less speak.


    "Good. It seems that you''re ready. But before that...", Kisuke turned to where the executives were and said, "May I borrow a de? Anything''s fine."


    Before anyone could say anything back, Tione suddenly pulled out one of her kukri knives named Zs and threw it towards Kisuke, "Here."


    Kisuke caught the knife by its handle, "Thank you very much~."


    Filvis swallowed a mouthful of saliva because there was yet again almost imperceptible change in him who was now holding a de, ''It''s as if his entire body became a weapon!''


    Kisuke''s smile then disappeared as he faced Filvis once again, "Now then, let''s start with this."


    In everyone''s eyes, Kisuke slowly shed what''s in front of him horizontally. However, there''s still a few meters of distance between them so this strange action of his confused everyone, including his opponent.


    "Really... If you have trained Ki, you all should have trained your senses for it."


    Filvis was wondering what he''s talking about when she suddenly lost her bnce and slowly fell backward, "Huh!?"


    She tried to regain her bnce but her fall continued. And finally, shended on her back, facing the blue sky. Bewildered, she turned her head towards Kisuke but what she saw immediately sent pain back to her brain, "AAHHHH!!!!"


    In front of her were her legs, firmly standing on their ground, cleanly detached from her body.

 Chapter 790 VS Filvis

    Chapter 790 VS Filvis


    Finn and the rest of the executives also noticed the change in Kisuke''s demeanor and the sight of him made their muscles taut, ready to take action at any second.


    They watched as Kisuke swung his sword horizontally and wondered what he was doing, "What''s that?", asked Tiona.


    It was neither slow nor fast. It was as if he''s just figuring out the bnce of the knife. However, the moment Kisuke finished his actions, a skin-splitting pain suddenly assaulted Finn''s thumb and made him shudder. He wanted to warn Filvis of the immense threat, but it was already toote as Kisuke''s opponent already dropped to the ground, leaving her legs behind.


    "AHHHH!!!"


    Filvis'' ear-splitting cry woke everyone up from their stupor and most of them became covered in a cold sweat at the gruesome sight of blood spurting out without control. But what scared them more than anything was the expressionless guest. Then, once they thought he was a jolly and casual man, turned out to be such a cruel person.


    "Filvis!!!" Lefiya wanted to run out while taking out the highest potion that she has, already forgetting that Kisuke told her that a potion is one of the Vampire''s weaknesses in exchange for their regeneration prowess. But before she could evenplete a step, an arm blocked her way, "Stay put, Lefiya."


    Lefiya looked at the back of the red-haired Goddess andined, "B-but, Loki-sama! Filvis is already grievously injured! She might die of blood loss!"


    "No matter how you spin it, that only applies to normal people. However, her body was created by the Dungeon somon sense may not apply to her.", Loki then looked towards her, "Or are you averting your eyes from reality at a time like this?"


    Lefiya shook, but she had nothing to say back.


    Nevertheless, Riveria was still worried and asked, "Is this really fine, Loki? Although this might be fine, it doesn''t change the fact that her life is in danger."


    "It''s fine~ You can trust him. I assure you that after this, Filvis-chan would still be in one piece. Besides, look.", Loki pointed to the match and everyone saw that Kisuke''s knife was already lifted overhead and was about to do a vertical sh on the downed Filvis, "She hasn''t surrendered so you shouldn''t stop this either."


    "Dio Grail!" Filvis finally gathered her thoughts properly and instantly cast out a defensive Magic. A circr barrier that shined white appeared in front of her and it was also the moment that Kisuke swung down his knife. In a split second, something invisible hit the barrier and created sparks.


    The barrier didn''t evenst two seconds as it was immediately cracked and broken through. However, it was enough time for Filvis to dodge to the side which was her goal from the beginning.


    "Dio Thyrsos!" While rolling on the ground, Filvis immediately used her next spell that released a st of golden light towards her opponent.


    She wanted to retrieve her legs even if she had to crawl towards it but decided against it when she saw Kisuke simply shing through her Magic, ''You can do that!?''


    Gritting her teeth, she modified her Magic Circle that released Dio Thyrsos and made it release smaller but more numerous rays of golden light.


    As tens of golden rays descended on Kisuke, he started dancing with his knife, dodging and deflecting everything away. Even though none of them could actually hurt him, it''d only make his clothes dirty.


    Seeing him finally busy, Filvis'' mind started to race. She knew that there''s no way he would be defeated with just that even if she pours all her Magic Power into her attacks so she has to think of any other way to deal a substantial amount of damage. She also thought of ''surviving'' as long as possible but immediately threw that idea out of her mind, ''There''s no way he''s going to allow me to do that. Besides, the point of this match was to discover and test my abilities. Hiding behind my Magic will only earn his ire and that may be the moment that he''ll aim for my neck!''


    At that instant, her severed legs that are still standing entered her sights, ''...Regeneration... If that''s true, I should be at least able to attach my legs back... But how? Blood?''


    It''s as if instincts took over her, the moment her train of thought got to ''blood'', she already knew what to do. That, and also thanks to the real threat to her life that pumped adrenaline into her system.


    Concentrating on the flow of her blood, including that still within her legs and scattered on the ground, Filvis willed the severed limbs to return. Her legs shook for a few moments before they suddenlyunched towards Filvis and immediately caught the stumps. As soon as they got connected, the scattered blood also returned through the cut before the skin was restored. Even Filvis who did it couldn''t believe what she saw, much less everyone else.


    Filvis wanted to check if her legs were properly connected but she wasn''t able to do that because she heard the terrifying voice from behind her, "My~ That''s wonderful. But we''re not done here yet."


    "Kuh!!!" Filvis clenched her mouth and hurriedly stood up without looking back, though she was still too slow and felt the de of Kisuke''s knife digging on her left nk.


    Her guts threatened to spill out so she hurriedly used her free hand to block the gash. If she had been a normal Adventurer, this wound would have been fatal but now that she learned how to use her regeneration actively, the blood just flew back before the cut slowly closed, bringing her skin into pristine condition.


    Though as amazing as it is, Filvis could feel her Magic Power reserves to bergely depleted and an almost insanity-inducing thirst, ''What''s this disgusting feeling?''


    Dhampir''s might have a resistance to the desire to drink blood that was a borderline immunity. They didn''t even need it to live as they only needed their non-Vampire bloodline to survive. Even then, Filvis wasn''t born a Dhampir nor did she have any experience living as one. The almost imperceptible cravings were boosted due to the Magic Power in her blood being depleted way faster than they could recover, kicking a hidden self-preservation mechanism into action.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, however, Kisuke''s killing intent kept her sanity in check and her focus on the fight, ''I won''t be able to do anything at range. I have to get closer!''


    Clutching her shortsword tightly, she dashed forward while letting some of her instincts take over. This resulted in her gray bat-like wings emerging and nails growing longer.


    The next instant had sparks and shes of metals filling the air.


    Filvis used her wings to boost her speed and maneuver to gain an advantageous position, shortsword as her main hand, and ws as support or ambush hand.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke just swung a single arm to take all of her attacks and he hasn''t even taken a single step since the start of their sh, ''I guess this is it for the first part.''

 Chapter 791 Great Performance and Instant Defeat

    Chapter 791 Great Performance and Instant Defeat


    Losing her patience, Filvis started using her Magic at point-nk range. Although very reckless, it was sessful at pushing Kisuke back, giving her some precious breathing space.


    However, that didn''tst long as Kisuke stopped his passive approach and began to pressure Filvis to a greater extent.


    ''Kuh!!! So it''s useless even if I get close. I can''t see the extent of his abilities. Our skill levels are too far apart! What else can I do!?'' Filvis thought as she started to umte wounds that surpassed her passive regeneration. But as further desperation pushed her absolute limits, a certain idea popped into her mind after recalling all the abilities that Kisuke mentioned earlier, ''...But if I fail... I might die...''


    Kisuke noticed her inner conflict and thought that he can finally end this, "Is this the time for you to be holding back? If you have something in your mind, just do it. You didn''t happen to forget the goal of this spar, did you?" With a singlerge swing, Kisuke threw Filvis back. This time, however, he didn''t close the gap.


    Filvis gritted her teeth and red at Kisuke but a secondter she calmed down and took a deep breath, "I''ll aim for the kill, is that alright?"


    Though Kisuke just smirked at her and replied, "You''re very much wee to try~!"


    Filvis took a stance and raised her short sword. An instantter, her blood-red eyes shone as she gathered and poured her Ki to her legs,unching her straight forward with great momentum. Filvis then raised her sword over her head, posing to swing it down once Kisuke came within her reach with all her strength.


    At this point, Kisuke finally guessed what she intended to do and smiled, ''Fine. I''ll ept your challenge.''


    Taking a stance of his own, the moment Filvis almost entered his reach, Kisuke did a horizontal sh aiming at her torso with speed much greater than what he had previously disyed until now. At this rate, Kisuke''s knife would slice through Filvis before her sword could even reach Kisuke.


    The executives that are watching this already knew the result and Filvis should also know it. To their shock, however, Filvis didn''t pull back and became fullymitted to her attack as if she was willing to exchange her life for her attack tond, "Oi, oi, oi! What is she doing!?", Bete, who has senses only second to Finn muttered followed by various simrly confused words from Ais, Tiona, and Tione.


    And as everyone has expected, although Filvis'' sword continued descending, she was already bisected by the horizontal sh.


    Lefiya only noticed what''s going on when Kisuke''s knife had already separated Filvis'' upper and lower body, "Filvis!!!"


    Only Loki, however, noticed the small smile that emerged from Kisuke''s mouth.


    In spite of the visual effect, Kisuke felt virtually no resistance when he ''cut'' Filvis and the moment he was about to deflect Filvis'' sword with his free hand, it suddenly bloomed into blood-red mist, along with her whole body and disappearing from his sights.


    The next instant, the sword materialized along with the fully intact Filvis behind him with the tip thrust towards his nape, ''You''re mine!''


    Though the man in question just chuckled and said, "I don''t think so~."


    Shifting his head to the side, Kisuke easily dodged the sword. Filvis'' momentum continued forward without her being able to stop properly so Kisuke also caught her arm that was holding the sword. All of a sudden, Filvis'' world spun uncontrobly and before she knew it, she was mmed to the ground, breaking several of her ribs, "Kuhhaaa!!!"


    Sometimeter, her vision recovered, and saw Kisuke grinning and looking down at her, "Nice try, but your poor handling of Magic and killing intent gave you away before you could even reform."


    Filvis stopped coughing and sighed, "In the end, I couldn''t even leave a scratch."


    "Well, you have to at least divide the whole city with a single sh if you want to achieve that."


    "...I suppose that''s not a joke?"


    "You can do it once you''ve reached a certain point. That''s the kind of existence you are now so don''t waste it."


    Filvis stared at Kisuke for a short while and figured that he wasn''t joking, ''But what kind of existence are you if I''ll only be able to scratch you with that kind of power?'' She wanted to ask out loud but guessed that she wouldn''t get an answer. And even if she did, it would do nothing good for her, that''s what her intuition was telling her.


    Lefiya then came running with tears on her face, "Filvis!!! Are you alright!?"


    "Yes... I''m fine, albeit a bit injured and extremely tired."


    Lefiya heaved arge sigh of relief after hearing that and wanted to ask what happened at the end but before she could do so, Kisuke first gave his instructions, "Viridis-san, please take Challia-san to the side and give her a bit of your blood for her to recover."


    "As for you, Challia-san, we''re still not yet done as we have yet to test your main ability. Once you''ve rested, we''ll continue."


    Lefiya helped Filvis to stand up and thetter nodded, "Understood. Thank you."


    Still, with a lot of time left until Freya Familia arrived, Kisuke pointed towards the executives and said, "You, you, you, and you. I''m free so spar with me." Kisuke precisely pointed at Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Bete.


    The prideful Bete instantly snapped at his rude demeanor, "Huh!? Why do I have to!? And I have a name, dumbass."


    Tiona, on the other hand, was already looking forward to this and raised her hand, "I''m going first!"


    But Kisuke shook his head and said, "I pointed to all of you so all of you have toe at the same time. Or else, it won''t even be a challenge. There''s no joy in beating amateurs, you know?"


    After that, it wasn''t just Bete but all four of them were pissed. As top Adventurers, they have their own pride and it won''t allow them to let some unknown guy that came out of who knows where to look down on them. Yes, he''s strong and they might even lose a one-on-one fight, but it wasn''t enough that it''ll allow him to fight off all of them.


    "Oi, he''s asking for a beating. Why don''t we give it to him?", asked Bete while cracking his fingers.


    "What a surprise. We''re on the same page today.", replied Tione while bringing out her spare kukri knives.


    "Sounds fun~ I''ll y along!", Tiona added.


    Only Ais was silent since her intuition was telling her that it''s still hard for them to win but she still nodded in agreement and readied her sword.


    The four of them marched forward with great confidence and were ready to bring out everything they''ve learned these past few months.


    A quarter of an hourter, however, all of them were kissing the ground without a pinch of fighting spirit that they had from the start left while Kisuke was just casually whistling as he sat on Bete''s body that was almost buried in the ground.


    "Is this really happening?", asked Finn with a twitching mouth.


    "Don''t ask me! I also want an answer to that!", replied Riveria.

 Chapter 792 A Quick Lesson

    Chapter 792 A Quick Lesson


    As one would expect from a First ss Adventurer, Ais was able to find a way to counter Kisuke''s invisible strikes by covering the whole battlefield with her own wind, giving everyone an early warning sign if such an attack was used.


    However, that was the extent of it.


    Even though they all have improved massively thanks to them using Ki that they could even go toe to toe with a normal Level 7 easily, Kisuke''s delicate suppression made them unable to bring out their full capacity. Finn and Riveria wouldn''t be as surprised if Kisuke just overpowered them, but the scene in front of them proved that this mysterious man has the qualifications to call them ''amateurs''.


    ''Who is he really? Now that I''ve managed to sort my thoughts, the difort that I''m experiencing isn''ting from him directly but from the overall situation. It''s certain that Loki and Filvis are hiding something from us, so is that the real cause of this unsettling feeling?'', Finn''s suspicion grewrger and it didn''t just involve those who knew Kisuke, but the overall situation within the city itself. Loki wasn''t wrong to call Finn''s intuition better than most Gods out there.


    "As Level 6s, you guys could easily take on Level 7s or maybe even 8s that haven''t learned Ki or Magic control. It sounds impressive but..." Kisuke then suddenly stopped and pondered on his words more, "Well, considering that you guys learned without a proper master, I think this is still good."


    "T-this is unreal... I couldn''t even dish out a good punch...", Tiona muttered in frustration while trying to sit up.


    Tione, meanwhile, just gave up andid on her back while looking at her kukri knives that are both cleaved in half, "Not just that... I can''t believe we''re using the same weapon."


    On the other hand, thanks to her speed and flexibility, Ais was able to avoid and mitigate most of the damage and was able to easily sit straight up. Unlike the two, however, she only has one simple question, "How?"


    Although she still has the same stoic face as before, Kisuke noticed that Ais was much calmer than before and the ck haze that covered her entire body has alreadyrgely dissipated, ''The only reason I can think of is that Dragon... Still, just her presence shouldn''t have warranted this kind of subtle but drastic change because her hate actually stems from the ck Dragon. Or maybe because of Lysa''s existence, it became a lot easier for Aria-san to fend off the ck Dragon''s influence?''


    Since there''s still a bit of time, Kisuke didn''t mind helping them out for a bit and exined, "It''s because you guys focused more on firepower than control."


    Ais tilted her head in confusion. When learning how to use Ki, they didn''t encounter anything that divided Ki for ''firepower'' and ''control''. However, Kisuke was the only one who could be med for that because he''s the one who wrote the book they are learning from. By focusing on the technicalities, Kisuke avoided anything that might form a bias or limit their creativity, ''Although that clearly backfired since not one of them even delved deeper on the basics of how to control Ki. If they did, they would be able to discover another subset of the topic by themselves.''


    "Before that," Kisuke looked at Finn and Riveria''s direction, "Pleasee over too. I''ll be saying something important."


    Finn and Riveria looked at each other before nodding. Finn walked over while Riveria called the others who were watching toe over. After passing some potions to the three girls, Finn approached Kisuke, more specifically, the unconscious one under him, "Do you mind..." But mid-sentence, he recalled how Bete was the only one Kisuke overpowered and face buried after the former showed so much hostility to thetter. Shaking his head and smiling wryly, Finn kept the potion in his hand and shook his head, "It''s nothing. Please go on."


    Once everyone has gathered, Kisuke continued, "I can understand that you guys focused much more on gathering Ki more than controlling it because it raises firepower much faster and against monsters that could have incredible defences, that''s what you need. However, that''s a beginner''s mistake... Or more urately, a mistake for those who don''t have a proper teacher."


    Everyone was quiet. Thanks to the sparring, everyone knew that this man''s ability was real. Even though they stand on the ''top'', they are not arrogant enough to dismiss the words of someone who was clearly that much more capable than them.


    Lifting his right arm, Kisuke rolled his sleeve back for everyone to see, "I will do a demonstration, but I''ll be using Magic to emte Ki because it''s much easier for everyone to see it that way."


    Everyone saw Kisuke arm be covered by semi-translucent white me and some of them let out a voice of awe while some only stared in confusion. For the executives, however, it''s a very familiar sight, "This is how it looks when you use Ki, am I right?"


    Ais nodded vigorously.


    The me then started to burn strongly and Kisuke asked again, "And this is how it looks when you gather it to prepare for an attack, yes?"


    "That''s right.", Tiona answered.


    While rubbing his chin, Finn added his conjecture, "I finally understand. Since you can visualize it like this, it also means that you can clearly see when someone gathers their Ki. With that knowledge in hand, you were able to predict their movement with great uracy, disrupting their movements, and making sure that they could never unleash what they''ve gathered."


    "That''s correct, but I couldn''t actually see them. I had to hone my senses to detect these types of things and all of you should be capable of that too since it''s very simr to detecting Magic Power."


    "Moving on, this came to be because you only practiced basic controls to the point that it''s usable." The roaring me on Kisuke''s arm then stopped and formed a thin film on the surface of his skin, without any fluctuation. A stark contrast to its noisy state from before.


    "This is the extent of what you can do if you have enough mastery of control and right now, I''m varying the intensity, but it''s already hard to see any differences it makes. I know you might say that I''m of the extreme minority that could detect this and that may be true to some extent, but raising your control over Ki doesn''t just hide what you want to do next.", Kisuke picked up the kukri knife with his aura covered hand and the white film slowly crawled towards it, enveloping itpletely after a few seconds.


    "It''s a lot harder to reign in Ki, so beginners would rather just focus on gathering since they can get the same amount of firepower for a lot less effort. However, with control, you can extend the influence of your Ki towards your weapons and this will make them sharper and sturdier. In fact, the invisible shes that I did earlier are just an extension of this." Swinging his arm, some of the white film left the knife and traveled for a few meters before disappearing.


    Various voices of surprise and admiration sprung out from the crowd which soon evolved into various discussions.


    After arranging his own thoughts, Finn asked, "That''s really surprising. We didn''t know there''s more to Ki than what''s in the book. Since you''ve gone to the trouble of demonstrating this to us, I suppose you nned to teach us this control method? But outright giving it to us wouldn''t make any sense so please name your price. If it''s reasonable, we''re determined to purchase this information."


    When Kisuke shook his head, Finn thought that he needed anything other than material or mary gain and was about to discuss it with him. But before he could say anything, Kisuke cleared his misunderstanding, "There''s nothing to purchase, Deimne-san. There''s no special way to manipte Ki. What you have is all you need to know."


    While the others became confused for a moment, Ais spoke up, "So those basics are all we need and have to do it over and over again?"


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s it and nothing else. It''s just a matter of how much or how little you can manipte your Ki without concentrating too much. Besides, everyone''s body is different even if they are twins. After mastering the basics, that''s where you have to find a unique way to manipte the flow of Ki more smoothly. If there are any special methods, that''s for those who can''t use Ki normally."


    "I see. I''m sorry for jumping to a conclusion and thank you very much for enlightening.", Finn was truly thankful, however, Kisuke was still a suspicious figure in his eyes so he couldn''t help but wonder, "But why are telling this to us? I''m sorry if this may sound rude, but what''s your goal?"


    Kisuke then finally stood up and shook his head once again, "I can exin, but I don''t really have to since you''ll understand itter. Loki-sama could vouch for that."


    Finn turned to Loki and saw her nod to him silently.


    "Now then, before resuming my spar with Challia-san, allow me to show another thing that might motivate you to practice more." Kisuke dropped the kukri knife and raised his right arm once again. Within a few seconds, everyone could see frost started forming around his arm and hand before a de of ice suddenly emerged from his hand.


    "Geez... What is this Magic? It''s too silent and fast!" Tionamented.


    "Don''t be a fool, Tiona." Riveria interrupted, "He said he''d show something to motivate everyone to practice. If that''s true, then that''s still a demonstration on how to use Ki."


    "Wait, what!? Really!?"


    Even Ais couldn''t help bute closer to take a look, "You can do this with Ki?"


    "Once you''ve reached a certain level with Ki maniption, there''s a small chance that you can awaken to a special attribute. However, it is so rare that even I don''t have it and I can only show it with some cheap imitation and a ''simple'' special attribute."


    Incredibly interested, Riveria asked, "What''s this special attribute?"


    Kisuke took back his ''Magic'' before answering, "It could be anything. When I said that what I showed was something simple, what I meant was there could be anything with wild effects and not just simple ice. I could say this because I personally knew someone who can manifest white mes with her Ki. But instead of burning with it, her mes could absorb all sorts of energies and convert them to something she could use. And to some extent, those same mes could even affect the soul itself. In a battlefield, consumption isn''t a problem for her and she could technically dish out multiple attacks that could deal the same damage as wide-area annihtion Magic each. Only if she can handle the mental and physical strain... Which I guess she can do now easily."


    "Oh~ Are you talking about Koneko-chan? Has she already grown that strong? If I remember correctly, she should just be a Level 3 not long ago. So she already has enough power to wipe the floor with Finn and the rest, huh?", Loki suddenly dropped a bomb.

 Chapter 793 A Little Experiment

    Chapter 793 A Little Experiment


    Kisuke ignored the surprised expression that''s painted on everyone''s face and answered Loki, "Well, yeah, technically. However, she still falls short in experience. Including Sona and Aika, although everyone else is regrly sparring with them, they still need some real experiences."


    Hearing that, Loki gave her a doubtful expression, "Really? I just think that your standards are impossibly high. Even if they are very capable and talented, there should still be some limits."


    All Loki knew were those stories that came from her children. But even with that tidbit of information, she could guess how Kisuke usually does things if she added his capabilities into the equation. She has no right to interfere with how Kisuke raised his talents, but she can''t say she''s a fan of it either, so she couldn''t help but give a little bit of warning without seemingly overstepping her boundaries. Loki, after all, doesn''t know what they are fighting for nor who their enemies are.


    Kisuke became silent for a few moments before nodding at her, "I''m aware of my own shorings. But even if it''s toote, I still have to make amends."


    "That''s great, nevertheless, I wasn''t just talking about the girls around you, but you yourself.", Loki''s slitted eyes opened and gazed straight into Kisuke''s eyes, "I don''t know what''s chasing you, but your overt selfishness was just covering your inner selflessness."


    Kisuke was surprised at Loki''s words but even after thinking about it, he couldn''t fully understand what she meant, "...What are you talking about?"


    Loki wanted to continue but immediately shut her mouth before shaking her head, ''He has to realize it himself.''


    Loki thought that exining it directly to him would defeat the purpose of her warning, so instead, she redirected the topic, "If you''re going to make amends, I think it''s a great idea if that would start from you. Knowing those girls, they would just follow your example. You should know how devoted they are to you."


    Since Loki didn''t want to borate further, Kisuke didn''t pursue it, "That''s true. Thank you for your kind words." Even so, Kisuke made sure to remember those words that came from a Deity that seemed to be thinking more carefullypared to most Deities out there, ''But I wonder what she meant by that?''


    Because of the sudden serious conversation, everyone in the Loki Familia already lost their chance to ask about this mysteriousdy that is capable ofunching multiple annihtion Magic with ease despite being just a Level 3.


    Still, Riveria asked for everyone seeing that it''s a good time, "Uhmm... Loki... About what you said earlier. Do mind if you can further borate?"


    "Hmmm? Ah, that? There''s really nothing to exin further. These guys are really just too good at what they do that the concept of Levels of a God''s blessing was essentially pointless to them."


    Even then, they still couldn''t wrap their head around what Loki just said.


    Curious, Ais turned to Kisuke and asked, "...What''s your level?"


    While rubbing his chin and pretending to think about it, Kisuke answered, "Mine? If I recall correctly, I never really had my Status updated after reaching Level 2. So by your standards, I''m a Third ss Adventurer, technically."


    All eyes except for Loki''s could only stare at Kisuke dumbfounded.


    "How strange... Loki isn''t calling out his lie.", Tiona muttered. Immediately after, someone stepped on her left toe with a bit of force and she couldn''t help but cry out, "O! Tione! What are you doing!?"


    The culprit, however, just said, "It''s really strange... I''m also not dreaming."


    "Damn you!", the sisters then began wrestling each other.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke addressed everyone else, "What are you guys surprised for? You should have known that Ki is a lot easier to control and gather even without any blessingpared to Magic. Of course, there are bound to be people that would get stronger even without joining a Familia."


    "No... I didn''t think that someone could take it to the extreme.", replied Riveria while sighing and covering her forehead.


    "It only means that you still have a lot of room to grow."


    Soon after, Kisuke was bombarded by various questions from all the people present. At first, he answered their questions calmly, but as time went on, they started asking questions that they should be thinking for themselves so he lost his patience and shooed them away, "Enough of this! Challia-san, I suppose you have recovered sufficiently so let''s continue."


    Filvis was waiting for this and immediately stepped up as soon as she heard his call, "I''m ready. Are we going to spar again?"


    After the crowd had been cleared, including Bete who was dragged back by Raul, Kisuke nodded, "We will, but not until after you drink this."


    From his sleeve, Kisuke pulled out a test tube capped by a cork and containing blood. He made sure that he got the right thing and tossed it in Filvis''s direction, "We''ll be trying out your main ability now."


    Filvis examined the test tube before removing the cork and taking a bit of sniff on the blood, ''It''s sweet!? Much sweeter than Lefiya''s!?''


    She hesitated for a moment. Since it came from Kisuke and wanted to use it to test her ability, she knew that this isn''t normal blood and she''s worried about what might happen to her after taking this blood, ''But what''s the worst that could happen?'' Gritting her teeth, Filvis took the blood in one gulp.


    As soon as it went through her throat, Filvis felt its scalding effect right away on her back. Beyond her control, Filvis'' gray bat-like wings emerged and all eyes saw them change into pure white wings from its base.


    As for Filvis herself, she couldn''t really pay any attention to it as the heat from her back went on to spread ufortably, "Guhhh..."


    The next thing that happened, however, surprised Loki the most with a golden halo suddenly appearing on top of Filvis''s head while emitting warm and ''righteous'' light, "Wait! That''s...!"


    The change didn''t stop there with her blood-red eyes turning golden next. With her transformation finished, the warm and holy aura she''s giving off now was a stark contrast to the gloom and cold she has as a Vampire.


    ''As expected... She can replicate it even if it''s an attribute harmful to her.'', thought Kisuke after giving her Irina''s blood that he produced using her original DNA and power he was able to iste from the Brave Saint system.

 Chapter 794 Little Experiment part 2

    Chapter 794 Little Experiment part 2


    The beat of the wind that originated from Filvis as she floated up hit everyone and almost pushed them back. Kisuke, on the other hand, just silently observed the entirety of her transformation and thought, ''Since her own Magic Power isn''t enough to support this transformation, she''s subconsciously absorbing the ambient Magic Power. But at the rate she''s going, she''ll destroy her body within an hour. Oh well, I''ll observe for now. Canceling this transformation should be easy enough since she doesn''t have control over it.''


    Loki, meanwhile, noiselessly clenched her fist, ''This is... But it''s impossible... No God could descend with their original body.''


    Filvis finished her transformation but she''s not yet aware of what she looks like now. Instead, her mind was upied by strange knowledge that intruded her head, ''Light Arts?''


    Lifting her right hand, Filvis conjured a short spear made out of light, ''This... What is this power?''


    Seeing her obvious confusion, Kisuke was about to answer her question but Loki beat him to it, "...Holy Power..."


    The executives beside her and Filvis turned to her, "Holy Power?"


    Loki hesitated before answering, "...Holy Power, the most basic source of power for Gods that are known as ''righteous'' and a derivative of Divine Power." She then looked to Kisuke who had an amused and interested expression, "It''s very weak, but there''s definitely Holy Power within that light."


    "That''s true.", Kisuke nodded, "What you''re using right now is just a basic Light Magic, however, different from normal Light Magic, it''s a Magic derived from Holy Power, making it a lot stronger."


    "Though what really makes it special isn''t stronger Magic, but it being lethal to those who are ''evil''.", Loki added while ring at Kisuke, "I''m very surprised that Filvis was able to manifest this kind of power, but I''m more curious about the cause of this all, which is the blood you''ve given to her. Whose blood was that and how were you able to acquire it? As far as I''m concerned, no God has ever descended with their original body which is the only possible source that I could think of right now."


    By letting out her Divine Aura, she intimidated everyone else present except for Kisuke into silence.


    Of course, Kisuke knew of her concerns but he can''t really exin them in detail either. So to satisfy her curiosity, he answered, "The blood was not from a God but a servant of one. Thanks to her devotion, she was able to inherit a part of her God''s power and I can assure you that she''s doing fine. In fact, we''re on good terms so your concerns are really unnecessary."


    Loki became silent and Kisuke didn''t further borate, immediately returning his attention to the dumbfounded Filvis who''s still holding the spear of light, "Now, Challia-san, let''s start round two."


    "Eh? Ah! Right."


    The second round didn''tst ten minutes. Although Filvis'' overall physical attributes became stronger and she can now use Light Magic with versatility, her skill didn''t change. One could say that she became objectively weaker as she had a hard time adjusting her bnce and fumbled with Magic.


    Finally, Kisuke finished the spar by setting up a Magic Circle that would block Magic Power and siphoned it from Filvis, making her transformation cancel on its own due to its support copsing.


    The moment power left Filvis, she copsed on the ground twitching, unable to move even a single muscle due to strain.


    She tried to stand up but she struggled to even shift her arm, "Don''t do it. This is the result of you going all out without your knowledge. Though something like this is easily avoidable if you''re able to control your Magic to a certain degree.", advised Kisuke before asking Lefiya to pick her friend up again.


    Due to Loki and Kisuke''s strange conversation earlier, no one approached thetter this time thanks to the awkward atmosphere between them. The executives could tell that there''s still something bothering Loki.


    Kisuke would have followed up to this but the expected guest has already arrived at the gates of the Twilight Manor and at the same time, one of the Loki Familia members that are watching the perimeter came running in and wheezing, "C-Captain!!!"


    Finn frowned and asked, "Calm down. What''s wrong?"


    "T-the Freya Familia! All of its top members are approaching the main gates and they are all armed to the teeth!"


    Not just Finn, but the rest became rmed. However, this isn''t the end of it as another member came running in to report, "Captain! Our scouts have spotted the members of the Freya Familia all around us! From their estimation, there''s a good chance that the entire Freya Familia was mobilized and is currently trapping us in!"


    Finn clicked his tongue and hurriedly gave out instructions, "Everyone, suit up! Ask the scouts to contact Gareth and the others and inform them of the situation! After that, ask them to contact the Guild and our allies! Riveria, go wake up Bete and set up a barrier around the perimeter! As much as you can!"


    But just as Finn was about to dere that they have to prepare for war, Loki interrupted him, "There''s no need for all of that."


    Finn and the rest of the executives were surprised and startled. They had thought that Loki has already given up, "Loki, even if the chance of us winning is slim, we won''t be backing down."


    "I''m not saying we''re surrendering. What I meant was they are not here for us," Loki then pointed at Kisuke, "But for that guy."


    "Huh?"


    Loki ignored them for a moment and asked Kisuke, "We don''t have to get involved, right?"


    "But of course. If she''s really here for me, then it''s not your problem. Though a part of your property may be damaged because of potential confrontation and I apologize for that."


    Waving her hand in dismissal, Loki replied while walking towards the mansion, "It''s fine as long as you pay for the damages and inconvenience fees." She decided to not pursue the origin of the Holy Power for now and watch this interesting sight. In any case, she doubts she''d get more answers from him and the best way to get more information out of him is to escte the situation that he''ll be forced to show more of his cards.

 Chapter 795 Obliterated

    Chapter 795 Obliterated


    Through the windows, Loki and her executives watched as Ottar, along with his fellow Freya Familia members approached Kisuke who''s waiting for them on the main gates of the Twilight Manor.


    Fifteen meters before they reached the gates, the Freya Familia stopped their advance while Ottar took a few steps forward, "I see that you''ve already anticipated us."


    "You''ve been making such a big ruckus, of course I''ll notice it.", Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and also took a few steps forward. While doing so, Kisuke also did a quick scan of his surroundings and found Freya in the building not far from the Manor, overlooking the scene, ''A cloak imbued with Anti-Recognition Magic, huh... From the looks of it, Loki-sama, Hermes, Hephaestus-sama, and Ouranos-sama really didn''t let out even a single useful piece of information to her about us. If she knew what I can really do, or suspected even a bit of it, she wouldn''t take this drastic measure.''


    Ottar became silent for a few moments before continuing while letting out a bit of his bloodlust, "That''s good. Nowe with us. Freya-sama would like to meet you."


    "And what? Be subjected to the same brainwashing as everyone within this city? Did you think I''m that stupid?", Kisuke smirked at him and took a token from his sleeve before tossing it up. As soon as the token reached its zenith, arge andplicated Magic Circle expanded and covered the entire Twilight Manor and nearby buildings.


    However, before its effects could be felt, Freya''s silver eyes from afar lit in violet light and the Magic Circle was instantly crushed into many pieces, ''He tried to activate arge scale illusion Magic? Good thing I personally came.''


    Kisuke''s eyes widened as he watched the motes of light disappear into nothingness, "I didn''t think that you''d have a Magician capable of nullifying my Magic instantly. It looks like I''ve underestimated you all." He then looked back to Ottar who already prepared his weapon, "I can definitely tell that you won''t be taking ''no'' for an answer."


    Ottar didn''t say anything more and swung down his sword at Kisuke. Ottar''s mastery of his Ki is way above those of Loki Familia. So much so that no one from the Loki Familia who are watching from the Manor could see the trajectory of the greatsword. It''s as if Ottar''s weapon instantly teleported from his back to the floor.


    Kisuke meanwhile, dodged the attack by jumping backward but the force that destroyed the pavement and gate sent clouds of dirt everywhere, covering his sights.


    Even then, without looking, Kisuke raised his left hand and grabbed the spear that emerged from the screen of dust aiming for his neck. But as he pulled on it, he couldn''t feel any resistance anymore. Allen Fromel, with a split-second decision, decided to abandon his weapon out of fear of an iing counterattack.


    Before Kisuke even arrived in Orario, the top members of the Freya Familia already decided on the basic strategy against him. Thanks to Ki, they were a lot stronger and sturdier than before. However, they are still sure that nobody, aside from Ottar, could take on Kisuke''s simple kick that took out the former before.


    As such, if there would be a time where they''ll go against him, the only viable option is a hit-and-run tacticposed of everyone in the Familia.


    Immediately after, eight throwing axes came flying in from all directions. Using the spear that he was left with, Kisuke deflected four of them back. As for the remaining four, Kisuke caught two of them with his free arm and threw them back while the other two were kicked away. In the process, Kisuke was able to leave the smokescreen.


    No more attacks came after him so he waited for the dust to settle.


    As soon as the view was cleared, The Loki Familia saw that their gates were already obliterated and the walls had already copsed. While Kisuke didn''t sustain any sort of damage, they saw that two of the Gulliver brothers were being treated by high-ss potions as one of them had arge cut on his nk while the other almost had his arm severed.


    "Just what happened within that cloud of dust? Within the span of two seconds, two were already severely injured.", asked Tiona.


    "Considering the cement of the weapons, I could safely assume that they all tried to sneak an attack at him but they were all countered or blocked by Kisuke Urahara with ease. We''ve still clearly underestimated him.", answered Finn.


    Riveria, on the contrary, was more curious with their motives, "But why are they after him?"


    "Because he''s an extreme threat to Freya''s ideals.", Loki answered, but she didn''t elucidate any further.


    On the battlefield, Kisuke put the spear on his shoulder and fixed his hat with his free hand, "You''re really putting me on the spot here. Can''t you just bring your Goddess here and have a talk with me?" The smile on his face already disappeared.


    Ottar and the rest didn''t say anything. They could indeed do as he said, however, to create an advantageous position for their Goddess, they wanted to exhaust his options first. They could also have Freya use the full force of her charm against him but it was their Goddess'' wish not to use it on him as much as possible. They don''t know why he needs different treatment from the others, but they didn''t have the time to think about that now as they were putting their lives on the line just in an attempt to capture him.


    Kisuke already expected their reactions but still couldn''t help but sigh heavily, "Haaahh... Really... You''re giving me no choice here. Aren''t you afraid that I''ll just escape here and assault your Goddess? You do know that I have the ability to easily do that."


    Everyone from the Freya Familia became tense. If Kisuke was really able to get hold of Freya, there would be no way for them to get her back and they could only leave it to Freya to charm him. However, their pride won''t allow such a thing to happen much less the potential danger she''d be put in his hands.


    "We''re aware of what you can do. Of course, we''ve prepared appropriately for it too." Ottar then gave his signal to Hogni Ragnar and Hedin Send who are staying with the other Familia members surrounding the Manor.


    A few secondster, a gigantic Magic Circle manifested in the sky and formed a strong barrier that covered the entirety of the area where the Twilight Manor is located.


    "T-this is!? Such an overwhelming amount of Magic Power!", Riveria eximed, "But how!?"


    Kisuke gave it a nce andmented, "Hooh? A barrier that''s shaving off their own lifespan, huh? I''m surprised they were able to devise such a thing, but this is also essentially sacrificing their lives for my capture. I honestly feel honored."


    "With this, there''s nowhere for you to run away anymore since even if all of us tried bashing through this barrier, it would still take us a few hours to breach it." Ottar and those behind him got ready once again.


    But before they could initiate their attack, they were all frozen on their spot as a wave of bloodlust they''d never experienced before washed over them and spread through their entire ranks. Kisuke''s casual demeanor instantly disappeared and it was reced by eyes that seemed to be looking at dead people.


    "It seems that you guys are misunderstanding something. I''m not trapped here with you, but you''re trapped here in me. And did you think that such a flimsy barrier was really enough to stop me?"


    Ottar''s instincts and experiences were shouting at him to run away, ''We''ve still severely underestimated him!?'' He looked around and saw his members were also experiencing something simr and couldn''t move from their spot, ''We have to gain an initiative!'', Ottar thought as he tried to lead an attack.


    Freya was also extremely shocked at what she''s seeing as they seemingly triggered something within him, ''This is bad!''


    Nevertheless, before Ottar could move or Freya could give her orders to retreat, Kisuke pointed his finger towards the top of the Babel while saying, "Really... This has be extremely annoying. If you don''t want to talk without suppressing me, then we don''t need that talk in the first ce."


    A small ball of green energy gathered on his fingertip but despite the underwhelming sight, it gave an iparable dread to everyone, including the Goddesses present, "To start, I''ll take her out of the equation. Cero."


    The ball of energy instantly transformed into a beam, going through the barrier as if it was a thin piece of paper, and reached the top of Babel, entirely annihting its top floor where Freya and Bell are supposed to be staying.

 Chapter 796 NOT A CHAPTER

    Chapter 796 NOT A CHAPTER


    From:


    htt ps:/ /.pat reon. /posts/good-day-time-67020564


    May 29, 2022


    Good Day~ Announcement Time~


    This may be a bad announcement for you, my readers.


    I''m taking a week off from writing.


    The very long Volume 13 (99 chapters) just ended with Chapter 905 so I thought maybe I should get some break to properly n out Volume 14 (a bit) and take some rest (most of it).


    ording to my rough outline (which could change anytime), Volume 14 will still be about DxD and Danmachi while Volume 15 is probably the introduction of the new world... or probably not... But Volume 16, for sure.


    Anyways, from today, May 29th, until June 5th, I won''t be touching this fic.


    I also really need new inspirations since I haven''t read any novel properly ever since I started writing this, especially now that my most recent work is taking up more time and energy from me than my previous jobs.


    Most of you might have forgotten, but on average, 1 chapter with 1.2k words would take me 3-4 hours to write, and most of that is spent on walking around the house like an idiot while imagining scenarios in my head and putting that into words.


    And that''s it for the announcement. Thank you for reading until the end.


    AND A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED AND STILL SUPPORTING THIS FIC!!!


    I really appreciate it.

 Chapter 797 Freya’s Answer

    Chapter 797 Freya��s Answer


    Freya fell on her butt with her eyes wide open and could only stay silent at the sight of her precious child, drowning in his own pool of blood.


    The next instant, Freya felt her body move again and felt Allen''s presence beside her. However, before she could even face him and ask what''s going on, she saw the four Gulliver brothers lunging at Kisuke. Freya raised her hand in an attempt tomand them to retreat but her voice couldn''t leave her.


    As she somehow and fearfully expected, Kisuke''s arm holding his de jerked, producing a subtle sh of light before the brothers were all cut in half in an instant. Their weapons and armors served no purpose to stop the reaper''s scythe from iming their lives.


    Freya''s remaining thoughts were instantly reced by an unending regret and asked herself where did she go wrong, ''...At least Allen and the rest...''


    But even before forming thest of her thoughts, Allen who had been dragging Freya away suddenly lost his footing, and the Goddess, once again, met the ground with her back this time.


    As she inadvertently looked up, the sunlight obscured her vision. Nevertheless, it wasn''t enough for her to miss a rolling ball in mid-air. Except, it wasn''t a ball but Allen''s decapitated head filled with terror, ''No...''


    "Freya-sama!!!" From afar, Mia Grand''s roar reached the bewildered Freya. The Goddess shakily sat up, choosing to ignore the warm blood of her child on her hand, and turned around only to see Kisuke standing menacingly and looking down on her. She didn''t know how he''s suddenly behind her when she just watched him bisect her children in front of her.


    Mia, still in her working uniform, was charging towards Kisuke with a fury-filled expression, "N-No..." Freya tried to warn her not to approach but she''s shaking so much that she couldn''t muster any strength.


    But despite it being incredibly soft, Mia still clearly heard the plea of her Goddess and knew what she wanted. Nevertheless, she couldn''t really afford that and released all the strength she had, doubling her speed and almost reaching Kisuke, ''I''m leaving it to you, Anya.''


    Kisuke finally ignored Freya and turned towards Mia, just as she wanted. Pouring all her power into her arm, her sleeve bursts open with her arm''s expansion. As her fist that looked like an unbreakable boulder descended onto Kisuke, thetter took a stance and also threw his fist towards her own, "Ikkotsu (Single Bone)."


    The two fists collided, producing a shockwave that blew all the dust away. Freya was immediately gleeful seeing that Mia wasn''t instantly killed... For now, at least.


    Mia and Kisuke stared at each other for a second before the former said, "You monst..."


    She couldn''t finish her words because starting from her fist, her skin started cracking, blood spurting, and flesh being ejected out. A split secondter, her flesh and skin were already gone, leaving the bones behind. But even those didn''tst any longer as the destruction crawled up to her arm, shoulder, and entire upper body.


    Everyone saw how Mia fell into her knees but without her upper body anymore as it was obliterated into nothing.


    The sight that Freya caught, however, was Kisuke''s bloodied de extended beside her as another familiar head rolled in front of her, "...Anya..."


    While all wasn''t still clear for Freya, Kisuke prepared his next move and gathered another ball of energy before tossing it up, "B Mir (Thousand Bullets)."


    The ball of energy then started releasing smaller balls of lights andunched towards all directions. Instead of the traditional Cero, it was a modified one that releases numerous B that automatically seek their targets. Right away, various screams of terrors resounded before being abruptly cut off.


    A few secondster, the ball of energy stopped releasing the smaller bullets and disappeared. But along with it was the suffocating silence and the thick scent of blood that covered the surrounding. Each and every single member of Freya''s Familia died without a head.


    The ghastly and horrifying sight immediately caused the Elves of the Loki Familia to throw up except for Riveria. Even then, thetter, along with her fellow member''s stomach churned as they resisted the urge to release what it contained.


    Contrary to everyone''s reaction, however, Loki already calmed down because she already saw significant discrepancies to what''s happening in front of her.


    For Freya, on the other hand, everything happened so fast that she didn''t have any time to react properly. For those who are watching her, meanwhile, one would think that she''s too calm for someone who has her Familia annihted. And it''s true, she still has a bit of calmness left because she still has a ce to retreat and pull the hidden knife under her dress.


    It was then that she heard Kisuke''s mocking tone, "Before you do that, I suggest you properly look around first, or else you''ll only ''go home'' with no one really waiting for you."


    A bad premonition overtook her... No... It''s a premonition that she has been ignoring in an attempt to escape reality, ''W-where!? Where are my children!?''


    Freya looked around in panic while using her Divine Eyes. However, the scene of the field filled with her children''s colors was nowhere to be found, ''Where!?''


    "As you should have already known, I practice soul-based techniques,'''' Kisuke started exining.


    "However, unlike the initial attack that destroyed two people''s souls, those that I killed after had their souls purified. You should know that purified souls can''t stay in a ce that will destabilize them so they instantly go to Heaven. And since they are already purified, they won''t go to another arduous purification process and would immediately start their reincarnation. As of now, depending on how reliable Heaven''s system is, they should be more or less already ready to descend again."


    "So even if you kill yourself now to follow and secure them, you already lost your chance."


    But as soon as he finished, Kisuke had to jump back and put forward his hand. In that instant, a white light suddenly smashed into him, sending him almost fifty meters into the air. After regaining his bnce, Kisuke saw that a falcon feather pierced his palm, ''So this is where the fun starts.''

 Chapter 798 VS Freya

    Chapter 798 VS Freya


    While mid-air, Kisuke felt a slight change in the sky, and without any hesitation, he activated five of the barriers he left on Orario which mainly block energy fluctuations and hide the sky among the residents of the city.


    A secondter, a bright violet light descended and struck Freya, breaking the pavement around her. The violet light was simr to the golden light when God''s avatar died, but this time, the avatar was initiating a direct connection to God''s main body. A direct confrontation against the rules of the Lower World.


    Normally, she would only have a minute at most to use her Arcanum before she was forcefully deported back to Heaven but the barriers that Kisuke erected prevented that from happening.


    And since the descending light created a small hole among the formations, those nearby could see what''s really going on while those who can''t see were discouraged from approaching the area. Of course, Kisuke knew that he wouldn''t be able to control the Deities, at least with the barriers he had chosen to activate. So instead, he added a barrier that would physically stop them from even approaching to see what''s going on. In any case, they would only be able to feel a slight release of Divine Power.


    A few secondster, the violet light ceased and revealed Freya adorned with a cloak made out of falcon feathers, "S-so this is a Deity... It''s way more amazing than I originally imagined..." Tionamented after the wave of Divine Aura washed over them, "T-te... Wait! Is it fine for her to be doing something like that!? I thought Deities aren''t allowed to release their powers in the Lower World!?"


    But instead of Loki, it was Finn who answered, "Of course it''s not... However, Kisuke Urahara is probably doing something to hide that fact... Truly inconceivable... Does that mean he has the means to go against a God?"


    "Not just that. Take a look at our surroundings. Despite the seriousmotion they''ve caused, no one was approaching and it''s too quiet. It''s as if we became the only residents of Orario.", Riveria added.


    "Finn is correct and he doesn''t just have the ability to go against a God..." Loki, with the most serious voice and expression she has, continued, "He fully has the capability to y one." Kisuke already guessed that Loki had already figured out what''s going on because of his sloppy handling of the ability he''s using, so he''d already released her and trusted that she won''t be interfering anymore.


    Loki then looked towards her children trying their best to hide their fear, "That''s the kind of guy that you''ve been fighting earlier so you really don''t have to take it to the heart that you lost to him. That also meant that his teachings and advice from earlier had a lot more value than you all originally thought. Who knows~ Maybe there would be a time that you all would be able to stand beside me on equal footing."


    Ais clenched her fist as the heat was raised in her chest. If she really has that kind of power, then her dream would just be a trivial matter. She then looked back on the battlefield and became curious about Freya''s sudden change of outfit, "A cloak made of feathers? What for?"


    "Those aren''t just some bird cloak but one of her Divine Armaments. Although it doesn''t have a name, it''s one of her most powerful weapons."


    Everyone had already heard about Divine Ornaments from Loki when she''s drunk bragging about hers so they could understand what it entails.


    "Its wearer would be granted the ability to fly and contrary to its looks, it''s one of the most sturdy ornaments in Heaven, making the user almost invulnerable to damage. Of course, as I''ve said, it''s a weapon. Those feathers can fly out with blinding speed and each of them could act like they are a thrown spear. Most of the Gods who went against it got multiple holes punched in their bodies."


    While Loki was exining the cloak to her children, Freya finally moved and slowly floated up to the same level as Kisuke.


    What Loki didn''t tell her children was that the Freya right now becameplete.


    When she descended, she became known as Goddess of Beauty, Love, Fertility, and Harvest. That''s because those are the only aspects that her avatar could contain until it became ''filled''. As for the remaining aspects, Gold, Sorcery, War, and Death, they were left behind and sealed in her original body.


    Now that she has a direct connection, however, all the knowledge and experiences she has with the remaining aspects descended into her Avatar which was arguably, the biggest power up she''d received.


    "Unforgivable..." Freya softly muttered, but Kisuke heard her perfectly. The despondent Goddess from earlier had already disappeared and the one in front of Kisuke right now is a bloodlust-filled warrior.


    ''I pissed her off, alright~ So much so that she still has no inkling that I''m using an iplete illusion spell, Kyoka Suigetsu, sloppily.''


    Loki has guessed correctly that Kisuke decided not to reason with Freya because he knew that it would just be a useless endeavor if he had learned something from socializing with Gods. Their beliefs are from their Divinity and their Divinity is the source of their power. The moment they doubted themselves, it would be the moment that they lost everything.


    Nevertheless, they aren''t exactly wrong with their beliefs either. In this morally gray world, wrong answers are only wrong for those who think they are wrong.


    Since reasoning with her would just be a useless effort, Kisuke opted for an easier one, ckmail. By threatening her that he could easily destroy everything she has if she goes over the ''no no'' line, it would create a more effective method of control.


    Of course, Kisuke could have stopped after deleting a few of her top Familia members, but this is also a good chance to gather more concrete information regarding the beings called ''Deities''. As such, he couldn''t easily let go of the opportunity and went ahead to piss her off more by brutally murdering everyone in front of her and disconnecting their connections to Freya temporarily, creating a wrong impression that they are already out of her reach.


    As one could see, it went incredibly well. So well that she really won''t listen to any of his words anymore and just out for his blood and soul.


    Without saying anything further, Freya raised her hand, and thousands ofplicated Magic Circles four feet in diameter each appeared around them in a span of a few seconds. Seeing such a grand scale of Magic, Kisuke thought, ''Yep~ She''s in the state that she couldn''t care less if she destroyed the world. How selfish.''


    Instead of defending, Kisuke flew up with the speed of sound, aiming to escape the area so that Orario wouldn''t be obliterated with just him standing there, ''Hmmm... Lolog Lake beside Melen is a good spot since I''ve also ced various barrier formations there. Good thinking, past me~!''


    After praising himself, Kisuke decided to give a small screen where the members of the Loki Familia could watch their fight since it''ll also be a good experience for them since he has a feeling that they might have to go against a God if things develop for the worst.


    Editors:


    28th00: I kinda expected this the second he used an Illusion magic at the start, but man, it felt great to see Freya suffer. Cathartic, some might say...

 Chapter 799 VS Freya part 2

    Chapter 799 VS Freya part 2


    Arc of golden lights created sharp whistles as they passed through Kisuke''s former position with some of them hitting the ground and disappearing after creating crevices of unknown depths, ''A very simple yet very effective attack. Without activating Hierro, I would be in pieces after a few hundred of those hit me even if my basic resistances were boosted. Though being torn into many parts isn''t really a big deal for the current me.''


    While whizzing through the golden des, Kisuke looked back at Freya who''s silently chasing after him, and thought, ''Still, I can''t really prevent the activation of her Magic because she''s using an entirely different system of Magic. They look like Elven Magic, but none of my knowledge about it does help. Even if I tried, I would just fall for the traps within those Magic Circles.''


    Ability-wise, Deities, including those from the previous world, average around Captain-level while wielding their Bankai. Not to mention the Leader-ss that is much stronger than normal Deities.


    However, versatility-wise, the two worlds are actually far ahead of Seireitei due to how Magic was much more flexible than Reiryoku. And because Seireitei''s path of development centered around martial prowess led by stubborn and old school court, the technological advantages couldn''t even bepared, ''And that development was further strangled by the ban on any space maniption rted studies. In fact, if I hadn''t established the Research and Development Institute, they would probably still be stuck on swinging their swords, blindly chasing after Hollows from their paths of destruction, and sending messages through birds or errands.''


    Of course, this doesn''t mean Kisuke was discounting Seireitei''s actual development. If it''s martial prowess, he''s confident that they would be able to take on any faction on both worlds in a straight fight without any problems.


    ''Now I really wonder what happened after Yoruichi and I ''died'' over there. Since Aizen was around, I''m confident that they''ll be able to deal with Ywach''s ''eyes'', but as for actually defeating him, I''m not so sure. Does that world still exist? If it does, I really need to start working on returning and hope that they haven''t permanently killed the boss of Quincies.''


    Kisuke''s quick recollections were cut short when he reached the center of Lolog Lake. He wanted to take this fight on the open sea, but the rage of the barrier won''t allow that, ''But this ce should berge enough.'' Kisuke thought while dodging the remaining golden des with ease.


    Seeing that it''s not effective in the slightest, the newly arrived Freya stopped the futile effort and switched her strategy. Raising her left hand, a gigantic purple Magic Circle manifested on top of them. The Magic Circle was sorge that it almost epassed the wholeke known for its size.


    Kisuke immediately looked up and tried to analyze the Magic. However, just like from before, it only resembles the Elven Magic a little bit. Still, he was able to get something from it after judging the flow of Magic Power, ''Field type Magic, huh?''


    As he expected, the air within the Magic Circle became heavier and something invisible started invading and eroding him starting from his skin. He then looked down and saw theke be still and turned dark purple with dead fishes beginning to float up, ''Curse Magic? No... This is more akin to Death Magic.''


    All of a sudden, Freya spoke, "I should have already been sent back to Heaven... Is this your doing? I''ll make sure you regret it." Contrary to her always sultry and passionate way of speaking, her voice right now was as cold as permanent ice just as her entire demeanor.


    Freya was genuinely regretting the fact that she ever got involved with him. And now that she knows what sort of being Kisuke really is, she couldn''t help but me herself for sending her own children to a brutal demise, ''So this is fury... I''m not thankful at all...''


    Kisuke didn''t say anything back and just released his Shikai. Swinging Benihime upwards, Kisukeunched a wide crimson arc towards the Magic Circle. However, the arc only went through and disturbed the circle before thetterpletely repaired itself without even interrupting the effects of the Magic, ''Of course it wouldn''t be that easy. But it''s worth the try, I guess?''


    Instantly after, Kisuke felt a threat to his position and hastily used sh Step. When he stopped ten meters away from his former position, he saw it was skewered by 9 golden rods. Within those rods, Kisuke could see the faint outline of a feather. But he wasn''t able to think more about it as another threat loomed and he had to dodge it.


    After three subsequent attacks, Kisuke finally refused to dodge and used Hierro to boost his defense. He felt a powerful Teleportation Magic trying to make its influence inside his body but it was naturally rejected. Since this failed, the golden rods instead teleported just a few inches outside of his body and mmed at him.


    If it was another person, they would be already impaled by the golden rods but with defensive Hollow skill that was already on par as Aizen''s, the rods were just crushed without damaging him in any way. Though the reason why tanked the attack is not that he got tired of dodging but because he felt that Freya already predicted where he would stop.


    Freya audibly clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw Kisuke virtually unscathed and just his attire full of holes, "You aren''t a Deity so what are you? A monster from the Dungeon?"


    "Regardless of my answer, you still won''t stop until you can kill me, won''t you?", replied Kisuke while taking off his haori and upper part of his kosode, revealing his well-shaped and chiseled upper body.


    Pointing her right palm at him, Freya smirked, "Don''t worry. I won''t just kill you, but slowly take you apart until you''d wish you''re dead."


    "That''s fine. Nheless, please don''t expect that I''ll be forever passive." Suddenly appearing in front of her, Kisuke mercilessly brought his de down to her face.


    This much was not a surprise attack for Freya and she intended to block it with her cloak. That''s where mistakes were made as she severely underestimated the power behind his sword and it was already a bit toote when she realized this.


    Without having much choice, Freya turned sideways while flinging her cloak in an attempt to slow it down.


    The sword hit the cloak and there was some resistance to it, though it didn''tst long. Kisuke''s sword continued on its intended path but Freya had shifted her body.


    Freya looked down and only then did she see how much she''s underestimating him, ''This is getting ridiculous... He parted theke with a simple swing?''


    Thanks to her split-second decision, she was able to get out of harm''s way but her beloved cloak was already torn into pieces. Nevertheless, she didn''t want to waste the opportunity that was presented to her. Freya extended her hand and formed a knife with it while covering it with highly concentrated Divine Power. She then aimed at his chest, wanting to steal his heart, literally.


    Due to how close they are right now, Kisuke didn''t have any time to move. Of course, he was already expecting that she would jump for this kind of opening but he didn''t care. Before Freya''s handnded, a patch of skin on Kisuke''s chest suddenly turned white.


    Freya''s expectation of seeing blood was shattered as a loud ng was heard upon impact, "What!?"


    Editors:


    28th00: Lol, gotta try harder than that to carve his heart out! Purely physical attacks are the easiest to defend, block and invalidate afterall.

 Chapter 800 VS Freya part 3

    Chapter 800 VS Freya part 3


    While the battle was ongoing, Loki invited the ''guests'' in to watch with them, "So that guy even managed to fool you all that you''re dead?"


    Ottar, the rest of the executives, Mia, and Anya walked in while still checking the ''wounds'' they had suffered, "Was that... Just a bad dream?"


    As for the members of the Loki Familia, they are d that they are alive for one reason or another but they still can''t wrap their heads around what just happened. They almost had a heart attack when the headless people started standing up before the scene returned to normal, "Loki, when did you notice?" asked Finn.


    Loki sat down on the couch and pinned her eyes on the floating monitor, "I was shocked and angry too at first, of course. But that''s what I thought he wanted so my thoughts immediately deviated when he sealed my movements and speech. Though ''till the end, I only had a suspicion because adding to the fact that I can''t imagine him starting a useless massacre, the town itself was unnaturally quiet. Even if he was able to set up a barrier to iste the noise, people should have started gathering around when they saw the top of Babel destroyed."


    Riveria took a peek at the untouched Tower of Babel and said, "Now that you mentioned it... It was extremely strange, but I only noticed it when everything was already done."


    "There are other little details that supported my suspicion but I won''t mention those. And don''t really have to be hard on yourself since Freya fell for it too, spectacrly at that."


    "But shouldn''t Freya-sama already know that no one''s actually dead? We have her blessing, after all.", Mia interjected with confusion.


    "Although what happened on the Tower of Babel was fake, that didn''t mean that he really doesn''t have the ability to erase someone''s soul. In fact, I''m more inclined to believe that he could because that would exin how he was able to sever, or at least block your connection to Freya.", Loki exined briefly, ''Though what concerns me the most was that illusion ability. It''s so well made that even Freya who released her Divinity couldn''t tell it apart from reality. Even now, I''m still wondering when we fell for it.''


    "Anyway, just watch. It isn''t every day you all get to see how a God fights."


    .


    .


    .


    Freya hurriedly took back her hand and dodged the de that wasing after her by jumping back. But even then, she wasn''t able to get away as the sword emitted a crimson light and released a whistling arc.


    "Tch!" Without much choice, Freya released more of her Divine Power and caught the arc with her bare hands, crushing it.


    But before she noticed it, her body was already entangled with a blood-red that extended from Kisuke''s feet.


    Freya hurriedly tried to break away but the was too stretchy to cut, ''It wasn''t meant to entangle me?'', Freya thought to herself. Nevertheless, the bad feeling that wasing from the didn''t decrease instead, the threat only seemed to increase with its unknown use.


    Unfortunately for Freya, the time that she used to ineffectively break away from the was enough for Kisuke to gather his power. Stabbing the at his feet, Kisuke poured a considerable amount of energy into Benihime, "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi."


    Orbs of fire started sprouting on each corner of the until it reached Freya.


    Freya was horrified at what she''s seeing and hastily gathered all the Divine Power she could to protect herself.


    A secondter, an explosion so loud and so bright it shook the entireke. The explosion was so strong that those within the Twilight Manor saw a second sun. If not for the barrier that was protecting the region, no building would be left standing in Melen and some parts of Orario would have been destroyed from the shockwave.


    "Freya-sama!!!", the members of the Freya Familia couldn''t help but shout simultaneously with some of them leaving the Twilight Manor to see what''s going on theke with their own eyes. Since the devastation was covered by thick steam made from the nasty water of theke, they couldn''t see the result of the explosion. However, they are sure enough that Freya couldn''t take that without being injured.


    Kisuke, although he already knew Freya''s situation without looking at her, waved his hand to produce a strong gust of wind that blew the steam away, revealing Freya''s scorched and falling figure.


    Ottar and the rest shuddered at this sight and were about to rush to the location like everybody else but Loki spoke out to stop them, "There''s nothing you can do even if you go there. You''ll just be wasting time."


    "That doesn''t matter. If Freya-sama were going to die, then I''ll apany her to the grave."


    Loki peeked at Ottar who refused to back down and was followed by others, "That''s incredibly foolish, but if I were Freya, I''d be happy to hear your sentiment, however, don''t put a Deity at the same level as you, mortals." The moment she finished her sentence, the air within the entire room became so heavy that it actually became hard to breathe for some.


    Ottar turned around and directly looked at Loki, "...So this is a Deity''s pride."


    Loki didn''t say anything back and just returned her attention to the screen.


    Ottar became silent for a few moments while looking at the ripple that Freya created when she disappeared on theke before saying, "None will go. Let''s wait here for our Goddess'' victory."


    At that moment, the sky lit up as Divine Aura covered the area before a golden chariot pulled by two giant gray tabby cats.

 Chapter 801 Clear Mind

    Chapter 801 Clear Mind


    Kisuke immediately looked up as soon as he felt a strange presence appearing on top of his head, ''So even the manifestation of the legend is the same? Then I''m more inclined to believe that the names aren''t a coincidence.''


    Kisuke dodged the angry cats and they went on to continue their journey to the bottom of theke where Freya is.


    But instead of an explosion of power like Kisuke was expecting, only a sh of bright light urred. Soon after the gigantic Magic Circle that continuously cast ''Death Magic'' on the region disappeared, ''Well, it isn''t really effective against me so it''s just a waste of effort for her. Though the clean-up afterward is going to suck. Do I have a purification tool? I would also have to elerate the repoption of marine life.''


    Kisuke''s worries, however, were proven to be useless because another sh of light emerged from within theke and this time, the light caused him to feel the warmth of life, a stark contrast to the overwhelming aura of death from earlier. Theke''s water returned to its former shine and the marine life was instantly restored to its healthy state. But it didn''t just stop at that as the downed trees and vegetation have begun wriggling and fixed themselves.


    The restoration didn''t stop until the region flourished more than before their battle, ''What a wonderful sight. The ''miracle'' of a Deity, huh? How interesting.'' Kisuke thought to himself as he watched Freya serenely emerge from theke without a drop of injury, grime, or water on her body.


    But more than her wless body, what caught Kisuke''s attention was the white and gold armor set she''s wearing and the lustrous silver kite shield and a short sword that matched her hair. Kisuke thought that the Freya right now, along with her demeanor, was truly a Goddess of War and Beauty that he had imagined. After thinking for a few moments, he concluded that her current equipment right now was the chariot and cats that had just descended.


    Kisuke got ready because he knew that this is where the real fight would start, however, his opponent didn''t have the same idea and turned her head towards Orario.


    Kisuke hastily checked the surrounding barrier and found them to be working as intended, ''She was able to see through it?''


    Nevertheless, instead of being disappointed, Kisuke was happy to have found this problem this early on. All in all, he just needed a few more pieces of information from Freya to make the necessary adjustments. He''s just worried that thetter won''t be cooperating anymore, ''How should I piss her off this time? Should I call her ugly?''


    Before he knew it, Freya''s shining purple eyes were already locked on him, "Aren''t you thinking of something very rude?"


    And without hesitation, Kisuke replied, "Yeah. I''m thinking of saying how ugly you are inside and out."


    With a response that she was not expecting, Freya almost tripped over nothing. The corner of Freya''s eyes twitched before she could say back with a slightly forced smile, "M-my~ So nothing changed for you, huh. You''re really pulling my confidence down here."


    Freya thought that Kisuke was taking back what he just said when he suddenly gave her a thumbs up and a wink when he actually said, "Don''t worry~ I can assure you that you''re still ugly on the inside~!"


    Freya felt the veins on her forehead pop out but she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She has a feeling that only now that she met the ''true'' Kisuke. Having a hunch that she would just further be infuriated, Freya changed the topic, "Why did you do this?"


    "You''re not going to ask how I did this?"


    "I want to know that too since it''s an ultimate game changer for us Deities if we can use our powers within the Lower World, however, I doubt I could hear an answer from you so at least, I wish to know your intent behind this," Freya recalled thest instance they exchanged words. It was a very memorable day for her because it''s also the day that she started doubting her eyes, ultimately pushing her to do the extreme just to validate her already shaking beliefs, "Is it because you''re against what I want to happen?"


    Kisuke immediately shook his head, "Don''t get it wrong. What you''re doing was, at most, kidnapping and I''m no hero orw enforcer that would go after you. As for ultimately what your goal is, I have a vague idea though it still isn''t my right to step in. As I''ve mentioned before, I won''t force my beliefs on you and just suggest something universal, look through another lens."


    "Let''s see... As for the main reason I''m doing this, let''s say you''re standing dangerously close to a line that shouldn''t, by any means, be crossed right now so I''m here to stop you and make sure not to do anything simr in the future."


    "I see.", Freya nodded in understanding, "I must say, it was really threatening and I have no intention of doing something simr in the future if it incurs your wrath. You had undoubtedly already achieved your goal, but what else do you want? You didn''t have to let it reach this point."


    "I''m a man of curiosity. I wanted to know what a God can actually do. You could also say that I wanted to test my skills by challenging a Deity since it isn''t every day that I could. But I guess this is where the fun ends." Since she didn''t have any further reason to continue this fight Kisuke prepared to take down the barrier once Freya severed her connection to her real body, ''It''s a shame but it looks like I won''t be able to coax her by just pissing her off.''


    However, Freya became silent and Kisuke wondered what she''s thinking about.


    After a few seconds of staring at each other, Freya proposed, "Today is really such a unique day so ending it here would be unfortunate. How about this, if you can defeat me, I would do any one thing you ask as long as it''s within my ability."


    It was Kisuke''s turn to be silent and gave her a stare full of suspicion.


    "And when I said anything, I meant it. Whether it''s lending you my children or having fun with me for a month or two."


    Without pause, Kisuke replied while raising his hand, "I''m sorry but I''m neither interested in either of the two."


    "Guh..." Freya staggered, ''He could have at least pretended to hesitate a little.'' But what made it worse was the fact that right now, Kisuke is making a face that as if he would even pay her not to do any of those, ''Am I that bad in his eyes?'' Freya could feel her confidence plummet.


    Among those who are watching, everyone was speechless with each of them having a differing impression of the conversation, except for Loki, who''sughing her ass out loud, "Fuhahahaha! I''ve never thought Freya could make a face like that! Way to go, Ki-tan~! It''s an achievement never before seen even in Heaven!"


    "Though I''ll admit that it''s a very appealing proposal.", Kisuke continued, "But what price do you want from me?"


    "Your experience."

 Chapter 802 Negotiation and Flashback

    Chapter 802 Negotiation and shback


    Kisuke thought about it for a bit and said, "You want to go through my memories?"


    ''But even then, that wouldn''t count as ''experience''.'' Kisuke thought to himself that''s why he''s not sure what she exactly wants. Though he already has a vague idea what she''s going to say next and he''s already not liking it.


    "You just said that it would be a good idea to experience the world from a different lens, so if I win, not just your memories, but your feelings and what you''re going through on that exact instance. You could say it''s the first step towards that wonderful advice of yours."


    Kisuke''s smile disappeared and without any word, he snapped his fingers, activating another barrier that would slightly distort the images that are going out and block the sounds entirely.


    Freya looked around and tried to figure out what the barriers were for. However, she was already expecting this and didn''t ask about it. Instead, she raised three of her fingers and said, "Then how about three favors from me?"


    Kisuke massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed.


    "Then five? I believe that''s more than sufficient price."


    Kisuke then raised his head and looked at her. He knows that she couldn''t really me Freya but he still couldn''t help but feel disappointed, "You don''t have any idea how enormous the price you''re asking for. Even if you raise all of your fingers, that would be nowhere enough. And even if I can assure my victory, I can''t just devalue my experience like that. After all, even I have a pride that I want to keep."


    This time, Freya raised her brows in wonderment. Although she knew she''s asking for something steep, she didn''t think that thetter would still not allow it even with all the favors she could offer, ''Is he undervaluing my favors or is he overvaluing his few years of experience. I won''t deny that he''s truly a unique existence and his experience could be said the same, however, an agreement or contract of permanent nondisclosure could be made so anything about him would still be safe with me. To think that we couldn''t even reach that part...''


    ''But since he blocked the sound from going out, this at least meant that negotiation is still on the table.'' Freya thought about it for a moment and instead of making an offer of her own, she asked, "What do you suggest I should put on the line?"


    "You."


    "...Huh?" Freya wanted to believe that she heard him incorrectly.


    "Only when you can offer your whole self that I''ll think about it.", Kisuke rified.


    Freya glowered at Kisuke''s preposterous words, "If you wanted to refuse, you could just have said it. In what world some experience and that of a single person could be equal to one of the highest seats of this world? Do you know how ridiculous your words are just now?"


    Of course, Kisuke knew that no matter how precious his experiences are, there''s no way it could be equivalent to Freya''s life in her own eyes. With that said, he himself still believes that his experience is more valuable than Freya''s entire being, but he wouldn''t be able to negotiate with the greatest possible benefits if he doesn''t start high. More than his pride, the safety of those around him takes priority.


    ''She could easily prove the value of her existence, but how should I prove mine?'', Kisuke thought about it while Freya silently waited for his answer. As much as she wants to dismiss Kisuke''s ims, there''s a nagging feeling that makes her want to continue listening.


    After a little bit, Kisuke finally made a move and took out a blue polished crystal card etched with various runes and patterns from his inventory and ced it on his forehead before closing his eyes. Freya watched in curiosity and saw that the card slowly changed its color until it was red and the writings on it turned golden.


    ''This should be enough for a teaser. I should be able to at least get her cooperation for most things.'', thought Kisuke as he opened his eyes and said, "Within this card is a portion of my memories. Sadly, I have no way of including what I''m feeling at that moment, as of now. But this should give you a rough idea of what you''re asking for."


    Kisuke then threw the card towards Freya after saying, "But I''d like you to promise first that you won''t reveal anything that you''ll see."


    Freya caught the card and inspected it for a few moments and deciding, "I promise on my name that I won''t reveal whatever I''m going to see.", the moment those words left Freya''s lips, her whole body glowed but that shine also instant went away, "How do I use this?"


    Kisuke nodded in satisfaction and answered, "Bring it on your forehead as I did and inject your aura into it. Just make sure that you don''t reject anything thates from it or most of the information would be lost."


    Freya was suspicious, but she could at least tell that Kisuke wasn''t lying. After hesitating for a few seconds, Freya finally did as Kisuke instructed and in the next instant, she was taken to another world.


    ''This is...'' Freya was taken aback but immediately calmed down after figuring out that it was just a fake world created through Magic. She looked around the barrennd and what initially caught her attention were the two strange men standing and facing each other from a certain distance.


    Freya wanted to move closer but found out that she can''t move anything aside from her head. She looked down and saw the familiar green motif eastern attire and wooden sandals, ''So I''m standing in his ce.''


    Now that she knew she couldn''t do anything else, Freya refocused her attention to the men that seemed to be gearing to fight each other, ''I wonder what''s so special about this?''


    Of the two, Freya first looked at the man in white that seemed to sprout multiple butterfly wings stacked together on his back. But as she narrowed her focus, she shuddered at the concentrated aura that was around the man. The intense unknown aura that Freya felt made her want to hurl and flee the scene, ''W-what''s that!?'' She only stopped her attempt when she recalled that this is just a memory and she couldn''t even move in the first ce, ''If it were me in my original body, I would be hurt just from prolonged contact with that thing.''


    She then turned her eyes to the other one who seems to be a young man with bright orange hair and wears a simr attire as Kisuke, just ck overall. Contrary to the white man, this young man doesn''t emit anything. It''s as if he''s not even there.


    Freya couldn''t observe any further as the young man started talking, "Let''s get started, Aizen. I''m gonna finish this in a blink of an eye."


    Although thenguage was unknown to her, Freya could understand him without any problem and just attributed it to her standing in Kisuke''s ce.


    "...Finish this in the blink of an eye... I see... Now I understand, Kurosaki Ichigo. I understand the reason why you no longer possess Reiatsu. It''s not that you''ve lost it, but you discarded it.", the white man named Aizen started talking.


    "I do not know what method you used, but you converted all of your Reiatsu into physical strength. Arm strength, leg strength, grip strength, throwing strength, running strength. You discarded your Reiatsu in order to dramatically increase all of your body''s capabilities because you gave up on the idea of fighting me with Reiatsu.", spreading his six pairs of butterfly-like wings, Aizen''s aura further intensified, "However, you should abandon all of your hope. I will show you that even this strength that you ced all your faith in is far below that of my own."

 Chapter 803 Settlement

    Chapter 803 Settlement


    Kisuke didn''t have to wait long until Freya finished the memory. Since it''s just a bunch of information, the card was able to transfer everything within just a few seconds before it disintegrated into ash, permanently destroying any records after its one-time use.


    Kisuke was about to say something to start the negotiation but held his words back when Freya looked at him with eyes filled with fear, ''Err... Was it that bad? Since the only thing I did there was seal the temporarily weakened Aizen, she must have been terrified by both Aizen and Kurosaki-san.''


    And Kisuke was right, mostly.


    The moment the battle started, Freya could only silently stare in fright as the terrain changed with each of their shes. It is not to say that Gods aren''t capable of such feats, but to obliterate an entire mountain with something as casual as a simple swing of a sword was beyond her realm of understanding and possibility.


    In addition to the blinding speeds that she could barely catch with her eyes and instant teleportation that''s impossible to predict, Freya, even at her full strength and original body, would just be a mere child in front of them.


    And that became even more apparent when the white man used a spell that encloses the target within a dark void. Just from the fluctuation from it, Freya presumed that she would be reduced into a mangled piece of meat if she were to be trapped within it.


    When Aizen transformed into a monstrous being, Freya could feel the aura around him disappear. But a few momentster, she figured out that it didn''t disappear but Kisuke couldn''t perceive it anymore.


    At that point, her mind already stopped working as the battle raged on.


    After the whole thing, she mostly forgot what she had seen because of three key moments that upied everything in her head, ''W-what was that? Is something like that even possible to exist?''


    In the end, she didn''t know what she''s even scared of the most. Whether it''s thest attack of the young man that seemed to not just physically cut the target but also their ''past, present, and the future, the monster that survived it, or the man who''s capable of sealing such a being, she didn''t know what terrified her the most.


    ''A final attack that''s capable of cutting the fabric of reality itself... A monster that survived an attack that could even kill immortals with ease... And a man that the monster viewed as his equal and was able to seal thetter... These powerhouses that shouldn''t exist are within his memories... I see... So that''s how it is...''


    As she managed to rearrange her thoughts and calm herself down, Freya finally had the time to properly look at her opponent. Kisuke then noticed a shift in how Freya looked at him. At first, Freya looked at Kisuke as a mortal. No matter what he does, it''s still within the realms of mortals. After their fight, she finally viewed him as a threat and an equal. But now, Kisuke couldn''t exactly tell how it changed yet again as it was a mix of various emotions.


    Even Loki was startled at how Freya changed in front of him, ''What happened to her? What are they talking about?'' Though that change wasn''t noticed by anyone else.


    However, what happened next almost made Loki kick the table away if not for her immediate self-control because others might notice her reaction, ''WHAAAAAT!? WHY DID FREYA BRING THAT DOWN!? WHAT''S REALLY HAPPENING OVER THERE!?''


    On the screen, everyone could see Freya raising her arms up before summoning a white orb that emitted a faint light. On the surface was a symbol that looked like intecing lines that formed a three-point shape. Ever since the sound disappeared and their lips blurred out, everyone has been wondering what the two are talking about and that curiosity only increased with the appearance of the orb, "Loki-sama, do you know what that orb is?", the Elf Hedin asked.


    "A Divine item. There''s no point in further exining what it really is.", Loki kept her calm as she answered but more questions kept popping up in her head on why Freya brought down her own ''heart'', ''Just bringing it down already risks her of disappearing forever. What on earth really happened for her to take on that risk without any hesitation?''


    "What is that?", asked Kisuke after guessing that it wasn''t an item used for battle.


    "My everything.", Freya looked at him with a small smile, "My heart. Take this, and I''ll be yours, forever."


    Kisuke was taken aback. He honestly didn''t expect that Freya would agree to his first term. However, he was still suspicious of the veracity of her words and kept quiet.


    Guessing what''s on his mind, Freya continued, "You can confirm it, Loki."


    And Kisuke did as she has said, securing a telepathic path to Loki, [Loki-sama, mind telling me what''s on her hand right now?]


    But Loki remained silent even after waiting for a minute or two. Her reluctance became obvious to Kisuke so he added, [I''ll tell you what''s going onter.]


    Loki was silent for a few moments but eventually spoke, [...A Deity''s heart. More specifically, Freya''s heart.]


    [So that''s the source of her power? You can take it out?]


    [No... That''s different from our Divine Core. It''s something that usually sits on the deepest depths of our souls. It''s something more important to us than our power. Destroying that won''t kill Freya, instead, what makes Freya ''Freya'' will cease existing. It''ll regenerate over time, but it''ll never be the same.]


    [I get it. That''s her will, ego, and consciousness.]


    [You better keep your promise.]


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else to her and terminated their connection, "Since you took it out, I assume that you''re betting with it?"


    Freya nodded, "Certainly."


    "I''ve never thought that you''d agree so easily."


    Freya chuckled and said, "I''m of the same opinion, but after what you showed me, it would be an injustice to you. Though I do have an additional condition."


    "What is it?"


    With a beautiful and radiant smile that could capture anyone''s heart, Freya responded, "Regardless of the result, I''d like you to take me on a date~ Somewhere far from here."


    ''So that''s what tipped the scale.'' Of course, Kisuke knew how not to ept her words at face value and easily found out the hidden meaning behind them. Since he already concluded that Deities of this world can''t leave because of the shackles known as the ''Heaven'', ''freedom'' for them was an impossible thought. For Freya, just being presented with the possibility of shaking off these shackles and experiencing a world beyond her recognition and imagination was enough for her to bet her life on.


    Kisuke thought about it for a little while before giving a reply while scratching his head, "You do know how strict your ''parents'' are, so I can''t really promise. But you can count on me to give it some effort if that''s fine with you."


    Contrary to how Kisuke predicted she would respond, Freya nodded happily and said, "That''s more than enough~!"


    ''How desperate are you!?'' Kisuke internally thought as he realized how important ''freedom'' is for these bored Deities, ''Though it might not just be Freya, if the others want something simr, I can use this as leverage.''

 Chapter 804 The Greatest Practitioner of the Seidr Magic and a Loss

    Chapter 804 The Greatest Practitioner of the Seidr Magic and a Loss


    Freya ced her ''heart'' on her chest and fused with it, "Now that the terms have been established, let''s do our best."


    After confirming both of their oaths, Kisuke prepared himself. But before they could start, Freya added, "A prolonged battle between us would only uselessly exhaust us both so here''s another proposition. If you can take on my strongest attack, I''ll admit defeat. How about it?"


    Kisuke didn''t think too deeply about it and nodded, "If that''s what you want, then I have nothing against it." Out of all the remaining things he wanted to measure, it''s her maximum raw power.


    Freya''s smile deepened as she released the shield and sword from her hands. The weapons momentarily transformed back into cats before they transformed once again. This time, as a pair of metallic silver wings on her back, emitted motes of glittering light.


    Kisuke could feel the surrounding Magic Power rush towards her and be converted to Divine Power just as fast. If not for him manually keeping the barriers, it would have been destroyed a long time ago. He then saw her raise her right arm once again and felt something descend once more.


    As he looked up, Kisuke saw a 10-meter long and 4-meter wide pure white armored boar dashing straight to Freya with a loud roar that one could never believe came from a boar. Halfway through, however, the boar began shrinking until it became a sleek and gleaming white spear thatnded on Freya''s hand, "This is Hildisvni, my most prized and most powerful weapon. It''s also a weapon that wouldn''t lose to Gungnir or Mjolnir."


    Freya then lowered her stance and pulled back her arm that''s holding Hildisvni, getting ready to throw it at Kisuke, "Unlike Gungnir that always strikes true wherever the target is, however, mine would only go in a straight line."


    "Then I guess it won''t stop at any obstacle and would pierce through anything.", replied Kisuke with a chuckle and rxed his control over his power, letting it quietly run wild inside his body. If he wanted to release the vast majority of his Hollow powers, controlling his base power would only limit it. Even though there''s just a paper-thin division between his Shinigami and Hollow side, it''s still a cliff-like separation.


    He already concluded that he could fuse these two powers and without any doubt, he''d attain power that of a transcendent like what he had always wanted. However, he didn''t choose to do so because he had a feeling that he would just throw Hougyoku''s final efforts into trash. More than that, he also has an inkling that he might lose Benihime like how Aizen lost his Zanpakuto despite keeping its powers.


    He doesn''t exactly know what he''s waiting for, but he''s willing to use any time to bid for that exact moment that he could break through the invisible barrier of his existence as he wanted, ''I feel that I still need to go through many things before I could reach that state. I just wish I would never be backed into a corner that I would have to resort to something irreversible.''


    Freya, on the other hand, also felt Kisuke''s aura shift and stopped speaking to focus. The memories that Kisuke showed didn''t reveal anything pertaining to his real strength, ''If he had to stand on the sideline as those two battled, I can assume that he''s not on the same level.''


    The main reason Freya proposed this kind of battle is to increase her chances of winning. Although Kisuke isn''t on the same level as those ridiculous ''monsters'', she couldn''t forget Aizen''sst words to Kisuke and how the former was tricked into receiving a sealing spell without his knowledge. She knew that if it''s a normal battle, Kisuke''s ''superior intellect'' would take her down as it prolonged.


    But even if she was able to force him into receiving her most powerful attack, she''s still not very confident that she could win so in addition to her spear, shemenced employing her Magic to augment her spear further.


    As the greatest and most powerful practitioner of Seidr Magic, Freya''s forte isn''t about the maniption of elements nor the conjuration of mysteries, but the discerning the flow of time and working within its structure to bring about change, which was done by symbolically weaving new events into being. The sole reason why Freya could see through Ichigo''s ''Mugetsu''.


    That''s also the reason why she was so terrified of that attack and the being that survived it. It''s because ''Mugetsu'' doesn''t bring any changes, instead, it brought forth ''nothingness''.


    After charging the Hildisvni with as much power as she can, Freya diverted the rest of her Divine Power to her Magic which resulted in a golden Magic Circle behind her, infinitely moreplexpared to everything that she has shown until now.


    Borrowing and converging all the future that she saw into one event, Freya locked Kisuke into one singr result of him being pierced through by the spear powered by all the realities that she saw.


    As Kisuke looked at this, a single drop of cold sweat ran through his back and he thought while his movements were being restricted by some invisible force, ''I''ve never thought that she would suddenly pull out a reality-warping spell. I could understand the restriction of my movements, but where the hell is this additional powering from!?'' From his point of view, it''s as if multiple Freya''s were stacked together, raising the power gathering within the spear exponentially.


    And Kisuke''s wild guess was correct. After copsing the possible futures into one, the Freya of that timeline didn''t disappear but temporarily migrated into Freya''s position. It is a Grand Magic with power so great that it would render Freya''s Divinity almost nonexistent for a period of time after this instance and further stay on the Lower World would risk her of its dangers since she wouldn''t even have enough Divinity to return to Heaven if her avatar were to be killed.


    In the event that Freya did actually die in this state, her consciousness would scatter without the guide of her Divinity. While she won''t truly die, it would take countless years before she could wake up again.


    This is truly her everything in one attack.


    While it didn''t normally happen, Kisuke became excited at this sight, ''Looks like gaining power meant one wanting to test it every now and then. Although only slightly, I can understand how Kenpachi feels all the time.''


    Freya saw a deep smile crept on Kisuke''s face and couldn''t help but be bothered by it, ''Underestimating me?'', she thought and said, "Be careful. I won''t be able to receive my reward if you were to die."


    "That looks really powerful... But I think I would have to disappoint you with an anti-climatic ending."


    Freya didn''t say anything else and just threw the spear saturated with Divine Power, "Hildisvni!!!"


    But before the spear could leave her hand, Kisuke disappeared and suddenly reappeared in front of her. For a split second, however, she thought an entirely different person appeared as the man in front of him had light blonde long hair that reached his hips. But that''s the least surprising as he also grew a white angr horn pointing upwards on the left side of his head along with eyes with the ckened sclera and golden pupils.


    Before Freya could react any further, Kisuke raised his left arm that was coated with Hollow material that reached his shoulder and grabbed the tip of the spear with his bare hands.


    Freya watched her spear and Kisuke''s hand made contact with unbelieving eyes. Releasing a bright white light, the shockwave that resulted from the collision of two forces instantly disintegrated all the barriers around, including the ''eyes'' that were capturing their image. It didn''t stop there as another wave of shockwave sted almost half of theke''s water into space.


    Thankfully, Freya''s spear was pointing towards the vast sea as most of the force left that way and Melen and Orario were spared from total destruction.


    Thanks to the disappearance of the barriers, Freya''s massive Divine Aura spilled throughout the entire region, catching all the Deities'' attention within it and making all of them release their own Divine Aura before making haste towards the source, except for Loki who''s patiently waiting in her seat and Ouranos who couldn''t leave in the first ce as he had to strengthen his ''prayers'' so this Divine Power wildly spreading wouldn''t reach the depths of the Dungeon.


    Normally, most of the Gods would have already recognized the source of Divine Aura as Freya, however, another unknown aura that was much more terrifying distorted any recognizable parts of the former. This unknown aura that was as strong as a Deity''s aura if not stronger is more of a reason why everyone was scrambling to get to theke. They wanted to know what ungodly being could bepared to a God.


    .


    .


    .


    Despite the blinding light, Freya could still see clearly what''s going on and could only watch in disbelief as her spear''s power slowly dissipated until there''s only 1/100000 of it remained, leaving only some bleeding cracks on Kisuke''s arm.


    Freya''s remaining Divine Power was exhausted and her armor, wings, and spear disappeared in a sh of light, returning where they came from, leaving behind the naked and unmoving Goddess to fall from the sky while muttering, "So you''re just as ridiculous as them... I was scammed..."


    Kisuke swooped her in while taking out a spare green haori and wrapping her with it before scooping her on a princess carry, "That''s not my fault and I''m not on their level. Not yet, anyway."

 Chapter 805 Discovered Hidden Danger

    Chapter 805 Discovered Hidden Danger


    With a small pout, Freya took out her ''heart'' and brought it close to his chest, "I would have asked for more demands if I knew it would be as one-sided as that.", But before the orb could touch Kisuke, multiple intricate barriers covered the object, "Aren''t you being too careful? This thing would do anything to you."


    Kisuke nodded and said, "That''s true... At least, that''s what you believe is the truth. However, you didn''t create Heaven so there''s no way for you to actually know everything there is to it about Deities. Whether there''s a hidden truth or not, it doesn''t hurt to be careful."


    "I guess you reached this level because this is how you do things." After the barriers were fully established, Freya pushed the covered orb and it disappeared in Kisuke''s chest, letting it sit on the outermost corner of his soul.


    Kisuke and Freya disappeared from theke and a few minutester, numerous concerned and curious Deities arrived at the shore of the Lologke, only to witness the devastation that they have left but nothing else.


    After using sh Step a few times, Kisuke and Freya arrived at the room where the executives of both Loki and Freya Familias gathered and each one of them was looking at them with trepidation. Not because of the battle which ended they didn''t see because everyone''s memories have already returned to normal. It''srgely because of Kisuke''s current appearance, closer to a monster more than a human he ims to be.


    Kisuke ignored them for a moment and asked Freya, "Can you stand?"


    Freya nodded and Kisuke gently ced her down. She didn''t wait for anything else or even greeted Loki and her children. Freya just started walking towards the exit while beckoning her children, "We''re done here. Let''s go home."


    Everyone from the Freya Familia kept what they were thinking to themselves and followed their Goddess without any questions. Out of everything that has transpired, they are just d that she''s safe and sound. It was also then that they noticed that despite her apparent weakness, her steps are light as if an invisible burden has just left her shoulders.


    While they were leaving, they came across Gareth''s group that has been trying to enter the area since earlier but thanks to one of the Loki Familia members who came out with them to exin the situation, no sh happened.


    It also didn''t take too long before Kisuke''s rampant power calmed down and slowly returned to her previous form. After changing his clothes through Magic, Kisuke tipped his hat towards Loki and said, "Well then, Loki-sama, everyone. Thank you very much for your reception but I won''t be staying long. I hope you have a good day."


    "Wait. You haven''t fulfilled your promise."


    "Ah, that. It''s really nothing special. Freya-sama wanted my ''experience'' and I showed her some of my memories. She then used her orb as a stake."


    Loki clicked her tongue and sat back down, "That''s essentially telling me nothing by leaving out the most important parts!"


    "But I''ve fulfilled my promise so I don''t have any other duty to answer your curiosity." Kisuke didn''t say anything else and directly disappeared in a blink of an eye.


    "...Loki.", Finn called out to her.


    Loki was able to easily figure out what''s on everyone''s head and said, "What? You''re bothered by the form he took?" Since Loki knew that they couldn''t possibly tell the difference between Freya''s aura and Kisuke''s aura, their attention was caught by Kisuke''s inhuman form.


    Silence from the surrounding was all the answer she needed and she couldn''t help but sigh, "How is he any different from Filvis? And besides, many Gods themselves have horns on their original bodies and some of them even have extra limbs and eyes."


    Loki then stood up and left the room, intending to catch some rest. But unlike Freya who left on a happy note, Loki is feeling disappointed that her children seem to be not at all capable of escaping themon knowledge that they have despite being presented with evidence, ''Fighting monsters all these years and avoiding conflict with people seems to have taken a bad influence in their minds. Even though they knew that people are much more capable of evilpared to unthinking monsters...''


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as Kisuke exited the city, Yoruichi appeared beside him, "Why did youe to watch? Were you that worried?" Kisuke jokingly asked.


    Unexpectedly, however, Yoruichi nodded seriously.


    Kisuke stopped walking and faced her, "Hmmm?... Why?"


    "Aika gave me a heads up. She didn''t know what it was but she told me that something dangerous might happen to you. Since we can''t really categorize her ability anymore, I couldn''t take that warning lightly."


    "Dangerous...?" Kisuke resumed walking but his mind was running at full speed, trying to find a clue what that danger could actually be. s, despite spending some time contemting on it, he couldn''t think of anything. Though that itself is a clue since it meant that he either can''t sense this danger in the first ce, overlooking something, or something beyond his control was moving.


    And considering that Aika felt it on himself, there''s only one thates to his mind. Tapping his cane, Kisuke sent a thought, ''You''re awake, huh? Since when? And why are you hiding it?''


    Though he was just guessing and tricking her to reply, Kisuke indeed got a response, ''Because I was bidding for my time.''


    ''Since you responded, does that mean you gave up? What for anyway?''


    With a lighthearted tone, Benihime replied, ''Examination~''


    Kisuke was startled and stopped walking which prompted Yoruichi to ask in concern, "What''s wrong?"


    "Thank you foring... Looks like I was really in danger..." There''s only one instance that Benihime referred to something as ''Examination'' and that''s when he tried to achieve his Bankai. Due to his Zanpakuto''s nature and ability, he almost died before passing her test. And until now, he firmly believed that Benihime would have been fine with it even if they both perished that day.

 Chapter 806 Perceived Hidden Danger

    Chapter 806 Perceived Hidden Danger


    Yoruichi closely examined Kisuke and figured out that he was having a conversation with his Zanpakuto. Having recalled his rtionship with Benihime, she asked "Should I set up a barrier?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Don''t worry. It won''te to that. Not now."


    Yoruichi sighed in relief and remained silent. As far as she knows, the only Zanpakuto that is as sadistic as Benihime was Shunsui''s Katen Kyoukotsu, which was already famed for always putting its owner at the same risk as his enemy.


    ''So why didn''t you continue?'' Kisuke asked Benihime.


    ''Because you are not yet ready.'', Benihime answered briefly, ''As much as I want for both of us to attain a higher level, you need to have an actual chance to proceed. After all, the power we''re talking about is something beyond Bankai. And you also know that for me to achieve that, I have to advance beyond the limits of my origin and existence.''


    ''The constraints of a ''name'', huh...''


    After moving out of the disrupted zone of the battle, Kisuke began setting up the teleportation magic that would take them back to the Dizara Region, "By the way, how''s Medusa?", he asked while preparing.


    Yoruichi thought about the scene she had seen for a few moments before Aika contacted her, "It looks like it''ll take some time."


    "It''s not going well?"


    "When has something like that ever gone well?"


    "So the situation is bad enough for you to say something like that. Need help?"


    Yoruichi shook her head, "Your help would be immensely useful right now, but it would be detrimental in the future. And yeah, the situation is bad enough that the older sisters are umting hate towards you with each passing day, so it would be better not to show your face to them until this is over... Not that you''d care even if they hated you to the bone."


    Kisuke was in silent agreement.


    "Either way, it''s good that you''ve changed your ns since I want to watch over them myself. And although things are quiet right now, I have a feeling that something dangerous is developing beyond our surveince."


    Connecting the coordinates, the two teleported and reappeared near the city of Pandemonium and started walking towards it, "Is it about the Aruna Familia?" asked Kisuke.


    Yoruichi nodded, "Yeah... They are strong, but only within this world''smon sense so there should be nothing of concern about them even though their current quiet behavior was not like them and attracting a lot of attention from others. However, there''s this nagging feeling that it isn''t as simple as it seems, so I tried investigating their God, Aruna. But surprisingly, I can''t get close without being detected."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened in surprise, "He can detect you?"


    Yoruichi nodded once again, "That''s right. Though I don''t exactly know how he''s doing it, I''m certain that I would only be revealing myself if I stay around him for a certain period of time even with Kuroka''s help. And thanks to that failed attempt, even though they have no way of identifying us, they became even more careful and quiet."


    Kisuke was about to say something but Yoruichi interrupted him, "I know what you want to say. Kidnap and extract information from one of them, right?"


    Kisuke became silent as that''s indeed an option they can explore.


    Sighing, Yoruichi continued, "I wouldn''t me you for your excessiveness since I know what you went through. Nevertheless, we can be cold but never cruel. Kidnapping one of them because of some simple suspicion is still cruel in my book. And you do know that the chances of getting any actual information from one of his children are nil since we''ve learned how a Deity could easily fool a child."


    "...That''s true... But I still think bringing in one of them is a reasonable method. I''m sorry that I can''t change this."


    All of a sudden, Yoruichi gave Kisuke a loud p on his back. Although it only tickled him, Kisuke couldn''t help but give her a puzzled look to which Yoruichi replied, "You did nothing wrong, so don''t apologize. Our differing opinions are not your fault because none of us truly knows the correct answer in every situation. And most importantly, you don''t have to change, not forcefully anyway as that shoulde naturally and I''ll wee it. But if I do think that you''re straying too much, I''ll be the first one who''s going to drag you back."


    Kisuke smiled and looked forward, "Then I''ll do the same. If I think you''re straying, I''ll be the first one to drag you."


    At that point, Yoruichi started chuckling.


    "What now? There''s nothing funny with what I just said."


    "No... I''m just d that the girls are with us. So even if both of us strayed apart, it''ll be up to them to do what they think is right. In hindsight, each one of us ispensating for each other in what weck, especially to the two of us whock the normality of life."


    They arrived at the gates of the city and Yoruichi added, "In any case, leave this to us and just focus on what you want to do on the other side. You don''t have to worry since contact is now possible."


    Kisuke then produced a terminal and passed it to Yoruichi, "Here is the list of barriers and formations I''ve ced on Pandemonium, Orario, and the tower. I''ve categorized and tagged them so it''ll be easy for you to look for what you need. Just use the search bar at the top."


    Yoruichi received the terminal and turned it on. But the moment her eyesnded on a certain metric on the board, a minor headache came rushing in, "9,936 entries? This is beyond overdoing it."


    "I wasn''t joking when I said you can search for whatever you may need. Though a third of that was for sealing the Dungeon from outside interference and influence from Divine Power or Soul Power. If it''s outside the Dungeon, you can go all out."

 Chapter 807 Going Back

    Chapter 807 Going Back


    "...If there''s this much, there shouldn''t be any big problems even if a God or two suddenly goes rogue and unleashes their Divinity." Yoruichi took one final peek before keeping the terminal within her inventory, ''Since most of these are Magic-based and Ki-based, I''ll pass this to Serafall, Kuroka, and Medusa too for good measure.''


    "So are you going to leave now?" Yoruichi asked.


    "Yeah. After saying my goodbyes. Aika''s preparations should be done too, though she won''t really be using any of those when we go back."


    Yoruichi looked him in the eyes and asked, "I had my suspicions, but are you nning to leave her there?"


    Kisuke became silent for a few moments before answering, "That was supposed to be the n and only take her back once she''s ready and bes more experienced with how the supernatural world works."


    "Then what changed?"


    "...I thought I should trust her a little more. I''m going to seal her abilities and senses and send her back to the secr world. Whether she truly wanted to continue this arduous and unforgiving journey or not, it''ll be up to her."


    Yoruichi also became silent and sighed. As they walked through the road she muttered, "Even I don''t know what should be done so I don''t really have an opinion about it. It''s just that it''s really surprising how we are treating her so differentlypared to when we dragged Inoue and Sado to a war that they shouldn''t have been part of in the first ce."


    .


    .


    .


    At the top of the tower that Kisuke built, except for Medusa and Yoruichi who were busy with something, and Akeno and Irina, that could hardly stay awake for a few minutes each day since their souls haven''t fully adapted to the changes within their bodies, everyone else had gathered to see Kisuke and Aika off.


    While Kisuke was wearing his usual attire, Kisuke asked Aika to wear her school uniform and thetter didn''t question it.


    "Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama, please take care of things here for me."


    Hestia pouted her mouth at her ever-so-busy child that he couldn''t even make some time for her, "I''d do just that even if you didn''t tell me."


    Artemis, on the other hand, could only smile wryly, "Just promise us that you''ll contact us every now and then."


    "I promise."


    Kisuke and Aika then proceeded to say their farewells to the rest of the crew. Sona wanted to boldly kiss Kisuke in front of everyone, but her sister''s burning stare ultimately discouraged her from doing so.


    After giving his reminders to the ''child'' group since they were tasked in taking care of Akeno and Irina, Kisuke returned to Hestia and Artemis, "Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama. I would like to request the two of you to meet and mingle with the other Gods of the region, especially those who are sitting at the top of the power hierarchy."


    "Why?" Hestia asked, because all this time, aside from Astarte and Astraea, they refused to meet other Gods because there''s no real benefits in doing so. In fact, they''d only be putting themselves in danger because they knew how much worse the power struggle within this region waspared to that of Orario''s. Despite the alliance looking good, it was striped with inner conflicts that each and every day, there would be small-scale conflicts within the shadow of Pandemonium.


    "I want you to keep an eye on them and tell Yoruichi or Serafall your impression of them."


    "You want us to gather information among the circles of Gods?" asked Artemis.


    But Kisuke shook his head, "No. That would be too dangerous. I just want you to interact with them normally and just keep an eye out on their behavior without eliciting their suspicions."


    "Since you''re asking us this, there must be something weird going on. Shouldn''t we actively gather information despite the danger?"


    "No. Actual information gathering would be handled by Kuroka and Yoruichi. I just want you to give them your impressions of each notable God, because that''s what they needed the most to make sense of the situation."


    "That''s easy! Leave it to us!" Hestia proudly proimed while striking her chest, "There will be a banquet hosted by Lugh three days from now on. We intended to ignore the invitation as usual but I guess this will be a good opportunity."


    "That''s great. With that said, always bring Serafall and Sona with you. If children are not allowed to follow you, Kuroka and Koneko will hide within your shadows as your guards. I won''t allow anypromises on this."


    It was a quarter of an hourter before Kisuke could finish his reminders to others that Aika couldn''t help butment, "Are you a mother!?"


    With a final wave, Kisuke and Aika disappeared from the tower and arrived in the desert that became Serafall and Sona''s venue for their training. Ensuring that his ''anchor'' was functioning properly, Kisuke opened a rift in space using his cane, "Hold my hand tightly and never let go."


    Aika did as Kisuke instructed and the both of them jumped into the void.

 Chapter 808 A Very Late Apology

    Chapter 808 A Very Late Apology


    Unlike his previous trips, the journey through the void this time was a lot more stable due to the countermeasures that he''d prepared, ''This is my fourth time going through this. I''d be ashamed if I still couldn''t figure out how to travel safely even after having all of that data.''


    Kisuke estimated that it wouldn''t be too long until he''s able to develop a stable pathway between the two worlds, ''But before that can happen, I first have to get Chaos'' permission or take him out. I don''t know which one is easier, though.''


    When they arrived, Aika looked around with a puzzled face, "Where are we?", she asked after seeing the sci-fi-themed room. She thought that they went back to the tower, but she clearly remembered going through the void and she didn''t recall a room like this within the tower she''d explored multiple times.


    "Before I answer that, take this." Kisuke tossed her a small candy.


    Although confused, Aika popped the candy into her mouth without a second thought, "What''s this for?"


    But before she could hear his answer, a massive headache attacked her consciousness and she almost fell to the floor from dizziness, "...W-what?" The confusion further clouded her mind as she tried to make sense of what was happening while holding her head in pain.


    Before shepletely lost consciousness, she heard Kisuke''s voice echoing as it fades, "Slowly but surely, it''ll all return to you... Until then, enjoy your life and I''ll wait for your decision..."


    Aika tried to fight back the drowsiness and struggled to open her eyes, "...N-no....." But as much as she wanted, she couldn''t resist the call of darkness.


    Kisuke caught her and carried her towards one of the rooms of the facility before he went out to prepare the rest of Aika''s normal life, "Let''s see... Exining it to her parents, creating a backstory for the lost memories, and enrolling as a third year. I guess that should do it."


    Leaving the Mars facility that was built by automated bots through teleportation, Kisuke returned back to Earth with an urgent goal of meeting Aika''s parents and epting their wrath.


    .


    .


    .


    In a normal house in the corner of Kuoh town, Kisuke was facing the Kiryuu couple in the living room. After the people of the supernatural world investigated them due to their interest in their daughter and finding out that they have nothing to do with their world aside from Aika possessing a ''failed'' Sacred Gear, the couple were left alone.


    Of course, that didn''t mean that someone who had no pride wouldn''t take advantage of their rtionship with Aika to lure her out, so extensive security from the shadows was arranged by the Belial House and Grigori for their safety.


    Sitting in front of him was a middle-aged man with arge build, tanned skin, short ck hair, and ck eyes looking sternly at him, expressing wrath and discontent. He was Aika''s father, Kiryuu Haruto.


    Aika''s mother, on the other hand, had a very mature build, light skin, straight long brte hair, and golden eyes which her daughter had inherited. From the kitchen, she asked, "Is barley tea fine?"


    Contrary to her husband, Kiryuu Honoka had a gentle smile stered on her face, but Kisuke could feel simr emotions hiding behind that smile as her husband''s. In fact, it was much more intense than Haruto''s, only it was contained.


    Kisuke nodded while keeping his hat to the side, "That would be fine. Much appreciated."


    For the next minute, only Honoka''s steps and the sound of cold barley tea trickling were heard for a minute or two.


    "Thank you." Kisuke expressed his gratitude and was about to take a sip on the offered drink when the father suddenly stopped him from reaching out to it, "Wait for a moment."


    "Yes?" Kisuke looked up and saw a fist bearing down his face. Of course, the moment Haruto had these intentions, Kisuke already detected it as they are only normal people. To him, Haruto''s fist moved at a snail''s pace, but he didn''t do anything about it and just waited for it to reach his face while rxing all of his defenses.


    The fistnded and Kisuke tilted his head to the side to avoid breaking the man''s fist.


    "Honey!" Honoka immediately reprimanded her husband.


    But Haruto ignored her and took his fist back. Seeing that he couldn''t even leave a mark despite dislocating his fingers, because it felt like he''d hit a concrete wall, he could only sigh, "I already heard about you and what you can do from your mother, but to think I can''t even scratch you..."


    Kisuke slowly turned his head back and replied, "You can continue hitting me and I won''t say anything if that''s a way that I can cate you. But I highly suggest against it, because you won''t be doing any harm to me."


    "Then what do you suggest we do to you?" Haruto asked while Honoka sat beside him.


    Kisuke became silent for a few moments. Strangely enough for him, he couldn''t seem to find the right words for this asion. He could try exining himself but that only felt like running away from his responsibilities so he refused to do so, "...There''s actually nothing. I can only apologize for all the things that have transpired."


    Bowing his head, he continued, "I ask for your forgiveness."

 Chapter 809 A Very Late Apology part 2

    Chapter 809 A Very Late Apology part 2


    Aika''s parents remained silent as they looked at Kisuke who didn''t move from his position.


    A few minutester, Honoka said with a smile, "Did you think that would be enough?" Despite that, her tone was cold.


    "Of course not.", replied Kisuke with his head still down.


    "Since you''re a Devil, are you going to offer us something in exchange for Aika? Isn''t that what you people do?", added Honoka.


    "I could.", answered Kisuke without any hesitation. This caused Haruto''s frown to grow deeper and Honoko''s smile to disappear and they were about to admonish him for even trying to insinuate that there was a price for their daughter. But before she could say it, Kisuke added, "But I won''t. I''m not going to put a price on her. Not now. Not ever."


    "I could grant you anything that you could think of. That''s how much power I possess. However, I don''t want it to be the reason or the cause for you to forgive me. It might have been a different story if you didn''t put much importance on Aika, but I heard from my mother how you loved her dearly, so I would not like to trample those feelings. Hence, I can only apologize. It was my fault that Aika ended up where she is now."


    The couple became silent once again, but this time, they looked and tried to gauge each other''s reaction. A few secondster, they both sighed, with Haruto''s frown disappearing and Honoka''s smile returning, albeit wryly, "Please get up, Urahara-kun. We''re not actually mad at you... Well, we''re done getting mad.", thetter replied.


    Although he hadn''t been forgiven, Kisuke raised his head and faced them as he didn''t want to make the atmosphere further awkward by ''forcing'' himself on them.


    Haruto crossed his arms and said, "As you might have already known, We already had a lengthy talk about this with your rtives and they also kept apologizing on your behalf, especially your mother. They exined the situation as truthfully as they could and it has been a while, so we already learned how to ept these things about our precious daughter."


    "But what we needed the most was an apology directlying from you. With that said, we forgive you.", continued Honoka.


    Kisuke was a bit conflicted, "I''m grateful, but..."


    "You think that it was extremely easy?"


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s right. I at least prepared myself to receive a ton of insults."


    "Although I hate to admit it, Aika really likes you.", Haruto answered while recalling this past month where they could finally talk to their daughter, "Even though she''s obviously avoiding the topic about your rtionship due to your polygamy, I could at least tell that you already became one of the most important people in her life, and I''m not going to hurl insults for no reason to the guy my daughter has chosen."


    Honoka chuckled and added, "Besides, I heard from Sakura-san that they arepletely capable of erasing our memories, making Aika seem not to exist in the first ce in our lives but you were vehemently opposed to it, ording to her. That already gave you a lot of points in my book."


    "Erasing our memories may have been easy andforted us of our misery but I would rather suffer than forget my precious girl."


    Haruto nodded at Honoka''s words and said, "That''s right. Thinking about it, I''m actually thankful that you didn''t erase the proof of our parenthood despite that being the most logical and safe thing to do."


    Kisuke smiled wryly, "If I allowed that to happen, Aika would kill me."


    "In any case, please drink the tea before it warms up."


    "Ah, yes. Thank you."


    For the next hour, the three had a long and fun talk since this was actually the first time the couple spoke with Kisuke. Ranging from their daughter and what they were doing now, Kisuke didn''t hide anything except for important and sensitive stuff. Although it was not enough time to truly know who Kisuke was, he left a good impression on the couple.


    After Kisuke finished his fourth ss of barley tea, Honoka asked, "Are you going somewhere else today? If not, you could stay here. We''d like to hear more from you."


    "As much as I would like to, I can''t. I still have to deal with a lot of things and I haven''t actually met anyone else aside from you after returning."


    "Oh my... We''re really ttered that you came to us first, but are you sure that your mother won''t sulk if she came to know this? We''ve be good friends so I know how much she dotes on you. And speaking of which, didn''t she say that you wereing back with Yoruichi? Where is she? I would have liked to meet her too."


    "Well... I''ll deal with my motherter. And about Yoruichi, she won''t being... Actually, I came here not just to apologize."


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "Truth to be told, instead of Yoruichi, I brought Aika back with me."


    ""W-What!?"" The couple was stunned and Haruto even stood up from the couch in shock and excitement.

 Chapter 810 Return to a Normal Life

    Chapter 810 Return to a Normal Life


    Seeing their reactions, Kisuke instantly felt a bit of guilt. They still missed their precious daughter, their only child, very much and despite their epting stance, they became extremely excited when they heard that Aika came back with him.


    Honoka grabbed Haruto''s clothes and gestured for him to sit back down, but even her perfect smile couldn''t hide how she''s feeling and asked, "W-where is she? Why is she not with you? Is she alright?" But as she progressively questioned Kisuke, more and more negative thoughts entered the couple''s mind and increased their anxiety.


    "Please rest assured that she''s safe. I didn''t bring her with me for a reason, but you''ll see her soon."


    The couple instantly guessed that it has something to do with the other thing that Kisuke mentioned aside from apologizing personally and calmed themselves down to properly listen to him, "Go on, please." Haruto asked Kisuke to continue.


    Directly getting to the point, Kisuke answered, "I want Aika to return to her normal life. Without any of this supernatural stuff, either temporarily or permanently."


    "I''m sorry, but I don''t understand." Honoka creased her brows. If Kisuke wanted to return Aika to a normal life, she knew he probably had a way to do so. What she''s confused about were thest terms, ''temporarily or permanently.


    "To exin, I sealed all of her memories that are rted to the supernatural world. Along with those, were the entirety of her abilities, reducing her to a normal high school girl once more."


    "Are you going to do the same to us?", Haruto asked while feeling a bit apprehensive.


    Contrary to their expectations, Kisuke shook his head, "No. It''s because I want you to watch over her with your newfound knowledge."


    At that point, Honoka finally understood what Kisuke really meant to do and said, "I see. So Aika would be able to break those seals of yours if she truly wants to, hence either temporarily or permanently. Am I correct?"


    Kisuke nodded at her, "You''re absolutely right. As time progresses, those seals would grow stronger and stronger until to the point where Aika won''t be able to recognize them anymore, nor have the power to break them."


    "And how long would that be?"


    "Around a year or two. After that, I''lle again and ask the both of you if you want me to seal your memories too if that''s what you want." The reason why the seals could grow stronger was that as time passed, those memories were being buried under new ones and would ultimately be forgotten.


    "How about the nk those sealed memories will leave? And why seal and not erase?"


    "I''ll answer the second question first. Sealing memories means blocking the perception from essing certain or all information. Its main advantage is that it''s way safer for the target once applied, but its disadvantage is that it''s incredibly hard andplex to implement, that it may cause unnecessaryplications and that it''s technically just a temporary measure. In addition to that, if not provided with a good excuse, it''s easy for the target to realize the missing memories and it could be quite stressful since no information would be created in ce for that used space."


    "Erasing memories, on the other hand, is simply purging information from the mind directly. And for that purged information, the mind would automatically adapt and sometimes create memories of their own topensate, resulting in an at ease mind without any additional effort and therapy. While this is incredibly easy to dopared to sealing, the more memories that are erased, the more the mind is burdened and it may even cause debilitating conditions. Though this kind of measure is certainly a permanent one."


    "As for your first question, we''ll create a story that she transferred out of Kuoh Academy because the two of you were assigned work out of this town. After a year, you were free of your work and she wished to transfer back. But before she could do that, she got into a traffic ident. While not a very serious ident, a wrong hit on her head caused her amnesia, making her forget the entirety of her second year. We can easily support this story by asking the Belial House to process all the documents needed for this."


    Honoka and Haruto became quiet once more as they needed some time to digest everything that Kisuke had just said.


    A minute or twoter, Honoka broke this silence, "I can understand what you want to happen... However, why? Why does she have to go through this?"


    Kisuke sighed in response, "She''s currently at a very important juncture of her life. Whichever path she wanted to take would bring her to entirely different futures. However, she''s having an inner conflict of not knowing where to go and the inability to move forward."


    A small smile then emerged from Kisuke face, "This may seem counterintuitive, but by making her forget one part of her life, things may be clearer for her, and maybe this time, she''ll be able to take a step forward, even if it''s just a baby step."


    "Are you really just 18 years old?" Haruto suddenly asked, "I feel like I''m talking to a fellow old man. Or are all Devils like you?"


    Kisuke chuckled while replying, "Wisdom isn''t caused by age."


    "But there''s a corrtion." Haruto immediately fired back.


    "Let''s just say that I''m a bit special. Aside from lifespan and natural ability to use Magic and understand all thenguages on Earth, Devils aren''t very different from Humans in their ways and society."


    Meanwhile, as Haruto distracted Kisuke for a bit, Honoka was able to rearrange her thoughts. This has always been the case for the couple. While Haruto is the brawn, Honoka does all the thinking forplicated andplex matters without breaking her husband''s trust.


    Kisuke, of course, instantly noticed this and just entertained Haruto with his whimsical questions.


    ''This is a great situation for us...'' Honoka thought, ''...It should be and we should just go with this without any further questions asked... But I don''t like how he''s just discounting my daughter''s feelings...''


    "But..." Honoka spoke up with great hesitation and the two men stopped their talk. She didn''t want to say it because Kisuke might pull back from this and they wouldn''t have a chance to escape this inexplicable world that contained terrifying beings, as just obtaining knowledge about them was already a curse to normal people like them.


    However, she understood her daughter the most and despite talking to her through a hologram, she also somewhat understood what she''s going through, "But... Aika would surely hate you if she were to remember all of this. She might despise you for this stunt you''re going to pull on her and might even push her away from you. Are you fine with that?"


    Nevertheless, Honoka still viewed Kisuke as a ''child'' and underestimated him, "I''m fine with that.", Kisuke replied with a light smile on his face.


    This answer, however, gave Honoka a wrong impression and she was instantly pissed. But before she could say anything, Haruto suddenly raised his arm and stopped her, "Haruto... Aren''t you going to say anything!? This man doesn''t really care about our daughter!"


    Though instead of replying to her anger, Haruto calmly faced Kisuke, "You still have ces you need to go. Don''t worry about us."


    Kisuke stood up and said, "Thank you for having me. In about an hour, I''ll teleport Aika to her bedroom, so be sure that it''s free." He then directly left the house without saying anything further and teleported after gaining some distance.

 Chapter 811 Not Now

    Chapter 811 Not Now


    After Kisuke left, Honoka instantly snarled at Haruto, "Why did you stop me!?"


    Normally, Haruto would have already cowered in fear in face of her wrath, but this time, he stood his ground with a light chuckle and a calm demeanor, "Because you misunderstood him."


    "...What?"


    Haruto then started walking towards Aika''s room while saying, "If Aika were to remember all of this, then I can trust him to take care of our daughter." And before disappearing from Honoka''s sight, Haruto added, "Of course, I''ll do my best so that she can''t recall anything. This is our ticket out of this."


    Still confused by what he meant, Honoka followed him to rify why he wasn''t even at least slightly angry.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke reappeared within the perimeter of a certain mansion and observed the surroundings first before stepping out of the shadows. As soon as he rxed his aura, dozens of guards watching the mansion in secret were immediately alerted of his presence and couldn''t help but shudder as he appeared out of nowhere and managed to get so close to them.


    Multiple guards hurriedly rushed to his position but before they could approach, it seems that each and every one of them received an order and retreated back to the shadows without any question.


    Kisuke''s stride didn''t change and he peacefully made his way towards the gates of the Mansion. The gates automatically opened for him as he walked in and reached the huge double doors that opened too, but this time, it was manually opened by someone very familiar, "How are you doing, mom? It has been a while."


    Sakura happily jumped at him and gave him a big hug, "I''m doing fine~ How are you?"


    "I''m doing great and am actually very ready to make a mess... No. Clean up the mess I''ve left. However, looking at things now, the situation was a bit different. For starters, it seems that the bounty on my head has already disappeared." Before he even reached Aika''s house, Kisuke was able to ess the information he needed from the bots he''d left to gather news. Although it was just superficial information known to the public, Sakura and the rest didn''t mention anything about his terrorist status being lifted, ''They ced all the me on the now-disbanded Khaos Brigade. Well considering how much mess they made, it''s easy to push some other mes into them and they wouldn''t be able to deny it. Though I would have really liked to move around more with a criminal record since they won''t be able to contain me with their rules.''


    Sakura was able to guess what he''s thinking and said, "It''s about time you y by the rules. You do know how much of a mess you''re leaving whenever you just go about things your way, right?"


    Kisuke averted his eyes from her and continued walking.


    "Though you can deal with your problems effectively, the politics of things are entirely different.", Sakura continued with a resolute tone, "And I don''t want you and the girls to keep fending off unknown threats because you guys don''t have the protection of any organizations. Yes, you are strong, but you can''t control the world with just strength. People gather for a reason."


    Kisuke stopped walking and smiled wryly while facing her, "Don''t make it sound like I''m aiming for world domination."


    But there was some truth to what Sakura had said. As a branded criminal, he can pretty much ignore the rules that the factions followed. However, that would also mean that the factions would see him as a threat, not as a criminal, but as a rabid dog without his leash and running around freely. Alone, he might be fine, but there were others that could drag him down and even if he put all his protection methods on them, he couldn''t possibly defend all of them.


    By being tied down, he would be subjected to the same rules as everyone else yed and the threat he poses instantly goes down, "Bureaucracy is really a pain in the ass, but I guess it''s also a way to move around safely."


    "Stop speaking like you have a choice! Just be a good boy for now. You''ll have all the chances you need to deal with Olympuster."


    "Ho? Did they already reveal their fangs to the world?"


    "They didn''t. They are still a major participant in the International Rating Game so they won''t be making a move that would incriminate their chances of winning. Not now, at least. But we can talk about thister. By the way, I didn''t expect you to get Haruto''s approval! We thought that stubborn guy would need to be persuaded by his wife!" Sakura suddenly changed the topic as they walked along the corridor.


    Kisuke already knew that they were listening since he didn''t hide his presence when he visited them and it would be weirder if they didn''t bug the ce, "I don''t think that counts as approval."


    "Well, no one really expected you to suddenly bring Aika instead of Yoruichi. And I understand why Honoka became so mad. Putting others to the test is really just inviting misunderstandings and hate. Although you don''t mind, it doesn''t mean it doesn''t affect you."


    "If I''ve deemed something as important, I''ll do it if I can afford the price. Aika''s hate is pretty cheappared to what she could get."


    Sakura sighed, "Is that so? Although you''ve changed, you''ve also be self-sacrificing. Do it in moderation, okay? The others can also take care of themselves. You don''t have to feel like you''re being chased by something because everything is peaceful right now."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything regarding that.


    "Whatever..." Sakura gave up, "Let''s go meet the master of the house, your aunt."

 Chapter 812 Ajuka and What Transpired

    Chapter 812 Ajuka and What Transpired


    Kisuke and Sakura entered the meeting room and thetter was about to greet the people inside it when she suddenly stopped as there''s someone who isn''t supposed to be here, "Beelzebub-sama?"


    Within the room, along with Cleria and Diehauser was the Chief Advisor for the Technology Department, the creator of the Evil Pieces system and the Rating Game, and the sole remaining Satan within the underworld after the events of the Evil Dragon War, Ajuka Beelzebub.


    Even Kisuke was intrigued by his attendance, but for a different reason, ''I couldn''t properly feel his presence. I thought that the third person was just some random servant.'' Kisuke observed him for a few moments and concluded, ''So he managed to develop a technique to mask both his Magic and Soul Pressure within this short amount of time. His own soul seems to have strengthened considerably too and there are some traces of training from it. As expected of a genius.''


    On the other hand, Ajuka was also doing the same, ''I still can''t see through him? This is really a wonder. I thought I had learned enough to at least shed some light on his mystery.''


    Thanks to the information he got from Azazel and Dn Sitri regarding souls, Ajuka was able to develop some soul techniques and was able to incorporate them with his Kankara Form, making his abilities advance by leaps and bounds. But despite that, he was startled that he still couldn''t find anything concrete about Kisuke, even though thetter was able to figure out the technique he''s using with a simple nce, ''Is it experience, intellect, or something else? He seems so used in gathering data that I couldn''t even bepared. As expected of a genius.''


    While the two geniuses were having a staring contest, the other three were feeling the mounting pressure between them, "Ehem... Shouldn''t we start?" Diehauser interrupted them with a fake cough.


    Ajuka broke his line of sight first, "Excuse me. Pardon me for my unannounced visit. I heard that Kisuke Urahara has arrived and I really wanted to secure a discussion with him."


    At his words, Diehauser, Cleria, and Sakura couldn''t help but frown because there''s only one way that he could have known Kisuke''s arrival, "So you won''t deny that you''ve tapped ourmunication lines, Ajuka-sama?"


    But Ajuka just took her re with a stride and answered, "I won''t. It''s my technology so naturally, I have a backdoor that I could use."


    The three Devil''splexion became uglier, "Ajuka-sama... Even if you''re the Devil King and the Chief Advisor of the Technology Department, you can''t be doing this."


    Ajuka nodded, "I know and I also apologize for that. I really need to talk to Kisuke-kun as soon as possible. In exchange for this, I''ll owe the Belial House a favor and this isn''t me paying it back but I''m also manually securing yourmunication lines in secret because there have been arge number of attempts to crack it from numerous unknown sources."


    Diehauser, Cleria, and Sakura were startled. Ever since setting up their informationwork, they''ve been prepared for breaches but strangely enough, there were almost none. It turned out it was Ajuka who was helping them from behind. However, this, and no matter how great his favor is, doesn''t mean it absolved him of his intrusive actions.


    Though before the situation and atmosphere could devolve, Kisuke interrupted them, "It seems that he needs me for something urgent so let''s set this aside, for now, aunt."


    Cleria stared at Kisuke for a while when she suddenly received a telepathic message from him which made her eyes open slightly more, [I have the resources to create a newwork that you can use. It''s already a good thing that we knew that he had been snooping around.]


    Naturally, Ajuka noticed this tant secret conversation in front of him but he didn''t really have the right to interfere or point that out.


    Cleria sighed, "Alright. Let''s move on. Are you fine with the current arrangement?", she asked Kisuke, referring to Ajuka''s presence.


    Since he''s just going to be updated on the current situation, Kisuke nodded his head.


    Cleria then faced Ajuka and said, "Ajuka-sama, Kisuke has been away for a while and needs to be briefed on the current situation. What you need to say to him needs to wait."


    "That''s eptable. Please go on."


    As everyone sat downfortably and had some drinks served, Cleria started by reintroducing herself to Kisuke as the new head of the Belial House because she''s the one with the most qualification as both Diehauser and Sakura has a questionable history with the former joining the Khaos Brigade even after providing information to the authority while thetter has a not so pretty record of forbidden research.


    Cleria''s inauguration became even smoother when the knowledge about the King Pieces of the Evil Pieces became public, which was the reason for the attempted assassination of her in Kuoh Town all those years ago.


    Kisuke wasn''t surprised at this oue because he was already expecting this. He just didn''t know it would happen so fast, ''Looks like the locked up leaders of Mythologies reshuffled the power structure. No wonder why I can''t touch Olympus for now, as Zeus was probably one of those fighting the Trihexa.''


    They started with the information that Kisuke didn''t have since they hadn''t told him about the entirety of the Evil Dragon War where Trihexa, along with the revived and mass-produced Evil Dragons and cloned Boosted Gears, wreaked havoc throughout the entire world.


    The first one they attacked was the Heavens, with the First Heaven being utterly destroyed while the Second until Sixth had varying degrees of damage from colossal to minimum. However, the biggest damage they received was the death of thousands of Angels and fatally injuring some of the Seraphs with Raphael losing one of his legs and Uriel losing an eye and an arm.


    Although they managed to fend off the attackers with the help of various Mythologies, Trihexa attacked Asgard next. If not for the reinforcement of other factions and a great amount of sacrificed lives, Asgard wouldn''t have been able to avoid its destruction until Trihexa was forcefully teleported away from it.


    The battle continued with Trihexa separating itself into seven parts and an Evil Dragon apanying each one of them.


    The war was only concluded when Azazel was able to stop the Holy Grail from producing more clones of Evil Dragons and Boosted Gears and the leaders were able to ce Trihexa in the Istion Field Barrier.


    "But even with a strong seal, it was estimated that Trihexa would still be able to free itself so leaders and subordinates of many factions joined it to stop it from escaping and hopefully, slowly kill it. This is the list of everyone who joined." Diehauser passed a piece of paper to Kisuke with a heavyplexion.


    Kisuke took a look at it and saw many familiar names.


    From Underworld, Sirzechs and his peerage except for Grayfia, everyone from Serafall''s peerage, and Falbium and his peerage except for his Queen.


    From Heaven''s side, All the Four Great Seraphs, except for Gabriel, and their Brave Saints except for their Aces.


    From the Grigori, it was only Azazel, but he''s the acting leader of the group because he has the most knowledge about Trihexa.


    From Norse Faction, Odin, and 6 other Gods.


    From Greek Faction, Zeus and 10 other Gods.


    And Finally, from Hindu Faction, Brahma, Vishnu, and 7 other Gods.


    Kisuke thought that the world had lost arge chunk of its powerhouses, but he didn''t think that it would be to this extent.

 Chapter 813 Hades’ New Forces

    Chapter 813 Hades�� New Forces


    "And the World Rating Game was initiated by Ajuka-sama and Shiva-san to stabilize the situation, huh..."


    Ajuka nodded, "That''s right. However, it wasn''t our idea but Azazel''s. All of us were just going to oversee the entire event. Because of that, we named the games the Azazel Cup in honor of his efforts and achievement."


    "How about Hades?"


    "Even though we have clues of his involvement, we couldn''t gather enough evidence so he''s still free to do whatever within his authority.", Cleria answered with a sigh, "But ording to the intelligence that we''ve gathered, he''s gathering various ''Evil'' Gods to his side so every major faction is being wary of him. What''s strange, however, was the fact that he''s able topose a team of unknown but powerful Devils to participate in the Azazel Cup."


    "I''ve got some chance to get a glimpse of them. ording to my initial estimation, some of them are potentially on Super Devil level." Ajuka suddenly revealed, stunning the three Devils.


    "What!? How does that make sense!?" Diehauser retorted.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, was able to piece some guesses using the story until now, "This is just a guess but they are probably Homunculi."


    With those words, Sakura was able to surmise Kisuke''s conclusion, "Are you referring to the Holy Grail''s revival and cloning ability?"


    "Yes. If it''s true that he has Devils that are unreasonably strong but remained unknown until now, it''s probably because he was able to make use of Qlippoth''s experiment results and data. Hades'' cooperation with Khaos Brigade bes easier to understand despite his apparent inaction when the group disbanded." Kisuke then scratched his chin and added, "Even then, he would need a very strong base if he wanted to create a Devil of the highest level."


    Kisuke took a peek at Ajuka''s expression and saw no visible changes. Even then, Kisuke knew that he already has a clue to what that ''base'' is thanks to his massivework of information.


    "In any case, you shouldn''t focus on these Devils too much.", Kisuke continued, "Although they may have raw power and energy density of a Super Devil, they may have little to no control over it. At most, they''ll just have massive muscle strength or Magic firepower and all of you know that''s not all when ites to fighting. Besides, it could also mean that Hades revealed a force like this to attract eyes, covering his tracks on other things."


    Ajuka closed his eyes and agreed, "That''s true. However, even if I want to dedicate more men to move around him, it''s still hard to follow the tracks of some Grim Reapers due to a certain replica of a Divine item."


    "Replicas of ''Hades'' Helm of Invisibility'', isn''t it?"


    "I see that despite your short meeting with his forces you already knew what they were."


    "Of course. I had my first contact with Grim Reapers wearing those."


    "So despite not knowing anything about them you were still able to find them?" Ajuka took a few decades to find out the true nature of these items not just because it''s almost impossible to detect the wearer, but also that Hades only uses them on very rare asions. On top of that, he would alwaysmand these Grim Reapers to stay away from any powerhouses to avoid any chance of detection. Although he didn''t really dedicate much of his resources to this, Ajuka was still surprised that he was able to find them with a single instance, "Ah. I get it. You''re not just adept in the study of souls, but also usage and detection of them."


    Kisuke thought for a moment before pulling out a pile of papers from his inventory and passing it to Ajuka, "This is the basic framework of Spiritual Pressure detection and a blueprint of a device that can make use of it. They shouldn''t be able to hide from this, though I doubt it''ll work on the real thing."


    Ajuka received the paper with great interest and started skimming through it. The further he reads, the shinier his eyes became, "I see... So that''s how it is. This is technically a soul''s unique print."


    Ajuka then turned his eyes back to Kisuke, "Are you sure you''re giving this to me?"


    With a big smile, Kisuke answered, "Hades has been a pain in my ass. If you could monitor his movements in greater detail, then that would be enough aspensation."


    Ajuka shook his head, "That''s what I intended to do from the start since I don''t really have any resources to deal with him myself. If there''s anything you need, just tell me and I''ll do everything in my ability to provide it. That''s just how valuable this information is."


    "I''ll think about it when the timees." Kisuke epted his offer.


    At this time, it was Ajuka''s turn to pull out something from his inventory. It was a smartphone and he gave it to Kisuke after navigating to a certain folder of documents, "This isn''t the payment but my reason for meeting you."


    Kisuke took some time and quietly browsed through the documents before saying, "Of course this can''t be a payment. You''re essentially asking me to work."


    Within the documents was information about the Istion Field Barrier and the Trihexa.


    Ajuka didn''t deny Kisuke''s words and said, "I''m just hoping that you could do something with your expertise. Of course, I wouldn''t just trust some random person with this critical data and any help you could provide would bepensated properly."


    Kisuke scratched his head while thinking, ''Well, I did promise Serafall that I''ll do something to help her friends andpanions. And I can''t really have these people trapped when there''s an even greater threat looming in the future.''


    "I''ll do what I can, but I won''t be making any promises."


    "That''s more than enough. Thank you."


    Seeing that their conversation is done, Cleria asked Kisuke, "What''s next in your ns?"


    Initially, after dealing with all of his enemies, he nned to work on a ''World Gate'' that would connect this world to Hestia''s world so that the girls could finally go home if they wanted to. In addition to that, Kisuke also nned to explore his options that could forcibly pull them back to this world in case an emergency were to arise.


    But now that he couldn''t haphazardly confront Olympus, Kisuke was left with a lot of time since it takes quite some time to get the experiment results even if tries to automate it, "I guess I''ll hang and poke around ces of interest.", he replied. In any case, he already nted several bombs in Hades and Olympus so adding a few more wouldn''t hurt, ''I''m also really interested in Hades'' homunculi. Maybe that could help me in furthering Gigai development?''


    "Then how about participating in the Azazel Cup?", suggested Sakura.

 Chapter 814 Chaos Karma Dragon

    Chapter 814 Chaos Karma Dragon


    "Then how about participating in the Azazel Cup?" Sakura excitedly suggested.


    "Ah. Right, I haven''t asked, but what''s the grand prize for this? With an event this grand, I doubt it''ll be just material or mary gain."


    "The prize is anything.", answered Ajuka, "The winner would be granted a wish that all participating Mythology will grant as long as it doesn''t disrupt the overall peace."


    All of a sudden, Kisuke''s expression became difficult to describe, "It sounds amazing but with a vague idea for a prize, it also meant that it''s up to you if you''ll grant it or not. There''s another word for that, a scam. A gigantic one even."


    "Pfft!" Sakura almost rudely spat out as she stifled herughter while the other two Belials were dumbfounded.


    Ajuka was a little bit embarrassed and feigned a cough, "Well... If you think about it, you do have a point. But rest assured as the wish will be deliberated among the Mythologies so it would be as fair as possible."


    But contrary to his expectations, Kisuke''s face became uglier, "What the hell? Winning wasn''t enough and you still need some political prowess to get what you want properly? That''s a bigger scam than I initially thought!"


    Ajuka is really embarrassed this time but didn''t show it and he didn''t say anything or deny Kisuke''s im. In retrospect, it''s really as he said. If someone without any influence were to somehow win, it''ll be really hard for him or her to request anything grand due to the pressure ofrge factions. But to be fair, all those who are strong enough to win the games couldn''t just be some nobody that has no connection to any factions.


    Seeing that he couldn''t get much of a reaction from Ajuka, Kisuke became bored and stopped, "In any case, even if I intended to join, I don''t have a team.


    "I''m confident in my strength, but I''m not ignorant and arrogant enough to think that I''ll win the tournament with just me."


    If it was the top ten strongest, Kisuke was definitely on that list. In addition to him being technically immortal with his superb hyper regeneration, he could be considered as one of the most effective fighters out there. However, proportional to that strength, he''s prone to underestimating his enemies. No matter how he tries to think that he won''t be a victim of such a thing, somewhere in his mind, it would only be a matter of time that he slips up, simr to how Aizen was sealed by the much weaker him.


    In conclusion, he couldn''t fight a war alone.


    Even Yhwach didn''t do it despite having such overwhelming strength.


    And finally, this was just a tournament so he couldn''t possibly show all of his cards. Ideally, with a team, he''ll only use half of his abilities.


    ''But speaking seriously, that ''wish'' reward from all the Mythologies is really attractive. If I can win, I could use their help when it''s time to deal with that guy.'' Crossing his arms, Kisuke muttered, "Even if I try to gather members, I can only think of two right now."


    Cleria, Diehauser, and Sakura instantly guessed the two people Kisuke was referring to, and indeed, there would be no problem for them to fill in four of the pieces.


    "If you really intend to choose with an intention to win, I can refer someone that could help you. Since she''s at God-level, she could fill the role of Queen, two pieces, or eight pawn pieces." Ajuka interjected.


    "Can she be trusted?", asked Kisuke in curiosity.


    "You''ll be the judge of that once you see her."


    pping her hands, Sakura happily dered, "Great~! Now you only have 1 or 2 more members that are on God-level. And even if you can''t fill your team, you''ll be running for one of the top contenders."


    Kisuke became silent and weighed his options. Since they are games, Kisuke could take advantage of the rules. Although eliminating the King is always a condition to win, it''s not the only one, ''It''s viable. If Ajuka''s referral is strong enough, I could aim for the first ce. Although I can''tplete the members right now, I could always look for er since there are no rules specifying that a team couldn''t recruit new members mid games. In fact, the preliminaries should have already started yet they''re telling me to register and participate.''


    "May I meet her right now?"


    Ajuka didn''t say anything and directly took out his smartphone and sent a message. Immediately after, he ced the phone on the table and it started letting out strong magical signals.


    A few secondster, a Teleportation Magic Circle appeared in the corner of the room before a beauty with long pale blue hair and dark blue eyes, radiating a cold atmosphere, appeared, "Ajuka, what do you need me for?"


    Everyone was familiar with this new addition to the room, including Kisuke, as he first saw her when Koneko went berserk in Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex Rating Game.


    "Tiamat, I''d like you to meet Kisuke Urahara and if possible, join his team for the Azazel Cup."

 Chapter 815 Not A Very Good Reputation

    Chapter 815 Not A Very Good Reputation


    Tiamat didn''t speak immediately and just stared at Kisuke. Ajuka, on the other hand, withdrew and just watched. He only needed the two of them to meet, it''d be up to Kisuke to convince her if he wants to.


    Kisuke stood up and introduced himself, immediately going straight to the point, "It''s nice to meet you, Tiamat-san. I''m Kisuke Urahara. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. This is a bit sudden, but I would like to invite you to my team for the Azazel Cup." He didn''t really care if Tiamat epted it or not as he could just look for someone else. But looking for someone else would take some effort so Kisuke at least appreciated Ajuka''s goodwill.


    Tiamat didn''t return the greeting and turned to Ajuka, "It would be nice if I can join a team since it''ll also mean that I''d be relieved of my duties. However, if you''re going to allow it, at least give me a choice. You do know the rumors surrounding him, so I would rather join Sekiryuutei''s team."


    Kisuke didn''t mind her rude behavior and turned to Sakura and asked, "Rumors?"


    "Ah... I forgot that there are those..." Sakura ced her hand on her forehead while sighing, "There was already previous dissatisfaction with you being proven innocent, but because of you and your group''s absence during a war that decided the fate of the world, the rumors of you being in cahoots with Rizevim from the start started gaining traction."


    "After all, even Hades sent his Grim Reapers to help several fronts to fight against the Evil Dragons.", added Cleria.


    Having words of his own to add, Diehauser faced Kisuke who, contrary to a normal reaction, had an amused expression, "Actually, the most popr rumor is that you''re very weakpared the officials im you to be, so you couldn''t participate in the war even if you wanted to without tarnishing the name of the Belial House. Since you''re in the same generation as the rising stars and heroes like Issei and Vali, the masses couldn''t help but draw a powerparison."


    "In the first ce, the only time you appeared in public was when you took part in saving the Underworld from the Annihtion Maker monsters, and the most prevailing theory of how you managed to defeat one of them was that you borrowed Great Red''s power, who had appeared with you. And the damage you caused in Olympus was contained, so no one actually knows the truth of what happened that day."


    "Adding onto that, Sona Sitri''s fans actually hate you because they think you''re the reason why she had to disband her peerage... Well, that one''s true."


    With an exasperated voice, Sakura ended it, "In other words, your reputation is shit."


    "I thought I''d give a few words of encouragement, but it looks like you''re not bothered by it even a little bit.", Ajukamented.


    Laughing at his words, Sakura replied, "If he was bothered by this, he wouldn''t have enjoyed it when others started calling him a terrorist!" Her eyes then sharpened and asked, "Wasn''t that the reason why you had to fix his status? You people were afraid of what he might do with that kind of title."


    Tiamat''s eyes widened and asked Ajuka, "Is that true?"


    Ajuka answered with his eyes closed, "It was Sirzechs, Azazel, and Michael that were extremely concerned about this. Nevertheless, I''m inclined to believe that there was a basis for their concerns and that was proven the moment I met him today."


    His words made Tiamat, who wasn''t interested in many things, think. A few momentster, she faced Kisuke properly for the first time and asked, "How about a mock battle?"


    Kisuke peeked at Ajuka and thought, ''I see... So this is what you wanted from the start.''


    Out of all prominent people in the world, it was actually Kisuke and his group that Ajuka was having a seriousck of information and he indeed hoped for this to happen when he decided to introduce Tiamat to him, ''Stability won''t be possible with just ideology. The knowledge that could be used as a weapon in the age of peace is the most important.''


    Seeing that Kisuke was remaining silent, Tiamat thought that he didn''t like the fact that he''s being tested and she can understand that, "As a persistent rule of the Rating Games, if the King is defeated, the game ends. I know nothing about you so I don''t know if you''ll be able to hold on long enough. If I''m going to join the games, I would rather have a chance to win and not babysit some unknown guy. Naturally, you''ll be able to gauge my abilities and make a proper judgment if I really am good enough for your team."


    Kisuke sighed and decided to go along with Ajuka''s script, "Understood. But before we start, I''d like to know the condition of ''win'' for me." Needless to say, he won''t be showing a majority of his ability, ''Hakuda without the Hollow reinforcement should be enough.''


    Tiamat misunderstood Kisuke''s words and thought that he''s not confident that he needed a focused condition to convince her, ''It seems that he''s at least aware of my identity. Too bad for you, I''ll be really strict.''


    Tiamat shook her head and replied, "The condition is to make me admit defeat. How you''ll do that will be up to you."


    At that point, Kisuke also knew that she''s misunderstanding him but still giving him the benefit of the doubt. But instead of resolving that misunderstanding, Kisuke amplified it using a worried tone, "What about injuries?"


    Tiamat appeared to be annoyed and said, "You won''t amount to anything if you''re not afraid of a little bit of pain."


    The Belial siblings immediately caught onto his ruse and looked at each other and came up with the same conclusion, ''She''ll be in a world of pain.''


    "Er... That''s true..." Kisuke then turned to Ajuka who''s confused by their exchange, "How should we do this?"


    Ajuka stopped thinking about it and refocused his attention on Kisuke and his actions, trying to read and record every move that could prove as useful information, "I''ll prepare a Game Field. In that, you can wreak havoc as much as you want."

 Chapter 816 Dragon King vs Shinigami

    Chapter 816 Dragon King vs Shinigami


    Within the artificial space that was reminiscent of a wide desert, Kisuke and Tiamat stood opposite and a hundred meters from each other.


    Tiamat unfurled her Dragon wings and rose to the sky while Kisuke followed suit, matching her height.


    Tiamat waited quietly for a few minutes but ended up furrowing her brows and asking Kisuke, "Where is your de?" She recalled that he has a Sacred Gear in the form of a hidden de within a cane.


    In response, Kisuke smirked and said, "As you''ve said, I also want to see what you can do. If I were to pull out my de, I may not be able to gauge your abilities properly."


    A vein instantly popped out of her forehead as blue mes began to emerge and circte around her, releasing an incredible amount of heat, "Ah? Is that so? Then you better watch carefully."


    Despite appearing very cold, the strongest of the Five Great Dragon Kings is in fact, very hot-headed when ites to her treasures and fighting. Opening her mouth, Tiamat gathered the blue mes in front of her mouth andpressed it. A secondter, a blinding blue st of pure me flew up towards Kisuke.


    The st of me reached the height of 30 meters and it would''ve been hard for anyone to dodge such an epassing and punishing strike that could instantly vaporize anyone on the level of High-ss Devils and below. Contrary to her expectations, however, Tiamat saw no movements from Kisuke and heard just a single mutter, "Danku (Splitting Void)."


    A translucent rectangr, 20 meter high, 10 meter wide, barrier instantly appeared in front of Kisuke, stopping the st of me that instantly turned the sand around them into pieces of ss.


    Tiamat was a bit shocked that her breath was blocked so casually and was about to resume the next wave of attack when she suddenly felt a threat beside her. She hurriedly turned her head to the right but it was already toote as a fist had already made contact with her nose, sting her away while leaving a trail of blood, ''W-what!? When did he!?''


    As she traveled through the air, her eyesnded on Kisuke, who was behind the translucent barrier and saw him suddenly pop like a balloon, ''What the hell?'' were herst thoughts before she was buried within the sands, like a heavy object dropping into a body of water, sshing and creating waves of sands behind her.


    Kisuke brought back his fist and wiped the blood off his fingers, ''As expected of a Dragon. That punch was enough to blow away someone''s head.''


    "I knew that he could win, but I didn''t think he''d do it this easily." Cleriamented while watching the match.


    "Going against Tiamat should be a given, but even when he fought Hades and Ares, he took an unconventional form. This time around, he didn''t do any of that. He didn''t even pull out his sword.", added Diehauser while analyzing the previous sh. He imagined that if he''s on Tiamat''s foot, he couldn''t have possibly dodged that either.


    "He grew stronger, alright...", muttered Sakura, very happy for her son but also very worried and concerned as she knew that he couldn''t possibly get this much stronger by just sitting around, ''I''d heard that he''s unforgiving when training others, but how exactly does he treat himself?'' This point made her realize once again that she doesn''t know that much about her son, even if she tried acting like she knew him well enough, ''The secrets that he''s hiding... Will I ever be able to make him open up to me?''


    Meanwhile, Ajuka ,who was outside of the siblings'' observation, had a deep frown on his face. All around the Game Field he created were various measuring tools that could detect anything within the space they were moving. Instead of the ongoing fight, Ajuka was staring at the data that was entering his terminal in real-time, ''It looks like Magic down to its fluctuations, but it isn''t Magic nor the power of Souls... At most, I expected his techniques to be of an unknown system but to think I couldn''t even analyze the source he''s using... Sirzechs severely underestimated the threat he posed.''


    Kisuke stared down as the cloud of sand began to disperse.


    A few secondster, a whirlpool of sand started to form on the spot where Tiamat disappeared, but what was surprising was molten ss took up the center and began to climb up. A minuteter, it has now be a whirlpool of molten ss.


    First were the Dragon wings spanning a hundred meters, before a 50-meter long Blue Western Dragon emerged from the whirlpool and stared back at Kisuke with her bright blue eyes, "I apologize for underestimating you, but from here on, I won''t be falling for the same trick."


    "With a target as big as you, I won''t be needing any tricks to hit you.", replied Kisuke as he took a stance.


    "Hit me then," Tiamat answered, while amassing anotherpressed blue me, but in a significantly shorter amount of time and sting it towards Kisuke''s direction once again.


    Kisuke used sh Step to dodge and close the distance, but this time, Tiamat was ready and swiped her giant ws at him. Kisuke easily dodged this and maneuvered around her arm to reach her chin, sending out a fist.


    With her size right now, the most she could do was mitigate the force by jumping backwards, but she didn''t do any of those to Kisuke''s shock. While suspicious of her intentions, Kisuke still continued and his fist was connected to her chin.


    But before he could send all of the force behind his fist, Kisuke was forced to pull back and used sh Step to take some distance. When he was sure that Tiamat wouldn''t initiate a follow-up attack he took a look at the fist he threw and saw its flesh seared, reaching even the bone, "Those are some deceptive scales. I couldn''t feel much heat before touching them."


    "They are almost a million-degree Celcius hot as long as I supply them with enough Draconic Aura. And more than keeping your hand, I''m surprised that you didn''t even wince in pain. Are you sure you''re in the same generation as those brats?"


    Kisuke stopped looking at his hand and started contemting his next moves while answering, "I certainly am. But a million-degrees celsius? That must be taking an enormous amount of Draconic Aura to maintain."


    "Your worries are unfounded. I can do this all day. With that said, isn''t it about time to pull out your sword?"


    "Well, touching you is definitely going to be tough, but it''s not impossible." Tiamat''s ability made Kisuke recall thetemander of Gotei 13. But unlike this Dragon, Yamamoto''s Ryujin Jakka made him nigh impossible to touch once he releases his Bankai. If it wasn''t for Yhwach stealing his Bankai and using it against him, Yamamoto wouldn''t have died so easily, ''His position as a ''protector'' also didn''t allow him to use the full scope of his abilities. Oh well, what should I do now? Maybe test that out?''


    "Still underestimating me, I see," Tiamat replied angrily and startedpressing her blue mes once again, but this time, there were a total of 9 waiting for Kisuke and it was enough to st the whole space he moved around in.


    Not minding this, Kisuke took a deep breath and muttered, "Shunko!"

 Chapter 817 Flash War Cry

    Chapter 817 sh War Cry


    "Shunko!"


    While the seared flesh on Kisuke''s knuckles began to heal, the veins in both of his arms and legs were suddenly ruptured, releasing a substantial amount of blood.


    Tiamat was shocked at this gruesome sight, but never did she once think that this is a suicidal move, even if Kisuke started gathering a frightening amount of power. She didn''t know what he''s nning, but she waited in anticipation. Tiamat had already decided to join his team after his first attack, but she still wanted to see more of what he''s capable of.


    Instead of falling down, the blood gathered around his arms and legs, ripping apart his sleeves, wooden sandals, and a portion of his pants, ''Err... I forgot about this... I''ll have to make clothes that won''t be destroyed by this next time. I''m not really a fan of showing off my sexy thighs.''


    While thinking such inane thoughts, the blood turned misty and swirled, covering his limbs. Shunko''s initial form waspleted.


    Kisuke looked at his limbs and flexed them, ''Thebination of Hakuda and Kidou, Yoruichi and Sui Feng is really great for figuring this out all on their own.''


    After hopping in midair for a few seconds in an attempt to gauge the changes in his physique, Kisuke disappeared from his former position and reappeared under Tiamat''s belly.


    Thetter already knew that he would reappear there as the enormous Blood Aura made his movements much more obvious. However, she still trusted her scales and poured her Draconic Aura into her defense. Nevertheless, that wasn''t a very good decision.


    Kisuke lowered his hips and stabilized his footing with an invisible foothold before rising up and throwing his fist covered in a blood mist once again.


    Tiamat expected his hand to be seared again, but against this expectation, the blood mist justpressed itself and impacted her belly, sending a wave of debilitating vibrations that made her whole body rattle, ''!?''


    Tiamat tried to fly up, but it was already toote as she was sent flying outside of her own volition, ''What''s this!?'' Along with her confusion was a lump of blood emerging from her mouth. Her organs were damaged enough that she''d started coughing out blood.


    But she didn''t care any of this for now as she was still in danger and immediately reoriented herself to face Kisuke, only to see him putting both of his hands together and pointing his palms towards her, "Haaah!!!" A st of crimson bloody energy instantly appeared from Kisuke''s palms.


    Feeling the threat, Tiamat hurriedly converged her blue mes in front of her to fight it off.


    Therge deafening sound from the collision of the two opposing forces pushed the sands, creating an enormous crater and a thick sandstorm in the desert. Despite this, the two of them could still feel each other''s presence very clearly and moved to once again sh.


    From the viewers'' point of view, the whole screen was covered by the sandstorm, and Kisuke and Tiamat''s figures would only be revealed for a fraction of a second when they shed and changed that section''s sand into molten ss, further adding to the turbulence.


    During thest sh of leg and w, the resulting shockwave pushed out all the remaining sand, revealing the two figures before they separated and stopped moving.


    While the two of them seemingly have no visible changes at first nce from afar, Tiamat''s scales have some minor cracks on them. In the middle of their shes, she had to dedicate some of her aura to defending the inside of her body due to Kisuke''s strikes having a resonance effect, especially on her blood.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke was still the same except for the blood swirling around his limbs already forming into half-done crimson blood gauntlets and boots, ''He''s slowly adjusting and evolving mid-fight... What a troublesome fellow, and I clearly underestimated him despite putting my guard up.''


    "Still want to continue?" asked Kisuke.


    Tiamat''s eyes widened at his question, "I''d never thought you''d ask that when you''re clearly on the verge of something. Shouldn''t you use this opportunity toplete that technique? Any dys may affect itspletion."


    But Kisuke shook his head and replied, "The pressure you''re applying isn''t enough anymore. Unless..."


    Tiamat received Kisuke''s knowing stare and sighed, "This is supposed to be just a mock battle, but fine. I''ll y along and stop holding back a bit."


    Kisuke smiled, "You have my thanks~." He then calmed the raging energies on his limbs and rearranged them to be more efficient.


    Tiamat, on the other hand, had her mes surround and cover her once again. Instead of getting bigger, the sphere became smaller than that of a Human before revealing what''s inside. Tiamat had returned to her humanoid form, but this time, her scales acted as her body fit attire and her limbs were that of a Dragon. In addition to that, there were now two long curved horns protruding out of her head, parting her hair and revealing her shining sapphire blue dragon eyes.


    Kisuke knew from the start that she''d been holding back because she used her Dragon form instead of the humanoid one when it was very clear to him that she was a master of martial arts due to her movements.


    But as soon as she took her humanoid Dragon form, the atmosphere instantly heated up to dangerous levels before falling into freezing levels just as fast. The evaporated moisture instantly turned into icicles, producing impromptu snow in the desert.


    However, Kisuke didn''t think that she''d suddenly changed the element of her Draconic Aura and correctly guessed the true nature of the frozen world that had be of the Game Field, ''Absorbing thermal energy for her own use, huh. In this regard, when ites to controlling heat, Captain Yamamoto is a child in front of her.''

 Chapter 818 New Teammate

    Chapter 818 New Teammate


    Thest few moments of the battle became a pure mano a mano fistfight.


    Compared to Yoruichi''s Shunko that was sharp and fast, and to Sui Feng''s which was swift and flexible, Kisuke''s Shunko that centered on his own blood was sluggish and heavy. But in exchange for that, each blow he couldnd caused devastating destruction that was capable of bypassing most defenses to a certain extent.


    If it waspared to a weapon, Yoruichi was a dagger, Sui Feng was a whip, and Kisuke was a Warhammer.


    Meanwhile, Tiamat''s blows were just as deadly, as whenever she touched a part of Kisuke''s body, it would instantly be burned despite his ridiculous durability. And even if Kisuke tried to block her attacks with his gauntlets and boots, they would be instantly destroyed, though it would only burn his skin a bit. To Tiamat''s frustration, however, each time she broke those, they would also instantly regenerate and be even moreplete and sturdy.


    As it became a slugging contest, the impact of each of their shes rattled the whole Game Field, which wasn''t that big in the first ce since there were only the two of them. These waves of destruction caused the surveince cameras to break whenever they or thebatants got too close. Since it wasn''t a typical game where there wererge numbers of cameras and Ajuka had filled the field with more sensitive devices, it wasn''t long before all of them broke and the viewers couldn''t see anything any further.


    "There''s no point in sending in anymore surveince since it''s about to end.", Ajuka said while standing up from his seat, "I got everything I needed to do so I''ll be taking my leave first. Have a good day."


    Cleria also stood up and said, "Then we won''t impose on you any longer, Ajuka-sama. Have a good day too."


    But before Ajuka disappeared within the Teleportation Circle, he turned around once again, "Right. Before I forget, please tell Kisuke Urahara that Sirzechs, Azazel, and apparently Zeus would like to have a word with him."


    "What!? But I thought-", nheless, before Cleria was able to finish her sentence, Ajuka disappeared, leaving the siblings thinking.


    Cleria sat back down and sighed, "Haahh... I really hate how he keeps leaving important things unanswered."


    "At least we know that the sealed leaders have a way ofmunication.",mented Sakura while they were waiting for Kisuke and Tiamat to emerge.


    Diehauser nodded at her and added, "I also understand why he wanted to keep this a secret. After all, this Azazel Cup isn''t just about reinforcing stability, but also pulling out the rotten roots when they finally reveal themselves. The fact that there''s a way to contact them would make these people tread even more carefully, so make sure you don''t utter a word about it."


    "Understood." The sisters nodded.


    At that moment, a Teleportation Circle appeared in the middle of the room, and Kisuke and Tiamat emerged. But as soon as they appeared, the Belial siblings panicked, "Nii-sama! Call the medical unit and bring our stock of Phoenix Tears!" Sakura shouted as she ran towards Kisuke who was suffering fatal burns everywhere on his body except his face. The bones in his right hand were even visible right now.


    Tiamat, on the other hand, was covered in her own blood with her veins ruptured and all of her orifices bleeding. While it didn''t look as bad as Kisuke, her internal injuries are nothing to scoff at. Just standing up is painful for her.


    "There''s no need." Kisuke stopped her mother from rushing and took out a bottle of glistening purple potion from his inventory before tossing it towards Tiamat, "Drink it. That should help ease the pain."


    Tiamat stared at the unknown concoction for a short moment before popping it open and drinking it. As soon as it touched her throat, she immediately felt the effect and saw her ruptured veins visibly heal and her skin close. The soothing and warm medicine then continued to spread throughout her entire body and slowly healed her damaged organs, "What''s this?", she asked while staring at the bottle, "It''s as potent as Phoenix Tears... No... Maybe even better since it''s slowly regenerating my Draconic Aura too."


    "Where did you get this?", but as soon as she turned towards Kisuke, she saw his almost baby-like skin was already without a hint of blemish and already fully restored. With a snap of his fingers, he also restored his clothes, returning to what he was like when he first arrived here.


    Tiamat looked towards his family members and saw them having the same reaction as her, confused on how he was able to restore himself within just a minute, ''Did he have a time-reversal healing magic?'' Tiamat asked herself. Whether that''s the case or not, she now understood his confidence in just focusing on improving his technique in the middle of their fight, "If I had known, I shouldn''t have held back blowing off your limbs. Maybe I''d be in less pain." Sheined while clicking her tongue.


    "K-Kisuke... What was that? Your wounds were suddenly covered in smoke then everything was already healed?" Sakura asked in concern. She, of course, was not bothered on why Kisuke could instantly regenerate his flesh and bones, but more worried that it''s just a superficial image he was projecting to avoid her from worrying.


    Kisuke didn''t misunderstand her concern and smiled to reassure her, "I''m fine, mom. This isn''t just something superficial. Despite how my injuries looked, nothing among those were special or cursed, so they were no threat to my life. Though I''m a bit tired after healing all those wounds."


    Not satisfied with his answer, Sakura started patting Kisuke''s body while sending pulses of her own Demonic Power to examine him to make sure that there was nothing amiss.


    Kisuke let her do what she wanted and turned to the still shocked Cleria and Diehauser, "Ajuka-sama left already?"


    Cleria reimed her expression and nodded, "Ah. He knew that it''s about to end so he decided to leave. But before going, he said that Sirzechs-sama, Azazel, and Zeus wanted to talk to you."


    "Hmmm... I see. Well I''ll have to gather more information before I speak with them.", replied Kisuke as he scrapped his initial ns beforeing back, ''If those who came with Zeus are in the same faction as him, then it''s not really wise to go against Apollo right now. Not to mention that Hades managed to develop fighters at the Super Devil level. I''d like to acquire his research materials first if possible. Looks like the most viable choice I have right now is to join the Azazel Cup and aim for the trophy. With that wish, I can solve the pressing problem on the other side. And if things go smoothly, we''ll have more countermeasures against the unknown Gods that are eyeing this world. I''ll even have my chance to return to the Seireitei.''


    While Kisuke was contemting his ns, Diehauser turned to Tiamat and asked, "I assume you''ve reached a decision?"


    Tiamat nodded and said, "Of course. However, the ball isn''t in my park anymore. I''d be happy to join his team but I don''t know if he''s satisfied with me."

 Chapter 819 Tartarus

    Chapter 819 Tartarus


    Kisuke heard Tiamat''s self-defeating words and stopped his train of thoughts, "I''d be honored to have you on my team, Tiamat-san. Please take care of me~."


    "Those are my words. I have you as our captain, and if the other members are alsopetent enough, we''ll have a real chance in winning."


    "So should we call the other remaining members?", asked Sakura.


    Curious, Tiamat asked, "And they are?"


    "You''ll know once they arrive.", but instead of leaving it to Sakura, Kisuke contacted them himself by triggering an rm system in his previous hideout where they were currently staying and letting them know his current coordinates.


    After setting up a barrier that reduces the space and energy fluctuations that leak outside over the room, a Teleportation Circle appeared once again and this time, two familiar figures emerged. Athena with her long and shiny blonde hair and Nyx with her long and jet ck hair, both of them wearing attire that matched the modern Human world. But what caught Kisuke''s attention was Nyx''s prosthetics, ''So she still hasn''t fixed that? Or is the limb regrowth still in the stage of infancy? After acquiring my research on souls, Azazel should have been able to develop it. It looks like he focused on strengthening the Sacred Gears more seeing that''s one of the trump cards against strong enemies.''


    Seeing his face, Athena sighed in relief.


    "Oh? I''ve never expected that you''d be d to see me, considering our history.", Kisukemented with a chuckle.


    Athena found a ce to sit and rxed her body, "I''m just d that you didn''t attack Olympus like what you''d announced more than a month ago."


    Nyx, meanwhile, greeted Sakura, Cleria, and Diehauser, "It has been a while."


    Sakura grabbed her hand and led her to one of the seats and said, "It really has been a while. Three months, is it? You twopletely hid yourselves and we had no idea why you refused any form of contact from us." Sakura knew what she had done when she first met Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Sona, however, she couldn''t stop herself from pitying her and she could even see her past self in her. Because of those reasons, the two of them evidently became closer. Nevertheless, she would never ask for Kisuke''s forgiveness on her behalf. Even though she was just following Hades'' orders, Nyx still had to redeem herself.


    "Something came up and we had to investigate something," Nyx answered with an awkward expression. She didn''t want to show her fondness of Sakura in front of her son''s inspecting gaze, ''I don''t want him to misunderstand.''


    But before she let Nyx continue speaking, Athena looked towards the person she didn''t know personally and quietly observed them, "I don''t think we can speak any further than this. We only came because you finally revealed yourself, but we would like to keep hiding."


    "Don''t worry about her.", replied Kisuke, "And before anything else, why did you say you''re d that I didn''t attack Olympus? Change of mind?"


    Athena immediately shook her head, "Of course not. More than ever, I want to take down those who took advantage of the war efforts to kick out Gods that were not in the same faction as them. As of now, they have managed to solidify and centralize their forces."


    "But that shouldn''t be enough for your concern. It''s fine to say it. What sort of trap have they prepared for me?"


    Athena hesitated for a bit before saying, "They might have managed to get the cooperation of the Titans, including Typhon and Cronus."


    "Titans are?" asked Kisuke.


    Nyx answered his question, "Ancient Gods that once aimed for world domination through the destruction of other Mythological Factions. But before they could do any significant damage, Zeus raised a coup and won, sealing them within mount Tartarus. After that event, Zeus became the King of the Olympians."


    "The reason why we didn''te contact you because my father suspected that Apollo might have been trying to establish a connection to the prisoners of Tartarus.", added Athena, "But thanks to those three months, we were able to indirectly confirm that Apollo or Hades was able to find the entrance to Tartarus."


    Kisuke furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin, "If Zeus was the one who sealed those Gods, couldn''t you have asked him about the seal''s location?"


    "Before I answer that, let me make one thing clear. Tartarus isn''t just some isted space, but a living entity. A being of pure energy. My father even told me that it''s as strong as Ophis and Great Red. Butpared to those two, Tartarus doesn''t have a will of its own and is unthinking. Thanks to these properties, my father and hisrades were able to use Tartarus to seal those powerful Ancient Gods."


    "Before letting go of Tartarus within the infinite sea of Dimensional Gap, my father also sealed Tartarus itself so that it''d be invisible for most of the time and change its location periodically. Ever since then, it hasn''t been found even once, and even if someone was able to, they''d have to kill Tartararus, who''s proven to be immortal to release those inside it before it forcefully teleports itself to another part of the Dimensional Gap."


    "And how did you indirectly confirm that they were aware of its location?", Kisuke further asked.


    Athena put her hands together and said, "It was actually Nyx''s idea."


    Nodding at her words, Nyx continued by asking Kisuke, "Remember the poison that I used on youst time?"


    "Of course. That''s a potent one that I tried recreating but failed due to its materials being too exotic."


    "It struck me as strange when Hades told me that those poisons he''s concocting were for the Gods. It''s too potent and hard to administer. Even then, it''s still in active development. And if others were to discover that he''s poisoning other Gods which is pretty easy to tell, all sorts of unwanted attention wouldnd on him. It''s just too stupid as a countermeasure against his overt enemies, diplomatically, at least."


    "It was then that I realized that it might not have been for the Gods but for a very hard to kill being . With that line of thinking, Athena and I tracked some of the key ingredients that are being transferred around on secret routes. Though we failed in tracking where it really goes, we found Cyclops on the way. After making sure of what we''d seen, we retreated."


    Tiamat who has been quiet all this time suddenly spoke, "Cyclops... I heard they already disappeared long, long ago."


    "Yes. Most of them were sealed along with their masters, the Titans, while the rest were hunted to extinction.", added Nyx.

 Chapter 820 More Teammates

    Chapter 820 More Teammates


    "Aren''t you just mistaking them for those who had escaped the hunt?", asked Kisuke.


    Athena shook her head, "No. They are the ancient variants that shouldn''t be existing today and all of them were wearing armors that could only be seen in Olympus'' museum and records. They aren''t that strongpared to the modern equipment so there are no reasons to wear them aside from them still not being issued new armors due to logistical constraints."


    "Assuming that''s the case, then we''ll have to gather evidence and send some forces to that location. Since they are still keeping it a secret, it means it''s not yet ready and only those weaker beings could cross through the seal." Tiamat suggested.


    Nyx then replied to her, "That''s true. The location of the seal was deep within Hades'' domain, however, to gather evidence, we would need a different route since the one we used was alreadypromised and that''s the only route that I know of. They couldn''t have possibly figured out our identities, but they should be aware that we were able to snoop around so they might have already relocated the entire thing."


    "Knowing them, I''m sure that they''ve already relocated the whole thing. They wouldn''t just do nothing when one of their core ns werepromised.", added Athena.


    Kisuke sighed and said, "And I doubt anyone would want to make a move right now while all thergest factions lost a substantial amount of their forces. Instead of attacking, they would rather defend their interests first. As long as there is no evidence that a specific faction was about to be attacked, no one would stir the ho''s nest." He then looked towards Athena and asked, "But considering they''re not yet prepared, why are you so d that I didn''t attack Olympus?"


    "You couldn''t really call it an alliance but Apollo''s team consists of both Gods of Olympus, one of the Five Great Dragon Kings, a God of Asgard, and the Valkyries. If you were to attack them, Asgard would be forced to move too and even if you were able to clear the misunderstanding, there would still be a crack in our rtions, which wouldn''t be ideal for the extremely weakened Olympus."


    Kisuke smiled at Athena''s answer and said, "Heh~. So you wouldn''t mind if a major portion of Gods from your faction were to perish, huh?"


    Athena closed her eyes and tightened her expression, "Olympus'' residents are my treasure, but if it''s the Gods themselves are trying to destroy it then I wouldn''t leave a timed bomb like them to exist."


    "Destroy it? That''s awfully pessimistic of you. You couldn''t deny the fact they indeed have the chance to seed. By then, far from destroying it, it would be Olympus'' golden age. Isn''t this just about your pride? Just say it, I''ll free you from my control and you may join them. I won''t leave a hidden bomb in you and you can also take Nyx with you."


    Athena''s face became serious and looked straight into Kisuke''s eyes. Despite his sarcastic tone, she''s convinced that he''s telling the truth.


    Kisuke saw the hesitation within Athena''s eyes but didn''t say anything, ''Well, this is a normal reaction.''


    Athena once again reconsidered her options but before she could reach a conclusion, Nyx suddenly spoke up, "If you decide to side with Apollo, I won''t stop you. But if you were to take me with you, I''d refuse your offer."


    Athena turned to her and asked, "Is it out of fear despite his promise?"


    "I won''t deny that. But more than that, I do believe that I''m on the ''right'' side.", answered Nyx with conviction, "...If you want my opinion on this matter, I do hope that you stay."


    Athena fell silent. Not just Nyx but also the Belial siblings started to get nervous. If Kisuke were to really just let her go, a lot of information on her would be revealed on the other side. They don''t even understand why Kisuke would make such an offer so confidently. Little did they know that Kisuke already had contingency ns in case Athena or Nyx sessfully betrayed him.


    Tiamat, meanwhile, only stayed quiet and watched the situation as she didn''t have much context to understand what''s going on. She did, however, find this very interesting, not just the situation, but also the growing mystery surrounding Kisuke, ''I initially thought that he''s just a youngster that just wanted to keep his secrets. But now I think it''s not wrong to say that he''s actually an old overlord that only moves in the shadows.''


    A few more moments of silence passed before Athena finally spoke up, "If this had been a test, I would have failed it magnificently."


    "Which it isn''t.", rified Kisuke.


    "I do appreciate the fact that you''re giving me a choice but I''d like to keep it as it is."


    Athena''s answer caused Nyx, Sakura, Cleria, and Diehauser to heave a sigh of relief.


    "If you''re going to ask me for a reason, I''m sorry but I would have to disappoint you as it onlyes down to the vague feeling that this is the correct choice."


    Kisuke then suddenly pped his hand and said, "With that out of the way, let''s talk about our team''s formation~!"


    Athena felt bad when he suddenly changed the topic as if her decision wasn''t something important. But she just let out a wry smile after recalling that this is how her captor always has been, "Wait. What team?" she asked as she also realized that she had no idea what Kisuke was on about.


    "Azazel Cup."


    "...You mean the International Rating Game cooked up by Ajuka Beelzebub and Shiva?"


    "What else could it mean?"


    Stunned, Athena added, "You do realize that I''m recorded as missing and Nyx is dead, right? You want us to resurface just for some games?"


    "Why not?"


    Out of all that they''ve talked about ever since arriving here, this is where Athena couldn''t swallow her grievances, ''Then what was all that effort to keep ourselves hidden for!?'' she shouted internally. She wanted to ask that question to Kisuke but she had a feeling that she would just be deeply hurt by his answer, and like his previous decision, it was a good call.

 Chapter 821 Mars Branch

    Chapter 821 Mars Branch


    "Tiamat will take the Queen, Athena the 2 Knights, and Nyx the 2 Bishops. Do you have someone else in mind? This is a strong roster, no doubt about that, but you''re too few, and winning the games against stronger contenders without a full team would be tough." Cleria asked after filling out the information needed for them to register.


    "I have someone in mind that could take a few pawns, but that would only be possible if she could release her seal in time."


    ire rested her chin on her palm and sighed, "Aika-chan, is it? I really don''t understand why you''d do something like that."


    "She''s a Human with many Human connections. Considering a normal human''s lifespan, it may look like she''s rushing things to us Devils who can live at least a thousand times longer,"mented Diehauser.


    Even then, Cleria still doesn''t understand. If lifespan was the problem, that could be solved in many ways, ''Then again, I didn''t have enough Human connections to know for sure. Even Masaomi was just an orphan adopted and trained by the church.''


    "I''ll add her as a reserve member for now. She''s a Sacred Gear user, so she can take 2 Pawns. But once she participates and there''s more urate data on her, the ruling body might decide she''s worth up to 4 Pawns if her performance is great."


    "Kisuke, are you sure about this?" Athena asked in worry, "I still have reservations about if we should really reveal our existence this early. Aside from that, Nyx isn''t really in any state to fight... For obvious reasons."


    "It''s possible to hide their identity by avoiding the use of their unique techniques and attributes. But don''t ever think you''ll win many matches while holding back greatly.", added Tiamat.


    "I''ll make it up with strategies. And even if the goal is to take out the King, that''ll be the hardest thing our opponents could do." Since he already knew about the various game types from researching the Rating Games long ago, Kisuke was confident enough that they could win with just their current members and equipment in his possession, "How do we advance to the finals?", he asked as he turned to Tiamat.


    "Each team will start with 1500 points and every match, you can gain or lose points. The 16 teams that have the highest points will advance to the main stage. For matching, you just have to inform themittee that you''re ready for one and the system would automatically find another team."


    Kisuke stood up from his seat and asked his Queen, "Tiamat-san, you wouldn''t happen to be an acting spy for anyone, right?"


    "I may be working for Ajuka, but I don''t have any obligation nor intention to share any information outside of his Rating Game and Evil Pieces System."


    "That''s great. I do hope you could keep my secrets, at least while we''re on the same team."


    "You''re just going to take my word for it? Aren''t you too trusting?"


    "Please don''t misunderstand it. I''ve only given my trust to a few people and sadly, you''re obviously not part of that list."


    Tiamat nodded in understanding, "I see. So you''re only going to show me things that you wouldn''t mind if it gets leaked."


    Kisuke didn''t exin any further and turned to Athena and Nyx, "Please follow me. Before our matches, we have to do something to hide your identities and restore Nyx-san''s limbs."


    Nyx''s eyes went wide open, "Y-you have a way to heal me?"


    "Not to brag, but even if you were just left with your head, as long as you''re alive, I can heal you."


    But instead of being impressed, she only became suspicious of his grand im.


    "Stop underestimating what he can do, will you?" Cleria suddenly interrupted, "He saved two lives who were reduced to a pool of acid by Samael''s blood by reconstructing new bodies."


    Athena, Nyx, and even Tiamat were dumbfounded and speechless, ''I-it doesn''t look like she''s lying.'' thought the Chaos Karma Dragon after seeing Deihauser and Sakura nodding in agreement.


    Without further exining himself, Kisukeid out a teleportation circle, but unlike a normal one, it just kept shing its light instead of activating.


    "It''s not working?" asked Sakura while curiously trying to study and figure out what was wrong with his Magic.


    "It''s fine. It''s just doing some authentication."


    "...Authentication?", she repeated before giving him a dirty look, "You dug out another hideout? Unbelievable..."


    In response, Kisuke just smiled widely and replied, "I''ll show you around itter~"


    He, along with his teammates, disappeared with a final sh of light.


    As soon as they reappeared on the other side, the group was greeted by a dusty atmosphere of seemingly unending wastnd, a sunset dyed purple and blue, and two moons peeking from the opposite horizon. The group marveled at the unusual view from a towering skyscraper where they appeared on top.


    "Wee to the Urahara Hideout, Mars branch~!"


    "This is ridiculous...", Nyx muttered.


    "That''s true... It should be logistically impossible.", added in Tiamat.


    Athena was of the same opinion, ''Although setting up a base on Mars is theoretically possible, no one in their right mind would do something like this because of theck of Mana in this ce. If they could get an unlimited amount of energy from the Dimensional Gap, why would anyone go through the trouble of setting up a liveable ce in this location?... Unless he had a way to funnel the energy from the Dimensional Gap to this ce without getting caught?''


    But the thing that concerned the three the most is if someone hostile were to discover this ce, it would be easy to bombard it without any consequences.


    Guessing what they are thinking, Kisuke lightly exined, "Of course, I realized that weakness too. Although you can see the outside from here, it''s not the same from outside. And even if you tried to leave, you''ll never be able to step into Martiannds because while this ce exists on Mars, it also doesn''t."


    Kisuke used a simr technique when Soul Society transferred the whole of Karakura Town and reced it with a fake one during Aizen''s invasion. Through clever maniption and modification, his hideout on Mars wasn''t visible from the outside and even if one had knowledge of it and attacked, they''d only be hitting a ''mirage'' that existed in an entirely different dimension that was only physically anchored to Mars.


    The only way one could reach this ce is through a constructed teleportation magic that requires a correct authentication to tunnel to a correct sequence that changes every hour. If one were to force their way in, they''re just going to arrive in the Dimensional Gap and they wouldn''t even be able to figure out how.


    To make it short, Kisuke created an imaginary world in the form of a hideout.


    ''I''m getting used to this space-time thingy.'' It was the truth, but if any other people were to hear his thoughts, they would be pulling out their hair and shouting at top of their lungs, ''This isn''t just about you getting used to Space-Time Magic!!!''

 Chapter 822 More New Teammates

    Chapter 822 More New Teammates


    Kisuke led the trio to the medical facility, which was only beside theboratory. Inside the facility were severalrge rooms and the group entered one of the deepest. In the center of the room was a ss pod connected to the ceiling with various cables and support beams while it was connected to the floor by a short staircase.


    To the side were various terminals with wide screens attached and each one of them had already started running as soon as the lights in the room turned on, "Please take off your clothes and prosthetics.", Kisuke said after turning towards Nyx. But before he heard her answer, he immediately headed to one of the central consoles.


    Normally, Nyx would feel repugnant when someone told her to take off her covers. But Kisuke''s serious andmanding tone that was devoid of any lust didn''t allow her to think about it as she answered, "I can take off my clothes, but my prosthetics were directly connected to my nerves so an operation is needed just to detach them."


    "I could immediately ask the one who attached those limbs to remove them, but it''d take a few days.", added Athena.


    Kisuke then pointed his finger to a nondescript hanging cab on the left side of the room and said while operating the console, "Look for the BFG-909 and drink half of the bottle."


    Thanks to the millions of self-replicating and automated drones that he''d left for half a year, Kisuke wasn''t just able to build the whole hideout, but was also able to produce various things, including ordinary medicines, "Don''t let your Divine Aura automatically expel it from your body."


    As the nearest person to the cab, Tiamat walked towards it and was able to immediately find the bottle containing an unknown liquid with thebel that Kisuke had mentioned, ''He couldn''t even name it properly. Or maybe he did this so that no one else could steal information about these medicines. Even in his own hideout that''s almost impossible to find, he''s still too cautious. I wonder what hurt him?'' she thought while tossing the 100mL bottle towards Nyx.


    The Goddess of the Night caught the bottle but hesitated. She then looked towards Athena in hopes to clear her confusion.


    ''Looks like she''s so afraid of him that she couldn''t even think properly in this situation.'', sighing, Athena reassured her, "Don''t worry and just do it. As he has said, you have to manually control your defenses so that it won''t automatically purge the effects of the concoction."


    Nyx understood what Athena was trying to say and felt ashamed. In an attempt to erase this embarrassing feeling, Nyx hurriedly opened the bottle and downed it, of course, while following Kisuke''s instructions. It didn''t even take a minute for her to immediately feel its effect, or more urately, she couldn''t feel the constant phantom pain that she''d gotten ustomed to any longer, ''...This... I''d never thought it would be such a liberating feeling...''


    "I''m sorry to interrupt, but please remove your clothes. Unless you want it to be bloody and torn."


    Athena and Tiamat didn''t know what Kisuke was talking about but Nyx understood what he wanted to happen. She didn''t hesitate any longer and directly removed all of her clothing, showing her former immacte body full of unheble scars that were left due to Kisuke''s Magic mixed with Spiritual Power hitting her.


    Without any word of exnation, Kisuke turned towards Nyx and raised his right arm towards her before two Magic Circles appeared in between the flesh and artificial limb. By closing his hand, the Magic Circles shrank rapidly, cutting away the meat and bone that was attached to the prosthetics.


    "Hey!" Athena reacted.


    Kisuke proceeded to stop the flow of blood by physically blocking it with Magic, "Enter the pod before the painkillers lose their effect."


    .


    .


    .


    "Ladies and gentlemen~! Wee to the preliminary rounds of the Azazel Cup! I can see that there is arge audience in today''s stadium, including some prominent ones~!", shouted the blue-haired announcer in the middle of the tform, "Team Red Dragon Emperor of the zing Truth, Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star, Team Spear of the Heavenly Emperor, Team Rias Gremory, and arriving just now is the Team Imperial Purpure! Looks like the first match for today is gathering various eyes of interest!"


    As he mentioned the names of these teams, the cameras panned out and showed them on the big screen. Since they are the main contenders for this tournament, they were considered ''prominent'' names, especially the first two due to their poprity and status as Heroes.


    Kisuke looked through the ss pane and couldn''t hide his surprise, ''This world is crazy. How the heck are they this strong already!?''


    Although he couldn''t urately gauge their strength by just looking, he can see the qualitative and quantitative leap in their aura. From his point of view, he felt like he just saw multiple Kurosaki Ichigo''s appearing out of nowhere, not because of their strength, but because of their rate of improvement.


    Kisuke couldn''t help butpare them to the Captains and Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13, ''Conflict and struggle couldn''t be the only reason as Soul Society was never short of it. Even with a long life of strife and battle, most of the Captains were stagnating.''


    But then again, hepared this world''s recorded history to today''s era and can easily see that this is a unique urrence, ''A strange urrence that triggered a mass evolution. Is it because the world is in deep shit?''


    But thinking about it again made him depressed and smile wryly, ''So does that mean Ywach''s ambition didn''t put us in deep shit and that was just the world returning to its natural order?''


    "Without further ado, allow me to introduce our yers for the first match! First off, the team that''s managed to lose every single match that they''ve participated in despite their base power being above their opponents, the Team Shooting Star!"


    Opposite of where Kisuke''s team was, appeared was a teamposed of 10 people, all of which he didn''t have any data on. That is natural because his source of information was the Three Faction which didn''t really know anything about them prior to the tournament.


    "But please don''t let their match history fool you as many industry critics and experts predicted they could be one of the contenders on the main stage, mainly because each one of them is improving at a monstrous rate! Led by their team leader, Shooting Star and the wielder of the newly discovered Longinus, Star Buster Star ster, this team almost defeated a teamposed of Gods! Surely, this time, they''d have a greater chance and catch their first win!"


    The group then exited the tunnel they were in and went up to the tform while waving to their fans.


    Kisuke turned to Tiamat and asked, "Hey, how ridiculous is this ''monstrous improvement''?"


    "I don''t know where this ''ridiculous'' is ced in your rating, but I can safely say that it''s an eye-opener. While each of them is strong, with their leader capable of pulling out at least an Ultimate ss attack, all of them are inexperienced in battle. But as if a dried-up sponge, they are soaking every bit of experience from their matches and are improving and learning at a very impressive rate. If they y it well and a bit of luck, I do believe that they can enter the main stage."


    Immediately after the crowd''s cheer for the team lightened up, the announcer continued his introduction, "Now to the team that entered halfway and is considered by many as the most controversial, Team Urahara Shouten!"


    "Since this is their first appearance, it''s an honor to introduce the surprising people thatpose this team! First and foremost is their team leader, the former terrorist and one of the people that saved the Underworld with Great Red''s help, Kisuke Urahara! Not much was known of him aside from his possessing a Sacred Gear unknown even to Heaven and the fact that Ajuka-sama rated him very highly, making his ''King'' position rise up in value! Whether it''s just Ajuka-sama''s favor or not, we''ll know once we see him perform in this match!"


    "However, contrary to one''s expectations, he''s not the one who made this team so controversial but his members! Starting from the Chaos Karma Dragon, Tiamat-sama who was known to be the head referee of the Rating Games, leaving her position and participating in the tournament!"


    "Next were the two Gods that are hiding their identities through a thick cloak and white bone mask for each of them! Many Gods are watching this match because of their presence."


    "Following was the former member of Sona Sitri''s peerage, Saji Genshiro! A reincarnated Devil who possessed all four of Sacred Gears that are rted to Vritra, the Prison Dragon! One could even say that he''ds already sessfully taken the title Prison Dragon for himself and is regarded as one of the brightest youth in today''s era!"


    "Finally, and almost the most surprising in my opinion, Seekvaira Agares, the heir of the Agares n! Suddenly withdrawing her own team from thepetition, she has reappeared, but under someone else!"

 Chapter 823 Seekvaira Agares

    Chapter 823 Seekvaira Agares


    Two days ago, after registering Kisuke''s team under the name ''Urahara Shouten'', Nyx''s restoration was finished and she would just need a week or two to readjust her bnce and readjust the chaotic flow of her Divine Aura that had resulted from her injuries. It was also the day that Kisuke sent Aika home since her transfer papers were already taken care of.


    "Kisuke-kun, you''re free?"


    Receiving a sudden call from Cleria, Kisuke replied, "I have nothing urgent at the moment."


    "If you still haven''t added anyone else on your team,e over. Of course, it''ll still be up to you if you want to ept them or not."


    "As long as they are even remotely useful and wouldn''t drag me down, I''m fine with anyone. You introducing them is a bonus to me since I don''t have to do any background checks."


    On the other side of the call, Cleria smiled wryly, "You''re putting too much faith in me. But it''s true that I can guarantee that they''re trustworthy. I wouldn''t even call you about this if they aren''t."


    "Understood. I''lle by in half an hour."


    "Then I''ll be informing them."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke arrived on time and saw several men, not of the Belial n posted in the vicinity of the mansion, ''That insignia, Agares n? So I''ll be talking to someone from a prominent house?''


    He tried searching through his memories and couldn''t think of anyone wanting to join his team, ''Oh well, whoever it is, as long as they can move, they''ll be a fine bait. Though I''d appreciate it more if they are useful.'' With these thoughts in mind, Kisuke walked through the gates and doors that automatically opened for him by the maids and went straight towards Cleria''s office.


    As soon as he arrived, the maid guarding the door knocked on it and announced his arrival.


    Unlike the first time, only Cleria was present among the Belial siblings, "You''vee."


    Aside from her, there are three other people present in the room and one of which is someone he personally knew, "Saji-san. It has been a while. How are you doing?"


    Genshirou stood up from his seat and greeted Kisuke with a smile, unlike how Kisuke remembered him, "Thanks to you, I''m doing great."


    Aside from the same qualitative and quantitative leap of aura that from Issei and everyone else, Kisuke also noticed the ring on his fourth finger on his left hand. Returning the smile, he replied, "It seems that you really are doing great. Congrattions."


    Genshirou scratched his head bashfully and said, "When I saw Issei taking the step forward, I thought I should too. Even then, I''m only engaged to two people, unlike that pervert who''s already engaged to four and probably still gunning for more."


    Kisuke''s smile froze, "S-seriously?"


    "Yep. He first proposed to Rias Gremory and then to Asia-san, Xenovia-san, and Ravel Phenex. If I remembered it correctly, he privately mentioned it to me that he might also propose to Rossweisse-sensei, the leader of the Youkai, and the magician from Vali''s group."


    "...Haha...Fuhahaha! I see that despite the shitstorm that has been happening, he''s still making the best out of it."


    Genshirou also joined him in hisugh and added, "That''s true. If not for the still hidden threats throughout the world, he probably would have his first child already. As much poprity and allies he has, there are also the enemies and those who hated him lurking around."


    Kisuke nodded in agreement, "That''s the sad part of fame. Nothing can be done about that. Well, if you''re here, then we can catch up moreter." Kisuke ended his conversation with Genshirou by patting his shoulder and turning to the other two guests, "This is our first time meeting. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I''m Kisuke Urahara."


    "Let me introduce them to you." Cleria came close to one of thedies before continuing, "This thedy of the Agares House and a good friend of mine, Thea Agares."


    The mature and talldy with long pale greenish blonde hair and pink colored eyes with one covered by her hair swept sideways smiled at Kisuke, "It''s also a pleasure to finally know you, Kisuke Urahara. Is it alright if I call you Kisuke-kun?"


    "Please be my guest, Lady Agares."


    "Call me Thea to avoid confusion. Both of us here are Agares."


    "Understood, Lady Thea."


    Cleria then proceeds to introduce the next person, "And thedy beside her is her daughter, Seekvaira Agares. I''m sure you already know her."


    "Of course. How could I not know one of the Rookies Four who are said to be the greatest of Devil youths? It''s an honor to meet you, Seekvaira Agares-sama."


    But as soon as Seekvaira heard ''Rookies Four'', her expression became a little bitplicated, albeit, she still tried to hide that change, "It''s my honor to meet the famous ''shopkeeper'' and ''The Hat''. And like my mother, please call me Seekvaira."


    "I think you mean infamous, Seekvaira-sama."


    Seekvaira shook her head, "Please drop the honorifics too, since, in terms of rank, we''re of the same."


    "...What?" Kisuke became confused as he couldn''t exactly recall when a humble and random shopkeeper like him came to have the same rank as the heir of the Archduke House of Agares which is only below the House of Bael. At the same moment, a possibility entered his mind and immediately turned to Cleria, who was scratching her cheek and smiling awkwardly.


    "Ehehe... I think we forgot to tell you that you became the heir of Belial House and automatically became a High-ss Devil due to that."

 Chapter 824 Seekvaira Agares Part 2

    Chapter 824 Seekvaira Agares Part 2


    Despite being informed sote, Kisuke could only sigh and understand the situation. Aside from him, the only eligible heir of the already small House of Belial was ire. Not to mention her age and apparentck of training that the usual heirs are subjected to for taking over the position, the Belials still had many enemies that they have to watch out for thanks to what his mother has done in the past and Diehauser''s recent actions.


    ''Oh well. Adding ''heir to the house of Belial'' sounds like a cool addition to introductions.'' Kisuke thought while saying, "At least give me a heads up next time something like this pops up."


    "Will do~!"


    Thea and Seekvaira couldn''t really understand the real nature of their rtionship from that strange exchange that seemed to devalue the worth of being a ''heir'' to a prominent house. However, as they were outsiders, they couldn''t really ask anything about it and just stayed silent. Genshirou, meanwhile, didn''t have any particr reactions despite understanding the caste system of the Underworld since he already knew Kisuke''s strange attachment or obsession to being a ''shopkeeper''.


    "Lady Thea, Seekvaira-san, Saji-san. Let''s all have a seat and get straight to the point."


    The first one to speak up after being offered a seat was Genshirou with a serious expression, "Urahara-san, please let me join your team."


    "Okay. You''re hired." Kisuke instantly answered.


    Genshirou who''s about to exin and convince Kisuke stopped with his mouth open before recovering and saying, "J-just like that?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Just like that. I''m stillcking members and I don''t see any reason for rejecting a friend."


    "You didn''t even ask what I can do now... I''m prepared to fight you to prove myself, you know?"


    "I''m curious about that too, but let us set it aside for now." Kisuke then turned to the Agares mother and daughter, "Please tell me what I can do for you. While I can''t promise anything, I''ll, at least, hear you out."


    Thea was about to reply but her daughter stopped her by cing her hand on herp, "Dear?"


    Instead of addressing her mother''s confusion, Seekvaira faced Kisuke with an apologetic expression, "I know you already have an idea for what we came here for, but before that, I''d like to apologize for the way we appeared before you." Since they would technically be asking him for a favor, she knew how it looked when they used their connection with Cleria to gain an advantage, "I know I should have looked for you myself but the only way we can get in contact with you is through the Belial House. For that, I apologize."


    "It sure looks bad when I don''t even have any obligation to meet you. If not for my aunt, I wouldn''t even ept an invitation to meet someone I don''t know."


    Guilt surfaced on Seekvaira''s face while her mother said, "It''s me who should apologize. It was my idea after all."


    "Mother..."


    The mood sank and Cleria wore an awkward expression, not knowing what to do.


    But in the middle of this, Kisuke just smiled and said, "Please do not misunderstand. I''m not berating you. Although it really doesn''t look good, I''m not saying it''s the wrong method either. If that''s the only way to reach the person you need, I''m not the one who could say anything about that. In fact, I really appreciate Seekvaira-san''s honesty and sincerity for mentioning it first. Thanks to that, we can leave this behind and have a proper discussion without the bad feelings."


    Seekvaira looked at Kisuke''s expression and heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank you. Though I''m just saying what needs to be said since my pride is also on the line."


    She then took a deep breath and continued, "You might be wondering why a participant like me decided to join your team but before I exin myself, may I ask how Sona is doing?"


    Because of that question, Kisuke already had an idea of why she appeared before him now. Nevertheless, he still humored her by taking out one of the memory crystals while also thinking that it was also his chance to show off and boast about how much Sona has improved, ''Let''s see... I guess that instance is good.''


    cing it on Cleria''s desk, Kisuke asked, "You already know what this is, right?"


    Seekvaira and Thea nodded, "It was only introduced recently but it''s been getting a wide range of adaptation. They said that t screens would soon be obsolete when ites to viewing entertainment.", thetter replied.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else and activated the memory crystal and the entire room changed as if they were teleported to a desert. It was the time when Sona had lost control of herself.


    As the yback slowly inch forward, everyone could only remain speechless and Kisuke was relishing in their reactions, ''Though the most she can do right now is change a part of her body into water and deploy a few of those overly sharp water tentacles, it''s only a matter of time before she reaches this level on her own.''


    Kisuke stopped the yback before it reached the end but the people who''d just watched it still remained wordless for a good part of time.


    "T-that... That''s the heir of Sitri House? I heard that she had very good potential, but I didn''t think you and Serafall-sama would have a hard time containing her.", muttered Cleria, still in disbelief. Her surprise was amplified when Serafall''s ice couldn''t stop Sona''s water when it''s amon conception that thetter couldn''t contend with the former if one didn''t have a significantlyrger pool of Demonic Power.


    "You didn''t lie when you said that Kaichou was way ahead of usst time," added Genshirou.


    "Oh my..." Thea covered her mouth and looked at her daughter who was clenching her fist.


    Seekvaira turned to Kisuke with a resolute face and said, "Please let me join your team! Please let me learn from you!"


    Instead of giving her an answer, Kisukemented, "So you don''t think you''re deserving of the title Rookies Four, and the feeling of being left behind by your peers gave way to a significant inferiorityplex within you, huh?"

 Chapter 825 First Match

    Chapter 825 First Match


    "So what''s the n?" Genshirou asked after they were transported to an artificial field that resembled a certain part of the Underworld that had a tall mountain and wide-open in. After the random selection, the field and the standard game mode were selected. In the standard game mode, the teams would be teleported on the opposite sides of the map, and whoever takes out the enemy''s ''King'' first is the winner.


    Right now, they were situated at a small hut on the edge of the in which is the southern side of the field, "Although his members arepetent enough, it''s the leader that we should look out for.", muttered Kisuke while looking through the information regarding the Team Shooting Star. Although they lost all of their previous matches, it wasn''t just about their inexperience in battles that hampered their abilities like what most of the articles were pointing out, but the fact that their leader couldn''t control the power of his newly awakened Longinus, which ended up being a detriment instead, "But in this kind of field, winning is easy."


    "Winning is easy?" asked Tiamat as she turned to Kisuke, "Don''t underestimate the opponent. It''s true that he can''t properly control his power, but if he''s given space to breathe, he''ll be capable of retiring all of us with just a st from his Sacred Gear. And them being on the top of the mountain, once he gets a sight of you, you''ll be instantly targeted."


    "Shooting Star would need some time to charge his attack so we''ll have to cross the in as fast as possible the moment we emerge to stop him. However, it''s not just him on the other side, so we should expect an all-out battle in the middle of the in and it wouldn''t be weird if his teammates were to sacrifice themselves just to pin you down.", added Seekvaira recalling their previous matches.


    All of a sudden Athena chuckled under her hood and mask, "I see. It''ll be an easy win, indeed." Knowing some of Kisuke''s abilities, Athena understood what must be done, "So we''ll move together in the open?"


    Kisuke nodded and said, "That''s right~. Nothing is as easy as that."


    Tiamat and Seekvaira looked confused and turned towards the other two who hadn''t said anything, but they just started shaking their heads.


    .


    .


    .


    "Looks like we''re lucky this time." excitedly dered Shooting Star''s Bishop, "Since we''re on the top of the mountain, sniping them with considerable power should be easy for you, leader."


    "That''s right. We just have to pin them down for a certain amount of time and we''ll win.", the Knight added and prepared himself to move out as soon as they spotted the enemy team.


    Shooting Star nodded at their words, "That''s the n, but they should also be aware of what we''ll do, so they''ll probably aim for me with a detached force. Rook, take half of the members with you and assault and pin the enemy King. The other half will stay and protect me. If any of the two, Tiamat, or the two Gods,e after me, I''ll use castling to assassinate the King, so make sure that you''re always near him."


    The three-meter-tall Devil nodded, "I will do that."


    While the rest of the team started talking about the specifics of what they''ll do with each other, Shooting Star began focusing and taking out his Star Buster Star ster, a pair of a longsword and a rifle, ''I''ve already figured out the trick from previous practices. All I need to do is concentrate and not mess up.''


    The reason why many were afraid of Team Shooting Star despite their losing streak is because of the leader''s Sacred Gear that is capable of outputting power that rivaled Satan ss and God ss and that was without even going into its Bnce Breaker. If given enough time, he could easily destroy the whole field they were ying on right now, which was equivalent to flipping the whole chessboard. For its potential to destroy the whole world, it''s considered as one of the newly emerged Longinus.


    A few minutester, Shooting Star finally heard a report from his Queen, "They''ve appeared, but not like we''re expecting."


    Shooting Star opened his eyes and aimed his rifle at the group that was charging in, confirming Kisuke''s presence, "The whole team? Do they intend to brute force this? While they didn''t have much of a choice, I didn''t think they''d go for this. Go as nned, but be extra careful with any surprises."


    Half of his team went forward while two of the Bishops positioned themselves on the edge of the formation in anticipation for them to take air control.


    But seeing that nothing special had happened and the sent members shed with the enemy team, Shooting Star became doubtful, ''That easy?'' But he didn''t have much leeway to think because there was no way for his team members to hold back Tiamat, the Gods, and even the famous Genshirou Saji if he released his Bnce Breaker.


    Activating his own Bnce Breaker, the pair of longsword and riflebined and transformed to that of a white ster and started gathering energy from the surroundings, immediately amassing a terrible amount of power that caused the air around them to start distorting and shaking.


    "Oh my. How terrifying.", all of a sudden, Shooting Star heard an unfamiliar voice behind him, and those around him were stunned to suddenly find a man in Japanese garb and a bucket hat standing behind their leader with a paper fan covering half of his face.


    As soon as he heard the voice, Shooting Star instantly transformed his ster into a giant sword with pure white energy as its de and swiftly swung it while turning around. It didn''t even touch the ground yet it had already instantly melted everything in its path. However, the target of his attack had already long fled by backing up a few meters.


    The man in cowboy attire red at Kisuke and said, "Are you looking down on us bying here just by yourself?"


    Those around agreed with Shooting Star''s words and bore their weapons at Kisuke while slowly encircling him.


    "No, I''m not. I''ve never looked down on anyone." And Kisuke was to bepletely honest, he''s really slightly terrified, ''With just a few seconds, he was able to amass energy that is equivalent to Cero Oscuras, the strongest Cero that an Arrancar or Visored is capable of. I''m just gone for a few months, yet people like this apparently started appearing out of nowhere. Maybe Issei didn''t really need my assistance back then and he could have still gotten himself trained up.''


    It''s really a ridiculous world in Kisuke''s opinion, ''I''ve gotten used to the Adventurer''s slow leveling process.''


    "But it''s still a poor choice for you toe by yourself."


    Kisuke shook his head, "It''s already a good choice when you didn''t expect me toe. Besides, the game had already concluded the moment you failed to perceive my actions.", he replied while pointing at one of his pockets.


    Shooting Star hurriedly looked down at his vest and saw a small metallic ck ball that he hadn''t noticed. But before he could even think of taking it off and throwing it away, it was already toote as it had already started releasing high voltage electricity, instantly paralyzing him, "Ghhh!!!"


    Nevertheless, that''s all it did and it wasn''t even enough to cause him any substantial harm, "This... I don''t know what you had in mind but something like this is only enough to tickle me." Shooting Star forcefully moved his body and threw the ball away, ''I just need less than a minute to recover from that.''


    Contrary to his expectations, however, Kisuke just smiled and responded, "I told you. It''s game over."


    Wondering what else mighte, Shooting Star''s members didn''t wait any longer and pounced at their enemy. Though before they could reach him, a deafening high-frequency sound started sting from beyond the trees, stopping everyone in their tracks.


    Then again, it only became a mild annoyance as everyone was able to recover from its initial st, "What''s the use of these petty tricks!?" One of the pawns asked while resuming his charge.


    "Petty? Say that again after looking at your leader."


    At his cue, all of the Shooting Star''s members looked behind them and saw Shooting Star had already dropped his Sacred Gear and was bleeding from the nose with his mouth frothing. He had already lost his consciousness and the retirement system had already taken hold of him.

 Chapter 826 New Trainees (Victims)

    Chapter 826 New Trainees (Victims)


    "Game set!!!", shouted the announcer, "The winner for today''s match is Team Urahara Shouten! Congrattions!"


    Silence took over the entire stadium for a brief period before intense cheers erupted from the audience, "Now that''s one of the shortest games in the tournament and we certainly didn''t expect to see it happen to Team Shooting Stars who have struggled even if they lose to God-level teams. What do you think about this match, Grimgal-dono?" The announcer turned to his side to hear from the invitedmentator.


    The bright green-haired muscr Devil nodded, "It certainly isn''t what we expected, but considering the absence of information regarding Kisuke Urahara, it''s not that surprising. And unlike most of the matches that we witness, Shooting Star didn''t lose because of the enemy''s overwhelming force nor him and his team''s inexperience, but through clever tactics that directly struck through their biggest weakness."


    Thementator stood up and gestured to the videographer team for them to hand over the controls of the projectors to him. After receiving themittee''s approval they gave it to him.


    "I know some of you don''t really understand what just transpired, but please allow me to exin it to the best of my own understanding." Rewinding back to the point when the teams were just teleported, Grimgal exined, "As you can see, the terrain that was generated was incredibly advantageous for Team Shooting Star with their ridiculous and borderline nonsensical firepower and we all thought that the match was theirs, especially since the game rules specifically prohibit teleportation magic except for ''Castling''."


    Forwarding the screen to when Kisuke''s team emerged all out once, he continued, "With Team Shooting Star having the definite advantage, Team Urahara Shouten took advantage of that advantage. Thetter knew how the other team would move, and so with that in mind, they used themselves as bait."


    "If I were to guess, the few minutes that Team Urahara Shouten hid were used by their King to secretly move towards the enemy''s position. With the sophisticated illusion that no one was able to see through, ''Kisuke Urahara'' remained with his teammates and nobody would really expect for the goal of the match to start moving on his own."


    Fast-forwarding it more, Grimgal added, "And this is where the confusing start begins. Kisuke Urahara was able to sneak behind Shooting Star so quickly that it was enough for him to nt a small gadget on him. Why didn''t he just attack him? He probably wasn''t confident enough to take him out in one blow and may even have predicted that Shooting Star would be able to dodge if he showed his hostility."


    The moment Kisuke heard this, he just chuckled and said, "That''s great."


    But except for Seekvaira, those around him only gave him a dirty look.


    "Moving on, the small gadget that he ced on Shooting Star''s pocket released a massive amount of electricity, but for the fighters of this tournament, it''s still something that would count as a ''scratching force'' and nowhere near threatening aside from temporary paralysis that it induced."


    "But if my guess is correct, this is just half of his nned attack and the other half was the sound wave that wasn''t supposed to do anything aside from annoying anyone. It''s already an established fact that Shooting Star is having a difficult time controlling his own Sacred Gear and before their sh, arge amount of aura was already gathered in his Star Buster Star ster."


    "The explosion of electric current destabilized his nerves, resulting in further poor control and the sound wave attack targeted a certain frequency that destabilized the gathered aura itself. With this two-pronged attack, Shooting Star was attacked by his own power and lost his consciousness, ending the game."


    "Now, this may have looked incredibly easy, but to do all of these, one is required to have an amazing speed and stealth to just sneak up behind fighters like Shooting Star. Not to mention the required genius to analyze a Sacred Gear to achieve a result like that as I don''t know anyone, outside of Ajuka-sama or Azazel-sama, capable of doing this."


    "Considering how he''d just concluded that you couldn''t deal a finishing blow because you didn''t do one, he has good eyes to have spotted the aura destabilization.",mented Athena.


    "I... I couldn''t see it.", Seekvaira turned to Genshirou and asked, "What about you?"


    "Er... After some time, I could instinctively see the movement of aura. It''s very useful in predicting someone''s next actions."


    Seekvaira became even more aware of her shoring after hearing his answer, "What did you do to achieve that?"


    That question, however, made Genshirou visibly startled as he recalled when these detection skills were justing into fruition, "...Let''s just say that I had to do it if I didn''t want to have all of my bones broken or my limbs torn apart."


    "Oh... That time." Athena suddenly interjected as she also recalled the time when the entirety of Sona''s peerage asked Kisuke to train them, only to be subjected to an ''intense abuse'' and even that''s putting it lightly, "I honestly thought that none of you woulde out alive, and even if you did, a sane person."


    With nk eyes, Genshirou lifelessly chuckled, "Hehehe... So Goddess Knight was also there. I never noticed."


    "W-what happened?" Seekvaira became nervous, ''...Wait... Didn''t I also ask for the same training?''


    "Now, now, don''t mind it." Hearing Kisuke''s jolly voice behind her made her shudder and jump to her feet as she hurriedly turned around to look at him.


    Not minding this reaction, Kisuke pointed towards Nyx and said, "She also never noticed anything."


    "Wha...?! Ehem... I don''t need it! I could just st everyone into oblivion!"


    "Until you couldn''t and failed to distinguish my strength in advance."


    "G-guh..." Nyx backed away without anything to say against that.


    Athena squinted her eyes at her and said, "Goddess Bishop, I think it''s about time for you to learn how to do it as well."


    Nyx was about to instantly reject it, but after thinking about it, because of her arrogance and pride, she seriouslycked in the ''technique'' department and this might be a good chance to properly train. However, she was also present during Genshirou and co''s training and has been terrified of that ever since. After a good amount of hesitation, Nyx shakingly pointed at Seekvaira and said, "If she does it with me, I''ll do it."


    She didn''t know what they saw but Seekvaira was getting really scared now.


    "Is that so?" A big smile crawled on Kisuke''s face, "Good timing~! I have a new facility that I wanted to test out."


    Nyx and Seekvaira felt like they just consented to beboratory rats.

 Chapter 827 Issei’s Warning

    Chapter 827 Issei��s Warning


    While Kisuke was muttering about the specifics of how they''d acquire the aura detection and reading skills and Nyx and Seekvaira were speaking up, trying to reduce their ''punishment'', a group of people arrived at the room where they are staying.


    "Kisuke! Why didn''t you tell me that you''ve been here for a while now?" Issei came walking in excitedly.


    Seeing his childhood friend who had be visibly taller and more muscr for the first time in a while, Kisuke smiled, "Did I ever be a person who goes to someone just to greet them?"


    Issei chuckled and affirmed, "Right. You never really go to someone unless you need them for something. But couldn''t you at least have given me a heads up?"


    "Well, since I figured that the news of me participating in the Azazel Cup would surely rile up some people, I believed I didn''t need to inconvenience myself to inform everyone."


    Issei lightly punched his shoulder as soon as he got closer as a form of greeting, "You still like delegating work to others, huh."


    "And it seems like you''re doing all the work that can be done. You should take it easy." Kisukemented after seeing him up close.


    Rias then suddenly came up to Issei with a strict expression, "Are you still pulling all-nighters with your studies?"


    Issei scratched his head with an awkward expression and said, "It''s the least that I can do if I want a smooth sailing future. I know that I''m not going to be fighting forever and I don''t want that to be my only skill."


    Of course, Issei wasn''t referring to just school studies, but actual management studies. Before even proposing to anyone, Issei knew that he couldn''t just offer his fighting ability on the table as he believed that peaceful times woulde eventually. This became even more apparent when Sirzechs revealed his intentions for him to seed as one of the Devil Kings.


    Rias sighed while cing her hand on her forehead, "That''s so Human of you. I know this still doesn''t strike you as normal, but you''re a Devil now with a lifespan surpassing a Human''s many times over. You don''t have to cram everything and I''ll always be beside you."


    "She''s right. Your mindset is admirable, but for now, just leave the things you want to do with those who can do it. Take your time to learn their trade and you won''t need to sacrifice what you have right now for the things you''ll eventually get anyways.", Kisuke added in.


    Smiling wryly, Issei replied, "I don''t really want to hear that from you."


    But Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Too bad for me. Not just anyone can do what I can and I have to pioneer most of the things that I want to do. As you''ve said, I like delegating work to others, but that''s because I actually can."


    "If that came from anyone else, you would have sounded arrogant. But Azazel already told me what you''re capable of, at least, the things he knew that you''re capable of.", Vali joined in their conversation.


    "I''m d to see that you''re also doing great, Vali-san." From Kisuke''s perspective, there''s also a massive change in his aurapared to when he met him in the past, ''He already had a massive amount of Demonic Power in the past, though it seems to have increased, that''s just secondary seeing how stable his footing is now.''


    "Are you done appraising me?", Vali suddenly asked.


    "Ah, forgive me. Force of habit."


    Vali shook his head, "Don''t worry about it. I''d do the same if I could. But as you can see, all of us have be considerably stronger. I don''t really have to ask how you''re doing because I can sense something terrifying from you, but what about those who are with you? I hope they''re not cking off." It''s his round-about way of asking how Kuroka is doing.


    "They have been working hard. Too much in fact that I wished they''d ck off a little." Which is something Kisuke was already regretting since he''s the one who created an environment and habit like this on them, "But if we''re talking about raw power, they wouldn''t be able to match your lot. After all, the ce we have been staying in is mostly peaceful."


    "Hmph. Don''t make it sound like that''s a bad thing. I like fighting, but too much of it gets tiring too, especially if it''s for nonsensical reasons. I''d like a bit of peacefulness too."


    And that''s the truth. Those who had participated in the war, especially those who lost their loved ones, would never wish for power if it was in exchange for peaceful times. The fact that they''d been living a rtively peaceful life would induce envy to many people and some might even hold a grudge against them. That''s how terrible the war was.


    Seeing an opening, thest person from the group came forward and faced Kisuke, "It''s nice to finally meet you, Kisuke Urahara. I''m Sairaorg Bael. I hope we can get along." Sairaog offered his hand while introducing himself.


    Kisuke took his hand, "The honor is mine~ I''ve also heard a lot of things about you. The strange yet admirable young Devil trained his body to the limits and defeated all of his adversaries with unmatched willpower and determination. I''ve always wanted to meet you."


    Sairaorg crowed a little and said, "Those are exaggerations that came because I was able to cement my position as the heir of the highest-ranked house. There are many people who are as great and even better than me."


    But as Sairaorg took back his hand, his expression became serious before continuing, "But before anything else, I''d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because of you, my mother was able to safely wake up from her sleeping disease. Although it''s the House of Sitri who employed the medications, I heard the cure came from you directly. If there''s anything you need, please tell me and I''ll do my best to fulfill it, even if it means utilizing my position as the heir of Bael."


    Of course, Kisuke was not someone who''d refuse an offer that was given so sincerely, "If you''re asking me now, I really have nothing in mind, so I''ll save it forter."


    This would havee up as rude if there were old-fashioned Devils in the room but Sairaorg just smiled and was d that it''s easy to talk to him, "I''ll wait for it then."


    Issei then approached Kisuke from the side and softly said, "Kisuke, follow me for a moment."


    The sharp glint within his eyes indicated that he wanted to talk alone about something very serious. Kisuke nodded and silently followed him outside of the room. The others didn''t mind this and just started talking with each other.


    After a few minutes of walking, they reached a quiet corner and Kisuke immediately cast multipleyers ofplex barriers that resulted in a ck box that didn''t allow a single bit of information from the inside to leak.


    Conjuring a light source, Kisuke asked, "Are theying?"


    Issei''s eyes went wide open in surprise but he sighed immediately after, "I don''t know how you''ve guessed it, but you''re right. They areing and she said that there''s nothing Great Red could do aside from slowing down their invasion."

 Chapter 828 Materialization

    Chapter 828 Materialization


    After a short but meaningful conversation with Issei, Kisuke said his goodbyes and returned to the Mars base alone to think about the information he''d gotten.


    Sitting in his office, Kisuke brought up all the files and documents that were rted to ''another world'' and ''world travel'' through a holographic screen and reviewed them a few times, making sure that he didn''t miss anything and updating any outdated entries. A few hourster, Kisuke rested his back on his chair and sighed, "There are still so many things that I don''t know."


    Recalling his earlier conversation, Kisuke muttered, "Evie Eltoulde. A world where only two races were left. An unending war between mechanical lifeforms and spiritual lifeforms, Evie and Eltoulde respectively."


    Issei came to know this information after a being called Chimune Chipaoti appeared in his dreams and warned him of the iing threat after the world came to know the existence of this world. And it wasn''t just any sort of warning since this being also asked Issei to find his 12 Heavenly Breasts that would help him gain more power and have a fighting chance.


    ''12 Heavenly Breasts? What the hell does that mean? Though it seems Issei knew exactly what she was referring to. How ridiculous.''


    But as ridiculous as it is, it also as terrifying to Kisuke''s ears, ''Having an authority over ''Breasts'' is still an ''authority'', a power that''s capable of manipting or bypassing the basic rules of everything at arge scale, making her a step above the Deities and entering the territory of Transcendents. But the problem is, she''s just one of many.''


    To Kisuke, the Evie faction that was led by three Transcedants feels as if the Soul King, Aizen, and Yhwach came together and joined hands to invade, giving Kisuke a shudder, "This won''t do. My preparations are far from enough."


    The chasing feeling that weighed heavily on his mind transformed and became a guillotine de that''s hanging on his neck, causing him no small amount of headache, ''There are still a few options, but they are so contradicting and the chances of them actually working is just wishful thinking or the opponents being stupid.''


    All of a sudden, however, Kisuke''s cane started shaking, pulling him out of his contemtion. But instead of doing anything, Kisuke just curiously watched as his Zanpakuto slowly floated away from him before emitting a blinding crimson light.


    As soon as the flood of light went away, Kisuke was bbergasted to see a tall ck-haired beautiful woman in a blood-red flower-themed kimono standing in front of him while holding his cane, "If you''re so afraid of their boy band, why not gather one of your own?"


    Kisuke was incredibly curious about her words, but first and foremost, he''d like some rification, "How are you doing this, Benihime?"


    Benihime giggled and yed around with the cane while finding the time to sit down, "I took inspiration from the Wandenreich''s Medallion and tried taking myself out of the confines of the de. It seems like it was a sess."


    Kisuke rubbed his forehead and said, "That''s amazing, really. As expected of my partner. But couldn''t you at least give me a heads up of what you were nning to do?"


    "Do I have to?"


    "...No. It''s just that I''d really appreciate it and could have prepared myself a bit."


    "It''s your thing to prepare for the unforeseeable, so deal with it." The cane in Benihime''s hand then spontaneously burned in crimson mes for a few seconds before returning to its original form, a katana, and cing it on her side.


    "You''re taking the de too?"


    "You have Hakuda, Kidou, Magic, Ki, and Hollowfication, while I only have Zanjutsu. Isn''t it the most logical choice?" Immediately after, however, Benihime''s casual tone became cold as she gave Kisuke a piercing stare, "But don''t you dare use another de as a substitute for me."


    ''How unreasonable.'' Kisuke thought while immediately replying, "My Shunko could use some practice so I''ll stick to that for now."


    Benihime smiled happily at his response, but anyone who knew how she truly behaved would be frozen in fear. After all, any other answer would have resulted in her swinging around the sword in her hand and blood blooming.


    "Anyway, going back, what do you mean by assembling my own boy band?"


    "You know what I meant. The question is how, but that isn''t my problem to solve." Standing up from her seat, Benihime walked towards Kisuke and extended her hand with an open palm, "Give me some allowance. I want to go around."


    Kisuke didn''t immediately give in to her demands and stared at her while deep in thoughts.


    "I knowmon sense so you don''t have to worry about me just randomly shing. And isn''t it convenient for you to have someone who has no connection to anyone, can move inplete darkness, and doesn''t need any medium to directlymunicate with you?"


    "You''d do that?"


    "I''m just doing my part while experiencing a Human''s life."


    Kisuke sighed and took out a card and a passbook from his inventory, "This is one of our biggest ounts that are hidden within the Human World. Use the name in it and spend it however you want." Benihime''s words are the truth since it''d be really convenient if he could get someone outside of his circle, ''By now, thoserge factions should already have the information of everyone around me.''


    Benihime received the card and the passbook and saw the name used on it, ''Benihime Urahara'', "I''ll do just that~!" Turning around happily, she intended to leave the base and go find a suitable apartment before going into a shopping spree. But just as she was about to pass through the door, Benihime turned around and said, "Before I forget, let me tell you that you''re being emotionally impulsive."


    Kisuke was surprised yet again but continued to listen to her valuable perspective.


    "I can understand that because you have a lot of things you want to protect now and even the thoughts of revenge are bothering you. However, let me remind you that leaving Hades and Olympus alone may do you better in the long run. I know you''re already aware of this and at this point, they don''t really pose any threat to you anymore, so why not just make use of them just like what you''ve always done?"


    "...Just let the bomb continue ticking, huh? You think that''ll make a difference?"


    "I don''t know but it''s a start. Either way, it won''t end well for them."


    "...I''ll think about it."


    "I see. Good luck~!"


    Kisuke felt Benihime''s presence disappear the moment she reached the teleportation room and sighed again, "I guess I''m really just being too emotional. Instead of them, I should focus on finalizing the World-tying Rite."


    Little did he know that he''d immensely regret allowing Benihime to move on her own.

 Chapter 829 Change of Plans

    Chapter 829 Change of ns


    Four whole days had passed and during that period, Kisuke didn''t leave his room. Trying to predict the future on a scale he hasn''t done before, writing up various blueprints that may help him, and calcting the theoretical framework of the ''World-Tying Rite'', he''d ended up over-drafting himself for the first time, ''I''m tired...'' He finally admitted.


    He wished he could feel and snuggle in the warmth of those in the other world, ''But even after all of this, I still can''t see the chance of winning.''


    Even though Chimune Chipaoti promised Issei a way to fight the malevolent Evie Gods by finding the chosen Heavenly Breasts, Kisuke couldn''t honestly depend on something as vague as that. In the first ce, he doesn''t have enough information to trust anything that Issei told him and those malevolent Gods might just be posing as this ''Chimune Chipaoti''. Unless he could gain more concrete information, he couldn''t take anything they said more than a proof of their existence, ''Heck, they may have already controlled Issei and I just can''t detect it.''


    As such, he came to a conclusion where he would have a rtively good chance of at least gathering the much-needed information, "Another ''route''. Instead of waiting for their arrival, I have to open another way towards them and the only way I can do that is to open the path from another dimension."


    However, that n opens more problems that had to be solved first, "I have to get the cooperation of the one guarding that dimension and that looks like an impossible case."


    And even if he was able to gather enough information, if a fight broke out, he highly doubted his tricks would work, "The only ways he could think of to have matching firepower is to nurture talents or recruit. The first one is the safest but takes a very long time and might fail... So a ''boy band'' of my own, huh..."


    Kisuke closed his eyes and contemted his options for onest time. When he opened them again, a sharp glint was present within them, ''Oh Kisuke... All this time, you''ve been on the passive side. It''s time to get aggressive.''


    After clearing all the holographic screens that have been floating all around the room, Kisuke activated themunication formation under his desk and it didn''t take too long for him to be connected to the otherworld.


    [Kisuke-kun? Is that you?] The one who answered was Hestia.


    "Hi there, Hestia-sama~! How are you doing?"


    The two of them talked for a while and Hestia told him that there is no one else in the tower right now because they were having fun outside.


    "Why aren''t you with them?", asked Kisuke with visible concern.


    But Hestia justughed at his reaction and said, "Don''t worry. I''ll join them soon. I''m only joiningter because I met with an old friend."


    "I see. So Medusa has already returned?"


    "Yep~ She''s as energetic as ever."


    "That''s good to hear." Kisuke nodded in satisfaction and relief, "I''m sorry, Hestia-sama, but I''m about to call back Yoruichi and want to talk to her alone."


    Hestia stood up from her seat, "Alright. I''ll prepare to go out." It was then that Hestia''s tone became serious, "Be careful. I can tell that you''ve decided on something big."


    Kisukeughed awkwardly and scratched his head, "As expected of Hestia-sama. It''s really hard to hide things from you."


    Hestia proudly stood up and ced her hands on her hips while spreading out her elbows, "Of course! You''re my child, after all!", but before continuing, her prideful tone disappeared and was reced by a gentle one, "Don''t forget that you can depend on me more. If ites down to it, I''ll bring myself to the Lower World and if it''s protecting people, you can leave it to me."


    Kisuke was speechless for a moment before smiling wryly, "I hope I could say that it wouldn''t get to that point, but I''d be lying to you."


    "I''m happy that you''re being honest since I can''t really tell if you''re lying. Just keep in mind what I''ve said." Hestia left the room, but not before reassuring Kisuke that he''ll still have her support even if things go awry.


    A few minutester, Yoruichi arrived and her first words were, "Change of ns?"


    "Yeah. I''d like you to make some additional changes to the barriers and add a few more. I''ll be sending the instructions to your terminalter. After that, I''d like you to get Loki and Freya''s permission to bring their children to deep-level floors and push their excelia to the limits while also teaching some useful things. Bring Serafall with you."


    "Just Loki''s and Freya''s?"


    Kisuke thought about it for a second before adding, "Include Hermes'' children, some of Hephaestus'' and Ganesha''s children, Bell Cranel''s party and everyone from the Hostess of Fertility."


    "...You want to push the schedule ahead that much?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Yes. Once they''re ready, look for the chance to trigger the ''Apocalypse''."


    Yoruichi frowned and replied, "But we''ll only have a few Gods on our side by then. I don''t think that''s enough to deal with Chaos. To begin with, do we really have to antagonize him? All we need to do isy low and he won''t do anything to us until we have a way to leave this ce entirely."


    "If you''re worried about our moral standpoint, please don''t. Thest time I crossed the void, I concluded that he couldn''t be trusted and we''re essentially saving this world from him."


    "...We are no heroes, you know that."


    "I know, but this world''s cooperation is essential and I''m willing to take the stage. Besides, something nice came up from this world and I think it''ll be a big help."


    Yoruichi''s eyebrows furrowed and became confused about why Kisuke was taking such an aggressive stance, "These instructions, they aren''t for fighting Chaos. What are these for, ultimately?"


    Kisuke took a deep breath and said, "Fishing up the owner of the Dungeon and killing it."


    "...That is even more confusing."

 Chapter 830 ‘Lucky’

    Chapter 830 ��Lucky��


    On the fifth day, Kisuke finally couldn''t afford to not show himself since he needed to appear as a King in the tournament. For his ns, it became very important for him to win the whole thing.


    "You''re finally here." Athena sighed when she saw him.


    "I apologize. Something came up. Who''s our opponent for today?"


    "A team of normal magicians. Since our points aren''t very high, expect our opponents to be like this for a while.", answered Tiamat.


    Kisuke thought about it for a bit and reached a decision before asking everyone, "Is it alright for everyone if our team gathers some notoriety? I promise we''ll get the lost reputation back on the main stage."


    All of them looked at each other and Seekvaira answered, "We don''t really mind since you promised, but what for?"


    "Ah... You see, I gave my money to someone and now I''m essentially broke again, so I''d like to earn a little bit byying a bet. But thanks to our performance in our first match, I doubt the stipends would be anything worthwhile."


    Seekvaira had many questions, but the biggest of them is, ''Why not just borrow from the house if you need something?'' She couldn''t understand the actions he wanted to take.


    As the person who had been trying to make sense of Kisuke''s thought processes the longest, Athena guessed, "You want the people to hate our team so they wouldn''t bet on us?"


    "That''s exactly the n~!"


    "Easy for you to say, but how?"


    "What do you think of a team where the King doesn''t do anything, leaving everything to his teammates while also provoking the audience? On top of that, once we''re matched against a strong contender, that team instantly surrenders?"


    "And we do that over and over again?"


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, "Well, yeah. Until I can achieve the intended effect."


    Nyx with a scrunched-up face behind her mask answered, "Disgusting."


    Out of everyone''s expectations, however, Tiamat positively interjected, "It''ll be better if we can give the opponent the false hope of winning. And since we can''t enter the main stage without winning against at least one of the strong contenders, you should look for a way to win with an underhanded method. I think that''ll be very effective."


    Kisuke grinned at her and guessed her intentions, "You want to bet too, huh?"


    "Kukuku. Of course. I won''t turn my back to easy money. It''ll be a fine addition to my treasures."


    ''Vritra, I''ve never seen any Dragon as Dragon-like as her.'' Genshirou thought to himself, ''If you''re talking about the records and descriptions from the Human World, then yes.'' Vritra replied.


    "Wonderful~! Here''s the n."


    .


    .


    .


    The match had ended, but the audience didn''t know what to think of what they''d just watched.


    The rules of the game were one again the normal ones, in a normal cityscape full of skyscrapers, and it even started normally. But the moment Urahara Shouten started moving, nobody expected them to suddenly break up.


    Tiamat unfurled her wings and flew towards the tallest building. From then on, she didn''t move a single bit as if she''s basking her scales in the artificial lighting.


    The two Goddesses, on the other hand, went towards a fancy cafe and took out portable consoles to y some games while also taking out some drinks and snacks from their inventory. A few momentster, Seekvaira joined them too but instead of ying some games, she took out a mech stic model and started assembling it while also recording her progress to post itter on her channel on Deviltube.


    Finally Genshirou, apparently not knowing what to do, started running in a random direction while saying he''ll get the enemy King, leaving their King alone.


    Someone very adept in scouting from the other team saw their movements and started nning out their own. They thought that they were underestimating them and were determined to make them pay for their attitudes towards the game where everyone had a chance of winning.


    Avoiding Genshirou, the team of magicians move around to corner Kisuke, who was aimlessly walking around away from everyone else.


    Once they saw that he was sufficiently far away from his teammates, the magicians deployed arge-scale Magic Circle with Kisuke in the middle.


    As if only noticing it now, Kisuke visibly panicked, but he was able to get away using his sh Step. Everyone who first saw this was in awe at his speed that was only below the legendary instant teleportation. But as the magicians pursued Kisuke, they too were able to witness its ''weakness'' of predictability and not being able to spam it.


    At that point, the magicians were able to understand why Kisuke needed his stealth when using it as it''s the only most effective way to use it.


    The magicians, while leading him further away from his teammates, started bombarding him withrge-scale magic that destroyed the buildings whenever they hit.


    They also noticed that Kisuke was calling for his teammates so some of the magicians stopped their chase to intercept whoever wasing.


    Of course, Kisuke tried retaliating by rushing towards one of the magicians who are casting but his attacks were stopped by multiple barriers that were deployed to protect their teammate where the most he could do is put a few cracks on the shield.


    It seems that the magicians could actually win this match due to Kisuke''s team''s arrogance when Kisuke entered arge building. Without thinking about it, the magicians gleefully followed him inside and were able to trap him when one of the Ice Magic was able to trap him in ce.


    Seeing the goal to victory, most of them began casting small but focused destructive magic, of course, while minding the building''s structural integrity.


    But for some unknown reason, one of these magics swerved and hit the others at an angle thatpletely missed the intended target and created a domino effect towards the others until each and every single one of them hit the most vulnerable parts of the 47-floor tall building.


    In a panic, all the magicians tried to scramble away, but it was already toote as the whole structure fell down and crashed on top of them. For a whole minute, everyone watching could only see debris and dust that was sted everywhere while the names of the magicians were being crossed out from the board one by one, including their King.


    A few minutester, some visibility returned and one of the floating eyes acting as a camera weaved through the debris because there was still one person within that destruction that wasn''t crossed out.


    To everyone''s shock, they saw Kisuke, with half of his body still trapped within ice but the reinforced concrete fell on top of him in a way that it formed a pyramid that blocked the other debris, safeguarding him from all the destruction.


    "Oh hey there~" Kisuke casually said to the camera, "I heard the retiring system activating. How many are still left?"

 Chapter 831 Behind His Amazing ‘Luck’

    Chapter 831 Behind His Amazing ��Luck��


    Within the main house of Belial, everyone from Kisuke''s team, Cleria, and Sakura are having a rest within the living room. But in addition to them, Ophis'' other half, Lilith was also present, silently munching on snacks while sitting on Kisuke''sp.


    "No one''s gonna help you when Ophis and Lilith start fighting for that spot.", reminded Sakura.


    "...I''ll do something about that when the timees."


    Not being able to contain her curiosity anymore, Seekvaira asked Kisuke about the earlier match, "Uhmm, Kisuke-san... Was it all just a lucky coincidence?"


    With a smug look, Kisuke replied while feeding the humanoid Dragon, "What do you think~?"


    She wanted to believe that no one was capable of drafting such a chaotic event but there were so many strange points beyond him being safe from all the falling debris. The magicians being unable to cast Magic properly, their strange movements during their escape, and the fact that it shouldn''t be enough to retire them by just simply throwing rocks at them.


    Genshirou and Nyx also had the same questions and were waiting to see how this would unfold.


    For the remaining two, they had an idea since they were watching his actions closely.


    "It wasn''t a coincidence.", voiced Tiamat.


    "Nor was it remotely lucky. Everything that went down was his clever maniption from the few seconds he was trapped in that ice.", added Athena, "It was obvious that he intended for that to happen, but as for how... I doubt you could see it from the rey, but he had been picking up pebbles from the road before they even arrived at the building.


    "Before they could even bombard him with spells, Kisuke distracted one of them by flicking two pebbles at one of them, one slicing the left cheek and one hit the shin. This resulted in that rogue spell that hit the other spells and caused chaos. After that, Kisuke strategically hit the pirs and ceiling with pebbles, cracking them before they even went down."


    "Aside from creating a safe spot for him, the debris was arranged to fall in a way that would block the magicians'' movement and get hit badly on their heads so that it was enough for them to get retired."


    Tiamat saw Seekvaira and Genshirou browsing through the video file of the match but they couldn''t find anything that Athena just said, "Give it up. The moment he entered that building, he never used an ounce of Magic Power nor Ki so it wouldn''t be visible no matter how you look through those lenses. And since it''s just the preliminary rounds, you won''t find any higher-frame rate recording device being used."


    In other words, this can only be seen by those who can directly observe the situation and one has to have very keen senses to even attempt to guess what happened.


    "I understand it now..." Genshirou muttered under his breath, "No wonder Sona-kaichou wanted to defeat you to the point of obsessionst time. She must have always lost miserably against you and she just couldn''t ept that with her pride."


    "...S-seriously?" Seekvaira looked towards Kisuke but thetter was busy feeding the Dragon so she turned her head towards Sakura.


    Sakura met her gaze and stopped eating and said, "This ising directly from me, but he''s really weird." She knew that he was hiding many things from her but she was already at the point where she stopped questioning it and just trusted him while waiting for him to confide in her.


    Seekvaira looked at Kisuke once again, but this time, in an entirely different light.


    Because of her own shorings, she decided to join Kisuke''s team and ask him for his guidance because she came to know that he''s the main reason why Sona''s former peerage members could stand where they are now. Not to mention Genshirou Saji, who can match the Red Dragon Emperor in a fight, everyone else also made a name for themselves and are currently the Underworld''s rising stars, just below the prominent names.


    In addition to the sleep disease''s cure that had gued the Devils since its inception, they are also the reason why the Sitri House was able to gather so much authority.


    However, more than strength, Seekvaira favored ''technique'' and ''intellect'' a lot more. Out of the four Devil Kings, she admired Ajuka Beelzebub the most because of this, and among the four Rookies, she looked up to Sona the most for the same reason.


    Seekvaira opened her mouth but Tiamat beat her to it, "Save it. Something like that can''t be taught if that''s what you''re about to ask him. And even if that was possible, you''d have to have a simr mindset to him, which is already out of question. He suffers from the same problem as most geniuses and that is that there is no way to make sense of what they are trying to do."


    "That''s right." Kisuke interjected, "I can share my way of thinking, but I have no way of teaching it to others."


    Seekvaira looked down and clenched her fist before looking up to him once again and said, "Then please allow me to watch you closely."


    "Hmmm... I guess that''s fine. But only after your training with Nyx. As thanks for filling up a slot, I''ll make it worthwhile for you."


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, Urahara Shouten participated in another match because Kisuke asked Tiamat to get them as many as possible.


    Many were puzzled by yesterday''s match and wanted to watch their team perform once again. Nevertheless, none of them were a fan of their team looking down on the other by obviously not participating properly.


    However, some of the audience were ticked off when Urahara Shouten didn''t appearplete as Seekvaira and ''Goddess Bishop'' are both absent from their lineup. And the same as yesterday, Tiamat flew towards the highest ce and closed her eyes while ''Goddess Knight'' began to roam around as if she was a tourist. Genshirou also gave with a big sigh and decided to be ''Goddess Knight''s'' guide since he knew the Underworld quite well, leaving their ''King'' alone once again.


    This time, their opponent was a lot stronger than yesterday''s in terms of firepower and the map was an open field, so most of the audience thought that there was no way for Kisuke to ''luckily'' win anymore and ced their bets on the opposing team.


    But after running around for more than an hour, narrowly dodging fatal attacks multiple times, Team Urahara Shouten won when one of the opposing team''s members made a mistake and ''identally'' took out their King, ending the game.


    Naturally, almost everyone was aggrieved by the result, and those who bet money cursed at the hateful ''King'' for winning through luck once again, gaining a lot of heat and hate, just as Kisuke intended while watching his bank ount rapidly grow in size.


    For the next few days, the number of viewers in Kisuke''s matches increased exponentially which made his wealth also explode by winning with ''luck''. Of course, all of these increases were proportional to the hate he''s receiving since he''s also receiving a lot of ''fan letters'' that couldn''t be shown to children.


    Finally, that hate hit the peak when it was announced that Team Urahara Shouten''s next opponent is the Team Trump Card of Heaven led by Dulio Gesualdo. Many celebrated since they could finally see Kisuke beaten up and also gain their money back, only for a moment, however.


    Team Trump Card of Heaven won, but it''s because Kisuke instantly announced their surrender the moment the matching came up.

 Chapter 832 Shiva and Ajuka’s Thoughts

    Chapter 832 Shiva and Ajuka��s Thoughts


    In a well-lit room within the remaining Devil King''s mansion, Ajuka was having some good wine while looking through the window and stargazing, "What do you think?"


    On the holographic screen behind him was a handsome young boy with shiny blue-ck hair, the current leader of the Hindu Faction, the God of Destruction, Shiva.


    Shiva didn''t immediately answer and continued watching the Team Urahara Shouten''s matches. Soon after, the yback finished and Shiva picked up his own wine, "Interesting, if not downright terrifying."


    Ajuka took back his eyes from the stars and looked at his screen, "What a surprise. For you to use the word ''terrifying''. Not even Indra could elicit such a response from you."


    After taking a sip, Shiva replied, "That''s true... But that''s because I understand him. I can even understand the ''Infinite'' and ''Dreams'' to a certain extent. However, I have not a single clue about this man. Everything about him is contradicting."


    "So even you, huh. It''s true, the amount of control he has is nonsensical. Calling him a genius is an understatement. Though seeing most people get genuinely enraged at his antics is amusing. He''s literally ying with them on the top of his palms."


    "You can''t really me anyone, especially the Gods. Since their birth, Gods have been very strong and found needing to control their powers or analyzing everyone they came across next to nothing as they can just blitz their way through to get what they want. If that doesn''t work, they''ll just scheme in the shadows. The fact that most of them couldn''t see through his ruse is the testament to that."


    Sighing, Shiva continued, "But it''s really incredibly fascinating. Different from you who strived forplete control, and me who wanted to know everything that will ever happen, he''s someone who wants to control the future itself."


    "Really? I think he''s just someone who really likes anticipating everything and catching him off guard is nearly impossible. Though he''s really a strange one. I already confirmed his birth and there''s nothing out of the ordinary about it."


    "Yes. That''s one of the contradictory feelings that I''m getting from him. He obviously had been very weak from the start, but the amount of control he has suggested that he didn''t gain any spontaneous power. It''s as if he slowly cultivated himself for a long period of time and steadily climbed thedder to the strongest. However, he''s just 18 or 19 this year. Too young to do even a fraction of that. The only possibility left is..."


    "That he reincarnated with intact memory. But he should''ve been known at some point in history. I''ve searched through all the records, including that of Heaven, and even asked a few of the old Gods. I thought that I''d find at least a clue because of the unique system of soul techniques he''s using, but there were none connected to it in any way, including the techniques used by Hades and other Gods that preside over souls."


    Shiva took another sip from his wine ss before saying, "With the existence of the other worlds proven, there''s nothing strange about that anymore."


    "I see... If he''s really a ''foreigner'', then that would exin a lot of things."


    "In any case, the gates of the world will open with him as the nexus, and I have no intention of stopping it. Regardless of whatever''s going to happen, it''ll open an interesting era and we''ll have to prepare for it."


    "I agree. I''ll even help him if he''s able to deal with the Trihexa."


    .


    .


    .


    While scrolling through his earnings, Kisuke sent some additional funds to Benihime in case she needed more, "Looks like some people are already catching on."


    "I''m surprised that we even earned this much before the trend began to fall down. Looks like you really annoyed no small amount of people.", Tiamat replied while also looking at her earnings.


    "Well, people aren''t stupid. It''s hard to believe that all of those are just coincidences. How many more matches do we still need before securing our spot on the main stage?"


    "Actually, we just need a few more from rtively high-ranking teams. Instead of random matchmaking, you can just choose from the direct challenges." Tiamat passed him a paper listing all the teams that wanted to challenge theirs and at the top of them were the high-ranking teams, "Though if the other teams started working harder, we might need more."


    Kisuke looked through it and the first name he saw was Apollo''s team, Team Leisure of the Kings, which wasposed of Gods and Monsters from various mythologies. Of course, he immediately ignored them and skipped to the bottom where the teams with simr points as them are located, "We can milk this more, but we should slow down now. We''ll ept a match once every few days or a week, starting from the bottom."


    "Understood. I''ll arrange it."


    Athena on the side watched Tiamat leave the room andmented, "Each passing day, the image of her being your secretary bes more and more pronounced. Were you actually aiming for this?"


    "Hey now. That''s just an usation. I don''t n everything that''s happening around me. If I had that kind of power, I wouldn''t need to make myself busy with various things."


    All of a sudden, Kisuke heard Benihime''s voice in his head, [Some people are moving around gathering information about the Nekoshou sisters in your care, especially their current whereabouts. Sadly, I haven''t been able to figure out who their client is, but chances are that they''re Hades'' men. As for why, that''s even more of a mystery.]


    Kisuke''s mind immediately recalled Koneko''s hairpin that contained the research data about Super Devils and Hades'' artificial Devils and made a connection, [Thanks. They''ll probablye after me soon enough, but that''ll be my chance to nt some more ''bombs''. By the way, how are you doing these days?]


    [It''s been pretty fun, actually. Especially this inte that the Humans invented. It''s pretty neat.]


    Kisuke immediately got nervous when she mentioned the ''inte'', but calmed himself down and thought, ''It''s Benihime. She''ll be fine.''


    Still, he warned her of the dangers of the sea of information, [...All in all, be careful and don''t delve too deep into it. It''s only fun till a certain point.]


    Not wanting to hear any more lectures, however, Benihime changed the topic, [Before I forget, I came across Aika earlier and due to some coincidences, we ended up being acquainted with each other. Should I stop here?]


    Kisuke thought about it for a bit and disagreed, [If it happened naturally and as long as you don''t bring her anywhere near the supernatural world, then it''s fine. She can also help you learn how to act in the Human world... How is she?]


    [She''s doing fine and she looks like she''s having fun with her friends.]


    [That''s good.]


    [But I can also see confusion within her eyes, though she doesn''t seem to know what she''s confused about.]


    [I could seal her memories and abilities, but there''s nothing I could do about her subconscious mind.]


    [If you''re fine with this then I have nothing to say about it, just that, you''re going to regret this.]


    Kisuke smiled wryly and said, [I''m always regretting things. This is nothing new.]


    Sitting in front of her PC costing thousands of dors, Benihime cut off her connection to Kisuke. From her headphones, she heard her teammate instructing her of what she should do, "Shut up, trash. If you want to y so much, maybe don''t die."

 Chapter 833 To the Void

    Chapter 833 To the Void


    Athena was confused why Kisuke suddenly went quiet but she didn''t have time to dwell on it when she was contacted by someone through a Magic Circle. After hearing what they had to say, she immediately cut off the line and turned her attention back to Kisuke, "One of my scouts found the traces of Tartarus. What should we do?"


    Kisuke rose from his seat and thought about it for a moment before asking Athena a question instead of answering, "What do you think of those trapped in Tartarus?"


    Athena stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to figure out what he intended to do by asking that question. s, nothing came to mind, and just sighed, "I don''t know what you want to know and when Ist met them, I was still very young and didn''t know what was happening around me. However, father would always say that none of them were inherently evil and the war between them was due to a difference in ideals."


    "Is that so? Send me the coordinates and I''ll go alone. I''ll also be gone for a week or so."


    Athena handed them over without hesitation but asked, "What about the Azazel Cup."


    "Just tell Tiamat to postpone it. I have to take care of this first." were Kisuke''sst words before he disappeared.


    But instead of going directly to the coordinates, he instead teleported back to his base on Mars and went to the deepest level, ''Instead of fighting against them, I should make use of them. If Hades could strike a deal with them, there''s no reason why I shouldn''t be able to as well.''


    Kisuke arrived atrge double doors made out of a thick metal alloy that conducted Magic Power and Ki very poorly. Before opening it, however, Kisuke turned around to the empty hall and voiced out loud, "Lilith-chan, since you''ve followed me here, you don''t have to hide."


    Space shook for a moment before the figure of the ck-haired little girl appeared in front and silently stared at him, waiting for the expected scolding.


    Despite being a different person and being even more innocent, Kisuke could still see her resemnce to Ophis'' personality, albeit, a bit different. Patting her head, Kisuke reassured her, "I''m not scolding you. But when you want to follow or see me, you don''t have to do it secretly."


    Lilith had received head pats from various people, but Kisuke''s felt different. It gives a different type of warmth and makes her think that ''this is it.'' Of course, she also knew that this came from her original half, but she didn''t have any intentions of discarding it nor devaluing it, "Mmmm..." She let out a small voice while nodding.


    "Well, you came at the right time, since I need your assistance."


    Tilting her head, Lilith asked, "...What is it?"


    "I want you to connect with Ophis-chan and iste a part of the void beyond the Dimensional Gap, before connecting it to this ce using your ''Infinity''."


    Lilith didn''t question why he wanted something like that but she has her concerns, "...But we will catch his attention. I am aware that you don''t want his eyes on you, nor on me."


    "That''s not a problem." Kisuke pointed towards therge door before continuing, "You''ll be doing that in there. Even though it''s his domain, he still doesn''t know of every small event that is happening in it, and that room brings down the noiseparable to a small event. And to further reduce the risk of being discovered, I''ll be going in and making some distractions."


    Lilith stayed silent for a bit to think and voiced out her next concern, "...To maintain that space, we will have to constantly feed it with our power. I don''t want to be confined."


    Hearing that, Kisuke hurriedly cleared the misunderstanding, "I''d never do that to you. I just need you to create that space and I''ll do the maintenance."


    "When shall we begin?" Lilith asked immediately.


    "Follow me." Kisuke turned around and touched the door before it opened quietly as opposed to its bulky appearance. The room was cylindrical in shape with a diameter of 300 meters and a height of 500 meters, with nothing in it. Kisuke flew up and went towards the center of the room with Lilith in tow.


    Once they arrived, Kisuke turned to Lilith once again and said, "Once the space is formed, this room will automatically stabilize it and you have to leave immediately after that."


    Lilith nodded and floated to the centermost part of the room and put her hands together before her crest appeared on her arms, "We shall start whenever you are ready."


    "You may begin the moment you feel my presence disappear. For now, establish a connection with Ophis-chan."


    Lilith nodded and Kisuke left her behind, closing the doors once again. Using his sh step, Kisuke arrived at the ce where he''d first appeared when he returned. After taking a deep breath, his hair straightened and grew longer along with the two horns that sprouted on the top of his head. This time, however, his skin wasn''t hollowfied and just his eyes turned dark, ''I wonder what would happen when I show this form in the Azazel Cup?''


    But far different from the previous iterations of his Hollowfication, his aura hadpletely disappeared. If someone were to face him right now, they''d be unsettled because they wouldn''t be able to feel anything. If not for Lilith and Ophis having a direct connection with him, they would have already started their work.


    Of course, this doesn''t mean that his aura weakened or the minimal transformation is any different from a full Hollowfication. It''s just that his presence became so incredibly natural that he would be suited for any painting of the world.


    Kisuke didn''t dy his actions any longer and opened a hole that bypassed the Dimensional Gap and entered it. The moment he arrived within the ''void'', the unforgiving forces that would instantly tear an Ultimate ss apart immediately began pulling on him. Though with his transformation, he estimated that he was as durable as Aizen during his chrysalis stage, so the space was just doing minimal damage to him and he was instantly recovering from it.


    ''Just causing arge noise would only look suspicious so I have to do something that looks ''natural''.'' Kisuke thought as he looked around, searching for his goal. Feeling a thin presence within the darkness, he immediately moved out and assaulted it. The moment he got closer, Kisuke was finally able to make out of its appearance.


    With the size of a train, the jet ck creature looked like a monster that woulde out of a Lovecraftian world. A giant worm full of gnawing mouths with sharp fangs all over its body.


    Kisuke sent out a punch aiming at the center of its body and sent it flying. Despite the absence of air, Kisuke heard a screech that was enough to st open a High-ss Devil or Angel''s head, ''How intriguing. It''s technically a spiritual creature since it has a body of pure energy, but it''s condensed enough that it looks like an actual physical body.''


    Seeing it immediately recover and pounce towards him, Kisukemented, "It''s durable too. Looks like I''ll have fun catching these things while also practicing."


    "Shunko: Blood Gate.", after muttering those words, blood emerged behind Kisuke and formed the shape of Raijin''s drums, simr to Yoruichi''s Shunko. But instead of seven drums linked together, Kisuke only had five and the two ''drums'' at the bottom weren''t linked, "First Gate: Shackles."


    The ''drum'' located on his lower right stretched and became an eye symbol. Simultaneously, all four of his limbs were covered in blood.


    Kisuke had refined his Shunko after his battle with Tiamat and separated it into five stages for easier management.

 Chapter Character Sheet (As of ) w/ Power Level

    Chapter Character Sheet (As of ) w/ Power Level


    Full Name: Kisuke Urahara


    Age: 17 years old (Total Age: 300+ years old)


    Height: 176 cm


    Weight: 63 kg


    Hair: Light-blond


    Eyes: Gray


    upation: Highschool Student / Candy Store Owner


    Parents: Sakura Urahara


    Heritage: Human/Soul Race


    Hobbies: Discovering new things; Messing with other people.


    Likes: Cats; Yoruichi; Buildingrge secret underground training spaces.


    Dislikes: Those who scheme against him and hispanions


    Skills:


    Shinigami Arts:


    Kidou(Demon Arts) = Grandmaster


    Original Kidou


    Forbidden Spells(Time and Space Maniption)


    Shikai(First Release) Benihime(Crimson Princess)


    Bankai(Final Release) Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame(Modification of the Crimson Princess'' Dissection at the Doors of Avalokitevara)


    Zanjutsu(Sword Arts) = Grandmaster


    sh Step(Shunpo) = Master


    Agility/Fast Movement(Hohou) = Master


    Hand-to-Hand Combat(Hakuda) = Master


    Arrancar Arts: (All are only avable if Kisuke dons his Hollow Mask except for Descorrer)


    Hollow sh(Cero)


    Royal Hollow sh(Gran Rey Cero)


    ck Hollow sh(Cero Oscuras)


    Infinite Ammunition Hollow sh (Cero Metralleta)


    Hollow Bullet (Bara)


    Iron Skin(Hierro)


    Echoing Movement(Sonido)


    Resurrion (Vasto Lorde Mode)


    Resurrion Segunda (Vasto Lorde Burst Mode)


    Loosening Void(Descorrer)


    Regeneration --- not to confuse with High-Speed Regeneration


    Magic Arts:


    Basic Strengthening Magic


    Basic Protection Magic


    Basic Healing Magic


    Power Level:


    Base Form (With Shikai Activated and without using Kidou) = High-ss Devils / Minor Gods


    Base Form (Shikai and Kidou) = Ultimate Devils / Major Gods


    Base Form (Bankai) = ???


    Hollow Mask (Shikai) = Chief Gods / Evil Dragons


    Resurrion (Vasto Lorde / Shikai)(Time Limited) >>= Super Devils and Heavenly Dragons


    Resurrion Segunda (Vasto Lorde Burst Mode/ Shikai)(Berserk State) = Great Red/Ophis/Trihexa


    ***Secret Final Form*** = Gods of the Other World


    Note** Power Level is just raw strengthparison and Kisuke can defeat those who are stronger than him with his skills, item, and schemes.


    -----------------------------------------------------


    Full Name: Yoruichi


    Age: 17 years old (Total Age: 300+ years old)


    Height: 153 cm


    Weight: 40 kg


    Hair: ck


    Eyes: Gold


    upation: Cat


    Parents: Unknown


    Heritage: Human / Soul Race


    Hobbies: Sleeping; Lurking; Messing with other people


    Likes: Milk; Kisuke; Transforming into a cat


    Dislikes: Cowards; Wimps


    Shinigami Arts:


    Kidou(Demon Arts) = Expert


    Zanjutsu(Sword Arts) = Expert


    sh Step(Shunpo) = Grandmaster


    Agility/Fast Movement(Hohou) = Grandmaster


    Hand-to-Hand Combat(Hakuda) = Grandmaster


    Assassination Arts = Grandmaster


    Shikai and Bankai = unknown/uncontroble


    Original and Equivalent Power Level


    Base Form (With Kidou) = High-ss Devil / Minor Gods


    Shunkou (sh War Cry) =< Ultimate Devils / Major Gods


    Shunkou: Raijin Senkei (sh War Cry: Thunder God War Form) >= Ultimate Devils / Major Gods


    Shunshin Chouhengen (sh God Super Transformation) = Super Devils and Heavenly Dragons


    Shunkou: Raiju Senkei: Shunryuu Kokubyou Senkei (sh War Cry: Thunder Beast Battle Form: sh God ck Cat Warrior Princess) >= Super Devils and Heavenly Dragons


    ***Bankai*** =???


    Note** Again, Yoruichi can defeat someone stronger than her with her skill, item, and strategy.


    To be continued.


    Updated.

 Chapter 834 Gods of Hell

    Chapter 834 Gods of Hell


    For two days, Kisuke kept hunting these creatures of the void and capturing some of them. At some point yesterday, he felt eyes, noting from these creatures,nd on him, but they immediately lost their interest and never bothered looking at him again.


    "This should be enough." Kisuke said, with blood-red gauntlets and boots and three of his ''drums'' transformed into eyes, released his Shunko and returned to his base Hollow form.


    As easy as he''d opened the path to the void, Kisuke also returned the same way while also transforming back to his Human form, ''Looks like Lilith has already left.''


    But instead of checking over her work, Kisuke took out the capsules that contained andpressed the strange beasts, both alive and dead. While there was nothing happening to the ones alive and kept in their suspended state, the carcasses had begun to dissolve into a ck gas and had started leaking out.


    In a hurry, Kisuke ced numerous barriers on them and isted the room he was in by shutting it off from the outside through physical and magical means. But after a few seconds, even with the help of his equipment, he wasn''t able to detect any form of contamination and there were no signs that his lockdown was breached.


    He spent a few more hours to test things out and figured that the ck smoke automatically returned to the void, ''I can use this.''


    After securing and storing his samples, Kisuke finally went and checked on Lilith and Ophis'' work. Though, instead ofing back to that room, he went to the side that contained all the control panels and monitoring devices for that room.


    With a quick check, Kisuke saw that everything was running on its nominal values, "More than a million cubic kilometers of space. That''s greater than my initial estimation. Though this won''t be enough, so I''ll have to expand it even further after neutralizing the energyposition within it. Might take about 3 to 4 weeks."


    Recalling a portion of his drone army that''d been mining for minerals in the asteroid belt, Kisuke ced them within the newly created space and let them do all the work, "By the time a bit more than a month passes, it should have expanded even more and even be habitable." He then locked everything under only his authority so that any ess to the ''room'' would always go through him, "Now then, I should go check that ce out."


    .


    .


    .


    The coordinates that Athena had given Kisuke were located in the Underworld, near Hades'' domain. But after a whole day of investigating, it led him to the middle of the underworld equivalent to the Sahara Desert. It took Kisuke another hour to figure out the entrance to a hidden space beneath the desert and saw some Cyclopes running around doing manualbor and the Grim Reapers supervising them.


    Instead of going further in, Kisuke hid his presence and circled around the cavern, slowly making his way in while studying everything inside it. Another day had passed before Kisuke was finally able to inspect everything, including ''Tartarus'' in the center covered with various barriers that prohibited those who don''t have any authorization to approach.


    He found an empty spot and camouged it before bringing out the equipment that would be used to hijack the barriers and listen to everything around him, ''...Hmmm. Three days before I cany everything down. I hope Hades, Apollo, or any other Godes to visit the site during then.''


    Luckily for Kisuke, three Gods had indeed arrived at the site before he was done with everything he needed to do three dayster, namely, Hades, Apollo, and Erebus. And during their ''super-secret talk'', Kisuke was able to find out a few things.


    First of all, Hades was indeed sessful in creating artificial Devils with a few of them being at Super Devil level. And with thebined force of these artificial Devils and Grim Reapers, Hades now has around 50,000 troops under him.


    It seemed that they were also nning to invite more ''Gods of Hell'' that would join their group so that they''d have a better chance of seeding when they finallymenced their attack which will start once they''re able to gather most of the Longinus users in one ce and eliminate them.


    While it wasn''t mentioned what the prisoners of Tartarus would do in this war, Kisuke already had a good idea when it was said that Apollo was the one who was going to lead the attack on Heaven to take control of the Longinus'' once they separated from their owners.


    What surprised Kisuke, however, was the purpose of their group and that was to eliminate the wild cards, the Longinus'', and lead the Mythologies to defend against the threat of ExE seeing that no one was actually doing anything substantial against them.


    "Our priority targets should be Hyoudou Issei and Vali Lucifer. Those two are the main characters that lead everyone.", Erebus muttered with a solemn expression.


    Yet, Hades shook his head at his words, "Wrong. If it''s possible to control them, we should strive to do so. The most concerning one is Mitsuya Kanzaki and his group, Cross Time Kiss."


    "Cross Time Kiss?" asked Erebus, not knowing anything about them.


    "It''s a small group of Sacred Gear wielders with Mitsuya Kanzaki at its helm and possesses two of the Longinus'' by himself.", Hades answered while reclining in his seat, "But the most concerning thing about this child is his world view. It''s as if he wants the world to plunge into total chaos. Even though I only met him one time, I''m confident of my impression of him."


    Apollo thought about it for a moment before asking, "What else do we know about him?"


    "Almost nothing. Not even his history, aside from the Grigori being wary of them and the group shing with Ajuka''s faction one time. The information surrounding him is in fact, somehow less than even Kisuke Urahara... If you include all the bullshit he''s putting out there to confuse everyone."


    After that, they didn''t have anything else important and just talked about the progress of opening Tartarus. Kisuke just waited for them to leave the next day before he also left the ce, ''Alright, I''m set.''


    Kisuke returned to the Belial Mansion after asking Benihime to investigate Mitsuya Kanzaki.

 Chapter 835 Those Who are Left Behind

    Chapter 835 Those Who are Left Behind


    While overlooking the Adventurers who were doing their best to survive from afar, Serafall asked, "Is this alright?"


    Yoruichi, who was sitting on some protruding ice, sighed, "It''s fine. We can at least guarantee their lives."


    As Kisuke had instructed, Yoruichi and Serafall returned to Orario and gathered the Adventurers of the top Familias and then tossed them into the depths of the Dungeon. Currently, on the 60th floor, an expansive world of ice and frost, The Ganesha, Freya, Loki, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Miach Familias were currently at war with 4-meter tall humanoid creatures covered in white and gray fur, Yeti.


    In addition to these monsters'' immense strength, they were also capable of using Ice Magic that was equivalent to a Level 4 Mage. On top of that, thanks to Yoruichi releasing her Reiatsu, some of them were mutated with each one of them equaling a Level 7 Adventurer, making the battle extremely hard despite the cooperation between Orario''s top Familias.


    But it wasn''t just Adventurers and Yetis in the fray, as irregr monsters were also attacking both sides. Not just caterpirs but also mantises came up from the lower floors when the sh started, "Do you think they''ll be able to deal with the master of these irregr monsters too?"


    Yoruichi shook her head, "If its identity is as we''ve guessed, we''ll have to move to clean that up. My only concern is if the owner of the Dungeon would be able to contain the battle without any adverse effects on the Dungeon itself."


    All of a sudden, an unknown voice whispered to their minds, [If you''re worried that the Dungeon will st open during the moment of battle, I can provide a quarter of an hour of silence.]


    Serafall and Yoruichi immediately stood up and fired up their senses to maximum but failing to find anything around them, "I''d really appreciate it if you gave us a warning before you speak up." Yoruichi replied with a frown.


    [My apologies. You were on-topic and this expedition will lead you to the Dungeon''s parasite. I figured you''d want my input and cooperation.]


    A few momentster, Yoruichi rxed a little bit and sat back down, "That''s true... But if you''re telling us this, does that mean that this ''parasite'' is a Deity?"


    However, the mysterious voice already disappeared without providing them any answers, ''It seems that''s all we need to know.''


    Still, Yoruichi couldn''t understand why Kisuke needed to kill this ''owner'' as it''s the best card they could use against Chaos who they clearly couldn''t trust, ''Once he''s done with us, chances are he''ll dispose of us. Kisuke knows this so why?''


    "What floor is this parasite located on?" asked Serafall.


    "Kuroka and I explored until the 79th floor before stopping, because the 80th floor was apletely new domain. It''s as if it was not part of the Dungeon anymore. If I were to guess, beyond that."


    .


    .


    .


    After having a plentiful rest, Sona, Koneko, Irina, Akeno, and Line returned to the Dungeon. They''d already heard what their friends were capable of on the other side and they couldn''t sit still. But even if they wanted to fight against a God-level opponent to gain experience, there''s just none like that unless a God decided to descend.


    But even though they had nothing to ovee as of now, they believed that there was still something they could do. As Kisuke had said, polishing the basics until it couldn''t be perceived as a basic anymore was also one way of getting stronger.


    "Haaaut!!!" Sona bisected five giant wolf monsters with a single swing of her halberd. Looking at her de covered with a thin coat of water that was moving several times that of the speed of sound, she thought, ''It doesn''t break as easily as before. It also didn''t consume as much stamina as before. The only problem right now is the headache-inducing sound it creates whenever it spins.''


    Sona then looked towards herpanions and saw Koneko spinning with her jet boots, sting open skulls from the sheer force they produced.


    On the other side was Irina, but unlike before, four pairs of Angel wings were attached to her back and unlike the normal ones, some of her feathers were colored red, giving the entire thing a nice hue against the overall whiteness. Though the most striking change was her halo. Instead of a golden one, she had a red one, presumably, it came from Great Red.


    The light she conjured had also be red and she apparently couldn''t change it anymore. The power of her light didn''t increase much, but it gained the new property of ''Illusionary''. Whatever the shape of light she conjured, its existence will depend on her. If an enemy is hit by this light, Irina could decide whether this enemy was ''against the light'', and then the one receiving the attack would take damage simr to Devils hit by Light Magic.


    If it''s an ally, various buffs could be imbued to those who were hit.


    Sona watched as ten whips of light extended from her hands and melted the giant wolves around her, ''It looks incredibly versatile, but it has one ring weakness. All of that depended on her perception and decision-making. One wrong choice and it could go bad, not just for her but also for those around her.''


    Looking further away from her was Akeno. Like Irina, Akeno was also sporting four pairs of Fallen Angel wings, but also different from the former that gained an upgrade as an ''Angel'', Akeno''s limbs and the base of her wings were covered with ck Dragon scales. She got an upgrade as a ''Dragon''.


    As ck lightning pierced through her enemies, Sona recalled their properties. Akeno''s lightning also didn''t get much of an increase in terms of destructive power, but they also gained a special ability which they decided to call ''Infinite Lance'' for a very simple reason that it ignored any sort of defense to reach its enemy.


    From their initial tests, there''s still no type of defense it couldn''t bypass, including barriers that separate space and time itself. It''s incredibly powerful, but of course, it also suffers from some weakness as Akeno needed to perceive her enemies correctly for them to be hit. Aside from that, it''s only effective against ''defenses'' since they also tested that ''attacks'' could collide with it and be stopped as Sona''s ''water'' defense was ignored, but when she shaped it like a de and threw it towards her, the bolts of lightning were neutralized like they were just normal Lightning Magic that Akeno used to use.


    And despite these upgrades on them, they were still actually the weakest among the group that came from the other side. Sona could break through any defenses and be essentially undying if she were to transform her body into a non-corporeal form.


    Koneko had the most destructive power and could constantly be at her peak by absorbing Magic Power and Ki from the atmosphere, which basically made her a cannon that has unlimited ammo.


    Kuroka has the most versatility with her use of Magic and Ki. She also has an amazing defense thanks to her ''ck mes'' that expel everything. If she''s with Koneko, the two of them couldplete a circuit, and both gain ''Absorption'' and ''Expulsion'' abilities of their mes.


    Medusa had returned to her roots and even epted the ''evil'' within her, acquiring power that was unachievable to most Gods.


    Serafall was already at the level of a Super Devil but for her to fully transform, she only needed one more catalyst.


    Finally, Yoruichi. Like Kisuke, she was very secretive about her abilities, but Sona heard from her sister that she had no way of winning against her.

 Chapter 836 Infiltration

    Chapter 836 Infiltration


    "I''m getting tired..." One of the guards patrolling the Aruna Familia''s main buildingined while yawning.


    "Stopining. The executives or officers might hear you." His partner replied while also being infected by his yawn.


    Lowering his voice, the first one added, "But seriously, what''s going on? It has been weeks and the protocol only gets stricter and stricter. Not to mention, most of the executives haven''t left the main house, including Aruna-sama."


    "You know what''s even weirder? Our recent Dungeon activities! While the other Familias are getting stronger fast because of that tower that allows more risks in the deeper levels, our Familia actually pulled back most of our forces from the Dungeon to guard the vicinity! Does that make sense when normally we would be contesting for its ownership or at least benefits!?"


    The first guard hurriedly smacked his partner''s head, "You idiot! Keep your voice down! You should''ve already heard of this, but those who voiced out theirints and tried to go against the directives were called inside, but none of them actually have gone back out yet!"


    "Sorry... I lost my calm there." The second guard scratched his head, "The only good thing about this is that we can rx a bit since those who can enter inside seem to always be captured, even the most famous ones, and we even get to have a portion of the ransom for their release."


    A few hours before dawn, within the Aruna Familia''s main base Zitta, Kuroka was going around using the cover of the darkness. She spent around an hour listening to the guards, but failed to get anything else from them, ''There''s nothing new. As expected, it looks like I''ll have to enter the ''red zone'' to get more information.''


    The red zone Kuroka was thinking about is the whole Aruna Familia main building. Before the other infiltrators from other Familias started getting caught in it, Kuroka and the rest were already aware of its existence as some sort of barrier made out of thebined Magic and Divine Power that pinpointed the exact location of anyone within.


    Since she didn''t want to reveal her existence yet in order to gather more information, Kuroka had so far chosen to hold off on storming in.


    But after considering the pros and cons, she finally decided to go in, ''First I have to set an anchor for Teleportation Magic for instantaneous movement.''


    Kuroka formed a n in her head while looking at the blueprint of the mansion she acquired earlier on before establishing contact with Medusa, [Medusa-chan, I''ll be entering the red zone, nyaa. I''ll send you my current location every two minutes while inside.]


    [Understood. I''ll move out as soon as five seconds have passed from the time limit. Also, please do be careful. There are traces that a major renovation was done on the mansion''s interior.]


    [I''ll be careful.]


    Kuroka finished all of her preparations and immediately entered through one of the windows. As soon as she went through the invisible film-like barrier, she instantly expanded her Ki to scan her surroundings and detected all the people patrolling inside had begun to converge on her position, even though she didn''t do anything to reveal her location, ''So it''s really like this, nyaa... Hive mind type of connection Magic?''


    Kuroka first sent her location to Medusa and immediately got a pingback from her, ''Good. It''s working.''


    Instead of avoiding the guards, Kuroka covered her real appearance with Illusion Magic and went after a small group that was furthest from everyone else. The moment she met them, Kuroka immediately noticed something strange about them.


    "You there! Surrender yourself!" The man leading the group warned.


    ''They may act normal but I can''t feel any emotions from them... Brainwashed?'' Kuroka questioned herself and immediately initiated an attack without replying to him.


    Kuroka easily dispatched the group and left all but one unconscious, "Y-you... Who are you!?"


    Kuroka still didn''t answer his question and instead threw him through the nearest window, ejecting him from the mansion and the barrier covering it. The man broke his arm when hended on the ground but instead of the pain, it seems that he''s confused about what''s happening. Seeing his reaction had already given Kuroka most of the things she needed to know and immediately left, avoiding the other groups.


    ''These people aren''t important, nyaa. The real point of concern is where my Ki can''t prate.'' Within her detection range, there''s a spot where she couldn''t feel anything from, ''The basement, huh... ording to the blueprint, that shouldn''t exist.''


    Making her way through, before she reached her target, she came across another group and knocked them out. Among them, she brought one with her on the edge of the barrier that her Ki couldn''t prate, ''This is... Quite a strong one, isn''t it?''


    Kuroka touched the barrier that physically blocked her before lowering her body and going into a stance. Covering her arm with Ki, Kuroka threw out a punch with a calcted strength of a Level 8 Adventurer or Mercenary. However, the punch that was enough to shake the whole manor and destroy a portion of it, only created some ripples.


    Thinking that it already alerted the people inside the degree of the strength she used, Kuroka refrained from throwing another punch with increased strength, ''It''ll only be a disadvantage when they think that someone is roaming around with a strength beyond normal, nyaa.''


    Turning around, Kuroka grabbed the unconscious man that he brought and threw him towards the barrier that blocked her. But just as she''d expected, he went through without being obstructed, ''There are no devices that would differentiate him from me so I guess it''s something more innate? Since there are traces of Divine Power being used in this barrier, only those with a certain insignia would be allowed in.''


    ''Any further and I''ll be revealing more cards. In any case, this is already a fruitful venture. Just knowing that a Deity''s power is involved is already a lot.'' With that in mind, Kuroka retreated from the mansion while covering her tracks and destroying several anchors that she ced along the way.


    From this outing, she''d figured that it was a lot more troublesome than they''d initially thought, ''If a Deity is really involved personally, not to mention we don''t know how many are involved, it''ll actually be dangerous for us. Though thinking about it, this is also a good chance for everyone.''


    Kuroka too knew about what was going on the other side and honestly felt envious that she, along with everyone, didn''t have many chances of getting stronger through a trial by fire. If not for the constraints of world travel and her worries of leaving the girls behind, she would have joined Kisuke in the tournament where she could fight Gods.

 Chapter 837 A Secret Denatus

    Chapter 837 A Secret Denatus


    "Good evening, everyone! I hope I didn''t make you wait for too long!" With flowing long fiery pink hair, Astarte came walking through the door of the secret room within the Poseidon Familia''s manor with her Captain, Carys, a Sheep person.


    The neers heard a sigh from one of today''s attendees, "Haahh... It''s the time when most people are asleep but you''re still as energetic as ever. Please keep your voice down since it''s already more quiet than usual."


    The room wasn''t very big. but it was well lit by glowing orbs. Within it, there was nothing except for a single round table and six chairs surrounding it. Three of those six chairs were already upied and the one who''d spoken just now was taking one seat, a Deity with long blue curly hair and golden eyes, Amphitrite.


    Astarte just shrugged her shoulders and went to sit down on a free chair, "It''s been a while since I''ve seen you, but I see that you still hate any sort of festivities."


    "I don''t hate the festivities. I just don''t like the noise that apanies them."


    "That means hating festivities since it''s all about noise created through various emotions." Astarte then scanned the surroundings with her sharp eyes and confirmed the other people present. The other two upying the seats are both white-haired middle-aged men, both of which are hiding their identity as a Deity by covering their aura and casually sipping on their liquor, Poseidon and Zeus.


    "Poseidon aside, I didn''t think you''d show yourself here, Zeus."


    Zeus chuckled and replied, "Why not? I can be anywhere I want to be. I''m a free man."


    Astarte smirked at him and said, "A free man? I bet it took all you had just to sneak away from Hera''s side. I wonder what would happen if the news of youing here were to spread?"


    Zeus almost choked on his liquor, "...Please don''t do that. I''m not even making a move on anyone."


    Astarte snickered at him but didn''t say anything else and continued to look around. Except for Zeus, Poseidon and Amphitrite also brought in their Captains, Arch and Llia.


    In an attempt to shake off the awkward feeling he was experiencing, Zeus asked, "I heard Hestia and Artemis were alsoing. Where are they?" But instead of their presence, Zeus is actually more interested in their children ever since hearing about them through Hermes, ''A group of Adventurers with enough power to contend against the strongest suddenly appeared out of nowhere. No matter how you spin it, this is strange.''


    But due to his erratic movements and his distance from Orario, Zeus hadn''t received any further news regarding them, so he didn''t know about these people spreading a new school of power and those within Orario are already beyond his imagination. If he knew this, he would have returned to where Hera is and prepared for the ''menace''s'' inevitable awakening and still searching for the ''Hero''.


    But before Astarte could answer, the door opened once again, showing thest two, Hestia and Artemis, "Heya~! Have you been well?" The former ran in and took her seat while thetter just silently entered the chamber and followed suit.


    Hestia gave her greeting to everyone in the room and saw that Amphitrite was staring at her intently, "What?"


    "...I find it strange to see you outside of your temple. Are you really the Hestia that shut herself for thousands of years at a time to mope around?"


    "Are you picking a fight!?"


    "Ufufufu. But it looks like you''re a lot more lively than before. We''re supposed to be unchanging Gods yet here you are, proving us wrong."


    "It''s not just her." Astarte suddenly interjected, "You might not believe it but Artemis here got herself a man."


    Not just Amphitrite but also Poseidon and Zeus had their eyes wide open and looked at Artemis, now with slightly blushing cheeks, "...Seriously?" Poseidon couldn''t help but ask and also shudder at how this alleged man was able to tame this tigress. He didn''t know it was just by chance and it wasn''t really that hard.


    With her grin growing bigger, Astarte added, "But that''s not all~ Artemis'' man is also Hestia''s guy~!"


    The three Deities then turned their heads towards Hestia who now also had a simrly blushing face. However, that changed when she heard their responses, "Oh... Well... If it''s the guy that caught Artemis'' eyes, then I''m not really surprised." Zeusmented.


    "Compared to getting Artemis'' favor, Hestia''s isn''t as impressive," Poseidon added.


    "Now I''m concerned with this young man. Is it alright for him to take Hestia even as a bonus?" Amphitrite finished it off.


    mming the table in front of her, Hestia stood up with a big vein popping out of her forehead, "Yosh! Let''s go to war! I''ll send each and every one of you back to Heaven!"


    The escorts, on the other hand, don''t know what to do. This was supposed to be a meeting of great importance but it looked like just a bunch of friendsing together for the first time in a long time and starting to gossip.


    Thankfully, the meeting started for real just after an hour of them messing around.


    "And? What do you want from us, Hestia, Artemis?" Poseidon asked, "I hope you''re not here to leech from us."


    Hestia couldn''t really get angry at his words since she had indeed leeched off some Deities in the past and it was a well-documented case.


    "Of course not. We''re just here to inform you of something concerning."


    .


    .


    .


    It had been half an hour since Hestia and Artemis left the secret room, but the room was still covered with silence except for the periodic sh of utensils. Not being able to take the silence anymore, Carys asked her Familia''s Goddess, "Astarte-sama, could you tell me what''s going on? We knew that the Aruna Familia was nning something big but the atmosphere suddenly changed when Hestia-sama mentioned the barrier deep within their base. What does it mean if the barrier has some Divine Power mixed in it."


    Devoid of her previous cheerful demeanor, Astarte answered, "Depending on how long this has been going on, it may mean that a Deity was using his or her power in the Lower World without being punished for it."


    "But we couldn''t just trust their information, could we?" Arch offered his thoughts, "In the first ce, even if they are sessful in infiltrating the ce without getting caught, is it possible to differentiate Divine Power from Magic Power?"


    Poseidon ced down his ss and answered, "It''s quite easy honestly." He then looked towards his Captain and the air around him suddenly became heavier as his hair raised up and his eyes became golden. Poseidon released his Divine Aura before cutting it off immediately.


    Arch, Llia, and Carys all swallowed a mouthful of saliva while cold sweat drenched their backs, "I- I see... If that''s how it is."


    "Then shouldn''t we arrange a raid and uncover the truth as soon as possible?" Llia suggested with a grave expression.


    This time, it was Amphitrite who answered her, "It''s not that easy and simple. If this really involved a Deity being able to use his or her power in the Lower World without any repercussions, then it shouldn''t be as obvious as this. Although it''s just their children who were able to sessfully get this information, it doesn''t change the fact that there was obviously something going on in there before all of this."


    "Worst case scenario, this is just a big decoy and what they wanted to do was already achieved long ago or being done in a different location. And even though a raid might do something, it could backfire at us since we don''t know for how long this has been going on nor do we know how many Deities are actually involved in this. Maybe they are just waiting for you to fall for it and annihte you all in one go." Zeus added while clicking his tongue, "Did those bastards grow tired of waiting and decide to be the ''Heroes'' themselves?"

 Chapter 838 Hope to Battle

    Chapter 838 Hope to Battle


    Hestia and Artemis returned to the Tower of Desires and Medusa emerged from their shadows, "Thank you for the hard work, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama."


    "Is this really enough? I think they may require more assistance. It''s Deities we''re talking about here, after all.", asked Artemis as the three of them continued walking.


    While adjusting her sses, Medusa replied with a smile, "It''s alright. The main purpose of releasing such information to them is so that they wouldn''t do anything that could endanger themselves. At this point of time, there''s virtually nothing they could do so their focus would still go to the Dungeon in an attempt to strengthen themselves."


    Artemis thinks about it for a moment before nodding, "That''s true. While they believe that a God is capable of using their powers, they''ll only expect that it''ll still be at the level of a high leveled child."


    Hestia looked towards her curiously and asked, "Why is that? Shouldn''t they also consider the worst case of a God fully manifesting their Divinity?"


    Artemis shook her head, "It might cross their minds but they''ll immediately brush it off and opt to a more believable conclusion. Since you never really went out of your temple, you might not know that something simr had already happened in the past. A certain Deity used a special ritual to disguise himself as a mortal and was able to unlock a portion of his strength to match that of a Level 6 child. For years toe, he would dive into the Dungeon without any problem and enjoy himself. Many had tried to ask him how he did it but he returned to Heaven without revealing anything to anyone. Of course, others have also tried replicating his feat but none were sessful."


    "After some more time without anyone being able to do the same thing, it was suspected that it was actually a Unique Skill of his child and the price of it was him returning to Heaven when his child died. However, that didn''t discourage those who wanted to try it too so Ouranos at that time spoke up and banned any research about this since he deemed it too dangerous. And soon enough, those who had the same belief as him reinforced this. After all, they don''t want another Deity being devoured by the Dungeon because of this."


    Medusa was curious about the devoured Deity but didn''t ask about it because she has a feeling that she won''t be getting any worthwhile answer, "It''s a well-documented case from long ago and it should be the first thing that pops out of their mind. Nevertheless, it''s still very concerning for them since they don''t know if they were able to unlock the secrets to this unlocked Divine Power. If there are ten Deities coborating, it would also mean that there are ten more strong mercenaries that could tip the bnce of power in the area. Not to mention the special properties of Divine Power that makes it even more dangerous than Magic."


    Hestia crossed her arms and nodded in understanding, "I see... But is it the same case this time around?"


    Artemis doesn''t know the answer to this and looked at Medusa.


    "That could be the case but ording to Kuroka-san''s initial estimations after factoring various variables, it might be a Deity using his children as an array of vessels to fully descend to the Lower World without being recognized by the Dungeon."


    It was supposed to be a shocking and disturbing revtion but Hestia and Artemis only looked at each other before turning back to her and the former asking with a wry smile, "And you''re hoping for that, am I right?"


    Medusa smiled and nodded, "Yes."


    They reached the doors leading to the living room and as soon as they opened it, they saw Medusa''s sisters watching one of the recorded matches of the Azazel Cup while gleefully munching on some sweets and cheering loudly, "Oh~ Wee back~" Stheno greeted.


    The three came over but their eyes were glued to the screen, watching the man in crimson armor sting several inds into oblivion with just a single attack, "It''s really hard to believe when you said that they''re your peers." Hestiamented.


    "Well, seeing this made me understand everyone''s sudden spike in motivation." Artemis sat down and joined the Gorgon sisters, "And the fact that you''re hoping for a Deity''s descent must be because they wanted to take one on."


    Medusa chuckled and replied, "They''re the most effective opponent if they want to cross their limits, no?"


    Hestia also sat down while letting out an exasperated voice, "There''s no stopping you lot. I''ll support all of you all the way through, though."


    "Thank you very much~"


    .


    .


    .


    It has been ten days ever since Kisuke disappeared and his teammates were all waiting for his return within the Belial manor.


    Though not everyone is really ready to fight in the Azazel Cup, namely, Nyx and Seekvaira who both are trembling like newborn babies while lying face down.


    "Looks like you won''t be able to join the next match either, huh.", muttered Athena.


    A bit disturbed, Tiamat added, "That''s understandable. I''m actually surprised that they''re still in their right state of mind after going through that. Though that might probably be thanks to the drug he gave you. What was it called again? ''Dragon Pride''? He really created something inconceivable." Even as a Dragon herself, she just couldn''t watch their training without shuddering.


    Before starting, Kisuke sealed their Divine and Demonic powers so that they''ll only be able to fight purely through the power of their bodies, which was quite frankly, very weak.


    Since Kisuke deemed that the dummies that tormented Genshirou''s group wouldn''t be enough and his healing hot spring was further improved, he decided on random projectiles that contained all sorts of aura to shoot at random times while they fought the dummies. This, of course, resulted in them almost dying instantaneously several times.


    "...How weird... I remember my heart being pierced multiple times... How am I still alive?" Seekvaira muttered with a nk expression and dead eyes.


    "It''s really weird... I recall my throat being sliced open countless times... Wait... My eyes were also cut multiple times... Am I really seeing the world as it is or this is all just my imagination?" Nyx also murmured with a simr expression.


    Genshirou, on the other hand, while remaining quiet, is also shaking, ''Is it because they are a lot strongerpared to us before? That''s way harsher than what we''ve been through! I''m d I only got half of my bones broken and blinded a few times!''


    "Geez. It wasn''t really that bad, was it? You''ve learned how to read auras in the shortest amount of time possible, so all is good." All of a sudden, Kisuke''s voice resounded beside them, which startled both Tiamat and Athena, causing their aura to re up since they couldn''t feel his presence until he had spoken.


    "How are you doing that?" asked Tiamat since she was very confident in her detection skills.


    Kisuke just smirked at her and said, "Trade secret~!"

 Chapter 839 VS Team Lightning

    Chapter 839 VS Team Lightning


    Team Urahara Shouten''s return to the Azazel Cup was greeted by people energetically cursing at them while its team leader just happily waved at them which caused another spike in everyone''s hate. Why wouldn''t he smile happily at his cash cows?


    In the next few matches, the results were the same. Kisuke would be brought into extreme jeopardy but one way or another, the enemy team would mysteriously mess up and end up destroying themselves or creating an opening enough for Kisuke''s ''weak'' attacks to go through.


    But after that, Kisuke and Tiamat noticed that their earnings had already dropped sharply, "I guess that''s it, huh..." Tiamat talked under her breath.


    "Should we bet on the other side and actually lose?", suggested Kisuke.


    "That''s no different from match-fixing. I won''t allow such a thing." He was met with immediate refusal from the Chaos Karma Dragon, "We have enough so it''s about time we take things seriously since starting from now, we''re entering the top rankings. Our next opponent is Team Lightning led by Barakiel."


    "...Barakiel, is it? I guess for Akeno-san''s sake, I''ll face him properly."


    .


    .


    .


    "Weedies and gentlemen~! It''s another wonderful day for the Azazel Cup with two of the most popr contenders facing each other! Today we''ll witness Team Lightning and Team Urahara Shoutenpete in the game of Object Break!"


    Object Break Game. Another variant of the normal Rating Game where the goal is to break the ''objects'' in the shape of a woman with Fallen Angel & Devil wings scattered around the battlefield. There are a total of thirteen ''objects'' and the first team to break seven of these ''objects'' within the twelve-hour time limit wins the match and just like in the normal Rating Game, victory can also be achieved by defeating the opposing team''s ''King''.


    The field the yers are transported to has theyout of a chessboard and the areas are designated A1, C2, B4 etc. The ''Objects'' scattered around can either be stationary or can be moved around by the yers. They are either left in their original state, are ced in less noticeable ces, or are hidden in obscure ces. When an ''object'' is destroyed, the area it was located in is no longer allowed to be entered by the team''s "Kings", narrowing down the areas the teams can move in. If both teams have destroyed equal numbers of ''objects'' when the time limit is exceeded, then the match is a draw.


    The two teams entered the game field at the same time and were greeted by a mountainous terrain nketed by thick jungle. Unlike most of the games, the current game field is only smaller than ''One Day Long War'' and ''Yggdrasil Climb'' where one''s stamina to move around is incredibly important.


    "Sir, what should we do? This Kisuke Urahara is incredibly unpredictable." One of the Pawns asked their leader, Barakiel.


    As the main representative of Grigori, aside from Barakiel and his Queen, Armaros, both of which are Cadre level possessing 10 ck wings, each and every other member possesses 8 ck wings which make them one of the stronger contenders for the cup.


    "All of you should have already realized that he''s hiding his real strength, however, we can''t discard his ingenious way of doing things and one mistake could lead to us losing this match. Nevertheless, those petty tricks could be easily countered as long as we''re careful and don''t rush it. Of all their previous opponents, their mostmon mistake was undeniably looking down on him and thinking that their victory was already in hand."


    But soon after, Barakiel sighed, "In all honesty, if Tiamat and the two Goddesses decided to make their moves, we have no hope of winning since we''d have to dedicate the entirety or our force just to stop two of them, making them unable toplete the game''s objective and leaving one free to do whatever she wants."


    Armaros chuckled and added, "With that said, it looks like our only avenue is to dedicate ourselves in hunting the enemy King before the Objects are destroyed... Though we can''t really ignore Seekvaira Agares and Genshirou Saji either... Haahhh... This is hopeless."


    Team Lightning discussed more possible strategies against their opponent but they could only scratch their heads as all of them would only work if Kisuke kept on doing things as he did against their previous opponents.


    "For now, let''s move out and secure three movable Objects while also gathering intel on their movements. Armaros and I will move together and the rest of you will move in groups of 2 5s and a 4. Our current main target is their Rook, Seekvaira. Eliminate her if possible so that they won''t be able to use Castling. If you encounter Tiamat or the Goddesses, retreat and lead them away if possible. If you encounter either Genshirou Saji or Kisuke Urahara, detain them and call for backup. If they are all moving out, converge back to this location for further discussion."


    After Barakiel''s instructions, all of them went in different directions and the game finally started.


    But after an hour, while sessful in securing three movable Objects, they had to gather once more, "We''re going to lose at this rate. Though I''m happy that they are taking us seriously." Barakiel whispered with a wry smile.


    In addition to the three Objects they have, they were able to destroy one more Object. But as far as their luck goes, that''s it, as Kisuke''s team was already able to destroy 5 Objects and they just needed to find two more to win. And to make things worse, they haven''t been able to eliminate even one of their members while they already lost 3 Pawns, a Knight, and a Bishop. Strength-wise, they really aren''t their match.


    "But unlike before, Kisuke Urahara hasn''t moved from his spot and let his team members do all the work this time around. Let''s just go straight to him before thest two Objects are destroyed.", suggested by the remaining Bishop.


    However, Armaros shook his head, "That won''t work. The Surveince Magic that I ced near the area detected Tiamat''s return. It seems that they want to safely secure the win."


    Barakiel sighed, "So this is it, huh? As expected, those Goddesses are both battle-oriented and should be high ranking too even among the Deities. Even after losing our men, they were still able to hide their specialty and identities. Not to mention Tiamat with just one of her breaths is enough to retire most of us."


    But then, mes sprouted from his eyes. The emotion he has been hiding all this time emerged, "However, I don''t want to end this without seeing that detestable bastard''s face and at least throw lightning at his sorry ass! Let''s blitz through!"


    "Oh right... He took away your daughter just when you''re already getting along with her." Armaros muttered in remembrance.


    Barakiel clenched his fist and gritted his teeth while saying, "That''s right. I want to at least punch his face once." Since they aren''t going to win anyway, he let his selfishness finally take over.


    "Ah... Sir? I think I have a dumb idea that might work." the remaining Knight voiced out.


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "Why don''t you try challenging Kisuke Urahara into a one-on-one?"


    Barakiel and Armaros looked at each other and thetter said, "...Considering the personality he had shown until now, that might actually work?"


    Without saying what he was thinking, Barakiel stepped forward and took in arge amount of air in his lungs before shouting, "Kisuke Urahara! You stole my daughter! Let''s fight!" Simple words, but it were heard throughout the whole field due to it being imbued with Magic.


    A few secondster, he got his reply in the same manner which made him stagger and almost trip over nothing, "Your daughter is already mine, but I ept!"

 Chapter 840 VS Team Lighting part 2

    Chapter 840 VS Team Lighting part 2


    The emcee stood up from his seat, "Ohho!? What''s this? My dear viewers, it seems that we have an unexpected development on the field!"


    The now effectively pissed Barakiel is flying at full speed towards the enemy camp and following him were his remaining teammates.


    "Is it alright to piss him off like that?" Seekvaira asked, "We''ve also already found the remaining Objects, so you don''t actually need to go through this."


    While seeing the rest of his teammates return, Kisuke slowly flew up while answering Seekvaira''s question vaguely, "Even though it''s not actually my choice, it''s still true that I technically stole his daughter from him. In these uncertain times, the least that I could do is prove that I have even a little bit of power to protect her to reassure him."


    "...Can''t you just return her?"


    With a distant expression, Kisuke replied, "...I could, but Akeno-san seems to have an auto-returning feature that''ll be hard to get rid of." He recalled that one instance when she tried to self-destruct along with him, ''That one totally wasn''t my fault. Who would have thought she''d get off on it at that time?''


    Before Team Lightning arrived at his position, everyone else returned first and decided to set some tables and chairs to rest. Unlike Seekvaira who''s very worried about the oue of this match, the rest didn''t really care and are only in for a good show of ''Father-inw vs Son-inw''.


    "Are you finally showing your true abilities?", Genshirou asked curiously.


    "True abilities, yes, but only a part of them."


    "...So you''re still holding back."


    "It''s not something weird. Shrewd old-timers will never show everything unless it''s a life or death situation." Tiamat interjected, "In fact, it''s your generation who are the weird ones, showing everything from the get-go."


    Kisuke finally caught sight of the enemy team on the horizon, but before he went forward, he left some words, "It isn''t weird in my opinion. In fact, it was thanks to them pushing their limits time and time again that they were able to reach the height they are at now. Hence the birth of the Golden Generation."


    Tiamat thought about it and had no choice but to agree, ''The emergence of numerous powerhouses in a very short span of time is already strange. But I guess it''s just my old way of thinking. To these kids, we''re the strange ones.''


    Team Lightning saw that Kisuke was slowlying forward and stopped after reaching a certain distance, "This is the second time that we''re meeting, Kisuke Urahara. I tried reaching you through the Belial House but to no avail."


    Since Kisuke had never heard about him reaching out, he figured it''s because Cleria rejected their request, "I''m very sorry about that. The Belial House is currently very protective of their members."


    Kisuke''s words caused Armaros and his fellow Fallen Angel to frown, "Are you saying that Barakiel is not trustworthy enough."


    But Kisuke just sneered at him and shrugged his shoulders, "Please~ We essentially don''t know each other and this is actually only the second time we met face to face. Where''s the trust? Even if he''s Akeno-san''s father, are you telling me to trust who''s technically a stranger to me? Looking down on me, are you?"


    "You...!" Armaros tried to say something back but he couldn''t refute his words.


    Barakiel then calmly raised his left arm in front of Armaros, "Enough."


    Armaros and the others thought that Barakiel would be angry but to their surprise, there''s a smile on his face, "...Barakiel."


    But Barakiel just shook his head and exined, "Don''t get it wrong. I''m just happy that he''s not an idiot. With this, I can really leave my precious daughter with him." At the same time, his Holy Power began to re up and dark clouds gathered above them, "However, just having a good head doesn''t really put rest to all my worries so I''ll have to push you to reveal your true strength."


    Armaros and the rest of the Fallen Angels sighed and were about to back off but suddenly heard Kisuke, "I''m sorry but just you wouldn''t be enough. It''ll be all too easy."


    Barakiel''s brows scrunched up and those around him felt insulted. But before they could do anything significant, Kisuke suddenly disappeared from their sight before hearing his voice again at their side, "Raikouhou (Thunder Roar Cannon)."


    sh Step. It''s a technique seemingly unique to him that they had already seen over and over again in this tournament. And there''s no need to say that they were on guard for his sudden eleration even until now. However, Kisuke''s unique technique this time feltpletely different. They didn''t even realize that Kisuke had already relocated himself, arge contrast to what he had shown until now, which was full of ''noise'' and ''openings''.


    "Watch out!" But Barakiel''s warning fell deaf on ears as the loud sound of lightning instantly emerged and tore through air from Kisuke''s palm, who appeared beside one of the Pawns and ced his hands over his stomach. The Pawn''s stomach was instantly burst open by the lightning but it didn''t just stop there as it traveled through a straight line and also pierced through another two Pawns and a Rook before hitting a mountain behind them and leaving arge hole behind.


    While still in his stance, variousnces made of light and lightning dropped in droves on Kisuke. Although it was an instantaneous response to his aggression, they were a step behind as Kisuke had already disappeared once again and returned to his previous position.


    The entire stadium went silent and watched the Retire System''s light envelope the four individuals hit by the lightning as they fell from the sky. The Fallen Angels gritted their teeth at the sight of theirrades not being able to even put up a fight while Kisuke reaffirmed his statement, "It seems that you''re misunderstanding something. I''m not looking down on you." Tipping his hat a bit forward, the air around him drastically changed from a casual man to a warrior that survived countless battles, "I''m just stating a fact."

 Chapter 841 VS Team Lightning part 3

    Chapter 841 VS Team Lightning part 3


    "W-we''ve been had!!! My dear viewers! Can you see this!? Kisuke Urahara suddenly burst into action, instantly taking out four of Team Lightning! It''s very different from what he has shown until now! Could it be that he''s been pretending to struggle all this time!? But what for!?"


    The hyped announcer didn''t have to answer his own question as most of the people who were watching were able to figure it out by themselves. They''d really been had. Some people raged from their seats while some were instantly cooled down by the reality. However, many still became excited at this sight, especially those who are fans of the wildly popr show ''Oppai Dragon''.


    The mysterious masked character known as the ''The Hat'' is always scheming. Even though it looks like everything is going bad around him, it is in fact, still his arrangement and his own benefits. He doesn''t care what everyone thinks about him and would even sacrifice his own reputation to set the stage for his dear friends, his own life to ensure everyone''s victory. Despite having great strength on his own, he chooses to hide it and let his friends grow, so that one day, they''ll be able to fight the greatest evil with him. That is the man who loves his bucket hat way too much, ''The Hat.''


    Everyone knew that this character is based on the Red Dragon Emperor''s childhood friend, Kisuke Urahara, however, seeing the real thing made all the fans quite disappointed, until now, that is. ''The Hat'' has arrived.


    Except, the one in front of them is Kisuke Urahara. The one who would scheme and even use his own friends for his own benefits and his own entertainment. If there''s a good and evil side, he''s definitely leaning on thetter.


    But contrary to the excitement and heat that''s growing in the stadium, it was cold and gloomy on the field which mainly came from Kisuke''s demeanor and eyes.


    ''W-what''s this!?'' Barakiel couldn''t help but slightly stagger back as he stared into his eyes, ''Where is this pressureing from!?''


    Barakiel looked around him and saw everyone else had a horrified expression with cold sweat traveling between their eyebrows, ''I must be making the same expression...'' His attention was then caught by both Genshirou, Seekvaira, and one of the Goddesses shaking in fright. Meanwhile, he could also see the other Goddess and Tiamat be tense, ''Just where is this invisible pressureing from. I refuse to believe that this is all just killing intent.''


    And Barakiel is right with his guess. Aside from the killing intent Kisuke is currently radiating, he''s also radiating his own power that became almost indistinguishable in nature, ''Even Tiamat couldn''t tell what''s exactly going on, huh? In their eyes, I must be some kind of monster having an ''intent'' like this.''


    Bottling it up again, the smile returned on Kisuke''s face, "My bad, my bad~ I got a little bit emotional there~ Please do forgive me for scaring all of you like that."


    For a minute, no one could respond to him as Barakiel and hisrades tried to calm and forget Kisuke''s eyes just then, "Don''t worry. You scared no one.", Of course, they wouldn''t admit Kisuke words since they still have pride and respect they''d like to keep in front of everyone, "But it seems that just me really wouldn''t even give you a sweat. In that case..."


    Without the need for his instructions, the remaining two Pawns rushed towards Kisuke while brandishing their spear made out of light.


    Seeing this, Kisuke stayed still and grabbed the spears with each of his hands, stopping them from their tracks. The two Fallen Angels'' eyes became wide open as their spears are supposed to be a Devil''s weakness and they are sure that Kisuke is at least a half-Devil. But as seasoned warriors, they didn''t let this affect the flow of their attack and immediately manipted the spears of light to change in shape and became tendrils of light that wrapped around Kisuke''s arms, trapping him.


    In an instant, the Knight appeared behind him and swung down his Artificial Sacred Gear in the form of a sword, ''Got you!''


    His sword went through his back but something was weird as the sensation didn''t feel right and there was no blood in sight. All of a sudden, ''Kisuke'' popped like a balloon, and that gap in perception already made it toote for them to react to the fluctuation of power bubbling behind him, "Shakkahou (Red me Cannon)."


    A red ball of energy fired at point-nk sted the Knight''s back, instantly retiring him. The st spread out, tossing the two Pawns away. Though before they could ''escape'', two tendrils of orange and yellow hue shot out from the light of the st and captured the Pawns, "Hourin (Disintegrating Circle)."


    "Armarous!" Barakiel called out to his acting adjutant.


    "Yes!" Armarous''s arms started moving around to form several Magic Circles that would activate his specialty, Anti-Magic.


    Meanwhile, the dark clouds above them became so thick that they could almost touch it and within it was a dense amount of Holy Lightning that Barakiel had been gathering since earlier, "Lightning!" Barakiel brought his hand down and all the energy within the clouds instantly gathered on a single point above where the tendrils originated.


    At the same time, Armaros'' Magic Circle appeared in between the lightning and Kisuke before the former passed through it, granting it Anti-Magic properties.


    With thisbination, as long as it isn''t the strongest Magic Barrier, nothing could stop it in its tracks. It is an attack that they used to deal with a team that had a God with them.


    But beyond their expectations, they only heard Kisuke mutter, "Danku (Splitting Void)", before a transparent screen emerged on top of his head, blocking the gigantic lightning strike on top of him head-on. The lightning continued to strike the shield unceasingly for a few seconds, but even with its Anti-Magic, it couldn''t pierce through the strange barrier that instantly sprang up before it lost its momentum and dissipated.


    Although taken aback at what they witnessed, Kisuke''s figure emerged, unharmed and holding the tendrils in each of his hands, as soon as the remnants of the red light from Shakkahou disappeared.


    "...Unbelievable," Barakiel muttered to himself. But since the fight wasn''t over yet, he signaled his Bishop and Rook to do what they needed to do since they''d already failed.


    Positioned not far from Kisuke on his opposite sides, The Bishop and the Rook both raised their hands and activated the spell that they''d prepared, immediately enclosing Kisuke in a tiny but durable barrier that was enough to trap abat-based God for a minute or two and that amount of time is already more than enough to think and prepare a few more countermeasures against him with the information they got from the first exchange of blows.


    Too bad for them, Kisuke''s spell followed a different set of rules from what they know. With enough mastery, Kidou could be activated with just an intent from its users albeit, a lot weaker than when doing the gesture or saying the incantation.


    Barakiel saw Kisuke smile and said something. Although he couldn''t hear what he said, Barakiel immediately warned the Bishop and the Rook, while also beginning preparing to help them, "Brace yourselves!"


    Nevertheless, it was already toote as he never expected that a cyclone would appear outside of Kisuke''s cube and made a beeline towards the two who are maintaining the barrier, sweeping them up and throwing them towards Barakiel''s group. Because they were maintaining a high-level barrier they couldn''t dodge the attack.


    Kisuke didn''t let go of this chance and executed a modified Kidou, "Bakudou No.79, Nine Moonlight Convergence."


    In an instant, nine ck balls appeared in the middle of the group and started spinning, sucking everything in by changing the direction of gravity.


    Team Lightning tried their best to escape the hold of the strange spell but their disoriented state was their doom as they were stuck together. They could only watch the unrestrained Kisuke with a big smile on his face while he pointed his palm at them, "Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)!"


    Thest thing they saw was an all epassing blue light before they were eliminated.

 Chapter 842 A Parent part 1

    Chapter 842 A Parent part 1


    Barakiel slowly opened his eyes but inadvertently raised his arm to block the excessive illumination, as they were greeted by the bright sunlight that wasing from the window. However,by doing so, he winced in pain, rousing him further into consciousness, ''This... What happened?''


    "You''re awake.", Barakiel heard a familiar voice beside him and turned his head to see his ''Queen'' sitting up on the bed with bandages covering his limbs and neck, "...Armaros." At that point, he already recalled what happened and endured the pain pinching his entire body to sit up, "We lost... miserably."


    Barakiel looked around and saw the other patients in the room, still unconscious, "Looks like you''re the most unhurt out of all of us."


    Armaros smiled at his remark and replied, "I only had enough time to protect myself with some Magic. You, on the other hand, blocked most of it for the others."


    "That''s the least that I could do. Since we all still ended up this way, I guess we won''t be able to continuepeting."


    "Then I''ll send our notice of withdrawalter. In the first ce, we don''t really have any hopes of winning this cup with those monsters on board."


    "I''m sorry for asking everyone to get along with my selfishness."


    "Don''t be. It was a good experience. As a bonus, you also came face to face with your son-inw."


    A scowl reached Barakiel as he vehemently denied Armaros words, "I haven''t approved of him yet! I won''t deny he''s very capable but he''s suspicious! I can''t really give them my blessing because there''s so much that doesn''t make sense about him! I don''t even know his real personality!"


    Armaros'' smile grew deeper, "You only get energetic whenever you''re talking about your daughter. It''s really a shame that you can''t ask Kisuke Urahara about her. Shall we send another request to the Belial House?"


    Barakiel nodded his head but soon after, he started rubbing his chin and wondered, "I understand that they can''t just grant an audience due to their faction''s current position, but I''m still Akeno''s father so meeting him alone should be enough to ease their worries. There should be more to this, but I don''t have any way to investigate it... Wait... Don''t tell me something happened to Akeno!?"


    As soon as that bad premonition came to Barakiel, he immediately put his feet on the floor, intending to leave the room, "Hey, hey, hey! Even though you''re healed properly, you shouldn''t move too much for the time being." Armaros warned.


    Nevertheless, Barakiel further endured the pain and stood up, "Sorry, but I don''t have time for that. I have to confirm it now or I won''t be able to rx. Besides, the worst that could happen is reopening my wounds and that won''t really kill me."


    At this time, someone entered the room while bringing an empty wheelchair with her, "Please stay still for a moment. Allow me to help you."


    Barakiel and Armaros both turned to the open door and found someone they haven''t met before but both of them are familiar with, "Sarah Belial." muttered the former.


    "Nice to meet you, Barakiel, Armaros. This may be a bit sudden but, Barakiel, could you perhaps spare me some of your time?"


    Barakiel stayed silent for a moment, trying to think about this situation, before replying, "I''ve been trying to get into contact with your Household, so it should be me who''s asking for your spare time."


    .


    .


    .


    Leaving the medical facility, Sakura pushed the wheelchair she brought for Barakiel and the two of them stayed silent until they got to an expansive garden full of life, "First and foremost, I''d like to apologize."


    "That you didn''t allow me to meet your son?"


    Sakura smiled wryly and nodded, "There''s that but it isn''t because of the reason Kisuke gave you."


    "What do you mean?"


    "It''s because we didn''t want you two to meet at a table. My sister and I concluded that it would be better for you to meet on the battlefield. For Kisuke''s sake."


    Barakiel creased his brows in confusion.


    Sakura saw his obvious skepticism and added, "For now, I''d like you to listen to everything that I have to say first before judging anything."


    Barakiel looked up and saw Sakura''s expression of gentleness tinged with guilt and was surprised. Recalling what his subordinates would tell him how he looked whenever he would talk about his daughter, ''So this is the face of a parent, huh...''


    "Please go on. I''ll listen until the end."


    Sakura sighed and revealed, "For some time now, we actually already have a way to contact those on the other side, including your daughter."


    ''Then why didn''t you tell me!?'' He wanted to ask since he has every right to know about that, but he was able to stop himself since he''d already promised he would listen first.


    From then on, Sakura proceeded to tell him everything that happened to his daughter without hiding anything, during which Barakiel wanted to interrupt at every single turn but managed to hold it down.


    At the end of it, Barakiel still couldn''t find the reason why she didn''t want to let him meet Kisuke, "I still have many questions regarding that story, but I''ll let it slide for now because I trust you are speaking the truth that Akeno is already alright. But what does it have to do with you not wanting us to meet?"


    "My selfishness... My own way of caring..."

 Chapter 843 A Parent part 2

    Chapter 843 A Parent part 2


    Sakura found a bench and ced the wheelchair beside it before taking a seat, "Care to exin?"


    "Kisuke is a responsible guy. All the things he does, he''s prepared to take whatever the resulting consequences are."


    "Bragging now, are we?"


    Sakura chuckled at him, "You might be right, but Kisuke''s responsibleness goes beyond that and steps into the territory of ''self-me''. You should already have an idea of what I''m talking about."


    "So you''re saying that if we were to meet just to talk, he''ll apologize? What''s so bad about that?"


    "You think he''s someone that would apologize?"


    Barakiel recalled various stories about him and immediately shook his head, "No."


    "That''s right. As long as he doesn''t feel any regret, he won''t ever apologize for the things he has done."


    "Isn''t that how it normally goes?"


    "Yes. But even as his mother that watched him grow up, I can count the number of times he''s regretted things on one hand, and that''s including all the small stuff. Does that sound normal?"


    "If what you said includes his childhood, then that''s indeed incredibly abnormal." After all, no one can really live their day-to-day lives without experiencing any kind of regret, ''It''s either that there''s something wrong in his head, all of his actions are calcted, or both. In any case, this opens various possibilities on what he really is, including that myth of plete reincarnation''... But less than a myth, that''s more of a glitch in Heaven''s system.''


    "Then Kisuke is-"


    "Kisuke is my child." Before he could finish his words, however, Sakura interrupted him with a forceful voice, "Kisuke is my child no matter what he does. I''m his mother no matter what others say or think. Nothing will ever change that."


    Barakiel looked at her and thought, ''I see... So she''s already aware. Well, if Akeno was the same, I''d have the same stance, so I can understand.''


    Not wanting to dwell on this particr topic anymore, Sakura continued, "As I was saying, Kisuke won''t just regret anything easily even if it appears to be crazy within everyone else''s eyes. However, he seems to be unaware of it, but he does feel guilt. I don''t know if my premonitions are wrong but, I think that piling up guilt may end up destroying him."


    "Well, it''s not like he doesn''t have a way to get rid of that guilt, but to do that, he always takes all the me as long as he had any hand in it, even if it wasn''t a choice of his. If he were to meet you in a simple setting, he might have provoked you to hate him to ease his guilt."


    "..." Barakiel was speechless for a moment, "...That guy who stood up in front of all the leaders with pride and confidence?"


    Sakuraughed, "That''s the guy~ He''s not a liar, but he''s also not honest."


    Barakiel found it really strange and he had doubts regarding that im, but he couldn''t really say anything about that either since he''s not his parent, "And isn''t that a good thing? You said that guilt might destroy him someday, so why stop him?"


    "It''s because he''s not alone. Taking the me is essentially hurting himself and knowing him, he should be fine taking that since he''s strong. However, that doesn''t mean I and those around him want to see him get hurt. If it''s the guilt, we''ll take care of it ourselves."


    "...I see... You''re one doting parent, huh? Be careful. You might get hated."


    Sakura grinned at him and replied, "I think you should remind yourself with that every now and then."


    .


    .


    .


    "All the articles and public opinion are split." Seekvaira muttered while browsing the web through her smartphone, "It''s amazing that you even got this much support even after the fact that you acted weak to manipte the bets."


    "That''s because the character which was based on him has many fans and they''re fine with getting fooled.", added Genshirou while also looking through the same things.


    Seekvaira ced down her phone and faced Kisuke, who was silently sipping on his tea, "But seriously speaking, how many things can you actually do? Inbat, one would only have one or two specialties yet you already showed three very different things at least at master level. In addition to that, you''re also a researcher that''s an expert in multiple fields. At this point, I think it''s better to ask what you can''t do. Even Ajuka-sama who''s known to be very versatile only reallyes down to two things, Magic and Magic Items."


    "There are certainly a lot of things I can''t do. It''s just that the situation coincidentally could be managed by the things that I can do. So it looks impressive ,whereas I''m just simr to Ajuka-sama."


    "A coincidence, huh..."


    "Yep~ A coincidence."


    It''s only for a short time that Seekvaira came to know Kisuke but somehow, she couldn''t believe that.

 Chapter 844 The Elaborated Lie part 1

    Chapter 844 The borated Lie part 1


    "Yo~! Hase!" A bespectacled young woman with messy brte hair wrapped her arm around a cute girl with braided hairs'' shoulder while greeting her with great familiarity.


    Hase was startled for a moment but she immediately recognized the voice and calmed down, "Kiryuu-san, please stop attacking me from behind. I can never get used to it."


    It was afternoon and thest ss just ended so everyone was either going home or going to their respective clubs. Aika was also about to go home, but she saw a familiar back, so she decided to say hi and maybe kill some time while teasing her, "How can I stop~? Every time I do this, you squeal like a small hamster."


    "Regardless, please stop doing it. It''s really bad for my heart."


    Aika grinned at her response and continued, "Really? Bad for your heart, huh? By the way, how is it going between you and Matsuda?"


    "W-w-w-what do you mean? W-we''re just friends!" Hase frantically exined while avoiding Aika''s face.


    "I see... You must be very good friends to go shoppingst weekend with just the two of you~!"


    "T-t-that... I asked him to help me choose a gift for my little brother''s uing birthday!" Hase further exined with beet-red cheeks and a palpitating heart.


    Aika separated from Hase with a small chuckle and said, "Now, now. Don''t be nervous. Didn''t he save you that one time, and you asked me to introduce him to you so you''d get to know him better? Nothing''s wrong with the two of you getting along and maybe going a step further. Though he''s a big pervert, he''s a decent guy that won''tmit a crime..." In the middle of it, Aika recalled the crime that the perverted trio hadmitted and pulled back, "Well... maybe except for voyeurism. You''ll have to make an effort to stop that bad habit of his."


    Hase looked at Aika''s clear gold-colored eyes with curiosity and said, "Just now, you sound really mature. Do you perhaps have a boyfriend?"


    Aika knew the answer to that question, however, just as she opened her mouth, she hesitated, ''...What? Why am I hesitating? What is this feeling of loss? I shouldn''t have any... or do I?''


    But she immediately tossed that doubt to the back of her mind and answered, "Of course not~! All my experiencees from magazines."


    Nevertheless, that slight bit of hesitation only erged the ember called curiosity within Hase''s mind, "But didn''t you lose a year''s worth of memories? Who knows? Maybe you got close to someone and just forgot about him!"


    Aika smiled wryly and immediately denied it, "If there was someone like that, he would havee looking for me long ago." But even refusing such a notion, she can''t seem to get it out of her mind, ''Really... That''s impossible.''


    Disappointed, Hase sighed, "That''s true... But it''s really a wonder what you have been doing in Kyoto for the whole year. I heard you beat up a group of delinquents at the park when they tried to forcefully invite you to hang out with them. I''m sure you never took Karate or any martial arts lessons."


    "Right~ My body instinctively moved and before I knew it, those guys were already groaning in pain on the ground. Good thing they love their pride very much and ran away before any officer arrived or else it would have been a mess to deal with."


    Despite the casual way she addressed this issue, she found it strange that she has this ability and this strangeness helped doubt and fear sprout and bloom within her. Of course, she asked her parents about this and they only said that one day she wanted to enter a dojo that teaches Karate and Judo for self-defense. They have no idea why she wanted to do so, but they apparently supported her and helped her choose a school.


    With them showing the receipt, there shouldn''t be any room for uncertainty. However, she didn''t mention to them that the moment she felt threatened, the first thing she instinctively wanted to do was to pull out her sword, ''There''s nothing that said I ever learned Kendo, nor were there any masters of the sword among the instructors within that dojo... So why? Why did I think I had to pull out my sword?''


    This asion prompted Aika to further dig for information about her this past year from her parents, which in turn, they presented Aika with all sorts of documents ranging from school records, medical records, and even some photos and videos. Her existence was perfectly documented without any w. Little did they know that despite returning to her normal life, the daughter that they know was already a changed person.


    Aika''s personality didn''t change nor did her world views and morals. However, the abilities that were directly ingrained in her body and soul couldn''t be maskedpletely. While Aika responded normally to their stories about her, she was only thinking, ''They are lying...''


    Through the subtle movement of their muscles, eyes, and breath, Aika reached to a conclusion that they must be lying, ''But why? And how were they able to prepare this borate lie that only happens in movies if it was one? And how the hell am I able to tell that they''re lying? Did hitting my head awaken some kind of ability in me?''


    All of these made her think that she might actually be in a simtion, which is a possibility that she threw right away into the realm of impossibility. Also from then on, due to her having numerous doubts, her ''detection'' ability seemed to have improved as she could ''see'' something different and special from a select few students and teachers, most of whom hailed from the Student Council and the ult Research Club.


    Without altering her parents'' memories, this was the avenue that Kisuke left for her to return.


    The curiosity she had for these individuals overflowed, so she attempted to investigate them. But this decision only came to be because she wanted to forget her current reality that was ripping apart her understanding of things.


    Even then, the result of her stalking only ended up as attempts since whenever she tried following them quietly or waiting for them in hiding, she would always be discovered. She wasn''t aware that she was leaking her own aura to these Devils.


    "...Kiryuu-san!"


    Hase''s voice woke Aika from her deep contemtion, "Yes?"


    "Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" Hase asked in concern, "You just suddenly started staring at nothing nkly."


    "Ah, sorry about that. I''m just thinking of something trivial."


    "Are you sure? This has been happening frequently. Why don''t you try visiting a doctor? Maybe there''s aplication developing that you''re not aware of."


    "It''s true that I''m just thinking of something. Thanks for the concern though. I appreciate it."


    ==============================


    AN (09/03/22): Sorry for the dy. The Inte has been very unstable these past few days and I totally forgot to update the WN side.

 Chapter 845 The Elaborated Lie part 2

    Chapter 845 The borated Lie part 2


    While walking through the hallway, the two friends came across one of the few foreign students enrolled in the school and the current leader of the Student Council, Xenovia Quarta, "Ah. We finally found you, Hase-san, Kiryuu-san."


    "Good afternoon, President and Nakiri-san." Hase greeted them, including the current secretary of Student Council who is a young man with pale-blond slicked back hair, Ouryuu Nakiri, "Do you need us for something?"


    "We finished our meeting early and wanted to discuss more urgent issues.", answered Ouryuu, "And that urgent issue happens to be the deteriorating security for our female students. So if you don''t mind, we''d like to hear more of your opinion."


    Xenovia smiled wryly and added, "I''m sorry. Since we couldn''t just ask you toe to the Student Council room without any prior arrangements, we went out in hopes of catching up with either of you. This is also a sensitive topic, so I also understand if you don''t want to talk about that incident since you two were victims of it."


    Hase and Aika looked at each other and confirmed that they are okay with it, "...If we could help, we don''t mind."


    "Thank you."


    After that, Hase and Aika were invited to the Student Council room to sit. It took about half an hour of discussion to convey everything Hase and Aika wanted to convey. Thanks to Xenovia''s gant aura and the presence of her friend, the timid Hase was able to get everything off her chest, significantly helping her current psyche that had been greatly disturbed during the forceful invitation by some delinquents.


    "That''s everything. Thank you for your time.", Xenovia arranged her notes, intending to end the sudden meeting there. But Aika was curious and asked, "If you don''t mind me asking, what sort of actions are you going to take knowing all of this?"


    "We''ll discuss everything with the Moral Guidance Department since the manpower that will do most of the patrol would being from them. But for now, we will be posting an advisory regarding this and contacting the other schools for this problem. If necessary, we''ll also ask for the cooperation of the localw enforcement. Though, I don''t want this issue to reach that point since that only causes unnecessary fear, not just for the students, but also for the parents."


    Ouryuu, on the other hand, remained silent while looking at his own notes, ''Including them, there are already more than 10 of these kinds of incidents happening. This isn''t just an emerging trend, but a sudden spike. Most likely, it was done by someone on that other side. Normally, we would already hand this task over to the Gremory House since this town is their territory, but with so many forces already gathering here, their forces are already stretched thin, so it looks like we''ll have to take care of this ourselves.''


    ''But seriously... Who is this woman?'' Ouryuu stopped thinking about the current issue and stole a nce to Aika, ''It wasn''t obvious before, but now that I''m sitting with her like this, where is this terrifying auraing from? The President and Vice President told me to not mind her and don''t even bother her, but my curiosity is killing me... Is it really safe or wise to leave someone like this alone?''


    Aika caught his nce and asked, "Is something the matter?"


    Ouryuu panicked a little bit but immediately shook his head, "No. I''m sorry for staring. I''m just thinking of something."


    At this moment, the door to the Student Council Room suddenly swung open and the worn-out Vice President entered, "Ahhhhh... Urahara is too much of a ve driver... I''m sorry that I''mte." It was also only then that he realized that there were other people inside the room and Genshirou immediately rearranged his appearance and greeted them, "Good afternoon to you, Hase-san, Kiryuu-san. I didn''t know you were here."


    But as soon as he looked at Xenovia''s face, who seemed to be reprimanding him, Genshirou realized it, ''Hmm... Kiryuu?... Wait... Kiryuu is here!?'' His thought process was revealed through his facial expression, ''Crap... Is it fine to mention Urahara''s name here?'' he sent a questioning nce at Xenovia but thetter only nervously stared at Aika.


    With her heightened detection ability, Aika should have already noticed Xenovia''s weird stare but the moment she heard ''Urahara'', she shuddered and a sudden and inexplicable rage sprung up from within her. Along with it, however, was the feeling of loneliness and longing. Despite this, she tried her best to maintain her expression and asked, "This is the first time I''ve seen the Vice Presidentin about someone so wholeheartedly. Urahara was it? I''m really curious to who that is."


    Genshirou managed to reel in his expression and was able to think about his reply properly, "He''s a friend who asked me to join one of his projects for the college. I thought it''d be good for my record so I did it, but I''m regretting it now."


    "Heh... Sounds like an interesting person. You should introduce me next time."


    Genshirou thought that it would be weird to reject her so he nodded his head, "Sure. Next time."


    Aika judged that she won''t be getting anything out of him anymore and returned her attention to Xenovia and stood up, "I forgot that I still have something to do so I''d like to take my leave first."


    Xenovia also stood up and approached her, "I see, then I can''t hold you back anymore. Thank you for your time. We were able to learn a lot of things."


    "Happy to help~."


    .


    .


    .


    Aika thought that she was walking aimlessly, but before she knew it, she, once again, arrived at the park not very far from her ce, ''Looks like this is my go-to ce when I''m feeling ufortable.''


    Finding herself a bench far from the noise, Aika heaved a huge sigh and leaned back while massaging the temple of her head, ''Just what''s going on? Who is this Urahara? I''m angry and feeling sad just because I heard a name? That doesn''t make any sense.''


    Once she''d calmed down, Aika tried to recall the earlier interaction as best as she could to analyze the situation without her uncontroble emotions hampering her judgment, ''Even though Saji responded with a perfectly normal answer, the expression he had when he mentioned Urahara seemed strange. It''s as if he knew he made a mistake after seeing me.''


    But no matter how much she wracked her head over this instance, she couldn''t think of any usible conclusions, ''As expected, I won''t be able to think of anything without any details. However, I can assume that something is happening involving me without any of my knowledge. Just what did I forget? Haahhh... My head hurts.''


    While facing up and having her forearm on her eyes, Aika suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out to her, "You''re too young to let out a sigh like that."


    Aika fixed her posture and saw a beautiful talldy with long ck hair, wearing a baggy white sweatshirt, tight jeans, and a gray baseball cap, carrying some groceries, "You are..."


    Thedy smiled and said, "We meet again, high school girl. Right, I forgot to introduce myselfst time." Extending her hand, thedy introduced herself, "Nice to meet you again. I''m Urahara Benihime."

 Chapter 846 The Elaborated Lie part 3

    Chapter 846 The borated Lie part 3


    Instead of replying to her introduction, she muttered in a low voice, "...U-Urahara?"


    Benihime immediately took notice of her abnormal condition and stared straight into her eyes and saw them having a small tinge of red, ''This... Could it be...''


    Benihime approached Aika and patted her shoulder, "Student, are you alright? You don''t look too good."


    A few secondster, while Aika was trying to suppress the mysterious rage she was feeling, it suddenly went away as if she was just hallucinating, ''W-what was that!?''


    Without her knowledge, the moment Benihime patted her shoulder, she sent her authoritative intent towards the twins raising a ruckus, and was able to ''convince'' them within just that short amount of time, [What a handful. If I didn''t stop you, you may have irrevocably damaged her psyche and soul. Stay put. You two can take out your resentment on Kisuke once this whole ordeal is over.]


    After this, Aika''s Zanpakuto Spirits ceased their activities and retreated back to the centermost part of Aika''s soul.


    As soon as she calmed down, Aika realized that she had been staring at Benihime strangely, "I''m sorry! I''m fine."


    Benihime took a step back and feigned ignorance, "Are you sure? You look pale and you reacted strangely to my name. Do you know me?"


    A massive headache crushed her which made her hold her temple tightly, "Your name... No... I don''t know you... I don''t know... I know I don''t... But why...?"


    ''Curse you, Kisuke... I didn''t think you''d put such a strong seal. No wonder those children are pissed.'', Benihime thought as she supported her to sit down since it seemed that she was about to lose her bnce, "It''s fine to act tough, but you have to actually do the act or you''ll just be unreasonably pushing yourself. My ce is just around that corner. You can rest there for the time being and as thanks for your helpst time, allow me to treat you to dinner."


    Aika wanted to refuse her offer, but in her current state, she didn''t want to face her parents for a moment due to that fear that slipped into her, ''Just what are they hiding? And why hide it?'' She should have known that it must be for her own good since she didn''t doubt their love and care of her. However, due to the unexined emotions suddenly taking over her and disorientating her judgment, she became a little bit afraid of them, ''In any case... I might get something out of this ''Urahara''.''


    That''s what she thought, at least. The truth is, her emotions were so jumbled that she didn''t really know where to ce them. While she might really have a tingeof fear of her parents, most of it actually came from the missing memories and she just wrongfully ced it on the former.


    As soon as she nodded, Benihime smiled and led Aika to the ce she''s currently staying at.


    .


    .


    .


    "Make yourselffortable while I make us dinner." Benihime offered her some tea and added, "This tea has a calming effect. It should help you out."


    "Thank you." After taking a sip from the cup, Aika immediately felt its warmth entering her body in a good way and she could feel her hurried breath that she hadn''t even noticed, rxing, "...It''s delicious."


    "I''m d you liked it. It''s an original mix of mine."


    "Really? I thought it was some high-ss tea leaves."


    "There are some mixed in, but it''s mostly frommon leaves. Do you want anything in particr? Or maybe some things that you don''t eat?"


    "Please don''t mind me. I''ll go with what you''ve already nned to make. Truthfully speaking, just drinking this tea already made my entire trip worth it."


    "My~ Is that so?" Benihime adeptly chopped the vegetables while also carefully tossing the beef cubes into the hot pan, "But if the tea has that much effect on you, you must be really troubled."


    Aika hesitated a little bit before asking, "How can you tell?"


    "The tea may have a great calming effect but it''s really only effective for those who are really tense. Your body''s tension has significantly dropped while your voice has be softer. Normally, it wouldn''t have that kind of effect."


    Aika stared at her tea for a few moments before muttering, "I see... It''s a strangely wonderful tea."


    Benihime peeked at her and asked, "You won''t ask if I''m telling the truth or if such a strange blend could actually have such an almost magical effect?"


    "There''s already a ton of things that don''t make sense around me. For now, I don''t want to add the ''baggage'' that this tea will bring into my head if I think about it."


    "...Must be tough. Turn on the TV to distract yourself with something. It''s better than you nkly staring at some random space."


    Aika did as Benihime instructed and from then on, the house was veiled by the TV noise and the boiling and sizzling sounds from the kitchen.


    The two of them only started talking again when Benihime began setting the table. But after that, the silence between them continued. Strangely enough, however, Aika thought that things should have be awkward, but she couldn''t find that kind of atmosphere at all. If anything, the current situation resembled a pleasant and rxing ce. She found sce when she needed it the most.

 Chapter 847 The Elaborated Lie part 4

    Chapter 847 The borated Lie part 4


    After their peaceful and delicious dinner, Benihime offered another set of tea which aids digestion. Sitting in front of her, Benihime started, "Now then, since you''ve significantly calmed down, why don''t you tell me what''s bothering you?"


    Aika remained silent, not meeting her eyes.


    "I know I can''t really force you to say anything, especially to a stranger like me. However, even though you''ve been able to bottle up everything till now, it doesn''t mean your troubles have disappeared Sooner orter, it''ll erupt like it almost did today. Besides, I''m curious since I seemed to have triggered a response thanks to my name. I''d think you''d have some sort of resentment against me if anything."


    Aika looked up to her and saw her small smile, "It''s unfair for you to say it like that, you know? Now I feel like I have to give you a suitable exnation."


    Benihime''s smile grew deeper and said, "Isn''t that fine? And who knows? Because I''m a stranger to you, you might have a better time letting it all out instead of filling the space between you and those you know."


    Aika became silent once again, but Benihime didn''t press for a reply and just waited. In any case, she didn''t really care if she could make Aika open up to her now. since she had already made a good connection to her and could always get close to her using various pretenses, ''With me around, her ''return'' should be just around the corner.''


    While she understands what Kisuke was trying to do with Aika, that doesn''t mean she necessarily agrees with it. In fact, she doesn''t really like how he''s treating her so delicately at all.


    If it was any other person except for Yoruichi who understood the situation, ''delicate'' would be thest thing that''d enter their minds. However, as Kisuke''s lifelong partner, she knew how much care he was giving to the girl, ''He still wants to treat her like a normal girl and take responsibility.''


    ''Since she possessed that Sacred Gear, her involvement on this side was already set in stone and him being there was just a big coincidence. Even then, he still felt responsible for dragging her along. This is a side of him that''s helped him maintain his fighting spirit and pride, which is a good thing, but it''s also tied himself down.''


    Until now, Benihime still didn''t know if this was a good or a bad thing, ''While she started as a normal girl, that isn''t the case anymore and there''s no need to hurry to make her realize it because of her lifespan and those around her was already a trivial matter to fix. At some point in time, her mindset would havepletely adapted to her surroundings. Kisuke is really too kind to have given her this kind of chance, even knowing that she''s someone useful.''


    That''s right. While Kisuke put more importance on his rtionship with those who are important to him, Benihime could only see their usefulness to him and her.


    A momentter, Aika looked up once again and said, "Even if I wanted to answer you, I don''t have one. More than you, I also want to know about ''Urahara''."


    Benihime immediately feigned surprise and confusion, "What do you mean?"


    Aika then went on to tell her how she lost her memories and the inconsistencies she''s feeling, "Even if I wanted to tell you why I reacted that way, I myself don''t know why."


    "Heh~ What an interesting story. On a side note, are you telling me this, fully aware that I might be the ''Urahara'' that you reacted to and I could just be pretending to not know you?"


    Aika, without any hesitation, nodded, "That''s true. But I have my own reasons to believe that you''re not the person."


    "And those are?"


    Aika didn''t answer nor did she show any signs that could give Benihime a clue.


    ''Heh~ She suddenly became cautious. I wonder what gave it away? How amusing.''


    In truth, Aika just didn''t know how to exin it. Her own gut was telling her that she''s not the one. Moreover, the longer she stayed here, the clearer it became that Benihime is not ''normal''. Even though her Zanpakuto was sealed and Benihime was carefully hiding her own aura, Aika was somehow able to get a glimpse that something was not right. The origin of her abilities were almost impossible to seal unless it was something like Aizen''s chair.


    Benihime then leaned back and continued, "In any case, as far as I know, I''m the only Urahara currently in Kuoh Town. With that said, I don''t know this Genshirou Saji personally, so maybe there''s indeed a wild Urahara out there that you might want to meet?"


    "Then setting that aside for now, what do you think of these strange abilities of mine? Normally, you''d think I''m just going crazy, wouldn''t you?"


    "That''s true. Normally you''d be called out as crazy if you''re to tell this to most people."


    "You won''t?"


    "I don''t really have any opinion on it. If you want to hear a normal response, I''d say go get some help from a professional. But that isn''t why you''re here."


    Aika looked down once again and muttered, "...Yeah. I may need help, but I don''t want it now."


    "So what does it feel like now that you were able to let it all out?"


    "It gave way to a more concerning issue."


    "Hmmm... Let me guess. Now that you''re pretty sure that you aren''t going crazy, you also realized that your parents probably aren''t aware of any of this even though they vehemently try to hide things from you. If these abilities are true, then you''re afraid that your own parents might look at you as a monster."


    Aika clenched her teeth, since it was exactly as what Benihime had just described. Setting aside all theplications of the situation, she''d be afraid of what kind of look her parents might give her. She also started to think that this may be the very reason that they wanted to hide the truth behind her memory loss, ''If it''s truly like that, then shouldn''t I stop snooping around?'' She thought as her inkling to just forget everything rting to this increased.

 Chapter 848 A Slight Miscalculation

    Chapter 848 A Slight Miscalction


    Aika didn''t know what to do, nor did she have any idea that the ce where she''d found sce might''ve been a tiger''s den.


    Sensing her increasing difort, Benihime chuckled and stopped hiding her aura.


    As soon as she let go, something invisible instantly hit Aika''s face and she immediately paled. It was as if a st of poisonous air went past her, "W-what are you?"


    "What''s with that question? Obviously, I''m a normal woman living in a normal ce.", answered Benihime after sipping her tea, "Do you see me as some sort of monster?"


    But instead of answering her question, Aika stood up in a hurry, "Thank you for having me. I''m going home." Without waiting for her reply, Aika just bowed down and walked towards the door. She thought that Benihime would be stopping her when she suddenly spoke behind her. But it turns out, Benihime was just rifying something, "For the record, this is only the second time we''ve met."


    Aika didn''t reply and just continued her steps. Her brisk gait didn''t stop until she reached the front gates of her house. While hearing the dishes being washed and the television running, Aika looked around and tried to sense her surroundings, afraid that Benihime might''ve followed her home. A few minutester, she couldn''t find anything strange and finally made her entrance, "I''m home."


    "Aika? I thought you were staying over with your friends?" Her mother came out to greet her but saw that she was making a strange expression and became worried, "Is something wrong?"


    Aika immediately smiled but she didn''t know she couldn''t make it properly, "I-I''m fine. I''m just tired, so I''ll sleep early tonight." Aika continued walking and went past her mother and immediately went up the stairs.


    Haruto came out of the living room and saw his wife staring at the stairs with an extremely concerned expression, "What happened?"


    "...I don''t know. This is the first time I''ve seen her make a face like that."


    Haruto followed her line of sight and sighed. Ever since Aika came back, Honoka became much more paranoid. That in itself was normal, however, Haruto hated himself for not being able to ease her worries, ''...Let''s just watch for a few more days... Maybe something could change.''


    And that change came abruptly and unexpectedly as Aika refused to leave her room from that day on.


    .


    .


    .


    The moment that Aika had left Benihime''s ce, Benihime immediately heard Kisuke''s cold voice in her head, [What was that for?]


    But Benihime just took it in stride and replied, [As expected, you''re watching.]


    [...It''s obvious that my seal would react the moment she made contact with someone like you.]


    [So you didn''t exclude me from that rm even though you did for the students of that Academy.]


    [...I specifically activated it when you decided to operate separately.]


    [My~ I''m honored for the distinction.]


    [Stop changing the topic. What was that for?]


    [For nothing, really. In the first ce, I never revealed anything to her. Whether she got something from me rxing for a bit, it''ll be up to her. On top of that, you know that our contact is just a coincidence and if there''s someone at fault here, it would be you for being overly protective and sealing everything, making her own attributes and power work against her.]


    [...]


    [A slight miscalction, I see. That''s what you get for always calcting everything even when you know that intelligent beings are illogical at their core.]


    [...]


    [And don''t worry about it. I won''t be initiating any contact with her from here on, and I doubt she will either. However, I won''t refuse a visit from her.]


    At that point, Benihime felt Kisuke''s presence disappear from her mind and sighed, ''...You''ve been making a lot of mistakes ever sinceing to this world, but I guess that''s where growth starts.'' Benihime smiled while thinking about the unknown future they are heading towards, ''Well, it''s a lot less boring this time.''


    .


    .


    .


    On the other side, Kisuke stayedying down, ''As expected, I couldn''t understand a girl going through puberty... Is Aika even going through one? In any case, I have to prepare my cheeks for an inevitable punch in the face.''


    ''But I should''ve known that this was bound to happen knowing Benihime''s personality.'' In the end, a smile surfaced on Kisuke''s face, wondering how they''ll meet again.


    ===================


    AN (09/03/22):


    And that''s it for today''s batch. The next one should be around Sept. 6-7 if nothing elsees up.


    If you enjoy this fic, please consider supporting it by going to my Pat.reon page: pat reon./goyy00


    Although a simplement is already much appreciated.


    Discord:https: // discord. gg/zgMZ8t5h


    It''s a mostly silent one, but this is where I''m most ''active''.


    If you have questions or concerns, you could reach me there.


    Also, if I have some quick announcements that I don''t bother making a post or quick polls, you''d find them there.


    Thank you everyone for your support and foring this far with me.

 Chapter 849 Erebus’ Challenge

    Chapter 849 Erebus�� Challenge


    The next day, Kisuke received a notice from the Tournament''smittee that they''d be canceling today''s games due to receiving intel of a suspected terrorist attack on Kyoto. And not long after that, Erebus and arge army of unknown Devils were sighted. Thankfully, the Hero Faction was in the area and Georg was able to assist Yasaka to create an artificial space so that the uing battle wouldn''t affect the real Kyoto.


    "Kisuke! What should we do?" Genshirou came charging into the Belial manor to get Kisuke''s opinion.


    As if he couldn''t be bothered, Kisuke stayedying down as he answered, "You don''t need to get permission from me. And you have your own group that you could go with, don''t you?"


    Dumbfounded, Genshirou asked, "I-I do... But what about you? Aren''t you going to help?"


    "Uncle Diehauser and his peerage are already on the way and you do know the current state of the Belial House, so I can''t exactly leave this ce unguarded."


    Genshirou finally understood Kisuke''s stance, "I see... I''m sorry for not realizing it sooner. I''ll be on my way." With Sona''s former peerage members, Genshirou embarked to defend the capital of Japanese Mythology.


    ''But it''s really too strange that it''s just the Yokai Faction that''s going into action. Are they really that confident or there''s a reason why they couldn''t move? The fact that they didn''t even participate in the Azazel Cup points the scale to thetter. Too bad I don''t have any spare resources to investigate them now and half-assed snooping will only work against me.''


    A momentter, Nyx and Athena also came in and the former asked, "Can I go? He only joined Hades'' side because of a vague promise. If it''s me, I think I can convince him to leave his side."


    Kisuke sat up and said, "You don''t need to."


    Athena stepped up and tried convincing Kisuke, "I''ll be going with her to make sure that no one will get a clue of our real identities. Please just allow Nyx to convince her brother."


    Unlike most Gods that don''t care about family rtions, Nyx and Erebus'' rtionship would be akin to a normal human family''s brother and sister. It may not be much, and it may also seem to bemon, however, Athena knew how much Nyx treasures her big brother and vice versa. In the first ce, the only reason my Erebus joined Hades'' side is because of Nyx.


    Kisuke looked at them with eyes wide open. Nyx thought that Kisuke believed that they were lying about their close rtionship, and he couldn''t be med if he really thinks that way since it''s very rare for Gods to have close rtionships with their rtives. More often than not, siblings treated each other as enemies for authority, and many of them would resolve it through a life or death duel. This is especially true for those with simr or the same Divinity as a God''s pride wouldn''t allow an individual with the same authority, more so those from the same faction as him or her.


    "It''s true! Please believe me!" Nyx pleaded.


    But Kisuke onlyughed at her desperate plea and this almost sent Nyx into a rampage. Athena hurriedly tried to calm her down but before things got messy, Kisuke replied, "Have the two of you really forgotten?"


    Both of them tilted their heads in confusion.


    Kisuke sighed at their poor memories and exined, "Even though he didn''t have any direct evidence, it''s still a very easy feat to conclude that I ''killed'' you that day. If your rtionship is as great as you''ve said, then it would exin all the re he caused to invade Kyoto."


    "re?" Athena had finally guessed what Kisuke was hinting, "So he''s-"


    Before she could finish her words, a dense wave of Divine Aura flooded through the entire town, and apanying it was a defining and authoritatively deep voice, "Kisuke Urahara! Come out here and receive your retribution!"


    "Brother!?" Nyx leaped in surprise while feeling the familiar Divine Aura.


    "I had my expectations, but to think he really came here. Looks like he''s ready to fight to the death. What a brocon." Kisuke said as he finally stood up and faced the direction of the sky where Erebus was silently standing.


    Athena, on the other hand, was remorseful and muttering to herself, "Unbelievable... To think I couldn''t anticipate this kind of oue? Is it memory loss? Am I getting too old?"


    "Please don''t kill him! I''ll go talk to him!" Nyx immediately changed her plea.


    "And what? Reveal yourself? You''re one of my cards so I can''t afford to reveal you in this small event. And you don''t have to worry, you can still talk to him even after I pummel him into the ground."


    "C-can''t you just forcefully teleport him to somewhere private? I know you can win but he''s almost on par with Ares, a bonafidebat God."


    But Kisuke just flew out of the window while leaving behind the words, "It''s a good chance to test my strength." In truth, however, Kisuke had already activated numerous traps that he''d ced to forcefully teleport anyone who intruded into the town, but none of them had worked, ''His Spatial Magic is strong. None of these simple traps would work.''


    Cleria and Sakura finally arrived in the room where Kisuke was staying and asked Nyx and Athena what was going on. After their exnation, Cleria immediately instructed her officials to evacuate the civilians posthaste.


    Erebus was about to issue another warning before finally attacking when he saw Kisuke''s silhouette from afar flying towards him. As soon as he confirmed that he was indeed his target, the smoldering mes of his desire for revenge instantly erupted and the darkness around him grew denser.


    But a hundred meters away from him, Kisuke suddenly disappeared and before he knew it, a hand grabbed his face and dragged him through the ground, smashing mountains along the way, "Let''s take this somewhere else, shall we?"

 Chapter 850 Erebus’ Night

    Chapter 850 Erebus�� Night


    Erebus had the same ck hair as Nyx and appeared to be a handsome young man in his mid-twenties. The ck cloak he was wearing was instantly destroyed as Kisuke dragged him through the ground and only when Erebus finally managed to gather his bearings and explode his dark aura around him, that Kisuke was forcefully pushed back.


    An arc made out of the darkness was also sent out by the swing of his arm as a follow-up attack before Erebus retreated using Space Magic, bringing himself 50 meters away from his opponent.


    Erebus saw Kisuke casually dodge his attack, but instead of continuing, he surveyed his surroundings first and noticed that they''d traveled several kilometers away from their first sh, arriving at a ce where wildlife thrives and not a single intelligent being was around. A few secondster, a light shot up from the town, and an instantter, a durable barrier surrounded it with several more on their way to activation.


    Taking off his tattered cloak and removing the dust and grime from his cklight armor, "This is our first time meeting, Kisuke Urahara, but I certainly hope you know why I came here."


    "I have a rough idea, but since you can speak for yourself, I don''t mind listening."


    The rage and hate he had been keeping in control of all this time finally exploded all at the same time, along with his dark aura that obliterated everything within a 20-meter radius of where he was standing. Despite this, Erebus still maintained his outwardly calm demeanor, "There''s nothing much to say. You killed my sister, so I''m here for revenge."


    Giantnces of darkness instantly manifested around Erebus and wereunched towards Kisuke with blinding speed, "ept my wrath and your retribution."


    Kisuke tried to dodge thences, but they expanded and messed up the predicted trajectory. Without much choice, Kisuke deflected those that needed to be deflected, but the moment his hands touched one of thences, they were instantly corroded even though he covered them with his aura.


    Kisuke looked down at his hands and noticed that his regeneration ability was greatly hampered, ''As expected, I don''t have goodpatibility against corrosive attacks. Instead of helping, my elerated regeneration will only increase the rate of corrosion. Though it was not to a debilitating degree for me, it''s good to know my own weaknesses. I guess healing arts would be more effective in this case.''


    Since healing magic and potions were ineffective for him, Kisuke used Kaidou (Turn Way) to heal his seared skin.


    "What a weird aura..." Erebusmented. When he saw Kisuke deflecting hisnces, he thought that he was able to take away his arms but contrary to his expectation, he was only able to burn his palms and his mind went through what could have made that possible, "It''s not a Devil''s ability, nor was it a Human''s. It also wasn''t anything Divine, Demonic (Youkai, ect.), nor Dragonic... Just what are you?"


    "Heh~ Not everybody could tell something was different about it since it''s very simr to thebination of Magic and Ki."


    "I''m the personification of darkness. Everything that the darkness touches, I can also feel it. For my Divinity makes me the darkness itself." Erebus proudly exined while spreading his arms wide.


    At the same time, the shadows beneath Kisuke''s shot out numerous spears, blocking his retreat before piercing through him instantly. Erebus smirked when he saw Kisuke fall for his trap, "Did you think I wouldn''t notice that you''re just buying some time to heal your wounds? As much as I want to converse with you, my desire to kill you precedes it."


    But all of a sudden, Erebus heard Kisuke''s voice just beside him, "I could guess as much since you were way too optimistic that I would actually fall for that."


    Before he could turn his head, Erebus first felt his left cheek cave-in while seeing a blood-red aura around it before he was once again flung off into the distance. But this time, even though he had his passive defenses up and running at full capacity, his entire skull was nearly crushed from the sheer force of what had hit him.


    He couldn''t even think any of this, as his head was so rattled that he wasn''t even able to break his speed and dented the ground as if he was a several tens of metersrge meteorite crashing into the Earth''s surface, sending debris and dust through the air and creating arge crater.


    It was only then that the ''Kisuke'', who was pierced by the shadow spears, popped like a balloon, "Seriously... How does that work every single time? Shouldn''t they have already guessed that I could do something like that?" Kisuke muttered with a tone filled with disbelief. He''d already finished healing his hands the moment he finished his reply and pretended to be busy with it.


    Before the rain of soil was cleared up, a mass of darkness erupted from the newly created crater, revealing Erebus with red eyes, a slightly puffed up left cheek, and a string of blood flowing from his lip, "...You bastard... So you can activate your technique quietly."


    Erebus carefully watched Kisuke in the released state of his Shunko with three gates opened. As opposed to what he had seen from his recent match, he didn''t think that he could activate it stealthily. But in addition to that, he looked inhuman with white matter and various tattoos covering his body. Looking at his ckened eyes reminded Erebus of his final sh with Ares, ''I thought it was his ace in the hole... To release it so early... Looks like I''ve underestimated him greatly.''


    Refusing to speak any further, Erebus also released the full force of his Divinity. Without Kisuke being able to do anything, a massive wall made of shadows sprouted from the ground and created a kilometer-wide dome before the ground and greenery disappeared too, as if it was being swallowed by the shadows.


    Kisuke immediately used a sh step andunched himself at Erebus, but the moment his punch was about tond, the Primordial God of Darkness disappeared and blended among the darkness. Kisuke''s aura exploded in mid-air without hitting anything. This didn''t surprise him, however, what did was that as his aura continued traveling through the darkness without any hint of it hitting anything, including the ground. A momentter, he felt his own aura dissipating directly behind him, ''!?... An enclosed... No... A looped space?''


    Without any hesitation, Kisuke released a massive amount of his blood-red aura with him as the epicenter, but the result he hoped for didn''te as his own power was just rebounded to him several times before itpletely disappeared, ''So I couldn''t break it through brute force, huh...''


    "Good job figuring out the nature of this space in an instant." Without any distinct direction, Kisuke heard Erebus'' voice, "Wee to my very own ''Night'' and be honored to be invited to my domain where only those deserving could enter."


    "I''m really honored.", Kisuke answered sarcastically while thinking of ways to break free from this space.


    Erebus guessed what was on Kisuke''s mind and said, "Don''t bother. Unless I willed it, there''s no way for you to go out of my domain. Lament the fact that I had to use this."


    But contrary to what he''s thinking, Kisuke is actually excited, ''Chaos should have a simr ability considering he''s looking over that space so this should be a good practice~.''

 Chapter 851 Erebus’ Horror

    Chapter 851 Erebus�� Horror


    ''There''s no way he could have activated this spell without a steep cost.'' Kisuke tried to look around but he could only see a bit of his body due to the faint glow of his Shunko, ''Then again, the simplicity of this spell would make it hard to break. If only Benihime was with me, I could easily tunnel my way out of here.''


    Feeling the threat from his left nk, Kisuke immediately leaped away and looked back. Although he couldn''t see anything, he was sure that something just tried to pierce him, "Good senses. But how long can you keep this up?" Erebus'' voice resounded once again.


    Kisuke kept dodging but due to the sheer density of attacks that he couldn''t see, he couldn''t avoid all of them and had to rely on his defenses. But even with his boosted defenses thanks to Hierro, the darkness still managed to dig a few holes in his body, and each of these wounds healed slowly, ''It feels like I''m in an enormous Iron Maiden. Is that the image he used?'' Kisuke thought casually while trying out a few Magic Spells that could maybe work against this space.


    Watching from afar, Erebus clenched his teeth and sweated nervously as he saw what was happening, ''What''s with his ridiculous defense!? The most I can do is pierce the skin and a bit of his flesh!? And how can he still regenerate with those wounds tainted with my Divinity here in my ''Night'' of all ces!? No wonder Ares wasn''t able to kill him! This guy is beyond abnormal!''


    Even then, Erebus feigned calmness and said with a tone filled with arrogance, "Why don''t you just give up? You''re just prolonging your own suffering. That''s pretty stupid, to be honest. And here I thought you were smarter than this."


    But Erebus'' nervousness only got worse, and deep within him, fear also began sprouting as Kisukeughed at his remark, "My, my~ Erebus-san. What''s wrong? I can feel a hint of panic in your voice. With that said, the real question is how long can you keep this up? I can''t imagine what would happen to you once this domain of yours expires and I''m still alive..."


    This was supposed to be his world and he wasn''t supposed to feel his existence, yet Erebus was wondering what was this dread that he''s feeling, ''I have to kill him now!''


    Pouring everything into his ''Night'', the darkness hugged Kisuke, trapping him in ce. Erebus then immediately shaped the darkness into countless spears that pierced through Kisuke, leaving only a small area of his body unharmed.


    "..." Erebus, panting heavily and about to copse from the fatigue, watched as Kisuke''s Shunko came undone and his blood flowed uncontrobly on the surface of the spear. As he took special care to target his heart and brain, Kisuke should be dead. Not just him, but anyone subjected to something like this should have no business of being alive. Still, the bad feeling and premonition wouldn''t go away, so he didn''t dare dismiss his domain even though it''s already eating away at his own life.


    "..." For a few more minutes, Erebus watched Kisuke''s corpse drain out of blood without blinking, trying to find any signs of life in him. Soon after, he finally heaved a huge sigh of relief when he saw that even his strange transformation was undone, ''Whew... So he was still alive at that point? Good thing I didn''t let up. But why did I fear him so much?''


    Fortunately... Or unfortunately, his question was answered when he saw Kisuke''s mouth that was pierced by a spear suddenly smile widely when he was just about to let go of his domain, "So that''s how it is~!"


    "?!?!?" Kisuke''s twisted and horrific smile sent chills and rm throughout Erebus'' existence, "HOW!?!?"


    But Kisuke didn''t answer him. Instead, the blood that had dropped beyond the darkness began to climb up and crawl along the surface of the spears before extending itself into the surrounding darkness like blood vessels. With Kisuke as the epicenter, his own blood started taking over Erebus'' ''Night''.


    Erebus was shocked at this sight and clenched his teeth before attempting to dismiss his domain. However, it was already toote as more than half of it was already covered in horror-inducing pulsing blood vessels, "This is ridiculous!!!!!"


    While trying to take back control, Erebus saw the spears piercing through Kisuke slowly retracting, revealing a grotesque image of a mangled and smiling ''corpse''. With his neck snapping towards his direction, Kisuke''s empty eye sockets widened along with his smile, "Found you~!"


    Before he knew it, Kisuke had already disappeared and reappeared in front of his face, "AAAHHHHHH!!!!!" The cloak of darkness had already left Erebus.


    Thanks to taking over Erebus'' ability and figuring out how its corrosion worked since it was rtively easy, Kisuke was able to marginally disable its effects and even take advantage of the controlled darkness to aid his regeneration. Seeing human eyes bubbling up into existence from his eye sockets is nothing short of terrifying.


    "You''re damn noisy." Kisuke''s regenerated arm carelessly grabbed Erebus'' face once again and threw him towards the ground. As the veil of darkness retreated, Erebus once again crashed and created another crater. But this time, he was too exhausted to extend any defenses, so his body took a devastating amount of blunt force trauma, forcing him to cough up blood with his broken ribs stabbing his lungs.


    The world returned to normal and the dome of ''Night'' swirled until it gathered on Kisuke''s fingertip.


    With his pride broken, the fear Erebus had been hiding broke loose. And without a shred of grace, he started crawling on the ground in an attempt to escape. If this was a normal battle, he wouldn''t have been broken like this, but in addition to his ace in the hole being utterly ineffective, he also couldn''t see the possibility of winning even if he sacrificed his life.


    "Haah... Seriously?" Kisuke sighed in disappointment at his action, "At least let me try something I devised just now. It''s actually something very simr to your move just now."


    Pointing his finger upwards, the ball of darkness that he stole shot towards its former owner and expanded into a small jet ck box that covered him, "Kurohitsugi: Moonless Night"


    Before stabbing its victim with countless needles, the upper half of the box of death twisted a full 180-degrees first. Instead of going further, however, Kisuke immediately deactivated the technique and muttered, "Hmmm... This could be useful if I make something like a Rubik''s cube in addition to that corroding effect."


    But when he returned his sight to Erebus, who had already lost consciousness from the countless wounds and twisted spine, Kisuke became nervous, "...Crap... I didn''t kill him, did I?"


    .


    .


    .


    In a wide and well-lit room, a man with a buzz-cut hairstyle with greenish-brown hair color andvender eyes was enjoying a ss of cold rum while watching numerous matches of the Azazel Cup through the screen in front of him when he suddenly received a file from one of his intelligence squad.


    The God of War, Storms, and Rainfall of Mount Meru curiously opened the file and it depicted Erebus'' arrival at Belial''s territory.


    A few minutester, a smirk grew on his face as he finished his cup, "Interesting... Compared to the two baby Dragons, it looks like I''ll have more fun with him. I should look for an opportunity to finally meet him."

 Chapter 852 Preparing for the Inevitable

    Chapter 852 Preparing for the Inevitable


    Nyx and Athena rushed towards the Belial Mansion''s secret basement when they heard that someone entered it through Teleportation Magic from Cleria. They already knew who''d came through, but they were not expecting to see Kisuke twisting Erebus'' full of holes body to the correct orientation as if he was fixing a broken doll.


    "...Y-yo~!" Kisuke awkwardly greeted them while patting down Erebus'' midsection that was stretched and mangled.


    Athena''s expression darkened while Nyx started tearing up, "...B-brother..."


    "Hold on! It''s not what you think! He''s alive!... Barely, at least." Kisuke exined while pulling out dozens of bottles of potion from his inventory and pouring everything on him. Since he didn''t have the equipment needed for a full recovery and he didn''t want to bring him to any of the facilities he owned, this is the most he could do. Even then, he could be kept alive, though barely and painfully.


    Hearing Kisuke''s words, the life in Nyx''s eyes returned, and ran over to check her brother, only to see him groaning in pain despite being unconscious. She didn''t know that he''s actually having a nightmare instead of actually hurting.


    Athena also walked over and checked Erebus'' situation and instead of a battle, it looks like he was tortured instead, "...Just what did you do to him? I also felt him activating his signature ''Night'' yet here you are, virtually unharmed."


    "His ability didn''t have goodpatibility with me. Not to brag but something like that is easily managed by a counter specialist like me. As long as he couldn''t kill me in time, I''d find a way to render it useless."


    "...Kill you in time?" Athena then recalled the instance where he survived Ares'' all-out attack, "Remind me again how the heck someone could kill you?"


    "Err... Slice me enough times that I won''t be able to regenerate?"


    "You''re not sure?"


    "Athena-san, acquiring death experience isn''t an easy one. I''m sure you don''t have one either."


    Athena realized her mistake and said, "...My bad." While also thinking, ''You''d normally know how much you can take before you die isn''t it?... What was normal again?''


    After patching up Erebus to a degree that his condition wouldn''t worsen anymore, Kisuke finished his treatment, "You two can continue my treatment. Just follow the instructions in this booklet and use the supplies that I''ll be leaving behind."


    After receiving the booklet and cab of various concoctions from Kisuke, Athena asked, "Where are you going?"


    "You should know that after this attack, it''ll be seen as a deration of war from Hades'' side. But before the Alliance can gather its army and attack, they''ll be initiating it first."


    "I know, but shouldn''t Ie with you to prepare? They probably have already finished the process of opening Tartarus. No matter how strong you are, you won''t be able to take on a group of Titans."


    Kisuke then looked at her with genuine confusion, "When did I say I''ll be fighting them?"


    "B-but you said you''ll take care of them..."


    "I did. But why would I do something as unreliable as fighting? If that''s what you were expecting, I''m sorry, but I''m not viinous enough to think I can take on the whole world."


    Athena nkly stared at him for a short while before holding her head in remorse, ''Since when did I start thinking that violence was the answer to everything!?''


    While the Goddess of Wisdom and War was having an inner conflict, Kisuke left to kickstart the spell he''d prepared for the prisoners of Tartarus, ''If I''m sessful, I won''t need to win this whole tournament.'' He thought while also thinking of the possibility of failing and revealing most of his cards to the world just to get ''a bit'' of help.


    While the two Goddesses thought that the possibility of breaking open the Tartarus was a grim challenge for the whole of Olympus and the world by extension, Kisuke saw it as a massive opportunity to get some freebor. If the two knew what he was thinking, they''d be pulling their hair out of frustration. The bad thing was, they wouldn''t even be able to deny that possibility no matter how unlikely it looked.


    .


    .


    .


    A few days had already passed since Aika locked herself up in her room. As time passed, Honoka became increasingly paranoid while her husband, Haruto, tried his best to calm her down.


    After cing Aika''s dinner in front of her room''s door, Honoka came down to the living room with a haggard look. In all the days she had raised her daughter, this was the first time she''d be unresponsive to almost everything. She knew that her daughter was afraid of something but she couldn''t figure out what it was. If not for the fact that her food was still being eaten, she would have thought of the worst and asked Haruto to break down her door.


    As she lethargically sat down on the sofa, she felt Haruto''s hand holding hers and asked, "...Just where did we go wrong?"


    "I don''t think it''s right to me ourselves for this." Haruto replied with a calm and soft voice, "It was his fault. Nothing will change that."


    Honoka turned her palm and grabbed Haruto''s hand and replied, "But I can''t help but think that we''re also not entirely meless. We were given a chance yet it turned out like this. I''ve been thinking that we should have been honest and said that we''re hiding something from her. Maybe... If we were able to convince her that she shouldn''t uncover this secret, it might not have reached this point where she doesn''t even listen to anything."


    Haruto gave out a wry smile and said, "I guess that''s true too. We don''t know enough of the situation to make a proper judgment."


    He then suddenly stood up which confused Honoka, "Where are you going?"


    Haruto started walking towards the main entrance while replying, "If we don''t know something, we should ask someone who does."


    Honoka followed Haruto to their garden and heard him say, "If someone''s there, pleasee out. I''d like to talk."


    "What are you..." But before Honoka could finish speaking, a woman in a suit and shades came out of the shadows and spooked her into silence.


    The woman walked towards Haruto and introduced herself, "Nice to meet you. I''m Onoskelis of Grigori, the Fallen Angel Faction and the current leader of the security assigned to your family. How may I help you?"


    "Sakura Urahara, we''d like to have a word with her."

 Chapter 853 Counseling

    Chapter 853 Counseling


    Onoskelis pulled out a smartphone from her pocket and operated it for a bit before giving it to Haruto, "There''s only one contact saved in it and it''s the current head of the Belial House. She''s the older sister of Sarah Belial who uses Sakura Urahara in the Human World."


    Haruto looked at the smartphone with a screen showing the name Cleria Belial. He then looked up only to see the woman returning to the shadow before entirely disappearing, "Aren''t you awfully prepared? And it looks like my guess that there are people watching this ce was true..."


    Without being able to find the source, Onoskelis'' voice resounded to both Haruto and Honoka, "We were given the directives that if you were to ask for a contact, we''d give it to you without any questions. That smartphone is just a standard issue for everyone. And if you''re worried about your privacy, please don''t think about it. We''ve been instructed not to tap anything inside the house and I''ll also personally make sure that nothing sensitive goes out of your house."


    "...That''s reassuring."


    Deeming that the current exnation was epted, Onoskelis didn''t further borate.


    Haruto turned around to see his shocked wife and grabbed her hand to lead her back inside, "Now, let''s ask what''s really going on."


    Returning to the living room, the husband and wife sat side by side as thetter picked up the phone and called the only number that was on it. Without their notice, a small and very discreet barrier that blocked off sound waves was erected around them. The standard-issued phone was a high-tech espionage device.


    "How did you know there were people outside?" Honoka asked.


    "I didn''t. I just bet that there were considering how they mentioned in passing that they''d arranged security for us when Aika was not around. I thought that maybe they were still around. Though I didn''t really expect that someone woulde out of the shadows..."


    "Does it tingle your inner chuunibyou?"


    Haruto immediately broke eye contact and looked down at the phone, "...L-let''s wait for the answer, shall we?"


    Honoka chuckled seeing her husband flustered for the first time in a while. Also watching him move confidently and with a clear goal in mind made Honoka gain her own confidence and calm down a little bit, ''I also can''t just mope around and passively react to everything...''


    The phone rang for a minute or two but there was no answer. Haruto and Honoka looked at each other before thetter said, "Call her again. If there''s still no answer, we''ll try it againter."


    After another minute of ringing, Cleria finally answered with a slightly hurried voice, "Good day, Kiryuu-san. I was already informed that you wanted to talk with Sarah. I apologize for answeringte. We had a situation we had to deal with first."


    "I-it''s fine. Is it a good time now? We can always callter."


    "It''s fine. You called because you have concerns with your daughter, right? That''s Kisuke''s responsibility, by extension, is also our responsibility. So if there''s a problem with Aika-chan, we''d also like to help. By the way, is it alright for me and my brother to listen in? I think we might be able to help."


    "It''s alright. It isn''t exactly help that we need, but knowledge. Last time, we thought that brushing the issue aside and pretending it didn''t exist was a good thing for Aika''s situation... But now she''s struggling with something and we couldn''t even guess what''s going on. We want to know what exactly happened to her."


    The other side became silent for a moment before the couple heard Sakura''s voice, "...If you want to know what exactly happened, we''d have to ask Kisuke since he''s the one who took her in. But I guess you wouldn''t want to talk about this with him, yes?"


    Haruto sighed and replied, "Yes... In the meantime, we would like to have no involvement with him. As you''ve said, he''s the reason why Aika is in this situation so I... No... We might not be able to control our emotions and think straight with him around. I''m sorry about this, but even if it''s just a little bit, I''d like to know everything you know."


    Haruto then proceeded to tell the siblings about how Aika was doing fine at the start, but slowly became distant until she stopped talking to them and refused to get out of her room.


    Cleria and Sakura looked at each other as they too, don''t have any idea of what was going on even with what they know, "...What do you think is bothering her?" asked thetter.


    This time, it was Honoka who answered, "...I have a feeling that she''s afraid of something."


    Both sides became silent for a minute. But when Sakura was just about to tell them what she knows, Diehauser, who''d just came back after receiving the news of Erebus'' attack, spoke up, "She''s probably afraid of those around her."


    The unfamiliar male voice surprised the couple for a moment but Haruto asked without questioning who he was, "...Please exin it to us."


    Diehauser nodded and continued, "I''m no parent so I don''t know what it means to have a child. But if you think she''s afraid of something, then I can give my objective view of the situation. But before I exin further, let me ask how you dealt with it whenever she asked something about her missing memories."


    "We responded as we nned we would and kept any mention of it to a minimum."


    "I see... From what I can see, from long ago, she had been able to tell that you''re lying to her."


    "What!? But how!? We even prepared all the documents needed to support our responses!", eximed Honoka.


    "That might be the reason for her fearful attitude. I don''t know if even Kisuke predicted this, but even though the ability and memory sealing was sessful, it was also only to that extent. Meaning, aside from those two, everything else was open, including lingering emotions and instincts."


    "In other words, she might have forgotten about it but her heart couldn''t?" asked Sakura.


    "Something to that extent. As a seasoned fighter, I can tell to a degree what she''s experiencing. Even though she might have forgotten a lot of things, someone who''s trained to fight and read their opponents couldn''t possibly forget the intuition that they''d honed. Unless your lie is perfectly executed until the veryst micro expression, veterans would be able to notice the discrepancies."


    Haruto couldn''t believe it and said, "You''ve already said it yourself. Veterans would, but my daughter is nothing like that."


    "In an ordinary human sense, that''s correct. However, you have no idea what Magic Power or other simr systems could do to the development of someone. One great example of this is Issei Hyoudou who aside from experience, is much better than most veterans out there. And this bes more apparent when you think of those who contributed for him to reach this height, one of which is Kisuke."


    "Only a few know this, but Kisuke has a reputation of being a good trainer or coach since everyone he has helped became wildly sought after. This is also the reason why Aika''s existence was hidden amongst the Three Great Factions, since she is one of the few individuals who has been with him the longest."


    "Well, to put it another way, you can me Kisuke again for this." Diehauser finished with a wry smile.

 Chapter 854 Aeternam Somnium

    Chapter 854 Aeternam Somnium


    Honoka couldn''t help but grit her teeth and thought to herself, ''Why does it have to be our daughter?''


    Diehauser somehow guessed what they were thinking and added, "As much as you can me him, it''s also undeniable that she was able to survive until this point thanks to him."


    Honoka failed to hold herself back and raised her voice, "What do you mean!? If not for him, my daughter wouldn''t be in this situation!"


    Although she knew where she wasing from, Sakura gritted her teeth and refuted it, "My esteemed brother isn''t wrong! If not for Kisuke, Aika-chan might have already perished in these troubling times!"


    Honoka was about to shoot back but Haruto stopped her in time, "Honoka... I too am angry. But we''re here to listen, remember?"


    Honoka bit her lips in frustration but was able to hold herself back.


    Since the conversation was getting heated, Cleria cleared her throat to take the reins back before proceeding to exin, "In the world we live in, the ordinary world and supernatural world aren''t as separated as you''d think, and the biggest contributing factor to this is the Sacred Gear System of Heaven."


    "Sacred Gears, to exin simply, are magical tools that attach themselves to Humans the moment they are born, regardless of their involvement to both sides. Normally, Sacred Gears that appear on normal people would remain hidden until the end of their lives but as fate decided it, Aika Kiryuu ended up with something special."


    "Special?" Haruto repeated her words nkly.


    "Aeternam Somnium, thest Sacred Gear. It didn''t have any amazing ability and it was considered a defective one for the longest time with its strange quirk of dragging its host to the supernatural world no matter how unlikely that it was. At this point, it''s almost as if the hosts were being tested as most of their first encounters were dangerous, ending with nearly all of them leaving the world a lot earlier than expected."


    Honoka shuddered at her few words, "Leaving the world?"


    Cleria closed her eyes and continued, "Most of Aeternam Somnium''s hosts couldn''t go through their puberty as death met them in an untimely manner. And even if the rest managed to survive, they would somehow get involved in more dangerous scenarios. Ever since the concerned parties started recording the Sacred Gear activities, the oldest host of Aeternam Somnium was only 27 years old and it didn''t fail to awaken in every generation."


    The couple couldn''t understand all of what Cleria just said because theycked the necessary context and they couldn''tprehend the supernatural world in the first ce. However, it was very clear to them what the fate of these Aeternam Somnium''s holders was. That very same Sacred Gear that had apparently attached itself to Aika.


    "2-27...? No way..." Honoka, as if forgetting most of what had been said, became fixated on the word ''death'' and became devastated.


    Her husband, on the other hand, remained strong and finally understood what was going on, "I see... In my daughter''s case, Kisuke Urahara was her first encounter, wasn''t he?"


    Cleria nodded, "That''s right. You could say that she''s lucky to have caught his curiosity."


    Haruto couldn''t deny her words but there was still onest thing he wanted to know, "Then doesn''t that mean what we''re doing right now is essentially useless if Aika was still going to be dragged back to your world regardless of her will?"


    "As I''ve mentioned earlier, ''we thought it was defective for the longest time''. Thanks to Kisuke, we were able to figure out that Aeternam Somnium''s fate was to go after two certain Dragons. Now that Aika was able to fulfill that and receive their blessings, the Sacred Gear''s purpose was already fulfilled. Kisuke knew this so he went on with this n. Nothing is stopping Aika from retaining a normal life and it can''t be denied that Kisuke saved her even though it didn''t start out of care."


    Cleria, Sakura, and Diehauser thought that the call wouldst for a little more but they were surprised when Haruto abruptly thanked them for their time and ended the call.


    "Will they be alright?" asked Cleria.


    Sakura sighed as she answered, "Who knows... But I''m sure they''ll be able to reach a conclusion."


    .


    .


    .


    Honoka and Haruto both stayed silent after hanging up the phone. Thankfully, the former was already able to calm herself down and think about the situation objectively like her husband, "...That only opened a can of worms... I don''t have any idea of what we should do from here on."


    Contrary to her, however, a small smile emerged from Haruto, "I''m the opposite though. I know what I must do. It''s just that you''re definitely not going to agree to it."


    Honoka''s eyes widened as she turned to him and instantly had an idea of what he wanted to do. She became silent for a minute once again before clenching her fist and biting her lips and said, "...Then I don''t want to hear it... However... You are also her father so if you decide on something, you have every right to go ahead with it... In any case, it''s a lot better than a mother who doesn''t have any resolve to do anything."


    Haruto''s arm wrapped around Honoka and softly whispered, "What do you mean you don''t have any resolutions? You have enough resolve to watch where our daughter is going and that means you''re carrying the burden along with me."


    Haruto arrived in front of Aika''s room with Honoka behind him. After a few more seconds of contemting and solidifying his decision, he knocked on the door, "Aika, I know you can hear me. Let''s talk. This time, we''re going to tell you the truth... At least a part of it."

 Chapter 855 A Late Realization

    Chapter 855 A Late Realization


    Aika, after a few agonizing minutes, finally opened the door and saw her parents for the first time in a few days. Honoka and Haruto thought that she would be more haggard, but aside from her messy bedhead, her skin and eyes were still wless, making them think that she was sleeping well. The truth is, however, that she had been up most of the time and thinking of all sorts of things with a foggy mind, whereas any normal person who''d gone through this might''ve copsed from fatigue. Her training and innate power didn''t betray her, "The truth?"


    This misunderstanding wasn''t that bad because it made Honoka and Haruto at ease. Nevertheless, this didn''t change what Haruto had to do, "The truth... Maybe that''s overstating it since we, too, don''t know very much and I''ll be holding some of it back because of what your mother and I want to happen." Haruto then turned around and walked towards the stairs, "But let''s not talk here. Let''s go downstairs for a warm meal."


    Honoka looked at both of them before picking up Aika''s dinner on the tray which was still by the side of her door and had gone cold, "I''ll heat this up and brew some tea."


    Aika watched their backs disappear beyond the stairs and thought that the strange awkwardness from all this time had disappeared. From that alone, she was able to conclude that they were doing this for a good reason and it might''ve even been for her own good, ''...But I want to know... I hate being stuck in this artificially woven reality.''


    The three of them sat at the dining table and while waiting for Aika to finish her dinner, Honoka and Haruto asked her about her daily school life and how she was doing in general. Aika contemted these questions and answered as any other normal kid would, but this response was a telltale sign of how shallow her trust in the two of them was.


    "So not a word of what you''re feeling each time, huh..." muttered Haruto with a dejected voice, "Well, if what they say about that guy is true, then it''s understandable."


    Aika immediately put down her chopsticks and looked at him, "That guy?" It was a very energetic responsepared to before.


    Haruto''s wry smile grew deeper and said, "Finish your food first."


    And with great gusto, Aika started downing her food as if she''d starved for thest few days. Honoka would have reprimanded her for her manners, but it was her first time seeing her so energetic in a while, so she just smiled happily. Though she was havingplicated feelings because of it for some strange reason, ''Now then... What should I do after this?'' she asked herself, because there''s almost nothing that could stop the situation from turning away from their wishes. But as soon as her eyes caught the smartphone that the mysterious person had given, a certain idea began to form in her head.


    In two minutes, everything was gone and Aika was expectantly holding her cup of tea.


    "First of all, I can''t tell you who this guy is.", Haruto started.


    "Why not?"


    "Because even though he''s the one who all did this, his identity is currently irrelevant."


    Seeing that she was not saying anything and just waiting, Haruto continued, "We don''t exactly know what happened to you but this man erased your memory for this past year. Don''t ask us how he did this since we also don''t know. The only thing we could say is that it''s beyond our understanding and science."


    "Then why did he do this?" Aika didn''t question the feasibility of erasing memories, since that would exin all the strange phenomena happening around her.


    Haruto shook his head and said, "He didn''t explicitly tell us, but if I were to guess, it''s too dangerous and you weren''t suited for it. He wanted you to live a normal life and that''s what we want too."


    "Dangerous..." Aika murmured while looking down, "Is that why there are always people guarding our ce even though we don''t really need it, nor that we''re rich enough to have that kind of security?"


    Haruto and Honoka''s eyes widened and the former asked, "You can tell?"


    Aika nodded and said, "Just two days ago. I don''t know why, but my senses kept sharpening so that it allowed me to tell that there were other people going around our ce."


    Haruto and Honoka looked at each other before thetter said, "Looks like his uncle got it right." Honoka then stood up from her seat and hugged her daughter, "...I''m sorry..."


    Aika was confused at this sudden hug, but when she heard the sniffling behind her ears, she panicked, "M-mama?"


    "I''m so sorry..."


    Aika immediately returned the hug and asked, "Why are you apologizing?"


    "I''m sorry... It must have been very obvious to you that we were lying... It must have felt lonely... You must have felt all alone... I''m sorry... You''re not alone... We''ll always be behind you... I''m sorry for not doing this earlier..."


    The warmth from her mother''s body and the sounds of sniffles started affecting Aika along with the emotions behind her words. Aika buried her head in her shoulder with tears also rolling on her face thinking that this might have been what she has been wanting to hear all this time.


    Haruto also grew teary from this sight but held himself back as he stood up and hugged both of them. It had been a while since they''d all felt open like this.


    The next day, Aika happily made her way to school to continue her normal life. Despite what was revealed to her, Aika chose to follow their wish, at least until she decided that there was no need to anymore.


    =======================================


    AN(09/11/2022): And that''s it for this week. I''m sorry for the dy. I was swamped with work (even now) and had a little ident of getting a cut that is not very small.


    Anyways, thank you for reading, and have a good day~!


    PS: I was nning on migrating to other sites too because of the WN update, but it seems that they reversed the decision. Still, I''m nning on slowly working on transferring the chapters but I''ll have to edit the atrocious first 300-400 chapters first before I copy them.

 Chapter 856 Hermes’ Obsession

    Chapter 856 Hermes�� Obsession


    Within a tent of a temporary base that was set up by both Yoruichi and Serafall, Lefiya dropped down face first on her soft bedding while muttering, "Ugghhh... When will this end?"


    Two of her friends also entered therge tent given for the girls of Loki Familia, "It has been a while ever since you started saying that. Haven''t you gotten used to it yet?" Tiona approached her and sat beside her feet.


    "There''s no way I''m going to get used to this kind of lifestyle!" Lefiya immediately retorted, "I don''t mind studying Magic theories and practice, but did we have to fight monsters for 8 hours straight every single day!?"


    "It''s not actually that bad, though?" Tiona replied while punching the air, practicing her mastery over Ki.


    "I think their words are true that the best way to use what you''ve learned is through practical application and monster hunting is one of those." The second one who''d entered, Filvis, added. Ever since they''d reached the 63rd floor of the Dungeon, she had already stopped wearing her mask. Not because Filvis didn''t want to, but because she was forced to reveal her identity by Yoruichi, announcing what sort of being she is and threatening everyone who showed any sort of hostile reaction.


    The current expedition would be added to the annals of history, not just as the greatest but also the biggest because it wasposed of various members from the Loki, Freya, Hephaestus, Ganesha, Hermes, Takemikazuchi, Miach, and even Kali Familia. It was an unthinkable level of cooperation considering the first two Familias'' rtionship, but it was made possible by the members of the Hestia and Artemis Familia''s, who came to convince the Deities.


    The children and most of the Deities participating thought that this proposal wasn''t a very good idea, but beyond their expectations, Freya and Loki readily agreed and arranged everything for it to be possible.


    .


    .


    .


    Before the expedition, Hermes arrived at the entrance of the secret tunnel near the Guild with an unusually serious expression and before he could get through, a ck-robed figure appeared from its shadows and said with a ghastly tone, "We were expecting your arrival, Hermes-sama. Please follow me. I''ll lead you to him."


    "Expecting me, huh? It at least looks like he has an amazing excuse for this." Hermes sarcastically replied.


    Fels didn''t say anything else and just quietly walked forward and it didn''t take very long for them to reach Ouranos'' dim-lit altar.


    After Fels left, Hermes immediately asked, "What''s going on? Why are you approving this expedition?"


    Ouranos looked down on him and answered, "I think you''re mistaking my influence. Even if I wanted to, I have no way of stopping them. And aren''t your children participating in this?"


    "That''s because this is such a big thing that I have to send my children just to get a gist of what''s going on. And don''t lie. You could easily dissuade either Freya or Loki as the ''Supreme God''. You do know that all of Orario might descend into chaos if those at the top suddenly went away, don''t you? So why are you taking this risk?"


    But instead of answering his question, Ouranos went off tangent, "I see... So you don''t like the fact that Zeus''st ''Hero'' was getting involved in something outside of your own arrangements and knowledge. You are not his caretaker, so why obsess over him?"


    Hermes scratched his head in frustration and said, "I thought you already understood. In the current age where weck true heroes, he''s the only one who could get strong enough to defeat that thing. My duty is to protect him until he can finally y it. He''s Zeus and Hera''sst card. Thest card of the only Familias who came close to saving this world."


    "Only that child? That arrogance of yours has grown quite big. What made you think that he''s the only one who''s capable of that feat? Bell Cranel is indeed excellent, but aren''t there many other children, although they can''t develop as fast as him, they still have amazing potential? The Sword Princess for one and not to mention, the entirety of Hestia and Artemis'' Familia. By just focusing on Bell Cranel, you''re discounting those children''s potential."


    "Are you seriously saying that? You know that the Sword Princess could never be a hero due to her origins. Not to mention, Kisuke Urahara''s group is just a gathering of unknowns ready to explode. I hope you didn''t forget that the only way to defeat and ovee the ck Dragon and the subsequent consequences is through a Hero with apleted Divine Blessing. Although I apud their methods to get stronger without the help of Deities, it was already proven that it was the wrong approach. Do you want to repeat the tragedy of the Great Spirits?"


    "No one, including the Dungeon, would ever wish for something like that to happen again."


    Ouranos''s reply made Hermes raise his brows, "...What do you know about the Dungeon?"


    "A little bit more than everyone else. However, I have no obligation to reveal that information to you. In any case, the Guild''s decision to allow them to partake in a joint expedition wouldn''t change even if youin to me. Whether you ept their invitation or not will be up to you."


    Hermes stared at him for a minute before sighing and turning around to leave. While going through the dimly lit tunnel, he thought to himself, ''Should I really send Asfi with them? But if I don''t, I won''t be able to get a clue to what these people are trying to do.''


    The open-minded and intelligent God, Hermes, fell victim to his own biases due to Kisuke''s group of ''unknown'' variables and his obsession with the ''traditional'' hero.


    .


    .


    .


    At first, Filvis'' existence was the biggest controversy among the expedition members, and many would even be openly hostile against her. If not for her being a member of the Loki Familia, she would have been attacked in her sleep. But these days, the concern over her was alreadyrgely abated, not just because she saved many of them from harm, but also because Yoruichi suddenly brought three Minotaurs, all-around Level 5, to join the expedition, and they were calling her boss...

 Chapter 857 Hard Pill to Swallow

    Chapter 857 Hard Pill to Swallow


    The moment the Minotaurs came, the camp immediately exploded into motion. The minotaur brothers, namely Arenim, Miradane, and Eradera, apparently wanted to test their strength and began challenging the Adventurers and, of course, their first target was the strongest among them, Ottar.


    As someone who didn''t really care about anyone else aside from his Goddess and strong people, Ottar epted their challenge and beat them within an inch of their lives. While there were many individuals who were stronger than the Minotaur brothers, Ottar liked them because they had more guts than most Adventurers and never backed down from their invitation.


    But even then, Ottar couldn''tmand the same respect the brothers have for Yoruichi.


    Naturally, the brother''s challenges didn''t just end with Ottar, as they also went after the other top Adventurers. Those days became the noisiest as the brothers would always provoke others. Not having much intelligence, their provocation was at the level of a child''s, buting from a ''monster'', most Adventurer''s pride couldn''t really take it. However, aside from the executives of the Loki and Freya Familias, no one else could really fight them on an equal footing.


    Until one day, a few of the Adventurers could take it anymore and gathered others who didn''t like their existence and attacked the brothers using their overwhelming numbers. As these Adventurers only got angrier when the Minotaurs called them cowards and cheaters, the brothers had no choice but to seek shelter behind their ''Boss''.


    It was then that Yoruichi''s vague position in the whole expedition team was solidified as she met everyone head-on. With none of their Magic and Weapons seeming to be able to even wound her, Yoruichi almost killed half of them using only brute force while slowly walking through the battlefield as if a farmer harvesting her crops, one by one.


    But the legend was only created when Ottar, Allen, the Gulliver brothers, Bete, and Gareth joined the fun and suffered the same fate as the first ''half''. That day, most of the Elixir stock was gone just trying to keep the Adventurers alive.


    .


    .


    .


    "The way she used her Ki to cover only the parts that were about to hit was truly masterful. I wonder when I will get to that level?" Tiona muttered with an admiring expression.


    Lefiya turned to her with furrowed brows and said, "If Riveria-sama didn''t stop you, Tione-san, and Ais-san from attempting to join, all three of you would probably lying in the bed for a few days, only capable of drinking soup. Yoruichi-sama happily targeted the strongest of the group, probably to assert dominance."


    "That''s probably it." Filvis nodded in agreement, "Since each passing day, she and herpanions have kept receivingints. It''s also only now that I''vee to realize that such pettiness could still survive amongst the strongest Familias."


    "Nothing could be done," Tiona shrugged her shoulders, "Coexisting with monsters is just that hard of a pill to swallow. There are even some people who''re eyeing our cute Lysa badly."


    Lefiya immediately stood up while his countenance darkened, "Huh...? Where are those fools?"


    But Tiona only gave her a thumb''s up, "No worries~ I already wasted a few of their Elixirs~!"


    "You should have called me too. As you''ve said, a good way to learn is to apply things practically."


    Filvis, who was listening on the side, let out a small breath and thought that Lefiya was getting more and more violent as the expedition went on, ''Is this a side effect to this power we are acquiring or is it just her being stressed out?''


    Not long after, the tent''s entrance opened and Riveria came in carrying several books and notes, "Hmm? Are you girls on your break?"


    "Riveria-sama... I haven''t seen you take a break." Lefiyamented with a worried tone. Ever since the expedition, if she was not hunting monsters on her own, she''d be buried in her books or tail behind Serafall to ask various things.


    "I''m fine. Where are the others?"


    "They''re still wrestling with the Ice Golems. Although they don''t have any drops aside from Magic Stones, they''re good practice partners for those who''re using body strengthening techniques," answered Tiona.


    "How about Lysa? Is she still growing exponentially?"


    "After reaching the size of a normal Wyvern, she stopped growing and gained the ability to change her body size. Right now, she''s nestling on Ais'' head as if she missed that spot."


    "I see... I guess that''s good." Riveria then turned to Lefiya and Filvis, "How is your Healing Magic progressing?"


    Lefiya and Filvis looked at each other before thetter answered, "I can do it, but it''s far from usable."


    "Mine is already usable, but not to the extent that I want. I can''t progress as much as I want," answered Lefiya, "Is our supply of Elixir really stretched that thin already?"


    Riveria nodded, "That''s right. We''ve already sent a team to get a resupply, but our emergency supply is being depleted faster than we expected."


    "Couldn''t we ask Yoruichi-sama and Serafall-sama for some assistance? After all, they''re the initiators of this expedition."


    Riveria shook her head, "We''ve already tried, but they said that there would be no point in this expedition if there weren''t any risks. Still, because of that attack on Yoruichi, this problem has be critical. Not that we can really say anything since it''s our collective responsibility as a group."


    Moments after she finished talking, another voice came from the outside of the tent, "Riveria-sama, are you in here?"


    "Andromeda? Come in."


    Asfi entered the tent and bobbed her head in greeting to the other individuals inside before approaching Riveria, "Our materials for the Intermediate Potions are not going tost long. We have to limit their distribution and depend on Healing Magic as much as possible."


    "What? Shouldn''t we still have enough?"


    It was Asfi''s turn to be confused, "Could it be that you haven''t heard yet? Irregr monsters have started appearing."

 Chapter 858 Potential Consequences of ‘Convenient’ Magic

    Chapter 858 Potential Consequences of ��Convenient�� Magic


    Riveria sighed and held her forehead in frustration, "Looks like I''ve been too focused on my own personal matters that I forgot to properly read the reports."


    "Riveria-sama! Please don''t me yourself! I also haven''t heard anything about it." Lefiya grabbed her staff and got ready to get out.


    However, Asfi immediately stopped her and said, "There''s no one to me. They only appeared in small numbers and were already routed. But the responders took more damage than expected, so if they keep appearing now, our stock of Intermediate Potions would immediately plummet. Not to mention that most of us have only just started learning how to use Ki so we can''t reliably protect our weapons, so this might overdraft our smiths too."


    A few secondster, a member of the Ganesha Familia arrived to inform them that an emergency meeting was being called and that all of the executives were to attend.


    .


    .


    .


    Ilta Farna, the current Vice-Captain of the Ganesha Familia was walking beside her Captain while passing her report, "...As of now, there is still no other apparent reason for this expedition other than passing on these body strengthening techniques. Although as revolutionary as they are, the rate of mastery isn''t ideal, especially for those who are in the lower bracket. It seems that it''s very hard to learn it without much experience in being an Adventurer, ording to the data we''ve gathered at least."


    "How about the systematic learning of Magic?", asked Shakti.


    Ilta shook her head and said, "The entry bar seems to be a lot higher than everyone has expected. The main problem stems from the Magic Power control and maniption that''s needed in everything within that course. We thought that it was the same with Ki that needed to favor those who have more experience in fighting, but it seems to be that Magic is tied to the individual levels. We came to this conclusion after we had everyone do some basic instructions and those with lower levels struggled to do it even worse than those who aren''t taking the course and didn''t have a single Magic in their arsenal but higher level. Instructor Serafall also approved of this conclusion."


    Shakti, after hearing that, had her expression loosened up and sighed in relief.


    "Captain? What''s wrong?"


    "There''s nothing wrong. I''m just d."


    "d? Of what?"


    Shakti smiled at her and said, "It seems that you''ve been busy enough not to think about the implication of this."


    "Magic... It''s the power to bend the naturalws. Those who have it would be seen differently and most of those who don''t have it will strive to get one. Aside from Levels, it is another indicator of how much firepower an Adventurer could have. It''s also the reason why Mages are highly sought after."


    "However, everyone could only have three of them at maximum, and people like Riveria and Lefiya could circumvent this due to their unique Skills. This all-powerful force has a clear limitation to it."


    "But with the introduction of Magic that anyone can use as long as they work hard enough, I''m afraid it''ll send waves of unknown consequences throughout the whole of society. Most likely, wars would erupt in many ces around the world. I''m relieved that it''s still tied to everyone''s level."


    Ilta understood her point and said, "But Ki isn''t subjected to the same limitations. Why only Magic?"


    "Because it isn''t woven into the fabric of society. It might cause the same amount of suffering as if Magic became wildly avable, but it''s not a very well-known thing and we''ll probably be ready enough to deal with the consequences once it begins."


    The duo reached the main tent where the meeting will be held and it seems they are the only ones they were all waiting for, "We''re sorry that we''rete."


    "It''s fine. The Ganesha Familia members are the ones maintaining and moderating the peace of these rowdy Adventurers, so you can take it easy on other fronts.", replied Finn while offering them a seat.


    As the meeting opened up, the topic went straight to the appearance of the irregr monsters and their current supply drought. After some back and forth among the members, it was decided that only those who are capable of coating themselves with Ki and Mages would respond to the threat. Since they already knew all the paths toward the 64th floor, they would just assign people to watch over them.


    "This will be the top priority, so if you''re doing something or fighting monsters, immediately disengage the moment the signal is released. Although their numbers will be limited by the number of entrances, we can''t let them take any space on this floor or it''ll go out of our control." Finn dered the resolution.


    "How should we go about with theck of supplies then? Everything else can be gathered and be made, however, we don''t have anyone capable of making Elixirs.", Tsubaki Collbrade pushed the meeting forward, "We can send a group of elites to the surface, but it''s too risky for only a week or two of relief."


    "Wouldn''t it be fair to ask Yoruichi for some responsibility in this? Someone like her could easily get to the surface and back." Allen suggested.


    While it''s true that an elite team could go to the surface, no one actually wanted to do it. Even though they''re all in one team right now, the rivalry between them never ceased. A few days or weeks of not fighting monsters will definitely create a gap that would be hard to catch up to.


    However, Mia, who was in the room, immediately scoffed at him and said, "Stop this childish passing of responsibility. It''s your guy''s fault that more Elixirs were used in the first ce. All for the name of your pride."


    Allen clicked his tongue, but didn''t say anything else.


    Mia then turned to Finn and asked, "Where are the two of them anyway?"


    Finn leaned back and answered, "The moment those monsters appeared, they both rushed to the next floor. What''re they nning and when are theying back? They didn''t say anything."


    "Can we retreat?"


    "I''m sorry. Loki asked me not to retreat until we got permission from both of them. And even if I wanted to..." Finn''s eyesnded on Ottar who''s sitting quietly, "He also received the same words from Freya."


    Everyone in the room followed his line of sight and thought that this stubborn and faithful Captain of the Freya Familia who would probablyy his life on the line just to stop them if they ever wanted to retreat.


    Mia sighed and said, "I''ll go with my girls to the surface."


    But before Finn could examine this proposal, it suddenly became noisy outside, "What''s going on?"

 Chapter 859 New Addition to the Expedition

    Chapter 859 New Addition to the Expedition


    Themotion outside became louder and it wasn''t long before the curtains blocking the main tent''s entrance parted and revealed three figures, two of which were familiar to almost everyone.


    "Good day, everyone. I''m sorry for interrupting your meeting." The one in the center led the other two. With graceful steps that were almost divine and silky smooth shiny long purple hair flowing behind her, Medusa entered the tent wearing her revealing ck and purplebat attire and purple blindfold. Despite her cold countenance, she was so bright that it was as if she lightened the room.


    Everyone, male or female was taken aback by her appearance and seemed to question her identity, including those from the Freya Familia. With a wry smile, Finn muttered, "I see now... No wonder it was noisy outside. I hope a fight doesn''t start over this."


    "That is none of my concern." Medusa wasn''t unaware of what her appearance and aura could do. In fact, she was painfully aware of it and it was technically the reason for her tragedy from long ago. If the men started killing each other because of her, she wouldn''t bat an eye at it and just leave the ghastly scene hoping that some of them wouldn''t be able to bother her and her sisters in the future.


    It was because of this apathy that she failed to recognize Bell, the current Captain of the Miach Familia, who was looking at her in a trance. But even if she had noticed, the most she could give him is a cold nce. Thanks to this apathy, however, Bell''s unique skill didn''t deactivate and was only further strengthened while hoping for her recognition, never realizing that it was already doomed from the start.


    But amidst this admiration, Medusa noticed something different and turned in Riveria''s direction. Although she couldn''t see the expression she was making, she was giving off a familiar feeling. It was a feeling that she always exuded when in front of her sisters. The feeling of inferiority without any hint of jealousy.


    Riveria was shocked when Medusa suddenly turned her head in her direction and was even more surprised when she smiled and said, "Outward appearances are the least of his concerns."


    "W-what are you talking about?" Riveria immediately feigned ignorance and minutely controlled her expression as she thought that her feelings were showing on her face. It was then she remembered that Medusa was currently blindfolded and wondered how she figured her out. Still, it was a good way to dodge her words and asked, "What happened to your eyes? Were you injured?"


    ''Wait... Why did I assume that she''s talking about Kisuke? Why did I act like I knew what she was talking about? And is she even talking to me in the first ce?''


    As various thoughts swirled inside of Riveria''s head, Medusa chuckled at her reaction which was the stark contrast to the demeanor she was showing just previously, and put half of those in the room into an immediate trance, "I''m not injured. Let''s just say that it''s a form of training so that even without my sight, I''d still be able to urately tell what''s going on in my surroundings using just my other senses."


    All of sudden, a dagger connected to a set of chains materialized on Medusa''s hand and she threw it towards Ottar, who was about to grab his sword. It was so fast that even though they recognized her actions, no one was able to do anything, "I don''t have anything to prove to you, but please curb your curiosity with this. I don''t have any spare time to waste on you."


    Ottar smiled as he looked back to the dagger that''d punched straight through the hand that was about to grab his weapon, "How wonderful. You''re the same type of monster as the both of them." he muttered as fighting spirit filled his whole body. While everyone else was speechless, they all immediately recovered, except for Bell who was technically a newbie and quietly panicking at the sight of gushing blood.


    Medusa ignored hisment and finally proceeded to introduce those behind her, "Everyone already knows her, but allow me to present you Line Arshe. In response to yourck of healing items and personnel, Yoruichi has asked me to bring her here."


    Line stepped forward and bowed down, "Please take care of me!"


    Those who knew of her could still see her low self-esteem. However, only those with sharp eyes could see beyond it, ''That movement and demeanor... Only experienced Adventurers could have those. It looks like she wasn''t just studying Magic from him.'' Finn thought while his doubts regarding her loyalty to the Loki Familia began to surface.


    "I''m sorry to say this, but what can a single person do?" Tsubaki suddenly asked.


    In response, Medusa answered, "Conveniently, there''s a wounded man here. Line-san, please show them what you can do."


    "Yes!"


    "Conveniently you say..." The corner of Tsubaki''s mouth twitched as she stopped herself from retorting, so did the others.


    The conveniently wounded man was curious about what Line could do, so he stretched out his hand when she approached. But it didn''t take more than a few seconds before multiple Magic Circles were deployed around the hand and it was to everyone''s view how Ottar''s flesh started mending itself before his hand was repaired to perfection, "I opted to use your own cell''s regeneration capacity to heal you since you have a lot of stamina. It should be just like waiting for it to heal over time, but I just guided and elerated the process.", Line exined to the stunned Ottar who was healed faster than even an Elixir could.


    "How was it?" asked Finn.


    "...Incredible.", murmured Ottar, "Not even the lingering pain that Potions always leave behind."


    Finn then turned to Line and asked, "How many times can you do this?"


    Without any hesitation, Line answered with a smile, "If it''s how I just healed Ottar-san, I can do it as many times as time allows and without rest for about... hmmm... three days, I guess?"


    "Nonstop for three days!?" Shakti stood up and mmed the table.


    Contrary to everyone''s expectations, Line, instead, became embarrassed and replied while scratching her cheek, "I''m sorry, but that''s only as far as my mental capacity can go. But I''ll be fine and could go again after a good night''s rest and a portion of hearty food!"


    "I''m not discounting your ability, though!? And you''ll be fine after a night''s rest!? Not even a shortsting fatigue or physical pain!?"


    "But a healer needs to be able to heal their allies withoutpromising one''s abilities, though? There''s no point if the healer is the first to go down after healing a few times."


    "That''s not what I''m talk-"


    Before Shakti could finish talking, Line interrupted her because she thought she finally got what she meant, "Please let me exin. The treatment I gave Ottar-san can only be applied to minor wounds like that and to stronger individuals since it would be consuming their stamina greatly."


    "For fatal wounds or those who are weakened, I would need to use my Magic Power reserves to do the treatment. In regards to that, I can only do it about 300-400 times before needing a break for a whole day. I can''t just do something about my reserves. And while I can use Magic Stones as a substitute, I''m not proficient enough to purify the Magic Power within, so using it for treatment might have adverse effects on the patient, so I''m only doing that if it''s an emergency."


    "..." There were so many points of retort that Shakti and everyone remained speechless.


    The second person who came with Medusa nodded in understanding and thought, ''As expected of a member of that group. Over the top as usual.''

 Chapter 860 Nearing to the Truth Behind the Corrupted Spirits

    Chapter 860 Nearing to the Truth Behind the Corrupted Spirits


    Rtive to other Adventurers of the Loki Familia, Line could be considered as a new member. And since this was also the first Familia she joined, she only ever knew about them before being pulled to the Hestia Familia''s side. In addition to the rarity of healers themselves and her mindset of not settling for being average, the only healer she had ever known is the one considered as the greatest, Airmid Teasanare, the Captain of the Dian Cecht Familia despite only being a Level 2.


    Because of Airmid''s existence, Line made her the goal that she wanted to surpass. So when she saw that everyone was so surprised that she was able to heal Ottar faster than an Elixir could, Line became confused, ''Airmid-san could also do the same thing and I could and even concoct the highest level potions with ease that I can''t do. What are they so surprised about?''


    She too, from the start, was a little bit disconnected from reality, making her a good match for the Hestia Familia.


    Everyone was surprised, not just because of her healing ability, but also the sheer number of times she could do it. For the record, Airmid could only heal faster than Elixirs a few times before Mind Down took over.


    Finn waved his hand down and interrupted them, "This is neither the time nor ce to discuss that. What''s important is that she can definitely resolve our biggest problem now. With this, we only have to depend on the Dian Cecht Familia for anti-curse potions."


    Though not very often, Curse Magic still existed for some monsters. And even if it''s easy to avoid with the right tactics and knowledge, mistakes and idents still happen. But if the group could ease their reliance on Elixirs, it would reduce their need for a resupply and they wouldn''t have to send out a group of elites as many times as they would''ve before.


    "Uhmm..." Line raised her hand, "If it''s Curse Magic, as long as it''s the basic ones, I can also take care of it, the basic and intermediate levels at least."


    "Y-you can?", even Finn was almost rendered speechless, "Did you develop a skill for it?"


    For the record, the number of people who could actually cure curses could be counted on one hand in the entirety of Orario, and only Airmid could apply such effect to the potions with her ''Mystery'' ability, making it highly sought after as there were a lot of criminals and evil oriented Familias that could use Curse Magic.


    To his question that everyone thought would get a positive answer however, instead received a shaking head, "Skill? No. I haven''t received anything along those lines."


    "Then how?" Riveria asked with great curiosity. Out of all the Magic-rted studies she''d gone through, Curse Magic was one of those she hasn''t touched yet because of theck of knowledge and information surrounding it.


    Line, in response, became excited because it was also an interesting topic for her, "Fundamentally,Curse Magic is just a bundle of tangled Magic Power that was sent to the target to disrupt the flow of various energies in the affected area. Because of that, the mostmon effect of Curse Magic is an ''unheble'' wound. But with enough Magic control, you can actually untangle and safely expel this foreign Magic Power safely, effectively resolving the Curse. However, this is only true for the basic and intermediate levels of such Magic. For advanced and beyond, Serafall-san said that the Magic itself would form a will and would actively avoid any attempts to dispel it."


    "...What about the Curse Magic of Barca Perdix''s weapons that Evilus usedst time? What''s their level?" asked Finn with a serious expression. After all, those were the worst Curse Magic that they''d encountered, ''There hasn''t been any proposed standard for Curse Magic and if those are advanced level, then Airmid''s value would skyrocket in theing months.''


    "Those? They were of the basic level... Maybe a tiny bit better. With my current abilities, I can erase their effects within 3 seconds. And if the same Curse is applied across multiple people, I can also remove it in groups by just adding a few more seconds."


    The room became quiet and it was only Finn''s sigh that could be heard along with him rubbing his forehead. So as to not allow her further time to say something even more ridiculous, Finn decided to put an end to it, "We would be thankful for your assistance to the expedition. If there''s something you need, you can ask Riveria for anything specific." After all, Line is still their member and they didn''t want her to spill too much of the precious information she had to other rival Familias.


    Turning to thest person who entered, Finn asked, after sizing up the strange Amazoness, "And this is?"


    Medusa was disappointed that Finn still thought about their own gain instead of working with the others. Nevertheless, she also understood where he wasing from and didn''t think much about it, "This is Tenestra, from the Dizara Region. She''s studying Magic along with Line."


    The Amazoness that everyone thought was strange because she was wearing an attire that could bepared to that of Elves stepped up and eagerly introduced herself, "It''s very nice to meet everyone~! I''m Tenestra of the Astarte Familia. The leader of the Magic Research Corps... Though there''s only me and the other two people in it. Anyway, I hope you don''t mind me hopping onto the wave you''re all riding~"


    Finn nodded, "As long as you follow our lead, we greatly appreciate a helping hand."


    "Then that settles it. Since I don''t have anything else to add, I''ll be taking my leave." Medusa promptly expressed her decision to leave and no one was able to stop her from leaving.


    Finn wanted to ask her a few more things, but it was in for all to see that she didn''t exactly want to deal with them so he held back, "Meeting adjourned. Any issues that wille up, don''t hesitate to bring them up."


    .


    .


    .


    On the 65th floor, Yoruichi and Serafall overlooked a jungle several timesrger than Orario and the source of this jungle was five Demi-Spirits being fed by an almost uncountable number of caterpir monsters.


    "There''s no way for them to tackle this, is there?" Serafall asked while trying to gauge the abilities of these Demi-Spirits.


    "If they put their minds and body to it, along with the appropriate tactics, they should be able to. The problem is the subsequent floors. If they''re here with these numbers, chances are that the Monster Rex on the 67th floor was also taken over. I''m afraid that thing would be the equivalent to a High-ss Devil and bordering Ultimate-ss. They''ll be wiped out within a few moves." replied Yoruichi.


    "If such a thing really exists here, but that ck Dragon in the records is most probably of Ultimate ss... How the hell did the inhabitants of this world fend that off if they were this weak?"


    "With numbers, obviously. The ones who led them, from my estimation, were also a Level 9, bordering the highest at Level 10."


    "Just what are these levels? From Levels 1-7, it''s almost nothing special, but once someone steps into Level 8, it bes a totally different thing."


    Yoruichi shook her head, "I don''t really know, but it''s a topic that Kisuke was already investigating. We''ll probably hear from him about it in theseing days, if not weeks. Though, if I were to guess, it''s probably some sort of evolution. This is probably the reason why Ottar has been a peak Level 7 for the longest time without any signs of Leveling up. Just Exelia isn''t enough anymore."


    "Sounds really useful. Then why did you stop Sona-chan and the rest from going beyond Level 3?"


    "Aside from not knowing what sort of effect it''d have for aliens like us, it''s pretty useful for Magic practice. They are probably struggling right now, but once they''ve returned or the restrictions of this world are disabled, they''ll probably have the same output as an Ultimate-ss, if not stronger, and control of a veteran, if not better."


    At that moment, Medusanded behind them, "I''m sorry for beingte. It took me more time to test my abilities out inside the Dungeon than I''d thought."

 Chapter 861 Orario, the Former Top Powerhouse

    Chapter 861 Orario, the Former Top Powerhouse


    The meeting was adjourned and everyone gave Line and Tenestra a look of curiosity as they left.


    "Follow me to the Loki Familia tent. We still have a few beddings avable." Riveria proposed.


    Line grabbed Tenestra''s hand and followed Riveria. She could see the closeness between the two and guessed that the two of them were studying closely together, "Looks like they can use Teleportation Magic easier than they let on.",mented Riveria.


    Line smiled wryly and replied, "You also understand their reasons, Riveria-sama. However, after establishing their name, they couldn''t care less about hiding it anymore. I heard that he also made a mess thest time he came to Orario, so I doubt anyone would still bother him or the others."


    Riveria recalled the day when they all forgot about the Hestia and Artemis Familias and shuddered. That day, it made her and herrades realize how terrifying Gods are and how simple it was for them to manipte any mortal despite their abilities being sealed. It was also the day they realized just how abnormal Kisuke and his group really were.


    But perhaps the most surprising that day was Loki and Freya ensuring that Kisuke was no God and that his strength came entirely from his mortal self and both of them implicitly implying that it was also possible for them to reach such a level, albeit with the probability of one being struck by lightning in a clear sky a hundred times in a row.


    Of course, none of them knew how tiny this chance was, but the fact they confirmed that there''s a chance at all made everyone from the Loki and Freya Familias dream. That''s why among those who joined the expedition, only these two Familias took Yoruichi''s offer with glee.


    While Riveria and Line looked at each other in understanding, Tenestra could only tilt her head in puzzlement, "So you''re not aware of it, huh...", thettermented.


    "Aware of what?"Tenestra asked , but they had already reached their lodging and entered it.


    But before they could perceive if anyone was inside, someone dashed forward and wrapped her arms around Line excitedly, "Line~! It''s been a while! How have you been? I trust that you''re as nonsensical as that group now?"


    The familiar scent that flooded her nose made Line immediately recognize her assant and chuckled, "What do you mean, as nonsensical as them? It''s extremely hard to even follow what they''re even doing."


    The one who hugged her, Tiona, and those within the room who were familiar with her were instantly dumbfounded, since in the past, Line would devolve into a panicking mess as she tried to think of a way to respond to her skinship, "You''ve changed..."


    Line looked up to her and thought about it, ''I''ve changed?'' With a quick retrospection, she noticed that she would''ve reacted differently if it was the past her. However, the change she was afraid of in the past doesn''t feel unpleasant now. Instead, it felt like she was released from invisible shackles, "Is that bad?" Line asked while wearing a gentle smile.


    Tiona returned a smile and said, "Of course not~! I''m just d that you achieved one of your goals of being reliable from when you''d just entered the Familia~!" With that said, Tiona would miss her immature self, mainly because she wasn''t able to witness her transformation herself.


    "Tiona, don''t keep her all to yourself." The impatient Tione tore the two apart before swooping Line up. Starting from her, all the girls of the Loki Familia came and weed her back.


    The Hestia and Artemis Familias took great care of her and there was no doubt that Line considered them as her preciousrades. Their treatment of her was even arguably the best she could''ve ask for, but for someone like her that was orphaned at a very young age, she considers the Loki Familia as her first family and seeing them dly wee her back, she couldn''t help but tear up a little, ''Since we were in a hurry, I wasn''t able to greet Loki-sama...'' she thought regretfully.


    Tiona and Tione''s interest then instantly transferred to their fellow Amazoness. In a normal situation, they would have already introduced themselves to the neer, but they instead hesitated after seeing her ''strange'' attire that didn''t seem to be out of ce because of the way she carried herself, "Er... Nice to meet you, I''m Tiona Hiryute."


    "And I''m Tione Hiryute."


    The others, meanwhile, were full of interest, especially the Elves.


    Tenestra, of course, already knew what they were thinking since this was not the first time she received such gazes. Since Amazoness'' are very rare in the Dizara Region from the start due to how far Telskyura was, the Amazoness sisters would always garner attention, mostly unwanted. Fenia''s disgust of men also came from the mon Amazoness trait'' of seducing men who were stronger than them.


    "I understand what you''re thinking. But from my perspective, it''s extremely strange to see someone who dresses in underwear only."


    Tione instantly understood what she meant and asked, "You haven''t seen other Amazoness'' before?"


    "I have, but only twice and both were fleeting nces."


    "Just two!?" Tiona eximed, "But there are a lot around here, though?"


    Riveria cleared her throat to get their attention and said, "She came from Dizara Region where almost no Amazoness'' can reach due to the sheer distance from Telskyura."


    Right away, Tenestra introduced herself, "I''m Tenestra of Astarte Familia of Dizara Region. I''ll be joining you for the rest of the expedition. Nice to meet you all and please take care of me."


    "Dizara Region... Was that where the other entrance to the Dungeon exists?" asked Lefiya.


    "Yes," Riveria nodded, "It''s the entrance located on the other side of the world."


    "What? The other side of the world? Wouldn''t it take a few months to travel there?" Elfy, Lefiya''s roommate, asked in confusion as the timeline didn''t add up.


    While Riveria was making clear how Kisuke''s group was able to travel long distances through Teleportation Magic, Tenestra was secretly sizing up the members of the Loki Familia behind a cheerful face, ''I heard that the subjugation of the ck Dragon 15 years ago failed miserably and it dragged Orario''s power down massively, but I didn''t think it would be this bad. In terms of Levels, only the Freya Familia could match up to us, but even then, we have 3 times as much manpower and we''re considered as the weakest faction among the four.''


    ''15 years is a long time, but it isn''t enough to push Orario back to the top.''


    Nevertheless, she recalled those who are fighting monsters outside and saw that they were utilizing Ki far better than those in her Familia so, if it''s fighting power, chances are, they were going to lose. Though from what she''d heard, they are only ahead by a bit and it shouldn''t take long before their masteries catch up, ''If not for their existence... There''s no use thinking about this when there''s no real rivalry between the two ces.''


    What concerns Tenestra more, however, is the fact that Zeus is currently in the Dizara Region, ''Is he nning to establish a new faction there? Although he and Hera-sama suffered disastrous losses, it didn''t mean that they''d lost everything. But why now? What are they nning?''


    Tossing those thoughts to the back of her head, Tenestra concluded, ''After all of this, it seems that Astarte-sama is correct to think that the Hestia and Artemis Familias are nning something on a global scale.''


    She didn''t just join Line to go with her back to Orario to further her studies, but she also wanted to act as a spy for her Familia. If it was just Magic Research, she could do it within the Tower of Greed and she''d be too worried to leave her sister andrades alone because of that misogynistic Familia that was preparing for war. However, it''s also true that they remained in the dark and that taking another perspective might shed some light to the real situation.''

 Chapter 862 [Welcome to our camp~!]

    Chapter 862 [Wee to our camp~!]


    Within the girls'' tent, another round of introductions had begun and it didn''t end there, as other people from other Familias arrived at the tent and introduced themselves too. Of course, no man could approach as it was the girls'' private area.


    There were those from the Freya, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ganesha, Takemikazuchi, and Miach Familias. While not all of the girls in the expedition hade, except for any members of the Kali Familia who had no interest in anything other than fighting, the high-ranking members of all the other Familia hade to gather more information.


    As a result, the tent became quite crowded and Riveria had no way to send these girls back out and could only rub her forehead in frustration, ''Well, I should be thankful that not everyone is here.''


    "Now then, we all know why we gathered here so let''s drop the pretenses. Ask what you want to know, however, you can''t force an answer and if our guest here doesn''t want this rude questioning, I''ll have to ask everyone to leave." Riveria then turned to Tenestra, "Please be honest if you don''t like what''s happening. Of course, you could use this as a chance to have your own questions answered too."


    But before Tenestra could give a response, Mia interjected, "Hold on. Before we start, I''d like to know what''s going on on the surface right now. I know that we sent some people up to get a few emergency supplies and we will get the news once they''ve returned, but that''ll take a week or so if they want to move carefully.


    "Before we left, there was a sudden influx of peopleing into Orario and we technically left our Deities unguarded. I''m sure most of you wanted some form of relief, even if you know the Deities wouldn''t be killed by us mortals. But that doesn''t mean idents can''t happen."


    Everyone became silent and some of them even silently nodded at Mia''s words. Even if it''s very safe in their quarters within the Tower of Babel, that only applies if their Deities stayed still and waited for them. With new and interesting things happening in town right now, they doubt they could actually do it.


    "It''ll be fine.", Line''s first words to the question, "Each of the Deities that participated in this expedition were given a Magic Item that will automatically protect them if harm was about to reach them. That was Medusa-san''s answer when I asked her the same thing. It was apparently made by Kisuke-kun himself and could protect them for about half an hour from most idents and will also rm hisrades to respond immediately and have them pulled out in case of emergency."


    But except for the members of the Loki and Freya Familia, everyone''s brow furrowed in doubt, and Shakti stepped forward, "I already noticed that you lot seem to trust Kisuke Urahara way more than necessary and I know that he''s the main inventor of that strange vehicle, but to im to have made an item that protects someone from most harm and even have the Deities who can''t use Magic Power at all use them, it would mean that it didn''t need activation from the user itself. Do you realize how unbelievable your words are?"


    Line smiled wryly and understood her suspicions. Without being able to form a proper way to exin it, she just said, "But if it''s Kisuke-kun we''re talking about here, ''most idents'' probably include even if the whole Tower of Babel copses with the Deities inside of it."


    "Huh?", Shakti only let out a dumbfounded sound.


    Asfi also stepped out and said, "That''s not an exnation you know? You only made a bolder im."


    Riveria sighed as she also didn''t know how she would exin it to them, "Just think of it like this. Those two who led us here, even them couldn''t follow what was going on in his head. Even by those two''s standards, I noticed that he frequently throws them off."


    Those that didn''t know were obviously shocked and disturbed by her words, however, "...Riveria-san, that isn''t an exnation either."


    "As expected, not everyone knows what he''s truly capable of, even here. Looks like I won''t be able to gather much more information than I already have on him." Tenestra suddenly interrupted, gathering everyone''s attention back to her.


    "Ehem," Tenestra then cleared her throat and stood straight up, "I''m just going to say this once so listen closely. When Line-chan said that ''most idents'' covers the copse of that tower, it''s definitely true and she may have even been downying it a little bit."


    Those around were about to say something but Tenestra didn''t allow them by gesturing and pulling out a crystal from her bag, "Before you say anything else, allow me to show you something."


    cing the crystal on the nearby table, Tenestra exined while injecting her own Magic Power on it, "This is called a Memory Crystal. Kisuke Urahara started producing these in the Dizara Region as some sort of surveince peripherals. This allows you to record imagery and sounds of where the front side is pointed upon activation and disy them on the backside."


    As she finished her exnation, a floating screen appeared on top of the crystal, simr to when the Gods use their powers to view and share with everyone when there''s a War Game going on.


    The first thing they saw upon activation was a white, immacte, and breathtaking tower that seemed to be out of this world under the crystals that gave off light, signifying that this scenery was inside a massive Dungeon floor.


    Everyone remained speechless as the clip yed through, showing the exterior and interior of the tower and even the dome that was being used as a training ground on the side of the tower. They were not just taken away by the strange sights, but also confused and wordless about all the technologies and Magic that was disyed in use. All of it went against theirmon notions of infrastructure and the first thing that came to their minds was this building was not made of by people''s hands but the Dungeon itself.


    "This is known as the Tower of Desires among the Mercenaries of the Dizara Region. As you can see, it has technologies never seen before, and just moving between the floors already employs Teleportation Magic that no one seems to have understood how it works yet. From strangely elegant rooms and recreational floors to biometric scanners, all of it requires countless generations of engineering and Magic development before we could have something even remotely simr.


    "It wasn''t shown in this recording, but aside from the dome where everyone could use to train and study as long as you''re not banned and you have money to spare, there''s also a Teleportation Deck not far from these buildings that were directly connected to the first safe zone within the Dungeon. Anyone can use it as long as one pays up, resulting in a massive influx of Mercenaries on the deeper floors. In just a few weeks of this activity, the overall average Level within the region was estimated to have increased by 2."


    Lily, who came as Miach Familia''s representative, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and muttered, "Two levels in just a few weeks!? That''s ridiculous! Even Bell-sama was only able to do it within a few months!"


    Tenestra turned to her and smiled, "The thing is, within that dome, records and training procedures for Ki and Magic Power are publicly avable and members of the Hestia and Artemis Familia would frequently gather there to train. Not just watching, but some people were able to spar with them, giving everyone great insights into these power systems.


    "The point is, this magnificent tower that no one would be able to replicate in an innumerable amount of years was solely built by Kisuke Urahara within three days using an enormous amount of Adamantite and Orichalcum that he got from somewhere."


    Not just Riveria, but everyone who knew the current state of Knossos shuddered at a certain possibility.


    But Tenestra only noted this and continued, "And you know what he said when we first discovered this tower?"


    Tenestra cleared his throat and did her best to imitate Kisuke''s mannerism, "[Wee to our camp~!] The bastard only considered the greatest creation in the history of mankind as a simple camp!"

 Chapter 863 Growth

    Chapter 863 Growth


    All sorts of discussions erupted as soon Tenestra finished her words and Line could only smile proudly among the girls expressing disbelief, awe, and fear.


    Line pped her hands to refocus their attention and said with a big smile, "And that''s it. It may sound unbelievable and you''re free to discard everything you just heard and saw. In any case, we answered your question regarding our Gods'' safety. And if you still think we''re lying, the only thing you can do now is rush towards the surface. Don''t worry. No one''s going to stop you and I think I''m close enough with Yoruichi-san and Serafall-san to ask them to allow anyone who wants to leave."


    The wide smile on her face exerted an invisible pressure that even those from Loki Familia felt a little bit scared. The Line they knew wouldn''t be able to emit this kind of menacing aura while wearing a joyful expression. She had truly changed.


    The subsequent quietness was able to give Line a chance to finally answer their real question, "Before we entered the Dungeon, I also asked around about the sudden surge of people in the city. What I found was they were people from Altena trying to confirm the veracity of the rumor about Magic Control and the people from the Sword Smithing City Zolingham who came because Hephaestus-sama contacted some engineers over there to assist with the building of a smaller city outside of Orario to serve as a factory for the Magic Powered vehicles.


    "There are other people who came from other ces too, but not as many as from the former two. You could say that Orario is currently expanding, not just as a Dungeon Town and Magic Stone exporter, but also as a Research Center and for Magic Development."


    After those passive-aggressive words, Mia sighed and stood up from where she was sitting, "That is more than enough. I''ve already heard what I wanted to hear. And it looks like the guest from Astarte Familia won''t say anything since she hasn''t seen how we do things around here. We''ll take our leave. Have a great rest and I look forward to working with you."


    Mia beckoned everyone from the Hostess of Fertility to follow her and aside from Ryuu, who hesitated a bit, everyone else followed her.


    There was so much for everyone to digest and the Hostess of Fertility leaving created a simr idea in their heads. One by one, groups of girls slowly left and even those who didn''t intend to leave had no choice but to follow the crowd.


    As Riveria watched this, she thought that Mia had aimed for this because the moment she took her leave was too abrupt and precise.


    Soon enough, only the inhabitants of the tent and the two new additions were left, "Looks like that group''s activities are a lot more inconspicuous around herepared to what they were doing in my ce."


    "If they had no problems showing their dominating force, then that''s probably true.", replied Riveria, "I apologize on behalf of everyone for earlier. I didn''t think they''d alle here out of curiosity."


    Tenestra chuckled and said, "It''s fine~ It''s actually really refreshing to see rival Familias having a civil discussion and end it at that. At my ce, when you be isted and have shown a clear disadvantage, you''d be lucky to get out alive."


    The girls who had less experience tensed up but Riveria remained calm and replied, "I see. Looks like the Dizara Region isn''t for faint-hearted individuals. Though I assume you''d also take advantage of your enemy in that position."


    Tenestra smiled and a bit of her bloodlust leaked out, which was clearly felt by everyone, "Of course. It''s not every day you can reduce the threat of your enemies."


    The Amazoness sister''s interest was piqued even further because it''s a familiar bloodlust to them. A bloodlust that one can only develop through constant life and death battles against other people. Meanwhile, the others were taken aback by this sudden change.


    Riveria nodded in understanding, "Naivety will not only lead to your own demise, but also those who you care about. As long as your conscience and moral upstanding won''t deliver suffering to others, there''s nothing wrong with coldly erasing those who threaten you."


    "But enough with that," Riveria then suddenly turned to Line with her expression deepening in solemnity, "Line. What does Kisuke want to happen? What is all this for? I refuse to believe that this is just for charity. What price are we paying here?"


    The sudden change of tone caught Line off-guard, but she was able to recover immediately as she was already expecting this question from her, ''My words weigh more than theirs, huh...'' Line recalled Yoruichi''s statement back then. Simr to hers, Line returned the expression of solemnity and said, "Truth to be told, I don''t exactly know why they''re doing this, but they explicitly implied that something big was about to go down and they were just giving us a surviving chance."


    Riveria frowned and Tenestra who didn''t know anything about this was startled. However, the two of them had different and diverging ideas. While Riveria was wondering what sort of event could make Kisuke say it''s something big, Tenestra was reaffirming that Kisuke''s group indeed had more information than they let on with what''s currently happening within the Dizara Region.


    To those around them, however, they had no idea how serious this was and could only continue listening to get more context.


    After a few moments, Riveria asked, "What did you witness?"


    Line stopped for a moment and thought back to everything that was revealed to her. From the fact that only Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Aika were the only Humans from their group, to Kisuke''s battle against Team Lightning in another world. While she wanted to tell them everything, she didn''t want to betray their trust. Besides, even if she did, there''s no way they''d believe all of it despiteying all the foundations required for them to ept it as truth.


    After all, even Line couldn''t believe it at first despite having the front seat in all of that. It''s really just that hard to change one''s perception, especially to those who had grown old and were strongly set in their own beliefs.


    "I promised not to say anything about what they are doing, but from my understanding, the beginning Age of Gods is imminent. If you want to know more, please ask Loki-sama."


    Age of Gods. A both easy and hard to understand phrase. Line didn''t want to sound cryptic, but that''s all she can tell them.


    Riveria sighed and took out a medallion engraved with Magic Circuits with a small Magic Stone in the middle, "Then let''s ask Loki now."


    Everyone became confused at her words but they got their answer when Loki''s yful voice suddenly rang out from the medallion, "My~ Age of Gods, huh? Does Kisuke intend to wage a war or are these actions a result of being backed into a corner? I wonder which it is?"


    "Loki-sama!?" eximed all of her children.


    Line, on the other hand, immediately turned her attention to the one who brought the medallion out, "Riveria-sama! This is!?"


    Riveria smiled and answered, "It''s a pair of Magic Tools that sends and receives sound when activated. I developed it back then while experimenting with various things and I gave the other half to Loki before we left for the expedition. I kept it a secret from everyone, because I wanted to use this as an advantage."


    .


    .


    .


    While talking among themselves, Serafall suddenly stopped speaking and held the side of her head, "What''s wrong?" asked Yoruichi.


    Serafall didn''t answer for a few seconds until she closed her eyes to confirm something before nodding to herself and saying, "The surveince barrier that I erected on the camp detected an outgoingmunication Magic. It seems that Ria-tan was able to develop a Magic Item formunication. While it''s primitive, to think she''d be able to do something like this so early on, it seems like we''re underestimating them."


    "That''s amazing, isn''t it?" Yoruichi let out a voice of admiration.


    "It is. She only received the basic articles regarding Magic, but still managed to figure things out on her own and advance."


    "But did she show any signs that she''s capable of that?"


    Serafall shook her head, "From the looks of it, she hid her level ofpetency."


    "Heh~? If she can do that, I guess it''s time to trust her with bigger things. I''ll leave her to you, Serafall. If possible, I''d like her to take control of some of the barriers that Kisuke left behind."


    "Of course, I can take care of her~ It''s fun to see geniuses like her have fun while growing." Serafall happily agreed, "But only if she is capable of resetting her Level to 1. That''s the minimum she has to do to go beyond this world''s constraints."

 Chapter 864 A Call from Heaven

    Chapter 864 A Call from Heaven


    "Resetting back to Level 1? That''s going to be a high hurdle for her... Well, if Line didn''te today, that is." Medusamented.


    "Setting that aside for now, how''s the Dungeon''s reaction to your Divinity?", asked Yoruichi.


    Medusa shook her head, "Nothing. It''s as you''ve said. The Dungeon has gone silent. Should we continue our testing and have Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama release their Divinity?"


    Yoruichi went quiet and started rubbing her chin in contemtion. After a few moments, she came up with a decision, "Let''s not. It''s too risky to go further when things are starting to get hot."


    It all started when Irina lost control of her powers while testing it and ended up releasing her entire aura that could provoke the Dungeon. However, nothing happened. Sona consulted Serafall and Yoruichi regarding this and asked the girls training in the Dizara Dungeon to stop holding back and release everything they could against the monsters. But even with that, there was still nothing.


    Finally, Yoruichi released her own aura and even that did nothing to the Dungeon. She thought that a Divinity would finally provoke a reaction from the Dungeon, but there was also no reaction to Medusa, which put them in this awkward position.


    Of course, Yoruichi tried contacting the mysterious voice of the Dungeon, but there was no answer. For now, Yoruichi asked the girls to train without holding anything back while Kuroka watched them in case any emergencies were to emerge, "This might be the freedom that the Dungeon was giving us."


    Yoruichi then returned her sights to the irregr monsters that were flooding this floor, "Let''s not waste this opportunity to finally put to the test everything we''ve been learning."


    And Yoruichi guessed it correctly, while in the Dungeon, they were being provided with cover from Chaos'' prying eyes, and right now, the mysterious being was currently suppressing the Dungeon''s activity so no mutations could happen.


    But just as the three of them were about to dive into the sea of monsters, Yoruichi''smunicator began vibrating, "Hmmm?"


    She stopped in her tracks and pulled out her smartphone and saw Kuroka trying to reach her, "What''s up?"


    "Kisuke connected, nya~ He said he wanted to say something important to us, nya."


    Hearing her words, Serafall and Medusa got closer to see the screen.


    Immediately after, a feed showing Kisuke''s appearance covered the screen, "Yo~ How are you all doing? It seems that things are starting to heat up over there."


    "Things are about to get interesting. Though I''d prefer it if Sona and the girls could intercept them. After seeing the tournament, all of them wanted to participate."


    Kisuke chuckled, "Is that so? Then give them this opportunity. It''ll be good practice before the main stage."


    Yoruichi''s eyes slightly widened, "So you''ve already resolved the restriction problem? Is that what this call is about?"


    "Exactly~! I''ve finally analyzed and modified the Leveling blueprint that I''ve received, so I''m sending it to the camp''s database. I made it so that Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama could use it to overwrite their blessings."


    "Will we finally be able to Level up safely?" Serafall asked curiously. Even though it may seem useless to her on the surface, the ''Soul Improvement and Purification'' of this world''s blessing was extremely useful for stabilizing her Super Devil Form.


    However, Kisuke shook his head, "Nope. I''ve removed the entirety of the Leveling system and only left the part where the world''s restrictions won''t affect us."


    "I thought you already analyzed it?"


    "I did, but I''m still skeptical of my own analysis. This affects the Soul directly after all. I just can''t easily approve of it. Besides, from what I can see, it''s too artificial. This is just like forcibly filling in the nks and gaps in the Soul to increase its strength. Still, it''s without a doubt a very sophisticated process and I learned a lot from it. Give me some more time and I''ll create a simplified version that''ll allow the practitioner to shape their Soul to their own needs. It''ll take longer to get stronger, but it''d be more natural andpatible."


    Serafall gave him a thumbs up and said, "I think that''s a lot better~ Take all the time you need!"


    "Say, could you modify it further to have a Level 1 restriction when needed?", asked Yoruichi. Right now, instead of Leveling up, the group chose to reset their Level back to 1 as the training benefit that it gave is a lot better than the improvements they''d get when Leveling up. The harder the restrictions, the better it was to practice finer control, which will carry over no matter how strong they became.


    "I can, but not right now since I''m busy. I''ll work on it once I''m done here. By the way, I also finished stabilizing the ''World Gate''. If you can send someone over to test it out, let me know."


    Yoruichi thought about it for a moment and said, "Everyone has momentum right now and it''d be too dangerous to test it out with ire. We''ll decide about itter."


    "Got it. If I''m busy on my side, I''ll send someone to meet them."


    The five of them then started talking about random things like how their day-to-day lives are going on for about half an hour with Hestia, Artemis, and the kids joining in the middle of it.


    .


    .


    .


    "Urahara-san, this way." While talking to his family, Kisuke got called and turned around to see the smiling Dulio, "Got it. Give me a second." Turning to his smartphone, Kisuke bid his farewell, "I''m hanging up. I''ll call againter."


    While walking through a bright white hall, Dulio apologized, "I''m sorry for interrupting when you''re having fun."


    "It''s fine. I can always call them back."


    Right now, the two of them are within the highest and deepest part of the Angels'' base, the First Heaven, and Dulio was currently leading Kisuke towards the innermost part of the ce.


    A few minutester, the two of them finally saw massive and grandiose double doors that seemed to be made out of white stone. In front of it was an extremely beautiful woman with curly blonde hair and a voluptuous figure, and was known as the most beautiful woman in Heaven, the only remaining one of the Four Great Seraphs and the current leader of Heaven, Gabriel.


    "Thank you, Dulio. I will take it from here."


    Dulio bowed down before turning around and nodding towards Kisuke and leaving the two of them.


    "Shall we go?" asked Gabriel with her angelic voice.


    "I know I''m just repeating myself at this point, but are you really sure about this?"


    Gabriel smiled bright and answered, "Yes. Michael, Azazel, and Ajuka trust you and I want to do the same."


    Kisuke couldn''t help but smile wryly, "But this is our first time meeting, though? You don''t seem to be the naive type, so any other reason?"


    Gabriel''s smile grew wider, "I''m not naive? Aside from my fellow Seraphs, you''re the first one to think of me that way. Even Azazel thinks I''m a naive person. I may not look like it, but I have a good eye for people. It''s the reason why I was the chosen one to remain here."


    ''From the rumors, I''m hearing, she may be naive in a different manner, but definitely not as a leader. I heard that Heaven has been clearing out spies and traitors on arge scale. Is it her doing?''


    Gabriel didn''t wait for Kisuke''s reply and turned towards the door, touching it. Light momentarily shone from her palm before the whole area began to tremble as the massive doors dragged themselves open.


    What Kisuke immediately saw in the distance were enormous wheels of different sizes dotted with innumerable eyes intersecting each other.


    Gabriel turned to Kisuke once again and said, "Wee to the core of the Sacred Gear System, the Ophanim."

 Chapter 865 Test Subject #1

    Chapter 865 Test Subject #1


    After Kisuke hung up, The Goddesses and kids also left the conference. With just the four of them, Yoruichi started, "Once we receive the modified blessing, we''ll immediately have Artemis-sama and Hestia-sama take care of it."


    "But seriously, Ki-tan''s timing is too good. Just as we were thinking about how to deal with the problem in Dizara, he presented us with this. Looks like it''ll be fine to just leave it to Sona-chan and the rest."


    "But we still don''t know how many Gods are involved in this." Medusa was worried that they''d be overwhelmed since even they still had no clear idea as to how they''d execute their n of letting a God descend.


    "Don''t worry. I''m already working with Kuroka to iste the battlefield whenever necessary." Yoruichi reassured while Kuroka also added in, "I''m doneying the foundations for the Space Istion, nyaa. Thanks to the data we''ve received about the Rating Game Field and Dimension Lost, the barrier is going to be a lot more sturdy and should be enough to contain and control the number of engagements for a week or two. If they want a one on one, we could give it to them, nyaa~"


    "What are you talking about, Kuro-chan~?" Serafall interrupted, "You''re joining them~! While you''re a bit of a veteran, you haven''t gone through much hardship and struggle and can still improve massively through them. You''ll be taking on two by yourself."


    "Wait. I''m not part of the seniors, nya?"


    Yoruichi, Serafall, and Medusa looked at each other before answering simultaneously without any hesitation, "No."


    "Guh!"


    Yoruichiughed softly and exined, "You''re at the mid-point between the newbies and us. But don''t take it badly, as you can still improve greatly when pushed to surpass your limits. For us three, our calctive sides shaped by our experience is already proving itself harder to suppress than we originally thought. We''re not the same as Kisuke, who could just go crazy while also scheming."


    "So going crazy isn''t going to cut it for you?" Kuroka asked while tilting her head.


    "It could, but most of the time, you''ll only end up dead." Serafall answered while shaking her head, "And even if you''re confident that it could work, the experience you carry will always present you with another, safer, method. It just doesn''t make sense to go crazy at that point and hopefully pull out a potential that you''ve been hiding only to get betrayed by your own expectations in the end. In hindsight, I really admire those who can just discard their thinking and simply go for it."


    "Master is a bit different, as his ideas are crazy to begin with. But even then, we could only improve systematically or through some form of enlightenment."


    "To exin it easier, I just can''t master my Super Devil Form by fighting stronger opponents. Analyzing my own technique and slowly improving them is the better way to go. Of course, some techniques are special and could be easily improved through fighting like Sona''s ''Water'' that transforms and moves through her will. The crazier she gets, the stronger it bes."


    "What? I thought your Super Devil Form was the same as Sona''s?" Yoruichi asked in genuine confusion.


    In response, Serafall could only smile wryly, "Sadly, I''m not a natural like Sirzechs-chan and Ajuka-chan, and I didn''t develop this technique out of desperation like Sona-chan. Even if I go crazy with it, I''m too afraid that it''ll only backfire."


    One might think that bing stronger and more experienced in life or death situations could ovee the fear they were feeling, when in fact, the more they went through such battles, the more they''d discover fearsome things that''d make them even more careful in the end. Only naive and arrogant people could be fearless, and aside from very few special individuals, it didn''t really work out for them either.


    "I see. I guess that''s true. In any case, Kuroka. Take this chance as this is still within your growth period. Don''t let it go."


    "Understood, nyaa~! I''ll go first since there are still things that I have to do."


    "Remember not to tell the girls about this. The surprise factor should add some sense of danger for them."


    "Got it nyaa~!"


    After Kuroka hung up, Yoruichi asked the other two, "Now then, who should we send?"


    "Even though it''spleted, it''s still unadjusted, so as Kisuke said, we can''t really send ire with that kind of risk.", Medusa muttered.


    "And the girls still have momentum. Breaking it will only result in further dys in their training.", added in Serafall.


    "We ourselves can''t exactly go either since one of us leaving will leave a pretty big hole in our surveince and defenses. And it''s not like we can send either Hestia-sama or Artemis-sama...", murmured Yoruichi.


    They contemted for a few moments until Medusa asked, "Say... It doesn''t have to be someone from our group, right?"


    Everyone went quiet and looked at each other for a few seconds. There was only one person that came to their mind and all of them simultaneously said,


    "Riveria?"


    "Riveria, huh..."


    "Let''s go with Ria-tan."


    Yoruichi smiled as they reached a unanimous decision, "Alright. Looks like there''s no need for a debate. Our test subject number 1 will be Riveria."


    By being a native of this world and having no big issues that would arise if she were to leave, Riveria was chosen thanks to her potential of giving more useful experimental data.

 Chapter 866 Decision

    Chapter 866 Decision


    Medusa, Serafall, and Yoruichi cleared up the whole floor of irregr monsters and sealed the entrance to the 67th floor with Serafall''s powerful Ice Magic.


    Instead of returning to the camp, Medusa directly returned to Dizara to continue the work she''d left behind. Meanwhile, Yoruichi and Serafall immediately went to find Riveria to bring her back to the surface and ask for Loki''s permission. When they arrived, they saw that Tenestra and Line were demonstrating their skills, while a crowd was gathering around them.


    Yoruichi and Serafall decided not to show themselves for now and instead watch what was going on for now.


    While Line was disying her masterful way of Magic Circle construction and Magic Power Maniption, most of the eyes were on Tenestra. More specifically, her arms and hands had Magic Circuits drawn on top of her skin.


    Tenestra first lifted her left arm and pointed it towards a boulder of ice. A secondter, the ink on her arm lit up with Magic Power until it reached the back of her hand before a six-inch-long pointed ice shard materialized in front of her arms, shooting towards the boulder. It traveled at the same average speed as normal Magic spells shattered upon contact, leaving only a bit of a scratch on its target.


    However, the overall strength of the spell didn''t bother anyone. In fact, most of them were speechless from what they saw due to the sole fact that she activated Magic without any prior preparation or incantation. Apletely silent Magic. That''s what''s important.


    "Heh~. Engraving Logic Circuits on her skin itself using special ink. So this is what she has done instead of continuing her research on Magic Items. I wonder if that ink was an original concoction.", muttered Yoruichi.


    Tenestra wasn''t done yet and lifted her other arm, repeating the same process, but this time, a ball of fire shot out, "Although it does seem to put a lot of strain on her bodypared to the amount of power she can output."


    "It''s still worth it, though. Since this would only be used as a distraction, it could bepared to a hidden throwing knife in the middle of an engagement. If her opponent isn''t prepared, she''d be able tond a fatal hit," added Serafall.


    "But it looks like Riveria already lost her interest in it. Well, to someone like her who''s alreadypleted a Communication Magic Item, she''ll be able to see through its inner workings in an instant."


    "Even then, the creation of this technique signals the start of specialized weapons."


    Yoruichi turned to her and asked, "Specialized weapons?"


    "I''m talking about Holy Swords and Demonic Swords. Although they look like Magic Items, those weapons utilize their power by engraving their own Magic Circuits to the wielder. But like that technique, it puts the user''s body under too much strain so in an attempt to curb that, only those patible'' may be able to wield it. As for howpatibility is measured, it''s just how easily one''s Magic Power could be converted to either Holy or Demonic Power."


    The two of them stopped talking and followed Riveria, who was leaving. After making some distance from the crowd, Serafall and Yoruichi finally revealed their presence, "Ria~tan~!"


    Riveria was startled, not just because of their sudden appearance, but also the fact that she just couldn''t get used to Serafall calling her ''Ria-tan'', "Serafall, Yoruichi. Wee back. Since when did you return?"


    "Just now.", answered Yoruichi, "With Tenestra and Line here, things should speed up a bit."


    Riveria turned to them and asked, "What did you see below?"


    Without hiding anything, Yoruichi answered, "Tens of corrupted Spirits, and each one of them is stronger than those found in Knossos."


    "W-What!? What should we do!? There''s no way we could take them on if they decided toe up!"


    "Don''t worry about it. Serafall sealed the paths towards the 67th floor. Even if there are ten times the number of them, none of them will be able to break through it."


    Serafall winked at Riveria and reassured her, "And if there''s something above them in their hierarchy, the strongest that being would get to is God-level. My barrier could still hold up for a few minutes and that should be enough time for us to prepare and respond."


    Riveria breathed a sigh of relief and calmed her beating heart. Tens of corrupted Spirits scared her more than she anticipated, "Then are the two of you going to remain here for the time being?"


    "Oh? That''s the first time you''ve asked that. Is there something else you want to say?"


    Riveria opened her mouth but closed it again soon after, due to hesitation.


    Yoruichi looked around and saw a number of people. Although not many of them were paying attention to them, it seems that Riveria wanted to say something important, "Let''s move out of the camp. Is that fine with you?"


    Riveria hesitated again before shaking her head, "...It''s nothing. Just forget it."


    Not liking her response, Serafall grabbed her hand and started dragging her, "If you want to say something, just say it, and we''ll at least hear you out. Who knows~ maybe someone''s opinion could prove useful to you."


    Riveria made a difficult face and didn''t know what to do. But after being pulled for a few meters, she sighed and just began walking along with Serafall instead of being dragged, ''I''ll just say it. They''re the best people to ask.''


    Yoruichi let out a short breath and slowly followed them.


    After reaching a secluded area and cleaning up the monsters around it, Serafall and Yoruichi waited for Riveria.


    After a few seconds, Riveria finally let it out, "I want to return to Level 1... But I don''t know if that''s a good thing."


    Yoruichi and Serafall looked at each other and smiled. Not answering her concern, Yoruichi instead instructed her, "Go to Finn and say your farewells. We''ll bring you to the surface."


    ==================================


    AN (Sept/27/22): Thank you for waiting~


    I apologize first because this won''t be fitting in Author''s Note section and I don''t want to post a separate one for a very short announcement.


    Preparation for migration is proving to be a daunting task since I would have to clean up at least the first 400 chapters of the fic so I''ll be working on that slowly.


    On another note, Pat.reon has some changes and I switched to it. Here are their own words:


    Billing Schedule:


    Patrons are charged on the day they join your membership, and then monthly on that same date. For example, if a patron joins on the 10th, they''ll be charged on that day, and then monthly on the 10th. All patrons who joined before your switch to subscription billing continue to be charged on the 1st of each month.


    If you like my work, do consider supporting it through


    /goyya00


    Thank you very much.


    Also consider joining my discord


    discord.ggzgMZ8t5h


    It''s not very active, but shorter announcements like dys, polls, and uing chapters are posted there.

 Chapter 867 Realizing a Big Mistake

    Chapter 867 Realizing a Big Mistake


    News of Riveria leaving the expedition had immediately made rounds among the members, and within the Loki Familia''s main tent, Finn, Gareth, Ais, Tione, Tiona, Bete, Lefiya, Raul, and Anakitty were surrounding Riveria who already had her personal belongings packed up.


    Finn sighed as he started, "If you''re just leaving, I won''t be stopping you... But what''s this resetting your Level back to 1? Aside from thinking that you''re out of your mind, I can''t see any reason." As he finished his words, he was already ring at Riveria.


    Before Riveria replied, however, she first looked around and saw that everyone else hadplicated expressions on their face, except for Gareth, who had a small smile with his eyes closed in the corner, out of everyone''s sight.


    ''As expected... He''s the only one who truly understands me aside from Loki.'' thought Riveria, feeling a bit offort that she at least got support from one person. As a Dwarf and an Elf, Riveria and Gareth would bicker much more than anyone else and the two of them treated each other as rivals that took two extreme paths, the path of Magic and the path of Physical strength.


    As a result, the two of them understand each other more than the rest, including Finn who has to take a certain distance even if they were good friends, due to his position as amander.


    "Does it have something to do with Line staying as a Level 1?", asked Tione.


    Earlier today, the girls asked Line what her current level was because of how freely she could control her Magic Power and how much power her heals could provide. They forgot that Line hadn''t had a chance to update her Falna ever since discarding it for the first time.


    So when they found out, everyone was stupefied and asked her how she was doing it.


    Line, on the other hand, only gave them a simple answer. Putting Magic Power control and cirction as top priority. It wouldn''t just allow one to more efficiently use Magic Power and slowly increase one''s reserves, but it''d also allow one to use moreplicated spells. By staying at Level 1, the increased difficulty of Magic Power control could actually give more practice and training for finer control. Seeing the benefits that it could bring in the future, Line decided to stay as a Level 1.


    The entire line of Magic users was tempted and contemted this. But after a few seconds, they immediately discarded this notion as they couldn''t bear to think of losing the years of effort that they had already put in to reach their current status.


    So when Riveria announced that she was going back to Level 1, none of them could understand how she could so easily discard the effort that basically equated to most of her life.


    "If I want to explore Magic more in the future, the Magic Control that it''ll provide would prove useful.", exined Riveria.


    "Riveria...", Ais muttered her name in worry. She can see that Finn is not liking her reasoning.


    "You''re discarding your current strength just for the prospect of it being useful in the future? This isn''t just about you, so please think this over."


    Riveria returned Finn''s stare and she could see that he was getting frustrated. That frustration, she could understand. After all, she''s not just temporarily leaving, but also erasing the existence of Loki Familia''s ''Nine Hell'' which served as arge fraction of its power. Finn didn''t want the Loki Familia to suffer such a loss.


    However, Riveria only joined the Loki Familia due to her desires and she had already made her decision, "I''m sorry, Finn. I know that it''s incredibly selfish of me, but I can''t let go of this chance. Please understand. If you''re worried about the position I''m leaving, worry not as I''ve already trained Lefiya sufficiently. She may becking in a few areas, but I assure you that she''s capable enough."


    Finn got further frustrated and he wasn''t able to hide it any longer to the point that everyone was already feeling the awkward atmosphere covering the entire room, leaving those on the side not being able to say anything between them. Gareth, meanwhile, frowned as he didn''t like where this was going.


    "You have no idea how big of a hole you''re leaving. I know Lefiya is capable, but none could truly rece you, especially in these unknown times." It was unknown what got into Finn, his frustration? rage? or maybe a mix of both and some other feelings but heat ended up rising in the normally very calm Finn, "Or is that? You wanted to follow that man so much that you''re throwing away everything?"


    "Finn!" Gareth instantly raised his voice in fury.


    However, it was already toote when Finn realized his mistake and saw Riveria looking at him coldly, "T-that..."


    But Riveria didn''t allow him to think of any excuse and cut him off, "It''s not like I''m leaving the Familia and I''ll be doing my best to work my way up again. And if this is not really allowed, I nned to ask Loki''s permission first before going through it. If she disagrees, I''ll be returning shortly. I''m sorry for taking your time, but I''m leaving now."


    Without waiting for a response, Riveria turned around and exited the tent.


    "Riveria!" "Riveria-sama!" Ais and Lefiya first looked around in concern before hurrying up to follow their mentor.


    An awkward silence was left behind but before anyone else could say anything, Gareth instructed, "Leave me and Finn for a moment."


    Everyone else didn''t have a choice and slowly left the tent, leaving behind the disgruntled Captain and angry Vice-Captain.


    "I don''t need to tell you how stupid that was, do I?" asked Gareth.


    Finn stayed silent for a few seconds before shaking his head, "...What I did was beyond rude."


    Gareth gritted his teeth and mmed the table, breaking it in half, "It wasn''t just beyond rude! It was in disrespectful! How could you say that to her without any evidence!? You''re making light of her resolve!"


    "I... But could you think of anything else?"


    But that only got Gareth more infuriated and hended a heavy punch on Finn''s face, sending him back and crashing the supply boxes behind him. While his head is still spinning, Gareth angrily picked his cor up and shouted in his face, "Have you gone senile, Pallum!? Have you forgotten why she was here with us in the first ce!?"


    Gareth''s words jogged some of Finn''s memories.


    [Will I be able to unveil the mysteries of Magic?]


    [Unveiling them will be up to you, but I can at least promise you one of the seats as one of the top Mages, of course, given that you''ll work your hardest towards it.]


    [Hmmm... You''re right. It''s really up to me. I guess that''s good enough. I''ll be in your care, Loki-sama.]


    [Wee aboard~! We still have a long way to go~]


    It was a simple exchange between Riveria and Loki, when thetter was still recruiting for her newly formed Familia.


    It was then that Finn finally realized how big of a mistake he just made was.


    Nevertheless, Gareth was still not done with him, "Long ago, she could have stayed in Altena since it was all around a better choice for her, yet she still went with Loki due to her gratitude for bringing her out of that oppressive family. And this time, she didn''t even have to leave and it was already right in front of her, yet you still did something stupid as stopping her from reaching it!"


    "Don''t you have your own ambitions? So what gives you the right to p her hand out of her own dream?" Gareth pulled Finn closer and whispered, "This Familia is not a tool for your own aspirations. We only seeded because every member put everyone''s elses'' desires and wishes into consideration. If you forget about that just because you''d be taking a step back for your own desires, you''re just going to bring ruin into this Familia, and make no mistake as I''ll be the first one to bring an ax to your face."


    After mouthing off, Gareth threw Finn towards the broken crates before directly leaving to cool off his head.

 Chapter 868 Departure

    Chapter 868 Departure


    Yoruichi and Serafall were already waiting in a secluded area where they could teleport to the surface, but before Riveria could leave the camp, Lefiya and Ais, with Lysa on her head, came running towards her, "Riveria!" "Please wait, Riveria-sama!"


    Riveria stopped walking but didn''t immediately turn towards them. With her sour mood, she didn''t want to say her farewells with a frown, so she had to calm herself first.


    The two girls felt the strong mood around Riveria and didn''t want to bother her. In any case, she had already stopped walking so they gave her the space she needed for a moment.


    After a few minutes, Riveria turned around with a wry smile stered on her face, "I''m sorry you had to see that."


    Instead of addressing the earlier exchange, Ais asked, "Are you really going to discard your Falna?"


    A real smile then appeared on Riveria''s face as she patted Ais'' head, "From the start, what I sought wasn''t strength, but knowledge and wisdom. I may have already lost my reason for it a long time ago, but it''s still something I want to achieve. And since strength is just secondary for me, wouldn''t discarding it temporarily be a good deal for my goal?"


    "But..."


    "I know. For you who have sought strength more than anyone else, it must be an iprehensible decision. If so, think of it like this. In your case, you''ll be perfectly fine to sacrifice a bit of knowledge and wisdom in exchange for strength, am I right?"


    Ais looked down but eventually nodded.


    "See? Everyone has their own desires and one''s trash may be another''s treasure." Riveria took back her hand, "However, you can only appreciate and find your own ''treasure'' if you respect the ''trash''. That''s how the Loki Familia is. We''ve always lived for our desires and respected ourrades'' wishes. It''s what makes us strong. Never forget that."


    Ais, as simple as she was, only understood that herrades were important and that was something she''d already understood long ago. But, what it meant to respect the ''trash'', she had no idea, and she would have to explore that on her own in the future.


    Lefiya, on the other hand, clenched her fist. Although she didn''t want Riveria to go through a level reset, she understood where she wasing from. Out of all the Familia members, Riveria was the most enthusiastic and had the most fun while learning Magic, and she could easily tell that it wasn''t for the contest of strength like it was for everyone else. Riveria simply enjoyed the process of learning about this mysterious power, "Riveria-sama... I wish you the best. Please return to us as soon as possible."


    Riveria patted Lefiya''s head, "Thank you." Though she thought that the situation was really strange, ''I''m not going to be gone for long... right?''


    At that moment, the girls heard a crashing sound inside the Loki Familia tent and Gareth''s angry voice.


    Lefiya became concerned as she didn''t think it''d reach the point that the usually calm Gareth would burst into anger, "A-are they going to be alright?"


    "Don''t worry about it. He''s just giving an earful to our leader who was about to lose sight of things."


    Riveria, Ais, Lefiya, and Lysa could see that the executives not far from the tent also had worried expressions. This was the first time they''d seen Gareth erupt into a rage at Finn.


    A few minutester, Gareth came out of the tent after thest crashing sound and made his way straight to Riveria, "Don''t take what he said to heart. His stress has been piling uptely, especially now that nothing''s ever going the way he wants it to. Though that''s still a poor excuse."


    Riveria shook her head, "His words may have some merits. I may just be going to do this just to follow that man."


    Not just Ais and Lefiya, but even Gareth''s eyes widened, though in a different sense than the two girls, "So you''re fine with admitting it now?"


    "There''s no use escaping from it. Nevertheless, it''s just a budding and fleeting feeling that will disappear with the passage of time."


    In response to this, Gareth just snorted at her, "You and your pride. This is the first time you''re experiencing something like this, yet you still act like you know all about it? As expected of a stuck-up Elf."


    Riveria snorted back, "There''s a prime example of it right in front of me happening multiple times. Why shouldn''t I expect the same thing?"


    "Haah! You know nothing about the Dwarf ways! Finding a wife this way is normal! You, on the other hand, even for an Elf, are already too old for the first time so you should take advantage of it or you might not find another one!"


    A vein popped in Riveria''s forehead as she readied her staff, "Hoo? Sounds like you''d like a few holes opened before I leave. Let me grant you that wish!"


    "Hoho? It seems like you''d like to use your powers for thest time. Come. I''ll show you our differences."


    As sparks shed, Lefiya hurriedly went in between them, "S-Stop! Stop! Why did the two of you want to duke it out all of sudden!? What''s wrong with you!?"


    Riveria and Gareth sighed before chuckling while taking their weapons away. The sudden shift in mood left both Lefiya and Ais speechless and confused. But ignoring these two, Gareth turned away while saying, "I''ll pick up your ck here, so go with peace of mind. Grab that opportunity and never let it go."


    Riveria did the same and resumed walking, "Then be sure not to be left behind."


    Thus, the exchange between the ''rivals'' ended on a rtively good note.


    Lefiya and Ais didn''t follow and just wave their goodbyes to them.


    After half an hour of walking, Riveria finally reached the ce where they were supposed to meet and saw that Yoruichi and Serafall were already done setting up the Teleportation Magic that they were going to use.


    "Ready?"


    Riveria silently nodded and stepped into the circle. A sh of light enveloped the three of them before they were ejected out of the Dungeon.


    Riveria never expected that this trip wouldn''t just be the chance of her life, but something that would influence the future of this world. Sadly, she''d be leaving her rival behind.

 Chapter 869 An Offer that can’t be Refused

    Chapter 869 An Offer that can��t be Refused


    Yoruichi, Serafall, and Riveria reappeared in a certain private storage room that the former two had rented, "Where are we?"


    Yoruichi opened the metal doors, revealing the scenery outside, "The 10th floor of Babel."


    "By the way, it looks like you had a bit of trouble before leaving. Is everything alright?" Serafall asked curiously.


    Riveria answered Serafall by shaking her head with a wry smile, "Not at all. I think it''s a good instance for retrospection. Thanks to this, the Loki Familia may prosper for many more years toe."


    "If you''re saying that, it looks like things aren''t looking so good for your Captain."


    "He''s amassed so much pride that it''s already hurting him and those around him."


    Riveria followed Yoruichi and Serafall towards the top floor where Loki was currently staying with Freya. With a set of knocks, the door was immediately opened by Freya in her nightgown. Surprise was very apparent on Freya''s face when she saw theirte-night visitors, "Why hello~. Come in."


    Yoruichi led the group and entered, "Sorry to bother you thiste at night. Is Loki around?"


    Hearing the visitors, Loki also came out in her pajamas while carrying a bottle of wine, "Who is it? Wait... Riveria? What are you doing here? Did a probleme up?" she asked with obvious concern.


    Riveria sighed at seeing Loki''s appearance and couldn''t help but say, "Loki... Did you use most of your time drinking?"


    Seeing her reaction, Loki was able to feel relieved, "Of course not. This thing couldn''t make me drunk. It''s cold here so something to warm up is nice. Why are you all here anyway?"


    Freya pped her hand to gather their attention, "Let''s not talk here. I''ll prepare some drinks, so let''s head inside."


    .


    .


    .


    "So that''s what happened, huh... Looks like his worldview has deteriorated way quicker than I thought. I apologize on his behalf. I already knew that this would eventually happen to him due to how things are progressing, yet I''ve done nothing to address it." Loki leaned back as she took a deep breath of cold air.


    After taking a sip of wine, Yoruichi replied, "Isn''t this fine? You can''t treat them like a baby all the time. If he can''t realize this by himself, he''ll just destroy himself in another way if you''re to tell someone as old as him off. While you Gods are wise, it isn''t wise to share any of it to those undeserving."


    Freya chuckled, "I agree. But his case isn''t exactly a rare one, nor does it deserve any further action. I''m curious, though. Do you really want to discard your current strength just to train? To anyone else hearing this, it''s a nonsensical and insane idea."


    Riveria smiled in return, "Please, Freya-sama. You know how much merit this could give me. As long as I can get past the mental barrier, it''s already a big step forward."


    Yoruichi and Serafall''s n had already changed, so the former exined, "I''m sorry, but resetting your level may not benefit you for your Magic Power control."


    Riveria panicked and thought she was doing something wrong, "W-what? But why?" The main cause of her concern was because she didn''t know why they still brought her up if there''ll be no benefit in what she''s about to do, ''Are they going to force me into it for some other reason?''


    Yoruichi and Serafall understood her rm, "There isn''t going to be any benefit regarding that, but there''s something else entirely that you won''t be able to refuse."


    It was Yoruichi''s turn to be confused at Serafall''s words but she didn''t interrupt her.


    "But before I exin that, Kisuke actually wanted to test a certain type of long-range Teleportation Magic, and we figured that Ria-tan could do the honor due to several reasons."


    While Riveria was confused, Loki and Freya''s expressions became serious and alert. Knowing where they came from, they became interested in this long-range Teleportation Magic, "Go on." Loki answered for Riveria.


    "First is because she''s a local. It worked out for us who came from that ce, so we''d like to see if there''s going to be a problem if it''s the other way around. The second is because she''s willing to reset her blessing. Since none of us actually had any sort of blessing when we came, we want to reduce any variables that might cause an ident. If possible, we''d like you to have your Falna removed..." Serafall then saw how both Loki and Riveria frowned and shrugged her shoulders, "But that''s actually impossible, isn''t it?"


    Riveria strongly nodded, "Of course. Transfering is one thing, but removing the Falna itself is seen as an act of betrayal for a God''s favor and trust. I''m not going to do that to Loki-sama."


    "Ria-tan~!" Loki jumped happily and attempted to hug Riveria, but her face was grabbed by thetter, not allowing her toe any closer, "Don''t call me that!"


    Serafall ignored their antics and went on, "Finally, Loki-chan and Ria-tan are trustworthy enough."


    Riveria and Loki stopped to look at Serafall. Since Riveria doesn''t know anything, she didn''t know the real value of this trust. Loki, however, knew how heavy this was and went back to her seat before letting out a short breath, "I''m ttered, but to make things clear, as long as I''m not forced to choose, I won''t be taking anyone''s side."


    To Yoruichi and Serafall, that was more than enough. The fact that she actually could take the neutral side already gravitated her to their side. Though they won''t be saying any of that to her.


    Freya had stayed quiet the entire duration of this discussion because regardless of her will, she already had no choice. This was the gamble she epted when she made the choice of attaching herself to Kisuke with her life as coteral.


    "And? What are these other benefits you''re talking about?"


    Serafall didn''t say anything, instead, she took out what seemed to be a silver ceremonial dagger and gave it to Riveria. Riveria absentmindedly received the dagger and inspected it. For a ceremonial dagger, its design was quite simple, but it radiated a unique andplicated signature of Demonic Power. However, what caught Yoruichi''s attention and surprised her was the insignia engraved on its handle. The House of Sitri''s insignia, "You... Could it be..."


    Riveria and Loki were also surprised, but it''s because of Yoruichi since it isn''t every day that something could shake her.


    Serafall didn''t address Yoruichi''s curiosity and instead continued exining, "Taking this dagger would grant you some of my authority and resources within the Sitri Household. You may use that as you please, but the real benefit for you is that this will grant you ess to Grauzauberer''s main library, the biggest Magic library that has recorded almost all systems in the world. Not only that. As a Magician organization, you may find help from mentors there if there''s something you can''t understand and if you''re lucky, Mephisto-chan may even take an interest in you and instruct you... And if you''re really, really lucky, he may even allow you into his personal library. Though only Advanced and Forbidden ss Magics are in there so you won''t really need them at your level."


    "By the way, when she said some of her authority within the Sitri House, it actually meant that you may utilize their private army numbering in the tens of thousands if you have a good reason and the head of the House, her father, approves of it. Oh, and their weakest soldier is around Level 3 or 4. As for the resources, not just ingredients and tools for making things, you''re also allowed to take a weekly allowance that''s equivalent to 5-6 times Loki Familia''s expedition budget." Yoruichi supplemented with a grin.


    Riveria almost dropped the dagger, but thankfully, she managed to properly hold onto it. However, her hands were now trembling and the seemingly light dagger just became ten times heavier, "W-what?"

 Chapter 870 An Offer that can’t be Refused part 2

    Chapter 870 An Offer that can��t be Refused part 2


    Serafall ignored Riveria''s reaction andughed at Yoruichi, "There''s no way she''ll be able to mobilize that many forces. Since the situation over there isn''t exactly stable, the most she''ll be able tomand is about a thousand or so."


    "A thousand!?" Riveria eximed while thinking that even though it''s only a tiny fraction of what Yoruichi said, it''s still enough to effortlessly annihte the whole Loki Familia at its peak strength and she''s confident that they are one of the strongest organizations in the whole world, ''J-just where is this army? And private, she said? What nation is she talking about!?''


    As if not noticing her expression, Serafall continued, "And about that allowance, I think you can get twice that amount. Thanks to Ki-tan making cures to some of the most prominent diseases in my country, we were able to amass quite a bit of wealth."


    Riveria became utterly speechless. The Loki Familia went on an expedition every 2-3 months so she''s technically saying that she could get enough money to fund their expeditions for 2 years, every week. Her head has started to ache at these nonsensical figures.


    "Are you actually a princess of some wealthy country?" asked Freya curiously.


    "While she''s the eldest daughter of a Prince Household, her sister, Sona is the current heir so she''s the princess.", answered Yoruichi with an amused expression while watching Riveria stare at the dagger with her hands trembling.


    "...What? Your younger sister is the heir? I''m sorry if I''m wrong, but were you expelled? But why does your representative still have so much power?" It was Loki who inquisitively asked this time.


    "Eh? Well, even though I look like this, I''m still technically a king.", answered Serafall, and this time, it wasn''t just Riveria but also Loki and Freya who were rendered speechless, "To be exact, one of the four kings. Since we have a very massive territory, just having one monarch wouldn''t cut it."


    ''Although the four Devil Kings have the most of the military power and hold sway in civil power, most of the policy making is in the hands of old nobles. And even though there are monarchs, they were elected through merit and strength, and because the majority of the Underworld practices feudalism aftering out victoriously from their civil war. On top of that, Serafall is still suspended from her position... Though it''d be easy for her to take the position back by asking the other Devil Kings.'', Yoruichi thought, but she wouldn''t say any of that because it wouldn''t look as impressive.


    "So will you do the honors of testing things out? I assure you that it''ll be worth your time, and Ki-tan would surely make your safety a priority... wait..." Serafall looked toward Yoruichi and asked, "Is it okay to bother him?"


    "It''s fine. No matter how busy he appears, he wouldn''t ever let himself be so upied that he wouldn''t be able to do anything if an emergency came up."


    Serafall turned her head back to Riveria and continued, "And that''s how it is~! What do you think?"


    "I- I don''t know..." Riveria honestly answered and looked toward Loki to ask for advice.


    But instead of answering her, Loki stared straight at Serafall and asked, "Can Ie too?"


    "No." Serafall instantly rejected, "And you know why."


    Riveria looked at Loki sighing in disappointment in surprise, "You want toe too?"


    "You''ll understand once you''ve reached their ''hometown''. Setting that aside, I''ll allow you to go, but do you still want to? I know their ims sound ridiculous, still, I won''t say if they''re telling the truth or not because I also don''t know. If you want my opinion, I''d like it if you can confirm their words."


    Riveria looked back down to the dagger and contemted. She chose to ignore the power and money she''d get and asked, "About the library, how is itpared to the book that Kisuke spread?"


    "It''s not even remotelyparable.", answered Yoruichi, "Kisuke wrote that book for everyone here to understand the basics of Magic, and everyone proficient enough is capable of writing something like that. That library, on the other hand, is aption of lectures, references, notes, and records from the greatest minds. In addition to that, Mephisto Pheles, the chairman of Grauzauberer, although not the strongest, is known to be the greatest Magician for creating the modern system for Magic which only certain races could use from the past."


    Riveria stopped thinking and hesitating, "Please allow me to do it."


    Yoruichi stood up and went towards the door while saying, "Good. Let''s prepare to reset your Falna. Since your level is pretty high, it may cause some problems and be noisy. We''ll do it in our hideout so I''ll just go ahead and prepare the room we''ll use."


    "We''re doing it now?", Loki asked Serafall, "Couldn''t we just teleport there?"


    "Magic might be convenient, but we shouldn''t depend on it for every asion. Come on, Loki-chan, get changed. The night wind feels good. It''s a good chance to take a walk. You''ll being with us too, Freya-chan."


    .


    .


    .


    Inside the medical ward of the mansion, in the hideout under the abandoned church, Freya couldn''t help but look around, "Amazing... I never knew something like this existed under Orario. How did you find this ce?"


    Loki, who simrly looked around since this was her first time in this room, answered nonchntly, "Kisuke dug it up."


    "He did? Didn''t he juste here recently? Or did hee earlier and just didn''t show himself to dig this?"


    "No... Everything you''re seeing, from what I heard, he did it within a few days. If not for Knossos being on the other side, they said he would have continued. And yes, without anyone noticing it."


    "..."


    "Don''t think about it. They said he could build a massive fort beside Orario in the middle of the night and no one was going to stumble upon or notice it until it''s finished by dawn."


    From one of the inner rooms, Yoruichi came out, "Riveria is ready. You can start now."


    When Loki and Freya entered the room, they saw Riveriaying down on the bed with her back facing up and her top removed. Aside from that, various apparatuses were also connected to her vital spots via wires, "What are these?"


    "Monitoring devices to watch her vitals. If Kisuke was here, we wouldn''t need this, but considering how much pain Line went through just to reduce her level by 1, I wanted to be safe and prepared everything in case of an emergency."


    Loki looked at Riveria, who had already closed her eyes in resolve and nodded before pricking her finger with a needle, "Alright. I''ll start."


    Serafall, meanwhile, went to Riveria''s side and said, "Ria-tan, although you''re reducing your level, it doesn''t mean it''s going to go to waste. I heard that it is going to be extremely painful since your soul will be reverting back. However, don''t let this chance go and focus on the flow of Magic Power inside your body. While you''ll lose the majority of it, that doesn''t mean that the way it flowed will be lost forever. Remember it on your own and you''ll be able to get back some of your strength without relying on the Falna."


    "...Thank you.", Riveria replied softly.


    Soon, the process started and that night, Riveria screamed for several hours, ruptured her vocal cords, and cried for the first time in many years. If not for Yoruichi''s reassurance of her overall safety, sanity, and the risk of a disastrous Soul injury, Loki would have already stopped it.

 Chapter 871 Riveria’s Arrival

    Chapter 871 Riveria��s Arrival


    Kisuke sighed and rubbed his forehead when he received Yoruichi''s message. Kisuke couldn''t help but imagine Yoruichi''s mischievous grin while going through her message once again, ''I already anticipated this, but to think none of them could really go... Looks like they''re ramping up their activities. Is it because of the tournament here?''


    "Is something the matter?" Gabriel softly spoke from behind him, "We can postpone it if you still have other important arrangements."


    "Well, it''s important.", Kisuke shook his head, "But I can''t leave like this. I first have to establish a good route before stopping or all the progress I''ve already made would just be erased by the ever-changing encryption."


    Kisuke returned his hand to the holographic keyboard and watched the console he''d painstakingly created after giving up the analog way of Angels to give amand to Ophanim, an Angel without any will or mind that was solely created by the Biblical God to watch and ess the Sacred Gear system.


    The route he''s talking about was the way he could attach and debug the console he''d created for permanent ess. Since it was only the Biblical God who could fully control Ophanim, Kisuke had to find all preset instructions embedded using all the Angel''s findings, which wasn''t very much in the first ce. At least it was a good start.


    "I see. Thank you for your efforts. If there''s something I can do to help, please don''t hesitate to say it."


    Without missing a beat, Kisuke instantly replied, "Then give me the full catalog of all Sacred Gears."


    "T-that..." Gabriel immediately ate her words.


    "Don''t pretend that you don''t have it." Kisuke turned his head and looked straight into her eyes, "With all of these findings, even if you didn''t include it, I can safely assume that you have it. I can only guess why you''re hiding that fact, but I need it if I want to have an urate reading on this thing."


    "..." Gabriel stayed quiet.


    "Just so you know, I''ll also be able to ess the same data but it''ll take me some time. Just make it easier for me, please."


    For a few minutes, the only noise that could be heard in this enormous chamber was the rotating and intertwining rings of Ophanim and Kisuke''s nonstop typing on the holographic keyboard, until Gabriel sighed in surrender.


    Opening her palm in front of her, she conjured a thick book and handed it over to Kisuke, "Please don''t reveal its contents to outsiders."


    "While I did ask for this, you''re too trusting of me. Just what did I do to deserve this?"


    "Because I think you, who moves alone and is not tied to any big organization, is much more trustworthypared to the other factions."


    Kisuke received the thick book and said, "I see... You have to choose between two evils and I''m the lesser one. But just how desperate are you to open the Sacred Gear system..." He stopped his sentence after flipping through the book, "... You''re desperate, alright. What the hell is this?"


    Gabriel smiled wryly, already expecting his reaction, "Even with risks, we have to stop the Sacred Gear system... Or else, an age of endless conflict maye."


    ''No shit...'' Kisuke thought while looking through the list. Even the Grigori who had arge intelligencework throughout the entire Human Realm could only find around 10,000 Sacred Gears, yet this book is listing at least a million of them. If this was discovered, a great search wouldmence. Until now, onlyrge factions could effectively control the Sacred Gear users due to their limited numbers, but if there were this many of them, even the smaller ones could do it and no one would be able to do anything because it''s an unmanageable number. With a potential power spike like that, it''ll indeed lead to an endless conflict.


    "No wonder you easily allowed me ess here. It''d be disastrous once left alone. Compared to the looming problem called Apollo..."


    "We''re ashamed that we couldn''t do anything about it with our measly power. If only someone like you was born in our faction, we wouldn''t have had this problem."


    "If you''d had someone like me in your faction, there''s a good chance this whole ce would''ve been taken over, so don''t wish for it."


    Gabriel chuckled, "Is that so? I think it''ll be alright as long as he or she has the proper morals."


    "I''m someone like me because I don''t have the proper morals. In any case, I''ll continue what I''m doing for the time being so I''ll ask you to keep a watch on Apollo''s movements."


    "Just watch, is it? Do we really have to do nothing to defend?"


    "He might notice something is wrong, so just keep going about your days as usual. At any rate, the ''weapon'' he''s so proud of is already broken."


    Even then, Gabriel still had some apprehension from Kisuke''s warning of Apollo''s invasion, so she decided to move some of their forces secretly.


    Naturally, Kisuke was already aware of what she might do, but he didn''t say anything against it as there was really no way to assure her. And this, in general, was a good practice. ''As long as they''re careful with their movements, it''s going to be fine.''


    Ignoring her, Kisuke focused on the task at hand while also sending a message to his mother to take care of the Teleportation Circle in the Belial Mansion''s basement and receive their guest. While doing so, he also pulled out another console that would monitor the World Gate, ''If there are any problems, I''m going to leave this alone. I''m sorry to say, but the safety of a friend is much more important than the safety of this faction. Though Irina will probablyin if she were to hear me say that.''


    .


    .


    .


    After a few minutes of extremely ufortable darkness, Riveria finally saw a light in the distance and it only took a few seconds for it to cover her entire sight, giving a very dizzying feeling. She was already feeling really weak after what she went through two days ago, so when her feet felt the ground, she was not able to bnce herself and began to fall forward without any signs of being able to recover.


    "Oh my." Riveria heard someone''s voice before she felt a soft body stopping her fall and supporting her stand.


    "Ughh..." Even then, Riveria could only groan because the headache she was feeling was immense.


    "There''s nowhere to sit here, so I''ll slowly lower you to the floor. Take it easy and rest for now."


    Unfortunately, Riveria couldn''t understand what she was saying. However, she was able to guess her intentions and followed her lead to sit on the floor, "[...Thank you.]"


    "Ah... I almost forgot that you can''t understand me." Sakura took out a PET bottle containing water and opened it before giving it to Riveria, "But I can''t just give you thatnguage helper candy in your current state."


    Riveria gratefully received the water and happily drank it, washing away some of the ufortable feelings. It''s also just now that she noticed that she can''t understand what she''s saying.

 Chapter 872 Riveria’s Arrival part 2

    Chapter 872 Riveria��s Arrival part 2


    ''I don''t see anything wrong with her, but she''s still taking her time to recover.'', Sakura thought after nursing Riveria for half an hour, ''It might have something to do with her physiology being ipatible with this ce, or the level reset that I''d heard about. Either way, I don''t have any idea what that could mean, since I''ve never been on that side so I can only have Kisuke look after her.''


    Even now, Sakura was already risking Riveria''s health because she still couldn''t provide the antibodies she needed due to her weakened state. With that in mind, Sakura decided that she should have a proper ce to rest first before anything else. While she could use a room within the Mars base, she couldn''t leave the Belial Mansion for too long due to the eyes watching her thanks to her not-so-amazing past. And she can''t exactly leave her alone here nor ask someone else toe to this ce,promising its security and secrecy, ''It''s a good thing that we always prepare a sterilized room in case of an emergency.''


    While Sakura was contemting her next steps, Riveria once again looked up to her and thought, ''That pale blonde hair... Is she his sister?'' Never in her dreams was the Human looking girl a lot older than her, ''But what is this ce... It''s so bright and white. It''s simr to what Tenestra described. Are we inside that tower she''s talking about?''


    After plotting her next course of action, Sakura gestured for Riveria to stand up and follow her to exit the room, which thankfully, Riveria was able to understand.


    Sakura supported Riveria until they reached another room with another set of Teleportation Circles.


    It didn''t take too long until they''d reached the Belial Mansion.


    .


    .


    .


    "How is our guest?" Cleria asked Sakura, who''d juste back after providing Riveria anything she needed and leaving after she had finally gone to sleep.


    Sakura sighed as she sat down, "I can only ask Kisuke once he returns to properly check up on her."


    "Oh? Even you, who''s a medical expert, can''t check her?"


    "I did, but there are too many unknown things that I can''t give any suitable conclusions and treatments. In the first ce, it may have something to do with her Soul, but that''s unknown territory for me. In face of that, I''m just a quack that will give the wrong prescription."


    "Did you at least give her thenguageprehension pill?"


    "I didn''t. I feel that it''s too risky so I didn''t give anything to her, including the antibody maker."


    "Alright. I''ll ask someone to periodically cast a purification spell in the room for the time being."


    "No. Please only do that one or two times before switching to the istion barrier. It might be bad for her if the room is too clean. Just purify the air that''sing in and out. In the meantime, I''ll deliver the food and anything she needs. I want to continue watching her condition."


    "Understood. I''ll also send a message to the Sitri House regarding her status."


    "Please send one to Kisuke too regarding her condition. We can''t have her stay in that room for too long."


    .


    .


    .


    It''d been a whole day ever since she arrived in this Mansion, but Riveria''s confusion only grew further and further. First of all, she doesn''t know how to make sense of this ce primarily because the sky was purple in the daytime.


    Walking up to the window, Riveria saw the lively town surrounding the mansion. While most of them were Human, there would asionally be individuals that have a pair of ck bat wings sprouting behind them and using them to get around. Sometimes, there would even be people who have ck feathered wings interacting with others and people possessing blue skin, ''Xenos...? But there''s something inherently different. Just what is this ce?''


    Touching the window, Riveria tried to open it but there seems to be a spell that prevents her from doing so and it was the same as the door, ''Did I make a mistake somewhere?'' Without knowing what was going to happen to her, Riveria became nervous, ''Worst of it, I can''tmunicate... Even though the Gods were supposed to have unified thenguage throughout the whole world, leaving only a bit of dialect for remote ces.''


    Thankfully, there was a silver lining. The only person who had been entering her room and taking care of all of her needs, Sakura, doesn''t seem to intend to harm her and would always have an apologetic expression on her face. If not for that, she would have already tried escaping this ce.


    But just as she sat on her bed, a new visitor appeared out of nowhere, and it was someone familiar, "Ophis!?" She called out to the little girl in an outrageous outfit that suddenly materialized in front of her, "How did you appear here?... Wait... You''re Kisuke''spanion so it shouldn''t be that strange. But you''re also here, huh. In that case, it looks like I wasn''t teleported to the wrong ce."


    But the little girl''s words only confused Riveria, "...I''m Ophis, but I''m not Ophis. My name... Lilith."


    Riveria tilted her head and repeated her name, "Lilith? So you''re not Ophis? Are you her twin?"


    Lilith went silent to think about her words for a bit before giving up and nodding.


    ''What a weird way to say you''re her twin.'' Riveria thought while asking, "But how did you know me? Or did I meet you without knowing you''re Lilith?"


    Lilith shook her head, "Heard from the other half."


    But before Riveria could ask any further questions, Sakura knocked on the door and entered the room while carrying food, "[Riveria-san, your lunch is ready. Hmm? Lilith? What are you doing here?]"


    Lilith tilted her head while replying, [...Greeting?]


    Sakura ced the tray on the table, [Wait. Could it be that you could understand her?]


    Lilith quietly nodded.


    Sakura became happy, but only for a moment because it was Lilith. If she were to use her as the trantor, she''s worried that her words may be conveyed incorrectly so a full conversation about where she is shouldn''t happen with Lilith in the middle with herck ofmon sense. Even then, Sakura would finally be able to tell her that she shouldn''t be worried and Kisuke ising within a few hours.


    Even though she didn''t want to, Riveria couldn''t help but be excited when she heard Kisuke was finallying. Whether it''s due to her anxiety or something else, Riveria didn''t want to think about it, ''I''m going to regret it if I were to think about it. Definitely.''

 Chapter 873 A Surprise Visit

    Chapter 873 A Surprise Visit


    "Ughhh...!!! Finally done... For now, anyway." Kisuke stretched his limbs after reaching the edge of Heaven and got ready to leave.


    Gabriel approached him and bowed in gratitude, "I thank you again for your efforts. I was astounded to see such progress was made in such a short time."


    "Please stop with the gesture. You''re the leader and shouldn''t lower yourself to an outsider like me."


    "My prestige doesn''t matter with the help you provided."


    "I might be helping you, but you also know that I''m not doing charity here."


    "Several favors, isn''t it? As long as it''s within my power-" "Wrong." Kisuke immediately interrupted Gabriel, "Within the power of Heaven as a faction. Your favor is great but don''t ever think it''ll be enough for something this big."


    Gabriel looked at him grinning and sighed in defeat, "Understood. However, as a faction, any request you make will undergo deliberation so it won''t be granted immediately."


    "As long as you give it enough attention, I''d be happy."


    "Expanding on that topic, may I know an example of your request? It is so that I can prepare myself and have proper arrangements ready in hand."


    Kisuke tipped his hat and his expression became serious, "Taking my side in a negotiation and mobilization of your troops."


    Gabriel''s bright smiling face disappeared as it was reced by a simr serious but graver one, "Urahara-san... I''ll say this now, but you''d be asking for too much. If that''s your demand, I''ll ask you to stop what you''re doing. We''ll opt for other factions to help us with the Sacred Gear system. Whatever ambition you have, I won''t allow you to use the lives of myrades as a stepping stone."


    "That''s true... It''s fair to say that I''m pretty ambitious, but what if I can have Great Red vouch for me?"


    "...What?" Gabriel didn''t understand what Kisuke meant but before she could receive any further rification, the space behind Kisuke was rended, revealing a single giant golden Dragon eye, "!?"


    Gabriel shuddered from the pressure and aura that the owner of the eye emitted and couldn''t help but take a step back and spread her 12 golden wings. In the distance, Dulio and the rest of his team were flying toward them.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, slowly turned around and gave the eye a dirty look, "I know you''re watching things, but do you have to watch this closely? I just mentioned you and you appear? What are you? A dog?"


    Dulio and his team arrived with their weapons out but they were astounded to see that Kisuke was berating the terrifying eye.


    "And what is this pressure? Why are you trying to scare everyone when you''re the one that arrived uninvited? Don''t try to boss others around when you don''t even have a group to back you up."


    The pressure was immediately abated and the eye blinked a few times, not knowing what to do. In a simr vein, the Angel group also didn''t know what to do, nor how to react to the situation as they were now sure that it was Great Red who was on the other side, ''But Great Red doesn''t need a group to boss anyone around...''


    In response to Kisuke, Great Red groaned in dissatisfaction.


    "But I''m the one doing the work!"


    The groan then changed to a low growl.


    "So you want to be a boss now? And my group should join you? No way! You don''t know how to act like a boss!"


    Some of the pressure returned and the growl grew louder, making those around watching the nonsensical scene swallow a mouth of saliva to drench their dry throat.


    ''This roleying addict... Looks like I triggered and hurt his pride. How should I resolve this?'', thought Kisuke. He knew that despite his power and epassing foresight, he could act like a child, and arguing with a child is just a waste of time, ''...There''s that, but I wonder if that will work?''


    "How about you work under me?"


    Kisuke''s unprecedented words didn''t just shock the True Dragon but also almost made the Angel side break down.


    A growl that was almost as loud as a roar came out of Great Red in an angry protest.


    "You want to be the boss? I could give you that position, but is that what you really want? No takebacks, okay?"


    Kisuke''s sudden change of attitude instantly baffled Great Red, ''It''s not the best position?''


    Kisuke then stood straight and proudly dered, "Then I shall be the hidden boss!"


    ''What was that!?'' Great Red asked with a growl and strangely enough, Kisuke was able to understand him.


    "The boss''s right-hand man. While he technically follows the boss'' instructions, the hidden boss moves on his own, hides within the shadows, doesn''t normally show themself to the public and could discard the boss'' instructions at any given moment. And unlike a boss who anyone could see and deal with the problems in a showy manner, the hidden boss maniptes the scene from behind. Truly an exalted existence!"


    Kisuke''s words, although obviously wrong, tickled Great Red''s correct spots as his eyes showed anticipation, ''I''ll be the hidden boss!''


    "Eh? But I want to be the hidden boss. You deal with these problems and I''ll just wait in the background, boss."


    ''You''re the boss! You deal with it! I shall watch from behind!''


    "...But it''s too tiring. I want to just float in a vast space too."


    ''Boss, I''ll leave everything to you! If you need help, I''ll do something about it!''


    Great Red didn''t say anything further and just started closing the space. He didn''t want Kisuke to take back his newly acquired title, ''Hidden Boss''.


    "Fine, hidden boss. If there''s a problem, I''ll contact you."


    The cut open space closed and the entirety of Great Red''s aura disappeared as he swam back to the great expanse of the Dimensional Gap.


    "Haaaahhh... I finally got rid of him. Just what is he thinking, appearing everywhere..." Kisuke sighed as he turned around to face the Angels, "Right. We were interrupted. Where were we again?"

 Chapter 874 Meeting Mother

    Chapter 874 Meeting Mother


    Kisuke decided to leave after being told that they needed to deliberate among themselves and he knew that they''d be making contact with those who were in the seal with Trihexa, ''It should be easier this way. Great Red''s timing was really good.'', he thought while stepping into the Belial Mansion and making his way straight to Riveria''s room.


    Before he could reach the room, he already noticed two other presences aside from Riveria and got worried because he knew that his mother would absolutely use Lilith as the trantor. After eavesdropping for a bit, he heaved a sigh of relief thinking that he didn''t need to resolve any sort of misunderstandings as Sakura was just asking Riveria about herself.


    "Good afternoon. It''s me." Kisuke let his presence known by knocking on the door a few times.


    [Kisuke!] Riveria was the first one who reacted.


    Kisuke heard Sakura''s chuckle before saying, "Come in. We''ve been waiting for you."


    As soon as he entered, he saw Riveria trying her best to maintain a poker face but with an obvious blush on her face, [What? Did you really miss me so much?]


    [I was left alone in an unknown ce and I mistakenly raised my voice.] Riveria defended herself with a feigned cough.


    "I''m sorry to interrupt your reunion, but will you use theb to examine her? It''s already prepared, but if there''s something else you still need, I''ll arrange it.", asked Sakura with a grin on her face.


    "Whatever you''re thinking, it isn''t the case."


    "There''s your bad habit. I know one when I see one."


    "I''ll use theb." Kisuke immediately dodged the topic.


    Sakura stood up from her seat while chuckling and said, "Well, it''ll still be up to you in the end. I''m just here to remind you that I don''t care how many of them there are, but I''ll have you promise me that whoever you end up with, you''ll take full responsibility."


    "That''s what I intended to do from the start."


    "...We''ll use the thirdb. Follow me."


    Kisuke turned to Riveria who was making a confused expression and said, [Yoruichi already told me of what happened, so before anything else, we''ll have to examine your condition first. We want to avoid any hiddenplications that might bite you in the back in the future.]


    [I see. Thank you. Your sister also has been taking care of me. Please give her my gratitude.]


    [Sister? Ah... Sister... Yes. Lilith, go y with Kunou-chan first. I''ll take it from here.]


    Lilith nodded and disappeared with a wisp of smoke. Thanks to that, Riveria forgot Kisuke''s weird reaction and marveled at Lilith''s ability to just disappear without any noise.


    Soon enough, the three of them reached the reservedboratory and Kisuke began hooking up machines to Riveria while also taking out some of his equipment to aid in the monitoring.


    Half an hourter, Kisuke was finally able to piece together Riveria''s full condition, "Not giving her thenguage candy was a good call mom. Her soul was severely weakened and that might have wounded it. Any wounds on her soul in her current state might prove disastrous."


    "That''s great."


    "Well, I asked you in the first ce because I knew you''d be able to properly judge the situation. I''ll do the necessary adjustments and treatment. It shouldn''t take too long before she can safely take it. For now, there''s no problem with her taking the antibodies."


    The mother and son duo worked in tandem to treat the ''injured'' High Elf. While Kisuke''s expertise in Souls surpassed everyone, his skill in physical medicine didn''t evene close to his mother, who could easily create an almost perfect homunculus with rtively low effort if she really wanted to, ''I should ask her to teach me some things in the future. It''ll be useful for my Gigai project... Or maybe I could just leave it to her.''


    After a few hours, Riveria was finally feeling a lot better even though the difort of her missing Levels kept bothering her, [Say, is it safe to circte my Magic Power now?]


    [You remembered the flow of Magic Power as it left your body, right? It''s fine. It''ll be good practice, and since there''s no impedance of Magic Power here, it should go a lot smoother.]


    Riveria tried it out and was instantly shocked at how easy it was for her to manipte her own Magic Power. It was as if it''s an entirely different thing than before, [What''s this!?]


    [You can think about it as if you''ve reached Level 10 and the restriction on your Magic Power waspletely lifted.]


    [Level 10!? Has anyone even reached that high!?]


    [ording to my calctions, there should be someone from the past, albeit, probably only briefly. But let''s set that aside for now.] Kisuke then took out candy and presented it to Riveria, [Take this first. This should give you the ability to understand thenguages used here.]


    Riveria took the yellow candy and examined it for a few seconds before popping it into her mouth. Since she would need to learn severalnguages to effectively live in this worldpared to the onlynguage used in her original world, as soon as the candy melted in her mouth, a shocking headache almost crushed her consciousness from the sheer amount of data needed to be engraved, [Ugggghh!!!!]


    Kisuke supported her shoulders and raised his voice, [Hold on. It should onlyst for a minute or two.]


    After a minute or two, Riveria stopped groaning and was left panting, "How is it?" Kisuke asked in Japanese.


    Riveria''s eyes widened because the previously unknownnguage was somehow understandable, "...I''m... fayne..." Her pronunciation was pretty scuffed, but it shouldn''t take too long before she got used to it, "...Levil resit was a lot... moar unbeerable."


    Sakura and Kisuke helped her exercise her vocals and were surprised by how fast she was able to adapt to the change. Aside from a few hard words, she already sounded like a foreigner that had been speaking Japanese for some time.


    "You''re good. With this, there should be no problems. Using Japanese for now should be sufficient, you can just practice the othernguages sometimeter." Sakuramented and was honestly impressed.


    Riveria held her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment before saying, "But this is really surprising... To think there''s this manynguages used in this ce..." Shaking her head, she stood up and slightly bowed her head to Sakura, "Thank you for taking care of me these past few days. Without your reassurances, I may have lived in anxiety."


    "It''s fine. Kisuke was busy with something when you arrived, so it was my responsibility. I''m happy that you''re doing fine."


    Riveria thanked Sakura again before turning to Kisuke with a yful sneer, "Your sister sounds a lot more pleasant than you."


    Kisuke suppressed himself fromughing while Sakura became happy, "My~ I''m happy~! But you don''t have topliment me, dear. I already have a good impression of you."


    "Eh?" A bad premonition arrived on Riveria.


    "Allow me to formally introduce myself. I''m Sarah Belial of the Belial House, but I use the name Sakura Urahara. I''m this unruly child''s mother and you can call me Sakura. Let''s get along~!"


    "M-mother!?" Riveria eximed as her bad premonition became a reality. At the same time, she became incredibly nervous and she might have an idea about why, but she didn''t want to actually entertain it. Without knowing what to do, Riveria ended up turning to Kisuke and pinched his side in retaliation, [Why didn''t you tell me!?] She ended up using her original world''snguage.


    [Because it seemed amusing?]


    [Damn you...] Riveria gritted her teeth and increased the strength of her pinch, but it was obviously doing nothing except making Kisukeugh further.


    "My~ Aren''t you two close? Are you perhaps-"


    Riveria didn''t allow her to finish her sentence and hurriedly took back her hand, "Definitely not! I''m just a friend!"


    "But I haven''t said anything?"


    "Ugghh...." Riveria couldn''t say anything to that and could only remorse, ''We''re definitely not going into that direction. This should fade away soon.''


    Seeing how very teasable Riveria was, Sakura asked half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Kisuke, how about establishing your own peerage and having Riveria-chan here as your first member?"

 Chapter 875 Elf from a Fantasy World

    Chapter 875 Elf from a Fantasy World


    Kisuke''s interest was piqued and he actually stopped teasing Riveria. Even though only temporarily, he was still the heir to the Belial House, and as a part of it, he still had to establish his own peerage, even if it was a huge hassle. Of course, even though he could, trustworthy members were hard to find because none of his girls could actually be a member because of how the Evil Pieces worked by reincarnating someone into a Devil.


    "That sounds interesting, but without modifying the Evil Pieces and Riveria-san''s consent, it''ll be impossible."


    "Regarding that, I already asked Ajuka-sama about this and he sent a nk set of Evil Pieces for you to modify and use. It''s currently in big sis'' care."


    Kisuke then looked towards the quiet Riveria and said, "Then the second condition can wait. Riveria-san, I know you have a lot of questions, but let''s not talk here. I''ll also introduce you to some people."


    .


    .


    .


    "Yo~ How are y''all doing?" Kisuke came into the private lounge with a loud greeting.


    After hearing that Kisuke had returned, his teammates also came back since they couldn''t really postpone their participation in the Azazel Cup anymore, "I already epted the next match. If not we could be disqualified, so I hope you won''t go anywhere else for the time being. Oya? An Elf? How rare. To think I''d see one outside of Takamagahara." Tiamat met Kisuke face to face and looked behind him in curiosity.


    The other members had also noticed Riveria, but only Athena and Genshirou still had the energy to stand up and approach, because the other two would rather act dead for the time being after returning from their training.


    "This is also the first time I''ve seen one in a long while. Those Japanese Deities are especially protective of them for some reason.",mented Athena.


    "This is my first time one outside of those fantasy-themed video games. Nice to meet you. I''m Saji Genshirou." Genshirou also stared at Riveria but realized that he was doing something incredibly rude and introduced himself with a big smile.


    Riveria, instead of returning his introduction, grabbed Kisuke''s sleeve and hid behind him, not because she had be timid, but because of the auras they were all naturally emitting, ''T-those two... Deities? But why are their Divine Powers so solid and pronounced? And the blue-haireddy, I''m feeling oppressed... Just what is she?''


    Tiamat saw this and smiled mischievously, "Did you kidnap her? You finally resorted to crime to increase your harem."


    Riveria immediately let go of Kisuke''s sleeve and feigned a cough, "Excuse me. It''s nice to meet everyone. I''m Riveria Ljos Alf of the Alf Royal Forest, also the Vice-Captain of the Loki Familia."


    Riveria waited for their reply but she found them only staring at him strangely, "Alf Royal Forest? I''ve been studying a lot of things, but this is the first time I''ve heard of that ce. Is it inside of Takamagahara?" asked Genshirou.


    "And the Loki Familia, you say? What a concerning name. Do you worship him? If you do, then you''re going to have a hard time after the stunt he did. Or do you hope to unseal him? If then, I''ll be one of the first individuals who''ll stop you, even if you''re Kisuke''s lover." Tiamat added.


    "Eh...? Huh...?" Their reaction was so strange that she had no time to refute or even think about thest of Tiamat''s words.


    Athena, meanwhile, looked towards Kisuke, who was grinning widely, "Seriously. Stop ying with people or you''ll be stabbed in the back one of these days." She''d immediately noticed the strange reactions of both sides and confronted Kisuke who had been simply enjoying the situation.


    "My bad~ I was just wondering how this would resolve itself."


    Tiamat crossed her arms and sighed, "And? What''s her special situation?"


    "Ehem... Let me introduce to you, Riveria Ljos Alf, of the other world."


    Not just Tiamat, Athena, and Genshirou, but also Nyx and Seekvaira stood up and became interested. In contrast, Riveria''s mind went nk, "...Eh...? Kisuke... Can you repeat what you just said? I might have heard it wrongly."


    But instead of repeating it, Kisuke turned towards her and said, "Riveria-san, wee to the supernatural side of Earth, a world entirely separated from where you''vee from."


    "...Can I sit down for a moment?" Riveria didn''t actually wait for anyone''s permission and went to use the nearest sofa before closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.


    "You didn''t tell her?" Genshirou asked Kisuke while feeling bad for this ''lost'' Elf.


    "Even if I did, she might not have believed it. Even on this side, the existence of another world is pretty unbelievable, isn''t it? Their civilization is way behind ours, so it''s even more unbelievable to them."


    "So she''s a genuine Elf from a fantasy world..."


    "What are you talking about? We''re already living in a fantasy world."


    "With the convenience of science and technology, it doesn''t really count in my books... Hey... I want to go there too to look around. Can you bring me along the next time you go?"


    "Are you hoping for those light novel situations?"


    Kisuke''s question struck Genshirou where it hurts and immediately denied it, "O-Of course not! I''ll bring Momo and Ruruko if possible."


    "Well, if you want to risk yourself being vaporized while traveling, I''ll think about it."


    In an instant, Genshirou answered, "Forget it then."


    It looked like it''d take some time for Riveria to sort her thoughts out, so Sakura left the room to prepare some calming tea while Kisuke convened with everyone to talk about their next match, "So who are the lucky ones?"


    "Team Rias Gremory.", answered Athena.


    "Hoho... Looks like we got a pretty tough one.", muttered Kisuke. Of course, he''s not referring to Rias herself, but to the few people she managed to recruit. Although Rias herself cannot be underestimated, the most concerning people were Vasco Strada, the man who is said to have reached the limits of Humanity, and Crom Cruach, the strongest Evil Dragon.


    As the person who chose their opponent, Tiamat exined, "With our current points, their team will give us a substantial amount of points, and those should be enough for us to enter the top 16. As for the other side, they already have the points for the main stage so they epted our match for the challenge."


    "Though it looks like I won''t be able to y around as much as before."


    Nyx made a fed-up face and said, "You still want to y around? The others are actually trying their best, you know?"


    "Well, the wish that I want can already be fulfilled through other means. So whether we win or lose, I really don''t care."


    "Aside from you, all of us are only after some gains so now that this isn''t as important for you, I guess we could wait until we''re matched against a team full of Gods like Team Vajra before retiring from the tournament.", Tiamat connected while thinking of all the mary ie she had made.


    Tiamat looked around and no one seemed to be bothered about losing early so she continued, "For this match, Crom will probablye after Kisuke and he alone would be enough to keep you preupied. So while I deal with Vasco Strada, Nyx, Genshirou, and Seekvaira will deal with the rest of them with Athena supporting everyone from behind. Go check on the fruits of your training."


    "But are we allowed to use our powers?" asked Nyx.


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment and said, "You may. Now that the Alliance of Hell has dered war on everyone, you don''t really have to hide anymore since there''s almost nothing they could change in their ns anymore."

 Chapter 876 A Date

    Chapter 876 A Date


    "When is the war going to happen? And why is the tournament still ongoing?" asked Nyx.


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Nothing for now. Although the Alliance of Hell dered their intentions by attacking Kyoto, if they went into hiding, the peacekeeping force, DxD, won''t be able to take initiative. By now, they''ve probably already abandoned the Realm of the Dead and concentrated their forces somewhere else."


    Athena grabbed her tea and asked after taking a sip, "What about Apollo and his aplices within Olympus? They should be able to find his connection to the Alliance of Hell."


    "They probably don''t have enough evidence to convict him, so the most they could do is watch them. But this is actually better since Apollo will be forced to act when the Alliance of Hell make their move or he''ll forever be a sitting duck surrounded by stalkers."


    In the middle of it, Seekvaira raised her hand, "Hold on. Is it fine for me to hear all of this? It sounds like you are trying to aplish something else. And you might have forgotten, but Saji and I are members of DxD and we''re obligated to share any information I have on the Alliance of Hell. The fact that the missing Athena and Nyx are here is already pushing it."


    "It''s fine. There''s nothing that you don''t know will be revealed here anyway." Kisuke answered Seekvaira''s concern before turning back to Nyx, "As for why the tournament is still going, it is to reassure the people. The whole world is still recovering from the damage that Trihexa has caused, so they can''t afford to slow down the recovery and development due to fear. Factions are technically nations. They may have the strongest military might, but that would be useless without their citizens."


    "I have a question." Genshirou raised his hand.


    "Go on."


    "Hypothetically speaking, if the Alliance of Hell won, what would they get from all of this aside from making enemies left and right?"


    "First is the weakening of the Tri-Faction Alliance. They are already weakened right now and any degradation will put them at the same level as the Alliance of Hell. Meaning, they''ll essentially be at the same negotiation table as them."


    "What!? How is that possible!?"


    "Aren''t you forgetting something? They aren''t terrorists like Rizevim who intended to plunge the world into chaos."


    "Ah..."


    "They aren''t ''Evil'' and they''ll inevitably have supporters from the grassrootsmunity for their goal of protecting the world from otherworldly threats, making them a bonafide nation that''s capable of managing domestic and foreign affairs."


    "Even then, it still won''t be enough since the other factions could still dere war and remove them from the world stage. These actions of theirs, aside from making a mess of everything, look essentially useless." Seekvairamented.


    In response, Kisuke yfully responded to her, "But what if they could suddenly control one of the most influential and important factions, then they''d be able to attract others to their side and intimidate the rest from taking any action?"


    "...What? There''s no way..." Seekvaira shuddered as she looked at Kisuke.


    "I told you, right? You won''t be hearing anything that you don''t know."


    "Wait! If you know something, please cooperate with DxD!"


    "You do your thing and I''ll do my thing... Although I want to say that, I''m already in contact with the DxD''s leader, Dulio, so this front is already taken care of. Just make sure that Hades and crew won''t be able to push you back."


    .


    .


    .


    Genshirou and Seekvaira tried to pry Kisuke''s secret open for a bit longer before the two of them gave up and left to meet Dulio. Meanwhile, Kisuke also dismissed the rest so that he could finally exin to Riveria her situation. And since she looked awkward with Sakura around, Kisuke brought her out on the town to have a walk while talking.


    While Riveria marveled at the townscape that was very different from Orario, she couldn''t help but make a strange expression while looking at Kisuke. Not being able to find any better words, she asked, "...Why are you like this?"


    Currently, Kisuke was wearing a brown trench coat over a ck suit. However, the strange part was his hair that was dyed ck and he was also wearing a fake mustache with matching circr sunsses. It wasn''t really that bad, but he also kept wearing his green and white bucket hat, making the whole thing very mismatched.


    "This? I''m actually pretty famous around these parts so I have to disguise myself."


    "The point of disguising is to reduce the attention you''re getting. I may not be from this world, but I know for sure that even in this ce, your get-up is strange! Just look at all these stares!"


    "Ehhh? I''m pretty proud of this too... Hmmm... Then shall we go somewhere else?" Kisuke then looked at Riveria from head to toe, "We should do something about your get up too. People will think you''re cosying."


    "...Cosying?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer that and urged Riveria, "Over here, to the station. We''ll go to the Human World."


    .


    .


    .


    "...W...What was that!?" Riveria eximed after getting off the interdimensional train that brought them to Kuoh Town.


    "It''s a vehicle that tunnels through the dimension between worlds. I''ll exin to you in detailter so for now, let''s take it easy and tour the city." Kisuke first confiscated Riveria''s wand and put it on his inventory before returning to his usual attire, "First stop will be the clothing store. Let''s have you dress like a normal person."


    "Don''t make it sound like I''m someone abnormal!"


    "But in this context..." Though before Kisuke could finish his sentence, Riveria red at him with all her might, but without the threatening aura she usually possesses, it only ended up looking a bit too cute, "...Right... Let me use Illusion Magic on you first to hide your ears. Elves don''t really exist here." Kisuke immediately changed the subject before he sumbed to the desire of pinching her nose.


    As soon as they left the station, Riveria was met with scenery that was truly out of this world. Towering buildings sprawled left and right, extremely fast mechanical carriages, unknown flickering lights and images, and a truly enormous amount of pedestrians and noise. And she noticed one more thing. Compared to everyone else, her attire is a bit out of the norm.


    "There''s probably a concert nearby. There are too many people today." Kisuke, without any dy, offered his hand, "Grab my hand. Although I won''t really lose you in this crowd, it''s better for me if you''re within an arm''s reach."


    Riveria looked at his outstretched hand and her pulse immediately began to rise up, ''H-hold hands!?... Wait... I''m in a different world and it''ll be really bad if I ever get lost in this kind of crowd... And it''s just holding hands for convenience so there''s nothing wrong with it. I shouldn''t even think anything beyond it! That''s right... I''m currently very weak so I could only depend on him to protect me from harm. The least that I could do is to stay close and the easiest way to achieve that is to hold his hand... tightly.''


    After a few seconds of trying to convince herself that it was nothing more than holding hands, Riveria gritted her teeth and grabbed Kisuke''s hands, only to discover that her palm was sweaty from nervousness.


    Riveria instantly panicked and was about to take her hand back but a small Magic Circle briefly appeared on top of their hands, drying them off, "Let''s go. It''s that way." Kisuke pretended that nothing happened.


    As they walked, Riveria couldn''t appreciate the scenery as she looked down in embarrassment and softly whispered, "...Thank you."


    The wise and brave High Elf who had been ''alone'' all this time, didn''t know how to deal with the current situation at all. There were so many new things, and it wasn''t just about the new world she''s in.

 Chapter 877 A Date part 2

    Chapter 877 A Date part 2


    In front of a random trendy clothing store that focused on women''s attire, Riveria was gobsmacked at how big the building was, ''All of this just for women''s apparel?''


    Kisuke tugged Riveria''s hand and brought her inside through therge ss door. Since this was the first time Riveria would be feeling an airconditioned room, she panicked and tried to find the weather maniption spell out of extreme curiosity.


    "There is no Magic here. All of this is a product of human ingenuity.", reminded Kisuke.


    As soon as they entered, one of the store clerks came and greeted them, "Good morning, sir, ma''am. How may I help you today?"


    Kisuke pointed to Riveria and replied, "Help her choose a few attires for her day-to-day life. I don''t know much about a woman''s fashion so I''ll leave it to you."


    The clerk happily grabbed Riveria''s arm while saying, "Then please wait here, sir. I''ll choose the best for your beautiful girlfriend."


    "Eh...?" Riveria was shocked by the vigor of the clerk that she could only be pulled away and not even being able to deny her words.


    "Riveria-san. Please make sure to tell her your preferences." Kisuke raised his voice for thest time before the excited clerk and Riveria disappeared among the aisles of clothing. Their arrival managed to attract almost everyone''s attention with the men being envious of Kisuke because of Riveria and women being envious because their partners don''t have the capability to just let them choose whatever and however much they want.


    However, Kisuke underestimated how much time women could take in choosing and finding clothes for themselves as it took almost an hour before the clerk came running back to fetch him and dragged him in front of one of the changing rooms, "Sir, I''m sorry for taking so much time. I noticed that your girlfriend is wearing an old fa- er... I mean a rather peculiar set of underwear, so I took her first to our sister store next door to change into something different. We got into a bit of heated conversation over there so we kinda forgot about you for a moment."


    Knowing how modest Riveria was, Kisuke could understand, "It''s alright. Rather, it''s nice of you to all the way with service."


    The clerk beamed while making an okay sign with her hand, "Because I think you''ll make it all worth it, sir~" The clerk is a little bit too honest.


    Nevertheless, Kisuke never hated that and passed her his ck card, "Give her a few more sets of those. I''ll leave the variety to you."


    The clerk''s eyes shone and unhesitantly grabbed the card before running off, "Roger that, sir~! I''ll also bring a few pairs of shoes from another store if that''s okay with you!" Before Kisuke could give an answer, the girl already disappeared, ''Well, she won''t be able to work in this industry if she decided to trick me.''


    At that moment, the door to the changing room opened, "Excuse me... D-did I wear it correctly?... Hmmm? Kisuke!? What are you doing here!?"


    Riveria tried to close the door again but Kisuke caught it with his hand, "Hold on. Don''t hide now. If you''ve decided to take that, you''ll be walking around the town in it so no need to get embarrassed."


    "But I don''t know if I''m doing it right!"


    "So, I''m here to assist. I may not know about fashion, but I know the difference between proper fashion and great fashion if I see it."


    Riveria stalled. Up until now, she had always been wearing severalyers of long clothing that hid most of her body shape and didn''t really know how Kisuke would react if he were to see someone as old as her wearing an attire that was clearly for young people as she had seen on the streets. Her long cultivated Elven way and personal modesty hadd be a slight inferiorityplex. Although, she seems to have never noticed that she''ll only have these kinds of thoughts if she wanted to impress Kisuke in the first ce.


    "Hmmm... I don''t think I really have to say this since it''s something very obvious, but even for me who doesn''t really care about appearance, you are no doubt, one of the most attractive and beautiful women I''ve ever met, and the way you carry yourself only multiplies that. So whatever that clerk rmended to you, I think it''ll look great on you..." Kisuke paused for a moment and rubbed his chin, "Wait... Now that I thought back, that sounded cheesy... In any case, you really don''t have to worry... Or... Are you actually bothered by you ag- Woah!"


    The door suddenly swung open and almost hit Kisuke''s nose if he didn''t dodge in time, "Enough! I''m not the tiniest bothered by it!"


    ''So that''s worrying you. Geez. She''s too mindful of her age for an Elf. I wonder how she''ll react if she were to know that Devils have an average lifespan of 10,000 years and she could be one.'' Kisuke thought while finally being able to look at Riveria.


    The ck zer on top of a high-neck blouse with a navy blue, white, and ck horizontal stripe pattern matched with skinny jeans gave Riveria an elegant office worker vibe. But because of her constantly rubbing her knees, covering the front of her body with her arm, and the slight flush on her face while asionally looking towards Kisuke''s direction, a cutesy vibe was added to her.


    Those around also stopped what they were doing to marvel at the beauty of the contrasting atmosphere, questioning themselves on how the hell was that possible. With a face like hers, it just wasn''t fair.


    Riveria never noticed these people and just impatiently and nervously waited for Kisuke''s response. So when he finally spoke up, arge smile crept to her face, "I knew it. You look great. Let''s get that one."


    Riveria sighed in relief and was about to look for the clerk but Kisuke suddenly picked up one of the clothes rmended to her and passed it to her, "Now try the next one."


    "W-why? Am I not getting this?"


    "What are you talking about? Since we''re already here, we''ll take everything that looks good on you. Don''t worry. It''s my treat."


    Riveria was reluctant at first, but considering that it was Kisuke''s treat, she smirked at him, "I''ll definitely put a dent in your wallet."


    "Hooh~? You''re wee to try~!"


    Riveria then kept trying out different outfits and would always receive a positive response from Kisuke. As the Elf started enjoying dressing up, a small crowd had also gathered before the clerk finally returned with bags containing underwear and a few sets of shoes.


    It didn''t take too long before the entire store became noisy and the free clerks also started assisting them by fetching clothes they thought would suit Riveria, with some of them even going to other stores to get some shoes, essories, headwear, and bags that would match each and every outfit.


    That day, the store saw a very steep revenue spike and all the workers there celebrated with barbeque and booze using a part of theirmission.


    It was also that day that a rumor about a rich yboy wearing traditional Japanese attire threw money like it was nothing for his Goddess.

 Chapter 878 A Date part 3

    Chapter 878 A Date part 3


    For another two hours, Riveria kept trying things out and no matter how enjoyable things were, it''d eventually tire someone out if done repeatedly in quick session. After sweeping almost a quarter of their inventory and some other things, Kisuke paid for all of it and asked for it to be delivered to a Belial-owned building.


    Riveria changed back to the first outfit she''d tried on and exited the store feeling refreshed, albeit, a bit hungry.


    Kisuke took her to a family restaurant and let her choose whatever she wanted. Of course, Riveria only has the slightest idea of what''s on the menu and carefully pointed out a few things. While she did enjoy most of it, there are a few misses for her.


    Riveria originally nned to hear out what Kisuke had to say, but she had already momentarily forgotten about that as new and intriguing things kept appearing in her sights. The ever-dignified Vice-Captain of the Loki Familia had already disappeared and was seemingly reced by a child who was curious about everything.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, guided her through the wholemercial district and patiently answered each and every single one of her inquiries... While secretly recording all of her interesting interactions and reactions to the modern age, ''I''ll apologize to herter, but I''m definitely selling this to Loki.''


    A littleter, Kisuke and Riveria reached the park, with thetter carrying various snacks waiting to be sampled. They found a free table and Riveria started lining up the snacks and carefully evaluating each and every one of them. Compared to Orario, the number of different snacks offered by just walking a hundred meters on the streets was already several times greater. Since Kisuke was paying, Riveria was doing her best to get back at him for all the suffering he''d caused her.


    It''d only beter that Riveria would find out that Kisuke had gotten something far more valuable than money.


    But five minutes into taste testing, Riveria finally couldn''t hold back anymore and said, "...Say."


    "Hmmm?" Kisuke absentmindedly replied while picking some food for himself.


    "...That''s Aika, isn''t it?" Riveria nced in a certain direction and found Aika pacing around more than a hundred meters away from them, "She has been following us since earlier, so why isn''t she approaching us? Is she misunderstanding something? I can''t even call out to her since she''s so far."


    "You could ignore her for now. We''re technically strangers since I''ve erased her memories about us."


    "You what!? Wait... You can do that?"


    "Of course. Freya-sama could do it with ease too."


    Riveria''s face became nk as she munched on a mochi, "Right... I almost forgot about that. But in my defense, you showed us something much more ridiculous that when I thought back to the instance of us losing our memories, it looked like it''s a fleeting dream... To think such Magic like memory erasure exists... I couldn''t have imagined it back then."


    "It''s actually easier than it looks. If it''s erasing memories, that is indeed hard, but making your target forget their own memories instead is a lot easier and safer."


    "Even if you exin it to me like that, I won''t be able to understand it. I''ll save it for when I actually start learning Magic."


    "My~ You make it sound like you don''t know how to use Magic at all."


    "Compared to you lot? Of course I don''t. But that''s a whole lot better than thinking that I can." Riveria sighed at her own inadequacy, but Kisuke could also feel her excitement toward the new horizon, "Enough about me. What happened between you and Aika for her to end up like that? If it''s something sensitive, then forget it. I''m just making small talk."


    "...You''ve probably already noticed it, but Magic doesn''t ''exist'' here."


    Riveria stayed quiet. She was also very surprised that a world that uses amazing technology doesn''t have any traces of Magic Power, no matter how much she examined them like an idiot.


    "Unlike your world, this world is mostly peaceful with no monsters threatening anyone''s livelihood. Most people could live their entire lives oblivious to violence or not even have any life-threatening situations. The same people think that Magic only exists in their fantasies and Aika was a part of them until she got dragged into the world of mystery because of my own curiosity.


    "You have not seen it yet, but this part of the world is very dangerous, evenpared with your own world."


    "How dangerous?" Riveria curiously asked.


    "Gods of this world aren''t weaker than your Gods, but in contrast, our Gods are capable of wielding their strength anywhere without any limitations. Just a few of them can destroy this world with ease if no one fights against them."


    Riveria stopped chewing as cold sweat covered her back, "...That''s really dangerous."


    "Of course. And I just opened the door to that kind of danger for a normal citizen like Aika. Although she has what it takes to survive in this kind of world, it''s still my responsibility that she''s there in the first ce."


    "If I''m understanding it correctly, you ''kicked her out'' of this world?"


    "Well, something like that."


    Riveria grabbed the milk tea and took a sip from it before saying, "It''s not really my ce to say anything since I don''t know any of her or your struggles, but may I say something?"


    "Please go ahead."


    "You''re scum."


    "I know."


    "...I never imagined that you''d deny it, but I also never thought that you''d readily admit to it."


    "It''s a truth that I''m aware of so there''s no point in denying it."


    Riveria became quiet once again and looked down at her drink. The cold and refreshing wind blew, but Aika''s nces at them never let up.


    "You''re scum."


    "Hey hey. Even though I admit it, there''s no need to emphasize it further. You''re hurting my feelings here."


    But Riveria just snorted at him, "As if something like that could hurt you." Riveria then intentionally met Aika''s eyes with her own and thetter immediately avoided it, "However, it''s undoubtedly also the result of your kindness. You wouldn''t have done this if you don''t care about her at all."


    "Hmm? What''s this? Comforting me now?"


    "It''s because I think you don''t receive enough of it. Just be grateful for the charity I''m giving to you."


    "My~ my~. As expected of the Loki Familia''s ''Mama''."


    Kisuke had to heal Riveria''s toes because her kick to his shin ended up backfiring magnificently.

 Chapter 879 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory

    Chapter 879 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory


    [Ladies and Gentlemen~! I wee you to the Leviathan Stadium for our very much anticipated match for the day!]


    "Ummm... What''s this?" Riveria asked while watching multiple floating screens depicting an arena.


    "Kisuke hasn''t told you about the Rating Games?" asked Sakura, who was sitting beside her.


    Riveria shook her head and replied, "He mentioned it in passing, but didn''t actually borate on it. If I were to guess, was this the thing they were nning yesterday?"


    "Yes." Sakura nodded her head and went on to exin what a Rating Game actually is, "...and that''s the gist of it. Your world actually has something equivalent to these in your War Games."


    "...I don''t think you can really equate these to a War Game. Just the fact that you create an artificial world as a temporary stage was already putting them on a different scale." Riveria softly replied with twitching lips.


    "It would have been nice to go to the stadium ourselves." Cleria, who''s in the same room, spoke up apologetically, "Sadly, we''re not yet done establishing your identity. We''d like you to have appropriate papers as some sort of defense and camouge when finally you go out there, you see."


    Riveria immediately shook her head, "No. Please don''t apologize. I understand the position I''m in and I''m grateful for everything you''re doing."


    "Aw~ Aren''t you a good child~? I''m liking you more and more now~!" Sakura teasingly held her hand.


    ''I''m already 100 years old!'' Riveria wanted to retort, but then she remembered that she''s actually the youngest out of the three of them, "P-please don''t tease me..."


    On the screen, the announcer introduced the two teams that hade up on the stage and the game mode was decided to be a standard Rating Game. After returning home yesterday, Kisuke and Sakura had given her an overview on the structure of this world. Since that wasn''t enough, Sakura had also passed her a few books that were aimed at normal people being reincarnated as a Devil or an Angel that were recently written because of their rapid surge in numbers. But even after a whole night of reading the ''easy'' books, Riveria still couldn''t fully wrap her head around everything.


    Naturally, what caught her attention the most was the ''Reincarnation''. Her curious mind wondered if she could also undergo it, but immediately tossed the idea away because she felt like it was the same as discarding her Royal Elf bloodline. Still, she was able to fully understand one thing, ''No wonder they could easily ept the Xenos. For them, a different form is no different from an Elf to a Human.''


    "I don''t think Kisuke will be able to do his usual antics this time.", Cleria muttered while watching them being transported to a fake Kuoh Town.


    Sakura smiled and replied, "After thest match, no one will let Kisuke take the initiative ever again, and this time, the match is against a few of the frontrunners of the golden generation. They might have been very weak when Kisuke first encountered them, but even he didn''t expect them to improve so much that they could practically take on a team of Gods."


    Riveria''s body shook at thest bit of Sakura''s words and thetter was able to notice it, "Riveria-san, watch carefully, as this is going to be a fight amongst the strongest people in this world. And that crimson-haireddy over there, the leader of the opposing team, is Sona-chan''s peer."


    Riveria recalled the bespectacled youngdy who came to Orario and who was a lot weaker than her back then. Even though she didn''t have any idea how strong she is right now along with her group, she guessed that they''d probably improved immensely under Kisuke and Yoruichi, "You mean she''s as strong as Sona?"


    Sakura shook her head and answered, "In pure destructiveness and power, Rias is way stronger, but in a straight-up fight, Sona could probably win."


    With that, Riveria had set a certain amount of expectations but immediately discarded it, ''I don''t know anything up to date, so thatparison is useless for me. Let''s watch this for now.''


    .


    .


    .


    "Kisuke, is it really fine for us if we were to reveal our identities?" Athena asked.


    "Actually, this is a good chance for you to do that. With your appearance, the Alliance of Hell will be disrupted and Apollo would have to make sure that he doesn''t have any enemies left within Olympus if they wanted to continue their n. That will buy the DxD some valuable time to collect more information and manpower to oppose them. I can only do what I want if I''m sure that they''ll be able to do their job."


    A big smile then lit up on Athena''s face, "Then please let me take on Vasco Strada. As a swordswoman myself, I want to test my skills against him, who has reached the limit of Humanity."


    "In that case, I''ll take care of Rias Gremory." Tiamat added, "If she''s facing me, she''ll probably fuse with Balor''s sessor."


    Genshirou raised his hand and said, "I''m a bad match for Lint Sellzen so leave Yuuto Kiba to me."


    "Since we''re doing this, I''d like to have a match with Tsubaki Shinra.", Seekvaira didn''t want to let this chance go for a rematch.


    "Wait... I''m not sure if I can keep two Longinus users and a clearly-outside-the-standard werewolf at bay! And why do I have to take on three while most of you are going for a one-on-one!? This is unfair!" Nyxined.


    In response, however, Kisuke justughed while patting her shoulder, "Isn''t this a good chance to taste the fruits of your training? If you were to lose, then we''ll have to up it even more."


    Not just Nyx, but also Seekvaira shuddered at the thought of their ''training'' increasing in difficulty and vowed that they wouldn''t lose, even if it caused them a limb or two. Seeing their simr reactions, the two who had created a bond faced each other, "S-shall we work together?" thetter asked.


    "Let''s do it... My Darkness and your Power of Time should work great together."


    While Athena looked at them strangely, Tiamat was making an amused expression and Genshirou was touched by their camaraderie that disregarded their race and ss.


    Soon, they were all teleported to the stage and the signal that announced the start of the game rmed.


    Kisuke''s team didn''t let anyone wait as they instantly sprung into action. Since they already knew that the opposing team wouldn''t instantly move away from their spot to confirm their formation, the entirety of Team Urahara Shop dashed straight toward Rias andpany.


    Valerie Tepes, Vasco Strada, and Crom Cruach immediately got a whiff of what they were doing and prepared themselves. However, their formation wasn''t tightly woven and there was barely any time to make any adjustment when the ck-armored Genshirou was already in front of them and was aiming his fist at Lint Sellzen.


    With Vritra''s mes, Lint Sellzen, with her Incinerate Anthem, was a bad match and she could instantly subdue them with her purple holy mes. With this in mind, the fastest among them instantly intercepted him, "Isn''t a surprise attack too much?"


    Genshirou''s fist shed with Yuuto''s Balmung and Nothung Demon Swords, "With a leader that doesn''t really care about his image, I think not."


    Gathering his breath, ck mes sprouted from his elbow, giving Genshirou''s fist an instant boost in power, "Oryaaaa!!!" sending Yuuto flying away with a shout.

 Chapter 880 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 2

    Chapter 880 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 2


    "Yuuto!" Rias and the others called out in worry.


    But instead of worrying about himself, horror emerged from Yuuto''s face as he saw a shadow creep under Rias, "Rias-senpai!!! Watch out!!!"


    Kisuke, with his right arm covered in a bloody aura, mercilessly aimed at Rias'' stomach and intended to punch straight through it. Rias was momentarily stunned due to the massive killing intent that had just hit her and could only watch as the fist came closer in slow motion. The match would have already been decided right then, if not for a tree trunk-like arm that pushed her and Gasper to the side.


    In the ce of Rias, a man with a colossal body covered with rock-hard muscles appeared and caught Kisuke''s fist with a simrly gigantic hand. However, the owner of the overly muscr body underestimated the force behind Kisuke''s punch and could only stay his ground for barely a second before being sent flying towards the residential area, just like Yuuto.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, couldn''t follow up with any more attacks because of a Dragon w that wasing from behind him that he had to dodge away from. The owner of the w didn''t want to let him go and immediately pursued Kisuke. In any case, he didn''t have to defend Rias now because the moment Vasco pushed her away, Gasper had also already melted into her shadow and transformed her into a humanoid dark beast with ten giant wings and a third eye with a deep red pupil.


    At this time, Tiamat came from the skies directly above the group before opening her mouth and releasing a ming breath.


    Rias didn''t want any more initiative taken from them and immediately released a ball of pure Destruction to meet Tiamat''s mes. Unfortunately, Tiamat was waiting for this and the mes she released suddenly sped up, meeting the ball of Destruction far earlier than Rias had anticipated and caused an enormous explosion near the ground.


    The explosion pushed Rias away, but aside from that, there was no other damage to her and her Forbidden Invade Balor the Princess form. However, when she surveyed the status of the battlefield once again, she was shocked to see a dome barrier with the power of Darkness and Time covering the rest of her team that hadn''t engaged anyone.


    Not only that, but those who had protected her strangely hadn''t returned to their positions yet, only to see that each one of them was facing someone. Rias returned her sight back to Tiamat who was flying above her, "So this is what you wanted."


    Tiamat shrugged her shoulders and said, "Working as a team is actually the worst thing we could do."


    Rias sighed and replied in defeat, "We could have discussed this you know? It was truly terrifying to imagine my own death in a Rating Game."


    "That would be boring, wouldn''t it?"


    [It''s here!!! The curtain of the match has just been raised yet there were already numerous breathtaking actions!!! As expected, Team Urahara Shop couldn''t do what it usually does with Team Rias Gremory, one of the highly evaluated teams and one of those who could potentially get the grand prize of the tournament!]


    .


    .


    .


    "...Is it always like this?" Riveria asked while sitting straight up with her back drenched in a cold sweat.


    "Hmm? Like what?" Sakura tilted her head and asked.


    "...I mean, is it always this intense?"


    Cleria and Sakura looked at each other before the former replied, "There''s nothing particrly intense yet, though? It''s just the opening act."


    Riveria immediately shut her mouth.


    .


    .


    .


    Vasco wanted to return to Rias'' side, but he was blocked by a cloaked Goddess, "I would really like it if I could have a bout against Kisuke Urahara."


    "I apologize, but you have to deal with me today." It was the first time that Athena''s true voice was revealed and those paying close attention immediately perked their ears up.


    "If you''re still going to hold back, then that wouldn''t be enough to stop me."


    Before Athena could reply, however, she suddenly heard Kisuke''s voice from behind her, "Be careful. That old man is the real deal. I tried breaking his hand but he almost broke mine with a squeeze."


    Kisuke''s warning came to Athena as a surprise because she knew that he isn''t someone who would warn of something trivial.


    But instead of being worried, a big smile crept onto Athena''s face. Except for that one instance where Kisuke instantly suppressed her without being able to pull out her full power, she hadn''t fought seriously in a long time, "Holding back would only be an insult to a warrior of your caliber."


    Putting both of her hands forward, Athena summoned her Divine Weapon, a golden longsword. The resulting Divine Aura from it ripped apart the cloak she was wearing and revealed her long golden hair that fluttered in the wind, golden eyes that shone brightly like the stars, golden armor that emphasized regality and gracefulness, and the fearless smile that was etched on her beautiful face, "Let''s dance, Hero who has reached Humanity''s peak!"


    Instantly guessing who she is, a simr smile of excitement appeared on Vasco as he took out his Holy Weapon, Durandal II, "It''ll be my honor, Goddess of Olympus!"


    In an instant, both of them were wreathed in power and disappeared from their spots, before instantly appearing in the middle with their swords crossed, generating a shockwave that reduced everything standing on the ground rubble, except for the barrier that Nyx and Seekvaira had erected.


    When the second sh struck, another shockwave flew out but 50 meters away from its original position. The same shift happened on the third sh and their exchanges kept going on until they reached themercial district full of buildings, destroying everything in their path.


    [...] Even the current announcer was left speechless at the sudden revtion, [One of the Goddesses'' mysterious identities has finally been revealed!!! My viewers, I''m sorry for the long and awkward pause I had at the beginning but please understand that I''m too shocked at this new information! For those who don''t know, the Goddess who''s shing with Vasco Strada right now is Lady Athena from Olympus who is said to have disappeared out of nowhere! For her to appear now, and within Kisuke Urahara''s team, the mysteries only keep piling up!]


    But only a few secondster, he received a note and became wordless again for a moment before apologizing again, [This is just in! Apparently, after the investigation of the dark barrier, experts have found out that it was made from Seekvaira Agares''s unique n Trait and the Divine Power of a Goddess who was pronounced dead not too long ago, the Primordial Goddess of Darkness, Lady Nyx! Just what''s going on!?]


    As soon as those words left his mouth, the number of viewers surged up and various theories came upon online boards that were discussing the current match.


    And the most popr theory was that the yboy Kisuke Urahara had eloped and ran away with the Goddesses.


    Of course, Olympus itself didn''t have any business with the current fun theory-making and gossiping and was currently scrambling to gather as much information as they could so that they could n ahead and release a statement if things went south for their public image.

 Chapter 881 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 3

    Chapter 881 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 3


    While it was getting noisy outside, Vasco and Athena didn''t care about that whatsoever and continued to blitz through the entire town, "Geez... Kicking up all this dust." Kisukeined while watching the two sh.


    "Are you just going to watch?"


    Kisuke turned around and faced the tall handsome man wearing a ck coat with a long mixture of ck and blond hair as well as heterochromatic eyes where his right eye was gold and his left eye was ck with pointed ears, ''The way he carries himself... Unlike most who were naturally born strong, he was properly trained. The evilest yet most honorable Evil Dragon, huh...''


    "The stage is too small. If we start now, it''ll inevitably be messy. Or maybe you don''t mind that."


    Crom Cruach always hated it if someone were to intrude in his battle and would get mad whether it was his ally or enemy who did it. But looking at Vasco and Athena going at it with glee, he thought, ''Maybe that doesn''t sound so bad.'' He then looked towards Tiamat and Rias who were just exchanging destructive spells and Vritra and Yuuto who were much more subduedpared to everything else that was happening.


    He nced at the ck dome but couldn''t feel anything from it before returning his sights to Kisuke, "Where''s your sword?"


    "If you''re worried that I won''t be able to bring out my strength, please don''t. I have something that if released fully, may destroy my body."


    "That doesn''t really tell me much." All of a sudden, Crom''s right arm transformed and became arge dragon w. Although he looked incredibly imbnced, it seemed like he could swing it with ease. Releasing his gold and ck Dragonic Aura, Crom dashed forward so fast he left an afterimage.


    Kisuke strengthened his Hierro on his left arm and raised it to block Crom''s swipe, but when they were about to make contact, Kisuke''s eyes widened, and hurriedly pulled back. Nevertheless, it was already toote as Crom''s ws were able to reach his arm.


    Kisuke instantly put some distance between them and looked at his bleeding left forearm with three w marks that almost reached his bones, "Those are some very sharp ws."


    "And those flimsy arms of yours are strangely durable.", replied Crom, "I thought I could cut it off."


    Crom then also transformed his left arm in preparation for Kisuke''s Magic. From their match against Team Lighting, they''d learnt that without his sword, Kisuke was a spell caster that''s capable of churning out high-tier spells in both attack and defense in rapid session, in addition to his instant eleration technique, ''Is he going to pull out massive spells simultaneously until his body is broken?''


    Kisuke, to pretend that he had to heal himself, put his right hand on top of his left arm and emitted light as the wound regenerated. Even if it was a small action, it gave a false impression to everyone watching. Thankfully, Crom didn''t attack and actually waited for his wound to disappear, ''This guy and Vasco Strada. It''s amazing that Gremory-san was able to pull them to her side. Her talent in gathering people is undeniable.''


    ''Well then... I can''t disappoint the kind Evil Dragon-san here.'', Kisuke finished ''healing'' his wound and took a deep breath before his strange aura welled and red up, "Shunko: Blood Gate."


    Crom flew back a bit and used his arms to block the shockwave that had originated from Kisuke, ''This is...!?'' Through his ws, he saw him being covered in a blood-colored aura as it smashed into this artificial space''s boundary, shocking everything inside it.


    The trembling in the atmosphere made everyone stop and look in their direction, "Yet again, he''s pulling another trick out of his sleeves... Does it ever end?" Yuuto asked after separating from Genshirou.


    But thetter only shook her head, "I don''t know. And I don''t really want to think about it. I''m just really d I''m not his enemy."


    Vasco also separated from Athena and asked, "Hoo... Your leader seems to be way different from others of his generation. Are you sure he''s someone who just left behind puberty?"


    "Sadly,mon sense doesn''t work on him. I would believe it if he could speak multiplenguages from birth." Athena replied with a wry smile.


    "Really? Such an interesting child. I would really like it if I could have a bout with him even for a bit."


    "This ce is too small. Once they start, it''ll be hard to avoid them."


    Vasco nodded in satisfaction, "That''s true... Then you wouldn''t mind if we bump into them, would you?"


    "While it''s fun crossing swords with you, the chaotess will be interesting too."


    As the linked together ''drums'' appeared behind Kisuke, Crom also took out his wings, and immediately after, the two of them left afterimages as Crom''s ws and Kisuke''s fist covered in bloody aura met.


    One explosion, two explosions, it''s as if it was the reenactment of Vasco and Athena''s initial sh. However, this time, their battle moved towards the opposite side and decimated the surrounding forest as the blood-red and ck and gold aura''s intertwined.


    Compared to the two battles that had wrought massive destruction, the others had be a minor show.


    Those on the outside could hardly catch any of what was happening, but thankfully, themittee was prepared for something like this and there were more screens that showed a slow-motion version of the instant shes, raising the hype to everyone and causing even more intense betting.


    But after a few rounds, while Athena and Vasco werergely equal, Kisuke was losing his fight, ''At this rate, my arms will be mangled. Even though I was able to substantially damage Tiamat with this, it has almost no effect on Crom. He''ll just shake it off and heal just as quickly.''


    Crom immediately noticed Kisuke''s decreasing attacks and increasing defensive maneuvers, "Hey now. Don''t leave me with this much steam. You''re one of the few people who would willingly receive my attacks. Even the White Dragon Emperor does his best to dodge, so it''s a little bit boring these days. And where was that aura that you released just now? Don''t tell it was for show?"


    "That''s understandable. One swipe and you''ll break his shiny armor." Kisuke chuckled, "And that was indeed just for show... But only half of it. First Gate: Denial."


    The ''drums'' behind Kisuke shook and the first one morphed into a symbol. At the same time, the blood aura around him converged around his four limbs before solidifying and acting as skin. Surprisingly enough, there was no change in his aura.


    Crom didn''t know what had changed but he had no ns of letting him take the initiative and dashed forward, swiping his ws at him with even greater force than before.


    And the same as their previous engagements, Kisuke raised his hand that''s now covered with a blood ''skin'' and punched it out.


    The resulting sh was greater than everything that had urred prior, "!?", but that wasn''t what surprised Crom but the fact that there was a crack in his w while he''d only shaved off the ''skin'' before it instantly returned to what it was prior. Unfortunately, thatpse in attention cost him, as Kisuke''s right fist was already on his chest, receiving the full brunt of the attack for the first time.


    ''!?'' Another exmation came from Crom as he was sent flying back and coughing out blood, ''This!? A reverberating attack!?''


    "HHAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Gritting his teeth before shouting, Crom released even more of his Dragonic Aura and expelled the force that was destroying his insides. Naturally, he was still keeping track of Kisuke''s position in his mind. However, when he thought that there''d be a follow-up attack, Kisuke instead took another deep breath and muttered, "Second Gate: Anger."


    The second ''drum'' behind him morphed into an eye and his blood skin thickened before it fully changed into a pair of blood-red gauntlets and boots adorned with gold stripes. But while there was still no change in the aura he''s emitting, there was now a dangerous pressure that was rming every bit of self-preservation instinct within the Evil Dragon.


    Although Kisuke was still very far from him, Crom''s instincts told him to block so he hurriedly crossed his Dragonic arms on top of his chest and it turned out that it was a very good call, what with Kisuke suddenly appearing in front of him with his hands together and smashing down with a hammerblow on Crom''s defense, "Guhaaa!!!"


    Crom coughed blood out uncontrobly as his arm was broken and his chest caved in from Kisuke''s hammer-like hands. In a split second, he hit the ground, sting away soil and unrooting all the remaining trees in the forest.

 Chapter 882 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 4

    Chapter 882 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 4


    Kisuke used his aura and swung his arm to blow away the dust. Half of the cameras immediately focused on the ground where Crom was embedded into it.


    Everyone could see Crom having arms with extra sets of ''joints'' and his caved-in the chest as he coughed out copious amounts of blood. However, it didn''t take long before they started snapping back to their original positions and Crom slowly stood up from the crater created by his crashnding, "Amazing. And it looks like it''s only the second step of that technique.", hemented while looking at the ''drums'' behind Kisuke with two of them converted to an eye symbol.


    "This is actually my limit for now. Any further and I won''t be able to take much more of the stress this is causing."


    "I see... So this is what you meant by being broken. Wonderful. It''s already far more than my expectations." At the same time, Crom''srge ws began retracting, but his lean body almost doubled in size with his ck scales fully covering his limbs and extending to his chest and cheeks.


    However, the most notable change was the density of his Dragonic Aura around him, "I''m ready for round two." Crom bent his knees and gathered his strength in his legs. The moment he pounced back, the crater below him grew deeper as he wasunched towards Kisuke.


    Thetter, meanwhile, had no intention of dodging and took a stance to throw his fist. While he gained some speed with this form, it was negligible at best and was only able to surprise Crom in the first instance. As mentioned before, his Shunko was a lot heavierpared to Yoruichi''s and Soifon''s so his fighting style would have to adjust.


    Although he was able to practice a bit within the void, Kisuke''s opponents were just mindless beasts. And now that his opponent was someone who had been fighting for a few centuries, he imagined that he''ll have a bit of a hard time, especially since it''s the opposite of his actual fighting style and it wouldn''t be an understatement that he''ll be copying his style, ''So if I incorporate this style into my Zanjustsu... Would that mean I''d be fighting just like Zaraki?''


    Tossing those useless thoughts behind him, Kisuke took a deep breath and met Crom''s fist with his own.


    As the shockwave exploded, both of the ''armor'' on the two fighters cracked. However, that only fueled the berserkers, and they continued exchanging fists. Soon, it was because of an exchange of various hand-to-hand techniques epassing both gentle and hard ways and sometimes, even grappling techniques that aimed to detach a limb or two.


    Crom''s technique surrounds the idea of pouring all of his strength into one single point, however, Kisuke''s ''skin'' was just too tough and he also noticed that it also has enhanced regeneration like himself. On the other hand, Kisuke''s strength lies in him transferring all of the force he could generate into his opponent''s body, destroying it from the inside. Still, Kisuke didn''t think that Crom would be so resilient or that he would be able to expel the force he was injecting through his wings.


    Thanks to that, Kisuke and Crom were only umting damages with thetter being very confident that he''d be able to oust his opponent. Sadly for him, the former wasn''t taking as much damage as he thought and was only decreasing Kisuke''s stamina and stressing his body.


    Naturally, the two of them had no way of containing their range of actions. In fact, they didn''t really care at all. Due to that, Crom ended up crashing into Genshirou one time and sted thetter''s ck armor open. If not for his strengthened defense, he would have been instantly retired.


    In another instance, Yuuto''s summoned army of Dragon Knights was almost decimated when Kisuke started grabbing and throwing them toward Crom in an attempt to distract him. If he wasn''t careful and didn''t retreat in time, Kisuke could have ''mistakenly'' got hold of him and used him as a frisbee.


    "I never thought it''d be to this extent... If individuals like that can run around brandishing their power, how on earth is this world still in one piece?" Riveria muttered, already feeling numb after watching for a few seconds.


    Sakura looked toward her andmented, "Ho? You''re taking it a lot easierpared to Line-chan."


    "Line-chan? Do you mean Line Arshe?"


    Sakura nodded, "She went with Kisuke to the Dizara Region, isn''t she? Ever since establishingmunications to that side, we''ve been able to talk from time to time and I''ve been tutoring her with what she needs to know with her Healing Magic and some tips on how to properly examine the physical characteristics of different beings."


    "...I see... No wonder." Riveria realized what she just said might cause a misunderstanding and immediately added, "I mean she''s talented and there''s no denying that."


    "Envious?"


    Riveria was a bit startled at her question but after a few seconds of silence, she could only smile wryly, "I''d be lying if I say I''m not."


    "Then let me tell you that she only received our help because she earned our trust... You, on the other hand... Well, I''m sure you already understand."


    "I do... She would have to have done something very substantial to be able to earn your trust. And if I were to guess, it might be some sort of sacrifice that showed resolution and sincerity on her side. I, on the other hand, am only here out of convenience."


    "As expected. Yoruichi-chan and Serafall-sama indeed didn''t hide it from you, the real reason you''re here."


    Riveria nodded while looking up to the screen where things are only intensifying, "Yes. I''m only here to make sure that the long-range Teleportation Magic is working as intended. Well, now I know it''s actually a ''gate'' that connects two worlds."


    "Yet you still agreed despite the obvious dangers."


    "Because Serafall offered me something that I couldn''t reject. And obvious dangers? I''m not that good at noticing those. You''re giving me too much credit."


    "I don''t think so. You should have understood the underlying problems when you''re offered something you can''t refuse."


    "..."


    "Still, there''s also no denying that you''re trusted. You wouldn''t be here if that''s not the case. Line-chan is lucky and managed to grab the opportunity that presented itself to her even though she didn''t understand it in the beginning. You''re also on the same stage so it''ll be up to you on how you''ll spin this further to your advantage."


    "..." Riveria still stayed silent, but she understood what Sakura was saying.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke caught Rias'' strengthened Power of Destruction that was capable of seriously injuring a God with his hands mid-flight towards Tiamat and threw it towards Crom, who was chasing him.


    "The sheer disrespect..." muttered Cleria with amusement.


    In response, the Evil Dragon opened his mouth and fired off apressed fire breath to intercept the Power of Destruction, which exploded without it doing anything substantial. After that, Kisuke and Crom left the area, leaving the dumbfounded Rias behind.

 Chapter 883 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 5

    Chapter 883 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory part 5


    While leaving Rias indignant and Yuuto feeling helpless, the moment that everyone was anticipating had finally happened. The two most prominent battlefronts got close to each other.


    Even though not entirely within their intentions, the four of them got close enough to be within each other''s range and there was really nothing that''s stopping them from confronting their enemy.


    Vasco gathered his strength and shed horizontally towards Athena. However, thetter didn''t have any ns to block and instead aimed her sword toward the person chasing after Kisuke.


    Kisuke didn''t need any cues and followed up by punching the t side of Vasco''s Durandal II, transferring a massive amount of vibrations into Vasco''s hands, "!?"


    Due to the unexpected effect, Vasco hurriedly loosened his grip on his sword and redirected his Holy Power into his arm to shake off the destructive force trying to tear him apart. This, however, gave Kisuke an opening to send out another punch towards his chest.


    Thankfully, he wasn''t alone either as Crom burst into action. Athena had underestimated Crom''s defense and strength, with thetter catching her sword with his bare hands. Because of that slight oversight, Athena was a little bitte to react when Crom pulled her sword and she wasn''t able to let go of it in time, causing her to be thrown towards Kisuke.


    With a split-second decision, Kisuke retracted his arm and redirected it towards the iing Athena.


    Athena didn''t want any further mistakes and reoriented her body while letting go of her sword. Athena stepped on Kisuke''s arm and with the two''s coordinated movements, Athena dashed towards Crom while Kisuke gave her a boost by swinging his arm towards the direction she wanted to go.


    Crom was caught surprised by the sudden speed at which Athena came hurtling back and hastily let go of the sword he was holding to defend from Athena''s threatening punch overflowing with Divine Power by crossing his arms. Athena''s fistnded on Crom''s arms, but s, that wasn''t all there was to it as her Divine Power exploded out in a beam of golden light, pushing the Evil Dragon to crash into the ground once again.


    Vasco, meanwhile, wasn''t staying still and had had enough time for the time Crom given him for his retaliation.


    Clutching the Duradal II that seemed small with his build, Vasco did an overhead sh using his vast strength and a truly abnormal amount of Holy Power. The sword was so fast and lethal that Kisuke could only sp it by putting his hands together. Even then, the sword almost cut Kisuke''s face open, "!?"


    Kisuke was surprised by the power behind the sword, but he was mostly shocked at how the vibrations he sent through the sword, hoping to break it at least, was immediately dispelled, "You are truly as great as they say, old man."


    With arge grin on his face, Vasco replied, "Thank you for thepliment. It''s just that I''ve alreadye across someone who uses the same technique as you in the past... Hmm... Calling it the same is a vast overstatement, because yours is ridiculously more powerful than his. If I wasn''t careful, I would have instantly lost my arm."


    It then became a contest of strength between them, but due to Kisuke''s unfavorable position and stance, he was on the losing side. Nevertheless, that didn''tst long when Vasco was forced to break the stalemate by kicking Kisuke away and rapidly bending his back to avoid the golden longsword that was flying toward his face.


    Before she''d left to chase after Crom, Athena had kicked her sword in exchange for Kisuke giving himself an opening for Vasco to take advantage of while supporting her. It was also because Kisuke felt this action of hers that he retained the stalemate instead of disengaging. Unfortunately, Vasco reacted faster than he thought or he could have detained the Durandal II a bit longer.


    Before the longsword went past Vasco''s head, Kisuke grabbed its grip and forcefully swung it downwards.


    In response, Vasco flipped backward while also kicking Kisuke''s arm away before taking some distance from him to reset the battlefield.


    The moment Vasco and Kisuke stopped to take a breather, the audience who had been silenced by their disy erupted into cheers. In just a few seconds, the situation of the match drastically changed without either side giving up any advantages, [Partner, what do you think of the match now!? We should be also focusing on Team Rias Gremory''s King, but I can''t help but glue my eyes to these four!]


    [I can''t me you, partner! It really is a fresh sight! In most of the matches, mostly everyone was trying to overpower each other when they fought and only employed strategy to gain an advantage for the whole match. This time, however, is something very rare! While not as shy as the most prominent matches, we can see the grace of movement from these contenders! Thankfully, we have a rey system to follow their movements, or else, these legends would just appear as shing lights to us!]


    Vasco still had arge smile on his face, gearing up for the next round. But unexpectedly for him, Kisuke''s ''eyes'' closed before the entire blood construct behind him disappeared along with his bloody aura retracting, returning to his default state.


    ''The way he matched the frequency of my attack with his own Holy Power... What a monstrous control. Despite that, he still has that explosive strength and vast aura to back up his polished swordsmanship. It''s as if I''m fighting against Zaraki, but this time, he is properly trained in the way of the sword. He is, without a doubt, an exceptional genius that has invested years in martial arts.'' Kisuke thought while looking at the longsword in his hand. If it was pure martial arts, he''d have no way of contending against him, however, Kisuke''s talenty in ''creating'' and not ''fighting''. He had his own way to do things.


    Vasco''s smile also disappeared as he asked, "What''s wrong? Don''t tell me that you''re already stopping here."


    Kisuke shook his head, "Nope. I just thought that facing you with an iplete skill would be too arrogant of me." Without thinking too much about it, Kisuke injected his own power into Athena''s Divine Weapon. And a secondter, he was surprised to find out that the longsword began to change its shape and now had be a katana suitable for his hand.


    What was more surprising was that he had a feeling that he could use his Zanpakuto techniques with it, so he immediately tested it out by swinging it towards Vasco and a crimson arc immediately emerged from it. Vasco didn''t even attempt to block it and just shifted his body to the side before looking back and seeing the crimson arc cleave the mountain in twain before disappearing.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, quickly turned around and called out to Athena, who was engaging with Crom, "Oi, Athena-san! Do you have more of these? Give me one!"


    Athena, already shocked by what he did, disengaged and shouted back, "There''s only one of those! And how can you even activate it in the first ce!? Are you a Deity or something!?"


    "My father is a Human and my mother is a proud Devil. I don''t think that''s the case." Kisuke answered normally.


    "No! My point is that only those with Divine Power could activate my Myriad Aegis! So how are you doing it!?"


    Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Vasco who was now making an amused expression, "Who knows? It''s your thing so you''d have a better idea."

 Chapter 884 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory 6

    Chapter 884 Urahara Shouten VS Team Gremory 6


    Kisuke had already gotten what he wanted to know and ignored Athena''s incessant questions to instead face Vasco. Although it was revealed to the whole world that he could use a weapon that could only be activated by Divine Power, instead of making things clear, it only further fogged everyone''s perception of his true abilities.


    As the two of them took their stances, no further words were needed and both of them dashed at each other.


    Vasco''s greatsword looked like a one-handed sword due to his build and it wasn''t the slightest inferior to the speed of Kisuke''s katana. As they were about to hit each other''s de, Vasco anticipated the shock and braced himself ordingly. However, the moment they met, Vasco''s Durandall II went through Kisuke''s katana and shed through him, "!?"


    Vasco immediately figured out that it was an afterimage, but he had already took this into ount so the palm of his free hand turned towards his back along with his head and a wave of pure Holy Power emerged from his hand before he could even see Kisuke from the corner of his eyes, attempting to slice his back.


    The beam of light went through Kisuke''s stomach and came out of his back. Vasco saw Kisuke''s expression change and also felt the resistance so he was sure it wasn''t an afterimage. However, something felt weird about the situation and he immediately turned his head back to the front, only to see Kisuke stepping on his sword with a grin on his face and his katana about to reach his neck.


    Vasco hurriedly pulled all the Holy Power he could manage in that instant and invested everything on his neck, bolstering its defense to an unbelievable level. Kisuke''s katana met Vasco''s neck brimming with Holy Power and as if a metal-to-metal sh just happened, a loud ng was heard throughout the whole battlefield.


    Even then, Vasco felt that something was still wrong as Kisuke''s strike was weaker than he expected. Nheless, he can''t forever be on the defensive, so he turned his sword upward and put his strength into the arm that was holding it. But before he could swipe it up to cut Kisuke, Vasco felt something pierce through the skin on his back and had no signs of stopping.


    For the first time, Vasco felt the threat of death in this match and instantly jumped forward before the foreign object could pierce through his heart.


    Ten meters or so away, Vasco stopped and turned around to see the ''Kisuke'' he pierced through the stomach had the de of a katana sticking out from its chest. Finally, the Gigai couldn''t maintain its form and popped like a balloon, revealing the real Kisuke behind it thrusting his de.


    As for the Gigai that was stepping on Vasco''s sword, it also popped when it received damage from Vasco passing through it.


    Vasco breathed a sigh of relief. But when he saw Kisuke sheathing his katana in the scabbard that had appeared out of nowhere, he shuddered and thought, ''I have to dodge it!'' Unfortunately for him, he was standing right where Kisuke had been standing earlier and a Magic Circle suddenly appeared beneath his feet before chains made out of Magic Power instantly wrapped around his legs.


    The chains weren''t strong enough to contain someone like Vasco and could only hold him for a second. However, that one second was enough for Vasco to forgo dodging and do his best to defend since it was already toote.


    Vasco gritted his teeth and raised his Durandal II horizontally and transferred as much Holy Power in it as possible.


    "Hitotsume: Nadegiri (The First: Killing Stroke)." Kisuke softly muttered as he pulled his de out.


    After that, there was only silence. Even the other three battles happening around the battlefield stopped to see what was going on.


    While Kisuke was putting his de back to its sheath, the overwhelming amount of Holy Power around Vasco also began retracting.


    Kisuke turned to his side and Vasco started chuckling, "So all of that was to create an opportunity for that one single strike... Magnificent."


    From his left shoulder until his right nk, a single cut emerged from Vasco''srge body and arge amount of blood spurted out from it. However, the most surprising thing is that the Durandall II was cut cleanly in half along with his body, and when it''s split half dropped to the ground, Vasco began turning into golden moats of light, signaling the retiring system taking over.


    Vasco was eliminated.


    As if on cue, Rias and Gasper were also already at the limit of their stamina and their transformation was undone. While they had some of the most destructive firepower, they also had the worst fuel consumption. With Vasco out of the scene and the rest of her teammates busy with their own battles, Rias already knew that this was it.


    But until the end, throughout the whole match, nothing went ording to her n. Before she could dere her surrender, Kisuke beat her to it by raising his hand first and saying, "I surrender!"


    "W-what!?"


    Not just Rias, but everyone on the field almost couldn''t believe what they''d just heard. On the outside, the audience that was still cheering for the amazing duel, was instantly silenced by his deration. In spite of that, the retiring system didn''t have a will of its own and after hearing the mand'' it ended the match and began ejecting everyone in the field.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" Crom calmly asked Athena.


    Athena shook her head with a dry smile, "I don''t know. None of us truly knows what he''s thinking. But I can assure you that this isn''t him mocking you or your teammates. Everything is probably for his own benefit."


    Crom sighed but the rage he was bottling up started to evaporate, "I see. I hope we can face each other on the battlefield again. I also want a rematch with him. It''s my loss this time."


    "The next battlefield is probably nearer than you think but this time, we''ll probably be on the same side."


    "Are you talking about the Alliance of Hell?"


    Athena shook her head but didn''t borate her answer, ''It''s just a guess at this point.''


    While leaving Crom confused, both of them disappeared.


    Yuuto and Genshirou are standing side by side while branding the scenery in their minds, "This... I assume it''s for a good reason?" Yuuto muttered.


    Genshirou deactivated his Bnce Breaker and shrugged his shoulders, "Most probably, but I don''t know him well enough to be sure. Aside from those who are close to him, he''s a big enigma."


    "I just hope this isn''t one of his pranks. If it is, it''s just so tasteless that it''s not even infuriating, just disrespectful."


    "If we''re going to use my time with him as a metric, I don''t think that''s the case."


    "If you say so, then I''ll believe you."


    Soon enough, the two of them also disappeared.


    Rias was about to shout her grievances at him for stepping on her pride, but before she could say anything, Kisuke turned and waved at her, "I''ll formally apologizeter to you and everyone on your team. Either way, this match was our defeat, even if I didn''t admit defeat."


    Editors:


    28th00: I wonder how badly he rigged those bets this time? Well, he was already nning on dropping out, since there wasn''t really any more reason to continue, but man, everyone is gonna feel jilted!

 Chapter 885 Reincarnated Elf

    Chapter 885 Reincarnated Elf


    There are multiple reasons why Kisuke had dered his surrender, but the biggest cause was that it wasn''t worth it anymore to continue what he wanted to happen when there was already a better and cheaper option. And while in the match, Kisuke had felt Tartarus move and he couldn''t be caught in a match when things finally exploded, ''It''ll probably be fair to say that after Athena and Nyx''s reveal, they''d probably time it when I''m busy.''


    Kisuke watched as the scenery beyond the window changed as the train he was riding appeared above the vast Gremory Territory. Upon a single nce, Kisuke immediately saw the difference between this and the Belial Territory, ''At least a thousand times richer.''


    It has been a week since their team''s match against Rias Gremory and he''s on the way to the Gremory Mansion to issue his formal apology. However, that wasn''t the real reason he was there.


    "It''s still really hard to get used to this form of transportation." said Riveria, who was beside him and also looking out of the window.


    "It''s convenient transportation that uses Magic. If this was the Human world, It''d take a few hours on a ne."


    Riveria looked at him and said, "You mean that flying piece of metal? I understood how it works but I still can''t wrap my head around the enormous force it could generate on its wings without the use of Magic."


    "In hindsight, you''re the same as the inhabitants of the Human world. You''ve only ever known one face of the world you''re living in."


    Riveria became quiet for a moment to digest his short words, "I see... So I''m like those that would have thought ''Magic'' is fantastical the first time I saw it."


    "For you, it won''t actually take long to get used to all of this. Although you did have quite the stern belief of how the world worked back then, I took my time breaking those notions."


    Riveria sneered at him and said, "Took your time!? You outright almost made someone insane! If it wasn''t for our Familia that had been open-minded from the start, you could have made enemies everywhere. Don''t underestimate a God''s pride. Not that I''m saying that Loki is not prideful."


    "Besides..." Riveria then turned her head to the side and a pair of ck bat-like wings behind her, "There''s no way I wouldn''t get used to this fast... It''s too convenient."


    Kisuke looked at her wings and asked, "How are you feeling?"


    "I''m feeling fine..." Riveria thought about it again and said, "I''m actually feeling so fine that it''s scary. Heightened Physical Power that''s on par with a Level 3 and Magic Power that''s equivalent to a Level 5. The fact that I got those without any difficulty, I can''t help but worry."


    "So you''re not impressed by night vision and flight?"


    "I am! But it''s really worrying... It''s as if I''m doing something wrong. You already went through the various tests I took this morning, didn''t you? Could you reassure me that nothing is wrong?"


    Kisuke looked at Riveria''s genuinely worried expression and asked, "What''s wrong? It''s not like you to get worried like this. I know where you''reing from, but I think you''re over-exaggerating."


    Riveria shook her head and looked back to the beautiful scenery, "...I saw someone get drunk with the power they suddenly gained in the past. I kept telling myself that there was no way something like that was going to happen to me even if we were in the same situation. However, I was still young back then and the sight of himself, destroying everything around him, including himself and his loved ones left quite a strong image that I haven''t been able to shake since then."


    "You don''t have to shake it away." Kisuke turned his sights back outside, "Just think of it as a good reminder to not lose control of yourself.", and Kisuke thought to himself, ''And if you can look past that fear, you may be able to achieve something amazing.''


    "I can''t really tell you everything I found out since you won''t understand most of it anyway, but to answer your concern and confusion, reincarnating you into a Devil filled most of what was taken back from you."


    Riveria stared at him curiously and waited.


    "Your body is the vessel for your soul. While the Falna primarily evolves the soul, the body has to be shaped to contain it. For each level, your soul would undergo a change. Your body, however, can''t change that fast so in response, as you fought for the Excelia needed for the next evolution, you also improved your body, which represented your stats."


    "The best analogy to understand it, though not entirely urate and oversimplified, would be a cup containing water with the cup as your body and water as your soul. Every time you Level, the water slowly fills up but before it could spill, the cup also erges to contain it. When your level was reset, the water returned to its initial levels, but the cup remained unchanged."


    "In the process of reincarnating, aside from some changes to the cup, its size hasn''t changed, even if it was mostly empty till now. The reason why you have the abilities you have now is that I''m substituting my ''Demonic Power'' to fill up that cup. In other words, I''m just returning what you had before, albeit, not entirely the same."


    Riveria looked at her hands and muttered, "I see... So that''s how it is. Even though it should be very simr to my own Level back then, it felt very unfamiliar." She then looked back to Kisuke to ask, "But is it fine for me to take the position of Queen? From my understanding, that position is basically your right-hand man. Shouldn''t that be someone from your group?"


    "No one among them could actually be my servant as every single one of them has developed so that reincarnating to a Devil would only bring more problems than benefits."


    For this whole week, Riveria had been studying all sorts of things, but mainly how the factions work and affect the day to day life of people and there''s one thing she concluded but wasn''t so sure about it, "So your group was already an abnormality, even by this world''s standard."


    "That''s too much. We''re just a bit more unique than the rest. But enough about that. I''m actually surprised that you epted..."


    "You thought that I''d be clinging to the fact that I''m an Elf? I might have... If I didn''t bury myself among all those materials for the whole week."


    "Oh? What changed your mind? ''Cause I can safely assume that it''s not for immediate power."


    "It''s because I don''t want to lose. Not to you, and not to this world. If I continue clinging to my not so important race, I''d feel too small."


    "So now that you went ahead with it, how do you feel?"


    "I feel like I stepped over a ridge. Somehow, I have a feeling that things will be a lot easier from now on." Riveria then disyed a big teasing smile on her face and asked, "Now that I''ve be your servant, should I call you master?"


    Kisuke chuckled and replied, "Yours is a stark contrast to Medusa. I like the sarcastic tone though, so please go ahead."

 Chapter 886 Regretable Elf

    Chapter 886 Regretable Elf


    "H-hey, Kisuke... You mentioned it was a mansion.", asked Riveria while standing in front of the enormous structure, "This is a castle."


    "It''s technically a castle, and it''s even wider inside. But most of the locals here refer to it as the Gremory Mansion. Whether it''s something that they came up with themselves or someone pushed for it from the background, I don''t know."


    Kisuke and Riveria were currently being escorted through the wide drawbridge by several Gremory Agents. After some security clearances, they went through the front door where Yuuto Kiba and Xenovia Quarta were waiting, "Good morning. Wee to the Gremory estate." Yuuto greeted them with a refreshing smile.


    "Good day to you too, Kiba-san, Quarta-san. It has been a while."


    "Yes. It has been a while." Xenovia then turned to the agents around them and said, "We''ll take it from here. Thank you for the hard work."


    The agents nodded before all of them exited the castle to resume their duties.


    After all of them went away, Yuuto stepped in front of Riveria and introduced himself, "Excuse me, but I believe we haven''t met before. It''s nice to meet you, I''m Yuuto Kiba, Knight of Rias Gremory."


    "And I''m Xenovia Quarta, Knight of Issei Hyoudou. d to make your acquaintance."


    The Elf in a ck suit and high heels slightly bowed her head and responded, "It''s also a pleasure to meet you. I''m Riveria Ljos Alf, Queen of Kisuke Urahara."


    Yuuto and Xenovia had their eyes wide open when they heard her and looked at each to make sure that they weren''t hearing things.


    Meanwhile, Riveria took a peek at Kisuke to ask him if she was doing it right. Although he did say that a normal introduction is fine, she''s still worried knowing that the Gremory is one of the 72 pirs of the Underworld.


    Kisuke patted her shoulder to reassure her and addressed the two Knights'' surprise, "No need to be surprised. Even though I''m like this, I''m still the heir to the House of Belial. This is the least I can do."


    Yuuto immediately started shaking his head, "No, no. We apologize. We didn''t mean to demean you. We were surprised that you actually established your own peerage when we thought you couldn''t possibly be pressured into making one."


    Riveria furrowed her brows and asked Kisuke, "Just what could you have possibly done for them to react this way?"


    While Yuuto could only smile wryly, Xenovia didn''t have the same reservations and answered blunty, "There''s just too many to list. Overall, he''s so entric that there''s no use questioning his actions. Even in today''s meeting, I''m expecting him to do some things out of the norm and one of those is insisting that he''s just a small store owner."


    Offended, Kisuke immediately corrected her, "Hey! I''m a humble candy store owner before everything else!"


    But Xenovia just rudely pointed at him and turned to Riveria with a ''See?'' expression.


    "So it wasn''t just your disguise?"


    Kisuke responded with a shocked expression, "H-hey... Weren''t we doing business when we met? That''s my primary job, you know?"


    Riveria recalled the small shop that Hestia Familia had beside the abandoned church and sneered at him, "Well, you''re clearly not very good at it."


    Without any rebuttal for that, Kisuke decided not to pull his punches and took out a deck of pictures and gave it to Riveria.


    Riveria doesn''t know what these are but she became careful and turned around so that only she could see them. As she went through the pictures, however, her body began shaking and seething in embarrassment, "You bastard... Since when did you take these, you perverted bastard?"


    It was the pictures of their date, but not the normally captured ones, instead, all of it was her ''blunders'' with the worst ones being when she was in the clothing shop and was sneakily trying out some risque choices, "You''re ndering me~" Kisuke replied with a grin, "I never peeked. You were just wrong to trust that clerk. But don''t worry, I made sure to ask her not to take anything when you were not pletely'' dressed."


    With a flushed face and ears, Riveria shoved a photo of her in ck underwear with an expression simr to what she''s making now, "This ispletely dressed!?"


    But instead of a reply, Riveria was only met with silence with Kisuke just staring at the photo with a serious expression, "W-what''s wrong?"


    "This is the first time I''ve seen it," Kisuke answered honestly.


    "...Huh?"


    "Although I have them printed out, I haven''t actually seen any of them due to how busy I was this past week."


    Riveria hurriedly took her photo back, "Y-you...!"


    "Thank you for the treat."


    Riveria swung her foot and kicked Kisuke''s shin in retaliation, but she''d forgotten that something like this had already happened in the past. As soon as her foot made contact, she was reminded as the pain assaulted her toes... once again, "Kuuhhh..." She groaned in pain, "Why does it always end up like this?" She questioned her reality.


    Yuuto and Xenovia peeked at each other and both of them concluded that this regrettable Elf could be trusted to some extent.


    "Er... Everyone''s waiting inside so I''d like us to go in now, but if you want to rest for a bit, we could lead you to a private room." Yuuto returned to the topic at hand before Kisuke, the Elf, and Xenovia derailed it further.


    "She''ll be fine. Please lead the way."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke looked around the hall and found that most of those present were familiar faces. As the head of the house, Kisuke first greeted Zeoticus before everyone else, "This is our second time meeting, Zeoticus-sama. I''m d that you''re in good health."


    Zeoticus shook Kisuke''s hand and replied, "The first time was the ss observation day, wasn''t it? I''ve always wanted to talk to you regarding various topics but you seem to be a busy man, so I was reluctant to arrange anything. I''m happy that you''re here, regardless of the reason."


    "Thank you very much for your kind words."


    Letting out a smallugh from the side, the head''s wife interjected, "Please be at ease, dear. Today is just an informal meeting among friends. Your mother has also taken care of me in the past so let''s not treat each other as strangers."


    "So Venna-sama knew my mother."


    "Indeed." Zeoticus nodded in agreement while adding, "Venna was a bit of a tomboy back in the day and would always ask Sarah for treatment since she could keep her injuries from the Bael Hou..."


    Riveria wondered why he had stopped talking, but she immediately figured out the answer when she saw Venna''s hand hovering on Zeoticus'' side.


    "Ahem..." Zeoticus feigned a cough to diffuse the situation and changed the topic, "Kisuke-kun, would you mind introducing thedy beside you?"


    "Pardon us. This is Riveria Ljos Alf, the first member of my peerage."


    While Zeoticus and Venna were not really surprised, those of his peers who knew him well enough didn''t have the same stoic reaction... Except for Issei who muttered loudly, "A new girlfriend?"


    Riveria, who had stepped forward to introduce herself, almost tripped over nothing.


    Normally, Kisuke would have teased her here, however, he didn''t have enough attention to give her when Benihime was suddenly pulling out a lot of his energy reserves for her own use, [Hey! What''s going on!?]


    [I found something interesting while exploring the Realm of the Dead. I''m currently fighting over a thousand Devils and Grim Reapers to get to that interesting thing. I''ll give you the cue to open a spatial rift for me to escape once I get my hands on it.]

 Chapter 887 Black Coffin

    Chapter 887 ck Coffin


    [Couldn''t you have at least told me what you were going to do before you sprung this on me?]


    [That''s no good. I''m actually quite deep within the Realm of the Dead and any attempts to contact you would''ve alerted them.]


    [What was so interesting for you to take this risk?]


    [I''m not sure, but it looked like fun to have... And probably the main crux of their Artificial Devil factory.]


    [...That''s an important one. Could you hold on for a little bit longer? The most that I can do is to bring you to my side and I''m not exactly in a convenient location.]


    [You''re in Gremory Castle, aren''t you? It''s not really an inconvenient ce, so just do it. I''m about to grab this thing, by the way.]


    [If you say so...]


    "Is something the matter?" Out of all the people in the room, there was only one person who noticed their conversation. Valerie Tepes, a Dhampir and the owner of the Sephiroth Graal.


    Kisuke smiled at her and said, "I shouldn''t be surprised, but could you actually hear us?"


    Valerie hurriedly shook her head in defense, "Please don''t misunderstand. I could only tell that you''re talking with someone through your soul and not the actual contents of your conversation."


    "Though it seems like you can tell the state of my conversation partner for you to have asked that."


    Valerie didn''t deny it and exined, "You have an unusually good connection with that person, so it''s being conveyed quite clearly."


    Issei instantly guessed that the person Kisuke is talking to needs help based on their conversation and approached him, "Kisuke, do you need our help? I know you''re strong but there''s a limit to what two people could do."


    "Heh~. You won''t even ask if I''m doing something nasty?"


    But Issei just brushed off his words and said, "I''d be the first one to stop you. That''s what friends are there for, right?"


    Kisuke still had the same smile on his face, but a glint of killing intent appeared in his eyes while looking at Issei, "My~ Not to brag, but you might end up dead."


    Of course, this didn''t escape most of the people in the room''s notice with some of them even taking a stance against Kisuke.


    Issei, on the other hand, just shrugged his shoulders and responded, "I may not know what you''re up to these days... And maybe even in the past. However, I''m pretty sure that you still have the moral bottom line that you wouldn''t break. I remembered when we were kids that if one is going to acquire power, it is not just for protecting those important to you, but also to protect your bottom line. I never understood what you meant back then, but I do now."


    Issei''s expression then turned into a grin before continuing, "Besides, those girls probably wouldn''t have followed you if you were not a good guy."


    Kisuke''s killing intent disappeared as he sighed, "Where did the innocent and perverted kid back then, go?"


    "I don''t think innocent and perverted should be in the same sentence.", retorted Vali, who was leaning on the wall.


    Issei ignored him, "So, do you need our assistance?"


    "Thanks for the offer, but what I actually need is permission." Kisuke then turned to Zeoticus and said, "Mypanion said she found something interesting in the Realm of the Dead, but she''s in a deadlock. I want to summon her, but there is no more time to move somewhere else. May I open a summoning gate here?"


    Zeoticus, without asking anything further, nodded, "We''re technically already at war with Hades, so it doesn''t matter. And if it''s something interesting, it might help us with the uing battle. Go ahead. You may use this hall. I also don''t mind if you rough it up a bit."


    Zeoticus then turned around and beganmanding the servants to exit the ce and evacuate the nobatants just in case it may turn into a battle and also reduce the eyes that could see this ''interesting'' thing.


    "Thank you very much." Kisuke prepared to summon Benihime to his side while the others made defensive maneuvers around him without any question. Out of those in the room, only Milicas needed some protection and Grayfia could easily handle that.


    But while he was preparing the Magic, Kisuke frowned, [Just where are you? Why is it so hard to bend the space there?]


    [Probably in the deepest part. I had to go through countless security measures.]


    The corner of Kisuke''s mouth twitched as he knew exactly why she did it despite the risk, [Aren''t you having too much fun?]


    [Hey, life is too short.]


    [That doesn''t apply to you!]


    [But seriously. I need that exit now. They already know that I''m talking with someone else and Hades, along with some other Gods, are probablying, so they''re setting up a confinement spell.]


    [Hold on. The space around you is reinforced so it''ll be hard to pull you out immediately.] Kisuke then looked around and saw the figure he needed, "Pendragon-san, I might need a bit of your assistance."


    The blond siblings both pointed to themselves and asked, "Me?"


    "The younger Pendragon-san."


    The younger sister who was wearing sorcerer attire ran forward and said, "Call me Le Fay."


    "Then Le Fay-san, I heard from Kuroka that you''re good with Space Magic."


    Le Fay proudly thumped her chest and said, "The best in our team~!"


    "I''ll return the favorter so please handle the extraction."


    "I want your autograph~!"


    "...What?"


    "Your autograph!" Le Fay repeated with shining eyes.


    "Well that''s an expensive one, but you have the deal."


    "Great~!" Le Fay didn''t request anything else and started asking Kisuke about the specifics of her assistance.


    To the side, Lint Sellzen asked Ravel and Gasper about Kisuke''s autograph, "Is it that valuable? His autograph, I mean."


    Ravel crossed her arms and nodded, "Out of all Oppai Dragon characters, the one he''s based on is one of the popr ones. Despite that, only Bennia has his autograph and is being treated as some kind of heirloom."


    "...Eh? You mean that atrocious signature she kept parading around?"


    Ravel and Gasper hurriedly covered her mouth and looked towards Kisuke. Upon seeing that he wasn''t paying attention, however, they sighed in relief, "Don''t ever say that, even if it''s true! Or you won''t even know what''ll hit you!" Ravel reprimanded her with a very soft voice.


    Gasper nodded vigorously and whispered, "That''s right! He''s capable, but also incredibly petty!"


    "What should I do next?" asked Le Fay but there wasn''t any reply so she looked at him making a weird smile, "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing. It''s just that some kids have just entered my naughty list."


    ''Why are you suddenly ying Santa?'' Le Fay wanted to ask, but she didn''t because that smile of his gave her shivers.


    After a few minutes of adjustments, Kisuke and Le Fay were finally able to extract Benihime along with a cold ck coffin that exuded a dense Demonic Power.


    But along with it, something also awakened in the deepest part of the Gremory Castle.

 Chapter 888 Runeas Gremory

    Chapter 888 Runeas Gremory


    Benihime, wearing a white v-neck shirt, blue skinny jeans, and a fox mask over her face, stepped away from the coffin while carrying her katana. Kisuke followed her to ask her for theplete story first before examining the coffin because he found Benihime''s seal on it while also leaving Le Fay to reinforce and remove the traces of the summoning.


    "What exactly is that?... No... Since it''s a coffin, who exactly is that?" asked Kisuke while analyzing the Demonic Power that''sing off from it, ''It''s unusually dense but also a bit different that of normal Demonic Power?''


    "I don''t know." Benihime shrugged her shoulders, "When I arrived, some of Hades'' men seemed to be extracting blood samples from it. I took a peek and the only thing I could figure out was that it was a woman. I''m not really sure if she''s a Devil despite all of that Demonic Power, and the most surprising of all was that she''s still alive, even though her body was already half decayed. It must be an agonizing torture to be kept alive that way."


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment while Benihime was unsealing the coffin from her position and a certain person came to mind, which made him open his eyes wide, ''Could it be!?''


    "Benihime, don''t release the seal!" Kisuke turned around and saw that Riveria approached the coffin out of curiosity while no one else did because they were still in their defensive position, "Riveria!"


    Riveria stopped her steps and turned around with confusion, however, Kisuke couldn''t continue his words when a mass of Demonic Power exploded under them, crushing through all the floors and arriving in the hall. A young-looking beautiful woman withvender eyes and bright crimson eyes tied in a two-sided updo and a small crown-like essory on the top of her head.


    "P-Progenitor!?" Zeoticus eximed upon seeing the woman covered with a very dense crimson Demonic Power that''s only second to what a Super Devil could emit.


    However, the neer ignored his call and only set her eyes upon the coffin with great concern reflected on her eyes. And upon seeing Riveria who was closest to it, she immediately marked her a threat to the coffin and instantly took action. Instead of a normal set of Devil Wings, hers was made from pure crimson Demonic Power that she emitted. These crimson wings then pped, instantly propelling her forward in an attempt to remove the threat.


    All of a sudden, a man with pale blonde hair wearing an oriental outfit appeared in front of the green-haired Elf. However, that didn''t matter as he was only added to the list of threats. Extending her hand out, it was covered by her Demonic Power and formed into a set ofrge ws that was in no way inferior to Crom''s or maybe even sharper.


    Everyone else in the room tried to take action with Issei even going straight into his Cardinal Crimson Promotion form, Vali into his Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive mode, and Vasco releasing a massive amount of Holy Power in an attempt to stop the sh. But even then, they were already toote and saw Kisuke sighing to himself.


    It wouldn''t be wrong to say that he was pissed, however, not at the iing enemy, but at his own inadequacy. He''d already promised Riveria''s protection and safety and he wasn''t even bringing her anywhere dangerous, yet here he is, blocking an attack that would instantly kill her when something like this shouldn''t happen in the first ce.


    With that brief frustration taking over within him for an instant, he ended up going a bit overboard.


    As Kisuke took a stance to throw a punch, the sclera of his eyes turned ck and his pupils golden with a single angr horn sprouting on the right side of his head. His hair also grew longer along with the right half of his body being covered with Hollow matter, transforming his right arm into something more monstrous.


    Everyone was speechless with his sudden transformation, however, he''s still not done as five ''blood drums'' linked together appeared behind him, with three of them instantly opened into ''eyes'', abruptly spreading out an immense oppressive aura in all directions.


    Grayfia, Zeoticus, and Venna hurriedly deployed multiple barriers to protect everyone and those who could still move also did the same. Issei still wanted to jump in to stop them, but he was stopped by Vali and Vasco who both had cold sweat drenching their backs.


    After being drowned with Kisuke''s killing intent and pressure, the crimson-haired girl finally fully woke up and realized what she was doing. And when she saw the man in front of her gathering something extremely dangerous in his transformed hand, she stopped her flight in panic and yelled surrender, "W-wait!!! Stop! Stop!!!"


    Not just those around, but even Kisuke was taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor that resembled that of a child, ''...What?''


    Kisuke was confused because she didn''t seem to be acting and he was pretty confident in his ability to read expressions, "I won''t attack! I''m stopping now! So let''s have a truce! Please put that dangerous thing away! It''s scary!"


    While the girlnded her feet on the ground, Kisuke also slowly retracted the Gran Ray Cero he''d been gathering in his right hand that he wanted to use to st her into nonexistence, ''...She looks like a kid... She acts like a kid... I can''t really hit a kid without a better reason, can I?''


    Unlike Serafall, who had a pronounced childish side to her, the one in front of him was undeniably childish, which doesn''t make sense, ''He called her Progenitor, didn''t he? Then the one in the coffin is really...''


    If Kisuke''s guess was correct, then he could understand the actions of the girl in front of him.


    The girl sighed in relief but didn''t dare approach him any further, "W-who are you?"


    But Kisuke stayed silent with his transformation spreading slowly throughout his whole body as he continued to stare down the girl.


    Kisuke''s heavy intimidation didn''t just work on the girl, but on all of those around him. But even with a palpitating heart, Zeoticus had to do something, or at least say something to defuse the situation. Although, before he could step up, another young woman with ponytailed crimson hair silently appeared beside them and blocked him with her arm, "M-mother?"


    "Let them be. Just focus on protecting Milicas and Venna.", replied the woman.


    Zeoticus wanted to object but he trusted his mother''s judgment in the end, ''Just why did she wake up now? Is it because of that coffin?'', he asked himself while looking at the confrontation.


    "Ummm... Hello?", asked the girl in front of Kisuke, "B-big brother, who are you?"


    The members of the Gremory family except for Milicas almost retorted, but they were able to collectively calm themselves, partly thanks to the scary auraing off of Kisuke.


    As Kisuke''s second horn fully formed and the other half of his body became fully white, he finally answered, "Shouldn''t you be saying something first?"


    The girl thought for a bit before realizing it, "Ah... Where''re my manners? I sincerely apologize for attacking first, big brother. I''m Runeas Gremory." She introduced herself before pointing towards the coffin behind him, "And the one behind you is my mother."


    Those who already knew who Runeas was were stunned at her announcement.


    "Runeas? Why does that name sound familiar?" asked Crom, who''d already returned to his human form.


    "Runeas Gremory, the original Gremory.", answered Vasco who didn''t ease up.


    "T-the original Gremory? That''s Rias'' ancestor? So she''s still alive...", muttered Issei, but then he recalled what she''d just said, "W-wait. Her mother? T-then inside that coffin is..."


    "There''s only one mother all of the 72 original Devils ever knew." Vali sighed while also taking back his armor, trying to withstand Kisuke''s pressure dryly, "Should I say that as expected of hispanion? To just swipe the coffin containing the mother of all Devils and my great-grandmother."


    "Lilith..." muttered Issei.


    However, that wasn''t the most interesting thing for Vasco, "More importantly, what is Kisuke Urahara?"


    A smile shed across Crom''s face and said, "Who knows? Only one thing that I''m sure of is that he has been holding back."

 Chapter 889 Mother of all Devils

    Chapter 889 Mother of all Devils


    While Kisuke and Runeas were still having a standoff, Benihime silently pulled the stunned Riveria to the side. After the former sent a stream of energy to thetter to help her block the oppressive aura, Riveria was finally able to recall how to breathe and panted hard while holding her chest in pain.


    Benihime patted her back andforted her, "There, there... Take it easy. You''re safe now."


    Still confused about what was happening, Riveria returned her blurry sight back to the confrontation and the first thing she saw was Kisuke''s monstrous form, "W-what... What... is going on?"


    Benihime didn''t say anything and just allowed her to stare at Kisuke, wanting to know what was going to be her initial reaction. Knowing her origin, Benihime didn''t think she''d have a positive response to this.


    "What... is he?", Riveria softly asked while trying to focus her mind.


    Benihime got closer to her left ear and whispered, "You don''t know? In your world, that''s the very definition of a monster."


    Riveria''s expression instantly became darker as she calmed the rhythm of her breathing. Under the mask, a small smile formed on her mouth, however, her eyes didn''t say the same as she gave her a stare full of disappointment. But that''s until she felt the movement of Demonic Power on Riveria''s arm and a Magic de instantly extended from her hand.


    Benihime bent her back away to dodge the de that cut the corner of her mask before jumping away to secure some space from the angry Elf, "My~ How rude of you to attack someone who''d just saved your life."


    Riveria shook her head to shake away the dizziness she was feeling and stared back at the fox-masked woman, "I''m just returning the rudeness of you calling a friend of mine a monster. And if someone saved me, it would be Kisuke, who went in front of me."


    The disappointment immediately left Benihime''s eyes with a chuckle, "Well, I guess that''s true." She then looked at Kisuke who was already looking in their direction and winked at him, "Ufufufu~ And now that I''ve brought this interesting thing, my job here is done." After saying that, Benihime disappeared with a very familiar sh Step, instantly leaving the scene after bringing Kisuke some trouble.


    But before her aurapletely left, Benihime left a few words only for Riveria to hear, "Aren''t you one lucky girl? For him to reveal some of the cards he had been keeping for an emergency just to protect you from a bit of danger."


    Riveria''s eyes went wide open and her mind went nk.


    ''She didn''t know, but that didn''t mean that she didn''t have any ideas about what was inside the coffin. She''d brought this thing here knowing it might cause problems.. Hahhh... Just where did she inherit that fondness of messing with everyone?'' Meanwhile, Kisuke didn''t want to admit it himself.


    ''But even if that''s the case, it''s a good opportunity to meet an original Devil.'' Kisuke returned his sights to the already restless ''young'' Devil.


    A few seconds more passed and then the oppressive aura Kisuke had been releasing finally receded, with him returning to his original form. But instead of talking to Runeas, Kisuke ced his right hand on his nape to grab something before throwing it toward Riveria.


    As it traveled through the air, the thing he threw sparkled in a green light, and when it reached in front of the Elf, it stopped before forming a series of green hexagonal shields around her, "Stay there for now. But if things go south, those shields should be able to protect you for a good while."


    But instead of being d, Riveria only felt bad and frustrated, ''This helplessness... It''s been a while... But as I expected, I still hate it.'' She thought while looking at the hexagonal shields revolving around her. She recalled Benihime''s words and got a bit embarrassed before sighing in frustration, ''I will have to apologizeter. But the better thing to do is to work on myself so that I won''t need any saving in the first ce.''


    After making sure that the ''Milln Escudo'' was properly integrated on Riveria and changed its state into automatic activation, Kisuke turned back and raised his right hand, pouring out the unique energy that he''d finally decided to call Origin, since it''s a mixture of everything he knew how to use, "Kurohitsugi."


    The oppression momentarily returned and Runeas prepared to defend herself as she saw jet ck walls rise up from the floor, covering both her, Kisuke, and the coffin, "What are you doing!?"


    Runeas was about to bash through the forming walls but Kisuke stopped her by saying, "Making a private ce to talk."


    The ws and wings she''d brought out again were taken back and formed into a thin film of dense Demonic Power around her.


    As soon as the ck walls connected, they also extended to form a ceiling and a floor,pletely sealing the two people and the coffin away from the world, "I understand that you would want to protect your mother, but why did you suddenly attack?" Kisuke started while stepping away from the coffin. At this point, Benihime''s seal on it was already gone.


    Runeas approached the coffin and answered, "Because I was half-asleep. The moment I felt my mother''s presence and how someone unknown was beside her, I automatically assumed the worst." Opening the coffin, Runeas'' beautiful face couldn''t help but grimace, "...How awful."


    Kisuke returned and took a peek and even he couldn''t maintain a stoic expression, "I think it''s a few more degrees than that. This is quite the distasteful torture."


    With only a few strands of ck hair hanging from her scalp, Lilith was a half-dried-up ''corpse'' with her flesh gone from her lower stomach until her feet and her almost rotting organs hanging out. But despite all of this, she was still breathing and her was heart beating, albeit, very softly and slowly, "Whoever did this to her, did a great job in keeping her alive.", added Kisuke in a sarcastic tone.


    Runeas gritted her teeth and gently touched Lilith''s face, "Unforgivable..."


    Kisuke stared at the shaking Runeas for a few moments before saying, "Mypanion grabbed her from the depths of the Realm of the Dead, but I doubt that it was Hades and his happy friends who did this considering the age of the spell ced on her."


    "...Why are you so sure it wasn''t them who did this?" asked Runeas with glowingvender eyes.


    Kisuke closed his eyes and answered, "Because they are using her to create more Devils that will work under them."


    The moment she heard that Runeas'' aura exploded outwards, cracking the jet-ck walls just from the initial impact.


    Kisuke sighed and patted her shoulder, "Calm down for now. The fact that they''ve only started doing this recently meant that they didn''t have her that long. Though that doesn''t really change the fact that they''re doing something nasty." But while saying this, a certain individual entered his head, ''Kurotsuchi-san would have done it too, I guess?''


    Runeas'' aura abated but the intensity around her hasn''t disappeared, "I''m going to destroy them."


    "That sounds fun, but the issue here isn''t them, but Lilith-san." Kisuke then looked towards Lilith and said, "I present you two choices. One, and the easier one of the two, is death. The other one... Well, I can see a way for restoration. It''s not going to be easy or cheap, though."


    Runeas looked at him in shock, "Restoration? You mean healing her!? You can do that!? Please-"


    "Hold on." Kisuke interrupted her by putting his hand in front of her face, "I''m not asking you."


    "Heh?"


    "I told you, right? This is distasteful torture. What is torture if you can''t feel it?"


    While still confused, Runeas suddenly heard a woman''s voice resounding in her head, [What''s the price of restoration?]

 Chapter 890 Hope for Restoration

    Chapter 890 Hope for Restoration


    "EH!?" Runeas snapped her head back to Lilith and saw that nothing was different and thought that she was just imagining things, until Kisuke answered, "Your full cooperation. Without sugarcoating it, I''ll technically be your new ''owner''."


    [I''d like to negotiate.], Lilith replied back, making Runeas further speechless and confused.


    "Please go ahead and tell me what you think. I''m willing to make a few concessions."


    Runeas head finally caught up and jumped towards Kisuke while grabbing his cor, "Wait, wait! What do you mean you''re the new owner!? What are you trying to do!?"


    [Runeas...] Lilith called her name but she still didn''t let go of Kisuke, "I won''t allow it!"


    Kisuke stared down at her and replied, "I''m not asking you."


    Naturally, Runeas couldn''t ept that kind of answer and raised her voice, "Even if you''re not asking me, taking full control of her just because you can heal her is too much!"


    "I''m not running a charity here.", Kisuke replied coldly, "Besides, you don''t have the right to decide for her."


    "I don''t! But that doesn''t mean we have to listen to you!" Runeas turned to Lilith and said, "Mother, we have a lot more options than what he''s offering. Not to mention, there''s no guarantee any of what he''s saying is true!"


    From this point on, Kisuke decided to stay quiet. If they want to, they can indeed seek help outside of their own. However, Kisuke also knew that Lilith was aware of her surroundings despite her current state.


    [Aside from him, I don''t know anyone that could help me or even want to reveal my current situation to.]


    "What!?" Runeas let go of Kisuke, "How can you be so sure, Mother!"


    [I''m not, but I''m sure that I know more than you.]


    "W-" [Runeas.], Lilith didn''t allow her to interrupt, [Looking at you right now, you probably put yourself into deep sleep after the Great War. You haven''t changed much since then. I see that you''re still that yful kid.]


    Runeas became quiet as that''s exactly what she did. To preserve her own mind and maturity, she slept for centuries, only waking up when there was something going on. It was unknown why she chose to do this, but this was the main reason why Kisuke was weirded out by her, ''No wonder...'' Thought Kisuke while looking at Runeas and also figuring out how he could make use of this to his advantage.


    [I don''t remember how I ended up like this because it was only recently that I woke up to Rizevim holding on to me and Hades just now. Both of them tried to restore me to some degree because I''m more useful to them plete'', but their researchers that came from various backgrounds failed to do anything. In which case, I doubt anyone else out there could properly help me.]


    "B-but..."


    [But while they weren''t able to do anything, Hades has been very vocal about a certain individual that he wanted to take in from at some point.]


    "I suppose that''s me?"


    [Dark green oriental clothing and striking green and white striped bucket hat covering his pale blonde hair. Hades would often mention a genius that could help him progress in a lot of things rting to the soul. But s, the two of you are enemies due to a certain prophecy that a God beside him kept mentioning.]


    ''Hades thought of that? Looks like the documents I passed to both Azazel and Dn were leaked to him.'' Kisuke thought for a bit before replying with a chuckle, "I never expected him to think so highly of me."


    [So please, let me ask this before we start our negotiation. Do you really have a way to restore me?]


    "Hmmm... From the looks of it, you''re currently in a Time seal which binds you to the very state you''re currently in. Any attempt of healing or even killing you would be very hard as you would only revert back in time. Still, it allows you to retain your consciousness and sense of mind, so you''re not entirely covered by this spell."


    [That''s also what Rizevim''s men and Hades figured out, except for thetter since I never revealed that I''m conscious of what''s happening around me.]


    "With that in mind, the first thing I could think of is to take advantage of that hole and break the seal from there." added Kisuke. Nevertheless, he doubts something like that would work since the seal was sophisticated enough to leave her mind alone, so it probably had a failsafe around there, and probing that part may cause some idents. Even then, Kisuke had to give her an answer that was concrete and believable to gain her trust, ''If that doesn''t work, reversing causality should work, since it goes directly against the concept of time.''


    "After that, the restoration itself can be started. It''ll take many tests and experiments to achieve this but it shouldn''t be impossible."


    [Is that so... Then if you''re sessful in restoring me, I''ll give my all to you and only you.]


    "Mother..." Runeas muttered on the side while gritting her teeth. She never hated her immaturity until now.


    [But in exchange... Please allow me to roam around on my own feet. I want to see and experience the world, even if it''s just a small part of it.]


    Kisuke could finally understand her desperation, ''So she just wanted a bit of freedom. Just how shitty was her life for her to request something so small in exchange for fully controlling her.''


    Kisuke nodded, "How about we talk about this more once we are sure to seed in your restoration."


    "What!?" Runeas reacted strongly, "Mother was just asking something very trivial yet you want to dy this!?"


    Kisuke''s hand moved so fast and silently, without any hints of malicious threat, that Runeas failed to react when Kisuke flicked her forehead, sending her flying back, "OUCH!!!"


    "Are you an idiot? I''m dying it because she''s asking for too little. While I''d take all the advantages that I can get, I''ll never sell an overpriced ''product''. And besides, even though I want her to have a positive outlook on this, I also don''t want her to have any false hope. I was able to give an answer, but that''s just after my initial observations."


    Runeas slowly stood up and pouted as she nursed the lump on her forehead, "...Can you really help mother?"


    "It might prove difficult, but I can. At least from what I''m seeing now."


    "...Who are you anyway? And why are you at the heart of my territory?"


    "Kisuke Urahara. I can at least say that I''m on friendly enough terms with the Gremory Household to be invited over."

 Chapter 891 Private Meeting

    Chapter 891 Private Meeting


    Half an hour had already psed when the ck box began receding, revealing Kisuke, Runeas, and the coffin with no apparent changespared to when they were trapped.


    Runeas was the first one to move and walked towards Zeoticus, Venna, Chysis, Grayfia, and Millicas huddled together. The surroundings were still a mess with furniture broken and pieces of wood and concrete scattered around from Runeas emerging from the lower floors. Zeoticus, however, was reluctant to call any guards and servants to clean up due to how sensitive this matter is.


    "Chysis, Zeoticus. Follow me." Runeasmanded with an unusually serious tone that thetter never heard before.


    Chysis nodded and said, "Understood."


    Zeoticus, meanwhile, looked towards Kisuke, who was putting his arm forward before unknown runes lit up on it and extended into the air before forming a Magic Circle twice as tall as him. Kisuke then directed that Magic Circle towards the coffin, letting it pass through it and disappear on the other side. He wanted to ask where he is taking the coffin, but with Runeas just walking away from it casually, she probably had an exnation and instructions regarding it, "Progenitor, if I may, I''d like to bring my wife along."


    "That''s fine," Runeas answered shortly.


    Zeoticus and Venna nodded at each other before thetter turned to Grayfia, "Grayfia, I''ll leave the cleaning up to you. Make sure none of this goes out."


    "I will do my utmost." Grayfia bowed and saw them leaving through the doors leading to the inner halls.


    After taking care of the coffin, Kisuke approached Rias'', Issei''s, and Vali''s group with Riveria on the side as if nothing has happened, "Yo~ It''s great to see that everyone''s getting along just fine~!" Kisuke greeted them with a smile.


    The contrasting image of his cheerful demeanor and demolished surroundings gave a surreal feeling to those who were not used to his antics, "W-what''s this? He''s scary..." Bova Tannin, the third son of the former Dragon King Tannin muttered while hiding behind Crom.


    "It''s funny to see Bova-san being scared like this while he usually acts like a delinquent.", whispered Lint to Valerie. Gasper also heard her words and added, "He''s really scary though!? I want to forget what happened earlier too!"


    "You''re as ridiculous as ever. You''re just going to pretend like nothing happened?" Vali asked with a chuckle.


    But Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and replied, "What is there to pretend? It was already a settled matter and it''s not like I''m the one who made a mess of this ce."


    "That is true."


    "Well then," Kisuke turned to Rias but before he could continue, she interrupted him, "Wait. Before you say what you want, let''s move to a different ce. Yourpanion here was telling us a very interesting story so we''d like to hear more of it. Besides, you''re not here just to apologize to my team, are you?"


    "You didn''t tell me to hide where I came from, so it''s fine, right?" Riveria asked.


    "That''s fine." Kisuke nodded and didn''t deny Rias'' words, "Please lead the way~"


    In reality, however, Riveria and Kisuke had already talked about what they could reveal to them before they arrived and just pretended that Riveria was just casually mentioning things. While she doesn''t know what Kisuke was nning, she guessed that this is in rtion to what Line mentioned about the Age of Gods.


    While walking through the busy hall, Kisuke looked around once again and reviewed each group. On Rias'' team, all of her teammates aside from her Queen, Tsubaki Shinra and Rook, Loup Garou were present. On Issei''s side, only Ravel, Xenovia, and Bova were present while only the Pendragon siblings came with Vali.


    "Aren''t you going to ask what happened with the coffin or what I talked about with your Ancestor?", asked Kisuke to Rias who''s walking in front.


    Without stopping or turning in his direction, she answered, "You already said that it''s settled. And if I''m going to hear about it, it''lle from my father so I''ll spare you the effort of exining it halfheartedly."


    "My~ I''m thankful. It''s really a pain to talk about it."


    Rias led everyone to an inner garden with maids setting up the table for everyone to have a small snack to apany their discussions. After everyone settled on their spots, Kisuke finally issued his formal apology and exined that they still would''ve won the match, because Nyx and Seekvaira''s barrier went against the rules of the Rating Game. Its istion effect was so strong that even the Retiring System hardly worked inside of it and no one really noticed it immediately due to how shy the other battlefronts were. So from the start, they''d already lost the match and Kisuke just yed along to gather some information about Vasco and Crom.


    Rias epted it before she startedining, "You didn''t really have to apologize for that, since I don''t think it''s any better than being dered as winners after wiping the floor with us. Though I would have really appreciated it if you wouldn''t have left me alone to deal with the media. It was a literal hell to deal with them when I didn''t know exactly what was going on."


    "No way~" Kisuke instantly rejected that notion, "The media aside, the reason I left as soon as the match ended and refused to give any interviews is that there are other people there that I really don''t want to get caught with."


    "It''s Indra, isn''t it?" Issei muttered.


    "Yep~ Nice guess. Were you invited?"


    Issei sighed as he nodded, "He did ask me to join him in a war against Shiva, but I refused. Of course, I could only do that because I had the Gremory and Bael Households behind me. Being a public figure also helped."


    "I got the same invitation too." Vali interjected, "But I''m an honorary officer of Grigori so he can''t really force me either. Though that''s probably going to be hard for you with the Belial''s current state." Vali then recalled the fox-masked woman who apparently snatched Lilith''s coffin and added, "And you being so secretive of your own forces, regardless of their strength and influence."


    "As such, the easiest way is to avoid him like the gue. Thankfully, he likes extending his invitation personally, so it''s easy to spot him."


    Soon after, the main point of discussion moved to Riveria and the world where she came from. Riveria would patiently answer any and each of their questions and the rules of her world appears to fascinate everyone listening.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke asked Issei and Vali to follow him for a bit and Rias asked one of the maids to lead them to a private room since she guessed that this is probably the real reason why he came to their ce.


    After checking the room and setting up a barrier to avoid any information leaks, Kisuke asked the Two Heavenly Dragons and their hosts with arge grin, "Say, would you like to invade the other world with me?"


    [It has been a while since we''ve talked but this is the first thing you say?], an exasperated sigh was heard from Ddraig.

 Chapter 892 Devil-Magician Pact

    Chapter 892 Devil-Magician Pact


    Half an hourter, Kisuke, Issei, and Vali returned without much change in their demeanor. Rias, however, noted sweat on Issei''s forehead and thought, ''Were they doing some physical activities?''


    Rias secretly called one of the servants that are closely stationed in the room they used and asked if there was anything noteworthy that happened. As the servant answered that he only heard silence, a few questions popped into Rias'' head but she didn''t think about it any further, ''If it was something important, he''ll talk about it with me.''


    The three of them then joined the lively discussion and no one asked them what they talked about.


    As soon as Kisuke sat down, however, Le Fay excitedly raised her voice to him, "Kisuke-sama! Instead of bringing Riveria-sama to Grauzauberer, please let me bring her to Golden Dawn instead!"


    "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn?" Kisuke thought about it for a moment, "Isn''t that the famous but rtively new Magician Organization?"


    "Yes! It''s the organization where I came from!" Le Fay answered with shining eyes, "From the discussion just now, I figured that Riveria-sama''s main interest in Magic lies in the modern subject and I can safely assure you that we won''t be behind any other organization in terms of our study and advancement in that field!"


    "But it was already arranged for her to attend Grauzauberer. She even has Serafall''s endorsement."


    "That may be the case, but please consider it. While Grauzauberer is indeed a great one with a long history, their main subject is ult. It''s a great subject but interest is as important as aptitude, and maybe even more in some cases."


    Kisuke went silent and looked at Riveria. Riveria, on the other hand, could only shake her head since she didn''t really know anything and could only follow his opinion on this matter.


    "And if it''s Serafall-sama''s endorsement, it''ll work as intended in the Golden Dawn! As a matter of fact, they invited me over to be a mentor and if you''ll allow this, I could be her exclusive mentor! No offense intended to the great Devil, but I doubt Mephisto-sama could give the attention you wanted from him. He''s a busy man, after all."


    Vali nodded as he added to her sales pitch, "I also can assure you that she can be a better mentor than even Mephisto Pheles'' right hand, Laviana Reni. She''s a genius for a reason."


    "The Ice Princess, huh..." Kisuke muttered. But while what they were saying was reasonable and even enticing for someone in Riveria''s situation, he couldn''t understand their insistence and instead asked, "What''s in it for you?"


    Le Fay''s cheerful expression immediately changed into a serious one and bowed down, "Please sign a Devil-Magician Pact with me, Kisuke-sama!"


    As soon as everyone heard this, an audible sigh could be heard and Kisuke turned in Ravel''s direction, "As expected. It was him you wanted to enter a pact with."


    "Oh? You wanted to make a pact with her?" asked Kisuke curiously.


    Ravel immediately shook her head, "Not quite. I wanted Issei-san to sign a pact with her since she''s the greatest candidate I could think of. And when we asked her about this, she refused and said that there was already someone in her mind. Le Fay-san didn''t tell us who it was, but we could easily guess and it was confirmed just now."


    ''If I recall correctly, there are three main reasons why a Magician would make a pact with a Devil.'' Kisuke tried to pull out the information he saw in a book once about this topic.


    Protection. The first is to use them as a bodyguard. When the timees, having a powerful Devil behind their back will allow a magician to talk with their opponents if they are caught up in a quarrel.


    Second is Information. Magicians make pacts because they want to attain the techniques and knowledge of Devils. To make it clearer, the technique standards of the Underworld. These things will y arge role when Magicians do their research. Also, by making a pact with a Devil, they will be allowed to get items or resources cheaper by having an equal exchange.


    Lastly, Public Eminence. They make a pact with a Devil for their own status. Making a pact with a powerful Devil will bring great fortune and sess to them.


    "Information, is it?" Kisuke muttered to himself while still thinking about Le Fay''s offer.


    Le Fay thought that he was thinking that she was only after his techniques and technology, so she pulled out a book and a handheld monocle from her inventory and passed it to Kisuke, "Please take a look at this."


    Kisuke received the book with a brown cover without anything written on it and the monocle. He first curiously opened the book and was greeted by unknown characters that he hadn''t seen before. From that point, Kisuke was able to guess the function of the monocle and ced it in front of his right eye to view the book. As he expected, the gibberish letters were transformed into the familiar English alphabet.


    While browsing through the book, small talks began around him, but not with Le Fay and Riveria, who were waiting for him to finish.


    Kisuke spent a quarter of an hour going through it and sighed, "Do you have any idea... what this entails?" Kisuke''s pause was him stopping himself from saying ''the danger this poses''.


    Le Fay nodded, "Of course. It''s the reason why I created the original encryption on it and only used it this one time."


    Kisuke and Le Fay''s exchange gathered everyone''s curiosity once again but the former ignored them, "Who else knows about this?"


    "No one else, even my closest friends and family." Le Fay gave an answer that widened Vali and Arthur''s eyes.


    "But why give it to me?"


    "To show you that I can offer you something in this pact."


    ''You just gave me an offer that I''m not allowed to refuse.'' He wanted to say it out loud, but he was concerned about how the others would react and he wanted to downy the situation even a little bit.


    The book he received contained a certain Teleportation Spell. But it wasn''t the normal transposition Magic that uses and locks into coordinates to transfer. Instead, it''s used to target a consciousness or mind, which is much more abstract than souls, to make a sessful transfer.


    To exin how it was any different from normal Teleportation Magic, one has to first know about the ways to prevent the Magic from being cast in the first ce which isrgely divided into two categories, Space Lock and Space Misinformation.


    The first one, Space Lock, was easier to use since it''s basically just reinforcing the information of space through a barrier so that no changes could be allowed to it, making a transfer essentially impossible. However, as easy as it was to set up, it only needed brute force to break through, so it was only used to lock down a certain area temporarily.


    To permanently secure a location from transfers, the second category is used in tandem with the Space Lock. From the name itself, Space Misinformation hides the area through a barrier that causes chaos in space. If there''s an attempt to teleport into that protected space without resolving and calcting the correct values needed to teleport, the teleport could find him or herself stuck somewhere unknown, or worse, the Dimensional Gap where most living beings could only survive for a few seconds before they forcefully decay and get subsumed.


    Even Kisuke''s Mars Base was secured through a Space Misinformation by cing the entire ce in the realm between the real world and Dimensional Gap which is small, but also infinite. As a result of this, anyone could only teleport in and out of it through a previous ce ''iplete solution'' and that''s the teleportation tform in it.


    Toplete the solution, the other half of it was embedded in his own soul''s right arm which he used to take away Lilith''s coffin. If his arm were to be severed or he bes unconscious, the key will rearrange into something unintelligible.


    However, Le Fay''s Teleportation Magic bypasses that misinformation entirely and as long as someone''s consciousness was marked by this Magic, the user could easily teleport to the target''s side.


    While the book is missing the crucial parts and it''s obvious to Kisuke that Le Fay is still refining the Magic, ifpleted and learned, it''s quite possible that most if not all barriers that could trap him or her would be ineffective as long as someone marked is outside of it.


    ''I can''t refuse this because of the risk of someone else getting ahold of this ridiculous Magic. Not until I could devise a countermeasure against it.'' Kisuke looked at her again, who was patiently anticipating a positive response, and thought, ''Nope... She doesn''t understand the full potential and dangers of this Magic since she readily showed this to me without any signs of working on a counterspell.''

 Chapter 893 Soul Gear

    Chapter 893 Soul Gear


    Kisuke sighed once again and turned towards Rias, "Gremory-san, do you mind throwing a bit of your Magic in my direction?"


    Rias didn''t question him and simply pointed her finger towards him before a ball of Destruction the size of a baseball came flying out.


    Kisuke threw the book he had at the iing projectile and the collision resulted in the book''splete annihtion, "Thank you."


    "You''re wee."


    Kisuke then stood up while turning back to Le Fay with a big smile and putting forward his hand, "Let''s sign this pact~. Please take care of me~."


    Le Fay''s serious expression instantly changed to that of extreme delight, "Let''s get along well, Kisuke-sama!"


    "Then let''s strike the iron while it''s hot." Kisuke turned to everyone else, "Everyone, we''ll take our leave for now. Thank you for having us although things went awry from the start. Gremory-san, please do tell Runeas-san that she can contact me anytime. She''ll understand what I mean."


    "I''ll make sure that your message is ryed." Rias also stood up, "We''d like to discuss a few more things with you, but we can''t keep you here since you''re a busy man. With that said, you''re also very wee to visit the Gremory Household anytime. I think we could cooperate on several things."


    "I do have some things in mind but I''ll save it for now since the Alliance of Hell''s all-out attack is just around the corner. Sadly, I can only wish you good luck when they start acting since I''ll be somewhere else."


    "That''s really a shame. I don''t know what you''ll be doing at that time, but I bid you good luck too."


    "Thank you very much. Do you also mind if we teleport out of here? I''m sure that there would be a lot of people waiting for us so I''d like to be saved from all the trouble they''ll be bringing."


    "I don''t mind. Please be my guest."


    "Vali-sama, Nii-sama. I''ll be leaving for a while." Le Fay also bid her farewell to herrades.


    Vali nodded and said, "We''ll contact you whenever there''s something important. Take your time."


    "Be careful out there. If there''s an emergency on your side, I''lle as quickly as possible." Arthur added.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke also finished his Magic Circle and already had Riveria on his side, "We''ll be going back to the Belial Manor before going to the Golden Dawn."


    ''It''s still a bit early, but since the Alliance of Hell''s attack is just around the corner, most eyes will be taken off of us and it should be a good chance to strengthen the Belial''s influence with anyone toote to stop it.''


    .


    .


    .


    "So we''ll be canceling our previous arrangement with Mephisto Pheles?" asked Cleria while dealing with some paperwork.


    Le Fay became instantly worried, "What!? You already arranged a meeting with Mephisto-sama!? Wait... Isn''t that bad? What we''ll be doing is just in rude and may even cause negative sentiments between the Belial House and Grauzauberer."


    "It''s fine. I wouldn''t have epted your offer if I didn''t have something to settle this." Kisuke consoled her while patting her head.


    Le Fay was a bit shocked by the sudden feeling on top of her head, but she didn''t say anything. She strangely didn''t hate it in the first ce.


    Cleria put down her pen and looked at Kisuke, "Is that so? Then we will need to do it fast since the time of the meeting is fast approaching. Do you want me to give them a call for now?"


    Kisuke didn''t say a word and instead took out apiled set of papers and a silver dagger with a very simplistic design.


    Cleria received both of them and checked the papers first and saw a bunch of blueprints for some unknown types of machinery, "This is?"


    "Equipment that we''ll need for the mass production of that dagger. Although that''s not all of it since I''ll be providing the crucial pieces of equipment myself."


    Cleria put aside the papers and picked up the dagger to inspect it. Aside from the soft Magic Power it was emitting and how it was trying to entangle her Demonic Power in a way that she could easily resist, there was nothing strange or special that she could see about it, "What is this? And why take it out now?"


    "This is an artificial Sacred Gear that anyone can use, but I''d like to call it a Soul Gear."


    Cleria almost dropped the dagger, but fortunately, she was able to grab hold of it again, "A-artificial Sacred Gear!? And mass production!? Is this the Grigori''s?"


    "It''s not. I developed that myself. Compared to Grigori''s and Heaven''s, however, it''s a lot weaker to start out with. Even then, its potential is way beyond those two. It may look like a dagger right now, but it could change its shape depending on how the host would like to use it and could even develop unique capabilities in the long run."


    "...What sort of change? Give me an example."


    "It''s shaped like a dagger, but depending on its owner, it may be a shield or a ring and develop a healing ability. If lucky and fated, it could even develop an ability that''s simr to what the Longinus have right now."


    "...That''s ridiculous." Cleria became nervous while holding the dagger that could shape the entire future of this world, "Is there some sort of side effect from using this?"


    "Aside from a really slow development if the user is just an average person and the chances of it reaching the Longinus level being the same as winning the lottery a few times in a row, there''s really nothing." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, ''After all, it was created through the fusion of Sacred Gear and Zanpakuto technology.''


    Cleria chuckled but it didn''t match her expression, "This will definitely cause a war."


    "It definitely would if not for the looming threat called Alliance of Hell and the Otherworldly invasion. Please give that dagger to Mephisto Pheles-san and promise him that he could have the first batch to test things out if he could back the Belial House. After that, send a simr proposal to the Sitri and Gremory House. As long as we can expand our influence while everybody else''s attention is somewhere else, the chances of war diminish."


    "The Sitri isn''t going to be a problem, but the Gremory? Isn''t that too risky? Even though you''re best friends with Issei-kun..."


    "It''ll be fine. I met their progenitor today so I''ll be asking her to approve of this."


    "...The Progenitor? ...Did you mean Runeas Gremory? ...She''s still alive?" Cleria couldn''t keep up with all the news today and that''s just from Kisuke going out to Gremory Territory today.


    "Yes. It''s the same person. If that''s not enough to stop the threat of conflict, I''ll be publishing the core basics of this technology for the others to y with. There shouldn''t be any reason for them to look at us after that, but I''d like to keep that as thest resort."


    "...Alright... For now, please let me drop everything and cancel all my appointments to work on this." Cleria exited the room feeling dizzy. While she didn''t want to think about the grim future, she couldn''t exactly ignore what Kisuke had given her and it''d be better to make some policy changes in anticipation of the storm it''ll eventually cause, ''Sarah... Your son... He''s single handedly changing the world.''


    Meanwhile, Riveria was confused about what was going on and looked toward Le Fay who had cold sweat dripping down her forehead, "What''s wrong? Are you alright?"


    "N-nothing... I just thought that the Human World should adapt to Magic soon since that''s the only way that I could think of to offset all of this."


    "Please don''t worry." Kisuke interrupted them, "I''ve already thought of several countermeasures to avoid any abuses of power resulting from these Soul Gears. Anyone who will start a war using this will be promptly removed by everyone else."


    "That''s reassuring but you''re not the only one who''ll be able to manufacture this once you publish your research."


    "You misunderstand. For a few decades to centuries at least, Soul Gears will be exclusively from the Belial House. Although I''ll be publishing the core basics, that doesn''t mean I''ll do the same for the prerequisite technologies that are needed."


    ''And I won''t be publishing any Zanpakuto-rted information, so good luck with them.''


    But while Kisuke was busyying down all the traps he needed for any sort of situation that he could anticipate, things were heating up in the Dizara Region with an explosion of Divine Power, locking the whole region down and sending massive waves of panic, not just among the residents of the Lower World, but also those who came down for entertainment.

 Chapter 894 Gods’ Descent

    Chapter 894 Gods�� Descent


    Yoruichi and Serafall were in Freya''s room on the top floor of Babel once again to update them on the current situation of the Expedition team and to rest for a bit from monitoring them.


    "Aside from the good things that happened with Line and Tenestra''s addition, it also caused the other Familias to be concerned, huh..." Loki muttered while going through the report.


    "That''s to be expected. Everyone thought that Magic was tied to their Level and herees someone who can easily use it despite being a Level 1." Freyamented while looking down on the city of Orario from her ss window, "For their whole life, they''ve believed in Levels. The higher it is, the stronger they are. So the moment they saw a crack in that faith and argument, they started panicking and lost sight of their futures. Thankfully, however, my children could easily deal with that."


    Loki threw the report down the table and leaned back with a sigh, "That''s only natural. What they believed in from the start wasn''t their strength nor their Level, but you. Their blind faith and love exempted them from this."


    "That really sounds impressive." Serafall nodded in agreement, "But with a cult-like mindset, as strong as their minds are, they are also the first one to fall when their belief is broken."


    "Speaking from experience?", asked Yoruichi.


    "They are a pain to deal with, but easy enough once you find the crux to their belief."


    Freya wanted to defend her children some more, but small tremors in the earth had suddenly begun. Everyone became silent and stayed in their positions for a few seconds until the tremors started getting stronger and the bookshelves in Freya''s room were about to topple.


    "I''m reinforcing the tower!" Serafall dered with a Magic Circle appearing beneath her feet and extending out of the tower.


    Even then, the shaking only continued to get stronger and Serafall had to extend her reinforcement throughout the entire city, the nearby fishing town of Melen, and the newly constructed factory, research, and development building for Magic Vehicles.


    Yoruichi stood up from her seat and caught Freya who was about to lose her bnce, "Thank you."


    But she ignored her and started muttering with a serious expression, "An earthquake... But what''s below us-"


    Her thought process, however, was interrupted by a Magic Circle appearing on the table, disying a hologram of Medusa, "Three Gods have descended. We will move to resolve the issue as originally nned."


    At that moment, a wave of Divine Power that came from the west suddenly washed over the entire region, jolting all the Divines within it.


    "W-what was that!?" Loki stood up in panic while trying to figure out who''s Divine Power was unleashed and why it was having such a massive effect.


    Freya, with a simrly serious expression, looked at Yoruichi who had an amused one, "What do you know about this?"


    Yoruichi escorted Freya to take a seat while answering, "I don''t want to repeat my exnation so we should wait for our guest first before starting. Besides, the stage is still being prepared."


    Loki and Freya looked at each and gave up. Since they''re so at ease of what''s happening, they didn''t want to look like paranoid individuals, "Just make sure that those in the Dungeon are safe."


    "I just activated a barrier for their camp. But if they choose to venture outside despite the dangers, it''ll be up to them.", replied Yoruichi.


    "Well, I guess that''s fine."


    A few minutester, a group of out-of-breath Deities came to Freya''s room with Hephaestus in the lead, "Freya! Loki! We have to pull them out of the Dungeon now! Where''s-..."


    What the group saw was Loki, Freya, Yoruichi, and Serafall just chilling with some alcohol and some fresh raw fish.


    Loki very much liked the expression they were making and greeted them with a shit-eating grin, "Yo~ Were you lot running a marathon? Some really weird timing, I must say. And if you''re here to invite me, I refuse."


    A nerve visibly bulged in Hephaestus'' forehead as she stomped her way in, "Marathon!? Do you still have the time to joke around!? Are you not aware of what''s going on!? Some idiot... No... Several idiots decided to go against the pact and came down with their real bodies! The Dungeon surely won''t stay quiet with them down here!"


    Following Hephaestus were the rest of the Gods that agreed to the expedition namely, Hermes, Takemikazuchi, Miach, and Ganesha. All of them had a fed-up expression.


    "Is there anything you want to drink?" Freya, meanwhile, calmly stood up and went towards her wine shelf, "Ah, don''t answer that. I only have wines."


    Seeing this, Hermes sighed and took off his hat while patting Hephaestus'' shoulder, "Let''s sit down for now. Loki and Freya wouldn''t be acting like this if the situation were that grave." He then looked at Yoruichi and Serafall with a serious expression, "And from the looks of it, they were waiting for our arrival. Let''s hear what they have to say."


    Takemiazuchi, Miach, and Ganesha still haveplicated expressions because they still didn''t know the fate of their children, but they didn''t have a choice but to nod and follow Hermes'' lead.


    "Please don''t worry about the expedition. We already made sure that they''d have a safe point if this were to happen. Unless they wanted to brave the dangers, nothing bad would''ve happened to them." Yoruichi first addressed everyone''s concern because Hermes kept ring at her.


    Aside from Hermes, the neer''s opened their eyes wide in shock, "If this were to happen, huh?" muttered the former. Although he was able to hide his own feelings, he had the same reaction as the rest, "So you already anticipated this situation where Gods wouldn''t know what to do."


    Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders and picked up her ss, "To anticipate it, we''d need to have a good source of information. It''s our luck that we just have those."


    On this one, Loki was the first one who disagreed, "Luck? If something like this could be done through luck then there''s nothing impossible in this world."


    Freya then sat back down and added, "Aren''t you all curious why the both of us who were openly antagonistic, suddenly started working together and supported Hestia and Artemis'' Familia? You''ll probably get your answer soon."


    All sorts of questions started popping out from the neers, but Yoruichi and Serafall only gave nomittal answers. But just when they were about to lose their patience, the table lit up once again with Magic Circle, showing an image of Medusa, "The stage has been set. Aside from Kuroka, no one knew what was going on, until now."


    "Great~!" Serafall excitedly eximed and snapped her fingers.


    From that sound, three floating screens suddenly appeared in front of everyone depicting three different terrains.


    But instead of the terrain, what the Gods noticed first were their fellow Deities who were brimming with Divine Power, "Is that Aruna, Aktzin, and Osiris?" muttered Hephaestus.


    "So it was these three reckless idiots,"mented Ganesha. He was not at all surprised that Serafall''s Magic was capable of emting the God''s power because he''d already received aprehensive report about her. But his real concern was the girls who were facing these Gods, "What''s the meaning of this? Are they trying to throw their lives away?"

 Chapter 895 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 1

    Chapter 895 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 1


    A few minutes ago, Aktzin was still relishing in the fact that he and the other two Gods were able to bring forth their original avatars from Heaven by using mortal souls to act as an anchor and cover the scent of his Divine Will. Through connecting the souls of the children connected to him through Falna, the God of rain, thunder, and lightning was able to descend without many reactions from the Dungeon.


    ''The work that Osiris and Aruna put into this is just wonderful. It''s a good thing that I''m the first one to volunteer to join this experiment as I can imagine the jealous faces of those who chose to sit back in fear of the consequences.'' Aktzin thought while chuckling to himself.


    Aktzin appeared to be a light-blue-haired middle-aged man wearing a white suit. He had matching blue eyes and a thin blue mustache. Thanks to the Divine Power he was emitting, a regal aura was also surrounding him, giving him the look of authority.


    However, he couldn''t enjoy the situation and thought about being a ''Hero'' anymore, due to finding himself on top of a vast forest and below a purple sky with a pair of ck and white Cat-people standing and talking in front of him.


    "Nee-sama... Do you mind exining the situation now? You and Medusa-neesan suddenly pulled all of us out of the Dungeon and teleported us to this... Rating Game space?" the white one asked.


    "There''s really no other exnation other than that, nyaa.", the ck one rudely pointed her finger towards Aktzin without looking at him, "He wants to cheat his way through, but he''s also a very convenient adversary for us, nyaa. Don''t you want to test your limits?"


    The white one looked at Aktzin for a very brief moment out of curiosity, but immediately returned her sights to the ck one, "Where are the others?"


    A bit of annoyance rose through Aktzin''s mind, but he immediately calmed himself down, because he''s the big guy and today''s a monumental day, "Children, tell me where we are."


    But as if they didn''t hear him speak, the two Cat-people continued to ignore him, "They are also taking care of the other cheaters, nyaa... Though I''m a bit worried about Sona-chan since she''s all alone and the match-up could be bad."


    "Bad? How bad?"


    "She''s against a God of Sea and Medusa-chan actually put her and him in a Sea Stage, nyaa."


    The white thought about it for a moment before nodding, "There shouldn''t be any problem."


    "Eh? How can you be so sure?"


    "Actually, all this while, Sona-neesan has been holding herself back. I don''t know what she''s trying to keep hidden, but I think this will be her chance to let loose."


    At this point, Aktzin finally lost his patience and raised his arm toward them. Within a few seconds, arge Magic Circle appeared in the sky above the Cat-people before a pir of blue lightning struck down.


    Kuroka and Koneko instantly looked up when they felt power converge above them and hurriedly jumped back to avoid the lightning that created a crater on the ground, "Ho? Looks like the two of you have some abilities. Good job avoiding death, but there won''t be next time. Answer me, children. Where are we?"


    Contrary to his expectations, Kuroka and Koneko only looked at him briefly once again before returning to what they were discussing, "...Holding back, nyaa...? I can only think of one thing, but I heard it''s very dangerous. Well, Sera-chan should be watching her closely... Anyways, do you want to go first, or should we do it together?"


    "You''ll let me do it first?"


    "Don''t look down on yourself. Aside from experience, you can already match my battle prowess, nyaa. And if we go even more technical, you''re much more capable of destruction than me, since I''m more of a controller."


    Aktzin snapped and his pride hurt, "I don''t care anymore. I''ll figure it out myself." Raising his arm once again, Magic Circles formed in the sky once again, but this time there were five of them, covering a muchrger area.


    However, as the lightning struck down, he didn''t see any ''panicked'' movements that he''d seen earlier. Instead, both of them disappeared and it was already toote for him to realize that there was a fisting straight towards his face, "Wha-?!"


    With a enough force to blow off the head of a high-level Adventurer, Koneko sessfullynded a punch on the arrogant God''s face, but she felt like she was punching an insanely hard brick wall even though she sent him flying, ''Is this a God''s basic defense or is he just sturdier than normal?'' she asked herself, but she''s leaning towards the former.


    Aktzin stopped himself in midair while holding his bleeding red nose with a face full of hate, "You imbecile. Unforgivable."


    This time, without any gesture, Aktzin''s blue eyes lit up and several smaller Magic Circles appeared and surrounded Koneko instantly and each of them sent out a bolt of lightning. But the same as before, Koneko disappeared from her spot and reappeared behind Aktzin.


    Even then, a God was still a God and he immediately figured out the weakness of the strange instant eleration and was able to turn around to block a leg sweep from the white cat with his left arm.


    Koneko had sent a considerable force behind her kick and was surprised that she wasn''t even able to move the blue-haired God. Aktzin used this slightpse in concentration and counterattacked with his right fist aiming for Koneko''s stretched-out leg.


    Koneko realized the threat behind the punch that could cave her knee in and hurriedly rotated her body to dodge it and used the air as a foothold to initiate a sh Step to retreat and gain some distance.


    Nevertheless, Koneko''s sh Step wasn''t as refined as Kisuke''s nor Yoruichi''s so she made so much ''noise'' that it was easy for her opponent to predict where she''d be stepping out. And as Koneko did, she noticed that several Magic Circles were already pointed in her direction, ready to fry her.


    Koneko gritted her teeth and balled herself up while summoning her Soul Gear.


    Tens of lightning bolts struck Koneko and momentarily covered her with blinding light.


    Aktzin knew that he''d hit her this time but something felt weird, so he kept his senses heightened in case another surprise attack appeared and he was especially wary of the ck cat, ''Still nothing from her? Who are these people anyway? They aren''t Deities yet she was able to exchange fists with me.''


    Aktzin''s bolts of lightning finally let up, but he could only narrow his brows as he saw the little girl of before had transformed into a mature form with four metallic white wings sprouting white mes behind her, white gauntlets, boots, and a chest te.


    Aktzin also noticed the four white tails swaying behind her and asked, "Just what are you people?"


    Now that the euphoria of descending had faded, he could now think calmly and it was only now that he found the entire situation extremely weird.

 Chapter 896 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 2

    Chapter 896 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 2


    "I''ve never heard of mortals like you. Where did youe from and just what is this ce? How did you trap me in here?" Aktzin asked while releasing a bit of his Divine Power, contemting whether he should summon his Divine Armament.


    Unfortunately for him, Koneko didn''t have a habit of answering any of her opponent''s questions or exining what was happening, unlike a certain candy shop owner. Disappearing from her spot, Koneko reappeared at Aktzin''s side, but thetter already knew where she wasing out so he was able to prepare a defensive stance, ''She''s much faster than before, but this move still has the same execution.'', he thought while preparing to receive Koneko''s kick and figuring out the path for his counter attack.


    But the moment Koneko''s legnded on his arm, he found himself unable to act anymore as the force behind it was several times stronger, bending his arm in a weird direction and sending him flying, "Kuhhh!!!!"


    Aktzin was confused by the sudden spike in her strength because he had never met and fought with anyone like that, but he didn''t have any time to think about this as he saw Koneko already under him and about to punch a hole through his stomach. Aktzin did his best to rotate the midsection of his body to avoid the punch and was sessful in doing so.


    And using the momentum of his dodge, he whipped his leg out towards Koneko''s face, but he was shocked to see that Koneko had caught it with her free hand easily before he was swung and thrown towards the ground. This time, he didn''t have any spare energy to alter his trajectory or momentum and crashed into the ground with a force that was enough to break several of his ribs, some of them piercing his lungs and making him cough up blood.


    Koneko looked down at the dust she''d kicked up and waited for it to settle, until she saw the God in the middle of the crater who was already on his feet while wheezing. After this instance, Koneko became much morefortable and confident with her own strength.


    Aktzin, on the other hand, began to regenerate his wounds, but the rageful expression he was making was now contorting his face to an extreme degree, "...Don''t.... Look down on me!!!!!"


    At the same time he raised his voice, he also unlocked the full capabilities of his Divine Avatar and emitted a golden pir around him that pierced through the sky and reached the outer boundaries of the artificial space. The golden pir of Divine Power pushed both Koneko and Kuroka away due to its intensity, and even put several cracks in the boundary that made it look like the pir would break free.


    Luckily, that didn''t happen and soon the cracks in space began to heal themselves, ''Thank goodness that we asked Ophis-chan to handle the artificial spaces, since we didn''t have the Devil manpower to maintain something like this.'' Kuroka thought while returning her sights towards the God that was already fully healed.


    ''That looks bad, nyaa... And he still hasn''t pulled out any of his weapons. With Shirone''s actual ability, she''d be able to defeat him as long as she doesn''t allow him to get any more advantages, but I doubt that, nyaa... What should I do, I wonder.'' Kuroka became worried about the well-being of her sister but she couldn''t interfere that easily or this whole thing would lose its purpose.


    Koneko on the other hand, raised her guard up and swallowed a mouthful of saliva as she became a bit nervous and fearful of the aura he was emitting. But while contemting what she should do next, the initiative was taken away from her when Aktzin suddenly became covered with electric arcs and suddenly appeared right in front of Koneko with a sudden eleration, "!?"


    Koneko hurriedly put both of her arms forward in a defensive block, but this time, she was already toote as she''d underestimated the speed of Aktzin''s arm. The God''s fist went through before Koneko could close her arms and she was hit directly on her chest, "Guhh!!!!!"


    As if payback from earlier, several of Koneko''s ribs were broken and she lost the ability to breathe momentarily, while her chest te crumbled into pieces. Thanks to her Soul Gear, she didn''t suffer from any more damage.


    Nheless, Aktzin isn''t done yet as he poised himself to send out another but a more devastating attack.


    Seeing this, Koneko bit her tongue in an attempt to regain her senses and shouted, "Panzer!"


    Koneko''s armor then began to move at blinding speeds and seemed to add more material out of nowhere with her boots and leg guards entirely moving up to her arms and her wings moving in front of her creating a massive kite shield that spanned her whole body.


    In response, Aktzin only further gritted his teeth and put more strength behind his punch since he knew that she had no way of retaliating. But before his fist couldnd on the shield, a force field met it first and exploded outwards, significantly reducing the force behind his fist and even burning his arm, ''A reactive armor!?'' Aktzin hurriedly pulled back to avoid any further damage to his arm.


    Koneko, meanwhile, bounced back and crashed into the ground, mowing down trees in her way. But thanks to the spherical barrier around her, she was rtively unharmed. The kite shield then split into two and floated towards her sides, revealing the giant mechanical arm that almost touched the ground even while she was standing upright.


    Aktzin saw a white me lit up on Koneko''s chest but he didn''t think much about it and raised his burnt arm. As soon as Koneko perceived this, she became wary of the sky, but she was wrong about it as the Magic Circle emerged in front of the God and it was iparable to the previous ones.


    Koneko didn''t want to risk it so she intended to dodge. But just as she was about to move away she felt her legs stuck in their ces. Koneko instantly looked down and saw a thinyer of water wrapped around her legs, ''When did he!?''


    "Die," Aktzin muttered with a crazed grin as a mass of blinding lightning was ejected from his entire arm.


    Koneko panicked but there was already no other way. The two halves of the kite shield floated in front of her and a translucent blue barrier appeared once again. Gritting her teeth, Koneko put her mechanical arms behind the shield as they caught on fire with white mes that extended around the edges of the shield, ''I''ve never absorbed energy to this degree before, but if I can''t dodge...''


    The lightning mmed into the translucent barrier first, and like in the previous instance, a reactive explosion pushed back the lightning a bit. However, it wasn''t able to do anything to stop the four foot wide beam-like destruction as it sted through the barrier with ease and reached the shield.


    With her firstyer of defense broken, Koneko began sliding backward with the fetters on her legs disappearing, "Ghhhhhh!!!!"


    The kite shield started cracking from pressure, but the white mes on its edges were also set in motion as they began encroaching towards the middle and silently ''eating'' the lightning.


    ''!?'' Aktzin didn''t know what''s going on anymore, but the white mes were giving him some weird premonitions. Nevertheless, he continued releasing his Divine Power, albeit, he couldn''t really do this for long, so he instead intensified his attack for a more instantaneous power in exchange for the duration, ''I have to kill her now!''


    But contrary to his expectations, Koneko kept holding on and he also noticed that her ears and tails had now also caught afame the white fire too and a fifth tail made out of the same white fire had started to extend too.


    "Hnnggg!" Aktzin put more power into his lightning and almost broke Koneko''s shield. Even then the white me only burned more intensely as her sixth and seventh tails also began to emerge, ''W-what''s this!?''


    Confusion took hold of Aktzin''s mind because he''d already estimated how much Koneko could take from their previous exchange, ''Something''s not right. She should have already fallen long ago.''

 Chapter 897 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 3

    Chapter 897 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 3


    The lightning beams that Koneko was not capable of ''eating'' were deflected to the sides and resulted in the ground around her melting.


    While Aktzin was investing more and more of his Divine Power, Koneko''s temporary capacity was already beyond her limits and because of this, veins and muscles began to pop and rupture all over her body. While she was frantically moving her Healing Ki around her body, it wasn''t enough to offset the damages she was receiving.


    Even then, Koneko persevered. Because the moment Aktzin''s pressure on her weakened, it''d be the moment of her counterattack, ''I just have to hold on...'' she thought while blood was already trying to seep through her orifices.


    And after a few very long seconds, Koneko''s gamble emerged victorious with Aktzin''s attack finally ceasing due to him fearing an overheat would only bite him back if he''s not sure he could finish her off. Not to mention, the ck cat was still watching from afar, which he already assumed had a simr strength as the white one in front of him.


    Koneko, on the other hand, was not as calm as him with a big grin that was a little crazed forming on her face, ''Chance!''


    As thest bit of the lightning beam began to dissipate, the blue translucent barrier reemerged, but instead of protecting her, it exploded towards the direction of attack, dispersing itpletely, "Culverin!"


    Instead of returning to her sides like before, the gigantic kite shield broke up into pieces and started to fuse with the mechanical arms as Koneko raised them in front of her. Within just a second, the mechanical arms fused together and formed arge rectangr gun barrel and pointed it towards Aktzin.


    Koneko''s seventh white me tail then rapidly receded as Ki filled up the inside of the barrel and overloaded it, "Fire!"


    Return fire in the form of a bluish white beam of pure destructive Ki pierced through the air and approached Aktzin and he estimated this to be as strong as his previous attack, if not stronger, "Kuh!!!"


    But as he was not fettered like Koneko was earlier, Aktzin was able to dodge the beam of destruction despite being surprised. However, Koneko wouldn''t waste this chance and she still wasn''t done yet, "Bloom!"


    Thirty meters after passing by Aktzin, Koneko''s attack exploded into hundreds of smaller pieces and each of them started to homing in towards Aktzin.


    The Deity looked behind him and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Electric arcs began to cover his whole body resulting in an overall improvement in his physical parameters, especially his speed, and he started dodging these bluish-white bullets that weren''t very strong by themselves, but could be dangerous if he were to be stunned by being hit by a few of them and the rest decimated him.


    Akztin kept twisting his body to dodge and zapping the bullets to destroy them, but after almost a minute of doing so, he figured that this wasn''t the way so he flew close to the ground in an attempt to make them crash into themselves. Although he was fast after strengthening himself, he couldn''t outfly the bullets as they were pure energy so he still had to zap them and dodge.


    Inevitably, however, a few of these bullets still hit him. They were not strong individually as expected, but a wrong hit could still be dangerous.


    ''It''ll be too tiring if I keep dodging all of them. I should let the non-dangerous one through since they aren''t going to hurt me anyway.''


    But that line of thinking was what Koneko was waiting for. As soon as she saw him change his approach, Koneko muttered, "Blitz."


    Aktzin heard her soft voice but decided not to act on it because he''d already flown quite far away from her. And if she were to catch up using her sh Step, he''d be able to immediately respond, ''I first have to deal with these annoying things.''


    More than a twelfth of the bullets had already been dealt with and it also seemed like he had already reached the edge of this artificial space so he had to turn around, ''Just a few more seconds...'' He thought to himself while letting one bullet approaching from behind hit him. But before it could make contact, a sudden premonition of death sprouted in his consciousness and he immediately abandoned what he was doing to hurriedly change the trajectory of his flight.


    An instantter, that ''bullet'' that he lete near him cut from his left shoulder until his right nk where his neck had just been if he didn''t move away, "Gah!!!"


    He immediately turned around and saw the ''bullet'' was actually his opponent who unknowingly already caught up to him, ''How!?''


    The ming cat''s strange armor had changed once again, and this time it was focused on her lower body with chakram des made out of white mes rotating fiercely on the side of her ankles.


    For Aktzin, this type of armament was a prettymon one among the Deities and most of them are called, ''Chariot!?''


    At that point, he finally understood how her armor works.


    Aktzin thought that Koneko would continue the attack but he was shocked to see her retreat with an excessive speed before disappearing among the bullets that were still chasing after him.


    Of course, he tried to search for her but her aura seemed to havepletely disappeared among the surroundings and the only thing he could do now is to do what he had already been doing, taking care of all of the homing bullets. But before he could readjust his senses, another threat of death emerged from behind him. In response, he deployed a Magic Circle behind him and ayer of water covered his back.


    The attack he had been waiting for, however, was not what he was expecting as he felt a normal bullet hit him from that direction. With this very shortpse of concentration, however, it was already toote for him to realize that the des of white me were about to cut his head in half.


    Without much choice, Aktzin used his right hand to catch the de. As a result, four of his fingers were instantly detached from his hand, but in exchange, he was able to push himself away from the drop kick of death.


    Seeing his blood sttered, Aktzin finally lost it, "UNFORGIVABLE!"


    With an explosion of Divine Power, another golden pir covered his body, this time, however, sting through the artificial space and reaching the outside world.


    This explosion forced Koneko to retreat back and reconsider her options as she saw a Warhammer and an ax forming in both of his hands.

 Chapter 898 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 4

    Chapter 898 Aktzin vs Koneko & Kuroka part 4


    The thin Deity''s muscles instantly doubled in size as he held a Warhammer with two blunt sides in his left hand and a battle axe with two ded sides in his right hand. While his right hand was missing four fingers, the ax seemed to be maized to his palm. In addition to that, there was a floating and glowing ring in front of his right eye that looked like a spectacle without any ss.


    Koneko knew that this was the real part of the battle and although it seemed like a lot of things had happened, it had only been a few minutes since the battle started. Koneko took a deep breath and elerated forward with blinding speed, leaving a trail of white light in her wake.


    Koneko then split into many pieces, creating clones of herself, and began revolving around the stationary Aktzin. The same as before, Koneko was able to hide her real self and nothing could point out her location if one didn''t leave a marker on her.


    After seeing no action from him, Koneko sent out three of her clones with each of them attacking from different directions to test the waters. But without even seeing these clones, Aktzin twisted his body a bit and dodged all the iing chakrams with ease, ''What!?''


    At the same time, rain clouds started converging and as Koneko sent out more clones without risking herself as a strong rain also began to fall, drowning out the sounds everywhere.


    Koneko was initially on guard against the rain, but stopped thinking about it after carefully inspecting its effects, which didn''t seem to be any different from a normal rain, ''Should I go all in before he can get used to this and think of a countermeasure, or wait for an opportunity that I don''t even know wille?''


    While weighing her options, Koneko suddenly saw the unmoving Aktzin smirk as he locked eyes with the real her for a moment, ''He knew!?''


    Koneko wanted to get away, but it was already toote as the rain drops around her suddenly became sharp des that stopped her retreat. She wanted to force her way through even if it meant receiving numerous cuts, but that was the wrong decision she made as she should have just increased her defense.


    As she tried to burn away the raindrops in front of her and the rest chased after her, it was already toote for her to realize that Aktzin, with renewed agility, appeared right on top of her with his warhammer covered in lightning about to swing down.


    "P-Panz-!" Koneko tried to change once again, but a full mode change was already impossible to finish so she could only cross her arms in defense. Although some of her armor returned to her arms, it was still too much for her. The bones in her arms were instantly shattered along with the armor pieces at the moment of impact and the force of the hammer went through to her chest, breaking her ribs, rupturing her lungs and momentarily sending her heart into shock.


    Nevertheless, that wasn''t the end as arge bolt of lightning came down and struck both Aktzin and Koneko. The Deity thought that he could finally kill this resilient and hateful cat, but the moment the lightning hit them, ck mes bloomed from Koneko''s chest, repelling most of the lightning away from her, ''!? Another strange me... Now I''m really curious as to who these children are and where they havee from.''


    Koneko crashed to the ground and along the way, the raindrop des cut through her clothes, skin, and flesh. But thanks to her natural defenses, all of them were just flesh wounds and no vitals were damaged.


    Koneko had already lost consciousness, but the white mes continued to burn strong and were attempting to repair her wounds while also devouring the raindrops, ''I see... It''s eating away at my Divine Power and converting it into something useful for its master.''


    Aktzin''s conclusion only strengthened his resolve to kill Koneko due to her being a threat to Divine Power, which no one else should be able to take advantage of aside from the Deities, ''I''ll end this devil no matter what!''


    Aktzin prepared both his Warhammer and axe while thinking of reducing her to a lump of lifeless flesh. But before he could do so, a ck sword approached his neck from behind and he was able to block it with his ax, "You two really do likeing up from behind. Anything new?"


    Kuroka smiled but it didn''t reach her eyes as she replied, "Oh? Are you asking for something new? I''ll give you that."


    The ck sword suddenly extended by splitting itself into pieces and wrapped around Aktzin by being connected by ck mes.


    A thin veil of water instantly covered Aktzin as he looked down at the des trying to pierce his skin, "I see, thatst bit was your mes. This is new, but nothing else."


    Aktzin thenmanded the rain drops to solidify and converge to form numerous des around Kuroka. Making sure that she didn''t have any paths of retreat, the desunched towards her. But the moment they pierced her, Kuroka''s body became foggy and disappeared, leaving her sword behind, "!?"


    The next moment, the Deity heard Kuroka''s voice from behind, "So that ring around your eye is what gave away Shirone''s position. What a convenient item."


    Aktzin immediately turned around with fear on his face, "What!? How did you avoid revealing the ''truth''!?"


    Bloodlust from Kuroka then suddenly spiked up as she chuckled, "Truth? So that''s what you call it. Easy~ I just have to create a convincing ''lie'' that you''ll think is the ''truth''."


    "Tsk.", Aktzin clicked his tongue loudly and used his physical strength to break the sword that was tying him. He was able to easily do so, but that only left questions in Aktzin''s mind. However, he didn''t want to lose his initiative as he did with Koneko as he might not be as lucky this time.


    mming his axe and warhammer together Aktzin created a torrent of water and lightning that surrounded him as a pseudo armor of both elements covered his body.


    But when he was about tounch himself towards the smiling Kuroka, something imploded inside of him and he lost control of his Divine Power. As if someone hit him on the back of his head, Aktzin became dizzy and started coughing up blood with the two elements around him dispersing, "W-what...?"


    Kuroka walked through the air and slowly approached him with very slow steps, "Although I did say that I''d let Shirone fight on her own, I never said anything about not fighting alongside her."


    Aktzin was still trying to figure out what was going on and raised his hands to see the blood on them. At that point, the tears of blood had also begun to seep through his eyes along with uncontroble bleeding from his nose and ears. Although he heard her clearly, he didn''t have time to think about Kuroka''s very contradictory statements.


    Kuroka didn''t mind that and continued, "Sure, Shirone fought you alone, but that doesn''t mean I was just standing there doing nothing."


    Kuroka reached him but instead of stopping, she started walking around him, "You see, I''m also a fighter like my dear sister. But unlike her, I don''t really like frontal confrontations and am more adept at working my skills from afar."


    "...You''re just a coward." Aktzin finally replied. He was still trying to figure out what''s wrong but it seems that his opponent was about to exin what''s happening so he chose to listen.


    Kuroka onlyughed at his remark, "Thank you for thepliment, nyaa~. I like being a coward, because that''s how I survived until now while protecting my sister from the shadows."


    "Moving on~ Way before this confrontation, I had already begun researching Gods and thankfully enough, I had a lot of materials that just walked about the earth. Even though their abilities were sealed and what they were using to move around was just an imitation of their original flesh, I was still able to learn a lot, nyaa.


    "But before I continue down this line, I''d like to say that I''m a pretty good practitioner of both Youjutsu (Youkai Techniques) and Senjustu (Ki Techniques) and that I''m capable of creating poisons that will only affect a specific race."


    Kuroka was once again in front of him so Aktzin looked up to her in disbelief, "P-poison? Impossible! Since when!?"


    "Right~? I thought so too since Gods are supposedly pure and nothing can taint them. But, you see, I was able to work around that, nyaa~."


    Aktzin swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva in nervousness but still refused to believe that what was destroying him right now is poison, ''Impossible! Never! Nothing foreign can change or affect a God''s body! That''s where the main point of ''Gods are unchanging beings'' came from after all!'', he thought to himself.


    "That''s correct, isn''t it? No poison nor medicine should be able to change a God''s body, nyaa~" Kuroka correctly guessed what he''s thinking while also thinking to herself, ''Kisuke might be able to do it though. He''s a strange one in many ways.''


    Aktzin''s entire strength and power had already left his body and he began to fall down. In response, Kuroka controlled her sword to bind him again while continuing her little speech, "However, that rule doesn''t apply to your Divine Power."


    Kuroka walked towards him and got near enough that she was able to reach him. Aktzin saw her arm extend out and became fearful, "Y-you! Stay away from me!"


    Kuroka ignored his words and lifted his chin with her fingers, "I have all the knowledge needed to figure out the way around a God''s body, but that wasn''t enough to create a working poison. But thanks to you ignoring me this whole time as you fought Shirone, I was able to observe the movement and attributes of your Divine Power, so much in fact, that I was able to infect the surrounding Magic Power so that when you took that in to replenish your Divine Power, it wouldn''t be considered as something foreign."


    Aktzin was finally beginning to understand where this was going but that only increased the terror he was feeling, "As you replenish your Divine Power with Magic Power, you also took in the poison that I had been secretly creating from the start. And here you are, already feeling its effects."


    However, Kuroka''s next sentence gave a bit of hope to Aktzin and he started struggling, "But you see, this isn''t a particrly great poison since it could only restrict your Divine Power for a few minutes at most and you''d certainly return to normal after that. In addition to that, this poison that I painstakingly prepared can only affect you since every God has a different form of Divine Power and I''m not confident that I''d be able to create a universal poison."


    "W-what do you want?" Aktzin tried to negotiate to buy some time.


    "Me? Just one thing, nyaa."


    A smile finally emerged on Aktzin''s face, "W-what is it!? Tell me! I''ll do my best to fulfill it!"


    "Before that, I''d like to ask something."


    "Go ahead. Ask it!"


    A secondter, Aktzin saw Kuroka''s gentle smile change to that of a cruel one that finally matched her golden eyes, "I heard that by being able to bring your original avatar down to the Lower World, you''d also be forfeiting the protection you''re receiving from the system. I wonder if that''s true?"


    Aktzin''s face instantly fell, "H-how did you know!?"


    This is the main reason why only Aktzin, aside from Osiris and Aruna, was the one who descended, because everyone else was afraid that if something was capable of killing them in the Lower World, it''d be a true death.


    Aktzin thought that they were too cowardly and idiotic for believing something could kill Gods like them and simply dismissed them as inferior to him. At this moment, however, he was already regretting it dearly, "P-please... Spare me!"


    "Didn''t I say that I only want one thing? For hurting my dear little sister, I want to hear your screams as you embrace death, nyaa~!"


    A small ck me suddenly emerged from Kuroka''s palm that was holding Aktzin''s chin up. It then traveled through her middle finger and reached Aktzin''s chin beforebusting, "P-please! Spare me! I''ll do anything you want!" Aktzin didn''t stop pleading for his life.


    Kuroka didn''t say anything and let go of him while the ck mes instantly covered his whole body. But instead of a burning sensation, Aktzin felt that the mes began topress him. He thought that he was just imagining this until thepression became painful as it began to crush his bones and flesh slowly, "AHHH!!!!!"


    Kuroka''s smile disappeared as she flew down to Koneko with a sad expression, "I should have done something better to protect her... It''s also my mistake to wait until thest moment to move."


    Kuroka gently picked up the unconscious Koneko while the white mes were still raging around her. But the mes that were usually ferocious predators became docile like a house cat when Kuroka touched them. The both of them disappeared from the artificial space leaving behind the screams of extreme agony from the God that''s slowly being reduced to a lump of mangled flesh.

 Chapter 899 Hermes’ Delight and Disappointment

    Chapter 899 Hermes�� Delight and Disappointment


    On the top floor of Babel, only the sounds that came from the screens could be heard after Koneko and Kuroka''s victory over Aktzin.


    And the one who broke that silence was Serafall with a bit of a disappointed tone, "So she couldn''t use her attack-oriented form nor any of the special actions of any of her other forms, huh? There were even a few windows of opportunity where she could have used the ''Titan yer'' of her Javelin form and could have ended it then and there, but she totally missed those."


    Yoruichi shook her head, "I''m sure she saw some of those, but you see, she and the other girls have developed the bad habit of copying how Kisuke does things."


    Serafall turned to her and asked, "Is that why you stopped all the sparring sessions and just let them focus on monster hunting?"


    "I mean, there was already no point.", Yoruichi nodded her head, "Instead of learning something new, they were only getting used to us no matter how severe or strict we were. Even though we kept pouring on killing intent, they knew deep in their hearts that they wouldn''t die, so they ended up adopting Kisuke''s tactic of observing everything first before acting."


    Serafall touched her chin and returned her sight to the screen, "I see... That only works because Ki-tan sees the situation differently and he''s already anticipating most of what could happen. To those girls, it only ends up with them being frustratingly careful and hesitant."


    "T-they''re just, talking normally... And Aktzin could have been dealt with easier?" muttered Takemikazuchi on the side with cold sweat running down his forehead. Although he was significantly stronger than Aktzin, being a bonafidebat God, he was still very unsettled with the fact that someone could actually kill a God without being a Deity themselves.


    Of course, all of the guest Deities had simr thoughts to him, but each were minutely different. Miach, while concerned, wasrgely relieved that one of the problems was dealt with. Ganesha, on the other hand, was also the same, but also full of interest with his eyes shining like the stars after witnessing that a mortal was capable of ying a God. As a God of the Masses, he finds this incredibly uplifting, aside from being somewhat concerning, "Magnificent..."


    In the first ce, Ganesha already had a positive impression of the Hestia and Artemis Familia''s because of the technologies that they provided to enrich people''s lives. It was the main reason why he agreed for his children to join the expedition.


    Ignoring him, Hephaestus could only sigh and say, "So it was to this extent. I already thought that Kisuke Urahara was extremely strange, but to think it extended to his entire group."


    "You''re not surprised?", asked Loki.


    "I am. But I already expected something like this when he created those things. Even I, with my full capabilities as a Goddess, couldn''t have forged a weapon that could potentially evolve to be on par with a Divine Armament, or even surpass it. The next time I see him, I''ll ask him to make me one."


    Not just the guests but also Loki and Freya were speechless at Hephaestus'' remark. And why wouldn''t they be? After all, she''s one of the few Deities that forged some of the strongest Divine Weapons in Heaven.


    "You''re giving it too much credit, Hephaestus-sama. Soul Gears only grow stronger alongside its user and you can create those quite easily. Besides, Bell Cranel also received the same thing and it isn''t as powerful as the one Koneko used.", replied Yoruichi with a small chuckle.


    "Indeed. I could make one, but it won''t grow to be as powerful as that. Even if it can only happen in a very specific situation and the rarest of the rare, it''s still a treasure."


    "Hmmm~ Should I also ask him to make me one?" Freya asked with interest.


    "I''ll definitely force him to give me one if Hephaestus is saying that," Loki muttered to herself.


    At that moment, the extremely quiet Hermes finally made his voice heard, "Isn''t this great?"


    Yoruichi and Serafall turned in his direction with questioning looks, "Hmm?"


    "This is great!" Hermes repeated himself while standing up, "With your strength, thest trial finally wouldn''t be a problem! You can be the beacon of this world''s inhabitants!"


    Yoruichi and Serafall were obviously not amused at this God''s musing.


    "What? Are you actually worried that you won''t be able to deal with that? Rest assured as you''re undoubtedly the strongest beings in the Lower World aside from Gods themselves!"


    Yoruichi clicked her tongue, "Tch... And I was wondering what you''re going to say. Unfortunately for you, we won''t do anything against the ck Dragon or any other trial that mighte up from the Dungeon. It''s not our ce to interfere."


    "...What?" Hermes was surprised, "B-but why wouldn''t you use that power to save everyone?"


    "First of all, we''re not heroes. Second, as I''ve said, we can''t interfere with that." Yoruichi then looked straight into his eyes that were already zed with craze, "Third, do you actually know what happens after the world is ''saved''?"


    Stunned and shocked, Hermes didn''t actually know the answer to that. All this while, he thought that after taking care of the biggest threat, it''d be the revival of the Age of Heroes and prosperity woulde after. But with how Yoruichi worded and toned her question, it seems that there was more to it.


    Yoruichi smirked at his obvious response and continued, "See? You actually don''t know beyond what you''re expecting to happen. Why don''t you ask who you are working for about it? Ouranos or Zeus? Either way, it''s very obvious that you only have a half-assed knowledge of things going on."


    "W-what are you saying?"


    This time, it was Serafall who replied while looking at Loki and Freya who has a small smile on their faces, "Well, we don''t really know what''s going to happen either, since all the Gods who seem to know about it don''t want to say anything, not even to their fellow Gods." Returning her sights back to Hermes, Serafall continued, "But that doesn''t mean we didn''t do any investigation, so we have some guesses. If we''re not wrong, the moment this world is ''saved'' it''ll be the moment it''ll end."


    Hermes wanted to say more, but before he could speak, a Magic Circle appeared underneath him and he was forcefully teleported outside of Babel.


    Yoruichi looked at Serafall who looked annoyed, "You actually lost your patience?"


    "I just really hate people like him who move in the shadows and act as if they know everything. Most of the time, they start an even bigger problem that everyone else has to deal with and I''m surely not doing that favor for him."


    Serafall just sighed and returned her attention back to the screens, more specifically at Akeno, Irina, and Osiris''s battle, with the former two alreadyying on the ground with a pool of blood while the Deity still had no significant damage done to him, "They lost, huh."


    "Nothing can be done about that. He was a really bad match for both of them."

 Chapter 900 Dragon Ladies VS Osiris

    Chapter 900 Dragon Ladies VS Osiris


    When Yoruichi and Sona started talking about Osiris'' battle, the Deities also looked towards the middle screen.


    Osiris was currently looking down at the strange beings with wings sprouting from their backs. Everyone thought that they were the newly discovered Xenos that were capable of hiding their appearances, but both of their attacks have some trace of Divinities in them, making them question what their real identity was.


    They also nced at thest screen, which was showing a girl sporting a different set of wings and also possessing a darker shade of Divinity.


    If Koneko and Kuroka''s battle broke theirmon sense, the other two fronts broke their understanding of the world.


    "Just what are they?" Loki asked. She knew that they wouldn''t provide any concrete answers, but she couldn''t contain her curiosity anymore, and that was the same for the rest of the Deities.


    It''s true that Kisuke, Koneko, and Kuroka''s existence were too strange for Loki and Freya, but they could easily ept them as beings that they hadn''t encountered before. However, the power that was exuding from Irina, Akeno, and Sona seemed to be closely rted to the Gods, but they, as Gods, didn''t know anything about it. In hindsight, they''d have more questions on thetter.


    ''Are Gods from their side capable of imparting their Divinity to others? But why and how?'' Freya asked herself and Loki had a simr question in her head. The rest, however, could only stare with confusion.


    "There''s no point in answering that but I''ll give you the assurance that they''re not the descendants of Gods.", answered Yoruichi while standing up, "It wouldn''t be a good idea to leave this situation be. Osiris is the God of the Dead, Life, Resurrection, and the Afterlife. What is his actual weakness?"


    During their short encounter, Akeno and Irina did their best to fight Osiris, however, what happened couldn''t even be called a fight as Osiris just stood still while receiving the attacks of the Dragon-Powered Angel and Fallen Angel.


    Osiris received injuries and he was even surprised that they could hurt him that much. Even then, these injuries were healed in just the span of a few seconds, no matter how disastrous they were. But that wasn''t the end of it, as the injuries that he respectively received from the girls were actually returned to them, greatly incapacitating them just as the ''battle'' had started.


    Akeno and Irina tried to find a work around his reflection ability, but even with their abilities, they couldn''t find a way to even stop receiving the injuries for him.


    Osiris, on the other hand, was greatly intrigued by their strange abilities that could be the antithesis to many things. Too bad for them, it was him they came across. Aside from that, he just quietly studied and figured out what they could do.


    It didn''t take too long when Akeno and Irina stopped attacking him and just focused on defending. At that point, Osiris also adjusted his strategy and recklessly charged at them without any care for the injuries he was receiving in the process, since even those were passed on to the poor girls who didn''t know how to deal with it.


    At one point, Akeno and Irina wanted to pour their everything to annihte Osiris without a trace, but they stopped due to fear of him actually surviving and those wounds returning to them, which would spell their instant deaths.


    Without being able to do anything substantial or give everything they have and learned, Osiris was able to knock them out in their own pool of blood.


    "There''s really only one thing that Osiris is afraid of, and that''s the Gods of Death.", Freya answered Yoruichi''s question, "He''s an immortal that will always be reborn after death, but death is something he''s not capable of resisting."


    "I see... So that''s why he''s always scrambling to leave whenever there''s a Divinity of Death in the surrounding.", muttered Miach to himself.


    A grin emerged from Yoruichi''s mouth and said, "Sera-chan, ask Medusa to pull Akeno and Irina out and bring me in."


    Serafall chuckled and sent a signal to Medusa, "If it wasn''t for the advantage he has over Akeno and Irina, I would almost feel sorry for him."


    "And if you''re the one who goes in?"


    "I''ll actually feel sorry for him and he''d wish he''s dead after a few centuries~!"


    "If you actually feel sorry, then don''t try trapping the guy in a coffin where all of his senses would be sealed for eternity."


    Serafall didn''t say anything else and just sent Yoruichi in.


    The other Gods, however, are very nervous at what she just said, "Uhmmm... Sera-tan... Can you really do that?" asked Loki.


    "Aside from being undying, there''s nothing special about him. If it were me, I''ll freeze him along with the entire artificial space in a block of ice and toss it out in the vast expanse of outer space. Considering his ability, it''d only take a few Millenium to melt the ice and escape. Though he''d probably have drifted far enough by that point that he wouldn''t even know which direction he even came from." Turning her head to everyone, Serafall gave them a bright smile, "I can''t really trap someone for eternity ,so please don''t worry about it~!"


    That beautiful and mesmerizing smile, however, only sent a non-existent cold wind down to their spines, ''I definitely don''t want to be her enemy!'', everyone unanimously thought.


    ''Although I can''t feel the aura she was emitting from when Kisuke and her ''sparred''st time, their powers were definitelypressed to a very small area if she''s saying she can freeze that entire ce into a block of ice.'' Loki thought to herself, knowing that she was still underestimating her, ''She''s certainly at Skadi''s level or more.''


    But what terrified Loki more was the fact that they were still improving, unlike them, the eternally unchanging Gods.


    The Gods had all the time they needed to further satisfy their curiosity. For now, they wanted the current situation to be resolved first before they could calmly think about what''s happening and what their future entails.


    But they were in for another shock when Yoruichi pulled out her kodachi and Osiris started running away like a frightened mouse.

 Chapter 901 God of the Dead, Life and Resurrection VS Death God

    Chapter 901 God of the Dead, Life and Resurrection VS Death God


    Yoruichi appeared within the vast prairie with mountains surrounding it from afar.


    "Oh. A new one. Maybe you can answer my question." Osiris immediately addressed Yoruichi. He looked like a middle-aged man with long ck hair and quite an average face which blended in with his viger attire.


    Obviously, Yoruichi ignored him and immediately went beside Akeno and Irina to check their situation, ''Hmm... Although it looks fatal, their life is not really in any danger thanks to their Dragon-like vitality. And now that it''se to this, I think they''ll stop focusing on just attacking.''


    A small smile emerged from Yoruichi.


    Both Akeno and Irina were attack oriented and they focused on it this whole time. She could have told them that theyck the versatility to adapt to most situations, but there''s no better teacher than experience. Since she knew that something like this was alreadying, Yoruichi chose to let them be for the time being, ''Their helplessness now should help them bring out more of their own potentialter on.''


    At that moment, a Magic Circle appeared below them and removed them from the artificial space. This could be seen as cruel by those around them, but the world they were living in now was cruel enough that it''d be much more vicious to always lead them by the hand.


    Dependency is not that bad and that''s what she''s actually doing with Kisuke. However, out of everyone, she''s the only one who''s prepared for him to disappear, ''They have to learn it slowly... Although he''s capable of doing virtually anything, he is also the one closest to a ''true death''.'' She thought to herself with a bitter face, ''You''re so dependable, Kisuke, that it actually hurts. Even then, I have to carry this burden.''


    Yoruichi finally turned towards Osiris and was surprised that he was still calmly smiling and wasn''t pissed off like Aktzin when he was ignored.


    "You''re finally willing to give me a bit of your time?"


    "I am, but still not much of it."


    Still feeling generous, Osiris replied, "Great. Then tell me how to leave this ce and I''ll let you go."


    "Unfortunately, that''ll take too much time."


    Osiris chuckled at her response, "So a bit of torture is more to your li---king...?"


    Osiris'' voice trailed off at the end of his sentence when a kodachi suddenly materialized on Yoruichi''s right hand. He didn''t know why, but his heart started palpitating the moment his eyesnded on it, "W-what is that?"


    Instead of answering his question, Yoruichi took a step forward, "Aren''t you lucky?"


    In return, Osiris took a step back and repeated his question, but in a much louder voice and a trace of panic became even more obvious, "What is that!?"


    "Instead of just dispersing as that Aktzin did after he died, you''re lucky that you''ll be returning back to Heaven."


    "...A-Aktzin!?" Osiris knew that he still had his ability to see through lies, and that ability of his told him that the woman in front of him was indeed telling the truth, ''Aktzin is gone!? But how!? That doesn''t make any sense! We are Gods! We''re unequaled!''


    But then, Akeno and Irina came back to his mind, ''But those mortals were strange... They had the full capability to hurt me. Although that''s all, they didn''t seem to have the ability to drag me into this ce without me being able to resist, so it made sense that there are others besides them.''


    Osiris'' sights returned to Yoruichi''s de and shuddered, ''And that de... Why is ''death'' emanating from it!? She isn''t even a Death God!''


    But one thing was for sure. Osiris knew that she was dangerous, even for an immortal like himself, ''I have to make some distance and think of a way to get out of here!''


    The God of Reincarnation turned his back on his opponent signifying that he doesn''t really know how to fight. But just as he took a single step, without even realizing it, a de was already piercing his heart.


    He felt the strength leaving his body and looked down to see a protruding de. "Gahaa!!!"


    Osiris coughed out blood and the regeneration that had always been with him ceased to function, "What...?"


    Yoruichi, who was behind him, also coughed out blood with a hole in her chest. Even then the smile on her face didn''t disappear as she leaned forward and whispered, "You''re lucky that you''ll be able to reincarnate because that''s how these ''Soul yers'' work to keep the bnce of the world."


    "N-noooo!!!" Osiris cried in distress, but he couldn''t even move away from her anymore.


    "It''ll be up for debate if you''ll still be ''Osiris'' once you wake up once again.", Yoruichi added with a chuckle, "Even then, it''ll be an undeniable fact that the ''Osiris'' of today ceased to exist."


    In Osiris'' consciousness, a giant white tiger leaped out of the darkness and wed him. That was thest thing he saw before his physical body turned into dust and his purified soul ascended back to Heaven.


    Yoruichi''s Zanpakuto disappeared and she immediately pulled out a specially created potion to heal her wound, ''If he had even a little bit of resistance to being soul-yed, he could have spelled trouble for me. If we''re to meet someone like him again in the future and they''re resistant to ''death'', we''d have to think of a way of disabling that reflection ability first... Maybe it was the wrong choice to kill him there.''


    Yoruichi contemted whether to send this problem to Kisuke or not, but ultimately decided against it, ''He''s already too busy as it is. I''ll ask Kuroka to look into this.''


    The artificial space began copsing since it was not being supported anymore so Yoruichi left and returned to the room where everyone was watching.


    "Good work~!" Serafall greeted her while Takemikazuchi muttered loudly, "A de that''s capable of cutting spiritual bodies. It''s not a Divine Weapon, but it''s very much the same as those wielded by the Gods of Death. How fascinating."


    "It''s nothing special. Everyone from where I came from has one."


    Takemikazuchi almost spat out his drink, "...That''s one terrifying ce youe from."


    "It''s really nothing special." Yoruichi reiterated, "The Gods who have descended had forcefully formed their avatar through their Divine Power, so they didn''t have the same protection as one would have when they have a natural physical body."


    While Zanpakuto can cut through souls, it still has to go through a barrier called flesh and blood. So any souls still within their physical vessels are actually hard to damage. It''s the reason why everyone has to leave their physical bodies behind when one wants to step into Soul Society, and that includes the Quincies and Fullbringers, who could use their soul powers even within their bodies.


    "Save that forter! Things on Sona-chan''s side are already picking up!" Serafall raised her voice while removing the two screens and erging thest one.

 Chapter 902 God of Sea VS Devil of Water

    Chapter 902 God of Sea VS Devil of Water


    From the start, there wasn''t much conversation that happened between Sona and Aruna, a God of the Sea.


    While the other two battlefields immediately developed and easily reached their endings, Sona and, a young-looking God with long white hair and a priestly garb draped on his body, Aruna just stared at each other without a word said with the sea below them constantly forming into creatures and tearing each other apart.


    While Sona''s creatures were mammals, reptiles, and bird-based, Aruna''s creatures were made out of invertebrates, fishes, and amphibians. Aside from that, the other obvious indicator that they were from the different sides was that Aruna''s army has a gold-tinted light within them while Sona''s army was darker overall.


    It would have been a bloody and nauseating battle where none could be left if these were real. Instead, it became a battle of attrition over dominance and control.


    Sona had stopped holding back and released the full capabilities of her Demonic Power that had been silently growingrger and purer. Even Sona herself was shocked to realize that her Demonic Power had reached this degree, ''Most of the time, I construct my own Magic Circle and even if I use my Demonic Power, it''s only to a tiny degree. I wonder what else could have caused this?''


    If she could only conjure and control one ''Leviathan'' before, she could bring out six of these pseudo-Dragon King-level water serpents. Not to mention, her army had also grown several timespared to before as a direct consequence of her increased Demonic Power. If this was in her previous world, she''d be able to take out numerous cloned Evil Dragons by herself, given that there''s arge body of water near her.


    But even with all of that, Sona''s army was still outnumbered by the enemy soldiers.


    The one who''s slowly losing their patience, however, was Aruna. As even though he had a definite advantage in the quantity and the quality of these water creatures seems to be overall the same, he couldn''t take any space from Sona even after a few minutes, ''What''s going on? Why can''t I break through her defenses?'' Aruna thought with a frown on his face.


    Unbeknownst to him, Sona was making full use of each and every creature she had so even though he had the advantage, Sona was better atmanding her army, ''So there can be such stark differences between Gods. If I was against Freya-sama right now, I couldn''t have done anything to prevent the annihtion of my army.''


    "That''s pretty impressive.", Freya muttered to herself.


    "Hmph! My Finn could do the same thing if he''s on the same footing!" Loki crossed her arms and defended her own mander''.


    Takemikazuchi chuckled at Loki''s remark, "There''s a limit on how much one can rely on their instincts, though? Even if that thumb of his is a miracle, not everything can be predicted."


    Loki became silent. While it''s true that Finn''s thumb was incredibly useful, any dependance on it would only result in him passively responding to everything. Anypetent fighter on a Deity''s level will want to create an opportunity themselves instead of waiting for one. And that''s what Sona was currently doing, creating numerous opportunities for her to bite back.


    After the long silence, Aruna couldn''t contain himself anymore, "Who are you?... No, the better question is, what are you?" he asked while looking at four pairs of bat-like wings behind Sona, "A monster of the Dungeon? I didn''t think we''d get a response this fast."


    "I don''t really have any responsibility to satisfy your curiosity, but let''s just say that everything would be solved if you could defeat me." Sona responded with a curt tone, "Though it seems that you''re pretty hands off with your own Familia, seeing that you don''t even recognize my face."


    Aruna''s frown has grown deeper and asked himself, ''She was already on the surface before all of this? Did the Dungeon anticipate what we''re about to do?''


    His thought process couldn''t leave the Dungeon behind, otherwise, there would be no way for him to exin this impossibility that''s happening in front of him.


    Aruna sighed exasperatedly before a mberg appeared on his left hand silently, "You are absolutely right. After dicing you up into pieces, the situation should improve even if it''s not resolved."


    "My~" Sona fixed her sses with a small smile, "What a gruesome picture. Very contrasting to the image you''re trying to portray. Well, it''s as much as I would''ve expected from someone who leads that kind of Familia and even sacrifices his own children just so he could get a taste of power in the Lower World."


    Aruna didn''t have anyments about that and he didn''t really have to deny it. He just swung his mberg upwards and several 50-meter tall and sharp waves of water emerged from the ocean and cleaved through everything in their path.


    Sona directed some of her Leviathans towards them but they were also easily sliced into pieces before dropping down as normal water.


    Sona was surprised by the power behind them and immediately flew up to avoid these towering des. However, Aruna swung his mberg once again and those des broke into innumerable pieces before theyunched themselves towards the fleeing Sona in the form of small knives.


    Sona clicked her tongue and took out her Soul Gear, a blue halberd. As she swung it horizontally, a sphere of water instantly appeared around her and blocked the des. Although some of them almost went through, the knives that had been rendered useless were taken over and were used as an additionalyer of defense for the sphere.


    At some point, the knives that were assaulting her all around only served to strengthen Sona''s barrier.


    Aruna, of course, tried taking back control but found that his knives had been fully dominated and that didn''t sit right in him. As a prideful God and a God of the Sea, he didn''t like seeing his own attributes taken over. Even then, Aruna remained calm and observed Sona, ''As expected of the Dungeon''s unique monster that could even go against a God. Her authority over water is almost on par with mine and she even has something equivalent to a Divine Weapon. Looks like Chaos wasn''t lying when he imed that the Dungeon is dangerous.''


    ''But then, it makes me wonder more why he insisted that only mortals could take care of it. It''s very clear that it''s beyond their level and no hero or group of heroes could ever match it.''


    Aruna didn''t want to waste any more time and dropped his mberg into the sea below.


    Seeing this, Sona hurriedly dispelled her water barrier and threw her halberd towards the sea too after guessing his intentions.


    Sona''s halberd reached the surface of the water first and the moment it was submerged, it dissolved itself before arge hundred-meter-wide Magic Circle formed from where it dissolved.


    At that moment, Aruna''s mberg also reached the sea, it also dissolved. But instead of a Magic Circle, the sea shone with soft golden light as far as the eye could see and only the part of the sea where Sona''s Magic Circle is was unaffected.


    "I don''t know if this was intentional or not, but the Dungeon has chosen the wrong ce to antagonize me, for I am the sea itself. In this world where there''s only the sea that exists, I am the world and this is my absolute dominion."

 Chapter 903 God of Sea VS Devil of Water part 2

    Chapter 903 God of Sea VS Devil of Water part 2


    The creatures that were outside of Sona''s Magic Circle immediately lost their form and dropped down into the gold-tinted sea without any signs of resurfacing, ''I can only protect a small patch of my dominion.''


    However, Sona was not dejected, ''As expected, his authority over this territory is much higher than mine now that he''s brought out his weapon.''


    But even then, Sona couldn''t help but sigh as she dodged the columns of water that rose up from the sea, ''I know I''m no match against a God with my current abilities, but to think that the difference was thisrge...''


    In terms ofmanding abilities, Sona is way above average. But in other aspects, she wouldn''t be able to match the other girls. Evenpared to Akeno and Irina, who are technically weaker than her, she doesn''t have anything special like them.


    It''s true that she''s just a single step away from being a Super Devil, but by definition, a Super Devil isn''t about raw power, but the transformation of it and the former is just a usual result of it. In terms of Demonic Power, she''s still below someone like Grayfia.


    But even though today was a ''surprise'' for the girls, Sona already got an idea of what was happening due to the reports and rumors she had been hearing and despite that, Sona still faced the God of Sea with great confidence, ''Some might argue that this is my own power, but since I can''t control it on my own, I technically don''t own it yet.''


    Aruna became curious and wary when he saw that Sona suddenly smiled and started chuckling, ''She''s still confident in this situation?''


    The Magic Circle that has been contesting for domination suddenly disappeared and as fast as it went away, the golden territory also devoured it. Sona''s halberd reappeared on the ocean''s surface, but instead of returning to its owner, it remained in its ce without doing anything.


    ''Did she give up?'', while Aruna was confused about what was going on, Sona who was constantly dodging stopped her movement and also closed her eyes. Because of that, she inevitably was hit, but ''luckily'', by a blunt water attack and was sent flying down.


    If she were to be submerged in this gold-tinted sea, only death would await her. Although he''s still not sure of what caused this, Aruna wouldn''t just waste this opportunity to kill his adversary.


    .


    .


    .


    "...Is this okay?", Yoruichi asked with great concern.


    Serafall, however, just crossed her legs, "In this kind of terrain, the moment she couldn''t contest her domain, it was already her loss."


    The Deities thought that either Yoruichi or Serafall would move again to rescue her, but their conversation suddenly took a strange turn.


    "I mean, will she be able to wake up by herself?", asked Yoruichi once again.


    Serafall tapped her chin a few times in contemtion before answering, "At this point, she probably can''t. But Ki-tan left a few things in case this happened. Instead of worrying about that, how about we bet how long this guy can survive?"


    Yoruichi became silent for a second or two before answering, "30 seconds?"


    "I''ll go with 10 seconds~", replied Serafall, while preparing the things that Kisuke left her for Sona.


    .


    .


    .


    A few moments before Sona stopped moving, she asked internally, [Are you awake?]


    [I don''t require sleep.], Sona instantly got a reply from deep within her consciousness.


    [I see that you''re always watching, waiting for an opening to take over.]


    [That''s obvious. While watching is fun, I want to move my limbs too. But nothing seems to bother you aside from catching up to him, so I can''t really find an opening.]


    [But it''s different this time, isn''t it?]


    [Of course. The moment you''re about to lose your life, I can force myself out to protect myself. Well, and to some extent, you too.]


    Sona smiled and replied, [I see. Thank you for always thinking about my safety.]


    Sona couldn''t see it, but she had a feeling she had stunned and bothered the other her residing inside, [...W-what the heck are you talking about? I said my safety. My own!]


    Sona just chuckled.


    The other her knew that she had messed up with her reply so she immediately tried changing the topic, [And are you talking to me right now, especially in this situation? Let me be clear, I won''t be assisting you when you don''t even have the slightest ability to force me to do your bidding and neither have the ability to control my power.]


    [I won''t be asking for your assistance. I want you to get out and take him out.]


    The other her was shocked once again, [...Are you serious?]


    [Wouldn''t watching you be the best way to learn about your power, since you clearly don''t want to teach me?]


    [...]


    [How about it?]


    [...Fu...Fuhahahaha! You''re an actual idiot!]


    [You''re me.]


    [That''s true.], Her other self didn''t disagree, [Fine. But don''t you dare blink, or you''ll miss everything.]


    At that point, no more talking was needed and due to a switching of consciousness, Sona momentarily stopped moving and was hit by Aruna''s attack.


    With a plop, Sona began sinking into the ocean and Aruna used this chance to tear her apart... Or he tried to at least, "Huh?"


    What had actually happened was that Aruna seemed to be unable to ''touch'' her, with his water not being able to take hold of her. Even though she was submerged within his own territory, Sona became a foreignnd, "What''s going on!?"


    Within the waters, Sona finally opened her eyes that already had ckened sclera and golden pupils, along with a crazed smile.


    Ignoring the constricting and pulling forces within the sea, Sona slowly resurfaced and flew towards the same level as Aruna. As if she wasn''t submerged in the first ce, Sona was entirely dry.


    Still scrambling to figure out what''s wrong with his ability, Aruna asked Sona with a hint of fear within his voice, "...What did you do!?"


    Aruna didn''t wait for an answer and formed hundreds of spears from the ocean and sent them all towards Sona.


    To his surprise, Sona showed no signs of dodging, defending, or intercepting and just received everything without a single care.


    The spears instantly went through Sona and it looked like the same became reminiscent of a porcupine.


    Aruna thought he had sessfully killed her, but to his horror, Sona just flew out of the spears as if she were a ghost and not a single speck of wound was anywhere on her body, "!?"


    ''Sona'' thought that it would really be boring to y with him and decided to end it now.


    Flying straight towards Aruna with a very unnerving smile, ''Sona'' ignored all the attempts to hurt her as Aruna''s ''weapons'' would just go through her without doing anything, "W-what are you!?"

 Chapter 904 Gruesome Demise

    Chapter 904 Gruesome Demise


    Aruna tried to get away from her, but he knew that he''d be caught if he didn''t do something fast. Gritting his teeth, Aruna raised his right hand and a wall of water that divided the world into two appeared in front of him, before blood began to stream out from all the fingers on his right hand.


    Although the blood that flowed out wasn''t that much, the golden aura of the water instantly turnedpletely red. This was Aruna''s ultimate defensive spell, ''Fort of the Pure''. As the spell that protected his life, its effect was to not allow anything but pure water to flow through.


    And as he had expected, ''Sona'' stopped in front of it and examined it curiously, ''She has no way of going through my spell, but I can''t maintain it forever! I have to think of a way to at least get out of this ce!''


    But as if a child that became bored of her toy, ''Sona'' let out a short and disappointed breath before swinging her left arm at the wall and sting open a hole in it.


    "Wha-- Guhhh!?" Before he could even finish a single word, ''Sona'' had already gotten hold of his neck and raised him up, "Aside from ying with water, don''t you have anything else?"


    Aruna ignored her question and immediately sent out a right knife hand toward ''Sona''s'' chest and a left knife hand to her right eye. Both of his hands went through their intended targets and Aruna finally felt some resistance from them, ''Finally!''


    But he was soon pped by reality as horror dawned upon him when he saw that she was still sporting the crazed smile with a hole in her chest and with a gouged out eye, "That''s something different, but anyone could do that."


    Fear for his life finally took over most of his rationality as hepletely panicked and pulled back his hands and started stabbing ''Sona'' everywhere he could reach, "AAAAHHHHH!!!!"


    Still, everything he did was as futile as dunking his hands in water before pulling out just as fast, and before long, he began moving his other two limbs, "YOU MONSTER!!!!"


    Naturally, Aruna also tried grabbing the arm that Sona was using to hold his neck but it was still the same as the rest of her body, making him panic way more than necessary. If he was a little bit calmer, he might''ve been able to find a way to actually hurt Sona.


    ''Sona'' had no reason to extend this farce any longer, so she raised her free hand and the ocean beneath them began to follow hermand.


    "H-HOW!? HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS!!!?" Aruna yelled at the top of his lungs after seeing his territory being manipted without his permission. It''s as if someone else started controlling his own limbs against his will.


    "The water may be yours, but the flow is mine." ''Sona'' briefly answered before pointing her free hand towards his face, "And since you like water so much, You''ll surely be happy with this~."


    A column of gold-tinted seawater rose up and enveloped Aruna. Of course, ''Sona'' wasn''t actually intending to drown the God who could technically live underwater forever but she intended to do something simr, though much more gruesome.


    ''Sona'' wild smile widened and said, "Eat up~!"


    The water all around Aruna began rushing towards all of his orifices, instantly bloating the Deity and making him bleed from the inside out.


    Aruna wanted to scream, but he was incapable of doing so with the ridiculous amount of liquid rushing down throat.


    As if time slowed down, the audience watched Aruna slowly expand like a balloon, and ''Sona'' giggled at this sight. A few secondster, without being able to do anything and before ice started forming due to the extreme pressure, Aruna blew up, leaving behind only the neck ''Sona'' was holding.


    The blood-soaked ''Sona'' cleaned herself up with Magic while she waited for the world to return to its former state and the person who''d be picking her up.


    .


    .


    .


    "Eighteen seconds, I see.", Yoruichi muttered, "It''s my loss. Ask me anythingter."


    Serafall happily stood up and said before disappearing above her Teleportation Magic, "Will do~!"


    Yoruichi then faced the speechless Deities and asked, "So, do any of you think you could hurt the current Sona?"


    Freya turned her eyes away from the screen and said, "I could do it with some Magic, but defeating her is an entirely different problem. Aside from that, I can only think of a few other Gods who could do it, including Takemikazuchi and Loki."


    Loki sighed audibly at Freya''s words, "Take might be able to do it with his swordsmanship that can cut all ''entities'', but you''re underestimating that transformation. It''s not the same as my half-assed transformation. It''s aplete transformation, and it''s not the transformation of an element. It''s much more basic and simple. It''s a transformation that reflects her nature."


    Hephaestus smiled wryly and added, "I think I have a few artifacts that can deal with that incorporeal form, but if Loki says it''s different from hers, then I guess it''d also be hard for the other Deities."


    While she was not showing it on her face, Yoruichi was surprised by their answers, ''While the overall power level of the Gods here are weaker than those back home, they are also much more dangerous due to their special abilities.''


    .


    .


    .


    "My~ Onee-sama~ It''s nice to see you. Are you here to pick me up?", asked ''Sona'' after Serafall appeared while also controlling the sea to attack her.


    The countless tendrils of water, however, stopped before they could reach a meter from Serafall and began to freeze. It didn''t just stop there as the freezing extended to the sea below and it didn''t take too long before the entire world became a frozen one.


    ''Sona'' looked at all of these with an admiring expression and said, "As expected of Onee-sama. With the power currently avable to me, I can''t defeat you."


    "I''m sorry, but I''ll have you sleep for the time being.", replied Serafall with her unusual serious tone.


    It wasn''t too obvious but ''Sona'' momentarily stopped and her smile cracked for a bit before hiding it behind augh, "Fuhahaha, I''ll save you the effort, Onee-sama. I''m not stupid enough to think that Kisuke didn''t leave anything behind to deal with me."


    "Wait!", but ''Sona'' didn''t listen to her and closed her eyes, instantly losing consciousness.


    Serafall immediately flew towards the falling Sona to catch her. She first checked her condition and found nothing that''s concerning.


    But before she left with Sona, she looked at Sona''s face once again with aplicated expression, ''What was that?''


    With that, the crisis that could even potentially end the world was solved, not even half an hour after it started.

 Chapter 905 A Grim Future

    Chapter 905 A Grim Future


    After listening to theirments regarding Sona''s match, Yoruichi left the Deities behind despite their incessant questions, "I''m sorry, my dear Deities. As much as I want to sit down and have a formal discussion with all of you, time isn''t on our side. Before the hidden and unknown consequences of their descent go unnoticed and bite us in the asster, we''ll have to scour the Dungeon."


    But not long after that, Yoruichi and Serafall finally ended the expedition and sent all the members back to the surface to have their status updates.


    While everyone was happy to have their children get stronger and even have a batch of Level 7s appearing among them, Yoruichi and Serafall still provided no information that they could work with.


    .


    .


    .


    "Is this their way of telling us that they''ll no longer get involved?", asked Hephaestus.


    On the top floor of Babel, those involved with the expedition gathered once again, including Hermes.


    As Yoruichi and Serafall hadpletely withdrawn from Orario and cut all contact, none of them knew what they were nning next. For the first time in history, all of them knew that they were going against the children themselves and not the Gods behind them, not that they were sure they could even be categorized as ''children'' in the first ce.


    Loki sighed and replied, "That''s probably it. We didn''t know from the start, but they''d been holding the hands of our children. If I were to guess their intentions for doing so, they wanted to jumpstart everyone''s improvement until they could run on their own."


    "That''s also the only reason that I could think of too. Since they also provided the Ki training methods and Magic construction, I couldn''t think of anything else they wanted.", Freya added on.


    Miach raised his eyebrows and asked, "...They''re the ones who spread that? I thought it was found in some ruins and the Magic construction was some kind of breakthrough that the Loki and Freya Familia achieved."


    Loki grinned at him and said, "Much more trustworthy and believable, isn''t it? If it came from them, then no one would believe them and it wouldn''t have spread as fast."


    Takemikazuchi crossed his arms and asked, "Then the big question is why? Charity? But after what we''ve seen, that''s the farthest possibility."


    Loki hesitated for a moment before sighing once again, "Once, I talked to Kisuke regarding this. And the only answer he provided at that time was that it was to give us a fighting chance. Against who, what or when, he never specified."


    Everyone became quiet and each one of them tried guessing what''s the meaning behind those words with the information that they had.


    "How about ruffling some feathers to get some information? As we are now, the best we could do is blindly guess what''s about to happen.", Ganesha suggested.


    "Never do that!" Loki instantly rebuked him, "It seems that you''ve already forgotten, but we could easily guess that they are ''Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group'' that ended numerous Familias in a single night! And for what reason? They didn''t like the names they received in the Naming Ceremony!"


    Ganesha immediately shuddered along with others before taking back what he said, "Forget it then." His eyes then went towards the quiet Hermes and changed the subject, "What about you, Hermes? What did you get out of the old man?"


    However, Hermes simply shook his head, "None. Ouranos'' lips are sealed tight whenever I ask about what would happen when the Dungeon''s challenges are ovee. He won''t even give a clue nor an excuse to his silence."


    While he let all of that out calmly, he couldn''t really hide his frustration from everyone. Hermes gritted his teeth and stood up, "I''m going to take my leave first."


    "You''re going to find Zeus?" asked Loki.


    Hermes stopped before leaving through the door, "I just want my answers."


    "I''ll spare you the effort of searching. He''s currently in the Dizara Region."


    "...Thanks." Hermes didn''t have to confirm where that information came from as he could easily guess it. Since he guessed that he wouldn''t be getting any more clues out of them, Hermes decided to go after another leading figure, "How about Odin? Do you know where he is?"


    "That shithead? No. But he''s probably somewhere messing around.", answered Loki.


    Hermes then faced the other three and asked, "How about Dagda, Brahma, and Amaterasu?"


    However, Hermes received simr answers from Miach, Ganesha, and Takemikazuchi. It was then that Hermes and the others realized that the de facto representative of each region of Heaven is all secretive about their activities.


    "It might not be much, but it''s a telling story that something''s going on other than what''s publicly avable for Gods.", Ganesha muttered to himself.


    Naturally, it''s impossible that they were the only ones who''d realized, but as Deities that only wanted to enjoy their stay in the Lower World, they couldn''t care less.


    Hermes left with a lot more questions in his mind while the remaining people argued and questioned each other but after a few rounds of that, they ultimately came to a conclusion that they wouldn''t arrive at anything. After a while, everyone else except for Loki and Freya, left.


    "He might not have disclosed to you about what was toe, but you have your guesses, right?" Freya suddenly asked Loki.


    "I do and he did indeed insinuate something for me to work around. But it''s so ridiculous that even I don''t really believe in it fully. If I were to tell them this, it''d only cause a panic and some of them might even start killing their own children to bring them back to Heaven and safeguard them."


    Freya was surprised by her im but after thinking about it, she also knew that some Gods love their children so much that they might actually do that in face of total annihtion, ''I might have taken Kisuke''s side, but if what''s toe is really an all out war against ''him'', then without proving that he has a fighting chance, Kisuke won''t be able to get her or anyone''s support. At most, he''ll just be the third yer.''


    END OF VOLUME 13

 Chapter 906 Book 14:: Byakko’s Mistake

    Chapter 906 Book 14:: Byakko��s Mistake


    "How are things going?"


    At the top of a certain peak within Olympus, the God with a ck curly hair and orange eyes, stood atop while facing a holographic image of the skeletal God in front of him, "I''m ready. I''m just waiting for everything on your side to be settled."


    Hades sighed, "Don''t wait for it. I''m just preparing as much as I can before they find out where I am. Just act when you see the chance."


    "What''s wrong? I thought you still had some leeway?"


    "I did... I did until a very important aspect of the Devil Replication was ''destroyed''."


    While Apollo understood the implication of Hades'' words, he had no idea what that ''important aspect'' was because thetter had always been very secretive about it, ''If only he would share his technology, we''d be in a much better situation. Though I also understand his inability to trust others.''


    "Does that mean we cannot expand our forces anymore?"


    "No. There are still some materials left so I will still be able to produce a significant amount, however, at a much slower rate."


    "Well, as long as you can draw the entirety of DxD to your side, I shouldn''t have any problems."


    "Shouldn''t have any problems? It looks like negotiating with them is taking all of your time. ording to the spies we have in Heaven, Kisuke Urahara is helping Gabriel open the Sacred Gear system."


    Apollo''s eyes widened in surprise, "He did? What''s the result?"


    "The report said that he wasn''t able to do anything and left empty-handed. Though it seems they haven''t given up and Kisuke Urahara would still return from time to time."


    Apollo thought about it for a moment before asking, "What do you think? Do you think he has a chance to open the system?"


    "Common sense dictates that he shouldn''t be able to, but that man is far away frommon sense."


    "Your view of him has really changed over time."


    Hades would always think back to when he would listen to Apollo''s ''prophecies''. While he still believes in them, because it had always been reliable and until today, it was, he couldn''t help but think that maybe they fulfilled his ''prophecy'' because they came to know of his existence and tried to erase him. The moment they got involved with him was the moment that the ''prophecy'' came true.


    Ignoring Apollo''sment, Hades warned him, "Although he''s essentially alone, you can''t underestimate him."


    Apollo nodded at his words, "That''s true. But it''s also true that no matter how strong he is as an individual, he has no chance of going against a literal army of Godlike beings that could destroy therge factions."


    ''Even then, he might do something unexpected and render that useless.'' Hades wanted to say this but he knew that it''ll only fall deaf on his ears and would only receive ridicule from him, ''I wonder... If I had taken a different approach, could the two of us have been partners?''


    .


    .


    .


    "And that''s how everything was settled." Yoruichi reported everything that has happened to Kisuke while she waszing around, "In any case, they''ve already reached the limit of how much they can improve here... Unless there are more of those divine descents."


    "How about the Aruna Familia and their associates?"


    "The four Familias were annihted. By using their children''s souls to cover their own, they were able to descend. Lucky for them, they died with their souls intact. The rest who weren''t able to use the technique due to their fear of the unknown have fled, but we don''t have any intentions of chasing after them."


    "Must have been a ghastly scene for those who discovered those bodies."


    "Some of them were rotting so no doubt."


    "How about the Gods? What was their reaction?"


    "As expected, most of them don''t have any idea of what urred nor how it was resolved. Though what surprised me really was the fact that those who knew didn''t spread it around. With that, we can safely assume that there''s some kind of hierarchy of information even among the long-living Gods."


    That was nothing new and they''ve already guessed that''s the case. However, it was reassuring to confirm their initial hypotheses and were able to gain more confidence on how they should proceed from here on out.


    "But from how it all ended, I''m guessing that the girls aren''t feeling too happy about it?"


    "Indeed. Aside from Kuroka and Sona, Koneko, Akeno, and Irina were dejected, especially thetter two. They were expecting to be able to do things like you."


    Kisuke became silent. He also couldn''t deny it as much as he hated that fact. Thanks to his obsession, he was able to prepare for most things and could do things on his own. Although that sounded amazing, it wasn''t good for their growth. Like a child to their parents, they''ll inevitably try to imitate him. However, the reality isn''t that convenient as he knew himself that it was an abnormality.


    No matter how one tries to be special, that''s just impossible from simply imitating someone already special.


    "With that in mind, I think they should return home." Yoruichi suggested, "Whether they participate in the uing war or just spend their time with their families and friends, it''ll be a lot better than them being here, limiting themselves in many aspects. I don''t like how they are looking down on themselves because they areparing themselves to you or me. They need a fresh perspective."


    "I agree... But the problem is ''your'' contract with Chaos. As long as we don''t know the specifics about it, it''ll be hard to escape his grasp."


    Yoruichi smiled before answering, "Regarding that, I finally was able to get some answers from Byakko."


    ording to Yoruichi, Byakko brought both Kisuke and Yoruichi with her to escape to another dimension and avoid Askin''s ''Deathdealing''. However, Byakko failed to estimate her reemergence and made a mistake before slipping through the rift of dimensions, washing them away.


    After an unknown amount of time, Byakko arrived at Chaos'' domain. And because Kisuke and Yoruichi''s souls were about to disperse due to traveling between dimensions, she didn''t have much choice but to sign a contract and settle down.


    But the moment Byakko signed the contract, she was able to feel Chaos'' connection to the area beyond his domain and used that chance to escape because she couldn''t fully trust him.


    "So that connection turned out to be connected to Trihexa and we arrived in that world."


    "That''s right. But because she still signed the contract, she had to fulfill it somehow and brought us back when she deemed that we had enough power to protect ourselves."


    "And the reason why she didn''t say any of this until now?"


    "...Her pride didn''t allow her to admit that it was her mistake that we''re in this mess."


    "That''s... very understandable."


    Still, Yoruichi wasn''t able to pry any more information, especially the contents of the contract itself because she was not allowed to reveal it to them until the stipted time.

 Chapter 907 A Turning Point in History

    Chapter 907 A Turning Point in History


    While Kisuke was busy preparing the gate to further safeguard its function and informing the relevant people of the girl''s return, the Belial House set a secret meeting between them, the Gremory, and the Sitri to discuss the ''bomb'' that Kisuke had just dropped on them.


    From the Belial side, it was Cleria and Diehauser, Zeoticus and Venna who came for the Gremory, and Dn and Cordelia as the Sitri''s representatives.


    While the other two Houses didn''t really know what this meeting entailed, the moment they heard about it being ''secret'' and ''Kisuke Urahara'', they''d rearranged their busy schedules to amodate them fully.


    "I apologize for suddenly springing this on everyone here and thank you very much foring despite your busy schedules." Cleria started with obvious dark bags under her eyes and a bit of a pale skinplexion. It was very clear to everyone that she has been overworking herself to the point that even being a High-ss Devil didn''t help anymore.


    Dn sighed, "If we still called ourselves busy after looking at you right now, we''d just be ashamed. In any case, anything that''s attached with thebel ''Kisuke Urahara'' is a call for attention. Though..." He then looked at the Gremory couple sitting opposite of him and Cordelia, "I didn''t think you''d also invite the Gremory."


    Venna just let out a smallugh while covering her mouth and Zeoticus just shrugged his shoulders before responding, "If not for a certain incident, we wouldn''t be here."


    "I see... It looks like his unconventional methods have reached your house too.", Dn replied while also thinking, ''Does it have to do with the rumors going around that their Ancestor is still alive?''


    "Well then, I won''t be wasting your time any further." Cleria looked at Diehauser and said, "Please."


    Diehauser nodded and began distributing documents to each of the attendees as Cleria exined, "Although I want to make it simple and just summarize it for you, I might only confuse everyone here, so I''d like for you to read through the documents carefully before we begin. The negotiations will be easier with all of us on the same page."


    Curiosity took everyone''s attention and they became fullymitted to the documents just a few minutes after.


    Cleria and Diehauser smiled wryly with each other and enjoyed their coffees. They knew that it''d take quite a while before they could start discussing.


    After approximately an hour, everyone had finally finished digesting everything that the documents had to offer with heavy expressions stered on their faces, "Does the Belial House intend to start a war?" Zeoticus asked.


    Already expecting this type of response, Cleria answered calmly, "Please don''tpare this to a weapon of mass destruction. In my opinion, this could be seen as a form of progression likened to how Human civilization switched from swords and shields to guns and bombs."


    "But that only happened because of their thirst to conquer."


    "And their desire to protect themselves from their enemies. Please don''t forget that."


    "So are you saying that we have to prepare the entire world for a massive war?", questioned Dn.


    Cleria smiled and turned to him, "Aren''t we already preparing for war?"


    "Did you mean the threat of the Alliance of Hell?", asked Venna, "Aside from this being toote already, it doesn''t warrant such technology that might potentially affect how everyone lives their life and the destruction of the barrier between the ''normal'' and ''supernatural''."


    "Alliance of Hell? The DxD is fully capable of dealing with the threat they pose.", Diehauser pointed out, "But aside from that, I agree with one of the points they brought up."


    The four guests'' eyes widened in disbelief, "That statement would be controversial if the public were to know of it. The whole world might even see you as their enemy." Dn muttered.


    Diehauser nodded, "I know that. But just because they are seen as ''evil'' doesn''t mean some of their ideas are wrong. The fact that the world is not adequately preparing for an otherworld invasion is something I fully... and the entire Belial House agrees with."


    A heavy silence covered the room for a few minutes before Cordelia voiced her question, "What does Kisuke-kun know?"


    "What he has right now are just spections, and he''s one of the most pessimistic people I know," Cleria answered after a moment of hesitation.


    Everyone looked at her and waited until she sighed before continuing, "As we are now, we probably have no way of fighting against an invasion that wille from another dimension."


    Zeoticus frowned and said, "That''s really one pessimistic view, but I believe he wouldn''t just think of the worst-case scenario for no reason... At least from all the disys he has done that I''m aware of."


    Cleria nodded, "He said that after Rizevim''s stunt, our world just shouted at the top of it''s lungs in a very big, very dark, and very silent room where an unknown number of other worlds were quietly listening. The chances of one having a jumpy personality might just pull the trigger for an invasion can''t be ignored. Heck, he even said that he wouldn''t be surprised if some otherworldly beings are already roaming the world without our knowledge. While Great Red is guarding the Dimensional Gap, he couldn''t possibly notice every small hole that will be created in an instant."


    Cleria''s words sent shivers to everyone as they imagined that Kisuke uttered those words. It became even more terrifying when they recalled that he''d already brought an otherworldly being with him.


    Cleria liked their response as that was what she needed now. Although it might be considered an unnecessary fear now, that''s why they needed to proceed with sufficient speed, ''This is just the start. If possible, I''d like the entire Human world to be aware of this side of the world... As expected, some drastic measures are needed and we''d need all the authority we can have.''


    pping her hands, Cleria gathered everyone''s attention again and with a small glint of craziness shing in her eyes, she continued, "Now then, shall we discuss the specifics of the Soul Gear?"


    Dn chuckled to himself and said, "We have no way of getting out of this one, huh?"


    Zeoticus, on the other hand, rubbed his chin while sighing, "Better to take the initiative than give it to others, huh... I wonder if this is worth it for making enemies everywhere?"


    "We''ll always have enemies whenever a new form of progression is presented," Cordeliamented.


    While rubbing her forehead, Venna could feel the immense amount of working for them, "Priorities have to be rearranged..."


    And although none of them were voicing it, they all knew that the first one who they had to take care of, ''Zekram Bael'', the de facto leader of the Devils after the fall of the original Satans.

 Chapter 908 Self Sealing for Fun

    Chapter 908 Self Sealing for Fun


    While some people were talking about the manufacturing and distribution of weapons that would inevitably sink a few countries into the annals of history and give rise to a new world order, Kisuke was studying the samples he''d gotten from Chaos'' domain in an attempt to glean some insight to what he really is, "This isn''t working..."


    [Oh? Are you giving up?] Benihime asked him from inside his mind.


    Kisuke began cleaning up hisb and encrypting the data he had gathered, "It''s stupid to keep repeating actions that are clearly not working. One needs to know when to give up."


    [But there''s nothing else that could give you any information. Are you just going to do what he wants, whatever that is? I know for sure that if you don''t have a surefire way of dealing with that guy, you would rather abandon that world.]


    "And that''s why I''m not giving up." Kisuke walked off from hisboratory with a sigh, "Not just because there are people there I want alive, that world will also be our rade'' if I y my cards right. Who knows? They may be able to give us valuable time when we really need it."


    [Were Rizevim''s actions really that terrifying to you?]


    Kisuke smiled but his eyes showed that he was nervous. An expression that he wouldn''t show to anyone, "It was... You know how much the unknown terrifies me and here we are, knowing that there are other worlds out there, probably staring here, yet we don''t know anything about them."


    Benihime, in front of her PC, shuddered and became quiet for a moment, [...When you put it that way, it''s really unnerving.]


    [So what''s the n?]


    "Come back for now. We''ll crash a party."


    [...]


    "What?"


    [...Can that wait?]


    "What are you doing?"


    Benihime looked at her screen and saw the timer on the limited time banner, [Give me an hour. I''m sure I''ll get something good by then.]


    "You''re not spending your money on something useless, are you?"


    [...My happiness and satisfaction are important.]


    "So you are spending money on something useless."


    [...I''ll fight you.]


    .


    .


    .


    That day, Ajuka was peacefully doing his hobby, namely, Magic Research, and tinkering with various Magic items he found interesting, when an rm suddenly went off. Hearing its sound and where it''sing from, Ajuka instantly dropped everything and rushed to the secret room of his and turned on every single monitor.


    With a single nce, he immediately found what was wrong and began breaking out in cold sweat, "...Kisuke Urahara... What are you doing?"


    On a single screen on top of the others, a giant half-bodied mannequin wasing out of Kisuke''s shadow behind him and had already created a small hole in the illusionary wall that kept changing its hue in front of him.


    Feeling Ajuka''s stare beyond the camera, Kisuke turned his head towards it and disyed a cheeky smile before waving his hand.


    During that wave, the torn open wall was already big enough for a person toe inside. The mannequin behind Kisuke disappeared as he went through it.


    Ajuka gritted his teeth and rushed towards the seal that his men were maintaining and guarding, ''How? Even I could only make a tiny hole for a signal toe through.''


    But when he arrived, with his trusted followers, they only saw a hole as small as a needle hole with what seemed to be some ''stitches'' on its sides, ''These stitches... They were the same as the one he used on the Jabberwocky.''


    ''Clearly, I still underestimated him... To think it wasn''t just simply ''cutting'' and ''restructure''.'', thought Ajuka while facing his followers, "Guard this ce. I''ll check out what''s happening inside."


    .


    .


    .


    shes of colorful lights and deafening explosions ruled the small dimension that sealed the atrocious monster that was capable of destroying the entire world with ease along with the few elite of the elites that chose to apany him into this hell in an attempt to end it, or at least, stop it from breaking out.


    Souji Okita, one of the members of Sirzechs'' peerage, which is known to be the strongest peerage in the world, was cleaning up the mass-produced Boosted Gear Scale Mail armors that Trihexa had created when he inadvertently made a mistake and got himself caught and pinned by several of these Scale Mail armors.


    This wouldn''t have been a problem normally, as he could''ve just forced his way out of this without any problems, but a gigantic paw, almost a hundred meters across, was about toe crashing down on him.


    "Souji!!!" Sirzechs and hisrades shouted at him.


    Due to the fatigue that had been building up, Souji''s reaction time wasn''t as good so he wasn''t able to notice that Trihexa was aiming at him. He scanned the surroundings, but there was no one near enough to help him and those who were taking their rest were very far from his position. Souji knew that there was no way for him to avoid this anymore and braced himself, ''This will take me out of the fight for a considerable amount of time... What luck...''


    At that moment, however, a ck beam of energy sted the side of Trihexa''s leg and threw its bnce off.


    Everyone immediately turned their head towards the source of the unfamiliar attack and saw someone casually walking with a sword on his shoulder. Despite the drowning explosions, the taps of his wooden clogs could strangely be heard, "Y-you... What are you doing here?" The only fallen Angel among the group flew near him and questioned with a shocked expression, "How did you even get in here?"


    "It''s been a while, Azazel-san~!" Kisuke greeted with arge grin, "Looks like you aren''t enjoying your stay here."


    Azazel smiled wryly and recalled his personality while also concluding that he wouldn''t be getting any of the answers that he wanted from him right now, "If you can find someone who can enjoy their time here, please bring them in. We really need more hands here."


    "Hey~! I''ll be enjoying my time here! So does that mean I passed the test to join you guys?"


    Azazel thought about it for a moment before asking him, "What do you want?"


    Without any pause or any attempt to deny that he was here for a personal benefit, Kisuke pointed his sword towards the gigantic chimera that spans a few hundred meters across and said, "I want some samples of it and a quiet space in the corner."


    Azazel nodded and said, "We''ll help you in exchange for supplies and if possible, make it behave a little bit."


    "I brought enough tost for a hundred years or so. For thetter, I''ll see what I can do."


    "Deal. We need recovery materials first so please take them to our camp."


    "Understood. Then I''d like to set up ab not far from your camp if that''s alright with you."


    "No problem."


    While Azazel was leading him to their base camp, Kisuke looked back at the busy people and Trihexa, ''I couldn''t pierce its leg even with Cero Oscuras. That''s way more durability than they described. And although I fried it''s flesh until the bone, the damage has already healed in the short amount of time since then.''


    Turning back his attention to Azazel, Kisuke thought, ''But aside from that, there''s nothing special about it. Not outwardly, at least.''

 Chapter 909 Gentlemen Talk

    Chapter 909 Gentlemen Talk


    When they arrived at their base camp, only a few of them were replenishing their stamina and one of them was Zeus and some of his subordinates, "So it was you who created that noise. As expected of someone who can''t enter without any fanfare, you''re good."


    "You overpraise, Zeus-san. I like peace and quiet so I don''t always do that." Kisuke replied with a chuckle.


    Zeus raised his right eyebrow and replied, "And now you''re openly admitting that when you''re not messing around, you''re snooping somewhere?"


    "Please~ That''s an usation! I only go where my legs bring me to and sometimes, I''ll hear interesting bits of gossip."


    "Fuhahaha! I see. Then technically, you''re not at fault!"


    "That''s basically it! I''m happy you understand me, Zeus-san."


    Not being able to take their ''casual'' conversation anymore, Azazel interrupted with a feigned cough, "Ehem... Enough of that creepy conversation between two massive perverts."


    Kisuke and Zeus looked at him with a deadpan expression and simultaneously said, "We don''t want to hear that from a pervert."


    But that didn''t bother Azazel at all and shot back, "I''m at least better than a stalker and an unhinged old man that lets his third leg do all the talking."


    "Let''s not pretend that a holy being like you that couldn''t keep it to his pants is above us.", Zeus scoffed at him.


    "That''s right! Zeus-san is at least not prohibited to do what he did! You''re just a pervert! You get off from being rebellious, you sinful bastard!", Kisuke backed him up.


    "And you think being a stalker isn''t bad!? That''s the creepiest of them all!"


    And from then on, the three of them took turns insulting each other while keeping themselves to be the ''least'' pervert. An inane debate that couldn''t be shown to the public.


    Those who were around them, no surprise, kept their distance and decided not to get involved while pretending to be busy with something else.


    The three of them noticed this and instantly shut their mouth. A few momentster, Kisuke let out a fake cough and attempted to defuse the situation, "Shall we talk about rocks, like the gentlemen we are?"


    "I''d rather talk about cheese." Zeus yed along while stroking his beard.


    But not Azazel, "No, you idiots! Let''s go to that spot. It''ll be a good location to erect a building."


    While leading the two of them, Azazel finally got a chance to reassess the situation, ''There should have been no point of contact between them, yet here they are, acting like best friends from long ago. Can I safely assume Kisuke has something to do with the current state of Olympus? But since when?''


    While those inside the seal had contact with the outside, it''s only through Ajuka and the Devil King still hadn''t informed them of thetest developments of the Rating Game. Not just because he found no need for it, but also because he''s trying to iste any that could be a spy from a hostile faction like the Alliance of Hell.


    Almost a hundred meters from the base camp, Azazel presented Kisuke with a rtively undisturbed piece ofnd, "You''ll have to secure this space yourself if you don''t want anything you build here destroyed."


    Kisuke surveyed the area and figured that he would have to use specialized equipment to find the flow of Magic Power, "This will do. Thank you."


    At the same time, Kisuke took out the supplies that the Trihexa suppression force badly needed and gave them to Azazel.


    Azazel took a quick look at the supplies that Kisuke gave and noticed the vials with the unknown concoction in them, "What are these?"


    "The red ones are health potions, stamina potions for yellow, and Magic Power potions for the blue ones."


    Azazel and Zeus picked up one of each of these potions and began examining it, "Did you mean as in like those video games?" asked thetter.


    Kisuke nodded his head and said, "It''s a technology outside of this world."


    The two of them looked at him briefly before putting their attention on the potions again.


    "It''s already an improved version of what I came across, but it''s still inferior to Phoenix Tears that can restore everything. However, it''s still much easier to manufacture and mass production is possible. Though it might take some sophisticated equipment or a skilled brewer to make these. You''re fine with Magic Power potions, aren''t you? I can''t make something that directly restores Demonic, Holy, or Divine Powers, so you''ll have to make do with it."


    Zeus popped the blue potion and drained it into his mouth, "Hmmm... This isn''t much but it''ll be incredibly helpful in prolonged fights. What do you want in exchange for these?"


    Kisuke pointed at the battlefield happening in the distance and said, "I want a piece of it to dissect."


    Zeusbed his beard while looking at the Trihexa breathing mountain-sized mes, "That''s going to be tough."


    "I have my ways."


    "Will you be willing to share the data you''ll be collecting?", asked Azazel with great interest.


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before deciding on his course of action, "If you help me out, it''ll be a win for both of us."


    Azazel smiled from ear to ear, "There''s nothing more I could ask for. But for now, we''ll have to partially seal it to even have a remotely peaceful time here."


    "Why don''t you let one of my boys join you? I think he''ll be helpful." Zeus proposed but he was immediately rejected by Kisuke by shaking his head, "Thank you for your offer, but not to disrespect you, I can only trust Azazel-san in regards to this."


    Zeus nodded in understanding, "That''s a shame."


    "Well then, I won''t bother everyone for now. I''d like to start building my base here."


    Zeus returned to his post while Azazel returned to contact Ajuka and exchange information while Kisuke busied himself with the home he''d be using for what might be weeks, ''Too bad I won''t be able to wee them, but this has to be done first.''


    A few hourster, Kisuke was able to build and furnish a three-story building made out of the leftover adamantium he got from the other side.

 Chapter 910 Riveria and London

    Chapter 910 Riveria and London


    After giving Riveria a short tour around London, Le Fay led her to an inconspicuous corner of the city.


    Riveria was still in the afterglow of admiring the city when she came to realize that their surrounding area was filled with Magic Power. That realization made her alert as she watched her surroundings more carefully. A rural area filled with unkempt flora and almost ruined buildings, ''Even though it''s a secret society, is it wise to put an entrance in a ce like this?''


    Le Fay nced at her and guessed what she was thinking, "Are you wondering why the entrance is around here out in open, Riveria-sama?"


    Riveria hesitated for a bit before nodding, ''If people areing and going, there''s no better ce than cing it where a lot of people are. Unless that organization wasn''t ''good'' enough to get a spot in the city.''


    "Truth be told, we''re using a backdoor that only those of a certain rank would know." Le Fay immediately turned around to exin and avoid a misunderstanding, "But not because of you, Riveria-sama. You see, I have a bit of history that would makew enforcers chase after me. Although that issue has already been resolved, it still doesn''t look good for the organization to be openly involved with me due to politics that I''m neither motivated enough to get involved in nor understand."


    Riveria shook his head, "It''s fine. Since Kisuke trusts you, I want to do the same. I''m just curious about this kind of setup. I''m more surprised that a sweet girl like you managed to get into that kind of situation."


    Le Fay became embarrassed and scratched her cheek, "Ehehe, I''m not that good, Riveria-sama. I did a fair share of troublesome things and I''m not going to shrink my responsibility in that." She turned around again and resumed leading and just for a second, Riveria saw a sad smile sh by on her face.


    Unknown to Riveria, despite all of the wrongs she did, Le Fay never regretted leaving the Golden Dawn and following her brother to Vali.


    Soon, they arrived at an abandoned church and Le Fay stopped in her tracks with a serious expression, "Riveria-sama. Please stay close to me."


    Riveria didn''t say anything and stayed within an arm''s length of Le Fay.


    As soon as they entered the abandoned church, a voice came from an unknown direction and echoed inside, "Halt! This is a restricted area! State your purpose!"


    Le Fay frowned because she''s familiar with the Magic they were using to amplify their voice and hide their aura, "Since when did the responsibility of guarding one of the entry points to the Order be a responsibility of the MI6?"


    Along with her words was a counter Magic that disabled their veil, "!?"


    After almost a minute of heavy silence, a short-haired blonde woman wearing a ck suit and dark sunsses came out of the shadows while gesturing to herrades to retreat, "So it''s Miss Pendragon. I sincerely apologize for what happened just now."


    "Miss Cassandra... I never thought I''d see you here. Please exin why a secr organization is blocking an entrance to the Order." Although her tone was polite, there was a hint of threat in Le Fay''s voice, not just because Riveria was with her, but also because this could be seen as an affront to the Golden Dawn''s authority. Although she''d already left the organization, she was still loyal to the Order''s vision and mission.


    However, the MI6 agent didn''t panic and calmly answered, "It seems that you were not informed. Last night, there was a directive from the higher ups to cooperate with the Golden Dawn to increase surveince and security due to some sightings of Hell''s agents and unknown Devils. Although MI6 is capable, we have no way of protecting the important people from the threat of the Alliance of Hell."


    ''The MI6''s surveince system is wide, but they don''t have enough firepower when the threates from one of therge Factions.'' Le Fay thought and could see her words were reasonable. But that doesn''t mean she''s letting her guard down, "Does that mean this entrance is blocked?"


    Cassandra nodded, "Yes. Since the Mages of the Golden Dawn were sent out, there are very few people who can guard the ce now. So we are here to inform the Golden Dawn of all those who would approach. But since you''re a member of DxD, you have a special exception." Cassandra''s eyes then drifted towards the green-haired Elf disguised as a Human, "But I would have to ask you to prove her identity if you want her to enter with you."


    Le Fay turned to Riveria and whispered, "Please take that out."


    Riveria nodded and took out a ceremonial dagger from her bag.


    As soon as sheid her eyes on it, Cassandra''s eyes widened and she immediately took off her dark sunsses, revealing her deep blue eyes, "M-may I take a closer look?" For the first time, her voice cracked.


    Le Fay stepped back and let Riveria step forward while holding the dagger.


    Cassandra approached her with nervousness but she didn''t dare touch the dagger and only looked closer in case it was the real thing, "Is this the Leviathan Dagger?"


    "The only one." Le Fay answered, "You can also contact the Belial, Sitri, and Gremory Houses for its authenticity since Serafall-sama isn''t avable at the moment."


    Cassandra stepped back and immediately shook her head, "I''d like to refrain from doing that." Cassandra fixed her posture before continuing while lowering her head slightly, "I''m Cassandra Taylor, a member of Secret Intelligence Service''s Magic Corps. I''m very pleased to meet you, Devil King Serafall Leviathan''s representative."


    "It''s also a pleasure to meet you, Cassandra. I''m Riveria Ljos Alf, I''m sorry, but I won''t be able to tell you more about myself aside from that I''m Kisuke Urahara''s Queen."


    Cassandra was surprised but held back from saying anything else, "I''m sorry for taking too much of your time. Please go ahead."


    Le Fay grabbed Riveria''s free hand and led her to the inner sanctum of the church without saying their goodbyes to the MI6 agent. Within the sanctum, the density of Magic Power was noticeably higher than outside and in the middle of it was arge iplete Magic Circle engraved on the marble floor.


    It didn''t take too long for Le Fay toplete and power up the Teleportation Magic and before Riveria knew it, they were standing at the edge of a small city filled with stone buildings. But what surprised her the most was the numerous floating inds with mansions or towers sitting on top of them. This breathtaking sight silenced Riveria as she slowly walked forward and looked around her.


    "This is amazing"


    "Isn''t it~?" Le Fay chuckled, "But if you were to go to otherrge organizations or factions, floating inds aren''t that rare."


    Not long after, a ck-haired woman came flying while riding a broom, "Lady Le Fay! I''m sorry that I''mte! Did you wait long?"


    Le Fay waved her hand in greeting, "ine~! Don''t worry about it. We''ve just arrived too."

 Chapter 911 Riveria’s Demonic Power

    Chapter 911 Riveria��s Demonic Power


    The young British woman in her early twenties introduced herself as ine Westcott. She had ck hair that was tied above her head and wore a maid outfit, carrying an air of elegance and the atmosphere of a properdy around her. But contrary to her servant-like attire, she was one of the prominent people within the Golden Dawn and Le Fay''s magician mentor.


    While being led to one of the floating inds, Riveria became even more confused, ''If she''s one of the mentors here, why does she treat Le Fay as her master? Just who is Le Fay in this organization?''


    While ine failed to recognize her confusion, Le Fay exined it in detail, "It''s true that ine is a mentor here and you can be rest assured that she has appropriate authority within the organization, but it''s also true that she''s my attendant and a maid of the Pendragon family."


    ine Westcott is a descendant of one of the founding fathers of the Golden Dawn, William Wynn Westcott. At some point in time, she became a maid of the famous Pendragon family as the attendant and magician mentor of Le Fay; the Pendragon family''s only daughter, teaching her about magic and even allowing her to join the Golden Dawn due to ine''s connections to them.


    Although Le Fay appeared to join through ine, the truth was that the Golden Dawn is under the Pendragon family''s influence.


    Long story short, to counter the increasing power of the nobles during King Arthur''s reign, Morgan Le Fay helped themoners to establish their own Order of Magic and for some time after that, the Pendragons and Golden Dawn became bitter enemies. It was still unknown how it came to be, but after a few more generations, a Pendragon married a descendant of Morgan Le Fay, ending the long chain of war.


    While ine and Le Fay didn''t have any idea how much, it''s certain that the Pendragon family has some sway within the Golden Dawn and that''s how ine came to the Pendragon''s to work as a maid while teaching Le Fay, because the family had discovered her talent was on par with the legendary sorceress, Morgan Le Fay.


    "Is it fine to tell me about this? It seems like a big secret."


    "It''s fine~ The capable organization is already aware of it through their own investigations. Just don''t mention it in a public setting because it''s still advantageous for both sides to be seen as two separate entities.", Le Fay replied with great confidence, "Instead of that, let''s go through some initial testing first to figure out where we should start. ine, please."


    "Understood. This way, please."


    .


    .


    .


    After some written and practical tests, Le Fay and ine reviewed her results and were able to easily reach a conclusion.


    "While you have a rich knowledge of the basics, your methods are primitive. It''s as if you just memorized all the books about Magic you could get your hands on. In addition to that, you don''t know how to use your Demonic Power... But that''s strange... All Devils, reincarnated or not, should instinctively know how to use it." ine muttered.


    "It''s a good thing that all you know is the Thaumaturgy system. If you had studied something like Sympathetic Magic, you''d be incredibly confused right now and it''d be a lot of work to undo all of that." Le Fay added.


    "Thaumaturgy? I''ve heard it before, but what is it?"


    ine then patiently exined, "It''s a practice of Magic that solely focuses on the maniption of the elements that follow thews of the physical world. Since it doesn''t delve deep into the study of mind and consciousness, it''s an easy practice to get into and can be strong if you have strong enough calctive prowess. It''s also the most widely used system of Magic, so much that ifmon people were to mention Magic, it''d mostly be Thaumaturgy that they''d be referring to."


    Meanwhile, Le Fay was thinking of what could possibly be the reason why Riveria couldn''t use her Demonic Power even though she could easily pull Magic Power from her surroundings and use it, "The only thing I can think of is the fact that she''s not of this world..."


    "Pardon?" ine asked.


    Le Fay turned to Riveria and asked for her permission and once she got a green light, Le Fay exined Riveria''s origin to ine.


    Fascinated, ine excitedly muttered, "So another world outside of our own really does exist. I thought it was just exaggerations from therge factions to keep everyone in check. Does that mean we really are getting invaded?"


    Le Fay shook her head, "There''s no evidence of that yet, so probably not. Our current problem is the Alliance of Hell and until they are taken care of, there will be no factions that will do anything to ensure the safety of this dimension. Enough about that. What do you think of Riveria-sama''s incapability of using her own Demonic Power?"


    ine thought for a moment before answering, "Let''s set aside the ipatibility of her physiology to Demonic Power, because that''s very unlikely. If that was really the case, a problem would have alreadye up when she was being reincarnated as a Devil. For now, could you please tell me about your world and how you use Magic on that side, Lady Riveria?"


    "I don''t know if it''ll help, but I don''t mind." Riveria agreed while feeling dejected about her problem, ''What should I do if this can''t be resolved? Do I have to resign from my current position?'' For some reason, she didn''t want to admit that she didn''t like the title of ''Queen'' being taken away from her.


    ine requested Riveria to tell her story as detailed as possible and that''s what she did, hoping that it could, at least, help a little.


    Riveria''s description of her life in her original world went on for about an hour and the two listeners were very engrossed in the world with different rules than theirs.


    While Le Fay was asking more questions to Riveria, ine got an inkling of why she couldn''t use Demonic Power, "Lady Riveria, did you say that after learning the truth about Magic, you think the Magic that the Goddess, Loki, granted you, was not your own?"


    Riveria nodded, "It is. After all, I don''t know how to use it outside of being granted it through my level up. And the fact that I can''t use it anymore when I rejected all the blessings that I''d umted only supported that."


    "Then do you think that Demonic Power was granted to you?"


    Riveria nodded again and with much more confidence, "Yes. Kisuke exined that his Demonic Power is filling up what I''m missing."


    But as soon as she said that, not just ine who asked the question, but Le Fay also sighed, "It''s technically the truth but also not the whole story. Because of that, you are wrongly understanding yourself... Very wrong, in fact."

 Chapter 912 Riveria’s Demonic Power part 2

    Chapter 912 Riveria��s Demonic Power part 2


    "V-very wrong?" Riveria was surprised at ine''s choice of words because she couldn''t really see anything wrong with her conclusion.


    "Yes." ine nodded with a serious expression, "Due to how things in your own world worked, you''ve misunderstood the beings called Devils."


    ine asked Riveria to sit down before continuing, "I won''t me you, though. And I can somehow understand why Kisuke Urahara let you have this kind of mindset."


    Riveria looked at her hand and let the foreign energy that was different from Magic Power flow through it, albeit, not doing anything nor being converted to something useful, "...Please tell me more.", she muttered full of confusion, along with the emergence of a crack in the trust she had given Kisuke.


    "The Magic system of your world automatically grants the user the knowledge of how to use it without the need to understand the principle behind it. It''s not wrong to think that this isn''t your power since it could also be taken away from you just by resetting your ''Level''."


    "On the other hand, Devil reincarnation has filled what''s supposedly taken away from you and given you the ability to manifest Demonic Power, with Kisuke Urahara providing most of it. Indeed, if it was exined to you that way, it''s still the same as before, which is technically true but also not the whole story, hence, a misunderstanding was born. Lady Riveria... What do you think a Devil is and what do you think about their Demonic Power?"


    Riveria took a deep breath and set aside her thoughts for now, "Devils are offshoots of a part of the Biblical God and Demonic Power is the manifestation of their power that uses the power of imagination. It''s an unreasonable power."


    "I see..." ine muttered, "That description of Devils could have onlye from high-ranking books that aren''t avable to most people. It seems that Kisuke Urahara didn''t hold back. Although that only expanded your misunderstanding more."


    "..." Riveria remained quiet as she clenched her fist, feeling betrayed.


    "...Uhmmm... He probably has a good reason, Riveria-sama. Let''s listen to ine for now. Although she''s not good with social cues and interactions, her experience in Magic and anything rted to it is far greater than mine." Le Fay tried tofort Riveria, though at the price of attacking her maid.


    "...Ehem..." ine frowned for a bit but didn''t say anything against it since she knew of this shoring of hers, "To resolve this misunderstanding, you first need to take your mind away from the fact that Kisuke Urahara''s Demonic Power is filling what''s missing, to the fact that you''re a real Devil."


    "Demonic Power can only be wielded by Devils and even if you''re a reincarnated one, there are no Devils without Demonic Power of their own. This means that you''re generating your own Demonic Power as we speak. Because you''ve just reincarnated, it''ll be slow at the start, but it should ramp up as time goes by."


    "T-then, do you mean..." ine didn''t have to finish what she had to say for Riveria toe to a correct conclusion.


    ine nodded, "Yes. Sometime in the future, your dependence on Kisuke Urahara''s Demonic Power will cease. So he''s only filling up the gaps, for now."


    "And now that we''ve established that your Demonic Power is your own, let''s move to the next point. Why can''t you use Demonic Power?"


    "Because it''s still not mine?"


    "Incorrect." ine immediately shook her head, "Although you can''t convert it into anything meaningful, you still can feel and manipte it to some extent, can''t you?"


    Riveria confirmed ine''s words.


    "Then let''s go back to our definition of a Devil, which isn''t really written in any records of a Devil''s library because it was suchmon sense that even children knew it and so it was deemed unnecessary."


    "Devils are beings of desire and pride. They are prideful and thrive on desires. You are a Devil so you have to embrace these values to make full use of your abilities."


    "...P-pride and desires?" Riveria was taken aback.


    "That''s right. As you are now, you don''t embody these two. Due to your mindset of ''not owning'' anything, you ended up going against the very thing that they embody. In hindsight, you''re more suitable to be an Angel since you can convert that into ''faith''."


    "...What should I do exactly?" Now that she''d taken a big step, she definitely didn''t want to reincarnate into something else. Still, pride and desire, while the words themselves were easy to understand, she didn''t have any inkling of how to embody them, ''Do I need to act like the Elves in my home forest for pride? What about desire? What do I want? And howe I don''t remember all the Devils that I''ve met acting on it?''


    "For pride, just be proud of yourself. That should be enough. As for thetter, I''m not a Devil so I don''t exactly know what you need to know. If I were to guess, you''d have to find that yourself."


    Riveria sighed, ''If that''s really the case, then I really have to find it myself.'' Unbeknownst to her, the mindset she had been keeping had already slightly changed.


    "Then again, I said that I might have an idea as to why in the beginning."


    Riveria straightened her back and listened closely.


    ine smiled widely and said, "You can try doing the opposite~!"


    "...Huh?"


    But instead of answering Riveria''s question, ine stood up from her seat and began cleaning up, "Let''s stop for today. Lady Riveria, you''ll probably confront Kisuke Urahara to get some answers to your questions."


    "Wait!" Riveria also stood up but ine didn''t bother entertaining her, "But I suggest you walk around and digest everything first before doing that. Lady Le Fay, please take her back to Kuoh Town."


    Le Fay trusted ine''s decision and grabbed Riveria''s hand without any questions and began constructing her Teleportation Magic.


    "Please wait! Give me another hint!" Riveria pleaded.


    Seeing her reaction, ine couldn''t help but somehow understand the actions that Kisuke had taken, "Lady Riveria... One of the most important assets of a Magician is his or her own confidence and thirst to achieve something impossible. Please don''t forget that. Lady Le Fay, after you''ve dropped her off, please return immediately and if possible, contact the DxD. We''ve caught the movement of a Sacred Gear user and there''s a possibility that it''s on Longinus level."


    Le Fay nodded in understanding and the two of them disappeared in a mote of light.


    "I wonder if Sir Urahara knew this would happen? Then again, I wonder if I''d just blindly went along with this, would I have contributed to making Lady Riveria a doll that can only follow others and what''sid out in front of her?" With those fleeting thoughts of today''s meeting, ine returned to fulfill her other obligations and prepare for the next lesson.

 Chapter 913 The Elf’s ‘Regression’

    Chapter 913 The Elf��s ��Regression��


    After teleporting to an indiscrete corner in Kuoh Town, Le Fay followed ine''s instructions of leaving her alone for now, but not until after giving her a guidebook and making proper arrangements for her amodations that couldst her for months if she wanted to.


    "Riveria-sama, it''ll probably be after you learn how to use your Demonic Power before ine moves on to the formal lessons. I wish you good luck."


    After ine''s words, Le Fay already has an inkling of what ine and Kisuke were trying to do as she also went through something simr long ago. Though as a child, she was able to get through this phase quite easily.


    Riveria thanked Le Fay for her time and asked her to give her regards to ine before she disappeared within the light of the Teleportation Magic. Now that she was alone in the quiet corner of the town that was full of greenery, she was able to calm her mind and took a deep breath, ''Do they really have to be so mysterious about this?''


    As she took her step forward, the light between the leaves of the trees hit her face, ''Pride and desire... Pride is... thinking that you yourself are great, isn''t it? Desire... What do I want exactly? Suddenly being asked that question, I won''t be able to answer it easily.''


    The cheerful chirps of the birds entered her ears signifying that she was pretty far away from the hustle and bustle of the town. It was then that she recalled her Familia. Being alone in this foreign world for the first time and not being busy burying herself among the books, she realized how much she missed thepanions that apanied her throughout life and death situations.


    Riveria thought that she''d be immune to such a thing, but it turned out that she wasn''t very different from others that would feel insecure when thrust into an unknown situation alone.


    Riveria lifted the guidebook with a map sandwiched between the pages. She looked at it for a few seconds before clenching her fist and keeping it within her bag with Space Magic cast on it before turning around and walking deeper into the forest, and she wouldn''te out of it even after a week of staying in it.


    .


    .


    .


    On the morning of the 8th day of staying within the forest undisturbed, Riveria was living rtively well since she was given a full set of camping materials and food in her bag. Leaving her tent, Riveria met the first light of the day and stretched out while conjuring water through simple Magic to wash her face, ''Looks like the weather will be good today.'' she thought while wiping her face.


    Compared to the first time she came to be a hermit, Riveria had calmed down a lot and was able to rearrange her thoughts properly, ''I''m d that I secluded myself. Though I still can''t use my Demonic Power at its full capacity.''


    She''d always ask herself if she had really be a Devil and would always get her answer by taking out and pping her pair of Devil wings along with the night vision in the darkness. She was already capable of using her Demonic Power but was focusing on the fact that it could be used through the power of imagination. Without thinking of the process, she was able to move wind,bust matter, gather wind, and lift the earth, but beyond that and anything moreplex would make her Demonic Power retract. So to arge degree, she''s still failing.


    Riveria was about to prepare her breakfast and continue her routine when a ringing sound suddenly came from her tent and she looked towards it. She didn''t have to go inside to know what it was because, for the past four days, it''d ring about two to three times per day.


    Riveria sighed and thought, ''I can''t avoid him forever. The only thing I''m passing to him was the fact that I''m acting like a sulking child... Though I''m not really at fault, am I? I still think it would have been better to hear it from him directly so that I wouldn''t be forever dependent on him.''


    After contemting for a few seconds, Riveria set aside making breakfast for now and reentered her tent to pick up the card that was ced on the table beside her bed. She looked at it for a few more seconds before taking a deep breath and injecting her Magic Power into it.


    [Hmmm? Riveria-san? You finally answered! Does that mean you forgive me now?] A holographic screen showing Kisuke''s face emerged from the top of the card.


    Kisuke''s nonchnt and borderline flippant tone of voice immediately struck a nerve in Riveria''s head and she was about to hang up.


    [Wait, wait, wait! Don''t hang up!]


    Riveria decided to wait, "What is it, master? I''m still quite busy figuring out how these things work."


    [You can actually make yourself busy in that forest? That''s amazing.]


    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll just hang up."


    [...] However, Kisuke only silently stared at her with a small smile on his face.


    "W-what?"


    [Nothing, really. I''m just d that you''re doing alright. I was worried, you know?]


    Riveria was stunned and wasn''t able to speak for a moment as the string in heart was struck nicely. She immediately noticed her strange silence and cleared her throat, "If you were worried, then at least apologize. I trusted you, but I''m now very confused with everything and started questioning why I''m even here."


    Despite that recovery, her wiggling and red ears betrayed her and revealed what she''s feeling right now.


    [...Too easy...] Kisuke muttered under his breath.


    "What was that!?"


    [I mean too cute!]


    "Wha!?" Riveria''s face heated up, "Stop messing with me! I''m fine so I''m hanging up!"


    But before she could do so, Kisuke, with a serious tone, said, [I did betray your trust, but I won''t apologize.]


    Riveria clenched her teeth, "You won''t apologize because you know you''re right? Is that it?" She couldn''t really handle this rollercoaster of emotions that Kisuke was subjecting her to.


    [I wouldn''t say that I know I''m right because I always make mistakes too. I don''t think of myself that highly. I just think that it''s good for you and my opinion of that hasn''t changed. Hence, I won''t apologize.]


    "...Why? Is it fun ying with me?" But then, Riveria immediately realized how wrong her words was and saw Kisuke sighed with disappointment, "N-no!"


    [It''s fine. Because from the outside perspective, I''m really just ying with your emotions.]


    "Stop!" Riveria raised her voice, "Please stop! Please don''t say that... I apologize... I didn''t mean it"


    ''While you like messing around with people''s heads, you''re not the type of person who''d betray the feelings of someone you care about just for some amusement!'' Is what she wanted to say but she had to swallow it because she was afraid. She''s afraid that she didn''t qualify for the condition of ''someone he cares about''.


    ''What''s this? Why does this hurt? I have to calm down...'' Riveria took a deep breath in an attempt to reign in her feelings.


    But Kisuke only panicked when he saw some tears were about to fall from the corners of her eyes, [Hold on... Riveria-san... Are you okay?]


    "Ahm fyne!" Riveria inevitably sniffled while giving out a reply, ''What''s going on!? Why can''t I stop myself!? This is embarrassing!''

 Chapter 914 Start of a Legend

    Chapter 914 Start of a Legend


    [Riveria-san, let''s calm down. Take a deep breath...] Kisuke panicked, [Come on, do it with me. Inhale~... Exhale~... One more time.]


    Riveria sniffled but still followed Kisuke''s instructions. But as she was doing so, a ck shadow swept through the screen and she could only hear Kisuke say, [Oh cra-!!!], before he disappeared and the camera started to shake violently, "Kisuke!? Hello!? What''s going on!?"


    Riveria couldn''t hear anything because of the excellent noise canceling feature of the call, but she could see dirt being thrown around when light hits the lens. A few secondster, the shaking stopped and she saw Kisukeying on the ground not far from where the camera was pointing, "Kisuke!? What happened!?"


    Although it was only for a few more seconds, when she found no response from Kisuke, her heart sank once again, "Hey! Don''t joke around! Where are you!?" And while shouting at top of her lungs, her free hand operated a separate crystal that would send a distress signal to the Belial House along with a small message.


    Finally, Kisuke groaned and sat up while holding his head and muttering, [Guhh... Damn... Didn''t think it''d have a final burst of energy before being partially sealed. Looks like it hated me more than anyone else in this space.]


    As if a heavy lead was lifted, Riveria sighed in relief, "Hey... What''s happening? Just where..." However, she had to stop in the middle of her question when Kisuke turned towards her and was horrified to see his bloodied face and missing arm, "Wait! Are you alright!?"


    But before Kisuke could answer her, a tall man with ck hair and gold bangs descended beside him while folding his twelve jet-ck wings behind his back, [Still alive? Damn... Want some of my prosthetic arms? I''ve been improving them ever since I lost mine. I''ll give you a discount.]


    [I''ll think about it if you''ll give me a 100% discount.] Kisuke replied while white matter began to spill out from the stump of his arm and started to form a new one.


    [...That''s honestly nasty. Just how are you doing that? And this is what you get for flirting in front of a monster that could quite literally destroy the world a few times over.]


    [Too bad I have my priorities straight, am I right?] Kisuke replied with a chuckle.


    [Damn right. You''re one of the few guys who''d ignore the threat to the world for a woman.]


    Riveria could only remain silent at the two''s back and forth until Azazel picked up the camera on Kisuke''s side and addressed her, [So this is the Elf that you have been talking about? Nice to meet you. I''m Azazel. Former Governor of the Fallen Angels. Now I''m just an old man doing the hard work for the kids.]


    "N-nice to meet you too. I''m Riveria Ljos Alf."


    [I''m sorry to interrupt but I would have to take back this guy since he still has some work to do. Well, you were already interrupted by a p to his face.]


    "N-no. It''s fine. Please be careful with whatever you''re doing."


    ''Of course, we have to be careful. If I took that hit just now, my body would''ve exploded into a thousand pieces.'' Azazel wanted to say but he didn''t want to make her worry more since her face was already a mess.


    [Hold on. I haven''t gotten to the reason why I called yet.] Kisuke''s voice resounded from behind and by this time, his arm was already almost fully formed, [Let''s set aside the other issues for now and focus on your Demonic Power. If I''m guessing it right, you''re probably overthinking it. Demonic Power manifests through the simplest of desires if you didn''t inherit any bloodline ability. Heck, even an idiot could develop a nonsensical ability like reading the thoughts of breasts because he wanted to talk to boobs and breaking any female attire regardless of their strength, just because he wanted to see a nude body.]


    Riveria shuddered and unconsciously covered her modest bosom with her arms, "Stop lying."


    Azazel and Kisuke looked at each other before thetter replied, [...I wish I was.]


    [He really is the worst enemy of women... Though only a woman could probably beat him into submission too.] Azazel muttered under his breath.


    [In any case, if you want something, just take it. Stop thinking of how it works and just express your selfishness to the world.]


    "...Just take it?"


    [Yes. Whatever you want, just take it. If you don''t own it, just take it. If it doesn''t exist, just make it and take it. All you have to do is to desire it. Devils are beings of desire, but they don''t let themselves be controlled by it. Instead, they take pride in it.]


    "..."


    [Well, that''s everything I want to say. Contact me here if you want to talk, but I can''t guarantee that I''ll be able to answer. Goodbye and good luck.]


    Kisuke ended the call without waiting for Riveria''s response. Not that she had any because she only quietly stood in her spot for almost half an hour while thinking about his words, ''Even idiots can do it, huh?...''


    And while Kisuke was just giving Riveria a vague idea of how to use her Demonic Power, he''d be shocked to know that she''d take it quite literally and would develop an original ability that even Ajuka would fear.


    ''...Just take it...'' Riveria repeated those words over and over again in her mind until she came up with her own skewed conclusion, ''In other words... Just make everything mine.''


    With a specific path finally emerging in her mind, Riveria regained her motivation and forgoed eating her breakfast to try out new and exciting things. After setting aside her issue with Kisuke for now, it only took her under three hours to use her Demonic Power to regain her abilities as ''Nine Hell''.


    However, she wouldn''t stop there and would use another six hours to learn Ais'' very own ''Tempest'' from her own memories.


    It was the start of the legend who was going to soon be called the ''Copy Mage'' andter, the ''Akashic Queen'' that will rise to fame due to her unique ability, ''Records of the Queen''. A literal nightmare for all ability users.


    It''d be two dayster that she''d be discovered by a certain lost Shinigami.

 Chapter 915 Meeting Again

    Chapter 915 Meeting Again


    "See youter~!"


    Aika waved back to her friends that she hung out with after school before turning around to go back home herself, ''No sses tomorrow...''


    Five minutes into walking, however, she turned in a different direction and came near a house whose owner she had been avoiding recently, ''She''s still not back?''


    Thanks to her enhanced learning and curiosity that she couldn''t contain, she''d alwayse close to Benihime''s house without actually doing anything. Each time, she heard her cursing at something and came to admire that she had been doing that every day, ''It has been more than a week. Did she move out? Does it have something to do with the current weird atmosphere around the town?''


    Aika didn''t know when it started, but there was an inexplicable change in the air surrounding the town, not from its everyday normal counterpart, but from those who were moving within the shadows. Because of that, despite showing that she was doing fine, she was feeling incredibly anxious and would approach Benihime in an attempt to clear her suspicions. However, her parent''s faces would alwayse to her mind making her unable to do anything further.


    And when she''d finally managed to gather her resolve, Benihime suddenly disappeared leaving her with no other options, ''Should I just ask thatdy? But I haven''t been able to detect her for some time and the ''security'' around us has considerably thinned with the remaining ones spaced out quite far.''


    Aika turned back and aimed for the park, ''In the first ce, I can''t really expect them to give me an answer because they''re protecting us.''


    While thinking of ways on how to tackle the anxiety she was feeling, she reached the park which she found herselfing to every day and reminded her of a certain day when she came across a green-haired woman and pale blonde man enjoying their time on one of the benches. That day, she didn''t know what came over her when she saw the two of them flirting and decided to stalk them despite seeing them for the first time.


    She initially thought it was anger, but it''s much moreplicated than that. Aika didn''t follow them until the end because she didn''t like what she was seeing and decided to go home that day while listless. Ever since then, she would go back to the park whenever she had some free time, but she never saw them again.


    Sighing to herself, she checked the time and noticed that she only had an hour before the sun sets, ''I shouldn''t be wasting my time here.''


    Turning in another direction, she walked to the edge of the town and she knew that there were no people and cameras watching her, she began running at the speed that was inhumanly fast, silently weaving through the concrete jungle and reaching the nature where she''s covered from everywhere. In a reasonably wide clearing, Aika stopped and saw the familiar fallen trees that she herself did, ''Now that I''m done confirming my physical abilities, I should try if I can do something...err special or magical. But how do I go about it?''


    Aika tried chanting absolute random things without any shame and even did some weird poses, but nothing came out of it aside from hitting her pinky toe on a small rock and cursing the world for no reason.


    "Damn it... Do I really have nothing? Maybe I should get a wand or a sword...? Hmmm... a sword?"


    Another strange feeling took hold of her when thinking about the sword, ''Now that I think about it, when I tried Kendo a week back, it felt strangely familiar. Now that I know that the records that Mom and Dad showed me are fake, I shouldn''t have any experience with swords. Because I''m afraid that they''ll find it strange, I pretended not to know how to wield it and that was a lot harder than anything I tried.''


    Aika stood up and dusted her skirt, ''I should get a sword. Maybe I''ll discover something new.''


    She was about to go home for now but she stopped on her tracks when a certain thought entered her mind, ''Maybe a sword wille out if I imagine one?''


    Without any hesitation, Aika raised both of her arms and shouted, "Come, my personal de, and cut all of my enemies~!"


    Nothing came out.


    "Yeah right... What the hell was I expecting?"


    But as soon as she dropped down her arms, she felt something leave her body, and a six and a half foot long nodachi suddenly emerged from thin air on top of her head, dropping down and hitting her forehead, "Guh!"


    Aika scrambled to catch the nodachi with both of her hands and panicked a little bit, "What!? Something really came out!?"


    Although, before she could think anymore about it, a sudden headache assaulted her, so bad that it brought her down to her knees and scraped her skin, "GGHHHH... AHHHHH!!!!"


    Her voice echoed but no one arrived to help her. Thankfully, the headache onlysted until sunset.


    Aika sat up while groaning, ''...What was that...?''


    But after her mind cleared up sufficiently, she found new knowledge that she didn''t know before.


    Aika silently grabbed her nodachi and disappeared with a sh Step.


    .


    .


    .


    After eating her dinner, Aika made some excuse and locked herself in her room.


    Burying her head in her nket, Aika asked herself, ''Seriously... What''s going on? Why do I have this kind ofbat knowledge? Although I wasn''t able to regain any memories of my personal life, I know for sure that the sword didn''t give that to me, instead, I trained for them... Just what happened in that nk year?''


    Aika recalled her parents'' reaction and thought, ''They really knew nothing... If they did, that wouldn''t be their only reaction knowing how overprotective they are.''


    The next morning, she went out early and came back to her spot while carrying her nodachi and using sh Step the entire way.


    Although she was very tempted to pull out the de, Aika calmed down and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. In an instant, a new world was presented to her and she instinctively knew what she was ''looking'' at, "These are... souls?"


    From birds, insects, and fauna, to the earth itself. Everything contained a soul. And these souls were emitting excess that she was naturally breathing and refreshing her mind. Not content with what she was experiencing, Aika tried expanding the sphere of influence and got a bigger view of the world.


    Without opening her eyes, she tried navigating through this world of souls and was able to do so better than her normal sight. Aika ran around without getting tired as the energy she was expending would return to nature and then nature would give it back. Although there was some physical stress, she didn''t mind and wanted to continue experiencing this exhrating feeling. It''s as if something missing from her had been returned.


    It was several hourster that Aika finally felt content and reopened her eyes, "...That was amazing."


    After resting for a bit, Aika finally wanted to pull out her nodachi and swing it around. But before she did, she thought that she''d scan the surroundings as far as she can using the world she''s seen earlier without getting lost in it, "Yosh!"


    A hundred meters around her, there was only nature. Half a kilometer, the rity was reduced but she can still tell what was what. Finally, there was her limit of a kilometer, but the edge was too blurry to gain any meaningful information. She was about to close her scan when a strong soul suddenly brushed past the northern edge, ''What was that?''


    Curiosity took over her and hid her presence before carefully approaching the north. There she saw the familiar green-haired woman that she saw at the park but this time, her ears were longer, "...An Elf?"


    But that muttering was a mistake on Aika''s part as a ball of fire suddenly went flying in her direction, "Who''s there!?"

 Chapter 916 Meeting Again Part 2

    Chapter 916 Meeting Again Part 2


    Aika panicked and sh Stepped out of the way. She was about to escape thinking that the Elf was hostile but immediately changed her mind when she suddenly called out her name, "Aika?"


    Aika immediately turned around and stared at the Elf quietly.


    "You can finally use that ridiculous technique. Does that mean you already regained your memories?" Riveria carelessly muttered after recalling what she heard from Kisuke regarding Aika''s situation. Only when Aika kept staring at her without saying any word back that she found her reaction strange, "...Wait... Could it be that you haven''t?"


    However, Aika just continued staring at her from a distance.


    "..." Riveria blinked. Aika also blinked back, ''...I messed up.'' Thought the former.


    "I''m sorry. I got the wrong person." Riveria immediately turned around and wanted to pack up.


    But Aika wouldn''t just let this chance go and reappeared in front of Riveria, "Please tell me more."


    Riveria wasn''t surprised by her sudden appearance since she already felt where she would appear when she initiated her technique, ''Hmmm? But how? I shouldn''t have the ability to see through that... At least not for now.''


    It was her guest who answered her question, "You... Your eyes..." said Aika with a surprised tone.


    "My eyes?" Riveria paused for a moment before running towards her tent and getting a mirror from her drawer. As soon as she lifted it in front of her face, Riveria''s eyes widened as surprise and confusion took hold of her expression, "This is..."


    Within her beautiful jade-colored eyes were veryplicated andplex golden Magic Circles containing countless runes that transform each and every second, forming a new meaning behind the Magic Circles each time. Nevertheless, her confusion didn''tst long as she intuitively understood what they meant, ''This is... the manifestation of my Demonic Power?''


    Riveria already had an idea of how her new ability worked, but since she was alone, she couldn''t confirm it. She looked through the entrance of her tent and saw Aika looking through it curiously, ''I already messed up but maybe I can use this situation to confirm things?''


    After contemting more about it, Riveria took out the crystal card formunication and sent a voice message, "Your amnesiac lover arrived at the ce I''m staying at while using sh Step."


    She didn''t attempt to conceal her voice and let Aika hear all of it, ''Now that she can use abilities that are beyond the normal people of this world, Kisuke''s attempt of sending her back is as good as over.''


    Kisuke, who had the same thoughts as her, immediately replied with a sigh, "There''s no helping it. I''ll leave the decision to you, but since she came there, it must be a coincidence that she found you. If she really had her memories back, she''d being after my head first."


    Kisuke decided to give up. Not just because she''d already unlocked her abilities, but also the fact that he decided to flip this world upside down by introducing the mass-produced Soul Gears. It was only a matter of time before the Supernatural world and the Normal world melded together and stepped into their next advancement. At that time, Aika would inevitablye back no matter how many times he seals her memories since he knew that her Zanpakuto would only burst out again and again by being exposed to the Supernatural world, ''I hope that when she returns, she''ll have a clearer answer to her questions. Else, this will be all for nothing.''


    Aika, on the other hand, felt delighted that she''d finally found a clue and also became embarrassed while looking around her to confirm that she was the only one here aside from the Elf, ''Lover!? I have a boyfriend!?''


    "Yes, you''re the lover." said Riveria while keeping the crystal card and mirror, "But I''m sorry since that''s everything I''ll be able to tell you now."


    Aika clutched her nodachi tightly and pleaded while stuttering, "C-could I at least see a picture of him?" Although she already had an idea who it was, she wanted to confirm it, ''It''s that guy, right? Then why?''


    "Sadly, I don''t have any of those. Still, I can tell you a bit about him but only after you do me a favor."


    "..." Aika swallowed a mouthful of saliva and replied, "What do I need to do?"


    Riveria smiled and said, "That sh Step, please show it to me several times."


    "Do you mean that fast movement?"


    "...You''re using it despite not knowing what it''s called?"


    "I recalled how to use it yesterday."


    Riveria walked out of the tent and went towards the direction of arge clearing, "So you have been practicing it and that carried you to this ce?"


    "That''s precisely what happened. And whoever is on that other side of that magicalmunication device sure does know me well.", replied Aika as she followed her.


    "Well... Although I''ve only known your group for a short while, it was a very tight-knit one that knows the ins and outs of one another." Riveria stopped walking before continuing, "Please do it here and I might ask you to do it multiple times until I''m satisfied."


    Riveria''s sudden clue drop caught Aika off-guard a bit but she didn''t ask about it, ''These are things that I supposedly knew, so I can''t get carried away with this information. What I need is the method of restoring my memories and nothing else.''


    Aika took some distance from Riveria and was about to start when she thought of something, "By the way, you already knew my name but how should I call you?"


    "Oh, right. Excuse my rudeness. I''m Riveria Ljos Alf. You can simply call me Riveria."


    Aika nodded, "Okay, Riveria-san. I don''t know what you''re trying to achieve but please watch closely. I have no way of doing this slowly."


    Riveria willed the Demonic Power within her and it instantly responded with the Magic Circles reappearing within her eyes in addition to a t golden halo made out of rotating runes on top of her head.


    Aika was shocked at this sight but focused on her task. A secondter, Aika disappeared and reappeared a few meters away from her former spot.


    "One more time, please." Riveria immediately requested.


    Aika didn''t say anything else and repeated it for Riveria several times until she heard her muttering under her breath, "I... I can really see it?"


    Instead of requesting repetitions, Riveria instead took a step forward and the moment her footnded, she disappeared from her spot and reappeared ten meters forward, with her face about to hit the ground.

 Chapter 917 Finally Back At Home

    Chapter 917 Finally Back At Home


    Riveria saw the grounding closer but it was already toote for her to react and for some reason, she couldn''t muster her Demonic Power nor the Magic Power in the surroundings to even slow down her descent through Magic.


    Riveria closed her eyes to protect it but instead of the feeling of smacking herself hard, an arm caught her waist and stopped her from falling, "Got you!" Aika followed her with sh Step and caught her.


    "T-thank you." Aika assisted Riveria to get up, "I failed to take into ount a few things when I tried it."


    "Are you also practicing this sh Step? Is that why you ask me to show it to you?"


    However, Riveria''s answer would shock her, "No. That''s the first time I did it."


    "...Uhmmm... Did you mean that no one had taught you how to do it and you just imitated how I did it?" Aika asked while Riveria was dusting herself off.


    But instead of giving a straight answer, Riveria''s eyes lit up in excitement, "I just need to watch it a few more times and I think I should be able to learn it! I just need to figure out how you meld two different energies together and substitute it with Demonic Power!"


    "I''m sorry, but I won''t be able to help you with that. I knew I learned this at some point in the past, but I can only honestly do it instinctively and won''t be able to describe how I''m doing it. I don''t even know what these two energies you''re talking about are."


    The Magic Circles and halo returned to Riveria as she turned towards Aika before saying, "That''s fine. That''s where this ability shines."


    Aika could only follow Riveria''s instructions not knowing how ridiculous this situation really is, especially with how Riveria was trying to substitute Ki and Reiryoku with Demonic Power that hadpletely different properties. Not that thetter was aware of it either.


    If Kisuke knew this was happening, he might''ve just dropped what he was doing and joined the two of them.


    .


    .


    .


    "Finally back!" Irina shouted as she stretched her arms aftering out of the teleporter that brought them back to their original world.


    "This is his new hideout? He really went ahead with a sci-fi theme." Sonamented after looking around the Teleportation room.


    Aside from Yoruichi and Serafall who chose to stay behind for a number of reasons, everyone else made it back for the first time in a few months.


    As per their instructions, the group stayed inside the room for a few minutes to get a few passes of the decontamination procedure that was set in ce so that they wouldn''t have to go through what Riveria had experienced.


    A few minutester, the lock on the doors were undone and Cleria, Sarah and Lilith came in to wee everyone, "Wee back, everyone."


    Seeing them, the first one to run and jump on them was ire, "Mama!"


    "ire!", Cleria also stepped forward before crouching down to catch her daughter and giving her a tight hug, "Did you miss mama?"


    "Un!" ire nodded vigorously while returning her mother''s hug and burying her head in her chest. Although they had been talking regrly, this was the first time in a while for her to feel her mother''s warmth and she couldn''t help but tear up a little in delight.


    Seeing that ire didn''t want to separate from her, Cleria picked her up with one arm. She then set her sights on Tanis, who had been staring at them quietly, "Come here, Tanis-chan."


    Tanis stood there for a few seconds before meekly approaching Cleria. As to not startle her, Cleria slowly took her other hand from ire''s back and patted Tanis'' head, "Wee home." She knew that it''d be hard for her to ept any other ce as her home, but Cleria wanted to pass a message to her that this was her home too.


    Tanis looked at her with shining eyes and spread her arms to hug her waist.


    Sarah, on the other hand, looked for Ophis, but she and the others noticed that she''d alreadye face to face with Lilith and they were staring quietly while holding each other''s hand, ''Is that their way ofmunicating?''


    "Do you want to look around before going back?"


    Sona tilted her head at Sarah''s question, "Is there something special in this hideout?"


    Sarah smiled happily and answered, "Yes. We''re currently on Mars, actually."


    "...Huh...?" Sona, including Koneko, Kuroka, Irina, and Akeno had dumbfounded expressions while Medusa just nodded to herself with ''As expected of Master'' clearly written on her face.


    .


    .


    .


    After being given a tour of the first manmade structure on Mars because its owner was too insecure to build it on Earth, only ire, Tanis, Ophis, and Medusa returned to the Belial Manor as the rest went to visit their respective families and friends. They''d intended to stay there for a while until Kisuke turned up again or something big happened.


    Although they were aware that Riveria had alsoe to this side, Sarah refused to say where she was and reminded them not to approach Aika for the time being.


    "Now then..." Sarah turned to Medusa after sending off the girls, "I''m sorry to impose this on you since you have only just returned, but I can only trust you to watch Riveria and Aika-chan."


    Medusa was a bit surprised and asked, "They''re together?"


    Sarah chuckled, "A happy coincidence. However, their identities areplicated enough that I can''t entrust this to the others, and aside from Kuroka, Yoruichi, Serafall-sama and you, no one can actually approach them without being detected."


    Medusa thought about it for a moment, ''Kuroka wanted to see her friends and Yoruichi and Serafall are not here, so it''s only me who won''t be detected. But me being undetected? If Aika has truly reawakened, then it''ll be extremely hard to hide from her. Looks like no one on this side actually knows how much she can do.''


    "How are you keeping track of their position?"


    "We''ve set up arge perimeter throughout the entire forest and included Aika-chan''s ce in it. As long as those two leave that ce, we''ll be able to tell. However, the manpower needed for this is stretching our capacity, so I''d like you to rece them soon."


    Medusa nodded, "Of course. I''ll dly do it. Please leave this to me."


    Sarah sighed in relief, "Thank you. I don''t think they''ll stay there for long, so you should be able to take it easy soon."


    "But what if they are able to spot me? Especially Aika. Her instincts are frighteningly good that I''m not confident in hiding from her."


    Sarah became silent for a few seconds before answering, "I''ll leave the decision to you since it''s not really my ce to say anything."


    "Understood."

 Chapter 918 New ‘Baby’ Sitter

    Chapter 918 New ��Baby�� Sitter


    Medusa immediately departed as soon as she got ready and the first thing she did was to try getting in contact with Kisuke. Thankfully, after a few rings, Kisuke was able to pick up her call, "Medusa~ d to see that you''ve arrived safely. How are the others?"


    "Everyone arrived safely as well, but I''m worried about those who are left behind.", replied Medusa while hearing small explosions going off in the background, although it was being muffled, "Are you busy?"


    "Quite, but not really enough to keep me from speaking with you." Kisuke replied with a chuckle, "And regarding Yoruichi, Serafall, Hestia-sama, and Artemis-sama, there''s nothing that can be done as of now. All we can do is trust them. Besides, the situation over there is already stable. The only threat is the parasite within the Dungeon, but that''s not our problem to solve. We''ve done enough to give them the necessary arsenal to take that on."


    "So there''s nothing else that would happen aside from that?"


    "As long as the ck Dragon isn''t defeated, nothing else should happen. However, we don''t know everything and something like the descent of the Gods could happen anytime."


    "But that''s still not our problem, right?"


    "It isn''t. We only took care of the three Gods'' descent because they were convenient as the girls'' practice partners. Even if we didn''t get involved, Chaos or the Dungeon would have taken care of it themselves. Though if the situation was something that could earn us favors from Gods, I think Yoruichi would move out to secure those."


    ''I hope I can earn that trust from you in the future too.'' Medusa smiled softly as her beautiful long purple hair swayed in the air, "Then I''ll put my worries to rest."


    "How about your sisters? Are they with you?"


    "No," Medusa shook her head, "After feeling Athena''s lingering Divine Power within the Belial Mansion, they refused toe out."


    "That''s too bad, but I won''t ask you and your sisters to get along with her. It also doesn''t matter if your hostility towards her disappears or not, so don''t force yourself if you think you should be friendly with her just for my sake."


    "I''ll be sure to convey this to them." Medusa was very thankful that Kisuke was making this clear as she did have the idea of getting along with Athena despite her not feeling good about it for Kisuke''s sake, "By the way, I''m currently being asked to look after Riveria and Aika by Sakura-san. If they are nning to stay for long in the forest, I doubt I could hide from Aika. I want your opinion in case I''m discovered."


    "You can do whatever you want, but in my opinion, you don''t have to hide. Just join them and you''ll have an easier time."


    "I can do that?"


    "Of course. I''ll apologize to her parentster and tell them the whole story. Aika only needs a strong shock to unlock all of her memories in any case."


    Medusa was confused at his words for a few moments but recalled the current state of affairs and understood what he meant, "Show her the other side of reality, huh?"


    "It''ll be her baptism and maybe Riveria-san''s too. I''ll leave it to you."


    "I''ll do my best, but you will need to apologize to Aika herself too."


    "...I don''t want to get punched on the face, though?"


    Medusa giggled, "It''s a cheap price, don''t you think?"


    "...Put in some good words for me?"


    "I''ll try, but I doubt that''ll do anything."


    The two of them talked for a bit more before Kisuke disconnected because he couldn''t afford to speak anymore. At that time, Medusa had also reached the forest and used her eyes to scan the traces of Magic Power before following it. It didn''t take too long for her to locate the two, but before she could reveal her presence, she stopped and watched Riveria perform a sh Step in shock, ''Did Kisuke teach her how to do that? But that''s strange... I can only find a small trace of Ki and that shouldn''t be enough to perform that technique.''


    But as she further watched, she could only exim inwardly, ''Demonic Power!? As far as I know, neither Kisuke nor Yoruichi had developed the sh Step to be usable with Demonic Power! How is she doing it!?''


    "Who''s there!?" Aika turned around in her direction in panic. The fluctuation in Medusa''s emotion created a discernable wave through her camouge and revealed the soul pressure that she had been trying to hide from Aika.


    Riveria also stopped whatever she was doing and grabbed her staff, ready to respond to any threat.


    Medusa sighed to herself and revealed herself bying out of the shadows, "I''m sorry for startling you both." she said while also thinking, ''Good thing I talked to Kisuke beforeing here... I was discovered a minute after arriving.''


    Aika was very surprised when she detected a person that was already incredibly close to them. And while her beauty was phenomenal, what caught her attention the most were her jewel-like eyes behind her sses.


    "Medusa?" Riveria muttered, "You''ve returned?"


    Aika turned to Riveria and asked, "Your friend?"


    Riveria was a bit startled and looked at Medusa with a wry smile, "That''s a bit sad, isn''t it?"


    Medusa nodded with the same wry smile, "Truly. Though, not for long."


    "W-what''s up?" asked the confused Aika.


    Riveria turned back to her and said, "We''re, at most, acquaintances. But for you, she''s a dear friend."


    To that disclosure, Aika didn''t know how to react and could only bow her head and say, "I-I''m sorry!"


    Medusa approached her and put her right hand on her shoulder while she used her left hand to lift her head. As soon as Aika met her eyes, she saw a gentle smileing from Medusa, "Please don''t apologize. You did nothing wrong."


    Aika could only stare nkly at her and after a few seconds, tears started to silently fall from her eyes, "...Eh?"


    She didn''t know what came over her, but she was feeling incredibly happy for some reason and she couldn''t help but tear up. Aika immediately tried wiping her tears, but they were not stopping.


    Seeing this, Medusa slowly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her, "It''s okay. Everything is fine."


    Aika didn''t know what she meant but the warmth and reassurance during her confusion opened the floodgate as she began to sniffle before grabbing Medusa. She didn''t know who Medusa was, but this stranger''s presence seemed to be what she''d wanted all along.

 Chapter 919 The Cats are Always Ready for a Fight.

    Chapter 919 The Cats are Always Ready for a Fight.


    It took Aika a few minutes to fully calm down but she didn''t move away from Medusa for several minutes more.


    "I''m sorry for my sudden outburst. I don''t know why I did that." Aika apologized while separating from Medusa.


    "It''s fine. Although I can''t really understand what you are going through right now, I know that you are struggling and the least I could do is to be a pir of support."


    Medusa spent a few more minutes calming down Aika and the first thing that thetter asked after that was, "Will you tell more about me and you?"


    But contrary to her expectations, Medusa shook her head, "I won''t."


    "B-but why?"


    "Because you won''t need it once you can recall everything yourself without me needing to tell you."


    "...And when will that happen?"


    Medusa smiled knowingly and said while patting her head, "It''ll be sooner than you think."


    She then turned to Riveria and finally asked what she had been curious about, "Riveria-san, since when did you learn how to use sh Step? I never knew that master developed it to use Demonic Power."


    "...Just yesterday." Riveria answered after hesitating for a moment because she didn''t know if what she was doing is bad, "And I was never taught how to do it nor that you can''t use it with Demonic Power."


    Medusa''s eyes widened in surprise. There were so many points she wanted to question, but she honestly didn''t know where to start, "I''m sorry, but could you exin the entire process of you learning it? If you''re notfortable with it, I won''t pursue an answer."


    Wanting to confirm that she''s not stepping on a taboo of this world, Riveria truthfully described how she developed the ability to copy other abilities and she wanted to confirm what sort of abilities she could copy when she asked Aika to demonstrate to her the sh Step until she forgot the original goal and just kept adjusting the technique for her own use.


    "T-that''s... Amazing." were the only words Medusa could utter out of sheer amazement and shock, ''Depending on what sort of abilities she can copy, it''ll be one of the most amazing original abilities that a Devil could develop. On top of that, she can deconstruct the abilities she can copy and adjust it to her own convenience, which pushes this ability to an already ridiculous level.''


    "So is it a taboo or something bad?"


    Medusa immediately shook her head, "It''s not. It''s just that you''re going to scare and piss off a lot of people with that. Though that shouldn''t dissuade you from using it."


    Medusa thought about it for a moment before saying, "I''ll be staying with you until you are satisfied, so I''ll help you out. Let''s see how much you can copy."


    Medusa showed Riveria a few Magic like Teleportation and Cloaking Magic and she was able to copy them with rtive ease. While doing so, Medusa would ask her how her ability works in detail, and after some further introspection, Riveria answered, "It isn''t just the form behind the Magic that I can easily see, but the movement of the Magic Power itself and the thoughts of the user while they''re using it."


    "The thoughts, huh... I see... Let''s test it more."


    "Uhmmm..." But before they could go on, Aika suddenly announced her presence, "What should I do in the meantime?"


    Medusa thought about it and recalled the training that Kisuke and Yoruichi would always do and said, "Take your de and go somewhere quiet not far from here. After that, sit down in afortable position and meditate. Once you''ve sessfully emptied your mind, you should try connecting with your de and talk to it."


    Aika looked at her nodachi, "It can think?"


    "Of course." Medusa nodded, "I heard from people the same as you that your de is your partner in life, and each one of them has a name. If you want to regain your memories, learning their names would be, without a doubt, helpful."


    Aika went silent for a moment before bowing her head to Medusa, "Thank you. I''ll leave first."


    Medusa and Riveria saw Aika disappear from her spot and thetter asked, "Is it fine to leave her alone like that? Aren''t you tasked to watch over her?"


    "It''s fine. The whole forest is secure enough and there''s really nothing I can do to help her at the moment."


    The two of them continued their test of Riveria''s new ability and that went on until the sun began setting.


    .


    .


    .


    Kuroka was currently in ult Research Club''s room with her sister and everyone from the club and Vali''s Team, spending their time leisurely while narrating their experiences in the other world.


    While Kuroka was showing off the crest she received from Hestia, she suddenly received a call from Medusa, "Medusa-chan~ What''s up, nya? Already missed me?"


    [Are you free right now?]


    Seeing that she didn''t entertain her teasing, the smile on her face immediately disappeared, "I''ming over, nya. What''s the situation?", she replied while preparing the Teleportation Magic that could connect directly to Medusa''s location.


    Koneko also stood up from her seat and released three of her hair tails.


    Vali, Bikou, and everyone else sensitive to the movement of the Ki became stupefied with the amount of Ki she suddenly released but quiet enough that those who couldn''t use it can''t feel.


    Due to her shock, while helping Riveria, Medusa briefly forgot that they''ll be reacting like this if she didn''t exin the situation enough, "I''m sorry. There''s nothing wrong. I just want to know if you could spare some of your time. I''m currently with Riveria-san and wanted to test something out with your help, but it''s nothing urgent."


    As soon as they heard that, Kuroka and Koneko left their tense state but the others couldn''t help but take a closer look at them and noticed that they looked like swords that are ready to be drawn at any time, ''From their stories, the other world''s danger level shouldn''t be that high, but howe they''ve developed something like this as if they were ready for a war to suddenlye knocking on their door?'' Vali thought to himself.


    Then a certain shopkeeper with arge grin on his face surfaced on his head, ''Issei always tells us that Kisuke Urahara always overdoes everything... But this is beyond just overdoing it...''


    And if Kisuke and Yoruichi were to be asked about this now, they''d admit that they indeed overdid it... A bit.


    Kuroka smiled again and said, "I''lle over, nya~ Since you''re testing something out and even called me, it must be something pretty important."


    "But aren''t you busy?"


    "We could always catch upter, nya." Kuroka immediately disconnected the call so that she wouldn''t hear Medusa''s dissuasion, "I''ll be going first, everyone. Let''s hang out againter~!"


    "Are you not going to take me?" asked Koneko.


    "It seems that she needed me for something specific. Go on and continue telling them about the other side, nya."

 Chapter 920 Secret Organization

    Chapter 920 Secret Organization


    On a certain day,te in the morning, Ophis, ire, Tanis, and Lilith were all spending their time together, studying various things. Ranging from basic subjects like arithmetic, science,nguage, and history to Magic and Martial Arts. ire was in possession of various books that came from her mother and Kisuke, which were what they were using in all of their studies.


    Thanks to her great interest in learning new things, Cleria and Masaomi were able to leave her at her own devices and would check on her progress from time to time, which greatly surprised them every time, as they suspected that their daughter was a genius if not just very smart. Of course, regardless of how she handled her studies, they wouldn''t treat her any differently and would provide anything that she would need, including some asional scolding and lectures.


    They used to think that she needed to be in school for her to make friends and socialize, but now that she had some friends that she could truly trust, they weren''t worried anymore.


    Sakura entered the room they were in as she was scheduled to help with their studies and lessons and they went at it for about two hours before she ended it. Since their lifespan was way longer than Humans, they didn''t really have to follow their curriculum and this has been the case for the residents of the Underworld that wouldn''t need to interact with the Human World.


    Even then, ire was already at the Middle to High School level which was already advanced for someone her age, ''Was it because she kept seeing others working hard themselves? I wonder if this is a good influence or not?''


    In contrast, Tanis was still struggling with even the most basic elementary subjects, partly because she''s technically a newborn and she didn''t really have any interest in studying, as she''s only doing it because she didn''t want to be alone when the others were studying. Ophis, on the other hand, would only browse books before discarding them and her counterpart, Lilith, also had the same habit. If there''s a snack, they''d be savoring it instead of touching the books. For everyone watching their progress, it''s unknown how much the two ''Infinite'' actually know as they mostly keep it to themselves and would only be animated when they were messing around. A bad habit that Ophis was inheriting from Kisuke and Lilith was also being affected by it.


    Wanting them to experience how to be a child more, Sakura asked them to clean up and said, "Let''s forget about the lessons for now and how about you tell me what you want to do~?"


    The girls looked at each other and began discussing what they should do, "Let''s get that snack from the teevee!" Tanis instantly suggested while raising her hand excitedly while Ophis and Lilith nodded vigorously in agreement while adding, "...Banana."


    Meanwhile, ire thought about it longer, but only a few seconds longer, before muttering, "I want to y with Aika-neechan."


    Sakura smiled wryly at her words but instead of declining it outright, she said, "They''re still a bit busy, but I''ll ask big sis if you can go over there. For now, let''s get that snack."


    Of course, she didn''t say that just to give them false hope, ''Since it''s already settled that Aika-chan will regain her memories sooner orter, maybe they can help speed it up?''


    But when ire mentioned Aika, Lilith was reminded of someone else, and by extension, Ophis too, "...Let''s go to Kunou."


    ire and Tanis both tilted their heads in confusion, "Kunou?"


    Sakura was a bit surprised and pped her hand in realization, "Oh right~! You should meet Kunou-chan~! She''s a friend that Lilith made."


    With the prospect of meeting a new friend, and potentially a new member of their ''Secret Order'', "Let''s go!"


    "Hold on. Let me ask for permission from the other side."


    .


    .


    .


    Once Yasaka received the message from the Belial House, she immediately prepared and went to Kunou to inform her of their arrival. Ever since Lilith stopped showing up, Kunou had been feeling down these days and although she''d hang around Issei''s group from time to time, they were also busy, especially now that the Azazel Tournament was ongoing and the Hell Alliance was preparing their forces in an unknown ce.


    "Kunou~! Lilith ising today."


    Kunou, who had been reviewing so that she could transfer seamlessly into Kuoh Academy, jumped up from her seat, "Really!?"


    Yasaka nodded, "And that''s not all. It seems that she''ll be bringing her friends to meet you too."


    But instead of being happy, Kunou became confused and a bit worried, "Friends?"


    .


    .


    .


    Yasaka and Kunou arrived at one of the buildings within their territory where they received guests, with thetter fidgeting, "It''s going to be fine. I heard that they''re a lively bunch and Issei-kun also vouched for them."


    Kunou didn''t have enough time to answer as the teleportation circle in the middle of the room lit up and five figures materialized inside it. The light of Magic disappeared and Yasaka stepped forward, "Wee, everyone. This is the first time we''re meeting. I''m Yasaka, the current leader of the Youkai Faction. It''s a pleasure to meet you all."


    Sakura also stepped forward and lowered her head a bit, "It''s also a pleasure to finally meet you. I''m Sarah Belial of the Belial House. I apologize for our sudden imposition."


    Yasaka covered her mouth with her sleeve and chuckled, "Please don''t be. I''ve also always wanted to meet you for various reasons. Please make yourself at home."


    Sakura also chuckled, "I''m worried because I can''t think of any good ''reason''." Whether it''s her son or her history, both were really not a very good reason to meet.


    After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yasaka and Kunou led the group to the inner buildings where they could rx. But since the adults were only in the way, Yasaka and Sakura soon left the children in another room where they could finally talk among themselves.


    "N-nice to meet you. I''m Kunou." Kunou nervously introduced herself. Although this should be a happy asion, she couldn''t help but feel alone when she saw Lilith holding hands with another ''Lilith'' and sitting beside the other two kids.


    However, ire didn''t return her introduction but turned to Ophis and Lilith, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, please!"


    The two of them nodded in understanding and raised their free hands. In an instant, a barrier surrounded the room that prevented sound from escaping and distorted the image within the room.


    After confirming that the barrier was up, ire jumped in front of Kunou with shining eyes and held her hands, "Kunou-chan! Do you want to join our group, ''The Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society!?''"


    "...Huehh?" Understandably, a stupefied voice escaped from Kunou''s mouth.

 Chapter 921 Secret Organization part 2

    Chapter 921 Secret Organization part 2


    "...Huehh?"


    Kunou didn''t know how to react. From a barrier being suddenly erected to a sudden invitation to a very dubious organization by a girl younger than her, "Ummm... What?"


    In the other room, Yasaka and a few of her subordinates felt the barrier and all perked up, "What''s wrong!?" Yasaka asked the one who''s tasked to watch over them.


    "It seems to be an auditory and visual obstruction type of barrier. But aside from that, there''s nothing else. Shinichi already confirmed that entry is not prohibited and the young miss and the guests are safe."


    Yasaka was about to rush out but thought of something and turned her head towards Sakura. The moment she saw her awkward expression while trying to pretend to drink her tea calmly, some of the tension in her body left, "So this is also the children ying?"


    "Mmmm... Ah... Yes... I''m very sorry for themotion that this has caused. But I assure you, this is a ''very''mon urrence."


    Yasaka sat back down and gestured to her subordinates not to do anything and to just continue monitoring, "I can''t imagine how something like this could be a normal urrence."


    "My niece is apparently fond of copying those around her."


    Yasaka took a sip from her tea, "I heard that your niece disappeared with Kisuke Urahara some time ago."


    Sakura was not surprised since she knew she had some ess to the Alliance''s information and this is one of the reasons why she came with the kids, ''Even if I can''t get anything important from her, it doesn''t matter.'' She thought while replying, "It''s a habit that their group picked up since they didn''t want any information about them getting out as much as possible after the unprovoked attack from Hades'' and the Olympian Faction."


    Yasaka thought about the instance where a sudden warrant for Kisuke was released after discovering a number of Devil corpses under his home, "I see... So you''re saying that they wouldn''t have taken the world stage if not for that attack?"


    However, Sakura just shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows? Even as his mother, I don''t exactly know what he''s going to do next nor have any idea what''s going on in his head. However, I know for sure that most of the things he does are either retaliating or preparing to retaliate."


    "Preparing, is it?" Yasaka''s eyes then became sharp, "So would that mean that he''ll do anything?"


    "Probably." Sakura was not affected, "As long as the threat warrants it, he''d probably even take over the world. Though I can''t really imagine him sitting on the highest seat possible, because he''d find it a pain to deal with it."


    A ridiculous im. But if it was any other person, Yasaka would probably just brush it off with augh and never take it seriously, ''Despite his attempts to cooperate with the Alliance and him being a very important asset for the world now, they are still withholding such principal information from him.''


    Yasaka didn''t reply immediately and calmly emptied her cup of tea, ''Now then... I understand their concerns and fears, but this is a very important bet. I wonder where I should ce it? Should I continue putting my trust in the Alliance that''s very inefficient, or should I risk it on the boy that even the ''future'' doesn''t know.''


    From then, as if the conversation from before hadn''t happened, Yasaka and Sakura started talking about the kids instead and their daily lives.


    .


    .


    .


    Naturally, Kunou rejected the offer and ire instantly became dejected, but only for a few seconds she bounced back and began asking Kunou about various things. Soon enough, Ophis and Lilith took down the barrier and Kunou also started opening up to her guests. Soon enough,ughter and shouting could be heard through the entire Yokai headquarters as they ran around, with Kunou in lead and the people around them watched with warm smiles while recalling their own childhoods.


    At some point, ire talked about her home in Greece and how she couldn''t make any friends.


    Kunou immediately hugged her new friend and patted her back, "It''s alright! I''m now your friend! We can y anytime! Just call Kunou-neechan and I''ll be there for you!"


    "Umu!" ire nodded her head gleefully and returned the hug. As for the others, they didn''t want to be left out so they also jumped at the two and it became a group hug with the passersby giggling at the bundle of little girls.


    "Ah... I remembered. I hid my ''treasures'' and forgot to take them. Let''s go get them." ire suddenly dered.


    "Get them? What do you mean?" Kunou asked with apparent confusion.


    But instead of answering, ire started running back towards where Sakura and Yasaka were. Kunou and the others followed her and they''d only just caught up when they saw ire asking for permission.


    "Aunty, I need to get something at home!"


    "You forgot something in the mansion? I''ll contact someone to bring it over. What is it?"


    ire shook her head, "I mean my former house."


    "Alright. I''ll go with you." Sakura was about to stand up when ire shook her head, "It''s a secret. I want us to go alone!"


    "Hmmm? You know I can''t do that. That''s too dangerous. And aren''t you bringing Kunou-chan along?"


    ire knew that she wouldn''t get any permission for this, but she was also prepared for this oue. Sakura saw ire begin rummaging through her pocket and couldn''t help but sigh, "Haahhh... She''ll be taking that out, huh..."


    "That?" Yasaka asked curiously.


    Sakura wasn''t able to answer her question as ire had already found what she needed, a ticket. It looked like an ordinary ticket, but what was written on it was headache-inducing for Sakura.


    "I''ll use my ''Any Wish'' ticket!"

 Chapter 922 Secret Organization part 3

    Chapter 922 Secret Organization part 3


    "Any Wish Ticket?" muttered Yasaka in curiosity.


    Sakura sighed and exined, "It''s a reward she receives from Kisuke whenever she does an exceptional job. As the name suggests, she could use it to ask for virtually anything and she''s only ever received two of those."


    After hearing that, Yasaka went quiet as she didn''t want to infringe on how Sakura was going to deal with this.


    Sakura looked at her for a few seconds and while ire was trying to look confident, she could see her nervousness behind that facade. Sighing again, Sakura asked, "Do you have everything that Kisuke-niichan gave you?"


    ire nodded and patted her chest to feel the ne under her clothes, "I never take it off. That''s the condition that Kisuke-niichan gave me before I could go out to y."


    "Fine... But you can''t bring Kunou-chan with you."


    "Ehhh~? But I want to show her something."


    "You can''t." Sakura was adamant, "While you''re safe, Kunou-chan doesn''t have the same protection and you first have to get her mother''s permission to even bring her out."


    ire became dejected as she finally realized how she couldn''t bring Kunou out to y because she would need someone else''s permission. While she knew that she could get almost anything with her ''reward'', she also knew that it only extended to Tanis, Ophis, and Lilith.


    But when she was about to give up and save the ticket for something else, Yasaka suddenly chuckled at their side and interjected, "It''s alright. I''m giving Kunou my permission. Go take her out to y."


    "Yasaka-san!?" Sakura eximed, "Maybe you don''t realize but they are going to Greece by themselves! Although that isn''t really very dangerous, as they still have insurance that Kisuke gave them."


    "Is that okay!?" ire, on the other hand, became excited.


    Still, Yasaka dismissed her worries, "Ophis and Lilith would be going with them, wouldn''t they? I think there is no better security than them."


    "Y-Yeah... But..." Sakura tried thinking of an opposing idea but she couldn''t really deny that no amount of bodyguards could rece the Infinite ''Sisters''. On top of that, Sakura isn''t Kisuke, who''d consider that a hostile person from the top 10 strongest beings in the world would suddenlye after the children.


    "It has been a while since Kunou went out to y and I don''t want her to live a life like mine, who can''t leave Kyoto." Yasaka then turned to ire and added, "Go tell Kunou, but before you go, be sure toe to me first."


    ire nodded gleefully and said, "Thank you, Aunty!" Before running off, afraid that they''ll change their decision.


    Sakura wanted to call out, but realized that something was weird here and stopped. She looked around at the other people within the room and noticed that instead of her, one or two people''s eyes were on Yasaka and it wasn''t just some fleeting nce, ''Huh? That''s weird...'' With a seed of suspicion in her mind, she decided to let things flow as it is.


    Yasaka also noticed that Sakura might have noticed something and asked to change the focus, "Sarah-san, I''m very curious. After a single warning, you allowed her pretty easily. I thought you''d be more protective of her."


    ''I don''t want to hear that from you.'' Sakura thought but answered, "It''s a family principle."


    "Ho? Family principle? Is it okay to hear more about that?"


    One of Yasaka''s attendants refilled Sakura''s cup of tea as she replied, "It''s our family principle that if we set rules, we''ll follow them. Kisuke set a rule that if she does something great, she''ll be rewarded and it''s our responsibility to follow through with that as much as possible. Well, you could just say that we''re taking care to keep ire''s trust so that we could trust her to follow her end of the deal if we need her to do or keep something."


    Yasaka smiled and muttered, "That''s wonderful."


    A few momentster, ire and the other girls came in with Kunou going straight to her mother.


    Sakura watched them while giving ire, Tanis, Ophis, and Lilith the reminder that they have to go home before sunset, and if there is any danger for anyone except Ophis and Lilith, they are to sound the rm and go home immediately.


    Yasaka was also doing the same thing while giving Kunou some paper charms that seemed to be for their protection.


    The girls didn''t need to prepare for their departure since either Ophis or Lilith could bring them almost everywhere in an instant and it didn''t take too long for them to linger.


    As soon as they disappeared, Yasakamented, "I can see how sending over bodyguards could totally backfire. There''s only a handful of people in the world that could follow them."


    "And even if they were sessful in following them, the blue-haired kid, Tanis, is strangely perceptive of other''s presence and could only push them to teleport away more."


    "Well, there''s really nothing to worry about since both of us could easily tell if they were in apparent danger and I doubt someone would still linger in Greece when everyone''s attention and effort are in London."


    "That''s true." replied Sakura while thinking, ''But that''s a problem too.''


    "Yasaka-san, thank you for receiving us today. Since I''d like to monitor their condition remotely, I''ll be leaving first."


    "The gratitude is mine since Kunou was able to make such wonderful friends."


    .


    .


    .


    The group of girls instantly arrived in Greece where ire was living until recently, "Let''s go! It''s in my room."


    This short trip of theirs, however, will make them the first meaningful contact with the alien civilization aiming to take over the world. And little did Sakura know that ire and Tanis'' threshold for danger was a lot higher than she expected.


    .


    .


    .


    In a dark alley, two hooded individuals were looking down at the ground and one of them muttered in an unknownnguage, [There are some traces here, but it''s already too old. All we can say is that she went through here one time.]


    [If we keep following these traces, we''ll eventually reach her. While she could escape, she couldn''t hide her scent.]


    [But we''re taking too much time. We have to find her immediately before she can reveal more information.]


    [I think it''s already toote for that. If the inhabitants of this arepetent, they would have already deciphered hernguage.]


    [Then why are we still wasting our time on her?]


    [Because she''s important to the ''Wicked One''. Even if it takes time, we have to find her. But since Sir Bebevu Su and Sir Gvardora are busy watching the situation in that city called London, we only have a bit of manpower to spare.]


    [But isn''t Lord Regalzeva about to arrive too? We should have enough manpower by that time.]


    [Yes. And I also heard that he''sing with the ''Sky'' and ''Sea''.]


    And while the two of them were casually conversing, a sudden message appeared in their head, [A moon base correspondence? Isn''t that too dangerous?]

 Chapter 923 Information from the ‘Future’

    Chapter 923 Information from the ��Future��


    ire led the group into the small but ratherfortable house that had been gathering dust. They immediately went to ire''s room and the owner impatiently went under the wooden bed frame and grabbed a foot-long and half-a-foot wide wooden box.


    ire ced the box in the middle of the room and opened it with everyone gathered around it. Inside of it was ire''s treasure which wasposed of small toys and a collection of saved candies and snacks.


    Seeing the variety of different things inside, everyone became excited at the colorful sight that''s akin to a box of gems and jewels for adults.


    Even Ophis and Lilith''s eyes were shining, but partly because everyone else was excited too.


    "Good thing I was able to save them until now." Due to abruptly moving, ire forgot to carry her treasure chest with her and she had always been thinking about it since then, but couldn''t really ask her parents because she could see how busy they were.


    At that point, ire carefully took out the contents of the box and with everyone, they inspected it one by one.


    It was only about half an hourter that everyone finished the candies and snacks despite going about it slowly. But although most of her treasure was gone, ire was thinking that the use of her ticket was worth it and she''d do it again if she could, "Let''s do it againter~!"


    With no adults watching, the normally mature Kunou also lost herself to the excitement, "I will also save my favorite snacks and toys. Let''s do it again!"


    "I''ll save too!" Tanis raised her hand.


    "Hmmm... If we just save normally, then we''ll only get something normal too..." ire started thinking of ways to earn some allowance and go around hunting for rare snacks.


    Ophis and Lilith, on the other hand, didn''t join their conversation as both of them don''t have any confidence in saving anything. For now, they only looked forward to their offerings.


    Since they still had plenty of time before the sun sets, ire led the group again to go outside and y and maybe also meet the old folks that gave her snacks whenever she passed by with her father or mother.


    But before they go out of their way, Kunou suddenly remembered something and took out the charm that she''d received from her mother, "ire-chan, I almost forgot. Please send this to Aunty Sakura."


    ire looked at it curiously and asked, "This is?"


    Kunou, however, shook her head, "I don''t know. Mother asked me to secretly pass it to you to be sent to Aunty."


    ire was confused why she just couldn''t give it herself directly but didn''t think about it deeply and passed the charm to Ophis, "Ophis-chan, please~!"


    As the group''s transporter, Ophis nodded and the charm in her hand disappeared without a sound, "...Done."


    "Alright, ~ Let''s go~!"


    .


    .


    .


    Sakura had just gotten back to the mansion and was resting before she assisted her sister in her work. But just as she was about to move, a familiar charm suddenly appeared in front of her through a Magic Circle with the ''Infinity'' symbol on it, "Ophis? And this charm... It''s the one that Kunou-chan received earlier if I''m not wrong."


    Sakura carefully inspected it and saw that it was actually amunication charm disguised as a protective charm, "A way to avoid the spies, huh..."


    Sakura stood up and went straight to Cleria''s office, ''For her to initiate contact like this, I wonder what sort of deal she wants that warranted her to avoid the Alliance''s eyes.''


    "Nee-sama, could I have some of your time?"


    Cleria and a few of her trusted aides were in the room buried in paperwork, "Sarah? Is there a problem on ire''s side?"


    Sakura immediately shook her head to ease her worries, "There''s none, but I want a secured room."


    Cleria stared at her for a few moments before signaling everyone else to leave. It only took a few seconds for them to be left alone and Cleria promptly activated a barrier that stops information from flowing out. Since Sakura didn''t just want to talk and also wanted a ''secured'' room, Cleria also opened some channels in the barrier so that Magicmunication could be possible.


    Sakura didn''t have to exin herself and ced the charm on Cleria''s table before activating it.


    The charm lit up in golden light for a few seconds before an image of the current leader of Youkai appeared, "Greetings,dies of the Belial House. I apologize for contacting you like this."


    Cleria looked at Sakura for a split second before turning her attention back to their guest, "Good day to you too, Lady Yasaka. As much as I want to, we aren''t really in a situation where we can just chat nonchntly, so I apologize too but we would really appreciate it if you could get straight to the point."


    "Don''t worry about it since I also can''t afford to stay inmunication like this for long. I presume this room is well guarded?"


    Cleria nodded, "It''s well guarded enough that I can assure you that no information will get out of here."


    "Thank you for your consideration. Well then, the reason I''m contacting you like this is that I want to ce my bet on your Household... More specifically, Kisuke Urahara."


    ire and Sakura frowned and the former asked, "May I know why and how?"


    "I won''t keep you guessing. I''m here to tell you that the Alliance knows more about our otherworldly enemies than they let on. In fact, the leaders even know the names of these mechanical-like lifeforms that wanted to invade Earth and the spirit-like lifeforms that oppose them."


    Thedies couldn''t help but shudder and ire stood up while pping her hand on the table, "What!? How!?"


    While the two of them are shocked, they were actually angrier, ''How could they actually keep such a vital piece of information!? Especially from Kisuke who''s one of the forefront people who''s making an effort to prepare against these invaders!''


    "I understand how you feel." Yasaka continued, "But I also ask you to keep listening as this information came from a Super Devil called Gasper di."

 Chapter 924 First Mission

    Chapter 924 First Mission


    The two heavily hooded individuals were walking through the busy streets but none of the passersby were suspicious of their attire. Even then, the two-eyed their surroundings carefully, [Aren''t we emitting twice the rmended amount of Anti-Recognition Magic? What if we catch the attention of something troublesome?]


    [I want us toplete this mission as fast as possible. Things are moving fast in London and we can''t expect support from our superiors since they''re stuck trying to avoid attention. Only those with sufficient perception will be able to detect us. If they''re stronger than us, we''ll escape but if not, we''ll take them.]


    The other one nodded silently and continued walking without saying anything more. Unbeknownst to them, however, five pairs of eyes were watching them curiously, "Tanis-chan, are you sure it''s them?" asked the white-haired little girl.


    The blue-haired girl nodded, "Yes. Their scent is very different from everyone else. It''s as if they''re like me."


    "What does that mean?" The golden-haired girl asked while tilting her head.


    One of the two ck-haired girls answered, "...They didn''te from this world."


    "Eh?" The golden-haired became even more confused.


    Despite being rted to the influential people, only Ophis and Lilith were actually aware of the possible otherworldly invasion and there was no way the two of them would tell the others if not explicitly asked. As such, even though they''d discovered a very important clue regarding these beings, none of them were aware.


    "They look suspicious," ire muttered with a giddy tone. When Kunou looked at her, her eyes were shining with excitement, "This looks like a work for our Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society!"


    As if on cue, light shone from the girls'' bodies except for Kunou lit up the entire alley they were in. When the light subsided and Kunou opened her eyes again, she was greeted by her friends in very cute and frilly attires and essories that matched their hair colors, "M-Magical Girls!?" Kunou instantly forgot her confusion and became lovestruck by the outfits that she could only see in anime and ys, ''I thought she was joking!''


    But then, she recalled the scene that they''d caused and the voice she''d raised before looking back at the hooded people in a panic thinking that they''d notice their presence, "This is... bad? Wait... They didn''t notice?"


    "Of course, they wouldn''t. We''re in stealth mode." ire answered as a matter of fact.


    "...What?" Kunou hurriedly looked around and only now that she noticed that there was a barrier around them, "...H-how? Why did I not notice anything?"


    "Tch, tch, tch." ire repeatedly clicked her tongue while swinging her forefinger left and right, "The first rule of stealth: Don''t let anyone know you''re going stealthy~!" Before whispering under her breath, "ording to Yoruichi-neechan."


    "...Since when?"


    "Ever since Tanis-chan discovered them."


    Kunou made an unbelieving expression and probably any other people besides her would have too. But contrary to their innocent appearance, these girls were bonafide Adventurers and Mercenaries, albeit not registered in any Guild, for exploring the depths of the Dungeon and fighting monsters on an almost daily basis because they got bored after studying.


    Of course, these girls would happily tell Cleria and Sakura their activities within the Dungeon whenever the ''Contact Day'' arrived but thetter two have a misunderstanding that they were only going around the uppermost floors and just listened to them with warm smiles stered on their faces. Naturally, everyone around them knew of this misunderstanding. Still, none of them actually cleared it up because nobody wanted to be scolded. It became a tacit agreement to keep it that way while justifying their stance, ''They are protected by Medusa and Kuroka 24/7 from the shadows, so it isn''t actually that dangerous.'' while also giving them the skills they needed to fight.


    "Let''s follow them!" ire dered and the other three Magical Girls raised their hands, "Ohhh~!"


    "Wait!" Kunou raised her voice, causing the others to all look at her. Bing embarrassed, Kunou muttered while fiddling with her fingers, "I also want a costume."


    ire grinned at her and snapped her fingers, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, please~!"


    The Ouroboros Magical Girls also snapped their fingers and in an instant, golden light covered Kunou. A secondter, the same attire but also matching her hair appeared on her, "Wee to the Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society!"


    ''Although there''s no crimson one?'' Kunou retorted in her head, but she was so happy with her clothes that she soon forgot it.


    .


    .


    .


    After an hour of walking around, the pair of hooded individuals finally discovered who they needed to take away to be experimented with, a caucasian woman who was just going about her day and was about to go home after work. More than ten meters away, the woman noticed their suspicious attire and became cautious of them.


    Keeping her bag close to her and tightly clutching it, she went past the pair and heaved a sigh of relief before feeling a bit guilty about how obviously she acted cautiously toward them. But a secondter, her vision darkened and her initial reaction was to shout. However, she couldn''t do that as something had also covered her mouth before she felt her body elerating backward.


    The terror-filled woman tried her best to retaliate as she''d finally realized that someone had grabbed her from behind and was now running towards who knows where.


    As tears began to flow from her eyes she did everything she could think of to save herself or gather attention since she knew she was in a busy street. However, her efforts only betrayed her as there are no signs of them stopping nor any signs of anyone chasing after her.


    Nevertheless, she didn''t have the time to feel hopeless as she felt a momentary feeling of weightlessness, beforending in two short and soft arms.


    The woman''s vision came back along with the sound of something crashing not far from her. Too bad, however, as a heavy feeling of sleepiness suddenly came over her mind and thest thing she saw was a colorful band of little girls facing what seems to be robots.


    "Nice one, Tanis-chan~!"


    "He''s hard! Armor?"


    "Golems...? How strange."


    "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, please seal the area~!"

 Chapter 925 First Mission part 2

    Chapter 925 First Mission part 2


    As soon as they saw the hooded figures snatching a woman, the Magical Girls immediately sprung into action. But since they didn''t know how to hide their intentions and hostilities, the hooded figures immediately noticed them and took a turn for the park where they could engage the enemies without further increasing the risk of being discovered by other beings.


    However, that''s the extent of what they could do as a blue-haired little girl suddenly appeared in front of the one holding the abducted woman while bearing her little fist.


    The abductor tried to dodge but he severely underestimated the punch that wasing after him and was hit squarely in the face. He wanted to clutch the woman tightly, but the sudden feeling of his arms detaching from his body came to him and he instantly decided to let go of the woman. When he regained his vision, he saw a colorful group of younglings, the one who punched him, blue, the one who tried to cut his arms with a knife hand, ck, the one who caught the woman in her arms, yellow, and finally, another ck one that intercepted his partner from assisting him, ''Where did theye from!?'' he thought to himself while adjusting hisnding.


    During that short time, their well-kept hoods also came off, revealing what was underneath and causing the young girls to stop for a moment.


    Kunou, the most familiar with their appearance, muttered, "Transformers?"


    The hooded figures were humanoid mechanical lifeforms that indeed resemble a certain popr show.


    The matte yellow and dark purple ''Transformers'' looked at each other and decided to retreat. But before they could do so, the earth beneath them suddenly spiraled upwards and caught half of their bodies. Tracing the source of Magic Power from the spell, both of them saw another young girl with white hair behind them, "You''re not getting away!"


    And soon, a translucent ck barrier surrounded everyone, except the almost abducted woman since Kunou tossed her out of the range.


    The two ''robots'' easily crushed the earth that had wrapped around them but ire didn''t mind it as she just used short-distance teleportation to go behind everyone else. As the Magic attack, support, and control role were on her, she had to depend on everyone else for defense. Nevertheless, she could still defend herself on her own if she needed to, but she liked the idea of teamwork with her friends.


    Tanis''s role, on the other hand, fell on the gueri role as she''s the most well-versed in martial arts and Ki usage, giving her the ability to both attack and move around the battlefield with ease.


    Meanwhile, Ophis, and the newly added Lilith, were delegated to the role of tanks. Not because theyck in anything but defense, but because anything other than defense is too destructive. Hence, they were limited to defense Magic, some support Magic, and exclusively physical on attacks. Any attack Magic will just blow up the whole area.


    Nheless, despite those restrictions, they were literally walking fortresses, reducing any sort of danger that''sing at them to a minimal level, especially when theybined their strength,pleting the ''Infinite Dragon''.


    Since Kunou didn''t know how their group works, she could only watch on the sidelines, waiting for an opportunity to assist.


    Unfortunately for the two alien species, however, they couldn''t see through the group''s strength because they only learned from the best and those ''best'' are really fond of limiting the information that their opponents could get from them.


    Without talking to each other, both of them raised their left arms and it immediately transformed into a barrel that began gathering Magic Power.


    It took one second to charge them up before a small beam of pure Magic Power was ejected and raced to the white-haired girl that they deemed the most troublesome.


    In response to this, Ophis and Lilith immediately moved forward and constructed barriers in front of them to meet the attacks. Bearing the symbol of infinity, the Magic Circles met the beams and broke them up into motes of light, not doing anything other than releasing a small shockwave that disturbed the trees in the surrounding.


    Nobody knew what these ''robots'' were thinking when they saw their ineffective attack since no one knows if they even made any expressions. But even then, they continued attacking the barrier by continuously bombarding them with the sts of Magic Power.


    But while they were doing this, they suddenly felt three presence behind them and immediately turned around to see three blue-haired girls about to punch out again. With Kunou''s Illusion Magic, Tanis swooped in again using sh Step.


    Of the three, the robots immediately figured that the two of them were illusions that were poorly executed because they all came at different times. Meaning, that the first one couldn''t possibly be a real one due to how obvious it was, so they only have to be careful of the second and the third one.


    And it''s true, it was a poorly executed one as ''Tanis'' came in one by one instead ofing at the same time and aiming for different angles and they even have the same move set. Sadly, they were wrong with their second guess.


    Since Kunou was just following up on Tanis'' movement, the illusions were actually those behind her and just following what she''s doing. Typically, this would have been useless but she hoped it could do something. And thankfully, it did as the robots were too ''smart'' and disregarded the first ''Tanis''.


    Falling victim to this unintended assault, Tanis punched out, aiming for the yellow one''s chest.


    ''Yellow'' felt the threat, but it was already toote. Since he was holding no one, Tanis stopped holding back and put most of her strength into her fist. The second punch he received also sent him back crashing into the ground and immediately disabled him.


    His partner, ''Dark Purple'' hurriedly aimed his arm gun towards Tanis who had to stop to regain her bnce from the punch she''d just thrown, but a split secondter, the power in his arm dispersed, and the Magic Power in it scattered without doing anything meaningful, [!!?]


    Beyond the two ''ck'' fortresses was ire, staring intently with her shining grey eyes. With a rtively simple mechanism, ire was able to activate her ''Worthless'' and was able to disable her opponent''s weapon.


    Using that chance, Tanis pounced on him with even greater strength and received a devastating blow to his chest too, sending him crashing next to his partner.


    The Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society''s first mission on Earth was sessful.

 Chapter 926 First Mission part 3

    Chapter 926 First Mission part 3


    Seeing the robots on top of each other were unmoving and crackling with electricity, ire became worried, "D-Did we..."


    But before she could finish her sentence, Ophis interrupted, "...They are alive."


    ire breathed a sigh in relief and approached the robots cautiously, "What should we do with them? Take them to the police?"


    As someone who had more experience in this than everybody else, Kunou suggested, "Normally, we''d have to take them to a local superpower, but ire-chan, do you know anyone rted to that?"


    ire shook her head.


    "Then we would have to take them with us. Since all of you did most of the work, we''ll send them to the Belial House''s side and your family should be able to decide what to do with them."


    But not just ire and Tanis, but also Ophis and Lilith froze, "C-can''t we send them to your ce?" Asked ire nervously.


    Kunou tilted her head in confusion and answered, "...We can... But why should we do that? I''ve never heard of a robot going around before so they''re a wealth of information for any faction."


    While Kunou is thinking through the benefits of her faction like how she was educated, the other four girls were only worried about one thing and that''s a scolding. Although they didn''t know that Kisuke and the others are hiding what they are truly capable of, this instance is still obviously grounds for a scolding.


    Yes, they are still following the rule of retreating and escaping if there''s danger, but although there was no danger for them, they still knew that they were pretty reckless. It''s the main reason why they wanted to keep the ''Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society'' a secret from everyone else. Because they knew that they wouldn''t be allowed to go on ''missions''.


    But while they were deliberating what to do, the robots they thought were unconscious were listening to them andmunicating to their mothership, [Requesting initiation of Mass Teleportation to our location. Please prepare for hostile contact.]


    A few secondster, a reply came back, [Request granted. The effect will extend 20 meters beyond you, will that be correct?]


    [30 meters to ount for their reaction time. Targets are capable of disabling 1 star with ease. Please prepare a 3-star to takemand.]


    [Roger. Xins of 3-stars will takemand of apprehending the test subjects. Initiating Mass Teleportation in 3... Prepare for impact.]


    And just like that, the Dark Purple''s chest suddenly lit up and a Magic Circle extended from him while the girls were busy.


    The first one to notice this was Ophis and Lilith who tried to stop whatever it was doing. However, this Teleportation Magic was something that Ophis had never seen before and her barrier was not able to do anything to block or even dy it. Bright light covered everyone and before they knew it, they were taken to a wide white room.


    The problem only started there as the two robots that they are supposed to take into custody already disappeared and they were left in a freezing room devoid of breathable air.


    ire and the girls except for Ophis and Lilith panicked as they found themselves not being able to breathe. Thankfully, the ne on ire that she received from Kisuke activated, creating a bubble around them that regted the temperature and gave them air.


    Tightly clutching the ne, ire muttered, "Come closer. We''re going home."


    The group watched as the only entrance to the room got filled by simr robots and began to surround them. There was already a spell over the room that prevented any use of Teleportation Magic but these aliens aren''t aware that they''re facing the Infinite Dragon and her happy friends.


    A secondter, Ophis and Lilith''s power flooded the entire room, forcefully broke through the spell, and teleported away, sessfully escaping.


    When they returned, ire immediately arranged a Teleportation Magic of her own and brought everyone a few kilometers away from their original position before asking Ophis and Lilith to bring them to Kyoto, more specifically, to the room that was prepared for them.


    But instead of greeting the master of the house, ire raised her voice, "Meeting~!"


    As soon as she uttered those words, Ophis and Lilith put up the silencing barrier once again.


    Still, in their Magical Girls uniform, ire put on a serious expression, "Thank you for all your hard work. Wepleted an emergency mission and saved a woman. Now then, onto the next agenda. Does anyone have any idea what just happened?"


    Tanis raised her hand and answered, "We were taken somewhere scary!"


    Kunou wanted to say that this isn''t really the time for this but decided to go along as this atmosphere brings out her inner child and excites her.


    "We were taken to the moon," Ophis added since she was familiar with where she was taken.


    "Moon? But we were in a cold room..."


    But Ophis reiterated, "We were on the moon."


    Hearing that, Kunou suggested, "Maybe that room is on the moon?"


    ire nodded in understanding, "I see... And seeing as there were many more of them in there, could it mean that it''s their base?" She then faced Ophis and asked, "Were you able to look around?"


    Kunou didn''t know what she meant but Ophis nodded while Lilith created a paper with her power and in it is an iplete blueprint, "...This is the map."


    ire, with shining eyes, took the paper and carefully looked at it, "They''re the bad guys. We can''t let them do bad things!"


    "Wait! Are you thinking of going back there!?" Kunou asked in a panic.


    But instead of answering her, ire turned to Ophis again and asked, "Ophis-chan, can we return?"


    Ophis nodded, "I left a mark." ire immediately understood that even if they move their base anywhere else, Ophis will be able to take them there.


    "Good!" ire nodded in satisfaction, "As long as my ne doesn''t activate, we will be fine! This is an opportunity for our Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society!"


    "That''s too dangerous!" Kunou shouted.


    "It''s not!" ire pointed at her ne, "As long as the ne that Kisuke-niichan doesn''t activate a defensive barrier, it means we''re still fine. And even if that happens, it means that our skills are just enough to deal with the problem but Ophis-chan and Lilith-chan will be able to teleport us away in an instant."


    Even then, Kunou disagreed and suggested reporting what they found to the proper authorities.


    However, ire was unwilling as they finally found a good ''yground''.


    And there it began the back and forth between them, with the one trying to convince the other.


    "How about this? As long as the ne activates a barrier, we''ll report it. Everyone is very busy now so if we can do it, we should!"


    It didn''t take long before ire could convince Kunou with various promises. It''s also because Kunou has these rebellious thoughts popping into her head recently that she was convinced ultimately.


    Now that they''ve decided on what to do next, Tanis raised her hand, "Before we go again, we should learn ''that''."


    " "That?" ", ire and Kunou asked.


    "The one that Yoruichi-neechan is asking us to learn but it''s too hard... What was that again?... Ah... Magic Breathing."

 Chapter 927 Kisuke’s Super Secret Informants

    Chapter 927 Kisuke��s Super Secret Informants


    After her meeting with the leader of the Youkai Faction, Sakura immediately made emergency contact with Kisuke.


    [Hello mom~ Missed me?]


    "I did, but this isn''t the time for casual talk. I just received a very important piece of information that could change our rtionship with the Alliance."


    Kisuke''s expression became serious and he instantly locked himself up in a barrier when he heard his mother''s tone, [I''m listening.]


    Recalling the information that came from Yasaka, Sakura exined it one by one.


    First, the Alliance is already aware that an otherworldly invasion ising in the near future. They even know the names of these invaders and some of their abilities.


    Second, this information seems toe from Gasper di in the future who had sessfully be a Super Devil. Because he was able to develop the ability to manipte time, it became possible for him to contact the ''past''.


    "Finally, the reason why they hid this vital information from us is because ''Kisuke Urahara'' and ''Yoruichi Shihouin'' do not exist."


    ''We''re killed? But he said we didn''t exist... Was our existence erased and we''re forgotten by everyone else? In the first ce, could I even trust this future information?'' Kisuke''s eyes widened in shock and unconsciously started forming numerous hypotheses surrounding this, [Hmmm... If that''s true, then I can understand their hesitance to reveal it.]


    "I know! But that doesn''t mean they should have hidden itpletely! It doesn''t make sense. You''re doing your best to protect and prepare everyone from this threat yet here they are, essentially hindering you because they are afraid of information with the same trustworthiness as a prophecy!?"


    Kisuke was already happy that his mother was getting pissed for him as he couldn''t do the same since he''d probably take the same measures if he were in their shoes, [Of course they''d be cautious of me, mom. But enough of that. I''m interested in how Yoruichi and I disappeared in that apparent future. I doubt that they could have a full-blown conversation about the future since that could change many things unintentionally.]


    "Indeed. ording to Yasaka, this Gasper is refusing to say some information, especially on the interpersonal rtionships between people since that could make thingsplex and difficult. However, there are things that he could confirm. Since you''re from the Belial House, that''s the main source of contradiction along with some of the people in your group."


    "First is that it was confirmed that Nee-sama and Masaomi-san are both dead. Next, I apparently never surfaced or revealed myself. Aika, on the other hand, is a Magician that studied under Lavinia Reni. As an extension of those, ire, Tanis, Riveria, and Medusa were never heard of."


    Kisuke thought about it for a second, ''That came as far as messing up Rizevim''s n when I was a child and ended up saving my Aunt. Even if I''m erased in the future and forgotten, it shouldn''t have affected the people around me that much... Then the only possible thing is that Yoruichi and I never existed in their timeline in the first ce. Now I can understand their fear clearer because that would mean I''m something ''very wrong'' for the world. A ''mistake'' that shouldn''t have happened.''


    Kisuke couldn''t help but grin to himself, ''Now then~ How should I take this to my advantage and mess with them?''


    "Are you thinking of something bad?" Suspicion immediately rose from Sakura when only silence came from Kisuke.


    [Hahaha~ Of course not~! How could I do that? In any case, the situation''s be even more interesting. When are these invadersing?]


    "A decade from now."


    Hearing that, Kisuke couldn''t help but stifle hisughter while shaking his head, [That''s impossible.]


    "Hmm? What do you mean? Are theying earlier orter?"


    Kisuke''s eyes sharpened, [They are already here. They are justying low because this is enemy territory.]


    Sakura''s body shook, "W-what!? How do you know?"


    Kisuke chuckled, [Let''s just say I have a group of little troublemakers that got that information for me~]


    The moment ire''s ne activated automatically, Kisuke also opened a line to see what was going on. He was shocked that ire''s group got the first contact. But thanks to that, an opportunity also presented itself.


    At first, Kisuke was thinking of contacting them so that they wouldn''t reveal what they found to anyone and that''s definitely not because he didn''t want to get scolded, but because of Kunou''s involvement.


    After that, he was thinking of ways to convince the group to go bother that ''evil base'' but ire had already beaten him to it again.


    Thanks to this situation, Kisuke would be able to gather information rtively safe, ''Although they''ll be putting their guards up, once they realize that the girls are moving on their own without any backing from the big factions, they''ll be showing more and more weakness. My lovely cousin is really great~!''


    "So, are you going to do something about that?" Sakura asked.


    Contrary to what Sakura expected, Kisuke shook his head, [No.]


    [I could do something and clean them up, however, I won''t be stopping their invasion. Contrary to that, they''ll only be more careful and I don''t want them to hide any deeper than this without gathering up some more information.]


    "But you still can''t leave them alone."


    [That''s true... But Great Red and I already have something in mind. Although we can''t stop their invasion, there''s a way to dy it for a few years or so. At this point, any time we can buy is already a good deal.]


    Sakura went quiet for a few moments before saying, "Then I''ll trust you. For now, we''ll continue as we''re nning and integrate the secr world to the supernatural world."


    [...This will cause hostility towards the House of Belial and could even causerge wars in the Human World that could change the geopoliticalndscape.]


    Sakura sighed, "We don''t have much choice. Ultimately, this will save more lives by bringing the dark side into the light. It''s way better than just dying without knowing what caused it. Though thanks to these Soul Gears, we should be able to bear that hatred."


    [Nah... I don''t think those in the upper part of the society will me you considering how they''re expecting the invasion toe a decade from now. History, though. It''ll brand us as some sort of viins for the foreseeable future until all of this is over.]


    This time, it was Sakura who chuckled, "Did you think that our House is that weak? I assure you, we will be hardly mentioned. That''s how much power the tool you gave us possesses."

 Chapter 928 Not the Future They Knew

    Chapter 928 Not the Future They Knew


    "By the way, what is the Gasper-kun of the future trying to achieve by contacting the past? Is he hoping to make it easier for them?", asked Sakura.


    Kisuke shook his head, [That''s impossible. I don''t know his motives, but any attempt to change the ''past'' will not do anything in their future since we are essentially living in different worlds. If they change something here, it''ll be our future and not theirs.]


    "In other words, the Gasper di of the future is not the Gasper di of today?"


    [Exactly. While they may be the same in a sense, they are inhabitants of two different worlds that resemble one another.] Kisuke couldn''t help but make a wry smile, [But seriously... Future Gasper-kun is opening a can of extremely poisonous worms and I doubt he''s doing this out of kindness. There''s probably a hidden message in the information he sent back.]


    "A hidden message you say... Are you saying that information about our invaders is not the real goal here?"


    [Could be, but I''m just blindly guessing at this point.]


    "But what could that hidden message be? Tell me your best guess."


    [Since informing the ''past'' is already risky enough, there''s probably a bigger issue that he''s trying to convey that he can''t explicitly reveal. If I were to guess, someone from their world is probably trying to go to this world, thinking that they''ll be changing something. It''s amon misconception about time traveling, after all.]


    Sakura thought about it for a moment before saying, "So you guessed that Gasper-kun''s real intention is to say that they exist?"


    [That''s about right.]


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke finished his call with his mother and soon he was approached by Azazel and Sirzechs, "You''ve been receiving a lot of calls these days. How are you even making contact outside? Ajuka has been bothering us about how you''re doing this since he can''t figure it out." The formermented.


    Kisuke smiled and replied, "Let''s just say that we have different sets of technology that we both developed~ How''s the situation with Trihexa?"


    Azazel shrugged his shoulders while Sirzechs answered his question, "It can only use a small fraction of its power and it can''t divide itself like before. Thanks to that, we have a lot of breathing room and at this rate, we''ll only need a few centuries to kill it. But will your sealst that long?"


    "I don''t know." Kisuke shook his head, "We all know that the Trihexa has some form of adaptability so even if we supply the seal with all of its needs or renew it, it''ll eventually break it, and if we still haven''t found a way to suppress it by that time, we''ll technically be wasting all the time we invested in this."


    He then looked at them closely before continuing, "And do we really have time for this when there''s something else about toe down? You know you can''t afford to be stuck in here unless you''re expecting everyone else outside to deal with a problem that''s honestly making the threat Trihexa poses childish."


    Azazel and Sirzechs became silent.


    During that silence, Kisuke began muttering as if talking to himself, "And that really makes me wonder though. Why are you acting like you have all the time in the world? I don''t think you are being irresponsible... But the only thing I could think of is that you know when our ''guests'' are going to arrive. But how is that possible?"


    Kisuke''s musing sent a cold wind behind the listeners but they didn''t show anything obvious.


    "As much as we want to solve the Trihexa problem, we don''t have a way to do it." Azazel scratched his head, "If you have something in your mind, we''re listening."


    Azazel was only saying that to divert the flow of conversation and was not expecting Kisuke''s next words.


    "I do have an idea to solve this problem~!" Kisuke replied while still carefully watching their expression, "More specifically, I''m acquainted with someone who knows how and is more equipped to deal with it. Honestly, passing this problem to her is the most logical thing to do since it came from her in the first ce."


    Azazel and Sirzechs were speechless, "W-what are you talking about?" asked the former with a doubting tone.


    But instead of answering, Kisuke just continued his musing, "But before we can do that, I''ll first need to help her break out of her prison... How troublesome."


    "Wait. Kisuke Urahara. Please rify what you said just now." Pleaded Sirzechs. Since there are so many things to unpack from that short muttering of his, he could only ask broadly.


    "Well, I''ve already talked to Issei-kun and Vali-kun about this." Still, Kisuke refused to provide any information.


    And before they could dig any further, Kisuke returned the conversation back from Azazel''s derailment, "But let''s set that aside for now and talk about what you guys know. Why are you so rxed?"


    Kisuke had already observed them long enough and before he even received the call from his mother, he''d already noticed that they were not as hurried as him. He thought that it was just him seeing things as scary due to his personality but now it made a lot more sense.


    After that question, there''s still no apparent reaction from the both of them so Kisuke continued, "It''s as if you know when they areing. How intriguing~ Even from my own investigations, that''s not the conclusion I''m getting. Am I missing something I should know?"


    There''s still no changes in their expressions, but Kisuke saw their eyes minutely shake. And the fact that they are not saying anything is all he needed. Smiling, he finally asked them directly, "What do you know about our enemies, Azazel-san, Sirzechs-sama?"


    Another silence. But the fact that they are not denying it that they know something is enough for Kisuke considering the information they have, ''So this is the extent of what they could tell, huh... Well, I''m actually grateful.''


    Kisuke''s smile grew deeper as he now thought of something that could seriously mess their heads. Taking out several photos from his inventory, he handed them to the silent two.


    Curious, Azazel and Sirzechs both received the photos but their contents were way outside of their expectations, "...What''s this!?"


    Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "What? You don''t know?"


    Depicted on these photos are carefully edited images of the two mechanical lifeforms that ire''s group encountered.


    Azazel and Sirzechs looked at him with grave expressions.


    Kisuke''s grin grew more prominent, "Yes... They are already here."


    ''He already knows!'' Azazel and Sirzechs both thought and began to panic.

 Chapter 929 Rampage

    Chapter 929 Rampage


    While the former Fallen Angel Governor and the Devil King were still stunned, Kisuke walked away from them, "W-wait!"


    But before they could catch up, Kisuke ignored them and locked himself up inside hisboratory. A few more calls came outside of his door but Kisuke just hummed while working on his console. Soon enough, the noises stopped and he could tell that the two were convening the others that probably knew about the future Gasper di.


    ''They''ll be more careful around me, but that should allow more freedom on my side and they should be able to start working on their own.'' Kisuke thought to himself while also thinking more about his conversation with his mother earlier. Since he was immediately approached after the call, he wasn''t able to properly sit down and think about the implications of the ''future Gasper di''.


    ''If my first guess is that this Gasper di is just telling them that they exist by providing information that isn''t avable everywhere else is true, then perhaps, someone is really trying to cross to this world from theirs...'' Kisuke scratched his head, ''How troublesome... Those transformers are already a big pain in the ass... Oh well, it''ll be interesting for sure and maybe, their involvement will open up some new avenues.''


    It wasn''t just the names but also some of the abilities that were revealed to Sakura by Yasaka and the most troublesome of them are definitely from their ruler of the beings known as Evie, Melvazoa, The Malevolent God, ''Every encounter with that guy was predicted and he seems to know everything that''s to know. Lastly, he calls his ability ''Omnipresence''.''


    ''If we''re going against a guy like that, I''d definitely need the information from the ''future''.'' Kisuke stopped moving his hands for a moment and directed his thoughts to another path, ''I thought the help of that world would be enough, but it looks like I severely underestimated these aliens. Looks like I have to put more focus back on ''that''.''


    Resuming his work, a strange glint passed through Kisuke''s eyes as he rearranged his priorities, ''If I''m sessful, it may take a few years for me toe back... I have to prepare everything before that.''


    Kisuke''s head ached as he thought about the things he had to do, ''I definitely don''t have enough time to do all of this.''


    .


    .


    .


    A week went by and obvious movements from the Alliance were observed in their attempt to find this world''s intruders. But no matter what they did, the only thing they''re able to gather are the reports of sightings. But even then, most of them were false positives and all the good reports were short nces. Nevertheless, they were able to confirm Kisuke''s information, and those in the higher-ups were appalled with his ability to gather intelligence.


    Never could they have imagined that his informants are self-proimed Magical Girls.


    [Beep] [Beep] [Beep]


    [What''s going on!?] Xins, a 3-star Evie that''s currently tasked to lead their mothership, ''Lavanda'', came rushing into themand deck after hearing the rm system going off.


    [We have intruders in section C5-14. ording to the initial readings, they are most probably the same people that were brought inst time.], one of the Evie tapping away on the screen replied.


    [What!? How was that possible!? We already deployed an anti-teleportation system and moved to the outer regions of this star system!]


    The Evie shook his head, [Unknown at this point. But the model predicted that they must have left an undetected mark on the ship before they escaped. Even until now, we still don''t understand what sort of technique they used to teleport away.]


    A blueprint of the entire Lavanda was disyed on therge screen and Xins saw five glowing red dots on the tail end part of it, [Deploy Team 3 and 8 to intercept them. The rest are to monitor any signals they are going to send outside and watch out for any reinforcement. Do we still have no way of contacting Sir Bebevu Su or Sir Gvardora?]


    The Evie he''s talking to shook his head, [Sending in Team 3 and 8. Still radio silent. They are probably deflecting any signalsing to them since the inhabitants of this began a nket search for ''mechanical lifeforms''.]


    [What are the chances of this being because of our current guests?]


    [I''d say around 30%.]


    [That low?]


    [Yes. We have been operating on the surface for some time now and they might have noticed a few traces of our existence. No matter how hard we try to cover our tracks, we have no way of erasing it, especially now that we''re searching for the ''Servant Maiden''.]


    Xins became silent for a moment before adding, [Remind the Team 3 and 8 to watch out for any markings that they may make. We can''t have them intrude again if they were to escape.]


    [Roger.]


    .


    .


    .


    "We''re back?" ire asked while looking around. She then turned around towards the other girls in a simr Magical Girl outfit as her and also looked around, "How''s breathing?"


    Everyone checked their breathing and nodded.


    "Great. As we''ve nned, we''ll run forward for about 5 minutes and retreat. If it bes dangerous we''ll retreat earlier. Kunou-chan, please focus on mapping the area."


    Kunou nodded and said, "Leave it to me. There''s almost no Ki in here so that''s going to be easy."


    After a round of checks, the Magical Girls started running forward with Ophis in front and Lilith at the back. Their main goal is to find what''s in this ce and if there were any other captives that they needed to save.


    And just a few momentster, they came into a junction and numerous Evies began pouring out. Putting out a barrier in front of them, Ophis just came crashing in and tossed the Evies away from them without them being able to do anything significant.


    Another group of Evies came chasing from behind but Lilith could cover that with her sturdy barrier that the Magic Power Guns they were using couldn''t hope to puncture.


    Meanwhile, ire and Tanis were just doing whatever they wanted as they moved. As they knew that there were no other Humans around them, they just started making holes through the metal ceiling, floor, and walls which made the ''robots'' cry out loud.


    sting open the floor, ire found another hallway and said, "Let''s go down~!"


    With her cue, the Magical Girls jumped down and started running forward again.


    That day, the Evies could only cry as they watched their ship being destroyed from the inside while trying to catch these intruders to no avail.

 Chapter 930 Undercurrents

    Chapter 930 Undercurrents


    Another week hase by and it became seemingly more peaceful as everything went on without anything unexpected happening, [They''re moving. And they first got Issei-kun.]


    The transmission from Benihime just as Kisuke was about to finish his work inside the seal and automate the testing phase, "They got Issei? How?"


    [They were ambushed in Lucifaad... Wait, shouldn''t you already know about this? Koneko, Kuroka, Akeno, and Irina are with them.]


    "Is that so? Well, I trust them and they can do what they need to do. But you have information that is not avable to them, right?"


    [Right... But before I go into that, let me continue my story. Their group was ambushed by a clone of Ddraig. This clone is stronger than a Dragon King and copies the original''s battle style. However, it has no will so it''s worse than a beast and can''t copy the original''s unique abilities. In other words, it''s just a mass of power in the shape of a Dragon.]


    "Interesting... I wonder who made it?" Since Kisuke already has the list of the members in the Hell Alliance, he already had an idea of who it was but didn''t have any evidence to back his im.


    [Though it isn''t really the first time of their sighting as they were also seen wreaking havoc randomly in Ennd with Albion''s counterpart.]


    "It''s probably Hell Alliance''s way of decreasing DxD''s influence and morale."


    [Or probably their way of diverting attention while they are preparing.] Benihime added while taking care of her nails, [In any case, the center of the story is another individual that attacks Issei-kun with a Sacred Gear of spiritual nature. ording to their primary analysis, it was the Alpha Tyrant, a Sacred Gear that''s on the government''s S-ss watchlist due to its capability to brainwash Humans.]


    "Ah, I''ve heard about it. It''s one of the holy relics if I recall it correctly."


    [Yes. There was also the suspicion that it finally evolved into a Longinus like the other holy relics and that was finally proven true after this incident.]


    "Oh? What happened to Issei?"


    [...] Benihime instead became silent.


    "...What? He''s not dead, is he?"


    [''Death'' is not a problem for you as long as his soul is intact... It''s much worse...]


    "Then don''t leave me hanging!"


    Benihime took a deep breath before finally saying it, [...His horniness is gone.]


    "...Uhmmm... The what?" Kisuke froze for a moment and couldn''t believe what he just heard.


    Benihime also shuddered when she heard about this, [The brat''s horniness was gone. Right now, he''s acting like the most innocent kid in the world and is striving to discard his name ''Oppai Dragon''.]


    It was Kisuke''s turn to be silent before speaking a minuteter, "...That''s one terrifying Sacred Gear."


    [I know, right? Do you think I''d be affected if I were to be hit by that?]


    "And you suddenly became the kindest woman out there? Please spare me from that horrifying thought. And since it has been some time since that happened and there''s still no new report, I''d guess that they still haven''t reversed the effect?"


    [No. It''s under aplex Security Magic that''s probably prepared just for that brat and to this hour, they are still trying to decode it. But even if they could sessfully reach the spell, I doubt they''d be able to easily reverse the brainwashing since the victim itself didn''t want any of it since he thinks he''s normal and fine.]


    "...Benihime... Don''t you dare get hit by that even as a joke."


    [I could say the same to you. I''ll be the first one who''ll kill you.]


    Kisuke sighed before continuing, "Setting that aside, it''s probably a bait, isn''t it?"


    [You are correct. The owner of this Sacred Gear, Meredith Ordinton, recently resurfaced in London and now that she suddenly attacked DxD, it''s no brainer that they''ll go there in an attempt to apprehend her and reverse the effect of the Alpha Tyrant. On the underside of London is Hell Alliance''s mirror Dimension of the city and they''re nning to pull the DxD into their territory to take them all out at once... And also probably trap them too.]


    "Apollo already made his move?"


    [Not him directly but his goons moved the Tartarus in Mongolia. If not for the bug that you nted on Apollo disguised as a disgusting prank, we''d probably be caught off guard.]


    "Well, that''s the whole point of that attack." By cleaving Mount Olympus in half and almost killing a God, Kisuke was able to nt a bug aimed at Apollo. Thanks to that, Kisuke was able to properly monitor his movements and find out what they had on hand early.


    [So when are youing out?]


    "They probably already knew that I''m here so I won''t being out until the day of their attack. It''d be convenient if there were to think that I won''t be participating."


    [Well, up to you. I''ll just go back home and chill since I''ve done my part.]


    "You won''t meet the girls?"


    [Too much trouble. Maybeter.]


    "If you get bored, go join ire and the others in their conquest."


    [...Are you indirectly telling me that I should wear that embarrassing outfit?]


    "So you''re indeed watching..." Kisuke had already noticed that Benihime was secretly watching ire''s activity through her ne, but wasn''t sure of it until now because Benihime would always leave her tracks hidden, ''She''s having too much fun with espionage.''


    [Why wouldn''t I watch something so amusing? The supposedly great invaders that you''re preparing for are being destroyed by the little girls who don''t know anything.]


    Kisuke had already guessed that the stronger Evies were on Earth and monitoring the situation but even then, he was surprised at how the ''Crimson Order of Magical Girls Society'' are running around, wreaking havoc for a few minutes before retreating, only to return again a few hourster in a different part of the ship and restart the game of chase.


    Even though Kisuke and Benihime couldn''t read the Evies'' expressions, they could tell that they were very distressed in this situation as they had already tried everything and even stopped pulling their punches to get the girls. They also already left the inner Sr System and went past the asteroid belt, but Ophis and Lilith kept marking the ship and even the space they werest in.


    Since Ophis was the best at navigating the ''void'' the escaping mothership was always on her radar and had no way of escaping.


    Normally, the Evies would have already contacted their superiors on Earth to assist them, but thanks to Kisuke''swork of self-replicating drones that were already in the billions after mining the asteroid belts for materials, he was able to block the signal they were sending to Earth.


    To this moment, the clueless Magical Girls had already destroyed half of the ship and reduced its functionality so severely so that it wouldn''t be weird if it were to fail.


    [I think it''s alright to give them some more work. They''re more reliable than most of the people running on the ground.]


    "Let me think about it after I figure out how I could avoid the inevitable scolding."

 Chapter 931 OP Elf

    Chapter 931 OP Elf


    While bringing various food from Ennd, Kuroka came back to where Medusa, Riveria, and Aika are, "Heya~ How are you all doing, nyaa~?"


    Instead of just a singr tent, there was now a log cabin big enough to house arge family in the middle of the clearing. Thanks to Medusa learning the Kisuke-way, she now also knew how to build simple buildings overnight.


    And although there were three people in this ce, only Medusa came out to greet Kuroka, "Good morning. How are things going on that side?"


    Kuroka stretched her arms up to loosen the tension on her back, "They''re chasing down the Alpha Tyrant user but I think it''s a trap to gather everyone there. It shouldn''t be long before things explode. Are you going to bring them over?"


    Medusa nodded her head, "It''s a good opportunity for them. Regardless of the result, I''ll take responsibility."


    "Don''t single-handedly assume responsibility, nyaa~ I''m in this too."


    Medusa chuckled and asked, "Oh? You want to get a scolding from him?"


    Grinning, Kuroka replied, "Like you, I''m looking forward to it!"


    Contrary to Kisuke''s wishes of just letting Aika naturally recover, the two of them decided to just throw her at the site of conflict to hasten the process, of course, without saying anything to Kisuke. They came to this conclusion after watching Aika for thest two weeks and they thought that Kisuke was taking the wrong approach here.


    Compared to him, who was buried in his work, Kuroka and Medusa could actually see Aika''s decision and didn''t think that it''d be good for her to stay this way. Not when she kept returning to this ce at every opportunity she could get and would even lie about it to her parents.


    "Where is she, anyway?" Kuroka asked while looking at the log cabin. Although she could feel Riveria''s presence in her room, she couldn''t tell where Aika was.


    "She returned home yesterday. I think she decided to confront her parents about the course she wants to take.", replied Medusa while looking in the direction of Aika''s ce.


    "Even though she hasn''t remembered anything substantial?"


    "Isn''t this the main reason why we nned to take her there?"


    "That''s true, nya~" Kuroka chuckled, "What about Riveria? How has her ridiculousness evolved?"


    Medusa hesitated for a moment before sighing and answering, "She''s now able to imbue the petrification attribute into normal Mana Bullets."


    Kuroka was just asking casually and didn''t really expect to receive such a ridiculous answer, "S-seriously? She was able to copy your petrification and was even able to apply it into something else?"


    Medusa nodded, "It wasn''t as strong as mine and she can''t really use it directly because she doesn''t have my eyes."


    "W-what if she could replicate your eyes too?"


    "...I don''t know if that''s even possible." Medusa shook her head, "It wasn''t just that. She''s also able to replicate your Illusion Youjutsu. And as if that wasn''t enough, she''s also able to do something simr to Touki."


    "Even Youjutsu!? With Demonic Power!? ...And do you mean the Touki Shirone and I use? Not the general one?"


    "I don''t think she has seen any other Touki users aside from you. On top of that-"


    "There''s more!?"


    Medusa nodded once again, "It seems that she''s also capable of replicating some Martial Arts. When we sparred in some closebat practice, I saw that she was slowly adapting my movements. As such, I specte that her eyes... No... Her Demonic Ability is to see through the world''s logic and use it for herself and even modify it to her liking."


    The corner of Kuroka''s lips twitched, "...What the heck? That''s OP."


    "It is. But it''s not all sunshine and rainbows for her, since it''s also apanied by some pretty heavy restrictions. First is the energy consumption but that isn''t really a problem once she expands her capacity or gets a battery as an artificial source.


    "Second is that it seems to cause heavy strain on her mind. There was one time she got too excited and instantly lost consciousness while bleeding from her orifices." Medusa sighed yet again while holding her head when recalling that incident, "I panicked that day, you know? I thought of calling Kisuke, but I didn''t think he''d be able to respond immediately considering where he is, so I instead called Sakura-san. Thankfully, it was only bad mental fatigue."


    "Only? That''s pretty bad though? Could have sent her into aa, nyaa."


    Ignoring Kuroka''sment, Medusa continued, "Third is that if she doesn''t work hard and study, she won''t be able to retain what she''s ''learned''. The moment she ''sees'' it, it''ll onlyst a day or two in her head. The problem is, once she uses that ability of hers, she''ll be able to ''capture'' everything that''s happening in her field of view, and if she focuses, she''ll even be able to use her other senses for ''viewing''."


    "Then isn''t bringing her along to the uing battle be just going to be a detriment to her? If she''s unlucky, she''ll overload her mind again."


    And as an extension to that, Riveria''s bane would berge-scale battlefields where everything is happening at the same time. Medusa thought the same so she was now contemting whether to bring Riveria or not. She''s afraid that when she ''sees'' thousands of spells being thrown everywhere, her head might actually explode... Literally.


    "Shall we consult Kisuke about this, nyaa?"


    Medusa looked at her before looking back at Riveria''s window. A few momentster, she replied, "Let''s make a call."


    Half an hourter, Kisuke arrived at their ce with a big smile, "So where''s our OP Elf?!"


    But Kuroka and Medusa couldn''t answer his question and were instead staring nkly at his lower body, which wasn''t there.


    Kisuke, who was standing... or floating, asked them, "What?"


    "Did you die?" Kuroka returned a question while pointing at his lower body that could be likened to a traditional pop culture ghost.

 Chapter 932 OP Elf part 2

    Chapter 932 OP Elf part 2


    "This is a projection technique that I recently developed and haven''t named yet," Kisuke answered while pointing at his nonexistent legs.


    Kuroka and Medusa then approached him and began touching him, "How does this work? I know it''s a Magic Power projection, but since you aren''t dead and have a real body, you shouldn''t be able to do this, right?" asked thetter curiously.


    Before creating a body for her using her eyes that Kisuke confiscated from Cao Cao, the leader of the Hero Faction, Medusa had been projecting a shell made out of Magic Power to contain her soul and it was also the method her sisters use toe out of her. However, that would require not having a physical body, and even if she sessfully projected one, there would be no soul to control it so it would disperse immediately.


    Reaching that line of thinking, Medusa''s eyes widened as she realized something, "...Did you take a part of your soul and inject it in here?"


    "Correct~" Kisuke snapped his fingers, "As expected of the expert~!"


    "What do you mean expert? If you could do this without any repercussions, I can only consider myself as an amateur."


    Kisuke just chuckled and exined, "I indeed took a part of my soul and built a body around it. However, I can only control one body at a time for now, so my main body is currently unconscious. On top of that, I''m technically a normal person in this and if this is destroyed, I''ll take damage that I wouldn''t be able tough at."


    "So we need to protect the fragile you! Got it, nyaa~! Leave it to me!" Kuroka dered as she continued to caress Kisuke''s body trying to find something different from it.


    "So... Where''s my OP Queen?"


    Kuroka stopped what she was doing and pouted, "Do you really have to phrase it that way?"


    "It''s true though?"


    "If I knew you''d create your own peerage, I would have presented myself on a silver tter, nyaa."


    "But none of you could actually convert to a Devil." Kisuke said as he saw Medusa start walking towards the cabin so he followed her while the sulking ck cat was now hanging from his back quietly.


    A minuteter, the group arrived at Riveria''s door but instead of knocking, Kisuke directly and rudely opened the door, "Where''s my favorite Elf?!"


    What greeted his crass behavior was a flying book to the face. Since even his senses and reactions were dulled, Kisuke couldn''t dodge it and a loud smack was heard.


    "!?" But instead of the victim, the assant was the one surprised, "Why didn''t you dodge that!?" Riveria, with obvious dark circles around her eyes, yelled.


    The book dropped down and a clear mark was left on Kisuke''s face, "I couldn''t..."


    Riveria was about to retort but decided against it when she saw the floating Kisuke and Kuroka, "You have another weird transformation..."


    "It''s not a transformation nor it is weird." Kisuke rubbed his face, "But let''s set that aside for now. I don''t have much time but I''d like to do my best until the conflict breaks out ."


    "Conflict breaks out?" Riveria left her bed and started stacking the messy books.


    "These two will exin it to youter. For now, tell me the whole story."


    .


    .


    .


    It wasn''t long before Kisuke got a grasp of the whole picture and like Kuroka, he also had a simr reaction, "What a ridiculous ability... When I said take everything, I didn''t quite mean it that literally."


    Riveria stared at him for a few moments before asking, "Then what did you mean?"


    "..." Kisuke wanted to say that he meant she could shape her Demonic Power in any way she wanted and take on any ability, but he was afraid that he''d only confuse the Elf and just shook his head, "It''s nothing. This is the path you''ve chosen to take and it''s the correct one... No... You must make it the correct one regardless of what others say. Just remember that this is your own power and not something borrowed."


    "Are you saying this now because you think I''d misunderstand it again?"


    Kisuke nodded happily, "That''s right~. You might not notice it yourself, but you do have some insecurities. Being insecure in your own power, that''s not very Demonic, isn''t it?"


    "Don''t worry about it. I already realized that the moment I opened these ''eyes''."


    "That''s good." Kisuke then floated up and kept his notes under his kosode, "I already got what I need for the Soul Gear that should be of help to you."


    "Soul Gear?"


    "You''ve seen it. Those strange weapons materialized out of nowhere. The most famous right now is the Red and White Dragons. Soul Gears are something simr to them."


    A certain image emerged in Riveria''s mind, "Ah... Those... I still can''t believe something like that exists."


    Instead of Teleportation Magic, Kisuke''s body began to disperse and before he fully disintegrated, Kisuke reminded them, "By the way, don''t reveal any of this as much as possible if you still want to enter these Magic Organizations. If you reveal your ability to them, most of them will bar your entry just because you might learn their Magic Technology with just a simple nce."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke reopened his eyes and materialized the notes he''d taken while asking Riveria, Medusa, and Kuroka about the former''s ability, ''It''s already an unreasonable power even with its restrictions since it could also potentially copy unique powers that their original users don''t fully understand... In that case, let''s make it even more unreasonable so that everyone she faces will want to pull their hair out~!''


    A grin emerged on Kisuke''s face as he imagined the reaction people would have in the face of Riveria''s fully developed ability, ''How fun~! For starters, a battery is needed. Second, memory storage where she could transfer that temporary knowledge and make it more permanent. The third is a limiter to decrease the scope of what she can see.''


    Standing up from his seat, Kisuke went to the deeper part of hisboratory, ''Depending on how well she does, Riveria might be the first one who''ll be able to create a library where all Magic exists.''

 Chapter 933 Start of War

    Chapter 933 Start of War


    Three more days had passed and, Medusa, Riveria, and Aika were eating their lunch when the former suddenly perked up and stood, "It''s time."


    With a wave of her hand, the food on the table disappeared and even the utensils they were holding, leaving only a ss of water for each of them. But before they couldin, Medusa shut them up with a bit of re, "Finish up. We''re going somewhere."


    Riveria and Aika gulped down the food in their mouth and hurriedly drank the ss of water left for them. They wanted to ask where they were going but looking at Medusa''s serious expression, they just waited.


    "Kuroka? We''re ready." Medusa said to herself before a purple Magic Circle appeared in the corner of the room.


    Medusa stepped into it and the two scrambled to follow. However, before they could disappear, the rotating runes on the Magic Circle suddenly froze, "Kuroka? What''s happening?"


    And before she could get a reply from the ck cat, another voice resounded in the room, "Wait!!!"


    The three of them looked at another corner of the room as another Magic Circle appeared. Medusa was about to st that corner of the room with her own Magic but stopped as she felt the familiar auraing from it.


    Kisuke, in a ghost-like state, appeared once again. But this time, the ghostly appearance also made it to his face, as if he hadn''t slept for a few months, "Wait! I just finished Riveria''s Soul Gear!"


    "You were able to make it?" Medusa asked in disbelief, thinking that there was no way for him to do it and had already nned to closely guard Riveria while she copied a few Magics and Abilities that were flying around. Recalling something, Medusa contacted the already panicking Kuroka as her Magic was suddenly halted, "Hold on for a second."


    Without exining it further, Kisuke took out a semi-translucent 5-inch cube with a glowing red orb inside it, "Bring this to your chest and you should be able to understand how to use it. Whatever it''ll take, it''ll be up to you, but there are basic functions and designs that will also influence its appearance."


    Riveria stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and feeling its warmth. As he''d instructed, Riveria ced it on her chest. But instead of feeling resistance, it went through her clothes and flesh before it entirely disappeared into her body while she could still feel its warmth. Riveria wanted to ask what happened, but her instincts told her what to do.


    Putting her hands out and turning the both of them up, a thick book adorned with a red gem and intricate silver lines as a design on its cover instantly materialized along with a silver framed monocle on her right eye and a small silver tiara embedded with a small red gem on the top of her head.


    "Great. It looks like it''s working well. Test it out in the ce you''re going to." Kisuke had already expected the book as a recording device and battery with sses as the limiter. But as he looked at the tiara, he didn''t know what it does nor have any idea what it could do, ''I was only expecting a set of two, but for a third one to appear... I wonder what it''s for and what it symbolizes?''


    Still, he didn''t voice out his wonderment since that''d only make Riveria question herself.


    Kisuke was about to bid his farewell when he finally noticed Aika who was silently staring at him. Though instead of talking to her, he turned to Medusa, "You''re also bringing her?"


    "I''m sorry." Medusa could only apologize but she also showed that she has no intention of going back on her decision.


    "This is going to be the worst debut ever."


    "Sometimes, if you want to show someone reality, it''s best to show her the worst of it."


    Even before sealing her memories, Aika had never killed a person so a war of this scale would absolutely destroy something in her. But since she wanted to be on this side, it was also inevitable for her to see the ugliness of having the power to destroy.


    Kisuke then turned back to Aika who wanted to say something but couldn''t say her words and just stared at her for a few seconds. Kisuke then sighed and patted her head, "Oh well... If you''re supporting her decision, I won''t mind." Naturally, he was talking to Medusa.


    Aika wanted to shove away the hand of this unknown man but couldn''t bring herself to do so for some unknown reason.


    Kisuke''s body started to disperse like before and before he fully disappeared, he muttered with a wry smile, "Please go easy on meter." And this time, Aika knew that he was talking to her.


    After watching thest of the light disappear, Aika turned to Medusa and Riveria, "Who was that bastard?"


    Medusa and Riveria looked at each other and thetter said, "That guy is indeed a bastard."


    Medusa, on the other hand, just chuckled and said, "You can pummel himter. For now, let''s leave."


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as they reappeared, what the group saw was five Dragons and one ''Human'' scrambling in the air and destroying everything around them, "W-what''s going on?" The voice with a hint of fear came from Aika.


    Just the shockwave and dusting to them was enough to destabilize Aika''s bnce even though she could normally take much more of it.


    Riveria, meanwhile, was a lot calmer, "Red and White Dragons? And that one, is it Crom Cruach?"


    Coming from behind, Kuroka exined, "That''s Albion and Ddraig, the Heavenly Dragons, their respective imitation, Crom Cruach, and the second generation Ai Dahka, nyaa. Any of their shes could easily pulverize any normal people, so don''t approach them."


    She then turned to Aika who was shaking from the sts of terrifying auraing from all directions, "If you are scared, you could go back. But please do remember that this might be yourst chance."


    ''Last chance?'' Aika asked herself. She didn''t know what it meant but she had a feeling that she''d be going nowhere once she backed down from this. Despite the obvious agitation, Aika still shook her head strongly, "No... I''m staying. What are we doing?"


    Kuroka nodded and exined the situation, "There are currently four battlefronts. The first is that Dragon scramble. No one can really interfere with them and no one would actually want to, so they''re not really important. The second is the defense against the Hell Alliance''s army. It''s a few tens of kilometers away from here. Third is the Alpha Tyrant capture. They''re still on the run, but it shouldn''t be too long before they are trapped. Finally the Red and White Dragon Emperors against the leaders of the Hell Alliance. Where do you want to go?"


    Medusa already knew where she would take the two ''newbies'', "We''ll help with the defense."


    "Got it nyaa~" Kuroka then teleported them away before teleporting them back to the Alpha Tyrant Capture Team. She wondered why the Hell Alliance would do something like this because even if they emerged victorious from this battle, they would have to go against Ajuka and Shiva next and it was clear they wouldn''t be able to defeat them, ''Last-ditch effort? Securing hostages to bring into the negotiation table? Distraction? Kisuke also refused to participate so he''s probably already anticipating that.''

 Chapter 934 Hell Disaster

    Chapter 934 Hell Disaster


    After the Dragons, Issei and Vali, had left to confront the leaders of this army, the members of the DxD, CIA, and MI6 were tasked to deal with the army of Artificial Devils and Grim Reapers numbering around 60,000 but there could be more. It wasn''t just that, some of the members were feeling that there was a God or two hiding within this army, just biding their time to strike at the most opportune moment.


    Sona summoned hundreds of water creatures while also watching Ingvild Leviathan summon her water dragons. Ingvild was also curious about Sona and also watched her summons and she could tell that they were using different fundamentals to do it. As a direct descendant of the original Leviathan, Ingvild''s summons had more power and destructiveness while Sona''s summons had more flexibility and control.


    It wasn''t just that, as Sona''s summons were through meticulous calctions while Ingvild''s were more lifelike due to the imbued Dragon Aura within them, ''So that''s how the direct descendant does it. I must admit. Her vigorous Dragons are much more effective than mine in this kind of situation.''


    Aside from her, among Kisuke''s group, only Koneko was with her to serve as her guard as both of them could tell that there was a Deity hiding within Hell Alliance''s army, but couldn''t find them due to how chaotic the battlefield was. But because Koneko was just standing there and doing nothing with her eyes closed, some people couldn''t help but frown.


    ''What is she doing? If she''s just going to stand there doing nothing, she should just evacuate!'' Jeanne of the Hero Faction thought frustratingly.


    Soon, it began to snow. Although there was no change in temperature, some of the enemy Artificial Devils and Grim Reapers started freezing and dropping like flies before breaking into many pieces once they hit the ground. Sona looked at the source of this Magic and saw the member of Grauzauberer and sh/Dog Team, Lavinia Reni, with her Longinus, Absolute Demise in a form of a three-meter tall disfigured doll made of ice that took the form of a woman in a dress by her side, ''Although not as strong as my sister''s, it''s still amazing to be able to distinguish enemies from allies.''


    Next, Sona''s eyes darted towards Genshirou in his Malebolge Vritra Promotion. Genshirou grew numerous tentacles that attached themselves to the enemies and drained them of their Demonic Power and Magic Power before turning them into ashes with his ck cursed mes. The surplus of what he absorbed was then transferred to the allies near him, namely, Ruruko Nimura and Momo Hanakai, both of whom were his girlfriends now.


    ''Looks like they''ve really improved a lot.'' But before Sona could further watch her surroundings and observe more, a Teleportation Magic Circle appeared beside her and Koneko that revealed Medusa, Riveria, and Aika immediately after.


    She was about to greet them but was shocked at thest person, "Aika? Have you recovered?"


    "...You''re the former president Shitori. You know me too?"


    Sona was stunned for a moment before saying, "Apparently not." She then faced Medusa and asked, "Why hasn''t he lifted the seal?"


    Medusa shook her head, "You know him. He''s stubborn beyond belief as long as you can''t change his opinion."


    However, Aika and Riveria didn''t have the confidence or leisure to talk casually with all the destruction going on around them.


    Especially for Aika who had just coincidentally saw someone''s head fly off. She tried to avert her gaze but instead saw someone else getting his stomach blown open. Aika lurched forward and held her mouth in an attempt to quell his urge to vomit. It was fortunate for her that she''d only gotten a spoonful for her breakfast or else she''d be hurling everything she had eaten.


    While Sona hurried over to her side and rubbed her back, Medusa''s cold voice entered her ears, "This is the reality of the world you''re trying to discover. If you can''t take it, you have to back out now."


    Sona wanted to protest to Medusa but held herself back when she met her eyes.


    Aika remained silent for a few moments before asking while still lurching forward, "...Are we on the side of justice?"


    "What a silly question. In a war, whoever wins is justice and the loser is the evil that has been quelled."


    Aika stood up without looking at Medusa, "Then please tell me the story behind this war." Aika raised her head and ingrained the image of ughter in her mind. She was feeling disgusted and wanted to run away from this as far as possible. However, she didn''t want to be a bystander that pretends that nothing is going on. As Medusa had said, she should face this reality if she really wanted to walk this way.


    As someone who was more aware of the situation, Sona exined the situation as unbiased as possible while controlling her water creatures to fend off the approaching enemies.


    Sona finished her summary of what had happened a few minutester and waited for Aika''s reaction.


    No one knows when but Aika was already holding onto her nodachi and quietly staring at it.


    The next moment, someone came crashing beside them, breaking the earth and sending dust everywhere.


    "Phuehh! Dang it. I ate some dirt!" Comined the blonde woman in armor. She then coincidentally looked to her side and saw Sona''s group. Pissed at their still pristine appearance. "Hey! If you aren''t going to help, leave! You''re taking up valuable space!"


    A burly shoulder-length gray hair thennded beside her, "Looks like you''re still alright since you can stillin."


    Jeanne pointed at their group while facing Heracles, "Aren''t you mad!? Even the weakest in the CIA and MI6 are risking their lives yet these people are just standing there!"


    Heracles looked at them and also thought the same. However, he wouldn''t be voicing hisints since they still hadn''t bothered him.


    Sona was about to step in but was overtaken by Medusa, "We apologize. Since we''re here, we''ll do our part." While Jeanne was being rude and aggressive, Medusa knew how they looked so she didn''t really deny it.


    Medusa then turned to Sona and said, "Can you open up my view?"


    Sona understood what she wanted to happen andmanded her creatures to clear their immediate perimeter before canceling her summons.


    Meanwhile, Medusa closed her eyes and took off her sses and the moment Sona''s summons disappeared, a massive wave of Divine Power came emanating from her, gathering most of the attention in the battlefield since any Godly presence was worth every attention.


    Sona opened themunication line connecting to everyone on their side and said, [Please don''t look at the origin of the Divine Power.]


    Opening her gem-like eyes again, a wave of power swept through the entire battlefield and all of those who were looking at her and had insufficient resistance were instantly turned to stone and began dropping like flies, breaking the moment they hit the ground. That single move of her annihted more enemies than Lavinia did.


    At that moment, Koneko also finally opened her eyes and muttered, "Found you."

 Chapter 935 Hell Disaster part 2

    Chapter 935 Hell Disaster part 2


    "Found you." The moment Koneko muttered those words, six tails made out of white mes instantly sprouted behind her in addition to her two tails.


    As a response, Sona initiated contact again while most of thebatants were still stunned while watching the falling stone statues, "Dulio-san, Lavinia-san, could you please make a distraction. A single instance is enough. Just make the field more chaotic."


    Dulio and Lavinia received her message and immediately acted.


    While Lavinia sent another blizzard at the enemies, Dulio released his 10 wings and waved both of his arms, instantly creating various elemental attacks with each one of them almost a hundred meters wide. The Artificial Devils and Grim Reapers were caught off guard by another sudden wide range attack and hundreds to a thousand of them were instantly annihted.


    Nevertheless, these shy lights were just a cover for someone else.


    Koneko, while looking in a certain direction, jumped back a few tens of feet as white mes engulfed her whole body.


    Heracles was curious at what was happening while Riveria and Jeanne stared at her with stunned faces when Koneko, in her adult form, reemerged.


    Even then, she still hadn''t broken her stare as white armor covers her body, "Javelin."


    The metallic wings behind her spouted out white mes with the armor immediately rearranging itself to form a giant whitence on her right hand. By now, Heracles'' confident demeanor was broken as he braced himself at the massive amount of Ki gathering around Koneko that he had to cross his arms just to feel safe, ''W-what''s this!? Even though it''s not pointed at me!?''


    But thanks to Dulio and Lavinia''s attacks, the enormous amount of power Koneko was gathering wasn''t noticed immediately by those who were far away.


    Koneko''s golden feline eyes instantly turned red as she stepped back and poised herself to throw thence that was already about to explode from overloading its capacity. Gritting her teeth and finally revealing her killing intent, Koneko shouted, "Titan... yer!!!"


    Contrary to the sound of whipping wind, thence left Koneko''s hand as if it was a cannonball that left its barrel after arge explosion. The earth cracked and cratered under Koneko''s feet and thence disappeared into a trail of white light, instantly traveling through the entire battlefield to find its intended target.


    The enemy forces saw thising but before they could take any appropriate measures, the white light went through and instantly vaporized them. Those who were able to put up barriers were treated as if a piece of paper was run through by a bullet train, doing nothing to even slow down the devastating attack.


    A secondter, it reached a certain Grim Reaper in the back of the army, or more urately, a God pretending to be a Grim Reaper.


    Under his robe, a ck mist emerged as it tried to form a vortex into a barrier, but that onlysted for a split second as the heat from thence burned away his ck robe and melted away his fake skin, revealing a fleshy upper body, skull head, and a collection of skulls for his lower body.


    "U-unbelievab--" The God couldn''t even finish his words as thence pierced through his upper body, turning his skull into ashes and scattering his fleshy body into thousands of pieces. On his death, the lower body made out of skulls lost the support of the ck mist and started dropping one by one.


    Meanwhile, Koneko''snce didn''t stop and soon reached the boundary of this artificial London, piercing it and creating arge hole in the sky.


    Even the sh between Hades, Angra Mainyu, Issei, and Vali was momentarily stopped at this sight, "Another unbelievable character has emerged, it seems." Hades muttered while the artificial space is healing itself but a lot slower than he expected it to be.


    Vali turned to Issei and asked, "Who was that?"


    But Issei could only shake his head in confusion while also wondering who made that attack just now, ''It''s as strong as my fully charged Infinity ster if not more... And it''s fully concentrated at one point.''


    "W-wasn''t that Whiro just now?" Seekvaira who knew the pretty unique God muttered, "Wasn''t there information about him being almost unkible on a battlefield where corpses littered the ground?"


    Her question was broadcasted among themunication line of the DxD team, but no one could really respond as they themselves don''t know what''d happened.


    Thence that disappeared in the vast space returned to Koneko''s hand, but she could only drop down to her knees while breathing hard with her white mes flickering around her.


    Jeanne and Heracles who had watched this up close had their mouths wide open and couldn''t say anything. Riveria, on the other hand, was also surprised but thought nothing strange about it since she''s one of ''his'' girls. Aika also seemed to be surprised but could only stare nkly as there were more things in her mind that took priority rather than admiring her work.


    All of a sudden, a strange wind suddenly blew around them and an ash-haired individual materialized beside the resting Koneko with his ws made out of des bearing towards her neck.


    It was so fast that even Jeanne, Heracles, and Riveria could only shout in horror.


    But even with all the warnings from her surroundings, Koneko didn''t move and just focused on recovering. When the de was about tond on Koneko''s neck, a blue pole abruptly blocked its trajectory. Shocked, the assant looked up and saw that the blue pole was actually a halberd that suddenly appeared in front of him.


    The next moment, a shiver went down his spine when he heard someone whispering behind him, "I was expecting you. Thank you foring out."


    Sona, with a ckened sclera and golden pupils, transformed her entire arm into a ck de made out of the water and swung it at Koneko''s assassin.


    Sona''s de went through him but she wasn''t able to feel any resistance. A secondter, the strange wind blew once again and the assant reappeared a few meters away from them. Finally seeing his face and identifying him through his ability, Sona smirked, "It''s an honor for me to greet the great Pazuzu. Although, I didn''t really think you''d resort to an assassination."


    Pazuzu didn''t say anything and just disappeared again, intending to escape and find another chance.


    Sona, in response, grabbed her halberd and transformed into a puddle of water, disappearing from everyone''s sight too.


    A few secondster, a few hundred of meters away from their original position, everyone heard a groan and immediately snapped their eyes to that location, only to see Sona, with arge grin on her face, cleaving off Pazuzu''s left arm.


    "J-just what''s going on?" Jeanne thought that she had already seen most things and thought that nothing could easily surprise her anymore. But from Medusa turning arge number of enemies to stone, Koneko instantly killing a terrifying God that was said to be immortal as long as there were corpses around, to the sudden change of demeanor in thedy of the Sitri House while chasing a retreating God with a mad smile.


    "First things first. You should probably take back what you just said. They''ve already done more than you." Heracles replied.

 Chapter 936 Hell Disaster part 3

    Chapter 936 Hell Disaster part 3


    Sona''s sudden change caught everyone''s attention in the surroundings, except for one. As if Aika was blind to all that was happening in front of her, she could only see two blurry little girls, red and ck, offering their hands to her. She couldn''t make out their faces, but she could tell that they were giving her an encouraging smile.


    [Who are you?] Aika knew that she was the only one who could see them and it could be that they are just a product of her imagination. Still, she asked them in her mind and had a feeling that they''ll be able to hear her just fine.


    [[You know who we are, mother.]] Both of them simultaneously answered.


    [But I''ve already forgotten...]


    [[Then you just have to remember it again. Father''s restriction won''tst that long.]]


    [Father?]


    [[You know him.]]


    [As I''ve said, I''ve already forgotten.]


    [[Take our hands.]]


    [Why?]


    The little girls became silent. It was for this very reason that Kisuke decided to seal them. It was this indecisiveness that restricted her from calling out their true names. They already had a feeling that this was the case, but seeing it so clearly, they had no choice but to agree with their ''Father''. At that moment, these little girls finally came to a decision and discarded their childishness.


    Standing at the crossroads, they offered her their hands. They gave Aika, who wanted to have both of her lives, a selfish girl who wanted to live in both worlds of normalcy and excitement and change whenever she wanted, a choice. Because if every time the ''exciting'' world bared its fangs called cruelty and terror, she would hide within the innocence and ignorance of ''normalcy'', they both knew that she will eventually get rejected by both and cause her destruction.


    Finally, they answered her question, [[If you don''t, nothing will happen.]]


    To walk the world of innocence and ignorance, or to walk the path of cruelty and terror, they wondered where her feet would take her. But regardless of her decision, they would support it fully, even if it meant disappearing forever.


    The little girls were prepared to hold out their hands for as long as possible, but contrary to their expectations, the warmth they had been longing for suddenly came. Shocked, both of them looked up at her and saw Aika wearing a serious expression while also making a small smile. At this point, although still just in Aika''s eyes, their existence solidified.


    [[Why?]] It was their turn to ask.


    Aika could now see their eyes clearly and replied, [It looks like the two of you are making an important decision. If you''re calling me your mother, the least I could do is to stop acting like a child.]


    All of a sudden, Aika''s everyday clothes disappeared as it was reced by a shihakusho (Garment of Dead Souls), and her Reiatsu, with a mix of both Magic Power and Ki, was suddenly released in all of its glory, causing her surrounding to feel extremely heavy.


    Medusa immediately moved to protect Riveria from this pressure while Jeanne and Heracles'' backs became covered in a cold sweat as they tried to calm down their palpitating heart that was about to burst from this unknown terror.


    Everyone looked at Aika who emitted the pressure and could only hear her muttering, "Let''s go, Akane, Kaguya." The nodachi she was previously holding had already disappeared and was reced by twin single-edged red and ck des.


    "Wee back, Aika." Medusa greeted with a happy expression.


    But Aika didn''t turn around and just said, "Please save it forter. I''ve only recalled these children''s names. I''m still not there yet, but please wait for me."


    While crossing her des, Aika raised her beloved children, "I don''t know if I''m going to regret thister or not, but for now, let''s go with a bang!"


    Swinging down as hard as possible, Aika released two crossing arcs of red and ck energy toward their enemies and it only becamerger and more extensive the further it traveled. Naturally, their enemies tried to dodge since it was rtively slow moving, but too bad for them, those in its trajectory suddenly found themselves unable to move their bodies, as if something invisible was chaining them down.


    Screams erupted, but there was nothing left after the wave of destruction went through them, not even their bodies. She''d just annihted a few hundred lives.


    Aika felt a wave of disgust and was about to exit her mouth but she did her best to stop it. And while she was suffering, she heard Medusa''s voice, "While they may be artificial beings, this is the first time you''ve taken an intelligent being''s life. Please never forget this feeling. This will help you stop devolving into an unfeeling monster that only knows ughter."


    "...Got it," Aika replied softly. She then gritted her teeth and used sh Step to plunge into the midst of enemies aiming for her life. Aika could''ve used the same move a few more times, but it was clear to her that it was too unforgiving. After seeing the devastation she''d caused, she decided to only take the life of those who were willing to fight and let go of those who had already lost the will to retaliate. It might not be the smartest choice, but it was the best she could hope for.


    Aika aimed her des toward those with clear killing intent. Each time she swung her des, bits of her memories would return to her, helping her get over the slimy feeling from the resistance of flesh. Although she was distracted, her body moved on its own, taking on multiple enemies that wereing at her from various directions. And soon, she entered a trance, causing her movements to evolve into even finer detail, captivating both enemies and allies alike.


    "Another youngster with ridiculous ability. Just how many of them are still hiding?" A bearded old monk muttered in disbelief.


    "You should expect a few more Kappa. Aside from having cards of his own, that guy is still being followed by a few people." A short old man covered in golden fur replied to him.


    "Wukong. I told you to stop calling me that."


    "Old man Wujing, it''s about time you give up correcting him." An overweight old man with a pig''s head chuckled at him, "Whatever you say, the old monkey won''t change."


    "Shut up, old pig. I''m a Water Hermit, not a Kappa." The first generation Sha Wujing, a water youkai, snarled at him.


    The first generation Zhu Bajie, a pig youkai, just shrugged his shoulders and smashed an approaching Artificial Devil into the ground, "By the way, old monkey, are you referring to the one with Avalokitevara? Is it even possible to use that kind of power?"


    Sun Wukong took a hit from his pipe and blew its smoke towards an iing enemy, suffocating him, "It''s a wide world, not to mention, it''s already proven that there are a lot more out there. What''s not possible?"


    "That''s not the problem, is it? Sakra''s temperament has been explosive these days." Sha Wujing interrupted, "Isn''t that because of him? Because of what he showed in the invasion of the Underworld, he''s been obsessing over him..."


    The Monkey King chuckled and replied, "Let him be. The youngster is doing a good job at avoiding him. He could even see a chance to meet him secretly."


    "You act like this isn''t a problem. What if he just decided to go to the Underworld?"


    Wukong discarded the ash in his pipe before answering, "Rudra and Ajuka are keeping an eye on him so he won''t be able to do that." Under his sunsses, he narrowed his eyes, "But it''ll be a different story if he suddenly shows up today. I honestly sighed in relief when I realized that he won''t being today."

 Chapter 937 Hell Disaster part 4

    Chapter 937 Hell Disaster part 4


    Medusa carefully watched Aika''s movements and inwardlymented, ''Although still crude, her movements have a lot more freedom now, evenpared to before her memories were sealed. As Master and Yoruichi had said, she was limited by the ties in her heart.''


    While extremely technical, Shinigamis could still fall victim to emotional imbnce, and that''s especially apparent if they''re holding their Zanpakutos since it''s a symbiotic rtionship that is connected through their will.


    ''Nothing has changed in her des'' abilities either. The red can phase in and out of existence while the ck one can provide the necessary power.'' While it sounded simple and predictable, Aika''s des could actually instantly change hands and could even camouge their color while also applying cognitive interference. Normally, this type of ability could immediately deplete a Shinigami''s reserves, but thanks to the ck''s effectively unlimited battery, Aika is capable of maintaining her peak.


    Naturally, there are limitations like the red couldn''t phase into someone or something that has a strong enough resistance, and that''s everything strong in this world. And while she almost has nigh limitless Reiatsu, there''s a limit to how much she could put out at once since it''d only destroy her body.


    Now drenched in blood in addition to the pressure she was still emitting, no enemy would dare approach her anymore. And while there were some long-range attacks, Aika would just cut them down. And because she was not chasing anyone who was not bothering her, people only began to watch her from afar while dealing with otherbatants of DxD.


    Aika looked towards Sona and Pazuzu, who were disappearing and reappearing in different parts of the battlefield and concluded that there was no way for her to interrupt them.


    Her eyes then went towards the center where both sides met and saw a ck Devil and golden-armored man duking it out without a care in the world. It looked like a respectable battle between men, so there was no way for her to go in between that too.


    Expanding her detection range, she caught the battle of Gods happening not too far away. Despite the fact that each of their big attacks would change the terrain, Aika could tell that both sides were still holding back and trying to sound each other out. And while watching this, she also felt a blurry existence hiding within the shadows in that area, ''Another assassin?''


    But as she was now, she had a strong feeling that there was no way for her to take that one on. At this point in time, she''d already recalled most of her memories, but there''s one aspect that vigorously eluded her, ''Why can''t I remember him? Every interaction I had with him was extremely blurry and foggy. Even though I know his face, I can''t see him in my memories.''


    But now that everyone was leaving her alone, it was a good time tomunicate with her daughters once again, "Maybe this time, I''ll seed."


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    .


    Solely overseeing the tunnel they''d painstakingly built that would lead them directly into the Third Heaven, Apollomanded his goons to start transferring Magic Power into it. Since it''d take some time before they could open this, Apollo first turned to the few High Ranking Angels that he''d managed to take to his side, "How''s the situation in there?"


    One of the Angels stepped forward and answered, "There are still no changes. All the Brave Saints went to London to assist the DxD in repelling the Hell Alliance. As of now, there''s still no indication of anyone expecting an attack. Just as we''ve predicted, our problem is only going to be Gabriel, who''s in control of everything in there."


    Apollo nodded in satisfaction, "Good. As long as we can take Heaven, we will be able to save Hades and the rest while also pushing back Shiva."


    Turning once again to one of his goons, Apollo asked, "What about Kisuke Urahara?"


    "There''s nothing new regarding that. ording to our intelligence, he''s still within Trihexa''s seal. It may be as we assumed that he can''t easily get out of it."


    Apollo became quiet for a moment before saying, "Don''t underestimate that guy. Keep a close eye on his position and immediately report any movements from him, no matter how tiny."


    Apollo''s goon was weirded out since he wasn''t this careful even against Ajuka, Shiva, and the Heavenly Dragons. But he still nodded and went back to his team to follow his instructions. In any case, they''ve got it easierpared to the rest.


    Apollo carefully watched everyone work and around thirty minutes after, The tunnel was finallyplete. He did the final checks on his trump card and was able to confirm that he''d be able to use it at any time, before addressing everyone, "The time hase. We, the Gods, shall take our rightful ce on these sacred grounds. Follow me and we shall change history while also saving the entire world!"


    With his cue, The gigantic Teleportation Magic circle engulfed Apollo and everyone but the traitorous Angels, removing them from the ins of Central Asia. With the help of their distraction called the Hell Alliance, they''ll be able to set their foundation for the future they wished. A future where they were the ones standing on top and with everyone treating them as heroes.


    Apollo and his small army appeared in a wide and almost limitless ne under a golden sky that gave warmth andfort to everyone, regardless of what they nned to do in this ce.


    Third Heaven. The home of the souls of the dead who have been taken to Heaven. ording to Griselda Quarta, it''s so vast that it''s almost immeasurable and it is what the Heaven worshippers believe in. It is also connected to Purgatory, which Qlippoth and Cao Cao used to enter Heaven in the past, ''Our first target, the Tree of Life in the center of the Third Heaven.''


    Everyone braced themselves for the inevitable sh as they moved forward. But five minutes had passed, and there was still no response from the Angels of Heaven, "Stop!"


    With Apollo frowning, in front of them a single small golden Magic Circle appeared in front of him and soon revealed the only remaining Seraph in Heaven, Gabriel, "Son of Olympus, Apollo, for what reason have you intruded this sacred ground with your army?"


    While Apollo could see that while Gabriel was speaking calmly, he noticed the creases on her forehead and a few drops of sweat on it, "Just you? Where are your beloved brothers and sisters?"


    But before Gabriel could speak, someone else appeared behind her that made Apollo and his army''s eyes wide open, "They''re on their way to clear out the remaining traitors. And after that, they''ll be knocking on Olympus'' door while being led by the daughter of its former leader."


    His eyes met with Apollo and proceeded to greet him, "Good day to you, Apollo-san. This is the first time we''ve personally met, despite always checking on each other."


    Seeing that striking pale blonde hair and bucket hat, Apollo couldn''t help but grit his teeth, "...Kisuke Urahara... How?"


    Kisuke chuckled and said, "What do you mean ''how''? Obviously, I''ve been expecting you. It should''ve already been obvious."


    Apollo wanted to retort but stopped himself since it was already useless. His hands went to his chest where the ne that could activate his trump card was located, "It doesn''t matter. I''m surprised, but this is just a minor setback. And it''s too arrogant of you if you think you could face us with just the two of you."


    Still wearing his signature grin, Kisuke stepped in front of Gabriel, "Please do not misunderstand,"


    With his sword in his hand, Kisuke left eye instantly hollowfied as soon as a jet ck ball of energy appeared in front of him.


    A bad premonition instantly triggered in Apollo and he shouted to everyone around him, "Dodge!!!"


    Swinging his sword horizontally and cutting the ball, Kisuke continued, "It''s just going to be me."


    A red arc mixed with the destructive energy of a Hollow Cero emerged from Benihime and covered the entire view of everyone on Apollo''s side. They wanted to dodge but did not expect such a wide range so they could only haphazardly erect their own barriers to protect themselves.


    Unfortunately for them, even with their barriers, those in the front along with Apollo were vaporized, except for the God, while those behind him instantly lost the majority of their body parts. The ''luckiest'' were those far behind as they only lost a few limbs and screamed in pain. At the very least, they were still alive.


    In an instant, Apollo lost two-thirds of his army and the remaining ones became useless.

 Chapter 938 Invasion of Heaven

    Chapter 938 Invasion of Heaven


    Apollo was disheveled after blocking Kisuke''s sudden attack through his power of light, however, he couldn''t mind his current appearance as he looked behind him. Understanding the sheer devastation they''d just experienced, Apollo''s orange eyes turned brighter as his Divine Power was fully unleashed, shaking the whole realm, "Kisuke Urahara!!! I''ll end you!"


    Kisuke signaled Gabriel to back off and thetter could only sigh in dismay, "Please don''t let the destruction spread."


    Apollo ignored the retreating Gabriel and swung down his right arm. In an instant, a pir of light that threatened to burn all existence into ashes engulfed Kisuke without any effort.


    Apollo knew that this wasn''t enough to defeat him so he summoned his silver bow and golden arrows. He then imbued both of them with his Divine Power and his own light and heat attribute, which was both holy in nature and supposedly most effective against Devils.


    Stretching the bowstring to its limit, Apollo released the arrow capable of annihting even the Devil Kings if there were no strong defensive barriers in ce, "...Die."


    The golden arrow, shimmering with holy light, instantly traveled the space between Apollo and the pir of light. But before it could even reach its target, a pure white hand with ck ws emerged from the pir, catching the arrow and causing a strong shockwave that leveled the surrounding area .


    "!?" The bbergasted Apollo immediately retreated back while watching his arrow struggle within the strange hand of what could only be a monster, "How!?"


    The struggle between both sidessted for about ten seconds, before the hand closed its fingers and crushed the tip of the arrow, causing the energy within it to be released all at once and resulting in an explosion akin to a high-yield intercontinental missile. Apollo immediately put forward his hands to block it but the wind pushed him further away.


    As the mushroom cloud made out of debris and mes rapidly rose up, a silhouette entered Apollo''s sights and he immediately recognized the horned individual dashing towards him with three ''blood drums'' behind him linked together, ''...That form...''


    Apollo immediately recovered his bnce and got ready to meet the fully hollowfied Kisuke in Shunko by imbuing his Divine Power into his whole body while concentrating most of it in both of his arms. He knew that explosion might have caused the death of his remaining men, but he couldn''t worry about that right now.


    "Huuppp!!!" Both of them held their breaths and each threw a punch at the other. The sh of fists caused a shockwave that destroyed the ground below them. Apollo and Kisuke coldly stared at each other before they started throwing punch after punch, with each of them shing and further destroying their surroundings. Soon enough their simple-minded sh evolved into a full-blown martial arts contest with both of them leaving their weapons behind in exchange for full body freedom of movement.


    Fists as heavy as hammers, legs as fast as spears, and elbows as sharp as swords, both of them used everything just to make their opponent reveal a slight opening and when sessful, immediately go for the kill.


    Gabriel and her subordinates were watching the fight from a few kilometers away and were maintaining a barrier to prevent the damage they were causing from spreading further.


    "Unbelievable... So this is a battle between top fighters aiming for each other''s life. I didn''t think it would be much different from the Azazel Tournament." One of the Angelsmented. He imagined himself in between them and knew he wouldn''tst even for a few seconds.


    One of the more veteran Angels then added, "Kisuke Urahara''s abilities are surprising, but I''m more concerned with Apollo since he''s never shown this much skill nor were there any records of him being capable of this. To think he''d be hiding his abilities until this point..."


    Another Angel turned to Gabriel and asked, "But isn''t this strange? Although Apollo proved to be stronger than we thought, isn''t it very strange that he only came with such a small force? Even if he sessfully caught us off guard and there were traitors in our midst, the most they could do is upy the Third Heaven and they wouldn''t even be able to hold on to it for very long."


    Gabriel remained quiet for a moment before answering, "I already decided to leave this to him, so let''s trust him. In the meantime, tell the others to expedite their missions. No matter what happens, it''ll be more reassuring to have them back as soon as possible."


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    Ten minutes into their brawl, Apollo decided to disengage after his head had cooled down during their prolonged fight. He thought that Kisuke wouldn''t allow him to do that and was prepared to st him away the next chance he got, but was surprised when Kisuke also retreated the moment he did.


    And only when watching from afar did Apollo figure out why, ''...My arrow injured him.''


    Apollo could remember Kisuke''s hollowfied form from all the instances that he''d used it andpared to now, his body is full of cracks and most of them were concentrated on the arm that he used to block his arrow, ''Not only that, I remembered that those ''drums'' behind him should give him some sort of armor, but it seems that he can''t materialize it right now.''


    Raising his hand, Apollo retrieved his bow and dematerialized it, "I must admit, you are strong. But looking at you, it should be hard to even stand straight. There''s no way you''d be able to kill me unless you risked your life for it."


    And as Apollo observed, Kisuke''s body was a wreck and he has been trying to regenerate his internal injuries. However, it doesn''t matter for him since what he needs is for Apollo not to escape and make his next move. Still wearing his smile, Kisuke replied, "My~ You still don''t know my bottom line. Though it did surprise me how you could keep up with me despite having lower physical abilities. Is this your power of prophecy... No... predictions? It''s really convenient when you can see the future. I''ll admit, I''m a bit envious since that''s one of the few abilities I can''t replicate."


    "Awfully confident, are you?" Apollo grabbed his ne, "Did you perhaps forget that I came here to invade and take over this ce?"


    The smile on Kisuke''s face disappeared.


    In turn, it was Apollo''s turn to grin, "I hate to break it to you, but you have no way of winning."


    Apollo crushed the gem iid in the ne and an unknown corrosive power began to permeate the whole area. Kisuke immediately jumped back to escape its influence but before he could figure out what the aura was, a 100-meter swirling ck and a purple hole appeared on top of Apollo while he proudly proimed, "Too bad for you, I brought an army that almost toppled the entirety of Olympus, and no matter how strong you are, you have no way of fighting against that."


    The Angels in the distance began panicking as they felt the numerous Deities and monsters on the other side of the hole. Gabriel had to take down the barrier and asked every Angel toe to the Third Heaven and even started contacting the Alliance for immediate reinforcement.


    Contrary to the anxiety-filled Angels, however, there was almost no change in Kisuke''s demeanor. Apollo thought that he had already given up and was about to wee the first prisoner to be released.


    At that moment, arger grin on Kisuke''s face emerged as he raised his right arm, "Oh God~ How scary~ I definitely have no way of winning. In that case..." Kisuke snapped his fingers and as soon as the sound echoed everywhere, red electric arcs started emerging from the hole and a secondter, it suddenly began to rotate in the opposite direction while the purple light in it was reced by a red one, "I don''t want to fight them~!"


    "W-what?" Apollo looked up and was incredibly confused by these changes. A secondter, the emerging aura of individuals on the other side of the hole started to disappear one by one... Until nothing was left, "...W-what...?"

 Chapter 939 Revenge Fulfilled

    Chapter 939 Revenge Fulfilled


    Apollo had been staring at the portal for a while, but he still couldn''t stop questioning himself on what''s happening, starting from whether this was reality or not, "...W-what''s happening?"


    And while Apollo was having an existential crisis for putting all of his eggs in one basket, Kisuke stepped forward and started reducing the distance between them slowly, ''To be fair, his basket and eggs were made out of Adamantium, so I can''t really me him.'' So when Kisuke found out about their n, instead of breaking these metaphorically indestructible eggs, he opted to steal and hide them from him.


    ''I''ll throw these eggs at that guy''s face if he decides to betray us.'' Kisuke chuckled to himself, but the aura he''s emitting was far from casual as it was bordering on killing intent.


    Kisuke only stopped walking when Apollo suddenly turned to him with a crazed expression, "What did you do!?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and watched the ''Gate of Tartarus'' close quietly. He smirked at him and replied, "Aren''t you the guy who could see the future? You didn''t see thising? It looks like I severely overestimated you."


    With all of his crumbling in front of him, Apollo lost it and pulled his bow and arrow. This time, putting everything in it with the intention to destroy this entire space. He devolved into a madman who could only think, ''If I can''t have it, no one can!''


    Naturally, Kisuke wouldn''t allow him to do this and finally revealed the fang that he''d been hiding, "4th Gate, Depression."


    The instant the fourth ''drum'' appeared, the massive amount of Reiatsuced with destructive Blood Ki immediately exploded outwards. Apanying it was his blood-red gauntlet and leg armor that he ''couldn''t'' materialize. Although Kisuke was indeed injured, he didn''t materialize his armor on purpose.


    But what caught Apollo''s eyes was the new addition with the 4th gate''s opening, a translucent red floating scarf that wrapped behind him and coiled around both of his arms, ''...T-that''s!? Divine Power!?''


    However, before Apollo could think any further, Kisuke suddenly disappeared from his sight and a very strong premonition made even his own Divine Power act to automatically protect him, ''Death.''


    That single word made Apollo realize that there was nothing more important than his own life, ''There''s always a next time.''


    Apollo immediately took back the power he''d given to his bow and arrow and jumped back while using his final card, running away.


    The space behind Apollo suddenly vibrated before it split open, creating a hole just big enough for one person to go through. It was the path of retreat that he''d prepared in case something disastrous happened or those from Tartarus decided to betray him and it should shut itself closed the moment he goes through it. And even if someone reopened it, he''ll be long gone.


    "I will have my revenge... Hmmm?" Sadly for him, no n of his has evere to fruition and even this time was no exception. Thin strings appeared behind the hole he''d created and started sewing it back together at blinding speeds, "!?"


    And unfortunately for him, those strings were not the only ones as a few more emerged from his feet and started tying his limbs up. Apollo traced where these strings wereing from and saw a tall woman with long ck hair waving her fingers at him with a smile while saying something. Reading her lips, he immediately understood what she was trying to say, "Sayonara~!"


    The strings were not that strong and they could easily be broken by Apollo. Nevertheless, that split second he needed to break these were enough to tip the scales between life and death. Apollo saw Kisuke appearing in front of him and struck his chest with his palm, while he stared widely at his terrifying ckened eyes.


    "N-"


    Apollo tried to say something but immediately lost his ability to do so when a hole in his chest was opened. The next moment, the world in Apollo''s eyes started rotating out of control. Even then, he was still able to see his arms and legs flung away because the torso it was attached to exploded into countless pieces. At that point, he''d finally realized what was going on. His head flew away.


    A few secondster, his world stopped spinning and he saw Kisuke''s arm on top of his head as he looked at his eyes slowly fading out of life, "You wanted your revenge? Too bad for you, you won''t have a turn after I get mine." Those were Kisuke''sst words for him.


    Before sumbing to eternal rest, Apollo thought to himself, ''I''m really good... At predicting the future.''


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    .


    Issei, Vali, Fenrir, and Gog moved towards the Greek-style temple when they felt an extraordinary pressure and a godly auraing from the temple. Vali prepared to fight as a transportation circle appeared in the air; Hades and Angra Mainyu, who had the appearance of a dark aura taking humanoid form, had arrived. Both Hades and Angra Mainyu possessed terrible auras, with Hades'' aura being even stronger than Angra Mainyu''s. Angra Mainyu, seeing both of them, admitted he always knew that those dragons were terrible monsters. Issei told them to surrender, but Hades said they wouldn''t, though he admitted that even if they won against Issei and Vali, they would have to fight the other Longinus users, Ajuka, Vidar, and eventually Shiva. Hades admitted that there was no possible way they could win in the end.


    Vali asked them if they knew that, why did they choose to fight at all. Angra Mainyu pointed out that they have allies who followed them and believed in them despite them knowing this, and that they''d be a joke if they just gave up now. They also pointed out that they just couldn''t agree with DxD. Valiughed while saying it''s better than running away at least. There was a sh of light in Hades'' eye and he said;


    "Go ahead, your souls are showing no signs of weakness, and I will destroy them with my own hands."


    The fight split into Vali & Fenrir vs Hades and Issei & Gogmagog vs Angra Mainyu. Isseiunched an aura cannon while Angra Mainyu created multiple Zoroastrianism Magic circles andunched various elemental magic attacks. Both attacks collided creating an explosion. They continued fighting each other with Angra Mainyu managing to damage Issei''s hands, paralyzing them, and the impact could be felt in his bones. Vali released an aura st at Hades, who blocked them with his staff and released his own at Vali. They were so powerful that Vali couldn''t [Reflect] them properly, so he had to dodge them. Fenrir tried to attack Hades, but he kept dodging and counterattacking him. Hades was avoiding fighting head-on with Fenrir while being wary of Vali. Hades and Vali damaged each other, but since Hades was fighting both Vali and Fenrir at the same time, he was truly a powerful being. Vali contacted Issei through a magic circle, saying that he can win against Hades, but it will be difficult given that they have a time limit.


    Issei vs Angra Mainyu fought in an aura vs magic battle, as sometimes Issei would damage Angra Mainyu, and sometimes Angra Mainyu would transform his body into a dark mist to avoid Issei''s attacks and transform back. Issei thought of using [Prate], but Angra Mainyu admitted that Issei was quite strong and he was going to lose at this rate. Then Angra Mainyu shapeshifted his body into a beautiful woman with ck hair,rge breasts, a thin waist, and thighs just right. His voice changed to a lovely woman''s voice and he was wearing a dress with a high exposure rate. Issei looked away saying that it was too nasty and early for a high school student to see. Angraughed, saying that this was very effective against the current Red Dragon Emperor as Issei''s aura began to shake.


    "How stupid." All of a sudden, an intruder interrupted their fight and when Issei turned to her, he muttered in surprise, "Kiryuu?"


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    AN: Thest part was from DxD wiki except for thest sentence. Credits goes to the contributors of the wiki. /wiki/Hell_Disaster

 Chapter 940 Hecate

    Chapter 940 Hecate


    The shadow that took on a humanoid form retreated a bit with the arrival of a new person in eastern attire and asked in a ghastly tone, "Takamagahara is finally involving themselves in something?"


    Aika first looked towards Issei in his crimson and ck armor that was full of cracks from taking numerous attacks from Angra Mainyu. If this was the normal her, she''d be making fun of his armor and his tattered situation, ''Although I do still have some urges, looks like I''m not as uncontroble as I was in the past.''


    She then turned to the horned shadow with fiery eyes, "Takamagahara? I don''t know anything about them."


    With some quick thinking, Angra Mainyu easily figured out who''s camp was intervening, "Kisuke Urahara, is it?"


    Aika furrowed her eyes at his reply.


    Angra Mainyu misunderstood her reaction for an affirmation and chuckled, "So that attack that just annihted Whiro is from your camp too, I assume? And seeing that Pazuzu couldn''t do much damage, there''s really just one faction that could do that without the limitation of those in therger factions."


    "Does that change anything you want to do then?", asked Aika.


    Angra Mainyu chuckled and put his right hand behind him, "Of course not. It''s just that this is going to be harder than we initially thought, although we had been anticipating his intervention."


    All of a sudden, another voice joined the conversation, "I''m sorry Angra Mainyu, but that isn''t going to work."


    The only unaware person, Issei, hurriedly turned towards the source of the voice which was just behind him and Aika not far away, "W-who!?"


    A beautiful Goddess with long dark green hair, wearing a ck and white robe with a touch of eeriness came stepping out from the shadows. But instead of Issei, her cold ck eyes were pinned on Aika, who was still facing her back against her, "She has been eyeing me even before she arrived."


    Angra Mainyu rubbed his chin and said, "Hmmm... So she''s actually here for you? Interesting. What do you want to do, Hecate?"


    "Well, there isn''t really a need for this long talk, is there?" asked Aika while concentrating on her Reiatsu.


    "That''s true.", answered Hecate and at the same moment, Aika disappeared from her spot and arrived in front of Hecate in an instant, bearing both of her des at her.


    On the other hand, Hecate was already anticipating this and calmly took out her short sword and counter-attacked with a thrust after dodging Aika''s shes. Aika disappeared once again and came out from behind Hecate while bringing her des down. This time, without turning around, Hecate turned into ck smoke and dispersed through the wind before reappearing a few meters away with a few Magic attacks raining down on Aika.


    Issei watched them make their distance from Angra Mainyu and him while exchanging deadly attacks, "...Someone like that has been hiding here?" Issei was wondering what could have happened if Aika didn''t arrive.


    And guessing what he''s thinking, Angra Mainyu answered, "You''d at least get a stab or two."


    Issei nervously smiled and retorted, "I don''t think it''d end with just that though?"


    "It will... Since it took some effort to convince her, she wouldn''t actually do more than that."


    Issei didn''t believe Angra Mainyu and was more worried about Vali and Fenrir fighting Hades since a simr situation could be happening.


    "There''s no one like that there. If there was one, Hades would be the one who''d kick their ass. Despite how he acts, he still has the pride of one of the strongest if he''s fighting himself."


    Those words, Issei could believe them somehow.


    .


    .


    .


    After a few hundred exchanges and destroying a part of Hades'' temple, Hecate sted away Aika and said, "Isn''t this enough for a greeting? We are not here to buy time, so I think we should end this meaningless act."


    "Why are you suggesting as if I''m holding back? I''m trying my best to keep up with you, you know?" Aika replied with a bit of a haggard countenance. Although she''s far from being depleted, her body couldn''t keep up with the stacking strain. Her des phasing in and out was incredibly useful and more than a few times, she managed to catch Hecate off guard andnd some hits if practiced and trained more, she had a feeling that she could extend this phasing to herself.


    But even now, the shock that her body has to go through every time it happens couldn''t be ignored and her stamina for battle was drastically cut every time she used it.


    And it''s not like she had any other choice since that was the only special move avable for her aside from that cross-wave cut that was incredibly strong, but also quite slow. Yes, it could restrain her opponent, but Hecate was able to work around this by summoning numerous dogs made out of the shadow and weakening a part of it through wave tactics. So before it could even reach Hecate, it was weak enough that it could be blocked by a simple barrier, and all along those lines, Hecate was still prepared for any surprise attack that Aika would surmount against her.


    With a gentle smile on her face, Hecate replied, "It''s because you''ve been treating me as if I''m your training partner. A bit rude, but I''m willing to y along~"


    "...Is that what it really looks like?" Aika felt a bit guilty. Although she shouldn''t really be since they are on the opposite ends of war.


    Hecate nodded, "It is. And I was not really going to say anything until I noticed that you stopped making any progress. What''s making you hesitate? Are you actually going to endanger yourself if you go all out? If so, then I suggest you leave this war behind. This is not for you."


    "Tsk..." Aika clicked her tongue in frustration, "Even you? What do you even know about me?"


    Hecate shrugged her shoulders, "Nothing. But I''ve lived long enough to see numerous people like you thinking that they can''t do it yet still choosing to push forward. If you know you can''t make it in the first ce, why bother? I really hate those people and they''re the ones who glorify and romanticize ''fear'' thinking that it could strengthen their will when in reality, nothing reallyes out of it."


    As Hecate went off on a tangent, she sighed and couldn''t help but reminisce about the past, ''Haah... I shouldn''t have agreed toe here... If it weren''t for Lady Persephone...''


    Hecate''s words may havee off as nonsense to most people, but for Aika, they resounded quite clearly and she gritted her teeth in understanding. She didn''t want to admit it, but she was wrong. She thought that once she overcame her fears, she''d develop her courage, but clearly, she had it backwards since you needed the courage to ovee fear in the first ce. As Hecate had said, nothing reallyes after fear. Not even despair.


    At that moment, the whole temple shook and a ridiculous amount of aura sted through the entire temple, prompting both Aika and Hecate to look towards the area they''d just left.


    "Unbelievable... That miracle maker is at it again. How is that reasonable?", muttered Hecate in disbelief.


    While Aika doesn''t know what the miracle maker meant, she knew that she was referring to Issei, the source of that aura.

 Chapter 941 Final Release

    Chapter 941 Final Release


    A crimson, almost tangible aura sted through the roof of the temple. At this sight, Hecate couldn''t help but frown, "I thought he''d be able to deal with him sufficiently on his own, but as expected, if you can''t kill him fast enough, he''ll pull something like this." And soon enough, gold and ck aura soon joined the red aura spiraling upwards, "An aura of a Dragon, Devil, and God... But how? It''s too early for him to achieve Godhood and there shouldn''t be any Godly beings mixed into him. Even if it''s a miracle, there should be some limits to it..."


    Little did she know, because of a certain candy shop owner, he was fed a corrupted Divine Core suppressed by Ophis'' powers. All this time, he was only able to harness Ophis'' powers that had traces of that Divine Power, but now, Issei began to touch the corrupted power of a true Deity. Whether he''d be able to manage to control this power or be devoured by it, it''d be up to him.


    But despite the expression she was showing, Aika could see deep interest from Hecate as if it wasn''t her problem.


    Hecate finally turned back to Aika and asked, "And what about you? Are you a miracle maker too like many of this abnormal generation?"


    Aika silently stared at the gushing aura before answering a few secondster, "...I am not, clearly. If hearing their true names needs a miracle, I am clearly not a miracle maker like you''re speaking off."


    Hecate carefully looked at her before finding a good rock to sit on. She didn''t have any intention of attacking someone who has no intention of returning the favor, "I see... You are in dire need of enlightenment. Sadly, even a miracle wouldn''t be able to help you with that."


    Aika didn''t say anything and just continued staring at the already long gone aura reced by the temple''s shaking as if she was trying to find an answer from it.


    Hecate didn''t mind herck of reaction and continued, "Maybe you''re looking at it from the wrong perspective? How about going back and taking a different angle?"


    Hecate finally caught Aika''s attention, "...Different angle?"


    Hecate nodded, "You''re looking for a ''name'', is it? It seems that you are so sure about it. How about taking a step back and looking at it from a higher view?"


    Aika didn''t know why Hecate was helping her, but she didn''t want to think about it now and would rather take her ''advice''.


    In reality, Hecate wasn''t really helping Aika. Since it was obvious that she''s lost, there are only two results from her words. The more likely one, getting even more lost, or if she''s lucky, she''d be able to find whatever she''s looking for. Regardless, it''d be a more interesting sight than just fighting, which she doesn''t really like doing.


    Fortunately for Aika, those were the words she really needed to hear. Recalling Yoruichi''s words about the next level and closelymunicating with her Zanpakuto to reach that, Aika began to question it, ''Find its true form and name?''


    But even after special training with her, she wasn''t able to find anything even remotely close to it and it caused her to be depressed because she thought she was inadequate.


    ''In the first ce, is there something like a true name?''


    If she would ask Yoruichi and Kisuke this, they''ll only give one answer and that''s a big yes. And the reason? It''s because they''re true Shinigamis.


    Not to say that Aika is a fake Shinigami, but even though she received her powers from Kisuke, most of her power was converted from something else and that was the former form of her Zanpakuto and their connection to the two Dragons. Strictly speaking, she''s in a different sspared to Yoruichi and Kisuke even though the source of their power was the same and the logic they are using should only be useful to a certain extent.


    ''When I first released them... Thinking about it... I never received their names in the first ce... I gave it to them. I named them. Akane and Kaguya. Very simple names because of their colors, still I gave it to them and never the other way around.''


    If her line of thinking was correct, then all this time, she has been searching for something nonexistent and it''s not that her Zanpakuto can''t reveal their name yet to her, but that they didn''t possess them in the first ce.


    Aika first looked at Hecate who had an amused smile and reassured herself that she wouldn''t be doing anything else, ''How absurd...'' She thought while sighing.


    Closing her eyes, she called upon her daughters. In her inner world where there is almost nothing except darkness and a few glittering lights in all directions. In front of her were the little girls that were now very clear and smiling at her.


    Aika didn''t have to speak as both of them grabbed a hand each, [[We''re ready!]]


    Aika''s eyes went wide open but she could only smile wryly after that, "I can''t really give you two a name again, can I? I don''t think that''s how I should approach this."


    But instead of answering her concerns, Akane and Kaguya pulled her hand and said, [[You''re ready too, mother!]]


    "Ready? What do you mean?"


    The twins didn''t exin further and just replied, [[Just call upon it! We''ll return the favor!]]


    .


    .


    .


    It had only been a few minutes since Aika closed her eyes and Hecate had already felt Angra Mainyu''s waning Divine Aura, ''Hested as much as I expected, huh... Well, my job here is to keep Hades alive so I don''t really care about him.''


    At this moment, a scalding pressure originating from Aika suddenly came crashing down, ''Oh?''


    But Hecate''s casual expression was slowly erased as this pressure kept getting heavier and heavier that she had to put in some effort just to breathe, ''What now?''


    Hecate picked up her short sword and wanted to attack her now, but she caused this in the first ce so her pride wouldn''t allow her to just interrupt her enlightenment just because it didn''t go the other way around, ''Let me set up some defensive spells in the surroundings in advance... I should be fine after that.''


    Finally, she heard Aika speak softly, "...Bankai."


    ''Bankai?'' Hecate was immediately reminded of something, ''Isn''t that the same power that Kisuke Urahara used to call the power of Avalokitevara in the Underworld? Is this the same thing?''


    At the same time, Aika''s aura shot spiraling upwards and unlike Issei''s Dragon, Devil, and God aura, Hecate got even more intimidated since it''s purely the power of Souls. With cold sweat running down from her forehead, Hecate thought, ''I''d already guessed that her ability had something to do with souls, but since it''s being mixed and covered by both Magic and Ki, I couldn''t be sure... To think something like this could exist... She''s more of a Grim Reaper than all of Hades'' Grim Reapersbined.''


    Hecate hastily nted all sorts of restraining and defensive spells in their surroundings. At first, she only wanted to do a few, but seeing Aika now, she wanted to make sure that she was going to be safe as much as possible.


    Soon, Aika''s twin des disappeared from her hands and red dragon scales started growing on her limbs and neck, reaching up to her cheeks. Her hands grew ws as she gritted her teeth as if enduring great pain. Four pairs of red Dragon wings then sprouted from her back while her braided brte hair was undone and turned pitch ck, picked up by the strong swirling winds.


    Meanwhile, a ck 10-inch wide that gets thinner until the tip, 8-foot long with 3-inch red fuller broadsword was slowly materializing in front of Aika.


    In the middle of her preparation, certain words suddenly emerged in Hecate''s mind, [Shinigami of the Endless ne], "!?!?"


    It wasn''t a voice nor it was telepathy. It''s as if someone ejected those words at her forcefully, "Is that the name of this form? Death God? But that''s more of a Dragonoid..."


    Aika finally opened her eyes that had ck pupils and red irises that had already turned reptilian.


    Grabbing the fully materialized giant broadsword, she immediately swung it towards Hecate.


    Feeling the imminent threat, Hecate hurriedly activated one of his defensive spells, "!?"

 Chapter 942 Merciless

    Chapter 942 Merciless


    After Angra Mainyu''s defeat, Issei and Gogmagog came flying in to help Vali and Fenrir. As soon as they arrived, they saw Vali''s armor in pieces as he tried topress Hades'' attack but only to a minimum effect. Fenrir, on the other hand, has had their movements sealed by trapping spells.


    "I see... Angra Mainyu was defeated and you came back even more powerful than before." Hadesmented at him.


    Vali retreated for a bit before smirking at him, "This guy is a joke of existence. You''d actually have a better chance of defeating him if you put 10,000 naked beautiful women in front of him."


    Issei stopped and thought about it for a moment before shivering from such ''horror'', "Y-you might be right... I can''t imagine winning against that."


    Hades didn''t know whether tough or grimace at such a stupid situation that was entirely usible.


    Vali was about to deploy his ''Satan Lucifer Smasher'' with Issei and Gogmagog limiting Hades'' movements, but before he could do so, a burst of unknown aura erupted from the other side of the temple and all of them were already familiar with a simr aura, "Who came here? That''s not Kisuke Urahara or Yoruichi Shihouin." Vali immediately asked.


    "It''s Kiryuu...", answered Issei, "It looks like she learned directly from them."


    Hades'' ghostly eyes also darted towards the direction they were looking in and had a bad premonitioning over to him, along with regret, ''I really shouldn''t have made him an enemy.''


    And while they were distracted, numerous Teleportation Magic Circle behind Issei, Vali, Gogmagog, and Fenrir, revealing the entirety of the DxD Team. They had already finished cleaning up the Alliance of Hell''s army and the only one left standing was Hades.


    ''It''s my loss, huh...'' Hades concluded, ''But I''ve already done my job.''


    The new arrivals, however, couldn''t put all their attention on Hades because of the aura that Aika was releasing, and only after Rias called them to focus did they properly face the Lord of the Realm of the Dead.


    With the currently known strongest force in the world gathered in front of him, Hades could onlyugh, "Kukuku... Wonderful... I''m truly honored to face all of you at the same time."


    Dulio, the leader of DxD, stepped forward with his 10 white wings spread out, "I see that you are still very confident, Hades. But can you reallyugh at this situation?"


    "Kukuku... Of course." Hades held his staff with both of his hands and channeled his Divine Power into it, "After all, this is the most ideal situation."


    Everyone frowned at his words and thought of how this could be the ideal situation for him. But soon, everyone received their answer, "Rias! I just received an SOS from the Alliance! It seems that Heaven is currently under attack and in need of urgent reinforcements!"


    Rossweisse was just trying to send a message to authorities that the situation was already under control but found that she couldn''t go through. After some tinkering with Security Magic, the connection was re-established and the first thing she received was an SOS from an ally.


    Many eyes immediately returned to Hades as they immediately understood what he meant by the ''ideal'' situation, "Kuku... Don''t think of leaving so easily, and even if you do, you''d already be toote."


    The Pendragon siblings tried prying the space open right away and Sun Wukong hurriedly sent an attack towards the space itself, but the three of them found extreme resistance from the space, ''So he wasn''t just being merciful to the citizens of the city by not attacking it directly. It was a trap for us.'' Thought thetter.


    Issei clenched his fist and shouted, "You! What are you nning!?" Meanwhile, the others also started charging their attacks hoping that defeating Hades would allow them to leave this space, except for two people.


    "I apologize." Hades replied with obvious sarcasm, "But the real point of attack isn''t London, but Heaven with forces several times greater than... this..."


    However, his words suddenly started trailing off when he noticed that the two people that should have been panicking the most were the calmest, and the bad premonition he''d had before just got stronger because of this.


    The strangeness behind Hades'' trailing voice also prompted everyone else to follow his sights toward Dulio and Griselda who were both quiet.


    They wanted to ask what was going on but they wouldn''t have a chance to do so as the answer, once again, presented itself.


    A massive pressure suddenly enveloped the area as a familiar voice but with a much colder tone to it resounded, "I apologize too. They won''t be able to make it back."


    First, a ck line presented itself in front of Team DxD before the dimensional fabric was torn open and revealed a ''horned monster with long flowing pale blonde hair''.


    But it wasn''t just his sudden intrusion that caught everyone''s attention, but also the ''ball'' that he suddenly threw towards Hades'' feet. It rolled a few times before hitting Hades'' robe. Hades looked down and met Apollo''s wide-open eyes full of fear.


    ''The Gods that faced our team got defeated but every God that fought that group has perished... What a ruthless family.'' Dulio thought while also sighing in relief. Although he acted calm, he and Griselda were actually quite nervous, but since Kisuke came here, it would mean that the problem in Heaven was sessfully dealt with.


    Kisuke wanted to talk with Hades some more but it seemed that Aika''s side was escting to an uncontroble level, "As I promised, we meet again. This time, however, your skull won''t end up with just a few cracks."


    Hades felt depressed and gritted his teeth, "It really seems like it... But let me ask... What happened to the Tartarus?"


    "I emptied it." Kisuke responded as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Hades and brought his sword to cut him down.


    Hades clicked his tongue and hurriedly jumped backwards, but Kisuke''s sword was faster than expected so a few of his ribs were cut. Sadly for him, it didn''t just stop there as a blood-red energy arc emerged from Kisuke''s sword and sted Hades away, cracking most of his ribs. Due to his fight against Vali, Hades was already quite exhausted, so a simple attack from Kisuke was enough to put him into a very dangerous position.


    Naturally, Kisuke wouldn''t stop just because he''s a bit tired and pointed his finger at him and charged a Cero before firing it towards the helpless God. At this point, Hades had already lost all hope and there''s really no meaning for him to continue struggling.


    Kisuke didn''t move from his position and just continued pointing his finger at Hades who was already embedded on the rock and kept sending him devastating Ceros. With each st, Hades would be buried deeper in the rocks while his bones continued cracking and his robes lost their purpose.


    Although Hades had already stopped moving, Kisuke kept on going which made the others pity the God of the Dead, "K-Kisuke... Isn''t that enough? He can''t fight anymore."


    Nevertheless, Kisuke pretended to be deaf in front of Issei''s words and even sped up the process of recharging the Cero.


    "Kisuke! Enough, please! He''s not a threat anymore!" Issei grabbed his shoulder and pleaded with him.


    Since Kisuke couldn''t ignore him anymore, he instead returned a question, "Is there a point in letting him live?"


    Issei and the rest finally got a full taste of how cold Kisuke could actually be.


    As their leader, he had to step in so Dulio said, "Can you please let him go? The Alliance will be taking care of him. He still has value within the political sphere of the Mythologies around the world."


    Still as cold as ever, Kisuke replied, "First, I''m not a member of your team. Second, I couldn''t care less since I can''t see the value in that myself."


    Dulio and Issei were at loss on how they could convince Kisuke and thetter was even about to use force to stop him.


    But s, although Hades was about to perish from continuous sts of destructive power, Kisuke couldn''t do what he wanted as a Goddess materialized in front of Hades and started blocking Kisuke''s attacks.


    After a few more tries, Kisuke finally stopped and stared at the brown haired Goddess that was oozing with Divine Power. Kisuke squinted his eyes at the Goddess, recalling the records he had memorized, and said, "Persephone-san, is it? Are you here to rescue your husband? Unfortunately, I have no intention of sparing him."


    Hearing Kisuke''s words, Hades forced himself to look up to see the familiar back, "...Dear... You have nothing to do with this. Get out of the way. Kisuke Urahara, she''s sinless so leave her alone."


    But Persephone ignored him and returned Kisuke''s stare, "I''d like to negotiate."


    Kisuke kept his arm raised but eventually brought it down after careful consideration and some guesses as to why she would appear in front of him now with the confidence of striking a deal, "You''ve met Athena, I assume?"


    Persephone nodded in affirmation, "Indeed and I promise you that you won''t be disappointed. But before that..." her head turned in a certain direction, "I first would like you to stop your rampaging swordswoman and save my good friend."


    Kisuke also turned towards the direction she was looking and thought, ''Looks like she really went into an ''Outrage''. Even though she''s a Shinigami, her Zanpakuto spirits are still true Dragons.''

 Chapter 943 Outrage

    Chapter 943 Outrage


    After the brief talk with Persephone, Kisuke immediately disappeared from his spot. The Goddess sighed in relief and turned to her messy husband and crouched down in front of him. Gently caressing his cheek, Persephone reprimanded, "I''ve been telling you, you are too trusting of Apollo. You should have known that his power of prophecy is not predicting the future, but enforcing it."


    "...You know how ridiculous that sounds," replied Hades with a dejected tone.


    "And what do you think of it now?"


    Hades looked up to his one and only beloved wife and said, "His power of prophecy... It''s ridiculously powerful."


    Persephone gently smiled at him, "But that realization was toote. You have to pay for your actions."


    Hades grimaced, not because of the impending punishment for him but his wife''s involvement, "Why did you evene here in the first ce?" He knew that the chances of them being on the winning side of history were very slim and the moment he lost, he was going down. With that in mind, he did his best to keep his wife out of all of this and even gave her his Divine Equipment ''Helmet of Darkness'' that she could use in an event of the judgment affecting her. So when he pleaded with Kisuke not to hurt his wife, it all came from his purest wish which also became one of the reasons why Kisuke left him alone. He didn''t want the God of the Dead to just suddenly be a ''main character'' and create a ''miracle'' by pushing the wrong button.


    In any case, his hate for the rtively honest Hades couldn''t bepared to the hate he had for the two-faced God of the Sun.


    Persephone stood up and turned to the approaching DxD members and said, "Please take good care of him. He can''t resist anymore."


    Dulio nodded at her, "Don''t worry about it, madam. We''ll ensure that he''s properly taken to a fair trial."


    "Thank you." Persephone expressed her honest gratitude before flying away towards the other side of the temple that''s still shaking due to an ongoing battle.


    "Should we go and watch too?" asked Vali, seething with excitement.


    Dulio immediately gave him an answer by shaking his head in disagreement, "No. There''s a chance that the Evies are targeting the current conflict so we have to escort Hades and the remaining members of the Alliance of Hell to a secure location."


    Normally, a few members would have been enough, but now that there''s an unknown force lurking in the shadows, they can''t becent since there are also anonymous reports that these Evies are abducting people for some unknown reason. If they really are targeting the current war and sessfully secure a few of the war prisoners, no faction would put any actual effort to look for them.


    Dulio really hated politics so the best he could do is prevent that from happening.


    .


    .


    .


    When Kisuke arrived, the first thing he saw was Medusa retraining the transformed Aika using her chains, ''Is this her Bankai?''


    He quickly scanned the surroundings and saw everyone that''d just returned from the other world except for the kids along with the unknown and haggard Goddess who was resting behind Medusa.


    He didn''t have time to greet them with Aika breaking the chains with just brute force and letting out a roar that was impossible for her throat.


    As soon as she was freed, Aika gripped her giant broadsword and flew towards Medusa. But before she could swing down her sword, Aika felt something on her right and unconsciously put up her arm to defend. The next instant, a footnded on her arm and sent her flying.


    Medusa watched Aika crash and pulverize multiple rocks on her way andnd a few hundred meters away while using her broadsword to stab the ground to control her momentum, "Isn''t that too much?" she asked while turning her head to Aika''s attacker.


    "It may not look like it, but she''s perfectly fine... Which also surprised me. I thought I could disable her for a minute or two but she managed to defend in time.", replied Kisuke, "Retreat with everyone first. I''ll take care of her. Also, make sure that someone is following Hades'' transfer."


    Sending himself forwards, Kisuke met Aika who also jumped in and blocked her broadsword with Benihime in his hand.


    After watching for a few seconds, Medusa turned to Hecate and silently bid her farewell before returning to herpanions and disappearing from the realm with a Teleportation Magic.


    Persephone also soon arrived beside her and asked, "Are you alright?"


    Hecate stood up and fixed her attire, "I''m alright, thanks to the man''spanion."


    Persephone helped her while saying, "I''m surprised that she managed to push you this far."


    Hecate sighed in exasperation and looked towards the two ''monsters'' sh that leveled their surroundings, "She''s my bane! Ever since taking that form, all my spells have been ineffective against her brute force! She breaks everything with just physical strength and that sword of hers erases logic! How is that fair for a Spellcaster like me!? I almost died!"


    Persephone covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled since it has been a while since she saw her dear friend act like this.


    "Stopughing! And that guy, how is able to sh with her like that? Does he want to say goodbye to his arm?!"


    .


    .


    .


    The moment Kisuke met Aika''s broadsword, his mouth twitched and he hurriedly deflected it to the side before kicking her away and retreating, ''What the hell? I''m in full Hollowfication and even have my 3rd gate opened. How is it that I still lose in the physical department? And quite a ways too.''


    Immediately after, he heard Benihime''s voice inside his head, [I also can''t use any ability while touching that sword.]


    A drop of sweat came running down from his forehead, ''First Riveria-san, and this time Aika? And what do you mean you can''t use any ability? You''re being sealed?'' Kisuke sent a sword arc towards the iing Aika but thetter just swung her broadsword and split it before it disappeared without doing anything.


    [No. Just like now, she''s sending it somewhere. It looks like she''s erasing energy-based attacks by sending them somewhere else.]


    "Then we would have no choice but to confront her physically, wouldn''t we?" Kisuke muttered while staring at Aika''s Draconic eye without a shred of calmness in it, ''She totally lost control, huh... And it became even worse since it''s a Dragon''s Outrage that elevates a Dragon''s power several times over.''


    Kisuke deflected Aika''s sword once again and tried to pin her down using trapping spells, but the same as Hecate''s experience, she''ll just break it with pure physical ability.


    Pointing two of his fingers at her, Kisuke muttered, "Kin (Restraint)!"


    A pair of ck cloth appeared on top of Aika and dropped onto her, forcing her to the ground by artificial gravity pull. Along the ends of the cloth, bs of stone pinned it to the ground, further stopping Aika from standing up.


    However, Kisuke knew that this wouldn''tst so he brought down his arm and activated the second part of Bakudou 99, "First song, Shiyuu(Constriction)!"


    White cloth appeared and immediately wrapped itself around Aika and made her look like a mummy. But even that was already on the verge of breaking so Kisuke continued, "Second song, Hyakurensan(Hundred Bolts)!"


    Hundreds of iron bolts with strong paralyzing effects appeared around Aika before piercing through the white cloth. But not even a second past, some of the bolts were already ejected away.


    "Final song, Bankin Taihou(Ultimate Suppression)!" A gigantic hexagonal stone block materialized on top of Aika and multiplied the gravitational force she was feeling and sank her to the ground.


    Kisuke was hoping that she''d be stopped for at least a few minutes so that he could make some arrangements to seal her more and then wake her up. Nevertheless, he underestimated Aika''s physical strength in her current form as all the restrictions around Aika burst open simultaneously prior to swinging her sword upwards and cutting the stone block in half before it could even drop and touch her.


    "...Seriously?" Kisuke could only mutter in surprise as he prepared to meet Aika''s sword-thrust with his de. Except, before the des could meet, a red line suddenly split Aika''s broadsword in half as it expanded in thickness before it opened like a giant maw and revealed rows full of razor-sharp Dragon teeth,"!?"


    Since Kisuke wasn''t expecting it to open like a jaw, he couldn''t avoid it by dodging to the sides, and even if he could jump back, Aika''s ''sword'' was faster. In a split second, the teeth instantly sank into Kisuke''s flesh even though his defense was boosted to the highest levels.

 Chapter 944 The Aftermath

    Chapter 944 The Aftermath


    Kisuke was shocked that his defenses were instantly prated and thought, ''Does it have the same properties as Fenrir''s teeth or have the same ability as Issei''s [Prate]?''


    Although Kisuke knows that he had one of the strongest defenses in the whole world if fully transformed, it had one ring weakness. The defense ignores skills or abilities like Issei''s [Prate] since the only way to get around those is to overpower them which is not very cost-effective by a veryrge margin or not let it touch you at all in the first ce.


    And if paired with something that could stop any sort of healing, it bes very devastating like what''s happening right now with Aika''s sword blocking Kisuke''s regeneration, ''This is actually dangerous.''


    Kisuke grabbed the maw and was about to force it open when it suddenly lost its biting force. What''s weirder is that Aika also seemed to be surprised by this and tried to pull back her sword. However, the sword was stuck in ce without Kisuke doing anything, defying Aika''s will. Slowly, the maw opened and released Kisuke with its teeth still dripping with his blood.


    The broadsword then threw itself back and Aika''s hand slipped, letting it go. It then transformed back to its original nodachi form and flew beside Kisuke.


    Kisuke silently looked at it and thought, ''What a weird Zanpakuto... To have this degree of freedom, it seems that I was wrong with a few things.'' Kisuke then turned his head to Aika. Although she hadn''t returned to her senses and former appearance, her aura was obviously a lot weaker than before, ''Even Benihime couldn''t discard my will like this.''


    Aika growled at him before dashing forward and brandishing her ws at him. But without her previous strength and ability to silence, she''s just bull rushing without any n. A few minutester, after being tossed around countless times, Kisuke was finally able to knock her out. Closing his Shunko and turning back his Hollowfication, he felt more tired than necessary.


    He looked down at the peacefully sleeping Aika with her nodachi on top of her and sighed, ''I''ll bring her with me for now.''


    Everything he needed to do in regards to this incident was done and all the polishing could be left to Athena who should be acting as the new leader of Mount Olympus now. While it may seem that he did the least things in this, he actually prepared and nned for him to get the greatest benefit from all of this.


    Kisuke turned towards where Persephone and Hecate were watching and saw that they had already left. After making sure that there was no one else around, he took out his smartphone and dialed a specific number. Instead of calling, it initiated an app that immediately showed multiple video feeds of a certain ce and confused people.


    Smiling from ear to ear, Kisuke spoke, "Good day everyone~ The name''s Kisuke Urahara, your new supervisor~!"


    He wanted to say that he''s their new owner but he''s worried that they might riot and destroy the ce he''d painstakingly prepared.


    .


    .


    .


    Since London itself wasrgely unaffected by the Alliance of Hell''s attack, the clean-up was rather easypared to when Erebusmanded an army to attack Kyoto. And after their defeat, the Tri-Faction Alliance immediately raided their bases and acquired a few things from them, ranging from useless to useful.


    But the most startling discovery was not Hades'' ''Artificial Devil'' factory, but an individual named Sefaira Seraselbes, a priestess from the world called Fadir Ferdora, a world that the Evies sessfully invaded and took over.


    With Ajuka in the lead, he immediately suppressed the information about Sefaira, secured her, and only allowed rted individuals to evene close to her existence. Now the higher-ups of the Tri-Faction Alliance are truly at a loss because although they knew that she was bound to appear, it''s muchter.


    Some people, out of fear, immediately pinned the me on Kisuke, who supposedly didn''t exist in the future, but they were instantly shut down by the leaders of each faction. Not just because it''s an unreasonable logic and Kisuke''s disappearance wouldn''t do anything to what''s happening now, but they were also making enemies with one of the influential factions that centered around him.


    It''s not just a big loss to the effort against Evies, but also creating another headache that might actually destroy them.


    Naturally, they didn''t just end up scolding those who advocated Kisuke''s ''fault'' but also established a secret force to monitor the inner workings of their faction. Nothing is more devastating than being betrayed in these trying times.


    To drown out the bad rumors, the alliance propped up the award ceremony that would reward those who participated in the war. And they weren''t wrong that all the attention would be gathered there because two celebrities will finally step on the highest rank of being a Devil.


    Issei Hyoudou and Vali Lucifer were formally acknowledged as ''Transcendental beings'' and ''Super Devils''.


    Along with them, Sairaorg Bael, Seekvaira Agares, Rias Gremory, and even Sona Sitri, who only just returned and hadn''t done much, and Kisuke Urahara were granted the rank of Ultimate Devil. Whether it''s the Underworld''s way of controlling or appeasing Kisuke, it''s unknown. However, the one being rewarded couldn''t care less as it is technically useless for him aside from people seeing him in a brighter light.


    For this reward, Sona was the most bitter because she didn''t want to receive it at all costs since it was unfair to others. But because of politics and stability, she has no choice but to ept it.


    Naturally, Akeno, Irina, Koneko, and Kuroka are also recipients of promotions but unlike the former, they could refuse and they all didn''t hesitate to do so. In any case, even if they received their new titles, it''d only be a limiting factor since only the Belial House and their allies would be willing to support them.


    They are already happy being able to help theirrades and this doesn''t really change their rtionship with their friends.


    .


    .


    .


    After their brief trial, the Gods of Hell''s judgment was indefinite imprisonment to a certain isted ind and the one tasked with their transfer was the Vali Team and Hero Team, along with two additions.


    "Are you sure this is enough people? We don''t know anything about them aside from a few descriptive texts so I think we should ask for more people.", asked Le Fay to Vali.


    Vali put on his white armor and replied while signaling with his eyes, "She asked for this arrangement."


    Le Fay followed his eyes and saw Medusa under a thick hood with Riveria beside her wearing the same.


    "I think they want to bait these enemies into appearing. If there are too many people, they might not do anything."


    "Is this really going to be alright? And why Riveria-san?"


    "Don''t ask me. I also have no idea."

 Chapter 945 First Attack

    Chapter 945 First Attack


    The Vali Team, Hero Team, and the Medusa-Riveria pair traveled through a predetermined path with the imprisoned and sealed Gods of Hell to reach the isted ind.


    After some time, the group safely reached the isted ind, "There was nothing..." Vali muttered the moment his feetnded on the ground.


    Everyone else also sighed in relief and were feeling tired because they''d been in full concentration throughout the whole journey, "It looks like we''re still too much force for them to actually make a move." Cao Caomented but it''s only him that hasn''t actually put his guard down.


    Seeing that, Medusa couldn''t help but frown, "What are you all doing?"


    Everyone except Cao Cao turned to her with a confused expression before she continued, "You think just because this is an isted and uninhabited ind, no one will receive us?"


    Everyone immediately understood the implications of her words but it was already toote. A four-meter tall shadow suddenly appeared in Vali''s blindspot and two giant right arms with jet propulsions on their elbows came smashing his nk. Although Vali felt the presence and was able to put his arm up in defense, it still proved too much for him as half of his armor was instantly obliterated as he was sent crashing back to the ocean and causing a huge explosion.


    "Vali-sama!?" Le Fay shouted in shock while Cao Cao and Heracles initiated a counter-attack.


    The towering figure that looks like a standing turtle with four gigantic arms and a pair of thin legs calmly rotated himself and turned his back towards Cao Cao and grabbed Heracles'' fist with one of his metallic hands.


    Cao Cao put most of his strength into his thrust but instead of going through like normal, a loud metallic nk was heard, abruptly stopping his attack, "!?" Cao Cao saw that he was only able to prate a few millimeters of the giant''s shell and on the contrary, he received more damage with his hands bleeding and arm feeling numb.


    Heracles, on the other hand, panicked when his hand was easily caught but he couldn''t do anything else while being swung effortlessly before being thrown towards the opposite side as Vali a few kilometers across, removing him from the battle.


    Cao Cao immediately retreated and that was soon followed by Magic bombardment from Georg, Le Fay, and the current generation Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.


    This bombardment almost annihted a small portion of the ind but before they could even confirm the result, they only heard a chuckle among the dust and smoke rising up, [Kuhahaha! These perishables are amusing.]


    And the only one who understood them was Medusa thanks to thenguage data she received from Kisuke.


    The turtle-like humanoid mechanical lifeform came out of the crater that has formed while saying something gibberish to most people, [It''s amazing to think that there''s a sharp tool on this.]


    He lowered his body and it looked like he was about to dash forward with his jet propulsion gathering heat prompting the other side to get ready when another voice came from above, [Gvardora! What are you doing!? Stop acting on your own and wait for our superior''s directives!]


    A three-meter long and narrow mechanical humanoid with a blue-purplish color, with four arms and legs that possess jet propulsion at the feet, came floating down beside the first humanoid mech with thetter shooting back, [Bah!!! What directives!? Ourmunication was isted so how are we going to receive directives!?]


    [Still, how can you just go and tackle them without thinking!? Do you want to die!?]


    [Against these perishables!? Hah! That''s a funny one!] The mech named Gvardora returned to his stance and said, [Since our location is alreadypromised, let''s just take some Deus with us before going back.]


    Medusa didn''t do anything and just carefully listened to their conversation to gather as much information as possible. Aside from that, her main job was not to escort these people but to protect Riveria whose eyes are working full time while staring at the enemies, ''From their conversation, it''s possible that there are other ships that exist aside from the one the girls are attacking right now.''


    .


    .


    .


    At the same time, Kisuke was leisurely working on his ''Anti-Chaos Weapon'' within the sealed realm of Trihexa. Truth to be told, Kisuke already created several weapons that should be enough to satisfy his obsession and he just continued working on it because he wanted to increase his chances even further and there''s really nothing that needs his hands on right now.


    And thanks to what Aika, who''s still sleeping until this point, showed himst time, Kisuke got a ''crazy'' idea that they could use against Chaos but would result in Benihime hacking him into pieces after he''s done, ''I hope I don''t reach that part... Though it''ll really be interesting if I could do that.''


    However, while thinking that, Kisuke received a sudden thought transmission from the ''secret boss'' that made him stand up in shock, "Seriously!? You''re asking that now!?"


    And after hearing more details, Kisuke couldn''t help but curse, "Fuck! I have something prepared but I would need to make some major adjustments. And for what you''re requesting, Ophis-chan is going to throw a tantrum."


    Kisuke was left deaf for a moment when he was flooded by a cheerful roar inside his mind, "Damn it... Fine... But I''m going to need some flesh and blood samples from her. And even after that, it''ll take a few days. Not to mention the work I''m about to do now so I need a week at least. Can you do that?"


    After receiving his answer, Kisuke sighed and said good luck before dropping the connection, ''I''m going to cut it close if I work on this alone and that''s considering that he could actually give me a week.''


    Plotting his next ns, Kisuke secured and carried Aika before exiting the realm. Azazel came running after him before he left to ask what was going on because he saw that he was making a grim expression. Kisuke thought about it for a moment before saying, "Please contact Ajuka-san. Tell him that I will need Rossweisse-san''s assistance."


    Azazel was shocked but nodded regardless.


    Kisuke arrived at the Belial Mansion and entrusted Aika to one of the servants before asking Cleria his request, "Please pull any strings you can, give me an uninhabited ind in the Human World. Asrge as possible."


    Thankfully, Cleria didn''t ask much and just went straight to her contacts. After a few minutes, Cleria returned to him and said, "We''ve secured the Devon Ind of Canada. Will that be enough?"


    "Thank you."


    And soon after, he received a call from Issei, "I heard you need Rossweisse-sensei''s help. Where should we meet?"


    "Your ce."

 Chapter 946 Issei’s Hidden Issue

    Chapter 946 Issei��s Hidden Issue


    Kisuke immediately arrived at Issei''s mansion in the Human World and couldn''t help but think, ''I always knew that he wouldn''t be living an ordinary life, but to think he''d reach this far, not just in wealth, but also in influence. That was a really nice call of mine back then, not interrupting Rias Gremory that time.''


    The moment he came close, a girl with long, dark purple hair with sleepy golden eyes came out. And when she saw Kisuke, her eyes widened in delight, "Boss! You really came!"


    Kisuke smiled and greeted the former Half-Grim Reaper, "Yo, Orcus-chan. How have you been?"


    "Please call me Bennia, Boss!"


    "Alright, Bennia-chan. Is Issei in?"


    "Yes! We''ve been informed. He just came out of the training room and cleaned himself."


    "Oh my~ How diligent."


    Bennia chuckled at hisments and said, "His motivation was lit when he saw you effortlessly send out multiple deadly beams since he has always been mindful of his stamina. Though after that battle, it looks like something else has been bothering him but he''s not sharing anything about it."


    Kisuke had already heard from Medusa about how he took care of Angra Mainyu and had already guessed what was going on, ''A small resonance with Medusa means only one thing.''


    Bennia led Kisuke to the top floor where every one of Issei''s peerage was waiting, except for the King himself.


    "Ah, Kisuke-san! It''s been a while!" The sweet Asia happily greeted him.


    "Asia-san~! It''s good to see you as cheerful as ever~! And you too, Phenex-san, Xenovia-san, and Rossweisse-san. I heard all of you became Issei''s fiancs."


    Kisuke thought that they would be a little bit flustered, but it looks like it really had been a while.


    While Rossweisse just bowed her head in acknowledgment, Ravel gave him a curt reply, "It honestly took him so long!"


    Xenovia, on the other hand, returned a question Kisuke couldn''t quite answer, "What about you? Isn''t it about time you announce your own fiancs? Don''t make them wait for too long."


    Kisuke''s mouth twitched but the only answer he could give while scratching his cheek was, "...That''s a bitplicated. You all know my position." He wanted to mention that only a few of the girls beside him could be considered as ''fianc'', but he had a feeling that he''d be eating those words sooner orter, so he kept it to himself.


    The youngdy with golden hair fashioned into twin-tailed drills smirked at him and said, "Position, hmmm... I see... Then how about letting the Phenex n in that secret business of yours? I''ll make sure that it''ll be profitable on both sides."


    Kisuke couldn''t help but grin at this little Devil, "My~ So the Phenex n has already sniffed us out, huh? But don''t you think I should wait for other potential associates toe forward?"


    Ravel nodded in agreement, "That''s true. But you may have to wait for a long time since we only noticed because of your n''s rapid expansion into the Human World. As you may have known, the Gremory and Phenex are the only ones actively expanding in the Human World. Of course, we would notice when the former suddenly begin supporting a third yer even if they incurred an obvious loss. Naturally, this ''obviously'' was only noticed by us since ourwork is just as wide as theirs so I doubt anyone else will being forward anytime soon."


    Hearing that, Kisuke finally understood how she discovered Cleria''s secret business, "I see. You were just guessing and I just outed myself, huh?"


    Ravel chuckled, "You don''t seem to care about hiding it that much, though?"


    Kisuke was in silent agreement. He then took out a card and passed it to Ravel, "You can contact my aunt through that. I''m just their engineer and technical advisor so it''s not my decision where they want to take things."


    Ravel happily kept the card, not knowing the true scale of the Belial n''s ''business''. Tonight, the whole Phenex n will bounce into action as if their butts caught on fire. And the sad thing is, they couldn''t back out. Ravel would question her life choices and woulde back to this moment to recall Kisuke''s smile as the smile of a true ''Devil''.


    Kisuke secretly scanned the surroundings with his Reiatsu and saw that Issei was caught by his parents talking about something to him. Kisuke then faced thest person in the room and greeted her, "It''s our first time meeting face to face. Nice to meet you. I''m Kisuke Urahara."


    The beautiful foreign girl who appeared to be in herte teens with a whimsical aura, long purple hair, and orange eyes, also bowed in response, "I''ve heard so much about you. Let''s get along. I''m Ingvild Leviathan."


    "Likewise. But we don''t have much time. Let''s talk about Issei-kun. More specifically, the thing that has been bothering him."


    Everyone else''s expression became serious, showing their concern at this matter, "Please sit down. We would like to hear about it." Ravel led Kisuke further in while Asia prepared some drinks for everyone.


    Without going off point, Kisuke exined, "The power he used to fight Angra Mainyu at the end tapped into something dormant within him." Kisuke continued on by rifying the reason why Issei could use Ophis'' power and the real identity of the ''candy'' he''d fed to him when the Alliance was just about to form.


    "...A Deity''s leftover Divine Core that had been corrupted?" Asia muttered in fear.


    Ravel, meanwhile, gritted her teeth, "So it wasn''t because he surpassed his Human origin and became a half Deity, but the source of power came from a Deity itself."


    ''It takes more than determination to be a God from something else in addition to countless years along with innumerable ''enlightenments''.'' Kisuke thought while imagining how the first Monkey King ascended into Godhood.


    Seeing their grim expressions, Kisuke reassured them, "Don''t worry about him. Although this power will push him to madness, his horniness will never lose."


    "...It sounds like you''re joking, but that''s really reassuring." Rossweissemented while the others also sighed in relief, trusting Issei''s ''horniness''.


    Kisuke didn''t know how to react to this trust and just continued, "What''s worrying, in fact, are you lot."


    As confusion emerged on their faces, Kisuke added, "Recall the time he first entered ''Juggernaut Overdrive'' when he thought he lost Asia-san. If anyone he cared about... disappears once again, multiply that instance several tens of times, and this time, he might not be able to wake up from his madness. So take care of yourself. Never get into a situation where he''ll grieve over your loss, even if it means sacrificing himself for you."


    While everyone was stunned, Issei came into the room with a cheerful expression, "Kisuke! Sorry for making youte... What''s going on?"


    Kisuke grinned at him and said, "We''re just talking about how much of a pain in the ass you are."

 Chapter 947 A Barrier

    Chapter 947 A Barrier


    Before Issei could further ask, Ravel suddenly stood up and dered, "Girls'' meeting! Now!"


    Slightly taken aback, Issei asked, "W-what''s going on?"


    "You heard her. Girls'' meeting." Kisuke replied with an amused smile and turned to Rossweisse who''d already stood up and was about to follow the others, "But you''re not going, Rossweisse-san. We have something pretty urgent to discuss."


    Rossweisse frowned and pouted but sat back down as she watched the other girls teleport away, presumably, back to the Underworld where Rias is, "Urgent you say. I hope it''s more urgent than this case."


    Kisuke took out a stack of documents and passed it to Rossweisse, "You can decide that for yourself."


    Curiously taking a look, it wasn''t long before Rossweisse went into deep concentration as she browsed through the documents in earnest.


    Meanwhile, Issei thought about the situation and asked Kisuke which caused Rossweisse to raise her head up, "You sent them away on purpose?"


    "Of course not~" Kisuke immediately denied it, "It''s all just a coincidence, albeit, a convenient one."


    Issei could only sigh at Kisuke''s answer and thought that it was definitely on purpose, "You could have just sent them away normally."


    "Don''t get it wrong. The concern I presented to them is a legitimate issue that couldn''t be ignored. Else, they wouldn''t be calling for this ''girls'' meeting''."


    Rossweisse ced down the documents and nodded in agreement, "That''s correct. It''s a very concerning issue."


    Issei wanted to ask what it was about but Kisuke stopped him by saying, "Let them worry about it."


    Having heard that, Issei could only sigh as he guessed what Kisuke told them.


    Ignoring him, Kisuke turned back to Rossweisse and asked her what she thought about the documents he''d passed her.


    Rossweisse stayed silent for a moment before actually answering, "To my understanding, it''s a modified blueprint for the Istion Barrier. I don''t know how you got ahold of it, but you removed the portion that uses the Rating Game technology and inverted its strength to be stronger against outside interference than the inside. At this point, I''d rather call it an Exclusion Barrier."


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s correct. Its main use is for protection against outside threats."


    Rossweisse crossed her arms and started tapping her arm, "But I don''t understand. Although someponents are missing, it''s obvious that you''re purposely hiding those to prevent me from deciphering them. Aside from the strange part where you added a ''core'' as a power source which isn''t really needed, I don''t understand why you wanted to show me this. I think you''re fully capable of building this on your own."


    "That''s the problem." Kisuke sighed, "I need toplete this within a week."


    "Problem? What problem?"


    "I have to expand this 109,980 times than its original size."


    Rossweisse went silent for a moment, "...Huh?"


    Kisuke continued sighing, "I only have a week to finish this whole project. I can do it on my own, but there''s other work that I have to finish that''s also just as important."


    Rossweisse couldn''t take it anymore and mmed the table, "Huh!? What are you talking about!? 109,980 times!? Are you insane!?"


    Issei was taken aback because it''s not often that he could see Rossweisse absolutely lose it.


    "That''s enough to encircle the whole globe multiple times! And just how are you going to provide power for this enormous thing!? Because I know that the residual Magic Power that the Dimensional Gap is emitting wouldn''t be even close to enough! In the first ce, what are you going to use this for? Do you n to trap the entire Earth!? For what!?"


    Meanwhile, Kisuke was also a bit surprised, but not because of her outcry, ''She''s pretty good. She was able to instantly calcte the scale and what was needed. Looks like I''m going to have it easier.''


    Kisuke was about to answer her concerns but Issei''s phone suddenly started ringing. Issei wanted to turn it off but Kisuke stopped him, "Pick it up. It''ll probably exin why I''m doing this."


    Issei looked at him for a moment before picking up, "Hello? Rias? Is there a problem?"


    [The Gods of Hell Escort Team was attacked by unknown mechanical lifeforms. There are only two enemies but Vali, Cao Cao, Bikou, and Heracles were injured in the exchange.]


    Issei and Rossweisse''s eyes instantly widened in shock as Rias continued, [Angra Mainyu was also snatched away. But thanks to Riveria-san being able to see through the unique Teleportation Magic, they were able to prevent any further kidnappings and these unknown enemies retreated silently.]


    "Is everyone alright?"


    [Their wounds are being treated but there''s nothing concerning aside from specialists hounding them to study the traces of the attack.]


    "Understood. I''ll call you backter. Be careful."


    [You too. And Kisuke Urahara. I know you''re listening. Don''t ask anything unreasonable from my Issei and sister Rossweisse.]


    "It''ll be tiring but not unreasonable~", replied Kisuke with a chuckle.


    A few secondster, Issei dropped the call and turned to Kisuke, "If I understood it right, you want to keep these enemies out of Earth?"


    Kisuke nodded, "I want to buy at least a few years since none of us are actually prepared for their arrival."


    Rossweisse dropped her previous questions and now understood how urgent this issue is, "I presume you also wanted to put a barrier on the Dimensional Gap? But wouldn''t that be enough? Why do you need a barrier on the whole Earth too?"


    Kisuke pointed up and said, "Because they are already out there in the vast space."


    "How did you... Wait. Are you the one providing this anonymous information about Evie''s!?" Issei eximed.


    Rossweisse, on the other hand, thought more about Kisuke''s words, "If they can stay up there without any problem, chances are they also have the technology to bypass the Dimensional Gap now that they know our exact location in the universe?"


    "That''s just my guess, but I already saw their ship. They are technically the aliens that you''d see in Hollywood films."


    Now Rossweisse could see the problem and what Kisuke wanted to achieve, it only leaves the final two questions, "Why in one week? Are they going to attack within a week? And what core are you going to use? Frankly speaking, I can''t imagine anything is enough other than at least tens if not hundreds of God-level beings supplying it with power 24/7, and I doubt you have that much sway."


    "Norge-scale attacks will happen as far as I know, and only a week because that''s the only realistic timeframe I could deliver before the ''core'' appears. I could dy it, but any minute or hours the ''core'' is left out in the open, the chances of idiots stealing it would rise up. In other words, I''m timing thepletion of this project with the delivery of the ''core'' so that the bad actors can''t do anything."

 Chapter 948 Negotiations

    Chapter 948 Negotiations


    "Realistic timeframe, you say... But if you really wanted to expand it that much, it''d take more manpower just to make sure that everything will be working properly. You probably aren''t even sure if this model will work as intended so there''s additional work for that too." Rossweisse further scrutinized.


    But Rossweisse wasn''t done yet, "And let''s say that it''s indeed possible since you''re known to pull stunts like this and it''s going to be just the two of us working on this... Wouldn''t this mean that I''ll be painting a huge target on my back?"


    Issei was confused once again but instantly realized what she meant and clenched his fist.


    "I assure you that a one-week timeframe is absolutely possible as long as there is no interference. As for yourtter concern, I naturally would have informed you about it. That''s the reason why I retracted the important parts in that document."


    If Kisuke and Rossweisse could finish this barrier against the Evies, it wouldn''t be weird if there are some people who chose to side with them and try to sabotage the whole project, or at least, poke a hole in it after it''s done. With that in mind, all their eyes would be focused on those who created it.


    Kisuke first sipped his tea before asking, "Well then... I''ll be asking. Will you be willing to take the risk? And I''m asking for your opinion too, Issei."


    While Rossweisse hesitated, Issei answered without any pause, "If you''re asking me, of course I''d be against it. And besides, if you''re asking this, it would mean that you have other ns in case you''re rejected. You would have forced us one way or another if you can''t do it by yourself."


    "I could indeed do it by myself, but I would have had to make somepromises that may or may not negatively affect the future.", Kisuke smiled, "You''ve really grown this past year. I''m both amazed and sad."


    Issei crossed his arms and replied, "I had to wise up, but it''s not like there is only bad stuff that''s happening."


    "So does that mean you won''t allow Rossweisse-san to help out?"


    Issei shook his head, "I''m just stating my opinion and the decision will still be up to her. Regardless, it doesn''t change what I have to do."


    Kisuke and Issei then looked towards Rossweisse who closed her eyes in contemtion,'' That''s right... What I have to do doesn''t change. I will still protect her and everyone else, no matter the cost.'', thought thetter, reassuring himself.


    Rossweisse opened her eyes with a renewed resolution and asked, "When do we start?"


    Kisuke stood up as his entire right arm lit up with strange runes, "Right now. And don''t expect to stop until everything is over."


    He punched the air and his hand sank into nothingness before turning his forearm and splitting the space, revealing an entirely different ce on the other side.


    Rossweisse was shocked at this strange technique but reined in her curiosity before asking, "Do I have to prepare anything."


    Kisuke went through the portal and said, "Nothing. I have everything arranged and you just have to calibrate and ressify every expansion I''m making."


    "Hmmm? Isn''t that something that apetent enough person is capable of doing? There are other people better than me that I think you could ask."


    "That may be true and they''ll even be faster than you if it''s just that. But as the main creator of this barrier, your opinion is valuable and there could be something that only you could notice by yourself. Though the main reason is that I couldn''t really trust anyone aside from those who are closely rted to Issei."


    Instead of being happy, Issei frowned, ''He couldn''t trust anyone else? Not even Azazel-sensei? That''s weird...''


    Seeing that Issei had already caught it, Kisuke smiled in satisfaction and beckoned Rossweisse toe over. And before he closed the portal, Kisuke turned to Issei for onest time and said, "Issei, your job will be to drive them out as much as possible. But if there''s a strong individual, keep them in ce as much as possible."


    Issei nodded while thinking that he should visit Ajuka and rify a few things.


    .


    .


    .


    Before Rossweisse could ask what kind of ce Kisuke brought her into, he immediately left her in a free workshop where all the documents that needed some preliminary calibration, "I''ll bring the rest upter one by one. We don''t have much time so please work on this. I''ll prepare a suitablepensation for all of this, of course."


    Kisuke then moved to another room and opened another portal, inviting another person, "I''m sorry for calling you so suddenly."


    Ophis just looked at him and nodded silently before asking, "They''re already here?" As someone born in the Dimensional Gap, she was more susceptible to the changes within it, "Dumb red won''t make it."


    "Oh? You can tell what''s happening?"


    Ophis nodded once again, "Dumb red is ying."


    Ophis'' eyes seem to question if Kisuke was going to assist the ''dumb Dragon'' but also didn''t explicitly ask since the current Kisuke was no match against the invader.


    Kisuke patted her head and said, "We don''t know what the future has in store for us... But in the immediate future, I can steer the course of things slightly to our favor."


    Ophis understood what he meant and asked, "What should I do?"


    "I''ll be needing a bit of your flesh and blood."


    .


    .


    .


    For the next three days, Kisuke would work on a new Gigai and expand and modify the Istion Barrier.


    ''I wonder if I can still call this a Gigai?'' Kisuke asked himself while watching aplete copy of Ophis''s body floating inside the transparent tank that''s nurturing it.


    Kisuke soon left the room and sealed it tightly before going to Rossweisse''s side who has been working 24/7 for the past three days.


    "Are you still good?", asked Kisuke the moment he peeked at the messy room full of paper and working monitors.


    Rossweisse, with the heavy bags under her eyes being covered by sses, raised her head up and sarcastically answered, "I''m so d I haven''t gone insane."


    For the past three days, Rossweisse worked on the numbers and logistics of the spell nonstop. At first, she thought that it wouldn''t be that bad since Kisuke hadn''t finished expanding the spell yet. However, she was immediately greeted by arge amount of workload.


    Still, it wasn''t that bad since if she could focus, she''d be able to deal with everything within half a day, and then she''d have a bit of rest. But the moment she finished the first part, the second part arrived and pulled her back to work. And even then it still wasn''t a big deal because she figured out that if she could work faster, she''ll be able to finish it hours early.


    But the same thing happened despite her efforts. The third part came, pulling her back into hell of numbers and this would happen every single time. When the thought of a break arises on the horizon, a metaphorical Kisuke will drag her feet down back to work, "I sure do hope that this is all worth it,pensation-wise."


    "Don''t worry. I''m actually thinking of giving you enough that you''ll be able to go on a date with Issei in a 300 Yen shop."


    "...Seriously?"


    Kisuke nodded with a very serious expression, "And with the work you are currently showing, I''m considering a reward that you''ll be able to take Issei to a 500 Yen shop... Without any worries."


    "..."


    "..."


    The two of them stared at each other for a few moments before Rossweisse dived back to her work, "I''ll speed things up!!!"


    The scumbag that took full advantage of Rossweisse''s skewed view on working conditions and paid wages smiled in satisfaction while also justifying himself by thinking, ''Your boyfriend is a lot richer than me so this is fine.''

 Chapter 949 The ‘Core’

    Chapter 949 The ��Core��


    On the fifth day, Rossweisse was already haggard but she was not willing to give up the 500-Yen shop and persevered. Eventually, the two of them finished the model after numerous final adjustments, simtions, and real-world testing.


    Rossweisse sat down and took a breather, "What do we do next? Where do wey this absolutely massive thing?" She thought with the amount of encryption and security they added to the spell itself, they would have no problem even with people watching and recording everything they were doing.


    Using his arm as the key once again, Kisuke opened a portal back to Earth, "Everything is already prepared. We just have to finish this within two days."


    Rossweisse never really thought that it would be possible to finish this entire thing within a week but she was already proven wrong with all the progress they made which she thought would take a month or two. Rossweisse stood up and followed Kisuke to the other side of the portal while saying, "I''m still really curious as to what you''re going to use to power this thing."


    The moment Rossweisse stepped out, the cold temperature immediately greeted her, and soon the wastnd and out of cerge stacks of freight containers all around them, "Where are we?"


    "Devon Ind. I arranged the spell to fit this ce perfectly." Kisuke then looked around and smirked, "My~ Looks like we have quite an audience."


    Although not as much as Kisuke''s, Rossweisse''s senses also caught a few people from beyond the ind watching them, ''They are... From various Mythos...''


    "It''s impossible to hide the fact that I took over this ind so they are probably curious about what we''re doing here." Kisuke then took out Benihime in her Shikai, "Oh well, after we''re finished, it should give them a bit of a scare so they finally do something, so this is good."


    Swinging Benihime diagonally, Kisuke sent out a shockwave that carved out the earth, "The materials are inside those containers and I''ll leave the filling to you."


    Rossweisse opened one of the containers and saw various things inside of it, "...I don''t know some of these."


    Kisuke ramped up his work while answering, "Just test their Magic conductivity and you should be good. You can also call for people to help you melt and move those."


    "...You''re not going to reduce my pay if I do that, right?"


    Kisuke froze for a moment and thought that she really has an incredibly very bad view of things in terms of employment, "No. I''ll prepare a separate reward for those who want to work part-time. Just make sure that you properly overlook their work."


    .


    .


    .


    For the next two days, onlookers continued to gather and for the first few hours, there were a few brave souls that tried to approach and intrude on the ind in hopes of gathering more information on what they were trying to achieve.


    At first, Kisuke ignored them since there was really nothing they could gather from it and it was not worth the effort to keep them out. But when they started messing with the canals he dug, that''s when he went ballistic and chopped off a few limbs of these intruders. Others tried to help this group and ''reason'' with Kisuke but he didn''t listen and just did the same thing to them. Chopped their limbs until they were left crying.


    Since it would be troublesome to keep doing this, Kisuke dedicated a few hours to hunting these intruders and chopping their limbs off for the sole reason of stepping onto Devon Ind.


    Of course, there were protests about how he does things but he ignored them since the chopped limbs were still restorable, so what they were saying doesn''t have much weight.


    Unsurprisingly, there are some people who thought of taking advantage of this. Since Kisuke was only aiming for their limbs, they presumed that they''d be able to catch him off guard. But the moment they showed their killing intent, Kisuke''s de changed its trajectory and severed their heads.


    From then on, no one thought of bothering them anymore. Though some of them still went to the Alliance to try and shut down whatever Kisuke was doing while citing that his construction was a massive breach of security to everyone.


    But with Issei, a few of his crew, and a few of Vali''s crew helping out Rossweisse, that didn''t gain any traction.


    And just like that, they were able to finish the massive Magic Circle that spanned the 5.5 million hectares ofnd.


    Kisuke returned to where everyone was while looking at the time, "Thank you, everyone~. I finished a few hours earlier than I expected."


    "Just a few hours? Even with all of us?" Issei asked while pointing at everyone, namely, Ravel, Ingvild, Arthur, Le Fay, and Sha Wujing.


    Kisuke scratched his head and confessed, "I actually took it a bit easy when you arrived~"


    ''Took it easy!?'' They all eximed internally since Kisuke did 70% of the work despite them helping out.


    "Anyways, we still have a few hours before the ''core'' arrives. How did it go on your side?"


    At that question, Issei and the rest, except for Rossweisse, had a heavy expressions, "We had cleaned up a number of them... But then an Evie known as Rugatimu also revealed himself." Issei replied. He''d already heard the secret about the ''future'' from Azazel and Sirzechs, but he didn''t want to talk about it publically.


    "Rugatimu is a five meters tall humanoid mechanical lifeform with three eyes possessing a tremendous aura that dwarfs most of the Chief Gods." Le Fay added with a somber expression.


    "And the problem is?"


    Issei sighed before answering, "I teamed up with Vali and we were no match against him even in our full power. In fact, he only retreated because he didn''t want any more trouble arriving. ording to Ajuka-san, Azazel-sensei, and Sirzechs-san, he might be on par with Great Red or Ophis at their peak."


    But when he looked at Kisuke again, he didn''t seem to be too concerned and smiled in relief, "This barrier can keep them away, can''t it?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Of course. It would really be convenient if this could trap that guy, but I doubt that since it''d take a minute or two before this can be activated in its entirety and anyonepetent would be able to escape and they would choose to do so."


    "Because it''s just their scouting force, is it?"


    "That''s correct. And there''s-... Hmmm!?" Kisuke was about to reveal that there was someone else much stronger than the one they encountered when the automatic Teleportation Magic suddenly began activating ahead of its schedule, "Rossweisse-san, prepare for the linking of the core! Issei and the rest, leave the ind immediately and stop anyone thates close!"


    "What? But where''s the core? And what type of power source is it?" Rossweisse flew towards her designated Magic Circles whilemunicating with Kisuke with Magic.


    "It''s delivering itself. And don''t worry about the process. I''ll take the lead and you just have to follow it... And steel your heart because I''ll be needing your concentration more than ever."


    Rossweisse became confused by hisst words but didn''t have time to think about it when she saw a 100-meter Magic Circle appearing on top of where the core should be, ''A Teleportation circle? So that''s what he meant by delivery... But why did he word it so weird...ly...''


    Rossweisse''s thoughts trailed off until nothing was left as a massive amount of blood started spilling from the Magic Circle and dropping to the ground. Soon, an almost 100-meter body of a red headless Dragon dropped from the circle before it was followed by its detached head with lifeless eyes wide open.


    The core of the barrier had revealed itself and it was far from everyone''s expectations. The lifeless body of one of the greatest existences of this world, Great Red.

 Chapter 950 Enemy Boss

    Chapter 950 Enemy Boss


    "...weiss-san! Rossweisse-san!"


    Rossweisse finally heard Kisuke''s urgent calls, "W-what!?"


    "Concentrate!"


    The Magic Power within the Magic Circle was already on the verge of going wild. Rossweisse bit her lips and hurriedly put her hands on the ground and tried to control the raging waves. Soon enough, she was able to take it under control and followed Kisuke''s lead to connect certain points of the spell to Great Red''s body while also encircling it within its own barrier.


    Rossweisse thought that it was going smoothly despite her initial response but all of a sudden, the space above where the corpse of Great Red emerged began cracking and a secondter, a pair of hands forcibly pried their way into it and parted it apart, [So this is where it went.] a metallic voice resounded and was heard beyond the confines of the ind while also revealing the Dimensional Gap.


    A seven-meter tall mechanical humanoid with five eyes in total, two on each side and one on his forehead that shined with gold, peeked through the gap. His body had a tint of ck and purple with thick limbs, but the most striking thing was the oppressive aura he was releasing that even Issei, who had been watching from a distance, couldn''t stop himself from shaking.


    Naturally, as one of the two nearest to him, Rossweisse also momentarily lost her focus from fear and seemingly lost all hope.


    "Rossweisse-san! Wake up! If you don''t want to die, ignore that guy and continue the linking!" Not just raising his voice, Kisuke also used her own aura to offset the aura that was crashing on them. Although he had to put quite an effort into it contrary to thetter who was only casually standing over the Dimensional Gap.


    Thanks to that, Rossweisse managed to gather her sanity back but she was still nervous if the barrier was going to make it in time.


    [Hoh? What is this amusing thing?] The terrifying Evie stretched his arm out, attempting to reach out, and made Rossweisse almost disgrace herself in front of many people.


    Nevertheless, her worries proved to be worthless when a pair of twins suddenly appeared standing on top of Great Red''s corpse.


    The ck-haired pair instantly grabbed the Evie''s attention, [Now this is interesting. Let''s get started.]


    However, Ophis and Lilith have no ns of ying along with him and joined their hands before pointing their free palms toward him, "Begone."


    In the next second, an unimaginable amount of energy gathered between their hands as the symbol of the Dragon of Infinity floated up.


    The Evie stopped reaching out and felt the threat of these girls. Without hesitation, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and balled himself. At that moment, a 20-meter wide jet-ck beam of annihting energy sted from the ''twins'' palms and destroyed the boundary between space and enveloped the horrifying mechanical lifeform.


    The pir of most destructive ck lightsted for about ten seconds before it dissipated. Although it went towards the Dimensional Gap, the residual heat from it started melting the ice caps in its surroundings.


    The 20-meter hole began healing itself to stabilize the world but those who were at the right angle could see that the Evie had been pushed back for about 100 meters, but aside from a few scorch marks, there was virtually no damage on him, [Fuhahaha! That''s it! Show me more!] his screams of glee reverberated throughout the whole area.


    ''Even though just a few seconds of that is enough to fully vaporize most of the Gods... Such a disgusting amount of defense.'' Thought Kisuke while finalizing the barrier. That came from someone who others thought had a ''disgusting amount of defense''.


    A golden de made out of pure energy then sprouted from the Evie''s left arm and it continued extending until it was 50 meters long. From Kisuke''s estimate, that ''casual'' de had the same amount of energy that Ophis and Lilith just released and made him sweat a little. Thankfully, it was already toote for him to act as the pair had already bought enough time for him.


    Just as he was about to dash forward, a transparent membrane with a myriad of colors rapidly expanded out from Great Red''s body. The Evie tried shing this membrane with its de but he was shocked that he was only able to make it ripple like water before being pushed back until he couldn''t be seen by native eyes anymore.


    But before he could disappear, Kisuke saw its ''eyes'' full of rage while looking at him. It''s as if Kisuke had just snatched a toy out of his hand, ''Now that''s scary...''


    The translucent barrier went on to continue expanding beyond everyone''s perception and a dome of ck covered Great Red as if acting as his monument.


    However, those were the least of everyone''s worries as they scrambled to report everything that they had seen today. After all, they were just quietly and peacefully watching Kisukeplete his enormous project when it was suddenly revealed that Great Red had died, used as the core of the spell, and the appearance of who may be his killer.


    Contrary to their expression, Kisuke just sighed in relief and stretched his numbing arms, ''That went more smoothly than I hoped.''


    He then approached Ophis and Lilith, silently staring at the ck dome, and asked, "What are you thinking?"


    There was no answer for a few moments and since no one could enter the ind now except for Rossweisse who chose to take some distance after reading the mood, Kisuke just waited.


    Eventually, words escape Ophis'' mouth, "...It''ll be quiet from now on."


    Kisuke smiled and sat down next to them and asked next, "You won''t ask why I didn''t help him?"


    Ophis looked at him and returned a question, "Why would I?"


    But Kisuke just quietly stared at her with a small smile on his face. As for Lilith, although she was able to synchronize her memories with Ophis, she didn''t have any direct interaction with their ''rival'' so she could just curiously stare at their now lifeless adversary.


    After a few moments, Ophis opened her mouth. However, she didn''t know what she should say as this was one of the instances where aplicated feeling fogged her thinking. Although she always looked at Great Red as her enemy for the longest time, it also meant that he was the only one who could even remotely understand her as someone sitting on the peak. As there were only two of them in this world, the two of them developed a unique connection that the two of them could appreciate.


    Now that he''s gone, Ophis doesn''t understand where this unknown feeling ising from even though she always thought that she''d achieve peace when he was gone.


    Thinking about Kisuke''s question, she understood that there was no way he could help him in the face of that being. Even then... She hoped. She didn''t know why but even though it''s logically impossible to help Great Red, she hoped that Kisuke could have done something and not just strike a deal with him to use his body.


    As such, the second question came up, "Can you?"


    Kisuke stood up and patted her head but refused to provide an answer. But from that, Ophis got an answer and it was a ''no''.


    Turning around, Kisuke went to Rossweisse''s side and exined the ordeal they went through. But thetter could only grimace as Kisuke didn''t provide any information beyond ''Great Red was killed by an Evie and I used his body as the core to keep them out, just as he wanted.''


    While evading further questioning, Kisuke returned to his Mars base and went straight to one of the rooms where Ophis''s clone is located.

 Chapter 951 Flanna

    Chapter 951 nna


    As soon as he reached the room, Kisuke flipped all the switches that would release the clone and ced it on a clean bed, "I already gave you the way to this ce. Stop wasting time and take it." Kisuke said out loud while taking some distance from the clone.


    Immediately after, the clone was caught in a deep red fire and floated up. And while this was happening, a suffocating amount of Draconic Aura instantly welled up from the body and began destroying everything within the room.


    Kisuke just watched this calmly while thinking, ''So no one really knows this guy''s true nature of existence. Not even Ophis-chan... Well, no one would really think that he might be an immortal since no one could kill him in the first ce.''


    In a span of a minute, Ophis'' clone began to grow until it reached ate teen stage if Ophis could age. But unlike the transformation Ophis did before with a huge chest, this one remained modest for the most part. Aside from that, the ck hair also grew longer until it could reach its knees and a bright red color tinted it.


    A few more minutester, the clone opened its eyes revealing a deep red iris and golden pupil while also releasing a massive amount of Draconic Aura that caved in the sturdy walls of theboratory, "I''m back, babyyy~~~!!! Fuhahahahaha!!!"


    Her loud voice prompted Kisuke to cover his ears, "You''re loud. Pipe down and stop destroying my stuff."


    The red-haired ''Ophis'' slowly floated down on her feet and reigned in her aura, "Ah, boss! Sorry about that!" s, she wasn''t able to fully understand what Kisuke meant and created shockwaves with her voice.


    As she startedughing out loud once again on her own, Kisuke could only keep his mouth shut and wait out this storm. He, however, noticed another stark difference she has from Ophis and that is a lively exaggerated cowlick (ahoge) dancing left and right on top of her head, ''How does that even work? Is that the recement for her horn?''


    A minute went by and the grown ''Ophis'' finally stopped, "What do you think of my n this time, boss? Isn''t this worthy of praise!? Now I can finally properly act like a boss from the shadows I am! Fuhahahahaha!!!"


    And anotherughing spree, ''Where did the consciousness break? When he''s killed? Or is it when he fuses with the body?''


    Returning the time to a week ago, Great Red felt the Evie called Regalzeva trying to break through the thick chaos of the Dimensional Gap and concluded that he wouldn''t be able to win against him. With that in mind, Great Red immediately started making ns and the first thing that went into his mind was the fact that he''s the ''secret boss'' of Kisuke''s ''organization''.


    Seeing the light of finally fulfilling his role, Great Red immediately contacted Kisuke and started making demands that are borderline unreasonable.


    First, was for Kisuke to create a new body for himself as fast as possible. This isn''t a problem if Great Red could provide his own flesh but since the enemy was already on his doorstep, Great Red had no way of doing this because it might''ve alerted the enemy. Even then, Great Red still forced Kisuke to do it one way or another.


    Although Kisuke still had bits of flesh and blood of Great Red from reconstructing Akeno and Irina''s bodies, it was already too old and too few that it might''ve caused significant errors trying to replicate the Dragon. In that case, Kisuke could only opt for the nearest possible avable substitute and that would be Ophis''s flesh and blood.


    Even then, that clearly had its own set of problems. First, despite being as strong as Great Red, Ophis'' attribute doesn''t go along with Great Red''s so he first had to clear out the ''Infinity''. Second, Ophis is a true shapeshifter and whatever form she takes, it''s her true form. In other words, if Kisuke gets the flesh and blood of the current Ophis, it''ll be that of a ''little girl'' and Great Red won''t have any way to change that even though he''s technically genderless.


    So the moment Great Red''s consciousness entered the body based on the ''little girl'' Ophis, he locked himself into a biologically female body and the only way to change this is to discard it.


    Nevertheless, this isn''t really a problem for Great Red and her body changing into a mature form is his attribute setting in.


    The very reason he could do something like discarding his body is that he''s the lord of dreams making his existence closer to a spirit or ethereal and his body was only made out of convenience and a long, long time. As long as ''dreams'' in this world exist, he''d never truly die unless he was separated from them.


    As for the next borderline unreasonable, Great Red wanted to hide the fact that he was alive with Kisuke''s help. With Kisuke''s help because he won''t be able to reliably do it on his own and his insistence on this because he wanted the ''secret'' in secret boss toe true.


    Thankfully, this is also a rtively advantageous situation for Kisuke so he agreed.


    "Yeah, yeah. It was a good n to escape the spotlight and lurk within the shadows." Kisuke tly replied after herughter ceased, "Put on some clothes."


    Of course, not having any facility for shyness or even understanding the concept of shame of exposure, Great Red proudly ced both of her hands on her waist, "Clothes? I have no need for such inane things!"


    Kisuke already expected this response so he took out a fashion book. More specifically, a very rare fashion book aimed at those suffering from a certain middle-schooler disease could also be considered a cosy book.


    Although she had no direct human experience like Ophis, Great Red was still fully aware of what she''s looking at. Not about the disease, but the aesthetics that captured her fancy.


    Great Red hurriedly grabbed the book but as she''s not yet used to her body, her touch instantly disintegrated the paper, "...Ah..." A sorrowful sound escaped her mouth.


    Expecting it again, Kisuke took out another copy of the book, "Be careful this time."


    "Boss!" Great Red almost cried tears of joy as she slowly and carefully handled the book this time.


    Great Red directly sprawled on the messy floor to browse through various fashion attire with shining eyes when a certain question entered her mind. Since she would be hiding the fact that she''s alive, she would need a new name. However, after a few seconds of trying, she gave up and delegated the task to Kisuke like the true secret boss she is.


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before saying, "Let''s go with nna."


    "nna?"


    "It means something very great and red." Finding it troublesome, Kisuke lied through his teeth. In fact, nna only meant red-haired in Irish.


    "Really!?"


    Kisuke nodded with all seriousness, "Really."


    "Fuhahahaha!!! From now on, I shall be named, nna!"


    Great Red, or rather, nna was in a celebratory mood when she saw Kisuke pointing down. As she followed his finger, she saw the book was shredded by her shockwaveughter, "...Nooooo........"

 Chapter 952 Karma

    Chapter 952 Karma


    Hours had gone by but nna still couldn''t decide what to wear and Kisuke couldn''t keep waiting for her to choose so he forced her to move to the training room to get ustomed to her strength. Kisuke nned to toss her at ire and her group but he couldn''t let them meet her if she ends up destroying everything around her whenever she feels excited.


    ''I wonder how things are going down there?'' Kisuke asked himself and couldn''t help but chuckle at all the chaos that surely was happening right now.


    And just as he thought, all of the factions were very disorganized as they tried their best to make sense of what just happened. Naturally, their attention was solely focused on the man who was the center of all of it but when they couldn''t hold of him, their scrutiny turned to the Belial House and Rossweisse.


    While the Belial House just gave a nonanswer citing that they too don''t have the full scope of the events, Rossweisse was under the full protection of the Underworld. Because of this, the fear of being in the dark turned into anger that was pointed towards the ones supposedly managing all three parties, the Tri-Faction Alliance.


    "Nothing is going as nned... For better or worse." Azazel muttered while massaging his temples, "Although we lost Great Red, that barrier with his body as the core should give us a few years of time to prepare, if not decades."


    "But this is a problem, isn''t it?" Sirzech said under his breath.


    Ajuka, while quietly listening to their whining beyond the screen, was analyzing the barrier that Kisuke deployed. But the only thing he could gather from it was its range and approximate strength, ''It locked the whole Dimensional Gap and covered the whole Earth ''till midway to the Moon. As for its strength, it''s at least a hundred times higher than Trihexa''s base defenses... But will that be enough? It''s Kisuke Urahara''s work so there should be something else.''


    All of a sudden, Azazel addressed him, "Hey, don''t just bury yourself in that. Give us some input here."


    Ajuka calmly turned his eyes to him and nodded, "It is indeed a problem, for the Alliance, that is."


    Not just the Tri-Faction but all of the other Factions around the world for the simple fact that they are not the owner of this barrier that''s keeping the world safe.


    Just this single thing brings Kisuke into one of the highest seats and leverage within the world''s ''negotiation table''.


    "It''s just when his trust in us is at rock bottom and he''s also basically the hidden leader of the current Olympus under Athena''s management." Azazel scratched his head in frustration.


    "Have you already figured out who passed it on to him?", Sirzechs asked.


    "There is no evidence beyond the circumstantial.", answered Ajuka.


    "And who is it?"


    "Yasaka."


    Sirzechs and Azazel both sighed in defeat. They were already expecting her name toe up, but still couldn''t help but feel betrayed when Ajuka revealed it, "She made a bet and won.", muttered the former.


    Azazel also added, "I might have considered the same thing if I were in her position. It''s hard to feel secure when she can''t even leave her territory."


    Ajuka continued fiddling on his console to resume his review of the barrier while saying, "As I only have circumstantial evidence, I can''t confront her. Instead, we should focus on building back the bridge. Thankfully, we still have a bridge called ''Issei''."


    "Issei? I disagree!" Azazel strongly rejected Ajuka''s suggestion, "We can''t use Issei. If we make a mistake somewhere, not just the mutual respect and trust, we might as well be that guy''s enemy! I don''t know about you, but I definitely don''t want to be on the other side of his sword."


    "We can''t use Issei." Sirzechs immediately seconded Azazel''s statement, "But what should be our next course of action? We can''t just sit down here and talk without doing anything. Others will surely take advantage of this. Even now, Michael is having a hard time keeping the others at bay. He''ll soon reach his limits."


    Azazel thought about it for a few seconds before pping the table hard, "Fuck it! Let''s just tell him everything! Since it''s very clear that we can''t beat him in this game, maybe sincerity will do."


    .


    .


    .


    "I''m home~!" Kisuke, without any other urgent things on hand for the first time in a while, arrived at the Belial Mansion and saw the extremely tight security outside.


    However, the first thing that greeted him was a nodachi traveling at high speed aiming directly for his face. Even then Kisuke still had time to think and could properly watch the ''raging boar'' behind the nodachi, ''Hoh? She coated her de with dense Reiatsu-Ki to make it blunt. When did she learn to do something like this? It''s too precise to be just for this specific application and learning that should be harder than most Kidou.''


    While thinking of random things and refusing to address the current issue, Kisuke was hit squarely on the forehead and was sent out of the estate as soon as he got in.


    Kisuke flew over the small city of Belial all the way to the mountainous region where he traumatized Erebus.


    The guards of Belial thought that it was an enemy attack, but thankfully, Sakura immediately went out and reassured everyone that everything was well.


    Aika, on the other hand, had already caught up to Kisuke who was lying down on the ground, and pointed her nodachi at his chest while looking at him with a grave expression, "Do you have something to say?"


    "Are you hoping to hear an apology from me?" Kisuke immediately replied, "But at times like these, I don''t really like issuing empty apologies."


    "Then do you mind getting pummeled for a few hours?"


    "Of course I mind it! I also don''t like being in pain, after all... But if that can do something about your frustration, then I won''t do anything for a few minutes at least."


    Aika silently stared at Kisuke who had already closed his eyes without any remorse for a minute or two before her expression mellowed out and sighed, "I guess that''s the best concession you could give." Keeping her nodachi back, Aika slowly sat down beside him and observed the scenery around them.


    "Oh? You''re not going to do it? Aren''t you mad?"


    "I am... But you''re not really guilty of anything. If anything, I just assaulted you for no reason."


    Kisuke doesn''t know why, but the current Aika seems a lot calmer even prior to when she lost her memories. But that query was promptly answered by her next sentence.


    "You see... I''ve been dreaming... For at least four years."

 Chapter 953 Numbness

    Chapter 953 Numbness


    Aika stayed quiet and just enjoyed the wind blowing on her face.


    However, Kisuke wouldn''t be Kisuke if he didn''t destroy this mood purely for amusement, "Of all the numbers, why the unlucky one?"


    Aika''s calm demeanor instantly disappeared and she smacked Kisuke''s forehead, "Why are you concerned whether it''s unlucky or not!? And you think 4(shi) is unlucky when you represent death(shi) itself!?"


    Kisuke snickered while rubbing his forehead, "That expression is much more suitable for you."


    Aika red at him and asked, "You prefer my angry face more? Since when did you have that kind of preference, you pervert?!"


    Kisuke cozied up to the ground and looked afar, "No. What I meant is that you don''t have to wear a somber expression."


    "Somber?" Aika tilted her head, "Did I look somber to you?"


    But instead of answering, Kisuke directed the conversation elsewhere, "Four years... I don''t know how you did it, but the most you can do in that dream world of yours is move around while talking to your Zanpakuto."


    "It''s Akane and Kaguya." Aika interrupted him.


    "Hm?"


    Aika hugged her nodachi, "Please call them Akane and Kaguya."


    Kisuke looked at the nodachi and smiled, "In that dream world of yours, the most you can do is to move around, talk to Akane-chan and Kaguya-chan, and mope around."


    "Well... That''s true..." Aika answered after a short pause, "But how did you know?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "I''m not sure why you stayed in there for so longpared to the normal flow of time, but this is actually amon urrence among the people like us since it''s a great way tomunicate with our partners. And from how you''re talking about Akane and Kaguya, it looks like it was rtively peaceful."


    Aika thought that it was indeed peaceful. So peaceful in fact, that even ying with Akane and Kaguya became dull as time passed by. Soon, the only thing she could do was move her body around. And since she had a feeling that she couldn''t really do any physical training, she focused on her control and maniption. However, Aika noticed that Kisuke''s phrase was a bit out of ce, "Peaceful... Yes, it was... But it doesn''t sound like that''s always the case?"


    Kisuke went silent for a moment before answering, "...Yoruichi''s Byakko ignores her most of the time while my Benihime would always try to cut and stitch me up into something else... Let''s just say that they each have their own ''unique'' personalities."


    "..." Aika felt her throat dry up as she swallowed her saliva, "...That sounds... very harsh."


    Kisuke sat up, "My point is, it doesn''t matter how long you stayed in that dream world of yours. You probably contemted a lot of things to find some resolutions or answers to your confusion and questions. However, you''re misunderstanding something. The nothingness you went through didn''t actually make you any more mature but you just became numb from all of it."


    Aika was about to say something but Kisuke didn''t let her, "Happy thoughts, sad thoughts, traumatic experiences, great memories, confusion, and resolution... All of them fade once you go through them again and again. Thus, the numbing feeling that you thought was a sign of calmness.


    "To add to that, calmness in front of a situation and choosing the ''right'' decision isn''t a sign of maturity, but thinking over things after calming down from the explosiveness of emotions." Kisuke patted Aika''s head, "Remember, trying to act mature is a sign of immaturity. And now that you''re here, you also have to let go of your original concept of age, since we''re technically almost ageless. In other words, those four years, while worthwhile, are also effectively inconsequential."


    Kisuke stood up and stretched his arms out in the air, "And finally, you''re not a monk searching for enlightenment, but just a simple girl trying to make sense of the vague future."


    Aika looked down and hugged her knees while thinking over Kisuke''s words. As he''d pointed out, she might''ve just been really feeling numb after thinking back to all of what happened after she met Kisuke over and over again. She didn''t ''ept'' the reality she''s in and calm down, but might have just forgotten how it felt to be in those situations. And that scared her, "...That numbing feeling... How do you fix... No... How do you rekindle them?"


    "Even I don''t have a concrete answer for that." At that moment, a hint of fear went through Kisuke''s eyes but Aika failed to catch any of that, "But I think stacking memories on top of your old ones may help. Simply put, just continue experiencing what the world has to offer and you''ll probably never forget those feelings."


    But even with that kind of answer, Kisuke couldn''t help but be a bit fearful. He''s sure that he wouldn''t forget a single thing and he''d even modify his own head to make sure that his memories stayed intact. However, even if he had his memories, he might just one day forget they existed in the first ce. Small but precious memories might stay in his head forever, but there might be a day when he wouldn''t even remember what happened without external stimuli, ''Well, that''s to consider if I''m really going to live that long... Though I do think that it''ll be a good idea to start writing a diary.''


    "That isn''t helpful at all," Aika replied with a pout.


    "It might work for me but not for others so you''ll have to figure that out on your own."


    "Then I''ll just overthink things again."


    Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders, "That''s how life is. Contradictory."


    Aika sighed and stood up beside Kisuke, "...This just threw off my whole n."


    Kisuke turned to her in wonderment and asked, "n? What n?"


    Aika snickered, "Well, I thought I matured even a little bit since I''m technically 22 years old after that time skip so I thought I should be able to advance our rtionship~!" But she soon became deted, "But it turns out that you''re still far away from me. Slow down a bit, will ya?"


    Kisuke just grinned at her, "Me? Slow down? Are you sure you''re asking the right person? I''m not doing that."


    "Figures... No choice but to catch up, huh... But how in the world were you able to ept Sona and Kuroka?"


    Kisuke immediately turned away from her before replying with a softer voice, "...It''s my immaturity at that time. It''s my first time being surrounded like that, you know? The horny me couldn''t stop it."


    It was rare to see Kisuke acting embarrassed, but that''s not what concerned Aika, "So the goal really went further ahead!?" While holding her head, she shouted to herself, "I should have made my move back then!!!"

 Chapter 954 Cosplay

    Chapter 954 Cosy


    Kisuke and Aika returned to the Belial Mansion and the first one to make ament was Sakura, "Hmmm... Did you get it easy this time yet again? Aren''t they spoiling you too much?"


    "That''s not it, Sakura-san." Aika shook her head and wore a wry smile, "I was convinced by his excuse."


    "Even if we say that he''s right, he was too forceful. You should''veined more." Sakura immediately took notice of the way she called her and thought, ''So her n didn''t go through, huh? What a shame.''


    But before Sakura could say something else, ire came running and grabbed Kisuke''s hand, "Kisuke-niisan! You''re finally home! Let''s y!"


    Kisuke dly epted ire''s ''help'' and let himself be pulled to escape from his mother''s nagging, "Alright~ Just for my lovely niece~!"


    Sakura and Aika looked at the escaping Kisuke before they looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, "Let''s go in. It''s been a while since everyone got together. Well, everyone except for Yoruichi and Serafall-sama." Said the former, before following ire and Kisuke.


    Aika also followed Sakura while saying, "I heard that they''ll be callingter."


    "Is that so? Great~!"


    Kisuke, meanwhile, was thinking that there shouldn''t be anything else that''de up and the tugging forces between the factions should stabilize with the absence of the majority of the strongest yers that could easily tip the bnce on one side.


    ''Shiva and Indra are going to be a problem, especially since thetter wants to challenge the former in an all-out war. Not to mention, both of them have strong predicting abilities and mind reading skills that make approaching them quite dangerous.'' However, Kisuke thought that Indra''s 30-year war preparation should have some changes after the appearance of the Evies and the barrier, ''Even he should''ve realized the danger of initiating the war now. If Indra still insists on it, he''ll find more enemies than he can manage and would be quickly deemed as an ''Evil God'' worthy of elimination for the stability of the world.''


    ''Shiva, meanwhile, is passive... And quite frankly, much more annoying than Indra. And his close contact with Ajuka is limiting my degree of freedom. It''s going to be hard to find the real source of the ''future information'' with them watching my every move.'' Kisuke believed that the Gasper di of the future didn''t contact them directly but that a channel was being used. Kisuke wanted to find that channel so that he could formte ns to use it or defend against it depending on the circumstances.


    ''Aside from those two, the only other problem is the Takamagahara. No one really knows why they secluded themselves. A joker card like that is also a bit troublesome. More so when there was no apparent reaction from them even with the appearance of Evies. I need to initiate contact with them soon.''


    Aside from that, the only problems left are opening a small hole in the barrier to get to Yoruichi and Serafall''s side and other projects that were not too urgent.


    ''Right. It has been a while. I''ll use this chance to properly hang out with everyone. Thanks to Great Red, I managed to buy a lot of time.''


    .


    .


    .


    Three months went by and Kisuke distanced himself from research and projects as much as possible while also putting more effort into family time. Naturally, the problems that arose when he raised the barrier hounded him but he gave no answers to anything, including some recruitments ranging fromrge factions to dubious organizations.


    Within those months, various factions searching the outside of the barrier also spotted a build-up of artificial structures on the surface of the moon and upon further inspections, they were the mechanical lifeforms openly setting up a military outpost knowing that none of the earthlings could leave the.


    This sight instantly spread out through the whole supernatural world and gave its inhabitants another wake-up call that they shouldn''t becent.


    There''s one particr moment where the Evie that killed Great Red made his appearance once again at the edge of the barrier and sted it with a golden beam of destructive energy that was as wide as a city and could even potentially destroy the for one whole minute. The barrier rippled throughout the entire Earth, but that was it. Seeing that there were no changes, the Evie left to who knows where, never revealing himself again.


    When Kisuke was watching that, he thought that there might be nothing special about Evie aside from his absurd firepower, ''I have many ways of going around that. Still, I have to make sure.''


    If there were holes in the barrier, it would be the path he created to his Mars base at the inception of the barrier to allow Great Red, now nna, to reach her new body. Using that path, Kisuke would be able to secretly send out probes to gather more information against their enemies and maybe even find the location of their colonies where he could potentially recruit some rebels.


    Returning to his off base after a month to check up on a certain someone, Kisuke could feel nna''s presence the moment he stepped out of the teleporter and she was running toward him with great speed. A few secondster, Kisuke could hear her footsteps akin to a giant''s, and the moment she reached the door, instead of a normal opening, it was sted open just using a push, "Boss! Why did you leave me here all alone!?"


    Before Kisuke could make ament, he saw the attire she was wearing and he immediately recalled its reference, ''Dante from the fourth instation of Devil May Cry, huh...''


    nna was wearing red pants, yet they were almostpletely covered sans her crotch and rear by long, ck leather motorcycle chaps featuring a brown, cowboy boot design around the ankles. She wore ck, loafer-looking boots, and ck gloves exposing her knuckles and index finger on each hand, and her pants were wrapped with a ck belt featuring a silver emblem decorated with a demonic skull. The coat was given a detailed and stylish look with Western and Italian features, and a deep red, almost crimson color. The coat was short-sleeved, with numerous gold-colored studs decorating the shoulders, cor, and chest, with a single zipper on the front.


    Underneath the coat, nna wore a ck, zipped-up undershirt with three sps closed together with ornate, golden buckles, and medium-length sleeves that could be seen passing her shoulders. This undershirt was also zipped up just below her neck and featured an upturned cor thatplemented the one on her coat.


    ''And here I thought she''d choose a Yankee outfit considering her personality and attachment to ''delinquents''.'' Kisuke pointed at the door behind her and replied to her question, "Because I thought you''d be able to control your strength after that much time, but it looks like I was wrong. Go practice your control some more and I''ll take you out of here."


    Kisuke immediately turned around, intending to leave but he heard nna''s crying voice as she hurried over while shouting, "Noooo!!!"


    Kisuke turned around and looked at her pitiful face and thought, ''That attire definitely doesn''t suit an attitude and face like hers. But it''s funny so I''m not gonna point that out.''

 Chapter 955 Toys and Sleep

    Chapter 955 Toys and Sleep


    nna imed that she was already fully capable of controlling her strength and she just got too excited because she''d been trapped for three months doing her strength training.


    While listening to her rapid-fire of excuses with an almost crying face, Kisuke felt a bit of actual pity but also wondered about some things, ''It shouldn''t have been a problem to be left alone for a whole month. Were there some other unforeseen changes when she transferred into this body? Or was this the result of getting killed? I have no way of testing this ''cause I don''t have any initial values on her psyche.''


    In the first ce, Kisuke came here to check on her progress and if she still couldn''t control her strength, he nned to stay and assist her until she could properly do it, "Let''s run some tests before going out."


    "I''m finally going out!?" nna stood up excitedly as if her crying face earlier was a lie.


    "I said after we ran some tests. We can''t have you hurting innocent people just because you bump into them, can we?"


    nna did an exaggerated thinking pose while nodding to herself, "Humu... I see what you mean. If ites down to it, I will have to limit myself."


    "Wait, you could''ve done that?" Kisuke looked at her in surprise.


    In turn, nna looked at her in confusion, "I''m the master of this body so why couldn''t I?"


    Kisuke could only stare at her speechless. Not being able to find any better words, he asked, "If you could''ve done that, why not just do it?"


    nna threw her arms behind her head and answered, "Because I wouldn''t be able to use my strength as fast as I wanted."


    "How fast are we talking about here?"


    nna began tapping her lips and wondered for a short while, "Hmmm... A few seconds or a few minutes? I don''t know."


    Kisuke understood. Even if she could unlock her full strength at any time, it wouldn''t be enough to react to an immediate danger, "Let''s get these tests run before deciding. You can probably change how much you lock and slowly adjust from there if you fail. Though it''d be a lot better if you don''t."


    The tests were done repeatedly in quick session to ensure uracy, which took about three hours. The result is that nna passed, but with arge caveat. She had to concentrate to get passing marks and there''s no way Kisuke would trust that she''d always concentrate. If she is not careful, a single sneeze could level a whole area.


    "I''ll stay and help you with your fine control, but we would have to stay here for some more time. You could also seal your strength and we could leave immediately. Your choice."


    Without hesitation, nna sealed her strength to that of a Middle-ss Devil. After the next set of tests, Kisuke concluded that she''d be fine as long as she was not around normal people, "But wouldn''t further restraining your strength be a better idea?", asked Kisuke while arranging the data he''d gathered for today.


    nna held her hands together as if she was holding a baseball bat before swinging them, "But then I wouldn''t be able to carry a greatsword."


    ''Why do these girls always want giant weapons?'', Kisuke thought to himself, "Do you want a pair of pistols too?", he asked while watching her swing around her imaginary sword.


    nna''s eyes shined, "Oh~ As expected of Boss! You really know your stuff! Make them ck and white!"


    "Right, right." Kisuke replied absentmindedly as he was already designing ''Rebellion'', ''Ivory'', & ''Ebony'' in his head, ''Aesthetics are not a problem, but the functions are going to be a bitplicated. Only her physical abilities are limited so any energy-based attacks could still wipe out a small portion of the map. I could make ''Ivory'' and ''Ebony'' her limiter so that she doesn''t identally discharge when trying out long-range attacks. As for ''Rebellion''... I wonder if I can make something like ''Phasing'' through enemies or objects that she doesn''t intend to destroy? She''s Great Red, so it should be possible to add something like that as long as she''s the one using it''


    "Let''s stay for a week more.", muttered Kisuke.


    "H-huh!?" nna stopped what she was doing and immediately jumped on Kisuke''s shoulders, "But why!?"


    Kisuke stayed stoic despite the ''child'' on top of his head, "Because I have to make your weapons. We could also leave now, but I won''t be able to leave your side for some time to check on you."


    "Ughhhh..." nna wanted to go out, but she also didn''t want to give up the weapons. Because of the way Kisuke presented it to her, it looks like she only has one choice, "Then what should I do to pass time!?"


    "Err... Continue practicing or just sleep?"


    nna stopped struggling and stared down at Kisuke, "...Sleep?"


    Kisuke was surprised and looked up at her, "...Could it be that you haven''t thought of it?"


    nna got off Kisuke slowly and said, "How do you sleep?"


    "..."


    After a full 12 hours of ssroom session about sleep, Kisuke was finally able to push the right buttons and finally gave nna the urge to pass out, "I must say, I''m doing a miracle''s work here. How did I manage to teach her to sleep?" Kisuke muttered to himself while watching nna peacefully snore on the high-ss bed he''d prepared.


    ''Wait... She''ll wake up, right? She knows how to wake up, right!?'' Kisuke got a little nervous but soon discarded his worries, ''If pushes to shove, I''ll just toss her at Ophis to be sted.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke was able to finish nna''s ''training wheels'' in the form of a greatsword and a pair of pistols within a week. Thankfully, Kisuke was able to wake nna up rtively easily. And by rtively, it just took a single punch to the forehead that was enough to instantly turn a normal person into mangled flesh.


    "Oh!!!!! That was great!!!!!" While her forehead was still smoking, nna eximed with her ahoge swinging left and right as she inspected her ''weapons'', "I''m going to test this on that shitty ck!"


    Back on Earth, Ophis was ying with her friends when her eyes suddenly widened as she stood up.


    "Ophis-chan? What''s wrong?", asked Akeno, who was the one tasked with looking after them.


    Ophis wanted to answer but she couldn''t really understand it either, "...What was that?"

 Chapter 956 The Great Arrival

    Chapter 956 The Great Arrival


    "Why do you think he gathered us here?"


    Irina asked as she was the first one to step into the underground base that Kisuke had dug under his candy shop. Behind her was everyone who''d already stepped onto the other world previously, plus Sakura.


    "Apparently, he''s going to introduce us to someone.", Sakura answered while tapping on her smartphone, "But did it really have to be this secretive?"


    Sakura''s question was everyone''s primary concern. If it was just anyone, Kisuke would just bring that person directly to the mansion. But for him to arrange something that would bring them out of the spotlight, they couldn''t really think of anyone deserving of such an effort from him.


    Akeno, meanwhile, turned to Riveria who was staggering on her feet and assisted her, "Are you alright? When was thest time you slept?"


    Riveria leaned her shoulder against Akeno and smiled at her, "Thank you. I''m fine, just a bit dizzy." She''d been awake for a whole week now and was trying to cram as much knowledge as she could because she didn''t know when she could have this kind of environment. But because of Kisuke''s sudden call and her wanting to go too, she underestimated her fatigue and only realized how bad she was doing when she finally started walking around again.


    Medusa approached them and checked on Riveria''s condition, "...The lodging should still be clean and functional thanks to the preserving Magic, please take a rest there."


    "I''ll take her there." Akeno lent her shoulder and grabbed her waist before bringing out her ck wings and flying towards the old lodging.


    Sona looked at them while saying, "She''s far too much of a workaholic." These past few months, their group had been mostly rxing by going on vacation to scenic spots, on individual dates, and just generallyzing around. It had been a while so they enjoyed it quite a lot and it also had the effect of confusing all the eyes that had been gathering on them and were suspicious that they were up to no good because only Kisuke had theplete control of the barrier.


    Kuroka approached from behind her and said with a teasing tone, "As if you''re any better, nya~! You and the others were way worse just because you finally learned how to stave off sleep from Kisuke."


    Sona slowly turned to her with aplicated expression and tried to deny it, "It wasn''t that bad... I think. I mean I at least don''t think that was pushing it?"


    "No." Medusa immediately rejected her notion, "You were way worse. The days that you didn''t break a bone were very rare, your sparring sessions wouldst for days to a week without you noticing and you would immediately go out and hunt to test what you''d learnt for the sole reason that you wanted to do it because it was still fresh in your heads. After that, you''d all return to take a few hours of sleep before diving back to the training."


    "...Was it really that bad?"


    Kuroka nodded her head, "It was bad. But it was also our fault since none of us really stopped you because you kept going without any problems, nyaa. It seems like you entered some sort of trance during that time and we didn''t want to interrupt it. Of course, I also joined the training, but I couldn''t enter the same trance so I would often leave to take a breather."


    "..." Sona didn''t know what to say, ''We did first learn how to live without any sustenance and befortable with it when needed... But was ourmon sense really that warped?''


    The eyes of the other girls who heard them talking became distant. Sakura, on the other hand, sighed while shaking her head, ''...They''ve gotten plenty of rest, but it looks like I''ll have to arrange for some form of rehabilitation. I can''t have them spread their insane methods to others or they''ll be killing someone sooner orter... and not physically, which makes this way worse in a sense.''


    At that moment, a ck line drew itself in the space in front of the group before opening like a mouth, revealing a ck space. Within that darkness, a young woman with ming red hair stepped out with arge smile on her face.


    She was wearing a strange attire, but none of them noticed that as their eyes all went straight to her face, which was very familiar despite being ''aged'' a little.


    The red-haired teenager''s smile grewrger while watching everyone''s expressions and opened her mouth, "Wahahaha~! I''ve re---"


    But before she could finish her words, the always passive Ophis suddenly sprung into action without any prior warning. Pouncing at the woman with the same face as her before punching her straight in her nose with all of the physical strength avable to her at the moment, sending the neer flying across the wide underground hideout and hitting the wall, which caused a small earthquake.


    With the shockwave of wind blowing on their faces, no one could properly react to what was happening and could only stare nkly as Ophis leaped once again to follow the red trail.


    Thanks to the barrier surrounding the hideout, the walls only cracked a little. nna, though, was a bit taken aback because she was not expecting such an energetic greeting and saw that Ophis was shortening their distance again, still rearing her fist back to give her another punch, "What was that for, you shitty ck!?"


    But Ophis ignored her protest and silently threw another punch straight at her face.


    nna gritted her teeth and pulled out the skull-themed greatsword from behind her to block Ophis''s fist.


    In the distance, everyone heard a loud nk and saw the red and ck silhouettes bouncing away from each other.


    Seeing the chance to test out her new toy, nna immediately lunged forward to retaliate by swinging her greatsword horizontally.


    Ophis watched the sword from her side, but as someone who doesn''t have much of an idea on how close quartersbat works, she just watched it without doing anything to intercept or block it since ire and the others weren''t around her for her to act like a tank.


    The sword hit Ophis'' nk... Or at least that''s what should have happened but the sword just went through Ophis and didn''t hurt her in any way.


    "..."


    "..."


    nna and Ophis stared at each other before the former swung her sword back, resulting in the same oue.


    nna didn''t know what was wrong with her greatsword and kept swinging it left and right but it kept doing nothing. Ophis, meanwhile, was slightly amused and followed it with her eyes.


    Finally, nna swung her great downwards. Although it broke the earth beneath Ophis'' feet, it still did nothing to the target herself.


    "..."


    "..."


    "...Hey... cky... Why don''t we talk this out?"


    Ophis''s reply was another punch to her face.

 Chapter 957 The Unreasonable Dragons

    Chapter 957 The Unreasonable Dragons


    Before anyone could notice, the rift in space had already disappeared and Kisuke was standing with everyone, "Ophis, make sure not to use any energy sts!" He shouted, "I don''t want this ce to be destroyed beyond repair."


    Ophis briefly looked at him and nodded before renewing her attacks against the fleeing nna.


    nna, meanwhile, shouted at Kisuke, "Boss! What is this useless thing!? It''s defective! It doesn''t cut!"


    "I specially made it for you and just for you. You''re the only one who can use that.", Kisuke replied.


    nna''s face lit up in delight and turned her head to him, "Really!?" But her happy expression disappeared as fast as it appeared when she remembered the position she was in, "But it''s still use-" In the middle of speaking, nna received another punch to the face and was thrown back.


    Kisuke watched Ophis getting excited and tried to guess from where ''Is it because she can beat up Great Red now? Or is it because she''s d to see her?'' At that moment, Kisuke felt a pull on his sleeve, "Hmm?" He looked down and saw Lilith staring at him.


    Kisuke crouched and patted her head, "How about you go join them? This is your first time meeting her, isn''t it? It''s fine to give your greeting like Ophis is doing."


    Lilith''s eyes lit up as soon as she got the permission she didn''t actually need to get before flying towards the two Dragons in Humanoid form, "...Dumb Red...", she called out to her.


    nna saw hering and her face fell, "Even small cky!? Give it a rest!" Finally throwing her ''useless'' greatsword away, nna pulled out the ck and white pistols from her holsters. Pointing each of them on the ''twins'', she started pulling the trigger nonstop. As they do not operate like normal pistols despite their appearance, she doesn''t need to reload them and instead of physical bullets, they spew forth red bullets made out of her condensed aura without much dy between each other.


    Naturally, most of the bullets missed their targets, but since Ophis and Lilith weren''t dodging, they still got hit by one bullet each and were thrown a meter back back.


    With something finally taking effect, the three of them stopped for a moment before nna began gloating to herself while raising her already beloved pistols, "Wooo~!!! This is the stuff!"


    Thanks to the ying field leveling out, their game of tag became even more destructive, but thankfully, the barrier could still hold up.


    "Kisuke... Could it be..." Sakura approached Kisuke and muttered. Although they were confused at first, everyone except for the kids managed to connect the dots to guess who the red-haired ''Ophis'' is and they became even more sure of it the way Lilith called her.


    "She''s the one who offered her former body to be used as the core of the barrier after concluding that she couldn''t win against the invader."


    "Did you pull out his soul before he died?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "If I did something like that, the chances of the invader following were high. That guy indeed followed, but he went after the dead body and that made a big difference. Besides, it''s true that Great Red was killed at that time." ''Though I''m not sure if Great Red has something like a soul that I could recognize and pull out.''


    "...Then how?"


    Kisuke stared at the fleeing nna for a few seconds before answering, "I''m not sure either. Great Red is the True Dragon of Dreams... But I think it''s more urate to ssify her as an ''illusion'' that has turned real. She''s real, but she''s also just an illusion that became alive through dreams. I would guess that she''s an ''unkible'' being as long as no one can separate her from the concept of ''dreams'' and ''illusions'' like how Ophis will never cease to exist as long as she''s ''infinite''. That''s just how unreasonable these ''Dragons'' are."


    Kisuke has always wondered how Aizen, who just stepped into transcendence, was more powerful than Great Red and Ophis who were born into it. But then, he realized that transcendence wasn''t just about power like how he believed. In a sense, Aizen''s unbridled disy of power blinded Kisuke from the truth.


    ''It''s the state of existence... Aizen''s [Evolution] is still below the Soul King''s [Soul], Great Red''s [Dream], and Ophis''s [Infinite]. It wasn''t even clear if Aizen really has [Evolution] or something else. But that vagueness is what puts him below thetter three.''


    Kisuke then looked at her own hands and thought, ''Then in my case, what state of existence will I achieve?'' Because he doesn''t know what he''s trying to be in the first ce, Kisuke sees himself as far inferiorpared to Aizen who knew exactly what he wanted.


    "What are you thinking about?" Sakura''s face came into Kisuke''s view, disconnecting him from his thoughts.


    Kisuke smiled wryly and shook his head, "It''s nothing."


    He turned to everyone and the first thing he saw were ire and Tanis making worried expressions while watching the fight that had been brewing for countless years finally break out. Kisuke approached them and matched their eye levels, "Are you worried?"


    ire and Tanis looked at each other before turning back to him and nodding.


    Kisuke patted their heads and exined, "There''s nothing to worry about. That''s just how people like them y. They aren''t actually hurting each other."


    Those few sentences instantly calmed the two little girls and those who were watching thought that they had way too much faith in Kisuke. ire then thought about it for a few seconds and asked Kisuke something he wasn''t really expecting, "So if I want to join, I have to be strong?"


    Kisuke and the others were a bit taken aback by her question, "...You want to join them?"


    Kisuke''s question made Tanis raise her hand and said, "I want to join them too!"


    Kisuke could feel Sakura''s intense stare on his back so he didn''t dare turn around, ''It''s not my fault! I promised!'' he shouted internally.


    He tried to think of a good answer, but Kisuke didn''t really want to disappoint the girls by saying that they can''t really y that ''game'' since that would defeat the purpose of hard work and achieving things in the realm of possibility. In other words, it was all his fault for thinking like this.


    "...Er... If you train enough, maybe you''ll be able to join them? But they can y other games too, you know."


    "We want to y those too!"


    ire''s answer, which shouldn''t havee out of a kid''s mouth while such destruction was happening behind him, gave Kisuke a cold sweat down his back and thought, ''I''m going to get a scolding...''


    Kisuke tried to ask for help from the others, but Irina, Koneko, Kuroka, Sona, Aika, and even Medusa averted their gaze.


    Kisuke clicked his tongue and returned his sights to ire and Tanis. He then pointed toward the girls behind them and said, "Nii-chan will be busy, but you could ask your Nee-chans to help you." He chose to dump the problem on them entirely instead.


    The girls wanted to protest but as soon as ire and Tanis turned to them with expectant eyes, they couldn''t do anything to resist. Meanwhile, Kisuke slowly backed away to escape, ''Finally some peaceful days ahead, I guess? Although it''s a bit regretful that I won''t be able to spend it with Yoruichi for now.''


    .


    .


    .


    Five years went by without anything big happening if we go by Kisuke''s standards. In reality, massive turmoils were happening left and right and the most notable of it all was the Human World was already on the verge of a third World War due to a sh of those who''d epted Magic and those who''d rejected it, with thetter mostly predominated by those who wanted to cling to their power and authority using nuclear technology.


    And the person who started all of this waszily lying down on his side in his empty candy shop while watching the news of Issei''s marriage with Rias, Asia, Xenovia, Rossweisse, and Ravel that had happened a week ago through his old CRT television that was connected directly to the Underworldwork.


    ''Considering how horny he is, it''s surprising that he hasn''t had a child yet.'' He thought while sucking on a lollipop, ''I guess he''s scared to have one in this world of fake stability.''


    Kisuke wanted to change the channel because he had already watched this news multiple times on top of being one of the attendees, but his hand stopped when he was about to reach for the remote and looked towards the entrance of his shop.


    He slowly sat up and opened his paper fan and covered his mouth, "Wee~ Please feel free to look around, Kanzaki Mitsuya-san."


    The young man who''d just entered had a deep frown on his face.

 Chapter 958 Narrowing the Gap Between Two Worlds

    Chapter 958 Narrowing the Gap Between Two Worlds


    Mitsuya Kanzaki. A ck-haired handsome young man with a mysterious aura surrounding him. He''s one of the strongest Humans alongside Arthur, Tobio, Vasco, and Cao Cao due to being the owner of the two Longinus'', Innovate Clear, and Telos Karma.


    With a big frown and ring eyes, Mitsuya brushed off Kisuke''s wee, "Cut the crap. Why did you lure me here?"


    Kisuke wasn''t fazed and replied, "Nothing much~ I''m just really interested in your organization CrossXKiss (XxX) which has only two members, including you. And well... Your fake outward rtionship with Ajuka-sama."


    Mitsuya''s expression immediately went neutral as he turned around to leave, "Nothing you should be concerned about."


    "My~ You''re already leaving? Why don''t you have some tea first?"


    Mitsuya stopped walking and turned to his side before grabbing one of the candies on disy and tossing a coin to Kisuke, "We have nothing to talk about."


    Kisuke caught the coin and watched Mitsuya leave until he disappeared from his sight. He then opened his hand and took a look at the coin before smiling, ''That''s enough for now.''


    These past few years, Kisuke wanted to figure out a few things and one of his investigations led him to the young man of Issei''s age. Mitsuya was by no means an unknown person and was even openly hostile towards Ajuka''s faction while also beingbeled as dangerous by Grigori. However, Kisuke noticed a few discrepancies that led him to think that there was something else going on with their rtionship that only Ajuka and Azazel knew.


    Kisuke dugged up Mitsuya''s past but he couldn''t go any deeper because he didn''t want to get noticed. Even then, he thought that his past was too ''empty'' and that even the information regarding previous owners of the Innovate Clear and Telos Karma before they were transferred to him are very ''thin''.


    At some point, Kisuke got a small clue, but that clue was enough for him to change his line of thinking toward Mitsuya and lured him to his shop to make sense of the young man. Although their exchange was short and it looks like he was avoiding a topic, Mitsuya still provided Kisuke with a way to contact him.


    Kisuke kept the coin along with some of his important stuff and pulled out his smartphone. He navigated to the app that''s connected to the measuring devices that were hidden all over his shop and looked through all the values he managed to pull from Mitsuya, ''...Hmmm... So it''s not that he can''t use their full capabilities because he''s just their temporary owner like others have thought... These values, although not conclusive, still suggest that both Innovate Clear and Telos Karma are iplete.''


    After sorting out the data he gathered, Kisuke went back to lying down and finally changed the channel, and this time, it was a news channel for the Japanese Network.


    [...After days of waiting, we are finally going to meet the leaders of these mysterious beings that apparently have been hiding from most of us until three years ago.]


    One of the news anchors said with a solemn expression.


    [Here in Tokyo Dome, the leaders of the Underworld, Heaven, and the Grigori are going to address the current vtile situation of the whole world.]


    For a few minutes, the news anchor summarized the current events that led to the current situation where one country could just suddenly explode into violence starting from when the Underworld suddenly announced the existence of Soul Gears and began distributing them to buyers.


    It only took a few months before the Soul Gears became the mainstream equipment as they were much more reliable and easier to control than Sacred Gears. On top of that, it has a price unlike thetter so a faction only has to have money and influence to build an army.


    But because of its loose regtions thanks to the Belial House''s maniptions and the threat building up outside the barrier, each faction spared no effort to acquire these Soul Gears and even its manufacturing methods. Although they were unsessful with thetter even after receiving a blueprint through some means, the Soul Gears users soon spilled from the control of some factions due to theirrge numbers.


    This spill then soon went over into the secr world where world leaders tried to take advantage of them to gain an upper hand against theirpetitors.


    But because the Alliance wanted to bolster the world''s strength, it was already toote when they did something to stop the oversupply of Soul Gears when the world leaders too started losing control of the army they didn''t understand.


    Just two years after its introduction, the Soul Gears had managed to enter the hands of normal people and appear in the Human World news.


    To control the situation from declining further and add effective regtions since it was impossible to round up everyone who had them, the Alliance had no choice but to announce their existence and exin what these weapons were. Of course, doing that also had its own consequences, mainly, the rise of radical forces that wanted to go along with the new world order and those who rejected it.


    Naturally, as the originator of these Soul Gears, the Belial House took the me for its irresponsible distribution of the weapons. However, no real sanctions could be levied against them aside from being branded as viins. Even with the help of some of the top nobles in the Underworld because of the support of some Houses that invested in the project and the influence they''d gathered through the same distribution.


    Still, the power and security that the Soul Gears had was undeniable, and with them being arge portion of power that could fight against the Evies, they couldn''t discard it. As long as the world is dependent on the Soul Gears, no one could really touch the Belial House.


    It was then that shes from the cameras illuminated the stage behind the news anchor before three figures stepped out. The first one was the twelve-winged Angel that was also known as the most beautiful flower of Heaven, Gabriel. Following closely behind her was a ten-winged Fallen Angel and the current Governor General of Grigori, Shemhazai.


    And thest one to appear was not any less striking, a man in full crimson armor with green gems embedded on different parts of his armor. He''s one of the current Devil Kings and in the Human world, nothing much was known about him aside from he''s called Devil King Crimson or Crimson Heavenly Dragon.


    It was the first time these three had appeared in the Human World, so they instantly sparked murmurs from the surroundings and those devout believers even started praying and crying at Gabriel''s presence.


    "Now then, I wonder what sort of y they are brewing? If they can''t resolve the problem in one go, it''s going to give them a headache in the future.", Kisuke muttered as he reached out for his snacks.

 Chapter 959 End of Book 14:: Start of a New Era

    Chapter 959 End of Book 14:: Start of a New Era


    Throughout the whole world, people were watching the current scene in the Tokyo Dome. And because only the press was allowed to enter the establishment, the 40,000 seats felt a bit empty.


    On the outside, however, thousands of people had gathered for this momentous event with most of them being devout believers of different religions. With the amount of visible security in the vicinity, there''d be no stopping them if they decided to rush in. But only if the organizers were using Human methods.


    A thin barrier separated the Tokyo Dome from the people and if there was a threat of a stampede, multiple spells were also prepared to separate the crowd with healers stationed all around in case of injury or health problems.


    Just this arrangement was enough for the people to see the potential of Magic and how much it could advance civilization as a whole. Then again, the big question is why they were left in the dark all this time?


    After a while, the organizer of this press conference stepped up and raised his voice, "Silence!"


    His voice carried Magic that spread everywhere and made all the murmuring and shes stop. But unlike normal Sound Magic that carried forcefulness against normal people, his voice was soothing and instead calmed everyone. He was one of the new receivers of the Soul Gear that could develop depending on one''s aptitude and his had transformed into that of a simple ne that puts various powers into his voice.


    Although not very strong, it was useful in many scenarios, especially in diplomatic talks. He''s also one of the registered safe Soul Gear users as his power doesn''t actuallypel anyone but only gives him a favorable impression at most.


    Immediately after, the organizer stepped down and gave the stage to the three leaders.


    The one in the middle, Gabriel, walked to the center of the stage while radiating with Holy Aura and made everyone feel a pleasant warmth, "Good day everyone." But immediately after her greeting, Gabriel''s expression changed to that of regret, "First, I''d like to apologize for letting the situation devolve into what it is now. It was our oversight and-"


    However, her words were interrupted by arge, ring siren.


    "An air raid?" One of the journalists muttered in nervousness and before they could discuss what was going on, one of the organizers came running in full panic while shouting, "Ms. Gabriel! This is bad! A nuclear warhead is headed this way!"


    Kisuke who was watching this chuckled to himself, "What a bad actor." But after seeing this, he finally figured out what they were trying to do.


    That announcement sent everyone into a panic too and strangely enough, his voice was also carried to the thousands of people outside but no one really has enough time to think about this small detail.


    At that time, Gabriel raised her hand and Holy Aura exploded from her hand, covering everyone, "Please calm down, everyone."


    They are still panicking, but thanks to Gabriel''s Magic, they were able to regain some reason, "How could we calm down!? It''s a nuclear warhead! Unless it''s intercepted, we are all going to die here!" One of them shot back.


    Gabriel smiled wryly but she didn''t try to exin herself anymore and just turned to her left, "Is... Mr. Crimson, if you please."


    The man in full crimson armor nodded to her before turning to the guy that came in and asked in a very deep voice, "From which direction is iting?"


    "...Y-yes?... Ummh, I mean two originated from the vicinity of Pu while three were detectedunched from the Bering Sea!"


    It looks like Mr. Crimson had studied Geography well, as he was able to immediately figure out which direction they wereing from, "South and Northeastern, huh... This is troublesome..." He said while rubbing the chin of his helmet.


    Everyone wondered what he was going to use that information for but while Mr. Crimson was struggling, the roof of the stadium was sted open with an explosion. The people inside screamed at the top of their lungs and started running away like headless chickens to avoid the falling debris. But before any ident could happen, Shemhazai immediately shielded everyone from harm using a barrier, "...Please, Mr. White. There''s a proper entrance.", he said while sighing.


    On the newly opened roof, a full white and winged armored man came floating down, "I came because it looks like you need some assistance."


    "They even managed to pull Vali-san into this y? They''re pulling out all the stops!" Kisukemented on his appearance.


    With the whole world watching, Mr. Crimson and Mr. White both flew out of the dome and used their Longinus Smasher in opposite directions. A minuteter, confirmation of intercepted nuclear warheads was announced causing everyone to cheer.


    Nevertheless, the attack didn''t end there as hundreds of missiles also came flying in from Japanese shores. This time, the two Devil Kings didn''t have to move as inhabitants of the Supernatural World moved to secure the whole nation.


    Kisuke then reached out to his remote and turned off the television. He already lost interest because he already knew how this was going to end so he''d rather spend his time in a more meaningful way. Naturally, the press conference was also canceled and moved to another date.


    The next day, Kisuke turned on the news again to hear additional information. The intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles came from a number of hijacked nuclear submarines and the hundreds of Sea-to-Surface missiles also came from the hijacked fleets that originated from many countries.


    Although there was no damage from the nuclear warheads, several areas were leveled by the missiles, but miraculously, there were zero casualties.


    ''By announcing that the leaders would do a press conference, the radicals saw that as a big chance to prove that they were not invincible. Even then, there would be no way for them to get hold of the strongest weapons of mankind without any kind of assistance.'', thought Kisuke while listening.


    Of course, he knew that those who supported them were the Alliance themselves. By giving them the chance and giving them the tools, they were able to push the radicals to move. And by catching them in the act, they were able to round most of them up while also presenting themselves as heroes while showing the enormous difference in power that even Humanity''s strongest sword couldn''t hurt them.


    And the reason why there were damages despite them being fully capable of mitigating it is that they also wanted to show that they were not omnipotent or omniscient. This, in turn, will make them look like they still have weaknesses and they''d be more rtable instead of untouchable and the masses would feel intimidated and oppressed.


    This day, in the history books, would mark the start of the transition from a pure Science civilization into a Magic-Science civilization.

 Chapter 960 Book 15:: New Era

    Chapter 960 Book 15:: New Era


    Another two years went by after the intentionally botched press conference, and while therger and stronger countries were able to retain their own control, most of the smaller ones came under the control of the Alliance or some other factions that worshiped them without the public''s knowledge. This was the best concession they could make to mix the Human World with the Supernatural World.


    And what was the reason they gave to exin why this was only happening now? It''s because the Supernatural World was very susceptible to developing conflicts and wars and every time the weak Humans got involved in it, it was always them who suffered the most. Of course, that already changed due to modernization and peace treaties between mythologies.


    Of course, some people would be able to notice this but even if they revealed it to the public, with the Alliance sharing their technology with these smaller nations, they were able to solve most of the problems guing them. From housing problems to transportation of goods to hard-to-reach areas, the Alliance was able to boost each of these countries'' economies by opening up many industries rted to Magic.


    And the most important aspect, energy, was easily solvable with Magic Power being converted to traditional electricity. Because the Magic Power they usees directly from the Dimensional Gap where there''s a nigh limitless amount of it, it''d only take a few years before everyone adapted to this cheaper and clean source of energy that would be enough to support civilization until it reached the interster level.


    Even among the Alliance, where most were not in favor of mixing the Human World and the Supernatural World, could now see the potential of where the world was heading and began to ept the inevitable with greater enthusiasm, especially the old Gods who had been dreaming of returning to their home world and see what it had be.


    Naturally, it was not all smooth sailing. These new Magic industries were on the rise but many were also going down and causing a bit of damage and noneptance from some people. Though thanks to the radicals being removed so early on, most of what came out were rtively peaceful protests.


    [As the food, water, and shelter insecurities are being solved worldwide, a sizable amount of the poption, especially the younger ones, are now focused and determined to acquire the new skills being presented to them.]


    Kisuke was shopping for some groceries when the digital billboard caught his attention.


    [But although there are numerous courses rted to Magic, the trend of takingbat-rted courses despite its strict requirements and tests for entry is rising up among young adults. An interview and poll were conducted among these people and what seems to be the leading cause is "fantasy bing reality" and idolization of the newly established Magic Peacekeeping Order under the Alliance.]


    [I agree with their sentiments, partner. After growing up in a pop culture full of fantasy-like Magic, it''s like a dreame true for most. And with the newly established order rounding up the violent criminals while risking their lives, they look like heroes to the masses.]


    [Even then, it''s still a worrying trend. Why do we even need this manybat-rted courses? Aren''t we at peace?]


    Kisuke then continued walking while thinking, ''I wonder when will they reveal that the world could be destroyed by aliens in the future?''


    And while crossing the road, Kisuke saw a roaming drone that was projecting holographic images and advertising the popr new school created on a man-made floating ind that was currently in the middle of the pacific, the Ouroboros Academy.


    It was centered around the new courses and started epting students three years ago. And in the middle of it was someone important to Kisuke.


    It took almost half an hour of walking to get back to his candy shop and before he could approach, he saw a ck futuristic car without any wheels parked in front of it, ''That''s Aika''s newest design. So they''ve already begun manufacturing it.''


    Kisuke just took a quick peek at the car but couldn''t see its interior thanks to the security feature added to it while thinking, ''There''s only one who''s free right now who could''vee home.''


    As soon as he opened the entrance to the living space of the shop, Kisuke was greeted by a pair ofdies'' high heels shoes and a familiar scent.


    "I''m home." Kisuke audibly said whileing in.


    From the kitchen, Akeno, who had matured throughout the years, came peeking out with an apron over her officedy attire, "Wee back~ Have you eaten yet? Will you be able to join me for lunch?"


    Kisuke ced down his groceries while answering, "Not yet. And I already missed your nikujaga so I''m looking forward to it."


    Akeno smiled gleefully and went back, "Great~ I only need a few more minutes so please prepare the table."


    While they were enjoying their lunch, Kisuke could feel the presence of multiple people stalking the ce and they were not the usual people who watch Kisuke from time to time, "You''re the Minister of Magic Development and Security, not some celebrity. Why is the media still hounding you? It''s been a while since you''ve taken the position."


    Akeno sighed, "I also don''t know what else they could possibly want. I''ve already answered their important questions so they''re probably just there to find something they could write about."


    The Ministry of Magic Development and Security. A newly established Ministry in Japan to deal with anything Magic rted, especially the distribution and regtion of Soul Gears that were already reaching the market for normal people. It''d gained a lot of attention not just because of its Magic-rted activities and a very young woman being the first Minister, but also because it got a special status at its inception.


    Due to the Japanese Government not knowing how to deal with this new world, MMDS was made with a special authority, allowing it to enact edicts and policies that don''t need the Diet''s approval. This allowed the MMDS to respond immediately to new issues or threats. Of course, such an agency couldn''t have this kind of power permanently so it was given a decade to have its own autonomy while also training the required manpower to operate it.


    Although it was an unprecedented move, many countries also adopted a simr action for an easier transition.


    Recalling something, Akeno added after chewing her food, "Ah... Could they have already known about the new bill?"


    "New bill?"


    "It''s a new public safety bill that''s about to be proposed. This bill will require everyone to reveal their real physical features, or at least a part of them in public ces. This is to cate the anxious people that there are non-Humans that could easily hurt them hiding in the public. If they could at least see them, the ordinary people will be able to calm down."


    "Sounds like the first solution you''de up with for aplex problem. It''s horrible."


    "It is. But I don''t have a say in it since my authority is only within Magic-rted issues. This is a MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) policy."


    While Akeno had autonomy with her actions, it''s only applicable when it''s within certain parameters. But thanks to this limited autonomy, other policymakers don''t like her very much and her opinions on other matters would often be discarded or even outright avoided. In other words, it''s politicians ying politics. Instead of thinking more about the problems and formting better solutions, they''d rather follow the public''s outcry without any regard to what it could cause and win the popr vote.

 Chapter 961 Hidden Conflicts

    Chapter 961 Hidden Conflicts


    Before they finished their lunch, Akeno''s security was able to sort out all those who were holding recording devices, so when it was finally time to leave, there were no more people around to bother her.


    After a small peck on the cheek, Akeno went inside her new car, but before she started it, she remembered something, "By the way, Rias asked me to remind you about Ex''s first birthday party."


    "That''s next week, isn''t it?"


    Akeno nodded, "The Ouroboros Academy''s faculty also has a day off around that time, so everyone from there should be able to attend."


    "What about Irina and Aika?"


    "Irina said that she''ll do something about her schedule while there''s been no word from Aika. Her doors are still locked and we aren''t sure when she''sing out this time..." Akeno then gave him a meaningful look and added, "And she probably won''t unless someone can drag her out."


    "Fine. I''ll bring her out and get some gifts. Be careful on your way and contact me if there''s something urgent."


    Akeno sighed, "Although we''re quite busy, we''re all alright. In fact, we''re more worried about you. You''ve been sneaking ''outside'', aren''t you? We know you''re capable, but it''s still too dangerous. This isn''t just your problem but the whole world''s. Don''t try to carry all of it on your own."


    Kisuke patted her head and ruffled her hair a little, "I''m being careful, so don''t worry about it."


    "...If you say so..." Although reluctant, Akeno couldn''t really say anything else as she already knew the man known as Kisuke.


    Akeno started the car and it began floating off the ground. As she left, she thought back to the conversation they had and felt helpless, ''As expected, only Yoruichi can really force him to back down. Too bad she''s still on the other side. ording to Aika, it should only take her less than a month to punch a hole in the barrier.''


    For these past seven years, Kisuke had beenying low and it was Yoruichi''s idea to delegate most of the tasks he had to the other girls. Although he could have finished opening up the path to the world where Yoruichi, Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis were a lot earlier, Yoruichi thought that it was about time for the others to get some real work done and everyone unanimously agreed to her.


    With that in mind, Sona established the Ouroboros Academy which was independent of the prominent powers to kick start the strengthening of thebat and logistic abilities of the whole world. As she won''t be able to run it on her own and she didn''t really want to hire for any position close to her since they''d just be infested by spies, Medusa took on the role of Vice-Principal.


    Meanwhile, Koneko, Kuroka, and Riveria served as Martial Arts Instructor, Youjutsu Instructor, and Magic Instructor respectively.


    And to assist in the integration of the Human World to the Supernatural World, Akeno and Irina both took a role in the Human World with the former bing the Minister of the newly built ministry while thetter became a General for the Alliance''s Peacekeeping Order.


    Meanwhile, Aika did most of Kisuke''s work by bing a Magic and Soul Engineer. After four years of studying under Kisuke, she began to focus on her own studies while also taking care of the opening in the barrier.


    Naturally, no matter how much she studied, she could only take a fraction of Kisuke''s work and she was only able to work on the barrier thanks to Yoruichi''s suggestion. While Aika could now craft tools that could affect souls, something like Gigai research is still too much for her, much less the Soul Gears.


    Even then, the only real work left for Kisuke, thanks to the girl''s intervention, was the preparation for Chaos, taking further control of the Sacred Gear System, analyzing the Evies and Etouldes, and finally, the World-Tying Rite.


    This also helped himy low and avoid getting involved with the current world events as there were just too many people allergic to his presence, so any movement from him would elicit some kind of reaction for better or worse.


    And what was worrying Akeno and the girls the most was the third one. Since he had ess to his Mars base, it was also very easy for him to get behind enemy lines to observe them. Although he was not telling them how much he was observing them, they were afraid that he was actually stepping into their spacecraft.


    In fact, they were correct to worry since Kisuke didn''t just step into their spacecraft but also began to reverse engineer their hardware and software, which was proving to be very difficult because it used an entirely different system and way of thinking.


    Akeno''s phone began to ring and she immediately answered it after seeing the caller, "Bennia, how was it?"


    [It''s just as you''d guessed, Akeno-neesan. The people you''d marked have been assisting the smugglers to export Soul Gears.]


    Akeno gritted her teeth while asking, "What about your team?"


    [As instructed, I''ve been feeding them false information so it''s just me who knows about this.]


    "Good. Retreat for now and make sure to carefully erase your tracks."


    [Retreat? But shouldn''t we stop them?]


    Akeno shook her head, "I would love to, but it''s only going to get harder once we reveal that we''re on their tail."


    [...Understood. I''ll be contacting you directly if I find something else.]


    "Good work and take care."


    Akeno ended the call and couldn''t help but sigh once again, ''Indra is still thinking of raising his army even in this kind of situation. And we can''t actually directly stop him since that''s just the type of provocation he would want.''


    Akeno didn''t know what kind of motivation Indra had to go against Shiva despite the enemies camping outside, ''And he even managed to get Takamahagara''s help... Ugh... My head is aching...''


    Akeno parked to the side and picked her phone up again and dialed a number. After a few seconds, someone answered, [What can I do for you, ma''am?]


    "Cancel everything I have from this afternoon and the next two days."


    [What reason should I give them?]


    "Just tell them that I''m personally doing a high-profile investigation."


    [Understood. I''ll arrange it. Will that be everything?]


    "I''ll call you again if I need something else."


    Akeno ended the call and dialed another number, "Hello? Sona? I''ming over."


    Akeno then changed the GPS guide on her car''s console while thinking, ''We have to think of a way to deter him... If we can''t, we have to take him down in an instant and stop many tragedies that could ur.''

 Chapter 962 The Former Little Group

    Chapter 962 The Former Little Group


    As Kisuke had promised, he made his way to the center of the Kuoh Tower where a towering skyscraper is located. These past seven years, as one of the centers of Magic Development, Kuoh Town had kept expanding andrge skyscrapers that could only be seen in thergest cities in the world were now present in it.


    The one that Kisuke entered was the enterprise that the Belial House had built up with the support of the Gremory House. The security already knew him so they let him pass after some greetings and Kisuke just waved at the receptionist before making his way directly to the side.


    After some biometric and Magic scans, Kisuke took an elevator that went down and after a few minutes of waiting, he''d reached the lowest floor which was almost a kilometer deep underground.


    The moment the elevator doors opened, he was greeted by a bright and lush environment that you would never expect to see. Though for Kisuke, it reminded him of the safe zone of the Dungeon in the otherworld. Walking through the clear path, Kisuke soon reached a modern-looking house and saw that there were other people in there through the ss wall.


    As usual, the first one to notice him was the blue-haired girl that had now grown up, "Kisuke-niisan!"


    At her call, the others also turned towards him. ire, who was now a bonafide young and beautifuldy with long white hair, beamed at the sight of him and ran to the doors. Tanis, who''d also grown up with her and also became a fully-fledged citizen of this world and would not have any trouble even if she was left alone, followed her.


    Ophis and Lilith had also followed along with their growths into looking likete teenagers, and although they still had the same personalities as before, they had now matured to a certain extent. Though they still had a penchant for doing something strange from time to time


    nna, on the other hand, had her face slightly altered to avoid trouble and questions from those that would see her with her(Ophis'') original face. But aside from that, she didn''t change at all. In fact, she''d be even more unhinged throughout the years and no one could really stop her as she did whatever entered her mind without ever thinking about it. In hindsight, she''s still the same Dragon that''d remained unfettered in the Dimensional Gap, it''s just that she''d entered a much moreplicated world.


    Finally, thest girl, Kunou. She was the oldest and most mature of the group in many aspects, partly because she now started to develop like her mother.


    These past few years, the girls'' friendship had blossomed into a very tight-knit group in that they would entrust their lives in the hands of each other. On top of that, they also had secrets of their own and since Kisuke had already stopped his surveince of them some time ago, even he wasn''t sure of most of the things they do these days.


    Of course, the ne that ire had would still trigger in times of emergency, but that hadn''t happened even once after the first time it''d activated because of the Evies.


    Kisuke caught ire and Tanis who''d jumped on him, "Geez... You two are not kids anymore so you should stop doing this. You''ll break my bones one of these days.", Kisuke reprimanded while patting their heads.


    ire chuckled and said, "Denied~! And good idea! We''ll stop if we can finally break one of your bones with our tackles!"


    The corner of Kisuke''s mouth twitched, "Just where are you learning this from? It''s Koneko isn''t it? She''s being violent with the dummies again, isn''t she?" As even most Gods couldn''t break his pinkie bone with a tackle, Kisuke was feeling a bitplicated.


    Tanis, who had been riding on his back, then said, "Agreed! But it''s been a few months since west saw each other and this is also a good way to recharge my Kisukenium so I won''t be stopping anytime soon!"


    "As I said, where are you learning these from!? It''s Kuroka, isn''t it!? She''s been teaching you something that you shouldn''t be learning, hasn''t she!? I''m really going to smack those sisters one of these days."


    Due to hisplicated position, Kisuke asked the girls to never approach his candy shop as they might get roped into something troublesome.


    Soon, Kunou had alsoe out and approached them, "It''s been a while, Kisuke-niisama." Unlike the other two, Kunou slightly lowered her head in greeting. She had the entirety of the elegance and grace that was absent from the rest of this group.


    Kisuke also patted her head and saw her tails slowly sway left and right. After joining their group, she''d also developed a habit of receiving head pats from him, "It''s good to see you too, Kunou-chan. They''re not giving you too much trouble, are they?"


    Of course, Kisuke wasn''t tasteless enough topare her elegant act to ire and Tanis'' crass actions as he really liked their individuality and couldn''t really care less about formalities. Actually, Kisuke wanted Kunou to at least act less reserved around him as he knew that she couldn''t really do something like that when she was at home.


    But unlike in the past, she''d started to let go of the traditional clothing and began dressing up like a modern girl. Well, another reason was that her traditional clothing was hard to adjust for someone like her who was on par with Akeno in terms of physique when she was at her age.


    "They''re not! Ever since they started attending Ouroboros Academy, they started to behave properly!"


    ire and Tanis both had smug looks, proud of what Kunou had just said. However, "Wouldn''t that mean they were causing trouble left and right before you entered the academy?"


    Kisuke''s words froze the expression on ire and Tanis'' faces and Kunou hurriedly avoided his eyes.


    "O-of course not! We weren''t doing anything bad!" ire defended herself while her eyes were swimming everywhere.


    Tanis escaped from Kisuke''s back and nodded vigorously in agreement.


    Kisuke sighed, "You can already think for yourselves so unless it''s absolutely necessary, I won''t say anything about whatever you are doing as long as you follow the reminders Iid down."


    The panic in ire and Tanis''s eyes immediately disappeared and the bright smiles returned to their faces, "We''d never forget that Niisan! We''ll not trouble or step on anyone. And if that''s unavoidable, we are to take full responsibility, and see to it that we fix our mistakes!", the former confidently dered.


    Kunou also smiled and nodded at her words.


    Kisuke smiled wryly and patted their heads again, "Good. As long as you understand. And by the way, when I said to take full responsibility, it didn''t mean you have to bear all the burden by yourselves. I''m your big brother so it''s alright toe to me when things get harder and ask for help."


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou looked at each other before ire looked at Kisuke again and said, "Then Niisan, please help us!"

 Chapter 963 True Worth part 1

    Chapter 963 True Worth part 1


    Kisuke wondered what they needed help with and followed them inside.


    The moment Kisuke entered the living room, he was greeted by a bunch of books rted to Magic Engineering and Artifact Manufacturing tossed randomly on the table, couches, and floor. However, what caught his attention first was that the te teenager'' Ophis and Lilith had already changed back to their appearance of when they first reappeared in this era and patted the seat in the middle of them while looking at Kisuke.


    Kisuke smiled and sat down with the ''twins'' and promptly took a leg for each of them.


    Thanks to their constant contact with society, Ophis and Lilith knew that following ire and the others'' appearance wouldn''t allow them to sit on hisp so whenever Kisuke was around and they were in private, they''d always return to their previous appearance.


    Kisuke pampered them as they wanted and both of them took out one banana each from their shared inventory to enjoy. A few years ago, when they discovered that they could buy bananas with their allowance, it became a problem for everyone and her education because she would only buy bananas with her money. As such, they were limited to only a few hands of banana each week and they would only eat it when there was a special asion.


    That way, there would be no danger to the global supply and price of bananas, even if they started earning tons of money.


    After settling them on hisp, Kisuke''s eyes then caught nnaying t on the other couch, sleeping away. Ever since she discovered the idea of sleeping, she has been a fan and would at least close her eyes for at least 14 hours a day and would sometimes snooze away for days or weeks at a time.


    But because they don''t really work nor listen to just anyone, and that she''s not bothering anyone when she''s sleeping, nobody really tried to fix this problem, since it isn''t a problem in the first ce.


    Aside from that, she had already graduated from her strange fashion sense, albeit she would still dress weirdly from time to time. Even then, she still kept her greatsword and dual pistols that she''d affectionately named the ''Bonehead Sword'' and ''Pew Pew Pistols'' due to how they looked and sounded. Many tried to dissuade her from using those names but they only got angry stomping in response that would destroy the floor or ground without any exceptions.


    ''It''s amazing how nobody else has discovered her identity yet. Maybe being stupidly simple helped her a lot even before Shiva, Indra, and Ajuka''s intelligence agents.'' Kisuke thought while looking at the True Dragon that everyone thought had died and disappeared, snoring her life away.


    A few minutester, ire brought Kisuke a small wooden box and opened it in front of him. In it was a silver ne with a blue gem embedded in it, "This is?" Kisuke asked them while carefully picking up the ne and inspecting it.


    ire sat beside them and said, "This is my ssmate''s ne. She said it is a keepsake from herte grandmother... But now it''s broken."


    While listening, Kisuke figured out a few things about the ne, ''It was made based on old technology, and from the looks of it, its creator was just on the level of a hobbyist. Its main functions were a small Magic Amplification and Memory Storage Module. From the looks of it, the runes were burned from a disced Magic Power flow.''


    From then, ire started telling her story. It all started with their annualpetition forbat-rted sses to rank the students for theirbat effectiveness regardless of the course they are taking.


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou were effectively fixed on first, second, and third positions respectively. As they were also all members of the Student Council of the most prestigious but controversial school in the world, they were getting a lot of attention and not just a few challenges every day. Aside from that, they were also veiled in mystery to the eyes of the public as aside from their races, no one knew their affiliations since it was deliberately hidden.


    The owner of the ne was the fourth ce and also a member of the Student Council named Maria. However, the attention she was getting was quite different from those on top of her as she''s the strongest Human student of the Ouroboros Academy and also became the hope of the normal people in the Human World.


    If not for the unconventional monsters that were trained using unconventional methods since their childhood, which they also didn''t find strange, she would''ve taken the top spot.


    In this year''spetition, Maria challenged ire, the Student Council President, and used everything she had to defeat thetter. And one of the things she used was the ne which ended up broken in ire''s retaliation. While Maria was able to show great results, she still wasn''t able to win. Not by a long shot.


    "Hold it." Kisuke interrupted her with a frown, "This isn''t your fault then? Why are you the one fixing it?"


    ire smiled wryly and said, "I know that. And even after apologizing to her, Maria-chan strongly denied any fault in me."


    "Then why?" Kisuke still couldn''t understand. The fact that they were here means they intended to ask Aika to help them, but after seeing that she was too busy, they decided to go out of their way to study Magic Engineering on their own ord instead of just returning the ne.


    "Maria-chan asked everyone she knew to not even fix it but to retrieve the stored memories. However, no one seems to want to take on the job as they said it was very tricky."


    ''Of course, it is. It was made by a hobbyist using an old technology so asking for fail-safes and redundancies in case of damage and corruption is too much. If they tried fixing this and made a single mistake, they may end up losing everything permanently instead.''


    "She asked everyone, including our teachers but none could fix her problem. She asked me too, but the only one I know who could fix it is Aika-neesan but she''s also very busy with the more important stuff."


    ire paused for a few seconds before continuing with a bitter face, "But I saw her secretly crying... Although I can''t really imagine the pressure she has on her shoulders since I''ve been very lucky, I also just can''t ignore her after seeing that so I offered my help and told her that I know someone who may be able to fix it. We came here in hopes that we''ll be able to ask Aika-neesan to fix it but she hasn''te out since a week ago and we''ve beening here every day to borrow her library."


    "Maria-chan is amazing, you know!?" Tanis chimed in, "She was able to push ire-chan back multiple times and even wounded her! And she''s not yet a Soul Gear owner so she did all of that using her Magic and Martial skills!"


    Kisuke finally understood where ire wasing from, but was also a bit shocked by Tanis'' words, "Even though you''re holding back, she still managed to do that much to you without any Soul Gear?"


    At Kisuke''s question, ire started panicking and began swinging her arms defensively, "E-eh? Holding back? I''m not really holding back though!"


    "Who are you kidding? Aside from Issei-kun, Vali-kun, and Cao Cao-kun, you three are stronger than the so-called Golden Generation when they were at your age."


    ==================


    AN: (03/19/2023)


    Thank you for waiting for this dyed release. I just finished Volume 15 and while reviewing my outlines for Volume 16, I found numerous holes that I have to scrap many parts and re-outline various things.


    Due to that, you may see more dys until I could settle the whole plot for Vol 16.

 Chapter 964 True Worth part 2

    Chapter 964 True Worth part 2


    In a world where the enemies are forced to wait at the front door and no big conflict is happening anywhere, one could say that those at the top have be stagnant to a certain degree with the period of extended peace.


    But amidst that, one group continued going higher and higher without anyone noticing. Maybe because there were no conflicts and therefore there was no stage for them to disy theirplete capabilities, they went under everyone''s radar, including the factions where they came from.


    "I don''t know how you can elude everyone''s eyes, but who do you think keeps fixing the underground training grounds after you leave?", Kisuke asked while grinning. This was the only reason why Kisuke could track their real progress. As for their mode of training? A 3 vs 3 sparring with ire, Tanis, and Kunou on one team and Ophis, Lilith, and nna on the other side.


    It''s a ridiculously unbnced match-up, but somehow, they managed to make it work.


    While the first team was trying to damage theically durable transcendents with everything they had, the Dragons were learning the basics ofbat to better control their powers.


    "...Eh? ...It doesn''t have an automatic repair function?" Tanis asked back, but ire and Kunou knew that asking would mean admitting it and sighed.


    "It does. But you kept destroying the ce so much that after the 50th time, I stopped restoring its normal functions."


    ire and Kunou were dumbfounded because they didn''t notice anything different. They''d already memorized everything in the training grounds, even the cement of the rocks, and there were no changes to it in the past six years that they''ve been using it, so they thought it was an automatic repair function kicking in so they''d always go wild without care for anything.


    Kisuke had always wanted to train Ophis, Lilith, and nna to not just control their powers, but to also use them effectively when needed but he didn''t know how to go about it exactly and even if they were listening to him, it''d be hard to make them follow exactly what he wanted to happen. In addition to his busy schedule, he wouldn''t be able to give them the attention they needed.


    After all, the only training that Kisuke knew was for those with the same physiological makeup as him and not those with Ophis'' that could be shaped in any way. Not to mention the special characteristics that make up their identities. Essentially, only they would be able to know how to control their abilities.


    When Kisuke first discovered that these girls would use the training grounds to practice what they learned and with such an unbnced team, he felt conflicted on whether to let it go or stop them since it was too dangerous. A small mistake from Ophis'' team could result in something disastrous.


    But Kisuke, as usual, let his curiosity take over and gave them a silent pass while watching carefully for any idents that might ur.


    When they started, there were indeed some idents, but Kisuke was surprised that he have to didn''t do anything and ire''s team was able to deal with the problems that came their way. At that time, Kisuke realized how much he and the others were underestimating them.


    Every week, these girls would secretlye to the underground hideout using Ophis'' ability and would spend a few hours sparring. But if other people could see what they were doing, they would be appalled and horrified because the only ''sparring'' that they knew, was the kind of sparring that Kisuke''s group did. No rules and just avoid getting fatally injured. So out of necessity, everyone from ire''s team learned their own Healing Magic, be it through Magic, Ki, or Youjutsu.


    And while Kisuke was watching them during their regr sparring, he made a few incredible discoveries.


    In the first stages of their unsupervised training, ire''s team was facing true monsters. Even if Ophis'' team tried to hold back, they didn''t know how to do such a thing in the first ce. So they sometimes ended up releasing power way beyond what they intended, especially nna, who could just go from poking softly to poking a hole through your stomach the moment she identally drops her pistols.


    In other words, ire''s team was facing very real threats that actually pushed them to adapt and evolve, just like how the ''Golden Generation'' thrived through the repeated conflicts of their time.


    But what''s the most surprising thing was that Ophis, Lilith, and nna were developing in ways that Kisuke never expected. Because ire''s team was incredibly weak, they were forced to learn how to hold back properly, but because ire''s team was also improving at a remarkable rate, the Dragons were forced to keep adjusting, making them develop their ownbat styles that only suited them and that no one else could teach them.


    What Kisuke thought was an imbnced team, turned out to be the perfect matchup that pushed each side topensate for each other''s shorings, ''I wonder if they did that on purpose?'' Kisuke asked himself after the 200th time that they''d ''sparred''.


    Though their development could be said to be incredibly slowpared to the Golden Generation, it was apletely steady incremental increase, such that they''d even almost caught up to today''s top fighters all by themselves. It was a miracle that Kisuke was the only one who''d been able to notice it.


    ire sighed, "I really thought we were able to hide it from everyone... I didn''t think Kisuke-niisan would be peeping on us."


    "Oi, oi, oi. Those words are going to get me killed, you know?"


    ire stuck out her tongue at him, "It''s true though."


    Ignoring ire''s teasing, Kunou was curious about something and asked, "Kisuke-niisama, is it true that we''re stronger than the Golden Generation when they were our age? How is that possible?"


    "I''m not lying." Kisuke turned to Kunou after giving ire a forehead flick that made her roll on the floor in agony, "You lot just don''t know how strong you''ve be thanks to all those years of sparring by yourselves, because none of you have actually revealed to anyone what you''re capable of. Trust me when I say that if others were to see you fight for real, they''d have the same opinion."


    However, Tanis had a much more simpleparison, "But the training ground... If we really got as strong as you said, the training ground will probably go."


    ire stood up and agreed with Tanis'' words, "That''s right. We thought we hadn''t been improving our firepower because the damage had remained the same."


    Kisuke looked at the three of them with disbelieving eyes, "You seriously didn''t notice? Compared to the first time you used the space, it has been strengthened countless times. Do you know how many headaches it caused me just to adapt to the power you guys were releasing? At the end of it, I got tired and just extended a bit of the Global Istion Barrier over the training ground or else you''d disintegrate the whole ce and disappear into the sea of Dimensional Gap."


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.


    Finally, Kisuke added, "Didn''t you think there''s a reason why Ophis, Lilith, and nna started dodging your attacks? Because they actually hurt them now."

 Chapter 965 Parenting is Hard

    Chapter 965 Parenting is Hard


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou still couldn''t believe what Kisuke was saying and they all turned towards Ophis and Lilith who were silently munching on their bananas while on Kisuke''sp, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, is that true?"


    Ophis and Lilith looked at them before they stared at each other to contemte ire''s question, "If I''mplete, it won''t be needed."


    The girls became confused by her answer but Kisuke rified it for them, "It means if she and Lilith were still one, defending from your attacks wouldn''t be needed. Just so you know, Cao Cao''s full strength couldn''t hurt her in any meaningful way back then and that attack of his was enough to vaporize Ultimate sses and Gods. She was technically almost invulnerable before Lilith''s birth."


    Of course, this didn''t really answer their question so Kisuke added, "But even now, Ophis and Lilith''s durability is beyond imagination for most as they could stand in front of the Evil Dragons and keep taking a beating from them for an hour or so without any problem and it should be the same for nna over there. As for Cao Cao''s full power attack, it might actually vaporize a part of their body now so it could be said that you girls are approaching that level in terms of pure firepower. It''s really good that you''ve been hiding what you''re capable of right now because you might just identally blow someone''s existence away."


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou were silent, trying toprehend his words.


    "If you''re still not convinced, I''ll join you in your next session, and let''s try testing your limits for real. However, you have to keep what you''re doing hidden and hide your abilities, because it''ll really cause various problems, especially since someone out there is in full recruitment mode. He might actually just kidnap you three."


    "K-kidnap? Who?" Kunou asked nervously.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. As long as you keep a low profile, it shouldn''t rouse his attention..." Kisuke then looked at them seriously, "Though you''ll also have to remember that you shouldn''t keep a tight lid on this power. If your life is in danger or you think you have something you need to do no matter what, go wild and I''ll take care of the aftermath. Understood?"


    The three of them nodded vigorously because they knew Kisuke was being strict.


    "Good." Kisuke nodded in satisfaction.


    ire calmed herself down and thought about it carefully and asked, "...You''d trust whatever our decision is?"


    But at her serious question, Kisuke just chuckled, "Of course, not. You girls are not experienced enough to make the right decisions most of the time. Most probably, you''ll mess something up and make things worse."


    ire instantly became angry and the girls beside her frowned in dissatisfaction. But before they could air their grievances Kisuke added on, "You''ll take responsibility for your actions, but I also said I''ll take care of the aftermath. If you do something wrong, I''ll scold you. I may not be your parents, but I''m still your guardian. However, I also can''t just dictate what you should do since that''d only restrict you and make you more rebellious.


    Shrugging his shoulders, Kisuke continued, "It''s a tricky bnce that even I don''t know if I''m doing it right. I only hope that you''ll be able to think back to whatever steps you take and refine your understanding of things around you.


    "Well, long story short, do whatever you want but if needed, I''ll ban snacks to punish you girls."


    ire was stunned for a moment before a small smile emerged on her face but it also disappeared as fast as it appeared and cried out exaggeratedly, "No!!! Not the snacks!!!"


    Her cringe-worthy and noisy act was replied to with another flick to her forehead that made her role around on the ground again, ''I really wonder when she learned how to be noisy like this.'', thought Kisuke while looking down on her, ''Though they are surprisingly understanding... Even though I basically said that they should act like kids, they pretty much acted like Sona and the rest of the girls seven years ago. Is this the fate of those with power?''


    "Moving on, let''s go back to the ne. Since you guys are determined to help this Maria-chan, instead of fixing it myself, I''ll make a projection and copy its structure. Also, I''ll lend you the books that you''ll need since most of these can''t help you. You could mess with that copy as much as you want and once you''re confident enough, you could do the real thing."


    ire stopped rolling on the ground and stood up, "Can we bring these books out and copy them!?"


    "Hmmm? You can. I don''t mind. But what for?"


    "If we''re going to do it like this, I might as well bring Maria-chan into this. I recalled her telling me that she actually wanted to enter the Engineering Department because of her parents and grandparents, but due to the pressure from everyone, she was enrolled in the Combat Department. I think it''ll be a good chance for her to realize what she really wanted."


    "Is that so? Then go ahead.", Kisuke took out several books from his inventory, "It''ll take a few hours to make a copy so take these for now and a few of the ones on the floor. I''ll send you theer."


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou scrambled to clean up and once they were done, they immediately left to go back to Ouroboros Academy while carrying the unconscious nna.


    After watching them leave, Kisuke went straight into the deepest part of the house and the doors automatically opened for him the moment he reached Aika''sboratory.


    Kisuke walked inside for a minute or so to reach where Aika was and saw a short-haired brte woman wearing sses and ab coat facing one of the terminals.


    But before Kisuke could say anything, the woman turned towards him while fixing her sses, "You really sounded old back there."


    Kisuke approached her and gave her a kiss on her forehead before replying, "I have to at least show them that I''m an adult. And it''s not a good habit to eavesdrop."


    "I''m not going to listen to someone who does much worse."


    "I''m not telling you to stop. I''m just reminding you that it''s not a good habit to have."


    Aika smirked at him and said, "What a bad adult."


    Kisuke chuckled and replied, "Then I''d rather be a bad adult since it''s more convenient."


    "Still, I can''t believe that they''re already at that level. If this was known, a lot of unsavory people would being after them."


    "That''s why I promised to take care of it."


    "But if you start moving, things will also begin to go into unpredictable routes. It''ll be a lot harder to stop the war that''s brewing."


    Instead of replying to that, however, Kisuke asked, "How are things on your side?"


    Aika was confused by his sudden change of topic but still answered, "Almost done. I should be able to create a hole in the barrier in three days."


    Upon hearing that, Kisuke smirked, "Since things are going to get messy, I should take the initiative instead."


    "...What are you going to do?"


    "Say, are you curious about what those in ExE think of us?"


    Aika''s eyes sharpened and pinched his side, "You better not do it."

 Chapter 966 The Value of Time

    Chapter 966 The Value of Time


    "Hey, I just asked you a real question and now you''re just assuming things."


    Aika red at him and said, "Am I?"


    Kisuke raised his arms in surrender, "No matter how big my guts are, I won''t be going there myself. I''m reckless, but not that reckless."


    Aika gave him a doubtful expression. She knew he wouldn''t lie, but that doesn''t mean he''d tell the truth either. But even after thinking about it, she couldn''t figure out what he was nning and there would be no way to pry the truth from him if he really wanted to keep it. Sighing, Aika gave up, "If you''re going to do something reckless, at least let me in on it."


    "If I get a chance, I will." Kisuke then found a chair and sat on it, "But you guys are also busy with your own things and they''re important stuff that''s allowing me to move around freely.", he added after seeing her pout, "So stop thinking that you''re not helping me. I can only do the things I do now because of you guys. Thank you."


    Aika suddenly felt strangely embarrassed when she received his gratitude and immediately turned around, "O-oh... Is that so? It''s reassuring to know that we''re making a difference. By the way, why are you here?"


    "Akeno asked me to get you out to attend Ex''s first birthday."


    Aika turned to him again with a stunned expression, "Already?"


    "Yep. I''m surprised too. Time really goes by in the blink of an eye. I''m used to it though. Once you''ve stopped thinking about the time you lived as a normal Human, you''ll also stop thinking about the time you have to spend on something unless you urgently need it."


    Aika stared at him for a moment before returning to her work, "That sounds reassuring but also horrifying at the same time. Long life is good, but it also looks like it devalues time too much."


    At this point, everyone very close to Kisuke had already figured out that he and Yoruichi might have been older than they look. A lot older, in fact. However, none of them pointed that out as it didn''t really seem very important, and if they wanted to hide it, then there really was no need to confirm it. What''s important is that they knew Kisuke and Yoruichi as they were and not their history.


    This is also the reason why Kisuke was alreadyfortable talking to them like he has prior experiences that shouldn''t be possible and not in the guise of a ''genius''.


    "I have a differing opinion, but that''s also fine. In the end, it''ll be up to you how you''re going to spend your time." Kisuke then stood up and started walking towards the exit, "I''ll pick you up in a week."


    But before he could leave, Aika remembered something and immediately turned around, "Oh, and speaking of Ex, you should prepare yourself. Though I think you did that long ago. I''m just reminding you in case you forgot."


    Kisuke''s step froze and he slowly turned around. It''s not something bad but it''s an issue that he''s trying not to think about, "...About what again?"


    Aika narrowed her eyes before a teasing smile emerged on her face, "You do know what''s going to happen when Yoruichies back, right?"


    Kisuke shuddered but immediately sighed, "...I have an idea... All I can say is to take it easy on me."


    Aika smiled widely and happily while watching Kisuke leave and thought, ''Even though you can go against the whole world, there are really just some things you can''t deal with.''


    During these past few years, it''s inevitable that they''d advance their rtionship with Kisuke. However, during this time, they kept a small distance from him, not because they didn''t want to go any further, but because they respected Yoruichi too much. As the ''First Wife'', Yoruichi should be in the lead as the head of this ''Household'', but because of the barrier that Kisuke had conjured, she was separated literally worlds apart.


    So even though they got closer to Kisuke, none of them actually crossed the final line, even Sona and Kuroka who''d both basically set sail long ago.


    Although Yoruichi herself didn''t really mind it, they still took it upon themselves that none of them will go beyond the line because they felt that it''d be incredibly unfair to her.


    However, that doesn''t mean they didn''t feel any desire. In fact, they were filled with it and it became a raging inferno when they heard the news that Rias was pregnant with her first child. Kisuke also didn''t mind what they were doing, but as the years'' passed by, a hint of fear for the future emerged. After his reunion with Yoruichi, he didn''t know what was going to be left of him after the ''rabid dogs'' were done with him.


    Still, they agreed on one thing. No children.


    To some extent, Kisuke''s cautiousness rubbed off on the girls, and right now, they were too insecure to have any children of their own.


    Reaching the ground floor once again, Kisuke sighed, ''Oh well, what''s going to happen is going to happen. I already spent my whole life''s luck just meeting them.''


    As he stepped out of the building, he looked up to the sun with a serious expression, ''...Finally, I''ll be able to go through it. I should stay there for a while to actually prepare myself. But before that, I should do that... Thanks to these Evies, I should be able to fool Chaos. I hope that it works.''


    Aika told him not to be reckless, but as long as he doesn''t go himself... Or at least not all of him, it should be fine.


    With a new goal in mind, Kisuke made his way toward the Mars base once again.


    .


    .


    .


    A weekter, Aika and Kisuke arrived elbow to elbow at the Gremory Mansion. But instead of taking the front gate, they walked around to the side and were greeted by a maid, "Kisuke-sama, Aika-sama, we''ve been expecting you. Thank you foring."


    The maid led them to the inner parts of the mansion and although they just arrived, the maids were already busy cleaning up since the main program had already ended and people were already going home.


    Kisuke and Aika choose toe this time to avoid trouble with the other guests.

 Chapter 967 Heart Raising Note

    Chapter 967 Heart Raising Note


    Kisuke and Aika soon reached a private saloon and they immediately gathered everyone''s attention, "Kisuke! You made it!" Issei waved his hand at him in glee and approached them with Rias on her side carrying their firstborn, Ex.


    "Good afternoon. Sorry for arriving just now."


    "It''s fine. We understand where you''reing from. It''s just a shame that we can''t do anything about it."


    Aika hurriedly separated from Kisuke and jogged toward Rias, "Looks like he got tired, huh." Aika muttered while pinching the cheek of the sleeping baby.


    Rias smiled and replied, "He was awake before you arrived. Want to hold him?"


    Aika looked at her and asked with shining eyes, "Are you sure? I''d be happy to!"


    While watching Rias carefully pass Ex to Aika, Issei urged Kisuke to move alongside him, not towards everyone else, but outside of the saloon.


    When they leave, Rias waved them goodbye while telling them to take their time despite her and Aika''s confusion.


    And when they got out, Issei immediately led Kisuke to the garden while casting a Veil Magic that blocked both sight and sound from going out.


    As soon as Issei sat down, his calm demeanor immediately crumbled down and he let out an exasperated sigh, "Hey, that note you sent me the other day. Are you serious?"


    The other day, a note suddenly came to Issei bearing a familiar scent of Magic, and written to it was, [I''m going to ExE~! If I''m not able to attend Ex''s birthday, I''m probably still on the other side. And if they start looking for me, just tell them you don''t know.]


    The moment Issei read that, he hurriedly burned the note and tried contacting Kisuke but to no avail. Without much choice, he asked someone monitoring the vicinity around him if Kisuke was still present and got a report that he only left for the Belial-runpany a week ago and nowhere else.


    Kisuke also sat down on the opposite side and sighed, "Who would''ve thought that they''d send Riveria to my side for a forced vacation? I wasn''t able to leave because of that."


    Issei had also received a report that Riveria started was staying at his ce a few days ago. With that, Issei also finally was able to confirm his guess that none of the girls around him knew what he was nning, else, he wouldn''t have sent him that chilling note, "Tch! Thankfully, such a coincidence was able to happen. Just what the heck are you thinking when you sent me that note? And the fact you sent it to me of all people meant that you knew how dangerous what you were going to do was."


    Kisuke chuckled at the angry Issei and replied, "It isn''t that dangerous and I have many safetys. But as you know, there''s nothing absolute in this world and things that could go wrong, will go wrong."


    "Haah!? If you''re going to send yourst words, please spare me from being the only one receiving them. Those around you would resent me forever."


    "Hey now, those weren''t myst words. I''m just thinking that if I were to suddenly disappear, at least someone should know where I went."


    "That''s the very definition ofst words!"


    "But if I were to tell it to anyone else, no one would allow me to go."


    "Of course! Who in their right mind would!?"


    "You?"


    "Don''t mistake me for not being able to stop you as me letting you go!" Issei yelled in retort. He wasn''t feeling tired after the eventful day, but now he felt like dunking himself in a hot bath after talking to Kisuke for only a minute or two.


    Kisuke patted his shoulder whileughing at his face, "You''re a father now, so you should really watch out for your temper. Don''t let that precious son of yours know that you''re actually a big idiot."


    Issei shoved his arm away with a vein popping on his forehead, "So? Are you still going? I really can''t see much merit in itpared to the danger it poses. Give me a briefing of what you actually wanted to do. And if there''s somewhere I can help, I''ll dly assist you."


    Issei had already given up on dissuading him and decided to just make sure that he wouldn''t be doing this alone, ''Invading ExE on his own? He''s really a crazy bastard. And we''re in the middle of an important conjunction with Indra gathering his forces.''


    .


    .


    .


    In the end, after hearing Kisuke''s ns, Issei could only scratch his head in frustration since there was nothing he could do to help him. While walking back to the saloon, Issei sighed and thought, ''At least, it looks like it''s rtively safe.''


    Kisuke and Issei joined the others and started catching up but it didn''t take too long for everyone to bid their farewells since all of them were busy people. In any case, all of them were in constant contact so this kind of catch-up isn''t really necessary and most of what they wanted to talk about couldn''t be talked about in this sorta ce, even though it''s very private.


    The first one to bid farewell was Vali''s group, except for Le Fay.


    Next was Cao Cao''s group and finally, Kisuke''s group.


    But before they left, Rias approached him and secretly transmitted a message, [The Progenitor wants to meet you.]


    Kisuke turned to his group and said, "You girls go ahead first. I''ll follow alongter."


    .


    .


    .


    A trustworthy maid led Kisuke to the inner part of the mansion and stopped at a certain door. But before the maid could open it, someone else from inside opened them and a familiar woman with fiery crimson hair greeted their sight, "Kisuke~? You''re here! Come in!"


    "Runeas-san, it has been a while~. d to see you are as energetic as always~."


    Runeas turned to the maid, "I''ll take it from here. Good work."


    The maid silently bowed and left the room.


    When Kisuke entered the room, he felt that he went through a thin film of the barrier. Seeing his reaction, Runeas immediately exined, "Sorry about that. I ced it to stop her aura from going out."


    And indeed, the aura of someone familiar entered Kisuke''s senses the moment he went through the barrier and saw a beautiful and tall ck-haired woman sitting and enjoying tea further inside the room, "Kisuke. Wee. It has been a while."


    "It really has been a while, Lilith-san. I''m happy to see that you''re doing great."


    "Thanks to you. I''ve been enjoying my time greatly. Though it''s also making me worried. Just what price am I paying for all of this?"

 Chapter 968 Indra’s Desire

    Chapter 968 Indra��s Desire


    It took three entire years just to restore Lilith''s body and two more years to nourish her back to health because Kisuke discovered that her body''s makeup was a lot moreplicated than he first thought.


    She might have been the ''mother'' of all Devils, but she was not a Devil, nor was she a Human, Angel, Youkai, or a God. If Kisuke were to describe her, she was a weird amalgamation of body and soul that he hasn''t found anywhere else, which also became the main reason why she couldn''t die. While her body was on the verge of copse, her soul kept her alive, and that somehow affected her physical body too. The Time Seal that was ced on her was just a supporting spell for this delicate bnce.


    At first, Kisuke thought that it wouldn''t be as hard as creating new bodies for both Akeno and Irina, but he was rudely awakened to reality... Though he was very happy about it.


    The crux of the weirdness and what made it very difficult was Lilith''s ''shapeshifter'' nature. But different from Ophis'' own shapeshifting, where she could instantly change her body and the shape of her power, Lilith''s body was very ''basic'' in that any shape was both possible and permanent. The main difference is, while it was very possible for Lilith to change her body, it''d be incredibly hard. But unlike Ophis, Lilith''s own aura could transform into basically anything.


    So when she was used to producing the first Devils, each and every spawn developed their own unique abilities and affinities that should have normally been impossible. And not just that. Down their bloodlines, Devils like Sirzechs and Ajuka came to exist. For mere descendants of technically homunculi, they had too much power on top of being very stable and remaining fertile.


    But because she was exclusively used to produce Devils, her own body and soul took the shape of a ''Devil'', which Kisuke guessed was some sort of natural adaptation to put herself at ease with the burden she was being subjected to.


    So when Kisuke ''restored'' her, he didn''t just stop at restoring the ''Devil'' Lilith, but the original Lilith. Although that took many years, Kisuke was d to put in the effort because her flesh and blood were very useful for what he was trying to achieve.


    Still, some questions were bugging Kisuke, like who sealed her in that state and where exactly Lilith came from since he''s pretty sure that she''s also an alien to this world.


    "I told you, your flesh and blood was already plenty for payment." Kisuke reassured her for the nth time, "Just enjoy the life you''ve been craving for. Though it''s a shame that you''ll have to make do in these tumultuous times."


    "There are some things that you can only see during times like these. It''s nothing to be regretful about. Nevertheless, I''d still like to see where this world is heading, be it future peace, or destruction." Lilith calmly replied after sipping on her tea.


    ''She''s been alone for too long, I guess?'' Kisuke didn''t mind her indifference and already expected her not to do anything worthwhile, even if the world was about to copse in front of her, "And, what''s the reason you called me here? You didn''t ask me toe just to offer me tea, did you?"


    Lilith shook her head, "Of course, not. I just wanted to tell you personally that Indra has discovered me."


    Kisuke remained silent but his eyebrows lowered a bit.


    "He personally asked me to join his side and I naturally refused. But if you are worried about him knowing more, please don''t. I may be weak but I have a few ways to confuse his and Shiva''s eyes. So aside from him knowing that I now walk the surface of the Earth, he shouldn''t know anything else."


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment and sighed, "But it won''t be long before he discovers your association with me... Well, it doesn''t really matter." Kisuke already gave up on Indra since he''s another person who didn''t really care about the fate of the world as long as he could get what he wanted, ''Maybe this is the side effect of the barrier. Even though he''d won the Azazel Cup, no one agreed with his wish since our enemies are technically just beyond our fence. These past few years, he never stopped making maneuvers to force Shiva to take him on.''


    What Indra wants is a war, but he was not wishing for a world war. He wants a war where there''s only Shiva''s and his side. But because no one could take sides after ExE''s discovery, Indra''s wish was not able to be realized and he knew that forcing it to start will just result in many factions scrambling for all sorts of benefits. In other words, he doesn''t want any disturbance between him and Shiva. He doesn''t want any ''dirty'' third parties in his ''Holy War''.


    ''At this point, if he can''t force everyone to take one side, he''d rather destroy anyone he thinks won''t be able to take a truly neutral stance.''


    While everyone who understood the situation knew of his strange wish, no one really knew the motivation behind it, except for maybe Shiva. Nheless, any sort of all-out conflict between the two will result in a massive loss for the world and may even affect the barrier from the inside and weaken it. As such, there were many factions and organizations that were actively watching his every movement.


    However, he really had too many arms for others to constantly monitor, and that didn''t even include the hidden ones! This pushes everyone else into a passive position that can only react whenever something ''bad'' happens. The only thing they could do right now was dy what Indra is trying to achieve.


    ''I wouldn''t even be surprised if Indra decided to just delegate the entire Earth as ''Shiva''s Team'' while he joins the ExE side... Haahhh... How annoying. If only I could assassinate him, but I don''t know how Shiva himself would react and I''m not even sure if I could do it without dragging everyone else into danger.''


    That''s right. The problem isn''t just Indra''s machinations, but also Shiva''s inaction which looks like he''s just waiting for the former to finish his preparations. Kisuke had a feeling that if he went against Indra, he''d also be making Shiva his enemy, ''These bastards, trying to make the whole world their yground. Just how bored are they?''


    Kisuke stood up and went for the exit while saying, "I''m sorry, but I''d like you toy low for now."


    "Please don''t apologize. You technically own me and I''ll follow what you want."


    As he walked through the halls of the Gremory Mansion, Kisuke thought to himself, ''Maybe I should contact my new best friend again one of these days... No... Not now or I''ll just risk exposing my connection with him.''

 Chapter 969 Troublesome

    Chapter 969 Troublesome


    Kisuke returned to the Belial Territory where everyone was already waiting for him.


    "You''re back~!" Irina was the first one to run towards him and gave him a hug, "It''s already been a few months so let me stay like this."


    Kisuke looked down at her clear violet eyes and patted her head, "How was work?"


    "It''s tiring~!" She immediately answered, "But nothing I couldn''t handle. I just don''t like how they are treating me like a celebrity."


    Kisuke smiled wryly at her and replied, "There''s really nothing that could be done about that. You have be the de facto face of the corps and I don''t think that will change for a long time, even if you retired right now."


    Normally, it should''ve been Dulio, the leader of the corps who has taken the role of a ''face'' but he was very good at dodging the responsibility and he also had the legitimate reason that he was also already the leader of DxD and couldn''t take on more roles.


    And right now, Irina''s pretty face had already blossomed into that of a mature beauty. She still had long flowing chestnut hair, but she had already ditched the twin tail hairstyle that she had before and just let it go.


    Patting her head, Kisuke replied, "Good work out there, but if you want to leave, just tell me. I''ll do something about it."


    Irina chuckled as she separated from Kisuke, "Nope~. I''ll be out of work then. And thanks to this, I have a bit of influence on various things. I don''t want to lose its convenience for the time being. Though if I want to get out of there, I might need your help."


    Irina led Kisuke to a seat beside her while thinking, ''This position is very useful in secretly swaying people to our side and I''m not nning on letting it go anytime soon.''


    Kisuke let his hand be dragged as he looked around the room and saw that everyone was rxing. Aside from Irina, he could meet everyone else pretty often so they just let her do what she wants.


    Recalling how they were seven years ago, Kisuke was d that everyone had mellowed out and the effects of Kisuke and Yoruichi''smon sense-altering training program had already left them for good, else it would''ve been hard for them to join the society again.


    Starting from Sona, who had also grown taller like everyone else and kept her moderately modest figure. Compared to Aika, who''d shortened her hair, Sona let it grow until her lower back and tied it into a single braid. It was already known that Devils could alter their general figure if one truly wished for it strongly, and the proof of it was Issei''s harem where bossoms seemed to bloom aplenty, despite their figures in their younger years. The fact that Sona didn''t end up like that aside from her hips widening slightly, showed that she likes herself as she is.


    Another girl who''d changed greatly over the years was Koneko, though most of her changes just came from her stunted growth being released. Right now, her white hair had reached past her shoulders and she''d be as tall as Kuroka.


    Finally, Le Fay, Kisuke''s contracted Magician, grew up to be a mature and beautiful woman like everyone else, but she never left behind her hybrid witch and school uniform outfit, which made her look like the most childish out of the group.


    While Aika, Irina, Akeno, Sona, and Koneko had changed a lot, Medusa and Kuroka remained the same, aside from changing their hairstyles from time to time. And the same as them, Yoruichi and Serafall, who were on the other side, also had no changes aside from the former growing a little bit taller.


    Of course, except for Kisuke, everyone else already had a career that was making them busy. With the establishment of the Ouroboros Academy, most of the girls, along with some members of DxD, became instructors or staff for the Academy, making it one of the most influential establishments in the current times, with others thinking that it''s a sub-group for DxD.


    Naturally, those in the know are aware that Ouroboros Academy is apletely separate entity that could operate on its own rules and even without the DxD members as its staff, its core members and their influence and authority were enough to wage war against arge faction and win.


    However, the Ouroboros Academy never denied the rumor that it was under DxD since it''s convenient for gaining the trust of the public. Meanwhile, those in higher positions that could control DxD also didn''t do anything to correct this misunderstanding, as they could extend some of their arms to the academy itself.


    Sona, as its founder, director, and principal, allowed this to happen because those ''arms'' were not a one-way avenue that could not only reach them, but also a stream that she could use to reach the old coots.


    With Medusa acting as the Vice-Principal that helped Sona most of the time, the others could focus on the academy''s main goal of elevating this generation''s fighting prowess and also pioneer the fusion of both the Supernatural and Human Worlds.


    Focusing onbat, Kuroka became the main instructor for Youjutsu, Koneko was the main instructor for Martial Arts and Touki, and Le Fay became the main Magic Instructor with Riveria as her assistant.


    As for the nonbat side, Aika was supposed to be the one who''d take care of it, but she was too busy with many other things, so she just became the advisor of multiple departments while inviting trustworthy instructors from various factions like Rossweisse, Ravel, and Asia.


    After talking for a bit with Medusa about some urgent business, Sona finally turned to Kisuke at her side, "Is everything okay on that side?"


    "It''s fine. It''s just that Indra has been jumping around more than I initially thought."


    Sona sighed while rubbing her forehead, "You''re telling me and we don''t even know what Shiva is thinking. Worse, Ajuka-sama has been very close to him. We can''t trust anyone within that seal, sadly."


    "Sorry about that. It''s probably because of me that they''re acting that way."


    Sona looked at him and asked, "They want you to show a few of your cards first before they do something?"


    "Most likely. They don''t like how I''m keeping all the information for myself.", answered Kisuke while shrugging his shoulders, "Not that I really care though. They''ve made their stance and I''ve already made mine. From here on out, it''s a battle of attrition and I''m really good at that."


    Everyone''s attention was gathered on him, but he didn''t provide any further exnation.


    But even without that, they understand what he meant. While the girls wanted to protect the world they were living in, what Kisuke fundamentally wanted was the safety of those important to him. So if given the ultimate choice of them and the world, he''d happily discard thetter. In a sense, he''s the same as Indra and Shiva who were preparing their ''game''.


    These past seven years, they were finally able to understand why he''s like this, ''He''s too much of a realist. Even though he might have the power and capability to protect the world, that''s too idealistic for him, and in the process, he might not be able to protect those who''re truly important to him.'', thought Sona, considering this as his ''w''. Then again, they never left his side, not because he could do everything and be ''wless'', but to cover it and be a shoulder he could lean on when he needed it.


    Aside fromying low, this also became a reason why the girls wanted him to stay out of this ''conflict'', as his methods can be far too drastic.


    While immersing herself in these thoughts, Sona suddenly felt someone flicking her forehead softly and woken her up to reality, "What''re you thinking about with that smug and wry smile at the same time on your face?"


    "What the hell does that look like?"


    "The contorted face you were making just now."


    Sona angrily pped his hand away and retorted, "My face didn''t contort! And I just thought of how troublesome you are!"

 Chapter 970 Onwards!

    Chapter 970 Onwards!


    While Kisuke and Sona were having their banter, they were interrupted when someone suddenly went behind Kisuke and wrapped their arms around his neck, "I heard that Aika has already opened the path. When are you going, nyaa?" Kuroka softly whispered into his ears.


    Kisuke thought about it while rubbing his chin, "...Hmmm, maybe around this week? I have to do some preparations before going."


    Kuroka''s arms tightened around Kisuke''s neck, "Hmmm~ Then who''re you bringing with you? I want to introduce myself."


    Kisuke froze and shuddered and began sweating nervously. He tried to break free from her clutches, but her arms wouldn''t budge, "...Er... I don''t think I''d bring anyone.", Kisuke replied while shouting internally, ''You''re thest person I''d bring! You and your sister! You uncontroble cats!''


    Even though he was thinking of bringing Riveria with him, he couldn''t answer her honestly. Not right now, at least.


    And when Kisuke saw that Koneko was looking at him feverishly, wanting the same thing, his mind raced to find a way to escape this situation.


    Thankfully, before he took action, a cold aura descended on everyone and especially focused on Kuroka, making her freeze in ce. Before anyone could notice it, Medusa was already standing behind the ck Nekoshou while bringing her cial re down on her, "Kuroka... I believe we''d already talked about this before."


    Kuroka slowly let go of Kisuke and turned around with a nervous expression, "B-but this is a different issue, isn''t it?"


    Kisuke, on the other hand, used this chance to get away, "Alright, I''m going home and preparing for now. Be careful around Indra, okay? If one of you gets in danger because of him, I''ll discard everything and go cave his skull in."


    After finishing his sentence, his Teleportation Magic instantly initiated, and he was gone a secondter. However, his lighthearted words weren''t so lighthearted for those who heard him, "Let''s make everyone''s safety the top priority, okay?" Sona muttered after a few seconds of silence.


    Everyone in the room nodded in unison. Regardless of whether Kisuke could really cave in Indra''s skull, it''d be a catastrophe if the two were to sh.


    In fact, this is the reason why those close to Kisuke were rtively safe. Although Indra was interested in fighting Kisuke, he really didn''t want to deal with what he thought was a crackhead when his attention should be on Shiva. Despite the fact that this slows down his ns significantly, he''d rather go slowly than trade blows with someone who would just flip the entire table that his carefully ced pieces are on.


    Indra''s close aides thought that he was just exaggerating, but the things he could see couldn''t be easily understood by those around him. Right now, both Shiva and Indra had the same train of thought as Yhwach when he invaded the Soul Society. If they didn''t have a clear way of eliminating or, at least, holding back the ''Special Individuals'', they won''t easily make a move.


    .


    .


    .


    Back at his store, the moment Kisuke reappeared from his Teleportation Magic, Riveria also came out from the kitchen while wearing a white apron over her casual attire, "You''re early. I thought you''d stay the night there."


    As soon as he saw her, a passing thought went through Kisuke''s head, ''These days, whenever Ie home, they''re always in aprons.''


    "Not when Kuroka and Koneko are around. They came to a decision and I respected that, but their Nekoshou instincts are much stronger than normal Youkais. Although they''re trying to control themselves, it''s really hard to go against things that are hardwired into their heads unless they discard their physical bodies. The best I could do to help them is to avoid them."


    ''So much consideration for being horn-... I mean sexual desire.'' She wanted to say, but held back because she knew that was only going to backfire on her, ''This is bad... I''m getting too used to theirnguage.''


    She also wanted to ask if Kisuke was not worried that they''d suddenly take it out on other men, but she already knew of their loyalty, and even just asking that was very disrespectful to both Kuroka and Koneko, ''This is really bad... Even this world''s literature and entertainment drama are affecting me. I need to watch some animal videos and wholesome shows to cleanse my soulter.''


    Kisuke saw that Riveria is enduring something and asked, "What''s wrong? Are you hurting anywhere?"


    Riveria immediately shook her head and said, "It''s nothing. I just remembered something unpleasant. Clean yourself up. Dinner is almost ready."


    .


    .


    .


    Since Riveria wasn''t allowed to touch anything Magic rted for the duration she was in Kisuke''s house, she busied herself with television and her smartphone, browsing and learning various things, including questionable topics and other stuff, "Riveria, I''ll be going out for a bit."


    Busy on herte-night drama show, Riveria just waved her hand goodbye without turning around, "Strawberry ice cream for me."


    "Anything else?"


    "Hmmm... Right. We ran out of milk and soy sauce."


    "Got it."


    The husband and wife-like exchange ended and Kisuke teleported to his Mars base and went straight to the deepest and most secure part of it, ''Alright. For today''s outing objective: Stealing the Evie''s wormhole protocol and technology.''


    Entering the room, rows of ss tubes filled with translucent green liquid and a 3-centimeter diameter ck ball in the middle of it greeted him. Kisuke momentarily checked their condition before going deeper into the room where a metallic pod that could contain a person was located.


    Kisuke then pressed a button on the top of the pod and its top part opened, revealing a cozy cushion where one couldfortably lie down on it.


    Kisuke removed all of his clothing before entering the pod and closing it. A few secondster, runes and circuits expanded outwards and reached the numerous ss tubes. Soon, the runes converged on one of the ss tubes and the ck ball inside it suddenly started squirming around before it took the form of what could only be called a ''Nendoroid'' in Kisuke''s image.


    As soon as it stopped forming, the green liquid immediately drained itself and the ss tube was lifted the moment the 10-centimeter tall ''Kisuke'' opened his eyes.


    Kisuke hurriedly examined his new body and found some difort and tried to fix it by letting his Magic Power flow, ''...It seems that everything is in ce. Good.'' he thought while doing some stretching.


    The real identity of those ck balls is Kisuke''s newly developed Gigai through the research of Lilith''s flesh and blood. However, he was already contemting if he should still call it a Gigai since it doesn''t just mimic the user''s appearance but also allows the flow of power, making the user capable of using their abilities.


    Of course, everything in the room was just prototypes and Kisuke had been testing it by inserting a very small piece of his own soul into them.


    But unlike normal researchers that do their tests in a confined and controlled room, Kisuke would rather see its limits by going outside.


    After a few minutes of adjustments, Chibi Kisuke teleported out and reappeared in a metallic room. The first thing entering his senses was the synthetic-like voice of the silicon-based lifeforms, [The next batch of Energy Cores is arriving within fifteen minutes. Prepare for its inspection and distribution.]


    [Yes, sir!]


    While hiding himself, Kisuke checked the surroundings and was able to confirm where he is, ''the 7th section of Andreas. Good. Their jamming system didn''t erase my mark. And it looks like I''m just in time.''


    What Aika and the rest were fearing was true. For some time already, Kisuke had been secretly invading the Evie''s ship. But today, Kisuke won''t just be settling on stealing some data on a ship on the frontlines.


    Making his way to a certain part of the ship, Kisuke saw a room with a giant circr device in it and it soon gathered an enormous amount of Magic Power that had been purified through specific means. A few secondster, the space in the middle of the device twisted before the light went through it and revealed the other side.


    Carefully hiding his figure and riding the torrent of Magic Power to avoid detection, Kisuke leaped through eh wormhole, ''Maybe a should nt a few bombs in there?''

 Chapter 971 Alien Planet

    Chapter 971 Alien


    As soon as Kisuke got to the other side, he immediately felt the drastic change in the atmosphere but that wasn''t much of a problem since he could easily adapt to it.


    Kisuke hurriedly scanned his surroundings under the cover of chaotic Magic Power flow, but because his ability is extremely limited in his current form, he could only scan around 100 meters beyond him, ''A warehouse...''


    While Evies were transporting enormous boxes of supplies through the hole, Kisuke made his way to the terminal that was right beside it. But after a quick look, he figured out that it was only for monitoring purposes and the real control panel was somewhere else. Although he could hack it after learning a bit of the system they were using from their ship, Kisuke wasn''t confident that he''d be sessful with just the handful of knowledge he had from self-learning and deciphering.


    ''I''m not in a hurry. I have to get out of this ce first.''


    Retracting as much of his Magic Power and Spiritual Pressure as he could with his current body, Kisuke erased his presence and went for the exit.


    Even though he was a bit slow, his small size helps him a lot morepared to the emission of Magic Power he''d produce if he were to go invisible. It didn''t actually take too long for him to exit the facility and the security within the perimeter wasn''t as tight as he''d expected. And when he got out, harsh air sted his whole body and almost killed his ''Gigai'' if not for his immediate response, ''This... High concentration of sulfur and methane in the air?'' he thought while bracing himself.


    Kisuke then found a tower-like structure and climbed it and as soon as he reached the top, the world he was in was fully disyed to him. A red sky and metallic spires of varying heights everywhere, with some fuming outrge amounts of ck smoke which brought him back to the conversation that he''d heard earlier from the Evies working in the facility, ''Of course... No living being without some tricks would be able to survive thisnd. The world of Stranu Nelzell... Did they really annihte all of its inhabitants?''


    Kisuke came out of an Evie facility, however, he''s not in their main world, Evie Etoulde, but on a the Evies had taken over some time ago, Stranu Nelzell, and was being used as a transportation hub for their supplies.


    Naturally, Kisuke already expected that this was the case as it''d be incredibly stupid of them if they were to connect their main world to an ''unsecured'' ce like Earth, or by their naming scheme, Draconic Deus.


    ''I''ll have to take my distance first and n my next steps.'' If Kisuke wanted to return, he could just disable the Gigai and return his consciousness back to his real body or even self-destruct if the situation calls for it. Although that would cause him a significant injury, it was a good method of surprise gift.


    Running through the dested and drynd devoid of any life, Kisuke aimed for a ce where there was not a single Evie structure. An hourter, the metallic structures became a lot more sparse and he found a giant hole in the ground spanning 30 meters in diameter. Without thinking much about it, Kisuke hopped into theplete darkness.


    Kisuke immediately deployed his senses and did nothing else as he descended into the hole for a few minutes, ''The air is a lot cleaner here... Could it be...''


    Soon enough, hended on hard ground and broke each of his legs and arm. Kisuke wanted to heal them up but at the edge of his Detection Magic, a slight presence was revealed and the first thing he did was retract his Magic Power, ''Did I get noticed?''


    Kisuke''s mind raced and various scenarios ran through his head, ''That presence just now wasn''t an Evie''s... If that''s the case... Let''s bet on that.''


    As if a switch had turned on within him, Kisuke''s facial expression instantly changed to someone who''s enduring great pain and started huffing and puffing at the dirty air surrounding him. He also disabled his defenses allowing the atmosphere to poison the Gigai and clear ck marks appeared on his formerly wless skin.


    Pretending not to notice the presence earlier, tears began to fall from his eyes as he struggled to walk towards the rugged wall of the giant hole in order to look for support. Kisuke reached the wall andid his back on it while looking up to the ''tiny'' hole where he came falling down.


    For a few more minutes, Kisuke was just sniffling and trying to straighten his broken arm and leg while also coughing up blood due to the poisoning he was receiving from the hostile air.


    At that moment, the wall directly opposite him began shaking before a portion of it started moving to the side, revealing a tunnel.


    ''Shocked'' Kisuke immediately stood up with great difficulty and gritted his teeth in anticipation of an enemy.


    [Rx. I''m not here to hurt you.] A voice suddenly came out from the dark tunnel. Although it''s using thenguage that the Evies use, it didn''t have the same synthetic-like feeling.


    However, Kisuke''s expression didn''t ease up, instead, became even more grave.


    [Hmmm? Could it be that you don''t understand me?]


    In response to that, a small amount of Magic Power gathered on Kisuke''s hand and a small fireball emerged.


    [...] A few secondster, a six feet tall young man that looks like a Human came out of the tunnel, [Hmmm... Looks like you really couldn''t understand me... But what sort of being are you supposed to be?] He asked the 10-centimeter tall Kisuke even though he knew he wouldn''t be able to answer.


    Surprise further covered Kisuke''s face as he finally replied with a fear-filled voice, "W-who are you!?", not in anynguage from Earth, but thenguage where the Dungeon is located.


    The mysterious young man didn''t reply but instead took out a smartphone-like device and began operating it while mumbling, [...As expected... Thatnguage isn''t in our database either.]


    Finally, as if losing his strength, Kisuke''s fireball disappeared as he slowly leaned forward without stopping, losing consciousness. Thest thing he saw was the young man dashing forward with incredible speed to catch him, [He''s probably kidnapped by the Evies. Did they find a new to terrorize?]


    Back in the Mars Base, the pod where Kisuke was ''sleeping'' opened. Stretching his sore arms out, Kisuke chuckled to himself, "Such luck. To think I''d encounter someone like that on my first trip to the enemy territory? And that aura... That''s definitely Spiritual Pressure."


    Kisuke returned back to Earth in a light mood, and of course, he didn''t forget what Riveria asked him to buy.


    But when he returned home and found Riveria messing with her smartphone, he was startled when she suddenly looked up at him and made a terrified expression, "What?"


    Riveria calmed herself down and grabbed the stic bag that Kisuke was carrying, "Did you get me the strawberry one? Oh~! Thank you~!"


    After getting her ice cream, Riveria hurriedly returned to her room and closed the door behind her while inspecting her ice cream carefully, ''That face... That''s definitely the expression he makes when he sessfully scammed someone. What did he do to my ice cream!?''


    Her first thought was an aphrodisiac and she got a bit excited, but immediately shook her head since that would actually go against the girl''s wishes that Kisuke wanted to respect, ''How do I remove these ideas from my head!!!? And why is my heart racing!!!?'' She shouted internally.

 Chapter 972 Galactic Scale

    Chapter 972 Gctic Scale


    Kisuke returned his consciousness back to his injured Gigai and the moment he opened his eyes, blinding light immediately made him narrow it back and the heavier pull of gravity, ''Now then... Where are we?''


    Contrary to his internally calm demeanor, Kisuke sported a panicked expression as he hurriedly looked around the room he was in. A small pure white room with a single bed and table. Due to his current size, the bed looked gigantic and the table beside him looked like a podium. However, he was surprised to see the pillow he was resting on was right for his bite size.


    Next, he checked the condition of his body and found all injuries he''d incurred were already healed. Though aside from that, he also found some minute traces of someone scanning his biological properties multiple times, ''I wonder what they found out? I''m curious about the metrics they''re using and they are bound to have a different interpretation of the data they got. I guess I would have to get my hands on that too.''


    By getting his own examination report, even if it had the same numbers as his own data, he''d be able to gleam at how these people saw the world and through that, he''d be able to understand their perspective.


    A minuteter, through his limited senses, Kisuke heard footsteps beyond the door of his room, ''Yosh! Time to pull my budget Oscar act!''


    The door beeped for a second before sliding open, revealing three figures, one of them being the familiar young man that he''d encountered before.


    Kisuke immediately jumped and backed himself to the wall while gritting his teeth and ring at them and preparing his cute fireball.


    Of the three people, the first one to step into the room is a 4-foot tall wrinkled fair-skinned old man with light green hair and dark red eyes, long-sharp ears, and a single skin-colored horn protruding in the middle of his forehead. He''s wearing a whiteb coat over a surprisingly Earthling-like attire and holding a tablet emitting a bit of light from its screen.


    Behind him was the familiar young man and a young woman who looked like the former. Both of them looked like Humans with short white hair and green eyes and were wearing a long-sleeved thick ck jacket over a gray and white body-tight suit. If not for thetter''s figure, Kisuke wouldn''t be able to easily tell them apart.


    Kisuke ignored the old man for now and observed the two behind him and was able to confirm, ''That''s Spiritual Pressure, alright? But it''s different from what Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy have. And their bodies... Abination of Reishi(Spirit Particles) and matter...? How is that possible? Fascinating.''


    Although Kisuke''s real body had alreadybined both his soul body and physical body, it was still just an artificial fusion through Hogyouku unlike those in front of him that seem to be in their natural states, ''If I could further stabilize my body, maybe I''ll be finally possible to achieve Resurrin? Hmmm... Since Ick theirmon sense, I wonder if they''ll get angry if I start touching them all over?''


    Kisuke hypothesized that even if he could achieve Resurrin, there would only be a minimal increase in his power since it was akin to a Shinigami releasing their Bankai and it was unknown what sort of side-effects or drawbacks it could cause him. Even then, he still wanted to do it since what Aizen did to himself is essentially a Resurrin, an Arrancar taking their de back into their body to release their true form.


    Kisuke''s musing was interrupted by the old man suddenly speaking, [Oho... Look how lively he is. If he''s like this, he''ll only need a bit of rest to flush out the remaining toxins in his body.] Thenguage that Kisuke was hearing was still the one that Evie uses, however, the old man''s mouth was moving differently from the sybles he was saying.


    Seeing that, Kisuke immediately tilted his head in confusion. Though by doing that, the woman''s eyes in the back strangely shine.


    The young man, on the other hand, smiled and said, [Good catch.]


    [What is?] The old man looked up at him and asked.


    [He immediately noticed that you''re using a trantor.]


    [Was it that impressive?]


    It was the woman who replied to the old man next, [Of course. Normally, you''d be panicking and would often resort to drastic actions. In his case, although his eyes had been darting around and looking for an escape, he was still able to observe all of us with great detail. It''s either from experience or he''s a natural. It actually makes me think that this is just an act.]


    ''Oops...'', thought Kisuke but he didn''t change anything since that would incur more suspicion.


    The old man observed Kisuke more without approaching any further before inviting the other two to leave with him. Once outside and the door closed, Kisuke followed them and put his ears on the door while making sufficient movement.


    [The little guy seems to be fine and there is no persisting problem as far as I could see.]


    [Thank you, Mr. Chnir.] The young man replied.


    [Stop it. This isn''t enough for you people who saved this world. Just let me do everything I can to help you.]


    [Even then, thank you.]


    [...In any case, you''re going to have a problem with him. The trantor probably won''t work on him and he''s too cautious so I doubt you''d be able to find where he came from. And considering how he came from an Evie outpost, I doubt his world is still intact.]


    [Hmmm... That might be true. Still, he has a good head on his shoulders. Even now, he''s trying his best to listen to our conversation even though he couldn''t understand any of it.]


    The old man looked back at the door in surprise, [...I''m not really a fighter so I can''t tell. But what if he''s just pretending not to understand?]


    The young man smiled at him and said, [And that''s the reason why I brought him here. If he''s a true refugee, I would have taken him to a safer ce... Hmmm... Alright.] The young man nodded to himself, [We''ll use the prototype trantor on him.]


    This time, the woman finally reacted, [Wait, brother! Isn''t that too dangerous!? He''s too small! Can he even take the pain that it''ll cause!?]


    The young man turned to his sister, [Stralit, even though you find him very cute, you can''t discount that he might be a spy. Besides, that''s really the only way we couldmunicate with him. Unless you want to bother the very busy mistress.]


    [...Kuh... Fine... But be gentle with him!]


    [Got it. For now, just secure the perimeter in case he escapes.] The young man then turned to the old man and said, [Mr. Chnir, please prepare food in ordance with his diet.]


    Kisuke heard their footsteps go away a momentter and went back to his bed, ''Obviously, he intentionally let me hear that conversation. Too bad for him. Although I could understand them, I was just a clueless little guy and not a spy.''


    Kisuke knew that he was still being monitored from the outside and didn''t let up his acting but deep inside, tens of scenarios already sprouted inside his tiny head, and weighing each and every one of them against each other to figure out what''s the best course of action, ''If I pull my cards right, I could even pull a fast one on those Evies and I''d have a better source of information other than that sketchy ''future''.''


    While the strongest Gods of Earth were ying their board game, Kisuke was already ying a game of tic tac toe on a gctic scale.

 Chapter 973 ‘Nine Hell’

    Chapter 973 ��Nine Hell��


    A few hourster, Kisuke was offered food and it was surprisingly appetizing for him. However, after inspecting it for a moment, he didn''t touch it any further. Nothing really happened after that so he just ''slept''.


    Kisuke returned to Earth and the first thing he did was to ask Riveria, "Riveria, would you like toe with me to the other side?"


    Riveria, who''d juste out of the bath and was wearing a thin light green hoodie over a white tank top and short shorts while drinking a ss of milk, nced at him and replied, "You finally asked. I thought I would have to wait the whole week."


    "...What would you do if I didn''t ask you?"


    Riveria stared straight into his eyes and with an incredibly straight face, she answered, "I''d bite your leg and never let go of it until I could go home."


    "...Why do I have a feeling that you''re not joking?"


    "Because I''m not." Riveria then smiled widely and revealed her perfect rows of white teeth, "Try me."


    Kisuke''s head was instantly filled with the image of the dignified High Elf biting on his heel like a maniac. That scene made Kisuke swallow a mouthful of saliva and tempted him to actually try it and see that in reality. But before he could get his words out, a bullet ofpressed Magic Power came rushing towards his face and he had to dodge it by tilting his head.


    The bullet dissipated before it hit and damaged the wall, but Riveria was preparing more bullets on top of her finger, "I''ll have to gouge your eyes out first, though. How many times do you think you''ll be able to regenerate before we could go to the other side?"


    Kisuke raised his arms in surrender, "Geez... How violent."


    Kisuke then went and sat beside Riveria. Riveria, on the other hand, took back her Magic Bullets and moved aside to wait for Kisuke to sit down beforeying down on the sofa and cing her legs on top of Kisuke''sp. Without questioning her actions, Kisuke began massaging her leg muscles.


    These past few years, Riveria had been gettingfortable around Kisuke and wouldn''t mind showing him her sloppy side. Throughout her stay in this foreign and very dangerous world, these times were one of her important beacons of rxation and gave a feeling of security. However, she could really only act like this when it was only the two of them and would never dare to evene close to Kisuke if the others were around.


    Though Riveria really only became thisfortable because Kisuke wasn''t saying anything about it.


    "When are we going and what do I need to prepare?"


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before replying, "Something came up so I''m not really sure when but it''s probably around a week or two from now. While waiting, you should polish your high-altitude Flight Magic and Thermal Shielding Magic."


    Riveria furrowed her brows and asked, "What for?"


    "Just in case." Kisuke answered curtly before continuing on another topic, "By the way, neither I nor Yoruichi and Serafall will be participating in any battles involving monsters, no matter how difficult it could be for everyone else."


    "I know that. Aftering to this world, I already understand why you wouldn''t want to. Aside from taking away the opportunity to get stronger from the Adventurers, joining in that kind of skirmish is just way below you... It''s childish and silly. Though I''m still surprised that you''re allowing me to join in."


    Kisuke sighed, "You''ve already left that world''s natural ecosystem so I honestly don''t want you to get involved. But that''s too much to say to someone who grew up in that world and considers it as her home. All I can say is... Please don''t go ballistic."


    Riveria averted from Kisuke''s gaze and said, "I''ll try to limit myself to just Elven Magic."


    Riveria remembered the promise she made with Gareth before she left, but looked like she''d be breaking it in a different sense.


    Kisuke never really expected Riveria to improve the way she did when Yoruichi and Serafall sent her over as an experiment. If she goes all out, her firepower could easily match that of abat-oriented God, albeit, for a shorter duration than normal due to herck of raw Magic Power capacity. However, firepower wasn''t the most terrifying about her, but her versatility.


    Recording hundreds of thousands of spells and techniques in her Soul Gear and creating new spells and techniques through thebination and modification of the ones recorded, she could do almost anything, making her second only to Kisuke.


    She only lost to Kisuke because thetter could respond faster and cleverly to most situations and he could most certainly turn the advantage around to his favor while Riveria could only counter and cancel the iing threat to her most of the time.


    All in all, due to the sheer amount of spells she knew, she became one of the most dangerous individuals in Kisuke''s group and her existence was very much unknown among the factions, just like Benihime in her independent actions.


    "And what? Pull out something like [Elven Giga Cannon] and incinerate everything within your sight? Just keep it to your 9 original spells and just go chantless."


    "..."


    Kisuke knew what she was thinking and added, "Defense and Healing Magic are fine, but no Attack Magic rapid fire. You''ll raise a literal hell."


    "I''m called ''Nine Hell'', though?"


    "So you want to keep casting wide area Annihtion Magic like Rea Laevateinn every second?"


    Riveria made an expression as if she was offended, "Is that how you think of me? I''m not unreasonable like you! I''d do it only every... 9 seconds."


    "So that''s the ''Nine Hell''!?" Kisuke pped Riveria''s thigh, "There''s no amount of monsters in that world that would need that much force! Every 5 minutes!"


    "You don''t know about that! I think it''ll only be enough to fry that ck Dragon! 15 seconds!"


    "No way! You just want to show off, don''t you!? 4 minutes and 30 seconds!"


    While they were arguing how many cooldowns Riveria should have, the night ended.


    In any case, it became a squabble between Kisuke not wanting to waste the other world''s effort to get stronger and take away their sense of crisis by having a cheating High-Elf bulldozing everything in sight, and Riveria who wanted to show off what she got after returning since she hadn''t really got any chance to go all out after the period of peace and quiet came into this world.


    ''Oh right... I still have to gauge the three girls'' real strength tomorrow.'' Kisuke thought while he was being choked by Riveria''s thighs in protest of his imposed long cooldowns.

 Chapter 974 Magical Girls’ True Abilities

    Chapter 974 Magical Girls�� True Abilities


    Before ire, Tanis, Kunou, Ophis, Lilith, and nna arrived, Kisuke prepared and strengthened the training grounds as much as possible to properly contain theing destruction.


    Four hours past midnight, except for the sleeping Dragon, the self-proimed Magical Girls arrived, and just in time with Kisuke having just finished up with his modifications, "You''re here. Let''s get started."


    ire looked around. She could feel the changes within the training grounds and asked, "How are you maintaining this sort of barrier?" Unlike before, the fluctuation of Magic Power could now be clearly felt in the entirety of the training grounds. Since the Magic Power wasn''ting from Kisuke, ire naturally became quite curious.


    "I have several modules installed that can passively store leaking chaotic Magic Power from the Dimensional Gap and convert it to something usable."


    Kunou''s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, "Wouldn''t that mean that you have an unlimited supply of Magic Power!?"


    "Technically, but only to a certain extent. These modules, aside from not being very efficient, also break down quite often and their cores degrade from use. That means I''ll only have Magic Power for as long as it''s running, which isn''t very long. And right now, I''m just draining what they''ve stored for some time to power these barriers for a few hours. Because of this, it can only be used in a few applications and most of them are for emergencies only. Compared to the effort required to run these things, I have better things to do."


    "It''s still an incredible piece of technology." Kunou replied, "Although it might be of limited use for you, I''m sure it''ll be very useful for someone else."


    Kisuke then jumped back tens of meters back while saying, "I know what you''re saying, but that''s exactly the reason I won''t be sharing this. As you know, I have more enemies than allies out there. I''d like to spare myself from being hit in the back of my head. Enough of that, let''s begin."


    Tanis and Kunou also distanced themselves from ire to create a suitable space for them to act. Meanwhile, Ophis and Lilith also took their distance after sessfully reading the room.


    "How do we do this?" ire asked.


    "Juste at me. Use everything you have except for Soul Gears." Kisuke then smiled widely and released an enormous amount of bloodlust, "Try killing me."


    At the onset of the killing intent, the girls shuddered and their hearts started palpitating. The most affected was Tanis with her enhanced senses as she inadvertently released her disguise and revealed her blue skin, Dragon wings, and the starry-like obsidian gem on her forehead.


    It''s not their first time feeling someone''s killing intent, but since they technically haven''t joined any conflict, they were instantly taken aback by Kisuke''s dense killing intent.


    Seeing them covered in a cold sweat, Kisuke chuckled, "Don''t worry. I''ll just defend and dodge but won''t attack. Although I''ll make sure to tell you when I can kill you."


    ire swallowed a mouthful of saliva and tried to ease up the nervousness she was feeling before sending a telepathic signal to Kunou and Tanis that only they could understand. In the next second, the corner of Tanis'' lips suddenly caught on fire with blue mes before she opened her mouth and revealed two rows of razor-sharp teeth.


    A blue Magic Circle appeared in front of Tanis'' mouth before she released a blue beam of me aimed directly at Kisuke. The path that the me went through instantly melted and although it had the same power as Issei''s Dragon Shot that could st away a mountain, Kisuke just deflected it to the side using the back of his hand that was covered with a small hexagonal shield.


    But while he was doing that, the solid ground below him suddenly liquefied. Kisuke''s response, like others, was to pull his feet out from the swamp-like ground, but he failed to do so as he felt numerous spikes try to pierce through his ankles and feet but just ended up biting them instead, ''Wow. How merciless.'' Kisukemented inside his head. If not for his durability, most people would have lost everything below their legs. And since it was Youjutsu, it was harder to notice than normal spells.


    Although it''d be easy for Kisuke to pull himself out, it''d take a few seconds. Naturally, ire wouldn''t throw away this opportunity and lunged at Kisuke from above while baring her fist.


    ire''s long grey hair swayed in the air as a vast amount of Demonic Power gathered around her fist. However, this wasn''t the first thing that Kisuke noticed, but her glowing grey eyes, ''What is she nullifying?'', he asked himself while raising her hand to catch her fist.


    ''Thankfully'', he got his answer less than a secondter. The moment her fistnded on his palm, Kisuke felt his always active Hierro disperse into nothing for his entire arm, "!?"


    The skin and veins on Kisuke''s arm instantly split open from the impact of the collision, spurting blood everywhere, ''This kid...''


    And because he didn''t have a proper footing, Kisuke came crashing down to the ground that had already hardened back.


    Soil and dust erupted around the area where Kisuke is and covered the visibility. But for ire, she could still see as clear as day through her Magic senses. But just as she was about to continue attacking, a grim premonition suddenly screamed at her whole being and made her jump back as far as possible while preparing as many defensive spells as possible.


    After a brief sh, a moment of peace immediately came. The dust settled down a few momentster revealing Kisuke still hadn''t gotten up but he was now holding his Zanpakuto in his right hand. Before ire could fish out a second strike, Kisuke threatened her with a swipe of his Zanpakuto.


    ''This kid...'' Kisuke continued his thoughts, ''...Has been studying the properties of my skills.''


    ire, Kunou, and Tanis were about to resume their attacks when Kisuke suddenly startedughing out loud as he stood up, "Fuhahaha! Great! This is great!"


    Since his hat flew off when he mmed into the ground, he swept his messy hair back. But what the girls saw was his ckened sclera, "Let''s continue, shall we~?"


    This time, Kisuke released his Reiatsu to weigh down on the girls.


    .


    .


    .


    An hourter, ire, Kunou, and Tanis were huffing and puffing whileying on the ground, "What the hell... Why is Kisuke-niisan so tough!? That was everything!" ireined.


    Kunou chuckled at her while wiping away her sweat, "You mean everything plus something extra from you."


    Tanis was tired of thinking about the battle and was slowly pping her wings andining about something different, "I''m hungry."


    Meanwhile, Kisuke, in his Hollowfied Form with his Shikai released, was staring at his fully scorched right arm, [Those girls really gave you a run for your money, huh? Especially ire. Who would have thought she''d pull something like that? How was that even possible?] Benihime''s voice rang in his head.


    [Truly... How was that possible?] Kisuke asked back while thinking of thest attack they pulled.

 Chapter 975 Magical Girls’ True Abilities part 2

    Chapter 975 Magical Girls�� True Abilities part 2


    Turning back time a bit, Kisuke''s Reiatsu wasrgely ineffective against the girls aside from making them a bit sluggish at the start until they could limate themselves.


    Even though Kisuke couldn''t attack back, the girls still did their best to control his movements before going in for a strike to ensure a good hit. While this is a good practice, it should show how much experience they werecking since a real battle isn''t just a simple game where you could win through a series of nned actions. Sometimes, it''s better to just dive into the danger to change the pace and take control of the momentum.


    Surprisingly, ire, Kunou, and Tanis managed to realize this when Kisuke suddenly started to effortlessly dodge and block their attacks while also predicting where and when their restrictions on him would appear and sometimes, even return them to them.


    At this point, Kisuke had already ''killed'' them more than 5 times. Though it might be less than that since they were able to back out a few times, but not always in time. And Kisuke doesn''t really know what sort of healing capabilities they had, but he assumes that they''d never forgo practicing such techniques and spells.


    Those who knew Kisuke might think that he''s holding back, but to a certain extent, he''s actually not. The reason he was only able to ''kill'' them more than 5 times was because of ire and her [Worthless].


    Because of ire, Kisuke''s stalwart defense became a cardboard box so he was actually in danger of being severely injured. At this point, Kisuke had actually be afraid that ire could also disable his High-Speed Regeneration so he released his Hollow Form in an attempt to increase his resistance against her [Worthless].


    However, Kisuke could onlyugh. Even though his resistance really went up, ire only responded with finer control, and the moment an attack was about tond, the white Hollow matter that was covering his skin would melt away. Not just Hierro but also his Cero, B, and even Negacin which he hadn''t used much were disabled.


    Next, Kisuke released Benihime but the same as with his Hollow Techniques, all of Benihime''s energy-based techniques were also dispersed as soon as they appeared. Thankfully, his sh Step and Shunko were still working with thetter having the same fate as Hierro, albeit, a lot tougher and slower to melt. But when he saw ire''s eyes curiously eyeing everything he was doing, it made him nervous that even his mobility would be reduced.


    Another set of techniques that ire''s [Worthless] didn''t work on fully was his Kidou spells. But after seeing them enough times she should also be able to disable the weaker spells without any problems.


    Because of all of this, Kisuke had a certain thought, ''Should I bring her to that world? She''d be one of my greatest weapons, but I might get killed by her parents.''


    Although Kisuke''s attention was mostly on ire, Kunou and Tanis'' abilities couldn''t be discounted. Unlike ire, who''s an allrounder, Kunou and Tanis had fallen into a specific role and trained for that role. Kunou, with the versatility of her Youjutsu, became the battlefield controller, creating opportunities for her allies and limiting her opponents.


    Tanis, on the other hand, tapped into her Dragon lineage and used her naturally strong physical attribute to be the main bruiser. Using both Draconic Aura and Ki, her fighting style came to resemble that of Crom Cruach. In other words aplete musclehead.


    About an hour after they started, Kisuke was finally able to figure out what their limits were and was about to wrap it up by telling them to give him their best shot. And they delivered way more than Kisuke had expected.


    The first one to move was Tanis gathering and fusing her Draconic Aura and Ki on top of her palms, creating a purple energy ball the size of a basketball court. Meanwhile, Kunou kept to her role and tried to tie Kisuke in ce while also obscuring his senses by creating a thick fog that covered the three of them.


    ''Although it obscured their presence, it doesn''t make sense to use it on Tanis since that enormous thing can''t be hidden.'' Thought Kisuke, ''It''s so obvious that Tanis'' attack is also just a distraction. So ire is going to sneak up on me?''


    Kisuke was correct, albeit, only partially.


    Within the thick fog that confused the senses, a big purple ball of energy sted through and came crashing down on Kisuke. Since it was big, it was also slow so Kisuke had enough time to try out a few things.


    Kisuke first cast Danku (Splitting Void), but he''d already used it several times in front of ire and understandably, the barrier disappeared into thin air. Next, he brought out his Millon Escudo (Million Shield), but before it could expand, it disappeared and Kisuke felt it return to the back of his head where it remained inactive.


    He already knew what was going to happen if he just received the energy ball with his body so he raised Benihime over his head with his left arm to sh through the ball.


    Kisuke could have dodged, but within this limited space of the training ground, he''d have only left himself open if Tanis could control the ball''s trajectory.


    At the moment of contact, there was arge shockwave that cleared the rubble and leveled the surrounding stones. Benihime sank into the energy ball but was stopped by the incredible force behind it. However, Kisuke noticed that something wasn''t right, ''This energy ball... Doesn''t have a core?''


    He couldn''t think much about it since he knew that ire would being any second now and he only has his right arm to intercept her.


    Kisuke expanded his senses within his perimeter, but after looking around, he still couldn''t find ire and he was already about to cut the energy ball in half, ''Did she miss the timing?'' But thinking about the teamwork they''d shown until now, that''s most certainly impossible.


    At that point, Kisuke suddenly felt something weird. Something that shouldn''t be here.


    He immediately expanded his senses further but because of the energy ball in front and the fog around him, he took some time before he could make out what was behind the attack. Then it happened. A bright golden arrow of light pierced through the ball of energy and reached Kisuke in an instant.


    Kisuke was shocked at this incredibly out-of-ce Power of Light that only the servants of the God of the Bible could use, but he had to move. He wanted to block it with his sword, but Benihime was still stuck within the remnants of the energy ball. Without much choice, Kisuke raised his right hand to catch it.


    Before he could touch it, the Hollowfication of his arm was undone. Nevertheless, he was already expecting such a thing to happen and gritted his teeth as the arrow of light instantly burned his hand and started to work its way up his arm.


    After securing it within his palm, Kisuke took a deep breath and spontaneously released his strength to flick the arrow away.


    The deflected arrow continued traveling and eventually reached the wall of the training ground before exploding into a pir of condensed power that could instantly vaporize those High-ss and below.


    Kisuke didn''t look back at the destruction and made sure that there were no more iing attacks next.


    The ''empty'' energy ball evaporated and the fog dissipated, revealing the three girls huddled together and catching their breath. In Cleria''s left hand, Kisuke could see the remnant of a bow made out of light, "Now that''s what I would call a Bnce Breaker. What the heck? Did she somehow inherit Uncle Masaomi''s exorcist power? How is that even possible considering how she''s fully capable of using [Worthless]? Isn''t that cheating? Did another cheat character just make her entrance?", Kisuke muttered to himself.

 Chapter 976 Kisuke’s Worries

    Chapter 976 Kisuke��s Worries


    While his arm was slowly healing, Kisuke approached the girls and asked ire, "How did you do that?"


    Even though she was very tired andying on the ground, ire gave him a cheeky smile and proudly answered, "Amazing, right? [Worthless] really is wonderful."


    The moment Kisuke heard that it suddenly clicked in his head, "...You used [Worthless] to forcefully tame both Demonic Power and Holy Power?" But even after saying it out loud, Kisuke still couldn''t believe it.


    "It somehow worked." ire shrugged her shoulders, "But it took a while to smooth it out."


    Kisuke was rendered speechless because he knew that was impossible to achieve with just ''It somehow worked.'' Naturally, there are cases where Demonic Power and Light Power could mix and the most popr example of this was Yuuto Kiba with his Bnce Breaker. However, there''s a big difference in how ire acquired her equilibriumpared to the former and that was that she''s directly storing both Powers inside her body.


    In Yuuto''s case, he could use Light Power with the help of his Holy Swords and that''s the same for those who could use both Demonic Power and Light Power. They needed a medium to facilitate their use like a Sacred Gear or some other special tool that was rted to Heaven. Even then, when used, it was always a mix of both Powers and their opposition was its main point to produce a huge amount of force.


    As only Devils with a strong rtion with Heaven could use something like this, there aren''t a lot of people who could do it.


    In ire''s case, with the arrow of light that she used, she''s fully capable of using both Powers in their purest form on top of not needing a medium to achieve an equilibrium, ''If her [Worthless] could really do something like that, then her ability was already bordering that of a Super Devil if she''s still not one. That would exin how she could easily neutralize my Shinigami and Hollow abilities.''


    Asking any further questions would be useless since she probably isn''t really fully aware of how ridiculous her abilities are. Instead, Kisuke congratted the girls, "Good work. From the spar just now, I''m sure that the three of you are all on Ultimate-ss level, and with your Soul Gears, you should be able to match an averagebat God and if you are together, you are fully capable of matching a Leader-ss God."


    The three of them weren''t aware of their real level and thought they were just around High-ss due to the absence ofpetition. But after Kisuke''s confirmation, all of them stood up and cheered up despite their heavy bodies.


    ''That''s still a bit of an understatement but this should be enough to make them careful on how they swing their fists around.''


    However, their celebration was cut short by Kisuke''s next words, "And now that we''re done, begin cleaning up and restoring this ce, at least to how it looked before we started."


    The girls were stunned and looked around the training grounds that were utterly trashed beyond recognition before turning back to Kisuke, "...All of this?"


    Kisuke nodded while returning back to his Human form since his arm was now feeling a little bit better, "All of it."


    The girls looked at each other and knew that this would be a daunting task in addition to being a massive pain in the ass. It was then that ire noticed something and asked, "...Why do you sound like you''re not helping?"


    Before answering, Kisuke pointed in a certain direction. The girls followed his finger and saw Ophis and Lilith silently standing at the edge of the training grounds. Since they''d been with her all these years, they could tell the mood they were in despite not showing any apparent expression, and right now, they could see a ''lonely'' aura on the two of them. Was it because they felt they were being left behind?


    "I have the most important task. Pampering and consoling those two."


    The girls didn''t even question Kisuke''s deration and nodded with all their might, "Understood. We''ll do our best."


    .


    .


    .


    Three hours in, the girls are still working hard to restore the training grounds. Meanwhile, Kisuke was feeding Ophis and Lilith various things throughout those three hours. Since they aren''t exactly normal, the food that they are taking was just being absorbed by a bottomless pit.


    Kisuke, Ophis, and Lilith were just talking about random things that were focused on their daily lives and how they were adjusting to Human society. They immediately admitted that it was confusing and hard. They also had poor memories regardingmon sense and manners but Kisuke attributed that to them not really understanding the underlying meaning behind mon sense and manners'' since they didn''t really need it until now.


    "But it seems that you two aren''t a bit frustrated. Are you enjoying it?"


    Ophis and Lilith immediately nodded without a shred of hesitation and the former said, "I desired peace and quiet. That hasn''t changed, but the meaning of it did... The previous peace and quiet I was hoping for was an eternal silence, but right now..."


    Ophis tried to find the right words but couldn''t so Lilith continued for her, "We desire peace and quiet... And the fulfillment it brings instead of the emptiness."


    Kisuke understood what they meant, "That''s great. I''m d that you were able to find something fulfilling."


    Ophis nodded, "And it''s thanks to you. I''m not sure what I would have be if you didn''t reach out to me."


    Kisuke turned to her and smiled wryly, "You know why I reached out to you at that time. Don''t make it sound like I lent a hand to save you."


    Ophis nodded again, "That isn''t important."


    Lilith then pulled his sleeve to get his attention, "As a show of gratitude, we''d like to help you."


    Kisuke patted her head and chuckled, "You''ve already done a lot for me."


    Ophis grabbed his other hand and put it on her head herself, "But you''re currently lost."


    Kisuke was surprised for a moment before sighing, "...Amazing. You two really have eyes for the most inconvenient things."


    Ophis and Lilith kept staring at him as if trying to pressure him to speak and it didn''t even take a minute for Kisuke to cave in, "I want to bring ire to a very important ce because she has the ability to help me immensely. However, that ce is also very dangerous and my priority should be your girls'' safety."


    Ophis then let out a small snort and returned her attention to the snack, "Unnecessary. We can protect them. We''re strong. And I can protect you too."


    Lilith also did the same as if losing her interest at his ''insignificant'' worry, "We''reing too if they''re going. There''s no question about it."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else and just contemted on what he should do, ''If it was the past me, I wouldn''t have hesitated like this. After all, apologizing is a lot easier than getting permission.''

 Chapter 977 Return to the Other Side

    Chapter 977 Return to the Other Side


    Four hours on the markter, the girls were finally done with their clean up and understandably, they were extremely tired and the allure of just dropping down and sleeping on the ground was great.


    "Great work." Kisuke weed them, "You don''t have sses today so take it easy."


    "Finally..." ire murmured under her breath and didn''t really have any energy to process what Kisuke was saying.


    Ophis and Lilith approached them and began conjuring the Magic Circle for their teleportation to return to the floating ind of the Ouroboros Academy. But before they disappeared, Kisuke called out to ire for one final time, "ire, I''ll send you some documents about Shinigamis and Hollowster. Cooperate with Aika to study the properties of their basic techniques and spells."


    ire just waved her hand while yawning, "...Got it. I''ll go to Aika-neechan''s ceter."


    Ophis and Lilith both had small smiles on their faces and thought that they''d have to prepare for a long trip.


    Kisuke also saw those smiles and thought that he''d haveradesparable to arge army when he went to that ce, ''This is actually more reassuring. After all, if things go the way I expect it to be, I would technically be aiming to destroy that world.''


    .


    .


    .


    A weekter, Riveria and Kisuke were standing in front of the portal that would take them to the ''Dungeon'' World. Since any strange movements from the other girls would result in unwanted attention, they could only send them off through a screen, [Don''t you think the Evies will notice this portal once it''s fully activated?] Sona asked what she was most concerned about.


    "They probably will. I mean with that kind of outpost on the moon, it''s almost impossible for it not to have some kind of radar that could detect a drastic bend in space." Since the Evies have developed a portal that was much more sophisticated than Kisuke''s crude attempt to connect two ces, it''s obvious that they had countermeasures against it. It is one of the main reasons why Kisuke wanted to learn their technology. As for the other reason, that''ll be a surprise for Chaos if he really suddenly turned the tip of his de at him.


    [So we just have to pray that they don''t pinpoint your base?]


    Kisuke shook his head, "No prayers needed. The base is still under an Illusionary Barrier. Even though they could detect the portal, as long as we don''t open it for too long or too wide, they''ll never be able to find this ce."


    Sona sighed in relief, [That''s good. Have a safe trip and don''t forget our souvenirs.]


    Within the same room as Sona, each and every one of the girls started wishing them good travels, but they were more interested in the souvenirs that Kisuke would bring them back and even requested specific things.


    That went on until Kisuke finally lost his patience and closed his notepad to stop epting requests.


    The girls only giggled at each other but they still gave the two of them a proper send-off.


    Now that they were finally ready, Kisuke fully activated the portal that connected to the void. Kisuke and Riveria immediately hopped into it so that the portal could close as fast as possible.


    "There they go. Now that Kisuke is away, that should reduce the number of people that are trying to get to him." Sona muttered after ending the call.


    "You said it!" Irina seconded, "Only seven years went by but there are already a bunch of idiots that want to challenge the Evies thinking that they aren''t a big deal and would be made heroes if they could seed."


    "Those idiots are easy to manipte so we should be on guard against those approaching them." Akeno held her aching forehead, "The real problem is the increasing number of Evie worshippers. There are already some reports on attempted impairment of the barrier all over the globe and we still don''t know how these hunk of metals aremunicating to the people here on Earth."


    Medusa also chipped in and said, "It''s either a special power or an influential faction covering their tracks, but most probably both. Since everyone knows about Great Red''s death, this was already inevitable."


    "As it stands, we might really have to use our students and alumni as soldiers," Kuroka added with a heavy tone.


    Everyone became quiet after that and the frustration was very obvious on their faces. Immediately after, they started discussing the countermeasures that they could make, but in the end, nothing concrete was concluded.


    .


    .


    .


    The moment they entered the portal, Kisuke immediately sharpened his senses. As the portal closes, so is the void around it moving strangely, ''Reinforcement? He''s taking away our path of retreat?''


    A minuteter, the darkness around them seemed to get darker and darker as they went through until it tried to swallow and crush them. The protection that they got from the portal was still holding up but there were already cracks in its defenses, "What''s going on? It wasn''t like this when I came through.", asked Riveria while preparing to reinforce her defenses.


    "Can you hold out?"


    Riveria wondered why Kisuke didn''t answer her question but didn''t dwell on it much and nodded, "I think I can."


    "Good. Let''s speed up." Kisuke stretched out his hand to her and Riveria didn''t hesitate to grab it.


    Two minutester, the crushing pressure of the darkness around them had increased by multiple folds but they could already see the light at the end of this seemingly endless and cruel tunnel.


    But the moment they reached the exit, the pressure instantly reversed and they were greeted by a giant ball ofnd and sea and the vast expanse of space behind them along with the absence of the familiar force that kept their feet on the ground.


    While looking at this breathtaking scene, Riveria tried to speak up but no sound came from her mouth.


    [Use telepathy. We''re more than 300 miles from the ground.] Riveria heard Kisuke''s voice inside her head.


    She then replied, [What are we doing here?]


    [My anchor points are working fine but we were cut off before we could reach them], Kisuke answered while thinking, ''He was way too excited to close our path behind.''

 Chapter 978 Contest

    Chapter 978 Contest


    Thanks to the spells that she knew, Riveria could easily survive the vacuum as long as she had enough Magic Power, [Wait, was Magic always this hard to control? It''s not a problem for me now, but I think I can feel something pressing down on my Magic Power.]


    [It''s always been like this. Probably a rule of this world.]


    [What a strange rule.]


    Since this was her first time being this far out from the ground, Riveria set aside her questions for now and took her time to stare at the giant jewel in front of her, [...This has really changed my perspective. I know what it looks like from images, but seeing it in person is an entirely different experience.]


    [That''s how most things are. Seeking knowledge through records is great, but asting impression can only be achieved through real experiences.]


    Riveria stayed silent while staring at her surroundings and branded this memory into the depths of her mind using all of her senses.


    After a few minutes, Riveria spoke up again, [...That''s right. I haven''t thanked you yet.]


    [Hmm? For what?]


    Riveria turned to her and realized that she was still holding his hand. Nevertheless, she didn''t let go and stared straight into Kisuke''s eyes and said, [Thank you for bringing me this high up.]


    [No. We just coincidentally ended up here.]


    Riveria squeezed his hand and frowned, [You know what I meant. If not for you, I wouldn''t be able to witness this wonderful view. Most probably, not in my entire life.]


    Kisuke let out a short breath and smiled gently, [Then your gratitude should be to Yoruichi and Serafall who asked you to go to that side. And a bit of credit to you too, for taking that step. I hardly did anything.]


    [I''m also thankful to them and I''m d I took that opportunity. Even then, I know that your influence led to that in the first ce... And your humble attitude is really annoying.]


    Kisuke chuckled at her and asked, [Fufufu... Humble? Me? Do you think I''m being humble?]


    Riveria''s eyes widened slightly and she sighed immediately after while holding her forehead as she''d forgotten something important, [...Right... This is just a tiny thing for you. No better than just going out for groceries...] Riveria then looked back at the ''Lower World'', [That''s actually infuriating and frustrating in its own right. You changed my whole life by just ''going out for groceries''...]


    Riveria was about to continue with ''...Makes me feel that I don''t really matter.'', but she was met with a sudden head chop from Kisuke''s free hand that was as hard as a brick.


    There was no sound but when Kisuke lifted his hand, there was a clear red mark on her forehead that she immediately covered with her free hand, [What are you doing!?]


    [All big things start small. Are you really thinking that where you started is more important than where you are right now? Stop thinking about useless things like you''rementing about the past that you can''t change.]


    [...Did you have to hit me?]


    [...I felt annoyed.], Kisuke answered honestly.


    [...I''m sorry.]


    [Well... It''s alright.], Kisuke then pointed at the small patch of blue to their left that''s connected to the sea via a small channel and said, [See thatke? That''s Lolog Lake.]


    [Ah... It really is.]


    [Wanna bet who can reach that fast---er?]


    Not even able to finish his words, Riveria instantly let go of Kisuke''s hand and sted herself towards theke.


    [This bi-] Kisuke also wasn''t able to finish that as a spear of ice came rushing to his face and he had to dodge.


    Kisuke immediately followed after Riveria, who''d already broken the sound barrier and since he was faster than her, he was already rapidly reducing the distance between them.


    Riveria saw this and immediately cast a few more spells to create a barrier that would reduce her drag to almost nothing in anticipation of reentry and sessive and directed shockwaves at the bottom of her feet, increasing her speed further to twice the speed of sound and she was still speeding up.


    Kisuke followed her speed up but he noticed something strange and immediately turned his flight path. The moment he did, a massive explosion urred in his original path, ''An air mine!?''


    But when he looked further below him, he saw hundreds of them scattered on the way down along with Riveria smirking at him.


    He could go around the minefield that she''d created, but that would increase his travel distance. And if Riveria could control the cement of these mines, which she probably could, it would not only be a useless effort, but also a wasted one.


    Since he was pretty durable, Kisuke decided to just bulldoze through everything and increased his speed even further.


    Of course, Kisuke wouldn''t just take Riveria''s attacks passively and prepared to use several B, not just to clear the mines, but also to knock Riveria away.


    But Riveria was still one step ahead because she now started creating tens of illusions of her that not only emted her Magic Power signature, but also her Reiatsu in addition to being able to switch ces with them. A countermeasure against Kisuke''s sensing ability. He might have great senses, but it''d still take some time for him to figure out which was the real Riveria if it was designed specifically to counter him.


    Even then, Kisuke threw his B over and over again, reducing the number of mines and clones alike.


    Moments before they could reach the surface of theke, Riveria''s clones were already cleaned up. While the mines were still slowing Kisuke a bit, he was only a few meters behind her from the hundreds of meters she''d started with. Nheless, the High Elf was still not yet done and pulled out the ace that she had been preparing since she deployed her clones.


    All of a sudden, veryplex Magic Circles appeared in front of Riveria before the light in front of her began to contort while also ''shrinking'' Riveria''s height.


    ''Hmmm?'' Kisuke wondered for a moment what was happening when unexpectedly, Riveria''s speed doubled and he figured out what she was doing, "Hey! That''s cheating!"


    Riveria wanted to retort but she couldn''t since the spell she was using needed an incredible amount of focus just to keep active.


    Currently, Riveria waspressing space itself in front of her and expanding it back as she went through it. So instead of speeding up like what Kisuke was seeing, Riveria was actually just traveling half the distance she originally needed and effectively doubling her rtive speed.


    Kisuke knew that if he didn''t do something, he''d lose and the only way to stop her now was to stop her physically from traveling. Putting forward his hand, Kisuke chanted, "Sajo Sabaku (Winding Binding Chains)!"


    A rope of light erupted from Kisuke''s fingers and elerated fast enough to catch up to Riveria. The distance between them was still increasing so Kisuke could only control the rope to grab her foot. But the moment it touched, it went through her ankle before Riveria suddenly disappeared and reappeared a few inches away from her original position. And in that instant, Riveria finally crashed through the surface of theke followed immediately after by Kisuke while thinking, ''So she still had onest clone.''


    Kisuke didn''t actually clear out all the clones and thest one was traveling while ovepping with the invisible Riveria by just a few inches. He wasn''t able to notice this because of all the fluctuations of Magic Power that obscured her spell. Meaning, all of those spells were ultimately so that Kisuke wouldn''t be able to grab her for a single instant and he marvelously fell for her hidden ace.


    "I won!!!" Riveria cheered jubntly as she resurfaced.

 Chapter 979 …Again?

    Chapter 979 ��Again?


    Kisuke also resurfaced and watched the gloating Riveria, "I didn''t think you''d pull out Space Warping Magic. Even if you wanted to win, that was way too dangerous, you know."


    "Don''t worry. I''m confident enough not to mess it up. I got a few tips from Yoruichi, you see? And if I didn''t win, who knows what you were going to demand from me."


    Both of them got out of the water by stepping onto it''s surface, "But we hadn''t even decided what to bet on."


    Riveria carefully dried her clothes since she very much likes them, "We didn''t, so I can demand anything!"


    "Huh?"


    Riveria just gave Kisuke a bright smile as if she was asking for something unreasonable and grabbed his hand, "I''ll save it for now though. Let''s go to the shore."


    As Riveria pulled him along, Kisuke could only sigh and smile wryly, "Fine. I''ll give it to you this time. Just don''t ask for anything too big."


    .


    .


    .


    The two of them soon reached the shore and they were not very far from Melen, that was very different from their memories, "That''s Melen? Why does it look like Orario without the walls?", asked Riveria.


    Although Kisuke had some guesses, he didn''t answer her question because he too didn''t know the actual answer.


    Throughout the years, they kept theirmunication with Yoruichi, Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis thanks to Ophis and Lilith being able to keep a tiny line to this world open when Kisuke erected the Istion Barrier. But after Sona and the others killed the rogue Deities and left this world, the four of them also went into hiding to avoid any troubles that weren''t worth it.


    Because of that, they also don''t have much information on what''s really going on in Orario aside from the news that the people they knew were still alive and well. Right now, they are still traveling the world and enjoying themselves and this was a very good chance for them as Yoruichi and Serafall were technically foreigners and the Goddesses were either a shut-in or so obsessed with purity that they didn''t really know much about the world.


    They''d agreed to meet in Melen but it seems that they were not yet here so Kisuke turned to Riveria and asked, "Shall we visit the Loki Familia first?"


    "Thanks, but let''s take our time on the way. I''m not really in a hurry."


    Kisuke and Riveria approached Melen and a few minutester, they found another big change in it. On its widened roads were bikes, trikes, and quads of varying aesthetics running the streets with very bustling sidewalks. In a distant sky, they also saw a winged airship. At that point, Riveria understood what happened and Kisuke was able to confirm his guesses.


    An industrial revolution had just urred.


    "This is amazing," Riveria murmured to herself. The former Melen only mostly dealt with the fishing industry and some textile imports from abroad, but right now, all sorts of goods wereid down on the streets that seem to havee from many countries. She might have witnessed Kisuke''s world, but it gave her an entirely different feeling when the once familiar ce became so foreign.


    However, while a little sad, she was not dejected. After seeing the wonders of development, she also hoped for something simr to happen to her home world. In fact, it''s already a miracle that almost nothing has changed in this world for the many centuries their civilizations had existed, ''So it''s really the Gods'' Blessings that were holding everyone back.''


    Now that Kisuke introduced them to the first step to break away from these Blessings years ago, the world had exploded into unprecedented activity.


    A few hourster and when the sun was already setting, Riveria and Kisuke finally reached Orario and this ce has changed way more than Melen had. The city of Orario had grown multiple times in just size alone.


    Even though the Tower of Babel was still the highest structure, standing in the middle of the city, there were already tens of ''skyscrapers'' and both of them could feel the rich activities of either Magic Power or Ki. And stered on the city gates were various Familias that were not native to Orario as far as Riveria remembered.


    "Looks like various powers have settled in the city.", muttered Riveria with a worried tone.


    "As long as Hephaestus-sama didn''t give up her hegemony on the Magic Engine production and Loki-sama and Freya-sama stayed at the top of the food chain, it''d be hard to challenge their authority. The Loki Familia might have moved their headquarters so let''s ask around." Kisuke looked around and saw someone familiar and called out to her, "Sophie-san~! It''s been a while~!"


    The Elf Guild employee with long silver hair that''s parted in the middle turned to him and made a weird expression, "...Ermmm... Excuse me for my rudeness but do I know you?"


    "Eh? R-really?"


    Sophie was about to affirm her answer when she suddenly heard a very familiar voiceughing behind him. Sophie turned her head and eximed, "Riveria-sama!?"


    Riveria stopped herself fromughing and ''introduced'' Kisuke, "I apologize if he may havee as a creepy man, but he indeed came under your guidance a few years ago. He''s Kisuke Urahara, a candy shop owner but he turned into Adventuring because he''s always in red."


    Sophie thought hard about it but she lowered her head, "I apologize. Nothing stilles to mind. I may sound like I''m trying to make an excuse but the Guild has been very busy these past few years that everyone has to work like there''s no tomorrow."


    "Eh?" This time, it was Riveria''s turn to be dumbfounded. She was about to ask one more time but she felt Kisuke''s handnding on her shoulder and stopped.


    "We apologize for bothering you too. Please lift your head up." Kisuke then pulled out a potion from his sleeve, "You look very tired so here''s a potion that could relieve exhaustion."


    Sophie immediately shook her head in refusal, "Y-you don''t have to."


    Riveria grabbed the potion from Kisuke''s hand and passed it to Sophie, "Take it. I can vouch for its effectiveness."


    Since it''s Riveria who''s giving it to her, she couldn''t refuse anymore, "Thank you."


    "By the way, where is the Loki Familia''s headquarters right now?"


    Sophie hurriedly pointed to a certain direction at Riveria''s question and answered, "It''s still in the same area. You can find it from here since they own that tower."


    Riveria smiled at her and said, "Thank you and take care.", before dragging Kisuke with her.


    Sophie was still astounded even after the two disappeared from her view among the sea of the crowd and asked herself, "Who was that man? Why does he seem so close with Riveria-sama?... Could it be... This is big news if true!"


    Meanwhile, while walking through the streets, Riveria was still thinking about the weird interaction, "The Hestia Familia made a name back then and as the Captain, it shouldn''t be that easy to forget you no matter how obscure you are, much less as their Dungeon Guide. And who could actually forget about the legendary Green Crusader: Gigolo Master? Inconceivable..." Riveria muttered seriously. Her stay in the other world wasn''t wasted solely because she now knew what these Aliases meant for him and the Deities.


    "Please don''t call me that."

 Chapter 980 Seven Years

    Chapter 980 Seven Years


    They soon reached the area where the Loki Familia stayed. The Twilight Manor is still the same except for the addition of two more mansions beside it and a 180-feet/55-meter tall tower bearing the Loki Familia''s insignia behind it.


    "The original... Or should I say the inner Orario? It hasn''t changed much aside from those things. What a strange trend." Kisuke whispered.


    As they approached the gates, the two properly uniformed gatekeepers turned their attention to them and one of them did a step forward while raising his hand, "Halt! This is the Twilight Manor of the Loki Familia. May I ask what''s your business?"


    Since both of them are only members for about a year and are not really a native of Orario, they''ve never seen Riveria despite hearing about her all the time.


    "They even have proper guards now.", Kisuke murmured while Riveria stepped forward, "Good evening. I''m a member of the Loki Familia, Riveria Ljos Alf. Please tell Loki that I''ve returned."


    The guards were about to look through the records for today''s proceedings but stopped when she stated her name. Stunned, both of them hurriedly turned their eyes back to her. Riveria Ljos Alf, an Elf with jade-colored long hair and eyes that are said to be more beautiful than a number of Goddesses, "I-it''s as they described..." One of them nkly murmured.


    The other guard, meanwhile, straightened his back and raised his voice, "P-please wait for a moment! I will inform everyone!", before hurriedly running and almost tripping on his way to the manor''s interior.


    The first guard woke up from his partner''s voice and immediately lowered his head, "I apologize! This is just a protocol. Please be patient with us." Although she was as the older members of the Loki Familia have described, they still have to confirm her identity.


    "It''s fine. A lot has changed it seems, so I understand."


    "Thank you very much!"


    The guard was very nervous at her presence and didn''t even notice Kisuke who came with her. Nevertheless, they didn''t have to wait long as they felt some people approaching their location at a good speed.


    "Riveria," Kisuke called out to her.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Remember the strange conversation earlier? Pretend that nothing is strange. It might be useless exining."


    Riveria was confused for a moment until she recalled that one instance in the past where Freya manipted everyone''s memory, "...Do you think it happened again? But what for?"


    Riveria didn''t get her answer as a long haired Amazoness came running towards them with a very loud and cheerful voice, "RIIIIVEEEEERIIIAAAAA!"


    Riveria and Kisuke were both stunned that Tione had suddenly be energetic like her sister. The short-haired Amazoness was also closely following her among others but she has this gant demeanor on her, ''Did Tione and Tiona switch personalities these past seven years?''


    But upon closer inspection, ''Tiona'' has impressive ins while ''Tione'' has a great valley. Seeing that, both of them sighed in relief since nothing had really changed aside from them growing a bit taller and switching hairstyles.


    Tione grabbed Riveria into a hug and continued raising her voice, "Riveria!!! You''re finally home! It''s been a while!"


    Riveria also caught her in her arms and chuckled, "It really has been a while, huh? I''m home."


    Riveria also looked forward and saw the usual group of girls, namely, Tiona, Lefiya, and Ais with Lysa on top of her head. Aside from growing a bit taller and some small changes, Riveria thought that nothing had really changed. Well, aside from the fact that the Magic Power and Ki that she could perceive from them were on a whole other levelpared to before, "Everyone, I''m home."


    "Riveria..." "Riveria-sama!" "Wee home~!" The other three girls all went in for a group hug. The one they viewed as their mother and sister was finally home.


    Riveria epted them all into her arms and couldn''t help but feel a bit emotional. She had watched these girls grow up closely and now they are full fledged adults. Although she gained a ''treasure'' in another world, she also lost a precious memory, ''I have to make up for it.'' She thought to herself.


    Riveria also saw the other familiar faces along with the new ones approaching, "Finn. Gareth. I see that both of you haven''t changed at all."


    Finn chuckled and replied, "I could say the same for you, aside from you changing your fashion style. I never expected you to wear something else aside from those long garbs."


    "It''s just seven years. That''s a rtively short time for us old coots." Gareth added with a small snort.


    Bete, Raul, Anakitty, and the others also came close and surrounded Riveria to ask how she was doing and where she had been all this time. Kisuke, the forgotten one, had to take a couple of steps back to create space from them, though some people noticed his presence and wondered what he was doing here, ''That settles it. I''ve really been forgotten once again. Just what happened? Even Lysa and Filvis'' memories were manipted.'' Kisuke thought to himself.


    They went and talked for about two minutes before Finn finally turned to the ''unknown'' man keeping to himself, "And this gentleman is?"


    Everyone else also turned to him since they''d been curious about the man who came with Riveria.


    Riveria, on the other hand, was stunned, "Y-you guys really don''t know him?"


    Finn burrowed his brows as he was very confident with his memory and was sure he hadn''t met this man before so Riveria''s response was really strange to him, ''Are we supposed to know him?''


    Everyone else also has, more or less, simr thoughts but their confusion would only deepen with the arrival of thest person, "Riveria~~~!? Riveria''s finally back!?"


    Loki, who was busy updating the Blessing of some members, was thest one toe out.


    Her desperate voice took away everyone''s attention from Kisuke, "You''re finally back~~~~!!!" Loki shouted when she saw the familiar High Elf.


    "I''m d to see that you''re doing fine, Loki."


    Like Tione, Loki also jumped into her bosom. And since it has been so long, Riveria just let her do what she wants... To a certain extent, at least since she knew that Loki could get out of hand real fast.


    "You can''t imagine how much I''ve missed you!"


    "Really? I thought that you just enjoyed yourself without my nagging."


    Loki looked up to her with tears filled face, "That was fun, but only for a few months after you left! I really missed you scolding me when I pushed things too far. I miss your voice. I missed gentle reminders. I missed your scent. I missed your soft body. I missed your strange lewd shrieks. I missed --"


    Embarrassed, Riveria immediately covered her mouth as she indeed got out of hand... A bit too fast, even, "Damn you, Loki. Do you want me to toss you into a cold river at dawn!?"


    But instead of getting scared, delight covered her face. Removing the hand blocking her mouth, Loki added, "That''s the dear Riveria I know~!"


    It was then that a sudden realization dawned on her, "Wait... If you''re here, that means that regrettable candy shop owner should be around!"


    "Ehem..." A fake cough came from behind everyone, "My shop is doing better these days, Loki-sama."


    "You think anyone who knows you would believe that?" Riveria instantly retorted, "The only peopleing to your shop are those who are asking for directions!"


    Loki moved her head and looked for the source of the voice. Surprised, she ended up staring at him for about ten seconds before letting out the loudest voice she has today, "Ki-tan!!!!!"


    Simr to what she did to Riveria, Loki lowered her body before leaping towards her next prey, "Ki-tan!!!!!"


    Naturally, Kisuke dodged to the side without any hesitation. He actually wanted to grab her face but he was worried that he''d get attacked.


    Catching only empty air, Loki immediately got angry, "Why did you dodge!? What happened to our skinship!?"


    "Stop uttering scandalous ims. We never had any skinship! What would you do if you damage my virtuous image!?"


    Loki''s face contorted and she started picking her nose, "Huuuuhh? Virtuous? Stop your delusions! You''re one of the most perverted people I know and that includes Gods!"


    "Please, those are just baseless allegations!"


    "Ptui! As shameless as ever! I''m about to regret leaving Riveria in your care!"


    Riveria got nervous right away because of her words'' implication for those who don''t know any context.


    But Kisuke, not willing to deal with this annoying Goddess, pulled out his surefire card, "I have the goods." He uttered with the most serious face he has.


    Loki''s expression also became serious and asked, "...All seven years?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Divided between wholesome and risque."


    Loki''s face instantly softened, "Kisuke, my one, and only best friend~! I knew your shop would be sessful! And I''ve been hearing about your righteous exploits that brought evil there to justice! I''m very happy to see you again~!"


    Everyone could only stare in shock at the two''s banter and a side of Loki that she doesn''t show unless it''s a fellow Deity.

 Chapter 981 Seven Years part 2

    Chapter 981 Seven Years part 2


    After flipping her attitude around, Loki tip-toed toward him and whispered, "So? Where are the goods?" But for everyone around who had strong senses, her words are as clear as day.


    Without saying a word, Kisuke pulled out a photo album with a nk cover from his sleeve and passed it to Loki.


    Loki promptly grabbed the photo album, hurriedly opened it, and was greeted by a treasure trove full of Riveria''s candid photos ranging from her doing her daily activities and enjoying food to little idents. All in all, it was a photo collection of Riveria experiencing the other world with all of her emotions and expressions on full disy.


    "Cute! Cute! Beautiful! Cool! Cute! What the heck was that!? That''s funny!" Loki started muttering to herself while her breath was getting increasingly ragged and her face heated up as she went through the pages with great vigor. Due to her excitement, she raised the photo album on top of her head and shouted, "This is it! This is what I''ve been waiting for all these years!"


    But by doing that, Riveria managed to get a glimpse of what she was looking at, "That''s!?"


    She had been wondering what Kisuke gave Loki and had a bad feeling. And upon seeing her embarrassing moments printed out, Riveria immediately pointed her finger at it and a small ball of me instantly ejected out from it, hitting the photo album and burning it.


    "Ow ouch!" She didn''t even want to let it go but the burning sensation forced her to drop it. Loki was devastated as the treasure disappeared in front of her eyes, "Noooo!!!"


    Chuckling, Kisuke leaned forward and whispered to her, "Your free trial is over. How do you like it?"


    Loki immediately turned around with renewed excitement and remembered Kisuke''s words before, "I want ten copies of each of the wholesome and risque versions! How much!?"


    Naturally, before Kisuke could answer her, balls of me soon came raining down on him. While securing his hat with his hand, Kisuke dodged left and right while backing off and gaining some distance, "Let''s talk about itter, Loki-sama~!"


    Riveria only stopped her onught when it became dangerous for the pedestrians-only minding their business, "Where are you going?"


    Kisuke tipped his hat and said, "I''m going to check on a few things first ande backter. Go enjoy your long-awaited reunion for now."


    Kisuke disappeared among the crowds before Riveria could say anything else, "There he goes with his secretive antics again." An obviously worried expression was disyed on her face, ''Does it have something to do with the tunnel closing on us earlier?''


    "What are you being worried about?" Loki asked her with a teasing expression, "I know you two have be closer all these years, but I think that''s thest guy you should be worried about. Or rather, you should feel bad for those who mess with him."


    Unexpectedly for Loki and those around them, Riveria didn''t put any effort into denying that she has gotten closer to him and just smiled wryly, "It''s not the case in his hometown."


    "Hmmm..." Loki seems to think about something but chooses not to dwell on it for now. She grabbed Riveria''s waist and dragged her to the inner parts of the Twilight Manor, "Let''s forget him for now and have a feast!"


    At her words, Riveria''s face contorted a bit so Loki immediately exined, "Not that kind of forget! I know you''re curious about what''s happening but let''s save that when he returns."


    Meanwhile, the members of Loki Familia could only watch in silence, dumbfounded by what just transpired, "R-Riveria-sama got a..." Lefiya muttered in horror and Tione shouted theplete sentence for her, "Riveria got a man!!!"


    After that, the whole Loki Familia exploded intomotion that Riveria, who''s hearing all of it, could only facepalm, "How am I going to resolve this misunderstanding?"


    "Misunderstanding? That''s a misunderstanding? Who are you kidding?"


    "It is! We''re not yet-... I mean we''re not like that!"


    Loki just made a fed-up expression and said, "Yeah right. I believe you."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke walked around through the busy evening streets and came across some acquaintances but no one reacted to his presence, ''I wonder for what reason this time? And it looks like Yoruichi didn''t deliberately tell me about this.''


    The reason why he separated from Riveria wasn''t just so that he wouldn''t intrude on their ''Family Reunion'', but also check the status and condition of the spell formations he''d left behind. With the uing conflict with the ''Dungeon'', Kisuke wanted to modify them to suit his needs, ''I hope Chaos doesn''t find anything unusual when I ''repair'' them.''


    By design, Kisuke made it so that some of the moreplicated spell formations would crumble and be nonfunctional from the passage of time. So when he approached it again and did some modifications, it''d appear that he''s just repairing it and wouldn''t raise too much suspicion for its real use.


    Though before he could do all of this, he caught a glimpse of a familiar pub that didn''t seem to have changed in any way, ''Looks like it''s still as popr as ever. I''ll have my dinner first.''


    Kisuke entered the Hostess of Fertility and was weed by the noise of the rowdy Adventurers that just came back from work and the slight scent of alcohol in the air. He then went straight to the bar counter and grabbed Mia''s attention, "I''d like some roasted meat and Deli soup."


    What Kisuke didn''t really expect was Mia turning to him with a grin, "So the usual stuff. It has been a while since someone ordered the Deli soup."


    Kisuke returned her smile and nodded, "Yep~ The usual please~ It has been so long since I''ve had that."


    All the waitresses that heard their exchange looked towards them and wondered who Kisuke was since Mia wouldn''t remember someone''s usual order if they''re not a regr.


    However, no further exchange happened between the two throughout the entirety of the man''s meal and their curiosity waned as they served the other customers. Except for one Elf waitress that had been feeling strange when her eyesnded on him the moment he entered.


    .


    .


    .


    A thousand miles away, Yoruichi, Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis were riding in a jeep-style car and were rushing through the empty ins towards Orario, "How long before we get there?", Hestia asked in excitement.


    The driver, Yoruichi, answered, "Probably around 20 hours? Maybe a bit faster depending on the road''s condition."


    "Can''t we just teleport?"


    "We could, but where''s the fun in that?", replied Serafall while looking out the window and enjoying the wind.


    "That''s right. Besides, that guy would immediately go to work once hended so let him do his thing first and then we can have a proper reunion. We also have to make a few stops and pick up Line on the way."

 Chapter 982 Other Worlds

    Chapter 982 Other Worlds


    Kisuke finished his meal and paid his bill, "By the way, where is she? She''s not in her usual seat."


    Mia continued drying up the tes as she answered, "She went out to deal with something. She''ll probably return a few dayster."


    "Is that so?" Kisuke then stood up and decided to leave, "Thanks for the meal. It was great."


    When Kisuke was already a few steps away, Mia suddenly mentioned, "It''s only me, Line from the Loki Familia and a few Deities."


    It didn''t have any context but Kisuke understood her. While waving his hand, Kisuke left the establishment, ''Now then... Only Mia, Line, and a few Deities, huh? I wonder what happened? In a way, this is convenient for me too. Let''s get to work and set up the pod too.''


    Using the cover of the night, Kisuke started repairing the formations whileying out the foundation for further expansion to match the current Orario. That took him about two hours and he decided to save the rest forter when all the parameters and technology he needed was already in hand.


    After that, Kisuke directly teleported to his ''Tower of Desires'' on the 48th Floor of the Dizara Dungeon. He took a quick peek outside and saw that there were already various ''viges'' that spawned all around the tower and there were arge number of Mercenaries that were entering and returning from the lower floors instead of the upper floors.


    ''This is reassuring. At least, they won''t be useless cannon fodder when the real fighting starts. They should be able to provide a bit of breathing room for the main force if ites down to an all out war.''


    Kisuke then discretely exited the tower and directly went to the 47th Floor where the Surtr spawns. While avoiding all the foot traffic, Kisuke dived into one of theva pools and after swimming through the molten rocks and minerals, he finally reached his intended destination, a cool and refreshing cave with a small pond.


    "Heyo~ It''s been ages.", he greeted first while taking out various equipment to set his pod up.


    [It wasn''t that long... But what are you doing?]


    "I''m borrowing your ce to avoid his eyes."


    [...] The mystery voice stayed silent and Kisuke continued working on his task. He was waiting for the voice to say or ask something but it seemed to have no interest in whatever he was doing, ''Disinterest... Maybe. But this feels more like throwing in the towel. Oh well, whatever. It''s going to resolve itself once the time hase.''


    Kisuke worked in silence and an hourter, a pod that is the same as the one in his Mars Base was born. Without any hesitation, he hopped in and closed the cover before activating it. But before his consciousness disappears from his body, Kisuke said out loud, "Please take care of me~ It''ll be terrible if Chaos notices this."


    The moment hepleted his sentence, Kisuke closed his eyes and a thin barrier instantly covered the cave. But aside from that, nothing else happened.


    .


    .


    .


    Before he opened his eyes, Kisuke prepared his acting face once again. But before he could even start, he heard a woman''s voice, [Oh? You''re finally awake.]


    Kisuke could feel something poking his cheek and slowly opened his eyes, "What are you doing?"


    Of course, the woman didn''t understand him and just continued her monologue, [Still, what a curious creature. Your soul goes intoplete inactivity whenever you go to sleep. Are you actually dying while you''re sleeping?]


    Kisuke pped away her finger with his small hand and sat up. The short white-haired green-eyed Eltoude woman beside his ''oversized'' bed is called Stralit Luxeux, one of the two Eltoude representatives that were assigned here in the world with a twins system called Luxato Abtor.


    As the name implies, the two strongest species in this world are the Luxatos and Abtors, but unlike the Draconic Deus, the two species were at war for full domination. Luxatos are short Elf-like beings with a single horn on their forehead and it seems that they are adept at using Elemental Magic. Meanwhile, the Abtors are humanoid beasts that are adept in body strengthening.


    The two species had their owns, but the two never got along. But one day, the Abtors suddenly mounted an invasion. Normally, this wasn''t really a problem since they are equal in strength, however, out of nowhere, Abtors with mechanical parts suddenly started appearing on their side, boosting their strength significantly.


    Thankfully, the Luxatos got outside assistance before they were annihted.


    In terms of rtive strength, this world was way weaker than Draconic Deus, but also thanks to that, the Evies didn''t send their strongest forces to capture it and the Etouldes didn''t want to provoke anyrge-scale response so they could only keep the status quo until they could pull out the Luxatos from this world or expel the Abtor that had taken Evie''s side.


    ''That sounds nice, but from the looks of it, this is just arge-scale testing grounds for the Evies for their [Mechanical Conversion] while the Etouldes are only trying to figure out this technology of theirs. In other words, a big yground for the two factions.'', thought Kisuke while he''s rubbing his cheek. Aside from some names, this is all that he figured out in this ''confinement'' for the past week.


    "I don''t understand what you are saying.", Kisuke replied to her with his squeaky voice.


    Starlit sighed and muttered loudly, [It''s really inconvenient not to understand you. We''ve already gathered enough data from yournguage so there''s that method... But the sting from it might cause a misunderstanding.]


    ''That method?'', Kisuke wondered if it''s the same thing they mentioned on his first day here, ''I just hope they''d force me so I can finally leave this ce properly.''


    But while Kisuke was thinking this with a poker face, Starlit was staring at him with sharp eyes, [Should I just force it?]


    Kisuke tried his best not to change his facial muscles.


    In the end, Starlit picked up Kisuke from his cor and started carrying him somewhere. Of course, Kisuke pretended to struggle, but not enough that she would identally drop him or change her mind.

 Chapter 983 Understanding

    Chapter 983 Understanding


    Starlit went into one of the rooms within the facility they are in and strapped Kisuke into a bed that was just right for his current size before hooking him up to a bunch of wires that seems to be designed for him too, ''It has been prepared'', thought Kisuke while pulling his harnesses, "What are you doing!?"


    Starlit ignored his protest and turned to hermunicator. After pressing a few buttons, she only had to wait for a minute before the old Luxato that Kisuke met when he first came here arrived.


    [Did you get his consent?], asked the old man. But seeing what was happening, he didn''t need an answer to get what was going on.


    Starlit shook her head and replied, [I couldn''t do it. There''s no way for us tomunicate. I tried using illustrations, but it seems that there is too much difference in culture that I couldn''t get through.]


    ''What illustrations?'' Kisuke asked inside his head before recalling the scribbles that she has been showing him these past few days, ''Wait... Those are? Aren''t you just really bad at it?''


    [I already concluded that he''ll be able to take the burden, but it''s going to hurt a lot. Are you sure about this? He might not trust us going forward.]


    [Probably.] Starlit shrugged her shoulders, [But we won''t be able to move forward like this, Doctor. Whether he could trust us or not, it''s still better to start somewhere and get even the tiniest information about his origin and home world.]


    The old man sighed and walked towards the consoles that are on the side of the bed, [Fine... But you''ll have to take the responsibility for this.]


    The girl nodded with a smile, [That''s obvious. Since he was assigned to me, I''ll take responsibility for whatever happens to him.]


    ''That''s admirable, but that''s not reassuring at all!''


    Kisuke prepared to shield his piece of soul and allow any necessary changes this procedure will do, ''If ites down to it, I''ll just self-destruct to avoid anyplication. Though I would have to find another avenue for this n... Which might not present itself like this.''


    Kisuke didn''t have to struggle long as both Magic Power and Spirit Particles began flowing through the wires and entered his body. At first, they did nothing but avoid Kisuke''s own cirction of energies but momentster, they directly went for his head, ''Seriously!?''


    Kisuke braced himself as he didn''t think that they''d go straight to his brain without much examination from their side. But it wasn''t just that. While the Magic Power side went for his physical brain, the Spiritual Particles made their way to his Soul in an attempt to modify the same part. At that point, the pain started to set in as if someone was drilling into his skull.


    Still, that wasn''t enough for Kisuke to let out a peep so he pretended to be hurt by shouting at top of his lungs while watching closely what was happening.


    It was simr to what Kisuke did when he made the candy that could make the girls understand thenguage of the world, however, it''s a lot more unrefined when he did it, ''This... is messy? Is this what they have to do to make it more universal and adjustable for more races? No wonder they need that trantion device. This is rough.''


    As soon as they imprinted their knowledge, the Magic Power and Spiritual Particles slowly retreated and the pain subsided with them, prompting Kisuke to breathe out slowly.


    "Is it done?" Starlit asked the old man.


    The old man didn''t answer immediately and checked Kisuke''s vitals, "There doesn''t seem to be any problem as far as I could see, but we''d still need a thorough checkup just in case."


    Kisuke didn''t listen to them and checked the changes that they made, ''It''s functioning as intended, but it''s badly done. A shame, but I''ll have to erase this. It''ll also be safer that way.'' He then passed out, restoring and resetting his Gigai.


    Kisuke woke up in his original body and exited the pod while stretching his limbs, "Before I can talk to them properly, I have to practice my proper pronunciations first... Or maybe I should start out as a broken speaker first?"


    .


    .


    .


    The next morning, Kisuke finally decided to return to Twilight Manor. And when he reached the gates, he caught the two guards that he sawst night just ending their night shift, "Good morning~ Is it alright if you inform Loki-sama or Riveria that I''ve returned?"


    "Ah... It''s you. It''s fine. We''ve been informed to let you in once you arrive. Loki-sama said that you should go to her private lobby and you should already know your way in." One of the guards answered. Though he has been wondering how this man would know the way inside the manor he figured he has been a guest in the past.


    "Is that so? Then I''ll be excusing myself."


    Kisuke went straight in and he came across some familiar faces but even more unfamiliar ones, ''It would seem that they''ve tripled in size.''


    Everyone was curious about who he was, especially his rtionship with Riveria, but none of them approached him as they were already notified to leave him alone for now.


    It didn''t take too long for him to reach Loki''s private lobby and in there he saw Loki and Riveria were already waiting for him with some drinks prepared.


    "It looks like they didn''t let you off easy." Kisukemented after seeing the deep crease in-between Riveria''s eyebrows.


    Riveria massages her temple to ease the headache from the hangover, "What choice do I have?"


    "You won''t heal yourself?" asked Kisuke as he sat down beside her.


    "I''d like to have a natural experience this time around."


    "Want me to massage it for you?"


    "That would be helpf-- !?" Riveria realized what she was about to say and where she is so she instantly shook her head, "I''m fine!"


    However, that was already toote as Loki started chuckling at their interaction, "I knew you two would be close enough after all those years, but it''s still very surprising to see it in person. And Riveria, I think it''s fine to let your guard down when it''s just me."


    "Absolutely not!"


    Loki didn''t push her any further since she knew that it would only work against her so she instead turned to Kisuke and said, "Now then, to exin why everyone forgot about you once again... Well, the short story is what you''ve shown everyone is very detrimental to their growth. Before they reached where they are now a few years ago, they were having very unrealistic expectations."

 Chapter 984 Loki’s Struggle

    Chapter 984 Loki��s Struggle


    "...Unrealistic expectations?" Kisuke''s mouth twitched, "That really impeded them? Just how impatient were they for that to happen?"


    "Really, really impatient.", Loki sighed and reclined on her seat, "What do you think you look like?"


    "...Err... I''m not really sure how to answer that question. Human, I guess?"


    Loki raised her foot on the table, "That''s exactly it! Regardless of what you are, you look like a Human around 20-30 years old! Yet you have that kind of power. Thanks to that, these kids thought that it is possible to achieve that within a few years... They became desperate."


    "...Seriously?" It was then that Kisuke realized his mistake. It''s a massive discrepancy that has always been present that he chooses to ignore because it''s something that isn''t very important and can be changed with the right approach.


    In the two previous incidents he was in, it''s always mostly true that once you survive an encounter or a dire predicament, you''d alwayse out stronger and would even allow one to step into a new stage of their power. However, in this world, he almost forgot that people are mostly improving gradually, tackling challenges that they were capable of and taking those experiences in to use in their next challenge.


    In other words, ''power and wisdome with age'' rang truer than ''sudden metamorphosis or enlightenment in the middle of a fight'' in this world.


    "What the hell? I thought introducing Magic and Ki would solve this ''problem'' so I didn''t think about it any further.", It was Kisuke''s turn to sigh, "That means, they still couldn''t let go of the concept of ''Levels''. Pretty pathetic, I would say."


    "You just underestimated how much a Deity meant for these children.", Loki immediately refuted, "Well, that''s the story and the solution we went through after consulting Yoruichi and Hestia was to erase everyone''s memory, not just you, but the entire Hestia and Artemis Familia because it''s safer and more secure that way."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "But with the Magic Power and Ki surrounding them, I don''t think it would be possible to hold their memories with just Freya''s ''Charm'' alone. They should have broken it by themselves at some point."


    "I don''t know what exact spell they used but it''s thebination of Freya''s ''Charm'', Serafall''s Magic, and Yoruichi''s Kidou... Though I have no idea what thest one is since I only heard it from them."


    ''Yoruichi''s Kidou? That should have been impossible without her tools. It looks like she''s been busy with her own thing too.'' Kisuke smiled but didn''t expressively reveal the reason behind it.


    Loki just ignored Kisuke''s reaction and continued, "In any case, everyone has been getting desperate and wanted to match you. And as you''ve guessed, they don''t have the proper mindset for it so it''d only end up destroying them. Without much choice, we had to take this step."


    "Around what levels did this happen?" Riveria broke her silence and asked.


    "Finn, Gareth, and Ais just reached Level 8. There were also some on Freya''s side who reached the same Level."


    Riveria thought about Loki''s words for a moment, ''This is definitely weird... I can''t see anything that would make them desperate enough to warrant Loki and the others to erase their memories.''


    Seeing her reaction, Loki couldn''t help but grin, "Thankfully, you still know them enough. As you''ve guessed, Kisuke''s existence was just the coffin and the nail to it was something different... Or rather, someone. Although there are already several Level 9s, who do you think reached it second?"


    The gears in Kisuke''s head began to turn and a certain someone entered his mind, ''I see... So that''s the whole story... Still, that''s pretty pathetic.'' Although he agreed with Loki that he underestimated their beliefs, his opinion didn''t change. After all, he gave them all the tools they needed and they only needed to use them.


    Riveria, on the other hand, was thinking about Loki''s question. Finn, Gareth, Ais, or Ottar would have been the obvious answer, but since she''s asking if it would have been someone else, "Ottar should have been the first one, but second? I have no idea."


    "Ottar did reach Level 8 first but the second one to follow him is the rising star of the Miach Familia, Bell Cranel."


    "...Bell Cranel?" The name rang a bell inside Riveria''s head, but she couldn''t recall him perfectly.


    Kisuke, chuckling, interrupted them, "Let me guess, the first one to reach Level 9 was Bell Cranel."


    Riveria''s eyes instantly widened in surprise. Loki''s eyes, meanwhile, sharpened, "That''s correct. And right now, he''s undeniably the strongest Adventurer in Orario and the Gods gave him the title ''Heaven Defier'' after he defeated the ''King''."


    "Wh-!? How did that happen!?"


    Loki shrugged her shoulders at Riveria''s question, "He''s just better at almost everything~. Martial Arts, Magic, and Charisma, he''s a bonafide genius of this era. Both our Familia and Freya''s are just holding up their rank due to our number and influence. Although that might change in the future with the Guild and a number of Familias fully supporting Miach Familia due to his existence."


    At that point, a number of people approached the door to their room and both Kisuke and Riveria instantly noticed them, signaling Loki that they are not alone anymore.


    Loki sighed and concluded, "Of course, there''s a lot more to the story since it''s a whole seven-year gap, but that''s the gist of it. What about you, Riveria? How did you fare? When you mentioned that you''re still a Level 1st night, they stopped asking how strong you are after those years out of concern for you."


    Riveria cleared her throat. She has always wanted to continue that topic, but after the pity she''d receivedst night, she couldn''t find the right time to brag so this is already her chance.


    But just as she opened her mouth, so did Kisuke, "Hear me out, Loki-sama. Although Riveria is just Level 1, she trained to the point ofplete exhaustion multiple times and studied Magic to the point of her eyes bleeding. Thanks to that, despite the limitation of her Level, if ites down to it, she''s fully capable of going against a Level 6 or 7! If she really pushes it, she could hold back a Level 8!"


    Riveria instantly kicked Kisuke''s shin, but it was only her who was hurt since she didn''t use any protection. Regardless, she furiously whispered to him, "What are you doing!? That''s way lower than what we''ve agreed!"


    "Change of ns. They are a lot stronger than we initially expected despite the problems. Since it''ll be more advantageous for us to keep your cards hidden until the right time, you should sit on the sidelines for now."


    "...But that''s..." Riveria really wanted to show off at least a few of her abilities, but she couldn''t find any reasons to disagree with Kisuke.


    "I stand beside you, alright?"


    Riveria instantly understood what he meant, "I''ll take that as a promise. When ites to this... side. Bring me along."

 Chapter 985 Loki’s Struggle part 2

    Chapter 985 Loki��s Struggle part 2


    With shining eyes, Loki stared at them with arge grin, more specifically, towards Riveria. Riveria noticed her teasing stare and immediately took some distance from Kisuke, "What''s wrong? Please go on~."


    Riveria froze for a moment before feigning a cough, "Ehem... It was nothing... It''s true that I could hold back a Level 8."


    Loki already knew that she was lying before she could utter those words. She didn''t exactly know what she could do now, but she estimated that she is probably already her strongest child if she was willing to hide it. Nevertheless, Loki agreed for her toy low for now for the benefit of the whole Familia in case someone started something with the use of the ''Heaven Defier''.


    Naturally, Kisuke already knew what Loki was thinking but didn''t point any of it out. Instead, he continued his ''bragging'', "Indeed~! And it''s not just about fighting, but also her achievement in Magic outside of battles!"


    Riveria wondered what Kisuke was going to say and didn''t stop him, which she regretted immensely, "Most notably, the [Anti Weight Gain Magic]!"


    Riveria instantly froze and asked with twitching lips and a pale face, "W-what are you talking about?"


    "Of course, it''s the Magic you use on a daily basis and kept on improving upon it since the moment you learned about it."


    "Y-you''re talking about weight reduction, right? So that it''ll be easier to jump or fly?"


    With a straight face, Kisuke denied it, "Nope. Not that. I''m talking about the Magic that expels sugar from your body to avoid gaining weight."''


    "W-what... are you talking about!?" Riveria wanted to ask how he knew since she''d been keeping it secret from everyone because she was embarrassed by herziness to move her body and actually exercise.


    Kisuke was able to read her mind and made arge grin, "You think I wouldn''t notice~? Ever since you started eating ice cream and cakes, you''ve been worried about your significant gain of weight so you forsake them. But I would guess you found a spell used for expelling poisons and modified it after figuring out that sugar is one of the main causes of weight gain."


    "After that, you didn''t just go back into eating those desserts, but also lost any semnce of control for quite some time."


    "H-how!? I could have just been exercising, you know!?"


    Kisuke finally put the final nail in the coffin, "I know you hate moving around when you want to study Magic, so I doubt that. Besides, I only noticed because there was a scent of sugar in the living room. Unless you''re using a perfume made out of sugar, that''s impossible."


    "..." Riveria finally went quiet and covered her blushing face that spread until the tip of her long ears in embarrassment because it wasn''t just about revealing her secret, but also Loki''s unbelieving reaction and the restlessness moving beyond the door.


    Kisuke was already thinking of stopping there and moving on to another topic, but after seeing Riveria''s reaction, the little ''Devil'' inside him had lit up in glee, "Ah~ Those were some good times~. I still remember her reaction when she first tried out all sorts of sweet treats from my hometown and was absolutely on cloud nine with them. But then, after a few weeks of her new addiction, the devastated expression she had when she slowly pinched her slightly bby belly was priceless!"


    Figurative steam was alreadying out of Riveria''s head as she further buried her burning face within her hands, ''He saw that!?''


    Loki, on the other hand, was fully mind blown; even with her rich imagination, she couldn''t picture Riveria''s exact face at that time.


    "And as expected of the Magic enthusiast... or maniac at this point, instead of properly exercising, she opted to just develop a spell that would support her eating habits. Oh my~ I still remember her crying face in delight when she ordered a ton of food in secret and lost herself-" Before Kisuke could finish his words, however, a fist filled with Magic Power suddenly flew and hit him squarely in his face. A very much well-deserved punch.


    Kisuke instantly flew off his seat and crashed through the door, breaking its locks and revealing the people who were silently listening from the outside.


    Lefiya, Tiona, Tione, Filvis, and Ais with Lysa on her head looked at him who was on the floor with stunned expressions, "My~ Good morning everyone. I didn''t know you were here. I apologize for the noise this early in the morning."


    The girls didn''t know what to say or even do in this situation since Kisuke could still smile and greet them while he wasying on the floor with a clear mark on his right cheek. But they didn''t really have to do anything as a cold atmosphere suddenly dropped on them and when they looked back, they saw Riveria, still with a red face, but with incredibly terrifying eyes staring at them and a smile as cold as a thousand-year-old cier, "Excuse me, but we still need to talk."


    The only thing they could do was nod furiously as Riveria dragged Kisuke back by one of his legs into the room as she locked the door again by freezing the gaps of the door. At the same time, Riveria also sealed the room so that no more sound woulde out since from here on, they will be talking about the other side and what Riveria experienced in it in detail.


    An hourter, Loki could only stare at the ceiling after Kisuke and Riveria left the room. While Riveria didn''t reveal anything about the Evies trying to invade Earth, she showed her the recordings of the Azazel Cup from 7 years ago that blew away all of Loki''s expectations. She thought that Kisuke was an anomaly from their world, while that was still true, but only to a certain extent.


    An unprecedented amount of excitement filled Loki for the first time in a while as a crazed smile twisted her lips, ''What do I do...? I want to go there.''


    But she knew that would be impossible as long as they were ''imprisoned'' in this world, ''We''re not even in control of our lives. So much for being a God.''


    .


    .


    .


    Since everyone was curious about Kisuke, Riveria had no choice but to introduce him, "So how should I destroy them?"


    Riveria opened her mouth and was about to get angry. But after thinking about it, Riveria found some merit in Kisuke''s words. Riveria rubbed her chin while staring at Kisuke, ''They are all kind people... But I don''t want them to think that he''s only leeching off me because of how they view me nor do I want them to think that he''s holding me back.'' At some point in time, Riveria already hated someone looking down on Kisuke, looking down on her trusted ''partner'', even if they are her Familia members.


    "If they invite you to a spar, just reveal the difference in skill.", replied Riveria after thinking about it.


    "...Hey... They''re not like before, are they? Do you want me to y around with them with weaker parameters? Isn''t that a bit too hard?"


    "I don''t really know if you''re being humble or just overestimating them...", Riveria then grinned, "But from what I heard, to get stronger faster, they only focused on fighting against monsters. Although they might have improved, there''s just no way their anti-personal skills could have kept up."


    "You saw them train?"


    "Yep... Sadly, almost all of them went the same route as Issei Hyoudou. That isn''t bad, but you have to be an extreme irregrity like Issei who has many tactical ss techniques in his arsenal to make that work. Well... It''s extremely effective with monsters with higher standards for defense and are just technically beasts, but against someone of the same level with the same intellect, they''ll just be throwing punches at each other or it''ll be a fight of numbers."


    "...I think you''re misunderstanding something.", Kisuke suddenly said.


    Riveria tilted her head in confusion, "About what?"


    "After reaching a certain level, it''s a lot easier to go with the [Issei Route] as you talked about since most of the time, that''s really all you need. If you think that being a ''Technician'' is the way to go if you want to get stronger, you''re wrong. Compared to a simple ''Fighter'', it indeed is an advantage, but being a ''Technician'' is a lot harder than you''ve imagined... Or should I say you''re only around ''Technicians'' to have that kind of view. In reality, if you remove our group, only Cao Cao, Ajuka, Azazel, and a small group of people could be considered ''Technicians''... In other words... We are rare so please don''t set them up to your standards or you''ll just be utterly disappointed."


    Riveria''s eyes widened and tried to process everything.


    Seeing that she really had that misunderstanding, Kisuke sighed, "And it''s not all advantages for ''Technicians''. After all, Issei couldn''t have be as strong as he is now if he were one. There''s just a difference of mindset that can''t be equalized. More often than not, ''Fighters'' are the ones that exceed expectations the most."

 Chapter 986 Loki’s Struggle part 3

    Chapter 986 Loki��s Struggle part 3


    Kisuke appeared again in front of the curious Loki Familia members and there was only one thought in his mind, ''...How many times do I have to do this?''


    Even though he could understand the reasoning behind it and it might as well be thest resort, it still doesn''t change the fact that he has to do this for the third time now, ''I''m more interested in how Bell Cranel is faring. But considering how Hermes is attached to him, it''ll only be annoying if I interfere directly.''


    While Kisuke''s mind was somewhere else, Riveria stepped up with him in front of the old members of the Loki Familia, "This is Kisuke Urahara... Aside from his name, I don''t really know what else to tell you. Well... He''s an unfortunate businessman?"


    Kisuke was instantly brought back to reality when he heard that but just when he was about to react, he stopped when Riveria red at him. Considering what his uncouth mouth did earlier, he let it go and looked in the opposite direction.


    This little interaction, however, didn''t go unnoticed and made everyone have a conclusion in their minds. Nevertheless, while most of them were happy for Riveria, it''s not the same for some and they wouldn''t ept him just because Riveria acknowledged him. Like children to their mother, Kisuke would still first have to win them over before he could be their ''step-father''.


    "He and his family are the ones who took care of and taught me a lot of things these past few years. I know some of you are still suspicious of his identity, but as you''ve seen yesterday, he''s someone that Loki trusts and he''s also someone I could trust my life with..." However, while Riveria was saying shocking things for the Familia, she suddenly became quiet for a moment before taking her words back, "...On second thought, don''t trust him or you might end up miserable. If you want something from him, make sure to go through me first."


    At her ''joke'' Finn started chuckling and stepped forward, "You don''t have to be overprotective of him, Riveria. We won''t treat him badly. Nice to meet you, I''m the captain of the Loki Familia, Finn Deimne. Thank you for taking care of Riveria." Finn offered his hand while introducing himself.


    "She has been taking care of me too. Since I don''t really cook my own dinner anymore, she has been a big help.", Kisuke epted his hand with a smile, ''Well, and other stuff too like creating countermeasures against the known abilities of various big personalities.''


    Of course, those who are already biased towards Kisuke immediately misunderstood those words, thinking that Riveria was reduced to a simple cook.


    Finn, meanwhile, didn''t think much about it but he has been curious why Riveria trusted him so much and wanted to test him by sending Ki to his hand. But before he could do so, a cold shiver suddenly descended dwon his spine and a sharp pain bit his thumb. His face instantly froze as he followed his instincts not to go through it. Finn was staring at Kisuke''s face when this all happened and the smile he''s making now has an entirely different meaning for him, ''...What is he!?''


    "I-is that so? I''m happy to see that Riveria is getting along with someone else." Finn, slowly but surely, released Kisuke''s hand.


    "Don''t make it sound like I have trouble making friends.", retorted Riveria from the side, oblivious to the slightly panicking Finn.


    "But you don''t like making friends," Kisuke added. He thought that Finn was going to do something but he saw that he suddenly stopped so he was a bit disappointed.


    After Finn, Gareth approached Kisuke and offered his hand too while introducing himself. While his curiosity is more tant and frank, Kisuke thinks that it''s a lot betterpared to Finn trying to hide everything behind that smile of his.


    Subsequently, Gareth helped Kisuke by telling everyone''s name and Riveria had to follow up because she had to pretend this was his first time meeting them. Soon, they reached the group of girls with very colorful expressions. Ais and Tione have these eyes full of curiosity, Tiona still had this cheerful expression, ready to fire away, and finally, Lefiya who was disying unbridled suspicion against him with Filvis holding her shoulder to make sure she doesn''t just jump on him.


    The small white Dragon on top of Ais'' head, on the other hand, was also staring at Kisuke as if she was about to bite him, not from malice, but from her instincts that kept screaming at her mind that she has to do it before a certain scent disappears from him. She''s only stopping herself because she had already developed enough intellect to separate her from beasts.


    Riveria had been thinking about how to provoke them since she didn''t want them to do it by themselves with Kisuke as their target but she''s drawing nks right now, ''I can''t let them take the initiative... Or they''ll really end up miserable.''


    Thankfully enough, Tiona presented her with the opportunity, "Say, Kisuke-san. When are you going to marry our Riveria? Or are you two already married?"


    Her direct question caused Lefiya to shout, "Tiona-san! What are you saying!? It''s obvious that they aren''t married! A married Elf has this specially made jade bracelet and Riveria-sama isn''t wearing one!"


    Kisuke turned to Riveria and wanted to ask if that was true but he paused when he saw Riveria grin for a moment before making this expression as if she were a defeated maiden, "That''s true. We''re not married. And the talks of marriage couldn''t reallye up with so many women around him." All those telenovs were for this moment, ''How was that? I can act too if I want to~!''


    However, what she thought was a bit of shock and reprimanding from the girls'' side turned into total silence, ''Hmmm? Did something go wrong?''


    All of a sudden, a shift in the atmosphere was felt and the previous, warm wee became a cold one with everyone staring at Kisuke with a bit of hostility. Something did go wrong because Riveria underestimated their reaction. What she didn''t take into ount was that Kisuke was her ''first man'' and there was more importance in that than she realized.


    "Uhhmmm... Riveria... Are you still angry about what I said earlier?", asked Kisuke while feeling the animosity.


    Riveria immediately went in front of Kisuke to defend him and right her errors, "Wait! You''re misunderstanding things!"


    The previously cheerful Tiona stepped forward and asked, "What misunderstanding?"


    "Uhmmm..." Riveria tried to answer, however, ''It''s true that there are no marriage talks... And it''s also true that there are many women around him...'' She couldn''t think of any excuses because none of what she said was a lie in the first ce.


    And that hesitation from her side was enough to make the girls snap.

 Chapter 987 Loki’s Struggle part 4

    Chapter 987 Loki��s Struggle part 4


    Riveria didn''t know what to do. She tried exining it multiple times, but panic set in and she wasn''t able to do it very well. On top of that, it''s as if everyone already closed off their ears to her ''useless'' excuses and judged Kisuke as a bad influence on her if he could make her act like this. Although Riveria originally wanted to provoke them, she didn''t mean this much!


    Tiona stepped out while cracking the joints of her knuckles, "Kisuke Urahara, was it? I heard from Riveriast night that you''re a very reliable guy. However, I have a very different opinion. Aren''t you just taking advantage of her?"


    "Tiona!" Riveria became angry, but before she could say anything else, Kisuke grabbed her shoulder, "My~ Is that so? Is there any way I could prove it otherwise?"


    Riveria turned back and saw Kisuke smiling but she knew he wasn''t happy in the slightest.


    Tiona ignored Riveria and said with a big smile that also wasn''t happy in the slightest, "Easy. The world is dangerous so all you have to do is prove that you can protect her on your own."


    "You had me there for a moment. I thought you were going to ask me for a fetch quest, but it looks like I''m wrong~ This is a lot simpler and easier."


    "Kisuke... I don''t know why you''re pissed, but please let me resolve this. This is a problem I created in the first ce."


    Kisuke''s hand moved to her head and caressed her hair. For a moment, the anger in his eyes disappeared, "Step aside for now and take it easy. Let me show these kids how much their head is up in their ass."


    A vein popped on Tiona''s head as her fury reached a new level and so are the others, "...Kids, huh? I can''t really take that seriously from someone who looks younger than me."


    Riveria, meanwhile, was stunned and couldn''t stop staring at Kisuke while her hair is being ruffled, "Why are you so angry?" It was something on her mind but she didn''t want to ask it. There were really only very few instances that she saw Kisuke genuinely furious. She didn''t really want to hope, but there are always just one or two denominators for all those instances.


    "I already told you that. Their heads are too stuck up in their own asses."


    Riveria still wanted to stop him since this might devolve into something else but a hand suddenly pulled her arm and as she turned around, she saw Loki trying to pull her to the side while waving her free hand to Kisuke and others, "I won''t involve myself in this aside from keeping Riveria on the side. You guys do what you want."


    Of course, everyone else thought that Loki was on their side when she said that they could do whatever they want, except for one person who could slightly understand the situation, Finn, ''I wanted to stop it since that dangerous feeling he gave me earlier surely wasn''t a fluke, but it seems that Loki wanted something to happen... Let''s watch first.''


    The fury returned within Kisuke''s eyes the moment Riveria left and said, "Now then, let''s set a rule or tw-"


    However, Kisuke couldn''t finish his words as Tiona directly pounced at him while baring her fist, "You talk too much."


    Tione, who was watching from the side, sighed as it ended too quickly, "She doesn''t really know how to hold back." In spite of that, the sh that she was waiting to hear didn''t happen, instead, she heard Lefiya muttering, "N-no way..."


    Tione hurriedly looked back and saw Tiona who''d stopped midswing of her fist. She wondered why she''d stopped but her confusion was soon answered when her gaze moved a few inches below. It''s not that she stopped because Tiona felt pity at thest moment, but because Kisuke''s own fist was already under her chin before Tiona''s fist could approach him.


    "I would like to say that everyone dissatisfied can have a go but each of you will only have one chance... You already blew it." Kisuke then removed his hand from her chin and Tiona used that chance to back away and create distance between them, "But that''d be too boring. I''ll give you another chance, soe at me."


    Tiona gritted her teeth and red at Kisuke, but contrary to her expression, her heated head had already cooled off and a cold sweat was even drenching her back. She tried to recall what happened earlier but no matter how many times she repeated it, it was still the same, ''I couldn''t see his fist until it was about tond... If he has strength anywhere near me, that could have caused a fatal blow to my head.''


    She tried to catch him off guard, but she was humiliated instead and she couldn''t do anything about it. If she said anything remotely like an excuse, the awkward silence surrounding them right now would be even more embarrassing for her.


    "What? Not going to take it?" Kisuke added with a mocking smile.


    Tiona could only begrudgingly reply, "...I''ll take it." Beforeunching herself at Kisuke once more, this time, with full awareness and with her Touki.


    This time, Tiona didn''t over-extend herself and just threw jabs and low kicks in an attempt to force Kisuke to reveal his cards. But this time, instead of retaliating, Kisuke just kept dodging her and jumped around in circles.


    Tiona stopped holding back her speed that''s at the top of the line among Level 8s. Despite that, Kisuke was still able to dodge her blows without increasing his own speed and soon enough, she found out why, ''How!? How is he dodging before I can even throw an attack!?''


    Kisuke was able to guess what she was thinking because of the expression she was making and said, "Because you''re too honest and your feints are useless without your own Ki following your movements."


    It was also the problem that Gareth had pointed out in their training as the technique is just too delicate for someone with her personality, ''...But Gareth said it shouldn''t be too much of a problem because there isn''t much of a dy that anyone could exploit.''


    "It isn''t just him predicting her moves." At some point in time, Gareth and Finn had already arrived behind Ais, Tione, Lefiya, and Filvis.


    Tione turned to Gareth who just spoke and asked, "Not just predicting her moves? Then how else?"


    "Look carefully. Predicting her next moves are just a small part of it, but most of it was just him leading Tiona to throw the attacks he wants."


    Tione hurriedly looked back while Ais, Lefiya, and Filvis had their eyes wide open in shock, "Though that''s just my guess since it''s a really ridiculous thing... But how else could he keep dodging when he''s obviously moving slower than her?", added Gareth.


    "I''m of the same opinion as Gareth." Finn nodded, "That man, Kisuke Urahara, is inplete control of what''s happening. From the start, it was already Tiona''s loss.


    On the other side, however, Loki was having a field day teasing Riveria, "Well aren''t you a lucky girl~! I don''t think I''ve ever seen him that protective~ Unless, it involved one of his girls."


    "Loki, we''re good friends. He also does that to his close friends." Riveria denied it, but her ears are bright red, giving away her thoughts.

 Chapter 988 Loki Struggle part 5

    Chapter 988 Loki Struggle part 5


    Tiona was getting impatient and the Ki that had been covering her entire body became visible as an aura. The increased concentration of her Ki was even more pronounced on her arms and legs. Though Kisuke was able to see that she was still holding back, ''Oh? That form is... She could probably materialize her Ki further than that.''


    Tiona''s long hair swayed along with the air being pushed around by her aura. There was also an obvious luster that was present in her eyes, but Kisuke doesn''t know what those entailed. Regardless, he was still carefully observing the flow of her Ki-turned aura and concluded that this was where she was putting out her real ability.


    Even then, nothing really changed besides her attacks having more punch and kick in them, alongside the small shockwaves she was creating by whipping her limbs around. Tiona''s overall pattern was still the same and what concerned Kisuke more was his hat leaving his head with all these winds whipping around.


    After a minute or two, Tiona gritted her teeth and couldn''t take it anymore, "Why are you only dodging!?"


    "Hmm..." Kisuke tilted his head to the right to avoid her fist, "I apologize. The defense you have right now has already exceeded the strength I can use and I won''t be able to do any substantial amount of damage even if I could get a direct hit."


    "Then why don''t you surrender!?"


    "I don''t know how things are done here, but... Do you just surrender when your opponent is stronger than you? Now I wonder how you even reached this level."


    "Wh-!? That''s not- !?" Tiona couldn''tplete her sentence because one of her feet suddenly sank and she lost her bnce.


    After creating that chance, Kisuke went on the offensive and sent his fist toward her face.


    Tiona gritted her teeth and raised up her left arm to block it. Kisuke''s punch didn''t do anything to her, but because she was out of bnce, she couldn''t stop herself from falling backward. She tried to recover her bnce by moving her other foot back, but the same thing happened again with it sinking to an unnatural angle.


    Tiona saw Kisuke''s second fisting for her face once again and used her other arm to block it, "Kuhh..." However, the second fist never came, instead, she felt something swiping both of her feet off the floor and throwing her airborne. The next instant, she felt a dangerous impact on her unprotected stomach, sending her back down and smashing the floor, "Guhaaaa!"


    The air in her lungs was forcibly ejected, making her disgruntled for a split second. Though within that split second, the battle was already over with Finn shouting, "Stop!"


    Tiona was confused for a moment as she was just trying to get up but soon enough, she also understood. On top of her neck were two fingers covered in dense Ki that could easily puncture her own defensive Ki. She shuddered once again and followed the arm that was holding those fingers until she reached Kisuke''s eyes looking down on her, "If you''re going to be talking, at least try not to be distracted by it."


    After leaving those words, Kisuke stood up and stepped away.


    When he turned back again, he saw the almost unresponsive Tiona being assisted by Tione and Ais, ''They got strong, alright? But due to that, they also became dismissive of other people. To think they wouldn''t even listen to Riveria properly.''


    This is the real reason why Kisuke was pissed. Even though panicking, Riveria was trying to exin something yet all they did was deny it because they already had a conclusion in their mind, ''Just because I''m an unknown person, they''d disregard the words of someone important to them? Sitting at the top of the world has made their ego too big. Was it because they don''t have many rivals and those weaker than them have no way of reaching them?''


    Kisuke turned his sights to Loki who was also looking at him while scratching her head and making an awkward smile, ''So this is a problem for you too. Can''t you discipline them on your own? Dang it... these ''lessons'' won''t be free.''


    Now that they''d moved Tiona away, Kisuke finally spoke again, "Next... But this is taking too long. The four of you have a problem with me, don''t you? Come together so we don''t waste anyone''s time."


    Everyone froze and Tione slowly turned to him with veins visible on her forehead, "Huh? Forgive me, but it seems that I misheard you."


    "Stop pretending to be deaf when it''s convenient. You heard me. Let''s get this done because I still have more important things to do than waste my time here."


    More veins popped in Tione''s head as she stood up while taking out her trusted pair of kukri knives, "Take out your weapon. I don''t want to identally kill you for Riveria''s sake."


    "Pffft... Just you?" Kisuke then took out his cane from his sleeve, "You''ll be the one writhing in pain on the groundter."


    Tione instantly reached her limit and stepped out while her Ki surged out of her body. But before she could reach Kisuke, Finn suddenly said, "Lefiya, Filvis. Join Tione."


    "Captain!" Tione shouted back.


    Finn sighed and approached Tione before saying in a whispering voice, "I know... But he has already proven himself to be more than capable. I''d like you three to force his cards while we still have this chance. I would ask Ais too, but as you know, her skillset isn''t suitable in this kind of group battle."


    "...You rated him that highly?"


    Finn nodded, "His strength never exceeded that of a Level 6 or 7 but the amount of control he has is better than mine and Gareth''s."


    Tione''s eyes widened because she wasn''t able to tell that at all.


    "And above that, Lefiya only noticed the Magic that tripped Tiona when she''d already fallen for it. Most likely, he''s an assassin whose expertise lies in anti-personalbat. Our strengths don''t match well with him so just as he said, not enough."


    .


    .


    .


    Despite the warnings from Finn, it only took Kisuke less than ten minutes to smack the three girls to the ground with his cane. He defeated three Level 8s with rtive ease and everyone who was watching was now palpitating for many different reasons.

 Chapter 989 Loki’s Struggle part 6

    Chapter 989 Loki��s Struggle part 6


    No one could understand what''d just happened, no matter how many times they reyed the brief battle in their heads. They couldn''t even confidently call it a battle since it looked like a game of tag for Kisuke and he wasn''t even hit a single time. It''s as if he had eyes on the back of his head that allowed him to dodge perfectly, even if he waspletely besieged on all sides.


    But while they were silenced by his performance, a single drop of sweat ran down Kisuke''s forehead, ''Fuck... That was hard and tiring. I had to exert myself more than normal since I''m holding back. I''d rather fight Apollo or Ares again rather than do this.'' Dodging physical attacks from Tione and Filvis and Magic attacks from Lefiya proved to be harder than he expected, ''Oh well, it''s a good training method for practicing control.''


    "...This is ridiculous." Finn could only force a smile, "...If we''re limited to the same specs, even if all the top executives of our Familia gang up on him, we might not be able to win."


    Gareth has the same sentiment but didn''t say anything about it.


    "Yo~ Look at how you''re enjoying yourselves here! A shame I don''t have some good wine in my hand though." Finn and Gareth turned around and saw Loki and Riveria walk around to approach them.


    Gareth grinned at Riveria and said, "Strangely enough, I don''t remember much details of when you separated from us seven years ago, but I do remember our promise. To be honest, I''m a little bit disappointed when I heard you could only hold back a Level 8, but if you''re remotely anywhere near him, I think you''re underselling yourself quite a bit."


    Riveria sighed, "Don''tpare me to him. Even from where he came from, he''s an absolute abnormality."


    "...We should stop here." Finn turned to Loki, "I think they already get what you want to say."


    "I would like that as well," Loki pointed to Ais who was intently staring at Kisuke''s figure while wholly ignoring them, "But do you think you could stop her?"


    Finn, Gareth, and Riveria looked at each other before disying a wry smile.


    Finn then turned to the audience and called out a few people, "Anakitty, Raul. Take care of Tione, Lefiya, and Filvis. Alicia, Elfy, Narvi. Activate the tower''s barrier. The rest of you, take some distance if you don''t want to get hurt."


    At hismand, the entire Familia started moving. Since the [Twilight Tower] was constructed like the Babel Tower with the addition of various protective and strengthening Magics embedded into it, it''s very wide and durable. Just enough to contain Ais for some time.


    "Good thing Bete isn''t here. He''s more uncontroble than Ais in this sort of thing." Gareth muttered to himself.


    "Ais... Do what you want but be mindful of the space you''re allowed to use," Finn instructed.


    Ais smiled slightly and grabbed Lysa nested on her head before passing her to Riveria, "How much should I hold back?"


    "I don''t even know what you can do now..." Riveria replied while receiving the small Dragon, "But all I can say is the answer to that question, whoever asks, is always a big ''No''."


    Ais didn''t say anything else and directly pulled out her sword.


    "I think you''re underestimating her too much," Garethmented, "We hadn''t not mentioned itst night, but she''s already the strongest in the Loki Familia. Along with the [Heaven Defier] and [King], they made up the ''Three Gigantis''."


    Gareth and Finn peeked at Riveria to see her reaction but saw that nothing changed.


    Riveria was curious about Ais'' current ability and was more worried about these ''magnificent'' Aliases and Kisuke not being able to hold back.


    .


    .


    .


    "Will you be thest one?" Kisuke asked after seeing the changes in arrangement.


    Ais nodded, "...Riveria said not to hold back, but only Bell Cranel could really keep up with me."


    "Is that so? Good. I''ll be able to see a part of Bell Cranel''s ability. Don''t let me down, alright?"


    Ais didn''t reply. Instead, she instantly disappeared from Kisuke''s sights, "!?"


    Without hesitation, Kisuke pulled his de out of his cane and ced it behind him with one swift motion. At that moment, something heavy struck Kisuke''s de and he was sent tumbling forward.


    Kisuke managed to regain his footing after spinning a few times in the air and looked at his former spot. There he saw Ais who''d thrusted her sword and was retaking her stance, "Did I let you down?"


    Kisuke stood up while chuckling, "Nope. You surprised me."


    Even Riveria was surprised, ''That''sparable to a sh Step... Butpared to thetter, it looks a lot more flexible.''


    "That''s how much Ais'' [Ariel] has improved. Her speed can''t be caught by eye anymore and the only one who could keep up with her is Bell Cranel with his [Lightning Shift]." Finn exined.


    Even with Riveria''s eyes, she could easily see its weakness, ''It has too much ''noise''. Even though she could turn mid-flight, she was leaving too much of a trail that it became too easy to tell where she would go.''


    "You''re not as surprised as I thought you would be.", muttered Finn.


    "Hmmm... Well, I''m surprised for sure. But to be honest, it''s only a little bit special."


    Finn, Gareth, and the defeated girls who just arrived beside them were confused and skeptical of her words.


    Riveria smiled, a little bit proud, and said, "Just watch."


    Ais disappeared from her spot once again and instantly reappeared beside Kisuke while thrusting her sword. Ais was ready to continue attacking and pursuing after her attack was blocked. However, as the world slowed down in her eyes, Ais saw that Kisuke wasn''t doing anything, ''A trap?'', she thought. But there were no movements from him and the surroundings were clear of Magic Power.


    There was nothing but Ais still didn''t fullymit and aimed for his arm instead. Ais was fully prepared to pull out when something went wrong but her sword continued on its path without any interception from her enemy. She was confused until the tip of her de reached his right arm, then was shocked when Kisuke suddenly disappeared in front of her.


    "How kind of you." Ais'' eyes widened as she suddenly heard Kisuke''s voice behind her. She immediately reacted by rotating her body and changing the direction of her wind. What she saw then was a sh of the de striking down where she was just standing.


    Ais moved a few meters to the side to get a better view of her opponent, but she was once again shocked that he was not there, ''Where!?''


    "Behind you, again," Kisuke whispered with an amused tone.


    "!?"


    Ais hurriedly turned her head and saw his deing down at her once again, this time, with very heavy killing intent. She could change her direction once again, but it was already toote. Without much choice, thebination of Ki and Magic Power erupted from her body in the form of a strong wind that pushed everything around him.


    Kisuke''s de shed with the wind that Ais just released but was surprised to find it as hard as armor. Due to the limit he had ced on himself, Kisuke was pushed away once again, ''Yep... There''s no point in continuing this.''


    Kisukended on his feet more than ten meters away and sheathed his de.


    Ais, on the other hand, was wheezing for air and cold sweat drenched her back. She had just hurt herself by that uncontrolled mass release of power to protect herself. But more than that, she was fully woken up by the ''whisper of death'' and became scared for the first time in a while.


    "There''s no way for me to hurt you. I surrender." Kisuke immediately dered.

 Chapter 990 Loki’s Struggle part 7

    Chapter 990 Loki��s Struggle part 7


    The already heavy silence became even heavier.


    Kisuke caught his hat that was blown off by the wind and dusted it for a bit before putting it back on, "Well then... I think we''re done here so I''d like to bid my farewell. Loki-sama, thank you for having me."


    "Sorry about this. I''ll return this favor someday." Loki was genuinely grateful to Kisuke. Although her children had be stronger, something else degraded, "The undeveloped area remained abandoned thanks to Freya''s pressure so it should have remained rtively the same."


    Unbeknownst to anyone except for Kisuke, Loki''s ''favor'' was apanied by enough resolution that she''d go against just about everything to return it, ''I was pissed that I had to do something like this, but she''s paying so much more. I can''t keep getting mad, can I?''


    "Is that so? I have to thank Freya-samater." Kisuke turned around and began to exit the Twilight Tower. Although he was in a bad mood moments ago, he left in a good mood since he essentially got Loki''s ''promise''.


    "W-wait!"


    Kisuke stopped walking and turned his head back. His happy expression had already disappeared.


    Ais clenched her teeth and said, "You haven''t lost! Don''t act like you can''t fight!"


    Kisuke sighed, "I surrendered so I already lost? What are you talking about?"


    Ais swung her sword and prepared her Magic again, "Weren''t you just about to cut me down? If I wasn''t able to defend myself in time, I would have been injured."


    "But you defended yourself. And if you keep doing that, I have no way of defeating you.", Kisuke immediately replied, ''Well, within my current limits at least.''


    "But I can''t-" Ais wanted to exin but Kisuke red at her, "Think about your words before you say them. What are you trying to achieve here? It''s just a simple spar. We are not trying to take each other''s life. I have my secrets and you have your own. Keeping them may save your life so why are you so gung-ho to show off your abilities in a simple exchange? Is it because of pride? Is it because you felt like you lost? Please don''t drag me into your childish games."


    "W-wh... No... I didn''t mean it like that!"


    "Then you''re much worse than I thought. If we''re basing it on my opinion, the girls who came before you are a lot better since even if theyy defeated on the floor, they kept their most important cards hidden."


    Losing his interest in lecturing her, Kisuke resumed his steps, "If you keep that up, you''ll lose your life without knowing how nor why."


    Riveria wanted to follow him but she knew she couldn''t because of this mess she''d started, ''Looks like a lot of things indeed have changed... But not all of them were for the best.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke returned to Hestia Familia''s base, the abandoned church that Hephaestus had gifted Hestia when she was just starting out, "Such a nostalgic scene. This ce really hasn''t changed much." Kisuke muttered to himself as he entered the first shop he built when he came to this world by ident.


    He inspected the shop and was able to glean some clues that multiple people went through this ce multiple times. Though that doesn''t really concern him since there''s nothing here and the entrance to the underground hideout wasn''t touched.


    ''Yoruichi and the others won''t be here for a few more hours. For the time being, I will need to n out my moves on Luxato Abtor and get that blueprint in one go.''


    The things he did in the Loki Familia were already shoved to the back of his head, only to be remembered when he sees them again.


    .


    .


    .


    It was nighttime again and Kisuke was already done with his preparation to steal. There was amotion two hours ago in his shop above ground but Kisuke ignored it, mainly because he could feel Freya''s presence and he didn''t want to deal with her right now, ''Loki knows how to enter this ce so if it''s an emergency, they''ll juste in.''


    Kisuke was about to kick back and rx when a blurred presence suddenly manifested not far from him. Since there was no malicious intent, he already guessed who it was but he decided to y along.


    Using sh Step, he reappeared behind the blurred presence, however, he saw nothing. Instead, the presence was already behind him again, ''What!?''


    Kisuke ''stepped out'' again, but the same thing happened. This time, he couldn''t dodge as a pair of familiar arms wrapped around him from behind, "Surprise~!"


    A gentle smile emerged from Kisuke''s face as the familiar scent softly assaulted his nose, "I was really surprised. How are you doing that?"


    The arms released him and once again, the presence behind him instantly disappeared with the space not far in front of him suddenly warping slightly before Yoruichi, with a big grin, appeared from it, "Like this~!"


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and eximed at the traceless teleportation, "Instant Transmission!?"


    "There are some limitations..." Yoruichi nodded, "But yeah, an Instant Transmission."


    Kisuke jumped and happily hugged her, "Congrattions! You''ve just achieved something unbelievable!"


    Yoruichi hugged him back and was absolutely content with his praise, "With you working your butt off, I can''t just ck off now, can I? And wee back."


    "Yeah... I''m back... And I actually missed you."


    Although very happy with hearing those words, Yoruichi shuddered, "When did you start saying those things?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "Just recently. I''ve got to change too, you know."


    The feelings of endearment, intimacy, and fondness they have for each other were as real as it could get. However, they were not exactly adults that could say their serious feelings because they saw it as a weakness. So when Yoruichi heard Kisuke verbally expressing his feelings and not a hint of a joke in it, she was absolutely surprised.


    Yoruichi too wanted to express her adoration, but found her words stuck in her throat. She wanted to force it, but before she could do so, Kisuke covered her lips, "If it doesn''te out naturally, don''t do it. Besides, both of us are people of action so we''d rather see something like that."


    Yes, they are the type of adults that couldn''t say it but show it. So a steamy night began with only the two, separated from everything in the world.

 Chapter 991 Together Once Again

    Chapter 991 Together Once Again


    The next morning, Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis came down to the underground hideout and the first thing they noticed was Yoruichi''s ''glow'', "It really looks like you enjoyed yourself.", Serafall muttered with an awkward expression.


    "Well, it really has been a while, so I got a little excited~!", Yoruichi answered back while rubbing her cheeks and with a slightly embarrassed expression.


    Artemis blushed and the corner of Hestia''s lips twitched. Choosing not to entertain her any further, thetter asked, "Where is he?"


    Yoruichi pointed behind her with her thumb, "He''s inside, working on something again, as usual."


    Hestia was instantly appalled, "Again!? How much of a workaholic is he!?"


    "Yes.", Yoruichi simply answered.


    Hestia grabbed the blushing Artemis with a furious expression and said, "I''m going to drag him out on a date!"


    Yoruichi nodded, "You''re free to do whatever you want. No one remembers him anyway... Well, except for a few people. The most troublesome one is in the Tower of Babel right now so she shouldn''t bother you for some time."


    Yoruichi then ignored the Goddesses and proceeded to tell her night story to Serafall despite her protests.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke got dragged around the city by the Goddesses, but he didn''t really mind it. This was also the first time he was able to get around when there was still daylight and it gave an entirely different vibepared to the night city with young people happily going around instead of drunkards creating noise.


    As they went around, Kisuke told them various stories of what had happened on the other side. Although they already knew most of these stories, it gave a different feeling and joy to hear it directly rather than just through screens.


    "Heeeh~ I heardst time from Sona herself that she wanted to establish an educational facility that didn''t take people''s status into ount," Hestiamented while munching on the street food she''d gotten.


    "But it mustn''t have been easy.", Artemis added, "I''ve seen how those at the top of the hierarchy do their best to destroy this kind of thing because it''s a threat to their position."


    "It wasn''t. But if you gather enough influence and people who can support you and push back against those types of people, it bes easy enough."


    While Hestia took Kisuke''s words at face value, Artemis knew that it wasn''t that easy either, ''For a power like that to rise on a global scale, the power struggle has to be turbulent enough that they''d have a chance to pave through. Looks like their world isn''t as peaceful as he let it on.''


    At some point, Kisuke felt an intense stare. He followed it and turned his head towards the top floor of the Tower of Babel to see a breathtaking Goddess with a slightly fuming expression.


    In response, Kisuke just smiled and waved his hand in greeting before ignoring her again.


    Curious, Hestia and Artemis turned their attention to where he was waving. However, since they couldn''t really see as well as Kisuke, they couldn''t really see Freya, but they could guess who she was.


    "You haven''t met her?" Hestia guessed.


    "She''ll be a pain in the ass, but I''m sure that her children will be a lot more annoying than her, so I''m saving myself from trouble."


    "You know you can''t ignore her forever. That woman''s obsession isn''t something you can deal with by just ignoring her."


    "At least she''ll get the idea not to bring her children if she wants to meet me. I already learned my lesson in the Loki Familia and they are at least ten times worse in a certain sense."


    "The Loki Familia?" Artemis asked, "What happened?"


    "Well, it''s just kids who became a bit drunk on power and were thinking that they are at the top of the world."


    Artemis and Hestia understood what he meant and thetter asked, "Can you me them? They are literally at the top of the world right now."


    Kisuke went silent for a moment before answering, "...Maybe I just expected something better from them."


    The three of them walked around for a few more minutes until they came across another group.


    "K-Kisuke..." Riveria called out with a bit of an awkward tone.


    Behind her were Loki, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, Filvis, Ais, and a fair-skinned, white-haired, and golden-eyed little girl around seven years old holding Ais'' hand.


    Naturally, Kisuke was not the one to be bothered by their situation and casually greeted them, "Yo~ Riveria, Loki-sama, and everyone from Loki Familia. Good afternoon. Looking for a ce to have lunch?"


    "That''s right~!" Loki stepped in front of everyone, "How about you join us?" Her eyes then went down and met the eyes of a growling Goddess, "It''s also been a while since I talked to this shortie. I want to catch up~!"


    "Who would want to catch up with you!? Get lost!"


    Kisuke was thinking if he should ept her invitation or not and was leaning toward the former because he could see Loki''s attempt at reconciliation. But before he could say anything, someone else called out to him and it surprised him, "Kisuke... Urahara?"


    Kisuke hurriedly turned and saw a handsome young man with white hair and red eyes, "You''re Kisuke Urahara, aren''t you?"


    "Bell Cranel, is it? What a surprise... It has been a while, hasn''t it?"


    "Yes. It really has been a while."


    "But I don''t think we''ve talked that much."


    Bell approached him while nodding, "That''s true. But there''s something I''d like to ask you in case we meet again."


    Bell then ced his right hand on his back and pulled out a familiar dagger. The moment Bell ced the dagger in front of him, Kisuke''s eyes widened, ''Now this is really a surprise... I didn''t think it''d reach this stage considering how poorly optimized it was.''


    A smile emerged from Bell''s face, "I wanted to ask if you''re the one who gave it to me, but considering your reaction, is it safe to assume that is a yes?"


    Kisuke stared at the dagger for a few more moments before saying, "Do you know a quiet ce with good food?"


    Bell nodded, "I know exactly a ce just like that."


    "Then let''s go." Kisuke then turned to the other group and asked, "Do you mind it, Loki-sama?"


    "I''m also curious why the heck he could recognize you, so let''s go~!"

 Chapter 992 Hatched by Ophis

    Chapter 992 Hatched by Ophis


    In a surprisingly quiet corner of the bustling city, situated a hidden bar that only a few people knew. The bell attached to the door rang, grabbing the attention of a tall and thin old man tending the bar, "Master, I''d like to reserve the ce. Is that alright?"


    The bar owner saw Bell entering with a group of people and nodded silently before going to the back and informing the cook to prepare lunch.


    Bell then led everyone inside the cozy bar to sit down, "Please help yourself. I can guarantee that this is a good ce."


    Loki didn''t take the ceremony and directly sat down on one of the chairs, "It has been a while Bell-kun. I believe it was thest expedition meeting against the ''Corrupted Goddess'' or was it the hunt for the ''One-Eyed''? How are Miach and your wives? It''s rare to see you all alone."


    At the mention of the ''Corrupted Goddess'', the members of the Loki Familia flinched, except for Riveria who didn''t have any idea what this term is referring to. Kisuke was also the same since he only heard how Yoruichi''s group was doing and nothing really about what was going on in the world atrge.


    Bell, meanwhile, smiled wryly, "It was the former, Loki-sama. And let''s call it ''Corrupted Spirit''. After all, the term you used is very... controversial to say the least."


    "The people you invited here today are all trusted ones so let''s call it for what it actually is, alright?"


    Bell could only sigh, "Miach-sama is currently helping Takemikazuchi-sama escape from Astarte-sama, and Lili and Haruhime are doing fine. Thank you for asking."


    Loki''s eyes widened, "Astarte is still hounding Take? That''s devotion right there if I''ve ever seen some. Just make sure this doesn''t devolve into a war, ya hear me?"


    "I''ve already talked to Astarte-sama and we''ve reached some sort of agreement so that won''t happen." Bell nodded, "I know that a war right now between the top Familia''s is thest thing we want."


    A simple back and forth ensued between Bell and Loki making Kisuke see how much the former has matured not just in appearance but also experience. He didn''t interrupt them and just listened. Bell noticed that Kisuke just wanted to hear for now and the awkward atmosphere between him and the Loki Familia, mostly from thetter, and talked to them too to ease the tension.


    All this while, the unknown little girl was silently staring at Kisuke. Kisuke knew who this little girl was but chose to ignore her for now and see what she was up to.


    Thanks to Loki leading the conversation, the tense atmosphere around the girls of the Loki Familia had already mostly disappeared and at that time, their lunch arrived, helping the air around the table be more pleasant.


    Ais urged the little girl to eat too, but thetter was too busy staring at Kisuke and that''s when she noticed how weird she was acting right now, "...Lysa? What''s wrong?"


    However, she received no answer and the intensity of her stare just became stronger.


    At that point, even Kisuke was weirded out by her quiet stare and just said, "I wouldn''t know what you want if you just kept staring at me like that."


    Ais and the rest of the girls were wondering why the usually obedient little girl had suddenly started acting up but their worries and questions fell on deaf ears. Bell also knew her real identity and stopped talking, wanting to figure out what was going on.


    After the rtively long silence, the little girl finally spoke up while pointing her tiny finger at Kisuke, "Can I get that?"


    Everyone looked at Kisuke with confusion and curiosity. Kisuke himself was surprised for a moment but he noticed that she was pointing at him, what she was referring to isn''t exactly him, but something attached to him.


    ''...Well, she was technically hatched by Ophis, so maybe she can instinctively feel her power?'' Kisuke smiled and beckoned the Dragon-transformed little girl, "If you can get it, you''re more than wee to have it."


    Lysa''s smile beamed befitting her image and escaped from Ais''s side before running towards Kisuke, "Lysa!"


    Ais was about to follow her out of fear that something bad might happen to her if she approaches the ''bad man'' but Loki stopped her by raising her arm to block her way, "It''s fine. He''ll never hurt the kid without a good reason and feeling annoyed is not a good one. And if there''s someone who knows more about Lysa than us, it would be him."


    "...More than us?" Lefiya muttered in astonishment. As far as she and everyone knew, no one else hade across a friendly Dragon and one that transformed to look like a Human. It''s one of the Loki Familia''s greatest secrets and only a few individuals were aware of it outside them and most of that was because Lysa was a bit careless, revealing her identity.


    ''He has several of those under his fingertips and all of them could potentially destroy the whole world.'', Is what Riveria wanted to say with a distant look in her eyes, but she mped her mouth shut to bury her desire to drop this bomb.


    Everyone from Loki Familia watched Lysae to Kisuke''s side with bated breath as she suddenly grabbed his right arm with both of her hands and raised it in front of her after removing his sleeve out of the way.


    The next second, the blood from Ais and others'' faces drained in an instant when they saw Lysa opening her mouth, revealing her row of sharp teeth before taking a hefty bite out of Kisuke''s arm.


    "Lysa!" Ais called out in panic while standing up from her seat. She knew how sharp Lysa''s teeth could be so she had no doubt that Kisuke would retaliate and would probably hurt Lysa in the process as self-defense.


    While Riveria was stopping Ais from interfering, Kisuke ignored them and could feel something intangible draining from him. It wasn''t anything from him, but Ophis'' and Lilith''s lingering aura that stuck with him from years of contact.


    Lysa, after finally taking a bite at this strangely mouthwatering aura, felt something like ss breaking inside her head and a flood of memories came rushing in.


    Lysa then inadvertently released Kisuke''s arms and shouted in shock, "Ophis!"

 Chapter 993 Lysa

    Chapter 993 Lysa


    The moment Ophis'' name escaped Lysa''s tiny mouth, all the memories that had been sealed were returned to her, including the inexplicable joy of meeting the man who saved her again after not seeing him for most of her life, "Kisuke!"


    "It''s Kisuke-niisan for you.", a small gentle smile emerged from Kisuke''s face as he patted Lysa''s head.


    Ais was stunned at his sudden change and her mind became jumbled. Meanwhile, Riveria sneered at him and said, "Stop kidding yourself. You''re at least an uncle to her."


    However, Riveria immediately regretted opening her mouth. With the same smile on his face, Kisuke pointed toward her and said, "Say hi to grandma Riveria~!"


    "Hi grandma Riveria!"


    "..."


    Lysa immediately ignored the dazed High-Elf and turned her back to Kisuke before asking excitedly, "Ophis! Where!?"


    She is supposed to have already learned how to speak properly but due to her excitement, her vocabry and linguistic skill had almost disappeared.


    Kisuke understood her excitement and started thinking of a way to meet those expectations. Since she''s just a kid, he''d happily grant her small wish of meeting someone, ''Now then... It''s not like I can conveniently contact Ophis or Lilith from my side...''


    He knew that this would cause further confusion and might result in something undesirable among the girls of the Loki Familia. Nevertheless, it isn''t exactly a problem that he cared deeply about so he would just leave them to Riveria.


    Though before he could think of a solution for Lysa, themunication card that he''d kept outside his inventory started sending out rms, and that card is specifically connected to Ophis.


    Curious and happy with the coincidence, he took the card out at once and answered it.


    After cing the card on the table, a holographic image of Ophis and Lilith emerged, [My mark... What happened?]


    Kisuke answered by pointing to the little girl beside him.


    Ophis and Lilith followed his finger and saw the Dragon with bright eyes staring back at them. For a moment, they forgot who she was, but her eyes and aura finally reminded them after thinking for a few moments, [Small white.], muttered the former.


    "It''s Lysa!" The Dragon proudly proimed.


    The little Dragon wanted to talk to them and ask who is the other ''Ophis'' and where are ire and Tanis. However, another individual entered the hologram which made her freeze on the spot, [Hey, ckie. Did you contact Boss? Hmmm?]


    The red-haired grown-up ''Ophis'' stared at Lysa and Lysa also stared back at her. The silence continued but it wasn''t for too long as Lysa suddenly took several steps back and started prostrating while her whole body shook from fear.


    Before anyone could react, Kisuke arrived behind her and instantly picked her up from the ground, "Yep. You don''t have to do that."


    Feeling the familiar arm and aura, Lysa hurriedly turned her body and grabbed Kisuke''s head into a hug. After seeing nna, she couldn''t speak anymore.


    Unlike Ophis who saved her from the ''abyss'', nna is technically a stranger. Since she''s just a rtively weak Dragon, suddenly facing a ''God'' made her panic and anxiety blown out of proportion, "...Kisuke...!" She could only mutter in a soft voice while burying her head into Kisuke''s hat.


    nna, on the other hand, just chuckled and asked, [Hey Boss, what''s that amusing thing?]


    Kisuke properly carried the child in his arms and tried to appease her, "Don''t be scared of her. If she hurts you, Ophis will beat her up."


    "Wha-" nna wanted to protest against Kisuke''s words, but Riveria suddenly entered her view and saw her deadly stare. nna shuddered and immediately shut her mouth. Out of all the people in the world, Riveria is one of the very few that could actually scare her because of the nature of her eyes that could see through her if Riveria ever tried.


    Riveria then turned to Kisuke and her cold expression was immediately reced by a gentle one. She reached out and took Lysa into her arms, "I''ll take care of her. Let''s go Lysa. The adults are going to talk. I''ll introduce you to a new friend."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything as Riveria took Lysa and the card off the table before leaving the bar.


    Ais wanted to follow them, but Lefiya stopped her, "I''ll go with them. Ais-san. Please stay here."


    Lefiya knows that Ais was very worried about Lysa, especially about how she acted so weirdly. However, more than that, they need to figure out more about the strange man known as Kisuke Urahara to even make sense of what''s going on. And Ais, who had the sharpest instincts, just a bit inferior to Finn, needed to be present.


    After a moment of hesitation, Ais sat back down and watched Lefiya leave, and Filvis followed her, leaving only the Hiryute sisters and her on Loki''s side.


    "I don''t know what happened, but I think it''s a good time to get into the main reason why I invited you here." Bell forcefully pushed through the silence and took out his dagger once again before passing it to Kisuke.


    Kisuke carefully received it and inspected it with an astonished expression, "This is actually amazing. For it to have evolved this much was not really in my consideration. It must have been hard."


    Tiona, Tione, and Ais also looked at the dagger as it was a famous weapon that Bell had ever since he started adventuring and was rumored to have never changed and not even need to be maintained. It was a famous weapon not just because it''s very sharp, but also because it could change its form to a certain extent. In addition to that, it''s the only weapon that Bell could use when he uses his signature spells [Lightning Shift] and [me Shift].


    Sadly, its name when Bell was just a beginner has been stuck with it, [ck Rabbit].


    But while they were busy, Hestia and Artemis noticed that Loki was sweating bullets. Though after thinking about it for a brief moment, they understood what happened.


    As a shapeshifter herself, Loki was able to see through nna''s real identity, ''What the heck!? Isn''t that the ridiculous Dragon that passed by years ago!? And why is she calling Kisuke ''Boss''!? And why does it look like she''s scared of Riveria!? Just what happened on that side!?''

 Chapter 994 Bell Cranel

    Chapter 994 Bell Cranel


    While Kisuke was inspecting the [ck Rabbit], two more people came into the bar, "How rare. A quiet ce like this actually still exists."


    "Themercial district is slowly moving and expanding in the outer circle of the city and away from the production district so more and more ces like this have popped up."


    Although this was the first time he had seen them in years, they still looked exactly the same as they did when they disappeared from everyone''s memories, "...Yoruichi Shihouin and Serafall Leviathan." Bell muttered their names out loud.


    Yoruichi and Serafall stopped in disbelief and stared at him, "What the hell? You actually got out of that?",mented the former.


    "That''s really impressive.",mented Serafall as she approached and went around Bell, "There shouldn''t be many loopholes you could take advantage of to get out of that. How did you do it?"


    Bell scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "I don''t really know. I just did it one day. Though I did have an idea that something was amiss so maybe it started that way?". Meanwhile, his innocent-looking eyes took a quick but meaningful nce at Yoruichi and Serafall and he could only sigh internally, ''As expected... They are the same as Kisuke Urahara and Riveria Ljos Alf. I can''t estimate their strength.''


    Normally, his eyes were pretty sharp and could actually approximately estimate someone''s ability just by the movement of their Ki and Magic Power. That had been the case even against Ottar and Ais, however, Kisuke, Riveria, Yoruichi, and Serafall all have chaotic movements as if they had never trained and fought before. Naturally, he knew that it was impossible and the amount of energy they have further suggested against it. Moreover, there''s an inexplicable danger that warned his instincts not to pry any further.


    Needless to say, Kisuke, Riveria, Yoruichi, and Serafall all noticed his observing eyes but they just thought nothing of it. After all, that''s what everyone does, on the other side, at least. In this world, Bell is a rarity as someone could just refer to others'' ''Level'' to estimate their strength and ability.


    Which made them think. Bell probably isn''t a Level 9 like how he imed.


    "Oh hi there, Loki-tan~! How long has it been~?" Serafall proceeded to greet Loki.


    Loki stood up to receive Serafall, "It''s been a few years, Sera-tan~! Just where did the lot of you go?"


    At the arrival of more ''unknown'' personalities, the three girls from the Loki Familia felt even more alone and didn''t know what to do. If someone else were to see this, they''ll be shocked that prominent figures like them are pushed to the side. It''s as if they were invited to a party but no one would talk to them. Even Bell was feeling a bit of pity towards them and more curiosity and suspicion about what happened between them.


    In the meantime, Kisuke waved Bell''s dagger toward Yoruichi.


    Yoruichi didn''t know what she was looking at for a moment and approached him with curiosity. But after staring at it for a few moments, it finally hit her, "Soul Gear...? Whose?"


    Kisuke pointed at Bell.


    Yoruichi and Serafall''s eyes widened, "Since when?" asked thetter.


    "It is the very first working prototype. It''s thanks to the valuable data that Cranel-san has provided that I was able to make the Soul Gears for Sona and others.", exined Kisuke while handing the dagger back to Bell.


    "So it''s called a Soul Gear." Bell received it back and stared at it for a moment before continuing, "It''s all thanks to this that I''ve reached the ce where I am now. Thank you for giving it to me. Or do I have to pay the price for it now?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "Don''t sell yourself short. Though it''s really amazingpared to normal weapons, It''s nothing without its user. It''s really just a basic dagger that follows the growth of its user. If not for that, it''d just be a slightly sharper dagger. Everything was still based on your hard work. As for the price... Well, you already paid for it the moment you received and used it. I only gave it to you to confirm my designs are working the way they should and by chance, you were the mostpatible with it."


    Even though Kisuke essentially told him that he was just an experimental guinea pig, Bell was still grateful because this very dagger had saved his life multiple times thanks to its durability and auto-repair functions. It''s arguably a lot better than other ''Durandal'' weapons that he used since its de never dies, "Hard work... is it? I don''t think I did that much."


    Kisuke then grinned at him and said, "Of course you did. And the fact that you''re not a Level 9 is proof of that."


    Bell''s eyes widened in surprise but didn''t refute it, ''As expected... He could easily see through me.''


    At his reaction, the girls of the Loki Familia were startled, "Y-you''re not a Level 9?" Tione asked with a nervous tone.


    And her real question was asked by her sister, "...Could it be that you''ve already reached Level 10?"


    Ais creases her brows. If this is true, then they will be truly left behind... And she might not be able to fulfill her long-sought revenge.


    At their question, Bell immediately shook his head, "No. I didn''t reach Level 10... And probably never will."


    But his words only further confused them. If this goes on, they would really lose their minds sooner orter.


    Thankfully, Kisuke doesn''t really care about that, "Hmmm... If I were to guess, Level 7 or 6?"


    Bell went silent for a moment before sighing, "This is supposed to be a secret as some group of people wouldn''t like it if they were to know it, but you''re right. I''m not a Level 9. I stopped updating my status when I reached Level 5."


    The girls of the Loki Familia would not go home today without their worldviews breaking apart and being humbled down by a few notches.

 Chapter 995 Bell Cranel part 2

    Chapter 995 Bell Cranel part 2


    "Level 5, huh? Better than I expected.", Kisuke was genuinely surprised not just because it was hard work, but also of his courage to answer the question and toss aside the ''faith'' that proliferates through the entire world. For Kisuke, that''s more impressive than people who could face monsters they have no hope of defeating, ''Though beyond that line is just extremism and insanity. It''s great that he was able to keep it to himself and not preach about this ''enlightenment''.''


    Kisuke was sure that those who wanted the Deities to leave thisnd would feast on his appearance and gather around him. At that time, it wouldn''t be a pretty sight, ''But it''d be a different story if this world could interact with the previous one.'' For a moment, Kisuke''s eyes sharpened, ''...There are ups and downs, but the advantages that it''ll present me are much more than the consequences it''ll bring... Perhaps I really have to do that. I''m sorry, Chaos-san, but it really looks like you''ve really chosen the wrong pawn to pick this time.''


    Bell and Ais shuddered the moment they caught that but they didn''t have any idea what he was thinking. Loki, on the other hand, had a guess, ''It''s only now that he decided tomit? Just how careful is he?'' With how he does things, especially with how he dealt with Freya, she thought that he was fully prepared to raise hell on earth, but now Loki knew that he was still considering a lot of things, which made Loki think, just how big of a yground he''s preparing that he could switch sides any time or maybe, even swallow up both sides?


    But one thing is for certain, as much as possible, she didn''t want to be on the opposite side of his sword.


    "Level 5? I heard you learned your signature move, [me Shift] and [Lightning Shift] when you reached Level 7.", Serafall approached Bell with curiosity, "Does that mean the Falna didn''t provide you with those techniques?"


    "Now that you mentioned it. I''m guessing it''s a fusion technique between Ki and Magic? Do you mind if you show it to us?" added Yoruichi, also curious about his very famous move and she hadn''t really seen it since they were traveling the whole world not long after Riveria left.


    Bell decided to forget what he saw just now since there was nothing he could really do without knowing anything. He scratched his cheek and with a bit of embarrassment, he said, "I would, but it''s not exactly a very quiet technique, I''m afraid I''ll damage this establishment, and those sensitive with Magic Power or Ki woulde rushing in, thinking that I''m fighting someone. It''d cause all sorts of misunderstandings and I''d like to avoid that as much as possible."


    Without saying a word, Serafall snapped her fingers and a Magic Circle epassing the whole bar instantly appeared below them before a wave of an enormous amount of Magic Power started pouring into all corners of the bar. Everyone who doesn''t know what she was doing panicked but it onlysted for a few seconds before the Magic Circle disappeared, "I''ve reinforced the whole ce so unless you use most of your strength, you can forget about destroying even a single chair."


    Everyone was silent at her exnation but Serafall thought that Bell was still worried about something so she added, "I also added a barrier over us that restricts the flow of Magic Power and sound to the outside so it''s also fine to get a bit noisy. No one''s going to notice~!... Oh... Maybe Riveria-chan who just went out would."


    Bell was still silent but he managed to get his bearings together and walked towards one of the free tables. He stared at it for a few seconds before raising his right arm and smashing his fist at it after a short breath, "Hmmmph!"


    An explosive sound rang out and a small quake shook the building, however, instead of crushing the wooden table into tiny bits as he expected, there are only a few cracks that are running through it. Although it was about to fall down from the cracks, it was far more durable than it''d originally been, "U-Unbelievable..." He muttered to himself.


    Tiona, Tione, and Ais saw this and tried it out themselves which resulted in a simr, "...What the hell is this Magic?" asked Tiona.


    "It''s nothing special. It''s just a simple Reinforcement Magic that fixes the entire building''s position rtive to the ground. Enough about that and let''s see that me, lightning transformation."


    Bell could only sigh and decided not to ask as he knew that he won''t be getting any better answer than that, "Alright. Please excuse me.", he replied while gesturing to the fearful bar owner to get back.


    The bar owner sighed in relief and decided to leave the ce. In any case, even if the entire thing is destroyed, Bell could easily pay him multiple times the price of the bar.


    Bell took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A secondter, a dense amount of Ki and Magic Power began interacting around his body and lightning arcs started crackling on the surface of his body. Opening his glowing ruby-red eyes, the whole world slowed down for him as all the energy gathering around him became concentrated and the lightning arcs covering his body multiplied.


    "This is my [Lightning Shift]. By dousing myself with Lightning Magic and maintaining it using my Ki, my reaction time, dexterity, speed, and to some extent, strength, are all exponentially improved. In addition to that, I can apply Lightning Magic to all of my attacks and further increase the damage I can deal to someone or something. My [me Shift] works the same, but with me Magic and more focused on defense and power."


    While Bell was proudly exining his technique, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall were all circling around him, making him feel a bit awkward too.


    "What do you think?" Yoruichi asked.


    "The way that his Ki moves is not of the general style. They remind me of how the Youkai use theirs so it''s understandable why he couldbine the two. He might have a good aptitude for Youjutsu." Serafall answered.


    Yoruichi looked at her with surprise, "Youjutsu? Can a Human even learn something like that?"


    Serafall nodded, "Although it''s very rare, yes. Both the East and West Factions of the Youkai group have a few Human Youjutsu practitioners under their wings, but they are all used in spying activities since it''s really hard to find them and you''d normally never associate a Human to Youjutsu technique."


    "Hmmm... I''d say that it''s more in line with Shunkou, but it''s too sloppy to be at that level." Kisuke mercilesslypared Bell''s technique to a technique only a few masters could ever hope to learn.


    "Whypare it to that monstrous technique?" the corner of Serafall''s mouth twitched at Kisuke''sment.


    However, Yoruichi backed up Kisuke''s im, "I agree with Kisuke. If it''s fundamentals that we''re talking about, there''s a resemnce if we take out the principles of Kidou from the Shunkou. The sloppiness, on the other hand, could be attributed to his half-assed knowledge of Magic. As it is now, he''s just a walking scarecrow. Those who know how to make fire will burn him instantly."


    "Ah... That''s true. If he shows this to someone who knows his craft, he''ll be lucky to escape alive. It''s really a reckless technique that only works against someone who doesn''t know anything about it."


    While the three of them are arguing, they already forgot about the mortals who could only listen in a silent stupor.

 Chapter 996 Mystery of Magic

    Chapter 996 Mystery of Magic


    "Are you fine with this?" Artemis asked Loki with a low voice. After their debate got everyone''s attention, the three Goddesses were seemingly forgotten.


    "About what?" Loki asked back with a smile.


    "You went out of your way to stop the skewed mentality they have, yet here you are, letting it happen again. After this, some cracks on the seal would surely appear."


    "It''s fine, isn''t it?" Hestia answered for Loki, "It''s been years and the seal was ced and they''ve changed to a certain extent. If you don''t allow this, then you''ll just be too overprotective."


    "...For once, I agree with you.", Loki replied with a wry smile, "If they still can''t adapt , then I''ll just ept that it''s their fate."


    Hestia knew that even though the Loki Familia was deemed to be one of the most powerful Familia out there, they were also one of the most closed-off bubbles that Loki was in full control of. Although it may seem that they all have the freedom in the world, it was actually Loki who was steering the whole ship and without them knowing, they ended up depending on her way too much. More than Freya to her Familia in Hestia''s opinion.


    ''Because of that, when Kisuke''s existence was revealed to them and they too tried to reach it, it was mostly for their pride as a member of the Loki Familia and for their Goddess, Loki.'', mused Hestia, ''That Ais Wallenstein might have been different, but the bond of the family shackled her for better or for worse.''


    Loki saw that Hestia was looking at her strangely and was able to guess what she was thinking, "I know... But you also know what I am and I couldn''t change that. At worst, I''ll just disappear somewhere."


    People would see Loki and Hestia being good friends and that''s the truth. But if it''s just Loki, she would never want to be friends with Hestia mainly because she''s the one Loki is most envious of. The same as all the Deities of this world, absolutely nothing major could be changed in Loki and that includes her mentality that''s influenced by her Divinity. So even if she wanted to stay back and watch, she would always want to do something to control the situation to a certain extent, ''I wonder what could have happened if I could be the ''Hearth'', I could watch from the sidelines quietly too...''


    Of course, Hestia could also understand this frenemy of hers. Turning her head away with a harumph, she said, "Hmph! Did you think your Familia could have reached this height without you?"


    For a moment, Loki smiled softly before it immediately changed into a grin as she stood up and messed with Hestia''s hair, "What? Feeling a bit mature and trying tofort me? It''s still too early for you!"


    "What are you doing!?" Hestia angrily pped her hand away.


    All in all, Loki never regretted being friends with this shorty.


    Watching the understanding between the two of them, Artemis only chuckled gently. It was these kinds of moments that she looked forward to life.


    .


    .


    .


    Bell couldn''t understand most of what they were saying, but there was one thing he could gather from their conversation. And that is the technique he''s so proud of is shit in front of them. Since he couldn''t take it anymore, he asked, "Uhmmm... What could be the problem with this technique?"


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall all looked at him before all saying simultaneously, "It''s too basic."


    "...Huh?" Bell, and the others listening to them, couldn''t understand. When Bell is in [me Shift], he could overpower Ottar. And when he''s on [Lightning Shift], he''s faster than Ais. Calling that basic seems to be an insult to everyone he defeated using those techniques.


    Kisuke was about to answer his confusion but a certain signal suddenly interrupted his train of thought, ''What are they doing now?''


    Without exining himself, Kisuke bid his farewell, "Thank you for the lunch, Cranel-san. Something came up so I have to go. Loki-sama and everyone from Loki Familia, I''ll be going first. Yoruichi, Sera-tan, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama, I''ll see youter."


    The slight urgency within his voice made Yoruichi and the others only nod their head in understanding, "Alright. Be careful. We''ll take care of things here."


    Kisuke left the bar in a hurry and just a few secondster, his entire presence disappeared.


    "That''s too abrupt. Is he going to be alright?" asked Bell.


    "He''s thest guy you should be worried about." Yoruichi immediately replied, "Anyways, want to know why we called your technique very basic?"


    Bell hurriedly nodded his head.


    "When we say it''s too basic, we''re talking about the Magic side of your technique. Your Ki integration with Magic Power is impressive and it''s really hard to believe that you are self-taught. In that regard, you''re definitely a genius. Your Magic, on the other hand, is too elementary."


    "Elementary?"


    Serafall sat back down and answered his question, "In other words, you''re aplete beginner. Although your Magic has good fundamentals, it stillcks the most crucial aspect which is a mystery. Without mystery, your Magic is nothing more than maniption of an existing phenomenon, and anyone who can control Magic Power is fully capable of doing that."


    Serafall then raised one of her fingers and a small ball of ice appeared on top, "This is produced using very basic Ice Magic. Try destroying it with your lightning."


    Bell did as he was told and pointed his finger at the ball of ice before an arc of lightning escaped from his fingertip. The ice was instantly sted into many pieces and disappeared as a vapor.


    Serafall didn''t mind that and produced another ball of ice, but this time, aplicated Magic Circle appeared below it before it was conjured, "Now this is produced using an advanced mystery that I developed. Can you tell the difference?"


    Bell stared at it for a moment before shaking his head, "...No."


    Serafall didn''t immediately give the answer and instead looked towards the girls of the Loki Familia starting from Tiona, who shook her head, and Tione, who also couldn''t tell the difference. Her eyes thennded on Ais and thetter answered, "...I don''t exactly know what the difference is, but this ice... Is very dangerous."


    Serafall smiled, "As expected of someone who also uses mystery. In that regard, your wind is much more valuable than his lightning even if you can''t defeat him in a fight."


    Turning back her attention to Bell, she continued, "Now do the same thing. Destroy the ice."


    Bell got a bit wary because of Ais''s words but still went and sent his lightning arcing to the ice. He was expecting something else but the ice was easily destroyed as before. But when he thought that nothing else would happen, the vapor gathered again, and instead of forming the ice back, the path that the lightning arc took to travel suddenly began freezing and it instantly reached his arm which in turn, also started freezing, "!?"


    Bell hurriedly gathered his lightning in his arm to defrost himself and he was sessful in sting away the ice freezing his arm. However, it didn''t end there as the vapor once again gathered and began freezing his arm once again, though this time, it reached his shoulder and threatened to freeze his whole body.


    Bell got scared but he also understood what he had to do. Releasing his Ki and Magic Power, he sted the ice away and cleared the vapor using the shockwave generated by his power. It was then that the ice stopped freezing him and he was able to calm down a bit, "W-what was that?" he asked while taking deep breaths.


    "Oh nice~! You were able to deal with it faster than I thought.", praised Serafall.

 Chapter 997 Mystery of Magic part 2

    Chapter 997 Mystery of Magic part 2


    Bell calmed his breathing down and asked once again, "What was that?"


    "Ice that doesn''t melt and would never cease freezing."


    "...Does something like that really exist?"


    "In the natural world? No. But with Magic, yes. That''s what it means to have a mystery. It doesn''t make sense." Serafall didn''t want to continue lest she gives too many hints. In this world where research of Magic is just starting, it''s without a doubt will be hard to wrap their heads around the ''Magic that doesn''t make sense''.


    However, it was already existing and that''s in the form of skills and developmental abilities thate with the Falna. If they want to further develop their Magic they would have to realize this themselves first.


    In the previous world, almost all the Magices with a mystery since it has been taught from the start this strange power mostlyes from will and beliefs. The prime example of this is the Devils and Angels whose powerse from imagination and faith respectively. And even the Magic that the Magicians use that''s derived from Devil''s Magic and is fundamentally logical, what they had to understand isn''t just the natural order of the world, but also the mind of such power. Only then they could prevent any or most hijacks on their Magic known as Spell Interceptorspared to when they use pure logic. It''s also one of the reasons why there are so many systems of Magic.


    Of course, just having a mystery in one''s Magic doesn''t give them immunity against anomalous Spell Interceptors like Ajuka, Kisuke, and Riveria.


    "Compared to the Magic Power I used to the Ki and Magic Power that you used, even if I''m a lot weaker than you, you''ll be in deep trouble just dealing with that kind of Magic," Serafall added.


    "...T-that..."


    "But we haven''t touched upon why this technique is reckless even if you think you have full control over it." Yoruichi interrupted, "Hmmm... Let''s see... I guess a demonstration is better than words."


    Yoruichi horizontally raised her right arm and in an instant, lightning arcs simr to Bell''s started crackling through it.


    Bell, Ais, Tione, and Tiona''s eyes all widened, "...T-the same as me?"


    "Not quite, but visually, yes." Yoruichi then pointed her arm towards Bell and the lightning arcs on his body began leaving him and going towards Yoruichi.


    "!?" Bell tried to take back his lightning but it was to no avail, "What!?"


    He tried to put more power into it, but they still didn''t listen and continued to move without his instructions, "W-what''s going on!?"


    Yoruichi took back her arm, leaving behind only a fraction of the lightning left on his body, "I can do this too."


    Soon, the remaining lightning started to move weirdly and attack Bell, "Gaahhh!!! What is this!?" Bell tried to expel the lightning and stop the technique but none of his attempts worked. As much as he wanted to take back control of anything, it only further hurt and scared him.


    A few secondster, Yoruichi stopped her maniption and all of the lightning disappeared while Bell is feeling a lot weaker than he normally is.


    "That''s what we meant by reckless. Since your lightning is conjured through the naturalws and not through your will, these lightning arcs are technically ownerless and those with higher mastery than you could easily take it over, even if they are weaker than you.", exined Yoruichi before signaling to Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis that it''s time to leave.


    Serafall got her message and stood up, adding, "So when youe across someone you think has higher mastery or someone who uses mystery with their lightning or me, you better not bring out that technique or else, you''ll only be killing yourself."


    After silently bidding her farewell to Loki, Yoruichi finished their free lesson, "Of course, you can also develop your own mystery and not just control those elements using values dictated by the Magic Circuits. If you want to use someone as a reference, you coulde to Ais Wallenstein here. Simr to Serafall''s ice earlier, her wind will move ording to her will. Her Magic is not the Wind, but the Wind is her Magic."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke hurried himself to the hidden pond and immediately hopped into the pod, ''I hope they haven''t started cutting me up.''


    When he reopened his eyes again, he was inside a ss tube that was in the middle of being filled up with an unknown green translucent liquid while he was attached to various cords, "W-what!? What''s going on!?", he shouted using thenguage that these people ''forced'' into him.


    Across the room that the ss tube was situated in, he heard a familiar voice of a woman, "H-He woke up! Doctor, stop the procedure! He finally woke up!"


    As soon as that voice rang out, the green fluid began receding and the cords attached to Kisuke were loosened.


    Kisuke dropped down and started checking his Gigai. Thankfully, they didn''t do anything else or they might have destroyed the delicate bnce of this prototype, ''It''d be a shame if this body were to die. Roaming around with just a piece of soul isn''t convenient. And considering how these people have pronounced Spiritual Pressure, they might have a way to trap a soul.''


    The sister of the Etoulde twins came running towards him and asked in a worried voice, "A-are you alright?"


    Kisuke''s reaction wasn''t dyed in any way and immediately acted out with a bewildered expression that slowly transitioned into a shocked one, "H-how?" And as soon as he spoke, Kisuke looked down and touched his mouth, "This is...!?"


    Kisuke''s acting career is still going strong. And while doing so, he''s thinking of how much he could mess things up. After all, only when something goes wrong could he get a good feel of the overall situation, ''Looks like I''ll be staying here for a while.''


    Kisuke was a bit worried since the air of danger was already looming over the entirety of Orario with the hidden power of the Corrupted Spirit reaching the surface when hest inspected it, ''Well, Yoruichi and Serafall are around. If the Dungeon were to ''wake up'', they''d know how to contact me.''


    He felt like he was forgetting something else but didn''t contemte it further, ''Oh well... I couldn''t think of anything urgent.''


    The Goddess of the tower was set aside once again.

 Chapter 998 Running Around

    Chapter 998 Running Around


    Happy that she could be understood now, Stralit began to exin to Kisuke his current situation. Although it''s something he already knew, Kisuke acted surprised.


    "After the forced Language Transmission, you lost your consciousness for a very long time and your body functions have started degrading. Without much choice, we decided to put you into a life support module. Though before it could be fully activated, you suddenly woke up."


    "Surprisingly, you''re very energetic despite going through something like that." The short old Elf-like man interrupted while reading through Kisuke''s medical report, "You''ve already recovered most of your vitality after greatly stressing it by your extended inactivity. What a strange creature you are."


    Kisuke could confirm their words to be the truth, however, those aren''t everything either. For one, they should have a way to detect the state of his Spiritual Power yet they didn''t say anything about that. Second, there are multiple people currently watching the room from the outside, andstly and the biggest thing, is the very tiny tracking device that''s traveling through his blood vessels and using its movement to power itself.


    If not for his constant monitoring and adjustment of this experimental body, he wouldn''t have noticed this in any normal scenario, ''I want this thing.''


    Naturally, he isn''t angry or offended by how they did this since he would have done something way worse if he were in their shoes. In fact, they were way too lenient to him in his opinion, ''There could be more, but even with just this, I can take advantage of it.''


    While the Etoulde and the Luxato were discussing his health, Kisuke started formting a n in his head. Right now, his main goal was to get their wormhole technology. But from how he saw things, if the one the Etouldes had was the same as the Evies, it should be quite easy to acquire since it wouldn''t be as secure as a monopolized tech, ''The most I can get would probably be an iplete blueprint since they won''t be storing the security protocols for those holes anywhere near the frontlines.''


    As for the minor objectives, he wanted to get the information on their maps and the range of their activities, culture, politics, overall war potential, and some other minor technologies that could prove useful.


    A few secondster, his train of thought was interrupted when Stralit suddenly directed a question to him, "By the way, what''s your name, race and where did youe from?"


    Kisuke paused for a bit before answering with a straight face, "I''m John Smith of the Nendoroid n. Thend I came from is known as the Endless Eight."


    Stralit and Gordo stared at him for a moment before the former went to operate her smartphone-like device, "...As expected, that''s not in our database."


    "Well, we only know a few hundred worlds and most of them were already destroyed by the Evies. It''s only natural that there are still countless worlds out there that we''re not aware of.", added thetter.


    ''Yosh... They bought it.'', Kisuke cheered inside his head. It was dangerous for him to use an Earth-rted reference, but it''s funnier this way.


    Kisuke was asked to rest for the rest of the day and Stralit promised to show him around the next day.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, with Stralit as his escort, left the medical facility that he had been staying in ever since he was transported to this ce and the first thing he saw was a beautiful amalgamation of modern aesthetics and nature. Towering spires wrapped around gigantic trees that cover half of the sky. Flying vehicles that weaved around colossal branches and trunks. Strategically ced orbs of light that brought the energy of the sun to the ground and magnificently lit the whole scene. The bustling crowds of 3-4 feet Elf-like beings with a horn on their heads. Lastly, the sun, several moons, and a peeking through the gaps of the huge leaves.


    It was a very strange world, yet a very fascinating and beautiful one.


    "What do you think?" Stralit asked with a smile on her face.


    "...I don''t really know what to say." Kisuke replied after a small pause, "But it''s a strange one."


    Stralit thought back to the description of his home world and asked, "Do you not like it?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "It''s very calming scenery, but I don''t know if I could get used to it."


    He could only describe it as such because he already told them what his ''previous world'' looks like. A world almost dested and society mostly living under the ground.


    While sitting on her shoulder, Stralit showed Kisuke around the entire city, exining various things he didn''t understand. It was a very peaceful and prosperous city, but even with his very limited senses, beyond the sphere of influence of the city, Kisuke could feel some tremors and waves of destructive energy sweeping every hour or so.


    And when he looked at one of the moons, he momentarily saw an explosion on its surface, albeit, very tiny from his perspective, ''We''ve been going around the whole day but this girl is the only Etoulde that I met. Are they spread out due to the number of worlds they manage, or is she the only one they need here?''


    With the sensitivity of his senses right now, Kisuke couldn''t gauge nor estimate the strength of this Etoulde known as Stralit, but he had a feeling that she was not just any random soldier or general.


    "Do you have any questions or is there anything you want?" Stralit asked the silent Kisuke.


    Kisuke looked straight into her eyes and asked, "How do I return home?"


    .


    .


    .


    In the evening, Kisuke was arranged to a room that''s equivalent to a hotel room. He could see the continuing bustle of people going about their daily lives.


    [...That, I''m sorry but we couldn''t find your homeworld even after your description.]


    [Then that strange portal... I''m sure I can reach my home if I keep going through one!]


    [You can''t! It''s not that easy!]


    Kisuke recalled the slightly heated conversation he had with Stralit, ''Now then... I''ve set up my stage. Now let''s see how far I can go.''


    Kisuke waited for about an hour before making his move and sneaked out of the building he was staying in. His goal was to reach the location of the wormhole that is being used to transport various supplies out of the city.


    As soon as he left, several eyes immediately came following him but he pretended not to notice any of them and they just let him run like a small animal, ''Good... Time to leave my mark everywhere~!''

 Chapter 999 Running Around part 2

    Chapter 999 Running Around part 2


    "Ma''am, we''ve confirmed that he left his room and moved towards the entertainment area." one of Stralit''s subordinates reported.


    Within the wide control room that monitored almost everything that''s happening regarding the war, a small portion of it was dedicated to Kisuke''s surveince.


    While her main focus was the ongoing conflict, Stralit gave a quick nce at the corner before saying, "Do not engage and just keep watching."


    "Do we inform the managers of the area?"


    "No. I want to see what he can do. If he''s about to do something dangerous or get caught, we''ll step in."


    Aside from his race, Stralit didn''t actually believe anything that Kisuke said. For that to actually happen, she would need proof. In the first ce, the world where he was found was too suspicious.


    Stranu Nelzell is a fallen world. It became a training, repair, and transportation hub for the Evies some time ago and her older brother only went to that ce to rescue the remaining inhabitants that managed to stay alive. Naturally, Kisuke wasn''t the only one that was suspected to be a spy, but only his existence was too odd.


    So instead of being brought back to the backlines, he was to remain near the frontlines where it''s better equipped against sabotage while also figuring out his real identity.


    Stralit initially wanted her subordinates to supervise him first, but the moment their eyes met for the very first time, her instincts immediately screamed at her that he was someone dangerous. However, up until now, she couldn''t understand why that feeling hadn''t disappeared even after numerous tests on him by the renowned doctor, Gronos, and her personal observations, ''It''s very obvious that he''s weak and the stored energy inside his body supports that. Surprisingly, he has higher than normal Spiritual Pressure and it fluctuates strangely, but even that doesn''t really amount to anything.''


    ''So where is this feelinging from?'' Stralit could think of several possibilities. One, she''s just being overly sensitive, but she has always trusted her instincts and it helped her survive and grow stronger until now so she didn''t lean on this. Second is that if this John Smith really was an Evie spy, he''s doing really a great job at it. If it''s that, then it''s really a bad n that doesn''t really get them anything substantial.


    Third is that she''s wrong. Maybe he only has this strange aura that''s giving her a bad feeling and he''s really just a lost guy trying to find his way home. Andstly, he''s someone entirely different from what he''s portraying and is not affiliated with either the Eltouldes and Evies.


    The sh she was watching settled down for a bit so Stralit peeked at the monitors that were monitoring Kisuke''s movements once again and saw that the target was not on it, "Where did he go?"


    "Ah! I''m sorry ma''am. Our agents keep losing sight of him due to his very erratic pathing. But please don''t worry since we could immediately find him a few secondster."


    "You''re losing sight of him?" Stralit asked with a surprised expression, ''How? I know they are experts and even I would have a hard time evading their tracking.'' She approached and went closer to see and after several minutes of watching, she couldn''t help but admire his movements, ''Is this skill or luck? How does he keep finding the only few blindspots andpletely loses everyone the moment he enters the darkness? Does he know that he''s being watched?''


    But after a few more minutes of watching, she attributed to thetter, ''Maybe because he''s too small and it''s very hard to track his aura because it strangely blends in with his surroundings?''


    .


    .


    .


    ''20th mark, done.'' Kisuke thought while carefully nning his path, ''I''m done in this area. Let''s move to the next one.''


    Every now and then, Kisuke would leave his observers'' senses for a few seconds to leave a small mark using his Magic Power, Spiritual Power, and a bit of blood. It was nothing substantial and there was really nothing major he could do with it since anything bigger would just gather attention to it. However, with enough of them, he could use them as nodes for various formations that might prove useful. In any case, Kisuke''s immediate goal was mapping out the whole area and gathering more data that he couldn''t get if he were to go around during the daytime.


    Kisuke spent two more hours running around before returning to his room.


    And just like that, seven days went by. Every day, Stralit would show up and pick him up before showing him around a different part of the city, and at night, Kisuke would explore that area while leaving his marks.


    Stralit carefully observed his activities and aside from looking for something, she was able to tell that he was mapping out the ce, ''He''s not with the Evies... The Evies don''t need to do this since they already have this data. If so, who is he? Is he really just simply lost? But how could he be on Stranu Nelzell? His homeworld was attacked and he woke up on that... How was he able to survive that ce and who brought him there?''


    Many questions surfaced in Stralit''s head but she could find no answer to most of them. However, she has a good guess for what he''s looking for, ''If he''s not with the Evies, then he could only be looking for that? Shall I bring him to that ce?''


    The next day Stralit arrived on time again and cheerfully opened the door to [John Smith''s] room, "Hey John, I''ll bring you outside of the city today! I want to show you something amazing!"


    Kisuke sighed and replied, "...How many times do I have to tell you, please knock before entering."


    But Stralit ignored his pleas and directly grabbed him before putting him on her shoulder, "You already know what time Ie and you''re always ready, so let''s go!"


    ''Finally.'', thought Kisuke while showing a disinterested face, ''After tonight, it should be about time she confronts me.''


    Kisuke figured that he couldn''t get her trust at all, but the kindness that she was showing him was without a doubt real. If she wanted to, she could just restrain him and torture him to get the answers that she wanted. However, she never forgot the possibility that he might really just be a pitiful guy that wanted to go home. Although not the type to feel any guilt from this, he still appreciated her actions.


    ''Now then... What excuse should I use to brand her consciousness with the Teleportation Magic that Le Fay developed?''

 Chapter 1000 Running Around part 3

    Chapter 1000 Running Around part 3


    Stralit brought Kisuke to a station where they could ride a flying shuttle and it didn''t take too long for them to exit the barrier that was maintaining the city''s climate.


    An hourter, Stralit and Kisuke were at an enormous gray cube with countless openings on it that various vehicles went in and out of. They went through one of the openings and a long dimly lit tunnel greeted them before reaching the interior of the cube a few minutester.


    The first thing that caught Kisuke''s attention was the portal in the middle of operating, ''It''s the same as the one that the Evies use. That settles it, they share the same underlying technology, so it should be easier to acquire them.''


    Stralit was silent as she watched Kisuke look around with great interest. Since she already found the pattern in Kisuke''s nightly activities, she wanted to see if he''ll sneak into this ce too.


    When they reached the ground, Stralit immediately started showing him around. Thankfully, they didn''t have to go through any checkpoints or they''d be moving slowly and they wouldn''t be able to see the whole ce in just a few hours.


    Naturally, the Luxatos working nonstop were wondering why themander was showing this critical ce to the outsider, but thanks to their unbending trust in her, they didn''t do anything beyond staring curiously.


    After the tour, Kisuke was able to summarize the ce into three main points, ''The singlerge portal in the middle is used for transporting a vast amount of resources and arms. Aside from that, there are three rooms containing a smaller portal each that transports smaller parcels and personnel, though it seems it''s not being used that much.''


    ''Lastly, the rest of the space is being used to manage the whole logistics operation... However...'' Kisuke turned to a certain corner and pointed to an unadorned metal double door that no one seemed to be touching, "What''s in that room?"


    Stralit was waiting for him to ask that but she didn''t show any strange reactions on her face, "That''s the archive of this ce. Just some instruction manuals to train neers and other stuff that could be used for the operation."


    Kisuke immediately turned his head away from it and started asking questions about the other things.


    A slight grin was present on Stralit''s face since it was very obvious what he was trying to do. Unfortunately for her, Kisuke indeed made it obvious for someone like her. She thought that she was manipting Kisuke''s movements, but she never would have expected that Kisuke was controlling her thoughts by just giving her false impressions.


    Although this could really only work if the one he''s controlling didn''t know anything about him. This was also one of the reasons why he chose to use a small and weak Gigai. Disposability aside, it''s really hard to take his current form seriously.


    .


    .


    .


    Night time, Stralit focused on Kisuke''s monitors since there wasn''t anything critical that was going on, ''Now let''s see how you''ll sneak into that.''


    At the same time, Kisuke opened his eyes and immediately moved to arrange his bed as if he were sleeping in it. Up until this point, Kisuke never revealed to anyone why he would sometimes take a very long time to sleep so they''d been watching his sleeping patterns too.


    And as they expected, Kisuke soon came to the edge of the city and made his way toward the supply hub.


    "But how is he going to make it?" One of the Luxatos monitoring Kisuke asked, "By his speed, he won''t be able to reach his destination."


    "That''s right. And here I thought he''d hijack one of the transport vehicles." another Luxatomented.


    Stralit was also wondering what he was going to do but her eyes went wide a few secondster when Kisuke suddenly disappeared from their sight, "Where did he go!?"


    "P-please hold on! We''re contacting our agents to ask them what''s going on!"


    As Kisuke was traversing through a thick forest, they thought that they''d just lost sight of him, however, they couldn''t really be med on it since they all knew the forest that he was running through like the back of their hands.


    A few secondster, Kisuke appeared on their monitors again but a lot further than they had initially estimated.


    "Tell them to get closer and spread out more. But take care not to be noticed." Stralitmanded.


    But not long after, Kisuke''s form disappeared once again before they caught him again tens of meters away from his projected position, "Ma''am, our agents were able to confirm that he''s using some sort of instant eleration technique."


    "What? Enough that they lose sight of him?"


    "ording to them, yes. It seems to be a Magic technique but there''s something else that''s bothering them so they took out their analyzers to get more concrete data."


    "Fine... Just be careful not to be noticed."


    And every few seconds, Kisuke would disappear and reappear, inching closer and closer to his destination. Nevertheless, it only took a few minutes to get the result of the analysis, "M-Ma''am... The results have returned."


    Stralit noticed the strangeness in her subordinate''s voice and looked at the data herself. After looking through it a single time, Stralit took a step back and sighed while rubbing the bridge of her nose, "...You''re kidding me. A Spirit Technique? To think he''s someone who could use something like that."


    In an instant, the importance of Kisuke''s existence shot up to the top of Stralit''s priorities, ''Do I have to report this to the higher-ups?... This is the first time we''ve met another race that could naturally use their soul to strengthen themselves.''


    "Tell everyone to back off. I''m observing him myself." Stralitmanded, "And ressify... No... Purge the data we''ve gathered tonight."


    "P-purge!?"


    "You heard me. And brief everyone involved in this operation to never release any information that they saw and heard today. Or else, there''ll be heavy consequences and I won''t be able to save any of you."


    "U-understood!"


    Little did he know that the same ''higher-ups'' are hiding the fact that someone else could use Spirit Techniques aside from them. And that someone is currently the one who locked the whole Earth up.

 Chapter 1001 ‘Caught’

    Chapter 1001 ��Caught��


    Kisuke continued traveling while moderately using his sh Step so that he wouldn''t break his body. At some point, the eyes that hadn''t been watching disappeared, ''They pulled back? Why?''


    Kisuke didn''t stop moving but the moment he was about to reach his destination, he shuddered and stopped for a moment to look around before immediately resuming his steps, ''I can''t feel anyone''s presence... But I have a feeling that someone is watching me. Did Stralit rece everyone?''


    Although Kisuke had to stop leaving marks on his way since he didn''t know to what extent the hidden figure could see, it didn''t change his original intention and it didn''t take too long for him to reach his destination. Even though it was nighttime, the rate of activity didn''t change and thanks to that, Kisuke didn''t have to think much when infiltrating.


    Since he couldn''t leave any marks, Kisuke went straight to one of the unused portals for smaller packages and personnel. Naturally, it was locked so he first had to steal a credentials card from one of the ckers.


    Stralit, who''s watching from the shadows, was impressed by his ingenuity and thought, ''It looks like this isn''t the first time he''s had to do something like this.''


    She saw him time his entry to the gap of the surveince to open the door. Since everyone would be alerted when someone tried to use the portal, the surveince around it is not as securepared to therge portal.


    The moment Kisuke entered, he finally felt a strange presence following him because of their close proximity. Even then, Kisuke couldn''t tell her exact location, ''She''s in the shadows!? What the heck is that? I want to learn that too!'' Kisuke has a feeling that if she really wanted to hide, he might not be able to pinpoint her even if he''s using his original body.


    Kisuke wanted to observe what she was doing right now so much but he had to curb his curiosity.


    He immediately closed the doors and jumped into one of the terminals to operate it. But as expected, he couldn''t understand anything on it and he''s not really a fan of randomly smashing buttons unless he''s in enemy territory.


    Without any hesitation to his actions, Kisuke opened the door once again and made his way to where the archive was. He already knew that the credentials that he has right now won''t be able to open the doors leading in and he won''t be able to find one even if he''s willing to steal. However, he still went around swiping various IDs to test them after his first one failed.


    Watching all of this unfold, Stralit couldn''t help but ce her hand on her forehead and sigh, ''I know they are nonbatants, but to be able to swipe many of them without anyone noticing... I need to ask Cleo to add basic presence awareness training to their schedule.''


    Stralit''s eyes then sharpened as she looked towards Kisuke, ''But I also cannot discount his ability to do all of this. It''s very safe to assume that he''s trained in the art of espionage. Is this the dangerous thing I''m feeling?'' She would soon get an answer to that.


    Stralit thought that Kisuke wouldn''t be able to open the door so he was bound to give up and return, but contrary to her expectations, the air in Kisuke''s immediate vicinity suddenly became heavier as an explosive amount of Spiritual Pressure erupted from him while he was standing in front of the door with both of his tiny hands on it, ''!?!?!''


    ''What is this!?'' Before anyone else could notice, Stralit hurriedly manipted her shadows to block the wave of Spiritual Pressure. Although some of it went through, none of the Luxatos were sensitive to this kind of energy so it only came to them as a strange but nondescript breeze.


    .


    .


    .


    A minute earlier, after Kisuke decided to stop stealing IDs, he stared at the door and thought, ''Hmmm... As expected, except for the managers who are very aware of their surroundings and their credentials, I won''t be able to open this. I could but that might give a hint that I''m faking the fact that I didn''t notice my stalkers.''


    While tapping the metallic door, he added, ''And I won''t be able to bore a hole through here... Hmmm... Should I just go aggressive and see how things would develop? In any case, after all those marks, I''ll be able to return to this world with Ophis, Lilith, nna, Le Fay, and Yoruichi''s assistance.''


    Kisuke was able to confirm this after he sessfully made a connection with a certain individual earlier today.


    [Just go for it. I''ll cut open a hole for you.] A feminine voice sounded in his head.


    [You just want chaos, don''t you?] Kisuke replied.


    [Why not?] Benihime''s voice became stronger, [Aren''t you curious about what she can do too? Don''t you want topare it to what we can do?]


    [No, no, no. I don''t want to fight her. Why would I fight her? I''m not a battle junkie like you.]


    [So you''d rather stalk her?]


    Benihime thought that he would at least deny it but Kisuke proudly nodded and said, [That''s preferable. If possible, up close.]


    [...You disgusting bastard.]


    [Wait now. I''m just saying that from a professional viewpoint.]


    [Stalker''s?]


    [Medical, of course.] Kisuke then ended their inane banter by asking, [What can you do right now?]


    [I''m very far so you would have to release my ''True Name'' to form a steady path of Spiritual Power. Can you do that without exploding into a million pieces?]


    [For a few seconds, yes.]


    [Then I can punch a temporary hole for you. Do it now.]


    Kisuke didn''t waste any time and muttered to himself "Ban...kai..."


    Without his Zanpakuto, a ''de'' couldn''t appear at his side, but with his connection with Benihime, he was able to manifest the tiniest amount of her ability.


    At his touch, a strange cut emerged on the sturdy door big enough to fit his current stature. Since he couldn''t maintain this for more than a few seconds, Kisuke hurriedly jumped over it, sending him inside the prized archive, ''Now then... I wonder what she''ll-''


    But before he could finish his thoughts and the cut to fully close, the door opened and someone picked Kisuke up from his cor, ''My, that''s fast.''


    "Well then, naughty little guy... I have several questions and it''s in your best interest to answer them." Stralit smiled at him but she didn''t seem to be too happy.

 Chapter 1002 Exciting Development

    Chapter 1002 Exciting Development


    Kisuke currently couldn''t see the face Stralit is making, however, he was pretty sure that she wasn''t the slightest bit happy from the cold and pressuring aura she was emitting.


    ''The way she grabbed me... Her presence was way too vague than my initial estimates.'' Kisuke thought while disying a fearful expression and shutting his mouth.


    "Not going to say anything, huh? Fine. I can waste as much time as you." Stralit exited the archive with Kisuke picked up like a kitten and used a teleportation spell to leave the facility.


    The moment light returned to his eyes, Kisuke saw that he was in a wide, strange bedroom. Strange because the only thing that tells him it''s a bedroom is the wide bed in the middle of it but the rest of it looks like some control room in a spaceship. He took a nce at the monitor and saw that he couldn''t understand the words disyed on it.


    Stralit seems to have guessed what he''s thinking and said, "Can''t understand it? Don''t even try. That''s thenguage that the top officers of Etoulde use. It''s only a bunch of characters strung together and doesn''t have any vocal equivalent."


    She then tossed Kisuke to the corner of the room and before hended, ck fences erupted from the shadows and formed arge cage around him, "Until you''re already willing to speak, you''ll have to stay there."


    Kisuke already ''calmed down'' and checked the cage he was in, ''...It''s simr to the [ck Coffin]. Amazing.''


    "Your adaptability is really amazing. Or are you just acting?" Stralitmented.


    Instead of addressing her question, Kisuke replied with a question of his own, "Are you going to torture me?"


    Stralit sat down on her bed and started staring at the monitors, "I apologize, but I don''t have such a hobby. And I don''t want to worsen the rtionship between us."


    "Worsen the rtionship?" Kisuke asked with an unbelieving expression, "I did espionage work yet you want to keep the rtionship between us from worsening? Are you naive or just in stupid?"


    Stralit stared at him for a moment with a contemting expression before saying, "So you''ve been acting. This is the real you."


    Kisuke let out a bit of himself. This wasn''t a mistake as this was just another change in his ns due to the changing situation, ''...Strange... Even if she was sure that I wasn''t from Evie''s side, she should at least contact her leader... But what''s with the strange tone in her words?''


    "If you''re from Evie''s side, they wouldn''t use you as a spy. Because of your spiritual abilities, they''d rather turn you into an experimental subject. So I''m sure that you aren''t their spy. As for the other opposing forces, well... They don''t exactly exist anymore. Even if there''s a remnant, they wouldn''t be targeting this ce because this is near the frontline against the Evies. If they knew something about the Evies, they don''t really spare anyone regardless of their motives."


    Kisuke remained silent and let her continue her monologue.


    "The only other big possibility is this is just something personal for you. If that''s the case, then I don''t really want to have a fallout with you."


    "...Why?"


    Stralit grinned at her and said, "I have a use for you."


    ''Now this changes everything...'' Kisuke immediately thought. If she has a use for him just because he showed him a little bit of power, then negotiation is possible, "Are you confident in forcing me to do your bidding?"


    Stralit saw that Kisuke visibly calmed down, ''Look at this guy... He guessed that he won''t be going through due process and trying to gauge me now. Well, this is a lot better than getting a stupid teammate.''


    "I''m not and as I''ve said, that isn''t my thing." Stralit smiled at him, "And I''m pretty certain of what you want. We could start from there."


    Kisuke stared at her for a few seconds before turning around and lying down to close his eyes.


    Seeing this, Stralit just shrugged her shoulders, ''I can wait. For the time being, I''ll gather all the rted materials.''


    .


    .


    .


    The next morning, Kisuke opened his eyes with a warm breakfast in front of him. Not just that, the cage extended, and at the end of the new expansion, is a private booth to do his private business, ''She might actually keep this for months or years.''


    For now, Kisuke arranged what he knows in his head and pulled out several conclusions from it, ''First possibility, she wants to use me to advance her career. Second, she had something against her superiors and wanted to get back at them. The third is that the Etoulde might not be as monolithic as I initially thought and several factions are vying for supremacy.''


    ''I still don''t know what she wants me to do so I can''t make a concrete guess now. Hmmm... I think stalling for time to gain an advantage over negotiations is out of the window now, huh?''


    A few hourster, Stralit returned from her usual work and Kisuke immediately started with, "What do you want me to do and what do I get in return?"


    "Not ying the waiting game anymore, huh? Pretty decisive. I like it." Stralit smiled and snapped her fingers. In an instant, a curtain of shadow enveloped the whole room, terminating anything that moved any information.


    She then brought up her right hand to conjure a ball of light to give proper vision to the surroundings.


    "I''m not going to beat around the bush, I am willing to do anything you want as long as it''s not unreasonable and doesn''t go against my goals. In exchange, I want you to be a point of contact between me and my Evie friend~."


    As soon as she dropped that ''bomb'', Kisuke red at her. But on the inside, he''s cheering in delight, ''Oh my~ I like this kind of drama. I really struck gold upon meeting her.''


    At that moment, Kisuke tossed out the multiple ns he''d made with care out of his head, ''This will be amusing.''


    The more chaos and confusion he could make, the better it was for him.

 Chapter 1003 Learning

    Chapter 1003 Learning


    Kisuke did his best to stop himself fromughing out loud at this sudden development and did his utmost to re at Stralit with fury, "Have you forgotten what those Evies did to my home? I didn''t expect to meet a sympathizer of such a group, much less, an official of an opposing force."


    "Right. However, you just haven''t realized the scale of these two forces. If a world could have multiple races, cultures, and beliefs, why couldn''t these two civilizations that are on a gctic scale be the same?"


    Stralit sat down on her bed and disregarded Kisuke''s angry expression, "I''m sure that''s true in your world too, right?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer her question but asked his own question, "What do you hope to achieve?"


    Stralit began hesitating. Although she tried to pretend that her pause was just her thinking of her goal, it became apparent to Kisuke that she was hesitating whether to say her wish, ''Is it a lofty goal of standing on the top of the hierarchy? She doesn''t really strike me as such.''


    Soon, Stralit sighed as she couldn''t think of anything else aside from her real goal, ''It sounds ridiculous, but I guess I''ll just be honest. It''s only this little guy, after all. If he doesn''t believe me, then I''ll just make a more convincing excuseter.''


    With a reminiscing and gentle smile on her face, Stralit answered, "I just want to walk and hang out with my friend in broad daylight without being judged or persecuted."


    ''...Now that I''ve said it out loud, it''s really ridiculous. Just so that I could y around, I''m willing to make contact with our worst enemy... It''s reallyughable.''


    Stralit was about to think and say a less ''unbelievable'' reason, but Kisuke didn''t allow her, "I see. Then what can you provide me?"


    Instead of answering, Stralit stared at him, dumbfounded.


    "What? Are we negotiating or not? Just kill me then."


    "W-wait! Wait! Aren''t you too harsh on yourself!? Wait, before that! You believed me!? Something as absurd as that!? Aren''t you too naive!?" But after getting past her shock, Stralit finally noticed the change in Kisuke''s demeanor.


    ''W-what''s this!?'' All this time, the aura that Kisuke is giving is that of a small beast baring its fang to protect itself. However, that suddenly changed. He''s still the same small beast but it''s as if the shadow he''s making is a cunning demon that is waiting for its chance to devour her. She blinked her eyes again, but the instinctual image returned to how it was before, ''...Was that just my imagination?''


    ''I only intended to reveal a bit of my aura but she still saw too much,'' Kisuke thought to himself, ''That''s one very sharp sixth sense. It''s going to turn into my disadvantage if I reveal too much right now. For now, I have to see her friend first before I can make any concrete ns.''


    "Ehem..." Stralit cleared her throat to get herself back on track, "Well, if you believe me, that''s fine... But why?"


    "It''s ludicrous, but it''s also simple and sincere enough. If it''s an overthought excuse, you wouldn''t be able to say something like that." Kisuke exined briefly, "I''ll start first. I want a way to return home."


    Stralit already expected this request and said the answer she prepared, "I don''t have the coordinates of your home world. And even if I do, we can''t just set up a Space Gate without any preparation on that side. However, since it was Evie''s side who found that ce, it''ll be on their records, and they probably already built an outpost there. Meet my friend and she''ll be able to help you."


    Kisuke stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "She''s your friend but not mine. How can I be sure that she''ll just point the way there? Because of that, I want to learn how to construct this Space Gate."


    "Construct it? That''s not really a problem for me, however, there are multiple problems that need to be solved before you can even construct one. Aside from gathering the required amount of resources and setting it up on both sides, no one can teach you how to make one so you''ll have to settle with self-study."


    "That''s not a problem for me."


    Stralit shook her head, "I didn''t exin myself enough. No one could teach you since it''s technically forbidden to share this technology. I can''t teach you myself because I don''t fully understand how it works and I don''t really have that much time to dedicate to you. On top of that, you''ll be studying the theories behind it and not the actual blueprint. I''m sorry, but I just can''t give you building instructions since those contain security protocols in them. Even if it''s not you, I''m afraid you might leak it and that willpromise the many Space Gates we have."


    Kisuke nodded, "That''s still not a problem for me. I may not look like it, but I''m one of the top craftsmen in my world. And even if I fail to learn it, I won''t be asking for anything else. The moment you pass me those theoretical documents, consider your side of the deal fulfilled."


    "...Fine. But before that, you''ll have to learn something else first."


    "What is it?"


    "As you are now, you''ll get caught immediately the moment I send you to my friend''s side so you''ll be learning my shadow abilities."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened in surprise, "You can teach that!?" For him, Stralit being able to pass her skills was more of a surprisepared to her having an Evie friend.


    "Oh, right. You don''t know much about the Etouldes. Short answer, you''ll be my sessor and you''ll be able to use my abilities."

 Chapter 1004 Successor

    Chapter 1004 Sessor


    Stralit exined that among the high-ranking Etouldes with special abilities, they also have the ability to pass that on to a sessor. Everything she could do with that ability, the sessor will also be able to do it. Naturally, there are restrictions. First, the high-ranking Etoulde would only be able to choose a single sessor. The sessor also won''t be able to pass this ability to others.


    And while the sessor could use the ability with great flexibility and the sessor''s own take, it could never be stronger than what the ''master'' could do.


    "Since you''re capable of using a Spiritual Ability, learning this isn''t a problem."


    ''...So that''s how it is. She chose to use me because I can use Spiritual Power.'' Kisuke thought to himself as what she was trying to do finally made sense to him, ''...High-rank Etoulde, huh? I should learn more about how their society works.''


    "Well then, shall we start?"


    .


    .


    .


    It had been a week since Kisuke and Stralit reached an agreement. Kisuke was released after that and went on to continue his life as a freeloader while also receiving the Space Gate-rted documents that he was promised, ''Hmmm... I didn''t think it was thisplicated. And there are indeed resources and metrics that are used and I''m not aware of. I''ll probably need another week to understand this and another week or two... wait... maybe a month or two to develop my own Space Gate.''


    But if anyone from the greatest engineers and scientists of Etoulde''s side were to hear what he''s thinking, they would be cursing at him nonstop.


    A momentter, a knock came on his door as it swung open, "John, the preparations are done. Let''s go."


    ''...John?'' Kisuke looked at her with a puzzled expression, ''Oh right... That''s me.''


    "What? Could it be that you forgot?" Stralit then took a second look at his very messy room. Though it wasn''t really full of trash but important documents tossed at random ces, "When was thest time you went out of your room?"


    Kisuke stood up and dusted himself, "Why would I go out?"


    ''He has the same weird temperament as those old geezers so it''s probably true that he''s a craftsman.'' Stralit sighed, "Enough of that for now, and let''s move. We''re running out of time."


    Kisuke cleaned his room up and set aside the documents in a safebox that Stralit provided to him. He wanted to study more, but these documents aren''t really needed anymore since Kisuke had already memorized it down to a single letter. He only needed some time to digest everything and create a blueprint of his own.


    Soon, they reached Stralit''s room once again and this time, she revealed to Kisuke a hidden door leading to a small empty gray room. Along the walls, ceiling, and floor, there are various encryptions and to Kisuke, it looks like some kind of Magic Circle.


    "Let''s start. Stand in the middle of the room and don''t resist anything that enters your body. This is the first time something like this would be performed on a non-Etoulde so I''m still determining how it''s going to turn out. However, I spent this whole week keeping the procedure as safe as possible. If there''s a problem, I''ll immediately stop this."


    "And if it fails?" Kisuke asked while walking towards the center of the room.


    "Then you''ll have to settle with Soul Equipment that covers your presence and tracks. But those aren''t as reliable as an innate ability so it would be great if this were to seed."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else and waited for Stralit to do her thing while also confirming the defensive mechanisms that would ''trap'' whatever she was going to send inside this body so that it wouldn''t affect his original body, ''If it''s useful or I can make it fully independent from Stralit, I''ll take it to my original body.''


    Stralit then went to each corner of the room to pour her Spiritual Power and the engravings on the walls, ceiling, and floor began lightning up with soft white light. A few secondster, the white light reached Kisuke and it started entering his small body, ''Hmmm... It''s going directly to my Soul fragment. Is it strengthening it?''


    After that, Stralit approached Kisuke while raising both of her hands in front of her. The moment she reached Kisuke, a jet-ck orb the size of a marble emerged from her hands before she grabbed it and ced it on Kisuke''s forehead.


    The ck orb quickly melted on his forehead and entered his skin and skull without any trace.


    On the inside, Kisuke could see the ck orb directly entering his Soul and changing into some type of ''liquid''. The melted orb then entered the ''bloodstream'' of his Soul fragment and stayed there to circte along with everything else, ''Is that it?''


    Kisuke heard Stralit''s audible sigh and looked up at her, "Good... It went in without a hitch. It went better than I initially expected. How about you try using it now?"


    "How?"


    "Just recall how I use my shadows. You should be able to do it too."


    Kisuke took his eyes off Stralit and transferred them to the lingering shadows in the surroundings while remembering the image of Stralit controlling the shadows. As soon as he did, the ck liquid started circting faster and weird knowledge of shadow control popped up in his head.


    Kisuke put forward his right arm and the shadow under his sleeve became alive and coiled around it, ''This is?'' Kisuke asked himself while genuinely surprised, ''It''s as if I called Benihime''s name for the first time. It''s really an innate ability. And to be able to transfer it to another individual? I can now understand how these Etouldes managed topete against the Evies.''


    "Oh. You''re doing pretty well. Keep practicing it until it can cover your presence and tracks inside this room. I''ll provide you with your daily necessities."


    "I can''t practice outside?"


    Stralit shook her head, "The fluctuation you''re emitting is a dead giveaway that you became a ''sessor''. Although only Etouldes would be able to notice and there''s no one other than me here currently, it''s still better to be on the safe side. My brother visits pretty often too and I don''t want to rope him into this."


    "How long do you think I''ll need to bepetent enough?"


    "I''m not really sure, but with how you manipted the shadow just now, I think it''ll take you 3-6 months."


    ''I''ll do it in three days then.''


    .


    .


    .


    In an unknown world, a certain Evie received an encrypted message. Although the message couldn''t be long, Evies was able to get the essential information, "John Smith, huh? To think we''d find another race that''s capable of controlling Spiritual Power. What a nice coincidence."


    The Evie then obliterated the encrypted message while muttering, "The first race we discovered... No. It''s more like the first individuals... That reminds me. I hope my priestess is doing fine in Draconic Deus."

 Chapter 1005 Not in the Plan

    Chapter 1005 Not in the n


    It had been almost two months since Kisuke decided to stay in this world for some time. Regarding his practice with Stralit''s shadow, he mastered it after two days. Since it''s like controlling a Zanpakuto, it was a lot easier than he first imagined. As for why he hadn''t left for Stralit''s mission, Kisuke pretended to practice studying the Space Gate more, and right now, he was about to finish his blueprint, ''After this, I''ll ask Sona to set it up on their side.''


    A few hourster, Kisuke left control of his small body and woke up in the Dungeon. After stretching his body for a bit, Kisuke first contacted Yoruichi, "Yo, how is it going?"


    [Kisuke? Where have you been?]


    "It''ll take too long to exin so I''ll just say to a ce where I could get what I need. How are things on your side?"


    [Not much has changed except that corrupted ''Spirit'' is trying to reach the surface.]


    "...That''s a pretty big change if you ask me."


    [Well, it''s not really a big problem since both Serafall and I were pressing our own weight at it in secret so it won''t be able to reach the surface if we don''t let it.]


    "That''s great." Kisuke nodded, "If those thingse up, it''ll be the point of no return. But I''m done on my side and we''ll just have to wait for Sona to finish hers and we''re good to go. In the meantime, give a warning to the Gods."


    [...What kind of warning?]


    "Death for most of them is imminent."


    .


    .


    .


    After sending the blueprint of the Space Gate to Sona and the instructions of what she and the other girls had to do after it was done. Kisuke returned his consciousness back to his small Gigai. As soon as he opened his eyes, there was a presence that was watching him with curiosity, "I wonder, what was that deep hibernation for?"


    Kisuke stretched his limbs and answered, "Who knows? It''s always been like this."


    Since Kisuke was capable of understanding the Space Gate, Stralit thought that their civilization must be pretty advanced. And in such an advanced civilization, it''s impossible for them to not study themselves. So it really might just be a big mystery, or Kisuke just didn''t want to reveal anything about himself any further, ''It must be thetter. I might have something to do with their weakness.''


    Even then, Stralit didn''t ask anything about it, "How''s your practice? Do you think you''ll be able to do it in a few months?"


    Kisuke looked at her with a nk expression before grinning at her and the shadow under him suddenly swallowed him up, disappearing, not just from Stralit''s sight but also from her other senses, "!?"


    Thankfully, her innate connection made it possible to immediately find him. Stralit immediately turned around and saw a lump of shadow at the corner of the room, ''There... Wait... Something doesn''t add up.'' But upon closer inspection, it wasn''t Kisuke and really just a lump of shadow adorned with her power, "!?"


    "Right. A fake." Kisuke''s voice suddenly resounded beside her.


    Stralit didn''t look at Kisuke and just stared at the shadow dissipating into nothing with the corner of her lips twitching, "...I can see that. I never thought you''d be able to fool my senses with it, though?"


    "It might have been a sess, but it''ll allow me to hide from you for a few seconds." Kisuke then turned to her and asked, "Though it should be enough for what you want me to do?"


    Stralit nodded, "Indeed... it hasn''t been two months yet you''re already able to do this. It wouldn''t be an understatement that you''re a genius. You also have the right attitude and mindset for this kind of activity. I also won''t be sending you somewhere dangerous so this should be good enough."


    "When do I start?"


    From her inventory, Stralit took out a box and ced it in front of Kisuke, "Put that on while I exin to you what you''ll be doing."


    Kisuke opened the box and saw the same tightfitting bodysuit Stralit and her brother were wearing when he first met them, but tailored for his size. Other than that, three smartphone-like devices and two small ck cubes are also in the box.


    "The suit will help you stave off the harsh environment of your travel and also help you control and boost your shadow abilities. As for those terminals, you would have to activate them in a certain specific sequence each time you go through the unmarked Space Gates. If you go through one without activating or you did it in the wrong sequence, you''ll be sent somewhere even I don''t know, so you''ll have to be extremely careful of that."


    "Finally, those cubes, those are the ones you''ll have to hand over to my friend. After that, you''re done. Either you return with the same cube from her or she asks something else of you. Don''t worry about her being an Evie. She''s kind enough to be friends with me and you''ll be meeting her in a random abandoned world. You may even ask her a few questions. Just tell her that I allowed you to do so."


    Stralit exined it once more but with more detail in it while Kisuke tested the bodysuit and what it could do, ''This is great. I''ll have to study itter and maybe I''ll be able to use this for something else.''


    With everything ready, Stralit asked Kisuke to hide in her shadow as she brought him to her personal Space Gate, which was one of the almost unused Space Gates under therge one used for transport.


    Half a dayter, Kisuke finally stepped into the Space Gate with the three terminals emitting strange signals that affected his destination and brought him to a barren and small rocky.


    He took out one of the terminals to look for the next space gate and it took him half a day to reach it.


    Kisuke carefully hopped nine times and each time, he left a small mark not far from the Space Gate, ''It actually took four days to reach the final gate.'', Kisuke thought to himself while staring at thest Space Gate of his journey. He could have directly tunneled here, but it was too dangerous for Stralit and him. If they were tracked, it''d be over for the both of them.


    Kisuke entered thest gate and what greeted him was not a lifeless and nameless world anymore, but a deep red forest with a healthy amount of noise from swaying leaves, branches, and insects.


    ''Three hundred meters north, I should be able to see a cabin.''


    In ordance with Stralit''s instruction, Kisuke started jumping through the thick fauna and it didn''t take long for him to find the clearing and a small red wooden cabin. He felt a single presence inside the cabin and he also didn''t hide his as he approached the door of the cabin slowly with his small steps.


    He knocked on the door and said, "Delivery!"


    From the inside, a surprisingly soft and gentle feminine voice sounded, "Come in. I''ve been expecting you."


    Kisuke went inside and thought the interior to be normal despite the strange sense of arrangement. From what seemed to be a kitchen, Kisuke could hear some noises of utensils hitting, "I''ll be out in a second. Go to the living room at the right and wait for me with some drinks."


    Kisuke did as she said while carefully examining everything, ''Everything has traces of long term use on them. This ce looks like a permanent meeting point. Isn''t that dangerous?''


    A minuteter, steps came close and Kisuke finally saw Stralit''s friend. Standing at more than six feet, the first thing he noticed was the mechanical arms and legs. But aside from those, she looks like a normal beautiful woman with long white hair and golden eyes. However, Kisuke shuddered at the sight of her as she was far from being normal, ''...Dammit... I didn''t think she''d be friends with such a big shot.'' Kisuke was currently looking at a Transcendent level being.


    Meanwhile, the Evie also stopped her steps and was stunned at Kisuke before resuming her walk a few secondster and cing the tray she was holding on the table.


    ''What was that weird pause?'' Kisuke asked himself while having a bad feeling about it.


    And he didn''t have to wait long before that bad feeling became worse.


    The Evie sat down on the opposite side of Kisuke while pouring the drink on the cups, "I heard I''d be meeting with a little guy known as John Smith, so imagine my shock when I actually met the famous Kisuke Urahara."


    As soon as she finished her words, Kisuke wanted to trigger his self-destruction immediately, ''...Fuck... I messed up.''

 Chapter 1006 Change of Plans

    Chapter 1006 Change of ns


    Kisuke sighed and stopped his self-destruction. As much as he wanted to leave this ce, it wouldn''t really change anything, ''Now then... How should I deal with this?''


    While staring at her, the Evie continued to pour the drinks and said, "Take your time. You can also drink this to calm your nerves and I can assure you that there''s nothing wrong with them. Though it''ll still be up to you if you were to trust a few of my words."


    Kisuke had already stopped hiding his demeanor and revealed his calcting side. He looked at the cup for a moment before grabbing it and taking a sip, "Thank you."


    The Evie smiled at him and replied, "You''re wee."


    But after that, there were no more exchanges between the two for some time.


    ''And here I thought Ophis and Lilith were able to grab their attention when I''m deploying the barrier but it seems they ced great enough importance on me too to know me by name.'' Kisuke thought while recalling how he stopped the Evie that imed Great Red''s life to get his trophy, ''And who would have thought that I''ll meet a Transcendent here...''


    Although not much was known about their abilities, there were only three Transcendents on the Evie''s side and only one with feminine stature. One of the Three Pir Gods. The younger sister of Regalzeva and Melvazoa. The one is known as the Wicked God. Seraselbes.


    Kisuke also checked the drink that entered his body and found nothing strange about it aside from the vor and scent. But he didn''t let his guard down and secured his connection to his original body, ''If there''s a deviation to my consciousness, my Soul and Benihime should be able to notice it.''


    Even then, Kisuke was still not satisfied and fortified his mind by adding various Security Magic to both his head and Soul Fragment without hiding it from the Evie in front of him.


    The Evie didn''t mind it and just waited for him to finish what he wanted to do. If this is what it takes for him to talk to her properly, she''d dly wait all day. Regardless, she likes how careful he is, ''I''ll be able to leave Stralit in his care.''


    Kisuke sighed once again after finishing what he needed to do and initiated the conversation, "Let''s start from the top. It''s nice to meet you. I''m Kisuke Urahara."


    "Likewise. I go by Seraselbes. Let''s get along." The Evie properly introduced herself, "Though I''d like for us to talk more, we don''t have much time, so let''s get our business out of the way first."


    Kisuke agreed and took out the cubes that Stralit passed him before giving them to her. Kisuke didn''t attempt to take a look inside of the cube since he knew that he wouldn''t be able to decipher it. On top of that, he didn''t know any of the anti-tamper measures that littered the cubes.


    Seraselbes carefully inspected the cubes before taking them away with satisfaction and bringing out her own set of cubes, "I''d like you to deliver this to Stralit as fast as possible."


    Kisuke nodded and jumped down from his seat after keeping the cubes. Since he didn''t have the advantage, he wanted to leave as soon as possible and prepare for their next meeting.


    But before he could leave, Seraselbes spoke up, "It may not look like it but Stralit is in great danger right now. The group that wanted to clean up the Peace Faction is closing in on her... If it bes too dangerous, I want you to save her."


    Kisuke stopped his steps and nodded. He doesn''t have any negotiation power so he could only agree, "I''ll see what I can do."


    ''At least, this way, she won''t be dropping me since she has a use for me.''


    Kisuke was about to leave again but was stopped by the continuation of Seraselbes'' words, ''Urgh... I don''t want to hear it.''


    But to his surprise, it was beneficial info, "Some of Regalzeva''s soldiers have already breached your ''wall'' through some summoning techniques that were done from the inside and are already disguising themselves as Humans. This is for the work you''ll be doing."


    "...Thank you. I''ll being back. I hope we have more time next time." Kisuke hid his shock and made a dash through the forest, ''Dammit... I''m already expecting a breach at some point but not this early. Summoning, huh? As expected of an intergctic civilization. They sure have a bunch of tricks they collected.''


    Kisuke didn''t fully believe Seraselbes'' words but there''s nothing wrong in investigating these breaches, ''But if this is true, I have almost nothing to bring to the table and my only choice would be helping out Stralit. Looks like I have to understand more of their inner conflict.''


    Kisuke sincerely hoped that Evies are the only enemy they have to deal with, but from the looks of it, both Factions have cracks in their ranks that makes this veryplicated, ''I can see it... A three-way war. But as of now, we don''t stand a chance and once the Etouldes find us a hindrance, they''ll eliminate us before we can grow.''


    He scratched his aching head and thought, ''I guess that''s the only way... Bring in more people.''


    But despite the mounting pressure on his back, there was a fearless and crazed smile stered on his face while also thinking, ''Now then... How can I scam the ''Immortal'' and the ''King''?''


    .


    .


    .


    While she was busy working on the Space Gate, Sona received an emergency message. And after going through it once, she felt a massive ache hitting her head, ''They already breached the barrier? And we are not even aware of it even though we''re closely watching it?''


    Sona immediately went and used a secured line to contact Akeno, "We''ve got a problem."


    After exining to her the situation, Sona added a few suggestions, "Should we use the grassroots organizations to find them?"


    [No. They are most likely our problem. Since being associated with the Evies is a big problem,rger factions would rather use these grassroots organizations to have what they want. We''ll only put ourselves in their crosshairs if we suddenly start looking for them. If it''s up to me, I''d spread a rumor of an Evie passing through the barrier to muddy the waters. That way we could hopefully fish out those who make the wrong decisions.]


    Sona nodded, "Alright. I''ll leave it to you. This Space Gate needs to be done as soon as possible too so I won''t be able to assist you as much."


    [Alright. I''ll contact Irina to prepare her side.]

 Chapter 1007 Change of Plans part 2

    Chapter 1007 Change of ns part 2


    Kisuke spent just over a day reaching the final Space Gate to return. But before he stepped into it, he first returned to his original body to inform those on Earth of what he''d heard from Seraselbes, ''It''s going to beplicated since this is most likely funded by some big factions. I can only hope that they''ll be able to slow down their entry and secure the foundation of the barrier.''


    Since they went through some Summoning Magic, Kisuke knew that there was a limit to how much they could send inside and any strong Evie won''t be able to go through it due to their ''size''. However, it also means that they''ll try to take the barrier down from the inside and once that happens, it''ll be an all-out war.


    "You''re back. Sooner than I expected. How did it go?" Stralit asked when she felt Kisuke entering her shadow.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and passed the cubes that Seraselbes gave him.


    Stralit inspected the cubes before inserting them into the console in her room. It took her around half an hour to get all the information that she needed and immediately destroyed the cubes with a deep frown on her face.


    "Is something wrong?"


    Instead of answering, however, Stralit asked back, "Did she say anything else?"


    "She told me that you''re in danger?"


    "She did?" Stralit''s eyes widened, "She''s trusting you? Just what did you do?"


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and feigned ignorance, "I don''t know. I simply passed her what you wanted her to receive. That''s all."


    "...Did she introduce herself to you?"


    Without any pause, Kisuke answered, "After I introduced myself, she also told me her name. Is something wrong with that? Is there some sort of spell that automatically activates when I hear her name?"


    Stralit stared at him for a few moments before shaking her head, "No. There''s nothing like that. I''m just a bit surprised. But you better keep her name a secret because it''ll onlynd you in trouble, especially in the territories controlled by us." She then returned to her console to work on something while muttering to herself, "I really don''t know what she''s thinking this time around."


    While changing back to his usual clothes behind a small curtain, Kisuke asked, "What exactly is putting you in danger?"


    Only the sound of keys being pressed was heard for a minute or two until Stralit answered, "I guess this might involve you too so it''s better if you know. An unknown Etoulde is working with the Evies and Abtors so it''s safe to assume that most of what I do and my schedule were already leaked to them."


    Kisuke came out with his usual green shihakusho and added, "And there are probably a few Luxatos working with them. With that kind of lineup, no matter how careful you are, they''ll catch you off guard sooner orter."


    Stralit stopped her hands and there was aplicated expression disyed on her face. She didn''t want to believe Kisuke''s assumption but she was not naive to think that everyone besides her meant well, ''But as much as I want to weed them out, I have no way of finding them.''


    Kisuke was able to guess what she was thinking and said, "This is where Ie in, right? Although I learned that shadow technique from you to safely traverse the Space Gates, it can also be used to find those in the dark and no one would really bat an eye if I disappeared for long periods of time."


    "That''s too dangerous since they know my ability. They could have something that could easily find even me."


    "But you should be able to tell when they use something like that, right?"


    Stralit thought about it for a moment before answering, "This is the special ability of my n so anything that could detect it, we would be able to detect it too."


    ''Right. Your ability doesn''t allow you to control or hide within shadows but put the shadows themselves within your dominion. Any changes or fluctuations made in it would be noticeable unless youe across someone with an unreasonable ability like ''Complete Hypnosis''.''


    "The problem is, we don''t know how many of them are out there. They''ll surely use a sacrificial pawn just to find me and all I would be able to do is to send that one guy to jail, cutting off any further leads. Any wrong move and I''ll fall for their trap." Stralit added.


    "Then that would mean that as long as you''re within their sights, they won''t use something that would incriminate them."


    After thinking about Kisuke''s proposal long and hard, Stralit finally agreed to it, "Fine, but I''m giving you a distress call device and you shouldn''t hesitate to use it."


    "Then I would like to do something to keep us connected."


    Stralit tilted her head at him and asked, "What are you going to do?"


    "Since you shared your ability, it''s only fair that I also share with you what I know." Kisuke approached her and jumped to her shoulder, "If you feel it''s something threatening or bad, you may reject it while or after I''m done."


    Stralit wanted to ask more about what he wanted to do but Kisuke didn''t let her do so as a mix of Spiritual Power and Magic Power formed a ''brand'' on her forehead, ''With that, the Le Fay''s Teleportation Magic should be set as long as she doesn''t erase that mark.''


    Stralit touched the Magic Circle that had already disappeared and asked, "What was that?"


    Kisuke didn''t exin but instead sent a telepathic message [For something like this. As you can see, there''s no fluctuation of the usual Telepathy Magic so it''s a safe way tomunicate even at long distances. I think this will be better than your distress signal since I can instantly send a call as long as I''m conscious.]


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke spent three days stalking Stralit''s subordinates and found at least ten suspicious people with enough evidence gathered. But catching ten people is not good news for Stralit at all since all of them were caught while being careless and that would mean that they''refortable enough to let their guard down which either they are idiots are they are actually a sizeable number on their side that they wouldn''t have to worry about getting caught.


    "Are you going to be alright?" Stralit asked after Kisuke told her that he would have to sleep for an extended amount of time.


    "I''ll be fine. This is a normal urrence. Though I might take some time because I used a substantial amount of Spiritual Power." Kisuke would have searched for these spies more if not for Yoruichi''s call.


    Kisuke didn''t say much more and immediately went to sleep as soon as he reached the room that Stralit secured for him.

 Chapter 1008 Asserting Dominance

    Chapter 1008 Asserting Dominance


    As soon as Kisuke woke up, he packed his Gigai controller module up since he had a feeling that it might get destroyed here if he left it behind.


    [Are you going?] The strange voice talked to him for the first time in a while.


    Kisuke immediately replied without stopping, "Yes. I''m not sure to what degree things are going to develop, but I''m preparing for the worst and inevitable."


    [...I see.]


    For the next few minutes, only the sound of Kisuke packing up was heard and when he was done, he finally said, "If you go up there, it''ll be the death of you."


    [...I know. But I''m not going down without a fight... Even if it means destroying this world.]


    At her answer, Kisuke grinned, "Is that so? Then do you mind listening to my proposal?"


    [You''re most likely the one who''ll kill me and you know this too, or else you and those important to you are going to perish instead. So what proposal is so great that would circumvent that?]


    After making sure that Benihime wasn''t listening, Kisuke walked towards the pond while cutting his wrist open and letting a huge amount of his blood flow out, "It''s not something great and you''re still going to die, but..."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke returned to an obscure corner of Orario through Teleportation Magic. To his surprise, he immediately found that the whole city was almost deserted with only a few strong Adventurers roaming in secret. But most importantly, it''s mostly monsters that were running amok the surface, ''Yoruichi and Serafall wouldn''t have let this happen... Did something change?''


    Kisuke extended his senses thin and found the concentrated amount of Magic Power on the spot where Melen is. However, what''s more concerning is the ''Deity'' at its full power resting on the first floor of the Dungeon.


    He hid his presence and started running around the whole town to check if his formations were still intact. If there were damages, he''d fix it.


    That took about three hours and the sun was already setting when he was done. After taking a quick peek at the Dungeon''s opening, Kisuke decided to finally leave for Melen.


    Kisuke ignored the war that was being fought between people and monsters at the halfway point between Orario and Melen and went straight to a rtivelyrge house in the most southwestern part of Melen.


    As soon as he got to the door, Kisuke immediately felt some unfamiliar presences along with very familiar ones. When he opened it, he was greeted by a crowd of Deities sitting in a circle and their guards standing behind them.


    "You''re finally back." Serafall waved at him with a cheerful smile from behind Artemis.


    Kisuke waved back at her with a smile, "Sorry for the wait~" He then looked at Yoruichi who in turn, just sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She knew what he wanted to ask, but there was really nothing she could do but to let things pass this point.


    ''So the final round is, indeed, approaching... I''d like to say that I''m fully prepared, but I can''t let my guard down.''


    Kisuke then looked around and saw every Deity eyeing him for many different reasons, ''No wonder Hestia-sama didn''t run to me or even greet me. Everyone''s on guard against each other.''


    Starting from on his immediate left was Hermes with Asfi Andromeda behind him. Next to him is Ganesha with Shakti Varma, Kali with Argana Kalif and Bache Kalif, Hephaestus with Tsubaki Collbrande, Freya with Ottar, Miach with Bell Cranel, Ouranos with Fels, two old men he didn''t know, Takemikazuchi with Kashima Ouka, Astarte with Carys, Hestia with Yoruichi, Artemis with Serafall, and finally, Loki with Riveria.


    Feeling the heavy atmosphere around them and the gazes that the Deities are giving him, Kisuke guessed that Freya had already undone the spell she''d cast on their Avatars to make them forget him and his Familia.


    "Allow me to introduce you," Loki suddenly spoke up, "Since you probably already saw everyone here except for those two old men, I''ll just skip to them. The old guy with long white hair and mustache is Zeus and the other old man with short silver-gray hair is Odin."


    Kali immediately mmed the table in protest, "Do it properly! Even after the bitch''s spell, it looks like I''m the only one who still hasn''t met him in person!"


    Loki shot her a fed-up expression and said, "...And that unfortunate shortie over there is Kali. She''s no one important so you can just ignore her."


    Kali stood up from her seat and put her foot down on the table, "What was that, you bitch!?"


    But instead of Loki, it was Kisuke who spoke up, "Ah, Kali-sama. I''ve heard so many great things about you. It''s an honor to finally meet you~."


    Kali''s anger immediately dissipated and she sat back down, "My, looks like you''re one sensibled."


    But immediately after, Kisuke took out a chair from his inventory and ced it in between Hermes and Loki before sitting down among the Gods.


    Those who don''t fully know his capabilities creased their brows and the heavy atmosphere became even heavier with their guards about to pull out their weapons.


    As soon as he entered, Kisuke immediately asserted the position he wanted to take, ''Oh my~ How fun.'' He thought while waiting for someone to jump on him so that he could stomp that guy''s head to the ground.


    "Shall we start over?" He said while cing both of his elbows on the table and sping his hands.

 Chapter 1009 Decision

    Chapter 1009 Decision


    "I thought you were sensible, but what are you doing, kid?" Kali scowled at him.


    Kisukeughed dryly and replied, "Compared to everyone sitting, I''m indeed a kid."


    "But that''s not the point." Hermes followed up with a frown, "Are you trying to call yourself a ''God''?"


    Loki whistled and Freya just smiled knowingly. Meanwhile, Kisuke continued his dry smile and replied, "A God? I won''t be one even if you paid with all the world''s riches. It sounds more trouble than fun."


    At those words, even those Gods who have a good impression of him were a bit offended, except of course, for the four exceptions. However, the three old Gods who were just silently watching things unfold managed to get a hint of what he''s trying to say. Ouranos took a peek at Zeus and Odin and so did the other two, confirming that they''d also guessed that Kisuke knew things that a normal mortal wouldn''t know.


    Ouranos then looked at the Goddesses that were close to him and asked himself, ''Did those four reveal the secrets of Heaven to him?... No... If that''s the case, they would have broken the rule and their Avatars would disintegrate. Then how?''


    Hermes and Kali were about to say something again and their guards were about to apprehend him when Astarte raised her voice, "You have something to say, don''t you? I''d like to hear it."


    Unlike those from Orario, Astarte and her captain, Carys, never forgot him or his group. And even with just their limited interaction, she knew how strange this group was, especially when someone like Medusa was following him, ''If I were topare him to something... Ah... It would have to be that... From an old story. A being that opposes Heaven. A Demon.''


    It was an old story written by the people of the olden times when the Gods had just descended to the Lower World. It was just a normal fantasy story but in it, there was a being that was capable of going against the Gods and was residing at the very depths of the Dungeon. A Demon.


    "Indeed." Kisuke nodded at her, "If I were to guess, that''s what this ''Denatus'' is for, it''s probably to force Yoruichi and Serafall to deal with that thing."


    The Gods became silent as Kisuke guessed correctly. He thought it was weird for the cheerful Hestia to stay silent when he''d arrived, so he thought that these guys were trying to force Yoruichi and Serafall to do something, while Hestia was trying to figure out how to get out of there without agreeing to any of their demands. And knowing Freya and Loki, they wouldn''t readily extend their helping hand when they too weren''t so sure of how things could develop so they most probably were waiting for his arrival.


    Kisuke sighed, ''They''repletely passing this problem onto me... And from Freya, I can feel some resentment... Let''s just ignore her.''


    Their children, on the other hand, were also incredibly confused about why the Gods were trying to convince Yoruichi and Serafall, two unknown people, to fight the corrupted Spirit when they themselves could do as much. They still haven''t realized how terrible this ''Spirit'' is.


    Kisuke''s eyes sharpened and said, "On their behalf... I refuse!"


    "What!?" Hermes immediately reacted, "With that kind of power, it should be doable for them! And where are you going to use that strength if not now!?"


    Kisuke watched everyone''s reaction and the majority of the Gods are in agreement with him, "We have our own problems and that takes priority, however, it seems that any words thate from us will just be met with disagreement until we agree to your demands. Too bad, I also don''t see myself agreeing to any of your demands."


    Kisuke then stood up from his seat and took back his chair without waiting for anyone''s reply, "With that said, we''ll only be wasting our time here so we''ll leave first."


    Kisuke turned around and walked towards the exit and soon after, Hestia, Artemis, Yoruichi, and Serafall followed him.


    "W-wait!" Hermes shouted, "Hestia! Artemis! Are you sure about this!?"


    Hestia stopped her steps and turned her head to Hermes, "As I''ve said earlier, I can''t agree." After that, no matter what they said, Hestia didn''t turn back anymore and left the house. Although Kisuke and the rest hadn''t really told them about anything, Hestia and Artemis knew that what''s concerning them is not the incredibly weakened ''Goddess'' that''s in the Dungeon but something else, far more terrifying.


    While both of them had a guess as to what it was, they didn''t have the heart to ask since they knew that they would be stopping them with all their might once it was confirmed. As much as they hated it, they didn''t want to go against what they needed to do.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke''s group left Melen and traveled a few kilometers to the south. Once in a while, they would meet some monsters that were dealt with swiftly and reached deep inside a forest. With Serafall''s help, Kisuke constructed a ''temporary'' house muchrger than where the ''Denatus'' took ce.


    "Byako refuses to get involved." Before Kisuke could ask, Yoruichi answered his question when they finally got alone with just the two of them.


    Kisuke looked at her and asked, "But only now? Why?"


    "Who knows? The contract probably has a time limit and we''re nearing it. Nothing I could do to dy it any further. What about you? Are you done on your side?"


    "For the most part, yeah."


    "Then what are you going to do after all of this?"


    Kisuke turned to her, "I''m not even sure if we could weather this and you''re already asking that?"


    "You''re always not sure of everything. That''s always been how you''ve lived your life."


    "That''s true.", Kisuke chuckled before bing silent for a few minutes, "After this, I''m going to work on making my way to the Soul Society."


    "...That''s a bit earlier than I thought."


    "Will you being with me?"


    Yoruichi shook her head, "You know I can''t. While I''mying low, I could be considered a trump card. If both of us leave, it''s going to be dangerous for everyone else."


    Kisuke sighed, already expecting her answer. Although he doesn''t know to what degree, he has a feeling that Yoruichi was not very far from his own full capabilities. He''s focusing on his own strengthening, but Yoruichi is also working towards ''Transcendence'' as both of them promised each other and she might have already found a clue on how to get over that figurative ''Dragon Gate'' aftering to this world.


    "Who are you bringing with you?"


    "If possible, ire and her group, including Ophis, Lilith, and na."


    "Then bring Serafall with you."


    Kisuke tilted his head in confusion, "Serafall? Why?"


    "You need another adult to look after them, and out of everyone, I have a feeling that she''s going to help you the most, including me."

 Chapter 1010 False Information

    Chapter 1010 False Information


    Kisuke didn''t agree with Yoruichi but since there was still some time before he left Yoruichi told him to think more about it.


    Yoruichi and Kisuke returned to the house where Serafall was preparing dinner. But before they could reach the house, the two of them felt several presences dashing towards them.


    .


    .


    .


    After Kisuke left the Gods, It just became an argument on how to ''convince'' Kisuke''s group to have a mutual front with them. But as the talks went on, and they couldn''t think of any way to persuade them through words, Hermes, Kali, and Freya started suggesting methods on how to force them into a corner to make them move in the direction they wanted.


    Since it became boring fast, Loki just decided to leave and after that, the Deities left one by one, noting up with a single concrete solution to this problem.


    "Alright~ You know where they are, right? Let''s go." Loki asked Riveria while stretching her arms.


    Riveria looked towards the direction Kisuke''s group left and saw the minute traces of Magic Power they left behind through her ''eyes'', "They''re not that far but should we really leave? Wouldn''t Finn want your opinion on what''s happening?"


    "It''s fine. From now on, I''m hands-off. I will not influence what they want to do... At least I''ll try to hold myself back."


    Riveria looked into Loki''s eyes and despite the casual tone she was using, she could tell that she was very serious about this, "Understood. Do you want to be carried in front or hop on my back?"


    "The front, of course!"


    But before Loki could jump on Riveria, two Goddesses approached with their children, "Do you mind us going with you?" Freya asked with Ottar behind her.


    Loki looked towards them and also saw Hephaestus and Tsubaki behind them, "I know what this girl in heat wants but what about you?"


    "I just want to know the situation.", answered Hephaestus.


    Loki stared at her for a moment before giving a reply, "The situation is as you see it. The lid of the Dungeon is broken because of that irregr who loves the Spirits the most. Nothing reallyplicated nor surprising after the failed subjugation of the ck Dragon."


    Hephaestus immediately gave her a re and said, "Don''t talk to me as if I''m some fool. Those guys back there argued that they have to do everything to solve this problem. That''s not wrong, but they don''t seem to be much concerned about what''s going to happen next. Now then, let me ask you two who seem to have some idea, what''s going to happen next?"


    Loki and Freya looked at each other before chuckling, "Nope~! We actually don''t know.", answered Loki, "But I could at least tell you that Kisuke thinks that this problem is trivial and he didn''t want to get involved with it and would rather work on more pressing matters."


    "Trivial, you say..." Hephaestus frowned, "But this could decide whether the children of the Lower World could still exist or not."


    Loki shook her shoulders, "Every answer I could give you from here on are just my assumptions and I would rather not reveal those without any assurance."


    "Then bring me with you too so that I can make my own assumptions."


    Loki immediately jumped into Riveria''s arms and said, "Follow us. Let''s move before those clowns can think of following."


    Freya was also silently carried by Ottar and Hephaestus hopped onto Tsubaki''s back.


    "Please try to keep up." Riveria briefly uttered before running towards the edge of the town.


    Tsubaki and Ottar were shocked to hear that from her and that''s understandable. The fact that she never updated her Falna after being relieved of all the blessings she had had already reached them, including the ''fact'' that she could only match a Level 6 or 7.


    The two of them followed her while Tsubaki replied, "Don''t worry about us. We''ll stay behind you." As both of them are Level 9, the top of the caste, they were confident that they wouldn''t be left behind.


    But as soon as they left Melen''s premises, Riveria muttered, "That''s good to hear. Well then..."


    Instantly as she finished her words, a Magic Circle appeared and disappeared in just a fraction of a second under Riveria''s feet before she disappeared from their sights.


    Everyone''s eyes widened and when they saw her and Loki again, they almost became a small dot on the horizon.


    "...W-what the hell?" Tsubaki muttered to herself as she tried to funnel most of her Ki into her legs to speed up in an attempt to catch them.


    Ottar also did the same without saying anything but he was only a bit faster than Tsubaki and could still see Riveria''s silhouette getting smaller, ''We had false information...''


    .


    .


    .


    The first to arrive was obviously Riveria and Loki, "Good timing. Serafall was just about to finish making dinner." Yoruichi greeted them.


    Riveria just ignored the weird house that suddenly popped out in the middle of nowhere and went straight inside while saying, "I''ll go help out."


    However, herpanion couldn''t, "...Is this one of your hidden bases?"


    "Nope~ Just built it earlier."


    Loki immediately felt tired and not just because of this but also because of Riveria. The fact that even the top yers of Orario couldn''t catch up to her is just screaming to the world that she''s lying about being able to hold back a Level 8, ''I already knew that she was lying... But not to this extent. Just what did she gain on that side?''


    After less than a minute, Tsubaki and Ottar finally arrived while carrying their patron Deities with the former wheezing for air, "...W-where... Where is she?" she asked while slowly cing down Hephaestus.


    "She''s inside, helping out with the preparation for the dinner.", Yoruichi answered nonchntly, "Come in. We''ll have a better time with a satisfied stomach."


    Ottar, on the other hand, could only stare at where they came from and recall the scene earlier, ''It wasn''t just her speed... All the monsters she encountered were also instantly obliterated without her even looking at them.'' For the first time in a while, Riveria''s coldness imnted a bit of fear in his heart which not even Bell managed to do.


    "You''ll understandter." Freya voiced out to him as she slowly walked towards everyone.

 Chapter 1011 Proof of Strength

    Chapter 1011 Proof of Strength


    Hestia and Artemis weed the neers with open arms and invited them to dinner.


    It was a normal dinner overall with all of the Goddesses just calmly talking with each other about random things. Meanwhile, Tsubaki couldn''t stop staring at Riveria while Ottar''s eyes didn''t leave Kisuke.


    "Now that we''re all satisfied, I hope you don''t mind clearing up some of my confusion." Hephaestus started while the tea was being served.


    "Then I would like to apologize in advance as I can''t tell you that much. All I can say is that we won''t involve ourselves with the ''Spirit''." Kisuke immediately prefaced.


    Hephaestus became silent before saying, "At least tell me why Hermes is so keen on you taking action." She wasn''t able to ask but it was incredibly weird that the Deities there were so sure that Yoruichi and Serafall would be able to deal with the corrupted ''Spirit''. It''s not like it was impossible to defeat it with their currentbined forces, but there would certainly be casualties that everybody didn''t want. However, that doesn''t really justify their weird reaction and behavior from the earlier meeting, ''It''s as if they were the only correct solution for this problem.''


    Kisuke smiled at her. He was a bit more patient with her since it was because of her giving away every Magic-powered vehicle in her inventory that the whole city of Orario and Melen were able to evacuate safely in a timely manner. Along with Ganesha, they were the two most prominent actors that pulled out all stops and opened their wallets just to ensure that every nonbatant person was safe andfortable to do their tasks.


    "Because Hermes and some of the Gods there know their abilities. If I were topare them to Bell Cranel, that kid is just a little bit better than small friespared to those two."


    Tsubaki and Ottar''s eyes widened in surprise.


    And seeing that, Freya muttered, "Oh right, I almost forgot." Then with a snap of her fingers, the ''Charm'' that was affecting both of them was instantly lifted and Serafall''s Magic Power that was powering the spell dissipated.


    In that instant, the memories that were locked behind a strong mental wall forcefully flooded their heads, causing a massive headache for Tsubaki and Ottar.


    "Ughhh..." Tsubaki groaned while clutching her head and the first thing she thought after this was, ''How did I forget people like them!?''


    Ottar, on the other hand, only silently endured the pain while muttering loudly, "...Either one of them is enough to deal with the corrupted Spirit."


    He then looked at Kisuke with a regretful smile, "And if he is to take action personally, something like this would be obliterated within just a few seconds."


    Hephaestus and Tsubaki were stunned to silence at hisment, not because of his ridiculous words, but because those ridiculous words came from someone like him who was very prideful and hated lying.


    "Hey! I could do it within a few seconds too!" Serafall, meanwhile, protested at the underestimation of her.


    But Ottar ignored her as there was a more important thing on his mind. He turned to Freya and asked with a heartfelt expression that he never really showed, "...My Goddess... Freya-sama... Why?"


    "Are you disappointed?"


    Ottar hesitated for a bit before nodding, "...Yes."


    "What are you disappointed about?"


    "...Freya-sama. You didn''t trust me with this ''knowledge''."


    Freya looked at him with knowing eyes, "But that''s not the main reason you''re disappointed, isn''t it? More than myself, you''re most disappointed in yourself."


    Ottar''s head hung low and was unable to refute her. Deep inside, he knew that her actions were not the source of his disappointment, but the fact that he wasn''t even able to close the distance between him and Kisuke. He genuinely thought that as long as they train with them as their goal, they would sooner orter reach that step. However, even now that he thinks that it''ll be hard for him to get stronger, he''s still a mere ant in front of them, ''...I see. We became too obsessed.''


    But all of a sudden, he remembered the one person that disappeared for an entire seven years and the unknown strength that she''d just shown. Ottar''s head snapped to Riveria, "You..! Did you...? How!?"


    Riveria scratched her cheek with an awkward smile, ''I can''t really tell him that I got stronger because of something that doesn''t exist in this world, can I?''


    "...It''s the difference of mindset, environment, and how they view power." In the end, she could only give a vague answer.


    Riveria thought that would be the end of it and Kisuke would further exin it to him, however, the look in his eyes changed, and said, "I challenge you to a duel. Please fight me."


    Riveria wanted to refuse but Loki suddenly pped her hands and interrupted her, "That''s a good idea~!"


    "Loki?"


    Loki turned to Riveria with her sharp eyes, "I''m also very curious about what you can do. Aren''t you the one who''s going to deal with the corrupted Spirit?"


    Hephaestus and Tsubaki were finally able to react to the nonsensical conversation, "You?" Asked thetter with disbelief.


    Riveria didn''t confirm it but that was the n. She came into agreement with Yoruichi and Serafall that she should be the one to deal with the corrupted Spirit since they needed all the manpower they could get for what was going to happen after that, no matter how inconsequential it was. Although they would be capable of fighting it on their own, they didn''t like therge casualties that it''d cause. So instead of wasting their lives on something as trivial as this, they should actually deal with this on their own.


    However, it was not as easy as that since they didn''t want to provoke the one that watched from the sky so they could only opt for Riveria who was the absolute limit.


    Riveria could only sigh and couldn''t find any reason to refuse, "Fine."


    .


    .


    .


    Outside, Riveria and Ottar were standing some distance away from the rest of the group. "Now that I think about it, to what extent did Riveria improve? Everyone told me that she could copy Magic, but to what degree?" asked Yoruichi.


    Like how Yoruichi and Serafall didn''t reveal anything about their progress, Kisuke and the other girls also didn''t reveal much about themselves to surprise each other when they see each other again, "It''ll be an interesting show, so just watch."


    Ottar was already ready to go with two greatswords in his hands along with his Ki and Magic Power ring up.


    Riveria, on the other hand, was rubbing her chin and eyes closed in deep thought.


    "Should I start?", asked the impatient and somewhat offended Ottar, ''She didn''t even take out her wand, and what''s with that very casual stance? She doesn''t see me as an opponent?''


    Riveria finally opened her eyes after a few seconds and said, "Let me do the opening act."


    Ottar saw Riveria raise her left hand and got into a defensive stance. The next instant, a weird Magic Circle appeared on top of her but after a few seconds, Riveria let out a disappointed voice, "...Ah...", before it suddenly disappeared without doing anything.


    But unlike her sad expression, the corners of Kisuke''s mouth were twitching, "...Just what are you doing?"


    Without any hesitation, Riveria answered while looking at her left hand, "I tried summoning Midgardsormr through the Dragon Gate but it seems that the dimension is locked tight. I can''t pry it open."


    Hearing that, Serafall pointed her finger at her while looking at Kisuke with a nk expression, "Oi... Did I just hear that right? Setting aside how she managed to make a contract with the Sleeping Dragon, she wanted to summon a Dragon King in a simple spar? And thergest one at that? Does she want to kill him from a heart attack?"


    "If he doesn''t die from a heart attack, he''ll die from a single tail swipe," Yoruichi added with a simr expression.

 Chapter 1012 Unreasonable Power

    Chapter 1012 Unreasonable Power


    ''How to finish this in one go? Hmmm... But a fast defeat might just set him off more. In that case, he needs an undeniable defeat. Should I go for a shy one?...'' Those were the thoughts that went through Riveria''s head and the first thing she came up with was summoning the Dragon King that was contracted with her.


    But as soon as she found out that the dimensions are tightly closed and that even her improved Dragon Gate couldn''t make a crack on it, she felt disappointed.


    "Oi, Kisuke! You didn''t teach her all the wrong things, did you!?" Yoruichi yelled as she elbowed Kisuke in the side.


    "I didn''t! She''s quite free so she must have picked it up then! She even got addicted to TV dramas at some point!"


    Riveria could hear their voices but ignored them and thought, ''Was finishing it in an instant not good?''


    As she looked at Ottar again, she saw him frowning deeply with swords in front of him but it was also obvious to her the fear that he''s emitting. Who wouldn''t after hearing from bystanders that he could have been instantly killed from the failed spell just now?


    ''Since I can''t finish it in an instant, it might destroy the house and the surrounding forest. Not to mention, attracting more trouble to this ce. Hmmm... Let''s go with that.''


    Riveria then raised her right hand and a thick book adorned with gems appeared on top of it, "I should have started with this first."


    The moment she said those words, a jade-colored mist bloomed from under her feet before it spread and covered everyone in the vicinity. Ottar thought that it was an attack and tired to clear the ''poisonous'' mist by generating wind through his swords while holding his breath as his senses expanded in case of Riveria attacked directly.


    However, no matter how much he swung his swords, the mist didn''t move and he also finally remembered that his Goddess was also in the vicinity and thought that she was also in danger, "Freya-sama!!!" He shouted.


    Nevertheless, his worries were useless as the mist soon cleared up and disappeared, revealing a monochromatic world of the previous colorful one, "!?... T-This is...?"


    The Goddesses and Tsubaki also looked around, clueless as to what had happened to the world, though not for long as Serafall suddenly yelled, "...Dimension Lost!? Wait... Did it have the form of a book?"


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, rubbed her chin, "Does that mean that Georg of the Hero Faction is already dead? Or did you steal it?"


    Kisuke just smiled and gave them a nonanswer, "Just watch. There will be more surprises~."


    Riveria continued to ignore their reaction and exined what happened to Ottar, "This is an artificial space that I created. It''s essentially a copy of the ce we were standing at before and transported everyone here. In here, you need not hold back and can destroy everything in sight and it won''t affect the real world."


    "...Is something like that possible?" It was Tsubaki''s question while looking at the Goddesses beside her.


    With serious expressions, Loki, Freya, and Hephaestus looked around before verifying her words with thetter even taking off her eye patch to see the world clearer, "...It''s indeed as she said. What a ridiculous power that''s only..." ''avable to the Gods'', is what she wanted to say but stopped herself.


    They then looked back at Riveria, seeing her in a different light, most notably, Loki, ''Just what did they make her do on that side?'' Her curiosity was burning so bright and hot that it was suffocating her very being.


    "With that said, please don''t think about holding back... or I might identally kill you."


    Ottar shuddered and immediately released everything he had with a single shout, "HAAAH!!!"


    Under the pressure of his Ki and Magic Power, the ground under him caved in as his aura solidified and took a form around him. Most notable were the tusks that formed on the corners of his mouth and the steam he released from his breath signifying a very high body temperature.


    Riveria''s eyes went through a strange transformation and she was immediately able to see through his aura, ''Boosted strength and defense.'' The moment Ottar moved, Riveria immediately leaned to the side calmly as Ottar instantly reduced the distance between them and swung down his sword at her.


    The sword hit the ground and it created a shockwave forward that traveled and destroyed everything in its path for a hundred meters.


    While falling to the side, Riveria pointed her finger at him and shot a Magic Bullet at his head.


    Ottar immediately responded by blocking it with his other sword and deflecting it away before raising his leg for a kick to her abdomen.


    However, a barrier abruptly stopped his foot before it could even reach its desired target.


    Riveria skidded away from the surprising force behind the casual kick, though she wasn''t very surprised, "I see... This is argely improved Beastification without losing any of your sense and reason. But those instant momentum changes... Gravity?... No... Weight control. It''s well hidden behind that beastly aura of yours."


    Ottar was about to continue attacking but stopped when he heard her speak. With twitching lips, he said, "I never thought you''d see through it with just a single sh... Just what are you?" It was his well-kept secret that even his rivals only had guesses about his ''lightness and heaviness'' Martial Technique.


    "Well, I''ve seen something simr."


    Ottar gritted his teeth and raised both swords before bringing them down and released a cross-shaped orange wave toward Riveria.


    Riveria, instead of dodging, waved her hand in front of her and a single ck hole appeared on the path of the sword wave and swallowed it in its entirety without it doing anything.


    "W-what?" Not just Ottar but also Yoruichi and Serafall were stunned at her disy.


    The ck hole disappeared in front of Riveria and reappeared at Ottar''s side before it spat out the same sword wave, "!?"


    Ottar hurriedly dodge back but his thigh and stomach was caught in its sharpness. The wave continued to travel for more than a hundred meters before exploding and shaking the whole forest with its devastating power.


    "Abaddon''s Hole!? How!?" Serafall''s shout was heard by everyone despite the destruction that was going on.


    But Riveria''s done yet as she pointed her finger at him and muttered, "Byakurai (Pale Lightning)." White lightning emerged from Riveria''s finger tip and instantly engulfed Ottar in it.


    "Kidou!?" It was Yoruichi''s voice this time.


    "AHHHH!!!" Ottar immediately pushed his defenses to the limits but his aura was stripped off forcibly by the force behind the strange lightning. When the lightning disappeared, everyone could see Ottar struggling to breathe and stand up with his whole body scorched and supported by his sword stabbed to the ground.


    Ottar didn''t want to give up and red at Riveria while he repaired his body with his Spirit Magic.


    But his motivation instantly dropped when he saw Riveria conjured a swirling ball of ck and red energy that sounded all the rms in his head, ''If I get hit by that, I''ll die!''


    "Do you want to continue?"


    "Bael''s Power of Destruction!?" It was thest thing Ottar heard before he forfeited.

 Chapter 1013 Prelude of the War

    Chapter 1013 Prelude of the War


    As soon as Ottar took back his weapons, the threatening ball of destruction also disappeared from Riveria''s hand, "Very well."


    With a snap of her fingers, jade-colored mist reappeared to engulf everyone before returning the world to its previous colors and as she said, it''s as if their duel didn''t happen at all with the environment still in its pristine condition.


    Tsubaki still couldn''t wrap her head around what was happening and just decided to stay quiet and observe.


    Freya approached Ottar while Loki and Hephaestus went to Kisuke''s side, "That''s way more than I expected.",mented Loki with arge grin on her face.


    "And it''s way more than I imagined.", added Hephaestus with her eyepatch still on her hand, "Those abilities... were closer to a God''s authority rather than Magic."


    Tsubaki did her best not to react but she couldn''t help but flinch and sweat nervously while looking at Riveria.


    "Gods aren''t the only one who possess unique abilities that defies logic.", Serafall shortly answered before turning her attention back to Kisuke and the approaching Riveria, "I heard she''s called the Copy Mage, but she could copy abilities that are unique to bloodlines too?"


    Yoruichi also added, "It wasn''t just bloodline abilities, even unique techniques that use Spiritual Power as fuel and Sacred Gear abilities. How are you doing that?"


    Riveria arrived and pointed at her eyes that shed a strange light, showing a veryplex Magic Circle embedded deep within, "This is what I got after bing his ''Queen''."


    "Queen you say... That''s an exciting term." Loki knew that ''Queen'' was referring to something else and although she wanted to tease her about it, it was not really the time for it since she wanted an answer more.


    "There''s no easy way to exin it, but although he may not look like it, Ki-tan here is a bonafide high-ranking noble in our country and he serves as the ''King'' for his subordinates.", Serafall exined, "Bing a subordinate for the ''King'' brings benefits and changes that varied depending on one''s potential." She then looked to Riveria and asked, "With an ability like that, I assume that it''s a Mutation Piece?"


    Riveria shook her head, "I don''t know. We weren''t able to get it checked."


    Serafall''s eyes widened and turned her eyes to Kisuke, "You''re not getting along with Ajuka-chan?"


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and gave an answer, "I respect what he does, but how we do our own things is far too different for us to cooperate."


    ''They are too preupied with the information they received from the ''future'' and made their appropriate distance. They''re not even aware that Great Red isn''t dead yet. And now that I''vee in contact with one of their leaders and the fact that Etouldes could potentially be an enemy if they want something else from Earth, it gives me even fewer incentives to cooperate with them.''


    Serafall felt a bitplicated and she could guess that it wasn''t just Ajuka that he didn''t want to cooperate with but the entirety of the Tri-Faction Alliance, ''He can''t trust them? What changed?'' At this point in time, she was still not aware of the information that the Alliance received from Gasper di.


    ''...Oops... I forgot to mention that to her.'' And Kisuke finally realized this after reading her expression.


    Loki got a bit impatient and took back the reins of the conversation, "You can talk about that among yourselvester. I just want to know how and where Riveria managed to get those abilities."


    But just as Kisuke was about to exin it a bit more, also for Yoruichi and Serafall''s sake, the three of them stopped and hurriedly looked to the southern sky. A few secondster, Riveria also did the same and made a serious expression.


    "...Hey, what''s going on?" asked Hephaestus but she didn''t need to get an answer from them to know what was happening as a minuteter, all of them heard a loud roar full of malice and intent for destruction. It was very familiar for the Gods and children alike. It was the same roar that terrorized Orario more than 20 years ago and the monster that the Zeus and Hera Familia failed to defeat, the ck Dragon.


    "Looks like we don''t really have the time to talk." Kisuke muttered before looking at Riveria, "I''ll leave it to you. And before I forget," he took out a candy from his pocket, "Give this to Wallenstein-san if she starts acting up."


    Although confused about what it is for, Riveria nodded at him and Magic Circles under each, and everyone''s feet emerged except for Kisuke, Yoruichi, Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis. Before they could react, Riveria''s Magic started levitating them towards the sky and it didn''t take long before they disappeared on the horizon towards Melen.


    A few minutester, a 20-meter-long ck Dragon with a single ming red eye flew by and was heading in the same direction that Riveria had left in.


    "Looks like all we need to do is wait. Make sure you''re in top condition. We''ll need every advantage we can get." Kisuke instructed while inviting the disgruntled Hestia and Artemis, "Is it going to be alright?", asked the former.


    Kisuke nodded, "Riveria can deal with the corrupted Spirit and ck Dragon without any problem."


    "But the problem is what''s going to happen next, isn''t it?" Artemis asked again, "Are we going to be alright?"


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before giving an answer, "It won''t go smoothly, and please prepare yourself for a lot of excitement."


    Hestia gulped, "We''ll get to see a lot of ''excitement''? I don''t think I''ll be able to enjoy that..."


    Kisuke then turned to them and with arge grin, he refuted her words, "Nope~ Prepare to join the excitement~!"


    Hestia and Artemis were stunned for a moment and weren''t able to understand him. But after thinking about it for a short moment, their faces became warped in shock, "Join!?" Both of them simultaneously shouted.


    Kisuke only chuckled and didn''t borate it further and instead exined to Serafall and Yoruichi what had really been happening on the other side.

 Chapter 1014 The Black Dragon part 1

    Chapter 1014 The ck Dragon part 1


    "W-we''re flying!?" Tsubaki eximed while in the sky as she tried to grab anything to feel secure.


    But for the Goddesses who saw her abilities and Ottar who had already recalled everything, it didn''te as a surprise. Instead, they all looked behind them and could see a small dot with pping wings, "Why did ite here at this timing?" asked Ottar.


    Loki recalled that Kisuke passed something to Riveria for Ais and she was able to guess why, "Who knows? We should ask Zeus about it since he knew it best."


    It didn''t take too long for them to reach Melen and they could see the Adventurers and the very few citizens still left panicking at the sound of the roar. Their anxiety was so much that most of them didn''t even notice people flying over their heads.


    Riveria navigated andnded between the temporary residences of the Loki and Freya Familia and although they saw many questioning looks, they couldn''t fancy asking as they were far too busy with their preparations.


    The first thing they noticed was Zeus and Odin, acting like mortals, standing nearby. But instead of approaching them, Ottar suddenly asked Riveria, "What should we do now?"


    Tsubaki was surprised at him but after thinking about it, this was the right call, and she nned to do the same.


    "Depends on how the ck Dragon will act. If ites attacking Melen, we could repel it. But if it goes straight to the Dungeon, it''ll be bad news."


    Ottar wondered why she only said ''repel'' when it was clear that she was fully capable of taking it on. However, what caught his attention more was the ''bad news'', "...Why is that?"


    Riveria turned her attention to the ck Dragon that was getting bigger and bigger as time goes and with her power of observation, its flight path slightly avoided Melen and the frontlines, "As a monster that thirsts for blood and should always choose ughter, it going to the Dungeon would mean that there''s something far more valuable in it than all of the ''food'' here."


    They then could see the officers of the Loki and Freya Familiaing towards the point of intersection with the Dragon from the frontlines with each one of them ready to intercept it. But after ascertaining that there was no intent from the ck Dragon to fight, Riveria hurriedly called to them, "Stop! Let it pass! It''s not looking for a fight right now!"


    Finn was the first one who reacted and stared at the iing ck Dragon for a moment before stopping and shouting amand, "Stop! Do not engage!"


    Everyone was confused at his sudden contrarymand and became even more nervous when they saw that the Dragon was rapidly approaching. Nevertheless, those apprehensions proved to be worthless when the Dragon ignored them and headed directly toward Orario. It was only a few momentster when itsst roar was heard and it disappeared within the monster-overrun city.


    "Couldn''t you defeat the ck Dragon yourself?" Ottar asked without turning his head.


    Riveria didn''t immediately reply to that question. When she first arrived after her outrageous experience from the other side, she, without a doubt, wanted to show off what she could do. However, after seeing everyone''s state, she could finally understand Kisuke when he said that he didn''t want to get involved as much as possible since that would be taking the opportunity from someone else to grow stronger, especially when they themselves have nothing to gain from it, "It''s every Adventurer''s dream to subjugate one of the three Great Quest and if I just suddenly take its head, it might just leave a bad aftertaste."


    As someone who experienced being on the top, even for a few short years, Ottar could understand where Riveria wasing from. He too wouldn''t easily help newbies just because they are struggling a little.


    ''Besides, I have a feeling that the ck Dragon is a lot more troublesome than the corrupted Spirit.'' Riveria thought while saying, "Let''s go inside for now and talk about what we should do from now on.


    .


    .


    .


    The officers of the Loki, Freya, Miach, and Hephaestus Familias convened with their Deities with the addition of Zeus and Odin.


    As for the rest of the prominent Familias, they went to Orario as an elite group to investigate why the ck Dragon went straight that way.


    But just as they were about to start, Loki noticed that Ais was having some difficulty breathing and a very thin miasma was surrounding her that wouldn''t be noticed if one doesn''t stare at her for some time, "Ais? What''s wrong?"


    Ais finally clutched her chest in pain and Lysa let out a worried roar on herp, "...I... Don''t know... I can''t... Control my wind..."


    Her friends finally looked at her and tried asking her what was happening. Sadly, Ais couldn''t give any answer as she also doesn''t know anything and it only started happening when she heard the ck Dragon''s first roar.


    Without answers to their questions, Loki turned to Zeus and asked, "Old Zeus, you should know what''s happening. Isn''t it about time you share what''s in your head?"


    Before she could even ask, Zeus was already having aplicated expression while looking at Ais, ''...Will there be a ''Hero'' that could save her?''


    Zeus sighed and answered, "s... It really turned out this way. Let me preface it by saying that the ck Dragon isn''t just a Dragon, but also a parasite."


    Zeus could see everyone''s confusion as he continued, "And its next host is Aria and Albert''s daughter, Ais Wallenstein."


    =================================


    AN: I''m sorry if I''m skipping a lot of character interactions here. As much as I want a natural flow, it would pad the sideshow too much and might be too boring. I also wanted to finish this arc within a certain timeframe so I''ll be focusing on the iing action and battle scenes before immediately moving to the aftermath.

 Chapter 1015 The Black Dragon part 2

    Chapter 1015 The ck Dragon part 2


    Even Ais, who was still struggling from the strange pain and sudden inability to control her ''Wind'', stared at Zeus in shock.


    "W-what do you mean by that?" Lefiya asked with a pale expression.


    As soon as she asked, however, Ais'' situation got worse with the ck wind being ejected out and her groaning worsening.


    "Ais!" Almost everyone from the Loki Familia shouted her name and even took out some elixir thinking that it''ll remedy her problem.


    Seeing that she won''t be able to gather any more information from watching, Riveria called out to Tiona who''s clutching a bottle of elixir to force it on Ais, "Stop it. That wouldn''t help her."


    "T-then what should we do!?"


    "Calm down. I have something that might be able to help her." Riveria then took out the candy Kisuke gave her and directly shoved it into Ais'' mouth, "Swallow it. This was specifically made for you, though I don''t really know what''s going to happen."


    Ais couldn''t feel any reassurance from her words but she had no choice but to take in what was already in her mouth. For a few seconds, there''s nothing but a few momentster, a warm relief started spreading, beginning from her stomach down to her limbs. The ck ''Wind'' began to disappear and soon ceased to exist as another type of ''Wind'' reced it.


    Ais was stunned, not because of the instant relief, but because of the new ''Wind'' flowing around her that wasn''t hers, but someone very dear to her.


    It was almost two decades from her perception of time, but she couldn''t and wouldn''t forget, the familiar gentleness that caressed her skin and the aura that filled her with a sense of security and happiness in the times of her innocence. Ais, with tears running down her cheeks, called out, "...M-mom?"


    Everyone was happy that she already looked fine, however, their confusion didn''t end when Ais suddenly called out to her mother. Though that confusion would soon turn into shock when the gentle ''Wind'' started producing motes of golden light and soon a figure appeared behind Ais.


    Golden long hair and golden eyes, she was almost the spitting image of Ais but much more mature.


    The figure then gently hugged the tearful Ais from behind and whispered behind her ears, "I never thought that I''d be able to do this again."


    Ais, just like everyone else in the room was stunned. Meanwhile, Zeus stood up from his seat with eyes wide open at this unbelievable scene, "...Aria?"


    Aria noticed and looked at him before smiling gleefully, "Zeus? It has been a while. How are you doing?"


    But the conversation between them couldn''t continue as Ais hurriedly turned around to see the familiar face, "Mom!"


    Aria turned her attention back to Ais'' crying face, "My~ Still the same crybaby from before, I see."


    "Mom!" Ais could only utter this one word over and over again while hugging her mother tightly, ''Even if this is just a dream... Please let me sleep a bit longer.''


    Aria couldn''t help but smile. Being able to guess what she was thinking, she raised her arm and gave her forehead a flick.


    "!?" The pain on her forehead was able to push her from delusion and was able to make her think more clearly.


    "Silly child. This isn''t a dream. And as much as I''d like for us to stay like this for a bit longer, time isn''t on our side." Aria picked up the confused Ais from her waist and sat down on her chair while settling her already grown daughter on herp, "We still have to discuss how you''ll have to subjugate the ck Dragon... The corrupted Wind Spirit Aria."


    At the drop of such a bombshell, everyone was thrown off their seats, except for Zeus who was making a mncholic expression.


    "Zeus!!!" Loki mmed the table, "What''s the meaning of this!?"


    "Please calm down, Loki-sama. This isn''t any of Zeus'' fault. It was our, the children''s, arrogance that weed a tragedy that spanned for a thousand years. It was Zeus, Hera, and the future generation that had to shoulder our grave mistake." Aria defended Zeus while stroking the head of the stunned Ais.


    "Stop it, Aria. I don''t n on shirking my responsibility for any of it.", Zeus sighed with heavy air, "But let''s now dwell on the past now... My first question is, who are you? Because the Aria I knew just flew by and is currently in the Dungeon."


    "Wait, wait, wait!!!" Interrupting their conversation, Loki shouted, "What the hell are the two of you talking about!? Start from the beginning!"


    .


    .


    .


    A thousand years ago, the Familias that Zeus and Hera led were at its height of fame for subjugating one of the greatest monsters on the surface, the Leviathan, allowing the people of the Lower World to regain their footing and push back the remaining monsters back to the opening on the ground.


    Way before the lid on the Dungeon was constructed, the Zeus, Hera and other strong Familias dived into the unknown to further push back the menaces and find the ''Kings'', the King of Sky and King of Earth.


    But despite their long search and extended attack of the unknown wide underground world, they couldn''t find it both and only in recent years that they''lle across the King of Earth.


    There are many strange happenings during that time, like the slowly disappearing high ranking Spirits. However, they weren''t something unusual as many people kept dying from the war in unknown ces. Furthermore, the main focus was defeating thest ''King'' in the belief that the monsters would stop climbing from the abyss, or at least, weaken them significantly so that the people could thrive on the surface without the fear and threat of the monsters.


    A few yearster, they were able to sessfully find the monster in question, however, it was already toote.


    It was a monster that they never saw before nor could understand. Nevertheless, they were able to find out one thing about it and it was one of the worst news of that time, but only known to very few individuals to avoid panic.


    "It could beguile Spirits and in some cases, fully control them." Zeus uttered with a heavy heart, "It was an unprecedented tragedy that pushed a certain Goddess and her Familia to attempt to save its victims in the depths of the abyss."

 Chapter 1016 A Story only for Her

    Chapter 1016 A Story only for Her


    It wasn''t actually their first timeing across the monster that was going to be known as ck Dragon in their search for the ''King''. It was a unique small-sized reptilian monster that had the ability to enter and melt into the walls of the Dungeon and evade pursuit. Since it wasn''t a particrly strong monster despite its unique ability, everyone was just warned of its ambush and evasion because despite it being weaker than most monsters of that time, it still continually and intelligently ambushed groups of Adventurers.


    They hadn''t realized it yet, but it was there that they made the mistake of letting it go on multiple asions for its ability is not to traverse the Dungeon freely, but assimtion.


    "As a living being, the Dungeon has the same properties that make up a Spirit. With its power of beguilement and assimtion, it silently and secretly, was able to amass its own strength by absorbing the power of Spirits. And when we found out about it, it had already broken through to the surface and wreaked havoc among its inhabitants without much contest.


    "I won''t go into detail on how we found out but it essentially ''farmed'' the Spirits it captured deep into the Dungeon and after years of doing so, it gained strength and power that dwarfed the previous ''Kings'' by arge margin. Even then my and Hera''s children were able to defeat it after a great sacrifice."


    "But it''s still clearly flying around until now." Loki interrupted him, getting impatient from his long story.


    "We weren''t able to kill it..." Zeus sighed once again, "To be precise, it ditched its body and hid within Aria and was not able to be detected until it was already toote."


    Ais was shaking and clenching her fist as a certain memory resurfaced in her head.


    "After a few months of staying silent, the monster suddenly sprung into action and took over Aria''s body while also assimting Ais into itself. We weren''t able to save Aria at that time but we were able to get Ais back thanks to Aria''s consciousness still being present and Albert taking away one of its eyes... However, the weak child was strongly affected by its aura so one of my children sealed her in a barrier to let the aura dissipate slowly and naturally."


    "More than twenty years ago, the seal was finally broken and we''re able to save the child that Albert and Aria protected with their lives. However, the monster, now known as the One-Eyed ck Dragon and secretly known as Aria, felt the barrier going down too and tried to take her away. We don''t know if it''s Aria''s lingering consciousness but it was very adamant to consume the child and we''re only able to fend it off after another great sacrifice. It was that time that I entrusted Ais to Loki, hoping that she''d grow stronger and would have a chance to change her fate."


    Zeus then looked at the frightened Ais directly in her eyes and said, "And now that the ck Dragon is calling out to you, it''s causing the lingering aura to go uncontroble. That monster is actually the source of your ck ''Wind'' and your skill ''Avenger''."


    Silence then took over the entire room as everyone was trying to digest everything he just said. Zeus was about to ask how Aria was able to present herself here when something on Riveria''s wrist started ringing.


    With all eyes converging on her, Riveria was making a fed-up expression as she raised her right arm with the wristwatch that she''s quite fond of, "You bastard... You even modified my watch."


    She then took it off and ced it on the table and a slightly translucent screen appeared in the air showing the man with the striped bucket hat, "Hello everyone~ I hope I didn''t interrupt something important~"


    "Tsk!" Riveria clicked her tongue angrily, "Enough of your bullshit. You were probably listening to all of that so tell us what you want."


    Though Kisuke couldn''t reply to her as Aria suddenly eximed, "Ah! It''s Kisuke! It has been a while. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."


    "Ah, Aria-san. It has really been a while. Though I don''t really deserve your gratitude since I didn''t really do anything remotely like taking care of her. Your daughter is already a grown adult and doesn''t need directions from a strange uncle."


    Loki, on the other hand, gritted her teeth, "Kisuke... Damn you. You knew everything about this but stayed silent!"


    Kisuke raised his palm at her and replied, "I know you have a lot of questions, but I don''t really have much time on my side so I''ll just say what I want to say."


    After clearing his throat, he continued, "Most of you already surpassed the greatest Adventurer in history, Albert Waldstein, so if you all work together, you''ll be able to defeat the ck Dragon. However, if you want to kill it, Wallenstein-san here would have to do it herself. Due to some requirements, whether you like it or not, that reptile would go after Wallenstein-san like how it did with her mother."


    Finn wanted to say something but Kisuke stopped him by saying, "And regarding the corrupted Spirit, just leave that thing to Riveria. Alright, that''s all. Have a good day, everyone." The screen disappeared leaving a group of unsatisfied people behind, but before they could let out their frustration, the screen went up again, "Oh, and before I forgot. Lysa, always be by her side. Even if it means dying together.", before disappearing once again.


    .


    .


    .


    As Kisuke turned off themunication device, Yoruichi sat by his side and said, "How kind of you to not tell her that the one beside her isn''t really her mother."


    "It''s not kindness." Kisuke answered back, "She needs to realize that herself, or else she''s just going to be the next ck Dragon."


    "That might be true, but it''s also nice to let her swim in her fantasy onest time. And what Aria said is also true. You''ve been taking care of her."


    Kisuke stayed silent.


    "If not for your intervention, those Deities would blindly look for a ''Hero'' to save her. Story-wise, it is amazing and moving."


    Kisuke looked at her and said with a grin, "But we''re in reality and the tragic heroine should also have a chance to fend for herself. I just don''t like how boring these Deities think. What would you feel if you were in that girl''s shoes?"


    "With those Deities trying to weave a story for me? I''d cut them down once I''d realized it."


    .


    .


    .


    A few dayster at dawn, all the Adventurers and Mercenaries that came through Teleportation Magic heard the menacing roar of the ck Dragon and knew it was the signal for war.


    Although everyone had already prepared as much as they could, they still couldn''t help but feel nervous, "Is this how it felt when the monsters were still running rampant on the surface a thousand years ago?", Narvi Roll, one of the old Loki Familia members, asked.


    "Who knows?... But I sure don''t like this feeling." Her fellow Familia member, Elfy Colette, answered back.


    "Want to know how to feel a bit less nervous?" Alicia Forestlight asked.


    The other two looked at her with confusion and thetter just pointed at the man with short ck hair at the distance holding the g of Loki Familia, "Look at Raul, about to faint from nervousness."


    The two looked at the executive that looked like he was about to soil himself and much of their nervousness disappeared and was reced by immense worry, "Is he going to be alright?"


    "Err... Probably. When pushes to shove, the inner leader in him pops up. He''s going to be fine... Probably."


    "Right. Raul has always been like this so there is no need to worry about him so much." Alicia nodded, "But have you heard, once the ck Dragon appears, we''re going to focus our entire force on it, and if the corrupted Spirit decides to move at that time, Riveria-sama alone would have to hold it back?"


    "Ah, we''re also curious about that. However, it seems that Riveria-sama proposed this herself and the captains of the other Familias agreed to it. Riveria-sama probably has some secret weapon on her."

 Chapter 1017 The Beginning

    Chapter 1017 The Beginning


    A cloud of dust was rising up from Orario and those who were on the lookout immediately shouted about what they saw, "Monster rush!!! Most of them are small and medium ss! Somerge ss in the back!"


    Finn immediately appeared at the top of the temporary tower and used Magic to amplify his voice, "Archers! Once they are in range, fire the first volley! Mages, focus your attacks on therge monsters, and don''t let yourself receive a Mind Down! First to fifth squad, get ready to meet the monsters after the first volley! Sixth to ninth squad, spread out and guard our nks! Tenth to Fifteenth squad, get ready to pull out the injured and those who are unable to continue fighting and rece them!"


    As Finn yelled out his firstmands, the whole camp erupted into action. Thankfully, they didn''t have to worry about their supplies as they were continuallying in from the rear through transport vehicles, ''Nevertheless, we can''t really keep this up for a long time. Sooner orter, those behind us would soon exhaust themselves to the point that they won''t be able to feed themselves. And surely, those who are looking to take advantage of this situation are watching this war closely so we can''t really afford to exhaust ourselves either.'' Thought Finn while watching the marching army of Adventurers and Mercenaries, ''Looks like we really have to create an elite team to reach the ck Dragon and the corrupted Spirit.''


    Although it was a sloppy march, it''s still better than just blindly rushing in and creating a very chaotic battlefield. Since they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, they couldn''t let everyone just run around and do whatever they wanted.


    "Anakitty."


    "Yes, captain!" The cat person behind him hurriedly answered.


    "Tell the others of the elite team that we''re going in before sunset."


    "This early?"


    "The Dungeon will continually produce monsters while our supplies can onlyst for so long. It''s better to do it now when we still have a chance to retreat and n for another engagement after the information we could get from the initial one."


    "...Understood."


    .


    .


    .


    Before the sun sets, the sounds and warcry of the battle are still going without any signs of it letting up, "As you can see, we can''tst like this. Although the supplies areing in, the fatigue will set in first and no matter how careful, we''re only going to keep losing ourrades. As such, I decided that we should strike now when things haven''t gotten worse."


    Finn looked around at the members of the elite team thatprised various Familias that are familiar with Orario and each one of them is at least Level 7.


    Aside from the executives of the Loki Familia including Line, there''s Tsubaki from the Hephaestus Familia, Ottar, Allen, and Hogni from the Freya Familia, Shakti and Ilta from the Ganesha Familia, Kashima Ouka from the Takemikazuchi Familia, Tenestra from the Astarte Familia, and Asfi from the Hermes Familia and finally, Bell and Haruhime from the Miach Familia. As for the rest of their members, they were left behind to take control and lead the battlefield.


    "We''ll go straight through the heart of the enemy territory and even though we''ll have a window to retreat, we don''t know what might happen and that might close as soon as we approach it. Nevertheless, we can''t let a situation like this go on forever so those who are not ready to ce their lives on the line, please leave as you''ll just be a big detriment to the team."


    Finn looked around once again and could see the determination in their eyes. He smiled and continued, "It seems that I don''t need to say any uplifting speeches to rouse everyone''s fighting spirit."


    "Haah? We''re not newbies. Why would we need something like that? You''ll only snuff out my motivation for taking so long." Bete immediately answered with a click of his tongue.


    Finn chuckled, "That''s true. Well then, ck Dragon Subjugation Team... Move out!"


    "YES!!!" Most of them answered.


    Watching all of this as if she''s not part of it was Ais. After yesterday''s event, Aria also disappeared citing that she couldn''t keep that form for too long, "...is. Ais!"


    Ais woke up from her stupor with Finn calling out to her, "Are you alright? You also have the option to remain here."


    Ais shook her head, "You know I can''t do that."


    "Then get yourself together or you''ll get yourself and others killed."


    Ais swallowed a mouthful of saliva and nodded thoughtfully at his scolding, "I''m sorry. I''m going to be fine."


    But just as they are about to leave, "Hold up!" Loki''s voice from behind them.


    They turned around and saw that aside from her, there were Freya, Hermes, Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi, Miach, and Zeus behind her.


    "Loki. What''s going on?"


    "We''reing too."


    Finn and the others were frozen in an instant before he reacted with an unbelieving face, "...Haaah!?"


    "You heard me. We''reing too."


    "I can''t allow that. We can''t even guarantee our safety much less yours. If we lose any of you, it''ll be a huge blow for us that we would have no way of recovering." Finn could also see that their respective children are persuading them against this and most notably was Asfi directly scolding Hermes.


    "It''s going to be alright. Riveria can protect us."


    Everyone stopped and looked at Loki before turning their heads to Riveria. While Ottar and Tsubaki could agree, it''s not the same for everyone else who doesn''t know what she could do.


    "Hold on, Loki. Even though I''m assigned to watch the corrupted Spirit and won''t participate in the fight with the ck Dragon, I still can''t risk it." Riveria immediately reminded her. Even though she could have leeway while fighting the corrupted Spirit, she doesn''t know how things would develop and that unknown could pose a great danger to the Deities.


    Loki looked at her seriously and contrary to her character, she suddenly pleaded, "Riveria... Please. I have to see through this until the end."


    Riveria was startled and looked at the other Deities who had the same expression. Although most of them didn''t know how Riveria would protect them, they really needed to watch this until the end.


    Being bombarded by those intense stares, Riveria could only sigh before raising her arm and tapping the watch on her wrist, "Anyone there?"


    A few secondster, Kisuke''s voice answered, [Riveria? What''s up?]


    "I need a bit of assistance here."


    The wristwatch stayed silent for a few more seconds before a reply returned from Kisuke, [Sera-tan will help you out. You know the Sitri n''s crest, right? You can summon her through that.]


    "Thank you."


    Riveria then brought down her arm and brought up the other to construct a Magic Circle. Within just a second, Riveria managed toplete a Summoning Circle with Sitri n''s crest in the middle of it.


    "Fast!" Tenestra eximed, "What are those parameters? Wait... What is this system in the first ce?"


    Riveria didn''t answer her question as the same Summoning Circle appeared on the ground in front of her. Within a few seconds, a twin-tailed bubbly beautiful girl appeared in front of her, "The Devil King Serafall Leviathan at your service~! I can do almost anything for an appropriate price~! Who or what should I destroy today?"


    "I don''t think I could afford you destroying anyone or anything worthwhile so I''ll just request an escort and protection service."


    "And the protection target and escort location?"


    "The Deities that areing with us to Orario and the entirety of their stay there until this battle is over."


    "Understood! Let''s discuss the price at ater time in private. Is that okay with you?"


    Riveria nodded.


    Everyone forgot that they are trying to convince their Deities to note with them due to Serafall''s sudden appearance and the subsequent strange conversation. However, they were not ready for what was going to happen next.


    "Then let''s get this over with~! I''m expediting the escort request." Serafall turned towards the direction where Orario was and said, "Tell them to stay out of the way, if they don''t want to die."


    Finn knew that she was talking to him but didn''t understand what she was talking about, until a dense amount of Magic Circle suddenly descended from the sky and made it hard for everyone to even breathe, "I''m giving you fifteen seconds." Serafall turned to Finn with her shining blue eyes.


    It was as if his thumb was about to explode into pieces and he didn''t have to think about it any further, "Squad 2 and 3! Vacate your space! Now!!!"


    The second and third squad heard his Magic Amplified voice but was confused. Nevertheless, they still followed his instruction and went left and right respectively, leaving arge hole on the front line.


    But before they could receive their next instructions, a wave of blue light passed through the ce they were standing just now and left a frozen path. It didn''t stop and went through all the monsters, instantly freezing them before disintegrating into tiny pieces and being carried by wind. In an instant, a 10-meter wide ice path with a wall of ice on both sides and not a single monster in the way was created and directly connected to Orario a few kilometers away.


    "Well then, let''s go~!"


    While everyone was speechless and terrified, Riveria could only sigh while muttering, "Can I really afford to hire a Devil King?... Well, if I can''t pay it off, I''ll just sell Kisuke to her."

 Chapter 1018 The Black Dragon

    Chapter 1018 The ck Dragon


    With the great divide in the middle of the battlefield, the movement of the monsters was greatly disturbed, allowing the Adventurers and Mercenaries to push the frontlines and give themselves some much-needed breathing time.


    Serafall was waiting for everyone else to move out since her job was only to protect the Deities. Creating a pathway for them was already a bonus, "...What are you guys waiting for? Go!"


    "Let''s go." Ottar calmly uttered before he started running at full speed on the newly created path.


    "..." Finn wanted to ask what just happened but knew that it was not the time for that, ''I don''t know how Riveria got acquainted with her and how she was able to so easily teleport, but what we have to do hasn''t changed.'' He thought as he started following after Ottar.


    Soon the entire group followed them, swallowing their shock and confusion while also clearing their minds to focus on their current goal right now. Although they were relieved that someone very strong was among their ranks, none of them thought of just handing over the ck Dragon''s head. Even though they formed a coalition to ensure the safety of people and take back thend, they were still prideful Adventurers and Mercenaries.


    Upon seeing them go, Serafall snapped her fingers once again and the Deities behind her started floating. But before they started following the group Serafall addressed something important without turning her head, "I''m going to make this clear, but I''m not involving myself in the actual fighting. Even if some of them start dropping dead."


    Despite her very cold Magic, from her earlier interactions, Serafall seemed to be a very warm person. However, right now, there''s this distinct coldness that''s surrounding her that makes it seem she''s a very cruel person. The Devil King was present.


    "...But why? You obviously have the power." Hermes muttered softly.


    Too bad for him, Serafall didn''t deem to exin herself and they just started flying after everyone else.


    However, Loki, Freya, and Zeus could tell that her cruelty was not directed to the children, but to something or someone else. Hence, they didn''t ask.


    .


    .


    .


    The elite team soon reached Orario, but the previously cleared path was already riddled by new monsters that came from the Dungeon. Though none of that was a problem since this is what they were expecting from the start even before Serafall helped them.


    "Shakti, Ilta, we''ll leave the rear to you two. Tsubaki, Gareth, Ouka, take the pressure from the monsters. Ottar, Allen, Hogni, you have autonomy on what you want to do. I trust your judgment. The rest of you, we''ll go straight into the Dungeon and lure out the ck Dragon." Finn started gushing out withmands as monsters from all directions started besieging them.


    The group was able to easily break through the crowd of monsters and was about to reach the Dungeon when a familiar roar resounded from deep within it causing Ais to shake.


    [Ais... Don''t listen to it.] Aria''s voice deep inside her head sent a feeling of warmth and protection into Ais'' mind and she was able to clear her head.


    Meanwhile, the rest of the group stopped their steps and saw a 15-meter-long silhouette of a dark being flying up and taking the sky''s supremacy. Its single working dark red eye looked down on everyone while it pped its wings. "GRAAAHHHHH!!!!!"


    Along with its dreadful throat-tearing roar was a cloud of poisonous ck Wind that brought about the curse of decay.


    "Move as nned! But be careful. Don''t ever let up your defenses! If your defense is breached, immediately inform everyone and retreat temporarily to get treated!" Finn shouted as the ground beneath him cracked and caved in before throwing his spear at the flying ck Dragon.


    .


    .


    .


    "Amazing... To think they could easily endure its decaying breath..." Zeus muttered while watching the fight from the sky with others, "Back at ourst sh, my and Hera''s children had to constantly drink Elixirs and Antidotes while also casting anti-curse spells just to keep fighting."


    "It was this Ki and the development of Magic that one could learn as long as they know how to manipte Magic Power." Hephaestus replied, "It''s an incredible tool that allowed the children to develop their powers that shouldn''t have been possible without a God''s blessing. It has been a while since it has spread through the whole world and there are even some children of the Lower World who could fight and defeat those who received a blessing without receiving it themselves."


    "And because of that, the faith in Deities has significantly decreased." Hermes added, "Some Familia''s even prohibited learning this as they saw this as a disrespect to the Gods."


    Hearing that, Loki couldn''t help but sneer, "Such fragile egos. Just because their children could live without their help, they wanted to deny their hard work."


    "It''s a real problem in some parts, though." Freya sighed, "There are some reports of Gods being betrayed by their children and abandoned, causing a great degree of resentment to the inhabitants of the Lower World before returning to the Upper Realm."


    After that, everyone became quiet. They all tried to gauge Serafall''s reaction since they knew that this method of gaining power originated from their group. Serafall could feel their gazes but chose to ignore it since no amount of exnations she had right now would satisfy them, much less take responsibility for those Gods who lost their children.


    "Enough about that." Loki ended the topic and turned her attention back to Zeus, "You still haven''t exined why you had to sacrifice your own entire Familia just to save and extract Ais from the ck Dragon."


    "It was a promise from a thousand years ago. I promised Albert and Aria that I would save their daughter. Of course, I didn''t force my children to go to such a length just to fulfill a promise. The main reason is that Ais was a child born out of a miracle. A miracle between the union of a man and Spirit. If Ais were to get absorbed by the ck Dragon, we have no way of knowing what''s going to happen but we all agreed that it was going to be very dangerous."


    "How did such a miraclee to be in the first ce?" Loki asked again.


    However, this time, Zeus refused to answer.

 Chapter 1019 The Black Dragon part 2

    Chapter 1019 The ck Dragon part 2


    While Serafall was nkly watching the elite team slowly push back the ck Dragon, she suddenly felt a significant movement from the Dungeon. Though the movement was big, all it did was split Riveria from the rest of the team as she went straight towards the opening of the Dungeon.


    Since there was really nothing else she could do aside from listening to the Gods'' boring talks about the past and their children, she chose to reminisce about what Kisuke had said beforeing to assist Riveria.


    .


    .


    .


    "Good timing. Sera-tan, do you mind if you go?" Kisuke asked while muting hismunication device.


    "I don''t, but do you need me to do something else?"


    Kisuke nodded, "From here on out is the territory of the unknown and I''m not really sure what''s going to happen after the ck Dragon is defeated."


    "Didn''t you prepare for it? How did you prepare without knowing what was going to happen?"


    At Serafall''s question, Yoruichi couldn''t help but smile. Nevertheless, she kept herself quiet.


    Kisuke, as if Serafall was the abnormal one, looked at her strangely, "If I know what''s going to happen then I wouldn''t need to prepare and just tackle it normally. It''s precisely because I have no idea what''s next that I have to invent all the possible scenarios in my head and prepare a bit for each of those to give me a winning chance."


    Serafall puckered her lips, "Forget I asked. So what exactly do you want me to do aside from fulfilling the request?"


    "If something ginormous is about to pop out from the Dungeon, I''d like you to stop it, even for just a minute or two, enough for everyone to gain some distance for safety. Oh right, and please make sure they don''t approach or attack Wallenstein-san while she''s doing her thing."


    .


    .


    .


    ''A big thing, huh... If I could only stop it for a minute or two, it''s probably around Trihexa''s level. If it has regeneration enough to rival that monster, I wonder how he''s nning to defeat it. And what about that guy up in the sky acting like he owns this ce? How is he going to react?'' Various questions swirled inside Serafall''s head causing her to have some apprehension.


    ''Thankfully, Sona and the others were able to retreat early. Even if I could already qualify as a Super Devil, I still can''t be sure if we can survive this.''


    An hour after the battle started and the darkness had already imed the day, much of Orario was already destroyed. But among this destruction was the rtively fine elite team and the grievously wounded ck Dragon.


    The elite team was shocked and so was the ck Dragon itself by how one-sided this battle had been.


    It''s true that the ck Dragon could be considered one of the strongest monsters that the team came across, but still not on the level of the corrupted Spirit that blocked their ess to the depths of the Dungeon.


    For the ck Dragon, it came as an extreme shock that this wasn''t the usual surface dwellers that fought him the previous times. That''s only natural as that''s because the warriors that fought it in the past only gained their strength mostly through the Deities'' blessings. It failed to take into ount that a world woulde where a blessing from up above is no longer a necessity.


    The ck Dragon judged that the situation was not in its favor so it nned its escape. Although it still had an ace in the hole called the ''Spirit''s miracle child'', it''d rather not use it now, especially when it already came into an agreement with the corrupted Deity parasitizing the Dungeon.


    With a n in mind, the ck Dragon let out a horrific roar that released a shockwave that temporarily pushed back its aggressors and also asked for help from the Dungeon while letting out itsst poisonous wind that was a hundred times more potent than when it initially released it.


    "Everyone! Get back!" Finn shouted.


    However, there were two individuals that didn''t fail to see the opportunity when the ck Dragon suddenly unruffled its wings.


    Braving the poison that could easily melt the flesh off anyone who didn''t have protection against it, Ottar dashed towards it while d in a thick orange aura that resembled a berserk boar.


    With each of his steps increasing the weight of his war hammer on his hands, Ottar reached the ck Dragon that was about to take off and swung his blunt weapon under its belly, "HAAAAP!!!"


    A deafening high-pitched sound rang out from the hit along with sparks that were sent outwards. The ck Dragon''s scales and skin were impervious to most ded weapons so Ottar chose to bring a war hammer to inflict internal damage to it instead.


    As he felt the weight of his hammer in his hands increase multiple times, Ottar gritted his teeth and pooled most of his Ki into the path of his swing, sending the gigantic reptile flying straight upwards faster than it could fly.


    The ck Dragon let out an intensely pained cry while its insides were uncontrobly churning. Fortunately for it, it was able to mitigate most of the damage by converting its fleshy insides into ck goo. This is the reason why it was able to survive until now. Although it cried in pain, it wasn''t disabled and was able to see a better chance of escape, if not for the white-haired, red-eyed Adventurer staring intently at it while his body was d with arcs of lightning.


    While up in the air and before it could even understand what was going on, a sh of light momentarily covered its sight for a second before it went dark. Another secondter, it finally felt the pain that came from its remaining eye and let out another cry of panic. While it was not an irrecoverable injury like what had happened to its other eye, it was still the disappearance of one of its important senses. And another split secondter, it lost the sensation of its wings.


    From the outside perspective, Bell was standing on the ground with his Lightning Shift before disappearing and leaving a trail of lightning toward the ck Dragon.


    Once Bell reached the ck Dragon, he first took out its remaining eye before moving towards its back and cutting off both of its wings as he understood that the Dragon was already trying to escape, ''I know that there''s an agreement that Ais-san has to deal the final blow, but I can''t let it escape and sow even more destruction in the future!''


    With the conviction to end it all, Bell jumped off from its back and went up 50 meters higher than the already falling ck Dragon. As he reached the zenith, the arcs of lightning traveling through his entire body disappeared and were reced by mes.


    Bell clenched his teeth and gathered his Magic Power and Ki at a single point inside his body to ignite it. His skin instantly turned red and the specially-made clothes and armor that were very resistant to heat started burning. Soon, the mes began to change their hue, from red to blue.


    Reorienting his body so that he''d fall head first, Bell gathered his blue mes under his feet before they exploded and propelled him downwards. With the unassuming dagger in front of him, Bell dived toward the ck Dragon as if he were a meteor that came from the sky to y the terrible monster.


    Everyone watching felt this scene very surreal and soon, the meteor went straight through the ck Dragon, punching arge hole through its abdomen in an instant.

 Chapter 1020 Takeover

    Chapter 1020 Takeover


    The ''meteor'' reached the ground first and immediately left the spot where the ck Dragon would be dropping down.


    Bell approached the rest of the group with his partially burnt armor and clothes. But before he could say anything, Finn started first with a frown, "I thought we agreed that Ais would have to be the one who gives the finishing blow?"


    "I apologize, but I can''t let it escape and cause harm somewhere else." Bell briefly retorted and didn''t back down from his pressure. In fact, he was able to easily push Finn''s pressure away thanks to the ck Dragon dropping behind him with a loud thud.


    Finn clicked his tongue but couldn''t say anything back. They indeed agreed that Ais would take thest shot but that''s only because a strange man warned them that she has to do so and hinted that they''ll face some unknown consequence if not. Truthfully speaking, those ims are dubious at most, and worst of all, Loki and Aria didn''t tell them anything about this and only said that they''ll leave the final decision to them.


    And if he were to choose something, he''ll take the sure subjugation of the ck Dragon over Ais taking thest shot.


    Finn sighed and was about to issue a retreat order when Bell suddenly continued his words with a frown, "Is what I''d like to say... But that thing isn''t dead yet."


    Bell then turned around with arcs of lightning once again emerging from his skin. As they followed his gaze, they saw the unmoving ck Dragon start bubbling as if its scale started to boil over.


    "W-what''s happening?" Lefiya asked in a panicked voice. Although she''s rtively fine, she''s already spent and that''s the same for most of them.


    When they saw that the ck Dragon started melting and seeping through the broken pavement, Tenestra shouted while preparing her attack spell, "It''s still trying to escape! Attack it now!"


    Soon a barrage of Magic Attack bombarded the ck Dragon but it continued to seep through the ground.


    "Dammit!" Tsubaki cursed and brought out her remaining assorted Magic Swords to break the ground it was trying to escape to, though in hindsight, that only made it worse for everyone as that only created a smokescreen of dust and debris.


    The elite team kept attacking the spot where the ck Dragon is and has no intention of stopping until it was obliterated forever, but at some point, the small White and Gold Dragon that apanied them didn''t participate in the battle because her sole role was to watch Ais, suddenly let out a cry full of worry and panic.


    "Lysa!?" Tiona hurriedly turned around, "What''s happening!?"


    However, she and the rest didn''t need an answer from the Dragon when they saw Ais nkly staring at nothing and unmoving. The lights in her eyes already disappeared, being reced by these lifeless ones as a ck dot unknowingly emerged on her forehead. Lysa was roaring on top of Ais''s head trying to wake her ''mother'' up but to no avail.


    Tiona and Tione went towards Ais'' side since both of them couldn''t really attack effectively and also tried waking her up, "Ais! What''s going on? Answer me!" Tiona started shaking her shoulders but Ais kept unresponsive.


    Seeing this, Asfi recalled the vague warning she received from Hermes about the danger that Ais posed, "Someone retreat with Ais Wallenstein and have Line Arshe look at her!"


    Nobody knew what''s going on, but Asfi''s suggestion was a good idea.


    Unfortunately, before Tiona could swipe Ais away and bring her back to Melen, ck goo with a very dreadful aura suddenly erupted under Ais'' feet, pushing away Tiona, Tione, and Lysa before engulfing Ais in this thickyer of goo.


    "Wha-!?" Tione and Tiona were very surprised but immediately sprung into action by grabbing the goo with their bare hands and throwing it away in an attempt to free Ais from this very familiar substance. Nevertheless, it wasn''t so easy as each time they touched the goo, their hands would be burned by the concentrated amount of the poisonous curse that the ck Dragon had. And even though they could remove a portion of it, the goo still returned to Ais, and more of it wasing out of the ground,pletely negating all of their efforts and driving Ais deeper into this ck goo.


    "No, no, no!!!" The Amazoness sisters cried out in panic as others came to their rescue when they realized that the ck Dragon had already left its spot and was probably the one that was attacking the defenseless Ais right now.


    Soon, just grabbing the goo wasn''t doing it anymore since it began to solidify and form a giant ck egg with Ais inside it.


    The panicking members of the Loki Familia couldn''t do anything but watch this unfold, but the members of the Freya Familia, they couldn''t care less and Allen directly brandished his spear and Ottar swung his war hammer at the egg without any hesitation.


    Tiona and Tione brought out their weapons and blocked Ottar''s hammer while Bete also jumped against Allen and deflected his spear. All of them had furious expressions, "What are you doing!!?" Yelled the Werewolf at the top of his throat.


    "You heard what Zeus saidst night. The Spirit Aria was devoured and taken over by the ck Dragon and we can all see that this is what''s happening right now." Allen answered in a calmer voice but there was an intensity behind it.


    Ottar had the same thing in mind when he took action.


    "We... We''re not yet sure if that''s the case!" Lefiya retorted from the distance, "We have to separate her from this ck substance!"


    "And how do you suggest we do that?" The silver-haired Dark Elf, Hogni, stepped out, "Isn''t taking action and breaking that ''egg'' the fastest and most sensible way we could do it?"


    Finn and Gareth also agreed but they couldn''t honestly go through it and attack the egg since they didn''t have the same carelessness as the members of the Freya Familia, ''And I can''t just make this a Loki Familia problem since the ck Dragon is involved... Is this what that man was warning us about?'' thought the former while biting on his thumb nail.


    Bell, on the other hand, was feeling a bit guilty because this could be technically because hended the finishing move on the ck Dragon and caused it to act this way.


    All of a sudden, Shakti raised her voice, "Stop arguing! Nothing would be done if we don''t agree on something so instead of shing, let''s think of what we should do! And if there''s someone who could help, it''ll probably be them!" She then pointed towards the sky where Serafall and the Deities she''s guarding approached the group.


    Serafall and the Deitiesnded and all heard and saw what was happening. While only Zeus and Hermes knew what was really going on, they only had a guess as to what a solution could be. Serafall, meanwhile, immediately dismissed Shakti''s words, "What are you talking about? I''m only here to watch the show closer~!"


    "W-what?" Lefiya let out a dumbfounded voice and everyone else had the same reaction as her, wondering what else the ''show'' is.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, the ''show'' revealed itself to them without them being able to do anything.


    The egg first started cracking before the ck shell was sted through by a monstrous arm covered in ck scales and had long and terrifying ws. Next was a pair of ck wings spreading out of the shell before a ck tail punctured outwards.


    As the shell copsed into pieces and onto the ground, the elite team could only stand frozen when they saw Ais with ck hair, red eyes, sharp teeth, a pair of ck wings, a tail, transformed Draconic limbs, and finally ck scales that dotted her whole body. There was no reason that could be seen on Ais'' face but only that it was warped in rage.


    "GRAAAHHHHH!!!!!"


    Only after she let out a roar that was most certainly impossible for her throat that everyone realized that it was already toote.

 Chapter 1021 Takeover part 2

    Chapter 1021 Takeover part 2


    Ais swung her erged Draconic arms that have long and sharp ws toward everyone, causing them to jump back and dodge. However, one person still couldn''t believe what she was seeing and could only stare nkly as the monstrous ws approached her.


    "Lefiya!!!" Filvis, after getting out of the way, jumped back in to grab the frozen Lefiya. The sound of a palm hitting a face soon rang after.


    Filvis managed to save the girl and immediately gave her a big p across the face, "What are you doing!? Are you trying to get killed!?"


    Lefiya touched her stinging red cheek and realized what just happened, "I-I''m sorry! I-I didn''t mean it!"


    The furious Filvis rxed her face, "Just be careful. The situation is dire but we can''t give up." All of a sudden, her face contorted once again but this time, with pain. She looked down to her left arm which was grazed by Ais'' w and saw that the small wound began to fester with ck steam rising from it and the ck pigment spreading out, turning both her flesh and blood ck.


    Lefiya also saw this and hurriedly pulled out both of her Elixir and Anti-Curse Potion and poured them on the wound simultaneously. But to their shock, it only slowed down the spread and slowly lost its effects soon after, "What!?"


    Lefiya pulled out another set of restoratives while Filvis blocked the cirction of her blood using Magic Power and Ki before calling out to someone, "Gareth-san!"


    Gareth is busy holding off the rampaging Ais but still looked in their direction and instantly understood their situation.


    "Please do it!" Filvis added.


    While Lefiya is confused about what she meant, Gareth only nodded solemnly after hesitating for a split second. The old Dwarf left his position after giving a signal to Finn and swung his axe towards Filvis, aiming precisely for her upper left arm. Lefiya couldn''t react when the arm she was treating suddenly disappeared with a ssh of blood smearing her face, "H-huh?"


    "Arghhhh!!!" Filvis grimaced in pain but that didn''t stop her from controlling her Ki to stop the blood flow.


    Lefiya shouted in panic again and helped Filvis pressure her arm to further stop the blood.


    Gareth''s attention, meanwhile, was on the severed arm thatpletely turned ck and melted into a ck goo, "Finn! Be careful of any wound! The poison is way worse than before! Don''t trust your own defenses to mitigate it!"


    The others also looked at Filvis and at the ck puddle beside her and shuddered.


    "That poison is too dangerous! Keep your distance!" Finn ryed the information again while dodging the ws. Thankfully, there was no semnce of fighting style or skill in the current Ais and she was just wildly swinging her arms so it made it very easy for everyone to dodge.


    Bell, while carrying Haruhime, raised his voice in question, "What should we do!? We can''t keep this up and we can''t exactly leave her here! What''s worse, we don''t know when the corrupted Spirit is going toe up!"


    Finn and the rest of the Loki Familia were also internally debating on what they could even do in this situation as they knew that if they used the wrong words, the members of the Freya Familia would mercilessly attack Ais and the other members of the elite team would certainly not do anything about it because they would want to stay neutral. Finn also knew that Bell would take their side knowing his personality, but they couldn''t just depend on that when they didn''t even have any concrete solutions, ''Is the only thing we can do is buy time in the hope something else will happen? But what if this bes even more irreversible the more we wait? Tsk... What should we do?''


    In their distressed situation, someone finally offered them a path, "Someone has to enter the ck Dragon''s stomach and pull out Ais Wallenstein from it." Hermes uttered while walking forward. He took a quick peek at Serafall and saw that she was not doing anything and concluded that she wouldn''t be getting involved in this, ''Just watching the show, is it? How arrogant.''


    Ever since Serafall threatened Hermes to send him to the other side of the world, he didn''t like her and created a bias against her inside his mind. And his dislike of her only worsened when it became clear that they could easily resolve the situation before it ever came to this, ''They have the power to oppose the Gods, yet they''re not doing anything substantial... What do they even want?''


    Tenestra was finally able to lock Ais in ce by constantly burying her under the spikes of rocks, "Please make it clear! We don''t have much stamina left either!"


    "Currently, Ais and the ck Dragon are fighting over the dominance of Ais'' body. Aria couldn''t survive the ck Dragon''s takeover and it''s much worse in Ais'' case because it already imprinted her long ago in the form of ''Avenger''."


    ''That''s why I''m asking what we should do!'' Tenestra internally screamed while continuously pouring in her Magic Power to keep Ais at bay, ''That''s why I hate these Gods who like to talk in circles!''


    While Hermes didn''t catch the expression on Tenestra''s face because he was looking towards Bell, Zeus did and sighed, "On the initial stage of the takeover, the ck Dragon will be very ''hungry'' and will devour anyone who it deems harmless. Although you were fighting it earlier, its mind also wasn''t very clear at this stage so as long as you stand still in front of it without emitting any intent of harm, it''ll quietly shallow you up."


    Finn frowned at his words, "Are you suggesting that someone has to take Ais'' ce?"


    Zeus shook his head, "Albert was able to pull out Ais by letting himself be devoured by it. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to live for more than a few minutes after leaving the ck Dragon because when inside, it directly attacks the mind and soul. We had to kill him before his soul changed into something unrecognizable."


    There were a lot of missing details but it was detailed enough that everyone understood what they had to do.

 Chapter 1022 Unlucky Dragon

    Chapter 1022 Unlucky Dragon


    "You want us to sacrifice one of us to save Ais?" Bete muttered with a contorted face, "Fine... I''ll do it!"


    "What are you saying? I''ll do it." Tiona also stepped forward with a nervousugh.


    Tione also came forward, "Why don''t we decide with rock-paper-scissors?"


    "You kids are still young. Let this old man do it." Gareth didn''t want to lose.


    But before the entire Loki Familia presents themselves, Hermes immediately stopped their sacrificial contest by saying, "Sadly, none of you are going to survive much less save Ais right now. Albert was only able to save Ais that time because the ck Dragon hadn''t fully gotten into her yet."


    ''Then what''s the point of telling us that story!?'' Was what everyone wanted to ask when suddenly an idea came from Freya, "I see... So we need someone whose mind and soul won''t be corrupted no matter what the ck Dragon does. Then we really only have a single choice."


    Already knowing his immunity against mental attacks and the gazes that Freya, Hermes, and his grandfather, Zeus, were giving him, Bell could only sigh.


    "Bell?" Haruhime at his side became extremely worried at his strange reaction.


    "I''ll be fine. Trust me." Bell smiled gently at Haruhime and patted her head before leaving her side, "Grandpa... I can do it, right?"


    Zeus hesitated for a brief moment before nodding, "Theoretically, you should be able to do it. However, you''re the only person we found that has this kind of constitution and we aren''t really sure of what other results could happen. More importantly, a battle within minds is an entirely different field so we''re all essentially just guessing that you could do it."


    Everyone became silent with only Ais'' roars remaining in the background.


    Haruhime looked around and saw that except for Serafall, Loki, and the small White Dragon who were intently staring at Ais, everyone else was looking at Bell, unknowing to what they were all thinking. She held her hand in worry and muttered his name while shaking, "...Bell... Please..." She wanted to stop him because his existence was much more important than the rest of the people here to her, but she knew that Bell wasn''t the kind of person who''d abandon someone if he could do something about their plight. And that''s what she loved the most about him.


    "Wait for me." Bell touched Haruhime''s hand and gently moved it, "I''ll be back."


    Aside from Bell''s footsteps and Ais'' struggle, no other sounds could be heard in this deste ce.


    Everyone anticipated what would happen with bated breath when suddenly, a wall of ice suddenly appeared in front of Bell, stopping his tracks just before he could reach Ais, "Please don''t interfere.", a few words came from Serafall.


    "What are you doing!?" Hermes scowled at her, "Any further dys could prove fatal to Ais Wallenstein and the revival of the ck Dragon in a much stronger form! Aren''t you the one interfering now when you said you wouldn''t!?"


    Serafall ignored him and just focused on the changes that were happening in Ais, "You can let go. I''ll take care of it." She addressed Tenestra.


    Tenestra hesitated and didn''t know who to believe. Nevertheless, she didn''t have much of a choice since she was running dry too and it''d only be a minute or two before she''s fully depleted.


    As soon as Tenestra''s Earth Magic stopped, Ais'' madness became worse as she broke through the spikes of hardened earth. But that didn''tst long as ice instantly grew and encapsted her entire body, leaving only her head free.


    "GRRAAHHHHH!!!!"


    Hermes lost his patience and approached Serafall to ask her face-to-face what she was trying to do. The rage he was feeling prevented him from noticing that Loki was already blocking his way until he almost crashed into her, "Don''t interfere." Loki muttered the same words as Serafall.


    "Loki? Why?" Hermes asked and those around her also had the same question.


    Loki, however, didn''t exin much and just said, "Don''t interfere. This is her fight... Not anyone else''s."


    While everyone else was confused, Freya''s eyes widened as soon as she took a nce at Ais. Her soul which was doused inplete darkness has now a golden tint in the middle and tries to fight back against the surrounding malice, "...Amazing." She muttered. This, for her, was a far more mesmerizing battlepared to what they were watching before.


    Freya''s expression prompted the other Gods to also look closer at Ais and it was then they finally noticed the minute changes in the rampaging transformed girl. Although they couldn''t see as much as Freya, they could still tell that she was fighting back against the mind-eating ck Dragon.


    Sadly, especially for Freya, she could see that the golden light was slowly being devoured and it won''t be long before it disappears, ''...She won''t make it.'' As much as she wanted her to reverse the situation and win, she couldn''t look away from reality.


    And as if thest dazzling light before its death, the madness from Ais'' face was swept away for a single moment, and tears of blood started streaming down her face, "...P-please... Kill... Me... I... Can''t..."


    Loki clicked her tongue and Hermes instantly turned to Bell, "Bell-kun! Hurry!"


    Meanwhile, contrary to everyone''s expectations, Serafall chuckled and shocked everyone which caused everyone, especially those from the Loki Familia to lose it, "What''s so funny!!!?" Tiona shouted and was about to jump at her in rage.


    Still, Serafall ignored them and just focused on Ais'' pleading eyes, "Lysa-chan~ We''ve seen it. She, at least, has the heart to fight back even if the odds are heavily stacked against her."


    The small White Dragon nodded and contrary to everyone''s expression, she seemed to see the entire situation positively, which just caused further confusion.


    "Now go. That monster''s luck ran out the moment it became a Dragon." Serafall pushed the Dragon towards Ais making thetter panic and despair, "...N-no... Don''te!!!" Immediately after, Ais lost consciousness and the ''ck Dragon'' was able to emerge again, recing her expression with utter madness.


    But Lysa ignored her pleas and approached her. Meanwhile, the ice that had been encasing Ais, disappeared, freeing her and as soon as Lysa approached, disgusting ck tendrils shoot out from Ais, intending to catch the ''food''.


    Unfortunately for it, its approach awakened something deep inside the White Dragon and a snake that didn''t reflect any light suddenly emerged from her forehead.


    The snake opened its eyes that only consisted of purple light. The ''ck Dragon'' that was rampaging inside Ais froze for a moment and the madness disappeared as if it was a lie, before it was reced by fear.


    "GRAAAHHH!!!" Ais roared at the snake before turning around in panic, pping its wings to escape as fast and as far as possible.

 Chapter 1023 ‘Aria’

    Chapter 1023 ��Aria��


    "Haaahhh... Haaahhh... Haaahhh..." Catching her breath, Ais doesn''t know how long she had been staying in this strange dark world where she couldpletely see herself despite the absence of light. Regrettably, she couldn''t enjoy the insanity-inducing darkness as she was not alone in this world.


    Sensing the danger on her side, Ais gritted her teeth and dodged while parrying the unknown threat using her rapier. A loud ng resounded and sparks erupted before she was thrown away from the force behind the attack. But no matter how much she waited, Ais never felt any walls and was able to stand back up while looking at the single red light that was reflected in the distance that had a row of sharp teeth below it.


    As if mocking her, the mouth full of razor-sharp teeth smiled at Ais before disappearing into the darkness once again.


    ''How long has it been?'' She asked herself. This kind of sh has already happened at least ten thousand times and she had already stopped counting long ago. Her body didn''t seem to get tired but her mind was already about to snap. Still, she couldn''t give up no matter how hard things became and how much this monster yed around with her. She doesn''t know when, but she had to wait for a gap to leave this ce. It was her promise to herte mother.


    .


    .


    .


    She didn''t know when it happened, but she was watching a ''meteorite'' pierce through the hateful ck Dragon, and instead of feeling gleeful, she instead felt an immeasurable sadness that took over her heart. And before she realized it, she was already standing on a familiar small hill with a single towering tree on top of it.


    "This is..." It was the hill that was near their house, the spot where she spent most of her childhood ying around. The scent of the air, the rustling of grass and leaves, the gentle touch of the sun, it was all the same as she remembered it. Closing her eyes to take in this moment, a single tear streamed down her cheek.


    "Everything here is just an illusion that you created." Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind the tree, and a secondter, a figure stepped out from behind it.


    "...M-mother."


    Ais ran towards her and grabbed her into a big hug. The floodgates that were keeping most of her tears away were once again opened, "M-mother!" Although she was able to hear her words inside her head after she disappeared once again yesterday, she dearly missed her mother so much that she wasn''t able to sleep.


    Aria returned the hug and patted her head gently while smiling. However, that smile of hers has a tint of mncholy in it, ''This is the end, huh?''


    ''We still have some time.'' Aria thought after taking a quick look at the sky so she entertained Ais to the best of her abilities.


    After Ais calmed down, the two of them sat down under the shade of the tree and started talking about random things just like in the old time. Although her father was not present, she was incredibly happy that this was even possible. She was so d that she wanted to stay in this dream forever.


    But the more they talk, the more the illusion seems to break down, with Ais finding some discrepancies with her ''mother'' Aria. There was a nagging feeling that she kept ignoring because she didn''t want to end this blissful time.


    "And Tione kept pestering me that I should soon find a man for myself since I''m already old enough. But I''m not really interested and she doesn''t have one too after she gave up on the captain."


    "Ara~ I failed to realize that you''re already at that age. And Tione is truly an unfortunate woman, setting her sights on a man that would never reciprocate her feelings. It must have been hard."


    Ais looked up at her and added, "I don''t really understand those sorts of stuff. I''m busy enough to get stronger, so why should I waste my time onpanionship? I''ve seen enough rtionships that aren''t so great and if its purpose is to leave an offspring, I already have Lysa that I want to take care of."


    "Then let me ask you a question, what is Lysa to you?"


    "Lysa? I don''t really know what it means to be a mother but I consider her as my daughter. I''d sacrifice everything for her."


    "You''re already doing a good job. That''s what it means to be a good parent to their child." Aria chuckled, "Now let me ask you a different question, what do you think of Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, Filvis, and the others close to you?"


    Ais didn''t know what Aria was trying to say but she still answered, "They are my important friends. They are my family."


    "Finally, here''s the real question. Did you choose Lysa to be your daughter? Did you choose those from the Loki Familia to be your friends and family?"


    Ais immediately sat up and denied her words, "No!"


    "Right? All genuine rtionships are like that. You may choose who to approach first, but making them an important part of your lifees gradually and naturally even if you don''t know how to. That''s the same for love. You''ll meet people and even without you realizing it, you might even be able to find the one." While saying all of this, Aria looked up.


    "Is that how you got together with father?"


    Aria looked back to her and now with a defeated smile on her face, "Yes... That is what I''d like to say, but I never really know what kind of person your father is nor do I even remember what he looks like."


    "...What?" Ais became distraught and her heart rate started going up, "W-what are you saying, mother?"


    Unconcerned with her confusion, Aria continued, "I only knew him for a brief moment, much less love him. In the first ce, it''s impossible for me to feel any love... Is what I thought eons ago."


    A sad and longing smile then emerged on Aria''s face, "You really are a child of a miracle... Making me betray my own origin and letting me feel what''s impossible."


    Ais'' heart dropped and grabbed Aria''s hand, "W-what are you saying? I don''t understand..."


    "Ais... You already know the truth but you''re just ignoring it... I''m a mere fake... A mark to your downfall."

 Chapter 1024 ‘Aria’ part 2

    Chapter 1024 ��Aria�� part 2


    Ais was frozen for a minute or two before she reacted again, "...No. That''s a lie."


    Aria''s mncholic smile grew deeper, "Please don''t ignore it. I can see everything in your expression whenever I make a mistake."


    "...That''s!" Ais couldn''t refute her words. It has be a source of her difort since earlier but she didn''t want to believe it. She stood up and took some distance from Aria "...That''s impossible... If you''re not my mother... Then who are you!?"


    Although Ais only asked in the heat of the moment and was hoping that she''d deny it, she received a straight answer, "You also have an idea for who I am... But for rity''s sake, allow me to introduce myself. I''m the one you call ck Dragon... More specifically, a part of the original that was imnted with some memories and personality from the Spirit of Wind known as Aria."


    Ais'' head went nk and before she could form any concrete thoughts, she saw her mother''s beautiful golden hair slowly turn ck and her bright golden eyes turn red. The next instant, a crazed smile that doesn''t match her gentle face emerged while spreading her arms open, "...Yes. I''m that ck Dragon! The monster that took all of your important people in the past!"


    "No!!!" Ais instinctively replied. Despite the logic telling otherwise, her heart couldn''t handle the reality in front of her.


    ''Aria'' started chuckling at her, "What''s wrong? Escaping from reality once again? In front of you are your eternal nightmare and the target of your revenge, albeit only a part of it. Why don''t you use that sword of yours to strike me down? Or is it just for decoration?"


    ''Sword?'' The distressed Ais looked down at her hand and was shocked that she was already holding her rapier, ''...Since when?''


    "What? Still refuse to believe it?" ''Aria'' raised both of her hands and wind tinted with ck miasma rose from behind her and started circting around her like countless poisonous sharp des, "In ordance with my original objective, I''ll have your entire consciousness removed for my main body to upy this space."


    The ck wind from ''Aria'' began extending towards Ais and thetter had to jump back while also conjuring her own wind to counter it, "W-why? Why are you doing this?"


    The heartache from Ais'' question could be felt and ''Aria''s'' expression twitched a little, but only for an instant, "You''re really stupid if you''re asking that for real. Of course, it''s all for the sake of removing all the pesky inhabitants of the lower world and I''ll do anything to gain the power to achieve that! Even if it means eating everything in my path."


    With greater difficulty, Ais asked, "...What... What happened to my mother?" It was hard, but she had no choice but to ept that this entity in front of her was not her mother. But within all of this, there was this strange feeling that she''s getting from this ''Aria'', ''...That was fake...?''


    The ck wind around ''Aria'' became worse as she answered, "What do you think? After being devoured and using every ounce of her strength and mind to save her only daughter, it only took a few decades to fully expel her soul from her own body. She was already gone long ago."


    Ais didn''t answer and gritted her teeth before initiating an attack of her own. After thinking about it for a moment, this was already true ever since she decided to get her revenge on the monster that took away her parents. Nothing had really changed. She''s just angry that she was given false hope, ''Yes... It''s as she said... Everything is fake... But... What''s this? What is this feeling?''


    It should have been an easy answer, but there was still uncertainty somewhere and she had a feeling that she had to figure that out or else she''ll regret it.


    .


    .


    .


    The exchange between two opposing winds went on for some time and while they were at it, Ais finally noticed the ck dot in the sky that seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as time went on. What''s strange, however, was that Aria''s'' provocations were only intensifying and instead of getting angry unlike the first few times, Ais calmly assessed the situation, ''...She''s... Desperate?''


    And even her own calmness was a wonderment for Ais herself as she knew that she shouldn''t be this calm in this situation. It''s as if something was affecting her own state of mind without her knowing, ''But it isn''t a bad feeling... Strange... It''s as if telling me to take a closer look at what''s happening.''


    "What''s wrong? Already losing your focus? Looks like this is going to be a lot easier." ''Aria'' continued to taunt Ais, "What Aria and Albert did was a total waste of time and effort."


    Strangely enough, Ais wasn''t bothered by her words and only felt that she wasing closer to the truth, ''...Could it be?''


    Despite her calm mind, Ais disyed a wrathful expression and gathered all of her Magic Power in one full-powered attack.


    Seeing this, ''Aria''s'' crazed smile changed into that of a satisfied one.


    After a massive amount of Wind Magic gathered on the tip of Ais'' rapier, she disappeared with a single step and instantly arrived in front of ''Aria''. ''Aria'' didn''t have the time to react and only saw the tip of her de aimed at her neck, ''But even if I could... I wouldn''t...'' The ck wind around them disappeared and ''Aria'' closed her eyes to wait for her fate.


    But as the second went by, the feeling of her throat being pierced didn''t arrive. She waited for another second before opening her eyes back with great confusion only to see Ais, contrary to her wrathful expression from earlier, was very serene while pointing her de at her neck. The same as her ck wind, Ais''s own wind also seems to have dispersed and only the tranquil environment remained, "...What? Why are you not killing me?"


    In response to her question, Ais asked back, "Why are you crying?"


    ''Aria'' was startled and touched her face to feel the wet cheeks, "...T-this!?"


    "Why?" Ais repeated.


    But ''Aria'' only got angry and grabbed her rapier with her bare hand, causing it to bleed, "Why!? Why are you not killing me!? I killed your parents! I showed you false hope! I tried to harm you! So why!? Hurry up and do it!"


    Her frantic demeanor only solidified a certain idea in Ais'' mind, "You have my de... If you want to die, you can do it yourself."


    ''Aria'' had already lost her calm because it wasn''t going as she nned and there was not much time left before ''that'' arrived, "Because I can''t do it! I can''t take my own life! This is your chance! Do it! Are you taking pity on me!? If you don''t do it now, you''ll only die without any chance of fighting back! Hurry up and do it!"


    Ais let go of her sword and stood straight in front of her, letting all her guard down, "Then I won''t make it harder for you. Use that sword. Aim for my heart. Finish what you have to do."


    ''Aria'' was speechless and her face contorted to a veryplicated expression of remorse, guilt, and despair. She let go of Ais'' sword and dropped to her knees, "Why...? Why won''t you kill me?"


    It waste, but ever since earlier, Ais realized that ''Aria'' didn''t have any killing intent despite the huge show she was putting up.

 Chapter 1025 ‘Aria’ part 3

    Chapter 1025 ��Aria�� part 3


    "Why are you doing this?" Ais asked after picking up her sword and sheathing it.


    The ''Aria'' on the floor went quiet and gritted her teeth, "Why...? Why won''t you kill me...? Why won''t you hate me...?"


    Ais had already heard the first part of her sentence over and over again, but this was the first time she''d heard the second part and became even more confused.


    "I killed your parents... I killed your loved ones... Why won''t you hate me?" For ''Aria'', this didn''t make any sense. Ais'' hate for her, a part of the ck Dragon, should be beyond the boiling point. But no matter how she looked at it, she didn''t sense any sort of negative emotions while Ais was looking at her, ''But how? Did this space change something within her? Is it my main body interfering? But that should''ve been impossible with me blocking ess to this ce.''


    But despite everything going haywire from what she initially nned, a small hope bloomed deep within her. She couldn''t help but feel that she had been saved, ''...Even though I don''t deserve this... Why? Why is this happening?''


    "...Are you... Not really my mother?" Ais suddenly asked and startled ''Aria'' once again, ''At the moment she was going to die, why did she remind me of mother if she''s not her?''


    ''Aria'' became quiet and kept looking down at the ground. After some time, she answered, "...I''m not. That''s the truth. All I have are her iplete memories and personality. I was created to infiltrate this space and make a hole in it for my main body to enter easily."


    Ais couldn''t see her face but her instincts are telling her that she was telling the truth, "...Then why are you not attacking me? Wouldn''t that be easier for you?"


    ''Aria'' properly sat up and finally showed her face to Ais that was full ofplicated expressions, along with a hint of relief, ''I know I''m just going to make it harder for her but... I don''t want her to hate me... I don''t want to disappear knowing that she hates me...''


    The selfish thoughts that she was doing her best to suppress finally surfaced. After that first step, all of her inhibitions seemed to cease existing, and she decided to tell the truth to Ais, "Without a doubt, I''m a small part of the ck Dragon. But at some point, Aria''s memories, despite it being iplete and just there to assist me to my goal... They consumed me..."


    Ais still didn''t know what this entity was getting at, but she couldn''t interrupt her to ask a question because of the tears that were dropping onto the grassy soil.


    "Those memories consumed me." ''Aria'' repeated with her eyes zed over and uncontrolled tears overflowing, "I''ve watched you grow up. I''ve watched your struggles. I''ve watched you open up with your friends and family. I''ve watched you grow stronger. I''ve watched you solve your own dilemmas. Your regrets, happiness, satisfaction, excitement, hope, sadness, pain, frustration, fear, guilt, anger... I''ve watched all of it.


    "But because of these memories, I saw you through Aria''s eyes... I saw you as my own daughter." ''Aria'' finally admitted it. As it stands, she doesn''t know whether she could consider this a curse or a blessing. Toward her original goal, it''s a curse. But for her to experience something that''s normally impossible for someone like her. She was given a ''heart'' and it''s the greatest blessing she could have ever received in this twisted life of hers.


    It was then, all the confusing things Ais saw from her clicked in her head, clearing the fog in her mind. The eyes that were looking at her were the same eyes that her mother looked at her with and she didn''t know how to react to this truth.


    Ais'' silence ced a heavy burden on ''Aria''s'' heart and the tears didn''t stop. After sobbing and choking for a few seconds, she finally let out her greatest wish, "Please don''t hate me..."


    It was both a simple and ridiculous desire and Ais didn''t immediately have a reply for that.


    Ais closed her eyes and the crying ''Aria'' disappeared from her sight as she entered a retrospection. As if her own life shing before her eyes, questioned herself, ''...Do I hate her?''


    She directly ignored her pleading because she couldn''t dictate how she felt. Even then, Ais surprisingly couldn''t find a reason to hate her, ''Is it because of them?... Wait... Them?''


    Ais'' eyes instantly shot back open as forgotten memories were unlocked, "H-how? How could I forget!?"


    Because this was the deepest part of Ais'' soul, the influence of Serafall and Freya''s spell had a very minimal effect, and the moment she remembered what she had forgotten, it all came flooding back. However, those were not what''s important but instead her current situation, ''...It''s because of them. Although we had forgotten them, we didn''t forget what they left behind. They are the first people who didn''t see others for their outward appearances, even if their origin was that of a monster born from the Dungeon. They are the reason why we could easily ept Filvis and Lysa. They are the reason why we could even talk to the Xenos as equals these days... Their identities were erased, but not their legacy.''


    Using that logic, Ais figured out why she couldn''t hate the entity in front of her. She''d already learned how to judge people for who they are and not what they are.


    Ais then looked down at the sobbing ''monster'', ''Besides... I don''t think I was fooled.''


    Ais bent her knees and lowered herself while reaching out for ''Aria''s'' upper arm.


    ''Aria'' was rmed by the sudden touch and nervously looked up. But out of all the bad things she was expecting, she didn''t anticipate a small, gentle smile, "...A-Ais?"


    Ais didn''t say anything and just leaned forward before tightly hugging her.


    ''Aria'', not knowing what was happening, panicked and asked, "A-Ais!? What''s wrong!?"


    She still didn''t give any answer but her rm only caused Ais to chuckle softly, ''...That''s right. She''s a fake... A fake that embraced the illusion and became real...''


    If one were to think about it again, although it''s true that ''Aria'' was a part of the ck Dragon, she''s also a part of the real Aria by inheriting her memories, personality, and feelings. And upon acting upon those instead of her origin, she technically stood as her mother.


    ''Aria'' finally realized Ais'' intention and also timidly wrapped her arms around her. A dream came true... Nevertheless, it''s a short dream.

 Chapter 1026 Clash of Wills

    Chapter 1026 sh of Wills


    ''Aria'' tightly grabbed Ais as if she was going to lose her forever. Nevertheless, she understands that Ais only epted her for who she is, not her second mother. Even then, that was way more than enough.


    ''Aria'' still wanted to drown in this sea of warmth but time is not on her side and any further dy will only reduce Ais'' survival against her uing enemy that was threatening to expel her soul and eat her body.


    "Ais... Thank you... But what you have to do hasn''t changed."


    Ais finally remembered the predicament that she was in and separated from ''Aria'', "Do you still want me to kill you!? Why!? I don''t see you as my enemy anymore! In fact-"


    ''Aria'' covered Ais'' lips with her finger. She didn''t want to hear it lest it cause more pain at their inevitable separation. ''Aria'' had already guessed it, but Ais thought that the reason why ''Aria'' wanted Ais to kill her was because of guilt. However, that''s the furthest from the truth.


    ''Aria'' pointed to the sky and Ais saw a pitch-ck dome that was about to engulf the whole ce. It was the ck dot that had been growing and Ais didn''t notice that it kept erging, ''...That wasn''t her doing?''


    "This ce is the deepest part of your soul. You are about to be consumed by my main body but I created this space to protect your consciousness. However, what I can do is only dy it and right now, it''s about to breach this sanctuary created from Aria''s memories. And when that happens... I''ll return to my main body and it will regain its full strength, making your chances of survival slimmer than they already are. Finally and most importantly... I will lose any and all of my sense of self."


    ''Aria''s'' words were like a hammer to Ais and her mostly calm and collected demeanor was demolished, "W-what? But..." Ais didn''t know what to say, much less what to do and felt her throat dry up.


    ''Aria'' smiled wryly and grabbed Ais'' hand before leading it to the hilt of her rapier, "You have to do it. Please do it. I can''t allow myself to return to the way I was before. Please grant my wish of not turning this beautiful dream into my worst nightmare."


    Ais still didn''t answer. She didn''t have an answer. She thought that everything would be alright, but her naive hope only served as a painful realization that not everything will go the way she wanted it to.


    The ck dome was rapidly approaching and ''Aria''s'' skin started cracking with kes of it beginning to float upwards, "Please. I don''t have much time left."


    Ais'' hand started shaking uncontrobly. She didn''t want to pull out her de, "T-there has to be another way!" She''s not willing to lose the warmth that returned to her despite iting from someone else.


    The pulling force is bing unbearable for ''Aria'' and her consciousness is slowly being sapped out. It''ll only take a moment for this space to copse so she gathered her strength and used both of her hands to force Ais to pull her rapier out, "You''re the only one who can do this. You have to. For you to defeat the ck Dragon, you first have to destroy me."


    "But..."


    "Ais!" ''Aria'' yelled at her in a scolding tone like an actual mother would, "I''m happy with your thoughts... But that selfishness will not only destroy both of us in the worst possible way, but also those who are important to you who are currently fighting will be put in danger. It''s hard to do it, but you have to weigh your options now and it''s obvious what you have to choose. I''m just someone from the past and it''s about time you get over it if you want to continue moving forward."


    ''Aria'' then looked straight into Ais'' eyes. The red eyes that Ais thought to be disgusting at first were now beautiful and full of longing, "You of all people understand what will happen those to who will be left behind if you were to be defeated here. Your friends, your family, and everyone will be mourning for you. But worst of all, they might be trapped in the cycle of revenge and hatred as you were."


    The faces of everyone shed through Ais'' mind for a moment and her facial expression immediately darkened. While gritting her teeth and shadow cast on her face, Ais slowly stood up as if she was enduring a boulder on her shoulders before shakingly pointing the tip of her rapier at ''Aria''s'' chest.


    Ais could see that ''Aria'' was already about to copse but there was a relieved expression painted on her face, "That''s it. You don''t have to regret it. Just continue looking forward from now on. Nheless, if it gets hard, it''s fine to stop and look back. All you have to remember is not to stay stagnant or else you''ll return the way you were before."


    Even with a heavy heart, Ais still smiled, "Do you really have to lecture me right now?"


    "If not now, when?" ''Aria'' replied with a chuckle. Despite the pain that was running through her entire body while she was being torn apart, her heart was at ease after seeing the resolution within Ais'' eyes, "Promise me that you''ll never give up. Look for the chance to get around the ck Dragon and escape its dominion. I''m sure you''ll find it."


    ''There''s another way... But that''s... Impossible...'' ''Aria'' thought as she saw Ais'' de going through her heart. It should have been the most painful thing, but ''Aria'' only felt an invisible shackle finally letting her go.


    Since the heart is the source of her power, her senses instantly deteriorated.


    But the moment her vision clouded, ''Aria'' suddenly saw an outline of another woman appearing just behind Ais and that woman has an uncanny resemnce to her, ''...Ah... So it was you.'' ''Aria'' finally understood how Ais could keep her calm.


    ''Thank you.'' She heard the woman behind Ais speak.


    ''It was me who should be thankful. There would be nothing left of me if not for you.'' ''Aria'' tried to say, but after seeing her, she instead dedicated thest of her strength to say something else, "Ais..."


    The tear-filled Ais hurriedly pulled out her sword and supported her body with a hug, "Yes... I''m listening."


    "If there''s a chance... For you... To defeat it... You can..."


    Ais'' eyes widened in shock at ''Aria''st words.


    "It''ll be... up to you... Good luck... And I love you."


    .


    .


    .


    ''How long has it been... I can still remember those words clearly... But I can''t find a chance...'' Although she appeared strong, the toll on her mind was already affecting Ais'' motivation to continue fighting.


    Another attack came from the darkness and at the singlepse of losing a bit of concentration, she only was able to barely dodge the sharp ws, leaving a deep gash on her nk.


    Ais shook her head and gritted her teeth, ''I can''t lose! Besides... The frequency of attacks has been slowly increasing. Is it getting impatient?''


    And Ais was correct with her line of thinking. Although time seemed to flow very slowly in this space within her soul, it was still continuously flowing and any further dys would be a bad risk for the ck Dragon in case those detestable lifeforms outside decided to attack.


    But after looking at the bleeding Ais, it finally decided to go all out and devour her in one go. Leaving the darkness of the world, the ck Dragon appeared behind Ais while being covered by a dense ck wind, ready to st Ais into many pieces.


    Unbeknownst to it, however, Ais was also dearly waiting for this chance and even if it exacerbated all of her wounds, Ais released all the power and strength that she still had to face her enemy.


    The ck Dragon was stunned that Ais still had this much in her and finally realized that it was her that''s waiting for the chance. It tried to defend itself and turn back, but the wind that Ais conjured had already trapped it and her rapier was already traveling multiple times the speed of sound, ''This is the end!''


    Ais remembered how ''Aria'' disappeared when her heart was pierced so she aimed at the same ce. Her rapier traveled in a straight line and shredded everything in its path, reaching the ck Dragon''s chest. Only a fraction of a second and it would have been over, but she failed to notice the sneer on the ck Dragon''s mouth.


    As soon as Ais touched its scale, a bolt of ck lightning suddenly blocked her sword and traveled along its de. Ais tried to release her weapon but it was already toote and she was instantly stunned. As she saw the ck Dragon''s maw approach her, a certain name emerged in her mind, ''The Spirit of Lightning, Tornitus!'' Before she was swallowed whole.

 Chapter 1027 Clash of Wills part 2

    Chapter 1027 sh of Wills part 2


    Ais didn''t know for how long, but after some time, she was able to regain consciousness. And while her head was still a mess, light entered her eyes, and saw the outside world for the first time. But this wasn''t at all good news to Ais since she immediately found out that her body was trying to move on its own despite being enclosed in a block of ice.


    The first thing that Ais saw was the state of her arms which were obviously not hers anymore and that made her realize that she had already lost and the worst scenario came true. And knowing how dangerous she was right now, she panicked and despaired when she saw that Lysa was approaching her. But when she saw who was beside her, she immediately pleaded while she could, "...P-please... Kill... Me... I... Can''t..."


    She couldn''t hear what everyone was saying but it looked like Serafall was smiling and everyone else was admonishing her. However, she couldn''t care about any of that now because Lysa is still approaching her, "...N-no... Don''te!!!"


    Immediately after that, Ais'' consciousness sank back into the darkness.


    Strangely enough, however, the ''dirty'' darkness seemed to have escaped from her and was reced by a different kind of darkness. A kind that gave a regal and majestic feeling, totally different from the darkness just before that was slowly gnawing away at her mind.


    Before she noticed it, Ais was standing in the darkness again, but this time, there was an extra person watching from afar and she was someone familiar to Ais, "Ophis?"


    However, ''Ophis'' ignored her and just nkly stared at one point in the darkness. Ais followed her sight and saw the ck Dragon growling and gritting its teeth at Ophis from some distance away from her. Ais didn''t notice it, but her rapier instantly materialized the moment she thought about it. She gathered her Magic Power and Ki to prepare for the inevitable sh.


    Ais waited for the ck Dragon to move but even a few minutester, it refused to even step forward from its spot. She, however, noticed that not all of its attention was on her, but on ''Ophis'' instead and she could see fear and apprehension within its formerly arrogant and madness-filled eyes.


    Ais turned her sights back to Ophis and thetter was now staring at her using the same expression she had when she''s looking at the ck Dragon, indifference, ''What does she want?'' Ais didn''t know what she''s doing here or how she came here, but the most important thing to figure out was what her intentions are.


    Deep in thought, Ais started second guessing Ophis'' intentions but it was also at this moment that she felt a threating towards her fast, "!?"


    Ais hurriedly turned and lowered her body to block the iing w with her rapier. Nheless, due to the element of surprise, Ais was sent flying away and almost dislocated her arm, "Guhh!!!"


    She stabilized herself right away using her wind and performed a counterattack. Unfortunately for Ais, the ck Dragon wasn''t ying around anymore with its life on the line and roared, releasing a massive amount of ck wind that formed a horizontal tornado of nearly invisible des.


    Ais was taken aback and also used her own wind to block but she was no match for it and got engulfed within the wind des.


    Her clothes and armor were instantly shredded into pieces and she was only able to escape when her body was full of cuts and she only got away with her because she was able to concentrate her wind on top of her skin. Sadly, she couldn''t protect one of her eyes and so she was blinded.


    The sharp pain all over her body made Ais buckle and take a deep breath. It was so painful that she almost dropped her guard against another iing w, "Tsk..!" Ais couldn''t figure out how it could move so silently and stealthily with that massive of a body, but she knew for sure that it wasn''t using the darkness anymore to hide.


    As she was sent flying once again, the world in her eye slowed down when she saw the ck Dragon preparing another roar and this time, the power it was gathering was more than five times the first one. After it concluded that Ais wouldn''t be able to defend effectively anymore, it decided to use everything it had to finish her off, ''Ah... Is this the end?''


    At the same moment, her eyes incidentally nced to the side and saw Ophis, with the same indifference within her deep ck eyes.


    Those eyes that didn''t care about her uing demise woke Ais up to the reality that she wouldn''t be saving her. As that realization dawned on her, Ais gritted her teeth and became angry at herself, ''She was not here to save me... She''s here to create a level ying field and be an impartial judge... And I just wasted the opportunity that she gave me.''


    She should have known that a hero that would save her wouldn''t easilye. And she questioned herself, ''What''s wrong with me? Why am I expecting something like that? When did an idea like that enter my head?'' She remembered what herte mother said about finding her own hero and for the longest time, she believed it while bearing the weight of hatred and revenge.


    But it''s also been a while since she also learned that one ''truth'' is not all the ''truths'' in the world and finding a hero is only a single option in the sea of all possibilities. Her mother wasn''t wrong, but it also wasn''t what her own story should be about since they had very different experiences.


    She realized this, however, some Gods, especially Hermes, kept mentioning the idea of a hero and without her knowing, she started to long for it, ''But that isn''t right... Hoping for a hero that will save me would mean that I''m resigning myself to fate.''


    Ais'' memories kept shing in front of her as she tried to gather her remaining strength in an attempt to resist until she was reminded of the first time she fought Kisuke, ''That guy... He had the power to save everyone yet he never moved forward himself unless he could get something out of it...''


    It was the memory of their sparing that reminded Ais that her wind was very weak and unpolished. Her tensed jaw rxed and a smile emerged, ''But he''s always been a big help. He helped me walk so it''d be too much to ask him to help me run, huh?''


    Rxing her body, Ais sharpened her mind and recalled everything from her first spar with Kisuke while the ck tornado was approaching her, ''I don''t need to overpower it. I just have to read its flow and apply the necessary pressure on certain focal points to disturb its entire structure.''


    Ais held her rapier tightly and reoriented her body mid-air, ''Using my vision won''t be enough. I have to feel it using all of my senses to get a better read.''


    The aura of defeat had already entirely disappeared from Ais and her chaotic wind became serene, ''Predict the path, wait for the right time, and create an opening. Just a single opening, without disturbing anything else. I only have one chance. If I fail, the price is my life and potentially my family''s life.''


    Strangely enough, the more she focused, the more the fear she had been feeling subsided. It was supposed to be a bet with her life on the line, but she only got excited. An unprecedented amount of excitement for when she''s about to break the chains of her fate.


    The ck Dragon thought that it''d already won when the wind barrier surrounding Ais weakened and let its guard down. So when its ''food'' suddenly took a drastic action, it became toote for it to react.


    The serene and gentle wind around Ais suddenly became a strong gust that pushed her forward directly towards the eye of the tornado. By now, her fear hadpletely left her, and knowing that it''d be a life or death moment, something that''d make her hesitate had no ce in her mind.


    With very precise calctions, Ais arrived at the center of the tornado and it started shredding her, taking off bits of flesh. Ais, however, entirely ignored the pain and instead of counteracting the ck wind, her own wind went along with its flow until her proportionately small amount of wind hadpletely melded into her enemy''s wind, ''Remember how he did it. Hitting it is not the only way to change its direction. Following along and changing it from the inside works too. This wind is something it only stole and I shouldn''t be afraid of a tool that it only knows how to swing.''


    Ais could now understand Kisuke''s frustration at that time, ''...It really looks like child''s y.''


    Not long after she entered the tornado and shrunk the distance between them, Ais controlled her wind at a very specific moment. The next instant, the ck Dragon could only stand shocked when it saw its attack suddenly dispersed into nothing, leaving only behind the bloodied girl that was ring at it with her only remaining eye.


    Because it''d just used a big spell, the ck Dragon was temporarily stunned and could only watch helplessly as Ais arrived right in front of it and thrust her rapier that was aimed straight at its heart.


    It became scared for its life and immediately called for the trump card that it received from the corrupted Spirit.


    The power of the corrupted Spirit of Lightning, Tornitus, came out of its heart and ck lightning arcs blocked Ais'' rapier.


    Ais was already expecting this and released her remaining power to act as a defensive shell against its stunning capabilities before pushing forward.


    Ais clenched her jaws and used the entirety of her strength to push this one final thrust.


    The rapier kept moving forward and slowly going through the ck lightning and the ck Dragon''s scales and flesh. For several seconds, it became a battle of attrition and the ck Dragon did its best to harden its flesh. It knew that once it could move again, it''d win.


    Ais also knew this and kept pushing with only a tiny bit needed to reach her target. Despite this, however, the progress of her de is not up to her expectations. Whether she''s a lot weaker or the ck Dragon was a lot stronger than expected, she didn''t know. But what she did know was that her strength was already waning and didn''t have the confidence that she could reach its heart.


    Seeing this grim future, she regretted it. She regretted the fact that she acted and realized things far toote, ''If only... If only I acted before I was reduced to this state... I could have won.''


    The pain she has been enduring had already disappeared and for someone who was trying to move, it was bad news. Ais couldn''t feel her legs or arms anymore and was just pushing herself with her lingering wind. Obviously, that wasn''t enough to close the gap that was only a fraction of an inch. So close yet so far.


    ''...I lost.'' There was no fear in her eye, only regrets.


    But at the moment that she''d lost all of her strength, she caught the sight of golden hair at her side. If this was a normal situation, she would have mistaken it for her own hair. However, her own beautiful hair was already gone and only a few inches of it was left on her head, so the long flowing hair shouldn''t have been impossible.


    The next instant, a very familiar scent tickled her nose, followed by a very familiar soft voice, "Don''t stop. You promised her that you''d never give up, didn''t you?"


    ''Mother!?'' Ais wanted to yell and turn around, but she didn''t have the strength to do either.


    Tears started blocking Ais'' sight as she saw a wless arm stretch out from behind her and gently held her hand that was holding her weapon, "This isn''t the real world. This is your world. As long as you don''t give up, you''ll never lose your strength. Forget thews of the world that you know of, for your mind is the only thing that matters here."


    Ais knew that it was her real mother this time but before she could say anything, the outstretched arm disintegrated into motes of golden light along with the presence behind her, "I know you can do it, Ais. Your father and I will always be watching over you. We love you."


    Thest vestige of her mother that silently lingered within Ais that even the fake Aria didn''t notice until the end hadpletely disappeared, but not before leaving her final gift.


    The golden motes of light traveled along her arm, towards the rapier, until it reached the ck lightning. As soon as they touched, they annihted each other into nothing.


    She shouldn''t have any strength remaining yet she noticed that she could still cry, ''Not yet... There''s still something within me. I just have to pull all of it out!''


    Ais opened her mouth and took a deep breath and shouted, "AHHHHHHHH!!!"


    The inner world, while it followed the understanding of the individual owning it, was a malleable world where one could act like a God to a certain extent. The reason why Ais was losing in the first ce was because she was usingmon sense to fight while the ck Dragon was proficient in moving about in such a world, which made it capable of moving silently and stealthily while also covering this world in his own darkness.


    So when Ais lost her strength, it was her mind that lost its power to provide strength. And with the right motivation, strength that she never knew she had all came erupting out, easily pushing the sword and crossing the gap, piercing through the ck Dragon''s heart.

 Chapter 1028 Winner

    Chapter 1028 Winner


    The ck Dragon instantly lost its strength and crumbled down to its knees. It was still alive but it could only stare at Ais with hatred and fear.


    Ais let go of her rapier and fell back on her butt as she tried to wheeze for air, ''I... won.''


    She could see the ck Dragon twitching while a ck smog was being ejected out of its wound. Ais stared at it for a while and thought, ''I was able to fulfill my revenge... But what''s this?... It feels so empty.''


    Ais couldn''t believe that she had been chasing after such a hollow victory. It''s true that she won, but she''ll never be able to get what she lost back, ''On the bright side, I didn''tpletely lose myself thanks to Loki and others. If I stayed the way I was when I was a child, I might have just killed myself after exacting this revenge.''


    After calming her breathing down, Ais stood up once again and walked towards the ck Dragon slowly. She then looked straight down to its remaining eye with her own remaining eye and I could feel the deep hatred and agony that was radiating from it, ''Why were the monsters created? Why are they trying to take over the surface? What are they fighting for?''


    Several questions emerged in Ais'' head but she didn''t have a single answer for any of it.


    Ais could pull out her rapier and decapitate the monster and she''s sure that it''d be eradicated forever. However, she couldn''t do so with the fake Aria''sst words reverberating in her head.


    Ais looked to her side and saw that ''Ophis'' was still standing still, watching her every movement, as if waiting for her decision.


    [If there''s a chance... For you... To defeat it... You can... reciprocate its action... My main body''s ability to absorb... Is not a one-way avenue... After it sets the stage, it''ll be a battle between minds and souls... The winner... Takes everything...


    [But if you... win... You''ll turn into a monster... That you hate... What you''d want to do... It''ll be... up to you... Good luck... And I love you.]


    Ais turned back to the dying Dragon and crouched down to touch its wound. The ck Dragon growled angrily but it couldn''t do anything as it''d already lost control of its own body and couldn''t feel it anymore.


    "...Hmmm... Is this how you do it?" Ais muttered and the ck smog became concentrated towards her arm and began to circte around her and covering her entire body. She also recalled Kisuke''s fight with Freya and his transformation left a longsting impression on her, ''I was scared at first, but that looked pretty cool, now that I''ve thought about it''


    The ck Dragon was able to guess what she was doing and growled even more loudly and this time, there was only a little hatred within it as it was mostly reced by fear.


    ''Ophis'' also saw what she was doing and instantly transformed into a giant snake before swallowing both Ais and the ck Dragon.


    .


    .


    .


    The Ais that''d been taken over by the ck Dragon tried to flee from the jet-ck snake but failed to do so when the snake suddenly erged itself and swallowed her whole.


    Everyone who was watching this panicked, but Serafall created a 50-meter tall wall of transparent ice that circled around her, Lysa, and the swallowed Ais, to prevent anyone from interfering.


    Some people tried shattering the ice but the most they could do is create a small nick on it that immediately regenerated soon after. And since they were getting noisy, Serafall also blocked the sound from the outside so that she could concentrate and take action whenever necessary, ''So it really happened. Now then... I wonder how this will end? I doubt Ophis'' snake would explicitly help the girl since it doesn''t have a consciousness of its own and can only move on instincts.''


    Since long ago, Serafall had been eyeing Ais with the goal of inviting her to her peerage after seeing her potential. However, her standards are preventing her from extending her hand out, and so she waited until now to see how Ais would develop, ''A cross between a Human and a Spirit, I wonder what''ll happen if she epts an Evil Piece?''


    It was also the reason why Serafall was so against someone ''saving'' Ais. She had a feeling that a gem like her would be ruined when someone took that step for her. That''s why her peerage wasn''t filled like the rest of the Devil Kings. Power is important, but she''s also looking for someone with a good character more.


    The ck snake then transformed into what seemed to be a giant ck egg and dropped straight onto the ground.


    Freya, who could see souls as long as they were within the effective range of her eyes, became dumbfounded because the snake actually blocked her view, "What was that snake?" she asked the other Deities.


    However, Loki and Zeus, who were far more sensitive in other aspects, could only stand nervously, though the former was having a better time due to her already encountering this snake in the past, ''It''s different from the snake that blocked the sky for a short moment,'' Loki thought to herself.


    Zeus had figured out that she had a slightly different reaction from him and repeated Freya''s question, but this time, directly at Loki, "What was that snake?"


    Loki scratched her head and gave a simple but definite answer, "It''s not from around here."


    Zeus'' eyes widened in shock and he immediately thought of the implications of her words and hurriedly turned his head back to Serafall''s direction, ''Could it be...? Then the reason why they are not involving themselves is...''


    A certain possibility emerged in his mind and he nervously looked up to the sky.


    Hermes was confused at his reaction, but before he could ask anything, Zeus shouted at Bell, "Bell, escort me back to Melen!"


    The urgency was obvious in his voice but Bell, taken aback, still asked, "Now?"


    "Yes! Now! We don''t have much time!"


    Bell didn''t ask anymore and hurriedly ran to Zeus and asked him to jump on his back.


    "Zeus! Where are you going!? We''re still not yet done here!" Hermes shouted at him.


    In fear of alerting the eyes in the sky, Zeus could only grit his teeth without providing any answer, "Let''s go!"


    ''I have to reach Odin and Ouranos now! If my guess is correct, it''s going to be an all-out war and the fate of everyone in the Lower World will be the least of our concerns!''

 Chapter 1029 Unexpectedly Easy

    Chapter 1029 Unexpectedly Easy


    Ignoring the confusion that Zeus had caused, Serafall finally saw some changes in the egg that she had been eyeing for thest few minutes.


    The Egg started cracking with golden light seeping through it. Those outside of the wall stopped moring to watch what was happening and a few minutester, most of the eggshell had fallen off, revealing a pair of wide golden Dragon wings that were acting as a cocoon for its owner.


    "...Did Ki-tan expect this?" Serafall loudly muttered with her lips twitching.


    Finally, the wings began retracting and folding, revealing Ais, still with Draconic limbs and scales, but now golden.


    Everyone outside of the wall, except for Freya and Loki, were dismayed and almost in despair when they saw this, but contrary to their reactions, Lysa beamed and excitedly flew over to her ''mother'' while roaring out cutely.


    Everyone from the Loki Familia cried out in fear for Lysa but they couldn''t do anything.


    Lysa caught Ais'' attention and was revealed that her golden eyes had turned reptilian too but that still didn''t impede Lysa''s flight and hurriedly buried herself within Ais'' bosom.


    Ais gently caught her and started stroking her head, "That was dangerous."


    The small Dragon, however, ignored her soft scolding and directly transformed into a little girl and hugged her, "Wee back!"


    Ais smiled softly and carried the girl in her arms, "I''m back."


    Seeing that there was already no cause for any concern, Serafall snapped her fingers, and the wall of ice crumbled down before disappearing into nothing.


    Still, everyone else was remaining silent and trying to take in what was happening in front of them.


    Naturally, the first one to step up was Loki with a big smile on her face, "How are you feeling, Ais? Any difort?"


    Ais turned to her with her usual demeanor and answered, "None. I actually feel pretty great. Did you know that I''d end up like this?"


    "Of course not. Who would expect this?" Loki shrugged her shoulders but remembered someone, "...Ah, that guy might have since it was him saying that Lysa should be by your side at all times."


    Ais smiled wryly and agreed, "That''s true... But I don''t feel like I was forced into this." Recalling that ''Ophis'' only took over as an impartial judge, she didn''t think that Kisuke was forcing her into this route, ''It was me who ultimately decided what I should do in my own life.''


    "You still don''t know anything regarding this form." Serafall approached them with a big smile on her face, "I''ll ask Ki-tan to do a full body scan to make sure that there''s nothing amiss. A Humanoid Dragon like you could have variousplications that you might not be aware of."


    Loki immediately furrowed her brows. Although Serafall was friendly and very easy to get along with as long as you don''t piss her off, Loki knew that she wouldn''t be offering something like this without an equivalent exchange. Her proposition is very tempting, especially considering Kisuke''s skills, but she just can''t agree to it, "You have something in mind?"


    "Let''s talk about itter~" Serafall replied before turning around and taking her distance. As she went through the people around, they all had awkward expressions and didn''t really know how to deal with her. Serafall ignored them and went towards the tallest standing building to survey the area, ''I can feel Ki-tan and Yoru-chan''s presence at the opposite end of Orario. What are they up to?''


    .


    .


    .


    "I-is that really you, Ais?" Finn asked when they approached.


    "Ah, captain. I''m sorry for the trouble I caused. I almost hurt everyone."


    Hearing her clear voice of reason, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya all teared up and jumped at her, "Ais!!!". Meanwhile, Filvis and the rest of the members of the Loki Familia curiously looked at her wings and scales that dotted her body and asked Ais about them.


    Hermes, on the other hand, had an unbelieving expression, "H-how is this possible?"


    Asfi looked at him with worry because this was the first time she had seen him this frustrated multiple times in such a small span of time.


    "If a miracle happened once, don''t you think it''s also possible for it to happen twice?" Freya answered him with a slight chuckle, ''This is why you Gods are too boring.''


    "How is that a miracle!? It''s obviously a result of a cause! What was that snake!?"


    Since Hermes was getting heated again, Freya ignored him and reminded everyone, "I''m sorry to rain on your parade, but we''re not done here yet."


    After the ck Dragon''s defeat, the monsters that were surging from the Dungeon had started retreating, however, that didn''t mean that the Corrupted Spirit would stay still.


    Everyone''s force and battle readiness returned to them, except for Ottar and Tsubaki.


    But before they could do anything, the remains of the Tower of Babel suddenly erupted with light beforepletely crumbling down in a following small earthquake. The almost blinding light continued to travel upwards and became as tall as the former tower. Immediately after that, two long spikes of light appeared on each side of the towering light, forming a gigantic cross across the sky.


    This overwhelming sight silenced everyone, but it didn''t end there as a giant grotesque figure made of faces mashed together letting out shrill cries started floating up from the base of the cross and was slowly lifted up to the middle of the cross.


    A ring of light as wide as the whole of Orario then appeared with the cross and the ''monster'' right in the middle and it immediately began shrinking.


    The shrill and horror-inducing cries of multiple voices amalgamated worsened but the ring kept shrinking and soon the cross too.


    As if being crushed by an immense pressure, the giant ''monster'' also started getting smaller and smaller with its various voices also weakening.


    A minuteter, the ring and cross had already disappeared and the ''monster'' waspressed inside a 3-inch translucent crystal, frozen in time.


    It was unknown when, but Riveria suddenly appeared beside it and nonchntly grabbed it before pocketing it, and what they heard next baffled everyone, "Well, that was easy."


    She then turned towards where the group was and despite the distance, Riveria still instantly saw thepletely changed Ais and the aura she was emitting, "Dragon? What happened?"

 Chapter 1030 From the Depths of the Dungeon

    Chapter 1030 From the Depths of the Dungeon


    Since there was already no point in hiding after what she''d just disyed, Riveria used sh Step several times to instantly arrive in front of Ais and everyone else before eagerly asking, "How did you acquire a Draconic Trait?"


    But including Ais, nobody could answer her. Riveria''s excitement of finding something new and intriguing temporarily blinded her to how others viewed her and it was Serafall who brought her back to her senses, "Riveria-chan, was that Sealing Magic?"


    At her moment of realization, Riveria''s face tensed up to an awkward expression, and turned to Serafall before answering, "I found out how the Corrupted Spirit... or Deity, whatever you want to call it, connected to the Dungeon. So I worked around it and severed that connection. After that, it couldn''t maintain its form and was weakened enough that a simple sealing barrier is enough to contain it. I thought Kisuke might have some use for it so I sealed it instead of eradicating it."


    "...Where did you learn Sealing Magic?" asked Serafall because even at first nce, she knew that it wasn''t simple at all.


    "I studied under Rossweisse for several years and also incorporated some of Le Fay''s Security Magic in it," Riveria answered casually. But then, she recalled something and her expression became serious while looking around, "By the way, I noticed some changes within the Dungeon, and from the timing, it was when the ck Dragon was defeated."


    Serafall''s expression also turned serious, "What changes?"


    "All of its Magic Power is funneling to the deeper floors and those were enough to leave the higher floors crumbling and monsters to stop spawning. It''s also the reason why I was able to easily sever that corrupted one''s connection to the Dungeon."


    Just like Riveria, a bad feeling surfaced in Serafall''s heart, and she couldn''t help but curse while remembering Kisuke''s grin, "That bastard. Couldn''t he give a bit more of a heads-up? Riveria-chan, just to be safe, evacuate everyone."


    Riveria nodded and started preparing Teleportation Magic for everyone but they were already toote as the Dungeon began sucking in all the avable Magic Power in the air, making the flow of energy very turbulent.


    "It''s no use! I can''t do it fast enough if I were to take the chaotic flow into the equation!" Riveria shouted, giving up constructing theplicated circle.


    "Then apply Flight Magic to everyone and bring them away to Melen. I''ll leave it to you to reinforce that area!" Serafall instructed before taking up into the sky.


    Riveria immediately followed her directions and brought everyone away despite their immense confusion. Those who were not very sensitive to the movement of Magic Power asked what was going on but nobody could give them an answer.


    Hermes, who had been quite noisy from earlier, is now silent and ring at the Dungeon hole.


    "Riveria. You can leave the Deities here. We''re at least allowed to deal with that if it ever decided toe up." Freya suddenly uttered.


    Riveria looked at the Deities and both Hephaestus and Loki have the same expression as Hermes. She thought about it for a moment, ''If whatever''s surfacing can make the Deities wield their full power without any repercussions, Kisuke wouldn''t have prepared so much and he''d have definitely used them to the fullest extent. But the fact that he''s doing all of this himself, he didn''t think of depending on them even a little bit.''


    "Is that so? But before I leave you behind, please try summoning your Divine Avatar."


    Freya looked at her doubting eyes and sighed and connected her consciousness to the Upper World. But as soon as she found her avatar, a splitting headache suddenly assaulted her, "Ughhh!!! W-what!?" Even the very calm and collected Freya was taken aback.


    The Deities that are watching her were also very surprised and tried calling upon their Divine Avatar, but the same as Freya, all they received was a head-splitting pain before the connection they were establishing was abruptly severed, "W-what''s going on!?" Hephaestus eximed. She took off her eye patch and directly looked up, only to see a ck haze that was invisible to normal eyes, covering the sky, "...Impossible."


    From her reaction, the other Deities could guess what was happening and there was really only one entity that could do this.


    Their grim expressions made Riveria sigh too since she didn''t really want to be right about this, though it was an obvious conclusion, "Let''s gather everyone first."


    Moments after they left Orario, everyone saw a world of ice suddenly nketing the whole area before the entire city was surrounded by a 100-meter-tall ck wall that emerged from the ground.


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as Riveria''s group left, Serafall could finally clearly feel the dreadful aura that wasing up from the depths of the Dungeon and thought, ''...It''s not weaker than Trihexa... How are we supposed to deal with this?''


    Shaking her head, Serafall remembered the real reason she was here, "I just have to hold it off for a minute or two, right?"


    There was no answer to her question, however, she could feel an intense activity from both Kisuke and Yoruichi''s side and guessed that they had a better way of containing it and they just needed some time to deploy it.


    "Oh well~" Serafall smiled, "It had been getting boring waiting for something to happen and I''m not exactly the passive type~"


    As she started muttering to herself, her ck hair was slowly being painted blueish-white starting from the roots. At the same time, the enormous amount of Demonic Power she possessed startedpressing itself in an extremely small space within her heart. A few secondster, the air surrounding Serafall had condensed into ice particles and became hazy.


    Right now, anyone who doesn''t have extreme resistance against the cold would have instantly been frozen the moment they came within a few meters from her, "For now... Let''s plug that entrance."


    With a wave of her hand, three meters of solid ice instantly covered the entirety of Orario. Nevertheless, it didn''t end there as her ice also filled the entire first floor all the way until the 18th floor of the Dungeon, as if they were pipes being filled with water, leaving everything that was somehow still alive, dead.


    Serafall still wanted to continue, but the moment her ice reached the 19th floor, she felt an incredible resistance and was stopped in her tracks, "I could push through, but that isn''t the goal here."


    At the same time, 100-meter tall ck walls started emerging from the ground and surrounded the whole city and Serafall received a telepathic message, [Sera-chan, just make sure it won''t be able to leave for a few minutes. Once the sealing barrier is fully deployed, we''re done here.]

 Chapter 1031 From the Depths of the Dungeon part 2

    Chapter 1031 From the Depths of the Dungeon part 2


    Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall watched as the edge of the walls closed up and while they were at it, they could also see Serafall''s ice cracking and bulging up even though she was continuously supplying the ice sheet with her Demonic Power, "How are we supposed to fight that thing? From the looks of it, it could be harder to deal with than Trihexa and we''re just three people right now."


    "As we are now, we don''t really have a way to fight that thing head-on." Kisuke replied, "But we''ve got so much head start that it''s actually really easy to deal with it."


    Yoruichi looked at him and asked, "But the fact that we''re dying this means we have other problems? Aside from the guy above us, what else?"


    "Of course. And that''s everyone in this world." Kisuke didn''t exin it further and took out two bottles containing 1 liter of a red translucent liquid, "We have three days, please spread this throughout the entire world."


    Serafall''s state returned to normal and she inspected the bottle before turning her head to Yoruichi who did the same, "Couldn''t we have done this earlier?"


    "It would have been detected." Kisuke answered and grinned, "Thankfully, that guy above is doing us a great favor by blocking the Deities'' senses. There''s no better time for it than now~"


    "So you never trusted any of them," Yoruichi murmured while keeping the bottle.


    "I did give Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama the antidote so they''re safe. And it''s not like it''ll kill most of them since it''s pretty easy to nullify it."


    "Then what''s the point?"


    "Just in case, it''s rat poison."


    .


    .


    .


    With Riveria''s protection, arge barrier was erected covering the entirety of Melen. But despite most of the monsters being eliminated, the atmosphere was a lot heavierpared to the monster''s siege from a day ago and all of the Deities present in the vicinity were gathered in onerge hall that was hurriedly built to amodate everyone.


    All of the mortals were not allowed to enter the hall but everyone could hear the intense shouting and argument within it and they were worried that it could devolve into arge brawl soon.


    Not far from the hall was the Loki Familia quarters and everyone was gathered around the two main characters that had a lot of exining to do, Ais, who''d returned to her normal human form and Riveria.


    Riveria wanted to interview Ais herself but it seems she could escape from the spotlight, "So what do you want to know?"


    Gareth immediately stepped out and sat in front and red at her, "Why did you lie?"


    Riveria looked straight into his eyes and instead of anger like he let on, there was only frustration within, "As much as I''d like to tell you the truth, there was the important context that would be missing so the only reasonable number I could give is Level 6 or 7 with a minimal blessing from Loki. You wouldn''t have believed me if I said I''m suddenly stronger than all of you despite being a Level 1, would you?"


    Everyone looked around to see everyone else''s reaction and found that nobody could deny that. But despite her very short and iplete exnation, the frustration in Gareth''s eyes left him and a smile emerged on his face, "That''s true. But I guess that would mean I''ve lost our bet."


    Riveria was a bit surprised but immediately thought that this is his normal reaction, "Drinks are on you then." Although they bickered most of the time, Riveria feels much closer to Gareth than Finn. And seeing how he''s the most epting one with her rather nd exnation even if he''s the most frustrated one, she couldn''t help but smile too.


    "Do you mind telling us what this missing context is?" Finn pushed the conversation forward. When he heard that Denatus was not going well despite defeating thest Great Quest and the Corrupted Spirit, he guessed there was something else much worse lurking within the depths of the Dungeon and he needed more information of any kind now to draw out even a bit of conclusion.


    "Sadly, even if I exined it, it''d be hard for you to understand. After all, everyone''s memories here are sealed."


    "...Sealed?"


    Riveria nodded but before she could continue, Ais started muttering names, "Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin, Serafall Leviathan, Sona Sitri, Medusa, Kuroka Toujou, Shirone Toujo, and Aika Kiryuu."


    Riveria turned to her and asked, "The seal was lifted?"


    "When I was fighting the ck Dragon. I don''t know how it happened but I just suddenly recalled them."


    Finn burrowed his brows and murmured, "Kisuke Urahara? You mean that man that came with Riveria?"


    But before Riveria could give an answer, an uninvited guest interrupted them, "Did someone call for me~?"


    Since everyone was too focused on the conversation, Kisuke who appeared out of nowhere almost gave them a heart attack and some even hurriedly pulled out their weapons.


    "Woah~ Chill. I heard my name so I came." Kisuke raised both of his hands in surrender.


    Finn looked around and could see from everyone''s expression that not one of them was able to tell that he was already behind them, ''If Riveria lied about her abilities, chances are he did too and he''s probably on the same level as that mysterious Serafall.''


    Riveria knew that it wouldn''t end well if Kisuke started taunting them again so she immediately asked, "Why are you here? Shouldn''t you be in the Denatus?"


    "I nned to, but I don''t really want to be grilled alone. I feel like I''d lose my marbles just talking to those prideful shitheads that can''t ept that someone is better than them."


    Riveria chuckled at him since she could clearly feel his unenthusiasm, "Are you talking about Hermes?"


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I just hate the know-it-all people who can''t ept it when they are wrong. Anyways, you''reing with me."


    "Can I refuse?"


    "Nope~!"


    While Riveria was sighing in defeat, Kisuke''s eyes inadvertentlynded on Ais, who in turn was also staring at him intently, "I''m d to see that you''re doing well, Wallenstein-san."


    Ais was startled that she was unexpectedly addressed. She thought for sure that he was going to ignore her, "It''s thanks to you. Thank you."


    "I only gave you a choice. It was up to you where your feet would take you. As long as you don''t regret it, I could say that I fulfilled my promise to... well, could you call her your mother?"


    Without hesitation, Ais answered, "She was my mother."


    "I see. That''s great then." Kisuke then grabbed the hand of the grumbling Riveria and was about to leave when he suddenly recalled something and turned back, "Ah, Line-san. Get ready. You''ll be our backup."


    "Y-yes!"

 Chapter 1032 From the Depths of the Dungeon part 3

    Chapter 1032 From the Depths of the Dungeon part 3


    When Kisuke called Line out, Riveria hurriedly turned her head back to look for her and found her at the very back of everyone, ''I-I forgot about her!''


    The restriction within her eyes eased up and she looked closely at Line, only to discover that she wasn''t Human anymore with the presence of Demonic Power and a pair of Pawn Evil Pieces, "Since when?"


    Line knew that her question was directed at her and answered, "F-Five years ago."


    Kisuke, however, continued dragging Riveria while saying, "You''ll be in charge of her protectionter so you can ask your questions then."


    As the wind blew, both of them disappeared from everyone''s sight. A few secondster, Finn and Gareth recovered and hurriedly turned to Line but she too, had disappeared. She escaped knowing that she''d be interrogated next, "...What the heck is wrong with these people?" Gareth inadvertently asked.


    .


    .


    .


    "Are you alright with not lifting the seal on your children?" Freya asked Loki who was sitting beside her.


    Loki lifted her legs and ced them on the table in front of her while leaning back on her arms, "It''s fine. It looks like it''ll be better for them to figure things out on their own. And who knows? Maybe another one or two of them can break it on their own? He or she would be another irregr and that would be great."


    Freya touched her chin and thought about it, "Maybe I should have opted for that too... In any case, the children won''t have to do anything else aside from survive from here on out."


    "Oh? You''re thinking of the same thing? Then we might as well cooperate." Loki chuckled, "How about we escape this ce and just hide somewhere until this is all over?"


    Another one beside Freya also joined in, "Count me in. I don''t really care what happens to me but I can''t let my children be exposed to this unreasonable danger."


    Freya turned her head to Hephaestus and asked, "You think they''ll allow you? They are at least hoping to call down their Divine Weapons and you''re one of the Deities who has the highest chance of making that happen."


    Hephaestus sneered, "Divine Weapons? With their current bodies? Might as well just send them back up myself. Less effort and trouble." She then looked at the faintly glowing talisman in Freya''s hand, "On a side note, that''s a really convenient item. Give me one of those."


    Right now, Hephaestus, Freya, and Loki are in the middle of all the Deities that are attending the emergency Denatus and being interrogated due to their close rtionship with Kisuke''s group, who had stopped the entity from surfacing. Sadly, even with their ''close'' rtionship, they don''t really know much and they were sure that no one would listen to them anyways.


    Without much choice, Freya whipped out the talisman that she received from Yoruichi some time ago to erect a physical barrier that also blocked the sound. So no matter how much the impatient Deities banged on and shouted at the invisible wall, the three of them could hear nothing, granting them some peace, "Couldn''t you just use your charm to make them go away? Although it was funny at first, their angry faces are now annoying me."


    Freya shrugged her shoulders, "As much as I want to, I can''t. They''re too emotional to be affected by the limited charm I have. By the way, where are the chief Gods? Shouldn''t they be calming this crowd?"


    "They''re in a separate room and haven''te out ever since issuing amand to gather all the Deities they could." Loki answered while yawning, "They probably have a better idea of what''s happening and are thinking of some countermeasures."


    "The real question is if what they are cooking up coincides with what Hestia and Artemis'' children are cooking up. It''d be a real mess if both sides want different things. And it doesn''t really help that the two of them really don''t want to attend this gathering." Hephaestus added.


    At her words, Loki shuddered, "Why the heck would they attend this wolf-filled meeting? Even bones wouldn''t be left behind. If that were to transpire, we''d have to worry about Kisuke killing all of us before that thing in the Dungeon could swallow the whole world."


    "Oh~ and speak of the devil." Freya suddenly muttered while looking at the entrance to the hall.


    Hephaestus and Loki also looked over and despite the barrier covering them, they still heard his annoyingly casual greeting, "Good day to the Deities of the Upper World. It looks like you''re all having fun~! Care for me and mypanion to join?"


    A moment of silence descended on the already chaotic scene and Kisuke''s appearance added fuel to the keg full of gunpowder. Freya looked at the talisman in her hand and deactivated it, ''This won''t be needed.''


    A few secondster, the previous liveliness returned and more with some of the Deities jumping out of their seats and rushing toward the neers.


    But before they could approach a dreadful aura suddenly stopped them in their tracks and made them freeze in fear that most of them haven''t even felt before.


    Their eyes that were stuck on Kisuke were stolen by the Elf releasing the aura of the True Longinus, whose true purpose is ying Gods. Although Riveria could only copy the aura that it releases and not its actual ability, she thought it wasn''t that big of a deal and only that it could be convenient to have something that could catch a being with Divinity off guard, even if only for a few seconds.


    While that''s true in the other world, that didn''t trante very well in this world where Longinus-ss weapons simply don''t exist. Although Divine Weapons exist in the hands of each Deity, there''s simply nothing like a weapon that directly spits on their Divinity and instantly vaporizes weaker Gods.


    And Kisuke, who was well aware of this, ''forgot'' to mention this important bit to Riveria, ''Such amusing expressions~! I should have made some rubber duckies that explode with this kind of aura to randomly toss at the annoying Gods.''


    The Deities started backing away from the duo and even Loki, Hephaestus, and Freya who were watching from afar were clenching their fists tightly from nervousness, to the point that their nails had already started digging into their palms, making them bleed.


    "That''s a terrifying aura you''re exuding, youngdy." From the inner room, three old men emerged and Zeus with a difficult expression continued, "Let''s talk this out instead of threatening each other."

 Chapter 1033 From the Depths of the Dungeon part 4

    Chapter 1033 From the Depths of the Dungeon part 4


    "Talk?" Out of nowhere a white paper fan appeared in Kisuke''s hand and he covered his sneer with it, "I don''t really want to hear that from the people who started the threatening and lost when someone did it better than them."


    Another silence covered the hall as Zeus couldn''t really say anything back that could defend his position. It''s true that the Gods were just about to use their position as Deities to get close to Kisuke and even get physical, betting on their ''immunity'' within the Lower World. But if he denies that, it''d only hurt his pride.


    ''I want to properly sit down and talk to him but it looks like that''s already impossible as of now...'' Zeus sighed as he looked around the disgruntled and angry Gods that kept their distance from these ''mortals'', "Tell us what you want to happen."


    Kisuke closed his fan and answered, "Nothing. I want you guys not to involve yourselves in the uing battle."


    Zeus and the other Deities'' eyes widened in surprise, "You''re nning to fight that thing? How are you going to achieve that?"


    The other Deities wanted to say that it was impossible for him but with Riveria radiating a horrifying aura and Ouranos and Odin keeping an eye on them, they didn''t dare interrupt the conversation.


    "That''s not important. Regardless of the results, you''ll do what you have to do. I just want some space in three days. Meanwhile, you can do whatever you want outside of that and I won''t be getting involved."


    Zeus stayed quiet for a few seconds before replying, "We can do that, but I can only speak for myself and a few others. What will happen if a Deity interrupts you? As much as I''d like to say otherwise, we''re not a single group and bad actors that just want to mess with everything are abundant."


    Kisuke''s smile widened but it wasced with killing intent, "No problem~! Everyone who approaches is going to be killed. If those guys wanna bet if I can get cursed or not are very much wee to try, but they''ll also have to consider the fact that they might not return to Heaven like they are expecting if they were to die."


    His matching words and killing intent shook every God in the room to the point that even Zeus wasn''t able to speak immediately.


    Since he was done with his warning, Kisuke didn''t need to say anything more and turned around to leave. Riveria also followed him out and didn''t stop emitting the aura until they exited the building.


    The two of them then simultaneously disappeared when they used sh Step to avoid any further pursuers.


    "The Holy Spear''s aura was a lot more effective than I thought. I was sure that they''d have angrily jumped at us once they got used to it." Riveriamented while traveling with Kisuke.


    "They just got scared of something unknown. Those Gods almost know everything in existence due to the virtue of their long lives so they must have been pretty shocked when ced under that kind of pressure." Kisuke then turned the chat in another direction, "Although I warned them from approaching, I''m sure that a few of them won''t care ande closer. I don''t want any of them to die, at least not for now, so I''d like you to block them."


    "I''m not joining the three of you?"


    "You''ll be helpful, but I already nned out what''s going to happen so I''m sticking to that. But be ready for our call anytime we decide to get your assistance."


    .


    .


    .


    Three dayster, Kisuke, Serafall, and Yoruichi were standing at the south side of Orario that''s covered by a ck wall that was already full of cracks and was about to break.


    There were no other living beings within the 100-kilometer vicinity, with animals moving away due to the threatening aura of death emanating from the ck walls and the Mercenaries and Adventurers evacuating further away.


    Even then, the three of them could feel countless eyes pinned on them, "It looks like they still managed to use that monitoring system of theirs." Yoruichi muttered while feeling extremely ufortable.


    "I could block it, but it''s a good source of info from our side too."


    "It''s fine. The mild annoyance will disappear once we focus."


    Soon after, the cracks became worse and ck mud started seeping out from them. Kisuke immediately approached the ck mud and hurriedly sampled it, ''What''s this? A collection of organic matter? But it doesn''t contain any Magic Power, Ki, nor Spiritual Power.''


    Finally, the walls failed and Kisuke stopped the supply of Magic Power flowing through it, causing it to disintegrate into nothingness and letting the flood of ck mud flow. Kisuke, Serafall, and Yoruichi tried finding their target but failed to even get a glimpse of it with only the ck mud uncontrobly spreading out and originating from the hole of the Dungeon and swallowing everything in its path.


    Serafall felt weird while watching this mud because it seems to be familiar to her.


    It wasn''t until the ck mud had already flooded and covered more than 30 kilometers in radius from the Dungeon that Serafall realized what it was, "Ah! That''s a medium!"


    Yoruichi turned to her and asked, "Medium? What type?"


    "It''s simr to when I construct ice that I use for instant teleportation."


    Serafall didn''t have time to exin more because something had begun emerging from the center of the ck flood. That something slowly rose up from the mud, starting from its head that had a pair of enormous curling horns following its light blue hair, pale white skin, and pink eyes with star shaped-pupils on a very beautiful face.


    Soon, a 50-meter-tall woman was floating on top of the flood and staring at the trio. As if rewriting the reality they were in, it became clear to Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall despite knowing almost nothing about it. It appears as a woman with light blue hair d in leg and arm restraints, with features that represent the,rge horns that symbolize thend, and eyes that reflect the inner sea of the.


    Kisuke who wanted to lighten the mood could only make a stiff smile while muttering, "I already expected this, but this is really going to be difficult."


    Before they could do anything, the gigantic woman opened her mouth and released a shrill scream. The deafening voice immediately traveled thousands of kilometers away in all directions, but that was not what concerned the three.


    "The Magic Power and Ki in the atmosphere have stagnated..." Serafallmented.


    "On top of the power difference, we''ll fight with limited batteries too, huh..."

 Chapter 1034 Tiamat

    Chapter 1034 Tiamat


    The shrill cry didn''t just freeze the flow of energy in the surroundings, but also ttened everything that was still standing and hadn''t been swallowed by the ck mud.


    After a few seconds, the giant woman''s pink eyes stared directly at the group, and more specifically, at Kisuke.


    A cold wind swept through Kisuke''s spine and the hairs on his arm stood up, "!?"


    He immediately dodged to the side and at the same time, the giant woman''s eye lit up for a brief moment before an invisible projectile pierced through the air and went through the ce Kisuke was just standing in.


    But the moment he dodged, it was also when he realized his mistake and yelled, "Riveria!"


    Arge explosion urred at a far out distance. Thankfully, after a few seconds, Kisuke got a reply, [...We''re fine. But that pierced through severalyers of my barrier. Line is already ''healing'' the damaged parts of the barrier and should be up again within a minute or two. However, we won''t be able to take it if there''s a barrage of them, considering how effortlessly she fired something like that.]


    While listening to her report, the trio noticed that the giant woman was slowly moving towards the direction of the camp where the concentration of Deities is located, "...Prepare the Teleportation Magic. I''ll give you a signal when to move out."


    [Understood.]


    "Kisuke, look," Yoruichi called his attention and pointed her finger below them.


    Kisuke looked down and saw a carcass of an animal that wasn''t able to get away in time got swallowed by the ck mud. But a momentter, the submerged carcass floated up on the surface of the mud and started moving again as if it returned to life.


    "Resurrection?" Serafall asked, but Kisuke shook his head after a few seconds of observation, "It''s more akin to corruption."


    Kisuke then secretly brought out a token that transfers sound mentally and asked Serafall and Yoruichi to connect to it. The token is connected to a ''virus'' that Kisuke imnted among thework of Deities that uses the same connection as their monitoring system so they would be able to listen to what they were saying if they were watching this battle.


    [Just what is that thing?] This is the mostmon question from the Deities.


    ''They don''t know?'' Kisuke asked himself, ''Yet they won''t fight against it? Looks like Chaos has more control over the Deities than I expected.''


    "So anything we should know about her?" Yoruichi asked.


    Kisuke stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Tiamat. That''s her name and the only thing I know about her."


    Serafall released her Demonic Power, "Tiamat, huh... I know names have some sort of strange power over the Worlds, but should we expect some Draconic aspect from her?"


    "...I don''t know. But those horns have a wisp of what seems to be a Draconic Aura. Just be careful since anything coulde out of her. Lastly, follow the n of forcing her back down." Kisuke''s hair grew longer and a pair of angr horns sprouted on his head with his turning to that of a Hollow.


    "Allow me to do the opening act.", Yoruichi pulled out her dagger and pointed it towards Tiamat, "Bankai."


    A mass of Spiritual Power exploded out from Yoruichi that pushed both Kisuke and Serafall to the side. The tie that was holding up her hair instantly disintegrated and as her hair swayed in the air, it slowly turned white while also leaving behind streaks of her ck hair. Yoruichi''s feline eyes glowed golden and her dagger became thin and transparent.


    With a sh of a lightning, Yoruichi disappeared and reappeared on top of the towering Tiamat and brought her dagger down on top of her head, "Rend."


    In an instant, a thin line was drawn from the sky to the ground with Tiamat in the middle of it. A split secondter, the air began to escape through this thin line before it disappeared three secondster. Yoruichi had split open the space, separating everything that was holding it together.


    But even after an attack that could technically cut everything, Yoruichi could only mutter, "Seriously?" Physically separating bonds between matter didn''t do anything to the monstrous being in front of them, "And that should have been fatal for most."


    Despite not doing anything, Tiamat still saw Yoruichi as a threat and turned her head toward her before opening her mouth. Immediately after, a ball of red light started gathering in her mouth and made Yoruichi shudder.


    Yoruichi tried escaping through teleportation but found the space around her solidifying. She could easily break it but she wouldn''t have enough time for that. She then tried physically running away with sh Step which had the same problem. She could still escape through other methods but that would require sacrificing an arm or a leg.


    "I''ve got you." She heard behind her and she didn''t have to turn around to figure out that she was safe now and just had to brace for impact.


    A st of red energy ejected out of Tiamat''s mouth and matching that, a pitch-ck ray of light came from behind Yoruichi to meet the opposing force.


    The ck and red rays instantly met and created a blinding white light for a second before a massive fiery explosion urred, spreading outward as if a gigantic bomb had gone off midair.


    Yoruichi gritted her teeth to endure the shockwave and heat as the restrictions around her were broken and she teleported away. When she got out, she was already beside Serafall, who had also escaped the range of the explosion and saw the small sun the collision of attack generated. As there was almost nothing to burn, there was no smoke and just a ball of superheated air continually expanding.


    Beyond the ck mud, the trees that had been felled by the shrill scream were instantly incinerated by the hot air, creating a hell-likendscape.


    Soon the light that engulfed the scene was snuffed out, revealing Tiamat with slightly cracked horns and Kisuke''s slightly tattered shihakushou. The former, however, had already begun to heal from any damages she received.


    "Well, it''s good to know that she''s not immune to physical trauma." Serafallmented, "Although it seems like you''re a bad match against her."


    "...If I can''t cut her, I''ll just bash her skull in.", answered Yoruichi.

 Chapter 1035 Tiamat part 2

    Chapter 1035 Tiamat part 2


    Hermes, like most of the Gods, couldn''t believe what he was seeing. An attack that was as strong as some Divine Weapons, was unleashed and was met by an equal force. But on top of that, those attacks were released with rtive ease from both parties.


    "Loki... Just what sort of being is that man?" Hermes asked while watching the standoff between Tiamat and the Hollowfied Kisuke.


    Loki just shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows? What I''m sure of is that he''s not a God."


    Naturally, all the Gods present didn''t know of any beings that were stronger than them, so Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall''s existences were an enigma to them as they considered their ''Father'' and the being of Dungeon of Divine descent.


    Zeus peeked at the other Chief Gods that were with him right now and used a bit of his ability to connect their minds, [Our guess of him being Chaos'' agent is mostly confirmed at this point. I just didn''t expect that it wasn''t a Deity.]


    [It doesn''t change what we have to do. Were you able to contact the others?] Odin continued staring at the screen while stroking his beard.


    [No. Whether they have a n of their own or are just watching the situation unfold for now, I also don''t know. It''s also hard to guess which side they''re going to take if this situation devolves any further.], Zeus then turned his eyes at Ouranos, [What about you? Were you able to separate the ''good'' and the ''bad'' ones?]


    Ouranos stayed silent for a moment before replying, [I was, but I''m not a hundred percent sure. And even if I am, we can''t move against them with our Avatars sealed. It seems that Chaos was able to see through our little ploy and made some adjustments to his n.]


    [So what do we do about these agents?] Odin suddenly asked. As they are one of the only remaining few that still remember Tiamat, they were betting that her power would be enough to thwart Chaos'' agents. However, even though Tiamat seems to have the advantage, they aren''t sure if she''ll be able to hold on against these people who seem to know how to deal with her, [Tiamat can''t be defeated... Or else, Chaos will be able to descend.]


    Unbeknownst to them, Riveria was staring at them and intercepting theirmunications while also rying everything to Kisuke.


    [I see. So they don''t want Chaos toe down here and Tiamat''s presence is what''s stopping him. For what reason, I wonder?]


    [Why can''t Chaos descend or why don''t they want him down here?]


    [Both. Either way, it''s clear that the other Chief Gods who seem to remember Tiamat don''t have the same opinion as these three. When the time is right, please make contact with Zeus-san.]


    [Leave it to me.]


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke and Tiamat stared at each other while the hellscape that was created was being washed away by Serafall''s Ice Magic and the dense smoke that came from the burning matter being blown away by Yoruichi''s Wind Magic.


    Kisuke then pulled the de out from his cane and it instantly changed into a sword with a t end. At the same time, five drums made out of his bloody aura materialized behind him with three of them ''opened'', "Scream, Benihime!"


    A red sword arc zed with golden energy was sent towards Tiamat and she responded with multiple Magic Circles appearing everywhere on her giant body, creating a strangework of barriers that covered her whole body.


    The sword arc erged itself as it traveled and became as big as Tiamat when it was about to hit. With a loud explosion that was only slightly weaker than the first sh, the arc mmed against the barrier, cracking it. But that''s about it.


    Nevertheless, it wasn''t for naught since the main purpose of his attack just now was to feel her out, [She''s mostly stationary so most of her attacks will be Magic in nature. Her barrier is also very powerful due to it automatically strengthening the part where the most pressure is. Yoruichi, let''s attack her from opposite sides. Serafall, continue containing her domain''s expansion and if possible, freeze that ck mud entirely.]


    With a bit of strategy finally on the table, the three of them immediately moved with Kisuke initiating the attack once again by gathering Cero on the tip of his de andbining it with Benihime''s natural ability. With a swing of his sword, another sword arc emerged, but this time, much smaller and sharper.


    Tiamat''s eyes widened slightly at the sight of this and increased the durability of her barrier while also conjuring hundreds of Magic Circles several kilometers on top of their heads.


    Kisuke ignored the threat that wasing from above and kept strengthening his attack. The sword arc mmed against the barrier once again and on this round, there was no explosion with two forces just intensely vibrating and sending out small shockwaves. Kisuke could see that energy behind the barrier was being concentrated on the point of contact.


    At the same time, Yoruichi was able to sneak behind Tiamat, "Shunko! Raijin Senkei!"


    With her Bankai still activated, Yoruichi used the added strength and speed of her Shunko to swing the thin de in her hand that was almost a million tonnes heavy, "Grrr!!!" Yoruichi gritted her teeth and felt like her arms were about to be ripped off since the influence of gravity didn''t just stay on the dagger.


    Thankfully, a second within this state was enough for her to m the heaviest de known in the world onto Tiamat''s barrier and manage to crack it instantly.


    The pure physical attack was able to instantly smash through the weakest part of the barrier and the cascading copse extended to the other side of the barrier where it was stopping Kisuke''s attack.


    Kisuke used this chance to pour more power behind his attack while alsomunicating to the girls, [Don''t worry about me. Just get out of range. I''ll be fine.]

 Chapter 1036 Tiamat part 3

    Chapter 1036 Tiamat part 3


    Kisuke''s whistling sword arc smashed through the barrier and instantly reached Tiamat, causing it to immediately sink into her skin from her right shoulder to her left nk.


    But at the same time, a bombardment from the sky came down hard and there was no space for Kisuke to dodge. As if multiple high-yield bombs exploded at the same time, the world instantly lit up in blinding light.


    Yoruichi and Serafall who escaped the range of Tiamat''s attack first immediately looked back while thinking it''d be hard for them to survive this sort of destructive attack. Although both of them were capable of very destructive attacks themselves, it''s not the same story for their defenses.


    Serafall swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked nervously, "He''ll be able to survive that, right?"


    Worry couldn''t escape Yoruichi but she still reassured her, "Unless it''s instant disintegration, he won''t die that easily."


    The blinding light ceased and the world instantly darkened due to their eyes still not being able to adjust. However, they could still see what was happening despite the poor visibility that a white shadow was flying around Tiamat who seems to have transformed.


    With red lines running along her entire body, Tiamat grew another two pairs of giant horns on her back that seemed to act as her wings as she started floating above her ck mud. She also grew a Dragon''s tail behind her and her entire lower body transformed into that of Draconic too. Thankfully, even though her shackled arms had been released from her neck, her left arm was already missing and there was a long cut across her entire body that didn''t seem to be healing.


    The white shadow, on the other hand, was attacking Tiamat from various angles with his sword that was being held by his remaining arm. Kisuke looked like an injured small bird flying around Tiamat.


    "He can''t heal himself?" Serafall asked. Aside from the missing right arm, his left leg was also nowhere in sight along with one of her horns and the multiplecerations on his entire body.


    Yoruichi''s heart sank when she saw this and hurriedly turned to Serafall, "Serafall! The ck mud! That''s the source of Tiamat''s authority over this space! We have to take back control!"


    Serafall looked down and saw that the ck mud had already expanded yet again. There''s supposed to be arge and deep crater because of the earlier explosion but it only still looks like a slightly wavy sea.


    Serafall took a deep breath and said, "I probably won''t be able to do anything if I start contesting that."


    Yoruichi knew what she meant. Since it could reanimate the dead, there''s probably going to be a resistive force. She worried about Kisuke being all alone but what was important right now is to break Tiamat''s field advantage, "Alright. I''ll protect you."


    Serafall closed her eyes and her ten Devil wings turned to dust.


    Yoruichi''s eyes widened because this was the first time she had done this, ''But why? Their wings are their pride.''


    Serafall''s transformation didn''t just stop there as her white hair grew longer until it reached her feet and a blue and white glistening robe materialized around her body. Soon a crown of ice that looked like a halo with multiple rays around appeared floating above her head. Along with that, severalrge rings also appeared behind her with twelve de-like icicles connecting them.


    Serafall finally opened her eyes and her former blue eyes had turned purple, giving a contrast to her overall appearance.


    Demonic Power exploded from her and it almost physically materialized when she swung her right arm at the same time. In an instant, mountains of ice ''sprouted'' all around the ck mud, forming a gigantic blooming flower that spanned several kilometers. Immediately after, these petals the size of mountains started encroaching upon the ck mud and freezing it, which was equivalent to Serafall freezing and halting Tiamat''s authority itself.


    Though despite the intense cold that the ice was releasing, Yoruichi didn''t feel any of that.


    Tiamat immediately noticed this and ignored Kisuke for a while to release a shrill scream. But instead of controlling the energies around them, it was a call for help.


    Eleven spots on the ck mud began bubbling and eleven ck, humanoid, winged beings with a single horizontal mouth full of omnivorous teeth for their heads emerged.


    Yoruichi prepared herself as this was the resistance that she was already expecting. What she was not expecting however was their creepy echoingugh and sudden eleration several times the speed of sound and them instantly surrounding her and Serafall.


    Yoruichi saw their tentacles-like limbs go rigid and be sharp des that all aimed at Serafall, "No you don''t!"


    Yoruichi turned into a sh of lightning and went through all of Tiamat''s spawns, cutting through their abdomens and necks before sting them away. Naturally, Yoruichi knew that it wouldn''t be that easy and she was right when she saw them regenerating and reconnecting the cut parts.


    "This won''t be easy, huh?" Yoruichi muttered while remembering the moment when these humanoid beings'' des were about tond on Serafall but thetter didn''t even move a muscle and just focused on her task, ''That trust is heavy... But it''s something I''m willing to carry.''


    .


    .


    .


    As Yoruichi and Serafall have guessed, Kisuke''s regeneration was severely suppressed and the only thing he could do right now was to heal small wounds and close the big ones. Nevertheless, he wasn''t too concerned with his injuries since it was something he''d already taken into ount when he decided to go for mutual destruction, ''The wound I inflicted on her is still a lot worse than my current wounds.''


    With the ''poison'' he embedded within his attack, it''d be hard for Tiamat to physically recover, ''Well then... It''s a shame that Sera-tan had to reveal her cards this early, but I only have to wait until the ''poison'' fully takes effect and finish this in one go.''


    Kisuke looked into Tiamat''s eyes and although there was no emotion behind them, he could tell that she was ready, ''Time to cast the biggest bait in history!'' To avoid revealing anything he was nning to do, Kisuke didn''t tell anyone, including Yoruichi and Serafall, what sort of deal he signed with Tiamat.


    ''First step, fulfilling the contract of killing Tiamat.''

 Chapter 1037 Tiamat part 4

    Chapter 1037 Tiamat part 4


    Although the eleven spawns of Tiamat only had physical abilities, each one of them is at least on a battle-oriented God level. But the worst part about them was their unpredictability due to their freely transforming body and durability that seems to stem from the ck mud below them.


    Kisuke saw that Yoruichi was having trouble against them to the point that she had already taken several hits that caused injuries since she also had to defend Serafall. However, he couldn''t help them. Even though he''d struck a deal with Tiamat beforehand, to avoid any suspicion from Chaos, both of them were going at each other''s throat for real and even if Kisuke were to die at Tiamat''s hand, thetter would only consider that the deal had fallen apart.


    Kisuke took some distance from Tiamat and kept firing his high-powered Ceros, causing massive explosions on each hit, but Tiamat''s natural defenses had strengthened further after her transformation.


    As a form of retaliation, Tiamat would have her now freed arms cause various phenomena like Kisuke''s arm suddenly catching on fire or the space around him solidifying for a second or two. He was fascinated and wanted to figure out how she''s doing this because there was no rhyme or reason for these abilities. In other words, there was no logic behind her ''Magic'' that he could find as it would just spontaneously happen without any regard to the cause and effect.


    ''If I were to categorize it, it''s in the realm of ''Creation''.'' Kisuke thought while dodging the expanding air within his chest and the invisible de that nicked the side of his neck.


    Since all he has to do is to wait, Kisuke''s only focus was to understand Tiamat''s abilities while also keeping her attention only on him since any attacks from her to Yoruichi could spell fatal for thetter.


    .


    .


    .


    Zeus, Odin, and Ouranos were discretely trying to get away with Fels'' help and they soon reached a dense forest. But as soon as they entered the forest, two people came into view.


    "Yo~ Three old men and an old skeleton. Where are you going?"


    "Loki," Zeus muttered and also saw Riveria behind her.


    "Are you nning to sneak in?" Loki asked another question, but instead of the casual demeanor from earlier, there was a threatening aura manifesting around her now, "You''ve got a death wish?"


    Odin stepped forward and said, "Move aside Loki. Tiamat mustn''t die."


    "Tiamat. Is that her name? What do you guys know?"


    "It doesn''t matter. What''s important is that Tiamat cannot disappear from this world." Odin didn''tply and his fellow Gods also didn''t give an answer.


    Loki''s narrow eyes opened and there was obvious fury within them, "Even if it means letting that giantdyy waste to the entire Lower World?"


    The three of them became quiet for a few moments before Ouranos stepped out and said, "We could safeguard the souls of the children back to Heaven. And within a few millennia, life could start within the Lower World once again."


    "Stop messing with me!!!" Loki yelled at them, "Who are you to decide that!?"


    Zeus sighed, "Like how you and Freya sealed your children''s memories, it was also the same for the Gods. It''s hard to exin since those who were able to recover from this seal were bound by a curse of ''silence''. If you want to know more, escape the seal first."


    "W-what?" Loki was stunned and even Riveria behind her was surprised.


    "You heard me. Everything you know about this world''s inception was a sham." Zeus added.


    Concerned, Odin grabbed Zeus'' shoulder, "Zeus... Any more and the curse will re up."


    Riveria pulled that silenced Loki to the side and spoke up, "Then what do you n to do, Lord Zeus? Are you nning to stop Kisuke and the others with your Divine Avatar sealed?"


    Zeus reassured hisrade before answering, "Since we have a way of escaping the seal, don''t you think we also have a way to go over the current restriction?" And as soon as he finished speaking, streaks of lightning started shing in and out of his body.


    At the same time, Odin and Ouranos looked at each and sighed while shaking their heads with wry smiles on their faces. Soon after Zeus, Odin''s thin body began to bulk up and an incredible heat started emitting from him. Although not as affluent, the air around Ouranos grew heavy to the point that no normal person would be able to breathe around him.


    "...You guys..." Loki muttered with an unbelieving expression, "You''re already in your Divine Avatars!"


    "Even if it means destroying ourselves, we can''t let Tiamat disappear no matter how low of a chance that is." Zeus added and looked towards Riveria, "Are you going to stop us?"


    "Yes." Riveria nodded before turning around to the ongoing battle, "Is what I''d like to say. But it''s already over."


    Zeus, Odin, and Ouranos were shocked at her words and hurriedly conjured a floating screen, only to see five 100-meter tall stone pirs that were connected to each other via chains on top, surrounding Tiamat.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke dodged a st of the high-energy beam and finally saw Tiamat''s forehead cracking, ''It''s the time!''


    Tiamat also noticed the crack and knew that she wasn''t hit by any attack on it. In fact, Kisuke avoided attacking her head for some unknown reason so she had no idea what the crack represented.


    Kisuke looked down and saw that the ice had already controlled the majority of the ck mud and thought, ''Thanks to that, this will be a lot easier. Just like we''ve nned. I''m leaving the rest to you, Benihime.''


    Kisuke immediately threw his sword towards a certain spot and Benihime was instantly submerged in the ck mud. Thanks to Serafall''s ice, however, Tiamat''s authority over this space had weakened and it became a lot safer for Benihime to traverse the chaotic and corrupting ck mud.


    A few secondster, the spot where Benihime disappeared briefly lit up before five towering stone pirs connected by a chain emerged from the mud and surrounded Tiamat.


    Tiamat didn''t know what was going on but she knew that those stone pirs were not good for her and decided to destroy them. However, before she could gather enough power, a suppressive andpressing force suddenly came smashing at her from all sides, causing her whole body to contract and be immovable.


    She tried to struggle bymanding the energies around her but that too was instantly suppressed within the space of the stone pirs.


    Naturally, Benihime, who took control of the formations that Kisuke had left in Orario, wouldn''t give her a chance and immediately activated the second phase of the seal as hundreds of half meter wide white cloths emerged from the mud and started wrapping around Tiamat''s whole body.

 Chapter 1038 Tiamat part 5

    Chapter 1038 Tiamat part 5


    Tiamat tried to get away and destroy the hundreds of strange white cloths that were wrapping around her as she immediately noticed that it was sealing her power. However, it was all for naught as the seal had been designed specifically for her after Kisuke gathered all the data he could get from the Dungeon and the strange pond, ''And of course, the data I got from the ''monsters'' of the void. Looks like my guess was correct that those attributes would be useful. If this is the case, I can now guess why Chaos, that coward, won''te down here and deal with Tiamat himself.''


    Tiamat released a shrill scream once again and the white fabric around her started burning up. Too bad for her, hundreds more came out from the ground to reinforce the seal around her.


    Even then, Kisuke knew that this won''t be able to contain her for too long so he immediately moved to the next step and activated the nextyer of the formation he set up beforehand, "Grand Sealing Rite!"


    A stone pir simr to the ones that appeared first materialized a few hundred meters away on top of Tiamat. This time, however, the stone pir was at least ten times bigger than Tiamat herself.


    Tiamat immediately felt the threating from above and hurriedly looked up. While she could only see the t gray bottom, it still sent a shiver down her spine. With her body tightly bound, she could only use her voice tomand her authority.


    The air and space itself under the stone pir solidified, but that didn''t do anything as it continued descending unimpeded while creating noise akin to ss cracking. Tiamat could only watch as the pir squarely mmed into her face, forcing her downwards.


    The ground below Tiamat copsed and even the ck mud that could easily hold her up couldn''t take the immense weight and pressure that the pir was putting on it. As a result, Tiamat, with her gigantic body, easily slid down into the ground.


    The more than 300-meter tall stone pir didn''t just stop at forcing Tiamat back into the ground as it kept traveling downwards without any regard to Tiamat''s resistance.


    And to ensure its sess, Kisuke went on the top of the pir and partially opened the 4th Gate, "4th Gate, Depression!"


    The bloody aura around Kisuke thickened along with the appearance of a blood-red transparent hagoromo. The malevolent aura was simr to that of a God, but also distinctly different. But despite it being just a partial opening of the 4th stage of his unique Shunko, it was still enough to slowly rip his body apart with his already injured body cracking and blood seeping out.


    Kisuke, nevertheless, ignored the burden on his body and ced his remaining hand on the pir, and pushed it down, "Let''s have a date. To the center of the earth, we go."


    Naturally, Tiamat didn''t like that but Kisuke could only hear her shrill screams from below. Within just a few seconds, Kisuke and Tiamat disappeared from everyone''s sight along with the giant pir of stone and only left a huge hole in the ground with light from the surface unable to reach its bottom.


    With their disappearance and the ck mud losing its size from Serafall''s ice, the eleven spawns also became a lot weaker and Yoruichi was able to contain them without much difficulty. She hurriedly went to the center of the former Orario and peered down the hole. She couldn''t see anything nor feel anything from it and could only hear a small sound of rocks being crushed.


    Soon after, even the sound of crashing rock disappeared and the world returned to its former peaceful state.


    "Kisuke..." Yoruichi could only mutter to herself. She stared at the hole for a few more minutes before shaking her head, "We''re not yet done."


    She then looked toward Serafall who had gathered back her Demonic Power but seemed to be having a hard time doing it, "Are you okay?"


    Serafall took several deep breaths before answering, "...I''m fine... But I overexerted myself. I won''t be able to do something like that again any time soon."


    Yoruichi immediately lent Serafall her shoulder and said, "Rest well."


    Since Serafall contested a transcendent''s authority all on her own, it was amazing that she evensted this long. Because of her help, Tiamat wasn''t able to release the majority of her power and Kisuke was able to smoothly trap her in a seal, ''If I were topare that to something, it''s like trapping Great Red or Ophis in ce and reducing their authority over [dreams] or [infinity] respectively. It''s an unbelievable feat.''


    "Let''s return for now. Riveria and Line might need our help soon."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke continued pushing the stone pir even after they were enveloped with darkness and the light from the surface couldn''t reach them anymore.


    At the half hour mark since he started pushing her down, the stone pir was already filled with cracks and it was any moment that it''d fail, ''As expected of her. Even the strongest suppressing technique I could manage with the formation was not enough topletely trap her for very long.''


    Simr to when he was able to seal Aizen, Tiamat was weakened enough for the seal to take effect thanks to Serafall. However, unlike Aizen, Tiamat was not weakened for long enough to be ced in a more permanent seal, so Kisuke could only drag her down to the depths of the Dungeon to initiate his n.


    A few more minutester, the stone pir finally gave out and was smashed into pieces before it disintegrated back into Magic Power and Spiritual Particles.


    With dust and debris covering the surrounding area, Kisukended in an empty cavern and hurriedly scanned his surroundings. It didn''t take long for Kisuke to find his ''date'' and at the same time, he heard her shrill scream once again, blowing away the debris and dust.


    Transforming for the third time, Tiamat''s jaws now extended to her whole neck, revealing a row of sharp teeth. More horns also emerged behind her and a scaly wing extended out from her forearm. Her previous beautiful appearance morphed into a Draconic monstrosity that stands on all fours.


    "Pretty pissed, aren''t ya~?" Kisuke then took out an unadorned kodachi, "Well, it must have hurt, so I can understand you."


    Tiamat still hadn''t recovered so when Kisuke disappeared from her sight, it was already toote for her to react when he suddenly arrived at her forehead where it all started, "I''ll end your misery."


    Inserting the dagger through the crack, Kisuke listened to Tiamat''s final cry.


    If Benihime were to see what was happening, she''d instantly lose her sanity.

 Chapter 1039 The Existence of Another One

    Chapter 1039 The Existence of Another One


    Yoruichi and Serafall arrived at thest spot where they felt Riveria''s Demonic Power erupting and saw some traces of a dimensional transfer in the surroundings.


    "You should be able to get inside, but should we wait?" Serafall asked Yoruichi. After she had taken back the majority of her Demonic Power, she''d already returned to normal.


    Yoruichi unsheathed her dagger and poked a hole in the space in front of her. She took a peek inside and saw that Riveria and Loki were hiding behind a barrier that looks like a turtle shell, ''That looks like a Youkai technique. Did she learn that from the first-generation Sha Wujing?''


    Riveria noticed the sudden hole that was created in her space but immediately felt Yoruichi and Serafall''s aura. She hurriedly looked over and saw Yoruichi give her a wink which caused Riveria to sigh in relief.


    The three old Gods, meanwhile, were trying to break the boundaries of the limited space with all sorts of attacks and it''d only take a few more minutes before they could break through, "She''s fine for now." Yoruichi replied while closing the hole, "Let''s rest and recover to our peak before the next party."


    And within ten minutes, the space not far from Yoruichi and Serafall cracked before exploding like ss. With a cascading effect, the five figures returned to the artificial dimension.


    The moment they got out, the three Gods hurriedly elerated towards Orario but also immediately stopped when they couldn''t find Tiamat''s figure and even her oppressive aura from earlier, "What!?" Zeus eximed, "W-where is she!?"


    The other two Gods also spread out their senses and could only detect a giant hole on the ground and the slowly receding ck mud.


    "It''s over."


    They heard a woman''s voice and instantly turned around, only to see two familiar faces casually taking a sip from their tea while sitting at a round table.


    "You!" Odin almost lost his patience.


    But before he could attack, Yoruichi calmly asked, "Are you really going to waste your time and energy on us? Wouldn''t preparing for what might happen next be better?"


    Ouranos immediately grabbed Odin''s shoulder.


    "Ouranos!? Don''t stop me! They- They killed mother!" Odin snapped at him.


    Another handnded on him and this time, on his arm, "...I know... But she''s right. Assaulting them now will do us no good. We have to prepare in case he really descends."


    "Zeus!? Even you..." Odin turned to him but saw the immense frustration on his face and couldn''t continue what he wanted to say.


    "I admire you." Yoruichi suddenly said, "And I''m not saying that out of sarcasm but my honest opinion."


    "I don''t need to hear your opinion. What do you want to happen? And where''s Kisuke Urahara? Did he go down with Tiamat?" Zeus''st question was to infuriate Yoruichi and Serafall but sadly for him, that wouldn''t work on these two girls.


    "He''ll be joining uster. What we need to figure out now is how to protect the other one now that Tiamat is already gone."


    Zeus, Odin, and Ouranos'' eyes instantly widened at her mention of the ''other one'' and thetter immediately asked, "Just how much do you know? I don''t believe Chaos would reveal to you that much even if you''re his agents."


    Yoruichi ced down her cup and chuckled, "So there really is another one."


    It was then that the Gods realized that they''d been had.


    "Another one?" Serafall asked curiously.


    "Kisuke didn''t really tell us anything but don''t you find it weird? If Tiamat was really the creator of the Dungeon, then there''s no reason for her not to use her own ''monsters'' to fill it if her goal was to decimate the Lower World. But something like Xenos came into existence as if its owner wanted to coexist with its inhabitants." Yoruichi exined, "We''ve seen how she acted and I have a feeling that wouldn''t have been Tiamat''s choice."


    "I see..." Serafall nodded to herself, "And the simplest exnation for that is that someone else other than Tiamat exists in the Dungeon."


    Yoruichi nodded, "And they were kind enough to confirm my guess." She then turned to the other two that had been silently listening. More specifically, towards Loki, "I know you have a lot of questions, especially when Odin called Tiamat ''mother'', sadly, I can''t provide any answers and neither could Kisuke, even if he was here since he''s also just guessing these things."


    Loki bit her lips and a few secondster, started scratching her head in frustration, "And these old men also can''t provide any answers... Just what''s going on, really?"


    "What''s happening now is of no importancepared to what''s going to happen next." Ouranous suddenly said.


    "That''s true." Yoruichi acknowledged him, "But I heard you couldn''t contact the other chief Deities. If you don''t mind me asking when was thest time the three of you came into contact with any of them?"


    Ouranos wanted to ask her why she knew that but chose to answer her honestly because he had a feeling that she was onto something important, "For me, thest one was less than a decade ago. It was with Shiva."


    Yoruichi looked at Zeus and Odin and waited for their answer. Thankfully, they only sighed and did the same as Ouranos, "Eight years ago. I met Amun-Ra." Zeus answered.


    "Quetzalcoatl. More than 20 years ago." And finally Odin.


    "Hmmm..." Yoruichi looked down and thought for a moment before replying, "Seven years ago, we started searching and locating any prominent Gods that lead the others. However... Aside from the three of you... We couldn''t find any of them."


    "What? Are you sure?" Ouranos furrowed his brows.


    "Well, we found some clues to where they are but each of them... Every single one of their traces was cut off. It''s as if they suddenly disappeared from the face of this world without any warning."

 Chapter 1040 Prelude

    Chapter 1040 Prelude


    "No one...? You found no one?" Zeus asked again. He and the others just had a bad premonition.


    "No one." Yoruichi repeated, "Thesest three days, we went around the world to do something. Their strange case of disappearances was kept in the back of our heads so when we got a chance, we tried looking for them again ''cause we figured that if they were going to turn up, now was the time. Even then, no one showed up. Not a single one."


    Zeus hurriedly turned to Ouranous and asked, "Ouranous, do you think they were..."


    But thetter immediately interrupted him, "We can''t be sure but we have to take action while taking that possibility into ount. Let''s go back for now. We don''t have time to just casually chat here. We have to make sure that no one is going to take his side."


    Without waiting, Ouranos flew off toward the direction of the temporary base where everyone was. Odin also soon followed him and thest was Zeus. But before thetter could go, Yoruichi spoke again, "You of all people should know how impossible it is to unite everyone under a single banner."


    Zeus stopped but didn''t turn around, "But we still have to do it or else, this will be a bloody war that would spell the end of both Lower and Upper World."


    The girls watched Zeus fly off and Serafall offered Riveria and Loki a seat.


    Riveria and Loki quietly sat down and the formermented, "You people really do like speaking in a cryptic manner. Couldn''t you have added more context to your conversation? I want to know more too."


    Yoruichi picked up her cup again and answered, "Those old men couldn''t answer specifically so we could only gather information while feeling them out. Since they couldn''t answer straight, I also couldn''t ask straight."


    "...What are you going to do next?" The formerly silent Loki finally asked.


    Yoruichi briefly looked at her before looking up to the now clear sky, "It depends. Depending on how that guy will fulfill his side of the deal, we''ll just retreat or it could be messy."


    Thanks to her silence, Loki was able to figure out a few things just from the clues that she got from the earlier conversation. And with the conclusion she came up with, she couldn''t help but smile wryly, "So there''s a chance that you''ll just abandon this world?"


    "It''s not that unreasonable, is it? In the first ce, we only care about a few people here. You might think that we''re apathetic, but we''re also no heroes. We have no reason to save everyone while risking ourselves."


    Loki went quiet once again. But instead of Yoruichi or Serafall, it was Riveria who continued, "But that also means that they''ll go to any lengths just to save any one of theirs."


    Loki''s eyes widened and she was shocked not because of Riveria''s words, but how she forgot this very simple fact, ''If Hestia and Artemis were involved... then...'' She looked at Riveria and asked, "What about you?"


    Riveria smiled and was confident enough to give an answer, "If they are willing to go that far, the least I could do is the same."


    Loki grinned and stood up, "Is that so? Then I have to go back and prepare everyone. Mentally at least."


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi and Serafall followed Riveria and Loki back to the temporary camp. The moment they arrived Yoruichi and Serafall immediately disguised themselves and saw that all the inhabitants of the Lower World were celebrating. However, there''s a very obviousck of Deities on the streets as every one of them was called in once again.


    Unbeknownst to this celebratory mood, the Deities are trying toe up with a consensus of uniting together in case someone turns hostile.


    Riveria, Loki, Yoruichi, and Serafall discreetly moved towards where the Loki Familia was camping, and when they got near, they saw that it wasn''t just the Loki Familia, but also the Freya, Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi, and Miach Familias were also gathered together. Since this group usually moves as a single faction, it wasn''t strange for them to be together.


    When they saw Loki and Riveria arrive, they immediately gathered to greet them but immediately halted when they saw their serious expression.


    "Loki? What''s wrong?" Finn asked.


    "Gather everyone and get inside. We need to talk about something important."


    Everyone was taken aback and took notice of the two hooded figures behind them. However, no one asked why and did what she asked.


    A few minutester, everyone is cramped inside a tent. Although it was a veryrge tent, it was still not enough tofortably amodate everyone.


    As soon as the curtains of the tent dropped down, Riveria immediately erected a barrier that would fake sound and light to avoid arousing the attention and suspicion of those who were outside.


    Yoruichi then removed her hood and revealed herself before calling out to someone, "Line. Please help Serafall to recover."


    Line immediately came forward and asked, "What about you? I saw you take not just a few hits."


    "I''m fine. It''s still not enough to affect mybat effectiveness. Serafall, however, was drained significantly."


    When Line and the others heard Yoruichi worrying aboutbat effectiveness, a cold wind brushed everyone''s back. Although they still don''t know how to react to the earlier battle and how to approach Yoruichi and Serafall after what they''ve just seen, the fact that she''s insinuating that the battle is still not over made them not worry about this small thing.


    "Understood." Line immediately ran towards Serafall to start her special treatment.


    "Don''t tire yourself too much. Kisuke will still need youter." Yoruichi added while sitting down beside Loki and Riveria, "You may proceed, Loki. We can''t say anything but if it''s you, you should have some idea what you should warn them about."


    "Are you sure you don''t want me to wait for Hestia and Artemis?"


    "They are in another location and they also have some idea of what''s going to happen next."

 Chapter 1041 Preparations

    Chapter 1041 Preparations


    "The giant monster is not yet dealt with?" Finn asked, "Come to think of it, Kisuke Urahara still hasn''te out of the Dungeon."


    "Oh right... Before we start, let''s release the seals. There''s no point for it now, anyway." Yoruichi interrupted and turned to Serafall.


    Serafall nodded her head and snapped her fingers. Despite the single simple gesture, the sound of her snap traveled across the barrier and the sound spread out throughout the whole base and several kilometers beyond.


    The wave of sound instantly unlocked something inside the heads of the people who''d stayed in Orario for the past years. The celebratory mood instantly went away and silence descended to the whole ce. A few secondster, some scream erupted and that signaled everyone to wake up from their abrupt stupor.


    Unlike those outside, the inside of the tent''s silence continued on and the one who spoke a few secondster was Liliruca Arde from Miach Familia, "...Those two Familias... How could I forget?"


    Everyone had the same sentiment as her.


    "Well, that''s not really important. Listen to what Loki has to say first."


    Loki also pped her hands to gather everyone''s attention, "We are not yet out of danger. In fact, we''re in much more trouble. If my guess is right, the disappearance of that ''monster'' will make another, much more dangerous, ''monster'' descend on this ne."


    Everyone stood on alert when they understood Loki''s words and the celebratory mood from earlier hadpletely disappeared.


    "Do you want us to prepare? And how?" Allen from the Freya Familia asked, "If the monster you''re talking about is even remotely close to that from earlier, the only choice we have is to escape and let those who could fight, stop it."


    But before Loki could answer, Yoruichi''s head suddenly snapped to the side and she immediately stood up.


    "Yoruichi?"


    Yoruichi ignored Loki''s call and drew her dagger and made a single cut in the space in front of her. From that cut, a single hand came out, and soon a severely wounded person with a missing arm came out of it while casually muttering, "It won''t be just a single monster this time. That guy will be bringing his own army and there''s nowhere in the whole world anyone can hide."


    Kisuke, in his normal form with blood continuously dropping on the ground, sat down beside Yoruichi before continuing, "You, and everyone else living in this world will have no choice but to fight for survival."


    Without waiting for any instructions, Line immediately ran over to Kisuke and immediately started her treatment. As soon as her Magic began, a faint silhouette of Kisuke''splete body ovepped on his current one, and the small wounds he had instantly started disappearing, ''By pulling out information from the ''past'', she''s able to overwrite the ''present'' with it. Although it''s only limited to restoration and healing, it''s still a pretty powerful concept that is only below Orihime''s ''causality rejection''.''


    While Kisuke was watching and studying Line''s Magic and guessing how she envisioned this concept, Yoruichi asked him, "Is alright to talk about this?"


    "Yep." Kisuke answered, "That slimy bastard is busy checking if Tiamat is really dead. We have a few hours before his attention turns to something else. Just enough time to make things clear."


    Those who had weaker stomachs couldn''t stand looking at Kisuke with his ripped flesh that gave a window to his bone. However, the words he uttered gave everyone a shiver and an image of a bloody war of an unprecedented scale.


    "First of all, if that ''guy'' allows me and those I want to leave, we''ll leave. Regardless of what happens to this world."


    Despite not exerting any effort, Kisuke''sst words felt so cold that they froze everyone on the spot.


    Disappointed, Bell asked, "Where would you even go if you said that the war will be on a global scale?"


    Kisuke disyed a grin and returned a question of his own, "You''re still asking? You already have an idea, right?"


    As Kisuke has guessed, those who are sharp enough were able to have an idea that they are not from thesends, at least, they think that they are not from Lower or Upper World.


    Bell closed his eyes and uttered in a heavy voice, "...That''s really unfortunate."


    But then, Ais stepped forward, "Then what if ''that guy'' doesn''t allow it?"


    Intrigued by the changes in her, Kisuke inadvertently stared at Ais out of curiosity until he felt Riveria''s sharp stare, "...Well, as much as I hate it, if ''that guy'' turns hostile, I''ll be the first one he''ll eliminate. It''s no mystery that I''ll defend myself."


    As if Ais was very sure that the discussion would turn violent, she replied, "...Nice working with you."


    Kisuke couldn''t help but chuckle at her response since he has the same opinion as her. And that reaction of his put Loki at ease, ''If he knew he was fighting, he should have prepared for this too.''


    All of the small injuries on Kisuke''s body were healed and only a fewrge wounds along with his missing arm needed some healing. He could use his own regenerative ability but he wanted to recover as much energy as possible in case Chaos suddenly decided toe down now.


    "In any case, prepare for the worst... And don''t trust anyone that you don''t know or anyone you don''t respect, really." Kisuke stood up and started walking towards the exit and Line wanted to p his back for suddenly moving but stopped herself and just continued her treatment.


    "...Huh? What do you mean by that?" Tsubaki asked.


    Kisuke didn''t answer her and Yoruichi, Serafall, and Line followed him outside. However, that didn''t remain unanswered as Riveria gave her one, "That means ''that guy''s'' army or a part of it coulde from the inhabitants of the Lower World."


    ''And probably of the Upper World...'' Riveria wanted to add but decided against it, ''But they don''t need to know something that isn''t a hundred percent set in stone.''


    "You''re not going to follow them?" Loki asked.


    And Riveria shook her head, "As he has said, we need to prepare and I''ll do my best so that no one of this group and my friends die. They can fend off for themselves and I think Line will be returning after healing Kisuke. After all, this is still our family."


    ''Besides, if I really leave you in a time like this, I wouldn''t just hate myself but also receive a not-so-mild scolding from them.'' Riveria thought while releasing a long breath with a wry smile on her face, "Alright, everyone. Come closer. I''m going to teach you all some simple but effective Magic that may very well save your lives. We''ll also need to create awork ofmunication between ourselves so we won''t lose each other''s positions in case the situation turns chaotic."

 Chapter 1042 Choices

    Chapter 1042 Choices


    After Kisuke''s injuries were healed, Line immediately returned to Loki and the others, but not before receiving a reminder from Kisuke, "Chaos knows of your existence and might try to eliminate you first if he gets a chance. When Hestia-sama makes her appearance, make sure to stay close to her."


    "Hestia-sama? Why?" Line asked.


    "It''ll be the safest ce in the whole world. You know the importance of your role so you have to take that spot."


    Fear immediately surfaced on Line''s face but she shook it off, "U-understood."


    Seeing her put up a brave front, Kisuke couldn''t help but regret it a bit. If she were not as excellent as she is now at what she does, Chaos would probably ignore her, but now an existence like hers came to light, it would be weird if Chaos would still ignore someone who could potentially change the tide.


    Patting her head, Kisuke reassured her, "He''s going to us first before he reaches you. And after this, I''ll ask Sona to give you an extensive tour on the other side."


    Line froze and thought, ''Ah... How many years has it been?'' As the hand that saved her from certain death, she couldn''t forget thefort that it brought her. And with just this simple gesture, it actually gave her courage, "...I''ll do my best!"


    While watching her run off, Yoruichi asked, "If that guy really wanted to take over this world, there''s no way he''d let us go, right?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "If I was in the same shoes and had the same personality as him, I''d never let go of myself either. I pose too much threat to just turn my head away."


    "So? How would you respond?" Serafall curiously asked.


    A smile that could only be described as ''bad'' emerged from his lips and as he said, "With everything~!"


    .


    .


    .


    A few hours had psed and just as Kisuke had expected, a ck line was drawn in the sky before it split open and revealed the void. From the unsettling darkness, a single figure in a white suit and pants came floating down and stopped just a hundred meters away from the temporary base where all the significant figures were currently staying.


    Feeling his presence, the Deities locked in an endless discussion came pouring out of their ce. On their way out, they saw all the mortals, including the Xenos nkly staring at the sky with fear-filled expressions and couldn''t seem to move their sights away.


    They also looked up and saw the gentleman with sleek ck hair and crimson eyes slowly and silently floating down and all of them, without any exceptions, lowered their heads. As much as they wanted to help and hide their children away, they couldn''t do it because of the absolute authority and power of the gentleman in front of them.


    But the manpletely ignored them and set his sights on Kisuke''s group, who were hiding their presence, "It has been a while."


    Although he was facing Kisuke and the others, they knew that he wasn''t talking to them.


    A secondter, Yoruichi kodachi started vibrating.


    "As we''ve agreed. The little girl can go."


    ''So we''re not even worth talking to, huh?'' Kisuke thought while waiting.


    Yoruichi kodachi vibrated again a few times and it seems that the man understood it, "That''s your problem. Only your contractor is included in the stiptions."


    Finally, the man looked into Kisuke''s eyes, "As for the additions, I''ll give them a new set of contracts." But his eyes soon left the group and were transferred to the Deities below.


    "Zeus, I see that you''re trying to do something amusing."


    Zeus groaned. Even though this man, Chaos, was not exerting any effort, the pressure from his eyes was enough to turn his stomach, ''...This... Is really dangerous.''


    Chaos chuckled at his reaction, "So you don''t have anyments." He then turned his eyes to the other Deities, "And what about you lot? Have you forgotten that it''s only thanks to me that you''re even enjoying your life? And now not a few of you are nning to rebel? How amusing. You actually think you stand a chance?"


    A wave of killing intent washed through everyone and made all mortals buckle to their knees while the Deities did their best to keep standing.


    Zeus, Odin, and Ouranous, however, fought against this insanity-inducing intent by releasing their own Divinities and releasing a multi-colored light that nketed everyone and protected their minds, "Enough of this, Chaos! Are you intending to destroy these children''s souls!?" Zeus shouted.


    The smile on Chaos'' face didn''t disappear, "Why would I care if a few of these lower life forms disappear? I''m just expressing what I feel right now."


    A vein popped on Zeus'' forehead, "Lower life forms... you say? They are the foundation of this world! Without their souls, there wouldn''t be a Lower or an Upper World!"


    In response, Chaos exaggeratedly spread out his arms, "That''s because this is a wed world~!"


    Odin raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "And now that you''vee down, are you intending to correct that?"


    Chaos snapped his fingers and a ck throne appeared behind him. As he sat down on it, he snapped his fingers once again and hundreds of ck lines were drawn on the sky simr to how he arrived, "Of course. And there''s no better time to do itpared to now when Tiamat''s dominion has already disappeared."


    A secondter, various grotesque creatures started peeking from the opened void and looked down on everyone, sending an aura of impending doom.


    Zeus, Odin, and Ouranos were gritting their teeth while the other Deities were thinking about what he meant by fixing this ''broken'' world and why he was weing his minions to this ne.


    "Naturally, I don''t intend to start a massacre here since that would be too wasteful. As such, I''m giving everyone here a choice. Come under my banner or get annihted as the creation of the new order."


    While all of this was happening, a grin emerged from Kisuke''s face, and sent a message to Sona. He didn''t care if Chaos noticed him since his goal wasn''t to have his messagee across safe and clear. In fact, he wanted him to notice this so that someone could secretly send messages locally.

 Chapter 1043 New Order

    Chapter 1043 New Order


    Chaos had felt what Kisuke just did but decided to ignore him. Although he could send messages to his original world, only something as small as that could go through his restrictions. If he wanted to call his friends over, he would have to break through his void first, and without his permission, they would never be able to go through it. That''s how confident he is and his confidence is warranted since even Great Red wouldn''t be able to go through, not because he''s much stronger than the Great Red, but because he had been cultivating that void for countless eons and no one really bothered him while doing so.


    "...New order, you say? What does that even mean?" Zeus asked while gritting his teeth.


    "Nothing too grandiose," Chaos sneered at him, "Just a new world with perfect inhabitants created and blessed by my magnificent self."


    "...What?" Not just Zeus but everyone else also didn''t understand what he meant, "A new world?"


    "Yes. A paradise constructed and carefully designed by me with inhabitants in perpetual happiness and bliss. A world with no hunger, no disease, no rich or poor, no conflict with your neighbors, and more. A utopia that would essentially expand and function forever."


    At this point, Kisuke and the other few finally understood what he wanted to happen, ''Ignoring the ridiculous im of perpetual bullshit, to maintain something like that couldn''te from limited resources provided by thisnd. He wants to invade the other worlds. He must''ve been watching what''s happening on our side closely. He knew that Great Red had already perished while Ophis was still iplete and nned to use the route we took to invade directly. However... Why is he still talking? If he wanted to convert everyone here, he should just do it directly... Or maybe he can''t do that? Or at least, there''s a limit to what he can do?''


    ''But then, he shouldn''t be thinking of invading the other world if his force is that limited...'' At this point, a realization dawned on Kisuke, ''I see... He doesn''t just want to control this world in Tiamat''s absence... He''s after the Dungeon. More specifically, it''s ''production'' ability.''


    However, there''s still one question left in Kisuke''s head that he wanted some answers to. Just what is the Dungeon?


    Silence reigned over the region and since Zeus, Odin, and Ouranos are the only ones who had the courage to talk to him, with them thinking, no one spoke a word.


    Chaos immediately got tired of waiting so he continued, "Hmmm... Let me add that as long as youe under my banner, you and your children will get the power that you can''t ever imagine and you won''t be limited in any way you want to use it."


    It was silent again for a few moments until one of the war-oriented Goddess, Bast, curiously asked, "Power? Even our children?"


    Zeus red at her but Chaos grinned, "Of course. Want proof?" He then turned his head to the right and started talking to someone who seemed to not be not there, "Are you done on your side? Come over."


    A few secondster, a familiar aura for the Deities manifested and a Magic Circle which looked like the crest of the sun emerged on Chaos'' side. Immediately after, a foot stepped out of the Magic Circle and soon a ck-haired Goddess wearing a gorgeous and luxurious traditional eastern gown came out.


    "A...Amaterasu?" Tsukimakazuchi and the other eastern Gods immediately recognized her but there seems to be something different about her. Aside from the weird and strangely malevolent aura, thin ck veins also ran through her pearl-white skin.


    Freya, who was silently watching all of this unfold, frowned in disgust while looking at her. And although they couldn''t see what Freya could, Kisuke and Yoruichi''s expressions twitched and immediately turned into a frown when they felt the disgusting amount of souls infused into her.


    Amaterasu ignored them and reported, "I''ve returned, father. I have managed to convert more than half of the Deities in my area."


    Chaos nodded in satisfaction, "I assigned you the area with the most stubborn insects and you still managed to convert more than half. You have my praise."


    "Thank you."


    Chaos nodded again in acknowledgment, showing that he''s a benevolent leader, "And the reason why I called you here is to show these unenlightened what you can do aftering under me."


    Amaterasu finally looked down on the Deities and trembling children that were protected by Zeus'' light and wondered how Zeus could use his powers without Chaos'' blessing.


    But her eyes on them didn''tst long as she turned to her side and waved her arm. A forest not far from everyone was instantly incinerated by a beam of light. She wanted to show that she was not limited by the System of Heaven in any shape or form.


    Of course, that could have been more impressive since Zeus, Odin, and Ouranos also managed to find a way to bring down their Divine Avatars without Chaos'' help.


    However, the next thing she showed sent shivers to anyone watching. Even though she was floating next to Chaos, a shadow suddenly spread out of her feet and expanded for a few meters. And from that very dark shadow, multiple figures emerged and stood behind Amaterasu.


    They were mortals. Nevertheless, something is very off about them but no one could tell, except for a few. They had no souls in their bodies.


    "Amaterasu-sama! You finally called us!" One of the mortals, a 2-meter muscr man, spoke jovially.


    Amaterasu didn''t look at them and justmanded, "Show them."


    "Understood!" The tall man and the ten others behind them answered enthusiastically before raising and pointing their arms to the other side where another forest is located. A few secondster, beams of sunlight descended on the forest and also instantly razed it to the ground.


    Every Deity was stunned at their disy. It was a lot weaker than Amaterasu''s but it was still unmistakably her Divine Power and each of them were still strong enough to contend against the strongest Adventurers and Mercenaries out there.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, finally understood what was happening, ''These dead bodies have be an outlet for her power.''


    Although they disyed various expressions and emotions, their eyes were dead. They looked alive but they were only machines made out of flesh with memories of their former self. If they wanted to, they could just reset and erase these memories and they''d be the most loyal soldiers or ves you could own.


    As for their missing souls, they were all deep within Amaterasu, fused with her own and giving more power and fuel to her already existing abilities.


    Because of this, Kisuke was reminded of the incident seven years ago that the girls had to face Gods who ''descended'', ''I see... So that was an experiment and this is the full implementation. Now Chaos can entice the Deities to leave Heaven''s system which he can''t control now. If he''s sessful, he''ll also be able to weaken the system and rece it with something else.''

 Chapter 1044 Nourishment

    Chapter 1044 Nourishment


    Amaterasu''s children then looked downwards to see everyone''s stunned expression and they were not disappointed. Soon, a look of arrogance crept onto their faces as they watched the other mortals kneeling on the ground.


    ''For a bunch of fakes, they sure know how to make a face.'' Kisuke wanted to chuckle but stopped himself.


    But what Amaterasu did next made everyone''s mind nk as a de of light suddenly extended from the tips of her fingers and swiped at one of her children''s neck, severing it and sending it flying.


    Though before everyone could react fully, the severed head suddenly suspended itself midair and as if tracing back time, it slowly floated back to the child''s body and the wound on his neck healed. As fast as it was severed, it also reattached the same way.


    "Geez... Amaterasu-sama. If you''re going to do that, please at least give me a warning." Comined the child while touching his neck and turning his head sideways multiple times, "I''m still not very used to the feeling of dying."


    Seeing this, Yoruichi sent a telepathic message to the group, [That''s technically an undead, isn''t it?]


    [Correct.] Kisuke replied back, [If I were topare it to something, they are technically simr to the revived Evil Dragons. The difference is, they don''t own their souls anymore and are basically empty husks of the original.]


    [They don''t own their own souls?] Serafall asked.


    [You''ll understand it more if I say that''s simr to Kokabiel''s legion, right?]


    Serafall thought back to the disgusting Fallen Angel and her face visibly curled, [...Really?]


    [It''s much worse than that since Amaterasu absorbed the souls and made them her own to serve as nourishment.] Kisuke''s eyes then sharpened and a bit of his killing intent leaked out, [And from the looks of it, she wasn''t alone.]


    Amaterasu felt his killing intent and frowned but Chaos raised his hand in front of her to stop any action from her, "Go back and help the other areas first."


    Amaterasu stared at the grinning Kisuke for a short while before summoning the Magic Circle that she came from, "Let''s go."


    Her children stopped gloating and followed Amaterasu through the Magic Circle. As soon as they disappeared, Chaos repeated his offer, "As you can see, even her children achieved eternal life. So this is thest time I''ll be asking this, who wants to join me under my banner?"


    There was still silence but unlike before there was much more activity with Deities trying to gauge each other.


    Finally, hammering the final nail in the coffin, Chaos added with a deep and cunning smile, "By the way, those who cane are limited and not everyone will be granted my blessing. As for the rest? You''ll be a hindrance to my empire, so..."


    Chaos didn''t even have to finish what he had to say for the others to understand what he was hinting. And just as he expected, one Goddess immediately stepped forward, "I can save my children, right? I''m going."


    "Baduhenna..." Freya muttered her name, "If you didn''t notice, those children... are not alive. They are just a husk of their original selves!"


    The brown-haired Goddess turned to her and asked, "How can you be so sure? Didn''t you see? They were saved! They are connected to their Deity! That''s the highest form of Familia! We''ll always be together!"


    Freya saw the craze in her eyes and she was reminded that she was a Goddess of War, ''More than saving your children, you''re more concerned about your power. As expected, with our Divine Avatars inessible, it''ll be a lot easier to sway the many now that their actual lives are being threatened.''


    Freya could only shake her head in disappointment and even the meeting they had before Chaos descended seemed to have been fruitless, ''Even with my warning, with her stepping out...''


    And as she pictured, more and more Deities starteding out and expressing their intent to join Chaos.


    "Everyone! Stop! Don''t be fooled!" Odin shouted, "Your children won''t be saved!"


    But immediately after, he was refuted, "What are you talking about old man? Didn''t you see? Those children became much closer to their Goddess! Not just granting them power rting to her, they were given immortality! If you joined father, you''ll be forever with your beloved children!"


    ''Insanity!'' Odin wanted to shout back but stopped when he saw the numerous eyes looking at him with hostility, "T-this is... impossible."


    Loving their children or not, they all have different reasons to join Chaos and if it could be pinned on one thing, it''s the stability of the winning side. They know Chaos'' power and not just the impossibility of defeating him, they are powerless with Heaven''s system still restricting them.


    Not even half an hourter, the ce became divided and the majority of the Deities epted Chaos'' offer. Zeus wanted to retaliate against these people but he could only retract the shield he was protecting them with. Even then, Chaos would just take back the pressure he is exerting on them and their children.


    The children themselves have no idea what''s happening as this is beyond the scope of their knowledge but many of them were excited at the prospect of eternal life and the power of a God, making them fully supportive of their Deities.


    Chaos didn''t wait anymore and transported everyone who agreed away, leaving only just more than ten of the Deities of the hundred that were present earlier, which made the previous noisy base barren, leaving only behind the disagreeing Deities, their children, and the left alone Xenos.


    Chaos could remove these remaining people and the three old Gods got ready to risk their lives to save the remaining people here. But before he did, Chaos turned his attention back to the foreigners, "If you want to leave, I''m sorry but the contract only allows the host of the tiger. However, I appreciate your strength and ingenuity so I''m offering you one of the highest positions on my side."


    Kisuke sneered at him and said, "And what? Kill us the moment we got closer? You, coward, didn''t expect that we''d be able to defeat Tiamat and were nning to finish the job after we tire her. But we actually did it so we''re a threat to you now. And more than so because we are inhabitants of the world you are eyeing."


    Kisuke was just guessing but he hit the mark. But unlike what he''s expecting, Chaos sees Serafall as a bigger threat than him because of her ability to seal and dominate the ck mud. So when they let their guard down, he was actually nning to assassinate Serafall.


    A vein popped on Chaos'' head the moment Kisuke called him a coward and decided to reveal his real intentions, "Is that so? That''s a shame. Death to you then."


    Chaos'' arm transformed into a giant ck grotesque beast and lunged itself at Kisuke''s group. But before it could approach, someone came out from one of the tents, "Not on my watch."


    A dome of golden light was instantly erected that covered the whole base and the moment the Chaos'' arm touched it, it was burned into nothingness.


    Everyone turned to see who did this and saw Hestia, releasing a multi-colored light and fully disying her Divinity, "This is my ''home'' and you''re not to step in it without my permission."


    Chaos took back his arm and it returned to normal while clicking his tongue, "The Hearth, huh? An annoying thing came out."


    Hestia''s dome then slowly expanded, "If you still insist on intruding, then you''d have to go through my dead body."

 Chapter 1045 A Small Revenge

    Chapter 1045 A Small Revenge


    Chaos'' face frowned for the first time. He didn''t know how Hestia could use her Divine Powers but he knew that Kisuke had something to do with it. He looked around again at the remaining few Deities and thought that there might be another trap waiting for him like how they trapped Tiamat in an almost helpless situation despite possessing a strength that rivals him.


    In addition to that, Hestia is the only Deity that he''s wary of because of the nature of her powers, ''This shut-in could shut off the whole dimension if given enough fuel.'' As much as he wanted to deal with Hestia now, he doesn''t have enough time to break this barrier.


    Soon enough, Chaos'' smile returned to him, ''Oh well, they''ll be a good practice partner for my army before they go on to do the real thing.''


    Chaos then stood up from his throne and said, "Try to survive as long as possible and entertain me. If you''re thinking of escaping, forget it. I already isted this world from outside influence and the only way out is to kill me. Good luck."


    He didn''t wait for their reply and just silently disappeared along with the heavy aura he was pushing down everyone with and the throne he was sitting in.


    Hestia sighed in relief but kept up the barrier while also slowly expanding it.


    "Anything ufortable, Hestia-sama?" Kisuke appeared behind her and asked.


    "Nothing. My power is working as intended and I don''t feel anything wrong," Hestia turned around and smiled, "But enough about me. I''m prepared but the same couldn''t be said for the others left behind."


    Kisuke turned his head and saw the disgruntled Deities and their panicking children.


    "Artemis will convince Zeus to let you take the lead," Hestia added.


    Kisuke scratched his head and replied, "Well... It''s not like they have any choice." He then started walking towards them. But before he could go far, Kisuke added, "Yoruichi will signal you when she needs to create a hole. Please open a path for her when the timees."


    "Leave it to me. And be careful."


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi and Serafall gathered the remaining Deities into thergest tent while Riveria started pulling out snacks that originated from Earth. She thought that the strange snacks could take some of their minds off of what''d happened earlier, but it was mostly ignored and only a few tried it out but didn''t say anything about it.


    "What''s with the long faces?" Kisuke finally entered and he still has this casual aura surrounding him, "Just be d that we were able to get away."


    "Get away to where? We''re trapped here. The moment we leave this ce, we''ll be besieged from all sides." Astarte grimaced, "Just what''s happening? And what of my children back in Dizara?"


    Zeus, Ouranos, Odin, Loki, Freya, Hephaestus, Hermes, Takemikazuchi, Astarte, Demeter, Ganesha, Miach, and Kali. These were the only remaining Deities from the base. All of them still couldn''t believe that it was only them who remained. They thought there would be a lot more who''d take their side but reality was a bitter pill.


    Before Kisuke entered, he also saw their children in very low spirits and some of them are on the verge of panic attacks just remembering Chaos earlier.


    "I don''t know if this willfort you or not, but I doubt they''ll be eliminating everyone who disagreed with them. Some might have fallen but that''s probably to set fear in everyone. It may be true that there are only limited spots, but only for now when Chaos'' influence on the world and system is not yet adequate. Once he gains full control and gets what he wants from the Dungeon, I presume that he''ll present this offer again." Kisuke exined while taking out some equipment to set up his personalputer.


    "R-really?" Astarte asked with hopeful eyes.


    "I''m not sure, but we''re going to find that out right now." With a click of a button, multiple holographic screens and a keyboard lit up in front of him and he immediately started operating it. And just a few secondster, various scenes were disyed and Astarte immediately recognized one of them, the Pandemonium.


    Astarte perked up and looked at the constantly changing screen that shows the very familiar city. It was a dreary atmosphere and there was not a single soul on the streets. But soon enough, Kisuke''s surveince finally caught some people and it was on the undergroundwork that connects the four cities of the Dizara Region, "They are imprisoned and some are injured, but very much alive."


    Astarte stared at it for a while and saw the familiar faces of her children. Although very disgruntled, she sighed in relief when they saw them alive.


    "It still doesn''t change the situation we are in." Hermes added, "If we want to save the people who refused his offer, we have to get out of this ce first and put up a fighting chance... Still... I can''t believe we''re the only ones remaining here."


    Freya, who has been frowning all this time, muttered in a dark voice, "Unforgivable... Really unforgivable. To think they would agree on something like that? Just how afraid are they for their lives that they''ll even sacrifice their children for power?"


    "That''s right." Loki also nodded with a dark expression, "Even I didn''t think that some people that I trust would agree to that. The next time I see them, I''ll be cutting their heads off myself."


    And everyone was of the same opinion as Loki and killing intent began to fill the entire tent. But amidst all of these, Kisuke calmly pointed out, "Don''t worry about your friends. Not everyone betrayed you. I arranged some of them to agree with Chaos'' offer."


    Stunned, everyone looked at him busy with his work with wide eyes, "Exin!" Loki raised her voice.


    Kisuke didn''t immediately give an answer and waited for a few seconds to wait for someone. And at the long fifteen seconds of heavy atmosphere where only his tapping fingers could be heard, someone else entered the tent, "Kisuke. I managed to create a strong connection but it won''tst long. You have to do it now."


    "...Artemis?" Ouranos uttered her name. Of course, with Hestia''s appearance, she should have been around too, "Where have you been?"


    They could feel the lingering Divine Power around her and could tell she just used it so they are wondering why they haven''t felt anything until now.


    "Laying the foundation for victory," Artemis answered vaguely.


    "Alright~! I got the connection!" Kisuke excitedly voiced out and increased his fingers'' tapping speed so that they could only see a blur, "...Initial analysisplete... Securing connection... Creating decoys... sess. Initializing purge sequence..."


    As he started muttering nonsense, everyone could only wait until he was done with his work.


    "...Sending the codes... And done!"


    The moment he hit thest button, Artemis'' Divine Power erupted from her and spread out uncontrobly as if she was announcing her existence to the whole world.


    And with this eruption of power, a coded message went out to the selected Deities before it was dispersed with a purge. At the end of it all, Kisuke chuckled while saying, "Good luck finding the traitors among you~."

 Chapter 1046 Counterattack part 1

    Chapter 1046 Counterattack part 1


    "...What did you just do?" asked Loki while looking at the nonsensical scribbles on the screen and feeling the very turbulent explosion of Divine Power in the distance.


    "I asked Artemis-sama to secretly contact a few Deities and told them to agree with Chaos'' terms if they want to help out going against him and securing the safety of their children," answered Kisuke while unceremoniously packing up.


    "Wouldn''t there be too many holes in that n? You could be double-crossed too."


    "Of course, I took that into ount. After their mistake of showing us the result of their experiment a few years ago, I''d already gathered enough data to deal with their ''descent'' in case that happens again."


    Astarte recalled the incident seven years ago and asked, "You mean when the three idiots used their children''s souls to summon their Divine Avatars down and bypass the system''sws?"


    "Indeed. I thought that we mighte across something like that again so I devised several methods to unlink the souls safely. And after my initial assessment of Amaterasu''s soul earlier, I was able to modify it so that even if Chaos gives the Deities his blessing and fuses their souls, there''s a way to safely store and iste the souls of the mortals without fully fusing them with the Deity."


    "That way, they''ll be able to blend in among their ranks."


    Still not convinced, Loki added, "Then again, someone could betray your trust and reveal everything to Chaos."


    But in response, Kisuke just chuckled, "My~ Loki-sama. Do you really think I''d trust any of them? As I''d said, I have several methods and they''re distributed at random. So even if someone reveals it and takes Chaos'' side, they need to find all of the hundreds of methods. They might be just slight variations of each other, but aplete deciphering is needed for each of them.


    "In the first ce, I only did this to dy them and buy us some precious time and ording to my conservative estimates, they would need around 3 years to weed out every traitor in their ranks. I think that''s more than enough time for the three days we need to adjust ourselves ande up with a countermeasure for our current predicament."


    Everyone, except for Yoruichi, Serafall, and Artemis who could only sigh, were stunned.


    "...You made a confusion that''s enough tost for 3 years just to give us 3 days of time to prepare?" Hermes asked in disbelief.


    Kisuke finished packing up and added, "If I had more time, I would have given each and every Deities a different method but we were pressed for time so I could only do much. In the worst case, a failure or critical bug surfaces in my system and they take advantage of that, rendering my effort useless. So before that happens, let''s go meet your children and start delegating resources and tasks. I have more things to buy us time but they are not as reliable as just confusing them, so let''s hurry."


    He then left the tent and Yoruichi, Serafall, and Artemis followed him closely. The war had just started so they had to do everything they could to gain even an inch of an advantage.


    The Deities who were left were still stunned at the scale he was operating on and still believed that his act of buying time would fail.


    "Aren''t we in good hands?" Freya suddenlymented with a graceful smile on her face.


    "I''ve always believed that we''re already done for," Miach added, "But I have a feeling that making an enemy out of him is not any worse than going against Chaos."


    "...What a coincidence. I''m having the same thoughts,"mented Takemikazuchi.


    Ouranos sighed while saying, "We''re stuck between a rock and a hard ce, huh..."


    Contrary to him, Odin has a smile on his wrinkled face, "At least he doesn''t give a malicious feeling like Chaos." He then looked at Loki before adding, "He kinda reminds me of someone."


    Loki shuddered and immediately shook her head, "Don''tpare me to him! I do things spontaneously and that guy is too systematic in that it feels like he has an answer to everything! He''s scary!"


    .


    .


    .


    In the now cleared-out space, everyone gathered with the Deities and Kisuke''s group in front of them. It was obvious that everyone was still not in the right state of mind even after they were shielded from Chaos'' pressure and Kisuke concluded that Chaos had the ability to induce insanity in those significantly weaker than him, ''I will need a countermeasure against that in case he has a stronger version of it.''


    Kisuke and Yoruichi could attempt to use Kidou to heal them, but the damage that Chaos left was that of mind and their souls were almost entirely unaffected. They could calm their minds but it''d take far too much time and they didn''t know if the problem wouldn''t just resurface.


    At this moment, Yoruichi tapped his shoulder and as he looked over, she saw her pointing at Freya, causing something to click inside Kisuke''s head, "...I can''t believe I forgot about that..."


    "You''re tired." Yoruichi simplymented and she was correct.


    Although Kisuke looked just fine, he had been working nonstop on top of fighting Tiamat. Although he had been very careful, it was inevitable that some things would miss him after straining himself so much, "You''re resting after this. I won''t take no for an answer."


    Kisuke sighed and listened to Yoruichi while taking out a golden orb from his sleeve. He also knew that his head wouldn''t be in a good state if he had forgotten something so simple.


    Upon seeing the orb, those who don''t know why it''s in Kisuke''s hand froze and a horrified look came over them.


    "Oh~ You''re returning it to me?" Freya asked casually after seeing the orb.


    Kisuke nodded, "Your charm should be able to overwrite Chaos'' influence over them. Just don''t over do it."


    Freya happily walked towards him and received her Divine Core that she lost in a bet with him. With this, she''d be able to use her Divine Power and would be able to use her ''Charm'' to overpower Chaos'' ''Insanity'' to return everyone to the right state of mind.


    Meanwhile, Lokimented from the side, "I almost forgot that happened."

 Chapter 1047 Counterattack part 2

    Chapter 1047 Counterattack part 2


    "...W-why do you have Freya''s Divine Core?" Hephaestus asked nervously as just seeing it in Kisuke''s hand physically hurt her. Only when Freya fused with it was she able to let out a breath of relief.


    "Well, things happened."


    "Things happened, you say... You don''t get to hold something that could be crushed in one hand and instantly kill its owner with just some things happening."


    The others watched Freya as she was engulfed with pink light and Divine Aura started exiting her body. As a Deity''s Divine Avatar is something that holds its Divine Core, anything that holds its Divine Core is considered a Divine Avatar. And with the Heaven''s System the only restriction right now is bringing down their Divine Avatars thanks to Chaos'' machinations, once in the Lower World, the system''s influence over them became almost nonexistent.


    Freya didn''t wait and spread out her Divine Aura containing her power as a Goddess of Love, filling Hestia''s barrier with her own color. Thankfully, she kept Kisuke''s words in mind and just took over the children''s minds and overpower Chaos'' influence just enough before immediately dispelling her power so that they wouldn''t lose their minds over her.


    Soon enough, lights returned to everyone''s eyes and as if just waking up from a bad dream, they started panting for air, "W-what just happened...?" Lefiya asked herself, still distraught and confused.


    Though before the pink aura disappeared, it visibly concentrated on Kisuke which shocked the other Gods as they knew how dangerous that was.


    Freya just wanted to tease and test him, but even after increasing the intensity of her ''Charm'', Kisuke''s expression didn''t even change, and became disappointed.


    "Kisuke puts the most importance on the integrity of his mind so he has a lot of defenses against abilities and things that can influence it," Yoruichi exined while grinning at her.


    Freya finallypletely dispelled her ''Charm'' and turned her attention back to the children while pouting.


    "Wee back, everyone." Kisuke greeted them and they all looked at him with fear-filled eyes, "I know you all want to rest and rx but we don''t have any time for that, for obvious reasons. All of you need to fight and there will be no exceptions. Well, you technically also have the choice of running away but you''d need to dig deep and stay in that hole for as long as the warsts."


    They were silent. Although they knew the right answer, it wasn''t an easy one. After all, they''ll be going against the God that they revered their whole lives. On top of that, things happened so fast that they haven''t even fully processed what was going on.


    But as Kisuke expected, Bell was the first one to step out and ask a question, "What about the rest of the Lower World? What''s going to happen to those who can''t fight?"


    It was an obvious question since only a small fraction of the whole world could actually put up a fight and therge majority are just normal citizens, living their day-to-day lives away from any conflict. Now that an unprecedented danger epasses the whole world as if horns of the apocalypse, what''s going to happen to them?


    "Everyone will be put in danger and there''s nothing really we could do to save them. Many are going to lose their lives from battles that could happen all around the world." Kisuke immediately answered without sugarcoating anything.


    And as a result, everyone looked down, imagining the horrors that are about to go down.


    "That''s why your cooperation is important," Kisuke added, which made everyone focus their attention on him again.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Instead of creating conflict everywhere and dragging innocent souls into danger, what if we create an army and force them to defend their base, essentially pooling all their numbers into a single area where they won''t be able to hurt as much."


    "Wait! You mean that we''re initiating the attack!?" Demeter panicky asked.


    Instead of Kisuke, it was Kali who replied to her question with a heavy voice, "That might be our only choice if we don''t want to let this war spread. Besides, I would rather die fighting than die hiding like a rat."


    Hermes then asked Yoruichi, "I can tell that you''re very proficient with Spatial Magic. Is it possible to increase our number by gathering people?"


    But before Yoruichi could answer, Loki interrupted, "That could work, but I''m against it. We''ll have the same problem as the enemy is having now if we haphazardly invite others just to increase our numbers. Who knows, maybe before we could even start we''ll die at the hands of bad actors."


    "I have the same opinion as Loki," Odin also spoke up, "But we could also invite a few trustworthy people to our side."


    A full-blown discussion started among the Gods but the problem of numbers isn''t going to go anywhere as they are now.


    Kisuke let them talk to each other and turned to Riveria, "I''ll leave the others to you. Thankfully, you have experience teaching at the Ouroboros Academy. Just teach them what you think will be useful."


    Riveria nodded and she already had an idea of what to teach everyone, ''For top fighters, defensive techniques since what they need is to survive to protect the others. For the rest, ritual-type Magic to cover theck of offense and simple but broader defense.''


    "Well then, I have nothing else to do here for now it seems. I''ll go rest now."


    "Wait." Astarte grabbed his sleeve, "Are you really going to leave us like this?"


    "As much as I would like to, I have nothing to offer in your conversation. It''s your world so you know much more about where to get people so I''ll leave it to you guys."


    Astarte wanted to ask further questions but Kisuke stopped her by sending her a mental message, [And obviously, I have my own hidden cards that I can''t reveal to everyone. After all, it''s not just the risk of bringing in a traitor that is the problem, but a traitor already existing in this group.]


    Astarte froze and let go of Kisuke.


    Kisuke didn''t say it out loud because he didn''t need an unnecessary divide within their current group, ''If there''s really one, then I have to bring out my ace aste as possible. In the next three days, I would have to focus on finding that guy.''


    But despite their current standing, he couldn''t help but get excited at the surprises he prepared for everyone as if he was preparing some pranks.

 Chapter 1048 Counterattack part 3

    Chapter 1048 Counterattack part 3


    Three dayster, Riveria was distributing an improved version of the Mind Potion to everyone, "It seems that all of you''ve already got the gist of it."


    Meanwhile, the people she was teaching were all sprawled on the ground and are almost utterly depleted of Magic Power, "...T-these are fascinating spells that follow apletely unknown system. Where did you learn this?"


    Despite the sorry state she was in, Tenestra was excitedly taking in the new knowledge that was presented to her.


    "Riveria-sama, I have several questions. Is that fine?" Lefiya asked with hidden vigor behind her eyes. Ever since Tenestra arrived in Orario, she had considered her greatest rival. Thankfully, thetter also felt the same after proving that Lefiya too, could get away from the normal conception of Magic.


    "That''s fine, but rest for now. I''ll answer all of your questions once you guys are well-rested." Riveria said before leaving them alone. She then went walking towards Yoruichi and Serafall''s tent intending to discuss their next steps when she saw Kali entering the tent where Kisuke was.


    Since yesterday, Kisuke had been ''interviewing'' the Gods one on one for some reason, and even when asked, Kisuke and Gods will not discuss it.


    Riveria thought that he has been doing something to them so that they''ll be able to bring down their Divine Avatars, ''But it could also be him trying to find out if there''s a traitor in our midst.''


    She wondered if that''s really the case, then it would be extremely hard to defend against a stab in the back, ''In that case, I would have to take his stance of trusting no one.''


    Riveria reached the tent but before she could enter it, an explosion smashed against Hestia''s barrier and when she looked up, she saw three Deities with ck veins traveling through their entire bodies looking down on the camp.


    These past three days, Hestia was also doing her best to expand her ''home'' and as of now, they had at least a kilometer in a radius of space. Naturally, that didn''t stop their enemies from trying to poke at her barrier even though it had done nothing no matter what they did, ''They''re still not tired of doing that?''


    "I''ve received word that we''re moving out soon." Yoruichi suddenly came out of the tent with a big smile on her face.


    But contrary to that smile, Riveria could feel that there was a sublime killing intent emanating from her, "You''re striking back?"


    "There''s no harm in reducing their numbers before the real thing, after all~!" Yoruichi didn''t borate further and just disappeared from her spot.


    .


    .


    .


    The Goddesses known as Dalia and Kianda have beening back to Hestia''s barrier to attack it repeatedly these past three days. They said that they wanted to stop its expansion but in truth, they knew they couldn''t do anything against it and were just bored so they kept returning to harass those who were inside.


    Another reason was that they don''t want to deal with what''s happening in their ranks full of suspicion and as Deities on the weaker side, they don''t want to get in trouble and fight the other Deities which is very prevalent right now with some trying to establish dominance over others because there isn''t a clear hierarchy among them.


    "Even this is getting boring." The green-haired Goddess Dalia muttered, "They really won''te out, huh?"


    "Coming out means death. Why would they? The only question is how long will that cowardly shut in keep this up? It''s about time she gets tired, right?", replied the brown-haired Goddess, Kianda.


    Dalia was about to throw another ball of fire at the barrier when she stopped and turned to her side, "If I''m not wrong, you''re called Yoruichi, right?"


    Like a mirage, Yoruichi suddenly appeared in front of her, "That''s amazing. You noticed me. And here I thought you two let your guard down since no one is retaliating."


    Dalia is fully aware that she''s weaker than Yoruichi, but as someone who governs fate, she was able to see what she''s going to do next and prepare an appropriate response, "I''m the one amazed. I didn''t notice you until you were this close."


    "Fufufu," Yoruichi chuckled, "But you''re wrong. I already took a step back."


    Dalia was confused by her words but she didn''t have the time to think about them when she heard her fellow Goddess behind her letting out a gurgling sound, "...D-Dalia..."


    Dalia hurriedly looked back and fear immediately gripped her heart as she saw blood bubbling out of Kianda''s mouth and a thick red line on her neck, "...S-sav-" Before she could finish her words, however, she instantly turned into ck dust, never to be seen in this world again.


    Dalia finally realized the reality she was in and thought, ''Run! I have to escape!''


    Unfortunately for her, she felt something going through her chest before she could move and when she looked down, she saw a bloodied arm, holding a beating organ. It was her heart ripped out of her body, "What did I just say about letting your guard down?"


    "P-please for-" Nevertheless, Yoruichi didn''t need to hear her pleas, and her head was full of fear and some tears flew off before she could finish her words. Like the first one, she soon turned into a cloud of ck dust and disappeared forever.


    "How merciless." Loki came floating up beside Yoruichi.


    "Eh? I don''t think so? More than me, aren''t they the ones having this too easy? What''s wrong with them?" Yoruichi asked while cleaning the dust off her arm.


    Loki shrugged her shoulders and said, "They''ve been desensitized by prolonged peace. And with them thinking they''re on the winning side, it''s be much worse."


    Although it looked easy, Yoruichi was only able to kill them instantly because there was no fear of retaliation from them. As if they are just ying some game that they couldn''t lose, "...Looks like this will be a lot easier than we initially thought."

 Chapter 1049 Start

    Chapter 1049 Start


    As the news of the two Goddesses'' disappearance spread, there was a heavy atmosphere that could be felt.


    Not minding this, Kisuke stepped out of his tent and stretched out his arms, ''I''ve given the Deities a way to use their powers and went through three rounds of interviews with them. It''s about time we move.''


    In the end, it was decided not to invite any Deities to their camp due to the risk not being worth it. Instead, Kisuke took the methods for the Deities to bring down their Divine Avatars and broadcasted it all over the world. He didn''t care if the one who received it was an enemy or an ally, but the condition of the activation was to converge in Orario.


    ''How is this possible?'' The Deities asked, but Kisuke never revealed it to them. Yoruichi and Serafall on the other hand could guess it had something to do with what they distributed across the world almost a week ago, before they fought Tiamat.


    But before he lit the bomb of conflict, Kisuke first approached Hestia who was in the center of the barrier, silently strengthening and expanding it, "Hestia-sama, how are you doing?"


    Hestia turned to him with a wry smile and said, "...To be honest, it''s very tough. The moment I let up, it''ll all crumble down."


    Kisuke then sat beside her, "I think you''re just very nervous."


    Hestia rested her head on Kisuke''s shoulder and replied, "Who wouldn''t be? You never did or said anything to reassure us of our chances of winning. Everything is staked on your supposed n that no one else knows."


    "You know why that''s the case."


    Hestia became silent for a moment before continuing, "...I know... But you also know that feelings can''t bemanded like logic. I trust you, but you won''t be able to remove my worries. And the fact that if I fail here, everyone''s sanctuary will disappear and that scares me.


    "I also know that my ''home'' is not invulnerable and can be taken down with enough force and time, that scares me.


    "And if all of ites crashing down, I''ll be watching everyone get ughtered, that scares me.


    "Everything happening right now scares me... It''s horrifying. I don''t like it. I hate this conflict!


    "Yet I know this couldn''t be stopped! It''s impossible to stop! It''ll be us or them!... And I hate it. Why does it have to be this way!?"


    Kisuke silently listened to her cries while also realizing that it was her that was the most affected by all of this. As a peace-loving Goddess who hated confronting anyone, with her most precious people''s lives on the line, and the one with the most power to ''protect'', the pressure on her was the highest and Kisuke had neglected that, thinking that she''d be fine.


    Kisuke knew that his apology wouldn''t be epted and it was not an apology that she wanted. But even while knowing that, he couldn''t grant her the assurances that she needed as it went against his own ideology that nothing is certain until the results are grasped.


    As such, the only thing he could give back was silence.


    Thankfully, Hestia knew him very well and was actually relieved that he didn''t do anything fake just tofort her, "...Just promise me one thing."


    "...I''m listening."


    "Please do not destroy this world in your attempt for freedom."


    Kisuke didn''t know what Hestia considered the ''world''. Is it its people? Way of life? Culture? The differing societies? The existence of Deities? But after he''s done here, most of what makes this world unique might be destroyed. Would Hestia still consider this as the world in her mind?


    "...I trust you."


    Kisuke then looked down at her and saw a small smile on her face, "...I see. Then I promise."


    Hestia trusted that the world Kisuke was imagining isn''t too bad.


    .


    .


    .


    From afar, Zeus and Bell are watching Kisuke and Hestia while having a conversation of their own, "Grandpa... Was I able to be a hero?"


    "What do you think?"


    Bell shook his head, "I don''t know. I know what a hero looks like, but whenever I look back at my actions, I can''t seem to give any judgment."


    "That''s great."


    Bell''s eyes widened at the unexpected answer and Zeus soon rified his words, "The only ones who can judge whether you''ve be a hero or not are those who you saved and saw your heroic deeds. After all, one doesn''t just be a hero from self-recognition. And without a doubt, you''ve be a hero in the eyes of many. A splendid one at that."


    Bell smiled, thinking that all of his efforts are worth it.


    It was then a rugged handnded on his head, "But beware. Bing a hero is just the start of the long journey and if you''re not careful, you might just see yourself be the world''s greatest evil."


    "Huh?" A chill went through Bell''s spine and he hurriedly looked up at Zeus'' serious face, "W-what do you mean?"


    "You''ll naturally understand it when the right timees and you''ll realize that a hero and a viin aren''t so different." Zeus then took his hand off his head and started walking in a certain direction, "Go back to your Familia and get ready. We will be moving out soon."


    Bell silently watches Zeus'' back as he goes away and the words he left behind kept ringing in his mind.


    .


    .


    .


    "Alright... Looks like everyone is ready." Kisukemented after looking at everyone gathered and lined up, "Here''s the n. Yoruichi will be creating a path directly leading to the vicinity of the former Orario. The Deities then will lead the charge and using the element of surprise, they''ll be taking out the enemy Deities one by one.


    "Although weak, their children could still pose a danger by giving the God or Goddess an opening to exploit so everyone else will be dealing with them. They are essentially undying but once their Deity is killed, they''ll disappear along with them so all you need to do is to stall them. Riveria will be dealing withrge-scale attacks from them and will assist whenever there''s a need. I''ll leave themand to your respective leaders but when it''s time to retreat, you all have to follow that.


    "These past few days, I was able to confirm that Chaos is busy in the depths of the Dungeon so we can be rest assured that as long as it''s not a total annihtion of his camp, he won''te out."


    "Our goal is to cause as much damage as possible before they can consolidate their entire strength and attack us. And after the appropriate time, we''ll retreat back to Hestia-sama''s barrier to n our next moves."


    "What about Yoruichi, Serafall, and you?" asked Loki.


    "We''ll assist on all fronts. But because Yoruichi and Serafall haven''t recovered fully from thest battle, they''ll be saving their energy for more dangerous things."


    "Wait... They haven''t recovered? It sure didn''t look that way..." Loki and the other Deities couldn''t believe it, especially when Yoruichi just instantly killed two Deities herself.


    Kisuke didn''t exin any further and just said, "The battle against the protector of the Dungeon might have been short, but it wasn''t easy on us."


    After receiving the cue from Kisuke, Yoruichi pulled out her kodachi and swung it widely. The tip of her de drew a line in the air before it opened up and revealed the dreary scenery of the former Orario and the Deities with ck veins gathered.


    "Let''s go! Hit them hard and fast!" Kisuke led the charge and the Deities immediately followed.


    And while watching the unprepared Deities scramble among themselves, Kisuke thought, ''Though I said we''ll retreat to n our next step, this will be the first andst sh. I hope hees out soon.''

 Chapter 1050 Betrayal

    Chapter 1050 Betrayal


    The Deities would need a few seconds to fully bring out their powers so Kisuke went on ahead to one of the unsuspecting Deities and immediately decapitated him and a few others around him, ''What the heck? They''re not prepared to defend themselves? Are they really that confident?''


    The enemy Deities soon got their bearings and the simultaneous explosions of Divine Power pushed Kisuke back, stopping his charge, "Enough of you, scum!"


    A Deity doused in mes and holding a spear came charging towards him and Kisuke responded by pointing his palms towards him, "Hadou no 58, Tenran (Orchid Sky)"


    The wind instantly gathered around Kisuke''s palm and turned into a tornado that sted right through the ming Deity.


    The Deity then defended himself by increasing the intensity of the me around him. This move of his was effective as the intense heat forced the des of wind away from him. However, he was dumbfounded when he saw Kisuke smirking at him as if he was an idiot. Immediately, a vein popped in his head as he prepared to gather his mes to burn him to a crisp.


    Sadly that wasn''t set in motion and had to stop when he heard screams behind him. When he looked back, the Deities behind him that hadn''t fully prepared were engulfed by a firestorm of his own creation that incinerated them, "N-no!"


    Kisuke watched how the intensified mes burned the poor Deities until they were charred, ''That''s some very strong mes. Even I wouldn''t be able to easily get away unscathed if that hit me. Too bad, they are too much of an individual to fight in a proper group battle.''


    Kisuke noticed that the strength of the Deities in this world varied greatly as they could be a lot weaker or stronger than their counterparts on Earth. However, there''s one thing that is very consistent among them and that is their mortality is a lot higherpared to Earth Deities, ''They''re too soft... I thought Deities like Freya were the standard, but it looks like I was wrong. Well, they couldn''t age and they''ve forsaken the system so this is probably the biggest drawback.''


    "Imbecile!!!" Shouted the ming Deity, but in the end, he couldn''t even approach Kisuke as a spear made out of lightning pierced through his head, obliterating it.


    Kisuke looked at the other end of the spear and saw Zeus with white lightning arcs crackling throughout his entire body.


    "Are they all this easy to kill?" Kisuke asked for confirmation.


    Zeus shook his head, "No. Not normally."


    "I see."


    "But watch out for Deities with Divine Authority of Healing. It''s possible for some of them to revive these dead Deities."


    Kisuke now knows which targets to look out for and raise their elimination priority to the top, ''Still... No matter how unprepared and easy to kill, there are hundreds of them in the immediate vicinity and thousands could still swarm this ce.''


    Thankfully, Kisuke knew that they wouldn''t be able to use their full power because of how crowded the ce was and it''d immediately turn into a royal rumble once enough friendly fire was done, ''Still, it would be a lot more dangerous for us with most of the firepower contained in a small space. Any wrong dodges or block could mean the life of an ally.''


    Soon, it wasn''t just Zeus who started massacring the Deities, but also the others.


    Freya would stun the Deities briefly before cutting off their heads with her Divine Sword. Meanwhile, Loki would transform her own body into various weapons including biological ones like teeth or ws. Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Serafall were shocked when a row of teeth suddenly appeared along her spine and snacked on the Deity attacking from behind.


    "A shapeshifter, huh... I wonder to what extent?" Yoruichi muttered being very interested in her ability.


    As for the other Gods and Goddesses, Takemikazuchi summoned a single de and started bisecting the enemies with a single stroke. Hermes would fly around at a blinding speed but in a very silent manner and cut the throat of enemies with a dagger. Hephaestus summoned numerous shields to separate the battle between the Deities and the mortals.


    Ganesha startedughing maniacally while waving his hands around while a gigantic hand mirroring his own would appear out of thin air that would p or tten his enemies. Meanwhile, Kali would make a circle by joining her hands together and when she looked through it, a ck ball would appear that generated enough gravitational pull to shred the enemy Deities into pieces.


    ''Back on Earth or here, these Hindu Gods really are something else.'' Kisuke thought and turned his attention to Artemis, who was putting holes in the Deities with her almost undodgeable arrows of light and then to Miach and Demeter who were working in tandem.


    Thanks to Demeter, the Gods, and Goddesses on their side could fight without much worry by keeping them healthy. Since they had to do it fast, they would need to make some sacrifices in the form of injuries by focusing on attacking instead of defending. But thanks to Demeter, the wounds on everyone''s body would instantly disappear and reappear on her body where it could heal much faster.


    Still, everyone''s wounds appearing on her were way too much for her to handle so Miach helped her with the healing process.


    Since they were a very integral part of their assault and pretty much the weakest link, Astarte decided to stay beside them to protect them. And out of all the Deities here today, it was her that scared Kisuke the most.


    As the Goddess of Love, Astarte has a simr ability of charming others albeit not as strong as Freya''s. But the most terrifying part is that whoever she touched would rapidly be drained of their life force as if blood is being drained from them.


    If this is in the Upper World, this ability would have been essentially useless with regenerations and vitality being supported by the system, but here in the Lower World, it became one of the most horrifying abilities.


    Finally, the three old Gods were doing the heaviest lifting. Zeus with his lightning-d body, Odin with his never missing spear, and Ouranos with a bulked-up body that exuded incredible strength and unbridled violence.


    The initial assault went well, but as far as everyone is concerned, that''s it.


    After eliminating about 30 or so Deities, the rest were able to gather and finally properly hit back, immediately changing the tides of the battlefield to their disadvantage.


    And when everyone became in the defensive position, Kisuke looked at Yoruichi and Serafall and nodded at them before yelling, "Retreat!"


    Everyone heard it and carefully retreated while covering each other''s backs. However, it was then that all their hope came crumbling down.


    The children and the Xenos were able to return to Hestia''s barrier but as the Deities were about to leave through Yoruichi''s portal, it suddenly disappeared, along with the extreme weakening of her aura.


    Everyone hurriedly turned to her and was stunned and horrified to see both Yoruichi and Serafall, gasping for air while their mouths were gurgling with blood. On their chest, an arm was sticking out and holding their hearts that were still beating.


    "Yoruichi! Serafall!" Kisuke shouted at the top of his lungs while propelling himself towards them.


    The hands that are holding their hearts clenched, crushing them into meat paste, "You!!!"


    But before he could arrive, another pair of arms appeared from behind them and grabbed their necks. " "K-is-uke." " Were theirst words before their necks were snapped and the light of life disappeared from their eyes.


    The arms then tossed the corpses away, fully revealing the four armed man, "Odin!!!" Kisuke uttered a blood-curdling scream while waving his sword and releasing a blood colored wave.

 Chapter 1051 Betrayal part 2

    Chapter 1051 Betrayal part 2


    Odin crossed his four arms and blocked the blood-red wave, "Ugh!?" But upon making contact with it, Odin felt the horrifying power behind it and was instantly sent flying with two of his arms obliterated, ''Even after fortifying my defenses!?''


    Odin tried to regenerate his arms with his own ability and recalled his Divine Spear, Gungnir to his hands. But before he even crashed to the ground, he saw Kisuke, in his ''monstrous'' form on top of him, swinging his sword full of chilling killing intent again.


    Odin held his arms up holding the Gungnir to block his sword. But the same as before, he failed to properly estimate the strength behind Kisuke''s sword, which had be several times stronger, "Kuh!!!"


    A thunder-p-like sound erupted in the whole vicinity and the arms that were holding the spear ruptured before Odin was smashed into the ground, creating another loud boom that rang inside the ears of everyone on the battlefield. As the soil and dust rose up, Kisuke swung his sword again to generate a shockwave that cleared his vision and saw Odinying in the middle of the crater with no usable arms and an overall wrecked body.


    Odin tried sitting up but just groaned and found out that he couldn''t move a single muscle. He then looked up with fear-filled eyes to his assant and met his darkened eyes devoid of any emotion.


    Odin''s stare was broken off when he saw a ball that spelled death forming and erging on top of his horns. He knew that if he were to be hit by that, there would be nothing left of him. In a panic, Odin did his best to raise his hoarse voice to call for his insurance, "C-Chaos!!! Save me!!!"


    Kisuke was about to st the detestable God to oblivion when a shadow quickly emerged from the Dungeon''s entrance and instantly reached him and crashed into him.


    The Cero he had been preparing discharged prematurely and went towards a distant mountain, melting arge part of it into a pool ofva.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke himself was dragged down to the ground and when he saw who was holding his neck, Chaos'' familiar face met him, ''He really moved himself?... No, he''s too weak. A clone?''


    Kisuke turned his horns towards him and charged another Cero before letting it go immediately at his face.


    Chaos responded by leaning his head and throwing away Kisuke, smashing him into a boulder.


    Kisuke was buried inside the boulder but he was able to get out of it easily without sustaining any major injury. When he got out, he saw Chaos already at Odin''s side and seemed to be passing his power to him to help him survive. Not far from them were the twelve Deities being surrounded by hundreds of enemy Deities.


    But that wasn''t their only problem as a few secondster, numerous Deities also started emerging from the Dungeon and dotted the sky. They soon reached more than a thousand-strong force and the majority of them were sneering at the trapped Deities.


    And although very far from their spot, Kisuke could also feel about a hundred Deities converging on Hestia''s barrier and bombarding it nonstop.


    Kisuke slowly floated up and looked at the hopeless situation before ring at Chaos who just finished recing Odin''s arms with ck arms that seem to be made out of numerous tentacles tied together.


    "What do you think? You expected that there''s a traitor in your midst, but did you expect him toe from the three stubborn old men?" Chaos first addresses him with a smug look.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just indignantly stared at him.


    Odin also slowly floated up beside him with a relieved expression, "Thankfully, they''re not as strong as when they fought Tiamat. Else that wouldn''t have gone smoothly as it did." He then looked at the girls he killed with a wide smile, "Thank you for telling us that they haven''t recovered. It gave me so much more courage and freedom to act."


    While stretching his new arms, Odin added, "I actually wanted to kill you first since you''re the most dangerous, but I have seen how sturdy you are and I doubt you''d actually die even if your heart is crushed. With that, I opted to kill these two weakened women. It was easier than I thought."


    Odin''s intentionally provocative words still didn''t earn words from Kisuke who just kept staring at Chaos, ''Did he lose his mind over their deaths?''


    "Still, I''m surprised that the spies you nted on my side still haven''t made their appearance." Chaos continued while surveying the surrounding, "Did they finally see the futility behind your struggle? Not a single one appeared to your aid. I wanted tough but I''m just feeling sad."


    The hundreds of Deities surrounding started assaulting the few Deities and they were only able to defend themselves thanks to the numerous shields that Hephaestus deployed, ''They''re holding up better than I thought... But what is this strange feeling?'' Odin thought, ''It''s as if they were prepared for this? But that shouldn''t have been possible. That would mean that they were expecting those two women''s deaths.''


    Odin''s instincts are screaming something at him but he couldn''t figure out what''s wrong. But before he could think about it further, Kisuke finally spoke up, tossing the ring warning of his instincts to the back of his head, ''With Chaos here, what could go wrong?''


    "Why are you here?" asked Kisuke.


    Chaos grinned at him and asked back, "Are you expecting me to be busy?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer.


    "Of course, you would. If not, you would not have attempted this attack," But Chaos just shrugged his shoulders, "You''re correct, I''m busy with something and I can really only send a piece of my power to see what''s going on. Sadly for you, it doesn''t really matter since your ''army'' could only make a tiny dent in mine. I don''t even have to personally take care of you."


    Chaos thought that Kisuke would finally break down and start attacking him, however, contrary to his expectations, he faced the numerous Deities behind him, "For those who received my word, this is yourst chance to separate yourself from this madness."


    The scream of Odin''s instincts became much worse but when he looked at Chaos who only sneered at him, he felt a bitforted, ''Right... There''s no way for them to turn this situation around anymore. Only stupid God and Goddesses would answer his call.''


    He was already expecting it, but it was still hard for Odin to believe that there were indeed several stupid Deities who came out.


    The first one who came out was an old-looking God who was brandishing a sword in his right hand and a spear in his left hand, "Goibniu..." muttered Odin.


    Goibniu didn''t hesitate and bisected several Deities who had their backs turned at him and attacked the twelve Deities before joining them.

 Chapter 1052 Reinforcements

    Chapter 1052 Reinforcements


    After Goibniu, several other Gods and Goddesses followed in his footsteps and most of them were from Orario and the Dizara region, where the rtionship between Deity and children are much closer due to them taking on the Dungeon.


    Soon enough, there were around 50 Deities that were defending themselves against enemy Deities numbering more than a thousand.


    "So, what''s the n?" Njord asked the others while deploying a rippling barrier made out of water.


    Contrary to his serious expression, however, Loki only chuckled, "I''m surprised that you lot actually came to this side. Are you guys crazy?"


    "Despite your situation, none of you seemed to be panicking, so I took my chances." Ares answered her question, "...And I really can''t get along with those obnoxious bastards after they destroyed my beloved country."


    Loki and the other original Deities started distributing candies who came to their side, "There''s no other n aside from eating this and surviving."


    Ares nkly received the candy and looked at it before asking, "Can I go back to their side?"


    .


    .


    .


    Watching all of this Chaos only amused, "How fun~. I guess this is more interesting. Odin, do you know what that is?"


    Odin looked closely at the Deities eating the candy before shaking his head, "N-no. I never heard anything about those."


    Kisuke ignored theirments and sped both of his hands after seeing them finish swallowing the candies. His joined hands lit up and a strange power started emanating from them and spread around like a gentle wave.


    Odin tried to block this strange power but it only went through him and did nothing. As he wondered what it could be, he suddenly felt arge lump in the back of his throat and couldn''t help but throw up, "Guahhaaa!"


    ''Blood!?'' He thought while also feeling the strength leave his body.


    "W-what''s going on!?" Odin shouted in a panic while feeling his strength leave his body and only around half of it remaining. Immediately after, he also heard simr cries of panic, prompting him to turn around and saw every Deity making a fearful expression.


    "Poison." Kisuke briefly answered his question.


    "Poison!?" Odin eximed and immediately thought back to his time inside Hestia''s barrier. But then, he remembered something crucial, that everyone else was also affected so it shouldn''t have been just his time inside their camp, ''Since when!?''


    Kisuke was able to guess what he was thinking and said with a smirk, "Before we even faced Tiamat, everything was arranged."


    "I see... It was that liquid you and yourrades sprayed all over the world." The smile on Chaos'' face still hadn''t disappeared while looking at the panicking Deities and Loki''s group beginning their counter attack.


    "It''s not actually made for Deities, but it''s doing a fine job," Kisuke replied while taking back his transformed state.


    When Chaos saw this, he only chuckled, "Are you that confident? Never thought you were an idiot. Although you reduced their strength by half, there are still more than a thousand of them, and many more areing this way. And if that''s still not enough, let me remind you that these are not my soldiers. They''re weaker, but I still have billions of them."


    It wasn''t just Kisuke who heard them, but all of the Deities all around the world strangely heard those words too.


    "Are you kidding!?" Kali shouted at top of her lungs while shredding a few of the weakened enemies, "We can''t do this!"


    Even the calmest among them about the situation due to their trust in Kisuke, Freya and Loki couldn''t help but contort their faces, "Couldn''t he just poison these people to death? What''s the point of just weakening them?" asked the former.


    Loki had the same opinion and thought, ''Isn''t it a lot harder to weaken them than just killing them with poison? From what I can see, they''re really just weakened and not a single bit injured... What is he after?''


    .


    .


    .


    The day before the big day, Loki went inside Kisuke''s tent after being called and the first thing she said while stretching her arms was, "It''s really amazing how you were able to help us bring down our Divine Cores. How did you exactly do it."


    "Tiamat''s authority over the Heaven''s System is a lot more pronounced than you all are thinking. I just borrowed a bit of her blood and aura to make some intrusion into the system and bring your cores down here.", Kisuke exined, "But enough of that. I found the traitor... Or at least I found something suspicious."


    Loki''s casual demeanor disappeared and she sat down in front of Kisuke, "And who is it?"


    "You know I''m not going to tell you that. Besides, I don''t have any evidence beyond the circumstantial."


    "Then why are you telling me this?"


    "Because I want you to condition yourself to trust me no matter what happens. You also have to prepare yourself to take action without any input from anyone else."


    "You want me to move by myself depending on the situation? I can trust you, but that''s because I didn''t have much of a choice from the beginning. And what if I mess up what you''re cooking? Tell me what you have in the oven and I can properly gauge the situation."


    "Not happening."


    Loki went silent again for a few moments before saying, "So the trust you''re asking is just a one-way avenue?"


    Kisuke grinned at her and said, "Not trusting any of you with my back is the most crucial thing though?"


    "Tsk," Loki loudly clicked her tongue, "I hate myself for actually agreeing with you. To think that we''d be trusting you with our lives yet you don''t do the same..."


    Loki sighed, "...Fine... But after all of this, I hope that can change. I''ve already invested too much in this just to be treated like a pawn. Level it up to a friend, will ya?"


    Kisuke gave her a genuine smile and said, "I''ll be showing my friends a new exciting ce after all of this."


    Loki sighed again, but this time with a bit of relief and some of her frustration going away, "I''m looking forward to it."


    .


    .


    .


    Loki looked at his face from a distance and closed her eyes, "Get ready! Once the situation changes, follow my lead and we''ll all charge together to break the encirclement!"


    Everyone around her became confused but they could only nod their heads. With no road for retreat, unity was their only hope to survive.


    Kisuke gave them a nce from his spot and smiled.


    "Hooh? So this isn''t your only trump card?" Chaos became interested in his reaction, "What else? Show me something more interesting."


    "I''ll show you, alright. For starters, we''ll start with pest control."


    As soon as Kisuke finished his words, from the corner of his eyes, Chaos saw Odin''s head, filled with confusion, had fallen off his body. And when he turned to his side, he saw Yoruichi, fine and well, holding a dagger stained with blood, "That went easier than I thought it would."


    Chaos immediately swung out his arm but Yoruichi had already disappeared and reappeared beside Kisuke.


    With a neutral expression, Chaos muttered, "I see... You baited him. Well, I wasn''t really expecting much, and killing those two was just a bonus," his smirk returned to him, "But that still doesn''t change the fact that you''re all going to perish here~! The only difference you made is that you''re going to survive for a few more hours, I guess?"


    But all of sudden, his smirk froze as he saw something unbelievable.


    A ck hole that could fit a few people suddenly appeared on top of everyone before a streak of red and white lights ejected from it.


    In an instant, these red and white streaks went through and decimated a hundred or so Deities while leaving the trailing words [Boost] and [Divide].


    Satisfied with the expression Chaos was now making, Kisuke added in, "I regret to inform you, but you''re not the only one with a lot of friends."

 Chapter 1053 Dragons

    Chapter 1053 Dragons


    All the scrambling Deities stopped what they were doing to look at the sky where the strange but terrifying aura wasing from and saw two streaks of red and white light. Sadly for a few of them, that would be thest thing they would be seeing before they slept for all eternity, not knowing what hit them.


    "W-what is that?" Miach loudly asked. The aura emanating from the red and white light was very different from what a Deity could emit. It was something more ''regal'' and ''proud'' which was also something very different from what Kisuke and his group showed.


    Nobody answered his inquiry and instead, Ouranos asked Loki, "Should we move? The situation has changed." He and Zeus already understand that Loki had takenmand of the group.


    "No." Loki instantly answered, "Don''t move nor show any hostile behavior. Their killing intent is all over the ce and they might mistake us as being in the same group as everyone else."


    Thankfully, Loki made the right call as the red and white light didn''t really have a clear image of the battlefield and only received an instruction to assist the ones who were in a disadvantageous position and those who were not ''poisoned'', "Do you think it''s them?" the red light, Issei asked Vali.


    "They''re the only ones that don''t possess the marked aura so it''s probably them." the white light, Vali turned his attention to Kisuke and Yoruichi who were facing the strongest individual here while saying, "Go and talk to them to confirm their standing."


    Issei looked at Vali for a moment before asking, "You didn''t practice speaking theirnguage, did you?"


    Vali became silent and ignored Issei while speeding up.


    "You''re afraid that you''ll embarrass yourself if you bite your tongue while trying to talk?" But Issei only received a mass of destructive Demonic Power in the form of silvery-white lightning. Issei immediately dodged it and the few Deities chasing behind them were reduced to nothing after a few seconds after being ''Divided'' several times into nonexistence.


    Issei only chuckled and flew towards the cornered Deities. Seeing their wary demeanor towards him, Issei released his helmet and revealed his face with a friendly smile, "Hello~! Are you perhaps Kisuke''s friends?"


    There was no answer for a moment until a slender woman with red hair and narrow eyes, "That''s right. And you are?"


    Issei sighed in relief as there seems to be no friendly fire that urred, "I''m Issei Hyoudou, also Kisuke''s friend. We came here after that guy asked for help."


    He then turned around and shouted in Japanese, "Oi~! Vali! We got the correct people!"


    But instead of acknowledging his words, Vali suddenly stopped and started chanting while his Demonic Power also spiked up to the highest degree, "The pure White Dragon dwelling within me, rise up from your supremacy..."


    As he suddenly stopped mid-flight, the Deities around him thought it was a good opportunity and started bombarding him with various abilities.


    At first, the attacks were being blocked by Vali''s Defensive Magic, but it couldn''t take more than a few seconds of attacks and soon went through it. Although Vali''s Scale Mail boasted massive defenses, the attacks immediately started chipping parts of it with unique attacks that began to add rot to its unblemished surface. Within just a few seconds, Vali would be stripped of his armor and he''d be a sitting duck waiting to be ughtered.


    However, he ignored all of those since none of them could kill him and the attacks that could prove fatal were still being charged, "Thou shalt kneel down before our bright and glorious existence!"


    Before Vali''s armor waspletely stripped off, another one reced it, and this time, with a mix of silver and ck that was much more intricate and mboyant. In addition to that, five more pairs of mechanical wings were added to his single pair which exuded a dangerous blue light.


    "Diabolos Dragon Lucifer!"


    However, hardly anyone was able to take note of his very drastic change in appearance as his aura went through a much more massive transformation.


    "W-what is he?" Hermes asked with cold sweat dripping down from the temple of his forehead. He had to consciously stop himself from shaking in fear.


    His explosion of Demonic Power that was enough to make most people kneel was apanied by a Godly aura. But terrifyingly, the Godly aura was something far from the Deities present and they could only hope to achieve in their dreams, as it was much closer to Chaos'' than theirs.


    Nevertheless, Issei didn''t really have the luxury to answer him since he''s also looking at Vali with a nervous expression, "...He''s not doing ''that'', is he?"


    But his wishes were trampled by his partner, [Why not? Isn''t this the best situation for ''that''?]


    "Fuck!" Issei cursed and hurriedly turned toward the Deities, "Hurry! Let''s get away from here!"


    Issei didn''t wait for their answer as he noticed that they were still dumbfounded by Vali''s appearance and forcefully dragged them with him using Magic.


    After being forcefully moved, the Deities finally reacted and saw Issei''s panicked demeanor and wondered what was making him so scared since it was his ally.


    Thankfully, their confusion was soon answered when Vali put both of his hands together and muttered in an unknownnguage, "Satan Compression Divider."


    When Issei heard this, the boosters on his back extended and erupted to further increase his speed while dragging more or less 50 Deities away with him.


    The next instant, a sh of silvery-white and ck demonic radiance illuminated the whole area for a few seconds.


    When the magnificent light disappeared, the Deities within a certain radius around Vali vanished without any trace, as if they didn''t exist in the first ce, and those further behind them started dropping like flies with most of their strength sapped out, reducing them to almost powerless mortal-like existence.


    Issei, who''d just got out of its area of effect muttered, "That insane bastard. I''ll give his chuunibyou diary to Kisuketer."


    [Hey! That''s a low blow!] Even Ddraig, who didn''t really react much to anything, thought that his idea was very cruel.


    As for Vali himself, while still feeling a massive power welling up from his very core, a chill went down his spine suddenly and made him very alert, ''What was that!?''

 Chapter 1054 Just a Big Coward

    Chapter 1054 Just a Big Coward


    Chaos couldn''t stop the red and white lights'' rampage because he could feel Kisuke''s attention on him and any movement from him will just be a wasted effort, "...How?" He asked in a fuming rage.


    "A tech from a civilization that managed to sessfully take over and end numerous worlds like this one." Kisuke exined while smirking, "It disregards most of the restrictions ced on the boundaries between space and instead directly connects two points through a different dimension."


    But even after his exnation, Chaos couldn''t understand how that was possible, ''...This is my world! How!?''


    At that moment, he felt a massive aura and frightening aura explode behind him. He immediately turned around to see the white armor was now emanating the power of a God along with other unknown powers. As he saw him gather his power in both of his hands, a slight threat, for the first time in a very long time, awakened his instincts.


    It was when the sh of silvery-white and ck light erupted from Vali that Chaos finally realized the danger if more like him went through the strange portal, ''I can''t move now, I can''t stop what I''m doing now, and I can''t seem to close that pathway!''


    Now with the tables turned against him, Chaos didn''t hesitate to decide his next course of action, ''Although I don''t haveplete information on that side, I know for sure that Kisuke Urahara isn''t well-liked so there shouldn''t be any substantial reinforcements after this. On top of that, they can''t stay here for too long as the vacuum they left is too big and the consequences of that aren''t small.''


    Without waiting any further, Chaos instantly turned into a ck goo and dropped to the ground before sipping through it, ''Until I get that power...''


    Seeing that, Kisuke immediately turned to Vali and warned him, "Get away from that spot now if you don''t want to be trapped."


    Vali listened to his warning and flew towards the direction where Issei went. He immediately caught up to him thanks to the boost he received from his current form, but also immediately dispelled his Scale Mail and stood on Issei''s back to hitch a ride on him. That form was very powerful but it''s not something that should be maintained meaninglessly since its mileage is the worst and it''s really only useful when he wants to end a fight quickly.


    Half a minuteter, a ck wall surrounding the entirety of the former Orario emerged from the ground and shot up to meet in the middle, forming a 500-meter-tall dome.


    "I know you told me that it''s possible for him to just escape and avoid fighting, but to think that he would really lock himself up..." Yoruichi muttered, "That guy has smaller balls than I thought."


    Kisuke gauged the wall and found out that he can''t prate it with his scanning ability, "One thing is for sure. He can see many things but that doesn''t mean he understands what he''s seeing. Aside from being a coward, he''s also dumber than I thought."


    If Kisuke was in his position right now, he would have pulled out all the stops and attempted to clean them up as fast as possible. Yet he decided to give them more space and retreated instead, ''The reason why we turned the tables on him was that he gave us time to prepare, yet he''s doing that again. Is the thing in the very depths of the Dungeon that important, or is he really just that dumb?''


    Kisuke really hates it if the enemy was ambitious and dumb at the same time. Those are the only types of people he couldn''t read properly.


    Soon, the aura of Deities approaching this area also disappeared as if they went somewhere else and both Kisuke and Yoruichi concluded that they were teleported inside the barrier Chaos made.


    "What should we do now?" asked Yoruichi after figuring out that it was going to be very hard to breach the barrier without using a substantial amount of power on it.


    "Let''s return to everyone else first."


    But before leaving, Kisuke took back Yoruichi and Serafall''s Gigai that he used to bait the traitor, Odin.


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutes earlier, just after the children, Xenos, and Riveria who were escorting them went through Yoruichi''s portal and its subsequent closure, Riveria hurried towards Hestia and asked what was going on.


    "I... I also don''t know. Hold on." Hestia immediately released her ability and manipted what was left of the system to bring out the ''eyes'' and watch what was going on.


    And as soon as the screen lit up, it was just time for everyone to witness Yoruichi and Serafall''s death.


    "Nooo!!!" It was Line who let out a horrified shriek.


    She was about to rush out without thinking but Riveria hurriedly grabbed her by the cor, "Riveria-sama!? We have to assist them now!" It was also at that moment that Odin grabbed their necks and snapped them.


    The others who are watching were also devastated at Odin''s sudden betrayal and the hope that they had, had all gone up into smoke with things going south. They knew that after Yoruichi and Serafall''s turn, it would be their God and Goddesses who''de up dead next.


    "Don''t do anything." Riveria replied while tightening her hold on Line, "It shouldn''t have been that easy to ambush both Yoruichi and Serafall. Besides... Look."


    Riveria urged everyone to watch the screen closely and also just in time to watch Kisuke rush towards Odin, "The first thing he would have done is to catch them yet he just let them fall to the ground. I would guess those are not their real bodies and they were just there to bait out the traitor."


    Line started to calm down and watched what was happening closely and immediately found it weird. Although not a healer himself, Line knew for sure that it was actually hard to die with Kisuke around, at least from what she''d already heard from both Yoruichi and Serafall throughout the years.


    Riveria let go of Line and also saw Hestia give a sigh of relief after her exnation, ''Although probably fake, it''s still hard to see someone you care about suddenly die like that.''


    However, they couldn''t watch the situation in peace as around a hundred Deities with ck veins suddenly appeared outside Hestia''s barrier and started bombarding it.


    "This is bad." Hestia suddenly said, "The barrier won''tst for more than a few days if they keep doing that."


    Although that sounded long, everyone knew that they didn''t know how long this war was going to go and any time limits on them right now doesn''t bode well.


    "Should we go in and out of the barrier and try to disturb them? That should buy us some time," Ais asked while bringing out her Draconic characteristics.


    Ottar also stepped out, "I agree with her."


    "It is very dangerous and the effect that would be doing is minimal..." Finn muttered while biting on his tongue, "But it''s also the only contribution that we can provide."


    "Let''s form teams and randomize our attacks as much as possible." Bell also gave his opinion.


    And while the leaders are nning what steps they should make, those on the side could only steel themselves, "Tione... I''m perplexed." asked Tiona.


    "What a coincidence... Me too.", Tione replied, "Odin''s betrayal should be a very big deal yet we aren''t talking about it."


    "Obviously because we can''t worry about that now." Bete came to their side.


    Tiona and Tione both looked at him with concerned expressions. Out of all the people here, he should be one of the heaviest burdens carrying in their consciousness, ''He sent Lena and their 2-year-old son away after the Dungeon Break to ensure their safety... Yet he ended up within one of the safest ces in the world.'', thought Tione, ''How is he coping with that? Maybe he''s wishing he''s one of those Minotaur brothers who only think of fighting and flexing their muscles?''


    However, they luckily didn''t have enough time to dwell on that as a woman, who was supposed to have died, suddenly appeared in the middle of the discussion and said while pointing up, "You all don''t have to worry about that~! Reinforcements have arrived~!"


    Everyone unconsciously followed the direction she pointed and it was unknown when, but an enormous mass ofnd was descending on their location.

 Chapter 1055 Reversal

    Chapter 1055 Reversal


    While Riveria, Line, and Hestia were visibly relieved that Serafall was indeed alive, the others could only be stunned when they saw her walk out. But due to her pointing up, they inadvertently looked up and saw a massive mass ofnd descending on their position.


    "W-what is that!!?" Tiona shouted at the top of her lungs while thinking that their deaths hade. She didn''t even hear what Serafall said.


    At this point, the weakened and disoriented Deities also looked up but they didn''t have time to look at the descendingnd as numerous lights flew off from the top of it and were making their way toward them.


    And the first one to arrive at one of the Deities was a handsome man sporting short blonde hair and blue eyes with a mole under his left eye.


    Said Deity couldn''t even react and could only see his vision be disconnected from each other before the eternal darkness took him over.


    Yuuto looked at the bisected man falling from the sky and thought, ''Director Sona told us that they would be weakened when we arrive, but there''s still a very dangerous auraing from him. Although I was able to deal with him fast, it could be very dangerous once they start fighting back.''


    With that in mind, Yuuto pointed his Sword of Betrayer downwards and a Magic Circle appeared beneath it, "Bnce Breaker, Glory Drag Trooper."


    A secondter, hundreds of simr Magic Circles took shape in his immediate vicinity before knights withplete armor and exuding the aura of a Dragon materialized from them with each one of them wielding either a holy sword or a demonic sword.


    Yuuto pointed forward and muttered, "Go." And his army of Dragon Knights with simr speed and technique as their host, flew in all directions to fight the Deities, with each Deity having to face around 10 knights each, ''Thankfully enough, it seems that most of them aren''t sturdy... Which is really weird considering the power they possess.''


    Yuuto figured out that they''re mostly fighting against ss cannons. He didn''t know that these ss cannons were formerly immortal thanks to the system that kept them alive.


    While carefullymanding his army, Yuuto took a peek in the other direction to see the overall situation. Since it was only the Devils, people on Vali''s side, a Buddha, and a handful of Dragons of the Team DxD that came, he was worried that their manpower wouldn''t be enough.


    Nevertheless, his worries were unfounded. The man in golden armor was the second one who made contact with the enemies and he immediately started decimating everything in his path. Save for some Deities that weren''t killed in a single hit, everyone else was torn apart. But considering that Sairaorg Bael was in the same weight ss as Issei and Vali, this wasn''t really surprising.


    Not far from him was Xenovia, who''s also a power type and racing beside Sairaorg in how many they could eliminate.


    On the other side were Saji and the other former members of the Student Council of Sona Sitri''s generation. Although not as shy as the other two, the enemy Deities couldn''t push them back even though they were fighting back.


    After a few minutes and with more than half of them meeting their grim end, the Deities finally realized that they were about to be annihted and started escaping in all directions, it was also at this moment that everyone felt Vali''s power erupting in the distance.


    .


    .


    .


    While everyone was looking up, Serafall turned to the dumbfounded Hestia and asked, "He-tan, please let them in."


    Hestia looked at him and asked, "...Who?"


    Serafall pointed up again but this time on the lights that areing out of the floating ind, "Them. They have a more distinct aura than the Deities so it''s fine to just let them all in... Regardless of how dangerous some of them feel."


    Hestia looked up again and saw that something was attacking the Deities with everyone else. However, only she, not to mention Riveria, could feel something very dangerous still standing on the ind. Hestia swallowed her saliva and decided to trust Serafall and as soon as she opened the barrier for them, someone, without any sound appeared behind Hestia, [So it was this little girl who formed that interesting shield?]


    Hestia slowly turned her head nervously as the very dangerous ''thing'' she had been feeling was actually now behind her. When she saw the tall handsome man wearing a ck coat with a long mixture of ck and blond hair as well as heterochromatic eyes, Hestia almostshed out.


    But before that happened, a staff suddenly appeared in front of the tall man, breaking his stare at Hestia, [Reign in your aura and don''t scare thess.]


    Hestia followed the wooden staff and saw a short old man covered in golden fur at the end of it. The old man was wearing eastern attire with dark sses on his face. Although not immediately obvious, Hestia could tell that he was just as dangerous as the tall man.


    The tall man shoved the staff away and said, [Old monkey, I''m just wondering if I could smash that shield.]


    [Not right now. And why don''t you help the youngsters outside and stretch your arms a bit?]


    [There''s nothing else interesting. Wake me up if someone interestinges out.] Without waiting for the old man, the tall man flew at a speed that no one could follow and returned back to the ind.


    The old man could only sigh while watching him return before turning back to Hestia and saying in this world''snguage, "I apologize on his behalf. That man only lives and breathes for the sake of fighting... and bananas. So as long as you''re not hostile towards him, he''ll ignore you."


    Hestia was still stunned and those around her don''t know what just happened. So instead of them, it was Serafall who spoke up, "So that''s the strongest Evil Dragon, Crescent Circle Dragon, Crom Cruach. There''s definitely a terrifying aura around him."


    The old man chuckled at her and greeted, "It has been a while, Devil King Leviathan. I''m happy to see that you''re doing great."


    "It''s definitely been a while, Wukong-chan~! It''s good to see you too. How is your always angry boss?"


    "Still the same, still the same~. Albeit, a bit unbearable these days."

 Chapter 1056 Reversal part 2

    Chapter 1056 Reversal part 2


    While Serafall and Wukong were talking, a soft thud of knees hitting the ground could be heard and everyone looked at the source of it, only to see Ais on her knees, breathing rapidly while also clutching the shaking Lysa strongly to her stomach.


    "Ais!? What''s wrong!?" Lefiya immediately went to her side along with the other girls of the Loki Familia.


    "Could it be a side effect of her transformation!?" Tenestra muttered loudly which made everyone nervous.


    Line was already at her side and trying to diagnose the problem but she also had the same guess as Tenestra.


    But while they were trying to calm Ais down, Wukong approached them and said, "You don''t have to worry about her. But I would like to apologize on mypanion''s behalf."


    Everyone turned to her, including Ais who doesn''t know exactly what just happened.


    "Both of you are young Dragons and seem to be unaware of how dangerous the world could be." Wukong continued, "You just felt the aura of a very dangerous kind of Dragon."


    Ais thought back and it was indeed it when the strange man arrived that she and Lysa suddenly froze in fear, "D-Dragon? He''s a Dragon?"


    Wukong rubbed his beard and replied, "Yes. But after that initial encounter, you should be able to get used to his presence, so just endure it for now."


    "I too, apologize for his sudden appearance." All of a sudden, while the Deities were retreating, a voice came from above them. And when they looked up, Sona, whose hair grew longer and with five pairs of Devil wings behind her, descended along with Irina and Akeno, who also possessed five pairs of Fallen Angel and Angel wings of their own.


    But before Sona could reach the ground, a shadow tackled her, "Sona-chaaaan!!! I missed you!!!" She was pushed back and only Serafall''s trailing voice could be heard.


    Irina and Akenonded on the ground as if none of that had just happened with thetter immediately greeting Hestia, "Hestia-sama, it''s been a while. I hope you''re doing great."


    Irina, on the other hand, immediately grabbed her hand excitedly, "Hestia-sama! I really missed you!"


    "Akeno... Irina..." A bit of tears came out of Hestia''s eyes, "You''ve grown." She then grabbed both of them and hugged them tightly. Although they didn''t receive their Falna from her, she still considered them as her own children.


    Naturally, both Akeno and Irina know that this wasn''t the right time to have a sentimental reunion, "Hestia-sama, please cooperate with Rossweisse to transfer your barrier to the floating ind."


    Hestia looked up at Akeno and asked, "Rossweisse?"


    Akeno pointed up and when Hestia looked up, she saw more peopleing down.


    In the lead was a tall beauty with long and straight silver hair, wearing white and silver armor. Behind her was another beautiful woman with blonde hair and a very soothing aura surrounding her. As theynded, the silver-haired woman immediately introduced herself, "Nice to meet you. I''m Rossweisse." Followed by the blonde-haired one, "And I''m Asia Argento. It''s very nice to meet everyone."


    It wasn''t just them but more people could be seening down and some of them just came straight to them when the enemy Deities started retreating. Soon a round of introductions started with the children of various Familias and even the Xenos being included in it.


    However, there''s one person who''s clenching his fist so hard that his palm started bleeding and he wasn''t feeling any negative emotion but hope, ''...If it''s them...''


    He took a heavy step forward and took a deep breath. Those around him noticed his strange demeanor and called out to him, "Bete? What''s wrong?"


    But the white-haired werewolf just gritted his teeth and continued his steps toward Hestia, Akeno, and Irina.


    His strange fluctuation of aura was soon caught by everyone and interrupted by whoever was introducing themselves now. And even with their eyes full of confusion and concern focused on him, he only stopped when he reached his target.


    "Bete-kun?" Hestia wondered what he was up to.


    But before saying anything, Bete suddenly dropped his knees to the ground and almost smashed his face on the ground, "Please! Please save my family! I beg you!"


    His words of intense desperation were met with silence and those who knew him well were in shock. But after a second, they could understand where he wasing from and turned to Akeno and Irina to wait for their answer.


    Akeno and Irina were taken aback but only for a brief moment, "Please stand up."


    But Bete didn''t listen to Akeno and just continued his begging, "Please! I beg you! Save my family! I will do everything to repay you!"


    "No need for that." An answer suddenly came from behind them and they turned their heads, they saw Sona fixing her sses and dragging Serafall who was rubbing her face with a disgraceful expression on her stomach, "It''s our intention to help on all fronts."


    Bete, with a messed up face, turned to her and asked again, "Y-you''ll save them?"


    Sona thought that just giving him the verbal agreement won''t be enough so she showed everyone her Communication Magic, "Kuroka, Koneko, how is the situation on your side?"


    From her Magic Circle, a reply immediately came, [The enemy is already retreating and it seems there''s a power that is forcefully teleporting them somewhere, nyaa~ I also found a few settlements within the scan radius. So we can start the rescue effort, nyaa.]


    [I also found a few settlements on my side. We''re waiting for your signal, principal.]


    "Good. You can proceed with the rescue operation. Also, please bring one unit down here and let Bete Loga be the guide."


    [Understood, nyaa~ I''ll send Saji to take care of him.]


    Sona closed themunicator and looked at Bete and said, "Do your best in being a guide."


    Bete stared at her for a few seconds but before he could express his immense gratitude, a purple armornded beside him, "Is this the guy?"


    Sona nodded.


    Without waiting for any reply from Bete, Saji, in his Bnce Breaker, grabbed him by the waist and immediately jumped into the air, "Don''t bite your tongue. Point at the direction we should go."


    Bete still can''t keep up with what''s going on, but thankfully, he was able to point in a certain direction due to his instincts.


    "Gotcha. Hold on tight!" Now with direction, Saji instantly elerated and broke the speed of the sound barrier, creating a shockwave, and almost instantly disappeared from everyone''s sight.


    Those from Loki Familia thought that they heard Bete''s shrill scream but thought it was just their imagination.


    pping her hands, Sona gathered everyone''s attention once again, "Everyone''s tired so let''s move proper lodgings and rest for the time being. Those who want to be guided, please tell me immediately and I''ll prepare the proper arrangements."

 Chapter 1057 Downtime

    Chapter 1057 Downtime


    Everyone was teleported to the floating ind and it was then that the Adventurers, Mercenaries, and Xenos finally saw what was on top of it. It was an ind full of magnificent and grandiose buildings. From awe-inspiring mansions and humbling towers that were even taller than the Tower of Babel, to buildings from unknown architectural origins, everyone stopped at the entrance of this inconceivable piece ofnd. They would even believe it if this is part of the Upper World where the Gods and Goddesses all resided.


    "Wee to the Ouroboros Academy." Sona, who was walking in front, turned to everyone and weed them while adjusting her sses, "Riveria, please show our guests the Academy''s hospitality. Line, please go with Asia since both of you are going to be busy soon with injured peopleing in. Hestia-sama, pleasee with us and we''ll discuss how you''ll transfer your barrier over the ind."


    .


    .


    .


    Riveria led everyone in this world to an unused dormitory that could easily house at least a thousand students with the same quality as a very expensive hotel.


    "It has been a while since ourst meal so let''s go to the cafeteria first," Riveria decided after briefly watching everyone, "We''ll talk about your rooms after that."


    "R-Riveria-sama..." Unable to contain her curiosity, Lefiya finally asked, "Howe you are very familiar with this ce?"


    As if opening a dam, questions started to burst through, "Right! And they seem to trust you very much!" Tiona added. It was then followed by numerous more ovepping questions like ''What is this ce?'', ''What is the Ouroboros Academy?'', ''How is the ind floating?'' But ultimately, what they wanted to know the most was asked by Finn, "Who and what are these people?"


    Riveria smiled at them and said, "They are people from another world."


    Only a few of them were shocked as most of them didn''t even understand the concept of ''another world'', for it''s a very foreign idea. Riveria also understood their reaction since most of them haven''t been able to leave the continent they are in.


    "But before I exin that, let''s wee them first." Riveria continued while looking behind them.


    From the distance, the silhouette of multiple people was seen flying towards them and the most striking one among them was the intricate and majestic red armor in the middle and it didn''t take long before they reached Riveria''s group.


    "Freya-sama!" The first ones to approach them were Freya''s children and it was soon a cascade of worried children who ran to their Deities to check their health.


    Issei, on the other hand, released his Scale Mail and Vali also jumped from his back. While weaving through the crowd, Issei and Vali arrived in front of Riveria and the former said in Japanese, [Riveria-san, I was told to bring them here first.]


    [Thank you for your hard work, Issei-san, but I didn''t think that Team DxD would being over.]


    Issei scratched his head and replied, [We were also only informed a week prior.]


    Riveria sighed, [I''m sorry for the suddenness, but we''re truly d that we have you on our side. By the way, did that fluctuation of Demonic Powere from Vali-san?]


    [Yeah. This musclehead went all out as an opening act.]


    [Is that so? That''s a shame. I wanted to see it.]


    The quiet Vali finally reacted to her words, [Wanted to see it?! No way! I only did that after making sure that you were not around!]


    Riveria chuckled and said, [But it''s not like I would be able to copy that.]


    [That''s what you said before proceeding to copy unique abilities from numerous Devil Lineages! Let me remind you that the policy prohibiting the usage of unique abilities in front of you was already passed in the highest Devil Council.]


    Riveria went quiet and dumbfounded for a moment before saying, [...They seriously passed that? Aren''t they too paranoid... And a bit toote?]


    It was Issei''s turn tough, [Right! They were toote since you have probably already seen most of the Devil''s abilities.]


    At that moment, green light suddenly emerged from the back of Issei''s left hand, [For the long years that I''ve been alive, this is actually the first time I''ve seen a whole society passing aw surrounding a single individual. It also doesn''t help that you''re from Kisuke Urahara''s peerage.]


    It wasn''t just Ddraig who stated his opinion as Albion also had something to say, [You should expect more factions to issue a simr policy in the future. That''s how dangerous you are in their eyes.]


    Even the two Heavenly Dragons thought that this Elf was beyond ridiculous.


    Just in time, their conversation was interrupted by Zeus who feigned a cough, "Ehem... Excuse me. Riveria, do you mind introducing us to these young men?"


    "Of course." Riveria also cleared her throat, "This is Issei Hyoudou, the Red Dragon Emperor and this is Vali Lucifer, the White Dragon Emperor. They are Kisuke''s close friends."


    "Issei-san, Vali-san, this is Zeus-sama, one of the Chief Gods. Behind him, from left to right, are Ouranos-sama, Loki-sama, Freya-sama, Hephaestus-sama, Hermes-sama, Takemikazuchi-sama, Astarte-sama, Demeter-sama, Ganesha-sama, Miach-sama, and Kali-sama."


    "Nice to meet you, everyone. I apologize for my crude actions from earlier. I was in a rush." Issei smiled and offered his hand to Zeus.


    Zeus received Issei''s hand, "It''s nice to meet you too and we understand what you had to do. In fact, thank you for saving us. We would have perished if not for the two of you."


    Zeus also looked at Vali but thetter just kept silent while quietly sizing up the Deities.


    Feeling his rude gaze, Issei immediately went in front of him to block his sights andughed awkwardly, "...Ahahaha... I''m sorry about him. He''s not very good at socializing and a bit of a battle maniac."


    "It''s fine. He saved our lives so we''re still thankful."


    Though before they could continue, the shadows under their feet suddenly started emitting Divine Aura that was also foreign to the Deities of this world. Soon enough, the shadow gathered in one ce and a head of a ck-haireddy peeked from it, [Riveria! Help me look for the stowaways!]


    [Stowaways?] Riveria thought about it momentarily and said, [Was it ire and the others?]


    Without any hesitation, numerous Magic Circles appeared around Riveria and as soon as she pped her hands, the echoing wave of Magic Power spread throughout the surrounding area.


    Riveria didn''t have to say anything when everyone suddenly heard a voice near them, [Crap, she found us! CHEESE IT!]


    The space where the voice came from wiggled slightly before it revealed the figures of three girls. The one who spoke, a girl with grey hair and grey eyes, used sh Step and instantly disappeared and the other two, a blonde fox girl and a blue-haired girl, also disappeared using sh Step with the former panicky said, [C-ire! Wait for us!]


    Everyone was silent but Issei and Vali were the most nervous, [...Did you feel their presence?] asked Issei.


    [I didn''t even know that someone was that close...] Vali answered after contemting for a bit.

 Chapter 1058 Riveria’s Otherworldly Experience

    Chapter 1058 Riveria��s Otherworldly Experience


    [Ah! Don''t run! Sona already knows that you three secretly went back in!] Nyx dived back to her shadow and disappeared without any trace as if she didn''t exist in the first ce.


    "...That was?" Loki asked Riveria.


    "...A security guard." Riveria briefly answered.


    "No way I''ll believe you." Loki instantly retorted.


    But before Riveria could exin, Issei interrupted them, "Riveria-san, we will be going first."


    "Please be careful and see youter."


    Issei nodded in goodbye and both him and Vali summoned their Scale Mails before flying off towards the administration building where the centermand of the current operation is being held.


    .


    .


    .


    When they reached the cafeteria, the food was automatically prepared and everyone just had to get a tray for themselves. Since there were around two hundred people, the Deities and their leading children set their own table with Ouranos asking Lyd, the lizardman, to represent the Xenos group.


    Everyone was tired, but thanks to the delicious food that just mysteriously appeared, almost everyone ate in silence, including the Deities that actually needed to sustain themselves now, though not to the same degree as the mortals.


    After filling their bellies, it was finally time to talk, "Ahh~ I''m satisfied and I want toy down... But I don''t think I would be able to get a wink of sleep without knowing what just happened." Loki started and turned to Riveria, "Us asking questions would be incredibly inefficient so just tell us the whole story."


    "Hmmm... Where do I start?" With all eyes on her, Riveria began thinking about what she should actually tell since there''s no way for them to fully understand her without stepping into that world and experiencing it themselves.


    "The moment you went to their ''hometown''," Gareth suggested.


    As he requested, Riveria started her story the moment she was brought to Earth, a ce that is so much more diverse than the current one. She colorfully described the Earth and its various cultures and advancements in technology. And as she expected, not all of them were able to wrap their heads around the scale of the other world in various aspects, including their daily lives.


    Even then, Riveria''s words captured everyone''s imagination and no one interrupted her. The only one that could fully process her story was Freya, who possessed bits of Kisuke''s memories.


    Finally, Riveria reached the main course of the meal, "Moving on, there are many powers that exist in the other world and peace only really exists on the surface. One such power is the Ouroboros Academy, which consists of people who have close rtions with the Belial House of the Underworld where Kisuke originates."


    "Since it''ll be hard to exin the number of factions that could influence the world, I''ll only be talking about those who came here."


    "First of all, one of thergest factions in that world is the Devil Faction which can be considered as a nation, of a race known as the Devils. You''ve already seen a Devil since Sona is one of them. Their most striking characteristic is their Devil Wings and the higher the number of pairs there are, the stronger one is."


    For the first time since Riveria''s storytelling began, Kali interrupted by raising her hand, "Please speak, Kali-sama."


    "Are you referring to the one that Serafall tackled? She has five pairs of wings, how strong is she?"


    "Those with five pairs of wings are considered to be at the top. Although not quite on the level of a God yet, a Devil with ten wings is able to directly fight a God to a certain extent." Riveria, however, didn''t tell them that there are individuals that can''t be measured by that world''s own metric due to them possessing abilities that goes beyond that could be considered unique. And the greatest example of this Riveria herself, only able to manifest eight wings.


    ''Right, I have to tell them that I''m a Devil now too.''


    "And how many people like her are on that side?"


    "I have no idea if I were to include every faction but if it''s just the Devil Faction, around a hundred? Though that''s not really what''s terrifying but the amount of soldiers they have."


    "How much?"


    "Millions. With the weakest the equivalent of a Level 3 or 4 and the strongest around the same level as a top tier Adventurer or Mercenary."


    The children stopped drinking their beverages and a chill went down their spine as they imagined an enormous army with individuals as strong as them.


    "Are we going to get that much support!?" Ganesha hurriedly stood up and asked. Even though each soldier is just as strong as their children, with enough numbers, it''ll be an unstoppable force that even Gods would fear.


    But the one who answered her was Loki, "No way that would be the case. And a country with that amount of soldiers would be veryrge and arge country like that would be bound to have its own problems regarding the spread of authority and power."


    Riveria nodded, "It''s as Loki has said. The Underworld is veryrge. Even if you multiply this world''s poption several times over, the country of Devils will still have more. Due to that, the nation is divided into 72 Pirs with the council of Elders and 4 Devil Kings standing on top."


    A familiar term instantly tickled some of the Deities'' ears, "...Devil King?" Loki muttered.


    "The Elders of the council came from 72 Pirs and this Elders would elect 4 Devil Kings that would lead all the Devils." Riveria further exined, "And yes, Serafall is one of the Devil Kings."


    The Deities went quiet. It was only now that they realized that Serafall''s standing might have been higher than them all this time. It now became understandable why she didn''t care whether they''re Gods or not, especially for her patron Goddess, Artemis.


    "Enough of the Devil Kings since they are not really relevant to this operation. I haven''t confirmed it yet but looking at the people who came here, this is all made possible by three houses of the 72 Pirs, namely Belial House, Sitri House, and Gremory House, and the agreement from Team DxD."


    "...Sitri... Sona Sitri..." Freya muttered to herself, "She the daughter of this noble house? And it was mentioned that she''s Serafall''s little sister so she''s technically a princess?"


    "She''s the current heir to the House of Sitri... But I think she''s going to pass that position soon to someone down the line."


    Freya couldn''t help but smile and said, "Because of Kisuke, right?"


    Riveria nodded, "Kisuke doesn''t have any intention of inheriting any position. But currently, he and I belong to the House of Belial." As she said those, Riveria thought, ''Because he''s already a powerhouse on his own with influence in various organizations that couldn''t be measured. He''s the biggest wild card on that side and that''s the reason why many don''t like him.''


    "You and him? So these Pirs also ept outsiders into their ranks?" Loki asked and was not really thinking about it deeply.


    "Not really. You could only join one if you''re a Devil without any affiliation or you marry one of its members."


    Immediately, all eyes went wide as they stare at Riveria, "You''re married!?" Lefiya shouted from the end of the table.


    Riveria knew that this question would pop up and immediately answered, "No." But what happened next caused more shock when she insinuated that she married Kisuke. Four pairs of deep ck Devil Wings suddenly emerged from her lower back, "I fulfilled the first condition."

 Chapter 1059 Undercurrents

    Chapter 1059 Undercurrents


    While Riveria was figuratively breaking everyone''s mind in the cafeteria, Kisuke and Yoruichi arrived at themand center where it was just Sona, Medusa, Ravel, and Ingvild issuingmands and rying information to those who went outside to secure the left-out Deities and mortals.


    "How is it going?" Kisuke asked while looking at the disy screens showing everyone''s current position.


    "All the Deities that are tainted with Chaos'' power and children have disappeared. However, we found the children of those who joined youte. As you had expected, they sent their children away from Orario and were already nning to switch sides from the start." Sona answered while highlighting certain areas of the map, "I tried bringing as many of the DxD Team with us... But the bacsh was way more than I expected so the Human, Youkai, and Angel sides couldn''t join us. And it''s the same case for Olympus."


    The other three were continuing their work but their ears perked up to listen to their conversation.


    "And the main perpetrators?" Asked Kisuke.


    "A small portion of the Underworld, Shiva, Indra, and Takamagahara."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "Takamagahara?" He could understand the other three and even expected more people toe forward but he never put Takamagahara on the top of that list, "Was any information floating around on where we are bringing such a massive military force?"


    Sona shook her head, "I made sure that no information woulde up. I went as far as not informing the members of DxD until just a few hours ago and even then, not much was told."


    "And when did they start interfering?"


    "Ever since we started gathering a few weeks ago." Sona answered while turning to Kisuke, "I also thought that it was weird for them to suddenlye out like when they secluded themselves most of the time. I tried searching for anything but I can''t find any evidence that they are linked to Chaos."


    "If they had, Chaos would have done more to prevent you froming here," Kisuke muttered.


    "Or they indeed have a connection but you guys just pulled out an alien tech that they weren''t able to take into ount," Yoruichi added.


    Kisuke sighed, "That indeed has some kind of merit but one thing is for sure. We have to be careful on our return trip too. For now, however, let''s focus on setting down a foundation as a springboard to attack Chaos. I don''t have any reason to further dy our attack."


    "Two days. That should be enough to get the leftover Deities to our side. They''ll do a fine job as a distraction." Sona returned to her work.


    "May I ask a question?" All of a sudden, Ravel spoke up.


    "Please go ahead."


    "We agreed to help you because you promised that this world will be able to help us resist the Evie invasion. How?"


    Kisuke sat down and exined, "There are a lot of things that you can do in a world where only a limited number of people can reach. You can even move your base of operations here because I also know that you''re worried about the potentiality and dangers of sharing space with untrustworthy people."


    Ravel nodded and her eyes sharpened, "That''s true... We can have an important gathering among the core members here and we could also hide a lot of stuff that we don''t want the group''s extension to see. Still, that doesn''t seem to be that much of a help to the invasion. I can also see that we have this world''s inhabitant''s help inbat but aside from raising your own authority and influence, I couldn''t see any big merit it has to the world."


    "I won''t deny that, but there''s something else." Kisuke chuckled and felt it was nice that Ravel doesn''t trust him at all.


    "Something else?"


    "In our world, the Biblical Factions have a system that regtes the cirction of souls. In this world, there''s something simr but has more functions aside from soul regtions, and a more sophisticated system at that. I want to use that system to elevate our world''s grassroots and be a backup in case the Etouldes double cross us."


    Ravel and Ingvild''s eyes widened and the former muttered, "Etouldes?"


    Kisuke grinned at her but his eyes didn''t smile along with his mouth, "You''ve been secretly receiving their aid, haven''t you?"


    Ravel almost jumped out of her seat, "H-how did you...?"


    At her reaction, Sona and Medusa stared at her in shock, "Ravel?"


    Kisuke, on the other hand, didn''t immediately answer, ''I was just guessing but it looks like I''m correct. Well, if the Evies could have someone worship them, it shouldn''t be that hard for Etouldes to do the same.''


    "It doesn''t really matter, does it?" Kisuke replied, "Although I''m not really telling you to stop cooperating with them. I just want you guys to be careful. You can be friends with them individually, but don''t ever forget that you''re on a negotiating table with them and not their follower."


    Ravel gritted her teeth and Ingvild looked at her with a worried expression. A few secondster, the former heave out a long sigh and said, "It''s as you''ve said. We have been receiving various aids from them. I want to say that I''m opposed to this but it doesn''t really mean anything since we''ve already epted it. Is it bad to trust them?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "I''m not saying that. I''m just saying that you have to be careful because the Etouldes are not a monolithic faction as you all think. They are veryrge and could also have diverse opinions on many different matters as us. Instead of thinking that all of them are here to back you up, I''d rather you not discard the possibility that someone out there is pushing for a direct invasion like the Evies."


    Ravel was quiet for a moment before saying, "...I''ll warn the others about it. But I really don''t have any idea how big both Evies and Etouldes are. It seems you have a lot of information that we don''t have so we''d really appreciate it if you could share some of them."


    "I intend to do that after all of this is over."

 Chapter 1060 Round 2 part 1

    Chapter 1060 Round 2 part 1


    Half a dayter, there were various people who were transported to the floating ind of the Ouroboros Academy, most of them were injured that needed immediate treatment while the others were the Deities who didn''t ept Chaos'' power with a few of their children.


    In all honesty, they didn''t really need to save them but that''s just Kisuke and a few other apathetic individuals. However, some people, especially Issei, would protest against this and would just move on their own, so Kisuke was forced to wait to settle things down, ''I need to recover a bit anyways so this is fine.''


    After meeting Sona, Medusa, Ravel, and Ingvild, Kisuke, and Yoruichi went straight to Hestia where Rossweisse was assisting her in the maintenance of the barrier.


    "Hey~ How are you doing?" Kisuke greeted Hestia who was surrounded by Rossweisse, Akeno, Irina, Aika, and Serafall.


    But instead of him, Hestia ran towards Yoruichi and hugged her, "You''re safe!"


    Yoruichi smiled wryly and felt a bit guilty because they didn''t really tell him their n of ''dying'', "I''m sorry for making you worry, Hestia-sama."


    Hestia pouted and said, "You should have told me."


    Yoruichi, nevertheless, only chuckled, "We would have if we were sure that it was going to happen. We weren''t even sure if there was indeed a traitor among them so it was just a bit of a sideshow."


    From a pout, Hestia started making a contorted expression, "Death is a sideshow? I don''t really get how your heads work."


    While Yoruichi wasforting Hestia, Kisuke approached Rossweisse and asked, "How is the barrier?"


    "It''s amazing!" Rossweisse excitedly answered, "It doesn''t run on any system and I can''t even figure out the logic behind it! It''s created as if there''s only a single thought, ''defend'', behind it and nothing else."


    "How''s the transfer process?"


    Rossweisse''s excited face then turned into an embarrassed one, "The transfer went smoothly. I initially thought that I could supplement and fortify it more with my own barriers but I''d only be adding a thin sheet of paper onto a steel te."


    ''Even her barriers? As expected, people who can only do one single thing are some of the most frightening beings,'' thought Kisuke while saying, "Thank you for your hard work."


    Kisuke then turned to Aika and asked, "How''s the preparation on your side?"


    "Done. But I didn''t really expect that we''d use it on the holed-up Transcendent. Those Magic Cannons won''t be enough so I already informed Issei that we''d need his [Gift]." Aika, from her inventory, took out a tablet and passed it to Kisuke, "The strength of that shell, though not as strong as the one Hestia-chan can provide, is still a bit too thick." She added while watching Kisuke scroll through the tablet.


    "Hmmm... So we only get one shot, huh? When''s the next one after the first volley?"


    "Three hours if I want it to get back a bit of its original strength but they would bepletely out ofmission after that. One day if you want to reuse it again after the second volley."


    Kisuke scrolled through the tablet more before asking, "What about Issei''s AxA? Can''t we use that?"


    This time, it was Akeno who gave him the answer after shaking her head, "It''s not impossible, but breaking the seal of AxA will cause the Alliance to lose its leverage on peacekeeping and will keep Issei''s movement to a minimum. As it is now, it''ll be disadvantageous, not just for the Alliance, but also for us to have his freedom limited. I don''t think it would be wise for us to have Issei use AxA even if it has devastating destructive power."


    "Forget it. It''s not like we can kill Chaos with just AxA. If he''s someone who could just be obliterated with pure firepower, it wouldn''t be this hard to deal with him." Kisuke went silent for a moment before continuing, "Just make sure that I can deal with Chaos alone."


    "Alone?" Yoruichi approached him with Hestia from behind and asked with a frown, "Do you have to do it alone?"


    Kisuke nodded, "It has the highest chance of winning and he''ll let his guard down more if I''m alone." He wanted to take out the dagger he used to stab Tiamat in the forehead to check its status but he didn''t want Benihime to go ballistic on him right now.


    From the outside, they could hear Nyx''s voice as she was trying to chase down ire''s group, "She hasn''t caught them yet?", asked Irina with disbelief, but she was not reprimanding Nyx''s ability because she also knew what Nyx could do. If she couldn''t do it, chances are, she can''t do it too.


    "How are they escaping?" Akeno also asked as she too could hardly believe the situation.


    "It seems that Ophis and nna are not with them. Where are they?" asked Serafall.


    "They have an assignment they have toplete. They won''t be joining us," replied Kisuke, "How about you join them? It''s been a while since you''ve seen ire and Tanis, right? You could test their skills too if you''re curious."


    Although a simple and reasonable statement, Yoruichi alone caught what Kisuke was nning, ''He''s still struggling with a decision, but this is a good start.''


    "Well then, I''ll go check on Riveria to see if she hasn''t been eaten alive by those curious individuals." Without exining much else, Kisuke left the girls to themselves.


    Although there are thousands of refugees that need to be treated, the ind still feels enormous and wide. Along the way, he saw Deities that went to Loki''s side in midst of the fighting assisting the other Deities who just came, ''There would be around a thousand Deities on our side if all of them could gather but Chaos would have tens of thousands. Not to mention, they would probably have most of their power back after being poisoned.''


    What makes it harder is the fact that Kisuke doesn''t really want to kill the enemy Deities because there would be no point in annexing this world if most of its manpower is gone, ''An hour... No. Half an hour. I have to finish Chaos within half an hour.''


    While thinking of the sequences he should follow to force Chaos'' cards, Kisuke reached the dormitory where those who fought in Orario are staying and once he stepped in, he was greeted by a restless sight. Immediately after, Riveria suddenly appeared behind him with a very tired expression, "Help me calm them down... I didn''t think they''d react this much."

 Chapter 1061 Round 2 part 2

    Chapter 1061 Round 2 part 2


    Kisuke turned his head and saw Riveria with a tired expression and Devil wings out, "What? They couldn''t ept your exnation?"


    Riveria grimaced and replied, "... It''s more that they couldn''t believe what they were seeing. After all, in this world, race is something you can''t really do anything about and the source of many conflicts."


    The Deities found Kisuke and Riveria with bloodshot eyes. With Loki in the lead, she ran towards Kisuke, "Kisuke! What is this!? How is this possible!?"


    "It''s a reincarnation system that was created by a certain genius to replenish the depleted Devils after a great war. No point in saying anything more than that."


    "B-but-"


    Kisuke interrupted her, "No buts. You just need to know that you can''t apply yourmon sense here or you''ll just trap yourself in a jail of your own making."


    "Guhh..." Loki stopped and looked at Riveria who was not willing to tell anything more. Those behind her also stopped and reigned in their curiosity. Nheless, a certain possibility emerged in their minds. If Riveria could do it, wouldn''t that mean that it''s also possible for the rest of the children to do the same?


    Not willing to entertain their silly thoughts, Loki sighed, "Fine... I apologize."


    "It''s fine." Kisuke was nning on briefing them on what they should do next and slowly unlock the powers of the rest of the Deities who just came. But before he could do so, a small rumble came from a distance and only those with sensitive enough senses were able to feel it.


    However, Kisuke couldn''t help but widen his eyes because the dagger in his sleeve started reacting to the out-of-ce rumble. Without any hesitation, he connected his Communication Magic to Aika, "Ask Issei toe back and prepare the cannons. Fire it at the shell as soon as possible!"


    Aika didn''t question his abrupt decision and instead asked, [It''ll take a few minutes to gather enough power to deal with the enemy Deities. Will you be able to hold out?]


    While giving Riveria a hand signal, Kisuke replied, "I can fix the formation I left in Orario to deal with Tiamat so I''ll be able to transfer everyone out except for Chaos." After giving his instructions to Riveria, Kisuke hurriedly flew towards Orario.


    [Issei is returning. One minute before impact.]


    "Prepare for the second volley as soon as possible."


    [Understood. I''ve also issued an emergency summon and Sona-chan will lead everyone to meet the enemy. Should I also call Ophis, Lilith, and nna?]


    "No. They have an important job to aplish. However, please do tell Sona to aim for a defensive battle. Just keep everyone busy while I deal with the big boss."


    [Alright. Good luck. I won''t distract you anymore.] Aika then cut the connection because she knew that the suddenness behind Kisuke''s actions would mean that he would need some time to analyze the situation.


    Halfway through his flight, Kisuke flew to the side and let a 7-meter wide blinding beam of red light pass by him. And the beam was sitting more than 10 meters above the ground, it still melted its path and it''s a testament to how much destructive power is behind the beam.


    Although it was still just a dot within his vision, Kisuke could see the beam of light m on the ck dome and shake it horribly.


    The ck dome managed to resist for ten seconds before it couldn''t take anymore and the beam bore a 7-meter hole in it before weakening and entirely disappearing as if it was just a bad dream.


    A few secondster, Kisuke arrived near the dome and saw parts of it king off as it couldn''t take the burden anymore and started copsing. Nheless, he immediately ignored the copse of the structure and scanned what was inside.


    He saw a few Deities on the surface and the Deities also saw him, all wearing terrified expressions. Chaos promised them that his barrier will be able to hold on for at least a week no matter how much they attack it from the outside. However, Kisuke suddenly appeared after the horrifying light so there''s only one reaction from them after witnessing this misunderstanding. They all escaped to the depths of the Dungeon where they could feel safer from the arrival of the monster.


    Since they even left their children, they really threw away their pride to save their hides.


    ''Now that''s convenient.'' Kisuke thought to himself while taking back the energy that was needed to release his Shunkou, ''Did they inherit Chaos'' cowardly nature?''


    ''In any case, this has just be a lot easier for me and it won''t just be the [Expulsion] formation that I''ll be able to restore, but ''that'' too.'' Kisuke didn''t wait for any further trouble and began working on fixing the formation that was broken with their battle with Tiamat, ''I can''t afford to make any mistakes. A single wrong choice will cost me my life. Hopefully, I read him right.''


    A few minutester, Kisuke had managed to fix the formations that he needed and was surprised that no one came to bother him, ''Are they setting a trap for me? Too bad, I''m not here to y with them.'' Without any further dy, Kisuke activated the [Expulsion] formation and everyone aside from the being that couldn''t move was teleported away from the Dungeon to random directions several hundreds of kilometers away. If they really were preparing a trap for him, it instantly became useless.


    After taking a deep breath, Kisuke prepared himself and descended with suitable speed toward the deepest part of the Dungeon.


    As he went through the once familiar Dungeon, he could see ck veins throbbing along its walls, ceilings, and floors, ''Tiamat said that it would take him some time to get what he wants, but clearly, that isn''t the case anymore.''


    It didn''t take long for Kisuke to arrive at the very bottom where he''d battled Tiamat and saw that Chaos was standing in the middle while watching a humanoid figure with pure ck skin in a fetal position embedded in the ground with a faint barrier covering it. As soon as he saw the ''corpse'', Kisuke instantly noticed it had the same face as Tiamat.


    "You''re fast, Kisuke Urahara." Chaos took his gaze off from the ''corpse'' and turned to him, "But in the end, it is your arrogance that''ll cause you your demise."


    "If you prepared a speech for me, save it. I''m not really in the mood to listen to the rambling of a guy who thinks he''s at the very top of everything yet is the most cowardly of them all."

 Chapter 1062 Round 2 part 3

    Chapter 1062 Round 2 part 3


    A vein popped on Chaos'' forehead but he reigned in the rage that was boiling deep within him. He''s not stupid enough to fall into Kisuke''s pace over and over again. Ignoring what he''d just said, Chaos continued, "Did you really think that just because I''m busy here, you can take me on all by yourself? If that''s not arrogance, I don''t know what it is, since you''re not a fool."


    Kisuke observed the situation more and found that a ck tentacleing out of Chaos'' leg is attached to the embedded person''s belly and from her, ck veins spread out through the entire Dungeon, "That''s not Tiamat... Is it?"


    Chaos smirked and began muttering, "Ah~ Right. You managed to kill Tiamat against all of my expectations. What should I do~? I''m very tempted to wake her sister up and see what she''ll do~."


    Kisuke''s neutral expression changed to that of a frown, "...Sister?"


    Chaos looked down at the woman and proceeded to step on her head, "Yes. Arguably, the real ''Mother''. If Tiamat created order, Null created the substance." As he ground his foot on her, Kisuke could see the pleasure on Chaos'' face and almost reeled from it, "But for such powerful beings, they were too naive. I had a great time as their advisor. Ahh~ Those were good times..." At this point, the twisted smile on Chaos is the worst that Kisuke had ever seen, "Corrupting them and slowly leading them to their demise as I gobble everything up... I want to relish that experience once again."


    All of a sudden, a whistling sound pulled Chaos from his nostalgia and he stretched his left hand to catch the crimson arc that was aimed directly at him before crushing it and reducing it into motes of light, "What a rude fellow."


    Kisuke lowered his sword and said, "I apologize. I saw something disgusting and felt the need to destroy it."


    The disgusting smile from Chaos'' face finally disappeared as he faced Kisuke once again, "Looks like you won''t stop bothering me until I give you a lot of pain."


    The answer that Kisuke gave him was another swing of his Benihime. Simr to before, Chaos just casually dealt with the sword arc that''s enough to injure a strong God by pping it away with his bare hands.


    Naturally, Chaos wouldn''t just passively defend himself. Although he didn''t move from his position, Kisuke suddenly felt small tremors on the ground and the walls and immediately jumped up. In his previous position, he saw numerous ck tentacles that attempted to skewer him multiple times.


    "As I said, your arrogance is the cause of your death." Chaos spoke while sending more tentacles toward Kisuke, "This is my domain and you have no say in it."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything back and just defended himself. He would attack if there''s an opening but overall, his goal is to maintain the status quo, ''He also doesn''t want to push me harder than this. That would mean that he''s on a crucial part and I could potentially interrupt him.''


    Kisuke knew that he had to interrupt him, however, he didn''t know how he should be interrupted. As he didn''t have much information, he doesn''t know if his brash attempt would only make it worse for him. And as Chaos had predicted, Kisuke would need to first understand the situation or he won''t be able to do much.


    It became a race against who would reach their own goal first.


    After a few minutes of observation and tracking the flow of energy, ''Null, huh? It''s not really very helpful that Tiamat decided to hide her existence from me. It''s as if she just left everything to fate and she''s fine with disappearing too.'' Kisuke clicked his tongue, ''Having a teammate that doesn''t really care is a pain in the ass. I hope myst card works properly.''


    Hearing that click of a tongue, Chaos thought that Kisuke was getting frustrated that he couldn''t find an opening. But contrary to his belief, Kisuke had already found something but just hadn''t found the right timing yet.


    ''Chaos is not ''eating'' this Null, but absorbing a certain aspect of her. I don''t really know how Chaos'' ability works but I can assume it within the [Gluttony]-ss of abilities.''


    The [Gluttony]-ss abilities. It''s a group of abilities that has the concept of absorption. Some of Saji and Vali''s abilities fall into this category, ''In Chaos'' case, it seems to be the main concept. Or I could be wrong and he has something like [Assimtion]. In any case, I just have to find the right spot for the most effective disruption.


    ''Found it!'' In hisst attack, Kisuke finally found a converging spot at the wall furthest away from him and where most of the tentacles seem to emerge. But before he could attack it, he had to prepare for what''sing next, [Benihime, get ready to go all out. Once the timing is right, I''m releasing you along with my Shunkou.]


    [Don''t you dare use Hollowfication in that state if you want to stay alive. You might have immense regeneration in that form but thebined power output will destroy you from the inside. I''ll handle your injuries.]


    [If I were to insist, how many seconds could you handle keeping me in one piece?]


    [Seven, give or take.]


    [That''s plenty.]


    [But forget about fighting after that.]


    [If I can''t kill him after that, then I would have lost anyway.]


    Kisuke was about to start when suddenly, Benihime asked him an unrted question, [By the way... What is that dagger? I don''t like it.]


    [You''ll knowter... But I beg of you... Don''t kill me.]


    Benihime was shocked and confused by Kisuke''s sudden plea. But before she could ask any further, Kisuke suddenly elerated and focused on their current goal, "Shunkou!"


    The bloody aura that manifested around Kisuke pushed the pursuing tentacles and without rest, he continued, "4th Gate: Depression!"


    Chaos thought that Kisuke will attack him for real and prepared to crush him with overwhelming strength, but to his surprise, Kisuke went past him and reached the wall behind him, "Eat this shit, you fucking glutton."


    He smashed his fist on the wall and injected arge amount of his aura into it. Immediately after, Chaos suddenly felt bloated and a stream of ck blood suddenly emerged from his orifices, "...What?" However, before he could understand what was going on, the tentacle that was connected to Null inted several times and his head exploded into a fine mist along with his numerous tentacles turning into dust.

 Chapter 1063 Death

    Chapter 1063 Death


    Kisuke wasn''t done yet and pulled his hand out from the wall before muttering, "5th Gate: eptance."


    Kisuke knew that he was outssed by Chaos in almost all aspects and if he wanted even a little bit of a chance to suppress him, he needed to use everything he could manage, focus it, and hit him where it hurts the most.


    Stepping on the wall and pushing against it, Kisuke instantly made a big crater in it and shook the entire structure of the Dungeon as heunched himself toward the headless Chaos.


    Kisuke positioned his sword horizontally and swung it with all of his momentum and strength when Chaos came within his reach. The headless man moved his arm to block Kisuke''s de but it did nothing except allow himself to be cut along his torso. The cutting power behind his sword was so strong that it left a deep scar along the walls of the dungeon.


    But despite this, Kisuke couldn''t be happy as he could see small tentacles emerging from the bisected part and reconnecting themselves. Kisuke reached out his free hand and pointed it towards Chaos, "Hadou no 88, Shin Hiryuu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)!"


    A modified Kidou that truly epasses the majesty and pride of a Dragon thanks to the experience he got from the real thing. Instead of a normal blue gigantic st of Spiritual Power and Ki, it took the shape of an Eastern Dragon and was mixed with his own bloody aura giving it a deep red color. The blood ''Dragon'' swallowed the bisected Chaos whole and attempted to incinerate him into nothing inside its ''stomach'' while also pushing him deep into the Dungeon''s wall.


    .


    .


    .


    On the outside, the battlefield is only heating up now with Issei, Vali, Crom, and Sairaog in the lead against the more than five thousand Deities that suddenly teleported on the surface. Although they were still weakened, even if only by a bit since Chaos removed the poison that Kisuke had given them and most of them already had the power to fight back.


    "Hey... Isn''t this a bit too much?" Issei asked while in his Bishop Promotion form and sting the cannons behind him almost indiscriminately.


    Vali kept reducing and absorbing the power of those he touched until the victim Deities couldn''t even maintain flight. But before his stunt earlier, even if he could recover his energy, his body was still strained, "...He''s not expecting us to deal with all of them by ourselves, right?"


    "What''s this? You''re actually agreeing with Issei? I thought you''d be more like that?" Sairaog turned to them after splitting the head of an enemy and pointed towards a certain direction where a man with blonde and ck hair is rampaging gleefully while taking on the attacks of the Deities.


    "Even I have my limits," Vali replied, "Well, just let him release his pent-up frustrations. His training has been paying off recently but there was nowhere to vent. I assume he could be ssified as the third Heavenly Dragon just from his strength alone."


    [I agree.] Ddraig also spoke up, [Seven years is not a long time by Dragon standards, yet he improved tremendously during that time.]


    [But that also means the future is that grim. Such pressure to push a powerful Dragon beyond his limits... The Evies won''t be an easy opponent.] Albion also added.


    ''Is that why Dragons have always stood at the very top of the food chain?'' Sairaog asked himself after hearing that, ''When there''s a stronger species, the Dragons automatically adapt and vie for the top. Or maybe, it''s due to the enormous vacuum that Great Red and Ophis left.''


    If his guess was correct, then that would exin the sudden explosion of strength among those who are rted to Dragons, ''In any case, I can''t be left behind!''


    Meanwhile, the rest of Team DxD was behind them giving support and long-range attacks as a form of containment. They only have one goal today and that is to keep the enemy Deities from interfering in the most important battle.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke wanted to continue his assault but he had to stop momentarily to cool down. If not, he''d only be shooting himself in the foot.


    As he tried to calm down the turbulent energy within him, Kisuke carefully watched Chaos and saw him effortlessly regenerate everything that he did to him, ''That easy? As expected... I have to anchor his existence somewhere first before I can think of killing him.''


    However, Kisuke could also see that Chaos was not left unscathed. Although he looked fine, there''s something about him that''s a bit weaker from their first encounter, ''Alright... Time to push him to the edge.''


    Kisuke pointed his sword forward and his red hagoromo from his Shunkou wrapped around his de as he muttered, full of killing intent, "...Ban...Kai."


    From the five ''eyes'' behind him, five mechanical fingers with a de on their tips slowly emerged. Soon, red, shining outlines drew themselves on these giants and menacing fingers and red strings of energy materialized around Kisuke himself. As his aura exploded multiple times over, he continued, "Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame..."


    Using the power provided by his Shunkou and the path that the Hougyoku left behind before it disappeared, Kisuke unlocked a new form of his Bankai that seems to have fused with him instead of normally materializing.


    At the same time, however, Chaos also finished regenerating as if nothing happened to him. Except, he has this incredibly pissed expression and he turned his deep dark eyes to Kisuke. He ignored this new and strange form and with a pissed voice, he uttered softly, "You pest... Die in ignorance."


    Kisuke had been stronger than ever, but unfortunately for him, hisck ofplete information regarding Chaos finally bit him back... And Chaos bit hard.


    He didn''t know when, but Kisuke suddenly found himself floating in the darkness where there was nothing. He couldn''t tell if he was standing or falling. He couldn''t tell if he was breathing or not. He couldn''t tell if he was blinded or if it was just the absence of light. He couldn''t see his own body and feel his own aura. It''s as if his mind alone was transported to a very dark world.


    However, he could feel dread and just now, he had a strange feeling that his left nk entirely disappeared despite not having any senses. In all of his life after his reincarnation, death had never been closer.

 Chapter 1064 Saved by the Shadow

    Chapter 1064 Saved by the Shadow


    The strange feeling of parts of his body disappearing didn''t leave him and seemed to only worsen with each passing second. Although he was in his Shunkou''s fifth gate and released his Bankai, Kisuke couldn''t feel any uplifting of power from them like he normally does. He triedmunicating with Benihime but his voice only seems to disappear into the void, never to reach its intended recipient.


    Kisuke concluded that Chaos isted his mind. He might be on the verge of death right now but he couldn''t tell at all, ''Die in ignorance, huh... How fitting.''


    He remembered the position of his body before he entered this void but he didn''t know if there was apse in his consciousness or Chaos broke his footing so he can''t rely on his memories on how to move even if it was a simple act of jumping back in an attempt to escape Chaos'' maniption.


    Kisuke knew that Chaos was probably tearing his body apart and if any of his attacks contained his [Gluttony] aspect like what he was doing to Null earlier, he probably wouldn''t be able to rely on his natural regeneration either. On top of that, he needs the presence of mind if he wants to control Benihime''s abilities.


    Even then, he knew that his connection with Benihime was still intact and she was still in her Bankai form. Without any hesitation, he left control of his body entirely to Benihime and hoped that she could keep him alive long enough for him to escape this ck hell.


    ''Now then... I probably only have a few minutes to stay alive or even less, but how do I get out of here?'' Even if he wanted to make sense of what was happening around him, he only had his thinking ability with him. Though strangely enough, it seemed he had some familiarity with this darkness, ''I''m sure I''ve already felt something like this before and it wasn''t the [ck Coffin].''


    He contemted it more because he felt that this was the correct and shortest direction. And after a few seconds, he got it, ''...I''m one lucky bastard.''


    There''s one thing that he didn''t really think of using and it''s something he only got because of an amazingly lucky encounter, ''I''m a sessor of a high-ranking Etoulde and this darkness has the same scent as her shadow.''


    After confirming that Stralit''s mark was still within his mind, Kisuke smiled, ''Just this small mark alone won''t be enough... It''s a shame she''ll get an inkling of what''s happening, but I hope she can help me.''


    Kisuke activated the Etoulde''s mark and even though he couldn''t feel anything, he could tell that a very small part of this darkness had be his.


    Naturally, that wasn''t enough and he reconnected the mark to its original owner to gain more power.


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi and Serafall positioned themselves to support those who were on the front lines along with others. Yoruichi specifically was tasked to watch out for enemies who were gathering their power and about to release a deadly or dangerous attack. She needed to interrupt them and if there''s no choice, go for the kill even if they didn''t want a higher body count.


    "Isn''t this too dangerous?" Serafall came to her side and asked, "Not killing them, I mean."


    "Nothing we can do. Deities are the foundation of this world and if we can actually control this person, or at least, grant them assistance in their time of need, it''ll be an enormous help. And we still have a lot to learn from them so just think of each of them as books that could potentially tell us how to deal with aliens."


    At that moment, the battlefield was briefly silenced when a vast and heavy aura suddenly exploded from the depths of the Dungeon that was very familiar to the people of the otherworld, "Kisuke, huh... Looks like he''s about to ramp it up."


    But as soon as Yoruichi muttered that, another aura, much more terrifying and heavier nketed the whole space so that it was actually hard to breathe, including people of Yoruichi''s stature.


    "W-what is this? Is this Chaos?" Serafall nervously muttered to herself, "...Will he be alright?"


    But not even Yoruichi could answer that when Kisuke''s aura suddenly disappeared as if a candle me that was blown out by a storm, "!?" The next instant, indescribable darkness covered the hole leading to the Dungeon.


    [Kisuke! Kisuke! What''s going on down there!?]


    Unfortunately, there''s no reply, "Is it blocked!?"


    Yoruichi didn''t want to but she had no choice but to use a Telepathy Magic that they designed to prate any barrier and reach any distance that was based on Le Fay''s [Consciousness Targeted Teleportation Magic], [Kisuke! What''s happening down there!?]


    But the same as before, nothing went through. Yoruichi gritted her teeth and decided to dive into that darkness when Serafall grabbed her, "Yoruichi! No!"


    "Release me, Serafall! I have to go!"


    "You''re not thinking straight!? Don''t you see how dangerous that darkness is!? You''ll be gone the moment you go in!"


    "Then what do we have to do!?" Yoruichi tried prying open Serafall''s arms but thetter wouldn''t budge.


    Serafall gritted her teeth and came to a resolution, "We''ll go together!"


    Yoruichi stopped and wanted to say that it was too dangerous but Serafall interrupted her, "Let''s go! Every second counts!"


    Yoruichi sighed and was about to open a rift in space to instantly travel when another voice, albeit very faint, interrupted them, [...I can keep him alive for one minute. Stay still for now.]


    "Huh!? Who was that!?" Serafall was surprised as she didn''t recognize the voice.


    Yoruichi, meanwhile, just muttered, "Benihime..."


    .


    .


    .


    Stralit suddenly woke up and hurriedly looked around the dark and dirty cavern. She calmed her nervously beating heart and wiped away the sweat that had formed on her forehead. Sadly, her face only became muddy due to the dirt that had umted on her body. She wanted to use Magic to at least clean herself but that would only invite the pursuers that were after her life, ''And I don''t really want to waste any of my stamina now.''


    It has been a week since she magnificently fell for a trap that was arranged by the enemy Evies, and Etouldes that wanted her removed from the power struggle of her own faction. She thought that she would be safe because an inspector was arriving, but it turned out, this inspector is also part of their deal.


    She couldn''t request help or contact her brother and family because allmunication was blocked. No one was going to rescue her either for some time because the news outside was that she went on an expedition, ''Them manipting the information going in and out would mean that I can''t expect any outside help. It''s obvious that they had been nning this from the start, even the direction of my escape in case they couldn''t finish me off.''


    She thought that it might be her end and regretted that she couldn''t see her dear friend before perishing.

 Chapter 1065 Saved by the Shadow part 2

    Chapter 1065 Saved by the Shadow part 2


    ''By the way, what woke me up? There''s nothing here...?'' Stralit thought to herself.


    As Stralit looked around, her eyesnded on the only thing she was able to bring with her, a capsule that contained her sleeping sessor, John Smith. Because the traces of her power were on him, if she had left him alone, they would have surely killed him, ''Is he finally waking up?'' She thought to herself after feeling the tiny but strange aura on him, ''I never understood what kind of being he was until the very end.''


    Since no one knew that John Smith was her sessor, she''d be able to use herself to bait the enemies while he escapes, ''He, at least, should get out of here alive and he''ll be able to make contact with Seraselbes. Take revenge for me, little guy.''


    ''Although I won''t be able to see it myself, thestugh would be mine. Did you think that you were the only one who could cooperate with an Evie? Unfortunately for you, my friend there would be able to destroy your whole n. Forget about the power struggle, none of those who share the same blood as you will be able to keep their legacy. Ah, I should also include that damned inspector. I''ll ask him to annihte your whole n, innocent or not.'' With a wicked smile on her face, Stralit opened the capsule but soon enough, her smile froze.


    ''What''s this?'' she asked herself while picking up John Smith. She could see the mark on her forehead shing, signifying that he was using her innate ability, ''But where? And how?''


    She looked around and inspected John Smith more but couldn''t find how he was using it. But because she opened the capsule, the aura of her ability escaped and it''ll only be a matter of time before her enemies descend into this hidden cavern.


    "Tsk." Stralit ced John Smith back into the capsule before running deeper into the cavern that looks like the mouth of an abyss when she heard some activity not far from her, ''They were this close!?''


    She was actually fortunate that John Smith''s aura of her ability escaped at that time or she might have been caught off guard, ''They even have the stealth of this level... Only one other n has this kind of ability. They''re in on it too?''


    Stralit took random branching paths into the darkness while erasing her tracks and adding some decoy. Though while running, she could feel the aura from John Smith strengthening to the point that the capsule couldn''t contain it anymore.


    Stralit ran faster, ignoring where she was going. She only wanted to get away faster. But during this, there was a strange feeling that''sing from the capsule, ''As if he''s reaching out to me... What''s happening?'' And the further she went, the stronger the feeling was.


    Stralit gritted her teeth and measured an appropriate distance before opening the capsule again and touching the mark on John Smith''s forehead, ''Screw it... Please wake up after this.''


    Immediately after, her consciousness was transported to a very dark ce.


    ''This is... Where?'' Stralit found herself within a very ufortable darkness. Since her innate ability pertains to ''Shadow'', she has always felt safe within its domain, ''Unless it''s from a hostile enemy that''s at least on the same level as me or stronger... But how did Ie here? Was my consciousness forcefully pulled?''


    It didn''t take too long for her to find who called her here as there was a very small patch of fortable'' darkness that caught her attention after looking around. In the middle of that fortable'' darkness was a small light, about to be snuffed out, however, it had a very familiar aura, ''John?''


    Stralit hurriedly approached it while analyzing the situation, ''This darkness is trying to devour him. At this rate, he''ll disappear.''


    What would happen if the light disappeared? Stralit doesn''t have any idea since this was the first time she encountered something like this. Although she recalled reading something simr from her n''s library, it was in her younger years when she was forced to study and really hated reading. ''...Oh young me... You''re still putting me on the spot to this very day... Though I at least remember that I have to do something in this situation. But if I were to do that...''


    If she were to release her power now, it would be akin to attaching a very loud siren to the top of her head and she wouldn''t be able to stop it until she was done. On top of that, she doesn''t know how much of her reserve will be used and there''s a possibility that she''ll bepletely depleted and tired after assisting him, which made it close to fatal for her due to her current situation.


    ''But it''s not like I can escape... Sooner orter, I''ll be trapped so I''ll just be dying my death.'' Stralit reached out her hands and embraced the small light that was about to flicker out of existence, ''If I could do a good thing before my end, that wouldn''t be so bad, I guess? Besides, I took him in and he''s technically my responsibility.''


    The moment she further connected her consciousness to the light, a new space was revealed to her that was still in the darkness. However, she was stunned to see an unknown unconscious man with missing body parts that looked like someone or something had taken a bite out of him. A quarter of his head is missing but Stralit managed to recognize him, "J-John?"


    The man was John Smith if he was as tall as her.


    Nevertheless, she didn''t have any time to think about this as more and more of his body is being ''eaten'' and it wouldn''t take long before he disappears entirely, ''I don''t have enough power to repel these unknown beasts, but I should have enough to take him out of this ce. And he''s not entirely unconscious since he''s fighting back. I just have to support where he wants to go.''


    Stralit didn''t hesitate any more and released her innate ability. While her short white hair and bright green eyes turned jet ck, her own darkness painted the darkness around ''John Smith'' and pushed back the ''beasts'' eating him. And as soon as their ''shadows'' met, a resonance urred and made their minds connect to a deeper level, allowing understanding between the two instinctively.


    ''That way? Got it.'' Stralit grabbed ''John'' and flew to a certain direction where he wanted to go and shaped her shadow into a drill that shredded the darkness in their way. A minuteter, Stralit found the boundary and understood what she needed to do, ''In the end, I would need to go all out... I have a lot of questions, but it was an interesting experience.''


    Gathering her power, Stralit gritted her teeth and punched a hole through the ''ufortable'' darkness with all her might before throwing ''John'' beyond it. Tired, her body slowly disappeared into her own darkness as her consciousness returned back to her body where she''ll have to do her best to survive while waiting for ''John'' to wake up.


    .


    .


    .


    [...ke! ...suke! Kisuke!!! Answer me!]


    Kisuke opened his eyes and was greeted by the bright light of the sun while also being rattled by frantic voices that were ringing inside his head, ''...I got out?''


    [...Finally awake?] Kisuke heard Benihime''s voice.


    "...Yeah."


    [Then reply to that girl or she might just rush into her death.]


    As soon as Benihime said that, another set of shaking voices rang inside Kisuke''s head, [Kisuke! Answer me! Are you alive!?]


    [...Yeah. I''m alive. Thankfully.], Kisuke replied to Yoruichi.


    [...You finally answered.] Kisuke could tell the relief from her tone, [But are you really alive in that state?]


    Kisuke was momentarily confused by her question until he checked his own body. About three-quarters of his body is gone and was reced by Benihime''s red strings bundled together to keep him intact, [Let me remind you that the moment you exit out of Bankai, you''ll die.]


    Kisuke confirmed that his Shunko and Bankai were still active and that he''s currently floating on top of the former Orario. He could see the ongoing battle from a distance and it seemed that they were pushed back because Chaos just unleashed a terrible ability that almost instantly killed him, "I''m lucky to have survived that, huh?"


    While Kisuke was gathering his thoughts, the darkness filling the Dungeon shook before converging into a form that he was more familiar with. When Kisuke saw him, despite only having half of his head, he smiled, "Looks like that wasn''t that easy for you either, huh?"


    Chaos couldn''t reply and was instead incredibly surprised that he was able to escape and that he was actually alive at all.

 Chapter 1066 Fight Back

    Chapter 1066 Fight Back


    It became a staring contest between Kisuke and Chaos for a single moment before the both of them disappeared from their spots and a sh of something akin to metal rang out not far from them. Such shes then continued on for some time.


    Those who were below a certain level could only hear the sound of the shes produced and couldn''t even see the figures of thebatants.


    But to those who were involved, it was like a slow-mo movie ying out to their senses with each movement being caught by the other.


    Chaos would reshape and harden his body to his will to attack and it would look like he has at least ten to a hundred arms in varying instances. Kisuke would block them using his sword and the five ''fingers'' around him, but even then, multiple hits would still go through his defense due to their sheer numbers and speed. To make matters worse, some of these attacks also had ''Devour'' mixed in so it was additional pressure and focus that Kisuke needed tomit to urately figure out which ''arm'' had this. And in his current state, any additional injuries only brought him closer and closer to actual death.


    But although Kisuke was at an extreme disadvantage, his strange ability was actually sending a wave of panic through Chaos, which became obvious with his apparent impatience. With each moment, five invisible knives would cut open his ''arms'' and stitch them back up. The next instant, these arms imploded into themselves and Chaos had no way of repairing them like he should''ve been able to easily do. Without much choice, he had to recreate the destroyed ''arm'' to keep the numbers up, but it was taking a toll on his reserves even if he had an absolutely massive amount.


    And despite being confident in his ''unkible'' nature, Chaos was always the first one to disengage from their shes while Kisuke, who''s on the verge of death, would follow him like the madman he is.


    ''This guy... Doesn''t know how to fight.'' Kisuke came to this realization after having a deeper understanding of his opponent from their shes. He was another being that was born into power and didn''t really think about surviving nor having a natural enemy, ''Despite his overtuned specs, he can''t utilize most of them so I shouldn''t be worried about the small nicks he''s doing. Big techniques, however, are still a problem which means I can''t give him too much space for something like that.''


    ''But if he ever repeats that one from earlier...'' A strange glint surfaced on Kisuke''s remaining eye as he modified the ''arms'' he touched.


    Chaos gritted his teeth and tried getting away. With each sh, the cuts and stitches were doing worse and worse damage to him as his ''arms'' didn''t just simply implode, ''He''s actually poking holes in me now! My power is leaking and I have no way to easily repair them! Just what is this ability!? And howe a mere mortal like him has something like this!?''


    Chaos tried mixing up his attacks with other techniques, but the detestable ''cut and stitches'' would cause them to fail. As he audibly clicked his tongue, he thought, ''I can''t do anything else aside from that. But that would leave me depleted and I would have to go back up to replenish.''


    Nevertheless, after watching the crazed Kisuke as he hounded him without any regard for his own life, a tiny, tiny bit of fear finally sprouted in his mind, ''But if I can remove this variable... It''s a shame, but I will have to call down my children to clean up the rest of them.''


    Coming to a decision, Chaos immediately acted upon it.


    He sped away and the ''arms'' all around him retracted as his whole body turned into a ck mist. Along within it was the same blood-freezing aura that almost drowned everyone and it was way worse since he''s doing it now on the surface and in everyone''s view.


    Chaos'' body expanded rapidly and engulfed the whole area, "Try surviving this again.", however, he thought he saw Kisuke grin when he was about to be swallowed by the darkness that almost killed him earlier.


    A sphere of darkness was instantly created so that no outside interference could influence the inside.


    Yoruichi and the others got worried that he got swallowed once again, but the former knew what Kisuke was capable of and how he dealt with things he already saw once.


    And as she was expecting, five cuts were created on the surface of the sphere before it was immediately stitched up. A secondter, the perfect sphere turned wobbly before it copsed back into Chaos'' figure, but this time, his body was partially melting as he coughed out ck ''blood'', "...Y-you! How!?"


    Kisuke, who just stood still and came out perfectly fine, gave him arge grin, "Even the most terrifying guy I know wouldn''t carelessly touch me twice."


    No matter how inexperienced Chaos was, he finally realized his opponent''s ability, "Modification through understanding?" Chaos'' initial guess of him concocting specialized poisons was very wrong.


    "Great job, but sadly, no prize for you." Kisuke disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of the still disoriented Chaos, "I''m too poor for that."


    Chaos hurriedly solidified his limbs to block all six des that wereing to him, but as soon as he touched them, the neverending cuts and stitches appeared once again, imploding his defenses into nonexistence. He instantly recreated his limbs and while doing so, created even more. However, it became very obvious that he didn''t have the same vigor he had before.


    Chaos then turned his attention to his home and attempted to call down his children to push back and smother Kisuke using their sheer numbers. In that instant, however, there was apse in his concentration and Kisuke found an opening to dismember him into several pieces.


    Kisuke''s opponent didn''t actually mind this since he was confident that Kisuke hadn''t understood enough of his very essence to make any direct modifications on him. What he was wondering and what caused him to be cut down, however, was that there were no responses from his children. Or more specifically, he lost his way ofmunicating with his ''home'' and he only realized it just now. Chaos couldn''t even open the path to the void, as if someone was holding the door tight. He could pry it open, but he would need a lot more effort.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, guessed what was on his mind and said, "Why did you think I didn''t have those Dragons with me when they can freely cross the boundaries between dimensions?"


    In other words, Chaos''s home was locked from the inside by the two bigshots and his children were trapped inside along with them. No matter how numerous they were, they wouldn''t be able to do anything against the True Dragon and the Dragon God, at least not for a very long time.

 Chapter 1067 Their Mission

    Chapter 1067 Their Mission


    Within the infinite darkness, three figures could be seen doing their own things.


    While nna was shooting her pistols at the distant enemies to practice her aim, Lilith was shaping her own power to whatever she could think of to smash the grotesque lifeforms that were trying to approach.


    Ophis, on the other hand, created a bubble around them and released her aura to push back the majority of these wriggling creatures all the while munching on some banana chips that she had been saving for such an asion. And all in all, she''s the one keeping the dimension closed.


    As Lilith and Ophis had now taken the forms of a teenager to follow ire, Tanis, and Kunou''s physical growth, they looked like triplets.


    "This is tiring and boring." nna put back her precious pistols and took out her own set of banana chips, "Aren''t the two of you enough here?"


    "Don''t ask me. I can never understand what he''s trying to do." Ophis strengthened the bubble that was keeping the unknown beasts back because Lilith had also stopped what she''s doing and sat beside her and nna to eat some banana chips.


    After that, there was a silence that spanned for a few minutes. It was also during that time that Kisuke''s aura suddenly plummeted to dangerous levels and they were extremely worried. However, none of them moved from their spots since they knew the importance of their presence here for his victory. It was only when the fighting resumed that they were able to continue eating their banana chips.


    "Why did youe to this side?" Ophis suddenly asked, "You could have returned to your home after regaining your body."


    Without missing a beat, nna answered, "I''m interested."


    Ophis and Lilith turned to him and thetter asked, "Interested?" before the former continued, "You were not interested in him at all when you first met him and only yed along with him until recently."


    "Oh? You could tell?" nna asked back but she didn''t receive an answer. She then thought about it for a bit before answering her, "It''s true that I was not really interested in him. The people on his level are mostly divided into two types, those who are brimming with ambitions and aspirations and those who are apathetic and don''t want anything more. When I first met him, he fell into thetter type, which I don''t really like. He was interested in his surroundings, but nothing beyond that."


    Tossing a single chip into her mouth, nna continued while chewing, "But as he influenced the world more, he had more things to protect. As time went by and his strength went along with it, he only found more and it only became harder and harder for him."


    Ophis stopped her hand and asked, "What''s strange and interesting about that? That''s normal for you who watches all the ''dreams'' in the world. Only the ''strength'' of the ''dream'' matters to you."


    Nevertheless, nna chuckled before continuing, "It''s strange. After all, instead of being fulfilled or burned by his ambition and aspiration to protect those who were important to him, he was gued by nightmares of his own creation. He''s an idiot who doesn''t know how to rx and that''s very interesting and funny.


    "Well, there might be other people who are like that out there, but that isn''t really important anymore since I realized that it''s better to experience things myself instead of just perpetually watching."


    nna turned to Ophis and Lilith and saw that there were no apparent reactions from them so she continued while grinning, "I''m jealous though. Unlike me, the two of you are in his nightmares. Looks like he really cares about the two of you."


    Although there were no apparent changes in their expressions, nna, as the Great Red Dragon of Dreams and Illusions, never really looked at the physical attributes of people. Instead, she was always looking at the floating thoughts of everyone surrounding her so she could see how happy the ckies were.


    "What about you? How did you get interested in him? I think you only approached him and Yoruichi because they''re quite unique individuals that didn''t exist in the world and most of your attention was on Aika. Lilith only tagged along because you were always attaching yourself to him."


    Ophis gave it a small thought and looked away. She was trying not to show it but nna could easily see that she was embarrassed. Thanks to the time they spent with ire, Tanis, Kunou, and the Ouroboros Academy as a whole, the three of them had managed to learn somemon sense that allowed them to develop more like a normal person. And that included developing all sorts of emotions that shouldn''t have been possible if they didn''t ''disappear''.


    Lilith suddenly raised her hand and said, "She was lured by food the first time she met them! Not very Dragon-like!"


    Ophis'' eyes widened. Since they were intricately connected, the memories they have are shared between them, but she didn''t expect that Lilith would betray her like this. As retaliation, Ophis punched back with, "You were lured by a bar of chocte from Azazel! At least I got a full dinner!"


    "You can''t me me. I was a newborn at that time!" Lilith immediately retorted.


    From then, it became a war of words by revealing each other''s embarrassing moments between the Dragon Gods in an attempt to preserve their dignity and pride. But from an outsider''s perspective, their actions were very far from achieving what they wanted.


    nna watched all of this with warm eyes. As she was in a better position than both of them since she could experience everyone''s dreams and learn from them, she didn''t really have any embarrassing moments. But if her thoughts were to be revealed to those around her, they''d just sneer and tell her that she has a skewedmon sense and standards.


    ''I was apprehensive with both of us leaving our ''positions'' but it looks like it was the best decision we''ve ever made.'' nna thought to herself when she remembered something, "Ah, by the way, it seems that boss is nning to leave-"


    " "We''ll follow him." ", nna couldn''t even finish her words when Ophis and Lilith stopped their bickering and gave their answers.


    "Even if Lilith could establish herself within this void and gain the same authority as Ophis without relying on her?"


    Lilith didn''t hesitate and immediately answered, "I don''t care. I want to see more of what''s out there."


    "What about you? You can be more powerful than you ever were the moment you establish yourself in this world." Ophis returned her question.


    And simr to Lilith, nna didn''t hesitate to answer too, "I don''t care about any of that. I want to see more of what''s out there too! And it''s the ce that shaped him, you know? I can never miss this trip!"


    Without his consent and knowledge, Kisuke gained some freeloaders for his next trip.

 Chapter 1068 Final Stretch

    Chapter 1068 Final Stretch


    Kisuke was constantly whittling down Chaos, but thetter could also see that the former was already at his limit.


    Chaos also noticed that the army Kisuke had brought didn''t have any intention of bringing down the Deities despite having the apparent advantage and it didn''t take too long for him to figure out why ''They want to preserve as much of this world as possible. How arrogant. It''ll be their own undoing.''


    Chaos was already tired and most of his powers were already drained by Kisuke''s modification ability, however, this was only a minor problem for him as he could also replenish everything back and he had multiple ways of doing it. Not to mention, even if he was defeated here, his ns would only be dyed by a century or two.


    ''But that''s still a bit too long.'' Chaos thought to himself and turned his gaze towards the Deities that were struggling to bring out their whole power because most of them didn''t know how to actually fight, ''How useless. I can make them useful but this will dy my acquisition of Null for a few years.''


    ''But if I can remove this man now, a few years of waiting isn''t not bad.'' Chaos weighed his options and smiled, ''Yes. As long as I can remove this man, everything else will be smooth sailing.''


    Kisuke approached Chaos with five-ded fingers shing at him in all five directions while asking, "How nice. You still have the leeway of thinking about something else. Must be nice to be a true immortal, huh?"


    Chaos sneered at him even while being cut into six parts, "You know you can''t kill me, so why the wasted effort? If your aim is to dy me for some time then I apud you for trying your best. Nheless, I won''t make it easy for you and yourpanions. I''ll make sure to bring a few of them to the afterlife."


    "With how exhausted you are? I''d like to see you try." Kisuke divided him into even more parts while studying theposition of his body. However, that''s the limit of what he could do. He can only study the substance and nothing beyond it or why he''s unkible in the first ce. As of now, Kisuke could only poke holes through his vessel so that he could whittle away his power source.


    Confidence returned to Chaos as he smiled widely, "Then behold and despair."


    As soon as he said that, a few hundred Deities started shrieking in pain and convulsed uncontrobly.


    At that moment, the whole flow of the battlefield stopped to watch the ck nerves on the Deities of Chaos'' side expand and cover their whole skin before slowly melting into a ck goo and shooting toward Chaos.


    Only silence reigned as Kisuke himself went into a defensive stance to see what was going on, hiding the glee he was feeling behind a poker face.


    "Fuhahahaha!" Chaos''ughter filled the silence as the ck goo reached him and fused with him seamlessly and giving him a feeling of extreme ecstasy. And while all of these are happening, everyone could feel the weakening aura of Chaos begin to climb up to peak once again, as if he was not exerting himself at all.


    The Deities on Chaos'' side watched in horror with some of them fleeing the battlefield. Without any more will to fight, they all wondered if their fate would be reduced to mere ''food'' too.


    As soon as he recovered, the first thing Chaos did was erect a barrier around Kisuke and himself against outside interference. Chaos knew how this would result in them stopping this war after he ''ate'' them and secured their perimeter to prevent Kisuke''s helpers from assisting his opponent, "Shall we begin the next round?"


    With renewed vigor, Chaos rushed towards Kisuke and created at least a hundred ''arms'' from his back with their tips as sharp as a razor de.


    Kisuke gritted his teeth and retreated while defending himself from numerous des that could prove fatal. He still tried modifying the ''arms'' but Chaos could create them faster than Kisuke could destroy them because without a doubt, he was really already at his limit and the majority of his ability was already dedicated to keeping himself alive.


    [To survive this, you have to get back what was stolen from you. You don''t have to defeat him, just get what you need first!] Benihime reminded him.


    [As much as I''d like to, I can''t find it. He''s not something I can fully understand with just a few minutes of shing.]


    [Didn''t you research those strange beasts from his void? Didn''t you get anything from it?]


    [I did, but I already used my knowledge of that on something.]


    Benihime became confused and wanted to ask when. However, she kept her question as she saw something more confusing. Chaos still had this wildly excited and crazed expression on his face as he brandished his weapons at Kisuke. What''s confusing is that he''s slow and to someone on a simr level of perception as Kisuke, Chaos'' movement had be slow and was still slowing down.


    Kisuke guessed what Benihime wanted to ask before and grinned, [Before it all began.]


    Chaos also noticed the discrepancy but from his point of view, Kisuke suddenly became faster and faster until he couldn''t keep up by creating new ''arms'', ''...What''s going on? How does he have enough energy to move like that?''


    So when Kisuke decided to disengage, Chaos let him go since he didn''t understand how he was still losing, ''I''ll use that again. I doubt he still has the energy to modify that.''


    But just as Chaos was about to cast the technique that had almost killed Kisuke for the third time, he saw Kisuke grinning at him while pointing at him.


    Confused, Chaos followed where his finger specifically pointed but as soon as he saw it, Chaos'' mind froze.


    Without his knowledge, his left leg had fallen off and the stump was melting, "!?"


    Chaos immediately tried recreating his leg and wondered when he was hit but just as he did that, he saw his right arm and right leg detach themselves and fall, "...What?"


    Soon, it wasn''t just his humanoid form but also his ''arms'' were slowly melting and Chaos couldn''t do anything to prevent it as he finally noticed that he was being drained faster than before and there was no sign of it stopping.


    Kisuke didn''t let go of this chance and cut him into pieces. Chaos wanted to defend, but found that he was too fast for him, ''What happened!?''


    He tried regenerating but he couldn''t seem to put himself together effectively, "What''s happening!!!?" Chaos'' head was flung off yelling in anger.


    "Poison~" Kisuke gleefully answered him.


    "...Poison?" After some effort, Chaos managed to get a semnce of himself, "Impossible! I removed the poison from those Deities!"


    Kisuke chuckled at him and said, "You really are an idiot. Removing the poison from the food doesn''t mean the food is safe to eat. It''s a poison that''s specifically crafted to create another poison. You''re just dumb for not thinking of the possibility that your food may have gone bad even if you cleaned it."


    Chaos wanted to curse at Kisuke, but he couldn''t keep his form anymore. And as he slowly melted into ck goo, Kisuke continued, "Your next move, Chaos-san~ Or is it already checkmate?"

 Chapter 1069 A New Neighbor

    Chapter 1069 A New Neighbor


    The barrier around them copsed like a tall broken pane of ss crashing downwards and Chaos couldn''t do anything about the copse of his own body until there was only a five-inch wide eyeball with a red pupil surrounded by a thick dark mist left.


    Kisuke''s smile disappeared when he saw this and immediately tried cutting it into two. However, his sword only went through it as if he shed at nothing. He then used Benihime''s modification ability to at least cut it open but neither Kisuke nor Benihime couldn''t ''find'' this eye. It''s as if it''s not existing at all.


    [Cease your futile attempt.] Kisuke heard Chaos'' voice inside his head, only this time, in a much calmer or even apathetic tone, [You''ve won. I can no longer proceed with my ns.]


    "You discarded everything and only left the most essential part?" Kisuke guessed that this is the real Chaos and the Chaos earlier is just a manifestation through ''eating'' various things endlessly.


    The eye stared down on him but Kisuke could only feel a bit of irritation from it akin to sshing juice on his new clothes, [You''ve won but I''ll continue living and return to get what''s truly mine while you''ll be remembered as someone who sacrificed himself to fend me off.]


    "Sacrificed myself? I''m sorry but I''m not heroic enough to do something so selfless."


    [Stop pretending. I know that the moment that form of yours is broken, you won''t be able to keep yourself alive anymore. After all, I ate more than half of what makes you, including the very essence of your existence.]


    Kisuke became silent. He already tried pushing his regeneration but there was no response from it as he expected, ''There''s no need to regenerate because there''s nothing missing. I, as I am now, am plete'' that the regeneration isn''t kicking in.''


    And as powerful as his Bankai is, all modifications it has done were just temporary alterations and reality will correct itself once the influence of his power disappears. Benihime knew this so that''s why she was more obsessed with the desire to kill Chaos and taking back what was stolen than Kisuke. And now that she finally realized why Tiamat and Kisuke repeatedly affirmed that Chaos couldn''t be killed, she became a bit desperate, [Oi, Kisuke! You came here knowing a way to eliminate him, right? If so, do it now! You''re already at your limit and he''s about to leave!]


    Kisuke ignored Benihime and replied to Chaos, "Good job noticing that, but aren''t you too confident? Who knows, I might just pull out a miracle and suddenly cut you."


    [You of all people know that for a miracle to happen, there has to be a basis for it.] Chaos started floating and the space above them began quivering. Ophis, nna, and Lilith were trying to keep it closed, but Chaos'' return to the void was the natural order of things and couldn''t be stopped, [You had two chances for that miracle to demonstrate itself. One is already long gone and the other one is still sleeping deep within the Dungeon, both of which are already far toote to utilize.]


    Chaos was so confident that nothing would be able to touch him that he revealed the only things that could work against him.


    Kisuke, meanwhile,pletely agreed with his confidence. After a few moments of observation, he guessed that he was in a state where the boundaries between real and unreal were blurred to the extreme. If he were to continue his conjecture, Kisuke spected that Chaos'' existence itself was deeply ingrained in the void where he''s residing most of the time and without cutting this connection, Chaos would just return again and again.


    However, this is something that Kisuke already expected from studying the beasts of the void from long ago. Since Benihime kept shouting at his consciousness, it was about time to pull out hisst card, ''I didn''t really want to leave my fate to others since I already died once by doing just exactly that... But I guess I don''t really have a choice anymore.''


    Kisuke snapped his fingers and the quivering space stopped and five golden lights suddenly shot up from the ruins of Orario to the vast expanse of space before a thin golden barrier connected the lights, "Negacion."


    Chaos looked around and felt the space around them closing off. The barrier was even stronger than what he''d erected earlier and was designed to secure a perimeter. However, he could also see that it wouldn''tst long as its strength is proportional to its longevity, [What''s the point of this? To keep me here longer? Will you attempt waking up Null? I''m sorry to break it to you because even if you could open her eyes, she''d just destroy everything in this world while birthing more monsters. She''s not exactly in a state where you could reason with her.]


    If Chaos had a head, Kisuke would''ve been able to see him sneer. Nevertheless, he ignored his reaction and pulled out a dagger that was somehow kept safe.


    Benihime always wondered what this dagger was and why it gave her a very bad feeling, but only after Kisuke pulled it out of its hilt did she finally understand what he had been hiding, [Kisuke!!! You bastard!!!]


    Kisuke only chuckled at Benihime''s uproar and said, "Just think of it as my ticket to save myself."


    [Kuh!!! No!!! But still...] Benihime couldn''t make up her mind, [AAHHHH!!! I''ll cut you upter!]


    "It''s true that I can''t do any miracles, but creating the foundation for one? I''d like to call myself an expert on that." Kisuke then let go of Benihime and his Bankai was withdrawn. As soon as it disappeared, the strings that were keeping Kisuke together also disappeared and as an extension, his Shunko was also dispelled, leaving him in a state ever closer to death.


    Chaos thought that he''d already given up, but the smile on Kisuke''s half-face didn''t disappear as he continued to broadcast his intent, [Say hi to your new neighbor, Benihime. Descend, Tiamat!]


    The dagger in his hand melted into a ck substance, but unlike Chaos'' ck goo, it was Tiamat''s ck sea. It then reformed itself into a longsword with a soft greenish sheen on its double edged de and the pommel was reminiscent of Tiamat''s Dragon horns.


    Chaos knew what that longsword''s existence meant and hurriedly flew up while desperately trying to open the space, [HOW!!!?]


    Without the Shunko''s and Benihime''s support, Kisuke immediately lost his focus, and his senses rapidly dimmed as he plunged down. But with all of his remaining strength, he threw his longsword and saw it hit the bullseye before losing consciousness, ''I hope this won''t be thest time I''ll be sleeping.''

 Chapter 1070 End of Book 15: Pitiful End

    Chapter 1070 End of Book 15: Pitiful End


    Benihime, who fell first, transformed into her humanoid form and caught the already unconscious and bleeding out Kisuke.


    After covering his wounds with her strings, she sent one of them to his heart to help it keep beating. But despite that, the signs of life were rapidly leaving Kisuke''s body.


    Benihime was gritting her teeth when she heard someone banging on the barrier. When she turned, she saw Yoruichi shouting, "Benihime! How is he!?" As much as Yoruichi wanted to enter, Negacion doesn''t just strengthen the space it is protecting but also disrupts its real location so any space warping and teleportation isn''t doable in the short term. She could use Le Fay''s teleportation but that required the target to be awake.


    "Not good." Benihime answered shortly before looking up at the eyeball stabbed by a longsword, "We can only hope that she''ll be able to do it fast."


    [Tiamat!!! You! How are you alive!!!?] The eyeball screamed in panic while trying to get away from the longsword.


    From the exquisite handle, appeared a wless hand, and from that, a young girl with light blue hair, a small chest, pink eyes with star-like pupils, and prominent horns manifested. She wore a small blouse with two long sleeves that covered her hands and as she swung the longsword in her hand, the previously invulnerable Chaos was cut, [AHHHHH!!!]


    A pain that was unimaginable for the invincible ''Father'' of all Deities and crushed his fantasy that he was eternal, [Tiamat!!! No!!!] Just as he mentioned earlier, there are only two beings that could hurt him and those two are his masters that he slowly poisoned for eons using his own body for his own ambitions.


    The young girl, Tiamat, didn''t listen to his words and further cut him up into multiple pieces before skewering each and every part into the longsword. As someone who came close to Chaos'' existence to save herself, Tiamat was also able to be on the same wavelength as him and hurt him, [AHHHHHHHH!!! IT HURTS!!!! STOP!!!] Despite his current state, Chaos was still alive and well.


    Still, Tiamat didn''t listen to his pleas and opened her mouth before taking a bite at the diced-up eyeball, [AHHH!!! STOP!!! STOP IT NOW!!! TIAMAT!!! PLEASE!!! MASTER!!! FORGIVE ME!!!]


    Hearing him call her master after eons invoked memories of the past in Tiamat when she was still traveling through various worlds with her precious twin sister, Null. Their adventure was full of ups and downs andsted for an uncountable number of generations. But all in all, it was a fun and fulfilling experience and that made the sister want to nurture a world too.


    However, their misfortune began when the naive sisters trusted a being that promised would help them in managing the said world after threatening them that most of the creators fail on what they do and only ended up creating a dead world.


    Not wanting their creations, which would essentially be their children, to crush and destroy themselves, Tiamat and Null epted the being''s offer and found a remote corner of the universe to get started.


    With Null''s incredible power, she gathered the required materials and created the ''Souls'' and ''Flesh''. With Tiamat''s marvelous power, the flow of ''Souls'' and ''Flesh'' was created along with shaping thend all these living things would walk on.


    And with both of their powersbined along with sacrificing some of their own essence, they granted these ''Souls'' and ''Flesh'' their own power, hence, the Deities were created.


    Tiamat and Null had already noticed the look of jealousy and greed from the being that was helping them and that they should have been more careful. However, they didn''t believe that he''d betray them and their attention was on their ''children''. It took a very long time, but the world managed to stand on its own and the advice of the being helped them along the way which made it harder for them not to trust him.


    Soon, these ''children'' of theirs also began shaping the world on their own values and image. The twins didn''t know how it came to be, but these ''children'' came upon children of their own. But while investigating this wondrous event, they lost their sense of self and to protect their minds, they epted what was given to them in an attempt to control it, ''No... That isn''t right. We didn''t lose ourselves. We already forgot about it.''


    [NOOO!!! MASTER!!! FORGIVE ME!!!]


    Tiamat was pulled away from her already fragmented thoughts and memories when she heard Chaos'' final scream for forgiveness and there was only a piece of it remaining on the sword. Not even acknowledging him, Tiamat ate thest piece while listening to itsst words which were only equivalent to random noises for her. She should have felt resentment and anger, but even those feelings were already eroded by the flow of time. She appreciated that she''s still alive along with her sister, who''s still suffering, but she''s not at all happy that she still exists.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke opened his eyes and immediately noticed that he was incredibly weakened, ''But my body is in one piece. Looks like my bet paid off.''


    But then, he recalled something and he thought that this is familiar, ''Wait... I didn''t reincarnate again, did I?''


    Kisuke hurriedly sat up while enduring the aching body and looked around in panic. The first thing he saw was a room with a single bed, cab, window, and nothing else. To his right side is his cane and to his left is a wakizashi, a knife that you''d find in yakuza movies.


    [...You''re pretty energetic for someone who just came back from death.]


    "Benihime!"


    [...What''s with you? Why are you panicking? Oi, Tiamat! Something went wrong! You said you returned everything, but what''s this!?]


    [I did what I had to do and there shouldn''t be any problems. Perhaps something went wrong that I''m not aware of?] Another young-sounding voice answered Benihime.


    [What was that!? Weren''t you very confident earlier to the point that your ugly horns were about to fly?]


    [!? My horns are heavy but they are not ugly! What about you?! You''re too smelly with all that blood on you! Get away from me!]


    [What was that, you old hag pretending to be young!?]


    [Still better than someone pretending to be a properdy!]


    It looks like the two des were about to cut each other so Kisuke said something, "Looks like the two of you are getting along rather well."


    Immediately after saying this, Kisuke could feel the heat from the two des but he only sighed in relief after feeling Yoruichi and the other''s aura rushing towards him, ''That''s one problem solved, but I have a feeling that there are moreing my way...'' He''s especially worried about his future with these two beside him.

 Chapter 1071 Book 16: Payback part 1

    Chapter 1071 Book 16: Payback part 1


    Yoruichi came rushing through the door and saw Kisuke smiling at her. Sighing in relief, she slowly walked towards him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as if she was very afraid of losing him.


    "This isn''t like you," Kisuke muttered in her ear while returning the hug.


    Yoruichi tightened the hug and said, "Shut up. This is for both of us. Both of us became cowards."


    Kisuke chuckled, "I guess that''s true... I wonder how Soifon would react if she saw us like this."


    "She''d probably treat us aspletely different people. But now that you mentioned that, it seems that you''ve made up your mind." Yoruichi then released Kisuke while also turning to the door, "Let''s talk about thatter. For now, you have to entertain them."


    From the door, girls that are always with him, were waiting.


    .


    .


    .


    After a few hours, Kisuke managed to get away from the moring girls and came to take a break at a certain spire located at the corner of the academy. Before leaving, they finally told him how long he had been out, ''Three days, huh? I recovered pretty fast considering my state this time.''


    [Are we finally going ''home''?]


    On Benihime''s question, Kisuke didn''t immediately answer. There were many reasons why he wanted to return even if he''s already pronounced dead on that side, but the main reason was probably attachments. He did everything to protect that world even if it cost him his life and knowing that there was still a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, he couldn''t sit still.


    Another reason is he wanted to know the secrets behind the Hougyoku, not how it was made, but why something like this was allowed to be made if the creator of Souls was carefully watching everything.


    And the final big reason, he wanted insurance.


    "If I''m going to do it, I have to do it now while we still have time." Kisuke briefly answered Benihime.


    [Isn''t this another trip to a ''strange'' world? Why are you making it sound like it''s any different?]


    "Because it is different. The fact that it''s very simr to the world where we reincarnated makes it very different from your usual travel."


    Tiamat didn''t really want to get in the conversation but after seeing Benihime''s confused expression, she couldn''t help but butt in, [If it''s a simr world, including the history,nguage, and culture, it''s not a world within this universe. More likely, it''s a world from an alternate reality.] Thanks to her experience crossing worlds countless times, her words have some weight behind them. Although she was interested in their ''home'' which seemed to be different from where they came from, she''s not interested enough to ask.


    "What Tiamat said is true. It''s simr enough that we won''t be able to find it within this universe no matter how much we tried if the multiverse theory is true. If not for the trace that we left behind, I wouldn''t be able to find it. And if you think we''ll be able to use Le Fay''s Teleportation Magic to circumvent the distance and go back and forth, you''d be wrong since the prerequisite of that Magic is to be in the same ne of existence."


    "In other words, if I decided to go, I won''t be able to return until I''m done with what I have to do and that could mean years, if not decades."


    ''No wonder... He would jump to an unknown portal without hesitation but not when the destination is known.'', Benihime thought to herself but she was still annoyed that Tiamat had to exin it to her. But if she says something, she''ll just be giving her what she wanted, a reason to gloat.


    Kisuke wanted to think about this decision more but he saw Sonaing from the outside with a worried expression, ''Did something go wrong with the cleanup?'' Kisuke thought as he jumped down from the top of the spire to meet her, "Did something happen?"


    "You already know the Human woman who came from Fadir Fedora, Sefaira Seraselbes?" Sona asked.


    "Yes. Azazel told me about her existence. What about her?"


    Sona shook her head, "No. Let me rephrase it. When did you meet her?"


    Kisuke furrowed his brows and answered, "Never... As far as I''m concerned."


    "I see." Sona thought about it for a moment before continuing, "I don''t really know how to deal with this but Sefaira Seraselbes is insisting on speaking with you privately."


    "...Why?"


    "No one knows. Even those watching after her are having a hard time because she''s apparently quite desperate. Normally, I''d dismiss something like this and investigate the person in question thoroughly but after talking to her, it seems to be quite important that she meet you and that''s why I asked you if you already met her on any other asion."


    ''Seraselbes... That''s the only connection I have on that side. The fact that she''s trying to contact me recklessly like this...'' Kisuke thought about the friend who saved him from the darkness and immediately asked Sona, "Do you have her on the line?"


    Sona nodded and gave him the transmitter that''s already connected on the other side.


    Kisuke picked it up and didn''t mind Sona''s presence. Soon, a ck-haired woman with green eyes came up. After confirming Kisuke''s appearance, the woman immediately said, [Please save the daughter of shadow.]


    Kisuke didn''t need to hear more and directly disconnected the transmitter while turning to the shocked and confused Sona, "Sona, led me a bit of your Demonic Power. I''m still recovering so I''d like to save as much stamina as possible."


    Sona saw Kisuke preparing a Teleportation Magic and asked, "Are you going to be fine alone?"


    "I''m already taking a big risk with just me going. I don''t want toplicate things more than they should have." All of a sudden, a headache struck Kisuke as if he just received a heavy blunt on his temple, "Urrgg.."


    "What''s wrong!? Is it the seque?"


    Kisuke raised his hand to signal that he was fine, "I''m alright. It''s just a sign that I have to hurry."


    Sona sighed and she helped Kisuke powering the Teleportation Magic he''s preparing, "Please be careful. And do tell me what''s going on once you''re back home."


    Kisuke patted her head and gave her a small smile, "Thanks and I will."


    A few secondster, Kisuke disappeared and soon, people starteding to the spot where Sona was standing to ask her what was going on.


    .


    .


    .


    Stralit doesn''t know how long she has been running within thiswork of tunnels under the surface of the nor she doesn''t have any energy to count such a useless thing. What''s important for her right now is the number of enemies approaching her and the capsule that still contained the sleeping beauty.


    With all the dirt, grime, and tattered clothes on her, even her closest friend wouldn''t be able to recognize her for a few seconds of meeting her.


    And more importantly, she was already beyond her limit. After the failed attempt of waking up ''John Smith'' from his deep slumber, she has been severely depleted due to the weird urrence where she saved an unknown man that looked like her little friend.


    Stralit wanted to leave him in some corner where he wouldn''t be found and hope that he''d wake up before someone found him, but because of that instance, he was currently emitting heavy traces of her own energy.


    Even then, she was not regretting what she had done as she had just followed the principle of her n which is treasuring their sessors.


    ''My brother must be looking for me since he''d figured out that they are lying about me... But without any evidence or leads, he won''t be able to confront them and could only look for me in secret.''


    But while thinking of a way out of this predicament, Stralit suddenly felt something running through her stomach and when she looked down, she saw an iron spear sticking out of her belly, ''...Huh?''


    The iron spear then left the way it went in and due to its barbed tip, it hooked some flesh and innards.


    The sudden pain made Starlit lose her posture and ended up tossing what she was holding as she fell forward, "Ugh!!!"


    She hurriedly looked back and saw a familiar man with a nasty smile emerging from the ceiling of the tunnel, "Found you~!"


    ===============================


    AN Sept. 03, 2023:


    And thus the end of Volume 15. I hope you enjoyed it. The next volume/arc will be another world transfer and after all the clues I dropped through various chapters, I think you guys already know where we are going next. Please look forward to it~!


    If you liked my work, please consider supporting me through pat reon ./ goyya00 and get ess to advance chapters.


    Thank you very much.


    Have a good day~!

 Chapter 1072 Payback part 2

    Chapter 1072 Payback part 2


    "Ajax... Aurelius..." Stralit slowly muttered as she endured the pain in her stomach and tried to cover it with her hands.


    The being in question was a young man with deep brown hair and slightly long ears that swept backward. Although he had this nasty smile on his face, the first thing Stralit notices is that half of his body was connected to the earth of the tunnel. But instead of being buried, his body is that of the earth itself, ''Aurelius'' [Mineral Transformation], is it?''


    "Wondering why I didn''t go for your head?" The man named Ajax slowly emerged out of the ground, "Because you would have dodged it."


    Stralit regted her breathing and stood up to posture herself, "Cut the bullshit. Even if I could dodge, any subsequent attack would have done me in. So what does the young master of the powerful n Aurelius want with me for you to appear personally?"


    "Geez... Can''t even do small talk." Ajax let go of the spear and it slowly fused to the ground, disappearing, "But what should I expect from the daughter of one of the most terrifying matriarchs that even the Royal Ones can''t ignore."


    Stralit stayed silent and red at the young man. But deep inside, she was panicking because he actually wanted to talk, ''There could be only two things that he wants... To control me and the spot for my sessor.''


    If it was as she had guessed, then her life was not in danger but she couldn''t think the same for the little guy in the capsule.


    Stralit wanted to check on his condition after being thrown back but she can''t spare any attention to him out of fear that Ajax will notice him.


    However, wishes were just wishes. Even if you think about them strongly, most of the time, the world will just ignore one''s convenient desires.


    After a few seconds of silence from both sides, Ajax''s Spiritual Power instantaneously moved and Stralit was not its target.


    Stralit hurriedly turned around and used every strength she had in her body to jump. Nevertheless, her battered body couldn''t keep up and could only watch the capsule be pierced by multiple earthen spears. Thanks to her ability to see in the dark, Stralit could see flesh and blood that was caught on the tips of the spear and even a small arm that escaped from the capsule without its owner.


    "Now this has be moreplicated, isn''t it? I didn''t think that you had already chosen your sessor." Ajax casually continued while taking back his spears, "Still, it would be more advantageous for me to take you alive and assign another person to be your sessor."


    There were another few seconds of silence before Stralit finally reacted without turning around, "How did you think I''d agree to any of your demands?"


    In response, Ajax replied with a sneer, "Did you think that we''ll do something like this without any preparations? A few centuries is enough to n things out."


    "...That''s true, isn''t it?"


    Stralit''s strange tone immediately set off rms inside Ajax''s head and immediately took out the item he prepared for her capture, ''She''s tired so she shouldn''t be able to do anything else...'' However, his aplice''s words rang from her consciousness, [If you ever have to touch a Luxeux''s sessor, do everything in your power to kill or disable the Luxeux first. They are the most casual in granting the position of sessor and anyone could be one, but they are also the worst enemies if you ever hurt their sessors.]


    And just as he took out the item he''d prepared, Stralit slowly turned around, ignoring the blood spilling out from her stomach, and looked directly at Ajax. Not with his usual bright and beautiful green eyes, but horrifying deep ck eyes that swallowed any light.


    A chill on the spine immediately woke Ajax up from staring at her eyes but he didn''t know when, but there was only darkness around them even with the normally dark tunnels. He tried using his [Mineral Transformation] ability but it seems that he became isted from the ground and lost her advantage in terrain in an instant, ''How!?''


    Without any hesitation, Ajax activated his trump card and a sh of green and white light flooded the tunnel, washing away all the darkness.


    Stralit, on the other hand, couldn''t believe what she was seeing, "...Lux Sigil...? How and why do you have the Lux Sigil!?" Stralit yelled as all the ''shadow'' left her body.


    Lux Sigil, the Luxeux n''s greatest weapon but only for those who could handle and know how to use it which could be counted on two hands. For the rest, it''s their greatest weakness that renders them powerless.


    Nevertheless, that isn''t the biggest problem because these Lux Sigil could only be created by those who could use it and there shouldn''t be any way for him to have any of it, ''...Unless there''s a traitor... And a pretty high up one too.'' Stralit thought in despair while watching the light strip her of any power she used in exchange for her own life force.


    Seeing Ajax slowly approaching her, she couldn''t help but regret it. Regret the fact that she couldn''t protect one thing, ''Me in the position of power? How is that any use if I can''t do anything I want?'' On top of that, she''s afraid of what she could end up being if she were to fall into his hands. Because she knew for sure that she wouldn''t agree to any of their demands, she was afraid of what they were preparing for her.


    She turned around for onest time to peer at the ''corpse'' formerly known as John Smith, ''I can''t have myself be a detriment to my family.''


    In this situation, Stralit was only left with one single choice and that''s not giving the enemy any further advantage.


    Ajax saw that Stralit''s very weak Spiritual Power roused but he panicked when he saw where it was going, ''The head!? She''s nning to kill herself!?''


    Ajax did his best to dash towards the resolute Stralit in hopes that he could stop her. But as soon as he took the first step, he knew he wasn''t going to reach in time, "Damn it!!!"


    But because of this tense atmosphere, both Ajax and Stralit failed to notice the Magic Circle that took shape between them, "Gosh... My head is already killing me and then there''s this annoying light that''s making it way worse."


    An out-of-ce voice made the two of them momentarily stop what they were doing as they hurriedly turned their heads to their source.


    Ajax was taken aback at the sudden appearance of a stranger but that was not important to him as at the moment that Stralit actually stopped her suicide attempt and stared nkly at the neer. With a newfound opportunity, Ajax strengthened himself to reach Stralit. But as he was about to pass by the stranger, his world suddenly started spinning, ''...Huh?''


    While wondering what just happened, he finally felt the immense force that hit his nose and threw him back crashing along the walls of the tunnel.


    "Back off, pervert. Thedy is scared of you." Kisuke who just appeared while holding his head in pain threw a backhand punch at the young man sporting a rather unpleasant grin.

 Chapter 1073 Payback part 3

    Chapter 1073 Payback part 3


    Kisuke ignored the thrown-off creepy man and grabbed the shining sigil before turning to Stralit who was staring at him strangely, "How do you turn this off?"


    Kisuke noticed that the light had a strange effect on the mark that Stralit gave him and it was very annoying as if there was an unreachable itch.


    Stralit was very confused about what was happening but she knew that the man who appeared was exactly the man who she saved from the void. For theck of any better response, Stralit grabbed the sigil and manipted her spiritual power to turn it off.


    After that, Stralit wanted to ask him things but Kisuke suddenly walked off and the direction he was going is the capsule that was punctured many times and with blood still spilling out of them, "W-where are you going!?"


    Stralit tried to stand up but in addition to her wound, she was really fully depleted now that she can''t even reasonably move her muscles. Even then, she didn''t give up and crawled towards the capsule, "What are you doing!?" She shouted after seeing Kisuke pry open the capsule and reveal its mangled content.


    Kisuke ignored her as he wanted to resolve his throbbing head first. He reached out for [John Smith''s] corpse and absorbed the scattered parts of his soul that were originally embedded in this specially crafted Gigai. In normal times, these scattered parts were not a problem for Kisuke, but because he was still in the middle of recovery from a very intense battle, it affected him to the point that the manifestation of the physical pain wouldn''t leave Kisuke and it was actually very challenging to endure.


    It was a rtively simple operation that would ease some of the pain Kisuke was feeling but in Stralit''s eyes, she saw the strange man suddenly emit an identical spiritual signature as John Smith which should''ve been impossible even with the cloning technology they had, ''...Unless...''


    Kisuke finished absorbing the soul he left in the Gigai and the Gigai itself immediately turned to dust. Not letting go of such a good specimen, he kept the dust in a sealed container after filtering out the impurities that mixed in when it ''died''.


    He then let out a long breath while muttering to himself, "...So much better~"


    Kisuke then turned to the stunned Stralit and thought while approaching her, ''She must have already guessed what''s going on.'' And when he reached her, Kisuke held out his hand and initiated a Kaidou(Healing Kidou).


    As soon as the soft green light wrapped around Stralit''s wound, a warm and calming feeling that she hadn''t been able to experience inside these tunnels washed over her mind, giving in further to the weakness of her body, "I can only close the wound. You''d have to be properly treated for your internal injuries. Will you be safe once you reach the surface?"


    Stralit nodded, "Y-yes. My brother should be looking for me. Once they figure out my location, they''ll be able to counterattack."


    Kisuke looked up and tried to scan the surroundings with his Reiatsu-Ki but failed to prate the surface, ''There''s a barrier blocking any information going in and out.''


    And while he was busy analyzing the situation, a patch of earth from the left moved and the young man Kisuke just punched away silently emerged with a silver spear in his left hand and an expression full of rage. As silent as he appeared, he thrust his spear directly into Kisuke''s head.


    But although it went through his head, there was no resistance and soon, Kisuke''s image disappeared along with the appearance of killing intent on his right.


    Without any concern, Kisuke shed down at his assant''s torso after using sh Step and sessfully bisecting him in the stomach. But unlike what he was expecting, the creepy young man''s body turned into dirt, and suddenly felt his presence on top of him. Unescorted by hesitation, Kisuke drove his de upwards and pierced the young man''s temple who suddenly appeared.


    Kisuke already expected the result but was still a bit surprised that the young man, once again, turned into dirt and feeling his presence reappearing some distance into the tunnel, ''I can''t hurt him physically, huh? But my punch worked.''


    "It''s no use." Stralit was able to recover a bit and was able to find the strength to sit up, "As long as you can''t separate him from the earth, it''ll be hard to hurt him."


    "And what if I destroy everything in here? I can still feel his presence lurking."


    Stralit was taken aback at his sudden proposal for violence and immediately shook her head, "No. In that form, anypetent member of the Aurelius n would be able to escape an indiscriminate destruction. And please don''t hurt these tunnels. They are a form of Magic Circuit that maintains the livelihood of this.


    "If you''re going to help me by sacrificing the livelihood of innocent people, then please forget about me and escape. As long as you can bring the news outside, I''ll be fine to be buried here."


    Kisuke scratched his head, ''Was she always this headstrong?'' But to be fair, Kisuke hasn''t really known her for long and he hasn''t seen her be in a desperate situation. Sighing, Kisuke continued to think, ''I would be able to easily deal with him if I were to use Bankai but that''s impossible in my current state. And I don''t really want to reveal anything that would further link my connection to Earth. Having Luxeux-san see all of this is already a big risk for me.''


    [You can use me.]


    All of a sudden, Tiamat proposed.


    ''...Now that I think about it, I still don''t know your abilities. Unlike a normal Zanpakuto, I have to learn all your abilities manually.''


    [Would you like aplete instruction manual or just a hint?] Tiamat asked even though she already knew the answer.


    ''The hint please~''


    [I was once called the Governor of Elements.]


    Benihime didn''t say anything because she knew her limits and she didn''t want to embarrass herself by over evaluating herself.


    At the same time, the young man''s voice resounded throughout the tunnel, "...Who are you?"


    Ajax was done observing and figured out that Kisuke was ''weak'' thanks to the fluctuation of his Spiritual Power. However, he''s still very wary of his presence because he''s obviously not an Etoulde like him and Stralit but still could take advantage of Spiritual Power.

 Chapter 1074 Payback part 4

    Chapter 1074 Payback part 4


    Kisuke ignored Ajax''s words and sheathed Benihime back into his cane and pulled the yakuza knife, also known as a tanto dagger, out of his chest pocket.


    ''Governor of Elements, hmmm... Spiritual or Alchemical?''


    [Alchemical, of course. I''m the one who gave those Spirits their abilities. But even then, it''s just a very inferior copy of what I can do and in only one aspect each.] Tiamat immediately answered.


    ''Oho~ As expected of the creator of the [Land]. In other words, it''ll be up to my freedom of expression on how to use your abilities?''


    [If you can pull out a fraction of it, yes. But beware. I''ve been permanently tainted by Chaos'' Corrosive and Corruption aspects due to me taking the majority of his attack in order for Null to eventually recover. Forget about creating anything. All I can do is destroy, even if you find out how to heal using my ability.]


    Kisuke was curious about Null but he had a feeling that Tiamat wouldn''t answer any of his queries about her thanks to them being connected on the deepest level of Soul. Still, he''s d that she would still let out a bit of information about their situation from time to time if she deemed it necessary.


    He then tossed those thoughts on the back of his head and returned to thinking about Tiamat''s hint, ''Although I gave her a choice, she still didn''t hesitate to give an answer. Alchemical... I shouldn''t have guessed it right with just those two choices but it should have been close to ''Alchemical''.''


    "Descend, Tiamat." Kisuke softly muttered and the tanto dagger melted into ck goo before it slowly and silently transformed into a green-tinted longsword with curved Dragon horns for the handguard. But unlike its soundless appearance, the aura it gave off was sinister, as if wanting everything in the immediate vicinity to return to dust, ''I didn''t notice it for the first time, but you''re one unfriendlydy.''


    [Unfriendly is too tame of a description.] Benihime alsomented. She also didn''t notice the first time because Tiamat was closely entangled with Chaos. She thought it was just Chaos struggling with all his might.


    Without changing her tone, Tiamat exined, [It''s the reason why Chaos doesn''t exist anymore. Think of it as your good luck.]


    Meanwhile, the other two onlookers didn''t have the same casual feel as those three.


    ''W-what is that weapon!?'' Both Ajax and Stralit reacted strongly. Aside from the ominous aura, there''s something else about the longsword that''s screaming at their instincts. Something far more terrifying.


    Soul yer (Zanpakuto), a weapon that was created for the sole purpose of cutting down and purifying Souls or anything with Spiritual Particles. As beings who take advantage of Spiritual Power, it''s their natural enemy. Not that they knew of this fact for now.


    Kisuke noticed that Ajax won''t be attacking so he took his time to examine Tiamat, ''Although no techniques or usage methods came into my mind the moment I released her name, there''s still something that went through. Alchemy... An archaic form of Chemistry, but since it involves mysticism, the former is more urate.''


    Kisuke''s mind ran as he weighed the sword in his hand before swinging it to his side. Although it didn''t reach the wall nor there was enough force to create a shockwave, it still made a dent in the wall where the de is facing, ''...It''s not exactly Alchemy either... Matter Maniption?''


    Tiamat heard what he was thinking and said, [In that case, I can only manipte one.]


    As she said that, Kisuke couldn''t help but shudder and said out loud, "...Prima Materia?"


    [If you can use me to that extent, then you''ll be the seconding of ''Tiamat and Null''.]


    ''Then after what Chaos did to them, they were incredibly weakened. If Tiamat retained her original strength when we fought her, we wouldn''t have any chance of winning...'' Even though Tiamat might have called it differently, she still understood the context behind Kisuke''s [Prima Materia] and affirmed his question.


    And the reason why Kisuke was shocked was that in all of the topics that he''d dived deep into to create the Hougyoku, he also extensively studied ''Prima Materia'' for a few decades with minimal results. After all, it was the theorized origin of all Physical and Spiritual Particles and could be shaped into anything in existence. All Kisuke was able to do was prove that it exists.


    ''I don''t see myself being able to manipte something like that.'' Kisuke thought to himself as he sighed, ''I''ll just focus on what I can do.''


    Finally, he paid attention to the hostile enemy, "Thank you for waiting~ Shall we start?"


    There was no answer for a few seconds and the enemy didn''t attack, "...Who are you?"


    "John Smith. Though that doesn''t really mean anything to you." Kisuke answered while observing his surroundings. Now that he was holding the released Tiamat, there seemed to be an addedyer of perception within his senses that allowed him to see deeper into the ''elements'', including the hiding young man in the distance, ''Can I reach him from here?''


    Kisuke thought that his opponent would attack him, but contrary to his expectation, he suddenly started retreating.


    After weighing his options, Ajax concluded that leaving with the information that a weapon that could be a nemesis against Spiritual Power is more important than dealing with Stralit now. He''s not even sure if he could defeat ''John Smith'' just from the initial sh in the first ce. And now that a weapon like that had emerged, he didn''t want to risk it.


    Stralit was astonished to hear him introduce himself as John Smith but also noticed Ajax retreating presence, "Even with the risk of having an all-out war with my n, he deemed it a higher priority to inform hisrade of your existence than taking and controlling me. If you don''t want to reveal your existence to the world now, you have to stop him now."


    Of course, their reaction to the Zanpakuto didn''t escape Kisuke''s notice so he wouldn''t really want it to be revealed to the Etouldes this early, ''Though that Goddess in contact with Issei probably knows about it.''


    Kisuke drove Tiamat into the wall and relied on his instincts to produce the effect he wanted. The de wasn''t buried, instead, it melded into the earth, disappearing into nowhere. But after a few seconds, it reappeared, in the middle of the young man''s neck who was swimming through the earth like a fish in the ocean.


    Soon, his Spiritual Power disappeared and his own burial was by his own ability.

 Chapter 1075 Payback part 5

    Chapter 1075 Payback part 5


    Although it was a high-risk mission, it should''ve been a rtively easy one with Stralit setting off the majority of the traps prepared for her. Their group even went ahead and cooperated with their sworn enemy just to confuse everyone from the Luxeux n and the Luxato.


    It was supposed to be an easy task and everything prepared for his rise to greatness, yet, ''...H-how?''


    His body and soul were one with the earth surrounding him and yet a de suddenly reached his throat out of nowhere, ''...Impossible...''


    It might have been a grievous wound, however, it was by no means a fatal one. What snuffed the life out of him was the betrayal of his beloved ''earth''. He could have escaped but the ''earth'' he trusted with his life had suddenly rejected him and even turned his insides into mush, including his head, causing a near-instantaneous death. If he was not fused with the earth, he might have lived longer, but even then, it''d only be for a few minutes more.


    As his leaking Spiritual Power dissipated into the earth, Kisuke pulled back Tiamat and reviewed what just happened, ''The range of activation is good. It''s also silent for the most part so it could easily be used for a surprise attack. However, I doubt I can do that in a head-on battle and as a de, Benihime is way sharper.''


    ''From using Tiamat just now, I can tell that she''s more suitable in manipting the surroundings onrger scales. While Benihime is specialized in duels, Tiamat could take on an army better. I want to use them both at the same time, but that''s going to be hard, I guess?''


    Kisuke then made sure that the Etoulde was dead by stabbing Tiamat into the wall multiple times and cutting his body apart. Since he wasn''t sure of his tolerance to ''death'', he had to do this drastic and disrespectful gesture.


    After he was sure that he wouldn''t being back to life, he turned his attention back to Stralit who was staring at him with a tinge of curiosity, surprise, and fear.


    Kisuke crouched down to her eye level and could see that with every movement he made, there was a corresponding reaction from the way her muscles moved. But obviously, she couldn''t move much. Ignoring all of this, Kisuke took care that he wouldn''t identally show any hint of hostility, "Are you ready to go up? Now that that guy''s aura has disappeared, numerous individuals are trying to go down to this level. If we were to encounter them, I can''t promise that I''ll be able to keep this ce intact."


    Stralit swallowed saliva and nodded. She was able to calm her nerves but there was still one question she wanted to ask, "...Before we go, do you mind if I ask you who you are?"


    Kisuke smiled and stood up while offering his hand, "I already introduced myself and it''s up to you if you''re going to believe it or not. For now, I''ll lend you my shoulder. Let''s get out of here."


    Stralit hesitated for a bit but even with her busted senses, she could feel many individuals trying to navigate the tunnels to reach them. She first looked behind and saw that there was nothing left of ''John Smith'' aside from the debris of the capsule and the dust, ''...More importantly, I could actually feel my mark on him.''


    ''How is that possible?'' Stralit wanted to know, but sure enough, this wasn''t the situation for that.


    Stralit took his hand and Kisuke pulled her up to his side, "Thank you."


    Kisuke fixed her position and replied, "No. I''m the one who''s grateful. You saved my skin and I''ll forever remember that."


    He didn''t wait for her to say anything else and swung Tiamat, creating a hole directly on top of them before jumping in it.


    Stralit wanted to say that this would mess up the formation but stopped herself when she saw that the earth behind them was being filled up while the earth in front of them was moving out of the way. Essentially, they were flying through the ground.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke was talking to Tiamat as they approached the barricaded surface, ''Can you take advantage of the [Shadow]?''


    [You could potentially manipte everything and anything with a ''body'' as long as you understand them and have enough power to do so.]


    ''So that''s a yes.''


    When they were about to break through the ground, Kisuke muttered, "It was nice meeting you in my original body, Luxeux-san. Please give my regards to Seraselbes-san."


    Confused, Stralit asked, "...What?"


    But Kisuke kept his mouth shut while he concentrated and for a few seconds, Stralit could feel the familiar [Shadow] pooling around his sword.


    Kisuke then thrust the sword upwards after gathering an enormous amount of [Shadow], breaking through the barrier that was blocking them and calling the attention of many, including Stralit''s brother and his forces that were locked in battle with the enemy Evie.


    ''Tiamat, change my Shihakushou and the color of my hair. Give me a mask too.''


    As soon as she received themand, Kisuke''s pale blond hair grew longer and straight while also turning ck. His green Shihakusho transformed into a white suit and his bucket hat turned into a white fedora. After all of that transformation, a nk white mask without any holes appeared on Kisuke''s face.


    Kisuke continued flying upwards until he got out of the dust cloud that he''d created, presenting himself and Stralit in front of everyone who was currently at war. Stralit was under the ground for more than a week and she never knew that the conflict had escted to this degree, ''Thank goodness that my brother arrived in time. If not, we might have lost this world.''


    Meanwhile, Kisuke observed the surroundings and understood that the 4-feet tall Elf-like Luxatos are at disadvantage against what looked like Beastmen with parts of their body converted into robotic counterparts, ''That''s the Abtors? I doubt they all originally looked like that.''


    Kisuke then let go of the Stralit and let her float with his Magic while also stabbing the air with Tiamat. The top half of Tiamat instantly disappeared and when it reappeared, it came out of hundreds of ces at the same time, striking around a hundred invading Abtors fatally. Many tried to dodge, but the numerous des were nigh impossible to avoid and only those fast enough or durable were able to survive.


    ''...You''re unexpectedly very fuel hungry.''


    [Nobody told you to do something like that.] Tiamat immediately replied while Kisuke was trying to hide that he was very tired just from that.


    For the time being, the battlefield became quiet while they all processed what had just happened.

 Chapter 1076 Second Clash With an Evie part 1

    Chapter 1076 Second sh With an Evie part 1


    An hour earlier, Gren Luxeux, Stralit''s twin brother, responded to the rm that the enemy Abtors had staged arge-scale attack. Along with a fellow Etoulde, they gathered their forces and activated the barrier to slow down the enemy''s advance.


    Before they left, Gren turned to his rade'' and asked, "Alicia Crowfeather, are you really sure that Stralit went on a secret mission?"


    The pretty woman with ck, long, flowing hair answered, "That''s indeed the directive I''ve received and you''ve also seen the documents. I came here to temporarily hold the reins. Are you still doubting me?"


    Gren stared at her smiling face for a few seconds before turning around again, "No. I just find the situation weird, especially with the timing of this attack."


    Alicia touched her rosy lips and replied, "That''s true. It was very convenient timing. Too bad for them, the doting big brother ignored his orders and came to this ce."


    Gren ignored her and continued walking. Of course, he doubts her. However, he couldn''t do anything because she had all the official documents required. He could check where her orders came from but that would take too much time and his priority is finding his little twin sister because of the bad feeling he has with the situation and herst message to him implying that there may be a traitor near her.


    After gathering their forces, they met the enemy forces that wereposed of Abtors with parts of their body mechanically converted just beyond the barrier''s border and being led by an Evie in the form of a beast that looked like a winged lion.


    The mechanical winged lion stopped its advance andmanded its army to move forward.


    Alicia left Gren and the Evies tomand the army they had to counter the enemy.


    "I didn''t know the one who reced the Shadow Pdin was the Invisible Sword." The winged lion initiated a conversation.


    Gren was not in the mood to y around and with a sway of his white hair, six thin shadow des extended from him, "Didn''t you see that the Holy Witch is with me? You really do have bad eyes, Navot."


    "I''m not interested in the so-called Witch that couldn''t fight." Navot bared his fangs and instantly became a beam of light as he charged toward the Etoulde.


    Gren narrowed his eyes and prepared to receive the attack. He could dodge, but considering his opponent''s ability, he decided to meet him head-on.


    .


    .


    .


    Almost an hourter, Gren and Navot are still in a deadlock and that''s the same situation for the ongoing sh between armies.


    ''This is weird...'' Gren thought to himself and sent his des to Navot but thetter just repelled it with his scale-like skin, ''Why does it feel like he''s just buying time? What is he hoping to achieve?''


    However, despite thinking about it, he couldn''t guess what he wanted, ''I don''t have enough understanding of the situation to draw any conclusion. Just what''s going on? And where are you, Stralit?''


    But just as these questions were guing him and about to affect his concentration, he suddenly felt a small ripple in the''s Magic Circuit.


    Gren was sure that it wasn''t just him because Navot and Alicia also stopped momentarily because the ripple felt weirdly familiar.


    Nevertheless, they didn''t have any time to examine what was happening because after that small ripple, an enormous eruption of Spiritual Power pierced through the barrier protecting the circuit and it wasn''t just some generic Spiritual Power but the one used by the famous Luxeux n.


    Gobsmacked, Gren stared at this oppressive fountain and thought, ''...That''s not Stralit... Or any other member of the Luxeux n. I''ve never seen such a [malicious and destructive] shadow.''


    Gren took a peek at Alicia, but simr to him, she too was sporting an unbelieving expression. Finally, he looked at Navot who had already retreated far. He didn''t like the distance he was taking so he sent three of his swords to chase after him.


    The eruption of shadow soon abated and the hole in the barrier began repairing itself. Regardless of that, everyone''s attention was on the two people who''d suddenly appeared. One of them was someone familiar to them and the other one was a man with long ck hair and a nk mask covering his face.


    Gren was about to call out and approach them when Alicia suddenly sent him a message, [Don''t approach them!]


    He was about to ignore her warning when the strange man suddenly stabbed his sword in the air and its tip disappeared. In the next instant, the missing tip abruptly appeared within multiple instances on top of their enemies, stabbing the majority of them to death.


    "...What in the world?" Gren loudly muttered while watching these des retreat. If he were to push himself, he could probably control 20 ''swords'' at the same time and all of them could emerge from anywhere with a shadow. It was only he who could use ''swords'' that could understand the sheer scale of what he just did to manifest at least a thousand des.


    Unexpectedly, Gren received a voice transmission from the weird man, [Luxeux-san, allow me to ess your ''shadow''. I''ll transfer Stralit-san to your side.]


    He immediately turned his attention to his incredibly weakened sister of his on the man''s shoulders and locked eyes with her. At that moment, Gren knew that he could trust the strange man, [Go ahead.]


    The ck-haired man in a white suit didn''t wait and in an instant, ''shadow'' extended from his feet and he let go of Stralit, letting her sink into it. Immediately after, Stralit reappeared from one of Gren''s swords beside him and thetter hurriedly caught her, "Are you alright!?"


    "...I''m fine, brother. Just a bit tired and injured." Stralit answered while heaving a sigh of relief. She finally felt truly safe when her brother caught her in his arms.


    He''s about to ask her more about the situation but he suddenly felt another thing going through his ''shadow''. When he turned his head, the strange man already disappeared and came out of one of the swords that was bothering Navot in the distance.


    .


    .


    .


    After using Gren''s shadow as a portal, Kisuke instantly arrived at the side of the mechanical winged lion and swung Tiamat at it without waiting for it to react.


    But even if it couldn''t react in time, Kisuke''s attack just bounced off from its scale-like structured ''fur''. Kisuke already expected this after witnessing how it dealt with the ''shadow'' swords so he was able to dodge the iing w aimed at him with rtive ease while creating a distance between them, ''Instead of blocking my attack using its durability, there seems to be some feedback force. A barrier? No... It''s something else.''


    [You don''t really have to help them to this degree, do you?] asked Tiamat.


    But instead of Kisuke, Benihime was the one who answered her, [This is already beyond his responsibility so there''s no way he''s helping them. He probably just wants to secure this hunk of metal to disassemble.]


    ''As expected of my Benihime~! You know me so well~.''


    Benihime snorted at him but didn''t say anything else.

 Chapter 1077 Second Clash With an Evie part 2

    Chapter 1077 Second sh With an Evie part 2


    "Who are you?" asked the lion. Like the previous Evies he has encountered, its voice sounds like it went through a synthesizer.


    ''But Seraselbes wasn''t like that... I still don''t know how they spend their day-to-day lives.'' For Kisuke, not knowing their enemy''s day-to-day life was a sign of a seriousck of information.


    Kisuke had no intention of talking to him and he''d already revealed more than he had to. Even though he changed his voice, it only reduced the risk and did not negate the chance that someone might have some unique ability to trace him through that. He couldn''t even use his Kidou(Spirit Arts), Zanjutsu(Swordsmanship), Hakuda(Hand-to-Hand Combat), Hohou(Fast Movement), or Hollowfication for the reason that hisbat data might have already been in the hands of high-ranking officials of both the Evies and Etouldes, ''The limit is one inconspicuous move. If I can''t do it after that, I''ll give up.''


    He could only use Tiamat because no one had seen her yet aside from a few trustworthy people.


    The lion waited for him to respond and was disappointed when he didn''t answer, "A low-ranking Etoulde like you dared to face me? It looks like bing a sessor to one of the Luxeux went straight to your head. Allow me to show you reality."


    ''I look like a low-level Etoulde to him?'' Kisuke thought and saw the lion opening its mouth. In an instant, a beam of sma ejected from its mouth and Kisuke had to dodge to the side. If he reacted slower, he would have been fried, ''...That was fast.'' And even if dodged, a bit of his arm was still scorched.


    Naturally, the lion''s attack didn''t end there and sent a couple more high-density sma beams on his way.


    But instead of retreating as the lion Kisuke would do, he started flying towards him at high speed.


    The lion smirked at him and increased the frequency of his attacks, likely lowering their intensity. And at just a few meters from him, Kisuke finally couldn''t dodge and got hit by multiple heat projectiles, "Idiot."


    At the same time, the lion felt something poking his side and he remembered that there was still Gren''s sword bothering him. The lion, however, momentarily froze when his sma attacks just went through Kisuke as if they hit nothing, and simultaneously, he felt another poke at the very same spot where the ''shadow'' sword had to attack him.


    Knowing his own weakness, the lion shuddered and hurriedly retreated while closing his mouth.


    From where the point of the attack came from, he saw the strange Etoulde standing casually while taking back his sword. A secondter, he disappeared again as he entered the ''shadow'' sword and reappeared beside Gren.


    Kisuke figured that he won''t be able to defeat the lion in his current state on top of holding back most of his abilities so he returned to the siblings'' side and sent a telepathic message to Stralit, [Let''s see each other again in the future, Luxeux-san. And please do give my regards to your good friend. It was she who informed me of your plight.]


    He didn''t wait for any reply and directly opened the Teleportation Circle.


    "W-wait!" Stralit tried calling out to him but she was ignored and ''John Smith'' escaped while destroying all the information about his Teleportation Circle to prevent any pursuers.


    But before Kisukepletely disappeared, he felt something strange and turned his head. There he saw the ck-haired woman and smirked at her, ''Nice try, youngdy~''


    .


    .


    .


    Alicia was passively leading the Luxatos against the modified enemy Abtors. And despite thetter''s apparent advantage in terms of ability and number, Alicia was able to create a ''stalled'' battlefield where both sides are just exhausting their energy with nothing happening good or bad on both of them. She didn''t want both sides to be put into a disadvantageous position. For her, stalemate is the best stance in the current situation where there are manyplicated movements happening beneath the surface.


    However, a strange man appeared and destroyed her carefully crafted chessboard.


    Nevertheless, she just quietly watched while fixing the mess he made. Of course, she made sure that it was not obvious and she doesn''t care if she were to be branded as ipetent if she couldn''t win after being given a huge advantage.


    The same as Navot, she thought that the strange man was just a low-level Etoulde who became a sessor and was in possession of a strange but powerful weapon. And this judgment of hers didn''t change until the end even after he used an unknown technique to rece himself with a clone, but only until that.


    When the strange man tried to leave, Alicia couldn''t let the unknown variable go without any way of a follow-up investigation. With that in mind, she used one of her abilities to conjure a tiny and invisible spider out of her own Spiritual Power and attached it to the man in an attempt to track him.


    Alicia was very confident of her spider which had anti-tracing abilities, especially when the counterpart was just a low-level Etoulde. She watched the spider fuse and meld into his skin and join his stream of Spiritual Power.


    Nheless, it didn''t end as she hoped as she suddenly saw an image of a ''skull'' in her head. Normally, this wasn''t a problem to her since she''s an expert in this field, but the unknown origin of this ''skull'' that suddenly entered her mind caught her off guard as it bit down on the thread that was connecting her to her spider. But because the skull was strongly emanating the idea of ''Death'', she couldn''t do anything to stop it nor even approach it. The feeling that someone was closely watching her and was ready to slice her head off gave her quite a scare.


    As the strange man''s body was slowly turning into motes of light, he turned his head towards her. Even though he''s wearing a mask, she has a feeling that he''s smirking at her.


    "Alicia, what happened?" A familiar voice suddenly asked her when the manpletely disappeared. When she turned her head, she saw the Luxeux siblings approaching her, "Your nose is bleeding... And you''re crying tears of blood."


    "Eh?" Alicia touched her face and looked at her hand. Indeed, there''s blood on it, ''I have very strong protection against mind attacks but I was still punished to this degree?'' It was only then that she realized how dangerous the situation was for her.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke returned to the grounds of the Ouroboros Academy and had already dispelled his disguise. The first thing he checked upon returning was the small piece of armor only spanning around a millimeter wide that he was able to nick from the Evie, ''My guess was correct. It had a reactive armor that explodes upon reaching a certain threshold. I was only able to nick this because I took advantage of the gap between reactions.''


    However, that wasn''t the part that''s extremely concerning for Kisuke, ''...Almost instantaneous and direct conversion of Magic Power to other forms of energy. It seems that this is a basic ability for all the high-ranking members of Evies. How terrifying.''

 Chapter 1078 New Development

    Chapter 1078 New Development


    A month went by and Kisuke was using all the time he had to prepare for his next set of actions.


    During that time, he also returned to his shop back on Earth and refused all contact with people he doesn''t personally know. He, including Yoruichi and Serafall, also avoided any contact with those in the other world and left everything to Sona to manage the recovery process. They didn''t want them contacting them and asking for preferential treatment and that included Loki and Freya.


    "Kisuke, have you heard the news?" Yoruichi barged into hisb while carrying snacks.


    Kisuke didn''t turn away from the screen he was looking at and said, "That there was major funding on research towards the other worlds discovery and explorations?"


    Yoruichi ced the snacks on the table beside him and replied, "Not quite yet. But the news I wanted to say is that there''s a major interest in what you just said and severalrge groups and organizations are already gathering experts, equipment, and licenses to move forward with this. Because of what the Ouroboros Academy did, there''s no shortage of people who wanted to pour their overflowing money in.


    The floating ind Ouroboros Academy only disappeared for more than a day, but there were already innumerable eyes focused on it so when it went somewhere where their eyes couldn''t reach, it became a big issue.


    And due to it suddenly announcing temporary suspension in sses and sending back all the students and most of the staff, the focus on it became even bigger so it didn''t take long for people to know what it was up to.


    ''A new undiscovered world with a living civilization.'' That announcement sent waves and a slew of differing and strong reactions. While the Human World where normal people live didn''t have much of a reaction to this because, for them, everything is a ''new world'', that''s not the same for the rest.


    A new world with a civilization meant not only new resources but also alien technology that could be easily acquired if they approached it correctly.


    "It''s a natural response. After all, new resources doesn''t just mean those things you can pull from the ground." Kisuke muttered while finishing his work for today and stretching his arms up.


    "People, huh...", Yoruichi then smirked, "A lot of people are probably grinding their teeth in frustration that the Ouroboros Academy has gathered power again."


    "Since they can''t pull the Academy down, the least they could do is catch up in a simr manner." Kisuke then turned to Yoruichi and asked, "But that''s not really the news, right?"


    Yoruichi sat down in front of him while answering, "Yeah, pretty much. There are calls from some organizations for the Ouroboros Academy to ''share'' the other world but let''s just leave that nonsensical thing to our girls. The problem is those old fogeys that are stuck on their chairs all day long. They want ess to the hole we used to go to to the other world."


    "If not?"


    "Who knows?" Yoruichi shrugged off her shoulders, "But the way came out with it is threatening."


    "Still blinded by potential power and influence, I see. We should just be thankful that they don''t have power over uspared to the Central 46."


    Yoruichi went quiet for a moment.


    "Don''t look so solemn. Although the Shihouin n is a part of the Central 46, they still didn''t vote for ridiculous policies that only benefited them and shit on themon people."


    "They still did everything they could to increase their political power and influence, though?"


    "The first thing that one has to do when they get power is to secure their position. That''s normal."


    "Thanks, but that''s not really what I''m thinking about."


    Kisuke looked straight into her and asked, "Feeling homesick?"


    "...A little bit. I actually didn''t think I''d feel this way."


    "Then how about youe with me?"


    Yoruichi went quiet again and looked at him before opening her mouth and closing it againter. Sighing, she continued, "...You can probably arrange it for me toe with you, but that''s not the best for our situation, is it? On top of that, I think it''s best for me to remain and be that Evie''s point of contact.


    "The girls have improved tremendously these past few years but both you and I are aware that they''re too busy with their current tasks. Not to mention, it''ll be too dangerous for them to be Seraselbes'' acquaintances."


    Kisuke grabbed one of the snacks that Yoruichi brought in and went deep into his thoughts. His trip ''home'' couldn''t be dyed any more than necessary and it''s true that he won''t be able to feel at ease if Seraselbese into contact with the busy and inexperienced girls, ''And if someone discovers that connection, it''ll be the end for them.''


    And finally, Yoruichi is the only one who could disappear and reappear without raising too much suspicion thanks to her prolonged stay on the other side.


    Aftering to terms with reality, Kisuke remembered something and opened his right hand before presenting it to Yoruichi, "Take this. It may prove useful."


    Yoruichi looked at his hand and saw nothing. However, after focusing her senses at one point, she could feel a slight fluctuation of Spiritual Power that doesn''t belong to Kisuke, "A spider? And a very tiny one." Shemented before touching it with her fingertip.


    The next instant, the spider melted on her touch and fused with her skin before joining the flow of her own Spiritual Power, "What''s this?"


    "Seraselbes will probably use Stralit Luxeux to contact you. But while we could trust her, I can''t fully trust Seraselbes and those around Luxeux-san herself. Use that spider to initiate a different contact and get a feel of what''s truly happening with their power struggle. Maybe we''ll be able to discover something that we could use against Seraselbes. I''ll send you a memory photo of the spider''s ownerter and leave it up to you on how you''ll approach her."


    Yoruichi made sure that the spider wouldn''t get out of her perception and stood up from her seat, "I have to go since we don''t know when they''ll initiate contact, I''ll have to prepare. I''ll also need to make sure what the Sefaira kid from Fadir Ferdora knows."


    "Goodluck. I''ll call you when I''m about to leave."


    Before she exited through the door, Yoruichi turned around for onest time, "Speaking of which, I already told Cleria and Masaomi of your ns and your intention to take ire and the little girls with you."


    Yoruichi left without waiting for his reply.


    In the first ce, Kisuke had nothing to say so he just returned to his work. He knew that he''d probably be rejected so he instead started thinking about who else to bring. Serafall came into his mind but she too was busy with an important task at hand. It''s vital that he brings someone from this world because they may serve as a trump card in the world who only knew about ''Souls'', but then again, he could only bring someone he trusts fully and with enough strength so his choices are really those around him.

 Chapter 1079 Asking for Permission

    Chapter 1079 Asking for Permission


    One more weekter, Kisuke''s preparation was already almost done, ''It''s time to face Aunt Cleria''s scolding for even attempting to bring ire with me.''


    Kisuke stood up and secured all the backup data he had in his storage before sending a text message to his mom and Cleria that he''d being over now.


    After cleaning up a bit, he left his shop and used the proper transit to reach the Underworld. Since the annoying eyes on him have increased after it was released that he was the pioneer for the newly discovered world, he had to do everything properly so that they wouldn''t have any reasons to confront him any further and jeopardize his ns, ''It''s very tiring with all these eyes on me despite them not doing anything else. I really wonder how celebrities deal with this issue, or maybe they just like the attention?''


    While enjoying the fresh air, the rapidly changing scenery, and emptying his head from intrusive thoughts, two hours went by before he reached the Belial state that had be rowdy these past few years, ''Eyes and noise once again... Although it was just two hours, I''m already missing it. I should really set aside some quiet time with others... Yosh! Let''s do it before I leave!''


    Due to this rowdiness, his grandparents couldn''t move into the main residence and actually had to find somewhere quieter to avoid the unsavory people who didn''t have any decorum.


    Upon his arrival, the servants who were expecting him hurriedly greeted him and led him directly to the main office.


    "Madam, young master Kisuke has arrived." The servant knocked on the door. Kisuke slightly reeled back at the mention of [Young Master] before his name, ''I really can''t get used to this. Thank God that Yoruichi already stoppedughing at me because of this when they called her [Young Lady].''


    "Let him in." Beyond the door, Cleria''s voice was heard.


    The servant opened the door for Kisuke and he thanked her. The moment he entered, all the gazes in the roomnded on him. There were some people in the room that he was already expecting but he didn''t think he''d meet them with Cleria.


    "A bit nervous?" Cleria suddenly asked with a small smile.


    Kisuke sighed and wore a wry smile, "Certainly... I''m basically asking you something very unreasonable and that pertains to your most precious daughter."


    There were a total of seven people inside the room aside from Kisuke and all of them were sitting around the rectangr table. With some of the tea cups empty, Kisuke guessed that they''d been here for some time.


    Kisuke found a space between Sakura and Serafall and sat in it with thetter picking up the tea kettle and pouring a cup for him. After thanking Serafall and taking a sip from his cup, Kisuke first turned his attention to the fox youkai with golden hair, "I intended to meet you at ater time since I didn''t think you''d be able to leave Kyoto, Yasaka-san."


    Yasaka covered her mouth and chuckled, "Since you''re the one who made it, you should have already guessed what made it possible."


    "You''re giving me too much credit. Even though I made the blueprint for it, it''s still only an amalgamation of existing technologies that I know. The true geniuses are the people who created them." Kisuke looked at her more and thought, ''As I thought, she''s something simr to a clone.''


    "Alter Ego." Yasaka replied and exined, "It''s the name I gave my Soul Gear. It looks like it manifested my deep desire to get out of my ''cage''. Thanks to this, I was able to split my consciousness into another body created by Alter Ego and even use half of my strength without affecting my real body."


    ''So that''s it!'' Kisuke''s eyes widened in surprise. Although he expected that the Soul Gears will evolve depending on their owners, he didn''t think a mass-produced one could be evolved to this degree, ''As expected, there are still many interactions between Spiritual Power, Magic Power, and Ki that I haven''t discovered yet.''


    "Let me stop you for a second there, Kisuke." Masaomi suddenly voiced out, "That curious face of yours is really scary and I feel that we''ll go off on a tangent for a few days. Let''s all talk about the main reason why we''re all here."


    Kisuke noticed the face he was making and feigned a cough, "Ehem... I apologize."


    In the room were Sakura, Serafall, Yoruichi, Cleria, Masaomi, Diehauser and Yasaka. And with the atmosphere finally turning serious, Kisuke started, "I''m going to another world, and it could be a potentially very dangerous ce. As some trump cards, I''d like to bring ire''s group along with me." Kisuke didn''t hide the fact that he intended to use them as soldiers.


    An understandable silence descended into the room and the already heavy atmosphere became even heavier. Kisuke, who normally would justugh in the face of the most terrifying monsters or calmly count his remaining time in front of death, was now actually feeling nervous and it''s showing with his bodynguage, ''What a weird feeling... Never thought I''d experience something like this.'' But strangely enough, Kisuke doesn''t feel like he''s be a coward and he surprisingly wants to treasure this feeling and experience.


    After a minute or two, there was finally a response and it was a sigh from Masaomi who crossed his arms, "I''m against it."


    ''We''re done here, I guess? Should I bring Aika or maybe Medusa? Koneko is a good option too and also Le Fay if I sign a strict contract with her that would technically strip her of her freedom.'' Kisuke didn''t really like it because they''d be leavingrge holes that their opponents would totally take advantage of, however, he had to make this sacrifice. That''s how important this trip was to him, ''Oh right, Sera-chan is a choice too, but she has too much political power that it''d be a shame if she were to leave her position now and she probably won''t be able to take it back once she lets go of it.''


    "Well, until he entered the room." Masaomi suddenly continued, catching Kisuke off guard, "Huh?"


    To the confused Kisuke, Masaomi exined, "My wife and Yasaka actually have already agreed to let it happen after Yoruichi told us about it more than two weeks ago. In fact, ire, Tanis, and Kunou are actually already packing as of this moment so they could go at any time."


    Kisuke turned his head to Yasaka and Cleria and the two of them nodded with smiles at the astonished Kisuke.


    "I''m the only one who didn''t agree with it even after hearing their convincing reasons." Masaomi continued while staring at Kisuke, "Solely because no matter how many good things Sakura says about you, I know for sure that you''re someone merciless and wouldn''t hesitate to use other people to achieve your goal."


    Sakura and the others became a bit worried but none of them interrupted the conversation between the two.


    "I won''t deny that. If it''s to achieve something, I won''t hesitate to use people. And even now, I intended to use your daughter and her friends for my own gain... But that begs the question, why? It doesn''t sound like you are disagreeing anymore. Or am I misunderstanding something?"


    Kisuke genuinely doesn''t understand where he''sing from.


    ''Just for that reason, any normal person would instantly disagree and some might even hurl insults and attack me.''

 Chapter 1080 Permission Granted

    Chapter 1080 Permission Granted


    At Kisuke''s response, Masaomi suddenly started chuckling which surprised Kisuke even more, "If you genuinely don''t understand that''s fine too. In fact, that''s better."


    "Huh?"


    Masaomi stood up from his seat and approached the confused Kisuke to pat his shoulder, "Let''s just say that now I know for sure that you''ll keep them safe and I trust you for that." He then went straight to the door and before exiting the room, he turned for onest time, "I''m going to go invite my daughter on a date with this old man. Discuss the rest with Cleria and Yasaka-san."


    As he left the room, the heavy atmosphere also alleviated a lot while also leaving Kisuke hanging in the air with his curiosity.


    "Don''t think too much about it. It just means that he''s approving of your n." Yoruichi, with a small smile on her face,mented.


    Kisuke was not satisfied and looked around but nobody was willing to resolve his confusion, "Haahh... Fine. But I''d like to hear why you''re agreeing to this. I still don''t see girls benefiting from this aside from maybe gaining experience."


    Cleria took a sip from her cup first before answering, "It alles down to safety. In my opinion, they are safer on your side."


    Kisuke creased his brows but didn''t interrupt her.


    "You''re busy so you probably don''t know how messy the situation is right now. Everyone wants to gather as much power and influence as they can in this rapidly evolving world. Andtely, some of their methods are already stepping on lines that they shouldn''t cross." ire continued while sighing and rubbing her forehead signifying her frustration with the situation but couldn''t do much about it.


    "ording to the intelligence groups that I''m openly and secretly operating, there are some groups that haveid their eyes on the students of Ouroboros Academy as targets for easy maniptions." Yasaka added, "While they are safe within the confines of that floating ind, that''s not the same when they''re outside of it and we''re suspecting that some of these kids who don''t know any better are acting as spies for these groups."


    With that exnation, Kisuke could see where they wereing from, "As the top students, ire, Tanis, and Kunou are the most vulnerable against these inside jobs. Aren''t you underestimating them too much?"


    ire smiled wryly, "Protecting themselves? I''m not worried. It''s true that they are skilled, but no matter how you cut it, they are just teenagers and bad adults don''t fight with brute force. It''s not like they learned territorial and risk management since childhood like Sona, Rias, and Akeno did, so I''m afraid that they''ll be tricked by one of these bad adults sooner orter. It''s especially worrisome that they seem to be hiding things from us now." She then looked at Kisuke straight into his eyes, "They actually trust you, the ''cool big brother'', more than us."


    The quiet Diehauser suddenly interjected, "Typical teenagers." He wanted to be a ''cool uncle'' for ire and the girls, but he only ended up as a ''strict uncle'' in their eyes so he''s very jealous of Kisuke.


    Kisuke was about to say something but he could only leave his mouth open when he remembered what ire, Tanis, and Kunou were hiding, "Ah... I would have to agree..."


    Cleria raised her brows and asked, "What''s up with that reaction? Are they hiding some big secret?"


    Kisuke contemted for a moment if he should show them that or not, ''Hmm... Oh well, it should exin why I have no problem with bringing them with me.''


    Without another word, Kisuke took out a memory crystal and ced it in the middle of the table. A secondter, their surroundings changed and a real-life projection of his underground training area was shown with Kisuke facing ire, Tanis, and Kunou.


    A few minutester, the projection stopped and the room returned to normal, "That''s the reason why I''mfortable with bringing them with me and the only other person who knows about this is Aika."


    After that, there was only silence as they were trying to process what they''d just seen. Even the corner of Yoruichi''s lips was twitching, not knowing what to say.


    With a strangely long few minutes passing, Cleria finally said something, "That''s what I''m talking about... They''re hiding something crazy yet we had no inkling of what''s really happening..." But even after saying that, she still couldn''t believe what she just saw, "...Are you sure that this isn''t edited in any way?"


    "It''s not. It''s true that they were able to injure me in that form."


    "That''s not even the issue here." Diehauser interrupted, "How is ire using both Demonic Power and the Power of Light at the same time without any assistance to that degree!? And it looks like there''s no adverse effect on her body?"


    Yasaka turned to Sakura, who''s an instructor at Ouroboros Academy and asked, "Sakura-san... Was no one able to catch a hint of this?"


    Sakura shook her head, "No. Everyone knew that they were skilled and had a lot of potential. However, it was predicted that they''d only reach Satan ss after a decade or more with their current rate of improvement."


    "But clearly, that isn''t the case." Yoruichi turned to Serafall and asked, "What do you think?"


    "They''re not yet on the level of Satan ss because of sustainability, but they''re not very far from it. Especially ire. The way she handled the opposing attributes without support from any Soul Gear or Sacred Gear, she could be ssified as a ''Super Devil''."


    To give them more context, Kisuke exined to everyone how these past years, ire, Tanis, and Kunou kept sparring against Ophis, Tanis, and nna on a weekly basis and how he had to watch them quietly since he wanted to see what was going to happen, "At the end of it, Ophis, Lilith, and nna stopped holding back against them and even managed to fight more effectively."


    "...Unbelievable..." Yoruichi muttered, "Well, this is probably entirely possible because you decided to quietly watch over them. I think this is a lot better than them forcing themselves to improve through a literal conflict that could instantly take their lives if they''re not careful since we can''t really hope they''ll do miracles like Issei and his friends were doing."


    "...In any case, both me and Yasaka can breathe easier knowing that they have these kinds of capabilities outside of your protection." epting reality, Cleria was happy that her daughter had reached this stage even without her knowing, "I''m keeping this. I''ll show it to Masaomiter." She grabbed the memory crystal and ced it inside the pocket of her suit.


    Seeing that the discussion about ire, Tanis, and Kunou''s matter has concluded, Yoruichi pushed the conversation to the next topic, "Now then, let''s move on to the next thing on the agenda."


    Upon hearing that, Serafall''s body twitched and she straightened her back. That didn''t escape Kisuke''s notice and wondered what they needed to talk about next since he was only here for their permission.


    "Let''s talk about who''s going to babysit the girls when Kisuke is not around."

 Chapter 1081 Additional Member

    Chapter 1081 Additional Member


    Kisuke immediately figured out where the conversation was going and said, "Hold on. I can''t bring Sera-chan with me. She has too many important duties to fulfill here."


    Serafall, who had just straightened her back, slumped a bit forward after hearing that. It was obvious that she was not happy about it.


    But unlike her, the smile on Yoruichi''s face didn''t disappear as she crossed her arms, "And what if she doesn''t have any duties to fulfill?"


    Kisuke stopped for a moment to think about it, "...It''s possible..."


    The slumped Serafall instantly perked up but she still didn''t say anything.


    Kisuke did his best not to look at her but he could feel every little movement she was making thanks to his heightened senses, ''What the heck? That''s cute.''


    "That''s exactly what''s happening." Cleria suddenly said, "Serafall-sama is not really in a good position these days."


    Kisuke turned his attention back to the topic and replied, "...Please borate."


    "Serafall would have been in a better position if she was dismissed but as you know, she was just suspended." Yoruichi prefaced, "She still had the position of the Devil King but she doesn''t actually have the authority of one. Those old geezers are using that to trap her into a limbo of unending legition making her unable to actually do anything of substance.


    "This wasn''t originally a big problem but in addition to her prolonged absence and her closeness to our faction, those on the higher-ups are doing their best to limit her power and in some cases, using her to reach the Sitri House."


    "Any methods for a forced dismissal?" Kisuke asked.


    Cleria nodded and said, "There is. We could ask the other Devil Kings to forcefully remove Serafall-sama from her position, but that wouldn''t look good on them and Serafall-sama herself. Since she hasn''t really done anything wrong, a forced dismissal would only be seen as an unfair attack on her. And that might be what those old fogies are hoping for because they could reduce the other Devil Kings authority by using the bacsh they would receive after they ''unfairly'' dismissed Serafall-sama."


    "Sera-chan could also get away from the position by endorsing someone else for the position and that someone has to win the popr vote of both the public and senate." Yoruichi continued, "But as expected, she can''t just suddenly offer someone the position and none of us actually want the Devil King status because we''ll just give them the other end of the leash that would be attached to the next guy."


    Kisuke could finally see where they were going with this but still asked just to be sure, "And the solution?"


    "The other Devil Kings will issue a ''secret'' mission to Serafall-sama that''ll allow her to leave with you, effectively cutting off the leash on her." Cleria answered, "We''ll only need to disclose that you''ll be going to a different world with her."


    "But wouldn''t they just jump on that and try to negotiate with me for ''benefits''? They know the value of what a new world could bring so there''s no way they''ll stay quiet with me just gobbling up everything."


    Sakura patted Kisuke''s shoulder and he looked into her bright eyes, "That''s where the useless Devil Kingse in!"


    "Sis!" Cleria raised her voice.


    But Sakura only giggled at her, "It''s fine, big sis. They''re not here."


    "...That''s not the problem..." Cleria sighed while facepalming. She''s really worried that Sakura would one day just go to one of the Devil Kings'' faces and call them useless, ''I can''t deny it though... They''ve been too passive these past few years. Oh well, thanks to that, we could have an easier time but maybe that''s just their way of saying "Do what you want."''


    Since Serafall had already stopped considering herself a Devil King, she didn''t have any particr reaction, ''And I can''t really go against mother-in... Ehem... Sona-chan''s mother-inw''s words!''


    Sakura ignored Cleria and continued, "We''ve already confirmed from them that they''ll be pushing back against the old fogies in exchange for letting their subordinates enter the Dungeon world. Sona-chan already confirmed that it wasn''t a big deal even if they set up an outpost on that side since that will also lessen the pressure on them from those who wanted the piece of the pie."


    After that exnation, Serafall on Kisuke''s side suddenly stood up and went in front of him with a serious expression. Kisuke watched her raise both of her hands and suddenly bring them down on her shoulders with considerable force, "In other words, bring me along too!"


    Kisuke stared at her eyes and in return, Serafall red back.


    There was another silence and there was a heated atmosphere between the two of them but it was nothing romantic.


    Momentster, Cleria also added, "Just so you know, Masaomi agreed thinking that Serafall-sama was going with them so you might change his mind if you don''t bring her along."


    "We know how you act and we''re pretty certain that there will be days that you won''t be able to watch over the girls." Sakura added, "In fact, they might act like your maids after realizing how careless you are with household chores."


    Yoruichi smirked at him and said, "You''ll be looking after them? Let''s be real. After a few weeks, it''s going to be the other way around. Be ashamed and don''t let the kids pick up all the ck or you might just lose your ''cool big brother'' status."


    Kisuke had aplicated expression on his face and Serafall had a big grin on hers, "Is there no other way?"


    And that grin instantly turned into the biggest frown everyone has ever seen from Serafall, "...Do you really hate the idea that much?"


    From the corner of her eyes, Kisuke could even see some tears pooling, "Eh...? Ehh!?"


    Except for Kisuke and Serafall, everyone else started standing up and leaving the room one by one.


    "H-hey! Wait!" Kisuke tried calling out for them.


    As thest one to leave, Sakura turned to him and said before closing the door, "This isn''t our problem anymore."


    With the click of the door, silence returned again, but this time, with awkwardness floating in the air.


    "So you really do hate it..." Serafall said a few secondster and removed her hands from Kisuke before sitting beside him again with her head down.


    Kisuke looked at her for a while before taking a deep breath and sighing, "Of course not."


    "They why?"


    Kisule leaned back on the couch and replied, "Because Yoruichi already proposed for you toe with me some time ago... And it feels like I''m ying into her hands."


    "Is that bad?"


    Without hesitation, Kisuke answered, "No. I just hate losing, even if it''s against Yoruichi. After all, we grew uppeting against each other."


    Serafall wanted to say ''Just because of that?'' But refrained from it because she didn''t know the significance of theirpetition and she didn''t want to make light of it.


    "But I guess it''s my loss this time."


    Serafall hurriedly turned to Kisuke and saw him grinning at her, "Prepare your stuff. We''re in for a long trip."


    She couldn''t help but give Kisuke a bear hug.

 Chapter 1082 Negotiation with the Devil King

    Chapter 1082 Negotiation with the Devil King


    Kisuke set aside his time for everyone and had a one-on-one date with each of them. When he started inviting them out, they were pleasantly surprised that he initiated their outings but this also made them realize how they were going to ''disappear'' this time.


    When they arrived in the Dungeon World,munication between the two worlds was immediately established so it didn''t feel that far. However, Kisuke exined to them that when going into a totally different dimension or even timeline, directmunication might be impossible. So when they are gone, it''ll be unknown when they''ll being back and there''s no way to know what''s happening on their side and vice versa.


    Ten dayster, Kisuke was finishing up his preparation and the gate they''d be using when Tiamat suddenly started talking to him, [Would it benefit you if those faction leaders were freed from containing Trihexa?]


    Kisuke stopped what he was doing and answered, "It''d be great if they could do something else other than wrestle with that beast."


    Even though her interaction with this world was short, Tiamat still understood many things just from watching Kisuke''s point of view and one of the things concerning her was the existence of the Trihexa.


    [I''ll deal with it.]


    "Understood. Let''s go after I''m done here."


    .


    .


    .


    Within his office, Ajuka was having a rare break when one of his servants knocked on the door, "Sir, your guest is here."


    "Let him in."


    The doors opened and Kisuke entered after thanking the servant, "Good evening, Beelzebub-sama. I hope that I haven''t interrupted something important."


    "You''re an important guest so you''ll hardly interrupt anything." Replied Ajuka while pointing at the seat in front of him, "Would you like some refreshments?"


    Kisuke sat down and said, "No, thank you. I won''t be staying for long."


    "That''s a shame. I''d like to talk with you more."


    Kisuke smirked at him, "Let''s do that when we''re ready to be more honest with each other. If we continue as we are now, we might just end up trying to kill each other."


    Instead of being angry at his rude remark, Ajuka just chuckled, "Hmmm, that''s true, isn''t it? We''re both tied to our own interests. Let''s properly sit down when there''s amon enemy or goal between us."


    Like Kisuke, Ajuka doesn''t believe that Etouldes were the good guys nor that it''s impossible to talk to Evies. However, the two of them don''t know each other''s thoughts on who to side with and they don''t have any intention of revealing any of their objectives this early. Whether they''ll be enemies or stand side by side, it depends on the cards the two of them will be able to gather.


    On Ajuka''s side was the majority of the Three Biblical Faction Alliance and possibly Shiva and Indra, the recognized two strongest beings right now. Meanwhile, Kisuke essentially controls Ouroboros Academy and its faculty, Mount Olympus, and the reported Gods of the other world.


    However, Ajuka, not even in his wildest imagination, would expect that Kisuke had already established a foothold in a certain corner of the universe and that his wife would be leading an attack from an entirely different frontier.


    "It''s really a shame... We could have been great friends." Ajuka sighed.


    "Please, you of all people know that for individuals like us it would take a miracle to be friends."


    "...I would like to disagree with you, but I can''t deny that. People like us stubbornly walk the path we''ve decided on and don''t want others interfering with that because of our innate pride."


    ''Like how Kurotsuchi, Aizen, and I would never get along.'' Kisuke thought to himself before saying, "I will not waste your time so I''ll just ask directly. What can you provide if I can make Trihexa settle down within its confinement?"


    Ajuka raised his brows for a moment and the casual atmosphere around him entirely disappeared, "...How confident are you?"


    [I can make him fall asleep for at least a few centuries.] Tiamatmunicated with Kisuke.


    "Confident enough that you won''t be dealing with it for quite some time."


    Ajuka frowned and went into a deep thought, "..."


    "By the way, I won''t be giving you time so I''m expecting an answer now."


    "You aren''t giving many choices here. If you give me a day or two, I''ll be able to offer you more things."


    "I don''t care."


    At that point, it became apparent to Ajuka that Kisuke didn''t actually want a real payment for what he was offering, but he wanted him to reveal one of his cards, ''There''s really only one thing I can promise him now and that might be what he wants...''


    A minute of silence went by and Ajuka asked, "And if I go back on my word?"


    "I know you wouldn''t do that, but if ites to that, I also have a way to go back on my word." Although he said that with confidence, Kisuke hurriedly asked Tiamat, [You can leave a bit of your power to wake it up if needed, right?]


    [Don''t worry. And while I don''t have the ability to clear that child''s mind, I can imprint the image of the first one he''s going to bother once woken up.]


    [Seriously!? I love you~!]


    Ajuka thought that Kisuke was just bluffing but thetter suddenly started smiling maniacally and that sent chills down his spine.


    "Ehem... I promise to reign in Indra and Shiva for 3 years."


    "20 years."


    "No. I don''t have that kind of power. 5 years."


    "I know you''ll be able to figure something out. 17 years."


    "You''re giving me too much credit. 7 years. That''s my limit. I don''t want them aiming for my neck."


    Kisuke stopped and thought about it for a few seconds before offering new terms, "15 years and I''ll give you the technology that the Evies use to transport their forces. I think you''ll be able to utilize that well."


    "...What?" Ajuka thought he heard it wrong and asked again, "Do you mean that interster gate!?"


    "I have its basic framework so you''ll have to work on it for a bit to develop it further."


    "20 years and I will not interfere with the Ouroboros Academy, tell me how you got hold of this information." Ajuka wanted to say that he''ll form a friendly rtionship with the Ouroboros Academy but Kisuke might not trust him on that so he had to dial back a bit, "If that''s not enough, I''ll also give you information about the Cross Times Kiss. I know you''ve been looking into them recently."


    ''The source of his information is much more important than the information itself. I have to know where his eyes can reach.'' Ajuka thought to himself and even considered adding more to his offer.


    However, Kisuke only smirked at him and said, "If you''re in my shoes, would you agree to that?"


    Ajuka leaned back and sighed, "...I took my chance."


    Ajuka''s head is aching right now because he discovered that Kisuke''s reach is way further than he initially predicted. Extending his right hand, he continued, "15 years and I''ll take that basic framework. It''s about time we poke those not-so-friendly mechanical friends."


    Kisuke epted his hand, "Thank you for your hard work~! As a bonus, allow me to tell you about an ability that seems to be shared by the Evie officers. Almost instantaneous Magic Power conversion into another form of energy. Don''t let your guard down~!"


    Ajuka stared at him, who underestimated again, for a few moments before saying, "I really hate you."


    "It''s an honor~!"

 Chapter 1083 Lullaby

    Chapter 1083 Luby


    Ajuka led Kisuke to the hole thetter created when he first intruded into the barrier and said, "I can''t go in with you because I''m controlling parts of the barrier. Go meet Azazel and Sirzechs while you''re at it."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and reopened the hole he created but just as he was about to enter, Ajuka added, "By the way, take care of Serafall. She''s annoying but she''s still a good friend of mine."


    Kisuke turned around and saw that Ajuka already started walking away. Kisuke stared at his back for a bit and thought, ''Must be hard being stuck in such a hard ce.'' Kisuke smiled and stepped into the barrier, ''Oh well, it was his choice and I have no say in it.''


    As soon as he went through the film of the barrier, Kisuke immediately heard the loud roars of Trihexa and he saw that the seal he ced on it thest time he was here had already deteriorated. Around the chimeric immortal monster were the top warriors that chose to seal themselves along with it to stop it from resurfacing.


    Naturally, all the people inside the barrier felt his presence and some of them were already making their way toward him.


    [What do you think?] Kisuke asked Tiamat.


    [It''s indeed that child... Or should I say, children?] Tiamat muttered.


    [Let me hear about itter.]


    [It''s a very unsavory story.]


    [Looking at it now, I wouldn''t expect anything else.] Kisuke then pulled out the tanto from her sheath, [Don''t let anyone see your Shikai form.]


    "Descend, Tiamat."


    Those who were approaching Kisuke immediately stopped as he released a massive amount of Reiatsu and Ki. At that moment, everyone became witness to his tanto dagger transforming into a young girl with light blue hair, pink eyes with star-like pupils, and prominent horns. However, none of the seal''s inhabitants could properly observe the little girl since the moment her presence was felt, the Trihexa suddenly stopped its struggle, causing confusion among their ranks.


    The beast with characteristicsing from different animals like a lion, a leopard, a bear, a dragon, and more, began rushing towards Tiamat. Due to its size that''s well over several hundred meters, huge winds were kicked up and pushed those around it while it roared through its seven heads.


    [I require more, master.]


    [Take as much as you need.] Kisuke replied to Tiamat and poured his power into her.


    The next instant, Tiamat released a blinding light that covered the whole world inside the barrier. When the light subsided, the little girl changed.


    Azazel, who was one of the people approaching Kisuke, froze on the spot while muttering, "...What the hell?"


    The little girl had grown into an adult woman of unparalleled beauty. However, this was not the most striking change but her size now matched the charging beast.


    As the Trihexa didn''t stop its charge, it soon reached the gigantic Tiamat. Nevertheless, Tiamat was unfazed as she spread out her arms and received the ''child'' into her embrace.


    Their meeting caused a massive shockwave that shook the entire realm. A few secondster, however, the tremors stopped. The rampaging beast stopped its struggle as Tiamat wrapped her arms around it and started humming to it.


    Sirzechs and the other people within the barrier converged around Azazel and said, "...Is she singing a luby?"


    While no one could answer him, it was pretty obvious what the giant woman was trying to do and it was clearly working, "But how?"


    "Don''t just use your eyes and ears. Feel the aura she''s releasing." Azazel instructed, "While most of it is simr to Kisuke Urahara, the giant horned woman is also releasing a simr aura as the Trihexa."


    The chaos inside of the barrier became quiet for the first time since it was created.


    .


    .


    .


    Half an hourter, the Trihexapletely settled down, unmoving, and some snoring sound that made all these things feel unreal to everyone else watching.


    Tiamat had done her job and soon transformed back into a tanto dagger and flew back to Kisuke, [I''ve imprinted Ajuka Beelzebub, Shiva, and Indra''s images in his head and the moment he is woken up, they''ll be the first one he''s going to seek. If you want topletely wake him up from his madness, my sister will have the answer.]


    Kisuke put her back into her sheath and kept her inside his sleeve, [Thank you for your hard work.] He then saw the people inside the barrier slowly approach him. But instead of greeting them, he first opened the hole he went through when he came inside.


    "Greetingsdies and gentlemen. I know you have a lot of questions but please be informed that I have no obligation to answer any of them. What''s important is that the Trihexa has already gone into a very deep slumber and will not wake up unless a specific method is used."


    "Does that mean we don''t have to fight anymore?" One of the trapped Gods asked.


    Kisuke smiled at him and said, "Precisely. I''ve already talked to Beelzebub-sama about this and all of you are already free to go. I know you''re already missing your families, friends, andrades."


    They all looked at each other but soon, another God stepped up and said, "I don''t know what you did but if you already confirmed it to Ajuka, we''ll leave first. My small faction needs all the manpower they could get. Thank you very much."


    The God who just spoke flew towards the hole that Kisuke created along with the Deities in his faction and thanked him as they passed by him.


    Soon, the other factions started doing the same thing and left in a hurry while promising various rewards and gifts to Kisuke for what he has done. They don''t know what he did nor do they know who the woman was, but the very eventful years of the past made them very anxious for their respective factions and that''s the highest order of priority for them.


    After a while, it was just those who were rtively close to Kisuke who remained, namely, Azazel, Sirzechs, and Zeus.


    "You did something outrageous once again..." Azazel came to him with a wry smile.


    "If you''re out of this ce, you''ll have to do one or two outrageous things with howplicated the world currently is."


    Azazel looked at Sirzech and Zeus who were making the same nk face as him, "I do not wish to remember our time here with longing, but with how you''re making it sound, is the outside a hellscape?"


    "Not quite but everyone is trying to yank benefits from everything they can get ahold of."


    "Sounds very tiring..." Sirzechs muttered.


    "Hey, at least you have a new nephew that you can look forward to~!"


    Upon hearing that, Sirzechs'' face beamed, "That''s right, isn''t it!? I''ve also missed my son''s growing period so I''m looking forward to what he''s like right now."


    Zeus, on the other hand, murmured in jealousy, "Good for you..." He has a feeling that only problems will wee him at home, ''Well, at least the rotten part was alreadyrgely removed.''


    The four of them indulged in small talks for a quarter of an hour before Sirzechs and Zeus also left, leaving Azazel alone with Kisuke.


    The moment they were alone, Azazel immediately established a telepathic connection with Kisuke and said, [I also don''t know what Ajuka is trying to achieve with Shiva and Indra.]


    [Ho~? Is that supposed to get my trust?]


    Azazel shook his head, [Of course not. I''m just letting out my frustration that I''m behind everything.]


    [What do you want?] Kisuke immediately went straight to the point.


    [Introduce me to an Etoulde or Evie.]


    Kisuke''s eyes went wide open from surprise and asked, [What sort of mental gymnastics did you go through to arrive at that conclusion?]


    Azazel looked straight into his eyes with a big smile on his face, [The sort of mental gymnastics that would allow me to do something in the current world.]

 Chapter 1084 New Horizon

    Chapter 1084 New Horizon


    Truth be told, Azazel doesn''t really know what he''s saying himself, ''He must beughing at me inwardly, asking for something so ridiculous.''


    He doesn''t like how Ajuka was doing things, especially involving Vali and Issei who he considers his son and his son''s best friend respectively.


    Although they fully deserve to be Demon Kings, the only reason why Ajuka pushed for this is so that he and Sirzechs could take a step back into the shadows and use the poprity of these kids to their advantage. It''s not something really bad and it''s actually something good for the people involved, however, that doesn''t change the fact that he doesn''t like it, ''They''re still just kids that don''t know their left from their right in the political world. This would have been fine 30-50 yearster.''


    While Azazel could probably convince Sirzechs, he knew that his words wouldn''t win against Ajuka.


    So as ast-ditch effort of hoping for a miracle, Azazel asked Kisuke to connect him to the beings eyeing them from the outside. After all, there''s really no else he could ask that couldpete with Ajuka and Kisuke right now.


    Kisuke grinned at him and asked, [Forget about the absurdity of your request, why do you think I''d grant that if I can? Wouldn''t it be better if you ask Beelzebub for that?]


    [I''m too close to Ajuka and I wanted to get away from him for a bit to do my own thing.]


    [Ho? So you want to get close to me instead?]


    [Your forces,pared to what Ajuka and Shiva can muster, are a lot smaller even if you could influence therge majority of the grassroots organization. You already know that no matter how fast you build up your organization''s foundation, you''ll have no way of catching up to those who have been sitting in their seat of power for countless years. Not to mention, they also have their hidden aces like you do.]


    Kisuke kept quiet and waited for his next words.


    [Since time is not on your side, you''d want to stir the pot more. The more chaos there is, the more your smaller force could thrive while those who are bigger would try to keep things calm for their advantage. I could stir that pot for you.]


    After that short exnation, Azazel sighed, ''Why am I exining something so obvious to him? And that''ll onlye to pass if he could indeed introduce me to someone.''


    Azazel was about to give up his wishful thinking when Kisuke''s grin suddenly grew wider, [Wait for Yoruichi''s contact.]


    "...Huh?" Azazel muttered out loud as his head froze for a moment. It was only when Kisuke exited the barrier that he was able to get hold of himself and tried to catch up to him to rify what he''d just heard. But the moment he got out, Kisuke was already nowhere to be found.


    Kisuke left Ajuka''s territory in a good mood and thought, ''Since you want to be pulled from that guy, We''ll pull you out~ But don''t expect us to let go~.''


    .


    .


    .


    Ten more dayster, Kisuke, ire, Tanis, Kunou, and Serafall were already done with their preparations and goodbyes. Of course, there are those who areing with them without Kisuke''s approval. Namely, the technically homeless Dragons, Ophis, Lilith, and nna.


    "Is it really going to be fine?" Serafall asked Kisuke.


    "They are very convinced that it''ll be better for everyone if they are not around. I don''t know how they came up with that conclusion but who can really understand them? If this is what they want, I''ll just let them be.", answered Kisuke while thinking, ''And to be perfectly honest, with their help, it''ll be a lot easier to meet certain people.''


    Right now, they were deep within the Mars Base and Kisuke asked everyone who was not going with him to stay away from it due to theplication of the transfer procedure that he''s going to initiate. While he already tested the procedure more than a hundred thousand times, he wanted to eliminate anything that could affect any of the variables that could dangerously change its course.


    "Alright, everyone. Gather up." Kisuke grabbed everyone''s attention, "While we can''t say our goodbyes the moment we transfer and any long-rangemunication right now might disrupt our course, we have to go. But before that, let me ask this again. Are you certain you want toe with me? Although I''ve already asked each one of you in your own personal time, I''m asking again for onest time. It''ll be a long and dangerous journey and there''s always a chance that we might not return, so think about it carefully, especially you three. You''re still young and the majority of your years might be spent in an unknown ce. I''ll give you all ten minutes."


    Even though he made it sound very risky, Kisuke had already prepared multiple things and was still making more for these girls to return no matter what even if he couldn''t join them. Along with their safety, their return is at the top of his priority list, ''I should also prepare something that will forcefully return them in case of my death.''


    But not even a secondter, ire raised her voice, "Why are you trying to whittle down our resolve? We already understood all of this and our parents even fully and carefully exined what we were about to do. They already tried to scare us enough so yours won''t work anymore."


    "That''s right, that''s right! Stop being a bully!" Tanis also yelled.


    Meanwhile, Kunou just strongly nodded.


    "Haahhh... Fine. Let''s go while your spirits are raised." Kisuke activated the transfer sequence that was embedded in the room itself, "Ophis, Lilith, nna, take care of the shield around us."


    With uncharacteristically serious expressions, the three of them separated and went into three corners before enveloping everyone with the strongest barrier they could put up now.


    "Alright, hold on tight!"


    The next instant, a small ck hole appeared on top of them and as if being squeezed, they were absorbed into the tiny hole. A secondter, the light within the room disappeared along with its inhabitants, returning to what it was a few seconds ago as if no one was in there in the first ce.


    .


    .


    .


    Using the trace that Byakko had left when she transferred him, Benihime, and Yoruichi for the first time, Kisuke navigated the endless void that they entered with great difficulty, ''Damn it... This is much harsher than I thought.''


    The three girls had already lost consciousness and Serafall was helping Ophis, Lilith, and nna to keep the barrier up.


    However, everything was still within the margins of error as Kisuke carefully followed the leftover traces, [Benihime, are you leaving behind your string?]


    [You must be very busy not to notice. I''ve been doing everything I can and Tiamat is helping out by strengthening my strings while also leaving behind her own traces.]


    Kisuke didn''t know when but Benihime had already started calling Tiamat by her name. He thought that it''d take a very long time before the two of them get along so he''s d that it happened a lot earlier.


    But the quietly working Tiamat suddenly spoke up, [Master... ept the invitation.]


    [Huh? An invitation?] Kisuke confusedly asked. He has been navigating but he can''t see nor could he feel anything aside from the endless darkness.


    [Stop following the traces that the tiger left and ept the invitation. They areing from the same ce.]


    Kisuke was very nervous hearing that because the moment he lets go of the traces, he might not be able to find them again. However, he''s already had this feeling that they might not reach their destination just by following since it kept diminishing the further they went.


    [Fine... But make sure we can return immediately the moment I let go of it.]


    Kisuke released his focus and widened his senses to look for this ''invitation'' that Tiamat was talking about.


    Thankfully, it only took a few seconds for him to find this ''invitation'' because it was a familiar Spiritual Pressure, ''...the Spirit King? How?''


    He couldn''t feel anything from it aside from the guiding force so after a few moments of hesitation, he grabbed it. Without him doing anything, they were able to break through the ''bubble'' that separated the worlds and instantly arrived in a white space.


    [I didn''t think it would be possible, but you have indeed returned.]


    A voice they didn''t know resounded inside everyone''s heads.


    ===============


    AN: To another world we go!


    But as you can see, I''m leaving arge nk on the DxD side through a timeskip. Kisuke left a lot of things for Yoruichi and the other girls to do but I''m not going to reveal that for now. Let''s just say he left while feeling satisfied.

 Chapter 1085 Landing

    Chapter 1085 Landing


    When Serafall heard the mysterious voice, she immediately started surveying the white space. But before she could find anything, nna stopped in front of her and shook her head, saying that she shouldn''t do anything else.


    "...Spirit King?" Kisuke guessed since that was the only new aura around them, "I thought you had already died. And at the hands of your own son."


    [...Spirit King... That''s what they are calling me... I remember.]


    Kisuke immediately felt weird when he heard that, ''What''s this?''


    The Spirit King was able to read his mood and continued, [I am but a part of the Spirit King, created with a single goal in mind.]


    That indirectly answered Kisuke''s question, ''Though I will need to confirm that once we''vended.''


    Regardless of what Kisuke is thinking, the ''Spirit King'' went on, [The single goal of bing a guiding light post for the ones who''ve departed.]


    "As expected, you''re the one who pushed Byakko to leave even though we could totally survive. And here I thought I miscalcted the time Neliel needed to pull us out to safety." Kisuke sighed. It was something that has been bothering him ever since he reincarnated but now he got an answer. Although this only opened up more, "But why?"


    [Because I had already failed several times and I could only hope for someone who was not influenced by this world.]


    "...What? That didn''t exin anything."


    [Unfortunately, that''s everything I know. After all, I''m just a very small part of something that wanted all of this to happen.]


    Kisuke creased his brows and several hypotheses came to mind regarding the situation, however, he doesn''t have any supporting evidence for any of them so he could only hope to investigate it more, "Then what now?"


    [Before you return, I only want to say one thing. Be wary of Hell.]


    Without being able to ask any further questions, the white space they are in was instantly wrapped in a kaleidoscope for a few seconds before they found themselves up in the sky.


    "Sera-chan, please secure the girls and after that, examine them and yourself to figure out if anything is wrong." Kisuke immediately sent out his instructions while scanning his surroundings and checking his own body, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, nna, restrict your aura as much as possible. We don''t know what sort of defense mechanism this world has against foreigners so it''s best not to attract any attention for now."


    As Serafall gathered the girls, she immediately noticed that her Demonic Power was moving a lot faster but in exchange, there was almost no Magic Power in the air for her to recover with, ''It''s not just the amount, their presence is also a lot thinnerpared to the amount present. Anyone below a certain level of mastery won''t be able to find their existence.''


    Since Ophis, Lilith, and nna don''t really require anything to recover, they didn''t notice this immediately and just focused on repressing their aura as Kisuke instructed them.


    ''This scenery... London?'' When Kisuke looked down, he found some familiarndmarks and was able to pinpoint where they were now on Earth, ''But something is weird... Ah...''


    At that moment, his eyesnded on the horizon and saw a vast expanse of greenery and mountains that he knew wasn''t in London. On top of that, there arerge flying creatures that are releasing a somewhat familiar aura, ''Dragons? Then this must be...''


    "Boss! Look! Something interesting!" nna suddenly shouted at him, "Can we go?"


    Kisuke turned to the direction where nna was pointing and saw a series of explosions happening on the ground far from them. And in the middle of it was a majestic feathered white Dragon with a crown on its head.


    Kisuke thought about it for a second before pulling Tiamat and using her power to disguise himself the same as when he saved Stralit, "Sera-chan, please take the kids somewhere safe first."


    Serafall pouted while stabilizing their descent, "I want to go too, but it can''t be helped..."


    "I''ll give you a proper tourter... Though there''s not much to see really."


    As soon as Serafall used her short-range teleport, Kisuke, Ophis, Lilith, and nna excitedly flew toward the Dragon who was attacking a few people riding smaller Dragons, "Boss, why do you seem so excited? Is it because you finally returned home?"


    Although Kisuke hadn''t said anything yet, everyone who was awake when the ''Spirit King'' revealed his presence knew the basics of what was going on.


    "That''s a part of it but most of it is because I''ve really only seen a Dragon one time when I was here. All I know about them is from the records and all of them are just basic knowledge given to Witches and Wizards since any high-level document is locked behind certain authorities... Andstly, people like me aren''t exactly weed here."


    "Why is that?" nna curiously asked.


    "Well... Wepletely exterminated the Dragons on our side because we had our hands full with another matter and we didn''t want to deal with them."


    Ophis, Lilith, and nna looked at him strangely so Kisuke immediately added, "They can only do this because another group of monsters couldn''t easily reach this side of the world. Besides, the cycle of Human souls is centered on the east and any contact with a Dragon is disastrous so we had no choice but to eliminate them from the equation."


    "Boss... We''re not judging you. We''re just wondering what you meant."


    Kisuke looked at them for a moment before feigning a cough, "Ahem... Sorry, I forgot. I''ll exinter. For now, let''s take a look at that Dragon. It doesn''t seem to be intelligent."


    As they got near, the four of them saw dust released from the Dragon and each grain containedpressed Spiritual Power with a very tiny amount of Magic Power mixed into it.


    Those who were on the receiving side of the attack were about to defend themselves and nna suddenly inserted herself between them and blew back the dust with a swing of her arm. She then released a bit of her Draconic aura and disrupted the vtile Spiritual Power that was contained within the grains and made them explode, "Hoo~ Boss. As I expected, this guy is interesting. It''s mostly using the power of Soul."


    Naturally, Kisuke couldn''t reply to her words since those who were fighting the white Dragon were much more confused, "Huh!? Who are you brat!?" The ck-haired young man shouted at nna.

 Chapter 1086 Landing part 2

    Chapter 1086 Landing part 2


    Bruno Bangnyfe, the director of the Inks division of the Wing Bind, came out today to purge Balgo Parks, a normal young man who became a Dragond after prolonged contact with a Dragon and has a tendency to attract the very dangerous Dark Dragons.


    Using Macy Baljure, a very rare Watcher, and her illegally reared Dragon, Bruno pinned the crime of endangering the normal people on Balgo Parks to get the justification for his execution.


    The Witches who are tasked to look after Balgo, Ninny Spangcole, and Noel Niihashi, went against this purge directive and fought against the director of Inks to save the young man from this unfair judgment.


    But in the middle of all of this, the illegally reared Dragon unexpectedly and suddenly molted into a Dragon categorized as Marchen, also known as the progenitor of Dark Dragons.


    While in the middle of taking care of this legendary Dragon, a youngdy with ming red hair suddenly came in between them and blocked the Dragon''s attack. Bruno Bangnyfe, in the height of his adrenaline, was very infuriated that someone disrupted his battle and saw the youngdy as someone who came to steal his prey and achievement, "Huh!? Who are you brat!?"


    The red-haired youngdy ignored Bruno''s outburst and just said in Japanese, "Boss, this guy has really lost their mind."


    Ninny Spangcole, a green-eyed young woman with blond hair that she keeps tied up in two long pigtails with red, spiked metal bands, recognized thenguage and turn to her partner, Noel Niihashi, a tall, curvaceous teenage girl with blue eyes, waist-length ck hair, long bangs, a perpetually solemn expression, and a small, white, horn-like extension on her left temple, "Niiha, that was Japanese, isn''t it? What is she saying?"


    "I don''t know. I''m not fluent in Japanese."


    "..." Ninny looked defeated by her ''Japanese'' friend.


    But all of a sudden, the witches and wizards heard another set of voices and it was directly behind them, "...Dragon Tamer?" "Smells like Asia."


    Bruno, Noel, and Ninny hurriedly turned around and saw two ck-haireddies that had the same face as the red-haired one standing in front of Macy and Balgo.


    "That I understood. She said ''Dragon Tamer''." Noel said calmly but she was tightly clutching her Witch Kit, the counterpart of a Zanpakuto in the east, in her hand, ''...I didn''t notice them?'' Noel took a peek at Bruno and Ninny and saw that they also had a simrplicated expression.


    Regardless, the Marchen known as ''Cindere'' won''t wait for them and sends another gust of explosive dust.


    "Tsk..." Bruno clicked his tongue and was about to intercept the attack with Noel and Ninny intending to support him from behind.


    Fortunately or unfortunately for them, they didn''t have to do anything as the red-haireddy in front of them suddenly sighed while raising her right arm, "Too deep in resentment that you''ve already lost the meaning of what it means to be a Dragon. Even the worst of the Evil Dragons still have their pride."


    This time, thedy in front of them was speaking in English. But before they couldprehend what she meant, she suddenly swung her raised arm down and a red wave was ejected from her hand, cutting through the dust unimpeded until reaching the white rampaging Dragon and cutting it in half.


    "!?"


    "Are you fine with that?"


    This time, a masked man with long ck hair appeared and talked to thedy.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke silently watched the Dragons do their thing and when nna killed the feathered white Dragon, he appeared beside her, "Are you okay with that?" He understood why nna suddenly started talking in English so he did the same.


    "That was no Dragon. It''s just a monster that lost itself and has no intention of admitting it''s lost." nna threw her hands on the back of her head, "I''ve lost my interest. I''ll go to Sera-chan."


    nna didn''t wait for Kisuke and just flew off in a certain direction.


    "W-wait!" Bruno wanted to stop the flyingdy but when he tried to follow, he found that his partner and Dragon mount, Rickenbacker, refused to move, "Huh? Rickenbacker?"


    But what his partner sent back was the contradictory feeling of dread and respect, "...What?"


    "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, let''s go," Kisuke called out to the other two bothering the young man and his small dog that was emitting the aura of a Dragon.


    Kisuke then turned to the Dragon corpse and took half of it, ''The Patchwork Division should be able to do their job even with just half the corpse.''


    As Ophis and Lilith came to his side, Kisuke pivoted towards the Witches and Wizards riding their Dragons, "I apologize for the disturbance that we''ve caused."


    After a short apology, Kisuke used Teleportation Magic and the three of them disappeared.


    "Hey..." Ninny raised her voice softly, "What was that? And my Marshall couldn''t move."


    "I don''t know." Noel shook her head, "But my Wordsworth also refused to move."


    Bruno jumped down from his mount and patted Rickenbacker''s head, "I don''t know about those three twerps, but I''m pretty sure that the masked man is a Shinigami from the way he stands in the air."


    " "Shinigami?" " Noel and Ninny asked. Although they knew about them, they hadn''t seen one in their short life as newbie Witches.


    "Do your research if you want to know. But before that, contact the Patchwork Division to take care of the corpse. I''ll go report to the Gallows."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, Ophis, and Lilith reappeared inside of a hotel room that Serafall had rented out to let the kids rest.


    "How is it?"


    Kisuke dispelled his disguise and sat down, "Based on nna''s reaction, not that great."


    "Really? That''s unexpected." Serafall looked at nna lying down on one of the beds.


    From this, Kisuke could see the difference between the Dragon God and the True Dragon.


    While Ophis and Lilith were more interested in ''small'' Dragons, nna''s attention was mostly on the strong ones.


    "I don''t know what you''re dissatisfied about but I think that''s how the Dragons of this world operate." Kisuke approached nna while exining, "Dragons can''te into contact with normal people, dead or alive, because they are like sponges that easily absorb negative emotion. Those are called Dark Dragons and they are targets of extermination."


    "It''s not that Boss. I already figured that out when Inded my eyes on it. I just don''t like how it wasted its potential just to act like an unintelligent animal. It just dreamt of death and destruction as if it''s not alive."


    "Is that so? It''s probably a lot moreplicated than that so let''s figure out more about it."


    nna turned her head to Kisuke, surprised, "Aren''t you busy?"


    "This is a trip with all of us. My goal is not your goal. If you want to do something, just tell me. I''ll help out. That''s the least I could do."


    Ophis then suddenly raised her hand and excitedly said, "Let''s make a hidden base! I want a castle on a floating ind!"

 Chapter 1087 Reverse London

    Chapter 1087 Reverse London


    While waiting for the three sleeping beauties to wake up, Kisuke used his time to adjust his terminal to connect to the inte and was able to confirm the current date, ''2015... It has been 12 years, huh? A lot of things have probably changed.''


    Kisuke''s fingers suddenly stopped, ''If it''s been 12 years... Are they done with the Soul Funeral Festival? I know at least three who died. Old man Yamamoto, Unohana, and Ukitake.''


    Resuming his work, he searched the inte to understand the general trends of the world. Unfortunately, he could only get news from the Human world and none from the Seireitei. However, he was sure that the world wasn''t destroyed because they won the Great War, ''Such a shame. I wanted to see that moment since I prepared for them for almost a century.''


    Even then, he knew that his work was just starting. Ever since Sona produced Phosphosm which supposedlyes from Hell after she lost control of her Hollow, Kisuke had been bothered that something worse than the Quincies was brewing in this world, ''And if I can make sure that this world is stable and safe, I can rip everyone off and have them work for me~.''


    Serafall was quietly watching him from the side and when Kisuke suddenly sported arge grin, a shiver went down her spine, ''I don''t know what he''s nning... But rest in peace, whoever you are.''


    .


    .


    .


    An hourter, ire was the first one to open her eyes but there was an intense headache that immediately attacked her, "Ughhh... Where?"


    "Where does it hurt?"


    ire heard Kisuke''s voice and parted her long gray hair while rubbing her head, "...Headache."


    "Continueying down. That should subside a few minutester." Kisuke replied while checking in on her, ''Although they have enough firepower to decimate the Gods, that''s not the same with their durability.''


    But it''s not like they couldn''t be durable, it''s just that they have to be aware and actively make themselves durable. In that case, they would have enough defense to resist even the strongest of attacks, ''They''re still truly inexperienced. Sera-chan and I were able to defend our minds but they couldn''t react to the change and instead lost their consciousness.''


    A few more minutester, the two other girls also woke up with an intense headache. But just as Kisuke had said, these headaches soon subsided and they were back in their normal state.


    Tanis and Kunou saw that ire was peeking through the window and they also got up to follow her. What they came to see is the eerily simrndscape to the London they knew, however, that''s not what caught their attention but the people riding strangely shaped Dragons and frantically flying around.


    "Woahhh..." Tanis excitedly followed these people with her eyes, "But something is strange?"


    As Tanis noticed the weirdness about them, Kunou also came to a realization, "...They do not possess Ki and only a very tiny bit of Magic Power? How is that possible? Are they even alive?"


    ire, who had been watching since earlier, told them of her discovery, "Those Dragons don''t have physical bodies." She turned to Kisuke and asked, "Am I correct, Nii-chan?"


    Kisuke went beside them and also peeked out the window, "That''s correct. Their bodies are made out of concentrated Spiritual Particles so technically, they are Souls. In this world, we collectively call those Souls that are strong enough to influence the physical world the Soul race."


    Serafall suddenly came from behind him and asked, "Then can I safely assume that you''re of this Soul race? That would exin a lot about your abilities."


    Kisuke smiled at her and said, "I''ll tell you more about myselfter once we''ve settled down. Let''s get out of this ce and go to the Human World first."


    "This is not the Human World?"


    "This ce is a mirror world called Reverse London created by the ''Crown'' to contain and take care of those Dragons. To reach Japan, we have to leave this ce first."


    Without saying what he was nning to do, Kisuke turned towards the door and left. Sometimeter, the group witnessed him exit the hotel and used sh Step toward one of the people riding a Dragon and knocked them out before rummaging through their clothes. He did this a few more times before returning with a big smile on his face as if he did a good thing, "I got our ticket out of here~!"


    But instead of weing him back, Serafall turned to the girls and said, "That''s called a mugging and it''s something a good person should never do. You girls should never imitate that."


    Serafall was doing a very good job in her role of taking care of the girls.


    .


    .


    .


    After Serafall scolded Kisuke for approximately a quarter of an hour because he showed bad behavior in front of the teenage girls, they finally left the hotel and went to the nearest transport mechanism disguised as a phone booth. On their way, it became clear that the reason why these Witches and Wizards were busily flying around is that they were looking for the Shinigami who killed a Dark Dragon.


    Nevertheless, Kisuke thought that they''d only make contact with them if they wanted to know more about the Dragons so they left Reverse London without doing anything else.


    As soon as they got into the Human World, it was still the same scenery minus some greenery andrge trees present on the other side. Still, it was a huge change for them because of the air they breathed in, "...The Magic Power is even more scarce to the point that it''s actually hard to even feel it." Serafall muttered.


    "The Ki in the atmosphere is very sparse," Kunou added.


    Tanis curiously turned to her and asked, "Why is that?"


    "I don''t know about Magic Power since it exists even in the vast expanse of space so it''s really weird how thin it is here." Kunou shook her head, "But for the Ki, it could be exined by theck of practitioners. As you know, Ki is the power of life and body. The cycle that the Ki practitioners and nature is a positive feedback loop towards Ki itself. So without any practitioners, the Ki in nature stalls."


    Kisuke then urged them to walk, "Let''s go to the nearest international airport first, and let''s talk on our way to Japan."


    "Can''t we just teleport?" Serafall asked. Although Magic Power was very thin, it''s still possible to recover, albeit, a lot longer and they would need to actively do it.


    "I don''t want to use Teleportation Magic as much as possible. Like the problem with Magic Power, there are someplications with manipting space in this world."

 Chapter 1088 Return

    Chapter 1088 Return


    The group stealthily went through the airport''s security and found a ne bound for Haneda Airport that was about to leave.


    Naturally, the group chose to sit in the best spot which is by setting up their own couch, table, and a matching outdoor parasol on top of the ne.


    "Nii-chan, I thought we should refrain from any Space-Time Magic?" asked ire while watching Kisuke take out various items from his inventory.


    "Yes, we should. And that''s because we don''t know what kind of effect it''ll produce. I''m testing it out now using this. You can use it, but make sure to be mindful of your surroundings and record everything that''s happening while using it. That''ll help provide me with more data to adjust our Magic."


    And while setting up their cozy spot, Kisuke noticed a few things, ''The fabric of space is a lot more fragile and the one holding most of it in ce is the bnce of Spiritual Pressure between realms. Between these realms are the Garganta and Dangai but they look like patchwork that was rashly created to separate these dimensionspared to the Dimensional Gap which holds everything perfectly and the Void which separates the Lower World and Upper World.


    ''No wonder a bit of imbnce of Souls put everything in a precarious position.'' Kisuke wanted to fix this problem because as long as it existed, people who wanted to flip the whole world upside down could easily do so by just ying a few tens of thousands of Hollows. However, he doesn''t have any single idea as of now.


    The group took off and enjoyed the scenery that was iparable if they were inside.


    "Where are we going after wend in Japan?" Serafall asked while demolishing the snacks that Kisuke had prepared along with the other girls. Thanks to the barrier, they were not disturbed by anything outside.


    "West of Tokyo, there''s a small town called Karakura Town. It''s a spot where many things could happen and also the ce that I stayed in for more than a century."


    Upon hearing this, everyone stopped their hands and mouths. A secondter, everyone positioned themselves around Kisuke and Serafall demanded, "The flight is going to be long! Entertain us!"


    Kisuke looked around and saw everyone''s eyes shining, including the mostly indifferent Dragons. Sighing with a wry smile, Kisuke decided to tell them his story starting from the first thing he remembered, an orphan in a very poor district within the Soul Society.


    Although he summarized it for a fair bit, it still took a couple of hours to tell them everything, "Since I ''died'' in battle, I wasn''t able to witness the end of the war. But looking at things now, it looks like the side of Soul Society won."


    After telling his story, Kisuke let out a long breath and felt a bit emotional, ''If this was me from before I reincarnated, I would never have even entertained the thoughts of telling someone my life story.''


    There was a minute of silence before Serafall murmured, "That''s a lot to take in. So you''re not just some random kid and that weird tech you have originated from this world. It''s no surprise that no one was able to investigate your origins and you even baited out everyone by saying you''re from Gotei 13."


    Kisuke chuckled, "It wasn''t a lie when I said I''m from Gotei 13 so it''s not my fault everyone went crazy searching for this organization. Though thanks to that, I bought some time and no one really bothered me when I was just starting out."


    "Of course, they wouldn''t. Who''s crazy enough to tackle an unknown organization with unknown power?"


    "Stupid people, apparently."


    "...We don''t count those."


    Kisuke then looked toward the other girls and watched their reactions. Finally, his eyes stopped on ire who had aplicated expression and was surely having the sameplicated feeling.


    Kisuke patted her head and asked, "Is it hard to ept I''m a different person from what you thought?"


    ire hurriedly shook her head. She knows that the Kisuke-niichan in front of her was still the same one who grew up with her. However, she couldn''t exin theplexity of what she was going through, "...It''s not... It''s just that... I don''t know."


    "You really like overthinking things, aren''t you, ire-chan?" Serafall suddenly interrupted them.


    ire looked up to Serafall who was still disying a confident smile, seemingly unaffected by everything that was revealed.


    "Thanks to your overthinking, you came to the conclusion that your rtionship with your Kisuke-niichan will change and you''ll have to treat him differently. You''re afraid of that and that might be the source of your confusion.


    "But really, it''s incredibly simple. It''s just new information and nothing really changed. He''s still Sakura-chan''s son and you''re still his precious and favorite cousin. He''s still the same guy who asionally..." Serafall suddenly paused and immediately corrected herself, "He''s still the same guy who always causes trouble everywhere he goes. Nothing changed."


    ire stared at her for a few moments as enlightenment reached her mind, ''That''s right? What am I thinking? Nothing really changed!''


    Without saying anything ire suddenly threw her arms away and hugged Kisuke tightly, "Yes. Nii-chan is Nii-chan!"


    Kisuke smiled and turned to Serafall, "You''re good at this, Mom."


    "If I''m the mom, then you''re the dad!" Serafall instantly replied without really thinking about it. A secondter, she hurriedly turned away from the group, "It seems that the aeronautical technology in this world advanced greatly even without the aid of Magic. Look! We''re about to reach Japan!"


    Kisuke chuckled and left Serafall alone. Although she''s trying to hide it, it is obvious that her face is red from her ears, ''...Why is that so embarrassing!? I don''t understand!'' Serafall internally shouted.


    Kisuke turned to Kunou and Tanis and it looks like they didn''t have the sameplication as ire. For Kunou who didn''t really have any familial rtionship with Kisuke, it didn''t really change anything. As for Tanis, well... She wasn''t thinking hard in the first ce and kept her mind on ''Kisuke'' is ''Kisuke'' without being bothered by any other possibilities.


    "So boss, what''s your n?" nna suddenly asked, "Since you returned, are you nning to greet your friends and acquaintances? They''ll be shocked for sure! Make sure to bring me with you to see their reaction!"


    Serafall managed to calm herself and turned back when she heard what nna just said, "...You really are a bad influence on everyone."


    Kisuke didn''t counter Serafall''s statement because he knew he''d lose. Instead, he answered nna''s question, "I''ll postpone greeting everyone for now and take advantage of Magic to snoop around. Of course, there''s a limit to that so we''ll meet my childhood friend first."


    "The Tessai guy?"


    "Yes. Knowing him, he should still be staying and maintaining my shop. We''ll use another ce as a base of operations but we''ll stay there for now." And while in that line of thought, Kisuke recalled something, "Oh right. Is everyone''s Soul Gear ready?"

 Chapter 1089 Return part 2

    Chapter 1089 Return part 2


    Serafall nodded at Kisuke''s question, "We''re good. This is what we''ll use if wee across a Hollow, right?"


    "Correct. Since I adapted the Zanpakuto technology into it, it should have the same ''purification'' effect on Hollows. As long as you have it out, it''ll automatically change your attacks to bepatible with the Hollows as a normal Zanpakuto does."


    Except for Ophis, Lilith, and nna, everyone else had received their Soul Gear for the first time not long ago. Due to them not wanting to get used to it while they were still training their skills, ire, Tanis, and Kunou refused to receive their Soul Gears. Serafall, on the other hand, didn''t have the opportunity to get one until recently so they all got theirs from Kisuke.


    Starting from Tanis, her Soul Gear was in the form of a ring that could transform into various types of knuckles and could even adjust its size if she were to transform her arms into Dragon form.


    For Kunou, what she got was a folding fan when Kisuke asked her what form of Soul Gear she wanted. Unlike Tanis'' Soul Gear''s strength augmentation ability, her folding fan could supplement and provide finer control to her Ki and Magic Power for more effective use of Youjutsu. In addition to that, it also helps her further control her powerful Fox Fire that could already rival a prominent Dragon''s fire.


    Kisuke also hid that it had some added effects to help her control her Fox Dragon Mode. But since it''s her ace that could also harm her, he didn''t tell her about it, ''She didn''t use itst time because it''d be too much for a ''friendly'' spar, but I seriously want to see it. How the heck did she develop that just by staying near Ophis, Lilith, and nna? Is it because of her Nails legacy?''


    That aside, ire requested a bow that could transform into whatever type of bow she desires. As for the arrow or bolt, they are created with her own Light Power as she draws them. If not for the golden light andck of Reiatsu, she would be mistaken as a Quincy.


    Lastly, Serafall got a Magic Wand with a star and wings on its head. Not in the least surprising.


    Although it also had the ability to help her control her Magic, it''s not really effective for someone of her level. For her, the other ability is much more important, which is a transformation with an apanying mysterious beam of light to cover her important parts. Kisuke had a feeling that if she was left alone, he''d witness the revival of the Magical Girl Squad from years ago. Nevertheless, he''s not the type to ruin the fun, ''Karakura-Raizer will finally have a strong rival~! I wonder if they are still active?''


    Soon enough, theynded and they immediately left the airport after cleaning everything up.


    With Ophis and Lilith in their little girl forms and riding on his shoulders, Kisuke led the way and started running to the western side of Tokyo and along the way, Serafall and Kunou picked up something on their senses, "What''s that?" Asked thetter.


    "Those are the Hollows that I was talking about," Kisuke answered her.


    Thanks to Kunou''s Youkai heritage and her expertise in Youjutsu, she was much more sensitive to Spiritual Presence than the rest. Serafall was able to feel their presence too due to her experience of fighting against Ghost and Spirit-type enemies in the past.


    "They haven''t noticed us?" asked Serafall while staring in the direction of the strange presence, "We''re not even doing anything to restrict our Ki and Magic Power and just letting them re up." Although Kisuke was hiding his Spiritual Pressure, he''s tantly ring up his Magic Power so they all just followed suit. Serafall thought that he was doing that to attract the attention of these Hollows so that he could demonstrate how to deal with them.


    Kisuke stopped running and didn''t immediately answer. After a moment of thinking, he replied, "...Hmmm, it seems that they don''t have the facilities to sense Magic Power."


    Serafall understood what he was talking about and exined it to the girls, "Since there''s almost no Magic Power in the atmosphere and no one is really using it, no one will be able to develop the ability to sense it either. We can''t really expect tools to detect Magic Power here either since you need an understanding of Magic itself for you to start engineering something like that."


    Kisuke looked around more before saying, "There are no Shinigami around. Let''s deal with them for now."


    As the group took a detour, they reached a rtively small forest and could finally see the two 7-feet tall Hollows.


    "So those are the Hollows... They have a simr mask and aura as yours, Nii-chan." ire murmured while taking out her bow.


    "Because technically, I''m the same as them. And people here don''t really use the word ''aura'' since there''s only Spiritual Pressure to tell somebody apart," exined Kisuke, "By the way, you all have to start learning how to feel and differentiate Spiritual Pressures. Especially you, ire. For you to use your [Worthless] you have to understand their properties. It''s going to be hard but it shouldn''t be impossible."


    Kisuke didn''t tell her yet but it should be possible for her to disable a Shikai or even a Bankai, Resurrin, and Vollstndig. This is the main reason why he wanted her toe with him. She could be the antithesis of everyone here who didn''t have any resistance to her ability.


    "I''ll do my best!"


    "Alright. You and Kunou can take care of those Hollows first since both of you are long-range fighters. I want to confirm that the Soul Gear''s purification power works properly."


    ire nodded and drew her bow. A golden arrow manifested as the bow was stretched.


    Meanwhile, Kunou unfolded her Soul Gear, a traditional Japanese fan that depicts the sun and a golden fox with nine tails. On the top of the fan, a blue Fox Fire the size of a baseball ball appeared.


    "Aim for its mask," Kisuke instructed.


    ire let go of her bowstring and a small explosion urred as the arrow instantly broke through the sound barrier. Her target Hollow was unable to react and disintegrated with arge hole in its mask that went through its entire head.


    The other Hollow wondered what happened but the next moment, its head was burning with a blue fire and it only took a few seconds for it to stop struggling and disintegrate.


    Kisuke observed it for a few more seconds before nodding to herself, "It''s working as intended. Let''s leave before a Shinigamies over to investigate."


    .


    .


    .


    In a certain corner of Karakura Town, lies a candy shop called [Urahara Shoten]. Within it was a single inhabitant of said shop. A tall, muscr, lightly tan-skinned man with ck cornrowed hair and arge handlebar mustache, which was connected to his long sideburns, reading a message from the Captain of the 12th Division on his smartphone.


    As a former Captain of the Kidou Corps, he''s being invited to attend the Soul Funeral Festival.


    He already rejected the invitation for the Soul Funeral Festivals for Captain Yamamoto and Captain Unohana. Even though he was invited by the current Head Captain, the Central 46 didn''t like the idea because of theirst judgment and pride. He appreciated the effort but he didn''t want to get in trouble with the Nobles.


    ''Haah... I miss Jinta and Ururu. Ever since Kisuke and Yoruichi died without their bodies, both of them have changed slightly... Oh well, their studies are important and they go home during holidays.'' Because of the Soul Funeral Festival for the Captains that died that year, he ended up reminiscing about something he didn''t want, ''Let''s clean the shop. These days, the business with the Shinigamis isn''t as great because I can''t make items as Kisuke did.''


    Just as he stood up, the front door of the shop suddenly opened.


    ''Almost no Reiatsu, Humans? It should still be school time. These kids are skipping sses? I should scold them.''


    But as soon as he took his first step, he also stopped as he heard an eerily familiar voice that shouldn''t exist anymore along with other unfamiliar ones, "Oh my~ It''s amazing that the shop is still intact. It looks like Tessai is taking good care of it."


    "This is your shop? It looks exactly the same as the ones in Kuoh Town and Orario... And just as deserted too..."


    "It''s a candy shop for kids and it''s school time! Of course, there will be no customers!"


    "About time you admit you''re just a destitute shop owner who doesn''t have any talent in running a business. In the first ce, your merchandise is too exotic for normal people."


    Without realizing it, Tessai began running towards the entrance and when he opened the inner door, there he saw the group who had entered the shop. However, he really only eyed one single person who was wearing a green Shihakushou and a striped green and white bucket hat, "...You..."


    Kisuke saw him and grinned, "It has been a while, Tessai~. Did your mustache grow smaller?"

 Chapter 1090 Reunion

    Chapter 1090 Reunion


    Tessai was stunned for a few seconds by what he was seeing and when he finally was able to move, he hurriedly took off his pair of rectangr-shaped sses and wiped them clean with his blue apron. He put it back on but the only thing that changed within his sight was Kisuke''s bigger grin, "...I-is that really you?"


    "Is there anyone else as handsome as me?"


    But even with his most ''convincing'' words, Tessai didn''t move from his spot and stared menacingly at him.


    Since words couldn''t reach him, Kisuke released a bit of his Reiatsu from the mix of Reiatsu-Ki that he pulled out with great difficulty. And while at it, he released Benihime''s Shikai.


    Kisuke was about to say, ''Still don''t believe it?'' But he couldn''t as he suddenly disappeared from the girls'' sight as Tessai, without any warning, tackled Kisuke.


    Serafall hurriedly turned around and was about to help Kisuke who was taken outside but she suddenly heard Kisuke''s voice inside her head, [It''s fine.]


    When she saw them again, she witness the burly man wrapping his arms around Kisuke while rolling on the ground and releasing strange noises, "OOHHHHHHHHH!!! IT''S REALLY YOU!!! WHY DID YOU COME HOME SO LATE!!! I THOUGHT YOU DIED FIGHTING A QUINCY!!!"


    After telling the kids that it''s fine, Serafall set up a barrier that hid what''s really happening in the vicinity of the shop because sooner orter, the burly man was going to attract unwanted attention with his big crying voice.


    Several minutester, Tessai finally let go of Kisuke after rapping his worries to him, "Haaahhh... I almost cannot believe this. To think you really are still alive." Tessai wiped his tears and asked the final question that has been bothering him but didn''t really want any answer, "...Where is Yoruichi?"


    Since Kisuke came alone, he already assumed the worst.


    "Oh. She''s doing okay... In fact, she might be enjoying herself a lot more the years we are gone," answered Kisuke while dusting himself off.


    Tessai''s eyes widened and grabbed Kisuke''s shoulder, "Why isn''t she with you!? If both of you are alive, you should have both seen me!"


    Kisuke shook his head, "It''s actually a challenge for me toe here and Yoruichi has more important things she needs to manage. I''m sorry but your reunion with her will be postponed for a while."


    Tessai immediately returned to his stoic atmosphere and said, "You have a lot of exining to do."


    "That''s why I''m here. Let''s go to the training ground for now. You''re one of the few people I want to know that I''m still around."


    Tessai nodded, turned to the girls, and finally acknowledged them, "They are your guests, I presume?"


    Kisuke stepped forward and ushered the girls to get inside, "My family, actually."


    Tessai was stunned yet again but he didn''t lose himself this time. After Kisuke''s group went in, Tessai closed the shop, "Do you want me to call Ururu and Jinta? They missed you just as much as me."


    From the inside, he heard Kisuke''s voice, "No. It''ll be inconvenient for me. I''ll meet them at ater date. You''ll know why once you hear what I''m doing."


    .


    .


    .


    Tessai intended to prepare everything for them to make them feelfortable as much as possible. However, he couldn''t understand why Kisuke went inside the unused training ground, ''This isn''t really a good ce to talk.''


    But as soon as he went down with them, the motion ofmon sense he cultivated his whole life was almost broken in the few minutes they were within it.


    First, as he was climbing down thedder, there was suddenly a strange air that enveloped the training ground but he couldn''t tell what it was. He knew that Kisuke was much more careful than he is so when he saw that he was not really reacting in any special way, he just went on his way down.


    But after the first one, his mind practically almost went nk as multiple strange geometric circles made out of light suddenly appeared around Kisuke and he started pulling various raw materials out of them.


    Meanwhile, the girls that are with him were also surrounded by these strange circles, and the raw materials that Kisuke took out revolved around them a few times before suddenly transforming into various shapes. It only took them a quarter of an hour to build a magnificent western-type mansion.


    Kisuke finally turned to the frozen Tessai and said, "Come on in."


    Inside, Tessai and Kisuke are sitting on a small round table facing each other while the girls are on the couches in front of a firece.


    Kisuke first introduced everyone but he didn''t delve deep into their backgrounds because there was no way he''d believe anything about the Dragons that could potentially be on the Soul King''s level.


    After the initial introductions, Kisuke proceeded to tell him his story like it was the sequel to the story that he told the girls earlier.


    .


    .


    .


    A few hourster, Tessai is sipping on his tea to calm his nerves, "This is a lot to take in."


    Serafall, ire, Tanis, Kunou, Ophis, Lilith, and nna got bored of their talk and decided to return to the surface and tour the town for a bit so it''s just Tessai and Kisuke who are in the room.


    "What is? You''ve already hypothesized that there are countless other worlds out there that we can''t reach after researching Byakko for a bit."


    "I did... But hearing and seeing about it gives off an entirely different feeling." Aside from telling him stories of his adventure, Kisuke also showed Tessai several memory crystals and that''s when he truly believed that Yoruichi was still alive and well.


    "...So that really is Space-Time maniption?" Tessai added.


    "It is. Through the use of Magic instead of Spiritual ability."


    "Magic... That''s what they call it in the West, right?"


    "Correct, but this is an entirely different thing. You couldn''t properly feel it, can you?"


    Tessai shook his head, "It only felt like a strange air to me. If I didn''t see it in action and it happened outside, I would have dismissed it as nothing."


    "I''ll teach you how to detect and use it. It might prove useful to you... No. It''s definitely going to be useful to you as one of the greatest Kidou Practitioners in history."


    In terms of Kidou expertise, Tessai was better than Kisuke and Aizen. Thetter two are only stronger Kidou Practitioners because of the massive amount of Reiatsu that''s needed to power it. Kisuke guessed that if Space-Time maniption was not forbidden, Tessai could have entered the Zero Division.


    Tessai smiled because there was a surge of excitement that he hadn''t felt for a long time. He doesn''t like fighting but he sure does like tinkering with his spells.


    Kisuke was about to discuss with him what they nned to do when his eyes suddenly went wide open because he felt something that shouldn''t exist, ''...Demonic Power?''


    At the same time, a small Magic Circle appeared by his left ear with Serafall''s voiceing from it, [There''s this group of I assume Shinigamis. However, there are also these... should I say Hollows? But they are emitting something simr to Demonic Power. They are surrounding these Shinigamis that seem to be unaware of their existence.]


    Due to the barrier ced over the training ground, Tessai and Kisuke couldn''t feel the Reiatsu from the outside, "Any news from the Soul Society?" asked Kisuke.


    Tessai doesn''t know what happens but he immediately answered, "The Lieutenants are supposed to catch some Hollows to use for Ukitake''s Soul Funeral Festival tonight."


    "Something else besides Hollows came up."

 Chapter 1091 Hell’s Attack

    Chapter 1091 Hell��s Attack


    Tessai took out his Reiatsu Concealing Cloak and followed Kisuke who hid his own very familiar yet very strange Reiatsu with his Magic Power.


    Soon, they finally saw the group of Shinigamis hanging around a hundred feet above the ground. Kisuke stopped at the top of one of the buildings far from them and asked Tessai, "Can you sense anything strange around them?"


    Tessai didn''t answer immediately and tried to find out what was wrong. But despite increasing the sensitivity of his senses, he only found two things, the slight tremor of the ground and the strange air simr to when Kisuke and his group were building the mansion.


    "Currently, there are 13 giant Hollows and more than 20 small ones with their holes outside of their bodies making their way towards that group." Kisuke exined while peering at his friends, ''They grew up well... Though Kurosaki-san was the only one who''d matured outwardly because of his physical body.''


    Tessai turned to Kisuke and asked, "Hollows with their holes outside of their body?"


    "You''ll understand once they dispel their invisibility." Kisuke then looked for the girls but he couldn''t even feel their presence, ''Is this Kunou-chan''s [Sage''s Assimtion]? It''s really as ridiculous as Issei and Vali have described.''


    "Where are you guys?" Kisuke decided to contact Serafall through Magic.


    A secondter, a reply came in, [Directly under these guys. I can already feel the hostility from those approaching guys. What do you want to do?]


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment while observing the ''Hollows''. It wasn''t just the aura that was simr to Demonic Power and holes that caught him but also the chain tattoos stered all over their bodies, ''...Chains of Hell. If that''s the case, then I can understand why they possess an aura like that.''


    "Sera-chan, you''ll have toe out and secure one of them. Alive if possible. However, you''ll have to do it at thest moment since I want to see where this is going."


    [Okay~. Is it fine to retaliate if they attack me?]


    "Of course. But I''ll have to ask you not to grievously injure any of them. Well, that should be easy for you."


    Tessai heard their whole exchange and said, "It looks like she''s not your run-of-mill Human, but is that fine? All of them are Lieutenants and there''s even Ichigo Kurosaki in their midst. It might be dangerous for her."


    In response, Kisuke just waved at him casually while saying, "It''s fine, it''s fine~. She may look like a kid, but she''s actually stronger than me when I was still active if she gets serious."


    Tessai''s eyes widened as he stared directly at Kisuke''s eyes. As his best friend, he knows when he''s joking and when he''s not, ''...Clearly, this is the former... Seriously?'' He didn''t say anything else and returned his sights to the group of Shinigami with renewed interest and enthusiasm.


    The Shinigamis are peacefully talking with Renji introducing the new Lieutenants among their ranks to Ichigo when all of a sudden, a young Shinigami that slightly resembled Renji came shouting from below to warn the others, ''Hooh? She can see that? Is that Abarai-san''s kid?''


    Immediately after, those weird Hollows ''came into existence'' as one of them that looked like a small collection of bones smashed Renji into the ground.


    The Shinigami''s immediately armed themselves and Ichigo took care of the skeleton-like Hollow with a single sh of his sword. However, they found out that they were already surrounded with some of them wounded by the sneak attack.


    Even then, these strange Hollows soon fell one by one without being able to do much as they are against a group of high-ranking Shinigamis. Kisuke''s attention, however, was on something else, ''Garganta?... No. It is something different.'' He inwardlymented in shock when he saw an unfamiliar type of portal opening up.


    But who came out of it stunned Kisuke more, ''Szayporro!?''


    Kisuke hurriedly turned to Tessai and said before disappearing, "Stay here. I want to take a closer look."


    Kisuke came closer while listening to the ''dead'' Szayporro''s words and he stopped behind a wall just a few meters away from them.


    "Powerful Reishi can''t be absorbed by the earth of the Soul Society but they can''t remain there forever too! The Soul Funeral Festival''s real purpose is something else! With this ritual, deceased Captains are sent down to Hell!!!"


    Upon this revtion by Szayporro, Kisuke can''t help but be a bit emotional, ''So that old wives'' tale is true?''


    Ichigo, who was confronting Szayporro, also couldn''t believe what he was saying, "...What are you saying...!?"


    "What!? I''m telling the truth!" Szayporro as he attacked Ichigo with chains that came out of the strange portal with him, "Don''t grieve, Kurosaki Ichigo. You should know that a price must be paid to gain strength! Souls that have lost a ce to return to because of the immense power that they sought, are saved by sending them down to Hell!"


    "This is ''kindness''!" Szayporro began tough maniacally, "And unbeknownst to them, the benevolent Shinigamis, have with their own hands, been sending theirrades down to Hell!!!"


    Ichigo was stunned. Those around him were also the same. Their faces were telling Szayporro that they were not willing to believe his words. With a smirk, he continued, "Can you not believe it? The fact that I''ve appeared in front of all of you is decisive proof. The Bnce has been broken. The tremendous Reiatsu that was keeping the mouths of Hell in check... Aizen Sosuke disappeared, and right after, Yhwach vanished. You guys then sent tremendous Reiatsu down to Hell one after another, allowing the mouth of Hell to be forced open from Hell''s side."


    Meanwhile, a ck and slimy substance has been gathering around Szayporro and Kisuke had guessed this was Hell''s Phosphosm.


    "[The Founder of Gotei], Yamamoto Genryusai, [The de of Death], Unohana Retsu, and today...!" Before Szayporro could finish his words, however, the door of Hell suddenly appeared and opened behind him with a single familiar de appearing and piercing Szayporro through his back and out his chest. But instead ofmenting in pain, Szayporro sported arge smile and said, "Ahh~, you''ve made an early arrival, [Divine Vow], Ukitake Juushirou!"


    "..W-what are you saying?" asked Ichigo, finally believing him after seeing Ukitake''s Zanpakuto, "The ritual is still..."


    "It''s finished." Szayporro said while coughing out blood, "You guys just ughtered those Beast of Hell. Right in front of Ukitake Juushirou."


    Ichigo noticed that Szayporro wasn''t directly looking at his eyes but at his chest area instead. But shortly after, Ichigo realized he was referring to the Substitute Shinigami Badge that Ukitake gave him.


    While being dragged into the doors of Hell, Szayporro continued speaking, "Now, I will return. And you guys should think properly. Hell has always been nearby. There''s no way you haven''t noticed. Haven''t you ever wondered why the butterflies that guide the Shinigamis have ''Hell'' in their name!?''


    The door closed and soon disappeared but that didn''t make any of them feel good.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, was thinking about the ''eyes'' of the door and thought, ''I suppose Hell has better eyes than Tsunayashiro''s Visual Department?''


    ===================


    AN(Oct. 6, 2023):


    Hello everyone~! Thank you for waiting! I hope you enjoy this batch.


    Getting straight to the point, I have a bit of announcement.


    The next batch will be dyed. 1 day shortest and 3 days longest.


    The reason is I''m studying Network+ and want to finish it this week so I can start with CCNA or Security+ and hope I can get a certification in either one of them by 3-5 months.


    The reason why I''m "rushing" Network+ is because I''ve been at it for 2 months now and I just reached more than half of it. I got a few days off this week so I want to use this chance to get into studying rhythm since it has been a while since I studied for an exam.


    TLDR: Next batch might be dyed by 3 days because I finally decided a direction in my life and wanted to study.


    Thank you very much for your understanding.


    Btw, if you like my work, please consider supporting it through my pat.reon. Thank you~!

 Chapter 1092 Frozen

    Chapter 1092 Frozen


    The group of Shinigamis were disgruntled after what they''d just witnessed and heard from Szayporro, but there were still a few remaining ''Beasts of Hell'' that they had to deal with before they could return and report.


    Ichigo was about to finish thest remaining giant Beast when a beautiful girl who looked like she was in herte teens, with ck hair tied into twin tails and blue eyes, suddenly appeared in front of his de, "!?"


    Ichigo tried to stop his sword, but it was already toote, and he thought that he would be cutting a few inches into this young girl''s shoulders.


    But contrary to his expectations, a weird blue geometric circle with unknown symbols suddenly appeared in front of his de and stopped it along with the remaining power behind it with ease. It was then that Ichigo finally realized that the young girl was also floating and immediately jumped back with sh Step, "...Who are you?"


    Still sensitive because of these unknown enemies, everyone else also became vignt at her presence. Because only therge one was remaining among the Beasts, everyone''s attention was on Serafall. Despite that, they couldn''t feel anything from her, simr to the Beasts and Szayporro.


    Serafall wasn''t even able to introduce herself because some of the Lieutenants were still too sensitive and saw her as their enemy.


    Without any word, the recently appointed Lieutenant of the 8th Division, Yuyu Yayahara, and Lieutenant of the 3rd Division, Izuru Kira, appeared on opposite sides of Serafall, bearing their Reiatsu and killing intent at her.


    Serafall is already used to this kind of aura, thanks to Kisuke, Yoruichi, Aika, and Sona, who transformed years ago, so it didn''t affect her in any way. As they were about to brandish their attacks on her, Serafall took her time to observe them, ''They''re too agitated, not a good time to talk, I guess? Looks like the appearance of that weird guy with horns is a bigger deal than I thought.''


    On her left side is Kira with a hook-like sword, while on her right was Yuyu with her hands curled like ws, ''The weird sword of the one on the left seems to be a lot heavier than it looks while the girl on the right has these invisible fangs that surround her hand. How fascinating~.''


    "H-hold on!"


    "Wait! Don''t be reckless!"


    Renji and Akon warned them, but it only fell on deaf ears.


    Nevertheless, the unknown young girl''s response surprised everyone even more as she simply extended both of her arms and index fingers toward the trajectory of their attacks. At the point of collision, it wasn''t what everyone was expecting as unknowingly, both assants were suddenly enclosed in thick ice, leaving only their heads free.


    "What!?"


    "Huh!?"


    Kira and Yuyu began falling from the sky because they couldn''t maintain their footholds. Thankfully, theirrades came in and caught them.


    At the same time, the giant Beast who was about to be cut by Ichigo finally made its move and swung its fist at the nearest person, which was Serafall. "Watch out!" The kind-hearted Ichigo shouted.


    But Serafall didn''t have to turn around. Before the Beast could even touch her, it was instantly enclosed in a coffin of ice. Regardless of its size, it suffered the same fate as Kira and Yuyu, this time, however, not leaving the head open.


    The Shinigamis were quiet and didn''t know what to think of this terrifying instance. Anyhow, Serafall didn''t really care what they thought of it since she had already achieved her goal. With a wide smile on her face, she said, "Although I''d like to introduce myself, it doesn''t seem to be the right time~ Take care, everyone!"


    As soon as she finished her statement, arge blue geometric circle appeared beneath the frozen Beast, and a few secondster, Serafall and the Beast started disappearing in motes of light, quietly disappearing as she arrived.


    With peace returning, Shuuhei Hisagi, the Lieutenant of the 9th Division, hurriedly turned to Akon, "Akon! What was that just now?"


    Everyone''s eyes turned to him as Akon is the Lieutenant of the 12th Division and the Vice-President of Shinigami Research and Development Institute.


    Akon didn''t answer immediately. Instead, he took out his terminal that looked like a smartphone and went through it first, "I assume that everyone also couldn''t feel their Reiatsu, so I checked the sensorsid out in the whole town for surveince purposes. Sadly, nothing really came up with that either. Although I would need to thoroughlyb through the data to get any conclusion from this incident."


    Akon saw the facial expression that Shuuhei was making, but he shook his head at him. ''He probably thought it was another Fullbringer like Aura, but the sensors are already equipped with the ability to detect someone like her.''


    Some of the Shinigamis searched the whole town for a while to find if there were still remaining Beasts, while the rest were instructed by Akon to recover the corpses of the Beasts that had already melted into a ck substance and send them to the Soul Society to make their report. It was a long night for everyone, and they had a feeling that the peace they had finally attained after the Great War was also about to end.


    Meanwhile, in a certain underground training facility, the young girls were curiously inspecting the frozen Beast, while Serafall, Kisuke, and Tessai were talking in the distance.


    "Did I do a good job?" Serafall excitedly asked Kisuke, and Kisuke reciprocated by patting her head. "Thanks to you, we got a really good and intact sample!"


    Tessai was instantly taken aback by this scene and asked, "You''re giving away head pats easily now? Even Ururu only received that on very rare asions."


    Kisuke turned to Tessai with a grin. "It''s not really a bad thing, is it?"


    And Serafall supplemented that by saying, "His headpats are highly sought after. They''re popr with certain Dragons."


    "Dragons..." Even though Kisuke had told Tessai his whole story, it was still just a summary of his very eventful life on the other side, so the former wasn''t able to exin to thetter the various races that inhabit that world, nor Serafall and the others'' positions and abilities.


    "You really were amazing back then, Serafall-san. I would have never expected that an innocent-looking girl like you could easily subdue those Shinigamis. Was that Magic? You froze them way faster than Captain Hitsugaya could have."


    "You can call me Sera-chan, and I''ll call you Te-chan."


    Tessai turned to Kisuke, and thetter just nodded at him. "Alright, Sera-chan. You were amazing back then."


    "Thank you! But who is this Captain Hitsugaya?"


    "He''s one of the Captains of the Gotei 13 and has the same Ice Ability as you."


    "Hee! I''d like to meet him."


    Kisuke didn''t tell Tessai that Serafall could easily freeze the whole of Karakura Town with a snap of her finger, which is impossible for Hitsugaya. Because he didn''t want Tessai to think about it too deeply now when there was a lot to process. "Let''s go at it slowly. For now, let''s hear about what transpired after the Great War."


    AN (Oct. 21, 2023):


    I''m very sorry for the massive dy and thank you very much for waiting~!


    I''m finally done rushing that course so I''ll be slowing down my study sessions. Hopefully, around January next year, I''ll be able to start applying for jobs.


    Enough of that, please enjoy~!

 Chapter 1093 Recollection

    Chapter 1093 Recollection


    It had been a long day for the teenagers so they went to bed first. Despite their seemingly unlimited energy, they still went through dimensions before arriving here. They were able to rest for a bit, but that still took a toll on their still-developing bodies. Kisuke found nothing out of ce with them after he performed a quick checkup, but he urged them to rest now for good measure.


    Serafall, on the other hand, didn''t choose to sit with Kisuke and Tessai to listen to thetter''s story. Even if she could listen, she wouldn''t be able to understand anything without the necessary context. Instead, she went out again to explore the town. As an unknown world, she couldn''t sit still without knowing anything, or at least making sure that there was no immediate danger in their vicinity.


    Kisuke was sure that Serafall would trust his words if he told her that they were safe here but he knew that wouldn''t be as effective if she checked it herself. Also this way, she''ll be able to adapt faster since that''s how she has always done things. She didn''t get the position of the Devil King because she sat on her butt the whole time.


    "Is it alright to leave her alone? She doesn''t know much about this ce, does she?" Tessai asked with concern. He''s not worried about her safety but the things she could do to disrupt the delicate situation right now.


    "It''s fine. Even though she acts like a kid, she''s a very shrewd one on par with Yoruichi. Let her do her own thing until she''s satisfied. I assure you that she knows where to draw the line."


    "I see. In that case, I''ll trust her too."


    Kisuke smiled at him because he knew that Tessai hardly trusts anyone after what happened more than a century ago. For him to trust someone he just met today is a huge respect to Kisuke himself, "Thank you."


    Tessai nodded at him and took out some documents he recorded in the past, "After the Great War, I distanced ourselves from Seireitei for Ururu and Jinta''s sake. Everything in here is some of the noteworthy events that urred but since everything is just from what I heard and saw, it''s not very reliable.


    "And from all of it, there''s really only one notable event that happened not long after the Great War. Since it was a highly sensitive topic and heavily suppressed by Central 46, I wasn''t able to glean much from it. Even then, I could tell that it was a pretty serious event because the entirety of Karakura Town was locked in a strange barrier that day."


    Kisuke browsed through the documents and listed the important points inside his head, ''The rise of a strange cult in the Human World called Xcution with knowledge of Soul Society. A very powerful Fullbringer in the middle of it. The appearance of a strange child with a simr Reiatsu as Ichigo Kurosaki and Kugo Ginjou. And a dayter, the death of the controversial head of the Tsunayashiro of the Five Noble ns.''


    "It seems that it was resolved peacefully," Kisukemented while flipping through the pages of other misceneous information like the current status of the surviving Quincies.


    "You could say that Captain Commander Shunsui Kyouraku is doing a fine job. And I don''t want to say it, but Mayuri Kurotsuchi also contributed a lot, and also probably thanks to him that Soul Society is making advances right now."


    Kisuke kept the documents in his inventory while chuckling at the frowning Tessai, "You may not like how he does and sees things but that''s the reason why I wanted him to seed me. Though I also honestly didn''t think that he would be that nihilistic."


    "Haaahhh..." Tessai let out an exasperated sigh, "You have no idea. He started developingmunication devices that could also connect to the Human World, including its inte."


    "Huh? Isn''t that a really great thing? Those traditional maniacs will finally be able to open to more ideas once they see the Human World culture closely... Though I hope that Mayuri added some filters to prevent anyone from diving in too deep..." Kisuke replied and a secondter, thought, ''No... That''s impossible, isn''t it? I''d be d if he doesn''t lead others to the dubious part of the inte. Gotei 13 might just copse.''


    Tessai was able to guess what he was thinking and said, "That''s also a problem, but thankfully, it''s just a recent technological advancement so no one really knows how to use it aside from the messaging apps and video sharing sites. The biggest problem is his aesthetics!"


    "Ahh..." Kisuke instantly understood and imagined the current Gotei 13 full of flying high-tech bugs.


    "Thankfully, Akon is around and was able to push back against this with the help of Divisions and Captain Commander himself. Although extremely opposed to it, Mayuri was forced to adopt the Human World''s design."


    Kisuke also sighed in relief upon hearing that.


    "So what''s your n now?"


    "Ultimately, I want to check the one who reced the Soul King and figure out what''s going to happen now that the doors of Hell are wide open."


    Tessai''s brows narrowed. Although he heard Kisuke''s story, he still doesn''t understand why he returned when he could have stayed there in peace, ''Attachment?... or...'' Tessai looked straight into his eyes and asked, "You still haven''t let go of your morbid curiosity?"


    Tessai knew the real reason why Kisuke created the Hougyoku and that''s not because he wanted to save the Soul King from his eternal torture but wanted to see if he could make something that could rece him out of curiosity.


    Kisuke leaned back, "I won''t deny that, but that''s not my only motivation now. Believe it or not, a lot of things have changed."


    "So is it safe to assume that you won''t be walking the same path as Aizen Sosuke?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Don''t worry. I won''t. I would never think of recing the ''stake''. Too much spotlight for me."


    Yes, Kisuke won''t be recing the ''Soul King''. He intended to do something worse and Kisuke was prepared to fight the Royal Guard.


    "For now, aside from studying that ''Beast from Hell'', I''d like to enroll ire, Tanis, and Kunou in a high school."


    "Hmmm... I could falsify some documents to help them enter Karakura High but that''s risky."


    "Please do that and leave everything else to Sera-chan."


    Although Kisuke took them with him, he didn''t want them to miss out on their youth.

 Chapter 1094 First Steps

    Chapter 1094 First Steps


    The next day, Kisuke asked the girls except for Ophis, Lilith, and nna to explore the town again. But before they left, Kisuke talked to Serafall, "Sera-chan, I''ll support whatever you want to do since I trust your discretion."


    Serafall grinned at him and replied, "Aren''t you asking me to make a mess?"


    "Geez, you know what I meant." Kisuke scratched his head with a wry smile but he couldn''t me her and why she said that because there was indeed an advantage for them if she were to make a mess. However, he had an entirely different reason and that''s that he wanted the girls to have no reservations as they did on the other side and he wanted to leave that to Serafall''s discretion.


    "You probably already noticed from your brief exploration and listening to my stories, but this side is a lot more lenient against ''outsiders''. With factions that you can count on one hand, it''s a lot easier for another one to rise up without any interference as long as you don''t openly antagonize them."


    Indeed, Serafall had been wondering why Kisuke, from his stories, a known fugitive was able to keep a rtively peaceful life for a century just because he escaped to the Human World. Her explorationst night was to seek an answer to this question and although she''s still figuring things out, Serafall was able to conclude that the people who could apprehend Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai couldn''t easily leave their post despite them breaking some pretty seriousws and they were even able to open a shop that caters to their needs.


    "True. It''ll also be a lot easier for the girls to adapt since they won''t have to hide like they did something wrong." Serafall replied. There''s a reason why Serafall didn''t hide her face when standing in front of the Shinigamis and that''s because of her pride. They''re prideful beings, especially her and ire who''re Devils. While they don''t have anything against how Kisuke does things, they wouldn''t want to do the same. At most, they would want to hide a portion of their abilities to save them as their ace.


    But since they''re in his world, Serafall was thinking if they should adapt to Kisuke''s style, at least for the young girls. "But are you sure? They might figure out our association with you."


    "I''d only ask that you avoid mentioning me to others. But if anyone finds out, that''s also fine since I don''t really intend to hide forever. Once I figure out what''s going on and prepare enough, I''ll move in earnest."


    Serafall quietly stared at him for a few seconds before sighing in relief. She already has an idea of what he really wanted to do in this world but it was just a guess and she didn''t have to ask him that now. Nevertheless, she was relieved that she didn''t have to suppress herself and the young girls, "I see~. Then while we''re at it, we''ll find a good ce to stay."


    "Go to the Kitakawase area. It''s a wealthy residential area and you should be able to find a suitable ce there."


    "Noted~ We''ll get going then!"


    As they left, Tessai approached him from behind, "They''re not going to stay here?"


    "This ce is too small for them and no one would really want to live underground."


    But just as Kisuke was about to return inside, his cane began shaking a secondter, it released a strong light. The next moment, a very beautiful Japanese woman wearing a simple white V-neck t-shirt and blue tight jeans stood in front of Kisuke and Tessai while demanding with one of her hands on her hip, "I''m also going to find my own ce."


    Tessai was stunned while Kisuke thought about it for a moment before taking out his tanto de and giving it to Benihime, "On one condition. You take her with you and be her guide."


    The woman was incredibly apprehensive and was about to reject it with all her might. But when a certain aspect of the daily life of her independent action came to her mind, she took the tanto de, albeit, still a bit hesitant, ''I don''t like her... But I hate chores more.''


    The woman didn''t say another word and left with the de using sh Step.


    "W-was that Benihime?" asked Tessai after the woman had disappeared, "When did Benihime acquire that kind of ability that''s only unique to the Kuchiki n''s Muramasa?"


    "Well, it''s something different but I won''t be able to exin it properly to you. Just think of her body being made using Magic Particles as opposed to Spiritual Particles."


    "Wait. She didn''t take a Gigai. How is she going to interact with Humans?"


    "No problem on that side either. Magic Power is something that manifests in the physical world once manipted. Right now, she looks no different from a normal Human... Except for her temper."


    Although Tessai doesn''t personally know Benihime, he knows how she acts from Kisuke''s mentioning of her in the past, "She won''t create a big mess, will she?"


    "It''s fine. She knew the price of her freedom and I think she likes running around too much to do anything drastic."


    Kisuke then gave Tessai a device that would allow him to practice sensing Magic Power before leaving with Ophis, Lilith, and nna.


    After confirming everything he needs, Kisuke opened a Senkaimon within the training grounds. But because they don''t have any Hell Butterflies to guide them, they were transported to a dark lifeless corridor with gooey moving walls the moment they stepped into the Senkaimon. They arrived at the Dangai and it was intentional on Kisuke''s side.


    "This is... The flow of time is incredibly distorted." nnamented as she looked around, "...2,000 times?" nna turned to Kisuke and asked, "Did you use this as a training ground, boss?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "While it''s indeed good for learning and mastering something when you''re out of time, it''s not a ce to get stronger. Any wrong move and one will be dragged along the flow of time and be trapped forever. For most people, that would mean being trapped and aging 2,000 times faster."


    Kisuke then turned to Ophis and Lilith, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, please make a hole in the wall. I want to get out of this space."


    Ophis and Lilith nodded and didn''t hesitate to touch the gooey walls. But instead of being dragged and swallowed by it, the gooey wall moved out of its way and revealed a barren and desertednd beyond it.


    Kisuke jumped in and was immediately followed by the three girls. After leaving the Dangai, they now arrived at one of many pocket spaces beside it called Valley of Screams, "Let''s jump a few more times until we find a suitable ce."


    Ophis and Lilith nodded. After doing it the first time, they instantly understood the structure of this world''s boundaries and were able to go through them like fishes in the water.

 Chapter 1095 [World’s End]

    Chapter 1095 [World��s End]


    After around a hundred jumps that took a few hours, Kisuke finally found a satisfactory space that''s virtually untouched by anyone for thest one thousand years. It''s at least 10 times as wide as Karakura Town so it was also the perfect size for them in case there''s a need to move it around.


    Like the other pockets of spaces around the Dangai where Souls could identally get lost, it''s a barren rockynd with a sun-like source of light in the middle of it. Since everything in this space was stagnant, there was only day here. It was unknown how each Valley of Screams got its current terrain and light but it was theorized that the first Souls that got lost here are the ones who shaped them.


    Everything inside this space is made out of Reishi(Spiritual Particles) and even if ire, Tanis, and Kunou could survive in this kind of space, it wouldn''t be veryfortable since it''d be just like the barrennd of Mars for them who don''t know how to feed on Reishi.


    Kisuke didn''t dy his work any further and took out 5 40-meter tall and 2-meter wide gray pirs that were inscribed with thousands of Magic Circles melded together creating a veryplex flow of energy. But before he set them down, Kisuke first turned to Ophis, Lilith, and nna, "Ehem, the reason why I want to bring you here is for you tobine your abilities to create a protectiveyer over this domain to block off most of the unauthorized entrances and flow of information. Will that be alright?"


    Ophis, Lilith, and nna looked at each other before thest one turned to Kisuke and asked, "Just to make it clear, you want us to further separate this space from the rest?"


    Kisuke nodded at her and said, "That''s one way of putting it."


    "Hmmm..." nna closed his eyes in deep thought before asking again, "Is there anything specific you want us to do?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Nothing. I don''t know how you will do it so I''ll be leaving it to you three."


    nna suddenly pped her hand before wrapping her arms around Ophis and Lilith, "Yosh! cky, Little cky, let''s make a cozy ce!"


    And despite not talking about anything specific, Ophis and Lilith understood what she wanted to happen and nodded.


    "Boss, we''ll start immediately so make sure some bananas and cookies are prepared when we''re done~!"


    The three of them didn''t wait for Kisuke to say anything else and slipped into the space, disappearing as if they were never there, to begin with. Even then, Kisuke didn''t stop himself and said, "I''ll look forward to your work~! And don''t worry about the snacks. I stocked up before we left."


    The next moment, an incredible amount of Draconic Aura unique to the three of them exploded as if it signaled the end of the world. It was so incredibly dense that even Kisuke, who was used to their aura, jumped on his feet and adrenaline rushed to his head as an automatic defense mechanism. It was only a secondter that his mind finally processed that there was no danger and it was just the three of them doing their work.


    Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Kisuke nervously thought, ''...Even those who are inept would be able to sense that. I hope nothing too drastic happens... Not gonna lie, though. I want to see what sort of response that would elicit.''


    As much as he wanted to see the world right now, he had work to do and that was much more important, ''I''ll ask them to do it again sometimeter.''


    .


    .


    .


    When the girls left, they didn''t really have any destination in mind so they just walked in a random direction and asked people that they came across about good ces to sightsee.


    They were seen as a bit of a strange group touring a town without any specialties but because they were a group of beautifuldies, no one thought of them badly and dly pointed them to the ces they thought were good.


    Naturally, it can''t be avoided for them to be picked up by random guys but they were easily resolved by silently emitting Demonic Power toward them. They didn''t know what''s happening but they were instantlypelled to avoid them.


    "Kisuke-niichan made it sound like a very dangerous town, but there are hardly any threats." iremented when the group found benches in amunity park, "And even if something appears, it''s easily taken care of by some people."


    "ire, please don''t use your own standards to judge the safety of this ce." Kunou immediately called out herment, "It''s supposed to be a town where normal people without any power live. Invisible monsters that could hurt them shouldn''t exist in the first ce."


    ire realized her mistake and hurriedly apologized, "Ah, I''m sorry. I forgot."


    "As long as you understand," Kunou epted her apology before reminding everyone, "Although there isn''t much during day time, it''s a differentndscape when the sun sets."


    Tanis tilted her head at her and asked, "How?"


    "I''m not sure if yesterday was special, but the amount of Hollows moving aroundst night was almost ten times as many as today."


    Surprised, Serafall asked, "Oh? Your Ki scan worked that far?"


    "I also didn''t expect it to work that well," answered Kunou, "It must be because no one else is manipting the natural flow of Ki that my scan went on unimpeded."


    Serafall then stood up and said, "It''s about lunch time so let''s go get a meal. After that, we''ll go to the Kitakawase area. Anything you want?"


    Tanis hurriedly raised her hand and said, "I''m craving ramen!"


    "Ramen, it is! Let''s go to the shopping district. We should be able to find a good shop."


    "I prefer somewhere not crowded." ire requested.


    They came across multiple shops but all of them were almost full because it was already lunchtime. It took a while, but they found a good shop before they could enter, Serafall and Kunou suddenly stopped walking.


    "Find something else?" asked Tanis, turning to the direction they are looking at.


    "Yup~. Let''s take a look at that ce first before we have lunch. They might leave." Serafall led the group and took a few turns until they reached a street that has low pedestrian volume. And at the corner of that street was, amazingly, a ramen shop that seemed to be new called ''Spirit Ramen'', "What a coincidence~ Let''s have our lunch there!"


    .


    .


    .


    Inside the ramen shop that''d only opened a few days ago, Ichigo, Inoue, Uryu, and Chad gathered because of what happenedst night, "Still no news from Soul Society?" Uryu asked Ichigo as thest one among them to arrive.


    Ichigo shook his head while checking his smartphone.

 Chapter 1096 Immediate Reunion

    Chapter 1096 Immediate Reunion


    Uryu was in his suit and sat down in one of the open seats and looked around, "You really don''t have any customers even though it''s lunchtime."


    "You are my customers!" Keigo Asano, the owner of ''Spirit Ramen'' and their high school friend shouted in protest while preparing everyone''s meal.


    Uryu ignored the almost crying owner and turned to Yasutora Sado, also known as Chad, "I''m surprised you made it. And you have no injuries." Uryu asked because Chad is now a professional boxer and just had a match yesterday which they all watched. Although he has bandages, it didn''t escape his notice that Chad actually doesn''t have any wounds aside from the one on his lower lip.


    "Inoue insisted on healing me." Chad briefly answered, "What about you? Don''t you have patients you have to tend to? Is it alright for you to be here?"


    "It''s fine. I canceled all my non-urgent appointments and asked someone to cover for me for the rest. What happenedst night was much more important." Uryu then turned to Ichigo and said, "Could you recount what happenedst night? As much detail as possible."


    Ichigo granted his request also for Chad and Inoue''s sake.


    "...and that''s the gist of it." The group is slurping their ramen as they listen to Ichigo finish his ount of the events and obviously, their biggest is the fact that the Captain Commander, Captain Unohana, and Captain Ukitake were sent to hell unknowingly. Even though they could understand the purpose of the ritual, they still couldn''t ept the oue.


    "The Soul Society will probably increase their surveince to watch out for these doors of Hell and some people will probably be sent if scouting is possible," Uryu muttered as he finished his food.


    Chad also finished his and said, "It was already hard for us to ept the news so I can''t really imagine how heartbreaking this is for those who were close to them. In any case, we can''t really do anything aside from being wary of our surroundings. I''m canceling everything I have for the next few months or until things settle down."


    "I''ll also ask everyone to patrol the vicinity," Inoue added while touching her six-petal blue hairpin.


    "...Hell, huh? How scary..." Keigo suddenly joined their conversation, "But that''s not really what''s urgent, right? This Hell thing is still predictable, however, thest part of your story seems a bit more concerning to me."


    Uryu frowned a bit upon hearing it, "A young woman who instantly froze and snatched one of the strange Hollows... Are you certain that you didn''t feel an ounce of Reiatsu from her?"


    Ichigo shook his head, "There''s probably something but it''s incredibly thin. It wasn''t a Fullbringer either because Akon came back to me this morning to further ask anything I noticed in our brief sh because even Captain Kurotsuchi couldn''t figure anything out with the data they gathered."


    The five of them became silent until Chad suddenly asked, "...Is she an enemy?"


    Ichigo went back to their brief exchange but even after thinking about it, he couldn''t draw any conclusions. Though before he could give an answer, the door of the ramen shop suddenly opened, "Oh~! It''s a bit hidden but it looks like a good ce."


    "I''m taking the window seat~!"


    "Tanis, please don''t run."


    "Hmmm... I wonder what I should get~?... Fried chicken!"


    A rowdy group of beautiful girls had entered. But to Keigo''s eyes, they were pure Angels that would save his shop from destituteness, "Oh! Dear customers! Wee! Please have a seat wherever you like!"


    Uryu and Chad, on the other hand, felt it was a shame since they have to stop talking about the Soul Society now, "Should we go to my ce after?" asked the former.


    "That sounds good." Chad answered, however, there was nothing after that which confused both of them, and turned to look at Ichigo and Inoue who suddenly became quiet, "What''s wrong?"


    Meanwhile, Inoue noticed Ichigo''s behavior and tugged his sleeve, "Ichigo, that''s rude. Don''t stare at her."


    But all of these fell deaf on his ears, "...You!"


    Serafall, who was reciting her order to the owner, met his eyes and smiled in greeting, "Ah! The orange head fromst night. Hmmm? You were a Human?"


    Thanks to him being over cloud nine for finally having customers aside from his friends, Keigo didn''t notice the strangeness in the atmosphere and asked Serafall, "Miss, will that be all?"


    Serafall turned his attention back to him and replied, "Please add a te of gyoza."


    "Coming right up!"


    "Miso Ramen for me and a te of fried chicken!" ire also gave her order.


    Kunou and Tanis also asked for Shoyu and Shio Ramen respectively. Keigo dly took their orders but he finally noticed the weird atmosphere in Ichigo''s group. Nevertheless, he still properly served them.


    Ichigo was about to get Serafall''s attention again when a hand suddenlynded on his shoulder and pulled him back. When he looked back, he saw Uryu shaking his head at him, "They''re having their lunch so don''t disturb them, at least for now."


    Ichigo properly returned to his seat and sighed, "I''m sorry. I lost my cool for a moment there."


    Inoue, Chad, and Uryu were able to guess why Ichigo reacted like that after Serafall called him the ''orange head fromst night''. Since it looks like they won''t be leaving anytime soon, Chad ordered more food and some drinks.


    It was entirely coincidental that this ce is a ramen shop as Serafall just wanted to see who were the people giving off an aura that was way above normal people. But because her and Kunou''s senses aren''t tuned to urately measure Reiatsu, she actually has no idea who was inside so it''s also a coincidence that she met Ichigo again.


    ''Oh? A lot more lenient indeed. If this was the previous world, we would be pressuring each other because I trespassed on their territory.'' Serafall thought while receiving her food, "Thank you~!"


    And just like that, Serafall, ire, Tanis, and Kunou peacefully enjoyed their lunch. Although Ichigo''s group is peeking at them from time to time, that doesn''t bother them and it''s actually understandable if they are in their shoes.


    However, this peace didn''tst long as Serafall, Kunou, and Ichigo''s group felt another set of strong Reiatsuing towards them.


    A secondter, a petite young girl with chin-length blonde hair and purple eyes entered followed by a tall and well-endowed girl of slender build with long wavy pink hair and short bangs that framed her forehead and green eyes, "Finally found you, Uryu! Exin what happenedst night!"


    "Liltotto and Meninas? Why are you here?" Uryu asked back.

 Chapter 1097 Clash

    Chapter 1097 sh


    At the appearance of the two former members of Sternritter, Keigo became very nervous. Although he knew that there was a ''Non-Aggression Pact'' between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the surviving members of the Wandenreich, he knew from his previous encounters with them that they could be a bit unreasonable at times.


    Liltotto''s attention was on Uryu first but she saw other people eating, "...I thought this was a gathering ce for those spiritually aware?" Since Liltotto couldn''t feel anything from them, she and Meninas behind her thought that they were normal people, "We can''t talk like this. Meni, knock them out for now."


    "Yes~~~!" Meninas energetically answered.


    Seeing this, Ichigo and Uryu simultaneously shouted, "Wait!"


    But even if Ichigo''s group wanted to stop them, the pink-haired girl was faster with her Hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step) and arrived behind her first target, the blue-haired girl still in the middle of slurping noodles.


    Meninas made a knife hand and immediately swung it towards the back of the blue-haired girl with enough force to knock a normal person but not hurt them. She intended to move to her next target after the first one but found herself unable to do so when she tried to pull her hand away and couldn''t do so.


    Meninas looked back and her eyes widened when she saw the blue-haired girl looking at her, still chewing her food, and caught her hand using the chopsticks.


    The ''well-mannered'' Tanis couldn''t speak with her mouth still full of food but it was obvious from her expression what she wanted to say, ''What are you doing?''


    Naturally, Meninas found the situation strange, but instead of consulting with Liltotto, she increased the strength behind her hand because her warrior spirit was challenged. She wondered how the seemingly ordinary pieces of wood could remain intact and was curious for how long.


    In response to Minenas releasing her Reiatsu, Tanis'' Ki flow picked up speed, strengthening the chopsticks she was holding and urately countering the strength the pink-haired woman was putting in.


    Silence covered the whole establishment with Meninas further increasing her Reiatsu and the chopsticks on Tanis'' hand began splintering.


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad stood up to stop Meninas but before they could do anything, Meninas'' hand caught in Tanis'' chopsticks suddenly caught on blue fire, "!?"


    The blue fire is not something that could easily hurt her, however, Meninas doesn''t know how or when it came so that reason is enough for her to pull back with Hirenkyaku, arriving beside Liltotto. Even then the fire didn''t stop burning and actually spreading to the rest of her arm.


    Meninas hurriedly used her Blut Vene to snuff out the fire but that took some effort because it''s a weirdly ''sticky'' fire.


    Thankfully, everyone except for the clueless Keigo had an idea where the fire came from because the golden-haired girl discharged her killing intent the moment the fire appeared. When Meninas followed the killing intent, she saw the golden-haired girl ring at him with her matching golden eyes but with vertical slit pupils.


    ''Not a Human?'' That is what everyone who looked at her thought.


    But soon, that killing intent disappeared when the gray-haired girl reached out and held the golden-haired girl''s hand, "Kunou, it''s okay. Look. Tanis is fine."


    The Tanis also turned to the one called Kunou and waved her hand, gesturing that she was just fine, though she still couldn''t speak because there was still food in her mouth.


    "...But... ire... Aren''t you angry?" Kunou protested in frustration.


    ire chuckled but her words didn''t match her smiling face, "Of course I''m angry."


    ire then turned to Meninas. With a smile that didn''t reach her grey eyes, she continued, "Who wouldn''t get angry when you''re suddenly attacked in the middle of a meal?"


    ''...I''m not angry, though?'' Tanis wanted to raise her hand but the serious atmosphere didn''t allow her to do so. Without much choice, she pretended to be angry.


    Meninas stared at ire, thinking of what to say back, when she felt something weird on her burnt arm. When she looked down, she saw the faint blue pattern that was tracing her veins under her skin suddenly start retracting, "My Blut!?"


    "!?" Liltotto was also appalled because she knew that Meninas wouldn''t retract her Blut Vene right now, ''Forcefully dispelled!?'' She doesn''t know what exactly happened nor how something like that is possible, but she knew for sure that she didn''t want these unknown people as their enemies.


    Immediately stepping in front of Meninas, Liltotto addressed ire because she had a feeling that she was the group''s leader, "We''re sorry about that. As you''ve heard, we only intended to knock you out because we thought you were ordinary people. Because of Meninas and her reckless,petitive spirit, she attacked your friend more than necessary."


    And she''s correct. Although Kunou is usually the one reigning in the two ''wild dogs'', ire is undoubtedly the one who has the final say, and both Tanis and Kunou respect that.


    Liltotto elbowed Meninas'' stomach and urged her to apologize. She was not convinced and satisfied but Meninas still listened. Slightly bowing her head, Meninas said, "I''m sorry."


    "As proof of our sincerity, your meal is our treat." Liltotto was immediately added.


    "What!? But this month is-"


    Liltotto blocked Meninas'' mouth, ''It''s tight, I know... But Uryu is here. He should be able to lend us.''


    "Really!? Can I order more?" Tanis excitedly asked.


    The corner of Liltotto''s brow twitched but she could only give one answer, "...S-sure."


    "Yay~! Owner, a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen and a te of gyoza and fried chicken each! Ah, and please add another chashu (Marinated Braised Pork Belly) to my ramen."


    "O-oh! Coming right up!"


    Thanks to Tanis''s cheerfulness, the heavy atmosphere was instantly defused.


    Kunou sighed with a wry smile, letting go of her killing intent while ire only chuckled and said, "Apology epted. And thanks for the treat."


    After that, the group began another round of orders, and each time Liltotto and Meninas heard this, they could feel something akin to someone stabbing their hearts, "U-Uryu..." Liltotto approached and weakly called out to her fellow Quincy, "It might take some time but we''ll definitely pay you back... So lend us some money."


    Unbeknownst to the poor Liltotto and Minenas, they''ll be borrowing way more than they are expecting.


    ire''s group, on the other hand, was pretty happy. Although they had money, nothing beats eating on someone else''s cash guilt-free! Who asked them to attack their group and offer their wallets?


    Nevertheless, the happiest of them all is actually Serafall. After this instance, she''s confident that she can leave these three girls at their own devices.

 Chapter 1098 Roars of Apocalypse

    Chapter 1098 Roars of Apocalypse


    While hearing their future budget being devoured without remorse, Liltotto and Meninas sat with Ichigo''s group, and the former whispered, "Hey, who are they!?"


    Ichigo and Uryu looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. At the same time, everyone heard a stomach rumble and the group looked at the embarrassed Meninas who immediately defended herself, "I thought we would be eating ramen so..."


    Inoue covered her mouth and giggled, "Being a university student must be hard, huh?" She then turned to the owner and said, "Keigo-san, please give this a bowl of ramen each."


    "Wait!" Liltotto immediately stopped her, "We can''t afford those!"


    "It''s fine, it''s my treat so order what you want."


    Liltotto and Meninas'' eyes shone, "We hate charity but we will not refuse free food! Owner, Shio Ramen!"


    "Tonkatsu for me!"


    Meanwhile, Serafall was discretely observing the group while reminding herself of Kisuke''s story about the war, ''I can at least tell they are different from Shinigamis. Are they Quincies? It''s amazing how they are getting along even after that.''


    As time went by, Serafall was liking this world more and more. The wars that she knew are only those that were started by power-hungry individuals. Wars due to differing ideologies were very rare and almost nonexistent. What she liked about thetter is that understanding is possible after the worst hase to pass unlike the former that only leaves death and destruction.


    Soon, they finished their lunch and until the end, Ichigo''s group didn''t approach Serafall''s group. If Meninas didn''t attack, they might havee to them but they are also not regretting this oue because they were able to confirm that it''s not just Serafall who''s special in their group.


    But just as they stood up, everyone in the room except for Keigo froze as an unknown aura descended onto everyone.


    Without any hesitation, Serafall immediately initiated a telepathy to ire, Tanis, and Kunou, [Act surprised! Don''t let anyone know that we know that!]


    The girls immediately minded their facial expressions and looked up.


    Nevertheless, as long as they don''t say anything about it, they are safe since no one is really looking at them.


    "W-what is that!?" Inoue asks with apparent fear in her eyes.


    "Inoue, fetch Kazui from school and stay close to Dad, Yuzu, and Karin," Ichigo muttered before standing up and walking towards the exit.


    "W-where are you going!?"


    "To find out what''s going on." Ichigo only left those words before exiting the shop.


    "Don''t worry about him," reassured Chad before hurriedly following Ichigo.


    "Stay close to your phone too. There might be a call from the Soul Society." Uryu also reminded her before leaving.


    Liltotto and Meninas, on the other hand, groaned in frustration while staring at their half-finished ramen. In the end, they gritted their teeth and followed the three men, "Thanks for the treat."


    Inoue also gathered her bearings and ran out of the shop intending to go to Kazui''s school.


    With only Serafall''s group remaining, Keigo couldn''t help but ask, "... U-hmm... May I ask what''s going on?"


    "Something strange is happening, that''s all I can say." Serafall briefly answered, "What about our tab?"


    "Ah, don''t worry about it. I know those guys. I''ll just put it on their tab as they promised."


    After thanking the owner, Serafall''s group left and walked out of the street where the ramen shop was located before talking, "...What are they doing?" asked ire with a twitching mouth.


    "Who knows?... We don''t always know what Ki-tan is trying to do." Serafall replied to her, "Let''sy low for now and go look for a ce to stay."


    .


    .


    .


    Within the 1st Division''s barracks, all the Captains except for one gathered to discuss what happenedst night with their Lieutenants outside of the Captain Commander''s office.


    "So there''s nothing else we could find?" Shunsui asked everyone in the room.


    "Almost nothing and everything found is something that we already know." Soifon answered, "We could dedicate more time to searching the Daireishokairou (Great Spirit Book Gallery) but I doubt we could find anything substantial." She then looked towards Byakuya before continuing, "The Royal Guards and the Five Noble ns might have something but obviously, we can''t ess those."


    Byakuya scoffed at her obvious goading and said, "I already asked my n for any rted documents, but as of now, none has turned up yet aside from the rumors that were already circting from long ago."


    At that moment, Mayuri entered the room.


    "How is it?" Shunsui immediately asked.


    Mayuri didn''t beat around the bush and directly said, "There''s nothing much that we know but we''re progressing our research on these doors of Hell. As of now, we can assume that what Szayporro spoutedst now has some truth to it. Captain Commander, I want you to arrange a scouting unit if we find one of these doors and also include some members of the 12th Division in it."


    "Do you have a way to find these doors?"


    "There were some unique Reiatsu signatures when these doors appeared so we can watch out for those."


    "That''s good... But what about the other issue?"


    Mayuri paused for a bit before answering, "Nothing."


    Shunsui and the other Captains raised their brows, "Nothing?"


    "As much as I hate to say it, I have nothing on that strange woman. What I''m sure of, however, is the fact that she''s neither a Shinigami, Quincy, Fullbringer, Hollow, Witch nor a Dragon. Nothing matched her... Well, there''s one thing. She''s just a normal Human but I don''t think any of you will believe me if I say that."


    "..." The whole room became quiet as they were genuinely surprised at Mayuri''s findings.


    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll take my leave first. It''s paramount that we urately track the appearance of these doors." Done with his report, Mayuri proceeded to leave but before hepletely stepped out of the hall, he stopped and turned his head back, "Ah, I almost forgot. That strange woman''s ice is visible to normal Humans. I only have one single piece of evidence so I''ll still need to confirm that."


    As Mayuri left, the Captain of the 4th Division, Isane Kotetsu, muttered, "Visible to normal Humans? How is that possible? Even the Fullbringers'' abilities are invisible to normal Humans."


    Lisa Yadoumaru, Captain of the 8th Division, fixes her sses and replies to her, "Unless it''s something else."


    Curious about a potential opponent, Captain Zaraki turned to her and asked, "Something else?"


    Lisa answered without batting an eye, "Something aside Reiryoku... But that''s..."


    "Impossible." Byakuya finished her words, "A power that''s not derived from Reiryoku... That doesn''t exist."


    "..." Silence covered the hall once again.


    At this time, Shunsui pped his hands to gather everyone''s attention, "Alright. Specting the unknown won''t do us any good. For now, let''s do what we must. Each division will prepare a scouting unit that will be ready to be deployed once one of these doors is found. As for the rest of the manpower avable, send them all to the Human World as a preemptive measure."


    "All the avable manpower?" Soifon asked, "But the Central 46 will go against that."


    "I''ll do something about it so just do your work."


    But just as they were about to leave, a heavy pressure unknown to everyone suddenly descended onto their consciousness. Without missing a beat, Shunsui shouted, "Ring the emergency signals! Cancel all previous arrangements and all units are to get ready for battle and search for any threat! Immediately report if you find something!"


    "Haah!" Everyone saluted before they all left with sh Step.


    Left alone with the very nervous Nanao, Shunsui rubbed his temple while staving off the incredibly dreadful unknown pressure that didn''t seem like a Reiatsu, "Damn... What the hell is that? And what''s going on? Are all of these rted?"


    He''s thinking that someone like Yhwach has descended upon the Soul Society.


    Shunsui gritted his teeth and came to a hard decision, "Nanao... Contact Kurosaki Ichigo."


    "But..."


    "I know... But we don''t have a choice. In any case, once he hears what''s happening right now, he''lle barging in even without an invitation. I at least don''t want him to bete after the first time."


    "...Understood."

 Chapter 1099 Roars of Apocalypse part 2

    Chapter 1099 Roars of Apocalypse part 2


    The moment the unknown and strange pressure descended upon the whole realm, Tenjirou Kirijin, Ouetsu Nimaiya, Senjumaru Shutara, and Kirio Hikifune immediately went to their leader, Ichibe Hyousube, and found him already staring in a certain direction, "Ichibe, what''s going on?" The impatient Tenjirou asked.


    Nevertheless, thetter only silently shook his head.


    "Then do you have any idea what that is?" Senjumaru asked while also turning her head in the direction he was looking at.


    And once again, Ichibe shook his head, "This is my first time encountering something like that. Return to your posts and watch out for any intruders."


    As soon as he gave his instructions, the other four members of the Zero Division disappeared and left.


    Ichibe sat back down, trying to peer through the space but something was blocking his vision, "...As long as the body is intact, there shouldn''t be any problem." He muttered to himself while also expecting a guest that mighte in the next few days, weeks, or monthster, "Those in Hell were freed, so are you an enemy, or an ally?"


    .


    .


    .


    After setting up the pirs, Kisuke immediately activated them. Using Magic Technology as the basis, Kisuke was able to create a system that uses Reishi to produce various effects like how Magic works. And the main function of the five pirs is to hide what''s inside them, "Yosh, that should work as a secondary line of defense."


    Upon activation, the pirs themselves disappeared and when Kisuke walked into its boundary, he disappeared from the view of those who were outside, including the slight aura that he was leaking. When Kisuke confirmed that it was working as intended, he started his next work, which was setting up hisb so that he could start working on the Beast of Hell that Serafall had captured.


    Since the pirs'' effect extends upwards and downwards by a few kilometers, the first thing Kisuke did was dig. Thanks to his mastery over digging, the heaviest work was done within two hours. In total, he dug until the edge of the pentagonal barrier which was 3 kilometers long for each side. As for the depth, he removed all of the earth until he reached the limit of the barrier, which was 4 kilometers deep.


    Without any rest, Kisuke built a rtively small building at a certain corner that would serve as hisb.


    The reason why he made this ce sorge is that Ophis had been wanting to build her own castle and actually had been gathering materials on her own for a while now. He thought that this would be a suitable ce to build it, ''She would probably want a floating castle so I need to supply this ce with Magic Power soon.''


    And for that goal, Kisuke took out the enormous beast that had already been thawed and restrained.


    Kisuke didn''t feel any mercy for the beast and straight up cut one of its arms off.


    The beast cried out in pain but it soon subsided. Confused, the beast turned to its arm and saw it was reattached. But before it could process what was going on, the arm was cut off again before it was reattached once more. This happened multiple times which distressed the beast but Kisuke didn''t care about any of that, ''Kaidou (Healing Kidou) using pure Reiryoku (Spiritual Power) almost had no effect, but Magic based healing technique and potions were effective.''


    Kisuke knew for sure that these beasts are invisible to normal Human eyes so they were of the Soul race, however, he found that most of their Reiatsu was converted to that something simr to Demonic Power and he had a hypothesis about why that was the case, ''Either they are born like this, or these are former Hollows that couldn''t be purified and were dragged into Hell. But because Hell''s environment is something drastically different from the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and Soul Society, they were forced to adapt... Hell could be brimming with Magic Power. Maybe the Magic Power that was supposed to be for this world was gathered on that side instead?''


    Nheless, all of these are still just spection from Kisuke''s side and he would need more data. The poor beast''s suffering had only just started.


    .


    .


    .


    A weekter, the beast finally couldn''t take the stress its body and mind was being subjected to and died. In the first ce, Kisuke wasn''t exactly careful with it and just let it go to observe its death as the final test. The same as the other Beast of the Hell, it melted into a pool of Phosphosm from Hell that turned acidic whenever it was cut by a Zanpakuto.


    The same as when Sona produced Phosphosm, he couldn''t figure much from it aside from that it was what makes up the beast''s body and was maintained through the energy that is very simr to Demonic Power, ''For simplicity''s sake, I''ll just call it Demonic-Hollow Power since it''sced with a Hollow''s aura. It has the same properties anyway, just the way it''s being used is different. Since Sona produced Phosphosm when she Hollowfied, it should be urate.''


    Aside from that, Kisuke found out that Hell must be brimming with Magic Power, or its derivative, the Demonic Power for it to forcefully transform a Hollow to something like this, ''I should think of a way to connect Hell to this ce. As long as Magic Power or something simr to it is in here, I''ll have more freedom in what I want to do.''


    Kisuke finally came out of hisb for the first time the whole week and if he wasn''t mistaken, Ophis, Lilith, and nna had also just finished now and should be waiting for him, ''I wonder if anyone was able to sleep that whole week? Everyone should be tired so this is a good opportunity.''


    Kisuke came out of the ground and saw Ophis, Lilith, and nna sitting around a table that Ophis created with her power, waiting for him.


    "Boss! You''re finally out!" nna waved at her while Ophis and Lilith were staring at him with anticipation.


    "I just finished now. Hold on, I''m taking out the snacks. Thank you all for your hard work~" As soon as Kisuke reached the table, he poured out the snacks he prepared for the three, "By the way, what did you end up doing for you to release that massive amount of [Infinite] and [Illusion] aura?"


    nna didn''t answer because her mouth was already stuffed, instead, she swung her arm sideways and the space cracked open, revealing their work.


    What was supposed to be the dark and gloomy void of Garganta had now changed into a multicolored dizzying kaleidoscope, "Dimensional Gap?"


    nna nodded and Lilith spoke for her, "We''re born from it. Not as much as the original but it''s our home."


    Kisuke stuck his arm in and found a simr tearing force as the original but not as much. But what confused him is the variant of Magic Power that''s a bit violent from what he originally knew flowing through this ''Dimensional Gap'', "Wait, how is this possible? You''re not providing it, are you?"


    nna swallowed her food and answered, "Oh, that? We tried to expand it as much as possible so we ended up crashing into many spaces to push this space away from others. While doing it, we found this very wide space that doesn''t seem to be present in your stories. It''s filled with this strange variant of Magic Power but I guess we can chalk it up to this ce being a different dimension in the first ce. Thanks to that, we don''t have to maintain this ''Dimensional Gap''."


    "..." Kisuke was speechless for a moment, "So you created a hole in that space and let its contents spill to this ''Dimensional Gap'' and used that as a power source?"


    "Yep~! Precisely! As expected of Boss!"


    Kisuke rubbed his head while his mouth twitched.


    Concerned with his expression, Ophis worryingly asked, "...Did we do something wrong?"


    Hearing that, Kisuke immediately shook his head and patted Ophis'' head, "No, no. Nothing like that. In fact, you did well. You just reduced my workload immensely."

 Chapter 1100 Meeting Again

    Chapter 1100 Meeting Again


    The Dragon trio had their fill and asked Ophis and Lilith to go back first, "They probably already found somewhere to stay. If you two want to enroll with them in a school, just tell Sera-chan."


    Ophis and Lilith didn''t ask any questions and just directly disappeared. Meanwhile, nna stood up and asked, "What do you have for me, boss?"


    "We''re going to meet someone. But before we do that, let me ask. How effective are illusion or hypnosis abilities on you?"


    "Oh? Very effective!" Kisuke received an unexpected answer.


    "...Very effective?" Because of her response, Kisuke started rethinking his ns for today, ''I have to employ another method.''


    While deep in thought, nna continued, "Even if I''m not the intended target, I can see whatever the ability wants to show."


    Kisuke found something strange with the way she worded it, "Even if you''re not the intended target? So you can tell if you or someone is being subjected to an illusion or hypnosis?"


    "Of course! You can''t call me the True Dragon of Illusions and Dreams if I can''t see any of it."


    Kisuke sighed in relief. Thinking about it, she''s right. If she''s not sensitive towards illusions or anything fake, then there''s no point for her authority, "Alright. Let''s go meet a friend of mine. We can''t directly teleport there yet because I didn''t know teleportation when Ist came there so just follow me closely."


    "Got it~!"


    .


    .


    .


    It''s the middle of the night and there''s still a lot of Shinigami going around inside the Seireitei, however, all of them are obviously tired with heavy bags under their eyes and some of them are sleeping on the streets.


    "What happened to them?" nna curiously asked.


    "They were very busy this past week. It''s only now that they could rest properly." Kisuke looked around as both of them stood on the top of the Seireiheki (Pure Soul Wall) that surrounds the whole Seireitei. It''s made out of a rare type of stone called Sekkiseki (Spirit Reducing Stone) due to this, the Seireitei is always surrounded by a spherical barrier that stops anything spiritual from breaching it. The only way in is the gate at the four cardinal directions of the Seireitei or using a mode of transport that blocks the barrier''s effect.


    Thankfully, by just simply covering themselves with Ki or Magic Power, the barrier didn''t have any effect on them and they could quietly get in from any point of the wall.


    After deciding their route, Kisuke jumped down and started running through theplicated streets of the Seireitei while conjuring a nk white mask, turning his Shihakushou into a normal civilian clothes, and changing the color of his hair to ck using Magic. It''s not as effective as Tiamat''s disguise and even Tanis would be able to see through him with a single stare, but it''s enough against these people who don''t know Magic. And due to them not using any Spiritual Power, they are essentially invisible to everyone and it didn''t take long for them to reach the 1st Division''s barracks.


    Carefully making their way inside, Kisuke and nna soon found the entrance to Central Great Underground Prison. But before they could enter, Kisuke suddenly stopped in his tracks. nna looked at him curiously but didn''t talk.


    ''This is... Aizen-san''s Spiritual Sense? Is he trying to figure out what''s going on outside? He''s really amazing since he could reach this far despite the bindings on him.'' Kisuke thought for a moment before entering the prison.


    Unbeknownst to them, a single eye was watching them from the shadows.


    Kisuke and nna reached the other levels and went directly to the 8th and deepest level, the Muken (Avici). Despite the incredibly intricate lock that the prison has, Kisuke and nna just bypassed it by feeling the other side and teleporting directly inside.


    nna curiously looked around and asked, "So, who are we meeting in this dreary ce?"


    "Thergest presence you can feel. That''s the guy." Kisuke answered and confidently walked towards the ring Reiatsu. He didn''t try to hide because he already found him, "Make sure that my mind is intact."


    The pair walked for a few minutes until they reached a sizable pir with a man pinned on it by six red rods, "I didn''t expect another guest so soon. Do you intend to destroy the Soul Society too?"


    A familiar condescending voice immediately greeted them.


    Kisuke partially shifted his voice and replied with a chuckle, "That''s some grave usations. I''m not here for such a violent reason."


    Truthfully speaking, Kisuke only came here to confirm the bindings on him and ask one single question. He has other ns for him but that''s for theter stages of his overall objective.


    The impaled man, Aizen Sosuke, eyed his visitors trying to get more information from them. But aside from the Shihakushou, the man is wearing signifying that he''s a Shinigami, both of them felt like normal Humans, and the fact that they were standing in front of him now, that''s an impossibility, "There are only two types of people who seek me. One is those who ask for my power to destroy and the other are those who want to protect something. I''m curious about the two of you so be d that I''m willing to listen. Do not be reserved and express what you want." At the same time, his Reiatsu silently surged.


    Behind his mask, Kisuke grinned, "Are you some kind of Devil?"


    "Devil? Ah, you must be referring to that Human literature. A being of Hell that grants wishes for one''s soul for a price. Sure. Call me that. It also matches the asion of the doors of Hell ope-..."


    But Aizen could finish his words when the woman with ming red hair suddenly swung her arm sideways, brushing away the power he was spreading.


    "Boss, that guy is trying to alter your perception of time and sound. I already dealt with it though."


    Aizen''s smile widened, "Interesting. How did you do that? I couldn''t feel anything from you. What are you?"


    While his attention was on nna, Kisuke thought about what nna said, ''Time and sound?'' He already expected Aizen to gain an advantage while talking to him and he thought he''ll try to alter his perception of space to make it appear that he was farther than he appeared, ''Why time and sound?''


    At that moment, Kisuke and nna''s excellent hearing caught the sound of a heavy door moving, "!?"


    Kisuke hurriedly turned in the direction of the single entrance and exit of Muken, "I see... When you said you didn''t expect another guest so soon, it''s because you already had one not long ago. And here I thought you were referring to Yhwach''s visit 12 years ago."


    From the shadows, Shunsui Kyouraku came out with his Shikai and silently stared at Kisuke.


    Kisuke was surprised at his appearance but immediately got over it and thought of how he could possibly evade their detection. His eyes turned to his twin des and a certain possibility emerged in his mind, "I see... You started a game to hide. I thought you can''t y a game on your own?"


    Shunsui stopped his steps and was obviously bothered by his words, "...I''m surprised. You know too much."


    The strange man might not have guessed it exactly, but it was too close forfort.

 Chapter 1101 Secret Meeting

    Chapter 1101 Secret Meeting


    When the strange pressure descended on all realms, the first thing Shunsui did after delegating all of his duties was to open the Muken. As he never returned the key for it to Central 46 after the Great War, he could enter the ce anytime. Naturally, some members of the Central 46 tried to take it back but after threatening them with revealing Ichigo''s involvement with the war and his Quincy lineage to the public, they all stopped.


    Shunsui truly wanted to recognize Ichigo''s effort for saving the Soul Society and the whole world atrge, but he couldn''t do so since the recovering Soul Society was still not prepared to ept a Quincy as their savior. In any case, it was a very useful card to use whenever he wanted to contradict Central 46''s decisions, although he won''t be able to use it many times.


    After he entered the Muken, he went straight to one of the ''Greatest Wall'' of Soul Society and if the owner of that pressure intended to take on the Seireitei, he''d being for Aizen first. Without any hesitation, Shunsui used his Bankai on him and pulled him into a game of ''hide and seek'' with Aizen as the ''it''.


    Because of his Bankai''s ability, only Aizen will be able to find him. In that state of ''hiding'' however, Shunsui won''t be able to do anything aside from hide unless he cancels his ability.


    For the whole week, Shunsui is hiding near the Central Great Underground Prison with an amused Aizen searching for him to stave off his boredom.


    And as a side effect of that game, Shunsui was able to monitor the whole 1st Division barracks and prison without anyone able to perceive his presence. The Beasts of Hell were rampaging in multiple ces within the Human World throughout the whole week and he thought that no one would being after the strange pressure disappeared, yet here he is, facing an unusual guest, ''Hiding for a bit longer was a correct decision.''


    Shunsui prepared himself to attack at any given moment but when he confirmed that the strange man and woman were not doing anything strange, he also kept his hands, "Who are you? An envoy of Hell perhaps?"


    Since Kisuke is wearing a Shinigami garb, Shunsui assumed that he came out of Hell. And just like the Beasts of Hell and Szayporro, neither of them exudes any form of Reiatsu aside from that of a normal Human would. And since he came from Hell, Shunsui predicted that he was at least on Captain level and the fact that he was able to silently enter Muken using a strange technique makes him very dangerous.


    ''We couldn''t perform the Spirit Festival Ritual for Yoruichi and Kisuke because they disappeared instead of dying with their bodies disintegrated like the Old Yama so he or she is probably neither of them. A Shinigami of another generation?''


    Kisuke, meanwhile, thought about his question, ''Looks like the problem with the doors of Hell is only escting. I have to confirm if there''s an intention of invasion from the other side soon.''


    Everyone became quiet, trying to gauge each other, except for onedy, "Boss, isn''t this fine?"


    Kisuke looked at her with interest, "What are you trying to say?"


    "It''s not you to hesitate like this."


    Kisuke became even more confused at her words, "Hesitate? What do you mean?"


    Meanwhile, the other two just listened closely to their conversation without interrupting them.


    "Just drag them to your problem. It''s not like they can refuse. In any case, you need more people to understand or at least, know what you''re doing so that you don''t have to create all sorts of workarounds just to amodate a few things."


    Kisuke thought that nna was just misunderstanding things but then his mind went back to the time before they entered this world.


    The Soul King is trying to do something but most of it was failed attempts and his return was also one of these attempts. He doesn''t know what he''s trying to do but if he''s really the one who urged Byakko to send him and Yoruichi away, he might be trying to show him something.


    But despite thinking more about it, as he just didn''t have any information, that''s all he could glean from it and he wasn''t even sure that''s what the Soul King intended. Then again, he had a slight idea of what it is.


    What nna was telling him now was to drag these two to the unknown ''problem'' that the Soul King presented him that might catch up to him without him knowing, ''...And is it a coincidence that the doors of Hell pried open from the other side or is it an eventuality?''


    Kisuke then looked at Aizen and Shunsui and thought that these two people are actually the most trustworthy. Aizen is a power-hungry guy that wants to destroy whatever is limiting him. Meanwhile, Shunsui is very different from the stubborn and strict former Captain Commander as he''s someone who would disregard tradition if it means it is something he has to do. They are trustworthy because if given enough reason, they could work side by side without the others knowing.


    Kisuke sighed and came to a decision. Even without saying a word, nna knew that she was able to sessfully urge him into ditching his ''one-man army'' mentality, "I''m not needed here anymore so I''m going back first."


    Since she couldn''t just go in and out of existence like Ophis and Lilith do whenever they''re together, nna first had to open a hole to leave.


    This shocked both Aizen and Shunsui because this is the Muken where the concentration of Reishi is the same as the Soul Pce in addition to multiple security measures that blocked any spatial maniption within it, so cutting open the space would need a special procedure and equipment. However, nna just did it like she was just going out for a walk.


    "Alright, before we start, I have a question for the both of you." Kisuke grabbed their attention back.


    "I have a feeling that you''ll be offering something big, go on." Aizen''s interest and curiosity about the pair deepened.


    Shunsui sealed back his Zanpakuto and said, "Whatever it is, I''m not letting you out of this prison." Of course, he''s talking to Aizen. The strange man probably had the same ability to leave abruptly as the strange woman from earlier so there''s no point in stopping him. What he needs to do is stop him from freeing the other prisoners down here.


    "That''s a shame." Aizen chuckled before turning his eyes back to Kisuke.


    Kisuke went quiet for a moment before asking his question, "Do you think this world is a mistake?"

 Chapter 1102 Unveiled

    Chapter 1102 Unveiled


    Upon hearing his question, a contrasting expression emerged from Aizen and Shunsui''s faces.


    "What an interesting thing to ask now. Of course, this world is a mistake. The world may have its ruler but its stability should never depend on a single being," the former instantly answered while grinning.


    Shunsui, on the other hand, sighed with a deep frown, "What a heretical question... That''s not something I can answer."


    "You just gave us your answer." Aizenmented, "I know your hatred of nobles, more specifically, the injustices they are doing for the sake of their own power. And after discovering the greatest injustice, the Five Noble n''s [Original Sin] years ago, you couldn''t look at this world the same anymore. Unfortunately, you''re powerless to do anything but ept the current status quo."


    Shunsui could only remain silent. Because they were in Muken, Shunsui couldfortably keep his mouth shut. If this is any other ce, he would have instantly denounced Aizen if anyone else was listening.


    "Why does it sound like you have a solution?" Kisuke asked again and Shunsui also became curious about this and perked his ears.


    Seeing that the strange man is not perturbed by his words, Aizen assumes that he also knew about this [Original Sin] and started guessing his identity.


    "There''s no point in it as I am just a loser," Aizen answered.


    "You might be a loser but you''re also one of the only two people who came close to overthrowing this world."


    "Well, it''s nothing grand. The main goal is to let [Death] hold the world together and the first step is to remove the tumors from the cycle of reincarnation called ''Soul Society'' and ''Shinigami''."


    Although Aizen was only speaking in a soft voice, Shunsui still involuntarily shuddered at his statement. He doesn''t understand what he meant but hearing him talk about ''removing'' the Soul Society and Shinigamis made him shudder in fear. Shunsui nervously chuckled to hide his feelings and said, "How terrifying. I''m d you were defeated."


    "That''s why I said there''s already no point to it."


    Aizen''s attention then returned to Kisuke and said, "Now that we''ve answered your questions, what do you have for us?"


    "I''m sorry, but onest thing." Kisuke turned to Shunsui, "Hell will most likely be hostile considering why they were sent there in the first ce apart from probably few people. This will spark a new conflict and maybe evenrger than what we saw with the Great War."


    ''We?'' Both Aizen and Shunsui questioned themselves.


    "My question is, are you willing to secretly cooperate with unknown people to mitigate this threat?"


    Shunsui thought about it for a moment and befitting his reputation of ''nonstandard'', he smiled and didn''t hesitate to say, "If it benefits us both in the short and long run, why not? And we keep this meeting between us a secret as long as necessary."


    There are too many people within the Seireitei who wanted him taken out so if what the strange man could offer bes his hidden ace, he''ll be willing to take it, ''I don''t know what he came here for but it seems like he has no intention of freeing Aizen. That would be truly disastrous.'' Although he knows that there''s no way anyone could just control Aizen, the slight possibility of it still happening always gives him nightmares.


    Aizen and Shunsui were eagerly awaiting what the strange man was going to show them but the unreadable pressure that he emitted suddenly changed to a more familiar one, "!?" Aizen and Shunsui looked at each other with surprised expressions and wanted to confirm if their senses were not fooling them.


    It was a very familiar pressure yet there''s something very different from it so the both of them aren''t sure.


    The man didn''t make them wait as the Magic that was covering his Shihakushou and hair receded. Lastly, he removed his mask and took a deep breath, "Fuwa~ That was stuffy!"


    Kisuke, with arge grin, looked at the dumbfounded Aizen and Shunsui, "What''s up? Saw a ghost?"


    Aizen''s surprised expression immediately returned to a neutral one, "Indeed, a ghost of the past. Unless you were thrown to Hell, it doesn''t exin your disappearance and that strange power."


    "To think you were still alive... But how? The ritual wasn''t performed for both of you and Yoruichi." Shunsui asked, "Is there another way to reach Hell?"


    "No. Both of you misunderstand. I''ve never stepped a single foot in Hell."


    "So you never died? But you haven''t shown yourself this past decade? And why did you sneak into Muken?"


    "I wanted to ask Aizen-san something but my ns have changed." Kisuke then turned to Aizen before continuing, "Speaking of which, I wanted to ask, is the Hougyoku still with you?"


    Shunsui was instantly rmed. The Hougyoku is the sole item that allowed Aizen to attain the power he has so his reaction is understandable.


    Aizen stared at Kisuke for a few moments. He contemted what answer he should give but ultimately, he decided to be truthful, "It''s gone." Naturally, he didn''t answer honestly because he just felt like it but wanted to gauge Kisuke''s reaction as he asked a question that shouldn''t have gone through someone''s mind, ''Unless they experienced the Hougyoku themselves. Did he create a second one?''


    "I see." Kisuke nodded at him and he also knew that he''d be revealing that he has one at some point to him, "Don''t worry about it, Kyouraku-san, the Hougyoku is not in anyone''s hand nor anyone will be able to find it."


    Shunsui sighed, "This isn''t really good for my health. And what do you propose that we do?" He instantly changed the topic as they are already running out of time. Although he entered the Muken alone, opening its locks is not a secret that he could keep and someone is probably keeping an eye on how much time he was spending inside, ''And this is my second time entering in such a short amount of time. I don''t want them thinking that I''m secretly coborating with Aizen.''


    Kisuke also knows about his plight and said, "We won''t be able to talk properly here so I won''t be able to answer many of your questions. For now, I request you to make official contact with the woman who uses ice."


    "You know her!?"


    "Her?" Aizen curiously asked as he didn''t know about any of this.


    Kisuke, however, didn''t give a concrete answer and a Magic Circle appeared beneath his feet before he started disappearing, "As long as I don''t be your enemy, they won''t be your enemies. And please keep my association with them a secret."


    "W-what''s happening!?"


    Kisukepletely disappeared while Aizen answered Shunsui with a deadpan expression, "Teleportation."


    "Teleportation!? That exists!? It''s not your unique ability?"


    Aizen then smirked at him, "That''s how the Visoreds escaped my hands from long ago."


    What Aizen didn''t tell him, however, the ''Teleportation'' that Kisuke used didn''t use Reiryoku but something entirely different, ''Interesting. Will you preserve or destroy this world, I wonder?''


    Anyhow, Aizen has a feeling that he''ll be seeing the sky again not long after this meeting.

 Chapter 1103 Strange Kid

    Chapter 1103 Strange Kid


    After a week of work, Kisuke finally returned to Urahara Shop, only to stop in his tracks when he felt Ururu and Jinta''s presence in it.


    Thanks to Tessai''s study, he was able to feel Kisuke''s unique aura and turned in his direction, only to see Kisuke shaking his head at him. Tessai sighed and continued talking to Ururu and Jinta.


    Ururu and Jinta are now in their early to mid-20s and currently attending a university out of town. Kisuke doesn''t know why they returned now but it probably has something to do with the current situation. Nevertheless, Kisuke thought that they grew up well considering they were his first proper attempt to create a Gigai that closely mimics a Human''s body and artificial Souls.


    Although Kisuke kept developing the Mod Soul technology after Ururu and Jinta, he never made another one again. Kon is supposed to be their third brother but he dyed his development because of the former two. In the end, Kisuke gave him a chance to live but finished and left him to Ichigo''s care.


    Like the Hogyoku, he created the artificial Souls due to his morbid curiosity. Kisuke doesn''t regret creating them as a respect to the life they are living, but he''ll never do it again. Instead, he just kept on improving on Mod Souls that don''t have minds of their own and only have a set of instructions to work with.


    After watching for a while, Kisuke left the scene and called Serafall to ask them where they were right now. Since it was nighttime, Kisuke could feel various presences moving about, including a few Beasts of Hell. But seeing that there was nothing urgent, he didn''t take a look, ''Mayuri will probably be able to find a way to open his own door to Hell in a week or two.''


    While thinking about this, Kisuke reached his destination and he didn''t have to knock as Tanis opened the door for him when she felt him approaching, "Wee home~!"


    Kisuke patted her head with a smile and said, "I''m home."


    He then saw Serafall peek from the hall with her casual attire, "I heard from Ophis about what you did. Couldn''t you have at least given us a warning?"


    Kisuke chuckled and entered the house, "I would''ve if I could. I left them to their own devices and didn''t think they''d go all out like that. Though thanks to that we got a pretty safe space we can use."


    The three of them went straight to the living room where everyone else was staying and watching the T.V. "Kisuke-niichan~ Wee home~" ire immediately greeted him and Kunou did the same.


    "I''m home." Kisuke sat down and as he did, he noticed some folded clothes within a transparent stic set to the side, "Uniforms? Did you guys enroll?"


    Tanis beside him nodded, "We''ll be starting tomorrow."


    "I see. Get along with your ssmates, alright?"


    .


    .


    .


    After some small talk, the young girls along with the three Dragon gods went to bed, leaving only Serafall and Kisuke in the living room, "How did it go?"


    "I went around helping out exterminating those monsters, establishing my presence, but I never talked to any of them." Serafall stretched her arms, trying to unt her assets, "I made it clear where my base of operation is."


    Sadly for her, if it''s not the time to joke around, Kisuke would never get affected by this, even if a sensually dancing beautiful woman is beside him, "You want to maintain a mysterious aura?"


    Serafall pouted a bit knowing that her attempt had failed, "Not really. I just want to increase the curiosity they have for me and the girls. I want to see how they''ll react. But aside from a certain group of people, no one has really approached us. It seems that without explicit instructions from theirmanders, they''ll never engage with us as long as we don''t antagonize them."


    "That group of people is probably Mayuri''s agents trying to gather information."


    "Mayuri?"


    "That guy who reced me and the one who does the majority of their technological advances within Soul Society right now. If not for the doors of Hell, he''d probably send some people to fight you to gain more data on you. And if you turn hostile, he''ll probably do his best to kidnap you and turn you guys intob rats and no one would be able to say anything against it."


    "S-sounds like a very unpleasant guy..." The corner of Serafall''s lips twitched. Although there are plenty of characters like this Mayuri guy on the other side, Serafall never thought she''d see one that does it so openly.


    "You could say that. He''s the type of guy that will not hesitate to sacrifice the innocent and his men if it means achieving his goal. Though as long as there are other methods, he won''t easily turn to that."


    "I see. So just don''t recklessly block his path of retreat."


    "Exactly." Kisuke nodded strongly, thinking of ways to mess with him now that he thought about him, ''Should I start making things thatpete with his creations? His reaction would be priceless.''


    "By the way, I made a secret agreement with the current Captain Commander so you should expect a contact from him sooner orter."


    "Will we get invited to Soul Society?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "I doubt it. Unless something big happens, that''s not gonna happen. Despite beingrger than the world of the living to amodate all the souls that are passing through, Soul Society is still a closed-off space where ''outsiders'' are not wee. First, someone will probably secretly contact you, then you''ll cooperate with them to create an opportunity to get closer to others to make it appear more natural."


    As someone who once managed foreign affairs, Serafall understood the underlying meaning of this meeting and started thinking of things to increase their negotiation power, ''It alles down to this Hell problem, huh? Wait, now that I think about it, I haven''t mentioned that to him.''


    "Ki-tan, a few days ago while doing my usual rounds of investigations, I found a strange kid."


    "Strange?"


    "Yes. I dug around for a bit and found his identity. The kid is Ichigo Kurosaki''s child and the scent of Hell on him is way thicker than normal, so it made me think that he has some regr contact with the ce."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, "Really?"


    "Yes. It''s to the point that there''s a marginal amount of Demonic Power within him and there are some traces of it being utilized."


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before saying, "Leave the kid to me. But if you can make a natural contact with him, please do so."


    "Understood." Serafall stood up, intending to return to her room now, "Andstly, I think there''s a build-up of forces on the other side of the doors. I think I''ll use that opportunity to ''help''."

 Chapter 1104 Enrollment

    Chapter 1104 Enrollment


    The next morning, Kisuke, Serafall, Ophis, Lilith, and nna saw ire, Tanis, and Kunou off from the front door on their way to their new school. Although Ophis and Lilith also wanted to go, it''s extremely hard for them to socialize and pretend to be like a normal Human that has nothing to do with anything supernatural.


    They may have been fine with the Ouroboros Academy but they might endanger the lives of the normal kids so Kisuke didn''t give them permission to go. Naturally, Ophis and Lilith protested and Kisuke had to think of an alternative, ''Hmmm... Where in the world do I find a school that doesn''t see strange kids as strange?''


    Kisuke thought for a while and was able toe up with something. He turned to the sulking ''twins'' and asked, "In your current state, how far can you shapeshift?"


    "As long as we''re together, anything." Ophis immediately answered.


    "But our abilities will be limited to that of the shapeshifted form. And it''ll take some time to return to normal." Lilith supplemented.


    ''I see. So that''s the price they have to pay in their current state.'' Kisuke went through his idea once more and asked another question, "You won''t be ssmates with ire and the others, but you''ll be going to a school. Is that fine with you?"


    Ophis and Lilith nodded vigorously. It''s a lot better than being left out and they really can''t stay still like what nna is doing most of the time. Furthermore, they quite like the concept of learning and anything that supplements their knowledge would do.


    "I have something in mind where you could enroll and don''t have to worry about appearing out of ce, only if the two of you can shapeshift into a ''Soul race''."


    Serafall, who was quietly listening from the side, was surprised, "Are you actually thinking of enrolling them there?"


    "I think it''ll be a good experience for them." Kisuke is thinking of enrolling them in the Spiritual Arts Academy where prospective Shinigamis are being trained.


    Ophis and Lilith didn''t answer and instead, they linked their hands and a surge of strange power enveloped the both of them.


    After a while, Kisuke, Serafall, and nna witness their aura radically transformed, turning their unique Draconic aura into that of a ck Reiatsu.


    Kisuke immediately checked their physiology and found out that they did turn into a Soul that''s invisible to normal people, ''This is nuts... It was just an idea but to think they could really just transform into something else.''


    nna guessed what Kisuke was thinking after looking at his facial expression and said, "That''s the true power of ''Infinity'' and the true nature of her ''Shapeshifting''. You could say that she''s only a Dragon God because she chose to do so and the raw power she possesses is because of that deration."


    With their Reiatsu receding, Ophis and Lilith opened their eyes and simultaneously said, "I''m a Dragon."


    nna waved her hand in dismissal, "Yeah, yeah. You''re a Dragon. But you can''t dere something like that easily if you don''t want to revert back."


    As nna said, Ophis and Lilith''s ck Reiatsu started ring up again, and slowly, it''s turning to something ''Draconic''. The two of them ignored nna and stabilized their power. A secondter, their Reiatsu became pure again.


    Nevertheless, this instance told both Kisuke and Serafall what the ''Infinite Dragon God'' truly is.


    While deep in their thoughts, Ophis and Lilith excitedly looked at Kisuke and asked, "Can we attend now?!"


    Watching their anticipation, all theplexity in Kisuke''s mind disappeared, and patted their heads with a smile, "Yep. As long as you can maintain that, you''ll be able to attend the school in the Soul Society."


    Kisuke and Serafall looked at each other and even without saying a word, both of them knew that they hade to the same conclusion, ''No matter what form they take, the fact that they''re ''Ophis'' and ''Lilith'' wouldn''t change.''


    Kisuke then turned to nna and asked, "What about you? What do you want to do?"


    nna didn''t really give it a deep thought and just replied, "Hmm... Maybe I''ll go exploring? Can I go to the other side? I want to observe more. It feels like I''m missing something."


    Kisuke and Serafall are not as worried as nna as they are for Ophis and Lilith. Even though she''d act childish, there''s always a n behind her actions if she wanted to do something. In their opinion, it''s better to leave her alone the same as when she was still roaming the Dimensional Gap.


    "It''s fine. As long as you don''t destroy Reverse London."


    nna smiled and flew at high speed, but not before leaving very worrying words, "So it''s fine I just take over it! Thanks, boss! I''ll get going!"


    "..."


    "..."


    Kisuke and Serafall were speechless.


    "Ki-tan... Is that alright?" Serafall nervously asked.


    Kisuke was also shocked. But unlike Serafall, he''s feeling a bit different, "I think it''s fine. Although she''s very stupid at many things, she''s very wise at certain topics."


    Kisuke kept it secret that he was actually anticipating to see what kind of uproar she''ll cause a bit.


    Sadly for him, Serafall could already see through him but she could only sigh.


    "Well then, I''ll apany Ophis-chan and Lilith-chan to the entrance exam. Since they possess a sizable amount of Reiatsu, they should pass without any problems."


    Serafall bid them goodbye and Kisuke took the ''twins'' to a remote corner of the town before opening a Garganta to reach a far corner of the Rukongai.


    Since thend of the Rukongai was technically wide enough to house all of the Souls that arrived from the Human World, Kisuke, Ophis, and Lilithnded in a very distant ce from the Seireitei.


    Thankfully, this isn''t really an obstacle for them as Kisuke could just hide their figures and travel at amazing speeds. He had to carry Ophis and Lilith because they really had no idea how to control Reiatsu even though they had basic control over it as if it was just an extension of their bodies.


    It didn''t take them long to reach the Seireitei''s wall and find the booth where one could register for an examination. This year''s round of examinations was already over a month ago, however, the booth was still open for special cases. The Seireitei didn''t want to miss exceptional individuals just because they didn''t reach the deadline.


    But before they approached them, Kisuke asked Ophis and Lilith to change their clothes simr to the people around them.


    That was easy for them and they instantly looked like a pair of teenage twins from a respectable part of the Rukongai. However, there''s another reason why Kisuke stopped for a moment, "Listen, I''m going to teach you how to properly control your Reiatsu. Before you enter, you have to learn this first, or else, the moment you grab one of those Asauchis, they''ll absorb your Reiatsu and grow uncontrobly."


    Although Kisuke said ''control'', he''ll just be teaching them how not to leak their Reiatsu to avoid most of the problems they''ll be facing.


    As of now, both of them have simr levels of Reiatsu as a Captain of the Gotei 13 deep within their bodies. Kisuke doesn''t know how it normalized to the same level when Ophis is supposedly ''bigger'' than Lilith. However, the main problem is when they connect and release everything they have. Kisuke doesn''t know exactly how much but he has a feeling that it''ll be on par with Aizen''s if not more.

 Chapter 1105 The 5th Division

    Chapter 1105 The 5th Division


    After making sure that they could keep a tight lid on their Reiatsu, Kisuke disguised himself to appear like an old man and brought them to the booth, "Excuse me, good sir, I''d like to enroll my daughters in the Spiritual Arts Academy. Is this the right ce?"


    The lethargic Shinigami manning the booth peaked at them and yawned, "That''s right. But the general examinations are already over. Go back next year."


    "But I heard you can enroll all year round?"


    The Shinigami shook his head, "Only for special individuals, old man. Go back and try again next year." Since he could hardly feel any Reiatsu from the ck-haired twins, he assumed that they were just normal applicants.


    "B-but we''vee from quite a far distance so we can''t really go back like this. I assure you that my daughters are special so can you please consider them?"


    The Shinigami looked at them silently for a few moments before sighing in defeat. He''s already manned this booth for more than a decade and he already came across people like this group. From his experience, it''s better to entertain them now and show them that their kids are not special, "Fine. Release your Reiatsu. Depending on its amount, it''ll be decided if you''ll be granted an exception."


    ''Who am I kidding?'' Thought the Shinigami, ''Those who enroll in the academy can''t even control the release of their Reiatsu. If one could control it, they are already half done with the entire curricu-- !?''


    But before he could finish his thoughts, a pressure so heavy that he almost smacked himself into the ground descended upon him and his immediate surroundings, ''They''re limiting their Reiatsu!? And this pressure, at least Lieutenant level!?''


    The Shinigami immediately stood up and hurriedly told them, "Stop! That''s enough!"


    Ophis and Lilith reeled back their Reiatsu and let the poor Shinigami catch his breath, "W-what''s your name?"


    "Ophis." "Lilith."


    The Shinigami managed to calm his breath and feigned a cough, "Ophis and Lilith. Strange names around these parts but that doesn''t matter. I''ll bring you inside to get you further tested. If nothing is amiss, you''ll be ced in the elerated ss."


    The Shinigami closed his booth and urged the two, "Follow me."


    Because of the earlier shock, he forgot about the ''parent'', "U-uhmmm... Good sir? Where are you bringing them exactly?"


    "Ah... I almost forgot. What''s your name, old man?"


    "J-John Smith."


    "You look like you''re of eastern descent though? Well, it doesn''t matter. John Smith, your daughters passed and I''m bringing them inside to get further tested and by the end of the day, they should be in ss #1. As you''re a civilian, I can''t allow you inside so wait for them here."


    "A-alright, sir Shinigami. Please take care of them."


    The Shinigami just nodded at the disguised Kisuke and urged the Ophis and Lilith to follow him. Since Kisuke had already reminded them of what they needed to do, Ophis and Lilith unceremoniously followed the Shinigami.


    As soon as they passed through a small gate on the side of the Eastern Gate, Kisuke walked away and disappeared into a certain alley, ''I don''t know how they will turn out but I look forward to what they''ll do.''


    While opening the Garganta, he was reminded of Aizen''s answer to his question, ''Removing the Shinigamis and Soul Society, huh? That really might be the only way.'' Of course, Kisuke understood that Aizen was not referring to their existence themselves, but their ''duties''. In the cycle of Souls, there shouldn''t be a need for a ce where one could experience a second life or disced Souls that needed to be manually found before they could join the cycle.


    ''Thinking about it right now won''t do me any good. I still have to make sense of Sera-chan''s report about Ichigo''s kid.''


    .


    .


    .


    With the only one left alone, Serafall cleaned the house for a few minutes before leaving for her usual patrol in an attempt to understand more of the world. If she wanted to learn more, there was nothing better than looking around during a crisis.


    ''Should I go to that ce where most of the pseudo-Demonic Power is gathering?'' Serafall doesn''t know how Kisuke''s aplice will contact her but it''s better for her to take the initiative and set the negotiation table to her advantage.


    Establishing her ns, Serafall decided to go to the neighboring city, Naruki City, west of Karakura Town and her exact destination is a park.


    As Naruki City is argemercial area, there are a lot of people moving about within the urban jungle, but when she reached the wide park, there were almost no people aside from those who were walking their pets. Serafall was able to pinpoint several points of pseudo-Demonic Power gathering but she ignored it for now and turned her attention to the numerous Shinigami patrolling the area.


    Serafall sat down on a bench and her eyesnded on the man with brown eyes and jaw-length blonde hair with a straight cut wearing a white robe over his Shihakusho, ''The 5th Division. Shinji Hirako, I believe? It looks like they know that something big ising in this area.''


    After some time observing their movements, Serafall is sure that they still couldn''t detect the existence of the pseudo-Demonic Power, however, they could still predict the appearance of these ''doors'' through the movement of the Spiritual Power itself.


    But as time went on, Serafall couldn''t help but frown, ''Why are they not setting up a ward to remove people?'' It was then that Serafall recalled a list of articles she read in her free time about a sudden mysterious death that seems to be choosing people at random, ''Wait... Could it be that they can''t ?''


    Serafall looked around one more to her surroundings and saw normal people blissfully unaware of what danger they are in right now.


    "Tch." Clicking her tongue in frustration Serafall decided to intervene a lot earlier than she had nned, "I just can''t ignore this, can I?"


    Though before she made her own ward, Serafall needed to confirm if they really can''t do it. And since she maye off as threatening if she just suddenly appears around them, she needs to grab their attention from afar, ''I can''t directly call their Captain... In that case...'' Her eyesnded on the girl who was wearing the 5th Division''s lieutenant armband and is currently directing the other Shinigamis.


    Serafall conjured an ice ball as big as a coin andunched it toward the Lieutenant.


    "!?"


    Thanks to the Lieutenant''s heightened guard against enemies they couldn''t easily detect, she was able to detect the ball of ice just before it hit her and moved out of the way. She hurriedly turned to the origin of the ''attack'' and saw a beautiful twin-tailed girl waving her hand at her with a big smile, "That is..."

 Chapter 1106 The 5th Divison part 2

    Chapter 1106 The 5th Divison part 2


    Momo Hinamori was busily directing herrades where to position themselves after receiving the memo from the 12th Division that there might be a big ''door'' that might appear here.


    While doing so, Momo suddenly felt the air around her slightly change and thanks to her being alert, she was able to detect the projectile that was aimed at her head and was able to dodge it. She immediately ced her hand on her sword and turned around to see a Human woman waving at her with a big smile, "Hmmm..!? That is.."


    She was the same woman who snatched one of the Beasts of Hell that attacked them.


    Momo tightened her defenses but saw thetter had no intention of attacking as she just sat down on the bench, ''...An invitation to talk?'' After she thought about it, the projectile has no power behind it nor any ill intent.


    After making sure that there are no follow-up attacks. Momo released her hand from her sword and turned in her Captain''s direction. Since Shinji is quite a distance from her, she had to raise her voice, "Captain!"


    Shinji heard her voice and turned around to see his Lieutenant gesturing something at him, "Huh? Look at what?"


    He followed the direction she was pointing at and saw a woman that was sitting on the bench while waving at him with a small smile, "Hmmm?" At that moment, Shinji recalled something and immediately pulled out his phone and tapped it a few times for it to disy a certain image. He turned from his screen and to the woman and vice versa a few times before muttering, "It''s her, huh? To think she''d show up here. There were no more sightings of them after their encounter with Ichigo."


    The picture he''s looking at was secretly captured by the Chief Editor of the Seireitei Communications and the Lieutenant of the 9th Division, Shuuhei Hisagi on the night of ''Hell''s Assault''.


    Shinji thought about it for a moment before walking towards Momo first and bringing her with him to meet the strange woman.


    Serafall, on the other hand, started walking towards a ce where no one could see or hear her.


    Shinji and Momonded in front of Serafall and since it was thetter who wanted to talk, she introduced herself first, "I''m Sitri Serafall. Nice to meet you."


    Shinji''s eyesnded on her stretched-out hand and returned her gesture after hesitating for a short moment, "Hirako Shinji, Captain of the 5th Division of the Gotei 13."


    Seeing that, Momo immediately lowered her head, "I''m Hinamori Momo! The 5th Division''s Lieutenant! Nice to meet you too."


    Shinji let go of her hand and directly asked her, "Are you here to snatch one of those Beasts again?"


    Serafall shook her head, "No. Of course not. I''m done with that. I''m just here because it looks like arge hole is about to open, but it looks like your group is enough to deal with anything that coulde out."


    Shinji''s brows furrowed, ''She can detect these ''doors''?''


    Serafall sessfully guessed what he was thinking and nodded amicably, "I can. It''s actually pretty easy if you can feel the strange thing that''s pushing the Spiritual Power away."


    Shinji and Momo were both stunned at her statement but before they could ask questions, Serafall continued speaking, "But I''m not here to tell you how to do that. I grabbed your attention because I want to ask what you''re going to do with the people around."


    "The people around?" Shinji parroted and looked around him to see blissfully unaware people, "There''s nothing we could do about them. It''s not like we cause amotion since that''ll only gather more attention after they initially run away."


    Momo, meanwhile, could only bite the corner of her lips since it''ll be hard to save them. The only thing they could do is to finish off their opponents as fast as possible to avoid unnecessary casualties.


    "...I guessed as much." Serafall sighed, "Then do you mind if I do something about them? I promise that it won''t impede your operation."


    Shinji stayed silent for a moment before answering, "As long as you can keep them away within the entire duration of the fight. If you can''t then forget about it. You''ll only cause more deaths."


    Serafall didn''t exin herself any further and just raised her right hand over her head.


    Shinji and Momo don''t know what she was trying to do but when a giant circle of strange geometrical shapes suddenly glowed in blue and expanded from her feet to cover the ground, the Captain and his Lieutenant jumped back to the sky with rm, and grabbed the hilt of their swords.


    The other Shinigamis were also rmed by this sight and thought that it was already the enemies attacking with each pulling out their des from their scabbard.


    Serafall ignored what they were doing and just continued her actions. Soon, the circle stopped expanding when it reached a kilometer in radius. A simr but just a few centimeters wide circle also appeared on top of her right hand.


    Shinji and Momo have no idea what''s happening and are considering if they should attack first, but the giant and small circle soon disappeared after releasing a soft light. The next moment, those who were enjoying themselves in the park packed their things and started leaving with nk expressions on their faces.


    After seeing this, Shinji guessed what might have happened, "Hinamori, confirm what happened to all Humans in the area. Send multiple people out and give me a report immediately."


    Still clueless, Momo answered before disappearing with a sh Step, "Yes!"


    Shinji slowly descended from the sky andnded in front of her again, "What did you do? And what were those magic-like special effects? Are you some sort of Magical Girl?" Shinji was reminded of his time in the Human World when he would sometimes binge-watch some anime shows.


    At those magic words, Serafall''s eyes instantly shone, "Yes! I''m a Magical Girl!"


    Shinji thought that she was joking and Serafall intended to exin more when her mood suddenly went south.


    Serafall slowly lifted her left arm and pointed her finger at one of the trees on her left. A Magic Circle appeared on the tip of her finger before multiple spears of ice abruptly manifested around her and rained down on the area she was pointing at.


    Shinji immediately took some distance again from Serafall but she ignored him and just kept bombarding the area for a few seconds before stopping and leaving the poor trees and ground multiple holes in them, "I''m fine with you secretly observing since I''m doing this in public, but could you please stop that slimy and sticky stare?"


    At that moment, Shinji felt a familiar eruption Reiatsu and saw a man with a strange head that looks like an antenna, "Kurotsuchi? What are you doing here?"


    But just like the former, the neer also ignored him and directly talked to Serafall, "My... I''m very surprised that I was detected even with a potent Reiatsu-Concealing Cloak. As expected, you have an entirely different system of detection... The one that doesn''t use any Reiatsu."

 Chapter 1107 12th Division’s Captain

    Chapter 1107 12th Division��s Captain


    Serafall didn''t reply to him but the ''slimy stare'' had already disappeared as she had requested. She had guessed that he was using some equipment to probe her and didn''t like the feeling it was giving.


    Momo soon returned with a hurried expression, "Captain! What happened!?... Captain Kurotsuchi?"


    "Your report?" Kurotsuchi immediately asked without taking his eyes off Serafall.


    Momo was stunned for a moment before saying, "Y-yes! We''ve confirmed that the Humans have started leaving the area and within a few minutes, there won''t be anyone left!"


    "Interesting..." Kurotsuchi muttered with a small smile, "Illusion? Hypnosis? But it''s not a Kidou or any known technique. A unique ability? But why are there no traces?"


    Serafall grinned at him and said, "Do you want me to answer?"


    "No. I have no point of reference topare whatever you''re giving me. I wouldn''t know what sort of lie you''ll insert into it."


    Serafall turned to him and said, "But at least you''ll get something, right? You can reference anything remotely connected to it and you''ll still glean some data from it."


    "True, but there''s also nothing more dangerous than incorrect information."


    "Then how are you going to figure me out? If you do that invasive probing again, I''m really going to get angry this time."


    Kurotsuchi''s smile became wider, "My, it''s not every day you''d see someone threatening a Captain of Gotei 13. How confident are you?"


    Serafall also returned the same smile without hiding her hostility and said, "Confident enough that I could have you kiss the ground~. After all, I know what you''re capable of but you don''t know me~."


    The threatening demeanor between the two only kept escting and that made Momo panic and hide behind Shinji who could only sigh.


    But when it looked like they were about to go at it, something inside Mayuri''s clothes started ringing and the Shinigamis stationed on the air started yelling at each other. Three holes like they were made by a Hollow''s Descorrer opened, but unlike the former, there was a row of omnivore teeth along its edges. It''s way more than the 1 or 2 Beasts that kept appearing this past week.


    Shinji and Momo instantly responded to their appearance andmanded their soldiers to intercept the emerging Beasts of Hell numbering at least a hundred.


    Seeing that Mayuri is not doing anything, Serafall asked, "You''re not going to help them?"


    "This is their assignment. If there''s nothing outside of the ordinary, I won''t." Mayuri also stared at the fast-developing battlefield.


    "Even if it means death to some of your soldiers?"


    "It''s their sworn duty. They know what it means to be a Shinigami and they all epted it."


    "How harsh."


    Mayuri turned his eyes to her before replying, "The Seireitei is too soft these days and we almost paid the ultimate price for that. If I could be the whip that could straighten them, I''ll dly be a barbed one."


    Serafall went quiet and just silently watched the ongoing battle with interest, ''A clear-cut system of spells that don''t really deviate from each other. Just from that, one could see that their society is very strict and systematized. But why was it shaped like that? And there''s also a very strict hierarchy in their ranks ording to this guy beside me.''


    She thought that they''ll be a bit lenient due to Kisuke''s behavior but it looks like he''s an outlier even within their organization.


    All of a sudden, Mayuri started moving, causing Serafall to focus back her attention on him.


    After a few rustling of clothes, Mayuri pulled out what looks to be a smartphone but thrice as thick as a normal one and ced it on Serafall''s side, "Do you mind pouring your power into this?"


    Serafall first looked at the strange device and was once again amazed that something like this could be made with pure spiritual particles. She knew that this was out of necessity and culture but it''s still incredible to see something that one would normally do with physical particles instead, "With passive and active observation not working, you opted to just ask directly?"


    "I''m not the one to shy away from any method to achieve my purpose." Of course, Mayuri wasn''t exactly expecting her to just do as he says and this is just trying out one of his options.


    But without saying anything else, Serafall grabbed the thick smartphone disying various numbers.


    She first inspected it with her hands before pouring her Demonic Power into it. However, feeling something amiss, Serafall threw the device far away from them.


    "What are you doing?" Mayuri asked without a hint of anger in his voice. Nevertheless, Serafall didn''t have to give him an excuse as the device mid-flight suddenly exploded with enough to rattle the whole battlefield and temporarily pause it.


    "I guess haphazardly mixing Spiritual Power and Demonic Power will cause such a reaction."


    Mayuri took note of Serafall''s words just now before using sh Step to catch some debris from the broken scanning device that he handed Serafall. Along with some pieces, Mayuri was able to secure what seems to be Phosphosm that came from Hell. Although it answered a few questions in his mind, it only ended up opening more.


    Serafall also followed him, curious of what he made out of it, "Still better than asking questions?"


    Mayuri kept the debris in his Shihakushou while answering, "Of course. That confirmed a few things in my head."


    "Then in exchange for that, allow me a passage when you guys finally secured a path to Hell."


    "I can''t allow that." Mayuri immediately answered, "While I don''t really care what you do to others, I still won''t allow unnecessary risks."


    "Then what else could I do for you to allow such risks?" Serafall knew that she still may be able to get to Hell through their help thanks to Kisuke''s connection, but she still want to get that privilege as naturally as possible to avoid needless suspicion.


    "Hmm..." Mayuri seriously considered her offer, ''What can I do to force her to show more? I don''t really want to fight someonepletely unknown.''


    At that moment, an enormous explosion shook the whole area and both Serafall and Mayuri saw Hinamori Momo flying out with grave injuries.


    Serafall instantly flew off and caught her midair, ''A big hole in her stomach, but it doesn''t look like it''s fatal.''


    While coughing up blood, Momo struggled to lift her head and muttered, "... Es-Espada..."


    Wondering what she meant, Serafall heard Mayuri''s voice, "If you deal with one of them, I could consider what you want to happen."


    Serafall turned her head to where he was pointing and saw two individuals that seemed toe out of Hell, "At least promise that you''d make it happen."


    "Sadly, I don''t control the Seireitei so the most I could really do is vouch for you."


    ''Well, I guess this is enough. At least I don''t need a sudden rmendation.'' Serafall thought while sealing Momo''s wound with her Magic and cing her down beside Mayuri, "Grant me entry to Soul Society too while you''re at it."


    Mayuri stared at her for a few moments before answering, "If you could give a few hours of your time to myb."


    "I won''t allow any deep inspections."


    "Deal."

 Chapter 1108 Magical Girl Levia-tan~

    Chapter 1108 Magical Girl Levia-tan~


    After the hundreds of Beasts from Hell emerged from the three openings they created, the 5th Division did a great job intercepting them and minimizing the area of damage. Although there were some who were gravely injured, they were immediately sent back to the Soul Society to receive immediate treatment. As the Shinigami of the 5th Division, they''re pretty talented when ites tobat so none of them came out dead.


    But just when they thought that was the end of it, two ''Beasts'' suddenly snuck up on both Shinji and Momo.


    While Shinji sessfully blocked his unknown assant, Momo wasn''t as lucky or skilled. She received a de in her stomach and was kicked in her chest, causing further damage to her lungs and ribs.


    "Hinamori!" Shinji tried to catch up to her but his assant didn''t allow him to do so, "Y-you!"


    "This is our first time meeting, I suppose?" A tall, muscr, dark-skinned man with noticeablyrge lips appeared in front of him.


    Thanks to Mayuri''s intelligence gathering to prepare them for possible opponents that they may face after Szayporro''s appearance, everyone became acquainted with the appearance of former members of Espada that Aizen Sosuke led and Shinji knew exactly who was in front of him despite some difference in key parts, "You''re Zommari Rureaux!"


    "I see. The Shinigamis are prepared." The dark-skinned man turned to where Momo was thrown off, "But not prepared enough."


    Simr to Szayporro, the former 7th Espada had his Hollow hole outside of his body, which was now located on his right shoulder. The simrities didn''t just end there as Zommari also possesses a single horn in the middle of his forehead and chains tattooed all over his body.


    Shinji shifted his eyes to Momo''s attacker and saw another familiar ''face'', ''Is that Aaroniero Arruruerie?''


    The former 9th Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie, also came out of Hell. The reason why Shinji isn''t sure of his identity is that instead of a ss tube containing his two heads, they are floating on top of his neck while a ring, presumably his Hollow hole, is connecting them, forming a rather eerie sight.


    Shinji prepared to release his Shikai but in the corner of his eyes, he saw someone catching Momo and sighed in relief when she was ced beside Mayuri, ''To think I''d be grateful that Mayuri is around... Well, it''ll be tough for me to take on these two with just me, let alone the unknown abilities they may have acquired within Hell.''


    Shinji was thinking of separating the two of them so that he could properly use his abilities and for Mayuri to take care of the other one when all of a sudden, the strange woman called Serafall Sitri appeared beside Aaroniero while swinging a wand taller than her, "I~ choose~ you~!"


    Aaroniero was also shocked at her appearance but more surprised with the fact that she''s exuding something very simr to them and that caused him to react slightlyte.


    "Who are you!?" The two heads shouted while raising his right arm covered with Hierro to block the wand that was about to smash at him.


    "Magical Girl: Levia-tan~" Serafall gleefully replied while smashing the arm that was on her way.


    Aaroniero was thrown away by the surprising strength behind her attack. Of course, he wouldn''t just take that without retaliating and was preparing to use one of his trusted abilities that he copied from a certain Shinigami. But just as he was about to do that, he heard Zommari''s voice with a strange tone, "Aaroniero... You..."


    Aaroniero turned and saw him making a dumbfounded expression. It was then that it finally hit him that he couldn''t actually feel his right arm. When he looked down at it, he saw his arm had turned frozen and was already crumbling to pieces with most of his fingers already gone, "!?"


    As silent as she appeared earlier, Serafall reappeared in front of him once again and aimed for a second swing, "Don''t get distracted now~ You still have 3 limbs left to block me with~!"


    Aaroniero''s remaining arm turned into a brown tentacle with a gaping maw at its center, "D-Devour! Glotonera!"


    Serafall''s target''s aura instantly tripled and was still increasing so she had no choice but to initiate a temporary retreat. The twin-headed guy''s lower body began bubbling with the purple matter before it expanded into a purple blob-like mass resembling an incredibly bloated invertebrate or octopus, with dozens of stubby tentacles,rge red eyes, andrge mouthsplete with teeth. In the center of this mass, there was a bubbling area that seemed to boil and disy random masks from the thousands of Hollows that Aaroniero had consumed.


    Serafall grimaced while looking at this disgusting sight, "Something like this can never be shown on TV."


    She thought of ying with him more since she wanted to know more about them. However, her extreme disgust prompted her to release the Demonic Power that she had been holding back.


    The next instant, Mayuri, Shinji, Momo, and the other Shinigami felt something change in the air. They couldn''t get what it was but they were sure that there was change. The same as the strange pressure this past week but also distinctively different.


    The former Espadas, on the other hand, felt something different as both of them started sweating coldly with their nonexistent hearts almost willed into existence just to thump loudly. In front of them was the most atrocious agent of Hell.


    In panic and fear, Aaroniero sent out all of his tentacles towards Serafall and the tip of those tentacles suddenly opened into maw with rows of t teeth in them, intending to devour their target.


    Meanwhile, Zommari cursed at his retarded ally and started preparing his escape, ''We didn''t know something like that was here!''


    Serafall was further disgusted by the tentacle mouthsing after her and pointed her wand at them, "Freeze into oblivion, Celsius Cross Trigger~!"


    The moment she muttered those words, the surrounding temperature instantly plummeted into freezing and it was then Serafall realized that she slightly messed up, ''Oh no! I have to tune it down!''


    Because of her recent battles against Tiamat and an army of Gods, she forgot to adjust her strength. Because this world doesn''t have much resistance against Magic, her Demonic Power ended up flowing extremely well and ended up pouring out enough to freeze the entirety of Japan and it''s surrounding ocean.


    Serafall hurriedly adjusted her Demonic Power output and reallocated the part she couldn''t get into a smaller area.


    While numerous Magic Circles appeared around Serafall, the approaching tentacles slowed down until theypletely stopped when they were just a few feet away from Serafall. Soon, icicles formed on it and rapidly expanded until it reached the main body.


    And while all of this is happening, the park was also nketed by ice, freezing the tree and rocks solid.


    A secondter, two pirs of ice quickly rose from the ground, each one heading towards the intruders from Hell.


    Aaroniero shrieked as he tried to move away but his giant blob of a body was promptly engulfed by the ice pir that soon turned into a cross which made it look like the disgusting giant blob was nailed inside it.


    Zommari also tried to get away using his Sonido and was sessful, however, two more pirs of ice headed to him that he was ultimately not able to dodge due to him still initiating his escape.


    Not even half a minute after Serafall joined the fight, therey two frozen Arrancars within a cross made out of ice.


    Those who were watching her could only stare in awe as the whole area which has be a frozen wastnd served as a backdrop for the ''Goddess of Ice'', or in the eyes of those who came from Hell, the ''Devil of Ice''.

 Chapter 1109 Frozen Solid

    Chapter 1109 Frozen Solid


    With the two of the ''dead'' Arrancars frozen, the Shinigamis didn''t know what to do but the only thing sure for now is that they didn''t want to approach Serafall in fear of being frozen too.


    Though before they could process everything that was happening, the real door to Hell that was adorned with two skeletons suddenly appeared.


    Serafall frowned and prepared her Magic again while the Shinigamis also prepared for another fight. But contrary to what they were expecting, the ice that was holding Zommari began shaking and the tattoos of chains on his body began materializing and connecting him to some ce beyond the door.


    It didn''t take long before the ice started falling apart and freeing the shaking Arrancar as he''s being dragged by the chains towards the door.


    Shinji''s Hollow mask materialized and at the same time, he pointed his fist at him, charging his Cero.


    "I advise you not to do it, Captain Hirako." All of a sudden, Shinji heard Mayuri''s voice behind him, "Anyone who interferes with Hell''s Judgement may be punished along with the sinner."


    Without turning around, Shinji asked, "Are you saying what''s happening right now is Hell''s Judgement?"


    "I can''t be too sure... But are you willing to risk it?"


    Shinji watched Zommari get dragged with ck chains around him and he didn''t let go of his hand until he saw the door close. Shinji sighs, dematerializing his Hollow mask, and taking back the charged Cero, "How annoying..."


    Soon, the crimson door slowly became transparent until itpletely disappeared.


    Mayuri ignored the frustrated Shinji and approached Serafall who was staring at the remaining Arrancar. And before he could even speak Serafall said, "It''ll cost you more if you want him."


    Mayuri stayed silent for a moment before saying, "I''ll owe you one."


    Serafall turned to him with an interested look, "Hooh? You''re willing to take that risk?"


    "That''s how precious this specimen is. But only if you can keep him here until I can make sure that he won''t be able to escape."


    "The one who escaped went through a certain ritual before activating those chains. I think as long as he''s frozen here, he won''t be able to do anything." The wand on Serafall''s hand disappeared before she continued, "I''ll set up a barrier around to keep the Humans away but that''ll only be effective for 3 days before they start flocking here after finding out something is weird. As you''ve probably already noticed, my techniques are visible to Humans."


    Mayuri nodded in satisfaction, "Three days... That''s more than enough."


    Serafall then handed a card to Mayuri that contained her address. Thetter received and instantly memorized what was written on it before destroying it.


    "Well then, I''ll be waiting." As a final surprise, Serafall demonstrated a Teleportation Magic and disappeared without any further words.


    After seeing that, Mayuri took out his own phone and dialed a number. A secondter, it was answered, "Akon, go to the Great Archive and confirm thews regarding teleportation." He didn''t wait for his reply and directly disconnected the call. It is not that he wanted to prosecute Serafall for her use of teleportation but he wanted to confirm ifws surrounding it only concern ''Kidou'' and any other technique that uses Spiritual Power.


    After confirming it, Mayuri would want to use it himself, ''I look forward to our next meeting.''


    Ignoring the entire 5th Division doing their work, Mayuri focused his sights on the frozen Arrancar.


    .


    .


    .


    Since the academy grounds were just along the eastern gate, Ophis and Lilith reached the ce where they were enrolling rtively fast. Along the way, they curiously looked around and the Shinigami leading them attributed this to them seeing how different it is inside the Seireiteipared to the ce where they came from.


    After a few more turns, the Shinigami leading them went up to a building and knocked on the door, "Instructor Ounabara, we''re here."


    "Come in."


    The Shinigami turned to the ''twins'' and gestured to them, "Follow me."


    Ophis and Lilith silently nodded at him after he entered the building which looks like a dojo.


    In the middle of the room was a bald middle aged man wearing sses sitting in a seiza position. Unlike most of the Shinigami they came across, the man was wearing a grey hakama and ck haori.


    The man called Instructor Ounabara immediately eyed Ophis and Lilith and was immediately surprised. He tried to intimidate them but it looks like it only went over their heads, "I received your message. You are saying that they are capable of releasing their Reiatsu?"


    "Yes, Instructor." The Shinigami nodded, "I''m not too sure but I think their Reiatsu is at Lieutenant level."


    The instructor went quiet for a moment and rubbed his chin before saying, "Understood. Thank you for your hard work. Leave this to me and return to your post."


    "Yes!" The Shinigami bowed deeply and walked backward before turning around the door and immediately leaving.


    As soon as he''s gone, the instructor continued, "Well then, Nice to meet you. Ounabara Gengorou, the Chief Instructor for the ss 1 Year 1."


    "Ophis."


    "Lilith."


    The two also briefly introduced themselves.


    Gengorou didn''t mind their strange names and directly asked, "Who taught you how to release your Reiatsu?"


    "We learned it on our own." Ophis gave an answer that Kisuke prepared for them.


    "How?"


    "We felt we could move something inside our bodies and tried moving it." This time, Lilith gave him the answer.


    "Show it to me."


    Ophis and Lilith didn''t say anything and did exactly the same thing as they did when they were outside and just enough to impress anyone watching them.


    The instructor went quiet for a moment before saying, "If you can learn that on your own, instead of six years, you''ll be able to graduate within a year. I hope you two didn''t lie to me."


    Gengorou thought that their potential is very obvious, however, he was also worried that this could have a detrimental effect when they handle an Asauchi since a Shinigami''s de develops alongside their owner, ''I''d have to ask for special permission for Asauchi. Though I don''t think anyone would disagree with the Seireitei needing more talented individuals to replenish their ranks.''

 Chapter 1110 Strange Kid

    Chapter 1110 Strange Kid


    Later that day, Kisuke was already waiting for Ophis and Lilith toe out of the eastern gate. And when they came out, Kisuke saw them already wearing a red shitagi (under shirt), a white kosode (shirt) with red stripes, red hakama (trousers), white socks, and sandals. However, what caught his attention was the Asauchi katanas behind them, ''They already gave them those? I know that their control of Reiatsu is amazing, but to receive Asauchis when they haven''t even taken their first ss, they''re a lot more desperate than I thought.''


    A certain possibility then entered his mind and looked up, ''While the 5 members of the Zero Division can''t really die without dealing with Ichibei first, that''s not the same for their soldiers.''


    Seireitei is alreadycking manpower after the Great War but replenishing the Zero Division takes precedence. And to qualify for this position, one has to be an elite. As a result, many elite Shinigamis were drafted, leaving the Gotei 13 even further dry of new blood for an extended period of time.


    Ophis and Lilith reached the disguised Kisuke and with sparkling eyes, they said, "We did it!"


    Kisuke patted their heads. Although they looked like teenagers, they were still the same ''children'' from seven years ago, "Congrattions. Although you won''t be able to go with ire, Tanis, and Kunou to the same school, it doesn''t mean that after-school activities are impossible."


    Ophis and Lilith wondered what he meant and Kisuke continued, "I heard that ire and the others will be going out with some of their ssmates and they asked you two to join them. They''ll introduce you to their ssmates and maybe make friends with some of them."


    Ophis and Lilith immediately grabbed Kisuke''s hands and led him to a secluded ally while raising their voices, "Let''s go!" They opened a hole and dragged Kisuke into it.


    .


    .


    .


    Since Ophis and Lilith were currently in their ''Soul Race'' form, Kisuke had to provide Gigai for them to properly interact with people in the Human World. They could transform back but he didn''t know how that''d affect their current Asauchis and didn''t really want to risk it on top of it being too much effort for the both of them to keep switching.


    After giving them the identities they''ll assume, Kisuke left them near ire''s group who were already waiting for them.


    Kisuke silently watched Ophis and Lilith smoothly join the group and couldn''t help but smile, ''Is this what it feels like to have children?''


    Leaving them behind, Kisuke returned his focus to his task, ''Sera-chan alreadyid down her foundation, I should do my part too.''


    Throughout the whole day, he monitored Ichigo''s kid, Kazui Kurosaki, and indeed found some strange points as Serafall has pointed out. However, what shocked him was that Kazui was actually a Fullbringer with Shinigami abilities. In other words, while in his physical body, he could use his Shinigami powers, and the concept of his Fullbringer ability was [Shinigami] itself, ''And he probably also has the same potential as his father, if not more.''


    Kisuke wondered if he was a real Shinigami or not.


    cing those thoughts in the back of his head, Kisuke waited outside of the Kurosaki residence until it was veryte at night and as he expected, Kazui jumped out of his window while transforming into a Shinigami and a giant koi fish catching his fall with the stuffed toy Kon following behind him.


    Kisuke immediately observed the koi fish that suddenly appeared and concluded that they were part of his Fullbringer ability. Although just by looking at it, there''s no way for Kisuke to know the significance of this koi fish.


    Kisuke silently followed them for a few seconds before his eyes widened in shock suddenly, increasing his distance from them and hiding his aura.


    At the same time, Kazui turned his head in Kisuke''s direction, and that prompted Kon to ask, "What''s wrong?"


    Kazui stared in Kisuke''s direction for a few moments before turning his head back to the front, "It''s nothing. I thought someone is following us."


    "What!?" Kon panicked and turned his body in the direction Kazui was looking before, "If that''s either your father or your mother, they''re going to kill me!"


    Kazui chuckled at his reaction and said, "I wouldn''t go out if they were watching me. And I said it was nothing. Probably just some of those wild beasts that are roaming around."


    Hiding behind some ally, Kisuke sighed in relief, "Geez... What a sharp kid. This isn''t his first rodeo."


    This time, Kisuke carefully followed them from behind until they reached a Plus with his Chain of Fate about to reach a critical level.


    ''How rare... Then again, the Seireitei is currently swamped with work right now because of Hell. Is the kid going to perform a Konsou (Soul Burial)?'' Kisuke thought until Kazui suddenly invited the lost soul toe with him, ''Hmmm?''


    Wondering what they are up to, Kisuke kept following them until they reached the entrance to a shrine. Kazui, Kon, and the Plus walked up the long set of stairs when they suddenly made a right turn halfway through it.


    Walking further in, the group reached a tiny shrine.


    Kazui stood in front of the tiny shrine and a weird aura suddenly covered him. He pped his hands three times and three eyeballs suddenly manifested around them, ''Eyes of Hell!?''


    Kon and the Plus were scared shitless but Kazui continued by bowing twice and then pping one more time. This time, an all too familiar gaping mouth showing a nk space beyond it materialized along with numerous Hell Butterflies.


    Kisuke frowned and identified the mouth, ''The door that those Beasts and Arrancars are using?''


    Kisuke carefully listened to their conversation and Kazui was able to convince the Plus that everyone else was there.


    A few momentster, the Plus was gone after going through the ''door'' and Kisuke contemted his next actions.


    Kazui was about to close the ''door'' when Kisuke finally took action and stopped hiding to stop him, "Hold on, young Shinigami, mind keeping that open for a moment?"


    Kazui hurriedly turned around to see who suddenly talked to him and prepared to pull out his de. Although he''s still a kid, he was taught what it means to have power beyond the norm and that danger was always around. Since he didn''t recognize the voice, he started thinking about how to escape.


    Kon, meanwhile, froze on his spot when he heard the familiar voice. It took a while for him to have some courage to turn around but he finally did it while making it look like his cotton body is made out of old rusting machinery. And what he saw behind him further gave him a sense of nostalgia, "K-Kisuke?"


    Kisuke decided to show himself to Kazui and Kon without donning any disguise.


    "Oh hey, Kon. You''re still the same as ever. Let me take a look to see if my hidden devices inside you are still functioning."

 Chapter 1111 Welcome To Hell

    Chapter 1111 Wee To Hell


    Kazui turned to Kon and asked, "Kon-chan, do you know who''s this uncle?"


    But Kon ignored him and slowly stepped forward while shaking, "A-are you really Kisuke?"


    Kisuke disappeared and reappeared behind Kon to press something on his back. A secondter, a hole opened on each of his feet before sts of mes erupted from it,unching him upwards without any warning, "Eh? Ehh!? EHHHHHHH---....." Kon''s trailing voice was left behind as he disappeared through the sky.


    "Kon-chan!?" Kazui summoned his koi fish and intended to follow him but Kisuke grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "Don''t worry about him. He''ll return after a minute or two of fun in the sky." Kisuke immediately let go of Kazui so that he wouldn''t misunderstand, "More importantly, this is a door to Hell, isn''t it? Why did you send that guy through it?"


    Kazui tilted his head and asked, "Hell? Is that what they call that ce?"


    "You don''t know?"


    Kazui shook his head, "Nee-chan told me the name of that ce is Oath Town."


    Even more questions opened inside Kisuke''s head but he didn''t want to overwhelm him with his inquiry especially now that his guard is down, "Oath Town, is it? Have you been there?"


    Kazui nodded, "Uhuh. It''s a great ce where everyone gets along. Although Nee-chan told me not toe anymore because it''s dangerous for me who''s still alive."


    "So you kept sending the Souls that you found to go there? Why not to the Soul Society?"


    "I''ve also seen the Soul Society, but aside from a few ces, it''s not a good ce. I feel bad sending them there."


    Kisuke finally got a bit of understanding of the kid''s thought process, ''It''s the same as the kids of his age. The difference is, he actually has the ability and was putting it to good use.''


    However, that doesn''t mean what he''s saying is the truth as this someone he calls ''Nee-chan'' could possibly and easily fool him.


    At that moment, both of them looked at the sky as they heard Kon''s shrieking voiceing closer, "...ake stop!!! Make it stop!!! I''m going to die!!!"


    The mes behind Kon''s feet finally snuffed out and Kisuke caught him by grabbing his head.


    "Kisuke, you bastard! What was that for!? And why do I have something like that when it''s useless when I don''t know about it!?" Konined while wildly iling his tiny arms and legs. The emotional reunion he was expecting was spectacrly betrayed, ''What was I expecting!?'' However, he could be sure that the guy in front of him was indeed Kisuke, who''d ''died'' 12 years ago.


    Kisuke tossed Kon to Kazui and said, "Kon and Kazui-kun, I''d like for the two to keep it secret that you met me today."


    Kon immediately jumped down from Kazui''s arms and already calmed down, "T-that''s right, Kisuke. I thought you died! Everyone did! W-wait!? Are you one of those guys who emerged from Hell!?"


    "Oh? You know about them?"


    "Who wouldn''t!? The Shinigamis are scrambling around to find those guys! And ever since then, Ichigo and Inoue are on high alert! Is something dangerous going to happen again!?"


    "Perhaps, but I''m not sure about that yet. That''s why I want you to keep it a secret that you met me today."


    Kon crossed his arms and thought for a moment, "You want us to keep your existence a secret so that you can move around freely?"


    "That''s the gist of it."


    "And why did you reveal yourself to us if you wanted to keep it secret?"


    "I didn''t really intend to do that, but I''m investigating all of these events and the fact that the kid created a hole to Hell caught my attention." Kisuke then turned back to Kazui and asked, "Speaking of which, can I also go through that?"


    "I think you can." Kazui nodded, "But you won''t be able to return because I can''t keep this open and wait for you toe back."


    "That''s fine. I only need to see what''s on the other side and I have my way of leaving it." Kisuke walked towards the gaping ck mouth and inspected it for a moment.


    And while he was doing this, Kon suddenly asked, "You haven''t answered my question. Are you from Hell?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "I''m not. But exining where I''ve been now is a bitplicated and a very long story. I don''t have that kind of time right now."


    Kon sighed and turned to Kazui and said, "Kazui, promise this uncle that you''ll keep it a secret that you and I met him."


    Kazui was a bit hesitant and asked, "Can we trust him? I think it''s better to tell Dad about him."


    "If you can''t trust him, trust me. He''s someone who saved your father and mother on multiple asions in the past and I can vouch that he won''t mean harm to us. But for him to do his work, we have to follow his words."


    This is the first time Kazui saw Kon act this seriously and all the hesitation he had in his mind disappeared, "Alright, I promise. I won''t tell anyone about Uncle. It also doesn''t look like Uncle is one of those ''Chained''."


    Kisuke is grateful for Kon''s words and one of the reasons why he revealed himself is because he''s one of those he could trust to keep their words.


    "Chained?" He, however, became curious about the word that Kazui used.


    "They are the bad guys." Kazui briefly answered and Kisuke could see that''s all there was to it in his head.


    "I see. Then I''ll get going. I''ll see you around, Kon, Kazui-kun."


    "Take care, uncle." Kazui waved his hand while Kon grumbled, "Make sure to exin yourself when you have time!"


    Kisuke waved back but didn''t say anything else.


    Kisuke disappeared and the ''door'' to Hell closed, "Ah... I forgot to tell Nee-chan that someone else is going in... Oh well, uncle isn''t a Chained one, so he''s going to be fine."


    "By the way, who''s this Nee-chan that you kept mentioning?" Kon asked.


    "A kind nee-chan and the leader of the Oath Town."


    .


    .


    .


    After a moment of ckness, Kisuke emerged in the middle of a bustling square that reminded him of Orario in its industrial revolution. Aside from that, the first thing he noticed is the purple sky which reminded him of the Underworld in the previous world, "This is Hell?" Kisuke muttered to himself.


    While taken aback, two armored men approach him while talking, "Someone else came? Wee to Oath Town, my friend. You can tourter but we''ll have to inspect you first."


    However, the other guard stopped his colleague from approaching, "Wait! Look! He doesn''t have the Chains of Fate."


    Kisuke finally turned their attention to him and saw them pulling out their spears, "I''m sorry but you''ll have to apany us for an extensive inspection. If you came here unintentionally we''ll release you."


    But Kisuke couldn''t listen to his words until the end as he needed to raise his left hand and apply Hierro on it.


    The next instant, a katana aiming for his neck was blocked with sparks flying around, "Hooh? Is that Hierro? You''re an Arrancar?"


    In front of Kisuke is a fair-skinned young woman with long, dark pink hair tied up in two hip-length pigtails on either side of her head.

 Chapter 1112 Founders

    Chapter 1112 Founders


    "L-leader!?" The armored guards were taken aback at her sudden appearance.


    "Retreat and fortify the town''s security. Immediately sound the rm if there are any other unknown people who came through after this one." A charismatic voice of a young man resounded and Kisuke had to raise his other arm to block the iing foot that wasing from below him and aimed at his face.


    Kisuke was instantlyunched into the air, giving him an overview of the walled town with thick flora and mountains surrounding it which he didn''t expect to see within ''Hell''. Nevertheless, he didn''t have the time to appreciate the scenery as he ced both of his hands on his stomach to receive another deadly kick, sending him further away from the city and crashing into the side of a distant mountain, ''Such efficient and extremebination of Hakuda and Hohou.'' That was what Kisuke thought when he felt his Hierro cracking.


    The dust and grime settled down and Kisuke stood up from the crater that was created by his crash. He took off his hat and dusted it off before looking up at the two individuals who attacked him out of nowhere.


    First is the young fair-skinned woman withrge violet eyes, the left of which was covered by a ck eyepatch fixed to her head by two straps encircling it in an X-formation. She has long, dark pink hair tied up in two hip-length pigtails on either side of her head, leaving a section of bangs to fall over the right side of her face, and wore a ck undershirt and pants that are covered by a silver breastte and leg armors. Oh her hand is a katana that''s obviously a Zanpakuto.


    The other guy is a youthful man with olive skin and golden eyes. He has shaggy white hair with bangs covering his forehead. He''s wearing a casual grey polo shirt that isn''t buttoned up and blue khaki pants and like the former, he''s also carrying a Zanpakuto on his shoulder.


    "I think we can talk this out?" Kisuke initiated a conversation while dusting the rest of his garb.


    "You really think we''re stupid, huh?" The dark pink-haireddy replied.


    "What?"


    "You guys already tried something simr ten years ago. We''re not stupid enough to forget something like that." The woman then pointed her de at him before continuing, "But I do want to ask you something. How did you reach this ce? I heard that the boundary between the Human World and Hell has weakened considerably but we still didn''t think you''d use that chance to invade from there and there''s only one kid who knew the way here."


    Thick killing intent washed over Kisuke, ''Did they think I forced the kid? Is he the one that Kazui-kun refers to as Nee-chan?''


    "Whatever you''re thinking, I didn''t do it. In the first ce, I didn''t show any hostile action. What''s up with the sudden aggression?"


    This time, it''s the young man who answered, "Are you actually new around here? You have a very thick scent of Hell''s Grace. No matter how civil you appear, those who let this thing take them over are nothing more than beasts that could speak."


    "Hell''s Grace?" Kisuke repeated his words, "Are you referring to this?"


    Kisuke raised his left hand and tens of Magic Circle suddenly appeared behind along with arrows of mes, "me Arrow Barrage." He snapped his fingers and the needles of mes startedunching themselves to the people standing midair.


    "!?"


    Both individuals were startled at this minor but shocking disy of power, "Did you guys find a new way to utilize Hell''s Grace!?" Asked the woman while intercepting the arrows with her sword.


    "This is bad... We might be falling behind." The man, on the other hand, muttered to himself with a serious expression while also repelling the arrows with his bare hands.


    All of a sudden, Kisuke felt a threat to his right side and immediately muttered, "Danku."


    A transparent barrier appeared between him and the young man who suddenly appeared beside him with his de drawn, "Kidou!?"


    Kisuke could still see the young man repelling the arrows but soon disappeared, ''That''s some extreme Hohou technique. He''s way better than Yoruichi."


    The man immediately retreated when he saw that his surprise attack didn''t work. However, he didn''t do so without almost cleaving the barrier.


    "An unchanted high level Kidou. He''s on Captain-ss level in just skill alone." The dark pinked-haired womanmented after dealing with all the me arrows, "But he also unmistakably used Hierro that those Arrancars exclusively use. On top of that, a strange technique that allowed you to manipte Hell''s Grace. Just who are you?"


    Kisuke sighed in relief, "Finally willing to talk?"


    Although he wanted to test them more and he could more or less already guess their identities, he''ll also be revealing his own cards and he doesn''t know who else is watching besides these two. After weighing the risks and gains, he concluded that there was no point in fighting them now when they might not even be the enemies to whom he should be pointing his de.


    "And if this is going to help, Kazui-kun said that I''m not one of those ''Chained'' ones. You''ll know he''s safe once he sends another Plus to this ce."


    The man and woman''s eyes widened before they looked at each other and nodded.


    "It seems that this talk really needs to happen." The man muttered and sheathed his sword back and the woman did the same.


    "Thank you for your consideration~ But before anything else, allow me to introduce myself. The name''s Urahara Kisuke. A former member of the Gotei 13, but I''m just a humble merchant these days."


    "I''m Shihouin Chika." The man introduced himself and pointed to his partner, "And this one here is..."


    "Saitou Furoufushi."


    "Shihouin-san, Saitou-san, nice to meet you. I''m honored to meet the founding members of the Gotei 13. Although we didn''t start on good terms, let''s get along from here on out."

 Chapter 1113 Founders part 2

    Chapter 1113 Founders part 2


    Kisuke was led to a big mansion in the middle of the town that also seemingly served as a government building, and on the way there, the previous uproar they caused had already subsided among the inhabitants'' minds as they had returned to their previous activities.


    ''If these people were once in the Human world, why is the civilization''s level only that of the industrial level?'' Kisuke looked around more and found out that normal production and use of electricity is none existent, ''It''s hard to utilize Spiritual Power forplicated machinery and only a few people can actually do it. No one is actually using the easier and abundant Magic Power because no one knows how to do it, is that it?''


    While specting about some things, Kisuke was left alone in a room that looked like an office where he could see one side of the town, "You don''t mind if we talk for a bit, do you?" Asked Chika.


    "That''s fine. I also wanted to gather my thoughts before we start."


    As soon as Chika and Furoufushi left him, two people stood guard in his room but Kisuke ignored them and went to the window, opening it to feel the air. After taking a deep breath, he was able to confirm that the concentration of Magic Power in this World was at least twice that of the world where Devils and Angels exist. As if someone crammed it all into a tiny space, ''I can''t be sure without properly measuring it, but there''s something different about this Magic Power.''


    In the previous world, Modern Magic originated from how Devils used their Demonic Power, however, Magic Power had already existed before the Devils did and it was being used by various factions with their own systems. Demonic Power was just a derivative of Magic Power and that''s the same for the Light Power and every other system that''s utilized simrly to Magic.


    With those in mind, it''s perfectly understandable that Magic Power is the mostmon and abundant along with Ki and Spiritual Power.


    However, in this world, the most abundant ''Magic Power'' had a simr feeling as Demonic Power. Kisuke thought that the existence of Magic Power, Ki, and Spiritual Power is universal, but clearly, it''s a different case for this side, ''Is it because this is a different dimension or...''


    At that moment, the partial Soul King''s words reechoed in his mind, ''Be wary of Hell.''


    Kisuke thought that the way he said it was weird as if he was referring to an individual instead of a ce, ''And why is there a need to ce a [Lid] on Hell? And why couldn''t the Soul King create a reasonable reincarnation system himself and instead opted to leave it to others even if it means disgracing his existence? Just what was he trying to achieve all this time?''


    Noticing that he''s descending into a useless train of thought that''d only lead him to dangerous conclusions that might hurt himter, Kisuke took another deep breath to clear his mind, ''I don''t have enough information to contemte any of that. That''s dangerous.''


    ''Strangely enough, Ki also exists here in abundance despite all the beings here being supposed to be ''dead''. But simr to the Human world, it''s mostly unattended.''


    Kisuke gathered more information with his senses until Chika and Furoufushi returned a quarter of an hourter, "Sorry for making you wait." The former offered him a seat.


    Kisuke sat on the couch while the other two sat opposite of him, "Well then, Urahara-kun... If that''s even your real name, let''s get straight to the point." Chika started.


    Kisuke raised his hand to stop him for a moment, "When I said I wanted us to get along, I meant it so I gave you my real name. But regardless of whether you believe that or not, I would like to request that you call me [Belial] for all our proceedings and how you mention me to others going forward. [Urahara Kisuke] is a very inconvenient name, you see?"


    Chika went quiet for a moment before nodding, "Alright, Belial-kun, we''ll do just that, so answer us, what are you doing here?"


    "To be perfectly honest, I didn''t really know what to expect when I came here. I didn''t even know that I''d reach a ce like this."


    Both Chika and Furoufushi sported a confused look and thetter asked, "Are you saying that you''re only here by chance?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Of course not. But here in Oath Town specifically? A coincidence. I intended to see what Hell is for myself in some way or another and it''s just a coincidence that I found a young Shinigami sending Pluses to Hell. You know how Hell is being viewed from the other side so I got curious and asked him to send me over too."


    Chika leaned back in his seat, "I guess that''s true. Then a follow-up question, what prompted you to investigate Hell?" He wanted to ask something more important like how he''s utilizing the [Hell''s Grace] but wanted to know his motives first.


    "You also already know this. The boundary between Hell and the Human World has loosened. And it''s to the point that headache-inducing characters are crossing this boundary seemingly with little to no repercussions."


    "Characters?" Furoufushi leaned in.


    ''Looks like these two haven''t received the news. I''m guessing that their only contact is with Kazui-kun.''


    Kisuke grinned and said, "If you want to know more, then we''ll have toe to an agreement, don''t you think? You can''t be the only one asking questions, can you?"


    Chika and Furoufushi nced at each other. Before they confronted Kisuke, they already expected that they''d have to exchange information with him. However, they still aren''t sure if they could trust any of his words and would only be able to do so when they see it for themselves. But even knowing that, there''s a big problem to the only solution possible.


    Kisuke also figured out what they wanted and he''s already expecting them to ask about it. However, seeing that they were hesitating, he guessed that there was something else preventing them. In an attempt to gauge their reaction, Kisuke directly said, "I can arrange it so that you can reach the Human World."


    Contrary to his expectations, Chika just smiled wryly and shook his head, "It''s impossible for an ''Unchained'' to leave Hell. In exchange for freedom, we are not to join the world of the living even if the boundary between life and deathpletely copses."

 Chapter 1114 Founders part 3

    Chapter 1114 Founders part 3


    "Unchained..." Kisuke muttered, "Mind exining that for a bit?"


    Since it''s rtivelymon knowledge who sees Hell for what it is, Chika has no qualms in exining it to Kisuke, "Whenever onees to Hell naturally, they''ll be chained down by the Chains of Hell and it''ll be branded all over their body. Hence we call them the ''Chained''."


    "Those who wandered in here or were let through without Hell''s ''approval'' were called the ''Unchained''. That''s to say, there are other ways for these ''Unchained'' toe into being." Chika immediately stopped there, prompting Kisuke to think for himself, ''If he can''t see through it with just this, then I''m giving him more credit than he deserves.''


    Kisuke saw through his intentions and leaned back as the room became quiet with only the bustle of the crowd outside and fresh air entering the window. Kisuke didn''t know what he''s trying to achieve but he can tell that there''s a certain expectation that he needs to achieve before he could proceed with them. Although it''s not an absolute requirement for him to cooperate with them, it''d be a lot easier for him.


    ''The key points are the ''Chained'' and ''Unchained'' and how thetter could be attained through more than one means while the former could only be possible if one is a ''natural''.''


    Reaching this train of thought, Kisuke''s focus immediately focused on ''natural'' and a certain possibility entered his mind and made his eyebrows narrow. But before he could make any conclusions, he asked, "What is a ''Chained''?"


    "A punishment that drowns you in your own ''sin''. Others could also see it as a reward that recognizes your lifetime''s work." Furoufushi answered him, "One thing is for sure, though. It makes you think that you''re ''sinless'' and act upon it."


    After that, Kisuke became partially sure of something and asked to confirm it, "So when you said natural, does that include the fact that those with Captain-level Reiatsu don''t have anywhere to go aside from Hell?"


    Chika smiled, "Correct. It''s all part of the natural order. And as you might have already guessed, another way to be an ''Unchained'' is to free yourself from the Chains of Hell."


    And now that that''s out of the way, and Chika could trust his cognitive abilities, or at least, his imaginative skills, he continued, "After enduring what seems to be an eternity of mind maniption that boosts one''s madness and psychosis, one would have a chance to shed away the Chains of Hell and gain peace of mind. At that point, your punishment is done and you will be able to lead a new life here in Hell. However, that also means losing ess to the connection with Hell itself. Even if we find a door that''ll lead us to the Human World, we won''t be able to interact with it in any meaningful way, much less go through it."


    Kisuke finally understood why Szayporro could cross the door of Hell and even managed to somehow use its ''eyes'', ''Using these Chains of Hell, they acquired some authority over Hell... This is definitely a reward for a guy like him... And a very dangerous thing to have.''


    Kisuke is afraid that Szayporro has any other authority other than opening doors, ''...Controlling other ''Chained''. It''s going to be annoying.''


    Kisuke knew that Szayporro is someone who uses his head so he knew that if there was anycking part of his authority, he''ll do anything to expand it, "Looks like I will need to take the initiative to at least make him busy with other things."


    "What are you talking about?" Furoufushi suddenly asked.


    Kisuke took a deep breath and sighed, "I recalled you referred to me as an Arrancar earlier so I''ll assume that you''ve already encountered them a few times?"


    "Not just a few encounters, those bastards suddenly just appeared a decade ago and started eating Souls. We know that they''re Hollows that came to Hell, but we don''t know anything else about them aside from what they call themselves and some of the techniques that they use." Furoufushi clicked her tongue while exining. There''s a very obvious hostilitying from her.


    "We also know that they are distinctively different because they carry around Zanpakuto as if they''re Shinigamis." Chika added and although he appears a lot calmer than the former, there was a boiling killing intent behind his eyes, "But what about them?"


    "To exin it simply, these Arrancars are the result of a rogue Shinigami''s experiment that allowed a Hollow to tear off their mask and gain Shinigami-like powers. They became a big problem 15 years ago but most of them were killed, with the remaining Arrancars managing Hueco Mundo and having a non-aggression pact with Gotei 13 as long as they don''t invade each other''s space."


    Chika and Furoufushi''s eyes widened and thettermented, "That''s surprising... The Gotei 13 getting along with Hollows?"


    Kisuke chuckled before continuing, "It all paid off when they became a great asset to the Great War, 3 yearster."


    ''3 yearster... So it was 12 years ago?'' Chika and Furoufushi vividly remembered how the whole of Hell shook 12 years ago and it was also a few years after that they noticed that the boundary between the Human World and Hell became dangerously weak.


    However, all of this will momentarily fly out of their heads when they heard Kisuke''s next words, "The Great War between Soul Society and Quincies that cost countless lives, including some people you know, namely, Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Yachiru Unohana and Sasakibe Choujirou Tadaoki."


    "!? Quincies!? Those pests have returned!? And old man Yama was taken out!? Including Yachiru and Sasakibe!?" Furoufushi stood up from her seat and mmed the table in front of them into pieces.


    "Calm down. I wouldn''t be here if Soul Society didn''t survive. It might be just recent news to you but it''s already more than a decade ago. And in the Great War, Yhwach was also killed."


    Furoufushi knew that her anger would do nothing and forcefully calmed herself down before sitting back down, "Wait... More than a decade ago, so does that mean the Soul Funeral Festival was performed?"


    Kisuke nodded, "For all of them, just recently, yes."


    "Chika!" Furoufushi suddenly shouted, "The top priority is searching for them."


    Chika, who had been quiet also suddenly stood and walked up to the window, "I''ll take care of it."


    As soon as he said those words, he disappeared with a sh Step.


    Kisuke saw Furoufushi cross her arms and started tapping her fingers, showing her frustration with the situation. Nevertheless, Kisuke still hasn''t acquired enough trust just to ask her what''s going on but he knows that it has something to do with being ''Chained''.


    Kisuke also stood up and said, "It seems that you''re going to be busy soon so I''ll leave you alone for now."


    "What? What about our agreement?"


    "We can continue our talk about it at ater time. For now, I''ll bring documents about what happened this past century the next time Ie back here so that you''ll have an idea of what''s going on. Don''t worry about its authenticity since it''ll directlye from the current Captain Commander and old man Yama''s student. Once you find him, you''ll be able to confirm it from him."


    It''s not really that important because they could just ask Yamamoto and Yachiru what happened when they find them and they''ll be able to find them as long as they are really sent to Hell. However, Furoufushi has a feeling that she has to continue this rtionship with him and nodded, "Alright. I''m looking forward to it. But how are you going to return?"


    Kisuke grinned and a Magic Circle appeared beneath his feet, "I have my ways."


    Furoufushi''s unexpected guest disappeared after lighting up the whole room with strange symbols that emitted Hell''s Grace. And as soon as things calmed down, a piece of paper came falling down in front of her.


    After catching it, she read, "My offer of bringing you into the Human World still stands. And I advise you not to mention my real name to anyone or else you can forget everything we''ve discussed for today. -Belial."


    Using a simple Kidou, Furoufushi burned the note and left the room, intending to send a message to Chika who just left to keep everything about Belial a secret.

 Chapter 1115 A Visit from Seireitei

    Chapter 1115 A Visit from Seireitei


    A few hours before sunrise, Kisuke returned to their house in Karakura Town. He intended to go straight to an unused room in the basement so as not to disturb anyone but Serafall in her nightgown came out while yawning, "Wee back~"


    "I''m sorry I woke you up." Kisuke changed his ns and stayed in the living room, "Coffee?"


    "With three cubes of sugar, please~." Serafall sat down, not minding her appearance, "How was your trip?" Since she could urately track Kisuke''s whereabouts as thetter didn''t really bother hiding his Magic signature, she knew he went somewhere far when his aura suddenly disappeared.


    "Unexpectedly fruitful and it''s not as I''ve imagined." Replied Kisuke while carefully brewing two cups of coffee.


    "Do you mean Hell?"


    "Yeah." Kisuke nodded and told her how and reached Hell and what transpired when he trespassed it.


    Bringing the cups of coffee over to Serafall''s side, Kisuke was able to finish his short report.


    "Thank you." Serafall took a few sips of the coffee before continuing, "Please listen to me too." It was her turn to tell Kisuke what had taken ce yesterday.


    .


    .


    .


    "I see... Aaroniero Arruruerie and Zommari Rureaux." Kisuke rubbed his chin, "Not just that, they are also capable of controlling the Chains of Hell to save themselves. It''s already certain that they have a certain amount of authority over Hell so the next question is to what extent."


    Their ability tomand the ''Beasts of Hell'' is not a big deal to Kisuke because strong individuals can always find ways to control the weaker ones so it doesn''t really matter if they could control them through their authority or something else.


    "Well, we should at least expect more of these ''Espadas''ing out of their graves. Since they are essentially Hollows with most of their humanity hollowed out, they''ll be thriving in Hell." While muttering this, Kisuke remembered something from more than a decade ago and added, "Ah... Maybe Ulquiorra Cifer won''t be around."


    "Ulquiorra Cifer?"


    "A nihilistic Hollow with great power. Instead of dying, he scattered into nothingness after pushing himself in a great battle."


    Serafall didn''t ask any further because she was not very interested, "By the way, it seems I stopped you when you were about to do something."


    "Oh right." Kisuke then took out a pair of smartphones from his inventory, "I intended to modify this for Ophis and Lilith''s use. It''ll be inconvenient if we keep using Telepathy Magic tomunicate remotely, not to mention, easily traceable and interceptable over long distances. I n to modify the other girls and yours too."


    "Do you mind if you work on mine right now?" Serafall took out her smartphone and passed it to Kisuke.


    "Sure, it shouldn''t take too much time, but I''ll finish Ophis and Lilith''s first so that they can have it before they leave for Soul Society."


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as the students left for their respective schools, Kisuke also left to do something else.


    Serafall, on the other hand, stayed at home because she knew that she''d be contacted today. And while waiting, she reviewed the documents about the Gotei 13 from more than a decade ago that she received from Kisuke. Although a bit outdated, it''s still very relevant since one can easily track who would seed in the position of thete Captains.


    It was after lunch that Serafall felt someone approach their house but she first waited for a doorbell ring.


    The doorbell rang and Serafall also heard a woman''s voice, "Excuse me."


    Serafall slowly walked and opened the door to see a female Shinigami standing beyond the gate, a slim and youthful girl with long ck hair pinned back, with t bangs that hung to the right side of her face. She has slightly light blue eyes that have a deep tint of violet and wears sses with a slightly oval shape to them.


    "Yes~? How may I help you?"


    The Shinigami straightened herself, "I''m Ise Nanao, Lieutenant of the 1st Division. I came here as Soul Society''s correspondent. I would like to have a bit of your time if that''s possible."


    "Ah, Nanao-chan, is it?"


    "N-Nanao-chan!?" Nanao was instantly taken aback.


    But ignoring her reaction, Serafall snapped her fingers and the gate''s lock utched itself before slowly opening, "Pleasee in. Let''s talk inside."


    Nanao calmed herself and entered through the gate. She thought that the gates opening themselves was neat but thought it was Human technology, "Thank you for having me."


    Nanao didn''t really know what to expect when she came here. She wanted to have more backup since the target of their invitation was at least a Captain level in strength, but her Captain strangely reassured her that she won''t be in any danger. Aside from that, bringing arge force might just provoke the individual known as Sitri Serafall.


    Serafall asked Nanao to sit as she prepared some tea, "I apologize for myte introduction. You probably already know my name but I''m Sitri Serafall. Nice to meet you and please call me Sera-chan, Nanao-chan~."


    After hearing about it the second time, Nanao was calmer and received the tea she was offered, "Thank you... Serafall-san." However, she still couldn''t call her by a pet name. Still, Serafall looked like she genuinely wanted to be friends in Nanao''s eyes so she opted to call her by her first name.


    "Hmm... I guess that''s alright for now." Although not satisfied, Serafall epted it, "I would like for us to get to know each other, but let''s take care of the main business first."


    Nanao gracefully drank her tea before saying, "Once again, thank you for letting me in. I''m Ise Nanao of 1st Division and I''m here in response to Captain Mayuri''s petition to invite you in the Soul Society and it received approval from the Captain Commander."


    "Oh my~ I was expecting that to take a few days to a week. To think it''ll be approved this fast and easy."


    ''She knows the inner workings of Seireitei?'' Doubt immediately sprouted inside Nanao''s mind.


    Seeing her reaction, Serafall grinned, "Not that deep. I just got hold of a bit of information about the Seireitei. My rough assumptions are based on that."


    "...Information?" This was a very concerning statement for Nanao. Since she doesn''t know how much information she has, she couldn''t gauge the current situation.


    Serafall took a sip of her tea before speaking, "I know you guys are allocating a substantial amount of manpower to investigate my origins, including those around me, so it''s natural for me to reciprocate the favor, isn''t it?"


    Nanao became nervous and couldn''t answer.

 Chapter 1116 Entry to Seireitei

    Chapter 1116 Entry to Seireitei


    While Nanao was trying to figure out what to say, Serafall suddenly started chuckling, "Don''t worry about it, Nanao-chan. While I do mind the amount of scouting, none of them crossed the line and I''m not really angry about it. After all, this is a basic prerequisite if you do not want to be taken advantage of at the negotiation table."


    Nanao cleared her throat and took a sip of her tea once again to calm her nerves, "I apologize I reacted that way. I just didn''t expect information to leak that easily... As if someone inside provided it to you."


    "Well, that''s actually how I got it. I''m very good friends with a certain Shinigami."


    Nanao only said that to try and gauge Serafall''s reaction, but she didn''t expect that she''d be this honest and further halted her thought process, ''It''s no use. I can''t figure anything out.''


    Nanao wanted to remove a bit of shroud surrounding this individual for them to prepare as much as possible and know what to expect, ''I''m sorry Captain, but it''s obvious that she''s quite adept in a situation like this. There''s no way an amateur like me can crack her.''


    Not wanting to be a free source of information, Nanao finally gave up her tiptoeing and said, "Do you have time today? If it''s alright with you, we can go to the Soul Society now."


    "Sure. Please lead the way."


    After Serafall cleaned up, she followed Nanao outside with Hell''s Butterflies already fluttering around her, "I''m ready, shall we go?"


    Nanao was about to open the Senkaimon when she recalled something important and turned to Serafall, "I''m sorry but we''ll need to leave your physical body behind. Although Soul Society is perfectly survivable with a physical body, nothing in it can nourish one and it''s not exactly afortable experience. If Urahara Kisuke was still around, we could request the use of Reishi Henkan-Ki (Spirit Exchangers) to convert physical material into Reishi. But the device is currently in Captain Mayuri''s possession and he''s currently studying how it works."


    "Don''t worry about me~ I''m different from normal Humans and the power I possess is within my physical body. Even if I go without food for a month or two, I''ll be just fine." Serafall''s face almost twitched at the sudden mention of Kisuke''s name, ''And I doubt something designed for a Human with a physical body that doesn''t contain any power will work on me.''


    Nanao stared at her for a moment before proceeding to open the Senkaimon, "Understood." This was a big piece of information, but Nanao didn''t let anything show on her face.


    "Will there be an official meeting?"


    Nanao shook her head, "It''ll just be a tour and your visit will be a secret except to those Gatekeepers, Lieutenants, and above. However, not all of them are aware that you''reing."


    As the Japanese wooden door manifests itself and opens, Nanao is thinking that this won''t be possible in Captain-Commander Yamamoto''s era and Serafall might have even been treated as a foreign adversary that needs to be eliminated for the sake of bnce and peace. This is how different the current Captain Commander is and she intended to support him all the way.


    Unknown to her, it''s also because a certain Shinigami knew that Captain-Commander Yamamoto''s era is over that he''sfortable bringing Serafall and the other girls with him back into this world.


    .


    .


    .


    As light enveloped Nanao and Serafall, thetter''s senses went haywire for a moment due to the Space-Time transition, and became dizzy for a moment. However, Serafall didn''t care and kept her senses sharp in case something jumped at her from an unknown ce or her own body was rejected by the ce where only Souls could reside.


    Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened and they sessfully reached Soul Society, more specifically, the Seireitei (Court of Pure Souls).


    Serafall opened her eyes and was greeted by a very wide tform and behind them is a giant door already closing. Beside the door are two men wearing long purple robes standing stoically.


    "They are the Gatekeepers of this Senkaimon and members of the Kidou Corps," Nanao exined to Serafall before asking her to follow her.


    Serafall took a deep breath and the only thing she could think of right now is how radically the air is different in this world. The next thing she noticed is the sudden increase of Nanao''s aura, ''At least five times. I heard from Kisuke that those of a certain level have limiters on when they go to the Human world so they wouldn''t affect it in a disastrous way. Is that also the case for those Shinigami yesterday?''


    As they reach the edge of the tform where there''s a set of stairs going down, Serafall finally realized that they were on top of a veryrge and tall tower.


    As there''s nothing like an elevator in this tower, they had to walk all the way down. But before they left the tower, Nanao took a different turn and led Serafall to one of the rooms that looks like a changing room, "Please wait here for a moment. I will go look for a suitable Shihakusho that will fit you to change into since we can''t really have you going around in a Human world''s clothes."


    Serafall looked at herself and agreed. Sadly, she''s also not a fan of the Shihakusho, ''...I don''t really have any choice, do I?''


    Nanao soon returned and thanks to her astute eyes, she was able to get the right size the first time, "I''ll help you change."


    "Thank you."


    It didn''t take too long for Serafall to put on the Shihakusho as she has prior experience wearing something simr in the early years of Japan.


    With Nanao in the lead again, they exited the tower and Serafall witnessed a long, solemn street, "This is the 1st Division''s area, and most of what''s in and happening here are official buildings and official events. We''ll first go to themerce district."


    Serafall stretched her arms and took another deep breath of Seireitei''s clean air and thought, ''Now then... These guys probably already thought that I''m here to gather information on them.''


    As Serafall could just get all the information she needed from Kisuke himself, she didn''t really need to risk herself like this for something like that. What she needed is to establish her presence and set another powerhouse that the Seireitei won''t be able to ignore.


    While there''s merit in hiding her abilities, that''ll only create a huge division between them and it''s not like they are enemies that she needs to take out.


    ''Knowing Captain Mayuri, I''ll probably meet this Captain Zaraki ''identally'' in today''s outing. If so, I''ll be ying along~.''

 Chapter 1117 Kenpachi

    Chapter 1117 Kenpachi


    Nanao showed Serafall to all sorts of ces within the Seireitei and even showed her a bit of what''s outside of its walls.


    Naturally, with Nanao herself going around leading an unknown face, people became curious about Serafall. The answer she gave them, however, was Serafall is a new member of the 1st Division that has great potential and was about to be promoted to the 3rd seat.


    It was already afternoon and the duo was almost done with their tour. Right now, they are resting in a cafe that''s mostly visited by female Shinigamis, "How was it?"


    "Want my honest opinion?"


    Nanao nodded.


    "I''d rather stay in the Human World. While there are some efforts to create ces like this, this is still just a giant militarypound and its function is to nourish and strengthen the military. Not to mention, it seems that this ce is also stuck in time and only with recent efforts have you allowed Human World technology to circte."


    "I agree on the first point but I totally disagree on thetter half." Nanao immediately replied, "While it''ll be really convenient to incorporate Human World''s technology into the Soul Society, the two worlds still operate with differing rules and it''s not as easy to make something equivalent from the Human World. Our 12th Division is always working hard to achieve technological advances."


    Serafall stared at her for a while and could see that she was genuinely upset. She then smiled and said, "Is that so? Then I apologize. I spoke my mind without knowing what was actually going on."


    Seeing her actually back down easily, Nanao also lowered her head, "I''m also sorry for going off like that."


    "Don''t be. It''s your every right to correct my wrong impression of your organization." Serafall then looked to her left, feeling a massive aura trying to hide fast approaching their direction, "Speaking of which, I have an appointment with the 12th Division. Should we go there now?"


    "Ah, that''s right. We should go now. Although they are pretty much open 24 hours a day, we should go when most of them are working."


    Nanao stood up and was about to pay their tab when Serafall suddenly said, "But it looks like we''ll have to postpone that."


    "Hmm?" Nanao slightly tilted her head in confusion and noticed that Serafall wasn''t actually looking at her but someone or something behind her. Nanao was about to turn around when she felt the very familiar Reiatsu suddenly ring up behind her and she became akin to a creaking unoiled machine. Slowly turning around, she was able to confirm who was behind her and much to her horror, his chipped sword was already resting on his shoulder, "C-Captain Zaraki... What are you doing here?"


    Nanao''s effort of avoiding him at all costs went down the drain as she could already imagine what he was going to say next, ''He''ll probably ignore me and directly ask Sitri-san if she''s the woman in the rumors.''


    "Are you the woman in the rumors?"


    Nanao wanted to praise herself, but that was obviously not the time for it, "Captain Zaraki, the Captain Commander already asked you not to cause any trouble!"


    The towering Kenpachi Zaraki finally gave a cursory nce to Nanao and said, "When was I causing trouble? I''m just asking if she''s the woman in the rumors."


    "That''s a very rude thing to say, don''t you think?" Serafall opened her mouth.


    "Do you think I care?"


    Serafall stared at him for a few seconds before nodding to herself, "You couldn''t care less. I don''t know who this woman in the rumors is, but I''m certainly a new face here. Does that answer your curiosity?"


    "Not quite." Arge grin suddenly crept up to Kenpachi''s face and the horrified Nanao became terrified, "W-wait! Captain Zaraki!"


    But it''s already toote for Nanao to do anything. Though it''s unknown if there''s anything she could have done anything to prevent it in the first ce.


    Kenpachi suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the ''unsuspecting'' Serafall and swung his sword horizontally.


    A strange blue circle blocked the path of his sword and momentarily stopped his motion. However, Kenpachi just added a bit of strength to his arm to cleave this circle in half and reach Serafall. To his surprise, Kenpachi''s sword also went through his target without much resistance, ''Is that it?''


    At that moment, Kenpachi felt a threat to his side and immediately raised his arm to block the leg that was flying toward him. However, he severely underestimated the strength behind that leg and was instantly sent flying out of the cafe, crashing into multiple walls and sending dust everywhere.


    Serafallnded on her feet and turned to the speechless Nanao who was staring at her cleaved ice dummy, "Please find someone who can stop that guy."


    "B-but I can''t leave you behind!"


    "Can you stop him then?" Serafall snapped her fingers and arge Magic Circle appeared on top of where Kenpachinded. A secondter, a giant ice spike emerged from it and Serafall dropped it on him. But before it could evennd, the giant ice spike was cleaved in half and the shockwave that resulted from Kenpachi swinging his sword cleared all the surrounding dust, revealing his figure that was virtually unscathed.


    Nanao was shocked at what was happening, but it''s true that she can''t do anything to stop them. Gritting her teeth, she turned around and said before using her sh Step, "Please be safe."


    "So she thinks I''m going to lose?" Serafall chuckled and turned her attention back to Kenpachi. Thanks to his reputation, the moment the people around saw him with his sword drawn, everyone have already run away so the area instantly became deserted, making arge space for them to duke it out, "Though if what I read about him is true, then I''m a very bad match up against him." Nevertheless, if it''s just surviving, Serafall can easily do it.


    While Serafall was thinking of ways to keep him at bay, Kenpachi started cracking his neck and said, "So you really are a strange woman. Someone told me you''re very strong. Let me see it."


    "I''m not really in the mood though?"


    Kenpachi''s grin grewrger as he suddenly dashed forward while shouting, "Then I''ll create the mood for you!"


    But he had to immediately stop and raise his arm on top of his head. The next instant, Serafall''s leg came crashing down against him, sinking his feet into the pavement.


    At his reaction, Serafall could only smile wryly, "You obviously can''t properly feel my presence but here you are, reacting to everything I throw at you."


    Kenpachi pushed her back against her by swinging his arm, "So you''re going to do this whenever I lose sight of you?"

 Chapter 1118 Short Clash

    Chapter 1118 Short sh


    Ikkaku and Yumichika were running towards the source of the explosions that suddenly rocked the Seireitei when the day was just about to end. When they heard that their Captain was fighting someone from the escaping Shinigamis, Ikkaku, and Yumichika dropped what they were doing and hurriedly rushed toward the site.


    On their way there, they could see towering ice sprouting from the ground, and before they could reach the spot where they were fighting, a wall of ice taller than the walls of Seireitei emerged and encircled the sound of the sh, and Kenpachi''s maniacalughter.


    "Just what''s going on here!?" Ikkaku asked himself while also inspecting the wall of ice that''s blocking their way.


    Yumichika didn''t immediately say something and approached the wall of ice because it''s strangely not cold at all. But when he touched it, he instantly became terrified and hurriedly jumped back.


    Seeing his strange reaction, Ikkaku shouted, "What''s wrong!?"


    Yumichika looked at his hand which was covered in frost and said, "Don''t carelessly touch the wall without any protection. Anyone weaker will be instantly frozen."


    Without any hesitation pulled his sleeve and started drawing markings on his arm, "I''ll send out a warning. ck and white! Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crown strings, footprints, distant thunders, mountain peaks, valleys, night shadows, cloud sea, cyan line! Fill up the circle and zoom to the edges of the sky! Bakudo no. 77 Tentei Kuura (Soaring Net of Heavens)!"


    While Yumichika was in the middle of it, another person arrived with a sh Step, "What''s happening here?"


    Ikkaku turned to him, "Captain Kuchiki! Captain Zaraki is fighting someone but we can''t get past this strange wall of ice that appeared out of nowhere."


    Byakuka also silently walked towards the wall and by now, he''d already heard the message Yumichika sent to everyone in the vicinity so he touched the wall to test it himself. And as Yumichika had said, the moment his fingers touched the ice wall that was not emitting any coldness, frost started gathering around his hand and arm, threatening to freeze him.


    Byakuya lifted his hand and used his Reiatsu to force out the horrifying coldness that was trying to invade his flesh, ''What is this ability? I don''t feel any Reiatsu from it.''


    Byakuka contemted if he should break the wall using Kidou, but it was obvious that this wall was containing the battle that was happening inside, and breaking this might spill out the destruction to arger area of Seireitei.


    But while he was hesitating, two more people arrived and one of which was someone who first escaped the vicinity, Nanao. In front of her is a Shinigami with grey eyes and long wavy brown hair and is wearing a Sugegasa straw hat and a pink, flowereddy''s kimono, which he drapes across his shoulders and over his captain''s uniform.


    "Captain Commander!" Ikkaku and Yumichika saluted.


    Byakuya, on the other hand, immediately asked him upon his arrival, "Is this about our guest?"


    Kyouraku tipped his hat backward and nodded, "Sadly, it seems our dear Zaraki found her after hearing a strange rumor from somewhere."


    "I have a feeling I know where he heard this strange rumor."


    """"!?"""" Four of the five Shinigamis immediately put their hands on their Zanpakuto when they heard another unfamiliar voice. Because they didn''t know when she arrived, all of them were quite surprised. Thankfully, they didn''t attack when they saw her raising her hands and there was no hostility in her demeanor.


    "Serafall-san! You''re safe!" Nanao was d to see her, but also confused as everyone could still hear Kenpachi''s cackling and his sword whipping around, "Then who is he fighting right now?"


    Without exining herself first, two Magic Circles appeared beside Serafall and ice started emerging from it before forming into a statue and soon became identical to Serafall herself. The two ice clones then flew towards the wall and went through it as if it was water and disappeared, "He won''t stop so I''ve just been keeping him busy."


    Serafall then turned to the people beside Nanao and introduced herself, "Nice to meet you, everyone. I''m Sitri Serafall. I presume you guys will be able to stop him?"


    Aside from Ikkaku who was present on the night of Hell''s attack, it was the first time Yumichika, Byakuya, and Kyouraku met her.


    Kyouraku stepped forward and introduced himself, "Nice to meet you too, Sitri Serafall. I''m Shunsui Kyouraku, the current Captain Commander and Nanao-chan''s direct superior. I''m not sure how you''re fooling his senses, but you could leave him to us."


    "Great~ His intuition is really scary so I''m also not sure how long I can keep him upied in there."


    Kyouraku thought that this problem is about to end, ''Any longer and the Central 46 will butt in. Thank goodness Zaraki has a bit of a reputation.''


    However, the atmosphere around Serafall instantly changed and made everyone near her shiver for some unknown reason, "But I don''t really like how he just attacked me out of nowhere. I can at least get back at him for that, right?"


    "W-what are you..."


    Since she was not really asking for permission, Serafall proceeded to release her Demonic Power and a giant Magic Circle that epasses the entire ''arena'' that she made, "Raikou (Lightning)!"


    As dark clouds manifested on top of the ''arena'', a massive discharge of lightning struck down the whole area and temporarily blinded everyone looking at it and deafened those who were near it.


    When their disrupted senses returned, the wall of ice had already disappeared, revealing arge crater. In the middle of it is Kenpachi standing on his two feet and extremely tattered with various burns on his body. Even then, a wide grin is still present on his face. He turned in Serafall''s direction and said, "Ah... That''s amazing. I didn''t see thating at all. I''d hate it if we''re just going to end it here."


    Serafall returned his grin with a fearless smile, "But we''re going to end it here. As I''ve said, I''m not really in the mood for a contest of strength."


    "That''s really a shame..." Kenpachi was about to jump at her again but Kyouraku didn''t allow that, "Zaraki, that''s enough. Save your energy for more obvious enemies. You''d have fun with them too."

 Chapter 1119 Post-Combat Analysis

    Chapter 1119 Post-Combat Analysis


    Kenpachi saw that Byakuya and Kyouraku were ready to intercept him so he scratched his head and gave up, "It''s been a while since I had any good exercise and it was cut short."


    While muttering this, Kenpachi started walking in another direction, losing his interest.


    Ikkaku and Yumichika first looked at each other before running to follow their Captain.


    Seeing him leave, Kyouraku sighed in relief, "Only old man Yama could actually control his temper." He then turned to Serafall before continuing, "I apologize for what just happened. You''re supposed to be our guest, but this still happened. Whatever I could do to make up for it?"


    "Captain..." Nanao muttered in worry.


    Meanwhile, Byakuya is wondering why he''s lowering himself this much to an outsider. If the nobles were to see him right now, there could be a move to remove him from his position, ''Fortunately, there''s no one better that could rece him.''


    Serafall also realized his sincerity and didn''t n to make him do anything. If she asks anything, it won''t look good for her, "It''s fine~ Let''s just consider this as myb test for the 12th Division."


    "Lab test?" Kyouraku knew her deal with Mayuri but he wondered if that troublesome researcher would actually agree.


    Serafall was able to guess what was on his mind and answered his confusion by turning to her left and saying, "I think that''s enough data for you? If you''re still going to ask me to go to yourb after what you started then I might identally freeze your ce on my way out."


    All of a sudden, a figure in a ck cloak emerged from one of the destroyed walls, "So even after I modified this cloak, you can still find me. Fascinating."


    Both Byakuya and Kyouraku narrowed their eyes at him, "Captain Kurotsuchi..."


    Mayuri removed his cloak and said, "I know what you''re thinking, but it''s not my fault that Captain Zaraki went to seek her after I informed him of her arrival. I might have added a few more details, but as a researcher, those minor details are important."


    Mayuri then saw everyone''s expression souring and took a step back, "But as Sitri Serafall has said, I''ve gathered enough data so she can forget about going to myb. In fact, I don''t want her going near it."


    "That settles it then." Serafall had enough work for today and she already achieved her objective so staying any further is just more risk without any reward for her. However, there''s still one thing that''s bothering her and it only became a worry after she yed around with Kenpachi without much effort, "Even with that guy''s monstrous intuition, he still couldn''t detect me." Serafall muttered to herself.


    "I''m also quite surprised." Mayuri chimed in while approaching, "I thought Zaraki''s animalistic instincts might be able to track you but he was lost like the rest of us. Thanks to the new detector that I made, you also possess quite a sizable amount of Reiatsu, but I guess all of that is being covered by this strange energy of yours." Mayuri showed Serafall his terminal showing various graphs.


    Serafall stared at it for a few moments while rubbing her chin, "It''s great that you''re making progress, but at this rate, those guys from Hell might catch you off guard so it isn''t really realistic for me to wait for you to adapt."


    She thought about it for a little bit more before deciding to help them out a bit, ''They are going to learn it sooner orter so it''s better if they owe me for it.''


    Byakuya, Kyouraku, Nanao, and Mayuri''s guard all went up when all of a sudden, a Magic Circle appeared in front of Serafall.


    Serafall ignored them and stuck her arm into the circle. She rummaged inside her inventory while muttering, "I think it''s in this corner? Yep. The Japanese edition."


    A few secondster, Serafall took her arm back and her hand was already holding a thick book. She then passed it to Kyouraku.


    Kyouraku absentmindedly received it and saw the title of the book, "Introduction to Magic and Magic Power?"


    Mayuri''s eyes shined with curiosity and peeked at the book too. However, right now, he''s much more interested in its author, "Rossweisse and Riveria Ljos Alf? Am I reading that right?"


    Serafall nodded at him, "Just because it''s called Magic, it doesn''t mean it''s rted to the system they use in the West. You''ll probably have a hard time understanding what''s in it due to the absence of the Magic Power in the air, but you should be able to learn a lot of things if you reference it while using the Arrancar that I caught."


    Kyouraku passed the book to Mayuri and thetter immediately proceeded to browse through it, "I see... This looks like a load of nonsense, but if it''sing from you... Captain Commander, let me take care of this."


    "Make a copy for each division first."


    After getting his instructions, Mayuri immediately left.


    Byakuya, on the other hand, offered his hand, "I''m the Captain of the 6th Division, Kuchiki Byakuya."


    Serafall dly received it, "Nice to meet you, Byakuya-chan~ I''m Sitri Serafall. You can call me Serafall~!"


    Byakuya was taken aback but his expression immediately returned to neutral. While Serafall is acting cheerfully, Byakuya could actually tell that she was raised like a noble just from her movements, "d to be your acquaintance." He then let go of her hand and turned to Kyouraku, "I''m following Captain Kurotsuchi since I can''t trust him."


    Without waiting for confirmation, Byakuya left the group.


    Seeing that, Kyouraku couldn''t help but sigh, "I''d like to apany you and talk more but I have to deal with the Central 46 first due to this noise so I''ll be leaving you to Nanao-chan''s care. I hope you don''t mind that."


    "I''m fine. I won''t disturb you any further and it''s about time for me to go home."


    "I see. Then if there''s a chance, I''d like us to discuss a few things."


    Kyouraku soon bid his farewell and Nanao led Serafall back to the tower where they first arrived.


    After changing to her former clothes, Serafall approached Nanao with a piece of paper that had the insignia of the Sitri House on it, "Take this, Nanao-chan."


    Nanao received it and curiously observed it and asked, "This is?"


    "A summoning contract. It''s a temporary one, but if you''re in danger, just think of me and that''ll bring me to you."

 Chapter 1120 Sharing is Caring

    Chapter 1120 Sharing is Caring


    After school, ire, Tanis, and Kunou were exploring the town once again, thinking that they might''ve missed something, though this time, they''re by themselves. Along the way, they would notice some Shinigami going around but ignored them. They also noticed that there were no ''doors of Hell'' opening and wondered if it had something to do with what Serafall did yesterday.


    In thetter part of their tour, they arrived at the area where the Urahara Shop was located and decided to drop by and say hi to Tessai. Although it was forbidden for them to tell anyone that they knew Tessai through Kisuke, this doesn''t stop them from interacting with Tessai. And as Kisuke''s best friend, the girls wanted to know more about him and offer help if he needed any.


    "Since we''re going there, want to borrow the underground training facility? We''ve never missed a training session every day and I''m honestly itching to move my body around." ire proposed to the group. Kisuke had already created a ce for them to train but he hadn''t allowed them in yet because there were still a lot of things he had to do to fix the ce.


    "Let''s go~!" Tanis grabbed ire and Kunou''s arms to race towards the Urahara Shop. Kunou only smiled and didn''t say anything as she had the same craving as everyone else.


    A few minutester, they reached the corner where the shop was located but stopped on their feet before they could even approach it. The reason is that there are few familiar people standing outside and talking to Tessai.


    While talking to his guests, Tessai also noticed the girls'' approach and waved at them, "Tanis, ire, Kunou. How was school?"


    Those who were talking to Tessai also turned around and had their eyes widened, "T-they are..." Muttered Ichigo.


    Uryu and Chad behind him remained silent.


    ire waved back with a big smile, "It''s fun~ How are you doing Tessai-niisan?"


    Tessai touched his mustache in embarrassment. They should be calling his uncle, but because they are calling Kisuke a big brother, it isn''t really right for them not to do the same for him. Though after a few moments, Tessai felt the weirded-out stare from Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad and had to feign a cough before saying, "It''s their choice. I have no say in it."


    He then replied to ire who was already approaching them, "I''m fine and it''s great to hear that you''re enjoying your stay. By the way, what are you girls here for?"


    "We''re exploring the town and came to this area so we thought we''d say hi."


    "Is that so?" Tessai rubbed his chin and could feel the men''s confused stare, "Wee to the shop. I''d appreciate it if you could purchase a few things."


    "We''ll do that~! But we''d like to ask another favor."


    "Hmm? What is it?"


    "We''d like to use the underground training facility."


    Tessai was a bit surprised but not because they wanted to use it. He turned to Ichigo''s group and asked them, "Do you mind sharing it with them?"


    Uryu immediately grabbed Ichigo''s shoulder and answered, "If they''re alright with us using it too, we don''t mind. The training ground is wide enough for more people."


    Tessai turned back to ire and said, "They asked about it first so they got the priority. You could return on another day if you want to keep it to yourselves."


    ire thought about it for a second and looked towards Tanis and Kunou who seemed to not mind it, "We''d like to use it today~ Thank you for letting us go too, big brothers~." ire went in front of Ichigo''s group and slightly bowed her head in gratitude. And with their leader doing it, Tanis and Kunou did the same.


    Ichigo panicked slightly at their sudden politeness due to the very different image they had in his head. When they met them in the ramen shop, they thought that they were aggressive girls, very different than their current demeanor.


    "...It''s fine. And since we''ll be using the training ground together, let''s introduce ourselves. I''m Kurosaki Ichigo and these guys behind me are Ishida Uryu and Yasutora Sado."


    Uryu and Chad respectively smiled and nodded their heads when Ichigo introduced them.


    "Nice to meet you, Kurosaki-niisan, Ishida-niisan, and Yasutora-niisan! I''m ire Belial! Ah, ire is my first name."


    Tanis behind her raised her hand, "I''m Tanis Belial! We''re not blood-rted but we''re sisters!"


    "Kunou Belial. Pleased to meet you. We''re not blood-rted but we''re definitely sisters." Kunou bowed elegantly.


    In the previous world, Kunou not having ast name was a nonissue since it''s verymon for a Youkai, especially those who are very few in number not to have ast name. However, in this world, it''s inconvenient not to have ast name and Kisuke suggested taking the name of Belial and Kunou happily epted it.


    Serafall tried protesting and said that she should take the name of Sitri but Kunou preferred to have the samest name as the other two because she feels that they finally became real sisters.


    "Then is it alright if we call you by your first names?" asked Ichigo.


    "Please do so~!"


    Seeing that they finally settled, Tessai feigned another cough to gather their attention, "Let''s continue inside."


    Tessai was about to turn around to lead them inside when ire suddenly stopped him, "Please wait."


    He wondered what was going on but ire turned to Kunou and said, "It''s been a while so we might get too intense. Please make sure that we won''t bother the neighbors."


    Kunou nodded and took out several yellow paper talismans from her bag before tossing them into the air.


    The fluttering and falling talismans suddenly suspended themselves in the air before straightening up and revolving around Kunou.


    Kunou closed her eyes and whispered something. A few secondster, the floating talismansunched themselves in all directions, sticking to the walls, roofs, and ground of the surrounding before quietly disappearing in sight, "It''s done. Even if the ground shakes, no one will be able to notice."


    "Tessai-niisan, we can go~!"


    Tessai nodded and led ire''s group inside. Ichigo''s group, meanwhile, was silently staring at the spots where the talismans disappeared, "What was that?" Chad asked.


    "There''s no use asking. We couldn''t understand them in the first ce." Uryu replied, "But this is a good opportunity. Let''s see what they are capable of and maybe, we''ll be able to recognize what they are doing."

 Chapter 1121 ‘Sparring’

    Chapter 1121 ��Sparring��


    The reason why Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad came to Tessai and asked him for permission to use the training ground was to refresh themselves. After all, it''s been a long while since thestrge conflict and it''s inevitable that they''ll be rusty just from living their day-to-day lives as Humans.


    There''s a training ground constructed by Ryuuken Ishida inside the Karakura Hospital, but it''s really only suitable for one or two people. The training ground under the Visored''s warehouse, on the other hand, is being used by the Quincies. Although they didn''t really have any intention of joining this new problem, they also didn''t want to be stuck hiding behind their backs and be helpless about it.


    The moment Ichigo''s group came down to the training ground, a wave of nostalgia hit them, and that reminded them of a certain man that isn''t here anymore. Though the next thing they felt is a worry, thinking that there was a chance that they''ll be facing him if he was able to reach Hell.


    After looking around, they immediately saw something very out of ce and something they definitely don''t remember existing, "...A mansion?" Muttered Chad after catching a glimpse of it in the distance.


    Tessai became slightly nervous and feigned another cough, "Ehem... I built it to take some time off my hand. It''s surprisingly enjoyable."


    ire knew that it was not a good topic for Tessai so she approached Ichigo, asking, "Ne, Kurosaki-niisan, how will you go with your training? If it''s possible, we''d like arger area."


    "It''s alright." Ichigo nodded at her, "We''ll only do some Reiatsu training and some light sparring to get our senses back."


    ire immediately turned around and shouted towards the already distant Kunou, "He said it''s okay~!"


    ire''s actions pointed Ichigo''s group and Tessai''s attention to the distant blonde-haired girl. However, the moment their eyesnded on her, all of them froze for the reason that her appearance seems to have undergone a weird change.


    Kunou released her transformation technique and now showed her fox ears and six tails swaying behind her.


    "W-what is she?" Uryu muttered to himself.


    "From the ancient lineage of the Nine-tailed Fox." ire briefly answered before taking off, not exining anything any further.


    Kunou closed her eyes and the wind started swirling strongly around her, picking up dust and Kunou herself into the air.


    Ichigo''s group could tell that something is changing in their surroundings, but couldn''t tell what it is.


    From Kunou''s bag, the same talisman that she took out earlier began rushing out, but this time, in hundreds or maybe even a thousand in number. They briefly covered Kunou from everyone''s view as they formed a sphere around her. The next second, they all shoot out stering themselves to the walls, floor, ceiling, and the invisible wall that divided the whole training ground into two.


    And just like the previous ones, they all melded into what they stuck into and disappeared, including the ones with the invisible wall.


    Tessai approached the one who was nearest, Tanis, and asked, "What did she do?"


    "Spatial Reinforcement." Tanis answered while taking a look at the state of the barrier, "Basically it''s a barrier that protects whatever''s outside and slowly repairs what''s inside."


    And without any other word, a pair of dark blue reptilian wings suddenly sprouted behind her back before flying up and only stopping at the boundary of the barrier to check its integrity.


    Ichigo''s group and Tessai all froze in their ce again at her sudden transformation, "Tsukabishi-san, what''s all of this?" Uryuu asked thetter while fixing his sses, making sure that he was not seeing anything wrong.


    "Please don''t ask me. I also want to know the answer to that.", replied Tessai while thinking, ''I knew what sort of world Kisuke came from but he didn''t tell me anything about these girls. And actually seeing other races than Soul, Hollow, Quincy, and Human is very surprising.''


    Meanwhile, the girls carefully checked the barrier that Kunou formed, not minding everyone else''s stare. Since they are going to reveal a bit of themselves to them, there''s no point in hiding their true appearances.


    "I think this is really good." ire muttered after touching a few spots of the barrier, "You said you created this barrier with Rossweisse-sensei and Riveria-sensei''s help?"


    Kunou shook her head with a wry smile, "It''s more like they walked me through it."


    "Don''t sell yourself short, Kunou. I heard that Rossweisse-sensei and Riveria-sensei aren''t really that good with Youkai techniques, but this is clearly mainly a Youjutsu." Tanis flew towards Kunou and patted her back, "I also heard about this from those two and they''re also saying that your ingenuity made this possible."


    A small cute smile emerged from Kunou''s face as she turned to Tanis, "Thanks."


    At that moment, they suddenly felt a mix of Demonic Power and Holy Power erupted and when the two of them turned towards its source, they saw ire grinning at them, "Shall we start?"


    Kunou and Tanis looked at each other again before grinning and jumping away from each other.


    As the one who is better at long-range engagement, Kunou started by forming fox signs on both of her hands. The next second two golden balls of fire with a tint of red a yard in diameter formed in front of her hands and she sent them flying towards ire and Tanis.


    A shallow light immediately covered Tanis'' body as she took a stance in mid-air. The moment the fireball came near her, sheunched her right fist at it while letting out a small breath, "Huuppp!"


    The fireball instantly exploded away from Tanis, creating a shockwave that rocked the whole training ground. But thanks to the barrier, it was immediately mitigated without any problem.


    On ire''s side, she only had to look at it for a second before it fizzled out of existence. Not as shy as the former, but definitely more terrifying. In fact, Tanis and Kunou would often team up against ire because she has a clear ''sight'' of what they can do.


    Naturally, Kunou also knew that this would be the result after sending out those ''greetings'' but she didn''t stop there and created another 8 fireballs, 2 from her hands and 6 from her tails. Kunou then sent them flying toward ire and Tanis once again.


    Tanis was about to receive them as she usually does, but the 4 fireballs heading her direction suddenly started going off a weird trajectory they were about to reach her,pletely throwing off her timing, and ended up receiving the two of them with her bare body, causing a huge explosion on her spot.


    ire, on the other hand, tried erasing the fox fires with her ''Worthless'' ability but only one of them fizzled out, "Wait, Huh? Those aren''t Fox Fire!?"


    Kunou smirked and removed the illusion she ced on the fireballs. In an instant, two of the three remaining golden fireballs heading toward ire suddenly turned crimson and thest one turned blue.


    "Dragon Fire and Magic Fire!?"


    While ire''s [Worthless] is very oppressive, especially to those she knew very well, there were weaknesses to it. First, it can''t disable two or more spells at the same time, and second, there''s a very small cooldown before each use. ire could circumvent a bit of the first weakness if the spells she''s disabling came from the same system, but there''s nothing she can do about the second one no matter how fast she tries to analyze the spell.


    "It''s the result of my secret training~!" Kunou proudly proims.


    Before impact, ire was able to take care of the two Dragon Fire fireballs but she had to take Magic Fire that chased her even after dodging it and also causing a huge explosion and shockwave.


    Meanwhile, those who were watching them couldn''t stop the corners of their mouths from twitching, "...They said this is just sparring, or did I remember it wrongly?" Chad asked.


    "More importantly, can this ce hold up?" Asked Ichigo, "It feels like it''ll copse from the constant earthquake."

 Chapter 1122 ‘Sparring’ part 2

    Chapter 1122 ��Sparring�� part 2


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad nned to get their battle senses back. But they couldn''t even prepare for what they wanted to do as all their attention and focus were stolen at the current scene ying out in front of them.


    A series of explosions that shouldn''t be possible without high-tier Kidou techniques, destructive Zanpakuto, Cero, or a strong Fullbring ability. However, the thing that concerns them the most is the fact that none of them seems to be holding back in this ''sparring'' and the reason why they came to this conclusion is that after a few seconds of fighting, all three girls are tattered and bloodied, with one of them even breaking their arm.


    Naturally, Ichigo and the rest tried stopping them but they don''t seem to hear anything that they are shouting and the strange invisible wall dividing the training ground stops them from even approaching.


    Thankfully, they soon stopped, albeit, not the way they expected.


    They could see that they were in a deadlock and even though the men couldn''t understand what was happening most of the time, they could still tell who was at a disadvantage, which was the fox girl. Although she took the initiative in the beginning, the other two seemed to have more anti-personnel skills and they also knew their way around her techniques, resulting in the fox girl slowly sliding into a disadvantage.


    It all stopped when the frustration surfaced on the fox girl''s face and her hair started turning white along with her tails while also sprouting three more.


    "Stop! Stop! Kunou! You win!" ire immediately.


    Even Tanis, who was still heating up, instantly cooled down when she saw what was happening and was in full agreement that they were done.


    Kunou''s hair which was about to turn white suddenly started receding back along with her tails, "...But I haven''t done anything yet..." Sheined while pouting.


    ire approached her with a wry smile while clutching her newly healed broken arm, "This ce and this barrier won''t be able to contain your [Beast God]."


    Still haven''t stopped pouting, Kunou replied, "I can control it better now, though! I won''t destroy this ce using that... Probably!"


    "No, no, no!" Tanis came flying in and started casting Healing Magic on everyone, "Look at me! Goosebumps! [Beast God''s] Divinity is already no joke but it also has a tinge of a Dragon''s Outrage! Even though you might be able to control it for a minute or two, you''ll definitely lose control of it." Despite Tanis'' ability to focus more on direct and closebat, she''s actually the best at Healing Magic among their group, which included Serafall, the former Devil King, and Kisuke without his tools.


    Hearing that, Kunou''s pout turned into a dejected frown as she couldn''t refute Tanis'' words. With her being a Dragon, Tanis is much more sensitive to the Dragon aspect of her [Beast God] than her. If she can''t take this under control and get Tanis'' approval, she could only use it when she''s alone on the battlefield.


    However, to train how to use [Beast God] means to use it. Without any battlefield where she can really let loose and reflect on her actions, it became a serious limitation to her training. It''s her ace in a hole, but there''s no actual substance to it.


    The group then proceeded to talk about their sparring to review each other''s mistakes and what actions they could take to make improvements.


    And after a few minutes, they were fully healed with only strains on their muscles which Tanis purposely left alone for them to recover naturally. At the same time, their discussion was also finished and the only thing left to do was clean up.


    They looked around and saw the destruction they wrought which made it look like that their side of the training ground is about to copse even with their barrier still on, "I really miss Nii-san''s training ground. By the time we''re done talking, all of this would''ve returned to normal."


    "...I don''t want to do the cleanup... I''m tired." Tanis, who hated chores, immediately voiced out her grievances.


    "We still have to do it." Kunou stood up and got ready to fix all the craters they created and the boulders they crushed. Unlike Tanis, Kunou actually likes doing these menial tasks.


    "How about we ask Tessai-niisan to help us?" Tanis still didn''t want topletely resign to her fate, "He should know a bit or two on how to maintain this ce."


    "Speaking of which, I also want to watch how they train but we ended up going at it a bit harder than usual so I forgot." ire also stood up and turned around to the other side, only to see that there was nothing happening and they were only staring at them, "Huh? Are they done? But they didn''t leave any mark on the training ground... Are they also done fixing it?"


    Thanks to their skewedmon sense, ire couldn''t fully understand what was happening on their side. She couldn''t fathom the fact that there are people who''ll forego their important training time to gain their senses back just to watch other people do it.


    "...They seem to be waiting for us to finish ours?" Kunou asked with curiosity while using Youjutsu to restore the ground.


    Regardless of what they wanted, the girls knew that they had to finish their work first.


    Even though the damage they created was extensive enough to put the ceiling and walls to their limits they were able to restore everything to how it was before in only ten minutes. And after double-checking that there''s nothing amiss, Kunou finally took down the barrier by taking back the talismans that she used before the group approached the other side.


    "Thank you for waiting~!" ire cheerfully waved at them, "Are you done with your training too?"


    However, Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Tessai couldn''t give them an answer.


    ire stopped skipping and slowly walked towards them when she saw the weird face they were making, "What''s wrong?"


    ''We didn''t do anything wrong, did we? ording to Kisuke-niisan, they fought a terrible war so sights like those shouldn''t be enough to make them make these weird faces.'' ire thought and the other two behind her were also the same.

 Chapter 1123 ‘Sparring’ part 3

    Chapter 1123 ��Sparring�� part 3


    It was gettingte so ire and her group didn''t have enough time to exin what they were doing, so they went home after thanking Tessai for letting them use the training ground and told him that they mighte by a few more times after today after answering a few of their questions without really thinking about it deeply. In the first ce, they don''t have to exin to anyone and frankly speaking, going home on time is much more important to them.


    Tessai prepared tea for his remaining guests that also went up to the shop after the girls left.


    Tessai sat down with the men who couldn''t even do a simple warm-up, "I also only met them recently when they randomly went around the town to find a residence they could stay in, so I don''t really know much about them." Tessai first said that since he had a feeling that he''d be bombarded by questions he didn''t want to answer if he didn''t do so.


    "From the uniforms they are wearing, they are attending Karakura High, so it''s safe to assume that they are teenagers?" Uryu asked after sipping on his tea with aplex expression.


    None of them answered but they all recalled one of the questions that they asked which came from Ichigo, ''D-do you really need to go that hard on sparring? You''re all bleeding and one of you even broke their arm.''


    They wouldn''t be able to forget how they all looked at them like they were the weird ones and received an answer, ''We can warm up alone by ourselves and if you''re going to spar, might as well learn something from it like a real battle. If you are concerned about injuries, we''re fine with our healing techniques, and actually good to be injured since it prepares you when you suddenly feel pain. If it''s a real battle, anypse in consciousness and judgment could easily prove fatal. And not just that. The more often you be injured, the easier it is for you to judge your body''s real capabilities so you won''t make a mistake like moving your leg a bit toote because you thought you''d be faster than that.''


    They could easily understand what ire was saying and couldn''t even disagree with her logic, however, "What sort of environment did those young girls grow up in for them to have this kind of mindset?" Chad muttered.


    Even in their times, they''d only go that hard whenever they needed to learn something and time was not on their side. Even if someone could heal your injuries, it doesn''t change the fact that it''s extremely dangerous, and an emotional scar can''t be healed the same way as a physical one.


    Ichigo turned to Tessai and asked, "Tessai-san, are there any other societies out there that we''re not aware of?"


    Tessai shook his head, "If the Soul Society doesn''t know anything about them, then I also don''t know."


    Silence took over the room with each of them having thoughts of their own until Tessai continued speaking, "However, I do know that what they have is not Reiatsu-based like we all know."


    The three men all looked at him and Uryu asked, "Then what is it? And how is that possible?"


    "How is it possible? I don''t know. Unlike us who only ever knew the Soul as the source of power, they separate theirs into three main systems which are Ki, Magic, and Soul. Under that are more subcategories that one could specialize in, either by focusing on one system orbining two or more."


    Ichigo rubbed his chin and asked, "Soul... They could also use a simr ability to a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, or Fullbringer?"


    Tessai poured more tea for himself while answering, "No. It seems they are using it differently from us, but the way I see it, our use of Reiryoku is much more advanced. That leaves the other two, Ki and Magic.


    "I''m not sure how urate this is but it''s also something I''ve heard from them. Starting from Ki, it''s the power of life. It''s something present in all living things. It''s used mostly to strengthen the physical body which you''ve already seen. Despite them smashing into the ground, ceiling, and walls, creating craters, they were rtively unharmed. But the prime example of this was the blue-haired teen, Tanis, who wouldn''t dodge if it meant that she could attack effectively."


    "Next is Magic. It''s a type of power that''s omnipresent and anyone who knows its existence can make use of it if they train enough. It has many uses but the most simple exnation is that it''s simr to Shinigami''s Kidou. However, don''t mistake it for the West Soul Society''s [Magic] as that is just a different use of Kidou."


    "That''s a lot to take in..." Chadmented, "Are they aliens or something?"


    Cold sweat started to drip on Tessai''s back. He knew that Chad was only making the heavy atmosphere a bit lighter, but it was really hard tough when he actually got it right.


    "And how are they rted to Hell?" Uryu suddenly asked, which made Ichigo and Chad instantly turn their heads to him, "Don''t get me wrong. I''m not using them as our enemies, but simr to how we couldn''t feel anything from those strange Hollows and dead Espada, we also couldn''t feel anything from them."


    "If you could trust their words, then they are not rted to Hell at all." Tessai immediately answered, "Even then, they also knew what type of power these strange Hollows have which is simr to something they already know. Demonic Power, a system derived from Magic Power."


    Uryu wanted to ask more specific questions but Ichigo''s phone suddenly started ringing. And when he looked at its screen, he muttered loudly, "It''s Akon."


    Ichigo looked at the other three before pressing the answer button, "Akon, what''s up?"


    [Ichigo, I''m sorry for bothering you, but could you get me into contact with Tsukabishi Tessai?]


    Ichigo immediately nced at Tessai and saw thetter nodding, "What a nice coincidence, I''m currently in Urahara Shop to borrow the training ground."


    [So Tsukabishi is with you?]


    "He''s listening."


    [Great. I''m sending over a video file. Tsubakishi-san, I''m sorry for bothering you, but we''d like all perspectives that we can have on this.]


    A few minutester, Ichigopletely received the video from Akon and immediately yed it before cing the phone in the middle of the table.


    It was a video of the sh between Serafall and Kenpachi. Akon wants the former Captain of the Kidou Corps'' thoughts on it.

 Chapter 1124 Anarchy

    Chapter 1124 Anarchy


    "We''re home~!" Tanis shouted the moment she went through the door.


    And from the hallway, Serafall came out with Ophis and Lilith to greet them, "Wee back~."


    A quick scan within the house also revealed that nna waszing around in the living room and Kisuke was in the basement doing something.


    Upon seeing them, Serafall noticed the traces of a healing technique on their bodies and stronger fluctuation of their aura, "Did you fight?"


    "We wanted to stretch our stagnating bodies so we borrowed Tessai-niisan''s training ground for a bit," ire answered.


    Serafall chuckled, "You''re too young for your bodies to start stagnating. Did you have fun?"


    Tanis nodded, "It has been a while so it''s fun~!"


    Feeling a bit jealous, Ophis interrupted, "I want to join too."


    "It''s hard for that shop''s training ground to contain it if you were to join so let''s wait for the one that Ki-tan is constructing, alright?" Serafallforted Ophis and also Lilith who didn''t say a word but surely felt the same by patting their heads.


    "Ah, that''s right, Sera-neechan," Kunou tried getting Serafall''s attention, "We only borrowed half of the ce since the other half is being used by the orange-haired nii-san and his group."


    "So they saw you go crazy?" Serafall immediately became interested.


    "We didn''t go crazy! We just went at it as we normally would!" ire hurriedly corrected her. However, Serafall couldn''t trust those words one bit since she discovered that theirmon sense was a bit warped thanks to them looking up to Kisuke''s crazy group, ''So you went crazy.''


    Nevertheless, Serafall doesn''t intend to ''correct'' theirmon sense because it''s exactly the mindset they needed due to the imminent alien invasion that Earth might not survive.


    Which made Serafall wonder what Kisuke''s real goal foring to this world even if it meant cutting allmunications and not being able to go back for a long time, ''I know him well enough that I can safely assume that he wouldn''t leave the previous worlds where his girlfriends are in without a good reason, especially in these very crucial times.''


    With how much of an efficiency monster Kisuke is, Serafall also knew that Kisuke would have already shared relevant information if he already had a concrete n, ''I guess it''s a waiting game for now, huh?''


    "...Sera-neechan?"


    Serafall was instantly pulled back from her thoughts when she heard ire''s worried voice, "Hmm?"


    "...Did we mess up?"


    "No, no, no." Serafall hurriedly shook her head, "I''m just thinking about something else. Wash yourselves up and we''ll have dinner."


    .


    .


    .


    It had been more than a month since Kisuke, Serafall, ire, Tanis, and Kunou left for another world. And with their departure known to the elders of the Devil high society, it didn''t take long for the other factions to get a whiff of it and soon became an open secret throughout the whole world.


    Although there weren''t any changes on the surface, the very deepest depths of each organization were stirred greatly with all sorts of people moving about to gather and secure their power, by either secretly allying themselves, or surrendering to the aliens that were trying to seduce them.


    Although only a month had gone by, it became a big headache for Sona and the others, "This isn''t good..."


    Irina, who was sitting beside her in a cafe asked, "Which one?" Since there were so many problems that they were tackling right now, she asked which one was not in a good state.


    "They''re getting more and more obvious about their allegiance to the outsiders." Akeno, who was with them, answered Irina''s question.


    "Isn''t that great? It''ll be a lot easier to catch them now."


    Sona took a sip of her smoothie before answering, "It is, but it''s also hard to make them pay for it since no organization could do it openly. If this problem were to be revealed to the public, it''ll cause mass hysteria and the current peaceful world will devolve into a chaotic mess of people trying to figure out who''s going to stab them in the back."


    However, Akeno couldn''t help but sneer at those words, "But that''s not what''s worrying those old coots. Since this all happened in a short amount of time, they haven''t prepared to secure their positions of power, and destabilizing the situation might cost them being thrown under the bus. Let''s be honest, those guys don''t care if the world is about to end. They only care where they''ll end up when this is all over and whether they could still have theirmanding tones and wealth."


    "That''s why this isn''t good... The more time they have, the more things they''ll mess up..." Sona went back to clutching her head.


    "Then why don''t we just go with the [Kisuke-route]?" Irina suddenly suggested.


    Both Sona and Akeno immediately froze and went into deep contemtion. The [Kisuke-route] is a term they coined that means going through a problem with Kisuke''s way of thinking. If it''s a mess and it''s a problem, it''s not messy enough.


    A new wave of headaches came to Sona and this time, to Akeno too.


    But as much as they didn''t want to go through the [Kisuke-route], it''s also a very attractive proposition for these very stressed-outdies.


    Resting her elbows on the table and grinning, Sona suddenly instructed, "Akeno, use all our avable channels and announce what''s happening right now."


    "It''ll cause mass hysteria, are you sure?"


    "A violent and dangerous alien species is currently invading. They should."


    "Irina and I will lose our current positions. Not that I care."


    "I don''t care about it too~!"


    "We need more instructors in the academy anyway."


    "Many factions will denounce us for the ensuing chaos."


    "We''ve done all the diplomacy we could. And since that''s not enough, they can go fuck themselves."


    "And the sanctions that are inevitablying?"


    "No supply of Soul Gears for them."


    "And if that''s not enough?"


    "Threaten them to take down the barrier. Since the Evies are getting in anyway, the barrier is useless. We''ll bring all of them down to Hell with us."


    "They''ll spin us as tyrants and enemies of the world."


    "They don''t like us in the first ce so they''ll just be making that public."


    Akeno stood up with a very refreshed smile on her face, "Understood. Please give me a few hours. I''ll make sure that anyone and everyone who can think will hear the announcement."


    With that, Akeno left Sona and Irina with light steps in her wake, "She''s had enough of talking in circles, huh?" Irinamented at the obviously happy Akeno.


    "I can now understand why Kisuke always wants to mess things up. If it can cause a headache and frustration to the enemies and he canugh about it, it''s worth it." Sona muttered and looked up, feeling a massive weight taken off her shoulder, "Now we just have to wait for Yoruichi."

 Chapter 1125 Secret Meeting

    Chapter 1125 Secret Meeting


    After fulfilling her duties, the tall white haired beautiful woman, who looked like a Human aside from her mechanical limbs, wanted to rest her mind on one of the uninhabiteds that she owned. Although everyone around her knew that she found and owned a fews by traveling alone in her free time, no one really knew how many there are or where they''re located exactly because she modified the Space Gate that she uses, not allowing any tracking to happen.


    She soon arrived at one of her favorite spots, a that was covered with all sorts of red fauna making it look like a deste and dead from outer space. While she''s a silicon-based life, she greatly appreciates the variety of a carbon-based life, especially nts that give off unique and rxing scents.


    However, her moment of rxation was abruptly cut off when she noticed the disturbance in the surroundings as she got nearer to her log cabin.


    "..."


    The woman stopped walking for a moment and liquid metal started seeping out from her face before it went behind her ears. The liquid metal then formed an extension to her ears and now it looks like she''s wearing something on her ears.


    Immediately a secondter, the middle of her chest lit up from within and a massive wave of Magic Power erupted from her. The surge of Magic Power went around the globe a few times before stopping, ''A guest... But how did shee here?''


    The woman started walking again and her pace didn''t change.


    Yoruichi, who was waiting in the woman''s log cabin, shivered when the wave of Magic Power went over her a few times, ''This is nuts... I think that went through the entire a few times?''


    She was reminded yet again that she was about to deal with one of the strongest known beings, ''I really hope there''s a chance for talk as Kisuke had said.'' Making sure that she didn''t even touch anything inside the log cabin, Yoruichi just stood near the entrance waiting for the Evie. But even with Yoruichi''s presence being revealed, she waited for more than an hour before she could finally see the Evie walking casually towards her.


    "My~ I wasn''t expecting a guest at all. And certainly not someone from the Draconic Deus." The Evie''s gentle eyes instantly turned sharp, "Even if you are Kisuke Urahara''s partner, aren''t you risking both of our livelihoods too much?"


    Yoruichi didn''t show any weakness despiteing face to face with her and said in Evie''snguage with great uracy and precision, "I really apologize for suddenly showing up. Although I did my best to cover my tracks, I can''t deny the fact that there''s a very slim chance that I''m followed. However, I do believe that you can handle the risk better than Stralit Luxeux."


    Yoruichi and the Evie stared at each other for a few moments before thetter sighed in defeat, "How did youe here?" But before the former could answer, the Evie raised her hand, "Wait, before that, let''s head inside and secure the area for any potential eyes and ears."


    .


    .


    .


    Seraselbes prepared the same tea that she offered to Kisuke for Yoruichi and after thetter had taken a sip of the strangely fragrant and delicious tea, Yoruichi first introduced herself properly, "Nice to meet you, Seraselbes. I''m Yoruichi Shihouin and I came today on Kisuke''s behalf."


    "I''m Seraselbes. It''s also a pleasure to be your acquaintance. I didn''t think it would be today, though. So can you please tell me how you came in? I want to fix the vulnerability or maybe abandon this ce if it''s unredeemable."


    "Kisuke rigged the location of the 36th node on his way back and before he went on his trip, he passed me a bit of Stralit Luxeux''s [Shadow] to go through the verification process of each nodeing here."


    Seraselbes furrowed her eyebrows and said, "But I didn''t reveal to him that Stralit''s [Shadow] is needed to transverse those Space Gates and I''m sure neither Stralit herself would leak such a thing."


    "Out of all people I know, Kisuke is one of the most sensitive to the movement of Spiritual Power and that''s even amplified by his own devices. In a deste ce where there''s nothing happening, it wouldn''t be weird for him to notice the verification if it pertains to the movement of Spiritual Power, especially if it''s not of his own."


    ''I underestimated him...'' Seraselbes thought to herself before saying, "And who else knows about this?"


    "Aside from myself, one of the girls close to me and Kisuke. This is, of course, just for my own security in case you''ve thought of erasing me here."


    Seraselbes sneered at her while releasing a bit of her aura, "I think a strange man suddenly appearing beside my closest friend is enough of a threat, don''t you think?"


    Yoruichi, however, was unphased, "Redundancy for something important as this meeting was necessary. I apologize for taking this step, but I don''t regret it. Nevertheless, if you can trust my words, all knowledge about this node and the path here will be taken to our graves."


    After that, silence ensued with no one talking for a few minutes.


    Seraselbes thought of taking this woman as a hostage to control Kisuke and to offset his ability to suddenly appear beside Stralit. However, she decided against it after seeing how careful she is about things. After all, she had already seen how Kisuke manipted a fake body and she couldn''t really tell if Yoruichi was doing the same thing right now.


    If she is and Seraselbes suddenly attacked her, it''ll be a losing game for her and she would have no cards against Kisuke in addition to making an enemy out of him.


    Although Evies are generally stronger than their Etouldes counterparts, Evies don''t really understand Spiritual Power nor have any ability to manipte it even after conversion technology that could copy a being''s original ability after analyzing their bodies and reconstructing it as an Evie. This is the reason why the Etouldes could stand toe to toe with them on their home.


    "And what do you hope to achieve by meeting me like this?" Seraselbes decided to move the conversation forward, hoping that she''ll find something she could use to take back some control.


    "A path to the Etouldes and all the information I may need to navigate it."

 Chapter 1126 Yoruichi’s Adventure

    Chapter 1126 Yoruichi��s Adventure


    Seraselbes went quiet again and she thought about Yoruichi''s demands. Although she only said her demands, she made it pretty obvious that she was offering her service to infiltrate the other side. She contemted it long and carefully and only when Seraselbes figured out what she wanted did she ask, "And what do you offer back?"


    "You already know, but information that I gathered on that side and maybe a bit of a request from you."


    "So it''ll be up to you whether or not to ept my request."


    Yoruichi nodded, "Naturally. If the risk is too great, I won''t ept it. Both of us have something to gain from this so I don''t want to waste this opportunity as much as possible."


    ''So she already has an idea of what''s happening on Stralit''s side.'' It was Seraselbes'' current biggest worry. The fact that Stralit was assaulted without her being able to defend herself effectively due to a certain artifact meant that someone in her own n wanted to remove her. Be it for her current ideology or being an heir to one of the highest seats in the entire Etoulde government, it doesn''t matter. Seraselbes wanted to remove this danger as soon as possible.


    Although they won''t be bothering Stralit for a while after it was revealed that the artifact went out of the Luxeux''s monitoring and was used against their own blood, it won''tpletely stop the attack. Sadly, she can''t do anything from her side, leaving Stralit to fend on her own. Seraselbes didn''t even have any idea how many groups are crawling around nor their intentions and goals.


    "Their culture, their influence, their way ofmunicating, I will give you all of this information and how you''ll be able to integrate in their society. In exchange, I want you to protect Stralit and remove the threats around her."


    "I would need much more details for that request."


    "It''lleter. I''m only asking you if you can fulfill it. Outside of that, you can do whatever you want as long as you don''t go against what Stralit wants to happen."


    It was Yoruichi''s turn to be quiet this time. She thought about it briefly before asking, "Let''s say I ept this condition, will you be sending me to her side?"


    Seraselbes nodded, "That''s the n but do you have anything else in mind?"


    "If you want to rout the pests around her, I think it''ll be more effective if no one knows I intend to protect her."


    "Then your next option will be just entering their society as a normal citizen. In that case, you''ll have to work from the ground up. How many years would that take?"


    Yoruichi disyed a cunning smile, "Give me a month or two. I have my ways."


    .


    .


    .


    A weekter, Yoruichi arrived at one of thergest world hubs that''s being controlled by the Etouldes and the nearest hub from their homeworld.


    She''s currently in a spaceship that she boards thanks to Seraselbes'' help. Although Space Gates exist, it was mostly exclusively used for their military efforts and high-ranking officers and ns. The primary mode of transportation within their territory is through the spaceship''s Warp Drives which is more efficient but has less range and could be detected from a long distance so any use of it is always ounted for. Any illegal attempts to use it had severe punishments ranging from death to lifelong ve status for the whole family.


    Yoruichi gathered all of her luggage and looked at herself in the mirror. Right now, thanks to the medicine that Kisuke left behind, her shiny ck hair has turned into dull white and her healthy brown skin has turned into rough and dark gray skin. Since it''s taking advantage of the body''s cellr activities, there is no Magic involved, making it undetectable from any Magic scans.


    Finally, she checked the unassuming silver bangle which fit perfectly on her right arm and that she received from Seraselbes. Using her mind to control its functions, a translucent screen instantly appeared in front of her, and details of her trip, ''How convenient.''


    Thankfully, the writtennguage guide that came from Seraselbes waspatible with Kisuke''s [Language Instation System] so she could have learned how to read the characters in front of her.


    And while browsing through the information disyed, a certain line caught her attention, [Race/Origin: Pamatypa]


    It''s the name of a world that doesn''t exist anymore after being destroyed by the Evies and one of the most brutal annihtions in history. However, Seraselbes revealed to Yoruichi that it''s only because the Etouldes didn''t want to back off that it became one of the most bloody conflicts, resulting even in the destruction of the so neither side could benefit from what it could offer.


    Its inhabitants have dull white hair and rough gray skin like Yoruichi is now and most of them are proficient in Martial Arts and Close Quarter Magic Combat. And since there''s only a handful of members of the Pamatypa that survived and many of them choose a nomadic lifestyle, nothing much is known about them outside of that and it''s a perfect disguise for Yoruichi.


    Hearing the story of Pamatypa from Seraselbes, Yoruichi became even more thankful that they didn''t trust either side that was trying to dominate Earth.


    Yoruichi left the ship after a quick check from its security and managed to get inside arge city that''s entirely enclosed in ss-like material, "First thing first. I have to register as a mercenary and attract a bit of attention. Once I''m done, I''ll be fishing her out." Yoruichi muttered to herself while carefully checking the spider made out of Spiritual Power that Kisuke left her.

 Chapter 1127 Hartagertle City

    Chapter 1127 Hartagertle City


    "The Hartagertle City... What a mouthful." Yoruichi muttered to herself as she stood in front of a skyscraper where she could register as a Mercenary. But before she entered she looked around her once again and couldn''t help but be in awe. Flying vehicles that zoom over her head nonstop and without shing despite looking very disorderly around intersections. Almost endless and towering skyscrapers were all around but were far from each other enough that it felt wide and not suffocating. On the ground were the numerous streams of people with incredibly differing appearances walking on park-like roads, enjoying a very clean air that''s impossible to have on Earth unless you''re in some mountainous area where people don''t live.


    Hartagertle is named after the itself because it''s the only city that exists on this ce as it takes up more than a third of the surface area of the world despite it being a bitrger than Earth. Before shended, she saw the city covered with a ss-like structure and from the information she received from her bangle, it served as the final line of defense against outside attacks.


    Aside from that, it also serves as climate control for the whole city. As a policy, four seasons still exist within the city, however, there were no severe weathers that would put anyone in danger. As the revolved around its parent star three times longer, these seasons were also three times longer so it was important to make each and every change pleasant.


    As for the Hartagertle''s rotation, it rotated a bit faster than Earth so there were only 21 Earth hours per day. Though thanks to their technology, a sleep aid could help reduce anyone''s sleep time down to an hour.


    ''Those Teleportation Hubs are really convenient.'' Yoruichi thought to herself while looking back. While there were autonomous flying cars, they were meant for short-distance travel. If one wants to travel to another part of the city, there are strategically positioned Teleportation Hubs free for everyone''s use.


    Yoruichi was done with her check and she made sure that she looks like a country-bumpkin for all the eyes that are watching her from the shadows, ''There was no ill-intent and most of them are just curious. Probably because of how rare a Pamatypa is or if it''s just part of their security protocol.''


    Yoruichi reached the automatic ss door and as soon as she stepped inside, numerous eyesnded on her and the same diverse intentions. But before she could react to them, A tall man with purple skin and a single horn on his head wearing a light and sleek metallic armor that covered almost all of his body, greeted her with a strict expression, "Is this your first time here?"


    Yoruichi nodded without saying anything.


    "Do you want to register?"


    "And a thorough exnation of how things work around here."


    The strict man nodded, "Understood. Please present your identification."


    Yoruichi raised her right arm where her bangle is.


    The man took out what looked like a smartphone and ced it over her bangle before reading her information, "Yoru, is it? To the left is a reception area. To your right is the waiting area. Please proceed to the right and wait for your name to be called on your terminal along with which counter you should go. It should only take a few minutes."


    Yoruichi didn''t say anything else and walked to her right.


    The man didn''t take offense to her actions and in fact, was already expecting it. He had been acting as a doorman for the Hartagertle Mercenary Union and had already met several Pamatypa of which their dismissive behavior he''s already familiar with.


    Yoruichi''s ragged appearance stood out among the properly armored and armed people inside the building but no one actually approached her to tell her off. Even though almost all of them hadn''t met a Pamatypa in their entire life, their vicious nature was a widespread rumor and nobody wanted any trouble right now.


    As the doorman had said, Yoruichi only waited for a few minutes before a notification on her terminal appeared, asking her toe to counter #9.


    And when she reached the designated counter, she met eyes with a rtively short woman that looked like a Human except for her slightly pointy ears, "...A Pamatypa?"


    The pretty woman had dark red hair with matching red eyes. And although her attire looked a bit strange for Yoruichi, it exudes the needed aura of formality. Despite that, she looked too lethargic while doing her job as if she doesn''t care at all. When Yoruichi approached and saw that she was Pamatypa, she immediately leaned forward to check the details on her screen that she glossed over because she was toozy to read.


    "Registration... and thorough exnation of the Hartagertle Mercenary Union? Seriously?" She looked up at Yoruichi and when she saw that she didn''t have any particr reaction, her head turned to the doorman and red at him. Nevertheless, the doorman ignored her and continued doing his job.


    "Why send a first-timer to me!?" The woman grumbled under her breath before sighing loudly, "Before you register, I''ll send over a manual. Read it while I exin a few things. If you want to work here, the least you can do is do that at the same time."


    .


    .


    .


    In summary, a Mercenary has these rating points across threerge categories namely, [Combat], [Diplomacy], and [Exploration]. There are other subcategories but they are for more specific ratings.


    One can only be a Mercenary when they''ve proven themselves to be of a certain proficiency in these categories. And to ascertain these proficiencies, an exam is needed for [Diplomacy], and [Exploration] while a livebat test is needed for [Combat] for obvious reasons.


    This is done so that their clients can effectively sort out people if they are looking for someone with specific skill sets or other Mercenaries looking for a party to supplement what they werecking.


    As these ratings go up, so too does the price for that Mercenary''s work. And for these ratings to rise, the Mercenary has to take on missions that are rated a bit higherpared to their own ratings. Of course, the amount of work they could choose from also depended on their proficiency, such as escort missions requiring a certain rating for both [Combat] and [Diplomacy] or retrieval of a certain item or material from a dangerous area requires both [Combat] and [Exploration]. And this is why those who arecking in one category tend to find others to team up with and bring their ratings up to take on a mission they couldn''t do alone.


    "Registration costs 1,000 Spirit Credits. And since you don''t have any records from any other Unions, you don''t have any ratings. [Combat], [Diplomacy], and [Exploration] exams are a thousand each, bringing you to a grand total of 4,000 Spirit Credits. You can''t register as long as you don''t have ratings for all of them and that''s enough for you to live on thisfortably for a year or two of Hartagertle''s time. Think about it carefully."


    "I''ll take the exams. Prepare it as soon as possible." Without any hesitation, Yoruichi transferred 4,000 Spirit Credits which is only a tiny fraction of the allowance she received from Seraselbes, ''Hurray for being rich~!''

 Chapter 1128 Hartagertle Mercenary Union

    Chapter 1128 Hartagertle Mercenary Union


    Yoruichi first took the written exam for the [Diplomacy] and [Exploration] and received a failing grade, "12 and 11 respectively... You''re just a bit better than an average person living his or her day-to-day life with nothing to worry about."


    "Is that good?"


    "Of course not!" The red-haired receptionist snapped at her, "You''re applying as a member of the Hartagertle Mercenary Union and we don''t need average people! The passing rating is 30 points and you didn''t even reach half of that!" The receptionist felt her blood pressure rising and took a deep breath, ''Pamatypians are known for their dense skull where brain cells could hardly grow... But this is the first time I''ve encountered someone brave enough to take the tests with these kinds of scores...''


    She looked at her again and thought, ''No... I can''t attribute ignorance with bravery.''


    Naturally, Yoruichi isn''t stupid. It''s just that no matter how much studying she has done in her free time, there''s no way for her to truly grasp their culture, their ways, and how they judge everything without experiencing it herself. Even then, she''s actually surprised that she got a score that was considered a bit above average, ''It seems like I won''t be needing that much time to adjust.''


    "Do you still want to take the [Combat] exam? Thanks to your atrocious scores, you''d need a really high score for it to join the Union. I can still refund you."


    "I''ll take it."


    The receptionist sighed, "Listen here. When I say a really high score, I mean it. You''d need a score that''s equivalent to a high-tier [Combat] oriented member. And not to boast, But high-tier members of this Union keep receiving invitations from various prestigious organizations, including high-ranking Etoulde ns.


    "If you''re that confident with your ability to fight, go to one of these organizations or ns and apply as their muscle. You''ll receive more benefits there than here because frankly speaking, if you were to pass, though I doubt that, only a few missions will be avable to you due to yourck of rating for both [Diplomacy] and [Exploration]. Not to mention, you won''t be able to leave the Union for 10 years once you''ve signed the contract unless there''s a very special situation."


    "I''ll take it."


    The receptionist sighed once again. But even after her initial impression of her, she''s liking her a bit more now. Only a bit though, "Fine. I''ll arrange a good examiner for you. Do your best."


    If Yoruichi exceeded the examiner''s ability, they won''t be able to judge her properly so they''ll need to send out a stronger one. However, the examinee will be too tired to perform his or her best and would usually receive a lower score than they are capable of. By arranging a good examiner from the start, Yoruichi would have the best shot to get the highest rating she could get.


    Yoruichi, however, didn''t really know any of this as she''s not really thinking deeply about her ''good examiner'' im.


    .


    .


    .


    "...You''re the highest one avable?" Asked Yoru''s receptionist, "Where are the rest?"


    In front of her is a very good-looking tall man with long and straight golden hair, green glistening eyes, and long ears pointing slightly downwards, "I''m not too sure but I heard most of them went to the frontier. I also heard that there''s amission there to look for someone and it pays well." The man then shed a smile at her and with a proud look, he dered, "Nheless, you don''t need any of them to do this exam for you. Someone like me who''s on the verge of reaching the high tier is more than enough." And he ended it with a wink.


    His sickeningly sweet voice almost made the receptionist puke and when he winked at her, she almost gouged his eyes out but stopped when she thought about herzy days working here. However, the man she was about to attack didn''t even notice her movements as it was too fast for him, ''Of all days, it had to be this idiot. This shithead definitely got a clue regarding my identity. If not, he wouldn''t suddenly change his attitude around me.''


    ''But the frontier, huh? I heard that there was an incident where a young master of an insignificant n tried to assassinate Stralit and was saved by an unknown individual who seems to be the sessor of Stralit. There''s amission to find him? I heard that Alicia was also present, so if she can''t find him, there''s no way these idiots who went there would be able to find him.''


    She then nced at the man with a proud look and sighed, "Fine... Get ready. I''ll wait for you in the 3rd Simtion Room."


    "I''ll prepare immediately!" The man left like the wind and the receptionist could see his excited face, ''This idiot thinks this is the chance to prove himself... How stupid.''


    However, she''s slightly worried. She promised Yoru that she''d give her a good examiner but ended up falling a bit short. Although it was a mistake not to check who''s currently avable before promising anything, it''s still her mistake regardless. But if she can''t fulfill it, she can just do something with the same value, ''If she can prove it, I can use my influence as a Yarwood to give her a high-tier rating.''


    She initially wanted to look for someone else to judge the fight to continuezing around, but it looks like she would have to do it herself, ''I''m such an idiot.''


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi was led into a white room 50 feet on all sides and nothing within it. Before she entered, she saw thebel on the sturdy automatic door, ''3rd Simtion Room... There''s no way for us to fight properly within this unless...''


    Within the room with her is the receptionist and a guy that gives off an ''annoying prick'' demeanor in Yoruichi''s eyes, ''So this guy is my opponent.''


    The receptionist took out a tablet and tapped at it a few times before the lights turned off for a few seconds and a wave of Magic Power filled the room. A few more secondster, light returned and they are standing in a jungle where trees grew as high as 500 feet and as wide as 300 feet with branches thrice as thick as a Human dotting all over its trunk, making the whole ce dense with nt life that it would be tricky to navigate for an inexperienced fighter.


    "The Great Forest of Sector 6? Aren''t you giving me too much advantage here, miss Gwenn?"


    "Enough talking. You can start any time."

 Chapter 1129 [Combat] Test

    Chapter 1129 [Combat] Test


    The tall man smirked at Yoruichi for a second before bringing his right arm forward and tapping the bangle he was wearing simr to Yoruichi''s. The next moment, the man''s whole body except for his head lit up. As soon as that shy light disappeared, Yoruichi saw that the man was now wearing sleek metal tes that covered his vitals.


    In his hands was a short sword that had dangerous light running through its de and what seemed to be a gun, but Yoruichi was not quite sure.


    The man then pointed the tip of his sword at her and arrogantly dered, "Pamatypian, I don''t care how good you are in close-quarterbat. It is your unlucky day to face me within this kind of environment."


    Seemingly not needing a response from his opponent, the man turned to the receptionist, Gwenn, and said, "It seems that this will be finished earlier than I have expected. Would you mind having dinner with me? I''ll treat you to a good ce."


    Gwenn scowled with disgust, "Shut up. Less talking and more fighting. I don''t have the whole day to listen to your nonsense."


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, didn''t get angry at his actions. In fact, she felt happy. It''s exactly this type of person that she doesn''t mind beating and etching fear directly into their skull.


    But as soon as her mind went into a violent ce and got ready to fight, Yoruichi shuddered as she felt a very intruding gaze looking into her. She immediately jumped back, away from the gaze''s direction, and saw the receptionist taking care of her looking at her with her now glistening red eyes and a shocked expression.


    The next instant, Yoruichi realized that her hand was already on her de''s handle, ready to be pulled out, ''That was close! I almost released the seal on my Reiatsu-Ki!''


    Yoruichi immediately checked if she made the irreversible mistake and sighed in relief when she found out that the seal is stillpletely intact, ''But what was that gaze? She didn''t discover my Spiritual Power, did she?'' She asked herself while ring at the shocked receptionist whose eyes already returned to her normally dark red eyes.


    The shocked receptionist got hold of herself and returned her expression to a neutral one, slightly angry even, and recalled the scene from earlier.


    The moment Yoruichi got into the mood of fighting, the invisible aura and her general demeanor immediately changed which prompted interest from Gwenn. Enough interest that she ended up using her ability to ''see through the world'' and what she saw shocked her so that she nked out for a moment, ''The quality of her Magic Power and Ki are both top-notch... But a veryrge portion of herself is nothing?'' It was then that she recalled some sealing techniques that would limit one''s energy levels and thought Yoru had the same.


    ''But even considering arge portion of her strength sealed, her demeanor that she showed proved that she''s a veteran on the battlefield and one that has already imed many lives before.''


    Gwenn''s curiosity was further piqued as she realized that she severely underestimated the Pamatypian. She''s very confident in how she judged people even without using her unique ability, and in fact, that skill of hers was very well known within high society and very sought after as it was a very good tool to expand one''s influence and discover unknown talents. And due to her not being an heir to her n, so many people have already approached her with so many invitations to their group or marriage proposals that she''d gotten so fed up with all of it that she had to escape from it.


    There were only a handful of people who could escape her eyes and those were, regardless of their strength, very dangerous individuals.


    Gwenn calmed down and looked at Yoru who jumped back and was ready to attack, ''And she even noticed my gaze too... There''s no way that idiot can win.''


    She then turned to the proud man and said, "You said you want to treat me to dinner?"


    The moment Yoru''s opponent heard her words, he calmly nodded, "Of course. I''ll bring you to the most amazing ce I know that''s unknown to most." However, his tone of glee and sickeningly sweet voice betrayed his act of calm.


    Gwenn grinned at him, ignoring his act, and said, "Fine. But only if you can defeat her. Not just that, I''d rmend you to receive enough rating to promote you to high-tier in [Combat] category."


    The man forgot the expression he was making and asked her, dumbfounded, "Are you serious?"


    "You have my word. And I think you know enough to guess the weight of those words."


    The man froze for a moment before he started giggling to himself, "Kuhuhuhu... It''s really your unlucky day, Pamatypian. My chance has arrived so I won''t be holding back anymore."


    The clueless man didn''t have enough skill nor senses to even detect any abnormality between the two, not to mention, the change in his opponent''s demeanor.


    Yoruichi didn''t even say anything because she wanted to maintain her quiet attitude and just watched this man repeatedly dere himself as the winner. But more than that, she was more curious about the receptionist, ''She was able to gauge my ability instantly? But just how much did she see?''


    Nevertheless, Yoruichi became sure of a few things. Even though it was just for a short moment, her eyes glinted with Spiritual Power so she''s either a sessor or an Etoulde. She was not able to detect her sealed Reiatsu-Ki. If she did, she wouldn''t be as calm as she is now. After all, not just from Kisuke, but she also was able to confirm from Seraselbes that the appearance of someone who could effectively control their Spiritual Power and derive an ability from it was a very big deal for both the Etouldes and Evies.


    It''s also the reason why Seraselbes personally knew Kisuke and Yoruichi''s appearances and names. Aside from them and their group, she only knew Issei''s name due to her connection to the Etouldes and the rest was only a handful of Gods and Dragons.


    Yoruichi immediately stopped entertaining these thoughts when her opponent suddenly moved and stepped backward. And as soon as he took his second step, Magic Power converged around him before his figure was entirely erased from her sight.


    "..." Yoruichi wondered what she should do when a ball of highly concentrated Magic Power that contained enough power to easily st a hole through a high-ranking Devil came rushing towards her at a speed that was undetectable by most people from her left that was aimed at her head.


    Sadly for the man, ''Yoru'' is not among those ''most people'', as she just leaned back to dodge the bullet. The bullet missed and hit the giant tree beside her but it only created a few inches deep holes in it, ''That''s some sturdy tree. He said the Great Forest of Sector 6, didn''t he? I should go there and collect a few logs.''


    The first bullet was just the start as more of them rained down on Yoruichi from all directions. However, Yoruichi just dodged all of them with ease.


    "Hooh? Your senses are better than I thought."


    Yoruichi heard her opponent''s voice to her upper right and instantly made a mad dash toward it. After a few dashes and zigzags through trunks and branches, she threw a punch to a certain spot and hit something invisible.


    Taken out of his stealth, the man reappeared with Yoruichi''s fist in his stomach. But as soon as he appeared, he also disappeared as fast with a puff of smoke as if he was just a mirage, "But I can''t say the same for your smarts." Yoruichi heard the man''s condescending voice behind her while a de wasing for her left shoulder.


    The man was grinning wildly since he could finally see himself stepping into the high tier and receiving more lucrative jobs and offers. But more than that, what he wanted the most was the prestige of the high-tier brings, ''Finally... After working so hard for a long time.''


    But as soon as his shining sword touched his opponent, it went through without any resistance as she too disappeared like a smoke, ''Huh?''


    The next instant, he heard the voice of the Pamatypian for the first time, "Too obvious." Before receiving a massive blow to his nk, sending him crashing and bouncing between the trees.

 Chapter 1130 [Combat] Test part 2

    Chapter 1130 [Combat] Test part 2


    "Illusion technique using Ki, huh? What a weird Pamatypian to be using something that needs to be attuned with nature." Gwenn muttered to herself before checking Yoru''s opponent, "And that''s one expensive armor for his tier."


    Yoruichinded on one of the trunks and didn''t continue pressuring her opponent. And just like what she was expecting, he''s already waiting for her pursuit to counterattack when the dust cleared up. Although he was kneeling on the ground, the man was tightly clutching his sword without much damage to his body except for the spot that Yoruichi hit, which was already repairing itself.


    "I underestimated you, Pamatypian. I didn''t think a musclehead like you would know how to use something like an illusion." The man stood up and it didn''t seem like he was hurting anywhere as he dusted the grime off his body, "Looks like those rumors are unfounded."


    Still, with his confident smile, he pointed his sword at Yoruichi once again, "This time, this Jemnel won''t be making the same mistake." Once again, his figure disappeared from Yoruichi and Gwenn''s sight. And unlike the previous instance, his presence has multiplied, implying that he''s in multiple directions all at once.


    And once again, balls of destructive Magic Power started raining down on Yoruichi once again with much more power and frequency, "Seriously?" Yoruichi loudly muttered.


    Within the canopy of trees, Jemnel smirked and continued attacking the Pamatypian with renewed vigor, ''Let''s see how you can dodge all of this. At some point, fatigue will set in while trying to find me.''


    This was an unfair way to fight? Only idiots would think like that in Jemnel''s opinion. If you put your life in this line of work, everything is fair.


    Sadly for him, like how he didn''t notice the change in his opponent''s aura, he also misunderstood Yoru''s words as words of frustration from her current situation when in fact they are words of surprise. Surprise that nothing really changed.


    ''At most, he''s at the same level as a High-ss Devil and this ability of his is very effective against those who are on the same level as him and lower.'', thought Yoruichi. She intended to watch for a while and figure out what he was capable of as he is a precious source of information. However, she was disappointed that there seems to be nothing else he could show, ''There''s no point in extending this farce.''


    "!?", Gwenn saw another change in Yoru''s demeanor and was tempted to ''look'' at her again but this time, she managed to control herself and hold back, ''What is this dangerous feeling? I have to focus.''


    Yoruichi suddenly stood still and stopped dodging. Jemnel saw that as a chance and focused on his firepower.


    Jemnel already saw his victory until his ''devastating'' attacks that have always worked were stopped in their tracks when multiple Magic Circles formed a barrier around Yoru, blocking all of his attacks, ''Magic Barrier!? And manual inputs!?''


    Jemnel couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Although Magic Barriers are the mostmon form of defense and his armor was fully capable of replicating it, all of it was an automated process once it detected a threat for its user or the user himself willed it. Only top-tier Magicians should be able to pull up something like this.


    Jemnel couldn''t think about it any further as his opponent suddenly looked at his exact direction, ''!? Did my cloak turn off?''


    He then saw Yoru pointing upwards with a grin on her face. Curious, he immediately looked up and saw a gigantic Magic Circle containing an enormous amount of Magic Power, "What!?!?!?!"


    He wanted to get away but it was toote as a bolt of lightning as wide as the tree itself came crashing down as if the hammer of the God of Thunder went down on it.


    While Yoruichi''s main strength was sealed, her Magic alone could match that of an Ultimate ss Devil, especially her mastery over lightning.


    The tree Jemnel was standing on started burning fiercely and the man himself dropped down from it.


    His skin and hair were burnt and his armor waspletely dismantled. But aside from that, he was still fine and fully capable of still fighting back.


    With his ears still ringing from the thunder, he gritted his teeth and pointed his gun at Yoruichi, but thetter suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of him bearing her fist at him.


    Jemnel gathered as much Magic Power as he could and was about to pull the trigger when the dark-red-haired receptionist appeared in front of him and faced his opponent, ''...Huh?''


    He saw the receptionist catch the Pamatypian''s fist with her bare hand and a small shockwave was generated from it, "I can''t let anyone die in a simple exam like this. Especially the one I''m overseeing."


    Yoruichi was surprised but immediately backed off.


    After making sure that Yoruichi had no intention of further attacking, Gwenn turned to the confused Mercenary and said, "We''re done here. Although you won''t be promoted to high-tier, I thank you for your effort."


    Although Jemnel couldn''t hear anything she said, he could still perfectly read her lips, "W-what!? What do you mean!? I haven''t lost!"


    Gwenn didn''t exin and just pointed behind him.


    Jemnel turned his aching body to see what was going on, "Why did you interfe--- !?"


    Behind him was the burning tree, but that''s not what shocked him. The tree he had just been standing on has a massive hole in its trunk as wide as him. Not just that, the trees behind it had chunks in their trunks taken as if a monster went and bit through them in a straight line. At this instant, he finally understood that he almost died and the scene from earlier where he wanted to against that fist and it became an image of death.


    Shuddering, his legs lost their strength. As he knelt down, he felt extremely cold despite his body burning from pain. All he could think about is that one single moment where he foolishly fought back without knowing what it actually was.


    Gwenn saw his state and tapped the tablet in her hand a few times, "Send the medics to the 3rd Simtion Room and take care of Mercenary Jemnel."


    With a few more taps, the scenery changed again and returned to its former state, a white room, "It''s okay to leave him here. Follow me to another room and I''ll prepare your contract and ID."

 Chapter 1131 Contract

    Chapter 1131 Contract


    Yoruichi waited in another room while Gwenn prepared her ID and contract. Using this downtime, Yoruichi thought back and reflected on what happened earlier. There was nothing special with her fight against the Mercenary aside from the fact that his level was mid-tier and had some chance to be promoted to high-tier.


    The other thing that caught her attention is his dependency on his equipment, however, Yoruichi can''t really use this as a standard since she didn''t know if the others were also like him.


    Finally, Yoruichi thought back to the moment before they started the exam, ''Those eyes... It''s definitely a type of special ability. Nheless, I also can''t discount her own ability to judge people. It''s dangerous to be around her, but if I can deceive those eyes, it''ll be one of the safest ces around.''


    She then remembered how Gwenn caught her fist while she was using a Hakuda technique, ''Those eyes could see the flow of strength and momentum. Using her own body, she was able to disperse and refocus the power behind my attack.''


    Gwenn''s eyes reminded Yoruichi of Riveria''s eyes. While Riveria''s eyes could see the [logic], Gwenn''s eyes could see the [flow] and [direction], ''And it''s unknown if it could do anything else. One thing is for sure, though. As I am now, I have no way of defeating her if we were to fight. I can only release the seal at the right time or when I''m about to die.''


    Naturally, Yoruichi also took into ount Gwenn and Jemnel''s strange interaction, but as she didn''t have any supporting information, there''s nothing she could get out of that.


    A few more minutester, Gwenn finally arrived and the first thing she said was, "I apologize for the dy. I had to make a report on what happened earlier. It seems you discharged arge enough power within the simtion room that it triggered some safety protocols."


    Gwenn then sat down in front of Yoruichi and ced a tablet and a ck card in front of her. She tapped the tablet and it lit up to a page full of words, "Please read through this carefully before epting it. If you want to change something, I apologize but this is what all the mercenaries signed when they became one. So if you don''t agree with something, you''d have to find another Union that gives better terms. But since you passed the exams, you''ll be able to refund what you spent and we''ll even addpensation for anything you consumed or broke during the [Combat] part. Though you didn''t really use any gear nor consumables."


    Everyone who was trying to be a Mercenary for their Union already knew all of this since they also made the contract public. However, Gwenn has a feeling that Yoruichi had no idea about any of this.


    Yoruichi grabbed the tablet and started reading through the contract.


    "I also added a file that fully exins a Mercenary''s work and how the ratings function. You may read that first to get the full context of what you''re trying to sign. If you have a question regarding anything rted, ask away. I''ll do my best to answer them."


    Yoruichi looked at her and said, "But I''ll be taking up your time. Don''t you hate doing work?"


    Gwenn smiled and replied, "It''s my apology for startling you earlier."


    Yoruichi immediately understood what she was referring to.


    "I don''t usually do something like that but it seems that I lost control of myself earlier." Gwenn leaned back while sighing, "And even if I do, my targets don''t usually notice it... Unless they could clearly feel the movement of Spiritual Power." Her eyes instantly became sharp.


    However, Yoruichi was already expecting this and only disyed a confused expression without any dy, "Spiritual Power? Is that Magic?"


    Gwenn quietly observed Yoruichi for a brief moment before her expression returned, "It seems that you only know about Magic Power and Ki. Well, that''s not a surprise since not many people know about Spiritual Power, and even fewer people could take advantage of it."


    "Then why did you ask?"


    "I thought maybe you''re one of those rare people, but let''s set that topic aside for another time. Focus on the tablet''s content for now. I''ll be by your side while you go through it."


    At that point, Yoruichi felt relieved that she was not suspecting anything else, ''Or maybe she''s just trying to catch me off guard?''


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi quietly went through the rted information about Mercenaries before going through the contract, all while asking asional questions to Gwenn. The contract was short and precise so it only took her more than an hour to get through everything she needed to know.


    It''s a standard contract that focuses on the Mercenaries themselves and what they could and couldn''t do and their respective consequences. As for any binding, aside from only working for the Union for the first ten Hartagertle years, there''s nothing really stopping the Mercenaries to do what they want in their free time or where they choose to go. As long onepletes a certain number of tasks within a certain period of time, they could indefinitely work for the Union.


    As for the Mercenary work, the main focus was on the [Rating System], not to be confused with the Underworld''s [Rating System]. It''s a system that numerically rated the Mercenary under various categories instead of just assigning one letter, symbol, or number to denote overall rank. It''s aprehensive system to urately gauge one''s ability to do work or where they''ll shine.


    One example of these is escort missions. One type of escort mission is apanying the client through the wilderness for various reasons, while the other type is apanying the client through his business deals. The former requires a high rating for [Combat] and [Exploration] while thetter needs [Combat] and [Diplomacy].


    There are many other subcategories that the Mercenary is rated and the clients could also use those to further search for the exact personnel they need. If one is lucky, they could be invited by big organizations or ns to work for them on much better terms. So despite the high cost of entry to be one, many were trying due to its very lucrative prospects.


    In other words, Mercenaries are pricey experts the client could temporarily hire if they need a job to be done urgently and couldn''t find someone else to do it.


    "Why 10 years?" asked Yoruichi.


    "For discoverability and experience. A lot of people apply to be a Mercenary to be discovered by bigger and stronger forces, so the Union is basically a training ground for these people who don''t have enough ability to directly appeal for themselves. In return, the Union wants 10 years of their dedication for the opportunity it presents to them."


    Yoruichi thought that 10 years was too long until she remembered that the average lifespan of these people exceeded 500 Earth years thanks to the technology they have. And the stronger the individual is, the longer they could live which means 10 years is technically a very short time for them.


    "And the special situations where these 10 years couldn''t be met?"


    "It varies a lot but the mostmon reason is that someone very high up in the Etoulde society wanted that Mercenary."


    And without missing a beat, Yoruichi asked another question, "Is this Union owned by someone very high up in Etoulde society?"


    Gwenn was instantly startled but immediately smiled in response, "Who knows~? It might be or it might not be. But one thing is certain. Those standing on the top have enough power to destroy this Union if they get enough time and motivation for it."


    Yoruichi didn''t ask any questions and just signed the contract using her own Magic Power''s unique wave signature. And as soon as all formalities are done, Yoruichi immediately asks for jobs she could take. Due to her skewed ratings, she could only take subjugation and bounty types of missions.

 Chapter 1132 Cornered Kazui

    Chapter 1132 Cornered Kazui


    As soon as Yoruichi left, the purple-skinned doorman approached the receptionist. But before he could say anything, Gwenn snapped at him, "Don''t give me so much work!"


    "Young miss..." The man stopped speaking when Gwenn''s re became worse, "Ehem... Miss Gwenn, I thought you''d be interested in her."


    "So you noticed something?"


    The man shook his head, "No... But I almost instinctively pulled my weapon out when she approached."


    "That much?" Gwenn was surprised that the guard she brought with her, because he had a different way to see through things, said something like that due to an unknown person, ''His beast-like senses could see through some things that I couldn''t... Was it because of that nk that I saw?''


    "What else?"


    "Even though she''s a Pamatypian who''s living a nomadic lifestyle these days, she''s strangely curious about her surroundings. It might be her first timeing to an advanced world like this."


    "And how is that strange?"


    "She came from Narthal beforeing here."


    "Narthal?... Wait, do you mean the City of Pleasure?"


    "Precisely." The man nodded, "Everything in here shouldn''t be a strange sightpared to what that has to offer, both in a good and a bad way."


    "...What are you suggesting?"


    "Nothing. I just want you to have a reasonable amount of suspicion if you were to interact with her from this point on because even if we started investigating now, I doubt we''d find anything substantial if she came from a ce where you could easily get another identity as long as you have enough money and your original background is obscure enough."


    Hearing that, Gwenn just shrugged her shoulders, "That in itself is interesting enough. I hate work, but I don''t mind entertainment like this." She knew that there was a possibility that Yoru was sent to specifically interact or deal with her. However, that possibility is very minuscule, ''Who would send someone like her where she would obviously be useful for something else?''


    And if Yoru was indeed here for her, it won''t be long before Gwenn figures out what she wants.


    ''Since she has the potential to use Spiritual Power, are they aiming for the position of a sessor?''


    .


    .


    .


    While a third of the whole is just one big city, the rest is an untamed wilderness where various beasts roam thend and sea. While they are very dangerous and could even pose a threat to the city itself, they were a good source of materials, riches and the main source of requests for Mercenaries.


    Yoruichi had to use multiple Teleportation Pods to reach her destination due to security reasons and the different jurisdictions of each sector.


    "Sector 6''s Great Forest... Material cer. I''ll have to finish the request first." Yoruichi muttered to herself while thinking about how she should release the spider and when ''I also need to figure out that receptionist. If I can get her to my side, it''d be a lot easier to gain an understanding of the current politicalndscape.''


    All of a sudden, a giant colorful snake suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside Yoruichi, baring its fangs. Sadly for it, Yoruichi had already noticed its approach from a hundred meters away, and in one swift arm movement, Yoruichi beheaded the slithering beast, ending its life in an instant.


    ''Hmmm? The rest started retreating? They''re smart. And here I thought I could just stand still until everything was over.''


    With that, Yoruichi started her journey which would eventually lead her to bing a major yer within the Etoulde''s dark side.


    .


    .


    .


    A month went by without anything big happening. But during that same month, Kisuke finally finished their new hideout and the young girls immediately went ballistic within it because using the training ground under the Urahara Shop was somehow suffocating for them since they also had to share it from time to time.


    On the side, Kisuke and Serafall are watching these girls trying to destroy each other. While Kisuke was just watching with interest, the corner of Serafall''s mouth was twitching, "This is ridiculous."


    "What is?"


    "...Everything. I know you already showed me how they fought you off, but I just attributed that to their precise nning and preparation against you that they were able to perform that well... But they have a lot more hidden within their sleeves."


    In Serafall''s opinion, it would be enough for them to fight against God-level opponents though it''d be hard for them to actually win.


    "By the way, is there no further contact from any side?"


    "Nope. It''s radio silent. However, I think they were able to sessfully detect Magic Power and all of its variations. I saw a few Shinigamis carrying some sort of device earlier and they are very effective at locking down these doors today with not a single Beast of Hell escaping their sights."


    "So Mayuri did it? Nice. I''m sure the Zero Division will alsoe down to take a look at it since it''s a discovery of the history." While saying that, Kisuke suddenly recalled something, "...Wait... It should be able to detect Magic Power, even traces of it, right?"


    "If it''s designed to react to all Magic Power, it should."


    Kisuke then turned to Serafall, "Sera-tan, a favor. Go to Kurosaki-san''s ce right now. If they are interrogating the kid, tell them that the strange uncle sent you."


    "Oh right... The kid. I''m going then. He looks like a good kid so I don''t want him to distrust his parents this early in his childhood."


    Serafall left the room to make her way over. Since there were many security measures in ce within this whole facility that Kisuke built, they couldn''t just leave with their own abilities unless it was an emergency and they had to take down the barriers temporarily.


    .


    .


    .


    At the same time, Ichigo, Inoue, Chad, Uryu, and Renji all gathered around the young boy, Kazui, and the stuffed toy beside him, Kon.


    "Kon... Tell us what''s going on." Ichigo urged.


    Kazui was staying uncharacteristically quiet so they could only ask someone who was always beside him.


    Kon scratched his head in frustration and thought of his answer. He had to be careful if he didn''t want to identally mention Kisuke''s name since he''s also someone rted to this, "...Can''t you give us time? Kazui has his promises and I respect that."


    "But-"


    "I know. It''s important and it''s for his safety, but allow us to gather our thoughts, will ya? If we speak poorly and you misunderstand something, you might go attack his friends. We don''t know what you know so we also don''t know how you guys will react. However, I can assure you that we haven''t encountered anything dangerous until now and Kazui''s connection to Hell is... It goes further back than those Beasts of Hell''s appearance."

 Chapter 1133 Cornered Kazui part 2

    Chapter 1133 Cornered Kazui part 2


    "Ichigo... I think we should listen to Kon-chan." Inoue was the first one to cave in to Kon''s pleas.


    Ichigo sighed, having the same thoughts, however, "But it''s too dangerous. We don''t know what might happen the longer we''re in the dark. Kazui, I know that your promises are important, but you''re important to us too. Right now, you''re involved in something very dangerous and we won''t know how to protect you if we don''t know anything."


    But even after Ichigo''s words, Kazui remained silent. As he is just a very young and innocent boy, he really couldn''t understand his parents'' words, especially since he doesn''t see the danger they were talking about. In fact, he was in a very friendly rtionship with ''Hell'' so he couldn''t acknowledge their words even at face value.


    Everyone didn''t realize it, but from Kazui''s point of view, they are just badmouthing his very good friends. Even then, he refused to speak as he also didn''t know how he''ll keep his promises if he was to tell them anything, bringing him a dilemma that his young mind shouldn''t be thinking about in the first ce.


    Seeing theplicated expression he''s making, Chad also chimed in, "Ichigo, let''s not force him. For now, let''s be grateful that we found out about this, and would allow us to prepare for what might happen."


    "I also trust Kon''s judgment." Uryu added, "While he likes to y around, he knows what''s dangerous or not."


    Renji, who just intended to bring Ichigo''s group the detector that came from the Research Institute, scratched his head, "You guys are too lenient... Oh well, I could understand where you''reing from. So what should we do now?"


    Inoue wanted to bring Kazui back to his room tofort and bring him to sleep since it was already quitete when the radio-like device on the table that was the source of this gathering suddenly started rming with ring sounds.


    "What is it now?" Ichigo immediately asked and took out his Substitute Shinigami Badge in case they had to fight.


    Renji immediately took hold of the device while saying, "It''s the rm that goes off whenever there''s a veryrge door and probably an Arrancar that''s about toe out."


    At the same time, the doorbell of the Kurosaki household rang.


    "..." All became quiet as they wondered who was ringing the door at this hour, "I''ll take it." Ichigo stood up.


    Ichigo stood up and Renji tried turning off the rm while the rest prepared to fight in case Soul Society didn''t send anybody in time to intercept the ''door''.


    But when Ichigo opened the door and peered outside, he saw a very unexpected guest.


    "Hi~ Good evening. I''m sorry for suddenly showing up at this hour but I had to before you misunderstand something about your child."


    "...You''re Sitri Serafall...san." Ichigo loudly muttered after seeing the twin-tailed beauty.


    Those who were inside the house immediately reacted when they heard Ichigo speak and stood up to approach him.


    "You''re Kurosaki Ichigo-chan~ I heard about you from ire-chan. Oh, and by the way, I might have set off your new toy but I can assure you that there are no doors manifesting right now. I''m much more sensitive than that thing."


    Ichigo turned around and looked at Renji. Beforeing to the Human world, he received a note from Mayuri himself that it might react to Serafall''s group so he nodded to Ichigo.


    Ichigo turned back to Serafall and asked, "You know Kazui?"


    "Not personally, but I''m the one who told the strange uncle that he might be connected to Hell."


    "Strange uncle?" Ichigo repeated while trying to understand what she just said, but before he or the others could think who possibly this ''strange uncle'' is, Kon shouted from inside the house, "Strange uncle!?" Kon ran out and came face to face with Serafall, "Were you sent by him!?"


    Serafall crouched down and patted the stuffed toy, "He did. He got worried that you guys might misunderstand the nature of his rtionship with Hell and scold him too much without the kid understanding what he did wrong. That''s bad for a kid''s developing head, you know?"


    "Kon, who is this strange uncle."


    Kon turned to him with a resolute expression, "I''m sorry Ichigo but I can''t tell you right now, but I can assure you that we can trust him."


    Ichigo and Kon stared at each other for a few moments until the former let out a heavy sigh, "Haahhh... We can talk about thister." He then turned his attention back to their guest, "Sitri-san, is it? Pleasee inside."


    "Excuse my intrusion~!"


    .


    .


    .


    After entering the house, Serafall didn''t immediately greet everyone and instead stared at Kazui and began walking in circles around him. Ichigo and Inoue didn''t mind this but this has been going on for at least three minutes so thetter voiced out her concern while serving her a cup of tea, "I-Is there something wrong?"


    Serafall was immediately pulled out of her contemtion and reassured them, "Ah, there''s nothing. The strange uncle already told me about the situation he''s in and I trust his words. However, if I can see it with my own eyes, I would rather do the checks again."


    She then sat down and epted her drinks, "Thank you. And regarding your kid, please be reassured, as far as I could see, there''s nothing dangerous attached to him."


    But even if she said that, there''s no way for them to trust her and Serafall also knew that so she first started exining to them what she knows about Hell.


    "First of all, the inhabitants of Hell are divided between the [Chained] and [Unchained]..."


    Serafall exined to them the difference between the [Chained] and [Unchained] which Soul Society wasn''t even aware of.


    As she went through her exnation and Renji dutifully recorded everything, Serafall dropped them the bomb, "Everyone who enters Hell bes [Chained] as punishment, however, there''s an exception to this. Kazui, I don''t really know how to properly describe it aside from saying that he became Hell''s ''Envoy'' by allowing him to send souls down there without any ''punishment'', giving them a new lease on life."

 Chapter 1134 Impending Battle

    Chapter 1134 Impending Battle


    "...E-envoy of Hell?" Inoue muttered with nervousness.


    But instead of replying to her, Serafall crouched down in front of Kazui, "Kazui-chan, my name is Serafall but you can call me Sera-neechan. Nice to meet you."


    "...Sera-neechan."


    Serafall nodded in satisfaction and continued, "If you don''t mind Nee-chan asking, when were you able to send Souls to Hell, and how?"


    Kazui thought about it for a moment before answering with a soft, unsure voice, "...I don''t know... I don''t remember. It''s just that one day, a door appeared in front of me with Skeleton-san on it. We talked for a bit and after that, I''m able to send people..."


    "Hmm~ That''s great. What did you talk about?"


    A longer silence came from Kazui before he answered with even more uncertainty in his voice, "...I... I don''t know. I don''t remember..."


    Seeing his struggle, Serafall immediately patted his head, "That''s alright. You don''t have to remember it. At least you had fun talking to him, did you?"


    Kazui finally smiled and nodded energetically, "Mmm!" Although he doesn''t remember anything, the lingering feeling of their conversation stayed with him and he always wanted to talk to him again.


    "That''s wonderful~" Serafall also returned a smile, "It''s gettingte so you should go to bed. You don''t have to think about this anymore since we adults are going to take care of it." She then gave Inoue a nce.


    Inoue immediately understood what she was trying to say and also crouched down in front of Kazui, "That''s right, Kazui. We''re sorry for putting you on the spot like that. Your father and his friends will take care of the rest."


    Kazui immediately ran to his mother''s embrace as an expression of relief came to her face.


    Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, and Renji saw it clearly and made them realize that they made a mistake.


    After hugging her son tightly, Inoue brought Kazui back to his room with Kon, leaving behind the adults to talk among themselves.


    "...I apologize that you had to see something like that... And thank you." Ichigo lowered his head, "I almost did something unsightly as a father."


    Serafall stood up and said, "As long as you understand and never forget that he''s still just a kid. No matter how strange his actions are, it''s perfectly normal that he himself doesn''t know anything about it."


    She then turned to Renji who was tapping away on his smartphone. She also noticed that he''s recording what she''s saying when she''s talking about the [Chained] and [Unchained] but didn''t say anything about it, "Reporting?"


    Renji didn''t say anything for a few seconds and continued with what he was doing. After he was done, he smiled nervously, "I''m sorry, but this has to be done."


    "I''m not ming you. It''s your duty so I won''t say anything about it. I''m just making sure that''s what you''re doing."


    With her work done here, Serafall intended to leave, "Well then, I won''t extend my sudden visit any further. Let''s talk more in detail on another asion."


    But just as she just finished speaking, a heavy atmosphere suddenly pressed on everyone. Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Renji, even though they don''t know what''s going on, they still felt an enormous threat. At the same time, the scanning device on Renji''s hand started beeping in an even more rming way than when Serafall arrived, signifying something big that was about toe.


    "1...2...3... Hmmm... A total of 9 doors?" Serafall suddenly muttered while looking up with a serious, "So they aren''t slowing down. They''re saving their forces. You guys better gather all the forces that you can as fast as possible before your precious bnce tips. You have at least half a day before those massive entryways open."


    The wind picked up around her and a Magic Circle expanded below her feet.


    "H-Half a day? 9rge doors are going to open!?" Renji asked in a panic.


    But instead of answering his question, Serafall said something weird, "Aren''t you lucky that you have the ''Envoy of Hell''? Just ask and you''ll be exempted from Hell''s punishment. Isn''t that awfully convenient?" Before disappearing into motes of light.


    "W-wait! What do you mean by that!?" Renji tried to reach out for her but Ichigo grabbed him by his shoulder, "Let''s think about thatter. The 12th Division will be able to confirm the number of doors. If it''s indeed 9, then it''s also probably true that it''ll open in half a day. Go back for now and tell them everything that you know."


    Renji thought that Ichigo was right and was about to leave when he suddenly realized something and stopped, "Wait... Everything? That means it includes Kazui!"


    With a difficult expression, Ichigo replied, "I''ll make sure that no harmes to my family... But I feel like what she told us, in the end, is a hint to resolve this issue. Discuss it with Kurotsuchi-san, but please make sure that Akon, Byakuya-san, and if possible, Shunsui-san are present. I''m sorry, but I''m going to burden you."


    Renji stared at him for a few moments before sighing, "Burden me all you want. You already saved my life a few times and this is the least I can do. However, even if we can make Captain Kurotsuchi promise not to do anything crazy, knowing him, and if it''s for his perceived greater good, we don''t know what he might actually do."


    From his pocket, he took out a note and passed it to Ichigo, "In that case, you won''t be able to depend on Soul Society... They know more than us so they might be able to help you more. Though we still don''t know what exactly they are nor their objectives, it might be a better choice for you if you''re cornered."


    Ichigo confusedly took the note and saw that there was an address written on it, ''People who could help if Soul Society can''t?...'' Ichigo hurriedly looked back up to him, "You don''t mean..."


    "It''ll be up to you."


    Renji ran until he exited the Kurosaki household and hurriedly opened a Senkaimon to return to his post to report.


    As soon as he left, Uryu also made his way to the door while saying, "I don''t know if I''ll be able to get their assistance, but I''ll inform the Quincies of what''s happening right now. I might go all the way to Hueco Mundo so I''ll inform Harribel about this too. Chad, please stay here as additional protection for Inoue and Kazui."


    Chad nodded at him and Ichigo also didn''t have any objection to this. But more than that, Ichigo is carefully considering Renji''s suggestion, ''Is it even safe to trust them like this?''

 Chapter 1135 Intruding in Hell

    Chapter 1135 Intruding in Hell


    Serafall returned to their house and saw that Kisuke and the girls were waiting for her and were raring to go, "Alright, calm down. Let''s wait for things to develop first before moving on our own... And Ki-tan... Are you thinking of appearing too?"


    "I already called Tiamat and she should be here after cookingte-night snacks for Benihime."


    Serafall was stunned silent for a moment before saying, "...I think Beni-chan is having way too good of a life. Make sure you ask her to do some work too, alright?"


    "I have already a few things lined up for her."


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    .


    .


    Benihime, who was already on her third day of nonstop gaming sessions, was disturbed when the door to her room opened and the smell of potato fries and its sauce. Immediately turning around with shining eyes, Benihime gratefully received the very appetizing te, "Just in time~!"


    "Kisuke is summoning me." said Tiamat, who was still in her child-like form but without her giant horns and with her long light blue hair freely swaying down her back.


    Benihime started munching on her fries while saying, "I figured. With amotion that big, he''ll probably take this chance to confuse everyone. Imagine a very strong Shinigami with unknown abilities suddenly appearing? He longs for that kind of chaos."


    "Are you noting too?"


    "Nope, no way. He''s probably about to ask me to do something unreasonable so my free time is about to end so I''m going to be enjoying the remaining time I have left."


    .


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    .


    Three hourster, within the 1st Division''s barracks, an emergency meeting was called when the sensors within the Research Institute started going off sometime earlier.


    "Now that we''re all here, Captain Kurotsuchi, brief us on the current situation."


    Mayuri stepped out of the line and went into the middle of the room filled with heavy silence, "I''ve sent scouts to determine the real identity of these 9 pools of strange energy and as of now, we''re able to confirm that these are indeed the precursors to the Doors of Hell manifesting. I''ve estimated that these doors will fully open within the next 10 hours."


    "Why is it taking this long to open?" The Captain of the 8th Division, Yadoumaru Lisa, asked while fixing the position of her sses, "All the previous instances of these only took an hour at most to open after they were detected. Well, the door that Shinji dealt with some time ago might be an exception."


    Mayuri turned his head to her before answering, "It has to do with these doors'' scale. If the previous doors only allowed 10-20 Beast of Hells to go through these doors may let hundreds or even thousands of them. Not to mention, the possibility that someone or some people would be leading them."


    "You mean those Arrancars?" The Captain of the 4th Division, Kotetsu Isane, muttered.


    Mayuri slowly turned his head towards her, but this time, with a slightly fed-up expression, "Don''t be naive. Everyone who has reached Hell could be leading this horde."


    Isane''s eyes widened as a certain someone emerged from her mind, "W-wait... You don''t mean..."


    "Yes. That includes the former Captain who received the ritual to have their Reiryoku-dense bodies to be broken down." Mayuri immediately ignored her after saying his piece and turned back his head to Shunsui who was also making a difficult expression, "We''ve already confirmed former Captain Ukitake''s existence beyond the door so it wouldn''t be weird that either former Captain Unohana and former Captain-Commander Yamamoto to make their appearance."


    With a re, the Captain of the 7th Division, Iba Tetsuzaemon, asked, "Why are you implying that the former captains will be hostile?"


    Mayuri didn''t immediately answer him and instead talked to Shunsui while taking out his bug-themed smartphone, "With your permission, I''ll release the information."


    Shunsui nodded after looking at everyone.


    And with a few presses, Mayuri sent out a document to everyone''s assigned terminal while saying, "This testimony was taken by Lieutenant Abarai and was sent to Captain Kuchiki first before it was sent out to the Captain-Commander and me."


    All the captains aside from Shunsui, Byakuya, and Zaraki took out their phones and opened the document that Mayuri sent to them. Since it isn''t an unnecessarily long statement, it didn''t take too long for everyone to finish going through it once or twice.


    "I-is this true?" Asked the current Captain of the 13th Division, Kuchiki Rukia. However, she''s also very curious about thest part which mentioned Ichigo''s son, Kazui.


    "The source of the testimony is the individual known as Sitri Serafall. I trust that everyone in this room already knows about her and the extent of her actions? I don''t know how urate her words are and I don''t really trust them without seeing it for myself, however, the information she has provided us proved to be valuable enough that even the Zero Division took interest in it and are currently actively exploring it on their own."


    "Sitri Serafall..." Soifon, the current leader of Onmitsukidou and Captain of the 2nd Division, muttered to herself, "We tried searching for her background and those around her in the Human World, however, we couldn''t find anything. It''s as if they suddenly appeared in Karakura Town one day. But that''s not important right now. How''s the threat analysis?"


    "Very high." Mayuri answered, "Humans who are killed by the Beasts of Hell are sent directly to Hell. As you know, Hell is not included in the cycle of Souls. If too many Humans are killed by them, the bnce of Souls between Soul Society, Human World, and Hueco Mundo will be disrupted once again and we''ll be forced to do something drastic again."


    "Should we send a Captain to each door?" asked Hirako Shinji.


    "No." Byakuya immediately refused, "We''ll leave Soul Society too defenseless and if that''s what they are aiming for, it''ll be disastrous for us."


    "But we can''t have them rush out of these doors. Even if we can deal with all of them, it won''t matter if they devastate the Human World." The Captain of the 9th Division, Muguruma Kensei, chipped in, "If we can''t deploy a Captain to each door, then our next best option is to barge into these doors and contain the threat on the other side."


    "But Hell''s Punishment will immediately react the moment someone who''s not supposed to be therees in." Soifon pointed out, "A few of the Onmitsukidou sacrificed themselves to get this information."


    "And that''s where Kurosaki Kazuies in." Mayuri joined their discussion.

 Chapter 1136 Intruding in Hell part 2

    Chapter 1136 Intruding in Hell part 2


    It was before noon and Serafall was currently in the Kurosaki''s household. After hearing the threat that the doors posed to the world and Gotei 13''s n, Ichigo decided to participate in the effort. However, only after he received their promise that they won''t use Kazui apart from giving them the ''blessing'' to go through the doors of Hell.


    The ritual to grant the ''blessing'' is just a simple prayer from Kazui that summons the ''Eyes of Hell'' to look at everyone who wants to go through the doors of Hell. After seeing those eyes, everyone was able to confirm that Kazui has an intimate connection with Hell and Mayuri also noticed the slight change in everyone''s Reiatsu after the ritual. As there''s no need to open a door, any location for granting will do so Shinigamis, Quincies, and Hollows took turns to receive it which took the whole morning.


    While Inoue would be staying behind and his father came to their home as an additional security, Ichigo still couldn''t shake the bad feeling he was having. Without much choice, Ichigo directly went to the address Renji gave him first thing in the morning.


    "So your name is Serafall? Nice to meet you! I''m Kurosaki Isshin! This stubborn guy''s father!" Isshin energetically introduced himself while his ck-haired daughter shook her head with a sigh.


    The other daughter with light-blonde hair, however, followed Isshin''s footsteps and also cheerfully introduced herself, "I''m Kurosaki Yuzu and this one is Karin! Pleased to meet you."


    "It''s a pleasure to meet everyone too~! I''m Sitri Serafall but you can all just call me Sera-chan~!"


    "Alright, Sera-chan. Did you have your lunch yet?" Isshin asked while taking out his apron.


    "No, I haven''t."


    "Well then~! I''ll whip up the best lunch!" He then went to the kitchen with Yuzu following him to help out.


    Meanwhile, Karin sat down beside Serafall and apologized, "I''m sorry that they''re so loud."


    "It''s fine. I really like people like them."


    With all of this happening, Inoue, Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad were all outside with thetter three about to leave, "Be careful."


    "We will... Take care of Kazui. I have a feeling that he''s also going to be of importance to those who were resurrected in Hell, so they mighte attacking." Ichigo gave Inoue a peck on the forehead.


    "Why not just stay behind, Ichigo?" Uryu suddenly said.


    "You know well that I can''t. Soul Society can''t muster enough strength that you also had to ask other Quincies for help. If they flood the Human World, it''ll be a disastrous scene."


    "Well, I guess it''s a good call to ask for Sitri-san''s help," Chadmented.


    However, the skeptical Uryu couldn''t agree, "But the ''cooperation in the future'' is too vague. Who knows what she''s going to ask."


    "That''s indeed a problem... But let''s discuss thatter. We have to go. Inoue, be careful. Don''t let Kazui go out of your sight."


    "Kazui also seems to understand the situation so he''s behaving right now. Kon also promised me that he''ll stop Kazui if he tries to leave."


    .


    .


    .


    There were a total of 9 doors that were about to open so the attacking force would be divided into 9 groups or individuals. While three of these doors are within the Karakura Town, the rest of them are scattered through the whole of the Greater Tokyo Area and one of them was even outside of it.


    The attack group consisted of forces from the Gotei 13, Hueco Mundo, Quincies, and Ichigo''s group. Although it became an issue when all of this contrasting group gathered, a simple threat from Mayuri was enough for everyone to ''get along''. Both the Hollows and Quincy groups had already suffered immensely from his hands and they didn''t want to deal with him anymore and give him any nasty ideas that might cost them their lives.


    Of the Gotei 13, the 2nd Division''s SoiFon and Marechiyo Omaeda, the 5th Division''s Shinji Hirako and Momo Hinamori, the 6th Division''s Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai, the 8th Division''s Lisa Yadoumaru, Yuyu Yayahara and Tatsufusa Enjouji, the 11th Division''s Kenpachi Zaraki, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, and finally, the outliers, Hachigen Ushouda and Hiyori Sarugaki were tasked for this operation.


    From Hueco Mundo''s side, Tier Harribel, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez came.


    For the Quincies, Giselle, Liltotto, Bambietta, Candice, and Meninas. While they mostly only came because Uryu promised them a big mary reward, they were also curious if there were any former Quincies who reached Hell. Although they were pretty sure that none of them were resurrected because their power came from Yhwach and was taken away, they wanted to make sure of it.


    Lastly, Ichigo''s group, which consisted of Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad.


    After a short discussion, the distribution became;


    1st door, Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai.


    2nd door, Ichigo''s group.


    3rd door, the Quincy girls.


    4th door, SoiFon, Marechiyo Omaeda and Yumichika Ayasegawa


    5th door, Kenpachi Zaraki.


    6th door, the Hollows.


    7th door, Lisa Yadoumaru, Yuyu Yayahara, and Tatsufusa Enjouji


    8th door, Shinji Hirako.


    And finally, thest and 9th door, Hachigen Ushouda, Hiyori Sarugaki, Momo Hinamori, and Ikkaku Madarame.


    As the strange energy pooled around each gate, everyone got ready to enter the doors the moment they manifested.


    [Zaraki, fix the camera on your chest. And don''t block it on purpose.] Mayuri''s voice was heard by everyone on each and everymunicator that was distributed before the operation.


    [And always remember the designation of your doors to make sure that you can react whenever I make a call.]


    "Hey, why are you here instead of going with your Captain?" In front of the 9th door, Hiyori asked Ikkaku.


    "Do you really need to ask that? We''ll only hold back the Captain if we''re around." Ikkaku replied while thinking, ''If there''s arge number of enemies, instead of helping, we''ll be too worried that he''ll identally kill us.''


    "The door is about to open. Get ready." The leader of the group, Hachigen, reminded everyone.


    As they all pulled out their weapons, a single ck line appeared in front of them before it opened like how the Hollows opened the Garganta. But instead of a simple opening, its boundary was lined with Human teeth, making it very creepy.


    Nevertheless, they didn''t have the time to admire it as all of them plunged themselves into the dark void.


    The dark void only went on for an instant and the group soon found themselves in a world very much like the forested area of the Human world but with a bright purple sky. However, they didn''t have attention to spare and admire the scenery as all around them were thousands of Beasts of Hell littering the sky, and it seemed like they were shocked by their sudden appearance.


    "I''ll set up a sanctuary as nned! All of you, intercept all of those who are trying to cross the door!" Hachigen immediatelymanded while making gestures with his hand to activate the Kidou he prepared.


    But just as they were about to battle, Akon''s panicked voice rang out from theirmunicators, [Door 6 and 7! Retreat! I repeat! Doors 6 and 7! Retreat! As fast as possible!]


    The group shuddered and unconsciously looked at the door that they went through, wondering what the hell happened. But as they did, they saw the door slowly shut and disappear, trapping them in a foreign world with thousands of hostile enemies around.

 Chapter 1137 Requesting for Reinforcement

    Chapter 1137 Requesting for Reinforcement


    Through the 8th door, Shinji entered alone for a very good reason. It''s because his ability is one of the weakest des withrades around, but one of the greatest weapons when uncountable foes surround him.


    The moment he found himself in the foreign world, he couldn''t help but smirk at himself, "My~ Isn''t this convenient?"


    In front of a legion of Hollows with holes outside of their bodies, also known as Beasts of Hell, "A stage set just for me, huh?"


    cing his Zanpakuto in front of him, his Reiatsu rose up to the highest level, making the surrounding beasts more aggravated, "...Bankai. Sakashima Yokoshima Happoufusagari (Reversed Evil Eight Treasure Blockade)."


    The moment he finished muttering the release incantation for his Bankai, his Zanpakuto instantly transformed into a staff with its front end turning into arge ring while a flower construct bloomed under Shinji''s feet and its petals covered his body as if to protect him from any outside harm.


    In an instant, the atmosphere around changed and the hate-filled air became even denser. But unlike earlier, none of it is now directed at himself as the beasts turned against each other and started devouring theirrades, turning the whole ce into a bloody feeding frenzy that no normal person would be able to stomach.


    Sakashima Yokoshima Happoufusagari is a wide-area Bankai that targets opponents and allies alike without discrimination and without exception. It inverts the perception of friend-and-foe across anyone within the vicinity of his Bankai, with Shinji himself being the sole person unaffected. As a result, all allies be enemies while all enemies be allies for the duration of the Bankai. As such, it''s one of the best weapons against the current situation and the reason why he''s alone.


    But while he''s being protected from the rain of blood and flesh by his petals, a panicked voice of Akon from hismunicator rang out, [Door 6 and 7! Retreat! I repeat! Door 6 and 7! Retreat! As fast as possible!]


    At the same time, Shinji watched the door he went through close, "...What''s going on?"


    .


    .


    .


    While the groups who entered the 9th and 8th doors met thousands of Beasts of Hell and it could even increase from that since more are gathering around, the 1st through 7th doors are vastly different with only hundreds of Beasts of Hell in them, and sometimes, none at all. But in exchange, there were [Chained] individuals waiting for them.


    Through the 1st door that Byakuya and Renji had entered, the one who''s waiting for them was the sole Yammy rgo. Although they were already expecting to meet an Arrancar, his presence still couldn''t help but elicit a frown from both of the most vital members of the 6th Division, "Be careful. If he retained the amount of Reiryoku he used to have, he''s already dangerous, but if he gained any other abilities apart from his brute strength, it''s going to be a problem." Byakuya warned Renji.


    Renji took his warning to his heart but also said, "It''s alright, Captain. It''s not just you who''s improved, but also me."


    .


    .


    .


    Ichigo''s group entered through the 2nd door and immediately came across hundreds of beasts. However, what caught their attention is the detestable man wearing a disgusting grin, "Wee, Ichigo Kurosaki and his merry friends~! To my kingdom of special beings!"


    "Just our luck..." Uryu muttered to himself while staring at the thin man with shoulder-length pink hair, "...Or maybe not."


    Szayporro grin grewrger, "Correct, Ishida Uryu! I knew that you guys were going toe, so I made it so that any door you take will lead you directly to me!"


    Uryu fixed his sses while returning his provocation, "That''s awfully confident of you. Do you really think you can take the three of us? We''re not the same ones you met years ago in Hueco Mundo."


    Nevertheless, Szayporro was unperturbed and immediately noticed Uryu''s actions and intentions, "That''s just like you, Quincy, looking for what looks like traps and setting up your own. You really haven''t changed as much as you imed."


    .


    .


    .


    From there, the Quincies met Nnoitra Gilga and Zommari Rureaux past the 3rd door, SoiFon, Marechiyo Omaeda and Yumichika Ayasegawa met Baraggan Louisenbairn past the 4th door and Zaraki Kenpanchi met Kaname Tousen and the former Kenpachi, Kiganjou, past the 5th door.


    However, Akon''s panicked voice who was watching from the monitoring room was caused by the people waiting at the 6th and 7th door.


    As the Hollows entered the 6th door, they were instantly weed by a massive Reiatsu pressing down on them, and it was the same situation with Lisa Yadmaru, Yuyu Yayahara, and Tatsufusa Enjouji when they entered the 7th door.


    Since the people in the monitoring room studied to prepare for eventually meeting the people of the past. Akon immediately issued a retreat order after identifying the people waiting for them. From the 6th door, they were the former Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki, and one of the founders of Gotei 13, Saizou Sakahone.


    The 7th door, on the other hand, also had founding members of the Gotei 13, Nobutsuna Shigyou, and Chigiri Shijima.


    Akon immediately judged that the two groups would just be throwing away their lives if they fight them now. However, his retreat notice was a tad toote as all the doors closed on their own.


    Realizing this, Akon mmed the table in front of him, "Fuck! They were already expecting this! To all units avable! Gather around the gates and do everything in your power to reopen them! Where''s the Captain!?"


    One of his subordinates immediately answered, "He''s already on his way to the Human World."


    Akon took a deep breath to calm his nerves, "I see... At least make sure we don''t lose our connections with them! Increase the power output to supplement the Negacion threads'' integrity! Someone contact the Arrancar, Roka Paramia, and ask for her assistance in case we can''t keep the connection open!"


    The entire 12th Division immediately jumped into action the moment things went awry.


    Nevertheless, they weren''t the only ones watching it in real-time as Mayuri also provided each Division monitoring equipment to watch the whole operation, though it''s mostly for the Captains who can''t leave the Soul Society to secure it.


    Seeing the situation, Shunsui immediately took out his phone which was modified some time ago to contact someone. As he ced the phone on his right ear, its special function of silencing everything around him immediately activated. He heard his phone ringing a few times before it was answered, "Just those two doors. Please save them."


    [I''m on my way. But is it possible for you to dy Kurotsuchi-san for a bit?]


    "No. He''ll immediately be suspicious of me if I do that."


    [Oh well, that''s fine. It''ll be a bit easier for me if I don''t meet him now.]

 Chapter 1138 Doors to Hell

    Chapter 1138 Doors to Hell


    Szayporro stopped provoking Ichigo andpany and frowned a little bit, "Hmmm... How weird. Hell''s [Punishment] should have gotten hold of you the moment you entered through the door. I know that disgusting Captain should be able to do something about it, but I didn''t expect that it would be to the point ofplete nullification... Did I underestimate him once again?"


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad immediately felt weirded out by his statement. They knew for sure that Szayporro had a way of watching the Human World since he was able to identify Renji''s daughter without actually meeting her, but he didn''t know about Kazui and how his little ritual made them safe from Hell''s [Punishment]?


    They all looked at each other to confirm that they were thinking the same thing but refused to say anything.


    At that moment, they heard Akon''s panicked voice and subsequently, the door closing behind them.


    Upon seeing that, Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad immediately put some distance from each other while pulling out or manifesting their respective weapons and abilities.


    "So it''s a trap all along." Uryu gritted his teeth as his Heilig Bogen extended from his right wrist.


    Chad''s right and left arm became covered by ck and white liquid respectively before they hardened and formed differing armors for each arm, "...Do you think Sitri-san is part of this. After all, she''s the one who hinted that we should directly intercept the enemies before they came out of the doors."


    Szayporro who was intently listening to their conversation suddenly snapped his fingers, "So her name is Sitri, that strange woman with the unknown ability. I can finally hear her name. It''s amazing how she could block Hell''s [Eyes] even though it''s just her name which, honestly, is pointless."


    "Well... From the looks of it, she''s not." Uryu replied to Chad before a certain idea dawned on him, "She''s really amazing being able to stop Hell''s [Punishment]. Thanks to her, we could cross safely."


    Ichigo and Chad looked at him surprised but Uryu ignored them and just intently watched the grin from Szayporro disappear, "...It''s not that disgusting insect?"


    Szayporro started contemting what this all means, ''There''s a big hole in my informationwork.''


    But soon enough, his grin returned to his face, and said, "Kukuku, it doesn''t really matter. It doesn''t change the fact that you people who are ''alive'' can''t set foot in here. No matter how strong that strange woman''s ability to block Hell''s Authority, that can''tst forever, and sooner orter, these chains will take hold of all of you."


    Szayporro swung his arm and the hundreds of Beasts of Hell around him started running and flying toward Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad, "Who knows? Maybe after you''ve epted these chains, we''ll get along very well."


    "That''s the most disgusting thing I''ve heard in a while." Ichigo visibly recoiled when he imagined the possibility. He raised the two ck des he was holding and crossed them, "Getsuga... Juujishou (Moon Fang Cross-Shaped Piercer)" The cross-shaped st of massive energy was the signal for the battle to begin.


    Meanwhile, their conversation was also being ryed to Mayuri who''s making his way to the Human World, "Good thinking, Quincy boy." All this time, the only information they had about their enemies is when they were alive so the fact that Szayporro didn''t know anything about Kazui and Serafall despite iming an all-seeing ability put a smile on his face, "Is it because those with the same or simr power are immune to his [Eyes]?"


    The moment he got out of the Senkaimon and entered the Human World, Mayuri immediately gave out his directive, "To all attack groups. We''ll try to reopen the doors from this side so do your best to stay alive... If you know you''re going to die, inform me too. That way, we''ll be able to prioritize the other doors. Also, if you can kill them, bring their bodies back."


    Most of the attack units shuddered at what they heard from theirmunicator, but once they realized that it was Mayuri who was speaking, they immediately calmed down thinking, ''That''s definitely the morally bankrupt Captain of the 12th Division.'' Even then, there''s no better voice to reassure them than his as all of them believed in his ability to adapt to the situation.


    .


    .


    .


    The moment they heard Mayuri''s voice, the Quincy girls all shuddered and a cold sweat poured down their backs, "Even though he''s the one who''ll be pulling us out from this mess... I still really don''t want to meet him." Meninas muttered while rubbing the goosebumps on her arms.


    "Are you sure there won''t be any hidden fees for his help?" Candice asked nervously as one of the few people who''d experienced Mayuri''s cruelty.


    However, their conversation was immediately interrupted by a prideful but also fed-up voice, "What''s this? A bunch of little girls?"


    The girls turned their attention towards him and saw that the one who spoke just now is a very tall andnky man holding a giant axe-like weapon bearing two crescent moon-shaped des fused together at the backs, with arge looped chain connected to the shaft at the end of the handle.


    They immediately identified who it was since they also had information on the former Arrancars while they were preparing their invasion of Soul Society. However, there was something different from the information they have, "His left arm doesn''t have flesh, leaving only behind a ck skeleton. He also has a pair of horns that he didn''t formerly have." Liltotto murmured.


    "Look at the other one." Giselle pointed at the tall, muscr, and dark-skinned Arrancar with noticeablyrge lips, "Both of his hands don''t have any flesh either. Though his horns are growing from his shoulders."


    "We can assume that everyone who was sent to Hell has this kind of variation to their appearance. Though we don''t really know what that means." The moment they stepped into Hell, Liltotto had been tasting the air around them and was able to confirm that the concentration of Reishi from the surroundings was on the same level as the Human World, ''Unbelievable... This ce is supposed to be the ce of the condemned and individuals with a veryrge amount of Reiryoku, but the environment is like this? To think we''ll immediately be put at a disadvantage... I hope they''re not much stronger than when they were alive.''


    Although they regained some of their strength, it was still a bit far from the time before Yhwach used Auswhlen on them. But while Yhwach''s Letter Empowerment disappeared, the cavity that the ''Letter'' left shaped the power of the Souls and all they had to do was fill this missing gap with their own power and training. They didn''t want to admit it, but they all agreed that this is thest gift they received from Yhwach. It may take a while, but there''s a chance for them to regain their former abilities without relying on a Quincy with a Soul Distribution Power.


    ''Compatibility with our enemy will be our biggest advantage.'' Liltotto thought of a n in her head and immediately issued amand, "Giselle, Bambietta, take on the skinhead. Candice, Meninas, you''ll be with me to deal with this creepy bastard."

 Chapter 1139 Doors to Hell part 2

    Chapter 1139 Doors to Hell part 2


    "What should we do about the strange Hollows around?" Asked Candice.


    Liltotto looked at the hundreds of beasts behind the two Arrancars and said, "Leave it to me and Bambietta."


    "These bitches don''t know when to shut up..." Nnoitra licked his lips, "Great! I''m going to enjoy your screams as I carve up your flesh! Don''t die too early, alright?"


    Nnoitra''s unique Zanpakuto twirled around him before he threw it toward the Quincy girls.


    Meninas immediately went in front of the group and caught the Zanpakuto with her bare hands before pulling it towards them.


    The chain that''s attached between Nnoitra and his Zanpakuto became taut, instantly dragging the former forward. Nnoitra was surprised by the pink-haired girl''s strength to pull him but he didn''t have the time to react when multiple green lightning bolts apanied by a deafening thunderp assaulted him, damaging his insides and temporarily paralyzing him.


    As the one holding Nnoitra''s Zanpakuto, Meninas also received some damage from Candice''s lightning. However, she was fully prepared that this would happen and immediately swung the Zanpakuto in her hand, smashing Nnoitra to the ground and creating an explosion of dust.


    At the loud sounds, the beasts also started moving towards the girls but a gaping maw of jagged teeth instantly intercepted them and swallowed them. Those who were able to dodge in time got hit by a ball of Reishi instead and soon exploded into pieces, making it rain with blood and flesh.


    "Is it alright for you to eat them?" asked Giselle as she watched Liltotto chew the strange Hollows.


    "Eating Hollows still stings... But strangely enough, only a small part of them are ''Hollow'' and the rest is something foreign that I can''t use." answered Liltotto before turning to her, "Aside from that, are you fine with me assigning you to him?"


    Giselle smiled and stepped towards the stationary Zommari Rureaux while summoning her small bone-like Heilig Bogen, "It''s good. I also wonder whose control is stronger."


    Bambietta, who''s currently intercepting the beasts, hurriedly turned around when they heard their conversation, "O-oi... You won''t do that, right?"


    But Giselle only smiled at her and gave hermand, "Leave those small fries to Lil, Bambi-chan. Let''s smash the head of this skinhead instead."


    Even without her agreement, Bambietta''s body moved on its own and went face to face with Zommari after using Hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step).


    The unmoving Zommari finally moved and intercepted the sword made out of Reishi with his Zanpakuto.


    Bambietta freed one of her hands and a ball of Reishi manifested in it before she threw it at her opponent. However, the ball just went through and hit the beast behind Zommari. With an apanying static sound, the Zommari in front of her disappeared and reappeared behind her about to sh her back.


    Zommari wanted to cut down Bambietta but his attempt remained an attempt when he felt a threat to his side and saw a destructive arrow aimed at his head and he had no choice but to dodge.


    The arrow, the same as Bambietta''s attack, went through Zommari''s head before he disappeared like a mirage and reappeared some distance from the Quincies.


    "So this is the most proficient Sonido practitioner within the Arrancars. We might need Meninas to actually catch him." Gisellemented.


    However, Bambietta had a different concern, "...Is he the quiet type of guy? I still remember the report from years ago that he''s a bbermouth despite appearing calm and collected."


    "Maybe Hell changed him?"


    Giselle was about to resume attacking but Zommari suddenly asked the Quincies, "Where''s the woman who uses ice?"


    Bambietta and Giselle looked at each other and wondered who he was asking about when Liltotto, who was quietly dealing with the beast by eating them, answered, "Do you mean Sitri Serafall? She didn''t join this operation."


    Zommari visibly let out a sigh of relief which confused the Quincy girls, "Is that so? I don''t really want to meet her again."


    Ever since his short trip to the Human World, he has been fearful, and every day, he''d get nightmares that he''ll be frozen for all eternity. No one could understand why he was acting like this, not even those who were close to him. To make it worse, he couldn''t exin it himself as there''s only one thing that he remembered aside from the terrifyingly cold ice and that is ''fear''.


    The moment the Quincy girls entered the door they were guarding, he had been on his toes, wondering if the horrific woman would alsoe. Now that he had their word, although not trustworthy, it was still enough to give some sce to his shivering soul.


    As he had already learned his lesson of not underestimating these unknown people, he ced his Zanpakuto in front of him and muttered, "Suppress, Brujeria."


    Zommari''s neck snapped to the side and his Zanpakuto folded. Immediately after, ck liquid emerged from his Zanpakuto and covered his whole body. A few secondster, he came with an extra pair of arms, darker skin, and golden eyes dotting his entire body as he sat on a lotus-like flower from beneath him.


    Giselle immediately saw one of the eyes look at her and grabbed Bambietta from her side, pulling her in front of her.


    Bambietta was already expecting this so she gave up, ''I wonder how many limbs I''ll lose this time?''


    In an instant, a ck sun tattoo appeared on Bambietta''s left arm that she ced forward at thest second.


    Giselle wanted to analyze the situation but couldn''t do so when Bambietta immediately swung her left arm at her while also releasing a ball of Reishi. Giselle was only able to dodge thanks to her quick reaction and use of Hirenkyaku, "What are you doing, Bambi-chan? Couldn''t you at least resist for a few seconds?"


    "W-wait! I''m trying! But it''s a lot stro-!? Guhhhh!!!" Bambietta couldn''t even finish her words as her left hand grabbed her neck and snapped it.


    Bambietta''s eyes rolled back and her whole bodyy limp as she fell out of the sky.


    Liltotto, Meninas, and Candice couldn''t help but be surprised that one of them just instantly died.


    "Be careful! Our information is severely outdated!" Liltotto immediately shouted to the remaining Quincies.

 Chapter 1140 Doors to Hell part 3

    Chapter 1140 Doors to Hell part 3


    Meanwhile, past the 4th door, a rematch was happening.


    Soifon blocked the giant axe that swung towards her and sent her flying back.


    "Captain!" Marechiyo Omaeda, Soifon''s Lieutenant, shouted when he saw this before using sh Step towards her but he had to stop midway when Soifon shouted back, "Don''t leave your position! Cooperate with Ayasegawa to reduce the number of beasts!"


    "B-but..."


    Soifon turned her attention back to her enemy and smirked, "Leave him to me."


    "You couldn''t defeat the first time. What makes you think you can do it now?" The stocky muscr man uttered. At first, Soifon wasn''t very sure who her opponent was due to his whole head just being a ck skull. Soifon only figured out his identity when he took out arge battle axe that had a pair of rounded des that were ck with silver edges with a red slit-eye pendant in the middle of the focal point holding both des together.


    "You really are Baraggan Louisenbairn," Soifon muttered while standing up straight.


    "Indeed. Without that Kidou master around you, you have no hope of winning." Baranggan replied with his usual arrogant tone.


    Soifon, all of a sudden, disappeared and reappeared beside Barrangan with Suzumebachi''s first release on her right hand.


    But as if a reenactment of the fight more than a decade ago, Soifon felt something weird the moment before he hit him and Barragan effortlessly dodged her strike with minimal movements and margin. Soifon then saw Baraggan''s handing after her and used sh Step to get away.


    In response, Baraggan used Sonido to chase after her and it became a game of tag with the former Hollow King trying to touch Soifoi and thetter evading him while considering the strategies she could use against him.


    "I never thought I''d see a cowardly Captain like this." Baraggan started taunting Soifon, "What''s wrong? Did the war against the Quincies scar you so much that you''re unable to fight with your usual courage?"


    Soifoi''s expression immediately change as anger surfaced on her face, "You bastard!"


    Using her sh Step to appear behind Baraggan and stabbed him with Suzumebachi. But just the same as before, Baraggan was able to dodge with ease and was even able to grab Soifoi''s right arm, "How disappointing."


    But the moment his ability of decay activated, ''Soifon'' popped like a balloon and Baraggan suddenly felt a sting to his right nk, "!?"


    Immediately using Sonido to get away, Baraggan saw Soifon calmly standing where he was standing a moment ago.


    Despite not being able to tell what expression he was making, Soifon was able to make out his confusion, "Portable Gigai. You must''ve heard of it. It was that detestable man''s favorite trick. But I must say, it''s very effective."


    The faces of the man and woman who disappeared in the war more than a decade ago resurfaced in Soifon''s mind and she couldn''t help but be a bit mncholic. A lot of things had changed for her these past few years and she''s very d about these changes as she was not as close-minded as before.


    Soifon immediately shook these useless thoughts out of her head and continued speaking, "Don''t forget that we had all the time to study you from our previous encounter. You can deploy a field that slows down time for you within your immediate vicinity. It''s the reason why we couldn''t hit you no matter what. However, I found two limits to this ability of yours."


    Soifon disappeared once again and reappeared behind Baraggan. However, Baraggan already heightened his senses and was able to feel another and weaker presence at his side. shing his axe towards this weaker presence, Baraggan saw Soifon as expected.


    But the moment his axe hit her, ''Soifon'' once again popped like a balloon and he felt a simr stinging feeling on his back, "!?"


    Baraggan hurriedly escaped with a Sonido again and clenched his teeth, "So the first one was the real one."


    Soifon ignored his words and continued her exnation, "The first one is that you obviously can''t dodge wide-scale attacks that will hit you regardless of your reaction. The second one is that you can only slow down time for the things you are aware of." Soifon then smirked at him, "The second one is the main reason why you lost against Sousuke Aizen so easily."


    For the first time in a long while, Baraggan became angry. It is his lifelong regret that he was not able to get his revenge against Aizen and now this silly Shinigami was now mocking him for it, "Regret ever uttering that name. Rot, Arrogante."


    Baraggan immediately became covered with deep ck colored Reiatsu and sure enough, his form changed to what Soifon was expecting, but this time, his whole skeleton is ink-ck.


    Baraggan then raised his skeletal arms and called, "Respira." And a cloud of ck and purple miasma radiated out of him before that started making its way toward Soifon. By releasing his true form, he didn''t just erase Suzumebachi''s marks but also made Soifon not be able to approach him anymore to continue her stings. As far as he knew, Soifon''s expertise lies within closebat and didn''t have many long-range attacks like Kidous that could reach him aside from her very rigid Bankai.


    However, Baraggan was surprised yet again when he saw Soifon still calmly staring at him, unmoving from her position.


    "Did you think I didn''t prepare for this too?" Soifon''s Reiatsu then shot up as if she was activating her Bankai, "While you were rotting here in Hell, I never stopped improving."


    A tornado made out of her own Reiatsu covered her before saying, "Mukyuu Shunkou (Tireless sh War Cry)." Soifon''s rushing green and golden Reiatsu then formed four elongated vortexes on her back. The two vortexes on top wererger than the two below it and formed what looks like two pairs of wings.


    The miasma finally arrived but it couldn''t approach Soifon herself as they were sucked up by the vortexes. Of course, its effect of decaying anything it touched was still there so the ''wind'' that deflected it slowed down. However, the vortexes made out of Soifon''s Reiatsu were a self-feeding system. The slowed-down ''wind'' would return to the center and would be sped up again before returning to the edges.


    The miasma was consumed but Soifon''s ''wind'' continued to move. As long as Soifon had enough Reiryoku to fuel it, these winds would never die out.


    "Now then... How would you like to die?" Soifon lowered her body before punching out. Wind gathered around her arm, forming a tornado and sting away the rotting miasma in front of her, creating a clear path to her opponent.


    Baraggan panicked and immediately summoned his Zanpakuto, "Gran Cada!"


    Sadly for him, Soifon was also a lot faster than before so before he could even swing it, Soifon had already arrived in front of him using an advanced sh Step technique called Senka (sh Blossom), stinging him twice.


    The marks Soifon left on Baraggan started shining brightly with her own Reiatsu before they began growing in size.


    Thanks to Aizen, Soifon knew the limits of her Suzumebachi, however, Baraggan was not Aizen and she had been improving the amount of the Reiryoku she could hold and she just injected a majority of it into her marks.


    Soifon could hear Baraggan''s groans and she could feel his Reiatsu destabilizing and knew that her ability had taken effect properly this time.


    But at that moment, hermunicator resounded again, [To all units, beware! Your opponents can''t be killed! I repeat, your opponents can''t be killed!]


    Soifon''s eyes widened in surprise and at the same time, she felt a threat behind her and immediately used sh Step to get away.


    And when she looked back, she saw that Baraggan had just swung his axe with concentrated miasma at her former position. However, what bothered her the most was that most of Baraggan''s body has already disintegrated but it was being put together back, "...ck chains?"

 Chapter 1141 Doors to Hell part 4

    Chapter 1141 Doors to Hell part 4


    "Hmmm...? Not what I was expecting." Zarakimented as soon as he stepped into Hell. Soon enough the door behind closed and Zaraki just looked at it with an unconcerned expression, "...I''ll eventually find my way out of here, but if there are strong people here, I also don''t mind staying for a while..."


    "Well, well, look who it is. It''s the illustrious Captain of the 11th Division, Zaraki."


    Zaraki turned to the voice that called him out and saw a big man, with a darkplexion, dark hair, and dark eyes. He had two spiked piercings below his lips and had a very rough appearance, with chipped fingernails, facial hair, and body hair.


    But instead of him, Zaraki''s eyesnded on another man beside him, "So you''re also here."


    Zaraki is talking to the dark-skinned man with dark brown braids and blindfolds.


    However, the man, Kaname Tousen, didn''t utter a word and stayed back. It was then that Zaraki finally gave the already fuming muscr man attention and asked, "Are you my opponent? And who are you?"


    With that sentence, the muscr man finally loses it, "I''m Kenpachi Kiganjou you damned brat!!!"


    Sadly for him, Zaraki is still clueless about who he is, "Kenpachi? I''ve only met two and I enjoyed fighting both of them." Zaraki genuinely doesn''t know who this bulky man is and thought that he''s a Kenpachi of even further generation than him. After all, the only Kenpachi he met were the 1st and 8th. In the first ce, he didn''t really have a good memory, and he especially doesn''t even bother remembering someone who''s weak unless he could see them multiple times or they had a ''funny'' ability.


    Tousen immediately took his distance the moment he heard that and the man who introduced himself as Kenpachi Kiganjou almost had his veins popped from anger, "Looks like I''m going to have to educate you and take what''s rightfully mine."


    Holding his Zanpakuto which looks like a single-edged greatsword that has arge, ck ring iid with gold on the end that was roughly the size of his palm, he shouted with his towering voice, "Bankai!"


    From the ground, a column ofva suddenly erupted, engulfing Kiganjou.


    At that scene, Zaraki''s memories were rattled. He finally remembered that the two [Kenpachi] that he met were not the people he took the title of Kenpachi from but another person who he forgot until now, "Ah... You''re that boring guy who only had brute strength and nothing else."


    Theva disappeared, revealing Kiganjou holding a five meter long and one meter-wide rock crystal and magma in the shape of a single-edge greatsword, "Onimaru, Fire Demon''s Flower Blossom."


    The greatsword then started extending further by disassembling itself to be longer while also making mes break out of it, "You only won by a sneak attack. I''ll make you regret being alive."


    Although Szayporro released the information about the current state of affairs to those who followed his instructions, Kiganjou never listened to him and his boring strategy meetings, all while believing himself to be the strongest Captain aside from the Captain Commander due to him gaining the top seat of the 11th Division. As such, he really had no idea what he''s talking about and the only thing in his mind was taking his revenge against Zaraki who cut him down while he wasn''t fully ready.


    The bandit-looking man then swung his elongated greatsword as it spouted mes at the back of its de, increasing its speed.


    Zaraki, on the other hand, kept the same face as his ragged Zanpakuto changed its shape to a great axe or war cleaver hybrid with a long, cloth-wrapped handle and the top of its de has a brass cover with a green tassel attached to the backside, "You''re as boring as ever."


    Even before Zaraki started learning Zanjutsu and took on the mantle of the 11th Division, he could already tell if someone was good with a sword or if the sword was just swinging its user. While the former is a good opponent, thetter is just a child for him, waving a dangerous weapon around without really thinking.


    Kiganjou, in his opinion, falls into thetter category and no real exchange of swords coulde out of fighting them. And that''s why after cutting him down in a single strike, Zarakipletely forgot about the 10th Kenpachi until now.


    Kiganjou was surprised that Zaraki''s Zanpakuto suddenly changed but he was shocked further when Zaraki swung his cleaver at his giant ming sword and bisected it, "W-what!?"


    Zaraki then disappeared and reappeared in front of Kiganchou while saying, "Quit swinging your giant stick. It''s annoying."


    The next instant, Kiganchou felt the paine from his right shoulder before sliding to the side uncontrobly. It was only a moment after that he realized that Zaraki had cleaved him from his right shoulder to his left nk.


    With a smile to his face, Zaraki turned to Tousen, and with his back to the falling Kiganjou and his Zanpakuto both bisected, "It''s finally just you and me. Let''s resume the fight."


    However, Tousen didn''t move from his spot at all and there''s not even a hint of him pulling out his Zanpakuto, "You''re not yet done."


    "Hmm?" Zaraki felt something move behind him, but just as he turned his head around, he felt something hit his back and he was forcefullyunched.


    Zaraki crashed to the ground with a big explosion without being able to do much about it.


    Nevertheless, it''s not really a big deal for him. Zaraki checked the damage on him and figured out that there was arge hole in his Shihakushou''s back with his skin charred. It''s just a trivial wound so he immediately looked at the thing that hit him and it was his turn to be surprised when he saw the man his cut down was connected by ck chains inside his body and was being put together, "...What are you?"


    "Kuhahahahaha!!!" Kiganchouughed at the top of his lungs as his flesh fuse back together and his Zanpakuto recover to its original state, "Here in Hell, there''s no way for you to defeat me! I''m going to enjoy burning you alive!"


    But instead of fearing this unknown regeneration, arge grin finally emerged on Zaraki''s face, "Ho? Finally something interesting from you? Don''t disappoint me then!"


    With another sh Step, Zaraki arrived in front of Kiganchou once again and bisected him. This time, from his forehead.


    However, Kiganchou only made a pained expression briefly and swung his greatsword, sending Zaraki flying once again, "Let''s see how much of a beating you can take!"


    Zaraki''s stomach became charred from the hit but the grin only went wider, "That''s my line! Let''s see how many times you cane back to life!"


    As both of them released their massive Reiatsu and destroyed everything around them, Kaname Tousen just stood back, not saying anything, ''As Zaraki said... Kiganjou is really a boring man who only knows how to swing a big stick.'' He can tell that Zaraki was purposely not blocking Kiganjou''s attacks so that he could find enjoyment in this battle. If he didn''t do that, he''d soon be bored of mindlessly cutting meat and bones.''


    Tousen then turned his attention to another direction and thought, ''We''re more or less sessful with Zaraki tied here. Though that really onlysts as long as Kiganjou''s mind can take repeatedly dying.''


    =================================================


    Announcement: January 08, 2024


    Good day~


    Goyya here~


    I need to rest so I''ll get straight to the point. The reason why I postedte cause I got admitted on a hospital the other day due to stomach pains. Apparently, I developed stomach ulcers.


    It was due to stress, fatigue and a shitty habit that I learned which is forgetting to eat. These past 1 or 2 months have been one of the busiest time for me with so many things IRL going on. Don''t worry though as most of them are in ''good'' category. Thanks to that, it''s not unusual for me to just eat some pieces of bread and soda and that would be my meal for the entire day. Well... maybe that''s the main reason.


    I got home and rested a bit before doing the usual and just not forget to eat proper meals. With an assortation of meds, I thought I could handle it.


    Ehem... My dumbass couldn''t and have to be readmitted and get scolded by those around me.


    So I''ll be following the doc''s advice and rest for a while. I''m thinking about one week of doing nothing aside from light exercise andzing around with head empty. In other words, I''ll be coasting for a while.


    I''m also thinking of quitting my current job since it''s not really doing me any favor and it doesn''t really pay that good. But until I can make sure that I could secure my next employment, I can''t proceed with it.


    TL:DR


    Ulcers,


    got hospitalized,


    thought I could go on but couldn''t,


    got hospitalized and scolded,


    now I''m a good kid who follows instructions and will be resting for a week.


    Thank you for reading and your understanding~!


    Have a great day~!

 Chapter 1142 Doors to Hell part 5

    Chapter 1142 Doors to Hell part 5


    Mayuri soon reached the Human world with Hachigou Nemuri closely behind him and immediately made their way toward the 7th door where people needed to be pulled out first. The Hollows who attacked the 6th door are also in danger, but his priority is his fellow Shinigamis.


    On the way here, Mayuri saw how Zaraki had instantly killed his opponent but they immediately revived after. At first, he was disappointed that there is probably no chance of him getting a corpse from Hell to study. Then he also became curious about how they were doing it and intently watched and each time Kiganjou would revive, while also cursing at Zaraki for turning around or covering the camera on his chest.


    Nevertheless, Mayuri immediately guessed their intentions when he saw Kaname Tousen not doing anything, ''It''s to hold him in ce. But it''s also safe to assume that these other dead people can revive multiple times.''


    Another thing that he noticed was that they had more information than he thought after seeing that Zommari wasn''t shocked after seeing Bambietta walk again despite her neck being snapped. And after a few more minutes of observation, Mayaru had a feeling that their enemies didn''t actually want to kill Hell''s intruders.


    Mayuri arrived where the 7th door disappeared and observed it for a bit. But just as he was about to give instructions to the surrounding Shinigamis who were securing the area, hismunicator rang. He already gave a reminder to only call him when there''s something important that came out so he immediately answered it, [Captain Kurotsuchi, there are unknown people who''re approaching the spot where the door closed!]


    "Turn on the feed and do not engage. Stay back and observe them." Mayuri immediately instructed and soon enough, he soon received the image of three girls standing in front of the closed door.


    ''The girls with Sitri Serafall... What are they here for?'' Mayuri thought to himself before giving more instructions, "Ask them what they''re doing and if they don''t feel like answering, immediately take your distance. Do not engage in hostile behavior at all costs and keep the cameras pointed at them at all times."


    [Understood!]


    However, the Shinigamis didn''t have the time to inquire when the girl with golden hair and eyes suddenly took out four paper talismans. The paper talismans floated at the four corners where the door was previously located and after a few gestures from her, a ck line emerged in the middle and expanded to a ck portal. The door to Hell was forcibly reopened.


    Mayuri''s eyes went wide open at what he''d just seen, but he didn''t let that break his concentration and take in all the information that he could gather right now. He''s now regretting not going to the 6th door but there''s nothing he could do right now.


    As soon as the door opened, the girls jumped in without any hesitation.


    The Shinigamis present wanted to approach the now open door but the talisman they left started shaking a few seconds after the girls entered before they shattered into countless pieces. Immediately after, the door closed as if the stick in the middle of it had snapped. The closing created a big enough shockwave to push away the approaching Shinigamis.


    [C-Captain, what should we do?]


    "Immediately secure our measuring devices and upload their data before something happens to them."


    Mayuri wanted to make his way to the 6th door when he was stopped by a subordinate, "C-captain!"


    Mayuri turned around and was in for another surprise. In front of the 7th door, a figure is standing quietly without releasing any fluctuation of Reiatsu as if he does not exist.


    Wearing a white tuxedo, ck pants, a white fedora hat with a ck band, ck gloves, ck shoes, and a pure white shapeless mask that doesn''t have any holes, the man with long ck hair seems to be staring at the spot where the door opened.


    Mayuri didn''t immediately talk to him and instead gestured to others to fall back to a safe distance.


    The unknown man, on the other hand, put forward his hand towards the space where the door is and a green Magic Circle instantly manifested and its unknown characters rotating mysteriously.


    "How are you rted to Sitri Serafall?" This is the first question that Mayuri asked.


    The strange man didn''t stop what he was doing but took some time before he answered, "...Brother-inw."


    Mayuri was not expecting to receive any answer so he was d that he could continue talking, "What are you trying to do?"


    The man took back his hand and the mysterious circle disappeared, "You should have already guessed." The man then took 8 pieces of 1x1 inch ck cubes out of nowhere and started tinkering at them.


    That tinkering took little time and the man tossed 7 of the 8 cubes to Mayuri''s direction.


    The one who responded was the small Nemu who ran in front of Mayuri to catch these cubes. Nemu inspected the cubes first before giving them to Mayuri, "This is?"


    "Keys." The man briefly answered before tossing thest one that he had in front of him. The ck cube became suspended in the air after it reached the exact spot where the door closed. A secondter, it released a strange noise before disintegrating into dust. Immediately after a ck line appeared and the door reappeared once again, "Gather the Magic Power around the spot where the door appeared and pour them in those. If you can''t do it yourself, ask Sera-chan to do it for you."


    Without waiting for a reply the man went through the door.


    Unlike what the strange girls did, the door the strange man opened remained open, but Mayuri knew better not to follow him and instead just sent some of his surveince bugs.


    Immediately after, Mayuri turned his back to the door and issued additional instructions, "Watch the door and record everything that''s happening to it. Aside from that, don''t let anyone approach it. Also, ask the Seireitei for more reinforcements in preparation for the personnel pulled out from Hell."


    The Shinigamis around him saluted and only eased themselves when Mayuri and Nemu disappeared with a sh Step.


    .


    .


    .


    ire, Kunou, and Tanis warily and nervously entered the door to Hell. Despite that, the three of them were excited because this is their first real battle after their extensive training within the Ouroboros Academy.


    As soon as the light returned, they saw a devastatednd that was ravaged by intense battle.


    The atmosphere around them felt awfully simr to the Underworld and they were taken aback but immediately focused back on searching for their target. A few secondster, they found their objective but all three of them were bloodied, unmoving, and on the verge of death.


    With a quick nce, ire immediately figured out what was going on and matched it with the information they had, "Poison... Tanis, secure our rescue targets first."


    "Understood." Right away, Tanis removed her disguise and her appearance returned to that of a Vouivre. Releasing her Draconic Aura, she immediately caught the attention of their opponents but she ignored them for now and spread out her wings before diving within the poison-fillednd to snatch the three Hollows who were conscious, but couldn''t move.

 Chapter 1143 Doors to Hell part 6

    Chapter 1143 Doors to Hell part 6


    Tanis dived into the area where there was almost an indiscernible purple fume and grabbed the downed Arrancars, carrying Nel and Harribel within her arms and grabbing Grimmjow with her tail before taking to the air once again.


    One of their opponents, a wrinkled, hunched back and bald old man with sunken eyes, swung his right ck skeletal arm towards them and the purple fume chased after Tanis and the unmoving Arrancars who had their Resurrion already canceled.


    Tanis took a peek at the purple fume before strongly pping her wings in an attempt to blow it away. However, as if they were there in the first ce, the fumes were unaffected. In an instant, Tanis decided on another way and somersaulted in midair to face the fume. She took a deep breath and a blue me sparked at the corner of her lips.


    Opening her mouth, Tanis let out a deep blue breath of fire and it expanded enough to engulf the entire fume. But her Dragon Breath didn''t stop there as it continued to expand and made its way towards the two Shinigamis riddled with ck chain tattoos.


    The Shinigamis were shocked at her suddenrge move and both of them could feel the extreme heat that this fire possessed even though they still hadn''t touched it. As the breath approached, the Shinigamis used sh Step to dodge and get away, creating arge distance between the two groups.


    Kunou immediately created a translucent tform in the sky for Tanis tond the patients. And after they were lined up, Kunou immediately concluded that they were suffering from severe poisoning, but it was not what was killing them, ''Their bodies were crushed after they were immobilized.''


    "...U-ugghhhh... W-who are you?" Grimmjow tried raising his body but he couldn''t feel anything aside from pain running through his entire body.


    "It''s not really the time for introductions, but you can call me Kunou." Kunou started her Youjutsu to start expelling the poison from their system, "This is my first time working on very intricate Spiritual bodies so it may take some time to heal them."


    ire nodded while watching their opponent, studying them, "Take your time. Just give us support whenever you''re free."


    ire and Kunou then turned to Tanis who was looking at her shaking arms, "Will you be able to continue?" asked thetter.


    Tanis gave her a smile and pumped her fist, "Of course! I can still give that old man a beating!"


    "Be careful." reminded ire, before jumping down and spreading her Devil Wings.


    Tanis also jumped down to resume her sh with the poisonous old man.


    As Kunou watched them approach their enemies, she couldn''t help but think, ''That was such bad acting. I don''t know if they''re going to fall for it.'' She then heard the tanned Arrancar groaning before saying, "...Be careful... The old man''s poison works on anything aside from a Shinigami."


    Kunou gave her a smile and said, "Don''t worry. I don''t think it works on a Dragon either."


    .


    .


    .


    The moment Kisuke entered the door, the first thing he saw was a very thick mist that severely limited his senses, including his ability to sense Magic Power, ''This Reiatsu... Yadoumaru-san? Is this her Bankai? No wonder Mayuri sent his bugs in with me.''


    While thinking about what he should do, the mist moved and slowly dispersed in all locations. Soon, its ability to block senses was lifted and Kisuke saw Lisa Yadoumaru kneeling in front of her unconsciousrades. Lisa herself is breathing heavily and half of her Hollow mask was broken. She also has multiple cuts all over her body, making her bleed profusely. At the same time, the mist that was dispersing congealed and returned to her hand as her sealed Zanpakuto.


    As the wielder of that mist, Lisa should have had the advantage within it, ''For her to take it back... Looks like the enemy has something that invalidates it. Quite the unlucky girl. No wonder Kyouraku-san immediately asked for help.''


    After making sure that all of them were alive, Kisuke turned his attention to their opponents who were already looking at him, ''Shigyou Nobutsuna and Shijima Chigiri... I guess not all the original Gotei 13 was able to break the chains. No wonder Shihouin-san and Saitou-san panicked when they heard old man Yamamoto arrive in Hell. I wonder if they were able to locate him?''


    Kisuke slowly stepped down to the ground andnded in front of Lisa and the other Shinigamis. Lisa was shocked at his appearance and hurriedly stood up to take a stance. However, she couldn''t attack him because his back was to them.


    "...Who are you?" the tall,nky, and pale man with visibly sunken skin on his face and chest, particrly around his gray eyes, asked the masked man who just arrived. He had a pointy ck mustache that extended a couple of inches out from his face on either side but was shaven in the middle, as well as a long ck goatee covering the center of his chin, and spiky ck hair that wasrgely covered by ck fabric he kept wrapped around his temples and forehead, the sides of his face, and the underside of his jaw.


    But instead of answering Shigyou Nobutsuna''s question, Kisuke turned his head in another direction and thought, ''So there''s another door not far from here... Hmmm, that Reiatsu... Soifon-san? Well, if Barragan became an immortal, it would really be hard to deal with anyone who didn''t fuse with the Hougyoku or with a limited lifespan.''


    At that moment, he felt a threat to his neck and immediately used sh Step to arrive in front of his assant, Shigyou Nobutsuna, who was now holding a whip-like sword that reached his previous location.


    Nobutsuna was taken aback at the speed of the sh Step and took a step back. However, it was already toote as he saw the strange man already holding a tanto de and about to reach his neck.


    Unfortunately for the strange man, his tanto de was blocked by another katana, "You seriously fell for that?"


    With his attack blocked, Kisuke used sh Step again to retreat and return to his former position. He then looked at the person who blocked him and thought, ''Shijima Chigiri... A much more troublesome person than the one beside him.''


    The reason why Kisuke thought of that is that at their brief encounter, he managed totch a small amount of Psuedo-Demonic Power into his arm, ''So this is how he was able to track Yadoumaru-san because of this.''


    Without saying anything, Kisuke touched the part where he inserted the Psuedo-Demonic Power and expelled it with his own Magic Power.


    At that instant, Nobutsuna and Chigiri''s facial expressions became serious, "...Who are you?" Thetter asked this time, "No... The better question is what are you here for?"


    Kisuke finally answered with a masked voice, "To take them back with me... And maybe kill the two of you a few times while I''m at it."


    Nobutsuna and Chigiri were both speechless until the former startedughing maniacally, "Fuhahahaha! Good joke, fancy man. Let''s see you try that."


    However, hisugh abruptly stopped when Kisuke held the tanto de in front of his chest and said, "Descend, Tiamat."


    In the next second, the purple sky became covered with thick dark clouds with shing lightning and booming thunder within it.


    But instead of rain, it was a light blue-haired giant woman with very prominent horns who broke through the clouds face first with her eyes closed. The terrifying giant woman''s hands were restrained to her neck as half of her body emerged from the clouds. As soon as her descent stopped, the giant woman opened her eyes, revealing her pink star-like pupils.


    A very light yet blood-chilling pressure weighed everyone on the ground as if a Goddess came down to judge them herself.


    "Chigiri!!!" Nobutsuna shouted at his stunned partner while preparing to fire his Kidou at ''God''.

 Chapter 1144 Doors to Hell part 7

    Chapter 1144 Doors to Hell part 7


    Chigiri woke up from his stupor upon Nobutsuna''s call and immediately raised his arm towards the giant woman looking down at them. The two of them then simultaneously shouted, "Hadou no 63, Raikouhou (Thunder Roar Cannon)!"


    From their palms, yellow lightning gathered before it sted toward their perceived enemy. The two high-density lightning sts swirled around each other andbined into one bigger and denser Kidou in an intent to impale the ''God''. However, instead of arge explosion like they were expecting, the giant woman didn''t even attempt to defend herself, not because her defenses were great but because the Kidou just phased through her and hit nothing as if she didn''t exist.


    "I can''t believe the two of you would ignore me just like that." At that moment, they heard the strange man''s voice behind them. They wanted to turn around but it was already toote as both of their vision suddenly spun uncontrobly before they moved sideways, traveling quite a distance.


    Lisa couldn''t even properly regte her breath nor could she regain herposure as she watched all of this transpire. Although her attention was focused on the giant woman, who had by now already disappeared, she still saw how the strange man in formal attire suddenly sh Stepped behind Chigiri and Nobutsuna and beheaded them with a long sword that had the same color as the giant woman''s horns before kicking their heads away.


    But even if she saw everything, she still couldn''tprehend anything and wondered if she had fallen into her enemies'' illusion.


    The center of it all, however, was questioning his long sword, ''Tiamat... What was that for?''


    [It was my debut. It''s only right for me to show myself in such a fashion.]


    Kisuke knew for sure that she wasn''t like this the first time she met her, ''...Just what have you been learning from Benihime?''


    [She taught me the household chores that she didn''t want to do. Aside from that, she also gave me these literary arts called manga and I''ve been enjoying my free time with them.]


    ''...'', Kisuke was utterly speechless, ''Do it again on another asion.''


    [Just tell me when.]


    Kisuke stopped talking to Tiamat when he saw that the bodies he just beheaded had started crumbling, turning into dust, before disappearing into nothing. And he turned his attention his heads he just sent flying, he saw ck chains ejecting out of their necks, forming a skeletal framework for their bodies, and soon enough, they regenerated their whole bodies, ''Unlike the Beast of Hell that I acquired, their bodies are purely of Magic construct. But how are they doing this?''


    The two former Captains of Gotei 13 stared at him for a few seconds before disappearing along with their aura, ''They escaped, huh?''


    Kisuke sheathed his long sword and turned to the still-stunned Lisa, "The door won''t stay open forever." Immediately after, Kisuke disappeared too.


    Lisa looked up at the opened portal and finally managed to regain some of her strength. She then started picking up the Shinigamis that came with her without a word and jumped towards the door while looking onest time at the sky where the giant woman just disappeared, ''...That was a Shikai?''


    Kisuke traveled for a few kilometers to where the fluctuation of Magic Power is calm before sharpening his senses to grab the coordinates where he wanted to go, ''...There. Luckily, she''s still alive.''


    .


    .


    .


    Compared to the first time she released it, Soifon''s Shunko was now a lot weaker. Although she could technically go on for as long as she wanted thanks to her self-feeding Shunko, Barragan''s Senescence could still sap her dry.


    With her Reiryoku running low and her Reiatsu decreasing, it was getting harder and harder to keep her Shunko running. Soifon gritted her teeth while counting the times she had already killed him, ''Even if I release my Bankai, there would be no point.''


    Soifon was preparing for the next wave of miasma while thinking of what she should do next since it''s obvious that they couldn''t stay here, ''Mayuri seems to have received some outside help to open the doors back up, but I don''t know if he''s going to make it in time. I have to prioritize our survival.''


    But at that moment, she heard Yumichika''s panicked shout, "Omaeda!!!"


    Soifon hurriedly turned her head and saw that Oumaeda took a dangerous hit and was about to get followed up by another, and could be a fatal attack. The endless wave of beasts attacking them from all sides finally got to them despite their best efforts to hold their ground and keep them away from Soifon.


    Sadly, she couldn''t help beyond sending a st of wind in his direction and pushing the beast for a bit for Yumichika to have the time to help.


    But Soifon knew that doing so would expose her to danger so she prepared to deflect Barragan''s miasma as much as she could. Strangely enough, the anticipated attack never came, instead, she lost sight of her opponent.


    And when she went looking for him, he had already arrived in front of Marechiyo and Yumichika who had just rescued him, bearing his axe that was letting out a very dense amount of miasma on its edge.


    "No!!!" Redirecting all of her power behind her feet, Soifon sent herself flying forward in addition to her sh Step. Thanks to the added speed provided by her Shunko, Soifon was able to get in between them before Barragan could swing down. However, that was it. That''s the greatest thing she could aplish.


    Soifon refused to give up and redirected everything she had to her hands to catch Barragan''s axe. Although after seeing that, Barragan only chuckled at her futile resistance and put more strength into his arm.


    Soifon tried to block the axe using her incredibly dense wind to push it out but it was a silly attempt that only stopped the axe for a second before it went from her shoulder and across her chest.


    "Captain!" Marechiyo cried out but there was nothing he could do.


    Soifon''s blood spurted out for a second before it turned ck and crumbled away. And from her wound, the dense miasma from Barragan''s Zanpakuto started eating through her flesh, revealing her bones and organs that had also started to turn ck.


    Barragan knew that there was no way for him to take her alive anymore but he was still wary that she''d create a miracle to fight back. So again, Barragan raised his axe to finish her off for good.


    "R...run..." Soifon tried to turn her head to her subordinates, "Run!!!!!"


    "There''s no escape." Were Barragan''s words before he brought death down upon the Shinigami.


    But without knowing when and how, Barragan''s axe stopped mid-swing as a hand with ck gloves caught his axe, "!?"


    "Looks like I''m a little bit toote." A voice that he couldn''t tell if it was a man or woman resounded in front of him.


    Barragan saw that the strange man''s hand was decaying but it was a lot slower than he had ever seen it. In fact, it would seem that his miasma would need an entire day to go through his hand, "What!?"


    Seeing his ability almost fail for the first time, Barragan pulled his axe back to immediately retreat. But when he thought he got away, a ck snake with purple glowing eyes lunged at him. Without thinking much about it, Barragan sent his miasma forward.


    Although instead of seeing the snake decay into nothingness, it instead opened its mouth to eat his miasma and even grew a little bigger, "...Haahhh!?"


    The snake that doesn''t know the concept of age kept swimming towards Barragan.

 Chapter 1145 Doors to Hell part 8

    Chapter 1145 Doors to Hell part 8


    After letting out Ophis'' snake that he used for his experiments, Kisuke immediately turned to Soifon who had already stopped breathing but was still conscious, and caught her in his arms. She wanted to speak but she couldn''t push out air anymore and her consciousness was already blurry.


    Kisuke let out another ck snake and it immediately wrapped itself around Soifon, instantly slowing down the progress of decay and stopping any further damage, ''Kaidou (Healing Spiritual Arts) can only slow this down. I have to take her to Orihime-san.''


    "Who are you!?" Marechiyo shouted at him while intercepting the iing beasts. He and Yumichika knew that he just defended Soifon so they immediately moved to deal with the other threats.


    Instead of answering his question, however, Kisuke instructed, "Come closer, now."


    Marechiyo and Yumichika nodded at each other and nodded. While there was hesitation in their eyes, it was still better to do what he said with their current situation.


    And while they were closing their distance, Kisuke raised his left hand and a red Magic Circle appeared above it. A secondter, the same Magic Circle started appearing in the sky, in tens, hundreds, and then thousands.


    The magnificent view took everyone''s attention and awe, until balls of fire started emerging from them and raining down on everything. Painting the world for what it actually was, a hellishndscape emerged with the screams of agony from beasts drowning everything aside from the ringing explosions that were happening everywhere.


    "What are you doing? Move." Kisuke woke up the stunned Shinigamis.


    Marechiyo and Yumichika almost forgot where they were and what they had to do so they immediately scrambled to the strange man''s side while watching their surroundings descend into chaos. While each ball of fire could kill the beast by itself, with thousands of them raining down like shooting stars, there was nowhere for them to hide, which only increased their suffering.


    Kisuke stood up while carrying Soifon and another Magic Circle appeared under them before they disappeared within the motes of light.


    Barragan, after the snake disappeared, watched them as he lost sight of them and thought, ''Far better maniption of Hell''s Blessing... Who is he? And what was that snake for it to be not affected by my power?''


    Kisuke and the group of Shinigami reappeared where the door he opened was located.


    "W-what was that!?" Marechiyo shouted while looking at himself.


    Yumichika also started checking himself and wondered what happened but he had to stop when he discovered something more important, "...The door. Is that the door leading back to the Human World?"


    "Let''s hurry up." Kisuke replied, "That path is about to close."


    As Kisuke jumped up, Marechiyo and Yumichika immediately followed suit. But midway through it, Kisuke abruptly stopped, "What''s wrong?" Yumichika asked with concern, thinking that something was wrong somewhere.


    Kisuke didn''t immediately answer and thought, ''The RGD (Portable Rating Game Field Deployer) that I gave to Serafall activated?''


    Kisuke resumed his steps while answering, "It''s nothing. Let''s go."


    As they go through the door, Marechiyo and Yumichika sighed in relief when they came out to the Human World and some familiar faces surrounding them.


    "Sir Omaeda! Sir Yumichika! How did youe out of this door!?" One of the Shinigamis approached them and asked them frantically.


    "That''s not important! Help Captain first and take her back to the Soul Society!" Marechiyo shouted back and members of the 4th Division immediately started approaching when they saw Soifon in Kisuke''s arms.


    "She won''t make it like this to the Soul Society. I''m taking her with me."


    Marechiyo nked out for a moment and the only words he could say are, "...What do you-"


    He couldn''t even finish what he wanted to say as Kisuke swung his long sword in front of him, drawing a line in midair before it opened up like Discorrer or the door to Hell. But instead of darkness, what Marechiyo and Yumichika saw is a kaleidoscope world.


    It''s only when the strange man carrying Soifon stepped into the colorful world did Marechiyo finally react and tried chasing after them, "Wait!!!"


    Too bad for him, the space mended and the window to the kaleidoscope world disappeared as quietly as it appeared, "N-no way... C-captain... Captain was kidnapped!" He dropped to his knees as he shouted.


    While Kisuke navigated the Dimensional Gap that the two Dragons had created, Kisuke wondered who went to Serafall''s side, ''If Sera-chan thought of locking themselves up to face them, they should be quite the characters. Nevertheless, I won''t be able to reach them easily while inside that field. I''ll have to take her back to the base for treatment.''


    .


    .


    .


    Rewinding time to about fifteen minutes beforehand, Serafall and the Kurosaki family were casually having tea and some snacks, the former''s eyes suddenly sharpened, and said, "We have guests."


    Isshin''s eyes also became serious and grabbed Kon before sticking his hand into the teddy bear''s mouth, "Guah!?"


    After grabbing the mod-soul, from the teddy bear, Isshin immediately popped it into his mouth and revealed his Shinigami form, "Kon, stay close with everyone. Inoue-chan, please have your barrier ready."


    Inoue nodded and summoned her Shun Shun Rikka (Six Princess Shielding Flowers) while also telling Kazui, Karin, and Yuzu to stay close to her.


    Although Isshin couldn''t feel Magic Power, he still could tell that something changed in their surroundings and his eyesnded on the backyard that was only divided by a ss door from them. Upon seeing the intruders, he couldn''t help but shake and mutter their names, "Ichimaru Gin... and Sasakibe Choujirou..."


    Serafall also stood up and turned towards them, greeting them, "Good afternoon~ What can we do for you?"


    The former Lieutenant of the 1st Division stepped up and ignored Serafall, "Shiba, I''m sorry but I have to take your grandson with me."


    Isshin red at him and replied, "So you''re not even going to ask for my permission first? Do you have a death wish?"


    While Choujirou and Isshin are ring at each other with their Reiatsu ring up, Serafall is much more interested in the other intruder, "Ichimaru Gin, isn''t it?"


    Gin smiled at her and returned her greeting, "Good afternoon. I believe this is the first time we are meeting."


    "Sitri Serafall, nice to meet you~! But first thing first, why is an [Unchained] like you over on this side? I thought people like you can''t leave Hell."


    Gin was shocked and a small bead of sweat formed on his forehead, "My, aren''t you well informed? On the other hand, I don''t know anything about you at all. Who are you and how were you able to detect our presence? Thanks to you, our surprise was ruined."

 Chapter 1146 Doors to Hell part 9

    Chapter 1146 Doors to Hell part 9


    Both were wearing a white haori, the former Captain of the 3rd Division, Gin Ichimaru, and the former Lieutenant of thete Captain Commander, Choujirou Tadaoki Sasakibe, came out of Hell to abduct Ichigo''s son, Kazui Kurosaki.


    As Isshin and Choujirou were trying to pressure each other, the former couldn''t help but wonder what''s up with thetter''s strange movement of Reiatsu, ''There''s only a tiny amount of Reiatsu radiating from him... therge majority of this weight is something else mixed with his Reiatsu itself.''


    "Sasakibe-san, we don''t have much time. We don''t know when Captain Kurotsuchi will be able to pull out their attack force from the doors and swarm this ce." Gin suddenly addressed his partner. He''s very interested in Serafall''s existence that he wasn''t expecting, but they have a goal that they have to achieve today, ''Before Szayporro Granz notices anything.''


    But before they could even pull out their weapons, a blinding light suddenly emerged from Serafall that took out everyone''s sight for a few seconds. Gin gritted his teeth and pulled out his Zanpakuto before swinging it in Serafall''s direction. He didn''t feel his attack connecting and wanted to continue but retreating from here is a better choice.


    And when their sights were returned, Gin saw Choujirou with him standing in the sky also looking down on the Kurosaki household.


    "Was that light a call for help?" asked Gin while his senses were scouring his surroundings, ''There''s no response from anyone.''


    Isshin and Serafall followed them to the sky but thetter caught the attention of the two more, because instead of stepping into the sky while creating footholds, Serafall seemingly just floated up, ''What is that technique?'' Gin asked himself while also thinking of the advantages it provided and how to counter this sort of movement.


    Serafall chuckled at Gin''s question and said, "Call for help? Think again."


    Gin, Choujirou, and even Isshin wondered what she meant by that and all of them thought, ''Was that really simply for distraction?''


    As if reading their minds, Serafall nodded, "Yep, it was just for distraction."


    Choujirou''s expression became extremely serious. As Gin had said, they didn''t have much time and all they needed to do was open a door and take Kazui with them or even just with one of them. However, with Isshin guarding them alongside this woman with unknown ability, it would be extremely hard for them to snatch Kazui from Inoue''s hands if she decided to lock herself up within her barrier.


    ''We just need the kid and we''ll even return him unharmed...'' Choujirou gritted his teeth and weighed his options, ''Eijisai-dono''s well-being takes priority.''


    "Ichimaru-dono... We''ll have to do it."


    Gin nodded solemnly and scanned their surroundings the second time. However, they were in for a shock, ''...No one!?''


    Seeing their expression change, Serafall''s smile widened as she continued her words, "It was a distraction, but not because I wanted you to retreat."


    "W-what''s going on?" Isshin could also see their strange expression but he has no idea of what''s happening.


    "If I were to guess correctly, they intended to take hostages in exchange for your son. Sadly for them, there''s no one around.", exined Serafall.


    Isshin also hurriedly looked around and found the anomaly immediately, "Now that you mentioned it... There''s not even the sound of insects..."


    Gin finally gave up searching for the Humans around and turned to Serafall with a wry smile, "Do you mind letting us know what happened?"


    "That light, although it doubles as a distraction, its main purpose is to transport people into an artificial dimension."


    "...Artificial dimension?"


    "Correct." Serafall spread her arms around, "What you''re seeing right now is not the real Karakura Town but a copy of it. I think that''s enough to make you understand the current situation, isn''t it?"


    Serafall then felt their senses extending out so she exined further and not waste their efforts, "You''re not going to find any pir here. In the first ce, I did not move the Karakura Town anywhere but moved a select few into this artificial dimension. If you want to break it, I guess you can try defeating the caster, which is me."


    As soon as finished speaking, however, Choujirou disappeared from his spot and Isshin shouted, "Watch out!"


    The next instant, a thin sword emerged from Serafall''s chest, puncturing her heart from behind, "I apologize, but we don''t have time for this hubris." Choujirou''s voice resounded behind her ears.


    But instead of feeling relieved, Choujirou shuddered when Serafall turned her head, still with the same smile on her face, "Getting impatient, are we? You just proved that you can''t stay here for long."


    Chojirou pulled his sword back and sh Stepped out and Isshin stopped his rush. Including Gin, they noticed that there was no blooding out of her wound, instead, chunks of ice were falling off from it.


    Soon enough, the cracks from her wound started spreading all over her body and her color disappeared before her entire body began crumbling down.


    "Well, I guess this is the part where we start fighting."


    """!!?"""


    The three men immediately looked down when they heard Serafall''s voice below them and saw her slowly flying up, still cleaning up the cookie crumbs from the corner of her lips.


    "Were you not here the whole time?" Isshin asked in disbelief. He thought he had backup, but it turned out that he was outnumbered.


    "I was just finishing my snacks and the barrier." Serafall finally reached their height and saw that Choujirou wanted to attack for the second time, "You won''t be able to get me easier than you did with my clone."


    "But we''ll still have to take you out if we want to achieve our goal, isn''t it?"


    "If you''re thinking of going past us and aiming directly for the nobatants, then I regret to inform you that the window for that possibility has been shut." Serafall snapped her fingers and numerous Magic Circles around the Kurosaki household before it was enclosed in a tetrahedron blue barrier.


    "Hell''s Blessing!?" Gin yelped in surprise, "...How?"


    "That could take a few strong hits and I doubt you two would be able to get even one in with us around. So instead of senseless violence, why don''t we talk this out?"


    "Talk this out?" Isshin interrupted, "They are clearly after my grandson, why do we have to talk it out?"


    "Because they''re not on the guy you people call Szayporro''s side."


    Gin and Choujirou became quiet. Meanwhile, Isshin, as he is earlier, still couldn''t follow, "...They are not? But they are from Hell and attacked the Human World."


    "That''s true, however, I''ve listening in to what was going on in the current operation and one notable thing that they got from Szayporro''s group is that, Szayporro himself doesn''t know about Kazui-chan''s existence despite knowing everything else down to the current members of the Gotei 13. Yet here they are,ing straight for the ''Envoy of Hell''."


    Isshin immediately turned his head to the silent duo and changed his stance, ''If they''re not from the same group... Then who are they working for?''


    Serafall then pped her hand, "So instead of something unproductive like fighting, why don''t we sit down and have some tea to calm our nerves? Maybe we''ll find a solution, or at least a clue to one, for your problems."


    Gin let out a deep breath and asked, "And if we insist on doing things the way we want it?"


    For the first time, Serafall''s smile disappeared and 6 pairs of Demonic wings appeared behind her back.


    """!!!!?"""


    At the same time, her Demonic Power red up, washing over everything in this artificial dimension, instantly plummeting the temperatures down to the negatives and pushing out everyone who''s around her with her sheer aura, "I may not like violence, but that doesn''t mean I''ll be holding back when someone offering me some."

 Chapter 1147 Bluff

    Chapter 1147 Bluff


    As the air rapidly grew colder and a freezing wind sted out from Serafall, pushing back everything around her, the Demonic Power she had been holding back immediately covered everything within this artificial space. Although it didn''t have the same weighing effect as this world''s Reiatsu, the aura Serafall was emitting is enough to give everyone a premonition of death.


    "Just so you know, I didn''t erect that barrier just to protect them from you two, but mostly so that they won''t freeze to death once we started." Serafall exined as crystals of ice started forming in the air itself and breathing became harder and painful, "Do you still want to continue?"


    Isshin, Gin, and Choujirou could protect themselves from the cold thanks to their own Reiatsu, however, they were still frozen in ce because they had absolutely no idea what she was truly capable of, ''This is on par with Shiro-kun''s Bankai in its final stage... Yet she''s only excluding this strange pressure and is not yet doing anything substantial...'', Gin thought to himself and started weighing his options.


    Gin then looked at Choujirou who had been impatient until now, ''Looks like he''ll be easier to reason with now. Well, it''s hard to control one''s emotions because of those chains.''


    "Sasakibe-san... I think it''s better to sit down now than not return at all." Gin softly said, "Let''s prioritize our goal."


    Choujirou tightened his hold on his Zanpakuto and clenched his teeth hard, "...But..."


    "How much time do you have?" Serafall suddenly asked.


    Gin turned to her while shaking his head and sheathing his sword, "We don''t know. It could be a month from now on or even this instant."


    "Then there''s no point in thinking about it more than you should." Serafall''s Demonic Power immediately returned back to her and the rapidly dropping temperature of the surroundings stopped and began normalizing. She then snapped her fingers and a Magic Circle appeared in between the two groups.


    A secondter, a 15 feet by 15 feet tatami floor with a table and 4 cushions on top of it appeared in ce of the Magic Circle.


    Serafall led by example, flying towards the floating floor and sat down on one of the cushions. And while at it, she also summoned some snacks to the table, "If it is not too much, maybe I''ll be able to provide some advice. Not to brag, but I have a lot of things inside this head of mine that no normal person could possess... But that''s only if you''ll sit down too and let me hear you out."


    Choujirou let out a deep breath before he loosened his grip on his sword and sheathed it. After hesitating for a bit, he walked forward and removed his sandals before stepping into the tatami mat and kneeling down on the opposite side of Serafall.


    Isshin and Gin looked at each other and soon followed suit.


    With everyone already properly sitting down and hostilities at the lowest level, Serafall internally sighed in relief, ''Thank goodness they didn''t start fighting.''


    While the device that Kisuke created to instantly deploy a Rating Game Field is useful, it''s only designed for recreational purposes as it does not possess the same integrity and durability as a full-blown Field. Serafall secretly checked the status of the Field and found out that she almost broke it just by releasing her Demonic Power.


    ''Besides...'' Serafall took a peak at the man beside her staring daggers at the visitors from Hell, ''He easily dispelled the freezing air. Looks like he has something like an opposite attribute to me and if we were to fight, it was going to be hard to deal with him.''


    "Alright. Since we don''t have much time, let''s get to the main topic and hear it."


    Although Gin knew why they were there, he let the man beside him exin it since the request came from him, "Eijisai... Yamamoto-dono needs his chains to be taken off. If not done soon enough, he''ll lose control of himself and destroy everything around him... And that destruction might reach the Human World."


    "And you think Kazui-chan will be able to do that?"


    "He''s the one who protects those who entered Hell from its punishment, isn''t he?" Gin answered.


    "So you''ve been in the Human World for quite some time that you''re able to spy on their activities?"


    Gin didn''t answer.


    "I''m interested in how you were able to hide yourself, how you were able to leave Hell despite being Unchained, and how you were able to find out about Kazui-chan, but I guess your issuees first." Serafall tapped the table and another Magic Circle appeared. The next second, a holographic image of those inside the Kurosaki Household, "Kazui-chan, you there?"


    The image of Inoue, Yuzu, and Karin appeared to be shocked but Kazui immediately appeared in view, [Sera-neechan? Are you calling for me?]


    "Yep~. I just have a question. Do you think you can remove those ck chains from the bad guys?"


    Without hesitation, everyone saw Kazui shake his head, [No.]


    Choujirou immediately mmed the table upon hearing that, sending the snacks flying all around and demolishing the table, "That can''t be!"


    But Serafall just nonchntly ignored him and waved goodbye to Kazui, "Is that so? Then that''s all~. Continue to behave and stay with your mother, alright? I''ll give you special snackster~" Without asking any further questions, she immediately closed the connection and their image immediately disappeared, "And there you have it. He can''t do what you want to happen."


    Choujirou stood up in a rage, "But he hasn''t even tried it yet! How do you know if he can''t do it!?"


    Isshin ced his hand on his Zanpakuto and got ready to pull it out any second and that''s the same for Gin.


    Still remaining calm, Serafall answered with an unhurried tone, "That''s because that''s just how that kid operates. He doesn''t even know when he''s capable of what he''s doing nor how he''s doing it, yet he knows he can do it somehow. Don''t you think it''s fair to assume that he can''t do what he knows he can''t do?"


    "...Then we don''t have any choice." Choujirou also ced his hand on his Zanpakuto.


    But before he could pull it out, Serafall suddenly turned to Gin and asked, "This Yamamoto-dono that you''re talking about, is he the former Captain Commander?"


    Gin nodded silently.


    "Then did you hide him?"


    Gin and Choujirou''s eyes widened at her question and that''s enough to answer it.


    "No wonder there''s no progress on their side," Serafall muttered to herself.


    "What do you mean?"


    Serafall casually stood up and snapped her fingers again. The next instant, a sh of light blinded everyone again and everything went to normal before they were all transported back to the real world.


    Gin, Choujirou, and Isshin were startled when they found themselves standing in the yard and inside the house respectively while Serafall nonchntly made her way toward Kazui and met his eyes at the same level, "Kazui-chan, I have another favor. Could you open the door to that town?"


    "But I need to go to the shrine."


    "It''s fine. I already connected that ce to here. All you need to do is perform the ritual." Serafall patted his head, ''If my conjecture is true and my setup is correct, he should be able to open it. And if he can open it, then that would mean [Hell] is of Divine nature.''

 Chapter 1148 Trigger

    Chapter 1148 Trigger


    Kazui looked at his surroundings and his eyes widened in surprise, "I can really do it here. How did you do this, Sera-neechan?"


    "Trade secret~!" Serafall then turned her head to Gin and Choujirou, "See what I mean?"


    While Kazui turned to a corner of the house and prepared his ritual, Choujirou asked, "...What are you trying to do?"


    "Helping you." Serafall answered while sensing the surrounding energies and their movements, "Instead of asking a clueless kid, you should ask the people who know more about your problem than anyone else present here."


    The next moment, multiple eyeballs appeared and went to stare at everyone. Since this had already happened this morning, the members of the Kurosaki Household were not surprised. Even then, they were still perturbed by their uncanny nces that seemed to judge their entire being.


    Those who came out of Hell, however, shuddered and broke into cold sweat, "[Hell''s Eyes]!?" Gin muttered loudly as if trying to hide his nervousness.


    "D-do you mean those eyes that Szayporro used to look into the Human World and sometimes, even the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo?" Choujirou asked Gin. Since he has been in Hell longer than he is, he still has many things to learn about.


    "Yes... But that''s not their real purpose. They are the ones that judge a soul if they should be taken to Soul Society or Hell." Gin answered while thinking, ''Thankfully, Szayporro doesn''t have control over that... yet.''


    The path to Hell soon opened and Serafall urged them to go through it.


    Choujirou red at Serafall., "Are you asking us to return? But we''re not done yet."


    "No. We''re done. You can''t get what you want from us. Instead of insisting, you should talk to people who actually care about your Captain Commander, in a good way of course."


    Choujirou couldn''t control his emotions anymore and touched his Zanpakuto once again, "No... It''s obvious that you just want to send us away!"


    ''Well, there''s that too.'' While Serafall was contemting if she should just chuck these two into the door, Gin raised his arm in front of Choujirou to stop him from assaulting anyone, "Who are these people who care about the Captain Commander?"


    "Shihouin Chika and Saitou Furoufushi. Those should be familiar names to you, right?"


    Choujirou was surprised. They aren''t just familiar names but they are people who he has fought with in his younger years. Sadly, those names don''t invoke any sort of relief but hate and trepidation instead as he already met some of the found members of the Gotei 13. Saying that they are not right in the head and arepletely changed people is an understatement.


    Serafall guessed what he was thinking after today''s fiasco so she continued, "They are both Unchained and they have been looking for your Captain Commander the moment they received the news that he and some Captains came down to Hell because they know how dangerous it is once powerful people like that sumb to the Chains of Hell."


    Choujirou was still processing what he just heard when all of a sudden, someone grabbed his cor and he uncontrobly flew towards the door. He hurriedly looked back to see who threw him and was shocked at the slyly smiling man, "I-Ichimaru!?"


    Since Choujirou wasn''t able to prepare himself, he went through the door without much problem, "So you finally believe what I''m saying, but was that really necessary?" Serafall asked Gin who was slowly walking towards the door without any signs of doing anything else.


    "Chained people like him are not very open to reason. That''s the only way if we don''t want any further incidents."


    "I see." Serafall shrugged her shoulders, "I already informed the other side of the arrival of dangerous individuals so they''re probably going to be hostile."


    Gin stopped walking and the corner of his lips twitched, "You probably should have told me that first"


    "It was you who took action before I could." Serafall grinned, "Oh well, just tell them that Belial sent you over and they should listen."


    Gin sighed as all the ns he made were thrown out of the window just because of a weird woman''s appearance, "Belial, is it? Noted. Let''s meet again on another asion... Hopefully, not threatening each other."


    "That''s up to you. You can start by telling me how you were able to leave Hell."


    "It''s my currency for negotiation, so no." Gin stepped into the door and after making sure that there was nothing else, Serafall asked Kazui to close it.


    "Yep. That''s done~!" Serafall stretched his arms upwards, "Now we can rest easy and just wait for everyone to return~."


    Isshin also sighed in relief, "To think we could go through that without fighting. I''m really grateful that you''re here with us. I don''t know what could happen if it''s just us."


    "Just treat me to a good lunch and we''re even. Besides, I also got something useful from that exchange."


    Inoue also sighed in relief that everything turned out alright and the situation didn''t turn violent, "I''ll prepare the best lunch~! Please wait for a moment."


    But just as Isshin returned to his Gigai and Serafall sat down on the couch to rx, a particr wave of familiar aura suddenly washed over them and it startled Serafall so much that she hurriedly stood up and expanded her senses to limits, "What!? Holy Power!? Where is thising from!?"


    At that moment, a Magic Circle appeared beside Serafall''s ears and she received a telepathic connection, [Sera-chan, are you free?]


    "I''m done on my side." Serafall immediately answered back, still trying to find the source of the power that shouldn''t exist in this world."


    [Great. Something happened on ire''s side. Since you''re much more experienced in Holy Power than me, I think it''s better for you to take a look at what''s happening. I don''t think it''s something very dangerous, but she might need your assistance.]


    Serafall gestured to Isshin and others to tell them that she has to leave before flying off, "I''m on my way."


    .


    .


    .


    At the same time, there was a bigmotion erupting in the western part of the world because gold and white motes of light suddenly started drifting throughout the entirety of Vatican City. But the most surprising thing is that there''s a pir of gentle golden light emerging from St. Peter''s Basilica that pierced through the sky and the sound of horns came from above.


    Many immediately referenced this sound to the seven trumpets from the Book of Revtion and dropped down to their knees, crying and repenting of their sins.

 Chapter 1149 Trigger part 2

    Chapter 1149 Trigger part 2


    Turning back the hands on the clock a little bit, ire''s group came face to face with one of the Gotei 13 founders, Sakahone Saizou, and one former and legitimate Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki.


    Instead of directly attacking after the rescue of the Arrancars, Tanisnded not far from the two Shinigami who seemed to be observing her too.


    ire, on the other hand, flew past them and took some distance from them. The tall, muscr Shinigami with dark messy hair turned in ire''s direction before muttering something to the wrinkly, old Shinigami before following her.


    ire already expected this because she knew that fighters of their caliber would always want a one-on-one battle. But even if one of them didn''t follow her, it would be her disadvantage because she''ll be able to support Tanis from a distance and will even be free to observe their abilities for her [Worthless].


    The old Shinigami watched his partner leave before turning his attention back to Tanis who was scratching her nose while shaking his other limbs, "...You''re not a Hollow."


    Tanis looked up at him while trying to shake off the poison in the air, "What gave it away?"


    "If you''re one, you won''t even be able to move around like what you''re doing right now unless you have significantly more Reiatsu than me."


    Tanis turned her head to the Arrancars who were being treated and muttered, "I see. So this poison is tailored for specific use."


    "And? What are you?" The old Shinigami wasn''t exactly expecting her to answer his question because that''s her current advantage so he used the time he had to study her physiology in greater detail to find out what could take effect.


    But contrary to that, Tanis stood straight up, ced both of her hands on her waist, and with shining eyes, she gleefully announced, "A Dragon!"


    The old Shinigami was startled for a few seconds before he smirked, "Understood. That exins the strange me that doesn''t contain any Reiryoku. I never thought the likes of you could speak ore in humanoid forms, though. Although they don''t really affect the cycle of souls, just them touching a Human is enough for them to go berserk and destroy things around them. So unlike on the other side of the world who chooses to rear them because they don''t have enough power and resources to fight against Hollows, we saw them as pests and chose to annihte them instead."


    The old Shinigami that his story would rile her up and that would allow him to see some openings, "Is that so? I''m Tanis Belial by the way.", contrary to his expectations once again, the youngdy Dragon just brushed off his statement and instead, introduced herself.


    "Sakahone Saizou. Pleased to meet you." The old Shinigami also introduced himself. And when he heard the explosion from far away, he asked, "Shall we start?"


    Tanis lowered her stance and Saizou also put forward his Zanpakuto in anticipation.


    The two of them were silent and unmoving for about ten seconds until the ground under Tanis'' feet cracked, "Hmmm?"


    The next second, Tanis'' face was already in front of Saizou, "!?"


    Saizou hurriedly raised his sword to block the punch aiming for his face. But since he was taken by surprise, he wasn''t able to secure his footing and went flying.


    While trying to adjust his posture, he found Tanis suddenly appeared on top of his head. He gritted his teeth and bent his neck as fast and far as possible.


    Tanis missed by less than an inch and wanted to follow up with another attack but her target suddenly disappeared and she missed again. Saizou was able tond on his feet and despite the awkward position he''s in, he was still able to sh Step away.


    Saizou reappeared a few meters away and slid his feet across the ground.


    After confirming his location, Tanis gathered her strength in her leg once again to pursue her opponent, "!?" But just as she was about to kick the ground, she felt something amiss and hurriedly raised his scaled left arm. The next instant, she felt something sharp cut through her scales and she had to redirect her momentum to the side before her wrist was fully bisected.


    As Tanis wasn''t able to carefully control her strength, she ended up tumbling in the air and on the ground, kicking up dust and even knocking down a few trees on her way. However, what was important is that she was able to get away and she was able to eventuallynd on her feet.


    Tanis hurriedly looked up, still confused about what happened, and saw that the ''old Shinigami'' that slid started disappearing in fumes and the one who attacked her from behind was smirking at him, "Your instinct and reactions are good... But you still don''t know enough."


    The next moment, a sharp pain attacked her left leg and when she looked down, she saw a de sticking out of it and already disintegrating into fumes, "!?"


    Without any hesitation, Tanis gathered her breath again, but instead of aiming at Saizou, she directly aimed downwards even with the risk of burning herself.


    Saizou saw what she was trying to do and immediately jumped back with the smirk disappearing from his face, ''She really does have good instincts.''


    Tanis'' Dragon breath hit the ground and lit up all of her surroundings in blue mes, creating a shy explosion that scorched any standing nts and turned the ground intova.


    But along with the natural environment, Tanis also burned away all the poison in her surroundings.


    The me finally disappeared and left Tanis standing on a puddle ofva with some scorched marks all over her body.


    "Good call." Saizouplimented as hended not very far away from her, "I''m indeed creating my clone and des through the poison in the air." He then looked down at her feet before continuing, "But you really are one strange being. You have an incredible defense that you can even dip your feet into a molten rock yet you don''t have that much resistance against Reiatsu. At most, you''re below the Lieutenant level. If you were at least Captain level, I would never be able to create des that close to you."


    Tanis didn''t say anything and just jumped away from the puddle ofva.


    Even then, Saizou continued speaking, "However, I''m not really good with des and in essence, I''m still a poison user."


    At the same time, Tanis lost the feeling in her left leg and her knee buckled, making her kneel on the ground. It didn''t stop there as her left arm also dropped limp without any indication of it moving.


    "You''re an interesting youngdy," Saizou suddenly appeared not far from her, "But I don''t need to take more baggage. Be a good girl and drop dead."

 Chapter 1150 Trigger part 3

    Chapter 1150 Trigger part 3


    While Tanis was breathing mes at her feet, themunicator on the Arrancars suddenly rang and a voice came out of it, [You there, the girl with animal ears. Can you hear me?]


    ''This voice... That Captain Kurotsuchi?'' Kunou turned to the source of the voice and said, "Yes."


    [Good. Warn your friend over there. Sakahone Saizou is a Poison Master and he can even solidify his poison to form various things. Not only that, his presence is masked as long as he''s within his poison field but he can also choose to manipte where his presence would appear.]


    ''I see... So that''s why he could fool Tanis'' senses.''


    [His weakness is that he''s not as good as his peers with swords and he''s the weakest in terms of strength. Finally, he''s also affected by his own poison so for him to be safe against his own poison, he had to modify it so that it won''t take effect on a Shinigami. Open the door again and let me through. He''s weakest against his fellow Shinigamis and I''d also like some samples of his Poison.]


    "And what? And snatch these weakeneddies and gentlemen amidst the confusion?"


    [...] Mayuri is silent because he''s really intending to do just that, [Sadly, it may be toote. Aren''t you going to help your friend?]


    Saizou had already approached the immobilized Tanis and was ready to bring down his sword on her neck.


    "Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, was it? Tanis is a Dragon."


    [...And what of it?]


    "Dragons, unless it is specifically tailored for them or it has Dragon yer properties, no poison could ever affect them."


    The next instant, blood sprayed out, but not from Tanis who was ''paralyzed''.


    "...What?"


    Saizou was looking at the smirking Tanis who suddenly sprung into action with the fastest speed she has ever shown today and pierced his chest and through his heart using her hand. Of course, it didn''t just stop there as multiple golden chains suddenly sprouted out of the ground and tied around Saizou, stopping him in ce.


    Finally, Tanis opened her mouth and unlike before, she didn''t breathe in and just expelled blue mes from it in an instant.


    [So she was holding back and pretending to be poisoned all this time.] Mayurimented as Tanis jumped back and carefully watched the burning old man while also preparing some sealing techniques to finally cripple him.


    "In terms of experience, it is very obvious that we can''t match them. However, it''s also obvious that he''s a prideful and overconfident one."


    [Good thinking. But don''t expect this to work the second time.]


    Kunou felt weird that Mayuri was being amicable and was about to say something when she felt something weird and hurriedly stood up while turning to ire''s direction while taking some distance.


    Mayuri on the other side of the line also went quiet but the camera on Nel''s body transformed and grew bug wings and turned to the direction Kunou is facing.


    Kunou couldn''t be bothered with him right now and trying to understand what''s happening. She also noticed that Tanis became distracted and her sealing slowed down, "Tanis, continue the sealing. I''ll watch her!"


    From ire''s position was a massive amount of Holy Power that she shouldn''t be capable of releasing.


    .


    .


    .


    When the muscr man started following her, ire took further distance. Since his ability is very well documented, she knows exactly what he''s capable of and ire doesn''t want him to give Tanis a hard time or target Kunou who was treating their rescue targets.


    After creating a suitable distance, ire finally stopped flying away and turned to the muscr Shinigami.


    "I''m offended that you think that I''ll assist the old man and target the nonbatants." He first said when he stopped running.


    "Why wouldn''t I? It''s clear that you attacked those Arrancars after they were paralyzed."


    "But that wasn''t even a fight. They just dropped down and my job was to capture them."


    Just as the Shinigami stopped speaking, the space behind ire suddenly became a jaw with giant rows of teeth, opening and swallowing her in one swift motion.


    ''That easy?'' The Shinigami questioned himself but suddenly felt a threat behind him so he used sh Step to dodge.


    When the Shinigami looked back, he saw the girl who was just swallowed holding a knife, ''How did she escape my senses?''


    ire, on the other hand, thought, ''It''s now certain that they can''t feel Ki. Even then, he was still able to dodge.'' She immediately figured out that she''ll lose in a straight-up fight against him, ''Then my only chance, for now, is a surprise attack.''


    Another set of teeth appeared behind ire but she was able to dodge it by flying up a bit. However, it didn''t end there as another jaw opened on top of her and she had to immediately change her direction.


    The Shinigami just watched from the side as he kept spawning these jaws that could prove fatal for his opponent. Nevertheless, the Shinigami still wanted to observe the girl and figure out how she was able to suddenly appear behind him. The Shinigami was very cautious of doing any big movements that would open up opportunities for counterattacks.


    ''How is she moving this fast? And there isn''t much movement from the Hell''s Blessing to support her.'' The Shinigami had already figured out that their unexpected guests could somehow utilize the power only avable in Hell but it still doesn''t exin her sudden burst in movement, causing him to miss and even predict her movements wrongly.


    ire has only been dodging for a minute or two until she finally got what she needed and materialized her Soul Gear which was a bow aimed at the Shinigami while gathering both Demonic Power and Holy Power to make her arrow.


    As the swirling ck and white arrow instantly took form within the bow, the Shinigami immediately sensed the danger and tilted his head to the side.


    Unlike the Quincies of this world, ire''s arrow took an explosive start like a high-caliber sniper rifle instantly reaching her target.


    The Shinigami gritted his teeth as his right ear waspletely blown off. Nheless, the next arrow was alreadying and summoned the jaw in front of him.


    Different from the first arrow, however, the one she released this time was a lot slower, matching the speed of a normal Quincy arrow. The Shinigami immediately got a bad premonition and jumped back.


    The ck and white arrow hit the rows of teeth as he had expected but what came next startled him as his defense waspletely obliterated from a huge explosion that ensued.


    "!? Guhhh..." The Shinigami summoned multiple jaws in front of him to mitigate the shockwave that was about to crush him and sent him flying. s, ire''s sudden switch to the offensive didn''t stop there as the Shinigami felt a few more arrowsing at him.


    Without much choice, the Shinigami dropped to the ground. As soon as his feet touched the soil, the ground instantly transformed into an enormous jaw that swallowed him.


    ire''s arrows curved and followed their target, however, that''s all they could do as even if they contain the destructive property of mixing opposing attributes, it still couldn''t break through the at least 3 feet thick teeth.


    ire smirked as this is exactly what she was waiting to happen. Aiming his bow directly downwards, ire gathered as much Holy Power as possible and sharpened it to the utmost. This time, she didn''t mix it with Demonic Power because she needed that for something else.


    ire''s grey eyes glowed and she stared down at the closed jaw. At this moment, the arrow in her hand already erged to several feet and shone down on the entire region, ''Now!''


    A dangerous glint went through her eyes and the jaw started crumbling back to earth, revealing a very shocked Shinigami inside it. But it seems that fortune is not on ire''s side today, at least, for what she intended to happen.


    Just as she was about to release the enormous arrow that could annihte most things, ire felt something snap, ''...Huh?''


    Her hand froze first before it immediately extended to her whole body. The arrow that could potentially obliterate all life stopped growing and actually started shrinking as the Holy Power moved back into ire''s body without her being able to control it.


    ire still wasn''t able to process what was going on when the Holy Power that returned to her body kept increasing even though the arrow was already gone, ''W-where is thising from!?''


    ire started panicking and tried wrestling away the control from the rogue Holy Power. In her attempt to do so, she finally figured something out, ''This is not mine!''


    Even then, the Holy Power kept growing inside her body that it threatened the delicate bnce it has against her Demonic Power and started wreaking havoc, destroying her from the inside.


    She wanted to scream from pain but her entire body, including her throat and lungs, were frozen in ce, cing her in a tortured state of her body being ripped apart.


    Unbeknownst to her, an Angel''s Halo manifested on top of her head, something that should have been impossible for someone with a Devil''s lineage.


    .


    .


    .


    Back in their original world, the Four Great Seraphs were having their regr meeting when all of them suddenly shuddered and stood up, "A new source of faith!? Where is iting from!?" Uriel shouted in shock.

 Chapter 1151 Trigger part 4

    Chapter 1151 Trigger part 4


    "Uriel, calm down." Michael immediately reminded Uriel. But like him, he was also incredibly surprised, "Let''s approach this with caution. Can any of you tell where this ising from?"


    The other three Great Seraphs looked at each with serious expressions before shaking their heads, "Everyone, please take your time to feel it. It''s incredibly... for theck of a better term, thin." Michael added and continued, "Raphael, any movement from our fellow Angels? Gabriel, how''s the Holy System?"


    Gabriel swiped her hands in the air a few times and a translucent screen appeared in front of her. It was the new feature that Kisuke attached to the Holy System for easier monitoring and management after he resolved the bug within their Sacred Gear System.


    And while Gabriel was navigating through the information she''s being shown, Raphael used his ability to look at otheryers of Heaven and took a look at everyone else''s reaction, "...There seems to be nothing. I think we''re the only ones who felt this strange connec-" "What!?" He was interrupted by Gabriel''s startled voice.


    "What''s wrong?" Michael immediately asked while the other two also turned to her direction.


    With a slightly pale face, Gabriel stutteringly says, "...Th-Three billion... About three billion new believers appeared in our system!"


    """!!?""" The other three''s hearts sank because this either meant that they gained that amount of believers or there was a huge w that suddenly appeared in their system that they don''t know if it could have disastrous consequences for the entire Heaven. And with such an exaggerated number, they are leaning toward thetter.


    "Confirm where this number ising from. And while you''re at it, please hide this information and we should be the only ones who have ess to it." Michael immediately instructed before turning to Raphael and Uriel, "Trace the source of this faith and if no one else could feel it, make sure that no one else figures this out."


    As they haven''t sorted out all the traitors that managed to not ''Fall'', they can''t have them get any clue about this potentially fatal w, or their enemies will immediately exploit them.


    But even after weeks of searching, none of them found the source of the new source of faith or any clue as to where the new believers wereing from. However, the most concerning and horrifying thing about this is that the three billion seemed to not be an error. Now the question that haunts them is where these three billion people are hiding.


    .


    .


    .


    Kunou decided that the situation was not right and felt the danger ire was in. But before she could move, the door they went through opened once again, but this time, in a much more violent manner that shook the entire space near it.


    "Sera-neechan!?"


    Serafall didn''t immediately reply to Kunou and tried to gauge the situation first. A few secondster, she nced at Kunou and said, "You guys should leave first. This is a Heaven and Underworld problem."


    Kunou was confused but she trusted Serafall and nodded, "Tanis! Let''s go!"


    Carrying the Arrancars with her Youjutsu, Kunou immediately left Hell. Tanis half finished her sealing spell first before racing towards the door, but before she left, she turned to Serafall and asked, "Is ire going to be fine?"


    Serafall winked at her and smiled, "With me around? I won''t let something bad happen to her."


    Tanis sighed in relief and soon followed Kunou.


    Serafall''s smile instantly disappeared and her attention then turned to the bug that was trying to hide its presence, "You too. This is something you shouldn''t see if you don''t want your research into Magic stall and be a mess because of the wrong assumptions."


    [But it doesn''t hurt to record everything fort-] The voice from the bug couldn''t finish as it instantly turned into a block of ice before crumbling into innumerable pieces.


    After that, Serafall looked at the scorched Shinigami, already regenerating himself and getting out of his seals. Serafall released her Demonic Power and without holding back, she froze the old Shinigami in a coffin of ice, ''He shouldn''t be able to move for a few hours.''


    Finally, Serafall flew in ire''s direction and initiated amunication line to Kisuke. Only a split secondter, Serafall felt her connection established, "Ki-tan, I might not be able to take care of this alone. This is way bigger deal than I expected." Despite the confident look she gave Tanis earlier, she was very nervous right now.


    [I''m looking through the news right now. It seems that the entirety of Vatican City was bathed with Holy Power. How about ire? What exactly happened to her?]


    "She probably triggered something and right now, she''s transforming into an Angel."


    [...] Kisuke was silent for a second before saying, [I''m teleporting to your side. Please make sure that she doesn''t die.]


    "I''m on it." Serafall was able to focus on monitoring ire''s state because her opponent had stopped attacking. While she''s thankful, she didn''t understand what''s on his mind.


    Serafall finally reached ire''s side and started containing the berserk energy rampaging inside ire''s body. And while at it, she asked, "Not going to use this chance to attack?"


    The muscr Shinigami shook his head, "I already lost."


    "Lost? But you''re currently an immortal. How could you lose?"


    "...No. In the face of that power, my immortality is meaningless."


    "Then all the more reason to use this chance to attack, no?" Beside Serafall, a Magic Circle appeared, and soon a man in Western formal clothing and a in mask appeared.


    However, the muscr Shinigami was not perturbed by this and just shrugged his shoulders, "Why should I? She''s my ticket to my long-lost wish."


    The Shinigami then turned around and started walking in the direction where they came from, "I don''t know what happened, but make sure that she survives. And tell her that I look forward to our next sh." With a sh Step, the Shinigami disappeared from their sight.


    "It''s interesting that enough Holy Power is enough to kill them, but I guess we should focus on ire right now." After ensuring no one was watching them anymore, Kisuke dispelled his disguise and started studying ire''s situation in earnest.


    As of right now, half of ire''s Devil wings have transformed into pure white Angel wings and the Halo on top of her head was shining ever brighter. Although it should be a beautiful scene, it couldn''t be further from that as ire right now was bleeding all over her body and new wounds were opening each passing second. The only silver lining is that ire had already lost her consciousness from the excruciating torture.


    "This is bad. The Holy Power in her body is rapidly overtaking her Demonic Power and it''s only speeding up." Serafall muttered while pouring her own Demonic Power into ire to slow down this process. However, this was only further destroying ire''s body.


    "I''ll perform the Reversal. Please focus on healing her. We don''t know exactly what''s going on so we can only hope for ire to take back control for now."


    "Do you think Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, and nna-chan could help?"


    "The fact that they are not here right now answers that question." Kisuke took a deep breath and sighed, "It''ll be hard for ire, but I have to wake her up."

 Chapter 1152 Impossible Existence

    Chapter 1152 Impossible Existence


    As soon as Kisuke roused ire''s consciousness up, they were immediately greeted by a shrill scream. After being healed by Serafall, ire finally got control of her body back, however, that didn''t really change the situation that she''s in.


    "Endure it, ire. Try regaining the bnce between Demonic Power and Holy Power!" Kisuke immediately instructed, "In the meantime, we''ll find a way to cut off the rush of Holy Power!"


    Despite the shrill screams she was letting out, ire still heard Kisuke and gritted her teeth. In doing so, she unknowingly bit off her own tongue, cleanly cutting a section of it off. Though that didn''t seem to bother her because the pain she''s suffering from is much worse.


    ire is still afraid of what''s happening to her, however, unlike before, she''s not panicking anymore knowing that her very trustworthy Nii-san and Nee-chan are both at her side.


    ire did her best to internalize her consciousness and after an unknown number of tries, she finally seeded and saw ck and white energy devouring each other. Their fierce fighting was destroying everything around them and there seemed to be no end to it. Even then, it was obvious that one of them was still going strong.


    Understanding what was going on, ire tried separating them as she usually did but she only received a headache from a bacsh of trying to force them apart. She tried again and again but to no avail and only managed to hurt herself more. And even while she was continuously receiving healing from Serafall, her body was already at its limits.


    Panic started settling within her once more, but all of a sudden, a radical idea emerged from her already feeble mind and she immediately acted upon it. ire regained her focus and instead of trying to force them apart like before, she pushed them together further. Of course, this immediately resulted in a ticking bomb like how she was doing it whenbining both Demonic Power and Holy Power to create a destructive arrow.


    This attempt of hers was immediately noticed by Kisuke and Serafall making them both shout, ""ire! What are you doing!?""


    ire ignored them and continued pushing the two shing energies together. But in addition to that, she also began spinning them as fast as she could.


    The shing energies still continued to grow unstable but ire didn''t give up, spinning them even faster.


    At some point, Kisuke and Serafall stopped calling ire out for what she was doing and went quiet to observe because both of them concluded that she should have exploded into minced meat by now if the forced fusion continued.


    And finally, there was a hopeful result. As ire uses all of her focus to increase the speed of spinning, the two shing energies began to miss each other and started chasing each other''s tails instead of bashing head-on. An equilibrium had been achieved.


    At the temporary peace, Serafall and Kisuke didn''t let go of this chance and immediately started helping ire bnce the energies out while also cutting off the seemingly unlimited supply of Holy Power by redirecting it back into the world.


    Slowly but surely, ire could feel her aching body finally ease up and once again and her consciousness drifted into dreand.


    Stepping into ire''s shoes, Kisuke and Serafall substituted her to keep these energies spinning as fast as possible and while they were at it, returned to their home base to try and find a permanent solution for this problem.


    "...That was nerve wracking," Serafallmented while wiping away her sweat.


    "I think we''re past the dangerous phase, but just in case, let''s have Tanis continue the healing and Kunou set up an istion barrier so that we can focus on stabilizing her Demonic Power and Holy Power." Kisuke immediately started nning their next steps.


    Serafall nodded then looked at ire''s current state, "In any case... She has be an impossible existence."


    While still bleeding heavily, that didn''t take their attention from her 6 pairs of alternating Devil and Angel Wings and the grey Halo on top of her head, "From here on out, both of us know nothing about her." Serafall added.


    .


    .


    .


    Soifon slowly opened her eyes while her misty consciousness wasn''t helping the headache she was having, ''...W-what? Where?''


    She tried to sit up and as she did, her mind became clearer and thest thing she was able to remember all came rushing back to her, "I''m alive!? Omaeda! Ayasegawa!"


    Along with shouting their names, Soifon''s sudden movements made her realize that she was not on the battlefield anymore. After that, Soifon hurriedly touched her chest where she was cut across by Barragan. What she saw was her bare chest and ripped Shihakushou. Blushing a little bit, she instinctively pulled her clothes and covered herself before looking around.


    ''Aboratory? Am I in the 12th Division?'' However, she has this uncanny feeling after looking around a little bit more, ''This arrangement of equipment... No, it can''t be It must be a coincidence.''


    Soifon then looked back down to her chest and saw that there was no wound. Even then, she could still feel Barrangan''s miasma inside her making her extremely lethargic. She then saw a glimpse of something attached to her left arm, ''A tube?''


    She followed the small tube and saw a purple-colored IV drip hanging at the end of it.


    Soifon''s initial thought was to rip it out but felt that it was a bad idea. She looked around more and the uncanny feeling she had only became stronger. She lifted up her heavy body while using the stand the IV drip is attached as a support and got off the operating table, ''Where are the people?'' She wondered to herself while holding the IV drip stand with her left hand and using her right hand to cover her chest, ''I really need some new clothes.''


    Soifon carried her almost strengthless body to the door. Thankfully, she didn''t have to open it herself as it automatically did. However, that was not the thing that froze Soifon on her spot but the view beyond it, ''...What is this?'' She met a western-style hall.


    While she''s wondering if she''s really in the 12th Division, a door not far from her also opens and a red-haired youngdyes out, ''Who? Wait... Why does her face look familiar?''


    The red-haired youngdy also noticed Soifon and stopped walking, "...Who are you?"


    "That''s my question," Soifon replied without thinking.


    ==================================================

 Chapter 1153 Busted

    Chapter 1153 Busted


    nna stared at the unknown woman for a moment and understood her current state, "Were you brought here for treatment?"


    Soifon didn''t really know her exact situation so she could only nod, "I think so."


    "Fumu, fumu..." nna nodded in understanding, "Boss is quite busy right now so he won''t be able to attend to you. In any case, it seems you''re not in any immediate danger as long as that icky disgusting thing inside you doesn''t spread further."


    "Boss?" Soifon is still not sure if she''s really in the 12th Division until now, ''No one refers to Captain Kurotsuchi as ''Boss''. More importantly, I remembered now. Although a bit older, she has the same face as those highly sought-after students, Ophis and Lilith... What''s the connection here?''


    "Boss is boss." nna answered before pointing at her attire, "Are you not going to do anything to fix your clothes?"


    Soifon inadvertently looked down on her hand clutching at her almost useless clothes, "This is already beyond fixing. Do you know where I could get a recement?"


    "Hmmm? Are you weakened enough that you can''t fix it?" nna rubbed her chin and contemted.


    Soifon, on the other hand, was quite confused at her words, ''Can''t fix it? Well maybe if I had half of Shutara''s ability.''


    While Soifon is wondering if the red-haireddy is expecting her to weave back her Shihakushou when she suddenly raised her hand towards her and a red Magic Circle appeared in front of her, "!?"


    Soifon already saw this phenomenon from the images that the Visual Department released after the fight between Kenpachi and their guest, Serafall. She knew that this was a signal for some sort of attack but she was too weakened right now and could barely walk straight so there was nothing she could do aside from raising both of her arms in front of her body and gritting her teeth, ''She rted to Sitri Serafall!? And why all of a sudden? I''ve been very careful with what I''ve been saying!''


    But after a gust of wind, nothing happened, ''Hmmm?'' And when Soifon looked at the red-haireddy, she was making a confused expression, "What are you doing?" Immediately after, however, realization dawned on her face, "Ah! I forgot that this world doesn''t know about Magic. Don''t worry, that''s just a simple restoration spell." nna added while pointing at her clothes.


    Soifon looked down and was shocked to see that her Shihakushou was fully restored, "H-How?"


    nna ignored Soifon''s question and approached her before grabbing her arm, "Follow me to the dining room. What you need right now is food to restore your strength."


    Since everyone else was busy, nna took it upon herself to entertain their ''guest'', ''I don''t know how to cook but cky and little cky should be in the dining room too. I think they learned how to do it from that strict Elf.'' nna thought to herself while dragging along the confused Soifon.


    Soifon is afraid that she might be hostile so she let herself be dragged and on their way to the dining room, Soifon saw a window and peeked through it, ''A barren wastnd? Where am I, really?''


    A minuteter, they reached their destination, and nna, without any warning, kicked the door open, "cky and little cky! Prepare something! It''s our turn to entertain the guests!"


    Ophis and Lilith, who were very worried about ire, couldn''t do anything but skip their sses. In order tofort themselves, Ophis and Lilith took out their precious bananas and were even prepared to share them with the detestable red who suddenly returned from the west after hearing their current situation and keep her from interrupting Kisuke and the others who were all working very hard to stabilize ire.


    While they were thinking hard about what they should do next, the detestable red kicked open the door and the two of them were about to throw the banana they were eating into her mouth to shut her up when they saw who she brought with her.


    At first, they thought that she was quite familiar but it only took them another second to realize who she was, and at the same time, Ophis and Lilith turned their heads away from them and continued munching on their bananas, trying to ignore them and hoped that Soifon didn''t notice them.


    Of course, that was only wishful thinking on their part as Soifon muttered their names with an unbelieving expression, "Ophis... and Lilith?"


    ""Ugh."" Ophis and Lilith groaned and were trying to figure out how they could escape this.


    "Oh? You know them?" The oblivious nna, meanwhile, innocently asked Soifon.


    Ophis and Lilith slowly turned to nna and red at her before saying at the same time, ""Stupid red."" The two of them really wanted to inform Kisuke or Serafall about this turn of events but they were very afraid that they might identally make a mistake and put ire''s life in jeopardy.


    And as always, nna brushed off their res and entered the room with Soifon, "cky, little cky, could you prepare some food?" nna saw that their res became worse so she immediately added, "Please?"


    Ophis and Lilith couldn''t help but sigh and nna mistook that for them agreeing, "Great! If possible, something filling and nutritious. Thisss here needs it."


    Soifon wanted to say something to them but they were obviously avoiding eye contact with her and as if escaping, they went to the kitchen on the side, ''J-just what are they doing here? And how are they rted to Sitri Serafall? Could they be spies who are trying to infiltrate Gotei 13?'' Although she only met them one time, she''ll never be able to forget how they released a Reiatsu that could almost rival a Captain and their utter ipetence in controlling said power.


    nna then suddenly turned to Soifon, feeling the disturbance in her demeanor, "You don''t have to worry about them. They''re good kids."


    Meanwhile, Ophis and Lilith started preparing food and they chose to do something simple and easy, a congee and some side dishes. After years of studying and trying to not make a biological bomb, they were already capable of making much moreplicated dishes. However, they opted for a simple one so that they could focus their attention on the room not far from where they are.


    They intended to inform Kisuke and Serafall of what happened the moment they came out of it. Thankfully, they could still rest easy because there''s no way for Soifon to leave this isted space.

 Chapter 1154 End of Book 16: Busted part 2

    Chapter 1154 End of Book 16: Busted part 2


    Ophis and Lilith managed to finish their cooking without any incidents and brought the dishes out of the kitchen.


    Seeing that the two of them still won''t make any eye contact with her, Soifon already assumed that they won''t be answering any of her questions, ''In the first ce, I''m not in a position to ask any questions. It''s great that they haven''t killed me to silence me.''


    She only hesitated for a moment before grabbing the spoon, "Thank you." What she needed more than anything right now was to replenish her strength so that her range of action could widen and put the grip of her life back to her hands.


    It was a normal congee, even then, it''s very filling for Soifon and d that it wasn''t poisoned even though there''s no reason to believe otherwise. Of course, she wasn''t just eating and continued observing her surroundings.


    The first thing she found out is that the building they were in right now is not made out of Reishi but with physical matter. However, she''s not sure if she''s in the Human World either because the concentration of the Reiryoku in the air was on par with Soul Society itself, way more than ces designated as Concentrated Spirit Zones like the Karakura Town.


    Another thing that she noticed was that Ophis and Lilith are too innocent and naive to even do any spying activities. She had this impression when the two of them kept ncing out of the window, towards the other part of the mansion that could be seen from the dining room, ''Or are they just baiting me?''


    Meanwhile, the ''big sister'' seems to be nonchnt about everything and Soifon couldn''t get any proper reads on her.


    Soifon sighed as she only got more questions instead of any answers. Fortunately for her, she didn''t have to wait long to discover something big.


    Just as she was about to finish her meal, Ophis and Lilith suddenly stood up from their seats and nna raised her hand and conjured a barrier. The next instant, the ce that Ophis and Lilith were stealing nces from suddenly exploded.


    Ophis and Lilith both made a nervous expression and the smile on nna''s face disappeared while muttering, "Did they fail?"


    Soifon was about to ask what''s happening when unexpectedly, a strangely familiar figure walked out of the smoke dust and debris, dusting his strangely familiar green themed Shihakushou and white and green striped bucket hat, "Well, that was an explosive ending. Redirecting that stream of Holy Power back into the world was a lot harder than I thought."


    Immediately after, a dusty, twintailed beautiful woman followed him out, "Must be because of the attraction to ire-chan''s Holy Power system. Do you think Heaven noticed this?"


    "I''m not sure but I''ll try to find... that... out..." Kisuke slowly turned towards Serafall but midway through it, his head slowly halted when a certain person came into his view and his voice trailed off, "Shit... I forgot about her."


    Not even a second after that, Kisuke received a telepathic message from both Ophis and Lilith, [[Kisuke, someone from school saw us.]] Kisuke appreciated the heads up, but it was a little bit toote.


    Serafall also turned to the direction he was looking and saw a very shocked Shinigami staring at Kisuke, "Oops... Wait, why is she here?"


    Kisuke scratched his head, "I brought her in to be treated since you trapped the Kurosakis within that field. I forgot about her until now." He then slowly walked back into the room before saying, "I''m sorry but I''ll have to leave her in your care for now. My current priority is to make sure that ire won''t explode like that again."


    Serafall followed him with her eyes and saw him pick up several storage devices, "The earlier it''s resolved, the better, right? Thank you for the hard work."


    "Thank you for the hard work too." Kisuke replied and turned to the sleeping Tanis, Kunou, and ire, "I guess we have to ask the school for a week off for them."


    "I''ll take care of it."


    "Thanks." Kisuke then left the room and went straight to hisboratory.


    Serafall sighed and smiled wryly, ''Can''t take a break, huh?''


    She then turned to the sleeping girls and teleported them to their rooms after cleaning their bodies. Serafall also wanted to restore the room but decided against it because Kisuke might need some information from the room itself.


    And after making sure that everything was taken care of, Serafall finally turned her attention to the most troublesome thing. Soifon was still making the shock-stunned expression she''d made earlier so she didn''t immediately fly to her side and instead went back to the destroyed room and took the hallway, ''Now then... How should I deal with her? If I remember correctly, she''s Yoru-chan''s trusted subordinate and a big fan of her ording to Ki-tan.''


    She considered lying but threw that idea away immediately, ''We have the upper hand and she can''t leave this ce without our permission. If done right, we could have her help the Captain Commander maneuver inside the Seireitei.''


    Although Shunsui Kyouraku was helping them, there wasn''t really much he could do with just him with the eyes of the Central 46 mostly on him.


    ''But can we really convert someone who''s very loyal to the Seireitei?'' Serafall thought to herself, ''But if we bind her using a curse or contract, the most we could expect is her silence and non-involvement. That''s too much of a waste. She already knows Ki-tan''s existence so it''ll be very detrimental if she suddenly finds a loophole.''


    Serafall concluded that she didn''t know enough about the person called Soifon to establish any negotiation table, ''I guess I''ll have to keep her in here for now until Ki-tan is finally done with his work.''


    Serafall reached the door to the dining room and opened it, "Soifon-chan, isn''t it? It''s our first time meeting in person. Nice to meet you, I''m Sitri Serafall, you can call me Sera-chan~!"


    Soifon was still looking at the destroyed room and when she heard Serafall introduce herself, she slowly turned to her and asked, "W-was that Urahara Kisuke!?"


    Serafall calmly walked towards the table and patted Ophis and Lilith''s heads who were looking guilty and thinking that it was their fault that Kisuke was discovered, "Yes. And to make things clear, he didn''te from Hell and is very much alive. The same could be said with Yoru-chan... er... Yoruichi-chan, but she''s not here right now."


    Soifon''s eyes widened further and she almost tripped while approaching Serafall, "P-please! Please tell me everything you know! And where''s Urahara Kisuke!? I want to talk to him right now!"


    "Slow down, girl. I obviously can''t tell you everything and you probably heard our conversation earlier. Ki-tan is a bit busy right now so you''ll have to settle with me forpany. For now, why don''t we sit and calm down?"

 Chapter 1155 Book 17:: 2nd Division Captain

    Chapter 1155 Book 17:: 2nd Division Captain


    After two days of research, Kisuke finally figured out what happened to ire, or at least, a part of it.


    It all had something to do with ''Faith'' and ire''s connection to Heaven in the previous world.


    In this world, the God of the Bible, Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils don''t exist. Even then, there''s an existing faith.


    Outside of unique abilities, one of the most powerful and mysterious moving forces is the congregated will of countless people that could even create a being that wouldter split up into the God of the Bible and the original Devil.


    But for this congregated will toe to fruition, it needed substance.


    Ki follows only the will of one. Magic Power is almost nonexistent in the ne. Lastly, Spiritual Power is solely managed by the Soul Society and any abnormalities in it are immediately corrected. Because of all of these factors, this ''Faith'' couldn''t be realized and remained trapped in this world with nowhere to go.


    However, ire amassing a vast amount of Holy Power on her own, triggered the homeless ''Faith'' and it all cascaded into her as if finally finding their origin and their rightful ce.


    ''Thankfully, it didn''t create another being like the God of the Bible, but in exchange for that, ire''s physiology underwent a massive change to amodate this ''Faith'' that''s now automatically converted into Holy Power, allowing her to grow Angel Wings and a Halo in ordance to the origin of ire''s Holy Power.''


    Naturally, her Devil side wouldn''t allow that change and fiercely fought back and that started the massive conflict inside her body that almost took away her life.


    Thanks to the Reversal technique that Kisuke and Serafall learned from Grigori, they were able to bnce things out since both of them felt it would be disastrous if either side won that contest.


    As ire managed to find a way to bnce and stop these two sides from shing head-on, Kisuke and Serafall immediately moved to stabilize ire''s condition, or more specifically, keep her alive as her whole body changed because of this ''Faith''.


    Kisuke and Serafall didn''t want to take chances so they asked Kunou and Tanis to help out which turned out to be a very great idea as the former was able to expel the excess Holy Power and thetter with her great healing prowess.


    And after three days of nonstop care, ire''s transformation finished and the confirmation that the ''Faith'' exploded itsst brilliance of Holy Power before returning to nature and calming down.


    ''As expected... this ''Faith'' became temporarily connected to the previous world, creating a pathway between the worlds. Although it''s too small for it to be of any use right now, the only thing that could go through is this ''Faith'' and nothing else. I wonder how they are taking it on that side?'' Kisuke thought to himself while doing the final check on the ring that could restrict the sudden and unbnced growth of both her Demonic Power and Holy Power.


    Although the transformation was finished, Kisuke guessed that it''s still just in its initial stages and ire would have to get used to it if she wanted to grow normally, ''Whether that''s a stunted growth or an elerated one, I still don''t have any idea. In any case, a half Angel and half Devil should provide more insights into the inner workings of these opposing but interchangeable attributes.''


    Kisuke wondered if Demonic Power and Holy Power were at both ends of the spectrum, is it possible for somethingpletely in the middle of it to exist on its own?


    Kisuke sighed and kept the ring inside his Shihakushou, ''Now that all of that is out of the way, I have to deal with this troublesome situation.'' He thought about how he should face an old friend who saw him as an enemy or a rival most of the time.


    ''There''s no point in dying the inevitable.''


    Exiting hisboratory, Kisuke did a quick scan of the surroundings and found that everyone, except for nna, who was nowhere to be found, was in the living room, including their guest, ''How long have I been in myb again? Two days? So Soifon-san should have fully expelled the miasma and recovered a considerable amount of her strength.''


    Kisuke prepared to be attacked as he made his way to the living room.


    But upon arrival, instead of the usual hostility, Kisuke could only feel awkwardness from Soifon which threw him off a bit, ''...What the hell?''


    Though before he could greet anyone, ire came running and tackle hugged him, "Nii-chan!"


    Seeing that, Kisuke''s expression immediately softened and patted her head, "Don''t push yourself too much. How are you?"


    ire rubbed her face on his chest and he could see some tears forming in the corner of her eyes, "I''m alright. Nii-chan... I''m sorry."


    Kisuke was quite confused about why she was making a sad expression but finally understood that it was from guilt, "What are you talking about? None of that was your fault. In fact, it''s me who should be sorry because I put you in that situation." Kisuke replied as he continued patting her head.


    "No!" ire looked up to him with her tears threatening to fall down, "It was I who became too reckless! It''s not Nii-chan''s fault!"


    Kisuke chuckled and patted her head while also covering her eyes before looking towards Serafall, Tanis, and Kunou who shrugged their shoulders in confusion. ''So they also don''t have any idea why she''s acting like this. Must be some aftereffect of that transformation. I''ll need to do another full checkup on her.''


    Kisuke took his time to console the very sensitive ire and was only able to walk forward when she went behind and climbed him like a ko refusing to leave its tree.


    Kisuke ignored them and let ire do whatever she wanted for now. And finally, he was able to greet Soifon, "It has been a while, Soifon-san. It''s great to see you''re doing alright."


    However, Soifon wasn''t able to reply and only looked at him strangely.


    "Ah? Are you worried about my cousin? She''s just a bit on the edge today but she should be alright."


    Instead of returning the greeting, Soifon asked, "...Are you really the same Urahara Kisuke that I know?"


    Since Kisuke couldn''t sit down on the couch because that would squeeze ire who was attached behind him, Kisuke took a stool out of his inventory and sat on it, "Am I really that different?"


    "You feel like apletely different person to me."


    Kisuke chuckled again, "And since you haven''t started attacking me, you also feel quite a bit different from my memories. Are you really that hot-headed Soifon-san?"

 Chapter 1156 2nd Division Captain part 2

    Chapter 1156 2nd Division Captain part 2


    The moment she saw Kisuke walking out of the destroyed room, Soifon felt like she was hit by a hammer on her head and time momentarily froze for her. And even after Kisuke disappeared from her view, she continued to stare at a nk space until the door to the dining room from the hallway opened, "Soifon-chan, isn''t it? It''s our first time meeting in person. Nice to meet you, I''m Sitri Serafall, you can call me Sera-chan~!"


    Soifon broke her maic gaze from the destroyed room and slowly turned her head to Serafall. Although she heard her speak, she didn''t really understand what she just said and just asked, "W-was that Urahara Kisuke!?"


    Serafall calmly walked towards the table and patted Ophis and Lilith''s heads who were looking guilty and thinking that it was their fault that Kisuke was discovered, "Yes. And to make things clear, he didn''te from Hell and is very much alive. The same could be said with Yoru-chan... er... Yoruichi-chan, but she''s not here right now."


    Soifon immediately forgot the state of her body and almost tripped when she tried to run over. Only with her body''s instinct that she was able to regain her bnce, "P-please! Please tell me everything you know! And where''s Urahara Kisuke!? I need to talk to him right now!" Her voice cracked but she certainly wasn''t even able to notice it, much less, her current demeanor right now.


    Serafall smiled wryly, "Slow down, girl. I obviously can''t tell you everything and you probably heard our conversation earlier. Ki-tan is a bit busy right now so you''ll have to settle with mypany. For now, why don''t we sit and calm down?"


    .


    .


    .


    A few hourster, Soifon had finally managed to calm down, or more like, she lost the little bit of energy she recovered and had no choice but toy back down.


    Serafall changed the wet towel on Soifon''s head, "Are you feeling alright now? You shouldn''t push yourself but it''s a good sign that you have a fever. It means that your body has enough energy to fight back. Remember, you were essentially brought back to life after being hit by that miasma."


    "...Thank you..." Soifon muttered with a soft voice.


    While Serafall was silently cleaning the room, Soifon asked, "...Who are you?"


    But instead of answering, Serafall replied with a question of her own, "Can''t contain your curiosity?"


    "I''m sorry, but I don''t think I will be able to rest properly like this."


    Serafall chuckled, "Yoru-chan did tell me that you wouldn''t be able to let go of it once you got curious about something."


    Soifon''s heart jumped but this time, she managed to keep her calm, "Yoru-chan... Do you mean Yoruichi-sama?"


    "Indeed. I heard that you were her precious aide in her younger days.", Serafall finished disinfecting the room and sat on Soifon''s bedside, ''Though I didn''t really understand her stories when she told me about it. No wonder her tales don''t match the number of years she''s alive.''


    While they were exploring the entirety of the [Dungeon World], Yoruichi would sometimes recite stories of her younger years when she got drunk. Although she couldn''t understand it fully because both Kisuke and Yoruichi hadn''t made it clear that they were from another world, they were fun stories to listen to, and a number of those stories were about the individual named Soifon, Yoruichi''s close aide and has an antagonistic rtionship with Kisuke.


    While Soifon is very curious about what sort of stories she hears about her, she''s more obsessed with another thing, "...Where is Yoruichi-sama?"


    "I think you wanted to know more if she''s doing okay, and yes, she''s doing fine and living a good life. But if you really wanted to know where exactly she is, that''s going to be tough since it''s not a ce where we can currently reach nor connect."


    "...", Soifon stayed silent for a few moments before replying while closing her eyes, "I see... Thank you."


    After that, Soifon went back to sleep and Serafall exited the room quietly while also secretly adding rm Magic through the entire room so that she could immediately react if she ever exited the room.


    For the next two days, Serafall was surprised that Soifon didn''t ask anything and just passively observed everyone. And when she recovered half of her strength, she even started helping out with the chores. While it''s obvious for Serafall what she''s trying to do, she didn''t do anything to stop it and even allowed her to snoop around the mansion and outside of it unattended. Serafall thought that this would allow Soifon to trust them a bit easier.


    And then it was the time she came to meet Kisuke face to face.


    Soifon wanted to talk to him immediately, but she saw the teenage girl called iree running to Kisuke so she stayed seated and continued to observe what was happening. But by doing so, Soifon started looking at the familiar face with strangeness, ''...For as long as I''ve remembered, he''s never been this affectionate...''


    Hence, her first question to him, who had a young girl clinging to his back is, "...Are you really the same Urahara Kisuke that I know?"


    "Am I really that different?"


    Soifon swallowed a mouthful of saliva and answered, "You feel like apletely different person to me."


    Kisuke, on the other hand, just chuckled, "And since you haven''t started attacking me, you also feel quite a bit different from my memories. Are you really that hot-headed Soifon-san?"


    ''At least he still has the same annoying face. What should I do? It''s been a while so I have a really strong urge to punch that face.'', Soifon thought to herself.


    But before they could continue, Serafall interrupted them, "Before you start going deep into your conversation, Ki-tan, let me borrow a bit of your time."


    Kisuke turned to her and his serious expression appeared, "An urgent matter?"


    Serafall thought about it for a moment before saying, "Not really, but we also can''t leave it alone."


    She then started telling Kisuke what transpired in the Human World, more specifically, the Vatican City.


    "It''s still a mess out there and panic among the people is not subsiding. The number of people trying to convert is also increasing which is normally a happy asion for the said faction but in this case, might be a bad urrence if not properly controlled and guided. Worst case scenario, Holy Power will once again erupt and no matter how ''good'' aligned that power is, it still could cause a massive destruction that could wipe countries off the map."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a few seconds while rubbing his chin, "Did the amount of pseudo-Demonic Power in the Human World increase?"


    Serafall nodded, "It''s as you''ve guessed. I don''t have any measuring instrument but it increased 10 fold and in some ces, 50-100 times. Although it isn''t much due to the initial amount, I surmised that every time the door to Hell opens, the quasi-system that the Holy Power created to maintain itself will keep pulling that pseudo-Demonic Power. Thankfully, all that power is being neutralized and being converted into the moremon Magic Power. I''m not sure how that happened but that''s the result of the sh."


    ''Neutralized? In that case, it might really be true that Holy Power could kill the [Chained]. But it''s dangerous for that amount of power to circte without proper goal or centralization so instead of leaving it alone, it''s better to teach some people to harness this power to put it under control.''


    After some more contemtion from Kisuke''s side, he asked, "Sera-chan, you know more about this than me so you don''t really need my permission to take action."


    Serafall crossed her arms and grinned at him, "What are you talking about? You''re obviously the leader of this expedition. Regardless of my knowledge, I still would like your final word."


    Kisuke sighed, "Still, you''re being too careful. So when needed, I''d like you to take action on your own discretion."


    "I think I''m doing a good job in bncing that~!"


    "Is that so?" Kisuke surrendered, "Then please make contact with the Pope and while you''re at it, bring nna with you. If I recall correctly, Vatican City is under the Wing Bind''s influence."


    Serafall stood straight up and yfully saluted, "Understood~! I''ll be on my way!"


    With that, a Magic Circle appeared beneath Serafall''s feet, but it wasn''t just her. Under ire, Kunou, and Tanis is a simr Magic Circle, "I''ll also bring them with me. I think they need a breather."


    Kisuke nodded and waved goodbye to the girls.


    But before theypletely disappeared, Kisuke and Serafall were shocked that Soifon suddenly spoke, "The current Pope answers to the current leader of the Gallows, Wolfgang shhaut."


    The surprised Serafall immediately returned to her usual expression and said, "Thank you~!" Before disappearing, leaving behind just Kisuke and Soifon.

 Chapter 1157 Sitting Down Together

    Chapter 1157 Sitting Down Together


    Now that ire had been teleported away, Kisuke was now free to move. But instead of asking Soifon why she provided them with a piece of valuable information, he first stood up and went to the counter in the corner of the living room to prepare some drinks, "Were you able to get all of Baraggan''s miasma out of you?"


    At Kisuke''s question, Soifon clenched her fists tight as she recalled the battle she had with Baraggan and remembered the strange man who saved her and herrades, "Was that you?"


    "It was my disguise, yes." Kisuke promptly answered while pouring the tea into the cups. He can also hear the frustration in her voice and continued, "Due to several reasons, I can''t reveal myself right now. I made a mistake and allowed you to see me, though."


    "Is that so?" Soifon muttered before bing silent.


    She then saw a cup of tea ced in front of her, "What''s this? You''re being awfully meek."


    Soifon grabbed the cup and smelled the aroma whiffing out of it. After almost half a minute of staring at it, she took a small sip before saying, "I... I just hate myself."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything as he watched Soifon continue staring at her cup.


    "The first time I faced Baraggan, I lost and needed help. Even if anyone didn''t say anything, I know that it was you who sent former Vice-Kidou Chief Ushouda to my side. Twelve years ago, I lost my Bankai and it was you who helped me to regain it, saving my life."


    Kisuke could see that her hands were slightly shaking.


    "And now, You saved me from certain death."


    Kisuke took a sip of his tea before saying with a sigh, "I didn''t really think you hated me that much." He thought for sure that even though Soifon didn''t like him, they still could get along.


    "No!" Soifon shouted.


    Kisuke was so startled that he almost let go of his cup, "Err... What?"


    "No..." Soifon continued, "I mean, yes, you are annoying and I really don''t like you and how close you are to Yoruichi-sama. But the one who I hate is not you It''s myself. I hate myself."


    A wry smile emerged on Soifon''s face, "I hate my weak self who can''t seem to win important battles... And I obviously owe my life to you multiple times, yet here I am, unable to mutter even a simple ''thank you'' thanks to my silly pride."


    "...Really, I hate myself the most."


    Without saying a word, Kisuke suddenly snatched the cup of tea from Soifon''s hands without spilling it and tossed both hers and his cup away. The cups disappeared in mid-air with Magic Circle''s catching them. Another Magic Circle appeared in front of Kisuke and stuck his arm into it, pulling a bottle of liquor and two sses from it.


    "It''s a long-awaited reunion, so tea shouldn''t be what we''re drinking," Kisuke said while softly chuckling and pouring the cup ss he ced in front of Soifon before filling the one in front of him.


    He then picked up his ss and raised it, "Cheers!"


    Soifon was dumbfounded at the sudden change of mood but immediately thought, ''Ah... This is so him.'' Her wry smile disappeared, reced by a more light one.


    Although Soifon is quite tempted to leave him hanging there, she knows that it wasn''t the right time for that and picked up her ss and touched it with Kisuke''s, "Cheers."


    .


    .


    .


    The two of them spent more than an hour drinking while talking about random things while silently agreeing not to talk about the awkward and heavy atmosphere from earlier.


    While Soifon was talking andining about her day-to-day life as the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidou and Captain of the 2nd Division, Kisuke talks about what he and Yoruichi were up to while maintaining the vagueness of the stories. Nevertheless, it made the former quite jealous, and startedining about it.


    Soifon saw that Kisuke was already a bit flushed andughed at his face, "What''s this? I didn''t know you were this weak to alcohol."


    However, Kisuke only chuckled and poured another ss for himself, "It''s the point of drinking, isn''t it?"


    Even though Soifon only rarely drank, she could hold her liquor pretty well thanks to her extensive mastery over Hakuda to the point that she could even out-drink the current Captain Commander. But thanks to this confidence that she wouldn''t get drunk, she failed to notice that her mind was already clouded by Kisuke''s special liquor that he made specifically for him and others on his level to enjoy and get actually drunk off of.


    In Kisuke''s eyes, Soifon''s face wasn''t just flushed, but her movements were also alreadynguid.


    "I really hate that confidence of yours." Soifon brought forward her ss and Kisuke poured another one for her. She looked down on it for a few seconds before downing it straight, ''This is the best I''ve ever had... I should ask where he bought thister.''


    Soifon let out a long sigh before muttering with zed eyes, "Thank you."


    "You''re wee," Kisuke replied while filling another ss for himself. Whether it''s for pouring drinks for her or saving her life on multiple asions, he didn''t need any rification as he only did what he felt like doing.


    Soifon gestured for another ss and as her ss was being filled, she continued saying, "If there''s anything I can do for you, tell me."


    "I never thought I''d hear that from someone who used to say that good or evil holds no interest for her and that she only cared about her duty and the pride in being a Captain of Gotei 13."


    Soifon shed him a grin and continued for him, "All who prevent me from doing my duty are my enemies. Enemies to be in. That is all."


    "That''s why I''m surprised and don''t understand. From your perspective, we''re the ones trying to undermine the Seireitei''s authority. It''s already a big deal that you don''t see us as enemies, but you''re even willing to assist me and make that offer?"


    Soifon asked for another ss, "Just like how I don''t know how much you''ve changed these past few years, you also don''t know how much I did."


    "...It looks like you''ve seen a few things."


    Soifon didn''t immediately reply and instead asked for another ss before saying, "Enough about that. Tell me more about Yoruichi-sama!"


    An hourter, Kisuke found himself drinking alone while his drinking partner was already sleeping with her head on the table, still muttering some nonsense about Yoruichi and why she left her behind.


    "She still can''t let go of that, huh?" Kisuke muttered to himself.


    Kisuke then stood up and stretched his body for a few moments before taking out a camera.


    And with a nasty grin, Kisuke stared at Soifon''s sloven face and drooling out of her mouth, "Tsk, tsk. You really are just asking me to immortalize this moment."


    There''s a solid reason why Soifon hates Kisuke.

 Chapter 1158 Sitting Down Together part 2

    Chapter 1158 Sitting Down Together part 2


    As soon as Soifon regained consciousness and felt the unfamiliar softness of a bed that was quite different from the one she usually used, she hurriedly opened her eyes and sat up, throwing the nket off of her, ''Where am I!?''


    She didn''t have to think that hard before all her memories of the previous day returned to her and she immediately grabbed the nket back to cover her blushing face, "Why did I do something like that!!? To his face, no less!!!"


    She now realized that she got incredibly drunk and started fangirling about Yoruichi, ''He didn''t record that, did he?'' She didn''t even want to imagine how she got to her bed when she was drinking with Kisuke in the living room.


    As soon as she asked herself that, however, she also answered it for herself, ''No. He obviously did! No way he''ll let go of that chance to ckmail me!''


    Soifon grimaced in regret and turned multiple times on her bed. But after getting tired of doing that, she received enlightenment, "I can''t give him anymore. Ignore him and don''t disy further weakness. That guy thrives on others misfortune so I should be careful on how I should react."


    Soifon calmed herself down and got out of her bed. Before she exited her room, she tidied it up a bit and stretched her limbs, ''Amazing... I have mostly recovered even without extensive care. Does it have something to do with this ce or that medicine he gave me?''


    She then turned to the direction where two familiar Reiatsu were emanating, ''Now the question is how to leave this ce. I doubt he''ll allow me to go, will he?''


    .


    .


    .


    It was already early in the morning and it was just before Ophis and Lilith''s sses so they were having breakfast with Kisuke. Unlike ire, Kunou, and Tanis, they didn''t have the freedom to easily skip ss and join their impromptu vacation. After all, the Spiritual Arts Academy was still technically a military school and it''s already a privilege for them to leave the Academy grounds when sses were over.


    When they felt Soifon arrive at the door to the dining room, both of them looked at Kisuke with concerned expressions.


    Guessing their fears of being separated from the friends they''d made in their school life experience, Kisuke chuckled and reassured, "It''s fine. I won''t allow her to leave this ce if I can''t be sure that she won''t mess with the two of you."


    Without her knocking, Soifon opened the door while ring at Kisuke, "Those are some disturbing words, Urahara Kisuke."


    Kisuke didn''t even turn his head to her and instead wiped the food off Lilith''s cheek, "I won''t deny that, but it''s also the truth."


    Ophis and Lilith finally got the relief they wanted and the former dered, "We shall go."


    Kisuke nodded at them with a gentle smile and said, "Enjoy your time."


    Ophis and Lilith gave Soifon a quick nce before a burst of ck Reiatsu covered both of them and they disappeared like a bubble popping.


    Kisuke started cleaning up the tes and utensils from the table while asking, "We''ve got eggs and toast. Are you fine with them?"


    Soifon wanted to inconvenience Kisuke as much as possible so she said while walking to the dining table, "Japanese-style breakfast."


    Kisuke didn''t miss a beat and snapped his fingers. On the clean table, a Magic Circle appeared and soon it was filled with food that you''ll typically find in a high-ss ryokan like steaming white rice, miso soup, grilled fish, sashimi, tempura, pickles, and such.


    The corner of Soifon''s lips uncontrobly twitched at this unbelievable sight and asked, "...Just how are you doing this?" Since she couldn''t eat dinner yesterday, her stomach was quite empty and if not for Kisuke''s presence she would''ve already dived into this very appetizing breakfast.


    Kisuke also gave himself a portion so he sat down and invited her to sit down, "The ce Yoruichi and I ended up with had some fascinating things and this is one of them."


    Soifon first analyzed the situation and the information she had right now, before sighing and sitting down to join him, "I guess you don''t need those girls to spy for you."


    If she were to guess it correctly, the girls who just disappeared directly arrived in Seireitei, ''And it looks like it''s not their first time doing it. However, even before they enrolled, there were no reports of the Seireiheki being breached nor any unusual reports from the Visual Department.''


    Soifon''s eyes thennded on Kisuke, ''If he can do something simr, then his trinkets must have already littered the entire Seireitei and there''s no need for other people to do it for him.''


    As soon as she arrived at that train of thought, she scowled at Kisuke and said, "You disgusting spying piece of shit."


    But Kisuke only chuckled and continued enjoying his breakfast, "Don''t worry. I didn''t put any in women''s private quarters. The Shinigami Women''s Association is thest enemy I want to make."


    Soifon continued to eye Kisuke with suspicion but she also started eating her food, "Then what are Ophis and Lilith''s goals in joining the Academy? Controlling a portion of the Gotei 13?"


    "That sounds interesting, but also incredibly troublesome so I''d like to pass." Kisuke''s demeanor suddenly changed which caught Soifon off guard. While staring at her, he added, "And while I do take advantage of them from time to time, I promised to never control them and use them like that. I just want them to have some semnce of a normal life."


    Soifon was stunned for a moment before clearing her throat, "Ehem... I see. I understand."


    It was Kisuke''s turn to be surprised by that reaction, "You actually believe me?"


    "Yoruichi-sama always bragged about you keeping your promises unless something unbelievable turns up. I can always trust her words."


    ''But you didn''t trust her at all when she rmended me to be the Captain of the 12th Division. Not to mention, you stopped listening to her when she betrayed the Seireitei." Kisuke thought to himself.


    "By the way, are you not going to ask me how to leave this ce?" Kisuke changed the topic.


    Soifon continued enjoying her breakfast and said, "I''ve thought about it, but I decided to stay here. So if you decide to kick me out, don''t bother. I won''t leave."


    Kisuke''s jaw hung open.


    "Think about it. Where is the best ce to learn about this ''Magic'' that the people of Hell seem to utilize? And what do you think will happen when I don''t return? The Seireitei will move to pressure you and your group for my return. And if Kurotsuchi Mayuri realized that I''m not anywhere in the Human World, it''ll be interesting enough for him to try and sniff this ce out."


    Kisuke smiled wryly and drank his tea, "And all of this for?"


    "Obviously, to annoy you."


    "Fair enough. Then after we finish our breakfast, follow me and I''ll teach you about this ''Magic''."


    "What? Aren''t you being awfully obedient?"


    Kisuke shed a nasty grin at her and said, "Let''s see how much of your pride you can swallow when this lowly and annoying one starts tutoring the esteemed Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidou and Captain of the 2nd Division."


    Soifon could already imagine Kisuke''s image looking down on her while trying to teach something ''obvious'' and couldn''t help but return a threatening smile and identally snap her chopsticks, "You bastard. I''ll make sure that you serve me well. Kukuku..."


    "Oh please do look forward to it. It''s about time you realize how Yoruichi and I are on a different level than you. Kukuku..."


    nna who briefly returned to have some breakfast was peeking through the window, "They sure do get along well. Though I''d really appreciate it if they don''t disy their blood lust over food."

 Chapter 1159 Monster

    Chapter 1159 Monster


    As soon as they finished breakfast, they immediately went into business and Kisuke led Soifon to the examination room.


    "Where are we?" Soifon asked after looking around and only recognizing a few of the pieces of equipment within the room.


    "The examination room. Although both of us could see that nothing is wrong with you, it doesn''t hurt to make sure that everything is alright." Kisuke replied while turning on the equipment he''d need.


    After preparing everything, Kisuke pointed towards a small circr tform and said, "Please stand on that. I''ll be doing a body scan."


    Soifon walked towards the tform with curiosity and asked, "Do I not need to change out of my Shihakushou?"


    "No. The Shihakushou can block Spiritual Power, but not Ki which is what I''ll be using."


    "Ki... Another familiar yet unfamiliar term. Is that Magic?" While Soifon was asking, multiple thin poles emerged from the edge of the tform, trapping her inside. Soifon wasn''t panicked nor scared and just looked with interest as these poles ejected beams of harmless green light and went through her entire body, leaving behind only a warm feeling.


    "It''s not." Kisuke replied while watching the stream of datae up to his terminal, "It''s something different from Spiritual Power and Magic Power. It''s also something everyone who''s alive possesses."


    Soifon turned her head to Kisuke, "Alive... Am I included in that category?"


    "Of course. Having a Spiritual body to house the soul is also the definition of being alive."


    "Even those in Hell?"


    Kisuke nodded, "They have something akin to a Magic body, but it''s still something that could house a soul. In other words, they are unmistakably alive."


    Soifon''s curiosity was further piqued, but she didn''t have the time to ask since Kisuke continued, "There is still a small amount of miasma lingering around. It seems that it went dormant to protect itself. Let''s move to the Treatment room."


    The poles retracted so Soifon stepped out, "Why do you have so many of these rooms?"


    "They are separated based on their use and what type of energy they are going to deal with since a mix of two or more types could prove dangerous if not handled well. Well, just think of it as a safety feature that I implemented after numerous failures."


    Soifon then followed Kisuke to his Treatment room and was able to eradicate all of Baraggan''s miasma.


    "Amazing, you followed through without a singleint or suspicion," Kisukemented while watching Soifon get up from the bed.


    "It''s hardly amazing. I realized that if you want to inject something in me, you would have done that the first time I came here and I wouldn''t be able to do anything about it."


    "Well then, shall we move to the next part?"


    "Before that. Do you mind if we do something else first?"


    "Hmmm? What is it?"


    "Spar with me."


    Kisuke turned his head and stared at her eyes full of seriousness for a little bit before asking, "Why?"


    "Do you really need to ask?"


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders and turned around, "Let''s go to the training ground."


    .


    .


    .


    "You even recreated this..." Soifon looked around the deste and rocky field.


    "Oh. You entered one of the training grounds?"


    "To search for all the things Yoruichi-sama left behind, I forced Tsukabishi Tessai to let me in." Soifon then faced Kisuke and released the entirety of her Reiatsu, creating a space where normal Spiritual bodies wouldn''t be able to survive, "But enough of that. Let''s start."


    "You actually substantially increased the amount of Reiatsu you have. It must not have been easy." Kisukemented and released his Reiatsu-Ki which felt weird from Soifon''s perspective.


    However, something else caught Soifon''s attention more, "Where''s your Zanpakuto?"


    "Currently running around, doing some errands I asked. But don''t worry, I won''t be holding back."


    Soifon doesn''t know what he meant by that but it doesn''t really matter. If he''s not going to pull out his Zanpakuto, she won''t use her own too. Immediately after, Soifon''s Reiatsu started swirling around her like a tornado, "Mukyuu Shunkou (Infinite Shunkou)!"


    Before she could form the wings out of her Reiatsu, she disappeared on her spot and reappeared behind Kisuke.


    "Danku (Splitting Void)," Kisuke muttered softly and a transparent rectangr barrier instantly appeared between him and Soifon.


    But Soifon didn''t mind this as her raging and swirling Reiatsu wrapped around her arm she instantly punched through the barrier without much effort.


    Kisuke''s eyes widened in surprise. He wanted to use sh Step but he knew that he was slower than her so he''ll only give her an opening. As an alternative, Kisuke leaned his body to the right to dodge the strike.


    Soifon, on the other hand, just grinned at his response and the Reiatsu covering her arm to create a lethal sword suddenly expanded and exploded into countless sharp des.


    "Kuh..." Kisuke crossed his arms to protect his head and jumped back. Even then, Kisuke could feel the multiplecerations that went through his defenses, ''This is even sharper than Kuchiki-san''s des.''


    Of course, Kisuke knew that Soifon won''t let him recover but he already guessed her next move and twisted his body to turn around, ''Well, if I''m wrong, the worst I could get is a hole in my stomach.''


    Though just as he expected, Soifon reappeared where he expected her to and already threw out the same punch that bore a hole through a strong barrier.


    Soifon smiled and thought that she finally got him. Although she was surprised that he received way fewer cuts than she thought and he even predicted what she''d do, Soifon already trapped Kisuke into directly receiving one of her attacks... Or so she thought.


    Soifon was correct that Kisuke had no choice but to receive the attack but thetter suddenly shed a grin and stretched out his right hand to catch her fist.


    She didn''t know what he''s trying to achieve by essentially touching the des of a meat grinder spinning at full force but it was an invitation she wouldn''t refuse and further increased the intensity of her Shunkou, ''Knowing him, he should have the technology to restore a lost arm.''


    Kisuke caught Soifon''s fist and thetter''s Reiatsu immediately went crazy and started mincing Kisuke''s arm.


    But contrary to her expectations, even though his arm was being cut up, it remained intact, "What?" Soifon audibly muttered.


    Kisuke''s grin didn''t disappear as he grabbed her fist before using her own momentum to swing her up and down, smashing her into the ground.


    Soifon tried softening hernding but the brute force behind Kisuke''s swing was way stronger than she initially predicted, "Kuhaaaa!!!" She coughed out all the air in her lungs and momentarily wasn''t able to breathe.


    Naturally, that didn''t stop her from thinking, and she immediately gathered her wind in front of her to block any further attacks. But to her surprise yet again, she felt him letting go of her hand and his presence moving away.


    Soifon regained her breathing and figured that she must have a cracked rib or two. However, she didn''t care about that and red at Kisuke as she got up from the small crater that her body created from being smashed into the ground, "You bastard! You said you won''t be holding back! Stop looking down on me!"


    "Ah, don''t worry. I intended to keep my word." Immediately after, blood-red Reiatsu-Ki erupted from Kisuke as he muttered, "Shunkou: Blood Gate."


    "Shunkou!? When did you..."


    Kisuke, however, ignored her reaction and continued, "Just this would still constitute as me holding back so I''m going to be turning up the heat even more. 3rd Gate: Bargaining."


    The previous room that was filled with Soifon''s Reiatsu immediately changed as it was reced by Kisuke''s bloody aura, so heavy that it even temporarily paralyzed a Captain like Soifon.


    She became nervous at the power he was suddenly disying and couldn''t look away from the blood-red gauntlets, boots, and hagoromo that suddenly appeared.


    But it wasn''t until Kisuke''s skin started turning white and horns began sprouting from his head that Soifon became terrified, "W-what?"


    In Soifon''s question, Kisuke only responded with a horrifying smile and equally petrifying cold words, "Do your best to stay alive, okay?"

 Chapter 1160 Monster part 2

    Chapter 1160 Monster part 2


    Soifon slowly opened her eyes, but before she could open them fully, she felt her entire body scream in pain, "Ugghhh... Haa... Haa... What happened?" She can''t remember what happened nor why her body is in so much pain right now.


    "You''re finally awake. Good morning."


    Soifon heard an incredibly annoying voice which made her head hurt more. She tried to sit up but her body wouldn''t follow her instruction as she wanted.


    "Stay down. I''ve healed you until there won''t be any future repercussions or scars, but not enough to allow you to move around. Since there''s nothing urgent, it''s better for you to recover naturally as much as possible."


    She turned her head to the side and saw Kisuke''s face looking at her. It was then that her memories of yesterday came rushing in.


    .


    .


    .


    "H-Hollowfication!? And on top of an Advanced Shunkou!?" Soifon shouted. However, the most concerning thing she saw is that his Hollowfication didn''t have any mask which puts him either in Ichigo Kurosaki''s or Aizen Sosuke''s category. In Ichigo''s case, he received the Soul Pce and Ichibei''s help to achieve the state that''s above ''Shinigami'' but it is obvious that Kisuke wouldn''t be able to receive that kind of treatment even if he requested it. In that case, she asked, "D-did you follow Sosuke Aizen''s path?"


    "It''s simr, but not quite the same." The oppressive aura around Kisuke has started calming down but Soifon knew well enough to not think that he''s letting up. With all her might, Soifon gathered as much Reiatsu of her Shunkou as she could in front of her to create a sturdy barrier.


    "But that''s not important." Kisuke continued, "As I''ve told you, do your best to stay alive."


    ''That''s what I''m trying to do!'' Soifon internally screamed as she pushed her Spiritual Channels to their limits and gritted her teeth.


    Kisuke slowly took a step forward but on his next step, he quietly disappeared and reappeared in front of Soifon''s barrier, throwing out a fist wearing a blood-red gauntlet.


    As soon as his fist touched the barrier, a massive shockwave that leveled and cut down the surrounding rocks and boulders exploded out, creating a thick dust cloud.


    But faster than the dust cloud could spread, Soifon was ejected out like an uncontroble rocket, "Kuhhh!" Soifon continued gritting her teeth and did her best to recover her rattled Reiatsu. Thankfully, she wasn''t injured and her Shunkou was notpletely eradicated so she''s still able to fight back.


    However, she didn''t have the time to celebrate and felt a massive amount of Reiatsu being gathered in a familiar manner, ''Cero!'' Soifon instead guessed and revived her dying wind while also shaping them into a thin de.


    A beam of blood-red light exited the dust cloud and went straight towards Soifon.


    In response, Soifon waited for the right timing before swinging down the de made out of her wind, cutting the iing beam in half. But even after sessfully defending herself, Soifon didn''t stop her hand and continued the arc of her almost invisible de until it reached behind her where Kisuke was already standing and ready to attack her.


    As she swung up, Soifon was thinking what she should do next and while doing so, her de reached Kisuke''s nk. Only after the de cut half of his body, Soifon realized that something was weird and when shepletely cut him, only then she understood what happened, ''Crap! It''s a Gigai!''


    Nevertheless, it was already toote as she felt something like a hammer smashing her side. When she darted her eyes to her side, Soifon saw Kisuke casually standing on her side with his fist on the side of her stomach, "Damn y..."


    Soifon''s Shunkou dispersed and she couldn''t even continue her words with blood flooding her throat. And it wasn''t just from her mouth but also all the avable orifices were bleeding and numerous wounds sprouted throughout her whole body. It was then that Soifon lost her consciousness and started falling.


    Kisuke returned to his normal form and hurriedly caught Soifon before she dropped to the ground, "What? Although I put a substantial amount of strength behind it, it shouldn''t be enough to reduce her like this." Kisuke murmured to himself.


    Only after treating her and examining her condition did Kisuke realize that it wasn''t just his [Reverberation] that twisted her organs but also her own Shunkou that resonated and cut her up from inside.


    "That was dangerous... I didn''t think it''d have an effect like that." Kisuke nervously wiped his sweat upon discovery.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke helped Soifon sit up and thetter checked where her wounds were but found nothing, "Why does it still hurt so much?"


    "Because the damage is internal, which is harder to heal. But even if I could heal it, I won''t. You have to remember this pain and recover naturally."


    "I didn''t think you''re such a sadist."


    "I''m not. You only ended up like that because your own Shunkou went out of control and attacked you from inside."


    Soifon''s eyes widened and she became silent.


    "Figure out where it hurts and match it with how you control your Shunkou. If you''re lucky, you''ll be able to find the root cause and remedy it. If this keeps happening whenever there''s a disturbance inside you, you''re better off not using it if you don''t want to identally die."


    Soifon was still silent, but only for a few moments, "...I know." She answered while slowly nodding and looking at her own hands.


    She sighed to herself while clenching her hands before turning back to Kisuke and asking, "When did you be an expert in Shunkou?"


    "As part of learning various arts to expand our versatility, Yoruichi and I extensively researched it for years before having our own versions of Shunkou that''spatible with our Zanpakuto."


    "And you have the same answer for your Hollowfication?"


    Kisuke nodded, "But no one on your side seems to be using it?"


    "All research about it or attempts to do it has been forbidden by the Central 46. While there are people who are willing to undergo it, it''s still frowned upon and the sess rate isn''t even that high. More importantly,"


    Kisuke continued before Soifon could finish, "They don''t want another Hougyoku to be created, huh?"


    Soifon nodded, "If anyone is discovered to be researching towards it, it''s an immediate capital punishment. Only those who have the Hollow powers before the Quincy Invasion are allowed to have it."


    ''It''s a very strong addition of military strength if they could utilize Hollowfication, but I guess they don''t want another Aizen to be born.'' Kisuke thought to himself but couldn''t help but scowl, ''Those idiots. If they don''t want it misused, they should have allowed it while under their control. Or maybe these power-hungry nobles are already doing it in secret and creating their own Hollowfied Shinigami soldiers.''


    He then nced at Soifon, ''Even if she is the Chief of Onmitsukidou and now handles the Virtual Department, it''ll still be hard for her to see what they are up to. I only realized this thanks to this conversation. I should make my preparations just in case.''

 Chapter 1161 Meeting the Pope

    Chapter 1161 Meeting the Pope


    Since Soifon wouldn''t be able to move much, Kisuke taught her about Magic and more importantly, how to detect it. And after leaving a Magic Item that pulsed Magic Power at random intervals in Soifon''s room to let her practice detecting it, Kisuke left her alone.


    ''As I''ve guessed, the most they could do is just detect it. Maybe Kurotsuchi-san could utilize it after modifying his own body, but it''s almost impossible for others even with years of practice.'' In the middle of his thoughts, he felt Serafall''s presence returning, ''While Magic Power is improbable, Ki should be easy... Or maybe I should ask Soifon-san for that experiment?''


    He soon reached Serafall who had returned alone in the living room, "How was it?"


    Serafall was stretching her arms when Kisuke arrived, "It''s tough!" She then patted the seat beside her to gesture to Kisuke to sit beside her.


    Kisuke followed suit and Serafall immediatelyid down her head on his thigh, "I had to reveal that I''m a Devil."


    Kisuke was surprised at her sudden bold action but didn''t ask about it, "You had to? Couldn''t you just pretend to be some Holy being?"


    "Nope." Serafall immediately answered while looking up to his face, "If I suddenly became a target of their faith, I might just start burning alive."


    .


    .


    .


    The moment Serafall and the girls left, they first tidied their home before making theirs to the airport. Same as before, when they found the flight to Rome, they stealthily made their way inside and created their cozy space on the top of the ne. More than 15 hourster, they reached the boundary of the Vatican City State.


    Serafall and her group didn''t know this but they were lucky to find a flight that directlynded in Rome because most civilian flights were canceled and only government officials were allowed to go there right now. But even if they did, they wouldn''t have cared.


    It would be easier for Serafall to move alone for now, so she left the teenage girls on their own to sightsee, though it would be hard to do that because all sorts of people were flooding the City State and the surrounding areas.


    Serafall contacted nna who should have been around the area after that explosion of Holy Power and she was correct in her assumptions as nna immediately appeared in front of her, "Sera-chan! Are you here for that?"


    "Do you mean the Holy Power? Yes. I''d like to talk to the old man running this ce."


    "...Which one?"


    ''Looks like it''s not just the pope running this ce.'', Serafall thought to herself before bringing out her phone and searching for the picture of the Apostolic Pce, "The old man who lives in this ce."


    "Oh! That guy! He should be in that ce right now."


    .


    .


    .


    It waste afternoon and just a few minutes before evening, the current pope who took on the name of ''Francis'' was currently resting in his private quarters withrge bags under his eyes on an already fully wrinkled face. As if that wasn''t enough, the remaining white hair on his head had also started falling off from stress, ''It''s a happy asion... But it''s too tiring for my already aging body.''


    After escaping from the Media and various government correspondence by leaving a body double within the St. Peter''s Basilica, he returned to the Apostolic Pce to get some rest and think about what should be done in the next few days.


    "Having said that, I don''t really have any idea nor the cardinals and archbishops." The pope sighed to himself. It wasn''t just the Roman Catholic Church having a massive influx of inquiry but also the other Christian faiths since it wasn''t just them who received the ''light'', however, they were thergest and most prominent.


    "And there''s not a word from Wing Bind. They apparently don''t have any idea how this happened either." The pope continued talking to himself out loud to relieve his stress, "They suspect it''s one of the Mrchens who has the power over light who produced the phenomenon... But I really doubt it."


    He then looked down at his chest, still feeling the warmth of the light that enveloped him and the other members of the church, ''This isn''t a Dragon, that''s what this feeling is telling me.''


    He asked the opinions of the other members and they mostly have this kind of feeling, however, he could only ask it in secret because he''s afraid of what Wing Bind would do if they rejected the notion of this not being a ''Dragon incident''.


    "In the first ce, this ce had been devoid of Dragons a few hours before the descent of the light."


    "Hooh? The Dragons left this ce a few hours before the explosion of the Holy Power? That''s interesting." At his muttering, the voice of a woman suddenly replied.


    Hurriedly standing up from his seat, he turned to the source of the voice, "Who!?" And found two young girls staring at him.


    But instead of replying to his question, the ck-haired girl looked at the red-haired one and asked, "Did you feel anything around that time?"


    The red-haired girl made a thinking gesture as if that was going to help but ultimately replied, "Nope! Though I do find their actions strange at that moment."


    "Well, we can just say that it''s the difference between you and the local Dragons."


    "Who are you!?" The pope asked again while secretly pressing the emergency call button that he has all the time.


    The ck-haired woman turned to him again with an amicable smile and said, "I''m sorry, but that''s not going to work. I already locked down the whole area to prevent any signal from going out."


    However, that amicable smile only looks terrifying from the pope''s perspective, "What do you want?"


    Serafall found a free chair and sat down on it, "To talk and discuss what just happened. I think I can provide you the answer more than those who you answer to."


    The pope red at his uninvited guest and tried figuring out their real identity, ''Are they from that terrorist organization who uses the Dark Dragons? It doesn''t look like they are here to assassinate me.''


    But before they could talk, the red-haired girl suddenly tapped the shoulder of the ck-haired one, "This might be a long and boring talk. Can I leave now?"


    "Ah, you can. Thank you. I''ll call you again when I need you."


    "I see! I''ll return to what I was doing then!"


    In an instant, the red-haired girl disappeared into thin air, scaring the poor pope, "Ghost!?"


    Serafall was dumbfounded when the pope suddenly screamed ''Ghost!?'' and didn''t know what to think of it, "...Why are you afraid of ghosts when you know the existence of Dragons that can''t be seen by normal people?"


    "But no one disappears like that!" The pope retorted, but he immediately realized how bad his image was right now and cleared his throat. Though thanks to that little blunder, the pope was able to calm himself down and think more, "I probably don''t have to introduce myself, but I''m the current Pope Francis I. Or do you want to hear my former name?"


    "Nice to meet you, Francis. I''m Serafall Sitri. You can just call me Serafall."


    The pope rubbed his beard and was about to ask what she was here for and how she bypassed his security when he heard something weirdly familiar, "Hmm? Sitri...? No... That can''t be..."


    With a smile, Serafall interrupted his train of thought, "You''re not wrong. I''m rted to one of the 72 Devils."

 Chapter 1162 Choices

    Chapter 1162 Choices


    The pope stoppedbing his beard with his hand and could only stare at Serafall with wide-open eyes.


    On their flight towards Rome, Serafall contemted how she should handle the situation and how she could have the pope direct the current Holy Power. She thought that she could pretend to be an Angel but immediately discarded it due to the high risk of the Holy Power rushing into her. As she''s not someone like ire who was already an irregr in the first ce, only death awaits her the moment she takes the faith of billions of people no matter how strong she is.


    She could technically do it if she stopped being a ''Devil'', but it''s just not realistic to be ''Ice'' all the time and she''d hate to do that too.


    Without much choice, she decided to reveal her true identity as that would also indirectly prove the existence of heavenly beings, ''If only Irina-chan or Akeno-chan were here with us, it would have been a lot easier...''


    But after a moment of silence, the pope suddenly started chuckling, "Youngdy, if you''re going to joke around, pick a good one. But you shouldn''t really joke around and just tell what you''re here for instead of wasting both of our time."


    "..." Serafall''s smile grew wider, ''Alright. Let''s freeze him until he understands.''


    Serafall slowly stood up and released her massive Demonic Power while manifesting her Devil Wings.


    The thick Holy Power was instantly triggered by the presence of Demonic Power, but without any direction, all it could do was push against it. In turn, that only gave a dreadful feeling that washed over the whole City State like a tsunami. If the explosion of Holy Power from days ago was like a me of hope, the current one reminded everyone in the vicinity of the mes of war and destruction even if they hadn''t experienced it at all.


    At the origin of this wave, the pope didn''t speak, or more specifically, he couldn''t. The suffocating feeling and the horrifying smile of the young beautiful girl in front of him only reminded him of one word, ''Devil. He fell off from his chair and tried scrambling away but soon enough, he found himself unable to move and when he looked down, he was rmed to see that his whole body, neck down, was enclosed in a thick sheet of ice. Although strangely enough, he didn''t feel its coldness.


    "W-what are you going to do?" The pope nervously asked the wingeddy.


    It was Serafall''s turn to chuckle, "Nothing. But I''ll returnter."


    After saying that, thedy started turning into dust and disappeared with the wind blowing, leaving behind the immobilized pope. A few secondster, the pope could hear his security shouting in the background and multiple footsteps approaching his doorstep. However, he couldn''t care less about them right now as his mind raced to understand what the ''Devil'' was trying to say.


    He had a lot of questions, but one thing that''s for certain is that he can''t disregard her im of being a ''Devil'' anymore.


    .


    .


    .


    "So you went and joined ire''s group after that?", asked Kisuke.


    "There''s nothing more I could do aside from waiting for them to get themselves together. Besides, ire-chan''s current state of mind is much more important."


    "How is she, by the way?"


    "She''s looking good right now and has mostly returned to her previous self, but it''s better if I can watch her closely in case something else is up."


    "And the real reason why you took ire with you?" Kisuke knew that it wasn''t just because ire was not in her right state of mind. He already guessed the reason but he wanted to hear it from her directly.


    Serafall sighed and turned her head up to face Kisuke who was looking down on her, "The real reason is that ire-chan could kill those from Hell. Although it''s just the two of us now from this side, that guy she fought is still a source of information and soon that information would reach this side. We could defend against Soul Society who will seek to use her, but to what extent? Unless you can find a way to end them without relying on ire-chan, I won''t permit her to return to Japan."


    "Roger that." Kisuke smiled and agreed with her, ''Soul Society was not really the problem but the all-knowing monk. I don''t know what he''ll do... I should do something to limit his range of movement.''


    Seeing that smile, Serafall became concerned because it was the same smile he made when he was about to face Chaos, "Are you going to do something dangerous again?"


    "It''s something that must be done."


    "Can''t you let me help you?" Serafall asked, however, she already knew the answer. If she could help, he would have already asked for it without her offering.


    "Please ensure the safety of the kids. More than anything, don''t let ire be scared of her own power."


    "...Hmmm... That''s true, isn''t it? It might even be the source of her current problem, or at least, a part of it."


    Serafall then sat up and waved at Soifon who just arrived and opened the door to the two of them, "I need to go. It''s about time I show ire-chan what it means to be a big sister." She then stood up before teleporting away.


    As soon as she disappeared, a knife went flying towards Kisuke''s face and he caught it between his two fingers.


    "I was under the impression that you and Yoruichi-sama are together... But what is this? After bragging about your rtionship with her to my face the other day, are you actually cheating on her?" Soifon, with a re that could kill, asked him.


    Kisukeughed wryly before tossing the knife back and sighing, "It''splicated. Without the people involved, it''s futile for me to exin so I''ll spare you the ear rot."


    In an attempt to escape from him awkwardly exining that he actually developed a harem, Kisuke immediately changed the topic, "How did your practice go?"


    Soifon red at him for a few more seconds before walking and taking a seat on the couch in front of him, "All good. I''ve been practicing ever since Kurosutchi distributed the instruction books but your instructions and device are way better. Why not just give this to them?"


    "For free? No way. It''s one of the currencies we can exchange with Soul Society so I''m not willing to be this helpful with them this early."


    Soifon immediately realized his intentions, "So you fed us just enough that we''ll ask for more..."


    "Well, that''s the gist of it." Kisuke then stood up, "Going back on topic, you should have already noticed that there''s no way for you to use this Magic Power."


    Soifon stayed silent. She tried controlling this newfound energy like she would with her Reiatsu but only hurt herself in the process.


    "In fact, it''s almost impossible for someone like you who has a Spiritual Body. That brings me to offer two choices to you. Learn how to use Ki instead or join me in an experiment for you to use Magic."


    "The first one." Soifon instantly answered.


    Kisuke almost tripped on nothing, "Hold on! Listen to me first! That''s not even everything yet!"

 Chapter 1163 Choices part 2

    Chapter 1163 Choices part 2


    Soifon gave Kisuke a fed-up expression and said, "Why would I give you a chance to experiment on me? That''s equivalent to throwing my life away. I know I owe you, but I''m not ready to leave this world yet."


    Kisuke was about to refute her words but stopped himself just as he opened his mouth, ''I can''t me her for thinking like that , can I?'' He thought back to what he did when he was still in this world, ''I''m only a bit better than Kurotsuchi-san because I actually ask for permission.''


    In the middle of his thoughts, Soifon continued, "If you know why then give it up."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a few moments to think how he should go about this. It''s the research that he had been developing for almost a decade now so its importance to him couldn''t be expressed with just a few words. And while he could ask and trick any Shinigami or Arrancar to join him, getting ahold of someone on Soifon''s level just isn''t really realistic.


    "Soifon-san." Kisuke suddenly addressed Soifon which made her jump slightly.


    "What?"


    "It seems that your senses have still not adapted to this ce, but take a closer look at me. Examine me closely like how you would do in your stealth missions."


    Soifon wanted to smack his head but fought off the urge and just did as he said, ''What is he trying to say...? ...!?'' As she noticed the strange anomaly, her thoughts started trailing off. Soifon hurriedly stood up and walked around Kisuke, trying to confirm what she was actually seeing, "You... Do you have a physical body? It''s indeed very well made, but why are you trying to show off your Gigai?"


    While muttering, her attention brieflynded on his clothing, ''Wait... Shihakushou?''


    At that moment, realization dawned on her and she walked around Kisuke with wide-open eyes, "Did you have this Gigai on when we fought?"


    Kisuke shook his head and Soifon sighed in relief. If she was correct, that would be extremely weird and would open various possibilities, good and bad in the Human World.


    While Fullbringers and Quincies can use their Spiritual Power despite having a physical body, their organizations aren''trge enough to cause a sizable ripple in the Human World, ''Except for that one Fullbringer with the support of the disgraced Tsunayashiro n.''


    "I''m not wearing a Gigai. Not yesterday and not now." Kisuke continued.


    Soifon looked at him strangely, "Did you give it a new name after changing a few bits of its features or production?"


    Kisuke smirked at her and said, "Please don''t look away from reality."


    Soifon froze for a bit before returning to her seat, "...How?"


    "It has something to do with the ce both Yoruichi and I ended up with after the war. If you agree to be an experimental subject, along with an oath of secrecy, I will tell you everything about it."


    Soifon became more hesitant before shaking her head, "No."


    She already knew that she wouldn''t be able to leave this ce without restricting her ability to reveal the information about them, that''s a given and she was trying to know more about them so that she could at least negotiate the terms, ''If he''s willing to reveal their hidden story, it could lead me to more useful information and actually figure out the origin of their Magic Power.''


    Nheless, that slight hesitation from Soifon is already enough for Kisuke.


    "Now then, allow me to expand on what I just said earlier. In exchange for you not telling a soul anything about this ce, its inhabitants and me being alive, I''ll teach you what I can regarding ''Ki'' including how to utilize it and how tobine it with your Reiatsu. And with just that, depending on how good you are, you could double if not triple yourbat effectiveness. You can even take on Baraggan''s miasma without much problem once you''ve achieved mastery."


    "...You''re not lying, are you?" Soifon replied.


    "If you think I''m lying, we can stop here."


    "...Please go on."


    Kisuke nodded, "Your second choice is, including everything in your first choice, I''ll also teach you about ''Magic'' like how I would with ''Ki''. It could also increase yourbat effectiveness, but I''m not sure how much due to its incredible versatility. In addition to that, I will give the Gotei 13 detailed information about Magic and Ki, increasing the Seireitei''s overall strength. Of course, this also includes my promise of telling you what Yoruichi and I were doing this past decade and where exactly we went."


    Soifon thought hard about it and asked, "What are you researching?"


    "A Gigai... No, I can''t call it a Gigai anymore. I want to see if someone from the Soul race could have a physical body without limiting their characteristics or abilities while also opening up various possibilities in their future.


    Soifon red at Kisuke, "What for?"


    But Kisuke was unaffected by that and answered, "I''d like to keep that to myself for now. But if you really want an answer, all I can give you is that if things go the way I''m expecting, it''ll be necessary in the future."


    Soifon became silent once again for a few moments before sighing and standing up, "Give me a day or two. And I''d also like to borrow the training ground."


    "You''re free to use it however you want."


    Without saying another word, Soifon left Kisuke and headed for the training ground.


    After making sure that she wouldn''t be able to detect anything he would do, Kisuke immediately put up a barrier around him and answered the phone that had been secretly ringing since earlier, "Kyouraku-san, I''m sorry for not answering immediately. I was talking with someone."


    [It''s fine, but I''d like to ask first, how is our precious 2nd Division Commander? It has been a few days and the guys concerned about her are getting restless.]


    "She''s fine and she has already made a full recovery. Though there''s just a tiny problem."


    [Problem? What is it?]


    "Due to my carelessness, she saw me."


    [...] Kyouraku on the other side went silent for a few seconds, [...I didn''t think you''d make a mistake like that... Or is it really a mistake, Urahara-san?]


    "Please, it''s a real mistake on my part. If I really wanted her to stay here, I could do so without risking myself."


    [...I see. What''s her future like?]


    "I''m still trying to figure that out but obviously, she can''t leave without me making sure that she won''t trash everything I''m working so hard for."


    [But that can''t be for too long.]


    "I know. That''s why I''m thinking of appearing in our house in Karakura Town sometime after this. Of course, as the ''white-suited man''. I''ll leave it to you so that it won''t turn into a siege situation."


    [I''ll do my best on that part, but I can''t promise that it''ll be totally peaceful after what you just disyed down in Hell. Lisa-chan and the people who went with her are still having nightmares, you know? Not from their enemies but from your Zanpakuto.]


    "Well, I''ll believe in what you can do for now."


    .


    .


    .


    Shunsui and Kisuke talked for a few more seconds before they both hung up.


    And as soon as Shunsui put away his phone, soft footsteps rang out from behind him, "...Captain."


    Shunsui turned around and saw Nanao with an extremely concerned expression, "Oops. It looks like you heard me."


    Nanao knew that if he really didn''t want her to hear the conversation just now, she would never be able to, "...What was that? And why did you allow me to hear all of this?"


    Shunsui started walking and walked past Nanao while saying, "I don''t know what you''re talking about. But you know me, I''m really afraid of ns going smoothly."


    And before Shunsui closed the door behind Nanao, he added, "That''s why I''d like my own insurance. But setting that aside, it seems that the white-suited man will appear within a few days. I''ll send you out with the envoys. Your mission is to keep things from going violent."

 Chapter 1164 Contract

    Chapter 1164 Contract


    Two dayster, Soifon finally agreed to be Kisuke''s experimental subject but with additional conditions that Kisuke would provide equipment and resources for the Gotei 13 for them to adapt faster to the changes and allow her to leave from time to time.


    After pretending to hesitate for half a day, Kisuke agreed to her terms.


    Naturally, Soifon is aware of the risk that Kisuke would instead send bugged equipment but it doesn''t really matter since he already does it on his own.


    Within the training ground where Soifon spent most of her time to further enhance her detection abilities and improve her Shunkou, "I have one final condition."


    "Depending on what it is, I might add more conditions on my side to bnce it out." Kisuke, who had been helping her, answered.


    "It''s nothing much, but allow me to confirm first. Since you''re allowing me to leave, do you have a way to enforce secrecy on my side?"


    "Through Magic, yes. It''s a form of contract that both of us have to fulfill."


    "And the price for the breach?"


    "Death." Kisuke answered without pause, "Any less would make the contract too light."


    "That''s fine. That''s already what I was expecting." Soifon nodded, "Then I want to add a single condition that you won''t nt a ''Trojan Horse'' within Soul Society."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything immediately and after thinking about it, he modified her condition, "I''d like to limit that to within the Seireitei."


    Soifon immediately frowned and thought, ''Is he nning to do something in the Rukongai? There are few important ces within it but...''


    After internally deliberating on it, "Fine."


    "It''s my turn to add a condition then."


    "What? I only asked for a small thing and you''re still going to add something else?"


    "It''s nothing too big. I just want the contents of this contract to be a secret between us."


    "...Why?"


    "Let''s just say I don''t want others helping you find a loophole within it. Is that fine?"


    "No, because it also means that you''re already considering taking advantage of a loophole."


    "I won''t deny that since it''s indeed a possibility. However, you added a condition so it''s only a fair trade for me to add my own." Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders, "We can also just forget about this section if you don''t want it. In any case, I''m already perfectly fine with the contract as it is."


    Although Kisuke was acting calm, he''s quite nervous that Soifon would back down, ''If I can''t keep the contents of the contract a secret, then the fact that I proposed to limit the ''Trojan Horse'' to outside the Seireitei is going to raise some eyebrows from sharp people. She must be thinking that I''m about to do something within Rukongai, but that''s not the only ce outside of the Seireitei within Soul Society.''


    Soifon contemted and after a few seconds, she started scratching her head in frustration. "Alright. We''ll have it your way." Thankfully, her duty and desire to protect the Seireitei won.


    With Soifon finally agreeing, Kisuke took out two scrolls with their previous conditions already written on them. After adding thest part that they''d just discussed, the two of them spent about an hour tweaking the words of the contract to make it more precise and specific to avoid as many loopholes as possible.


    "So do we just sign this paper?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "We rip it at the same time. After that, it should take effect."


    While Soifon still had questions on how this would work, both of them ripped the paper, and as soon as they were ripped in half, the four pieces caught on fire with blue me, startling Soifon for a bit before letting the two pieces in her hand go.


    Kisuke did the same and the four mes started floating above their heads beforebining into one. The next moment, it changed into a bright red me and divided into two, entering each other''s chests respectively and disappearing.


    Even without Kisuke exining, Soifon knew what that me meant, "So this is the death you were talking about."


    Kisuke nodded, "It only works when both mes are present within the contractors. If one is extracted through any method, the other would be alerted and if you''re unlucky, it''ll kill you before you can fully remove it."


    "...I see. I''ll make sure to remember that." Soifon then looked back up to Kisuke, "What should we do now?"


    "Take this." Within his sleeve, Kisuke took out a paper and pen, "Write something that''ll make others believe that you''re not in any danger. I''m going to the Human World today and I''m sure they''re waiting for me there."


    Soifon thought for a bit before writing a few words and passing it back to Kisuke after injecting her own Reiryoku within.


    Kisuke received it and read it for a bit before making a wry smile, "Are you sure someone''s going to understand this?"


    "Omaeda will."


    "Alright. I''ll leave right away. Let''s continue once I return."


    Kisuke disappeared with his Teleportation Magic and Soifon thought that this technique was really convenient but also dangerous.


    She sat down on the couch and heaved a long sigh while thinking, ''He didn''t notice... I hope someone on that side notices it.'' As much as she didn''t want to admit it, Kisuke and her are quite ''close'' and she was betting on it, ''I''m sure that he''ll be sent out to meet him. I''m betting on you, as someone who discovered Sosuke Aizen''s traitorous intentions first.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, while wearing a white suit, white fedora, and white nk mask that greatly contrasted his long ck and straight hair, came out of a certain alley. As he walked the streets of Karakura Town, nobody could seemingly see him while he went with the flow of the crowd. However, people wearing Eastern ck attire standing on top of the building saw him and immediately started contacting their superiors.


    Around half an hourter, Kisuke entered the house that Serafall and the young girls had found.


    After another half an hour, Kisuke could feel numerous presence appearing and gathering around the house, ''...Hmm, aside from more than a hundred soldiers, they also sent two Captains. They''re treating me as a bigger deal than I thought.''


    Kisuke stood up from the couch and walked to the main door. And when he opened it, he could see four individuals standing beyond the gate, "To whom do I owe the pleasure of receiving such an important entourage?"


    The tall man with jaw-length blonde hair with a straight cut who was standing in front of the group replied, "We''re here on behalf of the Gotei 13''s Captain Commander and the members of the 2nd Division. Do you have some time to talk?"


    "Of course. Please head inside." Kisuke turned around to head back in, but the main gates of the mansion automatically opened for his guests.


    Before entering, Shinji first checked on the peopleing with him, "Rukia, I''ll do most of the talking. Make sure that you keep in contact with our men outside. If you lose connection, immediately alert me."


    "Leave it to me."


    Shinji then turned to the other two, "Ise, Omaeda, your job is to observe the surroundings without being too obvious. If you find something, keep it to yourself for now, but if it''s something urgent, inform both me and Rukia."


    " "Understood." "


    While answering in acknowledgment, Nanao''s eyes were on Kisuke''s leaving back.

 Chapter 1165 Shinji Hirako

    Chapter 1165 Shinji Hirako


    The four individuals entered the mansion and the door behind them automatically closed. Shiji and Rukia immediately observed their surroundings and when they found nothing unusual, the two of them looked at each other and nodded before following the strange man inside.


    As Kisuke was not hiding his Reiatsu, the group was able to follow him without a guide and they soon reached the living room where he prepared the drinks and seats for them, "Wee. Please have a seat."


    A brief silence descended upon the room as the two sides observed each other without moving. After a few long seconds, Kisuke smiled under his mask and said while looking at Shinji''s robe, "As expected of the Captain of the 12th Division. He was able to immediately make an improvement to the detector. It''s much more sensitive than before."


    A smile also appeared on Shinji''s face, "You can tell?"


    Kisuke nodded, "My mastery over Magic is enough to tell that there''s a disturbance in the surrounding Magic Power. The device you have absorbs the leaking Magic Power from me but doesn''t bother to rearrange its information back to how it was before."


    "Is that so?" Shinji whipped his right arm slightly and a ck cube that was silently vibrating fell into his hand, "I''ll pass that feedback to Mayuri." Leading the group, Shinji approached the table and sat down. Rukia did the same and sat beside Shinji while the other two stood up behind them.


    Seeing that, Kisuke poured three cups of tea and ced the two in front of the Captains before sitting down, "But I''m surprised. To think that he didn''t send out his bugs for this."


    Without any hesitation, Shinji picked up the cup and drank its contents which made the other three incredibly worried, "It was a hassle to stop him. Thank goodness he still listens to the Captain Commander. And even if he did send some, it''s not like you wouldn''t notice it."


    "That''s true." Kisuke also picked up his cup and the cup went through his mask as if it wasn''t there to take a sip of his tea. He eyed everyone carefully if they were hiding something else but found nothing. However, a certain individual captured his attention, ''What''s with her?''


    The person in question was Nanao Ise, one of the two 1st Division Lieutenants, ''All of them are looking at me suspiciously, that''s obvious... But what''s that expression?'' Although very subtle, Kisuke noticed that there was something different in her demeanor that didn''t match the other three, ''It''s as if... She knows something?''


    However, Kisuke didn''t have any proof for that and it could be anything else. He set it aside for now and restarted the conversation, "I apologize but I can''t entertain the envoys of the Seireitei for long due to my busy schedule so allow me to get straight to the point. What are you here for? Although I certainly have an idea, I''d like to make sure."


    Shinji drank the rest of the tea and put down the now empty cup, "There are two main things we want to know. First and foremost, where''s the Captain of the 2nd Division and what happened to her?"


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and instead took out a piece of folded paper from his inner pocket and ced it on the table.


    Shinji and the others were confused and the former picked up and opened it up because he could feel Soifon''s familiar Reiryoku from it only to be confused even more, "[I''ll be out for a bit, but if I return and find the discipline within the barracks deteriorate even for a bit, I''ll dunk you into a boiling water and you''ll have to run around Seireiheki (Pure Soul Wall) ten times without rest.]"


    While listening to Shinji read the note out loud, Omaeda shuddered and the blood left his head, "C-Captain Hirako! C-can I see that paper!?"


    The confused Shinji first checked if there was nothing else on the paper before passing it to Omaeda. Omaeda hurriedly and rudely grabbed the paper and instantly stuck his head in it, reading it a few times each time, more blood drained from his face making him very pale, "T-there''s no mistake! This is from Captain!"


    "...Are you serious?" asked Shinji.


    Omaeda lifted his head up and down vigorously, "I''m serious! And I might actually die!" Right now, the important meeting in front of him flew to the back of his head as he was more concerned about how to maintain the 2nd Division''s dignity and discipline, ''Knowing the Captain, she''ll really do it!'' He wanted to return immediately but had enough thinking capacity that that wasn''t an option.


    To supplement Omaeda''s words, Kisuke added with a sigh, "She intends to uncover my secrets so she doesn''t want to leave."


    Shinji, Rukia, and Nanao turned back to Kisuke with strange expressions, "...Somehow, I can''t deny that." Shinjimented.


    "Well, she indeed discovered something and I can''t really allow her to leave until I can make sure that she won''t spill it. So she''ll be staying at my ce and will be treated as an important guest. However, I''ll be sending you an official receiptter for her living and medical expenses. After all, treating her wasn''t exactly easy or cheap."


    Shinji and Rukia couldn''t tell if they could trust his words, but with Omaeda making a scene, they lost all the weight to question him.


    Shinji wanted to ask if she''d be able to return soon, but all of a sudden, Nanao spoke out of turn, "Did she discover your identity?"


    Another silence descended in the ce and although there were no holes in Kisuke''s pure white mask, the Captains could tell that he was directly looking at Nanao, or at least, his attention was on her.


    Nanao''s body tensed up when she felt his gaze on her but continued staring straight at him without backing up.


    Soon, the oppressive stare disappeared and Kisuke picked up his cup again while saying, "That''s correct."


    While that didn''t surprise the others, Nanao felt conflicted and most of this conflict stemmed from relief that Kisuke is the one who saved Soifon and the fact that he didn''t return to Soul Society, ''What is he nning?'' Nevertheless, Nanao chose to believe what she''d heard from Shunsui''s secret conversation and finally realized how dangerous the man in front of them was if it turned out to be an enemy.


    Shinji and Rukia felt relieved that nothing came out of Nanao''s question but really found it weird because Nanao normally wouldn''t do something as reckless as that.


    "Anyways, can we expect her soon?" Shinji changed the subject.


    "Probably. I just don''t know when she''ll be done with what she wants to do."


    Shinji nodded in understanding and chose not to pursue this line of questioning any further, "Now onto the second main point."


    There was a small pause and Shinji''s eyes narrowed at Kisuke before asking, "I''m sorry for this rude question, but what are you?"

 Chapter 1166 Shinji Hirako part 2

    Chapter 1166 Shinji Hirako part 2


    "I''m sorry for this rude question, but what are you?"


    ''Hmmm... How should I answer this?'' Kisuke thought to himself while calmly sipping on his tea, "Will you believe me if I told you that I''m a Human?"


    "No." Shinji instantly answered.


    "That''s too bad because that''s my real answer. But what made you ask that question?"


    Shinji sighed and shrugged his shoulders a little bit, "It''s nothing much. It''s just that the Divine General of the West came down to specifically ask about your Zanpakuto."


    "Why are you making it sound like it''s not a big deal?" Kisuke chuckled under his mask, "Though now I understand why the Gotei 13 sent two of their Captains. It must be quite a shock to hear about the [God of the Sword] asking about an unknown Zanpakuto."


    "It truly is. You have no idea how long everyone froze when he asked all the details surrounding you when we thought we''d be able to figure out your identity with just your Zanpakuto." Shinji then looked outside while secretly signaling to Rukia to make the others retreat, "Tiamat, was it? It doesn''t even follow the conventional naming scheme. With each discovery, we have only opened up more questions. Hence, the simplest question to ask is ''What are you?''"


    "Even if you ask me that, I don''t really have anything for you. Wouldn''t it be better if you asked what my intentions are or if I''m an enemy or not?"


    "We could but those are better answered by actions instead of words. Who knows what you''ll say to hurt us."


    "You say that but what''s Central 46''s true view on things?"


    Shinji''s next words made Rukia, Nanao, and Omaeda freeze on their spot, "They want to capture you and if that''s not possible, they want you eliminated and that extends to Sitri Serafall and the young girls around her."


    "Hirako-san!" Rukia shouted but Shinji ignored him.


    Immediately after, a dense amount of ''weird'' Reiatsu that eclipsed most of the Captains descended upon the whole area which made Nanao and Omaeda momentarily stop breathing and those retreating Shinigami hurriedly returned and pulled out their weapons while surrounding the whole mansion, ready to attack at any moment.


    "My~ I was already expecting it, but to say that to my face... Is that a deration of war?"


    Rukia became nervous and her hand automatically moved to the hilt of her Zanpakuto. She''s wondering what Shinji was trying to achieve by provoking this unknown man but when she looked to her side, she saw Shinji still had this cid expression as if he didn''t see the white-suited man in front of them as a threat.


    And just like Rukia, Kisuke wondered why Shinji is still very calm, ''...He''s sure that I won''t attack?''


    Shinji ignored their reactions and casually answered while leaning his head on his hand, "Of course not. While the majority of Central 46 did have that opinion, some of them are still cautious enough to not do something stupid. And with Captain Commander Kyouraku weighing in, there was no way for them to pass a directive like that without a unanimous vote. Besides, it''s undeniable that you and your group saved the members of the attack squad and in addition to Sitri Serafall''s help, Central 46 would need to prepare to lose a chunk of their authority if they were to continue with that line of thinking."


    Shinji then stood up and lowered his head slightly, "And before we forget, we thank you for saving ourrades."


    Rukia, Nanao, and Omaeda panicked at Shinji''s sudden actions but they couldn''t let him do this alone so Rukia also stood up and lowered her head, "We thank you for saving ourrades." Naturally, Nanao and Omaeda did the same.


    A few secondster, the oppressive and strange Reiatsu ceased to weigh on them, making the nervous three sigh in relief.


    "Rukia, return first with Omaeda and take care of the units outside. Ise-san and I will be following after you."


    "...Understood." Rukia knows what she has to do before it bes a bloodbath, "If you''ll excuse us. We''ll return first. Thank you for having us."


    "You''re wee." Kisuke''s previous jovial tone returned too, "It was a pleasure to have you here."


    Shinji and Nanao watched Rukia and Omaeda leave. Soon after, the presence outside also disappeared one by one as each of them retreated.


    Shinji then sat back down and asked, "Can you stop the sound from leaking?"


    Not just Nanao, but Kisuke also didn''t know what he''s trying to achieve now, nevertheless, it was not hard toply. Kisuke snapped his finger and the ck cube in Shinji''s hand started vibrating more vigorously than before, "Done. You can say what you want and no one will be able to hear it besides us."


    Shinji''s expression slightly changed and that immediately started sounding the rms in Kisuke''s head, ''Huh?''


    Shinji leaned back and stared at the white-suited man''s white mask for a moment before asking, "What game are you ying this time, Kisuke?"


    There was no release of Reiatsu by anyone, however, the oppressive atmosphere returned.


    Nanao''s eyes left Shinji and turned to the man in front of them who was staying silent.


    And although he''s appearing calm, Kisuke''s mind is racing, trying to trace where he could have slipped up and if that slip-up has further implications, ''I can pretend that I don''t know what he''s talking about and I''m sure that he''s still just guessing at this point... However, he sounds so confident that he''s not afraid to call me out. Even if I can deny it now, he''ll leave with suspicion, and that much is already dangerous enough.'' His eyes then turned to Nanao, ''Not to mention, Ise-san has been acting weird all this time. She was surprised by what Hirako-san said but immediately turned to me as if she wanted to ask the same. Just what''s going on?''


    Kisuke remained silent as he weighed his options.


    After a few more moments, Kisuke sighed and his entire body became blurred. As soon as it returned to its normal rity, Shinji and Nanao were able to meet their former friend and acquaintance respectively, "What gave it away?" Kisuke asked with a wry smile.


    Shinji grinned and replied, "It appears that you don''t know what''s been happening this past decade, or at least, you didn''t have a close look at the current Gotei 13 all these years. You miscalcted Soifon."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and asked again, "The note?"

 Chapter 1167 Shinji Hirako part 3

    Chapter 1167 Shinji Hirako part 3


    Kisuke''s mind raced again and he tried figuring out what was in the notes that incriminated him.


    When Kisuke revealed his appearance, there was a temporary shock in Shinji''s eyes before his calm remained, and he said, "Stop thinking about it. Even if you dissect Soifon''s words in that note, you won''t be able to find anything."


    Kisuke gave up and sighed again, "Then what is it, Hirako-san? I''m really at a loss here."


    "Well, the most simple exnation is that you underestimated us."


    "..." Kisuke remained quiet.


    "Most of the time, you underestimate yourself, however, you also sometimes do the same with the people who you consider as yourrade." Shinji grabbed the tea kettle and poured tea for himself, "Those who don''t know you might think that you''re looking down on everyone, but for those who truly know you, that''s the furthest thing from the truth. You just like underestimating things around you for an additional safety. While it''s useful in a conflict, it''ll only cause misunderstandings in times of peace."


    "And that misunderstanding is on my part?"


    Shinji grinned at him and answered, "Correct. Though it''s mostly just Soifon, it was enough for a series of events to add up."


    Shinji then took a sip of the already cooling tea before continuing, "Did you know, I already found your mannerisms and your way of fighting to be suspicious the moment I first saw you?"


    "Let''s say that''s true, but that''s too far-fetched on top of there being no evidence."


    "Kisuke, please remember." Shinji ced down his cup and directly met Kisuke''s eyes, "Because I didn''t reach out just for that far-fetched possibility that Aizen was able to do what he wanted."


    "Still, that''s not for you to call me out with such conviction. I know you''d take an observer''s approach if you''re not sure enough."


    "You know me well, but that''s where Soifon''s notees in. I''m sure that you know that anything rted to the Seireitei is serious official business for her, but did you know that there''s really only one person, including Yoruichi, that she''ll act casual with?"


    Kisuke thought about it and finally got where Shinji wasing from, "...That''s me?"


    Shinji started chuckling, "That''s right. If you were any other person, she''d be more ''official'' with that note and probably knows that too. Just like me, you underestimated her. You looked past her not being bothered to put up appearances to you."


    Kisuke sighed again and scratched his head, "And thest clue probably came from Ise-san here, right?"


    Nanao almost jumped when her name was called and refocused her senses. Even now, she didn''t understand how Shinji could act like normal and she''d been thinking about what Shunsui wanted her to do in this moment.


    "So you noticed it too. She''s been acting way too weird, as if she wanted to say something so bad but was not allowed to do so. I''m guessing that she probably heard something from Shunsui so I just asked you directly."


    "N-no! Captain didn''t tell me anything! I just overheard it when he''s talking on his phone!"


    ''He was able to override the silencing effect of that phone?'' Kisuke asked himself.


    Meanwhile, Shinji turned to Nanao and gave her a suspicious look, "So you heard from him? You know he''s not careless with something like that."


    Nanao could only keep her mouth shut because she can''t refute that.


    Shinji turned his head back to Kisuke and asked, "Since when did youe in contact with him?"


    "A while back."


    "I see." Shinji suddenly stood up and fixed his attire, "There you have it. Three people that you underestimated working together. I don''t know what you''re trying to achieve but be more careful if you don''t want your identity revealed." He then left his seat and turned around towards the exit, "Ise, let''s go before everyone bes too suspicious."


    "W-wait! Captain Hirako! Aren''t you going to ask more!?"


    Shinji didn''t turn around and started walking, "My words from earlier still apply. It''s better answered by actions instead of words. And it''s Kisuke we''re talking about here. We don''t know how he''ll mislead us so it''s just better to watch what he''ll do."


    Nanao still wasn''t satisfied but she had no choice but to follow Shinji. She bowed her head to Kisuke with aplicated expression and briskly walked behind Shinji.


    Shinji and Nanao reached the door but before they went through it, Shinji turned his head for one final time, "Later, Kisuke."


    Kisuke stood up and smiled at Shinji, "Yep. Later. It was good to see you again."


    Shinji only waved his hand back and left the mansion. As soon as they went through the gates, they disappeared with sh Steps.


    Kisuke reactivated his disguise and disabled the barrier around the mansion. He wanted to call and ask Shunsui what he was trying to do but he stopped himself and figured that he''ll first wait for Shinji to confront him, ''If I were to guess his intentions for letting Ise-san in on this mess... It''s that he wanted to let me know that I shouldn''t push my luck too much. That''s fair since Hirako-san was able to figure me out with just a few clues. Thank goodness that he''s a trustworthy one. If it was someone like Mayuri, I''m not going to have a good time.''


    Kisuke left the mansion and disappeared in a random alleyway.


    As soon as he returned, he heard hurried footstepsing his way and a few secondster, Soifon appeared before him, "How did it go?"


    Kisuke smiled wryly and said with a defeated tone, "You got me."


    The happy Soifon couldn''t help but grin, "As expected of Hirako. He doesn''t disappoint. And the fact that he''s the one who appeared to you could mean that Captain Commander knows about you too."


    Since it''d be useless to hide that further from her, he nodded and asked, "When did you start getting suspicious?"


    "The moment I was able to move on from the fact that you''re still alive. The matters regarding Sitri Serafall have been going smoothly... Too smoothly, even. So when I knew that it was you, there''s only one person not right in the head to secretly cooperate with you."


    "I guess I really was pushing my luck too much." Kisuke wanted to grab Soifon''s nose to stop her from grinning but he didn''t really want his hand cut for no reason so he refrained from it, "To think there''s this many holes in my actions... I shouldy low for now."


    "You''re not going against our deal just because I found a loophole in your contract, right?"


    "Of course not. Let''s go to the Multimedia Room. Yoruichi and my own experience is hard to exin with just words so I prepared something for you to understand at least a tiny bit of it."

 Chapter 1168 Movie Viewing

    Chapter 1168 Movie Viewing


    Kisuke watched the footage he prepared with Soifon which was mostly their daily lives, the Azazel Cup, the Hell Disaster, the Evie leader''s attack, and some snippets of the final battle with Tiamat and Chaos. He also included some footage from the Evil Dragons'' resurrection and Trihexa''s rampage even though neither he nor Yoruichi were around for it. Though he was really only watching Soifon''s dumbfounded reactions and enjoyed himself.


    In every scene, Soifon could only be more and more confused even though Kisuke was providing her some verbal context and a few hourster, their movie viewing concluded.


    "And that''s the gist of it," Kisuke said while turning off the holographic device that turned the room they were in into the scene they were watching, making it as if they are included in the scene.


    Although Kisuke sadly couldn''t recreate the intensity of the scenes, Soifon still managed to understand a bit of it, especially therge-scale battles that changed the terrains, "...What in the world just happened?" These are Soifon''s first words after a long while.


    "Oh. You mean this?" Kisuke asked while patting the crystal which was the source of the holographic images on the table, "I created this after studying some illusion techniques employed by various Deities and Youkais. It became pretty popr on that side... for various reasons. And I don''t think it''ll take long before someone creates an interactable virtual reality with it... This won''t affect the poption count negatively, will it?" At the end of his sentence, he started muttering after realizing what massive damage this could do especially at the time when they need more people than ever to support and supplement the giant leaps in civilization on Earth.


    "...Then the ce you two went to is really..."


    "A whole new different world. It appears that Byakko is not originally from this world and already had the world-hopping ability before it came to the Shihouin n. And thanks to Benihime ripping out both of our souls and the Hougyoku protecting us to properly travel with Byakko, we ended up reincarnating."


    "...Reincarnation... Then that Urahara Sakura..."


    "Is my mother, yes. We also found Yoruichi''s parents but she was abandoned due to trivial reasons and their family itself is rife with abuse on both sides and already copsing so we didn''t bother interacting with them. It was a good thing that she didn''t have any siblings that we had to rescue."


    "You believe that she''s your mother?"


    Kisuke looked at her seriously and said, "Of course. She''s my mother without a doubt and as an extension, also Yoruichi''s. Regardless if I really came from her or not, even if I have the memories of my previous life, it won''t change the fact that she''s been a wonderful mother to me."


    Soifon was a bit startled and cleared her throat, "I apologize. That was a rude question. I just didn''t know where to start."


    "That''s fine. Just slowly think about it and ask whatever question you have. We''re not in a hurry so let''s take it slow."


    Soifon took Kisuke''s offer and requested to rey the motion picture, this time, pausing at certain moments and asking him what was happening in more detail.


    It took almost a day for them to finish everything and even then, Soifon still couldn''t wrap her head around on everything she just saw and heard.


    Soifon was about to get depressed when Kisuke reassured her that it was only normal for her not to follow as there was a limit to what he could exin. As Kisuke still hadn''t delved deep into what Magic and Ki could do and the various cultures and races that use it, it''s perfectly normal for Soifon to be confused by all of this.


    "I still don''t understand everything, but it seems that you''re still in the top few on that side."


    "That''s due to that side not being very well versed in matters regarding Spiritual Power. And thanks to the Hougyoku''s assistance, I was able to get far."


    "Hougyoku... Do you intend to make another one?" Soifon stared at Kisuke and within her eyes, there was even a hint of hostility.


    Kisuke smiled wryly and shook his head, "No. And I don''t think I''ll be able to create another one."


    Naturally, Soifon didn''t believe him, "Not able to create one again? You and Aizen created the first one and you made the second one. What''s stopping you from doing the third?"


    "The Spirit King." Answered Kisuke, "Or more specifically, his absence."


    "...What do you mean?"


    "It''s hard to exin it, but essentially, even though he''s tied up there, he still could interfere with the world. But now that he''s gone..."


    At the mention of the Spirit King, Soifon was reminded of Aizen''s ability, "Did you be someone like Aizen?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "No. While I''m hard to kill, I don''t have the same immortality and destructive force as him. You saw some individuals who are clearly on a different level, right? Aizen is almost on that stage and the only thing that''s stopping him from stepping on that is the fact that he''s sealed."


    Soifon became quiet.


    "By the way, do you finally believe that Ophis and Lilith are not spies?"


    Soifon straightened her body and intensely looked at Kisuke when she was reminded about them, "That''s right! What''s up with them!?"


    "Probably the same as the Spirit King, born out of nowhere, but unlike the former, didn''t care about the world until recently. Ophis is the Dragon God of Infinity and living up to her name, she''s an [Infinite] existence until a [Dragon yer] finally got her and she had to split her power. That split power was used by someone and created essentially a copy of her and was named Lilith."


    "So they are not twins... But since Lilith is part of Ophis, couldn''t she just absorb her?"


    "If she didn''t meet us, she may have. She''s very proud of her power as that defines her entire existence. However, she became much more interested in life than the power she held. Lilith is a life born purely out of her power so her curiosity gave her a chance to live. And right now, if you ask her to absorb Lilith back, she''ll get very angry. Even though she became weak for being ''iplete'', she could still wipe out a portion of the map."


    "And why is someone like that attending the Spirit Academy? And she''s a Dragon, so how are they fooling everyone?" Soifon asked. While she still couldn''t believe that those little girls were capable of mass destruction on par with Aizen, she was more curious and afraid of their real intentions.


    "Her [Infinity] mostly means limitless possibilities so that gave her a true shapeshifting power. In other words, she can transform into anything she can think of. Human, Spirit, man, or woman, any transformation they do is their true self. They transformed into Plus and were able to enroll in the Academy. And for what reason? It''s because they are children.


    "And although theirmon sense is catching up to the standard, they''re still incapable of fully mingling and adapting to Human society, especially a normal one. They don''t want to be left behind by the other girls so without much of a choice, we enrolled them in Spirit Academy to experience their school life."


    "...That''s ridiculous."


    "Right? But I consider them as my daughters so I''ll do everything I can to have them enjoy their lives and stop everyone else from taking advantage of their power."


    Soifon wanted to tell him that he''s not that kind of person but stopped herself after hearing the conviction and weight behind his words, "...And what about this nna? She has the same face as the other two."


    "That... I''d like to keep it a secret for now."


    =================================


    AN: I''m having a hard time portraying Soifon''s ''surprise'' here so I''m providing more context here in the Author''s note. I''m sorry for myck of ability. Instead of being shocked, she''s more confused. Although she could see the destruction the characters of DxD can do, she has no idea of the intensity of the battle going on as I''ve written.


    Issei and co. are capable of mass destruction too, so Ophis'' power is hard to see from just a video no matter how immersive it is with 360 viewing. As such, it became not that impressive.


    So in this, the exact thing that Soifon couldn''t understand is the ''concepts''


    Soifon doesn''t get the Divide and Boost. She doesn''t get the concept of Super Devils or the unique abilities of each Gods. The same with [Infinity] and [Dreams] she doesn''t get any of it since the only metric she couldpare with is the resulting destruction. And even that is not reliable since she also doesn''t know each person''s resistance.


    In other words, it''s like the physicists smashing atoms using the LHC. To normal people, it sounds awesome, but to physicists themselves, it''s almost a miracle-making device as they understand how and why it works. In this case, Soifon is the normal person.


    Another example of this is Yoruichi''s ability to cut space itself. From a normal person''s point of view, another person and Yoruichi cutting a tree is the same as it has the same result. However, only those who could understand what''s happening knows that Yoruichi''s cut is much more terrifying.


    Simr to those on the DxD side, they wouldn''t really understand Aizen''s hypnosis or Shinji''s bankai by just watching it through a video clip.


    And that''s the end of my lengthy AN due to my having a skill issue. Thank you for reading.


    TLDR: Soifon is more confused than shocked because she doesn''t understand the underlying concept of the DxD side''s power.

 Chapter 1169 Special Gigai

    Chapter 1169 Special Gigai


    Kisuke exined everything he could to Soifon pertaining to what they just watched, however, he knew that she wouldn''t fully understand it without experiencing it herself and that''s a long process if they were not going to that side.


    ''Anyone can do shy things, but only a few could be truly horrifying. How will I be able to exin doubling power every ten seconds limitlessly or dividing power to the point of nonexistence?'' Kisuke thought to himself while cleaning up, "I think that''s enough for now. Let''s have you fulfill your side of the deal."


    Soifon froze. Now that it hase to this, she started bing nervous, ''It was really stupid of me to not ask about this experiment before agreeing. But I have a feeling that I would lose my footing in the negotiations if I were to ask for specific details.''


    Breathing deeply a few times, she finally said, "I agreed to the experiment thinking that you wouldn''t put my life in danger, but am I wrong?"


    "I won''t deny that there are any risks, but I already arranged everything so that even in the event of a catastrophic failure, your life would be safe and you can still go back to the 2nd Division without any problems."


    Soifon sighed in relief, "Alright. I''ll trust you. But what are you going to do exactly?"


    "For now, follow me."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke and Soifon left the mansion and went underground to reach a detached building that was at least 5 timesrger than the mansion, "What''s with you and underground bases?", asked thetter.


    "It''s convenient so why not?"


    Kisuke led Soifon to arge room of the detached building that only contained a few things and the most prominent of it all was therge ss tube filled with a blue solution and in the middle of it, "...A fetus?" Soifon asked.


    Kisuke then suddenly turned to Soifon and said, "The experiment is transferring your soul into a physical body and seeing if you could use your Shinigami powers while in it."


    "...Are you serious?"


    "I''ve been at it most of the years I''ve been on the other side. I''m pretty serious about it."


    "...And what for?"


    "It started as a curiosity, then a genuine interest. I wanted to know how Yoruichi and I were capable of using our powers despite having a physical body. And as an extension to that, how are the Humans on that side different from the ones here."


    "Then what happens if this is a sess?"


    "With sufficient mastery, you''ll be able to use Magic and Ki too."


    "You know that''s not what I''m referring to. What do you want to happen creating something like this?"


    "..." Kisuke went silent for a moment before saying, "This is not part of our agreement."


    Soifon gritted her teeth, "Do you really think that I''m stupid enough not to believe that this pertains to the fate of the Soul Society!?"


    But instead of answering her question, Kisuke asked, "Have you noticed anything out of ce with the videos I showed you?"


    Soifon was startled and thought that Kisuke was escaping from the topic, "This isn''t about that!"


    "It isn''t? Well, anything show in that is out of ce for you, but if you can''t notice it, you''re still not ready to hear it."


    "...What do you mean?"


    Kisuke turned around and started operating the panels, "Once you start asking about it, you''ll have an idea of what I''m anticipating. However, until that time, I''ll keep my mouth shut."


    "Is it really that hard to tell me?"


    "Yes. As you are now, you''ll see me as the most evil man in the world."


    Soifon clenched her fist hard and asked another question, "Does Yoruichi-sama know about this?"


    "I didn''t tell her anything about it, but if it''s her, she knows what I wanted to happen. In the first ce, I don''t know if what I''m thinking is really going to happen. Let''s just say that I''m preparing for the worst and this is one of my insurances."


    "And she allowed you to return to be that evil man?"


    "I have her full support."


    "...Then what do you really want?"


    "I already answered that."


    "No. I''m asking you what''s making you do all of this?"


    Kisuke''s hands stopped and he slowly turned to Soifon only to see her staring at him seriously. Kisuke smiled gently and said, "You may not believe it, but this is to protect all those important to me."


    Soifon stared at him for a few more moments before sighing, "What should I do?"


    "Just like a Gigai, you''ll be entering that fetus."


    "...I''m not going in that and waiting for years to reach full maturity, will I?"


    "No. It''s a fetus I created from very special ingredients. It''s special that its DNA is not set and only when a Spiritual Body enters it will start developing. And once it starts developing, it''ll only take a day or two for it to get the same shape as the Spiritual Body that entered it."


    Soifon approached the ss tube and asked, "And the caveats?"


    "ording to my calctions, you''ll only be able to stay in this... Let''s call it Gigai for now. You''ll only be able to stay within this Gigai for 30 days before the fuse bes permanent and it''ll be your flesh and blood regardless of theplications. With that in mind, you''ll enter it and after two days, we''ll do various tests for the next five days. After that, I''ll separate you from the Gigai and you''ll enter another one to resume the tests."


    "You''ll have to separate me? I can''t do it on my own?"


    "Yes. While it sounds simple, the process of entering and exiting it is a lot moreplicated under the hood and any oversight from me could cause you harm. Both of us don''t want that."


    "How many times do I have to repeat this experiment?"


    "If it''s up to me, I want to do this at least a thousand times, but that''s clearly unrealistic to your side. For now, let''s aim for at least 10 times and see whates after that."


    "At least ten weeks, I see."


    "You can''t back out now even if you want to."


    "That''s not what I meant. It''s just that it would take longer than I expected. I don''t know if those who came from Hell will stay still."


    "After the 10th time, we''ll discuss how you''ll be able to leave this ce. And about Hell, you don''t have to worry about them for now. While they can enter the Human World anytime, Kurotsuchi-san should be able to arrange a better detection method. In addition to that, it shouldn''t take long before the Shinigamis learn how to detect the aura from Hell. And besides that, it seems that the Hell residents are only immortal when they are in Hell so this will most certainly be a war of attrition."


    "If you say so... How should I enter this... Gigai?"


    "Just put your palm on the wide surface beside the buttons. I''ll do the rest and you''ll lose your consciousness until your body reaches full maturity."


    Soifon took a deep breath and set aside her fears before cing her palm on the designated area. It''ll be two dayster before she wakes up again.

 Chapter 1170 Special Gigai part 2

    Chapter 1170 Special Gigai part 2


    Three months went by and Kisuke''s experiment was progressing well. He would sometimes get a visit from ire, who had already mostly recovered her mental health, and the other girls to check up on him. And even if Serafall was not saying anything about what''s happening on the west side of the world, he could feel the surrounding Holy Power disappearing which means it was being absorbed and controlled by those ''faithful''.


    ''Did she teach them some Holy techniques? A Devil like her? That''s pretty amusing.'' Kisuke thought to himself while waiting for Soifon to walk out of the dressing room.


    She''s changing her clothes and most of it was ripped up after her sparring with Kisuke.


    It didn''t take too long for her to take a shower and came out whileining, "Why the fuck are you so sturdy?"


    "I''ve been improving myself too, you know? I figured that I can''t depend on my regeneration all the time after it was rendered useless on one asion. Enough about that. How are you feeling now."


    Soifon ced her towel on her shoulder and stretched out her arms and legs a few times before twisting her body left and right, "All the difort I was feeling at first haspletely disappeared. In fact, I feel way better than before."


    "I made sure that I didn''t put in any addictive substances but are you sure what you''re feeling is not just euphoria?"


    "Definitely not. I''m very careful about it and have ascertained the state of my body multiple times before answering you. Isn''t it because of that? Magic Power and Ki. I''ve been getting the hang of it and the movement of my Spiritual Power is in no way affected unless I use two systems at the same time."


    "Let''s go back to theb and have you take an in-depth check-up."


    As Soifon followed Kisuke to hisb, she asked, "This is the tenth instance. Will we be taking a break after this?"


    "That''s the n, but do you have something different in mind?"


    "Let me stay in this body."


    Kisuke became silent for a brief moment but he still continued walking in front of Soifon, "...That''s a dangerous thought you''re having. Not even funny as a joke."


    "I''m serious."


    Kisuke finally halted his steps and turned to face Soifon, "And I''m serious too. The moment you fuse with that body permanently, there''s no going back. Forget about getting out of it unscathed, it could also mean the end of your career as a Shinigami. The moment it was discovered that you gained a physical body while maintaining your Shinigami powers and even learned something else in the process, you''d be lucky if Central 46 didn''t think that you were doing something very dangerous and have you hunted down. And most dangerous of all, the Zero Division will see this as a threat to their duties and wille down baring their fangs. This is hardly about the results of the experiment but instead the storm you''re causing due to crossing an invisible line."


    However, even with all of that, Soifon calmly returned another question, "Isn''t going past the limit of 30 days very beneficial to you since I''ll produce more valuable data? I didn''t think you''d disagree with me this strongly. Besides, all the reasons you gave hardly affect you and your group. If someone is sacrificing something, it''d be me."


    Kisuke sighed strongly, "If Yoruichi was here, she''d strongly disagree."


    "There''s no point in mentioning someone who isn''t here."


    Kisuke thought that that would do the trick but it was instantly brushed off, "Did ess to Magic Power and Ki affect your head? Aren''t you just drowning in power and wanting more of it?"


    From Kisuke''s experiments, he discovered that Soifon was verypatible with Magic and that she was already capable of casting elemental attacks on par with Captain-level Shikai. In contrast to that, Yoruichi and Kisuke''spatibility with Ki and the main reason why they took the ''Reiatsu-Ki'' route. He doesn''t know if this is the side effect of the experimental body or Soifon''s own individuality, ''By letting her settle in that body, I might be able to find the real reason out, but...''


    "I won''t deny that, but I can assure you that it isn''t my motivation for this decision."


    Kisuke carefully stared at her, especially her demeanor, "Hooh? It doesn''t look like you''re lying, but I could just attribute that to your skill."


    Soifon shrugged, "What benefit would I get from lying to you? You''d basically be holding the leash of my life. Any dishonesty on my part means me being closer to death or maybe something even more horrific."


    "I''m d that you understand that, but I still can''t really allow this. What''s your motivation in the first ce for you to act like this?"


    "It''s nothing amazing... I just want to be a pioneer."


    "Pioneer?"


    Soifon nodded eagerly, "I didn''t say this to you, but after watching everything that you''ve shown me, something I kept dormant was stirred greatly. You could call it ambition, but it''s my hidden desire to leave the shadows and walk in front of everyone."


    Kisuke didn''t interrupt and even urged her to continue speaking. He wanted to know where she wasing from after revealing this.


    "All my life, I''ve been following orders. I don''t see anything wrong with that since it''s also a duty that I have to fulfill. However, since childhood, I have had these bouts of ambitious motivations whenever I see something amazing. I was able to grant this hidden desire of mine but only for a few moments."


    Kisuke thought back and remembered that Soifon never really became the ''leader'', ''Only for a few moments... Wait, could it be?''


    "Shunkou?" Kisuke briefly asked.


    Soifon nodded again, "When I thought I was threading a new path different from everyone else, it turned out Yoruichi-sama already mastered it."


    "And now you could see a new path?"


    "Yes. I can''t stop thinking about it and these past few months it''s getting harder and harder to hold myself back the more I learn about this Magic and Ki."


    "And finally you decided to follow your heart regardless of the risk?"


    "Don''t get me wrong. I know it''s risky, but I''ve still weighed it properly. If I knew that I''m just throwing away my life, I wouldn''t even ask about this."


    Kisuke became quiet again and Soifon looked at him with anticipation.


    A few secondster, Kisuke turned around and said, "I''ll give you a day. Think hard and carefully about it. If you still haven''t changed your mind by then, we''ll proceed with what you want."


    Soifon gleefully followed Kisuke who resumed his steps, "Fine. I''ll give it my final thoughts tonight."


    "However, never forget that you''re not putting your foot forward but jumping into an abyss where you can never get out from."


    "...I''ll keep that in mind."

 Chapter 1171 Return to Seireitei

    Chapter 1171 Return to Seireitei


    Kisuke already expected it but Soifon really didn''t change her mind. He still can''t fully understand her motivation since he was never ambitious. But if he''s going topare it to his thirst for knowledge and overall curiosity, then he could somehow rte.


    "So you''re going to return like this, huh?"


    Soifon finished checking her body and Zanpakuto''s condition and said, "Yes. That''s why let''s set our stories straight."


    Kisuke rubbed his chin for a few seconds before saying, "Let''s go with your Spiritual Body not being able to survive the dposition and I had no choice but to put your soul in an experimental Physical Body called a Homunculus. It took us 3 months to stabilize everything so you could only return now. Regarding your abilities, just tell them that various books about Magic and Ki are scattered in this base and I just let you do what you want and would only interfere if you''re doing something wrong or dangerous."


    "That doesn''t sound like I''m a captive."


    "Because you''re not. You''re a patient, and an amusing Shinigami trying her hands on new toys."


    "Do you really have to phrase it like that?"


    "Yes. And don''t forget to tell them that. I don''t want them to think that I''m on their side. I want to maintain my neutrality."


    "And if they ask your name?"


    "Belial. Just call me Belial."


    "Same as those kids''st names?"


    "Yes. It''s the name of our household on the other side and the name of the Devil our n originated from."


    "Devil, huh? I still can''t believe something like that exists I''m going now." Soifon turned around to the portal that''ll lead her back to the Human World. Since normal Humans were capable of seeing her, she''s wearing casual clothes that are appropriate for the season. But although they looked normal, they were specially made clothes that are even stronger than Lieutenant-level Shihakusho.


    Soifon stepped into the Human World and even though it was just three months, she still missed the air, ''It''s the Human World... But there''s something slightly different.''


    Kisuke was about to close the portal and he remembered something and asked, "By the way, you never once released your Bankai. What are you trying to hide?"


    Soifon turned her head to him with a grin and answered, "My ace."


    .


    .


    .


    Soifon first walked around the Human World and although it was small in number, there were a few nces that went her way and it bothered her greatly. It was a very different experiencepared to when she''s a Shinigami. She doesn''t know if this is how those who constantly used a Gigai felt since unlike them, she had no limitations to her abilities and her instincts were always kicking in to use them for her own convenience, ''I can''t just suddenly disappear from their sights. This is more annoying than I thought.''


    Nevertheless, it was still a good thing for her to experience this to prepare herself for the future. After roaming around for about an hour, Soifon decided to find a deste ce and open a Senkaimon.


    Thankfully, they hadn''t revoked her authority to open one, or else her only option was to go through the Garganta or call for another Shinigami to open a Senkaimon for her.


    After making sure that there''s nothing wrong with it and that she had a Hell Butterfly apanying her, she went through the door she opened and found herself passing through the only permanent Senkaimon in the Seireitei.


    The moment she stepped out, one of the two guards addressed her with a startled voice, "C-Captain Soifon! You''ve returned! But those clothes..."


    Soifon''s strict expression didn''t change as she turned to the one who talked to her, "There are various circumstances for this. Is the Captain Commander in his barracks now?"


    The guard became nervous because Soifon sounded pissed, "The Captain Commander and the other Captains should be in the 1st Division barracks right now for a meeting!"


    "I see. Good work. I''ll report to the Captain Commander first."


    "Yes! Understood!"


    Soifon stopped paying attention to the guards and used sh Step to get off the tower where the Senkaimon was.


    Naturally, her arrival was immediately detected by those skilled enough.


    Within the 1st Division Barracks, all the Captains were called to discuss the subsequent actions they should take to Hell since Mayuri just announced that he found a way to avoid Hell''s Punishment without relying on Kazui''s ability.


    And just as Shunsui was about to adjourn the meeting, they all felt Soifon''s Reiatsu appear within the Seireitei.


    Most of them turned in the direction of the Senkaimon that just emitted a pir of light and Isane merrily muttered, "Finally..."


    Since they could all tell that Soifon was making her way to the 1st Division Barracks, they decided to wait with Shunsui saying, "It looks like we have another subject of importance for today."


    "I will readjust your schedule for today." Nanao, the only non-Captain in the room, said while fixing the position of her sses.


    "Couldn''t you just cancel everything?"


    "No."


    While listening to Nanao and Shunsui bicker, Soifon arrived at the front door, "Captain Commander, Captain of the 2nd Division reporting." Since the meeting had already started, Soifon didn''t want to just head in without saying anything.


    Shunsui sighed and properly sat down, "Come in."


    Soifon entered the room and everyone''s eyes immediatelynded on her, with all of their attention except for one person gathered at one point. The dark blue cks pants, beige colored polo shirt, and a gray baggy hoodie, ''The world of the living''s clothes?'' they wondered.


    However, their focus was broken when all of a sudden, Mayuri pulled out his Zanpakuto and released his Shikai.


    Everyone else subtly created distance from each other while Shunsui frowned, "Kurotsuchi-kun, mind telling us what you''re trying to do?"


    "Just a bit of a precaution." Mayuri instantly answered, maintaining his eyes on Soifon, "More importantly, I want to confirm something."


    Shunsui nced at Soifon, then to the other Captains also wondering what was going on, and finally back to Mayuri, "Go on."


    "All Gigai, except for specially made ones, are automatically destroyed upon passage through Senkaimon, correct?"


    ''Gigai?'' Shunsui and the others asked themselves while returning their sights to Soifon. It was then that they understood that Soifon had a Physical Body. Although it''s strange, they still don''t get why Mayuri suddenly pulled out his weapon.


    Mayuri nced around and was disappointed that they hadn''t caught on yet so he continued, "But no matter how special a Gigai is, there should be no way for her to use her abilities while in it. Of course, there''s an exception for a disposable Gigai but that''s still in experimental stages and I haven''t released any of them nor are any of them unounted for."


    "!?" They finally realized where Mayuri was getting at.


    =============================================


    AN (March 6, 2024):


    Announcement~!


    I''ll be taking a week off. The whole reason is posted in my pat reon @goyya00.


    But in short, I''ll be dedicating all of my free time to my studies in hopes of passing an assessment that will give me a good-paying job. My chances are low, but I''m taking my shot.


    Thank you for your understanding and please enjoy the chapters~


    Have a great day!

 Chapter 1172 Returning to Seireitei part 2

    Chapter 1172 Returning to Seireitei part 2


    In the middle of all of this, Soifon remained calm, "As expected of Captain Kurotsuchi, you instantly noticed it.


    She then turned to Shunsui and asked for permission, "Should I narrate my report here?"


    Shunsui became very worried about what this report could entail, ''But since she''s here, she must have reached some sort of agreement with him. I can only trust his work.''


    Soifon nodded and started narrating what she ''found out''. Meanwhile, Mayuri took back his Zanpakuto and intently listened. Of course, there''s still some doubt in his mind that the woman speaking is not Soifon herself, but someone else entirely, ''If someone could transfer a Shinigami''s soul into a Physical body and still have their abilities... This is going to send waves through the noble ns.''


    Starting from the existence of Magic and Ki and how to use them, to some information about Serafall, the other teenage girls, and the mysterious man. Thankfully, she practiced what she had to say because Soifon had to be careful not to elude Ophis, Lilith, and nna''s existences.


    "Sitri Serafall and Belial ire are ''Devils''. Belial Kunou is a ''Fox Demon''. Belial Tanis is a ''Dragon''. And the masked man is unknown... What is that supposed to mean?" Iba Tetsuzaemon interrupted Soifon and loudly muttered.


    Soifon turned her head towards him and said, "You''ll understand it better if you were to think that they are not Humans, Shinigami, Quincy, Hollows, or Fullbringers."


    Small and multiple discussions instantly erupted upon Soifon answering the question, trying to dissect the words she used. While there are multiple ''races'' that exist within Soul Society, they are, all in all, categorized as Spiritual beings. So it''s a bit hard for them to think about beings that suddenly appeared out of nowhere that aren''t under that category and use an entirely different form of power.


    Shunsui pped his hands to interrupt everyone, "Let''s have Soifon finish her report first. We can have all the discussions we need after."


    Everyone became quiet and let Soifon continue.


    And finally, she moved to the currently most important matter, "As for the reason why I have a Physical body, it''s because my Spiritual body was beyond saving."


    "..." Mayuri creased his brows.


    "After getting hit by Baraggan''s miasma directly on my chest, it was supposed to have been certain death for me. The masked man, who wanted to be called Belial, figured that there was no point in saving my body and instead transferred my soul into an experimental body he was working on called Homunculus."


    "Not a Gigai?" Mayuri asked.


    Soifon shook her head, "No. Unlike a Gigai that only temporarily houses a Spiritual body, this is apparently something more permanent."


    Most of the Captains instantly understood the implications of that and had their eyes widened, "...Then, does that mean..."


    "I''m stuck like this, until the end of my life." Soifon continued Isane''s words, "I had to stay for more than three months at their side to stabilize my situation. But because this is the first instance of this happening ording to Belial, I have to return to him at regr intervals for checkups and further adjustments. While I can use my Shinigami abilities right now, the creator of this body doesn''t know what side effects could stille up."


    Isane covered her mouth at the unbelievable scenario and didn''t know what to say.


    Silence descended upon the room with only the sound of breathing could be heard.


    "...And did you find out for what reason he created something like this?" Mayuri suddenly asked after the silence.


    Soifon stayed still for a moment before shaking her head, "No. He didn''t mention anything that could be pointed in that direction. Whenever I talk about it, he''ll just dodge it or talk about the condition of my body. However, I do have some guesses."


    Mayuri''s eyes shined, "Anything is fine, tell us what you think about it."


    "It seems that Belial was also trying to find a way to neutralize the immortality of those who fell in Hell and once mentioned something along the lines of [They are using Magic constructs as bodies.] I''m not really sure what that meant, but I have a feeling that this and that are rted."


    .


    .


    .


    The meeting that extended for another few hours finally ended. And as expected, Mayuri wanted to perform a ''check up'' on Soifon. Naturally, Soifon instantly refused as she knew that his ''check up'' could probably mean dissecting her. He only backed off after exining that Belial didn''t allow any check-up by anyone other than him because of theplex nature of Soifon''s situation and any mistake could mean disaster for all those involved.


    Everyone except for Soifon, Shinji, Nanao, and Shunsui left. The captains, except of course for Zaraki who didn''t really care, had multiple questions that they wanted answered but for now, they were asked to return to their posts to prepare for the uing operation.


    Shunsui was about to speak up but Soifon stopped him by raising her left hand to him. Her right hand then took out a smartphone from the pocket of her hoodie and took a quick nce at it, "Alright. It looks like there are no bugs around." Soifon murmured.


    "And that is?" Shunsui asked after Soifon put down her hand.


    "His nifty gadget that detects bugs, especially the ones made by Mayuri. It should work for a while."


    Shinji sighed and said, "In the first ce, shouldn''t we move somewhere more private?"


    "We can''t." Soifon immediately refused, "It''ll only raise more suspicion. And now that I''ve confirmed that there shouldn''t be anyone watching or listening in, this is the safest ce we can talk in secret."


    Shinji understood where she wasing from and asked another question, "What would you do if there''s a bug?"


    "Then we can postpone it until we can get a good opportunity again. There''s really nothing else we can do."


    Shinji looked at Shunsui and the nervous Nanao. With the former nodding his head, Shinji turned his head back to Soifon and asked, "How is Kisuke doing?"


    Soifon closed her eyes in frustration and sighed, "Still as energetic as ever... annoyingly so."


    "And is there something you can tell us about them?" It was Shunsui''s turn to ask.


    "...I apologize, but there''s nothing."


    Shunsui furrowed his brows, "Why?"


    However, Soifon shut her mouth and only shook her head.


    "I see..." Shunsui leaned back and thought of something else before speaking again, "What about information? He must have shared some with you."


    Soifon nodded, "Yes. But before that, I''d like to know if there are any reports that came in from the Kurosaki family."


    "No. None whatsoever. What about it?"


    "On the day of the attack on Hell, the Kurosaki family were also attacked."


    "Wait, what?" Shinji became highly concerned, "But we received nothing like that."


    "Of course. It is to protect the identity of the attackers from Szayporro''s eyes."


    Soifon then proceeded to exin to the three of them what transpired in the Kurosaki Household.

 Chapter 1173 Flames of a Great Man

    Chapter 1173 mes of a Great Man


    As soon as Soifon had left, Kisuke also made his way to the deepest and most secluded corner of the underground facility. There was a closedrge metallic door and after operating a few switches, it opened to reveal a very small space. Within that small space, a portal manifested, showing a scenery that was very simr to the Underworld.


    Kisuke stepped through the portal and immediately fell down directly onto the massive manor in the middle of Oath Town.


    Some of the citizens of the town saw Kisuke''s arrival but only gave a quick nce before going on with their day. After all, they''ve already seen this scene ur multiple times.


    Kisuke got off the roof and went through a window where a guard was waiting for him, "Where are they?"


    "They''ve been out for more than three weeks. However, they sent and left a message for you a few days ago, Sir Belial." The guard answered while passing a sealed envelope containing a letter to Kisuke.


    Skeptical, Kisuke first examined the envelope itself before moving to open it. Since he had no proof that it was really the leaders of Oath Town who sent this letter, he had to be careful.


    As there wasn''t anything special in the letter, Kisuke proceeded to read its contents but only found a messily drawn map with few directions at the bottom. Kisuke looked at the guard and asked, "How did you receive this?"


    "Through the mayor''s messenger bird."


    "I see. Thank you for your work. I''ll be leaving first."


    "Have a safe journey."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke ended up traveling for a whole day even though he sped up as much as he could to reach his destination, ''If I''ve guessed it correctly, Saito-san and Shihouin-san should have already made contact with Ichimaru-san and Sasakibe-san. But it could also mean that this is a trap.'' This also made him realize that Hell was a muchrger ce than he initially anticipated.


    As he neared the ce marked on the crude map, Kisuke immediately donned his disguise ''Belial''. And while he was at it, he noticed that the surrounding area has noticeably be drier and the temperature was constantly rising even though it''s the coldest time of the night, ''So they really found him.''


    What''s more surprising, however, is the fact that he couldn''t see a hint of mes that should be raging now along with the rise of temperature. Kisuke thought that if it really was him marked on the map, he should already be seeing something akin to a small sun lighting up the region.


    Thankfully, this was soon answered when he passed through a mountainous region and saw a 50-meter radius area lit on fire, and around it were five individuals trying to contain the mes and the skeletons emerging from it.


    Kisuke immediately stopped flying, hid his presence, and watched what was happening from a distance for now while crossing his arms.


    He first looked at the source of the heat and found an old man quietly sitting cross-legged in the middle. Kisuke wasn''t entirely sure if that man was the man he was expecting because aside from the familiar attire and build, there was nothing else that he could identify him with as he didn''t have a face.


    More specifically the old wrinkled man''s head doesn''t have any flesh and could only see a ck skull with a faint red light within his eye sockets.


    Kisuke was only able to confirm that the man he was looking at was the former Captain Commander Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto thanks to his Ryuujin Jakka sticking out of the ground behind him.


    As for the skeletons around him, Kisuke had already guessed that they were from Yamamoto''s Zanpakuto''s ability to summon the corpses of those it killed.


    As for the five people, Kisuke was familiar with four of them and had already been expecting their presence when he came here. Those who tried to abduct Ichigo''s son, Chojirou Sasakibe and Gin Ichimaru and those who he had been in contact with and the ones running Oath Town, Furoufushi Saitou, and Chika Shihouin.


    Kisuke''s eyes finallynded on thest person and it was someone he didn''t know. She was a petite woman with pale skin,rge eyes, thin eyebrows, andrge breasts. She had ck hair arranged intorge bangs and a hip-length segmented ponytail tied up with red ribbon, and worerge, thin-rimmed sses in addition to the standard captain''s haori over a shihakushou, as well as red sandals, ''If she''s one of the founding members of the Gotei 13 too, then there''s only one person with a description like that.''


    But while Kisuke was staring at her and trying to figure out his identity, the woman''s head suddenly snapped in his direction and their gazes met, ''Hmmm? How?'' Kisuke asked himself, surprised.


    The woman cut off the skeleton''s head that wasing in her direction before pointing her Zanpakuto in the form of a naginata with a white double-edged de, a golden shaft ridged at both ends with a rubber grip-like texture, and arge golden tassel tied in a three-loop knot at the opposite end of the de.


    ".ho ar. .ou!?" The woman shouted. Thanks to the distance, the strong blowing wind, and the rustling leaves of the trees, Kisuke could barely hear her words, however, he could understand her question that was apanied by dense killing intent.


    The other four immediately noticed her action and turned to the direction she was facing.


    While Gin and Chojirou were confused at his appearance, Furoufushi and Chika were relieved when they saw him. Immediately after that, Furoufushi angrily gestured to Kisuke to help them out if he was here while Chika exined the situation to the other three.


    Without much choice, Kisuke approached the group while feeling the temperature around increasing significantly but not as much as he expected.


    As Kisukended more than ten meters away from Furoufushi, thetter immediatelyshed out at him, "If you''re already here, then help out! It''s very hard for us to contain this, you know?! I don''t think we''llst for another few days"


    "If you''re not going tost that long, what''s the point of me helping out? Or more importantly, what''s the point of stopping this if you have no n of addressing the root cause of this?", replied Kisuke while analyzing the situation further.


    "You''re smart, right?" Furoufushi asked while cutting the skeleton that was approaching, "We''re hoping that you''ll have a solution for this before the old man loses control of himself... But it took you three whole weeks to get here."


    Kisuke didn''t say anything immediately and looked around more. A few more secondster, he finally understood the situation, or at least, what was happening right now. Furoufushi and the others are using their Reiatsu to create a wall and contain the heat. Meanwhile, Kisuke has guessed the old man Yamamoto is trying to reign in his raging powers but that''s obviously not working as the mes were only getting worse.


    "How long can youst, exactly?", asked Kisuke deciding what course of action he should take.


    But instead of Furoufushi, it was the woman he didn''t know who answered, "Three days. If Furoufushi were to release her Reiatsu, she could hold on for another two days just by herself."


    Kisuke looked at her for a few moments to contemte the feasibility of what he wanted to do, "Three days, hmmm... I guess that''s enough, but it''s cutting it a bit close."


    "You have a n?", asked Furoufushi with a hopeful expression.


    Kisuke nodded while starting to fly off, "Yes. But it''ll take some time. After the third day, I''ll give everyone a signal. At that moment, please push back against the old man with everything you have. I''ll just need a small window when his mes are not as strong as this."

 Chapter 1174 Flames of a Great Man part 2

    Chapter 1174 mes of a Great Man part 2


    Three dayster, everyone was resting to restore their depleted Spiritual Power, however, they couldn''t properly do so because they can''t believe what they are seeing right now.


    "And that settles it." Kisuke looked at his work and dusted his hands in satisfaction.


    The old man in the middle was still there, the raging mes were still trying to destroy everything around it, and the skeletons were still roaming around, full of hate. However, neither the mes nor the skeletons could find anyone to pour their hatred into.


    Yamamoto''s Zanpakuto still dominated the 50-meter radius territory but it didn''t expand beyond that even without the Reiatsu of the 5 strong individuals pushing back against it.


    The reason for this is because Kisuke locked the territory within a barrier that brought them into another dimension just like how he hid his base on Mars. It''s not asplicated or as strong as the one he did on his base since one could break away from this one by just teleporting outside of the barrier. However, it became a very effective barrier if the one trapped inside it didn''t know any spatial movement techniques.


    Kisuke walked around the barrier to check for any holes before walking inside Yamamoto''s territory. Despite the mes licking him, it didn''t actually touch him and there is no heat emanating from them. After all, what they were seeing right now is just a visual and auditory illusion of what''s happening in another dimension.


    "...What did you do?" Chika Shihouin asked after standing up and imitating Kisuke by walking inside the mes. To his surprise, there really was no heat that could be felt.


    "Sent this ce into a pocket dimension. Since that ce is being supplied with necessary air and energy from the outside, he won''t be suffocated. He also has a Magic body so he won''t be starving to death." Kisuke casually answered while walking around the cross legged Yamamoto, ''I can check his situation from here, but as expected, if I want more in-depth details, I''ll have to be within the same space as him.''


    But of course, while everyone listening understood the words he just spoke, they couldn''t understand what it meant.


    "In other words, the old man is safe and won''t be able to hurt others?" The bespectacled woman asked.


    "For now."


    "For now?"


    Kisuke turned away from Yamamoto and faced the woman he didn''t know, "Yes. It''s a tricky barrier that''s hard to get in and get out of, however, there''s still a limitation to its durability. If the old man keeps increasing the power he''s releasing, he''ll soon forcefully destroy it."


    And as soon as he said that, everyone saw that the mes started getting smaller.


    "So he can hear us. This is a lot better." Kisuke muttered while turning back to him, "Old man, I''ll be looking for a way for you to get out of those controlling ck chains, but for now, I''d like it if you could keep yourself in check. If you think you can''t hold on anymore, just intensify your mes so that it would be obvious to us. That way, even if you can''t talk, we''ll still see when we need to take action."


    There are no further changes within his surroundings but Kisuke knew that he heard him.


    Kisuke then turned back to the group and said, "Let''s move to the other side of the mountain before we talk. I know you guys have a lot of questions, but not here."


    Gin stood up from the ground and dusted himself, "Why?"


    "These ck chains control their host through emotional distress. While we could have a safe talk, we don''t really know what''s going to trigger it so it''s safer to just move theplicated talks away from here lest we cause something irreversible."


    Chojirou also stood up from the ground and said, "I''m staying here."


    Kisuke nodded at him and said, "That''s what I was going to ask you. Although these chains could bring the old man to further ruin through emotional distress, the opposite is also true and possible. It seems that you know him well so apanying him through these hard times could slow down his descent to insanity. Who knows, maybe a miracle could even ur."


    After finishing his piece, Kisuke flew off.


    Everyone else looked at Chojirou who''s now looking at Yamamoto with a mncholic, but also relieved expression. After a few seconds, each of them followed Kisuke one by one with Gin thest remaining.


    "I''ll be fine," Chojirou said without looking back.


    "I see. But remember this, you''re also in the same state as the old man Yamamoto. If those ck Chains trigger their effect, not just you, but you''ll also bring him down with you. Be careful."


    Chojirou nodded, "I will. Thank you for everything until now."


    "Thank meter. We''re not yet done." Gin turned around and jumped into the sky.


    Gin soon arrived where everyone was and saw that there was a nice round table and chairs set up for everyone to sit infort, ''...Just who is this guy?''


    As soon as he arrived, a round of introductions started going and Kisuke guessed, the bespectacled woman was one of the founding members of the Gotei 13 named Katori Batsu''unsai, the first captain of the 8th Division.


    Naturally, Kisuke introduced himself as Belial, and Chika and Furoufushi kept their word and didn''t tell anyone his real identity.


    "Before we start talking about what should we do with the former Captain Commander, I first want to hear about the other founding members of the Gotei 13 and the former Captains that have arrived at this ce throughout the years." Kisuke started.


    Right now, 7 out of 13 founding members were already ounted for. He wanted to know what happened to others, including the other Captains that are strong enough to be sent to Hell.


    Furoufushi leaned her body on the table and answered, "Three of us have already died... As for the rest of the Captains, most of them were hunted down or eaten."


    Kisuke and Gin''s eyes widened at her statement, "Hunted down? Eaten?" Asked the former. Since he never really asked, this is the first time Kisuke has heard about this.


    "Hunted down by the [Chained] to gain more strength. Eaten by unknown monsters in the depths of Hell. It''s as simple as that."

 Chapter 1175 Invading the Palace

    Chapter 1175 Invading the Pce


    Chika and Katori remained silent as Furoufushi exined the situation in Hell as they understood it.


    After the first Quincy Great War, the founding members of the Gotei 13 didn''t reach Hell at the same time as they all aged differently. However, Furoufushi, Chika, and Katori are all in agreement that they wish that they all died at the same exact time. Because maybe, that way, they wouldn''t find themselves in the situation they were currently in.


    The first one to go was Saizou Sakahone, the oldest of them all. He didn''t die of old age. Saizou knew that his time was almost up but he still couldn''t give up his bloodthirst. So as his final act of brilliance, he went to the Hueco Mundo and began a massacre that took the lives of countless Hollows. He died in battle, but they never thought that it was the start of their tragedy.


    Upon the old man''s death, the rest of the founding members of the Gotei 13 realized that they were the greatest threat to the peace they fought so hard for. So in theing years, without saying a word with each other, some took their own lives while some followed Saizou''s footsteps.


    Even without an agreement, it was decided that Unohana and Yamamoto would stay behind to keep the Soul Society military running for the future generations toe.


    "I won''t go into detail about who went in first because that''s not important. The crucial thing is that we were fooled by Sakahone. Not knowing what it meant to be [Chained], some of us were tricked into thinking that we could do whatever we wanted and those who didn''t follow what he wanted were killed with some sess. This is a gross oversimplification, but that''s the gist of it."


    Furoufushi clenched her fist tight but immediately loosened it along with a long sigh, "Thank God though that we were able to survive long enough to remove our chains."


    Kisuke almost chuckled because Furoufushi suddenly started thanking a nonexistent God, "And these unknown monsters?"


    "We call them unknown monsters because we don''t know what they are." Chika answered, "We knew some people who ventured deep into unexplored regions and some witnesses said that they were eaten by some unknown entity from far away. To this day, we''re still trying to figure out the veracity of these reports but since none have returned alive from exploring the depths, we don''t have any information about it."


    Kisuke closed his eyes to think, ''Sounds dangerous, but with a remote [Homunculus], I should be able to explore it.''


    He then tossed the idea to the back of his head and continued asking, "What about the [Chained] gaining more power?"


    "We are also not sure ourselves." Furoufushi scratched the top of her head, "Since we''re not [Chained] ourselves, we don''t know where they got the idea of killing other strong individuals grants them more power. However, it''s a fact that only those who still have the ck chains on their bodies are capable of manipting or utilizing Hell''s Blessing. It''s one of the reasons why we attacked you when we first met."


    Kisuke nodded before turning his attention to the quiet Gin, "What about you, Ichimaru-san? Will you share your method of leaving Hell despite being an [Unchained]?"


    At Kisuke''s questions, the three former captains'' eyes all widened and hurriedly turned their heads to him, "You can leave Hell!?" Furoufushi shouted.


    Gin was momentarily startled by the sudden attention to him but instantly recovered his demeanor and feigned a cough to clear his throat, "I don''t really mind but I doubt any of you could replicate it."


    "Anything will do, what is it!?" Furoufushi and the other two don''t intend to leave Hell but there are also other people like them. If there''s a method, they want to make proper countermeasures against it, ''The Human world will be overrun by them who can''t let go of the fact that they''re already dead.''


    Gin smirked and answered, "Technically speaking, I''m still one of those people who you call [Chained], however, I managed to get off it by letting my Hollow side take over the chains."


    The three former Shinigamis were confused by his words but Kisuke''s figurative light bulb lit up, ''So that''s it! I forgot that he''s one of Aizen''s men and should have also awakened their Hollow side. Since he never used it back then, I assumed that he just didn''t receive the awakening of the Hougyoku.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke returned to his base after hiding the spot where Yamamoto was sealed. Meanwhile, the other former captains left to search for Unohana and Juushirou. Although their characters would allow them to reject the whispers of the ck chains, they still need to search for them before the other side finds them.


    Kisuke wanted to help them as he wanted to reduce the risk of their enemies increasing but he had more important things to do.


    "Benihime, are you ready?"


    After a few seconds, Kisuke received a reply, [Anytime.]


    "Alright. Tiamat, return to me."


    A few secondster, a tanto de appeared in his hand, [Since you''re calling me, will it be a dangerous venture?]


    Kisuke nodded while hiding the tanto de within his sleeve, "Incredibly so. There''s even a chance that my identity will instantly be revealed the moment I step into that ce."


    [And if that were to happen?]


    "We''ll escape to Hell." Kisuke made his way towards another room where yet another portal could be opened.


    Kisuke stood in front of the door where the portal would be opening and took a deep breath while strengthening his disguise, ''I have more than 20 escape routes prepared. That should be enough, no?''


    Kisuke then activated the portal and immediately jumped into it while also immediately closing it. The darkness around him felt very heavy and he could tell that he was going through several barriers that stopped spatial maniptions. However, these barriers were ''outdated''pared to the Evie and Etoulde technology of the space jump.


    A secondter, Kisuke found himself standing on a suspended half-circle white tform. Connected to this tform is a long paneled path suspended in the air, leading to arge floating cylindrical structure.


    Kisuke first looked up into this cylindrical structure before pulling out the tanto de from his sleeve and muttering, "Descend, Tiamat."


    Unlike the previous instance, there was no ''Goddess'' descending to this ne of existence. The tanto de in his hand immediately transformed into a green-tinted longsword with Dragon horns for its handguards.


    And as quietly as his Zanpakuto transformed, two figures also appeared out of nowhere, bearing their des at Kisuke, "How bold. This isn''t a ce you can just step into casually." The one on his left, swinging down a small de with a curved tip attached to a long wooden pole, muttered.


    "How did youe in?" Asked the one on his right while her golden skeleton arms rushed towards Kisuke.

 Chapter 1176 Invading the Palace part 2

    Chapter 1176 Invading the Pce part 2


    Kisuke blocked the spear-wielding Tenjirou Kirinji with Tiamat and Senjumaru Shutara''s golden arms with his left hand covered with various Magic barriers.


    Both of them were surprised mostly because both of them were not holding back and Kisuke blocked them without even being pushed back.


    After the initial sh, Tenjirou and Senjumaru jumped back and took some distance to observe the intruder more. The question of how he came in was much more important than his presence here so they need more information to pull out any reasonable conclusion.


    "Those strange geometric symbols, Magic, is it?" Senjumaru started first.


    And that question was soon followed by Tenjirou''s statement, "Not just that. I can smell the scent of both Shinigami and Hollow from you. Just who are you? Better yet, what are you?"


    But instead of answering their questions, Kisuke just said in his distorted voice, "I''m not here for the two of you."


    Tenjirou smirks and scoffs at him while taking a stance with his Zanpakuto, "That''s not something for you to decide."


    Senjumaru also prepared to attack but just as they were about to take a step forward, the strange man''s presence suddenly started to be hazy, "Let''s meet again on another asion."


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru were startled and hurriedly initiated their attacks. However, Kisuke didn''t do anything and their attacks went through him as his body dispersed like a mist, "!?"


    The next thing they knew, his presence was already deep inside the Spirit King''s Pce. The two of them realized that the moment they jumped back, he had already gone past them.


    "Should we follow?" Senjumaru asked Tenjirou.


    Tenjirou silently stares at the pce before turning back to his city, "He''s already there. Let''s just prepare for the next intruders. We still don''t know how he came in and if he''s alone."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Tenjirou disappeared.


    Senjumaru stared at the pce for a few moments too before turning to her own city, ''It''s only been more than a decade since thest invasion. I didn''t think another one would happen so soon.''


    .


    .


    .


    Standing in front of the crystalized man, Kisuke muttered his name, "Yhwach... So it''s really you who reced the Spirit King."


    "He''s the man who triggered a great war that cost countless lives and imed that he hated violence and conflict." A man''s voice suddenly resounded behind Kisuke, "Quite a hypocrite, eh?"


    Kisuke was not surprised and turned his head sideways, "You should be one of the few people who realized that that isn''t true."


    Therge and broad individual with a bald head, red eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a long ck beard grinned at him and asked, "I''m not really quite sure what you''re talking about."


    Kisuke sneered at him and turned his head back to the sealed Yhwach, "You should have realized that Yhwach only absorbed the Spirit King because he saw his own defeat."


    "And? What does that have to do with him being a hypocrite or not?"


    ''Because you intended to use Kurosaki-san as a recement upon the Spirit King''s death. That could potentially split the Soul Society apart, causing more unnecessary deaths even after the war. That''s nothing to you because all you have to do is to bnce things out, adding more to the tragedy.'' Kisuke thought to himself. He didn''t want to pan out the conversation because he was afraid that this perceptive monk would figure out more things about him.


    Seeing that the strange man remained quiet, the smile on his face disappeared, "Are you here to destroy the lynchpin?"


    "You wouldn''t have allowed me to stand here if I really intended to do that."


    "You have disrespected us who are guarding this ce so I''d really appreciate it if your reason for stepping into this ce is not because you just want to sightsee." An intense killing intent came pressuring down on Kisuke.


    "Of course not. As much as I want to make a mess of this whole ce, I just can''t casually stroll in here." Kisuke finally turned around and faced the leader of the Zero Division, Ichibei Hyousube, "I just wanted to confirm something from the very first Shinigami born from Hell."


    "Hooh... What an interesting statement to make.", Ichibei narrowed his eyes and held his gigantic calligraphy brush, "What do you want to know?"


    "Who had an agreement with Hell? Is it the Spirit King or the Five Ancestors?" Kisuke asked straight.


    However, Ichibei didn''t answer and just directly swung his calligraphy brush. But just like what happened with Tenjirou and Senjumaru, Ichibei only hit a misty image. The strange man''s presence was already gone.


    Ichibei tapped the end of his calligraphy brush on the floor and muttered, "What a strange ability. It''s neither Spiritual Power nor Hell''s Blessing." He wanted to hit him at least once to figure out his name but it seemed that the other party already knew his ability quite well and didn''t sh with him.


    After thinking for a bit, he went outside of the pce and swung his brush a few times, leaving behind a ck ink in the air which ultimately formed the word [Halt].


    Within the Garganta, Tiamat talked to Kisuke, [That man is very dangerous. You''re lucky to get out of there so smoothly.]


    "No doubt. It went so much smoother than I expected that it actually scared me."


    [Are you going to fight him?]


    "I don''t know about that yet, but most probably, yes."


    [You can''t win.]


    "I won''t deny that, but I already know someone who directly counters his abilities."


    Kisuke''s trip into the Soul Pce wasn''t just to confirm that the lynchpin was functioning as intended, but also to confirm if Ichibei came from Hell because his [Ink] reminded him of the ck chains. Although he didn''t really receive an answer, based on his reaction, Kisuke was able to confirm that there''s indeed an agreement with Hell with either the Spirit King or the Five Ancestors.


    ''Either way, I have to explore and know more about Hell to even understand Ichibei''s connection with it and the Spirit King''s warning.

 Chapter 1177 Urozakuro

    Chapter 1177 Urozakuro


    At the same time that Kisuke intruded on the Zero Division''s territory, Benihime teleported into a very dark ce where there were only a few dim lights that could be seen in the distance.


    "My, another new face." She was immediately greeted by a familiar voice on the side, "This ce is supposed to be a punishment of solitude, but it''s received quite a few visitors recently."


    Benihime''s long ck hair swayed as she turned away from the man bound into the pir, looking down at her, "I''m not here for you today, Sosuke Aizen." She''s being careful not to look at him, ''It''ll be a pain if I get caught in his hypnosis.''


    "You know me, but I don''t believe I know you. I''d really appreciate it if you introduce yourself." Intrigued, Aizen replied with interest. However, deep in his mind, he''s thinking, ''What is this sense of familiarity?''


    Ignoring him, Benihime looked around more and figured that she wouldn''t be able to find her target if she were to just search blindly. Andpared to Kisuke, her specs are very low since she''s just using a body to move around and never intended to fight with it. As a result of that, her senses are also not that much greater than a normal person, especially in a ce called Muken where everyone is forced into istion and only those with exceptional abilities can feel their nearest neighbors.


    Benihime isn''t sure how much time she has before someone detects her intrusion so raising her right arm, a Magic Circle appeared in front of her hand. Just like how Kisuke and others do it, her hand went through the Magic Circle but it never came out the other side.


    A secondter, she started pulling out her hand, and along with it was a vaguely Human-shaped, man-sized white doll.


    Aizen''s eyes slightly widened at this disy of strange ability. However, he''s more interested in the things that Benihime brought out, "Tenshintai (Change God Body)? I see... You''re trying to call her out."


    And just as he finished speaking, the Tenshintai that Benihime took out immediately started contorting and soon took the form of a rather tall, busty female with long ck hair fastened with a golden braid into a fan shape in the back, and two ponytails on either side. She had two straps covering both eyes, and wore argevender robe with veryrge sleeves, and ck lining around the shoulders, exposing her cleavage.


    "Kuhahaha~! Did you bring this out to y with me~!? Or were you expecting someone else to use this!? Too bad! I got in first so it''s mine now!" The woman, as opposed to her elegant appearance, maniacallyughed as she threw back her head, "By the way, who are you and how did you do that!?"


    "Tch." Benihime immediately clicked her tongue and crossed her arms, "And this is why I didn''t want to do this. You''re as noisy as ever."


    The loud woman wanted to talk and tease Aizen but stopped when she heard Benihime''s strange remarks, "Hmmm? Excuse me, but do I know you? I''m pretty sure that this is the first time we''ve met."


    Benihime didn''t say anything and released some Reiatsu of her own, which very closely resembled that of Kisuke and was only slightly different because she''s a Zanpakuto Spirit.


    At the release of her Reiatsu, both of the people present were surprised. But while Aizen still had no idea who she was , the loud woman could instantly guess it, "No way! Benihime-chan~! Is that really you!? How!?"


    "I have no time to exin anything outside of my reason for trying to be in contact with you, Urozakuro."


    The woman named Urozakuro smiled slyly and asked, "And that is~?"


    "Ask your master to go to Hell."


    "Hell no~!" Urozakuro''s immediate and cheerful reply.


    Nevertheless, Benihime was already expecting this and followed up, "You can torment your master in many more ways than before if you agree."


    "I''m suddenly interested! When should we go?"


    Benihime became briefly silent because she did not expect that to work well, "You''re as nasty as I heard too."


    "Please don''t believe everything that Kisuke-chan or Yoruichi-chan said! I''m really a good girl!"


    Benihime sighed and passed Urozakuro a map, "Go to this ce within the designated time. You''ll have the information that you''ll need to be prepared on-site."


    Urozakuro didn''t even nce at the map and took it by hand before it disintegrated into nothing, "Got it~! However, there''s a slight problem."


    "And that is?"


    "I don''t think my master will agree. He''s even ignoring me now even though he''s under the influence of Mayuri-chan''s drugs."


    "Just show him what I did just now. If you tell him that it''ll be a power that he''ll be able to use to protect the Soul Society, you should know if that''s going to be enough to convince him."


    "..." For the first time, Urozakuro became quiet and contemted. She knew that Benihime was a Zanpakuto Spirit that involves cuts and strings so what she had done to take out the doll earlier should have been an impossibility. And what''s strange now is that she checked the entirety of Muken but didn''t find Kisuke within it so it shouldn''t even be possible for Benihime to use the doll to have a moving body.


    After a few more seconds of silence, Urozakuro asked in an unusually serious voice, "Will that be included in the information we''ll be receiving?"


    "Of course. It''s essential if you want a fighting chance on that side." Benihime knew that she was already done here and took a step back. A secondter, a Magic Circle appeared underneath her feet, "It should be easy for your master to secretly leave this ce." After saying that, Benihime disappeared from Muken.


    "Spatial Maniption... But not through spiritual means... How interesting." Urozakuro murmured to herself before turning to the bound man, "What about you, Aizen-chan? Want to leave with us?"


    Aizen only smiled and said, "No."


    "I see. That''s a shame~" Urozakuro uttered before disappearing like dust.


    Left alone, Aizen finally found peace and quiet. However, he''d be lying to himself if he was not interested in Urozakuro''s offer, ''Not yet. I still don''t know what Kisuke Urahara is trying to do. Even now, I don''t know if he''s trying to raise chaos within Hell or just trying to remove Azashiro from the Soul Society.''


    .


    .


    .


    Instead of returning to the Human World, Benihime reappeared on the outskirts of the Rukongai District, ''I need a solid backstory before I can enter that organization.''


    Benihime started moving around the very poor district and it didn''t take long before she found what she needed, a group of scumbags beating up a defenseless kid who was trying to defend another kid who''s already a corpse, ''Killing a few thugs for ''revenge'' sounds good.''

 Chapter 1178 Infiltration Mission

    Chapter 1178 Infiltration Mission


    Benihime didn''t immediately save the kid, instead, she first modified her clothing to match the district she was in before adding some dust and grease to her ripped clothing, skin, and hair, making her look like a mental asylum patient who hadn''t bathed for weeks. Finally, Benihime slipped an ordinary-looking ck bracelet onto her left arm which immediately masked her Magic Body and Reiatsu, making it look like she was an average random Soul to a Shinigami''s senses.


    She then looked around and picked up a piece of lumber, breaking it into two pieces and picking the one with a sharper end.


    Benihime finished her preparation and started running towards the thugs beating up the child and aimed at the one furthest away from the group. Her hurried footsteps immediately caught the attention of several thugs and the one Benihime was aiming for looked annoyed, "Huh? Dirty bitch, this is no-"


    However, before he could finish speaking, Benihime suddenly sped up, and with a swing of the broken lumber, she pierced through his throat, spraying blood on her face.


    With a gurgling sound, the thug fell and struggled for a bit before the lights in his eyes disappeared.


    Everyone was shocked and stunned into silence at this unexpectedly bloody scene. The thugs were only able to react when Benihime started running away.


    "Y-you bitch!" One of them shouted at the top of his lungs and started chasing after her and was soon followed by the other thugs.


    Benihime turned her head around and made sure that they were following her, ''Good.'' She then turned a corner and thought to herself, ''They should be around here.''


    Soon enough Benihime felt the presence of the nearby patrolling Shinigamis after running for a few minutes. Once she was sure that the noise they''d be creating would be enough for them to notice, Benihime stopped and faced her pursuers, resuming her attack.


    The thugs were startled but didn''t back down from the challenge, however, their bravery didn''tst long as they started shouting in pain and horror.


    As Benihime wanted, the two patrolling Shinigamis noticed themotion and immediately began making their way through. But just as they were about to turn the corner where the blood-curdling screams wereing from, it all suddenly stopped.


    Confused, the two Shinigami looked at each other before taking a peek at what was happening.


    Upon seeing the scene, one of them wanted to throw up at the sight of the mutted bodies and ripped-out guts and eyes. In the middle of this bloody mess is a single dirty and bloodied woman standing quietly while clutching a piece of wood thoroughly soaked in blood and gore.


    The two Shinigami hurriedly pulled out their Zanpakutos, but thankfully, they didn''t have to do anything as the woman let go of her ''weapon'' and dropped to the ground, unconscious.


    They cautiously approached the crime scene and one of them said to others, "Go around and look for witnesses. Figure out what happened here."


    "Are you going to be fine on your own?"


    "She''s already unconscious. I''ll tie her up and bring her in."


    "Bring her in? Why? Isn''t it too dangerous to keep her alive?"


    "That''s why I''m asking you to ask around. Depending on what they say, the Seireitei will have a use for her."


    The other inexperienced Shinigami was still confused so he continued, "It takes a talent to ughter menrger than her with a single piece of wood. The Seireitei will want to have a talent like that and they''ll have a way to discipline her."


    Hearing their words, Benihime knew that she seeded in the first step, ''I knew there was a reason why Kisuke didn''t want me to meet Soifon and allowed me to y around for an extended period, but to think he''d ask me to infiltrate Onmitsukidou...''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke made sure that his tracks were erased and returned to their base.


    "Wee home. How did it go?" Waiting for him was Serafall who intended to secure an escape route for Kisuke if things didn''t go as nned.


    "I''m home. Better than expected." Kisuke disabled his disguise and sat down beside her.


    "Wouldn''t they send down an advisory to the Seireitei? How are you going to deal with that?"


    Kisuke stretched his limbs and Tiamat transformed back to her Humanoid form to get something to eat, "Chances are they wouldn''t do that. Those guys are top prideful and wouldn''t want to release the news that they were infiltrated and they let the infiltrator escape. Besides that, they don''t want to give an idea to anyone that there''s a hole in their security since it''s not just me who wants to enter that ce. At most, it''s just going be the Captains and top noble houses who''ll hear about this."


    "And if the news spreads and we be enemies to them, that''s fine too. The current Gotei 13 is too weak to do anything even against ire, Kunou, and Tanis."


    "...Are they really that weak?"


    "Their strongest pirs are gone and they haven''t recovered from war. It''s sad but that''s just the truth. And with the individuals from Hell breathing down their necks, they wouldn''t be able to afford to make an enemy of us. This is the reason why I chose to do this now."


    Serafall remained silent for a few moments before asking, "Isn''t it about time you tell me what you intend to do?"


    Kisuke also remained silent for a few seconds before he answered, "Not yet. I still need to investigate Hell to figure out the feasibility of what I want to do."


    "And if it''s not possible?"


    "Then there''s no point in staying here. We''ll return."


    Serafall sighed at his answer and changed the topic, "By the way, I enrolled ire, Kunou, and Tanis in another school in London. It''ll be our base of operations for now since there''s really nothing to do on this side with you here taking care of everything."


    "Good call since I''ll also be diving deep into my research. I''ll probably be going in theb and not going out for a week or two each time."


    "...That long?"


    "Nothing I can do about it. I won''t figure out anything if I don''t put in the time."


    Serafall started mulling over something with aplicated expression on her face, "Hmmmmm..... Yosh! I''ll help you out! I can''t help with Spiritual stuff but I can sure help out with the Magic side of things! Especially the pseudo-Demonic Power from Hell which I handle better than you!"


    If Kisuke was going to lock himself up, then Serafall might not be able to close the distance between them as she wanted. More importantly, she was feeling some threat from the Shinigami known as Soifon and since she''s going to be with Kisuke during his research time she doesn''t want to be overtaken.


    ''I got my chance when I managed to go with them. I''m not letting that go!''

 Chapter 1179 Names

    Chapter 1179 Names


    One year went by after Kisuke decided to focus on his research and during that time, only a few notable things happened, surprisingly. Due to how explosive the inhabitants of Hell were when they attacked the Human World, Kisuke thought that they''d do more things. But contrary to those expectations, after the ''Nine Gates'' incident, nothing else came up from their side and even after asking the [Unchained] what those who are [Chained] are up to, their area of activity was too far from them.


    They tried using Yamamoto''s aide, Choujirou Sasakibe to infiltrate their ranks but Szayporro Granz already discovered them secretly sneaking in the Human World without his knowledge and put a bounty on their heads.


    Nevertheless, the attacks of the Beasts of Hell never stopped with a few Gates opening here and there throughout the whole world, making the Seireitei and even the Wing Bind busy with their random attacks.


    Another thing to note is that the first Kenpachi, Unohana, and the former Captain of the 13th Division, Juushirou Ukitake, were still missing, and seemingly have disappeared from the world.


    As for Yamamoto himself, he could maintain his current state even with the difficulties he was facing.


    On the Eastern Soul Society''s side, however, there was a big change as the Seireitei''s personnel started training within the Human World a few months ago to learn more about Magic. Since Soul Society is technically devoid of any Magic Power and the Magic Power present in the Human World is brimming more than ever because each time the Gates open, a stream of it also rushes in.


    Of course, the nobles of the Sereitei couldn''t let their forces be left behind and coerced the Central 46 to allow their personnel to travel to the Human World.


    As of this moment, most of the Shinigamis who came to train already knew how to detect Magic Power, but in terms of utilizing it even for a bit, only a very select few were capable of it.


    "It became very busy around these parts, huh?" Serafall, in disguise, muttered while licking her ice cream and watching the Shinigamis running around in the sky.


    "It can''t be helped. They have to understand the power that Hell uses and discoveries are being made each passing day." Kisuke, also in disguise, replied while licking his ice cream.


    Right now, they are in a park to rest after Serafall dragged Kisuke out to y around, "But a few of them aren''t being careful. Many strange reports areing out in the Human World, you know? Sooner orter, specially gifted Humans will be able to feel these fluctuations of Magic Power and some of them might even be able to use it instinctively."


    Kisuke looked at Serafall in surprise and asked, "Is that how it goes?"


    "Yes. Never underestimate normal people because you don''t know what they are capable of once they discover their talent. It''s also because of this that Mephisto-chan decided to help Humans form a Magic system because he''s afraid that these few individuals destroy themselves and those around them by ying with fire. Well, it was also because of his personal interest."


    At that moment, both of their phones rang and when they opened it, they saw what seemed to be a burnt cake with the caption [Kunou doesn''t know when to stop burning things. ()]


    They both received the message from ire within the messaging app that Kisuke developed.


    One of the biggest changes during this past year is that ire, Kunou, and Tanis have already graduated high school and entered a higher level of education.


    Kisuke thought that they''d be going to a single university but was pleasantly surprised that they opted for universities that specialized in their choice of course.


    ire went for an engineering degree, while Kunou went for an arts degree, and finally, Tanis decided to go to a medical school.


    "It seems that they went to Ku-chan, Lanna-chan''s ce." Serafallmented and turned her head to Kisuke, "It''s been a while since we''ve all been together. Shall we go?"


    Kisuke nodded, "Alright. Soifon is alsoing today for her regr check-up so I''ll ask her to bring Ophis and Lilith with her."


    "By the way, I heard they got a promotion. How did it go?"


    "They took the 3rd and 4th seats respectively. Though that''s probably as high as they could go for now since they can''t call the names of their Zanpakuto."


    "It''s still amazing that they could get as high as that when it''s only been half a year since they entered the 2nd Division."


    While tapping on his phone, Kisuke answered, "Well, despite not being able to release their Zanpakuto and the asional failed Kidou, their basic specs are still at least on Captain-level so ying a bunch of Hollows and Beasts of Hell is pretty easy for them. On top of that, their stealth technique is topnotch which gives them even more achievement points for the 2nd Division. And if you''re surprised to see them rise in such a short amount of time, don''t be. While the Seireitei is very rigid, they won''t stop someone''s promotion just because they are ''young''. As long as they have what it takes, they''ll give them a proper position."


    .


    .


    .


    Later that day, Soifon came with Ophis and Lilith as nned.


    "Thanks for bringing them out. They must have been troublesome." Kisuke said while patting the heads of Ophis and Lilith who were wearing their Shinigami uniforms and had ran towards him and Serafall.


    Soifon shook her head and said, "It''s not that troublesome. As long as someone proves that they can learn Magic, it''s easy to get permission these days."


    Kisuke asked Ophis and Lilith to go with Serafall first and took out several syringes, a knife, and multiple test tubes to take some blood and flesh samples from Soifon.


    Thanks to Soifon''s very stable condition, all the in-depth check-ups only happen once a month now and Kisuke only requires some samples weekly.


    And while sealing the samples, Kisuke asked, "How long can they be absent?"


    "I can cover theirmunications for up to a month. If you want it extended, just give me a heads up and I''ll do something about it."


    Kisuke couldn''t help but smile at her answer, "I never thought that the Captain of the 2nd Division would allow something like this. If Captain Commander Kyouraku hears about this, he''d be very proud~!"


    Soifon immediately scowled at him and said, "Don''tpare me to thatzy bum." She then turned around and started walking away.


    "You''re leaving already? You''re not going to force me to treat you to a very expensive dinner?"


    "As much as I want to do it, Central 46 and the 5 Great Noble Houses are strangely wary of my position and activities so I can''t risk prolonged contact with you." Soifon waved her hand at them and disappeared among the passing crowds.


    The group stared in the direction she disappeared to for a bit before leaving. As soon as they left the narrow alley, Serafall turned to Kisuke and asked, "Are you not going to address that strange man staring?"


    Kisuke''s expression didn''t change and kept his walking pace, "Not yet. Let him do it for a while. He probably thought that he''s hidden from our senses so he''ll approach us on his own once he''s done observing."


    Ophis and Lilith''s situation was never exposed to the Seireitei after all this time so Serafall also doesn''t mind the stare, but she''s wondering who that guy is and why Kisuke is ignoring him.

 Chapter 1180 Names part 2

    Chapter 1180 Names part 2


    Kisuke, Serafall, Ophis, and Lilith teleported to Kunou''s ce which was in the quiet part of London.


    Upon arrival, they were immediately greeted by Kunou who led them inside where ire, Tanis, and nna werezing around.


    Since it''d been a while since the groupst gathered like this, they enjoyed their time while telling stories of each other''s ''adventures''. Because nna''s range of activity centered around London, it was decided that she''ll live with Kunou, who''d decided to attend the Royal College of Arts.


    Meanwhile, ire and Tanis bought and shared an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts because both of them were attending the Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology respectively.


    "...and thus, we settled down quite nicely." ire finished it up while munching on some cake that Kunou sessfully baked.


    Although they were now attending various universities, nothing had really changed aside from their schedules and living apart. Same as before, Kisuke and Serafall trusted them with freedom not normally granted to people of their age. After all, they are not really on the same level as normal young adults since from their childhood, they were taught how important responsibility is for they possessed power far beyond normal and could easily shape the world if they wanted to.


    If they were responsible with their power, there''s no reason not to trust them to live their day-to-day lives. Of course, ire, Tanis, and Kunou have to cooperate by consulting with Kisuke and Serafall whenever there''s a problem that they can''t solve.


    Kisuke stayed with them for a week, moving between London and Cambridge, until it was time for Soifon''s next general check-up.


    Before he left, however, Kisuke asked ire, "By the way, is the church still bothering you?"


    ire shook her head, "No. They haven''t contacted me these past few months. Thest I heard from them was when they were offering various benefits for me to enter any universities."


    Kisuke turned to Serafall and thetter immediately met his gaze, "They crossed the line so I already gave them a warning. They should have stopped stalking ire-chan now."


    Kisuke turned to ire again and said, "If you feel any prying eyes, you''re free to beat them up."


    "Isn''t that bad?" ire nervously asked. Serafall already said the same thing but her training doesn''t allow her to just suddenly use violence as easily. Not to mention, the amount of trouble it''ll cost to their daily peaceful lives and their only source of normalcy.


    "It''s bad, but you should know whether it''s unwarranted violence or not. And aside from that, you guys should already realize how much you can move the authorities."


    Kunou and Tanis also perked their ears when they heard Kisuke say that. Although not to ire''s extent, they were still beautiful girls who were subjected to a certain amount of harassment.


    "Your identities are not exactly a secret anymore and trust me when I say that even if you kill a man out there, within a few hours, you''ll have nothing to do with it."


    "T-that..." ire, Kunou, and Tanis were surprised, but they also understood how that was possible.


    "You''ve learned how to be responsible with your abilities, however, that''s not the only form of power you can wield now. Those who want to pull you to their side will do everything to curry favor with you. Pretending that this isn''t true is irresponsible because you''ll just end up forgetting about it and do more harm than good because you can''t control it.


    "So instead of not acknowledging it, you should learn how to use it for your own benefit. While you have a chance, you should learn how to use this advantage called influence. Of course, this is going to be a much harder form of power to use because if you''re not careful, you''ll realize toote that this power is actually already controlling you instead of the other way around."


    ire, Kunou, and Tanis all nervously stared at Kisuke because as he had said, they were trying to ignore it to live apletely normal life.


    Kisuke smiled at them and patted ire''s head, "It''s a given that you''ll be making mistakes, but let me remind you that there is an expert here in that regard." Kisuke took a peek at Serafall.


    At the same time, the girls also followed his gaze and looked at Serafall, "Ehem, as a former Devil King who took care of foreign affairs, just do what you think is right and I''ll give you a full review of the situation and a score on how well you did. Don''t worry about any mistakes for now since you''re just in the learning phase and I''ll guide you on how to fix it." She proudly dered as she tapped her chest with her fist.


    "T-then..." Tanis suddenly raised her hand and said, "There''s this guy that has been pestering me nonstop despite rejecting him on multiple asions."


    Serafall gave a thumbs up and replied with the brightest smile on her face, "Beat him up to a pulp!"


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    ire, Tanis, and Kunou immediately approached Serafall to get a consultation about the problems they didn''t mention because they see it as nothing special but annoying regardless. While they don''t have any particr problem themselves, Ophis and Lilith had also joined them.


    Kisuke grinned at their reaction and secretly left the girls'' meeting and when he was about to teleport away, nna approached him and said, "Boss, could you hear me out?"


    Kisuke looked at her for a moment and saw her serious expression, "Alright. Let''s move to another location."


    Kisuke didn''t really think of any specific ce so he just teleported nna with him in a random direction where there were less people.


    "Before anything else, I''d like to ask. What''s the deal with those swords?"


    Kisuke immediately knew that she was referring to Ophis and Lilith''s Zanpakuto so he gave her the answer she wanted.


    "I see... Those are the same swords that you hold." nna muttered to herself before facing Kisuke again, "Then we should probably warn them that they shouldn''t try anything like calling the names of those swords. Better yet, it''s better not to use them at all."


    Kisuke creased his brows and asked, "...Why?"


    "It''s because their names aren''t unknown. cky and little cky also probably also knew their names, but are just refusing in calling them with it, not really thinking hard about its implications."


    A certain individual immediately appeared in his mind and Kisuke understood the situation, "Are saying that instead of calling their names, Ophis and Lilith are trying to give them new ones?"


    nna nodded, "Exactly. And that''s causing a conflict that those two are royally ignoring because it''s not a threat to them and probably only see it as a challenge. I don''t know what being has given names to those swords, but it''ll be alerted the moment the names are overwritten. I didn''t really mention it to them because I thought that I should consult with you first and if there''s no problem alerting the one who gives names, we''ll just let them do what they want."


    "But you think it''s a problem."


    nna nodded once again, "I can''t really put my hand on it, but if this being is a hostile one, it''ll be quite a problem, especially for you and ''Benihime''."

 Chapter 1181 God of the Sword

    Chapter 1181 God of the Sword


    Kisuke asked nna to warn Ophis and Lilith regarding their Zanpakuto while he returned back to Japan in contemtion, ''I messed up. Just because it''s natural doesn''t excuse me for not noticing something very obvious. It''s not that Hyousube Ichibei knows the names of all Zanpakuto but he''s the one who granted them instead of the Shinigamis and Arrancars who owned them.''


    Kisuke soon reached the meeting ce with Soifon and thought to himself, ''I wonder if Aizen-san figured this out? Maybe it''s because of this that he wanted to discard his Zanpakuto but still retain its ability.''


    Although he really had aplicated rtionship with Benihime, Kisuke still couldn''t understand Aizen''s point of view on why he decided to discard his Zanpakuto until now. Benihime has always been a part of his life and there''s no question that Benihime was a part of his own soul. Maybe because of that, it felt so natural and he failed to question something so simple.


    "What''s the long face?", all of a sudden a voice came from his side and when he turned around, he saw Soifon staring at him.


    "How can you be sure of what''s behind my mask?"


    "Although I hate to admit it, I''ve known you long enough to figure out what expression you''re making just from your bodynguage." Soifon really hated to admit it on his face but his current expression terrifies her, "So what''s the bad news?"


    Kisuke shook his head with a sigh, "Nothing. I just overlooked something crucial."


    "It''s not going to be detrimental to us, is it?"


    "I noticed it before anything bad could happen, so it''s fine." Kisuke then took out the same tools to extract Soifon''s blood and flesh and immediately went to do his work methodologically.


    And while Kisuke was busy with his work, Soifon sent a telepathic message to Kisuke through Magic, [The Seireitei is finally moving. They want to secure a piece of territory in Hell.]


    [Where is it?]


    [I''m not really sure but they seem to be targeting a wide in and intended to build an outpost there.]


    [But even with personnelpletely trained in Magic, I doubt they''ll do something this big with all the threats looming.]


    [It''s still a secret and even I am not sure of its authenticity, probably to avoid the leak of information since we don''t exactly know where Szayporro is getting his information from, but it seems that Captain Kurotsuchi was able to develop a drug that significantly reduces our opponents'' regenerative ability while also putting them in extreme pain as they restore themselves.]


    [That''s amazing. How did he do it?]


    [I''m still gathering information with my men and the Visual Department but I suspect that he secretly travels to Hell with the captured Aaroniero Arruruerie to experiment with him.]


    [Aaroniero, huh? Nothing really beats a live sample. Maybe I should catch one for myself too.]


    [In any case, with funding and support from the nobles, things are moving incredibly fast and the first pioneers might be leaving today consisting of the members of the 12th Division with the aforementioned nobles'' private army.]


    [No one else volunteered?]


    [Several Captains wanted to go too but the Captain Commander forbade them, at least this and the next batch of the pioneers.]


    Kisuke finished his work and cured Soifon''s wounds with his Magic, [Thanks for the heads up. I''ll probably start moving too. I can use their movement as a smokescreen.]


    Soifon narrowed her eyes at him while fixing her clothes. It was already proven that he indeed had a few bugs roaming the Seireitei, ''But what exactly is the information he doesn''t have? Or is he pretending not to know?'' To this day, Soifon was still figuring out how much information was flowing to him from the Seireitei with only small sesses.


    "Well then, I''ll be taking my leave. I have to return to my barracks to prepare some of my men to go with the pioneers."


    Kisuke didn''t stop her and Soifon instantly disappeared from his sight. As soon as he felt her presence disappear, Kisuke suddenly spoke out loud, "I think it''s about time we speak, isn''t it?"


    A few secondster, from the shadows of the abandoned alley, footsteps began to ring as the sound of wooden sandals hit the concrete ground.


    Kisuke turned around and soon enough, light hit the figure of the stalker, "This is the first time we''re meeting, I believe? Nice to meet you. You can call me Belial."


    The dark-skinned man with thick, ck hair that is shaven and dyed green on the sides of his headpletely stepped out of the shadows and also introduced himself, "I wonder if it''s really our first time meeting, but nice to meet you too. I''m Nimaiya Ouetsu."


    Kisuke instantly became wary due to his first remark but he still retained his calm demeanor, "The Third Officer of the Zero Division, God of the Sword, I see. It''s an honor to meet you. However, this isn''t the ce to have a proper conversation. If you don''t mind, I have a ce in mind that no one will bother us."


    "Lead the way, Belial-san. I''ve also wanted to talk to you for a long time. I just didn''t expect Kurotsuchi-kun''s Magic Concealing Cloak not to work. When did you notice?"


    "Half a year ago."


    Ouetsu''s eyes widened, "So around the first time I started following thatss, yet you pretended not to notice me. Also, did thatss notice me too?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "No. It works perfectly fine. But to us who have been mastering the art for years, we know several ways people hide their presence so we have several detection methods to counter them." He then turned around towards the direction of the mansion Serafall bought and started walking.


    Ouetsu didn''t say anything and continued hiding himself. He only started following Kisuke when he took some distance from him, ''This guy has a familiar scent of a Zanpakuto... But where have I met him before?''


    Kisuke, on the other hand, wondered if he could trust this guy because the moment he started asking the questions that he wanted answers to, it was going to be risky for him, ''ording to Kyouraku-san, he''s the only guy who thinks slightly different from the rest of the Zero Division. But to what extent exactly? In any case, I have to figure out what''s the true identity of Hyousube Ichibei''s Zanpakuto. Right now, that''s the only clue I have to escape from his control over names.''

 Chapter 1182 God of the Sword part 2

    Chapter 1182 God of the Sword part 2


    Ouetsu didn''t immediately enter the mansion when the masked man went in and instead went around to another side to enter through one of the windows.


    It would seem that the masked man already expected this as he ignored his actions and just slowly walked towards the direction of the basement. As soon as the masked man arrived at the door to the basement, Ouetsu silently appeared behind him.


    Still wordless, the masked man opened the door and led the Shinigami deeper inside, and soon enough, they arrived at a small room with various barriers ced on it. Due to the intense amount of barriers present, even Ouetsu, who''d just recently started learning about Magic, couldn''t help but marvel at the suffocation he could feel from it.


    The masked man stepped into the room but Ouetsu didn''t do the same and continued staring at him, "Did you really think that I''ll enter a trap prepared by someone who invaded the Royal Pce just like that?"


    "I was hoping that you would since you followed me quietly up to here." The masked man answered nonchntly.


    Ouetsu was a bit taken aback and asked again, "And what made you think that?"


    "Because instead of Soul Society or the Seireitei, you''re hiding from the other Royal Guards. More specifically, from Hyousube Ichibei."


    Ouetsu was startled but didn''t let it show on his face while repeating his question, "And what made you think that?"


    This time, the masked man didn''t immediately reply and contemted his options. Since he knew that no amount of exnation could make him step into this room, he didn''t bother answering him. However, if they want to discuss anything with substance, it''s paramount to avoid Hell''s gaze and the only way to do that surely is to leave the Human World, ''Should I risk it?'' Kisuke thought to himself.


    He could try to slowly gain his trust, but that would take too much time which he doesn''t have right now and it''s not even certain if he could do that in the first ce.


    On the other hand, if he risks it and fails, the entire Seireitei and Royal Pce will be aware of him. He would be lucky if they just ended up sending a few assassins and trackers. Worst of all is that Ichibei himself and the others from the Zero Division would be hunting him down.


    However, if he''s sessful, he''d be able to obtain the assistance of one of the greatest weapons he could use against Ichibei.


    After a few more seconds of contemtion, Kisuke sighed and ced his hand on his mask, ''Ah... Fuck it. Be a wanted man? Nothing really new. I also already prepared the girls'' return trip in case of emergency or the situation became too dangerous. The rampage of Holy Power back then was a blessing in disguise.''


    Because of that event, it became a lot easier for Kisuke to secure their retreat in case the whole world turned against them.


    Ouetsu wondered what the masked man was trying to do until thetter pulled off his mask and it instantly and dramatically changed his appearance, "!?"


    Kisuke, without his disguise, smiles at Ouetsu, "Shall we continue?"


    Ouetsu calmed himself and thought about it for a few moments before stepping into the room and saying, "Fair enough."


    Kisuke immediately closed the door behind him and fully activated the barriers prepared for the room.


    "So that wasn''t the full capability of this room," Ouetsumented while looking around, feeling the intensity of Magic Power in the room thickened.


    After putting the room in lockdown, Ouetsu thought that they''d start talking, but just as he was about to say something, Kisuke signaled him to stop, "Not yet."


    Kisuke ignored the confused Ouetsu and ced his hand on the wall.


    A few secondster, a thin ck line appeared on the wall and soon it turned into an opening that revealed a world with chaotic colors, "This is?" Ouetsu muttered in suspicion.


    "The Dimensional Gap. We''ll have to go through here to leave the Human World." Kisuke briefly exined before stepping out of the room.


    Ouetsu followed him with curiosity and found the space they stepped into was so hostile that no normal person could ever survive, "This is way worse than the Garganta."


    "This way," Kisuke called out, opening another portal and stepping into it.


    As he had been doing, Ouetsu followed him and soon arrived at a familiar ce full of dpidated structures and perpetually dark clouds covering everything in sight, "...Could it be... The Zaraki District?"


    "No better ce to do an important and secret talk than under themppost, right?" Kisuke closed the portal and erased all of its traces.


    Ouetsu sighed and said, "You really are full of surprises, Urahara-kun."


    "It''s always been my forte." Kisuke grinned at him, "Shall we use a random abandoned hut?"


    "Preferably somewhere that doesn''t smell so bloody."


    "Then let''s walk for a bit." Whether Kisuke could pull Ouetsu to his side or not will mostly depend on thetter''s view on things and there''s really little the former could do about it, ''I hope Kyouraku-san''s state is urate.''


    .


    .


    .


    With a warm tea prepared, Ouetsu immediately went directly on point, "So, what did you want from the Royal Pce?"


    Kisuke took a sip of his tea before answering, "I already told the answer to Hyousube-san, but in case he didn''t tell you, I said I wanted to confirm who the first Shinigami who was born from Hell made an agreement with."


    Ouetsu became silent for a brief moment before asking, "And what did he say?"


    Kisuke was happy that Ouetsu confirmed his words for him, ''This means he''s more willing to cooperate than I expected.''


    "Did you really think that he''ll entertain my question? I''m just d that I was able to escape unscathed. And I just really want to see if the one holding up the world right now is the King of the Quincies."


    Ouetsu leaned back and took his cup of tea, "That''s true. If you could get close like that to that thing, he wouldn''t humor you unless he''s incredibly interested in something."


    "What''s this? It sounds like you hate the lynchpin or something."


    Ouetsu''s eyes immediately rose up and stared directly at Kisuke. With a very serious expression, he said, "I really can''t understand how others wouldn''t. Even for the sake of maintaining the worlds."


    Kisuke''s hand froze as he shuddered at his voice that contained a little bit of hostility, ''Jackpot!''

 Chapter 1183 God of the Sword part 3

    Chapter 1183 God of the Sword part 3


    "Aren''t you being too honest right now?"


    Ouetsu took a sip from his cup before answering, "I''m just returning the favor."


    "I see... Then I''m really d that I took that mask off." Kisuke started calcting the moves he could make right now, "But even if you''re returning a favor, isn''t that a very dangerous statement for you? And the way you said it, what if Hyousube-san cuts you off? While you are the original maker of the Zanpakuto, it doesn''t mean anything if you are a threat to the status quo. And I doubt you''re the only one who could make a Zanpakuto right now so recing you isn''t really a big issue."


    "Am I under the wrong assumption that this conversation will be secret?" Ouetsu finished his cup of tea and ced it down, "And don''t you have alcohol instead? It''ll be more fitting to the current atmosphere."


    Kisuke smiled and waved his hand. In an instant, the tea cups disappeared and were reced by a bottle of Japanese rice wine and two small cups.


    "That''s really a convenient skill." Ouetsumented in awe while watching Kisuke pour alcohol into cups, "By the way, do you mind if I take a look at your de?"


    "Are you referring to Tiamat?"


    "That''s right."


    Kisuke noticed how Ouetsu didn''t refer to Tiamat as a Zanpakuto, ''I just used her twice yet he already noticed.''


    Kisuke didn''t mind so he took out the tanto de from his sleeve and ced it on the table.


    Ouetsu became quiet. Instead of immediately grabbing the de, Ouetsu first observed it from multiple angles before carefully picking it up and pulling the de out slowly.


    As soon as the light reflected from the shiny surface, Ouetsu''s eyes glistened, "It''s as I''ve thought. Although the fundamental structure is that of a Zanpakuto, it''s not one. The technique used in the creation of this de is of an entirely different system. Impressive... What do you call it?"


    "A Soul Gear, but it''s nothing really impressive. I just studied two existing technologies andbined them into one."


    Ouetsu''s eyesnded on him, "You being humble really hurts my pride, you know? You didn''t just sessfully analyze how I structure an Asauchi to a frightening degree but you also used apletely different technology to manufacture it that didn''t just mimic a normal Zanpakuto, but also becamepatible with anyone with a soul, be it a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, Fullbringer, and finally, a normal Human, no training required. Was my Asauchi really that easy to make and modify to this degree of freedom?"


    Kisuke was stunned for a bit before saying, "That... I apologize."


    "Good. Because what you made here is really something ridiculous because I have a feeling that you trapped a very outrageous being within this de."


    "Isn''t that just the same with Shihouin n''s Byakko?"


    Ouetsu looked down on the de once again and said, "It''s not. That guy willingly gets into Asauchis to pose as a Zanpakuto Spirit while yours... I can''t even describe it properly. It looks like she was imprisoned but it also looks like she''s willing to stay put and be used. And although I can clearly see Byakko, I can''t gleam anything to the Spirit itself. Even then, I can still feel apprehension. Just what sort of being is she?"


    But before Kisuke could even give an answer, the tanto on Ouetsu''s hand began shining and it lit up the whole shack they were in before it left his hand and transformed into a young girl with light blue hair, pink eyes with star-like pupils, and prominent double curved horns.


    Ouetsu found himself staring at her when she suddenly said, "That''s not anything important, is it?"


    Tiamat looked at her side and from the ground, a chair emerged, and sat down on it. She then put her hand forward and a small cup appeared on it, "Please."


    "So you wanted a drink too." Kisuke smiled wryly and poured the wine into her cup.


    Ouetsu, on the other hand, could only silently watch in shock because he could hardly believe what he just saw. When Kisuke had brought out the tea and alcohol earlier, he knew that he was summoning them from somewhere.


    However, the little girl didn''t do that. Instead, she very quietly summoned the Spirit particles from her surroundings and converted them to another form of matter casually. This reminded him of the 8th Kenpachi, ''No... Azashiro''s ability is assimtion. This is clearly a direct maniption of Spirit particles and to a far greater degree than even the Quincies. This is already in the realm of creation... Something that only the Spirit King is supposed to know how to do.''


    Tiamat drank the wine with a blissful expression before turning back to Ouetsu. And as if reading his mind, she said, "You are overestimating me. I''m just a mere shadow of my former self so all the abilities I possess are locked behind my master''s capabilities and understanding."


    "...Then couldn''t you just simply teach him how to use those abilities?" Ouetsu asked.


    Tiamat asked for another cup and instead of answering him, she returned a question, "Can you teach anyone how to breathe? Pump their heart? Or think with their brain?"


    "...N-no."


    "And that''s my answer."


    Kisuke didn''t have anything to say about this interaction because he actually already asked Tiamat how her ability maniptes Prima Materia but she couldn''t put it in proper words and even if she tried, it''s just gibberish to Kisuke, "Why have youe out?" he asked after pouring Tiamat''s third cup.


    "This is actually my only time to properly observe this Soul Society of yours. And I had the same question when I first saw it." Tiamat answered and downed her cup before continuing, "Why did your Spirit King create such a dysfunctional world?"

 Chapter 1184 Dysfunctional World

    Chapter 1184 Dysfunctional World


    Kisuke narrowed his eyes while Ouetsu stuttered, "D-dysfunctional world?"


    "My master here knows what I meant, however, I said that not to disparage your Spirit King. What I''m saying is that I still wonder how it ended this way and what circumstances were present when he shaped this world." Tiamat replied before downing another cup of wine.


    Ouetsu turned to Kisuke and asked, "What does she mean by that?"


    Kisuke stayed silent for a few moments before opening his mouth again, "Do you know the various stories of reincarnation in the Human World?"


    "Yes. And?"


    "I''ve seen ces where they cycle souls the same as those stories." Kisuke looked out of the window and saw a few individuals walking around, "Each of those ces does it differently, but the basic idea is that the moment deathes, their souls leave their constraints and they return to the world and its flow. And at the end of that flow, a new life sprouts.


    "Naturally, there are circumstances that would extract a soul from that flow, but all in all, this is a sacred and powerful flow that no one is allowed to tamper with, even the world itself. It''s thew of life."


    "Isn''t that the same thing happening here?" Ouetsu asked.


    Kisuke turned his back to him and snickered, "The same thing? Let me tell you. This world already failed on the first step, which is death. Don''t lie to yourself and say that the destruction of the container is death. The only true death is the destruction or dispersal of the soul itself."


    Ouetsu furrowed his brow and asked again, "You don''t think the death of a Human is not death?"


    "How can it be? The moment the soul of a Human leaves its constraints, the world immediately gives them a Spiritual body, converting them into a Plus. Regardless of whether they reach the Soul Society and wait for their new body and soul to disperse or be a Hollow to experience unending desires until their decay, their life has not ended, hence, there''s no death.


    "And when the afterlife is supposed to be a release and rest without the influence of anyone, why is it controlled by a group of powerful people? It doesn''t make sense right? Why are we, who are supposed to be the enforcers of death, so disrespectful of it?"


    Ouetsu could feel the contempt from Kisuke''s words, but he stayed silent and let him go on.


    Kisuke himself knew that he was bing a bit too emotional and also knew that he should stop here because it might push away this important rade'' that he just made. However, even if he shouldn''t, he still wanted to, so he continued, "Nevertheless, I can''t me the Shinigamis who do their duties. After all, we have to do it for the sake of the world''s bnce and stop it from ending. It''s a dysfunctional world that couldn''t maintain itself if not for the interference of someone. I''m honestly quite impressed that this world is still intact, though at the sacrifice of countless souls that couldn''t navigate it. I wouldn''t necessarily call it evil, but it also doesn''t mean it has to be this way."


    Kisuke ended his venting, however, he did not regret it. He has always wanted to release the pent-up frustration that''s been building up, but he couldn''t simply let it go in front of Serafall who doesn''t really understand how different this world ispared to hers, ''Just now, did I sound like a Demon Lord who wanted to destroy the world''s fundamental structure?''


    Naturally, Ouetsu also caught into this hidden meaning of his and asked, "Are you saying that you want to... restructure the ''afterlife''?"


    "Aren''t you too kind?" Kisuke suddenly said, "Don''t you really want to ask if I want to destroy Soul Society and Hueco Mundo?"


    Ouetsu sighed and added, "Do you?"


    ''Since it''s toote to take back what I said and I have no intention of doing so...'' Kisuke shed a fearless grin and said, "If it''s possible, why not? If it''s impossible, then I won''t bother."


    A bit of killing intent immediately emerged out of Ouetsu, "Your idea of changing the status quo actually sounds a little nice to me, however, did you think I''ll just allow you to sacrifice more life for that ideal?"


    Ouetsu is now sure of it. Kisuke is the same as Aizen and Yhwach. They''ll put the Soul Society and the other worlds in danger for their ideals and ambitions, ''Should I cut him here now?''


    But beyond Ouetsu''s expectations, he was shocked that Kisuke''s expression suddenly mellowed out of nowhere.


    "Sacrifice countless lives? If I did that, they''d lose all their respect for me and all the hardships and efforts I went through so far would be meaningless."


    Ouetsu hurriedly turned to Tiamat because he was confused but he only became even more confused when he saw her looking at him with a small smile, almost a gentle expression actually.


    "In the first ce, I don''t intend to make everyone my enemy since that would defeat the purpose of mying here." Kisuke added, "I can''t really prove you anything right now but I can assure you that if I''m going to dismantle the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, the Seireitei itself would continue its existence and the Shinigamis and Hollows won''t disappear."


    Ouetsu didn''t understand what just happened but he had a feeling that he could actually trust him, ''This is the first... Maybe I should gamble on it now.''


    Ouetsu sighed and stood up from his seat, "I still don''t fully understand why thisdy called this world dysfunctional nor why you are so certain that this is wrong, but let''s continue that conversation at another time. It''s about time someone notices my disappearance and I don''t want to risk it."


    Kisuke nodded in agreement and opened a portal that would take him back to the Human World.


    Ouetsu took a step forward but before he took another step, he turned to Kisuke and said, "Yhwach could only defeat Hyousube because he''s not a Shinigami but that''s not the same case for you. If you want to get away from his influence, take the ''names'' for yourself and bring out their real essence. If you can do that, even if he intends to erase it, he''ll never be able to take it back from you. And for how you''d be able to do that, I wouldn''t be in this position if I knew."

 Chapter 1185 Etoulde Guests

    Chapter 1185 Etoulde Guests


    Kisuke went home with a lot of things upying his mind, more than usual.


    [Master, you''re very intelligent. And because of that, you were able to change me, my sister''s, and many fates.]


    Kisuke looked down at the tanto de on his hand, "What''s up with the out-of-nowherepliment?"


    [However, you think too much sometimes so that a simple problem is bing aplicated one.]


    "So you have a solution."


    [No. What I''m saying is to think in simpler terms. The opponent''s ability is simple, taking and granting names. You''re not sealing his ability nor trying to fight against it. You just want your names to be yours and nothing else. Simple, right?]


    "...Simple, you say... But it didn''t make it easier."


    [Simple doesn''t mean easy. However, now you won''t be as lost. The only other thing I can say is that the moment you doubt yourself in front of him, you''ll lose.]


    "..." Kisuke didn''t say anything for a long time because, in all honesty, he didn''t know how useful what Tiamat said to him just now, ''Just keep my name, huh? How simple... and nonsensical.''


    Tiamat guessed what he was thinking but also didn''t say anything else, ''Anymore will be useless. But it''s really just that simple.''


    .


    .


    .


    After sneaking through her own security, Gwenn the Hartagertle Mercenary Union receptionist, or rather, former receptionist, arrived at the called Nenvetune and itsrgest city where ck market trade was openly being conducted, Zurg. After receiving a piece of information a month ago, she decided to track it and this is the ce she ended up with, ''That Yoru... After making a name for herself for 3 ExE cycles, she suddenly disappeared. But at the same time of her disappearance, the upper echelons of the Etouldes suddenly started getting restless with multiple ns shing with each other for some reason or another. Why do I have a feeling that she has something to do with this?''


    It''s a baseless line of thinking but she can''t somehow remove that from her mind, ''After befriending her for a bit, I''m pretty sure that she''s hiding her true appearance and her Pamatypian is just a cover.''


    Wearing her cloak that covers her true appearance but not her presence, Gwenn reaches the district where most of thebat ves are sold. At the darker part of the city, Gwenn came close to the building she wanted to go in, but before she could approach, she suddenly felt a very familiar ability brushing past her, "!?"


    Gwenn hurriedly turned towards the source of the ability and met eyes with someone who was wearing the same cloak as her. Even without using her ''eyes'', she was able to guess the other''s identity, "I certainly didn''t expect to meet the Holy Witch here. Are you here to buy some manpower?"


    "You know I hate them the most, Sage''s Eyes. Though I also certainly didn''t expect to see you here."


    After that, the two of them went quiet, trying to gauge each other''s actions, ''Why is this fake bitch here?'' Gwenn thought to herself while staring at the other party''s eyes.


    ''Why is thiszy bitch here.'' the Holy Witch, Alicia Crowfeather, also thought to herself.


    The two of them were stuck in a stalemate for a minute or two when all of a sudden, a voice came from the rtively small building in front of them that only extends to 3 floorspared to other buildings in the surroundings that are at least 5-story tall, [Instead of blocking traffic, why don''t you bothe in?]


    The two guests were not startled because they already felt another gaze aside from each other examining them.


    "...Let''s head in?" asked Gwenn.


    Alicia also dropped her threatening demeanor and walked up, "Let''s go."


    The two of them entered the building while regretting calling each other''s names. When they got in, the whole ce was covered in darkness except for one door with a few neon lights illuminating it, ''Transport pod?'' Both of them thought.


    As soon as they approached it, they stopped and their innate Spiritual Power skyrocketed and prepared for battle.


    Not far from the door, is a tall woman of the Human tribe. Pale white skin, short gloomy white hair, and a ck blindfold covering her eyes, "Please don''t be rmed. My name is Laria and I''ll be your guide for today."


    But how could they not be rmed? They only felt her presence when they got this close. If she intended to attack one of them from this distance, it could have been trouble.


    Gwenn and Alicia stared at her for a few moments before ncing at each other, ''Truce.''


    At the quick agreement, Gwenn stepped forward, "Thank you for the work, but why do we need a guide? We just need to meet one person." Since they didn''t talk beforehand, Gwenn is just guessing Alicia''s intention, ''But that''s Yoru''s voice and she''s inviting both of us. The witch is also probably here for her.''


    Laria stepped to the side and pressed the button beside the door, "The transport pod will only transfer to a specific ce if there''s a registered aura traveling together."


    The door opened and Laria went inside while also inviting the two, "Please."


    Gwenn hesitated for a bit but soon stepped into the pod. However, she didn''t let her Spiritual Power rest and her eyes scanned everything she could to gleam some clues and prepare for anything unexpected.


    Alicia also hesitated for a bit before following Gwenn, but not before spreading out her invisible threads.


    Although not as good as her mistress, Laria could also feel the spread out of Spiritual Power thanks to some training she had. Nheless, she didn''t mind this and activated the transport pod. A secondter, the three of them disappeared.


    As intense light covered their senses, Gwenn and Alicia both prepared their own portable emergency transport module which didn''t appear in the market, and if it did, only in ck markets and would be enough to buy a portion of a small.


    When the light disappeared, they found themselves in a wide prairie and a wooden cabin in the middle of it with a field full of different crops and some livestock beside it.


    "A small world?" Alicia muttered to herself while looking around and spreading her threads everywhere aside from the cabin.


    Gwenn saw the threads avoiding the cabin and said, "You can feel it?"


    "My senses are not as good as yours but it''s enough to avoid danger."


    "This way please." Laria interrupted them and started walking ahead.


    The girls followed and they didn''t have to reach the cabin to see the only other person present within the space plowing new fields.


    She also felt their presence and turned around to greet them, "Ah, you''re here. Wee."


    But instead of feeling weed, Alicia''s eyes widened in surprise, and hurriedly activated her emergency transport module.


    Gwenn was shocked at her sudden action but was more stupefied when all of a sudden, a dense and heavy Spiritual Pressure that would put most of the high-ranking Etouldes in shame suddenly nketed the whole space and she heard the farmer girl mutter, "Bankai."


    The emergency transport module activated but to Alicia''s horror, it couldn''t open the space, "Space lock? And to this degree? Unbelievable..." she murmured to herself before turning and ring at the farmer girl, "I didn''t expect to meet the Sage''s Eyes in this ce, but that''s still in the realm of possibility... However, what are you doing here, Yoruichi Shihouin?"

 Chapter 1186 Etoulde Guests part 2

    Chapter 1186 Etoulde Guests part 2


    AN: Please read the editor''s section if the situation is a bit confusing.


    ==================================


    Gwenn carefully looked at the woman who sealed the whole space and saw a familiar face but an entirely different race, "Yoru...? Are you Yoru?"


    Yoruichi grinned at her while resting her white de on her shoulder, "It''s been a while, Gwenn. I didn''t think you''de looking for me when I''m fishing for an entirely different person." Her eyes then went down a few inches and looked at her closed fist, "I would really appreciate it if you don''t do that... For the safety of everyone in this small space."


    "Let me be. I don''t know what''s happening so this is insurance." Gwenn replied while continuously gathering Spiritual Power within her fist. Any strange movement from Yoruichi, Laria, and Alicia, she''ll detonate the power she''s gathering and thanks to her eyes, she managed to find a few weak points on the seal so aiming there is enough to destroy the whole artificial space, freeing all of them, albeit, injured.


    Yoruichi stared at her for a few moments before sighing. Her de then returned to its original form and the devastating Spiritual pressure and the space lock receded quietly, "How about this?"


    Gwenn was silent but Alicia beside her immediately warned her, "Don''t let it go! Just so you know, she came from DxD and I suspect her to have a connection with the Evies! Let''s just escape from here!"


    ''DxD?'' Gwenn thought to herself and tried to recall what that was, ''Ahh... Isn''t that thetest world under attack by the Evies? I don''t really follow what''s happening on the frontlines so that''s as much as I know. And Yoru have a connection with the Evies? That''s not too strange these days, is it?''


    A few secondster, Gwenn decided to trust her guts and slowly recalled the power she was gathering to Alicia''s horror, "Why!?"


    Gwenn turned to her side and said, "You''ve been focusing your efforts on the frontlines, but you don''t really know what''s happening on the back."


    "...The back?"


    "Let''s head inside." Yoruichi interrupted them, "It''s better to have a lengthy conversation over some drinks. Laria, I''ll leave it to you."


    Yoruichi went behind the cabin to clean her workce while Laria moved forward and invited the two guests to enter, "This way, please."


    Gwenn didn''t hesitate any more and followed Laria while Alicia gritted her teeth and thought, ''Yoruichi Shihouin... Kisuke Urahara... The two individuals that possess the most threat against the Etouldes. I felt my spider on her so she must be connected with Stralit Luxeus''s sessor. Not just that. It''s confirmed that there''s a hole in their seal that allows them to get out.''


    Out of all the people within DxD, Alicia wanted to cooperate with Kisuke and Yoruichi the most. However, they are strangely unresponsive. Now she knows that they are trying to do something behind their backs and it gives her an ominous impression when there''s a line connecting them to the Luxeux who she suspects have a connection with an Evie.


    ''Tsk... There''s no point in imagining scenarios in my head now. I have to get a clearer picture of what''s happening. Gwenn also mentioned that something is happening in our homeworld so that''s another problem.'' Alicia could feel a headacheing and followed the two who already entered the cabin while also securing her means of escape.


    .


    .


    .


    "Sorry for the wait." Yoruichi came out from the back 15 minutester after a quick shower. Thanks to Laria''s attendance, the guest is sitting quietly while enjoying their drinks, "I didn''t want to meet you with all the grime and dirt on me."


    "Are you really Yoru?" Gwenn turned to her and asked directly.


    "The same Pamatypian that you met and registered in the Mercenary Union. Though as you can tell, that''s just my disguise and my real name is Yoruichi Shihouin from the world you guys designated as Draconic Deus." Yoruichi sat down with them and turned to Laria who was standing on the side, "Thanks, Laria. Please leave us alone for now."


    Laria lowered her head for a bit before walking away.


    Gwenn watched her leave for a bit before turning her attention back to Yoruichi, "You''re awfully honest. Or is this another lie?"


    Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders, "It''s up to you what to believe. But your friend here will be able to confirm if I''m telling the truth or not."


    But instead of confirming, Alice asked, "What are you doing here?"


    "Only if you answer my question first."


    "What is it?"


    "Are you the main contact of DxD?"


    "..." Alicia became silent.


    "If you can''t answer that, I can change the question."


    "Go on."


    "What is Chimune Chipaoti trying to do by contacting Issei Hyoudou?"


    "!?" Gwenn instantly turned her head towards Alicia upon hearing the name of one of the highest beings in Etouldes.


    With aplicated expression, Alicia replied, "I''m the point of contact between the higher Etouldes and DxD."


    ''She answered the first one. Is she afraid that I have a way to differentiate a lie?'' Yoruichi thought while carefully nning her next steps. Her preparation this past year was to have a proper negotiation table with Alicia, ''But the problem is Gwenn... I don''t know where she stands in all of this.''


    Yoruichi sighed and answered Alicia''s question, "I came here to study what sort of beings are messing with our world right now, obviously."


    "And what did you find out?"


    "That we stand no chance if either side decides to destroy us."


    Alicia calmed down after that bit of exchange and was able to tell that she was not in immediate danger, "So what did you call me here for?"


    "Before that..." Yoruichi turned to Gwenn, "Why are you here? I just released a bit of information but I didn''t think you''d catch it."


    Gwenn thought for a bit about what she should reply with before saying, "After the mess, you made against the enemies of Luxeux, of course, I''lle."


    "Enemies of Luxeux? I wonder what you''re talking about?"


    "Well, you can deny it, but I can rest assured that you''ve underestimated my eyes." Gwenn said while pointing at her shining eyes, "These eyes could hardly see through things, instead, it''s much more effective at seeing flows and small details. It''s easier for me to track than to find something.


    "I still don''t know about these enemies of Luxeux and what they went through, but what if it''s really me? What are you going to do?"


    Gwenn grinned and leaned forward with her elbow on the table, "What about taking another job? This time, against the enemies of Yarwood."

 Chapter 1187 Etoulde Guests part 3

    Chapter 1187 Etoulde Guests part 3


    "Are you crazy!?" Alicia exploded on Gwenn, "I just mentioned that she might have a connection to the Evies! She might even be a spy for them! Don''t you know how dangerous it is when they finally get the cooperation of someone who could use Spiritual Power!?"


    Gwenn, on the other hand, just slowly and calmly turned to Alicia, "I don''t exactly know what''s happening on the frontlines that you''ve neglected what''s behind you, but it''s about time you dedicate some of your resources back to where it was."


    Naturally, Alicia is confused, ''Why does she sound like the cooperation with Evie is not a big deal?''


    Yoruichi managed to guess what was on her mind using the clues and information she had. And because she wanted to appear to know more than she let on, Yoruichi said, "There are already a few Etoulde ns working with the Evies."


    "...What?"


    With a straight face, Yoruichi added, "When I said that I have no idea that I''m moving against the enemies of Luxeux, I''m telling the truth. After all, I''m just receivingmissions from someone in the [Wicked God''s] faction to deal with an enemy faction."


    "Huh?" Alicia couldn''t believe what she just heard.


    "She almost destroyed several ns like Sublinne, Laurec, and Icebow. And most notably, Aurelius already became history with most of its high-ranking members dead or missing while the rest dispersed into the cosmos."


    Alicia became further confused at Gwenn''s words so thetter added, "You''re wondering why she could stay chill on this, right? It''s because the High Court covered it all up due to strong evidence that these ns cooperated with the Evies and the Aurelius even have an Evie affiliated with the Fierce God in their ranks. It''s a scandal big enough that the High Court is willing to sacrifice a few mid-level ns to suppress the news."


    "But there''s no way they''ll leave her alone if she did that!" Alicia strongly remarked but soon her voice softened when she realized something, "...There''s no way... Unless..."


    "Right, unless they are afraid of her. Or more specifically, what she knows, where else she''s keeping this information, and other avenues she has to release this said information."


    Yoruichi smiled but didn''t say anything.


    Alicia was stunned for a moment before gritting her teeth and mming the table in anger, "You idiot!"


    "H-huh? Why are you suddenly getting angry?" the startled Gwenn asked, "Did I say anything wrong?"


    "No!" Alicia replied with an almost shouting voice, "You''re not wrong, but you missed the most important part! Even if they are afraid of the information she possesses, it doesn''t make sense that she could sit still! The more likely reason is that a few members of the High Court are protecting her because they are afraid that what she has implicates them! In other words, some high-ranked Etouldes might be cooperating with the Evies!"


    It was Gwenn''s turn to be stunned, "...Oh... So that''s why there''s a weird atmosphere going on there and father has not been in the right mood these days."


    Alicia sighed and ced her hands on her head, "It''ll be hard to find the traitors and even if they could, they won''t be able to touch them easily unless they want to risk arge-scale civil war that the Evies could take advantage of." She then red at Yoruichi and added, "Simply speaking, this woman is a giant ticking timebomb."


    Yoruichi''s smile turned into a smug look as she shrugged her shoulders, "That''s why I wanted to keep this space intact. It''s annoying to deal with idiots who only know how to endlessly attempt assassinations."


    "Shit!" Alicia suddenly cussed.


    Gwenn almost had a heart attack, "What now!?"


    "I made a mistake! This was a trap all along!"


    "Isn''t that the reason why she''s fishing you out?"


    "I know, but I thought she wanted to kill me or something!"


    "So it''s not?"


    Alicia turned to the not-so-stupid friend-enemy of hers and exploded once again, "The higher-ups are aware of her so naturally, this ce will be full of eyes that even you can''t see! The moment we entered this space is the moment we became her aplices!"


    "Oh... Oh shit." Gwenn finally realized her position, "My father is going to kill me. Alicia, take me in."


    "F*ck you! My mother is going to kill me first before your father can kill you!"


    "Oh right. You antagonized the whole Luxeux n just to break off your engagement with the Invisible Sword. Knowing your mother, you won''t just receive a whooping after this."


    ''Thesedies sure have a lot of freedom.'' Yoruichi thought to herself before feigning a cough to get their attention and shing arge grin, "Now that you know where you are, shall we proceed with our partnership? And by the way, aside from Laria, only the two of you know that I''m Yoruichi Shihouin. On the outside, I still appear as Yoru the Pamatypa."


    "What partnership!?" Alicia snapped back, "This is basically forced coboration!"


    "Well, I can assure you that all the disadvantages that you got from meeting me will be outweighed by the assistance I could provide."


    "..." Alicia could only me herself for neglecting so many things and falling into her trap, ''Damned scammer.'' Nevertheless, she didn''t really have much choice since if she left with nothing gained, she wouldn''t get any benefits in putting a target on her back.


    Alicia turned to Gwenn and thought, ''It''s actually a blessing that she came here too. I can get Yarwood''s aid by taking advantage of thiszy bitch''s doting father. And maybe I can bring back something to get Mother off my case.''


    Sighing, Alicia sat back down and calmed herself, "Let''s get this over with. What do you want?"


    .


    .


    .


    After the fruitful encounter, Alicia and Gwenn left Yoruichi''s private space with pale ghost-like expressions.


    Meanwhile, Yoruichi herself felt like arge boulder had been taken off her shoulders and she immediately contacted her employer that came from the Wicked God faction, the Wicked God herself, "Everything is set. I even got you some potential friends."


    [You finally contacted me.]


    The smile on Yoruichi''s face disappeared, "What''s wrong?"


    [Return to Draconic Deus. I think things are about to get hectic over there and after the mess you made on the Etoulde''s side, Draconic Deus won''t be able to get as much support as they are expecting from them.]


    "I''ll contact you again once I''ve returned."


    [Alright. I''ll gather more information on my side for you but I can''t promise anything big because Regalzeva has been strangely careful this time.]


    Yoruichi hung up and called Laria. As soon as everything is secured on her side, she immediately made her way to the Transport Gate, ''Hectic... Knowing Seraselbes, that might mean that Earth is about to be destroyed.''

 Chapter 1188 Strange Creatures

    Chapter 1188 Strange Creatures


    In the unexplorednds of Hell from which no souls seem to have reached yet and was still full of life, Kisuke set up a temporary camp, "I''ve been teleporting nonstop since the other day, enough to circle the whole Earth a few times, and I''m pretty far from any civilizations yet I still haven''t had a glimpse of this unknown monster that they are talking about."


    However, that doesn''t mean that he wasn''t able to discover a few things. He initially thought that Hell was veryrge because he couldn''t see the curve in the horizon, but as he moved away from where people are, thews of spacetime are slightly changing as if the whole space was getting smaller and smaller, "This world is t."


    [Master, I can also feel something strange now that we''re nearing the edge.] Tiamat on his waist suddenly said.


    "Tell me everything that''s bothering you."


    [...] Tiamat was silent for a while, gathering her thoughts, before saying, [This doesn''t feel like a normalnd.]


    ''We''re in Hell though.'' Kisuke retorted in his head but didn''t interrupt Tiamat''s thought process. While he couldn''t really understand her perspective due to how different they are from each other, her point of view is still something that could see the essence of the world, and anything she says could be a useful clue.


    [It''s full of life... yes... But everything around us... feels dead.]


    "We''re in Hell though." Kisuke finally voiced it out.


    Since Tiamat couldn''t articte herself, she became silent after saying, [Master, thend is teeming with life but thend itself is dead. That''s the best I can exin it. Go to the edge of the world. Maybe we''ll find out more about this strange feeling.]


    It was Kisuke''s turn to be silent. Aside from the absence of ''dead'' people and the descending barrier on top of them, he can''t tell how thend is dead, ''If thend is dead, how can it support life?''


    Nevertheless, Tiamat''s suggestion of going to the edge of the world is good, ''But where is this monster?''


    As if answering his question, Kisuke suddenly felt the ground shake slightly and he hurriedly packed his belongings. Just half a minuteter, the slight shaking turned into a full-blown earthquake.


    Feeling the several presences underground, Kisuke took to the air and waited.


    A few secondster, twelve 15-feet wide white worms with countless ck sharp teeth lining their front end shot out of the ground and one of them was directly aiming at Kisuke with blistering speed.


    Kisuke put his hand forward and conjured a barrier to meet this gigantic worm.


    Kisuke was pushed back by a few feet but he was able to stop the worm''s lunge. He wanted to study it for a bit but immediately changed his mind when he felt and saw his barrier rapidly losing power and being eroded, "!?"


    He dispersed his barrier and went under the worm''s ''chin'' to give it a kick.


    Kisuke thought that this kick would be enough to pull it out of the ground but was surprised yet again when he was only able to send back its head and there was no visible damage. In fact, it only made it angrier as it lunged back at him with greater force. And not just that. The other worms also started moving towards him.


    ''That skin has as much defense as a high-level Arrancar''s Hierro.'' Kisuke thought to himself as he dodged the iing attacks when all of a sudden, he felt a fluctuation of Magic Power from one of the farther worms, ''Magic Power? Not the Psuedo Demonic Power?''


    The next instant, he felt the space around him bending and the gravity multiplied several folds, making it hard for him to move properly.


    Meanwhile, the worms that were directly attacking him also emitted Magic Powers of their own and the space around them returned to normal, making the Gravity Magic of theirrade negligible on their part, ''It''s hard to properly calcte how to normalize the fluctuating space so this means that they could directlymunicate with each other and with uracy enough to nullify each other''s Magic.'' Kisuke calmly thought and adjusted his breathing.


    Kisuke flew up and was soon followed by the worms. He flew for about 820 feet or 250 meters when the worms stopped following him, ''Is that their limit? My senses are telling me that they are still massive under that ground.''


    However, the worms didn''t stop attacking and instead switched to attacking with various Magic projectiles. Kisuke put up another barrier to stop these projectiles and unlike the first time, his barrier didn''t strangely disappear, ''So only when in contact with their mouths?''


    He wanted to test more things but his instincts were kicking in and telling him to finish this now.


    Kisuke dropped back down while dodging bullets and pulled out the tanto de on his waist. Without releasing her, Kisuke swung Tiamat at one of the worms while covering her with very dense Reiatsu-Ki, instantly severing its head.


    ck blood spurted out of the beheaded worm and Kisuke hurriedly collected some of it while securing the head, ''It''s still alive? Amazing.''


    After sealing the head and cing it in his inventory, Kisuke immediately left the ce, leaving behind the worms, ''Something big ising. I have to retreat first.''


    Thanks to this immediate decision, Kisuke was able to leave the area before the earth started shaking again, this time, much more intensely. A secondter, the earth below the worms started bulging up before a pir of light more than 500 feet wide engulfed them, instantly reducing them to ashes.


    "!?" Kisuke braced himself and deployed multiple barriers to protect himself. He watched as the pir of light hit the thick barrier above them that covered the entire world and pierced it. Beyond the barrier was nothingness, but that''s not as important as the light that pierced it.


    A few secondster, the light subsided, leaving behind a giant hole in the sky and ground.


    While the only in the sky started repairing itself, Kisuke approached the 500-foot hole. He couldn''t easily tell how deep the hole was but after his eyes got used to the darkness a few secondster, he shuddered and hurriedly flew back up to get away from it.


    Deep inside the hole was another worm just like the others from earlier. However this one felt much more dangerous and he could only see a part of its head full of teeth peeking from the abyss, ''The hole is about 500 feet wide, but I can only see a part of its head facing up... This guy is at least 600 or 700 feet wide... Not to mention, my detection abilities are disrupted and I didn''t realize that thing was looking at me until I found it.''


    Kisuke didn''t want to deal with it right now so he started teleporting away from this region, ''Yep. That''s an unknown monster, alright?''


    And just as he was about to disappear, a certain thought urred in his head, ''...What if that''s not a unique thing? How many of them are hiding down there?''

 Chapter 1189 Corpse

    Chapter 1189 Corpse


    After making some distance from the region where he was attacked, Kisuke set up another camp to study the worm that he''d just killed.


    He spent a few days dissecting the worm to figure out how it was able to get through his barrier. After careful experimentation, because he only had a part of a sample, Kisuke found out that the absorbing powers came from its ck sharp teeth that also act as filters to clean and purify the Magic Power before transporting it through its body using special nerves.


    Aside from that, Kisuke also found out that those worms don''t store the bulk of their energy in their flesh and blood. Instead, it seems that these special nerves gather in one spot though he doesn''t really know where that is, "These guys probably have a core somewhere in their body. My best guess would be at thetter end of their body, buried deep inside the ground. That''s a pretty good defense mechanism."


    Kisuke then grabbed the ck powder, which was the worm''s teeth that he pulverized to examine, "I can use these."


    But even with these discoveries of potential weakness that he can use against these worms, he was worried. First of all, these worms are not Souls, meaning, they have their own bodies that are not made out of Magic. They are a new species that suggested many things about the inner workings of Hell.


    Second, he couldn''t estimate just how many of them existed out there, ''While they don''t seem to exist near settlements, I could only guess that there are abundant numbers of them at the edge of Hell if they can attack like that in groups. A Lieutenant-ss Shinigami can defeat one with ease, but 5 of them simultaneously? They are going to have a hard time. And what if there are millions of these worms under the ground? With how wide the Hell is, I wouldn''t be surprised if there are billions of these things. If they decided to attack all at the same time, it''s going to be a disaster.''


    ''And the third problem.'' Namely, the giant worm. It''s obviously a special variant and the damage it could cause eclipses that of the normal worms, ''It''s capable of sting a hole through space but I doubt it can do that repeatedly considering how energy-intensive a st like that is.''


    [Are you going to continue your exploration?] Tiamat suddenly asked.


    "I intend to. I still haven''t figured out how those guys sense their surroundings and I really want to see the edge of this world." Kisuke started packing up again.


    [They are using Magic Power waves to sense their surroundings.]


    Kisuke''s hands stopped and turned his head to his tanto de, "But I didn''t feel anything?"


    [It''s a very fine wave that almost matches the environment''s frequency. It''s no surprise that you didn''t notice it. Even I didn''t notice and only figured it out when I thought back to anything strange that time.]


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and asked, "Do you think Ki assimtion will work?"


    [It covers your presence by fusing your own aura to nature itself, so maybe? You can only try.]


    "Alright. If I can''t avoid these worms, I''ll get around them first."


    [You''re not going to catch more of them?]


    "I want to, but I don''t think it''s a good idea to make them wary of my presence right now. In the first ce, I don''t have much time. It''s about time I visit the former Captain Commander to try a few things."


    [Oh right. You found a way to extract those chains some time ago. Are you going to remove them?]


    "I want to, but I''ll hold back for now. You said it yourself. Those chains have the same scent as Hyousube Ichibei."


    [Not exactly the same, but it does remind me of him.]


    This past year, he had already concluded that there was no point in sparing Szayporro Granz and his colleagues. As they were just unnecessary threats, he didn''t want to wait for the Seireitei to eliminate them. While the Seireitei were being careful about how to deal with them, Kisuke is pretty confident that he could just annihte them. After all, they''re just babies who just started to learn how to use [Hell''s Blessing] aka, Pseudo-Demonic Power.


    His otherworldly knowledge is enough to make it backfire on them.


    But after linking the existence of these ck chains to Ichibei Hyousube, he hesitated and opted not to mess with them for now. Not until he figures out what Ichibei has to do with these guys and what it really means to remove these chains from the [Chained].


    Kisuke finished up and teleported again.


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke was able to confirm that he could hide his presence from the worms by expertly manipting Ki. However, the happiness from this discovery quickly subsided by what he''s seeing right now, "What the heck is this?"


    [There are at least a thousand of them just in this spot.]


    On the ground that has already be lifeless, are countless worms of varying sizes, crawling and intervening with each other, "And I can feel more of them under."


    [Ignore them and go to the edge. We''re near and I feel like we can finally find answers to our questions.]


    Kisuke stared at the worms for a few moments before teleporting away once again. Each time he teleports, the worms would feel his presence and would look up. However, Kisuke''s not there anymore so after a few minutes of looking around, they continue with their business of chewing the ground, absorbing all the power in it for their growth.


    It''s the same when he reappeared. They''d all look up but since Kisuke is hiding himself, they''d soon return to their business of nonstop eating. This action caught Kisuke''s attention and he thought, ''So the reason why they haven''t made their way to the inner regions is that they''re busy eating dirt?''


    If they live off the Magic Power present, Kisuke could understand their actions because unlike any other worlds he has been in, the concentration of Magic Power in Hell''s ground is several timespared to others.


    After a few more teleportations, Kisuke finally reached the edge which was a dark and endless cliff, "Finally... That took a while."


    Kisuke looked down and sent down his senses but found nothing, ''How does gravity work in these parts? It''s still pulling downwards.''


    He then looked up and saw that the barrier that was protecting Hell from the void also went down along with the cliff. He wanted to jump off but something was telling him that that was a very bad idea.


    While Kisuke is busy inspecting everything in the surroundings, Tiamat suddenly speaks up, [Oh... So that''s how it is...]


    "You found out something?"


    [Yes. Now I''m sure that you are currently standing on top of a corpse.]

 Chapter 1190 Chain Removal

    Chapter 1190 Chain Removal


    Kisuke was stunned and thought that he heard it wrong, "...Corpse?"


    [You heard me correctly.] Tiamat replied. And after a few seconds of contemtion, she added, [Turn around.]


    Kisuke obediently turned around and looked at the worm-infestednd. He had an idea as to why Tiamat wanted him to look at them but he didn''t like to think about it.


    Nevertheless, Tiamat still asked him, [If we''re currently standing on a corpse, what are they?]


    "...Maggots... And if they''re maggots..." Kisuke slowly turned back at the endless chasm because he heard a buzzing sound. A few secondster, an almost 100 feet long grotesque, and misshapen fly emerged from the darkness. The problem was , this isn''t the only source of the buzzing sound as many more wereing from the abyss.


    "...Fuck..." Kisuke immediately pulled out Tiamat and released her, turning her into a green-tinted longsword to prepare for battle. He wanted to teleport away, but there was a strange wave of Magic Power that made it hard to cast it without using a significant amount of time, ''If the worms are already that scary, what can an adult fly do? Captain-level?''


    Kisuke thought of it as a joke, but as the fly approached, its aura also covered the entire surroundings, and it was not as funny anymore.


    He gripped Tiamat''s handle and prepared to bisect the approaching giant insect, ''I''ll cut this one down, retrieve its carcass, and escape.'' Tiamat received his will and the Reiatsu-Ki surrounding her de sharpened to the utmost level.


    However, before they could do anything, something else appeared from the darkness. Both Kisuke and Tiamat didn''t notice its approach because it had the same color as its surroundings and didn''t emit any aura. But as the nking sound and the series of metal-to-metal shes became louder and louder as time went on, they finally found out what it was.


    Countless streams of ck chains, the same ones that the [Chained] have on their bodies, came out and wrapped around the giant fly in front of Kisuke and started dragging it down.


    The fly let out a deafening screech but it could do nothing against the chains and was slowly being dragged back to where it came from.


    It wasn''t just the fly in front of Kisuke, but also the flies trying to fly up from the cliff. Their buzzing wings weakened as time went and soon enough, it became silent once again and even the giant worms behind Kisuke all disappeared under the earth, leaving behindrge swaths of holes.


    [Master, we''ve seen what''s out here so it''s better to leave now and arrange your thoughts.]


    Kisuke woke up from his stupor and just wordlessly set up multiple teleportation points and anchors in the region before leaving.


    .


    .


    .


    Within the unmarked valley, it was Batsu''unsai Katori''s turn to guard the former Captain Commander.


    The whole environment is still the same as when Kisuke left them a year ago. Although there were no changes, the former members of the Gotei 13 think this was a good thing because they were already hopeless from the beginning that Yamamoto would be able to keep himself sane.


    In their time, they were seen as ruthless criminals, but all the founding members of the Gotei 13 knew that Yamamoto was the worst of all of them. As such, he also had the heaviest sins that have always weighed on his heart. Thanks to the peaceful times, his stone-cold heart thawed and became that of someone with morals. In turn, however, it couldn''t support the weight of his actions of the past.


    Yamamoto also knew that this was inevitable so when they settled down, he liked saying that the moment the demon of fire sees the world again, it''ll also be thest time they''ll see it.


    At first, they didn''t understand what he meant by that, but when they heard what happened when the Quincies attacked, they finally figured out that his strength was held up by his cold-blooded heart. The moment he lost it, he also lost his edge. Wanting to protect something also means not destroying it with your own hands.


    Batsu''unsai watched Yamamoto for a few moments and sighed before turning to her side, "You''ve been staying here all this time. Aren''t you tired?"


    "That''s funny, Katori-san." The man sitting not far from Yamamoto replied, "If there''s someone tired, it would be Eijisai-dono."


    Batsu''unsai let out a short breath and turned her attention back to Yamamoto while muttering, "Your loyalty is as strong as ever."


    "But you guys, on the other hand, changed a lot," Choujirou replied.


    "In a bad way or in a good way?"


    Choujirou didn''t say anything for a few seconds until, "Both, I guess?"


    Batsu''unsai looked up to see the sky that they could never breach and said, "Well, it has been a long time. And those chains didn''t help at all."


    Choujirou looked up to her and asked, "How did you release yourselves from these chains, by the way?"


    "It''s not really the same for everyone since everyone has different realizations. However, the most fundamental thing is to reject Hell itself. And by doing so, you lose your right to use the Hell''s Blessing and your immortal body ceases healing itself."


    "You say that, but why can that strange man called Belial use it? I don''t feel the existence of chains on him."


    "I asked Chika and Furoufushi about that, but they are keeping his identity a secret. Probably a deal with him so that he''ll help out. Thanks to him though, we could contain Captain''s rampage. If that went on, the other [Chaineds] would have probably already found us. Who knows what they''d do to him."


    "What about you? What do you think of him?"


    Batsu''unsai thought for a bit before answering, "Sketchy is the word thates up to the top of my head. Actually, very sketchy. I can''t see why those two trust him so much."


    At her description of the strange man, Choujirou was reminded of someone, "Is the list we got of those still alive after the Quincy War urate?"


    "I think so, yes. Ichimaru Gin was able to confirm it."


    Choujirou then looked down with a worried expression, "Then we should probably start looking for that man."


    "That man? Who?"


    "One of the most dangerous individuals out there, Urahara Kisuke."


    "How dangerous are we talking about here?"


    "He could easily turn the entirety of Soul Society upside down if he really wanted to."

 Chapter 1191 Chain Removal part 2

    Chapter 1191 Chain Removal part 2


    "That''s interesting... Mind telling us more?" Furoufushi Saitou came walking in with an amused expression. Behind her was Chika Shihouin who was also sporting an interested look.


    Batsu''unsai turned her body towards their direction, "You''re back. Any news about Yachiru?"


    Furoufushi shook her head, "We found another lead, but it''s also another dead end."


    "Did Yachiru develop a skill like this to hide herself as the first Kenpachi?" Chika asked Choujirou.


    "All she had to do was hold back to keep her identity. It''s most likely that she''s with Ukitake Juushirou, a man with many skills but held back by his illness-ridden body since his childhood."


    "Ukitake?" Batsu''unsai repeated, "Ah... I remember him. He''s one of the old man''s students. He stands out because of how frail he is."


    "If he''s with her, then we don''t have to worry about them for now," Choujirou added.


    "That much, huh..." Furoufushi rubbed her chin in contemtion, "Alright. I''ll trust you and reallocate the manpower we have to defend."


    "Defending? What''s going on?" Batsu''unsai furrowed her brows, "Are we under attack?" Furoufushi nodded, "The Beasts of Hell have been rampaging these past few days and attacking settlements. It''s probably because of that Szayporro guy, but it''s nothing we can''t handle. Reallocating our resources is just an additional measure so we won''t be caught off guard."


    She then approached and stood beside Batsu''unsai, "More importantly, I''m interested in this Urahara Kisuke guy, since what you''re saying is that he''s capable of turning Soul Society inside out."


    Choujirou didn''t say anything for a few moments to gather his thoughts, "Since I died before the war with the Quincy started, I only knew things that Ichimaru told me. Even then, he only gathered that information from those [Chained]."


    "Basically speaking, he is someone who could pose as much danger as Sosuke Aizen if not more."


    "You mean the guy that you told us before that the old man can''t defeat?"


    Choujirou nodded, "That''s right. We were only able to contain him thanks to Urahara Kisuke''s help. In the first ce, Sosuke Aizen was only able toplete his research because Urahara Kisuke researched the same thing. If he had the ambition, he could be the seconding of that immortal monster.


    "ording to Ichimaru, Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi also died during the war but the Seireitei couldn''t perform the ceremony for them because their bodies were nowhere to be found. It was assumed they were dissolved by their opponent''s very potent poison."


    "Yoruichi?" Chika''s interest was piqued once again.


    "The former head of the Shihouin n and a descendant of your sister. Both she and Urahara Kisuke are individuals that vastly exceed an average Gotei 13 Captain so we should be searching for them too."


    Furoufushi and Chika wanted to ask more but Batsu''unsai suddenly turned around. With light footsteps, a man in a white suit and mask appeared and said, "You don''t have to search for them since it''d be aplete waste of effort."


    "...Belial. When did youe back?" Furoufushi also turned around and asked.


    "Just now. And it''s good that everyone is here. I''d like to attempt to remove the chains now." Kisuke went straight to the point because he didn''t want them to ask more about him and Yoruichi, ''Looks like Saitou-san and Shihouin-san wanted me to reveal my identity to them, but not right now.''


    Choujirou immediately stood up and asked, "You found a way!?"


    "I did." Kisuke nodded his head, "Actually, I already know how to do it for a few months now. It''s just that I don''t know what''s going to happen next if I artificially remove it."


    "You mean there are risks?"


    "Of course there are. There is some sort of system in ce for one to naturally remove them just like these people. It seems that they have to enter some sort of enlightenment before they can remove the chains themselves. I just don''t know what''s going to happen when I bypass that system. Though this could have been so much easier if we had the Hougyoku since we can just follow Ichimaru Gin-san''s example."


    "Now that you''re proposing to remove the chains, what are the risks?"


    "To be frank, I still don''t know much and all of my test subjects are the Beasts of Hell so I''m confident that it''ll trante well to you guys."


    "Yet you still wanted to do it?" This time, it was Chika who spoke up, "What''s the hurry?"


    Kisuke then shrugged his shoulders, "I''ve always been in a hurry and now that my research has been stagnating, I don''t want to waste my time anymore by not taking risks. And to be perfectly honest, I really don''t care what happens to you a lot. I just thought that helping you out might prove useful in the long run."


    Kisuke has been away for far too long. Although he told Yoruichi and the others that it might take him several years, he didn''t really intend to take that long, ''If I could at least get Aizen or Yhwach''s cooperation, then it''ll be enough.''


    For the former, Kisuke just needspelling bait and he''s pretty sure that Aizen will willingly take a few steps in the direction he wants. Yhwach on the other hand, Kisuke has to solve the fundamental problem of this world. Andpared to Aizen who can hopefully decimate the Etouldes, Yhwach is actually more useful against the ''Big Bad Evil'' known as Melvazoa, the leader of the Evies, ''That''s only if the information Azazel-san and the others received from the [future] is urate, though.''


    "Useful? In what sense?" Batsu''unsai asked with a frown.


    Still being honest, Kisuke answered, "You see, I have potential enemies. If I could have the help of the Shinigamis, Hollows, Quincies, and Fullbringers, they''ll think twice about making an enemy out of me."


    The Evies don''t have an army that could hurt the bottom line of the Etouldes, but that''s not the same case for Kisuke who could practically gather yers of Spiritual Power.


    "I''ll be your guinea pig." Choujirou suddenly said.


    Kisuke became quiet for a moment before asking, "You''re not going to ask anymore?"


    "This will speed up the process, right? Just do it so that we can move on. If it''s safe, then we could finally pull Ejisai from his bindings."


    Kisuke sighed and then smiled, "Alright. That''s what I wanted to propose doing first and since you''re offering it now, I won''t hesitate anymore. Be ready for everything, including if your mind is erased and descending into a simple beast. In a sense, that''s worse than death."


    "I''m ready."

 Chapter 1192 Liberation

    Chapter 1192 Liberation


    In another valley not far from the valley where Yamamoto was trapped, Choujirou was checking himself after he was ridden of his chains and his former ck skeletal arm returned to normal.


    "How do you feel?" Kisuke asked with his notes out.


    "...Thepelling thoughts have disappeared, that''s the first thing I''ve noticed along with the empowering feeling that was previously coursing through my entire body." Choujirou stretched out his limbs and released his Reiatsu. As he found out that nothing was out of ce, he pulled out his Zanpakuto and released it. He inspected his de and still found nothing worth mentioning, "Everything is normal."


    "I see." Was Kisuke''s shortment while looking at his notes. Aside from the Pseudo-Demonic Power leaving his body en masse, Kisuke found that he was not much different from someone with a Magic Body, ''This is truly amazing... I only kickstarted the process yet he still was able to retain his body that''s capable of using Reiatsu. Did someone deliberately do this or is it a natural process polished through millions of years?''


    Kisuke was leaning on thetter possibility, ''Especially now that I know that Hell is actually someone''s dead body.''


    Kisuke then turned to the other three who were present and asked, "How about you guys? How do you see this?"


    "It''s no different from us." Chika first states his opinion while going around Choujirou, "So an ''enlightenment'' isn''t really necessary?"


    "As you''ve said, someone taking off his or her chains is very rare so I haven''t seen it happen. Whether an ''enlightenment'' is necessary or not, I don''t know.", replied Kisuke. In the first ce, thest documented case that it happened was decades ago. It also doesn''t help that normal Hell citizens don''t retain their memories for long if their souls are not strong enough and most of them just suddenly disappear one day without any warning. Presumably, to join the reincarnation cycle once again.


    The five of them discussed what other changes urred in Choujirou, but Kisuke was mostly concerned on what''s its effects on the world itself, ''The Pseudo-Demonic Power in the area thinned to some degree not noticeable by my own senses.''


    [Ever so slightly, the barrier and the world itself became ''weaker''.] Tiamat''s voice suddenly resounded inside Kisuke''s head.


    Kisuke couldn''t help but smile wryly, ''Then those [Chained] are really necessary for this world''s ecosystem.''


    [Yes. And these [Unchained] are parasites living off thend, providing no benefits.]


    ''And the weaker the world bes...''


    [The more those maggots dig into this body.]


    ''But why would Hell itself im someone like Kazui?'' Kisuke thought to himself until a certain individual emerged from his head, ''Szayporro Granz... He broke the bnce so much that Hell itself is trying to bnce it out... Though that''s probably wrong too since Tiamat said that the [Unchained] provide no benefit.''


    [Or maybe I''m the wrong one. In any case, we still don''t have aplete and clear picture of how this world operates.]


    Kisuke, however, had a clue pertaining to that missing piece, ''Maybe I should provoke the baldy again.''


    "Looks like there are no problems. Let''s release the old man now." Furoufushi immediately suggested.


    In Kisuke''s opinion, they need to wait for a few more days to truly be sure that there will be no problems. Nevertheless, he was also in need of progress right now so he agreed.


    .


    .


    .


    Feeling the familiar feeling of heat on his skin, Yamamoto opened his eyes slowly. For the first time in a while, light entered his eyes without the red tint he''d always been seeing ever since he reached this strange new world where he was constantly bombarded with desires for destruction and hunger for blood and flesh.


    "...jisai! Eijisai!" Yamamoto''s momentarily unfocused eyes focused when he heard a very familiar voice calling for him. The old man slightly turned his eyes and saw the ugly, almost crying face of his long-time and loyal subordinate, "Eijisai! Can you hear me!? Belial! Is there anything wrong with him!? He''s been spacing out for a while now!"


    "You''re too noisy!" A deep and loud voice that felt like it sent a shockwave of authority suddenly stunned everyone.


    But instead of cowering in fear, a drop of tears came running down Choujirou''s face as he went down on his knees, "E-Eijisai... You''re finally back."


    Yamamoto stared at him for a few moments before sighing, "You''re the first one who died. Why are you being like this? And since when did you start calling me like that again?"


    Choujirou hurriedly wiped his tears and held Yamamoto''s aging hand, "I''m d... I''m really d to have you back, Eijisai."


    "Yo, old man. I can finally say that it''s nice to meet you." Chika approached and greeted him with a nonchnt expression.


    Yamamoto turned his attention to him and replied, "Shihouin... I never thought I''d see your face again." He then turned to the other girls smiling at him, "Saitou and Katori... You two still look the same."


    "It''s very hard to age down here." Furoufushi replied with a grin, "You, on the other hand, have too many wrinkles. Had they been stressing you too much?"


    While they were greeting each other, Kisuke stepped back to bring down the barrier separating them from the rest of the world.


    After a few minutes, Kisuke was able to take down everything and the surroundings went back to normal outside of the scorched ground. It was then that he realized that they stopped talking and all of them were looking at him.


    Kisuke calmly turned around, lifted his right hand to his chest, and slightly lowered his head in greeting, "Nice to meet you, former Captain Commander Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. My name is Belial. I''m d to see you regain your mind."


    Yamamoto stared at him intently and started walking forward with light strides, "It''s thanks to you."


    "I see that you still had a presence of mind despite the chains binding you. Sasakibe-san''s efforts of keeping youpany wasn''t a waste."


    "Ah..." Yamamoto slowly nodded, "I''m really grateful for it. It made me endure more."


    And then, their conversation abruptly stopped.


    Kisuke and Yamamoto stared at each other''s eyes, trying to gauge one another. The other four didn''t know why a strange tension was suddenly building up but before any of them could interrupt, Yamamoto suddenly asked, "I''m really grateful for your help and I''d like to return the favor, however, what is it that you truly want us to do?"


    Kisuke was about to give him a non-answer but Yamamoto interrupted him, "Let''s not waste each other''s time. We''re not kids that you can trick. I already lost my life once so I don''t mind losing it again. You wouldn''t get anything from me if I''m dead, right?"


    Kisuke shut his mouth, ''He''s still the same stubborn old man, but it seems that he knows that he can''t be too conservative anymore.''


    He weighed his options but he''s still not prepared. Kisuke was thinking of forcing them to a choice by creating an unavoidable scenario, ''However, I still can''t see any sess with that. Do I have to be honest here?''


    Yamamoto noticed that he was struggling and added with a stern expression stered on his face, "If you can convince me, even with just words, I''ll do what you want."


    Kisuke was silent for a few more seconds and sighed, "That''s a pretty big promise."


    Yamamoto grinned slightly, "It''d actually take a lot to convince me."


    Kisuke was taken aback because he didn''t know that he could make a face like that. With a simr grin under his mask, Kisuke took on the challenge, "I want to abolish the Seireitei."


    Before Yamamoto could say anything, four different killing intents, and Reiatsus came crashing down on Kisuke.

 Chapter 1193 Reveal

    Chapter 1193 Reveal


    But despite thebined pressure that could overwhelm and even outright kill a normal Shinigami, Kisuke remained calm and steadfast.


    Yamamoto, the only one who wasn''t exuding anything, raised his arm to block everyone after a few seconds, "Enough."


    "But Captain!" Furoufushi immediately protested.


    Yamamoto turned his head to the side and raised his voice, "Stand down! I won''t repeat myself!"


    Slowly but surely, the Reiatsu and killing intent pouring down on Kisuke disappeared. However, the four of them were still ring at him. If stares could kill, he would have been stabbed several hundred times.


    Yamamoto turned his head back to Kisuke and said, "It was something that not one of us expected and I wonder how you''ll be able to force us to help you with that."


    ''As expected, his authority over the members of the Gotei 13 hasn''t diminished.'' Kisuke thought to himself and met Furoufushi''s re, ''There''s no point in hiding my identity, huh?''


    Kisuke ced his hand on his mask and removed it. At the same time, the Disguise Magic covering his body bes undone, revealing his usual attire.


    " "Hmm!?" " Both Choujirou and Yamamoto''s eyes went wide open, "Urahara Kisuke!?" Shouted the former.


    "Hmmm... I certainly didn''t expect this." Yamamoto''s expression became serious. He thought that he was just facing a reckless man who didn''t know what he was trying to achieve but now he knows he''s not, ''Far from being reckless... He''s probably already done setting down the foundations for his goal... Though has he always looked this young?''


    The former Captains of the Gotei 13 on the other hand, had the same opinion as Yamamoto and thought that Kisuke was just being reckless and ambitious. Even though they''d heard from Choujirou before that ''Urahara Kisuke'' could turn the entirety of Soul Society upside down, they thought that he was just exaggerating.


    "What''s up, Captain? I didn''t think you''d be that shocked to discover his identity." Furoufushi noticed the change in Yamamoto''s demeanor.


    Choujirou ced his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto while Yamamoto had a moment of silence before saying, "I thought that he was just a man with reckless bravado. Now that he''s revealed himself, I wouldn''t be surprised if his ns were already halfway done."


    "!?" The other three also put their hands on their Zanpakuto and Furoufushi said, "Then we definitely can''t let him get away now!"


    "Stop it!" Yamamoto shouted.


    "No matter how strong he is, there''s no way he''ll be able to escape from us." Batsu''unsai directly pulled out her Zanpakuto.


    Yamamoto knew that it would be hard to convince them so he turned to Choujirou and asked, "Do you have the same opinion?"


    Choujirou already calmed down and thought about it for a second before letting go of his Zanpakuto with a sigh, "I wouldn''t be surprised if we''re actually talking to a Gigai right now."


    Immediately after, ''Kisuke'' inted and popped like a balloon, and at the same time, his voice came ringing out from behind them, "Iya~ It''s really hard to fool experienced people~!"


    All of them, aside from Yamamoto, hurriedly turned around to see Kisuke, 50 feet away from them, fanning himself, "To think Sasakibe-san would instantly see through me. As expected of the former Captain Commander''s most trusted aide."


    "..." The back of the three former Captains were drenched with cold sweat as they looked at Choujirou. However, the person in question also looked nervous and turned to the other three with eyes seemingly saying, ''I just guessed it! I didn''t think it''d really be the case!''


    "Hmmm..." Yamamoto calmly turned around and looked at Kisuke, "I did say I''d listen so I''ll lend my ears for now."


    "Thank you for the chance and your understanding, Captain Yamamoto." Kisuke immediately replied, "But before that let me prepare a few things since I don''t really believe that a few words will be enough to convince you."


    .


    .


    .


    Although they''d been watching the whole time, they still didn''t understand how they were suddenly standing in front of a big log cabin after only a quarter of an hour while waiting for Kisuke''s preparations.


    "Using some strange technique, he cut down the surrounding trees and processed their logs at the same time. Immediately after the logs started assembling themselves to form an exquisite and luxurious 2-story log cabin. Is everyone else following?" Furoufushi asked.


    "I do... But howe there''s a log cabin in front of us?" Chika asked.


    "Stop escaping from reality. And if you really did follow, you wouldn''t be asking that question." Batsu''unsai replied while massaging her forehead.


    "It''s been ten minutes since the cabin was built and he entered inside. Just what is he doing?" asked Choujirou.


    Thankfully, they didn''t have to wait long as Kisuke came out from the front door, "Thank you for waiting~! It took a while to furnish the ce. Pleasee inside."


    ''Why bother?'' They wanted to ask but they felt that they''d be tired from just asking that simple question so they swallowed it.


    The ever-so-calm Yamamoto took the first step and led the group.


    The four looked at each other before following his steps.


    Soon, they reached inside and were met with an elegantly designed and wide warm living room, "Please take a seat." Kisuke pointed at the couches in the middle.


    Yamamoto still led the group and without questioning it, took a seat on the single couch, "Such afortable ce. The reason you built a ce that could be a permanent residence?"


    "The Seireitei are sending people to take root in Hell. If you decide not to meet them for the time being, you can use this cabin. You can think of this ce as your retirement home."


    "Hmmm..." Yamamoto rubbed his beard as he looked around, "That wouldn''t be a bad idea. Would it be possible to do some farming here?"


    "I''ve prepared the tools you''ll need in the basement. If you''d like to nt something specific, don''t hesitate to ask me. As for the livestock, you''ll have to wait until Hell is stable."


    "I wasn''t really expecting more, but I''ll look forward to it."


    "Not just that. I''ll be able to connect this ce to the Human World''s inte if I can build the infrastructure for it." Kisuke added while he was preparing tea.


    Not knowing what to do, Chika asked, "What is this conversation? I thought we needed to talk about what he just said earlier?"


    "Don''t ask me. Urahara Kisuke has always been this casual to everyone. Don''t get too caught up in his pace." Choujirou answered as he sat down beside Yamamoto.


    Yamamoto received his tea and took a sip from it, "Now then. Let''s get into it."


    "Before that, I''d like to warn everyone not to do anything violent since I''ll be putting up an illusion." Kisuke knew that if he just showed the same thing he did to Soifon, they wouldn''t understand it either. So for this day, he created a nifty gadget that will emte what Freya did to him when they were about to fight.

 Chapter 1194 Reveal part 2

    Chapter 1194 Reveal part 2


    When Freya peered into Kisuke''s soul when she wanted to know about him, he shared a part of his memories in an attempt to incite curiosity and pull her to his side. Since then, he has been always interested in this technique and tried to research it. However, due to time constraints and it being at the bottom of his priorities, he wasn''t able to properly develop it.


    However, after sharing information with Soifon, he noticed howcking it was when the one viewing it didn''t feel anything out of the moving images. Even if the contents were real events, there would be an inevitable disconnect from someone who couldn''t rte.


    Since it''s a good method of gathering sympathizers and conveying the weight of his experience, he developed this tech among other things this past year. It''s still a prototype and would only work on him, but that''s more than enough for now.


    "You''ll be experiencing an illusion spell that I made so please don''t resist it as it''s pretty easy to dispel." Kisuke ced a white cylindrical object with various ck lines surrounding its body, "Since you might think that I''m lying, Katori-san here could watch what I''m doing while one of you tries to break it."


    "I''ll do it." Choujirou immediately presented himself and Batsu''unsai nodded after a moment of thinking.


    After their confirmation, the three former Captains felt the ''Hell''s Blessing'' stirring up and gathered around the cylindrical device. Meanwhile, Kisuke took out a ck card from his sleeve and ced it on his forehead, "You simply need to exert your Reiatsu to get out of it. To avoid spoilers, please get out of it as soon as possible."


    While listening to his instructions, Choujirou''s surroundings suddenly turned dark and a secondter, a blinding light covered his vision before he saw ginormous ovepping golden wheels with multiple eyeballs attached to them, "W-what!?" However, he immediately recalled Kisuke''s words and released his Reiatsu, breaking the scene in front of him like a ss, and soon enough, he returned to where everyone was.


    "Are you okay?" Furoufushi asked because she saw Choujirou heavily sweating and seemed to be out of it.


    Choujirou didn''t answer immediately which worried others, "...I''m fine... But what-"


    "Hold up. Don''t say what you saw and let me exin a few things before moving forward." Kisuke interrupted him, "What you''re going to see is my perspective so if you can''t move your body on your own ord, don''t be rmed. Aside from that, the ''illusion'' is not limited to sight as you''ll also feel what I was feeling at that point in time, especially my senses. In other words, you''ll be reminiscing about my own memories and experiences."


    "...That''s amazing." Chika muttered, "If you can use that for interrogation..."


    ''As expected of the founder of the Onmitsukidou... His thoughts immediately went there.'' Kisuke thought to himself. He always reminds himself not to be fooled by his charming and casual demeanor as he''s one of the people who ''extracted'' information the most, "Sorry to disappoint you, but this only works with me and only shows what I want to show in the first ce. If I don''t want to show anything, the spell will just fail."


    "I''m really curious as to what Choujirou saw but what''s the point of this?" Yamamoto suddenly asked.


    "As I''ve said, words are not enough to express what I wanted to say so I''ll just let you see it."


    "And how can we be sure that you''re not just showing us some random things that you created?"


    "Truthfully speaking, I really have no way of proving it outside of bringing you to a certain ce but that''s currently impossible. And in my opinion, it''s incredibly hard to even start making a fake of these."


    Yamamoto stayed silent for a short moment before nodding his head, "Alright. I''ll trust your words for now. Katori, I''ll leave it to you to defend us."


    "I''ll make sure that nothing happens to everyone," Katori answered while eyeing Kisuke.


    With everyone making themselvesfortable and a bit of anticipation, Kisuke activated the device once again, pulling in Choujirou, Yamamoto, Furoufushi, and Chika into the spell.


    Katori watched everyone''s eyes nk out and was tempted to immediately wake them up, ''It''s the same with what happened earlier... I guess it''s fine for now.''


    "How long will this take?" she asked.


    Kisuke sat down and thought about it while picking up his tea, "Not really sure but their perception should be elerated like how we thought back to a memory so it shouldn''t take that long. Probably ten minutes at most?"


    Katori didn''t say anything else nor touch the tea that Kisuke served and just observed everything around her. She wasn''t just guarding the other four, but also herself in case there were some sneaky things that Kisuke might pull.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, directly ignored her after answering her question and just monitored what he was showing to the rest.


    Unlike what she showed to Soifon, he didn''t include how he and Yoruichi came to the other world. He''s mainly showing how Magic is being utilized by many races and how death is dealt with. As he put emphasis on ''death'', he showed his experiences when he first visited Purgatory where souls are being judged, and also the ce where Cao Cao used to infiltrate Heaven.


    The Limbo where the ''sinners'' are punished. The Malebolge, where the evil minds, wicked souls, evil spirits and those whomitted many great sins were locked up and punished. Cocytus, where the souls of the most powerful and dangerous figures whomitted the gravest of sins or those who perpetrated betrayals.


    The Third Heaven where all souls except for those in Cocytus inevitably arrive and are purified before returning to the cycle of reincarnation. Finally, Kisuke also showed them the Seventh Heaven where the Sacred Gear System is located because it''s also the ce that allows the world to manage all the souls.


    As a bonus, Kisuke also showed how the ''Dungeon World'' cycle through souls which has a simr process as the previous one, ''Now that both worlds are connected, both systems mutated, adapted, and helped each other cycle through the souls smoothly as if it''s meant that way even before the connection.''


    Without the interference or help of an outsider, Kisuke showed them a world where no Hollows exist because a Shinigami wasn''t able to lead a Plus. A world where a soul always has a ce that it can go to and no fear of it being stuck somewhere to deteriorate. A world where ''death'' is not a creation of another body and waits for decay to reincarnate. A world where ''death'' is bound to the world itself and not on the whims of someone.


    ''I wonder what they''ll think after seeing all of that? Will they think that the other worlds are wrong and this one is right? And if they can ept that the other method is better for the souls themselves, can they ept that the Shinigamis'' duties are just creating suffering among the innocents? Can they ept that the world can exist without the lynchpin? Can they ept that the Seireitei has to cease to exist to make way for the world itself to hold the power over souls? Can they ept that everything that they did might be wrong and immoral?''


    Kisuke sighed to himself. He started thinking of what he should do next if he can''t convince them, ''I can''t really resort to violence, and forcing them to make a choice won''t do me any good in the long run.''


    Kisuke didn''t want their cooperation for this whole ordeal but also another matter. ''Regalzeva... I don''t know how long it''ll take for his underlings to pry open the barrier.''


    As he thought back to the Evie God who yed Great Red, his device suddenly reacted, ''Oh shit... That was added? ...Oh well.''

 Chapter 1195 Reveal part 3

    Chapter 1195 Reveal part 3


    When almost 10 minutes had passed since Kisuke pulled them into the ''illusion'', Batsu''unsai suddenly felt the four''s Reiatsu suddenly spiking up, causing her to stand up, pull out her Zapakuto, and releasing it at the same time, bringing out naginata with golden shaft and double-edge de, "What happened!?"


    "Rx, they''re justing out." Kisuke casually answered while guessing the reason why they broke his spell, ''They probably involuntarily defended themselves after seeing thest bit I identally added in the end.''


    Immediately after, Batsu''unsai could also feel the Hell''s Blessing around them subsiding and the light in their eyes returning. However, none of them spoke and just nkly stared in front of them with their eyes wide open as if they just saw something horrifying, ''Even the Captain!?''


    "H-hey! What''s wrong?" Only upon hearing Batsu''unsai''s voice, they finally released a long breath.


    "...What was that in the end?" Chika asked while holding his head. A corpse of a monster with a very impressive presence. A 7-meter tall person covered in metal that emitted a very terrifying aura that was enough to make them freeze in ce. And twins capable of annihting the world itself. All of them reacted and ended up bringing themselves out of the illusion.


    Kisuke looked at Chika, and then at others who were looking at him, expecting an answer, and then back to the former, "I identally added that memory so please don''t mind it. You should know what I''m trying to show you specifically."


    Due to the strong impression at the end, they almost forgot what they just watched.


    All of them became silent. More specifically, the other three are waiting for Yamamoto to make a statement.


    The former Captain Commander closed his eyes and didn''t open them for a few minutes. Batsu''unsai was curious about what they saw but didn''t know how to approach Kisuke.


    Yamamoto felt and guessed what Batsu''unsai and spoke first, "Let her see it. We''ll talk after all of us know what''s happening."


    Kisuke silently agreed and activated the device again.


    And just like what happened at the other four, Batsu''unsai released her Reiatsu near the end of the illusion. Shocked at what she saw, she wasn''t able to say anything.


    Yamamoto opened his eyes up and his gaze naturallynded on Kisuke, "First of all, were those really your experiences? If so, how was it possible?"


    "You should have already guessed it." Kisuke replied while meeting his eyes, "I died and reincarnated in apletely foreign world."


    "...Foreign world... I didn''t think it was possible." Furoufushi muttered to herself.


    "You came to Hell after death so something like that shouldn''t really be a surprise for someone like you."


    Furoufushi furrowed her brows and said, "I know. But Hell is still part of this world. From what I saw, it''s apletely different world but still parallels this one... At least the world of the living."


    "Enough small talk." Yamamoto suddenly mmed the tip of his cane on the floor, "Tell us what you want to achieve while exining why you want to abolish the Seireitei."


    In an instant, the atmosphere around Kisuke became heavy once again. However, Kisuke still didn''t want to reveal his real goal. If Serafall or Yoruichi were here, they''d find it strange that he still doesn''t want to say it.


    Even Tiamat who''s with him now is suspicious of his intentions, [Master... I think this is a good time.]


    ''I know... It''s just that...''


    Kisuke has a good reason, or at least, in his opinion a good reason, ''All this time... Whenever I try to voice it out, rms ring in my head that makes me think that it''s a bad idea to let others know. I don''t know the reason and I tried finding it out to no avail. However, these past few years, I started to trust my guts more.''


    [Do you have some sort of premonition power?]


    ''No... As far as I know, I don''t.''


    [If you really trust it, then the only other possibility is someone telling you to stop speaking about it without you realizing it.]


    Kisuke smiled wryly and replied, ''I also have the same opinion... And there''s only one person that I know that would want to do that.''


    [Do you still feel the same?]


    ''Yes.''


    [Then I have a proposal, Master.]


    ''...Let me hear it.'' Kisuke thought that it must be something significant for her to ask for permission and he was not wrong as Tiamat''s next words were, [Release me and let me have a look.]


    Kisuke instantly understood that she didn''t mean her Zanpakuto release but releasing her true form from the de she was sealed in. Once Kisuke allows her to do that, she''s going to be properly resurrected, albeit, in a much weaker state. But from then on, she''ll be free from his control and will be able to escape and recover. It''ll take her a long time but Tiamat will return to how she was when Kisuke killed her to lure Chaos out.


    Since her existence itself could erode everything around her, letting her lose in this world would be a disastrous event and could potentially end this world.


    ''Go ahead.''


    [...You''re not afraid?]


    ''I''ll deal with you when the timees, but you''re proposing this to help me identify a very important problem, right?''


    [...Well, I guess that''s what I could expect from someone who sessfully killed me. You probably already have several measures in case I escape and turn rouge.]


    Yamamoto and the rest didn''t mind that Kisuke became silent but they became confused when he suddenly started smiling wryly. Nheless, they didn''t have time to think about it when Kisuke suddenly pulled out a tanto de from his sleeve and threw it in the air away from them.


    While spinning midair, the tanto de began shining in dark green light before it shattered into many pieces.


    As the fragmented de exploded outward, embedding itself into the walls, ceiling, and floor, it left its dark green glow where it was. The dark green light then became darker and darker until it was just a lump of darkness silently floating.


    A few secondster, a strangely threatening aura descended on everyone, making everyone, except for Kisuke, stand up from their seat, "What are you doing, Urahara Kisuke?" Choujirou asked while arming himself.


    "She won''t hurt you as long as you don''t approach her." Kisuke answered while looking at the darkness, ''Is there really no way to remove that destructive nature from her?''


    "She?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer anymore with the chaotic aura bing more pronounced. The lump of darkness started wriggling and expanding until it formed a silhouette of a tall and shapely woman with tworge and double-curled horns attached to her head. It didn''t take long before the darkness receded like a shadow meeting light and revealed a scantily clothed beautiful woman with long blue hair and pink eyes with star-like pupils.


    But contrary to her almost divine appearance, the atmosphere around her is that of the worst demon, strongly emanating death with the floor she''s standing on bing scorched without any presence of mes.


    The woman directly ignored the five gawking people and turned to Kisuke, "Master, do you have something to suppress this? I won''t be able to take a seat."

 Chapter 1196 Reveal part 4

    Chapter 1196 Reveal part 4


    Seeing that Tiamat''s chaotic aura was slowly destroying everything around her slowly, Kisuke thought for a bit before taking out a pure white simple double-edged dagger from his inventory and throwing it toward Tiamat.


    Tiamat easily caught the dagger and as soon as she touched it, the raging chaotic ck aura around her started receding until it disappeared as if it didn''t exist in the first ce, ''Hmm? Even though it''s in a different form... Isn''t this...'' Tiamat inspected the dagger closely before saying, "Isn''t this my tooth?"


    "It''s one of the things I prepared to deal with Chaos but ended up not using."


    Tiamat ced her other hand on the dagger and immediately after, a lump of chaotic Magic Power covered it until it formed a ck sheath and attached a ck cord at the dagger''s handle before wearing it on her neck, "So you retrieved my body and even purified it."


    Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, "There''s no way I''m going to leave something as valuable as that. And you''re also overestimating me since it took me quite a while to purify just a single tooth. It might take me decades or centuries to do it for your entire body. On top of that, it''s impossible for me to purify your soul."


    "The fact it''s even possible to do that on corrupted flesh such as mine is a testament to your skills.


    "...Who are you?" Yamamoto asked with a careful tone. Although the aura she manifested felt very dangerous, it was also very weak. However, when his eyesnded on her, a distinct feeling of inferiority took hold of his heart which he had only felt from one other being, ''Soul King... She reminds me of the Soul King.''


    It wasn''t just Yamamoto who thought like this as everyone in this room had already met the Soul King at least once.


    "I''m just Master''s helper and nothing more," Tiamat replied as she made her way towards Kisuke.


    "H-Helper?" Batsu''unsai muttered loudly. As she''s the one with the most sensitive senses among the group, and even if suppressed, the air around Tiamat was still causing her heart to palpitate in nervousness and she was doing her best not to retaliate out of instinct.


    But Tiamat ignored her and continued her way to Kisuke before stopping 3 feet from him. Although Kisuke was 6 feet tall, he looked shortpared to Tiamat who''s at least 6 feet 7 inches or 2 meters tall.


    Tiamat silently stared at Kisuke with her pink eyes and a few secondster, she muttered, "So that''s how it is."


    Kisuke was surprised, "You really found something?"


    "What? You let me go without expecting anything?"


    "No. I let you go while thinking about how to get you back."


    "..."


    "..."


    Tiamat sighed and stared at Kisuke again. However, Kisuke felt that she was not looking at him and that feeling was soon confirmed when she suddenly said, "Come out. You''ve already revealed yourself the moment you tried looking into me."


    Kisuke''s brows immediately furrowed and the muscles on his body immediately became taut, ''Someone''s inside me?'' He then closed his eyes and entered his inner world.


    When he opened his eyes again, he saw the same sea of blood and the blood-red five-tier traditional Japanese mansion. Kisuke wanted to check it, but a ball of white light suddenly started shining on top of it before it shot out to the darkness, leaving his inner world, ''What was that!?''


    Kisuke hurriedly left his inner world and when he opened his eyes, he saw the same ball of white light hovering on top of everyone.


    And like what everyone saw from Tiamat, the ball of light started expanding and formed an armless and legless man. At that point, everyone already knew who they were looking at.


    "I-Impossible..." Choujirou muttered to himself.


    But while the former members of the Gotei 13 are gawking, the corner of Kisuke''s mouth is twitching, "Since when did you attach yourself to me?"


    The light soon finished forming to the limbless Soul King and opened his four-pupiled eyes before answering with an indiscernible voice, "Since you created your so-called Hougyoku."


    "So it has been a while..."


    "Don''t be surprised. I know you were already expecting this the moment I spoke to you upon your return."


    "I didn''t know where you were hiding though?"


    "This will be thest time I''ll be appearing before you as only a little bit of my intent is going to disappear after this so I''ll answer your confusion." The Soul King stopped the small talk and became direct, "The moment you reveal your intentions is the moment this world will bless an individual or individuals to go against you to retain the status quo."


    Upon hearing that, Ichigo immediately came into Kisuke''s mind, "Then why stop me?"


    Before the Soul King answered, his strange eyes nced at the rest of the people, "Because I want you to seed."


    "...Why? Isn''t this your own world?"


    "Near my impending doom, I arranged a ce where the smaller creatures could thrive, but only upon my death did I realize that I failed. This miserable failure then gave birth to something that shouldn''t exist. To stop this failure from worsening, I gathered my scattering soul and used it to chain down this world. However, I know that is not going tost forever."


    The Soul King''s figure then began turning transparent. Not minding this, he turned his head towards Tiamat, "As long as she exists around you, this world won''t be able to read your fate. You are now free to act."


    Kisuke had a bad feeling and wanted to ask something, but before he could say anything, the Soul King''s figure cracked and shattered into a million pieces before instantly disappearing, including his aura.


    Dumbfounded, Kisuke stared at the nk space for a few moments before yelling, "Why does he always speak in riddles!? Does it hurt to be more specific!?"


    Tiamat was surprised because this was the first time she saw him lose his cool. And when he suddenly turned his head towards her, she immediately avoided his gaze by turning to the side. After all, she did the same thing to him.


    "Haah..." Kisuke let out a long breath and sat back down to calm himself, "It''s really hard to read the intentions of those who are born Transcendents. They either don''t know anything, or they see things from an entirely different perspective."


    Tiamat sat down beside the grumbling Kisuke and said in an attempt tofort him, "At least we made progress. It''s much better than just guessing randomly."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a few more minutes to arrange his thoughts and only after that did he finally pay some attention to the other people in the room, "Shall I reveal what I want now? The strange feeling has already disappeared."


    As expected, Yamamoto was the first one to calm down and took back his seat, "Was that the real Soul King?"


    "That was just a clump of residual intent, not the real thing. On top of that, I have no way of proving if that''s really the Soul King either. His aura matches the one I know, though."


    Of course, Kisuke knew that Yamamoto wanted to know if he just made up a ruse to make him appear more convincing. Sadly, Kisuke really has no way of proving if that was the Soul King as even he is skeptical of his identity, ''Not to mention, I''m still thinking on how he was able to hide himself inside me. I could use Benihime''s help, but I can''t bring her back right now. Not after all the effort she took to infiltrate the Onmitsukidou.''


    "Hmmmm... Is that so... Then tell us what you want to happen." Yamamoto added after thinking for a bit.


    "I want to create a nucleus for a new reincarnation system and connect it to another world for stability. Doing that will pull all the souls within the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and world of the living below a certain threshold of Spiritual Power to this new system, essentially relieving the Shinigamis from their duties of guiding the dead, stopping any further Hollows from being born resulting in the Seireitei losing its power and influence."


    ============================================

 Chapter 1197 Joining Forces

    Chapter 1197 Joining Forces


    ''Oh... I was able to say it in one go without the strange feeling. Though I will have to checkter if he really left.'' Kisuke thought to himself, "It''s no different from abolishing the Seireitei, no?"


    Naturally, the former Shinigamis were having a hard time wrapping their heads around Kisuke''s idea of [Reincarnation] as they had handled only one type of thing. However, they all understood the implication behind it, "You''re going to make an enemy out of every noble out there, not to mention the Zero Division."


    Kisuke sneered at them which caught them off guard, "The fact that you think like that shows how these nobles would rather confine innocent people than lose their influence."


    Yamamoto became speechless. He wanted to refute it, but what he said is the truth. If the normal citizens of the Soul Society didn''t exist, then the nobles wouldn''t be able to gather armies, and their research and development regarding various things will start to fall off. The Gotei 13 are the guardians that help the souls pass on and purify Hollows, but they''re also just a big shield that guards those in high positions from outside threats. Behind them it was a constant struggle for power and influence. A war hidden in the shadows.


    ''If not for that, then Yhwach and his Quincy wouldn''t have been able to take advantage of the darkness and hide themselves for so long.'', Yamamoto thought to himself while looking down. He was powerful, but all those times, he could only look forward and the moment he looked back, those who he protected would see that as a threat, ''The Seireitei (Court of Pure Souls) huh... It''s anything but that.''


    Yamamoto sighed, "Then do you n to kill all of them if they go against you?"


    "Of course not." Kisuke confidently answered, "If I do that, I would be nothing but a giant hypocrite. I may be a hypocrite sometimes, but I still won''t deny what''s a very normal urrence in every power structure out there. What they''re doing is distasteful, but both you and I won''t be able to call it evil. Whether we like it or not, ambition is the biggest fuel to progress and it''s the reason why the Seireitei stands where it is today."


    "But they won''t stay still if you take away their most precious resource."


    "That''s why I intend to offer them a deal they won''t be able to refuse." Kisuke replied with a big smile on his face, ''And drag them into my problems while I''m at it.''


    Yamamoto turned, looked through the windows, and became silent. Those around him didn''t dare interrupt his train of thought.


    ''Everyone below a certain amount of Spiritual Power will be reincarnated... That would mean it includes the weaker members of the nobility. They surely wouldn''t allow that so his offer, aside from them keeping their power structure, is the exemption of these members.'' Yamamoto considered various possibilities but this was the simplest solution he could think of if Kisuke really wanted to pull off his ns.


    He turned back to Kisuke and asked, "So this offer of yours, will you also offer it to us?"


    ''Therge majority of Humans in the world of the living possess weak Spiritual Power, but they won''t be included in the new system until their death. In other words...''


    "You guessed it? As expected of the most experienced Shinigami of the Gotei 13." Kisuke replied while reading his expressions, "That''s right. I intend to give everyone a physical body. That way, they''ll be considered ''alive'' by the system."


    "Do you mean a Gigai? But they won''t be satisfied with just that."


    "It''s a special type of Gigai that allows one to exert their strength without any limits. Not just that. Learning how to utilize Magic Power, also known as Hell''s Blessing will be a lot easier. The only downside is that you can''t leave it."


    Furoufushi, Chika, and Batsu''unsai immediately reacted to that with the former immediately asking, "That''s possible!? But wait, you haven''t mentioned anything about the inhabitants of Hell. What''s going to happen to them?"


    "I didn''t mention anything about them because as it is now, they''ll be considered ''alive'' by the system. In the first ce, the situation here is strange. While you might think that this is your second life, that''s not the same case if viewed from a different angle."


    "You mean the reason for our existence? What is it?"


    ''Food.'' Kisuke thought to himself but decided not to say it, "I''m still doing a lot of things to confirm my findings so I can''t answer you just yet. But after I''m done, I''m hoping that I''ll be able to find a way to detach everyone from Hell''s influence."


    "Alright. I''ll join you." All of a sudden Yamamoto dropped a bomb.


    "C-captain!?" Batsu''unsai panicked and stood up, "Do you know what you are saying!?"


    Yamamoto tapped his cane to the ground creating a loud thud, "My decision is final. I won''t implore you to follow after me, but I hope you remember why I established the Gotei 13 in the first ce."


    Choujirou, Furoufushi, Chika, and Batsu''unsai froze on the spot.


    ''The Royal Guards won''t do anything against the nobles who are starting to reach out to the innocent souls with their cruel hands. ''Ejisai, amoner who had suffered at their hands immensely, gained power and gathered people to establish the Gotei 13 with the blessing of the leader of the Royal Guards. The Gotei 13 wasn''t initially founded to go against outside threats but to contain the nobles'' greed.'' Choujirou thought to himself while clenching his fist. A secondter, he walked in front of Yamamoto and immediately dropped down to his knees, "Ejisai, please allow me to follow you."


    The other three also walked forward. Although they didn''t go as far as kneeling, they all lowered their heads and said at the same time, "Captain! We also wish to follow you!"


    At this sight, Yamamoto couldn''t help but remember the past and be emotional. Although they were the worst ughterers in the history of Soul Society, it was all for the sake of pushing themoners out of reach of the nobles. With a soft smile, Yamamoto replied, "There will be nothing that would make me happier."


    Yamamoto then looked at Kisuke who was also a bit stunned at his on-the-spot decision, "There you have it. Tell us what we need to do. These old bones are not about to rest yet."


    Kisuke smiled. Finally, he got one of the strongest support that he could have. He stood up and said, "Alright. Just stand by for now. I need to escte things a bit to divert some attention."


    "Oh? What are you going to do?" Yamamoto curiously asked but immediately regretted it when he heard his answer.


    With arge grin, Kisuke dered, "The big bad evil boss, Urahara Kisuke''s, deration of war~!"


    The surrounding Magic Power whirling around Kisuke which hid his true aura slowly receded as he released his Reiatsu-Ki. Although it felt really weird, it was undeniably Kisuke''s Reiatsu from Choujirou and Yamamoto''s perspective.


    Kisuke didn''t just stop there as his skin also turned white along with a pair of horns growing out of his head. Soon, his eyes ckened and his hair grew longer. At this point, his Reiatsu is so heavy that everyone around him, except for Tiamat has to step back.


    "This is... Hollowfication?" Choujirou loudly muttered, "What are you nning to do!?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer and instead, activated his next card, "Shunkou Blood Gate, 5th Gate: eptance." Blood-red armor covered all of his limbs and a transparent red hagoromo which was filled with the scent of blood.


    With 5 of his drum-like structures behind him opened like eyes, Reiatsu-Ki exploded once more and became even more concentrated to the point that any normal people who approached him within a few feet would disintegrate into nothing.


    The very dense Reiatsu that he''s releasing immediately reminded Choujirou and Yamamoto of one other individual, ''...Aizen Sosuke.''


    The fully Hollowfied and armored Kisuke put forward his hand, stabbing it into space itself and ripping it apart like how Yoruichi''s Byakko did it. With an opening asrge as him, he walked forward while saying, "I''ll be back."


    The next moment, Kisuke found himself overlooking the Spirit King Pce and the five cities below it

 Chapter 1198 Distraction

    Chapter 1198 Distraction


    Kisuke immediately felt the five members of the Zero Division emerging but he didn''t wait for them. He raised his right arm and the veins in it started burning, "Hadou no 96..."


    Kisuke swung his arm down, aiming straight at the Spirit King Pce, "Ittou Kasou (Single de Cremation)." From the tip of his fingers, extended a giant katana de made out of crimson fire.


    The almost half-kilometer long and 50-meter wide de descended upon the Spirit King Pce, drying its surroundings and dyeing the atmosphere red.


    But before it could reach the pce, a single word read as [Block] suddenly appeared in the way of the de as if someone painted the sky with it.


    The scorching de hit the word and stopped, however, only momentarily as the ck ink was soon burned off. The single de continued its descent with as much force as before and was about to give its judgment to the pce.


    But just as Kisuke was about to reach his target, he felt another resistance, and this time, much stronger. When he looked at the end of his de, he found five familiar people working together to intercept his attack.


    "Then try blocking it," Kisuke muttered to himself and gritted his teeth, pushing his body to further limits. The five ''eyes'' behind elongated until they looked like five raysing off his back and at the same time, the crimson de in his hand became heavier. To his surprise, however, the de didn''t budge one bit, ''There is more resistance than I thought.''


    Below the five cities, Kisuke could see hundreds of the Royal Guards preparing to fire off their spells to take him down, ''They figured out that I can''t move... Should I give up? This should be enough of a message.''


    .


    .


    .


    In Soul Society, the moment Kisuke''s massive and strange Reiatsu appeared on top of them, almost everyone started panicking. After what happened in Hell, everyone thought that he too became an enemy and came to attack the Soul Society. Notable individuals immediately started to prepare a counter but some of them immediately noticed that he was not within the Seireitei.


    ''The Spirit King Pce?'' Mayuri asked himself, ''The most annoying and dangerous one finally appeared and he went to the Spirit King Pce first? How did he even reach that ce?''


    Mayuri had already anticipated that Kisuke would study everything about Space-Time maniption if he was alive in Hell but he didn''t expect that he''d go attack the Spirit King Pce, ''This is weird even for him. Does he have some sort of grudge against the Royal Guards? And this Reiatsu... It''s almost on par with Aizen Sosuke. Just what was he up to all these years?''


    While berating his subordinates to calm down, Mayuri went back into hisboratory with various questions emerging from his head.


    Kyouraku, Nanao, Shinji, and Soifon, all at different ces doing their work, looked up and questioned what Kisuke was trying to do now, ''After a year of silence, he appeared like this with a bang. I hoped he would give us a heads-up. He even revealed himself this time.'' Kyouraku thought to himself and decided to randomly send out amand to guard the entrances of the Seireitei.


    However, those thoughts instantly changed when he heard Kisuke''s voice echoing in his head.


    .


    .


    .


    Deep inside the most secure prison, Aizen opened his eyes and looked up with a smile, "Finally doing something?" However, that smile immediately disappeared when he heard Kisuke''s voice inside his head as if he was dering something to the world.


    .


    .


    .


    Benihime, who was about to be deployed to Hell for her Onmitsukidou mission, stopped her steps when certain words suddenly appeared in her mind.


    .


    .


    .


    Just as he thought of giving up, he suddenly heard a voice, [Boss, you have our power. Why are you not using it?]


    ''nna?'' The moment he recognized her voice, a chant also appeared in his head, ''...This is...''


    [Do it boss. We''re with you.]


    Kisuke smiled. He didn''t really want to borrow their powers, but he also wanted to test what they could do, ''I guess this is a good chance.''


    Kisuke opened his mouth and even without doing anything to amplify his voice, he was heard by everyone, [The Strings of Death, weave my existence.]


    "What is he saying!? Why can we hear it!?" Tenjirou Kirinji, who was using his everything to push back against the de, loudly asked. Sadly for him, no one could answer it.


    The next second, everyone heard another voice, [The Blood of Everchanging Fate within me, ept your Destiny.]


    ''Benihime?'' Kisuke thought when he heard the next line. But just like Tenjirou, there was no one who answered him and soon heard Ophis and Lilith''s voices, [The jet-ck God of Infinity.]


    Immediately after, nna''s voice was heard, [The glorious Red God of Dreams.]


    Finally, as ifpelled, Kisuke muttered thest chant along with everyone who spoke, [We shallmand the Present and take hold of the Future. Thou shalt swim through infinite possibilities with absolute sincerity!]


    In an instant, the color of the de became a mix of jet-ck, crimson, and blood-red mes. Along with this change was the resistance on Kisuke''s arm lessening as he pushed further down.


    Judging that they wouldn''t be able to block the attack, Ichibei hurriedlymanded, "Push it to the right!!!"


    With astounding coordination, all of the members of the Zero Division matched their timing and strength to push the ming de to the side.


    The resistance disappeared and Kisuke was able to swipe down which immediately cut the Spirit King Pce in half, albeit, off by several feet from the middle. As the smaller half started falling, the ming de was also extinguished.


    And despite his right arm being absolutely charred beyond recognition, Kisuke still had this refreshed smile stered on his face but that also immediately disappeared when he saw the angry faces of the Royal Guards trying to approach him, ''Oops. Time to bail.'' From the ripped space where he went through, he traced his steps back with various Kidou spells flying in his direction.


    Nevertheless, before they could hit Kisuke, he had already disappeared and space was already mending itself.


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as he came back, he immediately deactivated his Shunkou and Hollowfication but his Hell friends didn''t miss his charcoaled arm.


    "Just where did you go and what did you do?" Furoufushi asked curiously and cautiously. They all thought that they could take him on easy, but after he revealed his aura, they were not so sure anymore.


    Kisuke pulled his burnt arm off and snapped it like a twig before using Ice Magic to close the wound, "A bit of a distraction. They won''t be able to put that much attention on Hell, especially the cities of [Unchained], for now."


    ''Shunsui-san and Soifon-san will probably try to contact me, but it''s going to be dangerous so I''ll hold off answering for some time. What''s important right now is I adjust the Homunculus so that it''ll be able to take souls that came to Hell.''

 Chapter 1199 More Liberation

    Chapter 1199 More Liberation


    Kisuke left the founding members of the Gotei 13 in the log house to make his way back to hisboratory and transfer some equipment to Hell.


    A dayter, Gin Ichimaru returned with both good and strange news only to be stunned at the sudden luxurious log house, "...What is this?" And as he approached the out-of-ce building, he heard something hitting the ground behind it.


    He went around it and saw two half-naked men plowing thend not far from the house, "...Er... What?"


    Yamamoto and Choujirou stopped moving and turned their heads to the new guest, "Ichimaru?" Thetter murmured when he saw the slit-eyed man.


    However, Gin''s eyes are not on him but on the old bald man with a long white beard, "Captain Commander..."


    "Former Captain Commander." Yamamoto immediately corrected him.


    "The chains... You''re out." Gin muttered and prepared himself to fight and escape in case Yamamoto decided to attack. After all, theirst meeting before this is a hostile one.


    Yamamoto noticed his defensive demeanor and said, "I have nothing against you so ease yourself. I''ve also heard what you''d done to gain Aizen Sosuke''s trust. While there''s nothing good about it, you did what you have to do in your own judgment. It''s not something to be shameful about."


    "I don''t deserve those good words.", Gin sighed in relief, "But enough of that. I was able to locate andmunicate with both Unohana Retsu and Ukitake Juushirou. There''s also something big going on in Soul Society."


    "Hmmm..." Yamamoto guessed that it probably had something to do with what Kisuke did yesterday, "Alright. Let''s head inside first."


    .


    .


    .


    With everyone gathered, Gin first looked around and asked, "Where did this big log housee from? And from its workmanship, the one who built this is a master. Can I hire him to make me one too?"


    Furoufushi sighed, "That cer. Whether you could hire him or not will depend on him... Well, you''ll understandter. Tell us what you found out."


    Gin felt the strange atmosphere around and he could even see the strict Captain Commander make a weird expression, ''Is it a sensitive topic?''


    Gin cleared his throat and moved on, "First, I found Unohana Retsu and Ukitake Juushirou and asked them to join us. However and understandably, they don''t trust me and want proof that we''re not from Szayporro''s side. But this is good since Szayporro also doesn''t have any way of pulling them in. We could just have Captain Commandere to their side and that should solve the problem."


    "Are they doing alright?" Chika asked.


    Gin shook his head, "I''m not too sure about that since I only directly talked to Ukitake. Unohana is probably also struggling with the chains like the Captain Commander so it''s better for us to act as soon as possible."


    "Umu..." Yamamoto nodded, "We''ll move immediately. But before that, what''s happening in Soul Society? You mentioned something big was going on."


    "I first heard it from those who were deployed to Hell from the Seireitei. I then went to the world of the living to confirm and get more details. I don''t know what the full story is but the Spirit King Pce came under attack yesterday and the Spirit King Pce itself was cleaved in half despite the Royal Guards protecting it with its smaller half falling into Soul Society."


    "..."


    ''Hmmm? What is this reaction?'' Gin asked himself and thought that they''d be more shocked about this.


    "The Spirit King... The lynchpin is safe but the Royal Guards decided to bring back the Seireiheki (Pure Soul Wall) after protecting the Seireitei for almost two decades and locked themselves up. And the cause of all of this is apparently Urahara Kisuke after matching the Reiatsu that appeared in the Spirit King Pce that time with him.


    "That''s all the credible information that I gathered. As for the rest, they''re just rumors like how strange voices were heard in all of Seireitei at that exact moment."


    "..."


    Contrary to Gin''s expectations, there are no strong reactions from any of them. Instead, they have this same weird expression from earlier, "Ummm... What''s going on?"


    At that moment, a new presence suddenly appeared from the interior of the house which made Gin jump from his seat, "Who is it?"


    "It''s the person you want to hire..." Batsu''unsai answered while the corner of her mouth was twitching, "And what did he say yesterday? He caused a bit of a distraction? Is this still a distraction?"


    Chika smiled wryly and said, "...Well, technically speaking, it is. Just on a wholly different extent than we initially thought."


    Gin found their conversation very uncanny but couldn''t dwell on it when somebody whom he was not expecting suddenly exited one of the doors, "...Urahara!?"


    "Oh. If it isn''t Ichimaru-san, you''re finally back."


    Gin thought that his question was weird but set it aside and asked, "What are you doing here?"


    Kisuke took out his mask and ced it on his face. The next instant, his whole attire and appearance changed, "Does this exin it?"


    "...Belial!?"


    Kisuke took off the mask again and returned to his normal appearance, "That''s the short story."


    He then turned towards the main door and walked towards it, "But I got no time to exin so ask them about it. I''ve got to set up myb."


    From the same door where Kisuke came from, a very tall woman also came out, this time properly dressed, and followed him, ignoring everyone else in the room.


    "We''ll exin it on the way." Yamamoto stood up, "For now, lead us to Retsu and Juushirou."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke made his way towards the side of the mountain and used his Magic to dig into it. He wanted to dig downwards but there were unknown dangers there that he didn''t want to unnecessarily take. While doing so, he turned to the log house and saw Yamamoto, Choujirou, and Gin leaving with sh Steps, "Did he find the other two?"


    It took him half a day to hollow out the whole mountain and set up theboratory that he''d need inside. After checking that everything was working in order, Kisuke let out a long breath of satisfaction.


    "You don''t stop surprising us, huh?" From the entrance, Kisuke and Tiamat heard Batsu''unsai''s voice of amazement while looking everywhere.


    Without turning around, Kisuke asked, "Have you guys decided?"


    "Yes. It''ll be me who''ll be going first. The Captain is out of the question, Choujirou will be thest before the Captain, while Furoufushi and Chika will have something to lose if they go first."


    Kisuke finally turned, "You have nothing to lose?"


    "Aside from my life now? None. I''ve been traveling aimlessly this whole century trying to find something to do. Furoufushi and Chika found something while I didn''t. Out of everyone, I have the least attachment to anything."


    "That''s a sad way to put it." Kisuke then began walking to his left, "Though I can''t really say anything about your way of life. It''s your choice so I''ll respect it. Please follow me. I first have to detach your soul from that body made out of Hell''s Blessing."

 Chapter 1200 More Liberation part 2

    Chapter 1200 More Liberation part 2


    After the whole day, Batsu''unsai''s body was fully formed and she could wake up any second now, ''Thanks to Soifon''s data, this became a lot smoother. With this, she should be able to leave Hell.''


    Kisuke then turned his attention to the body made out of Magic Power. Waiting for Batsu''unsai to wake up, he has been studying it in great detail and was able to confirm that there is some sort of spell simr to a ''curse'' that binds it to Hell, ''It''s not just that... The curse also includes a pipeline that supplies thend with Magic Power generated by the soul. No wonder ordinary people just disappeared even though they were very lively the previous day. Their weak souls couldn''t support the continuous drain and ended up dissipating into nothing.''


    And because all of the people here have almost no idea of what Magic Power is or how to handle it, everyone just thought that they just died of old age.


    "As expected... They just became food. But how is it for someone who has chains? Can I directly extract their souls?" While analyzing the data he got, rms went off signaling that his patient was waking up. Kisuke gathered everything and walked towards the waiting room.


    Batsu''unsai slowly opened her eyes and first saw and felt the viscous green transparent liquid draining to her feet. Soon she realized that she was inside a ss tube and that the mechanical harnesses that held her down were slowly releasing her.


    A few secondster, she dropped down and almost lost her bnce. The falling feeling however woke her up and she was able to regain her footing and stand up. She looked around and as the ss tube opened up, she walked out of it and arrived at the table with a note, [The shower is on the right.]


    She looked down and found herself in her birthday suit. She made her way to the shower room and saw a bunch of towels, a set of Shihakushou, her pair of sses, and Zanpakuto, ''Of course, he''ll see everything... Oh well.''


    A quarter of an hourter, Batsu''unsai got out of the room and saw Kisuke waiting for her, "How are you feeling?"


    Batsu''unsai didn''t immediately say anything and stretched her limbs a bit more, "Except for my senses being a bit weird, nothing to note of."


    "Your senses? Please exin in detail."


    "It''s a bit sharper but there''s also this weird feeling from the air."


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before answering, "That''s probably what you call Hell''s Blessing. After discarding your previous body that interferes with the flow of this energy, you can feel it more clearly."


    Batsu''unsai''s eyes widened and muttered, "This is... Hell''s Blessing?"


    "I don''t like calling it Hell''s Blessing so I''ll just call it what it is, which is Pseudo-Demonic Power or its baser form, Magic Power."


    "Why call it like that?"


    "I''ll exinter..." Kisuke stopped speaking for a moment and started muttering to himself, "Actually, I''ll just call a teacher for all of you. And thinking about it, your Zanpakuto also needs new housing..."


    Upon hearing the word ''Zanpakuto'', Batsu''unsai looked at hers and thought that there was now a slight disconnect between them. It''s very slight that only someone with her senses will be able to notice it. Nevertheless, it''s still a concerning matter for her, "What do you mean by that?"


    "Ah, you must have felt it. But don''t worry about it. I''ll get an expert on it."


    "Expert?"


    "Thatester. It seems that the old man already returned with Unohana-san and Ukitake-san. You should greet them first."


    "What about you?"


    "I''ll prepare the next batch of these special Gigais. I have a feeling that after seeing you, their inhibitions will disappear but I can only do it one at a time since I need to carefully monitor the process."


    "Alright... But I''m curious. You said you wanted to do this for a muchrger number of people. How are you going to deal with that?"


    "About that, after doing it to everyone, I should have enough data and safety parameters to do it en masse. Once I finalize the process, it''ll be no problem for me to do tens or hundreds of thousands at the same time." Kisuke was done with his final checks and opened the door, ''I actually have no problem doing it now. It''s just that the first prototypes use Ophis and Great Red''s flesh and blood to make. I obviously won''t use something like that in mass production.''


    "And if you want to test your abilities, please go do it at least ten kilometers from here."


    Batsu''unsai made her way to the log house and immediately felt new presences. Her eyes shined as her best friend''s Reiatsu was part of it, ''It has been a while since I felt it though it''s a lot more mellow now. You''ve changed, huh, Retsu.''


    .


    .


    .


    A weekter, Yamamoto, Choujirou, Furoufushi, and Chika also had their turn and are now testing their abilities in a field more than 30 kilometers away from their current lodging.


    Right now, it was Retsu who''s in the incubating tube and Kisuke deliberately didn''t remove the chains on her body to further study the [Chaineds]. While doing so, he heard a knock on his door, "Pleasee in."


    The door opened and a tall white-haired man dotted with ck chain tattoos came in, "Ah, Ukitake-san. Good morning. What can I do for you?"


    Juushirou slowly walked in and watched Kisuke operate multiple screens in front of him, "Nothing much. I was just hoping that you''d sate my curiosity."


    Kisuke''s hands stopped and his eyesnded on him, "Curiosity... What do you want to know?"


    "After all of this is over, what do you want us to do? That''s really what you''re after, right?"


    "We''re not even sure if we coulde out of this alive so there''s really no point in focusing on that, is there?"


    Juushirou sat on one of the chairs in front of Kisuke''s table, "But that''s not how you operate, right? The old man and Choujirou-san are avoiding the topic despite knowing how you do things, but unfortunately, I can''t contain my curiosity. I''d really like to know if we''llnd in a much worse situation than it is now."


    Kisuke stayed silent for a bit before sighing. He then waved his left arm and made all the holographic screens in front of him disappear and be reced by a tea set, "It''s not really worse, per se. and I don''t intend to infringe on anyone''s autonomy... It''s just that I was hoping that you''d lend your hand against something that is much worse than the Quincy army."


    "...Much worse than that? Unbelievable..."

 Chapter 1201 New Members

    Chapter 1201 New Members


    Kisuke had to extend the log mansion because of the amount of people staying in it. And after thest one, Gin, received the special ''Gigai'', everyone gathered once again.


    "This is really weird... I wasn''t expecting that we''d be able to use the Hell''s Blessing... Or Magic Power as you call it." Ginmented while deploying a simple Magic Circle on his fingertip that generated a very small cyclone, "And we learned it way faster than the Gotei 13 members."


    "That''s a given. Your bodies are now suited to utilize it while the Shinigami''s Spiritual bodies are always at risk of being injured even at the slightest use of this power." Kisuke replied whilepiling and reviewing all the data he gathered throughout their transfer, ''The materials for the basic Homunculus are finalized. It''s a lot easier and cheaper to acquire than I expected. I should probably start preparing a few thousand normal batches and a few of the special grades for special individuals.''


    "So when will we meet the so-called teachers?" Furofushi curiously asked while ying around with a small rock in her hand by changing its shape every five seconds.


    Even the most stoic Yamamoto couldn''t help but y with fire that was not produced by his Zanpakuto with deep interest.


    "I''m just waiting for them to contact me... Oh... Speak of the Devil." Kisuke''s phone suddenly vibrated and as he pulled it out, he said that the other side was ready, "Let''s go out for a bit."


    Kisuke exited the house and the rest followed him silently. Between the house and the hollowed-out mountain, Kisuke stopped before waving his arm and conjured aplicated Magic Circle 20 feet wide, "Oh right. I also invited someone who could help me adjust your Zanpakuto."


    As they already knew that he was not alone when he returned to this world, everyone didn''t really think much of ''someone who''ll adjust their Zanpakuto'' since he or she is probably someone they don''t know. They were just a bit skeptical if someone foreign could really help.


    A few secondster, 5 pairs of feet appeared within the Magic Circle first before they slowly materialized from the bottom up.


    It took another few seconds before theypletely materialized but after that few seconds, instead of greetings, there was only silence, more notably, from the Shinigami side with them staring at someone with their mouths open, "...Nimaiya." Yamamoto muttered in an astonished tone.


    Contrary to everyone''s expectations, they actually knew one of the people who arrived and it was the illustrious and original maker of the Zanpakuto, "Yo~ I heard from this violent guy''s girlfriend that he needs some help... However, I was not really expecting to see the former members of the Gotei 13 like this. You joined his side too?"


    No one could speak from the Shinigami side since they are still processing this new information. After all, it''s hard to understand why someone who was attacked would suddenly take the side of their assant. Not to mention, it wasn''t not your ordinary assault.


    Kisuke and the rest of those who arrived silently walked off, leaving them to their own devices. Since exining himself was less effective than just letting them exchange information, he didn''t bother, "I''m sorry to call you all suddenly like this."


    Serafall, who''s looking at the stare-off, turned to Kisuke with a big smile, "It''s fine. After nna-chan released her Draconic aura more than a week ago, I figured that you already started something major so we were already prepared."


    "It''s also a good reason to break away from the Human world," Kunou added.


    "Break away? Why?"


    ire sighed while exining, "Various defense ministries are trying to get in contact with us and it''s actually annoying now."


    Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion. If it''s just him, he could easily mess with them so that they won''t think about taking advantage of him anymore, however, these girls are different and don''t follow the same logic as he does, ''More importantly, I don''t want them to turn out like me, not even remotely.''


    "Onii-chan... Are we finally going home?" All of a sudden Tanis asked, which made everyone stop walking and stare at her, "No, no, no. I don''t mean that we should. I''m just asking..." But when she felt Kisuke''s hand on her head, she stopped speaking for a moment before saying, "...I miss everyone."


    ire and Kunou grabbed each of Tanis'' arms and looked at her with a worried expression. Nevertheless, even they can''t hide that they felt the same as Tanis.


    ''They''ve been away for too long, huh... Even though I did tell them that it might take a few years, it''s still my fault and responsibility for bringing them with me.'' With guilt settling in Kisuke''s chest, a new resolve also sprouted, "Don''t worry. I''ll try to finish things within a few months. Please wait until then. In the meantime, I''ll be asking everyone to teach them a bit about Magic and Ki."


    Serafall gathered the girls in her arms and asked, "It''s already certain that they''ll be joining us?"


    "As far as I''m concerned, yes."


    "Then what''s the current immediate goal?"


    "Annihtion of the [Chained]."


    .


    .


    .


    In hisboratory, Kisuke was meeting Ouetsu alone, "So why did you do it? I thought for sure that you already turned rouge. Surprised is an understatement when your girl suddenly made contact with me and I''m still wondering how she did that."


    "I nned to makerge movements. I wanted the Zero Division to hesitate when they wanted to assist."


    Ouetsu was exasperated at his response, "I understand... But did you really have an aim for the lynchpin? You almost gave everyone a heart attack. Nobody was expecting a sudden heavy attack that almost took out the most important single thing in the world."


    Kisuke grinned at him and said, "I trusted that you guys would be able to protect it~."


    "Fuck that trust. That strange Kidou after that strange chant even gave Ichibei a nervous fit."


    "I can''t do that easily, though?"


    "If I knew you could, I wouldn''t recklesslye here to meet you."


    Ouetsu sighed and changed the topic, "I heard that you want me to adjust their Zanpakutos to match their current bodies. I appreciate your trust but adjustment is impossible. The only way is reforging them. But their Asauchis already have very strong Spirits so doing it without my girls is also borderline impossible."


    "But it''s doable."


    "...Breaking them in the process, which is the most likely result, will be the least of our problems."


    Without replying, Kisuke took out a stack of paper and ced it in front of Ouetsu.


    Curious, Ouetsu took the stack of paper and scanned through it. But only a secondter, he went back from the start and took off her sunsses, "This... Are you serious? You''re giving it to me just like that?"


    "If you can improve the Soul Gears, then this is actually a small price."


    Ouetsu became silent and appeared to be thinking about something. A few minutester, he asked, "Can you also give me that body, most importantly, temporarily?"


    "I already prepared one for you."


    "Great. Now I just have to learn the fundamentals of this Magic thing."


    "You don''t have to study it much since my equipment here is enough to fill the gap."


    "Great! Lead me to the forge that I''ll be using! I''ll have to test out a few things now!" As a craftsman, Ouetsu can''t stop the allure of learning something new that would lead him to new horizons, "You already prepared that too, right!?"


    "The third door on the right. All the manuals that you''ll need to operate the machines and tools are on the table."


    Without saying another word, Ouetsu briskly walked towards the door that Kisuke just pointed at. But before he closed the door behind him, he turned to Kisuke onest time, "This ce could handle it even if I turn up the mes, right?"


    "The Magic thing is enough to handle that. Even if you make a literal sun in there, everything aside from what''s inside the room will be fine."


    "That''s some impressive shit! I like it!" mming the door, Ouetsu disappeared from Kisuke''s sight.


    ''He''lle out in a few days... Right?'' Kisuke thought to himself, a bit worried.

 Chapter 1202 Serafall Academy

    Chapter 1202 Serafall Academy


    "Well then, nice to meet you, everyone! I''ll be your main instructor for Magic, Sitri Serafall~! You may call me Sera-chan~!" Serafall introduced herself to the Shinigamis obediently sitting on chairs with desks in front of them in an open field that reeked of destruction as it''s the same field that they used to test their abilities.


    The silver-haired man raised his hand and Serafall immediately pointed at him, "Yes, Gin-chan!"


    Gin almost fell off his chair when he heard how she called him, "...Err... It looks like you already knew all of us?"


    Serafall ced both of her hands on her hips and proudly dered, "I wouldn''t let these girls meet you if I didn''t know anything about you guys."


    "And they are?" Gin continued asking.


    "They''re your instructors too."


    Just a step behind Serafall, the trio silently stood beside her while also curiously measuring the Shinigami.


    Everyone was shocked and looked at the girls who didn''t look any older than 20 years old, "Them?"


    "They''re young and innocent, yes. But don''t let their looks fool you. Aside from experience, they are not inferior to any of you... Well, except for that old man. That old man is an outlier."


    Showered by skeptical looks, the trio didn''t back down. While they didn''t reveal their capabilities to anyone until Kisuke discovered them and they don''t know the full extent of what they can do, they''re still confident and proud of their achievements. In a world where might is right, cowering would only allow for anyone to take advantage of you. That''s how Sona and the others taught them in the Ouroboros Academy.


    "She''s right. You can''t underestimate them." From a distance, Kisuke arrived with Tiamat behind him. As they approached them, he continued, "Even I have to be careful when they stack up."


    "Wait... Even in the form you showed usst time?" Furoufushi hurriedly asked.


    However, Kisuke just repeated his words, "As I''ve said, I have to be careful."


    "Ho ho... What about her?" Yamamoto, whose sight went back to Serafall, asked with interest, "What about her?"


    Kisuke stopped walking and so did Tiamat. He first looked at Serafall with a small smile stered on her face then back to Yamamoto. Remembering their ''spar'' back in the Dungeon World, Kisuke shivered a bit, "Aside from you, the others would be lucky if they could survive once she gets serious. And even if you can resist her attacks, it''ll be hard for you to deal substantial damage to her."


    An even greater surprise shook everyone. After all, who is Yamamoto Genrysai? He isn''t just the founder of the Gotei 13, but also someone who''s capable of destroying the Soul Society just by releasing his full power. The man in question, however, just smiled softly, "That''s interesting. I''m looking forward to the future."


    ''How strange. Has this old man always been thispetitive?'' Kisuke, of course, didn''t exin it any further because they won''t be able to wrap their heads around the concept of Super Devil, and Serafall herself bes immortal as long as she has enough fuel to keep her transformation going.


    "We won''t just be teaching you how to detect and utilize Magic, but also how to utilize another form of power now that you have physical bodies." Serafall continued and forcefully changed the subject, "This is especially useful for someone who''s having a hard time using Magic."


    Retsu and Batsu''unsai''s ears immediately perked up. Out of everyone, they''re the only ones who seemed to be having a hard time using this strange new power. They have no problems detecting it, but somehow, they can''t properly manipte even the simplest spells.


    "Also, you might have noticed that your Reiatsu doesn''t strengthen your body as much as it would previously and that''s only natural." Serafall exined while taking out a wide whiteboard and a marker to write down on it, "Your Spiritual Power came from your souls and while you can use it over a physical body, it''s mostly suited for a spiritual one due to the nature of its existence.


    "However, that doesn''t mean that the physical body doesn''t also have something suitable for it. If Spiritual Poweres from the deepest part of an individual, the one suitable for physical bodieses from the world itself, more specifically, the life present on it.", Serafall finished writing on the board and faced everyone again, "It has many names like Chakra, Qi, Life Force or Breathe of Life, however, we mostly call it Ki. Like Magic Power and Spiritual Power, Ki is another form of energy that is generated just by being physically alive."


    ''Since Ki is a testament to the existence of life itself, I''m actually surprised that no one uses it here. Is it due to the proliferation of Spiritual Power or is it due to something else?'' Serafall asked herself while gauging the reaction of the Shinigamis, "Of course, there are other forms of power out there, but these are the three most basic ones. Maybe you''ll understand it better if I say that Spiritual Power, Magic Power, and Ki correspond to [Individuality], [Reality], and [Ideality] respectively."


    At that point, everyone somehow understood Serafall''s words. As the people who understood [Individuality] the most, they immediately got an idea of what the other forms of power pertain to. The former members of the Gotei 13 had already set aside the statements made earlier and began contemting by themselves while manipting the Magic Power at their fingertips.


    And it wasn''t just them but also ire, Kunou, Tanis, and Kisuke who were taken aback at this exnation, ''Wait... I haven''t really thought about it, but those are indeed fitting descriptions of these powers.'', Kisuke thought to himself. After all, the only thing important to him is how to use said power no matter what form it came in, and never really delved deeper into what they represented, ''Is this what she got when she stepped into the ranks of the Super Devils?''


    Without listening any further, Kisuke turned around and started thinking about the current state he was in, ''Unlike the transferring of the soul from a spiritual body to a physical one, my physical body and spiritual body are technically fused together by the Hougyoku. Due to that, I was able to fuse and use Reiatsu and Ki as one. Thinking about it, the concept behind my advanced Shunko might have been impossible if not for this. Both Yoruichi and Soifon-san use an elemental factor to realize their Shunko while I use Benihime''s power to realize mine...''


    Serafall peeked at Kisuke who was leaving but didn''t do anything else to stop him and just continued her lesson, "That''s the basic concept. You already learned how to feel and use Magic Power so now we''ll show you how to feel and use Ki..."

 Chapter 1203 Bait

    Chapter 1203 Bait


    "Will that be alright?" Tiamat, who had been silently following Kisuke suddenly asked, "She''s teaching her own realizations as something basic."


    "She probably wanted to try something out. And if she''s sessful, this may be the key to further advancement of instructing roles." Kisuke stopped walking and turned to Tiamat, "What about you? What did you think of that?"


    "Don''t ask me about those things since I won''t be able to provide you with any suitable answers. I don''t remember when or how I was born nor when and how I came to use my abilities. As far as I could recall, I''m already me as it was before Chaos betrayed my sister and me.", Tiamat answered without any particr expression on her face, "If you''re hoping for some wisdom from me, you''ll be utterly disappointed."


    Kisuke stared at her for a few moments before sighing with a small smile, "I only wanted to check if they''re going to be fine. I didn''t want those old men and women underestimating them."


    Kisuke then turned around and used sh Step to leave the ce. Tiamat on the other hand, turned to the direction he left and melted into the ground, disappearing entirely.


    At the same time, the whole field shook as Tanis demonstrated to others what they could do with Ki in terms of strengthening their bodies.


    .


    .


    .


    Since Kisuke just had to wait for Yamamoto and the others to gain sufficient control over Magic Power and Ki to face against the [Chained], he decided to resolve the issue that he had been setting aside, and that was finally reestablishingmunication with his contacts on Soul Society.


    Kisuke came back to the world of the living alone because ording to Tiamat, she only had to stay in Hell to confuse and prevent it from realizing Kisuke''s existence. And since Tiamat''s current abilities were way weaker than before she wouldn''t be able to defeat even a single Captain-ss Shinigami, the world itself won''t see her as a threat and won''t engineer a scenario where she has to be eliminated.


    Kisuke first wondered how this world could have such apparent decision-making, but after remembering that Hell, and most probably the realms above it were born of someone''s dead body, it all made sense for a sliver of will to survive and direct things directly or indirectly and act as a self-preservation system that had gone rogue.


    ''I thought that I just had to prove that a lynchpin isn''t needed to preserve the world, but if the Soul King didn''t intend the world to be made this way, then it''ll be a lot moreplicated... And if I''m not wrong, Hyousube Ichibei is the counterbnce that the world had created to stop the Spirit King.''


    While contemting this and just about to step into the light, Kisuke stopped for a moment, ''I guess it''ll be better if they came to me. It''d also better exin the girls'' sudden disappearances.''


    Without donning his disguise and restricting his Reiatsu-Ki, Kisuke started walking around Karakura Town.


    .


    .


    .


    "Captain, urgent report." Nanao barged into Kyouraku''s private quarters with a tablet in her hands.


    Kyouraku didn''t mind this and just continued sipping his alcohol, "I hope it''s not something big again. It''s been one giant headache this past week."


    Nanao sighed but she couldn''t reprimand her Captain from consuming alcohol since it was his time off and he had been stressed this week, "I don''t know if this is headache-inducing but Urahara Kisuke was reportedly spotted in Karakura Town."


    Kyouraku immediately ced down his ss and turned around to face Nanao, "How urate is the report?"


    "This only came in a few minutes ago but it came from multiple sources. We can trust it. Also, Captain Soifon, Captain Kuchiki, Captain Hirako, and Captain Yadomaru are making their way to Karakura Town to confront him."


    "What about Kurotsuchi?"


    "He''s staying within his barracks, for now."


    Kyouraku sighed to himself. He really hates that his current position doesn''t allow him to move as he pleases, ''I wanted to control what Urahara could do to a certain extent but who would have thought that he''d directly attack the Soul King Pce all of a sudden? I clearly overestimated myself.''


    "How about the Soul King Pce? Any news from them?"


    Nanao shook her head, "Same as before. Communication was cut off. Even if the Central 46 tried getting into contact with their rtives up there, there''s no answer. Even Nimaiya Ouetsu who came down some time ago to do a secret investigation is out of reach."


    "...Speaking of which, what''s Central 46''s ruling? They should have issued it by now."


    While fixing her sses, Nanao saw a few new lines appearing on her tablet, "It came in just now. Gotei 13 is to capture Urahara Kisuke. If not possible, immediate elimination is rmended."


    "Hooh... These old coots still don''t understand the situation. Have they not realized that he might be on Aizen Sosuke''s level?" Kyouraku sneered when he heard Nanao''s words, "Tell Toshirou and Rukia to prepare to move at a moment''s notice." Kyouraku stood up, intending to go to Central 46 to try to stop any unreasonable ruling that may put the Seireitei as a whole in danger, ''I have to remind them that Hell is watching our every movement in the world of the living. If they suddenly attack, it''ll be a disastrous loss for us.''


    Before he exited the building, Kyouraku turned to Nanao once more, "Oh, and please inform Ichigo-san of Urahara''s appearance. Even if there''s a brawl, he should be able to stop it." Kyouraku was just a bit concerned that Byakuya and Lisa would directly attack Kisuke.


    .


    .


    .


    Late evening, in a park where there were only a few streetmps present, Kisuke sat down on a bench while eating a box of takoyaki and secretly sending people away from the vicinity.


    Kisuke didn''t have to wait for too long. When he was on his third bite, Kisuke spotted multiple people emerging from the shadows with Soifon leading the group and one other personing from the opposite direction.


    "Oh my~ What a grand wee. How did you find me? Hell''s Blessing should be hiding my presence."


    Soifon furrowed her brows and wondered what he was up to this time, "Thanks to a certain group of people, we learned how to detect your so-called Hell''s Blessing. Shouldn''t you have received that information from Szayporro?"


    Since Soifon could be seen by normal people, she was wearing casual attire and a hoodie as opposed to the other Captains besides her. Meanwhile, Byakuya and Lisa directly pulled out their des in preparation for a fight.


    "Geez... Hold your horses." Shinji immediately reacted and blocked the path of the two. After they stopped, Shinji then turned his attention to the other person who came, "And what are you doing here, Ichigo?"


    "I heard that Urahara-san appeared so I came to see what''s going on." The man with orange hair answered.


    They all stopped a few feet away from Kisuke who is still casually eating his snack to gauge him. On the other hand, the person in question was trying to figure out what his next step was because his initial ns were thrown out the window when he felt a door to Hell opening near them, ''Now then, who''sing out and why?''

 Chapter 1204 Bait part 2

    Chapter 1204 Bait part 2


    Kisuke felt the door to Hell had closed but couldn''t pinpoint the exact location of the person who went through it to his surprise, ''That''s some impressive stealth technique.''


    At that moment, Kisuke felt something going through the barrier he ced around the park and turned in that direction.


    Seeing his actions, Soifon and Byakuya didn''t remove their sights on him but Shinji, Lisa, and Ichigo turned in the same direction he was looking.


    A minuteter, another group of people arrived and Kisuke was confused at their arrival, ''It''s the psychotic group of girls. I''m surprised they''re living well considering their personalities.''


    The ones who arrived are the group of Quincy girls and former members of Sternritter.


    "What are you doing here?" Shinji immediately asked them, not hiding his hostile reaction to them.


    Giselle cheerfully waved at them and greeted him, "It has been a while smirky~! Why do you not have yourrge smirk today?"


    "Tsk." Shinji clicked his tongue and ced his hand on his Zanpakuto.


    Though before he could pull it out, the short Liltotto stepped forward and said, "Hold on. We''re not here to fight."


    Byakuya broke his stare at Kisuke and turned to them, "State your business."


    Liltotto sighed and turned her head to Kisuke, ''One of the Special War Powers, Urahara Kisuke... I really don''t want to be here, but...'' She then faced Byakuya and continued, "We just wanted to ask a question. You''ll allow it, right? After all, though it failed, we still assisted you in invading Hell."


    Byakuya stayed silent for a few seconds before turning away and saying, "That won''t be up to us."


    Kisuke is carefully inspecting Bambietta, Giselle, Candice, and Meninas, he sees Liltotto''s eyesnding back on him. Before she could say anything to him, Kisuke first said with a grin, "I''ll answer it only if you''ll also answer one of my questions. You can go first."


    "Then I''ll go straight to the point. Are there any Quincies down in Hell? More specifically, members of Sternritter."


    Kisuke picked thest remaining takoyaki from his box and said before blowing air at it, "It probably has something to do with Auswhlen, but I don''t know of any Sternritter who reached Hell."


    "That reasoning doesn''t apply to Pernida and Gerard."


    Kisuke chewed and swallowed his food before answering, "That''s true... But they''re not people to begin with." As he threw the empty box to the trash can beside the bench, he continued, "But that''s not what you really wanted to know, right? You''re wondering if Yhwach is in Hell."


    Liltotto furrowed her brows and gritted her teeth and it was the same for the others behind her. However, neither she nor those behind confirmed Kisuke''s question.


    Kisuke''s grin grew bigger, "I can feel your resentment, but you don''t have to think about this anymore. I have no way of truly confirming if any Sternritter reached Hell or not, but I can assure you that it''s impossible for Yhwach toe down. And think about it. If Yhwach is really down there, Szayporro wouldn''t be acting like a king."


    Liltotto looked down and released the tension in her body, "...I see. That does make sense."


    "It''s my turn. I''m only curious about one thing. Where''s Askin Nakk Le Vaar?"


    The group of girls had their eyes widened.


    "Although I saw his heart ripped out of his body, I have a feeling that he''s still alive and probably doing good for himself."


    They were quiet for a few moments, but Giselle raised her arm and answered, "It has been a few years since we got in contact with him so we don''t really know."


    "Gigi!" Bambietta immediately protested.


    "It''s fine. It''s not like he asked us to hide it." Giselle shrugged her shoulders.


    "Aren''t you afraid that he''ll poison us?"


    Meninas ced her hand on Bambietta''s shoulder and reassured her, "He''s someone who hates trouble more than anyone else so he wouldn''t do anything like that."


    However, Bambietta was still not convinced.


    While the others were consoling the scaredy cat, Kisuke turned his attention back to Soifon and the others, "So, what are you here for?"


    "For attacking the Soul King Pce, we''re here to arrest you."


    The Quincies stopped their bickering and hurriedly turned their heads towards Kisuke and Soifon. Meanwhile, Ichigo froze on his spot as this was the first time he heard about this.


    "That''s some serious allegations that would give me a heart attack. And here I thought that you''re going to ask me for help to deal with the [Chained]." The smile on Kisuke''s face didn''t disappear.


    ''What game is this guy ying now?'' Soifon and Shinji both thought to themselves. The former especially was very wary of his intentions now while recalling the conversation they had when she asked what his real goal is, ''The greatest evil... huh? Just what exactly?''


    Shinji answered "Your Reiatsu was felt all over Soul Societying from above at the same time that the attack happened. In addition to that, the Zanpakuto maker testified that it was your Reiatsu that the Zero Division felt when they confronted the attacker."


    "Now that sounds weird. You''re telling me that my Reiatsu was felt but why does it sound like it''s not me who they saw?"


    From his sleeve, Shinji took out a rolled-up cloth and unveiled it, showing an image of a Hollowfied man with blood-red gauntlets, boots, hagoromo, and arge halo behind him, "This was weaved by Shutara and was distributed on the day of the attack. It has your face, no?"


    Kisuke stared at it while rubbing his chin, "That''s indeed my face... But that''s it?"


    ''Why is this guy gaslighting us now?'' Soifon thought as someone who already witnessed his Hollowfied form, ''But it looks like he''s trying to deflect attention now that Serafall and [Belial] went off the radar. If they can''t be found anywhere, then they''re probably in Hell and nning something. Since he won''t initiate contact, maybe I should go to Hell myself and figure out what''s going on.'' She guessed after piecing the avable clues together.


    With a wrinkled forehead, Byakuya asked, "Then are you iming that you''re not the one who attacked the Soul King Pce?"


    "I do. But even if that''s the case, the Central 46 probably already brought down their ruling and you''re here to execute it." As soon as he finished his words, killing intent originated and flooded the area from Kisuke along with the manifestation of ck chains around his body and half of his face suddenly bing a ck skull, "Please don''t expect me to just go along that peacefully."


    Everyone was petrified for a moment before instantly jumping back and pulling out their weapons.

 Chapter 1205 Agreement

    Chapter 1205 Agreement


    Seeing their reactions, Kisuke chuckled and his ''skull'' was once again covered by his flesh and skin while the ck chains surrounding his body disappeared, "I apologize. It does that whenever I be agitated. But rest assured that the Seireitei''s stance has been received well."


    While speaking, Kisuke''s body started disintegrating into dust and by the time he uttered hisst word, only his head remained.


    "Wait! Don''t go!" Soifon tried to stop him but it fell deaf on his ears. The next instant, Kisuke''s presence had all departed the area, leaving behind the disgruntled audience.


    "Tsk." Soifon clicked her tongue and said while walking away, "I''m going to Hell."


    "Wait, why?" Shinji hurriedly grabbed her shoulder and asked.


    "Something is bothering me and I need to check something."


    "Then I''ming with you."


    Soifon turned around and looked at him straight into his eyes with confusion before saying, "Fine..." And while turning her head to Byakuya and Lisa, she added, "But we can''t have more Captains leaving the Seireitei, especially in this sensitive time."


    Byakuya turned around to leave while saying, "Do what you want. I''m returning to report back that Urahara Kisuke is hostile." With a sh Step, he disappeared.The corner of Shinji''s mouth ufortably twitched and he abruptly faced Lisa, "It''s going to be a mess so please make sure that he doesn''t do that."


    Lisa nodded and also disappeared with a sh Step.


    Soifon and Shinji were about to leave too when they heard Ichigo''s voice from behind, "W-wait! I still don''t know what''s going on. Care to fill me in?"


    Soifon pointed her thumb to the Quincy girls and replied, "It sounds like they''ve been snooping around so go ask them."


    With Soifon and Shinji leaving, that left Ichigo even more confused so he could only turn towards the silent Quincies.


    "All for the price of a dinner and some takeouts," Liltotto said with a deadpan expression.


    ''I can''t afford to treat these gluttons... I should call Uryuu and Chad.'' Ichigo thought to himself.


    .


    .


    .


    While moving towards the door that the Seireitei opened, a knife suddenly went flying in Soifon''s direction. Startled, she stopped and pulled out her Zanpakuto to intercept it, tossing it spinning upwards.


    Soifon tried finding her attacker but failed. Shinji, on the other hand, caught the knife that was thrown at her and saw that there was a folded paper attached to its handle. He looked around and with a low voice, he muttered before opening the paper, "It''s probably that bastard."


    Soifon sheathed her Zanpakuto and peaked at the paper that had a map and a few lines of messages in it in Shinji''s hand.


    [That was some good acting. Come to this ce if you want to know more. PS. Please destroy this map after you''ve memorized it. It''s going to be troublesome if others were to reach it. PSS. Bring the twins with you.]


    Soifon''s eyesnded on the map for a few seconds and without any word, she immediately burned it with Magic.


    "Hey! I was still memorizing it!"


    "You don''t need it. Just follow me."


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke watched them leave from the shadows of the tree and after making sure that there were no more people around, he loudly muttered, "Need something? I doubt you''re here just to listen in."


    Some distance away from Kisuke, a dark-skinned man with braided hair and blindfold came walking out, "How did you know I''m here?"


    "It''s a clever way of hiding and it took me some time to pinpoint your exact location. But that''s not really important." Kisuke turned around and faced the man, "It''s been a while, Tousen-san. For some reason that I won''t further exin, I have a feeling that we coulde to a good agreement."


    "Hmmm... You really are hard to read, Urahara Kisuke."


    Kisuke stared at him for a few moments before saying, "You should be done torturing Tsunayashiro Tokinada so why haven''t you shed your chains?"


    Kisuke noticed that Kaname froze for a moment but didn''t point it out, "What makes you say that?"


    "Oh, my bad. You''re probably not yet done with him. But considering that guy''s personality, he would have joined you or established his own organization. Without any news from him all this time, I can only assume that you already got your hands on him. Am I wrong?"


    Kaname sighed, "You''re not and it has been boring these days after he stopped reacting to anything."


    "If you want to get more reaction, you can consult Kurotsuchi-san. His expertise in this area is beyond ridiculous."


    "Enough of that. Why did you say I can shed these chains."


    "You are Ichimaru-san''s contact within Szayporro''s ranks, aren''t you? You can do what he did."


    "..."


    "So you probably already heard about me from Ichimaru-san. And the reason you are here is because he won''t tell you where I am."


    "..."


    "Good call for him, honestly. Since there it''s just an unnecessary risk just by knowing where I am staying. I hope you don''t misunderstand."


    Kaname remained silent for a while and sighed, "...If you know that much then I''m going straight to the point. What do you n to do with the [Chained]?"


    "If they can''t be reasoned with and refuse to forsake those chains, then I n to deal with them sooner orter. Their existence is not really helpful for me."


    "...I see. I''d like to assist."


    Kisuke grinned, "I knew we were going to get along well."


    .


    .


    .


    Soifon and Shinji arrived at the outpost that the Seireitei built and they were greeted by the one leading the security and military, the Captain of the 7th Division, Iba Tetsuzaemon, "Captain Soifon, Captain Hirako, what are you doing here?"


    "Investigation." Soifon briefly answered, "We''re going past the scouting teams."


    Under his sunsses, Iba''s eyes became serious, "With just you and Captain Hirako?"


    "It''s urgent. We want to follow a trail and the earlier we do, the more information we''d be able to gather... I hope." Shinji answered while scratching his head, ''They are going to be suspicious, but we don''t really have any choice."


    "That''s right." Soifon nodded beside him, "We''re only hoping that we''ll find Nimaiya Ouetsu''s trail and shed more detail on what''s really happening."


    The tension in Iba''s body eased up, "Is that so? Then please be careful. The beasts of Hell have been increasing these past few days and one of the scouting teams spotted a [Chained] north of here."


    "Noted. For now, we''ll go south." Shinji then turned to Soifon, "Shall we leave?"


    "Wait. I called someone to join us."


    Shinji''s brows immediately furrowed, ''There''s someone else?''


    Thankfully, they didn''t have to wait long as two teenage girls with identical appearance came running towards them, "Captain. Reporting."


    "Ophis, Lilith. It''s going to be dangerous. Make sure to keep up."


    Ophis and Lilith were in their Shihakushou and with katanas behind them nodded in acknowledgment.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Shinji looked at the ''twins'' with suspicion, but unbeknownst to him, he was traveling with the worst ''monsters'' he ever met. However, Soifon also didn''t realize what sort of ridiculous existence she wasmanding.

 Chapter 1206 Arrival

    Chapter 1206 Arrival


    Under Kunou''s guidance, Batsu''unsai and Unohana were trying to sense the Ki which was now present in their bodies.


    ''This isn''t going to be easy.'' Kunou thought to herself while watching the two of them. Since Ki wasn''t an established system in this world, just the act of feeling it was already an almost insurmountable mountain to cross over, ''But after that, it should be easy.''


    It would have been a different story if they were to learn Magic first since they could use that to attract and guide Ki. However, the two of them were strangely inept at it which reminded her of someone, ''They are just like Sairaorg-niisan.''


    Although notpletely inept, Sairaorg also had a hard time learning Magic in his youth, and as a result, he wasn''t able to learn the Bael n''s unique ability, the Power of Destruction, at all. On top of that, he''s not naturally inclined to learn Ki like most Youkai species so he had to train his body to its limits to intensify his own life force. But as a result, he managed to learn Touki (Fighting Spirit) and attained an almost indestructible body and strength that would make others fear for their lives.


    ''They''re already trained so there''s no point in starting from the start. They just need a catalyst to awaken it.'' Kunou has a different way of using Ki so her own would be ineffective. With that in mind, she turned to Tanis who had nothing to do because Serafall and ire were enough to teach others Magic.


    "Tanis! Over here!"


    Tanis turned her head towards Kunou with shining eyes and hurriedly came over, "Present!"


    "I think your Senjutsu could help them more than my Youjutsu."


    Tanis tilted her head, "But Youjutsu is much more simr to their Kidou system? So it should be much easier to feel Youki using Reiatsu as a point of reference, isn''t it?""That''s what I thought too... But there''s no result at all."


    Batsu''unsai and Unohana who had been staying quiet felt a bit embarrassed by their conversation.


    "But what can my Senjutsu do? It''s not suitable for teaching. They can only start learning towards Senjutsu when they can already manipte Ki to a certain extent."


    Kunou smiled, "We''ll do the tried and true sure-fire method~!"


    Tanis'' expression immediately cked, "So we''re doing that, huh? Why do we always end up going that route?"


    "As I''ve said, it''s tried and true. If it works, it works."


    Kunou then turned to the confused Shinigamis and said, "Let''s move to another location."


    .


    .


    .


    Around 50 kilometers away or 30 miles, Kunou, Tanis, Batsu''unsai, and Unohana arrived at another barrennd, "Why do we need to move so far away from the others?" Batsu''unsai asked while looking around.


    Kunou also looked around to check the surroundings and after making sure that there were no ''worms'' that Kisuke mentioned to them, she turned around and replied to Batsu''unsai, "Because we don''t want to disturb others. Tanis, are you ready?"


    Tanis jumped back and made some distance from the others. With a fearless smile on her face, the color of her skin abruptly changed to that of pale blue. As she released her Draconic Aura, a purple starry gem emerged from her forehead along with bright blue, jet ck scales appearing all over her body and a pair ofrge Dragon Wings.


    Tanis smashed her first together and it made a loud metallic sound that rang in everyone''s ears for a few seconds straight, "Ready~!"


    To the speechless Batsu''unsai and Unohana, Kunou gave them a gentle smile that didn''t match the situation at all, "You''re only allowed to defend, so please try not to die."


    The tried and true method that they could always lean on when everything else doesn''t work. Violence.


    .


    .


    .


    Serafall and ire turned in the direction that Kunou and Tanis left and felt a hint of Draconic Aura exploding out, ''So they had to resort to that in the end?'' Thought the former. Since they really were just teaching basic Magic, Serafall just needed to leave it to ire. But with her age, she was worried that these guys won''t listen to her well.


    ''Looking at their progress, it should be enough for them to reach the same mastery as those [Chained]. By then, it should be enough to take them on. However, Ki-tan still hasn''t told us how to bypass their immortality. I can''t leave ire-chan alone like that.''


    While various thoughts were running through her head, her senses suddenly picked up something and her head snapped in that direction, "Some people just went through the perimeter that I set up."


    "Enemies?" ire hurriedly asked.


    At the same time, the expression of the Shinigami also became serious and they stopped their training.


    Serafall didn''t say anything for a while but after a minute or two, her expression softened, "They''re guests."


    Soon enough, four people came dashing out from the forest beyond them and as theynded on their feet, two of them immediately stopped in shock while the other two continued running until they almost rammed themselves into ire and Serafall, "Ophis-chan! Lilith-chan! You''re also here!"


    "C-Captain Commander... Sasakibe-san... Ukitake-san... And even Ichimaru-san. You guys..." Shinji loudly muttered.


    Soifon was also very surprised, but since this was rted to Kisuke, she''s not as stunned as Shinji.


    But except for Juushirou and Gin, everyone else was also shocked. More specifically, at the sight of the ''twins'' as they recalled the [Memory] that Kisuke showed them. The monsters who were capable of erasing them in a st of energy.


    Furoufushi elbowed Yamamoto who was beside her and whispered, "Old man... They don''t seem that scary. What are you getting nervous about? Aren''t you also capable of annihting things?"


    Yamamoto could only remain quiet.

 Chapter 1207 Training Ki

    Chapter 1207 Training Ki


    Already expecting this scene after they went through Serafall''s barrier, Soifon was not as surprised, "He moved with more efficiency than a whole organization. Now I can see the reason why the scouts dispatched by Soul Society couldn''t find them."


    Shinji reacted to her words and finally noticed Serafall, one of the girls who were sent as reinforcement at the Hell invasion, and two other people whom he was not familiar with, ''I don''t want to think about it after his attack on the Soul King Pce... But are they on his side too? Even old man Yamamoto?''


    As a swirl of questions started assaulting his head, the fact that Ophis and Lilith who came with them rushed to Serafall and ire almost slipped from his attention, "W-wait! You know them!?"


    Serafall tilted her head in curiosity and turned her sights to Soifon, "You didn''t tell him?"


    Shiji hurriedly turned his head towards Soifon and only saw her nodding her head, "I promised that I wouldn''t tell anyone, so I didn''t."


    "...Just how much are you not telling us?"


    Soifon stayed silent for a moment, "I only told you what I''m allowed to say." Immediately the me within her heart reacted slightly and got scared for a bit. However, the me soon settled down and made Soifon sigh in relief, ''I see... It''s able to judge that I can say these things to Hirako. What a mystical technique.''


    Thanks to this, Soifon was able to figure out the lines she could thread in regard to the information she could release.


    Shinji found her words and actions strange and guessed that it must have something to do with Kisuke and the time she spent with him, "So you willingly epted spies into your ranks?""He told me that they are not spies."


    "And you believe him?"


    "Of course not. It''s the reason why I''m keeping them close to me." Soifon paused for a moment before continuing, "But I''m more inclined to believe him now."


    Shinji was stunned. He couldn''t believe that Soifon, of all people, now believed the people who were closely connected to the strange group of people were not spies, ''I''m still missing a lot of things... Good thing I was able toe here with her.''


    "It looks like it''s a good time for a break." Serafall interrupted them, "We can talk properly once we head inside. ire-chan, please prepare some refreshments for everyone."


    Everyone stopped practicing and followed Serafall''s suggestion. However, just as they were about to leave, they all felt something approaching them at a high speed and when they felt her Reiatsu, they were able to immediately identify who it was, "Unohana? So she''s here too." Shinji muttered to himself.


    But soon enough, they found something weird as Unohana approached their position. Although still quite far away, everyone has a visual acuity enough to see that she''s flying sideways, bruised all over her arms, wildly iling long hair, and with a crazed smile on her face while putting forward her de fully covered in viscous blood in a defensive position.


    It was at that point that they understood that she was fighting with someone or something, ''She''s in her Bankai? But who''s her opponent?'' Shinji asked himself, thinking if he should jump in to assist her.


    Guessing his intentions, Soifon immediately blocked his way with her arm, "Don''t bother."


    Thanks to the senses that she''d honed, she could feel another individual possessing a hair-raising amount of Ki making her way toward Unohana.


    Shinji was confused but Soifon didn''t have to exin what was happening to him because a blue beam of light came into view and immediately intercepted Unohana''s flight path. As soon as she stopped in ce, everyone saw a blue-skinned girl with a pair ofrge wings behind her back, twisting her waist and pulling her fist covered in a shimmering ck and blue gauntlet.


    Unohana immediately adjusted her body and gritted her teeth hard while preparing to block the iing fist, "We''ve gone quite far, so let''s go back~!" Those were the words she heard before the fist mmed into her Zanpakuto.


    The force behind the fist was way stronger than the previous ones and Unohana thought that her Zanpakuto was about to snap. Thankfully, she could mitigate some of the force by throwing herself backward.


    From the onlookers'' perspective, a second or two after the blue-skinned girl connected her punch, a shockwave that''s enough to level the trees in the surroundings if they still existed, crushed into everyone, forcing them to cover their eyes with arms due to the iing debris.


    It was only after the surroundings calmed down that everyone notice that they were not around anymore.


    "..."


    Stillness enveloped everyone until Serafall jokingly asked, "If you want to train your Ki, you''re wee to join them."


    Furofushi was the first one to answer. She didn''t want to sound weak, however, she also definitely didn''t want that sort of training designed for masochists so she said, "I''ll think about it after the break!" Before leading everyone while thinking, ''Katori... Good luck to you. I really mean it this time.''


    "W-what''s going on?" Shinji asked Soifon, who had already turned around to follow everyone.


    "If they''re letting it go, then it''s probably not something bad. Let''s understand the situation first before we make any judgment." She then stopped walking and turned her head sideways, "By the way, can you take a direct hit from that?"


    "Me? No way. That would have punched a hole straight through my stomach."


    .


    .


    .


    Since they could only stay for a short amount of time, Soifon and Shinji had to leave after learning about their situation, albeit, only briefly and thetter was leftrgely unsatisfied, "Do we have to leave that early?"


    "Two Captains going to Hell and leaving everyone''s surveince for a long period of time will ring a lot of rm bells. I''d like to avoid that as much as possible."


    "I know... But I feel the need to risk it since I don''t know that much." Shinji then nced at her, "I''m not someone who has in-depth knowledge of the bigger picture."


    "I don''t know that much... As much as you, I''m also confused why those guys, even the old man, are supporting Kisuke even after we told them that he attacked the Soul King Pce." Soifon sped up and changed her direction to return to the outpost from a different direction.


    Shinji didn''t say anything else and silently followed her while thinking, ''Maybe I could have asked those twins... But they just have to be left behind.''


    Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were silently watching them from the shadows as they passed through a certain area, "..."

 Chapter 1208 Agreement

    Chapter 1208 Agreement


    Since Kisuke knew that it''ll take a while for Ouetsu to finish his research and reforge the Zanpakuto of everyone who switched bodies, he took his time to track down the movements of both the Seireitei and the outpost in Hell. And thanks to Kaname Tousen''s information, he was also able to locate the exact spot where the [Chained] gathers. Kisuke wanted to figure out how exactly Szayporro was using the [Eyes of Hell] and maybe get an idea of who was the mysterious being that Kazui met for him to have ess to Hell.


    ''It could have been the lingering power of the Soul King because it looks like something he could do... But I still don''t have any evidence to prove that.'' Kisuke is considering the possibility that they may be another powerful being that he''s not aware of and could derail everything he''s working on, ''Though what I really need to know is the owner of those eyes, not who has ess to it.''


    Within an enormous castle which the [Chained] gathered and reside in, Kisuke covered himself with an invisibility cloak that he made to hide his figure and his aura. If he''s in the previous worlds, even someone a level below Riveria before she became a Devil, they would be able to detect him if he''s close enough. But without systematic knowledge about Magic and zero experience in Ki, there''s no way he''ll be found if he''s careful.


    Kisuke had been stalking the castle for the past few days now and he had already taken note of everyone''s movements. It was then that he figured out that everyone who participated in the Hell Invasion were all who were in Szayporro''s group.


    ''ording to Furoufushi-san, the original Captain of the 9th Division, Kumoi Entetsu-san is one of the [Chained] but he''s nowhere around. And the only other notable Espada who''s not with them are Coyote Starrk and Lilte Gingerbuck.''


    Kisuke removed Ulquiorra Cifer''s existence from the equation due to the nature of his death.


    Coincidentally and fortunately for Kisuke, when he was roaming around, he also found out their ns to attack the Seireitei outpost in Hell and eat the souls of their victims. Thanks to that, Kisuke was able to finalize their schedule of their own attack, ''9 days from now on, huh?... I guess we still have plenty of time. Once they''re all gathered, it''ll be easier to clean them up.''


    As he has done with what he needs to do in this castle, Kisuke decided to leave and set more countermeasures in case something goes wrong. At that moment, he caught sight of Kenpachi Kiganjou and wondered how someone like him survived among these cannibals.


    ..


    .


    Within the deepestyer of the Seireitei''s prison only reserved for the worst of the worst, Aizen opened his single eye that''s not blindfolded. He only had to wait for a few seconds when a Magic Circle appeared in front of him and Kisuke''s figure materialized, "I was expecting you. What do you have for me this time?"


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and stared at him, ''He was just exposed to Magic a few times but he can already urately feel it? Is it because of his [Evolution]? How frightening. It was really a miracle that I was able to seal him.''


    Kisuke continued to stay silent and took out his Tenshitai (Divine Transfer Body) and waited for a minute or two before taking it back.


    "They left, huh? It would have been nice if they said their farewell on their way out." Aizen, who also waited alongside Kisuke, first said.


    "Urozakuro must have offered you a way out, right?" Kisuke sighed while taking out two seats and a table.


    Aizen wondered if Kisuke was expecting someone else, "I have no reason to get out of here. And the moment I do, the monk will just humiliate me as I am right now."


    "That''s true isn''t it... Yhwach only managed to win because he had the power of the Soul King, which is the only being he can''t forcefully name." While answering, Kisuke ced two cups and a kettle filled with tea on the table.


    Not being able to contain his curiosity, Aizen finally asked, "Who else are you expecting?"


    Kisuke, once again, stayed quiet for a few seconds while staring at Aizen before bringing up his right hand and snapping his fingers.


    The sound of the snap resounded through the empty space but Aizen didn''t care about that as he could feel the binds that confined him slowly loosen up and the Reiatsu that couldn''t go out started spreading out. A few secondster, thest harness that was keeping Aizen attached to the pir unbuckled and he dropped down to the ground.


    Aizen didn''t immediately move and checked the seal on him and found out that he had the same freedom from when the Quincies invaded Soul Society. He then started walking towards the table and sat on the chair Kisuke prepared while saying, "The only reason why Kyouraku felt confident letting me go at that time is because he knew he could seal me back before I couldpletely recover my power... But it looks like you have no intention of doing that. What are you trying to achieve here?"


    "I''m just trying to set up an honest talk between us." Kisuke answered while pouring the tea on both cups.


    Aizen became silent to contemte, ''He''s already under my ability and I could manipte his perception from here on... But this is Urahara Kisuke. He must have already put countermeasures in ce before releasing me.''


    "When did you tamper with my seal?"


    "Please, I devised the seal on you and no matter how the Seireitei modify it, they can never change the underlying locks. It already had several backdoors from the beginning."


    Aizen recalled the moment he lost the Hougyoku''s power and chuckled, "I''m impressed with your recklessness despite the situation back then."


    "I couldn''t have gone this far if not for that."


    Aizen picked up the cup and drank the tea. It was the first time he tasted something other than blood and dirt for a long while so he savored it. After a few sips, he brought down the cup and asked, "I won''t be fighting for you. Not when you''re trying to change the whole world in your own image. People like you are the one I hate the most."


    Kisuke took a sip of his tea and replied, "That''s too bad... Really."


    "So what exactly are you here for? If you want to take out that monk, I doubt you''ll need my help."


    "Before we proceed, I''d like you to watch something first."


    .


    .


    .


    Half an hourter, Aizen startedughing out loud, "Fuhahahahaha!!! So it was not Kyouraku who you are trying to get in contact with! He was just conveniently there to receive you!"


    With a big smile on his face Aizen asked, "I still won''t fight for you since it''s still going against my principles. But I can offer you my assistance in the other areas."


    Kisuke grinned, "I''m d that you''re easy to talk with. I just want you to assist in creating a giant hole."

 Chapter 1209 Prelude to War

    Chapter 1209 Prelude to War


    Just like with Yamamoto and his group, Kisuke also showed his experiences to Aizen, albeit, a little bit different from them.


    Unlike Yamamoto''s group, what Kisuke needed to give Aizen was not a reason to support him, but an avenue for him to step out of a certain being''s shadow and prove that he could be free from any will being imposed upon him.


    Of course, he also made sure to show that he doesn''t have any intention of destroying Soul Society, the Human World, and Hueco Mundo like Yhwach wanted to since like the war more than a decade ago, Aizen would be the one who''ll stop him.


    "A giant hole, huh? Couldn''t you do that on your own?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and thought about it for a moment, "I can, but I''d like to be free at that moment."


    "I see..." Aizen then finished his cup of tea before standing up, "Then I''lle to you when the time is right."


    "You''re not going to ask for more information?"


    "About what? About youmunicating with that man through convoluted ways? Or the fact that you''re not manufacturing those bodies enough to supply everyone who''ll need it?"


    Kisuke chuckled, "So you already understand the situation pretty well."Aizen then turned his back and started walking away, "You''re insulting me if you really thought that I couldn''t understand any of that after all those hints you gave me."


    Kisuke thought that he''d leave the Muken through the entrance but Aizen suddenly stopped walking and slightly turned his head towards him with a mocking smile, "I don''t really care whether you seed or not since I''ll be able to find the way out myself. However, let me remind you that you''re severely underestimating Ichibei Hyousube."


    As soon as he finished his words, the space in front of him opened up and instantly gobbled him up, disappearing from the prison that held him for a ''short'' amount of time.


    Kisuke''s eyes immediately widened when he saw that, ''He already mastered and can already use that near-instant teleportation?''


    But soon enough, Aizen''s words resounded in his head, ''I''m severely underestimating him? What else am I missing?'' Since they''re technically enemies, Kisuke is not surprised that Aizen wouldn''t provide him with useful information, ''But when he says something, it''s surely something I can''t discard.''


    Kisuke cleaned up and ced a body double that''ll disguise as Aizen on the pir. Once he was sure that it wouldn''t be discovered for some time, Kisuke also left while thinking, ''The bug that I left in the Soul King Pce still indicates no movement from the Royal Guards. But I guess I just can''t expect them to move the way I''m initially predicting now.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke returned to the log house and saw no one in it. With a quick scan, he found out that they were all within hisb.


    As soon as he entered the facility, he was greeted by Ophis and Lilith who came running towards him, "I''m sorry for pulling the both of you out of the Seireitei. It''s about time for us to get busy and I don''t want the two of you to be burdened by potentially hurting your friends." Kisuke softly told them while patting their heads.


    Ophis shook her head and said, "We were able to say our farewell and it''s not thest time we''ll meet."


    "That''s true. After all of this is over, ask them to hang out with you."


    Ophis and Lilith smiled happily and nodded, "That''s a promise."


    "Of course."


    Kisuke then turned to the group who were looking at him with curiosity, "How did it go, Nimaiya-san?"


    "Naturally, it''s a sess! Though some credit goes to your toys. They are very convenient to use. Give some of them to me." Ouetsu replied while tapping on the table where everyone''s Zanpakutowass was ced.


    "You can have all of them." Kisuke replied while walking towards them and scanning the group. The movement of Magic Power around them is very intentional, signifying that they mastered the art of its maniption to some degree, ''Except for Unohana-san and Katori-san... It seems that they got a different treatment.''


    "So what seems to be the problem? Why are your des lined up on the table."


    Ouetsu also returned his attention to the table and rubbed his chin, "It seems that I''m too sessful."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Our Zanpakuto are rebelling." Furoufushi answered Kisuke.


    Kisuke instantly became very concerned, "...Even the old man''s?"


    Yamamoto nodded. But contrary to Kisuke''s expectations, Yamamoto actually had an interested smile on his face, "But it''s not really a bad thing. I just have to subdue Ryuujin Jakka."


    Upon that statement, the Shinigamis around him immediately remembered why they would have to subdue their Zanpakuto from time to time. It''s because their des gained power that''s beyond their current capabilities.


    Furoufushi grinned and grabbed her Zanpakuto, "Alright! Enough of that Magic training or whatnot. I''ll be out for a while. Don''t look for me."


    She didn''t wait for anyone and immediately darted towards the exit before using sh Step to disappear.


    Chika sighed and chuckled, "I guess that''s the schedule for everyone." He also grabbed his Zanpakuto and left the same way as Furoufushi.


    Batsu''unsai silently grabbed her Zanpakuto and left while Unohana smiled softly while saying, "I hope I can learn that healing technique next time." before getting hers and leaving.


    "Ask Tanis-chan. She''s an expert regarding it." Kisuke replied before she disappeared.


    "I guess I''ll go too. Maybe I''ll scout the [Chained] while I''m at it." Gin also soon left.


    Juushirou turned to Yamamoto and said, "Old man Yama. Make sure to go as far as possible. It''s not going to be fun if you, of all people, lose control."


    "You don''t have to remind me."


    Juushirou chuckled and before he left, he turned to Kisuke, "Urahara-san, I hope that you won''t give Kyouraku too much trouble that he''s unable to handle it."


    "He''s going to hate me but it''s nothing he can''t handle."


    "I see. Thank you."


    Choujirou wanted to follow the old man but he knew he couldn''t do that so he just silently left.


    Yamamoto finally grabbed his Ryuujin Jakka and looked at it for a while before turning to Kisuke, "It''s going to be an upheaval. Don''t expect Hyousube Ichibei to be trapped. Unlike the rest of the Royal Guards, he''s someone unfettered."


    With everyone picking up their des, Ouetsu made his way back to his workshop and this made Kisuke ask, "Going back to work already?"


    "I have to make empty Asauchis so that I don''t have to reforge a Zanpakuto whenever someone needs it to be converted. And please prepare that body for me. Forget about me temporarily using it."


    Kisuke creased his brows, "Why?"


    "It''s something I realized after forging those des... That man is already aware of my betrayal."

 Chapter 1210 Prelude to War part 2

    Chapter 1210 Prelude to War part 2


    "Are you serious?" Kisuke immediately asked.


    Ouetsu turned at him but only kept his silence.


    "...But how?"


    "I don''t know. I suddenly felt his eyesnding on me when I reinforced the names of those des. Well, I should have expected something like that from him..." In the middle of talking, Ouetsu remembered something and entered the workshop and came out of it a few secondster. In his hand is a tanto knife de with a wooden hilt and sheath exuding a familiar aura, but much more repressed.


    ''Tiamat? I thought she''s just roaming somewhere.'' Kisuke thought when he saw the de.


    As he walked towards Kisuke, Ouetsu pulled out the short and glistening de, "You should make a proper connection with her this time." With a flick of his arm that''s almost impossible to track, Ouetsu stabbed Kisuke in the heart with it.


    Kisuke was surprised but didn''t defend. The de sank into his chest, bypassing all the defenses he had but no blood spilled from it. A split secondter, the knife disappeared as if it didn''t exist in the first ce and no wound nor damage to Kisuke''s clothes was left behind.


    Kisuke closed his eyes and entered his inner world where Tiamat was. The space that Tiamat took looked like an empty void without any sense of direction but strangely enough, Kisuke could clearly see himself and Tiamat despite the absence of light, "Why?"


    "There''s no point in me hiding your existence anymore. You''re found out after that smith broke his pact. If you want to seed, I think it''s best for you not to take your time anymore."Kisuke opened his eyes back up, "Thanks for this. This is a lot better than the ''Asauchi'' that I made to trap her in."


    "Of course. I used that ne of hers as the base for it so her containment is a lot more stable. I''m actually more surprised that it didn''t break when you first sealed her." Ouetsu returned to his workshop and before he shut the door to his workshop, he said, "By the way, now that I''ve broken the pact of the Royal Guards, the chains that are limiting their abilities are now gone too. And if they were to reach Hell, they would be able to release their Bankai without worrying about destroying the boundaries between worlds due to their enormous powers."


    Kisuke became silent for a moment before turning to Serafall, ire, Tanis, Kunou, Ophis, and Lilith who gathered in one corner, "I''m sorry but I''d have to ask you to send a message to everyone. Tell them that they only have 2 days. Whether they are prepared or not, they are going to attack the [Chained]."


    "Why 2 days?" asked Serafall while sensing the urgency within his voice, "It looks like you''re in a hurry so shouldn''t we get them back now?"


    "I have to prepare a few things and transfer Nimaiya-san to his new body."


    "Alright... I''ll go get the old man. I''ll leave the rest to you, girls."


    .


    .


    .


    While making his way to a certain spot within Hell, Tiamat''s voice suddenly resounded inside Kisuke''s head, [Why are you hellbent on eliminating them?]


    "I''ve been stalking the ce they''re staying in. I couldn''t care less who they were and I actually wanted to know what their connection was to Hell itself. Sadly, aside from a few clues, I couldn''te up with a reasonable expectation."


    [And just for that, you''re going to eliminate them?]


    "They are unnecessary risks. Besides, don''t you find it strange? They are immortal here in Hell but once they leave the door, they are just like any normal individuals that can be killed." Kisuke stopped his sh Step and looked around before walking in another direction, "And what about the [Unchained]? While I was able to give them new bodies that would allow them freedom, why couldn''t they leave in the first ce? I know there are restrictions in ce but I never figured out the reason for their existence in the first ce."


    [Don''t you already have a guess?]


    "True. I concluded that they were ''food'' to slow down the rate of maggots eating through this dead body. But what''s the role of the [Chained] here if they are not the food? And what''s up with their obsession with consuming others to make themselves grow?"


    [Then isn''t eliminating them more dangerous than leaving them alone?]


    "I''ve thought about that too and just intended to kill a few of them to see what''s going to happen. However, as you''ve said, I don''t have much time anymore. As long as the other side is ready, I''m going to force through my n. It''s a shame but it looks like I have no choice but to involve Ophis and Lilith in this."


    [The other side?]


    "Someone who''ll be able to do anything he wants regardless of the situation." Kisuke finally stopped moving and a Magic Circle formunications suddenly appeared in front of him, "And he''s also going to be the major contributor to soul migration."


    From the Magic Circle, another familiar voice came out, [Finally! I thought I was going to rot here, you bastard!]


    Kisuke chuckled, "Sorry about that, Benihime. I''ll make it short. Go reveal your identity to him."


    [We''re finally breaking everything?]


    "There''s a chance that our enemies are already aware of me and about to close in to me so we don''t really have a choice. I''m leaving it to you."


    [Well, at least this ninja cosy is finally going to end.]


    .


    .


    .


    A full dayter, everyone who wanted to subdue their Zanpakuto returned, albeit, a bit haggard, "Say, what''s the rush?" Furoufushi asked with aining voice, "I almost didn''t make it."


    "We''re moving up the schedule for quite a bit so please focus on returning to your peak states," Kisuke answered her using his tablet containing various information.


    "By the way, where''s the old man?" Juushirou asked while looking around, "It''s strange how he''s thest one. I thought he''d be the first one to return."


    Thankfully, no one needed to answer that question as they all felt the presence of two people approaching.


    The sharpest of them, Kisuke and Batsu''unsai, however, felt something amiss and hurriedly turned their heads.


    Not long after, Yamamoto and Serafall came into their view. Choujirou was about to greet the former but froze on the spot when he saw the state they were in.


    Yamamoto has a giant gaping hole in the middle of his stomach covered with clear ice while Serafall is missing her entire right arm with the stump on her shoulder also frozen.


    Without anyone''s instruction, Tanis immediately ran towards them and started healing them.


    "Ki-tan! Listen to this! This old man is seriously strong! His mes are actually on par with Sirzech-chan''s Power of Destruction in terms of destructive ability!" Serafall, not minding her missing arm, immediately reported with a big smile on her face.


    Yamamoto, on the other hand, stroked his now cut-in-half white beard, "Hooh? My mes are actually on par with someone? I''d like to meet them someday. In any case, you''re the ridiculous one here, youngdy. You actually froze everything, including my mes if I didn''tpress them. On top of that, I''m also just lucky that I was able to take out your arm since I couldn''t inflict damage on you most of the time."


    "Couldn''t inflict damage? Yama-chan, the soul-ying capability of those Zanpakuto is seriously frightening. I''m supposedly impervious to most things once I''m in my Super Devil state, but despite my best efforts, you''re still cutting through my soul, forcing me out of it."


    Dumbfounded, Kisuke interrupted them while approaching to assist Tanis, "No. You two went too far."<svg viewBox="0 0 1024 1024" xmlns="http://.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><defs></defs>


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    28th00: Yeah, these two battle junkies went quite a bit too far I��d say. Time to set the world on fire too, literally even!<a title="Goyya" href="/profile/4244026422">Goyya</a>creators'' thoughts

 Chapter 1211 Start of War

    Chapter 1211 Start of War


    All the Shinigami were shocked at their conversation, including how Serafall was calling their Captain Commander ''Yama-chan'' and didn''t know how to react because there was just too much to process.


    Nevertheless, the first one to react was Choujirou as he immediately ran towards Yamamoto when he understood the situation and checked his huge gaping wound even though he knew that he couldn''t do anything about it, "Ejisai! W-what happened!? How did you end up like this!?"


    "Nothing much. I just asked the youngdy here to help me control Ryuujin Jakka by pushing me to the edge. I''m thankful for her efforts."


    "O-old man... How are you not dead?" Chika also approached and walked around him. He could see that his flesh was already regrowing thanks to Tanis'' healing and the ice was slowly melting out of the way.


    Yamamoto also looked at the hole in his stomach and said, "It looks fatal, but strangely enough, with a sufficient amount of this Magic Power and a bit of Ki, it''s actually doable to stay alive for a few hours more. This ice here is helping me control the movement of my Magic Power because I still have inadequate control over it. After all of this is over, I''ll have to dedicate more time to learning this skill."


    The others, meanwhile, could only remain silent and stare at Serafall. They didn''t believe it when Kisuke said that Serafall could fight all of them at the same time but now there''s a tinge of fear in their hearts.


    "Sorry about this, Ki-tan." Serafall apologized because she knew that this was going to dy their ns.


    "It''s fine. I already ounted for this when you said you''re going to be the one who''ll fetch old man Yama." Kisuke then turned to everyone and said, "Please take a rest and make sure you''re at your peak. Same time tomorrow, we''re going to the [Chained''s] base of operation and cleaning them up as fast as possible. If you think you can''t do that for some reason like you can''t kill your formerrades, you''re free to back out."


    "Formerrades?" Furofushi sneered, "Don''t insult us. We all had our chances and now we''re standing on opposite sides. Feeling bad now will just be an insult, not just to ourselves, but also to those who made their choice differently than ours."Kisuke looked around and saw the same expression Furofushi had from everyone else, "I''m d you think that way. Looks like I won''t have to worry about you guys hesitating at the important moment."


    .


    .


    .


    The next day, the previous casual atmosphere had already disappeared as if the air itself was filled with sharp des that would kill if inhaled.


    Standing on the side far from them, ire, Tanis, and Kunou couldn''t help but be impressed, "So this is the aura of real veterans." ire muttered to herself.


    "That''s right. It''s not something you can just learn through sparring, no matter how hard you go at it. Not just fighting for your life but also fighting for your beliefs and important people and things will give you a different perspective that may or may not change your mind or how you see reality around you." Serafall answered with a rare solemn expression, "In any case, you can''t rush something like that. You can only take one step at a time and make sure each of those steps is a careful one."


    ''I''ve seen far too many people who crumbled to their knees because reality was not what they expected and ended up going on an entirely different path... With some of them destroying themselves and those they deemed important.'', is what Serafall wanted to say but decided against it. While the girls are strong, they''re too strong for their current mindset. She could guide them with her own experience but at some point, they would need to move forward without a hand leading them. Serafall wouldn''t be able to forgive herself if these girls stumble and get broken because they''d been relying on someone for too long.


    Serafall then thought to herself, ''They''re strong, but they''re also too fragile.''


    Kisuke checked everyone and was already sure that they were ready, "Old man Yama, I just need the [Chained] killed several times. At some point in time, I should be able to stop their revival. I''ll be leaving it to you how you guys will do it." Before they all gathered, Kisuke already briefed Yamamoto on the enemy''s forces and location. And since Yamamoto is technically the leader, he left everything to his discretion.


    "Hold on." Gin suddenly put himself in between them, "I have something to say."


    "Are you worried about Tousen-san?"


    Gin hesitated for a bit before nodding, "Yeah... So you already knew."


    "Don''t worry. Old man Yama already knew about it too. Though I asked him not to trust him too much since anything could happen."


    "Alright. That''s enough."


    Gin returned to the line and Yamamoto turned around to face them, "Everyone, I won''t say anything much but allow me to express my gratitude for going along with this old man''s selfishness."


    Everyone remained silent but they were exuding a sharp aura.


    Yamamoto''s Reiatsu then started rising up along with his voice, "As the first step to the future that this child has promised, we will be facing the warriors who broke their code and became less than animals by consuming their own kind andrades!" Towards the end, Yamamoto''s Reiatsu became so heavy that normal people wouldn''t be able to stand in front of him. But instead of nervousness, a confident smile appeared on each one of the Shinigamis present.


    mes then covered Yamamoto''s entire body as he shouted, "Follow me and cut the heads off these filthy monsters who don''t deserve another chance in life!"


    With the ground beneath him melting and exploding, Yamamoto flew up, bearing his killing intent toward the enemy.


    "Ha!!!" Everyone simultaneously shouted as they all released their own Reiatsus and followed after him with great vigor.


    The procession of these Shinigamis left the space itself trembling from their might.


    .


    .


    .


    Sometimeter, within the temporary barracks where the members of the 12th Division reside and do their research in Hell, an rm went off and one of the analysts who had his eyes glued on their scream temporarily froze before he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Someone! Someone call Captain Iba over and inform Captain Kurotsuchi! Former Captain Commander Yamamoto Genryuusai''s Reiatsu was detected along with others!"<svg viewBox="0 0 1024 1024" xmlns="http://.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><defs></defs>


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    28th00: Yeah, that��s a panic moment.<a title="Goyya" href="/profile/4244026422">Goyya</a>creators'' thoughts

 Chapter 1212 Incinarated

    Chapter 1212 Incinarated


    While walking through the empty hallway of the unnecessarily huge castle, one of the [Chained] and a former Kenpachi, Kurayashiki, grumble to himself, "Why do we keep having these nonsensical meetings?"


    "It seems that Szayporro is already losing his patience because the rate of Shinigamiing to Hell is a lot less than he expected." From behind him, a voice replied to his muttering, and when Kurayashiki turned around he saw a dark-skinned, blindfolded man, "Not to mention, only a single weak Captain is managing an outpost that is too tiny for everyone''s appetite."


    "Tousen, huh?" Kurayashiki murmured, "I don''t care. It''s not a good enough reason to keep calling everyone. It''s annoying. If he''s hungry, he should just go alone."


    Kaname caught up to Kurayashiki and started walking beside him, "And what? Fell for another of Kurotsuchi''s traps? He may not show it but he''s really afraid of that man. Even if there''s a bit of uncertainty on his part, he won''t make any drastic movement."


    Kurayashiki scoffed at his words, "If not for him controlling these eyes and chains, he wouldn''t be lording over us." He then turned his head to Kaname and said, "By the way, if you want to live long enough, you should be careful around him. I think he''s onto you."


    "For what?"


    "Who knows? That''s what I''m seeing from him."


    "And why are you informing me of this?"


    "Err... Because it''s interesting? It''ll be better if the two of you duke it out. Maybe a good way to pass time."All of a sudden, Kaname stopped walking and asked, "Do you still want an end to this wretched way of existing?"


    Kurayashiki also stopped walking and was so confused that he suddenly changed the subject of their conversation. Nevertheless, he didn''t really mind it and answered, "Of course. There''s no point in living in a constant state of hunger that will never go away as long as we''re bound by these chains."


    "You have a choice of casting these chains away or stepping into the Human World to end yourself."


    Kurayashiki became silent for a moment before he resumed his steps, "Getting away from these chains is impossible for me. And dying outside of Hell is not really the end either. It''s just more suffering."


    Under his blindfold, Kaname''s lightless eyes widened at his statement, "Just more suffering? What do you mean?"


    Kurayashiki only nced at him and didn''t answer.


    Kaname stayed for a few more seconds before walking forward again.


    .


    .


    .


    Within what looked like a throne room, Szayporro was sitting and looking down on everyone present from his overly adorned chair. Leaning on his skeletonized left arm, he loudly voiced his dissatisfaction when Kaname, thest one, entered the room, "You''rete."


    However, Kaname ignored his remarks and made his way to a corner where he wouldn''t be bothered.


    Szayporro clicked his tongue and his perpetually drenched in blood ram-like horns pulsated grossly, signifying that his mood had dropped even further. Even then, he couldn''t really do anything against him with all the other people in the room not looking at him kindly. It was obvious that he didn''t have anyone''s loyalty and was just forcefully gathering everyone.


    He, who had the ''Devil''s horns'', is the chosen one, so he doesn''t really care about their opinions, ''Once I''mplete, I''ll eat every single one of you.''


    There were a total of 11 people within the chamber including Szayporro and each one of them had their own reasons for cooperation despite their incredible differences.


    "For some reason, the detestable bugs have managed to learn something simr to Hell''s Blessing so we can''t wait for the fruit to ripen. In six hours, we''ll initiate our attack and eat every single one of them. After that, we''ll make our way to Hueco Mundo and directly connect it to Hell. From there, we will be able to reach Soul Society." Szayporro told them a simple n with azy voice, "You''re dismissed."


    Without any fail, each one of them red at Szayporro and the former Kenpachi, Kiganjou angrily shouted, "You called us just for that!?"


    "Why? Do you have a problem with it?"


    "This bastard..." The shortsighted Kiganjou started fuming, "I''m not your ve!" He shouted while pulling out his Zanpakuto and sending mes towards Szayporro.


    However, thetter only looked at him with an unconcerned expression and snapped his skeletal fingers. The next instant, the mes disappeared and the chain tattoos on Kiganjou''s body materialized and began squeezing him to death.


    Kiganjou let out an ugly screech as the chains reduced him into pieces of flesh and only stopped when his head was detached from his body. Until the end, he didn''t know what was happening. When he regained consciousness, he found himself standing in the same spot before he attacked Szayporro.


    "W-what was that?" Kiganjou asked himself with a horror-filled face. He knew for sure that it wasn''t a dream because of the blood and bits of flesh scattered around him.


    Naturally, Szayporro couldn''t be bothered to answer even though this was the first time he showed this ability to Kiganjou and just repeated his previous words, "You''re dismissed."


    The others didn''t give another nce to Kiganjou nor did they have any pity to give since he''s just a coward who avoided Szayporro all this time. They guessed that he thought that they were going to back him up once they started brawling, but only now did he realize how wrong he was.


    Szayporro smirked at everyone''s reaction but just as they were about to leave, a heavy Reiatsu suddenly bore down onto their consciousness. Except for the former Arrancars, everyone else shuddered at this Reiatsu full of killing intent that was directed at them.


    A few secondster, a ming meteor crashed into the roof of the throne room andnded on the floor, destroying it.


    Everyone could only stare at the mes in awe and as they receded, revealing an old man within it, and then their awe changed into fear, "Hooh... So this is where you were hiding, you maggots."


    "C-Captain..." Chigiri Shijima muttered in horror.


    But the only thing that greeted him was a sh of mes that instantly engulfed and turned him into ashes, "I see that you still have the guts to call me Captain. How disgusting."


    Everyone almost couldn''t see what just happened but they all understood that with a swing of his sword, one of them was instantly incarnated with nothing left behind and all they could feel now was the intense residual heat.


    "Everyone! Attack!" Nobutsuna Shigyou shouted, pulling out everyone from their temporary stupor.<svg viewBox="0 0 1024 1024" xmlns="http://.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><defs></defs>


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    The Last Minute Editor, 28th00: This feels like bullying.<a title="Goyya" href="/profile/4244026422">Goyya</a>creators'' thoughts

 Chapter 1213 Going for the Rematch

    Chapter 1213 Going for the Rematch


    All of the [Chained], except for Szayporro, released their Reiatsu mixed with ''Hell''s Blessing''. Their sharp des liberated and hungry for blood, bore down on the old man.


    However, Yamamoto remained calm and motionless and it was only until they were about to reach him that they felt the other people who came with and were being masked by Yamamoto''s intense aura. Feeling the disadvantageous position they had, they all retreated back.


    Dropping down one by one with either fearless smiles or stoic expressions, the liberated ones came face to face with their enemies whom they hadn''t seen for countless years.


    The first one who stepped out was the former Captain of the 6th Division, a fair-skinneddy with long dark pink hair tied up in two hip-length pigtails on either side of her head. Herrge violet eye that''s not covered by an eyepatch scanned her surroundings but only noted two people and one regenerating pile of flesh.


    With arge mocking smile, she addressed them while pulling and pointing her Zanpakuto at them, "Shigyou, Sakahone, and... Is that Shijima? It has been a while, isn''t it? Not since youst hunted down Izuhara and Obana. And where''s Kumoi, by the way? Did you finally dispose of that coin-obsessed idiot?"


    The former Captain of the 2nd Division and Yoruichi''s ancestor, Chika Shihouin, also stepped out while ring at the founding members of the Gotei 13 who were standing on the other side, "What''s the point and saying things to them? Just cut them down."


    As soon as he finished words, he disappeared and was immediately followed by a sound of shing des. Before they realized it, Chika already dragged Nobutsuna Shigyou with him outside the castle.


    Furoufushi was about to attack the decrepit old man and Saizou Sakahone also prepared himself to receive it. But instead of Furoufushi''s de, Saizou ended up swinging his sword to the side in panic and met someone else''s de. When he saw who sneaked up beside him, he felt arge force hitting his side and immediately shot off to the wall, creating a hole in it beforending in a distant mountain.


    "Katori... What''s up with that?" Furoufushi asked the one who attacked Saizou with discontent.While fixing her sses, Batsu''unsai answered, "Forget about it. You don''t have any chance against that old man."


    Furoufushi wanted to refute her words but stopped when she thought about the old man''s ability, "And you can deal with him?"


    Batsu''unsai disyed a small smile and said before disappearing, "I learned something very good from the youngdies."


    Furoufushi sighed and turned her attention back to the remaining acquaintances, "I guess I''ll settle with you." Furofushi swung her Zanpakuto and a st of wind smashed onto the regenerating torso, sending it through the hole that Yamamoto created. A secondter, she also disappeared.


    After them, the next one to move was Unohana, and faced one of the former Kenpachi, "Should we leave?"


    Kurayashiki shuddered and his blood boiled because he knew exactly who she truly was. However, he wanted to confirm something first, "Are they here?"


    Because of Serafall''s stories, Unohana was someone who understood what he meant and nodded, "Are you waiting for them?"


    Kurayashiki nodded, "As much as I want to face you, I had a promise with thatss."


    Unohana was obviously disappointed and she didn''t really want to fight an unwilling opponent so her head turned to the other Kenpachi, Kiganjou, "You, it''s time to prove yourself." Before walking away.


    There was silence after her words and Kigajou could only stare at Unohana''s back in disbelief. A few secondster, he exploded in fury, "You dare!? A mere physician!?" Kiganjou lunged at Unohana but thetter just used sh Step to get away and the furious former Kenpachi angrily followed her with his voice echoing, "A weakling like you dare challenge me!? I''m going to tear you into pieces!"


    Silence still permeated the surroundings and there''s an atmosphere of disbelief lingered.


    ''Why did I take in that idiot?'' Szayporro asked himself seriously, ''Or maybe he left because he''s afraid of Yamamoto Genryuusai.'' At that moment, he also noticed the Tousen had disappeared and narrowed his eyes, ''Is it him?''


    "Stop wasting time. Let''s get this over with. I''ll take care of that old man." The stocky and muscr man with no flesh on his head started walking towards Yamamoto, "All of you, get lost."


    But despite not having a face, it''s apparent to Szayporro and the other [Chained] that he''s having ambitious thoughts of ''eating'' him.


    Szayporro only chuckled and stood up and said before disappearing, "If you can, then go ahead. I''ll look forward to it."


    After him, Yammy, Nnoitra, and Zommari also left by using Sonido and Kurayashiki with a sh Step.


    Juushirou wanted to follow Szayporro because he was the root of this problem but all of a sudden, the assault group heard Kisuke''s voice in their head [Leave Szayporro and Kurayashiki to us.]


    Without much choice, Juushirou changed his target and followed Yammy Riyalgo while Gin and Choujirou followed Nnoitra and Zommari respectively, leaving behind Yamamoto and Barragan facing each other.


    .


    .


    .


    "...Where did all of that vigor go?" Serafall asked while watching from afar, "They all came together but went out of their way to have one-on-one''s."


    "Let them be. This also reduces the risk since we don''t know what Szayporro can do." Kisuke replied to her while taking note of the direction where Szayporro left.


    At the same time, Kisuke felt someone tugging on his clothes and when he turned around, ire was looking at him expectantly, "Can I have a go?"


    "Want revenge?", asked Kisuke. He was just thinking of sending Serafall after Kuruyashiki or looking for Souya Azashiro who''s now in Hell to deal with him.


    "Rematch." ire corrected him.


    Kisuke peaked at Serafall and thetter immediately said, "I know what I said that time but I also knew her growth all the while from that point. If she wants to, then let her be. It''ll also be a good chance for her to give a proper conclusion to this."


    Kisuke sighed, "Fine... But if I think it''s going to be dangerous or if I detect any sort of imbnce between your Holy Power and Demonic Power, I''m pulling you out."


    ire nodded cheerfully, "Got it! I''ll be careful!"


    A secondter, 4 pairs of alternating Angel and Devil Wings appeared behind ire as she flew toward the direction Kurayashiki left.


    "...No matter how many times I see it, I still can''t believe someone like ire-chan could exist," Serafall muttered.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke is very worried about how her parents and his mother would react to this, ''Looks like the Belial House still don''t have a proper heir.''<svg viewBox="0 0 1024 1024" xmlns="http://.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><defs></defs>


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    28th00: I find it hrious that all the possible heirs of the Belial house are super-mutant aberrations that are their own species unto themselves. Sure, they��re absurdly powerful, but they��re absolutely NOT devils anymore, so therefore cannot be an heir toa devil house�� because they��re not even the same species anymore, even if they somehow have the n traits still.


    But yeah, Shounen duels cause why not? Just a Bleach thing. No, seriously, EVERYONE in Bleach does this shit and Many vs 1 only exists to show how OP the 1 in that equation ispared to everyone else.


    Goyya: Yeah. I could hardly remember a group battle in bleach and that��s only when one is overpowered.<a title="Goyya" href="/profile/4244026422">Goyya</a>creators'' thoughts

 Chapter 1214 Fierce Demon

    Chapter 1214 Fierce Demon


    As soon as he crashed into an open field, Nobutsuna Shigyou immediately used sh Step to gain as much distance as possible.


    Several tens of kilometers away from the castle, he heard Chika speaking behind him, "Afraid of the old man?"


    Nobutsuna stopped running and slid through the ground while turning around, "Who isn''t? You''ve seen his face and he''s incredibly pissed. Even if I can''t die, I''d still hate to deal with that." He knew he couldn''t run away from Chika who had the best Hohou (Step Method) techniques among them but it was enough for him to get away from Yamamoto''s wrath, ''And who knows? Maybe his Bankai is capable of killing us. I don''t want to risk it.''


    Chika appeared not far in front of him and tapped the ground several times with his foot, "I agree. That old man is so ridiculous that even his enemies don''t want to deal with him directly."


    Nobutsuna smirked at him, "But I''m thankful for you taking me out of that ce. I didn''t really expect that the old man could remove the chains considering the weight he carried on his shoulders. Is he a lot more innocent than we initially thought?" Despite his expression, he was incredibly confused by the turn of events, ''I don''t know about thest Captain, but even Unohana Yachiru? No matter what you think about it, this is too strange. They got away too fast.''


    "Heh? Who knows? Maybe the Captain found a loophole through the restrictions." Chika replied with an equally smug face.


    Nobutsuna thought about it for a few more moments before giving up and said, "But of all people, you really went after me? You can''t kill me with your ability and even if you could, I''m not sure if you heard me clearly but I''ll repeat it, I can''t die."


    "..."


    "You on the other hand, while the hardest to kill among us, are still very much vulnerable to death. So what exactly is your n here?"Chika didn''t talk anymore and just disappeared from his spot. But without any change in his expression, Nobutsuna just raised his Zanpakuto to his left and received the sh that was aimed at his neck, "And if it''s just containing me, Saitou and Katori could do a better job than you."


    Chika used sh Step again to gain some distance from him, "That''s true, isn''t it? My specialty is assassination so I''m technically a bad match against you who''s also mainly practicing martial arts."


    It was then that Nobutsuna felt something weird and saw Chika grin at him, "But since ourst meeting, I''ve expanded my arsenal."


    On the arm that Nobutsuna was holding his Zanpakuto with, a weird circle filled with various geometrical symbols suddenly emerged before exploding.


    "Kughhh...." Nobutsuna jumped back and gritted his teeth while grabbing the falling Zanpakuto with his other arm and swinging it behind him where Chika was already poised to attack.


    The sh between the two of them created a spark but it didn''t end there as Chika leveraged his advantage on Nobutsuna not knowing what happened to get a few attacks in.


    A series of metal-on-metal sounds rang out multiple times per second and dust kicked up, blood hurtling away as the both of them tried cutting each other.


    Although Chika was in an advantageous position, he soon had to switch his stance and take a more defensive approach with his opponent''s sted arm regenerating, "Tsk." Chika couldn''t help but click his tongue while narrowly dodging a strike to his shoulder that cut his clothes.


    With an overhand swing using both of his arms, Nobutsuna gleefully mocked Chika, "Too bad. Your flesh is not as disposable as mine. Not when you haven''t activated your Bankai, at least."


    Chika blocked the overhead strike and it resulted in the ground below him cracking slightly. With a wry smile, he replied, "Don''t call my Bankai disposable flesh."


    Nobutsuna let go of his left hand and sent a punch toward Chika''s stomach, "What else could it be called?"


    "..." Chika was quiet for a moment before his wry smile turned into a grin as he blocked Nobutsuna''s fist with his own, "You''ve be weaker, haven''t you?"


    Of course, Nobutsuna wasn''t happy with his remark and put more strength into his arms, further pushing his opponent down, "Ridiculous."


    "What I meant is that you''ve becent. Is it really wise to get close to me like this?"


    Nobutsuna immediately recalled what happened earlier and he still didn''t understand what kind of attack hit him that time. He took back the strength he was using and tried retreating. However, it was already toote as two more Magic Circles suddenly appeared on both of his arms and exploded. The explosion was smokeless and lightless so it looks like Nobutsuna''s arm just spontaneously ruptured.


    Taken aback, Nobutsuna failed to notice in time that a de was already lodged in his neck and cutting it open.


    A secondter, his vision began spinning as he dropped to the ground while hearing Chika''s voice, "This carelessness has be ingrained within you. I guess a thousand years of immortality isn''t all that good."


    Finally, Chika stepped on his detached head and crushed it into a pulp.


    But as soon as Nobutsuna died, the chains on his body started moving and soon enough, his missing head began regenerating.


    ''No matter how many times I see it, I still can''t get used to it.'' Chika thought to himself while putting forward his right arm and said, "Hadou no 63, Raikouhou (Thunder Roar Cannon)."


    A st of yellow lightning smacked into the regenerating Nobutsuna and incinerated him. Although he knew that it would just lengthen the time of him getting back on his feet, he still needed to do his best to kill him, ''I wonder... Will Urahara Kisuke find a way to finally finish this guy off or will I die first?''


    Chika strategically paced his attacks to keep Nobutsuna from fully regenerating but from his previous experiences, this could only go so far.


    As if it had a mind of its own, the chains would leave the host''s body through the ground after its host was killed several times. It would then reemerge some distance away and wouldplete the revival at a faster pace. Chika, Furoushi, and Batsu''unsai tried thinking of ways to seal the [Chained] but due to this behavior that they couldn''t stop, it proved to be fruitless.


    Soon enough, Chika saw the chains leaving as if shadows escaping through the ground. As there was no way to contain it, he just waited for Nobutsuna to reappear.


    A few minutester, Chika felt Nobutsuna''s strange Reiatsu gushing out along with his words, "Bankai... Fierce Demon: Blood-soaked Demi-God of War and ughter."


    When he turned to the direction of the release, Chika saw a 4-meter tall muscr man with six arms attached to his torso.<svg viewBox="0 0 1024 1024" xmlns="http://.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><defs></defs>


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    ================================


    Editor of tenses, 28th00: I wonder if you realized that by doing duels you��d have to pull a DBZ Namek-arc where an hoursts months to years, subjectively? Keeping the theme of backwards Bankai��s that started with Soifon, huh?


    Goyya: I��ll only be showing a few notable battles. If I do a pov on every one, it��s going to take up most of the volume.<a title="Goyya" href="/profile/4244026422">Goyya</a>creators'' thoughts

 Chapter 1215 Escape

    Chapter 1215 Escape


    The previously tall,nky, and pale man with visibly sunken skin on his face and chest had changed drastically.


    Turning around, Chika is now facing a 4-meter tall bulky man with dark purple skin sporting six pairs of arms, "Let''s get this over with." Said the giant man with a now deep voice contrary to his husky voice from earlier.


    Chika didn''t immediately answer and instead watched his opponent more closely and the first thing he noticed was that one pair of the three pairs of arms were just bare jet-ck bones emitting a dangerous aura. This was Nobutsuna''s Bankai and its ability is to fuse and transform its owner into a hulking piece of meat that''s capable of destroying everything in its path with just sheer strength. And along with this strength was the tough skin that no normal weapon could possibly pierce through.


    It''s a simple and effective ability, however, it has its own drawbacks. First of all, the longer it''s used, the more it destroys the owner''s body which could even lead to death, ''Welp... I can''t expect anything from that now, can I?''


    The second is that the user is now barred from using any Kidou spells which may be disadvantageous for him in certain situations like a long-range battle, ''But if he can''t be killed no matter what, then there''s no point in fighting closely or from afar.''


    Naturally, Chika still has few choices since Nobutsuna''s Bankai was also weak against illusion due to being a pure physical ability.


    While he was contemting the next steps he should take, the giant man standing in front of him suddenly disappeared. Chika''s eyes widened and used sh Step to get away. The next split second, there was an explosion where he was just standing, and saw arge crater that was made by a simple stomp, ''His movement is a lot better than I remember. I see that he stopped exclusively training his fist techniques.''


    The giant man disappeared once again, but Chika was still faster than him and was able to dodge.


    This type of exchange continued for some time and Chika immediately found himself in a disadvantageous position. While Chika could dodge his attacks, he could hardly do damage to Nobutsuna. And even if he could give some fatal strikes, it didn''t impede his movements as much as he''d like. Even the shockwave bombs that Chika was continuously deploying on Nobutsuna had bergely ineffective with thetter just ignoring most of it.Meanwhile, on Nobutsuna''s side, he only needed one of his strikes to connect properly and it would immediately turn the tides of the battle vastly in his favor. And although he''s acting like a lunatic ignoring most of Chika''s attack, he was calmly analyzing the movements of his opponent, waiting for the chance of him making a mistake, ''Though he would probably use that before he makes a mistake. At that point, it''ll be another stalemate.''


    ''But seriously, what are they trying to achieve by attacking us? They''re not stupid so they won''t needlessly risk their safety if not for something important.'' Nobutsuna tried baiting and cornering Chika but that didn''t work and only ended up being attacked by invisible bombs.


    ''These bombs... I''m certain that they''re using Hell''s Blessing? How is he doing this? I thought that these guys were forsaken by Hell.'' Nobutsuna asked himself while regenerating the wound that the bombs inflicted on him, ''And they''re familiar? Where have I seen it?''


    Nobutsuna and Chika went through a few more exchanges when the former finally remembered where he had seen it and it was from a report from Baraggan about the strange man and the technique he used to decimate the Beasts of Hell under their control.


    He immediately took some distance away from Chika which made thetter confused.


    "You... You are connected to that man." Nobutsuna asked while furrowing his brows.


    Chika also stopped moving, "You really don''t have any idea or clue about him? That bastard is such an annoying man to deal with. He always wanted to know about all sorts of things that it''s actually tiring." He tried throwing Nobutsuna off with his reply.


    And just like Chika expected, Nobutsuna immediately formed a certain impression of the ''strange man'' by just those few words, ''So that''s the case. He and his group are the only variables that we can''t quantify and qualify. Is he a researcher? Was it with their cooperation that the old man and Unohana managed to get off their chains? Are they moving ording to his will? Just what sort of deal have they managed to reach? And what is he after by pushing this fruitless operation?''


    Thanks to Chika acting like he doesn''t know much about Kisuke, it gave an impression that they''re not very close and only follow certain instructions from him. If by any chance that they''re actually aiming to permanently kill them, Chika guessed for certain that Nobutsuna would escape with just a slight precursor to that idea, ''Although there''s no way in hell that he''ll guess our intentions, I still have to make it look like we''re just doing a recon mission just to be safe.''


    Sadly for him, his efforts were for naught when a ck butterfly suddenly flew over to Nobutsuna''s side, ''A Hell''s Butterfly? If I''m not wrong, that is used by the [Chained] Shinigami tomunicate with each other... Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'' Chika thought to himself.


    The next second, both Nobutsuna and Chika heard Chigiri Shijima''s voice from it, [Nobutsuna... I''m not sure what to make out of it, but this crazy bitch just said that they''re here to finally kill us off.]


    "..."


    "..."


    Both of them were silent and stared at each other. And while Chika is doing his best to not show any outward reactions, he''s internally cursing, ''Goddammit, Furoufushi! You and your loud mouth!'' Although he''s not sure who went after Chigiri, he''s sure that there''s only one who won''t be able to keep herself from bragging and taunting the enemy.


    Chika continuously stared at Nobutsuna and saw a drop of sweat on his forehead, ''This coward won''t instantly believe that right? Shijima sounds like he''s mocking his opponent.''


    Yet again, he was betrayed by his expectations when Nobutsuna suddenly disappeared along with his Reiatsu gaining some distance, "Fuck!" Chika muttered loudly.


    But Chika immediately gathered his bearings and sighed loudly while closing his eyes, ''This is the third time I''ve seen Shigyou act like this. What did I hope for?''


    Opening his eyes back up, a sh of light went through them and his Reiatsu suddenly increased by tenfold as he muttered, "Bankai..."


    "Fleeting Memoir: Song of a Thousand Days."

 Chapter 1216 Clash Of Kidou

    Chapter 1216 sh Of Kidou


    When he was still alive, Nobutsuna had always been thrust into dangerous and life-threatening situations. However, he had alwayse out of it rtively safergely because of his intuition and desire to survive. He enjoyed spilling the blood of his enemies, but ironically, he feared his own blood spilling so among the original Gotei 13, he secretly got the reputation as a ''coward''.


    He ignored this since it was much more important for him that he survived and Yamamoto himself also actually appreciated this attribute of his because it had saved the group multiple times. Ever since joining the Gotei 13, Nobutsuna majorly relied on his monstrous guts to take advantage of multiple asions.


    Unfortunately for him, however, he underestimated the damage his own Zanpakuto had done to him, especially after the Quincies'' invasion more than a thousand years ago. He died due to his weakened body suddenly failing him when he reached a rtively old age.


    In Hell, he found new life and as he discovered that he was unkible and could even be stronger, he slowly stopped relying on his gut feelings due to their inuracies that didn''t ount for his immortality.


    This was the first time in a long while that he felt his instincts stirring when Chika and the others attacked but it wasn''t a very strong feeling so he just ignored it. But throughout his exchange with him, he felt that something was wrong but couldn''t point it out. It was when he heard Chigiri''s message that his heart almost leaped out of his chest as a dark premonition dawned on his mind, ''I have to escape!'' were his first thoughts.


    However, as he expected, Chika wouldn''t let him go easily.


    As soon as he felt Chika''s Reiatsu rising exponentially, Nobutsuna also felt multiple presences suddenly appearing all around him.


    He stopped his escape attempt and looked around to see a hundred Chika''s surrounding him. It was another Bankai that doesn''t allow the use of any Kidou while active so instead the user focused on Martial Arts. In Chika''s case, he focused on foot techniques and de techniques contrary to him who focused on fist techniques.


    "Damn you..." Nobutsuna muttered to himself as the hundred Chika''s descended upon him..


    .


    .


    Chigiri kept looking at the Hell Butterfly in his hand but found no reply from Nobutsuna. This made him crease his brows since he was sure that he would at least reply back with something mundane.


    Chigiri contacted him because he felt that he activated his Bankai and wanted to know the real situation on his side to get a bigger picture of what was happening right now. The next moment, he felt Chika activating his Bankai and asked himself, ''What''s happening? Could it be...?''


    He then turned to his opponent and saw her casually turning towards the direction where Chika and Nobutsuna were fighting, "Hoo... Chika used it, so that coward probably tried escaping." Furoufushi then smirked, "Hrious. So much so for being immortal."


    Chigiri remained silent and observed the situation more.


    The Furoufushi he was facing right now is still the same Furoufushi that he knew. A brash woman who''s only average in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Hohou. On top of this, Furoufushi was incapable of properly using any high-level Kidou spells due to her innate Reiatsu being lower than even your average Lieutenant these days.


    Regardless, she still became a Captain and one of the founders of the Gotei 13 and that''s thanks to her special physique that allows her to regenerate used Reiryoku within a split second, essentially making her always at the top of her form. Because of this, Furoufushi mastered terrifying techniques that suit her very well which are called [Dyed Spell] and [sh Cast].


    Putting his hand forward, Chigiri chanted, "Tenran (Orchid Sky)."


    In the next instant, a widening tornado st appeared in front of his palm and started gouging the ground as it made its way toward Furoufushi. As expected of the Captain who has the highest mastery over Kidou, this casual tornado of his is enough to severely injure a normal Lieutenant.


    Furoufushi, on the other hand, just calmly turned her head back to Chigiri and raised her hand too, "Shou (Thrust)." One of the first Kidou Spells that a student in the Shinigami Academy would master, Hadou number 1, Shou.


    Different from the students and normal Shinigami, however, Furoufushi''s Shou gathered an invisible wall in front of her before sending out a st of shockwave, entirely dismantling the iing tornado with ease and even sending some force back to Chigiri, forcing him to slide back and crouch down.


    "As ridiculous as ever. How many Shou did you superimpose?"


    "Hmmm... I think around 300?" Furoufushi honestly answered his question which resulted in his mouth twitching.


    ''She produced 300 Hadou spells in that small amount of time? Really ridiculous.'' Chigiri thought to himself.


    In the past, he also tried learning the technique of superimposing the same spells into one. He thought he could do it too as long as he had enough Reiryoku but immediately found out that while he could replicate it, he could only ovep 10 of the first Hadou no matter how much he tried and experimented. And if he increases the level of his spell by one, the amount he could do will be cut in half.


    A long while after that, he figured out the reason that she could do something like that was because it had something to do with her pesky physique that granted her nigh unlimited source of Reiryoku.


    Chigiri hated her. He hated Furoufushi as someone who did everything to master the art of Kidou and even created a few original spells of his own, only to be trampled by someone who was born with great talent.


    After briefly reminiscing about the past, the mes of hatred he kept deep within him came out and burned even stronger thanks to the chains binding him.


    Chigiri smirked and said in his dark voice, "I probably won''t be able to defeat you with just Kidou spells, however, I found and learned something even better."


    Descending into insanity, Chigiri threw his head back whileughing maniacally, and more than a hundred Magic Circles appeared behind him, "Behold! The Spells of Hell that can defeat your [Dyed Spell] and [sh Cast]! And I''m not just limited to weaker spells!"


    Raising his Zanpakuto in the air, he called out its true name, "Bankai! Flower of the zed Moon: Rejuvenating Root of Knowledge and Truth."

 Chapter 1217 Flowers of Kidou

    Chapter 1217 Flowers of Kidou


    Along with the heavy pressure that Chigiri''s Reiatsu was causing, Furoufushi couldn''t help but admire the sight in front of her.


    Dancing between the Magic Circles are flowers of various colors and otherworldly beauty. Their vibrant blossoms dangle gracefully from slender, arching stems, swaying in the gentlest breeze like nature''s own wind chimes. The petals are a study in elegance, with their thin, tubr shape and a spectrum of colors that ranges from pure white to soft pinks, deep purples, and fiery reds, often with intricate patterns and gradients that seem hand-painted by an artist.


    At the center of the flowers was a cluster of bright yellow, pollenden stamens that formed a contrast to the petals'' softness. Contrary to their appearance, they exude a deadly intent that seems to want the world destroyed.


    ''I heard that they''re called columbine flowers... Flowers that represent innocence.'' Furoufushi thought to herself while watching these flowers position themselves inside the Magic Circle, ''Wait... What is he trying to do? If I remember correctly, his ability is Kidou amplification. While way worse than mine, I think he also has Reiryoku regeneration when he releases his Bankai... Could it be that it''s also effective on his Magic?''


    Furoufushi answered her own question with a ''yes'' because that''s what happened with her own Zanpakuto too. However, her eyes instantly widened in shock when she saw that the Magic Circles started multiplying from the flowers, "!?"


    Gritting her teeth, she immediately made her retreat. The next second, hundreds of explosions were heard as various Elemental Magics threw themselves towards Furoufushi and the only thing she could do was dodge since blocking any of them would result in a more focused attack.


    While dodging to the side and also sending various low-level Kidou to the iing projectiles, Furoufushi started cursing out loud, "F*ck! To think he''d learn a new trick! It wasn''t just Kidou or Magic amplification. He''s also siphoning the surrounding Magic Power and Reiryoku at the same time while also multiplying the potency of the Magic itself."


    Thanks to Serafall''s special crash course, Furoufushi managed to learn a lot of technical things regarding Magic.


    Although being bombarded nonstop by the maniacal man in the center of all of this, Furoufushi was still d. Why? It''s because, ''As expected... All he can do is throw around elemental projectiles!''Naturally, these projectiles were very powerful, enough to tear apart thousands of enemies in an instant. It was Chigiri''s greatest strength and he was only below Yamamoto in terms of kill count in the war against the Quincies more than a thousand years ago.


    If it was just the amount of spells she could output, Furoufushi, by far, was better than Chigiri. However, to go against stronger opponents, she has to superimpose Kidou spells to deal enough damage since she can only use low-level Kidou.


    Turning around, Furoufushi pointed her finger at Chigiri, "Hadou no 4, Byakurai (Pale Lightning)!"


    Furoufushi charged it for a few seconds before firing a beam of concentrated lightning enough to match the power of a high-level Kidou like Hadou 88 used by a master ss practitioner.


    The beam of white light cut through the elemental projectilesing towards her. Nevertheless, the beam''s target only smiled and the columbine flowers around him gathered and new Magic Circles formed on some of them while the others started gathering Reiryoku.


    In the next second, multiple earth walls rose in front of Chigiri along with several translucent barriers made out of Reiryoku, "Earth Shield! Bakudou no 44, Sekisho (Barrier)!"


    Furoufushi''s Byakurai pierced through several of Chigiri''s shields but failed to reach its target.


    Furoufushi was not disappointed and kept her finger up while dodging more projectiles, "Hadou no 4, Byakurai!"


    Another beam of light made its appearance and incinerated everything in its path until it reached the multiple shields that spawned again.


    "Hadou no 4, Byakurai!"


    Chigiri finally stoppedughing and just focused on defending and attacking. Although Chigiri could keep up his defenses against Furoufushi''s barrage of ''high-level'' spells, he still became nervous, ''She improved... In the past, it''d take her sometime in between spells. I can''t hold back anymore.''


    Chigiri was curious about what she said about killing the [Chained] but he certainly didn''t want to confirm it, ''While I still have the advantage, I have to end this.'' He doesn''t know what it is but Furoufushi still hasn''t used her Bankai and certainly isn''t as hurried as he''d like to believe.


    Furoufushi noticed that the attacks had reduced and saw that the flowers were gathering around Chigiri. She became even more careful and also slowed down a bit to figure out what was going on and respond with an appropriate action. Nevertheless, she didn''t stop her attack, "Hadou no 3, Sekken (Stone de)."


    In the hands of ordinary Shinigami, the third Hadou is just a small bullet made out of stone, but in Furoufushi''s hand, it became arge and immensely densence made out of ck rock. And instead of one, she created three instances of this spell and sent it out from three different directions of Chigiri.


    But unlike before, Chigiri only kept the minimum amount of barriers around him to block the attacks, making Furoufushi question his motive.


    It was when the flowers started spinning around him that Furoufushi got a bad feeling and wanted to retreat, however, she was already toote.


    Chigiri raised his arm towards her and multiple Magic Circles appeared around Furoufushi herself. Thetter wanted to know what these Magics were, but she knew she needed to get away first. Unfortunately for her, when she wanted another jump back with sh Step, she found herself unmoving in ce, "!?"


    "Fuhahahaha! You didn''t expect this, right!? I can control far more things than you could ever imagine!" Chigiri shouted in glee while also raising his other arm,manding the other flowers tobine their attacks, creating arge pir of fire as if it was a Dragon''s breath.


    Watching the scorching manifestation of deathing closer, Furoufushi finally figured out what happened, ''He momentarily controlled my muscles... He got me.''


    Chigiri watched her get engulfed with mes that he had been preparing for a while now.

 Chapter 1218 Constellations of Magic

    Chapter 1218 Constetions of Magic


    As Furoufushi was being engulfed in mes, Chigiri knew that she could just stack a bunch of healing Kidou to survive so he prepared another set of spells to finish her off.


    He was about to unleash it when he felt the Reiatsu around Furoufushi increase for a bit, ''This increase... It''s her puny Zanpakuto.''


    As Chigiri expected, she heard her struggling voice within the raging mes, "Bankai! Shackled Shrine Maiden: Seeking the Copse of Cosmic Strife, Supreme General of the Sacred Stars."


    sting away the mes, Furoufushi, while being showered by rays of small lights, donned an intricate ceremonial kimono in the deepest shade of indigo, adorned with celestial motifs that evoke the constetions and patterns resembling sacred stars that shine eternally. In her hand is a simple wooden stick with intricately folded paper attached to the tip of it.


    Her eyepatch burned off and in her normally empty eye socket appeared an eye with a jet ck sclera and a pure white shining four-point star-like iris that didn''t appear to have any pupil in the middle of it.


    She appeared to be burned all over but it was rapidly healing as what looked like constetions of stars revolved around her.


    But upon seeing this grandiose appearance that makes it look like the whole world is giving her the blessing, Chigiri could only smirk at it, "Why release your Bankai which is deemed to be the most useless one in history? From what I heard, no one stole that title from you till this day."


    All this time, Chigiri has been on guard against her Shikai which allows her to cast like there are three of her. One Furoufushi is already terrifying enough but three of them are a nightmare for him. He wanted to finish her off before she released her Shikai, but who would have thought that she''d directly release her Bankai that only calls upon constetions to do a little show and use some minor ability like ''increased stamina, agility, or strength''.


    "Have you gone insane? Your Bankai isn''t just useless but also doesn''t follow your will. Don''t tell me you''ve forgotten that it won''t go away unless the people you''ve designated as enemies are gone?"The stars that are connected to each other and revolving around Furoufushi disappeared as she finished healing herself, "Thank you for the reminder and I certainly didn''t forget."


    .


    .


    .


    ire had already left while Kisuke, Serafall, Tanis, and Kunou remained to watch everything that was happening and react ordingly in case something outside of expectations urred. They were currently watching Chika and Nobutsuna''s fight.


    "...Those are all real?" Serafall asked in shock seeing Chika multiplied a hundred times and saw one of them being obliterated into mangled flesh and blood by Nobutsuna who became desperate.


    "Yes." Kisuke nodded, "His Bankai allows him to have a thousand copies of himself with each having its own mind but all are connected by a single will. Although he could only materialize a hundred of them at a time and he can''t use Kidou or other special ss spells with it, there are still essentially a hundred of Shihouin Chika present."


    "But that''s not the most amazing part of it." Kisuke continued while watching another ''Chika'' being killed but reced by a new one, "Among them, there are no fake Chika''s."


    Serafall was stunned and understood what Kisuke was trying to say, "...Wait... If there are no fakes, then there''s also no concept of ''real'' among them. Is that what you''re trying to say?"


    "That''s right. All of them are him. As long as one of them is alive, he is alive.", answered Kisuke, "This is the reason why he focused on stealth and information-gathering missions. It''s just very suited for him."


    At that moment, another change happened and Kisuke turned to another direction.


    "Shackled Shrine Maiden, huh?" Kisuke muttered to himself, "I won''t ask why someone like her is a shrine maiden but what a strange Bankai. I haven''t really seen a Bankai that makes its user weaker than her Shikai. Even Soifon-san''s Bankai is not like this."


    "So it''s really just what I''ve read from the files? Nothing more than a few enhancements depending on the constetion summoned?" Serafall asked while also rubbing her chin, "But this ability... I have a feeling there''s more to it than that."


    Kisuke grinned and said, "Right? I think Kunou-chan here managed to see that as well."


    Kunou''s tails swayed in pride when her name was mentioned. As Kisuke has said, she indeed noticed this when she came to pick her up and assisted her to learn more about it, "Shackled Shrine Maiden. It''s a very fitting name. Because of this world''s Kidou system, she ended up crippling herself."


    Tanis looked at them confusedly and inquired, "What are you guys talking about?"


    "Magic Formation Art." Kunou gave her the answer.


    However, Tanis only tilted her head to the side which made Kunou sigh, "You should really listen to theoretical sses."


    "Ehh~~~ But those are too boring... and too hard."


    "Then you should at least remember what I''m referring to." Kunou pointed in the direction of Furoufushi. At the same time, Furoufushi waved her gohei which is a stick with intricately folded paper at the tip of it and eight constetions appeared in the sky and started circling Chigiri and his flowers.


    "Magic Formation Art is a technique that uses smaller and simpler Magics to form much moreplicated and stronger Magics."


    Even though Tanis was uninterested, she''s not stupid and instantly understands what Kunou was implying with just a few clues in hand. She became serious and turned her head to Furoufushi who already formed a giant Magic Circle that was connected to eight constetions in the sky.


    .


    .


    .


    "W-what?" Chigiri looked up in disbelief at the imposing sight but when he saw a giant mass ofnd emerging from the Magic Circle, horror filled his eyes as he realized what Furoufushi was trying to do.


    Gritting his teeth, Chigiri refocused his spells on the mass ofnd that was about to drop on him while also preparing to dodge.


    But before he could even move, he heard Furoufushi''s amused voice, "Have you forgotten? I can call upon 88 constetions in total."


    Before he could notice it, Chigiri was already surrounded by another eight constetions on the ground. The next instant, another giant Magic Circle appeared, this time, under his feet, "I-Impossible! What is it t---!?"


    Chigiri wasn''t able to finish his words when he was suddenly smacked to the ground with half of his face instantly caving in, ''...What?'' It took him a split second to realize that he was lying on the ground with his whole body broken. In his remaining eye, he saw his flowers dropping down like wilted and lifeless leaves, ''...What?''


    "How does it feel to stand... Ory down in 50x gravity? Nah... Actually, don''t answer. I don''t want to remember it." Chigiri could hear Furoufushi''s casual voice as the summoned mass ofnd dropped on him, taking away his senses.

 Chapter 1219 Secret Lab

    Chapter 1219 Secret Lab


    "She can already do something like that with just 8 nodes. Imagine what she could do with 88?" Serafallmented after seeing Furoufushi drop a meteor coupled with a Gravity Amplification Formation on Chigiri''s head.


    "And depending on how she uses those ''constetions'' and ''stars'', it wouldn''t be impossible for her to cast arge-scale Ritual ss Magic all on her own," Kunou added while admiring the sight.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything else and turned his attention to the other battlefronts. While Furoufushi won''t be able to kill Chigiri, she''s more than enough to contain him for some time with just those two spells, ''What is this guy doing?'' Kisuke asked himself while keeping Szayporro under his radar.


    Like what he and the girls were doing, he''s keeping watch on everything though it didn''t seem that he had noticed their viewing spot, ''His focus is on ire? Well, considering how she''s the only unknown variable here, it''s understandable.''


    Kisuke was actually already done with his preparation to permanently kill all these [Chained] and in reality, it''s easier to do that than permanently remove the chains themselves. However, he''s still curious about one thing. How did Szayporro takemand of all the [Chained]?


    There''s still a missing piece that''s preventing Kisuke from seriously flipping the whole table in fear that something might hit him back and those around him, ''I prepared for all the scenarios I could think of, but that doesn''t mean I''m prepared for everything.''


    In any case, Szayporro just has to make a move and he''ll be able to ascertain things and finish this whole ordeal.


    .


    ..


    [Sir! We''ve detected a massive spike in both Reiatsu and Magic Power northwest of the outpost. From our current prediction model, we estimated that it''s way beyond our explored region!]


    While listening to various reports that have beening in, most of Mayuri''s focus is on the directive that was sent to his device just now, [To all Captains and Lieutenants. You are to return to the Seireitei and be prepared to be deployed at any moment''s notice. This directive is from the Central 46 and the Zero Division. This directive is a top priority and supersedes any current and past orders. Any failure ofpliance will be subjected to a ss A punishment and removal from the current position.]


    ''What the hell is this?'' Mayuri questioned himself while reading the ridiculous directive for the 3rd time. It''s not that the directive itself is ridiculous, but the punishment is unreasonable, ''It even came from the Zero Division... What are they up to?''


    He contemted for a bit before saying to all the moring members of the 12 Division around him, "I need to take care of something. All of you continue to monitor the situation and record everything."


    As he turned around against the shocked researchers, Akon came running towards him, "Captain! Are you going to go against the directive?"


    "Of course not. Even I won''t be safe if I ignore the Zero Division''s directives. And from the looks of it, they''re serious about enforcing it."


    "Then where?"


    "..." Mayuri became silent for a moment before answering, "To prepare for something. Akon, if things get a bit dangerous in Hell, immediately deploy the emergency escape module."


    "But that means abandoning it. It''s going to be a huge loss."


    Mayuri resumed walking and said before exiting the building, "I know what I said."


    Akon looked at his back and recalled what he had been doing these past few days, ''He opened anotherb but it was in the Rukongai. And ever since then, no one has seen Nemuri. I wonder what it is for?''


    Akon turned around and resumed his work. Whatever it was, he knew that he couldn''t have discovered thatb by ident, and it could only mean that Mayuri trusted him with this knowledge, ''Are we in for another upheaval?''


    .


    .


    .


    After making sure that he isn''t being followed, Mayuri deployed his decoy that will enter his ''fakeb'' and do some menial experimentation with Magic.


    Once he confirmed that everything was in order, Mayuri made his way further into the Rukongai before a Magic Circle appeared under his feet and he disappeared.


    He then reappeared inside a moldy, humid, and suffocating room. It was a very familiar room for him since it was the room that was located in the now deserted Nest of Maggots that contained him for a few years before Kisuke invited him to work for the 12th Division.


    Mayuri didn''t reminisce and moved to the right side of the cell and touched a certain part before injecting his own Reiatsu.


    The next second, dust became unsettled as a new door appeared in front of him. Mayuri didn''t let it open fully and hurriedly entered it. As a response, the door also started closing and went back to look like an ordinary wall that hadn''t been touched for years.


    Beyond the door was a fully operationalb and various ss tubes filled with translucent purple liquid. In the middle of these ss tubes were throbbing orbs of flesh.


    Mayuri quickly checked their status by looking through various screens disying logs and alerts. After making sure that there was nothing wrong with them, he hastily made his way towards another wall which was once again, a disguised door. As he went through it, a wider and very well-lit white room with almost nothing inside it aside from a few pieces of furniture that you''d normally find inside a house.


    With such a design, it''s obviously tailored to be livable and there are indeed other people inside it. One is someone expected, Mayuri''s partner and thetest and 8th iteration of the ''Nemuri Series'', Nemuri Hachigo.


    Normally, Nemuri woulde running toward him whenever she felt his presence, but this time, she was busy practicing.


    With her small stature, she put her hand forward with a focus that couldn''t be found in someone of her age. Immediately after, a blue Magic Circle appeared and blue mes were ejected out of it.


    Once me ejection stopped, Nemuri rxed, wiping the sweat that pooled on her forehead, "Huuu..." It was then that she finally noticed his presence and panicked.


    "C-Captain!" She nervously shouted while running towards Mayuri.


    "How is it?" Mayuri simply asked.


    "Reporting to Captain! I still don''t have an urate figure but I can confidently say that using Magic and Soul techniques is several times easierpared to before due to the almost nonexistent collision of Magic Power and Reiryoku!"


    "Continue your testing."


    "Understood!"


    If one is observant enough, one would notice that Nemuri possesses the same type of body as Soifon.


    Nemuri ran towards the center of the wide room once again to continue her work. Meanwhile, Mayuri turned his attention to the only other person present, currentlyzing on the couch while ying with a game console and snacks scattered around her.


    Mayuri wanted to berate her and ask how she got all this furniture inside the room but didn''t have the energy to do so right now, "I changed my mind. Give me all the documents and materials referring to the ''Homunculus''."

 Chapter 1220 Hate for Nobles

    Chapter 1220 Hate for Nobles


    The ck haired tall woman immediately looked up in shock. She stared at Mayuri for a whole three seconds before saying, "You''ll really do it?"


    "Stop wasting both of our time and pass it to me, Benihime."


    Benihime didn''t immediately say anything and stared at him for some more. She furrowed her brows and asked, "What''s happening out there?"


    "The Central 46 and Zero Division is trying to impose a lockdown. I will need to go in an hour too."


    Benihime''s eyes widened before she immediately closed them. A few secondster, she clicked her tongue and stood up. With a single gesture, multiple Magic Circles were deployed and she even took out some unknown devices in conjunction with them, but another set of time went by and Benihime took back the Magic Circles while gritting her teeth, "...I can''t contact Kisuke. Even the path to Hell was closed."


    .


    .


    .


    As if it signaled the start of the real war, the deployment of Furoufushi''s Magic was soon followed by the release of Reiatsu on different battlefronts.While watching all of these lights emerge, Batsu''unsaimented, "No one could afford to hold back anymore after that disy, it seems."


    On the other hand, her opponent could only stare in shock towards Furoufushi''s direction, "How is she doing this? She''s [Unchained] so the Hell''s Blessing should have forsaken her..."


    Batsu''unsai returned her sights to the hunching old man carrying a katana in front of her and said, "Impossible, is it? But only because you haven''t experienced the real impossibility yet."


    Saizou also looked back at her, more specifically, on the small blue pigmentations on the various parts of her skin, "Is that why you could also resist my poison?"


    Batsu''unsai lifted her de, "Let''s just say that I''m a bit different from before." With a sh Step, she instantly arrived at Saizou''s side, but the old man predicted her movements and was able to block her attack with ease. But even with Saizou doing nothing, the blot on Batsu''unsai''s skin slightly worsened.


    "I don''t think that you''re totally resistant to it," Saizoumented with a smirk while shifting his de to initiate a counterattack.


    Batsu''unsai followed the movement of his sword and used the force he put it to get away. Once she was a certain distance from Saizou, the poison in her body stopped spreading.


    In that short amount of sh, the situation around them has already changed drastically with everyone showing off their abilities with the mes created by Yamamoto the most noticeable.


    Batsu''unsai was still calm and picked up the scabbard of her katana and sheathed her de back, "Sakahone-san... Before we start, would you mind me asking something?"


    Saizou smiled slightly and stabbed his sword to the ground, "Go ahead."


    "Why didn''t you cast off your chains?"


    "The answer is simple. I simply can''t do it and now I''m at the point of no return."


    "I find that hard to believe..." Batsu''unsai had an obvious lonely expression as she recalled the ruthless but incredibly kind old man when they were still alive, "Alongside the Captain, you''re the one who sacrificed the most to secure the safety and rights of themoners. I still vividly remember the time that you put your own body forward to protect the innocent people against the tyranny of the nobles... So why this path?"


    Saizou chucked and put one of his arms behind him, "I might have mellowed out during myst years, but... Well, most of you didn''t notice. I wasn''t just fighting for themoners."


    ''...That''s really the case, huh?'' Batsu''unsai let go of a long breath. She already noticed but just didn''t want to think about it.


    Saizou was able to guess what she was thinking and continued, "That''s right. I''ve always wanted to slit the throat of those high and mighty. I couldn''t let go of that hatred that seemed to burn my very being and the only way for that pain to subside is to ept these chains. It''s not really that bad, you know. Despite being tied like this, it''s a very liberating feeling."


    "I see... There''s no helping it then." Batsu''unsai closed her eyes for a few seconds. As soon as she opened them, the sad expression she was making was no more and was reced by a cold, uncaring expression that is filled with killing intent, "It''s really a shame." Holding up his sheathed de, she muttered, "Bankai, Record Retainer: Sea of the Unknown; gue of Knowledge."


    The de in her hand instantly disappeared and without any prior signs, a few hundred meters around Batsu''unsai and Saizou became covered with thick fog that only allowed thetter to see a few meters in front of him.


    And it wasn''t just his sight that was hindered but also his sense of smell, hearing, and even his ability to pick up Reiatsu.


    However, it didn''t just end there and Saizou heard Batsu''unsai''s voice again, "Heartless Istion."


    Although Saizou couldn''t feel any changes around him, he knew what Batsu''unsai''s ''Heartless Istion'' was, "Hooh? Why create an isted ce for us? You know that this is just going to give me the advantage, right?"


    Of course, Saizou doesn''t truly believe that Batsu''unsai made a mistake nor that she''s stupid, ''I can just fill this space with my poison, but why do this despite knowing that?'' He asked himself while also touching the handle of his Zanpakuto that''s stabbed to the ground, "Bankai, Fear of Venom: Infusion of a Thousand Desecrated Insects." Nevertheless, he decided to pull all the stops too.

 Chapter 1221 Going Out with a Bang

    Chapter 1221 Going Out with a Bang


    Heartless Istion. It''s a technique that bes avable to Batsu''unsai whenever she releases her Bankai. It creates a boundary around Batsu''unsai that separates whatever is inside from outside interference. It sounds like a very simple ability but it''s far from it because of the conditions to activate it and the way it interferes with the world itself.


    To deploy Heartless Istion, there needs to be a mutual agreement between parties that the opposing party must be killed. If there''s anyone who doesn''t share this sentiment, this barrier won''t activate so it''s useless against fleeing enemies.


    But while it has a very specific activation condition, it''s very effective in what it does. It doesn''t block interruptions, instead, this barrier ''avoids'' them by cing those inside within another dimension. Any attacks aimed at the barrier from the outside will just phase through it.


    Meanwhile, those who are trapped inside won''t be able to go out as long as the ''agreement'' is not fulfilled.


    This is the reason why Saizou thought that Batsu''unsai was shooting herself in the foot since there was no way for her to leave alive by trapping an immortal like him.


    "Truly... I want to know what you''re nning to finally kill me off." Saizou muttered as his body slowly changed with his hunched back going straight and his flesh gaining muscles. In addition to that, the purple mist was being ejected from his skin pores and slowly mixing with the thick fog around him and filling the limited space that they were in, "It may not be easy to find you, but as long as I''m alive, it won''t be long before you drop dead."


    Saizou''s Zanpakuto on the other hand, also started to change as it wriggled like a living being before slowly transforming into a giant centipede that wrapped itself around him. And like Saizou, it''s also emitting purple fumes in addition to the purple liquid leaking from its mandibles.


    Just from his transformation, it''s fairly obvious what his abilities are.


    Before he could do anything drastic, Saizou felt something from his chest and when he looked down, there was a de sticking out of him despite not feeling any presence behind him.Giant insect ws instantly extended from Saizou''s right arm as he swung it behind him. Unfortunately for him, there''s no one behind him and even the spear that wounded him was gone. If not for the ck blood spilling out of his chest, he would have thought that it was just a bad dream.


    Even then, Saizou was not impatient since he knows that this domain that she created will eventually be his.


    .


    .


    .


    On the peak of a certain mountain, Kuruyashiki was also watching what was happening in the distance. With various shes of lights and signs of Bankai and Resurri��n releases adding more to the chaos and heaviness of the atmosphere, he couldn''t help but mutter, "Should have I epted the fight with Unohana Retsu?"


    He''s now regretting the decision he made to stay away from them, though only until now when he suddenly felt a threat and used sh Step to get away.


    In the next instant, a sh of light appeared in the corner of Kuruyashiki''s eyes before the peak he was previously standing on was suddenly obliterated by an explosion.


    Landing on one of the trees not far down the mountain, Kuruyashiki looked up and saw a floating young girl with four pairs of differing wings behind her. Arge grin appeared on Kurayashiki''s face, "Finally! I was getting worried that you wouldn''t show up! And why the sneak attack? That''s not very honorable, is it?"


    ire, while holding her bow, replied, "I thought it was just appropriate with your Zanpakuto ready to get a bite out of me."


    Kuruyashiki''s grin grewrger and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth silently emerged behind ire, about to swallow her whole.


    A staff of light instantly appeared in between the mouth and stopped it from closing. However, it didn''t end there as a second mouth appeared on ire''s side.


    This time, ire didn''t attempt to block and just flew forward. But in doing so, another, muchrger gaping mouth was about to chop her down from the front. ire could attempt to block it but feeling the staff she conjured as sturdy as she couldbe broken, she knew she wouldn''tst long against it.


    Nevertheless, instead of blocking, ire had a much more effective method. She pulled back her bow and a ck and white arrow manifested in it as she aimed at Kuruyashiki.


    Kuruyashiki was surprised and thought she wanted mutual destruction. But when ire suddenly turned her head towards the iing mouth and her silvery grey eyes shined, it was then that Kuruyashiki recalled something and used sh Step to get away.


    ire let go of the string while the mouth froze in ce.


    The area that Kuruyashiki was formerly standing was instantly eradicated by a huge explosion and the mouth that ire stared at slowly returned to nothing.


    ire didn''t let up and she deployed multiple Magic Circles and javelins of lights that started raining down on the general vicinity. ire couldn''t catch up to Kuruyashiki with his expert use of Hohou. She could technically match his speed with her own version of sh Step, but shecks the maneuverability, flexibility, and experience so an attempt would only expose her to more dangerous attacks.


    On the other hand, Kuruyashiki continued manifesting mouths around ire in retaliation but they only suffered the same fate as the first one that was frozen.


    ''What the hell is that?'' Kuruyashiki asked himself while dodging the continuous onught. He tried just tanking one of the javelins and it easily pierced through his Reiatsu-strengthened skin though that''s not the real problem but the fact that the wound it caused was healing ten times slower.


    Kuruyashiki kept his distance and observed ire and her actions and what he found was, ''The bigger the attack, the harder it is for her to nullify Gagaku Kairou (Corridor of Hungering Music).''


    ''That bow is dangerous. It could probably kill me if it hits me enough times, but I won''t be going down without a fight!'' After a few more minutes of observation, Kuruyashiki went back onto the offensive with a crazed grin on his face, forgoing most of his defenses, ''Let''s go out with a bang! Don''t disappoint me, youngdy!''

 Chapter 1222 Trust

    Chapter 1222 Trust


    ire immediately noticed her opponent''s sudden change in movement and adapted herself by gaining distance from him.


    But when she saw the face Kuruyashiki was making, ire stopped. She felt his intent and after contemting it for a short moment, she chose to ept his challenge, ''I''m of the same opinion. There''s no need to prolong this.''


    The ''mouths'' that kept threatening ire disappeared and she could feel her opponent''s Reiatsu rising up to such dangerous levels that it actually started weighing down on her.


    The slight fear that ire had against Kuruyashiki was amplified but she doesn''t let it affect her judgment. In response, she nocked her bow, and resplendently golden lights gathered to make the arrow while aiming at Kuruyashiki. Upon release, a loud explosion apanied it and a streak of golden light was drawn in the sky.


    It was the fastest arrow ire had released yet so Kuruyashiki was a bit taken aback and took too much time to process the light. As a result, he was toote to fully dodge and the arrow took out a chunk of his left nk.


    The highly condensed Power of Light arrow continued traveling and buried itself in the ground. A few secondster, a dull boom resounded through the earth along with a disastrous earthquake and a part of the mountain range copsing.


    ire continued releasing these kinds of attacks, taking off bits of flesh from Kuruyashiki each time and demolishing the nearby earth by scrambling it from within.


    Kuruyashiki, on the other hand, ignored the damage he was umting and could still feel that he was still immortal. But before it could eventually disappear, he has to put everything in one go. If he dies while fighting, that''d be great. If she dies before he can, he''d be disappointed but it''d be another day for him.


    A few hundred feet away from the flying ire, Kuruyashiki stopped. But as soon as he did, a chunk of his head instantly disappeared, taking off a portion of his forehead and his right eye.Despite this, however, the crazed smile on his face never changed and he spread his arms wide. The next instant, an earthquake, 10 times worse than what had been happening until now began.


    ire nocked another golden arrow on her bow and wanted to take off Kuruyashiki''s entire head. Though before she could release it, ire felt her power being sucked up, resulting in the shine of her arrow to slowly disappear, "!?"


    The strange happening didn''t stop there, as ire witnessed the entire mountain range morph with a deep dark gorge suddenly opening up under them and spanning for several kilometers.


    ire released the arrow towards Kuruyashiki but it was obviously way weaker than the previous ones and thetter just chuckled at it as he used his leg to kick it away.


    Kuruyashiki''s spread arms slowly came together and the earthquake became even worse. However, ire didn''t care about that as she could only watch as the entire earth beneath them opened up. With each tooth asrge as a mountain, the earth itself transformed into a giant maw that had already surrounded her and Kuruyashiki, revealing an endless darkness.


    ire wanted to get away but as her strength was being drained away, there was also a strange pressure that was keeping her in ce. Still, she tried flying up, but the giant maw was way faster than her with half of her view already inside the endless darkness.


    ire tried finding another way but anything she did, including directly attacking Kuruyashiki who was still slowly closing his arms and using Teleportation Magic was deemed useless. And to make it much worse, she could feel her skin dissolving as if a very strong acid was poured on her and she also started losing her focus with something affecting her consciousness directly as if someone was singing a luby for her. As she slowly lost momentum and started descending, a certain excerpt from a document that she read appeared in her mind, ''An ability that''s capable of destroying the Seireitei in one go, huh?... It wasn''t an understatement.''


    With everything about to be engulfed and ire started falling, a sad look appeared on Kuruyashiki''s face as he muttered, "Eat up, Gagaku Kairou (Corridor of Hungering Music).


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke, Serafall, Kunou, and Tanis are also focused on ire''s battle that started shortly ago.


    "Those are some terrifying arrows," Serafallmented when Kuruyashiki started running towards ire without much regard for his well-being.


    Tanis turned to her and asked, "Are they?" Tanis knew exactly what the destructive power of those arrows was and by no means did she mean to question the strength of those arrows by asking. However, she didn''t get how someone like Serafall finds those terrifying.


    "Of course." Serafall nodded, "Each of those arrows is fatal for Ultimate-ss Devils. It''s not about how much they could destroy but how much they could ''purify'' and ''burn''. I''ve only seen that kind of intensity from Seraphs. But not just that. ire''s arrows are top ss even among them... Which is actually unbelievable since she''s not a pure Angel."


    ''Those guys are going to be shocked beyond measure. And once we return, that woman is finally going to have a realpetition for the strongest woman of Heaven.'' Serafall thought to herself when her eyesnded on Kisuke who looked very worried, "What''s up?"


    "That Kenpachi is staking it on an all-or-nothing." Kisuke immediately replied while pulling out Tiamat from her sheathe, "Get ready. That guy''s ability is one of the most dangerous if fully unleashed."


    In Kisuke''s opinion, of all the Kenpachi that exists, Kuruyashiki is actually the ''strongest'' of them all. If not for Souya Azashiro taking the initiative and killing Kuruyashiki in a surprise attack, no one would be able to take the title of Kenpachi off of him. Not even the current Kenpachi before he learned his Bankai.


    And as soon as Kuruyashiki stopped moving, Kisuke shouted, "Let''s go!"


    Before he could jump forward, someone suddenly grabbed the hem of his clothes and when he turned around, he saw Ophis and Lilith who had hidden themselves until now pulling him back and both saying, "It''s fine. She can do it."


    Though Kuruyashiki hadn''t started, she could feel the dangerous aura and a bad premonitioning from him. Even if Kisuke didn''t say anything, she would have jumped in to assist ire. But Ophis and Lilith are stopping them? She turned to Kisuke to ask for rification.


    "No. It''s too risky." Kisuke answered.


    However, Ophis and Lilith didn''t let go. On the contrary, ck tendrils made out of Reiryoku appeared beneath their feet and wrapped around Kisuke, "Trust her. She has to do this."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows but within that short amount of time, a humongous maw already swallowed ire, Kuruyashiki, and the entire area.


    Kisuke gritted his teeth, though his grip on Tiamat soon weakened with his sigh, "Ten seconds. I won''t allow anything longer."


    Ophis and Lilith nodded and finally let go of Kisuke.


    But not even 5 secondster, numerous cracks started appearing on the closed jaw with silver light leaking through them and the small gaps in between each tooth.

 Chapter 1223 Silver

    Chapter 1223 Silver


    As ire fell from the sky and her body slowly disintegrated into nothingness, she gritted her teeth hard. There''s still something that she hasn''t tried and that''spletely mixing her Holy Power and Demonic Power.


    All this time, she''s only partially mixing Holy Power and Demonic Power to take advantage of their vtile reaction that causes a huge amount of energy release. However, ire knew that that wasn''t the right way to use it. She can use both sides yet she could only use it to destroy each other. Just from that simple line of thought, she knew that she was doing something wrong.


    In the first ce, ire had only been using the basic nature of both the Holy Power and Demonic Power. [Weapon Shaping] for the former and [Magic Conjuration] for thetter. Although it resulted in a very powerful arrow that could destroy high-level beings, it''s nothing without its destructive capabilities.


    As such, ire went back to the true core of her Demonic Power and Holy Power which are [Worthless] and [Purification] respectively.


    ire knew exactly how these powers worked but no matter how much she tried them before, it''d just devolve back to the twisting mess of destruction it is. She just couldn''t wrap her head around or imagine how she wouldbine the two of them properly, until now.


    On the verge of death, ire''s eyes shined as realization and enlightenment dawned on her. The overwhelming fear that she''s feeling right seemed to have been an illusion and her body that was being destroyed, became lighter. She lifted her arms and aimed her bow upwards. Without losing focus on the lights that were sipping from the outside world, ire pulled her bow and the usual golden and ck arrow appeared.


    This time, however, the golden and ck light was soon reced by a soothing silver light.


    It didn''t have the same intensity as her previous arrows, but Kuruyashiki, the only other person watching her, shuddered at its sight, ''What... is that?''


    With a newfound strength, ire released the silver arrow upwards.The same as a firework, the silver arrow went up slowly until it quietly exploded and rained down silver light, illuminating the whole dimension with its re. It was the first appearance of what would be called the [Authority of the Silver Light] or the [Silver Light of Repudiation] in the future. The simmering light that denies all understood supernatural phenomena.


    Kuruyashiki was blinded and used his arm to block the light. However, it was then that he realized that something appeared on his side and when he looked down at it, his eyes widened and his heart started palpitating, "Gagaku Kairou?" It was his trusted Zanpakuto in its most basic form.


    The next moment, he found that the artificial dimension that his Bankai created started copsing and the destructive nature of it had already disappeared.


    "W-what''s going on?" Kuruyashiki asked himself but he''s not an idiot to stay unmoving. He found a crack to the outside world and intended to retreat from there. Unfortunately, he still doesn''t realize the extent of what the silver light could do. Kuruyashiki circted his Reiryoku around his legs, just as he would usually do when he uses sh Step. But this time, the gathered Reiryoku only returned back to him, "!?"


    Kuruyashiki tried a few more times but decided to give up on it. He then started creating a foothold to go to the hole but on his first step, even the Reiryoku foothold disappeared, "Dammit! What''s going on!?"


    Since it''d take too much time for him to escape, Kuruyashiki decided on a different approach and turned back to ire who started regaining her bnce in the air. Pointing his palm towards her, he shouted, "Hadou no 81! Ougon no Kokyuu (Breath of Gold)!"


    But simr to his sh Step, the Reiryoku he had collected produced a bit of golden light before returning back to his palm and doing nothing, "...Huh!?"


    .


    .


    .


    After seeing Kuruyashiki''s Bankai start disintegrating, Kisuke, Serafall, Kunou, and Tanis all sighed in relief, "That silver light is giving me goosebumps." Kisukemented.


    "You too?" Serafall replied back while rubbing her arms, "It''s not destructive, but that light is an enemy of everyone who wants to manipte thews of the world."


    "That''s cheating!" Tanis immediately pointed out, "If she uses that in our sparring, I won''t be able to use anything other than internal body techniques!"


    But when Tanis turned to Kunou, she saw her still have this confident smile, "You can go around that?"


    Kunou shook her head, "No. I don''t think I can. However..." Kunou pointed at ire who''s struggling to breathe and shaking all over, "She won''t be able to use that in our sparring. Look. After her mutation, she has thergest amount of energy by essing both Holy and Demonic Power. But just after releasing that silver light one time already left her drained."


    "Then should we help now? I don''t think she''ll be able to continue." Tanis turned to Ophis and Lilith while asking the question, "Although her opponent''s abilities were sealed, he''s still healthy."


    Before Ophis and Lilith could answer, Serafall''s handnded on Tanis'' head, "That''s only true if the world was not the way it is. You forgot that she''s currently the sole inheritor of all Faith right now."


    .


    .


    .


    ire reoriented herself while struggling to gather her breath. While it was just a single arrow, it drained all of her Holy and Demonic Power that she was finding it hard to even fly right now and materialize her bow. But just as Serafall had said, there''s almost a near-infinite amount of unused energy out there for her to tap into.


    Without any restriction or guidance of any system, the ownerless Faith is for her to take as long as her body can handle it.


    ''I probably won''t be able to walk for a few days...'' ire thought to herself while looking down on Kuruyashiki who was still clueless about what was going on, ''But there''s no better time to end it than now!'' She raised both of her hands and removed the seal that Kisuke and Serafall ced on her so that the Holy Power wouldn''t cascade into her.


    ire knows that the purifying strength of the Holy Power had a significant effect on the [Chained], so she called everything that she could.


    Answering her call, Hell''s purple sky cracked and a whirlpool of power unknown to the inhabitants of this world started gushing out. Within just a few seconds, it formed into a giant golden cross.


    Sadly, ire overestimated herself. She didn''t know how much she pushed herself by just releasing the silver light so at the height of her gathering the wild Holy Power, it went out of her control.


    She thought that it was going to disperse when the safety seal on her reactivated and she was going to lose her chance to defeat her opponent. That''s what Kisuke and Serafall thought too and were about to intercept in order to help until the giant golden cross suddenly stopped dispersing and actually further solidified into a much more stable condition when ire was controlling it.


    Kisuke and Serafall stopped on the spot. More urately, they were frozen in ce and looked at the middle of the giant cross with shocked expressions.


    Along with the familiar aura, a golden silhouette of a woman with a bright halo and 12 Angel wings emerged from it. As she detached herself from the cross, they also heard a familiar voice, "Ah... I got connected."

 Chapter 1224 Judgment

    Chapter 1224 Judgment


    The golden silhouette''s senses were in a mess after the unexpectedlyplicated and hard-to-connect to [Faith] that appeared for the second time.


    ''Hmmm? Where is this?'' She looked up and thought, ''The Underworld? But something is different.''


    But because she''s not in her real body, it''s also hard for her to ignore the will contained within the [Faith] that someone controlled. As she looked down, she saw a burly man with chain tattoos stered all over his body looking up at her in shock and the first thought that urred to when their gaze met was, ''Purify him, huh? Who''s will is this?''


    And when she finally looked around properly, her beautiful face widened in surprise when her eyes met with someone who was making the same expression, "...ire?"


    "...Gabriel-neesan?"


    "..."


    "..."


    The two continued to stare at each other for a few moments and Gabriel finally asked, "...What is that form?" Genuine disbelief and curiosity was contained within her soothing voice. It was also at this moment that her senses recovered and she felt a group of familiar aura in a certain direction.


    Gabriel was very curious about why ire could contain both Demonic and Holy Power in such a harmonic way, however, due to the situation they are currently in, there''s someone who she wanted to meet more than anything else.She hurriedly turned her head and saw the people she was hoping to see, "Kisuke! Serafall!"


    But at the same time, the Holy Power that''s keeping her temporary body is also rapidly dispersing. Gabriel doesn''t know the situation they are in but she can''t ignore the reason why this Holy Power is here. Gritting her teeth, she turned to the man who had been showering her and ire with killing intent, ''I just need a few words in.''


    Raising her right arm, Gabriel dered, "Thou whom hath been tainted and shackled, receive thou retribution!"


    Putting the entirety of the Holy Power that ire called, the giant golden cross that thetter made disappeared and was reced by another giant ornate golden cross that exuded an even holier aurapared to the previous one, "Judgment Cross!"


    As she swung down her arm, the giant cross transformed into a stream of golden light and rained down on the stunned Kuruyashiki.


    Kuruyashiki felt an indescribable force freezing him in ce and he could only watch the cross and the goldendy in awe. He knew that this was the end and even if he could dodge, he wouldn''t because the light is not a death sentence, but a path to liberation, ''Ah... Finally...''


    The warm light blinded, covered, and started dissolving his flesh along with the detestable chains. But strangely enough, he doesn''t feel any pain or suffering. It was a light that is filled with good intentions from the Chief Angel of Chastity.


    The golden light formed a pir that pierced through the sky, leaving a majestic sight for everyone to witness.


    The soothing light soon disappeared, leaving behind nothing of Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, including his chains. And along with their disappearance is the halt of the senseless violence that''s happening all around. Everyone was quiet as the golden silhouette flew and caught ire who already lost consciousness and started falling due to losing the support of the Holy Power.


    While her body started disintegrating, Gabriel gently stroked her head and with her soothing voice, "You''ve worked hard. You may rest, ire."


    After making sure that she was okay, Gabriel turned to the distant Kisuke and Serafall and said, "We need you. Please return as soon as you can."


    A few secondster, shepletely disappeared, leaving behind a silent, strangely peaceful world and a falling sleeping girl.


    But it was only a few secondster that everything jumped into action once again, and this time, with renewed vigor.


    Kisuke and Serafall appeared near ire, not to catch her, but to intercept numerous people filled with killing intent aimed at the young girl.


    Serafall put a thick wall of ice that stopped Nnoitra and Zommari in their tracks while Kisuke immediately released Tiamat and his Hollowfied form to block Szayporro and Yammy.


    All of them are already in their Resurri��n form which is very different from their previous forms when they were alive, ''A peacock, a mantis, a dinosaur, and a buddha... Their form is much clearer andpactpared to thest time they were seen.'' Kisuke thought to himself after giving them a quick nce, ''It looks like the chains did more good to them than the Shinigamis that have to learn [Magic].''


    While it''s obvious that all of them have a much more powerful form than before, they are all making the same expression, and that''s fury and fear.


    "...You! Kisuke Urahara!? How are you...? Wait, what are you!?" Szayporro shouted in Kisuke''s face while pressing down his ws on Kisuke''s Hierro-covered arms.


    Kisuke, meanwhile, only grinned at him and replied, "What now? The self-proimed all-knowing doesn''t have an idea? So much so for having the Eyes of Hell."


    "You bastard... !?" Szayporro wanted to kick him away to get to the young girl who summoned a strange being and killed an immortal. But before he could do so, a Magic Circle appeared in front of Kisuke''s face, and in an instant, Szayporro''s face was sted by an explosion, sending him tumbling backward.


    On his other side, Kisuke lifted his forefinger on the hand that was holding Tiamat pointing it at the rampaging Yammy, and sted the Hollow that was cosying as an ancient reptile with his pure ck Cero.


    "Kunou, Tanis. Take ire away and hide. But don''t get too far from us. We don''t know what might happen next."


    Tanis and Kunou who also arrived to secure ire both nodded, "Yes! Please be careful!"


    Kisuke checked Serafall''s side and saw that she froze her opponent''s solid and already temporarily stopped the threat.


    ''Phew... That sure took a turn. Who would have thought that Gabriel would suddenly appear?'' Kisuke was finally able to arrange his thoughts and calm down. But within his calmness, is a deep worry, ''We need you, huh? Just what''s happening on that side?''


    He also nced at the cracked sky that was slowly healing after ire summoned all of that Holy Power from the World of the Living. At that moment, Benihime''s blurry voice came to his head, [..suke! Ki..ke!]


    ''Huh?''


    [They a.. mov...!]


    Although half of it was not clear, Kisuke understood the situation, ''Shit! They blocked themunication and I didn''t even realize it!'' Gabriel''s previous words already disappeared to the back of his head.


    Szayporro who was about to attack suddenly stopped and started contorting as the chains on his body suddenly manifested and started contracting on him while also eating his flesh, "AHHHH!!!"


    His voice that''s filled with pain and suffering started something else.

 Chapter 1225 Flesh Eating Chains

    Chapter 1225 Flesh Eating Chains


    ''What now?'' Kisuke retreated from Szayporro while also observing his surroundings. What he and Serafall noticed was that it wasn''t just Szayporro but also the other [Chained] who started screaming in pain as the chains around them started moving around and strangling the life out of them.


    "Ki-tan! What''s going on!?" Serafall shouted towards Kisuke.


    "I don''t know, but forget about them. I''ll leave the girls'' safety in your hand!" Kisuke made several hand gestures to activate the modules he prepared for ire, Tanis, and Kunou''s safety as Serafall made her way towards them.


    At the same time, the contracting chains suddenly shot out, but not towards him, but towards the other [Chained], connecting despite the distance between them.


    ''A trap?'' Kisuke initially thought as he saw the chains span out, ''Are they going to catch the others too? If that''s the case, it''ll be extremely dangerous.''


    Kisuke swung Tiamat horizontally and the de released a very sharp wind, cutting multiple chains on the way out. However, the ck chains only wriggled for a bit before liquifying and connecting back to their disconnected parts.


    Kisuke didn''t give up and used Tiamat to cut one of the chains once again and before they repaired itself, Kisuke grabbed one of its ends with his hand and blocked it. It almost slipped out of his hand when it turned liquid but Kisuke was faster and enclosed his hand and the chains with Ice Magic.


    The chains wriggled for a few seconds before dropping motionless. The next instant, more chains sprung up from the upper stream of the link, connecting back to the other end, ''It was a good try, I guess?'' Kisuke calmly watches this unfold while letting go of the ''lifeless'' chains in his hand. He was already expecting like this to happen considering how malleable these things were . What he really was after was to know their inner workings and what exactly are they trying to aplish, ''Tiamat, any clue?''


    [...One thing is clear. It has no intention of hurting you or those around you. And that one Shinigami doesn''t seem to be affected.]''Well, isn''t that annoying?'' Kisuke turned to the Shinigami that Tiamat was talking about while wishing that these chains were trying to hurt him. But now that wasn''t the case, their intention became even more cloudy from Kisuke''s perspective. Without knowing their goal, Kisuke was stuck waiting for something to happen and reacted, ''It looks like Katori-san''s Heartless Istion is effective. Probably on the same level as Dimension Lost''s istion capabilities.''


    As the screams get louder and louder, Kisuke wonders what these former Arrancars are experiencing because he''s sure that they are not the type of people to destroy their lungs and throat just from unimaginable pain.


    Fortunately, or unfortunately, Kisuke would see the reason just a few secondster.


    As the chains dug into their flesh, small mouths with human teeth and tongues suddenly opened on the chains and started taking a bite out of their flesh, further digging into their very being.


    "!?"


    This scene immediately reminded Kisuke of the [Chain of Fate] that appears when a Human dies with regrets or is separated from their Physical Body. It''s the same scene when these chains were shortened enough that they started eating themselves in a frenzy and slowly turned into a Hollow. But instead of self-cannibalism, they are eating their host.


    "I don''t think this is just some sort of self-defense mechanism that suddenly activated when one of them died," Kisuke muttered to himself and observed the other Arrancars and the [Chained] Shinigamis from the distance who are suffering the same fate.


    [Regroup for now.] Kisuke sent a short message to everyone while he himself started attacking Szayporro and activating the technique he prepared to forcefully remove the chains to render their immortality useless.


    Kisuke was able to separate them for a bit but only temporarily as it went back to gnawing Szayporro.


    Kisuke tried it again and even strengthened his grip on the chains, but the result was the same. He naturally wasn''t doing this to save Szayporro but to study its reaction and gleam into its mysteriousness, ''This thing is really familiar... Could it be...''


    While Kisuke was deep in thought, he heard Szayporro mouthing in between his screams, "W-why!!? Why... is... this... happening!!!?"


    It was hisst words when he suddenly stopped struggling and stayed unmoving. A pathetic end for someone who boasted his power and couldn''t use it until the end.


    What''s worse than that, however, was the fact that the only person watching his end couldn''t care less about it and his entire attention was just on fulfilling his curiosity.


    Even for Szayporro, knowing that this was already truly the end for him, it was a disrespect that he''ll never be able to forget.


    ''The properties of these chains... Not exactly metallic... But ink?'' As this thought went through Kisuke''s head a realization immediately dawned on him and he immediately sent an emergency message to Serafall, Kunou, and Tanis, [Be careful of a surprise attack!]


    But instead of acknowledgement, he only heard Serafall''s panicked voice back, [Ki-tan! Behind you! Watch out!]


    "!?"


    There was only a slight fluctuation in the air but Kisuke hurriedly tried to turn around while brandishing Tiamat. However, he was too slow as he felt something cutting through his back, shing through his passive defenses, and almost cutting his body in half, "...Guhh!!!"


    .


    .


    .


    Just a minute or two earlier, in a scorching field that''s akin to the mouth of a volcano, both Yamamoto, with the burning body, and Baraggan who is now a skeleton with 2 pairs of tusks on his head and various golden essories attached to his body, are looking towards the direction where the golden light appeared and disappeared.


    "Hooh... Looks like yourrade just met his end." Yamamoto muttered while stroking his beard.


    "..." Baraggan only remained silent for a few seconds before he stepped back and intended to leave.


    Of course, Yamamoto wouldn''t allow that and directly burned him with a swing of his Zanpakuto.


    Baraggan immediately crumbled under the immense heat but immediately started standing up when the mes were done turning him into ashes.


    Seeing this, Yamamoto never felt as useless as he is now. Although Baraggan''s miasma couldn''t approach him due to the intense heat that he''s naturally releasing, he also couldn''t keep Baraggan from reviving.


    While waiting for Baraggan to reform, Yamamoto saw the other Arrancars reach the little girl whom Kisuke and Serafall were already defending and thought, ''I have to punish those idiotster for letting them go.''


    Yamamoto reduced Baraggan once again to ashes to keep him in ce and was about to do it again for the third time after his attempt to escape when the chains suddenly came alive and started consuming its host.


    Yamamoto was shocked and bothered. Regardless, he''s an expert at one thing and that''s the only thing he needs to do now so he burned the writhing Baraggan.


    This time, however, Baraggan wasn''t reduced to ashes and the chains around him kept eating his bones.


    "..." Yamamoto didn''t know what''s going on but he soon received a message from Kisuke to regroup.


    He thought it was a good idea and decided to leave Baraggan. Because he could feel the movement of others through their Reiatsu, they were able to silentlymunicate where they would go and soon they found the appropriate spot and that''s where Batsu''unsai and Saizou were still locked in battle, seemingly unaffected by all the chaos.


    Yamamoto and the others sessively arrived at the vicinity of Heartless Istion. But when he was just about to give everyone a short lecture, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a very familiar figure, creeping behind Kisuke and was about to sh down his ive that strangely looked like a calligraphy brush if one didn''t look at it carefully.

 Chapter 1226 New Players

    Chapter 1226 New yers


    While gritting his teeth, Kisuke gathered Cero with his fingertips. As he turned around, he detonated it, cing an explosion between him and his assants and allowing him to leave the opponent''s effective reach.


    Kisuke''s chest was instantly scorched from the st, but the damage was minimalpared to the cut on his back which was also covered in ck ink.


    As Kisuke tried to get away, he also found out that he lost a major part of his strength, ''It can''t be...''


    With the mes of the explosion clearing up, Kisuke saw who attacked him and could only click his tongue as he muttered his name, "Tch... Hyousube Ichibei."


    "Dear me..." The bald Shinigami ced his ive on his shoulder, "I don''t really like when people like you call my name so please refrain from doing it. On a side note, you sure are energetic for someone who''s called [Urahara Ki]."


    Kisuke''s regeneration capability was able to heal the wound on his back but the ink on it remained, ''Tiamat, any chance we could remove the ink?''


    [None. The ink is just a physical manifestation or mark of his ability. If you can''t deal with the underlying effects, there''s no point in removing it.]


    Ichibei''s eyes thennded on Kisuke''s Zanpakuto, "You brought out something ridiculous and even made Ouetsu make a container for it. Where did you get that? My... What an ugly thing you have there."


    "And what an incredibly rude thing to say to ady," Kisuke replied with a smirk. At this point, the screaming had already ceased as the chains almost finished devouring their ''prisoners''. What concerned Kisuke, however, was the fact that these ck chains have now be connected to the oldest Shinigami in existence, "So you''re the owner of this ce. For someone who''s hellbent on keeping the world''s bnce, you sure can do all the fucked up shit with a big smile on your face."Kisuke could feel Ichibei''s aura rising while the chains retreated back to his body and disappeared, fully showing what''s their true function all along.


    "I''m the overseer of bnce, not the overseer of morals." Ichibei simply replied, "You people can''t handle a job like this so I''m the only one who could do it."


    "Ahh... That''s true, isn''t it?" Kisuke halfheartedly replied. He''s trying to think of the things he could do but he couldn''t help but be bothered that he can''t remember his own name beyond [Urahara Ki], ''I know there''s more to it... But... What a strange feeling. Tiamat, can you tell me my name?''


    [...I can''t. I''m connected to you through your soul. From my perspective, you''ve always been Urahara Ki.]


    ''Now that''s terrifying.'' Kisuke disappeared from his spot, reappeared behind Ichibei, who was still absorbing the chains and swung Tiamat with all the strength he could gather while aiming for his neck.


    Ichibei tried turning around but found the air surrounding him had solidified, slowing his movements significantly.


    With a sh of reflected light, Kisuke''s dended on Ichibei''s neck and went through it like a scalding knife through butter.


    Kisuke witnessed Ichibei''s head detached from his body but he didn''t stop there and ced his free hand on his back while gathering a ck Cero on it.


    After detonating the strongest Cero that he could gather in an instant, Ichibei was instantly reduced to a thousand pieces with his flesh and blood rained down on thends of Hell.


    Kisuke, however, retreated with a sinking heart, ''One piece of bad news after another, huh? Give me a break.''


    Because he felt that Ichibei didn''t mount any real resistance against his attack, it gave Kisuke the idea that Ichibei didn''t care about his efforts. And this idea soon became the truth when the flesh and blood started gathering back up like the time on them was being rewinded. As fast as Kisuke killed Ichibei, thetter also returned to life with ease.


    Casually stretching his neck, Ichibei turned to Kisuke who was ring at him, "That was a nice scratch. You better put more effort if you want me out of the game a bit longer, Human."


    Kisuke sighed and pieced together the clues that gathered. Ichibei Hyousube is most likely the administrator of Hell seeing how he controlled the chains to devour the [Chained]. In addition to that, these chains aren''t just for tying down his ''food'' but also tying them to the world itself, "...That constantly calls their name, isn''t it?" He loudly muttered thest bits of his thoughts.


    "I really admire you for reaching that conclusion. You''re on par with Aizen Sosuke for a reason. No, maybe more than him after you''ve acquired the ability to use the energy that I painstakingly gathered in one ce throughout the countless eons."


    Kisuke immediately understood that he was talking about the [Hell''s Blessing], ''So the reason why the Magic Energy here is twisted might be because of him gathering all of them in a certain way?''


    But the more questions answered the more Kisuke''s heart sank since this all pointed him towards the fact that the entirety of Hell itself was under Ichibei''s dominion. In other words, he would be simr to Chaos if he''s within his domain, nearly omnipotent.


    ''Though, unlike Chaos'' situation, I don''t have near enough preparation to sever his connection to Hell. Heck, I''m not even sure if something simr would work since I used Tiamat''s authority back then.'' Even though Kisuke wanted to interrupt Ichibei''s absorption of the chains, he couldn''t think of any meaningful actions that he could take.


    It''s not that there is nothing that he could do, it''s just that he''s tied to him and he doubts that he''ll let him go peacefully. And even if he could get away, he''d have no choice but to engage him once Ichibei goes after Serafall and the others.


    Besides, considering what he heard from Benihime earlier, he''s sure that he''s not the only one crashing the party.


    And as if the world was confirming those thoughts, long, multiple doors consisting of translucent sheets on attice frame appeared in the sky with several silhouettes outlined on the other side.


    The next second, the doors opened, revealing the familiar figures which consisted most of the Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei 13 and the other two members of the Zero Division.


    "Fuck..." Kisuke couldn''t help but mutter a curse while the corner of his mouth twitched, "I''d really like to be wrong sometimes."

 Chapter 1227 New Players part 2

    Chapter 1227 New yers part 2


    Kisuke was very much in favor of the anticlimactic ending for the [Chained] since it means less problems for him. However, he didn''t really like how it was achieved.


    Kisuke''s tattered Shihakushou and long hair from Hollowfication swayed in the air as he looked up to the doors that began opening.


    One by one, members of the Gotei 13 and two other people from the Zero Division stepped out with their Reiatsu and killing intent ring up.


    From what Kisuke could see, except for the Captains and Lieutenants of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 12th Divisions and Hikifune Kirio, everyone else is present. At this lineup, Kisuke couldn''t help but squint his eyes, ''I understand 1st, 4th, and even Hikifune-san''s absence... But what about the other three? Especially when I have a direct connection to the 2 of them.''


    "Surprised?" Ichibei suddenly asked with an amused tone and when Kisuke turned to him, he continued, "We just want to be safe. Initially, I was just thinking of containing the Captain of the 2nd Division, but because she has been too close with the Captain of the 5th Division, we had to include him too. It seems that was a good call."


    Thankfully, Ichibei was still looking down on Kisuke and thetter is able to immediately pick up a few things from what he just said, ''They were suspicious of Soifon-san from the start and only made a move against Shinji-san after considering how close he is to hertely and not because of my past rtionship with him. That would mean that they don''t know that [Belial] and I are the same person prior to this.''


    In the midst of all this bad news, Kisuke was relieved due to one thing, ''They don''t have direct surveince of our actions.''


    ''Now then, how should I y my cards? There''s a reason why these guys haven''t attacked me in earnest yet. He probably wanted to figure out where I came from since he''s probably sure that my group and I are not Hell''s residents like everybody else.''


    And Kisuke is exactly on point. Ichibei wanted to observe him more since Kisuke and his group were an unknown variable to him. If he wanted to clean this mess up, he also had to clean the loose ends. In the first ce, Ichibei didn''t really want to engage with him this early due to prior reasons and was only forced to move his ns forward when they unexpectedly managed to kill one of the [Chained]..


    .


    .


    "...Eijisai..." Choujirou called out to Yamamoto who''s also staring at the members of the Gotei 13.


    Yamamoto remained quiet and it wasn''t just Choujirou who was waiting for his response but also the other Shinigamis except for Batsu''unsai who was still locked in battle with Saizou.


    The group could also feel their staresnding on them and they could see the conflicting emotions they have on their faces. Yamamoto and the rest knew that since they already died, it was easy for the Central 46 and the Zero Division tobel them as evil and the enemy of the world. It''s not hard to imagine that they are here to hunt them down all for the sake of the world''s bnce and safety.


    Yamamoto didn''t want to make it hard for them and thought of escaping to avoid this essentially unnecessary confrontation. However, that almost certainly meant abandoning Kisuke''spanions.


    Yamamoto has a feeling that they are not really after the ''dead'' Shinigamis but instead are here to stop whatever Kisuke is trying to do. And the moment they escape and they don''t go after them, Serafall and the young girls will be trapped and, much worse, killed.


    But more than that, Yamamoto promised Kisuke that he would be on his side.


    With a small grin appearing on his face, Yamamoto finally replied, "Let''s see how much they have improved through the years."


    Choujirou sighed but soon also smiled, "Understood!"


    Juushirou chuckled and stepped forward, "Leave Rukia and Sentarou to me. Would it be a good idea to divide their forces?"


    "If that''s the case, I want another round with Zaraki." Unohona smiled in excitement. Because her opponent only knew how to swing his big de wildly, she didn''t feel any satisfaction from fighting him. But now an old opponent showed himself, she couldn''t help but tremble in anticipation as her bloodlust also spread out."


    Juushirou stared at Unohana with a tired expression and thought, ''I hope at least both of them are still alive after all of this.''


    "So we are now reigniting our old rtionships? I don''t know if that''s a good idea, but I''d like to get along. I''ll take care of Toshirou and Rangiku." Gin said with the same grin as Yamamoto. Immediately after that, he turned around and stared at a certain tree not far from them, "What about you? What are you going to do?"


    From the shadows of the said tree, a dark-skinned man with a blindfold walked out, "I''d like to just peacefully watch."


    It immediately became obvious to everyone who he turned tothat the chains previously seen from him had already disappeared, "I see. Since Komamura is not present, you''re not interested, huh?"


    Kaname didn''t say anything and just returned to his hiding spot.


    Furoufushi turned to Chika and asked, "What about you?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? We know that most of them would be going after the Captain so I''ll take the leftovers." Chika shrugged his shoulders while answering. Several of his ''clones'' in his fight earlier and it''d take a while to regenerate them so he didn''t want to fight as much as possible. Nevertheless, he didn''t really have a choice.


    "I see! Then I''ll do the same! There are still a few things I want to try." But before Furoufushi could get away, Chika suddenly grabbed her shoulder, "What?" Furoufushi asked as she turned around.


    "You stay here. Katori is still fighting and we need to keep an eye on them. You''re the most suitable for it since you actually learned some defensive spells."


    "Eh~~~~~~" Furoufushi grimaced. But after thinking about the situation more, she dejectedly agreed, "Fine. But if it''s hard to handle without losing any of your clones, send some people to my side." She then looked at the nonmembers of the Gotei 13, "One of them will probably go after the swordsmith so what are we going to do with the other one? I hate to admit it, but we don''t have a chance of defeating any one of them if we don''t cooperate."


    At that moment, another presence showed herself, "About that, leave it to me." Serafall appeared with Tanis, Kunou, and the unconscious ire behind her, "I''m thankful that you''re staying behind to defend since that''s not really my forte. Please take care of them."


    "Oh~ The big sis is finally doing something! I''m looking forward to it!"


    "Big sis?" Serafall tilted her head in confusion upon hearing Furoufushi''s words.


    "You''re on par with the old man, right? It''s only right for me to call you big sis! Or would you rather me call you olddy?"


    <strong>"No."</strong> Serafall instantly answered with a smile that wasn''t a smile.


    Now that their lineup is ready, all the Shinigamis except for Furoufushi moved with a sh Step while Serafall slowly floated up, waiting for further development, ''The cards have lined up. What are you going to do, Ki-tan?''

 Chapter 1228 New Players part 3

    Chapter 1228 New yers part 3


    Leading the members of the Gotei 13, the Hot Spring Demon, Tenjirou Kirinji, and the Great Weave Guard, Senjumaru Shutara, surveyed the surroundings and immediately found their targets.


    "Unbelievable... So that ''Belial'' is really just Urahara Kisuke?" muttered the former while shouldering his spear.


    Senjumaru was also in disbelief and checked her needles to test the current atmosphere. Despite her long service to the Royal Guards, this is actually her and Tenjirou''s first time stepping into Hell since no one is allowed in it for obvious reasons, "Let''s just do our job and return. We can''t have the Royal Pce empty for long."


    However, behind their calm demeanor are their confused minds. There''s no question that Kisuke and his group are a threat, but how did Ichibei know what''s going on here and why did he have toe ahead of them and only be allowed to follow him upon his signal? And most importantly, why did Ouetsu betray them?


    Ichibei and Ouetsu''s behavior was raising rms in their heads but they didn''t have the courage to question it.


    The members of the Gotei 13, on the other hand, all have conflicting emotions especially when they see therades they previously had. Although they are all standing far away from them, the fact that they are now facing them turned their stomachs inside out.


    Nevertheless, there''s an outlier among them which was Zaraki, who''s grinning ear to ear as his gaze met with Unohana''s.


    Without saying anything to his ''melodramatic''rades, Zaraki dashed forward.


    "H-hey! Captain Zaraki! Wait!" Iba yelled at him in panic. Of course, thetter justpletely ignored him as he already entered a world of his own, anticipating his rematch against his first rival."Don''t bother." Ikkaku interrupted, "He won''t listen to any of us. Besides, look." He pointed towards the distant group. And as he did, one of them also dashed forward to meet Zaraki, "You''ll be killed the moment you go in between them."


    "So that''s Captain Unohana... I''ve already heard about her being the first Kenpachi, but it''s seriously disorienting to see her produce that much killing intent with such a joyful face." Renjimented while feeling the goosebumps in his arm, "Or is that just the influence of Hell?"


    No one could answer Renji''s question because this is the first time they''ve seen Unohana as a Kenpachi and only Tenjirou and Senjumaru are old enough to witness that.


    However, the answer to that question is not that importantpared to the implications it brings. If Unohana could show them that much hostility because of Hell''s influence, wouldn''t that be the same with others? The same with the former Captain Commander Yamamoto?


    Just asking that question quietly to themselves made them very nervous and far more fearfulpared to what they faced when they fought in the Quincy War.


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru felt the decreasing morale from them. Although unstable, they also found it pathetic as they are supposed to be hardened soldiers who proved themselves through countless trials and reached their current position. This is also the reason why they appreciate Zaraki and Mayuri more than people like Iba.


    Zaraki and Unohana already started their sh and even started moving away from them.


    Senjumaru watched for a few seconds before turning around and said, "I''m a bad match against the old man. I''ll take care of the traitor." She''s actually interested in going against Kisuke since both of them can ''sew'' but she knows that Ichibei won''t allow her. Without waiting for anyone, she disappeared with a sh Step.


    At the same time, Yamamoto''s group started moving, "They are splitting up. Though they don''t seem to have any intent of escaping." Tenjirou observed the situation for a bit and immediately figured out their intentions, "Well, pick your fight. Just make sure that they can''t get away. It''s going to be annoying otherwise."


    He then turned around and faced Byakuya, "Byakuya, you''re the one holding that device so you will lead the rest to take care of Genryuusai."


    Byakuya let out a long sigh but he ultimately nodded, "Understood. But shouldn''t you be the one facing the former Captain Commander? It''s embarrassing to admit it, but with this device, you alone should be enough to defeat him."


    Tenjirou immediately scoffs at him, "You''re underestimating me. I don''t need that to contain Genryuusai. However, you guys seem to have forgotten that it''s not just your deadrades that are here."


    Neither Byakuya nor the others liked his words but before they could say anything, another voice resounded, but strangely enough, it''s not one of theirs, "My~ I''m honored that you haven''t forgotten about me!"


    "Tch!" Tenjirou clicked his tongue and ced his spear across his body.


    The next instant, a footnded on its shaft with enough strength that force Tenjirou to fly back.


    In Tenjirou''s former position was a young woman with ck twin-tailed hair swaying and an aura of frost surrounding him.


    Several Captains immediately pulled out their swords and swung them towards the young woman. But as soon as their swords touched her, they didn''t feel that they cut any flesh. Instead, they felt like they just shed at a rock.


    That confusion was soon resolved when they saw that what they actually attacked was an intricate ice sculpture. The real woman who attacked Tenjirou was already in pursuit of thetter.


    It was quiet for a moment until Rangiku Matsumoto murmured, "Shiro... I think she''s a lot better than you in terms of manipting ice."


    Toshirou sheathed his sword and was silent for a few seconds before saying something to avoid the topic, "How did she even approach us undetected?"


    But same as Renji''s question, no one could really answer nor could they have anticipated that it was due to another power system that''s different from Magic and Spirit.


    Toshirou sighed and turned his head in a certain direction. Immediately after, his eyes met with the man with sharp features and unusual silver hair, "Matsumoto. I hope you''re ready."


    "You won''t stop me?" Rangiku also turned to the direction he was facing, now with a mix of excitement and mncholic expression.


    "You won''t listen anyway. You better assist me instead of letting you move alone."


    "Understood... I''m ready."

 Chapter 1229 Battering Ram

    Chapter 1229 Battering Ram


    Within the quiet yet tense atmosphere of the Seireitei, all avable Shinigami were patrolling the whole court. Now that the wall protecting them has returned to the Royal Pce and most of the Captains and Lieutenants had left for a massive operation against Hell, no one was able to calm themselves down and this was especially true for the nobles who are now feeling very defenseless.


    Because of that, they had no choice but to reveal the hidden forces they''d been gathering in the shadows.


    "This is totally absurd." Nanao murmured while looking from the veranda of the 1st Division barracks, "Who would have thought that they''d have gathered this much? No wonder we were having a hard time securing and replenishing our manpower thesest few years."


    Nanao heard several people walking up from behind her but she didn''t turn around because she knew who they were, "That''s not all, Nanao-chan. The prison that the 2nd Division has been managing has been cleared out through the years."


    Nanao''s eyes widened, and faced the man who spoke to her, her Captain, "T-then..." And by turning around, she also saw the other three people behind him, two of them with shackled arms and necks.


    Kyouraku was also looking at the same scenery as Nanao and asked, "They were being funneled towards the nobles, right, Soifon-san?"


    One of the shackled people remained expressionless and answered, "If you think I can stop them just because I''m a Captain and control the Onmitsukidou then you''re giving me too much faith. One word from the Central 46 is enough to shut me up."


    Kyouraku sighed and was disappointed that he couldn''t deny that. He turned around and faced Soifon, Shinji, and Mayuri. Obviously, the former two were the ones shackled, "I didn''t think you''d be roped in like this."


    "I also didn''t think I''d be like this too." Shinji answered with an annoyed expression, "Apparently, someone reported that I was seen with Soifon meeting suspicious people."Shinji turned to Soifon. At first, he could see her struggling trying to remove the shackles. However, it seems that these shackles are specially crafted to contain Magic and Ki which he heard about from Soifon.


    ''In the first ce, we wouldn''t have ended up like this if not for a sudden surprise attack by this guy.'' Shinji turned to Mayuri with a re.


    "Don''t resent me. If it was an order directly from the Zero Division. I can''t say no to it even if I want to." Mayuri guessed what was on his mind and answered.


    Shinji sighed and stopped ring at him since his words were true. Unfortunately, he''d regret ever thinking that and his blood pressure would spike up again when he heard his next words.


    "It was me who reported your suspicious meeting, though."


    "Huh!? So it was you!?"


    But Mayuri couldn''t entertain the angry Shinji when he felt the atmosphere around Kyouraku getting colder, "Hmmm... Why is this the first time I''ve heard of this?"


    From the pressure Kyouraku was emitting, it was obvious to everyone, especially Nanao that he was very angry right now, ''This... I can understand. Captain Kurotsuchi is essentially spitting on his authority as the Captain Commander right now.''


    Nevertheless, Mayuri was a bit intimidated and even sharpened his eyes at him, "Captain Commander... You do realize that you''re more suspicious than Captain Hirako here."


    Kyouraku furrowed his brows and couldn''t say anything back for a few moments. But it also became obvious that something else was going on when Mayuri saw the forced poker face that Nanao was making.


    "Captain Commander, all these years, you''ve been far too passive. It was too passive that it allowed the nobles to gather that much force for themselves. Aren ''t you worried that they''ll force the weakened Gotei 13 to sink further?"


    Still, no words came out from Kyouraku.


    "Too bad that this fear of yours only fueled their ambitions."


    The first sound that Kyouraku made was by clicking his tongue, "Tch... So they intend to rece the Gotei 13?"


    "They''ve wanted to take back the military power. Instead of the Gotei 13 where they only have limited control in times of emergency, they''d rather have faithful servants regardless of the asion. The death of the former Captain Commander only revived those old desires."


    Kyouraku''s serious expression changed into a wry smile filled withmentation, "So that''s why the operation to route old man Yamamoto and the others was approved in an instant."


    "Yes. They fear his return. And for some reason, the Zero Division has the same opinion as them so it was an easy choice for them. With an unspoken agreement, the Zero Division, on purpose or not, ended up approving of what they wanted to happen."


    Kyouraku was suddenly craving some drink right now, "The fact that you know all of these... They were able to reel you in?"


    Not just Nanao, but also Soifon and Shinji red at him.


    Even then, Mayuri was not affected, "My loyalty lies in the Sereitei. Gotei 13 or not, it''s the same Seireitei in the end."


    "How did youe in contact with them?" Soifon curiously asked. She knew for sure that not all nobles wanted to rece the Gotei 13 and she actually has been working behind the scenes to find out who these people are. While she was able to figure out their tail, Soifon still had no idea of where the head was.


    She has a feeling that he''s the one who initiated the contact because she knows for sure that these nobles are actually very afraid of the Captain of the 12th Division for what he can do.


    Mayuri smiled in response and said while turning back, "It was thanks to her."


    Immediately after several steps echoed and a woman with long ck hair, wearing standard Onmitsukidou attire appeared.


    Seeing her, Soifon immediately recognized her, "You?". It was one of the best assassins they discovered a year ago who came by the name ''Hime'', ''So she was a spy...'' Soifon wanted to ask her who are the nobles behind her but immediately stopped after noticing something amiss, ''Hmm?''


    Upon closer inspection, Soifon immediately noticed what was a strange point about her and her eyes opened wide in surprise, "This..."


    She didn''t know what to say or what to make out of it but when she turned back to Mayuri, Soifon also saw him making a surprised expression, "Huh?"


    Mayuri was certain that Soifon noticed so there was no point in hiding it and asked, "What now?"


    "Cut the crap. That guy is about to flip the whole table." The ck-haired woman answered with a nonchnt voice.


    "My... And here I was, still trying to push everyone into a corner. Couldn''t he dy it for a bit longer?"


    "Don''t ask me that. I''m not exactly sure what''s going on down there either."


    Confused by this turn of events and the contents of their conversation, Shinji leaned into Soifon who seemed to have noticed something, and asked, "What''s going on?"


    "...That woman... She has a Magic Body."


    This time, it was Kyouraku, Nanao, and Shinji who were surprised, "Huh? Magic Body? Kurotsuchi already has that kind of technology?"


    Soifon wanted to answer no because the aura surrounding her reminded her of exactly three people, Ophis, Lilith, and nna.


    She couldn''t exin but she didn''t have to due to the event unfolding in front of their eyes.


    "So what are you going to do now?" Mayuri asked, "There''s no way up there now. I doubt they''d left any doors open after they left."


    "Don''t worry. We have a battering ram."


    "Battering ram? A battering ram that''s enough to poke holes through all those barriers and thick walls?"


    The woman just nodded.


    The next instant, another person jumped up to the veranda. With her swaying and ming red hair, she introduced herself with a wide smile, "Hello~ Battering ram here~!"


    "nna!?" Soifon yelled.

 Chapter 1230 The Dragons

    Chapter 1230 The Dragons


    Kyouraku almost couldn''t keep up and he had no choice but to respond when he met the gaze of the red-haired young woman, "Oh, it''s the shy guy."


    "...It''s you?"


    Naturally, Soifon reacted to him and asked, "You know her?"


    Mayuri was also curious about the girl who looked like the infamous twins of the 2nd Division, ''Their older sister? But something is weird.'' Though, despite this curiosity, he wanted to know more about how she introduced herself, "You''re the one who''s going to bust down their gate?" Mayuri found that unbelievable since even someone like Yhwach and Aizen couldn''t do it without relying on the Oken.


    "What tricks are you going to use?"


    The ck-haired woman, Benihime, looked at nna and thetter also looked at her.


    A secondter, Benihime grinned and crossed her arms, "Tricks? She''s thest person who''d have tricks up her sleeves. She''s too stupid to pull off anythingplicated."


    "Beni!? What are you saying!?" nna immediatelyined while jumping down from the wooden railings, "That''s rude! I can be tricky if I want to be!"


    Benihime''s smile disappeared and she sharply stared at nna, "Oh? Why didn''t you help out with the nning? Everytime I hear about you, you''re justzing around. Even Ophis and Lilith are working hard to acquire more skills and friends."nna immediately became nervous and avoided her gaze, "Well, you know... I''ve been busy in the west! Yes! The boss asked me to do something as insurance! On the nning part, Boss can do all of that by himself well enough. No need for me to interfere."


    "Hmmm..." But Benihime just stared at her with suspicion.


    "Really! I promi--"


    "Enough!", however, nna''s voice was drowned out by the impatient Mayuri, "Benihime, are you just going to bicker with her instead of presenting a valid method?"


    Kyouraku, Nanao, Soifon, and Shinji all muttered to themselves, "Benihime?"


    But Benihime just ignored them and replied, "That''s a valid method, though? As she has said, she''s the battering ram."


    With a fed-up expression, Mayuri said back, "You''re still not yet done with this joke?"


    nna, on the other hand, walked towards the center of the room while saying, "It''s all just flimsy films. I''m enough to tear that down."


    Mayuri turned to her, "Those flimsy films have protected the Royal Pce for countless years. Unless you''re capable of destructive power several times stronger than Sosuke Aizen, then stop talking nonsense."


    The nervous nna has already disappeared and was reced by a confident one with a fearless smile, "I don''t know how strong that guy is, but I can confidently say that I''m fucking strong."


    Mayuri turned to Benihime with doubt but he only saw thetter already smiling back, "Ah, that I can guarantee. She wasn''t called the Apocalypse Dragon for nothing. She''s indeed fucking strong."


    "Huh?" Mayuri questioned her sanity but at the same time, the air around them suddenly became almost solid and it took incredible effort just to breathe in and out.


    Mayuri and everyone else''s hearts started palpitating as a genuine fear for their lives took hold of their minds.


    Not knowing what happened, their eyesnded on the most likely culprit. Without them noticing, there''s already a pair of red reptilian wings and a red tail sticking out of her back. And on his forehead is a singr long sharp red horn.


    "It''s been a while since I''ve properly stretched my limbs," nna muttered to herself as the Draconic Aura inside her exploded out, immediately cing the whole Seireitei under her influence.


    "T-this feeling..." Nanao clutched her chest which was in pain but she, like the others, was very familiar with this feeling, although this time it was much stronger and closer. It''s something they wouldn''t be able to forget even if they wanted to, "...It''s that strange pressure more than a year ago."


    Mayuri instantly retreated to Kyoraku, Nanao, Soifon, and Shinji''s side while the first one deployed a defensive Kidou that was embedded in the barracks itself.


    "Beni, barriers, please. I can''t adjust my power as I wanted."


    Without saying anything, Benihime waved her arm and multiple Magic Circles appeared and surrounded nna in a cylindrical manner.


    "Thanks." nna spread her legs and ced her tail on the floor to have a better bnce. She then took a deep breath and looked up. A secondter, a red glittering light fanned out of her before a red shining pir pierced through the roofs of the 1st Division Barracks, lighting up the whole Seireitei and a portion of the surrounding Rukongai district with distinct red tints.


    The Captains and Nanao could only stare at the giant pir of light that was ejected from the youngdy''s mouth and they only had one thought as it transpired, ''If that was directed at the Seireitei, nothing of it would be left behind.''


    .


    .


    .


    "Hmmm... Dear me�� You just had to make it harder for all of us." Ichibei remarked while stroking his beard, "I really do wonder how you pulled them to your side, especially Nimaiya. I still couldn''t imagine any reason why he would help you."


    "Really? No idea at all? I overestimated you then." Kisuke replied with a deriding smirk.


    Of course, Ichibei and Kisuke knew that the former was lying. Ichibei knew Ouetsu''s personality and was the only person who knew how he really sees the world. After all, Ouetsu was the very first member of the Zero Division outside of Ichibei and the one who forged his brush.


    "And? What else do you have in store?" Ichibei suddenly changed the topic, "You better show it now if you still want to struggle. Though the oue would be the same."


    Kisuke sighed and closed his eyes, ''As expected... He was forced to make a move.''


    [Is it our turn?] Ophis'' voice suddenly appeared in his head.


    "..." Kisuke didn''t immediately reply and when he did, he could only say, ''I''m sorry.''


    [There''s nothing for you to apologize for. We''re just doing our part.]


    ''I didn''t really want to take advantage of you, but I still brought you guys as insurance.''


    [We''ll take a year''s supply of banana cakes as payment.]


    Kisuke could only smile wryly, ''Alright. I''ll throw in some banana chips, banana juice, and banana candy as a bonus too.''


    [We''re looking forward to it. I''ll also tell Red to get things ready.]


    ''Thanks.'' Kisuke opened his eyes back up and looked at Ichibei who immediately said, "Done talking?"


    "Oh. You noticed?"


    "There are hardly any things that could hide from me now that I''m here in person."


    Kisuke smirked and pointed beside him, "Then they must be two of those things. Good to know."


    Ichibei didn''t even have time to turn around when a ck mass hit him from the side and immediately pulverized his arm and leg as he was sent flying a few kilometers away.


    Kisuke turned to the two ''Shinigami'' that attacked Ichibei and said, "I''ll leave it to you guys. Be careful."


    Ophis and Lilith, in response, just gave him a peace sign.


    Forcefully opening up the space, Kisuke left Hell.

 Chapter 1231 The Dragons part 2

    Chapter 1231 The Dragons part 2


    Icibei forcefully stopped his uncontrolled flight. He ignored what just attacked him and hurriedly turned to Kisuke who was about to cross the boundary of the dimension. He took his brush and was about to paint over the hole in the dimension. Despite their current distance, his ''ink'' is still capable of ''ckening'' out what he didn''t want to exist.


    However, he had to stop when he suddenly felt a hand reaching out to him. With a single nce, Ichibei immediately felt threatened and used the handle of his brush to block the iing hand.


    The handnded on his brush and in an instant, Ichibei felt like a several tonnes hammer struck him, "!? What?"


    The foothold he created with his Reiatsu was instantly broken and he was sent flying once again.


    This time, Ichibei took his time to reorient himself while thinking, ''Even if by chance he could go to the Royal Pce, he still won''t reach the lynchpin.'' After reassuring himself and recalling the current Royal Pce defense, Ichibei finally took a good look at his assants, "Hooh... Aren''t you the twins that couldn''t call their Zanpakutos? I certainly didn''t think you''d be in on it too."


    The bigger question, however, was how they were able to exert that much strength from their tiny bodies. Ichibei certainly didn''t receive any report of them having superhuman strength, ''And it wasn''t just some superhuman strength. It was enough to instantly kill a normal fighter.''


    "Who are you two?" Ichibei asked with a chilled expression.


    Ophis slowly floated on Lilith''s side and answered with incredible dignity followed by thetter, "Ophis." "Lilith."


    Ichibei furrowed his brows and was shocked. This is not the first time he heard their names but this time, it felt like they were introducing themselves, not as Shinigamis."I guess the next question is what are you?" If not for the way they saddle their swords, Ophis on the left and Lilith on the right, there''s almost no way to distinguish the difference between the two, ''No... There''s an obvious difference. This ''Ophis'' seems to have arger pressure.''


    Ophis and Lilith looked at each other before answering the obvious simultaneously, "Shinigami."


    Ichibei was further intrigued. He has a bit of ability to tell apart truth and lies and he can say with confidence that they are telling the truth, ''Where is this weird feelinging from?''


    He wanted to know more about them because, in his eyes, they are in the same category as Kisuke''s current Zanpakuto, totally unknown to him despite seeing them with his own eyes. However, Ichibei didn''t have that luxury because he knew the consequences of underestimating Kisuke, ''I''m confident that she''ll be able to stop him and I''m also pretty sure that Urahara Kisuke is not after the destruction of bnce so he won''t easily hurt the lynchpin in the event he could go through her... But what does he want exactly?''


    Any uncertainty is an unknown danger and something he has to eliminate. With that in mind, Ichibei sped his hands together and raised his voice, "Ura Hadou: Ninodou - Tachikoma (Hidden Way of Destruction: Second Path - Standstill)."


    Ichibei''s hand released a white glow and before Ophis and Lilith could realize what was going on, they found the same light surrounding their body and their thoughts halted.


    "I really want to know what sort of being the two of you are, but sadly, I don''t have the time." Ichibei muttered loudly but he knew his words couldn''t be heard by the girls in front of him, "Lament on your powerlessness." Ichibei then unceremoniously swung his de towards the ''twins'' and covered them entirely in ck ink.


    Ichibei let out a short breath and admired his work for a second before turning around to follow Kisuke. However, just as he was about to open a path, rms in his head suddenly started ringing. Ichibei tried to take back his Zanpakuto though it was already toote as he once again, received a hammer-like p on his back.


    "Kuhhh!" Ichibei spun uncontrobly for a bit before regaining his posture. He hurriedly looked back and while Lilith remained unmoving, Ophis was staring at him, stillpletely capable ofbat.


    "...How?" Ichibei questioned but Ophis was not inclined to answer him and continued her assault.


    It was the same p with her bare hand so Ichibei used his de to block it and attempt to cut her. But contrary to his expectations, the moment their attacks met, it created a spark as if Ichibei hit another sword.


    The ink-covered Ophis was sent back by the impact though there''s no obvious injury from her side. Nevertheless, Ichibei noticed that she had be weaker. And thanks to them being covered with his ink, he also noticed the distinct connection between Ophis and Lilith that wasn''t obvious to him before.


    "I see... So that''s how it is." Ichibei figured out that they were not twins, "No wonder your names have this uncanny feeling. You''re the real one and the other is just an anchor for your existence. Really... What a strange being."


    Ichibei sighed, "To think I would waste this much time and strength. I apologize for underestimating you." In an instant, a white halo appeared around him, and the tip of his de or brush became covered in white ink. With arge mocking smile on his face, he continued, "But this ends here. As a sign of my respect, I''ll bestow you a more appropriate name. Shin''unchi: Shirafude Ichimonji."


    Releasing a massive amount of Reiatsu that disturbed the whole region, taking everyone''s attention, Ichibei manipted the white ink that went flying toward Ophis and Lilith.


    Ophis tried to dodge but before the white ink even reached her, words already appeared on her body and Lilith''s. Immediately after, Ophis felt her strength further leaving her body.


    "So how do you feel? The one once known as Ophis, Earthworm?" Ichibei asked with a condescending tone, "Feel the powerlessness and fragileness of an earthworm and cease disturbing me."


    Ichibei lifted his foot and a giant foot made out of pure Reiryoku appeared on top of Ophis and Lilith, "I bestow you death befitting of your name. Die on earth where you belong."


    Ophis could only stare at the giant foot descend as she hurriedly made her way to Lilith to protect her.


    While hugging her ''sister'', Ophis tried conjuring her mass of energy but found it very hard to gather even a tiny bit of it. When that didn''t work, Ophis tried swinging her arm towards the iing foot.


    "It''s useless." Ichibei grinned while watching them being stepped on by him and crashed down to the ground with arge explosion, "Just be d that a grave could be made for the two of you."


    As Ichibei couldn''t feel their presence anymore, he turned towards the others who were still fighting and thought, ''I wasted too much time.''


    However, as if he were cursed by something, the moment he had any intention of leaving Hell, he would be stopped.


    Ichibei couldn''t smile anymore when he saw a youngdy covered in ink slowly float up to his level, "You really are a tenacious one. How did you even survive? Hmmm...?" The youngdy''s aura was way weaker than before and Ichibei was sure that he''s currently talking to Ophis right now. However, there are two Zanpakutos on her side, "What? You weren''t able to save your twin but you still saved her Zanpakuto? That''s actually quite admirable."


    "Anyhow, your tenacity is actually annoying me now."


    "Annoying?" Ophis asked with a nk expression.


    Ichibei was about to nod but felt something out of ce.


    And before he could realize what was wrong, a giant jet-ck hand suddenly appeared in front of him, "!?"


    Ichibei tried blocking it but the moment the ck hand touched him, his whole body instantly disintegrated, reducing him to dust.


    "You are the annoying fly." Ophis slightly lifted her head. And while watching Ichibei regenerate himself from nothing, she added, "I, Ophis, am back."


    At the same time, the ck and white ink on her body slid off her body, revealing Ophis in her ck Gothic Lolita fashion, "You shall taste my unending wrath."


    Soon, an aura that calls for the end of the world drowned the entire dimension.

 Chapter 1232 Mad Dragon

    Chapter 1232 Mad Dragon


    Juushirou gained some distance from therge bulk of the battles and stopped. And only a few secondster, two Shinigaminded not far from him, both sportingplicated expressions.


    "Rukia, Sentarou. It has been a while." Juushirou greeted them with a smile.


    However, there are no replies from the two and both of them just unsheathed their swords.


    "I guess they''ve forbidden you to engage in conversations.", Juushirou sighed with a wry smile, "That''s too bad, I suppose."


    Rukia and Sentarou gritted their teeth when they saw Juushirou pulling out his Zanpakuto, "C-Captain... Do we really have to do this?"


    Rukia was silent for a short while. Of course, she was very much against this and if possible, she''d like to convince Juushirou not to fight and maybe, they''ll be able to find a suitable middle ground for the current situation. However, the current directives given to them don''t allow any of those explicitly. So with her responsibility as a Captain, she was obligated to give an answer, "...Yes. Get ready."


    Juushirou nodded in satisfaction, "That''s admirable. You''ve be a respectable Captain, Rukia. In that case, I have to respond in kind."


    With a strict expression, he muttered, "Bankai..."


    Rukia and Sentarou''s expressions immediately changed as they jumped back, "Bankai! Captain Juushirou is using Bankai!"As far as they could remember, he never once mentioned anything about it nor released it even in the heights of war.


    The katana in Juushirou''s hand split like it normally would when he released his Shikai but instead of a thin rope with charms dangling along it, the des became connected by arge thick rope arching above his body with sheets of folded paper lined along it. In addition to that, Juushirou also gained a headdress that was made out of folded paper that went around his shoulders, making him look like a high priest of a shrine.


    "Shinkai no Gyosei, Futago no Utsushi; Sougyo no Kotowari (Twin Reflections of the Abyss; Law of the Twin Fish)"


    Rukia pointed her palm towards him and was about to attack him with Kidou. Since they didn''t have any information about him, she wanted to gain an understanding of the situation first by opening up the distance between them.


    But before she could do so, she hesitated as she saw him point the tip of his twin swords to his left and right and couldn''t feel any hostilitying from him.


    "Reflections of Fate." Juushirou softly muttered and his Reiatsu spread outward with a soft light.


    Rukia and Sentarou couldn''t dodge the expanding light so they attempted to block it. However, the light just went through them and traveled outwards.


    Confused, Juushirou chuckled and stabbed his swords on the ground, "Don''t worry. That didn''t affect the two of you."


    "...What?" Rukia asked in confusion, not willing to immediately believe him.


    While removing a cloth pouch from his Shihakushou, Juushirou casually exined, "Souyo no Kotowari''s main ability is reflection and that''s the same in my Bankai, though with one additional thing. I can store the abilities that hit me for future use."


    "...Then what ability is it?" Rukia hesitantly asked.


    Juushirou disyed a very rare grin and said, "Aizen Sousuke''s Kyouka Suigetsu."


    Rukia and Sentarou immediately looked around and found that no one else was ncing in their direction.


    "From their perspective, we''re having a great time. Don''t worry about them." Juushirou replied while rummaging through the pouch.


    A few secondster, Rukia sighed and sheathed her sword.


    "Captain!?" Sentarou immediately questioned.


    But Rukia ignored him for now and walked towards Juushirou, this time, without an ounce of doubt, "The Captain Commander said that this might happen."


    "Oh? Shunsui did? Well, considering Urahara-kun, he might have alreadye in contact with him before all of this happened." Out of nowhere, Juushirou pulled out a table and three chairs from the pouch, resulting in Rukia and Sentarou freezing from their spot.


    "This sack sure is convenient," Juushirou muttered to himself before inviting the two of them to sit down with him.


    Rukia immediately recovered and took Juushirou''s offer, "Captain, what should we do?"


    Juushirou also sat down and this time, he brought out a set of tea from the pouch, "You''re the Captain now so call me by my name. And if you''re asking that, then it must be a strangely strict directive that you receive."


    "...Yes. Everyone has their doubts but no choice but to follow for now. Please tell me what''s really going on."


    "The situation is indeedpli- !?" Juushirou was pouring the tea but stopped and hurriedly stood up.


    Rukia and Sentarou were also the same and looked in a certain direction. The direction where the leader of the Zero Division was fighting, "W-what is that!?" Rukia raised her voice.


    "...I heard about it from the old man." Juushirou murmured with a twitched mouth, "I thought that he was exaggerating it... But it turned out that he was underselling them."


    .


    .


    .


    Tenjirou and Serafall have also gained considerable distance from everyone else so it''s hard to feel their presence.


    "Hoo... You''ve kicked for quite a distance. Are you afraid that I was going to ask for help?" Tenjirou took out a woodenb from his sleeve and fixed his hair which was slightly disheveled from being thrown around, "You''re underestimating me, miss. I don''t need anyone''s help to deal with you."


    "Nope. It''s also because my ability is not really suitable with allies around. I can''t really fight properly with them around." Serafall replied while stretching her limbs as a warm-up. While she was pushing Tenjirou back, she felt Kisuke leave and Ophis and Lilith substituted him so she''s not really worried about the monk anymore.


    "Heh? Is that so?" Tenjirou then turned towards Ichibei''s direction, "But you sure are underestimating him. It may be a contest of Reiatsu between Shinigami''s abilities, but his ability transcends logic. It won''t end well for thosedies." And just in time, Ichibei covered his opponent with ink and squashed them under his feet.


    But contrary to Tenjirou''s expectation, Serafall actually started chuckling, "Of course, not~! There''s no way we''ll underestimate the leader of the most elite squad. It''s precisely because of those girls that Ki-tan could leave in peace."


    Tenjirou narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Because they were too far away, they could only feel Ichibei''s Reiatsu and see the giant foot he manifested that looked like a tiny ant in their perspective, ''They should have been killed by that. It''s not like they are Yhwach who could render abilities useless.''


    But all of a sudden, Ichibei''s Reiatsu suddenly disappeared, "Huh!?"


    Tenjirou understood that Ichibei coulde back to life from his earlier engagement with Kisuke so he''s not really worried about his well-being, however, it didn''t change the fact that something killed him. But soon he realized what it was when a suffocating aura descended.


    "We see your leader as the biggest threat, so we sent him our strongest hand." Serafall added, still with arge smile on her face, "Though I''m a bit worried. Now that she has learned what emotion is, I''m not really sure what she''ll do once she''s pissed. I hope your precious leader can keep this world intact."

 Chapter 1233 Mad Dragon part 2

    Chapter 1233 Mad Dragon part 2


    Lilith disappeared and Ophis looked down on Ichibei who was trying to regenerate himself with an unreadable expression.


    Although she had returned to her usual Gothic Lolita outfit, there were two katanas on her back, crossing each other. And despite the fact that her eyes were on Ichibei, her attention was somewhere else.


    cing her hand on her chest, Ophis checked and made sure that Lilith''s ego was intact after she fused back with her.


    If this was years ago, Ophis wouldn''t have minded if Lilith disappeared if she absorbed her back, but presently, that''s out of the question and she''ll destroy anyone who attempts to forcefully plete'' her. Ophis is proud of her strength, but she doesn''t mind losing it for her ''friend''.


    Ichibei finished regenerating himself and looked up to Ophis with a very grave expression, "...What are you?"


    "Dragon. I, Ophis, am a Dragon." Ophis reintroduced herself, this time, with a hint of something smoldering. It was very unusual considering she''s someone who is normally expressionless.


    At the same time, the world seems to change along with her tune. A cascade of Draconic aura gushed out from Ophis and went through everyone like a tsunami. As a result, almost all of the Lieutenants were frozen in ce and even some of the Captains were affected like this.


    As for the Beasts of Hell in the entire realm of Hell, none of them dared to even fly and just hid themselves in the ground, shaking.


    Thankfully, Hell is a very isted dimension so none of Ophis'' aura leaked into the World of the Living. If it did, idents throughout the whole world were just going to be the smallest of problems it''d cause.For the first time, Ichibei realized that Kisuke might not be their biggest problem.


    .


    .


    .


    Byakuya led his teamprised of him, Renji from the 6th Division, Lisa and Yuyu from the 8th Division, Roujuurou and Izuru from the 3rd Division, and finally, Ikakku who was left behind by his Captain, to face the greatest threats they know, Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Choujirou Sasakibe standing side by side.


    Including Byakuya, the six of them were holding a wooden pole 12 feet tall each with various ck inscriptionsid on their surfaces.


    As they approached them, Yamamoto and Choujirou wondered what they were carrying. But before they could even get any word out, 5 of the pole-carrying people split up from the group and went around to surround them a hundred feet or so away. They then stuck the poles into the ground simultaneously before returning back to converge.


    "Hooh..." Yamamoto let out a long breath while watching them prepare with conflicted faces, "Now that I''m standing opposite of them, the Gotei 13 has indeed be soft."


    Choujirou also looked around and guessed what those poles were for and replied, "It''s not a bad thing, Eijisai. A cold and merciless military is just needed in times of war. If it goes beyond that, then we''ll be no different from the tyrants we tried to protect ourselves from."


    Yamamoto then ignored Byakuya who seemed to be muttering something to activate the poles and turned his eyes towards Kisuke facing against Ichibei, "That''s true, isn''t it? I''d really hate it if even innocent children, regardless of how powerful they are, are needed to fight."


    Choujirou turned to Yamamoto and asked, "Are you talking about what Juushirou-san said?"


    Yamamoto stared at Kisuke for another few seconds before sighing once again, "Looks like my retirement is going to take a while."


    "But it''s going to be different this time, Eijisai."


    "Hmmm? How so?"


    "Because you won''t be confined anymore. You might enjoy your time this turn."


    Yamamoto chuckled and said, "Then I''m looking forward to it."


    At the same time, Byakuya finished his preparations and drove the pole he had into the ground while saying, "Seal!"


    Reiatsu with a blue hue exploded out from the poles, destroying themselves. However, Yamamoto didn''t mistake it to be a failure because he instantly felt the mes of his Ryuujin Jakka receding to the deepest part of his soul, ''As expected, they secretly recreated Aizen''s Wonderweiss effect on Ryuujin Jakka.''


    Choujirou also immediately noticed the heating from Yamamoto disappeared and confirmed his guess from earlier. However, he was not worried and saw Yamamoto grinning to himself, "Shall we give these kids a good''ol spanking?" Yamamoto muttered while sheathing his Zanpakuto.


    Striking his fists together, mes burst out from his whole body.


    Choujirou jumped back and also sheathed his Zanpakuto while watching Byakuya and their group''s expression change to borderline panic. He figured that Yamamoto was enough to deal with them and practice the new tricks he learned.


    Sadly, that won''t go as he envisioned.


    When Ophis'' restraint came off, Yamamoto''s ''fun'' practice time had to stop.


    The mes powered by Magic Power around Yamamoto were instantly snuffed out when the Draconic Aura washed over everything but that''s the least of his problems.


    He turned to Byakuya and the rest who were obviously unwilling to fight him considering how there were too few injuries on his body despite the short sh, "It should be obvious that I''m not out of my mind so how about we stop this for now?"


    Byakuya immediately recovered from the aura and turned to his stunnedrades who were looking towards the floating young girl , "Let''s stop and assess the situation first."


    Renji got out of his stupor too and looked towards Yamamoto before nodding, "Understood, Captain. It''s about time things became clear."


    Not long after, Gin, Toshirou, Rangiku, Juushirou, Rukia, Sentarou, and even Zaraki and Unohana converged towards them.


    Without any reservation, Zaraki approached Yamamoto and asked, "Old man, what is that?"


    "You should know more about her than us. She''s from the 2nd Division, isn''t she?" Yamamoto replied, wanting to figure out their point of view first.


    Zaraki''s expression was puzzled, "That''s someone from the 2nd Division? That''s the first time I''ve heard about it."


    "Captain, you''re not really interested in gossip so of course, you wouldn''t have a clue about it." Ikakku replied to him while still looking at Ophis, "There were two of them earlier, right? What happened to the other one?"


    At this time, Yamamoto turned in another direction to see other people returning, Chika with the 9th and 7th Division, Furoufushi, Tanis, Kunou and the unconscious ire, "You left her?" He asked while looking at Furoufushi.


    "The barrier suddenly thickened in response to that terri... Ehem. That incredulous thing." Furoufushi didn''t want to sound rude to Ophis in front of Tanis and Kunou, "These two judged that nothing and no one would be able to easily open that shell so it''s fine."


    Of course, the members of the Gotei 13 recognized Tanis, Kunou, and ire, however, they had no clue how they were involved in this whole ordeal aside from their connection to Serafall who was apparently rted to Kisuke.


    Juushirou walked towards the young girls and asked, "Mind telling us now what she is? The old man and the other don''t really tell us anything."


    "It''s not that we can''t tell you. It''s just that no amount of words can describe what that is." Yamamoto immediately replied to defend himself and the others who saw Kisuke''s [Illusion].


    Tanis walked past Juushirou and took some distance from everyone before cing both of her hands forward, "This is the first time I''ve seen Ophis-chan in this state so I don''t really know what to expect, but I''m putting up a strong ward to keep ourselves er... rtively safe."


    While caring for ire, Kunou turned her head towards Juushirou and said, "Well, technically speaking, Phi-chan is a God."


    "Huh? God? What do you mean?" Gin immediately asked.


    Kunou, thankfully or not, didn''t have to exin further. During this time, Ophis lifted her right arm, and a huge ck ball several tens of feet across instantly appeared above her. With the swing of her short arm, the ck ball shot out while expanding itself toward Ichibei.


    The newly regenerated Ichibei tried countering by using his Spirit Appendage Manifestation which manifests a giant representation of himself.


    But despite this, a single touch of this ck ball instantly disintegrated the giant manifestation and didn''t even affect its momentum. The ck ball locked the surrounding space and Ichibei didn''t have enough time to move out of its way and just like his manifestation, he was instantly obliterated. This time, not even his ash remained.


    Naturally, the ck ball didn''t just stop there as it continuously expanded to several hundred feet until it hit the ground and exploded into a blinding light and deafening boom.


    And when everyone regained their vision from the sh of light, they realized that a whole region of Hell had disappeared as if an invisible colossal monster took a clean bite of it as no debris nor smoke was found on the scene of the destruction.


    "..."


    Everyone was silent for almost a minute until Tanis brought down her hands and scratched her head as she turned around with an awkward smile, "Ehehe, nope. I don''t think my ward will be enough to keep us safe. At least, not from that."


    "Change of ns. Let''s flee." Without waiting for anyone, Kunou turned around and ran away while carrying ire.

 Chapter 1234 Mad Dragon part 3

    Chapter 1234 Mad Dragon part 3


    With Kunou and Tanis running away, the group of Shinigami first looked at each other before hurriedly following them with nerve-wracking expressions, except for Zaraki, of course, who seemed to enjoy the situation and wanted to try cutting the ck ball. And as they followed the girls who were making their way toward Batsu''unsai''s barrier, they listened to their conversation.


    "Kunou... Do you think Lith-chan is safe," Tanis muttered while turning her head back.


    "I asked Phi-chan about this hypothetical scenario and she reassured me that Lith-chan won''t disappear as long as she''s alive so let''s trust her on this." Kunou also turned her head toward Ophis'' back, "But the fact that she was forced to absorb Lith-chan back might have triggered her."


    "You don''t say! She''s going ballistic!" And just as Tanis said that another chunk of Hell evaporated into nothing.


    Furoufushi got close to the two and asked, "Say... How long can she do that?"


    The Shinigami around her were curious about the same thing because they didn''t believe she could keep up that kind of output without tiring out.


    Kunou and Tanis looked at each other before the former answered, "If you have unlimited water on hand, how long do you think you can keep spitting?"


    "Err..." Furoufushi thought about it for a second before answering, "Essentially forever as long as I don''t get tired?" She wondered what it had to do with her question but when she looked back to her eyes which exuded seriousness, she realized why, "...What!?"


    Some Shinigami almost tripped on their feet and Furoufushi herself stopped moving for a few seconds before catching up, "You mean that''s just her spitting!?"Tanis nodded and said, "As Kunou said earlier, Phi-chan is technically a God."


    Chika also came beside them and asked, "Then Lilith is also a God?"


    Kunou shook her head, "No. Due to some incident a few years ago, Lith-chan was spawned from the power that was stolen from Phi-chan. Because of the concept behind Phi-chan''s power, her strength was dramatically reduced."


    The entire group reached the barrier where Batsu''unsai was still fighting. Kunou then ced her left hand on it while her right hand took out several talismans from her pocket and threw them into the air.


    Naturally, she saw the confusion on the Shinigami''s face so she continued, "Phi-chan is the [Dragon God of Infinity]. When Lith-chan was stolen from her, she essentially became fractured, or in other words, [Finite]. But now that she''splete, she, once again, became the personification of [Infinity] and one of its facets is an unlimited energy source."


    The talismans flew and stuck themselves on all sides of the barrier. The next moment, the barrier started shrinking until it could be held by one hand. Since Kunou was already carrying ire, Tanis jumped up and snatched the cube stered with Kunou''s talismans.


    Kunou and Tanis then started leading the group once again, this time, toward the direction where they could feel Serafall''s aura.


    "Simply speaking, Phi-chan right now is a bottomless well that can flood the whole world and so much more." Kunou finished her exnation.


    All the Shinigami around them couldn''t wrap their hands around the personification of the [Infinity], however, they felt a chill from the depths of their soul and almost sunk into despair once they thought about a being like her bing the enemy of the world.


    Kunou and Tanis felt the cold atmosphere and wondered about it for a bit. It was then that they also realized how truly ridiculous Ophis is to the people who rarely or never meet any beings that are transcendent.


    It''s going to be troublesome if they feel powerless now so Tanis added, "But just like any other special ability out there, nothing is omnipotent. Phi-chan may be a bottomless well, but as a well, its mouth has a limited size. She may have unlimited stamina, but she can''t limitlessly scale up."


    Kunou has the same opinion as Tanis so she also joined in, "And it may look terrifying, but as you can see, all she''s doing is pure destruction. To the very special individuals, including those vastly weaker than Phi-chan, destruction is one of the threats that are on the easier side to deal with."


    "Right! If you can''t defend against it, just avoid it! If you can''t die, just take it! And if you want her gone, just throw her to another dimension where she can''t return from!" Tanis became a bit too enthusiastic.


    "You make it sound easy." Yamamoto finally voiced out his opinion, "But none of us are undying. I doubt that there are many people who could dodge that ck ball. And most importantly, no one knows how to throw someone into a different dimension where she could not return from."


    Kunou was thinking of a suitable answer when she and Tanis felt a familiar aura suddenly appearing beside them, "Don''t sell yourself short, Yama-chan."


    Using the Draconic Aura Ophis was releasing as cover, Serafall appeared beside them almost unnoticed.


    The attacking teams of Shinigami almost instinctivelyshed out but they were able to stop themselves.


    "Serafall... We''re a bit too shortpared to that, no?" Yamamoto replied to her.


    "Then let me tell you this. Ophis-chan over there is an extreme outlier. You guys are also very strong with your unique abilities." Serafall stopped so everyone else also stopped, "But because of your very rigid system, it''s hard to find countermeasures against that. From where we came from, Ophis can''t act like that since there are few groups of people that can seal her for almost an eternity if she''s not careful."


    "From where you came from, huh?" Yamamoto talked under his breath, "By the way, where did Kirinji go?"


    "You mean the hot spring guy? He went away after I told him I wouldn''t stop him if he wanted to help his boss." Serafall looked around the rest of the group as she answered, "Alright. Who wants to hear the full story? With Ophis-chan guarding this dimension, no one would be able to leave so we might as well sit down for now and have a cup of nice tea."


    .


    .


    .


    When they arrived at the hideout, the group could see the ttened mountain with a wounded Ouetsu sitting on top of it, "Yo~ You guys returned... And with a lot of guests, I see." He greeted them while fixing his broken sunsses.


    Thankfully, the log mansion not far from it was rtively intact.


    "She did a number on you, huh?" Serafall also greeted him while Tanis ran up to him to heal him.


    Ouetsu thanked Tanis before saying back, "That gal is horrifying, you know? You probably didn''t feel it because of that amazingly talented little girl, but she trapped me in her Bankai and I almost didn''t survive."


    "How''s theb?"


    Ouetsu stood up and dusted himself, "It''s safe thanks to Kisuke-kun''s protection spells, but it''ll require some time to open them again." With a quick sweep of his eyes, Ouetsu figured that almost all of their guests were just riding the wave and didn''t really know what was going on, "I''ll fix it up and get it ready so you do all the talking you can with a peace of mind."


    Since Tanis was already able to close his bigger wounds, Ouetsu soon walked off to do the work he was entrusted with.

 Chapter 1235 Return to the Spirit King Palace

    Chapter 1235 Return to the Spirit King Pce


    At the same time that Ophis started her rampage, keeping the Zero Division upied, Kisuke, still in his Hollowfied form and with an iplete name, arrived at the roofless 1st Division Barracks.


    While leaving through the crack of space, he felt Ophis'' outburst and immediately thought that she might have been forced to fuse back with Lilith. Kisuke knew that this was the most likely oue, that''s why he didn''t want her to face Ichibei.


    But in hindsight, Ophis was also the best match against Ichibei, not because of her sheer destructive power, but because of another facet of her [Infinity] which is True Shapeshifting.


    Sure, pure destructive power might overwhelm Ichibei, but if he''s an immortal in Hell, it won''t be long before he finds a way around it. Ichibei''s true nemesis was Ophis'' True Shapeshifting ability.


    Ichibei''s True Strike Naming works by branding its target a name and subsequently changing the target''s existence itself to match the branded name. Truly a terrifying ability that can only be resisted by a few things. And one of those things was Ophis'' ability. Ichibei may be able to name Ophis whatever he wants, but Ophis will just dere and shapeshift herself back as ''Ophis, the Dragon God of Infinity'', rendering his ability useless.


    Kisuke also predicted that the other members woulde to assist Ichibei but he''s not too worried since Tenjirou, while capable of great healing, his only other ability is a destructive one. To a nigh-invulnerable Ophis, he''s just a sitting duck.


    Senjumaru, on the other hand, was somewhat unknown to Kisuke and he was sure that her ability wasn''t just illusions and suspected that she may even have some fate-altering ability. But even if that''s the case, Ophis herself could not be affected by fate-altering thanks to her status as a Transcendent, at least not of Senjumaru''s level.


    His basis? It''s his own ability to ''weave''. Benihime''s ability is altering reality itself so he could guess to some extent what his fellow weaver could do and he knew for sure that Benihime doesn''t work on Ophis.


    Benihime might have worked on Chaos but only on the body he created to interact with the world. Chaos'' real body might have been the void itself and if he added that to the equation to mind, he''s also pretty sure that Benihime wouldn''t work. It''s only through killing Chaos'' mind or essence using Tiamat that he could stand where he is now.Naturally, not all worries left his mind because there are still many things that he doesn''t know regarding Ichibei, ''I don''t know how he''ll utilize Hell itself so I have to hurry... Not to mention, those maggots... I''m still not sure where they stand in this situation.''


    Kisuke cleared his upied mind and looked around more to investigate and the first thing he noticed was nna standing still in her Dragonoid Human form.


    "Boss! You''re here!" nna waved her hand to him but she didn''t move from her spot.


    "How is it?" Kisuke asked while walking towards her, intentionally ignoring everyone else to check on nna first.


    "The hole Beni requested is done, but it looks like I won''t be able to move for a short while."


    "You messed up your output?"


    nna looked at him with embarrassment and said while scratching her head, "I can now see why you''re so intent on testing out things first. It''s as you''ve said. I overestimated what this body could take at once and ended up frying some of my channels. It''s not really a big deal since I can heal on my own just fine and the only thing I can''t do is release that much power again for some time."


    Kisuke became silent for a bit before asking, "...What aboutter? Do you think you can still do it?"


    "The n, right? I heard it from Beni earlier. Even in this state, I can still do it. It''s just that you''ll be alone from here on."


    Benihime walked towards them and said, "What do you mean alone? I''ming with him."


    nna turned towards her and smiled, "I''ve always considered the two of you a set so my words are still technically true." She then looked towards the sword in Kisuke''s hand, "And that''s the same goes for you, Tia."


    "Anyways!" nna returned her attention back to Kisuke, "I''ll be fine, but what about you? It seems you got hit by something nasty."


    Kisuke patted nna''s head and said, "The next hurdle is something that can''t be brute-forced. He may have cut down my overall strength, but not the effectiveness of my abilities."


    Benihime let out a short breath before she was bathed in bright light. The next second, Benihime already disappeared and a cane appeared in Kisuke''s free hand that just left nna''s head.


    "By the way, I also felt Gab''s aura for a little bit. What''s up with that? Was that the reason you''re rushing things now?"


    "It was just her image. Though you''re correct to assume that she''s one of the reasons." Kisuke looked up and confirmed that the barriers were starting to close up, albeit, slowly, "I''ll get going. Knowing Kirio-san, I''m sure she prepared something for me."


    Kisuke lowered his body and prepared tounch himself upwards.


    "W-wait! Urahara!" Kyouraku tried calling out to him but thetter only turned to Mayuri and said before disappearing, "I''ll leave it to you."


    Mayuri scoffed while looking up and said, "Couldn''t even be bothered to give more information."


    "Forgive the guy, science man. You know he''s busy. If it''s answers that you want, I''ll give you some while I''m resting."


    "Hmmm... That''s a good alternative, I guess." Mayuri snapped his fingers and the shackles on Shinji and Soifon unlocked and dropped down, "Follow me to myb. I''ll listen to you while preparing the necessary things."


    "As long as you keep your hands off me, we''re good," nna replied while shaking off the dust that had fallen on her and returning to her Human form.


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutes of flyingter, instead of the Royal Cities and Pce, Kisuke saw arge ''hairy'' ball in its ce. And as he got closer, it became clear that it wasn''t a hairball but a giant sphere made out of countless lively roots and branches, ''She covered the entire ce with this? This won''t be easy.'' Kisuke thought while feeling that some of his vitality was already being sucked even before he got near the area.

 Chapter 1236 Return to the Spirit King Palace part 2

    Chapter 1236 Return to the Spirit King Pce part 2


    [Are you going to dive into that? It looks like it''s specially designed for you and you alone.] Benihime talked to Kisuke who started backing off to a rtively safe distance.


    "That''s indeed prepared for me, isn''t it? I can feel my own Reiatsu from those roots and branches. The moment I get in between those, it''d suck me dry within an hour or two."


    [You''re underestimating yourself again. While it''s designed to instantly kill anything that matches your aura, those things will still take a while to drain everything out of you.] Tiamat also joined in the conversation, [But you won''t really be in a fighting stance once you''re surrounded by that, especially with the current state that you''re in.]


    "Looks like it could even detect my Magic Power signatures so they must have had Kirio-san prepare for this as soon as I left after myst attack. As expected of the creator of the Mod Soul and the authority of food and vitality." Kisuke stood still and observed the roots and branches while his Hollowfication was being undone and Tiamat returned to her tanto de form, "Too bad for her that she has no way of predicting otherworldly spiritual abilities."


    As soon as he finished his monologue, a small emblem appeared on Kisuke''s forehead and an aura of darkness engulfed his entire body. And as soon as this darkness emerged from Kisuke, the roots and branches also stopped reacting and moving, signifying that they couldn''t feel Kisuke''s presence anymore.


    The Stralit n''s inherited ability, [Shadow], uses the user''s own Reiryoku, however, the aura it emits is generally the same across all the boards. If someone who knew of the Luxeux n were to see Kisuke right now, they could immediately tell where he came from and his allegiance. And to anyone who''s involved in ExE to some degree, this someone is practically everyone with how recognizable their ns are.


    Of course, no one in the current world has that kind of knowledge.


    [This is cheating.] Benihime felt bad for Kirio Hikifune who prepared somethingplex and enormous, only to meet an ability that Kisuke technically scammed out of someone.Kisuke regenerated his Shihakushou and kept Tiamat in his sleeve. From his inventory, he took out a fresh green and white striped bucket hat and ced it on his head, "Shall we give her a surprise?"


    The next second, Kisuke transformed into a ck blob and shot upwards. A minute or twoter, Kisuke reached the roots and branches that could be described as thick intertwining trunks now that he hade close to it. Kisuke felt danger from them but they didn''t react at all even when he touched one of them.


    Attaching himself to the tree matter, Kisuke became a shadow that swam through the maze of giant roots and branches.


    ''Looks like the [Shadow''s] veil is effective.'' Kisuke thought while carefully monitoring everything that was happening around him and the current state of his own body.


    Kisuke then used the surrounding shadows to pinpoint where he was exactly and thankfully, Ichibei was not around because this would be the stupidest thing that he''d be doing around his presence.


    ''Found it.'' After a few minutes of searching and processing through all the information he received, Kisuke found the cleaved Royal Pce which was now covered in dense tree matter. Upon further searching, he found that there are two life signatures in it and they are precisely the lynchpin and its current guard, Kirio Hikifune.


    But the moment he found them, the slim Kirio instantly opened her eyes and hurriedly stood up to look around.


    [It''s going to be disastrous for you if she makes any adjustments now.] Benihime reminded Kisuke.


    ''I doubt she could make changes to this enormous structure before I could reach her.'' Kisuke thought to himself as his shadow darted through the maze and soon reached the chamber where Kirio was guarding the crystalized Yhwach and where her roots and branches didn''t reach.


    Kirio saw a shadow extending from the only entrance to the chamber and wanted to attack it. Nevertheless, she stopped because she figured that it was going to be just a useless effort.


    A secondter, Kisuke emerged from the shadow with a dark aura smoking out of him.


    "...How did you do it?" Kirio asked with a very concerned expression, "It shouldn''t be possible with just a Reiatsu hiding cloak nor with that Magic since these roots actually look for soul signature. Or is it that despite how you look, you''re not actually Urahara Kisuke."


    The darkness around Kisuke receded and the emblem on his forehead disappeared. Immediately after, Kisuke''s Reiatsu went back to normal as he said, "It''s me, Kirio-san. Just a few tricks I learned."


    Kirio frowned at him and replied, "That''s some nifty trick... It even impersonated another soul. I can''t fathom how that works."


    Kisuke looked around and saw that the roots and branches didn''t breach the chamber which confirmed his guess, "I guess this ''barrier'' can''t get inside?"


    "It''s called the Cage of Immortality, a ramped-up version of the Cage of Life that I used against the Quincies. I just didn''t expect that you''d bypass all of it." Kirio sighed to herself while taking out her Zanpakuto with a spat made out of bone as its handle, "Because the lynchpin has to hold the world as a whole, it''s attuned to be as neutral as possible. Even if it''s a technique that absorbs a very specific Reiryoku, any false positives are going to be disastrous and would go against the purpose of setting it up in the first ce.


    "Say... Kisuke-chan. Why are you doing this? Do you really intend to destroy these dimensions?" Kirio asked with a forlorn expression. Even though it has been a long while, Kirio was Kisuke''s teacher and she even considered him as her one and only disciple.


    "Hyousube-san should have already told you that I don''t intend to do any of that." Kisuke answered while pulling out Benihime from her scabbard, "I''ll be honest though, since I''m talking to you Kirio-san. I want the King of the Quincies to do something for me. Well, I guess the side effect of that is removing the lynchpin from the equation and I don''t intend to rece him with anyone."


    Kirio sighed once again after staring at Kisuke''s eyes for a few seconds, "Sadly, regardless of your reason and whether that''s good or bad, it''s my duty to protect the lynchpin. I apologize but I would have to eliminate you here."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and hurriedly looked behind him, only to see the roots and branches receding back at blinding speeds and flowing towards Kirio.


    As a result of this, Kirio''s warm Reiatsu became very heavy from its density which reminded Kisuke of Aizen''s Reiatsu in the midst of his transformation.


    "Bankai..." Holding the Zanpakuto with both of her hands, golden light emerged from her eyes, "Gourmet of Life and Death; The Final Banquet of Reversal."

 Chapter 1237 Vast Vitality

    Chapter 1237 Vast Vitality


    Kisuke had to lower his stance to stabilize it as the whole pce started creaking from the sheer density of Reiatsu that Kirio was gathering.


    At the same time, the tree matter outside continuously disappeared inside Kirio''s body and her Zanpakuto transformed into a giant goldendle.


    [It may not be menacing, but I can feel the weight of life itself in thatdle.] Tiamatmented while Kisuke also released his Reiatsu and Benihime.


    But before he could do anything, the rest of the roots and branches instantly disappeared and an enormous threat became apparent in front of him that he had to ce Benihime in front of his body.


    Kisuke also tried jumping back but as soon as he felt the immeasurable strength apanied by the golden sh that hit him, he immediately understood that his effort was futile with him instantly flying out of the pce and even giving Benihime a crack.


    ''What the heck? What hit me?'' Kisuke hurriedly started mending the cracks on Benihime but before he could finish, a shadow appeared on him and this time, he used his Hierro to block the goldendle.


    Though even after raising his defense as much as he could, the goldendle still broke his arm as he was sent crashing down. Kisuke realized what Kirio was trying to do so he used his broken arm to detonate a Cero to instantly change his velocity, dodging another hit from the goldendle.


    Kirio, strangely enough, stopped her assault and ced the oversizeddle on her shoulder, "You''ve be a lot sturdier. Just what did you eat to have that thick skin?"


    Kisuke took the breather that Kirio offered to heal his arm, "Nothing much. Just a shiny rock that apparently grants wishes. It was a scam, though. I wished I could be super duper strong, but as you can see, I keep getting kicked back and forth. I can''t even remove the ink behind me."Kirio chuckled, "You shouldn''t really put random things in your mouth or else, indigestion will be the least of your concerns.''


    During this conversation, however, Kisuke couldn''t help but be utterly suspicious. Kirio has the upper hand yet she stopped pressuring him, ''Her Bankai is rtively simple. It gathers all the essence of life in the surroundings and injects it into herself, granting her immeasurable physical capabilities and insane regeneration powers. However, I don''t know much beyond that.''


    [Master, if you don''t want to die, stop holding back.] All of a sudden, Kisuke and Benihime heard Tiamat''s warning. And when Kisuke looked down with a perplexed face, he finally realized that he was drenched and it was only now that he noticed it, "!?"


    It was also only then that Kisuke realized that his arm had finished regenerating long ago, but instead of stopping, his flesh kept on growing. Without any hesitation, Kisuke cut off his own arm.


    However, this didn''t really solve the problem since his arm started regenerating once again even with him consciously stopping it. And if it''s like earlier, then it won''t ever stop regenerating.


    "Bankai..." Kisuke did the next best thing he could do, "Kannonbiraki Benihime, Aratame."


    Five puppet fingers with each finger bound at the joints by perpendicr red ribbons ending in a thick, downward-curving de while the palm isposed of an ornate disc with several sections missing to asymmetrically disy the straight red barsprising it within and the circr red bar with arge tassel forming the perimeter; meanwhile, Kisuke himself gained glowing red markings on his wrists, ankles, pectoral muscles, and vicles like those of a doll, as well as a free-hanging neprised of a red thread tied in ornate knot with six metal triangles hanging beneath it and held up by a red tassel on either side of his chest.


    Kisuke''s arm also finished regenerating but there''s now a visible stitch running through it.


    Kisuke didn''t just stop there and also cut open various parts of his body before stitching them back together, removing the terrifying cancer that Kirio gave him.


    "Phew... That was close."


    Kirio''s expression became serious, "I see... So your Bankai evolved further. But can you still call it a Bankai?"


    "I got used to it and this isn''t really Benihime''spleted state either so I''ll keep the Bankai epithet for now." Kisuke looked at the fingers while talking and with his will, the des attached to them shot out towards Kirio with a red line still connecting them to the fingers.


    Kirio knew the dangers of Kisuke''s Bankai so instead of intercepting them, she used the newly gained speed that she had to retreat quite far back while dodging the iing des.


    Only then did Kisuke feel safe enough to properly observe the water that he didn''t notice when he and Benihime were drenched it, ''I didn''t even notice that my regeneration was going haywire... What is this?''


    And as if reading his mind, Kirio answered, "Cycle of Resurgence. It''s the water of life that blesses others with vitality."


    On Kirio''sdle, a small of pool of water glistened, "But you see, too much of everything has its own price to pay." She then swung her human-sizeddle horizontally and spilled said water, "Ethereal Harvest."


    The spilled water suspended itself in the air and from the droplets, countless translucent golden vines emerged from it, shooting while erging themselves towards Kisuke.


    Seeing the scale of the veins, Kisuke knew that it would be difficult to dodge them so he pointed one of his fingers at them and released a pure ck Cero. The heat of the Cero dried the surrounding air but towards the veins themselves, it only went through them as if they didn''t exist in this ne of existence.


    Despite this, there''s no sense of panic within Kisuke''s eyes as he just lets go of the downward curved des to meet the veins. And unlike before, the des cut through the veins, turning them into motes of light.


    Kirio sighed, ''So this is the end, huh?'' She thought to herself. From the start, Kirio knew that she had no way of winning when Kisuke bypassed the trap house that she prepared with her all. It wasn''t that she was weak, it''s just that Kisuke''s Bankai is one of the anomalies that existed in Soul Society and very few things could actually resist its effects, ''There''s no sign of the others returning and I don''t even know what punched a hole through the barriers.''


    Even then, Kirio didn''t give up and strengthened her resolve, ''If ites down to it, I''ll burn my own life to stop him.''

 Chapter 1238 Reversal

    Chapter 1238 Reversal


    Kirio was able to take initiative and pace with her ever-growing physical prowess during their continuous sh because of her passively absorbing Kisuke''s massive amount of vitality.


    Although it''s not as much as the root and branches that failed to capture Kisuke, Kirio still couldn''t believe what she was seeing, ''Just being around me is enough to kill a normal Shinigami within a few minutes, yet, I can''t see that much of a difference from when we started from him despite me absorbing as much as I can each time we make contact.''


    Kirio then recalled the instance when Kisuke said that he ate a shiny rock and her mind went to the only other person who did such a thing, ''Hyousube guaranteed that another Hougyoku would not exist ever again so I thought that Kisuke was just throwing me off, but could he be telling the truth?''


    Her other trump card, giving her opponent an uncontroble ''cancer'' by granting them an excessive amount of vitality in one area doesn''t work well because Kisuke would just surgically and urately remove it before they could even be a threat. It should be hard to instantly detect it because it''s naturally a part of their bodies, but after the first few times, Kisuke got the gist of Kirio''s vitality-granting ability, making it essentially useless.


    Naturally, that doesn''t mean that Kisuke isn''t attacking back and the only reason why she could survive this long was because she was able to discard Kisuke''s modification by overpowering it with her own Reiatsu that was converted from her own vitality.


    It''s a well-known fact that a battle between ''souls'' is just a battle of Reiatsu and if one side has a vastly superior amount of Reiatsu, it wouldn''t matter how amazing his or her opponent is.


    But while she was thinking of ways to buy more time, Kisuke suddenly sped up and Kirio was toote to defend against it, receiving a hit on her nk and sending her flying.


    Kirio didn''t lose her mind and hurriedly made adjustments. Although she was hit squarely, she didn''t want to get too far away from the pce. So despite Kisuke not intending to, Kirio flew towards the pce and crashed into it, coincidentally, in the exact same spot where they first faced off, the Royal Chamber.


    Kirio tried to hurriedly stand up but felt her body heavy, ''Huh?''A few secondster, Kisuke also appeared in the Royal Chamber while saying, "You''re almost empty."


    Kirio gritted her teeth andmented that Kisuke was telling the truth, "You noticed it before I did, huh?"


    "Well, you were pretty desperate to send me back down so I was able to adjust my pace."


    Kirio was rapidly losing her strength but she still tried her best to stand up, "I had to use all the vitality that I stored these countless years and I still failed to stop you. You''ve grown strong, Kisuke-chan..." Kirio only intended to make some small talk but when she looked up to his eyes, what she saw rendered her silent, ''...What''s with that? Why do you look desperate?''


    As someone who watched Kisuke grow up, Kirio could confidently catch any changes in his expression and could confirm whether he was acting or not.


    While Kirio was surprised, Kisuke walked past her and made his way towards the crystalized man while saying, "It''s something I have to achieve... And frankly speaking, it''s far from enough."


    Kirio hurriedly turned and shouted, "Kisuke, whatever you''re trying to do, stop! Please stop!"


    Kirio wanted to say more. She wanted to ask more about what he was fighting against. Sadly, her duty trumps any of that. And she''s afraid. Kirio is afraid that she''ll sympathize with him.


    Kisuke reached the lynchpin that was hanging down from the ceiling and ran his hand at the crystal that was keeping the bisected man inside, "I may not like how this world operates, but my idea is my opinion, and no matter how important it is, it shouldn''t be a reason to discard everyone else''s''."


    Kisuke also felt Kirio''s thoughts behind her voice and also understood the position she was in. Regardless, he continued his monologue while he was testing out the integrity of the crystal, "You know I''m not someone who''s motivated enough to destroy the world as we know it, however, if it''s about the people that I have and want to protect, I won''t mind stirring up some massive troubles to the point of ignoring everyone else''s wishes of maintaining this peace."


    Although in Kisuke''s opinion, this world shouldn''t operate as it is, it''s also an undeniable fact that the world was at peace and currently continuously developing. So even if what he wants to happen is ''just'', Kisuke doesn''t deny that he''s a ''viin''.


    Kisuke went quiet and finally ignored Kirio to focus on the current task. Unlike what happened in the Quincy war before, Kisuke doesn''t have any intention of killing the lynchpin. In fact, all these troubles are for him to recruit the man himself, ''The enemy boss is someone who''s present across all presents. So someone who can see the many futures should be enough to deal with him, right?''


    He prepared various things to break Yhwach out of his captivity, but the problem lies after that, ''How do I control him?''


    Unlike Aizen, Yhwach is someone who believes that life and death shouldn''t exist. So once he''s out, he''ll try to destroy the bnce again without any remorse, ''A temporary measure that I prepared is to seal his abilities. That should be enough for now, but I would have to eventually pit him against those murder robots.''


    Soon Kisuke found the weak points on the seal and was about to break them. But at this time, his concentration was broken by Tiamat [Master, you''ll be able to survive this if you could properly use my ability.]


    ''What?'' Kisuke asked with confusion. Nevertheless, Tiamat didn''t have to answer as Kisuke immediately felt an enormous amount of Reiatsuing from behind him, ''She still has this much left!?'' He thought as he turned around.


    There, Kirio was silently standing. What caught Kisuke''s attention was the contents of thedle she was holding, ''Blood?''


    "Reversal of Mortality," Kirio muttered, full of mncholy. As soon as she finished speaking, the red liquid within her goldendle evaporated within just a few seconds, "I didn''t want to use this, but... Let''s end it here now."


    The red mist immediately covered the entire chamber and Kisuke hurriedly covered all the openings that he had while thinking if this was poison.


    Unfortunately for him, Kisuke wouldn''t have enough time to inspect the mist with his vision suddenly shifting downwards, ''Huh?''


    The next second, he saw himself kneeling, and the next second, he saw himself lying on the floor, ''What!?''


    He couldn''t feel anything, not even his own body. He could only move his eyes around whichnded on Kirio who also had fallen on the ground, also looking at him.

 Chapter 1239 True Strike

    Chapter 1239 True Strike


    Benihime was still active even when Kisuke fell down, however, that doesn''t mean anything if Kisuke doesn''t understand what''s going on and that''s exactly the situation he''s in now.


    Even then, Kisuke tried figuring out what was wrong by dissecting himself by controlling the des attached to the red string, only to get nothing out of it. It was on a different levelpared to earlier where he just simply doesn''t notice the changes in his body. This time, there were really no changes simr to Ichibei''s ink but the effect was still very apparent.


    ''I was naive notpletely disabling Kirio-san... Dammit. I''ve really be soft in strange ces.'' While he wasining in his head, he''s not really regretting his decision. While it was easy for him to take out Kirio earlier, he doesn''t have a way of knocking her out without endangering her life due to how her ''vitality'' works.


    Kisuke was confident that Kirio would be able to take a beating so he didn''t really hold back but finishing her off was out of the question. He couldn''ty a hand on someone who acted like a mother to him when he was just an orphan even for a short time. Not to mention, Kisuke doesn''t really see her as an enemy since she''s just fulfilling the duty she swore on.


    Kirio saw his struggle but unlike Kisuke, she can still speak, "Don''t bother. You won''t find anything wrong because there''s nothing wrong."


    Kisuke''s eyes turned to Kirio but that''s all he could do.


    "There''s nothing wrong with it because I just reversed thew of life and death." Kirio broke her stare to Kisuke and turned her body toy down on her back and get some rxation, "If the natural order itself was changed, then those that didn''t change with it will be deemed to be breaking its rules."


    ''Change the naturalw itself? That''s possible for her?'' Kisuke thought to himself. After all, those who are not fully affected by the naturalws are the Transcendents since they rewrite the reality around themselves for their own benefit, ''But she''s not a Transcendent... What''s the price for this?''


    While Kisuke was having a bad premonition, Kirio continued speaking in the eerily quiet chamber, "It doesn''t really affect those who are very close to death, but the fate of those with overflowing life like you will instantly be reversed. Meaning, those who are very lively will instantly experience death and will soon cease to exist."Kirio paused for a moment before sighing, "This is the first time I''ve used this... But also thest."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and finally understood the price she had to pay, ''Dang it... As expected. She''s very loyal to the Zero Division.''


    As Kisuke guessed, Kirio first had to experience the reversal before she could pass it on to her target. As a result, she could only use this technique one time since there wouldn''t be a second time.


    Kisuke wanted to grit his teeth but his numb face didn''t even allow that. Still, even without looking, Kirio could feel the frustration from Kisuke''s stare, "I''m sorry that it hase this way, but you and I are standing on opposite sides. I had a mission to fulfill."


    ''What are you apologizing for!?'' Kisuke shouted internally, but as expected, Kirio didn''t know him enough nor the changes he went through to feel that.


    Nevertheless, Kisuke soon calmed himself and closed his eyes, ''Tiamat, what ability of yours do I need to use?'' He''s on the verge of death, but it''s not like that''s anything new.


    [I may not be as good as my sister, but I still have control over the aspect of life.]


    ''I don''t need riddles now, alright? Exin it to me like I''m twelve... That has difficulties processing things.''


    [Even if you say that...] Tiamat doesn''t really know how to fulfill Kisuke''s request because she never really talked to a 12-year-old Human and doesn''t really know how they think. However, it''s also true that she has to ry as much information as possible for Kisuke to have a chance to get out of this predicament, [I''ll do my best but I can only exin what I can understand.]


    [Before I exin it further, I want you to concentrate and go back in time to recall our first sh. The time I reached the surface.]


    ''Alright. What about it?''


    [The ck mud under my feet. It was the Sea of Life that I conjured to create and convert all life to my liking. Although it was tainted by Chaos that makes all life sprung from it chaotic and destructive in nature, the underlyingw within it is still the same.]


    ''...'' Kisuke went quiet as he thought back to that instance. Even in the middle of a big fight that would decide the fate of the world, he didn''t forget to collect some samples of the so-called [Sea of Life].


    And sometime after the battle against Chaos, Kisuke tried studying it. Unfortunately, it already deteriorated so he didn''t get much from it aside from the fact that it was a concentrated Magic Power and Divine Power that meshed in a very messy way. Kisuke concluded that the Magic Power and Divine Power were just a byproduct as a result of it losing its power.


    Aside from that, his only other source of information was Serafall who temporarily froze it, albeit, with great difficulty even in her Super Devil form, and Yoruichi who fought the artificial beings it created.


    Kisuke was in the middle of thinking when Tiamat interrupted him, [As I''ve said, you''re thinking too hard. When ites to naturalws, it''s not about how you circumvent them, but how you make them your own. Sea of Life, the ocean where all life sprung out. Now if you associate the sea as the source of life, where does it end? Where does it return?]


    ''...earth?''


    [That''s right. Life returns to earth. But as it returns, it also nourishes other lives in their vicinity.]


    ''This is strangely philosophical.''


    [That''s why I''m telling you to get away from the world''s logic because it is the world imposing its naturalws on you.]


    ''...This is impossible, isn''t it? Especially for someone like me.''


    [How so? You''ve been doing it already for quite some time.]


    ''...Hmmm?''


    [Didn''t it ur to you? You Shinigamis are already imposing your ownws through your Zanpakuto when you achieve your Bankai. Think about it, when you use Benihime, you manipte various objects, are you not?]


    ''But that''s only under the premise that I understand the underlying logic behind them and can only modify them under the same set of rules. And those rules don''t break thews of the universe.''


    [That''s true. But what makes it possible for you to do something like that in the first ce?]


    ''...Benihime''s ability?'' Kisuke felt like he returned to the time when he was still an ignorant child.


    [That''s correct. Now you just have to apply it the same.]


    ''...Huh?''


    [You didn''t receive any instinctual instructions to use my ability like you did with Benihime, however, you can approach my abilities as if you did.]


    ''And how do you propose I do that? And all of those long-winded words just to say use your abilities like I do with Benihime''s?''


    [There''s a way, but I first had to make sure that your mentality is in the proper ce before we proceed. Otherwise, you''ll die faster with your head exploding into a million bits and no amount of regeneration would be able to save you from true destruction.]

 Chapter 1240 True Strike part 2

    Chapter 1240 True Strike part 2


    Kirio immediately noticed that Kisuke stopped paying attention to her so she also stopped talking. Since they are just a minute or two before their eventual death, Kirio couldn''t help but reminisce. She came from a nondescript noble family and has always been fond of cooking and always dreamt of opening her own little ce. However, her own Reiatsu and potential didn''t allow that and was soon sent away to be trained as a Shinigami.


    ''Why am I remembering all of this now? Is this what it means to have your life sh before your death?'' Kirio asked herself. However, if she was just being honest to herself, she''ll admit that she''s just avoiding the guilt that she''s feeling right now.


    But while drowning in her sorrows, Kirio suddenly felt more movements from Kisuke, ''Hmmm?''


    She pushed her incredibly weakened body and turned her neck towards Kisuke who had already retracted his Bankai, ''Did he give up?''


    Contrary to her expectations, however, Kisuke''s arm started twitching before it started stretching in and out, ''Huh?''


    It was just his right arm, but a few secondster, his left arm also started moving. It didn''t take too long before Kisuke could finally move his limbs and start struggling to get up, ''Wait... What''s going on!?'' Kirio already confirmed that her ability was still working from the fact that she was still dying so she couldn''t understand how Kisuke was moving now, ''If he was able to reverse it back, I would be affected by it too.''


    Slowly but surely, Kisuke stood up after struggling a few times and the first thing that Kirio noticed was Kisuke''s eyes, "W-what are those?"


    Kisuke looked back to Kirio who was making a surprised expression and noticed that she wasn''t just surprised at him standing up.


    [Your eyes.] Benihime''s voice resounded in his head.Kisuke slowly reached out into his sleeve and took out his dagger. As he unsheathed it, he used Tiamat''s de as a mirror and found out that his eyes had turned pink with star-like pupils.


    [Don''t lose focus now.] Tiamat''s reprimanding voice soon came, [This is the first time you''re doing this, and any mistake on your part could spell goodbye to your head.]


    Kisuke silently returned the dagger to its sheathe and asked, ''What should I do next?''


    [Don''t try to understand it. Just let my power go through you and instinctually control it. If you attempt to gain insight from it, your vessel, which is your soul itself, won''t be able to support the burden of the mysteries and intricacies of life. You''re not yet ready for that since it''s like asking a newborn soul how souls are created.]


    Kisuke let out a long breath and did his best not to analyze the energy that was flowing from Tiamat.


    [Now call out to the source of life. Use it to overwrite the currentw imposed on you.]


    Kisuke held Tiamat tightly and stopped for a moment to think. Tiamat didn''t give him the name to call it out but he knew how important this name is to properly manifest her ability. If he can''t do it properly, it may even backfire on them.


    Kisuke was at loss and this was obvious to Tiamat. Nevertheless, thetter has no intention of helping him out. She already said everything she had.


    Kisuke let out a long breath once again and closed his now pink eyes, ''What name could possibly properly contain this?'' He asked himself. At that moment, Tiamat''s ''advice'' regarding names resurfaced in his mind, ''They are simply names. No need to oveplicate it, huh?''


    A small smile appeared on his face and the burden he was feeling suddenly lightened as he muttered, "Shun''uchi(True Strike): Chaos Tide; Tiamat."


    The dagger in Kisuke''s hand shone in ck light before transforming into its usual form, a green-tinted long sword with a horn-like structure for its guard. Beneath Kisuke''s feet, however, was a jet-ck mud bubbling up and overflowing. It didn''t take long before the entire chamber was flooded by this thick and gooey liquid.


    Kirio was wondering what was happening as she was surrounded by this mud. But that wonderment soon changed with astonishment as her rapidly depleting vitality started returning and her heart regained its former vigor, "...What... is this!?"


    Like Kisuke, Kirio also gained the ability to stand up and she hurriedly did it. She tried reaching out to her goldendle, though before she could touch it, it returned to its sealed form.


    "What''s happening here?" Kirio was utterly confused. Even if there''s a way to cancel her ability, there shouldn''t be any way to return the ''dead'' vitality.


    "The Sea of Life, the source of all life. Although most of it has been tainted, it can still grant life." Kisuke tried to exin but beyond those words, he didn''t really get it either.


    He swung Tiamat horizontally and the overflowing mud, as if the time was being rewinded, began retreating back under Kisuke''s feet and soon, the chamber returned to its not so pristine condition.


    The surrounding aura also soon returned to normal with Tiamat returning to her ''Shikai'' form. But when Kisuke nced at the de and found out that his eyes hadn''t returned to normal, ''I already retracted it, didn''t I?''


    [What you pulled from me is not some trivial material maniption. It''ll take your body some time to get used to and fully enclose that power.] Tiamat answered.


    Kisuke has a lot of questions but it''s not really the right time to answer those, ''I have to seal Kirio-san properly this time.''


    Kirio saw the glow in Kisuke''s finger and immediately figured out his intentions. But with a wry smile, Kirio shook her head, "You don''t have to."


    Kisuke stopped his steps and was about to ask her why when all of a sudden, the ck pigment on Kirio''s Shihakushou started king off and disappearing into nothing, turning itpletely white. And while that was happening, her own Zanpakuto began cracking and turning into dust, leaving only the handle in her hand behind, "I don''t know how you reversed my ability... But I already lost it all except for my life."


    Kisuke was stunned for a moment before sighing and taking out a thick ck robe from his inventory and draping it over Kirio.


    "This is?" Kirio asked while inspecting the robe.


    Kisuke turned around and made his way back to the crystalized man, "It''s a Magic Robe that I made some time ago. It can keep the user rtively safe for some time by automatically deploying a barrier. I don''t exactly know how things will turn out now, so... Keep yourself safe."


    The conflicted Kirio could only clutch the robe hard as she watched Kisuke return to the lynchpin. This time, there was really nothing else she could do.

 Chapter 1241 Collapse

    Chapter 1241 Copse


    Even though Kirio lost her Shinigami powers, Kisuke didn''t want to make the same mistake so he left a sliver of his consciousness focused on her, "Now then... Where was I again?" He loudly muttered after resuming the process of breaking Yhwach out of his confinement.


    "You do know what would happen if he breaks free, right? Yhwach himself won''t be the problem." Kirio got tired of standing and sat on the floor, "I''m certain that you''re not here to end the world, so what are you nning to do?"


    "Simply speaking, I''m gathering my aces. Well, I have a n so this won''t end the world." Kisuke answered while tracing various spots on the crystal and leaving a bit of Magic Power on it.


    "Gathering aces? What for?"


    "I''d like to exin, but it''d take a long time. And even if I did, there''s no guarantee that you''ll understand it."


    Kirio opened her mouth but no sound came out of it since she decided not to say anything else, ''It doesn''t really matter anymore. Either way, I''ll soon forget myself and join the cycle of reincarnation with my soul as weak as it is.'' She looked towards her Zanpakuto with only its handle remaining, ''I''ll join you soon, Meishi.''


    Kisuke finally took a step back and took out a single talisman simr to what Kunou had before throwing it toward the crystal.


    The ck and white talisman stuck to the crystal and a few secondster, it started shaking before forming numerous cracks.


    Kirio swallowed a mouthful of saliva as she nervously watched the lynchpin of the world being taken out, "...Is this really going to be fine?"Kisuke didn''t say anything else and just injected more Magic Power into it. A few secondster the cracks worsened and the crystal soon started falling apart, freeing what was inside which was the bisected Yhwach.


    As soon as he was free, the world itself started as it began falling apart like the crystal, but at a much slower pace.


    Kisuke ignored this and conjured another spell that manifested golden chains to hold Yhwach up. Since his lower body was separated from his top part, Kisuke immediately suspended it, not just to keep it safe from rotting but also to stop Yhwach from regenerating in case he attempted toplete himself.


    Yhwach still had his eyes closed but Kisuke knew for sure that he was awake, "It''s not like you to pretend to be unconscious. Don''t bother. I could feel your stare ever since my first visit here."


    Yhwach eyelids softly flutter and after a few seconds, they slowly open up, and his six-eye pupils directly stare at Kisuke, "Urahara Kisuke... I saw your demise. I never expected that you''d one day stand in front of me."


    Yhwach tried to move but he was powerless and these strange chains were bounding him.


    "Of course, you wouldn''t. No matter how strong you get, you won''t be able to see through the original owner of that power."


    Yhwach became silent but his attention was caught by Kisuke''s eyes and the Zanpakuto he was holding, "Eyes that represent life itself and a being of beyond this world... I see. You left and came back... With the Soul King''s assistance at that. How intriguing."


    "Hmmm..." Kisuke rubbed his chin in thought, "It looks like I won''t have to exin anything to you."


    "You overestimate me, Urahara Kisuke. I can see everything in this dimension but not beyond it."


    Kisuke furrowed his brows, ''Does that mean he won''t be able to see the future in the dimension he''s not in or is it that his power is limited only to this dimension? If it''s thetter, then I might have uselessly freed him.''


    While thinking of the possibilities, a certain thought suddenly urred in Kisuke and he asked, "What about Hell?"


    Yhwach stayed silent for a bit and contemted if he should cooperate. But after considering the fact that he''s currently nothing worthy, he decided to see where this goes, "Hell is a foreignnd that has shaped itself to imitate this cluster of worlds. Beyond that, most of it is a mystery."


    A light bulb went up in Kisuke''s head, "I see... So another factor of your defeat was due to the fact that you can''tpletely see-through Hyousube-san."


    Yhwach didn''tment on that but that''s indeed one of the factors. He wrongly assumed that Ichibei was a Shinigami from what he saw.


    "Are you not going to do anything about this?" Kirio couldn''t keep her silence anymore since the shaking had worsened. The division between the worlds started disappearing and it''s only a few moments from now before the worlds will crash into each other.


    Kisuke turned to Kirio and casually winked at her which made thetter ufortable.


    Kisuke turned his head back to Yhwach and asked, "You don''t seem to be that concerned."


    Yhwach immediately gave Kisuke a mocking smile as he replied, "What are you talking about? Isn''t this what I tried to achieve? Though I have to admit, that''s a worthwhile view."


    "I see. So you already know about her."


    Just as Kisuke finished his words, a red beam shed through the closing barriers, opening them up again. The red meteor shook the entire pce and soonnded in the Royal Chamber where everyone was, "Boss! I''m ready!"


    This is the first time that Kirio met her, however, she won''t ever forget that red light, "Y-you! You''re the one who punched through the barriers!?"


    nna, in her Draconic Humanoid form, ignored Kirio since she can''t take her eyes off Yhwach, "You better not use those eyes on ckie or you''ll have a bad time."


    "What an interesting thing to say. I''d like to meet this ckie of yours."


    Though before nna could reply, Kisuke reached out to her while releasing tens more talisman, "nna, don''t mind him. Do you think you could do everything together?"


    The talisman surrounded Yhwach and all of them stuck to him. The next second, a green light covered him and he soon disappeared from the Royal Chamber.


    "If it''s just me, it''s going to be tough, but I made some friends so this should be easy if it''s just a temporary solution."


    Kisuke started walking towards Kirio and scooped her in his arms, "Then I''ll leave things to you here. I''ll pick you upter with a freshly baked banana cake."


    "Make sure to make many, boss! You need to reward ckie and little ckie too!" nna waved goodbye to Kisuke who made his way toward the edge of the pce.


    "Got it."


    After watching Kisuke carry Kirio and jump down, nna let out a short breath before muttering to herself, "As expected of the boss, it seems his decision to drag those guys into his problem was a good solution."


    She then took a deep breath and let out a roar so loud that was heard in the whole expanse of Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World.

 Chapter 1242 Stabilization

    Chapter 1242 Stabilization


    Falling from the Royal Pce, Kirio implored Kisuke, "Just leave me behind, will you?"


    "You know I can''t do that.", Kisuke replied while scanning his surroundings to check the integrity of the space.


    Kirio stared at Kisuke''s serious face for a few seconds before sighing, "It was only years ago that I''ve carried you in my arms. I didn''t think the role would ever be reversed."


    "Really? Not even the slightest possibility?"


    "Of course. Especially the moment I heard about you dying in the Quincy Invasion." Kirio softly chuckled, "I mourned for you and Yoruichi, you know?"


    "Must be a shock to hear that I''m alive then." Kisuke finished his quick scan and found out that the Garganta was being devoured by the Dimensional Gap-like space, ''As expected. She intends to rece the weak foundation. But the rate of recement is not enough to stop the copse of the worlds.''


    While entertaining this question, various roars that didn''te from nna started filling up the entire space.


    "W-what?" Kirio panicked and looked around, "What''s happening?" But when she looked back up, she saw that Kisuke was grinning.


    "I see... This is what she meant when she said she won''t be doing this alone, huh? And here I thought she didn''t like them. I guess she really has been working hard." Kisuke muttered to himself.In the next second, various rips in space appeared all around them, revealing the kaleidoscopic sight beyond that.


    That wasn''t all, however, as various beings of different sizes and appearances began emerging from them while letting outrge roars as if they were chanting in unison.


    "Those are... Dragons?" Kirio murmured and thought that they were going to attack them seeing how hostile they were acting. But contrary to her expectations, they all ignored them and continued flying upwards towards the Royal Pce they just left.


    "They are going to be the ones who''ll stabilize the worlds." Kisuke briefly answered her confusion.


    Indeed, only a minute had psed and the shaking of space stopped, signifying the stop of the copse.


    But when Kisuke thought he''d get a bit of a breather, he suddenly felt a huge amount of Reiatsu fluctuations below, "What now?"


    Clueless, Kirio asked, "Something else? Your life is too busy."


    "You''re just too free after getting into the Zero Division."


    "That''s the life of a guard where no one except crazy people trespass."


    "You mistook capable people with mental asylum patients."


    Kirio sighed, "What''s the difference really? Both don''t think normally."


    Kisuke gave her a smirk before reorienting themselves head first, "Then I''ll show you truly stupid people drunk on their power. Let''s make haste."


    Creating a foothold, Kisukeunched himself downwards while holding Kirio tightly. It only took them a few more minutes before the Soul Society came into their sights and what greeted them was the entire Seireitei in shambles with various buildings on fire, demolished, orpletely wiped away.


    Kirio immediately understood the situation since she already received prior secret reports on the current state of the Seireitei, "I stand corrected. Those guys are the real deal."


    The only untouched section of the Seireitei was the 1st Division jurisdiction and thend upied by the academy beside it. Since that''s where most of the Shinigami defending themselves gathered, they made their way towards it.


    Kisuke''s target was the busted roof that he left earlier but as he got near it, he couldn''t help but narrow his eyes when he saw Hollows wearing a differently designed Shihakushou fighting against the Shinigami of the Gotei 13, "You didn''t stop this?"


    Kirio was also disturbed at this sight and felt a little guilty about it, "You know Hyousube-san''s policy. Unless they touch or threaten the Royal Pce, he''ll ignore it. In his eyes, it''s just a change of administration. All part of the passage of time."


    "I wanted to ask you if he''s always been like that, but I guess you can''t answer that as the newest member of the Zero Division."


    Kirio gritted her teeth and said, "That''s true... And maybe that''s the reason why the oldest of us, Ouetsu, betrayed Hyousube."


    Kisukended on the roof of the 1st Division Barracks and all around him were Shinigami of multiple Divisions surrounding him with their Zanpakuto pulled out.


    But before he could do anything, an elderly man with white hairbed back and arge white mustache walked out while waving his hand, "Stand down. Let them through. Return to your posts and strengthen our defenses."


    The surrounding Shinigami immediately pulled back and saluted. But just as they turned their backs, several men wearing all ck from head to toe silently appeared behind one of the Shinigami present before beheading him.


    While the elderly man only watched stoically, the rest of the Shinigami were obviously bothered and shocked, "What are you all doing!? We''re in a state of emergency! Don''t pity the traitor and move!"


    The Shinigami scrambled away at his voice and Kisuke, with Kirio in his arms,nded beside him, "It''s been a while Okikiba-san. Is the situation really so dire that you had to eliminate him in front of everyone?"


    Okikiba didn''t answer immediately and received the phone that one of the members of the Onmitsukidou picked up from the dead body. While examining its contents, he replied, "Even the Captain Commander didn''t expect that they''ll suddenly mount an attack. They only stopped when the world was on the verge of copse but also soon resumed their assault the moment it was safe. The nobles didn''t want to waste this chance when most of the fighting force of the Gotei 13 was not present."


    Genshirou Okikiba finished examining the phone and confirmed that the dead Shinigami indeed sent information to the opposing nobles, "Though I must say, it''s foolish of them to use the infrastructure that Captain Kurotsuichi built and think it would be safe from eavesdropping."


    "Nah... They just don''t care." Kisuke immediately refuted his words, "These guys are disposable pawns. If they could gather information with just a tiny price of a life, then they''d dly do it. As you''ve said, they don''t want to miss this chance."


    Okikiba also thought about this but didn''t want to admit it since he''s also a noble. Sighing, Okikiba started walking away, "This way, Urahara-san. They''re expecting you." Although he noticed Kirio, he didn''t say anything about her.

 Chapter 1243 Trust

    Chapter 1243 Trust


    Okikiba led Kisuke and Kirio towards a deserted area and a small building beside the 1st Division barracks. Inside the small building, Kisuke could feel two people hiding within the darkness of the shadow but Okikiba ignored them and continued to make his way inside.


    Soon, they reached a set of hidden stairs that led to a very dark tunnel that has numerous hidden presences inside it.


    Kisuke quietly followed Okikiba and estimated where they were going from the direction they were going, ''The 2nd Division area? More specifically, the abandoned Nest of Maggots.''


    From what he saw when he was in the sky, aside from 1st Division and the Academy grounds, everywhere else within the Seireitei was overrun by the noble forces.


    While thinking why they are making their way there, Benihime gave him the answer, [That''s where that nasty bastard''s hiddenb is.]


    ''I see. When you arrived on his side, how far had he progressed?''


    [He already started mass producing the framework for the homunculi and even created a pretty special body for his own little secretary.] Benihime answered but there was still confusion on her side, [But how did you know he''d start copying and mass-producing the bodies you created?]


    ''I''d thought of it the moment Kyouraku-san snuck up on me when I met Aizen.''


    ''From the start then,'' Benihime thought to herself while waiting for Kisuke to continue.''Kyouraku-san already saw me so there was no point in hiding, however, from the start, he''s not really the one I wanted to cooperate with. While the position of the Captain Commander is convenient, it''s also one of the greatest shackles a strong Shinigami could have. I didn''t expect much from him from the beginning and I was right that he couldn''t do something big aside from partially freeing Aizen and manipting the information going around the Gotei 13.''


    [Manipting information is not something big?]


    ''It would be a big deal if not for someone who has a better grasp on real information flowing in and out of the Seireitei. Whether I''d like to admit it or not, Kurotsuchi-san is simr to me so I predicted that after Kyouraku-san met me, it wouldn''t take long before he appeared anomalous in his system. That anomaly within Kurotsuchi-san''s baseline was what I used tomunicate with him and when the whole thing happened with Soifon-san, I figured he''d create his own in case he needed something to counter it.''


    ''From then on, I slowly gave him my intentions through Serafall and my activities. I didn''t attack the Royal Pce twice prior to this just because I wanted to distract them alright? I''m actually appealing to Kurotsuchi-san''s bottom line of preserving the Seireitei and the Gotei 13.''


    Benihime went quiet a moment before she started cursing, [You bastards have been talking without directly speaking?]


    ''That way, nobody suspects anything. Why do you think Soifon-san, Hirako-san, and Kyouraku-san were suspected by the Zero Division yet Kurotsuchi-san was trusted by them? We were being careful in manipting the information to our advantage. Thanks to that, I didn''t have to work alone in mass producing those bodies and I didn''t have to fight against the Gotei 13 when I went to attack the Royal Pce for thest time today. Hyousube-san might have caught me off guard, but I already prepared various paths of retreat and counterattack.''


    While exining to Benihime the high-level overview of what he''s trying to do, Okikiba reached the end of the tunnel and opened the door blocking their way, revealing the inside of the Nest of Maggots that served as a prison for unfortunate Shinigamis.


    Guarding Mayuri''s former cell was the 5th Division''s second inmand, Momo Hinamori.


    Momo was about to greet Okikiba when Kisuke and Kirio suddenly came into her sight and she froze, not knowing what to do.


    "It has been a while, Hinamori-san." Kisuke casually greeted her.


    "E-eh? Ah... Uhmmm... It has been a while, Urahara-san... and Kirio-sama."


    Thankfully, Momo didn''t have to endure the awkward situation as Mayuri came out of the secret door, "Set the greeting aside forter. We don''t have much time for that."


    Mayuri''s eyes thennded on Kirio and was able to figure out the current state she''s in, "You really pulled no punches, huh? But I guess that wasn''t enough to wipe off his annoying grin."


    Kirio smiled wryly and said, "It''s as you''ve said. I wouldn''t even call it a fight since he just disregarded everything I threw at him."


    "Is that so?" Mayuri lost his interest and he turned his eyes towards the cane hanging beside Kisuke, "You know the ce so carry her to a free room."


    Without a word from Kisuke, Benihime materialized with her usual white shirt and tight-fit denim jeans.


    Okikiba and Hinamori were startled at her sudden appearance but Benihime just ignored them and picked up Kirio from Kisuke''s arms before passing by Mayuri and entering hisb.


    Kisuke was not surprised and said, "It seems you got close to her?"


    "Close to her?" Mayuri clicked his tongue and turned around to enter theb, "She''s one of the most venomous women I''ve ever met. And if there''s one thing I figured out about her, she hates troublesome things. Hikifune was the ticket for her to get out of this so I knew she would take it."


    Hinamori and Okikiba looked at each other and just watched Kisuke follow Mayuri inside. Once they made some distance from the door, Hinamori manually closed the door while muttering, "So many things are going on... I don''t even know if what we''re doing is the right thing, but I hope the others in Hell are safe."


    "ording to Captain Kurotsuchi, Urahara Kisuke wouldn''t let former Captain Commander Yamamoto go away and probably already pulled him to his side. Instead of fighting each other, I can only assume that they are now together, fighting for themon cause."


    Hinamori was still conflicted and couldn''t entirely believe Okikiba''s words, "...I sure hope so..."


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as Kisuke entered Mayuri''s facility, the first thing he noticed was the entire 12th Division present andmunicating to the Shinigami outside defending themselves.


    But before he could figure out the whole picture through various monitors, he raised his right arm to defend himself. The next instant, he caught a leg that created a shockwave that knocked over some of the members of the 12th Division.


    And when he looked towards the owner of the leg he was holding, Kisuke saw a very angry woman, "Ah~ Soifon-san~! I''m really d to see you as energetic as ever!"


    "You hoodlum! I trusted you and I thought you trusted me!"

 Chapter 1244 Escape part 1

    Chapter 1244 Escape part 1


    Before Kisuke could say anything, it was Mayuri who got pissed first, "If you want to brawl, do it somewhere else. There are many sensitive pieces of equipment in here that are of paramount importance."


    Soifon red at Mayuri but thetter didn''t back down. Soifon then closed her eyes and let out a long sigh in an attempt to calm herself down while removing her leg from Kisuke.


    "If you''re done, then let''s move inside. We don''t have time to y around." Mayuri resumed his steps while gesturing to his members to go back to their work.


    Soifon red at Kisuke though Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and followed Mayuri.


    In one of the inner rooms isted from the rest for privacy''s sake, Shinji, Shunsui, and Nanao turned to the entrance when Mayuri came in with Kisuke, and sulking Soifon came in.


    "No wonder she rushed out," Shinji muttered while sporting a grin at Kisuke.


    "I''ll admit though, I used her as bait to make Kurotsuchi-san do what I wanted." Kisuke approached them and sat down on the free seat.


    Soifon clenched her fist and stayed quiet. She wanted even a bit of apology from Kisuke but technically speaking, he didn''t do anything wrong and he did everything with her consent so he doesn''t owe her any apologies. Like how she hid some things from him, he also hid some things from her. Their rtionship is as simple as a give and take, "..."


    Even then, she couldn''t help but feel frustrated and a bit hurt because she genuinely thought of Kisuke as herrade, ''In the end, I''m just a simple pawn to him.''Shunsui took a peek at Soifon''s expression before looking back at Kisuke and said, "So I''m just a bait too?" Although he was in the same position as Soifon, he''s not as bothered.


    "Well, I refuse to believe that Kurotsuchi-san wouldn''t be suspicious of you after acting weirdly. No matter how normal you act, you''d slip up in some ces regardless of whether you like it or not."


    Shunsui then turned to Mayuri and asked, "Just for reference sake, how did you be suspicious of me?"


    Mayuri also sat down on his seat and answered, "You might have hidden it from our senses, but you can''t reliably hide your Reiatsu when you release your Bankai against constantly monitoring machines. Sitri Serafall can do this strange teleportation technique that''s almost undetectable with our technology, so I assumed that you''re guarding the Muken secretly from possible intruders using simr techniques."


    "So from there, you just started piecing clues together?" Shinji joined the conversation.


    Mayuri sighed, "It''ll be a long story and I hate long stories." He ced his hands together and stared at Kisuke, "We''re all here for rification so why don''t we get going with that?"


    "Nanao-chan, please prepare us some tea." Shunsui instructed Nanao who was standing behind him, "And Soifon,e sit down... Or would you rather stay there?"


    Soifon hesitated for a bit before sitting down beside Kisuke.


    "Now then, where should I start?..." Kisuke started speaking, this time, not hiding his real intentions.


    .


    .


    .


    After about half an hour, Shunsui was kneading his forehead, Shinji and Soifon staring at Kisuke who was casually sipping his tea with an unbelieving expression, Nanao staring at him with fear, while Mayuri was rubbing his chin carefully thinking about what he just heard and its usibility.


    Shinji turned to Soifon and hurriedly asked, "You really don''t know any of that?"


    "How would I know that he intended to reshape the entire cycle of souls and let go 99% of the entirety of Soul Society? That''s basically destroying it. Though I do agree with doing away with the lynchpin being the sole pir of the world''s stability."


    Shunsui looked toward Mayuri who was in deep thought and asked, "What do you think? Could you agree with that?"


    Mayuri stopped rubbing his chin and his eyesnded on Shunsui, "The lynchpin is indeed a big headache and I really hate the fact that all of our existence depended on a single point of failure, it really didn''t bode well with me. Besides, even if most of the souls in Soul Society leave, the Seireitei itself would still exist. It''s the reason why I started mass-producing those bodies. However..." His eyes moved andnded on Kisuke, "I''m still wondering how you''d achieve this. On top of that, I still don''t know why you''re making an effort to save Seireitei since you could start all of this without these extra steps. The only difference is that the Seireitei would be dissolved and the strong souls would be left wandering around without a ce to call home."


    "Isn''t that obvious?" Shinji chimed in, "He didn''t want to make an enemy of the entire Seireitei since we''d do our best to stop him."


    "Even if we do our best, that might not be enough to stop him. As I''ve insinuated earlier, he could just ignore us and go on with this n of his and he''ll achieve the same thing. Who cares if he''ll make an enemy out of us? He could just hide and let the Seireitei rot without any ability to replenish its power," replied Mayuri before confronting Kisuke again, "What else are you hiding?"


    But instead of Kisuke, Soifon was the one who answered, "Kisuke came back from another world. He probably wanted to connect that world''s reincarnation system to this world." She was worried that the contract would stop her from speaking but thankfully, it didn''t activate, signifying that it was fine for her to reveal this. After hearing his side just now, Soifon pieced together the information that she had and was able toe up with that conclusion.


    "...Another world?" Mayuri instantly became intrigued and Kisuke felt nervous when he saw that his eyes started shining with unprecedented interest, "That would answer a lot of things, especially the existence of those girls."


    Mayuri wanted to know more and was about to bombard Kisuke with various questions but all of a sudden, something on Nanao started shining with blue light.


    Nanao was the first one to notice but all of the people inside the room soon gathered their attention to her, "W-what?"


    Confused, Nanao took out the shining thing and it turned out to be a single piece of paper with an insignia shining, "T-this is... What Sitri-san gave me when shest visited the Seireitei."


    The paper then escaped from Nanao''s hand and flew towards the open space within the room. The light grew brighter and soon, a Magic Circle containing the insignia drawn on the paper manifested and soon a twin-tailed short-stacked pretty woman emerged from it while shouting, "Sess~! Good thing I left that with Nanao-chan... Hmmm? Oh. Ki-tan! You''re here too? You''re done with your work?"


    "...Sera-chan? What are you doing here?" Kisuke asked because it''s obvious that she was forced to teleport away from Hell, "What''s happening down there?"


    "It''s a literal hellscape, butter on that! Help me establish a connection with Ku-chan. We need to teleport everyone out of there!"


    ''Ophis didn''t destroy Hell, did she?'' Kisuke asked himself while scrambling to stand up to help Serafall with her request.

 Chapter 1245 Escape part 2

    Chapter 1245 Escape part 2


    Nanao was stunned and extremely bothered about the piece of paper but she didn''t have time to say anything when the Magic Circle that Serafall conjured widened after Kisuke came in to assist her.


    "Yosh~! It''s connected! Ki-tan, make sure not to lose it." Serafall raised her voice as Kisuke was stunned by the auraing from the other side.


    ''What is this?'' Kisuke asked himself, incredibly bothered, ''This is the old monk''s? But something is different.''


    Kisuke turned to Mayuri and said, "Kurotsuchi-san, please clear the room."


    Mayuri didn''t say anything and urged the seated Captains to stand up before taking out a remote control and pressing several buttons in sequence on it.


    Immediately after, the tables, chairs, and other furniture started dissolving and disappeared among the cracks of the floor making the already spacious room wider.


    A few secondster, several individuals started appearing on the Magic Circle and they were the people who initiated an attack on Hell minus the members of the Zero Division.


    "Where is this...?" The Lieutenant of the 8th Division, Yuyu Yayahara, muttered but she immediately caught sight of Shunsui and straightened up, "C-Captain Commander!?"


    "I see. So you guys have returned. I''d like to hear what happened down there but..." Shunsui peeked at Serafall and thetter immediately said, "Yep. Move it. There''s another batching."Shunsui''s heart immediately jumped at her words. Shunsui then turned to Mayuri and instructed, "Kurotsuchi, brief everyone on the situation. I''ll leave the details of the operation to you but beware..."


    As soon as Shunsui referred to him, Mayuri already started walking towards the exit and interrupted the former''s warning, "I know. They may have attacked at a convenient time, but the fact they took action meant that they are confident enough to take on the Gotei 13 at its full strength."


    After the effect of the Teleportation Circle subsided, the members of the Gotei 13 finally felt what was going on outside and immediately concluded that there''s arge-scale battle happening outside.


    "...What in the world happened during this short amount of time?" Toushirou muttered while gritting his teeth and his Reiatsu ring up.


    Without turning around, Mayuri answered him, "That''s what I intend to brief you people about. We don''t have time so follow me. That includes you, Hirako, Soifon."


    Shinji and Soifon looked at each other. They wanted to hear more about Kisuke''s situation, but their duties came first.


    Soon enough, everyone except for Shunsui, Nanao, Kisuke, and Serafall remained in the room.


    "Next group ising!" Serafall raised her voice. The next moment, the ''dead'' members of the Gotei 13 made their appearance.


    "...Old man... Juushiro... Everyone..." Shunsui already prepared himself when he heard there was a next batch but he was still visibly shaken. Nanao, on the other hand, was stunned silent and could only cover her mouth at the moment.


    "Hooh..." Yamamoto gave him a gentle look while rubbing his beard, "In just a short decade, you''ve grown visibly older."


    The stunned Shunsui was worried that he was not the same old man that he knew and admired but with just those few words, he could finally sigh in relief, "I don''t know how you managed to do this job for so long."


    "...Err... Excuse me. As you know, you guys are not the only ones that have to go through it. Please move it." Serafall, with an obvious hint of anger in her voice, addressed them, "You can have your happy reunionter."


    "Ohoho, my bad." Yamamoto chuckled while moving to the side, "We can''t have those youngdies waiting, can we?"


    The others also swiftly got off the Magic Circle but what caught Kisuke''s attention was Batsu''unsai who''s covered in wounds and being assisted by Furoufushi to walk, ''Those wounds don''t look good just judging from their color. I guess it wasn''t easy to go against the [Shinigami Killer].''


    It didn''t take long for the Magic Circle to shine again and this time, it was Kunou, Tanis, and the unconscious ire.


    "Hmmm? Where''s the sword guy?" asked Serafall.


    Kunou gave ire a quick check before answering, "He said that he can''t leave theb."


    "What? But there''s no way to protect that ce in the current situation."


    Kisuke''s eyes immediately sharpened and thought, ''It looks like what''s happening is not simple if even she''s saying that.''


    Kisuke was not so sure of the situation but he knows what he has to do, "Sera-chan, keep the gateway open. I''m sending a telepathic message to Ouetsu-san."


    Serafall just nodded and poured her Demonic Power into the Magic Circle, "But since Ku-chan stopped supporting the other side, I can only keep it up for a minute or two."


    "That''s enough." Kisuke retracted his Magic Power and used it to initiate amunication Magic, [Ouetsu-san, can you hear me?]


    [This voice, Urahara boy?]


    [It''s I.]


    [Urahara, I know what you''re thinking, but there''s so much of our work here. I don''t want to just discard it.]


    [I still don''t know what exactly is happening but at myb extension, the wall on the right and exactly 3.5 meters from the corner, there''s a hollow spot 2.4 meters from the floor. Break it and you should see a tiny button behind it. That button will initiate an emergency transport module that I prepared and should bring the entireb, workshop, and you to another space that I control.]


    [...Damn... You really are prepared. Got it. You should hear the situation from the girly. It''s really a mess here.]


    Immediately after, Kisuke disconnected the Magic and signed to Serafall that he''s done.


    Serafall also hurriedly closed the Magic Circle and only then was she able to breathe a sigh of relief, "We got out for now, but we don''t have time to rest."


    "So, what exactly happened? I can feel Hyousube-san''s aura from the other side."


    "I''m also not sure but the ck monk suddenly became insane and grew a pair of fly wings. Immediately after, probably millions of worms started breaking out of the ground." Serafall and the girls were visibly recoiling while describing the scenery, "But the biggest problem is that they started chewing on the boundary of the space itself. If I were to make any assumptions, those worms would soon reach this ce or the Human World."

 Chapter 1246 Upcoming Invasion

    Chapter 1246 Uing Invasion


    "C-chewing?" Kisuke stuttered his words due to how ridiculous that sounded, "I''m sorry, but I don''t have enough imagination to imagine that."


    "Yes. Those things are literally chewing the boundary between spaces itself." Serafall repeated her point.


    "...How?"


    "We''re not really sure of the mechanism behind it since I also noticed the boundary is having a hard time regenerating." As one of thest ones who went through the Teleportation Magic, Kunou was able to observe the situation more than anyone else, "But if they are attracted to the thin film that separates the spaces..."


    "It won''t be long before they arrive in other neighboring dimensions. Including this ce, of course." Serafall finished Kunou''s words for her with her very rare frowning expression.


    "..." The room became deathly quiet. The former Captains who witnessed these strange worms are confident that they could take out hundreds of them at the same time. However, it''s only now that they realize how dangerous the situation is, not just for the Soul Society but also for the Human World and Hueco Mundo. Not to mention, they estimated that there are at least hundreds of thousands of them from their initial surfacing.


    "So what''s the n?" Furoufushi asked while setting down Batsu''unsai.


    Kisuke turned to her and said, "Aren''t you curious what they are first? There''s no way you can respond to the threat properly without knowing the details surrounding them."


    "That''s true, but we''re also out of time." Furoufushi answered with cold killing intent surrounding her and that''s also the same with Chika and Batsu''unsai.Kisuke wondered what was making them anxious but immediately recalled what they were doing when they first met. Sighing, Kisuke took out a small bag that contained 36 cubes of one inch each and passed them to Furoufushi, "The 16 gray ones are scanning devices. They are small but they are powerful enough that they''ll onlyst for a few days before they burn themselves. Toss them around as you go. The rest are experimental bombs that may or may not work on those worms. Due to theck of opportunity, I haven''t been able to test them out."


    Furoufushi nkly received the bag and checked its contents, "You''re not going to stop us?" She, Chika, and Batsu''unsai understand how much manpower they need right now and with them going away, would be a huge blow to the avable hands that could coverrge areas.


    "There''s no point, isn''t it? If you''re going to throw your lives away, you might as well be useful until the end."


    "So they are leaving immediately?", asked Serafall while preparing to reconnect the Teleportation Magic they used.


    Kisuke also came back to his position and helped Serafall, "You''d be doing the same if you''re in their position, wouldn''t you?"


    "Well, I can''t deny that."


    Meanwhile, Chika turned to Yamamoto and lowered his head, "Captain, I apologize. I know that we''re needed but..."


    Yamamoto just waved his hand, "It''s fine. You swore to protect something and you know your priorities. There''s nothing to be ashamed of."


    Batsu''unsai and Furoufushi also lowered their heads to Yamamoto and said at the same time, "Thank you for understanding us, Captain."


    Yamamoto stroked his beard with a solemn expression while saying, "Although unlike Urahara here, I do believe that you''lle out of it alive. Do your best so that we can sit down peacefully again."


    The three of them stood up straight in salute, "Yes, Captain!"


    At the same time, the Teleportation Magic reactivated and Serafall immediately gestured to them to go in, "This will return you to our previous position. That ce was probably overrun by these worms so be careful."


    Kisuke turned to the limping Batsu''unsai and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"


    Batsu''unsai, meanwhile, just disyed a resolute smile while turning to Tanis, "I''m fine. I have a good teacher so it won''t take long before the poison ispletely expelled and I heal myself."


    "I see. Then, good luck to all of you."


    Furoufushi, Chika, and Batsu''unsai stepped into the Magic Circle and before they all disappeared, Kisuke had some final words, "And regarding the ck monk, avoid him at all costs."


    As their presence disappeared, Kunou approached Kisuke and Serafall with a concerned expression, "Is it alright to let them go?"


    Kisuke patted her head in constion, "They have people they want to protect and as much as we''d like to help, we''re also not in the position to extend our hand. Remember that there will be times that no matter how good you be, there are still things that you can''t do. Or else, you''ll just lose everything.


    "Of course, this is not to discourage you. After all, you can still do things so that you won''t end up in such a position in the first ce as much as possible." Kisuke turned to Tanis and asked her to take care of Kunou and ire, "You girls should take a rest first. We''ll call you back when we need to move out."


    Tanis nodded and brought ire and Kunou out of the room. She knew that it was time for the adults to have a talk and she didn''t want to interfere with it too much, especially when she knew almost nothing about the circumstances.


    Kisuke let out a long breath and turned to Serafall again, "Before we start, what happened to Ophis?"


    Serafall shook her head, "I''m not sure. Thest thing I saw was her restraining the transforming monk."


    "I see..." Kisuke pulled out Tiamat and intended to cut through space to return to Hell, "I shouldn''t take long, but I''ll leave things here to you. You''re much more experienced in affairs of a global scale than the rest of us."


    Serafall wanted to stop him but she knew that she''d only be wasting her breath.


    The Shinigamis around them wondered why Kisuke didn''t go with the previous three, however, Shunsui was more curious about something else, "Wait, even more than the old man?"


    Kisuke faced him with a grin and replied, "She once led an army of tens of millions of soldiers. Does that count?"


    Not just Shunsui, but the rest also froze on their spot when they heard his words, "T-tens of millions?"


    Serafall, on the other hand, could only hold her head in frustration, "Please don''t remind me of that. That wasn''t a pleasant time." Although it should be a source of pride to her, Serafall didn''t like nor feel any pride from the fact that she killed millions of people from thest Underworld Civil War.


    The smile on Kisuke''s face disappeared, "Regardless, you''d have a better response than anyone else in this room."


    Kisuke went through the cut in space he made and disappeared, leaving behind a silent room.


    A few secondster, Serafall jumped into action and turned to Shunsui, "Captain Commander-chan, please contact the West Soul Society and ask for their cooperation. Tell them to contact the Defense Ministries of various nations to prepare their arsenals."


    "...And if they don''t agree?"


    With a big smile on her face, Serafall replied with a bone-chilling voice, "Tell them that the ''Dragon Queen'' will incinerate them."

 Chapter 1247 A Fly

    Chapter 1247 A Fly


    Kisuke just stepped into the Dimensional Gap, which had now reced the void between worlds, Garganta. This was done by nna and her Dragon friends to keep the worlds together. However, unlike the Dimensional Gap that he knew, it''s not an infinite space because it was just a temporary measure.


    It was with that idea in mind that he was not surprised to meet a lone maggot wriggling around without any sense of direction. Since the emergency protection system that he ced on Ophis hadn''t triggered, Kisuke took his time to observe the maggot, ''It doesn''t know what to do but it looks like it''s slowly adjusting. It''ll take some time, but it''ll eventually know how to move. It''s also a problem that it could survive this chaotic space since only a few people coulde into this ce and remain unscathed.''


    With a swing of the released Tiamat, Kisuke bisected the struggling maggot.


    On his way to Hell, Kisuke found several more of these maggots and had the same observation as the first one, ''As soon as they learn to move properly, they''ll reach the other worlds.''


    While bringing that bad premonition with him, he finally took the shortest path to Hell, ''After nna took over the role of the lynchpin, the n was to slowly integrate the three worlds with therger scope of the Dimensional Gap. But to think it''ll be this messy... I hope it''s not too messy on the other side too.''


    Kisuke soon found an increasing number of maggots and not long after that were the holes they created to even reach the Dimensional Gap in the first ce. Despite his high resistance to disgusting things, the hair on Kisuke''s body couldn''t help but stand up while watching thousands of these maggots pile out of the holes, slowly drifting into the kaleidoscopic space and spreading out into the distance, "This is so much worse than I anticipated... Though thanks to this, Hell atrge should be rtively safer.


    Ignoring the flood of maggots, Kisuke went through one of the holes and immediately scanned his surroundings. He couldn''t feel Ichibei''s aura, but he could tell that Ophis was around with her power still lingering.


    And sure enough, Ophis suddenly appeared beside him. But what surprised him more was the two people tied by her snakes beside her, "You''ve arrived."


    Kisuke nodded and patted her head, "Mmm. I''m sorry for letting you do an unreasonable task. It even endangered Lilith."Ophis shook her head, "I am d to be of help. It''s about time I returned the favor."


    "You didn''t really have to..." Kisuke sighed before finally turning his attention to the two people ring at them, "I''m d to see you guys still energetic. I truly mean it."


    One of the tied-up people, Tenjirou Kirinji, clicked his tongue, "Do you expect us to believe that?"


    Kisuke grinned and covered his mouth with his free hand, "Of course not. But I guess this is not a good ce to talk, huh?"


    "What do you n to do with us?" The other tied person, Senjumaru Shutara, asked. She had been trying to get the snake off her body but no matter what she did, they didn''t budge at all.


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before answering, "That''ll be up to you."


    Senjumaru and Tenjirou looked at each other and weighed their options. As even those who were Ichibei''s close confidants don''t know what''s going on so they didn''t really have many options.


    "Before anything, what happened to Kirio?" Senjumaru asked again.


    The smile on Kisuke''s face disappeared, "She''s fine, but she has lost all of her powers."


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru''s eyes widened in surprise, "S-she lost her powers? ...Then that would mean..." Not from the fact that she lost her powers but from the fact that she''s still alive because they could only think of one ability of hers that would strip her of all of her powers as a Shinigami.


    Kisuke was able to guess what they were thinking and replied, "She tried but I got lucky and she failed."


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru were silent for a moment before the former asked, "How did you... save her?" As the creator of most of the Kaidou system, Tenjirou was incredibly curious as he already researched this situation beforehand and found no solution, ''Even the immortality granted by Ichibei''s naming couldn''t save her in case she uses that. Just how did he...?''


    Because if there''s something that Ichibei can''t rename, those are the basicws of the universe.


    "As I said, I got lucky. You can ask her about the detailster." Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, "More importantly, I assume you also don''t have any idea what got into Hyousube-san, do you?"


    Senjumaru immediately answered, "No. We would appreciate it if you give us some clues because you seem to have some."


    "I only have some guesses..." Kisuke then turned to Ophis and asked, "What did he look like to you, Ophis-chan?"


    "...A fly," Ophis answered after thinking about it for a few seconds.


    "I see." Kisuke heaved out a heavy sigh, "This is more troublesome than I thought. And here I thought I could take it easy after recing the lynchpin."


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru already expected it when he returned to Hell after defeating Kirio but they were still shocked, "Do the three worlds still exist?"


    "It does. In the first ce, I didn''t have any intention of destroying them." Kisuke prepared Tiamat once again and flew off to one of the holes, "Let''s return to Soul Society first."


    Ophis closely followed him and the other two found that some of their mobility returned. They looked at each other before also following the first two.


    As they got into the Dimensional Gap, Tenjirou and Senjumaru were once again shocked by the chaotic pull the space produced, "This is... Such a deadly ce, weaker Hollows and Shinigamis won''t be able to traverse this." muttered thetter.


    Kisuke didn''t say anything and just silently went through the crowd of maggots. It didn''t take long before they reached where Kisuke made the hole in space and returned.


    Upon their arrival, Kisuke found out that there was only one person present in the room and that was the weirdly dressed Kurotsuchi, "So you brought them back. Now let''s hear what your n is before the three worlds arepletely eaten."

 Chapter 1248 VIP Guest

    Chapter 1248 VIP Guest


    Mayuri prepared enough seats for everyone while pondering about the snakes that were tying up the members of the Zero Division, ''Fascinating... To think something flimsy could hold someone like them. And they don''t feel special at all.'' His eyesnded on the ck-haired girl but thetter just ignored him and sat down beside Kisuke, ''I only heard a nonsensical story, but I wonder how much truth was behind it?''


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru didn''t hesitate anymore and also sat down, "To think those idiots would actually start a civil war. Were they too bored?", muttered the former.


    "Don''t make it sound like you''re not involved," Mayuri replied while giving him a side-eye.


    "But we''re not. It''s not our problem unless the bnce is threatened." Tenjirou shrugged his shoulders, "I can''t say the same for Ichibei, though. He''s the only one who has the freedom to act on his own."


    "And it''s not like we''re aware of most of his independent actions." Senjumaru supplemented.


    Kisuke and Mayuri nced at each other. Although they are not saying it outright, they are trying to hint at their current stance in the current series of events.


    Kisuke then turned to Ophis and said, "Ophis-chan, please release them."


    Ophis tilted her head towards him, "Are you certain?"


    Kisuke nodded at her with a smile, "Even if they start fighting, it''s easy for you to erase them, right?"Mayuri''s eyes widened while Tenjirou and Senjumaru shuddered because he was not absolutely joking.


    With the same small smile, Ophis let out a proud harrumph and said, "Of course. I''m strong, after all."


    At the same time, the snakes coiling around Tenjirou and Senjumaru started disintegrating into nothing, freeing them and allowing them to utilize their Reiatsu. Naturally, both of them didn''t do anything that would trigger the terrifying little girl and just sat obediently.


    Also, at that moment, everyone felt Yamamoto''s dense Reiatsu ring up outside with the air slowly drying up.


    While looking up, Mayurimented, "This thing isn''t going to take long. But it''s going to be noisy for a while."


    "Then what about going to my ce? Can you leave your station for a while?"


    Mayuri turned back to Kisuke with a suspicious look.


    "I''m not going to do anything bad. I also want to check on Nimaiya-san''s status and the work I left him."


    Mayuri stood up and started operating his phone to send various messages, "Alright, let''s go. Akon should know what to do in my absence. I''m also bringing Nemu with me."


    Kisuke didn''t mind and said, "I think I''ll also bring ire, Kunou, and Tanis. They''ll be able to rest easier at home."


    .


    .


    .


    Ophis led the way by teleporting everyone to their home which was arge mansion in the middle of nowhere.


    "As expected... That house in the Human World was just for show. But to think you''re hiding in the Valley of Screams... I''m regrly scanning these pocket dimensions but nothing like this ever came up."


    "I''d be more amazed if you can actually find this ce," Kisuke replied as they felt another presence quickly approaching.


    It was only a split secondter that Ouetsu appeared in front of the group with a surprised expression, "Urahara... And you brought Tenjirou and Senjumaru with you? How?"


    Tenjirou red at Ouetsu for a moment but immediately calmed down, "You know what? Forget it. We also don''t know what the hell is going on. I''m curious about something though. How did you escape from Zero Division''s contract?"


    Ouetsu disyed arge grin and fixed his sunsses, "I hope you haven''t forgotten. I''m the one who created the brush he used to write that contract."


    "So you already have an idea what Ichibei truly is." Senjumaru joined in.


    "Of course I do. I''ve known him even before the initial conception of beings called Shinigami."


    "Then what is he?" Tenjirou asked.


    However, Tenjirou only received a shrug, "Who knows? At that time, all I knew and wanted to do is to swing my hammer and y with fire. I didn''t care what those guys were doing with the Soul King." And while speaking, Ouetsu''s eyes slowly drifted toward Kisuke, "If there''s someone who knows, it''s probably this guy."


    That resulted in all eyes presentnding on Kisuke, prompting him to respond, "I have a clue but I''m not certain. I intend to let everyone know my hypothesis in the process of nning out our countermeasures against those maggots. But before that, let''s call in another person." Kisuke approached Ophis and continued, "Ophis-chan, I have another favor. Once that guest arrives, I want you to..."


    .


    .


    .


    Half an hour after Kisuke''s group''s arrival, Ophis was standing alone in a wide field not far from the mansion. The task that was given to her this time was to wait for a certain man.


    Because of her not-so-standard perception of time, Ophis didn''t know that half an hour had already passed. Thankfully, Ophis didn''t have to wait long as she detected a fluctuation in space.


    She immediately sprung into action and summoned a six-foot wide and a hundred-foot long jet-ck snake with glistening purple eyes.


    A tall man wearing an all-ck with a white trimming outfit, swept-back brown hair, and a pair of menacing brown eyes appeared with a calm expression after a violet light shed briefly. However, that calm expression instantly turned bewildered when he saw a giant snake about to swallow him whole, "...Hmm?"


    As a response, he released his absolutely massive Reiatsu that''s enough to erase the existence of any normal people just by being around him.


    His weaponized Reiatsu, which was enough to take down the Royal Pce, mmed into the iing snake''s mouth. But to his surprise, the snake only slowed down a bit, albeit started disintegrating.


    The man''s violet Reiatsu intensified. Even though the snake was about to gulp him down, it couldn''t bite down and was blown off into countless pieces.


    He immediately noticed that the snake was not a true living being and turned his attention to the little girl who attacked him, "You are... That being who fended off that mechanical lifeform from Urahara''s memories."


    He then pointed his right hand towards him and conjured a violet ball of pure destructive Reiryoku. Despite his calm demeanor, he still wouldn''t easily let go of anyone whose attack almost reached him.


    He releaseda second ball and sent it flying towards Ophis. To his surprise once again, Ophis didn''t move at all and continued to stand her ground. The violet ball of destruction squarely hit her on the stomach and it was soon followed by a sh of violet light engulfing Ophis and her surroundings.


    The violet light produced a massive explosion that sent debris and dust all around. The man, however, was in for the third surprise when the dust cleared up and found the little girl without any damage and still standing, now in mid-air because under her was just a giant crater still glowing red from the heat.


    The man, Sosuke Aizen, smiled, "Interesting."


    However, this man was fated to be surprised for the fourth time today.

 Chapter 1249 Counter Measure

    Chapter 1249 Counter Measure


    Except for Kunou and Tanis who had brought ire to the medical facility, Kisuke led everyone else to the surveince room and after turning up the barrier around the mansion to the max, he turned on the numerous screens present and they started disying Ophis who''s silently waiting.


    "Who did you invite that someone like her has to receive?" Tenjirou asked curiously while rubbing his chin. Since he had already stepped onto this boat, he decided to befortable, ''Ichibei has something to do with those maggots as Urahara calls them. Might as well see where this is going. In any case, I''m still fulfilling my job technically.''


    Senjumaru also had the same train of thought but she was still a bit apprehensive of where they are right now, ''It won''t be easy fighting those nigh infinite maggots no matter how weak they are individually. But it has to be done even if the Zero Division is gone.''


    "You''ll see." Kisuke just gave him a short answer.


    And after waiting for about half an hour, something finally happened and Ophis summoned a gigantic snake.


    "...Is that... Aizen Sosuke?" Mayuri muttered while furrowing his brows, "I was expecting that you''d free him at some point, but I didn''t know that he was already wandering around. And looking at him, he has already recovered most of his abilities." He was also trying to hide his surprise at Ophis equally duking it out with a monster like Aizen, ''Another monster, huh? The aura around her is also familiar... Ah, that''s right. It was those roars that sounded like trumpets of the apocalypse.''


    Tenjirou turned to Kisuke who still had a calm demeanor and said, "I know you''re crazy... But you''re actually suicidal. You do realize that he could do more damage than Yhwach and it''s only because he got overconfident that you were able to seal him, right?"


    "And to properly kill him, Ichibei once mentioned that you have to kill him at least a hundred thousand times." Senjumaru added while her eyes were still glued on the screen, watching the two of them attempt to destroy each other with no avail, ''Aizen is one thing, but is this little girl actually invulnerable?''


    Meanwhile, Ouetsu was much more interested in Kisuke''s intention of letting Ophis face Aizen, and a few momentster, a lightbulb went off in his head, "Ah... So that''s what you''re trying to do.""Well, if we want him to sit down on the same level as us, we have to do this first," Kisuke replied. He was not surprised that Ouetsu was able to guess his intention since he already had a rough idea of Ophis'' abilities.


    Soon, the moment Kisuke was waiting for arrived and he finally made his move.


    .


    .


    .


    .


    Aizen and Ophis exchanged various ranged attacks but neither of them moved an inch. While Aizen would instantly regenerate any damage done to him, Ophis remained still as a cold rock without any speck of dust on her.


    If this was the Ophis of the past, no matter how durable she was, she wouldn''t remain safe from someone like Aizen, but she had finally learnt how to defend herself with her dense, infinite energy. Only some people like ire who can ignore or disable defenses, could hurt her.


    Aizen momentarily stopped his attacks and so did Ophis, "What are you trying to achieve here? And where''s Urahara?"


    However, Ophis only kept staring at him, waiting for his next actions.


    Aizen smirked and continued, "Well, you don''t have to answer."


    All of a sudden, Ophis felt something strange on her stomach and when she looked down, she saw an arm sticking out from it, "I just have to force that guy toe out." she heard Aizen''s voice from behind. When she looked back up, she saw ''Aizen'' in the distance in front of her slowly disappearing.


    For the first time, there''s a change in Ophis'' expression but it was not what Aizen was expecting, ''She''s smiling?''


    Aizen hurriedly pulled out his arm but before he could do so, he felt a sting on it. Aizen made a distance between him and Ophis to figure out what thetter was nning. In that instant, he also took a look at the arm he used to pierce her stomach and found two small holes in it, "Snake bite?"


    He wanted to continue his assault but Aizen decided against it when he felt another presence approaching. A few secondster, he saw Kisuke appearing beside Ophis with a sh Step.


    "That''s quite a rude greeting, wasn''t it?" Aizenined with a smile.


    But Kisuke didn''t immediately address him and turned to Ophis, "Did it work?"


    Ophis nodded and nine small snakes instantly manifested in her hand that she raised in front of her. Without any further instruction from Kisuke, eight of the nine snakes started flying towards the mansion while thest one attached itself to Kisuke''s palm, bing a tattoo.


    Aizen wanted to intercept the snakes but before he could even move forward, he was surprised that an invisible sh stopped his tracks and gave his arm a wound. However, Aizen was not surprised that he was wounded. He turned to Kisuke and asked, "Kyouka Suigetsu didn''t work on you, huh?"


    Kisuke chuckled while holding Tiamat and showed him the tattoo of the snake, "Sorry about this rude wee. I have to take measures for us to properly talk, you see?"


    Aizen turned to the snakes that had already entered the mansion and sighed, "I guess that''s true. But I''d like some properpensation for this harassment."


    Kisuke sighed in relief, "You''re much more open to this than I initially thought."


    "You''ll understand once the burden of ambition leaves your consciousness."


    .


    .


    .


    The snakes arrived at the surveince room and the one who took the initiative to receive them like Kisuke was Ouetsu, "You have to touch Kyouka Suigetsu''s de to render it ineffective. Since Aizen fused with his Zanpakuto, his entire body has essentially be Kyouka Suigetsu''s de. Its advantage is apparent since he could put everyone into an illusion by justying your eyes on him, but so is its weakness. The little girl was giving us a way to deny his Zanpakuto''s ability."


    Ouetsu''s exnation was easy to understand. And after a few moments of hesitation, everyone epted the snakes in their palms.

 Chapter 1250 Another VIP

    Chapter 1250 Another VIP


    Kisuke invited Aizen inside to meet the rest, "Hooh... What a fun assortment of people. To think we''d alle together like this for a discussion, I would have never expected it in a thousand years."


    "Want to make it ten thousand years?" Ouetsu replied back with a smirk on his face, not backing down from the Reiatsu Aizen was releasing.


    ''There are more surprises?'' Everyone thought to themselves when they heard Ouetsu''s words, "I felt his arrival earlier. I thought you might as well let him in since he''s here.", Ouetsu added to Kisuke.


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Alright. He can''te up but I can set up a remote connection. He''s probably seeing all of this anyways."


    Mayuri and Aizen knew what happened when the worlds started copsing earlier so they immediately had an idea who Kisuke was referring to, "Now, I never really expected this in ten thousand years." Thettermented with a heartyugh while also reeling in his Reiatsu that was already hurting the small Nemu despite multiple people blocking his Reiatsu for her.


    The group arrived at the conference room and Kisuke offered each of them a seat while also typing on the keyboard present on the head of the table. A few secondster, a holographic screen appeared in the middle of the table depicting a man without his lower body, suspended in half an inch of wires.


    "How gracious of you to include me in this little gathering." Yhwach opened his mouth before slowly opening his eyes that has now returned to normal, signifying that his [Almighty] had been deactivated, "This is also a rather interesting seal. You really do know a lot of tricks, Urahara Kisuke."


    "The basis of that seal was thanks to a certain broke Valkyrie. I only modified it a bit to suit my needs." Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders after a short answer and took a seat.


    Tenjirou and Senjumaru''s eyes widened and both of them were shaken by his appearance, "...So you really did it. I was suspicious of your ims but to think that you were able to stabilize the worlds without him...", muttered the former.Senjumaru''s gaze, on the other hand, became attracted to Ophis, "After witnessing all that''s happening, this is actually not the most surprising thing."


    Tenjirou scratched his head in frustration but he agreed with Senjumaru, "Haah... Right. Now then, tell us how we''ll deal with those worms or maggots as you refer to them... No. More importantly, what is Hyousube Ichibei?"


    Kisuke paused for a moment to arrange his thoughts. With all eyes on him, he started, "Before I answer that, knowing what Hell really is would give everyone a bit of context."


    "I''ve iterated it multiple times already, but I call those insects maggots for the sole reason that they''ve been chewing on a dead body."


    At that moment, someone instantly clicked within everyone''s mind, except for Ophis and Nemu who were just passively listening of course.


    "...No... It can''t be... But that also exins my weird findings." Mayuri went into his own world and started muttering to himself.


    "So that''s why you''ve been calling them maggots." Tenjirou also muttered while rubbing his temples, "But setting aside how ridiculous this idea is and how is that possible considering how wide the Hell is... What''s Ichibei''s connection with all of this?"


    "To be honest, I''m not so sure either. Though I suspected his connection with Hell from early on, it''s only after meeting thest remnants of the Soul King''s consciousness that I managed to put together some pieces." Kisuke then proceeded to tell them what he heard from the Soul King when hest appeared and what transpired within Hell before Tenjirou and Senjumaru arrived.


    "...Something like that happened?" Senjumaru asked, incredibly bothered. Although Kisuke showed no proof of his ims, she weighed a few things in her head and concluded that there was no reason for him to lie at this point in time because any dishonesty on his part would explode in his faceter on with the current members of this meeting.


    "So that''s why he asked us to follow at ater time... If he eliminates the evidence, there''s no point in questioning him." Tenjirou clenched his fist and started questioning what they had been doing all this time.


    Aizen, on the other hand, was amused by Kisuke''s story as he turned towards Ophis with a smile, "Too bad for him, there''s a monster waiting to trip his feet." His eyes returned to Kisuke and asked, "And you used that chance to snatch the guy hanged up in the most glorified of torture chambers? I also saw those Dragons pile up in the pce. Did they rece him?"


    Kisuke nodded, "nna led them and reced the Garganta with that ''strange'' chaotic space."


    "Wait... Wouldn''t that mean the travel between worlds has stopped?" Tenjirou asked.


    "No need to worry about that. I''m sure Kurotsuchi-san here already thought of a way to circumvent that."


    Mayuri was deep in thought but stopped when his name was mentioned, "I knew that Garganta and Dangai-based travel may be obsolete. So using the Teleportation Magic as a base, I modified both the Senkaimon and Descorrer to directly connect two ces and speed things along. It also stopped the former''s need for a Hell Butterfly for guidance considering that they''re an unknown risk.


    "The moment the 12th Division notices that the travel between worlds using conventional methods is stopped, Akon will step in and implement the changes immediately so there''s no need to be worried about istion."


    "And now that that''s out of the way, let''s return to the question of ''What is Hyousube Ichibei?''" Kisuke pushed the conversation forward, "You probably already came to the same conclusion as me and that is Hyousube-san was probably the ''being'' that the Soul King was referring to. A ''being'' that shouldn''t have been born in the first ce.


    "I have reason to suspect that the ''dead body'', which is Hell now, was the physical body that the [Soul King] had discarded for some reason. However, these transcendents don''t work on normal logic so even if it''s just an inanimate body, it still holds a tremendous power. If we tie Hyousube-san''s existence to that physical body, I can think of two possibilities in regard to his true identity.


    "First is that he''s a being that manifested from the remaining power of the body and gained his own consciousness and body.


    "Second is that he''s one of those maggots that kept eating the corpse and gained power and consciousness from doing so."

 Chapter 1251 Let Her Learn It Too

    Chapter 1251 Let Her Learn It Too


    Everyone became quiet with each of them considering Kisuke''s words.


    About a minuteter, Mayuri voiced out his concerns, "In other words, there''s nothing concrete aside from the fact that we don''t know anything about him aside from his obvious connection with Hell and those maggots."


    "And would answering that question yield us good information to stop the invasion?" Ouetsu also added, "Regardless of what he is, the issue at hand is still stopping those things from consuming everything."


    "Well, maybe there''s an important piece of information that could reverse the situation, but it''s also true that dedicating more effort to this is counterproductive." Kisuke easily agreed with the two of them before turning to Mayuri, "So Kurotsuchi-san, what do you think of those insects?"


    "Why are you asking me? Aren''t you the one who observed them?"


    "Geez, did you really think that you could hide the fact that you created a tiny gateway to send and receive information from the outside?"


    But despite being caught, Mayuri didn''t close the microscopic hole he created within his arm that he uses to send and receive data from hisb. However, he also didn''t deny what he was doing and told Kisuke what he wanted to know, "Those maggots seem to move as one if you look at them from the top. and despiterge distances, it seems that they are capable ofmunicating with each other."


    "So what''s the probability that this constitutes them having a hivemind?"


    Mayuri thought about it for a moment before answering, "Around 90%. Their behavior is consistent with them having connected minds. However, instead of the normal hivemind, I spotted a few of what looked like flies that seemed to control the flow of information andmand of the maggots around them. If this is indeed a hivemind, then those nodes are probably protection against information overload and a countermeasure in case they are disconnected from the hive.""Any chance of us infecting this hivemind?"


    "If you want an immediate answer from my observations, then no. We could spend more time looking into this, however."


    "No. Don''t bother. Let''s just confirm if we can use those nodes to trace the brood mother, if it has one."


    Mayuri also thought of dealing with the main mind if this is truly a hivemind, "Considering that they''re doing this, the probability is high. Though it won''t be easy to reach it."


    Inserting himself into their conversation, Ouetsu said, "Our goal is clear it seems. Defend the three worlds and a special attack force to strike down the brood mother. That, of course, if you''re reading the situation right. We also still don''t know where Ichibei went and what he''s doing right now."


    Kisuke sighed and added, "We also don''t know the reason for his sudden transformation. Nevertheless, it''s inevitable that he''ll resurface once we start counterattacking."


    "So what''s the n?" Tenjirou asked. He knew that they didn''t have much time so they had to start moving as soon as possible. It now became clear to him and Senjumaru that they have no choice in this matter, "I think having Aizen Sosuke as part of the attack force will increase the chance of sess tremendously." He suggested but also thought, ''He''s too much of a hot potato. It''s a lot better for everyone to have him move away as far as possible.''


    Naturally, Aizen immediately guessed his hidden intention but he only chuckled at his attempt, "What are you talking about? I made it clear from the beginning. I won''t be offering my strength. Things have be very interesting so I''d rather watch where this will bring us." Now that he knows about the existence of the other worlds, his motivation to protect the current ones has decreased, ''Besides, Urahara and Kurotsuchi working together will bring changes that I wouldn''t like to miss.''


    "I already have something in mind regarding the division of work."


    "So the problem will be who is going to be on that suicide mission and convincing them, huh? I don''t mind going but I think I can contribute more if I were to stay behind." Ouetsu muttered while resting his arm on the table.


    "Ah, that won''t be a problem." Kisuke replied with a big smile on his face, "The ''special attack force'' will consist of me... And me alone."


    Everyone in the room except for Ophis was shocked at his words. One thing is that no matter how strong he is, he''s essentially going to throw his life away. And two, everyone thought that he was going to include Ophis in that attack force. After all, it was she who pushed Ichibei to the limit without much effort.


    Kisuke didn''t exin his decision any further and continued delegating tasks, "Kurotsuchi-san will clean up all the mess, especially the mess that the nobles left behind. You''re also free to use myb and read any information that you can ess."


    Mayuri was about to rant about him cleaning the mess but changed his mind the moment he heard Kisuke''s second statement, "I hope that you don''t regret that."


    "It''s fine. You''ll help me stabilize everything so that''s the least I could do."


    Kisuke then turned to Senjumaru, Tenjirou, and Ouetsu, "As for you guys, please assist Kurotsuchi-san in case he needs to do a somewhat forceful ''convincing''."


    "...Just what are you trying to pull here?" Tenjirou asked. Although their immediate goal is the preservation of the world, they still don''t know what Kisuke was aiming for.


    "You can ask Ouetsu-santer. He''ll have your answers." After that, he ignored them and looked toward Aizen, "I won''t ask you to fight, but I do have another favor."


    "..." Aizen didn''t outright reject him so Kisuke was relieved.


    "Please teach Ophis-chan how to use her Zanpakuto."


    Aizen''s eyes narrowed but there was a glint of interest within, "I''ve heard of her strange ability to be anything she could think of which includes being a Shinigami, but how about we make it more interesting?"


    Kisuke became instantly guarded, "Like what?"


    Aizen pointed his thumb at the person who was just silently observing all this time, "Let him teach her how to be a Quincy."


    Kisuke was silent for a moment before asking, "You want to create another instance of ''Kurosaki Ichigo''?"


    "I''ll only help out if you agree."


    Of course, Kisuke didn''t agree immediately as it was too risky, but before he could even weigh his options, he felt Ophis tugging on his sleeve and when he turned to her, Ophis was making this reassuring expression, "It''s fine. I''m strong."


    Kisuke stared at her with his eyes wide open for a moment before he started chuckling and patting her head, "Isn''t that right? You''re the strongest. You''ll be fine."


    Ophis nodded. However the real reason why she wanted to agree with Aizen is because she wanted to brag to Baka Red'' that she had learned a new trick.

 Chapter 1252 Going Offensive

    Chapter 1252 Going Offensive


    Kisuke left the isted space to let everyone do what they want and arrived in the Human World, which was already eerily silent, considering he''s currently standing on a normally busy street in Karakura Town. Like Mayuri, Kisuke was secretlymunicating with Serafall, and the two of them had agreed to meet up in the Human World.


    Within Karakura Town, there were only some police in full gear and military men equipped with rifles roaming around and talking to their radios. ''The evacuation was nearly done? That''s fast,'' Kisuke thought to himself. Additionally, some Shinigami were jumping from one building to another while carryingmunication devices with them.


    Kisuke found a seat in the deserted shopping district and took out his phone to browse the inte. As he expected, it was buzzing with activity, and there was only one topic circting, "[Invisible People with Strange Abilities Announced the Imminent End of the World]."


    ''What a funny headline,'' Kisuke thought and browsed more. After a few swipes, he found out the main reason for the speedy evacuation:rge-scale Teleportation Magic set up all around the country to concentrate people into a few key locations for easier defense.


    "I knew Sera-tan had been doing something else in her free time... Could it be this? She sure is prepared," Kisuke muttered when he saw the familiar insignia present on the Magic Circles within the photos posted online. What''s more amazing was that these Circles were present throughout the world. ''The effort she invested in this was no joke,'' Kisuke thought, but he shook his head and stopped thinking about it. ''Whatever the case may be, the important thing is that she''s helping the people now.''


    Naturally, not everything was going smoothly, as there were many who chose to defy the evacuation orders for one reason or another, making a mess out of everything. Kisuke couldn''t me them and thought that it was one of the natural reactions since their lives were all of a sudden disrupted by nonsensical and fairytale-like existences.


    At that moment, a few soldiers finally noticed Kisuke casually sitting and swiping through his phone. "Hey, you! Didn''t you hear the announcement?" One of them raised his voice while jogging towards him. "Follow us. We''ll bring you to the shelter."


    Before Kisuke could say anything, another voice resounded, and this time, it came from abovetheir heads. "Please wait!!!"


    And when they looked up, they saw a petite woman with long ck hair, a pair of square sses, and a link of chains wrapped around her head. The white garb, worn by the members of the 12th Division to serve as ab coat, pped around as shended softly not far from them. "Captain!"The soldiers were stunned. They still couldn''tprehend how this ''young'' woman could casually jump off from a tall building andnd without any effort. The one leading them, however, immediately recovered and asked, "Kuna-dono, is this man one of your people?"


    The Shinigami turned to him and answered, "Ah, yes, Takao-san. You don''t have to worry about him."


    "I see." The soldier named Takao fixed his helmet and nodded in affirmation. "Then we''ll continue our patrol."


    "Thank you for your hard work," Kuna also lowered her head a bit.


    The soldiers dispersed, and Kisuke was left with the Shinigami. "It''s been a while, Kuna. And by the way, I''m not your Captain anymore." He noticed that there''s a thin film of Magic Power surrounding her, which resulted in her being visible to normal people.


    Kuna immediately shook her head, "You have been my Captain, and you''re always going to be my Captain."


    Kisuke smiled wryly, "Kurotsuchi-san won''t let you go once he hears that."


    "Captain Kurotsuchi won''t care. All he cares about is our abilities, contributions, and professionalism. He doesn''t need loyalty because he doesn''t trust any of us to begin with, aside from Nemu. Although that doesn''t mean I don''t respect him."


    Kisuke thought about it for a bit and chuckled, "That''s true, isn''t it? Anyways, enough of the greetings. Shouldn''t you guys be busy dealing with the nobles?"


    "That''s mostly sorted out thanks to the former Captain-Commander actively pulling his weight. Due to that, most of the nobles gave up and started ming the others to reduce the consequences that they''ll get. The remaining ones are just the stubborn ones and those who knew they''d already dug their graves too deep. They''re also the main perpetrators regarding the Hollowfied Shinigami soldiers.


    "For now, the majority of the efforts are being refocused on reconnecting the worlds and setting up defenses in coboration with the West Soul Society and various Human governments and organizations."


    "I see," Kisuke muttered. However, he''s curious about one thing, "Where are the Captains and Lieutenants? I''ve been browsing the inte and saw various news articles about the coboration; however, the highest people I''ve seen are the 3rd seat and below."


    Kuna paused for a moment before answering, "I''m not really sure. All I heard was that the Captains and Lieutenants are receiving a specially made Gigai that''ll be useful for the uing defense. Beyond that, I haven''t heard of anything."


    ''Hmm... So he already set it in motion the moment I left for the Royal Pce. As expected of him. Not hesitating and wasting any time. I wonder what he''d do if I had failed back then?''


    Kuna reported the other small things to Kisuke until he finally felt Serafall''s aura appear.


    "Kuna, Serafall is here. I''ll talk to youter."


    "Yes, Captain! I''ll return to my duty. Please be careful!"


    "You too. Prioritize your survival. Although we are preparing, it may be more bloody than the Quincy War from a decade ago."


    Serafall arrived just as Kuna left, and the first thing that she said in a serious tone was, "I''ll take care of things on this side... So do your thing... And make sure to return alive."


    Kisuke stared at her, and although she was trying to hide it, Kisuke noticed that there was a pained expression behind her facade. With a sigh, Kisuke approached Serafall and said, "I''m really lucky and grateful that I brought you with me. I couldn''t have possibly handled all of this on my own. Thank you."


    But instead of acknowledging it, Serafall lowered her body and gritted her teeth before throwing a fist straight into his stomach.


    "Guh!!!" Kisuke couldn''t dodge because he was not expecting her to suddenly attack him and was sent back tumbling for a few feet. Kisuke slowly stood up while rubbing his stomach and looked up to Serafall with an angry expression.


    With her fast movement, Serafall suddenly appeared in front of him, crouched down, and grabbed his clothes to bring his face close to hers. "Why''re you speaking like you''re going on a suicide mission!?"


    "...Er... Because I am?"


    "Deny it! Dammit!"


    "I''m telling the truth though?"


    "If you''re thankful, then at least reassure me that you''ll be returning!"


    Kisuke was silent and could only stare at her furious face.


    "If you''re thankful... At least promise that you''ll return for sure... Even if it seems like an impossible feat."


    Kisuke sighed again, "Fine... I''ll return. I promise. What do you want as a souvenir?"


    It was Serafall''s turn to be silent, and after a few moments of thinking, her angry expression disappeared and was reced by a big grin. "Forget about the souvenir. Just take me on a nice long date. And I''m taking a down payment."


    "What? Downpay..." Kisuke was incredibly confused and started to ask; however, his words were cut off when unexpectedly, he found his lips locked with Serafall.


    Kisuke was shocked. Nevertheless, he didn''t move nor try to do anything extra with his lips because he knew. He knew that Serafall didn''t have any type of experience at all, and he didn''t know how to respond to her sudden action.


    Thankfully, or not, Serafall moved back and let go of Kisuke, dropping him down on the ground. She then hurriedly turned around while saying, "If you don''t return for a week, I''ll follow you."


    Without waiting for his reply, Serafall disappeared with Teleportation Magic. But before she did, Kisuke noticed her red ears.


    "...I guess that''s another reason to do my extra best."

 Chapter 1253 New Tutor

    Chapter 1253 New Tutor


    Serafall reappeared in the mansion they bought when they first arrived in Karakura Town. This is where she set up the central management system for the Teleportation Magic Circles that she deployed throughout the world whenever she had free time. When things that Kisuke was nning got too involved with Hell, she thought that this was a good idea in case the conflict spilled out from their intended targets, and it turned out that it was one hell of a good idea.


    A few minutester, while monitoring the progress of evacuation, she felt that Kisuke''s presence disappeared and knew that he left to finally end all of this, ''But is it really that easy?''


    As she asked herself that question, she thought back to the meeting that Kisuke leaked to her earlier, ''He was forced to rely on them, and thanks to that, his negotiation powers have been thrown to the trash. I have to do something to at least get back some of that.''


    True to her former position and job, Serafall started thinking of how they''ll be able to get benefits and possibly gaining their alliance after all of this is over, ''For starters, how about I let a few ghost cities be destroyed? If I ask the Belial House, they should be able to export some of the Underworld technologies for repairs.''


    Serafall further analyzed the management system and found that there are some disruptions in the flow of the Magic Power surrounding the areas, ''They''re near, huh? Probably in two or three days? We still have plenty of time to prepare.''


    She''s also aware of those against the forced evacuation, but she figured that it''ll soon be sorted out once the maggots make their way to the Human World.


    "I guess I can leave this alone for now." After setting up all kinds of alerts, Serafall stood up and stretched her limbs before teleporting herself away. Her destination, the isted space that they had within the Valley of Screams.


    As soon as she arrived within the room designated for transfer abilities, she was greeted by various auras, and most of them are familiar to her. However, what caught her immediate attention was the intense and arrogant aura that seems to fill the entire space, ''And it doesn''t look like they are making any effort in releasing that aura... How dangerous.'' Serafall thought to herself with a single bead of sweat dropping on the side of her face.


    ''ording to the profiles I have, there''s only one person who fits the description. Isn''t he teaching Ophis-chan how to use her Zanpakuto?'' Serafall decided to take a look. As she went through the mansion, she made no effort to hide her presence. Although no one really bothered to approach her since they all have a lot more things that they have to take care of while Kunou and Tanis were busy bringing ire back to health.Naturally, Aizen and Ophis also felt Serafall''s approach, but both of them are focused on the two des that are on Ophis'' hand right now, "I was wondering why that man asked for my help instead of the Sword God to teach you how to use them... But it turned out like this."


    Ophis looked up at him and tilted her head, "...What seems to be the problem?" She also wanted to use her Zanpakuto toplete her ''cosy,'' but she and Lilith refuse to call the names that have been appearing in their minds for the simple reason that they didn''t like it.


    "Those swords are trying to call to you yet you''re rejecting them. They are essentially dead des." Aizen answered her seriously.


    Ophis tossed one of the Zanpakuto back into the void and inspected the remaining one by pulling it out of its scabbard.


    At that moment, Serafall arrived, and the first thing she did was to introduce herself, "Nice to meet you. I''m Sitri Serafall. Currently Urahara Kisuke''s partner in crime."


    Aizen nced at her, and thanks to his experience, he was able to gauge some of Serafall''s true ability, ''Another form of immortality, huh?'' He knew that Serafall didn''t receive Ophis'' snake and immediately activated his Kyouka Suigetsu. Although he really can''t control the illusions that he shows now after his fusion with his Zanpakuto, the benefit is that he could always activate it for whoever is looking at him.


    "Aizen Sosuke." Aizen simply replied.


    All of a sudden, the temperature around them instantly dropped, and icicles started forming in the surroundings. And when Aizen traced the source of the coldness, he immediately found out that it came from the crown of ice that abruptly appeared on top of Serafall''s head.


    "That won''t work. I have various defenses etched directly on my consciousness." Serafall exined with a fearless smile on her face, "Your ability targets the opponent''s brain directly. Unfortunately for you, inside my skull isn''t exactly a brain made out of fat, water, protein, carbohydrates, and salts. There''s only pure ice in here," she added while pointing at her head.


    Aizen was silent for a few moments before speaking up, "Amazing... You''re the second person to just directly disregard Kyouka Suigetsu. As expected of that man''s partner. You don''t disappoint."


    "Then you''ll probably be more impressed if you were to meet my friends. Sirzechs-chan will just directly destroy that ability while Ajuka-chan will immediately know that something is wrong with his form. nna-chan... Well, she sees the world differently so I doubt you can hypnotize her without understanding her perspective. Hmmm... Who else?... Ah. Probably Shiva-chan too. There''s hardly anything that can fool his senses."


    While listening to Serafall, Aizen''s eyes widened. All this time, he hasn''t really met anyone who could go against his Zanpakuto save for Ichibei, who has power over all Zanpakuto, Kisuke and Kurotsuchi, who have countless tricks under their sleeves. Yet this time, there are multiple individuals who rendered it useless.


    "So why did Ki-tan ask you to help Ophis with this instead of the sword guy?" Serafall changed the subject.


    Aizen turned his eyes back to Ophis, "Nimaiya can fix and reforge a broken Zanpakuto. However, her Zanpakuto isn''t broken, nor is there anything wrong with it. She just needs a closer connection with its spirit."


    "...Doesn''t that mean..."


    "If it''s getting ''closer'' to a Zanpakuto Spirit, I''d like to call myself experienced." Aizen added with a smirk.

 Chapter 1254 Meeting Ichibei

    Chapter 1254 Meeting Ichibei


    Kisuke dived back into Hell, and the former normalndscape full of greens had been utterly destroyed with giant maggots continuously gnawing on anything they could put their mouths into. The purple sky, on the other hand, was full of holes that revealed the iridescent glow made from the Dragons'' Dimensional Gap.


    Upon his arrival, the first thing that Kisuke did was find a rtively ''clean'' ce and set up a temporary station that would connect to the scanners that he gave to Furoufushi''s group, ''It has been some time. They probably scattered enough of them already.''


    And as he expected, he immediately received a ping from the scanners and started receiving the data that they had been gathering.


    "This is... much worse than I expected." Kisuke muttered to himself while the corner of his mouth twitched ufortably, "There are at least a hundred million of those in that small area? There''s no way we''ll be able to clean all of this up even if I somehow break their connection to the hivemind or take care of the broodmother. Not in a short time, at least..." And time was not on his side right now. Kisuke has a feeling that the situation has already devolved on the other side, and he can''t wait to return.


    Kisuke operated his terminal more to figure out Furoufushi and the others'' location by tracking the cubes he gave them earlier and found out that they are several thousand kilometers away from him right now. He could teleport to their side right now to help them, but that''s only going to be a temporary solution to their current plight and would do nothing to solve the problem.


    ''The maggots are moving to their spot... They can gather most of the attention for now.''


    Kisuke then opened another isted terminal to plug in the data module that Kurotsuchi gave him before he left. And once he uploaded the content, a map showing the ''trail'' of the hivemind was disyed on the screen, ''It''s beyond the edge of Hell.''


    After finding out his destination, he cleaned up his station and tore a small hole in the space. Within that hole, a cane came rushing out, and he immediately caught it, "Wee back. I hope you enjoyed your time."


    [If I knew you''d go on this suicide mission, I would have done more to enjoy myself.] Benihime replied, but there''s a slight tone of amusement in her voice.[You defeated Chaos and you''re nervous about this?] Tiamat chimed in.


    "Correction. I barely and luckily set it up for you to take care of him. And that''s after careful nning and making things more convenient for me. Not to mention I have a lot of people I could lean back on at that time."


    [This time, this idiot will be going in essentially blind, desperate to end all of this to save some time.]


    "After what Gabriel-san said? There''s no way I could take it slow."


    When Kisuke said this, Tiamat finally realized the gravity of his actions despite him acting confident, [No wonder Serafall acted that way.]


    [Oh? What did I miss?]


    [A new lover.]


    As his two Zanpakuto gossip like old nosy aunts in the neighborhood, Kisuke ignored them and proceeded to move deeper into the corner of the world.


    Since he didn''t want to attract any unnecessary attention, he moved slower than he previously did while hiding his breath from all the passing maggots both in the sky and under the ground.


    A few dayster, Kisuke reached the precipice of the world where he could now see numerous giant flies in addition to the maggots. He wanted to fight, catch, and experiment on these flies, but the risk of them all rushing towards him stopped him from doing so. There''s no point in getting tired before he even reaches his target.


    Kisuke crouched down and sharpened his senses in an attempt to detect anything from the cliff that never seems to end. He didn''t want to do any active reconnaissance in any intensity in case they''re capable of picking up a minute amount of disturbance in the surroundings.


    But despite spending a few hours going around and trying to get as much information as possible, he couldn''t get anything useful aside from the trail of Reiatsu that Ichibei left some time ago.


    [Looks like you really don''t have a choice but to go in, huh? These things probably already invaded the three worlds.] Benihime''s voice resounded in his head.


    ''As much as I hate it, I think I''d really have to go with that route.'' Kisuke replied in his head with a deeply concerned smile stered on his face.


    [But it''s not like you have zero ns, right? I refuse to believe that you have nothing prepared.] Tiamat asked once again, [You wouldn''t have embarked on this mission if that''s not the case. Does it have something to do with the ink on your back? When you used my [Aspect of Life], you already rendered its effects ineffective yet you choose to keep this shadow without any substance. What for?]


    ''Without substance, huh? If you can''t see it, then it''s probably safe to say that he also won''t be able to anticipate it.''


    [...] Tiamat became quiet before asking, [There''s something else in there?]


    However, Kisuke didn''t answer her and just took a deep breath before jumping off the cliff where Ichibei''s residual aura was the strongest before finally suppressing any aura leaking from his body. This, in turn, severely limited his senses to his normal sight, touch, smell, and hearing.


    With almost no air to slow him down, Kisuke speedily descended as he was slowly engulfed by the darkness of the abyss he jumped into. He doesn''t know if the gravity is operating normally around these parts, but he''s certain that there''s something else that''s more massive than Hell itself down here since he kept falling.


    Eventually, the purple sky of Hell that provided light stopped reaching him after a few hours of falling. Kisuke thought that this should be impossible, but he figured that there''s something in the atmosphere that''s destroying the flow of energies.


    On the way down, he also inevitably crashed into some maggots and even some flies. However, he had a genius solution to dealing with that, and that is by not reacting to anything that happens.


    Because he sealed everything, the maggots and flies thought that he''s just a random rock that had fallen from the cliff and ignored him entirely.


    And finally, after a total of 10 hours, a blue light appeared in his sights before he entered a crack of unknown material and arrived at a well-lit gigantic cavern that''s full of maggots, flies, and eggs. In the middle of this vast expanse was an indescribable, pulsing being of flesh and on top of it was Ichibei, whose appearance barely resembled his previous ambiance, peacefully sleeping.


    But instead of fearing the aura that''sing from the pulsing flesh that''s on par with Aizen, Kisuke smiled and thought ''How convenient.''

 Chapter 1255 Meeting Ichibei part 2

    Chapter 1255 Meeting Ichibei part 2


    Ichibei still had his Shinigami garb, but strangely enough, he didn''t have his brush. He had a pair of fly wings sticking out of his back, and there was ck paint covering the majority of his body and face.


    As Kisuke was falling, Ichibei suddenly opened his eyes, which were pure ck sclera with pure white pupils, and looked in his direction.


    In the next instant, Kisuke also released the aura that he had been repressing and opened all of his senses to gather as much information as possible. He was discovered, so there was no point in holding back and keeping things quiet. First of all, he had to secure his path of retreat. After taking note of all the routes he could possibly take, he went and started observing the pulsing flesh and Ichibei, who was sitting on top of it.


    Against his expectations, the worms and flies present didn''t even react to him and continued to mind their own business of taking care of the eggs attached to the walls of the cavern.


    Kisuke adjusted his fall andnded on a rtively t surface on his feet. His eyes were on Ichibei, who was also looking at him, but his attention was on the overall situation. ''No response, huh? This should not be the case if it''s just those insects. Does that mean he''s in full control of these things? Another question was the gravitational pull. Are there more things under us, or is it just space warping in a strange way?''


    [I was expecting you.] All of a sudden, Ichibei''s voice resounded inside Kisuke''s mind, which immediately rmed him. ''Benihime, Tiamat.''


    [We got it.] Benihime''s voice immediately replied, and the presence of Ichibei from Kisuke''s mind entirely disappeared.


    "Hooh... Impressive. Most people wouldn''t be able to defend their minds like that." This time around, Ichibei''s voice echoed throughout the entire cavern. "You''ve learned various techniques that are supposed to be impossible due to how the world itself was arranged. Did youe from the outside?"


    Kisuke was quiet and didn''t immediately reply. Ichibei, on the other hand, was still calm and just let Kisuke probe everything around and patiently waited for him.''Hmmm... Pissing him off won''t yield any results, I guess?'' Thanks to the time that Ichibei has graciously given him, Kisuke was able to fully scan his immediate surroundings. So he replied, "I wonder? Wouldn''t slipping into Hell without your awareness and studying how to make use of the strange new energy be a more feasible thought?"


    "I would have... If not for that ck being who can transform into anything helping you out."


    Kisuke immediately shed a grin, "Must be frustrating, isn''t it? You could have never expected someone to justpletely disregard your naming ability by shapeshifting back to what she originally is."


    This time, it was Ichibei''s turn to be quiet. Kisuke tried to detect anything from him but failed to do so. Soon enough, Ichibei spoke again, "But I don''t see that friend of yours now. Have youe here to die?"


    At that point, Kisuke was already certain that Ichibei has no ability to see through everything due to the fact that he doesn''t know about nna''s existence. ''His eyes are probably limited to what these insects could see.''


    "And I''m surprised you haven''t gotten rid of that paint. I was certain that you wouldn''t be able to defeat Kirio with that on," Ichibei added.


    Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and said, "It was due to those assumptions of yours that you''ve been cornered this much. But well, it''s really hard to remove. It''s still weighing me down right now, and I was hoping that getting rid of you will finally free me from this."


    While he spoke casually, Kisuke was really d deep down. ''So he can''t see it too? Good.''


    Ichibei, seemingly done with him, raised his hand. Almost instantaneously, thousands of giant flies gathered and formed a hand in midair before mming down on Kisuke.


    Kisuke used sh Step and dodged the overly simplistic attack, but the moment he stepped out of the technique, he found hundreds more hands reaching out for him.


    He furrowed his brows and continued using his sh Step to close the distance between him and Ichibei while dodging the hands made out of insects.


    Kisuke was wondering what the use of these useless attacks was, and he soon reached within striking distance of Ichibei, thinking that all of this was just an borate trap.


    Even then, Kisuke didn''t hold back and brandished Benihime and directly aimed at Ichibei''s neck. While watching out for any strange urrences, Benihime reached Ichibei''s neck and went through it, cleanly detaching his head from his body.


    Kisuke knew that something was wrong and immediately retreated while checking Benihime''s state. Once he was sure that nothing foreign got into her, he saw that Ichibei''s head became suspended mid-air and slowly floated above his body before reattaching itself.


    "...Hahaha..." Kisuke let out a wryugh, "Looks like I''m in for a long run here. I hope this doesn''t take all week."


    Kisuke clutched Benihime hard and thought, ''I only have one chance. Just one opening.''


    .


    .


    .


    Two dayster, the evacuation efforts were 99.9% done, and various defensive lines were put up, including those in Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.


    During the past two days, a few worms had been making their way to all the worlds, and they didn''t really pose any significant risk as they were dealt with rather easily. However, the true horror was about to arrive when the "main body" of the corpse-eating insects started showing itself.


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad stationed themselves on top of a tall building in Karakura Town, feeling the mounting pressure of the silence in the normally bustling town.


    "I thought we were done after the Quincy''s Invasion... But to think we''d have something worse than that..." Chad muttered to himself while watching the sky full of iridescent holes.


    Uryu pulled his bow and generated a blue arrow before releasing it in a certain direction. The next second, they heard the gruesome cry of a worm, "On top of that, we still don''t know what exactly is going on despite the world on the verge of ending. What a shitty situation."


    More time passed, and Uryu shot a dozen more worms that found their way into the Human World, and it was also at that point that they noticed that Ichigo had been quiet, "Are you worried about Inoue and Kazui?" asked Chad.


    "I am..." Ichigo answered without turning around, "But I was thinking of something else."


    "About what?" asked Uryu.


    "If we don''t know the situation, let''s ask someone who knows." Ichigo pointed to his side while turning his head towards them, "That young girl that we met in Urahara Shop is not far from here."


    "How did you know?"


    "I''ve been learning this Magic thing, and I''m getting the hang of detecting presences using it."

 Chapter 1256 Defense

    Chapter 1256 Defense


    Uryu and Chad looked at Ichigo strangely, and the former asked, "How did you even learn something like that so fast? I''ve only started detecting this Magic Power around me."


    "He''s strangely been perceptive of things like these all the way back, so I''m not really surprised," Chadmented while letting out a small breath.


    "You''ll get the hang of it soon enough too," Ichigo replied while jumping to another building.


    Uryu and Chad looked at each other for a moment before following him.


    After several hops and traveling over almost half of Karakura Town, Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad arrived at another building where ire was standing all alone, holding a bow.


    "Ah, Kurosaki-niisan, Ishida-niisan, and Sado-niisan. It has been a while," ire greeted them first while guessing what they were after when they approached her.


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad had no idea that behind that cheerful and innocent smile was a cunning mind trained to seed a powerful and influential house.


    "ire-chan, isn''t it? You''re alone today?" Ichigo started a small talk.


    "Well, there''s just too much ground to cover so we have to spread out a bit."As soon as they heard that, the three men froze. ire saw this reaction and understood that they took it wrong and started chuckling, "I didn''t mean it like that. Our enemies predominantly use a sub-type of Magic Power, and it''s a lot better for those who understand Magic in the first ce to be in different spots in case something unexpectedes up."


    Ichigo sighed in relief, "I thought that we shouldn''t be in just one spot."


    "No. I actually advise you against that. We''re expecting a long drawn-out battle, so covering each other''s back has more merit than just acting alone."


    "But..." Ichigo looked around and used his newly learned detection skills, "You''re alone right now?"


    "I was actually thinking of joining a group after I finish my survey. Although I can fight at close range, I''m more effective from far away."


    "That''s great." Uryu stepped up, "You could join us... No. Please join us. Truthfully, we also don''t fully know the situation and how it came to be. We just know that an alien species was about to invade the world. We also know that something is happening in Soul Society, but Tessai told us nothing about it and just said that we can''t get involved in it."


    "...Big brothers don''t have the big picture of the situation?" ire furrowed her brows and started muttering to herself, "Looks like the dissemination of information has some problems... Though it''s true that they can''t get involved with Soul Society with their status as outsiders... Tessai-niichan probably thought that they''ll force themselves in, so he didn''t tell them anything." ire was surprised that they only have information that was given to normal people.


    After thinking for a moment, the smile on ire''s face reappeared as she said, "If you''re fine with me, please take care of me."


    "Likewise. I hope you''d let us understand the situation better." Ichigo stretched out and offered his hand.


    ire took the hand and said, "You should have been informed in the first ce."


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad were absolutely speechless throughout ire''s narration of the events that have transpired.


    "Unbelievable... an operation to take out the former Captain-Commander... The nobles'' rebellion... And Ichibei''s transformation that started this invasion." Ichigo muttered while holding his head as he was reminded of what he was doing at that time, ''I was gleefully enjoying my vacation on the couch.''


    He thought that since Kazui was somehow involved, he''d be informed in one way or another, so he had just been waiting at home for any news. He didn''t know that world-changing events were already taking ce, ''Dammit... I thought I''d at least get a call from Renji.''


    "Well, everything was resolved in the end." Uryu fixed his sses while also calming himself down, "But we can talk about the specifics of thister. Let''s now focus on the current situation."


    "Alright." ire nodded. She wanted to finish informing them because she could feel the surrounding Magic Power is increasing, signifying more holes opening up and the arrival of the insects, "As of now, the defensive lines of all three worlds are now up and running, so we don''t have to worry about the others until they call in for help. The main coordinator in the Human World will be Sera-neechan, and she''s going to be the onemanding all the forces.


    "She''s going to give outmands, but our main objective is to protect the shelters, so we''ll be moving with that in mind."


    "I see... But why are the normal Human soldiers part of the defensive effort? Small arms won''t do anything against these worms, andrger weapons are a double-edged sword. They are too fragile on top of that too. Of course, I''m not saying I''m against them joining the effort because you probably have a n. I want to know what that n is and react ordingly if we get too close."


    At that moment, a lightbulb went off in ire''s head, "Oh right. Since you didn''t receive proper information, you probably also didn''t get supplied with materialization pills."


    "...Materialization pills?"


    While the men were confused, ire was rummaging through the small bag that she had and said, "Regarding the Human firearms, that''ll be covered by the Vatican so that even the smaller calibers will be effective against our enemies. However, the bigger problem is that most of you, especially your abilities, are invisible to them so Kisuke-niichan crafted these pills to make everyone visible to normal Humans."


    ire gave them a bottle each containing a hundred or so small red pills, "Once you eat one, your body will absorb a tiny amount of Magic Power from the surroundings, and it''ll create a mirror image of you through [Illusion Magic] that will be visible to everyone around you. It might be a bit ufortable, but it shouldn''t have any effect on your abilities."


    The three of them received the bottles and looked at them for a second. Ichigo was the first one to take them and was soon followed by Uryu and Chad.


    "It feels like something is covering me... But it shouldn''t be a problem," Ichigomented while moving his body around.


    "Let''s look for the Quincies. They probably also didn''t receive anything since they avoid contact as much as possible," Uryu took out his phone.


    "And the Fullbringers too," Chad added.


    ire nodded and warned them, "Then let''s hurry. They are about to arrive."


    ''There''s still the n of moving the Shinigamis to a new body, but the procedure isn''t very clear yet, so I''ll keep it to myself for now.''

 Chapter 1257 Defense part 2

    Chapter 1257 Defense part 2


    Serafall was currently in central Tokyo where she was managing all of the monitors that she had, ''So ire-chan joined up with those guys. But to think that there''s a problem with the information logistics... I shouldn''t have left it to them.''


    Though she didn''t really have a choice but to rely on Soul Society with a different set of cultures since she was already too busy with setting up her own informationwork in the Human World.


    ''The Vatican also needed all the help they could receive and I couldn''t really just leave them to their own devices in case they became hostile to the Devils.'' Serafall sighed to herself while continuously reading the reports that wereing in from the West. Since she was the one who was teaching them how to use Holy Power, it''s not as effective as those who are truly aligned with Heaven but it''s better than nothing and it''s still a very good method to make effective weapons against beings of Spirit and Magic.


    Still, Serafall wasn''t sure if all of this was enough, ''I told Ki-tan that I''ll follow him in a week... But frankly, that''s only because that''s the longest we can hold off these non-ending bugs. No matter how strong we are individually, there are just really too few of us. If ites down to it... I would have no choice but to start that.'' Serafall was considering all the possibilities and his eyesnded on both ire and Aizen who are disyed on two different screens. While they have the ability to fight against very strong opponents, there''s a limit to what they can do against an army that doesn''t run out, ''If only we had arge army, this would be a lot easier.''


    ''It''s already problematic enough back at home. I hope this isn''t too much to add.'' Serafall thought to herself with a wry smile.


    .


    .


    .


    ire, Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad met up with the Fullbringers and Quincies that had gathered after thetter three contacted them.Among the Fullbringers, all the members of Xcution except for those who died and are currently in Soul Society are present, namely, Riruka Dokugamine, Jackie Tristan, and Yukio Hans Vorarlberna.


    On the Quincies'' side, meanwhile, Ichigo and Chad were surprised to see some individuals.


    "Bazz B and Askin Nakk Le Vaar!?" Ichigo eximed, "You two are alive!?"


    Bazz B immediately started scratching his head in annoyance, "Keep it down will ya? No need to shout."


    Ichigo immediately turned to Uryu and Uryu fixed his sses as he exined, "Before Haschwalth sumbed to his injuries, he asked me to take care of the surviving members of the Sternritter. Kurotsuchi was dangerously eyeing the surviving Quincies at the end of the war so I had no choice but to hide their existence until now. I couldn''t even ask Inoue to heal them because I was afraid that he''d find them so they had to survive their injuries while relying on Human World medical technology."


    Upon the mention of Mayuri, all the Quincy girls shuddered and this became a testament to the horror he presented to them, ''Uryu indeed made the right choice...'' Both Ichigo and Chad thought.


    Ichigo calmed himself and asked, "Where are the rest? I''m pretty sure that there are more of you."


    "Ryuken is managing them along with Haschwalth''s aide. They have been quietly integrating themselves in the Human World but they had no choice but to reappear considering the scenario." Uryu answered him again.


    Askin, who has been quietly observing everyone noticed ire''s stare of wonder, "Do I know you, kid?"


    ire shook her head but answered, "No. But I heard that you gave Kisuke-niichan and Yoruichi-neechan a hard time."


    Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad were surprised once again by her mentioning another name Askin''s eyes went wide open, "You are?"


    ire smiled and happily introduced himself, "I''m ire Belial! Kisuke-niichan''s niece. I call him big brother though."


    "N-niece?" Askin stuttered, "Wait... From what I recall, he doesn''t have any blood rtives. And by the way, he gave me a hard time. It''s a miracle that I actually survived."


    ire continued smiling and said, "It''splicated. For now, let''s discuss a relevant topic. Uryu-niisan, please tell them the current state of affairs."


    .


    .


    .


    "No wonder I can''t feel the presence of those bastards." Baaz B was the first one to react after hearing Uryu''s briefing, "So it wasn''t just this ce, huh? And there are so many things that made no sense so it was rted to this Magic that I''ve been hearing about."


    "Setting aside that Magic is not making any sense, our goal here is to defend the shelters and kill as many of these bugs as possible." ire took back the lead of the conversation.


    The Fullbringers and Quincies had questions about why a young girl like her was taking the lead, but she had this indescribable aura of a leader that it''s hard to voice out those opinions.


    In the midst of this, Liltotto raised her hand.


    "Yes, Liltotto-neechan."


    "How are you hiding all of these people? I checked out the ''shelter'' earlier but no one was there. Not a single soul."


    Everyone turned their eyes on ire but thetter just calmly responded, "It''ll be hard to exin but all of these supposed ''shelters'' are just a gateway to another artificial dimension where it''s a lot safer and wider. It''s simr to the fake Karakura Town from years ago if that''s easier to understand."


    "It''s simr to my ability?" Yukio muttered to himself.


    "I see. Thank you for rifying. I was just wondering if you''re doing something else."


    "It''s fine. But we have to protect these gateways since they also act as anchors to the artificial dimensions for their stability. Without them, the contents of these dimensions will spill out. You can imagine what sort of disastrous scene would unfold if that were to happen."


    At that moment, a Magic Circle suddenly appeared in front of ire which surprised everyone.


    ire''s expression, however, became serious as she touched the circle and Serafall''s voice emerged from it, [ire-chan, you''ve got the strongest group. I''ll send you the coordinates where there''s arge number of enemies and I''d like you to deal with them.]


    "Understood. Have they arrived?"


    [Yes. And you''ll be going there first.]

 Chapter 1258 Defense part 3

    Chapter 1258 Defense part 3


    ire''s elite group reappeared in the middle of the mountains with the help of her Teleportation Magic.


    "...Amazing," one of the Fullbringers sporting long magenta-colored hair, Riruka,mented as she looked around. "This is different from the one Yukio uses." However, when she looked up, she shuddered and closed her mouth.


    In the sky, there was arge hole that almost epassed one''s sights. Instead of the iridescent colors they had been seeing, the hole was mostly popted by wriggling white worms with asional giant flies mixed in.


    "Oi oi... Just how many of them are in there?" Baaz B loudly muttered with nervousughter and cold sweat running down the side of his face. "And this is just the start?"


    Even someone like Liltotto who could eat anything couldn''t stop her stomach from churning, ''I don''t really want to touch that...''


    It was only now that the group realized how difficult this ''war'' would be.


    Amid the tense atmosphere, only the youngest one walked forward with confident steps.


    Everyone''s eyes gravitated towards her as she released a contrasting aura of warmth and dread. Without knowing what was going on or where this strange feeling wasing from, a silver halo of light spun out of existence above her head, and six pairs of alternating Angel wings and Devil wings slowly emerged from her back.


    It had only been less than a day since she woke up, and Serafall, Tanis, and Kunou didn''t really want her to step into the frontline without properly recovering.However, ire had been feeling great ever since she opened her eyes. It wasn''t just a feeling of having a very good night of sleep, but as if a shackle that she didn''t know existed disappeared and freed her limbs. The imploding energies inside her body had all together calmed down, and she could now minutely control any aspect of them as if she were just moving her fingers.


    It also helped when Gabriel appeared and controlled the Holy Power that was spiraling out of control. Since it was done through her body as a medium, she clearly remembered how the Seraph meticulously adjusted every flow and changed it into a tangible form. ire had never realized how simr it is to Demonic Power when it''s being converted into Elemental Power or something else, ''I tried to handle it differently from Demonic Power because they''re opposites... But I should have known. After all, they are just different sides of the same coin.''


    ire med herself for not noticing something very obvious, though it really wasn''t a fault of her own since her focus wasrgely on not letting these opposing forces tear her body apart while also taking advantage of the force generated between them.


    ''I was sessful earlier. This is a good chance to try it on arger scale.'' It had been only a moment since she had forgotten the gawking crowd behind her as she lifted her white bow with gold trimmings up in the air and aimed in the middle of the wriggling mass of disgustingness.


    In her right hand, a golden ming arrow appeared and she nocked it on her bow.


    The moment she pulled the bowstring back, the golden ming arrow became tainted with ck mes. But instead of the previous messy and chaotic mix, the gold and ck mes coexisted as if they were part of each other.


    The arrow emitted a Holy aura, an aura that exudes confidence and purity. But the moment she released it, it was as if a wild beast had been unleashed, thirsting for blood and violence.


    The arrow left a trailing ck-and-white light and soon reached the terror-inducing insects. It was a tiny sparkpared to the giant scale of the iing threat.


    Everyone thought that the arrow killed at least a hundred of these worms seeing how it pierced through them, but simr to a small ember set off in the middle of dry weeds with a soft wind blowing on it, it soon spread like an uncontroble wildfire.


    The mes of the arrow were Holy as it purified and burned all of its enemies but it was also Demonic as it greedily reached out for more, never ceasing to feed itself more fuel.


    Everyone was silent as the burning worms started dropping from the sky with ear-screeching screams. But before they could reach the ground, their entirety had already turned into ashes, leaving behind a small trace of their existence in the world.


    The entire hole where the worms and flies are rushing out became covered with golden and ck mes but there are obviously still many of them that went through and started spreading out to the surroundings. Nevertheless, the mes had annihted the vast majority of them leaving only a bit of strugglers.


    ire turned back around to the stunned audience with a big smile on her face, "Please take care of the remaining ones~ Thank you."


    For a long time, no one could speak as a new found fear and respect ovepped ire''s innocent image and demeanor in their minds.


    .


    .


    .


    Tanis just sted one of the worms she was facing into bits with a punch when she felt the rush of Holy and Demonic Power from the Dimensional Gap and looked towards it with an amused expression.


    "Is something wrong?" Tier Harribel just finished slicing thest of the worms that just approached Tanis and noticed her strange expression.


    Tanis shook her head and just said, "Nothing much. I just thought that my sister learned how to give a shy show from Kisuke-niichan."


    Harribel turned to the direction she was just looking but didn''t ask anything else. While there are a lot fewer of these insects that areing towards the Hueco Mundopared to the Human World, there are also fewer of them that can fend them off reliably.


    "Where''s the next big hole?" Harribel asked.


    Tanis pointed in a certain direction and said, "Grimjow-san already started running towards it. I suggest that we let everyone else rest first since it looks like he could handle it."


    Harribel looked at Grimjow who''s already a dot on the horizon before looking towards the numerous Arrancar around them with some of them seeming to be seriously injured, "That''s a good idea. Let''s rest for a few hours."


    Thanks to their natural regeneration and stamina, however, it shouldn''t take too long before they''re back to their full power.


    .


    .


    .


    Within Soul Society, just outside of the Seireitei''s walls was arge part of thend that was transformed into a multi-level temporary shelter that could house all of the souls that couldn''t fight. Kunou was tasked to set up a barrier that could protect those who are inside. While Kunou could create arge-scale barrier, she couldn''t sustain it so she got the help of various Shinigami to power it up.


    And since there''s enoughbatants present, she didn''t really have to do anything else.


    Kunou also felt ire''s Holy and Demonic Power radiating and smiled but she was soon disturbed by a small child wearing a Shinigami attire, "Kunou-san, Captain wants to see you."


    "Nemu? About what?"


    "I was told it was about the implementation of soul transfers. Captain wants to start the n early."


    Kunou stood up from her seat and dusted her pants, "Alright. Please lead me to him."

 Chapter 1259 Fast Development

    Chapter 1259 Fast Development


    Kunou closely followed the small Nemu after giving instructions to the members of the 12th and 4th Divisions in case something happened.


    Since their destination was in the deepest part it took about half an hour for them to reach Mayuri''sb due to the numerous security protocols that he ced, ''He''s going to open this ce up soon. Is there a need for such an overlyplicated clearance?'' Kunoumented while Nemu was opening the final door that would lead them to a wide chamber.


    Kunou was already expecting the wide chamber due to the nature of the work being done here. However, she stopped in her tracks when she didn''t see what she was imagining, "This is... A server farm?"


    ''Where are the culture pods that house the Homunculus seeds?'' She asked herself as she looked around, trying to find the cylindrical tubes filled with nourishing liquid, ''Is it further inside the room?''


    But even after following Nemu for quite some time, Kunou only saw rows of heat, light, and sound-generating boxes of toweringputers.


    At the end of the chamber was Mayuri, watching the endless stream of dataing in and out of the 60-foot and 10-foot wide screen.


    Feeling their presence, Mayuri turned around, "You''re here."


    "I thought that this is the ce where you mass produce the physical bodies for the Soul race?" Kunou asked, still curious and also raising her guard a bit.


    Mayuri immediately detected Kunou''s guard and said, "Did you really expect me to settle down for his inferior methods?"Kunou was surprised and confused, "Inferior?"


    Mayuri didn''t say anything and just snapped his fingers.


    At that moment, Kunou''s eyes widened and she hurriedly jumped to her left while turning her body to right. She didn''t know how they did it, but all of a sudden, there were multiple presences appearing behind one of the ck boxes. She immediately pulled out her talismans and her Soul Gear but didn''t do anything else and just waited.


    "Great. So it was effective." Mayurimented and urged those who just appeared toe out, "You guys have work to do. Come here."


    One by one, four individuals walked out and it became obvious to Kunou that they were Arrancars but felt something amiss when she saw the various stitches present on their bodies, ''Are they perhaps... The reported zombies?''


    The Arrancars, Charlotte Chuhlhourne, Ciri Sanderwi, Dordoni Alessandro Del Socio, and Luppi Antenor, however, ignored Kunou and Nemu and had very depressed expressions on their faces, "So? What great experiment do we have to do?" Asked Luppi with a nervous tone. In the past experiments they went through, Mayuri wouldn''t bother to tell them about it but this time, he actually warned them. They thought that the experiment this time might not just cause them death but also unimaginable suffering.


    They contemted revolt but that idea was immediately thrown in the trash because Mayuri had full control of them and they didn''t even know how to get away from it.


    Mayuri didn''t answer him and turned to Kunou, "I called you here to inspect the Magic aspect of their bodies. While I was able to advance my studies about it, the mysticism still eludes me so I can''t establish a reliable baseline topare with."


    Kunou was still curious how these guys were able to evade her senses but set it aside for now and asked back, "Bodies? Where are they?"


    Mayuri then took out a bottle of ck pills and took out exactly four of them before tossing it towards the unmotivated Arrancars, "Eat it." He gave them a simplemand.


    The Arrancars first looked at each other before sighing in defeat and popping the pills in their mouths. The pills just look like ordinary medicine and they slid effortlessly in their throats. Nevertheless, they know enough not to think that these are ordinary.


    For a minute, they were waiting and nothing was happening. They know that Mayuri''s drugs always had instantaneous effects so they wondered what''s different this time around. But around one minute more, they felt something in their stomach expanding.


    Soon, horror-filled their faces as they clutched their stomachs, "Kurotsuchi! What the hell is this!?" Charlotte shouted as an ache immediately brought him down to his knees. But despite the pain they are feeling, there is actually nothing expanding within their stomachs like they thought. Instead, their skins started blistering and the clothes made out of Reiryoku were dissolving.


    The blistering worsened and soon the entire skin and hairs on their bodies disappeared, revealing their bloody muscr tissues.


    Strangely enough, they didn''t feel anything about it and just continued to endure the expanding feeling in their stomachs.


    While watching this, Kunou couldn''t help but approach and observe what was happening closer, "T-this is..."


    Fortunately for the Arrancars, the pain stopped at the 3-minute mark and soon their skins started regenerating, save for their clothes.


    Nemu came running in and gave them each robe she got from who knows where.


    Mayuri, on the other hand, turned to the stunned Kunou and asked, "What do you think?"


    Kunou didn''t answer. Or more urately, she couldn''t answer since her mind was still a mess from what she had witnessed, ''Wait... What was that? Did I see it right? The moment they ate those pills, they started absorbing Magic Power with their spiritual bodies. And from their stomach, a real-time absorption of spiritual particles and growth of physical cells was also happening? Within the span of a few minutes, they managed to convert their spiritual bodies to a physical one?''


    When he didn''t receive his answer, Mayuri became a bit impatient, "Don''t think of how it happened. I told you, I won''t settle down with his inferior method. I called you here to check if there''s anything wrong with them from your perspective."


    Kunou calmed herself down and did what she was asked to do.


    She observed the flow of Magic Power that''sing in and out of their bodies and even the slight flow of almost nonexistent Ki in the Soul Society, ''Wait... Ki?''


    "...There''s nothing wrong I could see, but it''s better if you get Sera-neechan or Kisuke-niichan''s opinion on this."


    "If you think there''s nothing wrong. Then we''re done here." Mayuri turned around and went back to his work, "I''ll call you again after I''m done stabilizing the ones for the special individuals."


    Kunou stared at his back for a few moments before silently tracing back her steps to exit hisb. On her way out, she suddenly remembered Kisuke''s words about Mayuri when he was briefing them about the Soul Society.


    [If it''s about biological processes, I don''t know anyone better than him. He''s a true genius in that regard.]


    =================================


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 Chapter 1260 Those Who Once Sent The Worlds Into Turmoil

    Chapter 1260 Those Who Once Sent The Worlds Into Turmoil


    Mayuri opened the path for Kunou from his terminal and while he was doing so, his Corpse Unit finally got their bearings and Dordoni asked him, "What did you do to us?"


    "The same with the Captains and the Lieutenants." Mayuri expressionlessly answered.


    The former Arrancars looked at each other and inspected their bodies once again, "You mean giving us a physical body?" Dordoni asked again while flexing and stretching his limbs.


    Ciri was curious about who Kunou was but she''s more interested in one thing, "But why did you ask for her opinion? You didn''t have to do that experimentation in front of her, right?" Mayuri could have just shown the current state of the Captains and Lieutenants if he wanted a better opinion.


    Ciri had been feeling even betterpared to before she took the pill and while inspecting her body, it was toote for her to realize that she had been questioning Mayuri''s intention and hurriedly and nervously shut her mouth.


    The others also held their breaths back the moment Ciri started asking questions, but contrary to their expectations, Mayuri just simply answered as he typed away on the terminal, "It''s because I don''t trust her."


    They were surprised that Mayuri simply responded without an apanying ''punishment''. However, they are not going to take their chances for a follow-up question and just silently evaluate what changed in them.


    ''Of course, I''m not going to show them to her. Not when I''m finalizing and stabilizing their bodies.'' Mayuri continued to narrate to himself. Although Kisuke started this whole problem, Mayuri agreed to his views and didn''t mind the change that was about toe. However, what he didn''t like is the fact that Kisuke is trying to put the Soul Society, or more specifically, the Gotei 13 under his wings.


    Mayuri knew that Kisuke had a good reason as he was aware that he was someone whose desire was far removed from control and ruling. But that doesn''t mean he''ll let him be. Hence, he adjusted the physical bodies that he was giving to the members of the Gotei 13 to make sure that he could get away from most of Kisuke''s influence.Of course, Mayuri also didn''t have the ambition to rule since his desire lies in knowledge and creating, simr to Kisuke. This is the reason why the whole of the Gotei 13 trusts that Mayuri won''t tamper with their bodies and would allow him to use them however they want despite his normal behavior.


    ''We''ll cooperate, but I won''t allow the giant behind him to eat us up.'' Mayuri thought to himself. Soon enough, the stabilization of the Captains and Lieutenants came to an end and started waking them up, ''It''s a shame I can''t do the same for Soifon... But I guess it doesn''t really matter.''


    .


    .


    .


    Serafall went over the controls and monitors. After making sure that everything and everyone was functioning normally and would have no problem, she passed the authority to the Humans and Shinigami coordinating the attacks, "Call me if there''s an emergency."


    With a brief farewell, Serafall left and returned to their original base to check upon Ophis'' progress.


    Upon reaching the isted space, Serafall immediately noticed that there were only four people left in the mansion and one of them surprised her, "Lilith?" She muttered loudly in a pleasantly surprised voice.


    She immediately honed in on their position and also found out that all of them were in the same room.


    As the people within the mansion knew of her arrival, Serafall didn''t knock and just directly opened the door to a wide saloon where the four people were calmly drinking some warm tea.


    The people who don''t know them would see this as a pleasant and warm gathering, but those who knew them would have a heart attack if not outright faint.


    Sitting on the round table were Ophis, Lilith, Aizen, and finally a blindfolded Yhwach with ck metallic bracelets on his wrists.


    Serafall was someone who saw this lineup as ''normal'' so she just cheerfully walked up to them and immediately greeted Lilith, "Li-chan~! You''re back!"


    Lilith turned to her and nodded with a smile, "Umu. I have returned."


    "So you''re not bothered by this?" Off to the side, Aizen asked after taking a sip of his tea, "I really can''t fathom the mind of someone who''d willingly degrade themselves to this level." To someone who chased the existence of the ''ultimate being'', he can''t stand Ophis who willingly let go of her own powers just to give way to a mind that was born by ident.


    Serafall picked up Lilith, sat on her seat, and started pampering her, "Of course not. And of course, you won''t understand. You''re someone who wants to surpass everyone and everything. You grew from a nobody to an overlord. Ophis, meanwhile, was an overlord who wanted a home. You two value vastly different ideas. She''s not degrading herself."


    "Hmmm... That''s true." Aizen, naturally, understood this. Despite that, he hated something that goes against his own belief and his opinion wouldn''t easily change just because someone proved it.


    Serafall knew that talking to him about this was useless so he turned to now fully regenerated and blindfolded Yhwach, "How was the seal?"


    "Impable." Yhwach answered in his rough voice, "I''m still trying to figure out how this is working."


    "Ah, I''m curious about it too." Aizen''s interest was also piqued, "As far as I know, his eyes are just a representation of his abilities. Just blocking anything that enters it shouldn''t have done anything to render them useless."


    Serafall contemted it for a moment before speaking, "Well, we have a friend who has a problem turning others into stone whenever they look into her eyes. And simr to his eyes, her eyes are just a representation of that ability since even just recalling a memory of them in your mind will start the petrification process.


    "It was slightly adjusted to fit your use case but that blindfold creates a separate mind space that traps your ''vision''. It''s a barrier that traps you in another world."


    The table became silent once again with a background noise of Ophis chewing on her banana cake.


    A few secondster, Yhwach smiled and started rubbing his beard, "I see... So instead of seeing the world, you''re fooling my eyes by making them look at another thing that doesn''t contain anything. Fascinating."


    "There''s also various Sealing and Security Magicid on that blindfold so it won''t be easy for you to remove it. You could probably overpower them using your Reiatsu, but that''s what those cuffs are for." Serafall snapped her fingers and summoned various banana vored snacks for Ophis and Lilith, "Enough of that. How are they doing?"


    "They are doing fine." Aizen replied, "But before we go further into that, isn''t it about time you tell us what you really want us to do?"

 Chapter 1261 Those Who Once Sent The Worlds Into Turmoil part 2

    Chapter 1261 Those Who Once Sent The Worlds Into Turmoil part 2


    Serafall just smiled upon Aizen''s question, "What do you mean?"


    "Urahara showed me some of his memories and it looks like he wanted my assistance to deal with that mechanical being trying to invade your world." Aizen paused for a moment before continuing, "However, I''ve been thinking back to that moment and concluded that that thing does not have a soul. They have something else entirely different. Combining that with its strength, I''ll just be amon cannon fodder the moment my ability doesn''t work on it."


    It was hard for Aizen to admit, but he was sure that his only advantage against the mechanical being that Ophis fended off was his undying body. Everyone in this world could cut through physical objects, however, whether they are a Shinigami, Fullbringer, Quincy, or Witch, they are far more effective against Spiritual Beings.


    It''s the reason why everyone has to expend a bit more effort against insect invaders.


    Yhwach''s Almighty may be useful because it''s an ability that he uses on himself to see and control the future but that couldn''t be said the same for Aizen, ''Against soulless beings, it might be interesting to study them, but I won''t ept a one-sided beating.''


    "Even if you use the entirety of this world''s help, it''ll only be a small helping hand against those things. At most, it''ll be a standstill because they probably won''t be able to do much against those with strong souls. After all, Spiritual Power could only be fully countered by another Spiritual Power..." In the middle of speaking, Aizen had a sudden epiphany. With furrowed brows, his voice trailed, "Unless..."


    Serafall''s smile disappeared and sighed, ''I guess it''s about time for them to be properly filled in. In the first ce, they are not a part of this world''s defense.''


    "Ehem..." Serafall cleared her throat first, "Let me preface this first by saying that we have no intention of controlling your freedom, Sosuke-chan. We know that if we try anything like that, you''d be one of our biggest problems and we don''t really like taking on unnecessarily difficult ones."


    Aizen was a bit taken aback by the way she called his first name but didn''t say anything about it and just continued listening."What we really wanted was just letting everyone know of your existence. To exin further..."


    Serafall started narrating to them the current state of affairs in the previous world, putting emphasis on the existence of both Evies and Etouldes.


    After hearing the bigger picture, Aizen finally understood the role they wanted him to take and spoke while chuckling, "These Etouldes are helping your world but you want a deterrence against them? How I pity them."


    "Can you really say in your good conscience that they are only trying to help?"


    "Of course not. But this is also only making it worse for you. If they are asrge and expansive as you described them to be, then not just the Evies, but you''ll also earn the Etouldes'' hostility. Even if they are enemies, it''s easy for them to decide if your world is worth it or not."


    Serafall nodded in agreement, "That''s true. But I''ll say it again. They arerge and expansive. In other words, they are thest thing from being monolithic."


    "Hooh..." Aizen understood where her boldness wasing from, "So you''re already working behind their frontlines. Hmmm... In that case, I''ll be your little scarecrow since I also stand to benefit." He then turned to the silent King of Quincies, "I can do your bidding on a whim, but how are you going to convince him? Don''t tell me you''re going to control him?"


    Serafall shrugged her shoulders, "We honestly thought about that, but the same as you, that''s also a bit unrealistic."


    Serafall has already heard about Yhwach from the Shinigamis, especially from Ouetsu, ''He''s someone who resented how the world works and wanted to remove the boundary between life and death, essentially removing both concepts from this world and letting the souls ''live'' without the fear of ''death''.''


    She waited to see if Yhwach would say anything but to her disappointment, he didn''t say a word.


    "Now let''s go back to the previous topic. How are these girls doing?"


    "They surprisingly learned both Shinigami and Quincy techniques, however, the Zanpakuto releases and Vollst?ndig were still far from their reach." Due to Ophis and Lilith''s unusual nature, Aizen thinks that he''s going back to his younger days when he drowned himself in his research and felt excited. He''s also very cooperative because he has a feeling that observing them could further unlock the potential he didn''t know still existed.


    ''I thought I was almost at the end of my path, but it turned out there''s a lot more into it... Urahara, I resent you, but I''m grateful for this opportunity.''


    ''However, for all of this toe to fruition, Urahara first has to seed. He charged into that hellhole confidently so he probably has a few things in his arsenal, but I think it''s going to be that easy. Ultimately, Hyousube Ichibei won''t allow any changes to this world.''


    .


    .


    .


    It had been a few days since Kisuke had descended into the depths of Hell and Ichibei was still sitting on top of the pulsing flesh. He, on the other hand, was still in the distance, but in contrast with Ichibei, Kisuke was lying in his own pool of blood without any sign of his regeneration kicking in, his cane snapped into two, and the de of his dagger cracked and fractured into a hundred pieces.


    "How peculiar. How are you still holding on for your dear life?" Although Ichibei''s voice was only at conversational volume, it still managed to reach the distant Kisuke.


    Nevertheless, Kisuke ignored him and did his best to stay alive while also asking his tenants, ''Are you guys still intact?''


    [...Intact? I was snapped!]


    [Consciously speaking, we''re still fine, for now.]


    ''I see. That''s good.''


    [What''s good!? We''re at the end of the road!] Benihime shouted in his mind. Although she sounds energetic, there''s an apparent weariness in her voice.


    ''That''s true isn''t it?'' Kisuke coughed out blood as he tried to raise his head to look at Ichibei, ''But he also can''t see where he''s walking.'' He thought with a grin.

 Chapter 1262 The “Hyousube Ichibei”

    Chapter 1262 The ��Hyousube Ichibei��


    These past few days, Kisuke has been attacking Ichibei and the obviously very important thing under him, the pulsing flesh.


    Kisuke has used almost everything, including activating both his Shunko and Bankai at the same time. In addition, the insects around them didn''t bother him and kept on eating the walls of the cavern without any care about what was happening.


    Despite all of this effort, he couldn''t deal any meaningful damage to either Ichibei and the flesh would regenerate endlessly and effortlessly.


    Meanwhile, ck spears that seem to be made out of nk ink would manifest out of nowhere and would unbelievably pierce through all of Kisuke''s defenses with ease.


    He tried dodging and blocking them but these spears would appear without any indicator. It''s as if they are already there in the first ce and Kisuke himself just walked into them.


    ''Another reality warper... How terrifying.'' Kisuke tried sitting up while the various holes in his body were leaking blood.


    Worst of all, Ichibei and the pulsing flesh seem to have some ability to negate both Shinigami and Hollow powers, which resulted in Benihime and Tiamat returning to their sealed forms and his Hollow transformation being dispelled, which included his ability to regenerate.


    Although he''s not sure of what''s happening yet, there''s only a single entity who could possibly achieve that, ''And that''s the Soul King... The origin of all Spiritual Power in this world.''


    Thankfully, his use of Magic Power was still avable and he was able to keep himself alive thanks to it.After closing his wounds up, Kisuke stood up while swaying, "Are you trying to be the next Soul King now that the lynchpin has disappeared?"


    But instead of answering his question, Ichibei talked about apletely different topic, "If you have brought that being in the form of a young girl, you could have a chance. Why did youe alone to face me? Was it pride?"


    Like him, Kisuke ignored his question and continued on his line of thinking, "No... You''re not trying to be the Soul King. That''s evident in the fact that you''re now trying to devour everything. You just want to keep things in order until the day you can achieve your goal."


    Ichibei went quiet.


    "And you''re asking why I didn''t bring Ophis-chan with me, right? I have no intention of serving you food. Though I doubt you could actually do it, I still don''t want to risk it."


    Kisuke then started picking up the snapped and shattered de slowly as he continued speaking, "I guess that Ophis-chan made you realize something and you had no choice but to skip a few things."


    Kisuke paused for a moment before turning his eyes toward Ichibei, "Did you forget that you''re not the real thing and never will be one?"


    As soon as he finished his words, Kisuke realized that five ck spears were piercing his body and he started coughing blood again, ''Seriously... I still can''t find the telegraph for these things... But I was able to confirm its rules.''


    "You dodged." Muttered Ichibei and the ck spears disappeared. He intended to insert all of those spears on his head, but strangely enough, they appeared all over his body and only dealt non-fatal wounds, "I was still underestimating you it seems. I didn''t expect you to figure them out."


    For the first time in this ''fight'' Ichibei raised his arm and in an instant, a hundred ck spears appeared. To his surprise, however, none of them appeared in Kisuke''s body and were instead strewn around him.


    Kisuke closed his wounds with Magic and a grin appeared on his face, "Finally trying to kill me for real? Did I hit the mark?"


    Ichibei didn''t immediately reply and gestured his hand. This time, a thousand spears appeared but the same as before, none of them appeared in Kisuke.


    Ichibei tried a few more times and Kisuke just smirked at him while watching the countless spears shing in and out of existence, "Thanks to you looking down on me, I was able to ascertain some of my theories."


    Multiple Magic Circles appeared around Kisuke and the scattered pieces of both of his Zanpakutos gathered and rearranged themselves into their original forms.


    Ichibei became interested and asked, "Theories, huh? What are they?" He also stopped summoning the ck spears and started concocting another form of attack.


    "First is that you can''t see everything that the Soul King was doing, especially after his death."


    "..."


    "Second is that you thought that you kept him from disclosing the real situation by setting up what I can only be called a world-spanning barrier. However, the Soul King had a tough time because he had to do it in a roundabout way every time just so that you wouldn''t be able to figure it out. To this day, those three, Kurosaki Ichigo, Aizen Sosuke, and Yhwach, still have no idea that the Soul King wanted them to disrupt you."


    Ichibei grinned and acknowledged Kisuke''s words, "He''s good at choosing people with potential, but not so much as a person. Aizen was too ambitious. Kurosaki was too naive. Yhwach, on the other hand, was too drowned in his ideals."


    "But I''m standing in front of you now, no?"


    Ichibei nodded, still with the same grin, "That''s true. However, you''re already toote. Even if you sessfully evaded my palms, I''m already on the verge ofpleting it."


    ''Palms? Is that what he called the that catches everyone that the Soul Kinges into contact with? In any case, he''s already confirmed it. He''s trying to resurrect this thing by pleting'' himself.''


    Kisuke''s mind went back to the time that the Soul King''sst vestige spoke to him, ''A being that shouldn''t have been born, huh?''

 Chapter 1263 The “Hyousube Ichibei” part 2

    Chapter 1263 The ��Hyousube Ichibei�� part 2


    The moment Kisuke came to this wide cavern and was face to face with Ichibei, he already had a lot of things in his mind. Most notably, Soul King''sst words.


    He was certain that the Soul King was referring to Ichibei when he said something about ''the being that shouldn''t have been born'', but Kisuke wasn''t so certain as to why the Soul King was making the effort of ''destroying'' his work.


    With the Soul King''s power, there should be no way to have anyonepel him to create the three worlds and start the cycle of life and death by sacrificing himself. In other words, it was the Soul King''s idea to create the world as it is. However, why does Ichibei want to protect it? And after all these years, why did the Soul King want to disrupt the bnce that he created in the first ce?


    Of course, from the very start, Kisuke was just specting all of this because he''s not really sure if that''s what the Soul King was trying to achieve.


    In an attempt to search for clues about it, Kisuke spent most of his time gathering data on Ichigo, Aizen, and Yhwach secretly. It''s also one of the reasons why he chose to free thetter two and allow Yhwach to restore his power for a bit. But even if he put so much effort into this, to the point that Kisuke had no choice but to leave the rest of ''migration'' in Mayuri''s hand, he had almost nothing.


    It was then that he finally decided to look at another perspective. The perspective of the ''being that shouldn''t have been born''. And to get into that, his first target of investigation was Kazui, the child who epted Hell.


    After that, it didn''t take long for Kisuke to piece together the clues that he had gathered when he figured out that Kazui''s mission was not to provide safe travel to Hell for the lost souls, but an experiment to increase the Hell''s poption and further breakdown the boundaries between it and the three worlds.


    ''If Soul King was the soul of this dead body, then Ichibei is some sort of Spirit that was born from its lingering powers... No... He''s probably just a simple maggot or fly that gained sentience after eating and collecting this dead body''s flesh. Now it thinks that he''s the real thing and trying to ''revive'' himself.''


    Kisuke intentionally talked in a cryptic way because he wanted the final confirmation from the man himself. Since Ichibei had no more reason to hide anything, he managed to give Kisuke a bit of a straight answer.Because Kisuke was loudly narrating his thoughts inside his head, Tiamat and Benihime could also clearly hear him, [You mean to say that he''s just one of these insects?] Benihime asked, [I thought that you were just joking.]


    [Then let''s say that he''s one of these insects. What''s the point of pretending to be the Shinigami and how does this affect our situation?] Tiamat asked this time.


    ''Before I answer that, this is the overview of what I think happened. Once upon a time, an unimaginably gigantic creature swam through the endless dimensions for a countless length of time. It witnessed countless worlds and probably destroyed some of them intentionally or identally. But at some point, something happened to it and soon met its end.''


    ''Its soul left its decaying body and noticed that there were numerous creatures that were living on its body and most of them were already like it, a wandering soul with no purpose. Whether it''s from the worlds it destroyed or somewhere else, it didn''t know where they came from.''


    ''But thanks to its long journey, it had learned a lot of things. Even though it was just a simple soul now, it still possessed a lot of power and started nourishing these aimless souls out of its own interest.''


    [Are you saying that this soul was the Soul King?]


    Kisuke, however, didn''t answer Benihime''s question and just continued on narrating inside his head, ''The way he was nourishing these poor souls was by giving them a tiny piece of itself. Thanks to this benevolent act, they soon started having minds of their own, making their own decisions, and creating their own culture.''


    [That soul forgot something important, huh?] Tiamat immediately guessed the next part of the story. As someone who was once in the position of a Transcendent, she knew how important their whole being is, whether it''s alive or dead.


    ''As expected of you.'' Kisuke chuckled before continuing, ''Yes. It forgot something, two things in fact. It forgot that its body still exists, containing an enormous amount of power and it also forgot that there''s something else living on it and not just souls which it was fond of.''


    ''The forgotten ones, these insects and probably a bunch of others, gnawed andpeted for the essentially discarded body until only one of them remained. And among the victors, one came out special and inherited the memories of this body by simply consuming a lot of it and now it thinks that it was once this corpse.''


    ''The soul wasn''t justte in noticing that something huge had changed on its back and it only acknowledged it because it suddenly appeared in front of it, forming rtionships and interacting with the souls it has been taking care of for countless eons.''


    ''It was only at that moment that it waspelled to use its vast power to see what would unfold. But whatever it saw, it didn''t hesitate to destroy and divide itself into countless pieces, leaving only behind 4 major parts which became the foundation of the 3 worlds and its lynchpin, the Soul King. Its power gave birth to countless things and shaped this dimension to the image it probably saw in its past, creating the cycle of life and death.''


    ''So why did it do this? I don''t know. It knew that the ''fake'' wanted it toplete itself, but for some reason, instead of fighting against it, the Soul King decided to spread himself out as much as possible and seal the way towards its dead body.''


    ''The fake was probably furious but it too can y the long game. It first opened the path to the body and started sending the scattered powers of the Soul King towards it. Slowly but surely, the fake was gathering everything into one ce.''


    [Hold on... Then the reason why Captain-level Shinigami and strong Arrancars are sent to Hell is...] The story made a few things click inside Benihime''s head.


    ''They are those who manage to gather a little bit more of the Soul King''s power and the fake threw them onto its te.''


    [Then the reason why you can''t use your Shinigami and Hollow abilities is...]


    ''Because these abilities spawned from the Soul King''s power and with its understanding of it, it''s a trivial matter for it to seal them. It''d probably be the same if I had Quincy powers.''


    Benihime and Tiamat finally understood why Kisuke said that Ichibei was trying to plete'' himself. Since the three worlds are made out of the Soul King himself, he''s now trying to devour everything.


    [If you knew that, then why did you dive into this ce!?]


    At that moment, Kisuke smirked, ''It''s because I knew exactly that, that I came to this ce. This guy is setting up the same situation as Chaos did. You know what happens to people that just eat the food I prepared, right?''


    =================================


    AN Aug 30, 2024: I apologize for being sote and sadly, I could only manage 4 chapters.


    My sudden ''break'' derailed a lot of things for me and that includes my momentum for this arc.


    While I do have notes of what I want to happen, some of them look cryptic even though I''m the one who wrote them. I have a certain development in mind and just wrote down ''hints'' for it for me to go back to in case I forget how it''ll go.


    But too much time has passed that those ''hints'' can''t get me back to what I was thinking a week prior. Thanks to that, it was hard to get back into it.


    Oh well, enough of those excuses. Please enjoy and have a great day~!


    ==================================

 Chapter 1264 [True Blade]

    Chapter 1264 [True de]


    "You seem to have an idea of the whole truth, but what are you going to do? As long as you''re a person of this domain, there''s nothing you can do to stop me." Ichibei was still confident. As long as the young girl doesn''t make her appearance, there''s no way for Kisuke to hurt him. After all, whether it''s a Zanpakuto or other Kidou derivatives, everything will just be rendered harmless because he is the ''root''.


    Kisuke nodded at his assessment, "That''s true. However, I also figured out a few things regarding your criteria of ''harmless''."


    Ichibei became interested and rubbed his beard, "Hooh? Mind exining?"


    "No matter howrge yourwork is, you probably can''t process everything that''s happening in this ''domain''. In that case, you probably employ some sort of filtering system that alerts you of only important factors like whenever the Soul King uses his power or a special individual appears."


    Kisuke then started walking towards Ichibei, took out Tiamat, and made Benihime disappear, "Zanpakuto are also a rtively new invention for someone like you, but you allowed its existence and even spread it as it is a good way to gather more of the Soul King''s fragments as they are essentially another vessel to contain his power, but more importantly, you named them and also acted as a limitation for the individuals who wielded them. That became evident when Aizen Sosuke thought that he could surpass his ''Shinigami'' self if he could discard his Zanpakuto."


    This conclusion came from his research of the Hollows andter, the Arrancars. When a Hollow wanted to seal its vast Spiritual Power, it came in the form of Zanpakuto. However, Aizen realized that he was wrong when Ichigo instead absorbed his Zanpakuto himself. Although only possible temporarily due to its innate limitations, this showed Aizen a new avenue that made him doubt his path, and in turn, lose the Hougyoku''s support.


    "In other words, you''re probably filtering out most of the information about Zanpakuto since they have no way of actually hurting you, especially as you are now."


    "Are you insinuating that the thing you''re holding will be able to hurt me because it''s not of this world?" Ichibei suddenly grinned widely, "I hate to break it to you, but it''s still a Zanpakuto. Something that has been subdued by your own soul, hence, still a direct extension of the Soul King''s fragment through you. That won''t be able to hurt me no matter how foreign its ability is since it can only manifest its power through your Spiritual Power."


    Kisuke stopped walking and also shed a grin, "And what if there''s a way to directly manifest her abilities?""By physically summoning it? That might work, but up to what degree? I''ve seen what that being is capable of and there''s no way for it to reach the level of that young girl."


    ''Look at how he underestimates you.'' Kisuke chuckled.


    [It''s the truth. Even if I physically manifest, there would be extreme limits to what I could really do. And why did you retract Benihime?]


    But instead of Kisuke, it was Benihime who answered Tiamat, [Because this guy is about to do something crazy.]


    Ichibei''s grin disappeared when he saw Kisuke chuckle. It was then that thetter continued to ask, "Aren''t you forgetting something? That isn''t the only way to manifest her powers."


    Naturally, Ichibei didn''t forget. It was one of the events that he took notice of and also one of the things he didn''t want to see anymore. It was the moment when Ichigo became Zangetsu himself. Although it was in exchange for his entire Spiritual Power, it was a form that Ichibei felt threatened.


    ck spikes suddenly appeared beneath Kisuke''s feet but unlike the unreal ck spears from before, he felt their existence and was able to dodge by jumping back.


    "That''s impossible for you with what you''re holding. You may be able to do it with your original Zanpakuto, but not with someone who isn''t rted to you. And if by some miracle that''s possible, you wouldn''t have enough energy to fuel such a transformation, even if you sacrificed your life."


    The ck spikes continuously appeared and Kisuke also continuously dodged them, however, the grin on his face never disappeared, "Two hurdles right? Then let me tell you something. I once fused with the Hougyoku. It''s gone now though."


    "!?" Ichibei was surprised. He never thought that another one of those things could exist, ''Soul King... How did he...''


    To those who aren''t aware, they may see the Hougyoku as a wish-granting stone. However, that''s far from the truth as its essence is one of the Soul King''s greatest abilities, ''The [Mark of Adaptation]. It is what allowed him to create the three worlds.''


    As Aizen used it, it changed into a [Mark of Evolution] which allowed him to raise himself. However, in Ichibei''s opinion, it''s a lesser derivation of [Adaptation] since it can only go ''forward''.


    ''If his words were true and he was able to keep the [Adaptation] aspect...''


    Kisuke was able to read what was on his mind and continued his thoughts for him, "Then the first hurdle was already cleared."


    Even then, Ichibei was still confident because he had his own hidden cards, "...Then are you going to sacrifice your life? If you''re lucky, you might indeed be able to hurt me with a few strikes."


    "Ah... I''m really d I kept it. I was thinking of using it for something else, but this is also good." Kisuke suddenly started muttering to himself.


    Ichibei wondered what he was on about but before he could figure it out, his eyes widened and looked down. Although it''s hard to tell, Ichibei noticed that the pulsing flesh under him abruptly slowed down, "...What?"


    At the same time, Kisuke''s crimson Spiritual Pressure exploded out, "As expected, you can''t control everything even though you''re so obsessed with it."


    Ichibei stood up in confusion and watched Kisuke slowly grow a pair ofrge horns on the side of his head, his eyes turning pink and his hair growing out while turning it from pale blonde to a light blue one.


    "...Hmmm... If releasing the full capabilities of a Zanpakuto is called [True Strike], what should I call this one?" Ichibei heard Kisuke''s easygoing voice, "[True de] perhaps? Oh well, it''s time to speed things up."

 Chapter 1265 [True Blade] part 2

    Chapter 1265 [True de] part 2


    [How are you doing this?] Tiamat asked as she was also incredibly surprised that Kisuke suddenly pulled in her core and started taking on her features.


    ''With some references from the past and also thanks to you for helping me summon your Sea of Life earlier.'' Kisuke answered while feeling the incredible amount of power bubbling up, making him feel very bloated and thinking that he might just explode into nothingness. What''s surprising, however, is the fact that an incredible amount of information was currently entering his mind, ''This might be bad.'' He thought to himself.


    [How did you even pull something like this off? I don''t feel any of your original Spiritual Pressure being used in this form.] Benihime asked. Kisuke could tell that she''s a bit salty with the current situation. It was supposed to be her and Kisuke who''d achieve this form, but that first time was taken away by her new neighbor. Nevertheless, she didn''t say anything since she wouldn''t be able to do anything against Ichibei if what he''s saying is true.


    Kisuke first looked up to the now very bothered Ichibei and grinned. Kisuke was happy that he was able to finally elicit a fun reaction from him, ''This is a good start I suppose? And from the looks of it, he also doesn''t have any idea of what''s happening.''


    Kisuke stabilized himself for a bit before answering Benihime, ''It''s his ink.''


    [Ink?] Benihime remembers the ink that Kisuke refused to remove even though its effects were already disabled, [What about it?]


    ''Even if rendered useless, his ink is still intricately connected to his existence. It was thanks to this connection that he was able to name things. If this is a connection that goes from him to me, then it''s also a street that allows me to reach him. I''ll spare you theplicated stuff and just say think of it as a straw that I can sip from as much as I want.''


    [...] Benihime became stunned and silent. She didn''t even know that that was theoretically possible. And even if it''s in the realm of possibility, only those not right in the head would be able to think of that as a ''straw'', [Ah... I almost forgot. You''re not right in the head.]


    ''I don''t want to hear that from you.'' Kisuke immediately retorted. At the same time, various ck spikes went after Kisuke, though unlike before, he didn''t bother dodging them. And as he thought, the tip of the spikes only shattered upon contact with his body.The next instant, ck spears also pierced Kisuke. But the same as before, he didn''t do anything to modify their coordinates. Although it appeared that he was pierced, none of these spears were actually inside his body and just fell off as if they were snapped into two.


    Ichibei groaned upon seeing that and started gathering more ck mass into his hands that were already covered with a shiny exoskeleton.


    Tiamat was unperturbed by his actions and continued to ask, [But that connection should have been severed the moment its effects were disabled, would it not? And how were you able to take this kind of transformation without destroying yourself? It looks like you aren''t just imitating my physical features but actually transforming into a body simr to my original form... And that shouldn''t be possible.] Her curiosity far outweighed the threat that their current enemy was giving them.


    Kisuke carefully analyzes what Ichibei was trying to do, not because the surging power got to his head, but because that''s all he could do right now. Although a casual swing of his fist right now could demolish an entire mountain, that same power is currently wreaking havoc inside of him, and controlling it was already taking his all. Besides, the stream of alien information hasn''t ceased and he also needs to dedicate a bit of attention to figure out what''sing in and whether they are dangerous for him or not.


    Naturally, that doesn''t stop him from continuing the conversation he''s having with his partners, ''Did you also forget? I also have an ability that connects to ''darkness''.''


    Enlightenment dawned on both Tiamat and Benihime and both of them asked, [The [Shadow]!? It can be used like that!?]


    ''I wasn''t sure at first, but it turned out to be effective. Too effective that even the man himself doesn''t notice that a part of him is being absorbed.''


    [...That''s ridiculous.] Benihime muttered and thought that the original owner of this ability was probably also unaware of this possibility.


    ''Right? But this ridiculousness has served me well so I''ll do it again.''


    Truly, Kisuke wasn''t sure if this is going to work since his own observations and hypotheses are suggesting against it. However, while taking a beating from Ichibei previously, Kisuke suddenly remembered his perverted friend who defied all expectations and created miracles solely based on his desires.


    He might have learned a lot of things from Kisuke, but Kisuke also learned many things from him, ''I mean, from the fact that he could hear the voices of boobs even though they don''t have wills of their own thanks to his delusions... Who wouldn''t want to learn from something like that? That''s basically bending reality to his wishes.''


    ''As for thetter question that Tiamat pointed out, I don''t really know. I just felt that I could do it.''


    [...That''s even more unbelievable.] Tiamat muttered while sighing loudly.


    And Kisuke could truly understand what she was feeling since she''s not just any other ''God'' that he could ''copy''. Nevertheless, Kisuke still had a clue as to how he could do it, ''I''m not certain but it probably has something to do with the now non-existent Hougyoku. It didn''t make me strong like it did with Aizen, but it reshaped my body by fusing both my soul and physical body.''


    At that moment, Ichibei finally finished gathering the ck mass in his hands and raised it above his head.


    Kisuke took on a defensive stance and forced his sturdy body to move, ''This is really bad... I need more time. It was too much for me to expect that I''d be able to move immediately after this drastic change.'' He''s hoping that whatever that''sing, he''ll be able to survive it.


    Kisuke released the power from within him that didn''t seem to be Magical, Divine, Demonic, nor Spiritual and covered his entire body with it. The ck mass expanded in the blink of an eye and in the next half second, his entire world view became covered in darkness with nothing in it. The presence of Ichibei, the insects, and the world itself have seemingly disappeared.


    Kisuke waited for what could possibly hurt him, but nothing came after him and only after a few minutes of putting his guard up did he realize what just happened, "C-Could it be... He expelled me into another dimension?"


    Kisuke tried to confirm this conjecture by trying out various things and all answers are seemingly pointing towards ''yes''.


    After a few hours of poking around, Kisuke finally concluded that his conjecture is true, "...I can''t be that lucky, right?"


    Because of the fear that Ichibei felt for the first time in his entire existence, he inevitably has chosen the worst option for himself.

 Chapter 1266 Luck

    Chapter 1266 Luck


    "...I can''t be that lucky, right?" Kisuke muttered as he floated inplete darkness with his legs crossed.


    [You''re so lucky that I think that something is very wrong.] Benihime was at loss and also agreed, [Don''t you think there''s something else to it?]


    "I''d also like to think so... But maybe it''s as simple as that?" Kisuke replied while finally taking control of the rampaging energies inside him, "In any case, I really need to adjust myself to this form... And these horns are too heavy! What the heck are they made out of!? It feels like I would snap my neck if I suddenly turned around. This is definitely not suitable for closebat."


    Even though Kisuke can''t see Tiamat right now, somehow, he feels that she''s making a smug expression, [These horns of mine represent thend. They hold the weight of life itself and nurture all kinds of creations. Besides, you don''t really need to move too much in this form. Just st your enemies if they are far away or smack them if they''re up close.]


    ''This is why you lost...'' Kisuke thought to himself. But Kisuke can also understand her point. While this form contained a lot of power, it was a lot more sluggish evenpared to his base form. It''s as if it weighs as much as a. In turn, he couldn''t imagine the defense he has right now and if Tiamat''s natural self-healing ability was added, he''s almost indestructible. As long as he protects his head, which he figured out Tiamat''s weakness that came from the new knowledge that rushed into him, he''ll be fine.


    If his Hollowfied form is a fighter jet, in this form, he''s a battleship.


    [Moreover, you don''t really have to fight on your own. Although not as good as my sister''s, you now possess my Sea of Life, albeit, corrupted. You can give ''birth'' to 11 children who will be your vanguard if you desire to take over the world.]


    ''...I stand corrected. I''m now an aircraft carrier with main artilleries.''


    He recalled when Yoruichi and Serafall had to deal with 11 humanoid creatures that Tiamat summoned and had a hard time dealing with them. Only when Serafall released her Super Devil form were they able to stop them temporarily.Tiamat''s im of her Sea of Life being inferior to her sister''s is also true since it was her sister who gave birth to the thousands of Gods and now endlessly producing more monsters as they speak.


    Kisuke couldn''t search his memories to figure out how to summon these 11 children since the knowledge he got was simply on an instinctual level. Simr to when he releases Benihime, ''Let''s see... I have to generate and extend the Sea of Life to my surroundings first and only after it''s wide enough that I would be able to call them, huh?''


    As soon as Kisuke stood up, ck mud suddenly started flowing out from beneath his feet and it started to slowly gain mass. Because there''s no sense of direction in this ck space, the mud just formed into a sphere that got bigger and bigger with each passing second.


    [Then am I just going to watch this entire confrontation?] Benihime suddenly asked.


    "No. While I''m practicing Tiamat''s form, I''ll let you take control of the [Shadow]. Be proficient with it because I''m going to ask you to do something with itter."


    [Why not just tell me now what you n to do instead of just waiting for your words?]


    "It''s because several scenarios could happen and I have to adapt to each one of them. Just practice its general use case, including the absorption that I did earlier."


    After that, Benihime became quiet and started practicing with Luxeux''s [Shadow] within Kisuke''s inner world.


    Kisuke also went quiet and focused and rearranged his thoughts and as time went on, the speed of the mass of ck was expanding and kept increasing, signifying the refinement of his control over his current form. And when it became as wide as the entirety of Karakura Town, Kisuke suddenly recalled something, "Hey Tiamat... This corrupted Sea of Life could corrupt life, right?"


    [Yes.]


    "Then wouldn''t that mean..."


    [That''s why you should do your best to expand it.]


    "Great~! I''ve always wanted to be a raid boss!"


    .


    .


    .


    Serafall was monitoring the current trend regarding the invasion and she was seeing huge spikes in the insects'' numbers. ''It''s not just that. The amount of effort to kill one has increased and their coordination is getting better and better. They are learning and getting stronger.''


    She was contemting when she should head out when a huge explosion urred not far from her. Serafall immediately raised his hand and put up a barrier to keep her table and snacks from disintegrating.


    Serafall turned her head when the explosion subsided and saw Aizen and Yhwach instructing both Ophis and Lilith.


    To the inhabitants of this world, this sight would cause panic and outright denial of reality. But in Serafall''s eyes, it looks like two uncles teaching some kids a few tricks. Although these tricks were violent in nature and not for the faint-hearted.


    The cause of the explosion was Ophis and Lilith failing to release their Zanpakuto.


    "Why not just call them by their names?" Yhwach asked, slightly tired of this scene that has repeated for over ten times.


    "That is her name." Ophis immediately retorted while smacking her Zanpakuto into the ground out of frustration and creating another crater.


    Yhwach turned to Aizen and seemingly asked, ''Is it?''


    Aizen shook his head, "Well, it''s a step forward that you two are finally capable of talking to your Zanpakuto. If you want to convince them that those are their names, I won''t be able to help you."


    Lilith swung around her Zanpakuto, creating strong gusts all around her while thinking about what she should do next, "Noir. It''s about time youe out."


    The de, however, only vibrated slightly.


    Ophis looked at her before turning to her own sword, "Keyara, you have 5 minutes."


    Unlike Lilith''s Zanpakuto, it didn''t even respond.


    Aizen was very patient but he couldn''t help but let out a sigh of resignation, ''It''s like I''m talking to the most stubborn and prideful kids in the world.''


    He tried thinking of other ways for them tomunicate, however, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a burst of minute, but terrifying aura swept the surroundings.


    With eyes wide open, he turned to a certain direction and muttered, "Who''s that?" Despite his question, there''s something eerily familiar with this aura, and that familiarity is somehow invoking the feeling of annoyance from him.

 Chapter 1267 Moving Forward

    Chapter 1267 Moving Forward


    "Kisuke..." Ophis muttered while also facing the same direction as Aizen.


    "...Urahara?" Aizen turned to her with a stunned expression, "That''s Urahara?"


    But before Ophis could say anything, Serafall came flying towards them with a simrly panicked expression, "Ophis-chan! Contact nna-chan and tell her to prepare and create a barrier for the three worlds!"


    Ophis nodded and attempted to connect with her fellow Dragon. But before she could establish the connection, the terrifying aura suddenly disappeared as if it wasn''t real.


    Ophis turned her head in confusion before looking at Serafall and asked, "Do you still want me to?"


    But without any hesitation, Serafall nodded, "Yes."


    "Understood."


    Ophis started talking to nna and despite this, Serafall still had a worried expression. Aizen was a bit taken aback since she was normally nonchnt even while facing him and Yhwach, "Why the long face?"


    Serafall was quiet for a bit before letting out a huge sigh, "If that''s the Tiamat that I know, then I''m worried that she''ll flood the whole world by ident."Back then when they were trying to suppress Tiamat, Serafall didn''t mistake that her weakness was the norm. If Kisuke didn''t proactively and preemptively seal most of her abilities back then, then there''s no way for her to stop the ck mud that she released like she did.


    "I know Ki-tan would be able to stop her ck mud... But if by any chance she bypassed that restriction and that corrupting substance spilled into the three worlds..." Serafall shuddered as she finished her thoughts, "...Let''s just say that the insects that are invading now would be a minor problem ifpared to that."


    At that moment, Serafall''smunicator started ringing and when she looked down on it, she saw ire''s name, "What''s up, ire-chan?"


    [Sera-neechan! What''s happening? The enemies are retreating!]


    ''What?'' She thought and returned to her table immediately. As ire had said, the current heat map was showing that the threats, not just in ire''s area, but also throughout the whole world are disappearing, "How does it look?"


    [The moment that weird aura washed over them, without hesitation and with no exceptions, they all turned their backs and started retracing their paths while losing all the coordination they had prior. And even if we tried attacking them, we couldn''t get any form of retaliation. We''re currently trying to eliminate as many of them as possible.]


    "Understood. Don''t chase them beyond the Dimensional Gap and overextend yourselves. Once the threats are at minimum levels, proceed to recover and prepare the damage report. If there are immediate issues like major injuries, go straight to the appropriate departments. I''ll announce a gatheringter once I have more information on my side. Finally, ry the things I''ve just told you to Kunou-chan and Tanis-chan."


    [I''ll be on my way.]


    "Alright and be careful. But don''t let your guard down yet. If you notice something strange, report it to me immediately."


    [I got it, Sera-neechan. I''ll be careful.]


    The call got disconnected and Serafall hurriedly moved to ry the same information she got to all of her contacts. Naturally, Serafall knew that their retreat had something to do with Kisuke, however, it was precisely because of that she reminded everyone things could be more dangerous.


    She then tried contacting Kisuke through their special ss telepathy that was derived from LeFay''s Magic but was surprised not to get any sort of response, ''...He''s not dead, right?'' The worst possible scenario instantly entered her head but she shook away such thoughts right away, ''That can''t be. These guys wouldn''t retreat if he''s actually gone. On the contrary, the enemy was probably forced to gather all of their forces so that he could face him.''


    Serafall let out a huge breath in an attempt to calm herself down and stop thinking of the worst. But even the normally very positive Serafall couldn''t help but descend into extreme worry. After all, the special ss telepathy was created for moments like these and there are only two possibilities when it doesn''t work. Either the recipient is in a far-off world, ''...Or dead... It can''t be, right?''


    She was about to descend into madness and started thinking of how she could follow him when a hand suddenlynded on her shoulder, "!?"


    She hurriedly turned around and was shocked that she didn''t feel her approach, "...Ophis-chan..." Serafall saw her own reflection in Ophis'' eyes before she could say anything. It was a face of devastation. She didn''t realize she was making that face.


    "He won''t perish. Not from something like this." Ophis confidently uttered.


    Serafall looked straight into her eyes and her confidence is just what she needed, "You''re right. What am I thinking?" She replied while disying a wry smile.


    Unbeknownst to her, Aizen and Yhwach had also approached and the former said, "Urahara is surely blessed with great and loyal people. Not what I was expecting for someone like him."


    Although it sounded like an insult, Serafall was aware that was the furthest from the truth. Like Kisuke, Aizen was also a calctive person. There''s hardly any loyalty around him. And even if there was any, it was only supported by benefits and interests. The moment those are gone, it''s either betrayal or being betrayed, "He only trusted a few people and now he''s surrounded by a lot more. I wonder what happened in that short amount of time?"


    "Life." Serafall shortly answered. She has already calmed herself down.


    Aizen took another look at her and asked, "I wasn''t interested at first, but now I''m curious. What''s your rtionship with him?"


    "Future wife." Serafall gave another short answer.


    Aizen, on the other hand, was taken aback, "Really? I was certain he was together with Shihouin Yoruichi. Looks like I was mistaken."


    Again, Serafall gave a short answer that surprised not just Aizen, but also Yhwach, "She''s the first wife."


    Both were surprised that Kisuke actually had the personality to ept two spouses at once.


    But the real kicker came from Lilith''s mouth, "And she''s the 10th."


    Aizen and Yhwach were actually too stunned to say anything.


    There was silence for about 30 seconds until Serafall supplemented with a proud expression, "My dear little sister is the 2nd wife~!"


    "That''s debatable." Ophis instantly retorted.


    At that moment, Aizen burst out into a loudughter, "Fuhahaha! Looks like he''s a better king than you, o king of Quincies."


    Yhwach didn''t say anything until the end but still found the situation amusing.


    "Anyways, it seems that this whole ''war'' will soon end and it''s about time that I fulfill my end of the bargain." Aizen started walking away.


    It was also thanks to his words that more confidence sprung out of Serafall, "Your end of the bargain?"


    "To open a path from this world to your world." Aizen stopped walking and turned his head towards them, "ire Belial, is it? I just need to assist her." He didn''t wait any longer and disappeared from the isted space.


    "...I hope it doesn''t devolve into bloodshed." Serafall muttered while thinking what might happen when a ''criminal'' like him meets his former adversaries.

 Chapter 1268 Who is ‘Claire’?

    Chapter 1268 Who is ��ire��?


    Aizen reappeared in the Human World, more specifically, within the Karakura Town. When he looked around, he was surprised that the whole town was rtively intact, save for the numerous corpses of insects littering everywhere.


    There were almost no signs of live insects and the holes in space had started healing themselves. Even then, the town was still filled with noise and activities with most of the Humans cleaning up the mess that the attack had left, ''With the advent of Magic, the Human race will advance and jump several generations into the future within a few years. These insects may have caused them horrors unimaginable, but they are also treasure troves of knowledge.''


    Human culture and probably borders will undergo a massive change after this, but Aizen was not too interested in it.


    But because he didn''t attempt to hide his Reiatsu, Aizen soon felt multiple strong presences rushing to his side.


    A few secondster, various people using their movement techniques appeared and surrounded Aizen.


    The soldiers who were working to clean and transport the corpses stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to their direction.


    Ichigo, in his half-Hollowfied form and Bankai released, turned to them and raised his voice, "Stop what you''re doing. Leave now and tell the others to evacuate from here! This ce is dangerous!"


    The JSDF knows not to mess with them, not after seeing what they are capable of. So without any hesitation, one of them spoke into a radio and soon they started leaving, discarding everything aside from the bare minimums.


    Now that the area has be lifeless and deserted, Ichigo spoke while pointing his de at Aizen, "When did youe out of your seal? And what are you doing here?"Aizen didn''t answer immediately and looked around. Aside from Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, the Fullbringer group, and the Quincy group are surrounding him while pointing their weapons in his direction and looking at him nervously, "If you asked me a few years ago if Shinigami, Fullbringers, and Quincies were going to work together, I could have never believed it."


    With sharp eyes, Uryu urged an answer from him, "You''re not here to take advantage of the situation, aren''t you?"


    Aizen smirked and said, "That certainly isn''t my intention, but if you want things to heat up again, I don''t really mind granting your wish." In an instant, Aizen''s thick purple Reiatsu manifested and pressured everyone. Aside from Ichigo, everyone else felt like someone hit them on the back of their heads and they almost buckled down and lost consciousness.


    Everyone gritted their teeth and was about to unleash a retaliatory attack when they suddenly heard a voice of question not far from them, "Uncle Aizen? What are you doing here? I thought you were with Sera-neechan, Ophis-chan, and Lilith-chan."


    ''...Uncle...Aizen...?'' Everyone collectively thought and slowly turned their heads to the source of the voice and saw ire, with her wings out, slowly flying down.


    However, what''s even weirder was Aizen''s reaction. The pressure he''s releasing immediately disappeared and he acknowledged ire, "ire. Those two are hopeless and I doubt they''ll learn it in such a short time. And I''m here to discuss something with you."


    Even Aizen himself never thought that he''d allow anyone to call him ''Uncle'' and here he is, epting it. The moment ire called out to him, his mind returned to the earlier conversation he had with Serafall, ''Life, huh? Should I experience it for myself too? Although I don''t think it would be interesting enough.''


    "Is that so?" irended and walked forward as she retracted her wings. She looked around and saw the tense situation and she could understand where they wereing from since she knew their history. Nevertheless, she also doesn''t want to needlessly rile them up by telling them to stop, ''Alright. Let''s ignore them for now.''


    "I have topile my report so I''m about to head to the temporary office. Can we perhaps discuss it there?"


    "No." Aizen started moving and walked past the group of Quincies standing between him and ire, "This is much more important so leave the menial task to others. I need you toe with me to the Soul Society."


    "Hmmm..." ire thought about it for a moment and after a few seconds, she came to a conclusion that there was no way for her to refuse him and decided to do what he wanted, ''Something important? Sera-neechan wouldn''t have allowed him to leave if he was about to endanger me and we''re going to the Soul Society so it should be alright? Where are the secret escape routes that Kisuke-niichan set up again?''


    Aizen soon reached ire''s side and the space around him started twisting. It was then that ire was sure that she really couldn''t say no and hurriedly said, "Uncle Aizen, let''s not do that. We have prepared a proper channel for teleportation. If you go there like that... We probably won''t be able to talk for a while."


    "Then I leave it to you."


    ire turned to the stunned group and called out to one of them, "Ishida-niisan, please take care of that report. I''ll be leaving first."


    "A-ah... Sure." Uryu could only absentmindedly answer.


    "Thank you." After a small bow, ire activated her Teleportation Magic, taking her and Aizen away.


    It''s only a minuteter that someone spoke up, "...What was that?" Chad asked everyone, not sure if Aizen somehow put them under his illusion.


    Uryu fixed his sses and asked Ichigo, "Ichigo, can you contact the Soul Society and ask them what just happened?"


    "...I will, but I''m just d it didn''t devolve into a fight. Looks like he has already recovered most of his abilities."


    When they heard Ichigo''s assessment, they all shuddered and also sighed in relief.


    "But who the hell is this ire? How can she casually talk to and call that guy ''Uncle''?" The Fullbringer, Riruka, asked. Although Aizen was already gone, her entire body was still shivering from fear.


    Nobody could answer her question.


    .


    .


    .


    Mayuri was standing in front of all the current Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei 13 who just received their physical bodies except for Soifon, "Go test your bodies outside. Tell me if you''re feeling something wrong."


    However, no one is really listening to him and they are just nkly turning around and stretching their limbs. Mayuri sighed at this sight but let it go, ''Well, there shouldn''t be any major problems. I just need to know how much of their abilities they can actually release.''


    Mayuri scratched the side of his face in contemtion. He thought that the bugs would be a good target practice for these people but they have suddenly retreated, ''There''s nothing else I can do aside from wait. I should focus on the nobles and their vassals transitioning.''


    It was at this moment that a familiar and oppressive descended on the whole Seireitei, ''Oh? Maybe we can test it out after all?'' Mayuri turned to the direction where the aura appeared and smiled.


    The others in the room, however, don''t have the same expression as him aside from Zaraki who was thinking the same thing as him.

 Chapter 1269 The Grave Situation

    Chapter 1269 The Grave Situation


    Although ire was careful not to go out of the established protocols, she had no way of hiding Aizen''s presence. So when she felt multiple people approaching their direction, she could only sigh, ''I was hoping it''d be a quiet entrance, but that''s impossible, huh?''


    They are currently in the vicinity of the Senkaimon(World Pration Gate) and ire didn''t hesitate to take a sidestep to gain some distance from Aizen.


    Aizen, meanwhile, slowly raised his left arm and as he did, a bulky man with arge grin stered on his face suddenly appeared in front of him, swinging down his tattered de.


    The de went an inch deep into Aizen''s arm, but it didn''t go any further, "As brash as ever, Kenpachi Zaraki."


    Zaraki''s smile went wider and said, "And you''re as tough as ever. That''s great!" He tried pushing his de down further but he only advanced by a few millimeters when Aizen''s would suddenly start bubbling up and Zaraki had to retreat before his sword got stuck.


    Zaraki was about to go in for another attack when he suddenly felt a massive heat source approaching them. When he turned around, Zaraki couldn''t help but click his tongue, "Tch... Now the fun''s over."


    Aizen also didn''t do anything and just waited for the old man to reach them.


    The moment the old mannded, the bricks under his feet immediately started melting. Before it could get any worse, the mes around him began retracting and the temperature around them slowly came down to normal levels.


    The old man, Yamamoto, first both looked at Aizen and Zaraki and sighed before turning to ire who took some distance and smiled, "ire. I''m d to see you doing alright. You''re not pushing yourself, are you?""I''m fine, grandpa Yamamoto. I''m feeling greater than ever." ire happily jogged over to him. Now that he''s here, she''s not too worried about Aizen anymore. If they want to fight, she''ll be able to leave with rtive ease.


    "And why did youe here with him?"


    "Uncle Aizen said he had something important to discuss with me and we needed toe to the Soul Society."


    Yamamoto was a bit surprised and nced at Aizen, "Uncle, huh? Anything else?"


    "That''s all I know."


    "I see." Yamamoto nodded in understanding before turning to Aizen, "I presume you''re not here to cause any trouble, are you?"


    "I have nothing to gain from it." Aizen answered with confidence, "And I''m just doing what Urahara Kisuke wanted me to do."


    "Then you don''t mind if I give you and ire apany, do you?"


    Aizen shrugged his shoulders, "I don''t really care. As long as you don''t burn me for no reason."


    Yamamoto nodded and turned his head to Zaraki, "Zaraki, save it forter."


    Zaraki clicked his tongue again before turning around and walking away. When he disappeared with a sh Step, Yamamoto talked to Aizen again, "Lead the way."


    Aizen also didn''t say anything and jumped off the building where the Senkaimon was located. Their destination is the 12th Division Research and Development Center.


    While ire was following them, she wondered why Kunou didn''t approach and what she was doing so far away from the Seireitei, ''Must be something important.''


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    .


    .


    Soon, they arrived at the Research and Development Center and it was strangely deserted with only the small Nemu waiting in front of it, "Wee, Former Captain-Commander Yamamoto, Former Captain Aizen Sosuke, and Miss ire Belial. The Captain is waiting, please follow me."


    Nemu turned around and started walking ahead. The three of them followed her and Yamamoto asked, "Where are the others?"


    "Captain sent them away knowing that they''ll start moring and was worried that they''ll break some equipment if they can''t keep their hands to themselves."


    "Good call." Yamamoto nodded in agreement. Right now, the Seireitei are divided into 3 groups. The current members of the Gotei 13, the nobles, and those who came from Hell. There''s already a strained interaction between the groups due to how things are unfolding and Yamamoto certainly doesn''t want to make it more chaotic by throwing Aizen in the middle of it, ''I can probably force them to listen to me... But I can''t do that. I''ll be undermining Kyouraku''s authority.''


    Nemu led the three into the inner parts of the facility and soon reached a monitoring room where only Mayuri was present and was watching a world map with various symbols oveying it, "You''re here." He said while turning around, "It''s reassuring that you''re here too, Former Captain Commander."


    "Hooh? Are you sure?" Yamamoto chuckled while rubbing his beard, "It''s more believable if you have said that you found my attendance annoying."


    Mayuri looked at him strangely and muttered, "You''ve mellowed out. How unexpected."


    "Stepping down was a liberating feeling."


    Mayuri let out a short breath. Since he didn''t have the time to engage in casual talk, he turned his attention to Aizen, "What happened? Why are they moving out?"


    "ording to thedy of Sitri, it has something to do with Urahara Kisuke. Meanwhile, they have started preparing something to shield all of the three worlds."


    Mayuri and Yamamoto immediately furrowed their brows, meanwhile, ire made a surprised expression while muttering, "...So that''s really Tiamat-neechan... Fully unleashed."


    "Exin." Mayuri immediately demanded.


    ire didn''t like his demanding tone but there was also no point in keeping it secret, "If the brief aura earlier was really from Tiamat-neechan, then Sera-neechan''s actions are understandable.


    "I only watched it through a recording, but when I saw Kisuke-niichan, Sera-neechan, and Yoruichi-neechan fight against Tiamat-neechan, then I can confidently say that she''s on Ophis-chan''s level in herplete form... or maybe even higher.


    "She''s also a world creator so she''s also probably on the same level as your Soul King."


    Mayuri, Aizen, and Yamamoto looked at each other and thought that this Tiamat was probably enough to deal with Ichibei if her ims were true.


    "However, the most problematic was her ability, the [Sea of Life]. For reasons that I won''t exin right now... well, I only heard it from Sera-neechan and Kisuke-niichan so I won''t be able to exin it properly either. Her [Sea of Life] was corrupted. Instead of nourishing life, it actively destroys it and gives birth to something else entirely that''s very hostile to all other forms of life other than its own."


    "Instead of nourishing, it actively destroys them?" Yamamoto couldn''t fully understand. On the other hand, Mayuri and Aizen''s eyes widened at the implication of her words.


    "Well, simply speaking, any life that touches the [Sea of Life] will be consumed and destroyed. And from that destruction, a new life, with the same memories and abilities will be constructed and emerge out of it. All of this reconstructed life will be hostile regardless of their previous alignment."


    Yamamoto heard something simr from Jushirou that urred during the Quincy war, "Do you mean like those Zombies?"


    But instead of ire, it was Mayuri who answered him with a grave expression, "No... They''re not simr at all. Zombies are just controlled through their muddled minds, but these things are reconstructed. They are ''natural'' and they are not under control."


    "So Sitri Serafall wanted a barrier because she''s worried that this [Sea of Life] will reach the three worlds?" Aizen asked.


    ire nodded, "It has restrictions like it could only expand on the ocean, but I heard that in the right conditions, it could expand throughout the whole world, drowning everything in it."


    Yamamoto is also now realizing the graveness of the situation but he''s still confused about something, "Is that something she or Urahara can''t control?"


    "It''s fully under Tiamat-neechan''s control... The problem is, that she gets stronger the more she expands the [Sea of Life] because it''s essentially expanding her domain of influence and authority. Depending on their opponent, they might need to expand it very far."

 Chapter 1270 Preparations

    Chapter 1270 Preparations


    A few moments of silence veiled the room until Yamamoto asked, "Is there anything we can do?"


    Mayuri sighed and turned around to return to his work, "Insert ourselves between them? That''s impossible. I don''t know what Urahara discovered but I''m pretty sure that there''s nothing we can do to help him. You know him too, former Captain Commander. He wouldn''t dive into that fight alone due to arrogance. Urahara went alone for a reason and it must be a very good reason."


    Yamamoto then started makingplicated expressions and even without turning around to look at his face, Mayuri could tell what he was thinking, "Are you worried that he might fail?"


    Yamamoto was surprised, not because Mayuri guessed it right, but because he didn''t think he''d directly mention it in front of Kisuke''s young niece. Yamamoto peeked at ire''s expression and could only sigh.


    But before he could say anything, Mayuri continued, "And that''s the reason why Aizen Sosuke is here right now." Mayuri peeked at Aizen who was making an amused expression, "Am I right?"


    "You''ve looked into it, right? Moving into the world where Urahara and thesedies came from, I mean." Aizen returned his own question.


    ire frowned upon hearing that but she didn''t voice out anything. Although she had the inkling of what they were nning to do, she didn''t know anything concrete, ''It''s normal to n ahead of various circumstances. There''s no need to get upset. I believe in Kisuke-niichan.'' She told herself.


    Mayuri''s hands briefly stopped on Aizen''s inquiry but soon resumed pressing on the keyboard in front of him, "That''s only natural. I don''t know what Ichibei was trying to do, but it''s safe to assume it''s not for any good. I refuse to stay still with an enormous threat like that looming. If we can''t fight that thing, then we can try escaping."


    And that''s the reason why Mayuri was rushing to move everyone into their new bodies. He needed them to be prepared for escape as soon as possible, "So what do you propose we should do? Urahara has surely left traces or a path to reach that world, but he''s not here right now.""He told me that he needed my help to create that path and I would know how to do it when the time is right. I don''t know what he intended to achieve previously, but I know exactly how we''ll reach that world."


    Mayuri stopped working again and properly faced Aizen this time. He stared at him for a moment before his eyes went sideways andnded on ire, "...I see. So you will be the ''spear''." Mayuri wondered why Aizen brought ire with him but soon recalled what he detected and captured through his measuring devices when Kisuke initiated his attack on the [Chained], "And she''s ourpass."


    Aizen nodded, "Something like that, yes."


    "Understood. I''ll prepare what we''ll need so make sure that both of you are prepared."


    "I''m d that it''s easy to talk to you."


    From their conversation, ire also understood the role Aizen wanted her to fill, "Although I was able to summon Gabriel-neechanst time, I have no idea how to do that again."


    "Don''t worry. You identally summoning her means that you have an innate connection with her." Mayuri replied, "And these connections often happen in the soul. Where do you think you are?"


    .


    .


    .


    [How long has it been?] Benihime asked, feeling bored within the endless ckness. She was first interested in what Kisuke was doing but since he was doing it so slowly, her interest soon fell off. As Kisuke feared, Benihime contracted the worst modern disease introduced by the modern lifestyle, immediate boredom.


    "It has been 3 days. However, I''m not actually sure. I don''t know if the flow of time was altered in here and even if it''s not, I don''t know what this transformation did to my perception. For all I know, I might be perceiving time faster or slower than normal. Same with my biological functions. I don''t know if my heart is beating slower or faster."


    [Then let''s assume you''re correct, isn''t it about time for you to end all of this before that reckless icedy follows you?]


    "Well, I''m also thinking of going out now. I already figured out how I''ll pop this bubble and..." Kisuke looked down and saw the ck mud which he could hardly see the edge of anymore, "I think this enough."


    Right now, Kisuke was standing and looked like a tiny dot in the sphere of ck mud that was enough to fill the entirety of the Pacific Ocean several times over, "I''d like to have enough to flood the entirety of Hell, but It''ll take months or even years to do that.


    [Enough to flood the Hell? Then lucky for them that you don''t have enough time to do that.]


    "Them?"


    [You know, the founding members of the Gotei 13 and their towns filled with people.]


    "Ah... Them. No need to worry about them. By this time, they''ve probably already left Hell."


    [Hmmm? How?]


    "You''re asking that because you''re forgetting someone. Though I can''t really me you since you only met her once and she didn''t tell you what she nned to do after."


    [Stop giving me riddles. Who is it?]


    Kisuke stretched his limbs and gave his body a final check, "She''s someone as crazy if not more so than you. And you hate her guts for it."


    A certain blindfolded individual instantly entered Benihime''s mind, [Oh... That crazy bitch? I forgot that I urged them to go to Hell.]


    "Even if he doesn''t want to, he''ll be forced to move and despite his criminal status, he''s someone who couldn''t let go of his duty of helping his rades''. By now, those guys should have reached Soul Society."


    [And how did they move an entire poption?]


    "It''s going to be tough if it''s just going to be them, but as long as one of the three girls are present in Soul Society which I''m sure they are, they would have felt their attempt to breach the space. They would be lucky if Kunou-chan is around since she''s the one who can dorge-scale ritual-style mass teleportation."


    At that moment, both Kisuke and Benihime heard Tiamat''s sigh, [...It''s done. I gave you as much authority as possible. You should be able to summon your ''children'' now.]


    "...Mine?"


    [Yes. Yours. But don''t worry. They are not the children that you''d normally think about. They are creatures that reflect your own life.]

 Chapter 1271 First ‘Child’

    Chapter 1271 First ��Child��


    "Children that reflect my own life?" Kisuke asked while feeling the ck mud under his feet. The moment Tiamat spoke up, there was this strange feeling that started welling up deep in his soul as if something was trying to break out.


    [Yes. I asked you not to immediately summon them because I had to make a few changes so that you''d receive my full authority first. If you had summoned them, instead of yours, you''d summon mine, the 11 children that were born out of resentment and regret towards the Deities that I trusted and considered as my own.] There was a small pause before Tiamat continued, [They were children who were manifested solely to y Gods and that''s not something you need right now.]


    "I see... So you''re saying that if I call them now, they will take on a form that''s most suitable for me?"


    [Yes. Even I don''t know what sorts of creatures you''lle up with. But beware, they are born from the corrupted Sea of Life so they''re inherently violent and against the natural order of life itself. If you''re not careful, they might go beyond the scope of your control and be loose weapons that only know how to destroy everything around them, including you.]


    "Well, only one way to find out, right?" Kisuke took a deep breath and focused on the strange feeling he was having. He didn''t have to vocalize anything nor do any special actions when the Sea of Life under him started boiling up.


    The next second, an enormous amount of energy was ejected out of Kisuke and sank into the Sea of Life, further heating it up.


    Kisuke only intended toe out after he finished summoning the so-called ''children'' but with just the process alone, the pure ck space started shaking and cracking due to the pressure suddenly increasing from the inside.


    So even before any one of them showed themselves to Kisuke, the light started pouring into the absolute darkness and the shell that Ichibei had lockedhim in began peeling off.


    Gravity began to work again and the boiling Sea of Life under him was set in motion. As the ck mud spilled out of the ck shell, the copse of the artificial dimension was further hastened. But due to this ck mud flooding everything, Kisuke wasn''t sure where exactly he was . Although he was sure that he was on the surface of Hell after seeing the purple sky filled with holes that led into the Dimensional Gap."What a warm wee," Kisuke muttered sarcastically because the purple sky and the view to the Dimensional Gap were actually a small portion of what he was seeing with the vast majority of it consisting of maggots and flies waiting for his emergence.


    Deep inside this forest of bugs and almost ten kilometers away, Ichibei was carefully watching Kisuke whilemanding the bugs to leave the ground and fly up.


    But even with his speedy reaction, millions of these bugs were instantly drowned by the rushing ck mud, ''They instantly died? I can''t feel them anymore.''


    Ichibei tried sending a few of his stronger flies but the moment they touched the mud they seemed to lose all control of their bodies and were willing to let themselves be swallowed, ''This is...?''


    "Trying to figure it out, are we?" Ichibei suddenly heard Kisuke''s voice and simultaneously felt a threating for him. Ichibei waved his hand and a kilometer thick wall of bugs instantly formed in front of him.


    Even then, a three-inch hole suddenly appeared in his stomach spilling out ck blood. When he looked forward, he saw that something pierced through his wall of bugs and even went through his exoskeleton that''s supposed to be harder than Aizen''s armor.


    The hole in his stomach started healing and was still considered nothing to Ichibei, however, Kisuke was able to confirm that he was not invulnerable to his attack anymore like before. It was an ability that was simr to Yhwach''s Almighty, but now that he was outside of its influence, Kisuke could finally hurt him.


    ''But where is the pulsing flesh from before? Was it still in the same spot or did he do something about it? He feels a bit different than before.''


    [Be careful.] Tiamat, whose senses were attuned with Kisuke, warned, [He''s more or less alreadyplete.]


    At the same time, Ichibei disappeared from Kisuke''s view once again. Kisuke wanted to snipe him one more time to gather more information but he had to stop when a ming palm, three kilometers across suddenly manifested in the sky as if the sun had descended.


    Kisuke''s eyes widened at the existence of this giant hand made out of fire and his instincts were screaming at him, telling him how dangerous this is, "What''s this?"


    [A weakness of the Sea of Life. If you could bring enough destruction down on earth that it''ll evaporate the entire sea, it''d be rendering it useless.]


    ''Well, that''s a shame, I was looking forward to face-tanking that.''


    [You can, if you want a big portion of the Sea of Life to disappear.]


    Kisuke''s pink eyes lit up and a translucent round pink barrier that was five kilometers across appeared between him and the descending hand.


    The giant ming hand soonnded on Kisuke''s barrier and upon their contact, a massive shockwave instantly erupted from them and created a tsunami on Kisuke''s Sea of Life almost a kilometer tall.


    If this were to happen on Earth, it would instantly mow down a few countries and no survivors would be recorded for their bodies would have exploded into pieces just from the sheer force they generated from the simple collision alone.


    Kisuke''s barrier soon started cracking but before they broke, the ming hand lost its fuel and disappeared.


    Of course, Ichibei''s assault didn''t stop there and at least a hundred thousand bugs went to rush Kisuke while casting various attack Magic.


    Kisuke wanted to intercept them but he also noticed that Ichibei was preparing a big attack and would rather be on guard against that, ''I can annihte them, but that''ll open me for an attack for a brief moment. I doubt he''ll be able to kill me with just one attack but I can never be too careful.''


    There''s also a choice of slowly taking care of the bugs, but he''ll never be able to get an initiative that way, and will lock him into a perpetual defense.


    ''So... Do I risk it?'' He asked himself when Tiamat interrupted his thoughts, [No need.]


    The next instant, a blinding sh of lightning went through his vision and instantly cut down half of the approaching bugs. When the sh of lightning stopped, Kisuke''s eyes went wide open as he muttered, "...What? Y-Yoruichi?"


    [Looks like that''s your first child, ''Yoruichi''. How surprising.]

 Chapter 1272 Children

    Chapter 1272 ''Children''


    ''Yoruichi'' turned towards Kisuke and was able to determine that the person standing far from him and just burned the bugs with her lightning was not the Yoruichi he knew.


    Aside from the glowing red veins running through her entire body and darker skin than normal, there are no thoughts behind her eyes. The stranger thing, however, is the violent will that flows off of her that makes Kisuke think that she only exists to destroy.


    ''That is... Uncanny.'' Kisuke thought to himself.


    At that moment, the bugs started changing. Instead of rushing towards Kisuke, they momentarily retreated back.


    ''Yoruichi'' tried going after them, but Kisuke gave her amand to stop, ''Thank goodness she listened. Or else I''d have to take her back for having that much firepower but no control.''


    Kisuke wanted to see what Ichibei was trying to do since he doubted that he''d actually retreat.


    And upon further watching, he almost regretted having Tiamat''s expanded and much more urate senses, especially to those that possesses life.


    The flies, which were at least 30 feet long each, went forward and the maggots around them started gathering and squeezing themselves into it. So much so that the maggots are being mangled in the process. While they were disgustingly exchanging flesh and fluids, they also slowly formed a humanoid silhouette with the head of a fly, acting as the head of the form.


    Kisuke doesn''t exactly know how many bugs he''s facing right now but there are at least hundreds of thousands that are bing walking 100-feet tall giants right now, ''That looks disgusting... But why only with that amount?''Although there''s arge amount of these humanoid giants, the very vast majority of the bugs kept retreating towards Ichibei''s position, ''It can''t be... right?''


    [You''re allowed to transform, so what''s stopping him?] Benihimemented with a small chuckle.


    Kisuke sent a signal to ''Yoruichi'' to resume her assault and she immediately moved by projecting tens of Magic Circles around her before each one of them sent pirs of lightning towards the giants. Each of the pirs easily pierced and charred one or two giants, killing them for good, however, the moment it reached a third one, it lost enough power that the giants just opened a maw on their stomachs to eat the lightning.


    Those who ate ''Yoruichi''s'' Magic immediately started emitting electricity themselves and sent the Magic back to ''Yoruichi''.


    ''Yoruichi'' showed a surprised expression, but she was able to dodge using Shunko.


    But on the very next moment, it was Kisuke''s turn to be surprised as the other giants, who didn''t evene close to Yoruichi''s Magic, started generating their own electricity around their bodies and started shooting out Lightning Magic Towards ''Yoruichi'' and him.


    While Kisuke was fine since even if they hit him directly it did nothing to him, that''s not the same for ''Yoruichi''. ''Yoruichi'' was very fast with her Shunko, but she was already forced to use barriers to block the attacks due to theming from all directions from hundreds of sources at a time.


    ''This is bad... Looks like their connection wasn''t just for simplemunications.'' Kisuke thought while watching a portion of giants endlessly pour Lightning Magic on ''Yoruichi''.


    Kisuke raised his right arm and pointed it at the cluster of giant amalgamations while ignoring all the Magic attacks that were hitting him. This time, he didn''t want to use Tiamat''s ability, but his own to test if there''s nothing wrong with it.


    A secondter, a dark green ball formed on his right hand before it instantly ballooned into a 10 10-foot wide ball of destruction, "Cero." Kisuke muttered.


    The ball widened to 15 feet before it turned into a beam of light that directly targeted Ichibei''sst known position.


    The giants momentarily ceased their assault and stacked up to block Kisuke''s Cero but to no avail.


    Kisuke''s dark green Cero went through all the blocking giants and instantly vaporized them. However, this didn''t go on forever as the Cero soon lost its power, not just because it trudged through literal flesh and blood but also because those in the vicinity of the Cero took a bite from it.


    Kisuke''s brows furrowed and as he expected, the giants started shooting out Ceros too and more of them started forming to rece the dead ones. And it doesn''t just end there as more and more maggots and flies areing out of the Dimensional Gap to replenish their numbers, ''Did he call everything to his side? Looks like I won''t have to be worried that they''ll be behind schedule.''


    Although Kisuke wanted to finish things here up cleanly, he also didn''t want any dy to his return, not after what Gabriel insinuated, ''And here I was hoping that I could kick back and return to being a small candy shop owner for a bit.''


    Kisuke''s Cero didn''t give them the advantage he was expecting, instead, ''Yoruichi'' started to be overwhelmed. He intended to assist her until he felt something shooting out of his Sea of Life. The next thing he knew, two shes of light went through the giants and they were cut into pieces before turning into ashes.


    [Seriously?] Benihime eximed, [They can utilize Holy Power?]


    The two lights stopped and floated beside ''Yoruichi''. Kisuke already knew their identities the moment they released Holy Power, and by extension, the criteria for the ''children''.


    ''Akeno'' with her Fallen Angel and Devil Wings, and ''Irina'' with her Angel Wings radiated Holy Power that''s a bit darker than normal, however, they still have the same lethal effect against the insects and there doesn''t seem to be any indication of them ''eating'' the Holy Power and copying it. And the same as ''Yoruichi'', they had dark skin and their eyes had a thousand-yard stare that didn''t contain any consciousness.


    The insects'' attention was solely on ''Yoruichi'' before, but after the Holy Power''s assault, they seemingly forgot her existence and went after ''Akeno'' and ''Irina'' in an even greater frenzy.


    Too bad for them, the Sea of Life ejected another individual and this time, she slowly floated with her long purple hair rustling through the wind and gem-like purple eyes that attracted the enemies'' attention.


    The rushing insects stopped moving and while their momentum brought them forward, they soon began dropping into the Sea of Life below, never to be seen again. Only the amalgamations of insects were able to move again and take flight but their movements were obviously slowed downpared to before.


    These insects had multiple eyes and that gave them the advantage of more information gathered, but that only backfired when they faced ''Medusa''s'' mystical eyes.

 Chapter 1273 Children part 2

    Chapter 1273 ''Children'' part 2


    It would seem that the Sea of Life has finally finished ''constructing'' Kisuke''s ''children'' as two more of them came rushing out.


    Different from the previous ones, they didn''t engage with the insects and directly carved their way towards the hiding leader, Ichibei.


    "That''s Aika and Riveria? They''re directly going to Ichibei even though I didn''t tell them to?" Kisuke asked loudly.


    Tiamat also observed the situation before answering, [Their motivations are mostly influenced by your state of mind so when you tried to fish out that guy earlier, it''s the same as them receiving the mand'' of attacking that guy. It''s also the reason why the previous three tried protecting the first one.]


    "That means I should control my rage and not get angry at random things, huh?"


    [You? If it''s you from before, nothing would be able to influence your state of mind. Now, however, you''ll go ballistic if your precious family members are hurt. Thankfully, none of them are here right now.] Benihime also added with a teasing tone.


    "Oh, looks like you finally have time to ease up. Have you gotten used to it?"


    [Yep. It turned out to be easier than I thought, modifying the ''Shadow'', that is.] Benihime replied, full of confidence, [It''s a much simpler ability than I initially thought. I can now understand how you were able to pull off this form, though it''s still pretty much a fluke that you got it right.]


    "I told you it''s very much possible, right? I just had to put my mind to it and it''ll work out."[You probably already have an idea what you want me to use this for, don''t you?]


    Kisuke became silent for a moment to finalize his thoughts before nodding, "Yes. I don''t know if Hyousube has realized it yet, but the most threatening thing for us are his abilities as a Shinigami.


    "Thanks to me achieving this form through my fusion with my Zanpakuto, he''s thinking that this is a Shinigami ability, and right now, he''s contesting us with Magic and numbers because he''s probably thinking that this is the way to counter me.


    "Nevertheless, it won''t take long for him to figure out that I''m still no match for him as a Shinigami and he will soon utilize this advantage."


    [If you''re worried about his naming ability, then don''t bother.] Tiamat chimed in, even with a bit of pride radiating from her voice [The current situation is that you are me and I am you. As long as the Sea of Life exists, you and I will persist. Not even death will be able to im my authority.]


    "Unless, of course, it was cleverly and patiently taken away from you."


    At that moment, Tiamat instantly shut her mouth.


    Surprisingly, Benihime felt bad for her and pushed the topic forward, [It doesn''t sound like you''re worried about the naming thing if you can poke fun at her.]


    "Naturally. It''s one of the reasons why I''m keeping the ink on my back. I could just let it propagate and render another naming instance ineffective. What I''m wary of, however, was his authority over ''ck''. All of the color ck from all beings, dead or alive, bes his power.


    "Hest used it against Yhwach, but Yhwach was technically the Soul King at that point so that didn''t work on him. Although when Yhwach tried stealing that power from him, it also didn''t work since he just gathered all the ''ck'' back from all the other sources."


    "When he faced Ophis-chan, he didn''t use it because he realized how he was going to fuck himself over if he tried absorbing her powers."


    Benihime immediately found the implication from Kisuke''s words, [...You''re stealing his Reiryoku through ''Shadow''.]


    "Yes."


    [And technically, ''Shadow'' is ck.]


    "Also correct."


    [Then the moment he used his authority over ''ck''...]


    Kisuke smiled widely before replying, "We''re basically fucked. The moment he absorbs the ''Shadow'', I also won''t be able to maintain this form."


    Kisuke could hear Benihime audibly sigh in his head, [And the fact that he doesn''t notice that something is being sapped out of him proves that he has a reserve that doesn''t know the end. So what''s the strategy here?]


    "I''ve said it, right? The abilities on the level of an authority could be imed if cleverly and patiently done." Kisuke then looked down on the ck mud gushing out of his feet, "And it just so happens that we have the right blueprint to make that happen."


    After considering all of his options, Kisuke opted to deal with Ichibei''s ''ck'' and the way he nned to do it is how Chaos attempted to steal Tiamat''s powers.


    "Most likely, the moment he uses that ability of his, he''ll also absorb the color of this Sea of Life."


    Too bad for him, the Sea of Life isn''t just ''ck'', but also ''Chaotic''.


    Tiamat understood at the same time and eximed, [I see... You wanted to taint his ability.]


    Kisuke didn''t confirm Tiamat''s guess but he also grinned while muttering, "I wonder which one is a bigger glutton? ck or Chaos?"


    .


    .


    .


    Half an hour has passed and the ''children'' are doing their best to reduce the insects'' number, but instead of going down, Kisuke has noticed that their numbers only increased. ''Aika'' and ''Riveria'' who are hacking away in the middle of the crowd in an attempt to find Ichibei have not resulted in anything and their target stillpletely eluded them.


    "Say... There are only 8 of them out there. Where are the remaining three?"


    [You already have an idea under what criteria the children are born so you probably won''t be able to summon all 11 if that criteria isn''t met.] Tiamat immediately answered, [Nevertheless, I still know three people that could appear so that would mean that the Sea of Life is having a hard time making them a reality.]


    "...Why though?" Kisuke was surprised. Although he knew who else was about toe out, he was also confused why they hadn''te out yet.


    [Hmmm... Maybe that''s the case.] Tiamat muttered to herself before addressing Kisuke, [Direct more power to the Sea of Life.]


    Kisuke wondered what Tiamat was talking about, but all he got was the instinctual use of her ability and didn''t really understand its inner workings so he could only listen to her.


    Before he proceeded to do that, however, hemended his ''children'' to retreat and assume a defensive stance. This is because he has been allocating power to them so that they could continue fighting.


    After the ''children'' managed to get an adequate space for themselves, Kisuke poured more of the Reiryoku he had been stealing from Ichibei into the Sea of Life and even increasing his rate of absorption, ''He might finally notice, but with him hiding, I think it''s about time to raise the stakes.''


    .


    .


    .


    Ichibei, deep within the earth, has been ''eating'' everything that was avable for him through his beloved minions when he felt something being drained from him, "Hmm!?"


    He immediately opened his eyes wide and traced where the drained Reiryoku was going and found that it was going in Kisuke''s direction. Seeing this, he grinned wildly, "I see. So that''s how it is. I was being wary over nothing."

 Chapter 1274 Children part 3

    Chapter 1274 ''Children'' part 3


    The Sea of Life expanded further and the only thing that could be seen over the horizon was its darkness.


    Kisuke and Benihime also noticed that it was getting harder to absorb more Reiryoku and concluded that Ichibei had found them out.


    "Benihime, let''s get as much as we can and store it in the Sea of Life."


    Benihime understood what he was intending to do and opened the channel they have to Ichibei to the utmost, [On it.]


    Kisuke could immediately feel a massive amount of Reiryoku going through him as soon as Benihime answered. Normally, he would have died from this, not just from the recoil that his body wasn''t designed to take, but also from the Reiryoku itself not being his, and needing purification before use.


    In this instance, however, he didn''t need to purify anything, instead, anything that goes through him was automatically ''tainted'', hence bingpatible with him, ''That settles it... It really was a miracle that we were able to defeat Chaos at that time. Well, it only became possible because he thought no one would be able to touch him.''


    Kisuke had to be careful too, however, since he would have the same weakness as Chaos, which is anything ''tainted'' could also be used against him. Which is why he was not extending the Sea of Life''s ''Chaotic'' attribute beyond itself. If he didn''t have this weakness, he would have already sent this ''Chaotic'' attribute to Ichibei to control and destroy him from within., ''At least not directly. I have to make it look as natural as possible.''


    Kisuke''s next step is to wait. There are only three other individuals who could appear and he could already guess why they were taking their time, "I hope ''Sona''-chanes out soon."


    [Hmmm?] Benihime suddenly let out a bewildered voice."What''s wrong?"


    [...Nothing is changing. He''s not closing it further. In fact, it feels like he''s allowing it?]


    Arge grin appeared on Kisuke''s face, "Aha~!"


    [What''s going on?], asked Benihime while increasing the rate of absorption.


    "If I guessed it correctly, he''s probably thinking that he can take it all back." Kisuke then went to talk to Tiamat, "Tiamat, I would like to confirm what I just got into my head. Am I correct to assume that the moment that the Sea of Life is destroyed, I''ll be released from my ''shackles''."


    But Tiamat didn''t immediately give an answer and Kisuke could feel her hesitation on it, "I''d like to know what I''m working on here."


    Tiamat sighed and finally replied, [Yes, but I hope you don''t let ite to that point.]


    "So what''s the risk?"


    [More than risk, it''s a detriment. You might have been fine if it''s me from the time before I met Chaos. I''m telling you this now, but there''s a reason why the Dungeon was giving birth to monsters and it''s not because my sister wanted to shape them that way. In my case, it would be arguably worse since the moment I''m released from the ''shackles'' of life, I''ll turn into a mindless being, only craving for destruction.]


    "Almost, huh? I can work with that."


    [...I''m warning you. You might not be able to return.]


    Kisuke then proceeded to ignore Tiamat''s words and said, "We only get one chance." He took a deep breath and using the massive power that was now avable to him, he forcefully made a path to the three worlds to let everyone in it hear his voice, "Please proceed with the disconnection and migration... As soon as possible."


    After those few words, he retracted his power, "Do you think they got that?"


    [With the amount of power you invested in that? I''d be more surprised if no one lost consciousness.]


    On the frontlines, Kisuke''s ''children'' were starting to get overwhelmed. While they are strong, they''re not as strong as their original counterparts. Nevertheless, when Medusa''s eyes started losing their effectiveness due to the sheer number of opponents, another figure appeared from the Sea of Life and instantly froze the iing enemies. ''Serafall'', the greatest ''child'' Kisuke could have for crowd control.


    "To think that thest two are the two individuals I needed the most..."


    [The Sea of Life is just answering your wishes. Because of what you want them to do, it''ll take more time for the sea to give birth to them.]


    "Well, that makes sense."


    .


    .


    .


    Mayuri was having all the members of his Division distribute the pills that will give a Soul their physical body.


    Of course, he didn''t just give the pills to the nobles and their servants, but also to the special interest groups including the former members of the Xcution Fullbringer group, Hollows, and obscure ns that had already retreated from Seireitei due to various reasons like the Wolfman n where Sajin Komamura originated.


    "Good. We can have everyone have their bodies in three more days." Mayuri nodded in satisfaction while looking at the reports.


    However, it was this at this moment that he heard a detestable voice, [Please proceed with the disconnection and migration... As soon as possible.] A nerve immediately popped on his forehead as he muttered, "You can only cause more problems when you''re alive, huh?"


    "Captain..." Akon called out to him after hearing Kisuke''s voice too, "What should we do?"


    Mayuri sighed and walked towards his personal console while giving outmands, "Ask the entirety of the Gotei 13 to help out with the distribution."


    "But various problems wille up with that and we might not be able to handle it."


    "That''s a lot betterpared to beingte. Couldn''t you guess the implication behind his words?"


    "Implication?"


    Mayuri turned to Akon and with an still obviously pissed expression, he answered, "Things are about to get much worse."


    .


    .


    .


    About 30 minutes went by and the number of insects pouring out from within Kisuke''s sights only kept increasing. He couldn''t tell the exact number, but he''s guessing that there are around trillions of them clumped together now, "Forget about defending, just their corpses is enough to destroy the three worlds." Kisukemented while thinking that he seriously underestimated their numbers.


    But despite all of this, he''s not that worried about their presence because the ''children'' that he had been waiting for have already emerged, ''Sona'' and ''Hestia''.


    Upon their emergence, Kisuke immediately noticed that something was different about them and that was soon proven when ''Sona'' raised her right arm and the entire Sea of Life started to rise. A tsunami that was about to engulf everything hase to life.

 Chapter 1275 Children part 4

    Chapter 1275 ''Children'' part 4


    The Sea of Life, it nurtures and gives birth to life so it is not allowed to be disturbed and cause ''harm''. Even Tiamat herself was only allowed to fill it until the boundaries of thend because anything further is antithetical to its existence.


    The sea is where it originated and thend is where it would end before it could return to the sea.


    The Sea of Life''s ability to produce life is undoubtedly a form of miracle, but to freely use this miracle, it has to abide by its own rules. Such is an authority. An authority is only imposed if the foundation of its concept is adhered to.


    Of course, there are exceptions. It could be used at smaller scales even if not all the conditions are met like what Kisuke did to reverse Kirio Hikifune''s ability.


    But in this case, no matter how chaotic the battlefield had be, the Sea of Life had remained mostly still with the waves rising only a few feet high.


    [So how is she doing this?] Benihime asked while watching Sona raise the sea and usher in a sight that could only be described as a biblical apocalypse. The ''sea floor'' under Kisuke''s feet became visible and the ck mud slowly rose up, 5, 10, 15, 20 miles up.


    And just like how the insects would forever disappear the moment they fell into the sea, all those who were gobbled up, without being able to fight back were swept away and were forever incorporated with the ck mud.


    "Well, it''s probably thanks to the othertedy." Kisuke briefly answered Benihime''s question.


    Benihime didn''t really understand but thankfully, Tiamat supplemented Kisuke''s answer, [Hestia, one of the first few Deities that were born from Null with my help. She inherited the ''nurturing'' aspect from both of us. Through countless years, that ''nurturing'' aspect gained an identity of its own which became known as the [Hearth''s me]. Just like the name suggested, it''s a me that protected and nurtured all those who upied its ''home''. And right now, this ''Hestia'' has designated the entire Sea of Life as her ''home'', thus, any changes in it are deemed as ''normal'', just like a normal home.[In simpler words, she became the ''me'' that allowed this type of change.]


    [...Isn''t that a bit of a stretch?] asked Benihime with a bewildered tone.


    [That''s just how these authorities work. It''s always a stretch.] Within Kisuke''s inner world, Tiamat looked towards her neighbor and thought, ''Her own [Modify] is already a borderline authority and a lump of potential that could possibly reach that level. Well, they have to realize that on their own.'' She dared not guess what Kisuke and Benihime could do if they could really reach that level, ''That would be close to reality-altering so I doubt they''ll really be able to reach that.''


    Starting from Kisuke, the towering wave expanded and swallowed everything it touched in all directions with the exception of those who originally came from it, the 11 children.


    As it traveled further away from Kisuke, the height of the wave kept rising until it reached around 40 miles, and only when it devoured around half of the insects, did Kisuke finally hear Ichibei''s slightly panicked voice, "No!"


    A giant hand made out of earth suddenly rose up from below and tried grabbing ''Sona''.


    ''Sona'' looked down but didn''t attempt to dodge as she could feel the temperature around her drastically going down. In an instant, the hand stopped and was frozen solid along with thend around it.


    However, that was just a ''small'' distraction when a 10-mile wide semi-translucent and glowing palm manifested in the sky and descended. It was a simr attack from earlier but its scale was drasticallyrger, intending to tten Kisuke and his 11 children.


    Kisuke immediately started preparing a much stronger Cero than before and already opened his widened mouth with a row of sharp teeth when ''Sona'' suddenly snapped her fingers and the tsunami started losing its momentum and returning to its former stillness.


    But before the previous calmness could return to the ck mud, something else started emerging from it throughout its entirety.


    Ichibei who was watching this from his hidden corner was stunned when he saw that the maggots and flies whom he considered minions, started rising from the mud by tens of millions at a time.


    ''What? I can''t feel any connection from them?'' Ichibei felt a bad premonition when he noticed that these insects carried the same characteristics as the 11 people that Kisuke summoned, dark skin and shell along with bright red nerves running through their entire bodies so he tried speeding up the descent of his palm.


    But to his dismay, the much smaller insects moved faster than his palm and they all rushed and intercepted it.


    In the far distance, this looked like a very dense dark fog rising up to the hand that wasing down.


    And just as Ichibei had feared and predicted, these insects that were out of his control began gnawing on his palm until nothing was left of it.


    It was the moment when the insects consumed everything and started going after the rest of the insects that weren''t swallowed by the tsunami that Ichibei realized his mistake of waiting, ''At this rate...'' Ichibei didn''t want to visualize it. Now that Kisuke has the ''same'' ability to eat everything as him, Ichibei was afraid that he''ll lose everything to him.


    "This isn''t everything yet, but there''s no point to this anymore." Deep within Hell''s earth, Ichibei stood up and a pair of giant fly wings on his back spread out.


    He then extended his right arm covered in a ck exoskeleton before suddenly taking it back and aiming at his left chest.


    His hand pierced through his chest, spewing out ck blood. He, however, didn''t react in pain in any way and just grabbed his own heart before squeezing it and bursting it into tiny pieces.


    Ichibei''s eyes lost their light as he slowly dropped forward to the ground, dead.


    From his unmoving body, Ichibei''s ck blood began to drain and mix itself into the pulsing flesh not far from him.


    It was at this moment that the entirety of Hell began to tremble.

 Chapter 1276 Madness

    Chapter 1276 Madness


    Kisuke could feel the earth shaking and he furrowed his brows as he could feel something, forck of better words, malicious.


    At the same time, all the remaining insects on Ichibei''s side abruptly ceased moving as if they were frozen in time. This sight not only shocked Kisuke but also became concerned since they didn''t just stop moving but also stopped retaliating from attacks.


    But when he saw their bodies turning entirely ck, Kisuke immediatelymanded the insects on his side to retreat. Unfortunately, this came toote for some of them as those in contact with the other side also started turning ck.


    The ckened insects then started liquifying and soon congealed into a giant mausoleum with a fence in front on top of shattered gravestones out of the ckness that covered the entire sky.


    Before it could gain a clear image Kisuke shouted, "Benihime, stop absorbing and help me channel everything to ''Hestia''!"


    Benihime didn''t say anything and just faithfully followed Kisuke''smand. Disconnecting the [Shadow] from Ichibei, Benihime reconnected its end towards ''Hestia'' and reversed the flow of Reiryoku to have everything from the Sea of Life transfer to the warm Deity.


    Meanwhile, Kisuke didn''t just stop helping Benihime facilitate the transfer but also used the remaining of his focus and energy on tearing up the space in front of him, revealing the Dimensional Gap.


    Beckoning ''Hestia'' to his side, Kisuke pushed her into the tear he created while encapsting her into a strong barrier.


    Kisuke then sighed and stared at ''Hestia'' before saying, "I''m leaving it to you until they can move away from here."The supposedly emotionless being suddenly softly smiled and nodded which surprised Tiamat. Her own children had emotions, but they are an exception since she created them from scratch. Kisuke''s children, on the other hand, were just a copy of their original and were only created for their abilities, ''This is... surprising to say the least.'' Tiamat thought to herself.


    Also in response to Kisuke''s will, the other 10 children started turning into ashes as they passed on their remaining power to ''Hestia''.


    Kisuke touched the barrier surrounding her and imparted a shockwave that sent her shooting through the Dimensional Gap, immediately disappearing from everyone''s sight.


    The tear in the space soon healed itself and Kisuke returned his attention to the disaster forming on top of him, "Benihime, are you ready?"


    [Just tell me what I need to do. Have you figured it out?]


    Kisuke first sized the ck mausoleum which is at least 3 miles wide and 4 miles tall. He thought that this was a lot smaller considering all the volume it took to form itself. Nheless, Kisuke finally figured out which n he would initiate, and with arge grin, he replied, "Hide yourself within the [Shadow] and go along with it."


    [...What!?]


    "I won''t repeat myself. Please do just that."


    Within the inner world, Benihime opened her mouth to further question his intentions. However, it was also at this moment that she realized his n and why he was so confident regarding the potential ''berserk'', [...I''ll be sure to bring back everything I can... So, please... Don''t make me wait.]


    Kisuke knew that this was not Benihime''s usual tone but he didn''t make fun of her for it, "I''m not sure about it, but I promise you. I''ll take you back, no matter what."


    Benihime finally went silent and focused on her task.


    Meanwhile, the Sea of Life that has started to turn still from the tsunami that ''Sona'' caused, started rumbling once again as a jet-ck giant arm holding a white sake cup.


    This arm went as high as 3 miles, just stopping below the mausoleum with Ichibei''s distorted voice filling up the whole space, "Oh Twilight, and evesting darkness,e to me,e and have a drink, and once you do, your life will fade.


    "The flowers will bloom along the road to hell. Where there are fish, let me paint them ck, cut them into eight, and cook them well atop a me of ck, and then enjoy the meal.


    "All that''s left are bones of white, make them a gravestone, and pay respect. May they never be reborn again, so that you won''t be sacrificed as food."


    From the Sea of Life that was holding Kisuke''s power, blots of ck emerged from it, slowly. But as time goes on, these blots start to gather more and more as they fly towards the sake cup. The ck mud, now a dark gray mud, started to lose its color.


    And it wasn''t just the Sea of Life, everything that was remotely ck was being absorbed, including Kisuke''s flesh and blood that light couldn''t reach, hence, the darkness.


    Kisuke, however, only watched this all happen as he felt his innards being twisted and being moved outside of his body. His only concern was the [Shadow] and ink behind him being dragged to the cup along with Benihime''s presence, "Tiamat, do you know why I''m confident that I''ll be able to handle it once I transform further?"


    [I honestly don''t have any idea but it seems Benihime knew exactly what you''re about to pull.]


    "Well, I''ll most probably lose my mind and devolve into something that''s only seeking destruction."


    [...Then how?]


    The pain of being mangled inside out as variouscerations appeared on his very durable body was almost unbearable even to someone like Kisuke who has an unreasonably high pain tolerance. Even then, Kisuke didn''t move and just gritted his teeth, "The moment your instincts to use your power were transferred to me, I also figured out what would happen the moment the Sea of Life is destroyed and I just asked you for confirmation regarding it. But you see, the keywords here are ''only seeking destruction''."


    [Meaning?]


    "Meaning, I would have a goal to a certain extent regardless of my state of mind."


    Tiamat immediately understood what Kisuke wanted to happen, [So you want to change that.]


    "Yes. Instead of keeping my mind intact which will probably fail at some point, it''s easier to just keep one simple thought."


    At this point, the Sea of Life had turnedpletely white, and all the children Kisuke summoned, including the insects, had turned into dust.


    But at the same time, the absorption of ''ck'' from his body stopped and rage-inducing thoughts started appearing in Kisuke''s mind uncontrobly.


    As his body started to expand and warp itself and his horns grew more prominent, Kisuke pleaded with Tiamat, "Help me out here. Please make sure that I don''t deviate from my goal."


    [Which is?] Tiamat asked calmly, respecting his resolve.


    Kisuke consciously gritted his teeth for onest time and dered, not only to the world but to himself with great conviction, "Taking Benihime back... no matter what." It was at that moment, that his mind snapped and he lost all reason.


    While watching Kisuke''s monstrous transformation, Tiamat has a small smile on her face, [Oh child who inherited thy fangs. Bear it, use it, drench it with your enemies'' blood. Cleave your obstacles with thy ws. Let the world know the weight of despair with thy horns. Fulfill your deepest wish. Only then, you shall see the dawn of reason after this long, lingering twilight of madness.]

 Chapter 1277 The Black Giant

    Chapter 1277 The ck Giant


    Located at the center of the Seireitei, Serafall arrived on top of the Soukyoku Hill where she''ll be overseeing the ''migration'' with some people.


    Aizen who was standing beside ire couldn''t help but smile and reminisce as he looked around, ''This is where it all started and to think this is where it''ll end... How fitting.''


    Along with the three of them, the other present people are the current Captain Commander, Shunsui Kyouraku, the former Captain Commander, Genryuusai Yamamoto, the Captain of the 12th Division, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the three members of the Zero Division, Tenjirou Kirinji, Ouetsu Nimaiya, Senjumaru Shutara, and finally the other girls, Tanis Belial, and Kunou.


    "Waseveryone given their bodies?" Serafall asked Mayuri.


    "Not quite." Mayuri gave an answer while still looking at his tablet, browsing through the data he was receiving in real-time, "Those who came from Hell came quitete, though instead of giving bodies, I''m converting their bodies made out of Magic into Spiritual type. That way, they''ll be pulled in too with whatever reincarnation system that''s in ce.


    "There are also some who are still in the incubating state, but there should be no problem." Mayuri then gave her a nce and asked, "What about the Human World?"


    "It''s fine. The invasion haspletely stopped so it''s just cleaning up what''s left." Serafall answered while watching ire close her eyes and concentrate all the Holy Power she could into her hands.


    "By the way, what would happen if that were to fail? I don''t really like working on just a single n."


    Serafall sighed and looked up, "We''ll have nna-chan, Ophis-chan, and Lilith-chan to open a path for us since they are the only ones with an innate connection to that world.""If they can do it, why have that child do it?" Yamamoto approached the two with other Shinigami behind him.


    Serafall turned to him, "They can do it, but it''ll take some time and time isn''t exactly what we have right now since we don''t know how the situation would further develop. Another reason is that in Heaven, the ones who handle the reincarnation system are also the ones who control Holy Power and Faith. If the one who opens the path is one of their ''members'', it''ll be easier to integrate the souls into that system."


    Truth be told, Kisuke and Serafall also nned to have nna, Ophis, and Lilith do the work of opening the path back for them, but the moment Gabriel showed herself, both of them changed their mind. Aizen, seemingly also noticing this point, opted to have ire''s cooperation.


    Mayuri saw that both Senjumaru and Tenjirou were makingplicated faces and asked, "Still can''t ept that you''ll finally be relieved of your duty? Shouldn''t you be the happiest?"


    Ouetsu chuckled at Mayuri''s words and said, "They are an old man and a hag who spent most of their lives stationed at their own posts. They are inflexible and stubborn like any other old fes out there so don''t me them too much. They just don''t know what they should do next."


    Tenjirou immediately clicked his tongue at Ouetsu, "And you''re too epting of this."


    "Why not? No need for this artificial bncing that we''ve been doing right? It''s because you guys thought that this could go on forever that you can''t ept this change."


    Tenjirou immediately shut his mouth because he couldn''t refute Ouetsu''s words.


    "Well, that''s probably right," Senjumaru muttered. She had been thinking all of this to herself and no matter how much she twisted her own logic, there was no justifying what Ichibei was currently doing now, "I don''t know what he''s nning to do, but I do agree that we have to escape from him."


    "..." Tenjirou started scratching his head and sighed. All this time, it''s just his own pride working against him and even he is already realizing that this is a very childish thing to do, ''So much for being an old man. We''ve been living in a tiny bubble so it doesn''t matter how long we''ve lived. In hindsight, Ouetsu who acts like a child all the time is probably the most mature one among us.''


    At this moment, a bright light was suddenly released from ire before a pir of golden light rose up, piercing through the sky and into the unknown.


    "Good. Now maintain that connection until the other side responds. Do not lose focus no matter what. Ignore everything that''s happening around you, even if the world is about to end." Aizen instructed ire while looking up.


    ire nodded while squinting her brows and sweat dripped on her face. She was surprised and wondered how Aizen could still joke around. However, she didn''t know that Aizen was very serious about it, ''If Hyousube Ichibei''s goal is to really eat everything using those insects, then there''s no way he would stay still when the food on his te is being snatched away.''


    The beautiful pir of golden light also released motes of light that rained down on the entire Seireitei, warming up the surroundings and giving everyone a satisfying feeling of calmness.


    "Such a magnificent light," Shunsui muttered to himself wishing that Nanao could also see it too.


    However, this serene scene didn''tst when something tore through the space and crashed near everyone, kicking up dust everywhere.


    ire almost lost his focus but Aizen immediately reprimanded her.


    Meanwhile, the rest pulled out their weapons and waited for the dust to settle down a bit to see what happened.


    And upon recognizing the one who crashed, Serafall''s eyes instantly widened, "...Hestia...-chan?"


    "Hestia?" Yamamoto repeated her words but didn''t let his guard down. Although Serafall recognizes the person, the aura she''s releasing is too dreadful and it''s hard to believe that this littledy is not hostile.


    Of course, Serafall immediately noticed her difference from the original one and immediately said, "...I know her, but she''s not her. That''s a fake." She also has the same opinion as Yamamoto but unlike him, other information is avable to her, ''She won''t be present here if not for Ki-chan... What is she?"


    ''Hestia'' only gave them a nce before her apathetic eyes moved towards ire and the golden light she was releasing.


    She then closed her eyes and put her hands together as if praying as she released an iridescent light and golden mes around her. Unlike the aura she''s releasing, the mes surrounding her give a very contradictory feeling of security.


    The group of Shinigami immediately pointed their weapons at her but Serafall blocked their way, "Wait!"


    Serafall remembered something important regarding Hestia and it''s the fact that she can''t fight, "If she has the same ability... Then..."


    Sadly, it wasn''t just ''Hestia'' that was attracted by the light, but also something very sinister.


    While everyone''s attention was focused entirely on ''Hestia'' Aizen shuddered and with a surprised expression, he looked up. Without anyone noticing, gigantic jet-ck arms dotted with eyes that had two pupils each were reaching out toward them from the Dimensional Gap.

 Chapter 1278 The Black Giant part 2

    Chapter 1278 The ck Giant part 2


    At some immediate point, others also noticed this giant shadow that was looming over them, and like Aizen, they were stunned and were trying to figure out what they were looking at.


    However, one thing is clear. The hand that was reaching out for them appeared to be wayrger than they initially thought. As it approached them, it became certain that just the palm itself was enough to cover the entire Seireitei which is approximately around 700 miles in diameter.


    Since it''s such a massive thing, even those who are below have noticed its existence, and just like those who first noticed it, they could only stare at it in quiet awe and trepidation.


    Naturally, the battle-hardened ones are the first to react, and even Aizen himself is prepared to intercept the ominous hand.


    But before they could do anything, Serafall shouted, "Stop! Don''t do anything!"


    Everyone looked at her with confusion but at this point, Serafall already gained enough rapport and trust that they listened to her strangely dangerous instruction.


    However, this didn''t mean that they''d let their guard down and kept releasing their enormous amount of Reiatsu that any normal Shinigami caught up in this wouldn''t be able to move.


    While watching the arm extend with anxiety, they all felt a bit of relief when they saw a thin golden film manifested and stopped the hand''s advance.


    The hand seemingly kept pushing forward from how it bent its fingers and the muscles on its arm moved. Nevertheless, it couldn''t move even an inch forward and the thin golden film only glowed brighter."...The me of Hearth''s Protection," Serafall muttered to herself.


    "me of Hearth?" Mayuri repeated her words, "Wait, before that. Do you have any idea what that thing is?"


    Serafall shook her head, "But I know what that golden film is and it came from her." She answered while giving a nce towards ''Hestia'' who still has her eyes closed and praying.


    "She''s not capable of fighting, but when ites to protecting a designated territory, she''s the best."


    A few secondster, the boundary of space where the arm came out was further torn up, revealing more of what''s behind such a monstrous arm full of eyes with two pupils.


    A vaguely skinny humanoid form and just like its arm, it''s littered with eyes at random intervals. The only part that has a remotely recognizable pattern is the part where the face supposedly is. Different from the rest of the eyes from the rest of its body, it has 7 remarkably bigger eyes with one of them having additional features, arranged in a symmetrical fashion with three eyes on each side of the face and a single, bigger one in the middle vertically and that bigger one has three pupils on it going around chaotically and wildly.


    "...Just what the hell is that?" Shunsui muttered with a very disturbed tone, not really expecting an answer.


    However, Ouetsu gave a reply and it was a reply that no one was expecting, "...Hyousube Ichibei."


    It was also at this moment that the situation drastically changed when nna, Ophis, and Lilith appeared beside them but instead of talking to everyone, they stared intently, not at the giant ck figure but further beyond it.


    From the depths of the Dimensional Gap, it appeared. A being a bit smaller than the ck giant. Adorned with giant horns traced with red light. Skin that assumed the same tint as its light blue hair. Bulging arms that are covered in dark blue and red stripes scales that also extend to what seems to be Dragon wings and at the edge of these wings are more horns acting as curved des due to how sharp they look.


    Finally, its lower body is covered with dark sludge that doesn''t fall off and a long, wide Dragon tail is attached to its back, also assuming the same color as its horns.


    It was vaguely humanoid in form too, simr to the ck giant but with its monstrous form, a mouth that extended towards its neck while revealing several rows of sharp teeth and clearly distinctive beastly roars that convey madness, it was nothing but a ''beast'' empty of intelligent thoughts.


    Strangely enough, Serafall managed to ignore all those features and was attracted to its eyes devoid of any humanity and only filled with its will of destruction, "...Ki...Kisuke?"


    While everyone heard her, nobody could give her any attention as this monstrous being opened its mouth wide and took a bite at the ck giant''s neck.


    The ck giant ignored the beast that sank its teeth into him and kept pushing its hand. However, at some immediate point, the ck giant seems to have noticed that something was amiss and all of its eyes in its body creepily turned towards it.


    The ck giant then moved its other hand and grabbed one of the arms that had been digging into it. With a single swift movement, the ck giant yanked it out of him.


    But instead of dragging the ''beast'', it kept on chewing at him while its arm was instantly torn away from it.


    It appears to be that the ck giant finally realized the gravity of its situation and took back the hand that he had been pushing and used it to grab one of the ''beast''s'' horns. Although he was able to twist its head back and forth, it discerned that the ''beast''s'' head was strangely sturdy.


    nna saw her chance and immediately released her Draconic Form, "Littledy, Open it up for a bit!"


    She was referring to ''Hestia'' and thetter understood what she wanted to do.


    As soon as a small hole appeared on the golden film, nna shouted while spreading out her wings, "ckie, little ckie, push them away!"


    Ophis and Lilith nodded and held each other''s hand before extending their free arms to the sky. In the next second, a Magic Circle appeared on top of them before a beam of ck light emerged from it. The shockwave from the light almost demolished the Sokyoku Hill but it was able to hold out with Aizen countering the recoil.


    The beam of ck light went through the golden film and the tear in the space, hitting the ck giant.


    The ck giant tried blocking it, but without any proper foothold and being unable to assume any counter, it was sted away along with the ''beast'' on its shoulder until they were just a speck of dust in the depths of the Dimensional Gap.


    nna then pped her hands, releasing massive amounts of Draconic Aura. As her aura washed over the surroundings, the torn-up space started healing and this wasn''t just limited to the Soul Society as the same thing was felt and observed on the other two worlds.


    nna took a deep breath and turned to the stunned audience, "Whatever you''re doing, make haste before those two return."

 Chapter 1279 Unknown Future

    Chapter 1279 Unknown Future


    Moving back the hands of time for a bit, Ichibei opened his eyes and he never felt better than before.


    More importantly, he''s now seeing the world differently than before. Right now, he''s being bombarded with various sights that he''s not used to, "Incredible..." Ichibei muttered while trying to make out what he was seeing.


    "Past, present, and the branching future... So this is what he''s seeing." Ichibei marveled and tried to move around. It was then he found out that he could move at will at any of these sights. He was now able to escape the shackles of time even if it was just inside his consciousness.


    Even though he''s deep within the earth, he feels extremely liberated. However, this feeling of liberation didn''tst long as he also noticed a weakness in his ''vision''.


    All he could see were those in his vicinity and he couldn''t see anything specific about himself. It was at this moment he realized how ''he'' in his previous life died and how Yhwach was defeated, ''All I could see is the waves that I caused and not how I caused those waves.''


    Then again, another question popped out. If Yhwach was defeated by a part of himself, how did ''he'' die specifically? Did ''he'' die of a natural cause that ''he'' couldn''t see? Or did ''he'' kill himself for one reason or another?


    Although Ichibei considers himself as the being that died and became the foundation andnd for Hell, he has no way of recovering ''his'' previous memories.


    Ichibei also understood that while he could never expand his ''vision'' inwardly, he could still do something outwardly, ''I guess this is the limit of being iplete... It doesn''t matter. I''ll eventually take everything back and the past will reveal itself.''


    His sights then turned towards Kisuke and the women he summoned to fend off his legion. And now that Ichibei discovered how he was fueling his form, he didn''t need to watch him any longer. And even after seeing how Kisuke summoned the part of his legion that his ck sea devoured, it didn''t bother Ichibei in the slightest because he knew exactly a future that would render everything he was doing right now useless.He also knew what would happen to Kisuke once he proceeded, but not long after that, he''d decay into ashes without anything supporting him.


    And that''s when he, Ichibei Hyousube, became blinded by his own far-reaching eyes and this was precisely what Kisuke would call a ''chance''.


    Kisuke knew that Ichibei may acquire abilities simr or the same as the Soul King so with that in mind, he devised a n that would present an apparent weakness that Ichibei would take advantage of and that weakness must include him ''dying'' in his vision which would make the chances of Ichibei being reeled in higher.


    So when Ichibei went ahead and absorbed all the ''ck'', Kisukepleted the stage for his defeat.


    .


    .


    .


    Ichibei raised the sake cup into the sky and let all the ''ck'' in Hell gather to him and this included the [Shadow] that Kisuke was using to siphon Reiryoku from him.


    If someone were to ask why he represents ''ck'' right now, he would be able to answer honestly and it''s simply because "The Soul King is ''white''."


    It was a nonsensical reason but this is where the Soul Society stemmed from which he helped create. If the Soul King represented ''life'', he represented ''death'' and created a cycle in which he slowly gathered everything on his side.


    As the cup was filled to the brim, the rest of his body rose from the earth and drank its contents.


    While Kisuke was transforming himself, Ichibei''s pure, jet-ck body also started expanding and more eyes appeared on his body. Consequently, Ichibei could now see beyond Hell and was able to see what was going on with the three worlds.


    He first intended to finish off Kisuke because even though he''ll soon lose what''s little left of his Reiatsu, Magic, and Ki, it''s not a reason to prolong eliminating a potential threat.


    Unfortunately, Ichibei had to discard this notion when he saw what was happening in the Soul Society.


    If Kisuke could still think, he would smirk at this and say, ''If there''s a fly that has been bothering you or there''s a cat trying to snatch your food, which one will you deal with first I wonder?''


    The answer was obvious.


    Ichibei immediately ignored Kisuke and tore the space, enough that someone asrge as him could easily go through.


    Thanks to him clearly seeing his destination, traversing the Dimensional Gap was easy, and was able to arrive at his destination instantaneously.


    Although he was moving in haste, Ichibei was still not worried. After all, he could see what was happening and could see several futures where he was able to stop the migration of the souls. He also knew that it was a migration of the souls because he also saw the future and he didn''t stop it from happening.


    Since all the souls in this dimension are essentially his food for hispletion, he couldn''t allow any of them to escape.


    Ichibei tore open the fabric of space for one more time which revealed the Soul Society and since the aura he was releasing right now was very foreign to its inhabitants it took them long to notice his existence. He reached out his hand and was already expecting someone blocking his way. Nevertheless, it''s something he could break before theyplete their ''ritual'' so he continued forward.


    Naturally, his sights also never left Kisuke who now became a monster that''s half of his size and was aiming for his neck. He continued to ignore him because he didn''t see any immediate threat from him and prioritized annihting whoever was trying to connect this dimension to another.


    That was Ichibei''s second mistake.


    Ichibei might have discovered the real reason why Yhwach was defeated through the use of his newly acquired ability, however, that was also the same for Kisuke, just in his case, he asked the man directly.


    The moment Kisuke''s fangsnded on his neck, he stole back some of the ''Chaos'' element that Ichibei got from his Sea of Life which also dragged some of thetter''s essence, making him technically part of him.


    As a result, the monster, Kisuke Urahara, suddenly disappeared from all of his sights. A future that Ichibei couldn''t see due to the technicality of his own eyes.

 Chapter 1280 Prima

    Chapter 1280 Prima


    Yhwach, being left alone after Ophis and Lilith suddenly left, helped himself to the tea that doesn''t seem to run out or get cold.


    As he took a sip from his cup, he also felt the strange, but somehow very familiar fluctuation of power, "What a fascinating experience. So this is how it feels to be seen." He muttered to himself.


    Since he''s blindfolded, he can''t even see his own reflection from the cup. The world could end as he satfortably but there was nothing he could do.


    Yhwach thought that he would feel nothing as everything around him copsed as this is a very ''wed'' world that he tried to ''correct''. However, he was wrong. Very wrong as he''s finding himself feeling frustrated without being able to take action.


    He hated the world where ''death'' is epted and seen as an inevitability. However, what he hated more was it disappearing into nothing, much worse, into the stomach of someone who thinks they are the ''one''.


    Nevertheless, his inability to do anything on his own doesn''t mean others can''t take action on his behalf. So when he heard Kisuke''s conjecture about Ichibei''s true goal, he didn''t hesitate to reveal the secret of his own defeat.


    Yhwach was defeated not because he was cut by Ichigo''s Zangetsu but by a Zanpakuto Spirit that was formerly known as ''Yhwach''.


    .


    ..


    Ichibei tried ripping Kisuke off from his neck but as he pulled his arm, he only ripped off that arm and thetter continued chewing on his neck like there''s no tomorrow. It was at this point that Ichibei realized that Kisuke was not truly a mindless monster but someone who was moving to aplish a certain goal.


    But that''s the least of his worries now since this monster actually disappeared from his past and future sights. Ichibei understood his mistake of ignoring him initially and now he became a threat that he must eliminate at all costs, ''I see... That''s why I only saw very few versions of him perishing in the future...''


    The attack from the Dragons pushed Ichibei and Kisuke into the depths of the Dimensional Gap and the former couldn''t do anything but ignore their assault as he was busy ripping thetter off of him.


    Without any hesitation, Ichibei sliced off a piece of his neck that Kisuke was biting using his hand before grabbing another of his arms and hurtling him away from him.


    The monster that''s now resembling a twisted Dragon spun uncontrobly within the directionless space for some time before it finally decided to properly orient itself. But instead of continuing its assault, it carefully chews on the ck flesh before swallowing it.


    While Kisuke lost the support of the [Shadow], he could continue this cursed existence as long as he could eat.


    Meanwhile, Ichibei could only use all of his eyes to silently stare at the monster relishing the flesh and blood it earned. He also didn''t immediately attack Kisuke because he wanted to arrange his thoughts first. While he became an unimaginable being capable of seeing through space and time which changed his perspective, he''s still the same Ichibei when he was posing as a Shinigami.


    In other words, no matter what he gained, it was still the same for him. He didn''t get any sort of enlightenment that would allow him to think like the Soul King. And that only became more obvious when he realized that Kisuke baited him when he recalled that it was one of his summons who blocked his path.


    Aside from Kisuke, he could still see everything that has happened, what''s happening, and what''s going to happen. However, the uplifting and invigorating feeling brought by it from before has already disappeared and was washed over by the debilitating feeling of inferiority.


    He could see the past, present, and future and even manipte them to some extent. He''s supposedly an all-powerful being that no one can touch yet the almost mindless monster in front of him just created a future that he couldn''t see. Ichibei was feeling inferior.


    Soon, however, this feeling of inferiority was soon overtaken by dread. If Kisuke created a future that he couldn''t see, then what else is hidden from his eyes?


    Fueled by this dread, his desire to pulverize this monster into nonexistence shot to the top of his priorities.


    While it is true that his main ability was rendered useless, Ichibei was still confident that he''ll be able to overpower Kisuke who''s already on the verge of death.


    Ichibei assumed a cross-legged position and while all the eyes facing Kisuke were locked on him, he straightened his arm before sping his hands together.


    Kisuke finished swallowing the flesh he got and he also started regenerating his lost arm. With a single goal in mind, he shrieks, releasing a deadly roar, andunches himself with reckless abandon towards his ''food''.


    p.


    Kisuke only moved for a few hundred feet before two translucent golden and white hands that made him look like a tiny mosquito pped him. It was so abrupt that he couldn''t even let out a scream of pain.


    Kisuke''s limbs were instantly ttened into a paste and his torso warped. Thankfully, his head and heart were sturdy enough to endure the impact and he remained alive.


    ''Just a beast and nothing more.'' Ichibeimented in his mind while watching Kisuke struggle, ''He may have caught me in a trap that I''ve yet to understand, but he had to give up his greatest weapon.''


    Ichibei separated his hands and the translucent hands also disappeared. But soon enough, another set of hands appeared on the opposite side of Kisuke and this time, it was much more solidified and radiated with power that dwarfed the previous instance.


    "This is the end," Ichibei muttered calmly while a silhouette of his eye with three pupils appeared on the horizon, looking down on Kisuke who was unable to move.


    Kisuke moved his neck to look up to the eye as if his joints were covered in rust and debris. His instincts are telling him that this could be the end of him if nothing is done.


    Although only one desire is running through his mind, Kisuke''s self-preservation didn''t entirely disappear and in front of this colossal threat, Tiamat felt something changing in him fundamentally, [Huh? How? He shouldn''t have ess to this... Not in his current state.]


    Tiamat dives deeper into Kisuke''s inner world to understand the situation and finds out that his body is changing way beyond what she had expected, [This isn''t from monsterization nor is it from releasing the limiter. Something else is shaping his existence.]


    It was then that Tiamat recalled Benihime mentioning the mysterious gem that seemed to have disappeared.

 Chapter 1281 Prima part 2

    Chapter 1281 Prima part 2


    The palms that Ichibei continued to grow in size and intensity but when he saw Kisuke''s pink, star-like eyes shine in a strange glint, he suddenly felt his spine shuddering as a foreboding premonition rmed his instincts.


    He didn''t know what suddenly changed but one thing is certain. He has to kill Kisuke at this very moment.


    Ichibei stopped gathering power and sped his hands once again with even greater force than the first one.


    Without any air resistance, the palms traveled multiple times faster than the speed of sound and they silently and almost instantaneously mmed into Kisuke.


    The next instant, a huge and blinding explosion lit up the spot where Kisuke was as if numerous high-yield nuclear bombs were detonated at the same time.


    The heat from it was enough topletely scorch a country and the shockwave it produced was enough to wipe an entire continent''s worth of lives. Despite this, Ichibei made sure that all of the impact and energy was concentrated on his target and it was enough to create several instances of nanoscopic ck holes for several microseconds.


    Ichibei was at ease. Although his eyes are essentially blocked, his other senses were working extremely fine. The moment that Kisuke was crushed into nothing, his presence also ceased to exist.


    Before, he could easily feel his presence through the Reiatsu, Magic Power, and Ki he was emitting. This time, however, there''s nothing. Ichibei couldn''t feel even a strand of any string of energy from him anymore. Not with Holy Power, not with Demonic Power, and not even a strange form of other energies like Ophis'' Infinity. Absolutely nothing.


    So imagine his surprise when the light subsided, and he saw the monster, still in its mangled state as if the previous attack hadn''t done anything to him. Only this time, there''s a thin, uneven, ss-like bubble full of cracks surrounding him."!? I... I didn''t hurt him?"


    ''Stealth.'' It was the first thing that went inside Ichibei''s head but he instantly discarded that notion because aside from the feasibility of Kisuke hiding from his senses was very much nil, there was no point in doing this specially when trying to defend against an attack, which he clearly did.


    ''Was it the bubble?'' He asked next. But immediately after, the bubble surrounding Kisuke copsed into nothing but he still couldn''t feel anything from him.


    It was as if he didn''t exist at all and the one in front of Ichibei was just a visual representation.


    So next to his train of thought was the question, ''Am I somehow caught in an illusion?''


    Ichibei didn''t know whether to ept or deny this theory because one, he still didn''t have any idea what Kisuke prepared for him, and two, his guts were telling him that this was reality.


    And while Ichibei was contemting, Kisuke''s mangled parts actually stopped regenerating. Instead, the majority of his body started turning into dust before rearranging itself into immacte body parts that soon connected with Kisuke seamlessly.


    "...What?" From Ichibei''s perspective, it looked like Kisuke''s injured parts just blurred out of existence before returning to their normal, healthy counterparts, "...Regeneration?"


    Ichibei didn''t wait anymore and raised one of his arms before bringing it down in a swinging motion towards Kisuke. In an instant, a golden light manifested and divided Kisuke into two.


    The light disappeared as soon as it appeared and while Ichibei was only able to scratch Kisuke''s head, from chest down to his crotch, a clear cut that spilled blood and innards became obvious.


    But just like before, the injured parts would turn into dust before returning to their normal state.


    Losing his patience, another pair of arms suddenly appeared behind Ichibei. He then pointed all of his open hands toward Kisuke before clenching them with considerable force. At once, twenty walls of golden lights bisected Kisuke from differing angles, separating him into hundreds of pieces.


    While Kisuke''s head remained rtively unharmed, it was still just a head.


    Ichibei thought that he finally was able to deal substantial damage to him and was thinking of further pulverizing his body. But to his astonishment, those chopped parts turned into dust before reassembling themselves back into their pristine condition.


    It was then that Ichibei understood that this is not regeneration, ''...This is more akin to reconstruction. How did he suddenly have these new abilities?''


    Ichibei also understood that if this is really indeed reconstruction that he was doing, then he needed to destroy where Kisuke stored the information of his ''healthy'' state and it''s quite evident where that is, ''His head. Now it makes sense why it''s strangely sturdy.''


    Ichibei unfortunately won''t be able to take the next action when Kisuke,cking the previous madness, suddenly starts imitating Ichibei''s posture. It was the former''s mistake once again for him to not grasp that Kisuke had calmed down. Although his eyes stillcked rity, some finesse returned to Kisuke''s movement and it was already toote when Ichibei noticed that.


    Continuing the imitation, Kisuke also pped his hands.


    Ichibei wondered what he was trying to do when all of a sudden, a sensation of pain abruptly erupted from his right shoulder.


    Before he could realize it, something he couldn''t perceive expanded from within his shoulder and severed his right arm, "!?"


    Ichibei''s mindgged behind due to the sheer ridiculousness of the event that he failed to stop the severed arm from flying towards Kisuke.


    With an arm that was almost as big as him, Kisuke caught it and before he started chewing at it, Ichibei was further stunned when Kisuke suddenly turned to his direction and gave him a mocking smile.


    Kisuke then became busy with eating and ignored what was happening. rmed and infuriated, Ichibei raised his three remaining arms and made a circr motion with them before a ball of darkness surrounded Kisuke.


    Ichibei knew Kisuke''s biggest weakness right now and he decided to capitalize on it.


    Because Kisuke became a myriad of possibilities in his eyes, Ichibei thought that sealing him in another dimension wasn''t a waste of time anymore. He decided to take the ''coward''s'' route and wait for Kisuke to lose all of his reserved energy and rot into nothing, ''I can''t directly confront him anymore. He has too much uncertainty and I might just feed him more.''

 Chapter 1282 Prima part 3

    Chapter 1282 Prima part 3


    Ichibei lost one of his arms, but that didn''t actually hurt him aside from expending energy to regenerate it.


    Ichibei metamorphosed and produced another set of arms from his back. The three pairs of arms then started doing various gestures and hand signs which produced more barriers that surrounded Kisuke, locking the space itself so that he wouldn''t be able to tear it open.


    Ichibei couldn''t see what was happening inside the barriers he created as it just became multiple ck spheres ovepping each other however, he''s sure that Kisuke was doing nothing to escape from it since he created a ripple through his barriers whenever he attempted, ''He must be busy devouring that piece of arm. Since it''s not directly connected to me, he''ll only be able to lengthen his life for a few more minutes.''


    Ichibei was also taking a look at what''s currently happening in Soul Society and he figured out that they were able to make a sessful connection to an unknown realm. As much as he wanted to interfere, there was nothing he could do right now aside from focusing on eliminating the monster, ''He really tied me up here... Is this part of his ns? No. That can''t be. He''s not the type of person to sacrifice himself for the greater good.''


    Of course, he also tried viewing the future, but strangely enough, he couldn''t see much and everything in the immediate future was nk. He would have panicked if not for the future he saw where he''s standing in front of someone who''s not of the Soul race, Shinigami, Fullbringer, Quincy, or Hollow, yet possesses a considerable amount of Spiritual Power in the form of ''Darkness cast by Light''.


    Sadly, due to his iplete existence,he couldn''t see any further than that nor exactly know where in point of time that is.


    As long as he could see that future, he''s certain that he''ll rise victorious in this fight.


    The next instant, however, his train of thought was derailed when the eyes he had on his back saw the monster opening its mouth and about to bite down on Ichibei''s neck once again, "!?"


    ..


    .


    A minute earlier, Kisuke was munching on Ichibei''s arms inplete darkness without any care in the world.


    Tiamat also noticed the change in Kisuke''s behavior when he snatched Ichibei''s arm, [Have you regained your senses?]


    But Kisuke only returned groans that were not even directed at her. Sighing, Tiamat started muttering to herself, [Is this the required minimum amount of intelligence to manipte Prima Materia? A pretty low bar to pass.]


    Prima Materia, a material that Kisuke believed was the source of everything and which Demonic Power, Holy Power, Magic Power, Spiritual Power, Ki, and any other type of energy came from.


    It''s a material that can''t interact with anything in existence until it changes into a subset category which was the previously mentioned energy types.


    Kisuke tried studying more about this Prima Materia after hearing about it from Tiamat since this would exin the existence of unique energy types like Ophis'' [Infinity] or nna''s [Dream and Illusion] which everyone thought was an evolution of their Draconic Powers.


    Instead of an evolution, Kisuke was thinking that it''s actually a devolution of something else and that something else is precisely this Prima Materia that only the Transcendent has a chance of touching.


    Tiamat herself exined that she couldn''t use Prima Materia in its original form and had to change it into something else before she could manipte it. And this is where Tiamat''s ability as a [Creator] came from. From Prima Materia, she was able to create [Original Elements] which she used as the building block for a world.


    It was also from the [Original Elements] that she was able to create the [Sea of Life] which is just a cheap emtion of her sister''s, Null''s, [Original Idea] which created the souls of Deities.


    It was because of these abilities derived from the Prima Materia that the sisters were able to create a world teeming with life out of ''nothing''.


    Tiamat was still not sure what changed but it was thanks to the [Original Wind] that Kisuke was able to protect himself from Ichibei''s ''hands''. Because of its nature being closer to the Prima Materia, it was hard to detect even though it could be perceived through the basic senses like sight and hearing, [I thought I would have to get out to assist and buy you some time... You have me as a backup, but I wonder if this is also part of your n?]


    What truly surprised Tiamat, however, was the way Kisuke ''healed'' himself. Tiamat was already shocked when Kisuke used the [Original Wind] to create a sturdy force field to surround himself, but when he used various elements of the [Original Elements] and sophistically manipted them to deconstruct and recreate his body, Tiamat thought that she was just seeing things.


    Ichibei was correct that Kisuke is not regenerating. He''s just kept recreating his body or parts for himself.


    Soon enough, Kisuke finished eating Ichibei''s arm and was able to get back a portion of what was stolen from him. But when he found a tiny trace of Benihime''s trace, it was as if his vigor was renewed and he roared within the darkness, shaking the whole space.


    Tiamat wanted to guide Kisuke on how to use the [Original Elements] to break from this seal but didn''t really know how to ry her intentions to a simple beast that only wanted to do one thing.


    But when Kisuke suddenly disappeared from his spot and reappeared behind Ichibei, Tiamat could only make a nk expression, [Did he just use the remnants of the [Original Wind] that he used to cut this man''s arm as an anchor for an Instant Teleportation? Really... Just how is he doing this?]


    Tiamat prided herself as someone who''s capable of creating worlds from nothing but after seeing Kisuke utilize her own abilities despite being out of his mind, she thought that maybe, it wouldn''t hurt to study a bit more.


    .


    .


    .


    Ichibei tried dodging but Kisuke''s appearance was too sudden and too close so he was only able to shift his body for a bit. Even then, he was still easily caught and had his neck bitten.


    Ichibei hurriedly used 4 of his hands to crush Kisuke''s head, however, he was only able to snap his horns which immediately returned to their normal state.


    Ichibei also considered slicing off the part he was biting once again but found the weirdly sturdy invisible barrier was now covering him and Kisuke, trapping both of them within this bubble.


    He tried tearing apart Kisuke''s body but it would just turn into dust before reappearing perfectly intact. At this point, his only other choice was to use arge and powerful technique but that would effectively go off as self-destruction with the situation they are currently in.


    Ichibei could also feel tiny bits of his energy being drained so he had to act fast.


    And it was then that an idea dawned on him. Eating everything is literally one of his greatest talents. So if there''s no way of avoiding him, contest him in the field he wants.


    As soon as Ichibei resolved himself, his back suddenly split open, revealing an uneven row of sharp white teeth that were simr to the maggots hemanded.


    And just like Kisuke, Ichibei also took a bite and pierced through Kisuke''s body.

 Chapter 1283 Opening the Path

    Chapter 1283 Opening the Path


    It was as if time had frozen for the both of them as they stopped moving within the bubble that Kisuke created. Even Kisuke stopped chewing and just kept drinking Ichibei''s blood since he stopped struggling while alsopletely ignoring the hundreds of fangs that were stuck and drinking his blood back.


    Tiamat saw things on a deeper level and noticed that Kisuke was being drained way faster than he could drain Ichibei. At this rate, Kisuke will disappear first before he can hurt Ichibei.


    However, she''s not actually worried and is surprised that Ichibei would choose this option, ''Isn''t this way too convenient?''


    While it looks like they are both stealing from each other, they are fundamentally eating different things.


    In Ichibei''s case, he would be eating one''s energy and when that''s depleted, he''ll be eating his victim''s soul which is where an individual''s core is located.


    Kisuke, on the other hand, was eating everything that ''Chaos'' had tainted and the energy he was getting was just a nice little bonus.


    Absorbing ''Chaos'' is actually Chaos'' main ability that Tiamat managed to get after the former tried stealing her authority and existence. By tainting someone with his own attribute, Chaos could quietly consume them from the inside.


    However, there''s a big problem with his ability. As strong as it is, it takes too much time. In addition to that, the victim has to be unaware that they are already tainted to a certain point.


    Chaos almost seeded when he worked closely with both Tiamat and Null, gaining their trust. In the process of creating a world, Chaos would insert his own attributes into them slowly but surely and when there''s no way for them to extract the poison, he backstabbed them.Nevertheless, it couldn''t end there since his attribute has topletely corrupt both of them so that he''ll be able to eat them whole.


    This took countless eons to be realized but Chaos just had to involve a meddlesome guy and tripped on the final step.


    For Kisuke to be sessful, he had to solve these two big ring problems and in Tiamat''s opinion, he managed to do just that spectacrly.


    The first one was easily solved by baiting Ichibei and absorbing both the [Sea of Life] which was filled with the ''Chaos'' attribute and [Shadow] where Benihime was encapsted.


    As for the second problem, time didn''t be an issue because of Benihime, a controlling force behind the ''Chaos'' when it was normally left alone, resulting in a much faster propagation.


    Of course, there''s no way for Benihime to spread ''Chaos'' to everything that Ichibei has so they would have to be very specific to what they want from him. And fortunately, it wasn''t much of a hard choice and there''s almost no risk of being discovered.


    Kisuke''s target? Ichibei''s [ck]. The authority that became the foundation for him to be the existence he is now and the very ability that was used to absorb his [Sea of Life] full of poison and the trojan horse, [Shadow].


    .


    .


    .


    Back in the world of Dragons and Gods, Michael was enduring a headache, not because of any physical ailment but because of the frustration he''s feeling right now.


    "At this point, the Alliance is essentially finished, right?"


    Michael is currently sitting within the Sixth Heaven where only Seraphs are allowed toe in. Beside him were two other individuals one of them was his fellow Great Seraph, Gabriel and the other was a man wearing a ck hooded cloak.


    "And they are ming the Ouroboros Group for it." Gabriel sighed.


    Michael leaned back in his seat, "Well, they are the most prominent group right, more than the DxD team. They had too much influence so it''s an easy pick for the threatened ones."


    "It also doesn''t help that they are openly hostile against Shiva and Indra Factions." Gabriel picked up the cup of tea in front of her and blew the steam off it, "Do you think this would happen if Kisuke Urahara was around?"


    "Forget about this not happening. Things might have devolved into further chaos if he''s around." The man in the cloak answered.


    The two Great Seraphs became quiet and couldn''t disagree when they contemted his words, "There''s no need to hide your face. We''re the only ones here and no one is going to think that a Devil King is here."


    The cloaked man was silent for a moment before pulling down his hood, revealing swept-back green hair and light blue eyes, "My bad. I''ve recently developed this habit."


    "...Considering the overall situation, I''m not really surprised that you''d move on your own in secret."


    After taking a sip of her tea, Gabriel ced down the cup and asked with a worried tone, "By the way, how is Koneko-chan fairing?"


    "...ording to my sources, not that great. It seems that Kuroka is using her Senjutsu nonstop just to keep her condition from deteriorating." Ajuka answered.


    "Do we have any idea where the assant''s from?"


    "I''m still investigating, but all evidence points towards Shiva''s Faction. There are several strange points so I can''t really pull out a conclusion from this. The Ouroboros Group is also staying silent so I can''t grasp what''s really happening. I''m sure of one thing though."


    "...That is?"


    "If he returns now... It won''t be pretty. You have to prepare yourselves."


    Their secret meeting, however, was interrupted when a surge of Holy Power suddenly appeared within the entire structure of Heaven.


    Ajuka''s eyes widened and thought that the two Great Seraphs in front of him were suddenly releasing their power but upon closer inspection, the surge was happening everywhere, "What''s going on?"


    Michael and Gabriel were both silent at his question but Ajuka could also tell from their expressions that they were as shocked as him.


    The Great Seraphs immediately pulled out a translucent orb and both of them saw a massive amount of souls making their way to the Third Heaven.


    Michael hurriedly stood up and imbued his voice with Magic for it to be heard throughout the entire Heaven by all Angels, "Angels, escort out all of our guests! As soon as that''s done, initiate the lockdown protocol. All those inside will remain inside and all of those who are outside are not allowed to go back in regardless of their ranks!"


    "Should I get out too?" asked Ajuka.


    Michael thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, "You''re trustworthy enough. And out of all of us, you''re the one most suited to dealing with him."


    Ajuka was surprised yet again, "...You mean..."


    "He''s returning and just like what you''ve said, it might not be too pretty."

 Chapter 1284 Opening the Path part 2

    Chapter 1284 Opening the Path part 2


    ire''s clothes were already drenched from all the sweat that''sing off of her but no one would wipe it off her even though they wanted to. There were a lot of distractions around her and she almost failed several times. Thankfully, Aizen would exert his pressure on her to block out outside information from reaching her, ''This would have been a lot easier for her if I could use Kyouka Suigetsu on her.'' Aizen thought to himself while turning his head to the already mended space in the sky, ''But even if we sessfully pull this off, there''s no point if Hyousube is going to be on our tail.''


    At that moment, a tinge of an unknown, foreign aura passes through Aizen''s senses and he hurriedly turns his head to the golden pir.


    Aside from him, Ophis, Lilith, nna, Tanis, Kunou, and Serafall also felt this aura. To them, however, it gave a very familiar feeling of holiness.


    "Step aside." Aizen shortly uttered with amanding tone aimed at everyone else present.


    Serafall immediately brought the two girls to her side and pulled them to the side while the group of Shinigami jumped back. As for the Dragons and ''Hestia'', they entirely ignored him and just focused on their work of strengthening the boundaries between the three worlds.


    In the next second, a massive amount of Reiatsu erupted from Aizen and took the form of a purple pir that rose along the golden piring from ire. To the tiny crack that ire created, Aizen forced it open, widening the channel and solidifying the connection where the golden pir ended.


    "...This is insane," Serafall muttered with her mouth twitching.


    Tanis, who had better senses, was also shaking, "How many seconds do you think my arm couldst if I stick it in there?"


    Kunou gave Tanis a weirded-out nce but she seriously answered, "Err... 12 seconds beforeplete vaporization? And please don''t stick your arm in that to test your durability.""No wonder Ki-tan asked him to take this job," Serafall added. She was surprised not because of the sheer amount of force he was exerting that was enough to erase High ss or even some Ultimate ss Devils with ease, but because of the control he had over this colossal spear that perfectly preserved the fragile link that ire created to the other world, "This minute control is impossible for Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, or nna-chan."


    Serafall now had to rethink her opinion of him as just having a massive amount of energy. ''I thought Ki-tan was overestimating him because there were a lot of things that I could think of to counter his abilities. But now I understand. He''s a giant monster that could wlessly do precision work. How terrifying.''


    For Serafall, there''s no need to fear people who are only capable of mass destruction, but people who can manipte the tiniest things are the enemies that would hit you with something you can''t see.


    Nevertheless, she immediately threw this train of thought behind her head when she saw countless streams of light from all around the Soul Society rising up to where the golden pir was.


    After thinking about it for a second or two, Serafall and the others figured out the identity of these lights, "So it''s begun." Yamamoto loudly muttered while carrying theplex feeling he had while watching the true end of his duties.


    The other Shinigami are of course carrying the same sentiment. It was an idea at first but now they''re witnessing the reality of it. With how long they''d been doing their job which, is essentially the meaning of their lives, they found it a bit hard to ept.


    Tanis saw their forlorn expressions and tried to say something. But before she could do that, a handnded on her shoulder and squeezed it. Serafall stopped her. No matter how good her intentions are or how ''right'' she is, it''s not good for someone who doesn''t carry the same weight and experience as them to say anything.


    In any case, this isn''t the time to be helping them better since once arge and stable channel is established, it''s not a one-way trip.


    As Serafall expected, she immediately felt three individualsing from the other side and she was very familiar with all of them, ''They responded faster than I thought, huh? And why is he with them?''


    Soon, everyone saw three silhouettes from the top of the golden pir, one golden, one white, and one ck. The eye-catching golden and white ones were both sporting 6 pairs of Angel wings while the ck one was wearing a long cloak that covered his entire body.


    The group of Shinigami were about to ce their hands on their weapons when Serafall exined to them, "Please don''t worry. They''re my friends."


    Soon enough, the three silhouettes also saw the group and despite their confusion, they slowly descended to where Serafall and the other girls were.


    "I have no words... You guys have done it again." The cloaked one was the first one tond in front of Serafall, "To think you''d open another path to a foreign world. Is it that easy?"


    Serafall gave him a wry smile as he removed his hood, "No way. We''re at our wit''s end here."


    Ajuka panned his head out and saw the other people in the vicinity. Despite their apparent and strangely low Magic Power and Ki, he couldn''t help but be a bit nervous, ''They''re simr to Urahara Kisuke, huh? I don''t really like to imagine that.'' His eyes thennded on Aizen, who''d just retracted his aura, ''What a dangerous world.''


    "I''d like to ask what''s going on, but it seems like it''s not the time to casually chat." The man with golden wings said while looking at the struggling ire, "Gabriel, please."


    The voluptuous woman with sets of white wings began moving before the man instructed her, "I''m on it."


    Gabriel approached ire and this time, Aizen didn''t stop her since he judged that his work was done.


    Spreading her wings out, an immense amount of Holy Power erupted from her andpared to ire''s, it''s much more pure and dense. And unlike ire''s, her Holy Power didn''t shoot out into a golden pir, instead, strings of it converged out of Gabriel and wrapped themselves around the pir. After ensuring the stability of the pir, Gabriel patted ire''s head gently, "You''ve done enough, ire-chan. Let me take over."


    Since there was no response from Aizen, ire slowly let out her breath, and the rush of Holy Power from her steadily decreased until all of the Holy Power in the vicinity was under Gabriel''s control.


    ire''s knees soon buckled and before she could fall to the ground, Gabriel caught her.


    Nevertheless, the Holy Power was just serving as a guide for the souls to reach their destination and didn''t ensure the stability of the channel. Seeing the crack in space, Michael turned to Ajuka, "I''d like to ask a favor."


    Ajuka shook his head, "You don''t have to. Increasing Heaven''s standing will be a benefit for me too." He then raised his right arm and pointed it towards the sky. A secondter, his Demonic Power gushed out.


    Although the stable presence of the Holy Power was of utmost importance, Serafall was not worried because the man in front of her is known for his ultimate control.


    Sure enough, despite his Demonic Power capable of drowning everyone, it only gently embraced the Holy Power as it went up and produced tens of thousands of Magic Circles, creating another unbelievable sight of majesty.

 Chapter 1285 Opening the Path part 3

    Chapter 1285 Opening the Path part 3


    Thanks to Ajuka stabilizing the space, Gabriel managed to create more channels to speed up the process of the Soul Migration. She was also able to relegate the Holy Power that''s being consumed by the process to Heaven itself, essentially making things stand on their own without further manual maniption.


    Yamamoto, after watching for a while, approached Michael. Although he finds his appearance strange and intriguing, there''s no visible emotion on his face, "May I ask, what exactly is going to happen to all of these souls?"


    Michael turned to the old man and with a nce, he managed to roughly guess the position he held thanks to the way he carried himselfpared to the other people present and how everyone else looked at the old man. Replying in the same respectful tone, Michael answered, "Each and every single one of them would go through a purification process. To ensure the safety and integrity of every soul, the purification can take a long time so while they are in it, they are givenfort and rest through the entire process until they are once again ready to join nature and go through another life."


    Michael paused for a bit while marveling at the purity of each soul that''s going through the channels, "There are also several sorting systems in the middle of it which are dictated by the soul''s karma. As you might have already known, souls with heavy, negative karma can harm other souls so another purification process is dedicated to them."


    "What about the stronger souls? Do these purification processes work on them?" From behind, Mayuri also approached them while asking.


    Michael turned towards him and smiled, "Yes, as long as the soul is willing, that is."


    "And the unwilling ones?"


    "Dangerous individuals like them are sealed in a separate space."


    "Sounds very dangerous," Mayuri smirked.But Michael''s expression didn''t change and just nodded, "It is. But it''s really rare for individuals like that to appear since most of the time, they die in battle. And that level of battle would very rarely leave the soul intact."


    It''d be hard to exin any further so Michael turned to Serafall to greet her and ask about Kisuke''s whereabouts, ''He needs to hear the news first. I don''t want him to think we''re hiding things from him.'' But as he panned his head, he saw that Ajuka was staring in a certain direction with a stunned expression.


    He also turned to the direction he was facing curiously and found three ''young'' girls and immediately recognized the two of them, ''Ophis and Lilith. I wonder what they''re doing, releasing that much Draconic Aura?''


    His eyes thennded on the red-haired girl possessing the same face, a pair of Draconic Wings, and a single horn in the middle of her forehead, ''That''s... Did Ophis split another part of her?'' But as he stared more at the girl looking up at the sky seriously, a certain familiar aura that she was exuding was finally caught by his senses, "!? Great Red!?"


    Hearing her former title being called out, nna finally gave some attention to what was happening to her surroundings, "Hmmm? You guys are from that side." Shemented when she saw Michael and Ajuka looking at her, "Great. I think you guys could assist ckie and Little ckie here to move things."


    "Move things?" Ajuka immediately asked. He wanted to know how Great Red was still alive but after using his Kankara Form earlier, he noticed many weird things happening right now like how this dimension was on the verge of copse and something indescribable was causing tremors from beyond this space. Ajuka immediately judged that there was no time for a casual conversation.


    "Move the three worlds into the vicinity of the Dimensional Gap. Stabilization cane after that."


    Michael had no idea what she was talking about and Gabriel, who''d just finished strengthening the channels, was also confused. Ajuka, however, started analyzing the situation from the information he gathered just now and said, "You overestimate us. Something this big is beyond the current members."


    "Then ask for assistance. You can do that, right?"


    Ajuka was silent for a moment before letting out a deep breath, "Haahh... I wanted to keep myself out of the spotlight for much longer... I guess this is much more important, huh?"


    He then immediately raised his right hand and began constructing a form of Communication Magic, "Michael, allow my Magic to go through."


    "...Alright." Michael himself sent a few words to the other Seraphs to make an exception to Ajuka''s Demonic Power toe through Heaven''s barrier.


    ''Let''s see... There''s no way for me to get in contact with the members of Ouroboros.'' Ajuka contemted for a moment before sending an emergency signal to 5 individuals, "I invited 5 people. Please let them through."


    Michael nodded but Serafall immediately frowned at his words, "Only 5 people?"


    Ajuka sighed, "The situation is a bitplicated and heated. Aside from the fact that I don''t want any information about this leaking, I also can''t move many people since that might just cause a spark that could light up a barrel full of undesirables."


    "What about Sona-chan and the others? They should have a way to covertly move and even discover, they should be able to deal with it."


    "Unfortunately, they locked themselves up and I have no way of contacting them."


    Serafall and the other girls with her became extremely worried because they knew that the members of the Ouroboros Academy wouldn''t easily be forced into a lockdown.


    "They''re here." muttered Ajuka as he looked up and prevented Serafall from asking any further, "The situation is stable for now and this is more urgent."


    Up in the sky where the path towards another world was opened, 5 individuals started descending with the one leading them sporting six pairs of jet-ck Angel Wings, "Another surprising thing yet again, eh? As expected of Kisuke. He also always delivers."


    Behind him are two youngdies with Devil Wings, a young man in a long robe, and another one covered with full crimson armor.


    "Azazel, this is sudden, but help me out formte a working mass dimension travel spell."


    "That''s really sudden... And if it''s you who''s asking and you called us specifically, then the scope must be massive."


    Ajuka nodded, "Yes. Three worlds worth."


    "T-three worlds!?" Azazel started scratching his head, "This is still beyond us even if you brought Issei into the equation..." His eyes then caught the sight of Ophis and Lilith, "Unless..."


    "They''re helping."


    Azazel sighed, "When''s the deadline?" He has no idea what''s going on, but he can read the atmosphere.


    "I''d appreciate it if you could do it right now." nna suddenly interjected.


    Azazel was shocked because he also missed her due to Ophis and Lilith, "...What? Wait... Are y-"


    However, he was not destined to finish that sentence when a crack in the sky suddenly appeared, revealing numerous terror-inducing giant eyes looking down on them.

 Chapter 1286 The Crimson Warrior

    Chapter 1286 The Crimson Warrior


    Those who came with Azazel, Issei Hyoudou, Kuisha Abaddon, Seekvaira Agares, and Georg Faust, remained silent. Although this wasn''t the first time Issei had been suddenly called like this, he immediately noticed the heavy atmosphere and decided to listen in, ''These members, do they want to do somerge-scale space maniption? So I''m here for support.''


    [Issei, take a look at that.] Ddraig interrupted his thoughts.


    Although he didn''t have anything to point with, Issei immediately knew what he was talking about, ''Great Red is alive as you''ve said. As expected of Kisuke. And if this is revealed, a lot of those old men would be restrained, to a certain degree at least.''


    Issei scanned his surroundings and saw some familiar faces. Although he wanted to greet them, he held himself back. He also saw ''Hestia'' but immediately concluded that this is not the Hestia that he knew, ''The situation is bing weirder and weirder. Just what are they all waiting for, standing like they are ready to cut down anyone who approaches them?''


    [Take a closer look again. Those guys give off the same aura as Kisuke Urahara. Not to mention, the man on the right is making me nervous just looking at him.]


    Of course, Issei also instantly noticed Aizen but decided to be on guard against him while ignoring him for now. While he''s setting off rms in his head, there is no hostilitying from him and he wants it to remain that way as Issei and the others who came with him know how entric people at that level are, ''One wrong look and things might get dicey.''


    If their current actions are not eliciting hostile reactions, then they''re doing something good.


    While wondering where Kisuke was and the conversation between Ajuka and Azazel progressed, Issei was able to confirm that his guess was right, though on a muchrger scale than he ever imagined.


    Issei was still not able to wrap his head around ''moving three worlds'' when a crack in the sky manifested and a horrifying feeling immediately crashed into everyone''s mind. As they looked up, they saw nothing but darkness, dotted with strange eyes full of malice, "What the..." Issei muttered loudly.But unlike the people wearing traditional articles of clothing, Issei''s group and those who came from the same world as him managed to respond faster with his gauntlet letting out continuous [Boost] noises, "Should I go for a preemptive attack?"


    "You watch its movements for now. If you want to attack it, consult Great Red." Azazel immediately replied while looking at the eyes before turning back to Ajuka, "Let''s get this done. Kuisha, Seekvaira, Georg. We''re in a race against time. Give us your ideas."


    "Let Kunou-chan help you." Serafall added, "She has a good grasp of the three world''s structure."


    Without waiting for their reply, Kunou ran towards the group and started showing them various diagrams through her Magic, immediately joining their conversation.


    "Tanis-chan, take care of ire-chan, okay?" Serafall gave her final instructions before walking towards Issei.


    Thanks to their strangely calm demeanor, the Shinigami group also managed to get their bearings together, "It looks like I''m really getting old." Yamamoto chuckled while brushing his beard with his hand.


    "Don''t make this about your age. They''re the strange ones." Mayuri immediately retorted while looking up. The sky cracked but there''s nothing happening beyond it in the meantime, ''But that won''t be for long. The moment he reaches out once again signifies that Urahara has failed.''


    "Serafall-san. It''s been a while. Where''s Kisuke?" Issei asked when Serafall came closer.


    Serafall gestured towards the crack in the sky and answered, "Fighting that thing."


    Issei, Azazel, and Ajuka were incredibly surprised that she didn''t have her usual upbeat attitude since they knew that she was someone who could stillugh and joke around even if the situation was dangerous.


    It''s only natural that Serafall couldn''t remain smiling. After all, she also realized the implication of Ichibei''s arrival, ''And I can''t feel even a slither of his aura... Kisuke... Please be safe.''


    At this point, the other members of the Gotei 13 started making their way toward the Soukyoku Hill because the nobles around had stopped causing problems.


    "Hey, Ddraig. Poke that thing for a bit." nna suddenly raised his voice.


    Issei knew that she was actually referring to him because that''s what Ophis used to call him too, "I won''t be able to hurt that though?"


    "It''s fine."


    Soifon was the first one to arrive and appeared beside Shunsui, "Who are they?" She immediately asked.


    "...Friends from the other side?", replied Shunsui but he was not too sure either. He and the others are wondering what nna meant when she said to poke the eyes, ''Poke? Out of everyone here, only the old man could probably make those eyes blink for a moment... And Zaraki perhaps.''


    However, Shunsui and other''s minds would nk out when Issei released his Draconic Aura.


    Upon receiving confirmation from the Great Red, all the boost he''s getting instantly takes effect, resulting in his oppressive aura exploding out. Although it didn''t have the same pressuring effect as the Reiatsu, Issei''s Draconic Aura would instantly send those with weaker minds into panic if not outright losing their consciousness.


    "Promotion, ''True Queen''." Issei muttered and subsequently his gauntlet, [Cardinal Crimson Promotion!]


    In an instant, his deep red armor changed into a bright crimson one as its scales morphed to be sharper and a set of crimson translucent wings emerged on his back.


    ''Hestia'' understood his intentions and adjusted the barrier for him. As soon as Issei saw the opening, he kicked the ground which almost made the Soukyoku Hill copse and transformed into a streak of crimson light.


    Issei stopped just beneath the crack and took a quick peek at what was beyond it. It was then that he realized what he was looking at, ''What the heck? This is terrifying.''


    [Don''t get close. You''ve be a lot more durablepared to years ago, but you''ll be out ofmission if that thing hits you.] Ddraig hurriedly warned, also realizing the monster behind the crack, [I have a feeling this guy is capable of even more destructive power than Ophis and Great Red.]


    ''Don''t worry. That feeling is clear to me too.'' Issei took a long breath and retreated for a bit before the wings on his back transformed into two long cannons on his shoulders, "Crimson ster!"


    The cannons on Issei''s shoulder lit up for a bit before releasing devastating green and crimson beams that intertwined with each other.


    To those watching from below, it only looked like a tiny glowing stickpared to the eyes beyond the crack, but thanks to Ophis, Lilith, and ''Hestia'' they could hardly feel any tremors from it.


    But the moment this stick touched one of the eyes, a blinding crimson light that served as a second sun dawned on the entirety of Soul Society.


    "!?"


    It was a st that was enough to easily obliterate the entire Seireitei and leave nothing behind. A power of pure violence.

 Chapter 1287 Perception Check

    Chapter 1287 Perception Check


    The blinding crimson light was almost unbearable, but thankfully it didn''tst long and soon let up, revealing a widened crack in the sky and the mangled eye.


    Its ck blood exploded out and some of it went through the crack, dropping into the Seireitei.


    "Hooh~ That''s pretty devastating." Aizen finally said something and with an amused expression.


    The group of Shinigami didn''t know how to take Issei''s disy in, but after those remarks from Aizen, they finally understood the gravity of his power.


    Aizen saw a monstrous amount of energy gathering from the hurt eye and said, "But it wouldn''t be such a problem if pure violence could solve that."


    Issei also felt the energy gathering and his armor transformed once again, this time, the cannons on his shoulder retracted and his gauntlet tripled in size, "Solid Impact Booster." He muttered and put both of his arms forward.


    The next instant, a faint sh of white light came from the eye and something hit Issei. But with thetter already anticipating it, he put his arm sters forward and destroyed the thing that flew towards him although it also resulted in him being thrown back from the impact.


    As fast as it flew up, Issei also crashed down in the same manner, mming into the Soukyoku Hill and creating a crater while also kicking up dirt and dust.


    Serafall immediately blew the debris away, clearing everyone''s sight, and saw the armored guy standing in the middle of the crater with erged arms. His armor reverted back to how it was when he arrived soon enough and he jumped out of the crater towards Serafall''s side.Issei noticed that there were more people present now and most of them were looking at him strangely. Nevertheless, he''s already used to these sorts of stares and just asked Serafall, "Serafall-san, just what the hell is that incredibly massive thing? This is the first time I''ve seen something that big."


    "We''re the same as you." Serafall answered while watching the hole that ''Hestia'' created closed, "What do you think of it?"


    Issei looked up and saw that the eye had almost healed itselfpletely before saying, "As I expected, I have no way of actually hurting it. I might be able to injure it a bit more and stop its regeneration momentarily with Longinus Smasher, but I won''t be able to use my [Gift] ability for quite a bit so that''s out of the question.


    "I may be able to fight it using [Apocalypse AnswerArms] form. But summoning Ryuuteimaru to my side now would immediately cause an rm and ruffle some people''s feathers so I''d rather not do that. Though if needed, I won''t hesitate to use it even if it''s just buying some time."


    "I see... Anything else?"


    Issei easily noticed Serafall''s hopeful expression and answered, "Somehow, it won''t move from its current position and the thing attached to its back may be the reason."


    Serafall''s face immediately lit up, "Is that so? Thanks. I guess you can settle down for now and wait for further development." Although it''s nothing concrete, it''s still evidence that could prove that Kisuke is still fighting.


    Issei sighed in relief when he saw Serafall''s expression be lighter. The next second, his armor started glowing before it disappeared, revealing a young man with short spiky brown hair which further surprised the group of Shinigami.


    At this point, the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants have arrived on Soukyoku Hill along with those who came from Hell, wondering what''s going on and especially curious about who just unleashed the devastating attack moments ago.


    "I didn''t expect a young man behind that exaggerated armor... But knowing Sitri, he might just be as old." Shunsui muttered to himself with the corner of his mouth twitching.


    In response, Yamamoto just chuckled and said, "I believe he''s a bit younger than Kurosaki Ichigo."


    "Ah!" Furoufushi eximed, "No wonder he looks familiar..."


    Meanwhile, Azazel and Ajuka were also making their own observation and judgment with the arrival of more people, [Another faction, huh?] whispered the former to thetter through Telepathy Magic, [And a pretty major one at that.]


    [The Deities in the Dungeon World already scared a lot of groups. If theye into the spotlight I don''t know what''s going to happen.], replied Ajuka.


    There and then, Azazel and Ajuka''smunication was intruded upon by a third person, [Must be a real mess on that side if even you don''t know what''s going to happen.]


    [Serafall, I see that you''ve cheered up a bit now that you decided to eavesdrop.]


    [You guys are basically asking me to join in with such a simple encryption. How''s the progress of your work?]


    [We found a working framework and are working out the details right now. From then, we''ll scale up.], replied Azazel, [Now it''s my turn to ask, what''s up with this group?]


    [ording to my investigation, the estimated strength of the guys wearing a white haori ranges from Ultimate-ss to Upper God-ss and the guys wearing the armbands range from High-ss to Satan-ss. They follow a military structure so most of them arebat specialists. On top of that, they all use Spiritual Power and are capable of directly hurting souls. Pretty dangerous individuals I must say.]


    Serafall didn''t say that they are weak against Magic and Ki since they could hardly sense that, ''I''m not sure what''s happening on the other side, but it''s better to hide that for now. They''ll need more time to adapt to Magic and Ki.''


    [Hmm...] Azazel hummed to himself, [Then they could be ssified as a major faction even if just counting the people here. Then what about that guy there.]


    Even without pointing it out, Serafall knew what Azazel was referring to, [His name is Sosuke Aizen. Let''s just say that even if he''s not onplete Ophis'' level, he''s at least on par with Shiva. By the way, you guys better check your current perception. He has a pretty strong Illusion-type ability and the moment you looked at him, he probably already caught you in it.]


    Azazel, Ajuka, Michael, and Issei who were silently listening in were surprised and hurriedly checked the integrity of their minds through various techniques.


    And as Serafall expected, the first one to notice the anomaly was Ajuka, and while projecting a wry smile he said, [How dangerous... I didn''t even notice that he already altered my sense of time and distance. It wasn''t much of an alteration, but the fact that I didn''t immediately detect it...]


    Naturally, Aizen also noticed that Ajuka got out of his Kyouka Suigetsu and smiled, "You really do have interesting friends, Sitri Serafall."


    On the other side, the group of Shinigami is also discussing among themselves about the visitors and the eyes that have been peeking at them when the space rumbled and the cracks began to widen.


    The giant had started to move.

 Chapter 1288 Gone?

    Chapter 1288 Gone?


    Fingers stuck out before an entire hand emerged from the crack, grabbing the boundary of the broken space. With a single swing of its arm, the ck giant further destroyed the boundary as if a thin sheet of ss was being smashed by a hammer, revealing half of its body with all of its eyes focused on the people standing on the Soukyoku Hill.


    As the shards of the boundary rained down upon Soul Society, it created a surreal and beautiful scene thatplemented the grandiosity of the soul migration. Sadly, no one in their right mind would be able to enjoy and appreciate such beauty that''s apanied by a world-ending disaster.


    And this is especially true for Serafall as the first thing she saw was the body-less and shriveled head of the Draconic-like monster still hanging on the ck giant''s neck, "N-no!" She let out a devastated shout when she realized that it was already lifeless, "Kisuke!!!"


    [Ahh... That pest is finally gone.] A revibrating and grizzly voice resounded on everyone''s head, [Now I finally have the time to deal with you lot.]


    To the Shinigami group, however, it was a familiar voice despite its horrendous tone, "T-that''s really Hyousube Ichibei?" Soifon loudly muttered with cold sweat drenching her back.


    "I''m summoning Ryuuteimaru!" Issei shouted as his deep red Scale Mail covered his entire body once again and a Dragon Gate appeared behind him.


    Thanks to his voice, the others also woke up from their stupor, drew their weapons, and released their auras. They knew they''re not a match against this adversary but they also wouldn''t sit still.


    [...Otherworlders. An interesting bunch that allowed Urahara Kisuke to gain more abilities than he could''ve possibly had.] The giant then raised his other arm and almost in an instant, the sky turned ck and the migration was ground to a halt, [A good chance to know more about you. Maybe after this, I''ll be able to observe that side more.]


    "!?" A collected gasp immediately erupted.The first ones to react, however, were the 2 Seraphs as they hurriedly lit up the whole area with their Holy Power. Since the channel they were maintaining was forcibly closed Michael and Gabriel also impatiently secured the souls that couldn''t cross over.


    "Shit!" Issei eximed once again and it was because his Dragon Gate was also abruptly closed, disconnecting him from his familiar. Without much choice, Issei had to transform into Crimson Cardinal Promotion mode once again.


    The next one to move was Yamamoto, jumping back from the rest and directly releasing his Zanpakuto from its restraints, "Bankai, Zanka no Tachi." The temperature all around instantly increased to an unbearable level with his de transforming into an ancient and worn-out katana, severely scorched by fire.


    ''I''m not going to survive a hit from that.'' Azazel''s survival instinct was yelling at him even though he was just looking at his sword, ''Didn''t expect that this old man was more fiery than our Tiamat.'' He, of course, was referring to one of the Five Dragon Kings who possesses a simr Fire-type ability.


    Azazel then immediately turned his attention back to Ajuka, "How is it?"


    "I''m already analyzing this lock, but it''ll take a few minutes."


    The Shinigami group was worried that Yamamoto might burn them before he could the enemy, but at that moment, a counteracting force burst forth, and it came from the furious Devil King.


    nna turned her eyes towards Serafall who had lost all of her calm demeanor and sighed, "Open the barrier for them."


    ''Hestia'' nodded and created another hole.


    Meanwhile, Ophis and Lilith are also looking up at the giant and ask her, "Kisuke... He''s gone?"


    Serafall''s hair turned pure white and her eyes turned light blue with the temperature around her dropping to dangerous levels. As 12 wings made out of pure ice appeared behind her and a glistening crown of ice on top of her head, she shot up, going through ''Hestia''s'' barrier and leaving behind a white trail of light.


    The ground that Yamamoto was on was also melting before it exploded and propelled the old man through the same hole.


    Issei was taken aback by the auras they were releasing but also immediately followed after them, ''I knew Serafall-san already reached Super Devil level, but I didn''t expect the old man to match that temperature intensity. It feels like I''m standing close to the sun.''


    [That sort of heat could possibly match Sirzechs'' Power of Destruction. Sadly, that''s not something as versatile as the Power of Destruction since the old man probably won''t be able to use that for long if Serafall is not around.] Ddraig replied inside his head.


    After watching those three fly off, nna finally answered Ophis'' question, "I don''t know... But I can''t feel nor see anything from Boss."


    Just like her, Ophis and Lilith knew that nna could see the world in a different light. Both the Infinite Dragons could see Kisuke from their perspective so they were hoping that Great Red would be able to see something with her Dreams and Illusions.


    Ophis and Lilith both looked down and already lost their motivation. They have been helping ''Hestia'' keep up the barrier but the moment they were about to let go, nna red at them, "Don''t even think about it. You''re just going to do that guy a favor. Besides, do you really believe that Boss would just end things like this?"


    Ophis and Lilith were thinking of just evacuating Serafall, ire, Tanis, and Kunou and leaving everything behind, forcefully breaking through the restrictions ced by the giant.


    But after contemting it more, they decided to hold on for a bit more, "If things don''t change, I''m going to leave you behind."


    nna sighed. She''s also thinking of ways to change the situation and it''s the real reason why she hasn''t done anything yet, ''If Boss is really gone... Then the priority is to stop that guy from following.'' The same as Ophis and Lilith, nna thinks that the safety of the girls is the most important and she has no qualms with abandoning this world and all the work they''ve done.


    Maybe she''ll help out those who originated from the same world as them, but regarding others, she wouldn''t lift a finger for them and may even use them as bait.


    nna was formting numerous ns in her head when she noticed something akin to buzzing, "Hmmm?"


    [....r]


    [... ... ...r .e.]


    nna turned to Ophis and asked, "Can you hear something?"


    Ophis tilted her head and looked around, "...No-... Hmmm? Is there something?"


    Now that nna was able to confirm that she was not just imagining things, she turned to others and gauged their reactions only to see all of them keenly watching the three who got out to st the giant.


    [.... ... ...r .e. ... ..... ...]


    ''There''s definitely something out there... What is it?'' nna sharpened her senses and Ophis also did the same. Despite this, they couldn''t detect any fluctuation from the surroundings aside from the battle that was going on.


    [..n ... ..re me? ... ...is ....th.]


    ''A voice?'' nna thought before broadcasting her own thoughts outward, [Who are you?]


    Everyone reacted and turned in her direction, including some eyes on the giant''s body. Nevertheless, she ignored them and just waited.


    [C.n you .ear m.?]


    nna, Ophis, and this time, Lilith too, heard the voice and in a much clearer tone that they understood what it was trying to say despite nking out several times.


    [Yes.] nna attempted to reply which further confused those who were around her and raised suspicion from the giant.


    [Gre.t. B.y us .ore tim.. .isuke .s ..ill .live, bu. we ne.d mor. .ime.]


    nna, Ophis, and Lilith looked at each other because they finally recognized who that voice belonged to, """Tiamat!""" They all simultaneously uttered.


    A smile emerged on nna''s face and her Draconic Aura exploded out and a silhouette of her previous form manifested around her, "Then I guess it''s my time to shine."

 Chapter 1289 The Old King

    Chapter 1289 The Old King


    Yamamoto cut the arm that was sticking out of the erged crack while Serafall instantly froze said arm that began to fall down to the Seireitei and the entire hole to seal off the giant''s passage.


    Issei on the other hand kept charging his Crimson ster to use it as a push in case the giant kept moving forward, ''Serafall-san in her Super Devil form is one thing, but that old man is also amazing. That sort of destructive power is enough to scare most of the Gods that are running wildly right now.''


    [They are strong... But that''s only enough to slow that thing down.] Ddraigmented, [I hope you realize how dangerous the current situation is. Prepare to secure everyone you want to be safe and escape.]


    ''I could probably leave the adults and Dragons to themselves.'' Issei turned his head around and nced towards Kunou, Tanis, and ire, ''If things don''t improve, I''ll swoop in the moment Ajuka-san finishes analyzing and undoing the lock in space.''


    Issei kept boosting himself to the limit his body could take when they heard nna give an indiscrete broadcast of her thoughts.


    ''What''s going on?''


    Ddraig remained silent for a moment before replying, [I don''t know. And when do we ever guess what they are thinking?]


    The next moment, everyone was startled when her aura suddenly red up and became visible in the shape of her former form.


    nna also shot up from the barrier and everyone could see that light started gathering in her throat before she released a massive wave of a bright red beam that instantly melted Serafall''s ice and struck the giant behind it that was about to crush the ice in the first ce."Keep pushing!" nna shouted with a big smile on her face, "Wreck that bastard!"


    nna continued flying straight towards the pseudo-Dimensional Gap with reckless abandon.


    This thoughtless action of hers stunned not just the group of Shinigami but also everyone from the other side. But unlike the former, nna, or rather, Great Red''s exertions made them think of its implication and almost most of them came to the same conclusion, ''Great Red forsake escaping and decided to take on the enemy head-on.''


    Naturally, that wasn''t good news for them since they were leaning on escaping instead of fighting back, and having her help on the former makes it so much easier and safer for all of them. After all, they didn''t want to risk it all for the world they knew nothing about, much less care for it.


    "I think we made a mistakeing here. I apologize for dragging you to this unnecessary problem." Ajuka muttered, genuinely regretting his decision, "Change of n. Let''s work on creating our escape route." Thankfully, the people that he called could also make a secure channel for them to withdraw.


    "No. Let''s not do that." Azazel immediately disagreed.


    Ajuka was surprised and thought that he had lost his mind. But when he looked at him, Ajuka saw that Azazel was observing a group of people and when he followed his line of sight, he saw the group of young girls who came with Kisuke and Serafall to this world. Ajuka couldn''t describe it for some time but soon enough, he figured out the expression they were making, ''Relief?''


    The next thing he knew, the mysteriously terrifying man entered his sights and approached the girls. Without attempting to hide his voice, he asked them, "What do you think?"


    Just like the neers, a certain conclusion also arrived in the girls'' heads when they saw nna''s actions.


    The red Dragon may act childish and stubborn most of the time, but they know that she''s not someone thoughtless. Unlike Ophis and Lilith, nna considers far more things that affect her decisions and actions. And because of this, they knew that nna wouldn''t spring into action like this for no reason at all.


    In the current situation, there''s only one thing that would make her appear reckless, "Kisuke-niichan is alive." Answered ire with great certainty.


    This statement ground everyone''s thoughts to halt beforeunching into higher gears. Azazel and Ajuka hurriedly turned towards Serafall''s direction and sure enough, she didn''t have the same furious expression that seemed to curse the entire world as earlier, instead, arge, beaming smile painted her face.


    ''She arrived at the same conclusion.'' Ajuka and Azazel thought before looking at each other and nodding.


    It''s very risky, but if they can pull this off and ''assist'' Kisuke in this monumental disaster, they knew that they would be able to request a few things from him and these ''few requests'' were enough for them to put themselves in danger.


    This is also true for the other three working on the urgent project, Seekvaira Agares, Kuisha Abaddon, and George Faust. In the world they''re in, Kisuke''s name has be synonymous with a "Wish-granting Shopkeeper". Naturally, they also know that he has his limits and there are many things that he can''t do, however, there''s a reason why he gained such epithet from those who knew of his existence and his achievements.


    On the other hand, Aizen didn''t have much reaction to ire''s words. He''s still trying to weigh the situation but he doesn''t have enough information, ''Well, if there''s ack of information then ask someone who knows about it.''


    He then turned to Ophis and Lilith and called them, "Ophis, Lilith, summon the old king here. He could probably tell us more about that thing."


    Ophis and Lilith''s eyes widened before nodding. Raising their right arms, a Magic Circle appeared on the ground in front of them, and in a few seconds, a tall man with long ck hair, wearing a long ck robe and a blindfold on his face materialized from the Magic Circle.


    The moment he appeared, hostility in the air instantly shot up with Zaraki instantly moving and shing down his sword at the neer.


    At the same instant, a blue silhouette moved in front of Zaraki and caught his sword with her two bare hands, stopping his advances.


    However, it wasn''t just Zaraki who stepped forward as another Captain sprung forward to the opposite side, thrusting his sword towards the neer''s neck. But just like the former, before it could reach its intended target, a paper talisman blocked the de''s path and stopped it in its tracks.


    The man who attacked, Byakuya, frowned, "Why are you protecting this man?"


    His eyes never left the ck-haired man but his question was directed toward the owner of the talisman, Kunou.

 Chapter 1290 Blind

    Chapter 1290 Blind


    Instead of answering Byakuya''s question, Kunou sent out more talismans to block more advancing Shinigami and it''s not because she didn''t want to answer, but because she honestly didn''t have any idea what to say.


    Aizen, in everyone''s eyes, was still a criminal, butpared to him, the man standing in front of them is an unforgivable existence that they won''t hesitate toy their lives in order to y him, "You''re making a mistake here, youngdy." Byakuya added with his killing intent the highest it had ever been.


    Ophis, Lilith, Aizen, and the man in question, Yhwach just ignored their surroundings full of action and killing intent. The ''twins'' didn''t let down their arms and summoned a jet-ck snake that slithered its way towards Yhwach''s head. It crawled around his head for a few moments before opening its mouth and biting the blindfold on his face.


    There wasn''t any reaction for a second until a few irregr lines of purple light appeared on the blindfold''s ck cloth before it started burning with purple me.


    Soon enough, the me engulfed the blindfoldpletely, and the restriction was ced on Yhwach. As the blindfold turned into ashes, Yhwach''s closed eyes immediately opened, revealing a set of eyes with two pupils each.


    ''Just two? So he hasn''t recovered at all.'' Aizen thought to himself.


    But contrary to his calm demeanor, the group of Shinigami only further panicked and pushed forward to the point of hurting both Tanis and Kunou.


    Soifon, one of the Shinigami who didn''t move, gritted her teeth. As much as she doesn''t like seeing these kids get hurt, she doesn''t have the justification nor the authority to stop their assault. She hurriedly turned to Mayuri and Kyouraku, the only two others who stayed their hands in addition to those who came from Hell, to figure out what they should do.


    While Mayuri remained unmoving and continued his passive stance and observation of the general trend, Kyouraku sighed to himself and mmed his Zanpakuto on the ground, creating a loud noise akin to a small explosion."Cease this!"


    The group of Shinigami immediately stopped moving with some of them turning in his direction. Of course, this doesn''t mean they agree with him, "Why?" The Captain of the 10th Division, Toushirou asked with a re.


    "I know you hate him and I do too, truly." Kyouraku returned the re, "But do you really think this is the time for this? The world is about to end, but when did the Gotei 13 carry this much emotional baggage?"


    Every Shinigami who heard that was stunned.


    Nevertheless, Kyouraku''s demeanor only got heavier, "Have you forgotten that you''re soldiers who vowed to protect this world? Stop acting childish. You are not children. Stop swinging your des dictated solely by your feelings! You are weapons! Follow my orders!"


    Finally, all members of the Gotei 13 turned to him, and with an ashamed expression, they all pulled back.


    ''As expected of the man who reced him.'' Aizen smiled while watching this unfold. And now things have be quiet, he turned to Yhwach who had been staring at the giant beyond the fractured space with a surprised expression, "What do you think?"


    Yhwach didn''t answer immediately and instead, returned a question, "Is that perhaps Hyousube Ichibei?"


    "We''ve guessed as much." Mayuri, already aware of his freedom, approached, "If those eyes are the same as yours, then he could probably manipte the future like you do. Frankly speaking, I don''t see any chance of us winning as unlike you, this monster is immortal."


    The other Shinigami were shocked at Mayuri''s casualness but he also ignored them, "Maybe if it''s you, you''ll be able to render that ability useless. Isn''t this why Urahara Kisuke freed you?"


    "K-Kisuke freed him!?" Shinji eximed and like everyone else, he couldn''t follow what was happening anymore.


    However, Yhwach stayed silent, seemingly failing to hear what Mayuri just said.


    Mayuri and Aizen found this reaction a bit strange and they certainly didn''t have the patience for him toe out of his stupor. Aizen thought that raining down his Reiatsu on him would wake him up but before he could do so, Yhwach suddenly grabbed his own head and bent his back, "Fuhahahahaha!!!" He suddenly blew up intoughter.


    "What is it now?" Tanis muttered loudly. She was tired and she didn''t really want these strange uncles entertaining themselves in times like these.


    Yhwach only finished his hearty but also eerieughter a few secondster and added, "Even I didn''t manage to instill such fear in him. Urahara Kisuke... How did you do it?"


    This time, it was Aizen who was surprised, "Fear? That monk who can''t die?"


    Yhwach finally managed to gather his bearings and faced the Gotei 13, "Rejoice, my friends in the afterlife. This is your chance to break the chains that this man has shackled all of you for almost eternity. Hyousube Ichibei has be blind."


    .


    .


    .


    The ever so powerful being, ''Hyousube Ichibei''. He always thought that as long as he achieved, even a partial form, he would be unstoppable, at least in the current realm. His desire to return to how he was countless eons ago allowed him to persevere through the erosion of time. With little steps, he finally managed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. His finish line is right in front of him.


    Never would he have thought that he''d stumble on thest obstacle even though that obstacle had been eradicated down to his soul.


    ''Why!? Why can''t I see!?''


    Ichibei screamed internally. For some reason, his ability to see and manipte the past and the future had disappeared, ''WHY!!!???''


    His overwhelming strength didn''t disappear. In fact, he even got stronger when he absorbed the monster he was fighting against, aka, Kisuke. He had enough power to destroy the entirety of Soul Society if he wished to. But if he did, his chance ofpleting himself would also go with it.


    It didn''t make it better that multiple pests were bothering him right now and he''s so close to just smashing everything apart. His rage is boiling. Sadly for him, Yhwach was able to see through him. His rage was only a tough exterior and deep beneath was his debilitating fear of not knowing anything.


    It was only for a short time that he tasted such omniscience, yet it was too unbearable to have it gone.

 Chapter 1291 Death with a Finger part 1

    Chapter 1291 Death with a Finger part 1


    Ichibei kept questioning why his precognition had ceased to exist and thought of various possibilities. And the most probable of them all was the fact that he absorbed Kisuke. For some reason, it destabilized his form and affected his abilities.


    ''This should just be a temporary problem.'' Ichibei reassured himself. Of course, this isn''t just some baseless optimism. He already predicted that something like this may happen since this form is technically in an experimental stage. Ideally, he would want topress this form into the size of a normal Human and concentrate his strength.


    Kisuke has something very foreign from the current world so Ichibei is pinning that as the main reason for his destabilization. Even then, the amount of destruction he could cause didn''t lessen, instead, he seemed to have absorbed his abilities to manipte the elements.


    Ichibei was only able to calm down when his instincts told him that the future where he would meet unknown people with Spiritual abilities still holds [True], ''At this level, instincts provide more benefits since most of the abilities and phenomenons couldn''t be exined by logic.''


    This absence of precognition also exins why he couldn''t see the specific timeline before reaching that future, ''So that''s why it''s a nk canvas. I don''t have the ability to ''see'' at that point in time. In that case, I just have to follow this nk canvas toe out of that future.'' He doesn''t know how long it''ll take, but it''s certainly a future where he exists and his cognition will return.


    For starters, Ichibei was able to reach the Soul Society and stop whatever they were doing by blocking the dimension with his own power. His arm was cut off but it''s not something concerning for Ichibei.


    The boundary that he destroyed was also blocked by ice but he still could see everything that was happening beyond it. But soon, his emotional turmoil returned when he saw Yhwach making his appearance. The two of them looked at each other''s ''eyes'' and Ichibei figured that he found out his current situation.


    In an attempt to cover up the previous festering fear, Ichibei erupted into rage, ''These pests.''


    Regenerating his severed arm, Ichibei extended out his hands and blocked the beam of light that came from the Red Dragon.Ichibei retracted his arms and created a circr motion with his hands, turning the beam of light into a ball of light in front of him. This red ball of light expanded in his hands before he slowly pushed it back to where it came from.


    The one who sent it, a young-looking girl with a shadow of a 50-meter red Dragon around her was visibly shocked and roared at the counterattack in an attempt to intercept it.


    But her roar only shaved a little bit of power behind it and she had to ball herself up to defend. The poor Dragon was sted back to where it came from and crashed into the grounds of the Seireitei destroying a part of the 8th Division''s jurisdiction. Considering that the entire Seireitei is about five times Japan in size, this was a sizable amount of damage.


    ''It''s still alive.'' Ichibei thought with his vision not impeded by any obstacle, ''But it shouldn''t be able to move for a while.''


    In addition to returning her attack, Ichibei also imbued a sealing technique in it. So when the attack hit her, nna was instantly enveloped by tape-like ck material as she was buried deep beneath the ground.


    Next, Ichibei closed his hands together as if praying. This gesture doesn''t only increase the output of his technique and spells but also his control over them.


    Golden hands appeared within the Soul Society and the three that were about to assault the ck giant, Serafall, Yamamoto, and Issei were startled because they found them moving towards them at an incredible speed. It was the same hands that almostpletely destroyed Kisuke in his monstrous form.


    "Shit!" Issei shouted and immediately transformed his armor into a speed-type. However, he could only move forward and he won''t be able to bring Serafall and the old man with him to escape. He could only pray that they survive this.


    By turning the power that he has been gathering and using it as propulsion, Issei shoots forward, turning into light while leaving behind a loud boom. This allowed him to dodge the hands but he also knew that those hands were deliberately positioned in a way that he would overextend himself towards the enemy.


    And when Issei looked back, he saw a horrifying sight of two people squashed between the hands like mosquitoes.


    Yamamoto was still holding his sword but his limbs were pointing in the wrong direction and streams of blood wereing out of his body. Thankfully, he''s still alive and the heat that wasing off him is actually melting his surroundings, allowing him to have a bit of space.


    Serafall, on the other hand, although a lot less bloodypared to the former, was arguably in a far worse situation than Yamamoto with one of each of her arms and legs missing and her entire body cracking under immense stress.


    Since her body was made out of ice in her Super Devil form, there''s no blood that''sing out of her.


    She was supposed to be invulnerable to most attacks but Serafall, whose body was about to copse could only grit her teeth and think, ''...These hands, they directly attack the soul.'' Serafall already expected this, but she didn''t expect that it would go through her defenses instantly.


    After staying in this world for some time where Spiritual abilities were the norm, Serafall already prepared appropriate countermeasures against it, and considering that it''s one of her only few weaknesses in her Super Devil form, she made sure to go above and beyond. So much so that she wouldn''t be fatally injured even if a Shinigami''s Zanpakuto cut her body in half.


    But all of that was rendered useless against this attack and was now on the verge of being crushed to death, ''...This is bad. Now that I know Kisuke is still alive, I can''t fall here.''


    "Serafall-san!" Issei shouted from in the distance, intending to drill his way through the translucent golden hands.


    [Worry about yourself first, partner!]


    "!?" Issei also immediately felt the threat, however, he wasn''t sure where it wasing from and it was already toote when he realized that a few jet-ck spears were already piercing through him, "W-what?"


    ''Three more pests down. But that woman d in ice seems more trouble than it''s worth.'' Ichibei thought to himself before deciding topletely eliminate Serafall.


    Ichibei gathered his immense strength within his forefinger and reached out for his target.


    It wasn''t just Issei who was near Ichibei but also everyone else who realized the gravity of the situation.

 Chapter 1292 Death with a Finger part 2

    Chapter 1292 Death with a Finger part 2


    As Ichibei stretched his arm and reached out his ''Finger of Death'' towards Serafall, Issei''s right gauntlet''s gem turned blue before its body turned white.


    He then grabbed the spears piercing him and yelled, "Divide!"


    [Divide!] Ddraig''s voice also came from the gauntlet.


    The spears in his body, including those he was not touching were instantly reduced to half of it. Issei repeated this several times until the spears were gone while also moving the fastest he could toward the outstretching arm.


    Issei touched the giant''s arm with his white gauntlet and shouted again, "Divide!"


    As his [Dividing Gear], the [Divine Dividing] mode of his [Boosted Gear] that he got from absorbing Albion''s crystal, worked its ability, Issei instantly realizes the vastness of what he''s trying to take away, "!?"


    Since he''s not as efficient as Vali, his [Dividing Gear] was instantly overloaded and the excessive amount of energy that he was able to take from the slight contact immediately recoiled at him and worsened the wounds that he''d just received, "Shit! This is bad!"


    Issei is not as good at reading the flow of energy as the others who specialize in it, however, he could easily tell that the giant''s flow of aura was fully concentrated on the finger and he could easily tell that his defenses suffered from it.


    The power contained within his finger was too much for him to deal with so Issei was contemting if he should attack the main body. Although he took serious wounds, he''s also charged up from it.Fortunately, it wasn''t just him who noticed the danger and the first one to move was actually Aizen as he released his Reiatsu, "...I can''t pull them out. The space around them is too chaotic."


    Ophis and Lilith also stopped powering the ''Hestia''s'' barrier and shot out in panic. They held each other''s hand and a 10-feet wide ckish-purple Magic Circle, bearing the insignia of the Ouroboros appeared in front of them. A secondter, a 10-feet wide and more than 200-feet long snake that matched the color of the giant.


    But despite its size, it was able to wrap the tip of the finger and before it could even do what it intended to do, it exploded into a million pieces.


    Ophis and Lilith ced a considerable amount of power within that snake so they were surprised that it was instantly destroyed with nothing left. They also tried teleporting to Serafall''s side to pull her out but the same as Aizen, they couldn''t even estimate the position that they have toe out due to how warped the space is.


    Behind the Ouroboros Dragons are Tanis and Kunou, synergizing with the aura they''re emitting and using that as a foothold to release their forbidden techniques, Fox Dragon Mode and Outrage for Kunou and Tanis respectively.


    Kunou''s hair and fur turned white and her 9th tail emerged. She then tossed all the talismans she could handle, numbering in thousands, into the air.


    The numerous talismans hurriedly made their way toward Serafall and destroyed the part of the hand that was trapping her and Yamamoto.


    While Yamamoto started falling, Serafall strangely stayed suspended and even after physically pulling on her, Kunou found out that she couldn''t budge her from her position and if she forcefully dragged her out, she was afraid that it would worsen Serafall''s already precarious condition.


    Kunou couldn''t think of anything to extract Serafall right now so she turned to Tanis who already lost most of her rationality, "Tanis! Don''t touch it!"


    Thankfully, Tanis could still register simple statements inside her head and her own instincts were telling her that the finger was in danger.


    With insanity almost taking over her, Tanis'' blue skin resurfaced and she also grew two Dragon horns on her forehead. In addition to that, the starry-ck gem in the middle of her forehead became red. Her wings also doubled in size and her Soul Gear covered her entire arms which looked like the ovepping scales of a Dragon.


    She ced both of her hands together in front of her before letting out a loud, deafening roar. In an instant, a blue beam of pure Draconic aura of ruination sted out of her hands which isn''t any weaker than Issei''s ''Crimson ster''.


    But instead of exploding on contact, the beam pushed against the finger which slowed it.


    Ophis and Lilith followed her example and released an attack of their own aiming at the finger itself. It would actually be more effective to buff Tanis but with her current rationality, it''s almost impossible for her to ept their ''Blessing''.


    The ck beam from Ouroboros Dragons also mmed against the finger and slowed it down further. However, that''s it. All they could do was to slow it down and the finger was only a few miles away from Serafall.


    Ophis, Lilith, and Tanis kept increasing their output and Kunou even joined in. This slowed it down more but didn''t stop the threat. They tried changing its trajectory but to no avail. Despite their concerted effort, Serafall''s death seems to be inevitable, and as the finger approaches, the calm and collected Ophis and Lilith actually begin panicking.


    Aizen also isn''t about to give up and joins the effort and sends in his own attack, "Hadou no 99, Goryuutenmetsu (Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction)"


    Upon the materialization of five purple Dragons made out of his Reiatsu, the entire Soukyoku Hill was ruptured and everyone on it had to jump off.


    The entire Seireitei shook upon the five illusionary Dragon''s flight as they approached the finger.


    Aizen first controlled to go around Serafall to see if he could remove any restrictions on her but to no avail, ''This isn''t just a simple anchoring.'' He thought to himself before letting his Kidou join the pushback. The giant''s hand slowed even further, but that''s it, ''This is hopeless.''


    To Aizen and everyone else''s surprise, however, Yhwach suddenly lifted his own arm and pointed it towards the sky, "Kirchenlied: Sankt Schwert (Church Hymn: Saint Sword)."


    Five towering crosses of pure Reishi appeared all around the Seireitei before each of them shaped themselves like double-edged swords. They then shoot towards the sky. But instead of the finger, the shining blue swords flew towards Issei who was using his Ascalon trying to cut off Ichibei''s arm to assist him.


    The Gotei 13''s pride, naturally, wouldn''t allow them to stay quiet after Yhwach''s disy. With Mayuri in the lead, the prominent members of the Gotei 13 released their Reiatsu andbined their efforts to produce one of the most powerful spells at their disposal, "Kidouhou (Kidou Cannon)!"


    Lastly, Azazel, Michael, and Gabriel also pitched in in this do-or-die situation.


    Upon seeing all these awe-inspiring lights that bring hope to the world, the eyes on Ichibei couldn''t help but curve into a crescent as if he were smiling, mocking everything that he was seeing.


    ''Ah~ Too easy.'' Ichibei thought to himself. He didn''t just target Serafall but also spent the majority of his power in this attack. However, what he wanted wasn''t Serafall''s ensured death, but for every pest in this realm to tire themselves out, ''I didn''t think I''d get everyone on this bait. I underestimated that foreign woman''s importance.''


    If Ichibei had to deal with all of them separately, he could have been in danger no matter how powerful he was since he didn''t know what sort of tricks they might pull off. But by using Serafall as bait, he forced them to y on the same field as him, a pure power struggle. He would have to use arge portion of his power and would be vulnerable for a short amount of time, but it''s a risk he''s willing to take if it means dealing with the aftermath a lot easier.


    After all, once Serafall is dead, it won''t just be him who would be vulnerable.


    If he had aplete face, he would be making a mocking smile to all of them. If not for their stupid camaraderie that even dragged Aizen and Yhwach into the fray, there might have been a chance for them to repel him.


    Unbeknownst to him and everyone else, however, Yhwach could see an illusion only avable to him. An illusion of a young woman lethargically floating in front of him, [Wow~ That idiot really thought that he''d already won. Ahh~ I really wish I had popcorn right now.]


    She was the reason why Yhwach decided to make his move.


    [I don''t see any chance of Serafall Sitri surviving this ordeal. Are you really just going toy down in your seal and watch?] Yhwach tried sending his thoughts to her.


    Thankfully, she heard him and turned her head to him with a grin, [Do you know who''s the easiest to fool?]


    Yhwach thought about it for a second before answering, [Someone who thinks he already knows all the answers.]


    nna''s grin grewrger, [Correct~ And thanks to that idiot focusing on baiting everyone, he himself didn''t realize that he was baited.]


    Yhwach didn''t know what nna meant, but it''s also at this moment, Ichibei''s finger was just a few hundred feet from Serafall, and everyone was already desperate that they heard a weirdly annoying voice ringing to their ears, [Iyaa~ Thank you so much for making this a lot easier for me, Hyousube-san~ That went a lot smoother than I thought... Weirdly so. Makes me think that you''re actually helping me out here... Tsundere?]

 Chapter 1293 Collapse part 1

    Chapter 1293 Copse part 1


    Serafall''s consciousness seemed to be on the verge of being cut off and she was doing her best to hold onto it. She''s also trying to regenerate the damage that was done to her but the Demonic Power that she was managing had run wild due to her Soul receiving sudden massive damage.


    She also tried moving away upon realizing the threat that wasing towards her but she''s also helpless in that regard, ''...It has been a while since I felt this useless.'' Her meager senses could barely make out what was happening.


    And when she realized that death was upon herself, she could only let out a wry smile, ''...That... There''s no way of getting out of it, huh?''


    Serafall tried sharpening her senses more but the same answer came back to her which was ''certain death'', ''Too bad... I wanted to see Sona-chan one more time.''


    She tried moving and releasing her remaining Demonic Power but it only further destroyed her body. She could feel multiple influences trying to move her but it resulted in nothing more than what she was already doing, ''I should have asked Ajuka-chan what was happening on the other side. It doesn''t look like things are peaceful there either.''


    As time went on, Serafall could feel a familiar aura that shed against the darkness that wasing for her, ''...I was already prepared for something like this the moment I joined that war long ago, but I didn''t think it''de to me so suddenly like this...''


    She could hear various voices but she couldn''t make out any of it, ''I really let my guard down there. That guy is strong, but to suddenly pull off an almost instant death skill like that. That''s cheating.''


    Serafall could see various colors covering her vision but it looked strange because her sights resembled that of broken ss, ''I was able to keep myself alive but that''s all I can do... Ki-tan... I got too excited when nna-chan suddenly took action. You''re still there, right?''


    Her mind went back to the time before Kisuke dived down to Hell, ''...I should have done something more. I thought that he''ll make a move on me sooner orter and I think I made my intentions clear. I waited passively while teasing him from time to time.'' At that point, her wry smile soon changed and it slowly turned into a grit, ''But it was already toote that I realized that he was putting up a wall between us for some reason. I broke that wall partially yet here I am, regretting that I didn''t do it earlier and properly.''Death kept approaching yet all Serafall could feel right now was remorse and anger, ''If I''m going to die either way, I''d rather have a year... No. A week more instead of none at all.''


    The temperature around her plummeted even more and her own body approached absolute zero. The cracks on her body lit up as she burned everything she had to convert it to Demonic Power that could overpower the restriction holding her, reducing her thousands of years of lifespan down to just a week, ''I just have tost enough that I could give that guy a peace of mind... And I really want to see Sona-chan and others before I go.''


    Serafall was about to pull the trigger and detonate the converted Demonic Power when she suddenly heard nna''s voice, [Hold on!!! Stop!!! Stop!!! What are you doing!?]


    [Don''t worry, I could still live for a week after this.]


    [No! Boss is nearly done! Don''t do anything stupid!]


    Serafall''s eyes widened, [...Kisuke?]


    [Yes! So stop whatever you''re trying to do! It''s my fault for using you as bait, but please spare me of that dangerous stuff or I won''t hear the end of it from Boss!]


    Serafall didn''t know what to say, but she slowly pulled back from what she was trying to do. Although she ended up wasting almost a thousand years of her lifespan, she didn''t care about it at all since her mind was upied by another voice that resounded to everyone, [Iyaa~ Thank you so much for making this a lot easier for me, Hyousube-san~ That went a lot smoother than I thought... Weirdly so. Makes me think that you''re actually helping me out here... Tsundere?]


    "...Ki..suke?" Serafall did her best to look up and saw that the darkness that was approaching her had stopped moving.


    Everyone also stopped their attacks on the finger and looked up at the frozen ck giant filled with eyes.


    From its extended hand, the darkness that had been covering it slowly dissipated as if pure white paint started to crawl on him. It reaches its elbow and shoulder and soon its entire body has turnedpletely white with the exception of its head, resisting with everything it has.


    The giant visible shake and soon, all the ck left it including the color of its pupils


    A few secondster, cracks started to form on the giant before it slowly disintegrated into dust, along with the restriction that had been ced on the entirety of Soul Society.


    This took a few minutes until all that was left from the giant was Ichibei in the form that everyone was familiar with. The only difference is that there''s aplete absence of ck from everything he has, starting from his Shihakushou, down to his body hair and eyes.


    During this time, everything is silent. Including Ichibei, no one knows what just happened nor what''s going to happen now.


    The deafening silence was only broken when the remnant of the monster that the giant had been fighting also turned to dust, revealing the man who started all of this, "I''m finally out~ Damn. That felt too long."


    Kisuke stretched his limbs that had be numb and while doing so, he felt the silent dumbfounded stare that everyone was giving him, "What''s up, everyone? Did my face change somehow?" Kisuke immediately started touching his face, worried that his ''handsome'' merchant face was somehow disfigured.


    Meanwhile, Ichibei slowly turned towards Kisuke like a rusted machine, and with a fury-filled expression, his Reiatsu exploded, "URAHARA KISUKE!!!"


    "Oh shit a ghost!" Was Kisuke''s response upon seeing his face which further infuriated the former.

 Chapter 1294 Collapse part 2

    Chapter 1294 Copse part 2


    Ichibei turned into a blur and reappeared in front of Kisuke while brandishing his ive.


    Sadly for him, his impatience made it very easy for Kisuke to respond. While blocking the ive with his dagger, Kisuke lifted his foot that was on Ichibei''s blindspot and kicked him on his nk, sending the whitened monk like a meteor to the depths of the Dimensional Gap.


    Kisuke stared at the direction he disappeared for a few moments and concluded that he wouldn''t be attacking any further until he understood the situation more, ''The problem is this...'' Kisuke thought while ncing at his cane. He unsheathed her for a bit and saw that the former silvery de was now pitch ck, ''I can''t talk to her at all. What happened?''


    While repeatedly attempting to contact Benihime, Kisuke turned around to greet everyone, "Yo, Issei. I didn''t think you''de here."


    "I also didn''t think I''d be responding to a call like this for a second time. Couldn''t you settle things peacefully?" Issei sighed in relief and began healing his wounds with TouKi.


    Kisuke then nced at the rest, stopping for a bit on Yamamoto, Aizen, and Yhwach before moving towards Serafall who was still dumbfoundedly staring at him. He smiled wryly at her and said, "You''re a mess, but thank you for the hard work. It isn''t settled yet but you can rest now. I''ll see youter."


    Kisuke then turned around and like a sh, he disappeared in the depths of the pseudo-Dimensional Gap.


    "...W-wait!" Serafall tried calling out with her hoarse voice, but she couldn''t even extend any of her remaining limbs due to the strain of aborting her self-destruction earlier. She doesn''t know if it''s the injury she received or the relief of knowing that Kisuke is still alive, her vision blurred and soon darkness has imed her consciousness.


    Since the restriction keeping her in ce had disappeared, she started falling and Kunou hurriedly caught her. Upon closer inspection, she found out that Serafall''s condition was not any better than those on their deathbed, "T-Tanis! Come over here, please!"Unfortunately, Tanis is still in her Outrage mode so it''ll take a while for her to return to her normal self.


    [Bring her here.] Kunou suddenly received a Telepathic message through Magic while thinking about what she should do next. She hurriedly turned around the source of the message and found that Mayuri was looking at her at a distance, [You don''t want her condition to worsen any further, do you? Thankfully, my facility is still intact and most of the damage she received was directly inflicted on her soul.]


    Kunou gritted her teeth and flew straight toward Mayuri.


    Mayuri, on the other hand, turned around and started walking away from the group.


    "Wait. Where are you going?" Kyouraku asked him when he noticed his movements.


    "We''re done here. All there''s needed to do is to resume the migration and clean up." Mayuri replied before turning towards Retsu, "Unohana, please follow me. I might need your help."


    Retsu nodded but instead of immediately following, she turned to Isane, the current Captain of the 4th Division, and said, "Isane, please look for Kirinji-san. He should be in Hifune-san''s room along with the other members of the Zero Division. Please tell him to follow us."


    Mayuri furrowed his brows at her and said, "There''s a reason why they haven''t shown themselves."


    "And that reason was kicked to the side. Give a little bit of faith that Urahara will finally put an end to this." Retsu replied, "Besides, I think we should give it our best effort to restore her to full health. Maybe we''ll be able to use that for the iing negotiations."


    Mayuri stared at her for a while before sighing and disappearing with sh Step, "Do what you want."


    Retsu also disappeared following him and Isane first looked at Kyouraku for confirmation before also leaving to fetch Tenjirou.


    Kyouraku was d that Retsu suggested that to Mayuri since it wouldn''t just allow them to get additional negotiation chips, it''ll also prevent Mayuri from doing anything suspicious. Kyouraku is confident of Mayuri''s loyalty to their organization, but that same loyalty allows him to unhesitantly cross dangerous lines.


    Kyouraku looked around and his attentionnded on the group of foreigners, ''Back to politics again... I really hate this job.''


    .


    .


    .


    Because there was no resistance, Ichibei flew uncontrobly through the twisting space and this allowed him to travel unreasonably farther than normal. But since Kisuke already knew how to track someone within the Dimensional Gap, he didn''t leave his senses even for a bit.


    Kisuke took his time to catch up to him to check the overall condition of his body, ''Aside from being unable to talk to Benihime, everything seems to be fine? I''m surprised I didn''t sustain any serious injury from that transformation.''


    [Well, you essentially transformed your body''sposition infinitely close to Prima Materia.] Tiamat''s voice resounded in Kisuke''s head.


    "Oh, is it the same as Sirzechs and Serafall''s Super Devil form?"


    [While it''s simr to those incorporeal transformations, it''s also something else entirely different. It''s even debatable if you''re truly someone ''alive'' at that point.]


    "Huh? Isn''t that the same body you have in your prime?"


    [It looks like mine and even functionally the same, but I was not able to wield Prima Materia as well as you. I have no way of reconstructing my body like that.]


    "Reconstructing? I did something like that?"


    Tiamat paused for a moment and with an obviously bothered tone, she asked, [You don''t remember?]


    "Nope. Everything is too blurry. I was too busy holding on to my will.", answered Kisuke after thinking about it for a moment, "By the way, can you contact Benihime from your side?"


    In Kisuke''s inner world, Tanis is standing on a ck flood, and in front of her is a pitch-ck Japanese castle, [No, but I can tell you that she''s in here.]


    Kisuke tried using his [Shadow] but nothing happened when he tried summoning it, "I also can''t feel whatever she took from Hyousube-san. Is she actually digesting that? Oi, Benihime, if you can hear me, don''t just eat whatever you got. It''ll be bad for your stomach."


    .


    .


    .


    Ichibei''s mind was running at full throttle, trying to understand what had just happened. Although he''s still trying to find out the cause, Ichibei is able to figure out that his power didn''t disappear but was scattered everywhere. He could still feel his innate connection with them and he''s certain that he just needs to gather them back together, ''But something is missing... What is it!?''


    But before he could answer that question, Kisuke''s figure appeared in front of him, barring him from further action. Ichibei wanted to snatch some of those scattered powers right this moment, however, he didn''t have a choice but to face the detestable man who dragged him down back to something insignificant.


    "You''ll pay for this."


    In any case, this is also a good chance to find some answers to what Kisuke truly did back then and the ck substance he caught that isn''t part of his authority over [ck].

 Chapter 1295 Difference

    Chapter 1295 Difference


    Ichibei''s expression of wanting to tear Kisuke apart was very obvious to thetter but both of them didn''t move for a few minutes and just stared at each other.


    After those few minutes, the first one to speak was Kisuke, "I was hoping that you''d just disappear into oblivion after that copse."


    Ichibei gritted his teeth and held his ve tightly. In the past, all of his opponents would have a hard time seeing whether his Zanpakuto was a brush or a de. But now that his ability to control all [ck] in the world has disappeared, it just looks like a normal ve. This Zanpakuto has already lost its spirit, ''No. That''s not right... It''s debatable if that thing even had a spirit to begin with.'' Kisuke thought to himself.


    "You... What have you done?", muttered Ichibei, full of hate.


    Kisuke sh Stepped in front of him with his dagger aiming at Ichibei''s neck.


    While Ichibei lost his authority, he still had all the abilities of a normal Shinigami and much more because of the energy he retained. So after he cooled his head for a bit, it was easy for him to respond to Kisuke''s actions, and was able to block the assault with ease.


    Ichibei''s right hand left his ive and sent out a palm towards Kisuke''s nk.


    Kisuke managed to block the hand with his elbow, but it was still enough to send him flying to the side.


    He immediately reoriented himself while bringing his palm pointing towards Ichibei, "Haien (Abolishing mes)." A st of purple mes burst forth from Kisuke''s palms.Ichibei calmly lifted his own palm and thrust it forward, materializing a transparent white palm of his size. The mes and palm collided and resulted in arge explosion. But that explosion was also instantly pushed away with the two fighters shing their des in the middle of it.


    "Curious, aren''t we?" Kisuke smirked while pushing his dagger towards him.


    But instead of replying, Ichibei suddenly opened his mouth wide and a beam of white light ejected from it.


    "!?" Surprised, Kisuke hurriedly shifted his head but at the same time, Ichibei''s foot swiped his leg, forcing him to the trajectory of the beam. Thankfully, Kisuke was able to materialize his Hollow mask on the side of his face, and that took most of the brunt of the beam before being thrown off once again.


    This time, Kisuke didn''t continue his assault and instead retreated, "As expected, you still have a few tricks in your pocket. That would have been bad.", he said while wiping the blood that was streaming down the right side of his face.


    It was at this moment that Ichibei realized that Kisuke''s regenerative powers were not as potent as he''d disyed in the previous instances.


    ''Tiamat, it seems that I also can''t call you.'' Kisuke was forced to use a simple Healing Kidou to mend the wound on his face.


    [Don''t expect anything to go back to normal after pulling what''s essentially a miracle. You''ve already burnt yourself out. It''s actually a surprise that you can fight like normal.], was Tiamat''s immediate reply, [Any longer and you''d be at a disadvantage. Finish him off. If you can''t do it, it''s time to give up and call for assistance.]


    ''I''d like to do that, but I first have to ascertain that he has no way of escaping. Inviting others would introduce more variables that Hyousube could possibly exploit and even though I have a way to end this, failing that may allow him to escape.'' Kisuke replied while fending off Ichibei''s attacks, ''I wouldn''t hesitate like this if that''s just annoying, but it''s an actual disaster that would be brewing.''


    Kisuke knew that if he let Ichibei get away at this point, he would have no way of preventing him froming back, ''Once I''m sure, I just need one strike.''


    Kisuke put more distance between them and Ichibei also soon stopped his assault, "To think that you''d hold back. You''re too paranoid." Ichibei hadpletely calmed down, ''So that''s how it is... Benihime, is it? Thank you for not cleaning up properly.''


    Kisuke furrowed his brows and was incredibly bothered by his uncanny calmness. Nevertheless, he still had to figure him out and reopened their conversation to buy some time, "Don''t you think it''s strange? We both have the ability to consume, yet the result is wildly different from what you were expecting."


    Ichibei stopped moving, remembering Kisuke''s habit of exining his tricks when his opponents had already fallen victim to them.


    As a matter of fact, both of them are aware that they both need time and the first one to analyze the situation urately will be the winner of their little contest.


    "You see, my power to eat was fundamentally different than yours," Kisuke continued, "You can consume everything and anything, converting them into your own flesh and blood. That allowed you to grow beyond imagination and unlocked the Soul King''s temporal ability. Most frighteningly, you didn''t have limits or any conditions for these consumptions. You just open your mouth and everything would settle itself for your own benefit."


    "Mine, on the other hand, was mired with conditions. Topare it to something mundane, you can just bite into anything and it''ll be fine while I have to prepare the ingredients and cook them for me to even have a chance to eat."


    Confident that he found his answer, Ichibei sat down with a mocking smile and asked, "But you were able to eat a part of me."


    This demeanor of him is now making Kisuke nervous, ''What am I missing?'', he asked himself. However, he didn''t let that show on his face and continued talking, "Because you eat everything without a care in the world. Did you really think you''d be safe once you took something away from me?"


    Ichibei thought about it for a moment and figured out the moment it went strange, "I see... That strange sea. That was [ck] but there''s something else attached to it. But how is it different from my power to eat? You couldn''t have defeated me just from the sheer volume that I could take in. With the amount you can consume and the conditions to trigger your ability, yours is obviously inferior to mine."


    "Inferior? When did I say mine was inferior?" Kisuke wanted tough, "I''ve already said it in the beginning, our abilities work fundamentally differently. If what you eat is the contents, I eat the container."


    "Container?" Ichibei was genuinely confused.

 Chapter 1296 Moment of Hesitation

    Chapter 1296 Moment of Hesitation


    "Container?" Ichibei was genuinely confused, but soon enough, he understood what Kisuke meant.


    ''But that''s ridiculous...'' Ichibei thought to himself. After all, that would mean that while Ichibei is consuming the energy itself to make himself grow, Kisuke is actually stealing the know-how of gathering and wielding that said energy.


    Kisuke saw his reaction change and smirked, "I told you, mine is not inferior to yours. You can gather massive amounts of Ki, Spiritual, and Magic Power and seamlessly incorporate those into yourself without any detrimental effects. However, mine steals what''s making that possible in the first ce."


    "I took... No. Benihime took over your authority over [ck]. The restrictions and conditions thate with it are needed to properly pull it off."


    ''Impossible...'' Ichibei couldn''t easily ept it. But that would also exin what he had just experienced. His previous form was broken because what was holding it together was stolen. It also didn''t happen in an instant because the first one to have left his hands was his precognition abilities. The signs were there and he just never figured out what was happening until it was already toote.


    Kisuke resumed his assault on the stunned Ichibei by bombarding thetter with projectiles both made from Kidou and Magic.


    Ichibei gritted his teeth and used the various techniques that he had learned from his time being a Shinigami to intercept and counterattack.


    Various colors of lights shed as the two of them duke it out from both range and closebat. Kisuke was hoping to get some sort of reaction from Ichibei with their conversation but that obviously failed. On top of that, although Ichibei could realize the things he exined on his own given time, Kisuke still saved him precious time.


    ''Well, I took the risk and failed. It doesn''t always go the way I wanted it.'' Kisuke thought to himself, ''I would have been very happy if he showed any indication if his escape route is still viable.''There''s also a chance that Ichibei didn''t have this so-called ''escape route'' and is truly at the end of his road. Kisuke, however, refused to believe without any concrete evidence even though he had confidence that he could cut down Ichibei in an instant. After all, Ichibei had all the time in the world for everything that maye down, ''He''s not an idiot, that''s for sure. Worst case scenario, he could bring his consciousness to his scattered pieces. I could lock him down before I cut his head off but I doubt he''s going to allow that to happen.''


    In this messy stalemate, Kisuke was thinking of ways he could dy Ichibei so that he could initiate a lockdown. However, he had to throw that idea away when he saw Ichibei suddenly grin.


    Kisuke shuddered and immediately disengaged from the fight. That was a mistake.


    As soon as he took some distance, Kisuke immediately noticed a change in Ichibei. A single strand of his beard had turned ck, "Shit!" He eximed loudly.


    It''s just a single strand and it almost escaped Kisuke''s notice for how insignificant it looked. Nevertheless, the implication of this change is very far from insignificant, ''How!?'' Kisuke asked himself as he dashed towards Ichibei while bearing his dagger at him.


    Ichibei, with his newly regained confidence, met and shed with Kisuke while disying an even deeper and pronounced grin, "So this is how you reached me, huh? I wouldn''t have noticed it if I hadn''t weakened to this degree. Maybe it was a good thing that I discovered this now instead ofter."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and it was also at this very moment that it finally came to his attention. A small channel that connects Ichibei to Benihime. The same channel that Kisuke used to steal Ichibei''s authority. The [Shadow].


    Panic set in Kisuke''s mind and hurriedly tried disconnecting that connection, however, to no avail. The [Shadow] was fully entrusted to Benihime so that she''ll have the highest chance of sess but she hadn''t replied to his summons, much less returned it to him.


    "Dammit." Kisuke cursed under his breath while trying to suppress Ichibei and also watched him slowly regain his color along with his widening and sickening smile. Kisuke was able to reach Ichibei through the [Shadow] but that also rings true in reverse. It was his rarecency, thinking that Ichibei wouldn''t be able to realize its existence, that finally bit him back.


    ''Should I kill him now?'' Kisuke debated. Right now, there are two choices in front of him. Either continue his investigation and hopefully find a way to permanently kill Ichibei or kill him now with the risk of him escaping his current body.


    If he chooses the former and fails, Ichibei would be able to return to his former form. At that point, there was nothing he could do anymore as he exhausted all the cards he had. He couldn''t afford to fight the giant once again.


    But if he chose thetter and Ichibei was able to escape with his consciousness intact, there would be peace and quiet for some years or maybe even millennia. However, his threat will never disappear unless he finds a way to locate him. He''s aware of how vindictive this guy is and he would undoubtedly use that chance not just to get revenge against him but also absolutely torment and destroy those important to him.


    Kisuke gritted his teeth in frustration. He''s truly at loss and if make a wrong choice now, his death will be thest of his worries. In fact, he''s very afraid that Ichibei would actually spare him to make him watch what he''s going to do next.


    Naturally, he tried looking for other options and he actually thought of one and that is, ''Destroying Benihime.''


    But as soon as that surfaced in his mind, Kisuke also threw the idea out of his head just as fast. Sure, destroying Benihime would also destroy the [Shadow] that''s with her and that would stop the current problem. However, that doesn''t solve the most pressing issue. And most importantly, he wouldn''t sacrifice his partner for something like this.


    While being torn on what to do, another change caught Kisuke''s attention. Half of Ichibei''s beard and his garb have already recovered their color, yet Kisuke doesn''t see all of that as his eyes were on Ichibei''s eyes which have two pupils each.


    It''s the terrifying reality that he has to make a choice now.


    Without a clear choice, Kisuke froze on the spot. He always has an answer for everything he tackles. It was these moments, however, that he hated the most, and with a massive consequence at hand, his mind also halted.


    Of course, Ichibei just left him alone as it''s much more important for him to recover what he had lost. No matter what Kisuke did, it was his win. He knew that Kisuke had no more aces in his sleeve. It was a difficult battle, but he emerged victorious.


    It was also at this moment that Ichibei started seeing a glimpse of the future. While he couldn''t do anything to it, he could still see the same future he saw from before. Him standing in front of someone with a strange Reiatsu, neither a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy nor a Fullbringer.


    And after recovering a part of his power, he now knew how he was able to reach that future and it''s also because of this that he knew exactly what choice Kisuke would take, further cementing his victory.


    Kisuke was unaware of what Ichibei was thinking. As much as he wanted to open his head to take a look inside and help him make a choice, he didn''t have that kind of miraculous ability.


    [Kill him.] All of a sudden, Benihime''s voice resounded in his head, albeit, very soft.


    But without any hint of hesitation, his body started undergoingplete Hollowfication and Kisuke also shouted while releasing all the Reiatsu he had, "Shunkou! Blood Gate: eptance!"

 Chapter 1297 Escape?

    Chapter 1297 Escape?


    Ichibei made a shocked expression when he saw Kisuke transform once again and hurriedly put both of his hands in front of him.


    The next instant, an image of yin-yang appeared, covering his body, "Ura Bakudou! The Great Way!"


    It was another unknown Kidou that Ichibei pulled out. Nevertheless, Kisuke couldn''t care less. His only goal is to cut him down. While pulling Benihime, he arrived in front of Ichibei. Kisuke raised his de and gritted his teeth.


    He didn''t want to do anything fanciful, just a simple single downward sh with all of his remaining strength.


    Ichibei could see Kisuke''s transformed body creaking and cracking from the pressure alone.


    The yin-yang barrier in front of him shined brightly to an almost blinding degree, however, Kisuke ignored this and moved forward, bringing forth his, hopefully,st strike.


    His darkened de instantly made contact with the barrier and Kisuke immediately figured out what exactly it did as little pieces of body were being blown away with the force of his sword being reflected back to him. Still, he pushed forward. Thanks to the simplicity of his strike, even most of the force being reflected back is being cut and deflected away from him.


    A quarter of a second after the strike connected, a small crack appeared on the barrier. A fifth of a secondter, Kisuke''s de went through the crack. Then an eighth of a second more, Kisuke''s strike went through the barrier, along with its owner, bisecting them into two equal parts.


    The yin-yang barrier bursts and Ichibei''s body started drifting away from each other.But instead of despair, both of Ichibei''s half faces twisted into gruesome smiles, "!?"


    Kisuke hurriedly retreated, further pushing his body to its limits. However, he couldn''t get away.


    Ichibei''s bisected body liquified and turned into a pool of ck ink before it shot out, not towards Kisuke, but to his beloved de, merging with it.


    Kisuke tried swinging his de in an attempt to flush away the ink but the de absorbed it like a dry sponge. The next instant, the ink was gone and only Ichibei''s resounding voice was left behind, [Until we meet again, Urahara Kisuke.]


    That cold message almost sent Kisuke into a downward spiral but he managed to keep himself calm and closed his eyes. While Ichibei seems to be on the verge of escaping, he still trusts Benihime.


    Within his inner world, the already dark surroundings became even darker because the blood-filled world was instead filled with ink, and even the majestic red castle was painted jet-ck. He looked around but aside from Ichibei''s lingering aura, he couldn''t find the man himself.


    Thankfully, Benihime was present this time and standing not far from him. Her usual red kimono was dyed ck but Kisuke was confident that she was still the Benihime he knew, "So... What''s next?"


    Benihime was facing away from him so he doesn''t know what sort of expression she''s making right now. She looked up and Kisuke also followed her gaze towards the tip of the castle. There he saw a very thin ck string, "To chase after him." Benihime replied.


    Kisuke turned his sights towards her again. He started walking forward until they were standing side by side and he could see her side profile. It was when he saw the nasty grin she was making that Kisuke finally felt relieved and sighed, "...What did you do?"


    "I opened a path and he happily jumped into it." Benihime then turned to Kisuke, "Your frustrated face must have been very appealing that he didn''t even doubt it."


    Kisuke''s eyes widened and he finally understood why Benihime was unresponsive all this time, "So you used me as bait."


    "As the saying goes, deceive your friends before deceiving your enemy." Benihime began walking towards the castle, creating small waves on the ink beneath her legs, "You understand why I wanted him to leave, yes?"


    "Because there''s no way to cleanly and surely finish him off when he''s literally surrounded by his body parts. If we can iste him somewhere, it''ll be a lot easier to erase his consciousness.", Kisuke replied before pausing for a bit and asking, "But where did you lead him?"


    Benihime stopped walking and answered, "To your dear ''Master''."


    Kisuke was stunned. He wanted to say something but he couldn''t find the right words and could only scratch his head in bitterness and exhale out an exasperated sigh, "I''m dragging her to my problems again? Haahhh... To follow that guy, you''d have to leave too, right?"


    "Yes."


    "Then please give her my regards... And help her out with whatever she needs." Kisuke started releasing the fetter that was connecting him to Benihime.


    "Leave it to me... And I''ll be back." The moment she finished her words, Benihime disappeared as if she wasn''t there in the first ce. The next moment, the very thin string on top of the castle also snapped and soon the whole innerworld containing ck sea and ck castle disappeared like a mirage and was reced by a dested and lifeless forest.


    Beside Kisuke, Tiamat was standing while looking up, "You two are truly cut from the same cloth."


    "I''ll take that as apliment this time." Kisuke smiled before turning around, "Let''s go and finish things up on this side."


    Before Kisuke could leave, Tiamat asked him, "Are you confident that she''ll be able to do it?"


    "Of course. After all, this ability to ink things is not reallypatible with her."


    "Hmmm? What do you mean?"


    .


    .


    .


    On a rtively small that''s almost covered with lush forests of towering trees with ivory white trunks and branches and golden leaves, a youngdy with white hair and green eyes is standing in front of people with simr features as hers.


    They are obviously family members but a happy familial atmosphere couldn''t be found as the youngdy was wearing cuffs while receiving strict stares and sometimes scorn from most of the people around her.


    "Do you understand your crimes now?" The man who looks a few decades older than the young woman raised his voice, echoing through therge chamber they are in.


    But instead of cowering, the youngdy stood straight and even red at the middle-aged man, "Stop wasting everyone''s time. You already decided what punishment I would have behind closed doors. What''s the point of making a show out of this obviously biased trial? Ahhh... That''s right, isn''t it? You just want to make an example out of me because I can''t give you the answers that you want. Must be nice to have..." The youngdy''s statement, however, couldn''t be finished as she was forced to shut up.


    "Stralit Luxeux." The woman on the highest seat who looks like the youngdy but aged up, spoke, "This council is giving you onest chance. Exin why you thwarted the operation on Draconic Deus and where your [Sessor] is?"

 Chapter 1298 Unknown Place

    Chapter 1298 Unknown ce


    After being forcefully shut up, Stralit could only listen to the Matriarch of the Luxeux n, her own mother, "This council is giving you onest chance. Exin why you thwarted the operation on Draconic Deus and where your [Sessor] is?"


    The invisible force that''s keeping Stralit''s mouth loosened but she didn''t answer immediately and collected her thoughts. Regarding her [Sessor] John Smith, there''s a nw that dictates all main members of the n introduce their [Sessors] upon conferment and have them take a rite of passage.


    Regardless of the result of this rite of passage, the honor of being a [Sessor] could never be taken away, however, the [Sessor''s] potential will dictate the [Predecessor''s] future position and authority.


    ''This nw isn''t normally enforced and there''s a tacit understanding that the [Sessor] can have some time to prepare for the rite of passage before the official introduction for better chances, yet these geezers couldn''t wait to meet him.'' Stralit thought to himself. Well, it''s not like she couldn''t understand their feelings because hisst appearance sent many of the prestigious ns of Etouldes a wave of panic for his presumably "Anti-Spirit" weapon.


    If by chance the Evies get hold of this weapon and manage to replicate it, it''ll immediately tip the bnce of war against them.


    ''But thanks to that sudden panic, a lot of nasty things are being aired out in an attempt to gather more information about it.'' Stralit recalled various scandals stered on the headlines before she was forced to return to their home.


    And it was also thanks to these ''nasty things'' that Stralit was able toe in contact with certain individuals and stopped a certain operation that they suspected to bepromised by Evies and would lift the barrier surrounding the Draconic Deus, ''Still, why is my "crime" of interfering with the operation is on the same level as me not introducing my [Sessor]?''


    Stralit looked around to carefully observe each and every member of the council before thinking, ''There''s so much about the Draconic Deus that''s being hidden that it''s probably only the Matriarch who has a good view of things over there. If they know about those three, they won''t be asking about my [Sessor]. Not to mention, the weapons that are being developed there could warrant a much greater response.''


    It''s only now that Stralit realizes how restricted the flow of information is from Draconic Deus, ''No wonder Alicia couldn''t give any attention to what''s happening in the backlines.''Stralit sighed. Either way, she didn''t have any sort of defense for this trial. First is that she didn''t have any proof of Evies'' involvement in the operation and second is that even she doesn''t know where her [Sessor] is, much less present him to the council. She already fully expected to be thrown in prison until some things are changed, ''...Maybe that will finally fish out the goddamn traitor who sent Ajax Aurelius to me.''


    "Your silence won''t save you." The middle-aged man with long white hair and a beard standing in front of her interrupted her thoughts. This man is her uncle and for some reason, he''s giving her a stare full of hate, ''No... I know exactly the reason. Gren and I were just way too much better than his own son and daughter. I really pity those kids.''


    The matriarch sitting on the highest seat wanted to sigh but couldn''t show any expression because any of that would be seen as favoritism. She was her own daughter but she absolutely had no idea what''s on her mind, ''I know that I''m a failure of a mother, but what exactly is she trying to achieve here? Strangely enough, Gren is not trying to involve himself in this mess. Are they fighting?''


    She also asked her trusted aide to investigate Stralit''s previous actions but the only strange thing she found was a coincidental meeting with the youngdy of Yarwood. Of course, she''s not discounting the fact that Stralit may have been able to hide her tracks, but even then, it doesn''t really exin anything aside from her knowing more information than what''s avable.


    ''There''s also the instance of Aurelius targeting her. I destroyed that n but I doubt that''s the end of it.'' Thanks to that, the Luxeux n received a sanction from the [Holy Family] and she lost a substantial amount of authority within the council.


    The matriarch stared at Stralit for a few more seconds before thinking of handing down the punishment, ''It seems that she''s already prepared for this. How long should I give her so that these old men won''t argue back?''


    But while thinking about this, the matriarch first noticed it and hurriedly stood up with a re.


    A secondter, the other members of the Luxeux noticed it too, and also got off their seats.


    Stralit''s uncle jumped back and shouted, "Stralit Luxeux, what are you trying to do!?"


    The person in question, Stralit, was also shocked at their sudden actions until she realized that she was releasing a tremendous amount of Spiritual Power and her shadow wiggling, ''What? How? I''m on cuffs.''


    And while looking down on the cuffs that seals the power of a Luxeux, ck liquid started dropping on it, "Huh?" She muttered loudly and touched her own face, realizing she was now crying with ck tears and her nose was bleeding with the same ck substance, "W-wha-"


    Stralit could even finish what she was saying when an indescribable pain suddenly assaulted her senses and made her almost lose consciousness. It was so bad that her knees immediately buckled and she couldn''t scream for help. She could only keep her head down and vomit a concerning amount of ck liquid which started to flood the floor she was standing on.


    No one in the room knew what was going on but the matriarch immediately issued a lockdownmand, thinking that someone was remotely attacking her daughter.


    "Is... Is this poison?" One of the councilmen asked while trying to approach to inspect Stralit''s condition.


    "It''s not! And don''t approach!" The matriarch hurriedly yelled back.


    A few secondster, the pool of ck substance began moving away from Stralit and from it, a man started emerging from it.


    At the same time, a strange heavy pressure that directly assaulted the soul made everyone freeze and some weaker people instantly lost their consciousness.


    ''...What is he? A being of pure Spiritual matter?'' The matriarch asked herself.

 Chapter 1299 It was the Premonition of the End

    Chapter 1299 It was the Premonition of the End


    Stralit was struggling on the floor, feeling like her insides were being chopped and mashed together. Her throat lurched as thest of the ck liquid exited her body and with a blurry consciousness, she looked up to see a bald man with his back facing her, ''...Who?''


    [A dangerous individual that has to be eliminated.] Unexpectedly, a woman''s voice answered her question in an awkward ent, ''Now I''m hallucinating?''


    [You''re not. Hurry up and open your eyes properly. He''s about to kill you.] The mysterious voice answered again.


    Stralit did her best to refocus his blurry sight and found that the bald man was already looking at her with his eyes with two pupils each. Stralit shuddered when she stared at those eyes and felt like her whole being was revealed to it, ''W-what''s that!?'' It''s not exactly an unfamiliar feeling since she has be Gwenn Yarwood''s acquaintance but it''s way worse than that.


    Stralit could hear various voices filling the room, questioning the strange man. The man, however, didn''t answer at all and justpletely turned towards her direction.


    Stralit did her best to get and sit up, hoping that she''ll be able to stand up soon. She had a hard time because she was still in the handcuffs that sealed her ability, but she was not really worried because as of right now, this hall is the most secure ce on this with the matriarch''s presence.


    However, those expectations were instantly dashed. Some of the councilmen started attacking the intruders for not answering their questions. Their shadows sprung up like des and spikes aiming to behead and skewer him. But before they could reach him, a wide cup suddenly materialized on his left hand, and the surrounding shadows twisted peculiarly before moving towards the cup and turning liquid.


    "!?" Everyone in the room was stunned and the mysterious voice inside Stralit clicked her tongue, [Tch, so he already managed to gather enough to use his authority.]


    The strange man then crushed the cup he''s holding, dousing his left arm with the liquified ''shadow''. Like a spot of ink on the tip of the brush, it spread to his entire arm before several eyes possessing the same two pupils opened on it.He took a single step forward towards Stralit but didn''t continue and muttered, "Danku (Splitting Void)"


    A translucent barrier instantly materialized behind him, blocking a giant spear made out of shadow. The spear was momentarily stopped but ground on the barrier a bit and went through soon enough.


    The strange man hurriedly turned around and pped the spear away with his darkened arm. He then turned to its source and saw the woman standing on the highest point of the hall. It was a very familiar sight. It was the same future he had seen multiple times.


    Designating her as an enemy, the strange man grunted and pushed his darkened arm forward towards her, "Senri Tsuutenshou (Heavenly Passing Palm of the Thousand Li)" A giant golden hand appeared from his hand and shot towards the woman.


    The shadows surrounding the woman, including those of the councilmen, moved and wrapped around her. She didn''t feel any threat from the palm so she just prepared to defend against it.


    But as soon as the palm made contact, her eyes widened and an invisible force suddenly started pushing her back uncontrobly, sting her through the walls of the hall and sending her towards the vast sky.


    With the threat gone, the man turned back around to face the youngdy frozen in fear.


    "W-what?" Stralit questioned what just happened but everyone around her was just as clueless as her.


    The man continued approaching Stralit while a ive suddenly appeared in his right hand. She tried standing up but she only ended up slipping on the ck pool.


    It only took a few steps to reach Stralit and with some hesitation, the strange man lifted his ve and aimed it at her, intending to cut her down into two.


    "Ah..." Stralit could only let out a voice of resignation and frustration as she watched the glint of his de. She could try running away, but with how messy her body is, she won''t be able to get far from him, not to mention that her [Shadow] was sealed for this trial.


    [Don''t worry. I''m already here.] She heard the mysterious voice once again before a de suddenly shot out of the ck pool, cutting her cuffs and deflecting the downward swing of the ve.


    Two distinct sounds rang out in the hall flooded by shouting voices but all Stralit could hear was the angry voice of a woman inside her head, [What are you doing!? Stay focused and catch me!]


    ''Catch?'' Stralit finally saw the spinning sword midair and that''s falling towards her. She was trained in various weapons so it was easy for her to catch the sword''s handle and immediately use it to block the second swing of the ive.


    Stralit was sent rolling back and it wasn''t pretty when she smashed herself to the wall behind her. However, she''s alive. She was saved by a sword that suddenly appeared. It was a sleek medium-sized sword. Its hilt''s grip, which has a gentle ck-decorative wrapping, bends forward at the end, with a pommel-shaped ovep three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base.


    [Now call my name!] The mysterious voice yelled.


    "...Name?" Strangely enough, Stralit knew exactly what she wanted her to do. Without standing up, Stralit gritted her teeth and released her Spiritual Power, "Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame!"


    In an instant, various strings came out of nowhere and started attaching themselves to Stralit, controlling her body''s movement.


    The strange man was obviously furious by this and dashed forward with even greater strength.


    [Do your part. Your [Shadow] is still attached to him and it''s the only [Shadow] in the room that would work on him in his current state.]


    ''Shadow?'' Stralit looked beneath her feet and into the ck pool. Strangely enough, it''s still connected to the strange man and it has hints of her [Shadow], ''Wait. That''s not my [Shadow].''


    [Who cares if it''s yours or John Smith''s!? You can control it! Bind him down!]


    Stralit was startled when the woman''s voice was raised up further but she did what she wanted and her [Shadow] sprung up from the ck pool.


    "!?" The man tried controlling it like the others but it didn''t heed hismand and wrapped around him, stopping him in ce. The man''s strength was enough to tear this [Shadow] away, but he knew he didn''t have time, not when the giant woman mannequin behind the youngdy started moving.


    Stralit didn''t realize that such an uncanny thing appeared behind her as her body moved on its own, lifting the arm that''s holding the sword and pointing it toward the man.


    The man struggled to free himself but Stralit saw a line being drawn from his forehead down to his crotch before it opened up like a zipper. She thought that his innards would spill out but what was behind the cut was an iridescent purple and red space.


    "Here. You can have it back." Stralit unintentionally opened her mouth and started speaking anguage she only heard from Draconic Deus.


    Her arm then began moving and the sword she was holding started releasing ink from the tip of its de, soon forming an unknown symbol for her [��].


    .


    .


    .


    As soon as Ichibei emerged, the first thing on his mind was to cut off the path he took to reach here and it looked like the source of the strange shadow that he was trying to manipte was the youngdy drenched in the ck pool of his own power.


    But before he could even approach her, the incessant voices around him speaking in an unknownnguage stopped and were reced by assaults using Spiritually Powered shadows, ''Just where is this ce?'' He asked himself while summoning the cup of his mausoleum. Thanks to the path he took full of his scattered power, he was able to ess his authority once again. And since these shadows are [ck] it was easy for him to control them.


    Ichibei gathered these and bathed his arm with it. He was not aiming for a gradual recovery right now but an immediate power spike and transformation to strengthen his ability to ''see''. But despite transforming his arm, he still couldn''t see anything in the future, ''Is this still not enough?'' Within this question, a fear slowly sprouted.


    He shook his mind off of it and turned towards the young woman he had to eliminate to close the path. But as soon as he took the first step forward, he was startled to feel a massive Spiritual Power behind him and blocked it with Kidou. The Kidou didn''tst long and he had to turn around to directly deflect the spear made out of shadow because he still didn''t have enough power to directly manipte it.


    It was that moment when he looked up that he finally realized that this is the future he has been seeing, ''Huh? It was this close?'' Fear further bloomed deep within his consciousness.


    Seeing that the woman on top was the only threat, he immediately moved to remove her temporarily and he was sessful.


    Doubt started shrouding his mind as he turned back to the youngdy and even if he lifted his ive at her, Ichibei still wasn''t sure if he was doing the right thing and hoping for his ability to see the future finally manifest.


    But it all went downhill when a familiar Zanpakuto suddenly appeared in the youngdy''s hand and called its name.


    If he was his normal self, this Zanpakuto wouldn''t even be able to release herself to the world much less call her own name, but as it stands, only his authority over [ck] returned and not his [Naming] ability.


    Ichibei was wondering where this ability had gone. Fortunately... or unfortunately for him, he was soon given an answer when the youngdy drew [��(Death)] in the air.


    Ichibei wanted to get away but the shadow that had been binding him was strangely tough and the Zanpakuto''s ability opened up his essence. Soon the character flew out and went inside the cut that was made on his body and it was at this moment that he finally acknowledged what was really happening. It was the reality he didn''t want to admit and the nutrition for his fear that had already fully blossomed.


    It''s not that his ability to see the future hadn''t returned. It''s just that there was no more future for him to see.


    The future he saw was not an indication of him escaping, but an omen that there''s nothing beyond it.


    As soon as his cut began stitching up, could immediately feel the [Name] that was granted on his essence and the only thing he could do was to shout in defiance and despair, "URAHARA KISU..." It was, however, cut short when he was instantly melted into a pool of ck, lifeless substance.


    The giant mannequin behind Stralit slightly opened her eyes and watched the demise of her master''s foe. Despite everything that happened, she and her own master still respected the first Shinigami to some extent. As a sign of that respect, Benihime engraved hisst moments into her mind. He would, at least, not be forgotten.


    ''Now then... I guess that''s still too much for her. If I don''t do something, she''ll have a gruesome death.'' Benihime thought while looking down on the girl who released her true name and was now coughing and tearing up once again. But instead of the previous ck substance, it was real blood this time, ''Well, it could have been worse.''

 Chapter 1300 Book 18:: After the Battle

    Chapter 1300 Book 18:: After the Battle


    "..." Slowly opening her eyes, Serafall felt like she was rousing from a veryfortable and long sleep. But when her mind began clearing up and she remembered what happened before she lost consciousness, she instantly shot up from her bed and was momentarily blinded by the sun raysing through the window, "Kuh... Where am I?" Serafall loudly muttered while instinctively covering her eyes from the rays.


    "We''re back at our ce in Karakura Town." A familiar voice answered to her left.


    Serafall''s eyes widened and her head hurriedly turned to see Kisuke busying himself on the drawers.


    Without turning his head, Kisuke immediately felt Serafall''s sudden movement and used sh Step to arrive at her side and push her down by the shoulder, "Don''t even think about jumping out of bed. You''re fine but you still strained yourself too much."


    Serafall was forced to sit back down but that only made her pout, "I''m not so weak that I can''t tackle you."


    The corner of Kisuke''s mouth twitched, "...So you really were intending to tackle me." He sighed and sat down next to her bed, "That recklessness... Well, I guess that''s just part of who you are. I won''t say anything about your attempt back then since it was also a valid choice, but settle down for now. I won''t allow you to hurt yourself further, no matter how small it is."


    Serafall was really happy upon hearing that and wanted to hug Kisuke tightly, but upon further inspection of her own condition, she found out that despite her stable condition, she was in a really fragile state right now that even a simple utilization of her Demonic Power could crumble that delicate bnce.


    Soon, however, her frustrations were washed away when she felt Kisuke''s arm wrapping around her head and bringing it close to his chest, "I''m really d that you''re safe."


    Serafall was surprised for a moment but soon smiled. She slowly and carefully moved her arms to wrap around him too, "I''m also very happy to see you back."After patting her head for a bit, Kisuke let go of her after a minute or two, "Rest up. Things on the other side aren''t exactly peaceful either so you''d need to get up and move around soon."


    "Ah, that''s right? What happened? Ajuka-chan also hinted that it doesn''t look great on their side. Wait... Before that, how long have I been sleeping and where are the girls?" Serafall asked while looking around, noticing the strange quietness.


    Kisuke stood up and went back to the drawer before pulling out a tea set from his inventory, "It has been a week."


    "...Were you able to defeat the monk?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and instead looked towards the window, staring into an empty space, "Yeah. I definitely did."


    Serafall wanted to ask him about the strange pause but he didn''t let her, "Ajuka-san and Azazel-san also told me what happened on the other side, the summary of it. I have to oversee the transfer over here and the channels aren''t that wide enough so I sent Ophis, Lilith, ire, Kunou, and Tanis back first along with Unohana Retsu and Tenjirou Kirinji."


    Serafall immediately frowned and asked, "Why?"


    Kisuke answered while pouring the tea, "Apparently, Koneko received an injury directly to her soul and Kuroka has been using her Senjutsu nonstop to keep her condition from deteriorating."


    "Koneko-chan!? And if it''s a soul injury Sephiroth Graal should be enough, right?"


    Kisuke returned to Serafall''s side and passed her one of the cups he was holding, "It seems that the Sephiroth Graal wasn''t immediately effective and some research time is needed to mend her soul."


    "Why didn''t you go yourself?"


    "As I''ve said, I have to oversee the transfer process here. I would have gone if the entirety of Hell was going to be transferred too." Kisuke took a sip of his tea, "Besides, those two are better equipped than me when ites to healing an injured soul, especially Tenjirou-san. I could have asked Kurotsuchi-san to go, but there''s no way I''m going to trust him."


    It might look like Kisuke isn''t too concerned with Koneko''s well-being with how nonchnt he''s acting, but that thought never once crossed Serafall''s mind as she knew well that Kisuke was just pretending to be calm and was about to explode, "So who did it?"


    "It''s not clear. But it stemmed from the conflict between Shiva and Indra with both sides taking Etoulde and Evie''s support respectively."


    "Huh? No way! It became a bonafied proxy war!? What are those two doing!?"


    "Not just that, the other factions also started taking sides and the only major factions that haven''t taken a side are the Heaven, Grigori, Underworld, and the Ouroboros Academy. Even then, the Underworld side is also being torn apart with nobles wanting to side with either Shiva or Indra."


    Serafall couldn''t help but grit her teeth, "This means that the Alliance has effectively disbanded..."


    "That''s what they told me too."


    "Wait... So Indra attacked the Ouroboros Academy?" Serafall asked, thinking that the Etoulde won''t easily make them their enemy, "But hold on... That''s strange. Only the Etouldes could possibly directly attack a soul. If the Evies had this kind of technique, they would have already used this to attack the Etouldes."


    "It was indeed Indra''s side who attacked the Ouroboros Academy because he didn''t want neutral forces as much as possible. But you''re right. The Evies couldn''t do this. That''s why there''s no clear person who''s responsible for this."


    At this point, it was already public knowledge among the higher-ups that the Evies couldn''t overpower the Etouldes because they don''t have the capability to attack souls directly which is thetter''s source of power. On the other hand, the Etouldes also couldn''t overpower the Evies because these mechanical beings are essentially immortals. Even after their defeat, they would somehow return to the battlefield and be stronger than before.


    "So we have no information at all?"


    "Well, we don''t but Yoruichi probably does. It''s just for some reason, she''s not revealing it yet."


    "Yoru-chan?" Serafall tilted her head, "Last I heard that she''s going to be gathering information on both Evies and Etouldes, but I doubt she could establish a properwork in just a short amount of time much less make it reach to the frontlines."


    Kisuke turned to her and smirked, "I didn''t tell anyone before to avoid potentially beingpromised, but I actually asked her to meet and cooperate with one of the three leaders of Evies, The Wicked God, Seraselbes."


    Serafall almost dropped her cup and stared at Kisuke with a nk face for a while before suddenly yelling, "Huuuuuh!!!?"


    Editors:


    28th00: Ah, looks like it''s gonna be a wholesale apocalyptic massacre. Or at the very least, Indra is gonna die. Only the Three Factions remained neutral too, huh? That''s not good.

 Chapter 1301 New Faces

    Chapter 1301 New Faces


    "So this is the other world... Truly surprising." Tenjirou marveled at the view of the Human world that was a bit different from what he knew.


    "I''m sorry but this is as far as I can escort you." Gabriel, who escorted the group out of Heaven, slightly lowered her head, "Me leaving Heaven right now could cause unwantedplications. As much as I want to lead you all the way and show you around, I don''t have that luxury these days."


    "No need to apologize, Gabriel-neechan. You were already a big help. Thank you for your hard work. We can take it from here." ire expressed her gratitude. She looked up at her with a big smile, "I also haven''t thanked you for saving me that one time. If things are convenient, I''ll be sure to return the favor."


    Gabriel also returned a smile, "You don''t have to worry about that. I''m just happy that you''re alright." She then turned to everyone else and slightly nodded her head, "Everyone, let''s meet again next time."


    As soon as she finished her words, she disappeared, returning back to her post.


    The group first looked at each other beforeing into a silent agreement and moved to another location. The group soon reached the southern coast of Japan and before they moved further, ire, Kunou, Tanis, Tenjirou, and Retsu looked towards the man who secretly followed them, "...Uhmmm... Uncle Aizen, is it alright for you to sneak out like that?"


    ire didn''t really know what to say, especially when Lilith is riding on his shoulders and Ophis is riding on Lilith''s shoulders. It''s a ridiculous sight that even Gabriel didn''t notice.


    "Why not? I''ve fulfilled my responsibility so there''s no reason for me to stay there." Aizen replied with a soft chuckle.


    ''So you''re going to follow us around now!?'' ire wanted to retort. She didn''t really want this nuke in Human form to be running around.Of course, Aizen''s sharp eyes easily noticed the minute change in ire''s expression and reassured her, "Don''t worry. I don''t want to make Urahara Kisuke my enemy unnecessarily. Not after what he had just done." As long as Kisuke doesn''t step on his head and control him, he also won''t touch his soft spots. In fact, Aizen will even defend and assist them if he benefits from the circumstances.


    ire held back the sigh she wanted to release and could only nod in agreement, ''I mean, what else could I do? And how did you even go through their mental defenses?''


    Tenjirou and Retsu also looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. If ire can''t do anything, then there''s nothing much they can do themselves.


    Tanis then curiously approached the three and looked up, "By the way, what are you doing, Lilith-chan, Ophis-chan?"


    As if expecting that answer, Lilith and Ophis both made a proud expression while saying, ""Preemptive measure. He shall not fool us.""


    Still, with the same smile, Aizen added, "You know you can just leave your snakes with me, right? You''ll also know when I break them." While Aizen could adapt his hypnosis against mental defenses, contact through touch is a weakness that he won''t be able to do anything.


    Their pride instantly changed to that of a great realization. Lilith looked up and Ophis looked down. Without saying a word, both of them conjured a ck snake each and those snakes wrapped themselves around Aizen''s left and right wrist before transforming into a faded tattoo.


    Only then they start to slowly climb down from his shoulders. And as they stood side by side, they dered as if nothing had happened, ""We know that.""


    Even ire who had been acting serious just now could not help but giggle a bit at their act and that''s also the same for the other girls.


    The two Shinigami, however, couldn''tugh. In fact, they find this scene terrifying.


    ire was intending to teleport the group but Kunou stopped her, "ire, I''d like to visit my mother first."


    "Should wee with you?"


    Kunou shook her head, "It''s fine. I just don''t want my mother to think that I don''t miss her."


    "I see. Be careful out there."


    Kunou nodded before disappearing through a Teleportation Magic.


    .


    .


    .


    ire''s group reappeared on the tform that was designated for private use. This tform was located in a secluded area within the floating ind of the Ouroboros Academy and the moment they arrived, multiple individuals were instantly made aware of their presence.


    A few secondster, the group could feel multiple individuals making their way towards them.


    The first one to arrive was a sh of white light that apanied a pure white armor with a blue ent,nding softly not far from them. The second one was a darkness that moved through the ground until it was beside the white armor. A woman with jet-ck hair then peeked from the darkness, only showing her head.


    The white armor caught the attention of the Shinigami group but their focus immediately turned when a woman with brown hair and golden eyes appeared using sh Step. What piqued their curiosity was the fact that she was wearing something akin to a Shihakushou and the long de slung behind her looked and felt almost like a Zanpakuto.


    "Hoo... Urahara has been doing a lot of interesting things, I see." Aizenmented and Tenjirou and Retsu couldn''t help but agree.


    While Vali and Nyx were wary of the strangers, Aika immediately lit up upon spotting the girls, "You guys returned!?" While ignoring the others, she jumped towards them and grabbed them into a hug, "I missed you guys! Where''s Kunou!? She''s not in danger, is she?"


    "Kunou said she''d like to visit her mother first so she went ahead of us," ire answered while dly returning her hug.


    However, their happy reunion was instantly interrupted when an almost suffocating Spiritual Pressure descended into the vicinity.


    Vali and Nyx were shocked and fell back to figure out what was happening while Aika was confused and looked up to Yoruichi who just arrived, "What''s wrong?"


    Yoruichi didn''t answer and just looked down on the ''strangers'', more specifically, the man with swept-back brown hair.


    The moment Aika felt Yoruichi''s killing intent, she held the girls tightly and hurriedly jumped back from the strangers.


    Yoruichi was appreciative of Aika''s quick actions and asked the ''strangers'' while holding onto her Zanpakuto and putting up her mental defenses to the maximum, "Is it safe for me to assume that you''re not holding them hostage?"


    Aizen''s smile grew deeper and he was very much tempted to provoke the ck cat to see how much she had changed, ''If Urahara was able to change that much, how about her?'' And that curiosity inadvertently made Aizen release his own Reiatsu, canceling Yoruichi''s and sending it back to her.

 Chapter 1302 Treatment

    Chapter 1302 Treatment


    Yoruichi retracted her Reiatsu and grabbed the handle of her Zanpakuto behind her while arcs of lightning emerged from her body.


    But before Yoruichi and Aizen could do anything else, Tenjirou stepped in between them with a fed-up expression, "Is there any point in doing this? Aizen, if you''re going to mess around, I''d rather you go somewhere else. And Shihouin, you should have some idea why we''re here... Except for this guy."


    Aizen looked at Tenjirou for a bit before shrugging his shoulders and the terrifying Reiatsu around him disappeared like an illusion.


    Yoruichi, on the other hand, stayed silent for a bit before letting go of her Zanpakuto and the lightning around her body withdrew, "Where''s Kisuke?"


    "He''s looking after a global project and taking care of the woman with the surname Sitri."


    Yoruichi dropped down to the ground with a frown, "Sitri... Do you mean Serafall? What happened to her?"


    "The simplest exnation would be that she almost died." It was Retsu who answered Yoruichi which made her clench her fist and Tenjirou soon followed with ament, "I''m actually surprised that she managed to stay alive after that."


    Yoruichi almost lost her calm but she was able to let out a sigh of relief soon after she fully digested their words, ''Almost... With Kisuke around, she should be fine.''


    "I''d like to hear the whole story.""I''m fine with that, but where''s the sleeping beauty? We actually came here first for her."


    "Sleeping beauty?"


    ire finally had the time to react and wriggled out of Aika''s embrace, "Ah that, Yoruichi-neechan! Kisuke-niichan sent them here when he heard that Koneko-neechan was injured! He said that they might be a better fit than him."


    Yoruichi rubbed her chin and thought about it for a moment while looking at Tenjirou and Retsu, "Hmmm... That could be true. Alright. I''ll lead the way. Please follow me."


    As Yoruichi started walking off, ire sighed in relief and hoped that this was thest troublesome thing involving the ''Uncle''.


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi led Tenjirou, Retsu, and for some reason, Aizen towards a detached building on the quiet corner of the expansive ind. If not for Ophis and Lilith distributing their snakes to core personnel of the academy to render Aizen''s Kyouka Suigetsu ineffective, Yoruichi would have asked him to remain in the same spot.


    ''Even then, it meant that he''ll be able to manipte the non-core members and that''s another form of risk.'' Yoruichi asked Ophis if they could give the snakes to everyone on the ind but she surprisingly didn''t agree despite being fully capable of it, ''He wouldn''t like it, huh?''


    Yoruichi fully understands Ophis'' strange consideration. If they make Aizen fully ineffective to everyone, it can be viewed as being restrictive and the man might react unfavorably, ''There''s no way that Kisuke didn''t notice this so he''s probably already devising a method to detect who is under his hypnosis.''


    Aside from that, Yoruichi also noticed that Tenjirou and Retsu both have physical bodies while Aizen remained a purely spiritual being, ''I know he was preparing a ''perfect'' body since long ago... Has he nned for this since long ago?'' She wanted to hear the whole story in detail right now, but Koneko''s casees first.


    A few minutester, the Shinigami group reached thest room of the detached building and even those who just learned how to detect Magical properties were able to feel the heavy barrier surrounding the room to the point that they couldn''t even tell if there was anyone inside.


    It took Yoruichi a few seconds to unlock the barrier and enter the room. Inside it were three people and it was obvious who''s the patient.


    The patient was a youngdy in her twenties with long white hair and matching cat ears, peacefully sleeping and surrounded by a gentle purple light.


    The one beside her was another cat person but with opposing ck hair and golden eyes with a much more mature demeanor. She''s a beautiful young woman but that beauty was heavily covered by her tired expression, most notably, her sunken eyes filled with indignation and frustration.


    Thest one was also a beautiful young woman possessing short blonde hair and red eyes. She was also the first person that the three Shinigami noticed, not because of her appearance but because of the golden cup she was holding.


    ''Hoo... That''s interesting. I''m really d I came here.'' Aizen thought to himself.


    Kuroka sluggishly looked up and to who entered the room, "...Yoruichi? They are-"


    But before she could even finish her words, the tall man with oundishlyrge pompadour moved and a wooden pole with a small nk attached on its other end suddenly appeared in his hand. Written on the wooden nk is [Kirinji] and that same nk slightly tapped the golden cup that Valirie Tepes was holding.


    He moved so fast that even the owner of the golden cup didn''t notice what happened and only realized that the glow of her Sacred Gear disappeared along with the gentle aura enveloping the room.


    "What are you doing!?" Kuroka instantly exploded. But her tired mind and body along with the focus she needed to maintain her Senjutsu didn''t allow her to do anything more than that.


    Without minding her outburst, the woman she didn''t know approached with a gentle smile and hovered her hand above the patient before a translucent green light surrounded Koneko, "It''s fine. We can treat her."


    Kuroka was confused but she immediately noticed that Koneko''s aura became a lot more stable than when she was using her Senjutsu.


    "While this thing can stabilize her soul, it has the stupid price of paying with your own life. Don''t use it to heal people if you don''t have any idea what you''re doing." Tenjirou exined to the stunned Valerie with a reprimanding voice.


    Not just Kuroka, but also Yoruichi frowned upon hearing that, "Valerie?"


    The Dhampir could only scratch her head with an awkward smile, "I thought I''d figure something out if I put more effort."


    Yoruichi sighed and was thinking of properly reprimanding herter. But for now, she turned towards Kuroka who didn''t know what to do, "Kisuke sent them so you can leave it to them."


    Kuroka calmed down and retracted her Senjutsu. Soon the purple light disappeared and Kuroka moved to the side, "Thank you."


    Tenjirou approached and went to the side where Kuroka was standing before. He eyed Koneko for a bit before turning to Retsu, "I hope you already noticed what I''m seeing."


    Retsu nodded, "I wasn''t very sure but if you''re saying you can see something, then you''re probably referring to that."


    Yoruichi also came closer and asked them, "What are you seeing?"


    "Something is lodged in her Hakusui. It''s cleverly hidden so I can''t me you if that went past your senses." Tenjirou answered while continuing his inspection to see if there was anything else.

 Chapter 1303 Treatment part 2

    Chapter 1303 Treatment part 2


    "Do you need anything to remove it?" Yoruichi asked while establishing amunication connection to Sona.


    "Normally, we''d have to prepare for an operation." Tenjirou replied while rubbing his chin.


    Yoruichi put the call on hold, "Normally... Is it?"


    Tenjirou turned to the man who''s just silently observing, "I believe you developed a technique to extract foreign objects from souls, correct?"


    "I learned it from Urahara and I have to know where exactly it is if I don''t want to hurt the soul much more than necessary." Aizen honestly answered.


    "Great. Since you''re here, you might as well help out." Tenjirou turned his attention back to Koneko and also hovered his hand over her like Retsu, "I''ll tell where exactly it is and you don''t have to worry about hurting her. I''m here after all."


    Aizen let out a short breath and chuckled a bit as he approached from Retsu''s side, "Well then, excuse me."


    Without any hesitation, Aizen''s hand stabbed through the patient''s chest.


    Kuroka was startled but managed to hold herself back from disturbing him.Tenjirou verbally instructed Aizen and after prodding around for a bit and making Koneko squirm in pain in hera, thetter was able to pull out a single strand of gray hair made out of spiritual matter.


    What surprised Yoruichi, however, was the fact that even though it''s already within Aizen''s fingers, she still couldn''t feel anything out of the ordinary from it.


    "I''m keeping this. Consider this as payment for my hard work." Aizen suddenly said after inspecting the hair curiously.


    Yoruichi immediately reacted and said, "Hold on. I''d like to keep some of it."


    Aizen turned to her and replied, "Then let me have a container. You have it, right?"


    Yoruichi sighed as there''s no point in negotiating with him and took out two small bottles specially created by Kisuke to contain and preserve delicate materials. Yoruichi tossed them towards Aizen and thetter cut a small part of the hair.


    Aizen then caught the two bottles and ced each part in them before throwing the one containing the exponentially smaller part back to Yoruichi. Yoruichi caught and looked down on it, ''It''s not enough to study it, but it''s enough of a lead to find that bastard.''


    "Now that we''re done here. I''m taking my leave." Without waiting for anyone to say anything, he disappeared without a trace. Yoruichi immediately tried scanning his whereabouts using the various spells embedded on the ind but failed. He already left the Ouroboros Academy.


    "Is it fine to let him go like that?" Retsu asked with an extremely concerned expression.


    Yoruichi sighed again before shaking her head, "It''s not but what can I do? I''m just happy that he doesn''t appear to be hostile."


    It was then that Tenjirou stood up and fixed his pompadour, "I''m done here. Retsu, keep up the initial treatment. Shihouin, give me some space on this ind. I want to build my White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell. She''s going to need it if you guys want a speedy recovery."


    Yoruichi nodded before turning towards Kuroka and Valerie, "You two take a rest. This is Unohana Retsu and while traditional, she''s a good doctor."


    Retsu slightly lowered her head to Kuroka and Valerie, "Nice to meet you. I can''t bepared to Kirinji-san here, but I''ll be in your care."


    .


    .


    .


    Tenjirou thought that it would take a while for Yoruichi to get what he wanted but to his surprise, everything was arranged within just a few minutes of him asking and it was way wider than he initially requested.


    "Are you sure you''re just going to give this much space to me? Shouldn''t the usable area of this floating ind be quite limited?" Tenjirou asked Yoruichi.


    "You should ask her." Yoruichi pointed out to another young woman with long ck hair and a pair of sses in her twenties directing what seemed to be autonomous machines handling the supplies that Tenjirou would be needed, "She''s the one who''s managing this whole ce and it''s in her authority what to give you or not."


    Hearing Yoruichi refer to her, the young woman turned and approached them, "Nice to meet you. I''m Sitri Sona, the headmistress of the Ouroboros Academy." Sona extended her right hand towards him, "Regarding the limited space, we can just attach morend to the ind so it''s not really a big problem."


    Tenjirou looked at the hand for a second before returning the gesture, "Kirinji Tenjirou. Nice to meet you too. How are you rted to Sitri Serafall?"


    Sona fixed her sses and proudly smiled, "She''s my dear older sister. I hope she didn''t cause too much trouble."


    ''Your sister beat me up.'' Tenjirou almost instinctively retorted but managed to protect the meager pride he still has, "You... act too different from her."


    "She''s a bit quirky, but that''s what''s great about her." Sona replied with a chuckle, "Then shall we hear your story while we do our work? If possible, in full detail, please. And I also have a bit of a request."


    .


    .


    .


    A few hourster, a medium-sized ryokan could be seen standing on the previous emptynd that was given to Tenjirou. While Sona was arranging the supplies needed, she heard from Yoruichi detailed information about Tenjirou Kirinji and his ns to build ''rejuvenating'' hot springs for Koneko so while he''s at it, she requested him to make a normal hot spring for normal use to serve as rxation spot for the members of the Ouroboros Faction.


    "...I was wondering why a member of the Zero Division is cooperating with Kisuke but it turned out like that, huh? It was a much bigger deal than I thought." Yoruichi muttered to herself.


    There''s so many points that she wanted to hear more about but there''s so much fragmented information from Tenjirou''s perspective that it was obvious that he too doesn''t know much.


    "Of course, it''s a big deal. Ichibei almost sessfully devoured the whole three worlds. But if you want to hear more details, you''d have to wait for Urahara to return." Tenjirou replied while bncing the waters within the White Bone Hell, "Will that white cat be able to take the White Bone Hell in its usual strength?"


    "She''s going to be fine. I''ll ask you to toss in the ck cat too since she''s too spent and probably damaged her soul too." Yoruichi then turned to Sona who was taking notes, "What do you think?"


    "I''m not sure. There are too many holes in the story and it''s actually unbelievable from my perspective. However, the soul migration matches with the timeline when Heaven locked their doors and the density of Holy Power around it increased. I''ll also have to ask Irina and Akeno to look after ire to check her actual status. Nee-san might know a bit about Holy Power but nothing beats an actual Angel and Fallen Angel.


    "Aside from that, I''ll be issuing a returnmand to all members in preparation for Kisuke and people of another world''s arrival."


    Yoruichi nodded before asking, "Do you think it''s possible to ce the Dungeon World in between this world and the Soul Society?"


    Sona stayed silent for a moment to contemte her words, "For finer control of the flow of people, huh... The Beelzebub and Azazel will probably protest against it but I still have some negotiation chips for them so it''s doable."


    "I see... Then I''ll be leaving everything to you." Yoruichi turned around and started walking away.


    "Where are you going?"


    "I''m going to hunt down the bastard who hurt our kitten and everyone rted to him. Once Kisuke gets home, tell him that I''m going in first. Whether he''ll have his turn will depend on how slippery these guys are."


    Sona could only sigh as she watched Yoruichi wave her hand before disappearing.


    "Quite a handful, huh?" Tenjiroumented while continuing his work.


    "That''s true... But still manageable and understandable. If Kisuke was the one here, he''d probably flip the whole metaphorical table just to spite everyone." Sona replied while also returning to her work of controlling the autonomous bots to finish the rest of the building, "By the way, could you tell me more about my elder sister? Is she alright?"


    "I can''t say alright but she is recovering."

 Chapter 1304 Hot Spring

    Chapter 1304 Hot Spring


    Ouroboros Academy. Aside from being an academy, it''s also a newly recognized major faction that holds the rights and is the only manufacturer of the most sought-after Soul Gears.


    The one handling the mass production of the Soul Gears previously was the Belial House of the Underworld. But when Cleria Belial received an early tip that the Underworld government was going to move to control these highly dangerous weapons, she immediately transferred everything to the just recently established Ouroboros Academy.


    The Underworld tried to veto this but Cleria had already prepared various fail-safes since she knew this was already an inevitability.


    However, for this to happen smoothly, some sacrifices were needed and those sacrifices include disowments. As of right now, although Sona still uses the name Sitri, she was already officially stricken off the Sitri House''s records. There was a lot of drama before this was officiated but Sona remained firm on her decision, much to her parents'' disappointment.


    Naturally, it wasn''t just Sona but also the other core members of the Ouroboros Academy that had to cut ties with the organizations or factions they were previously in, essentially bing traitors in the eyes of those groups.


    While the Ouroboros Academy has thousands of students and hundreds of staff and instructors, only the core members, which areposed of the women very close to Kisuke, including his mother and a few select Deities from the Dungeon world, are considered part of the "major faction".


    There are some concerns about the core members utilizing the students and instructors as part of their faction, but after using the contract spell that is simr to what the Devils use and ensuring that they won''t be allowed to participate in any of its activities as a faction.


    Because the academy also epts students and hires staff regardless of their origin, applications flooded in and even those who were still opposed to letting the academy have this much autonomy and freedom couldn''t do anything. After all, this faction, especially the core members, were still a ck box that''s capable of mass destruction of an unknown degree and many others would rather send their own people to investigate than pressure the group to only have them move in the shadows, silently, and most importantly, deadly.


    Another important point is that only the Ouroboros Academy has the pathway towards the Dungeon world. While they can''t control itpletely because of the contract they handed out to various factions to gain influence, they are still the ones who are maintaining it and the specifics of their gate technology are still locked behind their doors.Thanks to these cards they hold and the fact that they don''t really hold back on what they teach people, Ouroboros Academy managed to exponentially grow within just a few years. So much so that a few big yers didn''t like the trajectory they were taking. The trajectory of not listening to anyone.


    It only took a few hours for the whole building to bepleted but Tenjirou needed an entire day to properly concoct his two special hot springs.


    The ryokan immediately became a center of attention to the personnel of the academy but since it''s a highly restricted area, only the core members are authorized to get near it or if you''re apanied by one. The sudden ryokan sure made everyone curious because it seemed out of ce, however, it was the strange aura emanating from it that rmed various eyes stuck on it.


    "Such curious... and invasive stares," Tenjirou muttered while wiping the sweat off his face. He''d just finished his work yet he was watched by rude and some could even be considered hostile for how deep they were trying to scan.


    Sona waved her hand and a barrier instantly covered the building, "Please allow me to apologize. There are rather ill-mannered people on the ind right now."


    ''Couldn''t you just do that before those scans even happen?'' Tenjirou asked himself while looking up at the barrier, "Don''t you control this ind? This is just outright disrespect to you and your organization."


    "Of course." Sona fixed her sses and disyed a smile that didn''t reach her eyes, "They''ll be appropriately dealt with. Do you have anything you want to happen specifically since it was you who was offended the most?"


    Tenjirou looked at her for a few moments before sighing, "I don''t really have anything in mind. I''ll leave it to you." He felt like if he proposed something, he''d just be used even more, ''She doesn''t have any ill will, but she''s obviously one of those schemer types. The only effective way of dealing with them is by not giving them the chance to begin with and keep their attention away.''


    Tenjirou''s next work is creating the proper protection for those who can''t dip their bodies in the hot springs. He''s not as good as Senjumaru but it''s better than nothing.


    Sona smiled but she was indeed disappointed inside. Sona trusts Kisuke, but she wants to know more about their guests. She didn''t really have any deep intentions and just wanted to know what he would request if asked like that, ''Would have been fine if he revealed a bit of his personality.''


    As for the barrier, she could indeed have activated it a bit earlier since she already predicted that it would happen. But why would she waste a perfectly capable bait?


    Sona knows that those who actively scanned the ryokan to investigate were only disposable pawns but she wouldn''t pass on this easy cleanup, ''This will also serve as confusion if they tried to analyze the minute data they acquired. A good scenario no matter how I look at it.''


    Naturally, Sona is just being optimistic that they won''t figure anything out since she doesn''t really know the extent of their knowledge. However, that optimism stemmed from the fact that she has been analyzing the hot springs using various equipment herself and even after watching it be created from scratch, she still can''t make heads of theirposition nor their purpose. What she knew however was these strange hotsprings came from his de.


    ''It''s simr to what Kisuke created long ago so it probably has healing effects, but the intensity of these waters is on a whole different level.''


    A few more minutester, Tenjirou called out to Sona, "It''s done. But before anything else, invite a few men who are confident with their bodies. I want to understand how this will affect the people of this world and adjust it ordingly." He didn''t hide the fact that he wanted test subjects.


    "Understood. Please wait here."


    .


    .


    .


    Sona returned to her office and soon made a call for his request. She wasn''t really sure how her call was going to be received since it was about being a test subject so she sent a message to quite a few that she thinks are free and trustworthy. However, Sona should have known that being a test subject in an unknown experiment would be ignored by ''those who are confident with their bodies''.


    As such, she could only give those in attendance a fed-up face, "Seriously? Do you guys want to prove it that much?"


    "Nooo! I shouldn''t be here!" The first one to react was someone who was dragged involuntarily by the other men in the room and the most scrawny one.


    "If you want to be a real man, you can''t back down from these challenges! You already failed the moment you let thatment pass by!" Sairaorg, who was holding the struggling Gasper by the cor, reprimanded thetter with a wide smile on his face.


    Sona looked around once more to confirm those who arrived for the call. From left to right, they were Gasper di, Sairaorg Bael, Vali Lucifer, Crom Cruach, Yuuto Kiba, and finally Sirzechs Lucifer.


    "Even you, Sirzechs-sama?" Sona only tried because she''s worried that no one would turn up because being a test subject essentially means being yed around and usually, it''s not worth it, ''I guess he already received the information about the neers'' arrival.''


    All smiles, Sirzechs replied, "Why not? Sounds fun."

 Chapter 1305 Hot Spring part 2

    Chapter 1305 Hot Spring part 2


    Soon, the men arrived at the ryokan and saw that an unknown, steaming man with a glorious pompadour was waiting in the lobby for them, "You guys were sent by the Sitri girl?"


    The one leading the group of men was obviously Sirzechs and he approached the man with a smile while offering his hand, "You must be Kirinji Tenjirou. Nice to meet you. I go by the name Sirzechs with ast name Lucifer."


    Tenjirou didn''t hesitate to grab his hand and also introduced himself, "Kirinji Tenjirou. I''ve heard about you from the other Sitri."


    Sirzechs raised his brows, "Oh, is that so? I''m curious as to what exactly she told you, but it must be some random stories that she has."


    Tenjirou smiled, "You know her well. There''s nothing really specific. I just noticed that she loved telling all sorts of stories without actually giving away useful information. She''s a crafty one, I''m telling you." The two of them let go of their hands and Tenjirou immediately noticed that Sirzechs'' soul gave the same feeling as Serafall''s, ''Another ridiculous guy, huh? I thought she was exaggerating but now that I met him, she''s actually selling him short.''


    He looked around and the feeling that he was getting from them was simr to the Captain-level Shinigami, ''The four of them are quite young, simr to Kurosaki Ichigo, but the two of them are definitely veterans.''


    Simrly, Sirzechs and Crom could also tell that Tenjirou is a battle-hardened individual with a vast amount of experience.


    "I heard that you''re looking for people with strong bodies. What do you have for us?" Sairaorg excitedly asked.


    "Indeed, but I''m not exactly looking for someone with a durable body." The others were confused but Tenjirou suddenly took a step back and a massive, almost deadly, unknown pressure suddenly pushed them down."Hic!" Gasper immediately started trembling from fear and hugged Sairaorg''s arm. He has already matured from his high school days but it seems that he''s still the overreacting guy.


    Meanwhile, Vali, Sairaorg, and Yuuto frowned as they endured the pressure that directly weighed down on their consciousness.


    On the other hand, Crom remained unperturbed and Sirzechs kept his smiling face without any change to it.


    A few secondster, the pressure disappeared as if it was just an illusion, "There''s a popr saying you see? A healthy body is a healthy mind. That also applies to the souls most of the time and it''ll probably take a long time for the Sitri girl to look for people with strong souls." Tenjirou exined, "And just now, I tested if you indeed have enough."


    Sairaorg sighed, "So, did we pass?"


    "The three of you just barely." Tenjirou turned around and started walking towards the halls of the ryokan, "Follow me."


    The men looked at each other and wondered who the three people were and started guessing among themselves. Crom is an Evil Dragon and Dragons are known for their strong souls as they age. Sirzechs is a Super Devil who transforms himself into something ridiculous. In any case, the two of them are obviously not the bare passers.


    On the other side of the spectrum, they guessed that Gasper who still can''t get his scaredy-cat behavior in order most of the time and pretty much was forced toe here with the scrawny body he has is probably one of the bare passers, which mean, two of the three men who are in the same generation are with him.


    While Yuuto is arguably the weakest of them, he still won''t back down since the power of the soul is something ambiguous and doesn''t always pertain to abilities, "Should we ask him who''s who?" He asked with a light tone.


    "Let''s just wait and see. Since he needs that specific criteria, we''ll figure that out with what he wants to do." Vali answered, as unbothered as ever.


    At this moment, Sairaorg suggested with a grin on his face, "Shall we bet?"


    Tenjirou heard this but didn''t say anything. He was actually surprised that all of them passed but more than that, he was shocked that the trembling scrawny guy who had the face of a woman had a soul on par with the crimson-haired man and the ck-blonde man, ''You really can''t just the book by its cover.''


    .


    .


    .


    With just towels on their waists, the men lined up before the steaming and bubbling milky white hotspring, "Are you stewing something here?" Asked Gasper while trying to figure out what he was looking at.


    "Stop standing around and get in." Tenjirou stepped into the hot spring and while he was at it he ''lightly'' patted Gasper''s back, causing him to be thrown off from the edge and into the center of the hot spring.


    "Uwaahh!!!" Gasper hurriedly closed his eyes as he smashed himself into the strange white substance. Although he''s scrawny, that''s only inparison with the rest of the people here and in reality, he is much more durable than most people out there. So when his nose hit the floor, it only stinged him for a bit.


    He immediately resurfaced his head andined, "That''s so mean." But at the same time, he realized that his fears were unfounded as he settled himself in the ''water'', "Wait... This isn''t as bad as I thought. It''s a bit hotter than normal hot springs, but there''s a soothing feeling. And there''s also something leaking out from me, though I can''t tell what it is."


    Hearing that, Tenjirou chuckled, "Soothing eh? That''s good."


    Soon, Sirzechs and Crom followed in and the moment they submerged their bodies, they figured out what''s its purpose. With wide eyes, Sirzechsmented in awe, "...Amazing... I didn''t know something like this was possible."


    "This is also the first time I''ve experienced something like this." These were Crom''s first words since he decided to join out of curiosity, "I heard the Hindu and Celtic have something simr, but those are just rumors. Even if it''s true, it''d be deep within the territory."


    Of course, the other three men don''t have any idea what they are talking about. While they are very curious as to what they are referring to, they keep themselves on the edge of the hotspring, feeling the threat of it.


    Thanks to their instincts, they could tell that this milky hotspring is actually very dangerous. Although Gasper, Sirzechs, and Crom are already inside it, they can''t easily discard the apprehension they have.


    ''Is it really safe?'' Was the question that they kept repeating in their heads. But if they don''t move in soon, those inside will think that something is strange with them and worse, they might just think that they are scared.


    Swallowing a mouthful of saliva to appease his dry throat, Vali decided to take a step forward. But before he could even lift his leg, the voice of another unknown man came from behind them, "Do you mind if I join you?"


    Tenjirou furrowed his brows and said, "Aizen? I thought you''d never return."

 Chapter 1306 Hot Spring part 3

    Chapter 1306 Hot Spring part 3


    "And where will I go? There''s nothing more convenient for neers like us than this ce." Aizen went past the three men still standing and took the spot furthest from the group, "Hmmm... I''ve only heard about your White Bone Hell but it''s as good as expected."


    ''Is this even remotely effective for someone like you?'' Tenjirou asked himself, "How are you evening in and out of this ce? My understanding is that this ce is part of Urahara''s territory so I doubt itcks the security to let you do as you please."


    "Believe it or not but despite acting like children, those two are careful enough to not leave me alone. Although that also meant that I could ess ces where they are normally allowed to go." Aizen shrugged his shoulders in dismissal, "But enough about me. I''m more interested in your guests here."


    Sirzechs smiled at him and introduced himself, "Pleased to meet you. I''m Lucifer Sirzechs, one of the Devil Kings."


    "Sosuke Aizen, former Captain of the Gotei 13. I''ve heard about you from Sitri Serafall and indeed you give the same feeling as her and the man with green hair called Beelzebub Ajuka." Aizen scooped out a bit of the water and inspected it.


    "Is that so? I see that you can see things that normal people can''t." Sirzechs is doing his best to figure this man out. When he came to the Ouroboros Academy earlier, he already heard about the third individual who came with the guests and left. He used hiswork to find him but failed to do so. Out of the three, he''s the most enigmatic and it seems that Yoruichi is on guard against him.


    Although Sirzechs was trying to hide what he''s thinking behind a small smile, Tenjirou and Aizen still managed to guess what he''s trying to do as both noticed the curiosity behind his eyes.


    Tenjirou was staring straight ahead and without turning his head, he suddenly said, "A friendly reminder here. Don''t ever trust this guy. Aside from being cunning like a snake, he also has a nasty personality. He''ll happily shake your hand as he burns your house behind you if it benefits him."


    Sirzechs chuckled and said, "You two must be close if you can openly diss him like this."But contrary to his lightheartedness, Tenjirou turned to his direction, "This is a fair warning... Well, you probably won''t understand until you experience it." He lifted his right hand and from it, a ck snake emerged which surprised everyone because that''s a very familiar snake.


    As soon as Tenjirou started gesturing, the snake to him flew at lightning speed and brushed past everyone, slightly touching them with its tail before returning and disappearing where it came from.


    The men didn''t defend themselves because nothing about the snake is dangerous. However, the moment it touched them, they felt that something was wrong but couldn''t immediately tell what it was.


    "I''ll ask you this. Just where were you looking just now?"


    At that moment, they finally figured out what was bothering them and upon realization, they all shuddered, and that included Sirzechs and Crom.


    Aizen, who was happily talking from the remote corner of the hot spring, was now sitting opposite of Tenjirou. What''s strange, however, is that they are very sure that he didn''t move even an inch from his spot.


    "W-w-wait... WHAT!?" Gasper raised his voice.


    "H-he never moved, did he?" Yuuto asked while gulping.


    "...If my senses are not failing me, he didn''t. There''s not a bit of ripple in the surroundings." Vali answered while staring daggers at Aizen.


    Sairaorg still couldn''t believe it so he suggested, "Maybe it''s an advanced stealth movement?"


    "No." The corner of Sirzechs'' mouth is twitching, "He never moved... We all just thought that he was sitting in that corner... When in reality, he''s been this close all this time."


    At Sirzechs'' confirmation, the others instantly red their aura up with the exception of Crom.


    "My, I was hoping that they''d figure it out on their own." Aizen was still casually sitting on his spot, "You just had to ruin the fun." But as soon as he finished his words, a purple glint lit up his body before he disappeared and reappeared behind the men who were still standing on the side of the hot spring. Aizen wrapped his towel around his waist and started walking away, "It seems that I''m not wee anymore so I''ll be taking my leave first. Enjoy your stay."


    The group could only remain stunned as he left the premises. But even after his presence was gone, the aura the men were releasing only intensified.


    Sirzechs frowned, "Was that instant teleportation? But what medium did he use?"


    Upon feeling the wind kicking up, Tenjirou sighed and said, "Don''t bother. You wouldn''t be able to stop him."


    Crom finally reacted feeling a bit insulted even though he was not really thinking of chasing after Aizen, "Ho? That''s an interesting thing to say. You don''t know us, do you?"


    Tenjirou leaned back, not intimidated by the aura that Crom is now releasing, "I don''t. And I actually think that you guys are ridiculous people who are around the level of that guy in red armor. Hyoudou Issei was it? Seriously, if that''s the norm, I''d be too afraid to get out of my house."


    "You know Issei-senpai!?" Gasper hurriedly asked while approaching excitedly.


    Tenjirou nodded, "He''s one of the people who fought against a certain monster in our world. But you see, even if there are five of him it may still not be enough to catch him. Even Urahara had to work around him just to seal him."


    "!?" All of them didn''t know what to say and it was only after a few seconds of silence that Sirzechs managed to squeeze out a wry smile, "I see... Then he must be around Ophis or Great Red''s level in their heyday."


    ''The Dungeon world didn''t have any Transcendents anymore after Kisuke Urahara defeated Tiamat and Chaos, but this time, it''s a walking, talking Transcendent... This isn''t good, is it? If his existence is revealed, it''s going to be another messy phase that may actually start a big war.'' Sirzechs thought to himself before suddenly standing up, ''The Ouroboros Group will probably wee that chaos considering the situation they are in so they probably won''t do anything to hide him. But that won''t do. We''re still fractured and unprepared. Even if the DxD Team is a good deterrent, those bastards will do anything to pull this man to their side.''


    Sirzechs gave Tenjirou a small smile and bid him farewell, "Thank you for this wonderful experience but something came up so I have to go."


    He didn''t wait for Tenjirou to say anything and just directly went to the dressing room before teleporting away.


    Tenjirou watched him leave for a moment before turning to the three men that''s still standing, "Nothing will change even if you stand around and wait. Or are you actually not confident?"


    That question instantly lit the fire in their heart and they all simultaneously jumped into the hot spring. However, unlike Gasper, Crom, Sirzechs, and Aizen, they could onlyst for 2-5 minutes before their skin and flesh started burning. It was then that they realized that they were all the barely passers.

 Chapter 1307 A Small Rest

    Chapter 1307 A Small Rest


    After a few days, the world migration wasunched through Kisuke and those from the foreign world''s efforts. However, before it could settle a bit more around the real Dimensional Gappletely, they would have to monitor its progress and only allow the movement of souls between this side to the other to avoid anyplications. ire and her group''s case was already an exception that Kisuke vehemently pushed forward despite its detriments.


    Right now, as the few proficient Magic practitioners, Issei, Seekvaira, Kuisha, and Georg went to the Human World, also known as the World of the Living, to help with the restoration work. Although it was not their expertise, Magic construction and restoration was still vastly more efficient than any known technique on the same branch, especially if what they are working on is made out of normal materials.


    As one of the centers of the conflicts, the group decided to go to Karakura Town as their first destination.


    Issei, Seekvaira, Kuisha, and Georgnded on the rooftop of a tall building with busted windows, presumably from the shockwaves that urred during the heights of defense. They overlooked the town and although it''s a bit of a distance from central Tokyo, it''s still a prosperous area. However, only a shadow of that remained and the whole ce was scarred pretty badly with smoke still rising from embers that hadn''t beenpletely doused.


    "It doesn''t look like there are that many casualties despite the bleak scenery." The blonde-haired girl, Kuisha Abaddon,mented while looking down and noticing that the cleanup of corpses was actually almost done.


    The girl with long pale greenish blonde hair, Seekvaira Agares, fixed her sses and turned in another direction, "I''m more interested in her." She said while pointing towards another girl with a horned skull attached to her head, carrying lifeless maggots of several magnitudes of her size with ease and running through the streets to transport them.


    Issei and the others also turned to the direction she was looking and indeed, they were interested in her, not because of her feat of strength, but theck of any Magic and Ki fluctuationsing from her.


    "That''s Spiritual Power, is it? I still can''t believe that it can be utilized like this. Even the Etouldes use either Ki or Magic if they want to strengthen their bodies."


    Simr to when the Shinigami encountered Serafall and the girls, Issei''s group is having a hard time detecting her. Although they already knew how to detect Spiritual Power thanks to their secret interaction with an Etoulde, it still isn''t muchpared to their Magic and Ki detection that they honed through the years.It was also because of this that it was only now that they noticed another group approaching with considerable speed.


    A few secondster, three individuals jumped on the rooftop they were on by running on the side of the building.


    They approached without hesitation and the one leading the group, a tall man with orange hair and wearing what seemed to be called Shihakushou, introduced themselves, "I''m Kurosaki Ichigo. Nice to meet you. Behind me are Ishida Uryuu and Sado Yasutora."


    Through the numerous experiences they have, Issei and his group can tell that these three are dangerous people, simr to the so-called Captains of the Gotei 13.


    "Renji... I mean someone from the Soul Society told us that you''re going to help with the restoration. First of all, thank you and we will be your guide for today." Ichigo immediately added.


    Issei smiled and shook Ichigo''s hands, "It''s a pleasure to meet you too. I''m Hyoudou Issei. We got nothing else to do so we figured we''d help out. And the sooner the normal people could return to their everyday lives, the better."


    As soon as they received each other''s hand, a strange feeling instantly came to both of them. Thankfully, it wasn''t anything bad and they think that they would be able to get along.


    Issei then introduced Seekvaira, Kuisha, and Georg before telling them how they would be restoring the whole city in one go.


    .


    .


    .


    Back at his old candy shop, Kisuke was having tea with Tessai, Serafall, and surprisingly, Kirio.


    "Fuwaaaa..." Kisuke let out a blissful breath after taking a sip from his tea, "Finally, some rest."


    "You should sleep if you want a proper rest. When was thest time you slept?" Serafall asked while leaning on her hand. It had been a few days since she woke up and she could finally move without worry. However, it may take a while before she can bebat-ready again.


    Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought about it carefully, "Hmmm... About a year ago?"


    Tessai and Kirio almost spat out their tea and even Serafall was stunned for a bit before yelling, "Go to sleep now!"


    No matter how ''immune'' one is to drowsiness and how strong their willpower to keep on going, sleep is still the best way to correct and heal mental fatigue. Even for someone like Kisuke, a year of no sleep is still pushing it, especially with what he has been up to until now.


    But no matter how good his reason is to get some snooze, he''s still not allowed to do so, "I still have to monitor the merger, remember? I''ll do it once I''m sure that nothing is going to go wrong."


    Serafall narrowed her eyes and muttered, "That sounds fair... But when you say it like that, it sounds like it''ll take another year."


    Kisuke, however, only chuckled, "I can still go on for that much. Besides, I have my ways to empty my head. It''s not something concerning so don''t worry."


    Tessai on the side cleared his throat. He didn''t really know what to say and didn''t know how Kisuke could keep this up while iming to do more of this. But as much as he didn''t like to admit, he couldn''t fathom the changes in his biological processes so he really can''t say anything about it, "Are you sure you don''t want to join the negotiation between the worlds? And do they really need to negotiate now? Couldn''t they do it after everything has settled down?"


    "They have to because this world is already intricately connected to the other side through the reincarnation system. Before theplete merge, they have to discuss at least the rough specifics." Kisuke took another sip of his tea before continuing his answer,"I also promised Soul Society that I wouldn''t be controlling them and would have no authority as long as they do me a few favors. But that also means that I have no say in their negotiations. I could try and force myself in, but both sides won''t trust me. It''ll only be an unnecessary wedge between them."


    Tessai turned to Serafall, "Then what about you? Shouldn''t you help the visitors?"


    Serafall shook her head, "I''m essentially already part of Ki-tan''s group and this group''s position on the other side is a bit controversial so even though they are my good friends, they won''t be able to trust mepletely. That iplete trust in a matter as huge and important as this might just turn into poison down the line so it''s best for me to just stay out of it. It''s easier for me too."

 Chapter 1308 A Small Display of Power

    Chapter 1308 A Small Disy of Power


    Tessai turned to Kisuke with an exasperated expression, "Just what did you do on that side to be ''controversial''? I know that you''re reckless, but not to the point of deliberately attracting attention."


    "Don''t me him." Serafall immediately retorted, "From what I heard, he was just dragged in the first few times and he got involved with people who could influence a portion of the world. You know him. Once he has to do something, he''ll do it to take back control... And he''s so damn good at it that he eventually became an influence that no one could ignore anymore."


    Serafall then smirked after pausing for a bit, "It would have turned out differently if he became recognizable through time, but he essentially shot straight through the sky with no one being able to grab his feet... And a lot of people didn''t like that."


    The current generation is an anomaly and it wasn''t just Serafall who shared this opinion.


    There are many who rose to prominence this past decade and most of them could probably turn the world upside down if they decided to go down the wrong path. However, unlike Issei, the Red Dragon, Vali, the White Dragon, Rias, the Gremory Princess, or CaoCao the Hero of Longinus, Kisuke, and Yoruichi are nobodies.


    Even though Issei started out as a normal Human at first, he became tied to the Gremory Household and he''s the host of one of the Longinus. As such, most of his achievements in his earlier years are also partially credited to the Gremory Household and the Underworld.


    But unlike him, nobody knows about Kisuke and Yoruichi even after they appeared in the world. With no discerning origin and abilities that go outside of any known systems, no one could understand how they could possess so much power. When everyone realized that there were no chains of obligation tying them down, it was already toote and they were already out of their reach and created a group that was now considered one of the major factions to exist.


    At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by a huge wave of Magic Power that washed over the whole region. It was so much that even Kirio, who had lost her power, felt it.


    Tessai hurriedly turned towards the window to open it. What he saw outside was a bright red light shining over the whole town, giving those who basked within it a light form of oppression. He thought that there was an enemy attack but Kisuke beside him also peeked and smiled, "I know that''s the easiest way to do it, but it had to be as mboyant as possible, is it?""Well, Issei-chan would also want to do something to benefit the Alliance. Either Azazel-chan and Ajuka-chan probably asked him to do it like this." Serafall also stood up and went to the window.


    Curious of what''s happening, Kirio asked after taking a peek, "What are they doing?"


    Kisuke pointed towards the nearby destroyed building and the surrounding debris that are now outlined by a soft red light. As if a miracle, the debris started floating and fusing back to the destroyed building and a few minutester it was now fully intact that its previous state seemed to have never happened.


    "...What''s this?"


    "Restoration Magic." Kisuke answered Kirio while going back to his seat, "They are repairing the whole region. Naturally, that only works for inanimate objects and recently destroyed buildings."


    "It also doesn''t work on things that possess a considerable amount of energy." Serafall added, "Those things need a specialist."


    Tessai watched the process for a few more minutes before saying, "So this is normal for that side, huh?"


    "It''s not." Kisuke replied, "That scale of restoration was only possible because it''s being done by Issei with the help of a few others who are good with spatial recognition. Believe it or not, but those kids are of legendary status even on the other side. The work they are doing is normally done by thousands of people restoring the buildings one by one."


    Serafall nodded and also supplemented, "They are normally not allowed to do this. Yes, they can do it in a snap, but they are also taking away precious jobs from the weaker mages. After all, these restoration and logistic works are a lot better than standing on the frontlines for a lot of people."


    "Frontlines..." Tessai muttered before closing the window and going back to his seat. He can ask Kisuke more about that, but with how long they have been staying on this side, he doubts that he also have a proper view of things over there. Since there was no point in continuing this discussion, he decided to face Kirio who also just went back, "What about the Zero Division? I heard none of you will be attending that meeting."


    Kirio smiled wryly, "For what? After what Ichibei has done, we really are not in the position to decide what''s what. Kyouraku also already promised to us that we can allow our subordinates to return to the Gotei 13 if that''s what they want and those who''ll remain, including our territories, will be transferred to the Special Region."


    "Special Region?"


    "That''s what we''re calling Hell now." Kisuke answered, "The initial n was for the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World to be transferred to a special space where they could remain stable even after the flow of souls changed. But after Hyousube Ichibei''s threat ceased to exist, we couldn''t leave Hell alone with all the untapped resources within its expansivend. It will serve as a springboard for the Soul Society to recover and aid for the development of new technologies that will eventuallye as long as they trade with the other world."


    Serafall frowned, "But it''s also this point that those geezers from the other side wouldn''t let go of no matter what. With the conflicts intensifying, newnds mean new breathing spaces."


    This is another reason why Serafall didn''t want to join the negotiations. It was because those from her side will definitely ask for ess to thesends. If it was just her, she''d happily offer Hueco Mundo which is essentially a destend to ease up the pressure on the Ouroboros Academy and the Dungeon World.


    And even just momentarily, this will also ease up the people who are breathing down Kisuke''s neck because he''s gathering too much influence in such a short amount of time.


    If Kisuke didn''t decide to back off, she''d be the first one to propose this idea.


    Kisuke smiled. He guessed what Serafall was thinking and patted her head, "Don''t worry about it. This is actually a very good decoy in my opinion so let''s just leave it to them. Just remember that whatever they end up with, we will benefit from it somehow."


    Tessai and Kirio shuddered because Kisuke''s gentle smile slowly changed into a mocking one. They felt like they heard something they shouldn''t and would, of course, not ask about it any further.


    "Decoy?"


    Kisuke didn''t exin just directly changed the topic, "Besides, Kyouraku has some interesting ideas."


    "Interesting!?" Kirio couldn''t help but snap back at his words, immediately forgetting the previous topic, "They''renot interesting! They''re just beyond reckless! I can''t believe old man Yamamoto agreed to it!"

 Chapter 1309 Interesting Idea

    Chapter 1309 Interesting Idea


    Within the underground hideout below the Urahara Shop was a silent group of people sitting at a very long table.


    The table was around 60 feet long and the people at it were divided into two with them sitting on each end. Despite the distance between them, the air is palpable and it seems that at any time one side could explode into action with the amount of killing intent they were emitting. This was not intentional, but this is the only result possible due to the people present.


    On the northern side of the table was the group of Quincy that assisted Ichigo''s group in defending the Human World from the maggots. Bambietta, Liltotto, Meninas, Candice, Giselle, Bazz B, and Askin.


    With the exception of Askin, everyone else was pouring their killing intent on one person sitting on the opposite side of their table and that person was the blindfolded Yhwach with Ouetsu and Senjumaru sitting on each side.


    It had been half an hour now since the former members of the Sternritter were invited down here and aside from the obvious provocation of the other side with their deep animosity, there hasn''t been a word that has been spoken.


    Senjumaru looked at each side before sighing and loudly muttering, "So you guys really are just going to stare at each other?"


    "What do you mean? This guy can''t see." Ouetsu immediately responded with a chuckle.


    That earned him a re from Senjumaru, "You know what I mean. Besides, I still don''t get it. What''s the point of doing this?"


    With that question, everyone from the Quincy group''s ears instantly perked up."Hmm... We can''t really guess what''s on Kyouraku''s mind." Ouetsu rested his chin on his right hand and tapped the table with his left, "But I have an idea." He figured out Senjumaru''s intention and agreed with it rather than just wait for these guys to sort themselves out.


    "And that is?"


    "To bolster this world''s apparent military might." Ouestsu answered while lowering his sunsses, "Even without seeing the full extent of it, you can guess what the other side is capable of, can''t you? They''re a dangerous bunch that was able to make Urahara the way he is now."


    Kisuke''s monstrous form shed through Senjumaru''s head which made the corner of her eye twitch. But after thinking about it more, she realized that can''t be the whole truth and shrugged her shoulders, "Urahara was a strange one from the beginning. It''s an insult to his ability if you say it like that."


    "My bad. What I meant was what he''s capable of now thanks to that world. Everything is new and we''d have to adapt to it to properlypete."


    "I know that, but aren''t they also divided and at each other''s throat? Can they really go past that and take advantage of this world?"


    "That''s the problem. We don''t know them. Their culture, their morals, their views. We don''t know much of it. What we thought is impossible and uneptable within our society could easily be the opposite for them. We sent Tenjirou to their side for initial recon but our situation right now is simr to that of a fat sheep with an unknown beast in a dark room. As long as we''re sure that this beast won''t attack us, we can''t let our guard down."


    "And the solution for that is to revive the Wandenreich? I''ve always thought that there''s something wrong with his head, but now I can surely say that he''s an insane one." Senjumaru let out a mocking smile.


    "As I''ve said, it''ll bolster our military strength as a whole and make it hard for them to even think about sinking their teeth into this world. Like it or not, once Yhwach restores the Sternritter, they''ll have as muchbat ability as the current Gotei 13."


    But before Senjumaru could say anything, the two of them heard someone mming at the table at the opposite end. When they turned their head, they saw Bazz-B standing up with a royally pissed expression, "And what!? Hand over our lives to that man once again!? How stupid."


    He then started walking off towards thedder to get out of this ce. Bazz-B really wanted to dig out the heart of ''His Majesty'' but he knew he couldn''t win against the two members of the Zero Division.


    The other watched his back for a few seconds before standing up one by one to follow him with Liltotto giving Yhwach a side nce, "There''s a limit on how gullible you think we are."


    A few minutester, everyone except for Askin left the underground hideout.


    "Oh? What a surprise." Senjumarumented, "I thought it would be aplete disaster but it turns out that there''s a chance for reconciliation even with just you?"


    Askin smiled wryly, "I don''t know about that. If those guys won''t do it, then forget about it."


    Ouetsu stared at him for a short while and asked, "Then why did you remain here? Wouldn''t they suspect your motives?"


    "Oh. They will, alright?" Asking looked up, "I just want to prepare myself to meet the guy upstairs again. You never know. He might just cut off my head suddenly just for blocking his path."


    "Ah... You two have a wonderful history, right? I think you''re overthinking it. He''s not petty enough to take revenge for a war that has already ended..." As his sentence goes, Ouetsu also realizes how ridiculous his statement is and even both Senjumaru and Askin are looking at him strangely, "...Well... We probably all share the sentiment that he''s probably petty as hell so I''m taking that back. But cutting off your head? You''re still useful to him so the most you''ll probably get is a nonstop diarrhea for a few days."


    Askin wanted to say that he''s immune to anything ''poisonous'' but immediately recalled the existence of Magic and Ki, ''...My adaptation and immunity probably only work on Spiritual-based harm... Fuck.''


    He shuddered at the possibility of nonstop diarrhea but thought that it was still better than losing his life, ''As long as I''m useful, right?''


    Askin sighed and changed the topic, "I''m also curious about how the two of you came in to moderate this whole thing. Those guys didn''t think about it because they were blinded by their rage at the ''traitor''. What''s in it for you?"


    Asking was hoping for some reaction from the blindfolded man but was disappointed to see that he didn''t even twitch, ''He''s not asleep, is he?''


    "To get more stuff for ourselves. The Zero Division is gone, you see? But as luck would have it, Soul Society is currently in the middle of restructuring and figured we''d get more if we do a bit of their request."


    "You don''t have to worry about it, though?" Senjumaru added, "You''ve helped Urahara substantially so you didn''t really have to do this."


    "What are you talking about? I betrayed you, yes, but you guys are still my preciousrade-in-arms. Your plight is my plight. Besides, it''s a lot easier to do this with us working together so just ept it, okay?"


    "Hmmph..." Senjumaru turned her head away with a small harumph. She still resents the fact that he went behind their backs, but deep inside, she''s happy that the years they fought together wasn''t meaningless. There''s a chance that Ouetsu is lying to gain her trust, but it''s the risk she''s willing to take.

 Chapter 1310 Strange Request part 1

    Chapter 1310 Strange Request part 1


    After doing her duty, a woman with long white hair and a face covered with a ck veil returned to her private quarters.


    She first made sure that no one was around and that nothing else was on her schedule before she activated her personal teleportation pod.


    A secondter, she reappeared in a dark room that couldn''t be illuminated despite the Teleportation Magic emitting light. She stopped for a moment to feel her surroundings and didn''t do anything to turn on any lights because it was specifically designed to be pitch ck no matter what.


    She then reoriented herself slightly to the left before walking straight. Her pace was neither slow nor fast. Inplete darkness, only her confident steps echoed. It was at the five-minute mark of her walking that her surroundings suddenly changed and she reached a very heavy-looking 10-meter tall and 3-meter wide unadorned metal door.


    "Wee back, Lady Corvina." A tall beautiful maturedy with long ck hair and bangs parted in the middle and wearing tightfitting ck and whitebat gear greeted her. She has dark purple eyes that contrast her fair skin.


    "You came back earlier than expected, Adrenna." The veiled white-haired woman replied, "Were you able to investigate it?"


    Adrenna nodded, "Yes. And you were correct to obscure the appearance of that sword the moment it appeared."


    "Is that so?" Thedy known as Corvina turned towards the door and it automatically opened. Contrary to its appearance, it opened very smoothly and quietly, "Tell me more about it." She added as she walked inside.


    Adrenna followed Corvina and entered the room. The circr room wasn''t that big and it''s just almost the same height as the door but it was sturdy and secure enough to contain various things. And currently, there is only one person inside it, or rather, two if one considers the obviously autonomous giant mannequin a person.In the middle of the room was Corvina''s beloved daughter, Stralit, lying on the floor unconscious with various stitches on her body and convulsing from time to time. On top of her was the top half of a giant mannequin with long ck hair, eyes closed, and hands hovering on top of Stralit, constantly moving.


    From time to time, stitches would disappear on Stralit''s body but they would soon be reced by a new one. To this day, they still couldn''t understand how the mannequin was doing this and most surprisingly, this ''operation'' wasn''t just happening on her physical body but also in the soul.


    Going back to the day that it all went down, Corvina immediately understood the threat of the unknown man who suddenly appeared from Stralit''s shadow, bearing killing intent towards her daughter.


    Because this heavily involved her daughter and she still hasn''t found the traitorous ones in their ranks, her first thought was to protect her, not just from the unknown man but also from the ensuing aftermath. While it was already toote for the man, Corvina had enough ability to deceive everyone''s eyes and was able to change the appearance of the sword that also suddenly appeared.


    However, she severely underestimated the unknown man and was hit with an ability that absolutely pushed her away.


    Her heart sank the moment the realization of her not reaching her daughter in time set in. But to her relief, her daughter actually turned the unknown man into a ck puddle.


    Sadly, it didn''t end there and the space opened up beside Stralit, and Corvina instantly guessed the intention of the one controlling her. Not knowing whether the mannequin meant harm or even understood her, Corvina sent a telepathic message to the mannequin through Stralit and pointed out a safe ce for them to settle. And that safe ce was exactly this room.


    Since then, however, there has been no movement other than the mannequin moving its fingers and any attempt ofmunication failed.


    And as much as she wanted to pull out Stralit from the mannequin''s influence, their own health scans on her told them that Stralit was currently in a very precarious situation with her organs spontaneously rupturing apart, only to be repaired by the stitches.


    As long as they can''t figure out why Stralit is in this state and cure it from the root, they can only hope that the mannequin will continue what it''s doing until they can find a solution themselves.


    "As the sword appears to have the ability to manipte Spiritual Power, there are only a few ces to look at. There are someplications but I found a match forit on Draconic Deus."


    Corvina turned her head towards Adrenna and under her veil, her brows furrowed, "Draconic Deus? Whatplication and is this why Stralit involved herself with that ce?"


    "I''m still not sure about the young miss'' involvement with that world but I indeed found a match of the sword." Adrenna took out a terminal and manipted its screen for a few seconds before a holographic image appeared on top of it, "Apparently, this sword is named Benihime and its owner is someone called Kisuke Urahara."


    "...Kisuke Urahara. Isn''t that one of the three people designated as [Special Spirit Users] from Draconic Deus?" Corvina muttered while reading the detailed report about Kisuke. It even shows him utilizing the same mannequin in the Underworld incident. But although it''s an amazing report, Corvina noticed the problem right away, "He''s still part of that designation, isn''t he? And even if that''s still the case, this is still too much."


    The information lock on [Special Spirit Users] is on the highest level because of the implications their abilities could bring. The lock is so thorough that even if Corvina was the head of one of the major households within the Etoulde society, the only thing avable for her was their names. Not even their appearance was avable in the essible data bank. Then the question is where did Adrenna acquire this information?


    "That''s theplication I mentioned. Thanks to the lead I got and the urgency of the situation, I had to go through to a third party to discreetly gather this report. I wasn''t really expecting much when I requested it..." Adrenna pursed her lips.


    "So you were trapped," Corvina concluded.


    "I''m sorry."


    "Don''t be. You didn''t have a choice after seeing this." Corvina scrolled through Kisuke''s profile and said, "So who''s this informant and what do they demand?"


    "You already heard about her. She was the same informant that helped us dig out those rted to Aurelius, Yoru."


    Corvina stopped her hand and turned back to Adrenna, "That Yoru? Does she also have ess to Draconic Deus? Is she confident or just in reckless?"


    Adrenna shook her head, "I don''t know. I couldn''t get anything out of her even after talking to her directly. There was also no prior information about her until she registered as a mercenary in Hartagertle. Many are trying to look into her, but none of them managed to dig anything out."


    Corvina became quiet. Both of them now realized that when they contacted the informant for the first time, it might not have been a coincidence.


    Corvina sighed and said, "There''s no point in thinking this now and further investigation will take too much time and put too much attention to what we''re doing. What does she want?"


    "She wanted to meet Lady Stralit, the current holder of Benihime."


    This time, Corvina became very surprised, "...Did she ask for that specifically?" As far as she knows, she only asked Adrenna to search for the origins of the sword and she trusted her not to make any mistake.


    Adrenna was silent but nodded.


    "I see... You really can''t get out, huh?" Corvina clicked her tongue. Yoru doesn''t appear to be hostile, but she knows far too much.


    Adrenna hesitated for a bit but ultimately shared her opinion, "In hindsight, she''s also our biggest clue to solving the youngdy''s plight. I implore Lady Corvina to consider this."


    Corvina was silent for a few moments before she started walking toward the center of the room where Stralit was. But just a few steps in, she felt the threat of the unknown ability and found a cut on her arm. She immediately jumped back and soon the cut mended itself.


    She gritted her teeth and while looking at Stralit, she instructed, "Invite her in."

 Chapter 1311 Strange Request part 2

    Chapter 1311 Strange Request part 2


    In a random empty asteroid in a distant star system, Yoruichi was sleeping in a small ce that she made habitable. The moment her terminal rang, she instantly opened her eyes and checked it, "She contacted me way sooner than I expected... I just tossed out a bit of bait yet they''re inviting me this early? Is it a trap or are they just this desperate?"


    She knew that Kisuke was a ''sessor'' of Stralit Luxeux and that a strange rtionship had connected the two of them. Also thanks to Seraselbes, she was able to easily gather information about her and even managed to solicit her help to stop the Evies from fully puncturing the Draconic Deus'' barrier.


    ''Though because of that, she received a disciplinary action.'' Yoruichi thought to herself before thinking back to the day the Luxeux Matriarch''s aide suddenly asked for Benihime''s information, ''Stralit''s disappearance coincides with the strange incident in their home world. And now they''re asking about Benihime? I was just shooting in the dark, but it really turned out that her disappearance had something to do with Benihime.''


    She wanted to ask Kisuke about it, but she couldn''t really contact anyone in the Draconic Deus this far out. Furthermore, Kisuke didn''t warn her about this so it''s either he doesn''t have any idea that this happened or he can''t ry this information to anyone.


    Yoruichi stood up and stretched her limbs, "Either way, I''ll finally get some clue on the bastard who hurt Koneko-chan." She then replied to the message she received and warned them not to do anything funny if they wanted a smooth trade.


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi arrived at a designated point within the home of the Luxeux n, Lux, a covered with golden shimmer. But instead of her real appearance, Yoruichi arrived with her Pamatypian disguise, dull white hair, rough gray skin, and slightly altered face while wearing a standard skin-tightbat outfit."Wee, miss Yoru." In front of her is Adrenna wearing a simrbat outfit as Yoruichi.


    "Miss Enna. It has been a while." Yoruichi greeted her back with a smile, "And I certainly didn''t expect you to call me this soon. Is it alright for me to assume that your master agreed to my condition?"


    "You may call me Adrenna here and yes, my mistress agreed to your condition." Adrenna replied while narrowing her eyes, "But before that, may I ask why you wanted to see the sword?"


    Yoruichi smiled fearlessly, "Will answering that change how you treat me?"


    Adrenna was silent for a short moment before saying, "...Please follow me." She turned around and started walking away. What they need right now is more information about the sword, ''I can''t risk being hostile with her now... But if she tries to take youngdy Stralit as hostage...''


    Although Adrenna managed to calm herself in time, Yoruichi still noticed the slight bloodlust that momentarily leaked out from her, ''Looks like the situation on their side is not that good.'' She followed her while being mindful of her surroundings and prepared the escape capsule that Seraselbes gave her.


    It might reveal her affiliation with the Evies, but it''s a lot better than dying or being trapped.


    They were walking for a few minutes and Yoruichi thought that they''d be going at this pace for a few hours when all of a sudden, Adrenna who was in front of her suddenly disappeared, melding into an invisible wall, "!?"


    Yoruichi stopped and looked around. Even after knowing the existence of the barrier, she still couldn''t sense it, ''What''s this? Howe I can''t feel anything?'' She was very tempted to take out her equipment to take a closer look at her surroundings but ultimately decided against it and walked forward.


    As soon as she hit the barrier, her surroundings instantly changed and she was now within a pitch-ck environment that further confused her senses.


    Yoruichi was d that there was no hostile intent but she further put up her guard.


    "Please walk forward and do not deviate anywhere. This is our security measure." Yoruichi heard Adrenna''s voice but she couldn''t point out where it wasing from or how far she was.


    Yoruichi hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward. Five minutes into the well-paced movement, her surroundings cleared up and the darkness receded behind her. When she turned around, she saw a pitch-ck hallway and she had a feeling that she wouldn''t be able to exit this ce by retracing her steps.


    "My safety is now in your hands, huh..." Yoruichi muttered while turning back to Adrenna who was waiting in front of a big metallic door.


    It wasn''t just Adrenna but also Corvina who was waiting on the other side, watching the former guide and their guest, was surprised.


    "...You can read the flow of Spiritual Power? Are you perhaps a sessor of one of the sensory-type ns?" Even though Adrenna asked, she already knew the answers. It''s obvious that she could read the flow of Spiritual Power or else, she won''t be able to tell that she won''t be able toe out the same way they came in. As for thetter question, it''s a no because there''s no indication that she''s a ''sessor''.


    As someone working for the Luxeux Matriarch, she was taught how to differentiate all the sessors from other Etouldes.


    Yoruichi smiled but didn''t give an answer.


    Adrenna sighed and opened the door. Since it''s not a big room, it was immediately revealed to Yoruichi what''s happening. She ignored the veiled person and muttered out loud, "That looks pretty bad."


    "Bad? What do you mean?" Adrenna hurriedly asked but Yoruichi ignored her and walked towards the unconscious Stralit and the mannequin.


    Adrenna tried to stop her but Corvina gestured for her to stand down.


    Yoruichi took her steps until she was at the same distance as when Corvina was about to get affected by the cuts and stitches. She stared at Stralit for a moment before turning towards the veiled woman and asked, "What happened here? If possible, I''d like to know every single detail to give this girl a better chance to live."


    Adrenna looked into Corvina''s eyes and thetter just nodded her head. The former then approached Yoruichi with her terminal and showed her the only surviving record of the scene of the court that day.


    The whole video isn''t even a minute long but it was shocking nheless.


    Yoruichi contemted for a bit before turning towards the mannequin and speaking in Japanese, "How long can the girlst?"


    Corvina and Adrenna were surprised but thankfully, they already installed severalnguages that originated from Draconic Deus to their auto trantor in anticipation that they''d have to talk to one of its natives.


    The surprise, however, didn''t end there as the mannequin they thought couldn''t reply, responded back, "Around a week before her Spiritual Power ispletely depleted."


    "Will she be alright by then?"


    "I''m hoping that she will, but I don''t really like working on such a tight margin."


    "Give me a number here."


    "One out of a hundred. I overestimated her adaptability."


    Yoruichi clicked her tongue, "That''s not just a tight margin..." She muttered until she found something strange in Benihime''s words, "Wait, adaptability? You''re not expelling it?"


    "Thanks to my and Kisuke''s utilization of her [Shadow], Ichibei''s power has been tightly woven into her soul which is the source of her ability, so much that it became impossible to separate the two."


    ''What the hell are these two doing?'' Yoruichi was speechless. She has so many questions like how Ichibei reached this ce and how Stralit used his [Naming] ability. However, this isn''t the time for that right now, "What do you need?"


    "The White Bone Hell if possible, but the hot spring in Kisuke''s hideout would suffice. If I can get away from removing impurities from her, I would be able to focus on adjustments."


    Yoruichi started rubbing her chin and muttered under her breath, "White Bone Hell, huh... Even with obfuscators, it would be suicidal to transport that through Etoulde territories."


    "I will allow you to use my secret channel to bring whatever you need."


    Yoruichi was pulled out of her thinking and turned to the source of the voice, the veiled woman.


    "I can guarantee your secrecy and security."

 Chapter 1312 Introductions

    Chapter 1312 Introductions


    Yoruichi was having a headache. She didn''t know if this was for better or for worse. However, she did realize Stralit''s immense importance to her mother, ''Now that it came to this, might as well go all the way. Thankfully, I can be sure that this youngdy would be on our side.''


    Yoruichi sighed and turned around again and while doing so, she removed the seal on her Reiatsu.


    "!?" "W-what!?" Corvina and Adrenna both took a step back from the sudden pressure that directly weighed down on their souls, "What''s happening!?" Thetter further eximed while the former made sure that this room didn''t allow any leakage.


    Out of nowhere, Yoruichi took out nine daggers and stuck them on the floor around Stralit. The handle of the daggers then lit up with a soft blue light before they formed a nonagonal barrier around her target, "This can serve as your battery for now. How long can this extend your active time?"


    "Four more days. Don''t you have more?", replied Benihime.


    To that, Yoruichi could only scratch her head, "I bothered Kisuke to make these for me and it was originally created to amplify a single attack. These things aren''t just disposable but you also can''t normally use them repeatedly since it''ll kill you first before you could go for the second attack."


    She then turned around again and started walking away, "I''ll go get what you need so hang tight." And within a few steps, she soon came face to face with Corvina and went back to speaking hernguage, "I apologize for ignoring you earlier, Lady Corvina. Let me formally introduce myself."


    Yoruichi gestured the formal greeting for Etouldes by putting her left arm horizontally across her stomach. At the same time, her gray hair slowly turned ck and her skin returned to the normal dark tone. As her face warped back to her original one, she continued, "It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Yoruichi Shihouin."


    Corvina stared at her for a moment before parting back her veil to the side, revealing her pure pitch-ck eyes that seemed to absorb even the brightest light, and returned the formal gesture, "A pleasure to know you too, Yoruichi Shihouin. I''m Corvina Luxeux, the current head of the Luxeux n."Any normal person who stares at her eyes would momentarily lose their sanity, however, Yoruichi just smiled and went at ease without breaking eye contact, "Please let me say this first. I and those behind me don''t have any intention of bing your enemy."


    "Your words don''t hold any weight.", Corvina replied without her expression changing.


    Yoruichi, meanwhile, was neither disappointed nor offended, "That''s very clear to me so I''d like to work towards adding that weight. For starters, please let me take care of your daughter. I''ll make sure she''ll wake up healthy and with an added bonus too."


    Corvina obviously doesn''t trust Yoruichi fully. Nheless, there are no other alternatives, "What can I do for you?" Corvina asked because she couldn''t possibly be doing this out of the goodness of her heart and maybe her answer would shed some light to her rtionship with her daughter.


    "Nothing major. I just want you to take a look at something. And if possible, I''d like to know its owner."


    .


    .


    .


    It has been half an hour since Yoruichi left and Corvina has been staring at the vial containing a strand of hair made out of Spiritual Power and deeply within her thoughts.


    A few minutester, her trusted aide, Adrenna returned, "I''m back mdy. I''m sorry but our scouts lost her as soon as she arrived in Hartagertle."


    Corvina ced the vial on the nearby table and asked, "What do you think of her?"


    "When she introduced herself as Yoruichi Shihouin, I think she was telling the truth. Because only then does it all make sense."


    Corvina stood up and approached the barrier surrounding Stralit and the mannequin known as Benihime, "I''m not asking about that. I''m talking about her spiritual ability."


    Adrenna is fully aware that her mistress has way better insight regarding spiritual abilities than her so she shouldn''t even be asking that question to her. But since Corvina did, she was not hallucinating when Yoruichi erected the barrier earlier.


    "First of all, those daggers already vited the Etoulde''s [Sacred Soul Act]. It''s a technology we don''t have and are not allowed to develop. If those strict old men find this out, they''ll hunt her until the ends of the universe.


    "Second, the way she uses Spiritual Power by releasing it in a pressurized form and shaping it through her will is radically different from any Etoulde who uses their spiritual ability by shaping their power within their souls first and releasing it to the world. I tried doing it myself but my body was almost injured by an iplete attempt. If I released it to the same degree as her, I would, undoubtedly, instantly die."


    "It''s an archaic way of utilizing Spiritual Power and its efficiency is extremely bad," Corvina added.


    "That is also what I was thinking. It wasn''t just dangerous but also very draining. I can''t understand why she''d opt for that method even though she''s sessful. She must already have an idea on how the Etoulde uses theirs and be capable of imitating a portion of it." Adrenna continued, ''After all, as long as you can feel and manipte Spiritual Power to a certain degree, you could easily learn how to use it from public knowledge among the Etouldes.''


    Corvina didn''t say anything else.


    Adrenna was correct to think that Corvina has better insight than her because if not, she''d also be as nervous as Corvina is now, ''Its efficiency is bad, yes... But that method of releasing a pressurized Spiritual Power might just be a method of extending one''s soul domain. And when one can extend their domain outside of their body... ridiculous [Ideas] could be realized now that the vessel is not a limitation any more.''


    Although these utilizations are vastly different, the majority of people who''de across this won''t even notice the difference thanks to their not-so-urate senses andcking experience. Even then, Corvina couldn''t help but sigh in frustration. If she''s guessing it right, the man who saved Stralit from Aurelius was the owner of Benihime, Kisuke Urahara.


    ''I know it''s not easy to notice but to think that even Gren would miss this? Or is he just keeping it a secret for Stralit? Then what about Alicia? Chances are they didn''t really notice and thought of it as a strange pressuring ability.''


    Corvina walked back and instructed Adrenna, "Take the vial and find its owner. Be careful. The Enfers are moving suspiciously these days. Just focus on looking for its owner and don''t even try digging into what they are doing. And call Gren back while you''re at it."


    "What about Yoruichi?"


    "She''s too dangerous so I''ll be taking care of her personally."

 Chapter 1313 Crowded Hot Springs part 1

    Chapter 1313 Crowded Hot Springs part 1


    Yoruichi went through the 13th portal on the way back to Draconic Deus when she felt one of her terminals ring and when she looked at it, she saw the name of their biggest customer, "It''s very rare for you to contact me without reaching the checkpoint first. Are you that worried?"


    [This is already the second time that my mark on her went off. The first time, I was able to send Kisuke Urahara to her side, but this time, she was within her n''s influence, and even after a while, the rm wouldn''t stop. You''ve met her, correct? What happened to her? And why is she still on the verge of death?] Yoruichi heard Seraselbes'' not-so-malmer voice from the other side.


    While in transit, Yoruichi already came to the decision to bepletely honest with her, ''There''s no point in letting this problem fester and turn her hostile against us. It''ll hurt now, but it''ll only get better from here on.''


    "Before I exin anything, I first would like to apologize on behalf of Kisuke. It was his fault that Stralit was put in danger."


    [...Exin.]


    "Hmm... Where do I start..." Yoruichi found a random t rock and sat down on it, "Kisuke provoked a pretty terrifying guy."


    .


    .


    .It almost took Yoruichi half an hour to fully exin in detail what Kisuke had been doing that she heard from Tenjirou while also piecing together what actually happened between Ichibei and him when she saw the former suddenly appear in front of Stralit.


    [In short, Kisuke Urahara used his connection with her as bait to lure this ''unkible'' Ichibei Hyousube into a trap where his sword could deal with him?]


    "That, I think, was the n he came up with."


    [And in the process, Stralit was dragged to a fight she has nothing to do with and is now on the verge of death with only a spirit maintaining her life until she can recover on her own?]


    "...That''s the gist of it."


    After that, there was silence for a few minutes. Yoruichi also stayed silent but she''s starting to get worried. While she has been in contact with her for a while, she knows nothing about her aside from her being Stralit''s best friend. She has some ideas regarding her personality, but that''s only on the surface level.


    Thankfully, she finally responded after five minutes had psed, [What are you nning to do now?]


    Yoruichi sighed in relief and was surprised that she didn''t outright rage, "You can see the gates I''m using, right? I''m returning to Draconic Deus to get a few things to ensure her full recovery. However, those things emit Spiritual Power that could be detected by the Etouldes so I''m using their Matriarch''s secret channel on my return trip."


    [I see. Is there anything I can do from my side to help?]


    "If there''s something, I can''t think of it right now. But I''ll keep you posted on the progress."


    [I will be waiting for the good news.]


    Yoruichi thought that Seraselbes was going to hang up but just as she was about to hit the end call button, Yoruichi shuddered at a sudden cold voice, [And tell your lover that I''ll be remembering this.]


    With the familiar beeping sound of disconnection, Yoruichi couldn''t immediately keep the terminal as she wiped the cold sweat that was running down her forehead, "Whew... Even though she''s not here, her threatening will could still affect me. I guess there''s a reason why the Etouldes mostly lose the worlds they contest with Evies."


    And after a long time of looking into Seraselbes specifically, Yoruichi has reasons to believe that she''s actually the strongest Evie in terms of power scale.


    Fortunately for the Etouldes, Seraselbes don''t actively invade worlds and only stay behind the rear.


    "Alright!" Yoruichi stood up and stretched her arms upward, "The current priority is to heal the little princess and stop the robot empress from rampaging. I can''t mess this up."


    .


    .


    .


    A few dayster, Yoruichi returned to the Ouroboros Academy and she went straight to the newly built ryoukan.


    Since Yoruichi was already expecting this, she was not surprised, ''It''s a little bitrger than I initially thought, though?''


    What she didn''t expect, however, was the poprity of the hot springs, not the normal hot springs, but the White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell, "What are you guys doing?"


    Tenjirou seemed to be busy at the moment so she peeked at the women''s bath of the White Bone Hell and saw Loki, Freya, Hestia, Hephaestus, Artemis, Demeter, Kali, and some girls from Draconic Deus like Aika, Bennia, Nyx, and Valerie, "Isn''t this very cramped?"


    "Ah! Yoruichi! You''re back!" Loki gleefully greeted her, "What are those clothes doing? Take it off and hop in."


    "No. I''m not dipping in. I''m just curious why there are so many of you here." Yoruichi looked around and turned to the right side where the Blood Pond Hell is which was only divided by a wall, ''Runeas Gremory and Lilith of Bible is even here? I didn''t think this ce would be this attractive.''


    Although looking at the members, Yoruichi could understand how they could withstand the hotspring, ''The Dungeon Deities are technically spirits despite possessing physical bodies and the other four have strong affinities with souls and Spiritual Power.''


    "We''re just here before they started requiring admission fees and limitations," Freya answered while scooping water with her hand and dripping it on her shoulder.


    ''Admission fee?'' Yoruichi asked herself, ''Well, considering the situation, Tenjirou would be overworked if they didn''t require it.''


    "This is still better than the men''s side.", Hephaestus added while taking a sip of alcohol,"That side has be a dumb contest. The owner of this ce had to pull half-dead bodies out of the water."


    "...Yeah... That sounds dumb. Is this why Tenjirou is busy?" Yoruichi muttered under her breath while turning her head towards Hephaestus. Since thetter was facing sideways towards her, Yoruichi didn''t immediately notice, "Hold on, Hephaestus. Your eye..."


    Hephaestus turned her head towards her with a big smile, "I owe the owner for this one." Her previously scarred face was now cured, revealing her beautiful gem-like golden eyes.


    Yoruichi grinned, "I see. The number of men going after you will inevitably shoot up."


    Hephaestus just chuckled while lifting her cup, "Then they can have my hammer to their faces."

 Chapter 1314 Crowded Hot Springs part 2

    Chapter 1314 Crowded Hot Springs part 2


    After talking for a bit with the girls, Yoruichi barged into the men''s bath without any shame, "Tenjirou! Leave these guys alone. I need you to work on something for me..." However, her voice slowly trailed off in shock. Naturally, it is not because of the naked men as she didn''t care in the slightest about that. It is the sheer number that is currently dipping themselves, "They said it''s cramp here, but I seriously underestimated that statement."


    With just a single nce, Yoruichi could tell that there are at least 20 people right now in the White Bone Hell and a quick scan of what''s beyond the wall told her that there are at least 10 people in the Blood Pond Hell.


    Not just that, Tenjirou is dragging Loup Garou and Balberith to the side where Riser Phenex, Hercules, Ouryuu Nakiri, Bova Tannin, Bikou and Genshirou are already lying unconscious with their skin burnt. The only silver lining to their shameful appearance is that their genitals are covered with a small towel.


    "Yoruichi? You''re back." Tenjirou carelessly throws the two people at his hand while also tossing them some towels, "What do you need?"


    Yoruichi didn''t immediately reply and looked around further. He ignored those who were chilling within the water and focused her attention on those who were obviously struggling to shield their souls, "These bastards..." She realized something, "So it wasn''t just some dumb contest."


    "You can say that again." Tenjirou sighed in exasperation, "These crazy bastards are using the hot spring to train against spiritual attacks even if they are risking their lives for it. Is this normal here?"


    Yoruichi kept her mouth shut. She didn''t want to admit that this culture of training until you''re about to die, propagated from their group, ''It was effective though. Also made everyone resistant to mental attacks.''


    The men also noticed Yoruichi''s presence and although they wanted to greet her, they didn''t bother her when she started talking to Tenjirou and only perked up their ears.


    Tenjirou naturally knew what these guys were here for so he gestured to Yoruichi to get out while yelling back, "You guys should already know what it looks like when one is about to die. Handle it yourselves." Then followed Yoruichi outside.Yoruichi went outside of the ryokan and put up a small barrier the moment Tenjirou approached, "You know why those guys are here, right? The kids are probably training and testing themselves but those old geezers are here to observe you."


    "You don''t have to remind me and they aren''t really hiding their intention. I only allowed it because I can study them up close. Kurotsuchi would have a field day if he''s here." Yoruichi answered, "But enough about that. What do you need?"


    "White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell on the go."


    Tenjirou''s jaw almost cked, "...Are you mistaking this a restaurant?"


    "I''ll give you the information about another race that can use Spiritual Power effectively and rival those at home."


    Tenjirou stopped for a moment before scratching his head while sighing, "When do you need it?"


    "As soon as possible."


    "It''ll take about two days toplete and you''ll have to provide the container."


    "That''s long."


    "Making it portable adds variousplexities to the bnce and effectiveness."


    "I see. I''ll wait for it."


    "And I want the treatment data."


    Yoruichi thought about it for a moment before saying her own condition, "I don''t want it leaving your hand. Spare me from Kurotsuchi having it."


    "That''s what I intended to do from the start."


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi settled a few more details with Tenjirou before she made her way towards Koneko''s room. Unlike before there are no more barriers impeding anyone from entering. As soon as she knocked on the door, it opened with Kuroka happily greeting her, "Yoruichi! Where did you go, nya?"


    "Just a short trip. How''s Koneko?"


    "She just went back to sleep but she already woke up the other day, nya. Tenjirou guy said that she just needs plenty of rest because she''s very drained stamina-wise."


    It was then that Yoruichi recalled that it was Kirio who restored everyone''s energy after Tenjirou''s treatment. Without her here, it''s going to take some time for Koneko to naturally recover, "That''s great. But remember, you''re also very drained. Now that Koneko is safe, take care of yourself more."


    "Medusa and the others told me that... But I''d like to stay up for a bit more until I''m sure that Shirone''s recovering well."


    Yoruichi sighed and smiled wryly. She knew that there was no point in telling more of it to this worried cat, "I''d like to say eat well, but it''s hard to find food that directly recovers your spiritual strength. Maybe I''ll get something when Ie back."


    "You''re leaving again?"


    Yoruichi nodded, "Imissioned Tenjirou to make something for me so I''ll be waiting for that. But once that''s done, I''m leaving immediately."


    "It''s not dangerous, is it?"


    "I won''t lie to you. It''s quite dangerous but it''s still within the eptable risk."


    Kuroka frowned, "The eptable risk is still proportional to the reward. That still doesn''t tell me how dangerous that is."


    "You don''t have to worry about it... That is what I''d like to say, but that won''t reassure you or the others."


    "Then take somebody with you, nya. Do you really have to do it alone?"


    Yoruichi nodded, "The risk is way less when I move alone and I''m not saying that because I don''t trust your abilities."


    "Is it because we''re much more needed here?" Kuroka asked, "But it''s not even that hectic here. Surely, you can take someone, nyaa."


    "That''s right. You guys are much more needed here. You''ve seen what happened to Koneko when you guys let your guard down. And if you think it''s not hectic, it''s because the heat hasn''t reached the surface yet. Even with my limited ability to gather information on the other side, I could see so many people eyeing this world for multiple reasons."


    "...Multiple reasons, is it?"


    "The existence of beings that are on the same level as the Gods of Evies and Etouldes and the fact that this world is connected to many others are two of those." Yoruichi started walking towards the door after peeking at the sleeping Koneko for onest time, "You should rest too. Now that the others know that Kisuke is about to return, things are about to turn up another notch. You know the guy, he''d mess with them as soon as it''s convenient for him."


    Yoruichi was about to close the door when she remembered something and added, "By the way, I''m not alone. How do you think I''m gathering information?"

 Chapter 1315 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 1

    Chapter 1315 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 1


    Yoruichi didn''t exin much to Kuroka and went towards the director''s office where Sona, Medusa, and Riveria were neck-deep in the paperwork and data analysis jobs, "Yo, what''s all of this?"


    The three of them simultaneously looked at her entrance and Sona, the one in the middle beckoned her toe in.


    As soon as the door behind Yoruichi closed, Sona sighed while the other two silently returned to their work, "We might have picked up the traces of the Sky Prime Ruler, Rugatimu."


    "Rugatimu... Regalzeva''s second inmand?" Yoruichi muttered while rubbing her chin, "The situation isn''t ideal, but we already expected this. He might be on Super Devil or even above level but their goal is upation and not destruction. After entering the barrier, he''ll probablyy low for a while."


    Sona clenched her fists, "It''s fine if it''s only that..."


    Yoruichi instantly frowned seeing her reaction, "What''s wrong?"


    "We''re still not sure if it''s indeed his traces that we found but the problem isn''t the traces itself... It''s where we found them. The Dungeon World."


    Yoruichi''s eyes went wide open in shock and she slowly approached Sona, "Are you serious?"


    "...I already sent Akeno, Irina, Le Fay, and Rossweisse to investigate."Yoruichi took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She wanted to go too because if this is real, this means that another pathway was created to the Dungeon World and important assets that they moved to that world became open to risks. Furthermore, the world they thought could serve as their safe haven suddenly became part of the frontlines.


    The problem doesn''t just end there as this would also mean that the Evies have the ability topromise all the subspaces or pocketworld that''s within the Dimensional Gap without using the Earth as the bridge. Whether the factions like it or not, secret and secure enemy channels could be built without their knowledge, ''No... If this was true, then there''s probably already a fully operational enemywork out there.''


    "What''s your n?"


    "We''re moving while assuming that we''ll lose control of the people passing through our gate in the immediate future."


    "I see... Even though other factions can''t get this information, starting a rumor that there''s another gate towards the Dungeon World would benefit the Evies so I''m imagining that it''s only a matter of time."


    Yoruichi is trying to think of a solution but nothing good ising to her mind except for one and she''s sure that Sona has already thought of it, "Are you nning to partially abandon the Dungeon World?"


    Sona leaned back and looked up to the ceiling, "At this point, that''s the only choice we have. I''ll be asking Rossweisse and Hestia-sama''s help to create a Sanctuary that is far from the Dungeon entrances and move our important assets there. And while they are preparing that, Riveria will be detaching the gate from the ind and toss it in the middle of the Pacific for others to take and do whatever they want."


    "Ah... That''s understandable." Yoruichi nodded in agreement, "I can already imagine idiots using this to undermine your authority. And by freely opening the gate for everyone, it''ll prevent the same idiots from doing whatever they want in that world." She then turned to Riveria busy analyzing the blueprints of the gate, "Is that fine with you, Riveria?"


    Riveria nodded, "Those guys are not kids and even if they want to wreak havoc, thezy and bored Deities would finally have something to do... But I''m telling you now, those Deities could also form rtionships with these Evies and Etouldes. We won''t know how they''ll react to this."


    But even with solid ns ahead, it still doesn''t change the fact that they lost their footing and had to take many stepbacks.


    "By the way, do you need anything?" Sona asked Yoruichi.


    "I was going to ask Le Fay and Rossweisse a favor but this clearly is more urgent so I won''t bother them."


    "But don''t you need it?"


    "I do. I want to save my cards as much as possible, but I guess the timing isn''t right. I''ll deal with it myself."


    "You''re expecting a confrontation?"


    "I''m hoping that it won''t reach that degree but I doubt they could hold back." Yoruichi turned around, "Don''t worry about me, and if you can, try sending Kisuke a message regarding this. He''s moving another world into the vicinity so it would be great if he could make a countermeasure against these intrusions."


    .


    .


    .


    Three dayster, Yoruichi was waiting for the Luxeux contact while staying on another inhabitable. Thankfully she didn''t have to wait for too long and soon got the confirmation and instructions to reach the Luxeux home.


    "Hmmm... The same method as Seraselbes'', huh? Well, there are countless inhabitables out there that can be used as jump points so it''s not really surprising." Yoruichimented after reading through the instructions, "Besides, only those who have considerable power and wealth are capable of this."


    But before she left, Yoruichi first checked her belongings. As she had expected, even locked behind a pocket of space, Tenjirou''s hot spring waters still emitted Spiritual Power that made her look like a light bulb to the sensitive enough Etouldes. That''s how potent his hotspring that''s capable of bringing an almost thoroughly mangled soul back in one piece.


    Next is that she took another terminal and sent two separate short messages, [Get ready.] and [Interfere as soon as they move.]


    Yoruichi went through several gates and it took her around half a day of careful navigation to reach Streuwei, the Luxeux'' home, or so she thought. The moment she stepped into thest gate, she was greeted by the same absolute darkness that messed with her senses.


    Yoruichi stood still for a few seconds before a familiar voice resounded on her right, "Over here."


    Without any hesitation, she started walking in that direction and soon reached the same ordinary metal door. Yoruichi could feel something going through her but she didn''t mind it and just kept waiting in front of the door.


    It would seem that the operator of the room was satisfied after a few scans and opened the door, revealing the matriarch, her aide, and Stralit under Benihime''s influence.


    "I can indeed feel a strange strain of Spiritual Power from you. Is that what you''re going to use to treat her?" asked the matriarch curiously.


    "Yep. Just watch."

 Chapter 1316 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 2

    Chapter 1316 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 2


    Yoruichi immediately secured Stralit and Benihime''s surroundings with her own barrier but before she started, she looked at Stralit while thinking, ''These guys sure are underestimating me. Were they certain that I wouldn''t notice this or just didn''t care? Haaahh... Either way, a confrontation is unavoidable now. I should at least get some names for my request.''


    Yoruichi turned around and said to the distant veiled woman and her aide, "I''m starting. Whatever happens, please don''t approach."


    She didn''t wait for their reply and took out a cylinder ss tank of crystal clear steaming water just big enough for one person.


    Benihime didn''t need to wait for Yoruichi''s instruction and for the first time ever since arriving in this ce, she started moving Stralit''s body and dunked her into the water after cutting away all of her clothes.


    Corvina and Adrenna both frowned at the sight of their princess'' naked body but didn''t say anything and carefully observed what was happening.


    Benihime''s careless movement sshed some of the water out of its ss container which prompted Yoruichi to say, "Be careful. This is all I have."


    Adrenna went towards the terminal that monitors the condition of the room and started reading through the data that was streaming into it in real time.


    [So what is it?] Corvina asked through the previously established telepathic link after letting Adrenna inspect it for a minute.


    Adrenna couldn''t immediately answer. Her audible gulp surprised Corvina and made her ask again, [Adrenna, what''s wrong?][Ah... I apologize. I''m just confirming if what I''m seeing is true.] Adrenna rekindled her focus, [That unknown substance contains a very massive amount of Spiritual Power. So much so that it won''t be strange to think if that''s the materialization of Spiritual Power itself.]


    [...Our scanners are functioning properly, yes?] Corvina had no choice but to take her eyes off Stralit and took a peek at the terminal, [How is that possible? I can feel a substantive amount of Spiritual Power from it but far from what you''re describing.]


    [There''s no doubt. Its appearance is deceiving. But even after looking through it, I still can''t figure out what it''s trying to do. Is she trying to mend her body by injecting Spiritual Power directly into the young miss?]


    Naturally, even Corvina couldn''t easily answer that and returned her sight to her daughter. However, she was sure that her aide''s assumption was wrong. Very wrong in fact.


    At each passing moment, Corvina''s frown grew deeper and deeper as she slowly realized what''s happening. Exactly five minutes after Stralit was submerged in the crystal clear water and saw that various parts of her skin started to scald she finally figured out what was going on, "...Could it be!?"


    As Corvina loudly muttered in shock, she returned her sights towards the monitoring screen and looked for the exact values that would answer her questions, [There''s no mistake...]


    Adrenna only kept quiet and waited for the continuation of her words.


    [That unknown substance is melting away Stralit''s soul and body.]


    [!? Then shouldn''t we stop her!?]


    It was at this same moment that Yoruichi took around a container that seemed to be filled with blood and without any dy in movements, Benihime transferred Stralit into this container in one fell swoop.


    Thanks to the previous knowledge that she could use as reference, Corvina could easily see what this one is doing now, ''This time, it''s replenishing those lost parts.''


    She stopped Adrenna who was about tounch herself and said, [Let''s watch for now. My daughter is not yet in danger. And make sure that you record everything that''s happening down to the smallest detail. I''d like to review themter.]


    [...Should I export it to a secure data bank?]


    Corvina looked at Adrenna and went silent for a few seconds before nodding, [Please.]


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi wiped the sweat off her forehead as Benihime and she had to repeat the process of dipping Stralit into the two hot springs. While Benihime was the one controlling the timings of how long Stralit should be in each hot spring, it was Yoruichi who was filtering the gunk that was being left behind as Tenjirou instructed her, especially within the White Bone Hell, ''It''s really a wonder how he was doing this nonstop and for multiple people at a time.''


    Another thing that was heavily contributing to Yoruichi''s mental fatigue was her constant watch of every movement within the room. Although she gave them a reminder not to interfere, Yoruichi did not have even an ounce of trust in them. Case in point, she felt Adrenna''s intention to interfere on the first cycle.


    Three hours in and only half of the hot springs are left, Yoruichi asked Benihime, [Benihime, do you think this girl could wake up?]


    [Impossible. Her mind instinctively shut down to protect it from the erosion of Hyousube''s power. It made my work so much easier but she won''t be waking up any time soon.]


    [Seriously? I''ll have to leave you alone then.]


    [It''s fine. I can''t really leave that man''s power uncontrolled in her hands anyway. Kisuke probably would also like to see what will happen to an Etoulde once he or she gains Shinigami Arts.]


    [That''s true... But you''re treading a very dangerous path.]


    [I know that... But isn''t this how we always do things?]


    [...Fair point.]


    [And that bastard overworked me in our home world so let me mooch off this rich kid for a while.]


    Yoruichi froze for a little bit before replying, [That''s the real reason, isn''t it?]


    Benihime didn''t give an answer.


    .


    .


    .


    At the five-hour mark, the hot springs have already lost most of their effects but Benihime''s cuts and stitches have also stopped appearing, signifying the end of the treatment.


    Benihime lifted Stralit up out of the ss container for onest time before returning to her cane appearance.


    Yoruichi instantly moved to catch her and took out arge towel to wrap her with it before passing her to Adrenna who already ran over to them.


    Adrenna also took out more towels and nkets while drying Stralit with Magic. Although she tried to be discreet, it didn''t escape Yoruichi''s notice that Adrenna took some samples of both White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell. But Yoruichi responded as if she didn''t notice a thing.


    "What about this, sword? Cane?"


    "Take it. I won''t be able to separate them.", answered Yoruichi while cleaning up, taking everything that she took out back in, including the gunk that resulted from the treatment, "You can artificially inject her with Spiritual Power to replenish her stamina but I wouldn''t rmend that. Instead, wait for her to wake up and feed her all the Spiritual Power-rich food you can provide her."


    Adrenna picked up Benihime while slowly distancing herself from Yoruichi.


    Once Yoruichi was done, she turned to Corvina and said, "I fulfilled my part. It''s your turn."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1317 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 3

    Chapter 1317 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 3


    Corvina was already prepared and tossed a small terminal towards Yoruichi''s direction, "It was easy to figure out which n it came from with an avable sample at hand. What took time, however, was searching for possible member presence within the vicinity of the Draconic Deus."


    While listening to her, Yoruichi also took a look at the terminal and summarized the document she was presented, ''Qira n. A nomad n that roams through the whole Etoulde territory and experts of poison-type spiritual abilities. They are under the direct orders of the Holy Family but their members would sometimes take an outsidemission under the table.''


    Yoruichi couldn''t help but click her tongue, ''This is going to be harder than I thought.'' In addition to the document about the Qira n, there''s also a note at the bottom of it, ''To cure their poison, one has to use the antidote from their members. As there are multiple types of poisons, getting the antidote from the attacker will yield better chances of sess. If one can''t find any of its members, the alternative is a soul surgery which can only be done legally if performed within the Holy City with an redited Spirit Doctor and at least three witnesses from the Etoulde High Court.''


    ''What the heck is this?'' Yoruichi asked herself after reading that note, ''I wasn''t sure at first since it''s hard to find relevant records but could it be that their technology regarding souls is even more primitive than that of Soul Society?''


    If that''s really the case, then Yoruichi just dug her own pitfall, ''From all the data I''ve gathered and this note, I can be pretty sure that research about souls and their link to spiritual abilities are banned or a taboo. Is it to protect the sanctity of their unique abilities? If so, I just showed them something very illegal and something that vites their moral code. F*ck.''


    As if confirming her thoughts, Yoruichi heard a metal clicking sound and when she turned around, she saw Adrenna cing a thick metallic cor around Stralit''s neck and as soon as it locked, the leaking Spiritual Power from her immediately disappeared. Yoruichi knew the significance of Adrenna sealing Stralit''s Spiritual Power, ''You don''t have to do that. Benihime won''t be able to act without the girl calling her name.''


    Nevertheless, she still has to try to settle things peacefully. Yoruichi turned back to Corvina while reorienting her body towards the door, "Now that I''m done here, I''ll be taking my leave. I won''t bother you anymore but I''d like you to give me a call when the girl wakes up for further checks."


    But as soon as she took a single step, Yoruichi noticed that her shadow started moving and formed a tiny cage surrounding her in an instant, "...I knew I''d been rude, but I still saved your daughter. Isn''t this too much?"


    "I don''t care about your etiquette and am truly grateful for your help and saving my daughter, however, as a head of the Luxeux n and a part of the Etoulde race, I just can''t ignore what happened.""Such as?"


    "Please don''t act ignorant. While new, you''ve been dealing with information business so even though you''re from Draconic Deus, you should already have some idea of the gravity of your actions just now."


    Yoruichi was silent for a moment and seemingly waited for Adrenna and Stralit to take some distance from her, "I''m ignorant, alright. But even if I''m aware, I don''t think your codes apply to me? Draconic Deus is not part of your territory nor I''m an Etoulde. So why should I answer to your governing body? And isn''t this done in secrecy? Couldn''t you just let me go and pretend that nothing of this happened?"


    Corvina was silent for a moment and considered Yoruichi''s words and the fact that she saved her daughter even though she had a feeling it was her group''s fault that something like that happened to Stralit in the first ce, "I apologize, but it''s not something I could ignore."


    Yoruichi''s poker face turned into a frown. She was about to force her way out when all of a sudden, Corvina started moving and took out her personal terminal and the moment she pressed its screen, a holographic image of a pretty woman with deep dark red hair and eyes of the same color, [Good day to you, Luxeux matriarch. It has been a while.]


    Corvina frowned, "Gwenn Yarwood... I would like to know how you got my personal contact, but I''m quite busy right now and won''t be able to entertain you."


    [I apologize for the sudden contact. I pestered my father nonstop for a few days to talk to you.]


    "I understand, but whatever it is, it''s inconvenient for me right now."


    [Because of Yoruichi, isn''t it? She showed you something amazing and you now see her as a threat.]


    Adrenna was stunned and Corvina''s frown grew deeper. Thetter was silent for a few seconds before replying, "It would seem that you''re here to vouch for her."


    With a big smile, Gwenn nodded, [That''s exactly what I''m here for.]


    "You of all people should know how dangerous this is."


    [Of course. But confining her would just dy the problem. You do know that there''s another person like her within Draconic Deus, right?]


    "But that doesn''t change the fact that she''s roaming around with that kind of technology and abilities. As long as we''re not sure that the Evies won''t be able to replicate this, we can''t let her go."


    At that point, Yoruichi finally understood Corvina''s concerns. She was not worried that Yoruichi is going to be hostile towards her and might cause her irreparable damage but the possibility of her falling into another influence, more notably, the Evies, ''I see. She thinks that I shouldn''t be running around when I look like a piece of meat surrounded by predators.''


    [Which is why I''m here to request you to let her go if you think she''s strong enough to protect herself.]


    "..." Corvina went silent once again.


    But Gwenn didn''t wait for her answer and raised her voice, [Yoruichi, you can hear me right? I''m sorry but this is all I can do. If you want to convince this madam, just go ballistic. That''s more of hernguage anyway.]


    Under the veil, Corvina was smiling. But when Adrenna saw that, she shuddered because her smile didn''t reach her eyes, "Are you perhaps implying that I''m violent?"


    Even Gwenn in a different location couldn''t help but be nervous, [Of course not. I''m just giving regard to the brightest star that decimated millions of Evies in a war a few hundred cycles ago all by herself. I figured that you''d rest easy once it''s proven that she won''t be captured by just anyone.]


    ''I guess the conditions have been set. Well, I''m also curious about the Luxeux [Quasar].'' Yoruichi sighed and for the first time since she started exploring the Evie Etoulde side, she released all her seals, instantly flooding the whole room with her suffocating Spiritual Pressure and crushing the cage made out of shadows that''s surrounding her.

 Chapter 1318 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 4

    Chapter 1318 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 4


    The gush of Spiritual Power originating from a few points of Yoruichi''s body transformed into an almost tangible force. This force weighed down directly on everyone''s souls and instantly broke several seals that protected the room from outside influence.


    "So she can release this much... Have you seen this?" Corvina calmly asked Gwenn while gesturing to Adrenna to shield Stralit and herself in the corner.


    [Yes, but the same as the first time, I''m still in awe now that I''m seeing it again.] Gwenn replied with her eyes shining.


    Corvina nced at Gwenn for a few seconds before returning her sights to Yoruichi, "I see. And what did you see back then? Knowing you from the stories I heard from your father, you probably kept this a secret because it''s interesting, right?"


    [...I don''t know what that nosy old man told you, but you''re partially correct.]


    And while they were talking, Yoruichi finally fully released her seals, giving her ess to her entire strength, "Shunkou, Raijin Senkei(sh War Cry, Thunder God Battle Form)."


    Corvina and Adrenna''s eyes went wide and the both of them hurriedly dived into their shadows, escaping the vicinity.


    The next instant, arge column of lightning engulfed the whole room, eradicating it down to its foundation.


    A few secondster, Corvina, Adrenna, and the unconscious Stralit reappeared a few kilometers away. Since the security features of the room were already broken before Yoruichipletely exploded, they were able to travel through the shadows. And even though they managed to get away, they still could see therge column of lightning that pierced through the sky and could feel the immense pressure she was releasing that no normal being could stand up against.[...A radically different way of Spiritual Power utilization.] Gwenn''s voice rang out from Corvina''s terminal, [I''ve seen it twice but I still can''t believe that something like this is possible. It wasn''t just absurd, it waspletely idiotic, inefficient, and frankly speaking, suicidal. If an Etoulde tried that method, their own Spiritual Power would burn them to a crisp before they could even make use of it. Of course, I''ll keep this a secret! Forget about exining it to anyone, I''llpletely lose my reputation if I even alluded to this fantasy-like situation!]


    Having to listen to Gwenn''s rant while watching Yoruichi emerge from the disappearing column of lightning with a circle of dense electrical energy behind her, Corvina replied, "Now that I see it too, perhaps you can now tell me what you''re seeing?"


    [There seems to be gateways that allow her to release her Spiritual Power like this on her wrists which is probably directly connected to her soul.]


    "What a surprise to hear that from you. Probably?"


    [Her Spiritual Power is moving too fast for my eyes to see anything clearly. I can''t even estimate the amount of Spiritual Power she has but if I were to guess, just a bit less than yours.]


    "Hooh?" Corvina let out an impressed tone as there are only a few among the many Etouldes that match her in terms of Spiritual Power.


    [Not just that, she''s also utilizing Ki which, I''m just guessing, is what''s keeping her body intact.]


    "Is that clever or her just forcing it to use Spiritual Power this way?"


    [That I can''t make an assessment. These two types of energies are intricately woven together so it must be doing something more. As I''ve said, I''m just guessing and to add, trying to make sense of what I''m actually seeing.]


    Yoruichi was looking around, observing her surroundings. Corvina knew that she wouldn''t be attacking immediately because instead of her home, they were actually on apletely different one. A rocky and barren perfect for hiding things underground, ''That room and Shadow Gate was an expensive investment and it was destroyed just like that.''


    "So I just have to block her wrists topletely stop her?"


    [Nope. If it was that simple, then there''s no way she''d be doing this. Besides, I''m still trying to figure out how she''s manifesting this phenomenon. It''spletely opposite of how we-]


    At this moment, however, Yoruichi is done observing and suddenly appears in front of Corvina via a bolt of lightning.


    "!?" Corvina jumped back but the speed that Yoruichi showed was unexpected so she couldn''tpletely dodge and could only cover her skin with her shadow.


    With a fist containing dense lightning, Yoruichi burnt Corvina''s shadow itself and sent her flying back while also obliterating the terminal in her hand.


    Yoruichi didn''t immediately follow up and instead asked, "Still not convinced?"


    The arms that Corvina used to block Yoruichi''s fist were scalded, nevertheless, it was not even a minor injury and her shadow soon regenerated to cover her skin, "Interesting and intriguing to say the least. However, still far from satisfactory."


    Yoruichi couldn''t feel Corvina''s Reiatsu like she normally would with other Spiritual Power users. The movements of her Spiritual Power were very subtle, almost to the point of perceiving it aspletely inactive. Even then, Yoruichi knew that something big wasing.


    She tried getting away, but the darkness was faster. It was already toote for Yoruichi to realize that Corvina''s shadow extended all around her, painting her entire world ck. Much worse, Yoruichi was actually already acquainted with this darkness, ''How the hell could she just explode like this!? This is cheating!'' Yoruichi internally screamed as she tried regaining her senses back but to no avail. It was the same darkness that she went through to reach the secured room, but this time, the guide was actively trying to harm her.


    Yoruichipletely underestimated Corvina after seeing Stralit and Gren''s files and how they use their [Shadows].


    ''She might be a monster on the cusp of reaching Transcendence.''

 Chapter 1319 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 5

    Chapter 1319 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 5


    Yoruichi could still tell where''s the up and down but nothing else. This inadvertently reminded her of Tousen Kaname''s Bankai, Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma K��rogi (Bell Bug Closing Ceremony: Field Cricket) with an ability to create a vacuum that nullifies the senses of spiritual energy, sight, sound, and scent.


    ''Thankfully, it''s not as potent as Tousen''s ability.'' Yoruichi thought to herself after figuring out that her senses weren''t actually blocked. Although even if it''s as potent as Tousen''s Bankai, Yoruichi already developed a technique to deal with situations like that.


    While finding her bearing, a tiny electric spark extended out from her back and Yoruichi hurriedly stepped to the side. The next instant, an invisible de went through the spot where she was just standing.


    Corvina, who was hiding within the darkness, was surprised that she was able to dodge and sent more shadow des toward her direction in addition to ejecting spikes from her feet.


    But before the des could reach her, tiny sparks of electricity would fly off from Yoruichi''s body, striking the des. It didn''t do any damage to the des nor did anything to stop or deflect them. But strangely enough, Yoruichi would turn in their direction and dodge them with ease.


    Even the spikes that emerged under her feet were rendered useless as Yoruichi would move at any tiny indication that it would produce, ''She can somehow read the movement of my shadow?''


    Corvina kept sending remote attacks towards Yoruichi while also trying to figure out how she was detecting her surroundings.


    It was because of that that she didn''t immediately notice why the tiny sparks from her were slowly extending out and the moment it reached her position and slightly pricked her feet she had a eureka moment. However, it was already toote. The instant it happened, Yoruichi also turned in her direction with arge smirk, and with her explosive speed, she instantly arrived in front of Corvina, "Found you~!"


    ''Electrostatic charges.'' Corvina guessed the true nature of the detection ability Yoruichi was using while also boosting her defenses. But instead of being annoyed, Corvina smiled.Yoruichi threw her fist containing enough power to vaporize a High-ss Devil in an instant but soon the smirk on her face was wiped off when Corvina also threw out a fist, meeting her own.


    Corvina knew an Evie who had a simr ability in the past and she knew that she wouldn''t be able to hide from her. As a Luxeux who mostly excels in covert battles and ambushes, that Evie and several others that are good with detection and known as ''Assassin Killers'' were sent to eliminate the unit she''s part of. It''s a sound strategy but it''s also the time when her name isn''t known yet. Those Evies didn''t know that the young Corvina is someone who likes to duke it out head-on.


    .


    .


    .


    A three-mile wide and two-mile tall pure ck dome was created the moment Corvina trapped Yoruichi with her. Adrenna already knew what would happen before this so she was able to retreat with Stralit far enough not to be caught in it. As Yoruichi''s oppressive and very overt Spiritual Power was also trapped along with her, Adrenna was able to sigh in relief and continued to check Stralit''s condition.


    A few secondster, however, her thoughts were interrupted, and loudly muttered, "As I suspected, you''re also here,dy Yarwood." She turned her head to the right and saw a young woman with deep red hair and eyes looking towards the dome, "How did you find this ce?"


    "Thanks to our fatal w as a society."


    "Fatal w?" Adrenna was not expecting that kind of dramatic answer at all and ended up repeating her words.


    "We developed our society while considering our prized Spiritual Abilities as the most important asset that we can''t have our enemies analyze. In the past few decades, it was discovered that a few races and even some Etouldes started cooperating with the Evies to create a Prime that''s capable of using Spiritual Abilities. That resulted in an extensive ban on any research on Spiritual Power unless you''re part of the Holy Family.


    "To keep our edge against the Evies, we focused on developing various techniques and devices that focus on the usage of Magic Power and Ki. And you know what we left out?"


    Adrenna could see where she was trying to say, "What''s uniquely yours, Spiritual Power? Are you saying that Yoruichi used Spiritual Power to create a beacon to lead you to this ce?"


    Gwenn turned to her with a smile, "Correct~! Due to how it was implemented, none of your sensors nor Corvina Luxeux noticed it."


    Adrenna swallowed a mouthful of saliva to ease her dry throat, ''We''re in a hidden world yet she was able to track this ce using Yoruichi''s signal... How did she do it?''


    Gwenn, meanwhile, approached the unconscious Stralit and started unlocking her cor.


    "Hold on! What are you doing!?" Adrenna tried stopping her but Gwenn intercepted her hand, "No worries. I just wanted to check her condition. Although I''m here to vouch for Yoruichi, that''s all I''ll do for her since that''s all I previously agreed to. Stralit is also my friend so I want to check if there are any hidden dangers."


    Adrenna hesitated for a moment but soon let go, "...Thank you. But be careful of the sword. It might manifest again."


    "It won''t. I''ve been looking and I think there''s a condition for its activation that requires the user to be conscious."


    While Gwenn is checking on Stralit, Adrenna''s eyes turned to the dome and her thoughts went back to Gwenn''s words, ''The Etouldes didn''t allow in-depth study of their Spiritual Power as a form of self-defense. But now that it''s not uniquely theirs anymore, it came to bite them back...''


    Once knowledge about Yoruichi bes more public, Adrenna doesn''t doubt that there''s going to be an upheaval through all the Etoulde territories. But when she reached this train of thought, she remembered something. It was when she''s doing her regr work and gathering information for Corvina. A small rumor said that the Holy Family will soon lift the ban of Spiritual Power research.


    It wasn''t too farfetched so both Corvina and her immediately dismissed the rumor as something unreliable, "Wait... Could it be the rumor about the Holy Family lifting the ban..."


    Without turning her head, Gwenn replied, "That''s what I thought too. Almost everyone was dismissing this but it seem like it''s going to be a good idea to have a head start."


    "...I see... So that''s why you''re cooperating with her."


    "I have a feeling that it won''t be a peaceful time," Gwenn muttered to herself.


    At this moment, the ck dome suddenly started shaking before a pir of light burst forth from it, dyeing the surroundings with its blinding color.

 Chapter 1320 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 6

    Chapter 1320 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 6


    The twobatants got close and it ended up a full-on barehanded fight.


    Yoruichi, with a small smile disyed on her face, was feeling the immense pressure that her opponent was giving her, ''My Shunko is already fullymitted but I can''t gain any ground at all.''


    On the contrary, she''s actually losing her edge because she has been going at her with full power, and the lightning dding her body that''s enough to melt almost anything is already damaging her body. On top of that, Corvina has these almost unpredictable shadow tentacles that would attack her at the most opportune times. While she could detect her and her shadow''s movements inplete darkness through electrostatic charges, Yoruichi was only able to block the fatal ones and smaller attacks started umting causing detrimental effects to her movement, ''And there''s not a change in her expression at all! I didn''t expect that she''s such a monster.''


    Yoruichi was really happy that she challenged her like this as this is the first time she managed to get baseline information of a prominent Etouldebatant.


    But different from how Yoruichi was thinking, Corvina was not as calm as she''s showing. With her deadpan expression, Corvina is hiding her nervousness, ''Someone like her came from Draconic Deus? Is this why the Holy Mother is keeping others away from that ce?''


    Unlike Yoruichi''s sharp and explosive attacks, Corvina''s movements are slower but a lot more flexible, making it possible to deflect most of the strength of her opponent. In addition to her unexpectedly hard shadow armor that protects her even from the heat of Yoruichi''s lightning, she was able to stand her ground against someone known for her closebat capabilities.


    Despite this apparent strength, under her armor of shadow were multiple burns that even charred some of her flesh, ''She''s strong... Not even Adrenna would be able to deal with her. And since her lightning is mostly made out of Spiritual Power, it could momentarily pierce through my shadow.''


    However, that''s not the most terrifying thing about her is the martial technique she''s using, ''Seriously, where did something like thise from?''


    Each hit that Yoruichi gives her rattles her soul directly. Since Spiritual Power came directly from the soul, it''s disrupting her ability and if she gets a direct hit, it could even directly hurt her soul, ''It''s easy to chalk this lightning up as her unique ability, but this martial technique could be learned! It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to call this an anti-Etoulde art!''Corvina also noticed that Yoruichi was fully capable of escaping from the barrier she created and the reason for her unwillingness to do this was, ''She''s also gauging me. If this technique was created tobat an Etoulde, she wouldn''t be testing me like this. That would mean that this was developed for a different purpose.''


    After a bit more contemtion, she figured that she''d be at a disadvantage in terms of information gathering as she didn''t have enough context to pull out any conclusions. So when she found a chance, Corvina met Yoruichi''s fist with her own, causing a huge explosion of power from both sides and forcing both of them to take distance.


    As soon as shended on her feet, Corvina asked, "Why not escape? You can do it, right?"


    Yoruichi also took a breather and stopped her assault, "And why are you still holding back? Aren''t you going to test me if I can keep this power to myself and not get caught to be experimented on?"


    Corvina stared at her for a few seconds. She was not surprised that Yoruichi figured that she was still holding back. Even though it''s already from the far past and only a few records left, Corvina believed that Yoruichi was capable of digging for bits of information about her if she searched hard enough.


    But the same as her, Corvina also figured out that Yoruichi was still holding back. After all, she hasn''t once pulled out the short de on her hips. And although Yoruichi is trying to hide it, Corvina''s instincts are screaming at her that this de is a dangerous one.


    Corvina took a deep breath and let it go with a long sigh, "That''s true... Well then, please try to survive."


    The smile on Yoruichi''s face disappeared and hurriedly sharpened her senses. However, that was a mistake on her part.


    The pure darkness that was surrounding her disappeared and was reced by a blindingly, pure white world. The source of this sudden change, Corvina, shone like a sun,pelling Yoruichi to close her eyes. Sadly, that was already toote and her retina was burnt, blinding her, ''Shit! I misjudged the records! Her real power is not a thermal type but light type!''


    If it''s the former, Yoruichi has some ways to deal with it, however, a light type simr to what the Angels use could have various effects that she won''t be able to predict, ''But I guess there''s still some truth to that passage where she apparently burned the entire battlefield and left nothing alive.'' Shemented internally while trying to stop further damage to her eyes.


    Yoruichi was trying to adjust her senses to the situation but ahead of that, she can suddenly feel a few searing pain that goes through her body and shortness of breath, "!?"


    Before she was made aware of it, a few holes already appeared on her, "What!?"


    She couldn''t see but she could finally feel numerous spears of light piercing her and one of it went through her chest.


    Yoruichi coughs out blood and can tell that more of these spears areing, ''I can still detect them, thankfully. But I can''t react in time. They''re too fast.''


    While preparing the next volley of spears, Corvina suddenly heard Yoruichi chuckling and she couldn''t help but frown.


    "Bankai... Kyo no Kougou, Byakko!"


    As fast as Corvina spread her light, the dome that was holding both of them burst open without any resistance. Seeing this and feeling the massive pressure that is iparable to what Yoruichi had released before, Corvina could only smile wryly, ''I have to meetdy Chimune Chipaoti. To think she''s hiding this monster.''


    The lightning on Yoruichi''s body disappeared and her defenses weakened considerably due to that.


    Corvina was confused and wondered what sort of transformation she went through next. Nevertheless, that didn''t stop her from shooting out the next valley of lights that looked likesers when they traveled instantaneously.


    Since her aim was to incapacitate Yoruichi, she didn''t aim at any important parts and it also helps to hide her attacks if she didn''t have any killing intent.


    Those beams of piercing light that melded into the blinding surroundings soon reached Yoruichi within a fraction of a second but to Corvina''s surprise, these tens of attacks all bent around Yoruichi causing all of them to miss, "Huh?"


    The next instant, the image of Yoruichi from the distance warped strangely, and before Corvina knew it, she was already standing in front of her with a very thin, almost translucent single edged short sword drawn and ready to swing down, "!?"


    Corvina hurriedly put her right arm in front of her to block the sword. Compared to when she was in her ''Shadow Form'', her ''Light Form'' boasted several times of its raw defensive capability, making her a walking and flying fortress. She intended to make a counterattack after blocking the sword but the moment its de connected to her armor of light, her instincts screamed at her and she hurriedly flew back off.


    Even faster than a hot knife through cold butter, Corvina''s arm was instantly lopped off by Yoruichi''s sword.

 Chapter 1321 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 7

    Chapter 1321 The Matriarch and Yoruichi part 7


    Corvina gritted her teeth and prepared for the follow-up attacks, however, those never came. Once again, before she realized it, Yoruichi was already gone. Not just her figure, but also the pressure she''s releasing.


    And since the dome has disintegrated, there''s now nothing blocking her all-epassing and damaging light.


    The battle has ended so there''s no reason for her to unnecessarily hurt others. With that in mind, Corvina, who looked like a sun that descended on earth, returned to normal.


    "L-Lady Corvina!"


    Corvina turned around and saw Adrenna flying towards her, "Y-your arm..."


    She looked down and saw that her forearm was missing. Her shadow wrapped around the wound to stop its bleeding as she turned her head up, "I''m fine. I''m just taken aback since it has been a while since I was injured."


    Without saying a word, Adrenna started casting Healing Magic on Corvina''s arm and immediately found the extent of damage didn''t stay on her physical body, "Hold on... What? How?"


    Corvina didn''t answer and just kept looking up.


    A few secondster, Gwenn also arrived while carrying Stralit and asked, "You''re not going to chase after her?"All this time, Corvina was looking at the several stealth ships that were above the, "There''s no point. She has already proven herself and she also doesn''t work alone."


    Adrenna took a peek at Gwenn, ''Of course... If Yoruichi could show the way to her, she could also do the same for the others.''


    Corvina sighed and looked toward Gwenn, "Did you see what happened at thest second?"


    Gwenn shook her head, "Nope. You''re too bright and I didn''t want to risk burning my eyes out."


    She stared at her for a few seconds before sighing once again, "You got what you want so go home." Corvina then turned to her aide, "Adrenna, prepare the gate. We''re going to the homnd."


    Gwenn''s ears perked up and asked, "Are you going to take action?"


    "I have to if I want to protect her." Corvina replied while looking at Stralit, ''That sword... I wasn''t able to feel anything substantial when that giant mannequin appeared due to the man who died in ink. It looks like it''s a lot more dangerous than I thought.''


    Corvina knew that she had to meet the one overseeing the overall situation on the Draconic Deus if she didn''t want her to misunderstand Stralit''s involvement and connection to such a sword, ''And no matter how much I think about it, this is weird. It shouldn''t have been that long since the Draconic Deus was discovered yet someone from there alreadymands a fleet? No matter how amazing Yoruichi is, I don''t believe that this is just her work alone. Someone else should be supporting her from behind.''


    "Hooo... I see it now." Gwenn muttered to herself, "I guess I''ll prepare for an outing too."


    "Do you still intend to associate yourself with her? As your senior, I am warning you. You''re ying with fire. A fire that will attract attention and stab you in the back."


    "Thank you, but it looks interesting and I''m pretty bored right now."


    Naturally, Corvina didn''t believe those words when she looked at her eyes that were burning with passion, "Are you still seeking revenge?... No. Forget I said anything and do whatever you want. You''re not my responsibility. Though I''m sure that Thea wouldn''t want any of these."


    Gwenn''s cheerful expression instantly turned cold, "...I''ll keep that in mind."


    .


    .


    .


    Laria hurriedly carried the wounded Yoruichi to the medical bay while issuingmands, "Use Route 3C5BBA to retreat and make sure we''re not being followed!"


    "Roger!" Multiple voices answered her and most notably, all of them were women. d in sleek armor from her to toe, they operated the ship they were in and deployed several barriers to get away as far as possible from the Luxeux-controlled territory. They were the team that Yoruichi and her assistant Laria had gathered and had been training for the sake of various work that the former required.


    "H-how''s the boss?" One of them asked in concern, seeing the multiple holes in her body and limping with Laria''s help.


    "I''m fine. Don''t worry about me and continue what you''re doing. Although I doubt Corvina Luxeux will chase after us, there could be other eyes that are watching so carefully watch our surroundings." Yoruichi answered with a small smile.


    Within the medical bay, Laria asked everyone to leave and maintain high alert, "How serious are these wounds?"


    Yoruichiid down on the bed and answered while Laria was attaching various equipment to her, "Not that serious. Thatdy avoided the dangerous spots for whatever reason."


    "You underestimated her, didn''t you?"


    Yoruichi was silent for a moment before replying, "I did. And also I misunderstood her ability. She was not called [The Quasar] because she can release massive amounts of thermal energy. She could somehow convert her [Shadow] to an opposite attribute and manipte light itself."


    Laria gritted her teeth, "I apologize... I didn''t just gather enough information but also brought forth a misunderstanding."


    Yoruichi sighed and smiled wryly, "Don''t be. I was the one who analyzed them so it''s my fault. I thought that her ability has somehow something to do with ck holes considering the other data points we gathered from the Luxeux members. It seems that she''s an abnormality within that n."


    "...What should we do now?"


    Yoruichi thought about it for a moment before muttering, "It''s about time I introduce you to others."


    Laria''s eyes widened and she asked to confirm, "D-do you mean..."


    "After this, Corvina Luxeux will probably involve herself with Draconic Deus due to the condition of her daughter. I''m nning to bring you back with me."


    Laria was stunned for a moment before excitedly holding Yoruichi''s hand, "It''ll be my honor!"


    "Don''t get too excited. We still have a lot of work to do before that."


    "But what about the others?"


    "I''d also like to bring them back with me, but now is not the right time. I will be asking them to hide for some time because Corvina''s inevitable inquiry into Draconic Deus will put us in the spotlight. We have to avoid unnecessary danger."


    "Then the intelligencework?"


    "It''ll be suspended for a while. Inform everyone to make the necessary preparations."


    Laria lowered her head, "Understood."


    Yoruichi looked at her short gloomy white hair and blindfolded eyes before smiling wryly, ''Even with Seraselbes'' support, it was thanks to her that I was able to assemble this group.''


    She then looked up at the ceiling''s light and thought, ''More Etouldes and Evies will invade... I feel bad for the other girls, but I should ask Kisuke to remain hidden. It''ll be more effective if he looks for them in secret.''


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1322 A Step Forward

    Chapter 1322 A Step Forward


    Kisuke was standing inside the monitoring room that Mayuri had prepared and watching every movement of the graph on the screens.


    "We''ll be establishing a preliminary connection within 2 minutes. Start the primary checks." Mayuri, the only other person in the room with Kisuke, reminded his team through an inte.


    [Primary checks initiated. All values are within the predicted model. Proceeding to phase 2.] Kisuke could hear Akon''s voice from the speaker.


    This exchange happened until Kisuke heard Akon say [Connection established. Proceeding through stress tests.]


    As soon as this was said, Kisuke could immediately feel the uptick in the density of Magic Power. Although it''s still not that much, it''s still an exponential increase and will soon match what the other worlds are getting from the Dimensional Gap.


    But along with this, Kisuke also felt the terminal in his inventory that''s only reserved for emergency contact, ring, "Hmmm?"


    Mayuri turned in his direction and saw him take out a phone, "What''s wrong?"


    Kisuke didn''t answer immediately and read the message carefully. It came from Sona and its contents are short and summarized reports of the current events. What caught his attention, however, was the possibility of an Evie already reaching the Dungeon World and their ns to retreat to a secure corner of that world.


    There was also a note that Yoruichi wanted him to move in secret but that''s not important right now, "I''m sorry Kurotsuchi-san, but it looks like we''ll have to implement that along with settling.""What happened? I thought we were going to do that once everything stabilized."


    "The defenses on the other side have been breached. We can''t afford to wait for that anymore." Kisuke approached the console and started tapping on it, bringing out new programs on the screen, "It''s going to be a bit risky, but it''s still worth it considering what''s in line."


    Mayuri stared at him for a short moment before sighing, "I still don''t understand. So what if the defenses of that world were breached? I don''t think your enemies would immediately aim for this one."


    Kisuke could only smile wryly at his response, "Normally, that is... The problem is that those guys would go ballistic if they ever discover a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, or Fullbringer and probably will start a full-scale invasion if they knew there are a lot of us." He continued tapping on the keyboard and sent additional instructions to the members of the 12th Division, "I''ll send the Etoulde and Evie basic profiles to youter along with some historical and cultural information. Once you''ve gone through that, you''ll understand what I''m feeling too."


    "Fine. Akon. Prepare the Spirit Wall implementation. We''ll do it along with the merger."


    [...Is that really okay? Wouldn''t it be dangerous?]


    "If it was just me alone, it''d be too dangerous. I hate to admit it, but I can''t see us failing with this guy around."


    [Understood. I''ll also call everyone to return back to their posts.]


    .


    .


    .


    Three dayster, arge tremor shook not just the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World, but also the entire Special Region formerly known as Hell.


    Azazel and Ajuka who have been waiting all this time within the Urahara Shop with Serafall, Issei, Georg, Kuisha, and Seekvaira, sighed in relief, "It''s finally over. I was worried that there''s something else considering how much of a trouble ma Kisuke is. Thankfully nothingplicated happened." The formermented with a heartyugh.


    "Overall, it was a good sudden vacation." Issei also added. Despite what happened when they just arrived and they helped out with the restoration of the Human World, their wait times have been proven to be rxing as they didn''t have any work to do.


    "I know right~~~!" Seekvaira muttered with a blissful expression while holding onto her mecha figures that she acquired and couldn''t be found in her previous world, "Although the two Human Worlds pretty much have simr histories, the slight variations and even somepletely different aesthetics awakened the collector''s spirit within me."


    Kuisha looked at the mecha otaku and wondered if she ever acted like this while minding the suitcases of new dresses she bought on a shopping spree with Seekvaira.


    ''I should probably get something too in case Jeanne asks for something.'' Georg thought to himself.


    It was a rare time off for everyone who was very busy preparing for a war they didn''t know when woulde.


    Azazel was talking to Tessai asking about various things that he still was curious about. Meanwhile, Ajuka noticed that Serafall was busy swiping on her phone and it had been a while since she lifted her sights. As far as he knows her, she''s not the type of person who''d mindlessly stare at a screen with a deadpan expression because the only moment she uses social media is when she''s ego searching and searching for other magical girls. Those would always put a smile on her face so Ajuka asked curiously, "Something the matter?"


    "...Nothing... It looks like Ki-tan won''t being back with us yet."


    Azazel and the others stopped what they were doing and perked their ears up.


    "That''s not nothing. What happened?" Any news about Kisuke is far from nothing for Ajuka.


    Serafall contemted it for a moment and decided to just say it, "Apparently, Sona-chan and others found traces of Evies arriving in the Dungeon World."


    "What!?" Azazel eximed and even Ajuka''s eyes widened.


    "Hold on... How did that happen?"


    Serafall shook her head, "I don''t know. I just received a short message a few days ago. If you want to know more, you''ll have to ask Sona-chan for details. Ki-tan will have to remain here to secure the border and prevent any unauthorized entry."


    "Then what''s going to happen to the gate the Ouroboros Academy is managing?" Azazel asked. He could already tell what sort of action they would take but he still had to ask.


    "They are going to let it go. Since the enemies already have ess to the other side, they''d rather let everyone else go through and slow down their advancement."


    "...It might devolve into senseless violence." Ajuka muttered to himself, "I doubt they''ll go after the Dungeon entrances, but the territories besides that are going to be up for grabs."


    "We''ll probably be swamped by work once again, huh..." Issei regretfully says. Since the DxD Team is a peacekeeping organization, they would have to act as police to prevent anyrge-scale conflict.


    "Not just that..." Serafall added before standing up and walking towards the door, "It seems that the Etoulde and Evie activities will exponentially increase. Please watch out for their spies."


    "Where are you going, Serafall-sama?" Seekvaira asked curiously.


    But contrary to herplicated expression earlier, Serafall was now grinning happily as if she just decided on something big that she wouldn''t regret no matter what, "Before I go back, I''m going to bother Ki-tan as much as I want!"


    As Serafall left everyone stunned, it was Kuisha who said something that woke everyone up from their stupor, "Should we expect a Sitri heir?"


    "Stop that." Seekvaira retorted, "You''ll give Dn Sitri a heart attack if he hears you."

 Chapter 1323 A Step Forward part 2

    Chapter 1323 A Step Forward part 2


    After receiving the emergency message from Sona, Serafall knew that she, along with the other girls, wouldn''t be able to meet him for some time.


    Although she feels bad for the others, she knows she couldn''t let go of this chance, ''Hit it while it''s still hot as they say!''


    Serafall teleported to the one vast and almost empty Soul Society and went straight towards the 12th Division where it''s abuzz with people continuously running around. Since this is a huge undertaking that would forever change the Soul Society, more than half of the Gotei 13 personnel were assigned to assist the 12th Division and even some nobles and students from the academy.


    The moment she approached the gates, Serafall coincidentally came across Akon who came from his in-person survey, "Sitri-san. Could I assist with anything?"


    "Is Ki-tan around?"


    "He is... But I don''t think you''d be able to meet him now. We''re in the middle of setting up defensive barriers around the three worlds and controlling the rate of flow of the Magic Powering from the Dimensional Gap so I doubt he and the Captain would be able to entertain anyone." Akon answered while checking his phone, "If it''s urgent, I can send him a message for you."


    Serafall immediately shook his head, "No, it''s nothing urgent. I''m just wondering when you''ll be done."


    Akon thought about it for a moment and replied, "If nothing goes awry, we''ll be able to formally open the transport gates within half a day."


    Serafall''s eyes shine, "Is that so!? Then is it alright for me to wait here?"Akon nodded, "I''ll lead you to the break room. Since we''re about to finish, no one is using them. I''ll also inform Urahara-san of your arrival."


    "Thank you~!"


    .


    .


    .


    More than half a dayter, Kisuke came out of Mayuri''sb while yawning, ''It''s finally done! The only thing left is to send those guys back along with some envoys.''


    Kisuke felt like a monumental amount of burden on his shoulders had disappeared. Ever since he reincarnated in a different world, he always questioned if Soul Society was really doing the right thing, meddling with the flow of souls.


    When he realized how the souls are handled in that world, Kisuke thought that it was beautiful. A system devoid of emotion and morals, he thought that only such a thing would be able to handle the sorting of souls. He knew it was not perfect but it was way more reasonable than what Soul Society and the Soul King was employing.


    Kisuke, of course, would always repress these thoughts as he knew that this was his arrogance. He realized that he''d be pushing his belief that something is better than another in which no way is ''fair'' in an absolute sense. He didn''t have the justification.


    Even then, he couldn''t help but prepare for it with the sole reason ''just in case.''


    And when the Evies and Etouldes arrived in that world and threatened it, he finally had a reason to go back. Kisuke initially thought that he''d just be recruiting Aizen and others as a countermeasure to Etouldes who decided to approach his world on the ''good'' side since he knew that betrayal neveres from your enemies.


    But as he learned more about the world he was previously born in and got a glimpse of Ichibei''s ns along with the Soul King''s ''approval'', the justification came.


    Kisuke, as if all fetters were removed, came to a decision to change the world for the ''better'' and moved towards it with full force.


    He still thinks, even now, that this was extremely arrogant and his own self-control not to be someone like Aizen or Yhwach is working against him. But with the choice of being a monster''s food or continued existence, the choice was pretty obvious.


    Now that everything is over, Kisuke''s ambition, or more urately, desire, has been fulfilled, and the burden that has been bothering him since long ago has disappeared.


    ''But resting is still far off. I still have to do something against those robots and fleshy spirits.'' Kisuke couldn''t help but sigh. If his roots didn''t go so deep on the other side, he would certainly just ignore the problem and just escape somewhere.


    ''The worst thing is that this isn''t the same as Chaos or Hyousube. The problem won''t be solved even if those on top disappear. In fact, that only will be a precursor to endless hate and war. I don''t have time nor motivation for that.''


    Kisuke soon reached the door to the break room where he was told that Serafall was waiting, ''The only solution to this would be for both Evies and Etouldes to stop their hostilities and us standing on our own even not on their level. But if one side weakens too much, therger one would swallow the rest... Damn... This sounds really impossible.''


    Before he could open the door, someone else on the other side opened it for him, "What with the long face? Aren''t you supposed to be celebrating?" Serafall asked after seeing Kisuke''s face.


    "If one problem was solved but you realized that a bigger one was just waiting around the corner, how would you react to that?"


    "Celebrate the small win~! Be d that you''re done with that one!" Serafall answered without any hesitation.


    Kisuke stared at her nkly for a few seconds before suddenly chuckling, "That''s true, isn''t it." He took a long breath and slowly released it along with the tension he put himself into, "So what''s the n? Don''t you mean Sona and the others?"


    Serafall then grabbed Kisuke''s arm and started dragging him, "I do! But I can meet themter. Let''s go on a date!"


    ''I doubt that there are going to be stores open... Should I prepare something?'' Kisuke thought while letting himself be dragged by the rtively short and very bubbly Devil King.


    Both of them arrived in the Human World sometime after and Kisuke was surprised that it was actually bustling. Not to the point of the normal hustle and bustle, but there are a lot of people shopping around the newly repaired town, "What''s going on?"


    "This was when you were busy with the merger." Serafall replied while dragging Kisuke by the hand towards the crepe shop, "The world leaders had a meeting with Gotei 13 and Wing Bind overseeing it. It was decided that with my and nna-chan''s help, we''ll erase everyone''s memory of the war."


    Kisuke thought about it for a moment before saying, "Wouldn''t that cause a lot of problems? Although the casualties are reduced to the minimum, that''s still a lot of people. Not to mention various parts of life if you just suddenly reset the time before it all went down. Some people would notice these huge discrepancies."


    "That''s true, but dealing with those is still preferable." Serafall cast a spell that would jumble their words into something different for those who could listen to them as they approached the line, "I''m of the same opinion that people of this world is still not prepared for the ''supernatural'' and included in the n was the slow introduction of this side of the world."


    "How about those whose memories couldn''t be erased? Even if nna is assisting you, I doubt you could do anything to those with resistance towards it considering what you''ve done was on a worldwide scale."


    "It''ll be sort of a litmus test for those with special abilities or those with potential to it. Whenever they appear, they''ll be immediately approached by that territory''s government and use their help for the slow integration. They are still drafting a treaty that would ensure the said individual''s safety and rights but the Gotei 13 and Wing Bind promised that they''ll strictly look after this."


    ''Of course, they should. But even if they did, various underground organizations will probably pop up to take advantage of this.'' Kisuke thought to himself while ordering crepes, ''Oh well, not my problem anymore. I''ll only create more work for myself if I get involved in this.''

 Chapter 1324 A Step Forward part 3

    Chapter 1324 A Step Forward part 3


    Kisuke''s eyes opened as the light from the sun peeking through the curtains disturbed him, ''Afternoon...''


    He could feel the soft brush of the nket over his bare skin as he moved slightly and turned his head to the side to see a sleeping beauty sharing his nket with shiny and soft ck hair that draped over her shoulder and was also glistening under the ambient light.


    Kisuke was able to sleep for the first time in a while but not before partaking in some extremely strenuous ''exercise'' for a few hours. He tried recalling their date yesterday and painted a smile on his face. Although it was just a few hours of fun, he knew that it''d be a precious memory, not just for him, but for his partner as well.


    Kisuke already epted the life that hade to him but there''s still a different kind of realization when the deed itself was done. With a wry smile, Kisuke thought that he''d probably lose more of his inhibitions when ites to crossing the line with the women around him, ''I have to be careful...''


    The sleeping beauty also felt his slight movement and snuggled closer while tightening her hold on her man''s arm. Her eyshes fluttered for a moment before her eyelids slowly partly opened and met Kisuke''s eyes.


    They stared at each other for a short while and she closed her eyes back while inching even closer to Kisuke.


    Kisuke lifted his free arm and brushed his hand against her cheek, "Sera-chan, you have to return today, remember?"


    Serafall furrowed her brows and pouted her lips a bit, "I demand ten hours more."


    Kisuke was a bit nervous because it didn''t sound like she was joking. He actually wanted to amodate her demand and spend more time together, however, as always, time was not on their side, ''The others will return today too. If my timing is off, it''ll be hard to go off the radar.''Thankfully, after a bit more urging from Kisuke, Serafall fully awakened. Nevertheless, she still clung to Kisuke while saying her finalpromise, "Then ten more minutes."


    Kisuke smiled wryly and turned his body towards her before wrapping his arms around her, "I guess I''ll make your ten minutes more worthwhile."


    While burying her face on his chest, Serafall asked, "Do you really have to leave?" She wasn''t just asking that for herself but also for the other girls that were left behind and was waiting for his return. Although she''s really happy that she finally got together with Kisuke, the moment she received the news that Kisuke would need to hide himself, it felt like she was cheated somehow.


    "You know Yoruichi. She wouldn''t ask me something like this if the situation was not dangerous." Kisuke answered, ignoring the hint of sadness from Serafall''s voice, "It would seem that we''re still underestimating the other side. Sona probably didn''t send this to you since she''s worried about your recovery, but Yoruichi returned injured despite carefully researching her opponent and only nned to push a few buttons."


    Serafall hurriedly sat up and the nket covering her slid off, "What!? Is she okay!?"


    Kisuke pulled her back down before answering, "She''s fine. In fact, you were in a much worse state than her. However, that prompted her to ask me to find the intruders even though she''s better than me when ites to that."


    Serafall immediately understood what happened, "She gathered too much attention."


    "Right. In addition to that, there probably would be an increased activity from both the Evie and Etoulde side and she wouldn''t be able to move properly while acting as bait."


    Serafall stayed silent for a while. Even in her time as a rising Devil King, she never experienced this kind of prolonged conflict that felt like hands were choking their throat. There''s no time for rest nor there''s no time for fantasizing about a beautiful future. All she could see right now was them struggling for survival and did her best to keep the image of death to any people she cared about out of her head, "When will it end?" She muttered to herself.


    Kisuke couldn''t answer that as much as he wanted to, ''As long as the information from the future is urate, there''s still no way for us to defeat Melvazoa... Not even with Ophis, Lilith, nna, Aizen, and Yhwach''s help. It''s about time I get a solid answer from Seraselbes as to what she wants to happen.''


    .


    .


    .


    Kisuke waved his hand at Serafall as she went through the portal that would take her to Draconic Deus and she was followed by Issei and the others of the younger generation.


    Ajuka and Azazel were also scheduled to go with them but they stayed behind for a little bit to have some private talk with Kisuke.


    "I heard that you''re going somewhere else?" Azazel asked, impressed with his workaholic attitude, "Is finding new worlds your new job nowadays? Is it that easy? And how are you finding these worlds in the first ce? Let me funnel some of my personal funds and assets."


    "I want to invest in your journey too." Ajuka added, "You have no use for these worlds aside from strengthening your position so let''s have a slice of the pie."


    Kisuke grinned which made Ajuka and Azazel shudder. They regretted opening their mouths but it''s true that they want to take advantage of Kisuke''s great track record to gain some benefits too.


    "It''s true that I''ll be going to a new frontier. Normally, I wouldn''t even bother to inform anyone of my ns but since you''re my good friends, I''ll let you have some exclusive info~. Of course, if you''re willing to bet."


    ''It won''t cost us our entire wealth, would it?'' Ajuka and Azazel both asked themselves. They both looked at each other before nodding. They both thought that it''s still worth the risk of shaking Kisuke''s hand. In any case, he''s the only guy that they could trust right now considering theplex situation and rtionships within the Draconic Deus.


    They got ready to hear about Kisuke''s next outing and thought of things they could offer but they still weren''t able to expect the next words he uttered.


    "It''s not exactly a new world, but I intend to set up an outpost behind the Evie and Etoulde lines."


    "!!?"


    "My contacts already prepared what I''ll need on the nned site, but I could definitely use some more assistance." Kisuke''s grin grew wider, "What do you think? Willing to sink in everything you have?"


    It was a deal that even made a Devil King sweat in the cold.

 Chapter 1325 Dissolution

    Chapter 1325 Dissolution


    Azazel and Ajuka both returned to their respective organizations and updated them on the reason for their sudden leave. Shocking the higher-ups of these organizations was an understatement but these two leaders didn''t have time to entertain them and immediately excused themselves while citing that they were working on something important in light of all of these.


    [Is this line secure enough?] Azazel asked from the other side of the screen.


    "I''d like to believe so...", Ajuka was brewing his cup of coffee in the background, "But I can understand your apprehension. If any of this gets out, we''ll lose our advantage and we''ll be listed in that guy''s naughty list if not already."


    [Still, it''s unbelievable... While everyone else is trying to decide whether they should side with either Shiva or Indra, there''s this guyughing at their faces watching them duke it out within the ying field that he already exited.]


    "Well with this, we can finally understand Ouroboros Academy''s adamant neutrality."


    [Is it really alright for us to just jump in like that on his terms?]


    "Can you think of any other alternative?"


    [Hmmm... I do think that it''s better to agree to it immediately because who knows how he''ll manipte us into epting it.] Azazel went quiet for a few seconds while tapping on his table, [But why do you think he''s letting us in now?]


    "To answer that, we first have to figure out the root of his motivations. Even though we''re not that close to him, we''re the few people that''s within his vicinity and knows how his head works to some extent so that''s an easy guess."[...Safety and protection, huh? It''s way too pure for someone with a personality like him.]


    "It''s still way better than people who dere such things and bend the moment it disadvantages them." Ajuka chuckled a little bit. Kisuke is someone Ajuka couldn''t fully trust, but he''s someone who he could leave his back open as long as he doesn''t cross his lines nor give him any reason that he''s a threat, "Continuing, we can also guess the reason for Yoruichi''s prolonged absence and the reason why he''s doing us this ''favor'' is probably because the scale of their operation has expanded so much that it became difficult for them to handle it effectively."


    [Or they wanted to stir the pot for some reason.]


    Ajuka finished brewing his coffee and went back to his seat, "That too... Or maybe a little bit of both. Either way, it''s our chance to get away from Shiva and Indra''s ever-expanding influences. However, the problem now bes the personnel. We don''t have anyone, right?"


    Azazel also became silent on the other side. It was at this moment of silence that Ajuka and Azazel received a message from an unknown origin at the same time.


    [Good day, Ajuka Beelzebub/Azazel. I''m Laria, your correspondent and assistant who will help you establish a base in Zurg of Nenvetune, an Etoulde territory. Pleased to meet you.]


    Ajuka and Azazel looked at each other with eyes wide open with thetter asking, [Did you receive it too?] And the former nodding.


    [You know what? I just had a great idea.]


    "What is it?"


    [Let''s dissolve the DxD Team and dissolve the Alliance officially.]


    Ajuka was stunned for a moment before asking, "Are you sure Kisuke Urahara hasn''t rubbed off you?"


    .


    .


    .


    "Aaachhoooo!!!" A tall blonde man with Western features, long hair, and bright blue eyes sneezed horribly loud, "Who the hell misses me now?" He muttered in a deep voice while rubbing his nose.


    Somewhere within the state of California, the man was standing in front of a strangely grandiose mansion in the middle of nowhere. At its front door was a ck-haired man in a suit, "You must be Mr.Smith. The chairman is waiting for you."


    The blonde man nodded and walked towards the door without talking. The guard didn''t say anything about this and just opened the door, revealing a lobby that was wayrger than the building itself, "I''ll lead you to the chairman''s office. It''s on the 99th floor."


    The blonde man quietly followed him towards the Magic Circle that would teleport them to the assigned location so it didn''t take long for them to reach the designated floor.


    The guard didn''t leave the Magic Circle and just gestured for the blonde man to go forward. Since there was only one room on this floor, it wasn''t hard to find the only door that would lead to the person he was looking for.


    The blonde man knocked three times and a deep but yful voice came from the other side, "Come in."


    The blonde man opened the door and once again, he saw a room that was wayrger than what the floor suggested. The room was surrounded by bookshelves that''s at least 100 feet tall and in the middle of this room was a single table surrounded by floating holographic screens showing various news channels dedicated to the supernaturals.


    The one who was watching all of this and the owner of the room was sitting on the table, swiped his hand and all the screens disappeared. The moment the doors behind the blonde man closed, the middle-aged man with gelled hair, which is a mixture of red and blue, and heterochromia red and blue eyes greeted him, "I was waiting for your arrival. It''s our first time talking directly, isn''t it? Kisuke Urahara?"


    The blonde man smiled and walked towards him, "Please call me John Smith, Mr. Mephisto Pheles, or else, there would be no point in us doing all of this."


    Kisuke, who''s in disguise, came to meet the Grauzauberer''s Chairman for his next set of actions, ''I won''t have enough time to search for those guys if I were to start from scratch.''

 Chapter 1326 Uninvited Guests

    Chapter 1326 Uninvited Guests


    "So..." Mephisto stood up from the table and started walking towards one of the shelves and grabbed a book to read, "What makes you think that I''ll help you out?"


    "For starters, you agreed to meet despite me demanding something nonsensical." Kisuke answered while taking a step forward, "And next is just my spection but I have a feeling that you''re very much frustrated with how things are right now."


    "Hooh..." Mephisto took a peek at him from the corner of his eyes, "And what makes you think that?"


    "One reason is that your Grauzauberer is now the only remaining medium sized faction that''s remaining neutral. Those guys must be hounding you to pick a side."


    "Isn''t it more urate to say that I''m taking my time to sweeten the pot?"


    Kisuke smiled and continued, "But that isn''t the main source of your headaches. How many of your Magicians have already taken those hands?"


    Mephisto turned his eyes back on the book but didn''t say anything.


    Kisuke also didn''t say anything since he''s giving Mephisto a think.


    A few minutester, Mephisto turned around and started walking towards his table but his eyes never left the book he was reading.Kisuke patiently waited for a few more minutes until Mephisto finally opened his mouth, "I''m under the impression that the Ouroboros Academy hasn''t taken any side, but who''s the maniac you decided to follow?"


    "Maniac, you say." Kisuke chuckled, "Quite a grudge you''ve got there." Mephisto finally stopped sounding him out, Kisuke thought.


    It was as Kisuke had said. Mephisto is currently gued by headaches and frustrations. It is not a big secret that Mephisto is quite protective of his organization of Magicians, not because he wants them as his weapon for his influence, but a shield given to the Humans as a way to protect themselves from Angels, Devils, Gods, and any other supernatural out there.


    It was the will of histe contractor, Johann Georg Faust. Mephisto decided to continue that same will while believing that it was the path to move forward.


    But these days, the world has be divided between two sides, and the people he mes for it are the founding members of the Tri-Faction Alliance.


    While it was founded to safeguard the world against the evils threatening to destroy it, it has now be gued with internal conflicts that have be so dangerous that they themselves became a danger to the world they''re trying to protect. But because they''re not ''evil'', there''s no effective method of putting them in their ce.


    The problems didn''t stop there, however, the Magicians who are supposed to be the vanguard against the encroaching influence of these warring factions have now be part of them and are now dragging down the whole of Human civilization that had just started adjusting to all of this.


    Mephisto was actually skeptical of what the Ouroboros Academy was trying to do, pulling in the normal citizens into this dangerous side of the world but now he''s d that they actually pulled it off since it could have been even more dangerous if only the select few who had ess to power. It was because of this that he was actually willing to hear out Kisuke when he contacted him.


    "Or do you want me to officially join the Ouroboros Academy? You of all people should know that it''ll only result in more ruffled feathers that would benefit no one."


    Instead of answering, Kisuke changed the topic, "You''re probably wondering why I appeared before like this and it has something to do with what I want to propose to you."


    "And that is?"


    "Please allow me to join Grauzauberer and ept those pesky offers."


    "..." Mephisto turned his eyes towards Kisuke once again, "For what and who''s offer?"


    "Infiltration of Shiva''s ranks."


    "I didn''t think I''d be exining this to you, but even with me vouching for you, you won''t get anywhere near where it matters the most given your unknown identity. Besides that, you won''t be able to fool Shiva''s eyes no matter how good your disguise is." The disappointment was apparent in Mephisto''s voice.


    "Fair points, but I''m not really aiming for Shiva."


    "...Not for Shiva?"


    "The ones behind this proxy war, if you know what I mean."


    Mephisto raised his eyebrows, "Them? If you can''t reach Shiva or Indra, there would be no way to reach them too."


    "That''s true, normally, that is."


    Mephisto stared at Kisuke for a while then closed his book, "Before we talk about the specifics of that, let me hear what you really want to achieve here."


    Kisuke, with a very ''innocent'' smile on his face, answered with the brightest voice he could, "I''m actually a huge fan of Indra. I want to fulfill his wish of all out war with Shiva so I''m thinking of setting up the most grandiose stage for them to duke it out~!"


    Mephisto''s eyes shot wide open but Kisuke didn''t stop there and continued, "And this stage that I''m talking about won''t just be on a worldwide scale, but a gctic one~ I''ll also make sure that there''s a proper viewing and betting system in ce! It''ll be the event of the millennium and they won''t be bothering anyone else as they wring each other''s neck!"


    A few secondster,ughter rang out that was heard throughout the whole building that was twisted in space. One of the magicians working on some research looked up and muttered, "It''s been a while since I heard the chairmanugh. Looks like something good happened."


    .


    .


    .


    A few dayster, Kisuke was in Rome, drinking coffee in an open-air cafe while reading a newspaper with a headline, [Tri-Faction Alliance On The Verge Of Dissolution.]


    ''Was this their brilliant idea to secure manpower?'' Kisuke asked himself as he took a sip from his cup, ''Not too shabby.''


    Kisuke was supposed to work with Mephisto closely to bait out the hiding Evies and Etouldes but he had to postpone that when he suddenly felt a familiar aura arriving within his vicinity. Mephisto was confused but Kisuke had to make a sudden exit before things got tooplicated.


    Just as he finished reading the paper citing the reason for the dissolution was the distrust between its members, his eyes caught two women, one with long deep red hair and another with short white hair, ''So she''s really here... I hope she knows how to react.''


    The same as him, the two women are also staring at him from a distance, "Is that the guy you said will help us out?" Asked the woman with deep red hair.


    The one white-haired one nodded and answered as she took a step forward towards the blonde man, "I''m sure. Let me talk to him first."


    "How did you even know someone from Draconic Deus?" The red-haired woman muttered in suspicion.


    Seeing them approach, Kisuke also stood up and walked towards them. Before they could say anything, Kisuke smiled and said first, "Hello theredies~. I''ve noticed that you''ve been watching me, is there something I could do to help? Ah, my name is John Smith, by the way. Nice to meet you."

 Chapter 1327 Trust

    Chapter 1327 Trust


    Stralit was a bit surprised but her expression immediately returned to normal before the one beside her, Gwenn, noticed anything, "I hope you haven''t forgotten, but you''re the one who helped me when I was in a pinch."


    Kisuke rubbed his chin in contemtion before the moment of ''realization'' hit him, "Saved you... Oh, hold on. Your voice... Could it be that mysteriousdy!?"


    Stralit chuckled and nodded, "Correct and I''d like to thank you for that." She then turned to the side and said, "Gwenn, I''d like to talk to him for a moment, do you mind leaving us alone for a bit?"


    "Hmmm..." Gwenn stared at the disguised Kisuke for a few moments before turning around, "Alright. Call me when you''re done."


    As Gwenn left, Kisuke led Stralit to the cafe and ordered a drink for her, "How did you find me?" He asked while setting up a sound-proof barrier.


    "Same as how you felt my presence. While you can tell that I''m within your general area, I can tell where exactly you are within a certain distance so don''t worry about others tracking you down." The moment her eyesnded on him, Stralit knew that Kisuke was once again in disguise and she immediately followed up by pretending that he was an entirely different person. She took a sip of the drink that Kisuke offered and was surprised by it, "Hmm... This is pretty good. What''s this?"


    "Frappino. It''s a local drink made from a certain roasted bean." Kisuke answered before immediately lowering his head, "I heard it from Yoruichi. You almost died and it was my fault. I apologize."


    Stralit was so shocked that he suddenly lowered his head and panicked, "Hold on. I heard what happened from Benihime and you already saved my life once so let''s just say we''re even."


    "Still, I apologize. Even though it was unavoidable, it was still my conscious decision to put you in danger. I may have helped you in the past, but that doesn''t give me the right to risk your life willy-nilly . The value of life can''t be calcted like that." Kisuke continued while keeping his head low.Stralit was stunned and knew the weight of his gesture just after a few days of studying Draconic Deus. She couldn''t say anything for a few seconds. But soon enough, she was able to crack out a smile, "Alright, I ept your apology."


    Kisuke sighed in relief, "Thank you."


    "So despite your personality and the things I heard about you, you''re still bothered by things like this, huh?"


    "I may not be a good person, but I do have a strict moral code. I don''t know what you''ve heard about me, though."


    "Well, things like you being one of the worst viins out there in addition to being incredibly stubborn and petty."


    "Oh my~ You''re making me blush here~" Kisuke scratched the back of his head out of embarrassment.


    "That wasn''t apliment though!?" Stralit retorted strongly but soon changed the topic, "By the way, I can materialize Benihime now and give it to you. When is a good time?"


    Kisuke shook his head, "Don''t. Until you''repletely stable and in control, you can''t separate from Benihime. Nevertheless, I''m still curious. Only those in the higher-ups of big organizations could say something like that about me. After all, despite how I normally act, I have a pretty good reputation among the masses."


    Stralit went quiet for a moment but didn''t question Kisuke''s decision, "I heard it from Alicia. She''s the reason for most of the Etoulde activity within the Draconic Deus."


    "Alicia... As in Alicia Crowfeather?"


    Stralit nodded.


    "Is it alright for you to tell me this?"


    "I trust you. And you might be surprised by this, but my mother said to keep in contact with you and cooperate as much as possible."


    Kisuke''s eyes went wide open, "Your mother... The matriarch of Luxeux n? Why?"


    Stralit, this time, shook her head, "I don''t know. It seems that she had a change of mind after meeting the Holy Mother... Ah, it seems that she also wants you to know that Alicia is not receiving her instructions from the Holy Mother."


    ''...Holy Mother should be the one who contacted Issei and the one meddling with the Draconic Deus, but she''s not the one giving instructions to the liaison? What does this mean?'' Kisuke thought to himself before asking, "Do you have an idea as to what might have been the topic of their conversation?"


    "No. I was not privy to it. However, I do have the impression that mother wants to support you."


    Kisuke doesn''t know whether to trust Stralit''s ''impression'' but there''s also no way for him to disregard that, ''If that''s true, then that changes things. I can also speed things up and root out all of these bastards faster than I thought.''


    "Do you think it would be possible for me to meet the matriarch?"


    "That''s possible, but not at this moment. After insisting on meeting the Holy Mother and the strange ident that I went through in addition to my meddling with Draconic Deusst time, there are now a lot of people eyeing her with suspicion. It was only through the help of the Yarwood n that she was able to ''exile'' me, making it possible for me to reach this ce in secret."


    "...I want to ask for information about you Etouldes and the factions dividing you..." Kisuke saw Stralit''s expression and could only smile wryly, "But that''s impossible, I see."


    "I can tell you what''s happening behind the scenes if it''s rted to Draconic Deus, but I won''t sell out my own race until I''m fully certain of your goal."


    "Fair enough.", Kisuke shrugged his shoulders, "I''ll be contacting Seraselbes some time soon. Do you have a message you wanted to pass along?"


    "You two are getting along, huh... Oh well, that''s better for me. I''ll prepare a message cube, could you wait for it." Stralit immediately took out a device for creating encrypted message boxes.


    "Sure thing. And while you''re at it, do you mind telling me why you came to Draconic Deus? I doubt you''re here just to meet me, especially if you''re with her."


    "I think Gwenn became friends with that girl called Yoruichi and we''re here to investigate you, her, and another individual called Aika Kiryuu for your abilities that use Spiritual Power. I''m not really that interested, but Gwenn seems to be a bit too enthusiastic about it. Be careful around her."


    "Noted." Kisuke replied while thinking, ''I''ll have to ask Yoruichi to tighten the information control. Those guys will be more effective if used as a surprise.''


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1328 Receiving the Guests

    Chapter 1328 Receiving the Guests


    "Are you done?" Gwenn returned with a bunch of snacks in her arms.


    Kisuke first slowly lowered his head towards Gwenn before turning towards Stralit, "Well then, Ms. Stralit. I will be waiting for your contact." He didn''t say anything else before leaving in a random direction.


    Gwenn waited for him to disappear from her sight before asking, "Can we trust him?"


    "Of course not. Although he was able to help me out, I don''t know much about him." Stralit lied with a straight face, "But using him is a lot better than using Alicia''s contacts. She''s only hiding our existence because you''re ckmailing her."


    "That''s true... It won''t be long before someone notices so it''s better to take some distance from her." While Gwenn has questions, she doesn''t really be suspicious of Stralit, "What did you talk about anyway? Is he useful in the first ce?"


    "He apparently works directly under someone called Mephisto Pheles and has some information that we want."


    Gwenn passes her snacks to Stralit before taking out her terminal to look up the name ''Mephisto Pheles'', "...An influential and old Devil that primarily works within the Human World. He''s the chairman of an organization of Magicians called Grauzauberer that remains neutral between Shiva and Indra. Hmmm... But there''s nowhere in his profile that he''s rted to someone called John Smith. It''s either he''s a secret piece or not important enough to be listed here. Which is it?"


    "Actually, he just gave me a piece of information. You could decide after hearing that."


    "What is it?""The lover of your very important friend seems to have opened a path to another world once again."


    Gwenn''s eyes widened and she hurriedly tapped away on her terminal. A few secondster, she started muttering, "...There''s no information about that at all. How urate is this?"


    Stralit just shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows? We''ll be able to confirm that once Alicia gets the same information and verify it."


    Gwenn wanted to directly ask Alicia about this but stopped herself. If this is true, then that would mean they got acquainted with someone who''s capable of gathering vital information like this and she would hate it if Alicia gets him, "Let''s wait for a few days. For the time being, I''ll try contacting Yoruichi to ask more about this strange world and that strange space they call the Dimensional Gap."


    .


    .


    .


    [So they were able to enter Earth? My goodness, I know that the hole they created in the barrier is significant but to think they could easilye here... Might as well take down that wall.] Yoruichi grumbled.


    "We can''t do anything about that now. That Gwenn girl will probably contact you in a few days so I''ll leave it to you to control the flow of information there."


    [Don''t worry about it. I''m done with my countermeasures. Aizen, however, I have no way to control him.]


    "Let him do what he wants. Despite his strength, he''s an incredibly cautious guy. Though I don''t really have any way to control him. Once he notices, it''ll only be a headacheter on."


    [Out of interest, he''ll probably make contact with the Etouldes sooner orter.]


    "I guess I have to warn Stralit about him next time we meet."


    [What are you going to do next?]


    "I already left my trail as John Smith so I just need to wait for their offers. To make it more convincing that I''m somewhat of a ''secret weapon'', I don''t n to show myself anytime soon."


    [And where are you going next?]


    "To that deadlydy. I need to pass a message..." Kisuke paused for a moment before saying, "I''m sorry Yoruichi but I''ll be the one taking their heads."


    Yoruichi immediately knew who he was talking about and couldn''t help but sigh, [...I''d like to do it myself but now that it hase to this, you''re the only one with actual freedom among us. Any further dy will just make it harder to track them. But how much are you willing to show off?]


    Kisuke smiled with a hint of the craze in it, "Tiamat and I probably won''t pull any punches if required."


    Yoruichi squinted her eyes, [You n to wreak havoc without holding back?]


    "Yep~ You guys prepare ''cause those robot guys will probably use this chance to go on the offensive."


    Yoruichi sighed, [Fine...] But soon enough a crazed smile also appeared on her face, [If you n to go all in, make sure to grab the feet of those higher-ups.]


    "Leave it to me~!" Kisuke chuckled and ended the call. He was still keeping his disguise but he already left Draconic Deus some time ago and is on his way towards Seraselbes.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    .


    .


    .


    Sona, who had been listening to Yoruichi and Kisuke''s conversation, had glistening eyes, "So we can finally do something?"


    Yoruichi nodded, "Let''s call everyone and prepare to set a trap. We won''t be able to get everyone, but it''s still good enough to slow them down."


    "Wouldn''t that give it away that we''re somehow rted to whatever he''s going to do?"


    "Probably, but without proper evidence, all they could do is specte."


    As they were talking, Sona saw an urgent notification pop in and the moment she brought it up she made a surprised expression, "How surprising..."


    Yoruichi went around her and took a peek at her screen, "Hoo... Now they want direct contact? Do you think the DxD Team is aware of this?"


    "With how things are going on with the Alliance, I doubt it. They''re probably losing confidence in them so they had no choice but to let go of their middleman. And most probably, she''s asking for direct contact because of those two new Etoulde that Kisuke told you." Sona replied while typing on her keyboard and setting up the schedule for the meeting, "Are youing?"


    "As long as it''s only them. And I''ll bring Aika too. I don''t really want to be stared at by Gwenn too much."


    "Alright. Aika is free too so she should be able toe immediately. Where should I set it up?"


    Yoruichi thought about it for a moment before replying, "I guess somewhere deserted. Somewhere where a little bit of noise won''t be a problem."

 Chapter 1329 Repelling a Monster

    Chapter 1329 Repelling a Monster


    Sona decided that their meeting would happen on a random floating ind within the Dimensional Gap covered in a barrier.


    This would eliminate the need for an extrarge space in case a fight broke out and it has an additional benefit of naturally blocking the fluctuation of released aura. However, it has its own set of disadvantages even though it''s such a great space to meet secretly.


    First of which is that meeting within the Dimensional Gap requires a certain degree of strength or durability and without any way to cut through the space and leave it of your own devices, you''ll just be signing your own death certificate. Second, despite the entire space seemingly unending and twisting every second, it''s rtively easy to find someone in it as long as they''re acquainted.


    The Dimensional Gap has strange properties that came from both Ophis and Great Red''s authorities so even if there is unlimited space within it which came from Ophis, Anyone can find someone they personally know as long as they think hard enough of their target thanks to Great Red connecting everyone''s ''dream''.


    It was due to this that there are several teams of experts that would scour the Dimensional Gap every day in hopes of finding bigwigs that don''t appear in public.


    There are ways to mitigate this which were already employed by the Ouroboros Academy and other major factions but those are only temporary measures.


    "This is truly a strange space," Gwenn muttered while looking around. She had to limit what she could see so that she wouldn''t get dizzy from all the nonsensical information entering her senses.


    "I tried searching for any record simr to this but I got nothing. This is something unique to Draconic Deus. No wonder the two sides were cautious with their approach to this ce." Stralit replied to her while also marveling at the ''sky''


    Both of them did their best to gather data on the space and although Alicia probably already gathered way more, it''s great to have a different reference whenever they request for it.Sadly, they only had a few minutes to do this when two other individualsnded on the ind they were on. They were familiar with one of them but they were only staring at the new face.


    She had long ponytailed brte hair and a pair of golden eyes behind her spectacles. What caught their attention however was the attire she was wearing and the more than long enough sword behind her waist.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "A-a cloth weaved with purely spiritual matter? And that sword... It''s not the same as those Soul Gears... Another Zanpakuto?" Stralit softly muttered.


    "Well... There are two so it won''t be strange that there''s a third one." Gwenn replied while the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrobly and thought, ''That settles it, in a way, they are more advanced when ites to utilization of Spiritual Power. Something like that could only be worn by those in the Holy Family.''


    But soon after, Gwenn realized that something was strange with them. Yoruichi is frowning and the girl beside her has her hand on her weapon, ''...Are they hostile? But not towards us.''


    Gwenn turned around to follow their stare and when she did, she shuddered and was frozen in ce because a sudden pressure pressed on her and a hand was already about to grab her face, "Wh...?"


    Stralit also realized that something was strange and hurriedly turned around but before she realized it, an unknown man, with his outstretched arm towards Gwenn was being blocked by the woman who was just beside Yoruichi using her sword.


    "Hup!" With a deep breath, the woman nted her feet firmly on the ground and rotated her body to give more momentum to her swing, sessfully pushing back the unknown man. Nevertheless, it was very strange that she was only able to cut a bit of his palm despite the forceful sh, ''Is the sword dull?'', Stralit asked herself in that situation before she finally realized the sudden attack targeted Gwenn.


    Stralit lowered her body and immediately grabbed Gwenn who was strangely not moving and took some distance from the sh. Since she didn''t know if she could trust Yoruichi, she chose a direction that would also increase their distance from her.


    "Hey! Gwenn! What are you freezing for!?" Stralit was tempted to p Gwenn but thankfully, she didn''t have to resort to violence for her to get her mind back.


    "Haaahh...!" Gwenn hurriedly took a deep breath because she unconsciously forgot to breathe, "W-what was that!?"


    Stralit then turned to the tanned woman and asked with a frown, "You''re Yoruichi, aren''t you? What''s the meaning of this?"


    But to her and Gwenn''s surprise, Yoruichi ignored them and her gaze never left the unknown man with swept-back brown hair and now floating on top of the ind, "I won''t ask how you tracked us, but what do you get from assaulting them?"


    The unknown man just smiled, "Don''t misunderstand. I know that the silver-haired girl is directly rted to Kisuke, but that''s not the same as the red-haired one, is it?" For the unknown man, Aizen, it''s only a fair game.


    "She''s mine. Back off."


    "Now you really are misunderstanding things." Aizen chuckled, "I''m cautious of Kisuke but that doesn''t extend to those around him. I may not be able to hurt you without a good reason but I won''t back off just because you say so. Don''t delude yourself. You don''t stand on the same stage as him and I."


    Yoruichi went silent and Aika also didn''t say anything. Yoruichi didn''t have anything to retort since it was just inly the truth. While she had improved considerablypared to her previous life, all she did was run around in darkness and she still hadn''t reached the line of ''Transcendent''. In fact, she feels like it''s still far beyond her reach.


    The frustrating truth is that neither she nor the other girls had what it takes to contend with Aizen. He''ll listen to Kisuke if it''s convenient, but he''ll disregard everyone else if he has no interest in them. It was his pride in his achievement.


    However, Yoruichi knew that she couldn''t be silent forever, ''...I can''t talk to him at all. I don''t know why he wanted to abduct Gwenn, but to stop him, we should prove that it''s not worth the effort.''


    Yoruichi sighed. She didn''t want to reveal anything major to the two Etoulde right now, but they didn''t have any choice, "Aika, go all out."

 Chapter 1330 Not Worth It

    Chapter 1330 Not Worth It


    Without any hesitation, Aika stood her ground and released her massive Spiritual Pressure, "Bankai, Akane of Dreamscape; Kaguya of Endless Night."


    The Reiatsu she released solidified and formed a pir of twisting red and ck light around her. The small ind they were standing on cracked into smaller pieces and started drifting apart while also being disintegrated by the twisting space of the Dimensional Gap.


    Yoruichi immediately grabbed Stralit and Gwenn and enclosed them within a nullifying barrier with her, "Don''t get too close. It''ll be bad if either of you gets captured by that guy."


    "H-hey, what''s going on?" Stralit asked while stuttering. The Spiritual Pressure that Aika is releasing right now was on par with her mother when her Spiritual Power started affecting the world around her. But more than that, the unknown man watching from above with a confident smile on his is giving her a dread that she never even felt from her mother nor any of the other highest-ranking Etouldes in their homeworld.


    Gwenn, on the other hand, still couldn''t get any words out but did have the same opinion as Stralit. Different from her, however, Gwenn had a better reference topare the unknown man to.


    Thanks to her past achievements, she had a chance to meet the Holy Mother. It was not as intense as their Goddess, but the unknown man was undoubtedly in the same league as her.


    The unknown man then set his sights on them and pointed his finger in their direction, "Soukatsui (Blue Fire, Crash Down)."


    The iridescent light of the Dimensional Gap was instantly covered by a giant wave of blue me that was about to engulf Yoruichi, Stralit, and Gwenn.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Stralit and Gwenn panicked because the attack was something that could directly damage their souls, which is the source of their power. They were about to conjure various barriers but Yoruichi blocked their front, "Don''t do anything for now."Before they could ask what she was going to do with the me that was about to engulf them, a dark silhouette appeared in front of them, and with a swing of her gigantic broadsword, the blue me was cut in half first before itpletely lost its substance and fizzled out.


    "How is it?" Yoruichi asked the one who protected them.


    With a slightly altered Shihakushou, golden reptilian eyes, red and ck scales on various parts of her body, and a huge ck broadsword with a red edge in her hand, Aika answered after taking a deep breath and staring at Aizen, "I think I can control the violent urges better."


    "Great. No point in aiming anywhere. He''s a lot more durable than Kisuke, on the outside, at least."


    "Outside eh? I''ll keep that in mind"


    Aizen, meanwhile, was also staring at Aika in shock, ''If she cut it, it should have exploded. But it fizzled out?''


    He was still contemting what just happened when all of a sudden, the strange Shinigami appeared beside him, swinging her unbnced broadsword.


    That, of course, was not enough to elicit any hurried reaction from Aizen and he just lifted his arm and caught the de with his bare hand.


    Aika''s eyes widened as Aizen remained unmoved and her sword became stuck. What she didn''t know, however, was that Aizen also shared the same sentiment as her, ''This strength... She''s on par with Zaraki!?''


    Aika didn''t know that Aizen had to put a considerable amount of strength into his hand just to stop her sword and even then he could feel the impact wreaking havoc inside his body as he was slightly pushed to the side.


    Aika narrowed her eyes and the de in Aizen''s hand suddenly slipped away, "!?"


    Aizen didn''t let go of the sword but he felt it disappear from his hand. However, it''s still clearly there and he just can''t touch it.


    Aizen tried jumping back but the sword swiped at him across his chest, ''Hmmmm?'' He immediately checked for wounds but there was nothing. Aika''s sword went through him without doing anything to him, is what he thought.


    A secondter, Aizen could feel a lump from the back of his throat and couldn''t help but cough it out. When he caught it with his hand, he was shocked yet again, ''Blood?''


    Aizen could still feel more blooding up from his throat and he was having a harder time breathing, ''My lungs were ruptured? On top of that, a good portion of my regeneration was restricted?''


    Of course, Aika wouldn''t let him rest just because he was coughing out blood and continued her assault. This time, Aika brought her sword up for an overhead swing.


    Aizen responded by pointing his finger at her and muttering, "Byakurai."


    A blinding white lightning was ejected from Aizen''s finger and instantly swallowed Aika whole. He wondered why his opponent didn''t dodge. Even though it was not at full power, it was still enough to incinerate a normal Lieutenant instantly.


    The lightning disappeared, but she was still there, in her overhead pose with a small smirk.


    It was too unexpected that Aizen wasn''t able to react and dodge properly. Aika''s sword, just like the first time, went through him from his forehead down to his crotch. And then just like in the previous instance, Aizen didn''t immediately feel the pain and it only arrived a secondter, giving him a very familiar feeling. It made him recall that time when Ichigo transformed and bisected him in half.


    Except this time, there''s no indication that he was bisected although he could feel that his insides were definitely cut in half.


    He could feel that he was about to nk out but did his best to hold on to his consciousness. However, that was enough for him to have apse in concentration and before he knew it, the strange Shinigami had already disappeared along with the other three.


    Aizen tried tracing their whereabouts but the strand of Spiritual Power that he secretly imnted on Yoruichi was already gone, ''She figured it out, huh? What was that anyway?''


    The only thing around him was the scattered rocks and soil along with a piece of note. He approached the note and read it, [Making you our enemy is very inconvenient, but don''t mistake it for us fearing you. If ites down to it, we''re willing to go on an all-out war with you.]


    Aizen smiled and burned the note, ''I guess it''s not worth it. That red-haired one would be the most convenient, but I guess I''ll settle for that ck-haired one.''


    Now with a new target in mind, Aizen left the Dimensional Gap with his near-instant teleportation. Soon enough, the Dimensional Gap returned to its default state, erasing every trace that was left behind.

 Chapter 1331 Main Objective

    Chapter 1331 Main Objective


    Yoruichi sent Stralit and Gwenn to a safe ce before hurriedly going back to Aika''s room, "How is she?"


    Within the room wasn''t just Aika, who was lying on her bed and heavily breathing and sweating, but also Riveria, Akeno, and Irina taking care of her.


    "She went a bit over her time limit, but she''s fine overall." Riveria answered as she looked towards Yoruichi, "She just a need a bit of time to rest and cool down. Who did she fight that she had to use Outrage and Phase Change?"


    Yoruichi found a chair and sat on it while sighing heavily, "Someone extremely troublesome. And even with all that effort, Aika only hurt him at most."


    The three people who are assisting Aika adjust herself were shocked and Akeno immediatelymented, "Only hurt him? Even someone like Kisuke who has extreme regeneration ability could be killed by Aika, but she only managed to hurt him?"


    Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders, "That''s just how unreasonable that man is. If not for Ophis and Lilith''s snakes, we wouldn''t have it easy like this."


    "Sosuke Aizen, was it?" Akeno muttered with an extremely concerned expression, "What''s the risk of him retaliating?"


    "As time goes on, the lower the risk. He probably already knows what we''re capable of so he won''t be the type to wait." Yoruichi leaned in before continuing, "The fact that he''s not here right now suggests that he might have changed his target."


    Irina finished inspecting Aika and applying Holy Power on Aika to counteract the destructive tendencies of her Outrage, "The only prominent Etoulde around here is...""Alicia." Yoruichi finished her sentence, "He might go after Alicia, but frankly speaking, that might be good for us."


    "And very bad to Shiva''s faction." Riveria added, "But if this Sosuke Aizen is not careful or doesn''t care in the first ce, it won''t matter if we deny our association with him, we''ll still take the me. He might just announce it as a form of retaliation to us."


    "Maybe. But I doubt he''d do that. He would be actively working against Kisuke at that point, you see? I think he''ll at least do it discreetly so that he can properly move."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    .


    .


    .


    And just as Yoruichi had expected, Alicia Crowfeather, the main liaison for the Alliance and Shiva''s Faction disappeared without any trace.


    "This is nuts..." Gwenn scratched her head in frustration upon receiving emergency notice of Alicia''s disappearance, "She''s really gone?"


    Stralit was also looking down at the notice before turning her head up to Yoruichi, "...Is she perhaps..."


    Yoruichi waved her hand in dismissal, "I can assure you that she''s still alive. That guy, Aizen, only wanted to move on his own and a conveniently rich youngdy was running around so he decided to use her as a stepping stone to make it easier for him."


    Stralit and Gwenn fell silent and were contrasted by the winding through the window ringing the chimes, giving a pleasant vibe.


    Yoruichi brought them to the Dungeon World and within thend that the Ouroboros Academy secured after abandoning the gate.


    As of right now, they were given a small but very cozy house, and all of their needs were provided. Despite this though, Stralit and Gwenn still consider themselves as prisoners with how they are not allowed to leave.


    "What''s going to happen now?" Stralit asked. She might be in the same situation as Gwenn, but she''s not as worried as her since she at least has some idea of how Kisuke''spanions operate, ''If I''m in the same shoes as them, I also wouldn''t let go of ourselves until an agreement could be reached.'' She felt a bit guilty for Gwenn, but nothing could be done, ''Unless I could fully trust her... That''s impossible, huh?'' After all, she couldn''t trust even her own mother and only revealed the big secret to Kisuke because she didn''t have much choice and thought that he''s weak.


    Yoruichi sat down and gave them a small smile, "That would depend on you guys."


    Gwenn narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you want?"


    "No need to be so defensive. I can promise you that even if our negotiation fell through, I won''t hold you two any longer than this. You''ll be free to go."


    "No hidden issues?"


    Yoruichi nodded, "No hidden issues."


    "Then please tell us what you want first." Stralit initiated the conversation.


    "I''ll tell you all about the man called Sosuke Aizen in full detail except his origins if you can give me satisfactory answers." Yoruichi saw Gwenn''s shoulders shaking a little bit but pretended to have missed it, "I''ll start with a simple question." Yoruichi''s casual tone disappeared, "Who''s really running the show here?"


    Stralit slightly tilted her head to the side, "What do you mean?"


    However, Yoruichi wasn''t looking at her but at Gwenn, "She seems to have an idea of that, so you should ask her."


    Stralit eyes widened in surprise and turned to the side, "Gwenn?"


    Gwenn looked straight into Yoruichi''s eyes for a few moments before sighing and turning her head to Stralit, "This is essentially revealing our information to potential enemies. Are you sure?"


    Stralit became silent. She didn''t really want it toe to this but considering the situation, she could easily see the unknown man, Sosuke Aizen, prying far more from Alicia, "There''s no point of keeping things as they are, right?"


    Gwenn smiled wryly, "I''m of the same opinion. I just want to make sure that we''re on the same page. We also need information on that man if we want to counter him. It''s not an exaggeration that he''s on the same level as those from the Holy Family."


    "Haahhh..." Stralit let out a huge breath, "Go on. I''m also curious about her question."


    Gwenn nodded, "Even before the Evies could be made aware of this world, the Holy Mother already came into contact with one of its denizens and nned to assist him to fend off the inevitable arrival of the Evies who would try to run a thorough analysis of its biological beings."


    "Wait... Thorough analysis?" Yoruichi interrupted her.


    "Yes. They nned to annihte all life on this and put them through an extreme analysis for replication. This has been their main goal in hopes that they would be able to replicate or engineer something that could render the Etouldes'' abilities useless."

 Chapter 1332 Main Objective part 2

    Chapter 1332 Main Objective part 2


    ''Seraselbes never mentioned anything like this.'' Yoruichi thought upon hearing Gwenn''s words. But after further introspection, she only had herself to me for missing something so obvious, ''Of course, they could have another reason for their actions and not just in invasion of resources. And as their enemies, the Etouldes wanted to help our side to deny them of those resources and maybe use them themselves.''


    "So that''s why they aimed at Great Red first without establishing a proper foothold here. It wasn''t just to establish dominance but also to snatch his body." Yoruichi muttered in an attempt to hide her thoughts, "I would have been a disaster if Regalzeva was sessful."


    Gwenn nodded, "Yes. If the records about that Dragon are true, they could have another Executive-ss Evie on the level of Primes, or even worse, on the level of one of the Pir Gods with it as the base. It was amazing that you managed to erect a barrier that was strong enough to block one of the Pir Gods."


    ''Executive-ss... Those guys should be on the level of those upper-ranking Gods like Odin and Zeus and maybe even better.'' Yoruichi thought to herself while asking, "But you guys can already bypass that barrier, right? What''s up with this very slow approach? I can understand if one side is doing it on purpose, but both? I don''t think transport and reinforcement is the problem here. I heard you guys already set multiple gates around the inner sr system."


    The corner of Gwenn''s eyes twitched, "I know that it''s already inevitable for the gate on the you call Mars to be discovered, but how did you know we have others?"


    "You don''t need to know that."


    Gwenn became silent for a few seconds before sighing, "Whatever. Going back to your question, one of the reasons is that it''s still hard for those in Executive-ss to go through and the hole created was still too small for the Pir Gods."


    Gwenn first took a peek at Yoruichi''s reaction and managed to guess what she was thinking next, "And yes, those Pir Gods would destroy the barrier as it is now, but they''re refraining from it due to one discovery both sides have made."


    Yoruichi was silently staring at Gwenn before letting out a small breath of realization, "I think I get it now."Stralit turned to her in confusion, "What is it?"


    "It''s the fault of your silly ''sessor''. Well, it''s mainly my fault but it''s probably thought of as his actions." Yoruichi only gave a small reply.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Stralit was still confused but Gwenn continued speaking, "So it''s true. I was skeptical when I first heard it, but Kisuke Urahara managed to connect this ce to another world through that strange space called Dimensional Gap."


    It was then that Stralit finally realized the gravity of the situation.


    "At first, the Holy Mother identally made a connection with Issei Hyoudou... For reasons I don''t need to say. Then that idiotic Rizevim went on to provoke the Evies using that established connection." Yoruichi sighed, "Those two times could be considered coincidence and were only possible if it opened the path towards the Evie Etoulde world, but Kisuke here entered the scene and introduced another one that isn''t rted to the former two.


    "For that third time, it opened the possibility of this world connecting to various and an infinite amount of worlds where both sides could ''invade''. With that in line, it''s no wonder you guys started approaching this ce with extreme caution."


    Gwenn nodded once again, "Yes. It''s also the reason why the information about this ce is highly restricted. If this spreads, the situation will devolve into an uncontroble mess on our side. I hate to admit it, but we''re not monolithic like the Evies and there are definitely a lot of people who''d take advantage of this for their own motives."


    "And how is that rted to my main question?"


    "Well, I had to exin all of that to give you the reason why the Holy Mother had to take a step back."


    Yoruichi narrowed her eyes, "Step back?"


    "That''s right. Instead of her, the one ''running the show'' is now the Holy Father... And he took control for an additional reason."


    Seeing Gwenn stare strangely at Yoruichi, thetter was immediately bothered and asked, "What is it?"


    "Elimination of Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin, and Aika Kiryuu."


    .


    .


    .


    "How are you, mdy~!" Kisuke gave a cheerful greeting to the tall and feminine mechanical being who looks closer to a human than a robot.


    However, his happy greeting was only received with a re which instantly gave Kisuke a shiver, ''Damn... She won''t kill me, right?''


    "Don''t you have something to say first?"


    Kisuke''s jolly expression instantly disappeared and was reced by an apologetic one, "I''m sorry for what happened. I hurther and ced her in danger."


    Seraselbes red at him for a whole minute and Kisuke just stayed still. Soon enough Seraselbes sighed and turned around to enter the log house she built, "I would have cut off a limb or two if you just spouted some excuses. Come in."


    Kisuke smiled and followed her inside, "I heard that Yoruichi already exined the situation to you so there''s no point. If you want, I don''t mind repeating it, but in greater detail. I already received permission from Stralit."


    Seraselbes turned her head in curiosity, "You needed her permission for that?"


    "Of course. It''s something very personal for her, after all."


    Seraselbes continued walking towards her kitchen while gesturing to Kisuke to sit down, "Then I''d like to hear it. I''m also curious as to what really happened since it wasn''t also clear to your lover. Do you have any requests?"


    Kisuke sat down and replied, "I''ll have whatever you''re having."


    "What if it''s something toxic for you?"


    "...Somethingfortable for me, please."

 Chapter 1333 Main Objective part 3

    Chapter 1333 Main Objective part 3


    It will be soon that the existence of Kisuke''s homeworld will be known so he told Seraselbes the story starting from there without explicitly revealing that it was his and Yoruichi''s origin while also keeping a few key details like personal information.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Even then, Seraselbes managed to pick up some crucial info from it which bothered her immensely.


    "Before I go over the main point, let me ask what''s going to happen to Stralit?"


    Kisuke leaned back in his chair and looked up to contemte, "Honestly, I don''t know. When ites to the matter of souls, any introduced variables no matter how tiny orrge it is, may or may not result in a change. Even with our best efforts, we don''t have a general or standardized reference of how souls mutate."


    ''Except for my study of Hougyoku and Aizen''s experiments on Shinigami and Hollows. But those aren''t reliable either and those things were probably influenced by thete Soul King.'' Kisuke thought to himself before continuing, "That''s why I left my precious partner with her to facilitate and moderate any sudden mutations that''s outside of her innate adaptability. If she''s lucky, her ability might evolve into something terrifying."


    "And how reliable is this partner of yours?"


    Kisuke picked up the strange drink that Seraselbes offered him and took a sip on it before answering, "I won''t exin any further and it might sound biased, but she''s very reliable."


    Seraselbes went silent for a few moments before muttering, "Well, I''ll trust you on this."


    "Thank you." Kisuke smiled and sighed in relief, "Moving on, what''s the main point you''re talking about?""You''re probably aware of what we''re doing in the worlds we take over, yes?"


    Kisuke nodded. And while he finds it unpleasant, he also understands that it is their way of life and survival against their adversity.


    "Then if the world you just mentioned indeed exists, we should probably prepare for an all-out war."


    Kisuke''s eyes instantly widened, "What do you mean?"


    "I''ve been expanding my informationwork within Draconic Deus and I have reasons to think that it wasn''t the Holy Mother taking charge of the Etoulde operation there as I initially suspected." Seraselbes frowned before continuing, "It wasn''t that long but their faction has started moving unlike how the Holy Mother does things and it''s strangely simr to the Holy Father when he''s in charge."


    "And why would that cause an all-out war?"


    "I can tell you in detail who these are but in summary, the Holy Mother''s approach is always ''Protection'' and ''Preservation''. Meanwhile, the Holy Father is akin to a loose spear that will strike anyone he deems dangerous." Seraselbes exined while pouring another cup of drink for herself, "From how I see it, even if I have a full analysis of these so-called Shinigami like you, we would still be incapable of using Spiritual Abilities or render it useless. It''s the same problem of us analyzing the Etouldes themselves, we still wouldn''t be able to generate Spiritual Power on our own.


    "However, if it''s really the Holy Father who''s moving behind the scenes, then this conclusion doesn''t matter. It''s still a possibility and a threat in his eyes. The all-out war scenario is the worst oue but more than likely, it''ll be arge-scale battle just to eliminate the denizens of that world."


    Kisuke held his head and sighed in frustration, "Damn it... It''ll be an all-out war."


    "Hmmm? What makes you say that? Even for him, it''ll take some time to gather forces not to mention, he has to convince the others first."


    Kisuke, with a wry smile, exined, "Not to brag but our technology regarding Spiritual Power is far ahead of what the Etouldes are using. It''s not just a possible indirect threat through the Evies but also a direct one where we could counter the Etoulde''s abilities."


    Seraselbes was stunned, "...You''re not exaggerating, are you?"


    "A certain scientist whocks any ethical senses willugh at your face and create a poison that affects the soul and could kill arge portion of the Etoulde poption just to prove you wrong."


    Seraselbes stared at Kisuke for a few moments before standing up, "Then this isn''t the time to be chatting casually. I''ll start preparing on my side since you''ll probably need my help."


    Kisuke also stood up and asked, "You''ll be directly helping? Isn''t that too dangerous for you?"


    "It can''t be helped. You guys have helped me out. It''s high time I return some of it."


    "Is that so? Then I''ll be thanking you in advance." Kisuke then tossed a familiar cube to Seraselbes, "It came from Stralit. She was able to leave her post so it should be easier to contact her directly instead of going through a middleman."


    Seraselbes caught the cube and checked its authenticity before turning to Kisuke who was about to leave through the door, "If you can, try establishing a connection to the Holy Mother. I have a feeling that she and Resetoras don''t get along well."


    Kisuke stopped for a moment before nodding and leaving, "I''ll keep that in mind."


    As Kisuke goes through the gates, he starts thinking about how he should change his approach to the newly acquired information, ''We should probably hold off on attacking both Etouldes and Evies we find. It''ll benefit us more if we could track their movements.''


    ''However, the biggest problem is that I''ll be dragging that world into another war. I doubt that they''ll want another one after what just happened.'' Kisuke stopped at one of the gates to continue contemting, ''If war is not ideal, then it''s best to limit the scope of the conflict to where we could deal with it on our own... Or divert their attention to another.''


    ''If this Holy Father guy is still adamant about attacking...'' For a second, Kisuke''s calm eyes were filled with chilling killing intent, ''I''d have no choice but to take him out, huh...''


    ''But first, I need to n things out with Yoruichi, Sona, and Serafall. And if indeed possible, I''ll try talking to that Holy Mother.''


    If thingse together conveniently, Kisuke was hoping that he''ll be able to use this chance to remove the messy situation within the Draconic Deus, ''For starters, Shiva and Indra would be great opening actors.''

 Chapter 1334 Main Objective part 4

    Chapter 1334 Main Objective part 4


    Yoruichi was resting when she received a notification and when she looked at it, it was Kisuke''s request to talk.


    After a few minutes of preparation, a call came in and Yoruichi immediately answered, "You''re contacting me because something urgent came up?"


    [Yeah. Something pretty big actually.] Kisuke then proceeded to ry what he had heard from Seraselbes and with each passing moment, cold sweat umted on Yoruichi''s back, [And that''s the gist of it. I''d like you to confirm if the one givingmands is indeed the Holy Father, Resetoras.]


    "...I already had a suspicion that something changed within theirmand hierarchy so I asked those Etoulde girls about it. While the Luxeux kid had no idea, the Yarwood kid pretty much confirmed that it''s now the Holy Father who has taken the reins." Yoruichi then exined to Kisuke how the Holy Mother had to take a step back and the Holy Father took charge because of Draconic Deus'' potential to connect to countless worlds.


    [How did you notice that something is different?]


    "I started bing suspicious when Issei-kun''s position slowly became irrelevant and Shiva''s position strengthened."


    Kisuke over the line became silent to arrange his thoughts, ''No wonder they could disband the DxD Team and dissolve the Alliance this easily. Shiva was probably in favor of this too to take in some talents for himself.''


    [Which part of the DxD Team moved to either Shiva and Indra?]


    "It still isn''t confirmed but there are rumors floating around that the Hero Faction is going to Shiva''s faction while the Buddha Faction is taking Indra''s side."[I see... It''s about time that both sides be saturated. Indra is probably already looking for the chance to spark a battle.] In those few seconds, several ideas immediately floated around Kisuke''s head about how he would set up the stage for them and hopefully drag those behind them along to the light. However, he''ll need more ''pawns'' to make it happen and he first had to make sure the stance of all those involved, [By the way, where''s Stralit and herpanion?]


    "They decided to settle down in the Dungeon World for now to avoid attention. I gave them your Reiatsu Cloaking Bracelets and tweaked them ording to your specifications so It''d work for Etouldes."


    [Did it work?]


    Yoruichi nodded, "It did, but only within a certain threshold. A slight exertion of their Spiritual Power will immediately reveal their identities."


    [Send me the logs. The hardware on those bracelets should still be capable of more so I''ll try to update the program and add more parameters.]


    "I''ll arrange it as soon as I return to yourb. Oh, and another matter. Aizen just tried to snatch Gwenn when we were meeting. I didn''t notice that he was tracking me."


    But instead of getting worried, Kisuke started chuckling, [You let your guard down, huh? You thought Ophis and Lilith were enough to keep him in check.]


    Yoruichi pouted and grumbled, "Those two are a lot more lenient than I thought."


    [Since you''re talking about how you''re settling those two down, you managed to fend him off?]


    "Yes, with Aika simultaneously using her Bankai and Outrage."


    [...That nasty form? He''ll probably think twice after experiencing that Super Strength, selective Phase Change, and Ability Silence even if he''s an undying immortal.]


    "I don''t know if he did, but he stopped bothering us. The Etoulde managing the Draconic Deus forces, Alicia Crowfeather, disappeared so he probably opted for her."


    [Then it won''t be long before Aizen realizes the true nature of our enemies. Since there will be hardly anything he could do meaningfully alone, he''ll probably look for others he could use.]


    "So what now?"


    [Depending on how Crowfeather-san reacts, he''ll either go back to the Soul Society or find a way to move forward further behind the frontlines... If he chooses the former, he''d need to go through the gate. Please wait for him there and tell him about Ajuka and Azazel.]


    Yoruichi was a bit apprehensive about this, "Is that alright?"


    [Yep. Tell him that there''s a chance for him to challenge a so-called ''God'' that seeks to eliminate those with Spiritual Abilities.]


    "...Which one are you talking about?"


    Kisuke grinned, [Both.]


    .


    .


    .


    In addition to the ryokan that Tenjirou built, there''s also an additional building on the Ouroboros Floating Ind. Its metallic dome is 100 meters wide and 30 meters tall painted pure white. It was not far from the ryoukan but it didn''t receive the attention that the former did. And within Ouroboros Academy''s own records, this dome was only used to contain raw materials for the ryoukan and it wasn''t even that heavily guarded.


    And if one were to infiltrate it, they''d only find specially treated construction materials that are a bit sensitive to an open-air environment. They are expensive materials that only the richest faction could afford to use for their constructions but it''s almost nothing of value for those looking for anything other than mary value.


    But within a small subsection of this ce is an obscured door that leads to a small room.


    "Hmmm... I would guess that you''ve already talked to Urahara." Aizen who secretly entered the dome along with a ck-haired youngdy stopped just before they reached the door.


    Guarding the door was Yoruichi seemingly bored of waiting, "Well, you''re right about that." She replied shortly before turning her gaze to the youngdy, "It has been a while, Miss Alicia. I hope he didn''t hurt you too much."


    The youngdy with a dark expression returned her gaze, "...Yoruichi... As expected... You know this guy. Can I assume that he''s yourrade?"


    Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders, "I would if he wasn''t such a traitorous bastard that only listens when it''s convenient for him."


    Alicia gritted her teeth, "Then can you at least try saving me from him? I promise to return the favor to the best of my ability."


    "You''re a skilled and smart person. You should already have some idea what this guy could do." Yoruichi could only give a wry smile to her pleas.


    Alicia clenched her teeth and wanted to try escaping again. However, after remembering the aura Aizen released and how nonchnt he dismissed her every attempt until now, she immediately lost all of her motivation, ''...Is he really at the level of those from the Holy Family? But how is that possible and where did hee from?''


    Yoruichi stared at Alicia for a few moments beforeing to a decision. She turned her eyes towards Aizen and said, "I only intended to inform you of a few things but it would seem that it would be better for me toe with you."


    There was no change in Aizen''s expression so Yoruichi could guess what he was thinking. He only stayed silent for a few seconds before cracking a small smile, "Are you sure you can leave this ce? I''m of the impression that time is not on your side."


    "I''ll be fine. I won''t be gone for long and I want to make sure that you don''t assume the wrong things and mess things up. Besides, I had a previous deal with that Etoulde. It''ll go smoother if you can give her some sort of benefit for all of this, right?"


    "Hmmm... I guess that''s true." Aizen nodded to himself, "Lead the way."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Yoruichi immediately turned around and started opening the obscured door while raising her voice, "I''ll take it from here, Ophis, Lilith."


    From the outside of the dome, the ''twin'' humanoid Dragons looked at each other before walking away. They''re free so they wanted to eat something good and decided to look for ire.

 Chapter 1335 The First Etoulde in That “Horrifying” Place

    Chapter 1335 The First Etoulde in That ��Horrifying�� ce


    Alicia, still very much clueless as to what was happening, silently followed Yoruichi and Aizen through the door. The next thing she knew, she arrived in a white desert in the middle of the night.


    ''Night? Did we teleport into a different timezone?'' But as soon as she thought about that, the wind hit her face and she noticed that something was amiss, "...Huh?"


    As an Etoulde and a long-time spacefarer, she could survive in many, many ces as long as it supports carbon-based life. Even if there isn''t any air for her to breathe, as long as she has a steady stream of Magic Power, she''ll be able to sustain her body for long periods of time. However, the problem right now was not the quality of the air, but itsposition.


    The quality of the air is akin to that of the Draconic Deus, but each time Alicia inhales, it strangely invigorates. She froze in ce and carefully inspected what was happening. Naturally, it didn''t take too long for her to figure it out, "Wait! A-all... All of this! All of this is made out of Spiritual Matter!?"


    "Hooh... Now this is interesting." Aizen muttered softly, "This ce actually has regenerative effects on you."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Yoruichi immediately took note of that and stared at Alicia too to watch out for other changes in her.


    "Where are we!?" Alicia eximed as she looked around in disbelief. She also kicked up some sand to confirm that it was indeed all Spiritual Particles, "How is this possible!?"


    "Don''t you have something simr in your homeworld?"


    Alicia was stunned silent and gave Yoruichi''s words more thought, ''It''s true... I heard that the capital has something like this and only those from the Holy Family, important court members, and a few selected people are allowed to go. Nevertheless, those are still just some rumors!''While Alicia was deep in her thoughts, one person cautiously approached the group.


    A tall female Arrancar of a curvaceous and well-endowed frame. She has olive skin, aqua green eyes, thick eyshes, and short golden blonde hair. She wore a variation of the Arrancar jacket with a high cor, which covered the lower part of her face downward while baring a good portion of the lower half of herrge breasts. The jacket has a zipper running along its entire length, which is opened from the bottom upwards. It had a beige air filter on either side just below the trim. The jacket''s sleevespletely enveloped her arms, terminating in ck glove-like extensions at her extremities, resembling the appearance of a cat''s paw.


    "Tier Harribel. It has been a while." Yoruichi greeted her.


    Tier first nced at Aizen with trepidation before returning her greeting as shended in front of them, "It seems that you''re doing well, Yoruichi Shihouin... And you too, Sosuke Aizen."


    She also eyed Alicia who''s staring at her as if she was some weird creature but soon ignored her and continued addressing Yoruichi, "I apologize but it''s required for me to ask your purpose, seeing that you crossed unannounced."


    "I also apologize for doing this. After all, it''s hard to coordinate when this guy is involved.", Yoruichi turned her eyes toward Aizen while answering, "We''d like to go to the Soul Society to meet Captain Kurotsuchi."


    Tier was silent for a moment before waving her hand and a slit in space was formed, revealing a dark void, "I see. I''ll inform them from my side."


    "Well, that was easy." Aizen chuckled and started walking through the opening.


    Meanwhile, the corners of Yoruichi''s mouth could only twitch, ''This bitch... She just didn''t want to deal with Aizen... That''s fair, though.'' She sighed and grabbed Alicia''s arm to drag her in, "Thanks."


    Alicia''s thoughts slowed down, but as soon as she stepped into the void, she panicked and thought she''d fall. Thankfully, she didn''t and noticed that there was an invisible floor for her made out of thin solidified Spiritual Power. And upon further inspection, this thin floor was created by the man who kidnapped her and was walking in front.


    Soon, the slit in the space disappeared behind them but strangely enough, they could still see each other clearly despite the fact that the only source of light was the fluctuating void, ''What''s all of this nonsense? Even this strange void is full of Spiritual Particles and Spiritual Power.''


    "She didn''t have to be that scared," Aizenmented, initiating some small talk while continuing on his path.


    "After you almost cut her in half and she only managed to survive through luck? I''m actually surprised that she didn''t hate you much more." Yoruichi instantly retorted without letting go of Alicia, "In any case, is this really leading directly to the Soul Society? I''m surprised that they were allowing something like this."


    "You can thank Kyouraku for that. He doesn''t care about norms and traditions."


    "Well, he''s the one who released you against Yhwach so I can see that."


    There were no more exchanges between the two of them after that and that caused Alicia a huge amount of frustration, ''Why stop now!? Please continue!'' Her only source of information right now was what she could observe and their conversation with thetter gave her more utility. She knew that they won''t answer her questions now so all she could do is wait and hope that they''ll start talking again.


    Unfortunately for her, the silence continued until they reached the end of the ''tunnel''.


    Bracing herself, Alicia squinted her eyes to prepare for the sudden light.


    The moment she regained her sight, however, she saw Aizen holding a de aimed at his neck by a scarred, very wild-looking, muscr man with a maniacal smile on his already scary face.


    "When are you going to get bored of this, Zaraki?" Aizen asked with a nonchnt voice while pushing the de away from him.


    Meanwhile, the one holding her hand until now have released her and also havee face to face with a rtively petite woman with gray eyes and ck hair.


    As their short des shed with each other, Yoruichi couldn''t help but mutter, "Since when did Gotei 13 develop such violent tendencies?"


    The ck-haired woman smirked at her and retorted, "Who knows? It was you who left for such a long time."


    The two separate shes brought down the heavy weight of their Spiritual Pressures. And Alicia who was standing in the middle of it came to a terrifying realization, ''That golden-haired woman from before opened a tunnel using Spiritual Power... And it was the same for these four. I can''t deny it anymore. It wasn''t just a few special individuals... There''s another race... No, another developed society that''s capable of using Spiritual Power as much as the Etouldes do.''


    It''s amon belief in their society that aside from the Evies, only arge organization of other Spiritual Ability users of their level would be able to stand against the Etouldes if it existed. It was due to this belief that they were always watching out for such a group. As of now, the current consensus for the appearance of such a group is, ''...Elimination. At least, that''s what the Holy Father''s faction would do.''

 Chapter 1336 The First Etoulde in That “Horrifying” Place part 2

    Chapter 1336 The First Etoulde in That ��Horrifying�� ce part 2


    The four people were about to sh for the second time when a loud p caught their attention, "Alright, that''s enough. You''re scaring our little guest here."


    The four Shinigami, if you could consider one of them as one, stopped and all turned their heads to the man wearing a pink, flowereddy''s kimono followed by a female Shinigami, "It has been a while, Yoruichi. I didn''t think I''d be seeing you this early though."


    "Well, the situation really calls for it." Yoruichi sheathed her Zanpakuto, "I''d like to make sure this guy doesn''t torture this poor littledy."


    Alicia shuddered and Shunsui instantly became more interested and started rubbing his chin, "Oh? So the little guest is actually a little prisoner?"


    Aizen smiled and peaked at Yoruichi, "If I needed that to happen, how are you going to stop me?"


    Fear instantly enveloped Alicia and she hurriedly hid behind Yoruichi who is seemingly the only one interested in her wellbeing. Alicia didn''t like Yoruichi for tricking and making her an aplice to her movements within the Etoulde territory, but right now, she has forgotten all of that and was extremely grateful for the lifeline she''s offering, ''I can''t die here... I still have to save those two! If I''m gone, how are they going to survive that filthy house!?''


    Yoruichi could feel Alicia shivering and sighed, "I''ll provide you with the information I have too. Besides, I think there''s a way to peacefully pull her to our side..." ''If Stralit''s information about her is urate, that is.'' Yoruichi thought immediately after.


    "Hmmm... No matter. We''ll know whether what you''re providing is enough to rece her use." Aizen then turned to Kyouraku and said, "Where''s Kurotsuchi?"


    "In the Special Region, neck deep in his experiments." Shunsui answered after giving it some thought, "But it''s my duty to ask the reason why you''re asking for him so please don''t make itplicated for both of us. I''m also very tired of work.""Urahara might have underestimated the overall situation on the other side. Whether you like it or not, this ce will also be dragged into their conflict. Good enough?"


    Zaraki, Soifon, and Nanao''s eyes shot wide open while Shunsui tipped his straw hat lower, "And here I was hoping it wasn''t that bad of news. Is this urate?" He asked Yoruichi.


    "ording to my sources, yes. I was toote to realize this and Kisuke already changed things up to adapt to this. I assure you that he certainly didn''t want to have this ce get involved so early."


    Shunsui already promised that the Gotei 13 would assist him before the problem with Ichibei evolved out of proportion and they still intended to keep it. However, they are still recovering and figuring out what they should do so immediately jumping into arge-scale conflict is really out of the question right now.


    Shunsui turned around and went towards the stairs to get down from the tower where they were standing, "That''s reassuring to hear. I''ll call Kurotsuchi back, but don''t expect him to be in a good mood when he arrives."


    Nanao gave Yoruichi a small bow before following Shunsui. In response, Yoruichi smiled and cheerfully waved her hand at her until she turned around.


    "Then I''ll be going somewhere else first. You take care of her, peacefully if you could, of course." Aizen didn''t wait for any input from Yoruichi and directly disappeared.


    Zaraki also lost his interest and jumped off the tower, leaving only thedies behind.


    "So... Any ce we could rx?" Yoruichi asked Soifon after a few moments of silence.


    "The entertainment industry within the Soul Society hasn''t restarted so we''ll have to go to the Human World. I know a good ce." Soifon turned towards the Senkaimon that''s just behind them and added before opening them, "It would be great if you could let me in your special talk too."


    Yoruichi nodded as that''s what she intended from the start. This decision stemmed from the fact that she helped out Kisuke and even hid Ophis and Lilith''s identity for a while, "I''ll even satisfy your curiosity. I know you have a lot of things to ask."


    "I''m certainly looking forward to that."


    Alicia, on the other hand, couldn''t keep up. These twodies were baring their fangs at each other but in an instant, they acted like they were best friends of many years.


    .


    .


    .


    Within a cozy and peaceful cafe in Shibuya, one table, upied by three beautifuldies, was not peaceful at all, "You''re kidding! There are nine other women aiming for Urahara aside from you!?" Soifon eximed while mming the table.


    If not for the repelling barrier that''s surrounding them, they would have been kicked out long ago.


    "Twelve, actually. If I include the messy Goddesses." Yoruichi then took a meaningful peek at Soifon and added, "Or maybe thirteen?"


    Sadly, that attempt of teasing failed as it went over Soifon''s head since she was very shaken by this sudden revtion, "T-Twelve... Thirteen...? What the hell are you seeing in that bastard!?" Soifon clutched her head, genuinely confused and frustrated.


    "By the way, I''m still not counting those who gave up or lost their chance."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "...Are you sure he''s not hypnotizing or manipting your heads in any way?"


    Alicia ignored Yoruichi and Soifon''s bantering and only stared out of the window. It had been a while since she arrived in Draconic Deus and she already had her fair share of outings and explorations to study the strange.


    Actually, she''s familiar with the street they were on since it''s one of her go-to ces whenever she''s feeling stressed. However, shops are only simr to what she knew and some of them are entirely different. It looks like the Tokyo, Japan of Draconic Deus and it even has the same name.


    Nevertheless, she knew that she was not in Draconic Deus, ''The same yet different... This is a parallel world, isn''t it?''


    It was theoretically possible but she never knew it could actually exist, ''Now it''s settled. Draconic Deus really has the capability to connect countless worlds and even dimensions. They''ll never leave it alone. Worst-case scenario, they''ll take out all life on it if it means securing it.''


    "I see that you''ve rxed enough to contemte. Shall we proceed with our talk while we still have time?" Waking up from her stupor, Alicia heard Yoruichi and she recognized that she''s talking to her. And when she turned her head back at her, she also noticed Yoruichi''s ''friend'' staring at her while taking a sip from her iced coffee.


    "This is where you decide my fate, huh? I don''t know what you have for me, but can you really ensure that I''ll be able to return?" She replied after a long sigh.


    "That depends on you. To start, I heard that you only took the post in Draconic Deus because you didn''t have any choice."


    Alicia''s eyes immediately sharpened, "Where did you hear that?"


    As it pertains to her family, she instantly raised her guard to the highest it can be.


    "Want to take over your n? How about we talk with that in mind?" Yoruichi grinned after seeing her reaction.

 Chapter 1337 The First Etoulde in That “Horrifying” Place part 3

    Chapter 1337 The First Etoulde in That ��Horrifying�� ce part 3


    "Want to take over your n? How about we talk with that in mind?" Yoruichi grinned after seeing her reaction.


    Alicia red at Yoruichi but didn''t say anything for a while. She then let out a small sigh and turned her sights towards her coffee and took a sip of it, "Where and how much did you hear?"


    Alicia was able to calm herself down pretty quickly and after thinking about it for a bit, there was no way for Yoruichi to have a clear picture of what was going on within her n, ''I don''t think Namy''s no good father, the useless uncles and aunties or the shitty cousins would run their mouths so she probably heard it from someone outside. In that case, what she knows is nothing more than spection from an outsider''s close observations.''


    Naturally, Yoruichi also realizes this and Stralit is also clear that there''s almost nothing known about the inner operations of the Crowfeather n aside from the fact that Alicia''s mother passed away a long time ago, "But it''s true that you want to take over, right? I mean, why would a youngdy of a pretty high-ranking n want to earn merits on the frontlines?"


    "Lady or not, it doesn''t really matter. Many of the Etoulde ns are matriarchal. And are you saying that you''ll assist me with that in exchange for sharing my knowledge?"


    "I was actually hoping for more than that."


    "Then kill me. I have no intention of betraying my kind. Even if I could take over my n, it doesn''t mean anything if it leads to the destruction of our society." Alicia smirked at her as cynically as she could, ''And I won''t have a face to show those two who grew up idolizing heroes.''


    Yoruichi, to Alicia''s surprise, wasn''t discouraged at all. In fact, she looked relieved for a moment, "So you''ll do it if it means it won''t be betraying the Etouldes as a whole?"


    "What do you-" But before Alicia could even finish asking, Yoruichi suddenly stood up and turned to Soifon. She rummaged in her pocket and as soon as she took out something from it, she tossed it towards Soifon."A USB data storage?" She asked.


    "That''s what I intended to share for today. Give it to Aizen or Kurotsuchi. Tell them to spare thisdy for a bit and wait for me." Yoruichi tapped Alicia''s shoulder one time before she started walking towards the exit.


    Soifon also hurriedly stood up and asked, "Wait! Are you leaving her to me!? Where are you going!?"


    Yoruichi only waved her hand back while saying, "Yes. Take care of her while I confirm something important. Don''t let those two hurt her, alright?"


    As she disappeared into the crowd, Soifon could only sigh while scratching her head. She looked at the still stunned and confused Alicia and beckoned her, "Follow me. I''ll introduce you to the Captain Commander since it''s impossible for Kurotsuchi and Aizen to listen to me."


    Soifon also started leaving and Alicia had no choice but to follow since it''s her life on the line, ''If ites down to it, I''ll bring her to old man Yamamoto''s ce.''


    .


    .


    .


    Yoruichi returned to Draconic Deus before immediately making her way towards the Dungeon World where her guests were staying.


    To keep their identities hidden, Yoruichi decided to leave them in a hidden house outside of the controlled area of the Ouroboros Academy which is just outside of Orario. Since their appearances were slightly altered and their Spiritual Powers that formed an aura sealed, it''d be fine for them to go out from time to time and it''ll be an immense help if they could actually blend with the locals.


    There was also no one from Ouroboros Academy who kept an eye on them to avoid linking their movements to their location. It was a risky endeavor that Sona disagreed with but ultimately epted thanks to Yoruichi''s persuasion and the fact that they wouldn''t be staying within the Ouroboros Academy''s territory.


    Yoruichi knocked on their door and someone soon answered, "It''s open, pleasee in."


    As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by a nd-looking ck-haired tall girl sitting in a cross legged position in the middle of the living room with a katana sitting on top of herp, "Wee back. You returned earlier than I thought."


    Yoruichi first closed the door before asking, "Where''s Gwenn?"


    "She went to Orario to investigate the so-called Deities. After seeing one, she couldn''t help but be curious."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Oh? Did she tell you what she saw?"


    Stralit nodded, "She said that they possess a tremendous amount of Spiritual Power but actually convert all of it to instead use Divine Power. She guessed that it has something to do with their physiology but she wasn''t sure so she''s investigating."


    "She can tell something like that by just looking?"


    "Her eyes are really good. Even though she didn''t study medicine formally, many bigshots would still call her when they feel something isn''t right and she''ll be able to tell the problem immediately. With the help of a proper doctor, her diagnosis is almost always on point." Stralit stretched her body as she slowly stood up, "Though that''s also the reason why she ran away from home. She hated being used by those old folks."


    ''I doubt that''s the only reason. From my investigation, she''s so far down the session line so even with her father''s protection, there will be idiots who''ll try to im her for themselves.'' Yoruichi thought back to the first time she met Gwenn, ''After all, it wasn''t just her observation that was good, but also her maniption of energy flow that stemmed from that observation. If properly trained, she could probably redirect everything that was thrown to her back to her enemies.''


    "Do you need Gwenn for something?" Stralit added.


    Yoruichi shook her head, "No. It''s actually convenient that she''s not here. Have you checked if there are any bugs that Gwenn left?"


    "I''ve been using my [Shadow] to monitor my surroundings so no."


    "You can use your [Shadow] even though you''re restricted?"


    "It''s thanks to my training with Benihime. To keep myself from exploding when I use my abilities, I need to get used to extreme control."


    "Then what did Gwenn say? I doubt she didn''t notice this."


    "I told her it''s my training so she''s not suspicious of it... I think."


    "I see. Then I''ll get directly to the point. I''d like you to contact your mother and ask her if Kisuke could meet this Holy Mother of yours."


    "If you could, can you tell me what you need that for first?"


    ======================


    AN: Finally! The first post of the year! Incrediblyte but thank you very much for waiting!


    I''m sorry for the dy. I didn''t really expect to get the assistance I applied for this early. But thanks to that, my father was able to get the surgery he needed for his snapped femur. He''s already 70+ old with a bunch of age rted issue so I''m pretty worried.


    Thankfully, the surgery was a sess and he''s now resting in the recovery room.


    If you message me, I might not be able to respond immediately.


    Anyways, please enjoy and have a great day~! Cheers!


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    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!